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Buffy looked up as the bell above the Magic Box’s front door rang. The woman who stood by the door seemed agitated. She looked around the shop, her eyes appearing to taking in everything and nothing at the same time. She jumped as Anya spoke to her, and mumbled something to the ex-demon before moving further into the shop. Buffy surreptitiously studied her. She was stunningly beautiful. Long chestnut curls cascaded down her back to her waist. Sharp high cheekbones highlighted her regal bearing. Brilliant blue eyes, that seemed to invite you in and hold you at bay in the same instant. Oddly, she seemed to be wearing pyjamas.

“This is ridiculous. I’m either dreaming, I’m crazy or I’ve somehow been transported to my own personal episode of the Twilight Zone!” The woman cried out in frustration. Her accent, a strange variation of the British accent; flatter somehow.

Tara and Giles both moved slowly towards the clearly upset female “It’ll be alright, come on, why don’t you join us at the table and tell us what’s wrong.”  Tara smiled sweetly at the woman and held her hand out to the table, indicating the direction she wanted the woman to move. Giles smiled gently at the beautiful woman, also indicating the table.

Before the woman could move, the front door of the shop opened again and a voice rang out “There you are.  I’ve been lookin’ all over town for you, dollface. I see you found the whitehats, but I’m guessin’ you’d be up for some information about now.”

“Whistler.” Buffy hissed.

Holding his hands up, Whistler attempted to placate Buffy. “Whoa Slayer, I’m not here to give you bad news. The Big Bosses were worried about the way things were going down here and decided to send you some help, they thought you all needed to get back on the path, find some focus if you will.”

“What the hell does that mean? Are you saying the Powers sent me her? Can she fight the super strong demon that’s running around town; can she fix whatever’s wrong with my mum? What path? And I’ve got focus; I’ve got plenty of focus!” Buffy snarled at the demon.

“I guess it didn’t occur to anyone to ask me if I wanted to be a part of this. Perhaps ask if it interfered with what’s going on in my actual life. Perhaps warn me, before the fact, so I don’t go thinking I’m insane.” The woman added her ire at the demon with Buffy’s.

“Okay, okay, I get that you’re angry, I’m sorry it had to be done this way but we really didn’t have a choice.” Whistler spoke softly to both women. Turning his full attention to the stranger he added “I really am sorry you had to find out this way, doll, but I’ll try to give you the low down now.” He paused, as if to gather his thoughts. “I’ll leave it to you to share your fields of expertise with these guys, but you have to know that it was that expertise that got the attention of the Powers.

When you went to bed last night, an electrical fire broke out and you would have died if the Powers hadn’t stepped in. They figured, rather than let your knowledge and insight go to waste; they’d just move you to this dimension, where you could help the good guys.”

“So…I’m dead?” The shocked woman, eyes brimming with tears, collapsed into one of the chairs.

“Not in this dimension.” Whistler answered her.

“Then why is it that no one can bloody well touch me?!” The woman fumed.

“What?” Buffy, Tara, Willow, Anya and Giles all cried out in unison. Giles discovered that poking his hand through her shoulder earned him a furious glare that had him backing up rather quickly.

“It’s only temporary.” Whistler assured her. “The Powers thought you wouldn’t mind pretending to be the Key, this way Glory can’t get her hands on you and it’ll keep her distracted from the real Key. The power used in generating a fully corporeal body can be redirected in a non-corporeal one. You can’t be touched, but you can throw one hell of a punch. After Glory’s window of opportunity closes you’ll become fully corporeal.”

“Wait, she knows about the Key and the demon woman?” Buffy asked, excited.

“Who is Glory?” Giles requested, more sedately.

“What’s the what with the Key?” Willow looked at Tara in confusion.

“Look, let me just get Penny here straight, then I’ll be out of your hair.” Whistler said to the group. Turning back to Penny he handed her a large envelope “In here is all your new legal documents, the ownership papers on your new place and its address, bank details and so on. That should keep you out of trouble; and this,” he placed his hands on either side of her head, causing a brief flash of light to radiate, “should give you all the stuff you didn’t get in your dimension.” He smirked at the slack-jawed woman and was gone before anyone even registered he was leaving.

“Ah…what just happened?” Tara asked, hesitantly.

“Whistler!” Buffy and Penny replied in unison.

Buffy took a critical look at the woman sitting across the table from her; she looked tired, distraught and really lost. “Um…why don’t we get something to eat, drink, maybe get a change of clothing…give us all a chance to…you know…process or something…then I guess we’ve got lots to talk about.”

“Look, if you want me to do the big talk, I’m only going to do it once. You’re going to need to get all the others here too.” Penny said, tiredly.

“Others?” Willow cautiously inquired.

Looking critically at Buffy, Penny asked bluntly “wounded by your own stake?”

“What does that…how do you…?” Buffy’s eyes widened.

“Xander, Riley and Spike.” Penny interrupted Buffy decisively and answered Willow’s previous question. “They need to be here for this.”

“Spike! Why on earth does he need to be here?” Giles blustered, angrily.

“Guess you’ll find out later.” Penny smiled cheekily, a mischievous sparkle briefly lighting her eyes.

“What are you doing here, Spike? We’ve got an important meeting here, we don’t need you distracting us and getting in the way.” Riley belligerently addressed the vampire. Arms crossed, features stern, poised, ready to attack.

“I was invited, you gormless nit. It’s not like I’d choose; to spend time in your laughable company.” Spike snapped back at the ex-soldier.

“Don’t lie, Spike. Who’d invite you?” Riley spat back derisively.

“I did.” Penny stated with finality, as she entered the main showroom through the training room door.

Both Xander and Riley stared at Penny, stunned speechless by the beautiful woman. Spike cocked his head to the side and studied her, curious; she reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t place who.

Waiting for everyone to get seated, Penny took her time to look over the group. She inwardly sighed; she knew them all so well. This was not going to be easy.

“For those of you that weren’t here when I arrived, my name is Penny and I’m from another dimension. When I went to bed last night, I was in my own bed in my own home which happens to be in Melbourne, Australia. I woke up, in my pyjamas on a bus pulling into Sunnydale Bus Depot. You can pretty much guess my reaction.” She smiled.

“I’m guessin’ a ten on the wigginess scale!” Xander offered.

“And yet, not the freakiest part of my day!” Penny grinned at him. “I discovered that I can touch but can not be touched in return…please don’t poke me Agent Finn,” she rebuked Riley as he tried to pinch her shoulder thoughtlessly. “Again, not the freakiest thing. Oh no, the freakiest thing was that I was in Sunnydale.”

“Okay…not understanding the freakiness factor.” Willow’s confusion was clearly shared.

“Where I come from…Sunnydale is a fictional town, in a prime time television program called, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

After the initial period of stunned silence, followed closely by a lot of hemming and hawing, the questions started to flow freely. But it was Xander’s that got everyone’s attention “So prime time television, huh? That means there’s got be a sex symbol…so who is it?” he really did do a good impersonation of an excited puppy, Buffy thought.

“Oh come on, you’re not serious?” Penny looked at them in amused disbelief.

“No, go on tell us.” Willow smiled indulgently at her hapless friend.

“You’re kidding me right...You can’t work that out?” Penny gazed at each of the room’s inhabitants in growing amazed incredulity. “Abs of steel, a butt you could bounce a coin off, a compact powerhouse just oozing sexuality.”

When Penny saw Buffy giving Riley a shy smile, she burst out laughing “Oh please. You have a choice between Dudley Do-Right and Studly Do-Me-Right-Now, and you’re gonna pick the Mountie?” A glance over at Xander had Penny quickly commenting, “You won comic relief, Xander.”

Buffy screwed up her face as a thought came to her, “EW…isn’t Giles a little…er…old, no offence Giles.” She smiled apologetically at the older man.

Before Giles could comment, Penny piped in. “While he’s definitely a favourite with the older fans, what with the whole Band Candy thing and Ripper on the loose; and his singing has a certain drool factor, Giles is not the show’s resident sex symbol.” Penny smiled at the quietly preening watcher.

“But, there isn’t anyone else…” Buffy silently wondered if maybe it was Angel, but didn’t want to say anything in front of Riley.

“Come on people; it’s Spike, of course.” Anya sometimes felt she surrounded herself with idiots.

“Spike!” voices exclaimed, some horrified, some thoughtful and one in total disbelief.

“But, he’s a vampire!” Buffy belatedly cried out.

“And?” Penny asked, curiously.

“What do you mean ‘and’? He’s. A. Vampire.” Buffy spoke slowly, as if to a child that had missed the entire point of the argument.

“Oh, I get it…you’re a racist.” Penny observed.

“Buffy is not a racist!” Riley yelled, “He’s not human, he’s an animal, a thing; he’s not even alive.” His attempt to grab at her upper arm had him awkwardly stumbling into the table.

“Agent Finn, why don’t you put that education of yours to good use rather than spewing rhetoric that is so easily disproved; and I don’t want to have to ask you not to poke me again”  Penny snapped, her eyes flashing angrily.

The vampire sat quietly, taking everything in. He had a strange feeling that it was important to listen to what was going to be said tonight. Something just a little more important than the fact that he was a sex symbol ‘as if it could have been any of these other wankers’, Spike thought to himself with a grin.

“What do mean, ‘so easily disproved’? What exactly are your qualifications?” Giles asked, the researcher in him taking over.

“Two Ph.D.s; one in Psychology and one in Film and Media. Incidentally, I wrote my doctoral thesis for my film and media Ph.D. as a psychological evaluation of the program ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and its dysfunctional main characters. What the show didn’t tell me, Whistler showed me before he left,” Penny flatly informed the astonished man before turning back to Riley.

“Agent Finn has voiced some of the beliefs that many of you share. Before we go any further, I think it’s important to address these inaccurate beliefs. How many of you are under the impression that vampires are not alive?” Penny looked around the room to see every hand raised…even Spikes. “Willow, what denotes life?”

“Um…to be considered life the subject must be able to procreate and die.” Only Buffy and Xander seemed to have not grasped the significance of Willow’s description. Giles and Spike seemed equally shocked by the revelation. Willow and Tara seemed thoughtful, Anya bored and Riley looked furious.

“You’re saying vampires are alive? But they don’t have a pulse…no heartbeat…they’re not human.” Buffy angrily inserted.

“You’re right. Vampires aren’t human. So why would you think that they have the physiology of humans? Demons may be different on a physiological level, but they still exist within the parameters of the definition of life…which makes them alive and before you say that vampires just animate a dead body, Xander, that’s irrelevant. Vampires may be different than other demons, they may require a human body to fulfil the parameters, but they still fulfil them. Vampires may be a different form of life than you are used to, but they are a life form.

Agent Finn also seems to be under some other mistaken opinions. He calls vampires things, or animals. As they can’t be both, because an animal is not a thing, it’s time to pick one; which is it Agent Finn, are Vampires animals or things?” Penny set her hard glare on Riley.

“They’re things.” Riley spat, his hatred contorting his features.

“Then please don’t call them animals again. Now, you call them ‘things’; I take it that you don’t consider them sentient beings then?” Penny questioned the ex-initiative soldier, unemotionally.

“Of course not.” Riley confirmed, with distain.

“What criteria are required to denote a being as sentient, Agent Finn.” Penny asked.

“Intelligence, self awareness and consciousness;” his educational training ensured a quick and confident response.

“How do you measure intelligence?” Penny continued.

“A being with intelligence has the ability to learn and understand, and to cope with new situations.” Riley proudly showed off his knowledge.

“So clearly you must be under the impression that vampires are intelligent, or you wouldn’t have developed the behavioural modification chips. Modifying behaviour requires the ability to learn and understand, and, obviously, to cope with new situations. I’m happy to hear that we both believe vampires are intelligent.” Penny smiled smugly at Riley, daring him to disagree. “I believe self awareness was next?” Penny waited for his curt nod, before turning to Spike. “Spike what are you doing right now?”

“I’m sittin’ here listenin’ to you and the mountie prattle on about sentient beings.” He answered his amusement clear.

“What do you think the outcome of this will be?”

“I don’t think it matters. Even if you prove to this lot that vampires are sentient, it’s not gonna change the way they treat me.” Spike replied, surprising the others with the sad acceptance in his voice.

“Well will you listen to all those ‘I’ words…sounds pretty self aware to me. Wouldn’t you agree Agent Finn?” Penny said smiling, and then continued after gaining Riley’s angry nod. “Consciousness, I believe, was the final requirement, wasn’t it Agent Finn? Well then perhaps you can answer me this…Did Spike make the conscious decision to escape the Initiative, or not?” She waited for him to ground out the affirmative. “Well then, we’ve clearly proven that vampires are sentient beings; that makes them your equals, they are not beneath you and terms like ‘thing’ or ‘monster’ are not appropriate.” Penny stated with finality, furtively glancing at Buffy and noting her shell shocked countenance.

“What does it matter what we call them, it’s not like we’re gonna hurt their feelings or anything, ‘cause…you know…they don’t have them.” Xander jumped in, valiantly attempting to support Riley.

Penny rolled her eyes and sighed deeply. “Tara, when you read an individuals aura, are you able to see the depths of their feelings.”

“Er...y.y.yes.”

“Out of every individual in this room, who feels things the most deeply?” Penny pursued.

“Buffy…and Spike.” The shy Wiccan confirmed what Penny knew to be true.

“Impossible!”

“No way!”

“Could you have misread him, Sweetie?”

“No Willow, I didn’t misread Spike.” Tara’s voice was quiet, but firm, her conviction clear. “I’m sorry if it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s true. Spike feels things deeply, he has a really deep capacity to love and I can see it in his aura whenever he is around Mrs. Summers or Dawn or…” She broke of, when she noticed the vampire’s look of complete terror, and changed what she was originally going to say. “Well it’s there, and…and…and I think you’re all really mean to him.”

“Tara, dear, I’m sure that you believe what you think you are seeing, but it’s simply not possible. Demons are incapable of feeling emotions as we know them.” Giles tried to gently enlighten the girl.

Penny turned to the watcher and laughed “Please, enlighten me Mr. Giles. How precisely do you measure or evaluate emotional usage? Other than a full psychological evaluation, where the subject is participating with full cooperation, I can’t think of any other way. I seriously doubt that any demons have been willing subjects to a full psych evaluation.”

“The Council of Watchers has been around for a long time, there have been thousands of books written on the subject.” Giles replied stiffly.

“What proof did they offer?” Penny countered, softly “They have a supposition, but without proof that’s all it is. You don’t trust the Council, but you blindly believe all they teach you? You don’t question their theories? Miss Jenkins here is human, but she was a demon for eleven hundred years, so she’s been both…did you think to ask her?”

A/N: Masturbation magazines courtesy of Wulfie!

”What do you mean, ask Anya?” Giles struggled to stay alert to the ongoing conversation, but his mind was reeling. He couldn’t believe he’d made such a foolish mistake. He’d never even questioned what he’d been taught, not once. He was a trained bloody researcher for pity’s sake.

“She’s been both human and demon; shouldn’t she be able to tell you from a first hand point of view if demons feel emotions that same way that humans do?” Penny asked with apparent innocent curiosity.

“Angel already confirmed what the books said; demons can’t feel emotions like humans can, they don’t have souls. Why would we need to ask again?” Buffy declared stubbornly.

“And Tara has said she can see the same depth of emotion in Spike as she sees in you. Is Spike the exception or is Angelus? Surely you can see why Miss Jenkins’s opinion would be invaluable?” Penny countered Buffy’s words, challenging her to face up to a question she would much rather avoid. Challenging her to look for answers to questions she didn’t want to ask. Challenging her to step out of the Nile, regardless of how nice it was there.

“Fine, ask away.” Buffy almost snarled.

Smiling, Penny turned to Anya, “Miss Jenkins…”

“Oh, please, call me Anya,” the ex-demon interrupted, smiling brilliantly at Penny. Her whole body seemed to bounce in anticipation. She was clearly delighted to be asked for not just an opinion, but her; opinion specifically.

“Anya.” Penny acknowledged before continuing; “Did you feel emotions as a demon?”

“Of course I did. I’m not surprised that they all think that demons don’t feel though, the council went through a major overhaul about five hundred years ago, and things haven’t been the same since.” Anya blandly announced.

“We’ll address the council issues later, Mr. Giles,” Penny stopped the watcher from interrupting and returned to questioning Anya. But failed to stop an incensed, Riley. “This is insane, what does all this matter? They. Are. Killers. They all need to be put down.”

“Agent Finn, you have my promise, that all that you have just said will be addressed soon. But, until then, perhaps you would do us all the courtesy of loosing the attitude and temper…or leave, we have enough to go through tonight and you are distracting us from our important meeting.” Penny chose to use his earlier words against Spike to her own advantage. However, she refused to show favouritism, so when Spike snickered she dryly informed him that she had no problem sharing the significance of the word effulgent with everyone there.

Turning back to Anya, Penny continued her questioning as if nothing had happened. “Were the range and level of emotions that you felt as a demon the same as what you now feel as a human? Specifically, can demons love regardless of the lack of soul? Does the soul play that large a part in an individual’s ability to love?”

Penny watched as every individual in the room seem to snap to attention. She didn’t think that any of them realised the importance that they had all put on the possession of a soul. It was dangerous territory to venture and she probably wouldn’t have attempted it normally, as she tried to keep theological discussions out of her arguments. However, Whistler had given her more than just the knowledge of pertinent missing character facts; he’d given her history, direction and prophecy. She already knew the answers, but she’d learned a long time ago, that you not only learn the lessons better when you work your own way through them, you understand them better too.

“They are going to get really angry with me and Xander will pout and refuse to give me orgasms, and I need my orgasms. Lots of them.” Anya stated, succinctly.

“Anya, you tell Xander that if he pouts, he’s the one that won’t be getting any orgasms. It’s not your problem if he doesn’t want to listen to the truth and, if his attitude to being told the truth is to get mad, then he doesn’t deserve the joys of being with an honest woman to begin with.” Ignoring Xander’s indignant ‘hey’, Penny continued, “Now why do you think the others will get mad?”

Hesitating slightly, Anya took a deep breath, the idea of telling these people what she really thought, scared her. Her life revolved around them, but always on the outside and she didn’t think they even realised how inept and stupid they made her feel on occasion.

“Riley will yell very loudly, but Riley doesn’t really matter, because he will leave as soon as he realises that Buffy is the Slayer and he is never going to be more important to her than slaying and Tara won’t mind, because she already knows that Spike, at least, can feel emotions. I think Willow will be open to new information, she likes research. Spike will accept the truth, he might grumble and complain, but he’ll still accept it. But Buffy, Giles and Xander are not going to want to hear what I say and because it is against everything that they believe they know, they will argue. They hate demons so much and they believe in their own superiority to such an extent that they will get mad at anyone who shakes up their beliefs. If I tell them what I know, they’ll get mad at me and yell at me and I don’t like that.”  Anya didn’t make eye contact with anyone as she spoke, but the constant wringing of her hands was a clear message to every one that her fear was tangible.

Riley gritted his teeth, his face was almost purple in his anger but, with his arms crossed firmly across his chest, he held himself still and said nothing.

“Anya, I, for one, would welcome your knowledge and I offer my profound apologies if I have ever given you the impression that your experience is not desirable and appreciated.” Giles softly coxed the reluctant ex-demon. He’d had no idea that she was so intimidated by the group that she felt she couldn’t speak the truth for fear of retribution.

“Anya, we may not like it, but we do need to know. I promise I won’t yell.” Buffy offered with a gentle smile.

“Ahn, come on...I promise this once I'll stay out of the Nile...maybe even leave Egypt." Xander offered his girl his goofy grin.

“Okay…but if you yell, I’m throwing out your masturbation magazines.” She responded with determination. Turning back to Penny, Anya asked “What was the question again?”

Penny smiled and answered her “Did you feel things differently as a demon? Can demons love without a soul? What differences have you noticed with the soul?”

“Well first, let me get one thing straight; I felt things far more deeply, passionately as a demon, than I do as a human. I personally never fell in love as a demon, but I was certainly capable of it and I know plenty of demons who have actually fallen in love.

I don’t understand the second part of the question though. I’ve never understood why you people persist in saying demons don’t have souls. Of course demons have souls. I had a soul as a demon; I have the same soul as a human.” Anya looked at the stunned looks around the table. Xander’s fish impression was by far the most amusing.

“But…no…wait…what do you mean demons have souls? But…they’re evil?” Buffy almost whispered; she looked totally shell shocked. She really didn’t look like she’d be able to cope with many more surprises.

“The soul of an individual doesn’t make you good or evil, your inner nature does that. Look, you people aren’t really interested in demons, in general, you’re more interested in vampires and vampires are different from demons. Oh don’t get me wrong, vampires can certainly love. But, it’s different for them because they have two souls and most of the time their souls are warring with each other. In Spike’s case he’s done a remarkable job of balancing his demon and human sides. Most vampires have a great deal of trouble with that and they usually suppress one side.” Anya complimented the normally verbose vampire, who was looking as shell shocked as the Slayer.

“That makes no sense. Angel was cursed with a soul; he lost his soul and turned into a vicious monster. Now, you’re telling me Angelus already had two souls…two wasn’t enough…he needed three? How is that right?” Buffy shook her head in complete confusion.

Penny considered the clearly confused girl for a moment before making her offer “If you really want to know the answer to the question of Angel, Buffy, I can tell you. But, I can guarantee you are not going to like the answers.”

Looking at Buffy, Penny could see the play of warring emotions flit across the torn girl’s features and wondered if she would be able to deal with even a small part of the information Whistler had imparted.

Buffy knew that her perceptions of her first love were romanticized, she just didn’t know if she was ready to grow up and finally let go of her vision of him to see the real Angel. Considering Penny’s words, she was terrified that her already shaky world was about to come crashing down around her. The Slayer part of her was screaming to know the truth, but the part of her that was all girl wanted to run and hide. The Slayer side won. Nodding her assent, Buffy encouraged Penny to talk.

“To understand Angel, you first have to understand what makes up normal vampires,” Penny stated clearly. She had lectured before and thoroughly enjoyed a captivated audience.

“Vampires are considered half-breeds in the demon community because they are in actuality half-demon, half-human. The demon half is in fact the essence of a demon, a soul without a body, if you will.

“When a human agrees to be turned, they are actually agreeing to share their body with the demon. They accept that they will be considered dead by human standards, but it is an acceptable price to pay for immortality, strength, and power.

“The development of the vampire, or if you’d prefer, the type of vampire they will become, relies on a number of factors. If they are not under any outside influence at all, the human part of the vampire can either be so high on the sense of power or freedom that they now have, that they allow the natural instincts of the demon to completely overtake them. Or, they can retain some control. That control allows the human side to influence the demon side. The strength of the human personality is very much a discerning factor on what type of vampire they become. An example of that would be Harmony. She’s still the same vapid, self-centred personality that she was when you went to school with her. She totally accepts her demon side, which allows it to step into the background. As long as the demon is fed, the demon is happy. Harmony’s demon doesn’t need violence the way some demons do,so Harmony is basically the same as a vampire as she was as a human.”

Giles was so enthralled by the information being shared that he almost forgot to take notes.

“The type of human you are has a huge influence over the type of vampire you become. If things like honesty, loyalty, the importance of family, and love are a big part of the person you are, then they are going to be a big part of the vampire you are. A vampire who was selfish, egocentric, a liar, or a thief as a human will influence their demon in much the same way.

“Not all vampires are inherently violent. Not all vampires are inherently evil. Just like every human, every vampire is different. But every vampire needs to feed and understandably most humans have a problem with that.

“Many vampires are sired into existing vampire families, and just as with human children, vampire childe can be moulded by their families. In this situation it is not unusual to find a vampire that was a sweet, wonderful, and caring human transformed into a rabid monster by means of torture, rape, and all manner of physical and emotional abuses. It is their inner strength of character that can allow these vampires to not lose the softer side of themselves. They put on a mask, or hide behind an image, but ultimately a good man can completely control his demon until he becomes more man than demon. It’s rare, but it’s possible, and that’s what happened to Spike. It amazes me that the only person to treat Spike with any decency at all is Mrs Summers, when all the rest of you need to do is treat him as an equal and you too will see him shed his image and show you who his really is.

“I’ll offer you one more point on the subject of Spike before I move on to Angel. Physically, Spike has never directed an attack aimed at Agent Finn, Anya, or Mr. Giles. In the case of Mr. Giles, he actually saved him from further torture at the hands of Angelus. Yes, he hit Tara in the nose, but that was to prove she wasn’t a demon, and it caused him more pain than it did her. He didn’t even hit her hard enough to draw blood. Willow, he kidnapped you, threatened you with a broken bottle, and he tried to bite you, but he didn’t actually physically hurt you. You, on the other hand, actually hit him over the head with a lamp, and this was while he was trying to make you feel better when Oz left you. Xander, he knocked you out and kidnapped you and you would be well within your rights to want an apology, but you need to ask yourself if you would even be alive if the vampire responsible for that situation were Angelus. Buffy, you've tried to kill him as often as he's tried to kill you. Blame him for his own actions, but stop taking your hatred, anger, and frustration over Angelus out on Spike.”

The vampire had his head down, apparently overwhelmed by the psychologist’s words. He didn’t see the speculating looks that many in the group directed towards him.

“Angel is totally different from Spike, but not in the way that you would think. First, you have to understand why Angelus and Spike are so different from each other. It has nothing to do with the demon. Remember the demon is influenced by the man. The truth is, William was a good man who went through a devastating experience and, in a highly emotional state, chose to rebel. That mistake has cost him dearly. Liam, on the other hand, was a self-centred, egotistical, drunken rapist who, when thrown out of his home, stole his family’s household pin money and used it to get drunk. He welcomed the turning and then killed every single person in his hometown. Liam became Angelus and revelled in the power, debauchery, and blood. William spent twenty years under the tortuous tutelage of Darla, Angelus, and Drusilla until he was forced to create a new persona; one that had more demon in it.

“The curse was created to punish Angelus. The gypsies felt that when Angelus murdered the clan’s revered daughter, his pain should be as eternal as theirs. They knew that his human soul had adapted to its new vampiric cultural beliefs, so he felt no guilt over taking the life of what he considered food, so they needed to find a way around that obstacle,” Penny informed her now fascinated audience.

“What is the significance of cultural beliefs?” Giles asked, completely enthralled.

“Humans aren’t born with an innate knowledge of right and wrong, it has to be taught to us,” Penny responded. “The culture which we are born into plays a large part in what we are taught. For example; some Asian cultures find it perfectly acceptable to eat dogs. Some cultures believe that if a woman allows herself to be raped, it is well within her family’s rights to stone her to death for bringing the family shame. Some cultures believe cutting a person’s hand off is a fair punishment for theft. There are even human cultures that believe that a male child’s first sexual experience should be given to them by an adult, so the child’s first sexual experience is to be sodomised.

“Religious groups have wiped out entire races of indigenous people, simply because they wouldn’t follow the new religion. Some humans eat pork while others find the thought of that disgusting. Vampires need blood to survive, why would they feel guilt for killing their food? Humans don’t feel guilty for killing cows. You think it’s disgusting that they drink blood, and yet many human cultures enjoy eating black pudding or blood sausages and these are foods made from blood. The Brits have been enjoying Black pudding for years.” Penny raised an eyebrow at Giles and smirked.

“Now, getting back to the curse.” Penny waited for Giles’ nod. “The gypsies decided that in order for the curse to work the way they wanted it to, Angelus needed to be cursed with a soul that would ignore the cultural beliefs of vampires and focus on the cultural beliefs of humans, specifically that hurting or killing humans is bad and you should feel guilty. So the curse was worded explicitly, demanding guilt to be the primary emotion felt. Angelus, or I should say Liam, because it was the human part of him, couldn’t cope. Liam had never felt guilt before, so he created the persona of Angel so he could separate himself from his deeds. It was easier to cope with blaming Angelus for everything than acknowledging his own culpability. The cursed soul didn’t make him do good; it just made him feel guilt. He spent a hundred years wallowing in self-pity before he was approached by Whistler as a representative of the Powers-That-Be and offered a chance at redemption. But it wasn’t redemption that got him interested in helping…it was Liam’s attraction to a fifteen year old child.”

A/N: Thanks to Wulfie for his insistence that the psychological terms Transference and Projection be utilized.

“What?” Buffy gasped out. She wasn’t shocked by the information. She already knew this. No, she was shocked by the inference. She had never considered it from anyone else’s point of view. The new view point made her feel dirty. As if she’d been touched by something really gross. When she thought about it, what type of two hundred and forty year old is going be attracted to- or fall in love with- a fifteen year old child? Ew…can you say pedophile? And that’s what he had told her- that he saw her at Hemery and fell in love with her heart. Her heart? Oh please…at that stage she’d been a valley girl Malibu Barbie who thought she was being stalked by a creepy old guy who lived in a delusional world filled with monsters…and maybe spent his free time speaking to Elvis! She’d been sitting on the school steps, sucking on a damned lolly-pop! Yet Angel fell in love with her heart? She’d been so self-centred at the time, that she made Cordy and Harmony look like selfless do-gooders…what the hell did that say about Angel?

“He was sent to help you, Buffy. To keep you safe. How often did he patrol with you? Did he inform you immediately of threats and tell you everything he knew? What was his reaction to the prophecy that foretold of your death? Did he do his job and keep you safe from that?” Penny asked the hard questions. “You don’t need to answer, I can tell you. He rarely patrolled with you, he preferred to stalk you. He hinted at problems, never told you all he knew, and what information he did give you, he gave cryptically. He accepted your fate as foretold by the prophecy, never considering for a minute that if the powers had sent him here to protect you, then perhaps that was their way of saying he had it in his power to avert the prophecy. He failed in his job. You died…and Xander revived you, not Angel. Not much of a protector, If you ask me, Xander did a better job.” Penny paused for a moment; allowing Buffy the time to process what had been said.

Deliberately shrugging her shoulders in dismissal, Penny continued; “Oh well, maybe he was a better boyfriend. Let’s see shall we?” Penny rhetorically asked. “You both went to see the same movie…I won’t say he took you, because…well...you paid. A foreign film I believe, that you had no interest in but went to anyway because Angel thought that as a teenager, you needed more culture in your life. How did that work out for you?” Penny asked, amused by Buffy’s grimace.

“There’s the time he took you ice skating, but no, that’s right. You had to break into the rink, so he didn’t actually take you there, he just encouraged a little breaking and entering. Let’s see…um…the Bronze? Well no, not really, because he went there, he met you inside, and didn’t even have a drink with you. Oh well, at least you can say you made out a lot…shame it was in graveyards.” Penny gave Buffy a hard look, forcing her to look at the relationship without the rose coloured glasses that she usually saw it through.

“He told you that you were his soulmate, then he lost the soul that he had been cursed with by having sex with a teenager. A moment of perfect happiness for a 241 year old is apparently the act of deflowering a seventeen year old virgin.” Penny’s disgust at this concept was displayed clearly in her tone.

“The part of him that wasn’t a cursed soul hated you to the point of obsession. Regardless of anything else, did it occur to you at all that if he loved you with that soul but didn’t without it, that it was reasonable to conclude that the only part of him that supposedly loved you was the soul? And that the reason he jumped on the council bandwagon and told you that demons can’t love was because he didn’t want to tell you the truth? You knew that he was wrong. You knew that demons could love, Buffy; otherwise you wouldn’t have believed that threatening to stake Drusilla when you were at the Sunset Club would effectively stop Spike. You based your whole threat on the strength of his love for her.”

“You’re right. I did know.” Buffy looked shocked by her own admission; her mind replaying images of the past over and over in her head. “I knew. And Spike wasn’t my only clue. When we lived our worse nightmares and I was a vampire, I felt the bloodlust, but I wasn’t overcome with the need to kill, I could control it...and I still had all my feelings and emotions.”

"Oh Goddess," Willow gasped, "Angel convinced himself, then he projected all of his own beliefs onto us! That is sooo psych 101. Then we took all the anger we had towards Angelus and directed at the only vampire we could. Poor Spike! We couldn’t get mad at Angel, cause Buffy wouldn’t let us, so we hurt Spike instead... that's transference. Oh, goddess...oh, Spike...I'm so sorry!” Willow begged the vampire for forgiveness, so distressed by her behaviour that she was close to tears.

Spike’s look of awe at her apology touched and shamed them all. His gentle smile and nod at the redhead helped to ease her guilt.

Riley looked at Buffy. Unable to contain himself any longer, blurted out the question he’d been holding at bay, "You were a vampire? Is there anyone here who hasn't been a demon at some point?"

"I thought I was, but Spike proved I wasn't." Tara shyly smiled at the grinning vampire.

“Well, you don’t count, you’re a witch,” Riley dismissed the Wiccan.

"Hey! Leave her alone! And it's not the same thing....not that being either one is bad, it's just different." Willow defended her girlfriend, while attempting to remain politically correct.

“You really don’t like my friends do you, Riley?" Buffy stated coldly to the oblivious ex-soldier.

“It’s alright, Buffy, don’t worry about it, I understand that they’re your friends. We seem to be learning a lot about your lack of judgement, but I can help you with that,” Riley offered, completely unaware that his words might be construed as patronizing and insulting.

“Agent Finn,” Penny waited for him to look at her before continuing. “You appear to be very sure of your opinions. You also appear to be under the mistaken impression that you are experienced and knowledgeable in all matters relating to the supernatural; let’s address that erroneous misconception right now.” She smiled coldly at the man.

“You’ve only been actively involved, if that’s what you want to call your part in the Initiative, for approximately a year and a half. This makes you the person with the least amount of experience in the supernatural of this entire group.

“All your knowledge of the supernatural comes from a woman who ran a concentration camp similar to those that were run in Nazi Germany and believed, like the Nazis before her, that live experimentation on sentient beings was acceptable behaviour. Her own lack of understanding of the supernatural world and her egomanic belief that she could control supernatural forces led to her death at the hands of one of her own experiments. You learned, supported, and actively employed the methods of Professor Walsh’s teachings. The only exception you made was for Oz, and that was because he was Buffy’s friend and not because you believed his treatment was unjustified. Finally, regardless of the fact that Professor Walsh’s death must have indicated to you- unless stupidity is a character trait- her complete and utter lack of understanding of the subject; you still choose to follow her teachings today. I don’t think you have the right to be making comments relating to anyone else’s lack of judgement, when you’ve clearly been guilty of it yourself.

“Please tell me that at the very least, you’ve learned to carry a stake with you at all times?” Penny smiled when he pulled three stakes out of his pockets and laid them on the table, smirking at her.

Moving quickly, she picked one of them up and moved away from him.

“Pop quiz on true evil, people. An individual procures an instrument of torture and carries it with him. He doesn’t want to kill his victim yet, he wants to hurt him. Make his victim fear him, so that each time he is seen his victim will cringe, asking himself ‘will it be death or pain?’ Soon his victim will be begging for it to be death.” Penny looked around the room, recognition on many faces. “Who am I talking about?” She asked them quietly.

“Angelus,” Xander, Willow, Buffy and Giles responded sychronistically, their voices showing varying degrees of anger and disgust.

Penny held up the stake she had taken from Riley. “Plastic wood-grain. It doesn’t kill; it’s only purpose is to cause pain.” Placing her hand on Spike’s shoulder, she finished her point by looking at Riley as she asked, “Who’s the real monster?”

A/N: Beta'd by the Incomparable Megan and AtheneHahn.

“You Bitch,” Riley snarled at the psychologist. “You set me up.” Moving toward her, he made an attempt to grab her, his large hands useless in catching her non-corporeal body.

Before anyone else could, Penny had the ex-soldier stumbling backwards by purposefully poking him in the chest as she made her thoughts clear. “I have asked you not to touch me. I have told you not to touch me. Now I’m telling you that if you attempt to manhandle me again, I will take that to mean that you have decided that you’d prefer to speak in falsetto for the rest of your miserable little life.”

“I’ve had enough of this. Buffy, we’re leaving.” Riley held out his hand imperiously to the small blonde.

“Well you certainly are,” Buffy replied coldly.

“I can turn him into a rat if you like, Buffy?” Willow offered in mock innocence, outraged at the ex-soldier.

“I’d be willing to have Spike’s chip removed and then lock ‘em in a room together. Spike deserves a little payback,” Xander apologized, in his own way, to the vampire.

“I believe it’s time you left, Mr. Finn. I suggest you stay away from all of us—very far away.” Ripper made his presence known.

“You can’t be serious. I’m not going to let you make a mistake like this, Buffy. You can’t break up with me because of somebody who claims to be a representative of the Powers That Be – whatever they are!” Riley exclaimed, incensed.

“I’m not,” Buffy announced firmly, much to the shock of her friends, and the delight of Riley. Waiting for the right moment, she continued. “I’m breaking up with you because of the stake, Riley. And because there is no excuse you could ever come up with that could make that right. Goodbye, Riley.”

They all watched the dejected ex-soldier leave.

“Can I ask a question?” Xander focused his pain filled eyes on Penny.

Penny considered the boy for a moment before she answered with a question of her own. “It’s about Jesse, isn’t it?”

His tearful nod had her giving him a consoling and commiserating smile. When Xander seemed unable to put his question into words, Penny took it upon herself to alleviate his pain. “You did the right thing, Xander. You didn’t have a choice.”

“You’ve all been under the mistaken impression for so long that the soul is what makes the difference between good and evil, that you may find it hard to adjust your way of thinking,” Penny started. “The soul is not responsible for good or evil. If it were then Hitler, Charles Manson and John Wayne Gacy would all be soulless. But then you all know this intellectually.

“In the supernatural world, the side you are on, whether good or evil, is a conscious choice made by your natural inclinations. Demons know the difference between right and wrong, but most of them just don’t care. The majority of demons choose evil because it’s easier. It’s always easier to give in to your own selfish desires, but with supernatural beings, that can be disastrous to humans, thus the need for a Champion of the People. You waste so much time and energy on hating the enemy that you don’t have enough left to consider your options. Most demons who meet a slayer get slayed. They aren’t given the opportunity to choose a different lifestyle. The Council has taught you the way they want the order of the world, but at the same time they’ve kept from you the knowledge of how it used to be. Did you know there was a time when a slayer would leave a message for the local demon community to tell them that they would be left in peace as long as they followed the rule: you hunt, you die? But, I digress. Xander wanted to know about Jesse.” Penny smiled at the young man.

“With the obvious exception of Spike, I would have expected you to understand what happened with Jesse more than anyone, Xander. You went through the same feelings of freedom and revelled in your darker side when you were possessed by the hyena spirit. No Xander, don’t deny the memories, we both know you remember.” Penny refused to allow him the comfort of his denial. “The difference between you and Jesse is that you were cleansed of your possession whether you wanted to be or not, and Jesse couldn’t be, even if he wanted it. But, think about it, Xander. What fifteen year old hormone bomb would want to give up those feelings?” Anya attempted to console the young man by patting him awkwardly on the back. His embarrassment, as he saw Buffy stiffen at her own memories of the event, had him bowing his head in shame.

“Jesse made his choice, which in turn forced you to make yours. You made the right one, Xander. It’s alright to grieve for your friend, but grieve his choices, not yours. If you need someone to focus your anger on, focus it on Darla. She’s the one who turned him.”

“Darla’s dust.” Buffy spoke softly.

“Not since the resurrection,” Penny told them.

“What?” Xander gasped.

“What resurrection?” Willow stood in surprise.

“Good Lord, when did this happen?” Giles questioned, concerned.

“Bloody hell, what bleedin’ moron would bring that vicious whore back?” Spike savagely spat out.

“Wait…you hate her too?” A surprised Xander asked Spike.

“With a bloody passion, mate,” Spike returned.

“I have something in common with the bleached menace…who’da thunk it?” Xander joked, malice nowhere in sight.

“Penny?” Buffy said as she attempted to control the direction of the conversation. “What happened with Darla?”

Looking at the expressions on the faces around the room, Penny made her decision and turned to Anya. “Does the phone here have conference mode?”

“Of course, but I’m not paying for the call if it’s not Magic Box business.”

“Get the phone, Anya. I’ll pay for the call,” Giles insisted, intrigued.

“Who are we calling?” Buffy asked, terrified that she already knew the answer.

Penny confirmed Buffy’s suspicions with a single dreaded word.

“Angel.”

“Buffy,” Penny addressed the Slayer. “I want you to ask whoever answers to put the call on conference, so that both Wesley and Angel will be able to hear the call. Ask Angel why you weren’t informed of Darla’s resurrection and ask him what happened. If he questions your need to know, feel free to explain to him that Darla’s resurrection is the first step in a prophecy you have to avert, because if it comes to pass it will mean the end of the world as we know it, and that is what makes it slayer business.”

“What prophecy?” Giles almost fell off his chair in an effort to reach the table and consequently, his notebook and pen.

“Why do I have to call?” Buffy pouted her displeasure, directing her gaze at the phone that Anya had just placed on the table. Spike was forced to adjust his position and pull his duster tightly around himself when he noticed her expression.

“Because you’re the Slayer, and the pout doesn’t work on me.” Penny grinned her amusement at Buffy before turning to Giles. “Sorry, Mr. Giles, I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the prophecy, but I’ll give you a complete rundown of it later. There’re a few ways to avert it. Stopping Darla from being revamped by Drusilla is one, or staking Angel before he has sex with her after she’s turned are just your first two options.”

“Wait. 'From being revamped’? She’s human?” Buffy asked incredulously.

“Bloody DRU vamps her?” Spike spat out, totally disgusted with his sire. “Well, if you ever needed proof positive about her insanity…only someone completely off their nutter would revamp that bleedin’ bitch.”

“Go back to the Angel stakage…can I just say now that that option’s got my full support.” Xander offered his enthusiastic vote.

“I’m with Harris on that one.” Spike grinned conspiratorially with the carpenter; for the first time ever, the two shared a joke in genuine amusement.

“There’s sex? With Angel? That’s not good, what with the whole clause in the curse thing, and Angelus and the grr. Is he the one that ends the world?” Willow babbled her questions.

“Why don’t we just make the call? I’m fairly certain most of your questions will be addressed during the phone call, and probably some that you haven’t asked,” Penny gently suggested.

“What we? I’m the one making the stupid call to the stupid vampire,” Buffy grumbled as she reached for the phone, set it on conference, and started dialling.

The occupants of the room sat in silence, all listening to the ringing phone and waiting for a voice on the other end to speak to them.

“Angel Investigations; we help the…”

“Cordy,” Buffy interrupted the ex-cheerleader’s spiel. “It’s Buffy. I need to speak to both Angel and Wesley. Can you put me on speaker to them?”

“Um…sure Buffy…hold on.”

The muffled voices that could be heard through the phone’s speakers seemed to escalate in volume, but were still not clear enough for those listening to understand what was happening at the other end of the line. Rustling, followed by a clearly audible ‘Fine’ that was apparently hissed by Cordelia, alerted the room to a probable deviation from the plan.

“Buffy? It’s Angel.”

“Am I on speakerphone?” Buffy asked bluntly.

“Well, no. I wanted to know what this is about? Is it important? We’re kinda busy here.”

“The quicker you put me on speakerphone, the quicker you’ll find out.” Buffy’s voice held steel in it; her tone brooked no argument.

“Look Buffy, we really don’t have time…”

“Now, Angel,” the Slayer demanded.

“Fine!” One could almost hear him rolling his eyes. His voice dripped with bad-tempered acceptance. A click and a slight echo indicated that the switch had been made. “Go ahead,” Angel sighed dramatically.

“Wes, you there?” Buffy asked, primarily to prove to the broody vampire that she didn’t trust him.

“Yes, Buffy, is there a problem?” Wesley inquired curiously.

“End of the world as we know it prophecy,” she deadpanned. “So, were you guys planning to give us a heads up that Darla was no longer of the dead?” Buffy quipped, her voice deceptively mild. Xander and Spike quietly snickered, both seriously looking forward to the conversation.

“Darla is none of your concern, Buffy,” Angel firmly stated in his best parent to child voice.

“Are you suggesting a link between Darla’s resurrection and this prophecy you spoke of, Buffy?” Wesley ignored Angel’s previous comment as his quick mind grasped the possible connection.

“Yeah, Wes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“I don’t believe it. There is no way…” Angel cut Buffy off to angrily begin his rant.

“Shut up, Angel,” Buffy, coldly spoke over him. She was forced to suppress her laughter as Spike had suddenly joined Xander in a silent happy dance. “Whistler paid us a visit and brought us a new friend to play with.”

Speaking over Angel’s angry but pointless blustering at being told to shut up, Wesley asked, “did you get your information from the…er…’friend’ that Whistler brought with him?”

“Yeah, Penny’s been really informative, told us lots of juicy little tidbits.” Buffy grinned at Penny. “Seriously, Wes. I need to know about the Darla sitch. What can you tell me?”

“Ahh…yes…well, it would appear that Wolfram and Hart wish to see the re-emergence of Angelus,” Wesley started to explain.

“Are they brain-dead or just suicidal?” Buffy deadpanned.

“Actually, Wolfram and Hart is an inter-dimensional law firm; they cater primarily to a mostly demon clientele.”

“So…we’re going with brain-dead,” she snarled. “How exactly did they plan to bring Angelus back into play?”

A tense silence follow, then some hurried whispering.

"Oh, this is ridiculous! Tell them or I will,” Penny snapped sharply.

“What?” Angel squeaked.

“That was Penny. She’s the one who suggested we give you the opportunity to tell us about Darla. So, how about you get on with it.” Buffy began to tap her foot impatiently.

“Well, if you already have someone there who can tell you, why do you need us to do it?” Angel grumbled childishly.

“What…are you twelve?” Buffy rolled her eyes. Turning to Xander, she said, “Can you call the Pizza place and organize a delivery, Xan? This could take a while.”

“Look, I’m sorry Buffy, but this is very uncomfortable for me,” Angel piped in, his ire that she seemed so unconcerned for his welfare was obvious in the accusation of his tone.

“Hence the asking of Wes. And I gotta say- Angel comfort when weighed against end of the world as we know it? The importance of the comfort factor is…not so much,” the Slayer explained. “So,Wes…if you wouldn’t mind?”

“Oh you guys are pathetic!” Cordelia’s voice boomed through the Magic Box, her voice laced with disgust. “Here’s the sitch…Wolfram and Hart brought the old slut back, then Angel started having dreams- which he sooo didn’t share- about boinking the geriatric ho-bag. We found out that she’d been doping the broody one so he wouldn’t know the difference between dreams and reality and that the dreams were actually real. Wolfram and Hart were hoping that getting the big guy laid would be all that was needed to bring back Angelus, but apparently Darla couldn’t get the job done,” she commented sarcastically.

“She’s prolly too old for him,” Spike offered innocently. However, his smirk at Xander’s snicker belied that innocence.

“Anywho…when they brought her back, they brought her back human. That’s all we know,” Cordelia summed up, after giving her own snicker at Spike’s comment.

“Buffy, was that Spike?” Angel asked suspiciously.

Buffy ignored his question in an attempt to keep the conversation moving. “Okay, I’ll let Penny talk now. She’ll fill you in on the rest.”

“Buffy. Was. That. Spike?” Angel ground out.

Again he was ignored.

“Right, the situation is this…” Penny started.

“I asked you a question, Buffy,” Angel cut in furiously. He was unprepared for Penny’s response.

“I believe that the subject at hand is far more important than your need for trivialities, but if you’d prefer to waste time on such matters, perhaps we should start with the day you had the Powers take back?”

“So, what can you tell us about Darla?” Angel quickly asked.

“He had a day taken back? Why?” Buffy asked curiously.

“When was this?” Wesley added his own question to the mix.

“End of the world prophecy, people…You were saying, Penny?” Angel’s panic was clear in his voice.

“I’m thinkin’ if deadboy wants off the subject of missing days, then I say we should be listening to that story,” Xander voiced his opinion, his animosity towards the brooding vampire colouring his tone.

“Why don’t we start with the Darla situation, then…we’ll see.” Penny smirked at the boy. “Angel, I know that you hope to convince Darla to join you at the agency…”

“WHAT?” Cordy bellowed her shock.

“…but that won’t be possible,” Penny finished her interrupted sentence.

“Why?” Angel demanded.

“Because, when Wolfram and Hart resurrected her, they also resurrected the disease that was killing her. There is no cure, Angel, she’s dying,” Penny stated. “I know that you will still try to save her and if you take her to Lorne, he’ll suggest you go through the trials and you’ll be successful, but as she is already living her second chance, they won’t be able to save her.

“If you don’t get her somewhere safe to die, Lindsey MacDonald of Wolfram and Hart will have Drusilla turn her. If you allow Darla to be turned, then your options are limited. Either she gets dusted, or you do.”

“Tough choice,” Xander deadpanned, “Can we vote on it?”

“But, I could save her,” Angel cried desperately.

“No, you couldn’t,” Penny stated with finality.

“What’s going to happen if Drusilla gets to her and I’m not given the chance to dust her after she’s turned?” Angel asked, desperately trying to find a loophole in the situation.

“The simplest solution would be to dust you,” Penny offered, her voice devoid of emotion.

“Not seeing the problem…unless you need volunteers?” Xander quickly raised his hand in the air, to be followed a split second later by Spike and, after a moments pause, by a grinning Giles.

“Clearly, the event that activates the prophecy requires both Angel and Darla; couldn’t we just stop the event itself?” Wesley calmly suggested.

“You could try, but there’s really only one other way to ensure that that part of the prophecy doesn’t come into fruition,” Penny answered the ex-watcher.

“And that would be…?” Wesley waited patiently for his answer.

“You could Bobbitt Angel.” Penny smiled when, after a slight pause, Xander, Spike and Giles shared a grimace in a bonding moment of male solidarity. Giles was the first to offer a small snicker, which consequently set off Xander and Spike followed soon after. It didn’t take long before the three were positively howling with laughter, tears streaming down their faces.

“You three, training room now…and don’t come back until you can control yourselves,” the Slayer ordered the almost hysterical threesome.

It took a few minutes to regain some semblance of order. The room quieted considerably when the three laughing males, who had managed to make their way to the training room door, seemed to realise in unison that if they left they might miss something good. All three quickly regained control and quietly took their seats once more. Buffy gave each of them a hard look before turning her gaze back to the psychologist, “You were saying, Penny?”

“Part of the prophecy refers to a child born of two vampires. The vampires in question are Darla and Angel. If the child is allowed to be conceived, Darla will be affected by the child’s soul and dust herself so the child can be born. The child’s birth and Angel’s inability to take the advice of other, smarter people will be the catalyst for a range of events which will have devastating consequences to the world, will leave Cordelia in a coma and ultimately cause her death, emotionally destroy the child, and have Angel start the final apocalypse which will pretty much take care of every one else.

“Look…its fine to suggest solutions to this situation, but most of the solutions rely on Angel. His inability to see past his own ego and need for control will end up destroying this world. We can not allow that to happen,” Penny informed the dumbfounded group.

“Couldn’t Angel just, you know…not have sex with Darla?” Willow asked innocently.

“Darla will call to Angel’s demon. Angel has proved that he has little or no control where his demon is concerned. In my dimension, he not only had sex with her, but he then lied about it. It wasn’t until Darla turned up eight months pregnant that his lies became known. I’m sorry, but his word is not good enough.”

“Wait a minute here…I want to get a few things straight. Are you telling me that if Angel has sex with Darla, Darla will get pregnant?” Cordelia angrily asked.

“Yes,” Penny answered, flatly.

“Does he lose his soul when the baby is born?” Wesley’s concern was palpable.

“Why would he?” Penny asked, confused.

“Hello…moment of perfect happiness?” Cordelia piped in sarcastically.

“Oh, no, nothing to worry about there; apparently the moment of happiness that Angel experienced, when he took the virginity of an underage child wasn’t matched by the birth of his son.” Penny's tone equalled Cordelia’s sarcasm.

“I’m sensing a little animosity here…care to share?” Cordelia deadpanned.

“Angel destroyed the world because of his own inability to recognise that he wasn’t omniscient. His petty jealousies over being usurped by the real champion led him to make rash decisions that damned the world. He took on the armies of Wolfram and Hart with one other warrior, one injured human, and the true champion. It wasn’t an act of bravery, he started a war in a stupid, childish attempt to compete with the achievements of the true champion and win the prize spoken about in the Shanshu prophecy. What he failed to understand, in his arrogance, is that he was never even in the running for the Shanshu,” Penny’s voice echoed her disgust.

“What do you mean? The prophecy mentions him specifically.” Wesley sounded shocked and confused.

“Wesley, the only clues you managed to decipher from the parchment that related to the identity of the recipient were the word angel and the phrase ‘vampire with a soul’, correct?” Penny asked the ex-watcher.

“Precisely,” he crisply replied.

“What do you call a fallen angel?” Penny calmly questioned Wesley.

“Ah…A demon?” he responded with a query of his own.

“That’s right…and what would you call a demon who has been redeemed?” She continued to belabor her point.

“I suppose…an angel?” Wesley offered; his voice filled with his dawning realisation, “And, the vampire with the soul?”

“Will in the very near future, seek out a legend and fight for the right to have an all encompassing soul gifted to him, so he can find true balance between his demon and his human halves and truly become the champion his lady love requires.”

“This is ridiculous. I was told by the oracles that I was a champion, I’m working towards redemption. You’ve obviously got it wrong,” Angel growled.

“You don’t receive redemption when your motives are selfish, Angel. When you only fight the good fight because you think you’ll be rewarded, you are not going to be redeemed. Selfless sacrifice brings redemption, not some competition that you get awarded points for. As to being a champion, you lost all chance of that when you lied to the oracles,” Penny told the angry vampire.

“What are you taking about? I never lied to the oracles,” Angel bellowed.

“You requested that the day be taken back so that you could be changed back from a human to a vampire and thereby have the strength to protect Buffy from being killed,” Penny responded, calmly.

“I didn’t lie about that! I gave up being a human for Buffy.” Angel was furious that his sacrifices were being questioned.

“Buffy lives in Sunnydale, Angel. How can you protect her from LA?” Penny quietly asked.

Silence echoed through the line until a small voice asked tremulously, “Angel was human?”

“Buffy, trust me, it’s not like she’s implying,” Angel quickly assured the girl.

“Then tell me what it was like, Angel.” Buffy struggled to control her emotions, reaching to the nearest hand and clutching it. Luckily the hand happened to be Spike’s, had it been anyone else - the force of her grip would have crippled them. As it was, the crack of bones was audible to everyone but the oblivious girl who sat waiting for a reply.

Giles silently moved to his office, when he returned he handed Spike a very large glass of scotch. Gratefully acknowledging the watcher, Spike downed the contents immediately. He smiled shyly at Willow and Tara when he noticed each giving him empathizing grimaces. His head was reeling, was this really happening to him? Were the Scoobies actually being nice to him? Was he really being given the chance he wanted; the chance to belong? He was brought out of his reverie when a paper plate with spicy chicken wings was carefully placed in front of him. His head shot up. Standing in front of him was Xander, the vulnerable look in his eyes, belied his goofy grin. “Clean slate. Thought you might be hungry, fang face,” he whispered.

“Thanks mate,” Xander wasn’t sure, but the heartfelt whispered words from the bleached blond seemed to be for more than the food. The look of awe and gratitude in the eyes of the vampire gave Xander the distinct impression that he was giving food to a starving man, but it wasn’t the food on the plate that Spike was starving for. With that one look, Xander let go of past prejudices and became a man.

With the exception of Buffy and Spike, everyone helped themselves to the newly arrived pizzas and focused in on what Angel was saying.

“So, I asked them to take the day back,” Angel finished his tale.

“Let me get this straight; you fought a demon that had magical blood and when your blood mixed with his, hey presto, you’re human. You went to these oracle-y people, gave them your watch and they told you that you were released; free to enjoy your new life as a human. You then spent the day with me and there was lots of non-curse-removing sex. Later, we had to again fight the demon with the magic blood and because of what the demon said about more warriors coming and the fact that you were useless in the fight and I had to save you, you went back to the all knowing oracles and they told you that you might be able to stop me from dying if you were still a vampire, so you asked them to take the day back so you could kill the demon before he made you human again?” Buffy questioned, her voice emotionless.

“Yes!” Angel exclaimed. His voice displayed his relief at her understanding.

“I see…and you did all this for me?” Buffy asked flatly.

“Yes!” Angel seemed elated that she was comprehending the reasons behind his actions.

“So the answer to Penny’s question of how, with me living in Sunnydale and all, you can protect me from L.A would be…?” Buffy asked mildly; her tone not betraying her emotions as she continued to squeeze Spike’s hand.

“That’s not fair, Buffy,” Angel gently chided her, “I have a life here. You know you can always call if you need help.”

“Don't worry about it Angel,” Buffy quipped.

Cocking her head, Buffy then seemed to revert to a typical valley girl persona, “I mean, it’s not like I don't have back up. Come to think about it, it actually works out better this way. There are no...um... personality clashes. I mean, well, everybody likes Spike ....”

“SPIKE!” Angel bellowed.

“It’s all of the good,” Buffy chirped, “And besides…he’s totally a better fighter than you anyway! I’ll be plenty safe.”

“I’m coming to Sunnydale. Spike, if you’re still there when I get there, you’ll wish you weren’t,” Angel ground out.

Angel’s declaration caused an immediate response from a grinning Xander, “So, we’re going with dusting Angel then are we?”

“If you come to Sunnydale Angel, you won’t be able to wish for anything,” Buffy pronounced her decision coldly and with finality. “Your get-out-of-jail-free card just expired.”

Surprised gasps sounded through the phone. “You can’t be serious,” Angel almost whispered, his voice laced with anguish.

“Deadly,” Buffy dropped the axe on her ex-lover. “Wes, you know what to do and I expect to be informed immediately of any developments. End of the world is more important than friendship, Wes. This prophecy can not be allowed to be fulfilled.”

“I understand, Buffy,” Wes agreed, firmly.

“Buffy?” Angel pleaded.

Buffy ignored him as she said goodnight to the LA group and hung up. Turning to Penny, Buffy asked the question that was on all their minds. “Do you think he’ll turn up?”

“No idea, but if I had to guess…I’d guess yes. He’ll convince himself that he can change your mind, or save you from the evil clutches of whomever it is that’s influencing you,” Penny blandly gave her opinion.

“So, other than pizza, what’s next on the menu?” Buffy asked cheerfully.

As she reached over to grab a slice of pizza, she noticed she was still holding Spike’s hand. Spike’s broken hand. Releasing it gently, she lifted her remorse filled eyes to his. “Oh God, I’m so sorry, Spike.”

“Did it help?” He asked her seriously.

“Yes,” She assured him.

“Then it was worth it.” He told her with a shrug. “But, I wouldn’t say no to a little assistance from the witches. No spells, mind,” he added as an afterthought, indicating to them all that the pain was extensive. Spike didn’t like or trust magic, to ask for even a poultice was a huge admission.

As the two witches hurried around the shop, gathering supplies for their remedy, Giles brought the conversation back to Buffy’s original question. “I believe Anya was going to inform us of the changes in council policy next. That is, as long as you’re sure you’re ready to go on, Buffy?”

“I’m fine, Giles. Tonight’s been a bit of an eye opener and it might hit me differently later, but for now…I’m kinda relieved,” Buffy told her watcher. “But, if Anya doesn’t mind, lets get Spike looked after before we do anything else, okay?”

With the acquiescence of Anya and Giles, Buffy and Spike moved to the training room, followed closely by Willow and Tara.

While the witches worked on Spike’s hand and Spike seemed to stare off into nothing, Buffy took the opportunity to study him. She knew that total understanding of all that she had heard tonight would require much more processing time than she’d so far had, but she had to admit that the apparent change of attitude that had been directed at the blond vampire had brought forward a side of Spike that she had never witnessed before. She had enjoyed watching the shared camaraderie developing between Xander, Giles and Spike. The complete lack of aggression and vitriolic commentary, that had seemed to vacate the premises with Riley had been relaxing. Could they be friends? She didn’t know, but suddenly, she very much wanted to find out.

While Buffy was contemplating him, Spike’s mind was racing through everything that he had learned that evening. “When those bastards put this thing in my head, they took away who I was…my…er…sense of self, you could say,” Spike began quietly, still focusing somewhere off in the distance. “I didn’t know who I was any more, and I didn’t know how to become something different. They took away my choices, but…what she said in there, it made me feel like I had ‘em back, you know? I could take back control of my life and make the choices I want to. On my terms.” He finally looked at the three girls listening to him and smiled. “She gave me back my dignity.”

“What do you choose?” Tara asked, smiling her soft and gentle smile at the joyous vampire.

“I want to be a champion.”

Spike followed the three girls back into the front of the Magic Box. His step was as light as his heart. He didn’t think things could get better. He finally had a direction. He had a side to fight on. He had the tentative beginnings of acceptance, maybe even friendship, from the Scoobies. In Xander he might have found his very first male human friend. In Giles, a fellow academic, someone William would like to come out and converse with. He had made his decision, now it was time to let the others know.

“Ah…can I say somethin’ before Anya gets started?” Spike asked hesitantly, his voice devoid of its usual brash confidence.

“Of course, Spike. Please…” Giles motioned the suddenly shy vampire to speak.

Looking to the rest of the group and seeing nothing but interest, Spike took a deep breath and a leap of faith. “You’ve all been right good to me tonight and I know we’ve got a lot of history and all, but if you’re willin’, I’d like to ask for a chance to prove myself to you all. I’d like to try to be better than I am. More than I am. I’d like to join the white hats, not just when you need me, but all the time. I can help with research when it’s needed and I can patrol with the slayer every night, maybe even be able to give her a night off when she needs it…if she’ll let me. I know it won’t be easy and I’ll make mistakes, so you’ll prolly need a lot of patience with me. But, if you’ll help me, I know I can do this.”

Xander replied immediately. “I’m in, fang face.”

“You can count on us,” Willow offered and Tara nodded in agreement.

“If it’s going to save time on research, I’m all for it.” Anya smiled guilelessly.

“I, for one, will be delighted to know that that some as skilled as you is supporting my slayer.” Giles looked to Buffy for her opinion.

The Slayer made her stance, “One rule, Spike; if you’re in doubt, ask.” At his nod of acceptance, Buffy turned her attention to Anya. “You were gonna tell us about the council changes?”

“There’s not much to tell. About five hundred years ago the council went through some major changes. They changed their policies on just about everything. Oh don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t just swoosh bang - changes, it started slowly about fifty years before the changes became policy.” Anya looked around at her audience, glowing in the attention. “Before that time, the council had a really good support system for its slayers. The watcher was there, but there was also a whole team of people whose sole purpose was to do research for the slayer. All on the council’s payroll,” Anya turned to Giles and said, “That really was a bad decision, Giles; taking away the slayer’s support group. But Buffy has us, so I really think you should say something to the council about reinstating that particular policy, and we should be paid for our contribution to the cause.”

The earnestness with which Anya stated her argument had Giles stifling his grin and answering the girl with equal seriousness. “None of us actually work for the council, Anya, so I doubt very much that they’d listen to any suggestions I had regarding changing policies.”

“Was the support system the only policy they changed, Anya?” Buffy had a really strong feeling that Riley and Angel weren’t going to be the only ones that she was pissed at.

“Oh no, they introduced the new tradition of the Cruciamentum and then taught the new slayers that demons were evil soulless things, so that the guidelines were very clear, black and white. Slayers kill demons, with no exceptions.” Anya stopped talking and looked directly at Giles, “You shouldn’t feel guilty about what you’ve taught her though, Giles. The head of the council made the decision that most of this should also be kept from the new watchers, so those that knew about the changes all agreed to hide all the previous material and keep their knowledge to themselves; the new stuff was what the new watchers were taught. Only the new head of the council was told the whole truth and that was by the retiring head of the council.”

“But, why?” Giles looked shell-shocked. He couldn’t understand what anyone would achieve by these actions.

“Control,” Buffy replied furiously. Every fibre of her body was telling her the same thing; the older a slayer got the less she listened to the orders of the council, and the council liked to be in control.

“Not entirely,” Anya responded matter-of-factly to Buffy’s suggestion, “Although, that was a part of it. No, the council was trying to stop a prophecy that they’d found.”

“A prophecy, you say?” Giles asked tiredly. He really was getting too old for this. He’d not only found out that everything he’d ever believed was wrong and that the institution he’d dedicated most of his life to was flawed, but that now they had any number of prophesies to deal with.

Willow looked at Anya curiously, “How do you know all this, Anya? I mean, wouldn’t the council have made sure that this sort of stuff didn’t get out? ‘Cause, gotta say, if you’re gonna go to all that trouble to keep a secret, wouldn’t letting it out, sorta be of the bad?”

“The whole thing started out as a vengeance spell.” She shrugged nonchalantly, absolutely oblivious to the ramifications of her bland statement.

“Oh splendid, more good news,” Giles commented in droll humour. When Spike quietly chuckled in response to his comment, Giles found himself looking forward to sharing his humour with another Brit. ‘Bloody colonials never could take a joke.'

Xander looked over at his oft-times embarrassingly blunt girlfriend and realised that she was happy, truly happy, and he hadn’t seen her this way with the group in, well, ever. “Ahn, honey, wanna tell about the vengeance spell?”

“It wasn’t really much as vengeance spells go. It was a simple wish made by the head of the council at the time. He wanted all watchers to believe that all demons were inherently evil. I think a demon killed someone in his family and that’s why he was granted vengeance.”

“But, you said the changes in the council started because of a prophecy?” Spike tried to get some clarity. This working with the white hats was bloody difficult. How they managed to make sense of things was totally beyond him.

Looking at the vampire, Anya tried to clear up his confusion. “Well, you see the prophecy stated that the council would be vanquished when the slayer and the champion joined. The champion was described as a demon that had been redeemed, so the council thought that if the slayer could be taught to hate all demons, she’d never allow one to get close enough to her so the prophecy could be fulfilled. The vengeance wish got all the watchers on board and the Cruciamentum got rid of slayers that the council thought were getting too old. They believed that the older a slayer was, the more likely she was to recognise that not all demons are bad. If a slayer made it through the ritual and she wasn’t killed by a demon, she’d be killed off by some sort of council induced accident.”

“Good Lord!” Giles was horrified. Not only did his slayer have to face untold dangers on a nightly basis, she had to now be concerned about her safety from the institution that was supposed to support her, or rather, they would if she hadn’t quit.

“The fruition of the prophecy requires more than just a slayer though. It requires a slayer that not only understands her origins, but can tap into all her powers,” Penny added quietly.

“Huh?” Buffy eloquently expressed her confusion.

“Buffy, if you are supposed to be a protector pitted against all malevolent supernatural beings, why are you called the vampire slayer?”

“Um…’cause it’s my job to slay vampires?” Buffy relied, totally missing the point of the question. In fact, she thought it was a little redundant since everyone there knew exactly what she was.

Penny looked at the girl, the slayer, and not for the first time wondered if she was moving too fast. Was Buffy ready for the information she was about to receive?

She knew that she had already influenced these people with her own opinions. Human nature being what it was, she would have had an easier time stopping the pyroclastic flow from an erupting volcano than stopping herself from acting on her desire to break the unnatural hold that Riley and Angel seemed to have over these people. She didn’t feel the least bit of guilt that she’d deliberately manipulated the situation to show everyone that Riley’s racism made him a human version of Angelus, or that Angel was really a self-centred, egotistical liar who believed he had the right to play God with the people whose lives he was manipulating. She despised both of them and was more than satisfied with the way things had gone with the two. She knew that there would be further confrontations with them. Neither one knew when to quit and neither one knew how to lose, but they would learn. She would see to that.

The rest of this group, though, they were worth helping. Tara needed her confidence built up. Willow needed to learn to deal with her own control issues and that certainly wasn’t going to be an easy job. Anya needed to learn how to reintegrate into human society, but all that would take was a little time and patience. Giles needed some closure with the Angelus situation. Spike would probably be the easiest to deal with; he wanted the changes and was willing to make the effort to achieve them. Xander and Buffy, however, were another matter completely. They were going to need some major counselling.

“The demon that was used to create the first slayer was non-corporeal,” Penny offered cautiously.

“Sooo not good with the cryptic, you wanna give me a little more?” Buffy lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

Her body language told Penny all she need to know. Buffy had already figured it all out, but she needed to hear the words.

“The demon that was used to create the first slayer was a vampire demon,” Giles stated sadly in realisation. He had often wondered, but knowing his slayer’s need for denial, he had never brought the subject up. Now, he wished he had.

“Well that would explain how I knew exactly which one of you lot was the slayer that first night in the Bronze," Spike commented thoughtfully.

“What do you mean, Spike.” Giles looked curiously at the vampire.

“I was only told that the slayer was petite and blonde. That described half the bints in the bronze that night,” he explained. “But the minute I saw her dancin’, I knew. I guess some part of me has always known that the power of the slayer was more than just strong mojo. Power like that would have to have a demonic origin.”

Buffy wasn’t wigged. She was shocked at the realization that she wasn’t wigged, but she wasn’t, not really. So the first slayer was created with a vampire’s demon. It wasn’t like she was one, was she? “Um…that was just the first slayer though…right?”

Penny gathered her thoughts, knowing that she had to explain this just right. “Yes, the first slayer was the one that was combined with the essence of a vampire demon. Over time the demon soul and the girl’s soul merged and the first slayer was the outcome. It’s the essence of the first slayer that has gone on and merged with each of the following slayers that have been called. Your problem,” Penny said, turning to Buffy, “is that you deny the slayer side of you. You need to accept who you are in totality and stop fighting it. Once you do that, you’ll find the peace that you’re looking for.

“You’re so busy looking for happiness in your dreams of normal that you haven’t realised yet that even if you found normal, you still wouldn’t be happy. You will never find the happiness you crave from without…you need to find balance, and that only comes from within.

“Balance is the key, Buffy. Once you find balance within, you’ll be able to unlock all your other powers.” Penny smiled softly at the young woman in front of her. She could see the struggle Buffy was going through.

Buffy looked up at Penny, her eyes filled with uncertainty. “I don’t know how,” she whispered.

“Sweetie, that’s what I’m here for,” Penny answered Buffy’s plea. “But I really think that’s enough for tonight. Why don’t we all meet back here tomorrow?” With a unanimous agreement, their goodnights were said.

Turning to Spike, Penny smiled as she asked, “Would you care to see a lady home, Sir?”

“Would be my pleasure, luv.” Spike smiled and offered his arm. Neither noticed the quick flash of annoyance that marred Buffy’s expression. Waving good night to the rest of the group, Penny and Spike made their way out into the night.

They walked for a few moments in silence, both thinking about day and all that had happened. Penny had laughed at the workings of the Powers That Be when she and the other girls had discovered that her new address was 1631 Revello Drive. Apparently the house had been on the market for a while. When Penny told Spike her new address, he looked at her speculatively.

“You may as well get on with it then, Doc. Know you got me alone to talk ‘bout something.”

“Does anything get by you?” Penny smiled at him.

“You live across the street from the slayer, pet, but you asked me to walk you home? It doesn’t take a genius.”

“Okay, you caught me. I do have some stuff I wanted to talk to you about. I was hoping to invite you in for some hot chocolate. Some of this stuff is private and I didn’t want to embarrass you by bringing it up while everyone was there.”

Spike nodded his understanding, but was a little concerned about the word ‘private’. She had known enough about him to be able to shut him up with the word ‘effulgent’ earlier: he was pretty sure that anything dealing with ‘private’ was a going to mean emotionally painful for him. He looked over at the woman walking beside him. She’d never been anything but good to him, she’d said things that had caused the others to treat him differently, too. She’d got rid of Cardboard and delivered a couple of stinging verbal blows to the Great Poof. If she said they should talk, then talk they would. He honestly didn’t think she’d hurt him deliberately.

Once they arrived, Penny ushered the silent vampire into her home and made her way to the kitchen. While Penny moved around the room with casual ease, Spike made himself comfortable by taking a stool and seating himself at the breakfast bar.

Handing him his drink and taking the seat opposite, the two drank in companionable silence for a few minutes. Then Penny placed her cup on the counter, took a deep breath, and started talking. “She’d been sick for a very long time, William. Her soul had been weakened when she lost your father; she had loved him so very much. When she woke the weakness of her soul allowed the demon to take control. Her soul was too weak; she wouldn’t have been able to take back control. She was horrified by what the demon did and would never have adjusted. You saved her, she is back in your father’s arms and she’s proud of what you did. Your mother sent you a message, William. Whistler gave it to me. She says that ‘you now have the power to change what you are into what you were destined to be. You have trials ahead of you’. That she loves you and knows that you feel terrible remorse because you’ve always believed you didn’t save her, but she wanted to assure you that you did. She also says that ‘if you really feel the need to save a mother, save Joyce’.

During her parlance, tears had started to stream down Spike’s face. Tears of relief, joy, and grace ran unheeded, unchecked. He had done the right thing; he’d saved her. His smile of gratitude faded at the last words that Penny spoke. “Joyce?”

“She has a tumour, Spike. It’s operable and the operation will be a success, but she will die not long after the operation due to a brain aneurism, a complication from the surgery,” Penny explained. “But, you can save her. The trials that Angel would have taken to try and save Darla will work for Joyce. If you are willing to go through the trials in her name, you can save her.”

There wasn’t a moment’s hesitation from the vampire. Not for Joyce.

“What do I have to do?”

Penny walked across the street and knocked on the door to 1630 and waited for the door to be answered. After she was ushered inside by Buffy, Penny suggested that they ask Joyce to join them. When Joyce had joined them, Penny asked Buffy to explain who she was. Once she was sure that Joyce understood, Penny told them the truth about Joyce’s illness.

“I’m going to die?” Joyce asked, her voice soft and shaking.

“No. We can fix this, right?” Buffy pleaded with Penny.

“There is a way,” Penny informed them confidently. “It’s another thing the Powers wanted me to fix. They understand with perfect clarity that Buffy needs her mother.”

Bouncing happily in her seat, Buffy asked the important question. “So, what do we do?”

“At sundown, Spike will arrive and escort you both to the trials. Spike is the only one who can do this. It’s more of a test for him than anything else, but he doesn’t know that and he can’t be told. By going through the trial, he will ensure that Joyce here will be completely healed. The best way you can help him is to believe in him and to tell him that.

“I know that you want to do this for your mother, Buffy, but this fight is Spike’s. You have to let him do this; it’s his first step on the road to redemption and it’s his destiny.” Penny watched as Buffy’s expression changed from stubborn mutiny, to argumentative, then frustration, petulance and finally to grudging acceptance.

~*~*~

When sunset arrived, so did Spike. The trio walked in silence, guided by the directions Penny had given them. Walking up to the empty pool, Buffy, Joyce, and Spike looked at each other. Joyce held his gaze as she asked, “Are you sure?”

Nodding firmly Spike walked to the diving board and said, “It's time for a leap of faith." Taking a deep breath he said, “I'm either coming back with a cure - or you're about to see somethin’ bloody funny.” Taking a running leap, Spike bounced off the end of the board and dove into the empty pool. A blue light crackled around him as he disappeared.

~*~*~

Spike saw the ground a split second before he hit, but there was time enough to allow him to tuck and roll back to his feet. He looked around what appeared to be a dungeon-like chamber.

“Well, we certainly have faith. Now we'll test your valour.”

Spike spun at the sound of the voice. Standing calmly in front of him was a small man that appeared to be dressed as a butler in a black suit and tie. “And who would you be, mate?”

“I shall be assisting you with the trials, sir,” The butler replied politely.

Glancing to the side Spike noticed that both Buffy and Joyce are standing beside the man. Spike whirled back, glaring at the man. “Why are they here?” Spiked snarled. He was suddenly terrified for the two women.

“You wish to save this lady’s life?” The butler calmly asked as he indicated Joyce.

“Of course I bloody well do,” Spike answered the man belligerently.

“She is your collateral then. Should you complete all three trials, she will be healed.”

Buffy and Spike shared a glance, suspicion moving its icy tendrils through both their minds. “What happens if I don't complete the trials?” Spike asked.

“She dies instantly. In the mean time; Mrs. Summers, Miss Summers, you can relax with an iced beverage in our antechamber.” With his words both Buffy and Joyce disappeared.

“No,” Spike whispered.

“Oh, it's better this way, sir. In a few moments no living thing will be safe in here.”

Spike seemed not to have heard the butler, “You can't. Nobody said that she would...”

“Oh, I'm sorry if there was a misunderstanding, but life is the bargain here. You have placed hers in the balance along with your own, of course. Anyway, you’d best get ready now, sir. This is no time to be dwelling on the negative.

“Your trials will consist of three separate challenges. I'll need your coat, tee-shirt, and shoes,” the small man instructed.

“You will give the coat to Buffy.” Spike’s statement brooked no argument. Removing his coat, tee-shirt and shoes, he silently handed them to the Butler. The warrior was preparing, he would not fail. “You said three challenges; I’m guessin’ the first one involves whatever the buggerin’ hell is makin’ that racket behind door number one,” Spike commented, pointing to the gate in front of him.

“Once that gate opens, all you have to do is walk through it,” the butler blithely announced before disappearing.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure it’ll be just that easy,” Spike muttered to himself as the gate started to rise. An ugly yellow demon, armed with a sword and two chains with sharp hooks at the ends made his way through the gate. “Slayer’s gonna be right brassed she missed you, mate,” Spike chortled with glee.

As the demon swung the chains around, trying to hook his opponent, Spike jumped to avoid them. Moving in closer, Spike punched the demon with a strong left hook, spun to the right, and disarmed the demon of his sword with a quick right hand. Ducking low and spinning quickly with a leg sweep, Spike dropped the demon to the floor. Swapping the sword to his left hand, Spike beheaded the demon in one swift move. Picking up the chains, he looked thoughtfully at the beheaded demon and then around the room. Noting two light fixtures on opposite walls, Spike brought down the sword a second time, slicing the body in two. Hooking one half, he dragged it to the one wall and looped the chain over a light fixture. He repeated his action with the other half and the opposite light fixture. As he turned back to the gate, it opened, and Spike walked calmly through.

~*~*~

Standing next to Buffy and Joyce in the ante-chamber, the butler looked at his pocket watch. “Seventeen seconds to win. Well, that record is going to be hard to beat.”

Buffy smirked at the man and shrugged. “He’s a warrior.”

“Is it possible to see what's happening?” Joyce asked, concerned for the blond vampire she had befriended.

“If you insist, but please remember - you did ask.” He clapped his hands and with a brief flash of light, they could see what was happening.

~*~*~

As the gate closed behind him, Spike was left in a long dark corridor. With a soft whoosh, the ceiling opened, allowing the hall to be bathed in moonlight. Spike studied the hall. The floor and walls were covered with crosses of all shapes and sizes. About half way down, there was a basin on a pedestal, and at the other end there was a door. Spike rolled his eyes and loudly stated his contempt.

“Could you be anymore predictable? Let me guess; the door’s locked and the bloody key is in the basin, prolly covered with holy water. Wankers.”

~*~*~

Joyce gasped and turned angrily to the butler. “Why don't you just kill him if you want him dead?”

“We don't want anything, madam. In this place, the journey is all. Where it may lead is not our concern.”

~*~*~

Spike shifted into game face, and using vamp speed he raced to the basin, pausing only long enough to pick up the key, which was in fact covered with holy water, and raced the rest of the way to the door. He unlocked it and stepped though.

~*~*~

Checking his watch again, the butler commented mildly. “He's quite remarkable.”

Buffy and Joyce replied in unison. “Yes…he is.”

~*~*~

As Spike entered the next chamber, chains shot out and manacles clamped around his wrists and ankles, pulling tight and leaving him spread-eagled.

Clapping his hands as he entered, the butler smiled widely at the vampire, “Well played! You fielded our strokes from end to end. My hat's off to you, sir. Of course, there is one final challenge.”

As he spoke, row upon row of lethal stakes poked out of the wall facing Spike.

Lifting an eyebrow, Spike quietly questioned the man, “My life for hers?”

“Exactly. This third test has no catch. Death is the final challenge. We can't restore one life without taking another, you see? In order for Mrs. Summers to live, you must die.”

“Well get on with it, then. Joyce needs to be getting home; her little one will start worrying soon.”

“Are you ready to give her life at the cost of your own?” The butler asked him.

Spike looked him straight in the eye and firmly replied, “Yes.”

“As you wish.”

Joyce shook her head in disbelief, whispering her denial. “No.”

Spike took a deep breath and harshly ordered the butler. “Do it.”

The butler released the stakes and as they hurtled towards Spike, Buffy felt the emotional paralysis that had held her frozen let go. It wasn’t fair! She didn’t want him to die, but it was either him or her mom. It sooo wasn’t fair. Needing to do something, both Buffy and Joyce tried to move toward the vampire, but felt themselves held back by an invisible force. Screaming out her frustration, Buffy sank to the floor, tears streaming down her face. She wasn’t ready for him to be gone yet.

As she slowly opened her eyes at her mother’s gasp, Buffy was stunned to see Spike standing in front of her mother, once again fully dressed.

“Congratulations. You've passed the third test by accepting death. I'm told no one's ever gone that far before in terms of sacrifice. Kudos.”

Turning his head to the little butler, Spike ground out his order. “Pay up.”

“Of course.” Smiling at Joyce, the butler beckoned her closer, “You're a lucky woman, and soon you'll have your whole life ahead of you.” Placing his hands on the either side of her head a soft glow started to emanate from them. It only took a few minutes, but the relief from her pain was instantaneous.

Joyce gently thanked the little butler and made her way to Spike. Enfolding the vampire into her gentle embrace, she whispered her words of gratitude. Buffy took her turn at hugging her mother, and then, fixing her attention on Spike, she moved swiftly to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him soundly on the lips.

Pulling back from the gobsmacked vampire, Buffy grinned at him before moving away. Spike appeared frozen in time. Looking at her mother, Buffy noticed that her mother seemed to be also. Turning suspicious green eyes on the butler, she ground out her question, “What’s happening.”

“It’s just temporary, I assure you, but I had an offer from the Powers That Be for you and thought you might prefer that it was not heard.”

“What offer?” Buffy hadn’t decided yet if she was angry or not.

“I have been given the power to remove his behavioural modification chip. The choice is yours.”

A thousand thoughts hit her at once; reason after reason for saying no. But, one though persisted above them all, ‘he asked for a chance’.

“Free them,” the Slayer ordered.

Once her mother and Spike were cognisant, Buffy explained what had happened and what they had been offered. Spike’s look of shock hadn’t subsided, and Joyce’s, ‘it’s about time’, made him do a double take.

“Your decision?” The butler politely inquired.

“Easy…” Buffy was stopped before she could complete her sentence by Spike’s firm request.

“Wait.”

After Buffy and Spike escorted a now healthy Joyce home, they continued silently on to the Magic Box. While their mouths may have been silent, their thoughts were not.

Buffy’s thoughts bombarded her; why had he told her to wait? Wasn’t it what he wanted? Sure, he’d made the decision to change sides. Hell, he’d willingly offered his own life for her mom’s and that was like the single most amazing thing she’d ever witnessed; she’d even kissed him for it. She’d kissed Spike. Hmmm…let’s try that again. She had actually kissed Spike. Spike! Nope, no guilty voices telling her it was wrong; she’d kissed Spike and she didn’t seem to be having a problem with that. Interesting. Okay, so she’d kissed Spike, didn’t seem to be wigging, he’d stopped her from removing the chip and this wigged her. So, the obvious question here was; why was she not wigged over the Spike kissage?

‘She kissed me’, Spike was in shock. She’d kissed him. Him. Buffy the Vampire Slayer had, by her own choice, kissed William the Bloody. ‘Bloody hell, she kissed me’. What a day, Joyce was safe and Buffy had kissed him. Joyce had hugged him and Buffy had…

‘She kissed me’.

Walking into the Magic Box ensured that both left their inner musings and returned to the matters at hand. Buffy had news to share.

After all the greetings were out of the way, Buffy proceeded to tell the group what had just happened. Her joy at the knowledge that her mother was once again healthy was shared by the rest of them. Spike’s part in the trials was orated and he was lauded with praise and a few well done slaps to the back. His shyness at the praise for his selfless actions further endeared the vampire to them all.

“There is one more thing I have to tell you, but I need to say first that at this point no official decision has been made yet,” Buffy announced, waiting for the total attention of the group before continuing. “They said that they could remove Spike’s chip.”

“What do you mean ‘that no decision has been made yet', Buffy?” Giles asked curiously.

“Yeah, I thought we were all on board with the ‘give the guy a chance’? What’s the deal, Buffy?” Xander crossed his arms and glared at the petite blond. He was not happy. Xander had spent a lot of time the night before thinking about his own treatment of Spike. He had decided to take Penny’s words to heart. If he was going to give the guy a chance then he would do it completely. He had mentally moved the vampire from his enemy group to his friend group…and Xander Harris stood by his friends.

“Oh, no. It’s not like that. Spike wanted to wait,” Buffy quickly clarified.

When all eyes turned to the shy vampire, he kept his eyes on the floor and softly told them what he had been thinking. “I just thought you all deserved to be apart of the decision, is all.”

With his eyes focused on the floor, Spike was unaware of the silent vote taking place. His first indication that something momentous was about to happen came when small, boot covered feet moved into his view.

He slowly lifting his gaze until he was looking directly into the dancing eyes of his slayer.

“Chip’s history,” she blithely announced as she lifted a finger to his forehead and tapped on it. A small blue spark was the only indication that anything had happened. Cautiously lifting his own hand, Spike hesitantly touched a lock of her hair, before quickly giving it a yank.

“OW!” Buffy’s indignation quickly changed to amusement when faced with the innocently boyish grin in front of her. When he picked her up and spun her around, whooping with joy, Buffy wasn’t the only one to join in with his laughter.

Once the laughter died down, everyone resumed their seats and Buffy turned to Penny. “So, Doc, what’s next?”

“Research.” Penny grinned at the now frowning girl and laughed out loud when Xander’s head lightly hit the table. Repeatedly.

“What are we researching?” Giles asked as he indulgently smiled at the antics of the children of his heart.

“A demon in Africa; a demon that grants wishes.” Penny smiled her Mona Lisa smile.

“Why are we looking up a demon that grants wishes?” Willow asked speculatively.

“Sorry, but this time I’m gonna have to let you find that out on your own. You need to come to your own conclusions.” Penny refused to give them any more information. As a champion, Spike would need this, but he also had to come to that decision by himself. His demon would rebel if he thought the choice was not his own.

Grabbing an armful of research books, Giles placed them on the table. The Scoobies went to work.

When the doorbell to the Magic Box rang, they were all hard at work. Lifting their heads in curiosity, none could admit to being surprised at the arrival of Riley Finn.

Spike returned his gaze to the book he was reading, but not before Xander had caught the look of vulnerability that had flashed in his eyes. Picking up his own book, Xander moved around the table to sit next to the vampire, effectively placing his own body between Spike and the ousted ex-soldier.

“You know, I think G.I. Joker is my favourite of your names for him,” Xander casually informed the reading vampire, not particularly caring if his voice carried to the door. Watching Spike smirk, Xander waited for his reply.

Leaning back in his seat, his face a picture of seriousness, Spike offered his own opinion. “I’ve always liked Captain Tiny Tool myself.”

The spluttering, red-faced object of their discussion decided that he should complete his mission before he was drawn into anything else. Speaking loudly, so he could be heard over the laughter, Riley spoke to the subject of his mission. “Buffy, I want you to give me another chance.”

As he finished speaking the front door to the Magic Box again opened and Riley was pushed firmly to the side.

“I’m through playing people. I want my key!” The Hell God had arrived.

Quickly moving in front of the Scoobies, Penny crossed her arms and confronted the intruder. “I’m not your anything.”

“MY KEY!” Glory cried out jubilantly. Her joy soon faded as she realised that she couldn’t touch the woman in front of her. Her cries of jubilation quickly changed to ones of frustrated rage.

“What are you talking about? You can’t be what she’s looking for, you only got here yesterday,” Riley griped, oblivious to the pandemonium he was unleashing.

Grabbing Riley by the throat, Glory looked back at the others, once again feeling the power of her Godhood. “I want answers and I want them now! No answers and I’ll snap his neck like a twig.”

“You could, but then I’d just do the same thing to Ben.” Penny smiled smugly at the God.

“How do you know about…” the bottle blond gasped.

“I know a lot of stuff. Just like I know who and whom not to trust. You don’t honestly think I’d tell an idiot like that my secrets, do you?” Penny openly laughed at the God.

Glory’s fury at being laughed at had her tossing Riley aside. “You can’t laugh at me, I’m a God!”

“Well now you get to prove that,” Penny informed her. “If you can solve the riddle that is me, you can have me, but if you hurt any humans, I will pay a visit to Ben.” Leaning close to her, Penny made sure the woman understood what she was saying. “Leave, Glorificus. If you return to this place or these people, I will introduce Ben to the same sort of pain that you have inflicted on others. Your time will be short if you harm one more person.”

Penny just watched as the fuming Hell God left.

“You sooo remind me of the Spike I first met.” Buffy grinned at Penny in appreciation. Looking down at Riley, Buffy’s expression changed to one of mock scolding. “But, gotta say I’m not so impressed with your clean up skills. You forgot to throw out the garbage.”

Penny smiled, opened the door and hauled Riley out.

Before the group could get very far into their discussion on the confrontation with Glory, the front door once again opened. Most of the group rolled their eyes at Riley’s persistence. Most of the group refused to even acknowledge his entrance. Xander was the exception.

“Well, well, well. Came all this way just to be staked by a Scooby, did ya, deadboy?”

“Shut up, Harris. I’m not here to see you, I’m here to see this so-called representative of the Powers,” Angel spoke derisively. He wasn’t planning on wasting time on the little bigot.

“Oi! Watch your manners, Peaches. Don’t speak to him like that.” Spike had been accepted; he was well prepared to protect his pack.

“Don’t tell me what to do, William,” Angel spat out angrily. How dare that bleached moron reproach him on etiquette, and since when did Spike stick up for the bigot? What the hell was he doing here in the first place? The little bastard would be dust before he left, Angel promised himself.

The whistle was the only clue before the stake was imbedded in Angel’s chest. “You speak to my team with anything other than respect and the next one won’t miss,” the Slayer announced with deadly calmness.

“Buffy?” Angel’s voice was filled with desperate anguish. Why was she being like this? Didn’t she realise he’d given up everything for her? Why was she being so ungrateful? What sort of lies had she been told? When did she get so skinny?

Huh?

Before Angel took the time to think about the possible ramifications, the words had slipped out of his mouth. “Jeez Buff, when did you start looking like a famine victim?”

Faced with a room full of incredulous stares, it is safe to say that had Penny not chosen that particular moment to move in front of the brunette vampire he would definitely have dusted while suffering from a terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease.

"Stake him again Buffy, please?" Xander whined

"Oi, let me get a better view first, luv," Spike requested.

"Can we take pictures?" Xander begged.

As the group joined in laughing at the clowning twosome, Penny turned to the large vampire and waited for him to speak.

Angel pointedly ignored the waiting woman and busied himself with removing the stake that was imbedded in his chest. Carefully, refusing to give anyone the satisfaction of his pain or to ask for help, he eased the object out. Luckily it was not in deep and the wound itself would not take long to heal. Once he was certain that no wood remained in the wound, he turned his attention to the woman in front of him. “Are you Penny?” Angel asked her solemnly.

“Yes.” Her reply was equally as solemn.

“Why are you trying to undermine me, destroy my life? What have I ever done to you?” He was trying to be understanding, giving her the opportunity to explain herself. He didn’t realise that to others his tone might be considered petulant.

Smiling in amusement and lifting an eyebrow, she answered his questions with questions of her own. “How has anything I’ve done undermined you and more importantly, why do you feel that being undermined would destroy your life?”

“You’ve got my people questioning me and my decisions. I have to waste time explaining every little thing because of you. They’re questioning my decisions, my methods, and even my motives,” Angel lamented in frustration.

“I see. So you feel that your decisions, methods, and motives shouldn’t be questioned?” Penny clarified.

“Exactly,” Angel nodded his head in agreement.

“You feel that an individual in your position doesn’t need to be questioned?” she continued.

“Right,” he was pleased that she was finally getting the picture. Maybe she wasn’t as stupid as he had first thought.

“You feel that as your underlings, they should respect your decisions, methods, and motives?” Penny allowed none of her emotions to show themselves.

“Yes, yes, now you’re getting it.” Angel was elated. Finally they were coming to an understanding. This nonsense about him not being the champion would soon be over, and he could get back to helping Darla. Buffy and the others would be forced to apologise for being rude to him and all would be right with the world.

“Because they’re beneath you, and you are their benevolent caretaker.”

“Yes…what? Wait…no.” Huh? How the hell did that happen? Angel’s mind reeled.

“Oh no, please, I think I understand now. You are the great and mighty Angel. Your knowledge is all encompassing. You are incapable of making mistakes and even if you did, your underlings would not have the intellect to aid you.” Her sarcasm could have cut glass.

“You’re twisting my words. That’s not what I’m saying at all.” Angel panicked.

“Have you considered for even a moment that I don’t care what you’re saying? That you are nothing to me? That I don’t answer to you, nor do I have any intention of ever doing so? You come in here with your holier-than-thou attitude and just expect me to explain myself to you? Who the hell do you think you are? You are just a waste of space and the world would be better off with you in a dust-buster.” Penny turned her back on him and returned to the group. Her obvious disdain made it clear that the conversation was over.

Xander, Giles, and Spike leapt to their feet and gave her a standing ovation.

As Angel stood doing his impression of a fish out of water, the group was once again distracted by the opening of the front door of the shop.

Cordelia Chase strode into the shop as if she owned it. Taking in the wound on the fish-faced brunette vampire, Cordelia slapped him on the back of the head, muttering “Moron” as she made her way past him and down the step to the main floor of the shop. Wesley followed her at a more hesitant pace.

“We told him not to come,” she greeted the Sunnydale Scoobies.

“I do apologise for the intrusion. Angel seemed reluctant to listen to us,” Wesley told a more charitable tale. He felt incredibly uncomfortable in front of this particular group of people. He mentally cringed in memory of the prat he’d been when he was last in Sunnydale.

Angel felt the slow boil of his rage. His demon was screaming for retribution. How dare she speak to him like that? Who the hell was she? The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He was a champion of the powers. His was a mission of purity. Where did she get off making people question that? Didn’t she realise who he was? The roar in his ears was deafening, he couldn’t think straight. Raging, white-hot anger infused his whole body. The demon screamed in triumph as Angel let go of his control.

Sliding into gameface, he roared as he lunged for the focus of his rage, his feet lifting off the floor. His momentum carried him forward and straight through the non-corporeal body of his opponent and head first into the bookshelf behind her.

Picking up a heavy bronze statue from the mess on the floor, Xander willingly hit the out-of-control vampire on the back of the head, knocking him out completely. Turning to Buffy, no one was surprised at his question. “Now, can I dust him?”

~*~*~

The beautiful brunette vampiress lifted her head and listened. Words whispered in her mind, pictures played out, images she recognised and some that she didn’t. Lifting her arms high in the air, as if trying to touch the very stars themselves, she danced to music that only she could hear, whispering sadly as she danced, “Daddy's a bad dog. Bad dogs need whippings. Ruff, ruff. William is standing in the sun; no more my dark prince. Daddy won’t be able to play now. He’s all alone. Alone with no one to help him. Bye-bye, Daddy. ”

When the bell for the front door jangled, the first thought that went through everyone’s mind was, ‘really should have locked that’. Looking up, the group was surprised to see Dawn, who was taking in the scene before her with wide-eyed amazement. As Joyce stepped through the door to join her youngest, she calmly ignored the unconscious form of the brunette vampire and directed her question to Buffy. “Dear, were you aware that Riley is sitting in his car watching the shop? He doesn’t look pleased.”

“I broke up with him last night. He was carrying around a plastic stake to torture vampires with.” Buffy let her eyes flick towards Spike, silently sharing with her mother her belief that Spike had been the intended victim.

Before Joyce could comment, Dawn made her presence felt, squealing her thank-yous over and over again, the exuberant teen launched herself into Spike's arms before she promptly burst into tears.

Totally at a loss, Spike shared a panicked look with Xander before turning pleading eyes towards Joyce.

Taking pity on the confused vampire, Joyce gathered her weeping child into her embrace, offering Dawn assurances that she was here and not going anywhere.

Bouncing back, as teenagers do, Dawn looked down at the vampire she was standing on. “So…why is there an unconscious stalker on the floor?”

“Xander hit him,” Willow informed the curious girl.

“He rammed his head into the wall first,” Xander felt it necessary to explain.

“He was being an ass.” Cordy looked down at the now groaning vampire, “This is sooo gonna cost him a Prada handbag to go with my new Manolo Blahnik shoes”.

“Should we restrain him? He seemed quite agitated.” Wesley kept his concerned gaze on Angel.

“Who was he angry at?” Joyce eyed the downed vampire suspiciously as Dawn stepped off him.

“Me,” Penny grinned, completely unperturbed by the attempted attack. She was really starting to see the benefits of being non-corporeal.

Groaning, Angel gingerly sat up, holding onto the back of his head. “Could you all please stop talking about me as if I wasn’t here?”

“I’m still voting for the stakage,” Xander completely ignored the now conscious subject of his derision.

“Oooh, can I vote too? ‘Cause…gotta say…I’m all on board with the stakage.” Dawn grinned at Xander.

“Why do you hate me?” Angel whined at his teenage tormentor.

“Uh, duh…’cause you’re an idiot,” Dawn lifted an eyebrow as she responded to his question, her tone dripping with teenage condemnation.

“Dawn,” Joyce gently chastised her daughter. Waiting for Dawn’s full attention before she continued. “I asked you not to wear your new shoes until this weekend.”

Stifling her giggle at the affronted look on Angel’s face, Buffy carefully schooled her features before addressing him. “Was I not clear that you weren’t welcome in Sunnydale anymore, Angel?”

“You weren’t serious,” he firmly informed her.

While Willow and Tara shook their heads in disbelief, Giles and Wesley rolled their eyes. Joyce, Cordelia, Penny, and Dawn crossed their arms in disgust. Anya hoped that they dusted Angel before she swept the floor, and Spike and Xander sat back in joyous expectation as Buffy went from simmer to a full rolling boil in a millisecond.

“Where do you get off telling me what I’m thinking? You didn’t have that right when we were together,” Buffy blasted the clueless vampire. “I have a mind of my own, Angel, and I'm not afraid to use it. Need I remind you that you broke up with me, and if memory serves, the last time I was in LA, you told me I wasn't welcome. You seem to have conveniently forgotten you left me and our 'freak show'.”

“He compared your love to a freak show?" Spike growled. He couldn’t have stopped his exclamation if he tried; he was incensed. How anyone, let alone his poofter of a grandsire, could be so cruelly insensitive to the heart of this passionate girl was beyond him. Wasn’t the poof supposed to be the one with the bloody soul?

Buffy threw the blond vampire a grateful glance and moved closer to him. She knew that Spike would have never said something like that to a woman he loved.

Turning back to Angel, Buffy continued to speak. “There’s something you need to know once and for all, Angel. One of Willow's spells showed me something, and I've really been in denial about it for too long, but now that I don't have to worry about the gang staking him..." Buffy grabbed Spike's hand and prayed that he was open to her unplanned announcement, or at least that he wouldn’t embarrass her in front of his grandsire, ‘cause that would just suck. “I'm finally gonna date who I've wanted to date for the past three years, and before you say he's a substitute for you, Angel. In reality you were a substitute for him.”

“Are you serious, Slayer?” Spike asked her; his expression hopeful and pleading, but fear danced though his eyes as his history in coming second to his grandsire flashed through his mind. ‘Please, please don’t be playing with me’, he silently begged.

“Totally!” she confirmed before facing the ecstatic blond, “You know, if you hadn't issued that stupid death threat, you would have gotten lucky that first night:”

“Buffy!” Joyce admonished her daughter’s forthright statement, placing her hands firmly over her other daughter’s ears.

“But mom, you should have seen him.” The non-repentant girl responded. “He was so hot! What sixteen year old girl doesn't like a bad boy?” Buffy let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like the word ‘Ripper’.

“Buffy Anne Summers, I am still your mother, young lady!” Joyce blushed crimson, as she caught sight of the embarrassed watcher.

Buffy returned her mother’s look with one of complete innocence. “What’s a stevedore?”

Angel looked sick, turning to Joyce, he all but begged her, “Tell her you don’t approve.”

“Why wouldn’t I approve of Spike?” Joyce innocently asked the demanding brunette, fully cognizant of the fact that she had been instrumental in his break-up with Buffy.

“You didn’t approve of me!” Angel responded in indignation

“And your point is?” She smiled politely.

Ignoring the snickering at his expense, Angel doggedly persevered. “He's a vampire. He doesn’t even have a soul.”

“Nice to know your observation skills are still right up there, gel boy,” Xander sarcastically mocked the discontented vampire.

“I think you’ll find, Angel, that not one of us would be willing to choose you over Spike.” Giles said, compelled to add his support to the blond vampire. He may have reservations about the blossoming relationship between Spike and his slayer, but he was firm in his belief that the blond was by far a better choice than the brunette.

Rounding abruptly on Penny, the furious vampire spat out his accusation. “You! You’re responsible for this.”

“Seriously?” Penny deadpanned, lifting an amused eyebrow. “Yay me.”

“Do all psychologists act like you? ‘Cause…gotta say…funny.” Xander grinned at Penny.

“Nah, this is just me. I left the doctor badge at home. And you really couldn’t afford my hourly rate,” Penny returned his grin.

Desperate and totally at a loss at how to handle being completely dismissed, Angel grasped at straws. If he had to suffer this humiliation, he wasn’t going to suffer alone. Smiling coldly at Spike and using his sire’s voice, he made his demand. “Beg for forgiveness, boy; that you would dare to forget your place. Show them who your master is.”

Spike stiffened every cell in his body electrified. His demon screamed to obey the command, but Spike was stronger than his demon, he fought off the desire to yield.

The other occupants of the room seemed to freeze in a combination of horror and anticipation as the moments passed with no visible movement from the blond vampire.

Angel’s smile slowly faded. His demon was outraged. How dare this little upstart defy him, humiliate him further? Guess it was time to show his errant grandchilde just who exactly was in charge. “Boy, you’re gonna regret defying me.”

Taking a step forward, Angel was halted by the stake pressed firming against his chest. This one would not miss his heart.

“Stay the hell away from him.”

Angel froze. Joyce was serious and he knew it. How the hell had this happened? When did these people stop respecting him? They were all crazy! They had to be; no one in their right mind would choose Spike over him. Taking a deep breath- well not too deep because of the stake- Angel spoke softly in an attempt to placate the woman who had him at her doubtful mercy. “Joyce, he’s my grandchilde. It is my right to discipline him.”

“And if you attempt to do that, I will dust you,” Joyce replied flatly, her eyes cold. No one was touching her saviour on her watch.

“You don’t seem to have grasped the concept that you are neither needed nor wanted here, Angel,” Giles coldly stated his observation.

“I thought you wanted to be one of the good guys, Angel? A good guy wouldn’t attack someone else for failing to bow down to them. A good guy wouldn’t have suggested it in the first place.” Willow crossed her arms and let her resolve face slip firmly into place.

“You should l-l-leave, we w-w-won’t let you hurt Spike.” Tara surprised the group by speaking up. The Sunnydale group knew that she must feel really strongly, since she rarely spoke up during meetings.

Cordelia looked critically at the vampire she knew in her heart could make a difference, if only he would stop listening to his ego, it was so beyond irritating. “Enough Angel…God, when are you going to learn? You put so much stock into being a champion and then you act like a damn child that can’t get his own way. Get over it, already.”

“Cordelia is right, Angel. In reality you have only been fighting the fight against evil for just over four years. The bulk of your experience, I hasten to add, has been for the other side. It is ludicrous to believe that just because you have managed to survive for over 240 years as a vampire, that you are automatically more knowledgeable than the rest of us. It is insulting both personally and intellectually. You did not earn that soul, Angel, you were cursed with it. To assume that after only actively using your soul for four years, you have some sort of superior moral guidance system is preposterous,” Wesley delivered his opinion with the cutting edge tone that only an upper-class Englishman can truly produce.

“If you continue with this attitude, you will be responsible for the destruction of this world,” Penny stated, with absolute finality. Taking in the lost expression on his features, she felt the stirrings of pity. Softening her tone, she asked him her question, “Do you really want to be redeemed?”

~*~*~

Riley watched and waited, silently stewing in his anger, his mind going over his unanswered questions again and again. ‘What happened? Who was that bitch that had had him by the throat? Why hadn’t Buffy helped him? Why did that so-called representative from some higher power set him up? Who knocked him out? How did he get out of the shop? What was the vampire ex-boyfriend doing here? What was going on? Why was he on the outside?’

He hated being on the outside. He was always on the inside. When he’d looked through the glass at the front of the shop, he’d seen Angel. Angel was inside, yet here he was; sitting in his car, waiting for some answers. He had more right to be in there than Angel. There had to be a way to fix this. He just had to figure it out. If he could work out what his mistake had been, then fixing the problem should be easy. He dismissed all that Penny had told him, nothing she could say would change his mind that demons needed to die. They were just another enemy and he was a soldier. Surely if he could just get Buffy alone he could make her see, make her understand the threat they posed? Maybe make her understand that the stake wasn’t a torture device? Make her understand that he didn’t have her special powers, so he had to use any and all means to gain the advantage. Surely she would see the wisdom in that? It was times like this that he really missed Maggie. She would have known what to do.

~*~*~

Ben looked around the room in horror, bloody and broken minions lay all around. Glory had obviously had a little