Chapter 36
Giles waited with gleeful anticipation. He had left a note under the brunette vampire’s door, informing him of a meeting at the library at eight o’clock. The rest of the group would be present and accounted for by seven. That would give them plenty of time to ready themselves for the confrontation with the self proclaimed champion to the Powers.
He couldn’t wait.
Buffy, Willow, and Xander were the first to arrive, and Dawn followed them in moments later. Each of them was quickly sucked into their own musings about the evening to come.
Willow had tried all day to get Xander to tell her what the giant Bigfoot man had said to him. His whole attitude about Buffy had changed, and she wondered what could make her stubborn friend make such a swift about face. Maybe she’d find out tonight when the weird stalker vampire would find out that he wasn’t the Cordelia Chase of the demon world.
Xander couldn’t wait for the meeting. He didn’t know him well, but Spike seemed like the type of vamp who would get great pleasure out of mocking Mr. I’m-so-sorry-for-myself, a job that Xander himself had developed a great fondness for. Actually the older blonde vampire, William, seemed like he had more than a little anger directed at the brooding one, too. Maybe they could take turns mocking the vampire with the apparently shaky soul.
Dawn was beside herself with joy. Things were looking so good. Here she was, sitting with the scoobies, waiting for a scooby meeting. In short, being treated like an equal. It was so cool. And if that wasn’t enough, at least one set of her best friend and sister were together and set number two looked like it was definitely moving in that direction. To round things off perfectly, like a cherry on a sundae, the giant forehead was about to find out that he was responsible for almost every bad thing that ever happened to Buffy. Personally, she hoped either Spike or William ripped him a new one.
Buffy felt guilty. Not guilty enough to give up the new totally drool-worthy potential boyfriend, but guilty enough not to want to hurt Angel anymore than he was going to be hurt.
She couldn’t get over the fact that her mother adored the two versions of her blonde hottie. Her mother hated Angel. The Summers matriarch had even told her to ‘go for it’ with Spike. Were moms supposed to like totally approve of their teenage daughters boyfriend choices?
Jenny arrived next and Joyce entered the library a little before seven. Joan, William, Spike, and Wolfie arrived not long after.
A petite female followed the lumbering giant into the room. Cascading curls of red tumbled down her back. Golden flecks sparkled as the lights hit them. A straight part and the front side bits tied back with what looked like ivy allowed the occupants of the room to see her peaked ears. Large, emerald green eyes sparkled and an enchanting smile hinted at a playful nature.
“My wife, Llwethyn,” Wolfie introduced her.
Llwethyn smiled at the group in greeting. “I’m not here to interrupt your meeting. I would prefer to sit by the door and just wait for my husband.” Her voice was musical. It hinted at harmonic nuances that promised a breathtaking cantata. If she sang for them, none would have been surprised to hear her voice produce both melody and harmony at the same time.
As the redheaded elf made herself comfortable in the chair Giles had provided, Buffy made her way over to Joan and the two blonde vampires.
Spike’s striking blue eyes followed her every move. He wanted to hold her, assure himself that she wasn’t some figment of his imagination. He wanted to bask in the purity of her scent. Taste her as they shared their first kiss. He could imagine her lips even now, soft and warm as they lightly caressed his lips…‘hold on. When the bloody hell did I get so good at imagining things?’ Spike thought as he realised that his Buffy was kissing him hello and he needed to be participating.
William snorted his laughter as he received Spikes memories and suddenly remembered what he had been thinking the first time Buffy kissed him. The absolute ridiculousness of the situation had him roaring his mirth. Of all the bloody poncy things to do, he’d been so busy imagining their first kiss that he’d almost missed the real thing.
Spike snaked his hands around the petite waist of the beautiful blonde. As their lips parted they looked deep into each other’s eyes and smiled.
The sound of William’s merriment slowly broke into the little world that Spike and Buffy were creating.
“What the bleedin’ hell is so funny?” Spike asked, irritated that his moment with the little slayer had been interrupted.
William wiped the tears from his eyes as he struggled to regain control of is humour. Preparing to tell the younger version of himself exactly what it was that had him crying from laughter, William suddenly stiffened as he felt a malevolent force heading in their direction.
Spike felt it a split second before Joan and moved protectively in front of Buffy as he faced the library doors.
Giles immediately reacted to the fighting stances of the warriors for the Powers of Good and moved to join them. They would stand united as they faced the coming threat.
When the double doors to the library slammed open, Wolfie moved with superhuman speed to stop one of the doors from hitting his wife.
Joan rolled her eyes and slapped William lightly on the chest. “Sheesh, way to overreact, bleach boy. I thought we had something to worry about.” She turned her back on the confused brunette vampire and made her way to the table.
“Try using those vamp senses before you come barging into a room next time, Angel. You might have hurt Llwethyn,” Buffy gently rebuked him.
“Ah, yes, Angel. Nice of you to turn up forty five minutes early,” Giles stated sarcastically.
Angel glanced around the room, taking in all the occupants. He couldn’t work out what was going on. There seemed to be two Buffy’s, a giant, an elf and…
“Spike,” Angel growled as he prepared to launch himself at the evil that these fools had unknowingly allowed into their midst. His leap was forestalled when the blonde vampire snorted at him dismissively and took a seat at the table, where he was joined by a second Spike and one of the Buffy’s.
“Spike, buddy, I saved you a seat,” Xander told the younger vampire while he furtively watched the brunette, hoping for a reaction. Angel’s expression took on the appearance of a fish out of water and Xander knew joy.
“What the hell is going on here?” Angel demanded.
“We invited you to this meeting to inform you of two different matters and to ask your opinion on a third,” Giles replied. He pulled a chair out and left it facing the table but not close to it. “Please, take a seat.”
Returning to his own seat, Giles waited for everyone to settle before he started.
Angel glared at the blonde vampire. He didn’t know what was going on or who these new people were, but he was going to find out. For now, he would just listen and watch. When the opportunity presented itself, he had every intention ridding the world of two blonde vampires.
“Alright…” Giles broke off what he was going to say when Angel interrupted.
“Why don’t you start with Spike,” the brunette vampire ordered.
“Because that particular situation is none of your concern, Angel. However, the curse is,” Giles replied coldly.
“My curse is not up for discussion, Giles. I’m a representative from the Powers That Be. It isn’t your place to question me,” Angel countered just as coldly as Giles but far more pompously.
The moment of tense silence was broken by the gales of laughter coming from Xander, Spike, William, Dawn, Joyce and Wolfie.
Once they had settled down, Jenny spoke directly to Giles. “I managed to translate the curse, Rupert. I think I’ve come up with a solution, but I would like everyone’s thoughts on the subject.”
“What is your plan, Jenny?” Giles eagerly asked the beautiful teacher.
“Look, we are NOT discussing my curse. We ARE going to discuss why you’re letting an evil demon continue to exist.” Angel stood, his fury escalating.
“Don’t worry, Angel. If we don’t solve the problem of the curse, you won’t continue to exist,” the watcher said indifferently before turning back to Jenny and ignoring the speechless vampire. “You were saying, Jenny?”
“We can’t anchor the soul, because it’s not his, but I can alter the curse and bind the soul to Angel’s sanity and his demon,” Jenny explained.
Joan was confused. “How will that change anything?”
“He can still lose his soul or his mind, but if I bind his demon to both, if he loses one he’ll lose the demon too.” The Gypsy smiled smugly.
“What’s left?” Dawn asked, curiously.
“Dust,” Joan and William answered in unison.
“So…no down side then?” Xander quipped.
“We can’t allow Angelus to get loose. If Jenny does the spell and we don’t tell Angel how the curse can be broken, his demon is gonna do everything in his power to make sure the curse never gets broken. Self-preservation will ensure that he keeps doing what he’s been doing. I say do the spell.” Joan made her position clear.
“I agree,” Giles backed the older slayer.
Xander smiled coldly at the brunette vampire. “I say we bypass the spell and just dust him.”
“I’m gonna have to go with Joan on this one,” Willow quietly voted.
“I’m sorry, but with everything that we’ve learned recently, I’m going to have to agree with Xander and say dust him now.” Joyce politely gave her firm decision.
“I’m a dust him vote too.” Dawn crossed her arms and gave the stupefied vampire a hard look.
William shrugged, “Don’t care. Either way; Angelus is out of the game, and that’s all I care about.”
“I abstain,” Spike was not about to give his feisty little slayer any reason to punch him in the nose. This didn’t seem to come under the category of protecting Nibblet or Mum.
Buffy looked around the room and bit her lip in indecision.
“This is ridiculous!” Angel exploded. “Look, I’ll put it in small words so you can understand it. I am the champion of the Powers. Spike is an evil vampire. Stop worrying about me and dust the true evil.”
“Man, he’s gonna start foaming at the mouth soon, you want to borrow my cross?” Xander grinned at the blonde vampire seated next to him.
Grabbing the offered item, Spike gave the youth a wink and a smile. “Thanks, mate.”
Buffy turned her eyes from the pole axed brunette vampire to the gypsy. “Do the spell.”
Jenny nodded and moved into Giles’ office.
“Buffy,” Angel whispered in shock.
“I’m sorry, Angel, but there is no way that you can convince me that the chance that Angelus might get free is not something that I should be worried about. Even a small chance is too much of a risk,” the Slayer quietly but firmly verbalised her reasoning.
Turning to the watcher, Buffy moved the meeting forward. “The next subject, Giles.”
“Yes, well, the matter actually involves something you made reference to several times already Angel.” Giles directed his attention towards the brooding vampire.
“Finally,” Angel snorted in disgust as he gave a malicious grin to Spike and William.
Giles held out his hand towards Wolfie and introduced him to Angel, “This is Garrett Wolf. He is a conduit to the Powers That Be for Good.”
Wolfie nodded to the brunette vampire. “I’d offer to shake your hand, but it would be very painful for you. I have a natural defence against unclean flesh.”
“How come you can touch William and Spike?” Willow asked innocently.
“Both have received Gaia’s blessings. Their flesh has been cleansed.” Wolfie smiled at the little redhead.
“It appears, Angel, that you have been given some misleading information. That Whistler works for the Powers is true, but he allowed you to believe that he worked on the same side as the Slayer. He doesn’t,” Giles emotionlessly told the clueless vampire.
“I don’t believe you,” Angel growled out harshly.
“Irrelevant,” Giles responded disdainfully.
“The only reason the Powers for Good didn’t intervene was because they wanted to see if you had the potential to become an ally. You were given one job. Protect Buffy. Buffy died under your protection.” Wolfie bluntly informed Angel.
“HEY! That wasn’t my fault. It was a prophecy,” Angel indignantly protested his innocence. Turning to the tiny blonde slayer, he opened his big brown puppy dog eyes and pleaded with her. “You know it was, Buffy. I would have done anything to save you. It devastated me that there was nothing I could do.”
“You were supposed to face the Master yourself, you pillock,” the Watcher spat out, the sight of the vampire trying to manipulate his Slayer infuriating him.
“Huh?” Angel responded in shock, his usual skills at verbalisation deserting him.
“You should have taken him on yourself, blood breath. But no, you decided that your best course of action was to sit in your apartment and brood,” Xander accused, his own disgust at the vampire’s attitude only slightly clouded by his actual dislike of him.
“Look, this is all pointless. It happened. Deal,” Buffy insisted. All this talk of her death was wigging her out. “We were talking about Whistler.”
“But Buffy…” Angel started to say.
“Moving along, grand dad. The Slayer wants us to talk about your contact to the Powers-That-Like-To-Mess-With-You for Evil,” Spike steadfastly supported his Slayer. His demon was loudly protesting the undusted presence of the other vampire, but he was keeping it tightly controlled.
“Shut up, Spike. Nobody wants your opinion,” Angel snarled.
Dawn was incensed. “That would be your opinion, Angel. We always want to hear from Spike,” she snapped.
Angel looked around the room, shocked to see most of the people nodding in response to Dawn’s statement. “But, he’s evil,” he spluttered.
“Broken record much,” Dawn snorted, rolling her eyes.
Spike leaned over to quietly comment to William, “Bloody hell, mate, just flash him your wings to shut him up, will ya?”
“William, I bought you several more t-shirts, dear.” Joyce subtly encouraged the pure vampire to act.
“Come on, Tink.” Spike grinned and then made a statement loudly enough so that the rest of the room’s occupants could easily hear. “Think about it. You can sit on his left shoulder and tell him what he should do, and I'll sit his right...”
Amused laughter filed the room. Only Angel didn’t get the joke.
Angel decided it was time to take back control of the situation. Turning to the giant who had been the catalyst for the questioning of his champion status, the brunette vampire argued his case. He became more and more aggravated as his arguments continued to be unsuccessful. The escalating conversation was watched with interest by the rest of the group.
As Angel continued to argue with Wolfie, Xander leaned over to Spike. “Ya think he’s stupid enough to hit the wookie?”
Nodding his head in the direction of the small elven woman seated by the door, Spike replied with a grin, “I hope so, I bloody well hope so, mate.”
“Her?” Xander asked confused. “But she’s so tiny.” Llwethyn caught their speculative glances and gave them a sweet smile and a cheery little wave.
“Mate, when you meet a truly dangerous man, his bint is always tougher,” Spike wisely explained to the young man.
“Bloody hell, even you- I mean, ‘I’- know better than to brass off an elf.” William said to Spike, joining the quiet conversation.
“Why is that?” Giles asked, never having heard much about elves.
Spike stepped in with the answer. “They may not be quite as powerful as a Slayer, but they’re evil, vindictive bitches that usually travel in packs from three to twenty.”
“And this differs from human women...how?” Xander asked innocently.
William turned to face Xander slowly. “You met the Master, right?” At Xander’s nod, he continued. “Well, the stupid bugger tried to turn one.... she literally ripped off his balls and fed them to him.”
Xander’s eyes grew huge and he swallowed convulsively as Spike continued. “Why else do you think the whore turned Angelus?”
“That was my Aunt Llwinivera,” Wolfie proudly informed them, the subject distracting him from the argument he was having with the brooding vampire. “She had them bronzed and keeps them mounted over her fireplace.”
All the males shuddered.
“How could she still have them if she fed them to him?” Willow asked innocently.
“She ripped them out of his stomach,” Wolfie grinned, shaking his head indulgently. “That woman’s the original diesel dyke.”
“ENOUGH!” Angel roared. “I will not be ignored. I am a champion for the Powers on the road to redemption. I will not let these fools pull me from the path, and I refuse to allow them to pull you from the path either, Buffy. Come with me now.”
“Hang on a minute, gramps. First of all, Buffy is the chosen one; she’s not on any bloody road to redemption. And second, from what everyone here has been saying, you claim that you aren’t the same person as Angelus, right?” Spike confronted his overbearing grandsire.
“That’s right,” Angel looked down his nose disdainfully at the impertinent childe that was addressing him.
“Angelus is responsible for all the evil, right?” Spike persevered.
“Yes,” Angel rolled his eyes and he hoped that the annoying little bastard would get to the point soon.
“Then why do you need redemption?” Spike crossed his arms and waited for an answer.
Every person in the room sat in stunned silence. Not one of them had ever even considered things from that point of view. It’s seemed so simple. If Angel was innocent of blame, why did he need to be redeemed? It was the demon that needed redemption, not the soul.
Joan was astonished. All it had taken to remove the last vestiges of her illusions about Angel had been a simple observation from an intuitive blonde cutie. Spike’s simple statement had finally broken the chains around her heart.
Her vampire was sooo getting lucky…as soon as they found a place of their own.
Turning to Angel, Joan spoke with deceptive innocence. “Wow, you’re so lucky that Spike figured that out for you. Now that you know you don’t need redemption, you could always try the ritual that my William did.”
“What ritual?” Angel narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“The Ritual of Returning.” Joan smiled innocently. She didn’t believe for a minute that he’d survive the ritual.
“I’ve read that ritual, Buffy. There’s no way that it would work. Don’t try telling me that it worked on an evil, soulless vampire like Spike,” Angel spoke with derision.
Joan smiled sweetly at the disbelieving vampire before turning to her own. “Up for a little show and tell, baby?”
William’s eyes twinkled with mirth as he stood and removed his t-shirt. His naked chest gained gasps of appreciation from several directions. Moving away from the table, he failed to see the glare his girl gave the gaspers.
“Damn, I age well, don’t I?” Spike guffawed at the lethal look the pure vampire aimed at him.
“Actually, no aging at all, you pratt. Immortal, remember?” As William shifted into game face and spread his wings, Angel doubled over in pain.
“Gee, that’s only meant to happen to minions of evil,” Wolfie blandly commented on the brunette vampire’s distress.
Shifting back to his human guise, William replaced his t-shirt and decisively took control over what would happen next . “We need to decide what to do about Dru.”
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