The man approached Angel and stood at his side. “I don’t think she’s glad to see me,” he said to the vampire.
“No…she doesn’t look like it,” Angel agreed.
Darla stepped forward. “You can’t do this. He didn’t go through the tests!” she shouted.
The man smiled at her. “Oh, but he did. Years ago. For you. And he passed with flying colors. Unfortunately, you had already been given your chance.” He turned to the circle and led Buffy out. “The mix-up with you works in her favor,” he said, smiling at the Slayer.
Buffy glanced at Angel. “What are they talking about?”
“No! I won’t allow this!” Darla shrieked, charging at Buffy and morphing into vamp face as she did, but Gunn and Faith were there to stop her, moving to stand in front of their friend. They caught Darla by both arms and threw her backwards as Angel turned and grabbed Buffy by both arms.
“Do it,” he growled.
The man smiled benignly and moved to Buffy, who began to struggle furiously. “No! What are you doing?! No!”
Touching a hand to her forehead the man smiled at her. “Just be calm, child.” Pressing his hands to her face he closed his eyes and Buffy instantly became still.
“How is this even possible?” Darla hissed. “She’s died before! By the Master’s hand!”
The man opened his eyes. “She was revived by natural means. You were not. I can not interfere where mystical forces did already tread.”
“Being killed by a vampire is not natural.”
“She was not killed with magic, by a spell or mystical object. She was killed by having her blood drained,” the man told her, and resumed his concentrations on Buffy.
A moment later Buffy’s face began to change. Her ridged forehead became smooth and her incisors retracted leaving perfect human teeth behind. Her eyes closed and her body went slack.
Angel grabbed her, preventing her from falling. “What’s going on?” he asked worriedly.
The man smiled. “Let her down and stand back.”
Angel did as asked, glancing nervously from him to Buffy and back again. The moment he left her side a beam of light fell upon her, growing brighter and stronger by the second. The light faded as quickly as it came when a new one appeared, this time red and glowing from inside her body. Beneath her chest was an orb of red light that seemed to rush through her and she gasped, eyes flying open.
And then it was over. Buffy stilled and her eyes closed. She was curled on the floor, peaceful, almost as if she were sleeping.
Angel rushed to her and knelt, cradling her in his lap. “What…what now? Is she okay?”
The man smiled. “She will be.”
“It worked then?” Giles asked him. “Buffy is no longer a vampire? She is once again the Slayer?”
“Of course. That is what I was brought here to do,” the man said graciously.
“I don’t understand,” Cordelia cut in. “What favor did he owe you, Angel?”
Angel met her gaze steadily. “It’s a long story.”
“It was supposed to save me six years ago,” Darla snapped.
“Apparently not that long.”
“That’s what he meant by Buffy’s death being natural!” Willow cried, moving to Angel’s side. “Even though the Master bit her, Xander was the one who brought her back with CPR after she drowned!”
“Darla was brought back by magic. Your Angel here went through the Trial…three tests designed to determine if he, if she, was worthy of a second chance. Fortunately for her, he was. No one had passed the first round before he arrived at my gates,” the man told them.
“Then…if he passed…?” Gunn asked.
“It’s a one time deal…you only get one second chance,” Angel explained. “ When Darla was brought back as human that was her second chance. So I was owed a favor,” he said, glancing down lovingly at Buffy, joy skipping in his heart as he watched her chest rise and fall from breath.
The man moved to stand in front of him. “Our deal is done, Angelus. The debt is paid.”
“Yes, it is. Thank you,” Angel told him.
The man gave a slight bow and stepped back before disappearing into thin air.
“Quite the exit,” Oz noted.
“Is she going to be okay?” Willow asked nervously, kneeling to Buffy’s side.
“And what are we gonna do with them?” Spike asked, poking Rebecca in the side with his rapier. The Watcher and her cousin remained inside the loose circle the Scoobies had formed earlier.
Faith grinned. “You know? I don’t think they spent enough time in that dungeon downstairs, do you?”
Gunn grinned back. “Nah. We’ve got the space, seems like a shame to let it go to waste.”
“Come on girls,” Cordelia chimed in, holding her crossbow level at Laren’s heart. “See what happens with you mess with The Ten?”
“That right!” Gunn crowed. “The Ten. You mess with the bull, you get the horns every time!” he quipped as the four of them led their prisoners downstairs.
“Uh, guys?” Anya called as they walked away. “I know this is a happy time and everything, lots of commotion and all…but there’s a down-side to commotion.”
“What’s is it, Anya?” Giles asked.
“Where’s Darla?”
***
Angel sat on the bed, the morning sunlight streaming through the windows of the house. They had locked Rebecca and Laren in the dungeon once again, Laren screeching for hours on end until Spike had gone downstairs and put a stop to it. He looked smug when he returned and no one bothered to ask how he had silenced her. If they found a pile of dust in the morning, so be it.
Wesley and Giles contacted the Council and informed them of the situation with Rebecca. Council dispatches would be sent to the mansion later that day to collect the rouge Watcher and deal with her accordingly.
Darla had slipped out sometime after Buffy’s change. With all that was going on, Angel couldn’t fault the group for not keeping an eye on her. He had had better things on his mind as well. Darla would turn up again, sometime, of that he was sure of. But at the moment the only thing plaguing him was that Buffy continued to sleep.
Until now. Slowly the Slayer began to stir. He put down the mug of coffee Willow //thank the Gods it was Willow and not Cordy//had been keeping him in constant supply of and took her arms in his hands. “Buffy?” he called softly. “Hey…Buffy?”
Her eyes fluttered open. “Angel?” she whispered. “What are…where are we?”
He smiled. “We’re in the mansion…do you…do you remember what happened?”
She closed her eyes and licked her dry lips wearily. Pressing a hand to her forehead she opened her eyes again, horror replacing the hazy veil of sleep that had been there a moment earlier. “No…” she moaned.
He held her firmly. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay. We fixed it. We fixed you. You’re okay again. Human.”
“I…I was a vampire. She bit me…Darla turned me. I tried to kill you all.” Panic and shame rising in her voice she struggled to sit up.
Angel took her in his arms and held her close to him, stroking her hair. “It’s over. We’re all fine. Everyone’s okay.”
“I was a vampire,” she repeated. “I was a vampire.”
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered hoarsely. “I couldn’t get to you. I didn’t save you.”
“I was a vampire,” she said hollowly, a tear slipping down her cheek.
“Shh…I know, I know…I’m so sorry, Buffy. I couldn’t save you.”
Her arms snaked up and around his shoulders, clinging to him as she cried. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, Angel.”
He clung to her. “What? Sorry for what? It wasn’t you.” A sob escaped from her mouth and he pushed her back, looking into her wet, green eyes. “Hey…it wasn’t you…and you didn’t really do anything anyway…pretty sorry excuse for a vampire,” he teased.
She stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded, before letting out a snort as she began to laugh through her tears. He grinned back at her before taking her face in his hands and kissing her tentatively. “I love you, Buffy,” he told her softly, sincerely, an ache forming in his chest.
“I love you, too, Angel,” she murmured in reply. “I’m so sor--”
He cut her off by pressing his lips to her once more and sinking them both back on the bed, holding her in his arms, rejoicing at the feel of warm skin, of living flesh, of the heartbeat that he could feel thumping against his own.
She allowed him to hold her for a moment longer before pushing him away and scrambling off the bed. “Oh my God…We’ve got to…they’re coming. They’re coming,” she repeated.
Angel watched her, confused. “What? Who? Who’s coming? Buffy…you need to sit down--”
“We don’t have time! Angel, they’re coming. The army. Her army. Tonight. Here.”
He strode to her purposefully and took her by the shoulders. “Slow down.”
“Laren and Rebecca. They invited all the worst vampires here, tonight. To start appointing generals for their army. We have to stop them.”
“What? Wait. Ok. Tonight?” Angel asked, running his hands through his hair as he paced around the room. “How many?”
“I don’t know. She said the worst of the worst.” Striding to the door she turned to look at him. “We’d better get the others.”
“Sure. Ok,” Angel said, crossing to her. She turned to walk out but he grabbed her arms and pulled her to him, crushing her against his chest. “Hey…”
She looked up at him, saw the love in his eyes, and smiled softly. “Hey…” she said before lightly touching her lips to his.
“Do you think they’ll forgive me?” she whispered.
He kissed the top of her head. “There’s nothing to forgive. They’re worried about you. I had to physically remove Willow from the room.”
She smiled at the image of that and closed her eyes.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I’m so glad to have you back.”
She snuggled close to him, her cheek pressed to his shoulder. “I’m glad to be back.” She squeezed him tightly then moved to touch his face. “And I love you too…very, very much. Thank you for saving me.”
He smiled gently. “Any time.”
She began playing with the collar of his shirt. “Am I…?”
“Are you what?” he asked, using a finger to lift her down-turned chin.
“Am I okay? Still the Slayer?”
He smiled at how young she sounded. “Yes. You’re you…still my girl,” he told her.
***
They entered the main hall to find everyone but Spike and Faith sitting around the large dining hall table, cartons of Chinese take-out covering the antique wood.
“Buffy!” Willow shouted, shoving her chair back and running to her friend. The two embraced quickly before the Slayer gently let her go.
“How are you?” the red head asked. “We’ve been so worried.”
Buffy glanced at the table, little white boxes littered everywhere. “Yeah…I can tell,” she teased.
“Well…you know. Big battle, worrying…I eat when I’m stressed,” the witch stammered.
Buffy smiled. “It’s okay, Will.”
“Buffy…I’m so glad to see you…without the fangs,” Xander said, hugging her. She smiled and turned from him to Giles, hugging him as well.
“Ms. Summers,” Gunn drawled, wrapping a long arm around her petite shoulders and squeezing her. “The crinkly forehead and the demon eyes? Not your best look ever. Glad to have you back among the living.”
“You are living, right?” Anya called out. She remained seated at the table. “I only ask because you were going to eat my tongue. And I rather like my tongue. It’s useful. You know, for the talking…and for other activities.”
Buffy gave her an odd grin. “Your tongue is safe.”
“Are you okay though? No vampire side-effects?” Cordy asked.
“I’m fine, really. In fact…food. Food’s good. We can eat and plan.”
“Plan?” Wesley asked, setting his chopsticks aside.
Buffy looked at him gravely. “We’ve got company coming.”
Chapter Sixteen: Disguise
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