Putting his glasses back on, Giles said, "You’re sure that the generic curse can be modified for any vampire."

Jenny nodded.  "In theory, yes.  I’ve already explained that casting a magic of this magnitude without a significant reason risks sparking a severe backlash.  I couldn’t cast it simply to see if it would work or not."

"So you don’t know," Cordelia bit out unhappily.  She was tired and grouchy and wanted to go to bed.

Jenny sighed and repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, "When I translated the old magics several years ago, I was very thorough.  This curse *will* work.  It was designed for Angelus, but I believe it can be successfully adapted to suit any vamp, provided we can find enough background information on it."

Giles looked at Cordelia again.  He still wasn’t sure he completely understood the girl’s plan.  "Forgive me for being overly obtuse," he said.  "Blame it on my lack of sleep.  But what exactly are we going to do with this curse?  Angel has a soul, we don’t need it for him."

Cordelia stared blankly at the Watcher for several moments.  She prayed he was right about Angel not needing the curse, but since his relationship with Buffy still looked pretty rocky, she figured it would be a while before the blonde was in a position to test whether or not there was a loophole in this world.

"If it can be modified," Cordelia said, "then I think it would possibly be a tool we could use against other vamps."

Jenny stiffened in her chair.  "These magics aren’t to be trifled with.  You can’t just go around arbitrarily cursing vamps with souls."

"I’m not saying we use it lightly," Cordelia bit back.  "We can’t ignore that there are a lot of very powerful vampires in town right now.  We can’t hope to take on all of them.  If we could curse some of them, then maybe it would be enough to weaken the group as a whole."

"Who do you suggest?" Giles asked, finally understanding what Cordelia was getting at.  "Spike? Darla?  I don’t think it would be overly beneficial to curse Drusilla given the fact that she’s mad."

"Definitely not Darla," Cordelia hissed.  She wasn’t about to go through another round of ensouled Darla angst with Angel.

"Then who?  Spike?" Giles asked.

"Actually," Cordelia said, "I was thinking Willow.  She’s the one who called the others here.  She’s obviously one of the major players.  She’s also very young."

Jenny frowned.  "What does her age have to do with anything?"

"Everything," Cordelia snapped.  "Talk to Angel some time about what it’s like to live with the memories of everything his demon did for a hundred and forty odd years.  If we curse a vamp, we need it to be useful to us.  You know, on our side.  If we curse one of the older vamps, we’re probably going to end up with a basket case.  Willow is young and her sins aren’t as numerous simply because she hasn’t had time to rack up the kind of damage Angel has.  People she knew when she was a human are still alive.  I think it would be easiest for her to assimilate back into our world."

Giles considered Cordelia’s comments and nodded.  The girl was right.  Cursing Willow would not only remove a powerful enemy, it would also put them in a position to gain a very strong ally.

"An impressive bit of reasoning," Giles said with a smile.  "I do believe you are correct, Cordelia."

Cordy smiled at the unexpected praise.

Jenny yawned.  "So if Willow is our target then we just need to get supplies and map out a plan."

Giles nodded.  "I believe I have an orb of Thessula somewhere around here.  If you can bring the spell, we can get to work."

"Hold up," Cordelia said, yawning as well.  "I think we all need some sleep.  We aren’t going to do anyone any good if we’re so tired we get sloppy."

Giles and Jenny both nodded, catching Cordy’s yawning and stretching.

Cordelia threw her keys on the kitchen table as she entered the townhouse.  She was exhausted.  It was after nine in the morning.  She sighed heavily.  Hopefully the plan would work.

She was so tired, what she was seeing didn’t register right away. But then Cordy froze, her foot poised above the first step leading to the second floor.  Turning around slowly, she looked back
into the living room.  She blinked several times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.  Walking carefully over to the couch, she stooped and picked up the garment.

This wasn’t good.

After searching the living room, it only got worse.  She had Buffy’s shirt and Angel’s shoes and coat.  Angel didn’t go anywhere without that damn coat.  She groaned.  Crap!  It looked like the Chosen One and her demon lover had quite the evening.  She looked up towards the second floor landing at Buffy’s closed door.  Angel was still up there.  Whether or not his soul was there too remained to be seen.

Grabbing the ever present cross and stake, Cordelia ascended the stairs as quietly as possible.  She was in no mood to find Buffy’s mangled corpse.  Pressing her ear to the door, she heard a muffled growl.  Her head filled with numerous grizzly scenarios, she carefully turned the knob.  She threw open the door and flicked on the lights.

It was even worse than she’d feared.  Her scream pierced the air and she dropped her weapons, covering her eyes in horror.

"What are you doing?" Angel roared at the brunette.

"Oh my gods!" Cordelia screeched, her eyes still covered.  "How the hell am I going to get rid of that image?"

"What do you expect when you barge into someone’s bedroom?" the vampire bit back, thoroughly pissed at the interruption.

Cordelia made a gagging noise.  "I did not expect to find you two ... to see you ... "

"Shut off the light and get out," Angel instructed tersely.

Hands still firmly covering her eyes, Cordelia fumbled for the light switch.  Finding it, she flicked it off and pulled the door shut with a resounding thud.  Apparently Angel was still Angel unless his demon alter ego had turned over a new leaf which wasn’t likely.  Cordelia was fairly certain Angelus wouldn’t be caught dead with his head between the Slayer’s legs.

She headed for the liquor cabinet, hoping in vain that tequila would help obliterate the mental image.

Angel sighed against the warm flesh of Buffy’s abdomen.  He could feel the heat coming off of her body as she blushed furiously.  He couldn’t help it, he chuckled wickedly.

"Stop it," Buffy bit out.  "This is *not* funny."

"Yes it is," he replied, his voice full of mirth.  "I’ll bet that Cordelia never barges into your room unannounced again."

Buffy was unimpressed with his view of the matter.  "How am I going to look at her again?" she asked, her voice strangled with mortification.

"What’s the problem?" Angel asked with a grin.  "You weren’t the one with your face buried in someone else’s crotch ... at least not when Cordy busted in."

Buffy glared at her boyfriend in the dim light of her dayproofed bedroom.  "What is the deal with you?" she hissed.  "How can you be so relaxed about this?"

His goofy grin became more somber and he crawled up her body, wrapping his arms around her somewhat resistant frame.  "I’m happy," he said simply.  "I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before."

All of Buffy’s scathing lectures were forgotten as she looked at his expression.  He looked lighter somehow, like he’d set aside some of the burdens that were constantly weighing him down.  She allowed herself the hesitant hope that she was the reason why.

"I guess you ... enjoyed last night then?" she asked meekly.

His smile was blinding.  "It was the most amazing night of my life," he said seriously.

Buffy returned his smile, pulling his head down for a lengthy kiss.  He responded eagerly, molesting her mouth and tongue with considerable care.  As he pulled away, she sighed heavily.

"What?" he asked, concerned.

"I’m just ... relieved, I guess," she admitted.

"About what?"

 She shrugged and he crawled off of her, rolling onto his back and pulling her against his chest.

"I was afraid."

"Of what?  You didn’t think I was going to hurt you, did you?"

"No," she said quickly, "I mean, not physically anyway.  I think part of me was just afraid I was going to wake up alone."

He frowned as he looked at her.  "Buffy, we’ve been sleeping together for weeks, why would you be afraid of waking up alone?"

"I don’t know," she answered hesitantly.  "Yes, we’ve been sleeping together but we’ve never ... done *that* before."

"What?" he asked, slightly insulted.  "You thought I was going to bolt after I got some?"

Buffy flinched at his harsh language and Angel was immediately sorry for the bad joke.  He hugged her tightly, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I’m sorry, baby.  I didn’t mean that," he said.  "I just want you to know that I will *never* leave you."

She sighed and relaxed in his embrace.  Relieved, he kissed her deeply, twining his tongue with hers, coaxing her to respond.  She did.  He noted every delightful change in her body from her increased breathing and heart rate, to the way her fingers bit more forcefully into his biceps.  When he smelled her new arousal, he couldn’t help but growl.

"Where were we?" he asked devilishly.

Buffy smiled and reached for the night stand.  "Right about here," she said, curling his fingers around one of the condoms Giles had supplied.

Angel smiled and quickly tore open the wrapper.  After the first time, they’d been careful.  Angel was fairly certain that given the fact that he’d been technically dead for two and a half centuries, that he wasn’t capable of giving her a disease, much less fathering a child.  Nonetheless, he wasn’t taking any chances with Buffy’s health.

Condom in place, he wasted no time sliding into her liquid depths.  She gasped, wrapping her strong legs around his waist as he drove them both to climax.

The sun was setting when Cordelia woke, wincing at her pounding headache.  Someone was already in the shower, so she went downstairs in search of munchies while she waited her turn.  She found Buffy sitting at the kitchen table working on paperwork for admission to college.

"So I guess Angel’s in the shower," the brunette said, taking a seat.

Buffy blushed but met her friend’s gaze.  "Yeah," she replied.

Cordelia knew it was none of her business, but in the interest of not ending up a vampire snack, she had to ask.  "So, I guess you two ... "

Buffy’s blush intensified and she turned her attention back to the paperwork with a terse, "Yep."

Inwardly mortified, Cordelia pressed, "And Angel is ... still Angel?"

"The one and only," Buffy replied, unable to meet her friend’s gaze.

Satisfied that Angel’s soul wasn’t going anywhere, Cordelia relaxed

The End