Part 6

      "Well, I guess this is it," a nervous Willow said as she stood outside of
Giles' townhouse. Angel was by her side, holding her hand to give her added
strength for the confrontations that the red head was afraid would come from
the people waiting inside.  Cordelia and Spike were behind them, the
brunette also apprehensive about the coming meeting, but for a different
reason.  She had a pretty good feeling that Riley would be inside and she
wasn't sure how she would react to the man that had a part in capturing
Spike.  Faith had remained at Willow's parents' home, not quite ready to
face the gang from Sunnydale after everything that she had done to them the
last time she was there.  Wesley had decided to keep her company. Willow
hesitated a little longer before finally knocking on the door.  She jumped
back when it was opened quickly by Anya.
      "We were beginning to wonder if you were ever going to actually knock or if
you were going to just stand outside talking all night," the ex-demon told
the group.
      "And hello to you too, Anya," Willow said.
      "Angel, Willow why don't you come in," Giles invited the pair as he came
from behind Anya.  He then saw Spike and Cordelia behind the couple. "Hello
Cordelia, you're looking as lovely as usual.  I see Los Angeles agrees with
you."
      "Thank you, and I see that unemployment agrees with you too."  Spike
snickered at Cordelia's comment.  Giles just got flustered.
      "Yes, well..."
      "You'll have to forgive Delia, Giles.  We're still working on that tact
thing of hers," Angel joked.
      "Bite me, Angel."
      "I believe that job has been taken by Blondie over there."
      "You bloody well better believe that," Angel agreed, causing Cordelia,
Angel and Willow to laugh.  Giles, Xander and Anya looked on, surprised at
the easy going nature within the group, especially the normally brooding
Angel.  And none of them had missed how Angel had yet to release Willow's
hand from his grasp.
      "Ahem," Giles cleared his throat, causing the two couples to look at him
sheepishly.  "However that may be, I am glad that you are all here to help
with the Wambata demon that you told us about.  It certainly has been making
a nuisance of itself the past few days and, unfortunately, we have had no
success in finding it."
      "What about the Initiative?  Have they had any luck?" Willow asked.  Giles
shook his head.
      "Not that we know of," Giles answered.  "They are as much in the dark as we
are."
      "Well, Faith and Wesley are going over everything that you had told us, and
the things that they had discovered to see if there is some kind of pattern
in where it appears," Angel informed the trio.  "Hopefully they will be able
to come up with something that will help us."
      "I was wondering where the psychotic one was," Xander quipped, referring to
Faith and drawing a withering glare from Willow.
      "Alexander Harris, I want you to be one your best behavior when it comes to
Faith," Willow admonished the teen.  "She's working hard to redeem herself
and I don't want you making it any harder on her than it already is."
      "But she..."
      "Not another word," Willow repeated.
      "Fine," Xander pouted, plopping himself down on Giles' couch.  "Not another
word but if you find me dead in my sleep one night, you know who to blame."
Willow smiled sweetly at her oldest friend.
      "And we'll feel really bad for not stopping her too."  Willow turned to
Giles.  "Where's Buffy?  I would have thought that she would have been here
to see what we've found out."  When Giles didn't answer the hacker, instead
choosing to look in any direction but hers, she went over to him.  "Giles,
Buffy is coming isn't she?"
      "We don't know," the ex-Watcher admitted.  "I haven't exactly spoken to her
since I informed her that Angel knew about his soul being permanent."
      "I, may I say, that I am extremely happy about that," Xander quipped.
      "Not as happy as I am," Angel told the boy.
      "Yes, I imagine that is a relief to know that your soul cannot be removed
from you again," Giles said.  "And congratulations on that.  I still cannot
believe that Buffy had felt the need to keep it a secret from you for all
this time.  I honestly don't understand her reasoning for that."
      "Oh, come on, when has anything that the chit done ever made any sense,"
Spike chimed in.  "I mean, we are talking about a Slayer that decided to
fall in love with a vampire after all."
      "Yes, well, be that as it may, I am still very disappointed in her actions
and I have told her so in no uncertain terms," Giles added.  "But, that is
the least of our concerns until we find and defeat the Wambata.  Angel, I've
been doing some research on the Wambata since I spoke to you, and I must say
that to all appearances, it looks to be a benevolent demon."
      "It is," Angel answered.   Everyone took a seat around the living room,
each couple sitting close to each other.  "It isn't the actual demon that is
doing the killing.  It's the human beings that it comes in contact with.
That's the reason it has been so difficult in tracking."
      "What do you mean it's the humans it comes in contact with that is doing
the killing?" Xander asked.
      "One of the effects the Wambata has on people is that it makes them tell
their deepest feelings, whether it be fear, love, or anger," The souled
vampire explained.  "And, as many in this room can attest to, that isn't
always a good thing to happen."
      "Okay, so this demon thingie has a way of making people admit things they
might not otherwise admit too.  So what?" Anya inquired, not understanding
how human emotions could lead to murder.
      "Let me give you an example of what we uncovered," Willow stated.  "We've
uncovered cases where someone has admitted love for someone else, not their
husband, and the husband reacted rather violently.  Another, a police
officer suddenly froze after an encounter with the demon and almost ended up
dead at the hands of a gang member."  The trio from Sunnydale was stunned at
how the emotions of people were being used against them.
      "So, how do we stop this thing once we find it?"  Xander asked.
      "We don't know," Angel admitted.  "And it won't be that easy to confront.
Whoever goes against it will, no doubt, be affected by it same as the
others.  And there is no way of predicting what emotion will be played out."
      "And right now, with Buffy being as upset as she is, it might not be a good
idea to let her go up against the demon," Giles stated.  "Nor would be smart
to let Riley do anything either.  Neither person is in a right state of
mind."
      "When are they ever?" Spike quipped, drawing a slap from Cordelia.
      "Quiet," she hissed.  The others in the room just ignored their antics.
      "Giles, did you tell Buffy about Angel and I?" Willow questioned nervously.
  The older man shook his head.
      "No, I didn't have the chance to inform her.  She left after I confronted
her about keeping Angel's soul a secret.  It didn't help that Riley had been
here and had begun to demand answers about Angel and his soul."
      "She hasn't told him about Angel yet?' Cordelia asked, incrediously.  "So
little miss likes to kill still likes to keep secrets.  Talk about trust
issues."
      "What should we do, Giles?" Willow inquired.  "I don't like the idea of her
being in the dark about my relationship with Angel.  It will only be worse
in the end."
      "I know.  The only thing I can do is ask you to give it some time.  Let's
deal with the demon first and then Buffy," Giles suggested.  Willow didn't
look happy about that.  No matter what, Buffy was still her friend and she
didn't like keeping a secret from her.  Angel saw Willow's unhappiness and
placed his hand under her chin, raising her face so that her eyes met his.
      "Don't worry, kitten," he told her.  "Things will work out.  I promise."
He placed a gentle kiss on her lips.  "We'll deal with Buffy when the time
comes."  Suddenly the door to Giles' home flew open and in walked the
Slayer.
      "Giles, you'll never believe who I just saw coming out of Willow's house,"
Buffy said before noticing Angel, Willow, Cordelia and Spike already in the
room.
      "Angel," Buffy whispered at the sight of her former lover next to her best
friend.  She took in the way the two were holding each other and realized
that things had changed between the two people.  "Didn't take you long to
find someone to test out your soul did it?" She stated, her tone full of
ice.
      "Buffy," Angel warned, not wanting to get into a fight with his
ex-girlfriend.  "We're here to help with the demon."
      "Right," she drawled.  "And you're having a permanent soul has nothing to
do with it."  She turned to Willow.  "And you.  You were my best friend.  I
bet you couldn't wait to tell him that his soul was there for good.  You
always did have a thing for him."
      "It isn't like that, Buffy," Willow told her friend.  "Anyway, you should
have told Angel a long time ago that the clause was gone.  Why didn't you?"
      "I didn't see a need too," she informed the pair.  "Go back to LA, Angel.
You don't belong here.  And take your little whore with you."  Angel
advanced on Buffy, his eyes turning yellow.
      "Don't you ever speak of Willow like that," he growled, trying to reign in
the demon that threatened to come out.  "All Willow did was fix something
that she saw was wrong.  She hasn't done anything wrong."
      "Oh, and what would you call lusting after her best friend's boyfriend?"
Buffy shouted.
      :"She didn't lust after anyone and I haven't been your boyfriend for quite
a while, remember," the enraged vampire answered.  "Besides, what difference
does it make.  You have someone.  The name Riley ring any bells."  Giles
made a move to separate the pair of arguing ex-lovers but Spike beat him to
it.
      "Okay, boys and girls, play time's over," he said, putting his body between
the slayer and his sire.  "As much as I would love to see the two of you
tear each other to pieces, I'm pretty sure Red wouldn't be thrilled with
that idea.  What say we call it a night?"
      "That's a good idea," Cordelia agreed.  Buffy and Angel continued looking
at each other.  Willow came over to Angel's side and placed her hand on his
arm.
      "Come on, Angel.  Let's get back to my house and see if Faith and Wes have
had any luck."  Angel looked down at the girl he had fallen in love with and
nodded.  "We'll talk to you tomorrow Giles."  The two couple left, leaving
an irate Buffy behind.
      "Well, that was interesting," Anya stated.
 

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