disclaimer in part 1
Xander ran toward his friend and crushed her in a bear hug. She reluctantly hugged him back. "Where were you- we've all been so worried, especially your mom..."
"Yeah, I know Xander. But I needed some time to deal, okay? In fact, I still need some time to deal, so after we're through with Dru here, I'm leaving again."
"But why?"
"You know damn well why- Angel! I still loved him, and I had to send him to hell to save the world. God, if only I had known his soul would be restored by opening the portal, I might have had time to find another way to close it."
Spike looked at the girl strangely. "Uh, I think you're a bit confused, luv. There was no way that opening that portal could have given Angel back his soul."
"Yes, it did. I mean he was back to his old self, or, well, his more recent old self. I saw his eyes glow when it went back into him and everything."
Spike shook his head. "It was a spell to bring about the end of the human world- why would it bring back his soul just when he would be going to hell? He'd want to be as bad as possible, right? No, someone definately performed the restoration spell- especially if his eyes glowed. That's the way it happened the first time, anyway."
Buffy looked to Xander. "Xander, did Willow try the spell again?"
He began to stutter, unsure of what to say to his friend. "Um, well, she, yeah, I..." Spike grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the wall.
"Spit it out if you value your life."
Xander struggled under Spike's grasp until he loosened his grip, then began to talk. "Yes, she tried the spell again. I guess it worked."
"But why? She knew I was going to try to kill him!"
Xander cast his eyes downward, unwilling to speak. Spike began to shake the boy. "OUT WITH IT!!!"
Spike stopped, and Xander began to spit out words at a hysterical pace. "Okay, okay. I was supposed to tell you. That's why I came to find you, not to get Giles. I was supposed to tell you that Willow was going to attempt to re-curse Angel. I'm so sorry Buffy. I should have told you, but I thought that it would distract you from what you had to do. I know now that it wasn't my choice to make, that I should have let you make the decision, but I was angry that after all Angel had done to you and us, that he was going to live and get to be a good guy again. I was wrong, Buffy, and a jerk, and I know I can never make up for what I did, but I'm begging you- please forgive me."
Buffy looked at her friend with cold eyes, which seemed to be about to spill over with tears. "I think jerk is putting it a little mildly, don't you Xander?" She turned to Spike. "Let him go." Spike released the teen from his grasp, and Xander immediately turned to Buffy with a questioning look. She glared at him. "It's a little too soon to think about forgiving you Xander. You can help Spike and I restore Drusilla's soul, and then you can get the hell out of my sight. I will be leaving again, and if you tell anyone you saw me, I swear to god, Xander, I'l kill you myself." He was almost shocked at the disgust he saw in her eyes as she said it.
Mutely, he shook his head, and picked the computer printout off of the ground where Buffy had dropped it earlier.
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Cordelia was in no shape to drive home, so no one protested when they all piled into Giles' beat up car. No one spoke on the ride home from the hospital. Mrs. Summers was still drunk and was fading in and out of conciousness the whole time. Giles was deep in thought. Cordelia was now too busy worrying if Xander would be all right to carry on a conversation. Willow had been in extreme pain at the hospital, so they had given her some painkillers, which she was now sleeping off. And Oz just sat stroking Willow's hair as she slept. No one questioned why Giles went back to the Library instead of dropping them off at their homes. Silently they all got out of the car and went inside and sat at the table. They needed to know if Drusilla was still at large, and they needed to know if they were all still in danger. And the only way to find out was to wait for Xander to come back...
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Spike sat in the center of the old mansion's living room, in front of the Orb of Thessulah, and several small piles of runes. Buffy looked quizzically at Spike, wondering when she should start speaking the latin.
The vampire had gathered the items necessary for performing the spell. Xander was supposed to be the one to burn the herbs, and Buffy was going to be the one to chant. Even though she didn't know Latin, apparently Spike trusted her enough to read it. Besides, he said that as long as you said it at the right time, it didn't matter if you knew the language or not.
He lit the three candles he had carefully placed in front of him, in a triangle around the orb. The he looked at Xander and nodded, and the boy lit his incense, and began to waft it around the room. Spike nodded to Buffy, and she looked down at the piece of paper in her hands and mumbled something she didn't remotely understand. Then she looked to Spike expectantly.
He gave her a look that translated to "I hope the hell this works!" and then began to speak the words Willow had used barely a week and a half ago- "Not dead, nor of the living..."