A/N: In this story I need you to believe one thing - the adjoining spell is not needed by a pure slayer.

Chapter 14

Angel stumbled against the side of the sewer as a wave of dizziness hit him. His stomach clenched in rebellion to something as his heart beat for the first time in over two hundred and fifty years-well technically is was seven hundred and fifty if you wanted to add in that little stint in hell after the Acathla debacle. His eyes lifted to the manhole cover above his head and he hesitantly reached out his hand, allowing the stray drips of sunlight to touch him. Human. He was human.

Letting out a whoop of delight, the brunette ex-vampire shot up the ladder and into the sun.

~*~*~

Riley watch as Maggie was carefully placed into the transport, her face frozen in horror even in her unconscious state. He was sure that her screams of agony would stay with him for years. It was the stuff nightmares were made of.

He knew exactly who to blame for what had happened to his boss-his mentor and his friend.

Buffy Summers. The Slayer.

Oh he knew exactly what a slayer was now. After she'd brought down the rest of his squad in the abortive attempt to capture her in the classroom, Riley had taken the time to study all they information they had on slayers. All reports had her as one of the good guys. But, if that was the case, what was she doing protecting hostiles? Why was she attacking them? Why Maggie? Oh no! If this bitch was supposed to be a good guy she was failing her mission. And now Maggie was paying the price.

He'd been forced to watch the strongest woman he had ever had the pleasure of knowing become a shadow of her former self despite all their best efforts. He'd watched as she lost weight. He'd watched her stoically forge ahead like the trooper she was regardless of the pain she was in. He'd watched as she suffered through test after test only to hear that the doctors couldn't find the problem. He saw her anguish mount as drug after drug failed to alleviate her suffering. He had been forced to do nothing as the finest woman he had EVER known collapsed in a screaming heap. The fact that the only way they could safely transport her was to put her into a medical coma didn't even seem to have eased her pain.

Riley felt his anger burn. He wanted revenge in the worst way; revenge against the vicious blonde bitch that was responsible for all their problems.

As he watched the unmarked van disappear from his sight, he allowed his rage to build. He had until eight-when the new commandant was due to arrive- to get his emotions under control. Grabbing the rest of his squad, Riley headed out for patrol. He had no plans on bringing anything but corpses back with them tonight. And every single demon he faced would pay in a way that the object of his hatred could not. He had no doubt that mentally putting her face to every demon he encountered would be more than enough incentive.

Riley was determined that someone was definitely going to feel the wrath of a pissed off Iowa farm boy tonight.

~*~*~

"Angel, it's getting dark. Why don't you have some chocolate and you can drive to Sunnydale in the morning. Really surprise Buffy," Doyle suggested quickly, praying that he'd get the chance to warn the Watcher before the ex-vampire arrived. He had to admit to being a little relieved that it would be a human Angel that they would have to deal with when the shit hit the fan and the broody one discovered what was really going on with the little blonde slayer. Vampire Angel throwing a tantrum did not bode well for any of them.

~*~*~

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the wannabe hero," Spike smirked in delight as Riley and his group of commandos surrounded him. "You may not be the justice I was lookin' for, but you'll do in a pinch."

Riley's grin took on a maniacal gleam. If he couldn't take out his rage on the blonde slayer, then her pet vampire would do just as well.

"Ah...Ri, man? I thought you said this dude was a vamp?" one of the men asked in confusion.

"He is," Riley replied flatly, his eyes squinting slightly in determination.

"He's got body heat, man."

Riley turned shocked eyes towards his compatriot. "Huh?"

"Dude's got normal body heat," the soldier expanded, reconfirming the reading from his handheld device.

Turning his confused gaze back to the blond under discussion, he started slightly when the grinning Brit's eyes flashed lavender. Riley's look hardened with his resolve. "Perfect. With him we'll be able to finish Maggie's research."

"The Slayer was right...you are an idiot," Spike ground out harshly as he felt his new powers rise within-his new inner call for justice ...and judgement.

The soldiers watched in shocked awe as the being before them started to glow white. The voice which spoke from the centre of the blinding light was deep and soothing...the message was not.

"You revel in the borrowed power you enhance yourselves with, believing it to make you somehow superior to those you choose to capture for your insidious purposes. The abilities which you seek can only come from within; from the development of your mind and spirit. Since you prize this growth above all others I will grant you the ability to explore it. In order to study fully, I will also remove the distractions. Your physical strength will no longer be greater than normal. In fact, the drugs in your systems will now cause the opposite effect. All of you that take these medicines will be reduced to the strength of a child. Justice is served; judgement is final."

Spike reverted to normal and looked at the soldiers in disgust. "Well, that's just bloody typical, isn't it? Bloody do-good slayer!" Storming past the shocked commandos, the blond continued to grumble, "All I wanted was to beat the livin' hell out of somethin', too. Where's Peaches when you need him?"

~*~*~

Buffy watched as Spike literally took apart the lumbering Fyarl demon he was decimating.

As much as she would have enjoyed fighting by Spike's side, Buffy sensed that he needed to finish it on his own.

Tentatively the little blonde explored their link, not wanting to distract him but needing to know that his strength was not waning.

"'m fine, Slayer," he grinned happily as he assured her, still beating on the demon at his dubious mercy.

Buffy shook her head and chuckled at her own misbelief that she could be discrete enough to slip her probing past the insightful blond. Seriously, who was she kidding?

"Feeling better?" she asked softly, knowing that he would hear.

Spike ripped the Fyral's head from his body before turning to answer his mate. "Not so brassed at any rate," he offered with a shrug. His insecurities had seemed to grow in the wake of the unplanned mating, regardless of the emotions he could feel coming from the beautiful blonde. He had no way of judging if he was interpreting her position correctly. She still hadn't said the words...and he needed them...desperately.

"I'm not sorry it happened, Spike. Just that it happened that way," Buffy tried to explain her position. "Well, not that it happened ‘that' way, ‘cause that was all with the goodness, just that you, you know, got pushed in to acting before you wanted to," she babbled unhappily as her face flushed with embarrassment.

Spike bridged the distance between them and quickly drew her into his arms. He tried to find his voice, but the lump in his throat made that difficult for him.

Snuggling into his embrace, Buffy shyly continued. "If you're still with the wondering if I could love you, gotta say I'm already at the ‘I hurt when he hurts' stage, so I'm thinking it's a definite possible maybe."

Spike chuckled sadly... ‘A definite possible maybe' was the best he'd ever been offered.

~*~*~

Giles greeted his visitor stoically, thankful that the half-Bracken demon had managed to warn him in advance. He hated to think what his reaction would have been to seeing Angel standing in full sunlight had he not been expecting it. Angelus in possession of a device similar to the Gem of Amara, that he knew Spike had, was enough to make even a reserved Englishman run screaming in horror...well, perhaps not run.

Getting Angel settled, Giles called Buffy at Spike's. He wished he could think of another place for them to have their conversation; he really didn't relish the thought of having to replace his furniture at all.

"Hi, guys," Buffy greeted chirpily as she breezed into the sun-filled apartment. She smiled at the picture Angle made as he basked in the morning light.

A brilliant smile transformed the features of the usually taciturn brunette. There was an innocence about his clear joy. "I'm human," Angel announced with bouncing jubilation.

Buffy smiled softly at the picture he made. "So I see. Congratulations, Angel."

A slight frown crossed his features. He'd been expecting more of a reaction than that. Shouldn't she be in his arms? ‘Oh! I get it...she doesn't realise...' "Buffy, I'm human. No more shaky soul. We can be together." He smiled in hope

Buffy's smile turned commiserative. "No, Angel. We really can't."

Angel's features displayed his confusion.

Buffy tilted her head to the side and smiled gently at the befuddled brunette. Pointing to the couch she urged him to sit. "There's some stuff you need to know. I hope it will help you understand."

It took a while, but after he had heard the entire story, Angel sat with his head bowed, trying to come to terms will all that he had learned. He couldn't understand why it didn't hurt more. He acknowledged why he and Buffy could never be together, he even accepted why she was with Spike. The trouble he had was that he was starting to doubt himself. He had thought she was his soul mate- that they would love each other forever and even though he knew he still loved her, it didn't seem to be in the same way. When did that change? He couldn't even say that they had missed their chance because, clearly, with all that had been revealed to him they had never had a chance to begin with. Had he misunderstood what he felt for her originally? No. He had loved her. But, his love for her had changed with time and distance.

Buffy watched quietly as Angel lifted his head and smiled. "I hope you'll be very happy together."

~*~*~

"Bloody hell, pet. Couldn't you have just hit him once...for me?"

Buffy chuckled at her pouting mate.

"You didn't even tell him that your mum likes me!"

~*~*~

"What do you mean ‘he asked to be returned to his vampiric state?' Is he insane?" Giles shouted in misplaced aggression, nearly dropping the phone as he ripped the glasses from his face.

"Sorry, Watcher." The soothing tone of the lilting Irish brogue floated through the earpiece. "He wanted to return to being a champion so that he could earn his humanity."

"Oh the bloody fool!" Giles snarled in exasperation. "And the return of the demon is what set him on this path?"

"Yeah," Doyle sighed heavily. "He should be hittin' Sunnydale in about two hours."

"Very well, thank you for letting me know. I'll call Buffy and Spike now. Good- bye, Doyle." Giles heard the half-Bracken demon's well wishes then hung up.

‘I knew it went too well the first time, but I wasn't bloody expecting this!'

~*~*~

Angel pounded on the door of the unknown house. He had tracked Buffy's scent through town, incensed by the hint of his missing childe's presence in the aroma.

The door of the house flew open and Spike stood haloed by the light behind him. "What are you tryin' to do, you wanker?" he snarled. "Break down the bloody door?"

Angel bounded back from the barrier and growled in frustrated anger. "Invite me in," he demanded commandingly.

Spike snickered evilly. "Not likely, mate. The missus would have my hide if I broke the furniture. She's got it just as she likes it. If you're here to challenge me for Buffy, we'll be doin' it outside."

"I'm not here to challenge you for her, Childe. I'm here to challenge her for you."

Spike's eyes widened in shocked surprise as his jaw hit the floor.

‘Bugger. Didn't see that one comin'.

"Sorry, you bloody poofter. You know I just don't swing that way."

"Actually, there was that one time..." Angel started to offer before being interrupted by an indignant Spike.

"You got me drunk and pretended to be Dru!"

"I thought you had dusted, Spike. I mourned you." Angel attempted to sooth the ruffled blond and bring the conversation back to the now. "When she claimed you, I felt the connection between us sever."

"Oh, this is bloody rich. You desert us for over a century, come back to us as an insane ponce, treat me like yesterday's garbage, try to destroy not only the world but our source of food too. You don't want to know us when you're wallowing in your personal little pity party. And now! Now when I'm finally gettin' my chance at happily-ever-after you decide you want your family back?" Spike asked incredulously.

"I do want my family back, Spike," Angel offered sincerely.

"You expect me to give up Buffy for you?" Spike snorted derisively.

"She won't fight me for you, Spike. I'll win by default, which will reverse the claim," Angel tried to explain calmly. He needed Spike to understand that there was nothing he could do about it. Nobody left Angel's family that Angel didn't want to leave.

"The hell I won't," Buffy snarled from behind Spike. Her eyes flashed lavender in her ire.

"He's my family, Buffy. You had no right to take him from me." Angel stood tall, firm in his belief that he was the one that had been wronged.

"You hate each other, you idiot," she snapped back, exasperated.

Angel seemed to cringe momentarily at her perceptive argument. "That's not the point."

"You want a point?" the Slayer asked rhetorically, her clenched fists on her hips, her feet slightly spread. "Spike is my mate. You would have to kill me to change that. But trust me when I say it's a fight you can't win. And just for the record, even if I wasn't Super Slayer, I'd kick your butt from here to next Tuesday for trying to mess with my man. You need to realise something once and for all, Angel. All that animosity your demon feels for me? Nothing to what my Slayer side thinks of you. That part of me would happily turn you into food for the dust-buster and not lose a minute of sleep over it. I don't want to hurt you, Angel, but I will if you ever threaten my relationship with my mate again."

"You'd actually fight me for Spike?" Angel squeaked in disbelief.

"Fight, pummel, cripple, dust," Buffy quipped easily. There was absolutely no doubt about her resolve.

Angel dropped his head in defeat before turning away without another word.

There was nothing he could say.

Buffy squeaked with surprise when her mate dragged her back from the door, slammed it then upended her over his shoulder and raced up the stairs.

With her speech, Spike had finally fallen and fallen hard. No definite possible maybes in sight.