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Angel watched from the shelter of the parking garage overhang. Several people had come out of the main building, but none of them was the one he was currently endangering himself for. He was certain the young man would show up before long, though.
So why am I standing out here, inches away from being fried by the sun, waiting to talk to a man who might hate me now, instead of just being jealous of me? Not a logical thing to do. So why am I doing it?
He knew the answer. It was because he had to let Riley Finn know that Buffy would be in good hands, even if they were his. If Buffy had told him, that is. Just then Riley emerged from the double glass doors. One look at his face told Angel that he knew the truth, and reluctant compassion filled him for the pain the young man was enduring. He knew what it was to feel as if your heart had been ripped from your body. As he'd hoped, Riley's path brought him within hearing distance. "Finn."
Riley stopped, looking around. Angel stepped out of the shadows, careful to remain beneath the overhang. Riley's face tightened; his hands clenched. "What do you want?"
"I do love her, you know," Angel told him quietly. "I always have and I always will."
Riley moved closer and looked him calmly in the eye, although his hurt and grief and anger were plain to see. And, yes, there was even more than a touch of resentment. "I guess you do. But frankly, right now all I want to do is drag you out into this nice bright sunlight and watch you go up in smoke. How can you possibly make her happy? You can't even make love to her."
"I don't know," Angel returned, still quietly but with a sudden edge. "But it didn't work out too well when we were apart, now did it?"
Bitterness spasmed over Riley's features. "Touche." Without another word he turned and walked away, still composed, still suffering.
Damn! Angel looked after him with regret, cursing himself for losing his temper. It didn't matter that he knew Riley Finn was a thoroughly decent young man who loved Buffy probably as much as he did. Let him get within ten feet of the guy, or talk directly to him, and something inside seemed to snap.
"Way to hit a guy when he's down and damn near out," came a voice from beside him. It was Xander, who somehow had come up without Angel hearing him. "Why didn't you beat on your chest and do a victory dance while you were at it? Because, you know, I'm not sure Riley's feeling bad enough yet." He stared at Angel, his brown eyes accusing.
Angel controlled the irritation Xander always seemed to evoke. "That isn't what I intended to - " He stopped and started over. "I wasn't trying to make him feel worse. I know he loves Buffy and I thought he would like to know that I wouldn't walk out on her again."
"Yeah, ‘cause he so wants to hear that right now," came Xander's dry response. "Angel, Riley's just found out that the woman he loves never really loved him at all, and worse, she never stopped loving her ex-boyfriend, who just happens to be an undead creature of the night like the kind they normally killed together. Do you really think anything you can say is going to make that better?"
"No," Angel admitted, then sighed. "I should have known better. Pretty much the same thing happened the last time we met."
"It did?" To Angel's surprise Xander didn't seem to know about his confrontation the year before with Riley. And Buffy.
"I see one more display of testosterone poisoning and I will personally put you both in the hospital!"
Buffy's words ran through Angel's mind, prompting a wry grin. It was true. One look at Riley Finn and instinct surged to the fore, overpowering any puny little emotions like compassion or understanding that lay in its path. Unfortunately for Angel's peace of mind, however, not all of that instinct could be blamed on the demon residing within. A good portion of it was born and bred in the bone through generations of proud, possessive males. This man had dared to touch his woman (never mind that he himself had walked away from her because he thought she was better off without him) and for that he should pay.
Angel shook his head in disgust. Stop it, Angel. You're not in the eighteenth century anymore. You're not even in the *twentieth* century! Besides, you know you're not going to harm Riley Finn. For one thing, Buffy would probably beat you to a pulp if you did. For another, you don't *want* to hurt him. Not really. Well, not very much, at least. And nothing permanent.
"Xander!" A young woman about Buffy's age was almost running toward them across the parking lot.
"Who's that?" Angel asked.
"That's Tara," said Xander, frowning. "Willow's girlfriend." The young woman stopped in front of him, breathing heavily. "What's up, Tara? Is anything wrong?"
Instead of replying, Tara looked at Angel. "Y-you're Angel." Angel acknowledged his identity. There was something about this young woman - something different - but he couldn't put his finger on it. She wasn't especially pretty, yet her face was one that would stay in your mind; the eyes in particular. Something appealing and shy and vulnerable looked through those eyes.
‘N-nice to finally m-meet you," she said, offering him her hand. A bit surprised at the gesture - most folks weren't that anxious to get touchy-feely with a vampire - Angel took it. He intended only a quick shake, but got another surprise: Tara put her other hand on top of his, sandwiching it between her own, staring him in the eyes all the while as though trying to read his mind. Or his soul.
Finally she gave a tiny, almost imperceptible, nod and released him. "Willow was right."
Angel blinked. "She was?" he couldn't resist asking. "About what exactly?"
"That you're a good person trying to make the best of a terrible situation."
Angel couldn't think of a reply to that. While he was trying to come up with one, Xander broke in. "Tara, you didn't answer my question. Is something the matter?"
"Oh, s-sorry." She gave him a deprecating smile. "No. I was just w-wondering where Willow is. There's, uh, s-something I need to talk to her about."
"Oh. Well, last time I saw her she was in the cafeteria with Giles," Xander offered.
"Thanks." The young woman hesitated. "Um, X-xander, why don't you join us there, when y-you're through talking to Angel? We, uh, can f-finish making our plans."
‘Plans?" Xander looked blank. Tara sent him a look. "Yes," she said firmly. "Our p-plans. You know the ones."
Xander stared at her, and Tara frowned at him, a frown Angel recalled seeing many times on Willow's face when the young man was being particularly obtuse about something. He wondered what Xander had forgotten about this time.
‘Oh!" Xander said, brightly. "Yes. Our plans. For the . . . thing that we're planning . . . together." It was obvious that he still hadn't a clue what she was talking about. Angel raised an eyebrow, hoping it wasn't anything very important. "I have to go," he told them. "It's past my bedtime." He cast a glance at the sky.
"Yeah, you could get a nasty sunburn if you're not careful," Xander put in. Tara said, "Y-you'll be back this evening, won't you?" Her tone was anxious, and Angel looked at her curiously as he told her he would.
"G-good!" She smiled broadly. "S-see you then, Angel." She was obviously waiting for Angel to leave, so he pulled his coat over his head and ran like hell for his car.
"Good," Tara sighed. "He's gone. N-now I can tell you."
"Tell me what?" Xander demanded. Tara shook her head. "N-not here. Let's find W-willow first."
Willow was still in the cafeteria, as was Giles. "How could I be so stupid?" she groaned as Tara and Xander came up to the table.
"Willow, you didn't know he was there," Giles said comfortingly but with an air of having just repeated himself for the umpteenth time. He looked up. "Hello."
Concerned, Tara immediately went over to Willow. She put an arm around her lover's shoulders. "What's wrong?"
Willow groaned again. "Oh, nothing much. I merely informed Riley that Angel had brought Buffy back from the land of the wanting-to-be-dead, that's all."
"Riley w-was here?" asked Tara. "I thought y-you guys knocked him out."
Giles sighed. "It appears that his worry over Buffy prevented the sleeping pill from working the way it should have. He woke up and decided to come back here. Angel was still in with Buffy, and they were sleeping together."
"What?" exclaimed Xander.
Giles quickly corrected himself. "I mean they were asleep in the same bed, not - anything else. Riley walked in on them."
"Oh no," Tara sighed.
"Unfortunately it's 'oh, yes,' " returned Giles drily. "Then Joyce and I came in to warn Angel of the sunrise in case he had fallen asleep. Things were a little tense. But then Angel left and Riley was starting to calm down when Willow - " He broke off.
Willow continued, dejectedly. "When I popped up and announced how grateful I was that Angel had been able to bring Buffy back. And I was hoping Riley would never have to find that out. I've ruined everything." Her forehead hit the table with a thump.
"You've done nothing of the sort," Giles told her firmly, as Tara placed a comforting hand on Willow's hair. "Riley would have found out before long."
Willow looked up. After a moment she said, slowly, "You mean Buffy would have told him anyway?"
Giles nodded. "Buffy wouldn't deceive Riley once she realized the truth."
"That sh-she doesn't love him, and she still l-loves Angel," put in Tara. "No, Buffy's too honest to go on l-living a lie, once she r-recognized it was a lie, anyway."
"You're absolutely right," Giles said, with some surprise. "Although I think she might have postponed it until she was feeling a bit stronger. Willow, all you did was make the inevitable happen sooner than it might have otherwise." Willow didn't look consoled.
"Willow, I n-need to talk to you," Tara blurted out. "And you, Giles. I think I've found out s-something, but I w-want you to double-check it for me."
"Sure." "Of course." The two voices came simultaneously. Xander pulled up a chair and parked himself on it with an expectant air.
Tara sat down at the table and pulled a couple of papers from the canvas bag slung over one shoulder. "L-last n-night I asked a f-friend of mine to translate the curse Willow used to bring Angel's soul back."
"Why?" Xander asked. "It worked. What else do you need to know?"
Tara cleared her throat and looked at them nervously. As always when she was apprehensive, her stammer grew worse. "M-my f-friend is an e-expert on Romany c-culture and the occult, and she s-said she'd never h-heard of a happiness l-loophole in the S-soul Curse like the one Angel h-has. Th-that's why I a-asked her to take a l-look at it and t-translate it for me."
"She knew about the curse itself, though?" asked Giles, interested.
Tara nodded. "She s-said it's a very old curse, that's only been cast a f-few times in the entire history of the R-romany."
Giles looked extremely interested now. "Indeed. I had no idea. Er, please go on, Tara."
"Anyw-way, what Karla - my friend - said made me w-wonder if maybe the curse that was originally used on Angel - I mean Angelus - wasn't the traditional one." Tara was more at ease, the stammer less obvious. "So l-last night I e-mailed her the one that Willow found on M-miss Calendar's diskette."
"And? What did she say?" Willow prompted her.
Tara took a deep breath. "The c-curse I sent her *is* the traditional Romany Soul Summoning Curse."
Giles shot straight up in his chair. Xander looked blank. "What are you saying?" Willow asked, slowly, her eyes huge with disbelief. "Tara, do you mean that the curse I did to bring Angel's soul back - "
"H-had no anti-happiness clause." Tara handed her the papers. "H-here's the original printout of the one that M-miss Calendar had on her disk, and here's my friend's translation. S-see if I'm wrong. If we're wrong."
Giles and Willow bent over the printouts together, starting with the translation. After a minute they looked at each other, then at the others.
"The translation certainly contains no mention of a moment of true happiness," Giles admitted, sounding stunned. "Not even a hint. And the curse itself appears to be quite straightforward. It calls the soul back to the body as punishment for sins committed by the person while still alive, so that the person can endure further retribution. Also, it sets a time limit of - " He looked at the paper as though he didn't trust his memory. "Yes, of one month."
"One month!" Xander exclaimed. "But - Angel's had it for more than a hundred years!"
"Yes." Giles looked thoughtful. "I imagine that one month is the point at which death can no longer be held off." He glanced at a confused Xander. "This is not a nice curse, Xander, even as curses go. I would guess that it was used only for the most heinous of crimes. Basically it calls a guilty soul back into a body which has already died. The natural processes associated with death are slowed when the soul returns, but they're not stopped, merely delayed."
Xander looked sick. "You mean they'd still decay . . . and they'd be there? In the body?" At Giles' nod he looked even greener. "Excuse me while I puke."
"And Angel, the real Angel with the soul, wasn't alive when the sins were committed," Willow said. She too looked stunned, and slightly sick. "It was the demon who was the bad guy, not the real Angel. I - I never thought about it before. Giles, this curse should never have been used on a vampire. It's completely unfair, because it punishes the wrong person."
"If this translation is accurate," Giles said slowly, "I don't believe it was ever intended to be used on vampires, although one could argue that the demon is being punished by not being allowed to act on its evil nature. However, it would appear that the curse laid on Angel - Angelus - was a, a viciously bastardized version of the traditional curse, one that the Kalderash tribe adapted to accomplish their desire for revenge. But - I have no way of checking that the translation is accurate. The original - "
He perused it. "The original is a mixture of Latin, medieval Rumanian, and what I'm guessing is Romany. I know Latin, but the others - " Giles shook his head. "Tara, I'm not doubting either your or your friend's honesty, but you must see that we can't take this at face value. There's simply too much at stake. I must know what her credentials are."
Tara nodded. "S-sure. Karla's the h-head of Eastern European Studies at Oxford."
"Karla?" Giles opened his mouth and closed it again. "Oxford? Eastern European Studies? You - surely you aren't referring to Karla Lowesky?" His voice was faint.
"Uh, y-yes," Tara replied, her eyes widening. "D-do you know Karla?"
Giles sat back in his chair. "She's probably the greatest living expert today on Eastern European history and languages, not to mention its occult traditions. Are you telling me that this translation was done by Karla Lowesky?"
Tara nodded. "She's m-my godmother, s-sort of. Unofficially."
"Good lord," Giles said faintly. He set the two papers on the table. "Well then, there's certainly no question in my mind that this translation is accurate. The only question now is what to do with the information."
"We have to tell Buffy." Willow had her Resolve Face on. "And Angel." Then she looked sick again. "Do you realize what this means? What I did to them?" Groaning, she buried her face in her hands.
"They could have been together ever since Angel returned from hell," muttered Giles. He took off his glasses and began polishing them with agitated swipes of his handkerchief.
"Almost three years ago," contributed Xander grimly.
Tara glared at them both and put her arms around Willow. "Willow, you didn't know. No one did. Probably Ms. Calendar didn't even know, and it was her clan that set the curse in the first place."
"Either that," Giles said thoughtfully, "or Jenny was trying to make amends for the injustice the Kalderash visited on Angel by doing away with the happiness clause. Unfortunately, before she could tell anyone - "
He fell abruptly silent, then replaced his glasses. "Well, I don't suppose we'll ever know. Right now I'm concerned abut Buffy's state of mind. She's still weak from the coma, and I'm sure she's upset about Riley. News like this might be too much for her to handle at this time. Perhaps we should wait a few days, just until she's stronger."
Willow uncovered her face. "No," she said flatly. "We have to tell her right now. And Angel, as soon as we can."
"Giles," said Xander pointedly, "You know Buffy. She'll find out how long we've known all this. Do you really want to be the one who decided she shouldn't know as soon as we did?"
"Good point," Giles replied at once. "Er, yes. An excellent point, in fact. Very well, I shall go up right now and let her know what we've discovered. Er, what Tara discovered. Good job, Tara, I must say. Thank you."
Tara looked embarrassed. "Y-you're welcome."
(To Be Continued in the sequel, "An Unexpected Song."
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