More of Chapter 1 "I said read it to me!"
"It's in ancient Gaelic."
"Then translate it. Read it now!"
Another look passed between the Watcher and the Hacker, and then he was Buffy's. "In the age of innocence no longer found, the age where two fight evil- no longer one. She shall rise. It will be the fallen angel who shall set her free," Giles paused to look at her, and swallowed hard. "On the day he shall be sent to hell by his love's own hand, that day shall mark her rising. Her success or fall depends on the fallen one, for as long as he remains in hell humanity has no champion." He stopped reading, his eyes searching his Slayer's for any sign of emotion, "it goes on babbling about humanity, mentioning Angel a few times as the savior, others as the spawn of hell."
"That's our Angel," Xander murmured, "you gotta love him."
"Shut up, Xander!" Cordelia snapped. Surprisingly he did as he was told.
"It clearly says Angel will have to be let out of hell for humanity to survive this." Giles said directly to Buffy. He sighed ruefully as he noted her glazed eyes, the girl was a million miles away.
"So you're gonna trust a book written by a demon, given to you by a demon to spring a demon out of hell?" Xander demanded, jumping to his feet with fury.
"No, I'm not, Xander. That's why I contacted the council, they confirmed this prophecy. This is real."
"Angel gave you this book?" Cordelia asked softly, a horrible thought flashing through her mind. "Wouldn't that have meant that he'd have read it first? That he'd known that he was going to be sent to hell by Buffy?"
That question managed to cut through even Buffy's trance. She stared at Giles, balefully awaiting an answer. "No, he wouldn't," he said firmly speaking directly at the blonde girl rather than to the one who had asked the question. "I researched with him many times, before," he left that hanging, "he couldn't read Gaelic."
"That doesn't mean you can give him a 'get out of hell' free card." Xander yelled, his hate for the dark vampire shining through every word. "He deserved what he got."
"You foolish boy!" Xander gasped as the quiet, tweed clad librarian suddenly became a stranger to him, suddenly realizing he had gone too far. "Do you think for one moment I would let him out if I thought there was another way? Do you think I wouldn't like to run him through myself the moment he steps out of hell?" The teen's dark eyes met the Watcher's gray, and tried to flinch away. "After what he did to all of us, after what he did to Jenny, I'd love nothing more than to kill him myself. To make him suffer like I've suffered, to watch him die a thousand times over." They all stared at him with shock, watching him transform from Rupert to Ripper, and back again. "But humanity is worth more than my own desires." He said quietly, with near perfect control.
Buffy stood, suddenly unable to breathe right in the stale library. She needed fresh air, she needed space, and she needed to get out of the library and into the sun right now. "Buffy?" Willow called after her softly.
She turned to face them, her friends. The ones who had kept her sane throughout those long shattering weeks since her lover had gone. "It was supposed to have lasted forever," she told them quietly, unsure herself as to what 'it' meant exactly.
They watched the library doors swing silently after her. "I guess even forever has to end sometime," Cordelia mused philosophically. They all stared at her. "What? I can have layers!"
