Chapter Text
"Passion"
Based on the Episodes "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" Written by Marti Noxon and "Passion" Written by Ty King
The following story is copyright © 2022 by Mark Moore.
At Sunnydale High School, in American Literature class, the bell rang.
Ms. Beakman nodded. "Papers on my desk. Anybody tries to leave without giving me a paper is looking at a failing grade."
Buffy, Tara, Amy, and Katrina packed their books, notebooks, and pencils into their bookbags, stood up, and got in line to hand in their papers.
Buffy handed in her paper.
"Thank you."
Buffy looked behind her at Tara. "I'll see you in a few seconds."
"Okay." Tara kissed Buffy on the lips.
Buffy headed out of the room as Tara held up her paper as well.
"Thank you."
Tara followed Buffy out. Amy stood in front of Ms. Beakman and stared her down. There was a long silence as Amy concentrated on staring into the teacher's eyes. Katrina, standing behind Amy, slowly lost her smile as she saw what was going on.
A moment later, Ms. Beakman smiled at Amy and gestured as though she was accepting a paper from her. "Thank you, Amy."
Amy smiled and started out of the classroom. Katrina walked up to the desk, staring open-mouthed after Amy, and handed her paper in, also.
"Thank you."
Katrina left the classroom and caught up with her friends. Buffy and Tara walked down the stairs. Amy hopped down past them with a big smile on her face and headed into the lounge. Buffy and Tara headed down the hall. Katrina reached the bottom of the stairs behind them and followed as she watched Amy go off in the other direction.
Katrina caught up to them. "Did you guys see that?" She pointed at Amy.
"See what?" Buffy asked her.
"In class. I think Amy just worked some magic on Ms. Beakman."
"You mean like witchcraft?" Buffy asked.
Katrina nodded. "Uh-huh."
Tara frowned in concern. "Her mom was a witch."
Buffy nodded. "And an amateur psycho. Amy's the last person that should be messing with that shit."
Tara shrugged. "I don't quite agree. Magic can be a useful tool, but it shouldn't be used frivolously and dishonestly. The power needs to be respected, and the practitioner should be humble."
Katrina thought for a moment. "Maybe I should go talk to her."
"Buffy!" Giles approached them. "Buffy...might I have a word?"
"Have a sentence, even."
Giles got the joke. "Oh. Good. Well, uh..."
He happened to glance off into Jenny's classroom as she was talking to a student by the door.
"Back it up before you leave." Jenny stepped into the hall and stopped.
She and Giles exchanged looks with each other. Buffy noticed the exchange and looked down sadly.
Jenny shrugged and smiled thinly at Giles. "Rupert."
"Ms. Calendar." Giles looked down.
Jenny glanced down briefly and back up, then stepped toward him. "I'm glad we ran into each other, actually. I was hoping that we could, uh..." She gestured toward her room. "Do you have a minute?" She fidgeted with her hands.
"Um..." Giles paused. "Actually, not - not just now. Um, I, uh, have a matter to discuss with - with Buffy."
Buffy nodded. "Right. Let's go." She gave Jenny a quick glance and squeezed between her and Giles, heading for the library.
Katrina and Tara watched in silence. Giles looked up at Jenny for a moment, then slowly turned to follow Buffy. Jenny dropped her arms in despair, looked at Katrina and Tara, and then started down the hall the other way.
Katrina headed to the lounge and entered it. Amy was just getting a regular Pepsi from the vending machine.
"Ames, can I talk to you?" Katrina asked.
Amy straightened up and looked at her. "Sure."
"Earlier...in class...did you use magic on Ms. Beakman?"
Amy realized she'd been caught. "Yeah. Are you gonna tell on me?"
"Well, I'm just...concerned. Ethically, it doesn't seem right. You're using magic to get grades on work that you didn't do." Katrina stared hard into Amy's eyes. "And you manipulated her mind. Bent her to your will."
Amy thought about that and felt ashamed. "All right. I won't do it anymore."
"I'm glad." Katrina kissed Amy on the lips.
Amy smiled. "But I'm still using that spell that I learned to fuck myself with my dildo without using my hands."
Katrina laughed. "Fair."
Buffy was sitting at the table in the library, hugging her knee, when Giles came in and walked toward her slowly with his hands in his pockets.
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked him.
Giles looked at her. "Me? I-I-I'll be fine." He scratched his nose, then pocketed his hand again. "Um, I was more concerned about you, actually. How are you feeling?"
Buffy shrugged. "I'm as comfortable with myself as I'll ever be, I guess. Why?"
"Uh, since Angel, um...uh...turned..." Giles sat on the table and folded his hands. "I've, um, been reading up on - on his earlier activities. Y'know, uh, feeding patterns a-and the like."
"And?"
"He-He-He's rather prone to, uh...well, um, brutal displays of, uh..." Giles paused. "He would think of it as affection, I suppose."
"Like what?"
"No, no, uh, no need to go into details." Giles got up and stepped away.
"That bad?"
Giles faced her. "Suffice it to say I-I thought it would be best if Cordelia stayed off the streets for a few nights, and she agreed with me." He sat across from her. "Are you ready to resume patrolling full time?"
"Sure. Might as well earn my keep."
"Sorry?" Giles asked, confused.
"For patrolling and slaying. I get paid. Didn't I tell you?" Buffy asked him. "One of the perks of being a public employee. Well, that and not going to prison."
Giles stared at her, a bit embarrassed. "Oh. You get paid. How...delightful."
Buffy smiled. "What a novel concept, huh?"
That evening, at Cordelia's house, she and her mother were lounging back on the couch, watching TV. The coffee table in front of them was full of plates of cookies, cheese puffs, and other snacks. Cordelia had a bowl of popcorn in her lap. They heard a knock at the door and looked over in that direction.
Cordelia looked back at her mom, sighed, and handed her the popcorn. "Here."
Charisma started to munch on it. Cordelia got up to answer the door. She opened it and looked out. She was puzzled when there was no one there. She looked further out and in both directions. She shrugged, went back inside, and closed the door. When she stepped back into the living room, her mother was gone. She looked back behind her, through the foyer, and into the dining room beyond. Charisma was nowhere to be seen.
Cordelia was concerned. "Mom?"
She walked through the dining room and into the kitchen.
"Mom?"
She walked around the island, looking around all the while, then quickly out the window when she heard a noise, but saw nothing and continued toward the kitchen door. She looked back into the dining room. When she reached the kitchen door, she was startled by her mother coming back in from outside and gasped.
"Cordy, it's me."
"Yeah. You just startled me a little."
"I was just checking the back door." Charisma closed the door. "Somebody, um, left this for you."
She set a long black box with a black bow on the island for Cordelia to see. She looked up at her mother and raised her eyebrows for an instant before lifting the lid off the box. Charisma looked down, curious to see what was in it. Cordelia stared down at it and saw a dozen red roses along with a card bearing a single word: "Soon". Her mother looked up at her with a little smile, but it faded when she saw how Cordelia was just staring down at the card without saying a word or reacting in any way.
The next day, at school, Amy headed toward the stairs. Suddenly, a boy rushed over to her, took her by the arm, and pulled her aside.
"Hey! What are you doing, asshole?" Amy asked him.
Amy looked at the boy. He had short black hair and looked kind of familiar to her, but she couldn't place where she'd seen him.
"Amy. Good to see you." He took a quick look around. "You're a witch."
Amy glanced around. "No, I'm not. That - That was my mom." She smiled.
"Yeah, I'm thinking it runs in the family. I saw you working that mojo on Ms. Beakman." He gestured behind himself. "Maybe I should go tell somebody about-"
"That's not even..." Amy paused, angry. "That is so mean!"
He glared back. "Blackmail is such an ugly word."
"I didn't say blackmail."
"Yeah, but I'm about to blackmail you, so I thought I'd bring it up."
Amy folded her arms. "What do you want?"
He chuckled. "What do I want? I want some respect around here. I want, for once, to come out ahead. I want the Hellmouth to be working for me. You and me, Amy...we're gonna cast a little spell. A love spell."
"A love spell?"
"Yeah. You know, just the basic can't eat, can't sleep, can't breathe anything but little old moi."
"Intent has to be pure with love spells."
"Right. I intend revenge against my ex. Pure as the driven snow. I want her to want me. Desperately. So I can break up with her and subject her to the same hell she's been puttin' me through. Now, are you gonna play, or do we need to have another chat about invisible homework?"
Amy studied his face for a moment. "What's your name?"
"Warren."
"Warren...Mears?" Amy guessed.
"Yeah."
Amy grinned. "Oh, you wanna talk blackmail, motherfucker? Well, I work at the local video store, and I think someone's mom might deserve a phone call to inform her of what her underage son is renting with her card. Buns of the Magnificent Seven, Ram a Llama's Ding Dong, Shitty Titty Bang Bang, and, oh, yeah, Attack of the Human Ass. And it ain't about a weredonkey."
Warren frowned. "You wouldn't."
Amy's grin widened. "Try me, asshole. We ain't doin' this shit. You don't wanna fuck with Diana."
Warren sighed and walked away.
In the library, Giles was at the table, studying a book. Cordelia strode in and up to the table. She slapped the card that came with the roses into the book in front of him. Giles startled a bit and looked up.
"'Soon' what, Giles? You never held out on me until the big, bad thing in the dark became my ex-honey."
Giles looked at the card. "Where did this come from?"
"He said it with flowers. Look, this isn't the time to start becoming Mr. Protective Guy. I can't just hang around, and I can't prepare when I don't know what's coming."
Giles sat up in his chair. "N-No, of - of course, you're right." He gestured to another chair. "Uh, s-s-sit - sit down." He stood up.
Later, Giles was sitting on the table, looking through a book. Buffy and Cordelia were sitting in chairs across from him.
"Look, here's another. Here. Um, yes, uh...'Angel nails a puppy to the-'"
"Skip it." Cordelia looked up at him.
"Uh, but it-"
"I don't wanna fucking know. I don't have a puppy. Skip it." Cordelia stared at him.
Giles closed the book. "Right you are. I'll get another batch." He got off the table and headed into his office.
Cordelia leaned back and sighed.
Buffy looked at her. "You okay?"
"I dunno. I'll live. Thanks for taking over patrolling."
"Of course."
Giles came back out of his office and sets his books down on the table.
Jenny walked into the library and strode up to Giles. "Rupert, we need to talk. Look, Rupert, I know that you're angry at me, and I don't blame you, but I am not just gonna go away. I mean...I care far too much about you to give up on us."
Giles thought about it. He looked at the girls. Cordelia rolled her eyes and shrugged.
Buffy shrugged as well. "Giles, you might wanna consider it. I mean...she wasn't exactly the only one keeping a secret, and yours almost cost her her life."
Giles cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I suppose you're right, Buffy." He looked at Jenny. "I shall consider it. Good night, Ms. Calendar."
Jenny frowned, sad. "Good night, Rupert." She turned and walked out of the library.
Giles stared after her for a moment and then sat down and helped the girls research.
The next morning, Cordelia stirred and woke in her bed. She opened her eyes to look over at her clock, but they fixed on an envelope left next to her on her pillow. She let out an inquiring moan, pushed her hair back, and picked up the envelope as she sat up. She looked down at it and saw it was blank. She opened it, took out the paper inside, unfolded it, and could only stare at it in disbelief. On it was a pencil sketch of her sleeping.
Later, in the library, Giles was behind the counter, checking in various books. Cordelia walked past him toward the table as he looked up.
"He was in my room."
"Who?"
"Angel. He was in my room last night."
He walked out from behind the counter and followed her over to the table. Buffy and Harmony were there also.
"Are you sure?" Giles asked Cordelia.
"Positive. When I woke up, I found a picture he'd left me on my pillow." Cordelia crossed her arms. "Wait, I thought vampires couldn't come in unless you invited them in."
"Yes, but, uh, once you've invited them in, thereafter they're - they're always welcome."
Buffy thought about that in silence, suddenly filled with worry.
Cordelia realized something. "Oh, God!" She looked at Buffy and Harmony. "I invited him in my car once." She looked at Giles. "That means he can come into my car whenever he wants." She looked away, disgusted.
"Giles, there has to be some sort of spell to reverse the invitation, right? Like a barrier, a 'no shoes, no pulse, no service' kind of thing?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, that works for a car, too?" Cordelia added.
"Yes, well, I-I-I could check in my books." Giles looked at Cordelia. "So Angel has decided to step up his harassment of you?"
"By sneaking in her room and leaving shit at night? Why doesn't he just slit her throat or strangle her while she's sleeping or cut her heart out?" Harmony asked.
Cordelia, Buffy, and Giles gave her appalled looks.
"What? I'm trying to help."
"Yes." Giles looked at Cordelia. "Uh, uh, look, it's - it's classic battle strategy to throw one's opponent off his game. He-He-He's just trying to provoke you. Uh, to taunt you, to - to goad you into, uh, some mishap of some sort."
Harmony looked at Giles. "The nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah approach to battle?"
"Yes, Harmony, once more, you've managed to boil a complex thought down to its simplest possible form."
Harmony smiled.
Cordelia remembered something. "Giles, Angel once told me that, when he was obsessed with Drusilla, the first thing h-he did was to kill her family."
Harmony looked at her. "Your mom."
"I know. I'm gonna have to tell her. I've gotta do something. Giles, Angel has an all-access pass to my house, and I'm not always there when my mother is. I can't protect her."
Buffy looked at Cordelia. "Same here. And same goes for Tara as well."
Giles was flustered. "I told you I will find a-a spell."
"What about until you find a spell?" Cordelia asked him.
Buffy gently put her hand on top of Cordelia's. "Until then, you and your mother are welcome to ride around with me in my van."
Cordelia smiled at her. "Thank you."
Giles looked at Cordelia. "Cordelia, I-I understand your concern, but it's imperative that you keep a level head through all this."
"That's easy for you to say. You don't have Angel lurking in your bedroom at night."
"I know how hard this is for you."
Cordelia gave him a look.
"All right, I don't. But you don't have the luxury of being a slave to your - your passions. You mustn't let Angel get to you. No matter how provocative his behavior may become."
"So what you're basically saying is 'Just ignore him, and maybe he'll go away'?" Cordelia asked him.
Giles sighed. "Yes. Precisely."
"Don't forget, I need your sample spreadsheets by the end of the week."
The bell rang, and Jenny walked around behind her desk.
"Oh, and I want both a paper printout and a copy on disk. Thank you." Jenny looked down at her desk for a second, then back up and reached her arm out to get Tara's attention before she left. "Tara."
Tara approached the desk. "Yes?"
"Um, I might be a little late tomorrow. Do you think you could cover my class till I show?"
"Sure."
"Cool. And I'll try not to be too late, okay?"
"Okay."
Giles arrived at the door. Jenny and Tara looked over at him.
"Hi, Mr. Giles."
"Hi, Rupert."
Giles looked down. Tara hurried past him, out of the classroom. Giles stepped into the classroom. His hands were in his pockets.
"How have you been?" Jenny asked him.
"Uh, not so good, actually. Uh, since Angel lost his soul, he's regained his sense of whimsy."
"Well, that sounds bad." Jenny crossed her arms.
"He's been in Cordelia's bedroom. I-I-I need to drum up a spell to, uh, keep him out of the house."
Jenny reached down to her desk and picked up an old book. "This might help." She handed it to Giles. "I've been doing a little reading since Angel changed." She crossed her arms again. "I don't think you have that one."
"Thank you." Giles leafed through it.
"So...how's Cordy doing?" Jenny asked him.
Giles closed and lowered the book. "How do you think?"
Jenny faced away. "I know you feel betrayed."
"Yes. Well, that's one of the unpleasant side effects of betrayal."
Jenny looked down at her desk. "Rupert...I was raised by the people that Angel hurt the most. My duty to them was the first thing I was ever taught. I didn't come here to hurt anyone, a-and I lied to you, because I thought it was the right thing to do. I...I didn't know what would happen. I didn't know I was gonna fall in love with you." She paused for a moment before looking back up at Giles. They exchanged a meaningful look, but then she looked away again.
"Oh, God. Is it too late to take that back?" Jenny asked him.
"Do you want to?" Giles asked her.
Jenny looked at him. "I just wanna be right with you. I don't expect more. I just want so badly to make all this up to you."
"I understand. But I'm not the one you need to make it up to."
She nodded, understanding.
Giles gave her a little smile and raised the book. "Thank you for the book." He turned and walked out of the room.
She just watched him go.
That evening, Cordelia and Charisma were having dinner in the dining room at Cordelia's house. Cordelia was just picking at her food.
Charisma put down her fork, folded her hands, and leaned forward on the table toward her daughter. "Okay. What's wrong?"
Cordelia looked at her mom. "It's nothing." She looked at her plate.
"Come on. You can tell me anything."
Cordelia eyed her, put down her fork, put her hands in her lap, and looked over at her mother. "I'd been seeing a guy. His name is Angel."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Uh, he...I-I..." Cordelia looked down. "Oh, God. Um..." She looked back up. "We're sort of dating, were dating, um, going through a serious off-again phase right now."
Charisma smiled. "Don't tell me. He's changed. He's not the same guy you fell for?"
Cordelia smiled nervously. "In a nutshell." She lost the smile. "A-Anyway, um...since he changed, he's been kinda following me around. He's having trouble letting go."
Charisma was concerned. "Cordy, has he done anything-"
"No! No, it's not like that. He's just been hanging around...a lot. Just sending me notes, that kind of thing."
Charisma gave her a concerned look.
"I just don't wanna see him right now. I mean, if he shows up, I'll talk to him. Just...don't invite him in."
Charisma laughed. "What is he? A vampire?"
Cordelia made a goofy face and laughed nervously. "Uh, yeah, kinda."
Charisma stared at her daughter in disbelief.
Tara was in her room, naked, walking around with her cordless phone to her ear. "I agree with Mr. Giles, Buffy. We need to just try and not let him get to us." She headed for her desk. "Angel's only doing this to try to get us to do something stupid." She closed her laptop and went to her new aquarium.
"I just hope Giles can find a keep-out spell soon. I know I'll sleep easier when I can...sleep easier."
Tara sprinkled fish food into her tank. "I'm sure he will." She put away the food. "Until then, try and keep happy thoughts and-" She saw a blank envelope on her bed.
"And what?" Buffy asked.
Tara didn't reply.
"Tara?" Buffy asked.
Tara held the phone between her cheek and shoulder and reached down for the envelope.
"Tara?"
Tara turned back toward her aquarium and looked at the fishless water. She opened the envelope and found a string. She pulled on it, and out came her fish, strung together one after the other. Tara lost her grip on her phone, and it fell to the floor.
"Tara?!" Buffy cried. "Are you okay?!"
Tara dropped her dead fish on her bed and picked up the phone. "Buffy!"
"What is it?!" Buffy asked her.
"My fish! Angel c-came into my room, scooped up all of my fish, killed them, s-strung them all together, and put them in an envelope for me to find!" Tara frantically cried.
"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry."
"May I come over and spend the night with you?" Tara asked her. "I don't wanna be alone."
"Of course."
"Thank you."
After Tara got dressed, she drove to Buffy's house. Buffy put on some tea, and it was ready by the time that Tara arrived. The two of them sat at the island, sipping their tea. Behind them was a string of garlic cloves hanging on the wall. There were two stakes on the island just in case.
Tara was fidgeting nervously while she looked around, and she was crying. "My poor fish."
Buffy rubbed Tara's back.
"Still, I'm glad my parents didn't let me have a cat."
Buffy sighed. "That sick fuck."
Tara sipped her tea and tried to calm down.
The next morning, Jenny walked around the railing in front of a shop called Dragon's Cove and took the steps down to the entrance. She opened the door, walked in, and looked around.
The shopkeeper looked up from his work. "Welcome. How may I serve you today?" He spoke with a Rumanian accent.
Jenny faced him. "Uh..."
"Love potion? Perhaps a voodoo doll for that unfaithful-"
"I need an Orb of Thesulah."
The shopkeeper dropped the accent. "Oh, you're in the trade. Sorry about the spiel, but I get a lot of tourists shopping for love potions and mystical revenge of past lovers." He went behind the sales counter. "Sad fact is...Ouija boards and rabbits' feet, that's what pay the rent around here." He went into the back. "So how did you hear about us?"
Jenny checked out a few things. "My Uncle Enyos told me about you."
The shopkeeper looked out at her. "So you're Janna, then."
She looked at him.
"Sorry to hear about your uncle."
"Thank you."
The shopkeeper came back with a round wooden box. "He was a good customer. Well, no, there you go." He set it down and opened it. "One Thesulan Orb. Spirit vault for the rituals of the undead.
Jenny took the box, handing over her credit card.
"I don't get many calls for those lately. Sold a couple as New Age paperweights last year. Yeah, I just love those New-Agers, boy. They helped to send my youngest to college. By the way, you do know that the transliteration annals for the ritual of the undead were lost. Without the annals, the surviving text is gibberish."
"And without a translated text, the Orbs of Thesulah are pretty much useless. Yeah, I know."
"Well, I only mention it, because I have a strict policy of no refunds." He put the lid on the box.
"It's okay. I'm working on a computer program to translate the Rumanian liturgy to English based on a random sampling of the text."
"Yecchh. I don't like computers. They give me the willies."
Jenny took the box. "Well, thank you."
"You're welcome."
She took the lid off the box as she slowly walked toward the door.
"By the way..."
She looked back.
"Not that it's any of my business, really, but, uh, what are you planning on conjuring up? If you can decipher the text?"
"A present for a friend of mine." Jenny lifted the Orb.
"Really? What are you gonna give him?"
She looked into the Orb, and it began to glow.
"His soul."
At Sunnydale High School, Tara and Cordelia were chatting as they walked along the sidewalk and then up the steps.
"I have to go. I have a class to teach in about five minutes." Tara saw Jenny arriving. "Oh, shit. She's here. Five hours of lesson planning yesterday down the drain..."
Cordelia saw Jenny, too. "You know what? I'll see you in class." She jogged up to Jenny and got in front of her. "Hey."
"Hi."
Cordelia looked at Jenny a moment, then averted her eyes.
"Uh, is there something that..." Jenny paused. "Did you want something?"
"Look...I know you feel badly about what happened, and I just wanted to say..."
Jenny looked at her expectantly.
"Good. Keep it up."
Jenny was not surprised. "Don't worry, I will." She started to walk away.
Cordelia held up her hand. "Oh, wait. Um..." She looked at her. "He misses you. He doesn't say anything, I mean, but I know he does. And I don't want him to be lonely. I don't want anyone to."
"Cordy, you know that, if I have a chance to make this up-"
"We're...good here. Let's just leave it." Cordelia walked away.
Jenny watched her go.
In the lounge, Giles was talking with a couple of students while searching through his briefcase for some flyers. "I put it here somewhere." He found the flyers. "Oh, yes, yes. That's it." He handed the flyers to the students. "Could you, um, hang those up?"
The students nodded.
"Thank you."
Buffy arrived.
"Buffy. So, uh, so how was your night?"
"Sleepless, but no human fatalities."
"I-I found a ritual to revoke the invitation to vampires."
Cordelia walked up to them. "Oh, thank fucking God. I actually had to talk my grandmother into switching cars with me last night."
"Um, the - the - the, uh, the ritual's fairly basic, actually. It's just the recitation of a few rhyming couplets, burning of, uh, moss herbs, sprinkling of holy water, hanging of crosses or other holy objects..."
Buffy nodded. "All stuff I have in my house."
After school, Buffy, Cordelia, and Tara went to Tara's house, where Tara performed the ritual on her house at the front door. Then they went to Tara's room.
"Okay, Cordelia, we'll do your car and house next."
"Right. Thanks." Cordelia picked her coat up from Tara's bed and saw a blank envelope there. "Oh." She picked it up. "This must be for you." She handed the envelope to Tara.
Tara gave Buffy a worried glance and opened it. When she saw what was in it, she handed it to Cordelia. "It's for you."
Cordelia unfolded the paper and saw a pencil sketch of her mother sleeping. "Mom."
Buffy looked at her friends. "Okay, Tara, you take Cordy home. But first call Amy and tell her the ritual, then have her meet me at my house."
Tara nodded. "Okay."
Tara drove Cordelia home on her scooter. They went into the house, where Tara did the ritual. They heard Cordelia's mother pull into the driveway and also heard the conversation outside. Angelus was there.
"Mrs. Chase, I need to talk to you."
"You're Angel."
"Did Cordy tell you about us?"
"She told me she wants you to leave her alone."
"I-I can't. I can't do that."
"You're scaring her."
"You have to help me."
"Charisma...I need - I need to be with her. Y-You can convince her. You have to convince her."
"Look, I'm telling you to leave her alone."
"You have to talk to her for me, Charisma. Tell her I need her."
"Please, look, I-I just wanna get inside, okay?"
"You don't understand, Charisma. I'll die without Cordy. She'll die without me."
"Are you threatening her?"
"Please..." Angelus paused. "Why is she doing this to me?"
"I'm calling the police now."
"I haven't been able to sleep since the night we made love."
Cordelia's eyes widened in horror as she heard that.
"I need her. I know you understand."
Charisma opened the door. "Just leave us alone." She rushed in.
Cordelia and Tara walked down the stairs.
Tara held the book. "'...His verbes, consenus rescissus est.'"
Angelus tried to get in the house but came up against an invisible barrier.
Cordelia walked up to him. "Sorry, Angel. Changed the locks." She slammed the door in his face.
Charisma looked at her daughter in shock.
In the computer classroom, Jenny was at her desk, working on the translation program. She took a sip of coffee from her mug and set it back down. She typed a few keystrokes, then stared at the screen.
Behind her, Giles arrived and stood in the doorway. "Hello."
She started and looked at him. Quickly, she typed a few keystrokes, and the screen changed.
Jenny turned back to him. "Oh! Hi."
Giles stepped into the room. "You're working late."
"Special project."
"Oh."
"I spoke to Cordy today."
"Oh! Yes?" Giles sat on her desk.
"Mm." Jenny looked away. "She said you missed me." She played with a pencil.
"Well, uh, she's...a meddlesome girl."
Jenny looked at him. "Rupert..." She paused. "Okay, I don't wanna say anything if I'm wrong, but I may have some news. Now, I need to finish up here. Could I see you later?"
"Y-Yes, yes. You could stop by my house."
"Okay." Jenny smiled.
Giles smiled and got up. "Good." He smiled wider, then left.
Jenny turned her attention back to her computer.
Later, Jenny was still working at her computer. She tapped a few keys, then looked up at the screen. A percent-complete status bar appeared over the Rumanian text, and the bar zipped across it.
"Come on, come on..."
The bar disappeared, and a translation scrolled up next to the original text.
"That's it!" Jenny exhaled and smiled. "It's gonna work!" She saved the result. "This...will work."
She printed out a hard copy, shut down her computer, and then popped out an unlabeled yellow floppy disk and set it aside by some books near the edge of her desk. There was a knock at her door. Jenny turned and looked. Oz was standing there.
"Hey, Oz, what are you doing here?" Jenny asked.
"Just returning some audio equipment to the music room. The teacher had let my band borrow it." Oz walked over to Jenny. "Maybe don't tell anyone? I'm not suppose to have keys."
Jenny smiled. "Your secret's safe with me...if you do me a favor."
"Name it."
Jenny wheeled her chair over to the printer and picked up the printout. She stood up and offered it to Oz. "Drop this off to either Tara or Amy. Tell them that it's for Angel's soul."
Oz took the printout. "Done."
Jenny picked up the Orb of Thesulah and offered it to him. "They'll need this, too."
Oz took it.
"Thanks. You're a lifesaver."
"I do what I can."
"Well, good night."
"Good night."
Jenny picked up her purse and headed out of her classroom, eager to make up with Giles and imagining where the night would lead. "All right, Jenny, this is where you get off."
Cordelia was sitting on her bed in her room. Charisma was pacing, trying to take in what she was hearing.
Finally, Charisma sat next to her daughter on the bed with her eyes closed. "Was he the first?" She opened her eyes. "No, wait." She stood up. "I don't wanna know." She started pacing. "I don't think I want to."
"Yeah. He was the first. I mean...the only." Cordelia shrugged. "As far as intercourse goes, anyway."
Charisma stopped and looked at her daughter. "He's older than you."
"I know."
"Too old, Cordy. And he's obviously not very stable. I really wish..." Charisma sat again. "I just thought you would show more judgment."
Cordelia sighed in frustration and looked at her mother. "I told you. He wasn't like this before. This is what happens when someone loses their soul."
"Are you in love with him?"
"I was."
"Were you careful?"
Cordelia looked away. "Mom, this is no time-"
Charisma got up again. "Don't 'Mom' me, Cordy. You don't get to get out of this. You had sex with a guy you didn't even see fit to tell me you were dating."
Cordelia nodded. "I made a mistake."
"Yeah, well, don't just say that to shut me up, because I think you really did."
Cordelia looked up at her. "All right, fine! You want me to be honest?! I don't regret making love to the man that I loved!"
"Was it really worth it?!" Charisma asked her.
Cordelia stood up and stared at her mother. "Fuck yeah, it was! At least Angel..." She paused. "At least he cared enough about me to remember when my fucking birthday was!"
Charisma was stung. "Well, I'm - I'm sorry about that, but you've gotta understand I'm busy."
"Yeah! You and Dad are always both so fucking busy!" Cordelia yelled. "It's like I don't even have parents!"
"I'm sorry about that, Cordy."
Cordelia sighed, shook her head, and sat back down on the bed, trying to calm down.
"But don't expect me to ever stop caring about you, because it's never gonna happen. I love you more than anything in the world." Charisma sat next to Cordelia on the bed. "Even if I don't always show it. But I'll try to do better. I want to be a part of your life, not apart of it."
Cordelia stared blankly at her.
Charisma looked at her. "That was a pun."
"Oh."
They looked at each other for a while longer, and then Cordelia hugged her mother, and her mother hugged her in return.
The next morning, Jenny and Giles were walking to her classroom. They were holding hands. When they got close to her classroom, Jenny was surprised to see police officers walking into and out of the room. Principal Snyder was standing outside.
"What's going on?" Jenny asked Snyder.
"There was a fire here last night. Someone broke in and trashed your computer."
Jenny let go of Giles' hand and ran into her classroom. Her computer had been thrown off her desk, onto the floor. It had caught fire, and there were black scorch marks on the floor. Jenny crouched down and examined the wreckage.
Giles crouched down next to her. "Do you think it was-"
"Fuck yeah." Jenny looked at him. "Angelus."
Snyder looked into the room. "Consider yourself lucky."
Jenny and Giles stood up and looked at him in surprise.
"That's minor damage compared to what they did to the music room. Looks like a brawl broke out in there." Snyder walked away.
Jenny had a sinking feeling. "The music room..."
Giles looked at her in concern. "What is it?"
Jenny froze for a moment, then she shook her head. "Nothing. I hope."
After school, Cordelia and her mother were sitting in the kitchen of their house, eating takeout from Wok Like An Egyptian at the island.
"So what do you think of the Allahu Ak-broccoli?" Cordelia asked her mother.
Charisma shrugged and nodded. "It's pretty good...for poor food."
The maid walked into the kitchen, holding a package. "Miss Cordelia, this was on the front porch for you." She set it on the island.
Cordelia looked at the package. "No return address."
Charisma looked at her. "Do you think it's from...?"
Cordelia felt a sense of dread. The maid got a pair of scissors and cut the tape. Cordelia opened the box and pulled out a bunch of paper and bubble wrap. Then she let out a scream.
Inside the box, facing up, was Oz's severed head.
The police were kept busy that afternoon. Buffy had received Oz's left arm. Tara had received his right arm. Amy had received his left leg. Katrina had received his right leg. Harmony had received his chest. Giles had received his ass. Jenny had received his penis. The police questioned all of them.
Afterward, Giles called an emergency meeting, and they all met at Buffy's house and sat at the dining room table. Joyce brought extra chairs.
Tara stared blankly at her untouched glass of orange juice. "I can't believe it."
"What kind of sick fuck would do this?" Harmony asked.
Buffy looked at her and Cordelia. "Angelus."
Cordelia looked at Buffy in distress.
"But why Oz?" Amy asked.
Katrina nodded. "Yeah, seems pretty random."
"It was."
Everyone looked at Jenny.
Jenny was uncomfortable but forced herself to look at them. "Oz had come by the school last night to return some borrowed music equipment. He stopped in my room, and we talked for a bit. I agreed to keep quiet about him having access to the school after hours, if he agreed to drop off a printout to either Tara or Amy, so I could save myself a bit of time. I assume Angelus got to him shortly after I'd left. He got killed, because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If I had been there alone, it might have been me."
Everyone sat in silence for a while, thinking about that. Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Tara shuddered and started crying. Buffy rubbed her back and kissed her on the forehead.
Finally, Tara looked at Jenny, angry. "What the hell was so fucking important that it cost Oz his life?"
"I was working on a spell to restore Angel's soul. I succeeded...I think. It would have worked. Now, all of that work is gone. My hard drive was trashed, and there was no sign at the school of the printout, the backup floppy disk, or the Orb of Thesulah, which was required for the spell to work. Somehow, Angelus must have found out what I was doing, and he destroyed it all."
"Why the fuck didn't you tell us all of this?" Buffy asked her, angry. "God, why are we kids so much better at communicating than you supposed adults?"
"I didn't want to get your hopes up. But you're right. I-I went about it wrong. I should have told you. I should have worked on it at home, where Angel wasn't invited." Jenny started crying. "If there's any way that I can make it up to you-"
"You can't." Giles put his glasses back on. "All that we can do is plan our next move."
Cordelia looked at Jenny. "Yeah, so get off your ass and walk like an e-gypsy out of here."
"Cordy..." Buffy put her hand on Cordelia's hand. "I understand you're upset. We all are. But we need all of the help that we can get."
Cordelia begrudgingly shrugged and nodded. She looked at everyone. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't kill him for you...for him...when I had the chance. I wasn't ready. But I think I finally am. I can't hold on to the past anymore. Angel has gone. Nothing's ever gonna bring him back."