Disclaimer: They're not mine. Please don't sue me.
Part Four
Later that afternoon, Willow left Angel sleeping at Xander's house and went to the library. She booted up the computer and searched for hours. She found Buffy had been checking into cheap hotel rooms and she moved around. She searched for hours more until she found enough information to pinpoint her friend's exact whereabouts.
It was late by the time Willow finished and she went back to Xander's house and headed up to Angel's room. When she came in he stirred from his sleep and looked up at her.
"Hi," Willow greeted him, throwing her bag down.
"Willow," Angel said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to stay with you," she replied, opening the curtain. She looked out at the dark street and up at the half moon.
"You don't have to do that," Angel told her.
"I know." Willow said. There was a pause. "It's weird how I pay so much more attention to the phases of the moon now, with Oz. He's got a few more weeks. Then we break out the chains." She turned from the window to face him. Changing the subject, "I found Buffy."
"You did? Great! When do we go?" Angel sat up excitedly.
"Whoa! You're not nearly strong enough yet. Soon, though." Willow changed for bed and crawled into her cot. Angel faced her sleepily.
"Willow, thank you."
"I didn't do anything."
"Of course you did. You restored my soul, got me out of hell, found Buffy. I really owe you. Thank you."
"Well, it was nothing, really. But you're welcome." Willow said modestly. They both fell asleep.
The next morning Willow opened her eyes a crack against the sunlight. She sat up and yawned, allowing the sunlight to stream onto her face to wake her up. 'Angel!' she thought desperately, fear gripping her. Her eyes made their way to the bed, expecting to see a pile of ashes. But instead Angel lay peacefully sleeping, the sun's rays caressing his face for the first time in a very long time. Willow's jaw fell open in shock.
"Angel! Angel, wake up!" Willow said excitedly, shaking him.
His eyes opened and he lifted his head from the pillow and looked at her. "Willow? What's the matter?" he asked groggily.
"Look!" she exclaimed, pointing at the window out of which she could see the sun rising.
Angel sleepily turned his head in the direction his finger was pointing. He looked at the window for a moment before it registered. "What the...?" On instinct, he dove under the thick blankets. Slowly his head peeked out. In a moment of bravery he tore the covers off his whole body. "The sun!" he pointed. Willow nodded, affirming. Angel looked down at himself. "I'm not dust!" he said excitedly, looking from the sun, to Willow, to his still-present body. He got out of bed and made his way to the window. He threw it open and stuck his whole body out, spreading his arms. Willow watched happily, jumping up and down. "I'm alive!" he yelled to the sun, basking in it's glory. He ran to Willow and tackled her, giving her a tight bear hug chanting, "I'm alive, I'm alive!" He pulled away from her and danced around the room, laughing constantly. He was like a little boy getting exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Eventually he calmed down and the others came. Giles was shocked at seeing Angel in the sun.
"This is an interesting turn of events," Oz commented as he entered, giving his girlfriend a kiss on the nose.
Cordelia and Xander followed right behind. When Cordelia saw Angel her eyes widened. "Damn! He's even better looking in the sun," she said, receiving a punch in the arm from Xander.
"So Willow, what happened?" Giles asked, impatient to get on with the important stuff.
"I'm not dust!" Angel said happily.
"Thank you for stating the obvious," Xander said, rolling his eyes.
"I left the curtains open last night by accident, and this morning he was, well, still here," explained Willow.
"So what does this mean? Is he still a vampire?" Cordelia asked. All heads turned to Giles.
"Well, um, by all laws of nature vampires explode to dust when exposed to sunlight, so, well, I don't know. We should try to find out exactly what he is now. It...it's quite possible the demon has left him," Giles said.
"So that leaves a body and a soul," Oz stated.
"Yes. But he's not alive. Technically, I believe he should still be dead...or undead...um, immortal." Giles said.
"We need to find out for sure," Willow stated.
"We can check for a pulse," Oz suggested.
"We can check for a reflection," Cordelia said.
"See if he has a reaction to crosses, garlic, and holy water," Willow said.
"We can stake him and see if he explodes into dust," Xander suggested. Angel glared at him.
"I could see if I can still kill someone with a flick of my hand," Angel challenged, staring daggers at Xander.
They checked for a pulse and found one. Angel had no reaction to holy water, crosses, or garlic. They held a mirror to his face and found a reflection. He seemed excited to see what he looked like after all those years.
"Ha! I am better looking than you, Xander," Angel gloated.
"Well, Giles, we've done the tests. What's our conclusion?" Willow asked.
"He, uh, definitely is not a vampire. I believe he is human. Although I would like to see if he retained his vampiric strength," Giles said.
Angel looked at Xander with an evil look in his eyes. "I'm sure Xander would like to volunteer for that test," he said.
"No! No, I think it would be best if we did not break Xander's head open." Giles said, coming between the two men.
"This would work," Oz said, holding up a thick steel bar that just happened to be in the room.
Angel took it, and without even a grunt of effort the bar was twisted and broken clean in two. The group was amazed.
"Well that pretty much settles it," Giles declared. "Angel is immortal."
"What's that mean? Like a super human who'll live forever?" Cordelia asked.
"Well sort of. You see, he's alive, but very strong and cannot be killed." Giles explained.
"So what I said." Cordelia clarified.
"Yes," Giles responded.
"Wow," Oz and Willow said in unison.
"Cool," Angel said. "Can we see Buffy now?"
"Oh yeah, Buffy," Willow remembered. "I know where she is. She joined the roller derby. There's going to be in San Francisco tomorrow night."
"We'll take my van," Oz said. Everyone agreed and went to pack.
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