"I think it's locked," Willow told her friends. She, Xander, and Buffy were outside the magic shop, the only place in town where they were hoping to find an Orb of Thessela. The ritual said they needed one and this looked like the place to go.

"Yeah, nobody's here," Xander agreed. He didn't like Angel even when he had his soul and now that he was back as a full-fledged vampire he figured the only way to safely get rid of him was to kill him. "Let's go."

"We can't leave," Buffy told her friends. "It's getting closer to sunrise, and I'm not going to let him die just because the store isn't as accessible as a 7-11."

Taking a deep breath, she kicked the door open and prayed there wasn't an alarm. She got her wish and hurried inside, checking for an orb. When she finally found it, she grabbed it and dropped some money on the counter, heading out the door. Two and a half hours and counting...

"Yes, I think so." Giles looked at the table in front of him carefully. Books and a few ingredients sat on top with a burner and small cauldron. They were ready to begin.

"Restore to Angelus his soul and conscience so that he may realize the wrongs he has done and return to his former self..."

"This is crazy!" Angelus yelled at them from his rectangular prison, gripping the chain-linked door. "Let me out of here before something really bad happens."

He was starting to panic, and all of them knew it. Sunrise was a little less than three hours away and by then he would be a new man. His worst nightmare was coming true.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy slid the ring off her finger and held it up with her thumb and index fingers, turning it around closely. She looked at Giles who nodded and began her part of the ritual.

"With this sacrifice I pray you bring back my love, god of death and the afterlife."

Dropping the ring into the cauldron, she watched as sparks flew up from the mixture and the orb started to glow a bright yellow. Suddenly, a ray of colored light flew out of it and into Angelus' chest and he dropped to the floor in pain.

"Ah!" he groaned, writhing around on the floor.

Startled, Buffy put a hand to her mouth and stood back while his body convulsed a few times before calming down and falling to the floor.

Grabbing a stake, she tiptoed over to the door. "Angel?" she asked quietly, opening it and stepping inside.

"Buffy, be careful," Giles warned. The orb was supposed to glow if the ritual was successful, but right now it remained empty.

Buffy bent down next to Angel, looking at his face carefully. It had changed into his human one and his eyes were shut tightly, causing his brow to furrow. He looked like he had been caught in a bad dream and she felt horrible.

"Angel?" she whispered again, hoping to wake him. He didn't move and she began to think something was very wrong. "Hey, guys? I think something serious-"

She was cut off suddenly when Angel's eyes flew open and in a quick, fluid motion he grabbed her and she dropped the stake in surprise as his fangs sank into her neck. Her eyes rolled back into her head and closed as he thirstily began to drain the blood from her body. Giles and Xander grabbed crosses and another stake and began to advance toward them, careful not to anger the vampire when he held Buffy's life in his hands, but then the oddest thing happened.

Angel suddenly let go of Buffy and she fell to the floor, laying there motionlessly. Looking down in front of him, he saw his victim sprawled out on the floor and quickly scooped her up in his arms, bolting out the door.

"Damn!" Xander cursed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "We should've moved faster! Now he's got Buffy. They could be anywhere. We'd better start a search before her mom starts to worry."

"No, Xander, I don't think we'll have to after all," Willow told them, nodding in the direction of the orb.

"What?"

The two men followed her gaze and what they saw astounded them. The clear glass sphere was glowing, its surface radiating a bright yellow. The ritual was complete.

"By God, it worked," Giles said in disbelief.