When Giles, Willow, and Xander arrived at the apartment at around three o'clock, they were surprised to see Angel and Buffy up and about like nothing had happened. Both appeared to be in extremely good health and pretty good spirits, too.

"Come in," Buffy said, ushering them through the door before sitting back down on one of the chairs. Angel sat in his easy chair, trying to figure out some possible explanation for the events of the past few days.

"Angel and I were just trying to think of any differences between his feeding on me and the other vampires that have fed on slayers in history. Angel says that he's never heard of a vampire feeding on a slayer, just draining them."

"To the best of my knowledge, anyway," Angel corrected her.

He was careful to be polite to his guests since they all, except for Buffy, were on the lookout in case anything was up. He had completely lost Giles and Xander's trust, not that he ever had any with the younger man. He wasn't sure about Willow.

"Well, there haven't been any recorded incidents," Giles informed them, "but I have come up with a theory as to why Angel has begun this... transformation. I think feeding on Buffy the first time might have begun to change him to a human state, but he didn't take as much blood as was needed. That might have caused the fever if his body was having trouble maintaining a constant temperature. Feeding on her a second time, however, did improve his condition, but we don't know whether he still is a vampire or some sort of human being."

"'Some sort?'" Buffy didn't completely understand what her watcher meant.

"Yes. Uh..." Giles took off his glasses a moment, wiping the lenses with his shirt sleeve before putting them back on again and continuing. "If Angel is changed into a human, we don't know if all his vampire strength will disappear or if it will remain. He is a vampire with a soul so that makes things a little unpredictable. Even this case is since there aren't any vampires with souls documented either."

Buffy had never thought of Angel becoming a normal human, nor losing any of his vampire characteristics. She had always just assumed he would be the same as he was when they first met, just human. Would she have to protect him too now?

"Wouldn't slayer blood allow him to keep his strength?" Willow asked, voicing Buffy's thoughts out loud.

"Yes, it might, or it might not. Buffy is the strongest slayer known to date, but we can't be certain of anything."

Giles himself wasn't certain Angel deserved to be given another chance as a human, but he found himself selfishly intrigued at the idea of being the first man ever to perform the task. This would definitely set a place for him in watcher history.

Angel sat, listening to them quietly. There really was a good chance that he could become human again. He and Buffy would have the chance they so desperately needed. It was too good to be true. Turning his head, he saw Buffy beside him, and she smiled at him. It still amazed him that through everything they'd been through, she was still there for him. But this time as a friend.

"So how do we accomplish this mystical feat?" Xander asked smartly, crossing his arms over his chest. Giles may have the idea, but did he know how to achieve it?

Giles looked down at the floor nervously before turning his eyes to Buffy. Everyone in the room knew what that meant.

"Oh no!" Xander disagreed vehemently, putting his hands up in the air. "No way!"