Guess Who's Coming with Me

Part Six

By Marie Nomad

It was a weekend as Buffy worked on her homework. The teachers piled it on her as well as the extra credit work she needed so she won't have to repeat the grade. She didn't want that but she still can't take any chances. Soon, she has to sell candy for extra credit. With her luck, she'll probably lose them in a demon attack.

"Buffy!" Willow knocked on the door.

"Come in." Buffy opened the door. "What is it?"

"I found a doctor who can help Angel." Willow gave the slayer a card.

The blond read the card and stared at her, "Dr. Bombay? There's a real doctor named 'Dr. Bombay'?"

"Who's Dr. Bombay?" Gunn asked as he came in dressed in overalls and gardening gloves.

"The witch doctor from Bewitched. He even has this spell." Buffy said as she held up a card. "Are you sure this doctor is real?"

"He's real, I looked over Giles' notes and he's a real doctor from LA who deals with demons. I called him on his cell phone and he agreed since he rarely had to deal with vampires with mental problems, except for Drusilla."

"Is he a good doctor?"

"Well, he is a firm believer in the Hippocratic oath. We can keep an eye on him when he checks on Angel. What do we have to lose?" Willow asked.

Buffy stared at the card. She didn't want to deal with some demon doctor to help Angel. She didn't even know much about him. On the other hand, that demon in the karaoke bar was very helpful and seemed a little gay, unless he was really a woman version of his species. "We better do it in the mansion. I don't want any demony doctors scaring Mom."

"Great, I'll get the dog and we can hurry there." Gunn said as he got out the leash.

"And lose the leash." Buffy ordered.

XXX

Buffy and Gunn cleared away the area as Willow watched Angel. Angel was sitting to the side watching intensely. "Does English knows about this?" Gunn asked Willow.

"No, I was about to but I had this strange feeling not to. It's weird." Willow confessed. That much was true. She was about to call Giles but something in her just said not to.

"Oh well, good." Buffy got out the card and said, "Dr. Bombay come to me. Dr. Bombay, a patient needs thee. Dr. Bombay, save the day so I can have my boyfriend healed." Inward she cringed, what kind of stupid spell was this?

In a whirl of smoke, a man appeared out of nowhere. He had white hair and spectacles with a doctor's bag in his hand. "Greetings, I am Dr. Bombay, who needs my services?"

"He does." Buffy said, "His name is Angel and he's a vampire who just came back from Hell, literally."

"I see." The doctor walked to Angel and stared at him intensely. "Oh my… this is bad, especially for a vampire." He grabbed his bag and opened it. "Don't you worry, I am a professional. You really should have called me sooner."

"You know what's wrong, Doc?" Gunn asked as the doctor got out several crystals.

"You bet something's wrong. Your vampire has been cursed with a soul. Do not worry, I am a professional desouler, I'll get that soul out in a jiffy." He said as he held up a black orb.

"NO!" Buffy, Gunn, and Willow tackled the doctor. Angel jerked away and backed from the doctor.

Buffy threw the orb away and said, "We know about the soul. We need him to keep the soul."

"What? Do you know the effects of a vampire being cursed with a soul has? It causes confusion, mood swings, and other erratic behaviors."

"The soul stays or you go." Buffy got out her knife. At that point, she didn't care if Dr. Bombay will help Angel. He was a nut job who didn't Angel to keep his soul.

"Oh fine. Let me up, what do you want done to your vampire." Dr. Bombay said and the three got off him.

"He's been isolated in a block of ice for years in Hell and when he came back he was like a dog." Buffy said as she gestured to Angel who whined slightly.

"Sounds like what a vampire normally would do when they suffer long term isolation. If he was in Hell, he would not need to feed so he should have regained his behavior traits in a matter of weeks even with the soul." Dr. Bombay reached into his bag and got out a magnifying glass. He looked at Angel's eyes and nodded. "Hmmm… even with that pesky soul in the way, most of his brain had regained function but his outward behavior parts of the brain is still hindered by some kind of outside agent."

"Do you know what it is?" Buffy asked.

"No, I'll need to have his blood tested. It could be a spell, a potion, or a type of poison given to him. I don't sense any other spells in his mind so it must be a potion or a poison."

"Can a vampire be poisoned?" Willow wondered, "I thought that they can't be poisoned."

"Oh no. They can be drugged in many ways. Many times, vampires would get stoned by drinking from the wrong human, or that they accidentally drink from a human on pain medication. They may not be affected by deadly poisons like arsenic they can still be affected by different types." Dr. Bombay looked through the various crystals and held it up against Angel's arm. One of them glowed bright red. "Ah ha! Just as I thought, it's hyrulelock. It's a holy potion used to keep vampires from recovering from ailments."

"What kind of demon would poison Angel like that?" Buffy asked, "Or is it because he was in Hell?"

"No way. Hyrulelock would evaporate in Hell. It is a human made potion, the Watcher's Council invented it to be used in experiments on vampires."

Silence filled the air. "No." Buffy shook her head. "No way." She remembered when she came back to see Angel mad at Giles. She didn't want to believe it. Giles wasn't like that. He was a good man. "A watcher could poison him…"

"Yes, a watcher would have ready access to this type of poison."

"Buffy…" Willow whispered.

"DAMN THEM!" Buffy smashed her fist into a wall. "HOW COULD THEY!" She smashed the wall again and again and it fell apart.

She collapsed onto the floor fighting the tears. "It's okay." Gunn said, "We know what's wrong. We'll cure him."

Buffy felt something hugged her and she opened her eyes to see Angel holding her. "The Watcher's Council did this. They must have found out using their mysterious watchery powers. They sent in some watcher and somehow poisoned Angel."

"Watchers are a cold group of people." Dr. Bombay said.

"Do you think that English would know about this?" Gunn asked, "Angel seemed kinda mad at him."

"Maybe. Maybe, Angel's mad at him because a watcher came while Giles was watching him and got him poisoned. He's… he's like a dad to me. He would never do anything like this to him, to us." Buffy bowed her head. "So, what can we do to cure him? I'll do anything for him."

"Well…" Dr. Bombay adjusted his glasses. "There is something that cures vampires of anything. I believe that blood of a slayer can detoxify his system and help him recover his facilities as much as possible."

Angel heard this and pulled away from Buffy. "How much blood are we talking about? One pint? Two? A quart?" Buffy asked becoming more interested.

"The most effective way would be to drain the slayer completely." At that, Angel growled and slipped into his vamp face he stared at Dr. Bombay. The doctor cleared his throat. "However, small amounts at regular intervals should help him too."

"Great." Buffy reached for her knife and Angel grabbed it. The vampire tossed it away and shook his head.

"Come on, don't you want to get out of the doghouse?" Gunn asked, "I don't want Anne hurt either but you need that blood."

Angel shook his head wildly.

"You see, that's why we need to remove the soul. He's not thinking logically." Dr. Bombay reminded.

"NO!" The group said again.

Angel sighed as he looked down and stared at the floor. "Angel." Buffy said as she stepped to him. The vampire faced away and his human face reemerged. "Angel, you are being ridiculous. I can handle losing a little blood. You can't stay like that."

"She's right. What if some demon saw what happened to you and take advantage of you?" Willow asked, "Or what if Spike and Drusilla comes back. They won't show any mercy to you."

Angel didn't say anything as Buffy picked up her knife and slit her arm. She held it up to Angel's mouth and forced his head onto her cut.

The vampire started sucking on the blood and then he pushed himself away and ran to the other side of the room.

Buffy took several breaths as she stared at her arm. "Wow, what was… interesting."

Dr. Bombay started to bandage her arm. "He will need a lot more blood than that little suck."

"I know but it's a start." Buffy walked up to Angel, who was rubbing his mouth. "Angel? Are you okay?"

The vampire closed his eyes and tried to say yes only to grunt. He crouched around like a monkey and Gunn sighed, "Great, now he evolved from a dog to a caveman. Do we need to go and get him a club?"

XXX

"So, basically that's what happened." Buffy finished as she and her friends sat around with their latest assignments of selling band candy. "After that, Angel refused to drink any blood. I tried to mix my blood with pig's blood or some expired human blood from the hospital and nothing. Any ideas?"

"How about you knock him out and stick an IV in his arm? A direct transfusion?" Cordelia suggested.

"Tried that, he's way too strong and keeps avoiding it. He doesn't want my blood."

"What about attacking him and forcing him to eat you? Wait, that didn't sound right."

"Mom won't allow it."

"I see." Giles spoke up for the first time. Buffy glared at him.

"Yeah. What's the deal? You barely spoke two words since this meeting started. Are you feeling guilty about what this other watcher did to Angel?"

The Englishman polished his glasses for what seems to be the tenth time in a row and replied, "Somewhat."

"Don't be. It's not like you were the one who push in the needle. You're loyal to the Council but I wish you would have told me sooner. You don't know who this other watcher is?"

"I never saw him before in my life."

"And how did these guys even know about Angel being here? Did you told them?"

"Oh- of course not." Giles stammered. "I knew they would have done something to him if they know. Perhaps perform experiments on him."

"Like what they are doing to him right now?"

"Perhaps."

"Maybe, it's someone else." Buffy said as she looked at Xander.

The others looked at Xander who crossed his arms. "Okay, I hate him. I am jealous of him. But, not even I would do this. I haven't told a soul or undead soul to anyone. I don't want Spike and Drusilla coming back for their revenge. I… I made mistakes, really stupid mistakes, but I want to help you help Angel. Don't tell him that."

Buffy sighed in relief as she smiled at him. "Finally, you actually care about me."

"I always cared about you. If you want to give blood to Deadboy, why not mix it in this chocolate? Vampire don't like normal food right?"

"Possibly." Buffy looked at the chocolate bars. Angel told her that he didn't like eating food since they don't have any taste. "This could work. I still have to convince Angel to eat this but it might make it easier for him."

XXX

Buffy's head felt light as she poured her blood into a pot of melted chocolate, donated by her friends. The band candy might actually help her after all. "You sure this will work?" Gunn asked, "I tried that with milk and it didn't work."

"It better, I literally put my blood, sweat, and tears into this. I will make Angel drink his medicine." Buffy paused, "Why won't Angel just take my blood? He hates being like a dog."

"I don't know. Maybe, it's the fact that it's your blood he has to drink. He didn't want to drink from someone he loves again after that Angelus mess. Or maybe he didn't know what he's doing, I'm not an expert in vampire psychology." Gunn shrugged.

"It's me." Buffy said as she poured the melted chocolate into a huge glass. "Oh Angel." She said as she walked to the basement door where the vampire was waiting.

Angel saw the mixture and shook his head.

"Now, look, I already bleed into this chocolate and made it so you won't taste it so much with all this chocolate. I need you to be at your best. Please, just drink it already." Buffy ordered as she put the glass into the vampire's hands.

Angel stared at the melted chocolate and blood and then at her. He closed his eyes as he drank down the mixture and gasped as the blood worked in his system. "I… I think it worked."

"Really?"

"The fog is gone." Angel grabbed Buffy and kissed her passionately.

Buffy melted in his arms as she kissed back. It had been so long since she had been kissed like that. Gunn's kisses were slow and sweet but Angel's take her breath away. "Whoo. Whoa. Back up." Buffy remembered what happened the last time things went too far. "Better not get too carried away. You're not totally happy are you?"

"Not really." Angel looked away as he looked at her interested. "I'm going to go out… find the watcher who did this to me and give that English bastard a piece of my mind."

"Whoa! Stop. Wait. English bastard?" Buffy stared at him. "Are you sure you're not Angelus?"

"I swear on my grave, I'm not Angelus." Angel said as he raised his hand. "If I was Angelus, I would be taunting and torturing you. But, I'm not, I just want to go and beat the crap out of Giles and Xander. And while I'm at it, Snyder too. Do you think he's still at the school?"

"NO!" Buffy couldn't understand what was going on. Angel didn't sound like himself, he wasn't the type to beat up anyone but he didn't seem Angelusy. Was it because of what he experienced in Hell or that poison he got earlier? "You… you need to rest and recover. Xander and I are cool again and Giles is feeling guilty for letting this happen to you. We'll find out who did this to you. Don't go anywhere."

"But, I haven't really gone anywhere without a leash. I want to have some fun."

"Eh… that's nice but not now." Buffy backed away slowly. "You… you're still not yourself. Just rest in the basement and we'll see about having some fun later. The sun hasn't set yet."

"Fine." Angel shrugged.

Gunn watched the exchange with a dropped jaw. The vampire looked at the street thug. "Hey, Gunn, thanks for defending my honor like that. Maybe, we can get together and get drunk some time or pick some fights. I want to see you fight."

"I don't drink that much." Gunn shook his head. "We gotta go."

Buffy glanced at her mother who was eating some of the band candy. "Mom, can you watch Angel while we are gone?"

"Sure thing. We'll be just fine." Joyce said as she smiled slightly.

"Great." Buffy and Gunn walked out of the door. As soon as they walked down the block, Gunn asked, "Anne, was that really Angel? He's like an overgrown college jock."

"I don't know. He's not Angelus but… he's different from the Angel I knew. I hope it's not because of that watcher or that Dr. Bombay. We better go and find Giles."

Meanwhile, back at the Summers household…

Joyce put on her coat and said, "I'm going out right now. You can join me when the sun sets."

"Oh, I'll be there." Angel said as he got out the wine bottles and started guzzling them down. "Can ye pick up some whiskey? These wine bottles aren't giving me enough buzz."

"We'll see." Joyce came up and kissed him. "I really enjoyed giving your baths. Don't tell Buffy."

Angel pulled away. "No offence, but I prefer someone a wee bit younger."

Joyce pouted. "You're old enough to be my great-great-grandfather. What's a few years for someone like you? Think about it." She said as she walked off.

To Be Continued…