Had to Repost this due to a new FF.Net rule.

Heh, I was just watching the Angel one day and " Liar Liar " came on right after it. This got me to thinking…what if Angelus was under a similar deal? The horror! Well, for anyone else who's ever wondered what a truthful Angelus would be like, this fic is my answer! ^^

Disclaimer: I do not own " Angel " or " Liar Liar " . The ideas and thoughts borrowed from these are intended purely for entertainment purposes and are not intended to infringe on anyone's rights. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

" How'd you do? " Wesley asked when Gunn came up from the basement after another round of ask-and-tell with Angelus.

Gunn's frown said it all. His eyes flared with anger. " He didn't tell me anything important." The words sounded like a hiss, and Wesley knew better than to press any further.

" Yeah, well, wasn't like we didn't already anticipate this." Connor muttered darkly from the corner of the room.

Fred appeared from her office just then, exhausted after long tedious hours of research on The Beast, or as close to references as they could get to him, anyway. " Well, to borrow a phrase, we knew this job was dangerous when we took it." In response to all the blank stares she was getting, she said, " Nevermind."

Cordelia came down the stairs just then dressed in a flashy red outfit.

Without a word, she trotted over to where Wesley and Gunn were watching Angelus humming in his cage on the screen.

" What's wrong, people? " Angelus was taunting, " Can't take the truth? You'd rather live in your own little lies, wouldn't you? "

Cordelia looked to Gunn. " Well? "

Gunn shook his head. " He didn't tell me anything resembling useful. He was possibly even more sarcastic than he was last time I was down there, if that even possible."

" He thinks he's so funny." Cordelia scoffed, though a part of her had to admit it was somewhat amusing.

Wesley looked thoughtful. " Ever notice that whenever you go down there to interrogate him for information regarding The Beast, he somehow manages to flip it around and steer the conversation towards you? Last time I was down there, he insisted on talking about my love-life. I do believe that is in no way relevant to The Beast."

" Maybe he meant metaphorically? " Fred suggested, then shut her mouth at Wesley's glare." Or not."

" He just likes to press our buttons, Wes." Cordelia flicked back a piece of hair from her eye, " He can't hurt us literally, so he's doing it mentally. It's a form of torture. Which he enjoys. Remember? "

Wesley nodded.

Connor left his corner and started across the room to the door. He was feeling pretty desperate, and thus far bringing Angelus back had proved to be a rather futile attempt to learn more about this new threat.

" I'm going for a walk. Run damage control." He announced as he left the Hyperion.

Permanent night stretched across the entire expanse of L.A. Vampires and demons were partying it up big all over town. There were fires, wrecks, and genuine mayhem everywhere. It reminded him somewhat of Quartoth, the demon dimension he'd been raised in.

The memories were not pleasant.

He tried not to think about it and focus on the task at hand: helping survivors. But so far everyone he'd run into had been a vamp. He'd taken them out, but there always seemed to be so many more…the chances of finding anyone else alive were slim.

Yet he enjoyed having something physical to take all his pent-in anger and frustration out on.

No sooner had he stopped to rest on a bench just outside the park when a 30-ish year old woman approached him from out of the blue.

He jerked up, prepared to fight if she was a vampire.

The woman held her hands straight out, signaling him to stop.

" Whoa, not a vampire, sweet cheeks. Though I can see where you might get that idea." She glanced around, noting all the destruction to property and some of the dead bodies just left to rot in the streets. " I'd heard this was a rough town, but this is ridiculous."

Connor was not in the mood. He sat back down.

" You should leave." He told the woman when she sat down next to him.

" Nah. It's okay. Death really doesn't scare me that much. But you…you look like you could use a friend. That's why I'm here right now." She held out her hand. " Call me Hally."

Connor stared at her hand as if it were something not even remotely desirable. Instead of grabbing it, he merely turned away.

" Ok, that was kind of rude." Hally said good-naturedly, " What's your name? "

" Connor." He wasn't really sure why he wasn't just leaving…maybe a part of him really did want a friend after all.

Hally nodded. " So, Connor, I'll bet there's plenty of things you wish were different." Her tone was almost cheery, and it sounded very out of place.

" You bet." Connor muttered. A sudden outburst overtook him--he'd been keeping it bottled up for too long, " For one day, even just one day, I wish Angelus couldn't tell a lie or hurt anyone! "

He shouted so loud that several vampires on the street stopped and looked at him.

He sprung up, feeling stupid and knowing that now he was going to have to fight all of them.

Hally's touch caused him to spin back to her direction.

" Done! " She said, only she looked different this time. Something was wrong with her face--it was all veiny and ugly.

" Done?! " Conner repeated, " What do you mean? Who are you?! "

Hally smiled. " Go back to the Hyperion. You'll see."

She was gone in a magical flash; leaving Connor to fend off the vampires.

Back at the Hyperion, Cordy, Wesley, Lorne, Fred, and Gunn were just chanting the spell that would restore Angel's soul.

They'd gathered the ingredients earlier, but had refrained from using them up until this point on the fleeting hope that they still might be able to pry something out of Angelus.

But now their patience had been tested to the end, and they'd all agreed it was soul-time.

The gleaming skull of the soul-eater demon was in the center of a circle of candles, and with the last words to the rite it lit up. A frothy white essence erupted from the skull.

On cue, each member held up their various talismans and the misty fog drifted away from them and through the bars of the iron cage towards Angelus. It proceeded to lift the evil vampire off the ground and engulf him.

Seconds later, he fell to the cement and groaned.

" Angel? " Cordy was the first to ask after a few terse seconds had passed.

Angelus stood up and straightened himself. " I'm not Angel. I'm Angelus still. I'm afraid your little spell botched."

Nobody was more startled than Angelus at that moment.

He blinked. His jaw dropped like he couldn't believe what he'd just said. " Why'd I say that? "

Fred frowned at Angelus. " So it didn't work? Darn! "

" I was so sure it would." Nobody noticed that Cordy sounded a bit more agitated than she should have.

Angelus grinned. No soul for him! " Now that your little plan backfired, what are you going to do? There's n…n…" Angelus could not make the word come out.

The gang stared at him anxiously. " n…"

" you going to get that word out anytime soon, fangboy? " Gunn grumped, not at all impressed with Angelus's little charade.

" Go on, what were you saying? " Wesley pried.

" There's another way to restore my soul." Angelus blurted before he could stop himself.

The eyes of everyone in the entire room widened.

Frustrated, Angelus hit his head against the bars of his prison. " Damn! What is wrong with me? "

" The list is too long." Wesley said, but at the same time he was shocked.

Lorne looked equally confused. " Who are we dealing with here? He says he's not Angel, but he's not exactly acting like Angelus."

Connor rushed down the steps just then. " What's going on? "

" Not sure." Fred answered, " We did a spell to restore his soul, but it seems to have made him crazy."

" I'm not crazy! " Angelus shot.

" Really? " Wesley interjected, " Then what are you? "

Angelus could not stop the words from pouring from his mouth, " I'm an evil vampire, and I'm perfectly sane! "

Wesley just stared, not quite sure what was going on, but finding it rather amusing.

Cordy laughed. " At least you're being honest! "

Angelus wanted to make a sarcastic witty comeback. He really did. But he ened up saying, " I don't want to be honest! "

Connor suddenly grinned, realization dawning, " It worked! It actually worked! "

All eyes turned to him.

" What worked? " Wesley pressed.

Connor's eyes lit up with excitement. It had been awhile since anyone had seen him this happy. " Just a few minutes ago I was out in the park when this strange woman arrived. I told her I wished Angelus couldn't tell a lie even for one day."

" Hmmm," Wesley rubbed at the stubble on his chin, " Sounds like the work of a vengeance demon."

There was a moment of silence as the implications of this hit home.

Slowly, everyone in the room turned their heads towards Angelus, grins plastered on their faces.

" Well, I believe this changes things considerably." Wesley purred, pacing in front of Angelus's cage with a smug look.

Angelus growled. " This is fair! I deserve this! " He clamped his hands over his mouth, horrified by his outburst.

Wesley's grin deepened. " So, what's the other way to restore your soul? "

Angelus kept his hands clamped firmly over his mouth, finding it increasingly difficult to keep them there.

" Well? " Cordelia pried, weirded out by the whole thing.

Angelus could not stop his hands from flying off his mouth anymore than he could stop his tongue, " The orb of Thessula. Willow restored my soul once, and she can do it again."

Damn! He thought, angry, frustrated, and humiliated. I have to answer the question too? This is torture! This is Hell!

" That's a wonderful idea! " Fred laughed.

Angelus scoffed and paced to the back of his cell. This was turning out to be worse of a nightmare than he could've imagined.

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