Soul Excursions
by Pantherstrike

It was an awkward scene at Hank Summers' place that night. Oh, yes.

"Okay, I admit he was a bit more than a friend," Buffy was saying.

"I should think so. And don't think I couldn't tell you weren't talking about a sink or anything like it," Hank said. The Slayer was getting annoyed now. The conversation was getting tiring. Who knew that such good news could have such negative effects?

"If you were to understand what we were talking about, I would have to give you a lot of information that I'm not sure you could handle all at once. God knows Mom didn't even get half of it at once and went nuts, though they were different circumstances," Buffy countered, remembering being kicked out.

"Tell me. Give the information. By the way, how long has your mother known?", he said. Buffy was mad now.

"Fine, I'll tell you. I'll need Angel's help with this, and Mom's known for about a year and a month," she answered.

"Good, and fine, he can," Hank said, direly curious.

This is how Buffy, Hank, and Angel ended up at Hank's place the next night, with Hank severely curious and the oddest couple in Slaying history slightly nervous, but ready and defiant. "Okay, my first question is, how old are you, Angel?", Hank's father instincts made him ask.

"That's as good a place to start as any," Buffy said, and took a deep breath, "243." There were a full ten seconds of silence after that.

"That's not funny."

"It's true! He's a vampire they don't age. Angel, show him," Buffy said, and Angel complied after a second of doubt. And Hank just about fainted.

"Catch him!" He was wobbling pretty badly. Once straightened and reoriented, something dawned on him.

"You're dating a vampire?" <Oh, shark teeth. I didn't expect this angle of questioning until later,> Buffy was thinking. She decided to push through.

"Yes, a souled one. Vampires are just dead bodies animated by demons with the human's memories, and personality to an extent. But he was cursed with his soul by a Romany gypsy clan a long time ago, with memories intact," she answered. She would tell him about the whole losing his soul mess and about Acathla later.

"Okay...," Hank was warming to the idea a bit more, "How did you find out about vampires?"

"I'm a Vampire Slayer. I found that out a month(?) before I got kicked out of Hemery, when my first Watcher approached me. His name was Merrick." Hank was silent, so Angel helped him out.

"Every generation there is a Chosen One, a Slayer. She alone has the strength and skill to fight the vampires and demons, to stop their evil and the swell of their numbers. She's trained by the Watcher. When she dies, another is called, and so it goes."

"Very good, Angel. Almost perfect, Giles would be proud," Buffy said with a half- smile. Looking into each others loving eyes, they almost forgot about Buffy's father.

"Romeo? Juliet? Wake up," he said. <That look, it was so genuine. This might be a bit more than puppy love. Hm.>

"Oh!", Buffy and Angel were startled out of their reverie with a start by Hank's voice.

"So, you die, another is called just like that?", he asked a little uneasily.

"Well, it's already happened," Buffy said, and quickly poured out what had happened with the Master, being resuscitated, and killing the Master. Then how another had been called, then died, then another was called and became evil. "Faith's still recovering from the coma I put her in," she finished. She hadn't said who was behind Kendra's death, or anything about the poison or what she did afterwards. Again, that was for later.

"That is an odd story, but I have no reason to doubt it."

"Also, Merrick died shortly before I was expelled, at the hands of Lothos," her face turned to one of remembered hate, then of regret and missage, "I avenged him, though." Angel put an arm around her shoulders, and she gratefully leaned into him.

"When I moved to Sunnydale, the new school librarian turned out to be sent by the Watchers' Council to be my Watcher. He was fired on my eighteenth birthday, boy was that not a fun day, and I got a new one, whom no one in our little Scooby Gang respected. But, I recently rejected the Council, so Giles is my unofficial Watcher." Now this was a lot for Hank to comprehend, but he did his best. Unfortunately, even his best needed something more than these words to go on.

"Can I meet him, your Watcher? And your friends?"

"Of course, what better proof than the words of many and a little direct experiance?", Buffy said, and Angel slowly comprehended what that meant.

"You want to take him patroling to show your, quote, 'strength and skill'?"

"Yeah," she answered, then added defensively, "He'll need to believe me and seeing is believing...in most cases."

It was night in L. A, and Buffy, Angel, and Hank were in the graveyard. Luck was with them, because Buffy got to slay one vampire for her dad. It was a brute, and broke a thick tree branch to use as a club like it was nothing. It was a nice exercise. After that, her father had an easier time believing what she said. It became even easier when he got to speak with Giles and Joyce. He told Hank about the Hellmouth, and some various demons. Joyce was happy to have him finally in on the Slayer bit, also that she was no longer the newest person.

After some more discusion with Buffy and Angel, came the awkward question they had dreaded: "Now," Hank asked after Buffy told him of Spike, "why were you talking about a system after that phone conversation?" The couple fell absolutely silent.

"What?", Hank asked, afraid of the answer. Buffy and Angel had prepared for this, but didn't revel in what was bound to be an ugly conversation. <Might as well get this over with, Buffy> thought as she began:

"The first thing you need to know, is that the curse of Angel's soul is abolished as soon as he has one moment of true happiness. He becomes the former Scourge of Europe, Angelus."

"I'm a terror, and about the best person you can get for both emotional and physical torture. I've done things during my unlife that it pains my soul to think about," Angel said, head slightly lowered and thinking of Jenny, Giles, Drusilla, and countless others. Buffy now comforted *him* with her arm around his shoulders. Hank took a moment to digest this, but before this moment was completed they threw some more info his way.

"That's the system and its glitch," Buffy finished, and waited for the inevitable. And if he didn't ask, she'd have to tell him anyway or else he'd get the information elsewhere and there may be hard to fix damage.

"Did the gypsies tell you of this condition?", Hank asked curiously.

"No, we found out the hard way," Angel answered painfully.

"How?", Hank asked with an idea forming in his head. The idea was confirmed.

"I made him really, really happy," Buffy answered and stealed herself for what was bound to come. If Hank hadn't already been sitting, he would of sat down then. Very hard.

"WHAT?!"

Part Three

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