Fic info.
Maggie's Angel
Angel woke in a bright white world. He stood, looking around at the clear glass and white padded cell, then at the other vampires and demons enclosed in similar rooms all around him.

The last memory he had was of looking in Giles's window, watching Buffy as she recovered from the fight with Hus. Then everything had gone black.

Noticing that Angel had stood up and was walking around, the vampire across from him began taunting him through the glass.

"Hey, Angel, how'd the great one get caught up in here...oh, that's right, you're the Slayer's little pet these days, aren't you?!" he asked with a sneer.

"Morgan, I see you haven't learned anything in the past 20 years. The last time I saw you I had you on your back with a stake pressed to your chest. What, your gang of bully boys wasn't there to get you out of your latest scrape?"

"Yeah, well, soul-boy, the Slayer isn't here now to protect you. You're in hell now, and there's no way out." Morgan slumped and turned away to sit down on the ground.

"What is this place? It isn't Hell, I've spent some time there, and this is nothing like it," Angel commented with a faint smile.

"Hey, Angel, your head hurt?" Morgan shot back at him.

"No," Angel said, running his hands through his hair. "Should it?"

"They must not have implanted you yet. Just don't drink the blood, that's all I'm saying," Morgan said, then slumped to the floor and turned away.

"Oh, that's right," Morgan sneered with his back still to Angel. "You don't drink from humans anymore, sissy boy. The blood here will probably taste just fine to you, except for the drugs, of course, but some of us prefer the human variety."

Angel noticed a small shaved spot at the back of Morgan's head, and wondered anew what was going on.

*****
Maggie finished listening to the tape and sat back thoughtfully. Since Hostile 17 had escaped, they had installed video and audio surveillance equipment in the cell block, but this was the first time she had heard any of the prisoners talk to each other. This conversation had left her with more questions than answers.

She looked down at the pad of paper in front of her, and reviewed the notes she had made.

~The Great One?
~Slayer's pet? What is a 'Slayer'?
~Soul-boy?
~Been in Hell? The real place, or figuratively?
~Doesn't drink from humans anymore. Why?

She needed some way to answer these questions, and she was afraid there was only one way to get them.

*****
The blood packet fell from the ceiling with a plop, landing next to Angel. He picked it up and looked at it thoughtfully, sniffing it carefully. His senses picked up the scent of Demerol and Sodium Pentathol laced in the blood, and he snorted faintly. This may have worked on the other vampires, but he was too old and powerful for human drugs to have much effect, except in massive doses. He shrugged and bit into the bag, draining it slowly over the next hour to ensure none of the drugs would overtake him for even a short time. Then he lay down to take a short nap.

Ten minutes into his catnap, he opened his eyes to the sound of the door sliding open, and 2 humans approaching him. They picked him up, one on either side, and he turned to look at one of them. "Are we going somewhere?"

The one he spoke to squeaked and jumped away from him like a little mouse. The other one carefully loosened his grip, then both began backing away toward the door.

"You know, if you just want to talk, that's one thing, but I don't take kindly to forcible questioning," referring to the Sodium Pentathol they had given him earlier. "Why don't the 2 of you scurry on back to your boss and don't return until you are willing to have a civilized conversation." Angel turned away, and sat back down on the floor. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have anything by Sartre or Maupassant lying around, would you? I could really use a good book while I'm waiting."

The mousy one squeaked, "I'll ask and see," then hastily slid his keycard through the lock, resealing the cell.

*****
Maggie laughed as she watched the tape. A civilized demon, and one with a wicked sense of humor, too. She found herself liking this one, even knowing what he was.

"Come on, I'm going to talk to him." She motioned for Graham and Forrest to follow her. They had made the mistake of returning early from Thanksgiving break, and she had pressed them back into uniform. Riley was still in Iowa, and wasn't expected back until tomorrow.

"Are you sure that's wise, Professor Walsh?" asked Graham with concern. "It could just be acting to lull us off-guard."

"That's why the two of you will be accompanying me," she replied.

*****
Angel looked up at the sound of the door reopening. A woman in a lab coat stood there, flanked by two soldiers with tazer guns. The woman stepped forward and tossed a book at him. "Sorry, Dickens was the best I could do on short notice," she said, then motioned one of the soldiers forward. He was carrying 2 folding chairs, which he set up quickly before backing away. The other soldier had kept his gun trained on Angel the entire time.

Angel stood and walked forward, nodding to the woman before seating himself. He opened the book and glanced through it idly. "I told Charles his writing was going to make him famous, but he never had much self-confidence." He nodded at the flyleaf, smiling at the pen and ink drawing of the author.

"You knew Dickens?" Maggie sat forward without thinking, fascinated by this. Sometimes she forgot that vampires were immortal and could be far older than they appeared. "How old are you?" she asked.

Angel smiled to himself and then looked up at her. "Don't you think introductions are in order, first?" he commented with a weary sigh. "I am Angel, or sometimes...Angelus."

Professor Walsh sat back and said, "You may call me Dr. Walsh."

"Ah, the Psychology Professor," Angel grimaced briefly, remembering Buffy's letter describing college, and the professor who she seemed to respect and cordially hate at the same time. "Moonlighting?"

"Yes, how do you know me?" Maggie was mystified. She didn't recognize this vampire, yet he seemed to know her name, if not her face.

"I am...acquainted with some of your students. Most speak very highly of you, while complaining of the workload you give them," Angel responded, thinking of Buffy, Willow, and Oz.

"Well, that's very flattering," Maggie paused, then continued, "but not really why I am here. I know that you are a vampire, and my job is to take dangerous creatures off the street and render them harmless, if possible. The problem is, you raise a certain amount of questions that I would like answered." She nodded to the video camera unobtrusively installed in the hall outside the cell. "We recorded your earlier conversation with Hostile 21 over there," glancing across the hall at the sleeping Morgan, "and a number of comments were made that I would like you to clarify."

"Why should I cooperate with you?" Angel questioned, trying to control his anger. Reason and politeness were going to get him a lot farther here than a display of power, and getting out was his primary goal.

"From what 'Morgan?' said during your discussion, I am under the assumption that you do not drink human blood any longer? I would like to know why, before we go any further." Maggie had the feeling this particular question was the important one, though she had no idea why she thought so.

"Demons have no soul, therefore no conscience, you know this?" Angel enquired. After Maggie nodded somewhat tentatively, Angel continued. "I had my soul returned to me as part of a Gypsy curse. Unfortunately, when I regained my soul, my conscience returned in full force, and I had to live with what I had done as 'Angelus.' Feeding off of humans was no longer possible." Angel's face took on its customary brooding quality as he became lost in the past of what he had done.

Maggie was fascinated and somewhat stunned by this explanation. "Then, what you are saying is that...magic is real?"

Angel smiled somewhat sadly and responded, "You keep demons here, yet spells working surprises you? You are younger than I ever was, yet you are older than I will ever become. Let us hope you can hold on to your spirit of innocence, I lost mine long ago."

*****
Maggie slumped tiredly at her desk as she reviewed her options. Her interview with Angel had lasted 2 long hours, and in that time, she had learned more than in the previous 6 months of scientific experimentation.

Hell was a real place, Angel had told her, he had been consigned there for 3 long months in human time, though it had been hundreds, if not thousands of years in the other realm. He had told her of losing his soul temporarily, though had not said how it had happened, only that it would never happen again. He had said this with a fierce intensity that made Maggie believe him. He had spoken at length of his long life, of the people he had known, the demons he had fought and was still fighting. He even told her why Morgan had called him the Great One. That he had been one of the most evil, the most sadistic of the vampires before he had regained his soul. That other vampires and demons feared him.

Of the Slayer he refused to go into detail, only saying that the Slayer was a person whose duty it was to fight against the vampires and demons, and that yes, he knew the Slayer and had assisted that person at times.

She had also found out that drugs would not work on Angel because of his age and power, and that implanting him was a lost cause as well. His souled state would nullify the implant. It was designed to create an artificial conscience in the form of extreme pain when an implanted demon attacked a living creature, but was useless when the necessary brain activity involved in the use of morals and ethics was present.

She could not hold him, she could not experiment on him, she could not kill him. Her conscience would not allow it.

She would have to release him.

*****
Riley walked into the lab in time to see Graham and Forrest opening a cell door and escorting an unrestrained and undrugged vampire out of the lab toward thedoor.

He quickly approached Professor Walsh and enquired, "You're releasing a vampire? What's going on?"

She explained, then smiled quietly and said, "I thought I would never say this about any demon, but...I've never met a more human person in my life."