fandomhigh | Ethics Class, Monday, 2-4pm

"Angelus is gone," Tara informs the class solemnly. "Now, I know you've all heard the 'evil soul' excuse before, and that you're sick and tired of it. I am too. It would be nice if you could just trust that each person had only one face. However, with the number of unrelated identical twins running around the place, that was never going to happen, so let's all just let it go and deal with what is. Angelus is gone, and Angel is here.

"Most of you know that Angelus and I are Sunnydale expatriots. I assure you that I am in a better position than almost anyone you can think of to guarantee that he and Angel are very, very different people.

"With that in mind, today's discussion is about punishment for crimes done - and I say with that in mind, because if Angel does have the courage to walk through that door today, I will not tolerate anyone accusing him of crimes that were committed through his mouth and hands, but without his knowledge or consent. Please think of him as an unrelated identical twin, as different as Archie and Lee, or Cameron and John Crichton."

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"For personal reasons, I didn't hold my usual office hours today. If there's anything you need to see me about, I'll be staying after class for a little bit."

Once the class was over, Angel lingered. He watched the students file out. When there was enough of a space in the crowd for him to be heard, he said, "Angela?"

Angela's expression is half fear and half ugh, a rat, though she tries to compose it into blank boredom.

"What? I still have the necklace."

Angel held his hands up to show his weaponless state. "I know. I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Sorry," Angela snorts. "Right. Sure. That's nice."

She picks up her backpack and appears about to leave when she suddenly turns to face him again. "Just out of personal curiosity? Is this "sorry" for killing one friend and trying to kill two others, for trying to frame my boyfriend for murder, or for the threats and generally making me look completely paranoid? Because I would really like to know."

"For everything," Angel said. "I know it doesn't make it better. But... you told me once that I should apologize for what I did. So I wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I'm ashamed of what I did to you and to everyone."

Angela considers this, eyes narrowed, for a long moment. "Admit I didn't lie about you and the storage closet," she says, finally. "Then I might start believing you."

"You didn't lie," Angel said. "I threatened your life."

Angela stumbles backward a step in surprise. "I seriously didn't expect you to say that," she says. "So ... that's a start."

"I just have no idea what comes next. I can't just --" she flails her hands around. "You know. Think of you as a completely different person, like Tara says. I can't."

"I'm not," Angel said. "At least, not like how she described it. If Cameron killed somebody it wouldn't be John's fault. Angelus killing someone is my fault. The soul gives me the ability to try to do good. It doesn't erase the bad that I've done."

Angela bites her lower lip as she thinks about that. "You're honest," she says, softly. "That's ... so completely different than him."

"Could you still kill?" she asks. "I mean, not counting pure self defense. Just -- for food, or the fun of it, or whatever."

"Do you mean am I capable of it?" Angel asked. "Yes. Same as anyone else with a soul."

"I see." Angela's curiosity is out, and her guard is down.

Mostly. She's still twirling her necklace in her fingers. "And ... um, do you plan on it? Or on, like, getting the soul back out?"

Angel shook his head. "No. I never want the soul taken out of me. Whatever I can do to stop that from happening, I'll do."

Angela sucks in her breath, giving Angel a piercing gaze. "Okay. And I truly hope Parker and Marty help you with that."

"Thanks."

"Not a problem," Angela says. "Seriously."

That actually got a small hint of something that could have been a smile.

Very confused, Angela returns her own hint of something that could be a smile and leaves the classroom. "Bye."

Ethics Class, Monday, 2-4pm

After Class

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