Live Through This, Part Two

"Live Through This, Part Two" was the second issue of the Angel & Faith comic book series.

Synopsis
Faith, Nadira, and a squad of Slayers were fighting vampires on the street. One had a briefcase and a machine gun, and wounded Nadira's leg when she separated from the group (against Faith's order) to chase him. He was decapitated by Angel before he could do any more damage, but Faith was trying to finish off her own opponent, Baphon, before Nadira could come help (because she believes she was too angry to be effective). The demon took off with his briefcase and the Slayers regrouped.

They found a bottle of smelly green liquid in the case, and Faith took it away to ask around, dodging around the issue of who saved Nadira. When she rejoined Angel, she told him it was stupid to get near someone who wanted to kill him, and then confronted him about his crazy idea to bring Giles back from a natural death. They hashed out the particulars - Angel claimed that the key was in Giles' magic-immersed life, which he hoped would leave a spiritual connection that could allow the soul to be returned to the body.

Faith wasn't buying it and Angel could tell, but she did see how this was the only thing motivating his recuperation, and also, as his only friend, didn't want to abandon him. When he went to leave, weapon in hand, she came with him, claiming she was just "wingman for a night".

Demontown was a bar where demons were fighting each other for bragging rights, trying to establish a new hierarchy amongst themselves now that magic was gone. Angel found a demon called Kuurth and asked him about business - specifically, his business of "selling body parts to rich scumbags". Kuurth corrected him, saying they'd moved on to a higher class of business, but wouldn't say more, so Faith attacked him, and a full-on bar fight broke out.

Faith and Angel left bruised and bloody and Kuurth appeared to have escaped, but Angel said he could track him by scent. As they hunted, Faith showed some concern about the way Angel didn't seem to feel anything when he fought. They found Kuurth meeting up with Baphon, asking him for a "dose". The demon gave him the green vial and he poured it over his back, and his third arm (which Angel ripped off during the fight) instantly grew back. Faith and Angel observed, unseen from the rooftop.

Angel explained Mohra blood to Faith, touching briefly on his own experience with it in "I Will Remember You", but focusing on how it can be used to reanimate Giles' body. He asked if she was with him after which they leapt into the lair brandishing their weapons magnificently. Angel said that Baphon's power was in its horns, so he lopped them off, and Faith thought about how excited his new purpose - and her apparent cooperation - was making him.

Faith accidentally incinerated the table holding the Mohra blood, but Angel said there must be more where that came from, because it deteriorated when exposed to open air, so the dealers must be getting it fresh. He pinned the hornless Baphon against the wall and demanded to know where they got it, and he said he would tell.

Faith remembered a conversation she had with Giles, not so long ago. She was looking for a way to bring back the man she killed - the professor, not the deputy mayor - and he told her would know if there was a way, and there wasn't. He also dispensed some Giles-style wisdom about guilt and atonement. Back in the present, Faith hoped that she could have kept Angel out of trouble and made him let himself off the hook, but she did not try to convince him that he was on a fool's errand.

Finally, Pearl and Nash met up with Kuurth are ripped another arm ripped off. They wanted Mohra blood too.

Continuity
The story was set after "Last Gleaming", but before "In Perfect Harmony".

Individuals

 * Angel
 * Faith
 * Nadira
 * Pearl
 * Nash
 * Kuurth
 * Baphon
 * Buffy Summers
 * Rupert Giles
 * Allan Finch
 * Professor Worth

Species

 * Vampire
 * Human

Locations

 * London
 * Demontown

Collections

 * Live Through This