Chapter 3: Double Trouble
“I’m telling you, I think Angel has gone off his rocker,” Cordelia warned the rest of the Scooby Gang. Willow, Xander and Oz were all gathered at the library table conducting research for Giles on the newest threat to Sunnydale and waiting for Buffy to show up from her early sweep of the cemeteries.
“This surprises you?” Xander stared at her. “The vamp is a walking split personality.”
“Everyone has a little devil’s voice whispering naughty suggestions now and then,” she returned almost defensively before remembering that she was still ticked off at Angel. “I just happen to know that Angel’s little devil is a big bad demon who gets off on pushing people to the limits.”
Rupert Giles paced around the table listening in on the conversation. While he knew that he should be telling them to get back to the research, Cordelia’s concerns were actually quite legitimate. Lately, he too had noticed that tensions between Buffy and Angel were running high. The reason seemed obvious despite the fact that it made him cringe every time he thought of his young charge literally sleeping with the enemy.
“We’ll have to trust that Angel and Buffy can control themselves,” Giles cut in resulting in sardonic stares from Cordelia and Xander.
“Hello!” Cordelia threw her hands in the air as she reminded the Watcher. “One is a horny vampire and the other is a hormone-driven teenager. Excuse me if I don’t want my neck caught in the crossfire.”
Giles wasn’t certain that it was any of their business, but he explained, “Buffy and Angel have assured me that they are well aware of the ramifications of pursuing an intimate relationship.”
“Bet that was an interesting conversation,” Cordelia rolled her eyes only to receive a nudge from Xander who wanted to discourage any more talk on the subject.
“Slayers and vampires are natural enemies,” Giles looked a little frustrated with the idea himself. In fact, he seemed more than a little irritated and confused gauging by what he said next, “They aren’t supposed to be in love. Somehow, that factor is exponentially causing some rather delicate issues with how Buffy and Angel are responding to each other.”
Cordelia wanted to point out that Buffy wasn’t even present when Angel went wacky on her in the library. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.
“Can we not talk about this anymore?” Xander held a hand to his stomach. “The Buffy and Angel thing just makes me sick. Major ick factor. Watching them suck face is bad enough. I don’t need to hear about it.”
“I thought it was just jealousy,” Cordelia snapped back. Not that she didn’t get the whole vampire ick factor idea. Except that while she was pissed at Angel for being such a jerk, she could not deny the fact that his touch had left her tingling.
Willow glanced over at her boyfriend sharing a silent look that suggested it was better to stay out of the conversation when Xander and Cordelia started to get snippy. Stepping in between two firing cannons might be a safer option. While Oz turned his attention back to his research, an activity that he rarely participated in, Willow failed to take her own advice. She started to worry about what would happen if Cordelia’s fears were actualized.
What if Angel seduced Buffy again? Then Angelus would be back. Not a good thing. He had the nerve to kill her fish— and Miss Calendar for that matter. The vampire actually had the gall to come into her house and string up her cute little fishes. While Willow had been all too willing to cast the spell that restored Angel’s soul, she admitted to being a bit skittish around the vampire.
Xander’s attention was focused directly on Cordelia. They continued to argue until she told him, “You’ve been itching to stake Angel ever since he got back from hell.”
“Nah. I wanted to do it long before then,” Xander admitted. “Hey, does anyone else want a soda? All this research is making me thirsty.”
Staring at the boy, Giles wanted to point out that very little research was actually getting done. All of their time seemed to be taken up by discussing Buffy and Angel. Now they were going to load up on sugary caffeinated beverages. Trying to get them to concentrate after that would be like herding cats— completely impossible.
Several hands rose at the soda offer and Xander headed toward the doors. He paused as he heard Angel’s voice just outside. Was the vamp eavesdropping? No, it seemed like he was arguing with someone.
“I don’t give a damn if these are your only leather pants,” Angel’s voice clearly emanated through the doors. “Now they’re mine. It’s not like you wear them anyway.”
Then Angel seemed to answer his own complaint with, “Just have a little respect for my things.”
“Those are my things,” came an responding growl. “You’re the one who came along to contaminate my stuff with that pesky soul.”
Angel was tired of their petty argument. “Enough! We have to go in there. Just let me do the talking.”
Xander slowly backed away from the doors. Without turning away, he called out to the gang, “Guys— remember when Cor thought Angel was going crazy? Well, I think it’s finally happened. He’s out in the hallway talking to himself.”
The doors to the library swung open simultaneously and thanks to Xander, they were all staring in that direction. Angel and Angelus appeared side by side, striding in with the same walk and matching determined looks on their identical faces. Stopping mid way into the library both vampires found themselves subjected to wide-eyed stares.
Now backing up at a faster rate, Xander joined the group. All he could muster was a repetitive, “Buh-buh-buh.”
Willow and Oz jumped up out of their chairs, shocked at the sight before them. In a twittering voice, Willow managed to question what she was seeing, “It’s Angel— and Angelus?”
“That’s right, Willow,” Angel confirmed standing his ground and hoping that the other vampire would do the same. Let the group get used to the idea.
He noted instantly that Buffy was not among them. That meant she had not yet returned to the library after her patrol, which also meant none of the Scoobies knew about his plans.
“Oh look, it’s Dumb and Dumber.” Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Angel with a sudden understanding of what happened. Based on their words the other night, the vampire had found some way to do exactly as she had suggested by separating the good vamp from the bad. Only Angel had to be out of his mind to do that and bring Angelus here. “Is this the part where we all hold Angelus down and let Buffy stake him?”
Angelus smirked at the angry expression on the cheerleader’s face. Her mouth tightened and her nose crinkled just a bit. No doubt she was thinking about the other day in the library. He certainly was. Even though Angel was in the driver’s seat, Angelus had been able to influence his behavior just enough to get a little something out of the encounter. It helped when the Soul’s thoughts were heading in the same direction. Lately, his souled self had been fighting against his sexual urges. Angelus had found that the tighter Angel tried to control things, the easier it was to break through.
“Cordelia,” the evil vampire raked his eyes over her adding his trademark leer, “I haven’t thanked you properly for your advice. Looks like you’re responsible for my return.”
All eyes turned toward her, either curiously or accusingly, but Cordelia never noticed. She was far too focused on the soulless vampire giving her his full attention. Her angry bravado suddenly vanished. Deep down, she was shaking in fear. After Angel’s return, she’d put her fears behind her and tried to forget about Angelus’ threats.
The evil vampire had threatened all of Buffy’s friends, but this was personal. Some of the things he’d said and the way he said them made his plans for her extremely clear. Cordelia found that her heart was racing as she met Angelus’ smug expression that told her nothing had changed.
Recognizing that Angelus was letting out an almost imperceptible growl of pleasure at the scent of Cordelia’s fear in the air, Angel hoped this wasn’t an aftereffect of their encounter here in the library days ago. The last thing he wanted was Cordelia to be afraid of anything because of him. Then again, the vampire standing next to him was not really him anymore. Angelus was his own person and there were very legitimate reasons to be afraid of him.
“Don’t put this one on Cordelia,” he turned on Angelus with a swift glare. “This was our decision. Yours and mine.”
“Her idea,” countered the vamp who crossed his arms over his powerful chest. “Just being polite and trying to be grateful.”
“Pfft!” Cordelia uncrossed her arms realizing that he was mirroring her stance. “I can do without any gratitude from you.”
“What is going on, Angel?” Oz attempted to be the voice of reason figuring that this was a legitimate question. He could sense the fear coming off the other members of the Scooby Gang. Seeing Angelus again had them spooked.
Giles finally came out of his stupor. Calmly, he placed his book on the countertop and walked directly toward the open book cage where the weapons locker was kept. Both vampires eyed his actions warily, but did not move against him.
Before answering, Angel called out to the Watcher who never paused. “Hold off on the crossbow. Angelus can’t hurt anybody. Give me a chance to explain.”
The Brit’s response was to lift the weapon into a higher position taking careful aim. “I am listening, but I don’t plan to do it for long.”
“Did you enjoy the champagne and roses?” Angelus cut in with a query. He had to ask. It was just too tempting to ignore.
Thwack!
The crossbow bolt shot out in instant response only to be caught by Angelus as he used his vampiric speed to grab it. The Watcher was just too predictable at times. Poor Giles. Still so sad over Jenny Calendar’s death. The gypsy bitch! Deserved what she got. Angelus relived the memory of the satisfying crunch of her neck in his hand. Leaving her nude body in a lover’s pose upon the Watcher’s bed covered in scattered rose petals had been the only thing more satisfying.
Letting out a cry of rage, Giles threw the useless crossbow to the floor. “This is not happening! I want to know what is going on here. Right now.”
“I’m back,” Angelus let out a dark laugh at witnessing the usually unflappable man’s temper. “This time for good. What more do you need to know?”
Perturbed, Angel reminded the other vampire, “Let me do the talking.”
“Buh-buh-but, this is impossible,” Xander finally got it out.
“Shut up, Xander,” Cordelia yanked him toward her not wanting any interruptions before she heard what Angel had to say.
Xander stared at her in shock and pointed as if sharing his discovery. “There are two of them.”
“We’ve already established that, Xander,” sighed Giles deeply. “Keep your mouth closed until further notice.”
“Hey!” Willow complained. “That was mean, Giles. He’s just as surprised as we are and there is no need to yell at him.”
“Oh, you shut up too, Willow.” That had the redhead’s mouth dropping open.
Oz put his arm around his girlfriend who looked quite put out that her mentor talked back to her. “Let’s just listen to what the vampires have to say.”
Angel was starting to get a little anxious. Any second now he was going to have to tie all five of them up and gag them in order to get this explanation out. Next to him, Angelus was openly amused at the situation. He flashed Angel a wide grin and chuckled. Stupid humans, Angelus thought. He could have killed them all twice over by now.
“Why don’t you all sit down,” Angel suggested hoping that would make the situation a little easier.
Willow and Oz were the only two to take him up on it. Giles remained near the weapons locker, his gaze never leaving Angelus despite the fact that Angel was talking. Leaning against the edge of the table, Cordelia and Xander were already situated.
Taking an unnecessary breath, Angel delved into his practiced explanation. He told them that he had found a way to ensure that his soul would be permanent. That he made a deal with the Moirae. Giles instantly recognized the term and turned his head to give Angel an amazed stare.
“The Fates?” The Watcher gasped in shock, wondering how such a thing was possible considering their mythic nature and legendary status. Though the news sparked tons of questions, Giles tried to keep to the point, “So you made a deal with the Moirae to secure your soul.”
Nodding, Angel told them, “I also wanted to be rid of Angelus. There was an asking price and I paid it.”
“That was actually a lot of fun,” Angelus pointed out only to have his double issue a deep growl. “Let me tell you—”
“I’m doing the talking,” Angel reminded him again that the plan included keeping certain details of their bargain to themselves. “The Moirae gave Angelus his own existence. Now he is bound by the rules of our agreement.”
Xander snorted. “You expect Killer Vamp Boy to follow rules?”
“Only if I have too,” sneered Angelus who suddenly moved away from Angel’s side to roam around the room. “Those fucking bitches shackled me to the Powers that Be. I have to Fight-the-Good-Fight. To behave or they’ll have warning bells going off in my head.”
Angel added with grim satisfaction, “He can’t kill humans anymore.”
Perking up at the idea, Xander stepped up to Angelus who had moved within a short radius of the group. “So if I do this—,” the teenager whacked the vampire upside his head, “you can’t kill me?”
Angelus released a roar of outrage. His eyes turned a deep ochre as he glared down at Xander, his hands balled into fists. “No,” the vampire revealed, “but I can make you regret it.”
Everyone moved at once. Angelus lunged at Xander who was unfortunately too slow to avoid the attack. He grabbed the boy by the shirt and raised him up off of the floor while flashing his fangs. Xander let out a scream followed by a whimper as he was tossed to the ground.
The witch and the werewolf leapt in side-by-side to pull Xander to a safer distance giving Angel the extra time to run across the rest of the distance separating them. Giles headed back into the weapons locker searching for a stake. Angelus was too close to the Scoobies for any more crossbow bolts. Not that that had worked the first time.
Before Angelus could move in closer, Cordelia leapt onto his back wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on tight in hopes of preventing him from moving. Angelus’ muscular strength allowed him to ignore the sudden action. The sensation of Cordelia’s body pressing against his back proved more of a distraction than the move itself. As he paused, Angel caught up with him grabbing his arm and swinging the other vampire around to face him.
Still hanging on, Cordelia let out a shout as she swung around with them. “Angel, stop!”
Angelus’ hands moved down to hold on to the pant-covered legs tucked into his sides, enjoying the heat pressed against his back. Meeting Angel’s gaze, he smirked a bit as he ran his hands down the supple thighs. He asked Cordelia, “Shouldn’t that be my name you’re calling?”
“He was going to hit you,” Cordelia pointed out with exasperation.
“Defending me?” The vampire chuckled, wondering about the real explanation.
“No, I just didn’t want him to miss you and hit me instead.”
Cordelia tried to extract herself from Angelus, but he still had a firm hold on her thighs. As she sent Angel a pleading look, he issued Angelus an order to release her. The other vampire only laughed. “I don’t answer to you, Soul. As long as I toe the line for the Fates I can do anything I damn well please.”
Now Cordelia whacked Angelus across the head hoping to rile the vampire up enough for him to drop her. She heard a soft growl of warning at the back of his throat. It rumbled in his chest and carried through to his back where her torso was squashed against him. The short vibration sent a shock wave through her body.
Angelus felt the surprised pant of hot breath against his ear, but it was followed by the increasing scent of fear. He loved that smell. “Do you see her screaming in pain? Do you see my fangs biting down on her throat?”
“Angelus,” warned the souled vampire through clenched teeth, “I won’t have you scaring Cordelia just because you enjoy tasting her fear.”
“You’re still a vampire,” Angelus countered. “Don’t you get off on the smell of fear? I know you do. I could wallow in her scent.”
She asked in a small voice, “Let me go?”
Uncurling his hands, Angelus released her and Cordelia slowly slipped down to the floor cognizant of her body’s reaction to sliding along his muscular back. Her legs were a little shaky and she was grateful when Angel pulled her around beside him effectively telling the evil version of himself to lay off.
“There are a few more rules you are going to have to deal with,” Angel stipulated firmly. “Angelus, don’t ever touch what’s mine— important to me again. That goes for Buffy, the Scoobies and my stuff.”
“Empty threats,” returned Angelus with a sneer. “You can’t harm me anymore than I can harm you. You’ll just have to get used to sharing and that goes for everything.”
Handing Cordelia over to Xander who walked her back to a chair so she could sit down, Angel hated the fact that she was visibly shaken by the incident. Looking back at Angelus with a harsh expression, he informed the vampire, “I am going to fill the Watcher in on the rest of the Fates’ agenda. Can I trust you to behave?”
Angelus shifted back to his human face and batted his eyelashes innocently. “Like an Angel.”
Ignoring the dig, Angel caught Rupert Giles’ gaze, “We’ll need to use your office.”
“Certainly,” Giles moved in that direction despite the fact that he had to cross Angelus’ path. Everything seemed a little hazy, which he attributed to shock. This experience was rather nightmarish. Nevertheless, he was intrigued to find out why Angel needed to talk to him in private.
“You’re leaving us?” Willow gleeped at the thought of being alone in the same room as the evil vampire.
Xander headed for the weapons locker. “I’m grabbing a few stakes.”
“Go ahead,” Angelus encouraged him. “Not that they would do you any good.”
The vampire circled the table pausing when Oz gave him a feral sneer. Angelus glared back, “There’s no full moon tonight, werewolf, so relax. I have no designs on your little bitch.”
“That’s pronounced witch,” Cordelia put forth with a glare forcing herself to meet his gaze. “Willow doesn’t deserve your insulting remarks.”
“Cor, Cor, Cor.” Angelus ran a finger along her shoulder as he came up to her position at the table. “Clamoring for my attention, already? Did you miss me?”
Xander returned with the wooden weapons dumping them on the table. Grabbing one of them, Cordelia pushed out of her chair so quickly that it tipped over behind her. “Keep away from me or I’ll stake your evil ass.”
The library door opened with a bang as Buffy Summers swept into the library, her blond hair bouncing against her shoulders. Catching sight of the Scoobies, the stakes and the vampire, she asked, “What’s up? Stake sharpening?”
Willow realized that Buffy still had no idea of the truth. “Buffy, this is—”
“I know! Research.” The Slayer shuddered. “I can see the books and the stale pizza.”
As Buffy walked up to them, Xander attempted to gain her attention by pointing in Angelus’ direction. “Vampire present.”
“Yeah,” she said flashing an intimate glance at said vamp. “We’ll take attendance later. I need to talk to Angel.”
“Then you might want to check out the office,” Oz suggested seriously.
Misunderstanding, Buffy shook her head, “Here is just as good.”
Grabbing his hand, Buffy pulled the vampire toward the stairs. Cordelia called out, “Get away from him.”
“Jealous much?” Buffy thought that was over ages ago. Joking, “Geez, Cor. Can’t the Boy Slayer get her own vampire?”
With a grunt of frustration, Xander was about to yell out the fact that the vampire she was holding hands with was Angelus. Just as he opened his mouth, Cordelia clamped a hand over it. Glaring at him, she ordered him to keep silent and then passed on the message to Willow and Oz who both looked at her with reluctant acceptance. The fact that Buffy had barged in unaware of the truth was one thing, but ignoring them all just so she could cozy up to her vampire boyfriend was not acceptable.
“I thought about what you said, Angel,” Buffy told Angelus. “That’s why I’m late. I have really given this a lot of thought and I decided that it is just too risky.”
“Too risky for whom?”
“You. Us.” Buffy toyed with his hand running her fingers across the palm and over his fingers. “I want you so much, Angel, but I can’t risk losing you.”
“Never worry about that,” he told her. “I’ll never be too far away from you, Buff. I’ll be there at the very end, I assure you.”
Giving him a puzzled look, Buffy figured that he was trying to be reassuring. “Angel, I’ll try to behave. No more post-Slayage kissing. I know it’s my fault. Giles says it has to do with my primal instincts coming into play.”
“Who the hell wants that?” Angelus certainly wasn’t after her kisses. As for behaving, well he had no plans for that, either.
“Huh?”
Angelus closed his fingers around hers and leaned a little closer to ask, “What would you say if I told you that the decision was already a done deal?”
Did that mean he couldn’t get out of it? “You’ve signed a contract?”
“No, it’s done.”
Buffy licked at her suddenly dry lips. “Done? Meaning Angelus is roaming around the streets of Sunnydale?”
The gleam in his eye and the smirk curling his lips accompanied words that shocked Buffy to the core. “Guess again, lover.”
A scream erupted from the Slayer’s throat as she realized this was not her boyfriend she was holding hands with, but the vampire that stalked and threatened her, the demon who murdered and tortured her friends, and the bastard who plotted to have the world sucked into hell.
Yanking her hand out of his, Buffy ran over to the spot where the Scoobies had gathered to watch. Eyeing the stakes on the table, she reached for one only to hear Angel’s voice cry out from the now-open office door. “Wait! Killing Angelus may kill us both.”
Xander listened to that with a gleam in his eye. “Two for the price of one stake. Bargain slaying. I like it.”
“Zip it, Xander,” Cordelia grabbed the stake out of his hand and put both his and hers on the table. Then she saw Giles emerging slowly from his office with a dazed look on his face. He was worse now than when he went in. Whatever Angel had told the Watcher in private only added to the layers of troubled concern already there.
She was about to walk over to him when Angelus crept up behind her. Pointing at Buffy and his double, he chuckled in her ear, “Watch this. Give them thirty seconds and you’ll see fireworks.”
Cordelia glanced over her shoulder at the vampire. Fireworks? Did he expect Buffy and Angel to go at it right here? Just because Angel’s soul was permanent didn’t mean he was going to jump on Buffy the second he saw her. Although Cordelia admitted that she wasn’t one hundred percent certain if the theory worked the other way around. Angel was definitely jumpable in almost any woman’s eyes— except hers of course considering that he she knew he was a vampire.
Standing close to him, Buffy stared back and forth between Angel and Angelus amazed at the fact that they were exactly alike. She couldn’t tell them apart. Assuring herself that was only because Angelus was acting and pretending to be Angel, she wasn’t going to get too worried about that right now.
Looking back at the souled vampire, Buffy accused him of the obvious, “You actually did it. I thought you were going to wait until we talked.”
“We did talk,” Angel’s confusion started there and continued to escalate.
Buffy put her hands on her hips expressing her irritation. “Not after I had a chance to think about what you said. I told you I needed to think.”
Countering, Angel argued louder, “But not that you wanted to debate the issue.”
From Cordelia’s side, Angelus watched in amusement. Soto voce, “Looks like trouble for our lovebirds and it hasn’t even been five minutes. He’d have more luck getting through to her by throwing her down on the table and giving her what she really wants.”
Whipping around to face him, Cordelia wondered why she was so lucky to be the one the vampire was focusing on. Complaining to him, “Go away, Angelus. I don’t want to share your evil perverted thoughts.”
“C’mon,” the vampire nudged her with an elbow. “Can’t you see the fun in it? He’s so Slayer-whipped he can hardly see straight.”
“Stop sharing.” Just being near the vampire made her spine tingle. Fear, of course. She couldn’t help but react that way and Cordelia knew that he could sense it.
The rest of the research session went downhill from there. Giles finally declared that the remainder of their course of study would wait until tomorrow. This was for an upcoming event scheduled to take place within a couple of weeks. Nothing apocalyptic, but rather a demon that merited a mention in a prophesy.
“I think we should take Angelus out on a test drive,” suggested Xander. “I wanna see him do the Fight-the-Good-Fight thing.”
“Test drive? I’m a vampire, not a Volvo.”
Thinking about it, Buffy reluctantly admitted, “It’s not a bad idea.”
Now that Angel had explained to her that Angelus was bound by specific guidelines and expectations, she was grateful that these Powers that Be had effectively leashed the evil vampire. If he wanted to have his own existence separate from the souled vampire, then Angelus would have to fight at her side along with Angel and the Scoobies. Giving him a simple test now might hint at his reaction when a real threat came along.
“For once, I have to agree with Xander,” commented Angel feeling a little strange about that fact. “A test is exactly what Angelus needs and I have just the thing. There is a new cadre of vamps holed up in an old warehouse downtown. My— our— business with the Moirae hasn’t given me the time to tell Buffy or take them out myself.”
“A vamp nest?” Willow gulped. Taking out a vampire or two was one thing, but a whole nest might include up to twenty individuals including their master. Buffy normally kept the numbers of these pared down, but the presence of the Hellmouth kept drawing more and more to Sunnydale.
Angelus frowned at the idea of staking his fellow vampires. “We should start with the sewers. Clear out some of those demons down there.”
“This is your challenge, Angelus,” his double informed him. “We don’t always get to choose who we come up against. Sometimes that means fellow vampires. Now that you have agreed to this bargain, it’s time to start living up to it. The Powers that Be are not going to let you sit idly by when they have charged you to help in this fight.”
“Killing my own kind was not part of this agreement,” Angelus countered sharply. Not that he hadn’t done it before. He was just making a point.
“What do you think the Fates meant for you to do, Angelus? Fighting the Good Fight doesn’t mean you get to sit around every time a vampire pops up trying to kill us,” Buffy couldn’t believe that she was having this conversation.
Angelus didn’t see why not. “Maybe I’ll just borrow Cordelia’s pom poms and be the cheering section.”
An involuntary snort escaped as Cordelia pictured Angelus on the sidelines of the fight waving her burgundy and gold pom poms in the air. Shouting, “Go Vamps Go!”
Ignoring Angelus’ sardonic humor, Xander broke it down for him. “Vampires are evil. Fighting the Good Fight means doing away with evil which means killing vampires.”
As the entire group walked outside toward Angel’s classic Plymouth convertible and Cordelia’s Corvette, Angelus realized that by agreeing to the Fate’s terms he had set himself up for group torture sessions with the Scoobies. Glaring silently at the dark-haired teenager, he decided that the verbal and mental torture could probably go both ways. The Moirae had said nothing about prohibiting any verbal bashing of the irritating shmuck. Yeah, he’d keep that in mind.
“If you need an example of how it works, I’ll be happy to show you personally. Just stand still for about five seconds,” Xander gripped his stake in his hand.
Angelus encouraged Xander, “Keep up the snide comments, Harris and you’ll find that I have more tricks up my sleeve than you can possibly imagine. The physical limitations given me by the Fates are just a roadblock and sooner or later I’ll find a way around them to get what I want.”
“It’ll be painful,” Xander reminded him of the conditions the two vampires had told them about.
“For you, maybe.” Then Angelus reminded him, “Vampires enjoy pain. It might be worth a little to see you suffer.”
“Get in the car,” Angel ordered them.
“Shotgun!” Buffy grabbed the front seat of the convertible so she could sit next to Angel.