#buffyangel

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I See You

Summary: Somewhat based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-in book "Visitors" (though you shouldn't have to read that to understand this story). Ever since the Korred demon has come to Sunnydale, Angel can't help but notice that Buffy has been distant from him. Eventually, he decides to wait in the swimming pool room at Sunnydale High while Buffy's preparing for patrol in the library, knowing that she can sense him there and that if she wants to talk to him or have him go on patrol with her, she can come find him. Or she can continue to ignore him for another night. Buffy does come and see him, and she finally confesses what's been going on with them, and it seems she's come to see the line between man and demon is much thinner than she'd ever been willing to admit before. And since Angel has always been somewhat in denial about this... is this something he'll be willing to accept? Canon compliant. Oneshot. Slight angst, but also... ALL THE FLUFF. General audiences.

Author's Note: It might somewhat seem that Buffy and Angel have switched sides here (and if anyone thinks that, that’s definitely fair. Since Buffy was always a defender of the things the demon did not being attributed to Angel. And Angel said things like, “I can walk like a man, but I’m not one”), but this story, in some ways, is kind of supposed to explore why I think Buffy might have called Angelus “Angel” in season two: Because deep down, I think she does realize there’s a thin line between Angel and Angelus/man and demon. And, I mean, some of the things she says in “Amends” also makes me think this: “I know everything you did, because you did it to me. God, I wish I wish you did. I don’t. I can’t.” Note that she doesn’t say, “I know everything Angelus did, because he did it to me. I wish I wished him dead. I don’t. I can’t,” or anything like that, but she’s linking it to Angel, because she seems to know that they’re really very much the same.

Also, likewise, I feel like Angel actually, in some ways, thinks that he and Angelus are different? Like different personalities (actually, I do think Angel has split personalities, but that’s another discussion for another time). But I remember in the comics, he tells Drusilla that Angelus hasn’t been there since he was cursed with his soul (and I’m sure he also meant that Angelus would appear again the times he lost his soul, of course). But I’m like, “Are you sure about that, Angel? Are you really sure?” Everyone else seemed to disagree with that in that section of the comic (in thinking Angelus was always there with Angel), like Dru, Faith, and Spike.

This story has a lot of references to the tie-in books (and one classic comic). Actually, this story takes place after something that happened in one of them “Visitors” (though I changed something that happened there. Buffy never once thought that Angel might have been responsible for summoning the demon there. But that book has a list of suspects in it, making the reader wonder who’s responsible for that certain demon being in Sunnydale. And he and Buffy are somewhat estranged in that novel [just because it’s too hard for them to be together, but not truly be able to be together, either]. So, for the purposes of this story, I was like, “let’s make it so that she did for a hot second think Angel could have been responsible and build something from there”). Sorry if it’s a little confusing for those who haven’t read the tie-in novels. But for the most part, I feel like they’re mostly references here and you shouldn’t really need to have read them to understand what’s going on. Hopefully I’ve explained the references enough when they show up.

Anyway, onto the story!

Angel's PoV

Angel wasn't entirely sure what his and Buffy's problem was lately.

Okay… maybe that wasn't entirely true. Not being able to make love with your soulmate was no easy thing. And deep down, Angel thought that both of them again knew once again that their love was doomed and they were really just kidding themselves in trying to stay together. So perhaps that was where her thoughts lied lately and that was why she’d been staying away.

Angel certainly couldn't have blamed Buffy, if that was the case (even if a part of him had thought they'd found their way together again, after he'd comforted her when her mother had been temporarily kidnapped by the Sons of Entropy). But he also couldn't help thinking he was seeing something else behind her eyes whenever they met lately.

For instance, he had met her one night to warn her about an old power that had come to the town, a Korred demon, and Buffy had been almost… ungrateful for his help, seeming desperate to get rid of him. Mayhap because his presence hurt her as much as hers pained him, Angel allowed (though they also couldn't stand to be apart, which was the conundrum). But there had seemed like there was more to it than that.

Which was why Angel was at such a loss now.

He knew he probably should have been with Buffy right now, preparing to help her with her patrol for the night if nothing else… however, he also didn't want to crowd her. So Angel found himself sitting with his feet resting inside her school pool (because Buffy was getting ready to for her patrol here at Sunnydale High, of course—no doubt wanting to ask one of her friends to join her instead of him). And Angel knew that she could sense him here… So, if she decided she wanted him along with her, or anything else from him, she could come and find him in here.

And as it was, a refreshing dip in the swimming pool was sounding more and more tempting as he stared at it. And Angel was just about to strip down into his boxers, at least, and dive into it when he suddenly felt Buffy behind him.

"Buffy," he whispered, whirling around to face her, and at once taking in how beautiful she looked in the little orange dress she wore, making Angel think at once of Velma and Buffy's Scoobies. But she was so much more lovely than Velma, wasn't she? Even though Angel thought she was every bit as good of a detective as the cartoon character was… but why wasn't she detecting right now?

"Angel," Buffy choked out just as breathlessly and with her voice chock full of emotion. But for what reasons, Angel still could not say. He looked at her in an imploring way, begging her to tell him, and finally she did not disappoint as she began walking towards him.

"Do you remember when Oz and I defeated a dinosaur in here?" Buffy asked, shaking her head in wonder at the thought, because that had been an amazing ordeal and he’d been scared for her through it.

…But it wasn't what he wanted to hear from her right now and she knew it, so he chastised her. "Buffy-"

"What? The person in the room, who is considered an extinct creature to some, doesn’t want me to talk about another extinct creature? I didn’t know you got the monopoly on that, Angel."

Angel shot his girl a look—meanwhile hoping that she was, in fact, still his girl—but if she was stalling like this, he had the feeling that what Buffy was about to say next wasn’t going to be “of the good” at all. And she pretty much confirmed that with her next words.

"You're not going to like this, Angel," Buffy admitted, biting on her lip. And Angel was pleased with himself that he didn't get distracted by that movement at all and instantly thundered back with, "Not as much as I have not knowing what's going on with us, Buffy. So, spill. No more games."

Buffy's shoulders somewhat shook at that. And Angel felt guilty, remembering how he had reacted—and how Buffy had then responded—when she'd told him about Scott. And he was about to apologize.

But Buffy was already sitting down beside the pool and absentmindedly running her index finger in it while she found her voice. "I think it all started when you were willing to leave Oz, as the wolf, behind when we were fighting the Sons of Entropy.”

And before Angel could say anything to that, Buffy was continuing with: "And I know, Angel, the logical reason behind that decision. They were holding us all hostage and it was a dangerous situation. They were about to rip my heart out for a sacrifice… and were so close to destroying the world. They even had my mom at the time, which was making me an absolute wreck. I know it. Then, the two of us had miraculously escaped, so I get why you wanted to get out of dodge, and didn't think we'd be able to find where they had wolf-Oz hidden and then be able to escape with him… But that calculating, cold attitude still felt more along the line of Angelus' thinking to me. And then more things like that started happening."

Angel remembered well what Buffy was talking about. And though it certainly wasn't a favorite memory of his, she'd explained his feelings then exceptionally well. He had been afraid that there was no way they would have been able to escape if they'd tried to rescue Oz. Especially since they hadn't known at the time that Micaela would change sides and open a path into the Ghost Roads for them, so they could quickly travel between locations and truly get away from all of those sorcerers—so Angel had really thought they would have been up a creak without a paddle if they'd been trying to run for miles while trying to drag an angry werewolf alongside them.

But even so, even when he had posed the idea to Buffy, he'd hated the idea of leaving Oz behind. Oz was his friend.

"That still doesn't really answer my question," Angel protested, shaking his head. Of their own accord, his legs came to brush against Buffy's, that were also now resting in the pool. "Have you been mad at me all this time for Oz's sake? Or-"

But Buffy silenced him by turning his way and placing a finger to his lips, instantly reminding Angel the night of Buffy's seventeenth birthday. But he dared not go down that road.

"N-no. Maybe things would be more clear if I brought up the Hollower."

"Right. When you thought I might have let all these vampires get regurgitated in the town, because it could have potentially made my soul permanent. I did think about it," Angel remembered. But he never could have done that. His defeating others of his kind had caused the Hollower, a demon who ate vampires to gorge itself on them and overrun a city once. And being evil at the time, he was afraid its monstrous appetite would come for him and his family. He'd willingly sacrificed one of his companions to try and stop it, back in the day (though she'd miraculously survived). And when it had eventually come to Sunnydale, there had been a part of Angel that thought that if it got a hold on him, it would kill the vampire and just leave him a man with a soul. But the problem had been the Hollower had feasted on too many vamps at that point—it did have a limit—and if it ate many more, it would have thrown them all back up into the town, and then Sunnydale would have been overrun by the vamps. And Angel knew he could never be that selfish.

"…And then when the Korred got here, there were so many suspects about who summoned it to Sunnydale, when usually it doesn't leave its home."

"And you thought it could have been me. Especially since I knew about this legendary creature and was bringing you everything I knew about it," Angel realized, the puzzle finally coming together for him.

"But of course I realized it wasn't you, Angel!" Buffy exclaimed. "And then-"

"And then?" Angel asked, confused, running a hand through his hair. There's an 'and then' here? I sort of figured you realizing it wasn't me would be the end of this story." And Angel had to curl his hands into fists to resist the urge to take Buffy into his arms, and finally leave all of this madness behind them, but he got the sense that something really wasn't right here.

Buffy sighed loudly. And before she continued, she looked deeply into Angel's eyes, imploring him for something, though what it was he couldn’t say. Not just yet. "This- this is the part you're not going to like. Also, please let me finish before you get all judge-y, because at first you might be confused by my logic and think I'm contradicting myself.

"I finally realized that you and the demon—Angelus is what I'm saying here--aren't so different. And I know that makes little sense with my last example, since you didn't even bring the creature here. But I know in different circumstances… you might have.

"And at first realizing this was upsetting to me. And honestly, what was keeping me away from you. But now understanding it, but also seeing how you differ… I don't know, Angel. It's like it's freed me from an illusion I’d been under and made some things click into place in my head. And really, it's better this way."

Angel looked at Buffy, aghast. And he reached out his arms, wishing to shake her for what she said—his soul crying out in anguish for the betrayal she’d just uttered, as his entire world fell down around him—but he was able to keep from doing so by jumping into the pool before him.

He could tell that Buffy was not happy by this action. She huffed rather loudly and crossed her arms over her chest, before glaring daggers at him. "Really, Angel? Avoiding me and the issue now? Really?"

Angel might have argued that avoidance seemed to be Buffy's shtick lately, but he was too busy keeping his demon from ripping her throat out and proving her latest sentiment right in doing so.

Once he thought he'd gotten somewhat a hold of himself, after taking a few calming breaths, he looked at the girl he still loved with betrayed eyes and demanded, "How can you say that to me, Buffy? Weren't you always the biggest advocate for me and Angelus being different when you debated with your friends?"

Buffy blinked, confused, at Angel's question. And he considered that maybe she hadn't come up with a second answer to all of this, perhaps having not thought she'd need anything else to explain her reasoning to him than everything she’d just said.

"Uhh… first off, I guess I'm going to get into this freezing cold pool with you, mister, because someone just had to jump into it and now, you're too far away for me to really have a conversation with." And after a quick little splash she had done did just that. Despite himself, Angel found that he had to smile. And then she was beside him.

“I guess… Maybe think of it like Chex Mix, Angel.”

“Chex Mix, Buffy?” Angel asked, cocking his head to the side, confused. He didn’t even know if he was upset with her anymore. Not truly. Now he was just too curious to see how she was going to try to link his soul and demon situation with that strange human food that he thought he’d maybe seen at the corner of his eye at the store a few times. Angel was constantly mystified by the way Buffy’s mind worked, but he couldn’t say he didn’t love it.

“Yeah, I know that this is a very strange analogy I’m coming up with here,” Buffy admitted, just as she placed a gentle hand upon Angel’s heart, that instantly had it warming under her touch, “but just roll with it.

“A bag of Chex Mix is one thing, really—or one brand, I guess—the Chex Mix itself. Now: say that someone wanted just the pretzels in it or something. They might try to scoop out a handful of just that and mostly succeed… And I suppose I’m comparing your soul to the pretzels here. But of course, sometimes, they might get something else, like the Chex Cereal itself in their hand, like sometimes the demon spills over even though you have a soul. But it’s all still Chex Mix, like you’re all still you… and that’s really what I’m trying to say here. And I know this is a crappy comparison. I’m sorry.”

Angel threw his head back and laughed. And at first, Buffy looked somewhat wounded that he would mock her carefully chosen words so. Even if she herself had just admitted how strange they were, but then even she seemed to see the humor of the situation and joined him in giggling.

It was true that her words were bizarre—and perhaps too simple to really match what everything he went through—but it did make some sense, Angel supposed. And more than anything, he found that he appreciated Buffy so much for trying to understand him where he was, like always, and loving him no matter what.

“More than anything, my love, I’m just glad you didn’t compare stuff with my soul and demon to acting,” Angel admitted. “Because that- that could have led to some bad places, and we may have had to tell this sad tale of you being unsure of me all over again,” Angel said against the top of Buffy’s hair, before placing a gentle kiss there.

As Angel pulled away, he could see Buffy’s eyebrows crease and then a frown appeared on her face. She opened her mouth, and at once Angel could tell she was about to apologize for having been unsure of him at all, but he silenced her by putting a finger to her lips and stealing a line of hers from time ago. “Water over the bridge.”

And now it was Buffy’s turn to laugh pretty uproariously before settling comfortably into Angel’s arms here in the water, he noticed. It wasn’t perfect happiness for a few reasons (one of them being that the water was a little too cold for Buffy’s tastes and with his cool temperature he couldn’t warm her up), but he could still hardly think of any other place he’d rather be. “I love you, Angel,” Buffy smiled, looking up at him with her eyes shining.

“And I you,” he confirmed, tucking a strand of hair behind the light of his life’s face, as it had obscured her from him.

“Now what do you say we enjoy some of our limited time off here and go for a swim?”

Angel smirked. “I think much like us training together, this is going to turn into a competition. And the first one to the other side of the pool gets to decide our next date.”

The next thing Angel saw was a splash of water and Buffy’s leg directly in his line of vision as she took off swimming. And all things considered, the way things had been between them lately, he couldn’t say he was complaining.

No. Not at all.

Author's Note: I think there was originally some dialogue in here that got lost somewhere. But basically, Buffy’s friends are patrolling for her for the night, because they know that Buffy and Angel have really been at odds lately and they’re giving them the chance to work things out.

I also know the setting for this story is kind of strange, but I kind of put Buffy and Angel here on purpose as a “have them anywhere else other than the mansion or a cemetery” challenge.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed!

[jennycalendar]

yeah i give up. bangel got me. they got me real good this time

[deathlonging]

no matter what my friends and i wouldve killed angel with hammers i'll tell you that much

[faithlesbian]

buffyangel gender roles transfem angel - when angel gets possessed by that girl ghost in season 3? insane and the guy ghost picks buffy to inhabit beautiful

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 2 EPISODE 19 I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU EPISODE OF ALL TIME!!!!!

for real this ep is up there among my whole show favourites because of how directly it engages with buffy's self-blame over angel losing his soul through, of all things, the medium of genderswapping ghost possession. this is gonna get Long just to warn you

the way this episode is set up is so so so genius. they could've made it a very simple story about an evil abuser and an innocent victim, but instead they recognised that the situation demanded more than that. real life rarely follows a simple story, and it can often be hard to recognise a relationship for what it is when it doesnt fit that template. buffy finds it very hard to think of herself as a victim, and she blames herself for "killing" the angel that she loved and turning him into the monster he is now, which is why she hates the ghost of this boy as much she does - she fears that she has done something worse than just murder her lover. she could have all her friends and family tell her this wasnt her fault and i dont think she would fully believe them, but through the possession she is told that if it was her fault, if she did kill angel, she would be loved and forgiven anyway.

the role that gender plays in this episode is Crucial. despite setting out to subvert the horror movie blonde cheerleader victim trope, btvs often falls into a pattern of men as monsters and women as victims. in this world, no male character is exempt from seeing women sexually, even gay characters like larry and andrew perform misogynistic sexual degradation of women that's played for laughs. it's just "how all men are". conversely, as evil as women can be on btvs, their sexual violence against men is never taken seriously (see all the times xander is assaulted that just never get addressed). this episode complicates the binary of men as monsters and women as victims as part of its overall complication of these roles by having the final possession play out the way it does. angel, the "man" who is textually a monster, becomes a woman who was a victim of a crime of passion, while still remaining the older person who got into a relationship with a teenager despite knowing it was wrong. buffy, the innocent young girl, becomes an angry murderous boy, while still remaining an emotional teenager making rash choices in the name of love. the disruption of these concrete ideas of monster and victim (and their gendered natures within the show) allows buffy to realise she needs to forgive herself.

obviously this whole plot is doing fascinating things with gender, but the ending stands out to me specifically because of how angel reacts. textually he feels disturbed by the reminder of his humanity and feels the need to go out and do evil vampire things to feel affirmed in his monstrosity, but i also think its interesting how buffy, who often feels robbed of her sense of girlhood by her role as the slayer, isn't perturbed at all by briefly becoming a man. the subversion of gender roles was central in their relationship prior to him losing his soul, with buffy being the strong capable hero, and angel her damsel in distress -- buffy has for the most part reconciled with the perceived masculinity of her strength and doesnt feel that it makes her any less of a girl. angel, on the other hand, who has now had to take on a more masculine role as patriarch of the vampire family (in darla's absence) is freaking out not just because of the reminder of humanity but bc he was briefly literally buffy's girl -- something he wants more than he can let on, soul or no.

[bangelism]

should i start posting my edits on here? is tumblr a place for edits (like mine)? does tumblr want more buffyangel madness? is it worth it? does anyone care? am i talking into a void?

[lesbianboyfriend]

excitement at seeing buffy versus annoyance at buffyangel shenanigans. sigh

[lighteyed]

i could deliver an hour long sermon on why from eden is an insanely buffyangel coded song

[kevoreally]

Sorry, got exhausted from a convention yesterday and my #BuffyAt20 post totally slipped my mind. But then, a hazy morning after post does make sense for this one: S03E20 "The Prom." Now, I love Event-and-Holiday Episodes, so getting a prom episode made me very happy. You'd be surprised how many teen shows on The WB at the time cocked this one up. Like, #Roswell had a Junior Prom but not a Senior one? But I digress. There's a lot in this one! The most major, final #BuffyAngel breakup for one 💔 and the seeming development of the Cordy/Wes relationship 🤨 Like, I wish I could say it squicked me as an adult, but I have such a hard time buying Charisma as a high school student anymore, and Wes is such an obvious baby - or, as Giles put it, "blueberry scone." I don't ship it, but I don't entirely condemn it. What I do ship that clearly begins here is #Xanya! Holy crap, Anya really was the breakout hit of Season 3. She's only really majorly in 2 episodes as the Anya we know, playing mostly backup in "The Wish" and appearing only briefly in "Grad Day, Part 2." At the time, we didn't even consider that she might come back for another season, but it was amazing when she did. Now for this week's fun fact: Brad Kane! Probably one of my favorite #Buffy revelations as an adult is the actor who played Tucker Wells, @bradcalebkane, who was also the singing voice of #Aladdin! He will also appear next year as the singing voice of Jonathan, aka Danny Strong. That's two AMAZING #EvilTrio connections that weren't even planned at the time of this appearance. I'll always wonder what the franchise would be like if Tucker had beeing the #Troika's mastermind, but that is a wondering for down the line 😁 I can't believe we only have ONE regular week of #BtVS left this whole TV season 😱 this is some wild stuff. https://www.instagram.com/p/BxXKqnoFe6M/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1u8eny2sk38fn

[gianelson]

Revelation; Bangel forehead touches and kisses..

Since my post on that forehead kiss of Bangel's,I have become obsessed with the innocent gesture and simply melt when I see couples do the innocent yet tender gesture..I mean I got all teary during my recent rewatch of Transformers when Sam and Mikaela did this..

**GIF not mine**

So of course doing my umpteenth rewatch of Buffy now, imagine my excitement upon realizing that Bangel does it A LOT..but because there are limits to posting photos on Tumblr,I can only put these few though there are waaay more scenes of their forehead touches and kisses...Squeeeeeeeeelll!!!..

I wish I knew how to GIF so that I can do each beautiful scene justice alas, images will have to do..after all,picture speaks a thousand words right?..

Forehead touches

Be it before or after a kiss or just seeking comfort in the other,these two just love touching their foreheads and I can't help but go AWWWWWW!!..YUPE!..These two are #relationshipgoals!!...

Forehead kisses

This tenderness is really something they only shared with each other and it just adds on to the very long list of why they cannot be truly happy with anyone else because they are truly the love of each other's lives..

The last pic was a pleasant surprise!..I've never noticed it before but since I got my hands on the remastered HD which I know a lot of ppl have issues with but I dont because they let me see the scene above clearly!!!..

Angel kisses her forehead while walking and he actually rests his lips on her crown for a few long moments!!...Can I just go AWWWWWW again???!!!...

Every time I watch these two,they unveil a new perspective that I didn't notice before and I just bask in the beautiful revelation that is their love..

While they have their intense, passionate moments, it is these tender,loving moments that speaks to me volumes of their feelings and just how deep it ran..

SWOOOONS!!..

[gianelson]

This epitomizes my Bangel feels...I pray they'll be reunited one day on a TV show that lasts for 20 years..

Me: *falls in love with the actors that portray my otps*

Me: *from then on only wants them to act opposite each other forever*

[dailybuffyfr]

Buffy regarde la bague de Claddagh et dit : ''Au Revoir'' et la pose... Angel est de retour...  #buffyangel #buffythevampireslayer #buffylameileuresérie #buffyslayday https://www.instagram.com/p/B_vH58MDSXy/?igshid=1k1zn449ebfbi

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Quintessence

Summary: Buffy and Angel take in a peaceful moment together after defeating Cecile and the Gatherer in "The Book of Fours." Buffy is marveling over her axe of air, but she doesn't quite understand why she's the Slayer of air. But Angel explains to her why he thinks she is and why it's a good thing. Oneshot. Fluff. (You don't have to read "The Book of Fours" to understand this fic.)

Author's Note: Based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-in book “The Book of Fours,” that takes place pretty late in season three. In that book, each Slayer is tied to one of the four elements (earth, fire, air, or water) and there are these four axes tied to the elements as well, that these mummies or skeletons have (I forget which they are). And the axe tied to the element the Slayer is tied to is lethal to her (like the axe of air being lethal to Buffy, because she is the Slayer of air). And it’s also believed that if a Slayer is killed with the axe associated with them, it’ll sever the Slayer line. And Angel ends up finding the axe associated with Buffy and holding onto it so it can’t be used against her.

Buffy didn’t know what it was… but after they’d defeated Cecile and the Gatherer, she’d felt the urge to come back to Sunnydale High with Angel and sit outside, and stare at all of the rainwater that had turned the streets into a river. (1) The way things looked now slightly reminded Buffy of Venice. Or probably the closest she’d ever get to Venice. And perhaps she wanted to share it with Angel after another hard-won apocalypse.

“Angel, thanks for coming through and getting this for me,” Buffy found herself speaking now, maybe in just looking for something to say (because she didn’t want Angel to worry she’d just brought him here for another attempt at sexy time, even if she would have loved that), as she spun the axe he had procured for her in hand. (2)

“Of course, Buffy,” Angel answered, a smirk in his tone if she was hearing him right—though she dared not look at him yet, because she was still afraid that he doubted her motivations here. But when he pulled her to lean against him—so that her head was in its favorite spot, in the crook of his neck—and he began running a soothing hand through her hair, as they dipped their feet ever so slightly into the water as they sat, she knew she shouldn’t have worried.

And deciding that maybe it wasn’t so wrong to keep up this train of conversation that she had started, because hey: it had gotten a three-word response from Angel and that was always of the good, and Buffy truthfully was interested in this weapon here, the Slayer found herself saying, “It is pretty cool having a weapon that’s associated with me. Do you think I should keep it?”

At that, Buffy felt Angel stiffen against her. And he turned her towards him so she could look into his eyes and see the seriousness of the matter, as he looked at her imploringly. “I… wouldn’t, Buffy. It might not be safe to. And I would try and convince Faith to get rid of hers, too.”

That was going to be an uphill battle, Buffy thought with a sigh. Faith never seemed to do anything that Buffy wanted her to. And she’d been ecstatic to get her axe of fire. Buffy thought that she was more likely to get a tutu on a bear than she was to win that argument, since Faith seemed more and more guarded with her lately. But she wouldn’t tell Angel that and ruin their nice evening here.

Time for a subject change, then. And to bring up something that had been on her mind for a while here, since she’d learned that the Slayers were apparently affiliated with the elements.

“Right… Angel, do you think being the Slayer of Air fits me? I mean, I’m not a pacifist, as much as I’d like to be. And I’d like to believe I’m not really flighty anymore...”

“You’re a free spirit, though, Buffy,” Angel said, smiling. Earnestly. And once again, he took up petting Buffy’s hair from where he had stopped when they’d begun to talk about Faith. “You do what you think is right and nothing can stop you when you have your mind set on something. I think that’s what you being the Slayer of Air means.”

“Oh… I think I can live with that, then,” Buffy relented, blushing at the compliment. Especially since these days, she and Angel tried not to get into matters of the heart, as they knew that, deep down, they couldn’t really be together the way that couples were meant to. So it was nice to hear him talk to her the way he had used to. More than nice, Buffy thought, as she burrowed herself closer to him.

“Angel…” Buffy started again, barely even knowing what she was going to say now, but just looking for something to continue their sweet conversation, and hoping that her heart would lead her mouth in the right direction, “if I do have to give this weapon up, do you think you could try and find me another one that’s tied to the elements in the future, to try and make up for that loss? One having to do with quintessence, maybe?”

Buffy heard Angel take a deep breath then. And she knew that he was shocked that she knew about what was believed to be the fifth element. And Buffy absolutely took that win. She wasn’t as blonde as she looked, and it was always a joy when people took stock of that.

Thankfully, Angel quickly recovered and dropped a kiss to the top of Buffy’s head. “Of course, Buffy. Sounds like a plan.”

Though Buffy didn’t get that “weapon” for many years. But when she was thirty… and she heard Illyria tell Angel to “know happiness” she knew what said weapon was going to be.

Angel himself.

The curse was gone. Never again could the curse it be triggered and Angel become his dark side Angelus again.

Instead, he would always be a weapon of light now that she would have at her side. (3)

And squeezing his hand in glee, when Angel told her his own theory about the curse being gone (something she’d already figured out), Buffy knew that she could never have a better weapon. Because she was light, too.

Author's Note: (1) There’s a hurricane in the book, so that’s why things are flooded. (2) The Scooby Gang (including Angel) is at the library doing some research when Snyder and the Red Cross shows up and decides to turn the school into, like, a sanctuary of sorts during the hurricane, and he makes the Scoobies help out and stay the night there (also partly for safety reasons, because it surely isn’t safe to try and head back home at that point). And Buffy and Angel have a pretty hot and heavy makeout session while most everyone else is sleeping: the kind of thing they haven’t had in a while, for sure. Almost like pre-knowing-about-the-curse-days. (3) Quintessence is partly known as the traveling of LIGHT and gravity. So, yeah. Also, I’m not trying to say that Buffy and Angel are pure light and don’t still have their darkness in them or anything like that. But they’re heroes of light (or, rather, Champions for the Powers That Be), so yeah. I’m actually not really sure about the whole ending with the Quintessence thing, but I wasn’t sure how else to end this thing. Hopefully it’s okay. Shutting up now.

[jennycalendar]

anyway does it make u feel crazy that we see xandercordy in private and willowoz in private and buffyangel in private but giles and jenny’s mutual intimacy and vulnerability is something that they are both so protective of to the point where even the narrative has to look away ???? they’re the grown-ups. they have to be strong all the time.

[deathlonging]

angel can choke obviously but this shot fucks

[thinairlynn]

I still ship these two so hard. Sorry Spike.

btvs meme | ¾ relationships (buffy and angel) I watched you, and I saw you called. It was a bright afternoon out in front of your school. You walked down the steps and I loved you… Cause I could see your heart. You held it before you for everyone to see. And I worried that it would be bruised or torn. And more than anything in my life, I wanted to keep it safe… to warm it with my own.

[lishakayrylantcook]

@lishakayrylantcook_for_real ♦ @sarahmgellar ♠ #buffythevampireslayer #buffysummers Good She's Is Slayer And Fighter I'd Love To Come When As I've No Had To Listen As I'll Doesn't No Matter It's My Love Y'all Are Doing Well.. What If Learning Is It More Many Questions About How I'm Buffy A Name This Is SARAH... #buffyslayer_official That's So True Do It... #buffyangel And #buffyspike And #buffywillow And #buffyfaith I'm Glad Did To You Won! https://www.instagram.com/lishakayrylantcook_for_real/p/By8Ue83jPMe/?igshid=1c6d4d59nir2h