Angel: (grabs her arm) I'm sorry. Buffy, you know how much I love you. It
kills me to say this.
Buffy: Then don't. Who are you to tell me what's right for me? You think I haven't thought about this?
Angel: Have you, rationally?
Buffy: No. No, of course not. I'm just some swoony little schoolgirl, right?
Angel: I'm trying to do what's right here, okay? I'm trying to think with my head instead of my heart.
Buffy: Heart? You have a heart? It isn't even beating!
Angel: Don't.
Buffy: Don't what? Don't love you? I'm sorry. You know what? I didn't know that I got a choice in that. I'm never gonna change. I can't change. I want my life to be with you.
Angel: I don't.
Buffy: You don't want to be with me? I can't believe you're breaking up with me.
Angel: It doesn't mean that I don't ...
Buffy: How am I supposed to stay away from you?
Angel: I'm leaving. After the Ascension, after it's finished with the Mayor and Faith. If we survive, I'll go.
Buffy: Where?
Angel: I don't know.
Buffy: Is this really happening?
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Buffy turns and runs into the school with the Mayor in pursuit.
Cut to the hall: Buffy opens the door and runs in. The Mayor barrels down the door and some of the surrounding wall as he pursues her. Buffy keeps running towards the library while the Mayor tears through the school like a freight train. Buffy runs into the library, vaults a banister looking back at the Mayor. The Mayor looks around the library and sees the barrels of diesel fuel and bags of fertiliser stacked everywhere. Buffy keeps running and jumps out of a window, but catches her foot as she does, falling backwards and landing on the library floor. Cut to the Mayor looking around and growling.
Mayor (in his own voice that sounds like it is coming from the bottom of a rain barrel): "Well, gosh."
Giles, crouching on the opposite side of the building with the detonator, notices only that the Mayor has entered the library, pushes the plunger and sets off the explosion.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Luckily, she was flung free of the explosion when the building blew as she was near the window. If it weren't for that, she wouldn't have had a chance at survival." The doctor said. "However, she's been subject to a lot of damage. A broken collar bone, wrist and two fractured legs, one at the hip. She also has large 3rd degree burns. I don't think she'll be out of here too soon."
"But she'll be alright?" Joyce asked, her face showing her pain at seeing her daughter so badly injured.
"Yes," The doctor smiled, "The bones will take a long time to heal, and her mobility might be impaired at first, but given time, she'll be 100%. I have to attend to my rounds now, but I'll be back to check on Buffy later this evening. If you've got any questions you want to ask then, I'd be happy to answer them." She reached out a hand and gave Joyce a reassuring squeeze of her shoulder and left the room.
Buffy was lying in a hospital bed in the corner if the ward, the curtain pulled around her. A few bouquets and boxes of chocolates sat on a table at the end of her trolley, evidence of the visits by her friends to her bedside since the Mayor's ascension. But Buffy had been thrown hard from the Library and hit her head on a stone as she landed leaving her badly concussed. She had scarcely woken up since and seemed barely able to know who or where she was when she did. Joyce kept a vigil by her bed, but Xander, Willow and Giles were rarely to be found far away. As Joyce sat by her bedside, she stared at her daughter's expressionless face, colourless against the white cotton of the pillow. Joyce herself looked as if she hadn't slept for days, which was quite possibly correct, her eyes encircled by thick black lines, her skin matt and her eyes lacked their normal vitality. She put out her hand and touched Buffy's cheek lightly as a tear trickled down her own. She suddenly became aware that she was being watched and turned round to see who was looking at her. She viewed the man standing in the opening to the cubicle and, after a pause simply nodded to him.
Angel sat down next to Joyce and took Buffy's hand in his.
* * * * * * * * * *
After a while Angel managed to persuade Joyce that it was okay if she left Buffy for a few minutes to get a cup of coffee. Still grasping her hand tightly, he looked directly at her eyes and suddenly felt as if his throat was too tight to breathe.
"Buffy, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" he said, half choked with emotion. "I can't leave you. I wish I could, I know it would be better for all of us if I went. Better for you. But how can I stay away from you? Now more then ever. I need you and now…I - I think that you need me too. I'm so sorry that I put you through this…so sorry…" He trailed off, putting his head in his hands. But then he felt a slight movement on his hand. Looking up quickly, he saw her fingers twitching subtly and then her eyes flickered.
"Angel…." She said.
Buffy: Then don't. Who are you to tell me what's right for me? You think I haven't thought about this?
Angel: Have you, rationally?
Buffy: No. No, of course not. I'm just some swoony little schoolgirl, right?
Angel: I'm trying to do what's right here, okay? I'm trying to think with my head instead of my heart.
Buffy: Heart? You have a heart? It isn't even beating!
Angel: Don't.
Buffy: Don't what? Don't love you? I'm sorry. You know what? I didn't know that I got a choice in that. I'm never gonna change. I can't change. I want my life to be with you.
Angel: I don't.
Buffy: You don't want to be with me? I can't believe you're breaking up with me.
Angel: It doesn't mean that I don't ...
Buffy: How am I supposed to stay away from you?
Angel: I'm leaving. After the Ascension, after it's finished with the Mayor and Faith. If we survive, I'll go.
Buffy: Where?
Angel: I don't know.
Buffy: Is this really happening?
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Buffy turns and runs into the school with the Mayor in pursuit.
Cut to the hall: Buffy opens the door and runs in. The Mayor barrels down the door and some of the surrounding wall as he pursues her. Buffy keeps running towards the library while the Mayor tears through the school like a freight train. Buffy runs into the library, vaults a banister looking back at the Mayor. The Mayor looks around the library and sees the barrels of diesel fuel and bags of fertiliser stacked everywhere. Buffy keeps running and jumps out of a window, but catches her foot as she does, falling backwards and landing on the library floor. Cut to the Mayor looking around and growling.
Mayor (in his own voice that sounds like it is coming from the bottom of a rain barrel): "Well, gosh."
Giles, crouching on the opposite side of the building with the detonator, notices only that the Mayor has entered the library, pushes the plunger and sets off the explosion.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Luckily, she was flung free of the explosion when the building blew as she was near the window. If it weren't for that, she wouldn't have had a chance at survival." The doctor said. "However, she's been subject to a lot of damage. A broken collar bone, wrist and two fractured legs, one at the hip. She also has large 3rd degree burns. I don't think she'll be out of here too soon."
"But she'll be alright?" Joyce asked, her face showing her pain at seeing her daughter so badly injured.
"Yes," The doctor smiled, "The bones will take a long time to heal, and her mobility might be impaired at first, but given time, she'll be 100%. I have to attend to my rounds now, but I'll be back to check on Buffy later this evening. If you've got any questions you want to ask then, I'd be happy to answer them." She reached out a hand and gave Joyce a reassuring squeeze of her shoulder and left the room.
Buffy was lying in a hospital bed in the corner if the ward, the curtain pulled around her. A few bouquets and boxes of chocolates sat on a table at the end of her trolley, evidence of the visits by her friends to her bedside since the Mayor's ascension. But Buffy had been thrown hard from the Library and hit her head on a stone as she landed leaving her badly concussed. She had scarcely woken up since and seemed barely able to know who or where she was when she did. Joyce kept a vigil by her bed, but Xander, Willow and Giles were rarely to be found far away. As Joyce sat by her bedside, she stared at her daughter's expressionless face, colourless against the white cotton of the pillow. Joyce herself looked as if she hadn't slept for days, which was quite possibly correct, her eyes encircled by thick black lines, her skin matt and her eyes lacked their normal vitality. She put out her hand and touched Buffy's cheek lightly as a tear trickled down her own. She suddenly became aware that she was being watched and turned round to see who was looking at her. She viewed the man standing in the opening to the cubicle and, after a pause simply nodded to him.
Angel sat down next to Joyce and took Buffy's hand in his.
* * * * * * * * * *
After a while Angel managed to persuade Joyce that it was okay if she left Buffy for a few minutes to get a cup of coffee. Still grasping her hand tightly, he looked directly at her eyes and suddenly felt as if his throat was too tight to breathe.
"Buffy, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" he said, half choked with emotion. "I can't leave you. I wish I could, I know it would be better for all of us if I went. Better for you. But how can I stay away from you? Now more then ever. I need you and now…I - I think that you need me too. I'm so sorry that I put you through this…so sorry…" He trailed off, putting his head in his hands. But then he felt a slight movement on his hand. Looking up quickly, he saw her fingers twitching subtly and then her eyes flickered.
"Angel…." She said.