Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm tired of coming up with catchy ways to say so.
A/N: Giganto ramble explaining this project that is thankfully restricted to the first chapter - This is story is not actually a coherent fic, but rather a series of one-shots in a variety of genres (drabbles, poetry, vignettes, etc.), spanning the length of the show and each centered on a crucial point in the B/A relationship. Seem like a weird concept? Well, here's the story: I made myself a B/A fanmix on my iPod a while back. (Actually, I then went on to make a playlist with a song for every single episode in the show, because that's just the kind of crazy fangirl I am, but that's beside the point.) And then one day I was listening to it and the idea of writing a fic to go with every song on the list (or at least corresponding to the same episode, they're not necessarily particularly connected to the music itself). And then the idea spiraled out of control and turned into a full multimedia project with graphics and everything. That version will hopefully be up on my livejournal (calenfic.) soon, but since doesn't allow anything more than text, I have here the basic version - the fics, with samples of corresponding lyrics to at least provide the tone of the music.
Loyal readers of Innocence Rewrite, don't worry, I'm still working on that. It's just I had to get this out to stop the plot-bunnies from eating alive, and to try and sate my muse's roving eye.
This section set pre-series - Angel's first sight of Buffy. Drabble.
Part 1: At First Glance
All the lives I've lived before
None of them I'd ever turn to
Know what I've been searching for
When I see you smile
- June Tabor and the Oyster Band, "Pain or Paradise"
One glance. He watched for as long as possible, but it only took that first glance to be utterly captivated.
He'd seen a lot in his existence – though admittedly not so much in the last century – but he'd never seen anything like this Slayer with the sunshine smile and her fragile heart on her sleeve.
He didn't know what he'd expected when Whistler abruptly appeared to meddle in his life (such as it was). But he did know go to the ends of the earth to protect this girl. And he'd found his destiny today as much as she had.