Show Them All
Disclaimer: If I owned these guys, there's no way WB would ever stop airing this show. Is there really only one episode left??
Rating: PG
Summary: Spoiler for S5 Power Play. Wesley makes a choice.
I.
Wesley smiled painfully. He looked up at Angel. "I'm in," he said.
II.
England. Raining outside. Solemn faces and firm handshakes. No Watcher has ever had two Slayers before. (Gwendolyn Post doesn't count because she was just a conniving evil bitch.) He is full of pride and a desperate desire to live up to their expectations. To show them all that he is worthy of the honor they have bestowed upon him.
"You know what you have to do."
"Your task is clear."
"Do not fail us."
Last to speak, his father. A typical farewell. "Try not to mess this up too badly."
III.
Sunnydale. Warm, bright, foreign. Two Slayers. He sits in his new flat and stares balefully at the telephone. He does not want to make this call.
The reek of Balthazar still lingers in his hair, despite two hot showers. The taint of humiliation will be even slower to leave, this he knows. His Slayer trusts a vampire instead of him. Giles thinks he is a sniveling coward. They all hate him. And the Council is waiting to hear from him.
But tomorrow will be better. He will show them that he is not like that. He will get it right next time.
Things will get better.
IV.
Graduation Day. All of Sunnydale High wearing robes and caps and terrified expressions. But they are ready to fight for their school, and their very lives.
Buffy's hatred for him has become cool contempt. He is not even given a task in the upcoming battle. It shames him, but he speaks up anyway. He asks his Slayer what he can do to help.
More shaming is the slight surprise on her face when she looks at him.
But that does not matter. He will help fight. He will show them that he is willing to do whatever it takes to do the right thing.
V.
Angel Investigations. A demon terrorizing a child, and there must be an exorcism. He insists he can do it.
Certainly Cordelia can't. It's far too dangerous, and she probably couldn't read a Latin incantation to save her life. Angel could, except for that pesky business of him not being able to even come near a cross, let alone hold one for a ritual.
So he will do it. He may not be a fighter or a conduit to the Power That Be, but he can be useful. He will show them that he can do more than look things up in books. This is his big chance.
VI.
Dim apartment. Solitary glass of wine. Knife and fork laid just so on the folded napkin. Appearances are very important, especially at a time like this.
He has to show them that he hasn't broken. They may have abandoned him, but he will not give in. He did what he had to do. He did what he thought was right. The prophecy was false but he cannot be blamed for believing it, not when Angel himself was on the verge of fulfilling it.
They may never forgive him for taking Connor, but he will never apologize for it. In his pursuit to do the right thing, he will never stop. He's known this about himself for a long time.
Sometimes, though, he wishes he could be someone else, someone who doesn't care so much.
VII.
Wolfram and Hart. Sunny office. Angel, more desperate than ever before, except perhaps for the moment he let Holtz take Connor through the portal, but that memory isn't supposed to exist, so it doesn't really count.
"We can't bring down the Senior Partners, but for one shining moment we can show them that they don't own us." Angel is asking them to give their lives. To make one last glorious stand against evil. To show the world that they cannot be bought, corrupted, or used. To show that they still fight.
And at the end of that fight, when the smoke has cleared?
He knows he will die. Knowledge so deep there is no reason to question it or even try to fight it. But this is the right thing to do. This is the culmination of all those years of striving to prove himself, to fight the good fight, to make his life mean something.
And when it is over, maybe he will even get to see Fred again.
Wesley smiles painfully. He looks up at Angel. "I'm in," he says.
END
Disclaimer: If I owned these guys, there's no way WB would ever stop airing this show. Is there really only one episode left??
Rating: PG
Summary: Spoiler for S5 Power Play. Wesley makes a choice.
I.
Wesley smiled painfully. He looked up at Angel. "I'm in," he said.
II.
England. Raining outside. Solemn faces and firm handshakes. No Watcher has ever had two Slayers before. (Gwendolyn Post doesn't count because she was just a conniving evil bitch.) He is full of pride and a desperate desire to live up to their expectations. To show them all that he is worthy of the honor they have bestowed upon him.
"You know what you have to do."
"Your task is clear."
"Do not fail us."
Last to speak, his father. A typical farewell. "Try not to mess this up too badly."
III.
Sunnydale. Warm, bright, foreign. Two Slayers. He sits in his new flat and stares balefully at the telephone. He does not want to make this call.
The reek of Balthazar still lingers in his hair, despite two hot showers. The taint of humiliation will be even slower to leave, this he knows. His Slayer trusts a vampire instead of him. Giles thinks he is a sniveling coward. They all hate him. And the Council is waiting to hear from him.
But tomorrow will be better. He will show them that he is not like that. He will get it right next time.
Things will get better.
IV.
Graduation Day. All of Sunnydale High wearing robes and caps and terrified expressions. But they are ready to fight for their school, and their very lives.
Buffy's hatred for him has become cool contempt. He is not even given a task in the upcoming battle. It shames him, but he speaks up anyway. He asks his Slayer what he can do to help.
More shaming is the slight surprise on her face when she looks at him.
But that does not matter. He will help fight. He will show them that he is willing to do whatever it takes to do the right thing.
V.
Angel Investigations. A demon terrorizing a child, and there must be an exorcism. He insists he can do it.
Certainly Cordelia can't. It's far too dangerous, and she probably couldn't read a Latin incantation to save her life. Angel could, except for that pesky business of him not being able to even come near a cross, let alone hold one for a ritual.
So he will do it. He may not be a fighter or a conduit to the Power That Be, but he can be useful. He will show them that he can do more than look things up in books. This is his big chance.
VI.
Dim apartment. Solitary glass of wine. Knife and fork laid just so on the folded napkin. Appearances are very important, especially at a time like this.
He has to show them that he hasn't broken. They may have abandoned him, but he will not give in. He did what he had to do. He did what he thought was right. The prophecy was false but he cannot be blamed for believing it, not when Angel himself was on the verge of fulfilling it.
They may never forgive him for taking Connor, but he will never apologize for it. In his pursuit to do the right thing, he will never stop. He's known this about himself for a long time.
Sometimes, though, he wishes he could be someone else, someone who doesn't care so much.
VII.
Wolfram and Hart. Sunny office. Angel, more desperate than ever before, except perhaps for the moment he let Holtz take Connor through the portal, but that memory isn't supposed to exist, so it doesn't really count.
"We can't bring down the Senior Partners, but for one shining moment we can show them that they don't own us." Angel is asking them to give their lives. To make one last glorious stand against evil. To show the world that they cannot be bought, corrupted, or used. To show that they still fight.
And at the end of that fight, when the smoke has cleared?
He knows he will die. Knowledge so deep there is no reason to question it or even try to fight it. But this is the right thing to do. This is the culmination of all those years of striving to prove himself, to fight the good fight, to make his life mean something.
And when it is over, maybe he will even get to see Fred again.
Wesley smiles painfully. He looks up at Angel. "I'm in," he says.
END