Giles had been right. In two hours, she'd staked six vampires, but now all
seemed quiet. So, she headed to Main Street. She could hear the music from
the jukebox down the street, and as she got closer she realised that it was
some kind of jazz.
"Don't they have rock n roll yet?" She tried to remember exactly when it was that Elvis came onto the scene, but old music wasn't her forte. If only Giles were with her... She went inside the shop, and asked for a Coke, handing over the money to the kid behind the counter. She headed to the jukebox to peruse the song-list.
"Chuck Berry?" She asked herself.
"He's really good." A voice said. It couldn't be. No... She turned around.
"Angel?"
"Hi. How do you know my name?"
"I... Is that your name?" She feigned ignorance. Clearly this was Angel in 1958, not 'her' Angel. Not that 'her' Angel was even hers now. She shook that thoroughly depressing idea from her head and concentrated on the task at hand: Checking out Angel. She thought she might faint. Sure, she'd seen pictures of James Dean and Marlon Brando and thought they looked pretty good. She'd always liked Danny and Kenickie in Grease, but Angel... She really thought she might faint. She'd seen him wearing similar things before- leather jacket, white t-shirt, black jeans, but instead of spikes, his hair had been greased back just like Elvis. Or Danny, or Kenickie. But on Angel, it looked way better.
"Yeah. I'm Angel. You must be the slayer Philip Charlton was talking about."
"You... You know Charlton?"
"Yeah. I'm here to help you." He said, smiling that little half smile she loved so much.
"OK."
"So, where are you from?" He asked. Clearly, Charlton hadn't told him everything.
"Uh... Los Angeles." She said. It wasn't a lie, exactly.
"Really? I used to live there." He said, a flicker of guilt crossing his face. Then she realised what was so different. There was guilt in Angel's eyes, a lot of it, but it wasn't bearing down on him quite so much. Clearly, it would take years for it to take its toll on him.
"So, you like Chuck Berry?" He asked, smirking. Her mouth nearly dropped open. He was flirting with her! Wait till she got home, would she have something to say to him!
"I guess." She said, not really knowing. Putting a coin into the jukebox, Angel pressed a button on the Wurlitzer and the song Brown-Eyed Handsome Man came on. She'd heard this before. And as Angel held his hand out to dance with her, she realised she knew exactly who her Brown-Eyed Handsome Man was.
"You dance well." She said. He did. He still had that same commanding presence that made everyone turn to look, even the other couples dancing.
"Thanks. You're enrolling at Sunnydale High on Monday?" He asked.
"Yeah." She wrinkled her nose. She'd done the high school thing. She was now twenty years old, and she was going back to high school Great. Well, at least she wouldn't have to blow it up this time.
She returned to Charlton's house some time later. Angel had offered to accompany her on another patrol, and who was she to refuse such a request? He might not be the Angel in love with her, but he was still Angel and she wasn't in a position to get picky about such things. They had talked a little, and he admitted to her that he was a vampire, and he told her the story. Which she already knew, so she was able to take it all in her stride. Which impressed Angel. That made her glad. She liked the idea that maybe even fifties Angel, with his Brando scowl and Teddy Boy hair might fall in love with Buffy. She then spent a leisurely Sunday at Charlton's house, becoming acquainted with all things 1958. The number of channels was a disgrace. Where was the Home Shopping Network? The WB? UPN? What was she going to do with her spare time? Charlton merely smiled and pointed to the large bookcase. She suddenly felt for Angel. He had nothing to do during daytime, and for most of his life, there hadn't been TV at all. No wonder he liked books.
Monday arrived, and she went, grudgingly to Sunnydale High School. Charlton had explained that she had to enrol there in order to keep an eye on the Hellmouth, located right underneath the library.
"Hi! I'm Barbara-Ann!" A shrill voice called. A dark-haired girl approached her. She was the ultimate fifties bobbysoxer, and Buffy fought the urge to call her Cordelia.
"Hi, I'm Buffy."
"You're from LA, right? I'd kill to live in LA. That close to that many shoes?" Barbara-Ann said as a joke. Hadn't Buffy heard that one before?
"Well, it's OK, I guess." Buffy said. "Do you, uh, know where the library is? I have to get books." She said. Cordelia/Barbara-Ann- linked arms with her and led her down the hall.
"I'm just sure you'll get along fine here. All you have to do is pass our simple test." Oh dear God, Buffy groaned. How was she going to pass the 1958 test?
"Dean or Jerry?" Barbara-Ann asked. Buffy knew those names. She didn't know who they were, but still...
"Dean?"
"Totally! I mean, he's like, friends with Frank!" Now Buffy was fairly sure she was talking about Frank Sinatra.
"OK... Elvis?"
"Cool."
"OK... Paul Newman..."
"He needs to call me!" Buffy mimicked her old routine. Barbara-Ann nodded in approval.
"You totally passed!" They had arrived outside the library.
"Well, thanks. Maybe I'll see you around," Buffy said, wanting rid of this girl. She represented all the negative points of Cordelia, with seemingly none of the positive. She went into the library.
"Hi! You must be the new girl." A pretty redhead called from the table in the centre of the library, which looked as it always had done. Before it was blown up, of course.
"Uh, yeah. I'm Buffy." Buffy said, reassured by the Willow doppelganger.
"I'm Peggy-Sue."
"Peggy-Sue?"
"I know. I've had the jokes since they released that record." She blushed.
"I'm Rory." A boy came forward, wearing clothes that were on the verge of being cool, but missing something.
"Hi." Suddenly, a thought occurred to Buffy. Wasn't Xander's uncle called Rory?
She fought the urge to laugh as he pulled out three Twinkies. He was so Xander-ish it was untrue.
"Are you staying at Mr. Charlton's house?" Buffy looked up. Had Peggy-Sue just asked her that?
"Don't worry. We know all about... vampires and stuff." Rory said proudly.
"Oh." Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I am."
"OK. We can, uh, patrol with you if you like?"
"No, I'm fine, really. I wouldn't want you getting hurt." Buffy said. Both looked visibly relieved.
"Well, we can meet you at Walker's after patrol if you like. Or before, whatever." Rory said, clearly taken with the new girl and her tight skirt. Some things really don't change, Buffy realised.
"That sounds... great." She said. The bell rang, and the other two scurried off to classes. Buffy walked much slower.
"I didn't show up when I was meant to. I'll be damned if I go to classes now." She muttered.
"You must be the new girl." A harsh voice said from the library door.
"Uh, yes." She said.
"I'm Principal Harrison." The small, balding man said. "I suggest you get to your next class. One doesn't want to start badly on one's first day."
"You're right..." She pretended to examine her timetable. History, room 102. She knew exactly where it was, but she wasn't meant to.
"Principal Harrison, sir..." She decided some crawling wouldn't hurt. "Perhaps you could help me. I have History in 102 now. But I don't know where that is." She gave him her brightest smile. To her surprise, he responded.
"Yes dear. Down the left, second right." He said, returning her smile slightly. Definitely not Herr Snyder, she decided.
The day crawled along, but Buffy learned a few interesting and perhaps important things- like names. She had to keep up the pretence of being a high school student to guard the Hellmouth, so she would need to know a few names. Peggy-Sue and Rory were so like Willow and Xander that sometimes it was unnerving. But they were good kids. They reminded Buffy of the first time she had met her friends, before so much demon killing hardened them. Not for the first time, Buffy regretted allowing her friends to help her with such things. They had been open, innocent children and within just a few days of arriving in Sunnydale, Buffy had turned them into fighters. A part of Buffy hated herself for doing it, yet another part, equally loud, told her that Willow and Xander chose to fight. After all, Buffy told herself, hadn't Willow chosen to attend UC Sunnydale instead of a safer school in a galaxy far, far away? Hadn't Xander chosen to return from his aborted road trip? They could've left, but they didn't. Yet still Buffy felt guilty for dragging them into it in the first place.
"Buffy?" A sweet voice called her. She turned to see Peggy-Sue running after her. School was out, and Buffy intended to walk home. She smiled at the girl.
"Hi! I thought I might walk with you. If that's OK? Is it OK? Do you want me to go away?" Buffy smiled. Very Willow.
"Please, I'd like to walk with you." The look of happiness on Peggy-Sue's face reminded Buffy of that shy girl she'd met on her first day at Sunnydale. They walked along, Peggy-Sue chattering away about all kinds of things, and Buffy marvelled at how much this part of town really hadn't changed. So, there were fewer cars, and the cars were different, but it was still Sunnydale.
Unfortunately, time seemed to pass a whole lot slower in this Sunnydale, and it seemed to be an eternity between returning to Charlton's house and time to go to Walker's and on patrol. So much time, in fact, that Buffy did her homework. There was no TV, she didn't much like the music Charlton had. Unlike Giles, it appeared that Charlton hadn't been cool as a kid, and his musical tastes didn't go much further than Souza or Bach. The most controversial record he had was Black, Tan & Beige by Duke Ellington. Buffy had never been one for jazz, so homework it was. Finally, it was time to go to Walker's again. She suspected that staying in Fifties Sunnydale for two weeks would make her go crazy with boredom. There was only one cure she could think of.
"Angel. Here again?" She said flippantly. He smiled that curious little half smile she dreamed of at night.
"Well, uh... Nothing else to do." He said. "Besides, I hoped you might be here."
"Really?" Her heart started doing backflips good enough for the Olympics.
"Yeah, I uh, thought you might want help on patrol." Her heart then stumbled on the dismount.
"Oh. Well, sure." She said. Angel looked at her, wondering what he'd said wrong. But she forcibly pushed a bright smile onto her face, and he was appeased. Patrol that night was busy, with Buffy and Angel dusting well over ten vampires.
"That was..."
"A lot of vampires." Angel finished for her. They had just slain a group of six.
"Yeah. When Giles told me that there'd be a lot, I thought it was Giles overreacting."
"Giles?"
"My watcher in the fut... My old watcher." She said. "He sent me here."
"Will you... go back home after this?"
"I have to." She said. He looked to her to be genuinely disappointed.
"Maybe I'll see you sometime? Afterwards, I mean."
"I can more or less guarantee it." She said quietly. He looked confused. Damn! He wasn't supposed to hear that. How was she meant to get out of this one?
"What?"
"Well, I mean, I'm sure our paths will cross again." She said, covering up her slip. He smiled.
"I'd like that." He said, sounding shy. She smiled. He liked her! Fifties Angel liked her! Which, considering his future self walked away from her, was a big confidence booster.
"Are you OK?" He asked.
"Did I zone out again?"
"Yeah. You do it a lot?"
"No. Well, probably. Maybe. I babble too."
"I'm getting that." He laughed. Buffy looked at him in surprise. She didn't think she'd ever heard Angel laugh before.
"What?" He asked, wondering why she was staring at him so intensely.
"Oh, nothing." She said, still staring. Then, without warning, she took his face in her hands and kissed him. Just as suddenly, she pulled away. Angel looked shocked, but not upset.
"I'm sorry." She said, caught out of breath slightly. "I shouldn't have done that."
"No." He said, stepping towards her.
"I don't know what came over me. I, uh..."
"What?" He asked, his eyes not leaving hers.
"I've got no idea." She admitted. He bent down and kissed her. This time neither pulled away.
"Don't they have rock n roll yet?" She tried to remember exactly when it was that Elvis came onto the scene, but old music wasn't her forte. If only Giles were with her... She went inside the shop, and asked for a Coke, handing over the money to the kid behind the counter. She headed to the jukebox to peruse the song-list.
"Chuck Berry?" She asked herself.
"He's really good." A voice said. It couldn't be. No... She turned around.
"Angel?"
"Hi. How do you know my name?"
"I... Is that your name?" She feigned ignorance. Clearly this was Angel in 1958, not 'her' Angel. Not that 'her' Angel was even hers now. She shook that thoroughly depressing idea from her head and concentrated on the task at hand: Checking out Angel. She thought she might faint. Sure, she'd seen pictures of James Dean and Marlon Brando and thought they looked pretty good. She'd always liked Danny and Kenickie in Grease, but Angel... She really thought she might faint. She'd seen him wearing similar things before- leather jacket, white t-shirt, black jeans, but instead of spikes, his hair had been greased back just like Elvis. Or Danny, or Kenickie. But on Angel, it looked way better.
"Yeah. I'm Angel. You must be the slayer Philip Charlton was talking about."
"You... You know Charlton?"
"Yeah. I'm here to help you." He said, smiling that little half smile she loved so much.
"OK."
"So, where are you from?" He asked. Clearly, Charlton hadn't told him everything.
"Uh... Los Angeles." She said. It wasn't a lie, exactly.
"Really? I used to live there." He said, a flicker of guilt crossing his face. Then she realised what was so different. There was guilt in Angel's eyes, a lot of it, but it wasn't bearing down on him quite so much. Clearly, it would take years for it to take its toll on him.
"So, you like Chuck Berry?" He asked, smirking. Her mouth nearly dropped open. He was flirting with her! Wait till she got home, would she have something to say to him!
"I guess." She said, not really knowing. Putting a coin into the jukebox, Angel pressed a button on the Wurlitzer and the song Brown-Eyed Handsome Man came on. She'd heard this before. And as Angel held his hand out to dance with her, she realised she knew exactly who her Brown-Eyed Handsome Man was.
"You dance well." She said. He did. He still had that same commanding presence that made everyone turn to look, even the other couples dancing.
"Thanks. You're enrolling at Sunnydale High on Monday?" He asked.
"Yeah." She wrinkled her nose. She'd done the high school thing. She was now twenty years old, and she was going back to high school Great. Well, at least she wouldn't have to blow it up this time.
She returned to Charlton's house some time later. Angel had offered to accompany her on another patrol, and who was she to refuse such a request? He might not be the Angel in love with her, but he was still Angel and she wasn't in a position to get picky about such things. They had talked a little, and he admitted to her that he was a vampire, and he told her the story. Which she already knew, so she was able to take it all in her stride. Which impressed Angel. That made her glad. She liked the idea that maybe even fifties Angel, with his Brando scowl and Teddy Boy hair might fall in love with Buffy. She then spent a leisurely Sunday at Charlton's house, becoming acquainted with all things 1958. The number of channels was a disgrace. Where was the Home Shopping Network? The WB? UPN? What was she going to do with her spare time? Charlton merely smiled and pointed to the large bookcase. She suddenly felt for Angel. He had nothing to do during daytime, and for most of his life, there hadn't been TV at all. No wonder he liked books.
Monday arrived, and she went, grudgingly to Sunnydale High School. Charlton had explained that she had to enrol there in order to keep an eye on the Hellmouth, located right underneath the library.
"Hi! I'm Barbara-Ann!" A shrill voice called. A dark-haired girl approached her. She was the ultimate fifties bobbysoxer, and Buffy fought the urge to call her Cordelia.
"Hi, I'm Buffy."
"You're from LA, right? I'd kill to live in LA. That close to that many shoes?" Barbara-Ann said as a joke. Hadn't Buffy heard that one before?
"Well, it's OK, I guess." Buffy said. "Do you, uh, know where the library is? I have to get books." She said. Cordelia/Barbara-Ann- linked arms with her and led her down the hall.
"I'm just sure you'll get along fine here. All you have to do is pass our simple test." Oh dear God, Buffy groaned. How was she going to pass the 1958 test?
"Dean or Jerry?" Barbara-Ann asked. Buffy knew those names. She didn't know who they were, but still...
"Dean?"
"Totally! I mean, he's like, friends with Frank!" Now Buffy was fairly sure she was talking about Frank Sinatra.
"OK... Elvis?"
"Cool."
"OK... Paul Newman..."
"He needs to call me!" Buffy mimicked her old routine. Barbara-Ann nodded in approval.
"You totally passed!" They had arrived outside the library.
"Well, thanks. Maybe I'll see you around," Buffy said, wanting rid of this girl. She represented all the negative points of Cordelia, with seemingly none of the positive. She went into the library.
"Hi! You must be the new girl." A pretty redhead called from the table in the centre of the library, which looked as it always had done. Before it was blown up, of course.
"Uh, yeah. I'm Buffy." Buffy said, reassured by the Willow doppelganger.
"I'm Peggy-Sue."
"Peggy-Sue?"
"I know. I've had the jokes since they released that record." She blushed.
"I'm Rory." A boy came forward, wearing clothes that were on the verge of being cool, but missing something.
"Hi." Suddenly, a thought occurred to Buffy. Wasn't Xander's uncle called Rory?
She fought the urge to laugh as he pulled out three Twinkies. He was so Xander-ish it was untrue.
"Are you staying at Mr. Charlton's house?" Buffy looked up. Had Peggy-Sue just asked her that?
"Don't worry. We know all about... vampires and stuff." Rory said proudly.
"Oh." Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I am."
"OK. We can, uh, patrol with you if you like?"
"No, I'm fine, really. I wouldn't want you getting hurt." Buffy said. Both looked visibly relieved.
"Well, we can meet you at Walker's after patrol if you like. Or before, whatever." Rory said, clearly taken with the new girl and her tight skirt. Some things really don't change, Buffy realised.
"That sounds... great." She said. The bell rang, and the other two scurried off to classes. Buffy walked much slower.
"I didn't show up when I was meant to. I'll be damned if I go to classes now." She muttered.
"You must be the new girl." A harsh voice said from the library door.
"Uh, yes." She said.
"I'm Principal Harrison." The small, balding man said. "I suggest you get to your next class. One doesn't want to start badly on one's first day."
"You're right..." She pretended to examine her timetable. History, room 102. She knew exactly where it was, but she wasn't meant to.
"Principal Harrison, sir..." She decided some crawling wouldn't hurt. "Perhaps you could help me. I have History in 102 now. But I don't know where that is." She gave him her brightest smile. To her surprise, he responded.
"Yes dear. Down the left, second right." He said, returning her smile slightly. Definitely not Herr Snyder, she decided.
The day crawled along, but Buffy learned a few interesting and perhaps important things- like names. She had to keep up the pretence of being a high school student to guard the Hellmouth, so she would need to know a few names. Peggy-Sue and Rory were so like Willow and Xander that sometimes it was unnerving. But they were good kids. They reminded Buffy of the first time she had met her friends, before so much demon killing hardened them. Not for the first time, Buffy regretted allowing her friends to help her with such things. They had been open, innocent children and within just a few days of arriving in Sunnydale, Buffy had turned them into fighters. A part of Buffy hated herself for doing it, yet another part, equally loud, told her that Willow and Xander chose to fight. After all, Buffy told herself, hadn't Willow chosen to attend UC Sunnydale instead of a safer school in a galaxy far, far away? Hadn't Xander chosen to return from his aborted road trip? They could've left, but they didn't. Yet still Buffy felt guilty for dragging them into it in the first place.
"Buffy?" A sweet voice called her. She turned to see Peggy-Sue running after her. School was out, and Buffy intended to walk home. She smiled at the girl.
"Hi! I thought I might walk with you. If that's OK? Is it OK? Do you want me to go away?" Buffy smiled. Very Willow.
"Please, I'd like to walk with you." The look of happiness on Peggy-Sue's face reminded Buffy of that shy girl she'd met on her first day at Sunnydale. They walked along, Peggy-Sue chattering away about all kinds of things, and Buffy marvelled at how much this part of town really hadn't changed. So, there were fewer cars, and the cars were different, but it was still Sunnydale.
Unfortunately, time seemed to pass a whole lot slower in this Sunnydale, and it seemed to be an eternity between returning to Charlton's house and time to go to Walker's and on patrol. So much time, in fact, that Buffy did her homework. There was no TV, she didn't much like the music Charlton had. Unlike Giles, it appeared that Charlton hadn't been cool as a kid, and his musical tastes didn't go much further than Souza or Bach. The most controversial record he had was Black, Tan & Beige by Duke Ellington. Buffy had never been one for jazz, so homework it was. Finally, it was time to go to Walker's again. She suspected that staying in Fifties Sunnydale for two weeks would make her go crazy with boredom. There was only one cure she could think of.
"Angel. Here again?" She said flippantly. He smiled that curious little half smile she dreamed of at night.
"Well, uh... Nothing else to do." He said. "Besides, I hoped you might be here."
"Really?" Her heart started doing backflips good enough for the Olympics.
"Yeah, I uh, thought you might want help on patrol." Her heart then stumbled on the dismount.
"Oh. Well, sure." She said. Angel looked at her, wondering what he'd said wrong. But she forcibly pushed a bright smile onto her face, and he was appeased. Patrol that night was busy, with Buffy and Angel dusting well over ten vampires.
"That was..."
"A lot of vampires." Angel finished for her. They had just slain a group of six.
"Yeah. When Giles told me that there'd be a lot, I thought it was Giles overreacting."
"Giles?"
"My watcher in the fut... My old watcher." She said. "He sent me here."
"Will you... go back home after this?"
"I have to." She said. He looked to her to be genuinely disappointed.
"Maybe I'll see you sometime? Afterwards, I mean."
"I can more or less guarantee it." She said quietly. He looked confused. Damn! He wasn't supposed to hear that. How was she meant to get out of this one?
"What?"
"Well, I mean, I'm sure our paths will cross again." She said, covering up her slip. He smiled.
"I'd like that." He said, sounding shy. She smiled. He liked her! Fifties Angel liked her! Which, considering his future self walked away from her, was a big confidence booster.
"Are you OK?" He asked.
"Did I zone out again?"
"Yeah. You do it a lot?"
"No. Well, probably. Maybe. I babble too."
"I'm getting that." He laughed. Buffy looked at him in surprise. She didn't think she'd ever heard Angel laugh before.
"What?" He asked, wondering why she was staring at him so intensely.
"Oh, nothing." She said, still staring. Then, without warning, she took his face in her hands and kissed him. Just as suddenly, she pulled away. Angel looked shocked, but not upset.
"I'm sorry." She said, caught out of breath slightly. "I shouldn't have done that."
"No." He said, stepping towards her.
"I don't know what came over me. I, uh..."
"What?" He asked, his eyes not leaving hers.
"I've got no idea." She admitted. He bent down and kissed her. This time neither pulled away.
