Rome: 2013
A blonde woman sat on the balcony of an apartment building in Rome, gazing out over the ancient city. Her companion watched her in silence. He had not had an opportunity to speak with her alone since his arrival two days before. He sensed something was bothering her, but being British, was loath to pry into her personal life.
Reminding himself that although he was from a reserved society, she was a Californian, Giles decided to broach the subject. "You look rather pensive. Is anything wrong? Does it concern Dawn?"
Buffy turned to face Giles. "No, Dawn's fine, she's perfectly happy working with Xander and the slayers at the Cleveland Hellmouth."
Giles waited patiently.
After several moments, Buffy began to speak. "It occurred to me yesterday, I'm now six years older than Angel was when he was turned," Buffy said. "If he were still here, he'd look younger than me. In a few more years we would have looked weird together. Like some middle-aged woman out with her toy-boy."
Giles barely suppressed a snort of laughter at the resulting mental image. Buffy flashed him a look comprised of equal parts annoyance and affection.
"It's just that now, when I remember Angel sweeping around, going all 'ooh, look at me, I'm soo tormented, yet oh so cool in my black leather coat, my hair gelled to perfection', it doesn't seem romantic at all, in fact the whole thing seems kinda . . . I dunno . . .," Buffy's voice trailed off.
"Silly? Ludicrous perhaps? A touch ridiculous?" Giles suggested
"Yes," Buffy said, giggling. "Spike was right. He did look like a 'right poofter, swanning about in his bleeding nancy-boy get-up'."
"A direct quote, I presume?" Giles said. "That does sound like our William."
"All that angst and melodrama, all those longing looks. . . I thought that was love," Buffy said.
"That's love when you're sixteen, Buffy," Giles said.
"Angel was my soulmate, Giles!. I thought nothing would ever change, that I'd love him forever in exactly the same way," Buffy said. "How could I have been so wrong?"
"You weren't wrong, Buffy. Your feelings towards Angel were quite real at the time. Giles said. "There's nothing unnatural, or unusual about outgrowing one's first love. It's a perfectly normal occurrence."
"Yeah, Mom tried to tell me that once, but I wouldn't listen to her. I was so angry with her. I told her she was treating me like I was some little kid who didn't know her own mind," Buffy said.
"Unfortunately, it's the type of thing that can only be learned through experience," Giles said.
"True," Buffy said.
Later that evening, the conversation turned to the subject of the near-apocalyptic battle between Angel and the Senior Partner's army in Los Angeles nine years earlier.
"One thing I'll never understand about the whole bloody mess. Instead of sending his friends on suicide missions, why didn't he simply reenact the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre?" Giles said.
"The what?" Buffy looked at him quizzically.
"My apologies. I keep forgetting the lamentable state of American education," Giles said dryly. "During the religious wars of the seventeenth century, Catherine di Medici, the Queen of France, invited the Protestant leaders to a banquet on St. Bartholomew's day, and had them all killed, thus ensuring France remained Catholic. Brutal, but quite effective."
Buffy looked at him with new respect. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
Giles smiled. "As I was saying, it would have been far more effective if Angel had invited the Circle Of The Black Thorn to one of Wolfram and Hart's little soirees and dealt a fatal blow to the whole lot of them at once," he said.
"Yeah, you're right, that makes a lot more sense than sending someone like Wesley Windom-Price out against one of the most powerful demon mages in LA. No wonder he got killed. Poor Wesley, he never had a chance," Buffy said sadly.
"I always felt he was a good man, even if he did join Wolfram and Hart. I'll go to my grave believing the only reason he did so was because of the mindwipe Angel subjected him too," Giles said. "That also goes for Miss Burkle and Charles Gunn. What Angel did to them was unconscionable."
"My champion," Buffy said, a touch of sarcasm in her voice.
"Angel lost any claim to being a champion the moment he joined Wolfram and Hart," Giles said. "To be perfectly frank with you, Buffy, I never considered him to be a champion at all."
"Don't say it," Buffy groaned.
"What ever do you mean?" Giles said.
"Angel was never the great, big, noble, hero that I thought he was. I was a stupid young girl who read too many romance novels and I projected my own fantasies onto a handsome stranger," Buffy said.
Giles gazed at Buffy with a mixture of tenderness and pity. "You weren't stupid, Buffy. You were merely a naive young girl who was thrust into an extremely chaotic situation. You did the best you could, given your youth and inexperience."
Buffy sighed. "It's just that the more I think about him, the worse he seems."
"Don't be too harsh on the man, Buffy. He too was operating under difficult circumstances and you must take into account his essential vampiric nature. Never forget, Angel did attempt to be a hero. He may have failed in the end, but one must give him proper credit for trying," Giles said.
Buffy smiled and put her hand on Giles arm. "It all seems so long ago, like it happened to another girl," she said.
"Basically, it did. You aren't the same person anymore," Giles said.
"For months, a couple of years even, after Angel and the rest died, I used to fantasize that he'd survived somehow, or that the prophecy had come true, and that he'd show up in Rome one day, and we'd be together forever," Buffy said.
"Happily ever after and all that rot," Giles said.
"To be honest, if he showed up tonight, I think my only reaction would be dismay," Buffy said with a sigh.
"Too much water under the bridge," Giles agreed.
"Enough about the past. What do you want to do tomorrow," Buffy said, her natural good spirits returning.
"There's always the coliseum," Giles suggested.
Buffy made a face. "Typical," she said. "You would want to hang around old ruins. Okay, the coliseum it is."
The pair relaxed and began to talk of other things.
The end.
A blonde woman sat on the balcony of an apartment building in Rome, gazing out over the ancient city. Her companion watched her in silence. He had not had an opportunity to speak with her alone since his arrival two days before. He sensed something was bothering her, but being British, was loath to pry into her personal life.
Reminding himself that although he was from a reserved society, she was a Californian, Giles decided to broach the subject. "You look rather pensive. Is anything wrong? Does it concern Dawn?"
Buffy turned to face Giles. "No, Dawn's fine, she's perfectly happy working with Xander and the slayers at the Cleveland Hellmouth."
Giles waited patiently.
After several moments, Buffy began to speak. "It occurred to me yesterday, I'm now six years older than Angel was when he was turned," Buffy said. "If he were still here, he'd look younger than me. In a few more years we would have looked weird together. Like some middle-aged woman out with her toy-boy."
Giles barely suppressed a snort of laughter at the resulting mental image. Buffy flashed him a look comprised of equal parts annoyance and affection.
"It's just that now, when I remember Angel sweeping around, going all 'ooh, look at me, I'm soo tormented, yet oh so cool in my black leather coat, my hair gelled to perfection', it doesn't seem romantic at all, in fact the whole thing seems kinda . . . I dunno . . .," Buffy's voice trailed off.
"Silly? Ludicrous perhaps? A touch ridiculous?" Giles suggested
"Yes," Buffy said, giggling. "Spike was right. He did look like a 'right poofter, swanning about in his bleeding nancy-boy get-up'."
"A direct quote, I presume?" Giles said. "That does sound like our William."
"All that angst and melodrama, all those longing looks. . . I thought that was love," Buffy said.
"That's love when you're sixteen, Buffy," Giles said.
"Angel was my soulmate, Giles!. I thought nothing would ever change, that I'd love him forever in exactly the same way," Buffy said. "How could I have been so wrong?"
"You weren't wrong, Buffy. Your feelings towards Angel were quite real at the time. Giles said. "There's nothing unnatural, or unusual about outgrowing one's first love. It's a perfectly normal occurrence."
"Yeah, Mom tried to tell me that once, but I wouldn't listen to her. I was so angry with her. I told her she was treating me like I was some little kid who didn't know her own mind," Buffy said.
"Unfortunately, it's the type of thing that can only be learned through experience," Giles said.
"True," Buffy said.
Later that evening, the conversation turned to the subject of the near-apocalyptic battle between Angel and the Senior Partner's army in Los Angeles nine years earlier.
"One thing I'll never understand about the whole bloody mess. Instead of sending his friends on suicide missions, why didn't he simply reenact the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre?" Giles said.
"The what?" Buffy looked at him quizzically.
"My apologies. I keep forgetting the lamentable state of American education," Giles said dryly. "During the religious wars of the seventeenth century, Catherine di Medici, the Queen of France, invited the Protestant leaders to a banquet on St. Bartholomew's day, and had them all killed, thus ensuring France remained Catholic. Brutal, but quite effective."
Buffy looked at him with new respect. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
Giles smiled. "As I was saying, it would have been far more effective if Angel had invited the Circle Of The Black Thorn to one of Wolfram and Hart's little soirees and dealt a fatal blow to the whole lot of them at once," he said.
"Yeah, you're right, that makes a lot more sense than sending someone like Wesley Windom-Price out against one of the most powerful demon mages in LA. No wonder he got killed. Poor Wesley, he never had a chance," Buffy said sadly.
"I always felt he was a good man, even if he did join Wolfram and Hart. I'll go to my grave believing the only reason he did so was because of the mindwipe Angel subjected him too," Giles said. "That also goes for Miss Burkle and Charles Gunn. What Angel did to them was unconscionable."
"My champion," Buffy said, a touch of sarcasm in her voice.
"Angel lost any claim to being a champion the moment he joined Wolfram and Hart," Giles said. "To be perfectly frank with you, Buffy, I never considered him to be a champion at all."
"Don't say it," Buffy groaned.
"What ever do you mean?" Giles said.
"Angel was never the great, big, noble, hero that I thought he was. I was a stupid young girl who read too many romance novels and I projected my own fantasies onto a handsome stranger," Buffy said.
Giles gazed at Buffy with a mixture of tenderness and pity. "You weren't stupid, Buffy. You were merely a naive young girl who was thrust into an extremely chaotic situation. You did the best you could, given your youth and inexperience."
Buffy sighed. "It's just that the more I think about him, the worse he seems."
"Don't be too harsh on the man, Buffy. He too was operating under difficult circumstances and you must take into account his essential vampiric nature. Never forget, Angel did attempt to be a hero. He may have failed in the end, but one must give him proper credit for trying," Giles said.
Buffy smiled and put her hand on Giles arm. "It all seems so long ago, like it happened to another girl," she said.
"Basically, it did. You aren't the same person anymore," Giles said.
"For months, a couple of years even, after Angel and the rest died, I used to fantasize that he'd survived somehow, or that the prophecy had come true, and that he'd show up in Rome one day, and we'd be together forever," Buffy said.
"Happily ever after and all that rot," Giles said.
"To be honest, if he showed up tonight, I think my only reaction would be dismay," Buffy said with a sigh.
"Too much water under the bridge," Giles agreed.
"Enough about the past. What do you want to do tomorrow," Buffy said, her natural good spirits returning.
"There's always the coliseum," Giles suggested.
Buffy made a face. "Typical," she said. "You would want to hang around old ruins. Okay, the coliseum it is."
The pair relaxed and began to talk of other things.
The end.