"So, what do you think?" she asked, and I recognized the feel of Buffy's hair brushing against the back of my arm immediately. Everything felt more REAL now that I was... well, now that I was all the way alive. Maybe I was just imagining it, but...
I turned around, looking into Buffy's face, staring at those deep slate-green eyes for a moment. And then I draped one arm comfortably around her shoulders and turned back east, facing the rolling valleys and the oncoming dawn, one hand on the railing. "I think it looks like it's going to be the most beautiful morning I could ever imagine."
She smiled. "Good answer. But you can't smell the sun before you see it anymore, can you?" I shook my head, surprised by the memory. I had told her about that... christmas morning, five and a half years ago now. I had been trying to kill myself, tormented by a diabolical phantom, and my life had been saved when a freak california snowstorm had blocked out the morning sunlight so that it couldn't kill me. A freak snowstorm... that I later thought might have been sent by the Powers that were, to make sure I would survive to carry on their work here in Los Angeles.
It had been Buffy's idea to come up to the top of a tall building and watch the sunrise - and it turned out that the highest one in the city, the US Bank Tower, was in a region where the horde had only done slight damage here and there - the tower itself was almost untouched. Since there was no observation deck, we had snuck up to the roof, next to the helipad, to say our goodbyes.
I've seen the sun come up a few times over the past year - one advantage of having been working for Wolfram and Hart - the glass in their office was specially designed so that sunlight shining through it would not hurt vampires. 'Necro-tempered' was the term that was always used, whatever that meant. But it was completely different to see the first little bit of sun poke above the horizon and realize that there was nothing at all between me and it but air and space, that the light was hitting human skin and human eyes... and Buffy's cell phone beeped at her. She rolled her eyes slightly as I shot her a look, pulling the infernal device out of some mysterious pocket. But she didn't bring the speaker up to her ear, just read some kind of mail off of the tiny little screen.
"News is *still* coming in," she announced to the group at large. "As far as anybody can tell, every Wolfram and Hart branch office across the planet started to crumble and wreck itself, at the same time that Angel stuck his sword through Lykos' heart. Preliminary reports from nearby dimensions indicate that the firm is pulling out and consolidating in more distant realms."
"Heading for the 'high ground' I'd bet," Gunn said, chuckling slightly - and holding his side regretfully with a momentary pain. "The typically darker and more evil worlds, the hell-planes and what have you."
"Wouldn't be surprised," Natasha put in. Although Spike still couldn't come up here without bursting into flames - and Faith and Willow had declined to attend, the two of them, Groo, Aaron, and Virginia had been more than happy to celebrate our victory. Come to think of it... I tucked a few strands of Buffy's hair behind her ear with a simple caress, smiled at her, and went over to have a word with Virginia, who was standing off by herself just slightly.
"I wish I knew of a good enough way to thank you," I told her. "None of this would be possible without you opening the sanctuary to us, and..."
"You really don't need to," she insisted. "After the rebuilding starts, this city will be a much safer place for the people that I care about. That's a reward in and of itself. Plus... well, I got a chance to see Wesley one last time, and to know that he's okay." She took a deep breath. "It's not a chance that many people get."
"I know," I said softly. "He's very proud of you, I think."
Virginia shook her head, red curls shifting as she moved. "What do you mean?"
"Well, the last time he saw you, you... you had lived a very sheltered life for a long time, and you were frightened. For him. It's understandable, and a lot of people stay frightened, to a certain extent, all of their lives. But you've matured so much in just a few years, not just in your confidence, but your involvement in the world around you. You're reaching out to help people who desperately need a kind of order and structure in their lives - like Mattasee."
"Yeah, I guess I am." She smiled. "Any idea what's next for you, after your little Roman holiday?"
"Not really," I admitted, "but I suspect that something interesting will turn up." I looked over at Buffy, who was talking with Natasha and Groo now, and it felt like my heart would burst out of its rib cage. "Excuse me."
"Of course," Virginia said softly, as I crossed over to join them.
"...really pleased to have you back on full-time, for real," Buffy was saying to Natasha as I got there, and I shot her a questioning look. "Natasha's agreed to sign up for re-attached duty, as a full Watcher. Dana's watcher," she explained to me.
"She has a lot of practice looking after psychotic teenagers," Groo added, with a sly joking smile.
"That's great," I said, shaking Natasha's hand in an odd instinct of congratulation. "What about Aaron? Are you going to keep hanging around this area?"
"No, we've talked it over with Aaron, and he really doesn't need me watching over him like a mother hen," she replied. "He understands about as much as I can teach him about his gift and what to do about it. I'm not sure that the Powers will have much to say to him for a little while, at that." She patted Groo's arm. "And we're going to be going down to South America and working with Willow and Kennedy for a little while."
"Cool, I guess," I decided.
"What about you, Gunn?" Aaron put in. "Heading for any glamorous distant destination?"
"Naw, naw, homeboy's goin' back to the hood, 'yo," Gunn shot back. "My old haunts took quite a beating from the horde, and there's plenty of work to be done. Probably going to get back in touch with the old friends, and Anne." He laughed. "Of course, there'll be a lot of money that has to be raised, and Wolfram and Hart's legal know-how could help with that, as long as it doesn't go poof on me again."
"Anything in a good cause," Buffy replied, and then caught sight of something. We all watched as a young man in a uniform came out of the stairway door, wondering if he was going to tell us that we shouldn't be up here.
As it turned out, he didn't have that in mind at all. "Angel, Buffy, Gunn?"
Neither of them spoke up, so I paused a moment and said, "Um, I'm Angel, why? Do I know you?"
"Not at all, sir, but I have a telegram for you." He must have been able to recognize the shock on my face - belatedly I recognized the uniform as that of a delivery company. "From a..." he pulled out the envelope and considered the print on it. "A Krevlurn Swahth?"
Gunn started laughing again, and then coughing, and forced himself to quiet down. "You've got to be joking," I complained to no-one in particular.
The delivery guy must have thought I was saying it to him. "Not at all, sir - if you could please sign here for the message?" Shrugging, I looked at all the fine print on the guy's clipboard, but eventually signed and let him disappear back into the tower, after putting the envelope firmly in my hands. Shrugging it, I opened it, pulled out a piece of paper, and began to read out loud.
"Congratulations, peach puff. I knew that you'd get the job done, but I wasn't sure that I'd be able to make it through the crossfire - hence the quick vamoose. If there was ever a champion vampire with a soul who deserved it, that would be you, and definitely not Spike no matter how cute he is when he starts to pout.
"So again, sorry that I couldn't make your little welcome back to humanity party in person, but I have a sneaking suspicion that we'll meet again - I've always wanted to do a european tour, and maybe this time my promoter won't be a crook like the Vegas guy. Ohh - and don't even bother asking how I knew that you'd be exactly here, right now. A guy's gotta be able to keep a few secrets up his sleeve, doesn't he?
"With all my love and best wishes, Lorne."
There was a bit of a silent moment after that, and then Buffy nudged me softly. "We'd better get going sweetie - the plane'll be ready to take off soon."
I nodded, and said quick final goodbyes to everyone. As we started back down the stairs, I had to ask. "Did you really just call me sweetie?"
"Yeah, I guess I did," she admitted simply.
"I liked the way it sounded," I told her, then added, "darling" just to try it out.
That sounded even better.