Chapter 4: End of the World
Warning: Angsty feelings.
Thanks to my betas: zigpal and especially AshDawnSoulmates. She and I spent hours coming up with the right songs.
Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission. Song sung in this chapter by Skeeter Davis.
Wes was still trying to figure out why he and Cordy were the ones here listening to Buffy. He would have thought Angel would be here instead. But the ensouled vampire got all broody when Buffy told them that Spike sacrificed himself to save the world, so he missed the signs that there was trouble between the Slayer and her team. Having been through this themselves, he and Cordy hadn't. The others from the AI group might have known something was wrong if they knew the team dynamics from years before in Sunnydale.
His ears perked up when she gave this song a dedication. Where the dedication to Spike was a bittersweet memorial, this one was just bitter. "This is to the man I loved as a father for years. We had been to hell and back, and grew stronger because of it. But when I needed him the most, he abandoned me, just like my real father did."
The former Watcher shared a stunned/angered look with the seer. Giles left Buffy? Was she being literal or figurative? He supposed in the end it didn't really matter; Buffy felt alone.
Why does the sun go on shining?
Why does the sea rush to shore?
Don't they know it's the end of the world,
'Cause you don't love me anymore?
Wes remembered the memo stating why Giles had been fired: he had a father's love for his Slayer that rendered him useless to the cause. Witnessing the pair firsthand, Wes knew that Travers was only half right. Giles did love Buffy – and vice versa – but it only strengthened them as a team, not weakened them.
Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don't they know it's the end of the world.
It ended when I lost your love.
What could have happened to make Buffy think she lost his love? Did she lose his love? She obviously thought so. A small part of Wes wondered if she would accept him as her Watcher now. He dismissed it as soon as it crossed his mind; he had a new life and new responsibilities here. That didn't mean he couldn't be a friend to her though.
I wake up in the morning and I wonder,
Why everything's the same as it was.
I can't understand. No, I can't understand,
How life goes on the way it does.
Why does my heart go on beating?
Why do these eyes of mine cry?
Don't they know it's the end of the world.
It ended when you said goodbye.
As she repeated the final refrain, Wes guessed that if he took it literally, Giles physically left her. He knew that the older man was still there when she died. That would mean he left when she came back. The realization stunned him. What would possess him to do such a thing? Maybe they should check him for possession when they got back to the hotel. He leaned over to whisper the suggestion to Cordy, and she nodded her agreement.
When the applause died down, the band started up with yet another unusual song selection.
A/N: Next…'I Can't Do That Anymore' by Faith Hill.