Work Text:
By His Side
By Ragna
The night sky was dark. It wasn't black tonight; Angel could obviously tell it was blue, a dark blue. Maybe darker than navy, but it wasn't black. It never had been.
Blue seemed to describe everyone lately. They had stopped the Mayor's plot: he had wanted to use the graduation ceremony at Sunnydale High to change forms. There was a spell he had to recite, one that required the blue sky to turn black. Faith had let it slip during her final fight with Buffy before she slipped off the roof where they were fighting to her death.
That had been the clue, and Wesley of all people had held the answer to their success. They had tossed out so many ideas. Wesley had found, in his studies with the Council, a counterspell that prevented someone from turning into a demon.
The only problem was that a large amount of blood had to be given. Fresh blood. Angel would gladly have volunteered, but the blood in his body wasn't fresh. He would have survived; whoever donated the blood had to be a live human, one who would die in the act.
It surprised everyone that Willow volunteered. But the others, they wouldn't let her. Not alone. In the end, Buffy and her friends had rounded up multiple students to each donate some blood.
It had turned out the students at the school were not as dumb or naive as previously thought.
And...the plan had worked. There were still casualties, but they for the most part had survived.
The Mayor was gone, Angel had taken care of that. No one had said anything, but when the news hit about the Mayor's mysterious disappearance, the Scoobies guessed it had been him.
***
It was all past, now. Tonight, he and Buffy lay down on the grass, staring up at the dark blue sky, watching the stars.
"You know," she said quietly.
"What?"
"I didn't think I'd make it." She absently rubbed her bandaged arm. Buffy had almost let herself bleed to death to get enough blood for the counterspell. "I thought for sure I'd be dead."
"But you're not."
"I know. But...death is always around, you know? I'm used to it. I accept it. But damn, I was scared, Angel."
Angel turned onto his side and stared at Buffy. He stared at her milky white skin with the blush that crept onto her face during the cold evenings, the piercing eyes that softened when she looked at him, the curves that showed just what a woman she was. He drank up the image of her.
"It was strange. When this happened, and I had to be away, not able to help, I wasn't scared. I knew you'd make it. It was like...like I'd been watching a blue screen, where everyone was there but the monsters were going to be created, and they weren't around. I knew the monsters would be gone and you and your classmates would still be standing."
Buffy nodded, then turned to face Angel. She reached over to touch his face. "Even though you weren't there, you were still by my side, weren't you?"
"Just like you'll always be at my side."
"Not always, Angel. One day I'll die."
Angel took her hand and moved it to his heart. "You'll always be here."
Buffy smiled. "Good. because you'll be with me forever, too." She turned onto her back again and looked at the sky. "Ever notice it isn't black, like we all think it is? It's a really dark blue sky..."
Angel laughed and turned on his back as well. "I was just thinking that myself."
END