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fandomweekly2019-11-03 09:57 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2019-11-03 09:57 pm
Entry tags:
[#030] Champion (Angel the Series)
Theme Prompt: 030 - Moment Of Truth
Title: Champion
Fandom: Angel the Series.
Rating/Warnings: PG / None
Bonus: No.
Word Count: 999
Summary: Miraculously Angel is rendered fully human again, but will he still be able to fight at Buffy’s side?
It’s amazing, miraculous, incredible, almost unbelievable; a second chance at life! It’s everything Angel has wanted from almost the moment his soul was first restored to his body, or maybe not quite then since he’d been too busy at the time wallowing in guilt, but you get the idea. It’s the ultimate prize, going from souled vampire to actual living human, and it feels… There are no words good enough to describe how it feels. No more demon inside him warring with his soul for control of his body, no more craving blood, or having to stay out of the sunlight for fear of bursting into flames, no more unbeating heart, or lack of a reflection… He’s solid, real, mortal for the first time in centuries, and he’s…
Hungry!
Not with the vampire need for blood, just a completely natural human hunger, so the frenzied food rampage is totally understandable, right? Everything he samples tastes delicious, except for the yogurt, and it’s tempting to eat himself into a food coma, except there’s something he wants, needs, even more than food.
He has to find Buffy, tell her what’s happened, find out what this might mean for them, if they can have a future. He doesn’t want to mess her life up, not any more than he already has; she might not even want to start things up with him again after spending the past few months trying to get over him. He can’t take for granted that just because he’s alive now she’ll want to pick up where they left off, but at the same time he can’t let her leave L.A. without at least giving her the choice. He’ll abide by her decision.
It’s awkward after the first kiss, their conversation stilted, both of them tentative, unwilling to jump into anything too fast, worried that such a wonderful gift might be snatched away from Angel as suddenly and unexpectedly as it’s been bestowed on him. If they give in to their feelings for each other and this turns out to only be temporary, or some kind of a cruel trick, it’ll hurt more than either of them can bear.
Angel tries to be the responsible adult, and Buffy’s not particularly happy about that, but maturity doesn’t last; the temptation and need are just too strong after having to keep each other at arm’s length for so long. Now they can have everything they want from each other, be together in every respect, how can they just part to keep in touch by phone?
One touch is all it takes, and their good intentions fly out the window, replaced by all the passion and desire for each other they’ve repressed since Angel’s return from the Hell dimension.
It’s heaven, ecstasy, everything they’ve dreamed of and more. Afterwards, they snuggle together, feeding each other all the things that didn’t exist back when Angel was growing up in Ireland; chocolate, peanut butter, cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip ice cream, and more. There’s so much Angel wants to experience, it’s a whole new world to him, and Buffy is just the one to guide him through what he needs to know about being a living, breathing human in the twentieth century.
Perhaps they jumped the gun, maybe they should have waited a bit longer, just to be sure nothing would interfere with their happiness, but how could either of them have known the Mohra demon would regenerate? Okay, so its blood has regenerative properties, hence Angel being restored to life, but this is just unfair. There’s only one thing for it, Angel will have to kill the demon again and this time he’ll have to make it stick.
The only problem is that he’s human, while Buffy is still the Slayer. Angel has to know he can still do his part, not be a liability to her. He watched her, years ago, trying to defend human boyfriends, knowing how easily they could be injured or even killed, totally unprepared for the world she lived in. He’s determined not to be like that; he’ll fight alongside her, just as he always has. He knows how to use a stake, a sword, a battleaxe; he’s experienced, not like those kids Buffy used to date.
This will be his moment of truth; he needs to be able to handle himself, and the demon, without Buffy’s assistance, needs to be someone she can depend on rather than someone she needs to protect.
It’s awful; no matter what Angel does, the demon keeps coming, throwing him around like he’s noting. Gone are his vampire strength, speed, and reflexes, all his supernatural resilience, everything that made him Buffy’s equal. What is he now? Weak, vulnerable, breakable, mortal, a shadow of his former self, Angel’s losing badly, fragile skin splitting with every blow he’s dealt, ribs cracking like twigs. When the Mohra jumps on him, when they tumble into the salt silo, he feels his mortality keenly. This is it, he’s failed; he’s going to die as a human, everything he and Buffy might have had together gone as if it never existed.
When Buffy appears, jumping on the demon, disarming it, saving his life, Angel thinks he must be dreaming, hallucinating from the pain. He hurts so badly, has never experienced pain so intense. He wants to get up, help Buffy, show her he’s still worthy of her love, but he can barely move. All he can manage is to throw a handful of salt in the demon’s face.
"The light of a thousand eyes. The jewel in its forehead! You have to smash the jewel." At least he can give Buffy that much, enough to help her defeat the Mohra.
But it’s too little; Buffy needs him to be more than this, to be a warrior. Being human will get both of them killed.
There’s only one thing he can do, return the gift he’s been given, no matter how much it will hurt.
He can’t be Buffy’s champion like this.
The End
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