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lonelybritA rather pretentious sequel to the post-Not Fade Away drabble I did (Nature). If she wants it, it's for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eloise_bright on the wonderful occasion of her birthday. *hugs*
“I killed Wesley.”
“Bollocks you did,” the response startled out of Spike before he’s aware of thinking it.
Angel gives no sign he heard. One hand, all paper-thin skin and silvery blue veins, curls into the quilt covering him. They all know it’s not long now; the body fading away until they can all but see the spark of life that is Angel flickering with every heartbeat. Though, when Spike helps him to sit, his grip is still surprisingly strong.
Angel closes his eyes and it’s so cold. The rain chills his skin, running down his neck. He blinks to clear his vision and the cement is hard against his back. He has to get up, rejoin the battle. Which now reclaims him, a hard force jerking him to his feet.
Spike mutters to himself as he bats away a blow aimed at his head.
He can’t understand why, when he sees his own hands, they’re pale. Bones pushing up through translucent skin. Bare feet that can’t belong to him, going blue with the cold of the pooling rain.
To Spike’s relief, Angel quickly falls back into sleep. Spike rearranges the hot water bottle before pulling up the covers. When Connor came, Spike found him lying next to his… What exactly is Angel to Connor? Connor has a wonderful family, no need for a father figure, yet he cares. Sharing his own body heat as Spike would do if he had any to spare.
Angel didn’t kill Wesley. Angel asked, Wesley agreed. Spike remembers. He thinks Wesley would probably have insisted even if Angel had specifically asked everyone to leave him to it. Angel’s friends have a tendency to take his cause as their own.
When he opens his eyes, it’s dark. For a moment he thinks they blotted out the moon. Then the feel of the sheets brings him back. As his eyes adjust he makes out the shadowed ceiling.
Spike watches Angel briefly rouse. Eyes glittering in the gloom. It’s as though the effort of waking drains him and soon he’s back to listening to the shallow sighs of sleep and the fluttering echo of the heart.
There’s warmth at his feet that spreads through his whole body. The damp chill finally receeding from his bones. A warm shadow grazes his arm before a hand covers his.
“You alright?”
Spike keeps very quiet, watching, waiting.
He knows the voice, of course. It feels like he heard it only hours rather than years ago. The certainty of it is something he’s missed. A kind of wordless trust you lose so quickly in life. The knot in his stomach unties and fades as the weight of that loss lifts.
The chest remains still and Spike finally stands.
No surprise at the lips that ghost over his. Angel smiles, one hand reaching up to catch the other in a light grip, thumb and fingers tracing that familiar profile.
“So can I-”
“Of course, idiot.”
And finally Angel can open his eyes.
eloise_bright on the wonderful occasion of her birthday. *hugs*“I killed Wesley.”
“Bollocks you did,” the response startled out of Spike before he’s aware of thinking it.
Angel gives no sign he heard. One hand, all paper-thin skin and silvery blue veins, curls into the quilt covering him. They all know it’s not long now; the body fading away until they can all but see the spark of life that is Angel flickering with every heartbeat. Though, when Spike helps him to sit, his grip is still surprisingly strong.
Angel closes his eyes and it’s so cold. The rain chills his skin, running down his neck. He blinks to clear his vision and the cement is hard against his back. He has to get up, rejoin the battle. Which now reclaims him, a hard force jerking him to his feet.
Spike mutters to himself as he bats away a blow aimed at his head.
He can’t understand why, when he sees his own hands, they’re pale. Bones pushing up through translucent skin. Bare feet that can’t belong to him, going blue with the cold of the pooling rain.
To Spike’s relief, Angel quickly falls back into sleep. Spike rearranges the hot water bottle before pulling up the covers. When Connor came, Spike found him lying next to his… What exactly is Angel to Connor? Connor has a wonderful family, no need for a father figure, yet he cares. Sharing his own body heat as Spike would do if he had any to spare.
Angel didn’t kill Wesley. Angel asked, Wesley agreed. Spike remembers. He thinks Wesley would probably have insisted even if Angel had specifically asked everyone to leave him to it. Angel’s friends have a tendency to take his cause as their own.
When he opens his eyes, it’s dark. For a moment he thinks they blotted out the moon. Then the feel of the sheets brings him back. As his eyes adjust he makes out the shadowed ceiling.
Spike watches Angel briefly rouse. Eyes glittering in the gloom. It’s as though the effort of waking drains him and soon he’s back to listening to the shallow sighs of sleep and the fluttering echo of the heart.
There’s warmth at his feet that spreads through his whole body. The damp chill finally receeding from his bones. A warm shadow grazes his arm before a hand covers his.
“You alright?”
Spike keeps very quiet, watching, waiting.
He knows the voice, of course. It feels like he heard it only hours rather than years ago. The certainty of it is something he’s missed. A kind of wordless trust you lose so quickly in life. The knot in his stomach unties and fades as the weight of that loss lifts.
The chest remains still and Spike finally stands.
No surprise at the lips that ghost over his. Angel smiles, one hand reaching up to catch the other in a light grip, thumb and fingers tracing that familiar profile.
“So can I-”
“Of course, idiot.”
And finally Angel can open his eyes.
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-15 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-14 09:30 am (UTC)I adored the double POV, Spike watching him die, while Angel finally gets to wake up with Wesley.
It feels like he heard it only hours rather than years ago. The certainty of it is something he’s missed. A kind of wordless trust you lose so quickly in life. The knot in his stomach unties and fades as the weight of that loss lifts.
*wipes tear off cheek*
And then the line that is just him
“Of course, idiot.”
Bravo, my honey! Thank you!
And they're together at last.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-15 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-15 08:28 am (UTC)I think I'm speechless. No, wait-
...
Yep. Speechless. I can't say how lovely and moving this is. Very well done :) *watery smile*
no subject
Date: 2005-07-15 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-16 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-16 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-16 09:41 pm (UTC)Angel reliving it over and over until he dies...how heart wrenching.
Mmm. So sad, and so sweet. Love Angel fading in and out, and Spike's POV, and then Angel opening his eyes to Wesley finally. *sniffles*
no subject
Date: 2005-07-17 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 01:48 am (UTC)Thank you! :)
no subject
Date: 2005-07-18 08:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-10 06:58 pm (UTC)And yes, the "Of course, idiot." So Wesley.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-16 07:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-11 11:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-16 07:26 am (UTC)