Author ~ Kath ~ journal
Title ~ Summer Girl
Rating ~ G
Timeline ~ Spoilers through end of Season 4
Author's notes ~ Somehow the story took on a life of its own with very little help from me, so I hope Glossolalia likes it.Challenge:
Story written for ~ Glossolalia
Two requirements ~ Wesley, the annual Perseids meteor shower.
Two restrictions (optional) ~ No restrictions
Spoiler level ~ No restrictions
Rating level ~ No restrictions
SUMMER GIRL
"memory makes it all weave together
into the fabric of my summer
and even when you aren't here
to see the shooting stars
above the campfire
I can make wishes
with your name in them."
'Summer Girl' by Don McGonigal
Wes stood on the deck overlooking the ocean, quietly contemplating the star-filled sky before him. The crash of waves against the sand echoed rhythmically in his ears, soothing nerves frayed by too much time spent in meetings and rush hour traffic.When they’d chosen this place - he, Gunn, Fred, and Angel together - they’d wanted it to be a sanctuary, someplace peaceful away from demons, evil law firms and difficult choices. Knowing that Cordy would have voted for the luxurious beach-front bungalow, had she still been able to voice her opinion, had sealed the deal.
Gunn liked to sneak away from the office during the day so he could soak up the sun and swim in the ocean. He was a strong swimmer and, on the rare occasions Wesley accompanied him, he couldn’t help feeling slightly in awe as he watched Gunn cut through the waves with long, powerful strokes. Fred preferred twilight walks on the beach. She was often gifting Wesley and the others with her little ‘finds’ - shells, sea glass, unusual pieces of driftwood - and Wes couldn’t help wonder with amusement if it was because her own lab and office already contained so much of the stuff that there wasn’t room for even one more item. Wesley’s own favorite time to visit was in the evening. After the hustle and bustle of the city and the stress of trying to do ‘good’ while running an evil conglomerate, he found the dark, open expanses of water and sky had a calming effect on him and gave him the opportunity to sort through his thoughts.
Angel almost always came alone. No one was really sure what he did when he was here, but Wesley suspected the vampire came for the quiet and solitude as well. As uncomfortable as Angel still was around people - at least those outside his immediate circle of friends - Wes imagined days filled with meetings and conference calls and minions greeting him in the halls must be Hell for him. While there were times when Wes might have enjoyed spending a quiet evening alone with Angel, talking in the easy way they used to do before...whatever it was that had caused their recent, but since ended, estrangement, he wouldn’t have dreamed of intruding on his friend’s privacy. Tonight was different though. When Wesley had shot Angel an email inviting him to join him that evening, it had been readily accepted, something that made him feel warm and happy even now.
A bright light streaked across the sky, catching Wesley’s attention. It was quickly followed by another. Hearing the swoosh of a sliding door opening behind him, he turned to greet Angel with a smile. Angel smiled back and handed him a filled wine glass.
"Hey."
"Hey," Wes echoed back as Angel came to lean against the wooden railing next to him. They exchanged another smile that neither would have thought possible just a few months earlier.
It had been a difficult transition period, getting used to the idea of running Wolfram & Hart, L.A., finding their own niches and responsibilities. Wesley certainly didn’t fault Angel for being put in charge of the agency again. He understood it was a stipulation of the deal Angel had made - and they’d all agreed upon - and Wes doubted he himself would have even wanted the job, had it been offered to him. However, Wes had spent a great deal of time at first wondering if he truly belonged at Angel Investigations at all anymore. With the vast resources of W&H now at their disposal, his research talents and book knowledge were hardly necessary, and Wes was feeling the call of independence. Having been on his own, running his own show, he couldn’t see himself going back to being the ‘faithful servant’ he’d once strived so hard to be. In the end, it was Angel who had convinced Wesley to stay. Not as his assistant, but as his partner in everything but name. His most trusted advisor. As it turned out he’d also become Angel’s own private covert ops agent, tackling the more delicate issues that Angel didn’t trust anyone else with. Both men were finally figuring out what they should have known years ago: that neither of them was completely capable of running the agency on his own, but that together they made a formidable team.
"So, has it started yet?"
Angel’s question jolted Wes from his thoughts. He gave the vampire an exasperated look and sighed. "Angel, as I’m sure I’ve told you before, the meteor shower itself has been going on for a few weeks now. Tonight is merely the..." Wesley caught the amused twinkle in Angel’s eyes. "And you’re teasing me, aren’t you?"
"Well, yeah," Angel admitted, not sounding at all apologetic about it. "I like to see if I can still get you to do it."
Wesley’s brow furrowed. "Do what?"
"Talk like that. Like you’re a walking encyclopedia."
Wesley’s frown deepened. "I do not talk like an encyclopedia!"
"Right. Whatever you say, Wes." Angel nodded sagely, taking a sip from his own wine glass.
"Well, not so much anymore at any rate," Wes finally grumbled good-naturedly.
Both men lapsed into silence as they drank their wine and watched the lights streaking across the sky at ever increasing intervals. It was well after midnight but it would be another hour or two before the Perseids meteor shower reached its peak. Wesley glanced at Angel and couldn’t help noticing an almost wistful expression on his face.
"What are you thinking?" he asked curiously.
"That they’re actually kinda pretty when they’re not coming down on our heads in a rain of fire."
Wesley couldn’t argue with that. "Yes, I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of shooting stars, although that’s actually a misnomer, since they’re not really -" He caught himself before he could launch into full lecture mode. Fortunately, Angel didn’t appear to notice.
"Yeah, I remember that first summer we were all together, working out of Cordy’s apartment," Angel reminisced. "You were sure...enthusiastic about the subject."
"There’s nothing wrong with wanting to share one’s knowledge with others, you know." Wes defended, thinking back to that time fondly. Back when the three of them had been so innocent and together. All right, perhaps he had been a tad bit enthusiastic at that...
***
"...and did you know that the Perseids meteor shower is the most famous meteor show in the world?" Wesley was standing in the middle of Cordelia’s living room, where he’d been updating the large whiteboard they’d set up to track Angel Investigations’ latest cases. "The earliest record of its activity appears in Chinese annals as far back as 36 AD, although it didn’t receive its name until after 1835, when Quételet of Brussels reported that there was a shower occurring in August that emanated from the constellation Perseus."
Cordelia was planted at her dining room table, busy familiarizing herself with the new laptop they’d purchased for the agency to replace the computer lost in the explosion. At least, that was her excuse for Googling runway pictures of the latest European fashion shows. She let out a half-hearted "Oh yeah?" without looking up. Angel, who had been sitting on the couch reading, was at least polite enough to lower his book and appear to be listening. Wesley plunged on.
"Tonight is supposed to be the best viewing night. There may well be over a hundred meteors falling per hour by dawn tomorrow." Wesley nodded knowingly, as if this were an achievement he should be personally proud of.
Cordy did perk up at this news, but it was only to ask "They’re not going to fall on us, are they? Do I need to start packing?"
"Er, no," Wesley faltered. "Not exactly. The meteors will be entering Earth’s atmosphere, but most will bounce off into orbit again or get burned up upon entry. That’s the bright streak we see see in the sky that people refer to as a ‘shooting star’, although actually it’s not a star at all. I remember the summer when I was ten, when my cousins were visiting and we were allowed to take our camping gear and bike down the road to the neighbor’s meadow. We stayed up all night, lying out under the open sky. We counted hundreds. It was quite exhilarating."
"Uh, that’s...interesting, Wesley," Angel commented before returning to his book.
Cordelia had apparently abandoned all pretense of listening and was now rummaging through a drawer in the sideboard. "Aha!" She pulled out a small glass container and held it up to view it’s contents. "I knew I still had some of this Passion Red nail polish left somewhere."
Wesley’s shoulders sagged but he tried not to be disappointed. He’d been about to ask the others if they wanted to accompany him to Griffith Park, where all the local star gazers would be gathered for tonight’s event, but clearly they weren’t interested. He reminded himself that, just because the three of them had grown closer since Cordelia’s ordeal with the Vocah-induced visions, not to mention the explosion at their offices, it didn’t mean they were suddenly going to start sharing all the same interests. In fact, considering how they were practically living in each others’ pockets now, so to speak, it was really rather presumptuous of Wesley to expect Angel and Cordelia to want to spend even more time with him, especially during the rare occasions when there were no visions or cases to solve. Perhaps he was intruding right now and they were simply too polite to say so.
Wesley made a show of looking at his watch. "Oh, look at the time. I didn’t realize it was getting so late. I suppose I’ll be heading home now, if you don’t need me for anything else that is." He rather hoped there was. There was always that momentary pang of regret to face each evening, as if he were somehow ‘missing out’ on something by going home. He knew it was silly, but still hadn’t been able to shake it, no matter how he tried to convince himself Angel and Cordy weren’t fighting demons or having rousing fun without him.
Angel glanced up briefly. "No, you go ahead. See you tomorrow."
"Mmm hmm," Cordy murmured between brush strokes. "And we won’t be calling or paging you because the Powers That Be know it’s too damned hot to be causing any vision-y headaches tonight. Right?" She addressed this last bit with a shake of her fist at the ceiling.
"Yes, well, goodnight then." Wesley paused to look at his friends one more time, then slipped quietly out the door.
***
Angel moved to retrieve the wine bottle from where he’d set it beside him on the deck and refilled both his and Wesley’s glasses. "You know, Wes, if you’d wanted us to go with you that night all you had to do was ask."
Wesley focused on his glass for a moment before answering. "Of course I realize that now, but at the time it was all so new to me, the idea that we weren’t merely co-workers but friends as well." He shook his head in amusement. "I suppose it’s safe to say now...but I did find you a bit intimidating at times."
Angel gave Wes a look of mock horror. "I don’t anymore? Damn, I’m losing my touch."
"Hearing you sing Barry Manilow did sort of break the illusion for me." Wes laughed. "Besides, it’s not as though you would ever try to hurt me. I trust you."
Angel’s expression clouded over and he was suddenly unwilling to meet Wesley’s eyes. Clearly something Wes said had upset his friend. He reached out and gently placed his hand on Angel’s arm. "What is it? Angel, what’s wrong?"
Angel shook his head as if trying to rid himself of unwelcome thoughts. "It’s nothing...I... nothing."
Wesley had seen Angel get into these moods before, since he’d begun working closely with him again at Wolfram & Hart. In the past the vampire had passed them off as residual effects from Jasmine’s thrall, but Wes couldn’t help thinking there was more to it, especially since several months had passed and no one else seemed to be suffering to the extend that Angel appeared to be. Then again, Angel did always excel at brooding and feelings of guilt. Whatever the case, Angel had made it clear he had no wish to discuss the subject, least of all with Wesley. Wes respected Angel’s privacy and had learned it was better to simply wait for the mood to pass or change the subject.
"So, I always wondered, that day three years ago, why the two of you came after me the way you did. Did you talk Cordelia into it because you felt sorry for me?"
Angel gave him a grateful look for the change of subject and thought back. "Actually, I think it was Cordelia’s idea." Wes raised an incredulous eyebrow. "No, really, I’m sure of it..."
***
Cordelia made a final swipe at the little finger on her right hand with the tiny brush and blew on the wet polish to make it dry faster. She then held out both hands and wiggled her fingers in Angel’s direction, waiting for compliments. Distracted by the movement, Angel looked up, perplexed. "Well?" Cordy finally demanded. "What do you think?"
"They’re red."
Cordy rolled her eyes. "Duh, anyone who isn’t a color-blind vampire can see that. What about the shade?"
Angel looked closer, because it was easier than arguing the fact that red was red to him and he really didn’t have a preference. "Very nice. It goes great with your...uh..."
"If you say ‘blood’ I’ll stake you. As soon as my nails are dry."
"I wasn’t going to say -"
"So, what was Wesley’s deal tonight anyway?" Cordy interrupted, already moving on now that she’d gotten her compliment (of a sort).
"Uh, deal?" Angel thought back but couldn’t think of anything unusual about Wesley’s behavior. Cordy was now waving both hands in the air as if trying to take flight. Angel had been working with the girl long enough not to worry about her strange behavior.
"He was awful chatty tonight, dontcha think?"
"Wes is always ‘chatty’."
"Yeah, but about demons and vampires. I’ve come to accept that as an unfortunate fact of life. But why was he going on and on about China and stars and stuff?"
"It’s something that interests him." Angel shrugged and picked up his book again. "He probably wanted us to come with him tonight."
Cordy looked at him blankly. "Come with him where?"
"To see the meteor shower," Angel answered distractedly, still trying to finish his chapter. Unfortunately, that proved to be impossible once Cordelia had come over and ripped the book from his hands. "Hey!"
"Wesley wanted us to come with him to watch the Persiwhatsits shower? I don’t remember him saying that."
Angel fought for patience and reminded himself to begin searching harder for a new location for their offices again. "I said ‘probably’, and he didn’t. It just kinda seemed like he wanted to."
Cordy’s hands were planted firmly on her hips. "Why didn’t you say anything sooner?"
"Uh, because you didn’t look like you were interested? And I’ve already seen them."
"Angelus used to lie out in fields at night, watching the sky?" Cordy’s asked skeptically. "Or was this in your pre-vamp days?"
Angel fidgeted. "Well, no, we didn’t exactly lie out...but the humans did...sometimes in large groups, and -"
"Stop right there. I don’t want to hear it."
"- it was like picking fruit from a vine."
Cordelia held her hands over her ears. "La la la. I’m not listening."
"Well you asked," Angel grumbled. He watched as Cordy left the room, came back with what appeared to be a stack of wildly patterned beach towels, then disappeared again, this time into the kitchen. By the sounds of things, she was fixing herself a snack. He was just wondering if it would be pressing his luck to ask her to heat up some blood while she was at it, when Cordy reappeared with a bulky brown paper sack in hand. "Hungry?"
"Duh. It’s not all for me. I made some sandwiches, and a thermos of coffee, and I threw in a few containers of blood for you too. They had better not leak, that’s all I can say."
"What are we -" Cordy thrust the sack at Angel, who took it reflexively.
"C’mon, let’s go."
"Uh, Cordy." Angel might have scratched his head in confusion, except that he was now holding the stack of towels as well. "Where are we going?"
"To find Wes, of course. When I told him before that we were family now, I meant it. If a member of our family wants to force us to sit outside all night and get bags under our eyes due to lack of sleep so we can watch some stupid rocks fly across the sky, then it’s our duty to go along with it."
Huh. Okay. Knowing it was useless to argue with Cordelia when she had her mind made up, Angel simply shrugged again and followed her out the door.
***
"Family." Wes let the word roll off his tongue. "Funny how one word can mean so many different things to different people."
"Yeah," Angel agreed quietly. His grip on the wine glass in his hand tightened, threatening to break the narrow stem.
Wesley gave him a sharp look. "Angel, are you sure you’re all right? I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but I am a good listener, should you ever wish to talk."
Angel reached over and gave Wesley’s shoulder a squeeze. "Thanks, I appreciate that. I think it’s just all this talking about the past, y’know, and realizing how different things are now. When you’ve lived as long as I have you learn it’s better to focus on the future." Angel must have realized how ironic that sounded, coming from the Master Brooder, because he gave a snort then began to chuckle. "Well, I’m working on that anyway."
Wes nodded. "I understand. But you know, Angel, trying to forget the good memories isn’t going to make the pain of the bad ones go away. What’s happened to Cordelia is a horrible thing. If she..." He swallowed hard. "If she never comes out of this, I’ll always treasure the time we did have together."
Angel seemed to be thinking hard. Finally he looked Wes in the eye and smiled. "Yeah, you’re right. How’d you get to be so smart?"
Wesley smiled back. "I’ve learned alot from my friends over the years."
***
Wesley was sitting cross-legged on a giant neon pink beach towel with some sort of equally neon animal on it, in a grassy area near Griffith Park Observatory, high above Los Angeles. Angel sat nearby, leaning back on his hands with his long legs stretched out in front of him. Between them, Cordelia lay on her back with Angel’s coat rolled up under her head for a pillow. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and Wes was having a hard time choosing between watching the steady stream of meteors above, and the look of awe and enjoyment on Cordy’s face. Glancing over at Angel, he saw that the vampire was watching Cordy too, and the two men shared a smile.
Wes didn’t know why Angel and Cordy had come looking for him at his flat, nor why they’d suddenly shown an interest in joining him tonight, but he found he didn’t really care. Much as he had that day a few months ago, when Cordelia had fixed him a sandwich and announced they were all ‘family’ now, Wesley felt as though he belonged there, with them. His friends.
Picking up his styrofoam coffee cup to take a drink, Wesley impulsively held it out towards Angel as a sort of toast. Angel smiled and raised his cup of blood in return.
"Hey, no toasting without me," Cordy scolded from below them, so then they had to wait for her to sit up and pour herself a fresh cup from the thermos. They all ‘clinked’ their cups together as Cordy made her toast: "Here’s to friends."
***
Somehow silently agreeing it was time, Wes and Angel turned their backs on the light show in the sky they’d been watching and made their way back through the sliding door. It led into a large bedroom with pristine white walls, not one but two walk-in closets, and it’s own private bath. Nothing but the best. The round-the-clock nursing staff had been given the night off so the three of them were alone. Angel reached down and gently fingered a lock of Cordy’s hair where it was fanned out against the pillow. Wesley stood beside him next to the bed and, as he did every time, kept expecting Cordy to wake up at any moment, reading them the riot act for allowing her to be dressed in something so unflattering as a hospital gown.
Angel picked up another wine glass, which had been waiting on the bedside table, and handed it to Wesley. He then emptied the last of the wine evenly into all three glasses and set the empty bottle back down on the table. They stood over Cordelia for a moment, watching her breathe in and out, each lost in his own thoughts, then Wesley raised both his and Cordy’s glasses in the now familiar toast.
"Here’s to friends."
Angel touched his glass to the other two and shook his head. "Here’s to family."