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Shattered Image by Wolfling (PG)
Fandom: ANGEL: THE SERIES
Pairing: Wesley/Gunn
Length: 5,510 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wolfling
Author Website: Wolfling's Lair
Why this must be read: In this AU, after Wesley steals Connor and has his subsequent falling out with Angel, Gunn tries to make sense of it all. This story has some truly lovely characterizations, and excellently insightful observations about the motivations of both characters. The complex, intense, and sometimes screwed up dynamic that these two had developed by this point in canon is beautifully rendered here---and wonderfully, skillfully untangled in a way that makes emotional and logical sense and is perfectly satisfying. The difficulties in this pairing are not glossed over here, but carefully dealt with in ways that feel real and plausible.
He didn't know why he was here -- Wesley had made it clear that he wasn't welcome. Besides, Gunn was angry at Wesley, wasn't he? He'd chosen what side he was on after all -- Angel's. Gunn could get where Angel was coming from -- he understood the pain of losing family, and he understood the taste of betrayal.
Taking all that into account, when it came down to a choice -- Angel or Wesley -- there really wasn't a choice at all. Wesley had been the one doing. Angel had been the one done to. End of story.
But still... He couldn't get the sound of Wesley's voice out of his head: rough and gravelly, stripped bare of everything but anger and pain. That was bad enough, but worse had been Wesley's eyes.
Gunn had always been able to look into them and know exactly what he was thinking. Boy had the most expressive eyes of anyone this side of Fred. But the last time he had seen him, Wesley's eyes hadn't told him anything. It wasn't that they were empty, it was worse than that. They were shuttered, opaque; the bitterness and pain forming a wall that blocked off everything else, everything that made Wesley Wesley.
It wasn't right.
Wesley wasn't supposed to look like that, wasn't supposed to sound like that, all bitter, weary and cynical. He wasn't supposed to be sitting alone in his apartment because his friends had collectively turned their backs on him. He wasn't supposed to have made a choice that had cost an innocent his childhood. He wasn't...
He wasn't supposed to make that kind of mistake.
Gunn blinked, that thought bringing him up short and leaving him feeling like he'd been hit by the proverbial sledgehammer.
Wesley wasn't supposed to make mistakes.
Shattered Image
Pairing: Wesley/Gunn
Length: 5,510 words
Author on LJ:
wolflingAuthor Website: Wolfling's Lair
Why this must be read: In this AU, after Wesley steals Connor and has his subsequent falling out with Angel, Gunn tries to make sense of it all. This story has some truly lovely characterizations, and excellently insightful observations about the motivations of both characters. The complex, intense, and sometimes screwed up dynamic that these two had developed by this point in canon is beautifully rendered here---and wonderfully, skillfully untangled in a way that makes emotional and logical sense and is perfectly satisfying. The difficulties in this pairing are not glossed over here, but carefully dealt with in ways that feel real and plausible.
He didn't know why he was here -- Wesley had made it clear that he wasn't welcome. Besides, Gunn was angry at Wesley, wasn't he? He'd chosen what side he was on after all -- Angel's. Gunn could get where Angel was coming from -- he understood the pain of losing family, and he understood the taste of betrayal.
Taking all that into account, when it came down to a choice -- Angel or Wesley -- there really wasn't a choice at all. Wesley had been the one doing. Angel had been the one done to. End of story.
But still... He couldn't get the sound of Wesley's voice out of his head: rough and gravelly, stripped bare of everything but anger and pain. That was bad enough, but worse had been Wesley's eyes.
Gunn had always been able to look into them and know exactly what he was thinking. Boy had the most expressive eyes of anyone this side of Fred. But the last time he had seen him, Wesley's eyes hadn't told him anything. It wasn't that they were empty, it was worse than that. They were shuttered, opaque; the bitterness and pain forming a wall that blocked off everything else, everything that made Wesley Wesley.
It wasn't right.
Wesley wasn't supposed to look like that, wasn't supposed to sound like that, all bitter, weary and cynical. He wasn't supposed to be sitting alone in his apartment because his friends had collectively turned their backs on him. He wasn't supposed to have made a choice that had cost an innocent his childhood. He wasn't...
He wasn't supposed to make that kind of mistake.
Gunn blinked, that thought bringing him up short and leaving him feeling like he'd been hit by the proverbial sledgehammer.
Wesley wasn't supposed to make mistakes.
Shattered Image