![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
crack_van2011-02-09 01:04 pm
On Ancient Wings by Cynamin (PG)
Pairing: Buffy/Angel
Length: 15K+
Author on LJ:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
cynamin Author Website: Defunct
Why this must be read: Cynamin does something entirely new with the idea of a Buffy/Angel futurefic, setting them in a distant but not unrecognizable future where Angel has begun to look more like the monster inside of him (aging in the way that, for instance, the Master did). But Buffy is still Buffy, and there's still that good fight. Her determination and optimism are so believable here, as are the effects of his having spent more centuries alone, always saving but never joining humanity.
The bar tender took a second to collect money from another patron before looking back at her. “What do you want, Slayer?”
“I’m looking for a place to settle in for a while,” Buffy explained, loud enough for others in the bar to hear as well. “Thought this might be the sort of place where someone might know someone who could lend me a room in exchange for protection.”
To her surprise, the bar tender shook his head. She’d never had someone dismiss her so easily before, especially not someone who knew her reputation. No one else at the bar seemed to be showing any interest, either, and it wasn’t because they weren’t listening in. “What?” Buffy asked, and winced inwardly as her tone emerged more defensively than she would like. “You think I don’t have the muscle?”
“Hey, I’m not doubting your capabilities, kid,” the man said in return. “Already got protection here, though. And before you ask – yeah, from demons and all that.”
Buffy did not let her surprise show. After all, there should be a Slayer in this time and place. Slayers weren’t the only ones that fought demons, anyway. She just gave the bar tender a contemplative look. “What if I wanted to meet your protection?” she asked.
The man scowled still further. “Then I’d say that’s not a good idea,” he retorted oddly.
Buffy was about to make a sharp comeback when something froze her. Something was suddenly different in the air. She felt it in the pit of her stomach and crawling up her spine. Familiar. Her breath caught.
On Ancient Wings