Title: Burned Embers
TV Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Author: Beloved Slayer
Rating: K+
Summary: She waits for him in a rundown café with a bag of cookies in hand. One-shot.
Author's Notes: Takes place six months after the events of Chosen. Alternate universe. This is a slight rewrite of my original post. Enjoy!
Chapter One
Close to midnight..
She waits amongst the diner patrons for him, hands stirring the caffeinated black liquid that slurred within the standard porcelain mug.
She was lost in her own world, the only thoughts her own.
With hooded eyes, she shifts to the left and sees nothing but vast desert against the backdrop of a starless sky. The scenery entranced her, leaving her to focus on nothing else but it. After a moment, she inhaled through her mouth to qualm her anxiety, her free hand tracing manicured nails in circles against the laminated placemat.
Will he ever come? It feels like I've been here forever. Oh, never mind. I'm going outside and wait until he does.
Savoring the last dregs of her lukewarm coffee, she slips from the well-worn oak table and rises to her feet. The sizzling sounds of bacon and steak assaulted her nostrils as she made her way to the entrance, pausing for a moment before venturing into the lone contrast of night.
She rubs her arms.
Not a single animal presence could mask the quietness that obscured the desert.
Isolation came into the back of her mind.
She stiffens unexpectedly, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. A familiar tingle sweeps across her stomach, and she closes her eyes as a result.
He's here. And he's.. alive. Could it be?
She opens her eyes, studying the area with precision. She sees nothing out of the ordinary until she felt a soft tapping against her shoulder, startling her and stirring the contents she held within her jacket pocket.
She doesn't turn. She swallows a lump before choosing her words to speak. "Is it really you?" Heart lurching, she awaits his answer, her body utterly still.
"You tell me," he murmurs huskily. Her brows knitted together in confusion, but it ended as soon as she felt his hand wrapped against hers. It was warm. Not the single digit temperature she was accustomed to.
She didn't have to ask what that entailed. She knew.
Regardless, she steels herself for the inevitable, for what had been impossible in their lifetime. "The Shanshu Prophecy?"
A moment's pause and then, "Yeah." He releases his hand from hers, circling an arm around her waist to reel her in. She breathes in his scent and instinctively knows that it's him.
"How?"
"Doesn't matter. I'm here now." He kisses the nape of her neck, leaving a moist trail. She felt a hand tracing circles across her stomach, but she doesn't protest.
"I smell cookies. Chocolate chip.." he assesses.
She whirls to face him.
"Yeah. I wanted to…," she doesn't finish, but is helpless in producing a mischievous smile.
"Does this mean that you're…done? Baking I mean? I sure as hell hope so. I've waited too long to hear you say the words. You have no idea how much I've dream of them." His eyes twinkle under the faint light of the diner, deepening into hers.
She smiles once more, with a suddenly swift kiss to lips that were now supple and warm.
"You're still the only thing I think about. The one freaky thing in my freaky world that still makes sense to me…all these years. No matter what happened I never really stopped loving you. You have to believe that." She continues to gaze into his eyes, her own filled with both regret and a love that she withheld for what seemed like eternity.
"Nor did I." He stalls momentarily before adding, "You still my girl?"
She fondly remembers the question from long ago. She inches closer to him, planting another fierce kiss to his mouth.
"Always."
"A word I wanted to hear. And… there's someone I'd like for you to meet before we let anything else happen." At his words, her heart quickly sped as she notices a young boy of about ten years old standing awkwardly within a short distance, shuffling his feet onto the mound of dirt.
"Connor?" she bellows to him, her eyes widening.
Her love's chocolate eyes beamed. "My son. Yeah. I didn't want to hide him from you forever. It wasn't fair that I've kept him in the dark. This was the perfect moment to introduce you to him."
"Dad? Who is this lady?" Connor demanded with a puzzled appearance.
"Someone who's incredibly important to me," Angel replied, pulling Buffy closer to him.
"Is this that Buffy person that you're always talking about? That Slayer girl? I remember her from that picture you keep in that book you have. You always keep looking at it when no one's in the room-"
"What picture?" It was her turn to interrogate the man standing beside her.
"Um, it's nothing. Really." He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly. But she narrows her eyes in suspicion, knowing that it was a lie.
"It's okay Dad. I know you love her. You really do. I can tell by the way you keep looking at her."
"Yes I do. And I hope that you'll like her too."
Studying her, Connor announces, "I think I already do."
In that moment, she falls to her knees at head level, her eyes peering into his light hazel ones. "Pleased to meet you Connor. I hope we can be friends." Her words brought a smile to his face, something that Angel had not seen in months' time. His heart warmed at the imagery.
"Nice to meet ya," he answers shyly, tearing his eyes away after a moment.
She grins, placing his small hand into hers before rising to her full stature. "Angel, are you sure…?"
He wraps his arms around her for the second time, silencing her with another one of his kisses, his forehead against hers.
"I have everything I need right here. And the first thing we're gonna do? Getting to know each other again. Make up for lost time. Moving in together. Marriage. Then a few kids of our own, and we'll raise Connor right, without demons or vampires getting in the way. After all, we have forever. Or at least, close to it."
She closes her eyes to the idea. She didn't need to say anything else except, "I happily accept."