A Post Chosen/Not Fade Away. Comics do not exist. Takes place in Italy two years after NFA.
A lone figure walked down the deserted road, heels clicking against the ancient cobblestone street.
She didn't wander idly as many an unlucky tourist who strolled the Roman streets threw the darkness of the night, many that did not find their destination, and many never arrived home again.
No, not this girl.
She walked with a purpose, she was on patrol.
She was Buffy Summers, and she wasn't afraid of the dark.
The dark was afraid of her.
Rather those that thrived in the dark were afraid of her.
Buffy was a Slayer, no longer the 'only girl in the world' but one of almost 2,000.
However, she was the oldest of them, in both age and tenure. This past birthday, she superseded the age of the past eldest living slayer, sadly enough that age had only been 26.
The life of a slayer was not a long one, that was something she had known since her first watcher Merrick called her into service one decade ago.
It felt like a lifetime, and to her, it was. She had only been 16 when her world was upended, she had been thrust into the life, or unlife rather, of the vampire world.
However, against all odds, she defeated everything she faced, even death, twice.
Buffy knew her life was never going to be normal, heck she wouldn't even know what to do with a normal life.
Normalcy had been a dream for her ever since her calling a decade ago, but over time, it had faded.
Today she lived for tomorrow only, nothing else mattered to her anymore, she couldn't afford it to.
...
As Buffy walked along Via Caio Cestio street, towards the Cimitero Acattolico (Non-catholic Cemetery), she let her mind drift.
The week had been slow for her, only three vampires in all, and she didn't expect to find much in the cemetery, so she let her guard drop just a bit.
'Wonder what Willows up to right now, if her and Oz worked out alright. Bet Xander is still chasing that girl he told me about last week, he sounded like he really liked her. Giles never calls anymore, I guess his wife keeps him busy.'
She smiled; all her friends were in relationships, she was truly happy for them.
Buffy had given up on love years ago, the only man she ever really loved, wasn't a man at all, not in the technically living, breathing sense.
She hadn't let herself think of that tall, dark, angelic faced man in a long time, and was going to continue not thinking of him, she didn't really want to spend the next three nights crying herself to sleep…she had done that too often to count.
Buffy's attention was abruptly pulled back to her surroundings as a tingling sensation raced up her back.
She was being watched.
The stake she kept in her back pocket was in her hand in a second. Her eyes filtered through the darkness, searching for her stalker.
The tingling intensified and she turned towards the feeling, ready to strike.
Under the streetlamp, not two feet away, a vampire materialized from the shadows.
His eyes linked with hers, and the stake in her hand lowered.
Buffy stood in dumbstruck awe, the vampire stood his ground.
A single word escaped her lips, before her throat closed tightly shut.
"Angel?"
...
"Buffy" he said, as their traditional greeting towards one another.
He stood silently, letting her adjust to his sudden appearance after a two year hiatus.
His throat was dry, his sweaty palms buried deeply in his leather trench coat, his stance shifting from one leg to the other, as he nervously awaited her reaction.
She looked him over quickly, she noticed he had done the same.
A long moment past then Buffy's throat reopened, "Angel, what…what are you doing here? You were…just gone…I thought…Everyone said you were dead." She finally managed to say.
He shifted uncomfortably again, his eyes looking anywhere but hers, "I know. I'm sorry. It's…it's been awhile."
She shook her head, "No Angel, it past 'awhile' about two years ago." She said sharply, she noticed the words seemed to hurt him since he visibly winced. She wanted to feel bad, to apologize, instead she continued to yell at him, "L.A disappeared! The entire city, gone! The news said it was an earthquake. We thought you died. We held a service." As she spoke her words lost some of their bite, but he still winced at the meaning.
"I…I'm sorry." He finally mumbled, eyes refusing to leave the ground.
She glared at him, "Your sorry? Yeah, great. That fixes everything! Why are you here Angel?" she demanded, moving closer, to look into his face.
His eyes finally met with hers when she stuck her face in his, he took a deep breath and spoke quietly, "I…wanted to see you."
Years of buried emotions threatened to break free, to overwhelm her.
For two years she had thought the worst of him, now suddenly he was standing right in front of her? What could he possibly be thinking? She had half a mind to stake him. How could he do this to her, show up out of the blue and act like he was never gone?
"You wanted to see me?" She repeated back, she shook her blond head and laughed, stepping back from him while she did. "Wow, Angel, I really don't know how to respond to that. All this time, and you suddenly decide you want to come see me?"
His eyes dropped back down in submission, a pained expression clear on his face. "That's not all." He barely whispered.
If she hadn't been a Slayer she might not have heard him, but she did and turned her full attention back to him. "Oh, there's more? Ok fire away" she said, her voice a mix of anger and sarcasm.
"Buffy, I…I wanted to tell you something important. I thought…you should be the first to know..."
He would have continued, but she raised her left hand to silence him.
"No, never mind, just stop Angel. It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing you say here tonight is going to make any difference. I'm glad you're ok, really I am. But I grieved for you, I got over you. I moved on."
Angel felt the knife as it slid into his chest, it pierced his heart, cleaved it in two.
When his eyes looked down, he didn't see blood, he didn't see the knife, he didn't even see the hand that held it, but he still felt it, and it was agony.
He took a step back, Buffy's words still dripping with his blood.
His eyes fell upon the gold ring sitting on her ring finger, 'She's married?'
He wanted to grab her, hold her, tell her everything that happened to him the past two years, but he didn't.
'She moved on. She belongs to someone else.' He nodded, his body numb, "I'm…sorry I bothered you." He managed to mumble, then turned and walked away from her.
He had no idea where he was going to go, no thoughts of what he would eat, where he would sleep. His life had only just begun, and it was already over. He had nothing left to fight for…
...
Buffy watched him turn and leave, she couldn't bear watching him walk away from her again, so she turned her back.
She focused on the glass window in front of her, her eyes caught his reflection as he disappeared around the corner.
The second he was gone, she felt the emotional dam break.
A single tear rolled down her cheek, soon it was followed by another, then another. After a moment her hand when to her mouth and she broke down.
Buffy fell heavily down to the cold cobblestone curb, her legs too weak to hold her, her eyes too watery to see.
She wanted so badly to grab him the second she saw him, to hold on and never let go. She had dreamed of him showing up since she first heard L.A vanished, and now that it actually happened; she had ordered him away without even hearing an explanation.
'How could I?' She thought. 'I love him so god damn much! But we can never be together, it will cost him his soul! I can't handle it anymore! How can I let him touch me, kiss me, if we can never truly be together in every way? I can't have him as just a friend, I need him as everything. If I can't have it all, I can't have any.'
After a few minutes, she began to pull herself back together. Her heart beat heavy in her chest, her body exhausted from emotional drain. She slowly began to walk back towards her apartment, dawn would be here soon, the local demon population calling it quits until tomorrow night.
As she walked, something was nudging at her brain, something important, something she had missed. She tried to figure it out, but whatever it was, eluded her.
Then it hit her.
A fist.
Buffy was knocked off balance, but she quickly regained her footing.
A vampire lunged out of the shadows, his gruesome demonic features pulled back in a hungry predatory snarl.
It wanted blood, and was running out of night in which to feed.
"Not now!" she huffed.
In a second, she had whipped her stake out and slammed it home.
The vamp dusted as she walked away, her mind still trying to untangle the events of the last twenty minutes.
She drifted by a shop, one she often past on purpose to glance at the pretty jewelry and stylish outfits.
Tonight all she could see in the window front was her own reflection.
Her eyes suddenly widened, 'I saw his reflection. Vampires don't have reflections.'
Buffy mentally kicked herself for not noticing sooner. 'But what does it mean? If I saw his reflection…is he…'
No, her mind shot down the thought. She wouldn't let herself think anything right now.
She had to find him, make his finish what he was going to say. If she didn't, this was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.
Buffy turned and ran in the direction Angel had gone.
...
'He couldn't have gotten far' she thought as she ran.
The narrow streets flew past her as she went, her eyes darting around constantly, looking for any sign of him, her senses reaching out for him.
She was about to give up, the lightning of the dawn would have drove him inside, when she finally spotted him.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him, he was standing on a bridge over the Tiber River, and he was very close to the edge.
...
She stopped running immediately, she walked cautiously but steadily towards him, she didn't want to startle him into doing something really stupid.
"Angel?" she called out to him, to let him know she was there.
He didn't respond, she wasn't sure he even heard her.
As she closed the distance between them, she realized something else; the sky was growing brighter, the sun was coming up, and he was waiting for it.
Fear quickened her steps and motivated her forward.
His gaze never left the turning water below, he seemed almost mesmerized by it.
When she got close enough, she noticed his cheeks were wet, his eyes red, and he was crying silently.
"Angel?" she said again, this time she was close enough to lay her hand on his forearm, so she did.
He jumped, obviously oblivious to her approach.
"I'm sorry" she said as she came to stand beside him, not only for startling him, but for everything she had said earlier.
He looked over at her, both shocked to see her, and at the same time, not.
"Angel, the sun." She said quickly, realizing the deadly rays would shoot out over the horizon any minute.
"I know." He said, looking up at the sky, making no move to leave.
"Listen, I know I said some mean things, but this isn't the way. Come inside, we can talk things over. Angel please!" she begged, grabbing his arm and trying to drag him out of harms way.
"Buffy, It's alright..." He tried to say but she cut him off.
"No It's not alright! I can't let you kill yourself over this!" She cried, again trying to drag him off the bridge.
He took a few steps, then held onto the railing, halting her too. "Buffy" he tried again, but the sun beat him too it.
She looked up as the sun fell on his face; he shut his eyes as the light touched him, a slight smile as he felt its warmth.
She was about to throw him to the ground when she realized, the sun wasn't burning him.
"But? Huh?" she asked, confused.
He reached down and grasped her hand, the first thing she noticed was the comfort it provided, and the second that it was warm.
He lifted her hand and laid in on his chest, over his heart. Tears filled her eyes as she felt his chest rise and fall with breath, the warmth and the steady heartbeat beneath.
"O my god…You…Your…" She stuttered.
"Human," he finished for her "Yeah, I noticed." He said, then let go of her hand, but she didn't drop hers from his chest.
She looked up into his face, still pale but not so much in death as lack of tan, seeing it in the sun caused a shiver to run down her spine.
She shook her head, "How?" she asked him, hoping he would answer.
He looked down at the rushing water beneath them, "I'm not really sure."
She moved closer, still fascinated with how warm he was, "Have you…been like this…since L.A.?" she asked slowly, wondering if he was alive the whole time she was grieving over his death.
He quickly shook his head, and smiled weakly, "No, no this is…new. Almost a week."
...
They stood side by side in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Angel content to lean against the bridge railing, in the warm morning sun, Buffy content in just watching him breathe.
After a while, Buffy spoke, not quiet looking at him, "What now?"
His fingers twitching idly on the rail, he thought a moment, wondering exactly what she meant, but before he could answer, his stomach made itself known.
She looked over at him, an eyebrow raised at the growl the came from within him.
He looked down, embarrassed, "Ahh…well, I guess I should go take care of that first."
She laughed at the sight of his cheeks turning bright red, "Yeah, you should. Gees, when's the last time you ate?"
His face scrunched in thought a moment, then he answered, "Actually, I really haven't."
Her laugh faded, almost angry, "You haven't? Angel if you're human, you need to eat." Before he could answer, she looped her arm into his, and dragged him along. "Come on, I could use some breakfast myself."
...
A short time later, Buffy and Angel were seated outside at a small café, each drinking a coffee and scoffing down assorted breakfast pastries.
They sat talking for hours, avoiding sensitive subjects like Angel's whereabouts the past two years, and a majority of their time together as a couple, and focusing on casual subjects and exchanging funny stories.
Most of the verbal conversation was one sided, Buffy having a larger supply of humorous material than Angel over the last few years, however, Angel was more than happy to listen to her talk.
He missed listening to her rants, he had always found them cute and amusing.
He injected now and again, adding comments or asking for clarification on some subjects.
Buffy started to feel bad, wondering if she was boring him. For so long, she would date these guys that would rant on forever about nothing, and she could never share her stories, since they all involved either magic, demons, or an elaborate plot to destroy the world, or in some cases, all three.
With Angel, he knew the intimate details of her life, and body, he didn't need protection from the Slayer's secrets.
'It's refreshing to be able to just talk freely for a change.' She thought happily.
Buffy was about to start another story when the manager walked up to their table. In Italian, he told them they would either have to order more food, or move on since they needed the table. It was noon by then and the lunchtime crowd was filing in.
They decided to leave, Buffy left some cash on the table and they started walking aimlessly down the busy street.
"I should go." Angel said abruptly.
Buffy focused on his face a moment, and suddenly realized how exhausted he looked; she wondered when he last slept. "Where are you staying?" she asked, both curious and concerned.
He shrugged, "I have a place."
She stopped walking beside him and crossed her arms over her chest, he noticed her stop after a few steps and turned to face her.
When he turned, she asked, "Is that Angel speech for 'I'm living in a cardboard box on the street.'?"
He chuckled, "No…a box? Sounds like way too much of a commitment."
She shook her head, "I have a couch available, if…you want to crash for a few days?" she tried not to sound too desperate to take him home with her.
He gave her a weak smile, "I can't…I don't want to intrude. Anyways, your husband might disapprove of you dragging strays home with you."
Buffy looked at him quizzically, "My husband?"
He pointed to her left ring finger, and the gold band adorning it "You have a wedding ring." She lifted her hand and looked down at the ring a moment.
'Oh, whoops!'