Disclaimer: Still not mine…
Title: Home
Author: Oceanee (again, previously known as BlackbAngeL)
Summary: A much deserved reunion between our two favorite lovers. B/A. Future Fic, post NFA. Totally ignores the comics.
Note: I'm back to canon these days! Yay! lol. And, redrider, I used the past tense!! Do the happy dance with me...
o o o o o o o
"On broken wings I'm falling, and it won't be long … I've got to find that meaning, that I've searched for so long…" – Alter Bridge, 'Broken Wings'
She was sitting on her bed, in her hotel room, watching the rain slowly fall from the dark sky. It hadn't stopped falling for the three days she'd spent there, slaying, questioning, searching the ruins of what used to be her hometown for a clue, a hint, anything that would tell her he was alive. Anything that would keep the barely stitched pieces of her heart together and whole.
Anything but dust. Please, anything but dust.
The motel she had chosen was a little outside of L.A. The City of Angels itself, well… there wasn't much left of it. A few buildings here and there, but none of them would survive the storm. Soon, it would just be a pile of rubbish, of dust and bodies thrown together in a morbid pyramid of doom. Ground Zero… the very place where the Apocalypse had started. And also, surprisingly enough, where it had stopped; how and why was anybody's guess.
Buffy would have liked to believe that she'd been there for the big showdown because of some sort of premonition. That she had felt what would happen, felt him call to her for help, for support. That nothing had changed between them, and that she had been the first thing he'd thought about when he had realised what he had to do. She would have liked to believe anything, anything but the plain and cold truth that she had had no idea what she would walk into when she'd boarded a plane to L.A in order to visit the Slayer in San Diego. And that if not for what had happened, she would have left the city, quickly enough so she wouldn't have had to even consider visiting him. Visiting them all.
Talk about a surprise. The moment she had entered the cab outside the airport, she had felt the walls of the dimension tear, she could almost smell Hell's very breath, and feel Evil creep into her body, her thoughts, taking her over until there was nothing left of who she was but a Slayer out for blood. She had retched on the back seat of the car, and before the driver could utter a word, had run under the pouring rain towards the city, barely armed, never minding the distance or the burning in her lungs, the only thing clear in her mind being the need to act, to fight and save whatever could be saved. To get rid of the nausea that wouldn't leave her.
She had jumped into action at the first sign of battle, with a cry so loud and feral that some of the demons around her just ran in another direction to get as far away from her as they could. They hadn't gone very far though, she'd caught them quickly, and in a fit of vicious rage had slaughtered them all, punching, slicing, kicking anything that represented even the smallest threat.
It was only a few hours later, when she had finally come down from her adrenaline high, that she'd taken a look around, assessing the damage. She had walked through the city for hours, covered with dust and demon blood, as well as her own, and when the sun had risen, she could count the survivors she had found on her fingers.
As she watched the first sun rays hit the stained pavements in front of her, she had fallen to her knees, and cried. Breaking the dam and letting out the droplets of anger, regrets, and fear that she had kept inside for so long.
She'd spent the next three days walking around the city, slaying again. She hadn't had any occasion to call her friends to tell them where she was, and she hadn't really wanted to. So what if they believed she was dead? Maybe that would be her way out. Her escape.
After the initial shock, she'd started to look for him. To ask around, try and beat it out of demons that were unlucky enough to cross her path… but days had come and gone, and she still hadn't heard a single thing. Not a word, not a hint, nothing. It was like he and his team had just vanished. Wolfram and Heart was just a memory; the hotel Willow had mentioned… well, there wasn't much of it left standing. And yet, every day she kept coming back there, touching the stones lying around, looking for anything that would give her a clue; and everyday at sun set, she could swear…
It was ridiculous, and she knew it. But everyday at sunset, he was there.
She knew she was just hurting herself. Coming back there, again and again, just to feel the weight of familiar eyes on her back, to hear the faint whisper of well-known voice... Maybe she was imagining it, and actually, the more she thought about it the less likely it became that it was all real. Dehydration, sleep deprivation and hunger could do that to a person.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she slowly stood up as once again, the city's power went out. It was a strange sight, L.A in the complete darkness, not something you witnessed every other day. And yet, it had become almost a habit. She barely even noticed anymore.
She walked to her window, and rested her head against the cold glass with a sigh. In order to avoid a maximum of threats from demons on the ground, she had chosen a room on the fourth floor of one of the rare buildings that were left standing. A hotel at that. Funny how, even with every sign of humanity long gone from her sight, she still held on to silly, human every day reactions. Like, finding a room in a hotel when, frankly, she could have chosen any empty house.
It hadn't rained in a while, and now nature seemed to be claiming its rights back on civilisation. Payback, probably. The thunder kept getting louder and louder, tearing through the night, penetrating her very thoughts as its loud rumble shook the ground again. She didn't even move, though. Kept staring at the street, waiting for the next strike of lightening... That was all her life seemed to be made of these days. Waiting.
And to think all those years, people kept telling her that she was not patient. If they could see her now...
Wanting to escape for a minute the confined atmosphere of her bedroom, she opened her window, stretching her arm out to feel the rain on her skin, maybe just to make sure she was still alive. She knew it was ridiculous, and dangerous, but it wasn't like she actually cared...
Wouldn't it be a poetic death after all? Struck by lightening in an Apocalypse. The greatest force of all finally doing the greatest Slayer in. She chuckled at the mere thought of that.
Taking a deep breath, trying to ignore the stench that seemed to be permanently attached to the city, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again and lightening finally came, she got a good view of the street below...
And she let out a gasp.
Someone was down there, looking up at her, straight in the eye. Her heart beat faster as she realized that the silhouette was oddly familiar. But before she could get a better view, there was darkness again.
A sudden rush of something unidentified, halfway between doubt, excitement and hope, coursed through her veins, and she was out of her room before she even heard the thunder she had known would inevitably follow. She climbed down the steps in such a hurry she barely even noticed where she was going. A few seconds later, she was on the street, and it was only a moment before she was soaked to the bone, shivering.
And alone.
Not wanting to believe it had just been an illusion, she turned around, walking aimlessly, wiping the raindrops away from her brow every few seconds. Eventually though, after a while, she sighed as she admitted to herself that maybe she'd just dreamt it. Shoulders slumped and eyes cast downward to hide her tears from inexistant eyes, she turned around and walked back towards the entrance of the hotel, ever careful not to let her guard down too much in case some bad guy caught her... Only to be stopped by the sight of a pair of feet.
It took her a little while to wrap her mind around the fact that someone was standing in front of her, and she knew that she should be panicking a little because, really, those muddy boots could belong to anyone, from friend to foe. But she didn't. Somehow, she knew. That feeling in her gut could only mean one thing.
Sucking in a breath, she raised her face, and let out a low relieved sigh as she saw him, staring back at her, his arms hanging limply at his sides, his shirt torn in so many places she didn't think it could still be considered clothing. He had been fighting, obviously. A lot. A bruise was covering the right side of his face, his mouth set in a grim line as his eyes seemed to look into her, searching for an answer...
When her lips broke into a sad, tired smile, she knew he had found it. He closed the gap between them, grabbing her around the waist to crush her against his chest. She really didn't mind.
"I'm sorry," she whispered into his ear, and his arms clutched her tighter as he got the meaning of her words. They both had too many things to apologize for. "I should have... I should..." she never finished her sentence, knowing that she would start sobbing if she even tried to get it all out.
She buried her nose into his collarbone as she felt him shake his head lightly, and jumped a little as, for the first time in what felt like years, his voice whispered back to her.
"You know where I'd like to go, now?" he asked, his hand lightly caressing her back.
Still unable to make a sound, she just shook her head, mimicking his actions from earlier. She felt him pull back a little, and, gathering her courage, she raised her face to look him in the eye. He ran a hand down her cheek as he looked back at her, his eyes betraying everything he wouldn't say, and everything she knew he probably never would be ready to talk about.
She bit her lips, awaiting his answer.
"Home," he replied softly, kissing her forehead to make sure she wouldn't misunderstand his words.
The beginning of a smile stretching her lips, she shrugged, taking his hand in hers before leading him away from the rain, into the safe haven of the hotel.
"I'm sure we can work something out..."
And just like that, she decided that maybe, maybe everything would turn out alright.
The End.
o o o o o o o
I'm on a roll these days... Anyway, you'll notice that I didn't kill any of them this time. Yay me. )