Gone 2: Rome: Part One
by Bria
All characters that appear on Buffy the Vampire Slayer do not belong to me, but all others and the storyline DO! Please don't use them unless you are given permission;) I wrote this as a kind of sequel to Anya's Gone, but I switched Buffy and Willow's places so Angel and Buffy are together. Hope she doesn't mind 0:) THis is my first fanfic, so feed back is welcome, please no flames! They're scary! So now, on with the show!
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Part One
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A New Future
The airplane quietly flew through the star-strewn sky, away from the small Californian town. It traveled through the cold, black sky to Italy. . . And took two of it’s passengers towards a new future.
In the dim plane, most of the passengers were sleeping, including a petite, lithe girl who looked to be 16. Shoulder-length, golden hair fell softly around a sweet, young face. Long dark lashes hid a pair of large blue eyes. Before all of it had happened, the girl had been beautiful. Now, there was something ethereal about her. Something un-natural.
Beside her, her companion shifted in his seat, wide awake. Angel’s vampiric sense of time said it was the middle of the day, or at least, his equivalent of day. His dark, brown eyes wandered restlessly over the other people in the plane, sensing their life, their blood. Eventually his attention was pulled back to the young girl curled up in the chair beside him. Angel felt his heart twist with guilt as he stared at her tiny form. Silently his soul cried out to her, asking for her forgiveness. He should have been there, both when the Anointed One had captured her and later, after she had discovered what she had become.
Buffy Summers whimpered low in her throat and thrashed out at an unseen enemy. Her eyes suddenly flew open as she awoke with a gasp. Her eyes were already filled with unshed tears even before she was fully awake. Quickly, Angel clasped her wrists in a strong grip and pulled her against his chest, murmuring into her ears soothingly. There was no need to ask what had scared her. She had obviously been dreaming of her ordeal with the Anointed One. How he’d tortured her, fed from her, injected his blood into her stomach, hoping to turn her into her worst nightmare. But his plan had failed in one critical way. While Buffy had been turned into a sort of vampire, she retained her soul. She could still enter the sunlight, her face remained the same when she was feeding except for a pair of fangs and she had absolutely no reaction to a cross. But there were major changes as well. Buffy craved blood like any other vampire and her reflection had faded until it was nothing more than a ghost. Her strength had nearly tripled, too, but there was one, all-consuming change. She was immortal. As in, ‘never get old, do what ever the hell you want, so long as it doesn’t involve a stake or beheading’ immortal.
Slowly, Angel could feel through his jacket her shaking subside and she pulled away from him. Buffy wrapped her arms around herself, as if to hold back all the fear and anger and pain. Angel let her go, knowing that she needed space. In a way, she was like a frightened, injured animal. If you wanted to help it, you had to let it come to you first, else you would terrify it.
Buffy stared straight ahead, her eyes unseeing and haunted by visions of the past. So many people, things that she’d left behind in Sunnydale. Xander and Willow. . . Her friends, her buddies. They had been a team, the Three Musketeers, and sometimes the Three Stooges. She knew the two teenagers would mourn for the loss of their best friend, but they would get on with their lives, the same as Cordelia. In a way, it hurt to know they would someday forget about her. With in a couple of years, they may even have trouble remembering what she looked like. Buffy was more worried about her parents. How would they react to the supposed death of their only daughter? They didn’t have anyone to turn to, not even each other. The thought of the reliable librarian brought back a rush of painful memories. Giles, her teacher, mentor, friend, guide, disciplinary, confidante. He was her logic, her reason. Buffy had never realized before just how much she loved and needed her Watcher. He was like a second father to her. And now he was gone, they were all gone. . . a voice told her.
As if he had read her mind, Angel spoke aloud. “ I already rented a two bedroom apartment in the older part of Rome. I have a friend there who may be able to help us.”
Buffy looked at him for the first time since waking up, “ Who?” The single word seemed to take up all her energy.
Angel’s face was blank as usual, but his eyes were extremely gentle as her replied, “ A priest. He knows all about us. . . vampires.” He corrected himself hastily, silently cursing his stupidity.
Buffy glanced up sharply, her eyes dark and bitter. “ You were right the first time. Us. We might as well face it now. I’m a vampire.” Her voice cracked, “ A monster. A demon.”
“ No” Angel reached out and clasped Buffy’s hand abruptly. He could see a crazed light in her eyes, the same one he’d seen in Drusilla’s decades ago. “ Buffy, your not a monster. You still have your soul, and I swear, I’ll find a way to make sure you keep it.”
The touch of his skin against hers, shocked her, pulling her back from the killing blackness and anchoring her to sanity. “ Promise?” she whispered, like a little girl afraid of the dark.
His heart turning at how vulnerable she was, Angel lifted Buffy’s hand and kissed her palm gently, like an old lover. “ I promise.”
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