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Conjuring Tomorrow by SinisterChic
 
Awakening
 
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Conjuring Tomorrow
By SinisterChic

AN- Just get past the first few paragraphs and you’ll love it, I promise

The club throbbed with the heavy beat of techno music. Buffy tossed back her head, the colored flashing strobe lights blinding her vision, and she threw up her arms in a freeing motion. She gyrated her hips as the song pulsated through her veins and ignited every muscle in her body. Her partner tugged at her waist and thrust his pelvis between her legs, which was beginning to ache. She couldn’t wait for him to take her back to his place. He owned a yacht with a cozy and secluded lower deck.

She could feel envious eyes upon them. She smiled and picked up the pace. In the distance a blond head popped up in the crowd and then vanished. She didn’t even notice she had stopped moving until Ambrogio asked her what was wrong. She ignored him and kept her gaze on where she’d caught the glimpse of bleach. She hugged her arms and felt herself sway, very much not because of the song.

Ambrogio grabbed her shoulders. He spun her around to face him. He took her chin and lifted her eyes to fall into his.

“You all right, my bellezza (beautiful)?”

She parted her lips, but nothing came out. She couldn’t form a coherent thought at that moment; all she could do was feel. What she felt was her conjured fantasy world come crashing down. The music turned into a pounding cacophony of noise, the clutch on her shoulders bit deeply into her skin, and the lights burned her eyes. She jerked away. There was only one thing to do, now that reality squeezed against her heart. She ran, or at least she tried to. It was impossible with the amount of people packed together.

As she barged her way through the crowd, she opened up her neglected slayer senses. She used them to scan the club for any indication of a vampire presence. When she received none, she desperately moved onward. She made it outside. She went through the line and whipped any blond to face her. None matched. She turned to the street, gaze everywhere, not really focusing on anything now. She was acting like a mad woman, she knew, but she couldn’t seem to control herself. She halted when she heard the beep of a horn. She realized she was in the street and a bus had stopped only a few feet away. She just stared, and would have continued to do so unless the strong hand hadn’t have tugged her aside.

“Boofie,” The Immortal said in that Italian way everyone mispronounced her name. He smoothed down her hair. “What is wrong?”

She inhaled deeply. “I-I saw him! I know I saw him!” Her lower lip wobbled. And that was when she knew. She’d been waiting. It had all been an act, a show. Her real self had been hiding away, sleeping until he returned. Which she knew he would.

Ambrogio frowned. She pulled away forcefully.

“Is this that William the Bloody you speak of?” he asked bitterly.

Her eyes snapped to meet his. “How did you-?”

“You are a famous one, little slayer. Word gets out. Stories tell that you were in love with this vampire.”

“It’s true,” Buffy said. Funny how it was so easy to accept.

Ambrogio’s features hardened.

She backed up. “I-I need to go.”

“I should walk you home.”

She shook her head.

“You are sick.”

“No, not sick.” She paused. “Awake. I’m awake.” The last part was a whisper, but she could tell he had heard by his expression. He wasn’t happy by the announcement. She sort of felt bad for him, but not much. He was handsome and charming. He’d find a new woman in no time. Maybe even tonight.

Everything was clearer, even at night. The air smelled, felt, and even tasted fresh. A strength coursed through her that she hadn’t felt in almost a year. She was Buffy- the slayer. Whole. Herself. She wasn’t happy. She was hurting like hell. But it was real. It wasn’t like the false robot that had taken her place for . . . God, over five months now. The body that laughed and smiled, but never felt, just acted, did the things people expected. Not anymore. She had returned. She wasn’t hollow anymore.

Rome wasn’t home to a plethora of undead, but there were a few. She needed something to fight. She had no idea where even to look. She’d gone the last year without hunting anything. She remembered the reactions from her friends after the battle that made her choose to retire.

“You can do whatever you want now, Buffy. You could go to Egypt and study the pyramids. Or, go to Australia and play with the kangaroos. Or, go to Hawaii and get one of those drinks with the umbrellas. How does that last one sound?” Willow had said.

Giles had given her a long speech about how remarkable awakening the slayers had been. Then he listed off the remaining open hellmouths around the world before saying, “But none of them have to be guarded by you. You’ve done enough. You deserve some uh, rest and relaxation.”

Dawn must have talked to Willow because she was stuck on the travel idea. “Missy brought pictures back last summer from Rome. They were pretty. I’d really like to visit there.”

Xander, well, Xander was really quiet right afterward. Buffy caught him alone once and he said,” I guess we’re expected to move on?” He let out a sigh. “Yeah. Move on.”

Her friends really had an influence over her. She packed up her bags, moved to Rome, and started dating the Immortal. She was so good at pretending to be happy that she even fooled herself.

Buffy laughed. It wasn’t from amusement, but a sound of letting go. From now on she was going to let her actions mirror what was inside.

Since she wasn’t ready to go home and she had no destination, she wandered around. She examined the buildings and lights. Dawn had been right. Rome was a beautiful place. But, did she want to live here?

All of a sudden Buffy got a tingle on the back of her neck. She hadn’t expected to find a vamp out in public. She spotted his dark form round a corner and began to follow. She ended up near the entrance of a cemetery and decided to make her move. Her hand went to her pocket and stopped. She didn’t have a stake. When had she stopped carrying a stake? She couldn’t remember. She shrugged and walked onward.

She purposely exaggerated her steps, making sound. The vampire turned. She winced at how wimpy he looked, very bony, drowning in a trench coat. He licked his lips.

“Late for a little girl like you to be out,” he remarked.

She rolled her eyes. “Not your average girl. I’m Buffy, the vampire slayer.”

His eyes widened. “I heard you retired.”

“Just a sabbatical. I’m back in business.” She pointed at him. “Starting with you. You should feel all special or whatever.”

He turned to dash off, but she swept her leg at his feet and he fell. She jumped back, waiting for him to get to his feet. “Let’s have some fun,” she said.

“Come on,” he whined, “Let me go. I’m never going to win against you.”

“Two choices . . . What’s your name?”

“Donatello.”

She smirked. “Hmm, like the turtle? Nice to meet you, Donnie. Okay, two choices. You can either not fight and let me clobber you, or you can try your best and hope you win. Cept, I can’t let you go. Sorry, it’s a slayer code.”

He nodded and put up his fists. She began to swing. She went easy on him, giving him time to dodge now and then.

“I really did love him,” she said.

Donnie gave her a strange look. She kicked him in the stomach, which made him stumble back. “Don’t look at me that way,” she went on. “This is my therapy. “

She poured her heart out during the lame battle. She let her whole tragic love story spill out. “And so I buried it all inside so my friends wouldn’t have to worry. Inside I’ve kept this hope, though, that he’d come back. I came back. Angel came back. How many of you usually come back?”

Donatello didn’t answer at first because he was too busy attempting to see a possible opening.

“Hello, when I ask a question it is polite to answer.”

“Um. We usually just go to hell,” Donnie said.

“There isn’t anything usual about Spike.”

“Spike? The traiter?”


“Wow, Ambrogio was right. News travels fast.”

“I heard that there is a vampire named Spike working for the Wolfram and Hart branch in Las Angeles.”

Buffy slowed her moves. “What?” Her voice was small.

“Yeah. With the souled Angelus.”

“Th-That’s impossible. Andrew just made a trip there like two months ago.”

“It’s what I hear. I don’t have any proof.”

“How accurate is vamp gossip these days, Don?”

“Well, I heard that you were retired and dating the Immortal. Is that true?”

“WAS true. Nice talking to you, Donnie. I think my therapy session is complete for tonight.”

She grabbed the sides of his head and twisted. Dust scattered. Buffy stared hauntingly into the night, not sure what to do next. She sat down on the grass against the brass gates. She wasn’t sure if she should be crying or laughing. She wasn’t sure how she felt at all. It all depended on the reliability of Donatello’s statement. She’d wait to react till then.
 
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