Rating: R. Suggestive. A bit dark.
Summary: A songfic using Dido's Hunter. Angel's human, and Buffy has married him. But is everything as simple and happy as it seems?
Disclaimer: I don't own the song or the characters within it.
Authors Notes: I never really feel quite comfortable with happy endings in other stories which have Buffy ending up as the wife to Angel in a perfect world. It doesn't seem right, because being the Slayer is what Buffy is. It's part of her that can never be stripped away, something that sets her apart. I don't think she ever can set aside what she is, or try to ignore it. This is me exploring that and dealing with it.

/With one light on in one room,
I know you're up when I get home./

He was waiting for her when she returned from the supermarket, late at night. She had gone out to get groceries. While she was shopping, the storm had sprung up out of nowhere, drenching her as she carried the two bags into the kitchen, and put them away. She keyed off the KIA in the driveway, and shut the cupboards on the food. Then she shut off the light and mounted the steps to the second floor, where the dim light of the TV shone under the door.

//With one small step upon the stair,
I know your look when I get there,
If you were a king up there on your throne,
Would you be wise enough to let me go?//

He sat up in bed, handsome as he had always been in the semi-darkness, eyes dark and soulful. But now, they shone with slight worry as he regarded her wet form. "Are you okay? I was worried when the storm?" he asked her.

She smiled as she sat down on the bed, and commenced pulling off the wet material. He snuggled up to her back, kissing the nape of her neck. She arched against him, more conditioned reflex than anything else. "Mmmm." she murmured. "That feels nice." She turned her head and kissed him.

//For this queen you think you own,
Wants to be a hunter again.
Wants to see the world alone again,
To take a chance on life again,
So let me go...//

They tumbled together on the bed, him giving her sweet kisses and cuddles, helping her strip off the wet clothing. All too soon, though, he broke off, kissed the tip of her nose, and stood up to fetch something from the closet.

She growled as he pulled away, some primal part of her wanting to pull him down onto the bed and have her way with him. He turned to look at her, robe in his hands and saw the hunters look in her eyes, frustration on her face. "Buffy?"

The look vanished, and she was a normal woman again, married, frustrated at the sudden removal of her husband. "Angel..."

//The unread book and painful look,
The tv's on, the sound is down,
One long pause,
Then you begin.
Oh look what the cat's brought in.//

"I was worried you might be cold. You were soaked to the skin." he said, eyes worried. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's just the storm..." She stared out the window, mesmerized by the lightening. "I've got a strong constitution. It comes with being the Slay..." She faded off into silence. It had been an unspoken rule between them since the marriage not to speak of her calling. He was human, she was too. They had withdrawn from it, from the magic and the demons. Time for a new Slayer to be called, and deal with it. "Just distracted." she said hastily as the silence became thick and uncomfortable.

"I've got a good way to distract you." he said. The robe dropped to the floor, and she turned to meet him, arms slipping around his shoulders as he kissed her mouth, her neck, the base of her neck. She purred softly, and ran her hands over his chest, stripping off the a-shirt. He helped her with his pants, and they fell together onto the bed.

//If you were a king up there on your throne,
Would you be wise enough to let me go?
For this queen you think you own,
Wants to be a hunter again,
Wants to see the world alone again,
To take a chance on life again.
So let me go,
Let me leave...//

They twined together under the lightening, rising and falls, mouths and hands and sweat, moans and soft cries. Finally, they lay curled together, exhausted and fulfilled. They murmured endearing comments, repetetive. They fell asleep, and the storm continued to rage outside.

//For the crown you've placed upon my head feels too heavy now,
And I don't know what to say to you but I'll smile anyhow.
And all the time I'm thinking, thinking...//

As the windows rattled and the storm boomed, she rose from the bed to stand in front of the window, one hand holding the sheet in place. The bedroom was soft shades of silver and grey and blue, the sheet a soft bluish purple, her skin glowing in the lightening, hair silvery.

She reached out and touched the cold, cold glass, splaying her fingers against it and closing her eyes. She wanted to plunge out of the window, run into the storm. To become the hunter. The Slayer. She who hunted eternally, ever young. "Yes..." she whispered, frustrated tears at the corners of her eyes.

Warm arms encircled her, wrapping an afghan around her, offering warm comfort, sleep. Sun would banish the longings, make her feel normal again. "Come to bed." he whispered, his deep voice sending a thrill through her. But he wasn't whole. She couldn't feel it, the skittering sensation. The love seemed far from her. The storm was calling.

"No." she whispered. The arms tensed around her, like a prison, like the glass-spun cage she was in. "No!" She ducked under his arms, and grabbed the clothes she'd abandoned before. She dressed as she hurtled down the steps, his voice crying out for her, begging her to return.

//I want to be a hunter again,
Want to see the world alone again,
To take a chance on life again,
So let me go.//

She raced into the night, hair whipping around, her, the Slayer once more.

And he watched from the window, tears dripping down his face as she vanished into the storm.

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