Title: Lost 9/14
Author: Gail Christison
Rating: PG-13 for now
Pairing: B/G
Summary: Giles and Buffy a lost in a primitive environment in a dimensional rip, for what is a couple of weeks for them. Survival brings with it a lot of lessons and when they arrive back not long before Valentine's Day Buffy has to make some choices.
Timeline: This is kind of a semi-AU story set in season 7. There are no S-I-Ts. Giles is Giles. There's no Andrew, Wood is not relevent, and the First has not appeared yet. The main characters are otherwise unchanged. Phew. I think that's a record for me for a summary LOL. Can you tell I really don't like a lot of things about season 7? ...I knew you could <vbg>
Disclaimer: Joss is the destroyer...I mean owner...I'm just doin' a little building ;-)
Feedback: Always love to hear what you think chriscln@ozemail.com.au
Distribution: All those who have my general permission and at my site http://wickedsky.com/oncemore as soon as I get it finished. :-)
Author's notes: This one is big and not done yet, so I don't know how many parts there'll be ultimately but thanks to Headrush and Gileswench these first ones are ready to post for Valentine's Day. Good thing there's technically 2 Valentine's Days for me to post over <g>
Dedication: To everyone who helps me to make a fic happen, either just by reading when I'm not impartial enough to know how it's going myself, or by beta-ing for me. Thank you!
Cindy, I hope this makes you feel better, mate :-)
Giles felt her move, felt her hands trail down his back to the band of his boxers and froze, using both of his hands to cup her face and end the kiss.
"We can't. I love you more than you will ever know...but we can't do this."
A part of Buffy choked with emotion at his first words, and a part of her crashed with the second.
"Why?"
"A thousand reasons. A thousand reasons why I refuse to cause you more pain, simply because I happen to be in love with you," he told her hoarsely.
"What if I don't care about any of them?"
He closed his eyes. "You don't care that I'm nearly fifty years old? You don't care that when we get back you might discover that this was a just a pleasant dream...that you still have feelings for that...that vampire? You don't care that your sister will likely need therapy after she finds out? Or you don't care that half of Sunnydale will think I'm a pervert and that you are not fit to raise a teenage girl? Or perhaps..."
Buffy laid fingers on his mouth to shut him up. "I. Don't. Care," she repeated. "I didn't care about Angel and Spike being very, very dead or very, very evil...so why should I care that I love someone who is warm and alive and good? I worked at the Doublemeat Palace and they didn't take Dawn away from me. I gave myself to Spike in public places, in filthy places...because I didn't care...and they didn't take Dawn away. Willow almost got her killed because I wasn't taking proper care of her." She raised her free hand. "Still got her. So I really, really doubt they're going to storm the place because a good...a very, very, good...man has come into my life. A very, very good man who loves me as much as I love him."
Moved beyond words, Giles couldn't speak for a moment. Then his eyes grew warm again. "This from the woman who said she didn't know what love was."
She touched his mouth and caressed his jaw. "You're a good teacher."
They kissed again, this time slowly and passionately, moving into each other's arms, claiming each other in every way...until finally they separated again, each aware that they were now poised on a knife edge.
Giles let his fingers trail down her cheek, her throat, and caress the curve of her breast above the damp bra.
"You are so beautiful."
"Yeah, and I'm black and blue and you've got a fever of about a hundred and three again. You don't know how much I want this, but I'm going to let you win this time because there's heat..." She touched his brow. "...And there's heat. And I am *not* going back in that stream again any time soon, especially not to stop you from bursting into flames."
He chuckled, his body aching for her, but his soul more relieved than he could say. Slowly, he bent his head again and kissed her, as though he could show her how much he adored her, and all of his heart, in that long sweet touch.
*******
"Oh...my God. I'm *not* seeing this."
"Yes you are. And so am I. A-and strangely enough I don't find it at all disturbing... Well, okay, maybe a little. But it's a good thing, right? He's not a vampire. We know they love each other."
"Yeah, but not like that!!"
"Why not like that? A sexy guy, a gorgeous girl...bam! Love. Why not?"
"Because it's them. Because it's hurting my eyes."
"Because it's not you?"
Xander's head snapped around. "That was uncalled for. I'll have you know I've moved on. Moved a long way...across the continent, actually...across the species divide even..."
Willow watched him fondly. He was still in love with Anya. Anyone could see that, but he never really did get over his crush on Buffy. Not completely. He wasn't the only one, she realised with a pang of nostalgia...a part of her would always be owned by Oz...forever. She suspected that it was the same with Buffy and Angel. Maybe even Giles and Jenny...but people moved on. They all moved on. Except maybe with Giles and Buffy, they weren't so much moving on, as much as coming back to the beginning...
"Are we going to break this up before it gets ugly? They're in their underwear, Will. You know when you decided not to bring Anya with us? Good call."
Willow giggled, thinking about the ex-vengeance demon's reaction. "We'll give them a couple more minutes. I can't believe we found them."
"I can't believe Willy wasn't lying about 'knowing a guy,'" Xander added, still amazed.
"Willy's not such a bad guy, for a scaredy cat. Thank God he heard that demon bragging about getting rid of the Slayer..." She giggled. "And that he believed you when you said you had a nail gun with his name on it."
Xander smiled sheepishly without taking his eyes from the other couple, then shifted uncomfortably, his voice rising a couple of octaves. "Will, I...um...I don't think they're going to stop."
Willow shook her head and looked across the clearing at her friends. She knew them far too well.
"Patience," was all she said.
*******
Reluctantly, Giles lifted his head. He didn't want to relinquish the sweet fire or the illusion of having her, even just for these few short minutes, but if he didn't stop now, he didn't think would be able to stop at all...
"Giles!"
Both Buffy and Giles snapped their heads up and turned towards a voice they had both privately never expected to hear again.
"Oh my God! Willow!" Buffy exclaimed.
"My God," Giles said softly.
A split second later they both realized the position in which they'd been caught. Buffy looked down at Giles' boxers, dragging his gaze with hers.
"Oh, Lord," they said in unison. Then Buffy was wriggling around, ignoring the pain of her bruises, until she was sitting between his legs, her back leaning, or possibly more like collapsed, against his chest and providing him with the perfect cover for the disorder she'd caused...disorder that she could now feel pressed into her tailbone.
It wasn't until Willow and Xander were only a couple of feet away that his ardour had completely subsided.
"Jeez, you guys are a mess," Xander announced as he came to a halt, his voice filled with emotion.
Buffy made a face. "You guys look great. You'll have to excuse us. We've had a bad day...and night and day...and night. It's kind of a long story."
Giles sighed. "A very long story."
Willow's eyes narrowed. "Giles, are you okay? You look awful."
"He almost died," Buffy announced matter of factly, "and he's still got a fever."
At that point Xander zeroed in on all the bruising down Buffy's right side, which in turn prompted him to register how scratched and cut she was.
"Buffy? You go three rounds with a grizzly or something?"
Once again Giles and Buffy found themselves answering in unison.
"Or something."
Willow, realizing things might not be quite what they seemed ten minutes ago, decided to get things moving. "Time later for campfire stories and stuff. You guys, we can take you home now."
Buffy beamed. "Way to go, Will."
"Wonderful," Giles agreed with feeling, before Buffy continued sheepishly:
"But I'm not sure either of us can move right now, much less walk back to..."
Willow shook her head. "It's okay. You don't have to walk anywhere. I can open a new portal right here."
Buffy and Giles turned as one to look back at their camp and the shelter they'd built together, their clothes still drying by the fire and the turtle shell they'd found. Buffy thought of the fish she'd worked so hard to catch, but only briefly. At least they'd eaten all the crabs...
After a long beat, they looked at each other, each of them nodding in turn before turning back to the others.
"We're ready."
*******
Giles and Buffy, supporting each other to keep from falling over, looked around when reality solidified again. They were in Xander's apartment.
"Why here?" Buffy couldn't help asking.
Xander shrugged. "We didn't want Dawn to know. If it didn't work...or you were...it was better to just let her think you were still missing." Willow touched his arm in silent support.
Giles and Buffy looked at each other. "How long...?"
"Two months."
Buffy finally exhaled. "Well, it could have been a lot worse."
"It...it has only been a few weeks for us...if that," Giles added, relieved.
The atmosphere became unexpectedly awkward.
Xander finally broke the silence. "You guys wanna get cleaned up before we take you home to Dawnie? To be honest, you look kinda scary right now."
Everyone laughed softly, but the tension remained in the background.
After a beat in which there was another silent exchange between Buffy and Giles, both of them nodded and headed for Xander's bathroom.
Xander watched the door close behind them, before turning, visibly un-nerved.
"I don't remember saying together. Did I say together?"
Willow giggled.
*******
When the door to the bathroom clicked shut, they turned to one another automatically.
Giles smiled down at Buffy wearily. "Whatever happens, remember that I will always love you."
"You stole my line," she teased, lifting her face to his.
The stolen kiss was tender but brief, Giles' exhausted legs beginning to wobble before they were done.
Buffy leaned into him supportively. "Tub or shower?"
Giles looked at Xander's bath, trying not to remember any of Anya's more unfortunate tales about it, and then at the shower.
"I'm not sure I could get up again if I sat down for too long...but a hot shower and a lot of soap..."
"Shower it is." Buffy helped him to it and then hesitated. "You want me to turn around while you go first?"
They stared at each other silently for the longest time. Then Giles shook his head.
As if by silent assent, Buffy began unbuttoning his damp shirt. There, in the realm of civilization, it seemed a thousand times more intimate. Her hands shook as she struggled with each button, and not only because she was favouring one side more than the other. Finally, she drew the battered item off and dropped it on the floor. For all the time they'd spent in the river, in the bright bathroom light it was easy to see he was filthy. Buffy looked over her shoulder into Xander's shaving mirror. Then again, so was she. The stud on his still-wet jeans pulled undone as easily as always, and she pulled the zipper down slowly.
"Shoes," she said softly and waited for him to kick off his boots before drawing the jeans off his hips so that he could step out of them. At that point she hesitated, unsure what to do next.
Giles moved then, taking hold of the equally damp tank top and drawing it gently over her head. Then he undid her soggy jeans and pushed them down a little.
Buffy kicked off her ruined sneakers and finished removing the pants, tossing them across to where his lay, aware that it wasn't a good idea for Giles to bend in any way at this point.
Their eyes locked as they hesitated once again. Buffy was about to reach for the faucets when Giles touch her arm. She dropped it to her side and he reached around her to unfasten her bra. He stopped, his eyes asking permission before slipping it off and throwing it on the pile of spoiled clothes.
Once again Buffy stood before him near naked, as she had back in the jungle, only this time she felt infinitely more vulnerable. He smiled reassuringly and she smiled back. After a beat she reached for the band of his boxers and drew them down over his narrow hips, pushed them down to his knees and straightened again. From there Giles, trying not to think about the caress of her skin against his, only had to move his legs a little to let them drop to the floor.
Then he was sliding his thumbs into the elastic of her g-string and pushing it down very slowly.
Buffy could feel herself trembling as the skin of his knuckles grazed her hips and her groin on the way down. And then they too were on the floor. When she could move again, she turned the faucets on in workmanlike fashion and adjusted the temperature, resisting the sigh of pleasure rising in her throat at the feel of actual hot water.
Then it was time to face him again.
"C-can you step over...?"
He nodded.
Buffy instinctively took his arm to help him balance as he lifted his left leg and stepped into the tub, and then wobbled on it as he lifted his right one. Once he was safely in, she followed.
Giles gave a hiss of pure pleasure as the hot water ran over his shoulders and Buffy echoed his sentiment in a low moan as it coursed over hers. When he put his head back to let it run through his hair, he swayed again, and Buffy swiftly slid her arms around his waist, partly to keep him from toppling over and partly because she needed to. As she rested her cheek against his chest, he circled her shoulders with a large arm and used his other hand to loosen her weather-battered hair so that the water could soak into it.
Buffy closed her eyes and smiled. The feel of his fingertips on her scalp was bliss and the feel of his warm body against hers...didn't bear thinking about just too much. A moment later she smiled again. Giles had picked up Xander's shampoo from it's resting place in the soap rack hooked on the faucets and was working it into her hair. He was leaning heavily against her now for support, but she didn't care. For long minutes she just lost herself in the physical pleasure of having her hair washed ...
It was a long, slow, sometimes halting process for Giles to wash and rinse Buffy's long hair the two or three times needed to bring it back to its former cleanliness, but neither of them cared. The furthest Buffy moved away from him was to put her head back so that he could rinse, and the closest he came to letting her go was to reach down to pick up the conditioner.
When he was done, he kissed the top of her wet head and closed his arms around her, smiling as she nuzzled into his chest hair while the water continued to merrily cascade over her.
"You do know that the only thing holding me up at this point, is you?"
Buffy smiled into the firm torso. "Don't care."
"And there's Xander's water bill..."
"He doesn't pay for water. It's in the lease," she murmured.
"Good show. Buffy...I think I'm going to have to...Oh dear..."
Giles' legs gave out. Buffy eased him down until they were both sitting in the tub, under the shower, Buffy kneeling between his bent knees.
"Are you okay?"
He rested his brow on her shoulder. "Let's just say I've rather neglected the bed rest part of my recuperation, of late."
They both giggled and then the giggle became giggles...lots of them.
"Let me do your hair," she suggested between chuckles, glad he'd left the bottles on the side of the bath.
It didn't take anywhere near as long to do the several rinses required, and he seemed to enjoy the pampering and the special attention Buffy paid to massaging his scalp as much as she had enjoyed his ministrations earlier, rarely raising his head from her shoulder unless she asked him to lift it to wash out the rounds of shampoo. When he was finally done they were both very tired.
Buffy wearily picked up a ducky shaped soap and started lathering Giles' shoulders, back and chest, and then did her own body, before handing it to him.
He grudgingly lifted his head again to look at it.
"Wash," she ordered. "I'm guessing you don't have the energy to shave, but the rest of you needs soap." Then she grinned. "Unless you want me to tackle all those hard-to-reach places for you, I suggest you go to it."
He snorted softly. If Buffy thought she was going to be exploring his nether regions with a cake of soap shaped like a cartoon duck... His eyes fluttered closed, then forced themselves open again, and his mouth quirked up on one side. He was almost asleep, but the notion of Buffy doing exactly that amused him enough to chuckle.
Buffy watched Giles struggle to stay awake, and slowly, painstakingly wash himself all over with the soap. When she was satisfied that he was done, she used all of her Slayer strength to get him back on his feet again without either of them slipping in the enamel tub.
"Just a little bit longer," she told him soothingly, her shoulder, arm, and hip throbbing in time with her heartbeat now. "As soon as you're all rinsed off, we're out of here."
"Sorry," he muttered. The single word rang with the vehemence with which he hated being helpless.
It took them some time to successfully negotiate their way out of the tub, find clean towels in the cupboard under the vanity, and to dry each other, Giles noticing for the first time how difficult Buffy was finding it to use her right arm. It was obviously a great deal more painful than she was letting on. Which was not new. It was as though she felt guilty about who she was, about the fact that as bad as her injuries might be, in record time she would be healed and well again, while her friends were always consigned to heal the regular, tedious and frequently painful, way.
He worked very slowly, towelling her hair and wiping her shoulders and her back so that she wouldn't need to rotate her bad arm. And then it was his turn. Where Buffy could reach, she dried, particularly anything for which he would otherwise have to bend.
"I think we're done," she finally announced then looked at the filthy pile of rags on the floor. "Except...I just realized...clothes: no got." Then, through the fog of exhaustion, she remembered something.
It took some focusing to get her weary mind to concentrate on trying to touch Willow's. It was several moments before that familiar tickle and then Willow's mental equivalent of 'huh?'
A short time later the door was cracked open and a pair of Xander's jeans, a sweatshirt, and sneakers appeared first. Then came some training shorts and another of his sweatshirts.
"Sorry, Buffy," Xander's rueful voice came from outside. "No girly things here any more."
When they were finally dressed, Buffy helped Giles out of the bathroom.