TITLE: Being Played (1/6)
AUTHOR: rjamisong
RATING: R
PAIRING: B/G
DISCLAIMER: All that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss and company...I'm only borrowing them for awhile.
DISTRIBUTION: Just ask.
SETTING: 5th season AU after Riley's departure
SPOILERS: Though 5th season (to be safe)
SUMMARY: Giles is being played by an old foe.
FEEDBACK: I live and write for feedback. No flames...please.

On impulse, Giles puts his arms around Buffy. It shook his sensibilities to see her upset by the evening's events. Never before has he seen her so shaken by a battle. Perhaps, the fact that their foe had escaped had some baring on her reaction. Even though Buffy has come out of it unscathed, he, himself, was nearly killed. He doesn't know how to convince her that everything is alright. Her smaller frame trembles against his chest. He pulls her closer, hoping that she will find comfort in his presence. She raises her head from his shoulder and stares up at his troubled face. His own fear reflected back at him from her eyes.

Before Giles consciously realizes his intention, he leans in close and kisses her passionately on her warm inviting mouth. She presses her lips to his with equal ardor, her hands press firmly against his back, drawing him in closer.

After a couple of minutes, he shamefully realizes what he's doing and pulls away in surprise and chagrin. With wide eyes, they look at each other, both startled by their actions and strong emotions.

Giles breaks the silence first. "Um...perhaps we had better call it...it a night.."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'll see you tomorrow at the Magic Box." Buffy rises from the sofa and smooths down the front of her dress. She picks up her black leather jacket and walks out of Giles' apartment without looking back. Giles' eyes follow her every movement with a troubled expression until the door closes behind her.

At home in her bedroom, Buffy lays in bed on her back with one arm behind her head, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind drifts back to the events of that night. When the demon struck Giles across the back of the head, knocking him across the floor, she thought he was dead. He laid pale and unmoving on the floor. Blood covered his hair at the place of impact. At that moment, time stopped and terror gripped her heart. She ran to his side, leaving the fighting to the others. As she flung herself down at his side to feel for a pulse, the demon made his escape. It was when she felt the slow steady beat of his heart that she discovered that she had been holding her breath. She started to breathe again relieved.

She didn't stop shaking from that ordeal until Giles and she kissed. Her mind kept returning to that one life-changing instant in time. At that moment, she realized that her feelings for Giles had altered over the last year. Only the look in his eyes when he had pulled away from her, prevented her from returning to his apartment that night and telling him how she felt.

The next morning, she discovers herself standing on Giles' doorstep. He hadn't shown up for work at the Magic Box or for their morning training session. So here she stands searching for him, hoping that he's alright. Just as she's about to knock on the door, she spies a blue envelope taped there with her name scrawled in his neat handwriting, across the front. She pulls it free and removes the matching stationary.

Buffy,

I've gone on retreat to San Rafael. Will return in two days. My apologies for not informing you in person. Keep your training schedule while I am away. I'll see you soon.

Giles

She wrinkles her brow, perplexed by this unprecedented trip. Giles never leaves town without informing her at least a couple of days in advance. Giles is so organized in his habits...there has to be more to this unexpected trip than what the note suggests. 'Perhaps, he is more wigged by the kiss than I thought,' Buffy frets while staring down at the note.

Two days pass, then three. Still no Giles. Buffy, deeply worried, meets with the others to form a plan to search for him. They sit at the conference table inside the Magic Box. "I'm worry about Giles. This is not like him," Buffy says with a slightly alarmed tone in her voice. Her eyebrows are furled with worry.

"We agree, but where do we look?" Anya asks.

"We should start with the roads heading out of town, first," Buffy says.

An hour later, Buffy locates Giles' red convertible. It's parked on the shoulder of the road just at the out-skirts of town. She looks in the back of the car. His camping gear is lying in a heap on the floor of the back seat. No sign of Giles though. The keys are still hanging from the ignition. She searches around on the ground nearby for clues. There are scuff marks in the soft dirt a couple of couple of feet away from the car in a nearby field. Several of the footprints are odd shaped, more like hoof prints...a demon...the one that had gotten away. She scowls in apprehension.

A mile away, Giles hangs by his wrists manacled to long weighty chains attached to the ceiling of an underground chamber. He's stripped to the waist. A vampire strikes his bare back repeatedly with a black leather whip, while two other vampires lap up the blood from the numerous lacerations.

His body, after four days, bears many atrocities. His arms bear burn marks, his face, chest and abdomen, multiple bruises. After days of screaming, his voice is weak from screaming. As the whip strikes again, his body jerks and his throat issues only a hoarse shriek in reply.

The LeCois demon, waves his hand at the acolyte. It coils the whip and steps aside. The other vampires withdraw as well to their darkened corner behind their master's victim. The demon walks up behind Giles and breaths his foul breath on his sweat slicked neck. Reaching his hands forward, one on each side of Giles' head, he presses his finger tips along the sides of his skull. He chants an incantation. Giles withers in agony. His mouth opened wide in a silent scream. His head slumps forward onto his chest, unconscious.

Buffy rushes into the underground lair. Her eyes lock onto the beaten figure of Giles hanging by his wrists. Time slows for her as she watches large drops of his blood fall from his body and impact with the slate floor. In a split second, she surveys his beaten face, burned arms, lacerated back, and bruised face, chest and abdomen. Time speeds up again as a vampire lunges at her. She effortlessly stakes him in the heart. He vanishes in a cloud of dust. She rushes forward to attack the demon, who had kidnapped Giles. He stands positioned next to unconscious Giles. She jerks up her arm, stake at the ready. She thrusts downwards, but the demon blocks her striking hand. It tosses her aside like a rag doll. She jumps to her feet in one fluid motion. She attacks again with more success, plunging the stake into its soft squishy flesh. It roars in pain and flings her against one of the cave's support beam. She hits it hard with a loud thud. Momentarily stunned, she reacts too slow to completely block the next punch by the creature. It catches her a glancing blow across her left temple, causing her head to flow red. She springs to her feet and pummels the demon into submission. She rams the protruding stake completely into its chest. It crumples to the ground in a heap with a stunned look in its green eyes. Her eyes follow it down. No other foes assault her, so she leans her hands on her knees gasping for breath and glances quickly around. She stands alone in the middle of the cavern. No vampires in sight. She returns to her black slayer's bag from where she had dropped it earlier. She withdraws an axe from its interior. She sets to work on the chains that bind Giles' ankles to the floor. She keeps her mind and eyes on the task at hand as much as possible. Knowing that if she doesn't, she will lose what emotional control she still retains. Each time, she swings the axe, his body twitches in agony. Finally after several hits, his ankle chains break free. She quickly sets about releasing his wrists. She swings the axe repeatedly until she feels the first one give way. With this encouragement, she hits even faster and harder at the second chain. As the link of metal snaps, she catches his full weight as he drops towards the stone floor. Buffy gently lowers him to the cold surface.

At that moment, she senses Willow and Xander coming up behind her. Without glancing directly at them, she demands, "Get an ambulance! I'll take care of Giles."

"We'll be back with help as soon as we can," Willow calls behind her as they race back out of the cave.

Buffy hears their running footsteps receding into the distance. Cradling Giles' limp body carefully in her arms, she looks him over and for the first time allows herself to truly see his physical state. Guilt washes over her in a wave. 'Some slayer, I am. I can't even protect my watcher, let alone the man that I love.'

"Giles, can you hear me?" No answer. "Giles, please, wake up," Buffy speaks softly to him with her face close to his. Tears flow down her cheeks and splash softly onto his bruised and bloody face. Somewhere in his fogged mind, he senses her presence. He opens his one unswollen eye and squints painfully up at her. She tries to smile as genuinely as possible in an attempt to reassure him that everything would be alright. But Giles isn't fooled, he knows that she is afraid...pain shines out like a beacon from her blue eyes. "Giles, please don't leave me...I need you." She caresses his battered face. "I...love you." A single tear rolls down his cheek. He closes his eyes, gasps softly and ceases to breath.

Buffy tilts her head up towards the ceiling and squeezes her eyes shut. "NO!!" she screams in denial. She lays his body on the floor and begins administering CPR. She works over his lifeless form for one minute, two, three...She lifts her mouth from his when she hears a sharp intake of air. "Giles!?" she questions. A moan escapes from his pale lips. She clutches him to her body and weeps tears of relief, gently rocking him back and forth.

Two paramedics rush in at that moment with Willow and Xander close on their heels. The paramedics quickly assess the situation. They ease Giles from Buffy's embrace. They insert a needle into Giles' arm and connect him to an IV. An oxygen mask is pulled over his head, covering his nose and mouth. He begins to breath easier with the forced inflow of oxygen. The two men, with practiced experience, lift him effortlessly onto the waiting gurney they brought with them.

"Let's roll!" the taller of the two men say. Buffy and the others trails out after them.

As they leave the cavern, unbeknownst to them, the demon's body disappears.

A few hours later in Intensive Care at Sunnydale Memorial, Buffy enters Giles' hospital room. His pale face stands out starkly against the white backdrop of the pillowcase behind him. The right side of his face is bruised and swollen. Both of his forearms are covered in gauze wrappings and tape from elbow to hand. With eyes closed; his body lays, unmoving, at a slightly elevated angle.

She perches herself in the chair beside the bed. She lifts his hand and holds it gingerly between hers. He remains still. Before she entered his room, the doctor informed her that he could wake up anytime. He was breathing on his own and should recover with bed rest and proper care. There was nothing to worry about.

She remains with him all night, never leaving his side until morning when the guys show up to visit him. She reluctantly exits his room and gets something to eat while they take turns seeing him. He neither stirs nor regains consciousness that day. The others come and go several times during that long day, still no response from him. Buffy is the only one to keep vigil since his arrival at the hospital.

During the evening and night, Buffy sits with her head resting on the mattress beside Giles, her two smaller hands entwining his larger one. She shortly falls fast asleep, softly breathing.

Early the following morning, Giles' hand slips out from hers and rests on top of her golden hair, lightly stroking the strands.

Buffy, in her sleep, feels his touch and wakes up. She looks up at him as he looks down at her. She recaptures his hand and brings it to her lips. She kisses his palm and presses it against her warm cheek. She tightly squeezes her eyes shut, a single tear rolls down her face. Giles' heart breaks to see her so distressed because of him. His own mind is a jumble of emotions; despair,terror, hate, anger, desire, loneliness, love...they run rampant through his mind. He can't seem to sort them all out. He withdraws his hand from Buffy's. She opens her eyes and looks into his with hurt and confusion. His green eyes gaze back at her with intense pain and remorse. He eyes dart away from her in shame.

Giles utters not a word to anyone not even the hospital staff during his stay. He even avoids making eye contact with Buffy. If he does happen to glance her way, unintentionally, there's such an expression of terror and suffering that it goes through her heart like a knife.

Even though the silence is painful, she stays with him all that day and falls asleep that night beside him again.

When she wakes up the next morning, she finds that Giles' gone. She runs out of the room and down the hall to the nurses'station. "Where is he? Rupert Giles? He's not in his room!" she asks anxiously of the nurse behind the counter. The nurse pulls the chart for the requested patient. Buffy waits tensely for the answer to her question.

"He wasn't released by the attending physician nor has he checked himself out."

"Could there be some sort of mistake?" Buffy asks rather confused.

"No, I don't believe so."

"I see...thank you." Buffy walks away from the counter, her mind in a fog. 'Why would Giles just leave?'

Buffy makes several attempts during the day to contact Giles at home, but there isn't any answer to her calls or to her knocks on the door. As the sun is going down, she arrives at his condo for the third time. She tries looking in the windows, but the curtains are still pulled closed. Somewhere deep down in her being, she knows he is in trouble. She comes to a difficult decision and removes his spare key from its hiding place on the top of the door frame. She unlocks the front door and steps into the darken apartment. Her eyes adjust to the dimness as she searches for him. She locates him lying passed out on his side at the far corner of the living room. An empty scotch bottle gripped tightly against his chest. She rushes over to him and kneels down next to him. He looks to be in worse shape than when he was in the hospital. He's wearing faded, ripped blue jeans, and an old gray T-shirt with blood smudges on the back from his newly re-opened cuts. His unshaven, ungroomed appearance only adds to his deteriorated appearance. The bandages on his arms are crusted with dry blood. His feet are bare, his ankles raw and bruised from where the manacles had cut into his skin.

'Oh, Giles?' Her eyes start to mist over, but she restrains the emotions that are welling up inside of her. She knows that she must be strong, to help him. She rises and brings back a cold damp wash cloth. She baths his swollen face, cleaning away the alcohol and blood. He stirs, moaning softly. Giles opens his eyes and squints up at her from an inebriated state.

"Buffy?" he asks confused. He attempts to push himself up into a sitting position. Seeing him struggle, she helps him. When he has righted himself, he moves away from her, pulling his legs up close to his chest, his arms tightly encircling them.

"Yes." She moves close towards him again, but as soon as she does, he withdraws farther away from her, with a look of pain and anger. She halts abruptly. Even though, she's stopped, he continues retreating until his back is pressed up against a chair. With shaking hands, he covers his face as if he can't bear to have her look at him. She moves so that she's sitting directly in front of him. She leans in towards him and gently pulls his hands down from his face. Reaching up, she gently touches his face. He cringes from her caress, fear etched in every line of his face; a moan escapes from his throat. She drops her hand, as if she has been burned. "Giles...please...look at me."

"Why do you care what happens to me? I don't want or need your pity? Go away, Buffy. Leave me alone," his voice breaks with emotion.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," she speaks, the turmoil of her emotions hidden behind the calm tone. She offers him her hand. He eyes it nervously, his eyes darting wildly. He pushes down his apprehension and grasps her slender, yet strong, hand. She pulls him to his feet. Placing her arm around his waist, she helps him over to the sofa. "I'll heat some water for tea."

"Forget the tea. What I need is another drink!" He stands up shakily.

"You don't need another drink. What you need is to eat something and rest." She blocks him from going to the counter where the liquor is located. Her face is firmly set.

Giles knows that there's no arguing with her when she sets her mind. He changes tack. "Very well, I'll take a shower instead." He weaves down the hall towards the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Buffy lays her hands against the bathroom door. A deep sobbing sound can be heard from within. "Giles?" No reply. She tries the door; it's unlocked. She slowly opens it and looks around. The shower's running with the curtain pulled closed. The sobbing has grown louder. The sound is coming from the tub. Buffy approaches the curtain, slips her hand in and turns the faucet off. "Giles?" Still no answer, only gut wrenching weeping. She picks up the bath towel that's lying on the toilet seat. She pulls the shower curtain aside to reveal Giles sitting in the tub with his legs pulled up close against his chest; his arms once more wrapped around them. His face is buried; and, his long frame shaking from with wracking sobs. She covers him with the towel. "Giles?" She lays her hand on his bare back. "Giles?" He inhales a ragged breath and stares up at her, blankly. His face, streaked with tears, is pale and drawn.

"Buffy?" A vacant look on his face.

"I'm right here." She grabs his robe off a nearby hook and drapes it over his shoulders. He inserts his arms into the sleeves and stands up with Buffy's assistance. Buffy and Giles exit the bathroom with her supporting him around the waist. Some of the color has returned to his cheeks but he moves haltingly on weak limbs. She maneuvers them over to the sofa. He sits down heavily, leaning his head back, his eyes closed. "Giles, lie down. Please." He nods. He slides down to recline onto the sofa's cushions. She props a couple of throw pillows behind his head. She arranges his robe around him, tieing the sash, and covers him up with the blanket from the back of the sofa. She kneels on the floor beside the him. Soothingly stroking his wet hair back from his forehead, she tells him,"Try to get some rest."

"I need to tell you something first." He places his hand on hers, stopping its motion.

"Yes, I'm listening?"

"I love you, Buffy." His eyes gaze deeply into hers with love and desire.

"I know you love me, Giles." She smiles.

"Oh...oh...I see. You're not...?" He breaks off embarrassed, his eyes averted. He removes his hand from hers.

"I am." She leans forward and lightly brushes his lips with hers. "I am very much in love with you." She runs her fingers over his lips and smiles warmly at him. Giles smiles weakly in return. "Now, please, try to sleep." Giles takes a deep shuttering breath and closes his eyes. She kisses his closed eye lids. "Sleep well, my love." She rests her hand on his chest. He takes her small hand in his.

"Stay with me." His voice is a mere whisper.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

Giles sighs, relieved.

Dawn and Tara munch on waffles in the Summers' kitchen. Willow pours batter into the waffle maker. Dawn finishes eating her waffles and takes a sip from her orange juice. "Willow, do you think Mr. Giles will be alright?"

Willow walks over to the table carrying her plate of waffles. "Don't worry Dawnie. Buffy said that she would take care of him until he was feeling better." Tara and Willow exchange a concerned look. "He's tougher than he looks."

"I hope so. He's a good person." Dawn sounds somewhat less than convinced by the two wiccan's assurances.

After Giles falls asleep, Buffy straightens up the place, washes dishes, and calls Willow to ask her to bring her some clothes and a few groceries. A couple of hours later, someone knocks at the door. Buffy answers it. Willow's standing outside loaded down with a grocery sack and a leather overnight bag. "Buffy, can you take the groceries?" Buffy grabs the bag. "Thanks."

"No, thank you for the delivery service. Come in, no loud noises. Giles' finally fell asleep." Willow quietly follows Buffy into the apartment. They make their way quietly to the kitchen. Buffy sets the bag of groceries down on the counter top and starts to unpack it. "Will, can put my overnight bag on the floor in the hall?"

Willow reaches out the kitchen doorway and places the bag on the hall floor.

Turning back to Buffy, she asks, "How's Giles doing, Buff?"

"Not good. His emotions are all off the charts. It's like a roller coaster, one minute he's up and the next down. I'm doing what I can, but I don't know if its enough."

"You know Giles, he'll pull through this. Just don't give up."

"I have no intention of doing any such thing. I am a little worried about not being there for Dawn though. How's she doing? Are you and Tara watching her, making sure that she's getting to school on time? Eating at least some healthy stuff?"

"Don't worry about Dawn. She's fine. She's actually more worried about Giles right now than you not being there. If it'll help to ease your fears, I'll have her call you later. OK.?"

"It will, thanks." Buffy smiles at her best friend.

When Willow leaves, Buffy sits back down on the floor facing Giles. She brushes his hair away from his forehead. He has always been a rock for her in troubled times, but now he looked so fragile, even his face is thinner than usual. 'He hasn't eaten any real food in nearly five days.' She leans her head against the cushion next to his arm. Soon she drifts off into a dream.

'Buffy sits next to Giles on the sofa. "Giles, please listen to me," she says with a note of despair in her voice. "That night...when we kissed...I wanted to...stay...to talk, but the look in your eyes...I couldn't find the words, they stuck in my throat." She swallows hard. "Then you went missing. I was terrified that I might never see you again. Then I found you chained up like an animal...hurt...bleeding. I cut you down and held you in my arms." Her eyes move back and forth searching her mind for the right words. She swallows painfully. "I told you that I loved you and you slipped away. The first thought that ran through my mind was 'I can't live without you'." She stares unblinking down at her hands, her eyes swimming with emotion. "I did CPR," she looks up at him and sees that he is listening to every word she says. "Suddenly, you began breathing again, I just...held you and cried, never wanting to let you go.." Buffy reaches her hand up to touch his face again but hesitates when she notices that his eyes are filled with tears. He takes her hand and presses it against his cheek. He squeezes his eyes closed, the moisture overflows his eyes and streams down his face.'

Giles wakes up before Buffy. He looks over and finds her asleep on the floor next to him. His hand hovers just above her head. He wants so much to touch her, but can't bring himself to open up his heart. She wakes up with a soft moan, "Hmm." Giles jerks his hand back. She looks up at him. She takes in his appearance again and decides that she should re-bandage his arms and get him some clothes to wear. She rises from the floor in one fluid motion. She leaves the room and returns a couple of minutes later with the first aid kit and clothes that Giles keeps in the hall closet. When she re-enters the room, Giles is sitting up on the green sofa. She settles herself next to him. Pushing up the robe's sleeves, she cleans the burns with rubbing alcohol and applies a Wiccan salve that Willow brought with her. She wraps fresh gauze and tape around the burns. "I brought you some clean clothes. You can dress while I hop in the shower. Do you need anything before I go?" He shakes his head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Thanks-you," he replies with a vacant expression on his face.

She gets up and looks down a moment at Giles, a little uncertain about leaving him alone after his breakdown earlier in the shower. 'He at least looks calmer now.' She makes a decision and goes down the hall towards the bathroom, grabbing her bag on the way.

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