TITLE: Being Played (5/6)
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.
NOTES: This is my first Buffy Fic. Sorry about the present tense format. Seemed to be a good idea at the time.

An hour later, Tara and Willow are sitting facing each other in the middle of the shop's main area surrounded by flickering candles with a map of Sunnydale spread out on the floor between them. Each of the women hold a jar of purple and blue coarsely ground crystals. Willow recites a spell from a magic book that rests on her thigh. "Extracto, lirro, timaro, locota." As Willow finishes, both she and Tara simultaneously toss the crystals onto the map. A small brilliant light hovers a foot above the center of the map for a moment before moving towards the warehouse district near the ocean front. The two witches watch with bated breath for the light's final destination. Just as the light is about to descend towards it's goal, the harmless illumination violently strikes the map, causing it to burst into a fiery blaze. Willow jumps up quickly and stomps out the fire. "Did you see where it was headed?!" Willow asks her girlfriend, her voice pitched higher than normal with fear.

Chanting fills the old dilapidated warehouse's main storage area. A bowed lone figure, dressed all in black, kneeling before an stone altar occupies the center of the large open space. His lips move silently as he chants the counter incantation which has put an end to the witches' locator spell. As the invocation last syllables leave his mouth, he raises his head and Ethan Rayne's face comes into the light cast by the candles that surround him and the altar. A sardonic smile lingers on his cruel lips.

"The warehouses near the dock master's office," Tara answered with trepidation. She meets Willow's panicked eyes. "I never seen that happen before," she whispers so that only the red-head witch can hear her. "Do you think that whoever we're trying to locate, countered the spell?"

"What do you mean 'countered the spell'?" Buffy demanded. She, of course, had heard the entire conversation with her Slayer hearing.

Tara glanced nervously back at Buffy, who had remained sitting beside Giles' sleeping form on the floor next to the conference table. "The light should never have done that. It's suppose to pinpoint the location by lightly touching the spot on the map. I...I think someone interfered or...or tampered with the casting, someone with a lot of dark magicks." The blond woman obviously was greatly disturbed by this prospect.

"Can we still find them even though they interrupted the spell?"

"Yes, we at least have a starting place. The warehouses near the dock. At least we now know more than we did before," Willow replied.

"But can we be really know for sure that the information is accurate?" Buffy asks unconvinced.

"Yes, the light was settling when it abruptly crashed and ignited the map. Besides we don't have any other choice Buffy but to start our search there."

Suddenly, Giles' voice rang out loudly and clearly from his body like an oracle reciting a prophecy. "No magic can destroy...No weapon can pierce...No hand can divide...Only the life's blood of the truest and purest love can disperse the darkness and free that which is held prisoner..." Once he spoke these words, he continued to repeat them from the beginning, never ceasing. At the first uttering, Buffy's face had turned towards him. Everyone else froze in place and listened.

"Quick, give me some paper and a pen!" Buffy ordered of the entranced group. Xander moved first, diving for the small note pad in the middle of the table among the scattered books. He snatched it up and hurried over to Buffy. He handed it to her along with a pen from his pants' pocket. She immediately scribbled down the words as Giles spoke them again. She handed the notebook to Willow, who had joined Xander and her. "If I know Giles, this has something to do with what's going on. Let's find out what." Xander and Willow as well as Anya and Tara returned to their seats at the table and delved frantically back into the books. Buffy's attention returned to Giles. The words continued to spill from his mouth. His expression remained the same as before, one of peaceful repose, as if the movement of his lips was only the reciting of something from a dream. She reached out her hand and tenderly caressed his cheek, speaking calmly to him as if she could reassure him even in his forced slumber. "Everything will be alright, Sweetie. Don't worry the guys and I will find a way to stop this guy. I love you." She bent forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Buffy?" Willow called.

She looked up towards the table. "Yes, Willow?"

"Good news. It's not a spell, but a curse. Which means that we have a better chance of breaking it"

"A curse? I don't understand, Will. What's the difference between a curse and a spell?" she asks befuddled.

"The difference is that a spell must be reversed by the spell caster. A curse can be broken by anyone by simply fulfilling certain requirements. Such as in the fairy tales of Sleeping Beauty or Snow White."

"Will, those were fairly tales, you know make-believe."

"Yes, but remember, some fairy tales have quite literal truths. Like Hansel and Gretel for instance."

"Oh, yeah..remembering. How can you be so sure that this is a curse and not a spell?"

"I found the words that Giles is quoting in Curses and Bewitching."

"Is there information on the specifics to break the curse?"

"Yes, in fact some of what Giles is reciting has to do with the prerequisites for the ritual." Willow opened her mouth to say something further, then stopped and quite deliberately closed it again.

Buffy eyed her friend suspiciously over the top of the table. "Willow? What is it that you're not telling me?"

"Buffy...the ritual..."

"Yes? Come on Willow I need to know if I'm to help Giles."

"It's bad, Buffy."

"Worse than when Angel had to drain my blood to survive the poisoned arrow, bad?"

"No, about the same, I'd say."

"Oh...Willow, tell me, please."

"It involves the shedding of a lover's life's blood, a ritualistic suicide." The words hung in the air like a judge's pronounced sentence of death...which is exactly what it was. The audience of this little production sat in horrified silence.

After allowing the implications of Willow's statement to sink into her brain, Buffy spoke calmly, "If that's what it takes to free Giles from whatever has a hold on him, I'll do it" Her statement left no room for argument...or so she thought.

"What are you crazy?!" Xander's angry voice rang out in the suddenly very quiet room.

"No. But I'm not letting Giles go through the rest of his life like this either." Her gaze shifted back down to the man stretched out beside her. "And the only other alternative is to let him leave me, and perhaps even Sunnydale. And you know what, I could live with that, if it meant that he would be safe once he did, but somehow I don't think whoever is doing this will leave it at that. Both attacks have been aimed at Giles, this is someone's idea of revenge. So I'm doing whatever it takes to release him!" This last remark was directed not only at Xander but at the group as a whole.

"So, Will, how do I break the curse and keep my skin intact. I still have a score to settle with the thing behind all of this and I can't do it dead. Besides, Giles would never forgive me if I died...again." The last statement was softly spoken to herself.

"The text says that first the victim of the curse must be present before the ritual can be performed. The person performing the act of ritualistic suicide must wield a dagger of silver. After reciting the following words, 'Only a sacrifice of my life's blood can fulfill the ransom to redeem my lover from the shroud of darkness that crushes all future hopes and dreams. I freely surrender this my body's breath in the name of love eternal. Great Heridon receive my soul's essence in exchange for the freedom and restoration of the one I most cherish above all others' you must kneel and draw the dagger across your throat. This act releases the victim from the curse and restores their free will." Willow read from the book laid open in front of her.

"Well, that explains the ritual, but what about a loophole? Is there any mention about how I can do this and survive?" Buffy ask hopefully.

Willow runs her finger down the page, searching for anything that suggests an answer to Buffy's question. After a few minutes and a rapidly growing look of fear in Willow's eyes, Buffy asks, "Will? Anything?"

Willow reluctantly lifts her face from the text to look into her best friend's eyes. "I'm sorry Buff. There's just nothing here about any way to come out of this alive. The only way to break the curse is according to the text is to literally exchange one person's life for another in a completely selfless act of relinquishment." Willow voice and body vibrated with dread at her own words.

In the hush that followed Willow's statement, Buffy's words ring out hollowly in the quiet. "Okaay...so where do I find a silver dagger?"

"Really, Buffy when are you going to get over this martyr complex of yours?!" Xander yells, letting out the agony of possibly losing her yet again. "First Angel, and now Giles! I love Giles, but I don't want to lose you." This last statement is whispered softly.

"I'm not being a martyr, Xander! I have every intention of surviving this, besides this has nothing to do with Angel. Angel would never give his life for me! Giles on the other hand has tried to do just that on many occasions and not only my life but all of yours. So don't stand there and tell me that he's not worth the sacrifice!"

"Buffy..."

"No, get out! Everyone!" She shouted at them.

"Buffy?" Willow looked at her best friend, uncertain as to the best way to get through to her. Buffy's eyes turned towards the red-head, the pain and determination blazing like a furnace in their blue depth. Willow knew that determination well. It's fierceness had saved Buffy from vampires, demons, a mad cyborg, and the mayor. There was no reasoning with her when she set herself for what must be done.

"Please...I must do this alone." Buffy's pleads in a calmer, but no less resolved voice. "Anya, the dagger." Anya moves away from Xander and hands her the silver dagger that she has removed from one of the display cases. The blade had been forged two hundred years ago by a Catholic Monk. A Latin inscription scrawls its way around the blade. She remembers Giles telling her some of the story behind its forging. The knife had been conscripted by the current Pope of the time to be given to a faithful servant. The inscription is an excerpt from 1 Corinthians 13:7 "If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.". The quote never fails to bring back memories of times that Giles had supported and defended her not only against the forces of darkness, but also against human opposition by such people as Snyder, Wesley, and Ethan. The dagger seems uniquely fitting for the task. Once more, her eyes drink in the worried features of her friends, memorizing them for an eternity without them, if she doesn't succeed. "It's time." The others gather around her for a group hug. She breaks off from them and smiles as reassuringly as she can manage under the circumstances. The group shuffles out of the shop, locking the door behind them and ventures into the night.

The shop feels oppressively quiet and empty without her companions. She strides back to where Giles still lays on the floor asleep and restrained by the heavy shackles. She draws a key from her front pant's pocket. Crouching down besides him, she inserts the small key into the lock and turns it releasing him. She removes the manacles from his ankles and pushes them aside. She reaches out and softly runs her fingertips down his cheek. "Giles, no matter what happens, remember that I love you and that I always will." She stands back up and slips the key back into her pocket. She next removes a folded sheet of paper from the same pocket. "Well, here we go." Buffy returns to the middle of the shop's main area near to the counter. "Extinto." As soon as the word leaves her lips, Giles bolts up from the floor as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him. With his face, contorted in pain, Giles strides resolutely towards the door. Buffy quickly crosses the short distance intercepting him. He halts, momentarily confused by the obstacle in his path. In a loud, clear voice, Buffy intones the words to break the curse. 'Only a sacrifice of my life's blood can fulfill the ransom to redeem my lover from the shroud of darkness that crushes all future hopes and dreams. I freely surrender this my body's breath in the name of love eternal. Great Heridon receive my soul's essence in exchange for the freedom and restoration of the one I most cherish above all others' Giles covers his ears with his hands. Howling in pain, he drops to his knees in front of her. She hesitates a moment at witnessing his reaction to the words she has spoken. Then shoring up her resolve, she kneels and draws the sharp edge of the dagger across her throat, severing her carotid artery. Blood flows from her damaged throat and runs down her shirt front staining it a crimson red. Buffy pitches forward onto the shop's cold unyielding floor. The knife drops from her limp numb fingers, clattering loudly in the stillness. Giles, now freed from the curse, slides across the floor on his knees to his lover's lifeless body. He clutches her cooling bloodless vessel to his chest, weeping her name over and over lost to grief.

After nearly ten minutes, Giles scrubs away the last remnants of his tears. His green eyes glazing, he absently lowers his heart's burden back to the shop's floor. Gathering himself up, he lurches unsteadily to his feet and exits the place that now represents the death of what he held most dear. He stumbles along the street for two blocks before coming to a forced stop. The spell that induces his obedience, drags him on again after only a moment's rest. He fights its effects with all the strength left to him after the ordeal he has just been through in the last two days. After 30 minutes of helplessly tracking through Sunnydale under the strong compulsion, Giles arrives outside of a dilapidated warehouse near the docks. Two chaos demons appear from the shadows and haul him roughly inside to the main holding area. In the center of the space a man stands before a stone altar chanting in Latin. Once he reaches the end, he turns and faces his one time friend and the two green skinned demons.

"Ethan! Why?!" Giles raged.

"Payback Ripper for my little stay in the desert, courtesy of the Slayer and the Initiative."

"You, bastard! You're the one responsible for Buffy's death! You killed the Slayer. Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"What are you saying? I've done nothing to your precious Slayer except to separate you from her."

"She gave her life for mine, to free me! It was the only way to break your damn curse!" Giles yelled, struggling against his captors restraining hands.

"That's unfortunate, but you can hardly blame me for her foolish behavior. I always thought the girl was impulsive." Ethan turns back to the altar and continues the casting that he had begun two days ago. "All she had to do was let you go and nothing would have happened to her." He begins reciting, in Latin, the final words to the spell.

Giles suddenly recognizes the words of the incantation. He renews his struggle against his guards, "Ethan, you can't do this, you will change history and leave the hellmouth without a guardian! You'll be solely responsible for the death of all those she saved since her arrival!"

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