TITLE: Being Played (6/6)
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 for the present tense format. Though it was a good idea at the time.
Giles watches in horror as Ethan tosses some herbs into a small fire on the altar before him. Suddenly Giles lurches forward with his torso unbalancing the Chaos demons gripping his arms. He pulls away from them, dashing wildly towards Ethan. Just as Ethan finishes adding the ingredients to the flame, Giles hits Ethan in the face, hard, causing the sorcerer to stumble into the brass bowl containing the remaining herbs. They fly up into the air hurling some of them into the burning essence of the spell. Ethan drags himself up to a sitting position on the rotting floor boards of the warehouse, just as the demons reclaim Giles, restraining his arms again. Wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, Ethan stands up with his back to the flame and glares at Giles angrily while finishing the casting. As the force of the spell hits, Giles starts intoning a spell of his own in a clear and commanding voice. Ethan's eyes widen in surprise and fury. He makes a futile attempt to counter Giles, but the Watcher's spell is already in progress. A blinding white light engulfs the room totally obscuring the four figures.
The bell on the front door of the Magic Box jingles. Everyone's eyes dart immediately towards the entrance just in time to see Giles hobble down the entrance steps and into the main area of the shop. Dirt and blood streak the exposed areas of his body as well as his tattered clothes. The most disturbing aspect about his disheveled appearance though is that his right trouser leg has been ripped up the side with blood running from a deep gash in his thigh. As Giles reaches the middle of the floor, he stops dead in his tracks, a disoriented expression plastered on his scratched up face.
Buffy and Willow jump up and hurry over to him. "Giles? What happened?" Instead of answering their questions, he moves painfully towards the training room. Buffy's eyes dart to the others in the room and follows Giles.
Buffy finds Giles hunched over on the sofa staring down at the floor. She moves across the room quickly and rests next to him. "Giles, what happened?"
After a few minutes of silence, Giles stands up and limps a few steps away from her. He turns around to face towards the sofa again. "Buffy...I...I...can't talk about this right now. I...need time to digest what happened to me last night." Giles starts limping towards the door that leads to the back alley.
Buffy moves to block his exit. "Giles, what's going on? Talk to me. What's with the avoidance?"
Giles stares intently at her for a few minutes. He lowers his eyes. "Please...I...not now." A tear rolls down his cheek. Buffy advances closer, placing her hand gently on his arm. "Are you sure?" Giles shakes his head. He withdraws from her and collapses to the training room floor, unconscious.
"Xander!" Buffy kneels down next to him. Xander bursts through the door and into the room with Anya and Willow close on his heels. "I need help." She directs to the others. "Giles! Can you hear me?!" she calls to Giles still body. "Xander, help me move him to the sofa."
His eyes glistening in pain, Giles watches Buffy as she finishes bandaging his injured leg. He removes his glasses and swipes roughly at the moisture that has streamed down his cheeks, betraying his inner anguish as well as the aching weariness in his body. He replaces them just as Buffy raises her head. "How's it feel?"
"Better. Thanks."
"So are you going to tell me what happened?"
"I'm not particularly inclined to do so, at least not until I find out a few facts." Giles pulls the two ripped sides of his trouser leg closed. Swinging his legs off of the sofa, he sits up with his back against the sofa's cushion. Buffy moves closer to him with her knee propped up on the worn cushion.
"And what information would that be?"
"Today's date."
"The date?"
"Yes." Giles looks at her unwaveringly. There's no levity in either his face or demeanor.
Buffy assumes an equal attitude. "Monday, March 5th."
Giles thoughtfully nods his head, considering the ramifications of this information. "So, he pulled it off."
"Who Giles? Come on, give. You're being totally cryptic guy."
"Yes...sorry."
"Don't be sorry, Giles. Share."
Giles absently twists the ring that Buffy gave him, his mind lost in thought. Buffy notices his nervous action and reaches out and takes his right hand, bringing it close to look at the ring. "Where did you get this!" she exclaims looking at him clearly upset to see it on his finger.
"I...I..." Giles stammers unsure as to how to answer her question.
"Giles?!" Her eyes widens with the sudden thought that her watcher might have gone through her personal things at her house and abscond with the ring, the ring that she had intended to give him for his next birthday. 'But why would Giles do such a thing? No way is Giles a thief.'
Giles gently extracts his hand from hers and places it on her arm. "Buffy, I have a rather fantastic story to tell you and I really need you to reserve your questions until I've finished, do you think you can do that for me?"
"I don't know. Is this story going to explain what the hell is going on here?"
"Yes, it will...whether you believe it or not is quite another thing." 'Or whether you will still want me after this.' Giles thought unsure of the eventual outcome of his travel back in time.
"I'm listening."
Giles tells Buffy everything that has happened starting from the night that she and he kissed for the first time. Giles anxiously watches her expression as he recounts his torrential journey. Her expression throughout remains unreadable. "Buffy?" Giles softly speaks her name, afraid of what she might say.
"What do you expect me to say? I have no idea what to say to such a fantastic story."
"I don't know. That you at least believe me. You do believe me?"
"I..." Her eyes drop their gaze to the training room floor.
Giles scans her profile for a clue, any clue that she can accept what he told her as the truth. He pushes himself up from the sofa. He looks down at her. 'Perhaps, I expected too much. I must be content to know that at least she is safe from me and Ethan.' Giles had defeated both Ethan and the two demons that had been transported to this time with him. Ethan wouldn't be hurting anyone anymore. "Don't worry about it, Buffy. I'm sure that Its my tired mind playing tricks on me. I haven't been sleeping very well and I went out last night, patrolling. Everything should be fine in the morning after I've slept." Buffy's head came up at his pain filled words. His back is turned towards her. He limps towards the alleyway exit. As he raises his hand towards the doorknob, he notices the ring on his right index finger. He pauses a moment, then removes it from his hand. Closing it tightly in his hand for a moment, he lets the memories wash over him. He swallows hard and turns back towards her, holding the precious ring out in his own palm. She approaches him and hesitantly takes the jewelry from him with a trembling hand. She scrutinizes his face for a few minutes before examining the ring. Giles wavers back to the doorway to leave. Before he can flee, he feels a pair of strong slender arms encircling his chest. He cranes his head around to look into Buffy's misting blue eyes. "Buffy?"
She holds up the ring, still grasped in her hand so that he can see the inscription etched inside of the ring. 'To Giles, all my love forever, Buffy.' He glances up from the writing to her face in time to see a tear slide down her cheek. She leans up as he bows his head down towards her. They kissed for the first time...again.
THE END