Title: R.I.P 1/6 - Series One?
Author: Savage
Pairing: B/G
Rating: Strong R, sad fic, ends happy <hey, it’s me, remember?>
Distribution: Dusty
Dedication: To Morr, Merry Christmas Sis! *g* Even if it this is
two years old *eg* seems to be a thing with me, LOL but at least
this one is DONE!
Disclaimer: Joss owns all
Summary: Giles is in England, after leaving Buffy - she gets a call from
the council about his death.
Author note: um, I was thinking of adding another story to this later, but I’m not sure. You guys let me know. Jules says yes cause she wants to know what happens ;-) Jules you rock, thanks so much for keeping Giles English! Also the song in the middle of the fic is not mine.

(Bath, England)

Buffy and her friends stood motionless in the large, darkened graveyard as lightening struck across the sky and thunder sounded every few minutes. The smell of moisture in the air told them that rain threatened to pour at any moment as the large storm continued to gather in strength and size. Buffy didn't hear anyone around her leave, though she had been vaguely aware of Willow telling her that she and Tara would take Dawn to the hotel room, while Xander had said something about he and Anya staying close by to patrol.

Even though this wasn't Sunnydale, evil still loomed.

Sinking to her knees as they finally gave way, Buffy ran her hand over the thick, bold letters spelling out his name. So many unresolved issues, she thought sadly...It was hard to believe that this was real, that he was gone and she was all alone. Again....

Those in her life that had meant the most to her seemed to be ripped away from her just when she needed them... Did she really deserve this? Did they? Did she have to always go through this? Is this why she was brought back? To suffer? To have her heart ripped from her chest every chance fate got? To have the one man she had always trusted, always counted on, taken away from her not only in death, but emotionally as well?

Had she just returned one of his calls, answered one of his letters, told him that she really didn't hate him, that she was just angry he left her when she needed him so much.... That she was struggling and didn't know how to handle being back in this world...didn't know how to cope...to communicate...that she felt dead inside, except for when he was near.....then maybe he would have stayed in Sunnydale.... Maybe he would have straightened her out and mended their bond .....

Buffy's hand fell from Giles' name as Xander and Anya walked around the grave site, keeping an eye on their distraught friend. Buffy hadn't moved from that spot all day and now she just sat there, staring at the headstone of her fallen Watcher, looking completely and utterly exhausted.

Xander remembered how devastated Buffy was when they received the call from England last week. After answering the phone and listening quietly for a few minutes, Buffy's eyes filled with tears as the phone dropped from her hand and grief overtook her. That night she cried until exhaustion set in and her body shut down. But that was the last time he had seen tears fall from her eyes.

Even today, at the funeral, she hadn't shed them. She was so strong for Dawn, for Willow, and even for him. He knew that her bond with the Watcher was something like no other and he couldn't imagine what she was going through, except for that in a way, he did.

Giles was like the father he wished he'd had. Loving, caring and supportive. Xander cherished the older man's advice and warm gestures. His heart hurt knowing he would never again see the man who made such an impact on his life. As Xander came to a stop and looked at Giles' name once again, spelled out across the special headstone, he closed his eyes briefly , wishing the Watcher well.

Anya meanwhile, was watching Xander. Everyone was so sad.... including her. She had loved Giles as much as everyone else, even though they had known him longer. But she didn't need to have known him as long as they had to know how caring and wonderful he was.

Even if he did make her wait nearly three months to take over the magic shop.

A smile formed across her lips when she recalled the fight they had over the spread sheets and how she struggled with him over that statue he had wanted to take. He had said it was from his own collection, but she could have sworn that it wasn't.

She'd let him have it now if he would just come back to them.

(Bath - England).

The pain ricocheting through his body was worse than Angelus' torture of him years ago, Giles decided. And for the forth time in nearly a week, the watcher woke up groaning softly, trying to open his eyes. But immediately found that action too difficult. Pain surged through his head at the assault of light as something wet and sticky slipping down the side of his head.

"Bloody hell" Giles sighed. Desperately he tried to remember how he had come to be in that position. He squinted to try and focus his eyes in the hope that he would be able to recognise where he was, but once again he was reminded that without lenses and with blood dripping into them, his eyes would not co-operate. Leaning his head back with his eyes closed and frustration tensing his body, Giles thought about the events that had led to this unfortunate situation.

Several moments ticked by as he realized he couldn't think of anyone who would want to do this to him. Since being back in England, he had made no enemies, at least not to his knowledge, and he kept to himself, working at the museum again as the curator.

Everything was peaceful, though lonely, without Buffy and the children, in his life. Lord did he miss her....and the children of course. But mostly, his heart ached for his Slayer. He missed her smile, her sense of humor, the way she would look at him and....Giles shook the thought from his mind. It wasn't going to help him to think about her at the moment. He needed to see where he was. He needed to try and remember what had happened.

Ethan was the last person he had talked to. They were on good terms again and Giles didn't think this was his doing. The sorcerer had called Ripper earlier in the week to meet and they had had a nice chat. Of course Giles made it clear that should he try anything, the Watcher was not against beating his old friend to a bloody pulp.

And now here he was. Lying on the floor in a cold, dark and damp place, hurting like hell and wishing he could see.

Before another thought could enter his mind, the sound of a door opening and closing, caught Giles' attention. He turned his head slightly towards the sound of approaching footsteps.

They stopped just in front of the watcher's face.

"About time you woke up, mate"

"Ethan?" Giles was surprised to hear his friend's voice. Opening his eyes, Giles forced them once again to try and focus. "What..."

"You look like hell Ripper. Sorry about that"

"Sorry? Sorry for what exactly? What the hell is going..."

"Here" Ethan responded, interrupting Giles and wiped away some blood from his eyes. "There, now you can see better"

"What's going on, Ethan? All I remember is having a beer with you then..."

Giles trailed off, mentally kicking himself. How bloody stupid was he? This was just like before, in Sunnydale, when Giles had been lonely and missing Buffy.

"So help me Ethan, if you turn me into another blasted demon...."

Ethan's laughter made Giles angry.

"Why?" Giles growled.

"I assume you mean, why did I capture you?"

"And why did you beat me?"

"Well, actually the beating wasn't me. Rather .... my boss"

"Your boss?"

"Yes, he uh, well, he had a score to settle with you"

"And somehow it worked out that you would benefited from this score?"

"I'm impressed Ripper. That massive brain of yours is always working, even when it's battered and bruised"

"Who's your boss?" Giles repeated

"Soon enough Ripper. For now, its time to eat"

Even with Ethan helping him, sitting up sent pain shooting through every nerve in Giles' body. Giles grimaced and clenched his teeth, refusing to show Ethan the satisfaction of seeing him suffer.

"I see Angel taught you a little about-"

"What is this Ethan? Why am I here and who's score are you helping to settle?"

"Easy there, ol' man. You might rupture something. Now here, take this"

Ethan tried to lift a spoonful of soup to the watcher's lips, but Giles turn his head away in refusal.

"Now Ripper, if you don't eat, how do you expect to get enough strength to break out of here?"

Giles turned back to Ethan with a glare.

"What are you getting out of this?"

"My freedom. Now eat"

He tried once again to feed the watcher, only to have Giles take the soup then spit it back into Ethan's face.

"Go to hell, you pillock!" Giles snarled.

Ethan stepped back; Anger evident in his eyes.

"Bloody stupid move Ripper!" With his right hand, Ethan wiped off the soup and Giles spit from his face, then turned and without another word, walked up the stairs and slammed the door shut.

Giles swallowed hard as he noticed how raw his throat felt. Some of the blood Ethan had drawn started to slide down Ripper's throat, making it hard for him to swallow.

"I have to get out of here" Giles mumbled wearily as he tried moving his hands again. He realised they were only bound by rope. <That was a stupid move on Ethan's part> Giles thought, "if he was the one who tied me up."

Looking around, Giles spotted a rusty nail sticking out from a wall a few feet away. However gathering enough strength to slide over there was a whole other issue.

(Hotel Room - London)

"I miss him" whispered Dawn, as she was cradled in a hug on the bed by Willow.

Tara entered the room with hot cocoa and sat on the bed, handing them the drinks.

"So do I, Dawnie" Willow answered with tears in her eyes and a small smile to Tara.

"Do what?" Tara asked softly.

"Miss Giles" Dawn answered through her tears. Giles meant a lot to her even though she never really told him.

"I wish there was something I could do ..."

"Willow! No"

"No what?"

"No resurrection spell or...."

"No, I wasn't, I swear I wasn't... well maybe at first. After seeing Buffy and how hard she took it....but NO, I promise"

"OK" Tara said with a small smile as Dawn put her cocoa down on the night stand before getting off the bed and walking to the window. She saw the rain coming down harder now and wondered if Buffy was *really* ok.

(Graveyard)

"Buff, we really should get going. It doesn't look like this rain's about to let up"

"I... I-I can't leave him, Xander" Her voice was barely a whisper as it filtered into the night's cold wind.

Shivering, Xander knelt next to his best friend and placed a caring hand to her shoulder.

"I know how you feel Buffy. But, slayer healing or not, you're gonna catch pneumonia out here if you ..."

"You guys go. I'll catch up" she told him softly as Anya watched the Slayer close her eyes. She assumed Buffy was trying to hold her emotions in check so Xander would leave her alone, but Anya's ex had no intention of doing that.

Switching her weight from one foot to the other, the vengeance demon continued to watch the slayer as Xander tried to talk Buffy into leaving. Anya had never seen Buffy in this much pain before, not even when her mother had passed away and she knew how badly that had effected her.

For some reason Buffy was blaming herself for this, though it was in no way her fault. Giles had been attacked by vampires the previous week on his way home from the museum. At least that's what the man from the Council of Watchers had told Buffy when he called them.

Anya thought it was pretty ironic that a man with Giles' experience had been killed by the one thing he and Buffy spent most of their lives training to defeat.

"No way, Buffy. I'm not leaving here without.."

"Xander"

"No An. Forget it."

"Xander, Buffy needs time ... and privacy." Anya suggested gently.

"She can have it at the hotel! I am not leaving her alone and unprotected!"

"Xander!"

"Anya, listen to what I'm saying..." Standing and concentrating on the argument, he missed Anya frantically shaking her head, until she grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to see the charging vampire behind him.

Stumbling backwards, Xander fumbled to get the stake out of his back pocket, but it was caught on something and wouldn't budge.

"Damn it, An help me!"

"Help you what?!"

"It's caught! Help.." Xander's plea trailed off as he saw the Vampire turn to dust as it lunged at them. When the cloud cleared, Anya and Xander found Buffy standing there with her back to them - stake in hand.

She was still looking at her watcher's grave as she told them.

"Go home guys. I'm fine"

"I, uh, I can see that, Buff, but ...."

"Xander" Anya interjected as her hand went to rest on his forearm. She saw the man she had called yesterday, as he walked along the shadows towards them. "She'll be ok. Come on"

Still looking at his best friend, Xander found that hard to believe.

"An, I can't leave her"

"Yes you can. She's more than capable of taking care of herself"

"I know that but..."

"Xander. She needs some time alone"

After several minutes, Xander gave in. He took a step towards Buffy, placed a tender kiss to her cheek then removed his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. Though she all ready had one on, it was already soaked through and he was afraid of her getting sick.

Xander went back to Anya and they headed off. Walking along the graveyard towards their rented car, Anya slipped her hand into his and gave him a squeeze.

"She'll be ok" She told him over the loud wind and rain.

"She's all alone"

"No she isn't"

Stopping, Xander turned to look back to Buffy. He watched as Angel emerged from the shadows. The vampire surrounded his first love in a comforting hug before laying a kiss to the top of her head.

"What's he..."

"Xander, don't" She told him softly, stopping him from going to Buffy.

"They're friends. Let them be"

"But..."

"Let her heal"

"You think he can heal her?"

"I think they can heal each other. If anything, they have always been good friends..."

"And what? I'm not a good enough friend for her to open up to?"

"I didn't say that"

"You didn't have to"

"Xander, Buffy doesn't need your *eww's* and *Oh gross's* She needs support. I thought Angel-"

"Why would I say ewww or gross? Why...wait, you called him here?"

"Yes, yesterday. Xander, he can help her cope. I was just trying to help."

"He tried to kill us all Anya!"

"He was bad then. He knows Buffy. He knows how to calm her"

"Fine. Whatever"

"She was in love with him Xander"

"I know that"

"No, not Angel. Giles"

NEXT