Title: Stop Motion 1/?
Author: Shannon
Pairing: Willow/Giles
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Joss Whedon, ME, UPN, FOX, and WB.
Distribution: http://magical-worlds.us/musings/, My LJ (shannon730), Hairy Eyeball if Elisabeth wants it. Anyone else that has my other fics. Any one else just let me know first.
Summary: Buffy is injured. Willow and Giles work together to help her and find the vampires behind the attack.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Gabrielle for betaing this for me. This is written in response to Michelle's challenge
What would happen if Buffy was paralyzed? I'd like to see a story about this, and about Giles' reaction to it. Pairing: A Giles/Buffy pairing would be preferred, but any pairing would be good. (It could be interesting to see how Buffy's paralysis would affect Giles' relationship with someone else.) I hope it's at least close to what you wanted.
Giles rushed down the long, empty hallway. He hadn't slept since Willow called him the day before. She hadn't given him any details. He wasn't even sure why Willow was there, in Rome, and not in Brazil. All she had said was that Buffy was seriously injured and he needed to come as soon as possible. He spotted Dawn and Willow through the glass of the waiting room window and pushed the door open.
"Giles!" Dawn was out of her seat and had her arms wrapped around him before he was completely through the door. "We were too late. We tried, but we couldn't find her in time."
Giles wrapped his arms around the crying teenager and looked over her head at Willow. She was standing a few feet away, waiting. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Buffy's strong," he said with more confidence than he felt, wanting to comfort her.
"Giles, can I." Willow said hesitantly. Dawn was already suspicious that she was keeping things from her but she wasn't sure Dawn really wanted the information just yet. "We need to.talk."
"Ah, yes," Giles agreed. "In the hallway?"
"I'm not a child," Dawn argued, when Giles stepped away from her. "I can hear."
"Miss Summers?" A voice interrupted.
"Yeah," Dawn said, turning her attention to the doctor standing in the doorway behind Giles.
"Your sister is awake and asking for you."
"Can we all.?" Willow asked.
"Not just yet," The doctor said. "Just her sister right now, later she'll be able to see more people. Right now she needs to rest."
Dawn grabbed her purse from the chair she had vacated and followed the doctor out of the room. Willow sighed in relief. As much as she wanted to see Buffy, to see for herself that she was all right, this gave her the chance to talk to Giles without angering Dawn. "What's happened, Willow? Buffy is all right, isn't she?"
"Well, that depends on what you mean by all right," Willow frowned and led Giles over to the chairs she had Dawn had been using. "She'll live, her life isn't in danger anymore, but. Giles, the doctors don't think she'll be able to walk."
"Yes, but they don't know about the slayer and. Buffy heals faster than most."
"Giles, she's not going to walk," Willow said, stopping him; she'd tried to convince herself of the same things. "That's why I was here. That seer, from the coven in Brazil, she told me what would happen. She knew that Buffy would be attacked, and where, and I tried to get here in time but. She can't heal from this, Giles."
"How did it," Giles began, deciding he would deal with the rest later, when he had time to think. "How was she injured?"
"I don't know exactly," Willow admitted, "I haven't been able to talk to Buffy. The seer said she was going to be ambushed. It was a trap, vampires out to get a real slayers again. They set her up. I don't know how they knew where she'd be, but they did."
Giles closed his eyes for several seconds. They had all begun to think this couldn't happen to Buffy. They used to be prepared for it. The slayer's job was dangerous. Nine years later, they had grown overly confident in Buffy's ability to survive. They no longer thought of simple vampires as being a danger to her. They should've been more careful. Now Buffy was paying for their over confidence. "Dawn, she doesn't know?"
"No," Willow said, "I talked to the doctor earlier; Dawn was too upset and I didn't want to tell her. I don't think Buffy knows either."
"The others?"
"Xander and Faith are on their way," Willow said, "They'll be here tomorrow sometime."
"Dawn will have to be told," Giles said quietly. His mind already trying to work out how they would deal with this new development, "They won't be able to stay here in Rome. Too dangerous, and Dawn won't be able to take care of her alone. When word gets out that Buffy's been injured."
"Every demon in the world will be lining up to finish her off," Willow finished. "I want to find the vampires that did it, Giles. I want them to pay. Make sure the demon world understands that we aren't going to accept this."
"You scared the hell out of them last night," Dawn said from the doorway. Then, in answer to their questioning looks, "Buffy's sleeping again."
"Yeah, I've built quite a reputation in Brazil," Willow admitted. "I didn't realize it had traveled this far though."
"Well, I imagine Andrew can handle things at home for a while. At least until Buffy is able to travel. I can stay and help you."
"What do you mean, until she can travel?" Dawn asked. "No more hiding. How bad is it? Willow, why did you come all the way here instead of calling?"
Willow took a deep breath, Dawn had to be told. "Buffy isn't going to. Dawnie, she's paralyzed."
"She said she couldn't feel." Dawn began, and hesitated. "It's temporary, right?"
"I'm afraid not," Giles responded. "The injuries are too."
"No," Dawn said loudly, tears forming in her eyes again. "No, she's the slayer. Slayers can heal anything."
"Most things yes," Giles agreed, "But not everything. If that were true, they would be immortal. They can't heal if the wound is serious enough. Her healing power is probably what's allowed her to survive this at all."
Dawn took a deep breath. She wasn't going to fall apart. That's why Willow hadn't told her earlier, they didn't think she could handle it. They thought she was just a kid and couldn't deal with it. She wasn't, and she could handle this. Buffy needed her to be able to deal with it. "Does Buffy know?"
"I don't think so," Willow said, "The doctor was going to wait until she was stabilized to tell her."
"She's." Dawn said quietly, "This is going to kill her."
"She's stronger than you believe, Dawn," Giles said, then more quietly, "She has to be."
Willow nodded in agreement. She wasn't entirely sure she agreed with Giles though. Buffy wasn't going to handle this news well at all. It was possible that Dawn was right, this information would accomplish what the vampires hadn't.