Title: Castaway
Author: Sweetdoggie (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
Pairing: B/G
Rating: FRAO
Summary: Buffy falls through Glory's portal and doesn't die.
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: No permission has been granted to use the characters. They are owned by their creator, Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB, and Mutant Enemy. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
Buffy walked into the front door of her house, trembling with the stress of being around so many people after so long alone. She flicked the light switch on and grinned. “I missed this!”
She grabbed Giles by the hand and pulled him upstairs and into the bathroom. “I need to bathe so very much but I’m not letting you out of my sight. Can you deal with that?”
He sat down on the toilet seat lid. “No problem. I just can’t believe the reality of you. I’ve missed you so much!”
She grinned as she stripped off her furs noting that he made no effort to look away. “You should burn these.” She stepped naked into the tub and simply moaned in ecstasy. “God, this is wonderful! I’ve missed civilization like you wouldn’t believe. I’ve missed everybody, but I thought I’d die from missing you.”
He watched her smell the soap before gliding it over her skin sensuously. He rolled up his shirt sleeves and came to kneel by the side of the tub. “May I help you wash?” His voice had dropped about three octaves.
She smiled and passed him the bath sponge. He ran it over her back, noting scrapes and scars that hadn’t been there three months ago. He lost himself in stroking the sponge over her skin. Wetting her hair, he poured some guava scented shampoo into his hand and lathered her head. She angled toward him and he gently massaged her scalp. She felt as limp as a noodle under his ministrations.
Keeping her eyes closed she began to speak. “I missed you. Five years, all I could think about was what a fool I’d been. I treated you so badly, especially after I started college…I should have every square inch of my ass kicked for that. And before we go any farther, I want to apologize for being stupid and rude and a bad Slayer. You were right about the solution to the Glory problem—I was wrong.”
“No, you were right, love. I couldn’t and shouldn’t have expected you to make that choice.”
“It’s my job, Giles. I’m sorry I was so bad at it. That’s going to change. The other thing I wanted to tell you was how very much I love you. I loved you before I fell into that damn doorway to Hell and I loved you while I was there. Will you let me love you now that I’m finally home?”
“Love me?”
“I want to make love with you, to sleep with you every night, to wake up in your arms every morning. Just you: no Angel or Riley or anybody else but you.”
“Buffy, you’re suffering from shock. You don’t mean that.” He sounded bitterly disappointed.
“I do mean it. Five years is a long time to pine for somebody. Will you give us a chance? I can’t be away from you anymore.”
“I love you, Buffy. If this turns out not to be real, it will kill me.”
“It would kill me not to be with you now, Giles. Kill me completely.”
“I’m twenty years older than you…”
“Fifteen now. And besides, so what? Age in my lovers hasn’t ever mattered to me.”
“I can’t believe you’ve really lived five years in the three months you’ve been gone from me. You don’t look any older.”
“Clean living,” she laughed as she looked at the gray bathwater. “Well, cleanish, anyhow.”
He scrubbed her feet, noting a scar across the sole of her right foot. “What happened here?”
“Oh, I had to run across some sharp rocks to get away from a wolf-thing that was trying to eat me.”
“A wolf-thing?”
“Yeah, looked and acted pretty much like a wolf, but it was about eight feet tall at the shoulder. All I had was my spear and some rocks. I thought running was my best bet."
“Obviously, you were correct.”
“When my foot healed up, I got my bow and arrows, four spears, and my sling and I took that baby out! His skin made a nice rug in my tree house and his claws were almost as good as daggers for cutting stuff up.”
He shuddered at the danger. “How could you take such a foolish chance?”
“What choice did I have? He was stalking me every day. I was afraid to leave my tree for fear he’d eat me. I couldn’t let my guard down for a single minute. It was him or me and I decided that on day one, if it came down to me or an animal, I was going to be the winner.”
She stood and he helped her rinse her hair under the shower. “God. I’m clean, really clean for the first time in five years. I hated being able to smell myself. Every night before bed, I’d promise myself the first thing I did after I got home would be to bathe.”
“I’m surprised you never gave up hope of coming home since it took so long.”
“I knew you were looking, that you wouldn’t think I was dead.”
“I prayed you were alive.”
He took his time toweling her dry. She shimmied sensuously under his hands. “You feel so good”
He giggled. “I think that’s my line, love.”
He wrapped a towel around her and carefully carried her to her bedroom. “We kept all your things exactly as you left them. I didn’t let Dawn borrow your clothes.”
“Thanks.” She ran her hands over her dresser before pulling open her underwear drawer. “I haven’t worn panties for five years. Going to feel weird.”
She pulled out a modest pair of underwear and stepped into them, marveling at the smooth fabric. “I’ll tell you one thing; I’m never taking the simple stuff for granted ever again.”
He watched her dress, the intensity of his eyes making the process seem very sensual to her.
“Will you sleep with me here tonight?”
“Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
“I can’t let you out of my sight, Giles. We don’t have to go beyond sleeping if that’s what you want, but I need to be touching you.”
“Then I should very much like to sleep with you tonight—and for all the nights of my future.”
She took her hand in his and together they stepped out of her room. The others were waiting impatiently downstairs for them, for her, actually. Dawn wanted to hug her sister, Willow and Xander wanted to greet their friend; Anya was even glad she was back because now Xander would quit worrying about her. They all seemed to rush at her as she stepped off the bottom stair. Before Buffy knew what she was doing, she was in a fighter’s crouch, trying to defend herself.
The gang stopped their rush towards her and stood around looking shocked. Dawn looked like she wanted to cry. Buffy straightened slowly. “Sorry guys. Just a reflex. I haven’t been around anything that didn’t want to kill me for five years. I’m not used to people. Maybe you could just give me a little space?”
Dawn pouted. “You let Giles be with you.”
“Yes.” She didn’t explain or try to justify her behavior.
Willow, ever the peacemaker stepped forward. “Why don’t we all go sit down, eat some pizza, and let Buffy tell her story?”
“An excellent idea, Willow,” Giles informed her, carefully shielding Buffy with his body but trying to look unobtrusive.
They phoned in Buffy’s pizza request and sat around waiting till it arrived. Commenting on how brown Buffy’s skin was and how golden her hair, they passed the time. When the doorbell rang, they noticed Buffy was startled. She gripped the couch cushions like they were a life saver and tried to remain calm. Too many people, too much noise and light. It was obviously going to take more than a few hours to calm these fears.
Xander came back with the food and Willow went to retrieve the plates. Dawn brought cans of soda for everyone.
Buffy popped a can and tilted the sweet beverage to her lips. “Bleaaaachhh. Is there something wrong with this? It tastes awful!”
Giles took the can from her and, placing his lips where hers had been took a swig. “Hmmm. Sickening sweet, with an underlying chemical aftertaste. No, seems like perfectly normal soda to me.”
“Maybe your taste buds have changed, Buffy,” Dawn commented brightly. “I’ll get you some water.”
Buffy nodded thankfully and set the can back on the table. “I hope the pizza isn’t a disappointment too.” Pulling a piece out of the box she slipped it onto her plate. Before taking a bite, she looked to Giles.
He nodded at her encouragingly. “I’m sure it’s a simple matter of getting your taste buds used to processed food and drink again. Go ahead, love, and take a bite.”
She smelled the slice of pizza. The bite of tomato sauce and the melty goodness of the cheese wafted up to meet her salivating mouth. Tentatively, she took a nibble. The explosion of flavor almost made her pass out. “God! This is wonderful!” She ate slowly, mindful of the richness of the food. As she devoured the pizza, she began her story.
The others goggled when they heard about her adventures.
“I would have gone crazy,” Willow told her. “Five years with nobody to talk to…”
“It wasn’t easy. Toward the end there, I talked to myself a lot. Words sounded strange to me. Sometimes I would try to think of a word for something and it would just be…gone, I guess.”
“Well, you’re back now. Everything’s going to be all right,” Xander told her with a grin.
“I know. Giles will help me adjust.”
They all looked at the former librarian. He nodded at Buffy’s words. “This is going to be a very difficult period of adjustment for Buffy. You all need to give her time to get used to being around people again.”
“Hey! Maybe a trip to the Bronze?” Willow suggested.
“No! God, no! I can’t even begin to think about that kind of thing yet, Will. It’s all I can do to be in the same room with all of you.”
“You aren’t happy to see us?” Dawn’s lip quivered.
“I am! I’m very happy. I love you all so much! But, this is so much input that I feel like I might short out at any moment. I wish I could make you understand.” She stood and yawned. “I’m going to bed now. I’m going to start patrolling tomorrow, if that’s all right with Giles?”
“Of course, Buffy. Let me help you.” He turned to the others. “Don’t forget to turn out the lights and lock up.”
The others watched the Slayer and her Watcher head upstairs to her bedroom. Xander was the first to speak.
“Ah, guys? Did you catch a whole bunch of subtext there?”
“As in, how come Giles gets to be all close and everything but her best friends, her sister, for heaven’s sake, have to stay back? Yeah, I noticed that,” Willow replied.
“I think there’s something going on with them,” Dawn said in a revolted voice. “He was in the bathroom with her while she was taking a bath. She changed her clothes too, so he probably saw her all naked and everything.”
“Freaky,” Xander agreed. “But probably its just because they missed each other or something. I’m going to keep thinking that’s all it is until I can’t think that anymore.”
Willow nodded. “Me too. Buffy and Giles and romance? So not wanting to go there.”
“I have to live here with her. Who knows what I’ll see? I’m going to need therapy for decades,” Dawn whined.
Xander and Willow exchanged a look before Willow turned to the younger girl. “It’s probably nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not worry when he’s up there in her bedroom? And I don’t think he’s coming out again, either,” the younger Summers’ girl complained.