Title: Mishap on Ice
Author: Sweetdoggie (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
Pairing: B/G
Rating: FRC
Summary: Giles slips (Challenge response to Monday Mini-Challenge #83, from GilesRulesBaby-- Giles, Ice, Another Person).
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.
This is something quick I put together at work while I was waiting for a delivery. Enjoy.
Monday Mini-Challenge #83: Giles, ice, another person.
Rupert Giles, formerly Watcher to Buffy Summers, the last solitary Slayer, walked down a nearly deserted street in Cleveland and stepped on a sheet of black ice, his normal dexterity deserting him as his feet flew out from under his tall frame. He hit the sidewalk with a thump that knocked the wind out of him. As he lay on the ground trying to fight enough air back into his lungs to rise, he heard footsteps nearing him. Looking up, he met the concerned gaze of his former Slayer.
“You OK, Giles? That was quite a tumble.”
“Fine,” he gasped. “As soon as I can draw a decent breath, I’ll make the effort to rise again.”
She grinned down at him and offered him a hand up. “Rising again…that’s my thing. How about I just help you stand?”
“Oh, ha ha, very funny.” He let her pull him to his feet.
“I thought so.” She tucked her arm around him. “Makes you miss California, doesn’t it?”
“With a bloody passion!” Giles looked down at her. “What are you doing out in this weather? You know I worry about you. What if you fell?”
“Believe it or not, sweetie, pregnant women manage to live in Cleveland in the winter without the benefit of being the Slayer or a personal bodyguard.”
He rolled his eyes at her, not having lost a jot of sarcasm since she had married him after the destruction of Sunnydale the previous year. “They aren’t my pregnant woman, however.”
“Well, we’ll be going home to Bath soon. Hopefully, you won’t be quite so crazy once we’re back in jolly old England.”
“I am not crazy, just reasonably concerned. Besides, at home I have a veritable army of Slayers to watch you. Here, I am limited to a mere fifty.” Even as he spoke, he saw ten or twelve girls running down the street to intercept them.
The girls stopped in front of him, shoulders squared and chins elevated. “Sorry, sir. Mrs. Giles gave us the slip.” Two of them stepped up to Buffy and made her put her arms over their shoulders. It was Buffy’s turn to roll her eyes.
“Stop it! I am not an invalid!”
“Sorry, ma’am, but the head of the Council says you should be accompanied at all times and that if you fall, things will go hard with us.”
Buffy glared at her husband. “Rupert Giles! I told you not to be so protective!”
He grinned down at her. “Sorry, love. I’m just making up for all the years I couldn’t do this back in Sunnydale. Get used to it.”
Buffy let the girls march her back to the house. Faith met them at the door. “No more evading the Slayer-sitters, B. I don’t want anything happening to my little niece or nephew.”
The oldest Slayer threw her hands up in the air. “For heaven’s sake!” She stomped off in a huff.
Faith grinned at Giles. “A little moody, isn’t she?”
“Much better than she was at first. Through her first trimester, she would have answered you with her fists. Potential motherhood is mellowing her.” He smiled after his wife fondly.
Faith laughed, finally at peace with herself and her Calling. “Nothing will ever mellow B, but her own bad self. I think it must be your influence.”
Giles smiled. “Perhaps, but I suspect your original supposition was more correct. Only Buffy changes Buffy.”
END