Title: Slayer Central chapter 9
Author: Gileswench
Contact: gileswench@yahoo.com
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. Praise abjectly sought.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc., etc., etc. I just let them have all the fun Joss won't. I own nothing except my twisted mind which you really don't want. Please don't sue.



Giles hurried quietly along the hospital corridor. Visiting hours were nearly over and he wanted to make good on his promise to see Joyce. It wasn't just that Buffy would expect an update; he had truly come to like his mother in law over time. So long as they avoided discussion of chocolate bars, all was well.

He waved a cheerful, albeit slightly shy, greeting to the nurses on duty. Most of them had met him at some point in the past few years as well. Between repeated injuries, mostly cranial, and the time he'd spent visiting friends who had been caught in the supernatural crossfire of Slaying, he felt he'd spent almost as much time at the hospital as he had in his old flat.

Lost in his musings, Giles almost bumped into a short, plump, sweet- faced nurse before he saw her.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Gail! I didn't see you."

"If those flowers are an apology, I accept" she grinned up at him.

"Alas, they're for a friend who's in here. Perhaps next time."

Gail folded her arms across her bosom and pasted a mock frown on her face.

"Should I be jealous?"

"Not of the recipient. I rather doubt that my wife would take well to my romancing her mother."

"Wife? I always knew someday some other woman would wake up and take you away from me. Still, it breaks my heart."

"And you didn't break mine, Gail? You were already taken as I recall, much to my dismay."

"So who's your mother in law?"

"Joyce Summers."

"So that means that young girl who comes here every day is your wife? Never had you figured for such a cradle robber. Though, I have to say from the look of things, you're filling one to make up for it."

"Ah, well, you see, Crystal isn't my wife. She's...a friend. It's a bit complicated. Buffy will be here tomorrow with me. Actually, she is pretty young, and well, we are expecting, as it happens."

By the time he finished, Giles was blushing furiously. Gail took pity on him.

"I think you'd better go visit Joyce soon. You have about half an hour. Don't make me come and throw you out."

"I'll do my best to behave."

"Oh, and Mr. Giles? Congratulations. Your Buffy is a lucky woman."

"As your Noel is a very lucky man."

With a courtly flourish, Giles removed a single bloom from the bouquet he held and handed it to Gail. The nurse chuckled softly to herself as she watched him stride down the corridor. She wondered if his wife had any idea what a flirt he was.

When he got to the door of Joyce's room, Giles could hear Crystal inside. The words he heard made him come to a halt and listen at the door as the blood drained from his face.

"Why can't we just share a room when you get out of here, Joyce?"

"I'm not sure anyone in that house is ready for it. Let's give them some time to get used to the idea, okay?"

"But I want to be with you."

"And I want to be with you. It's just...complicated."

Giles pulled himself together and knocked a bit more loudly on the door than he normally would.

"Hello, Joyce. How are you feeling tonight?"

*****

"I really don't think you want to talk to Buffy tonight" Cordelia commented as she led Ms. Pennington to the Slayer's bedroom. "She's been really queasy today with the morning sickness."

"Of course" replied Ms. Pennington in a tone that indicated she didn't believe a word Cordelia said. "I'll take my chances."

"Well don't say I didn't warn you." She knocked on Buffy's door, then opened it. "Buffy? Your caseworker is here. And she thinks you're faking with the whole baby thing."

The brunette shrugged at her friend before leaving. Ms. Pennington entered the room, pulled out her notepad and approached the bed where the chartreuse Slayer lay burping uneasily.

"Now then, Mrs. Giles" Ms. Pennington began. "Miss Chase informs me that you're pregnant. How far along are you?"

Buffy swallowed hard before answering.

"About a month and a half."

She swallowed again. the bathroom wasn't far, but Ms. Pennington was blocking the door.

"Ms. Pennington, I really need to..."

"And you're on bedrest, I understand?"

"I got mugged and almost lost the baby. Now, please, I really have to..."

"Mrs. Giles, who is the father of this child?"

Buffy lunged for the door, hand over her mouth. She didn't make it. When she finished, she looked ruefully at Ms. Pennington.

"Guess I owe you a pair of shoes, huh?"

*****

Angel ducked behind the dumpster.

"Okay, the blood delivery should be along any time now" he informed his companions. "When it gets here, stay in the shadows unless something tries to take the blood. Any questions?"

Spike raised his hand.

"If we save the shipment, do I get to take a free sample or two?"

Wesley and Xander rolled their eyes.

*****

As soon as Ms. Pennington had squelched away, four girls burst into giddy laughter and high fived one another.

"I so wish Giles could have been here to see that! Buffy was awesome" Willow crowed.

"I told her not to go in there" Cordelia added. "It was a disgusting, yet appropriate, retribution. That stupid woman should listen to me next time."

"I, um, don't think she usually listens to anyone. Buffy restored a certain amount of karmic balance, but I think it'll take more than that to really even out the scales" Tara obseved. "Maybe we should think of something else to help her cleanse her aura?"

Anya smiled.

"Have you ever considered vengeance as a career, Tara?"

"I don't know...how are the benefits?"

Willow steered her girlfriend away.

"Come on, baby. I think Buffy needs some help cleaning up after her retribution."

*****

Giles was quiet even for him as he ushered Crystal from Joyce's room and out of the hospital. The girl kept glancing up at him with a worried expression.

"Is everything okay?" she asked. "They didn't tell you anything bad about Joyce, did they?"

"No, Crystal, they haven't told me anything that you don't know. I'm certain everything will be just fine tomorrow."

Shortly before they reached the door, Giles put out a hand to stop Crystal. He listened for a moment, then reached into his jacket and pulled out a cross and a small vial, handing them to the girl.

"Keep back, and if anything comes near you, hold up the cross. If that doesn't stop it, throw the water at it.Have you got that?"

"Water? Cross? You've gotta be kidding, Rupert."

"I'm not kidding" he assured her taking a stake from his other pocket. "There's a battle going on out there, and I don't want you hurt. Now stay here and stay out of trouble."

He strode purposefully out the door. Crystal looked at the items in her hand.

Maybe Giles belonged in the Psych ward.

*****

Three vamps down, another six to go. Wesley had been knocked unconcious against the dumpster, but Spike, Angel, and Xander continued to hold their own.

A vampire that had probably been a Hell's Angel in life came up behind Xander and pulled him away from the smaller vamp he'd been about to stake. The young man struggled, but couldn't pull away, largely due to the fact that his feet were dangling in midair. He gave a vicious kick to the Biker's knee, and found himself on the ground again. Still, two vamps were aiming for him. Not good odds.

Spike hauled one hungry vamp away from the fallen former Watcher and dusted it as another lunged at him from the side.

Angel swung wildly with his sword, but missed the neck of his intended victim by inches. The last vampire dove for Angel's legs and knocked him to the ground. As they struggled, the one Angel had tried to behead, ran for the hospital, sideswiping Giles on his way outside.

Giles grabbed the panicked vamp by the throat and plunged the stake into his chest. A cloud of dust swirled around the Englishman as he continued on his way.

From several feet behind him, Crystal gaped.

Giles raced to pull one of the vamps off of Xander and staked him cleanly. Xander quickly took out the Hell's Angel.

The ensouled vampire easily took out the one he was still fighting. Spike was having too much fun hitting his repeatedly. In a moment of distraction on the biteless vampire's part, his victim slipped away.

Crystal could see the deranged man coming for her, his face twisted in some ungodly way. She tried not to panic, and held the cross before her as Giles had instructed. The beast kept coming.

With fumbling hands, she uncorked the vial and tossed the water at the creature's face. Most of it spilled harmlessly on the floor, but some hit its target.

The beast howled in fury and pain. When it lowered its hands, its face was clearly burned. It rounded on Crystal again.

The girl cowered against the wall, holding the cross at arm's length. She squeezed her eyes shut and awaited the end she knew was coming.

A moment later, she heard a whooshing noise, then silence. Then Xander's voice in her ear.

"Crystal, are you okay?"


:: NEXT :: | :: CHRONICLES INDEX :: | :: AUTHORS PAGE ::