Fic: Being Chosen Sucks Buffy/Giles FRT (1/1)
February 17th, 2008 (08:06 am)
Summary: Buffy hates being a Slayer sometimes.
Spoilers: Post Chosen, some comics canon through at least issue three.
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be mine, no infringement, no profit, just for fun.
Distribution: My LJ, my site, anywhere else just ask.
Beta:![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
antennapedia, thank you is not enough. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
Author’s Notes: Written forsheepfairyin the first round of ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
hetfic_minis. She wanted B/G, drinks, destiny and disasters, I hope this works.
Spoilers: Post Chosen, some comics canon through at least issue three.
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be mine, no infringement, no profit, just for fun.
Distribution: My LJ, my site, anywhere else just ask.
Beta:
antennapedia, thank you is not enough. Any remaining mistakes are my own.Author’s Notes: Written for
sheepfairyin the first round of hetfic_minis. She wanted B/G, drinks, destiny and disasters, I hope this works.The Council was unusually quiet, something that would have normally worried Giles, but he knew that he’d get a call if anything was going on. The expense reports were piling up. The only downside to activating all the Potentials meant that the Council had to pay to feed and equip them.
“Have I told you lately how much I hate being a Slayer?”
Giles looked up to see Buffy standing in his doorway. She barged in, slamming the door closed behind her and practically throwing herself into the chair opposite his.
“Not in the last few days you haven’t. What is it this time? The younger Slayers, the training, Dawn?” he asked, setting aside his papers.
Buffy sighed, tucking her legs into the chair, leaning against the back.
“None of the above,” she said. “It’s the dreams, Giles.”
“Prophetic?”
“I, uh…don’t know.”
Giles stood and came around his desk, kneeling next to Buffy, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder. It had always been hard for her to talk about her dreams as they usually involved death, specifically the deaths of those she cared for.
“Would you like to talk about it?”
He waited, watching her war with herself, trying to decide if she was going to let him in.
“If you tell me about them, maybe I can help.”
“I know, it’s just….”
There was a knock on the door. Giles stood and opened it, sighing when he saw Andrew standing there.
“Sorry, Mr. Giles, but I have those reports you wanted. Oh, hey, Buffy.”
“These couldn’t have waited? Never mind,” he said, taking them. “Thank you, Andrew, I will see you in the morning.”
“But, Mr. Giles….”
“In the morning, Andrew.”
He closed the door on the boy. Giles carried the files to his desk, setting them next to everything else.
“I can go, let you take care of those.”
“No, they can wait.”
Giles walked back over to her, making a decision. He held out a hand, Buffy looked up at him and took it, letting him help her out of the chair.
“Let me take you to my place, it’s a little more private and guaranteed to have no interruptions.”
“Good thing you live on the grounds, not far to go,” Buffy half-joked.
“Yes, one of the few benefits of being head of the Council,” he stated blandly.
“I can’t quite decide if you really mean that or if that’s your version of sarcasm.”
“I really mean it,” he said. “With perhaps a side of sarcasm.”
Giles went to the coat rack, taking down one and helping Buffy into if before putting on another. She plucked at the over-long sleeves.
“It’s one of mine. It’s cold outside and it wouldn’t do for the head Slayer to catch cold.”
She smiled weakly at him, allowing him to lead her out of the office. Despite the fact that all the new Slayers and Watchers wanted to stop and talk, Giles managed to wave them off with smiles and promises of later meetings.
Giles lived in a small cottage behind the castle that had most likely belonged to the groundskeeper. It wasn’t a far walk and it reminded him of patrolling with Buffy. She’d only been out here a few times, but never for long, so she hadn’t seen the inside much. Giles ushered her in and helped her sit on the sofa. He shed his coat, hanging it on a hook by the door. Then he went to the fireplace to start a fire. Once the sparks caught he went to the cabinet on the other side of the room. Opening it he pulled out a decanter of scotch and two glasses, turning back and setting it all on the small table next to the sofa. Buffy was still wearing the coat he’d given her, shivering despite the rising warmth. Giles poured her a glass, handing it to her. She took it and had a sip, sputtering slightly.
“That’s strong,” she wheezed.
“Well, it is twelve year old scotch, what were you expecting?”
Buffy laughed, taking another small sip. Giles sat down at the other end of the sofa with his own drink. They sat in silence, watching the fire spark and crackle.
“Feeling up to telling me about those dreams now?”
Buffy nodded, taking another sip of courage.
“The first one had Xander in it.”
“Well, then it can’t have been that bad.”
“I kissed him, which while not entirely bad is not exactly how I want to be dreaming of him. Then his head fell off, while I was kissing him, I half expected to wake up then, but I didn’t, it was awful, Giles, watching his head roll around my bedroom. I killed him with a kiss, I killed my best friend with a kiss.”
She broke off, a hitch in her voice, dabbing at the corners of her eyes.
“Oh, Buffy.”
“That wasn’t the worst. The next one had me, Angel and Spike, wrapped in a hug. With chains.”
She shivered some more.
“Well it’s not unusual for you, for anyone, to dream about past loves.”
“Chains, Giles, chains. And there’s this thing. I didn’t love Spike. I thought I did, even told him I did, but I didn’t.”
“Yes, well, being the Slayer….”
“Leads to a love life that is a wreck. Can we get back to the dreams?”
Giles smirked. “I believe the phrase you use is, ‘defensive much’?”
Buffy glared at him. Giles cleared his throat, straightened his glasses and took a drink.
“Go on.”
“Same dream, actually he was like the narrator of it.”
“Who?”
“Ethan.”
Giles sputtered. “Ethan.”
“Yeah, creeptastic I know. The Initiative couldn’t keep him for long. I think someone else has him now, though something bad has happened, Giles,” she turned to face him. “I don’t want it to be true, but I think, I think Ethan might be dead, Giles.”
Giles moved closer to her, wrapping an arm around her. She laid her head on his chest. He wondered if she could feel the fear, the hurt, the disbelief.
“Maybe it was just a dream, Buffy. It might not have been prophetic. If Ethan were dead, I think I would have felt it. ”
“No, I’m sure of it, Giles. It felt different, more real. You know I’ve had prophetic dreams before, I know what they’re like. That part of the dream, it was like that. There was blood, lots of it, Giles. A jail cell, and guns, I think.”
He started rubbing his hand over her back. Buffy moved, turning to look at him.
“I should be comforting you, Giles.”
“Maybe, but..,Buffy, I…I trust in your Slayer senses.”
She looked up at him. “Thank you. I may not have liked the guy, but he was your friend, Giles. I’ll do everything I can to help and if Ethan is dead, I’ll help you find who did it.”
Giles squeezed her, holding onto her tightly. She turned again, watching the fire.
“Buffy, you don’t have to, but it is appreciated.”
“Destiny sucks. Do you know how many times I wished….”
“Buffy.”
“Never out loud, Giles,” she sighed. “But I do wonder what it would have been like if I hadn’t been chosen.”
“Then another girl would have and the world would have gone on.”
“Yes, but Jenny would be alive. So many things would have been different.”
“But think of all the things you stopped, Buffy. The Master, The Mayor, The First. Who knows how many of those plans might have succeeded if you had not been the Slayer.”
“Yeah, I know, but you’d also still be in England. You might have had a life. Me being the Slayer made everything a complete disaster.”
Giles pressed a kiss on the top of her head.
“Buffy, I have never regretted a minute of being your Watcher, never. I may not have ever told you, but I was always proud of you, of everything you did.”
“I wish you had said, Giles. Maybe things would have been different if you had.”
Giles gulped down the rest of his scotch.
“ You say that you dislike your destiny, but without it, we never would have met.”
“Just about the only bright spot in all of this,” Buffy smiled.
“Well it can’t have been that bad, surely there are a few more good things in your life.”
“A few, but other than…you were pretty much the only constant in my life, Giles. Why is that?”
“Buffy, I…I’m a Watcher, it was and still is my….”
“Spare me the duty and destiny speech, Giles. You stayed even after the Council fired you. You stayed when I pushed you away. You stayed.”
She turned, facing him, eyes watching him, begging him to tell her the truth. Giles squeezed her hand, the other coming up to cup her cheek. She leaned into the touch. Buffy looked more vulnerable now than he’d ever seen.
“It’s simple, Buffy, I love you.”
Buffy covered his hand with hers, twining their fingers together and bringing them to her lips. Giles watched her every move, shivering as he felt her breath warm against his skin. Her eyes never left his.
“What kind of love, Giles? Parental love?”
She moved closer, leaning in, hands trapped between their bodies.
“No, most certainly not,” Giles replied. “Be sure, Buffy. I don’t know if I could survive another heartbreak.”
“I’m sure,” Buffy replied.
Giles could feel her breath on his face, watched intensely as she licked her lips slowly. He’d waited for this moment, dreamed about it. He stared to move forward, ready to meet her halfway.
“Giles! Giles, is Buffy in there with you? We’ve got trouble.”
There was a pounding at the door to accompany Xander’s yelling. Buffy half-laughed, resting her head on his shoulder. Giles sighed, cursing the boy.
“See? Destiny sucks. We should go see what’s up.”
“Yes, trouble waits for no one. If Xander’s come here, looking for you, it must be bad.”
He took a deep breath as Buffy moved off of him. Giles stood and answered the door, Xander rushing in.
“Oh, good, Buffy’s here. Demons, moving quickly, heading for the castle.”
“How’d they get past the defenses?” Buffy asked. “I thought Willow put up some spells to keep the big uglies out.”
“Well, they got in, and they aren’t big on the talking, more into killing. They got Joanna.”
“Brief me,” Buffy said. She was already in motion, checking her pockets for weapons.
“Big, and I mean big, tall and wide. Purple, horns, fangs like whoa, oh and there’s acid.”
“Spitting or dripping?” Giles asked.
“Dripping, but still, acid. Know what they are?”
“Dela-eem. Mercenaries. Someone sent them.”
Buffy nodded. “We can figure out who later. How do I kill them?”
“Cut off their heads. Axe, sword. I’ll get them.”
Giles was already heading for his weapons chest before the sentence was out of his mouth. He could still hear Buffy talking.
“Good, Xander, radio some of the others, we’ve got demons to kill.”
“On it,” he said.
Giles returned, two swords in one hand, battle axe in another. Buffy looked more confident, she always looked confident when preparing for battle. It didn’t matter what else was going on in her life, when danger loomed, Buffy came through in the end. She knew her duty all to well, however much she despised it.
“I’ll take the axe,” she said.
Giles tossed it to her. She caught it, whirling and spinning it in her small hands, testing its balance and weight.
“Let’s go,” she said, leaving him and Xander waiting.
Giles handed one of the swords to Xander, following her quickly. They crossed the grounds at a brutal pace, other Slayers and a few Watchers joining them, but not slowing. Giles moved next to her, seeing the determination on her face.
“Do be careful, Buffy, the acid these creatures produce is quite….”
“You’ll just have to patch me up, you always do,” she commented.
Giles couldn’t answer because there was a loud roar. Demons came spilling over the ridge, running full tilt towards them. Buffy stood her ground, axe in hand, Giles standing by her side. The others spread out, waiting to strike.
Giles had only read about the Dela-eem, facing them now was both exciting and frightening. One went straight for him, he swung his sword, hitting its arm as it attacked. He could hear the rest of the gathered group yelling and swinging their own weapons. He spared a glance for Buffy who was holding her own.
He dodged a drip of acid, watching as it dissolved the grass, hissing. A thrust, a parry and Giles saw his opening. The demon lost its head and he moved on to the next. Screams and roars filled the air, bodies littered the ground; most of them demon.
“Keep going, we’re almost done,” Buffy yelled. “Giles, one to your left.”
“I see it, Buffy, keep an eye on your own one there.”
“He’s got no head for fighting,” she quipped as it rolled towards him.
Giles laughed, plunging back into the fray.
At the end of it all, the Dela-eem were destroyed, parts everywhere and everyone was still, mostly, standing. Xander radioed for the medics and Giles started to pick his way through the debris. Andrew had a broken arm, Giles favored him with a quick word before leaving him to the doctors. The all too familiar sight of blood disturbed him, but no one else had died, for which he was grateful. He continued to check on everyone as he looked for Buffy. She was helping out Renee, who sported a rather nasty looking gash in her leg.
Buffy looked up.
“Oh, hey, Giles, you okay?”
“Yes, you?”
“Right as rain, feeling a bit…jumpy, battles always do that to me.”
Giles cleared his throat, knowing exactly what she was speaking of.
“Well, let me take you back to the cottage, I’m sure we can find something to help out.”
Buffy approached him slowly, carefully, a slow smile spreading across her face.
“No need, I know exactly what to do.”
In the middle of this field, in the cold of Scotland, Buffy came to Giles, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him. He pulled her closer, one had at her waist, the other at the back of her neck. She opened underneath his lips, his tongue tasting all of her. Giles reveled in it, that she chose him above anyone else. Then she pulled away from him slowly.
“I’m making my own destiny now.”
“Don’t let me stop you,” he replied, bending to kiss her again.
Buffy and Giles fighting back to back (or side by side) is love.