Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/513281.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      F/M
  Fandom:
      Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer
  Relationship:
      Rupert_Giles/Buffy_Summers
  Character:
      Rupert_Giles, Buffy_Summers, Willow_Rosenberg, Xander_Harris, Jenny
      Calendar
  Additional Tags:
      Rape/Non-con_References, Non_Consensual, Dubious_Consent
  Stats:
      Published: 2010-06-10 Chapters: 8/8 Words: 18333
****** Bad Karma ******
by blind_magdalene_(reinedelutin)
Summary
     Giles is turned into a vampire and decides to off himself. Ripper
     takes control instead and takes what Giles always dreamed of but
     couldn't imagine fully: Buffy.
     Originally at FFnet
***** Turning *****
Rupert Giles sat in his office as he perused his books. He just couldn't figure
out what Ethan could be up to this time. He hadn't done anything yet, but
Rupert was wary. Ethan had moved in to the same street as Giles and all seemed
quiet. Too quiet in Rupert's opinion. So he'd holed himself in the library
after school until now, a bout midnight. He put the book he was scanning down,
and then leaned back in his chair. He had to get home. He stood up and grabbed
the book he just dropped putting it into his briefcase. He gathered his tweed
coat from the back of his chair and slipped it on, stuffing a stake into a
pocket. He grabbed his briefcase on his way out, locking up the library as he
left. He decided that morning to walk to the school, and now he regretted it.
He had to walk through the main cemetery to get home quickly.
He walked briskly past the first few headstones before he heard it. He grabbed
the stake out of his pocket as he whirled around, staking the fledgling Vampire
stalking him through the heart. As he fought the other four off, he wondered
where Buffy was. She should've been patrolling this cemetery at this time, if
he wasn't mistaken. He staked the second as he got pounded in the ribs. He
cried out in pain as he felt the headstone break beneath his back. Another
fledgling jumped onto him and he quickly staked it as he stumbled to his feet,
facing the last two. A male and a female vampire. They faced him on both sides
and he knew he was about to die. He wished he could've told Buffy the truth of
his affection for her. He was bloody in love with her, but of course afraid of
telling her. First, he was too old, second, he was a father-figure in her eyes,
and third, Angel. He stretched his shoulders, wincing, and regripped the stake
as he noticed the vampires close in on him. He whirled to stake the male and
succeeded, but failed to turn in time to dispose of the female. He saw black as
she knocked him out.
********
Rupert was groggy as he woke. He didn't feel any pain, so he assumed Buffy
saved him. He opened his eyes and sat up, shocked that he was still in the
cemetery and he was looking at the female vampire. He stood immediately, not
realizing how quick he was. She was smirking at him.
"Watcher. Do you have any idea what is going on" She was smirking at him
"Nothing more than I'm gonna kill you." Rupert snarled and she frowned.
"You won't though. I'm your sire." Rupert just stood there, still as stone for
a minute, unbelieving.
"Sire? That would mean that-" She smiled wickedly at his growing sense of
horror.
"You're a vampire. You killed all of my other suitors, so I made you. You are
stronger than them as a human, now you are invincible as a vampire I choose you
as my mate. I am Amber." She gave him a seductive grin as his face morphed into
his game face, full of the ridges and turns that a vampire had, when revealing
their true self. He walked over to her and smiled as he took off his now
unneeded glasses and put his hand on her breast. She purred as she leaned into
it. He bent his mouth to her neck and kissed it.
"Can I feed?" Ripper asked, growling as he toyed with her nipple. She couldn't
speak so she nodded. He licked her neck once, twice, and then his teeth pierced
her skin. He could taste her last meal, fresh and vibrant. He felt the stake in
his hand as he drained all of the fresh blood from her. When he finished, he
staked her in the heart, feeling the ash as it filled his mouth where her neck
had been. He unpitiously wiped his mouth clean of the ash and blood before
picking up his stake and briefcase that he lost earlier. He headed home, trying
to ignore the ugly truth gnawing at him. All he thought about though, was how
he couldn't see Buffy again, not when he needed her so bad in a way her undead
Watcher would act upon with no inhibitions. He had to kill himself to save her.
********
As Buffy, Willow, and Xander left the school the next day, they were
considering their options to finding out why Giles didn't show up at school
that day.
"Giles treats lateness as the eighth deadliest sin. Maybe he had a hangover."
Xander supplied for the eight time that day, and for the eighth time the girls
shot him an evil eye. Willow was optimistic.
"Maybe he's researching some new demon he hasn't shared with us yet. Or Ethan's
back." Buffy looked at Willow quickly. All three were worried about Giles.
After all, he was a father-figure to them. Buffy wasn't completely sure as to
the exact feelings she had towards him. She shook her head.
"Guys, how's this sound. I'll head over to Giles' right now, and you guys go
home. If I don't call you before six, come over to my house." They nodded and
went their separate ways. Buffy knew the other two couldn't accompany her even
though they wanted to. Willow's parents were having a family dinner. Xander's
parents had an important meeting and he was required to get ready early for it.
Buffy started down Giles' driveway finally and froze when she saw the door
ajar. She dropped her bag to the ground and grabbed her stake. She kicked her
bag behind Giles' large flowerpot as she pushed his front door open. She was
even more wary now than she was earlier. The night before she found Giles'
glasses broken in the cemetery but didn't tell Willow or Xander 'cause she
didn't want to worry them, expecting Giles to be at school. Now she finds his
door open and a dead body just inside, bite marks on his neck. She quickly bent
and found out it wasn't Giles to her relief. She, however, recognized him as a
neighbor of Giles. Stake in hand, she went through the house but couldn't find
any other trace. She went into the kitchen and opened the basement door. She
hadn't been down here in a while. She gripped her stake tighter as she went
down the staircase. It was darke in a whole corner and she saw a woman's dead
body in the center of the floor. She saw two doors on the walls perpendicular
to the staircase. She felt a very strong vampire presence near. Something moved
in the dark corner. She recognized the shadow as Giles. She sighed in relief
and fear.
"Giles, come quick. There's a vampire around. I have to get you to safety." She
implored him, raising her hand for him. She saw him turn so his back faced her.
"He lied. Angel said vampire's have no souls. Some rubbish about a gypsy
curse." He cursed and Buffy fought to ignore it. She still reached out, tears
in her eyes as she tried to encourage him to hide in safety, not really paying
attention to his statements.
"Okay, he lied. Hurry Giles, I'll have to fight this vampire off. I'm afraid it
might be more powerful than the Master. I need all of my focus." She heard
Giles chuckle in a way she never heard come from him before. She stepped back
in horror as he turned around, wearing his game face with blood on the corner
of his lips Buffy felt the stake fall from her hand as she stepped back towards
the stairs in shock and horror.
***** Betrayal *****
She turned to run up the stairs and found Giles there, blocking her escape. She
was forced to step back as he smirked at her. She swallowed unbravely as she
found her back pressed against the basement wall.
"Giles, oh god Giles. I can't stake you. God, I couldn't hurt you" She
whimpered as his lips hovered over her shoulder, skimming over the flesh.
"Glad you couldn't hurt me. I wouldn't let you." He chuckled darkly against her
shoulder. She was frozen in fear. This was the closest a man had ever been to
her before. When he teased the skin of her neck with his teeth, she'd had
enough. She pushed him away from her, only able to because he didn't expect it.
She ran towards the staircase then felt his hand on her wrist. Her other hand
whipped around to whap him on the chest. He quickly grabbed that wrist and she
brought up her knee but he easily dodged it, but she got free, barely. Before
she could escape though, he grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall and
she cried out in pain as she collided heavily against it. She slumped against
the wall, falling until she had to sit, looking up at him in a dazed and pained
glare. He leaned down next to her and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her to
her knees as he heard her howl of pain. He grinned as he bent his head to her
neck, licking the pulse there as he gripped her hair in a vise-like grip and
held her hands captive with his other. She whimpered and his hand on her hair
lightened until he was stroking it. When she lost a little tension, his teeth
pierced her throat and she cried out in pain as his arms wrapped around her
torso, bringing her closer to him as he merely tasted her blood, not draining
it as other vampires would've. He felt himself harden as he tasted the powerful
Slayer's blood that only strengthened him. Finally he stopped, pulling out his
teeth as he licked the pinpricks he had left. She struggled against him and his
left hand found her right breast. She whimpered and tried to back away from
him. She didn't like Giles in that way. She surely didn't want this. She tried
to fight off his mouth which was now brutally engulfing her own, his tongue
invading her mouth against hr will. As he kissed and molested her, he pushed
her so she was sitting against the wall, her legs straddling his lap. She
couldn't escape even though she tried. Her hands pushed against his chest,
trying to put some distance between them, but she was tired and scared, and he
was much stronger than even her Slayer strength. She felt tears coarse down her
face as his tongue traced her lips and his hands unbuttoned her shirt, tearing
it off of her when she resisted. She cried out in pain when he bit her tongue,
because she tried to retrieve it from his mouth where he forced it. She tore
her mouth from his again and cried out,
"Giles! Oh god, please stop!" She felt his hands unclasp her bra and she put
her hands on his, looking in his eyes and pleading. When he stopped a second,
she looked in his eyes and saw the green she knew with new flecks of red
inside. She breathed shakily.
"Why, Giles? Why are you going this to me? You never would've done this as a
human." He just gave her a blank glare, lust filling his eyes.
"I wanted to. Well, Rupert didn't have the guts. He loved you too much to tell
you. I'm Ripper, his alter-personality. Rupert couldn't take being a vampire.
He was gonna kill himself. Again. So, I took over and decided to go for what I
want." He gave Buffy a wicked smirk. She glared defiantly at him.
"And you want me." She snarled, trying to break her hands free from his grasp.
He chuckled darkly at her feeble attempts.
"Yes. I am connected to Rupert after all. I am him. I want you, under me,
moaning and screaming for me to give you release. Because I want only you, I
plan to have you over and over and over, for a long time." His lips were at her
ear and she shuddered in fear and whimpered.
"No. Please, Giles…" He chuckled and she shuddered again.
"Call me Ripper, darling, that's the name you'll be crying out." He growled and
nuzzled her neck affectionately. She tried to push him off again, but was yet
again unsuccessful as his hands reached for her now-bare breasts. He growled
against her neck as he played with her nipples. She found no pleasure at his
actions, only discomfort and disgust, so she tried to hit him off, but her
punches didn't even faze him. His hands wandered down to her pats and unzipped
it, flicking the button open before pulling the pants down her legs. He grabbed
her by her armpits, rising her from his very aroused lap to put her on the
floor, lying over her before she could fight and escape. He pulled her pants
and panties down all of the way, pulling her sandals off in the same movement.
She now lay beneath him naked and squirming to escape, tears in her eyes.
Ripper sat on her legs so she couldn't escape, and eagerly pulled off his own
shirt and undershirt, baring his own chest to her. He quickly pulled off his
own pats and boxers before lying over her, throwing his shoes against the wall
to rid of them. Buffy gasped in horror as his hard penis pushed against her
stomach.
"Please don't. Please." She pleaded with him desperately. She was a virgin to
all that was happening to her. He seemed to hear this thought and he smiled
wickedly at her.
"I'll be your first, and your last." He chuckled at her gasp of horror.
"Now! I'm the Slayer! I should be able to fight you off! How are you so strong?
You're just a fledgling!" Ripper chuckled.
"I had a, special, sire. She was strong already, and when I killed her I
inherited all of her powers, strength, and experience. She was three hundred
years old. Add that to my being your Watcher, and I'm a formidable opponent.
Add that to your hesitance then your blood, and now I'm unstoppable." He
laughed. She whimpered and tried to move her body from under his. He hissed
when he felt her lower body brush against his. She froze when she felt him
stiffen on her stomach. He panted and her eyes teared when he moved down her
body a little, so his dick met her mound. She froze, eyes wide at his lustful
grin. He reached down with one hand and touched her mound curiously. Her hands
shot down to protect herself, but his other hand grabbed both of her wrists to
hold above her head. His legs trapped hers from where she tried to kick him.
His hand went back to her mound while her hands and legs were captive. He felt
how dry her clit with one finger gently. She whimpered and tried to buck him
off, but it only excited him more. He stuck his index and middle finger in his
mouth to moisten it and brought it down to moisten her outer lips. He heard her
agonized groan, disgusted by his violating actions. He traced her outside lips
until he could slip his finger inside, relishing in her pain. She choked when
he forced two fingers in.
"No." She cried out, her eyes closed in misery as he replaced his finger with
his hard and hot penis. She yelped in fear as he touched her. She whimpered in
pain as he pushed the head of his penis into her warm and tight passage. Ripper
groaned as he felt her tighten over him like a glove and relished in her
screams of pain. He let go of her hands and put both hands on her hips, slowly
penetrating her as she cried and screamed, then suddenly buried himself to the
hilt in her, breaking her maidenhead in one plunge. He laughed as her back
arched in ultimate pain, screams ripped from her throat. He groaned as her
walls constricted around his penis. He pulled out of her halfway and thrusted
back in, uncaring of her comfort or pleasure. He started thrusting into her in
a steady beat, putting his hands on her breasts, squeezing as he thrusted.
Buffy screamed again as he rubbed roughly against her insides, making her feel
violated and dirty She opened her eyes tearfully and just looked up at the man
raping her. She found herself separating from reality, not feeling anymore, but
not reeling anything at all as she looked up at her Watcher. The man she
trusted most, that she risked her life for several times. The man she loved as
a father. The one she could always depend on, even more than Willow.
She suddenly felt him again, with a jolt, him grabbing at her breasts, his lips
seeking hers and pounding unmercifully into her. He sped up suddenly, rubbing
her raw, and gave a hoarse shout as she felt him come in her. He withdrew from
her victoriously, and stood to get something. Buffy turned to her side in a
fetal position and cried before finally passing out.
***** Deal *****
Buffy found herself slowly waking, then very suddenly with a shot of pain
between her legs. She winced at the pain. She realized she was in an unfamiliar
room. A guest room, she guessed. There was the bed she laid on, then a bureau
and a door. Nothing else. No windows, nothing. Buffy ignored her pain and
stood, walking to the door. It was locked in her dawning horror and
realization. Vampire Giles had her hostage, captive, whatever. She was at his
mercy. She shuddered as she tried not to think of what happened. She banged on
the door, yelling for help. She gave up a half hour later when she realized the
door was unbreakable and she finally recognized the room. After all, she had
Giles set it up when they figured if they had to keep a vampire prisoner, it'd
be here. NOW she was hoist on her own petard. She sat on the bed, more calm
than she was earlier. She had to consider her options. She heard a noise and
looked up, shocked to find Giles standing beside the bed, the door locked
again. She swallowed and moved as far back into the headboard as she could to
escape him. She whimpered as he moved to sit on the bed near her, an air of
amusement around him. She swallowed as he smirked, satisfied.
"Let me go, Giles. Please." She asked quietly, tears in her eyes. He gave a
fake sigh and frowned wickedly
"Sorry, luv. Can't do that. Can't guarantee you'll come back." Buffy wanted to
scream that she would never see him again, but she knew she couldn't. She had a
sudden remembrance.
"Oh no." She murmured, staring at the wall blankly. Ripper had seen the fear in
her eyes, though.
"What?' He barked, not sure if this was good for him or not.
"What time is it? I was supposed to call Willow before six if I found you. If I
didn't, she'd go to my home." Ripper stood and paced a second.
"Hmm. If you called and told them I'm alright, I guess it could work. You're
going to act as if nothing happened." He turned to her look of horror.
"Act as if nothing's happened? You raped me, took my virginity! How can I act
like nothings happened?" She screamed at him, her arms holding the sheet from
the bed around her as she faced him bitterly, trying to preserve some of her
modesty. He smiled at her lustfully, examining her curves beneath the sheet. He
licked his lips and she shuddered.
"It's five forty-five. You call Willow, tell her I'm fine. You're spending the
night here, so tell your mother not to expect you. I'll give you a ride to
school." Buffy's eyebrows lowered in confusion.
"I can go to school?" Giles smirked at her, understanding what she was
thinking.
"You come here every night after patrol and then you go home." Buffy stared at
him in horror.
"Every night? Of that!?" He nodded, still smirking. He pretended to sigh.
"Of course, If you can't agree to that, you can just stay in here,
indefinitely…" He let his sentence hang in the air. Buffy looked at the ground
as she pondered.
"So you're saying-" He laughed as she stopped and made sure her sheet was high.
"You have to promise to come every night or you stay in here." He said. She
shuffled, unfortunately knowing her choice.
"I promise-" He shook his head, interrupting her.
"Repeat after me. I make a Slayer's oath-" Buffy swallowed, figuring what the
hell…
"I make a Slayer's oath…"
"That if I am released from here-"
"That if I am released from here…"
"I will return to Giles every night-"
"I will return to Giles every night…"
"Unless I absolutely can not until Giles says otherwise."
"Unless I absolutely can not until Giles says otherwise." She felt a sudden tug
on her chest and looked up at him with wide eyes.
"What-!?!" He chuckled as she looked at him in abject horror.
"You made a Slayer's oath. I'm thankful Rupert hadn't taught you about them
yet. You can't break a Slayer's oath or something, well, dreadful will happen
to you." She could tell dreadful meant deaths. She teared up as she closed her
eyes.
"So, you're not Giles The one I knew?" She gasped at the only thing she could.
He sat on the bed, thoughtfully.
"I'm Ripper; I took over for dear old Rupert during his rebellious stage 20
years ago. When dear Rupert was turned into a vampire, he was going to kill
himself so this exact situation wouldn't happen. Me raping you, but I took over
just in time. He really did love you, truly and completely. He tried to break
out so I'd stop raping you, but I was too strong. In his own shame, he enjoyed
you too. Now he's ashamed he couldn't stop you from giving you oath." He
chuckled darkly and Buffy winced. He looked at her a second then went to the
door. He opened it and he followed him into the basement, trailing the sheet
behind her. She noticed the woman's body wasn't there anymore; the floor was
clean of all evidence. She followed him up the stairs to the kitchen to the
phone. She couldn't believe that she was calmly standing next to her rapist.
It's Giles. She fought inwardly.
It's Ripper. The side against her rapist yelled. He handed her the phone. She
dialed Willow's number and waited while it rang. Willow's frantic voice
answered the phone.
"Buffy? Is that you?" Buffy smiled tiredly out the window above the sink,
ignoring Ripper hovering over her shoulder as she heard the worry in her best
friend's voice.
"Yes Willow. It's me." Willow sighed happily. It was then that she realized
just how worried Willow was.
"Oh, I was just about to go out the door! It's two until!" Buffy winced and
Ripper noticed.
"I'm sorry, Wil. I just found him, and he's okay." She heard Willow sigh in
relief.
"What happened to him?" Willow was anxious. Buffy closed her eyes briefly.
"Umm, you don't wanna know. Trust me." Willow acquiesced, trusting Buffy. She
heard Willow pause.
"So, when are you going home?" Buffy was silently distraught, but she
straightened her voice just in time.
"Giles asked me to stay after patrol, so could you tell mom not to expect me?
I'll be home hopefully right after school ends tomorrow." Willow agreed and
they hung up. Buffy put the phone on the hook and just stood there. She felt
Ripper's hands on her shoulders and she tensed. He chuckled in her ear as he
slowly massaged her back.
"Good job, Slayer. Ready for another round?" She twirled on her foot, raising
her hands in self-defense as her eyes widened in fear. He laughed and turned
around, walking to the Living Room. Against her better judgment, she followed
him warily and noticed her book bag next to the fireplace. Her eyes fell on a
stack of unopened mail on the coffee table. On the top was a letter from the
RWC in London, England. The Watcher's Council. Within seconds she was devising
a way to tell the council of the current undead Watcher. Then she felt Ripper's
hands on her waist.
"Don't even think of it. If they send another Watcher or try to rid of me," He
chuckled in her ear, "You don't wanna know what'll happen." He left her alone
to wallow in fear as he went to the kitchen.
********
Buffy sat in the courtyard with Willow and Xander the next day eating their
lunch outside. The library was closed down until further notice. Mr. Giles
called the Principal and quit that morning, and all of the books he brought and
a few prominent ones of the school mysteriously disappeared. Snyder was pissed
he couldn't get another librarian on short notice, so the library was closed.
Willow and Xander respected Buffy's decision, so they didn't ask what happened
to Giles, but the two were worried about Giles' sudden disappearance. Buffy sat
eating her tuna sandwich when she sat up straight, a jolt going through her at
a sudden realization. After Giles raped her, he cleaned his house and brought
her up to the kitchen. All before six. Sunset wasn't until seven thirty two
that night. He was a vampire and he was in daylight. She remembered seeing him
in the Living Room, daylight filtered onto him. Giles is a vampire who can walk
in daylight. Buffy felt the realization like a punch in the gut and she winced.
Ripper was the strongest Vampire she'd ever come across, and he was the only
one who could survive daylight. She then realized that Willow and Xander were
trying to get her attention. She shook her head and gave them a fake bright
smile.
"Sorry guys, just some slaying on my mind. I came across a group of six last
night. I was just watching a replay of the ass-kicking I gave them." They
seemed to have accepted it and went back to their food. The rest of school
finished in a breeze. Before she knew it, she was already at home eating dinner
with her mom. Buffy took a bite o the lasagna her mom made.
"Buffy, I heard Mr. Giles sold his house today." Joyce said before taking a sip
of milk. Buffy choked on her bite. When she cleared her throat, she looked up
at her mother shocked.
"No I didn't! When did you hear this?" Joyce seemed surprised Buffy didn't
know.
"He told me himself. Supposedly he's not working at the school anymore, and
sold his house to someone who's been eyeing it for a while now. He's putting
his stuff in storage for now until he relocates. I told him he could stay in
our guest room until he does. After all, he's your Watcher." Buffy looked at
her mother like a deer in headlights. Joyce didn't notice as she finished her
plate. She picked it up with her empty glass and went into the kitchen. Buffy
sat at the table in shock. She heard a knock at the door but didn't move, so
her mom went to open it. She heard muffled voices and she wandered into the
Living Room, sitting on the couch. She heard footsteps and turned to face her
mom and Ripper, who smirked at Buffy when Joyce turned the other way. Buffy
felt the blood drain from her face as she looked up at him, trapped. He winked
before pretending to be Rupert. She could tell it annoyed him to act stuffy and
shy. Joyce went into the kitchen to make some tea for him. Buffy sat still on
the couch, eyes wide and fearful as she looked up at him. He smirked as he
walked around the couch and kneeled before her. She scooted to the back of the
cushion but he put his hands on her knees and slid them up her thighs until
they reached her center. She whimpered lightly as he leaned forward to kiss
her. They heard a noise and Buffy turned around and saw her mom in the doorway
with a tray beaming. She turned back around and saw that Ripper was smiling
lightly from his spot of the couch next to her. He seemed to have just changed
positions in the flick of an eye. Joyce placed the tea tray on the coffee table
and sat on the other side of Buffy. Buffy knew it was going to be a long night.
***** Library *****
Buffy sat on her bed with her knees on her chest, staring at her locked door.
She just got back from patrol and took a quick shower, retreating to her room
immediately. She hadn't seen anything so far of Ripper. Knock on Wood. Buffy
was afraid to sleep. So much had happened in the last two days she was afraid
of what he'd do. She closed her eyes for a second, then opened and stopped
herself from shrieking. One minute the room was empty except for herself, the
next, Ripper was standing before her bed. She swallowed as she jumped back,
trying to prevent the inevitable. He gave her a deadly smile as he moved to
take off his shirt. He motioned to her nightgown.
"Take it off." He rumbled. She shook her head as he pulled off his boxers. He
gave her a withering glance.
"Do you want me to take it off? Let's make a deal. You don't fight, I'll not
hurt you." Buffy's lip trembled as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes,
and then she slipped her nightgown over her head slowly, leaving herself only
in her panties. He licked his lips as his eyes traveled over her young body.
She bit her bottom lip as he put a knee on the bed and he reached out with his
hand to grab her ankle. She couldn't pull her ankle free from his grasp and he
used her ankle to pull her under his body.
His lips went to her breast as his hand went down to play with her. She bit her
lip as his gentle ministrations slowly coaxed her to become wet for the first
time. He smiled against her breast and plunged a finger in her after spreading
her juices. It was still uncomfortable, but not painful as it was when she
fought. She whimpered as he placed his penis at her core, gently pushing into
her folds. She tensed for the pain, but found no pain, just uncomfortable
stretching. She put her head to the side as his hands went to her hips and he
thrusted into her quickly. Soon, he seized above her and a jet of semen poured
into her and he fell onto her a sweating, panting mess.
Buffy winced and tried to sidle out from below him. He turned so that he lay
next to her, grabbing her so she lay uncomfortably in his arms. He kissed her
head as he fell asleep. She silently cried as she looked out of the window at
the stars outside. She thought of the Giles she knew compared to the Ripper
next to her. She knew without a doubt that Giles wouldn't've done the same as
Ripper did.
She knew her caring and shy Watcher wouldn't've hurt her or violated her, like,
ever. She blinked her tears away as she tried to imagine what Giles would say
in her current situation. She turned over and looked into Ripper's face. Ripper
said that he took over when Giles was suicidal, so Giles was still in there
somewhere. She just had to call for him. She could tell the major difference
between Giles and Ripper's impersonation. Giles' eyes. Giles didn't have the
red tint to his eyes that Ripper always had. She just had to reach him.
"Giles. Dear Lord, Giles… I can't do this without you. I need you to take
control. Oh Giles, he's raped me. He, Giles he raped me. I need your help. I
need…I need you." She whispered quietly, sobbing more as she finished. She
imagined that it wasn't Ripper holding her, but Giles as she slowly leaned her
head against his chest, crying silently.
* * * * * * * *
Giles heard something from his cocoon, hidden in the dark recesses of Ripper's
stolen mind. He rammed his strength against the force keeping him captive and
grew stronger as he heard Buffy murmuring. He finally took over enough to hear
what Buffy said, though he had no control over Ripper's body yet. 'He, Giles he
raped me. I need your help. I need…I need you.' He felt cold dread wash over
him as she leaned her head against his chest. Ripper raped her. Ripper used
Giles' body to rape Buffy.
Giles felt sick as he smelled Buffy's blood even with his lack-of-control. He
opened his eyes and looked down at her thin white neck, pulsing with the life
he lacked. Giles closed his eyes as he felt bile rise to the back of his throat
as he realized he actually considered drinking her blood. Then his eyes widened
as he realized he had full control. He slowly de-tangled himself from his
Slayer as he realized that she was awake still, crying.
He stood and grabbed his clothes as he left the room. He couldn't be near her
while he was vulnerable like this, even if he really wanted to comfort her.
He'd clean up and find an animal to slake his hunger. Then he'd disappear until
he could take full control over Ripper again without worry about danger to
Buffy. Also, he had to steal the memories that Ripper earned during Giles'
submission.
* * * * * * * *
Buffy looked at the door for minutes after Ripper left. She lay back down on
her bed before getting up tiredly. She threw on a spare nightgown and robe
before stripping her bed of the sheets. She balled the sheets together and went
to the door warily, looking out before exiting. She went down to the laundry
room and threw her sheets into the washer, starting the load quickly. She went
to the kitchen and started a pot of water on the stove before sitting at the
kitchen table. She heard a noise and looked up scared, then realized that it
was her mother joining her on her midnight sojourn. She smiled up at her mussed
mother.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" Joyce looked at her daughter with a small smile
as she sat next to her.
"Yes, Buffy. I would. Is your English Watcher starting to rub off onto you?"
She chuckled as Buffy tried to hide her wince at her mother's unmeaning double
entendre. She nodded.
"A little more than others know." She gave her mother a wan smile then stood
when she heard the kettle whistle. She stood and went to fix the tea tray to
have tea with her mother.
* * * * * * * *
Jenny Calendar went up to Rupert's door and knocked. She was worried about him,
his lack of showing at the school the last few days. She looked at her watch
and sighed. She saw a light turn on in the living room and smiled until the
door opened and a balding man stood at the door mildly irritated.
"Yes?" Jenny looked at him confused.
"Umm, isn't this Rupert Giles' residence?" The man seemed to understand as she
stood outside his door.
"No. He sold me this house today, he said he was staying with someone he knew
until he found new residence." Jenny closed her eyes a second and he felt bad
for her. She opened her eyes and faced him with a pointed stare.
"Did he seem well today, healthy like? Not sick, or with some sort of symptoms
or anything?" He shrugged.
"He seemed a little pale, his skin was a bit white, I mean white not like he
was a few weeks ago when I met him, but he seemed healthy enough." Jenny sighed
and thanked him as she turned to leave. She didn't know what to make of this.
She had to find him now.
* * * * * * * *
Angel sat at his desk as he looked over at Giles across the room. He knew a
Vampire when he saw one. He sighed as he mulled over Giles' new situation. He
was the only vampire that Angel could trust though, from what he'd seen.
Anyway, he could tell that Giles hadn't changed any from their conversations so
far. He smiled at his fellow vampire. Giles smiled back.
"So I'm going to move to LA, and I'll leave the Bronze to you." Giles nodded as
he smiled at Angel. Buffy and Angel ended up breaking up the night of her
seventeenth birthday before anything had happened, and Angel realized that
their relationship was going nowhere.
"I will keep the Bronze in good condition, and I hope to set Buffy up there to,
if her mom will allow it. It'll help to train her and it'll strengthen our
Watcher/Slayer bond." Angel nodded, agreeing with his reasoning. He handed
Giles the set of keys and Giles followed him out to the main door. Angel had
already given the full tour of the Bronze to his successor and had a covered
car ready for L.A. and his new business awaited him. Cordelia Chase had already
promised him to visit after graduation to possibly get a job helping him as a
secretary and he found her a lot more precise and accurate that he first
thought she would be.
"So, take care of Buffy for me, promise?" Angel looked at the Watcher. Giles
smiled at Angel, and he wasn't sure if it was a good smile or a bad smile.
"Don't worry, Angel, I'll take good care of her. After all, I'm her Watcher.
It's my job." Angel nodded and jumped into the car. Giles chuckled as he
watched the limo drive away, Whistler in the driver seat unbeknownst to Angel.
Ripper grinned as he pocketed the keys and shut the door shut behind him. Giles
almost took him out of town, then Ripper took over just in time to stop him
from hopping onto a greyhound to Arizona.
Ripper stood in the 2nd floor of the Bronze that none of the partygoers knew
about. There was an apartment attached to the top of the Bronze, above where
the teens partied, but a soundproof floor was set between the apartment and
club. He looked in and saw that there was a large bedroom with a balcony that
could be closed to the sounds of the world, but opened to the most beautiful
sunsets. There was a room large enough to hold all of his fighting equipment,
so the room could be a training room for the Slayer if he decided to convert
it, and it had a bathroom off of the bedroom and a little kitchenette off of
the main hall.
Ripper smiled as he started to plan. Giles pushed weakly at Ripper but he had
to regain his strength to take over again. Ripper went out to find a snack in
the Bronze and did not leave disappointed.
* * * * * * * *
Buffy sat with Willow and Xander at lunch in the cafeteria as they talked about
Ms. Calendar's sudden disappearance the night before. Buffy hadn't heard the
news yet and was heavily alarmed as the Slayerette's filled her in.
"Yeah, it was in the news and everything." Xander talked animatedly.
"The last person to see her was the old man that moved into Giles' old place.
By the way, has anyone any news on what's up with Giles? I haven't heard
anything since he quit." Buffy tried to think about what could've happened, but
Willow beat her to the punch.
"The last person who saw her lived at Giles' old apartment? She could've been
looking for Giles then. After all, I think that she really liked Giles. I
thought he liked her too. I guess not if even she doesn't know. Buffy, what do
you know about what's happened with Giles?" Willow and Xander looked at Buffy
and she cringed, trying to stay near the truth, but not too much.
"I knew that he moved out, and he stayed with me and my mom, but he moved out
this morning. Not sure where he's staying, he wouldn't spill. Not sure what's
up with him, he's been so distant lately." She answered truthfully. She tried
to stay quiet for now, not that she didn't trust her best friends, but she was
afraid of how they'd take the betrayal of their mentor. Ever since his turning,
she found that she enjoyed the presence of her friends less and less, unable to
share with them her terrible secret and more stress pushed upon her person. She
knew that she had to soon, probably this night she'd invite them to her house
and she'd throw the news at them. She sighed and picked her books up, needing
some fresh air. When Willow and Xander offered to join her, she gently refused
and stepped outside. She held her books to her as she walked through the halls
to the library. As she stepped inside the empty room that had been reopened
that morning. She looked at the room generally then heard the librarian's
office door open. Mrs. Howle, the new librarian, stepped out and cast a curious
eye to Buffy.
"Is there something I can help you with, deary?" Buffy gave her a fake smile
and shook her head.
"No thanks, Mrs. Howle, I just need to get a book in the English section. You
don't need to waste your time with me, I know where it is." The older lady
smiled back and stepped behind the circulation desk to check in some returned
books. Buffy walked to the back to the library, stepping through the double
doors to the stacks behind. She walked until she didn't even hear the
librarian's mutterings any more. She sighed, closing her eyes as she slid down
a bookcase until her knees touched her chest. She wrapped her arms around her
knees and hugged herself, watching the back of her eyelids. All of a sudden she
felt a hand on her shoulder and she gasped, her eyes flying open.
"God! Guys, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" She exclaimed, then looked
around to find no one around. She gulped, then wondered why she had to go so
far away from another person's hearing. She picked her books up from beside her
and stood between the bookshelves, ready to run. She turned around slowly and
her books were taken from her only to be dropped to the side as she found
herself face-to-face with Ripper.
***** Bronze *****
Buffy cried out, stepping backwards as she tried to escape the former
librarian, but found herself flying backwards as she tripped over her feet. She
landed on her butt, and she winced as she looked up at the smirking vampire. He
knelt next to her and cupped her face before she pulled away, looking at him in
disgust. He chuckled as he gripped her hair in a vice-like grip and forced his
mouth on hers. When neither of them could breathe, he pulled away with a
satisfied smirk.
"You won't be telling the cute geek and the annoying sloth anything about us,
will you?" Buffy glared at him as Ripper put down Xander and Willow. She
refused to speak, lowering her eyes instead. He grabbed her chin and forced her
eyes to him.
"You won't be telling them nothing, Missy, will you?" but she refused to give
him what he wanted. He snarled and put his hands on her waist, pushing her so
her back was partly up the bookcase, her feet unable to reach the floor. She
squeaked as her hands went to his, trying to reach the ground, but he was
unrelenting as he stood between her legs, her skirts raising as he settled her
on his hips, her center above his now-raging erection. He wrapped her legs
around his waist and she found she couldn't untangle herself from him.
She fought like a tigress as he unzipped his black jeans, maneuvering them and
his boxers to his knees as he slipped her skirt up to her waist, revealing her
white panties that he moved to the side to reveal her to him. She tried to get
away from his engorged shaft, but he pushed her hard against the bookcase,
grabbed her waist, and plunged into her in one swift plunge as he captured her
mouth to stop the scream. Her hands pushed on his shoulders as he paused inside
her, savoring the feel of her surrounding him. Her hands went from pushing to
resting as his kiss went from punishing to encouraging. He pulled out of her
and slowly pushed back in, hitting a point in her that made her throw her head
back and let out a deep moan against her will. He slowly pushed into her as his
hands went up to her shirt, unbuttoning it as his hands slid in to cup her
breasts gently.
Buffy felt the fight leave her body as she started moving with him, feeling
pleasure build up. She whimpered, biting her lip when she realized that she had
given in to Ripper. She closed her eyes as she thrust down onto him, imagining
the man thrusting into her was her Watcher, not this animal. She imagined the
soft caresses she never knew of the caring librarian, not the crude gropings.
He hit a point high in her and she cried out. She didn't even feel when he
switched positions, laying her on the floor as he kept thrusting in her tired
body, her legs still wrapped around his waist. She felt close to the cliff, the
pleasure building to a peak. She opened her eyes and looked up and saw Ripper's
game face on, glaring at something out of Buffy's peripheral vision.
As he continued to bring her to the brink, she looked straight up at the
ceiling then angled her head backwards to meet the shocked face of the
librarian staring at them in horror. Buffy couldn't react as suddenly she felt
her eyes roll back and pleasure shoot throughout her body, and she felt
weightless for a second. Then she shot back in her body and Ripper fell onto
her, chuckling in her ear. Then she watched as he stood, swaggering over to the
frozen librarian, dropping his head to her neck as he prepared to take a bite.
In a flash Buffy had her previously unattainable stake out of her bag and,
ignoring the fact that her breasts were exposed and anyone looking would see
his cum dripping on her leg from her mound, jumped the distance to try to stake
him. He whirled around and caught her arms in midair, trapping her to his chest
as he turned back to the librarian. Buffy couldn't speak as her face was
pressed tightly against his chest. He looked the librarian in the eye and
muttered,
"You do not remember the last five minutes. You came back to find a book and
you couldn't find it. You want now nothing more than to go sit in your office
and get a cup of coffee." She nodded, compelled, and turned around, heading to
the main part of the library. Ripper let go of Buffy after confiscating her
stake, and watched amused as she cleaned herself, straightening her clothes,
tears in her eyes.
He didn't move to adjust himself, hanging in the open in all of his glory.
Buffy pointedly ignored him, picking up her bag and pushing past him, but he
grabbed her by the chin and forced her to face her.
"So what have we learned?" She gave him a pointedly blank glare. He sighed,
pretending that the answer was easy. He looked her in the eye, all playfulness
gone.
"The lackey's aren't aware, or they die." He growled and she swallowed,
nodding. He let his grip slacken and she started past him. He chuckled coldly,
stopping her in her tracks.
"I expect you to move in with me. If you haven't moved out of the house by
morning, you'll find the body of your mother at the foot of your bed when you
wake." Buffy felt shock and despair course through her body and she fell to her
knees, unable to support her weight anymore.
She felt tears stream down her face and she sobbed. She felt him at her side
suddenly, wiping her tears and smiling at her.
"I live in the Bronze. I'd understand if you only brought a duffel bag tonight,
Xander and I'll help you pack tomorrow. You can meet me in front of the bar at
seven. That'll be plenty of time to talk to your dear mother." He smirked. She
stared off blindly in the distance as he walked to the window that he entered
through.
Another shadow pushed away from the wall blindly, shocked at the scene it just
witnessed. The shadow's owner ran out of the library, none knowing of the
visitor who got an eyeful and an understanding.
* * * * * * *
Ripper sat at the edge of the bar, toying a whiskey shot about seven that
night, scanning the room for his prey. He downed the shot and stood, surveying
the room one last time before heading to the stairs for the upper level of the
club. For a good ten minutes, Ripper just looked over his new establishment. He
noticed a small group of guys crowding his bar and moved quickly over to
disband them. He pushed his way to the middle and found about five guys
harassing Buffy, who had her duffle bag on her shoulder and a permanent scowl
on her face. Ripper heard one of the guys give Buffy a sexual invitation and
she flatly refused, trying to ignore them. Ripper could see she was heavily
restraining from beating their asses. One of the guys put his hand on her hip
and Ripper had seen enough. He roughly pushed the jerk into the bar and slung
his arm around Buffy's shoulder. She seemed to refuse it for a second, then
gave in. She scowled at him though.
"Hey Babe, are these assholes messing with you?" He asked her roughly. Buffy
supposed he looked to be a force to be reckoned with. He had black jeans, a
torn white t-shirt, a rugged black leather jacket, and a gold loop in his ear.
Buffy shook her head. The guy who was the obvious leader stepped up to Ripper.
"Who're you, her father? You're too old for a chick like her. We'll show you a
real good time unlike the geezer." He had turned to Buffy, and missed the death
glare Ripper sent him. When he was finished, Ripper picked him up by his shirt
and threw him into his friends. They collided and fell to the floor. Ripper
ignored the disapproving glare of the bartender he hired and led Buffy behind
the bar to a room. She followed him through the little room until they reached
two doors. He pulled two sets of keys from his pocket and threw one at Buffy,
who caught it unthinking. He put a key in the lock of the left door and turned.
He opened the door to a staircase and let Buffy in first so he could lock it
behind them. He pushed ahead of her and they walked up until they reached
another door. He unlocked this one and let her walk in as he locked the door.
She looked around the large living room and sighed. It was very dark and
gloomy, too much black for her taste. She saw that there was a small
kitchenette off of the room, overlooking the living room, much like his old
place. She sighed as she thought of the old Giles. She glanced over at Ripper
who had thrown his jacket over the back of the couch and was currently leaving
the kitchen with two beers in his hands. He went up to her and offered her one
as he popped the top of his with his teeth. Buffy refused, repulsed. He
shrugged and put it on the table. He sat on the couch and propped his feet up
next to the beer as he smirked up at Buffy. He waved his empty hand around a
second then put it on the back of the couch.
"Make yourself at home. After all, it is now." Buffy shivered as she hesitated.
Finally, she put her duffel on the floor and sat on an armchair. She noticed
that Ripper scowled. He stood up quickly and took a chug of beer before putting
it on the table.
"I'll give you a tour now." He said gruffly, turning towards the hallway. Buffy
stood and shouldered her bag before following him. She saw that there were two
door off of the hallway. She noticed that Ripper ignored one of the doors and
opened the door at the end of the hall, which opened up into a huge bedroom.
She gulped as he ushered her in, closing the door behind them. She looked
across the room at the Queen-sized bed with red silk sheets and a red
comforter. She swallowed before looking around more. She saw two mahogany
dressers and a large wardrobe. There was a door on one side of the room and a
door to a balcony on the other. She went over to the balcony door and stepped
outside. She leaned against the banister and felt Ripper's chest against her
back as his arms went next to hers. She was sadly reminded of her first night
in Sunnydale, when Giles was in the same position, pointing out vampires. She
snorted, then felt his cheek against hers. She sobered quickly.
"What's so funny, Slayer?" She grit her teeth as she looked up at the sky.
"I was thinking of the first night after we met. Do you remember?" She was
taking a gamble, hoping Giles would remember as she stood beneath him, looking
over the balcony. She heard as Giles fought inwardly with Ripper. She could
tell he had control finally, even for a few minutes.
"Yes. You were so beautiful as we stood in this position, looking over the
teens. I remember you smelled enchanting, and I really wished I could do
this..." His mouth descended on her throat and she moaned as his tongue swirled
over her pulse. She knew this was her Giles, he was too gentle as he nipped her
neck. She did the unthinkable as she leaned closer to him as his hands pulled
her to him. He twirled her around in his arms and she saw the eyes that she
knew. She whimpered when she saw the pleading in his eyes.
"Buffy, I need you to find Jenny. Ripper ran into her last night and I don't
know what happened to her. She's a gypsy, Buffy. She might be able to help me.
Try to escape Ripper, Buffy. I can't bear knowing that I'm hurting you." Buffy
shook her head.
"I can't escape. He's threatened mom, Willow, and Xander. Anyway, you're not
hurting me. Ripper is." Giles shook his head.
"I am Ripper though. He is my past." He turned away from her, ashamed. She put
her hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her. She put her hand on his
cheek and forced him to look at her.
"Did you want to rape me? Did you separate me from my friends and mother?"
Giles shook his head, sighing as he wiped his face with his hand.
"I love you, Buffy. I never planned for you to find out. I never planned to
force my attentions on you. Please believe me." He pleaded as he looked into
her eyes. She nodded to his relief.
"You loved me from afar. I know that you would never hurt me. You're my
stalwart standing fast." she blinked, looking down as she tried to hide her
tears. Giles pulled her chin up to wipe her tears away.
"I know you see me as a father and this is all overwhelming for you, this
situation being forced on you. I'm sorry." He sighed and stepped towards the
bed away from Buffy. She followed him.
"It's true, I saw you before you turned as a father-figure, but that was
because that's all you showed me. Always criticizing, pointing out my faults,
how else could I see you? But, ever since Ripper has taken over, I've been
thinking." She walked past him and sat on the bed and patted the spot next to
her. He sat next to her, in a hesitant manner.
"When I worried about you, trying to find a way to save you, I realized that I
needed you not because you're my Watcher, but because I need you. I had started
just figuring you'd always be there, my Watcher. I never entertained the
thought that you'd," She had to stop to breathe for a moment, she was almost at
tears again.
"I never entertained the thought that you would never be there. I'd taken that
for granted. It made me really think why I wanted you around. I know that, in
my own way, I love you. I'm just not sure in what capacity." She looked at him,
a bit confused still. He nodded, smiling. He put his hand on her shoulder.
"That means a lot, Buffy." She smiled back, her insecurities forgotten. He
sighed sadly, and pulled his hand back.
"You promise you'll look for Jenny, right? I think that only you two together
can get rid of Ripper for good. I'm not sure how long I will be able to stay in
control. Since he's awaken, I've only been able to take control twice." Buffy
nodded, then hesitated. She knew that Giles was in love with her, but she
wasn't sure about herself. She knew what she had to do to help Giles survive
Ripper's takeover for however much longer, until she and Ms. Calendar could
help him.
She leaned over to Giles, holding his face in place as she kissed him. He
jerked under her fingertips and pulled away to her confusion. Giles looked at
her completely surprised.
"What are you doing?" Buffy felt hurt. Wasn't this what he wanted? She sighed.
"I wanted something to remember in the future, that you're not always violent."
Giles flinched, casting his eyes low.
"But I raped you. Why would you want to get close to me ever again?" Buffy
leaned up to him, her left arm curling around his shoulders as her right played
with the hair behind his neck softly.
"You have never raped me, I told you. Ripper has. I want this, so I can think
of this when he rapes me, and you can think of this, and how I will only submit
to you, never to him. The last time was a mistake, I didn't have evidence you
were back yet, and now I have something to fight for." She leaned up to kiss
him again, and this time he responded. His arms wrapped around her back as he
kissed her tenderly. She moaned against his mouth before she moved her hands,
making short work of his t-shirt and jeans, pulling them onto the floor. She
ran her hands over his chest, through his graying brown chest hairs. He moaned
into her mouth and carefully started unzipping her sweatshirt, and pulled it
along with the tank top underneath it off, tossing it onto his clothes. Buffy
stopped as his hands delicately went to her breasts. She gasped for breath as
his thumbs rolled her nipples deftly, making electricity shoot to her lower
stomach. His mouth went to her neck and he started licking it, gently nipping.
Her hands went up to his shoulders as she tried to understand the feelings that
were rushing through her body for him. Every time Ripper raped her, she never
felt anything like this. Her hand reached down and grabbed his member,
squeezing it. He groaned against her throat and thrust up into her hand,
seeking release. She stroked him to the beat that he pulled at her nipples. He
detached himself from her neck and pulled out of her reach long enough to pull
Buffy's sweatpants and panties off. He laid her down on the bed and lowered his
head down between her legs.
She felt her eyes roll to the back of her head as she felt his tongue stroke
her bundle of nerves. She whimpered and pulled him up against her. When he was
eye level with her, she panicked, remembering Ripper. She immediately made him
switch positions before he realized it.
She sat on his stomach and bent down to kiss him fully. As she kissed him, she
positioned herself over him and thrust down hard.
They moaned simultaneously and Buffy arched her back as Giles grabbed her hips.
She started thrusting down hard on him, and he pulled down when she seemed to
take him all in. Soon the only sounds in the room were the sounds of flesh
slapping and their rising moans.
Giles pulled her off quickly and pushed her onto her knees on the bed, putting
her hands on the headboard.
"Don't let go," He growled in her ear and she shuddered at the tone in his
voice. He thrust up behind her and she cried out as his balls slapped her
thighs in time with his thrusts. She couldn't breathe as he brought them to
climax. He held her in his arms as they came down from their high. He soothed
her, holding her to his chest as she cried silently. He tipped her head up and
wiped her tears.
"Why are you crying, Buffy?" She whimpered, and tilted her head against the
palm of his hand.
"I really wish that you won't become Ripper again. Without you here beside me,
I felt so lost. I couldn't figure out what to do." Giles sighed and pulled her
close.
"Jenny. Find her, and I feel that you can save me. If you can't, though, I want
you to be the one to stake me." Buffy jerked out of his arms, utterly appalled.
"I can't do that. Don't ask me to, Giles." He sighed, shaking his head.
"You have to. Ripper may seem to not want to stop your patrols, but he will
start to interfere. He is a powerful Vampire. He's a danger to you and everyone
else in Sunnydale." She felt tears gather at her eyes again.
"I can't kill you though-" Giles growled and looked her in the eye.
"Yes you can! You are the only one who can! Buffy, I can't stand living knowing
that I hurt you every bloody day." He cursed as he grabbed his head.
"Bloody Hell, he's taking over again." He muttered, pulling away from Buffy.
She scooted to the side of the bed and reached in the wardrobe, grabbing a
nightgown, hoping nothing would happen to it this night. She slipped back into
the bed next to Giles and looked at his pain-filled eyes as he looked down at
Buffy. He raised his hand to wipe her tears, then jerked back.
Buffy looked up into Ripper's eyes. He grinned at her.
"I guess it's time for bed then?" Buffy stiffened in fear until he chuckled.
"I'm already satisfied thanks to ole Rupe. I meant to sleep." Buffy nodded and
turned her back to him and closed her eyes, and fell asleep before his arm
wrapped around her stomach.
***** Jenny *****
Jenny Calendar sat on the hotel bed with her forehead against her knees.
Somehow, Ripper knew who she was. She knew he was going to come after her, so
her threat to him was gone. She leaned over on the bed and threw up in the
wastebasket strategically placed for that purpose. She still couldn't believe
that Rupert, her England, could rape Buffy, his own Slayer that he saw as a
daughter. See, what she couldn't wrap around in her head, were those two words
in one sentence. Rupert and rape. Buffy she could understand if he turned and
retreated to the back of his mind, letting Ripper take control. She couldn't
figure out the sunlight part though, probably the Slayer blood he seemed to be
drinking. Might be a possibility. She wrote the signs and 'symptoms' on her
notebook next to her and logged on her laptop before her. She had heard of an
ensouling ritual before, through her clan, but she had to research it. Possibly
send out a mass e-mail for help…
Willow sat before Xander and Cordelia in the empty computer classroom. Xander
looked worried while Cordelia looked bored.
"Giles has left the school, and Buffy is all like-withdrawn. What's wrong? They
won't talk." Cordelia rolled her eyes.
"Is it just me that has a brain? Mr. Giles is having a mid-life crisis and
Buffy is pouting that all his attention as Watcher isn't on her." She pouted.
Willow shrugged.
"I guess that's another hypothesis." Xander tossed his hands in the air.
"You're not actually accepting that as a suggestion, Wills?" Willow shrugged.
"Anything's possible. Giles quit his job, moved from his cozy apartment
elsewhere that we don't know. Buffy, I'm just lost." She ended, sadly. Cordelia
sniffed.
"Isn't it obvious? She's ditched you lot. Accept it already." Xander shared a
look with Willow.
"She wouldn't." Willow said, not strong in her argument, uncertainty lacing her
words. The door opened and they jumped, all guilty faced of their trespassing
until they saw Buffy's tired and surprised face.
"Guys!" Willow smiled when she saw Buffy's relieved face. Cordelia snorted and
went to leave the room.
"Glad your back loser." Cordy left and Xander stood quickly.
"I knew you didn't ditch us." Buffy smiled faintly, and they could tell she was
heavily lacking in the sleep department by her raccoon eyes. Buffy sighed,
closing her eyes.
"Have either of you seen Jenny?" At their confused glance, she amended.
"Ms. Calendar." They shook their heads and Buffy swallowed, putting her hand
over her eyes. Then her hand lowered and she gave a level stare at Willow.
"Can you get me her address? I have a vampire-related problem that only she can
solve." Willow and Xander visibly relaxed.
"So this, umm, phase," Xander looked at Willow a second before returning to
Buffy, "Is demon-related." Buffy gave them a tight smile and nodded. Willow
went to the teacher's computer and went looking for the address Buffy
requested. Xander looked at the tired Slayer.
"What's with Giles?" he saw a shadow pass her face and she gave him an
exasperated look.
"Mid-life crisis. Don't ask how far it's gone, please." She chuckled for a
second, then sobered again, showing in her eyes pain beyond her years. "It's
ridiculous how far he's going with this." Xander looked green.
"Enough said." He squeaked. She heard him mutter 'hookers' and 'taxidermist'.
"I know you won't believe me, but until this vampire is under wraps, I can't
associate with you until its safe. He knows my identity and I don't want you
targeted. Please Xander, this one's worse than the Master and he's free and
roaming. Please understand this time." She gave them puppy do eyes and they
acquiesced.
"Fine, but you owe us one. Be careful." Xander grumbled. Willow looked up.
"I've got the address. Printing it now." Buffy nodded, heading to grab the
papers.
"Thanks guys. Oh, and trust me in this, just cause he's in his mid-life crisis,
Giles is making too many mistakes. He's reverting back to Ripper. Don't trust
him like you did." At their confusion she shrugged.
"Just trust me." She hoped they blindly trusted her like they should. She left
the room and headed towards the street on Ms Calendar's private records.
Buffy bit her lip as she sat on the stoop of Ms Calendar's porch. No one was
answering the door and the lights weren't on. She couldn't accept the suspicion
that she was dead. She had to see it herself or she wouldn't believe it. She
stuck to the back of the house and broke a window. She cleaned the window so
she could pass through safely. She landed on her feet and surveyed her
surroundings. She was taking a chance, coming during daylight, but she was
afraid of losing this chance when Ripper expected her at night. She stepped
through the house until she reached the stairs. There was a telephone stand
next to it and she saw an open phone book with a pencil circling an entry. She
recognized the hotel featured and smiled faintly. She heard a noise upstairs
and pulled out Mr. Pointy. She crept up the stairs past a guest room until she
reached the Master bedroom. She jumped when a cat jumped into her arms. She
looked down at the tabby cat and sighed. She reached around its neck until she
reached the name tag.
"Janna. Please return to Jenny Calendar." Then her number was displayed along
with her address.
"So Janna." Buffy hoisted the small cat into one arm as she pushed the master
bedroom door open.
"Where's mama?" She saw that a bunch of clothes and books were missing, like
they were packed in a hurry. She went over to the large bookshelves and pulled
a few off to toss onto the bed next to an empty cat saddlebag. She tossed the
books on magic in the bag and placed Janna in beside them, zipping the top
after tossing a box of cat food in. She sighed as she looked around, and then
grabbed the bag to head towards the hotel, hoping to arrive before sundown.
There was a pounding on the hotel room and Jenny stood to answer it. She was
surprised when Buffy pushed right in, closing and locking the door behind
herself and placing a bag Jenny recognized on the bed.
"Sorry I had to break into your house, couldn't find you." Buffy said, catching
her breath. Jenny opened the bag and Janna jumped out at her. She smiled at
Buffy.
"Thank you." She sat next to Buffy and took Buffy's hand into her own, concern
in her gaze.
"How are you, Buffy? How much has he hurt you?" Buffy's head shot up, her wide
eyes meeting Jenny's concerned ones, and then they lowered.
"I saw through the library window. Sunlight? I've never heard of a day walking
undead." Buffy sobbed and Jenny pulled the girl to her chest and felt her shirt
dampen.
"I can't tell anyone. If Xander or Willow found out, they'd approach him and
he'd kill them. I'm afraid of him using my mother against me. What do I do?"
Jenny sighed, closing her eyes a second to gain her strength.
"Buffy, I've been lying to you all." Buffy looked at her in confusion and
pulled out of Jenny's arms, suddenly wary.
"What do you mean?" Jenny sighed and went over to her open laptop.
"I'm not Jenny Calendar, computer teacher at Sunnydale High; I'm Janna of the
Kalderash clan. I'm the gypsy that was designated to watch Angel. It was my
clan that cursed him with his soul." Buffy just stared at her, trying to
process this. This actually explains a lot, Buffy mused, too tired to rage, but
remembering that Giles told her this.
"So you lied to us all, even Giles before he was turned?" She asked warily.
Janna nodded. Buffy smiled ruefully.
Buffy, I think I have the spell to return Rupert's soul." Buffy felt hope
simmer in her chest.
"There's a chance to save Giles?" Janna nodded, smiling slightly at the girl
whose aura suddenly brightened.
"I have the translated spell; I just have to get a few supplies tonight. I
should perform the soul spell tomorrow. When returned, Giles should be strong
enough to take complete control over Ripper, hiding him like he has for twenty
years." Buffy nodded, excited.
"Is there anything you need me to do?" Buffy asked. Janna shook her head.
"Don't hint to him something's up. If he seems to figure it out when I start,
distract him as long as you can, in any way you can." Buffy nodded, determined
to her task.
"I have to go back now but, if it works I'll bring him here." Janna nodded.
"Only if you know for sure. Don't bring him if it's possible Ripper's waiting."
She warned Buffy, who heartily agreed.
Willow sat on her bed, sighing as she listened to Xander chatter over the
phone. She nodded, forgetting he was at his home and couldn't see her.
"Xander, I know what you mean, but I think that this time we should just trust
Buffy. She may have a reason for what she's doing. Xander, can you please give
it a rest? I miss her too." She paused, listening to his bickering.
"Alright Xander, I'll do it, but after that, back off! Is that clear?" Willow
had had enough. Xander agreed, knowing that tone of voice, and they hung up.
***** Spell *****
Buffy popped her gum as she shut the door behind her, putting her book bag on
the coffee table and sat on the couch, pulling out a school book. She lay
across the couch, her feet reaching the other side, her skirt reaching her
ankles. She started reading the section she was assigned to for homework,
hearing no sign of Ripper in the house so far, but she wasn't taking it for
granted. She heard the stereo turn on, light classical music sounding through.
Buffy sighed and looked over the head of the couch at Ripper lounging against
the door jam, hands crossed across his chest as a smile flitted on his face.
She went back to the book. She went back to the book.
"I have homework." Her heart pounded as she felt him approach the couch behind
her head, looking over her shoulder.
"The Prince?" Buffy looked up at him.
"Machiavelli's crown pride. History class." She murmured before returning to
her place. She felt his breath on her neck and tried not to flinch.
"Where have you been?" Buffy looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and then
saw the serious expression on his face. She shrugged.
"Just because I'm being raped by a vampire doesn't mean I'm shirking on my
nightly patrols." She said tiredly, hoping he'd just buy that.
"Where did you patrol?" He asked sharply. She rolled her eyes.
"Riverview Cemetery. Do you mind? I have to finish this by morning." He stood
and left the room.
Jenny stood before the cash register, waiting for the man to return with what
she needed. She heard the door open behind her then a familiar voice.
"Ms. Calendar!" She turned around quickly and saw Willow coming to stand beside
her. Willow, Jenny saw, was relieved to see her.
"Whatcha doing?" Willow asked. Jenny looked around the store, noticed the lack
of customers, and turned back to Willow with a speculative glean in her eye.
"How would you like to help me with some hands-on magic practice?" Willow
beamed.
Ripper leaned over Buffy's shoulder as she set the tea tray. She bit her tongue
when his hands rested on her waist. She didn't want to tip him off, but she was
afraid what she'd do if she started yelling at him. His chin sat on her
shoulder.
"Riverview Cemetery, huh? That's funny. Some Vampires at Willie's place you
near Restview Cemetery." She stiffened and his hands tightened on her waist.
She tried to relax as she finished the tea with deft hands. She pulled the tray
from the counter and shifted past him to the living room, putting the tray down
onto the coffee table. She poured a cup of tea for herself then looked up at
him.
"Tea?" He chuckled and shook his head.
"No tea, but there is something that I want." She shrugged as she put cream and
sugar into her tea. She grabbed a cookie as she leaned back into the couch. He
sat next to her and put his hand on her knee.
"Where were you really?" She bit into her cookie and stared back at him
defiantly.
"None of your business. If I want to do something, I don't need your god-damned
permission!" She exhaled, leaning back and staring into her tea. His grip
tightened on her knee before the phone rang. He stood and went to answer it.
Buffy didn't care. She finished her cup and pulled the tray back together, not
in the mood for another cuppa. She brought the tea tray to the kitchen and put
it next to the sink. She turned around and jumped when she saw Ripper inches
from her, clearly pissed off. She put a hand to her heart, trying to slow it
down. Living with a vampire really screwed up her spidey-sense. His eyes
flashed.
"Do you want to tell me why you were where you went, or do you want me to start
guessing?" She swallowed and slipped under his arm to the living room. She
reached the couch before he grabbed her arm and twirled her to face him. She
growled.
"Let. Go. Of. Me." She said through grit teeth. He released his game face and
yellow eyes stared back at her. He sat on the couch, bringing her on top of
him. She just sat on his lap, staring defiantly back at him. He shifted her
skirt, ripping her panties and shifted her until she straddled his erection.
She struggled but he unhooked his jeans, pulling out his erection. He put his
hands on her hips and thrust up into her warmth and groaned. She tried to pull
away from him, but he pulled out and thrust back in. Buffy knew that she should
just give in, but the Slayer in her hated giving up. Her hands grabbed at his,
trying to pry them off as he thrust up into her. She felt tears gather as she
knew she was helpless against him. He leaned forward and bit into her neck and
she finally surrendered and he thrust repeatedly into her as he drank her
blood. He licked her neck and threw his head back and roared as he came deep
into her. She whimpered and he tossed her to the floor as he stood above her.
She tried to fix her underwear but it was beyond repair, as countless others
had been when he got in the mood as suddenly as this. She stared up defiantly
at him as he looked down upon her.
"I know you visited the gypsy. Why?" Her eyes widened slightly, but he saw it
nonetheless.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Ripper." She replied coolly. He gave
her a terrible grin.
"I also know that she went to the magic shop and bought an Orb of Thesulah –
and met your little Willow and they left together to the same motel room you
visited." Buffy froze. She told Willow to stay away – she probably didn't think
the warning applied to Jenny, Buffy amended. She didn't realize Ripper was
still watching her expression shift. Then she saw the snarl forming.
"They're going to try to give me a bloody soul, aren't they?" He shook his
head, looking disgusted.
"Bloody Hell. You knew." He stared at her before grinning nastily.
"They won't perform it, though. I'll make sure of it." He turned towards the
door. Buffy jumped at him, grabbing his shoulders, but he swung her into the
wall, bruising her shoulder. She grits her teeth and tried to trip his feet,
but he grabbed her foot and threw her at the couch, hitting her back hard. She
saw stars and had to lie for a few minutes, willing the pain away. She got to
her feet from the destroyed couch before realizing that Ripper was already
gone. She ran towards the balcony and saw his black car heading out. She looked
down and saw a truck passing the balcony in the same direction. She jumped on
the roof silently. When she found herself looking at the motel, she jumped off
and saw the black car was just parking, and she ran as fast as she could to
intercept him. He stepped out of the back of the car and she tackled him,
pulling his hands over his head. He smirked up at her.
"I'll remember that you like to be on top, kitten." He growled suggestively,
and then flipped them over so that he was on top. He head butted her and her
head slammed into the concrete. He stood up as she grabbed her head, trying to
not see two of everything. She slowly stood as she watched him break the door
in and she saw him stumble a second, then she ran in after him. She saw him
walking up to the bed where Jenny and Willow were chanting. She watched as
Jenny threw her head back, her eyes flashing, and Ripper grabbed Willow. Buffy
watched helplessly as he threw her hard against the wall. She heard something
in Willow snap as she slid to the floor and Buffy ran at him, pushing him to
the floor. She looked down into Rippers eyes and saw as they flashed, the red
slipping away forever.
Her Giles had returned, but could he live his un-life knowing all that he had
done?
***** Epilogue *****
Jenny held Buffy to her chest as they watched the casket lower into the ground.
Jenny gave Buffy a tissue to blow her nose, ignoring her own tears as they
watched the men shove dirt onto the fresh grave. Xander, his face white, put a
hand on Buffy's shoulder in comfort and Buffy turned into his embrace, crying
into his shirt.
Soon only the three were left alone at the grave as they silently stood. Jenny
went over to the grave and put a hand on the gravestone. She sighed before
leaving. Xander let go of Buffy and went over, squatting down on the freshly
sifted grave. He looked at the name and let his hand trace it before it fell to
his side.
"I had no idea. If I had known…..I'm sorry." He swallowed. "I'm gonna miss you,
so much." He stood and went back to Buffy. She stepped forward towards the
grave and put a daisy on the stone. She said nothing; she didn't think that she
could. She squeezed her eyes shut then shook her tears loose. She had no words
left to say, no more times to apologize. She looked up at Xander.
"Let's go." He nodded. She turned with him and they left the grave behind.
Buffy grinned as she finished up the last touches in her living room four
months later.(A/N I know that it's a pretty big jump, but I don't feel like
filling it in properly) They all figured that they would hold the party there.
She, Jenny, and her mother hid behind the couch.
Her mother knew a basic outline of what had happened, but without anything
about Ripper. That was what Buffy made clear. Joyce would know nothing of
Ripper's actions. Buffy couldn't live with herself if her mother knew.
They waited until the door opened and the light turned on and they all jumped
up.
"Welcome home!" Willow grinned widely as she looked up at them from her
wheelchair. Xander grinned from behind her. He pushed the wheelchair into the
living room as they gushed over her. Willow smiled as she looked over the
family that was with her through her recovery.
Jenny had legally adopted Willow right after her parents died in an accident,
right after the spell they performed. When Ripper threw Willow into the wall,
something in her spine snapped and she was paralyzed from the waist down. She
spent the first week thinking she was going to die, and then the next few
months in the hospital coming to terms with her disability and how she was
going to work around it. Buffy helped Willow a lot with the recovery, since she
was the slayer it was a lot more helpful than a normal human.
Willow rolled the wheelchair to the table and grabbed a sandwich, greedily
biting into it. The hospital food was horrible, and they could only sneak so
much food in from the outside. Xander went next to her and grabbed a few
sandwiches. Buffy hit him softly.
"That's for Willow!" Xander shrugged.
"There's no way she'll eat this much." Buffy frowned at him and he got her
hint. He put one sandwich back.
"But then, knowing how hungry she is, there is no way that she'll eat it all!"
Willow looked at him reproachfully.
"I'm not that hungry…." She said between bites. Jenny looked at the three
fooling around for the first time in months. It was hard for her to see them
without Rupert. After Rupert got his soul back, he left the room, muttering
staking himself. After that, they hadn't seen him again, and were forced to
accept that he staked himself. Buffy took it the hardest. Jenny could see that
Buffy had fallen in love with Rupert, and imagined that there was actually a
chance for them if he got his soul back, but didn't seem to imagine the
possibility that he would kill himself – again.
They had the funeral for Rupert Giles without a body – a closed casket ceremony
which involved some members of the Council. One woman met with Buffy during the
wake. Patricia Marni Giles was Rupert's younger sister, a physical therapist in
England. She heard of Willow's case and immediately took over. She was invited
to the welcome home party, but she begged off for a headache. Willow
affectionately called her Tish, and the nickname was 'christened' to her by the
Scooby gang. Tish knew about Watchers and Slayers, obviously, since her
brother, father, and grandmother was Watchers. She just hadn't known that
Rupert was the Watcher for the current Slayer until she went to his funeral. It
was hard for Buffy to face Tish, knowing that she was in love with the older
woman's late brother, but she found that she sat and talked to her about him a
lot, learning about his mischievous childhood.
At least, that's what Buffy told Jenny. Jenny was Buffy's confidante, and Buffy
found that she could tell Jenny anything. It helped her a lot, and Jenny
thought that Buffy seemed to slowly be getting over the 'Ripper situation'.
Joyce realized just how big a part of her daughter's life she had become, and
through a lot of talk and compromises, Jenny moved into the Summers' residence.
She sold her house and brought Janna with her, and when they found out that
Willow was being released, Joyce allowed Jenny to fund a construction crew to
build a wheelchair accessible wing in the back, with two bedrooms so she and
Willow would live back there and it was more of a two-family house, though they
were all one big happy family. She looked over at Joyce, who was turning out to
become her best friend other than Buffy.
Joyce seemed to take everything in stride, but she was more of a – as long as
the end justifies the means, don't give me the details – kind of woman. She
hadn't even known that Rupert had turned, and all that she knew was that a
vampire killed him. Jenny watched as Buffy smiled at Willow tiredly. Buffy had
been patrolling every night without fail since her Watchers death. She didn't
want anyone else to go through what she went through.
Buffy went behind the couch and grabbed a slightly big box she stashed there
that had a few holes on its top. She walked over to Willow and handed it to
her. At Willow's questioning gaze, she shrugged.
"A present I got for you." She smiled as Willow opened the box and squealed. A
little head popped out of the box and lightly barked at Willow. Everyone smiled
as they watched Willow pull the small puppy out of the box. The little white
dog licked Willows face and she giggled.
"I know that the doctors said that you don't need a pet to worry about during
your recovery, but I figured that if no one else was home, someone needs to
take care of you. She's a Maltese Poodle." She grinned as Willow stuck her
tongue out at her and hugged the puppy.
"She's perfect. Thank you, Buffy!" Buffy grinned as Willow bent to put the
puppy on the floor. The dog ran around the wheelchair yapping, wanting
attention from her new owner. Joyce rolled her eyes and Jenny smiled as Joyce
leaned towards her.
"Just what we need. Another yapper in the house." The two laughed. Xander bent
and offered a piece of meat to the dog. Willow immediately tossed the box at
his head.
"I will not have my dog eating human food! She will eat dog food and be a good
dog that will not beg for table scraps!" She scolded Xander, and when the puppy
reared up to the wheelchair, Willow picked the puppy up, putting her in her lap
and petted her. Buffy sat on the couch next to her mother and wrapped her arms
around her.
"I love you, mommy." She murmured, her eyes on Willow, but her mother heard her
and smiled.
"I love you too, darling." She hugged her daughter to her, happy that she was
back in her arms again. She dearly missed her daughter when she lived with her
Watcher, but she trusted that it was the right thing to do when Buffy explained
that her life depended on it.
Buffy stood and went to the kitchen, leaving the others in the living room. She
ran the water and washed her hands, looking out the window for something she
wasn't sure she was looking for. She missed Giles. At least when Ripper was
there, she knew he was still there. She dried her hands and put them on her
stomach.
She found out the week before that she was pregnant. Two nights later the
Powers That Be came to her in a dream. The one time she made love to Giles-
Rupert, she amended in her mind-he had been warm to the touch, and she thought
that she had only imagined that he was human. They turned him into a human for
that small amount of time as a kindness to her, to make up for the horribleness
that had been happening to her against her will. They told her that she was
going to have the child of a man who she loved, the man who she went to the
funeral of four months previous.
She closed her eyes and then heard a tapping on the kitchen door. She opened
her eyes and looked over at the door's window and froze. She found that she
couldn't breathe for a second and finally found her breath again. She couldn't
move as she looked out the window at Giles. He was dead, she reasoned. She was
only imagining him there. She just had the thought of the child she was going
to have in five months and imagined its father appearing out of nowhere.
However the vampire stood outside the door silently, as if he heard her
internal battle.
He could come in if he wanted; her mother had invited him in many months
before, soon after Ripper had taken over. She knew that Ripper was gone though,
and that her Giles was the one looking at her dejectedly. She looked in his
green and amber eyes and knew what she was going to do. She stepped forward and
opened the door. Now nothing was between them as he stood there, unsure of what
to say after his four month disappearance. Buffy sighed and yelled behind her.
"I'm gonna run out for a few minutes to grab something. I have a stake and I
won't be long." They heard a muffled agreement and she stepped outside past him
after he stepped back, and she shut the door after herself. They walked in
silence towards the cemetery by her house. He followed her as she came upon a
grave that she only went to once, when it was planted. There were daisies
growing at the grave. She guessed that Jenny planted them for her in his
memory. She swallowed then turned to him.
"So you didn't stake yourself." She said matter-of-factly. She looked back at
the grave at his silence.
"We thought you were gone. We didn't know what to do. Willow was paralyzed from
the waist down." She heard him tense and his gasp of pain. Obviously he didn't
know this yet.
"She knows that it wasn't you that did it, Ripper did. Xander took it hard; he
didn't know that you were a vampire. Cordelia dumped him when she realized that
he had Willow go to the Magic Shop even though she told him not to interfere.
It was rather harsh, but he dealed. Jenny and I live with mom again and though
I technically own the Bronze because of your death, I've been renting it out
and the money has been going towards Willow's medical bills since her parents
died. The excess goes towards a college fund for us." She swallowed as she put
her hand on the gravestone. She knew that she'd break down if she looked at him
now and if she didn't speak now, she'd never tell him everything that happened.
"Xander has moved in with us also. We all finished the year of high school and
our senior year is coming up soon, and we're trying to find a way to make sure
Willow is still in." She dropped her hand and her head fell. She felt tears
gather and her shoulders shook. She knew that he wanted to draw her into his
arms, but he held himself back because it was what she needed. She took her
breath.
"I'm four and a half months pregnant." She whispered and felt more than heard
his movements as he moved before her and kneeled.
"Pregnant? But…but how?" He didn't know how to react to anything that she had
told him so far, but this was too….unexpected. Of course Willow's paralysis was
just as unexpected, but this seemed different to Buffy. He could tell that at
the moment, this was a more pressing matter. He swallowed, though he didn't
need to. His mouth was dry as he tried to piece the time together.
"Four and a half months ago we lived in the Bronze. Who else were you with?"
Buffy shook her head and looked him in the eye.
"I was with no one the whole time Ripper had me. The time of conception,
according to my doctor, was that night that you and I were together." She
whispered. He just looked at her, confused.
"But I am a vampire. I can't have children." Buffy tried to smile but found she
couldn't.
"The Powers That Be made you human for that one time so we'd have a child." She
said, sighing. He looked at her and smiled.
"I'm going to be a father." He couldn't believe it. Then his face darkened.
"Of course, that is if you let me." She saw his head lower.
"Of course I will." She said in disbelief. "I'd hope that you'd be a big part
of our child's life. Of course, it would help me if you explained what happened
after you got your soul." She pressed, wondering why he never sent word that he
was still alive. He motioned towards the park across the street. She followed
him silently until they found a bench to sit on. They sat, staring at the trees
as he gathered the words he wanted to say.
"A long story short, the moment I got my soul back, I knew that I had to stake
myself." Buffy made an inarticulate noise in the back of her throat and he put
his hand up to ask to go on. She sat back against the bench as he continued.
"So I went back to the apartment and grabbed a stake. I tried to stab it in my
heart, but it wouldn't even penetrate my skin. I figured it was punishment for
all that I had done. To you, to Willow." He swallowed and Buffy stayed silent.
"I went to Los Angeles immediately, seeking out the only one who understood
what I went through." Buffy's eyes widened.
"Angel." He nodded at her murmur, looking down at his hands now.
"I told him everything and begged for him to help me out of my misery. He
smacked sense into me and started setting me on the path towards what he called
redemption. He properly taught me how to be a vampire. How to be a good one. I
drink packet blood to survive." He swallowed.
"I couldn't face any of you. I was too ashamed with what I had become. I didn't
realize you'd all think that I was gone forever. I couldn't think. Until the
Powers That Be came to me." Buffy looked over at him. He looked up at her now.
"They told me to" he paused a second, trying to recall the words. "Quit the
guilt and self-pity party and get my arse back to Sunnydale, you really need me
now." He nodded to himself and when he saw Buffy's face, he finally smiled.
Buffy couldn't help it, she started laughing. To hear him say those words, it
was priceless. They both stopped laughing around the same time. She looked up
at the stars.
"So where do we go from here? I'm pregnant with a vampire's baby, and I live
with my mother." She looked over at him.
"Let me guess, you haven't figured out where to go yet?" He shrugged.
"All that I knew was that I had to get back to you." She nodded, looking at
their clasped hands, not knowing when in his story their hands had joined. He
looked down at them also and they blushed at the same time, pulling away at the
same time in embarrassment.
"I just know that I can't take you home yet. Knowing that you weren't the one
in control, that's stuck in our heads, but coming out of the blue like this may
garner a violent protective side out of Xander and may freak Willow out. I
think I should tell them about you first before we try integrating you back
into the fold." He nodded, looking over at a couple walking in the park. He
knew that they were a pair of vampires, but he was too powerful for them to
want to approach without trouble.
"How is Willow?" He couldn't bear to ask exactly what he was thinking. Buffy
smiled sadly.
"She's been better, definitely, but I suppose the puppy helps." He gave her a
questioning glance. She grinned back at him.
"A welcome home present from me. I gave her a maltypoo puppy." He smiled,
looking up at the stars with her.
"I have a feeling that she will like that immensely. She always wanted a pet if
I recall her ranting in my library." She smiled, surprised that he remembered.
"The paralysis is permanent, but she's been working with the best physical
therapist from England, so she should be able to go back to school in fall with
little to no help." She saw as his form slightly turns in her direction.
"A physical therapist from England? That's interesting. I know that they have
the best in the world." She smiled, not looking at him.
"I know. Willow's therapist is Tish. Your sister." She saw in the corner of her
eye his widened eyes. He sat up straight, looking around.
"She's here in Sunnydale? Why is she here in Sunnydale?" Her smile faded.
"She came for your funeral, which is more than I can say for your father. She's
staying in a hotel room for now, but we're going to move her in the new wing of
the house to the room next to Willow for a year. Then, and only if Willow's
going to be okay, will she move back to England if she feels like it." She sat
back and put her hands on her stomach. Giles put his face in his hands and his
elbows on his knees.
"I can't believe that I could do that to her." He shook his head. Buffy
immediately reached for his face and, with both of her palms on his cheeks, she
faced him.
"It was not you. It was Ripper. You had no control. You would never have hurt
Willow, or raped me. You are not like that. Stop beating yourself for what
that, that demon had done in your stolen body!" She was almost in a rage. He
gave her a sad smile.
"Why are you defending what I-he did? You should hate me, more than anyone else
in Sunnydale." She shook her head.
"But I know that I wasn't you. I saw the real you." She put her hand over where
his heart was supposed to be beating and she looked up into his sad eyes. She
couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach as she looked up at him. She
reached up behind his head and brought his lips to hers. His fingers found
their way into her hair and they were together for a few minutes before she
slowly pulled away, leaning her forehead against his. He pulled back and looked
down at his hands.
They sighed and Buffy looked up, breaking the silence.
"So, I'll head back home and I'll get the renters out for you in the morning."
He nodded, still looking at his hands, the kiss replaying in his head. He
looked up and she smiled before kissing him softly on the lips again. Then she
stood and he followed. At the cemetery they split ways and she went home,
walking into the kitchen. She went to the island counter and picked up an
apple. She tossed it in the air. Jenny walked in and looked visibly relieved.
"We were getting a bit worried. Did you go on patrol?" She asked kindly.
Buffy's eyes never moved from the apple she was tossing in the air, seemingly
ignoring her.
"I saw Giles." She said, nonchalantly. Jenny froze at the offhand way she said
it, how she actually believed it. For a second she almost believed her, and
then she sighed.
"Buffy, Giles isn't here. He's gone." Buffy looked up at Jenny, cross.
"Don't you fucking say that. I just saw him! I just talked to him!" Jenny
sighed at the girls anger.
"Buffy, I know that it's hard to become a single high school mom, but this
isn't funny." She quietly chastised. Buffy glared at her.
"I thought that you would understand better than anyone Giles didn't stake
himself. Call Angel and ask. Until today he was staying with him." Buffy walked
into the living room to tell the others the news, and Jenny went to the phone.
The next day Buffy and Giles stood in the apartment above the Bronze. She
looked around and sighed. She could try to forget what had happened here, but
it would now be easier because Ripper was gone.
"I'll stay here until I can find somewhere else." Giles muttered, his hand on
his china as he looked around. Buffy nodded. Too many bad memories for both.
He sat on the new couch, wincing while remembering why it had been replaced.
There was a knock at the door and Buffy opened it. One of the bartenders was
there. He only saw Buffy from his vantage point.
"You have some guests. One's in a wheelchair." Buffy nodded.
"Be down in a minute." He left down the stairs. She turned and looked at Giles.
"Are you ready?" She asked, concerned. He nodded. They went down the stairs and
when Willow saw Giles she grinned wildly, waving madly from her wheelchair. He
smiled at her and Xander at her shoulder smiled. The scoobies were together
again.
Tish sat in her room of Scooby headquarters, as the kids affectionately called
it. There had been a lot going on lately, obviously a private matter because
she wasn't told anything. She stood and went to the window with her journal.
She like writing stories. When she was young she wrote down some of her
brothers mischievous adventures. She sighed, looking down. It was hard to think
of Rupert. She heard a knock at her door.
"Come in." She said, not turning around. She heard heavy footsteps, and figured
it was Xander. She turned around and froze when her brother tentatively smiled
at her.
"Hey Tish." She felt like a fish out of water, then she ran forward and hugged
him, her tears straining his shirt. He held his beloved sister to his chest.
"Tish. It's been too long." He murmured and she nodded, looking up at her
brother. Then she realized that she couldn't feel his heart beat in his breast.
Her eyes widened and she threw herself away from him. He looked sad.
"I am, Tish, but I have a soul. Jenny and Willow gave it to me." He looked at
the floor. "That's why Willow's paralyzed. Ripper tried to stop them." He
winced. Buffy's head popped in the door.
"Don't worry, he's neutered." Then she was gone. Tish found herself wanting to
laugh as she saw his eyebrow twitched.
"Thank you, dear!" He barked out sarcastically. They heard her laughter ring
through the house and the siblings couldn't help but laugh when they saw each
other smile.
There were voices everywhere. Rupert knew that the Powers That Be were visiting
him again.
"Rupert Giles, vampire." He winced and nodded.
"Take care of the Slayer and your children. Because of her death against the
Master another was called. She will be there in a month with a new Watcher.
Your soul that is intact will never leave you again." He froze at their words.
"My soul?" They continued.
"There is no happiness clause, and your girlfriend is already pregnant, so shag
her already!" Rupert woke up and Buffy woke up beside him.
"Are you okay?" He looked at her, still unable to believe his luck. She moved
in with him into a new apartment the week before, she was now due any day with
his twins. She had to start taking her high school classes online. She wanted
to be with him for him, not because of the babies. He looked at her, grinning.
"The Powers That Be just told me I don't have a happiness clause on my soul.
And they told me to shag you already." Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Not those words exactly?" She tried not to laugh. His grin widened.
"Those words exactly." They laughed.
*A/N There is a sex scene here, use your imagination 'cause I don't feel like
writing one right now. I might come back and write one another day, just not
today*
As they basked in the glow of the aftermath of their lovemaking. Buffy suddenly
clutched her stomach.
"It's time!" She gasped and he immediately shot to his feet, getting a dress
and helping her into it. He shoved some pants on and threw a t-shirt on. He
found the keys and helped her outside.
Willow, Xander, Joyce, Jenny, and Tish stood in the waiting room, hearing Buffy
scream out profanities they never heard before. Willow was blushing and Xander
had his head resting on her shoulder as his shook with laughter. Soon they
heard a second little baby scream and Rupert came out, proudly showing off his
new son and daughter. Everyone cooed and he let Joyce hold her granddaughter
and Tish hold her nephew. He was grinning wildly. Xander patted him on the
back.
"Good job old chap." He said wisely, then handed Rupert a box of cigars with
both kids of baby exclamations. He shook his head, laughing then gave it back
so he could take his children back into the room. The doctor came out and said
they could all go in. So they all went in and saw Buffy holding the girl and
the two parents smiled at their family. Buffy looked up at Rupert and they both
smiled down at the two.
"We wish to tell you their names," Rupert said.
"And?" Xander pressed when he paused.
"Our boy will be Nicholas Alexander Giles and our daughter will be Marni
Samantha Giles." Xander and Tish had tears in their eyes. Xander was speechless
and Tish laughed.
"You named her after me?" Rupert smiled and nodded. Buffy shifted Marni.
"Willow, Xander, Jenny, I hope you can all be their godparents?" They all had
tears in their eyes as they nodded. Joyce was crying. She was a grandmother.
Buffy and Rupert smiled at each other and knew that things were going to work
out. Karma was now on their side.
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