Fred took a step back when he started speaking to her harshly, her eyes opening wide as she bit her lip. She was thinking that she should go back to the lab and come back later when he stopped and apologized, but his voice still sounded strained and formal - like he was talking to an employee and not her, even though he called her "love".
Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, putting the finger and the notepad down on the chair before circling around the desk to stand next to him. She reached out tentatively to run her hand through his hair, wanting to embrace him but not knowing how he would react to her.
"Xander said that this Ethan...that he turned you into a demon a few years ago. That's why you're so upset, isn't it? This is bringing back memories of what he did to you, and now you're worried he's done it to someone else." She shifted to lean against the desk, cupping her hand to his cheek to try to get him to look up at her. "Rupert, please talk to me. I love you, and I want to help you, but I can't do that if you shut me out. Why did Ethan do that to you?"
When Fred ran her fingers through his hair, Giles had to resist the urge to pull her to him. He needed her desperately but didn't want anyone to walk in. "I'll tell you what happened but let me make sure we have some privacy." Giles called out to Andrew's desk and asked him to make sure he didn't have any visitors. And once was he had the phone hung up, he motioned for Fred to pull up a chair.
"Ethan and I go way back. When I "ran" away from Oxford, I went to London and got mixed up with him. He loved magic and causing chaos. We did a lot of things I'm not proud of." He started as he looked down at his hands. "I finally wised up and left, begged my father for another chance at the Council, and tried to move on with my life. But Ethan had other ideas."
Giles reached out and took Fred's hand before softly squeezing it. "He would show up sometimes. Mostly at pubs I was at. When I went to Sunnydale, he showed up there and sold tainted candy bars that made the adults act like teenagers. He did it so it would cause chaos and so a demon could steal babies from the hospital nursery. And then a few years ago he showed up one night," he said, looking down at the floor. "I was feeling a bit vulnerable because I was having a hard time adjusting to the way my life was. Buffy and the others were off at school and didn't need me anymore and he used that to get me drunk and turn me into a demon."
He looked up at her and frowned a bit before he continued. "Spike was the only one who knew it was me. Buffy tried to kill me but didn't. And a secret group called the Initiative took Ethan into custody and claim he's still there," Giles said. "I don't want Ethan to be here. I don't want him around you or us. Because I swear Fred that if he touches you, I'll kill him."
Fred listened as Rupert told her about Ethan, beginning to understand why he was acting the way he had in the boardroom. It sounded like Ethan was one of those kind of people that parents always worried about their children getting involved with - only even more dangerous because he used magic. She briefly wondered what kind of things he and Ethan had done that he wasn't proud of but knew that he would tell her in his own time, when he was ready. She knew it wasn't always easy to tell people things about your past. There were several things that she had done in Pylea that she hated to even think about much less admit to anyone.
She wrapped her hand around his when he took it, letting him know that she was there for him as he continued his explanation. Ethan had almost gotten him killed - killed by someone Rupert cared about - because of some...what? Obsession? Feelings of betrayal? Unwillingness to grow up? She didn't even know Ethan, and she hated him for hurting the man she loved.
"Shhhh," she said when he said he would kill Ethan if he came near them. After everything that Ethan had done to him, she found that she couldn't blame him for his feelings. She had a feeling that if Ethan were to try anything against Rupert, she'd undoubtedly do the same thing herself. Reaching out, she pressed her palm to his cheek and leaned forward to rest her forehead to his. "You said he's still being held by this Initiative, so he's not here. Don't let what he did to you affect what we need to do."
She decided that she didn't care that they were in his office and tilted her head to kiss him gently on the lips.
"I'll go do the DNA testing on that finger. Do you want to come with me to the lab, or do you need to coordinate some things here?"
Knowing Fred understood, and having her not ask him for the full story, made Giles feel less tense. He returned her soft kiss and when he pulled back, he softly stroked her face. "Thank you for understanding, love and I truly am sorry for being so short with you," he quietly said. When she asked if he wanted to go to the lab with her, he nodded, not wanting to be away from her.
"I won't be able to coordinate anything else until we get the DNA results back. If it's a human we're dealing with then we'll have to take a different approach," Giles said, standing. He followed Fred out of his office and down to the lab. Giles didn't know what she would have to do to get the DNA so he found a stool and sat down. He didn't want to get in her way.
"You're the head of this operation, aren't you?" Giles looked up at the question and saw Martin standing there. "Checking up on the newbie, eh?"
"Not checking up. I'm a guest of Fred's," Giles said as he raised an eyebrow. "And aren't you the git who lied to her this morning?"
"Ms. Burkle and I worked that out this morning. This is her department and she can handle it just fine without the higher ups coming in and bossing her around."
Giles smirked and shook his head. "I wasn't speaking to you in a boss capacity. I don't like people lying to my fiancée." Martin's eyes went wide and Giles shook his head. "We got engaged after she got the job and she was the most qualified I interviewed."
"I'm sure she was. And I won't ever lie to her again. You have my word," Martin said.
"Glad we agree on something," Giles said before looking over at Fred again.
Fred tried not to burst out laughing at the look that crossed Martin's face at the way Rupert handled him. She knew that she and Martin had worked out a bit of their problems that morning, but it was nice to have it all spelled out for sure. Once Martin had turned to return to his workstation, Fred gave Rupert a smile, touching his hand for a moment before stepping over to the table.
Picking up the bag, she emptied the finger out into a petrie dish and then, after putting on a pair of gloves, used a scapel to slice off a couple of thin sections of cells. One of the sections, she put in a small vial with some solution that she left to sit for a moment while she made up a slide with the other section. Once the slide was ready, she took out a gel and injected the solution from the vial into it before putting it in the processing machine.
"That'll take a few minutes," she told Giles. "Thought I'd look at what Buffy brought under a microscope as well while we're waiting. I might be able to make at least a preliminary observation about whether it might be human."
Bending over the microscope, she placed the slide under the lens and focused.
"I'm seeing Eukaryote cells. Nucleus, mitochondria..." She looked up at Giles. "It looks human. Most demon cells I've seen don't have the same structure as a human Eukaryote cell."
The machine beeped at her, telling her that the processing was done on the gel, so she walked over, taking out the gel and the film that the machine transposed the gel information onto. Fred stared at it for a moment, biting her lip when she saw the results.
"It is human. Male human," she said softly as she walked over to stand in front of him between his legs.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, putting the finger and the notepad down on the chair before circling around the desk to stand next to him. She reached out tentatively to run her hand through his hair, wanting to embrace him but not knowing how he would react to her.
"Xander said that this Ethan...that he turned you into a demon a few years ago. That's why you're so upset, isn't it? This is bringing back memories of what he did to you, and now you're worried he's done it to someone else." She shifted to lean against the desk, cupping her hand to his cheek to try to get him to look up at her. "Rupert, please talk to me. I love you, and I want to help you, but I can't do that if you shut me out. Why did Ethan do that to you?"
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"Ethan and I go way back. When I "ran" away from Oxford, I went to London and got mixed up with him. He loved magic and causing chaos. We did a lot of things I'm not proud of." He started as he looked down at his hands. "I finally wised up and left, begged my father for another chance at the Council, and tried to move on with my life. But Ethan had other ideas."
Giles reached out and took Fred's hand before softly squeezing it. "He would show up sometimes. Mostly at pubs I was at. When I went to Sunnydale, he showed up there and sold tainted candy bars that made the adults act like teenagers. He did it so it would cause chaos and so a demon could steal babies from the hospital nursery. And then a few years ago he showed up one night," he said, looking down at the floor. "I was feeling a bit vulnerable because I was having a hard time adjusting to the way my life was. Buffy and the others were off at school and didn't need me anymore and he used that to get me drunk and turn me into a demon."
He looked up at her and frowned a bit before he continued. "Spike was the only one who knew it was me. Buffy tried to kill me but didn't. And a secret group called the Initiative took Ethan into custody and claim he's still there," Giles said. "I don't want Ethan to be here. I don't want him around you or us. Because I swear Fred that if he touches you, I'll kill him."
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She wrapped her hand around his when he took it, letting him know that she was there for him as he continued his explanation. Ethan had almost gotten him killed - killed by someone Rupert cared about - because of some...what? Obsession? Feelings of betrayal? Unwillingness to grow up? She didn't even know Ethan, and she hated him for hurting the man she loved.
"Shhhh," she said when he said he would kill Ethan if he came near them. After everything that Ethan had done to him, she found that she couldn't blame him for his feelings. She had a feeling that if Ethan were to try anything against Rupert, she'd undoubtedly do the same thing herself. Reaching out, she pressed her palm to his cheek and leaned forward to rest her forehead to his. "You said he's still being held by this Initiative, so he's not here. Don't let what he did to you affect what we need to do."
She decided that she didn't care that they were in his office and tilted her head to kiss him gently on the lips.
"I'll go do the DNA testing on that finger. Do you want to come with me to the lab, or do you need to coordinate some things here?"
Reply
"I won't be able to coordinate anything else until we get the DNA results back. If it's a human we're dealing with then we'll have to take a different approach," Giles said, standing. He followed Fred out of his office and down to the lab. Giles didn't know what she would have to do to get the DNA so he found a stool and sat down. He didn't want to get in her way.
"You're the head of this operation, aren't you?" Giles looked up at the question and saw Martin standing there. "Checking up on the newbie, eh?"
"Not checking up. I'm a guest of Fred's," Giles said as he raised an eyebrow. "And aren't you the git who lied to her this morning?"
"Ms. Burkle and I worked that out this morning. This is her department and she can handle it just fine without the higher ups coming in and bossing her around."
Giles smirked and shook his head. "I wasn't speaking to you in a boss capacity. I don't like people lying to my fiancée." Martin's eyes went wide and Giles shook his head. "We got engaged after she got the job and she was the most qualified I interviewed."
"I'm sure she was. And I won't ever lie to her again. You have my word," Martin said.
"Glad we agree on something," Giles said before looking over at Fred again.
Reply
Picking up the bag, she emptied the finger out into a petrie dish and then, after putting on a pair of gloves, used a scapel to slice off a couple of thin sections of cells. One of the sections, she put in a small vial with some solution that she left to sit for a moment while she made up a slide with the other section. Once the slide was ready, she took out a gel and injected the solution from the vial into it before putting it in the processing machine.
"That'll take a few minutes," she told Giles. "Thought I'd look at what Buffy brought under a microscope as well while we're waiting. I might be able to make at least a preliminary observation about whether it might be human."
Bending over the microscope, she placed the slide under the lens and focused.
"I'm seeing Eukaryote cells. Nucleus, mitochondria..." She looked up at Giles. "It looks human. Most demon cells I've seen don't have the same structure as a human Eukaryote cell."
The machine beeped at her, telling her that the processing was done on the gel, so she walked over, taking out the gel and the film that the machine transposed the gel information onto. Fred stared at it for a moment, biting her lip when she saw the results.
"It is human. Male human," she said softly as she walked over to stand in front of him between his legs.
Reply
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