Giles continued to push his way through the crowd of people trying to get out of the building. He was about to turn the corner when the alarm went off and things seemed to go back to normal. He deeply sighed and went to the lab just as some of the workers were coming back in. "Where's Fred?" he asked one of them.
"Mrs. Giles left with a man," one of the lab workers said. "Someone about your age but smaller."
"A man?" Giles asked, furrowing his brow. "What man?"
"I don't know. All I know is that he took Fred away from the front exits. I didn't think anything of it since she's your wife!"
Giles grabbed the man by his collar, ready to throttle him when his mobile started to ring. He fished it out of his pocket and answered it.
"Hello Ripper. Missing something?" came Ethan's cold voice.
"Ethan…you…"
"She's quite lovely. I wonder how long it'll take you to find her - that is if there's anything left to find."
"Ethan! I'm going to bloody kill you if you lay a hand on--"
The call was disconnected before Giles could finish. It was then when he realized Ethan had taken Fred. Giles' world began to spin and he felt like he was going to be sick. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself together for the moment and ran into Fred's office. Maybe Ethan had left some sort of clue.
He looked through Fred's drawers, not finding anything. Giles saw her laptop was open and pressed a couple of buttons but nothing happened. "Stupid bloody thing!" he yelled before picking it up and throwing it against the wall.
"Giles! What are doing?" Willow asked from the doorway.
"Ethan took her. He did all of this. He was at our house this weekend while I was gone," Giles muttered as he looked at the broken laptop.
"Ethan? But he's in--"
"HE BLOODY CALLED ME AND TOLD ME!" Giles roared before pushing everything off Fred's desk.
Willow jumped a little and pulled out her mobile. Giles heard her say Buffy's name as he looked at the floor. Lying among the pile of papers, was a picture of Fred, Molly and him. He bent down and picked it up before tracing his finger over it. Magic couldn't contain Ethan and Giles knew what he had to do when he found the other man.
He pocketed the picture and went toward the door. Willow said something about Buffy coming but Giles didn't listen. Instead, he went to the weapons department and pulled a rifle out of the cabinet, along with a box of bullets. He was going to torture, and then kill Ethan Rayne.
Groaning, Fred reached up to rub her head, her eyes still closed. Her head felt like one of her father's milking cows had gotten out of the paddock and run her over.
Then suddenly, she remembered. The Council and the sirens going off and Henry saying he was taking her to Giles and then her running away and something hitting her in the back. Gasping, she bolted upright, her heart pounding.
She was sitting in a cave. No, it wasn't just a cave - it was her cave in Pylea where she had spent so many years hiding, frightened that she might get caught and killed or worse beaten again and forced to go back to work as a slave. She cried out in horror, scrambling up from the floor.
It wasn't a dream. It hadn't been a dream. Oh, God, it couldn't have only been a dream - she had been married and happy and in love. Then she looked down at her fingers and saw the rings there.
"Rupert," she choked out.
"Ripper's not here right now," a familiar voice said from the entrance to the cave. Fred looked up, her throat tightening.
"Henry."
"Actually, no. Allow me to introduce myself - my name is Ethan Rayne." He chuckled at the expression that crossed her face. "Ah...I see that Ripper's told you about me. I guess he must have when all of you went after that poor Initiative soldier I turned into a demon. What I imagine, though, is that he didn't tell you about his past?"
Fred suddenly felt very cold and took a few steps back as Ethan came further into the cage. "Is this real? Or is this some kind of trick?"
"This place? Oh, it's as real as I want it to be. How real it becomes to you--well, that depends on Ripper."
"Why do you keep calling him Ripper. His name is Rupert," she said softly, looking for something to use as a weapon against him. If this wasn't real, though, what would hitting him do to her. She didn't even know what he was doing to her.
"I knew him as Ripper. He'll always be Ripper, no matter how he tries to deny it. Would you like to hear a story, my dear? A story of how your husband used to delve into the dark arts, calling demons and spirits. All for fun or money or to impress the girls. How he helped kill a poor young man in the prime of his life."
"No. I don't believe you." She shook her head, continuing to back up until she stumbled over a rock and fell back onto the ground. Ethan took the opportunity to pounce, moving over her and pinning her down.
"Oh, sweet Winifred Giles, wanting to believe her husband is so good. I have so much to tell you..."
"Uh, Giles," Xander said, jogging over to him. "What are you doing? You don't seem like the gun type to me and--"
"Get out of my way, Xander," Giles growled. Willow ran into the room and took a deep breath. "I'm going to get my wife back. I don't care what you lot say."
"Fred's gone?" Xander asked.
"Ethan," Willow merely said before looking at Giles. "Giles. Buffy's on her way. She'll be here in a few hours. She's going to take one of the Council jets. We need to regroup and I told her to meet us at your house."
"I need to find Fred!" Giles yelled, making Willow jump again. "He'll kill her!"
"Ethan won't kill her. Giles - think for a moment. He wants to hurt you and he's using Fred to do that." The truth was brutal but part of Giles knew she was right. Ethan wanted him to come after Fred. "Lets go back to your house."
Giles mutely nodded and allowed himself to be led from the building. He found himself slipping into a haze, his thoughts going to how many people had been hurt because of him and his past. Giles knew he wouldn't allow Fred to get hurt - even if it meant walking away from her and their marriage. He would rather leave her than lose her to death.
When they arrived at his house, Giles had to be prodded out of the car. They walked up the front pavement, stopping when they saw a familiar face standing on the steps.
Riley Finn.
Giles' grip on the rifle tightened and he charged at the younger man. "You bastard!" he yelled, using the butt of the rifle to strike Riley's face. "You knew he was loose!"
"I didn't!" Riley said from his place on the steps. He held his bloody mouth and stood up. "I just found out about it yesterday and when I got here, I came straight here to tell you!"
"He took my wife you wanker!" Giles yelled as he raised the rifle up again. Riley had the sense to grab it this time. "Let go!"
"GILES!" Willow yelled, stepping between Riley and him. "This isn't going to help Fred! Lets go inside and wait for Buffy. Riley can fill us in on what happened and why Ethan is loose."
Giles pulled the rifle out of Riley's grip before unlocking the front door. He allowed everyone to go in before him and when he stepped in, Molly was sitting there. She looked around Giles and he frowned. "She's not here," he told the puppy, who started to whine. Giles bent down and picked her up before burying his face in her fur. "I'm sorry," he whispered as silent tears started to fall.
She could hear them outside. The Pyleans looking for escaped cows. Hiding in the back of the cave, she tried not to move or attract any attention. She thought things were supposed to be different now with a democratic societ and slavery banned, so why were they looking for cows? Why was she here? What was Ethan trying to do to her? Was this real? She couldn't tell.
"Don't want them to hear you, do you?" Ethan's voice said in her ear, causing her to gasp. Turning around, she found him standing there and tried to crawl away.
"Stay away from me," she choked out, the stories he had told her about her husband still burning in her mind. She didn't want to believe what he had told her - the Ripper he had told her about wasn't the Rupert she knew.
"Oh, now, Fred, that's not a nice way to act toward a visitor. After all this was your home, wasn't it?"
"This is not my home. This was never my home. My home is with Rupert, you bastard," she spat out.
Ethan raised his eyebrows. "Still love Rupert after everything I told you?"
"It doesn't change who he is," she said, knowing that despite the surprise of hearing what he had done, even if it was true, it didn't change how she felt about him.
"You know - you're a lot stronger than I gave you credit for."
"You have to be to survive this place."
The voices outside suddenly became louder, and Fred immediately scurried to the corner, trying to hide. Ethan grinned and shook his head.
"But some reactions are still ingrained," he said before fading away, leaving Fred alone again.
Three hours seemed like a long time to Giles. He paced the foyer, jumping whenever he heard a car door outside. Willow finally got him to come into the parlour and sit down so Riley could explain to them what happened with Ethan. Giles didn't want to but he needed something to pass the time with before Buffy came.
As the younger man spoke, Giles found himself shifting anxiously on the sofa. Riley told them Ethan had escaped months before and the Initiative had been after him ever since. The demon they had killed was a member of the Initiative and it seemed Ethan had killed several other members too.
"I thought you were supposed to brainwash him," Xander said.
"We thought we had but it didn't take," Riley answered.
Giles opened his mouth to speak but his mobile rang. He pushed talk and put it against his ear.
"Hello, Ripper," said Ethan. "Still missing something?"
"Ethan," Giles hissed. Riley looked over at him and pulled something out of his pocket. Giles watched for a second, realizing Riley was going to try and track the call. "Where's my wife?"
"She's lock up nice and safe. Have I told you how lovely I think little Fred is? Such silky skin and so soft to the touch. I especially like how she moans when I lick that certain spot on her neck," Ethan said with a low laugh.
Giles felt himself go hot with anger and he had to stop himself from throwing the phone against the wall. "When I find you, I'm going to rip your tongue out of your mouth and make you eat it," he said in a low voice.
"Now, now, Ripper. Is that any way to talk to an old friend? Don't you remember when we used to share women?" He quietly said. "Did you know how much your wife enjoys having the soft skin of her inner thigh bit? Perhaps if you ever find me, I'll show you how I can make her scream my name."
"I swear Ethan…"
But before Giles could get the rest out, Ethan had hung up. Giles turned and threw his mobile against the wall before looking at Riley, who was pushing numbers on the device he had.
"I've narrowed it down to a few houses about two blocks from here," Riley said.
"Lets go," Giles said, picking up the rifle again.
"We should wait for Buffy," Willow said as she stood up.
"Wait no longer," came Buffy's voice from the doorway. "I'm here and ready to kick Ethan's ass."
"Mrs. Giles left with a man," one of the lab workers said. "Someone about your age but smaller."
"A man?" Giles asked, furrowing his brow. "What man?"
"I don't know. All I know is that he took Fred away from the front exits. I didn't think anything of it since she's your wife!"
Giles grabbed the man by his collar, ready to throttle him when his mobile started to ring. He fished it out of his pocket and answered it.
"Hello Ripper. Missing something?" came Ethan's cold voice.
"Ethan…you…"
"She's quite lovely. I wonder how long it'll take you to find her - that is if there's anything left to find."
"Ethan! I'm going to bloody kill you if you lay a hand on--"
The call was disconnected before Giles could finish. It was then when he realized Ethan had taken Fred. Giles' world began to spin and he felt like he was going to be sick. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself together for the moment and ran into Fred's office. Maybe Ethan had left some sort of clue.
He looked through Fred's drawers, not finding anything. Giles saw her laptop was open and pressed a couple of buttons but nothing happened. "Stupid bloody thing!" he yelled before picking it up and throwing it against the wall.
"Giles! What are doing?" Willow asked from the doorway.
"Ethan took her. He did all of this. He was at our house this weekend while I was gone," Giles muttered as he looked at the broken laptop.
"Ethan? But he's in--"
"HE BLOODY CALLED ME AND TOLD ME!" Giles roared before pushing everything off Fred's desk.
Willow jumped a little and pulled out her mobile. Giles heard her say Buffy's name as he looked at the floor. Lying among the pile of papers, was a picture of Fred, Molly and him. He bent down and picked it up before tracing his finger over it. Magic couldn't contain Ethan and Giles knew what he had to do when he found the other man.
He pocketed the picture and went toward the door. Willow said something about Buffy coming but Giles didn't listen. Instead, he went to the weapons department and pulled a rifle out of the cabinet, along with a box of bullets. He was going to torture, and then kill Ethan Rayne.
Reply
Then suddenly, she remembered. The Council and the sirens going off and Henry saying he was taking her to Giles and then her running away and something hitting her in the back. Gasping, she bolted upright, her heart pounding.
She was sitting in a cave. No, it wasn't just a cave - it was her cave in Pylea where she had spent so many years hiding, frightened that she might get caught and killed or worse beaten again and forced to go back to work as a slave. She cried out in horror, scrambling up from the floor.
It wasn't a dream. It hadn't been a dream. Oh, God, it couldn't have only been a dream - she had been married and happy and in love. Then she looked down at her fingers and saw the rings there.
"Rupert," she choked out.
"Ripper's not here right now," a familiar voice said from the entrance to the cave. Fred looked up, her throat tightening.
"Henry."
"Actually, no. Allow me to introduce myself - my name is Ethan Rayne." He chuckled at the expression that crossed her face. "Ah...I see that Ripper's told you about me. I guess he must have when all of you went after that poor Initiative soldier I turned into a demon. What I imagine, though, is that he didn't tell you about his past?"
Fred suddenly felt very cold and took a few steps back as Ethan came further into the cage. "Is this real? Or is this some kind of trick?"
"This place? Oh, it's as real as I want it to be. How real it becomes to you--well, that depends on Ripper."
"Why do you keep calling him Ripper. His name is Rupert," she said softly, looking for something to use as a weapon against him. If this wasn't real, though, what would hitting him do to her. She didn't even know what he was doing to her.
"I knew him as Ripper. He'll always be Ripper, no matter how he tries to deny it. Would you like to hear a story, my dear? A story of how your husband used to delve into the dark arts, calling demons and spirits. All for fun or money or to impress the girls. How he helped kill a poor young man in the prime of his life."
"No. I don't believe you." She shook her head, continuing to back up until she stumbled over a rock and fell back onto the ground. Ethan took the opportunity to pounce, moving over her and pinning her down.
"Oh, sweet Winifred Giles, wanting to believe her husband is so good. I have so much to tell you..."
Reply
"Get out of my way, Xander," Giles growled. Willow ran into the room and took a deep breath. "I'm going to get my wife back. I don't care what you lot say."
"Fred's gone?" Xander asked.
"Ethan," Willow merely said before looking at Giles. "Giles. Buffy's on her way. She'll be here in a few hours. She's going to take one of the Council jets. We need to regroup and I told her to meet us at your house."
"I need to find Fred!" Giles yelled, making Willow jump again. "He'll kill her!"
"Ethan won't kill her. Giles - think for a moment. He wants to hurt you and he's using Fred to do that." The truth was brutal but part of Giles knew she was right. Ethan wanted him to come after Fred. "Lets go back to your house."
Giles mutely nodded and allowed himself to be led from the building. He found himself slipping into a haze, his thoughts going to how many people had been hurt because of him and his past. Giles knew he wouldn't allow Fred to get hurt - even if it meant walking away from her and their marriage. He would rather leave her than lose her to death.
When they arrived at his house, Giles had to be prodded out of the car. They walked up the front pavement, stopping when they saw a familiar face standing on the steps.
Riley Finn.
Giles' grip on the rifle tightened and he charged at the younger man. "You bastard!" he yelled, using the butt of the rifle to strike Riley's face. "You knew he was loose!"
"I didn't!" Riley said from his place on the steps. He held his bloody mouth and stood up. "I just found out about it yesterday and when I got here, I came straight here to tell you!"
"He took my wife you wanker!" Giles yelled as he raised the rifle up again. Riley had the sense to grab it this time. "Let go!"
"GILES!" Willow yelled, stepping between Riley and him. "This isn't going to help Fred! Lets go inside and wait for Buffy. Riley can fill us in on what happened and why Ethan is loose."
Giles pulled the rifle out of Riley's grip before unlocking the front door. He allowed everyone to go in before him and when he stepped in, Molly was sitting there. She looked around Giles and he frowned. "She's not here," he told the puppy, who started to whine. Giles bent down and picked her up before burying his face in her fur. "I'm sorry," he whispered as silent tears started to fall.
Reply
"Don't want them to hear you, do you?" Ethan's voice said in her ear, causing her to gasp. Turning around, she found him standing there and tried to crawl away.
"Stay away from me," she choked out, the stories he had told her about her husband still burning in her mind. She didn't want to believe what he had told her - the Ripper he had told her about wasn't the Rupert she knew.
"Oh, now, Fred, that's not a nice way to act toward a visitor. After all this was your home, wasn't it?"
"This is not my home. This was never my home. My home is with Rupert, you bastard," she spat out.
Ethan raised his eyebrows. "Still love Rupert after everything I told you?"
"It doesn't change who he is," she said, knowing that despite the surprise of hearing what he had done, even if it was true, it didn't change how she felt about him.
"You know - you're a lot stronger than I gave you credit for."
"You have to be to survive this place."
The voices outside suddenly became louder, and Fred immediately scurried to the corner, trying to hide. Ethan grinned and shook his head.
"But some reactions are still ingrained," he said before fading away, leaving Fred alone again.
Reply
As the younger man spoke, Giles found himself shifting anxiously on the sofa. Riley told them Ethan had escaped months before and the Initiative had been after him ever since. The demon they had killed was a member of the Initiative and it seemed Ethan had killed several other members too.
"I thought you were supposed to brainwash him," Xander said.
"We thought we had but it didn't take," Riley answered.
Giles opened his mouth to speak but his mobile rang. He pushed talk and put it against his ear.
"Hello, Ripper," said Ethan. "Still missing something?"
"Ethan," Giles hissed. Riley looked over at him and pulled something out of his pocket. Giles watched for a second, realizing Riley was going to try and track the call. "Where's my wife?"
"She's lock up nice and safe. Have I told you how lovely I think little Fred is? Such silky skin and so soft to the touch. I especially like how she moans when I lick that certain spot on her neck," Ethan said with a low laugh.
Giles felt himself go hot with anger and he had to stop himself from throwing the phone against the wall. "When I find you, I'm going to rip your tongue out of your mouth and make you eat it," he said in a low voice.
"Now, now, Ripper. Is that any way to talk to an old friend? Don't you remember when we used to share women?" He quietly said. "Did you know how much your wife enjoys having the soft skin of her inner thigh bit? Perhaps if you ever find me, I'll show you how I can make her scream my name."
"I swear Ethan…"
But before Giles could get the rest out, Ethan had hung up. Giles turned and threw his mobile against the wall before looking at Riley, who was pushing numbers on the device he had.
"I've narrowed it down to a few houses about two blocks from here," Riley said.
"Lets go," Giles said, picking up the rifle again.
"We should wait for Buffy," Willow said as she stood up.
"Wait no longer," came Buffy's voice from the doorway. "I'm here and ready to kick Ethan's ass."
Reply
Leave a comment