New York 42/43: Done - Giles/Xander
New York
by Dr Squidlove
drsquidlove@@@livejournal.com
Summary: Xander is thirty-seven. Divorced. Two kids. 4000 miles from Sunnydale and his Hellmouth childhood. Also, straight. Only someone forgot to tell Giles. In fact... where the hell is Giles?
Rated R for sex.
Thanks to gloriana and antennapedia for incredibly helpful mid-construction betas, and lunabee for early through middle chapters, and to huzzlewhat for final checking on the run. And gloriana again for major late-construction revisions.
The Buffy universe is the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Borrowed with all due love and respect.
Please ask before archiving.
Feedback ohgodyesplease.
Full headers are on chapter one.
Wordcount this part: 2497. That's just how it breaks, I'm afraid.
Previously, in chapter 41:
Mich took Jen and Kate shopping so Xander and Mary could finally talk. Xander told her stuff, but realised he still couldn't tell her everything. But he could tell Giles. Giles already knew most of it.
New York
chapter 42: Done
by Dr Squidlove
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Xander closed his eyes in the taxi, let the jerking of the car and the sounds of the traffic wash over him. Part of him wanted to head home, take a shower, have a shave, throw on a better shirt, make a bit of effort before Giles saw him. That was a small part. Mostly, he wanted to be there right now. With Giles who knew the stuff that Xander couldn't say, remembered the stuff Xander couldn't admit, didn't mind that Xander took time to figure stuff out. Who smelled like Giles. He hoped Giles had rested today, because they were going to start with finding out what made Giles helpless. There were a number of options for what came after that, but none of them were sleep.
There was that one looming conversation, where Xander was going to have to tell Giles that he wasn't coming out of supernatural retirement. Even right after everything Giles and Buffy and Riley did for him on Thursday, Xander couldn't risk bringing the Sunnydale lifestyle crashing down on Kate's and Jen's heads. Maybe that was the coward's way out, but Xander was ready and willing to be a coward for them.
But that conversation wasn't happening tonight. For starters, Xander had no idea how he was going to convince Giles to be okay with it. For seconds, Xander had spent half the day talking through minefields with Mary, and he was worn out with it, and he just wanted to be naked with Giles, to embrace one evening of happy, easy, reptile brain.
The driver slammed the brakes and Xander slid forward in his seat, opened one eye to see a UPS truck a quarter inch in front. He checked his phone. Damn, dinner time had slid right by. He hadn't realised sorting things out with Mary would take this long. He hoped Giles had meant what he said about not minding if it was late when Xander finally got free.
Giles' elevator was slower and his corridor about a hundred feet longer than last time Xander was here. Xander put one foot in front of the other until he made it to the door, and let himself in.
Giles was sitting at the table, glasses balanced on his nose, books spread out around him. It was pretty much the last thing Xander wanted to see. But hey, Xander was going to put a bright voice on it. "Another apocalypse already?"
"Do you really want to know?"
Xander turned away from the door with a long look. What was that supposed to mean?
Giles pulled off his glasses. "I'm sorry. I'm feeling a little waspish. I just meant, you don't want to wander back into slayer affairs."
"I guess." And no. It wasn't like he didn't want to know. He just didn't want to do anything about it. That had all seemed less petty last week before Buffy showed up out of nowhere to save him, but he didn't want to talk about that now.
Xander tried to gloss right past Giles' mood in favour of how good he looked - like he'd showered and shaved and looked in a mirror, and all the other things Xander hadn't. Hollywood mature, cast to sweep women - and men - off their feet. Even the bandage taped to his temple from Thursday looked more roguish than refugee. Xander was a cardboard sign short of playing a homeless guy. Somehow, that didn't matter to Giles. None of the long list of Xander's shortcomings mattered to Giles.
Giles sighed and shut his book, pushing it aside as he stood. "It's nothing serious. I'm simply helping out on something that's had them stumped."
Xander kicked off his shoes and wandered over. "You know what a screw-up I can be, don't you? All my worst hits, my own personal 'Spock's Brain' and 'Skin of Evil' episodes."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You remember that time I got Amy to make a spell and it went wrong and all the women in Sunnydale fell in love with me?"
"I remember." With a shake of his head, Giles headed into the kitchen, totally the wrong direction. The way he limped reminded Xander that he still hadn't had a chance to check Giles over for injuries. "Do you want something to eat? I have a couple of bagels-"
"No, thanks, I'm not really hungry. And you knew, I guess, you know about me and Will in senior year. I mean, there was formalwear and extenuating circumstances and-"
"I knew."
He also knew Xander left him stuck in another universe for sixteen years, and that Xander had left Anya at the altar. "I mean, you know I've done some pretty stupid things."
There was an unnecessarily long pause. "You're not stupid."
"Not my point, but it'll do." Xander wasn't sure what his point was, except that Giles knew all that and here he was. No secret mafia history required.
Giles closed the cupboard and stared at it. His jaw was tight, the muscles standing out in his neck.
Xander swallowed, wondering how long they'd been running on different conversation tracks. "Giles?"
Giles finally turned to him, face hard, holding for a long moment before his eyes slowly travelled down Xander's body and back up. Xander's cock stirred, and he revisited his earlier plans for the night, moving making Giles helpless down to item number two. So sue him: that stern and sexy expression made him crazy.
Xander stood very, very still as Giles crossed to him and caught his wrists, painfully tight, pressing them behind his back. Held there for just a beat, long enough for Xander's body to melt a little and his cock to fill. This was going to be hot.
Giles kissed him hard, forcing his tongue inside and being careless with his teeth, arching him back until Xander's balance was gone and it was only Giles' arms keeping him upright. One too-sharp nip on his lower lip and Xander was powerless to do anything but try to dry-hump Giles' pocket.
"Stop it."
Xander stopped.
"Do you want me?" was whispered in his ear.
"God, yeah." The grip on Xander's wrists made Xander think of thick, rough rope and he got harder still.
Xander was stumbling back, didn't know where until he hit the table, and then Giles was jerking open his pants and a solid manly hand was rummaging its way in until it had a great handful, and a moan pushed its way up from deep in Xander's gut. Xander wondered if this was swooning. Giles seemed to decide this wasn't enough and hauled Xander's pants down, jeans and socks all in one sweep as Xander rocked back on the table, then just as fast his shirt was over his head and Xander glimpsed the cold fire in Giles' eyes and god knew there was no way he could get harder than this.
Xander was manhandled around and pressed face down on the table, cross-eyed on piles of papers and Giles bent over him. "Keep them there." Xander linked his fingers behind him as rough hands kneaded at his hips, his back, his shoulders, careless of all the week's leftover bruises and aches. He could feel the bulge of Giles' cock pressing against zipper against his bare ass as Giles unthreaded his own belt. For one crazed second, Xander thought Giles was going to strap him, no mature boundaries negotiations or safewords discussions and in that moment Xander would have let him, but the belt hit the ground beside them and there was the sound of unzipping and Xander's shoulders relaxed.
Giles leaned against him and Xander could feel his pants bunched against his thighs, button shirt trailing over his ass, and then the sound of spitting was the only sound before wet fingers pushed inside him, burning. Xander gasped. "That's all you're getting," Giles growled.
Something wasn't right. There should have been teasing in Giles' tone but he just sounded cold. Xander needed to stop this, calm it down before someone got hurt but he couldn't find the 'no' because he was turned on beyond all belief. Giles' fingers were stretching him way faster than comfort and his other hand was on Xander's back, pressing him down. Giles wanted to take him, and it was angry and selfish but it was honesty balled up in need and that burned Xander open faster than rough, thick fingers. Giles could have whatever he wanted and they'd talk in the morning.
Giles pulled out his fingers, and Xander didn't want to wait. "In my pants-" he started, and he meant to say, 'there's a rubber in my wallet,' but a moan was ripped right out of him as Giles pushed inside. He let go of his hands and grabbed the desk.
Damn, it burned. Giles was bare inside him. Nothing between them.
Giles wasn't moving, but Xander could hear him breathing, heavy panting like he was the one who'd just been invaded. There was a pause and a click of wet lips and Xander was afraid Giles was going to pull back or ask if Xander was all right, take away all that passion and need and go timid and soft.
Xander peeled his fingers off the desk and put them back behind him, locking his hands around his wrists. There was a sound from Giles, like a whimper. A hand dragged over Xander's asscheek, but Xander waited. A finger along his crack, sliding so softly where Giles stretched him open, almost ticklish. Tracing away to his hip, sudden hard grip and then Giles pulled out and shoved home and Xander cried out. Almost too much but there was a drunken heat inside the bite and Xander wanted it. Out and *in*, and Xander sobbed with need, wanted more.
"This is what you want from me," Giles hissed, suddenly pressing all the way over Xander, mouth at his ear. "This is what does it for you."
"God," Xander managed. "Feel you."
"I can't hear you." He sounded angry, and what a twisted thing that it sweetened the ache in Xander's cock.
Xander swallowed, wet his mouth and did it again. "Can feel it. How you want me."
There, oh god, hard and sharp and going steady now, carving him open. Moans torn from him with every thrust. It was a sound Giles made, unconscious and needy that hit the spot and threw Xander over, and suddenly Giles jerked out of him, splashing liquid heat over his back.
Xander lay there panting, could feel Giles' hands on the desk on either side of his hips, Giles over him, just as breathless. Long minutes until Giles moved away. He came back already zipped up, shirt rumpled and loose, with a handful of paper towels. Xander didn't move as Giles gently wiped the mess off his skin and dropped the paper in the wastebasket. Xander waited for more touches but there was nothing. He finally struggled up and sat bare-ass naked on the edge of the table with a grunt. He was going to be feeling that for a while. "Okay, so you want to tell me what's bothering you?"
Giles didn't answer, just stared stonily out the window. All the warm fuzzy post-coital satisfaction dropped away like a heavy thing, leaving Xander feeling like he'd just been fucked.
"You know you have to tell me stuff, right? That I'll never figure it out on my own?" Still no answer except for the working jaw, and Xander dropped the teasing tone. "Spill, Giles. Did I forget something? Did Buffy say something? Mary was right, we suck at communicating."
Giles turned a sharp look on him. "How very insightful of Mary."
"But since I didn't even know we were together for a whole two months, I guess that's not really news."
The window again. It wasn't progress.
Xander learned his lesson with Mary. He was going to do it better, this time. "Mary and I talked, today."
"You did say."
"I told her everything. Well. Not everything, but one more person terrified of the dark, check."
Giles looked at Xander for a long time. "You're done, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
The bitter look on Giles' face hurt as much as Xander expected it would.
"I know that's bad, especially after all this." Xander reached for the bandage on Giles' face, and Giles leaned away. Damn. "I'm thirty-eight years old. I can't just do whatever I want anymore."
Giles waited, stone-faced.
"Say something, Giles."
"What do you expect me to say? That it's all right? That you got what you needed, and you don't owe me anything?" His voice was light, and that only made it worse. It turned out that along with all the good stuff, Giles could still make Xander feel three feet tall. And didn't he have the right, when he threw himself under a pile of rats for Mary while Xander ran for the exit?
"I know what you've done for me. Believe me, I'm not proud of myself. This is about my kids."
"No. It's about fear."
Xander really wished he'd pulled his clothes on before they started. He felt ridiculous having this out naked. He folded his arms around his body. "Fear's what keeps us alive."
They stared at each other, chins high. "Sometimes," Giles said at last. "And sometimes it's why we don't take what we want. I'm going to take a shower." With that, he walked out of the room.
Xander frowned after him. What we want? Did Giles really think Xander wanted to be out there, trying not to get killed every night? No way. They had some kind of major crossed wires going on here. What the hell did Giles think Xander was afraid of?
The shower ran in the bathroom. This wasn't supposed to be how today went. They were supposed to be so happy to be alive and well and alone together with the giant rat demons behind them that they couldn't keep their hands off each other. They weren't supposed to end up in different rooms.
Xander went and sat on the bed, and waited.
After a few minutes, he grabbed a pair of shorts. He wasn't going anywhere until they had this sorted out.
Clearly Giles was pissed at him, and it didn't seem like it was about Xander playing the Cowardly Lion. Xander scraped his brain for what he'd done wrong, some stupid thing he'd said, anything he'd forgotten, and he kept coming back to one thing. He left Giles behind. In all the happy ending excitement, Xander had forgotten how it felt running through those tunnels, Giles lost in the cavern behind him. Now the guilt washed up just fine.
You told me to go, Xander wanted to tell him, but he knew, knew, no power on earth would have driven Giles out of there if Xander had been the one dragged away.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
end chapter 42
Dr Squidlove appreciates feedback. Tasty, tasty feedback.
ZOMGONECHAPTERTOGO!!!
by Dr Squidlove
drsquidlove@@@livejournal.com
Summary: Xander is thirty-seven. Divorced. Two kids. 4000 miles from Sunnydale and his Hellmouth childhood. Also, straight. Only someone forgot to tell Giles. In fact... where the hell is Giles?
Rated R for sex.
Thanks to gloriana and antennapedia for incredibly helpful mid-construction betas, and lunabee for early through middle chapters, and to huzzlewhat for final checking on the run. And gloriana again for major late-construction revisions.
The Buffy universe is the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Borrowed with all due love and respect.
Please ask before archiving.
Feedback ohgodyesplease.
Full headers are on chapter one.
Wordcount this part: 2497. That's just how it breaks, I'm afraid.
Previously, in chapter 41:
Mich took Jen and Kate shopping so Xander and Mary could finally talk. Xander told her stuff, but realised he still couldn't tell her everything. But he could tell Giles. Giles already knew most of it.
New York
chapter 42: Done
by Dr Squidlove
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Xander closed his eyes in the taxi, let the jerking of the car and the sounds of the traffic wash over him. Part of him wanted to head home, take a shower, have a shave, throw on a better shirt, make a bit of effort before Giles saw him. That was a small part. Mostly, he wanted to be there right now. With Giles who knew the stuff that Xander couldn't say, remembered the stuff Xander couldn't admit, didn't mind that Xander took time to figure stuff out. Who smelled like Giles. He hoped Giles had rested today, because they were going to start with finding out what made Giles helpless. There were a number of options for what came after that, but none of them were sleep.
There was that one looming conversation, where Xander was going to have to tell Giles that he wasn't coming out of supernatural retirement. Even right after everything Giles and Buffy and Riley did for him on Thursday, Xander couldn't risk bringing the Sunnydale lifestyle crashing down on Kate's and Jen's heads. Maybe that was the coward's way out, but Xander was ready and willing to be a coward for them.
But that conversation wasn't happening tonight. For starters, Xander had no idea how he was going to convince Giles to be okay with it. For seconds, Xander had spent half the day talking through minefields with Mary, and he was worn out with it, and he just wanted to be naked with Giles, to embrace one evening of happy, easy, reptile brain.
The driver slammed the brakes and Xander slid forward in his seat, opened one eye to see a UPS truck a quarter inch in front. He checked his phone. Damn, dinner time had slid right by. He hadn't realised sorting things out with Mary would take this long. He hoped Giles had meant what he said about not minding if it was late when Xander finally got free.
Giles' elevator was slower and his corridor about a hundred feet longer than last time Xander was here. Xander put one foot in front of the other until he made it to the door, and let himself in.
Giles was sitting at the table, glasses balanced on his nose, books spread out around him. It was pretty much the last thing Xander wanted to see. But hey, Xander was going to put a bright voice on it. "Another apocalypse already?"
"Do you really want to know?"
Xander turned away from the door with a long look. What was that supposed to mean?
Giles pulled off his glasses. "I'm sorry. I'm feeling a little waspish. I just meant, you don't want to wander back into slayer affairs."
"I guess." And no. It wasn't like he didn't want to know. He just didn't want to do anything about it. That had all seemed less petty last week before Buffy showed up out of nowhere to save him, but he didn't want to talk about that now.
Xander tried to gloss right past Giles' mood in favour of how good he looked - like he'd showered and shaved and looked in a mirror, and all the other things Xander hadn't. Hollywood mature, cast to sweep women - and men - off their feet. Even the bandage taped to his temple from Thursday looked more roguish than refugee. Xander was a cardboard sign short of playing a homeless guy. Somehow, that didn't matter to Giles. None of the long list of Xander's shortcomings mattered to Giles.
Giles sighed and shut his book, pushing it aside as he stood. "It's nothing serious. I'm simply helping out on something that's had them stumped."
Xander kicked off his shoes and wandered over. "You know what a screw-up I can be, don't you? All my worst hits, my own personal 'Spock's Brain' and 'Skin of Evil' episodes."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You remember that time I got Amy to make a spell and it went wrong and all the women in Sunnydale fell in love with me?"
"I remember." With a shake of his head, Giles headed into the kitchen, totally the wrong direction. The way he limped reminded Xander that he still hadn't had a chance to check Giles over for injuries. "Do you want something to eat? I have a couple of bagels-"
"No, thanks, I'm not really hungry. And you knew, I guess, you know about me and Will in senior year. I mean, there was formalwear and extenuating circumstances and-"
"I knew."
He also knew Xander left him stuck in another universe for sixteen years, and that Xander had left Anya at the altar. "I mean, you know I've done some pretty stupid things."
There was an unnecessarily long pause. "You're not stupid."
"Not my point, but it'll do." Xander wasn't sure what his point was, except that Giles knew all that and here he was. No secret mafia history required.
Giles closed the cupboard and stared at it. His jaw was tight, the muscles standing out in his neck.
Xander swallowed, wondering how long they'd been running on different conversation tracks. "Giles?"
Giles finally turned to him, face hard, holding for a long moment before his eyes slowly travelled down Xander's body and back up. Xander's cock stirred, and he revisited his earlier plans for the night, moving making Giles helpless down to item number two. So sue him: that stern and sexy expression made him crazy.
Xander stood very, very still as Giles crossed to him and caught his wrists, painfully tight, pressing them behind his back. Held there for just a beat, long enough for Xander's body to melt a little and his cock to fill. This was going to be hot.
Giles kissed him hard, forcing his tongue inside and being careless with his teeth, arching him back until Xander's balance was gone and it was only Giles' arms keeping him upright. One too-sharp nip on his lower lip and Xander was powerless to do anything but try to dry-hump Giles' pocket.
"Stop it."
Xander stopped.
"Do you want me?" was whispered in his ear.
"God, yeah." The grip on Xander's wrists made Xander think of thick, rough rope and he got harder still.
Xander was stumbling back, didn't know where until he hit the table, and then Giles was jerking open his pants and a solid manly hand was rummaging its way in until it had a great handful, and a moan pushed its way up from deep in Xander's gut. Xander wondered if this was swooning. Giles seemed to decide this wasn't enough and hauled Xander's pants down, jeans and socks all in one sweep as Xander rocked back on the table, then just as fast his shirt was over his head and Xander glimpsed the cold fire in Giles' eyes and god knew there was no way he could get harder than this.
Xander was manhandled around and pressed face down on the table, cross-eyed on piles of papers and Giles bent over him. "Keep them there." Xander linked his fingers behind him as rough hands kneaded at his hips, his back, his shoulders, careless of all the week's leftover bruises and aches. He could feel the bulge of Giles' cock pressing against zipper against his bare ass as Giles unthreaded his own belt. For one crazed second, Xander thought Giles was going to strap him, no mature boundaries negotiations or safewords discussions and in that moment Xander would have let him, but the belt hit the ground beside them and there was the sound of unzipping and Xander's shoulders relaxed.
Giles leaned against him and Xander could feel his pants bunched against his thighs, button shirt trailing over his ass, and then the sound of spitting was the only sound before wet fingers pushed inside him, burning. Xander gasped. "That's all you're getting," Giles growled.
Something wasn't right. There should have been teasing in Giles' tone but he just sounded cold. Xander needed to stop this, calm it down before someone got hurt but he couldn't find the 'no' because he was turned on beyond all belief. Giles' fingers were stretching him way faster than comfort and his other hand was on Xander's back, pressing him down. Giles wanted to take him, and it was angry and selfish but it was honesty balled up in need and that burned Xander open faster than rough, thick fingers. Giles could have whatever he wanted and they'd talk in the morning.
Giles pulled out his fingers, and Xander didn't want to wait. "In my pants-" he started, and he meant to say, 'there's a rubber in my wallet,' but a moan was ripped right out of him as Giles pushed inside. He let go of his hands and grabbed the desk.
Damn, it burned. Giles was bare inside him. Nothing between them.
Giles wasn't moving, but Xander could hear him breathing, heavy panting like he was the one who'd just been invaded. There was a pause and a click of wet lips and Xander was afraid Giles was going to pull back or ask if Xander was all right, take away all that passion and need and go timid and soft.
Xander peeled his fingers off the desk and put them back behind him, locking his hands around his wrists. There was a sound from Giles, like a whimper. A hand dragged over Xander's asscheek, but Xander waited. A finger along his crack, sliding so softly where Giles stretched him open, almost ticklish. Tracing away to his hip, sudden hard grip and then Giles pulled out and shoved home and Xander cried out. Almost too much but there was a drunken heat inside the bite and Xander wanted it. Out and *in*, and Xander sobbed with need, wanted more.
"This is what you want from me," Giles hissed, suddenly pressing all the way over Xander, mouth at his ear. "This is what does it for you."
"God," Xander managed. "Feel you."
"I can't hear you." He sounded angry, and what a twisted thing that it sweetened the ache in Xander's cock.
Xander swallowed, wet his mouth and did it again. "Can feel it. How you want me."
There, oh god, hard and sharp and going steady now, carving him open. Moans torn from him with every thrust. It was a sound Giles made, unconscious and needy that hit the spot and threw Xander over, and suddenly Giles jerked out of him, splashing liquid heat over his back.
Xander lay there panting, could feel Giles' hands on the desk on either side of his hips, Giles over him, just as breathless. Long minutes until Giles moved away. He came back already zipped up, shirt rumpled and loose, with a handful of paper towels. Xander didn't move as Giles gently wiped the mess off his skin and dropped the paper in the wastebasket. Xander waited for more touches but there was nothing. He finally struggled up and sat bare-ass naked on the edge of the table with a grunt. He was going to be feeling that for a while. "Okay, so you want to tell me what's bothering you?"
Giles didn't answer, just stared stonily out the window. All the warm fuzzy post-coital satisfaction dropped away like a heavy thing, leaving Xander feeling like he'd just been fucked.
"You know you have to tell me stuff, right? That I'll never figure it out on my own?" Still no answer except for the working jaw, and Xander dropped the teasing tone. "Spill, Giles. Did I forget something? Did Buffy say something? Mary was right, we suck at communicating."
Giles turned a sharp look on him. "How very insightful of Mary."
"But since I didn't even know we were together for a whole two months, I guess that's not really news."
The window again. It wasn't progress.
Xander learned his lesson with Mary. He was going to do it better, this time. "Mary and I talked, today."
"You did say."
"I told her everything. Well. Not everything, but one more person terrified of the dark, check."
Giles looked at Xander for a long time. "You're done, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
The bitter look on Giles' face hurt as much as Xander expected it would.
"I know that's bad, especially after all this." Xander reached for the bandage on Giles' face, and Giles leaned away. Damn. "I'm thirty-eight years old. I can't just do whatever I want anymore."
Giles waited, stone-faced.
"Say something, Giles."
"What do you expect me to say? That it's all right? That you got what you needed, and you don't owe me anything?" His voice was light, and that only made it worse. It turned out that along with all the good stuff, Giles could still make Xander feel three feet tall. And didn't he have the right, when he threw himself under a pile of rats for Mary while Xander ran for the exit?
"I know what you've done for me. Believe me, I'm not proud of myself. This is about my kids."
"No. It's about fear."
Xander really wished he'd pulled his clothes on before they started. He felt ridiculous having this out naked. He folded his arms around his body. "Fear's what keeps us alive."
They stared at each other, chins high. "Sometimes," Giles said at last. "And sometimes it's why we don't take what we want. I'm going to take a shower." With that, he walked out of the room.
Xander frowned after him. What we want? Did Giles really think Xander wanted to be out there, trying not to get killed every night? No way. They had some kind of major crossed wires going on here. What the hell did Giles think Xander was afraid of?
The shower ran in the bathroom. This wasn't supposed to be how today went. They were supposed to be so happy to be alive and well and alone together with the giant rat demons behind them that they couldn't keep their hands off each other. They weren't supposed to end up in different rooms.
Xander went and sat on the bed, and waited.
After a few minutes, he grabbed a pair of shorts. He wasn't going anywhere until they had this sorted out.
Clearly Giles was pissed at him, and it didn't seem like it was about Xander playing the Cowardly Lion. Xander scraped his brain for what he'd done wrong, some stupid thing he'd said, anything he'd forgotten, and he kept coming back to one thing. He left Giles behind. In all the happy ending excitement, Xander had forgotten how it felt running through those tunnels, Giles lost in the cavern behind him. Now the guilt washed up just fine.
You told me to go, Xander wanted to tell him, but he knew, knew, no power on earth would have driven Giles out of there if Xander had been the one dragged away.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
end chapter 42
Dr Squidlove appreciates feedback. Tasty, tasty feedback.
ZOMGONECHAPTERTOGO!!!