Emily, Halloween, and a Monster
Fic: Emily, Halloween, and a Monster 1/?
Rated: This part rated FRT
Pairing: Giles/Anya
Spoilers/Summary: From my Oregon Verse. Emily, Halloween, and a monster. What else do you need to know?
Disclaimers: Joss created the Buffyverse and Giles and Anya, etc… I just like to take them out and play with them once in awhile. This is strictly for thrills and chills. Frank and Emily are my own creations.
Chapter 1
“There, sweetie, now look!” Anya put the make up brush down and then turned her daughter around so she could see herself in the mirror. The little girl saw her reflection and squealed and then clapped her hands.
Her father, Rupert Giles, chose that moment to walk down the hall and into the master bedroom. He paused as he reached the center of the room and saw his wife and daughter laughing with delight in the middle of the bathroom. He took off his glasses and they dangled from his long fingers in one hand as he brushed back his hair over his forehead with his free left hand. “What the…”
Anya looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. “What do you think, Lumpy? Doesn’t she look marvelous? She’ll be the cutest trick or treater in town!”
Rupert took a step closer towards the bathroom as his daughter clapped her hands again and finally tore herself away from the mirror. She ran into the bedroom and just stopped short of her father. “What do you think, daddy?”
Giles knelt down so he could be at eye level with his daughter. At least, he thought she was his daughter. It was hard to tell through all the make up and costume. “A Guilter Demon? Anya, really, do you think that’s an appropriate costume for a five year old?”
Emily’s smile slowly started to drop, so Rupert hastily put his hands on her shoulders. “You look marvelous, darling. Truly. I can’t believe that’s really you. Are you sure you are my Emily?”
Emily smiled again and nodded.
Anya crossed her arms and stepped in behind her daughter. “Yes, honey, a Guilter Demon. A bold, red, spikey, horned Guilter Demon. A truly original costume.” Anya didn’t have to share she’d gotten help from Halfrek. That was fairly obvious.
“Will you take me now, daddy? Please?” Emily ran over to the bed and picked up her orange pumpkin bucket to collect all her candy in.
Rupert sighed and couldn’t help but smile. He pushed his glasses back on as he stood up and went to the closet to grab his jacket.
Anya grabbed his scarf off the chair in the corner and gently put it around his collar and kissed his cheek. “She has warmers on underneath, so she shouldn’t need to wear a jacket.” Magic warmers, just this once.
Giles chuckled and nodded. “Alright. Did you get plenty of pictures? Otherwise Frank will not be happy with us in the morning.”
Anya grabbed the digital camera off her bureau and settled Emily next to her father. She snapped several photos before Emily got impatient and grabbed her father’s hand. “Come on! I want to get the candy!”
Rupert grabbed a flashlight on the way out and Prince, their faithful retriever, followed the pair out the door. “I’ll have hot cocoa waiting for your return!” Anya waved and watched her daughter giggle after Prince and her father as they walked down the sidewalk to partake in Halloween trick or treating.
Rupert had invited Frank to come with them tonight, but the older man had declined. He’d been feeling a bit under the weather earlier in the week, and all though Frank was feeling better, he thought it would be wiser if he stayed in and rested. The chilly evening beach breeze probably wouldn’t have helped either, he reasoned. Giles would have enjoyed Frank’s company, as he always did, but there was also something special about sharing this moment with just his daughter.
She was growing up so fast, he mused. He could hardly bear the thought. Soon she wouldn’t be his little girl anymore. First would be school, then junior high, then high school. Boys… oh God, he grimaced just thinking about it.
Giles waved at one of the neighbor ladies with her brood of three sons and shook his head as he smiled. He and Anya were perfectly content with one child. Emily kept them busy. And Giles wasn’t kidding anyone, least of all himself, at his age. Yes, Emily was perfectly enough. His heart was over flowing with love for his wife and daughter, and the life they’d built in this small coastal Oregon town.
Sunnydale seemed like another life time ago.
Not that his old life didn’t constantly try to intrude. And it wasn’t the investigation business he had with Anya and Frank that was at issue, at times. True, there was the supernatural that reared its ugly head. That battle would be constant, because where there was light, there would be dark, and where there was life, there would be death. And Giles would be lying if he didn’t admit that he and Anya needed that fight in their lives. It was who they were.
But the Coven in England was another matter.
His heart ached as he watched Emily run up to another house with some of her friends. Giles wanted nothing more than to protect her. Giles wanted nothing more than for Emily to have a life just like her friends. Giles wanted nothing more than for his daughter to be normal, just like every other little girl in this town.
But it wasn’t to be so.
There was something inside of Emily. No, more than just inside of her, he thought. Emily was something… more. She was special. Most humans… men, women, they all had some darkness inside of them. That was a part of being human. But not Emily. No, for some reason, she had no darkness. It wasn’t that she was perfect. No, in many ways she was like any other little girl. She cried when she couldn’t watch her cartoons. She fussed when told to eat her peas or to get ready for bed. She pouted when she didn’t get her way. But that was a part of growing up and maturing.
Shaking his head, Giles sighed and glanced up at the moon. It was a clear sky, and there was a crisp breeze in the evening air. It was Halloween, thus one of the safest nights of the year. Contrary to popular opinion, vampires and many other demons avoided this night. It was always one of the safest nights, allowing Buffy and now the other slayers a sort of respite from their nightly battles and patrols.
Giles had been thinking a lot about Buffy lately. Not her as a woman and as his friend. No, he’d been thinking of her as the Slayer, and all that duty she had to carry her entire life. He’d thought he’d understood the burden back then. He thought he had helped her as best he could to carry that burden of being the Slayer. He’d trained her, fought next to her, cried with her, and lost friends and family with her.
But then Giles had a daughter. He had a special daughter that had some kind of power inside of her that drowned out all the darkness and made apparitions walk towards the light and made evil shiver and howl and vanish with just a word or touch from her, his Emily.
With great power came great responsibility. And Giles could only hide her and keep her safe and keep her… out of the fight, for so long.
As it was, Emily had already aided their investigation business several times, although unintentionally. Rupert recalled the haunted hotel, and the killer bride, just to think of those two times when Emily had saved them all. And the first, she’d just been a baby.
They didn’t understand Emily’s power. Anya had insisted, and Giles had agreed, that the Coven would not study her or exploit her or do experiments to see exactly what Emily could do, and what she had been born with. Giles had even tried to hide it as best he could from Willow and Buffy and the others. But the older Emily got, the more difficult it would become.
The Watcher was torn. He didn’t know what to do, or what was best. All that he knew is that Emily was his daughter first and foremost, and it was his duty to protect her. He hoped Buffy, and all the other slayers that had to carry their burdens without choice, would forgive him now, for not giving up his daughter.
“Look, daddy! My favorite!” Emily ran up, grinning, and pulled the Butterfinger out of her pumpkin.
Giles smiled and gently touched her shoulder. “You’ve got quite the stash there, darling. Should we head home for that hot chocolate?”
Emily frowned and looked past her father’s shoulder, across the street and down towards the park. “We haven’t been to Frank’s house yet, and we haven’t been over there.” Emily pointed past the park towards the dark corner of town.
Giles frowned. “Frank isn’t feeling well, Emily. He says he’s sorry but that he’ll give you your treat tomorrow.”
Emily sighed. “He’s still sick?”
“He’s feeling better,” Giles answered. “But he was going to stay in bed tonight and avoid getting too tired or making anyone else sick.”
“Alright,” Emily shrugged. Prince came up and rubbed against her so she absently scratched his ears. “But can we go down to those houses first? Please? I’m not at all tired, daddy.”
Giles muttered that he was, but pushed his shoulders back and nodded. “Okay, but that’s it then, Em. You already have enough candy to feed an army.”
“No I don’t,” Emily countered. “Not after mommy gets into it.”
Giles chuckled. She had a point there, he thought.
Emily ran ahead down the sidewalk and through the park while Giles hustled to keep up. The wind picked up and blew his scarf in his face. Giles batted at it with his hand and then almost tripped over a large rock on the path in the park. He cursed under his breath and rubbed at his ankle, not noticing the hackles raise on Prince’s back. Then the dog started to growl, and took off running towards Emily.
Emily had come to an abrupt stop in the middle of the path. She’d dropped her pumpkin and candy was falling out on the ground. She hadn’t noticed. She was frozen in place.
“Emily? Prince!” Giles hurried forward. Prince’s growls got louder and more anxious. And then the dog was barking and snapping. Rupert pulled out his flashlight and tried to find the dog. There was the sound of fighting, and soon the barking turned into a whine. Another growl. Rupert’s light caught a reflection of fur. It wasn’t Prince’s. Giles had stepped in front of his daughter to shield her from the danger, but it was as if she was in a trance. Ignoring the awful sound of the fight for one moment, Giles worriedly shook his daughter’s shoulders. “Emily! Emily, are you alright!” He moved the flashlight to her face but she continued to stare out blankly into the night towards the sounds of the whimpering dog. There was another loud snarl, and then silence.
As the wind seemed to stop blowing and the sudden intense silence infected the night, Emily finally blinked to find her father kneeling in front of her shaking her slightly, a completely terrified and worried look on his face. She reached up gently and touched his cheek. “Prince?” she cried.
Giles turned, relieved for the moment that Emily seemed to have come back to herself. “Wait here,” he said.
Emily nodded and watched her father take slow steps forward, off the trail, his flashlight illuminating the dark path covered in leaves and bark. She didn’t see as the light found the fallen dog, its blood covering the thicket of leaves and grass. Rupert Giles knelt down next to the fallen dog. “Oh no. Oh Prince…”
Rated: This part rated FRT
Pairing: Giles/Anya
Spoilers/Summary: From my Oregon Verse. Emily, Halloween, and a monster. What else do you need to know?
Disclaimers: Joss created the Buffyverse and Giles and Anya, etc… I just like to take them out and play with them once in awhile. This is strictly for thrills and chills. Frank and Emily are my own creations.
Chapter 1
“There, sweetie, now look!” Anya put the make up brush down and then turned her daughter around so she could see herself in the mirror. The little girl saw her reflection and squealed and then clapped her hands.
Her father, Rupert Giles, chose that moment to walk down the hall and into the master bedroom. He paused as he reached the center of the room and saw his wife and daughter laughing with delight in the middle of the bathroom. He took off his glasses and they dangled from his long fingers in one hand as he brushed back his hair over his forehead with his free left hand. “What the…”
Anya looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. “What do you think, Lumpy? Doesn’t she look marvelous? She’ll be the cutest trick or treater in town!”
Rupert took a step closer towards the bathroom as his daughter clapped her hands again and finally tore herself away from the mirror. She ran into the bedroom and just stopped short of her father. “What do you think, daddy?”
Giles knelt down so he could be at eye level with his daughter. At least, he thought she was his daughter. It was hard to tell through all the make up and costume. “A Guilter Demon? Anya, really, do you think that’s an appropriate costume for a five year old?”
Emily’s smile slowly started to drop, so Rupert hastily put his hands on her shoulders. “You look marvelous, darling. Truly. I can’t believe that’s really you. Are you sure you are my Emily?”
Emily smiled again and nodded.
Anya crossed her arms and stepped in behind her daughter. “Yes, honey, a Guilter Demon. A bold, red, spikey, horned Guilter Demon. A truly original costume.” Anya didn’t have to share she’d gotten help from Halfrek. That was fairly obvious.
“Will you take me now, daddy? Please?” Emily ran over to the bed and picked up her orange pumpkin bucket to collect all her candy in.
Rupert sighed and couldn’t help but smile. He pushed his glasses back on as he stood up and went to the closet to grab his jacket.
Anya grabbed his scarf off the chair in the corner and gently put it around his collar and kissed his cheek. “She has warmers on underneath, so she shouldn’t need to wear a jacket.” Magic warmers, just this once.
Giles chuckled and nodded. “Alright. Did you get plenty of pictures? Otherwise Frank will not be happy with us in the morning.”
Anya grabbed the digital camera off her bureau and settled Emily next to her father. She snapped several photos before Emily got impatient and grabbed her father’s hand. “Come on! I want to get the candy!”
Rupert grabbed a flashlight on the way out and Prince, their faithful retriever, followed the pair out the door. “I’ll have hot cocoa waiting for your return!” Anya waved and watched her daughter giggle after Prince and her father as they walked down the sidewalk to partake in Halloween trick or treating.
Rupert had invited Frank to come with them tonight, but the older man had declined. He’d been feeling a bit under the weather earlier in the week, and all though Frank was feeling better, he thought it would be wiser if he stayed in and rested. The chilly evening beach breeze probably wouldn’t have helped either, he reasoned. Giles would have enjoyed Frank’s company, as he always did, but there was also something special about sharing this moment with just his daughter.
She was growing up so fast, he mused. He could hardly bear the thought. Soon she wouldn’t be his little girl anymore. First would be school, then junior high, then high school. Boys… oh God, he grimaced just thinking about it.
Giles waved at one of the neighbor ladies with her brood of three sons and shook his head as he smiled. He and Anya were perfectly content with one child. Emily kept them busy. And Giles wasn’t kidding anyone, least of all himself, at his age. Yes, Emily was perfectly enough. His heart was over flowing with love for his wife and daughter, and the life they’d built in this small coastal Oregon town.
Sunnydale seemed like another life time ago.
Not that his old life didn’t constantly try to intrude. And it wasn’t the investigation business he had with Anya and Frank that was at issue, at times. True, there was the supernatural that reared its ugly head. That battle would be constant, because where there was light, there would be dark, and where there was life, there would be death. And Giles would be lying if he didn’t admit that he and Anya needed that fight in their lives. It was who they were.
But the Coven in England was another matter.
His heart ached as he watched Emily run up to another house with some of her friends. Giles wanted nothing more than to protect her. Giles wanted nothing more than for Emily to have a life just like her friends. Giles wanted nothing more than for his daughter to be normal, just like every other little girl in this town.
But it wasn’t to be so.
There was something inside of Emily. No, more than just inside of her, he thought. Emily was something… more. She was special. Most humans… men, women, they all had some darkness inside of them. That was a part of being human. But not Emily. No, for some reason, she had no darkness. It wasn’t that she was perfect. No, in many ways she was like any other little girl. She cried when she couldn’t watch her cartoons. She fussed when told to eat her peas or to get ready for bed. She pouted when she didn’t get her way. But that was a part of growing up and maturing.
Shaking his head, Giles sighed and glanced up at the moon. It was a clear sky, and there was a crisp breeze in the evening air. It was Halloween, thus one of the safest nights of the year. Contrary to popular opinion, vampires and many other demons avoided this night. It was always one of the safest nights, allowing Buffy and now the other slayers a sort of respite from their nightly battles and patrols.
Giles had been thinking a lot about Buffy lately. Not her as a woman and as his friend. No, he’d been thinking of her as the Slayer, and all that duty she had to carry her entire life. He’d thought he’d understood the burden back then. He thought he had helped her as best he could to carry that burden of being the Slayer. He’d trained her, fought next to her, cried with her, and lost friends and family with her.
But then Giles had a daughter. He had a special daughter that had some kind of power inside of her that drowned out all the darkness and made apparitions walk towards the light and made evil shiver and howl and vanish with just a word or touch from her, his Emily.
With great power came great responsibility. And Giles could only hide her and keep her safe and keep her… out of the fight, for so long.
As it was, Emily had already aided their investigation business several times, although unintentionally. Rupert recalled the haunted hotel, and the killer bride, just to think of those two times when Emily had saved them all. And the first, she’d just been a baby.
They didn’t understand Emily’s power. Anya had insisted, and Giles had agreed, that the Coven would not study her or exploit her or do experiments to see exactly what Emily could do, and what she had been born with. Giles had even tried to hide it as best he could from Willow and Buffy and the others. But the older Emily got, the more difficult it would become.
The Watcher was torn. He didn’t know what to do, or what was best. All that he knew is that Emily was his daughter first and foremost, and it was his duty to protect her. He hoped Buffy, and all the other slayers that had to carry their burdens without choice, would forgive him now, for not giving up his daughter.
“Look, daddy! My favorite!” Emily ran up, grinning, and pulled the Butterfinger out of her pumpkin.
Giles smiled and gently touched her shoulder. “You’ve got quite the stash there, darling. Should we head home for that hot chocolate?”
Emily frowned and looked past her father’s shoulder, across the street and down towards the park. “We haven’t been to Frank’s house yet, and we haven’t been over there.” Emily pointed past the park towards the dark corner of town.
Giles frowned. “Frank isn’t feeling well, Emily. He says he’s sorry but that he’ll give you your treat tomorrow.”
Emily sighed. “He’s still sick?”
“He’s feeling better,” Giles answered. “But he was going to stay in bed tonight and avoid getting too tired or making anyone else sick.”
“Alright,” Emily shrugged. Prince came up and rubbed against her so she absently scratched his ears. “But can we go down to those houses first? Please? I’m not at all tired, daddy.”
Giles muttered that he was, but pushed his shoulders back and nodded. “Okay, but that’s it then, Em. You already have enough candy to feed an army.”
“No I don’t,” Emily countered. “Not after mommy gets into it.”
Giles chuckled. She had a point there, he thought.
Emily ran ahead down the sidewalk and through the park while Giles hustled to keep up. The wind picked up and blew his scarf in his face. Giles batted at it with his hand and then almost tripped over a large rock on the path in the park. He cursed under his breath and rubbed at his ankle, not noticing the hackles raise on Prince’s back. Then the dog started to growl, and took off running towards Emily.
Emily had come to an abrupt stop in the middle of the path. She’d dropped her pumpkin and candy was falling out on the ground. She hadn’t noticed. She was frozen in place.
“Emily? Prince!” Giles hurried forward. Prince’s growls got louder and more anxious. And then the dog was barking and snapping. Rupert pulled out his flashlight and tried to find the dog. There was the sound of fighting, and soon the barking turned into a whine. Another growl. Rupert’s light caught a reflection of fur. It wasn’t Prince’s. Giles had stepped in front of his daughter to shield her from the danger, but it was as if she was in a trance. Ignoring the awful sound of the fight for one moment, Giles worriedly shook his daughter’s shoulders. “Emily! Emily, are you alright!” He moved the flashlight to her face but she continued to stare out blankly into the night towards the sounds of the whimpering dog. There was another loud snarl, and then silence.
As the wind seemed to stop blowing and the sudden intense silence infected the night, Emily finally blinked to find her father kneeling in front of her shaking her slightly, a completely terrified and worried look on his face. She reached up gently and touched his cheek. “Prince?” she cried.
Giles turned, relieved for the moment that Emily seemed to have come back to herself. “Wait here,” he said.
Emily nodded and watched her father take slow steps forward, off the trail, his flashlight illuminating the dark path covered in leaves and bark. She didn’t see as the light found the fallen dog, its blood covering the thicket of leaves and grass. Rupert Giles knelt down next to the fallen dog. “Oh no. Oh Prince…”