Title: A Twist in My Story
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Rating: R
Timeline: AU
Synopsis: After giving up his life as Ripper, Giles seizes the chance to live a normal life and doesn't return to the Council. But years later when he meets first grade teacher Buffy Summers, he wonders if it's possible to really escape Destiny.
Author's Note: I decided to mess around with the years and make Giles younger just so it will fit with how I have this fic planned out. So please bear with me on the messing with years/ages.
“No, you can’t go Daddy!” Addison cried as she tugged on his hand, trying to keep him from leaving the house.
“Addison,” Rupert sighed as he turned to face his daughter, kneeling down so he was near her eye level. “It’s alright. I’ll be back before you know it,”
“The bad man’s gonna hurt you!” her grip on his hand tightened, her eyes wide in fear.
He looked at his terrified daughter before he pulled her to him, giving her a comforting hug. When she clung to him, he looked up at Jess before motioning his head to her cell phone that was on the coffee table. She nodded her head and handed him the phone, smiling as she watched the exchange.
“This is Jess’ phone, and you’re going to hold on to it until I get back home.” Rupert explained as he gave the pink phone to his daughter, smiling at the slight look of confusion on her face. “Any time you want to check up on me, all you have to do is…”
He looked up at Jess as he trailed off, not sure number he was on her speed dial.
“Six,” she answered, turning her attention to Nathan when he asked her if she wanted to play the Playstation with him.
“Just hit six and then this green button any time you want to check up on me, alright?” he finished as he showed his daughter what buttons to press. “And then I’ll answer my phone, and you’ll see that I’m safe.”
“You still can’t go out, Daddy.” Addison told him, tears filling her eyes as she looked at him. “You’re gonna get hurt really bad,”
“Nothing is going to hurt me, Princess.” He promised as he hugged her again. “I promise you.”
“He’s gonna get you,”
Rupert pressed a kiss to the top of her head when he felt the tears soak through his shirt. He had known that her latest nightmare had shook her more than her previous ones had, but he was more worried in this moment than he had been. He had never seen Addison react this way, and it tore at his heart.
“Nothing’s gonna happen to Dad, Addie.” Nathan spoke up, a concerned expression on his face. “He never gets hurts. Dad’s like Superman, remember?”
Addison turned her head to look at her brother, a small smile on her lips at Nathan’s comment. Rupert gave his son a smile when he walked over and did his best to distract Addison, disregarding the fact that Nathan didn’t even acknowledge him. In the past week, the seven year old had begun treating his father the way Rupert was treating Buffy- giving as little attention to him as possible.
“Can I play with you?” Addison sniffled, wiping at a few stray tears when she sat next to Nathan on the couch.
“Sure,” he smiled as he handed a controller to her.
Rupert just watched the two before he stood up and looked at Jess.
“I’ll be back in a few hours,” he said as he shrugged his jacket on. “It’s Friday so…”
“Bed by nine,” Jess laughed as she shook her head. “I know, Rupert. It’s been the same for the last two years on Friday.”
“Right,” he chuckled before heading towards the door, giving his children one last look before he walked out the door.
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Rupert walked through the cemetery closest to his house, adrenaline running through him. He had decided that tonight had to be the busiest night he had ever had on his weekly patrols after he had staked three vampires within an hour. A smile crossed his face when he heard his phone go off, laughing when he looked at the caller i.d.
“Daddy?” he heard Addison’s voice on the other end.
“Hello, Princess.” He answered, leaning against a tree that was nearby.
“You’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m not hurt.” He assured her, inwardly thanking whatever higher power there was that she hadn’t called him five minutes earlier.
“Promise?” she asked, and he could hear the glare she was giving.
“Always,” he promised.
“No bad man?”
“None,” he told her. “I’m completely alone, and finishing up what I needed to do.”
“Okay,” Addison sighed in relief. “Love you, Daddy!”
“I love you too, Addie.” He smiled before hanging up and pocketing his phone, running his hand through his hair as he began walking again.
He had been walking for nearly 20 minutes until a chuckle sounded behind him, causing him to turn and face a group of four vampires standing in front of him. The grip on his stake tightened when they took a step towards him.
“Not a good idea to wander a graveyard at night alone, buddy.” One of the vampires smirked as he continued to walk towards Rupert.
“Is that so?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Yep,” the creature said as he lunged towards him, his eyes going wide when he felt something penetrate his chest. “Shit!”
Rupert just smiled when the other three just stared in shock as they watched their friend explode into a cloud of dust. There was a moment of inactivity before the three other vampires launched into an attacker on him. He had a small moment of panic before instinct and what training he had had in the past kicked in. Rupert surprised himself when he managed to hold his ground against the three vampires, even getting the chance to stake one of the demons.
Before he had time to regroup, a fist connected with his jaw and sent him flying to the ground below. A groan left his lips as one of the vampires pounced on him, his smirk falling off as Rupert pulled him down by his shoulders and head butted him. There were a few minutes of struggling and an exchange of blows as the two fought for control of the fight, neither one noticing the lack of the other vampire. It was only a matter of time before the creature won out, Rupert knew he could only last so long against supernatural strength. Plus the amount of pain he was in added up to his fast approaching demise.
Green eyes locked with unearthly golden ones as the demon wrapped his hands around his throat and began to squeeze with all he had. Rupert quickly felt unconsciousness wash over him, his arms pinned by the vampire’s knees. His vision was growing dimmer and his struggling was becoming much weaker when the creature above him vanished in a cloud of dust. He gasped for breath before falling into a coughing fit, a hand rubbing his sore neck as he sat up.
“You okay?”
He looked up as Buffy kneeled in front of him, a look of concern on her face. Rupert just continued to rub his quickly bruising throat before pushing to his feet, turning on his heel and heading towards his car.
“You know, I just saved you Rupert. The least you can do is thank me,” Buffy yelled as she chased after him, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to face her. “I’ve had bad breakups before, but even my exes gave me more attention than you have.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry Buffy.” He scoffed as he put a hand to his throbbing side. “Excuse me for having a valid reason to be pissed off at you.”
“I get it, Rupert! I should have told you,” she threw her arms out to the side, helplessness in her eyes. “I’m sorry, okay?”
“You can apologize all you want, Buffy.” Rupert told her, running a hand through his hair. “But it’s not just going to magically make me trust you again.”
“I don’t tell you one little thing, and you can’t trust me anymore?”
“Not when that one little thing puts my children in danger! And before you say anything, yes I know that they still would have been in danger if you had told me earlier but at least I would have known about it. At least I could’ve done something to protect them from being used to get to you by someone who wants the Slayer dead.” He gingerly put weight on his other foot, realizing he was in more pain then he had originally thought. “And how do I know that you really love me?”
“What?” Buffy stared at him as if he had grown an extra head.
“You’re the Slayer, Buffy. It’s generally known that Slayer’s don’t exactly live long enough to have a family of their own.” He explained his train of thought, doing his best to ignore the hurt expression on her face. “How do I know you didn’t just see me as a way to have something you, statistically, can’t? Here I am completely in love with you and I have two children, a pre-made family just for you.”
Without saying anything, the blonde marched up to him and slapped him on his already bruised cheek. Rupert’s head snapped to the side with the force of her slap, his eyes trained on the grass as he composed himself. He cradled the beaten cheek as he turned to look back at her, his face expressionless as he watched tears fall from her eyes.
“You know, I’ve been called and accused of a lot of things.” She began as she glared at him. “But that…that takes the cake. In the whole time we were together, there was never a second of me using you to have a family. I’m sorry you think that, Rupert, I really am. I didn’t ask to be the Slayer so it could fuck up the best thing that’s happened to me,”
“It didn’t have to fuck it up, Buffy.”
“Can you honestly say that you wouldn’t have treated me differently if I did tell you about me being the Slayer?” when he didn’t answer right away, Buffy just shook her head and let out a humorless laugh. “God, you are such a…I don’t know what you are, but it’s true! You’re really going to punish me for something I had no say in?”
Rupert just took a deep breath before he turned and limped to his car, doing his best to block out the image on a tear-stained Buffy his mind kept producing. Behind him, Buffy just watched him walk away before she made her own way home.
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He took a deep breath before he got out of his car, making his way to his front door. Rupert was sure that his body would protest the fights he ahd been in with those vampires once morning came, but right then he was more focused on getting inside so he could send Jess home and checking how bad his injuries were.
Silence greeted him when he walked through the front door, a wince on his face as he shrugged out of his jacket. He walked into the living room and saw his employee watching some horror movie on the television. At the sound of him clearing his throat, Jess turned to look at him and gasped.
“What the hell happened to you?” she got her feet and took in her employer’s beaten face.
“A bad man,” was all he said before mumbling something about going to bed. “You can lock the door behind you since you have a spare key.”
Without giving her a chance to question him, Rupert climbed the stairs and went straight to his room. He glanced out the window and watched as Buffy passed his house. He noticed her slow her pace and give a longing look in the direction of his bedroom window before she turned to walk up her driveway. Their conversation ran through his head as he prepared for bed, his eyes taking in the bruises and cuts he had received that night.
The conclusion he had reached as he climbed into bed was that he had fucked up big time.