22:16 - Chapter 3/6

[froxyn]

“Seems we have a bit of a situation here, love.” Giles said, pushing himself up and leaning back against the headboard. He ran his hand over his face and shook his head. “Hard to talk properly with these teeth…”

Buffy stared at him, the stake dropping from her hand and bouncing on the floor. Ethan scrambled to pick it up as it started to roll under the bed.

“Oh my god…” She whispered.

Ethan stood up quickly, brandishing the stake in front of him. Giles glanced at him and chuckled softly.

“Might want to take that off of him before he hurts someone.”

“Or something…” Ethan corrected, narrowing his eyes at Giles.

“What the hell is going on?” Buffy asked, reaching over to take the stake from Ethan.

“I honestly don’t know.” Giles said, grimacing as he felt his fangs retract. “That was actually fairly odd...”

“You’re a vampire.” Ethan stated, very confused about the vibe going on in the room. “Clara turned you.”

Giles nodded slowly. “That I do know.”

“Giles…”

His jaw twitched as his eyes glistened. “This is most unexpected.”

Ethan stared at him in disbelief as he watched a tear roll down Giles’ cheek. “Vampires cry?”

“Not usually.” Buffy replied before sitting down on the edge of the bed. “What do you feel?”

“I feel like me - colors are more vibrant though, I can hear your heartbeat, smell your blood.” He licked his lips. “My chest…aches. Having your heart stop is actually quite painful.”

“You can smell her blood?” Ethan asked, eyes wide.

Giles slid his gaze to Ethan. “Yours too.”

Ethan stared at him for a minute and shook his head in obvious confusion. “Okay, what the fuck is going on? Because…Clara tried to rip my throat out when she first got here and I was her first stop. You, on the other hand, are sitting there…cool as a fucking cucumber, talking about colors and smells and aches…”

“He still has his soul.” Buffy said quietly, watching Giles’ eyes move back to hers.

“What? How?”

“I don’t know.” She said, tilting her head slightly. “But, his soul is completely intact.”

“How can you be sure?” Ethan asked, sinking down into the chair Buffy had been sitting in. “I mean…what if this is all just an act?”

“I have some experience with souled vampires.”

Giles snorted a gentle laugh. Buffy reached out with a slightly trembling hand and touched the side of his face. His laugh ended and he leaned into her touch.

“Are you hungry?” She whispered.

He looked at her for a long moment before giving her a nod.

“Ethan, do you still have - ”

“Yeah.” He interrupted, watching her wipe another tear from his skin with her thumb. “I’ll go warm some up.”

Buffy and Giles stared at each other as her hand lowered to cover his. Ethan stood up and left the room.

“This is my fault.” Buffy said tearfully. “I’m so sorry.”

Giles shook his head. “It’s no more yours than mine, love. I suppose though…it could have been worse.”

Buffy nodded in agreement, curling her hand over his. “We need to figure out what this is. Is it a curse? Is it temporary?”

“I’m fairly certain it’s not a curse. It’s not as if that’s a well-known piece of literature, Buffy. And for the curse to work, the soul would need to have been cast out…in order to be reinstated. Mine…never left.”

“This feels like a really fucked up nightmare.” She said, tears suddenly slipping down her face. “A really fucked up nightmare.”

He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, quickly pulling her into his arms. He held her tightly as she sobbed, tenderly placing a kiss in her hair.

“Did…did you see it happen?” He asked hesitantly.

She shook her head, gripping his shoulder blades as her tears soaked into his shirt. “No. You…you were already…no. No, I didn’t see.”

“Clara?”

“Dust.”

“I don’t even know where to start looking into this.” He admitted after a long moment of silence.

“What do you mean?” She shifted enough to where she could look at him, but refused to let go of him.

“Do I start with the Council? Family records? Darker vampire lore? Covens? Demons?” He paused and clenched his jaw. “What the fuck do I do?”

Ethan cleared his throat as he reentered the room, a coffee mug in his hand. “You drink this and then we start making lists…ideas, contacts, possibilities…and we work through it.”

He waited until Buffy let go of Giles before handing him the mug. “It’s…pig.”

Giles’ nostrils flared and his eyes blazed amber once more. When Buffy furrowed her brow, he cradled the mug in his hands without taking a drink.

“What is it, Buffy?” He asked softly.

“Your eyes changed…but your face didn’t. I’ve never seen that happen before. Like…ever.”

“I supposed that’s something to write down then, isn’t it?” He asked, lifting the mug. He stopped before it touched his lips and lowered his gaze from hers.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s right?” He countered. “I’m a Watcher who is now a vampire. And I’m getting ready to have my first feed…from a mug…in front of my love, my Slayer - who is very much human. That’s all sorts of fucked up, Buffy.”

“I’m not leaving.” She whispered. “I won’t watch if you don’t want me to. But, I’m not leaving. I love you, Ru.”

He gave her a sad smile - and then lifted the mug to his lips.

Ethan looked away. Buffy did not.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ethan sat back in his chair, lifting a cup of tea to his lips. Truth be told, he wanted something much stronger…but, he needed his mind to be as clear as possible. He watched Rupert and Buffy furiously writing down everything that popped into their heads…no matter how absurd it sounded.

“I need my books for this…” Giles said, drawing a line from a word in one list to a word in another.

He looked up when he heard Ethan chuckle. “What?”

“This is all just…really fucking surreal.”

“That’s a word for it.” Giles nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “What’s even more surreal is…I’m getting ready to ask if you might be able to help us.”

“Times have certainly changed, huh?” Ethan commented, finishing his tea and placing his empty cup on the table as he leaned forward. “What can I do?”

“I need you to go into the Council and pick up a few books, some documents…and stuff.”

Ethan furrowed his brow. “Me? Would they even let me in? Wouldn’t Buffy be better for this? Or…you’re the bloody Head, aren’t you?”

“I can’t let Buffy go - she…needs to stay with me.” He paused for a moment and then shrugged a shoulder. “In case there’s a change in my…behaviour.”

“In case your soul decides to take a holiday?” Ethan asked, nodding in understanding. “Okay, but still…you’re - ”

“A vampire.” Buffy interjected. “The Council building is strictly a no vampire zone, whether it’s the Head or not.”

“Okay…yeah, that’s all well and good. But, I’m still Ethan Rayne - even if they let me in, they’re not going to let me take things out of Rupert’s office or from anywhere in the building.”

Buffy thought for a moment and then looked at Giles. “He’s not wrong. We’re going to need help on the inside.”

Giles would have sighed…if he could have. He rolled the pen in between his fingers.

“They are not going to handle this well.”

Buffy scoffed, reaching for her phone. “No, they’re going to completely freak out. But, what other choice do we have? Who else would you trust with this?”

“At this point in time? No one.” He thought for a second and then gave her a nod. “Make the call.”

Giles turned the page in the notebook in front of him and began writing down items that he’d need Ethan to bring back. Buffy punched in the numbers on her phone and took a deep breath as she waited for an answer. Giles’ hand paused as his hearing picked up on the voice on the other end of the line.

“Hey, Buffy!”

“Hey, Will…listen, we need your help. Might want to get Xander in as well.”

“Oookay….what’s going on?”

“Ethan Rayne is going to meet you at the Council…with a list of things that Giles needs. Like…asap.”

“Ethan? Why Ethan?”

Giles heard the suspicious tone in Willow’s question.

Buffy bit her lip and then sighed. “Because I have to stay with Giles and Giles…can’t come to the Council.”

“What do you mean he can’t?”

Buffy glanced at Giles…Giles gave her a ‘might as well…’ gesture with a wave of his hand.

“Giles won’t be allowed in the building if he comes.”

Willow was quiet for a few seconds. “The, uh…he’s Head. The only reason he wouldn’t be allowed in is…”

Willow gasped. “Oh my god…Buffy, the only reason is if he was a vampire.”

“Will, I need you to not panic…” Buffy started, closing her eyes as Willow shrieked.

“Giles?! Our Giles?! Your Giles?!” Willow exclaimed.

“Great job with the not panicking.” Buffy said dryly with no humour in her voice.

“It’s Giles!” Willow started, her panic rising. “Why aren’t you panicking? I’ve seen you after having nightmares about this…and you were screaming, crying, inconsolable. And now, it’s happened and you’re like…” She paused and then inhaled sharply. “Are you okay? I mean…are you being held hostage or something?”

Buffy’s brow furrowed. Giles snorted a laugh. Ethan’s eyes darted between Buffy and Giles.

“What? No. Oh…” She shook her head, realising she forgot to mention a very important part of this scenario. “Yeah, see, this is what we’re researching. Giles still has his soul. So…we need to find out how, why, details…and we’ve got jack shit at the moment. Ethan has a list…and we need what’s on that list to try to figure out what the hell’s happening. Trust me, I am not fucking calm. But, I’m trying not to fall apart right now. Because if I do…”

When she trailed off, Giles lowered his head and reached out to cover her hand with his. She swallowed the very large lump in her throat and sniffed back her tears.

“We need your help, Will. I need you to take a deep breath, calm down as much as you can - we’re all safe at the moment. But, you can’t help us if you’re in a full-blown panic attack…do you understand?” Buffy said softly, a slight tremble in her voice.

“Okay. Um…yeah, okay. I’ll call Xander…we’ll meet Ethan at the Council. When will he be there?”

Giles tossed his keys to Ethan. “It’s about a forty-five minute drive…you remember the way, yes?”

Ethan nodded, pushing his chair back. “Give me your list.”

“About forty-five minutes - he’ll be in Giles’ car. Can you be there?” Buffy asked.

“Yeah. We’ll meet him at the front gate.”

“Thanks, Will. And…please don’t give him a hard time, okay? We’ve all been through enough and he’s seriously doing everything he can to help us.”

“Is…is Giles okay?” Willow asked, her voice unable to hide her tears.

Buffy looked at Giles. He shrugged a shoulder.

“As much as he can be. We just need to get to the bottom of this…”

“Are you looking for a cure?”

“There’s no cure, Willow.” Giles said, loud enough for her to hear him. “My main concern is whether or not the status of my soul is temporary.”

“Oh…” Willow whispered sadly.

Buffy cleared her throat. “Ethan’s leaving now. You can trust him, which is a weird fucking thing to say, but…it’s the truth. We’ll tell you everything else later, we just…we need to work through this first.”

“Okay. We’ll be there. Be…be careful, Buffy.”

“Always.” She replied, then ended the call.

Ethan finished tying his shoes and looked across the table at them. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

Giles nodded, chewing on the tip of his glasses that he no longer needed to wear. “My office keys are on the ring with my car key.” He tore the page from the notebook and handed it to him. “Willow will be able to help you find everything.”

Ethan put the list in his inner jacket pocket and spun the keys on his finger. “Make yourself at home. The blood fridge is in the pantry.”

They watched him rush out of the room and Buffy sighed as she heard the front door close.

“Buffy?”

She sat down and tossed her pen onto the table. “We’re counting on Ethan…and he has a blood fridge. This is not how I was expecting our week to end.”

“Not at all.” Giles agreed, lowering his gaze.

“What?”

He shook his head, dropping his glasses on top of his notebook. “What the fuck are we supposed to do, Buffy?”

“We’re working on it…” She replied quietly.

“No. No, I mean…on a more personal level.” He looked back up at her, eyes glistening. “I love you desperately - that hasn’t changed.”

She reached over and slipped her fingers between his. “You did hear me tell you that I love you earlier, right?”

He nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“That’s not something that just switches off because - ”

“I died?”

“I died too, if you remember. Did you stop loving me when I died? Or when I came back?”

“No.” He whispered.

“Neither have I.” She leaned over and kissed him softly. “We’ll work through it all - together.”

He nodded again - and returned her kiss.

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