The Armen

Chapter Two

Giles swallowed, clenched his fists, unclenched them as Buffy held the bottom half of the box and Giles had volunteered to be the 'opener of the box.' He looked at her cautious and perhaps fragile. He thought best get it over with. Giles took a deep breath and slowly pulled back the lid.

Quick as a flash. Or maybe quicker. A small and dark object flew out! It seemed to zoom instantly at Giles whom seemed to emit a girly yell and tried to duck out the way of the object. No, Creature. It was a creature. The creature had wrapped it's self, or its arms, no! Wrong again! That's all it was it was two hands with 3 thick fingers on each arm, upper arms and it seemed to be joined by a collar bone. The arms had wrapped themselves around Giles' neck and he automatically fell to the floor. He scrambled up quickly toward the kitchen, Buffy followed eager to help her friend. He was red faced and probably not breathing, not able to breathe she feared. Giles was desperately trying to tear the creature away but each time, failing, each time trying again. Buffy sought help from the draws as she rummaged through each one, leaving them open and spilling out they're contents she unmistakably pulled up a knife, a big one at that. Giles despite his ordeal threw her a 'don't you bloody dare' look she cast it aside and in stead picked up a lump of wood which may've been a plank at some point in its life. It would make a wonderful stake. Thought Buffy, but now wasn't the time to think about the life of a tree...there was another life which needed thought at the moment. She started beating away at the scaly creature which all her strength. When it flew again, this time a short distance at Buffy! She gasped, alarmed, and scared all emotions Giles had been feeling. She watched Giles recover quickly, how she never knew, and got up to help his ex-Slayer. She fell to her knees as oxygen couldn't find it's way to her lungs, her heard hammered, so did her head, black spots began to appear behind her eyes, she tried to shake them away, with all her might she tried to pull the creature away, screaming the last of her breath away she saw before her the creature burst into a bright, bright light then found herself staring at her hands, where the creature had been.

Sure enough, bright as day there stood Willow. Her eyes dissipating the bright light which had caused the creature to release its hold. Her best friend, her class mate, her rescuer. Buffy gasped and coughed her breath back as she took in the sight before her. Willow in the door way had her arm stretched out which from her point of view would be directly over the creature, which lay still, unmoving, dead! She hoped so.

Buffy inhaled slowly feeling and loving each breath, only realising how precious each intake of breath is. "Willow, oh gosh, thanks!" She practically yelled, still knelt on the floor.

"Your welcome! All magic-ed up and nowhere to use it." Willow shrugged. The red head smiled at the fact they were okay and that she made them okay! Willow: 1, Armen: 0.

"How did you know we were in trouble, Willow?" Buffy asked at a normalpitch.

"I came from locking Oz up in the cage at the library and I sensed great evil here, more than normal, I felt it, not calling me, the opposite actually it was sorta telling me not to come, 'STAY AWAY'!" Willow raised her hands further up as she told them her story.

"Dang, Willow. I'll be damned if you weren't all witch-y, Willow, well we'd BOTH he damned." Buffy pointed between herself and Giles.

Willow looked on at the pair, holding their necks, which must be in pain, great pain! Bad ouch-y pain. As Willow observed the two she thought; if Willow had a brain she'd know seeing the crumpled pair, the pair in question which had not been the best of buds the past few days, alone, she'd give them room to talk, apologise, 'kiss and make up'...well maybe not kiss but...Willow smiled at her thoughts. Thankfully Willow had a brain and decided to give them some space.

"I'm gonna to go, I've done my bit now, I'm tired, magic makes Willow sleepy. I'm sleepy, feeling very sleepy! Which is why I'm gonna hit the hay! Like a rhinestone cowboy! Yee-har!" Willow, whom did an action which would've been a whip cracking, made a poor excuse and at why she was leaving, but Buffy and Giles didn't catch on. They didn't even look. Willow waved childishly and disappeared out of the doorway, seconds later they heard the front door open and close swiftly.

Back in the kitchen, Buffy had half crawled and half shimmied along the floor to rest her back against the cupboards. Buffy Summers sat, shoulders slumped back, legs bent in a 'v' to the right parallel to the cupboards, head to one side which was being propped up by a hand which supported her neck. Her breathing was fast and ragged, where his was slow and shallow. Giles joined her, nursing his own aches and wounds, he sat next to her, without thought, knees brought up against his chest, one hand hanging limp over his raised knee, the other doing a rather vain attempt at taking care of his neck by massaging it, he let out a small but visible sigh.

"I'm sorry." Buffy winced.

"Hm, you shouldn't be, I was the one that wanted to go in the attic, and I was the one that volunteered to open the box..." Giles willingly took full responsibility and pointed this out to her, but was silenced by her hand on his shoulder.

"I didn't mean that...you know what I mean." Her eyes reflected the emotion in what she said, sadness, grief all the things she was feeling previously that night was all there seen in her eyes.

"Buffy. Once again I must take responsibility; I should be the one to apologise, what I did was cruel of me." He sighed. "I take whatever punishment you may throw at me, with open arms. Or lying down, if you will."

"That won't be necessary." Buffy looked up at him, straight into his eyes and his soul. She then took her eyes sharply away and moved so she could lean her head on his shoulder, so she could rest her entire tired form on him, she sniffled slightly and swallowed hard. "I forgive you, Giles."

"Thank you." Giles replied.

"But how could you forgive me? I got you fired. I got you hurt."

"Buffy how many times must I tell you? I take full responsibility the fault is mine and of the Council's. If anything please blame them." The older Librarian reassured the young adult. She didn't reply. She only relaxed a little more as Giles gently squeezed her shoulder. She looked up at him. "I do hope your threat against me is no longer in action." Giles spoke with unreadable emotion.

"Eh? What you...Ohhh." She caught his drift, he was referring to when she told him 'if you touch me, I'll kill you.' Poor Giles, she just verbally lashed out. She no longer meant it. "Nah, your free from harm, Mr Giles, this Slayer's cool as a cucumber...whatever that means...and No! Don't tell me what it means either, mister." She said or managed all in one breath. In her answer she had looked away from him and when she returned her gaze she saw him ready to give her the answer about the cucumber.

"It looks as if you know me too well it seems." Giles chuckled slightly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, just basking in the feeling of quality that all is right with them and the fact they survived a terrible life threatening ordeal again. Giles was pretty much enjoying their peaceful lounge on the kitchen floor as something started niggling in the Librarian's head. Those Watcher instincts kicked in and they told him to research and find what or who the creature was. The niggling became too incessant and crucial for his liking.

"Umm, Buffy perhaps we should indulge in a spot of research to rest out minds at what exactly attacked us." Giles piped up.

"Oh, a good idea." Buffy became her ripe old self again and sprang up out his arms and travelled into the sitting room.

"...but only if you want to." Giles added which was only heard by him and the surrounding walls of the kitchen.

Buffy sat eagerly on the couch eyeing up various books which she shall not touch without Giles. She'll wait till he chose some for her. He was probably de-ruffling his tweed and contemplating another cuppa-char. Giles strode out of the doorway tea free and smart, as usual. He automatically grabbed an armful of books, stared looking through them, without use of an index, if the array of books had an index, they probably didn't, too fragile, too old. After barely minutes of looking in the first book, Bilbao's Compendium of Myths and Legends she recognised. He found what he was looking for.

"Ah!" Giles said for the umpteenth time this evening. "The creature is known as Armen."

"Amen, what? You praying there, Watcher Man?" Buffy punned.

"No, no Buffy the creature is called Armen; it is Old English for 'arm.' It is an old demon part. It's said in the Armen's reign of terror in the Underworld, where time passes much quicker there, it had many arms, all different, none the same. All for different uses, then a Slayer, which is sadly not named, killed Armen and scattered the arms to the far centres of the Underworld." Giles closed the book. "The arms which we've seen commit vengeful acts of murder on ourselves are that of which's skin was reptile in form."

"How it ended up here I'll never know. Perhaps it sensed Willow's power and awoke, bidding her to keep away as it wished nought to be torn apart again." Giles decided.

"Oh, Wow! Someone's right on the money!" Buffy cooed. Amazed by his figuring out.

"Indeed." Giles acknowledged. His stance reflected his self worth and importance at this moment. The finding of the creature. Satisfying Buffy's ever growing vocabulary and needing to extinguish boredom. Also as he had her forgiveness and trust back again, he thought he'd have to earn it back. He was wrong. Today was horrible but ended greatly an ominous creature, the Armen which brought them closer. As for Buffy he could only hope she was feeling the same as him and that today seemed like an opportunity for forgiveness and trust-finding. The Armen sought out pain and death, which failed; it wanted to play a gruesome and one sided game which could only end one way in The Armen's rulebook. But it played with Giles, unknowingly seeking Ripper and unknowingly meeting its final resting place. It played with Giles and he won. 'If fail; try and try again'. As always he would win.

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Hope you enjoy, please read and review. Be nice, it's my 1st. (I've seen this done on fanfics so I'm gonna do it, now.) Please R&R or even better – fave my fic! I'll give you cookies, if you don't like them, I'll give you gingerbread men! It took my 3 days to write this. I finished it 17/01/2011 13:43:05. My toilet broke when I was writing the part with the attack, but now it's fixed – yay! Xxxxx