Chapter Four
Giles sped his way over to Xander's house, for once bemoaning the less than stellar performance of his 'classic' car. He had tried Xander's phone as soon as he'd finished talking to Buffy, and again during his drive using his newly acquired cell phone, but on both occasions there had been no answer.
It was now after nightfall, so it was conceivable that Xander was out on patrol, something that he had begun to do more frequently by himself now that Buffy was beginning to show, but Giles doubted it. Xander had, without fail, called Giles whenever he was going on patrol without Buffy, so that the former Watcher would be aware of what was going on, and he could see no reason why the young man would change things now, especially as he was aware that Willow now knew of Buffy's pregnancy.
Giles finally reached the Harris household, and his car had barely stopped when he had opened the door and exited it, and had locked it more out of reflex than anything else. He quickly made his way around to the side of the house, not wanting to have any dealings with Xander's parents, who were both prime examples of why the gene pool needed a little chlorine from time to time, and then almost vaulted down the steps to the basement door. He fished out the key from his pocket, given to him by Xander a couple of months ago for emergencies, and let himself in. He quickly found Xander, who was lying comatose in a decidedly uncomfortable looking position on the floor, and immediately rushed to his side and then checked him quickly for any obvious physical injuries, wary of using even a simple diagnostic spell to check for any internal damage for fear it would have an adverse reaction to whatever spell he was currently under.
Once Giles was, relatively, sure that Xander was suffering from no physical injuries, Giles picked him up and placed him gently down on the nearby couch, which looked to him like it doubled as Xander's bed. Giles felt a moment of guilt that he had never enquired as to Xander's living accommodations before tonight, seeing that it was much to be desired, but quickly filed that thought away for another time, as there were obviously far more pressing concerns needed to be dealt with first.
Xander's pulse, whilst alarmingly slow, was strong and steady, so Giles was not overly concerned for his physical welfare at the present moment, although he was concerned with the occasional look of pain that flittered across the young man's features. Whether things would change for the worse was uncertain, but whatever the case, Giles needed to determine for sure the cause, of Xander's current unconscious state, and then deal with it in the most expeditious manner.
Dipping into his esoteric knowledge once more, Giles cast a spell that would not only allow him to check to see if Xander was currently being affected by magic, but would also allow him to follow it to the source. Again, whilst Giles considered it a moot point, as he had very strong suspicions as to who was behind this, he had learnt not to assume anything, especially when there was a person's life on the line. Xander was under the affects of a spell that was still running, and Giles 'inner eye' allowed him to perceive the magic as a silk-like rope, which he then began to track back to it's source.
While Giles didn't like the thought of leaving Xander where he was, he didn't believe he had the time to take the young man anywhere else first, in case the caster finished the spell before he could trace it back, so after covering him with a blanket, Giles left the basement and locked the door behind him, before he got back into his car and followed the rope to its origin.
Ten minutes later, Giles had, unsurprisingly in his opinion, found himself at the college campus, more specifically outside the dorms where Willow was currently living. He kept following the rope, now certain where it would lead him even though he hoped otherwise, until he saw the rope going inside the door to Willow's dorm room. Giles knew that he had to be careful here, not only because he was dealing with a powerful, if not very experienced, witch, but because he was in a ladies dorm and was by all rights trespassing, so going with his gut instinct and knocking the door down would not be conducive to him receiving his answers, especially if the local constabulary got involved.
He knew that Willow would be aware of any mystical attempts to gain access to her room, so instead Giles delved into his chequered past and picked the lock, keeping an eye out for anyone noticing his presence. He smiled a little when it only took him a few seconds to succeed in his task, happy to see that his skills were still with him even though he no longer used them, and slipped inside.
Giles was shocked to find that, upon entering the room, while the rope had indeed led him to Willow, the young woman in question was currently asleep on her bed. The rope was connected to her, so there was no doubt that she was the one casting the spell on her childhood friend, but it looked like she had not consciously meant to do so.
That left him in somewhat of a quandary, as he needed Willow awake to find out which spell she had used, but if he woke her up it might have a diverse effect for Xander if the spell was suddenly broken, as he was unsure as to the nature of the spell, and it's intentions.
In the end, he could not allow the spell to continue, so he leant over Willow and none too gently shook her shoulders. "Willow! Wake up!" he barked sharply.
It had the desired effect as the spell was stopped and Willow's eyes snapped open. "Giles?" she said groggily. "What are you doing here?"
"Stopping you from killing Xander I hope," Giles replied angrily.
"What are you talking about?" Willow asked, still trying to fully wake up and assimilate what was going on.
Having realised that he needed to come about this differently, as it had been Willow's dream self at fault, Giles modulated his voice a little. "Can you remember what you were doing in your dream?" he asked her, hoping that she wasn't the type of person to forget their dreams, as he dare not think about what that would mean for Xander.
Still not fully with it, Willow didn't think about hiding the dark look that appeared on her face as she thought of her dream, nor did she disguise her tone. "I was thinking about how Buffy and Xander had been keeping their relationship from me," she replied angrily as she sat up, "not to mention the fact that he'd knocked her up, and I wanted to know what the hell they were thinking when they got together so I could show them the error of their ways."
Giles bit back the response that had first slipped into his mind, as he knew that, to find out the specific spell she had been using, he would need Willow's co-operation. He also knew that if he were to berate her for wanting Buffy to change her mind on the pregnancy, he would be nothing short of a hypocrite. He had changed his own opinion on the subject, helped by Joyce's colourful description of what she would do if he didn't reconsider his stance on the topic, but he had could not condemn Willow for thinking like he himself had done.
However, while they had both thought similar things, Giles had never for one moment considered trying to force Buffy to change her mind, or manipulate her; his part in her Cruciamentum would be the one and only time he would ever deceive her in such a way.
"Well, Willow, I'm afraid to say that your dream tried to become reality."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Whilst in your dream, you cast a spell on Buffy, and while I'm not certain what it was trying to do, from what you just said I imagine it would have been to access her memories and change them so that she would no longer want to keep the baby. Luckily, Xander had the foresight to ask me to provide her with some protection in that regard, and your attempt failed."
"That's why she suddenly disappeared behind a brick wall in my dream when I tried to speak to her," Willow said in realisation, seemingly satisfied that it wasn't her fault she couldn't do what she wanted to in the dream, only to cower a little under the glare Giles levelled at her.
"Yes, but Xander didn't request the same protection for himself, and is now in a coma due to your lack of control," Giles growled. "Do you remember the spell you cast?"
"As far as I was aware I wasn't casting a spell," she replied worriedly. "I have no idea what spell it was."
"Then get up, get dressed, and come with me, because by god you are going to help me figure it out." Giles then leant down so that his head was right in front of hers, and his tone suddenly became colder than liquid nitrogen. "If anything happens to Xander because of this, you better hope that Buffy gets to you before I do, because she'll just kill you." He stood back up and went to the door. "You have five minutes," he told her, before he went outside and left an ashen faced Willow alone to get dressed.
Just under five minutes later, Giles and Willow had left the dorms and were making their way back to Xander's where they would then take him back to his apartment to be looked after by Joyce and Buffy while he and Willow researched which spell she had inadvertently used during her dream.
Any goodwill Giles had been feeling towards the redhead had evaporated not long after their conversation when he had happened to see some of the magical tomes the young woman had in her collection; as well as a lot of advanced spell books, ones he knew Willow was not yet ready for, as she had proven she did not have the necessary control, her shelves also included several books from his own collection that he had thought lost last year. Giles had been quick to remove them from the shelves, and curbed his desire to berate the young woman again, instead storming out towards his car.
When they made it to Xander's 'apartment' and then ventured inside, Giles was gratified to see genuine concern on Willow's face for her lifelong friend, as she hadn't shown anything like the amount he would have expected until that point. From his first encounter with them, Giles could almost physically see the bond between the pair, and while he knew that the last couple of years had not been kind to either one of them, and that they were not as close as they had once been, he had no idea that things had gotten to the point where Willow would willingly inflict harm upon him.
That Willow was worried about Xander was a good sign, although Giles did wonder how long that would last. He knew that he was probably being unreasonable, not to mention overly judgemental, but he had never thought, at least until recently, that Willow would act the way she had, even if it had been subconsciously.
Xander was in the exact same position that Giles had left him in, and while he appeared to be in good health, as there was colour to his cheeks, the expression of discomfort on his face showed that he was in pain, although whether it was physically or mentally he couldn't be sure. Now that he had a little more time, emphasis on little, Giles did cast a quick diagnostic spell on Xander to check for any physical or internal injuries he might have sustained when falling to the floor when he'd been hit with the spell.
Giles was relieved to find that Xander was in good health, although it did point out that he really needed to eat more healthily, but the major concern was the stress his brain was being put under by the spell. He had already been under for quite some time, which meant that even if they were somehow able to recant the spell immediately there would be a chance of irreparable damage, but if it continued for too much longer... well, Giles didn't want to think about that right now.
"Willow, I need for you to pack Xander a change of clothes while I take him out to the car," Giles instructed the young woman, who immediately went into action, not wanting to see further glimpses of the darker side of someone she looked up to as a father figure.
"Shouldn't we tell his parents?" she asked, more for show than anything else. She wasn't sure how aware Giles was when it came to Xander's home life, and was not about to be the one to explain it to him.
"I doubt there would be any point," he replied, and once again made a note to see that Xander's situation was looked into once this crisis was over. The sooner he was away from the negative vibes in the house, that were almost visible they were so thick, the better off the young man would be.
Leaving Willow to deal with the young man's clothes, Giles carefully picked Xander up and took him to the car, laying him as best he could on the back seat. Once he was certain that Xander wouldn't move around too much during transit, Giles went back to the basement and semi-patiently waited for Willow to finish choosing what Xander would be wearing for the next couple of days. The moment she'd put the last of his clothes into a bag, Willow scampered outside and into the car, and Giles locked up and followed after her.
As Giles pulled up outside his apartment building, he was surprised to see Joyce standing at the door waiting for them. When she spotted Willow and her expression changed to one of rage, Giles knew that he would need to intercede before she did something that she would later regret, if only because it would impede Giles' ability to work out what spell Xander was under the influence of.
"Joyce," Giles began as he got out of the car and intercepted the Summers matriarch before she could get any closer, "I know you are upset right now..."
"Upset? Upset? You're damn right I'm upset! That bitch just tried to hurt my daughter and future grandchild!" Joyce roared angrily as she tried to get past Giles, but found herself unable. "Get the hell out of my way, Rupert!" she snapped.
"No, not until you listen to me, Joyce," Giles told her calmly but firmly. "Willow did not consciously do this; she was asleep at the time, and the spell was cast unknowingly. Also, Xander still appears to be under the influence of the spell that was cast, and because she was unaware of what she was doing, Willow does not know which spell it was to perform the counterspell. I need her help to stop something..." he fumbled for a moment to think of the best way of phrasing things, "permanent happening to Xander, so I would very much appreciate it if you leave her in one piece, at least for the time being."
Giles' explanation seemed to do the trick, and Joyce calmed down sufficiently that he no longer had to block her way. Willow, thinking that it was now safe to approach the pair, exited the vehicle and walked up to the apartment, only to receive a stinging slap to the face from the Summers matriarch. The blow had not been hard, at least not by demon standards, but the shock of being struck by someone Willow so respected made the young woman drop to her knees and stare at Joyce with tears in her eyes.
"You even look at my family wrong, young lady, and I swear I shall cut you off at the knee, my promise to God," Joyce told Willow angrily before storming inside, Buffy coming out a moment later.
"Where's Xan... what the hell is she doing here?" Buffy yelled as she spotted Willow on the ground, sobbing heavily into her hands.
"There's no time to explain, Buffy, so please just help me get Xander into the apartment," Giles sighed, knowing that if things went on as they were, he'd want to switch places with Xander just so he couldn't hear them all squabbling.
Buffy looked over to Giles' car and, as she noticed Xander's prone position, immediately rushed over to him, brushing his hair off his brow with a tenderness that the former Watcher would have needed to be blind to miss. Giles filed the movement away for the moment and then went over and assisted Buffy in bringing Xander into his apartment, knowing that while Buffy could have easily done it herself, she simply didn't have the size to carry the younger man in a comfortable position.
"We better take Xander upstairs," Giles suggested as they went inside, "as my bed would be more comfortable for him than the couch."
"Mom," Buffy called out as she saw the way her mother was looking at Willow, "why don't you help me with Xander while they work out what's wrong," she suggested, and received a nod in reply.
Buffy knew, of course, why her mother was acting the way she was, and she not only agreed wholeheartedly with it, she wanted nothing more than to join in, although with more violence, but Buffy knew from what she'd overheard Giles say outside that reaming Willow out had to take second place to fixing what she'd done to Xander. Afterwards, however, Buffy would most certainly be having words with the redhead, and doubted that their friendship would survive the conversation.
Giles was grateful that Buffy had suggested Joyce help her, as it meant that neither Summers woman would be around while he and Willow researched how to put right what Willow had done wrong, as they didn't have the time to be distracted from the comments and looks he was certain would have occurred had they all stayed in the same room.
As he passed Xander over to Joyce, Giles turned round and saw that Willow hadn't moved from her position outside, and he could tell from the way her shoulders were moving that she was still in quite a state. He felt a momentary pang of sympathy for the young woman before he ruthlessly crushed it, knowing that he didn't have the time to coddle her, and instead walked outside and pulled her up to her feet, although with more gentleness than he might have done a few minutes ago.
"Come along, Willow, we have work to do," Giles told her firmly, although he kept out the anger he felt bubbling just under the surface.
Willow said nothing, although she did nod her head ever so slightly, so Giles led her into the apartment, and she made no attempt to resist. He knew that he needed her to be more lucid than she was at the moment, so after Giles deposited her at the kitchen table, he knelt down beside her and spoke softly but firmly in her ear.
"If you want to have the slightest chance of fixing the damage your actions have caused," he said to her, "you need to help me save Xander's life, because if he dies Buffy will never forgive you, and I suspect you will never forgive yourself."
It took a few moments, but Giles could see that his words had penetrated as Willow began to regain control of herself. Once he was certain her head was back in the game, Giles rushed outside and gathered the books he had taken from Willow's dorm room out of his car and returned to his apartment, hoping that the answer they sought would be found sooner rather than later, for everyone's sake.
Joyce and Buffy gently laid Xander down onto the bed, and while Joyce went over to a nearby chair to sit, Buffy sat down next to Xander on the bed and began to run her fingers through his hair, hoping that her touch would help to somehow soothe the pained expression on his face.
Joyce watched her daughter as she tended to Xander, and realised that Buffy had finally begun to see what was in front of her. In a way, she was glad for it, because Joyce had long believed Xander to be a good matcher for Buffy, even if she had thought he could do with acting a little more mature at times. These past few months, Joyce had seen that change happen as Xander helped Buffy deal with her pregnancy, and she had also seen that the looks he would send her daughter's way when she wasn't looking were very similar to the ones he'd sent her way at the beginning of their friendship.
Unlike last time, where she had made some admittedly thinly veiled comments concerning Xander to Buffy, Joyce had kept her opinions to herself as she knew they would not have been received well by her daughter, who up until tonight had a blind spot when it came to Xander's potential as a love interest. To see that Buffy's opinion had changed was a surprise, but a welcome one.
The one reservation Joyce had about it was that Buffy might not be in the best frame of mind to consider changing her and Xander's relationship. Buffy's body was going through immense changes, and her emotions may well be influenced by that. She could understand it if it was, as Joyce knew how difficult it was to raise a child on her own, and she had only had to do it during Buffy's teenage years; she dreaded to think how she would have coped on her own from birth, as even with Hank around to help out it had sometimes been a struggle.
Xander had shown that he was willing to help Buffy however he could with the pregnancy and beyond, and Joyce hoped that Buffy's desire to not go through it alone wasn't influencing her change in mindset, because if it was, there was a good chance that things could end in tears, and Buffy would lose not only Xander's love, but also his friendship.
"Can I take it that your relationship with Xander has changed?" Joyce said eventually, speaking softly so as not to startle her daughter.
"No," Buffy replied just as softly, not taking her eyes away from Xander, "but I want it to," she confessed as she continued to stroke his hair.
"You know how I feel about Xander," Joyce began, "and I'm happy that you're finally seeing him, but I want you to be careful."
"Careful?" Buffy asked. "Why would I need to be careful? I know that Xander would never hurt me."
"No, he wouldn't, but you might hurt him if you get into a romantic relationship for the wrong reasons." When she saw Buffy about to comment, Joyce held a hand up and continued. "Just hear me out." Joyce waited for Buffy to nod her head before she went on. "I can see that your feelings for Xander have changed, and I'm not saying that there's a problem with that, but I want you to be sure that they've changed for the right reasons."
"What do you mean, the right reasons?" Buffy asked in confusion.
"You're body is going through a lot of changes," Joyce went on, "and your whole life is going to be altered when the baby is born, and it's understandable that you want to go through all that with someone at your side. I'm not saying that you're going to use Xander, but I do think you need to make sure that your change of heart where it comes to him is because of who he is, not what he can do for you and your child."
Buffy bit back the angry retort that had been threatening to come out, but only just. She could tell from the look on her face and the tone of her voice that her mother wasn't trying to pick a fight, and was genuinely concerned for both her and Xander. Buffy could see where her mother was coming from, as her feelings for Xander had changed during a period of time where her hormones were playing havoc with her body, and the prospect of being a single mother loomed ever closer, but the baby had little to do with her decision. However, because she couldn't say that the baby had nothing to do with it made Buffy decide to take heed of her mother's warning and be certain of what she wanted before she allowed anything else to happen between her and Xander.
That, of course, had to be put on the back burner for the moment, as right now the most important thing to her right now was for Xander to wake up. Buffy knew from the way Giles had spoken, and from what he hadn't said, that every moment Xander was left in this position meant there was a greater risk that he might not fully recover, or even recover at all. Even the thought of not having Xander in her life caused a pain to lance through her chest, and she found it hard to breathe. Buffy managed to calm herself after a moment, but that feeling, while dreadful, made her even more sure that her feeling for him were genuine.
All she needed to do now was wait for him to wake up so she could tell him.
