CHAPTER SIX: ETHAN
Saturday: 12pm6th June 1992
London: Watcher's Council
Ethan Rayne walked through the corridors of the Watcher's Council. He hadn't been there for over six years, not since giving Buffy Summers over to them. He hated to admit it, but there hadn't been a day go by that he hadn't thought of the young girl. He still had Buffy's pink pig, a constant reminder that he had ruined a young girls life.
He wasn't technically allowed onto Council grounds without express permission, but the guilt had finally got the better of him. He had planned this visit for the last three days, finding a rare book that the Council would be interested in so that he would have a reason to be on Council property. He had found a large jacket to wear so that he could smuggle the pig into the compound without raising any suspicions.
He had a few contacts in the Council, one of whom was a trainer for the Potentials. Ethan had casually asked a few questions and had ended up with a full itinerary for the Potentials on weekends. He was lucky that they spent the better part of Saturday outdoors.
He walked through to the library and presented Roger Sampson, the head librarian, the ancient tome. Roger's mouth fairly salivated when he saw that it was a volume the Council didn't have, and he quickly took the book from Ethan. Ethan had grinned and stated that he was going to have a look around the grounds. Roger had been too busy looking through the book to realise that Ethan wasn't actually allowed to be there.
Ethan had walked through the librarian's office with Roger not even noticing, and had gone out onto the terrace that lead to the back lawns. There, he found seven Potential Slayers lazing in the sun, eating lunch on the grass. He scanned the group quickly and smiled when he saw Buffy. She was sitting with three other girls, chatting as though she didn't have a care in the world.
She had changed a fair bit, her hair a little darker than he remembered, but her face was still the open and innocent face that he had memorised so long ago. She was eleven years old now. Ethan just watched for a moment, carefully seeing where their trainers were seated in relation to Buffy.
There were only two trainers with them, and with a little magick, Ethan knew that he would be able to get the girls attention. He quickly did a simple spell, a small explosion that only Buffy could hear. He watched as Buffy's head snapped up and looked towards the building. The other girls she was sitting with looked at her in confusion.
Buffy shook her head and Ethan nearly groaned. He re-did the spell and Buffy quickly got to her feet. She passed by the trainers who waved her towards the building. Ethan could only guess that she had asked to use the bathroom.
He watched as she walked towards the building, coming towards the library terrace, the closest entrance. She walked up the stairs, and flashed him a polite smile as she had been taught to do to all the Watcher's that she came across.
"Buffy," he said quietly.
She stopped in her tracks and looked at him in amazement. She hadn't heard that name since she was five years old. Her breath caught in her throat. She looked at him curiously, wondering who he was.
"You don't remember me?" he asked.
She shook her head, trying to place him. He reached into his jacket, and Buffy immediately tensed, assuming he was going for some sort of weapon. When he pulled out a pink stuffed pig, Buffy felt her mouth go dry.
She looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Where did you get that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
He stepped towards her, but she stepped back. He stopped in his tracks and held the stuffed animal out to her.
"You remember this?" he asked gently.
Tears pricked her eyes and she nodded, taking the pig from him.
"Mr Gordo," she whispered.
Ethan smiled. He had never known what the pigs name was, and had always wondered what the small girl had named it. Now he knew. She looked up at him, a single tear sliding down her cheek.
"You're the man from the plane," she said.
He nodded, feeling a lump in his throat.
"I'm trying to remember your name," she whispered.
"Ethan," he replied.
She nodded, the memory coming back to her. She hadn't thought about him in years. The first few years she had often wondered what had happened to him. He had been kind to her, even though she had only spoken with him for a short time before she had fallen asleep on his lap.
"You came to give me this?" she asked.
He nodded. "Travers wanted to throw it away, but…I managed to stop him."
"Thank you."
He nodded and stepped forward again. She didn't step back. He took another step forward and held his arms out to her, gesturing that he wanted to hug her. She hesitated a moment before stepping forward and putting her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest. Well, technically his upper stomach, due to his height.
She hadn't been hugged like this for years and the warmth of it was making her want to burst into sobs. She hadn't been hugged by any of the other Potentials since she had turned ten, something that she sorely missed. And, having someone that was somewhat familiar that wasn't a Potential was something that she had missed without knowing that she was missing it.
"I'm so sorry Buffy," he whispered.
She looked up at him, eyes wide. He was thrown by the fact that she didn't know why he was apologising.
"I sentenced you to this life, to being a Slayer," he explained.
Buffy shook her head. "It's fate Ethan. Just fate."
Ethan nodded, knowing what the Watchers told these girls.
"You don't hate me?" he asked.
She shook her head once more. "How can I hate you when you just gave me my life back?" she asked, indicating the stuffed animal.
Ethan smiled and held back tears. He touched the girls cheek gently and leant down to kiss her forehead.
"I have to go. I'm not supposed to be here," he said.
Buffy looked stricken at the thought of never seeing him again. She felt a connection to him, even though she barely knew him.
"Will I see you again?" she asked.
He looked surprised at the question.
"If you want to."
"I do."
Ethan nodded and tried to think of something. "I can come on weekends. We can meet here at the same time."
"The trainers might get suspicious," she said.
He smiled at her quick thinking abilities.
"Then I'll alternate the times of my visits. Just listen for the exploding sounds, and you'll know when to come find me," he explained.
Her face lit up into a smile. He thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
"That was you?" she asked.
He nodded and she laughed a little.
"Alright. Then…I'll see you next week I guess."
He nodded and gave her one last hug. Looking back once, Buffy headed back to where the other Potentials sat, a smile on her face.
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Saturday: 12pm19th December 1992
London: Watcher's Council
Ethan kept his word and visited weekly, short visits that lasted only about ten minutes at the most. Buffy surprised him in the fourth week when she slid a three page letter into his hands when they went to say their goodbyes. He had read it with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes when he had gotten home, and had written a reply and given it to her the next weekend.
And so their correspondence continued. The weekly visits and the exchange of the letters. She only told him the better parts of life in the Council, knowing that he felt guilty over being the one to put her there. She spoke of her friendships, of her hopes and her fears. She never spoke of Travers. So, on the twenty-ninth visit when Buffy failed to show up for their weekly meeting, Ethan felt his heart sink.
There was no way he could ask for her without drawing attention to the fact that he had been seeing her every week for the last few months. He was worried sick and after a few minutes hesitation, he finally decided on a course of action. He concentrated on one of the Potentials that he knew Buffy spoke with frequently and performed the same spell on her that he used to get Buffy's attention.
The girl, a fourteen year old named Sarah, looked up startled. He recast the spell and Sarah got to her feet, walking towards the building, huddling into her jacket against the cold.
Ethan called out to her to stop her from going inside.
"Sarah!"
She looked at the man, worried but slightly curious as to how he knew her and what he wanted.
"How do you know who I am?" she asked.
Ethan shook his head. "It's not important. I need to ask you something."
She looked at him sceptically, but waited to hear what he had to say.
"There's a girl here, a Potential. Buf - Beth Summers," he said. He wasn't used to having to call her by her proper name. He had always thought of her as Buffy, and he continued to call her that in all of his letters.
Sarah's face fell when she heard Beth's name and Ethan saw it immediately. He began panicking once more.
"What's wrong? Is she ill? Did something happen to her?"
Sarah shook her head sadly. "Mr Travers happened. Again."
Ethan's eyes darkened. "Travers? What did he do?"
Sarah hesitated, but felt oddly comforted by the fact that Beth had someone who was so obviously concerned for her. She quickly decided to confide in the man in hopes that he could do something about Travers' treatment of Beth.
"We were training. She was sparring with Maddy. She…Maddy always drops her shoulder when she goes to attack, and Bethie told her about it. Mr Travers heard it and told Beth that she wasn't a trainer and that she had no right to criticise Maddy. He always picks on her, even though she was right, cos Maddy does drop her shoulder. He took her out of the room again and…well, she wasn't at breakfast this morning," Sarah explained.
Ethan felt the rage burning within him.
"Have you seen her since then?" he asked frantically.
Sarah nodded. "I went into her room to see how she was this morning, but…"
"But what? Was she alright?"
"He's never hit her that hard before," Sarah whispered, tears in her eyes.
Ethan swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Can you tell me how to get to her room?"
Sarah hesitated, cast a look back to where the other Potentials were seated and saw that no one was paying attention to her.
"You know how to get to the Porter Wing?" she asked. Ethan nodded. "Our rooms are on the third corridor on the right. She's in the fifth room on the left."
Ethan nodded and took off quickly, shouting his thanks and leaving a mystified Sarah in his wake.
He raced down the corridors, locating the Porter Wing and skidding to a halt at the third corridor to the right. He counted off the rooms quickly and stood in front of Buffy's door. He knocked softly. He heard a sniffle come from inside and forced himself not to break down the door.
"It's open," she called. He could hear her trying to calm herself down.
He opened the door and stepped inside. The surprise and relief on Buffy's face were evident, and Ethan could tell that she had been crying for a long time. He raced to her, gathering her in his arms. She cried out in pain and Ethan immediately let her go.
"What did he do to you?" he asked angrily.
She shrank back from him. She'd never seen him angry before.
"Buffy, please," he implored. "You have to tell me."
She wiped her eyes and turned away from him. With shaking hands, she undid the buttons of her soft cotton blouse and took it off, clutching the material to her chest modestly.
Ethan touched her back with shaky hands, Buffy jumping when his fingertips grazed her broken skin.
"He's done this before hasn't he?" Ethan asked.
Buffy could only nod.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
She turned to look at him, surprised to see tears in his eyes.
"Because I know you Ethan. You would have blamed yourself," she said.
"I do blame myself luv," he whispered. He brought a hand up to her cheek, wiping away her tears. "You're here because of me."
"It's not your fault that Travers hates me," she said. "And I woulda ended up here eventually."
Ethan sat down on her bed and stared at her, looking away in a gentlemanly fashion when Buffy went to put her shirt back on.
"I could have done something about this though," he protested.
She turned to him, anger in her eyes.
"If you say anything to him, he'll make it ten times worse," she said. "I can take the punishments he deals out. And as long as they're directed at me, he doesn't touch any of the others."
"You think it's alright for him to do this to you?" he asked incredulously.
"No, I don't, but, Ethan, think about this! If you confronted him about it, he would know that we've been meeting. And if he takes that away from me, I don't know what I'll do," she cried. "You've become like a father to me Ethan. I can't remember my dad at all, and you've given me someone I can think of as a dad. I won't let him take that from me. And if it takes being hit to keep it from him, then I'll take it, so long as I can keep this."
Ethan shook his head. "I can take you away from this Buffy. You may never be the Slayer. You could come with me, and you'd never have to hear the word vampire again."
Buffy shook her head sadly and wiped away a tear from Ethan's face.
"I can't Ethan. I'm next after Sarah and Maddy," she replied calmly.
Ethan looked at her inquisitively. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, that the next Slayer to be Called will be Sarah. And after her will be Maddy, and then it'll be me."
She remembered predicting Laurie's calling before it had happened. She had then gone on to predict Laurie's death to be six months after she was Called. She had known that Alex would be next, and Alex had been. Alex had lasted a year. Buffy had predicted that after Alex would be MJ, and it had happened. The evening MJ had been Called, Buffy had dreamt that the next would be Sarah, and after Sarah it would be Maddy and then herself.
"How do you know that?" he asked.
She smiled enigmatically. "I just do. I've never been wrong before."