Title: Iron Fisted 4/13
Author: Mike McD
Rating: R (for some naughty language)
Summary: The follow on from 'Silver Tongued'.
Distribution: Anywhere, just let me know.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer nor do I own any other characters. This is a work of fiction written for fun and enjoyment.
------
She couldn't put it off any longer.
Buffy had successfully managed to avoid everyone for the day but as night approached she had to check in with Giles. She had seriously considered packing her bag and running away to LA, but her desire to try to fix her mistake made her stay.
With great trepidation, she entered the library.
Looking about, Buffy was relieved that neither Willow nor Cordelia were there, and that Giles was alone.
"Hey, Giles." She greeted her Watcher with much less enthusiasm than usual. Likewise, Giles looked unhappy and out of sorts.
"Buffy." There was a high level of awkwardness between them.
"Did, uh... did my mom come to see you this morning?"
"Yes. We had a most... vigorous discussion."
"Oh, OK. It's just that mom looked pretty worked up this morning. Said something about giving you the bollocking of a life time just before she left."
"She truly did." Giles muttered, recalling the unpleasant experience.
"Um... bollocking doesn't involve rampant acts of nudity, does it?" Buffy really hoped it didn't. There had been enough rampant acts of nudity already.
"What? No! She came in here and spent twenty minutes ranting at me about keeping secrets from people and my moral obligations."
"I imagine that it'd be tough having someone yell at you who knows all your dirty little secrets. I'm just not sure how mom got hold of one of your jackets."
"You remember how last month I had my jacket slashed during patrol? Well, instead of throwing it out, I gave it to Goodwill,"
"Uh, Giles. Not even the homeless would wear tweed." Buffy shut up at her Watcher's glare.
"Apparently, that's where Ethan got the jacket. No doubt he had a merry old time giving it to your mother." Remarked Giles darkly. Yet another reason to add to the already long list of reasons to kill Ethan Rayne slowly and painfully. Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It had been a trying 24 hours and there were still two awkward issues that needed to be discussed.
"Mom told me last night about the Cruciamentum. Is it true? When I turn 18 you'll take away my powers? Lock me up with a vampire?" Buffy's voice quivered, the idea of Giles doing that to her too painful to contemplate.
"Yes, it's true. But I won't do it." Giles sat down on his chair, his gaze reflecting the myriad of emotions he was feeling. "I'd always thought... deluded myself about it. That it would never come to it. That somehow the Council would never call on me to do it. Or if it did, that I... I could do it without remorse or guilt or my feelings interfering. That I could just be a good Watcher, and see the Slayer as just a weapon to fight evil, and that you were just a Slayer.
"But I'm not a good Watcher, and the Slayer is not just a weapon, and you are not just a Slayer.
"This thing with Joyce made me think. Made me confront my delusions. Made me think about what and who I really am and what and who I really want to be.
"I want to be someone who can look himself in the mirror in the morning. Someone worthy of the trust you have in me. Someone I can respect.
"So should the time come, I will turn my back on centuries of tradition and defy the Council. I give you my word; I will never deliberately hurt you. I only hope that one day, you'll be able to trust me again."
There was a long period of silence as his words and the feelings behind them sunk into Buffy's mind. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder.
"What will they do to you? The Council, I mean."
Giles shrugged his shoulders.
"It doesn't matter."
------
Giles and Buffy had talked for nearly an hour about what had happened the night before. Giles was disappointed and a little angry at Buffy for what she did to Xander. He lectured her on how having great power entailed having great responsibility, the moment too serious for Buffy to make the obvious Spiderman joke.
They discussed Buffy's remorse for what she did, and the nature of Buffy's friendship with Xander and Willow. Buffy despaired at ever regaining Xander's friendship, not knowing how to even start trying to do so.
In the end, Giles' advice was as simple and obvious as it was daunting to his Slayer. It was this advice that saw her walk into Sunnydale General Hospital.
Peeking into Xander's room, Buffy found it empty. Xander was asleep, his left arm in a cast and bruising evident on one side of his face. A renewed wave of guilt washed over Buffy as she approached his sleeping form.
More than anything, Buffy wished she could go back in time and change things. In all honesty, she would only have gone back to stop her attack on Xander. The events preceding that, while unbidden, were more than a little enjoyable.
Standing beside his bed, Buffy looked at Xander and wondered how things would have turned out different if she had said yes to Xander at Spring Fling.
Not wanting to wake him, she turned to leave.
"Buffy?" she heard Xander ask. Turning back, her eyes locked with his for a moment before she looked away and down at her hands.
The same hands that had put Xander were he was.
"I just come by, you know, to see how you were doing. Didn't want to wake you."
There seemed to be an eternity of silence between the two.
'Oh god! He hates me.' Buffy thought to herself.
"I'm sorry."
The words stunned Buffy. She was the one who had nearly killed him for something that he was not responsible for and it was Xander who was apologising to her.
Buffy's head snapped up in disbelief. The sudden movement and the wide-eyed look in Buffy's face caused Xander to flinch, as if in fear of Buffy attacking him again.
In that instant, the look of terror on Xander's face broke Buffy's heart.
Massive tears gushed from her eyes as Buffy broke down completely, buried her head into his chest, and begged for his forgiveness.
Author: Mike McD
Rating: R (for some naughty language)
Summary: The follow on from 'Silver Tongued'.
Distribution: Anywhere, just let me know.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer nor do I own any other characters. This is a work of fiction written for fun and enjoyment.
------
She couldn't put it off any longer.
Buffy had successfully managed to avoid everyone for the day but as night approached she had to check in with Giles. She had seriously considered packing her bag and running away to LA, but her desire to try to fix her mistake made her stay.
With great trepidation, she entered the library.
Looking about, Buffy was relieved that neither Willow nor Cordelia were there, and that Giles was alone.
"Hey, Giles." She greeted her Watcher with much less enthusiasm than usual. Likewise, Giles looked unhappy and out of sorts.
"Buffy." There was a high level of awkwardness between them.
"Did, uh... did my mom come to see you this morning?"
"Yes. We had a most... vigorous discussion."
"Oh, OK. It's just that mom looked pretty worked up this morning. Said something about giving you the bollocking of a life time just before she left."
"She truly did." Giles muttered, recalling the unpleasant experience.
"Um... bollocking doesn't involve rampant acts of nudity, does it?" Buffy really hoped it didn't. There had been enough rampant acts of nudity already.
"What? No! She came in here and spent twenty minutes ranting at me about keeping secrets from people and my moral obligations."
"I imagine that it'd be tough having someone yell at you who knows all your dirty little secrets. I'm just not sure how mom got hold of one of your jackets."
"You remember how last month I had my jacket slashed during patrol? Well, instead of throwing it out, I gave it to Goodwill,"
"Uh, Giles. Not even the homeless would wear tweed." Buffy shut up at her Watcher's glare.
"Apparently, that's where Ethan got the jacket. No doubt he had a merry old time giving it to your mother." Remarked Giles darkly. Yet another reason to add to the already long list of reasons to kill Ethan Rayne slowly and painfully. Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It had been a trying 24 hours and there were still two awkward issues that needed to be discussed.
"Mom told me last night about the Cruciamentum. Is it true? When I turn 18 you'll take away my powers? Lock me up with a vampire?" Buffy's voice quivered, the idea of Giles doing that to her too painful to contemplate.
"Yes, it's true. But I won't do it." Giles sat down on his chair, his gaze reflecting the myriad of emotions he was feeling. "I'd always thought... deluded myself about it. That it would never come to it. That somehow the Council would never call on me to do it. Or if it did, that I... I could do it without remorse or guilt or my feelings interfering. That I could just be a good Watcher, and see the Slayer as just a weapon to fight evil, and that you were just a Slayer.
"But I'm not a good Watcher, and the Slayer is not just a weapon, and you are not just a Slayer.
"This thing with Joyce made me think. Made me confront my delusions. Made me think about what and who I really am and what and who I really want to be.
"I want to be someone who can look himself in the mirror in the morning. Someone worthy of the trust you have in me. Someone I can respect.
"So should the time come, I will turn my back on centuries of tradition and defy the Council. I give you my word; I will never deliberately hurt you. I only hope that one day, you'll be able to trust me again."
There was a long period of silence as his words and the feelings behind them sunk into Buffy's mind. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder.
"What will they do to you? The Council, I mean."
Giles shrugged his shoulders.
"It doesn't matter."
------
Giles and Buffy had talked for nearly an hour about what had happened the night before. Giles was disappointed and a little angry at Buffy for what she did to Xander. He lectured her on how having great power entailed having great responsibility, the moment too serious for Buffy to make the obvious Spiderman joke.
They discussed Buffy's remorse for what she did, and the nature of Buffy's friendship with Xander and Willow. Buffy despaired at ever regaining Xander's friendship, not knowing how to even start trying to do so.
In the end, Giles' advice was as simple and obvious as it was daunting to his Slayer. It was this advice that saw her walk into Sunnydale General Hospital.
Peeking into Xander's room, Buffy found it empty. Xander was asleep, his left arm in a cast and bruising evident on one side of his face. A renewed wave of guilt washed over Buffy as she approached his sleeping form.
More than anything, Buffy wished she could go back in time and change things. In all honesty, she would only have gone back to stop her attack on Xander. The events preceding that, while unbidden, were more than a little enjoyable.
Standing beside his bed, Buffy looked at Xander and wondered how things would have turned out different if she had said yes to Xander at Spring Fling.
Not wanting to wake him, she turned to leave.
"Buffy?" she heard Xander ask. Turning back, her eyes locked with his for a moment before she looked away and down at her hands.
The same hands that had put Xander were he was.
"I just come by, you know, to see how you were doing. Didn't want to wake you."
There seemed to be an eternity of silence between the two.
'Oh god! He hates me.' Buffy thought to herself.
"I'm sorry."
The words stunned Buffy. She was the one who had nearly killed him for something that he was not responsible for and it was Xander who was apologising to her.
Buffy's head snapped up in disbelief. The sudden movement and the wide-eyed look in Buffy's face caused Xander to flinch, as if in fear of Buffy attacking him again.
In that instant, the look of terror on Xander's face broke Buffy's heart.
Massive tears gushed from her eyes as Buffy broke down completely, buried her head into his chest, and begged for his forgiveness.