Chapter 6
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I'm waiting for your healing hands; one touch can bring me round.
"Just the way I'm feeling" Feeder
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Willow could see Giles energy draining from him as he continued to speak, but his will power to keep his eyes open was amazing. She didn't want to let him continue. He needed rest, she knew that, but he was determined to finish his explanation and so she gave him that grace.
Giles took another sip of the water and felt it burning the whole way down his throat, he was so thirsty though. He didn't think he would eat solid food ever again, and he couldn't remember the last time he had had a proper meal. It was probably that night of the Watcher's Council's Annual dinner. His energy levels were low and he found it hard to grip the glass in his hand. Trying to focus on faces was a different matter entirely and instead he found himself floating in the room and memories of the past as he continued his story.
"All of the council was on high alert after that night, and everyone seemed to be scared to set foot in the headquarters. Quentin wouldn't return to his home and he ended up spending most of his time in London. The vampire population seemed to rise dramatically, and Watcher's started to disappear one by one.
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A week after the annual dinner.
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"Hello?" Giles asked gruffly into the telephone receiver, while fumbling for the clock on the bedside table to see what time it was,
"Mr. Giles? It's Edward Shanks here. We're having a bit of a problem down at Bothell's estate. Could you possibly."
"I'll be there in twenty minutes." Giles said sighing, before hanging up the phone. He had finally found the clock, discovering in was only two in the morning, an hour after he had crawled into bed. He pulled back the covers awkwardly and threw his feet over the edge of the bed,
"Rupert?" Giles turned to look at the sleepy voice as he de-tangled himself from the bed sheets,
"Where are you going now?" Aura asked, pulling her self into a sitting position,
"They need me at the Bothell estate. Nothing for you to worry about," he said leaning over to kiss her.
"I'll be back soon." He said pulling on a pair of trousers over his boxers and grabbing a jumper from the chair by the door,
"Be careful," Aura called after him before sinking back into the bed covers. She shifted herself over to the other side of the bed, lying in the indent Rupert had left behind and savoring the warmth there. She curled up into a ball pulling the covers close, and smelling the musty aftershave that Rupert no longer wore.
She lay there for a long time, waiting, unable to get back to sleep again. Finally she was so tired she could no longer keep her eyes open and she drifted off into nightmares of what could have happened to him.
The alarm buzzing next to her ear awoke her from the bloody mess of Rupert's body lying on the living room floor. She blinked a couple of times in the dimly lit room, discovering that she was still the only one in the bed. Her hearted hammered in her chest as she punched the alarm, screaming at it to shut up. She pulled herself from the bedcovers as she heard the key turning in the front door. She made her way into the kitchen pulling her scrunched nighty straight. A disheveled looking Rupert stood in the doorway, his jumper ripped to shreds, and beneath that she could see cuts that were still bleeding,
"Not that long you said! Don't worry, I'll be fine!" she shouted at him as he turned to close the door, before turning back to look at her,
"Travers is dead."
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Willow watched Giles eyes close and the glass starting to slip from his hand. She caught it before he spilt it and set it on the coffee table,
"Xander, Spike will you-"
"Sure Will." Xander said moving his wife from his lap. Willow removed the blanket from Giles,
"Giles?" his eyes fluttered open, barely able to focus on her,
"Spike and Xander and going to help you up the stairs into bed." She said softly to him. He barely seemed to register what she had said, his eyes closing again. But he responded by moving his legs off the sofa, slowly and carefully. Spike and Xander moved to either side of him and helped him to his feet, careful to not harm him anymore than he had been already.
It seemed ages before Spike and Xander finally got the Watcher into Buffy's old room and lain down on the bed. His eyes were still closed and both Spike and Xander assumed he was asleep already,
"It's not changed." He said after a moment, his eyes barely open,
"Still Buffy's- still Buffy's room-," he said so quietly he was almost inaudible,
"I'll sit with him for a bit." Xander said to Spike, pulling up the chair from beside Buffy's dresser,
"Just in case-" Just in case of what? Just in case he died? Just in case he didn't wake up? What could Xander do if that happened? His head bowed away from Spike and Giles to the floor. What were they going to do?
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Spike came back into the living room and found Dawn and Anya still curled up in their separate chairs. Willow had disappeared to the kitchen he presumed and Tara had moved herself up onto the couch,
"Well now story times over, what say I do a quick patrol?" Tara looked up at the blond vampire,
"Yeah," she said slowly, as if unsure of the word, "I'll come with you Spike." She said standing. She moved past him and up the stairs to change her trousers and get a jumper. Anya uncurled her feet out from under, and started to brush her crumpled trousers,
"Where's Xander?" she asked looking behind the vampire, searching for the man she loved,
"He's upstairs with Watcher. Said he wanted to watch him." Spike smiled at the irony of his words. A watcher who needed watched. Anya looked as though she was going to go up the stairs after him, but she instead started to rock back and forth on her feet,
"I'll come with you too." She said wrapping her arms round herself, giving the impression she was already out in the night air. Dawn was the next to move,
"I think I'm going to go to bed." She said glancing at the clock and realizing it was only seven, but she didn't care. The truth was she wanted to sit with Giles, hoping that someway her being there would keep him safe. That she could stop happening to him what had happened to her sister and her mother. Dawn didn't think she could lose anyone else. She moved towards the stairs, stretching her legs and arms. She stopped by Spike and reached on tiptoes to kiss him, before she turned to look at Anya,
"Night." She said solemnly to both of them. She reached the stairs and hesitated at the bottom, turning down the hall into the kitchen instead. Willow was stood over the kettle, willing it to boil
"What yah doing?" Dawn asked, trying to sound cheery as she took a glass from the cupboard before filling it with water,
"Making Giles something to eat. I don't care if he's not hungry he needs to eat. He's so- he's so thin." Willow said in a strangled whisper her eyes starting to leak. Dawn put the water down and went to Willow, wrapping her arms round her as Dawn's eyes started well again,
"He's strong Will." She said sobbing,
"He'll get through this." She said pulling away as the kettle boiled. Willow turned her attention back to it and poured the hot water into the ready break that was already in the bowl. She looked at it for a moment, trying to remember whether English people had their porridge with sugar or salt. Eventually she came down on the side of sugar and started to rummage in the cupboard.
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Willow pushed open the door to Buffy's room slowly and gently, careful to hold the tray in her hand's straight so as not to spill anything on it. Xander was slouched in the chair next to the bed, his head leaning on his shoulder, his mouth open slightly. She smiled at how cute he looked, even with a worried frown on his face. She set the tray down on the bedside table and tapped Xander on the shoulder,
"Huh? What? What happened? Where are they?" he said, startling awake. Willow smiled faintly at his confusion,
"The others are going patrolling." She said simply and Xander got up abruptly from the chair,
"I'll go with." He said, stifling a yawn as he moved away from the bed. He stopped short of the door and turned back to look at Giles still form,
"Will, if anything-"
"I'll call you."
"Got my phone." He said, smiling warmly at her before he left the room, closing the door behind him quietly.
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Xander pulled on his jacket as he bounded down the couple of steps of the Summer's residence, catching up to the small group. His hand found Anya's quickly before they fell instep behind Tara and Spike who were chatting lightly about the twist in the plot of last night's Passion's episode. The trivialness of their conversation didn't last long and discussion moved onto Giles, the watcher's council, and his new love Aura.
Somewhere behind them a twig snapped, but the group didn't notice as the figure moved back down the street the way they had come. It reached the Summer's mailbox and looked at the house for a moment, taking in the one light downstairs and the two upstairs. The figure swallowed loudly, heaving the backpack further onto their back to avoid accidentally dropping it on the sidewalk. A minute passed before they finally plucked up enough courage to move into the yard and into the light on the porch. Their had poised before the door before they knocked confidently on the wood, waiting.
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I'm waiting for your healing hands; one touch can bring me round.
"Just the way I'm feeling" Feeder
************************************************************************
Willow could see Giles energy draining from him as he continued to speak, but his will power to keep his eyes open was amazing. She didn't want to let him continue. He needed rest, she knew that, but he was determined to finish his explanation and so she gave him that grace.
Giles took another sip of the water and felt it burning the whole way down his throat, he was so thirsty though. He didn't think he would eat solid food ever again, and he couldn't remember the last time he had had a proper meal. It was probably that night of the Watcher's Council's Annual dinner. His energy levels were low and he found it hard to grip the glass in his hand. Trying to focus on faces was a different matter entirely and instead he found himself floating in the room and memories of the past as he continued his story.
"All of the council was on high alert after that night, and everyone seemed to be scared to set foot in the headquarters. Quentin wouldn't return to his home and he ended up spending most of his time in London. The vampire population seemed to rise dramatically, and Watcher's started to disappear one by one.
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A week after the annual dinner.
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"Hello?" Giles asked gruffly into the telephone receiver, while fumbling for the clock on the bedside table to see what time it was,
"Mr. Giles? It's Edward Shanks here. We're having a bit of a problem down at Bothell's estate. Could you possibly."
"I'll be there in twenty minutes." Giles said sighing, before hanging up the phone. He had finally found the clock, discovering in was only two in the morning, an hour after he had crawled into bed. He pulled back the covers awkwardly and threw his feet over the edge of the bed,
"Rupert?" Giles turned to look at the sleepy voice as he de-tangled himself from the bed sheets,
"Where are you going now?" Aura asked, pulling her self into a sitting position,
"They need me at the Bothell estate. Nothing for you to worry about," he said leaning over to kiss her.
"I'll be back soon." He said pulling on a pair of trousers over his boxers and grabbing a jumper from the chair by the door,
"Be careful," Aura called after him before sinking back into the bed covers. She shifted herself over to the other side of the bed, lying in the indent Rupert had left behind and savoring the warmth there. She curled up into a ball pulling the covers close, and smelling the musty aftershave that Rupert no longer wore.
She lay there for a long time, waiting, unable to get back to sleep again. Finally she was so tired she could no longer keep her eyes open and she drifted off into nightmares of what could have happened to him.
The alarm buzzing next to her ear awoke her from the bloody mess of Rupert's body lying on the living room floor. She blinked a couple of times in the dimly lit room, discovering that she was still the only one in the bed. Her hearted hammered in her chest as she punched the alarm, screaming at it to shut up. She pulled herself from the bedcovers as she heard the key turning in the front door. She made her way into the kitchen pulling her scrunched nighty straight. A disheveled looking Rupert stood in the doorway, his jumper ripped to shreds, and beneath that she could see cuts that were still bleeding,
"Not that long you said! Don't worry, I'll be fine!" she shouted at him as he turned to close the door, before turning back to look at her,
"Travers is dead."
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Willow watched Giles eyes close and the glass starting to slip from his hand. She caught it before he spilt it and set it on the coffee table,
"Xander, Spike will you-"
"Sure Will." Xander said moving his wife from his lap. Willow removed the blanket from Giles,
"Giles?" his eyes fluttered open, barely able to focus on her,
"Spike and Xander and going to help you up the stairs into bed." She said softly to him. He barely seemed to register what she had said, his eyes closing again. But he responded by moving his legs off the sofa, slowly and carefully. Spike and Xander moved to either side of him and helped him to his feet, careful to not harm him anymore than he had been already.
It seemed ages before Spike and Xander finally got the Watcher into Buffy's old room and lain down on the bed. His eyes were still closed and both Spike and Xander assumed he was asleep already,
"It's not changed." He said after a moment, his eyes barely open,
"Still Buffy's- still Buffy's room-," he said so quietly he was almost inaudible,
"I'll sit with him for a bit." Xander said to Spike, pulling up the chair from beside Buffy's dresser,
"Just in case-" Just in case of what? Just in case he died? Just in case he didn't wake up? What could Xander do if that happened? His head bowed away from Spike and Giles to the floor. What were they going to do?
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Spike came back into the living room and found Dawn and Anya still curled up in their separate chairs. Willow had disappeared to the kitchen he presumed and Tara had moved herself up onto the couch,
"Well now story times over, what say I do a quick patrol?" Tara looked up at the blond vampire,
"Yeah," she said slowly, as if unsure of the word, "I'll come with you Spike." She said standing. She moved past him and up the stairs to change her trousers and get a jumper. Anya uncurled her feet out from under, and started to brush her crumpled trousers,
"Where's Xander?" she asked looking behind the vampire, searching for the man she loved,
"He's upstairs with Watcher. Said he wanted to watch him." Spike smiled at the irony of his words. A watcher who needed watched. Anya looked as though she was going to go up the stairs after him, but she instead started to rock back and forth on her feet,
"I'll come with you too." She said wrapping her arms round herself, giving the impression she was already out in the night air. Dawn was the next to move,
"I think I'm going to go to bed." She said glancing at the clock and realizing it was only seven, but she didn't care. The truth was she wanted to sit with Giles, hoping that someway her being there would keep him safe. That she could stop happening to him what had happened to her sister and her mother. Dawn didn't think she could lose anyone else. She moved towards the stairs, stretching her legs and arms. She stopped by Spike and reached on tiptoes to kiss him, before she turned to look at Anya,
"Night." She said solemnly to both of them. She reached the stairs and hesitated at the bottom, turning down the hall into the kitchen instead. Willow was stood over the kettle, willing it to boil
"What yah doing?" Dawn asked, trying to sound cheery as she took a glass from the cupboard before filling it with water,
"Making Giles something to eat. I don't care if he's not hungry he needs to eat. He's so- he's so thin." Willow said in a strangled whisper her eyes starting to leak. Dawn put the water down and went to Willow, wrapping her arms round her as Dawn's eyes started well again,
"He's strong Will." She said sobbing,
"He'll get through this." She said pulling away as the kettle boiled. Willow turned her attention back to it and poured the hot water into the ready break that was already in the bowl. She looked at it for a moment, trying to remember whether English people had their porridge with sugar or salt. Eventually she came down on the side of sugar and started to rummage in the cupboard.
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Willow pushed open the door to Buffy's room slowly and gently, careful to hold the tray in her hand's straight so as not to spill anything on it. Xander was slouched in the chair next to the bed, his head leaning on his shoulder, his mouth open slightly. She smiled at how cute he looked, even with a worried frown on his face. She set the tray down on the bedside table and tapped Xander on the shoulder,
"Huh? What? What happened? Where are they?" he said, startling awake. Willow smiled faintly at his confusion,
"The others are going patrolling." She said simply and Xander got up abruptly from the chair,
"I'll go with." He said, stifling a yawn as he moved away from the bed. He stopped short of the door and turned back to look at Giles still form,
"Will, if anything-"
"I'll call you."
"Got my phone." He said, smiling warmly at her before he left the room, closing the door behind him quietly.
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Xander pulled on his jacket as he bounded down the couple of steps of the Summer's residence, catching up to the small group. His hand found Anya's quickly before they fell instep behind Tara and Spike who were chatting lightly about the twist in the plot of last night's Passion's episode. The trivialness of their conversation didn't last long and discussion moved onto Giles, the watcher's council, and his new love Aura.
Somewhere behind them a twig snapped, but the group didn't notice as the figure moved back down the street the way they had come. It reached the Summer's mailbox and looked at the house for a moment, taking in the one light downstairs and the two upstairs. The figure swallowed loudly, heaving the backpack further onto their back to avoid accidentally dropping it on the sidewalk. A minute passed before they finally plucked up enough courage to move into the yard and into the light on the porch. Their had poised before the door before they knocked confidently on the wood, waiting.