Chapter 12 ~ Hero in my Eyes
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"'Cause I can't take anymore of this, I want to come apart. Or dig myself a little hole inside your precious heart. 'Cause its always raining in my head. Forget all the things I should have said."
"Epiphany" Stained
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"Hell."
Silence. The deadest silence of them all,
"I think he was in Hell."
Eyes stared at the Angel who had come from heaven to save Giles, to protect them all. But she brought such horrible news with her that they wished she hadn't come at all.
"How long?" All eyes turned on the new love in his life.
"Too long."
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The hours before Giles appeared in Sunnydale.
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Giles fell forward onto his face, groaning slightly, still sore from the previous days fight. He didn't have time to dwell on that though as he was lifted to his feet rather roughly, allowed to gaze out on a world he just didn't want to see. It rather reminded him of Dante's Compendium, but not the second or even the third part. He was stuck in the first part: The Inferno.
The clawed hand that had grabbed him, bringing him through into this Hell grabbed him again, dragging him by the scruff of his coat down some stairs. He watched as other demons moved about behind him, human slaves at their heels. He watched in horror as someone dropped to their knees, blinded by pain and the unwillingness to go on. They were beat about the head for a few seconds before the demon got bored, snapped the humans neck and cast the body aside into a fire.
He heard the demon snarl, speaking in its own tongue no doubt, to another. He was pushed roughly to the floor in a dark chamber and he grimaced as his ribs hit the floor, already broken. He heard more snarling at he brought himself to his knees, but was pushed roughly back down,
"Pay homage to your new King." Giles eyes floated upwards as far as they could go, only to reach the glowing red eyes of something he wished he hadn't tried to gaze upon. Its eyes seemed to burn into him like a thousand hot pokers, making him sweat profusely,
"He's damaged." The King snarled at Giles as he continued to stare right through him. His face, if one could call it a face, seemed to twist into a horrible sneer,
"Use him for entertainment." Giles eyes widened as he was grabbed again and pulled off his feet, dragged down some more steps and thrown inside a cage, his jacket, jumper, shoes and socks taken from him roughly. He tried to make a break for it but found one of the demons grabbing him back the neck and slamming him into the bars. His back made a crunching noise that made him want to throw up, while at the same time he arched his back in pain,
"Don't even think about it slave." The demon spat in his face,
"You won't get out of here alive." Giles crumpled to the ground, breathing heavily as he heard the cage door slam shut. He was alone and scared and he believed the words that had come from the demon. It took a few weeks before it sunk in, but he really did believe he wouldn't get out alive.
They starved him for a week and then gave him a slice of bread if he was lucky. Only it wasn't bread and Giles was too hungry to even question the origins of his food. A small cup of water was brought every second day. By the end of it Giles was so weak he could barely stand. He had seen horrific things. People tortured across from him, hanging in a similar cage to his. He had seen a young girl, the same age as Dawn, ripped open by demon claws and her heart taken from her. He had wretched and then been punished for doing so.
Almost a month past before he tried to escape again. They only opened the cage when they wanted to change the venues in which the slaves were displayed for entertainment and Giles saw his chance to run. His chance was short lived as he turned the corner and was impaled by one of the guard's knives. He was pinned to the wall for what seemed like an eternity until he was dropped and dragged back to his cage. He was punished again, and just when he didn't think he could take much more it stopped. He was still lying on the ground, but the place was quiet and he wondered if he had died, if he had finally given in.
When his eyes opened he was lying in amongst the rubble, the rain pouring down on him relentlessly, as the sun bobbed over the horizon. He heard someone calling his name and he tried to pull himself into a sitting position, groaning as he did so,
"Rupert!" someone screamed as they moved towards him over the rubble. Arms encased him as Aura sobbed heavily into his shoulder,
"God you didn't answer when we called you. I was so worried." Giles wrapped one of his arms round her, looking about trying to find the portal,
"It worked?" he asked her softly,
"It's closed." She said through her sobs of happiness. There was a long silence between the two where they just held each other, before Aura broke the silence,
"Rupert?" he pulled away from her, seeing she had finally got her composure,
"I want to send you to Sunnydale. I think - you need to get away from here after what's happened. And I think it's time for you to see them again." She watched him for a long moment, looking into his blood shot eyes, not caring that he looked so much different that he had done when they had last talked almost two days ago. He blinked before nodding and she took his hands in hers,
"I'll be there soon." She said kissing him before telling him to concentrate on where in Sunnydale he wanted to turn up, as she began to chant in Latin. His first thought was the Magic Box, but then he thought of Buffy's house and fond memories he had had there and all the other places. His last thought was of Buffy's funeral and when he opened his eyes he was standing in front of her headstone.
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Present Day.
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"I hoped that he would be fine but -"
"So you, you brought him back from there. You saved him and -" Willow looked up from her lap that she had been staring at,
"What are you?"
Buffy looked her best friend square in the eye,
"I'm Buffy, as you remember me, but," she shook her head,
"I can't tell you what's beyond this, what happens when you die. But I can tell you that I'm supposed to protect Giles, protect all of you, and help keep you on your path. You all have a path and if you stray from it like Giles did then," she broke off looking away,
"I'm supposed to make sure you stay on it." She said watching them all carefully as they tried to take it all in,
"I shouldn't have sent him here should I?" Aura said quietly from her place in the corner of the room. Buffy stood up and walked to Aura, kneeling down in front of her,
"You did what you thought was best." She said softly, then even quieter so no one else would hear,
"He needed to come here. You both did." She said smiling slightly; the only one in on what would happen in the future. She stood up after a moment, stretching her legs and arms, standing over the group like she used to when giving out orders, but there was a silence between the small group, and Buffy just had to break the silence.
"Any questions?" she asked nervously as she stared round at her group of friends. Spike stood up, unable to look at her as he did so, taking a few steps forward,
"Yeah, I got one." He said finally looking up at her,
"When you going back?" Everyone else seemed to look up at that point as well, all eyes suddenly fixated on Buffy. It was the questioned that had been plaguing all their minds,
"You're going back aren't you Buffy?" Dawn asked from the edge of the sofa where she had curled herself into a ball,
"You aren't staying. You only came back because of Giles." Now it was Buffy's turn to look away, but instead she went to her sister, sitting down in front of her,
"Dawn I can't stay here. I don't belong here anymore. But you can always find me." She said softly, placing a hand over Dawn's heart,
"Whenever you need me, I'm right here. Whenever you think no one's listening I will be. Whenever you think that you're all alone I'll be here." She kissed her sister on the forehead, standing back up as tears filled Dawn's eyes and she turned on the rest of the group,
"I'm staying for the moment but I won't be here long and I won't say goodbye when I do go again so I'll say it now. I love you all." She said as she looked at each person in turn, catching Spike's gaze she repeated herself,
"I love all of you but you have to accept I'm gone and after this is over I won't see you again, not until -" she broke off looking round at the small group again. No one moved they were all to busy trying to accept the fact that they couldn't keep Buffy.
Xander was the first to do anything. He pulled himself to his feet moving towards Buffy and embracing her in a hug,
"Thank you." He said as he held his friend close,
"For what?" she asked confused,
"For everything. For every time you saved the world. For every time you were there to make us smile. For every time you were there to protect us or to give us an insight into the world of Buffy. For everything Buff!" he said pulling away, finding Buffy to be the one with tears in her eyes.
Buffy found herself being encased by her little sister, tears of joy streaming down both their faces. A feeble thank you escaped Dawn's lips and she fond more people thanking her. Thanking her for the person she had been. Even though she had screwed up she had made the right choices most of the time, she had definitely made the right choice when she chose her friends.
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An ear-piercing scream shattered the silence of one of the wards in Sunnydale General. A nurse came running into the room, expecting to find some horrific scene, but all she found was a grown man crying into his pillow. She deflated as she moved towards the bed, trying to comfort the man.
It had been the third time that night even though they had given him sleeping pills and he was still on a morphine drip. She stood by the bed for a moment, hoping to offer comfort to the man, but she didn't know what to do. The man was obviously loony bin material, the doctor had said so himself not one hour ago.
She sighed as his eyes closed and he drifted into a fitful sleep, hoping that somehow he would sleep for longer this time, knowing it was useless.
She returned to the nurses station and picked up her mug of coffee,
"Alright Anna?" one of the other nurses asked her,
"Just Mr. Giles having another dream." She said sleepily as she sat down,
"He'll be gone by morning, poor bastard."
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"'Cause I can't take anymore of this, I want to come apart. Or dig myself a little hole inside your precious heart. 'Cause its always raining in my head. Forget all the things I should have said."
"Epiphany" Stained
*********************************************************************
"Hell."
Silence. The deadest silence of them all,
"I think he was in Hell."
Eyes stared at the Angel who had come from heaven to save Giles, to protect them all. But she brought such horrible news with her that they wished she hadn't come at all.
"How long?" All eyes turned on the new love in his life.
"Too long."
*********************************************************************
The hours before Giles appeared in Sunnydale.
*********************************************************************
Giles fell forward onto his face, groaning slightly, still sore from the previous days fight. He didn't have time to dwell on that though as he was lifted to his feet rather roughly, allowed to gaze out on a world he just didn't want to see. It rather reminded him of Dante's Compendium, but not the second or even the third part. He was stuck in the first part: The Inferno.
The clawed hand that had grabbed him, bringing him through into this Hell grabbed him again, dragging him by the scruff of his coat down some stairs. He watched as other demons moved about behind him, human slaves at their heels. He watched in horror as someone dropped to their knees, blinded by pain and the unwillingness to go on. They were beat about the head for a few seconds before the demon got bored, snapped the humans neck and cast the body aside into a fire.
He heard the demon snarl, speaking in its own tongue no doubt, to another. He was pushed roughly to the floor in a dark chamber and he grimaced as his ribs hit the floor, already broken. He heard more snarling at he brought himself to his knees, but was pushed roughly back down,
"Pay homage to your new King." Giles eyes floated upwards as far as they could go, only to reach the glowing red eyes of something he wished he hadn't tried to gaze upon. Its eyes seemed to burn into him like a thousand hot pokers, making him sweat profusely,
"He's damaged." The King snarled at Giles as he continued to stare right through him. His face, if one could call it a face, seemed to twist into a horrible sneer,
"Use him for entertainment." Giles eyes widened as he was grabbed again and pulled off his feet, dragged down some more steps and thrown inside a cage, his jacket, jumper, shoes and socks taken from him roughly. He tried to make a break for it but found one of the demons grabbing him back the neck and slamming him into the bars. His back made a crunching noise that made him want to throw up, while at the same time he arched his back in pain,
"Don't even think about it slave." The demon spat in his face,
"You won't get out of here alive." Giles crumpled to the ground, breathing heavily as he heard the cage door slam shut. He was alone and scared and he believed the words that had come from the demon. It took a few weeks before it sunk in, but he really did believe he wouldn't get out alive.
They starved him for a week and then gave him a slice of bread if he was lucky. Only it wasn't bread and Giles was too hungry to even question the origins of his food. A small cup of water was brought every second day. By the end of it Giles was so weak he could barely stand. He had seen horrific things. People tortured across from him, hanging in a similar cage to his. He had seen a young girl, the same age as Dawn, ripped open by demon claws and her heart taken from her. He had wretched and then been punished for doing so.
Almost a month past before he tried to escape again. They only opened the cage when they wanted to change the venues in which the slaves were displayed for entertainment and Giles saw his chance to run. His chance was short lived as he turned the corner and was impaled by one of the guard's knives. He was pinned to the wall for what seemed like an eternity until he was dropped and dragged back to his cage. He was punished again, and just when he didn't think he could take much more it stopped. He was still lying on the ground, but the place was quiet and he wondered if he had died, if he had finally given in.
When his eyes opened he was lying in amongst the rubble, the rain pouring down on him relentlessly, as the sun bobbed over the horizon. He heard someone calling his name and he tried to pull himself into a sitting position, groaning as he did so,
"Rupert!" someone screamed as they moved towards him over the rubble. Arms encased him as Aura sobbed heavily into his shoulder,
"God you didn't answer when we called you. I was so worried." Giles wrapped one of his arms round her, looking about trying to find the portal,
"It worked?" he asked her softly,
"It's closed." She said through her sobs of happiness. There was a long silence between the two where they just held each other, before Aura broke the silence,
"Rupert?" he pulled away from her, seeing she had finally got her composure,
"I want to send you to Sunnydale. I think - you need to get away from here after what's happened. And I think it's time for you to see them again." She watched him for a long moment, looking into his blood shot eyes, not caring that he looked so much different that he had done when they had last talked almost two days ago. He blinked before nodding and she took his hands in hers,
"I'll be there soon." She said kissing him before telling him to concentrate on where in Sunnydale he wanted to turn up, as she began to chant in Latin. His first thought was the Magic Box, but then he thought of Buffy's house and fond memories he had had there and all the other places. His last thought was of Buffy's funeral and when he opened his eyes he was standing in front of her headstone.
*********************************************************************
Present Day.
*********************************************************************
"I hoped that he would be fine but -"
"So you, you brought him back from there. You saved him and -" Willow looked up from her lap that she had been staring at,
"What are you?"
Buffy looked her best friend square in the eye,
"I'm Buffy, as you remember me, but," she shook her head,
"I can't tell you what's beyond this, what happens when you die. But I can tell you that I'm supposed to protect Giles, protect all of you, and help keep you on your path. You all have a path and if you stray from it like Giles did then," she broke off looking away,
"I'm supposed to make sure you stay on it." She said watching them all carefully as they tried to take it all in,
"I shouldn't have sent him here should I?" Aura said quietly from her place in the corner of the room. Buffy stood up and walked to Aura, kneeling down in front of her,
"You did what you thought was best." She said softly, then even quieter so no one else would hear,
"He needed to come here. You both did." She said smiling slightly; the only one in on what would happen in the future. She stood up after a moment, stretching her legs and arms, standing over the group like she used to when giving out orders, but there was a silence between the small group, and Buffy just had to break the silence.
"Any questions?" she asked nervously as she stared round at her group of friends. Spike stood up, unable to look at her as he did so, taking a few steps forward,
"Yeah, I got one." He said finally looking up at her,
"When you going back?" Everyone else seemed to look up at that point as well, all eyes suddenly fixated on Buffy. It was the questioned that had been plaguing all their minds,
"You're going back aren't you Buffy?" Dawn asked from the edge of the sofa where she had curled herself into a ball,
"You aren't staying. You only came back because of Giles." Now it was Buffy's turn to look away, but instead she went to her sister, sitting down in front of her,
"Dawn I can't stay here. I don't belong here anymore. But you can always find me." She said softly, placing a hand over Dawn's heart,
"Whenever you need me, I'm right here. Whenever you think no one's listening I will be. Whenever you think that you're all alone I'll be here." She kissed her sister on the forehead, standing back up as tears filled Dawn's eyes and she turned on the rest of the group,
"I'm staying for the moment but I won't be here long and I won't say goodbye when I do go again so I'll say it now. I love you all." She said as she looked at each person in turn, catching Spike's gaze she repeated herself,
"I love all of you but you have to accept I'm gone and after this is over I won't see you again, not until -" she broke off looking round at the small group again. No one moved they were all to busy trying to accept the fact that they couldn't keep Buffy.
Xander was the first to do anything. He pulled himself to his feet moving towards Buffy and embracing her in a hug,
"Thank you." He said as he held his friend close,
"For what?" she asked confused,
"For everything. For every time you saved the world. For every time you were there to make us smile. For every time you were there to protect us or to give us an insight into the world of Buffy. For everything Buff!" he said pulling away, finding Buffy to be the one with tears in her eyes.
Buffy found herself being encased by her little sister, tears of joy streaming down both their faces. A feeble thank you escaped Dawn's lips and she fond more people thanking her. Thanking her for the person she had been. Even though she had screwed up she had made the right choices most of the time, she had definitely made the right choice when she chose her friends.
*********************************************************************
An ear-piercing scream shattered the silence of one of the wards in Sunnydale General. A nurse came running into the room, expecting to find some horrific scene, but all she found was a grown man crying into his pillow. She deflated as she moved towards the bed, trying to comfort the man.
It had been the third time that night even though they had given him sleeping pills and he was still on a morphine drip. She stood by the bed for a moment, hoping to offer comfort to the man, but she didn't know what to do. The man was obviously loony bin material, the doctor had said so himself not one hour ago.
She sighed as his eyes closed and he drifted into a fitful sleep, hoping that somehow he would sleep for longer this time, knowing it was useless.
She returned to the nurses station and picked up her mug of coffee,
"Alright Anna?" one of the other nurses asked her,
"Just Mr. Giles having another dream." She said sleepily as she sat down,
"He'll be gone by morning, poor bastard."