A/N: Not going to disclaimer, of course I don't own Buffy. The only thing I own is the original stuff I've come up with for this fic.
So I'm now up to Season 6 (literally just finished 5 and it destroyed me.) and I have SO many ideas. I might do some drabbles alongside this when things are a bit more developed.
Thank you for the favourites and follows and reviews so far! I hope you continue to enjoy!
Maria was numb.
She had no idea how she'd gotten to the hospital. The image of her father's face before he turned to dust was replaying over and over again in her mind. Intercut with the images of the monster in him.
There were too many questions and she couldn't quite decide which were the most important.
"Miss Bingley, you've a broken rib and a cracked collarbone. You're pretty beat up by all accounts." The Doctor said standing next to her bed. Her voice indicated she wanted to ask what had happened but was trying to avoid the big question.
"She fell down the stairs." Giles said when Maria didn't reply. "She's had a shock." He added but he could feel the doctor scrutinising him. It was exactly the sort of excuse abusers came up with to cover their tracks. He could hardly say that she'd just been fighting off her demonic father though could he? So, what else was he to do? Besides, a fall down the stairs was the most likely thing to explain all her injuries.
"Yes, well, maybe your husband could-" The Doctor started.
"What?" Maria seemed to shake herself out of her stupor. "He's not my husband. He's, he's not hurt me either." She added, catching the look on the doctor's face. "I fell down the stairs, my fathers just died." The words came out slowly like molasses sticking in her throat. She felt her eyes burning but she couldn't seem to really cry. Everything just felt so dull. Even the pain was dull.
"I'm sorry for your loss." The Doctor said quietly.
No apology for the implication it was me who pushed her down the stairs then, thought Giles.
"We'll give you a proper sling for your arm, but the rib will have to heal on its own I'm afraid. There's only a minor concussion from what you've said and the cut on your head won't need stitches. It'd probably be better if someone was with you at home though. Just to make sure you're okay, make sure there's no dizziness or nausea." The Doctor looked to Giles who nodded.
Maria had gone back into her head. Those last minutes playing in her head over and over again. Her father had looked so content, so happy to be disappearing.
"Thank you, Doctor." Giles said, though he wasn't entirely sure he meant it given the way the doctor was still looking him over. Like she was reluctant to let Maria go home with him. If she really was concerned, she shouldn't be letting her leave at all, but she was, so it was a good job Giles was who he was.
They waited in silence for a nurse to come back with the appropriate sling. Giles wished he could see into Maria's head, see what she was thinking. It was so much in one night, the introduction to a new world, the realisation she'd been taking tea with someone in that world. Being kidnapped, seeing her father become a monster and then losing him like that? Did she feel betrayed? Lied to? Was she angry with him? She was probably just numb, but his mind was still racing with worry.
He was thinking too about the depth of his own feelings. He hadn't had to confront them so far. Even when she'd come into the library with the marks on her wrist, he'd had so many other things going on that he'd been distracted away from confronting it. Not tonight though. Seeing her house, her shoes, seeing the bloody scarf. It was like someone had lodged a knife in his chest. He'd focused though on finding her, channelled his feelings into that.
Now in the quiet there was nothing to distract him, nothing to help him escape from the fact he was being confronted by what he felt.
He couldn't say love. It was far too early for that, for those kinds of declarations. Besides he wasn't sure himself if that was what he felt. He knew though that this was deeper than just like. Deeper than just wanting to befriend someone, to potentially become romantically entangled for a night. Deeper than just a date or two and seeing how things went. It was deeper than just attraction, though that had been what had initially drawn him too her.
The panic when Charlie had pounced on her had been very real. Not just in the sense that he couldn't lose someone else to a good man turned monster. The panic he'd felt when they'd arrived at her house had been very real, and not just because he was scared to go upstairs. Not just because of the left-over PTSD (though he was reluctant to call it that) from what happened to Jenny. There was more to it than all that. There was a realisation that he didn't want to do without her, he didn't want to be without her. It was strong and sudden and overwhelming, and he wasn't sure how to handle it.
Then there was something else mixed up in his feelings about Maria at this moment. A sort of relief, not that she was alive. Not that she hadn't been turned into a vampire, but, that she was now in this world.
Because she had taken the fact her father was a vampire in her stride. She'd not reacted with torches and pitchforks, not panicked. She'd gone to the library. She'd wanted to learn all she could and even in those final moments she was trying to save him. And now she knew about this world, now she knew what they faced, he could tell her all the things he'd wanted to tell her. He could share all the things he'd wanted to share with her. Something about that, even though this whole night shouldn't, made him happy.
"Maria, I don't think you should be on your own tonight." Giles said as he sat in the driver's seat, hands on the wheel ready to go.
The dilemma was where? They'd locked the door behind them when he'd left her house. Willow had handed him the keys from the side table before they left, and they were still in his pocket. He wasn't sure she'd want to go back there though.
He wanted to take her to his home, but would she think he was being some sort of forward? Would she rather be at her own home with all the comforts it brought? But then again it would be too empty and too big wouldn't it?
Maria made a noise that was barely a reply.
"If you don't want to go home yet-" Giles started looking over at Maria who seemed to blanche, so Giles decided he was in the driving seat both literally and figuratively. "I think some tea might be a good idea, drop of whiskey. Though I can't say my tea selection will be as vast as yours." He said trying to throw some light into his voice.
Maria just nodded and he could tell she'd crawled back inside her own head.
The ride was silent, occasionally Maria shifted and made a small noise that said she was in pain but mostly they were silent. Giles was sure he had some spare pyjamas somewhere. If not, a shirt that would fit her at least so she'd be more comfortable, so she could shower the blood out of her hair. He just wanted her to be comfortable, he knew he couldn't reach out and take that pain away, but he was hardly going to just put her outside her house and leave her. Let her be alone just because he couldn't reach in there.
Giles pulled up outside the apartment and got out walking around to the passenger side and opening Maria's door to help her out. She was crying, he could see her face was all wet and he supposed it was a good thing. Better than being completely numb.
"Rupert." Maria said quietly. "I don't want to be on my own." She choked out a sob bringing the hand not in a sling up to her mouth. Giles dropped to his knees next to the passenger side and wrapped his arms around her awkwardly as her shoulders shook heavily and she cried in his arms.
"Maria." Giles said softly after a minute, when his back and knees were becoming uncomfortable. "Let's get you inside and, and get some tea." Maria nodded not looking at him.
"Maria," Giles lifted her chin gently so he could meet her eyes. "I promise you. You are not alone."
Like I said I've a lot planned out for this. I'm so excited to keep writing. I'm having so much fun and also breaking my own heart at points too...
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If you didn't enjoy, I guess this just wasn't your cup of tea but I wish you happy hunting for something more your taste in your fanfic days!