An: Here is the second chapter of The Slaying of Adam Giles. We've got a bit more Robin in this episode! I really loved Robin in the show, I think I really resonated with him when I watched the show ages ago!

Anyway! Onto the chapter!

The caustic scent of smoke hit his nose first, sneaking into the inky darkness that consumed his vision. His body was floating in a calm sea constructed completely of unfathomable ether, but still, it burnt through his lungs, wrenching him from the depthless black into bright feathered lights.

Great green and brown beasts rose around him, their arms upturned to the sky casting long shadows across the ground. His eyes flicked around in panic searching for the flame that had brought him to his senses within this forest. But there were signs of a blaze within the tree line but there was a sting, searing, and sizzling at his leg. He looked down at his jeans that lay in the rays of sunlight and found them to be ablaze. The yell ripped from his lip as he reeled back into the shadow of the tree, the rough bark grinding against his back.

He batted at the flames that tore across his skin like hungry fingers, hissing as they receded. His skin was left raw and burnt around his ankle, his jeans were a scorched mess of black fabric.

"Adam!" a familiar voice skittered across the air barely above a whisper. Adams' head whipped around to see a flickering image of Robin appear before him, wearing a snow-white robe that reflected the sun that danced around them in golden eddies.

"Robin…? Is that you? You look a right state in that get up mate. What are you doing?"

"They're coming!" the boy whispered, his eyes glued to the tree line across the clearing.

Adam followed his sightline, seeing only the slight sway of the trees, "Who are coming?"

"Slayers," the boy hissed, as if the word lay foul upon his tongue.

"Ok-ay…and?" Adam asked, pulling himself to his feet, he leaned against the rough bark of the tree for support. The sound of rushed footsteps battered against his ears, the shush of fabric murmuring in the breeze. Adam took an instinctual step back, fear rising in his chest like a beast that raked at the inside of his ribs.

Adam heard it before his eyes caught up, the familiar hiss of a stake flying through the air, coming from nowhere, blurring through air. It dug itself into the tree behind him, splintering the wood of the trunk with a crunch as Adam whipped around with a cry, it had barely missed him, but the pain bloomed from his side where the splinters of wood had sliced him. A trickle of dark blood made its way down his ribs and soaked his clothes.

"For the love of garlic!" he yelled, turning to where the stake had been thrown from to find himself surrounded by familiar figures in brown cloaks, their faces twisted with malice. His mother stood at the center; her eyes hard as she watched him, in her hand was a wicked stake. He could smell the garlic that lathered the wood, leaving it glistening in the sunlight. To her left Chloe and George stood together, their cloaks nearly dragging upon the ground as they watched him with bared teeth. Adam balked at the sight of the Van Helsings, father and son bathed in sunlight, only Mr. Van Helsing was void of a weapon, pulling a crossbow out from without the shadowed depths of his cape.

"Vampire!" they yelled in unison, closing in. Adam's eyes widened as they stalked towards him, he looked in confusion towards Robin, who watched the scene apathetically, his eyes a glazed grey. He was sure his heart should be beating out of his chest, but there was no familiar thrum of blood through his limbs

"Run," Robin whispered as his image dissipated leaving the forest staring back at Adam.

His feet moved before he commanded them to, turning and running from the impending doom of the stakes that hung behind him in the hands of his family. The trees blurred around him in a verdant blur, leaving him dizzy as he jumped over a log, his foot catching upon a stray branch as the ground jumped up to meet him.

"AH!" Adam woke with a start, the cool of tiles were flush against his skin as his heart hammered in his chest as he scrambled to his feet and stared at himself in the mirror. His face was slick with sweat, his eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed. He reeled back in horror at the sight of himself, patting his hair back down from its messy state.

"You alright Adam?" a familiar voice asked.

Adam jumped back in fright, knocking painfully into the metal sink at the sight of Robin, "R-Robin? What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Robin just rolled his eyes, "Looking for you, you nonce. Bell's gonna ring soon and I wanted to make sure you'd gotten out of Van Helsing's office in one piece. But it looks like he took a chunk out of you the way you're acting. What happened?"

Adam shook himself, tearing his eyes away from his reflection and to his friend, the concern coming off him in waves, "I-I don't know. I talked to Van Helsing and—ah," he looked down at his side, pain lancing through his body and he noticed the shirt of his school uniform soaked on his left side in dark blood, like an inkblot, "What the in the name of…"

Robin surged forward, looking at the wound with worry, "We need to get you to the nurse—"

"No! I'll just—" Adam looked around in a panic, shucking off his jacket he grabbed some hand towel from above the sink and pulled up his shirt to expose the deep scratches that raced across his side in three deep slashes. He blot at the wounds with a hiss, "see all better," he chucked the towel in the bin and looked through his back for his emergency first aid kit, standard fair in his line of work. The little green box had hidden itself at the bottom of his back but with some coaxing, he pulled it out, the wound on his side protesting with the sudden movement, "Could you put one of the larger bandages on it, Robin?"

He looked over at his gaping friend, the fluorescent lighting of the bathroom making him look sickly pale, "Sure Adam," his voice shook as he walked over and opened the small box, rustling around until he found the soft fabric, "Why have you even got this in your bag?" he asked.

"Oh um…mum gets really paranoid about my safety and makes me carry it around," Adam lied, he felt bad for it, but the boy liked vampires too much for him to know about Adam's extracurricular activities.

Robin nodded, "Ah that makes sense," he said as he placed the bandage onto Adam's wounds with gentle hands, "Right well that should do it," the bell rang out, tearing through the tension between the two boys.

Adam grabbed the first aid kit out of Robin's hands, "Thanks Robin, I really appreciate it. I dunno what happened," he scrubbed his eyes, willing the spots out of his vision. Putting the first aid kit away, Adam put his blazer back on with a wince, making sure to button it up.

The two walked through the emptying halls towards their first class. Adam could feel the burn around his ankle itch with the swish of his polyester pant against the tender skin. He grit his teeth, making sure to keep his face empty of pain, not wanting to freak Robin out anymore.

"Yeah you didn't say what happened," Robin said looking towards his friend, "You were on the floor and I tried to wake you up but...you wouldn't wake. I thought you were dead for a second there."

Adam looked at his hands for a moment, his steps echoing across the lino, "I think I fainted and then I had a really weird dream. You were in it actually…look can I tell you at lunch?"

Robin rolled his eyes, "Sure Adam, I know how much you love double maths," he said with sarcasm dripping from every word as he opened the door to the dull drone of Mr. Harker. The two boys quickly found their seats, ignoring the stare the man gave them as they sat.

Adam truly despised anything to do with maths, the numbers never really went in, just jumbling in his mind like an incredibly difficult jigsaw. The rhythmic scrape of the chalk up on the board and the scratch of pens on paper swirled in his mind.

He could feel his eyelids growing heavy, he struggled against them, straining his eyes to stop the numbers from swimming in front of them. Shadows danced at the edges of his vision, slowly knitting together the classroom wavering in front of him.

Blinking he rubbed his eyes, as Mr. Harker's deadened voice came back into focus, "The best way to bite a breather is at a forty-three degree angle," Adam jumped back nearly falling from his seat. The air around him was cold, as if he had been dumped into a refrigerator. Adam glanced towards Mr Harker, who was smiling with all of his teeth, fangs dripping with ruby red blood, "Isn't that right, Adam?" ink seemed to spread across his eyes as he turned on the boy hissing.

Horror sung through his body as his classmates turned to him, fangs bared, he swiveled into his chair to where he knew Robin was sitting but the boy had disappeared. A thought flickered through his head, knowing that Robin would be annoyed that he was featured as a vampire in his dreams.

"Adam!" Robin towered over the room, standing upon the teacher's desk, again clad in robes of white, "Are you listening?"

Adam shook his head, trying to banish the vision, "What?"

"Are you listening?"

"Adam! Are you listening? Adam!" A crack sounded next to his ear like thunder as his body sprung up, his books clattering to the floor as he came face to face with the sallow Mr. Harker, his hands on his desk, "Seems to me Giles that you think you can take a nap in my class eh?" he asked. Adam just shook his head, blinking in confusion as he looked around at his staring classmates, now lacking in fangs and looking thoroughly amused, "Make sure it doesn't happen again Giles or you'll be off to the principal…you understand?"

"Yes sir."

Mr. Harker turned back to the board, as tittering whispers flitted through the room, Adam felt a blush heat his cheeks, glad for the hammering of his heart that beat against his chest once more as he picked up his books from the floor.

"Adam," Robin whispered across from him, "What's gotten into you? You just fell asleep."

Sighing Adam replied, "I don't know. We can talk about it later."

The class passed in a slow trudge. Adam could barely keep up with content normally, but now it all seemed garbled with images of brown cloaks and wicked stakes that descended through dappled sunlight.

He found himself doodling in the margins, trees forming under his pencil, unguided by his mind, wolves ran clumsily through the scene, shifting to bats, their wings nearly translucent under the light of the moon and then to people their hair streaming out behind them like ribbons. Gazing at the image he hadn't even realised he had drawn, the familiar disjointed sensation sunk into his bones. Something wasn't right.

Adam jumped as the bell and the spell cast by his pencil was broken. Shutting his books with haste he tore out of the classroom with Robin hot on his heels.

"Adam! Wait up!" Robin said rushing up behind his, "You alright mate. You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Adam just laughed, "I feel like I may as well as done, I don't know it was so weird," he said rubbing his eyes, "Let's go outside. I don't think this is something Jono would be interested in hearing anyway."

Adam pulled him out into the watery sunlight of Stokely Grammar, out onto the asphalt and away from the other students. Robin tripped over his feet at the speed, grumbling in complaint as Adam took him behind the bushes near the wire-link fence.

"Adam! Jeez I don't think falling asleep is enough of an excuse to pull me all the way out here," Robin said with a laugh.

Rolling his eyes Adam sat on the ground, patting the space next to him, "It's not the falling asleep that worries me. It's what happened in the dream, it really scared me Robin," he whispered, wringing his hands.

"What happened?" Robin asked, taking his seat by his side as he pulled his knees up to his chin, wrapping his arms around his legs.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Adam asked. Robin turned to him, his mouth agape as he giggled, "I'm serious Robin, swear on your mother's grave that you won't tell a soul especially Jono."

"Alright Alright, I swear I won't tell anyone. Can we stop with all the cloak and dagger stuff now?" he said with a smirk, holding upon his own cape around his eyes, wiggling his eyebrows in the process.

Adam chuckled at his friend, "Look Robin just promise you won't freak out or anything but," he sighed, taking a deep breath he let the little ball of tension in his chest go, "So, I had a dream where I was a vampire and there were slayers and then everyone was vampires and you were like this sensei kind of guy which was really strange but I don't know it was so real you know," it all tumbled out of his mouth like a deluge, a weight lifting off his shoulders.

"Oh man wait, so in your dream, you got to be a vampire, everyone got to be vampires except me?" Robin complained, kicking at the dirt with his shoe, "Well that just sucks."

Rolling his eyes Adam said, "Isn't that the point?"

Robin laughed, "I guess so, but Adam why is this such a problem? Like…it was just a dream."

Adam shuddered at the thought, it had felt so real, the taste of fear in the air as he ran had been so palpable, "I guess so. But Robin the slayers, they were my family, like mum and George and they attacked me with stakes!"

"Yeah I've had that dream before," Robin said, his eyes were glazed over and a small smile played at his lips.

"Robin this is serious!" Adam said scandalised, turning to his friend, "When they attacked me, they did this," he pointed to his side, the ache had mostly subsided through the class. He lifted his shirt to see the bandage had nearly soaked through, marred with dark ichor that was splattered across the white cloth.

"That is weird but we should probably replace that bandage I reckon," Robin said, leaning forward to look closer, "Don't want you to be getting blood everywhere. Maybe you'll want to suck your own blood?" he said with a light laugh.

Adam looked at him murderously, "I'm not a vampire," he spat.

"I was just joking," Robin said, "you probably just got this from falling over in the bathroom on the sink or something," he mumbled, "Besides it wouldn't be so terrible to be a vampire would it?"

"It would literally be, the worst thing that could ever happen to me actually Robin," Adam said, lifting the sides of the bandage with a wince, "Could you get the first aid kit out of my bag please Rob?"

"Yeah yeah one sec," the boy grabbed the backpack rifling through it. Adam felt a surge of nerves, hoping that Robin didn't find the stake that he had hidden in the zipper pocket along with a few bulbs of garlic. It was nearly invisible unless you knew what you were looking for, "I can't find it Adam, you've got so many books in here you swot." He said with a laugh.

"I'll just get it, give it here," Adam said in alarm reaching for the bag.

"Nah it's—" Robin coughed on his words as Adam heard the tell-tale sound of a screeching zipper.

"Robin don't!" Adam cried, reaching for the bag with clumsy hands before Robin snatched it away from him.

"Adam what is this?" the boy whispered, a tremor in his voice and he held the dark wood of the stake in his hand.

Adam felt a shudder of revulsion flow through his body at the look on the boy's face, "I think you know what that is Robin," he took his backpack out of the boy's lap and pulled out the first aid kit that had been sitting under his history textbook. He opened it with vicious intent, his mind whirling as he opened the new bandage with a satisfying rip.

"But why do you have it?" Robin asked, watching as Adam pulled the bandage to reveal three pink scratches across his side, "Wait Adam! The scratches they're nearly gone!" he said, his warm fingers assailed his skin, tracing the thin lines.

"What?!" Adam twisted around, staring down at the wounds that were smeared with dark, dried blood, finding them nearly completely scabbed over, pink tissue already peeking out from under the cracked flakes of skin.

"Slayers got some sort of healing ability?" Robin asked and Adam's head whipped up staring into the accusing face of his best friend, "Why didn't you tell me?" he seethed.

"Because," Adam said, wrapping the used bandage up and placing it in the bin near them, "I know how much you love vampires, I didn't want you to hate me!"

Robin smirked at that, "I mean, vampires are cool and all that but being a slayer is just as cool…wait does that mean vampires are actually really real?!" he shouted, a smile peeling across his face, "Have you ever met one? Oh Jesus! Have you ever slayed one!? How are you a slayer anyways you're like fifteen? There's got to be a law against that!"

"Can you just keep it down! I don't need the whole of Stokely knowing I'm a slayer!" Adam hissed, ripping the stake out of the other boy's hands as if it would burn him.

"So, you admit it?" Robin was nearly leering at the boy, his dark eyes wide as he backed up slightly, "You don't think I'm a vampire, do you? Cause I promise I ain't!"

"I know that Robin! And of course, I admit it, I wouldn't be carrying around a stake just for the fun of it, now would I?" Adam sighed heavily, pushing his shirt back down, wondering how he was going to explain it to his mother.

"So, it literally would be the worst thing in the world if you were a vampire I guess?" Robin smirked, "That would be wicked though!"

"It wouldn't be wicked at all Robin! Vampires are evil, soulless creatures! I'm not a vampire! I have two human parents to prove it! I think the dreams must be just some sleep deprivation thing. I was up pretty late last night," he hedged, curling in on himself as he stared out at the rugby field.

"Yeah maybe…anyways! Answer my questions," Robin whinged, shaking Adam's shoulder with a smile, "Ever met a vampire?"

"Yes," Adam said plainly, he could feel ice forming in his belly at the thought, the sigh of midnight hair against the cool night air resonated in his mind.

"Ever slayed a vampire?" Robin asked his eyes wide at the thought as he clutched his cape.

"Yes," Adam stared down at the stake in his hands, the polished wood gleamed in the sun, the dark veins that spread through the wood nearly shifting as he turned it over in his hands.

"When?" Robin asked, excitement laced through his voice as he seemed to bounce in his sitting position.

Adam smirked feeling that trickle of guilt slide into his stomach in oily ropes, "Last night."

"No way!" Robin gasped.

"Yes way," Adam intoned, stuffing the stake back into his back, the sight of it nearly making his stomach roll.

Robin froze for a moment, staring down at his pale hands, "What was it like?" his voice was hoarse and quiet, muffled in the slight breeze.

Adam drew up short, thinking back to the darkness of the forest, the twisting of excitement in his gut as his stake slid through the vampire's ribs, "It was…thrilling at first, the chase you know—"

"Wait let me get this straight," Robin said in disbelief, his eyebrows nearly disappearing behind his fringe, "You, Adam Giles, chased down a vampire?"

"W-well not exactly, she—"

"She! You killed a girl?" Robin interrupted, aghast.

"I slayed a vampire! I didn't kill a girl, I wouldn't kill a person," heat spread through his chest at Robin's words, it stung the thought of killing, the thought that Robin would consider him to be a killer, "Look let me explain alright! Stop interrupting!" he said hotly.

"Sorry," Robin mumbled as he fiddled with his sleeve, eyes flicking away from Adam's and a blush colouring his cheeks.

"The Guild, they…they catch a vampire for your test. They drop them somewhere and make sure they can't escape from the general vicinity. They normally put a UV cage around the area or something. Then you hunt, I didn't chase the vampire so much as find her and surprise her…it was shockingly easy actually," Adam hummed, he had remembered the looked no the vampires face as he had driven his stake through her heart, all desperation and fear like some kind of carnival mask that twisted her face up nearly comically in her last moments.

"So, there's a guild? A whole group of you?" Robin questioned, he looked nearly frenzied with curiosity.

"Yes, but you can't tell anyone!" Adam frowned at the boy, hoping that the gravity of the situation was conveyed. Adam could not believe how stupid he had been, first day as a real slayer and he had already messed it up royally.

"I won't obviously…you're secret's safe with me. Wait Adam…why are you here, not like at school but if you're a slayer shouldn't you be out finding vampires? Are there vampires in Stokely!? Who are they?"

Adam swallowed thickly, "I can't tell you that," he whispered, he pinched the skin of his arms, rolling the flesh between his fingers in his attempts to keep his face impassive.

"What? Adam are you serious?" Robin said, jumping to his feet, "Come on! Why not?" he groused, crossing his arms in front of his chest, his cape falling around him in the breeze like a shadow.

"Because Robin, you love vampires. Knowing anything more would put you in more danger than you're already in! Besides…" Adam sighed, looking up at his friend's frustrated expression, "I know you. If I told you, you'll try and find them. Probably try and make friends with them knowing you and I can't risk that," Robin smiled lightly at that.

"Aie, you're not wrong there. Alright man. Sorry, this is just…wow," Robin said, sitting back down with a whoosh of air.

"I know," Adam chuckled, his thoughts swirling back to his introduction to the darkness of the world that hung around them like fog. It was always there, in the corner of their vision as his father had said-those shadows that wanted nothing but your blood and your screams. At least Robin needn't ever see a vampire, his knowledge of their existence would remain purely theoretical as much as Adam could help it.

"Why do it though?" Robin asked. He seemed more relaxed now, digging through his back and pulling out a plastic wrapped sandwich that he munched on with slapping lips.

Knowing this was not going to be a pleasant conversation Adam steeled himself. He kept the skin of his arm between his fingers and he pressed harder, the stinging waves grounding him as he spoke, "You remember how I told you about the car crash my dad was in a few years back?"

Robin's head shot up at that, "You're not telling me it was…"

"It was," his head dropped as he whispered, "He was a slayer and he went out one day and never came back. The Guild told us what happened a few days later." Adam could nearly see his father's face in front of him, the exact shade of his sun-kissed skin and the light blues of his eyes like a shallow ocean shoal. Adam looked over to Robin, whose skin had gone a deathly pale, somewhat green like spoilt milk and his hands were shaking.

"So, you decided to become a slayer?" Robin asked, there was a tinge of accusation in his voice, "When his job literally killed him."

"I had to. It was what he would have wanted," Adam whispered, the words stuck in his throat like taffy as he forced them out.

Robin's eyes were shining, "How old were you when you joined do you think? Did you even want to?"

"I-I was twelve, they've started taking slayers in a lot earlier than they used to. I've had a lot of private tuition though, so I think that's why they made me a full slayer I guess. As for wanting it," Adam thought for a moment, pausing. He couldn't remember wanting it exactly, no one wants to be a slayer, but his body had burned with need when he was younger. Something that itched below his skin like embers, begging for revenge or justice or just something else other than sorrow. He looked back at the boy, "I-I don't know if I wanted to do it, to do what I do, but I needed to."

Robin's head bobbed sluggishly, his eyes scanning the middle distance, "So there's another slayer about then?" Adam shrugged, Robin just gave a world weary sigh, it was the most serious Adam had ever seen the boy, "Does Jono know his dad's a slayer?"

Spluttering Adam stifled a gasp, "What?"

Robin laughed faintly, the colour was returning a little to his cheeks, "I mean it's pretty obvious. All those afternoon woodwork sessions make sense now. 'sides, you're useless at woodwork anyways."

Adam laughed, it was a full-bellied thing that tinkled on the air lightly, lifting the tension from the boys that hung around them like a cloying smoke, "Of course that's what you would notice. Jono knows, but he doesn't believe, quite a sore spot for Eric actually. You're not as half stupid as you look Branaugh!"

"Oi!" Robin sniggered as he punched Adam lightly on the arm.

The bell rang out calling them back to their classrooms with it's bellowing tune. Both boys grumbled, pulling themselves from the ground. Adam watched the other students stream back into the brick prison of Stokely Grammar, their blue blazers looked like little streams as they merged together in lines. As they walked the hulking mass of Tommo cast a shadow over them, his gait lumbered but it didn't seem that he had noticed them, his eyes were glued to the door.

Adam stiffened at the sight of the boy, making sure to keep his fists clenched and his eyes down. Robin, on the other hand, did not appear to be fairing as well, his nose was scrunched up and his lips were a harsh line as he looked up at the bully. His heated gaze caught Tommo's attention, who's beastly head turned to them, a frown flitted across his face as his eyes met Adam's, their beady depths giving nothing away. They stared at one another for a moment before the older boy nodded his head and moved away without a word.

"Woah! Are you like the bully whisperer or something?" Robin asked as he watched Tommo's retreating back.

"I dunno," Adam said, confusion muddling his thoughts.

"Come on let's get to class bat brain," Robin said with a smirk.

"Oi!" Adam swatted the back of his head as they walked into the biology classroom.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you thought!