Whoa, I suddenly got like five reviews on the same day for that chapter. I hope my 'where are you guys' comment didn't sound threatening. Haha. I was just wondering where you were at. hehe.
Abrxyis- Yes, it was quite a dark chapter, and I'm actually glad that Ripper had an impact on you.It took me forever to try and get it right- you know going far enough, but not ridiculously far. And no he wasn't nice, but we got Rupert out of it all in the end. A review of yours went AWOL? How dare it! Hehe. But yes, the trio is finally revealed to all hehe, and you've gotta love Blunt Anya, but happy you liked Take Charge Anya. It well, it just seemed like her moment. hehe. Hope you like this chapter, but Ripper's all dark and shadowy again. Thanks for the review.
Jason Barnett- I'm taking the teachings there from Wiccan laws, or advice rather. Of how energy for spells should be taken from the earth (not without asking of course) as Mother Earth has continous positive energy that you channel. And even then you need to ground after that. But even on a Hellmouth, it would be possible to tune into the good vibrations and that is what Giles is encouraging Willow to do. Thanks for the review.
g120- You're 'I'm back' had a slight 'The Shining' edge to it. hehe. But I'm totally with you on the whole 'back to school getting in the way' front. I know how it can be, goddamn it. But I like the fact my story's addictive (At least I hope you were referring to this story, hehe) for you. teehee. And yes, we delve further into the Ripper development. But he's just such a darned difficult character to write. He's so elusive. I mean the closest we got to seeing him was a bit in the Dark Age and Halloween and a younger version in Band Candy, dammit. hehe. Thanks for the well done comment of course and thanks for the review.
Rabidreject- .::Hands held up in the air, backing away slowly::. Don't worry, I know you review a lot. You are one of my faithful reviewers, hehe. It's just on the last chapter only one review (Zigpal) and you had me worried I'd lost your interest. hehe. And thank GAWD you liked my Ripper characterization, you wouldn't believe how much I stressed over that. Thans for the review and hope you like this chapter.
zigpal- Yay my claps! hehe, Thanks for the review and well, things don't get hairy in the training room just yet but hairyness will ensue. And well, you'll just have to see about the Spike sitch.
A/N: I have slight semi-comical Giles-Xander comparison in this chapter. It's only teeny, but I still wanted to explain what inspired me to put it there. Okay, so anyone else notice the similarities between Giles and Xander? Seriously. I mean aside from the good-looking side of things.
I mean they both are very protective over Buffy, putting her first above all else no matter what (Or though Xander's feelings for Buffy definitely lean more to the sexual). The two of them are equally sarcastic, and equally great at using said sarcasm. And in each season they seem to be going through similar periods in their life.
I mean in season 1 they both weren't sure what role they could have in Buffy's Slaying life- Buffy having told Xander he could get hurt, and told Giles she's had enough essentially with clueless Watchers giving the orders.
Season 2, while they are both having relationship issues- just like everyone else in this season- Xander is as equally mad at Angel as Giles is when Jenny is murdered. The two of them are the ones that are constantly most anti-Angel.
And next, season three. Oh the two of them are quite happy in the first part of the series, nothing much amiss, then at the same time Giles' relationship with Joyce gets uber complicated so does Xander's and Cordy's (culminating in Lover's Walk of course). Also, at the exact same time Giles has been fired and lost his purpose, Xander is feeling like the Zeppo. They both lose their sense of direction and purpose, and fittingly the two of them play a pivotal role in the Graduation battle.
Then, there was season four. Could the two have been more like each other in this season? They were practically the same person. Both feeling useless and unwanted and both hanging out at Giles' apartment, desperate for some mayhem to occur.
And lo and behold- what happens in season 5? They both get a steady job and purpose again! You see where I'm going with this? They just constantly reflect one another. Also, after Joyce's tragic death, both cope with the loss through denial. Xander refuses to accept it was natural causes ('Maybe it was Glory...Things don't happen. I mean they don't just happen!'), while Giles on some level refuses to believe it's happened at all as he sits sadly in his apartment, drinking and listening to Tales of Brave Ulysses, the song the two listened to when they were allowed to just be themselves together.
And in season 6, in light of Giles' absence, Xander seems to take on Giles' role in everybody's life. He's the one who leads the research, bringing focus to it and is the one who has the more serious heart to hearts, giving insight to everybody when they need it most. He is also left with the job of being the one to force Buffy to be serious when the situation calls for it. Such as in 'Gone' where Anya and Buffy are discussing hairstyles and Xander asks them if they could stop talking about cuts for a minute and focus on Buffy's invisibility as this is serious. In that moment he is uncannily mirroring Giles in The Prom where he asks the girls to stop talking about dresses and focus on the Mayor's ascension.
And season 7 the two of them, although they have been very similar over the years, are finally on equal footing. Which is really nice me thinks. And on a sad, but equally uncanny note, Xander also looses the woman he loves to evil (Anya for Xander, Jenny for Giles). And actually, if you look how Anya has fallen on the debris her neck cracked to the side, blank staring eyes- very Jenny-esque. Only without the Angel wrapping.
Speaking of the woman though, they also have a share on that front. Both definitely had lusty feelings for Joyce (shown in Band Candy for Giles and Restless for Xander), both had Drusilla making with the smoochies on them, both fell for Natalie French (Though so did every other guy) and I know Jenny/Giles was canon and there was no mention of Jenny/Xander on show, but you have to admit that Xander always cared very strongly for Jenny's welfare. Just saying.
Anyway, ramble over. On with the story.
Willow looked on at a disorientated Giles in worry, before turning on Rack in anger.
"What the hell did you just...do?" Willow trailed off as she looked around. Rack was already gone. She hadn't even heard him leave the practical side of her said, while her more magickally inclined side made her realize that Rack more than likely hadn't left by conventional means.
"Giles?" Tara called, stepping forward cautiously, "A-are you okay?"
"I'm fine," He told her abruptly, shaking his head as if to clear it.
"No offense, Giles," Willow told him, taking in his shaky appearance and the fact his eyes had flooded with the same blackness her own had many times before, "But you really don't look okay"
"I'm fine Willow," Giles insisted. Slight sparks of black and red majikal electricity crackled between his fingers and both Will and Tara looked on in deep concern.
"Giles I-"
"Look, I'm fine alright? Just stop being such a mithering bint"
Willow and Tara were both understandably shocked by Giles' harsh words and he shook his head again.
"I'm sorry Willow," He apologized, "It's...I'm not quite focused right now"
"No kidding," Willow agreed, "Giles you were hit with a serious dose. I really think you should sit down"
It was on the tip of Giles' tongue to tell Willow to stop telling him what to do, but he had enough awareness to bite back the words and he allowed the two girls to direct him to the nearby seat.
He sat down and dropped his head in his hands, trying to regain focus. It was almost impossible. The rush was such a familiar one, no matter how long he had gone without it. It was something he hadn't told Willow and had never intended to. That no matter how much you may overcome the addiction, no matter how much you no longer became agitated or stressed without majik, the addiction was always there, deep down inside you. And the slightest contact with something as dark and addictive as Rack's majik was an instant regression into the addiction as the high was as powerful as it had ever been.
And Giles hadn't been hit with just a little. He'd been hit with a lot. And he could feel it rushing through him, seeking control. He wanted to get the better of it to much, to gain control over it instead of the other way round, but it wasn't happening. And he was dreadfully afraid of the dark place it was taking him little by little.
He reached out a hand to the nearby table to steady himself and the cup placed there which he touched with his fingertips crackled with black energy before folding in on itself. He looked on in more fascination that horror.
"Giles, w-we, I think you, until we can figure this out, perhaps, I think you should try and ground yourself," Tara suggested, looking worriedly at the cup and then at Giles, "It might focus a lot of the majik, or drain it enough for you to gain focus again"
Giles didn't answer and Tara and Willow looked at each other in worry, even more so when Giles suddenly stood up as though deciding something.
"Giles?" Willow questioned.
"I've got to uh...I've got to go," He told them, "If I stay here, it'll only effect everything."
"Like the cup?" Willow checked, "Look, Giles, I know you're worried, but you know- so am I. Only not about the cup. More about you. I really don't think you should leave. "
"And you should really stop thinking you know what you're talking about," Giles retorted, "Just shut up and stick to what you know. Which, if you were wondering, is not the majiks"
"Look, you're obviously not thinking straight," Willow reasoned, trying to ignore how much his words hurt her. After all, she kept reminding herself, he wasn't himself right now- the majiks were effecting him too much. "Giles, just wait here," She began, putting a hand on his arm to try and jolt him back to the non-majik-high reality and make him sit down. But the mere connection mixed with his obvious frustration caused more of that black energy that seemed to be crackling about him since Rack's 'treat', to shock through her, sending her into Tara, feeling slightly buzzed but definitely not in a good way.
After she and Tara got their bearings they realized Giles was already gone.
"Tara, what are we gonna do?" Willow asked worriedly, "I mean, he's pretty wacked out now, and he's doing like okay controlling it. What's gonna happen when he does lose control? And he will. It's the only way it can go. Oh god, what are we gonna do? I mean, where's he gone?"
"Willow, breathe, it's okay," Tara said calmly, "We, we can solve this. We can. We just need to-"
"Get Buffy?" Willow suggested.
"Well, I was thinking more of me doing a locater spell..." Tara admitted, "But yes, that's a good idea too. Go call Buffy, get her here."
"And Xander," Willow added to herself as she walked out of the room to head to the shop phone. She wanted both Buffy and Xander there. They were the only other two who'd dealt with Giles' past before and although this was essentially nothing alike the time in their Junior year, Willow felt the two could still bring comfort to an uncomfortable-in-a-terrifying-sort-of-way matter.
Giles was extremely disorientated and everything he touched seemed to be effected by the majiks that were crackling through him. He was afraid to touch anything, for fear it would trigger automatic use of the majiks currently in him which would drag him down to a place he really didn't want to go.
The trick lay in remaining focused. Focused enough that he wouldn't use any of the majiks. But by God it was taking all of him to manage to do that.
He was in fact so focused on focusing that he barely realized he had walked, or stumbled confusedly may have been a more accurate word, all the way to his own front door. He sighed in relief. This was one place he always felt safe, secure and as though anything were possible, be it demons or his own inner evil. He rested his head on the door with a sigh of intense relief, before resting his hands on the door also. The wood tingled with majikal electricity before opening all by it's own majikal accord and Giles tried desperately to suppress the pleasing rush that that one action had caused him. He'd have to be more careful.
"Willow, what is it?" Buffy asked in panic, rushing into the magic store. She had been in a class when her cell had started ringing. Seeing it was the Magic Box number she had immediately feared the worst and excused herself from the class to answer it. Willow hadn't been very clear on the details throughout the phone call, but her voice had been distraught enough for Buffy to immediately grab her bag, bail class and run over to the store at a speed only a Slayer could achieve.
As she rushed over to Willow, she saw Tara and Xander were there also and knew it must be something serious for them all to be there (well, all except Anya). The kinda serious that required a Watcher's insight. Speaking of.
"Where's Giles?" Buffy asked as she placed her bag on the table.
"That's the problem..." Willow said quietly, "We don't know"
"You don't know?" Buffy asked, sure she had heard wrong, "What do you mean you don't know?"
"Something happened," Tara told her in a calm voice that amazingly seemed to immediately betray dire seriousness of the situation.
"What happened?" Buffy asked, now equally as serious, "Did something happen to Giles? Or Mom?"
"Giles got a majik dose Buffy," Xander informed her somberly, having already been brought up to speed on the story, "By the same guy who got to Willow. Ripper's back, Buffy"
"What?" Buffy asked in a deadly low tone, her eyes wide.
"No, not yet," Willow hurried to correct Xander, "He's still Giles...but he's teetering Buffy. And he's not well teeter champion right now. I think he could..."
"Could go off the deep end," Buffy finished in realization, "Great. Have you called Mom?"
"What?" Willow asked, the thought never having occurred to her.
"Willow, if Giles is turning the screw, she could be in trouble," Buffy almost shouted as panic mounted. She looked down at her watch, "She'll just be getting home. I've gotta get there. Xander, you too. We need to motor"
Xander nodded in immediate agreement, already heading out but Buffy took a moment to look back at Tara and Willow.
"You two. Work on a way to de-majik Giles. Fast"
The two witches nodded, before rushing over to the shelved books, immediately moving into intense research mode.
Joyce knew something was wrong the moment she saw the front door was open. The front was rarely locked, true, but it was never left wide open. She slowed her pace walking up the drive, wary of what could be there, but refusing to be scared away from her own home.
As she reached the door, she paused, glancing around at the hall in front of her. Nothing seemed out of place and nothing dangerous jumped out her so she stepped forward into her home, still looking around warily. Just in case. She walked slowly into the living room and saw a lamp opened up like a flower, definitely not how it had been before. Looking around she saw there were many objects that had been warped and changed. A book on the side seemed to be glowing black, if it were at all possible to glow black in the first place.
Now, deeply concerned, Joyce followed the path of effected objects through the kitchen and back into the dining room where the breadcrumbs seemed to end. And she saw Rupert there. He was against the far wall, standing, but barely so. His fingers were surrounded with the same sparkling black energy that had been humming around the book in the living room.
"Rupert, what's- are you okay?" She asked as she rushed over to him.
"Yes, I'm fine," He told her, his tone harsh and Joyce was slight taken aback.
"I was just, Rupert what's the matter with you?" Joyce asked, but still he didn't make eye contact, his head remaining lowered, "Why won't you look at me? Rupert?"
She crouched down slightly, so she could look into his eyes and force him to make eye contact. But what she saw wasn't the usual warm and familiar green eyes but black pupiless abysses, a horrifying soulless sight that she had only ever seen occur Willow when the majiks had been getting a hold on her. Oh god, what had happened to Rupert?
"Xander, you drive like Giles," Buffy said simply as she and Xander drove to her house in Xander's car.
"What?" Xander took his eyes away from the road a moment to look at Buffy with a mixture of confusion and shock.
"Very, very slowly," Buffy elaborated semi-patiently, "Step on it"
"I am," Xander insisted, not bothering to tell her that if he went any faster Sunnydale's 'Finest' would be chasing them down the highway.
"Alright," Buffy agreed before murmuring, "Giles"
As they drove on they stopped talking, but Buffy found this left her alone with her worries about Giles and by extension her Mom, so she searched for something to say to distract herself.
"Hey, how come Anya's not with you?" She asked.
"Oh she's got some demon buddy over in preparation for the wedding," Xander explained as he took a right, "Halfrek or something," He turned to Buffy, "Did you ever see Anya you know all demony? Because, well, there was some serious veinage going on there"
"Rupert, what's happened?" Joyce kept repeating his name, in the hopes that it would bring him back to himself, but it had done nothing so far. His eyes continued to look cold and soulless, the magic still crackling at his fingertips and what minimal response he did give her was cold and harsh.
"Nothing," He told her in that same harsh, abrupt tone that had become hurtfully familiar to her in the past few minutes.
"It doesn't look like nothing, Rupert," She insisted, "In fact...it looks very much like a 'something'" A dangerous something she added silently to herself.
"It's nothing," He insisted through gritted teeth, in a warning tone that seemed to borer on threat.
"Rupert, what's wrong? You're scaring me" She told him, but no warmth or emotion flickered in those black eyes and he didn't even flinch at the words of her discomfort. Something was definitely off here, so off it was setting her on edge. She didn't like to openly admit it, but she was actually afraid right now of the man she loved. "I'm going, I'm going to call Buffy"
She turned to head for the phone but was stopped by Rupert grabbing onto her wrist tightly, so tightly in fact she found it hurt.
"No," He told her firmly, "You're not calling Buffy"
"Rupert, something's wrong. That is very- I need to call Buffy. Now, please let go," She tugged but he didn't let go, just looked at her evenly, warningly with those pupiless eyes. She found she couldn't actually look at them, they were so unlike Rupert that it physically hurt to see them there in place of his familiarly warm expression.
"You're not calling Buffy," He repeated.
"Yes, I am," She insisted, "Now let go of me," He didn't, "Rupert, you're hurting me"
He used his grip on her wrist to pull himself away from the wall slightly and every bone and muscle in Joyce's wrist felt the extremely painful strain of that pressure. So, through this, she inadvertently found herself being brought intimately closer to him. Something that usually made her tingle with excitement, but right now made her squirmish with fear.
"Rupert, something is obviously wrong here, terribly wrong," She spoke to him pleadingly, hoping beyond hope that some form of the old, familiar him would come through, "I need to get a hold of Buffy"
"You don't need to do anything," Giles told her in that same warning tone, "I am going to go out and you are not going to run off to your daughter when I do so. I can handle this myself, do you understand me?"
"Rupert, I think y-"
"I said," He spoke over her, his voice low and threatening, "Do you understand me?"
He waited for a weak and frightened nod, before letting go of her wrist, tossing her away from him so she stumbled slightly.
She watched in shock as he went to leave, but although she had nodded in agreement, she was anything but agreeing with him. In one last desperate clutching-at-straws chance she walked after him, putting a hand on his arm calmingly.
"Rupert, please, just stop for a minute. Please"
She hadn't even seen it coming. She just felt the wall hit her back, the same way it had almost four years ago, though this time she thankfully remained conscious. She felt the wind practically knocked out of her as she put a hand to her cheek feeling the hot mark there. As Rupert, or was it even Rupert any more, stormed out of the house, Joyce drew her hand away from her cheek and couldn't believe the red she saw there.
"Mom! Mom!" Buffy called urgently as she burst through the already open front door of her house. She started sweeping the house immediately, Xander right behind her, "Mom!"
She stopped when she came to the kitchen and sighed in relief when she saw her Mom sat there. The relief turned to worry when she saw her Mom holding an ice pack to a cheek with a raw wrist.
"Mom, what happened?"
"Oh thank God Buffy, I was trying to call you," Joyce said, filled with relief at the sight of her daughter. She got up, setting the ice pack down and both Buffy and Xander saw the dark bruise imprinted there.
"Oh my god, Mom!" Buffy rushed over to see her Mom's cheek but Joyce brushed her away uncomfortably, almost as if she were embarrassed.
"It's fine, Buffy," She insisted, "But Rupert- there's something wrong. He wasn't himself, he-"
"He did this to you didn't he?" Buffy guessed correctly, pushing Joyce's hand away to get a closer look at the severe bruise on Joyce's cheek. This only went to show how bad the situation had gotten. In his right mind Giles would never in a million years hit Joyce.
"Buffy, what's going on? Rupert was, he was different," Joyce was completely distraught, "He's-"
"Got himself a big dose of the black arts," Xander filled in grimly.
"What?" Joyce looked from Xander to Buffy for an explanation.
"Remember that guy, Rack?" Buffy prompted, "He knew Giles from back when, and he was the one stocking Willow's magic weed"
"Yes," Joyce nodded, barely able to suppress the shudder that coursed through her at the memory of the 'man'.
"Well, he kinda... he caught up with Giles during Willow's training session." Buffy explained.
"And he hit Giles with his best shot," Xander explained.
"Oh God," Joyce sank back into her seat as the full implications of what this meant sank in also, "It's like a regression. Like with drug addicts" She said, mostly to herself but Buffy and Xander both heard her.
"What?" Buffy asked, "You seem a little more clued up than us right now. How?"
Joyce smiled faintly.
"Do you think he hasn't told me everything?" She asked them, "After, after what had happened with Ethan- remember when you were in your first year of college? After that, Rupert decided to tell me everything. Every last horrific detail. He wanted me to make a 'well-informed decision' over whether I wanted to continue the relationship or not after I had heard what I heard."
"And?" Buffy prompted for more.
"He told me of his addiction. He didn't say Rack's name, but thinking on it, it was more than likely who he was referring to. He got severely addicted and it affected him worse than the others, worse than Ethan even. Apparently he became-" Joyce faltered, looking at the two, before deciding not to go into too much detail, "A very nasty person. Not someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley if you catch my meaning"
"Oh god," Xander said as he realized what this meant for the situation at hand.
"He said he did eventually overcome the addiction," Joyce continued, "But like with drug addicts or alcoholics, the addiction is always there so..."
"So, Rack hitting him with all this power is going to be a major two steps back," Buffy finished, "And we're gonna have a fully developed Ripper on our hands"
"So what do we do?" Xander asked, "What's the plan?"
"We're gonna need Tara...and I guess Willow," Buffy reasoned, "This is a magic problem so we fight fire with fire. We also need to go get Spike. He's the only other person besides me strong enough to help if things get violent"
"You really don't think it's going to be that bad do you?" Xander asked, slightly skeptical of the concept of Giles going so off the deep end that Spike of all people (or vampires as the case was) would be needed to stop him, alongside a Slayer as well. "I mean we've had insight to not-so-pretty past Giles before. I mean we can just help him right?"
"Yeah, we'll help him," Buffy agreed confidently, before looking at her Mom the bruise shining there like a beacon to Buffy, "But I'm getting the feeling that what we've seen before now has only been the PG rating of Ripper."
"And you're saying this is the R screening?" Xander questioned and Buffy nodded grimly.
"Which I'm thinking means mundo badness for us"