Watch the World Die:
Chapter Eight
by GylzGirl
------------------------------------------------------------
Within seconds, Buffy and the others went into action. They moved to the wall and began arming themselves: a scythe, a machete, makeshift stakes made by breaking off the handles of shovels and hoes. With a little more security on their side, they ran into the fray. As soon as the last human was off of it, Buffy sprinted to the ladder and pulled it until it dislodged from the loft. Two of the vampires, already on their way up, fell off and landed at her feet. Before they could get their bearings, Buffy staked them with a shovel handle. She looked up just in time to see the eight left forming a rapidly closing circle around her. Non-plussed, she put her hands on her hips and smiled charmingly. "Now boys, I can't possibly dance with all of you." A chubby vampire to her right snarled and leapt. She caught him deftly by the throat, inches from her neck, and kicked him in the stomach. "That's what I like to see. Initiative." Two more kicks dropped him to the ground. She brought her stake down quickly into his heart.
The shadows of the others loomed closer. Buffy looked up only to see the four immediately before her get tapped on the shoulders from behind. They all turned and saw her friends smiling at them. Then the fight was on.
Willow backed out of the reach of the vampire before her. She raised the scythe to take his head. He grasped it just below the blade and snapped the pole in his grip. The metal dropped to the ground. Willow gulped, yanked the pole from his hand and hit him twice in the head with it. While he was disoriented, she used the sharp end the vampire himself had created and staked him with it.
Xander gripped the machete handle as if it were a baseball bat and swung at the vamp coming at him. The creature easily jumped out of the blade's way, reaching an arm out and securing Xander's shoulder in a crushing grip. Just as Xander was about to drop the machete, Giles spotted his dilemma and delivered a sharp kick to the ribcage of the vampire holding him. It gave Xander enough time to slip the creature's grip and bring the machete up on a backswing. He decapitated the vampire, seconds before it turned to dust.
After Giles had kicked the vampire attacking Xander, he turned back to face his own supernatural foe. The bloodsucker used the distraction to get within grabbing distance of the Watcher. Before Giles knew what was happening, the thing had gripped him by the upper arms and spun him into its clutches, Giles' back flush against its body. The vampire gripped the top of his head, hard, and forced it into a tilt, bearing Giles' neck to its mouth. He went limp in the vampire's arms until he sensed its teeth almost upon him. The vampire loosened his grip slightly. At that point, Giles dropped his head forward then slammed it backwards into the creature's face.
Giles felt his skin tear as its fang caught the back of his head. He pushed out of its grasp, turning to see it holding its mouth in pain. Giles kicked the side of the vampire's knee and brought it to the ground. It grasped hold of the front of Giles' shirt and tried to pull him down as well. Giles retrieved the makeshift stake from his jacket pocket and drove it home.
Faith smiled, empty-handed, as the bloodsucker in front of her advanced. "Oh damn, and me without a weapon." The vampire smirked until she lowered her arm and a long whittled stake slid down to her palm from her jacket sleeve. "Oh wait a second, look what I forgot about." The creature's smirk soon dissolved. "I hear some Slayers like to name their favorite stake. I call this one Instant Death."
"You're a Slayer?"
"Uh-huh."
The vampire gulped and made tracks out the doors and into the night. Faith was soon hot on his heels. "Come back here and take it like a man! You wuss!"
Buffy heard snarling behind her and turned to find two vampires looming before her. She backed up, feeling her pockets. She was out of weapons. She flashed them a big smile and brought her fists up before her in a defensive stance. They came two steps closer, then sunk to their knees, and fell forward on their faces. Buffy spotted the ends of fence pickets sticking out of their backs before they disintegrated. She looked up to the loft. Emmy and Chrissy smiled down on her, brushing off their hands.
"Look out!" Buffy turned to Giles, only to see him pointing up towards the loft. The last remaining vampire had taken it upon himself to shimmy up one of the barn's supporting pillars to reach the loft, and the children. As he gripped the floor of the loft, a shadow moved over him. He looked up to see Beth Williams frowning down at him.
"I don't think so." She calmly put her boot on his face and shoved. That was all it took to send him crashing to the ground at Buffy's feet.
"Buffy, head's up!" Willow tossed the Slayer the sharpened pole she held. Buffy caught it in mid-air, spun it once and stabbed it straight down through the vampire's heart. She looked back up at the loft and saw Emmy hugging Beth, and Chrissy hugging Giles the bear.
Buffy cast a glance to her Watcher. He smiled proudly in return.
******
Buffy hugged Chrissy one last time and then lifted her into the back of the mini-van. She shut the door and backed up next to her Watcher's side. Chrissy waved both her hand and Giles' paw in farewell as the van pulled away. Behind the mini-van, the larger green van with Sunnydale Carpet Cleaners on the side followed them onto the road. Buffy and Giles walked to the house. The main living room was lit, sounds from various rooms signaling the last two or three remaining Watchers clearing up all traces. Buffy looked up at her Watcher once more. She saw a rivulet of blood trickle down the back of his neck. "You're bleeding."
"Hmm? Oh yes, I thought I might be."
"Sit down." She sat him at one of the empty chairs at the table. Buffy reached into his front jacket pocket and produced the ever present handkerchief that she knew lived there. She folded it to make it thicker and sought out the source of the bleeding in his thick hair. When she found the gash caused by the vampire's fang, she pressed the handkerchief to it. Giles hissed slightly but showed no other outward signs of pain.
The light went out in one of the back rooms and Warrick Giles emerged. Buffy watched as the tension in Giles' shoulders became apparent. One hand went instinctively to the back of his neck, rubbing a little, trying to help.
The elder Giles smiled and leaned against the corner of the table. "It was a good battle Lad. You should be proud."
"Of my Slayer? Always." Buffy smiled.
"And of yourself..." Giles didn't even look at his father. Warrick stood slowly, sadly, and faced the door.
"The children, Father."
Warrick turned back to him. "Are safe." His voice held the tone of confusion.
"No. What were the children doing here? You said you were moving them to town. They were to be nowhere near the battle."
"It all worked out. They weren't hurt."
"I asked you a question god dammit!" Giles' eyes met his Father's.
Warrick's eyes became cold and hard. Buffy could see how a childhood filled with the sight of your own Father's eyes so completely emotionless toward you could create the Ripper. As it was, she wanted to hit him so bad she could taste it.
"It was too much of a risk. If they had realized the children were gone and under guard, they would have known we were on to them and scattered. We couldn't chance it."
"So you left them in the line of fire. I had gotten it into my head that you'd changed. I was wrong. They were simply a tool to you. A tool to bring in the renegade faction. Just as I was a tool at their age. Just what you owed to the Council to continue the Giles Family's legacy with them. That's all having a child was to you. That's all I've ever been to you."
"Grow up Rupert. Stop blaming me for your expectations."
"No. No I don't. I want to thank you actually. I want to thank you for instructing me that my Slayer is my duty, and my life. You were right. In gaining a Slayer, I gained a whole family. One that works like a real family should. We fight, we disagree, we've disappointed one another, but when push comes to shove, we back each other up. You know what makes a person do that? Not obligation, not duty, only love does that. That's what makes Buffy and I the team you and Rebecca could never have been. That's what makes it possible for me to wish you well at the same time as I tell you that you have never been a father to me and I'd rather not see you again."
Warrick simply smirked. "You're willing to cut yourself off from your family?"
Giles shook his head. "No, I'm with my family."
"You'll be losing my protection. The protection the Giles name carries in the Council."
"I'm all the protection he needs," Buffy spoke up. "Giles is my Watcher. Giles will always be my Watcher." Her grip on Giles' shoulder was territorial, possessive. Her eyes met Warrick's challenging him to give her an excuse.
"Until you get him killed too."
Giles looked up to Buffy and covered her hand with his own. "It is the Watcher's place to train, and guide his Slayer. Even to lay down his life to protect her. In the best teams, that is agreed to willingly." His gaze turned again to his father. "In others, it is agreed to out of a sense of duty. Or in your case, not at all. Shall we share with Buffy how Rebecca died?"
Warrick stood, snarling and moved to the door. "One day you will try to come home again and find the doors locked."
"The door to your house was always locked to me, Father." He looked to Buffy. "And for the first time in my life, I am home." Warrick muttered something unintelligible on his way into the night. Soon they heard the sound of a car departing.
Giles stood and stretched, tiredly. Buffy moved the cloth away from his head. "The bleeding's stopped." He smiled at her. "How....um," she took a breath, "how did Rebecca die?"
"She was 15. She was 12 when she was activated, and had come to live with us. She was a gorgeous creature, ethereal, golden blonde hair, smile to break your heart. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen at the time."
"What happened?"
"Father made it clear that the only thing she was to have in her life was her calling. She trained all day and hunted all night. I was a year older, and more than interested. We fell in love. We kept it hidden from my Father for almost a year. When he found out, he was furious. He wouldn't speak to me at all, only spoke to her to discuss battle strategy for the night. He'd hear none of her explanations or apologies. One night, he went to observe her on patrol, to chronicle it in his journal. There were five vampires. She finished off three in quick succession. Then my Father called attention to himself and one of the vampires was on him. It distracted Rebecca. The other remaining vampire twisted the stake out of her grip and stabbed it through her chest." Buffy felt a cold chill move through her. "She managed to get hold of another stake in her jacket pocket and finish the bastard before she dropped. I had been trailing her, as I'd done for over a year. I managed to stake the last vampire from behind before he made a meal of my Father. I ran to her side. I thought nothing could ever touch her. I thought if we could just get her to hospital, she'd be okay."
"Oh Giles." Buffy took his hand. Giles smiled sadly.
"I dropped to my knees and pulled her onto my lap. Her chest was just this huge puddle of blood that kept getting bigger. I put my hand over the wound to stop the bleeding, but it was already too late. She put her hand over mine. I begged her not to leave me. I asked her why. She said that she owed my Father and that she would always love me. Then she closed her eyes. I looked up and my Father was standing there, no emotion on his face, nothing. He said, "This is what you have done." Then he walked away. That night, Ripper was born and nothing was ever the same." When Giles looked over, a tear had fallen down Buffy's cheek. He swept it away with his finger. "What's this for?"
"For Rebecca. For you. I should have hit your Father when I had the chance." That made him smile.
"We should go, the others will be waiting in the car."
Buffy laced her arm through Giles' and leaned her head against his arm as they left the house.
The End
Chapter Eight
by GylzGirl
------------------------------------------------------------
Within seconds, Buffy and the others went into action. They moved to the wall and began arming themselves: a scythe, a machete, makeshift stakes made by breaking off the handles of shovels and hoes. With a little more security on their side, they ran into the fray. As soon as the last human was off of it, Buffy sprinted to the ladder and pulled it until it dislodged from the loft. Two of the vampires, already on their way up, fell off and landed at her feet. Before they could get their bearings, Buffy staked them with a shovel handle. She looked up just in time to see the eight left forming a rapidly closing circle around her. Non-plussed, she put her hands on her hips and smiled charmingly. "Now boys, I can't possibly dance with all of you." A chubby vampire to her right snarled and leapt. She caught him deftly by the throat, inches from her neck, and kicked him in the stomach. "That's what I like to see. Initiative." Two more kicks dropped him to the ground. She brought her stake down quickly into his heart.
The shadows of the others loomed closer. Buffy looked up only to see the four immediately before her get tapped on the shoulders from behind. They all turned and saw her friends smiling at them. Then the fight was on.
Willow backed out of the reach of the vampire before her. She raised the scythe to take his head. He grasped it just below the blade and snapped the pole in his grip. The metal dropped to the ground. Willow gulped, yanked the pole from his hand and hit him twice in the head with it. While he was disoriented, she used the sharp end the vampire himself had created and staked him with it.
Xander gripped the machete handle as if it were a baseball bat and swung at the vamp coming at him. The creature easily jumped out of the blade's way, reaching an arm out and securing Xander's shoulder in a crushing grip. Just as Xander was about to drop the machete, Giles spotted his dilemma and delivered a sharp kick to the ribcage of the vampire holding him. It gave Xander enough time to slip the creature's grip and bring the machete up on a backswing. He decapitated the vampire, seconds before it turned to dust.
After Giles had kicked the vampire attacking Xander, he turned back to face his own supernatural foe. The bloodsucker used the distraction to get within grabbing distance of the Watcher. Before Giles knew what was happening, the thing had gripped him by the upper arms and spun him into its clutches, Giles' back flush against its body. The vampire gripped the top of his head, hard, and forced it into a tilt, bearing Giles' neck to its mouth. He went limp in the vampire's arms until he sensed its teeth almost upon him. The vampire loosened his grip slightly. At that point, Giles dropped his head forward then slammed it backwards into the creature's face.
Giles felt his skin tear as its fang caught the back of his head. He pushed out of its grasp, turning to see it holding its mouth in pain. Giles kicked the side of the vampire's knee and brought it to the ground. It grasped hold of the front of Giles' shirt and tried to pull him down as well. Giles retrieved the makeshift stake from his jacket pocket and drove it home.
Faith smiled, empty-handed, as the bloodsucker in front of her advanced. "Oh damn, and me without a weapon." The vampire smirked until she lowered her arm and a long whittled stake slid down to her palm from her jacket sleeve. "Oh wait a second, look what I forgot about." The creature's smirk soon dissolved. "I hear some Slayers like to name their favorite stake. I call this one Instant Death."
"You're a Slayer?"
"Uh-huh."
The vampire gulped and made tracks out the doors and into the night. Faith was soon hot on his heels. "Come back here and take it like a man! You wuss!"
Buffy heard snarling behind her and turned to find two vampires looming before her. She backed up, feeling her pockets. She was out of weapons. She flashed them a big smile and brought her fists up before her in a defensive stance. They came two steps closer, then sunk to their knees, and fell forward on their faces. Buffy spotted the ends of fence pickets sticking out of their backs before they disintegrated. She looked up to the loft. Emmy and Chrissy smiled down on her, brushing off their hands.
"Look out!" Buffy turned to Giles, only to see him pointing up towards the loft. The last remaining vampire had taken it upon himself to shimmy up one of the barn's supporting pillars to reach the loft, and the children. As he gripped the floor of the loft, a shadow moved over him. He looked up to see Beth Williams frowning down at him.
"I don't think so." She calmly put her boot on his face and shoved. That was all it took to send him crashing to the ground at Buffy's feet.
"Buffy, head's up!" Willow tossed the Slayer the sharpened pole she held. Buffy caught it in mid-air, spun it once and stabbed it straight down through the vampire's heart. She looked back up at the loft and saw Emmy hugging Beth, and Chrissy hugging Giles the bear.
Buffy cast a glance to her Watcher. He smiled proudly in return.
******
Buffy hugged Chrissy one last time and then lifted her into the back of the mini-van. She shut the door and backed up next to her Watcher's side. Chrissy waved both her hand and Giles' paw in farewell as the van pulled away. Behind the mini-van, the larger green van with Sunnydale Carpet Cleaners on the side followed them onto the road. Buffy and Giles walked to the house. The main living room was lit, sounds from various rooms signaling the last two or three remaining Watchers clearing up all traces. Buffy looked up at her Watcher once more. She saw a rivulet of blood trickle down the back of his neck. "You're bleeding."
"Hmm? Oh yes, I thought I might be."
"Sit down." She sat him at one of the empty chairs at the table. Buffy reached into his front jacket pocket and produced the ever present handkerchief that she knew lived there. She folded it to make it thicker and sought out the source of the bleeding in his thick hair. When she found the gash caused by the vampire's fang, she pressed the handkerchief to it. Giles hissed slightly but showed no other outward signs of pain.
The light went out in one of the back rooms and Warrick Giles emerged. Buffy watched as the tension in Giles' shoulders became apparent. One hand went instinctively to the back of his neck, rubbing a little, trying to help.
The elder Giles smiled and leaned against the corner of the table. "It was a good battle Lad. You should be proud."
"Of my Slayer? Always." Buffy smiled.
"And of yourself..." Giles didn't even look at his father. Warrick stood slowly, sadly, and faced the door.
"The children, Father."
Warrick turned back to him. "Are safe." His voice held the tone of confusion.
"No. What were the children doing here? You said you were moving them to town. They were to be nowhere near the battle."
"It all worked out. They weren't hurt."
"I asked you a question god dammit!" Giles' eyes met his Father's.
Warrick's eyes became cold and hard. Buffy could see how a childhood filled with the sight of your own Father's eyes so completely emotionless toward you could create the Ripper. As it was, she wanted to hit him so bad she could taste it.
"It was too much of a risk. If they had realized the children were gone and under guard, they would have known we were on to them and scattered. We couldn't chance it."
"So you left them in the line of fire. I had gotten it into my head that you'd changed. I was wrong. They were simply a tool to you. A tool to bring in the renegade faction. Just as I was a tool at their age. Just what you owed to the Council to continue the Giles Family's legacy with them. That's all having a child was to you. That's all I've ever been to you."
"Grow up Rupert. Stop blaming me for your expectations."
"No. No I don't. I want to thank you actually. I want to thank you for instructing me that my Slayer is my duty, and my life. You were right. In gaining a Slayer, I gained a whole family. One that works like a real family should. We fight, we disagree, we've disappointed one another, but when push comes to shove, we back each other up. You know what makes a person do that? Not obligation, not duty, only love does that. That's what makes Buffy and I the team you and Rebecca could never have been. That's what makes it possible for me to wish you well at the same time as I tell you that you have never been a father to me and I'd rather not see you again."
Warrick simply smirked. "You're willing to cut yourself off from your family?"
Giles shook his head. "No, I'm with my family."
"You'll be losing my protection. The protection the Giles name carries in the Council."
"I'm all the protection he needs," Buffy spoke up. "Giles is my Watcher. Giles will always be my Watcher." Her grip on Giles' shoulder was territorial, possessive. Her eyes met Warrick's challenging him to give her an excuse.
"Until you get him killed too."
Giles looked up to Buffy and covered her hand with his own. "It is the Watcher's place to train, and guide his Slayer. Even to lay down his life to protect her. In the best teams, that is agreed to willingly." His gaze turned again to his father. "In others, it is agreed to out of a sense of duty. Or in your case, not at all. Shall we share with Buffy how Rebecca died?"
Warrick stood, snarling and moved to the door. "One day you will try to come home again and find the doors locked."
"The door to your house was always locked to me, Father." He looked to Buffy. "And for the first time in my life, I am home." Warrick muttered something unintelligible on his way into the night. Soon they heard the sound of a car departing.
Giles stood and stretched, tiredly. Buffy moved the cloth away from his head. "The bleeding's stopped." He smiled at her. "How....um," she took a breath, "how did Rebecca die?"
"She was 15. She was 12 when she was activated, and had come to live with us. She was a gorgeous creature, ethereal, golden blonde hair, smile to break your heart. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen at the time."
"What happened?"
"Father made it clear that the only thing she was to have in her life was her calling. She trained all day and hunted all night. I was a year older, and more than interested. We fell in love. We kept it hidden from my Father for almost a year. When he found out, he was furious. He wouldn't speak to me at all, only spoke to her to discuss battle strategy for the night. He'd hear none of her explanations or apologies. One night, he went to observe her on patrol, to chronicle it in his journal. There were five vampires. She finished off three in quick succession. Then my Father called attention to himself and one of the vampires was on him. It distracted Rebecca. The other remaining vampire twisted the stake out of her grip and stabbed it through her chest." Buffy felt a cold chill move through her. "She managed to get hold of another stake in her jacket pocket and finish the bastard before she dropped. I had been trailing her, as I'd done for over a year. I managed to stake the last vampire from behind before he made a meal of my Father. I ran to her side. I thought nothing could ever touch her. I thought if we could just get her to hospital, she'd be okay."
"Oh Giles." Buffy took his hand. Giles smiled sadly.
"I dropped to my knees and pulled her onto my lap. Her chest was just this huge puddle of blood that kept getting bigger. I put my hand over the wound to stop the bleeding, but it was already too late. She put her hand over mine. I begged her not to leave me. I asked her why. She said that she owed my Father and that she would always love me. Then she closed her eyes. I looked up and my Father was standing there, no emotion on his face, nothing. He said, "This is what you have done." Then he walked away. That night, Ripper was born and nothing was ever the same." When Giles looked over, a tear had fallen down Buffy's cheek. He swept it away with his finger. "What's this for?"
"For Rebecca. For you. I should have hit your Father when I had the chance." That made him smile.
"We should go, the others will be waiting in the car."
Buffy laced her arm through Giles' and leaned her head against his arm as they left the house.
The End