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I’m posting this unbeta’d and out of order so you guys can see what I needed the Giles help for. That and I’m at the point where I’m looking at a blank page again and some feedback would be nice.
One last note I feel like I should apologize to the Sr. Mr. Giles. I’m sure he’s a very nice fictional man. Teens rebel against good parents all the time but it served my story better to make him a more typical Buffyverse parent.
Title: Aren’t You Grateful It’s Not a Bunny? Part 7 Born To Be Bad
Author: Appomattoxco
Rated: PG
Pairing Anya/Giles and Buffy/Spike
The library windows were covered to keep out the sun and Spike was chained to the wall. No one wanted to think about the reason the mayor would have shackles installed in his library but the fact that so many of the rituals contained in the books here required blood sacrifice made it obvious. Hopefully this would be the last time Spike would need to be restrained.
Giles showed Spike a small wooden box lined with red silk inside was an unremarkable looking stone. “The Prokaryote stone will move within your mind to reveal the root of the trigger's power. It can unleash ideas, images, memories... Hopefully, once you understand what it is that's setting you off, you can break its hold on you.” Giles said.
“Hopefully? So, it might not work?” Spike asked.
“The stone's just a catalyst for the process. The rest is up to you, Spike.”
“And how do expect to get that hunk of rubble into my cranium?”
Willow said, “That’s where I come in” and she turns to a new page in the book she’s holding. “OK. I just hope my pronunciation is in the ballpark.” And she begins to read "Kun'ati belek sup'sion. Bok'vata im kele'beshus. Ek'vota mor'osh boota'ke."
The stone starts to move like it's alive, no longer solid, but liquid. Giles holds the box up to Spike. He recoiled in disgust “Oh, you have got to be joking? What now?”
“It has to access the cerebral cortex via the optic nerve.” Giles said
“Oh, bollocks. With all the rubbish people keep sticking in my head, it's a wonder that there's room for my brain.”
“I don't think it takes up that much space, do you?”
“Ha bloody ha Watcher, I’m starting to wish that Anya hadn’t found where you’d been hiding what passes for you sense of humor.” Unnoticed the stone had split along a tiny flaw at it’s heart to become two slithering entities. One stone entered Spike the other Giles. Willow held Anya and Buffy back when the men cried out in pain. It was best just to let the stones do their work.
There was a flash of light and pain and then Giles found himself in a fussy old fashioned parlor. Well, not really in it he couldn’t seem to interact in anyway he could only observe these were not his memories. The prokaryote must have divided and entered him as well as Spike. That meant that he would not only have access to his own memories and subconscious but Spike’s as well not only that but it would work both ways. The Watcher was intrigued by the idea. The man was a little afraid more of what he might reveal to the vampire than of what he himself might see.
It took a few moments for Giles to realize that the earnest young man was William the Bloody. Not a thug turned after a drunken brawl as was reported at all William was a gentleman and gentle in a sense that Giles couldn’t remember ever being. Watching the scene play out he felt as much envy as pity. Giles had no real memory of his own mother and William’s devotion to his survived even his own death. It shocked Giles to discover that while William’s mother lost every shred of her humanity on becoming a vampire this wasn’t entirely true of Spike. As Giles watched William interact with his Sire and later Angelus he realized that nurture played a role almost as important as the vampire’s demonic nature in monster he became. What did this mean now that Spike had a soul? Did it make it easier to change for the better or more difficult?
Watching the Scourge of Europe interact Giles realized there was something familiar about William to him beyond his physical resemblance to Spike. Good Lord! He reminded Giles of Randall. Randall had been a sort of pet among his crowd, a good boy who was slumming, trying to keep up with the bad boys in order to belong. Randall’s parents weren’t as well off as Ethan’s but it was Randall who often paid the way when they bothered to pay at all. That was why he so readily believed that “Randy” was his son when they had lost their memories. Something in him had recognized this even if he didn’t consciously know it.
Then he saw the events of this past summer. The trails Spike went through to get his soul and the tortures afterwards. Spike’s stubborn determination to be what Buffy needed impressed Giles. His vision of Spike’s part in the possible future had only been accepted in the intellectual sense before seeing all this. Now he hoped for the first time that his acquaintance with Spike wouldn’t have to be ended with an axe or stake.
Spike hardly had the chance to catch an unneeded breath after re-living his mother’s death when he was suddenly thrust somewhere else. It looked like a slightly shabby schoolmaster’s study. A cold looking man with a lantern jaw sat behind a desk in front of a bewildered boy of about ten with big green eyes behind bigger glasses. Was this one of his countless victims? He couldn’t remember eating Harry Potter. Then Spike began to focus in on what was being said. It was the Watcher’s version of “one girl in all the world” It turned out Harry’s name was Rupert! Something must have gone wrong with the spell. Why was he, not surprised? The more the elder Giles droned on the less Spike liked him. He wasn’t the sort to enjoy caning a boy, Spike could spot one of those a mile off, but he just wasn’t even looking at Rupert. It would have been clear to anyone looking that the boy wanted nothing to do with his destiny or the new course of study his father outlined. Spike wanted to shake the older man. He couldn’t help wondering where Rupert’s mum was. The boy was being plowed over Spike had to admire the fact that even at his young age he didn’t look like he was about to let it happen. However, he could tell that without a champion in the house there would be trouble ahead for all the Giles.
As long as Rupert’s grades were good dear old clueless dad let him do pretty much anything and Rupert Giles was the kind of boy that didn’t need to study to get good marks. He was taller than most his age he also knew an awful truth that 90% of the adults around him wouldn’t admit to knowing. So Rupert was inevitably drawn to an older crowd even then among his chums he was the leader. He was the sort of boy William had never been Rupert was comfortable around others. On the street he knew how to stay out of trouble and as time went on just where to find the trouble he wanted. By the time he got to Oxford he completely shed any pretense that he would fall in line with the future his father planned and gained the name Ripper. It was obvious to Spike that the change from Rupert to Ripper had been an evolution and not a reinvention. It was the step over the line from self confidence into arrogance and the part of Spike un-tempered by the soul admired the smooth transition.
Spike also saw glimpses of things for the man in him as well as the demon to admire, his protectiveness of others, his love of music and books. He recognized a loneliness in him that hurt his reacquired soul. Rupert Giles was a boy without a mother whose father’s love was absent minded at best and conditional at worst. Ripper was a young man forced to kill his own friend. He took on an unwanted destiny as penance and a Watcher’s demeanor as armor. The Giles that Spike knew was neither of these any longer yet he was still both. Just as Spike was no longer William the beloved son and bloody awful poet or the soulless monster that that he’d both fashioned and been made into but both still lived in him.
When Spike came to he was exhausted, shaking and positive that his will was his own again. He was also discovered that Buffy had her arms around him. The only down side to the whole ordeal seemed to be the hangover like headache and the embarrassment over the intimacy of the experience he had shared with the other man. Spike grimaced at his word choice but he couldn’t think of anything more accurate. It didn’t matter all that much he didn’t think it was possible to die of embarrassment. Then he remembered his turning and amended, not twice anyway.
***
When Giles woke up in Anya’s arms it was with a sense of wholeness as if some hairline crack within him had been mended when the stone spilt in two. He also had a new appreciation of Spike, the mother of all hangovers and a profound sense of embarrassment.
“Are you feeling better now Rupert?” Anya asked.
“Yes, the headache’s almost gone now.” Giles was lying in bed with Mop at his feet instead of getting up he pulled Anya into bed with them.
“Well no more putting rock in your head or anyone else’s. Hearing you scream like that was frightening.”
“A little cuddle and some more rest and I’ll be ready to make it up to you. I was more startled than anything else.” Giles said and at Anya’s incredulous look amended “I think it was for the best anyway the Prokaryote stone helped me face some things. I think I’ll be able to deal better with what’s to come now.”
Anya asked, “The future you were shown on the vision quest? You never did finish telling me about that.”
“I didn’t?”
“You told me before that the vision of Faith’s birthday wasn’t bad. So why do you have that look?”
“What look?” Giles attempted to look innocent.
“The look you get when you need me to fix an over-ring on the register.”
“You only had to do that on- a few times and I told you it wasn’t bad!” Giles said indignant.
“If it’s not bad why are you trying to put off telling me? At this rate we’ll be grandparents before I know.”
“Funny that you put it that way…” There was a knock at the door that kept him from finishing what he’d been about to say.
“Giles, I’m sorry for interrupting you but the hospital’s on the phone.” Willow said.
“Dear Lord, who’s been hurt?”
“She wouldn’t say. Oh Giles Xander’s the only one not here!”
One last note I feel like I should apologize to the Sr. Mr. Giles. I’m sure he’s a very nice fictional man. Teens rebel against good parents all the time but it served my story better to make him a more typical Buffyverse parent.
Title: Aren’t You Grateful It’s Not a Bunny? Part 7 Born To Be Bad
Author: Appomattoxco
Rated: PG
Pairing Anya/Giles and Buffy/Spike
The library windows were covered to keep out the sun and Spike was chained to the wall. No one wanted to think about the reason the mayor would have shackles installed in his library but the fact that so many of the rituals contained in the books here required blood sacrifice made it obvious. Hopefully this would be the last time Spike would need to be restrained.
Giles showed Spike a small wooden box lined with red silk inside was an unremarkable looking stone. “The Prokaryote stone will move within your mind to reveal the root of the trigger's power. It can unleash ideas, images, memories... Hopefully, once you understand what it is that's setting you off, you can break its hold on you.” Giles said.
“Hopefully? So, it might not work?” Spike asked.
“The stone's just a catalyst for the process. The rest is up to you, Spike.”
“And how do expect to get that hunk of rubble into my cranium?”
Willow said, “That’s where I come in” and she turns to a new page in the book she’s holding. “OK. I just hope my pronunciation is in the ballpark.” And she begins to read "Kun'ati belek sup'sion. Bok'vata im kele'beshus. Ek'vota mor'osh boota'ke."
The stone starts to move like it's alive, no longer solid, but liquid. Giles holds the box up to Spike. He recoiled in disgust “Oh, you have got to be joking? What now?”
“It has to access the cerebral cortex via the optic nerve.” Giles said
“Oh, bollocks. With all the rubbish people keep sticking in my head, it's a wonder that there's room for my brain.”
“I don't think it takes up that much space, do you?”
“Ha bloody ha Watcher, I’m starting to wish that Anya hadn’t found where you’d been hiding what passes for you sense of humor.” Unnoticed the stone had split along a tiny flaw at it’s heart to become two slithering entities. One stone entered Spike the other Giles. Willow held Anya and Buffy back when the men cried out in pain. It was best just to let the stones do their work.
There was a flash of light and pain and then Giles found himself in a fussy old fashioned parlor. Well, not really in it he couldn’t seem to interact in anyway he could only observe these were not his memories. The prokaryote must have divided and entered him as well as Spike. That meant that he would not only have access to his own memories and subconscious but Spike’s as well not only that but it would work both ways. The Watcher was intrigued by the idea. The man was a little afraid more of what he might reveal to the vampire than of what he himself might see.
It took a few moments for Giles to realize that the earnest young man was William the Bloody. Not a thug turned after a drunken brawl as was reported at all William was a gentleman and gentle in a sense that Giles couldn’t remember ever being. Watching the scene play out he felt as much envy as pity. Giles had no real memory of his own mother and William’s devotion to his survived even his own death. It shocked Giles to discover that while William’s mother lost every shred of her humanity on becoming a vampire this wasn’t entirely true of Spike. As Giles watched William interact with his Sire and later Angelus he realized that nurture played a role almost as important as the vampire’s demonic nature in monster he became. What did this mean now that Spike had a soul? Did it make it easier to change for the better or more difficult?
Watching the Scourge of Europe interact Giles realized there was something familiar about William to him beyond his physical resemblance to Spike. Good Lord! He reminded Giles of Randall. Randall had been a sort of pet among his crowd, a good boy who was slumming, trying to keep up with the bad boys in order to belong. Randall’s parents weren’t as well off as Ethan’s but it was Randall who often paid the way when they bothered to pay at all. That was why he so readily believed that “Randy” was his son when they had lost their memories. Something in him had recognized this even if he didn’t consciously know it.
Then he saw the events of this past summer. The trails Spike went through to get his soul and the tortures afterwards. Spike’s stubborn determination to be what Buffy needed impressed Giles. His vision of Spike’s part in the possible future had only been accepted in the intellectual sense before seeing all this. Now he hoped for the first time that his acquaintance with Spike wouldn’t have to be ended with an axe or stake.
Spike hardly had the chance to catch an unneeded breath after re-living his mother’s death when he was suddenly thrust somewhere else. It looked like a slightly shabby schoolmaster’s study. A cold looking man with a lantern jaw sat behind a desk in front of a bewildered boy of about ten with big green eyes behind bigger glasses. Was this one of his countless victims? He couldn’t remember eating Harry Potter. Then Spike began to focus in on what was being said. It was the Watcher’s version of “one girl in all the world” It turned out Harry’s name was Rupert! Something must have gone wrong with the spell. Why was he, not surprised? The more the elder Giles droned on the less Spike liked him. He wasn’t the sort to enjoy caning a boy, Spike could spot one of those a mile off, but he just wasn’t even looking at Rupert. It would have been clear to anyone looking that the boy wanted nothing to do with his destiny or the new course of study his father outlined. Spike wanted to shake the older man. He couldn’t help wondering where Rupert’s mum was. The boy was being plowed over Spike had to admire the fact that even at his young age he didn’t look like he was about to let it happen. However, he could tell that without a champion in the house there would be trouble ahead for all the Giles.
As long as Rupert’s grades were good dear old clueless dad let him do pretty much anything and Rupert Giles was the kind of boy that didn’t need to study to get good marks. He was taller than most his age he also knew an awful truth that 90% of the adults around him wouldn’t admit to knowing. So Rupert was inevitably drawn to an older crowd even then among his chums he was the leader. He was the sort of boy William had never been Rupert was comfortable around others. On the street he knew how to stay out of trouble and as time went on just where to find the trouble he wanted. By the time he got to Oxford he completely shed any pretense that he would fall in line with the future his father planned and gained the name Ripper. It was obvious to Spike that the change from Rupert to Ripper had been an evolution and not a reinvention. It was the step over the line from self confidence into arrogance and the part of Spike un-tempered by the soul admired the smooth transition.
Spike also saw glimpses of things for the man in him as well as the demon to admire, his protectiveness of others, his love of music and books. He recognized a loneliness in him that hurt his reacquired soul. Rupert Giles was a boy without a mother whose father’s love was absent minded at best and conditional at worst. Ripper was a young man forced to kill his own friend. He took on an unwanted destiny as penance and a Watcher’s demeanor as armor. The Giles that Spike knew was neither of these any longer yet he was still both. Just as Spike was no longer William the beloved son and bloody awful poet or the soulless monster that that he’d both fashioned and been made into but both still lived in him.
When Spike came to he was exhausted, shaking and positive that his will was his own again. He was also discovered that Buffy had her arms around him. The only down side to the whole ordeal seemed to be the hangover like headache and the embarrassment over the intimacy of the experience he had shared with the other man. Spike grimaced at his word choice but he couldn’t think of anything more accurate. It didn’t matter all that much he didn’t think it was possible to die of embarrassment. Then he remembered his turning and amended, not twice anyway.
***
When Giles woke up in Anya’s arms it was with a sense of wholeness as if some hairline crack within him had been mended when the stone spilt in two. He also had a new appreciation of Spike, the mother of all hangovers and a profound sense of embarrassment.
“Are you feeling better now Rupert?” Anya asked.
“Yes, the headache’s almost gone now.” Giles was lying in bed with Mop at his feet instead of getting up he pulled Anya into bed with them.
“Well no more putting rock in your head or anyone else’s. Hearing you scream like that was frightening.”
“A little cuddle and some more rest and I’ll be ready to make it up to you. I was more startled than anything else.” Giles said and at Anya’s incredulous look amended “I think it was for the best anyway the Prokaryote stone helped me face some things. I think I’ll be able to deal better with what’s to come now.”
Anya asked, “The future you were shown on the vision quest? You never did finish telling me about that.”
“I didn’t?”
“You told me before that the vision of Faith’s birthday wasn’t bad. So why do you have that look?”
“What look?” Giles attempted to look innocent.
“The look you get when you need me to fix an over-ring on the register.”
“You only had to do that on- a few times and I told you it wasn’t bad!” Giles said indignant.
“If it’s not bad why are you trying to put off telling me? At this rate we’ll be grandparents before I know.”
“Funny that you put it that way…” There was a knock at the door that kept him from finishing what he’d been about to say.
“Giles, I’m sorry for interrupting you but the hospital’s on the phone.” Willow said.
“Dear Lord, who’s been hurt?”
“She wouldn’t say. Oh Giles Xander’s the only one not here!”
