Family Portrait: Chapter 7
Mar. 5th, 2011 01:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_huffsterTitle: Family Portrait
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Rating: R for language and violence
Timeline: Post-Chosen, AU (slightly)
Synopsis: After the events of Chosen, Giles and Buffy have finally become a functioning family. But when Giles' past catches up with him, will Giles and Buffy rise above it or will their family be damaged beyond repair?
After talking with Dakota, which had resulted in another argument, Giles had taken off to clear his head. Dakota had somehow managed to make it so Buffy and Giles were arguing with one another again instead of actually discussing the 16 year old's behavior. When Giles had almost said something he would regret for the umpteenth time, the Watcher had shrugged on his jacket and driven off on the motorcycle Buffy hadn't wanted him to buy.
He had no idea where he was going, but anywhere away from the house was ideal. It wasn't that he wanted to leave the way he did, but it was the only thing he could think of that didn't involve him blurting out something that would cause a fight that could potentially ruin their already rocky marriage. And thanks to Dakota, Giles was well aware that this wasn't the first time he had stormed out of the house during an argument.
A few minutes later found Giles in the parking lot of the deserted local park, the only source of light coming from his headlight. He turned off the motorcycle and made his way to the back of the park, standing near the slope that led into the creek/bayou. Once he had made sure there was nothing in his way, the Watcher sat on the grassy slope and looked at the seemingly still water. If it had been Friday, he was more than sure that he would have ended up at one of the local bars instead of the park.
His brow furrowed at that train of thought, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. That kind of thinking led him nowhere, and it bothered him even more when he acknowledged that it was true.
"Bloody hell," he dropped his head into his hands, knowing there was something wrong with a man who preferred a bar full of strangers to his family.
"Something on your mind, mate?"
Giles scrambled to his feet at the voice, his hand pulling a stake out of his inner jacket pocket. His eyes narrowed as Stephen held out a bottle of what was no doubt vodka.
"C'mon, Ru. You gonna deny your brother a chance to drink with you?" Stephen smirked, his dark eyes darting to the stake Giles gripped. "If I had wanted ta kill you, I would've."
The vampire chuckled as he took a swig from the bottle before offering it to Giles again, trying to entice him by shaking the bottle a little bit. Giles shoved the hand away in disgust, only to duck his head as Stephen threw the bottle at him. Alcohol dripped down his shirt, making the nicks from the glass shards sting, and he could already feel a bruise forming.
"Now look what ya made me do!" the creature kicked at a loose rock into the water below. "Someone paid good money for that bottle,"
"What do you want, Stephen?" his teeth were grinding against each other as he took a slight step forward, prepared to do what he needed to.
"Why is there always something up yer arse?" Stephen growled as he took one step closer to his half-brother. "And unless you intend to use that, put it away."
The Watcher tightened his grip on the wooden stake. Something didn't seem right about the situation. He had expected Stephen to launch straight into an attack if he ever saw him, or something other than this.
"How's that nephew of mine? I didn't cause too much damage, did I?"
"Stay the hell away from my family, Stephen!" Giles warned, his feet taking him several inches away from the demon. "Come near them and I'll give you a hands on explanation about why they called me 'Ripper'."
"I thought you were called that cos of yer sexual encounters." Stephen replied, looking Giles dead in the eye. "Does she know? Do you think yer pretty, young wife'll stay if she knew exactly what you've done? Think the Slayer will stick around if she knew about the people you've killed, the lives you ruined or about…"
Giles tackled the demon to the ground, the stake pressed against the area above his heart and the forearm of his free arm pressed against his throat.
"Do it, Rupert. Prove to me that yer the Watcher everyone thinks you are," Stephen laughed as he applied a little more pressure on the hand holding the stake, morphing into his game face. "Or show me what kinda dad you are."
"Get out of here, Stephen." He slowly got to his feet, pocketing the stake. "Don't let me catch you here again."
Without another word, Giles turned his back on his undead half-brother and walked back to his motorcycle. He knew he should have staked Stephen, but he just froze. And he wasn't sure why he choked like that.
"Do you understand what I can do, Rupert?" Stephen appeared in front of Giles, a hand gripping the front of Giles' shirt. "I will murder yer family in front of you. Hell, I'll turn Evan cos that boy is just burstin' with power. Might even turn the bloody Slayer and have her kill ya."
The more the vampire talked, the angrier Giles became. All he had to do was snap Stephen's neck and it would be over before anything else had to happen, before he lost his family. He imagined how easy it would be to break the vampire's neck, could hear the fatal snap in his mind. But the reality was all Giles could do was shove the demon away from him and continue on his way.
"Either you aren't what everyone thought you were," Stephen called after him. "Or you hate yer family. Or maybe you've gotten bored! Slayer ain't as young as she used to be, kids are tyin' ya down…but yer too bloody noble to just leave 'em. 'Ere I am providing ya an out to yer marriage. If yer done with Buffy, think I could have her?"
Giles spun around and rushed Stephen, only to find himself pinned to the parking lot. He could feel his half-brother's knee digging into his back, causing small jolts of pain whenever he struggled.
"Just remember," Stephen hissed in his ear, his fingers burrowing into the back of his neck. "When I take yer precious little family, you brought it on yerself. I gave you more than enough time to get rid of me,"
"Fuck off, Stephen!" Giles growled.
"I'll see ya around, Ru."
And just like that, Giles found himself alone in the parking lot.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"This isn't the first time he's done this," Dakota pointed out as Brennan looked at the clock again.
"I know, but the last time he did it was because Mum was seeing Angel behind his back." The blonde replied, causing both of them to pause and recall the aftermath of the ensouled vampire's secret visit. "And even then he didn't have a vampire trying to kill him, Kota."
"It's not like there's anything you can do,"
Brennan looked at his twin and couldn't help the smirk that came to his face. As soon as Dakota recognized the look, he shook his head in protest.
"No, Mum will kill you if you go looking for him." The 16 year old tried to reason as he moved to stand in front of him. "I'm the one who sneaks out, not you."
"Then go sneak out and find him, Dakota!"
The twins stood in the kitchen for a moment, just staring at each other. When it was clear that Dakota wasn't going to leave, Brennan pushed passed him and headed towards the garage.
"I'll be back soon,"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Evan had been sitting at the desk in his bedroom, furiously scribbling words on the notebook. While his brothers paced the kitchen and his mother sat in her bedroom, the 13 year old worked on his latest short story to help deal with the emotions the latest fight between his parents had sparked. He wasn't angry at anyone, but he was angry at the situation.
His father had been gone for over two hours and they hadn't heard from him since he left. Evan knew that Dakota was pissed off at their father, Brennan was worried about what was going on and their mother was trying to play it off. But she couldn't fool the boys, they knew how much this was affecting her.
"Stupid!" he muttered as he ripped the piece of paper from the notebook, wadding it up and throwing it at the wall in front of him.
"Writer's block?" the boy spun around, nearly falling out of his chair, to see his mother enter the room.
"Not really," he shrugged, giving her a shy smile that could have rivaled his father's. "Are you okay, Mum?"
"I should be asking you that, Bug." Buffy chuckled as she sat on her son's bed, pulling the old and worn stuffed pig into her lap. "Your father went back and got this for me, before the big showdown with the First. I didn't ask him to…we weren't even really talking at that time, but he still made sure Mr. Gordo was packed."
Evan watched as his mother picked at a loose string on the stuffed animal. He knew how much Mr. Gordo meant to his mother, because the pig meant just as much to him.
"He even made sure your brothers' stuffed dog and bear were packed. We almost left without him because he was searching our old house for them," a faint smile appeared on Buffy's face as she recalled their last day in Sunnydale. "Now he's the first to leave without looking back on what he's leaving behind. He's a completely different person and I know I caused it, or maybe I'm just seeing who he is for the first time. I'm sorry, Evan."
"What for?" the teenager had moved to sit next to his mother.
Just as she opened her mouth to answer, Dakota ran into the room with the cordless phone gripped in his hand. The expression on his face caused his mother to jump to her feet and reach for the phone. Evan sat on his bed, looking from his brother to his mother. He tilted his head as a way to question what the phone call was for, but Dakota just shook his head as Buffy mumbled a 'thank you' before clicking the phone off.
"Mum?" Evan asked, walking over to her as his older brother took the phone away from her. "What's going on?"
"That was the hospital." Buffy's voice was weak, her eyes locked on the wall ahead of her.
"What did Dad do?" Dakota questioned, his tone a mix of concern and anger.
There was silence in Evan's room for a long time, both teenagers afraid to further upset their mother. Evan began to chew on his bottom lip as the silence grew while Dakota absently tapped his fingers against his thighs.
"Mum, what happened?" the 16 year old blurted out, the quite making him jumpy.
"There was a wreck thirty minutes ago on Champions Forest. Someone was in the middle of the road and a vehicle swerved to miss him, drove straight into a brick wall." With every word Buffy said, Evan and Dakota felt worry settle into the pits of their stomachs. "Whoever was in the road went over to the vehicle and attacked the driver…"
"Who was it?" Evan whispered, tears filling his eyes at the images running through his mind. "Is Dad alright?"
"It wasn't your father, Bug." Hazel eyes stared in the blue eyes of Dakota, who had to resist the urge to look away. "The car was a black Jeep. Where's your brother, Dakota? And don't lie to me,"
"He went looking for Dad an hour ago," he mumbled as his gaze went to carpet.
"Evan, I need you to stay here in case Rupert comes home since he left his cell phone here." Buffy never took her eyes off her son. "Dakota, you and me are going to the hospital."
Evan followed them down the stairs, stopping his mother before she left the house. He wanted to know what was happening.
"Brennan's in surgery right now, and that's all I know." She told her youngest, placing a kiss on the top of his head. "Wait for your father and have him take you to the hospital."
The 13 year old stood in the garage as he watched his mother back out of the driveway, hoping his father would come back before it was too late.
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Rating: R for language and violence
Timeline: Post-Chosen, AU (slightly)
Synopsis: After the events of Chosen, Giles and Buffy have finally become a functioning family. But when Giles' past catches up with him, will Giles and Buffy rise above it or will their family be damaged beyond repair?
After talking with Dakota, which had resulted in another argument, Giles had taken off to clear his head. Dakota had somehow managed to make it so Buffy and Giles were arguing with one another again instead of actually discussing the 16 year old's behavior. When Giles had almost said something he would regret for the umpteenth time, the Watcher had shrugged on his jacket and driven off on the motorcycle Buffy hadn't wanted him to buy.
He had no idea where he was going, but anywhere away from the house was ideal. It wasn't that he wanted to leave the way he did, but it was the only thing he could think of that didn't involve him blurting out something that would cause a fight that could potentially ruin their already rocky marriage. And thanks to Dakota, Giles was well aware that this wasn't the first time he had stormed out of the house during an argument.
A few minutes later found Giles in the parking lot of the deserted local park, the only source of light coming from his headlight. He turned off the motorcycle and made his way to the back of the park, standing near the slope that led into the creek/bayou. Once he had made sure there was nothing in his way, the Watcher sat on the grassy slope and looked at the seemingly still water. If it had been Friday, he was more than sure that he would have ended up at one of the local bars instead of the park.
His brow furrowed at that train of thought, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. That kind of thinking led him nowhere, and it bothered him even more when he acknowledged that it was true.
"Bloody hell," he dropped his head into his hands, knowing there was something wrong with a man who preferred a bar full of strangers to his family.
"Something on your mind, mate?"
Giles scrambled to his feet at the voice, his hand pulling a stake out of his inner jacket pocket. His eyes narrowed as Stephen held out a bottle of what was no doubt vodka.
"C'mon, Ru. You gonna deny your brother a chance to drink with you?" Stephen smirked, his dark eyes darting to the stake Giles gripped. "If I had wanted ta kill you, I would've."
The vampire chuckled as he took a swig from the bottle before offering it to Giles again, trying to entice him by shaking the bottle a little bit. Giles shoved the hand away in disgust, only to duck his head as Stephen threw the bottle at him. Alcohol dripped down his shirt, making the nicks from the glass shards sting, and he could already feel a bruise forming.
"Now look what ya made me do!" the creature kicked at a loose rock into the water below. "Someone paid good money for that bottle,"
"What do you want, Stephen?" his teeth were grinding against each other as he took a slight step forward, prepared to do what he needed to.
"Why is there always something up yer arse?" Stephen growled as he took one step closer to his half-brother. "And unless you intend to use that, put it away."
The Watcher tightened his grip on the wooden stake. Something didn't seem right about the situation. He had expected Stephen to launch straight into an attack if he ever saw him, or something other than this.
"How's that nephew of mine? I didn't cause too much damage, did I?"
"Stay the hell away from my family, Stephen!" Giles warned, his feet taking him several inches away from the demon. "Come near them and I'll give you a hands on explanation about why they called me 'Ripper'."
"I thought you were called that cos of yer sexual encounters." Stephen replied, looking Giles dead in the eye. "Does she know? Do you think yer pretty, young wife'll stay if she knew exactly what you've done? Think the Slayer will stick around if she knew about the people you've killed, the lives you ruined or about…"
Giles tackled the demon to the ground, the stake pressed against the area above his heart and the forearm of his free arm pressed against his throat.
"Do it, Rupert. Prove to me that yer the Watcher everyone thinks you are," Stephen laughed as he applied a little more pressure on the hand holding the stake, morphing into his game face. "Or show me what kinda dad you are."
"Get out of here, Stephen." He slowly got to his feet, pocketing the stake. "Don't let me catch you here again."
Without another word, Giles turned his back on his undead half-brother and walked back to his motorcycle. He knew he should have staked Stephen, but he just froze. And he wasn't sure why he choked like that.
"Do you understand what I can do, Rupert?" Stephen appeared in front of Giles, a hand gripping the front of Giles' shirt. "I will murder yer family in front of you. Hell, I'll turn Evan cos that boy is just burstin' with power. Might even turn the bloody Slayer and have her kill ya."
The more the vampire talked, the angrier Giles became. All he had to do was snap Stephen's neck and it would be over before anything else had to happen, before he lost his family. He imagined how easy it would be to break the vampire's neck, could hear the fatal snap in his mind. But the reality was all Giles could do was shove the demon away from him and continue on his way.
"Either you aren't what everyone thought you were," Stephen called after him. "Or you hate yer family. Or maybe you've gotten bored! Slayer ain't as young as she used to be, kids are tyin' ya down…but yer too bloody noble to just leave 'em. 'Ere I am providing ya an out to yer marriage. If yer done with Buffy, think I could have her?"
Giles spun around and rushed Stephen, only to find himself pinned to the parking lot. He could feel his half-brother's knee digging into his back, causing small jolts of pain whenever he struggled.
"Just remember," Stephen hissed in his ear, his fingers burrowing into the back of his neck. "When I take yer precious little family, you brought it on yerself. I gave you more than enough time to get rid of me,"
"Fuck off, Stephen!" Giles growled.
"I'll see ya around, Ru."
And just like that, Giles found himself alone in the parking lot.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"This isn't the first time he's done this," Dakota pointed out as Brennan looked at the clock again.
"I know, but the last time he did it was because Mum was seeing Angel behind his back." The blonde replied, causing both of them to pause and recall the aftermath of the ensouled vampire's secret visit. "And even then he didn't have a vampire trying to kill him, Kota."
"It's not like there's anything you can do,"
Brennan looked at his twin and couldn't help the smirk that came to his face. As soon as Dakota recognized the look, he shook his head in protest.
"No, Mum will kill you if you go looking for him." The 16 year old tried to reason as he moved to stand in front of him. "I'm the one who sneaks out, not you."
"Then go sneak out and find him, Dakota!"
The twins stood in the kitchen for a moment, just staring at each other. When it was clear that Dakota wasn't going to leave, Brennan pushed passed him and headed towards the garage.
"I'll be back soon,"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Evan had been sitting at the desk in his bedroom, furiously scribbling words on the notebook. While his brothers paced the kitchen and his mother sat in her bedroom, the 13 year old worked on his latest short story to help deal with the emotions the latest fight between his parents had sparked. He wasn't angry at anyone, but he was angry at the situation.
His father had been gone for over two hours and they hadn't heard from him since he left. Evan knew that Dakota was pissed off at their father, Brennan was worried about what was going on and their mother was trying to play it off. But she couldn't fool the boys, they knew how much this was affecting her.
"Stupid!" he muttered as he ripped the piece of paper from the notebook, wadding it up and throwing it at the wall in front of him.
"Writer's block?" the boy spun around, nearly falling out of his chair, to see his mother enter the room.
"Not really," he shrugged, giving her a shy smile that could have rivaled his father's. "Are you okay, Mum?"
"I should be asking you that, Bug." Buffy chuckled as she sat on her son's bed, pulling the old and worn stuffed pig into her lap. "Your father went back and got this for me, before the big showdown with the First. I didn't ask him to…we weren't even really talking at that time, but he still made sure Mr. Gordo was packed."
Evan watched as his mother picked at a loose string on the stuffed animal. He knew how much Mr. Gordo meant to his mother, because the pig meant just as much to him.
"He even made sure your brothers' stuffed dog and bear were packed. We almost left without him because he was searching our old house for them," a faint smile appeared on Buffy's face as she recalled their last day in Sunnydale. "Now he's the first to leave without looking back on what he's leaving behind. He's a completely different person and I know I caused it, or maybe I'm just seeing who he is for the first time. I'm sorry, Evan."
"What for?" the teenager had moved to sit next to his mother.
Just as she opened her mouth to answer, Dakota ran into the room with the cordless phone gripped in his hand. The expression on his face caused his mother to jump to her feet and reach for the phone. Evan sat on his bed, looking from his brother to his mother. He tilted his head as a way to question what the phone call was for, but Dakota just shook his head as Buffy mumbled a 'thank you' before clicking the phone off.
"Mum?" Evan asked, walking over to her as his older brother took the phone away from her. "What's going on?"
"That was the hospital." Buffy's voice was weak, her eyes locked on the wall ahead of her.
"What did Dad do?" Dakota questioned, his tone a mix of concern and anger.
There was silence in Evan's room for a long time, both teenagers afraid to further upset their mother. Evan began to chew on his bottom lip as the silence grew while Dakota absently tapped his fingers against his thighs.
"Mum, what happened?" the 16 year old blurted out, the quite making him jumpy.
"There was a wreck thirty minutes ago on Champions Forest. Someone was in the middle of the road and a vehicle swerved to miss him, drove straight into a brick wall." With every word Buffy said, Evan and Dakota felt worry settle into the pits of their stomachs. "Whoever was in the road went over to the vehicle and attacked the driver…"
"Who was it?" Evan whispered, tears filling his eyes at the images running through his mind. "Is Dad alright?"
"It wasn't your father, Bug." Hazel eyes stared in the blue eyes of Dakota, who had to resist the urge to look away. "The car was a black Jeep. Where's your brother, Dakota? And don't lie to me,"
"He went looking for Dad an hour ago," he mumbled as his gaze went to carpet.
"Evan, I need you to stay here in case Rupert comes home since he left his cell phone here." Buffy never took her eyes off her son. "Dakota, you and me are going to the hospital."
Evan followed them down the stairs, stopping his mother before she left the house. He wanted to know what was happening.
"Brennan's in surgery right now, and that's all I know." She told her youngest, placing a kiss on the top of his head. "Wait for your father and have him take you to the hospital."
The 13 year old stood in the garage as he watched his mother back out of the driveway, hoping his father would come back before it was too late.
