Save Your Heart: Chapter 1
Jul. 18th, 2011 11:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_huffsterTitle: Save Your Heart
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Rating: R for violence and language
Timeline: Season 8 AU
Synopsis: Instead of dying at the hands of a Twilight controlled Angel, Giles walked away from the crater that was known as Sunnydale. With the seed destroyed at the world changed (again), Buffy and Giles left to England as the rest of the Scoobies adjust to a semi-normal life in their own way. But how will Giles and Buffy's relationship pull through with the issues of Giles' miraculous survival between them?
Author's Note: I was originally going to post this on my last day for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
summer_of_giles , but I've decided to post the first chapter now to see if this worth continuing. I mean, I like how I have this story planned out but I wanna see if it'll be received well by you awesome folks who read my fics.
Author's Note 2: I know the first chapter is a little blah, but I needed to write to establish everything that has happened.
It was stupid, and he would be lying if he said he expected to live through this. Giles tightened his grip on the Scythe as he ran towards the seed, trying to ignore the overwhelming sense of doom.
I’m not going to make it, he realized when the sounds of the fight had ceased.
“Buffy, you abandoned me…” Angel’s voice was the only sound he could hear, and his heart sped up at what was coming next. “For this?!”
Icy fingers wrapped around his neck and Giles knew, and yet he hoped the outcome would be different. It was as if everything slowed down as Angel- Twilight, he corrected himself- began to force his neck to turn. There were so many things he wished he had done differently, so many things he wished he had said. He felt the snap begin and he did his best to come to terms with his choices in the few seconds he had left to live…
“Giles!” he sat up and looked around, momentarily confused by his surroundings.
He was struggling to catch his breath when he noticed the knowing expression on Buffy’s face, and then everything clicked into place. His hand was shaking as he ran it through his hair, wincing at how damp it was from the sweat. His heart rate began to slow down once he remembered that he was back in the estate his parents had left to him years ago, and not laying at the bottom of Sunnydale with his neck snapped.
“Nightmare?” Buffy asked him as she sat on the coffee table across from him.
“When am I not having nightmares?” he answered as he stretched, confused as to why he was on the couch. “Why am I on the couch?”
“You fell asleep about an hour ago, and I thought I’d let you nap since you’ve been exhausted lately.” She explained. “What happened this time?”
“The same as always,” he muttered as he took a deep, shaky breath. “Eight months later and I’m still having bloody nightmares about it.”
Buffy just watched as Giles got to his feet, making his way to the kitchen before sighing, In the eight months since they had destroyed the seed to save the world a lot had changed; Dawn and Xander had gotten an apartment a few minutes away from Willow in San Francisco, and Buffy had gone with Giles back to England to cope with everything that had happened. And to keep an eye on Giles- despite what he said, the Slayer knew how shook up his brush with death had left him. Plus, there was still the issue of Angel’s accidental staking that Buffy had yet to confront Giles about. But she wasn’t entirely ready to talk about that, not when her emotions were still mixed up about that subject.
There was also the relationship her and Giles had started three months ago, which she knew was probably not the greatest idea either of them had ever had. She had fallen so deep into her thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed the small black and white Siberian Husky trot over to her, only realizing he was there when he licked her hand and pawed at her knee. The blonde smiled down at the puppy before scratching behind his ear.
“Hey, Indy.” She giggled at the memory of Giles’ reaction when she had decided to name the dog Indiana, muttering something about how ridiculous it was to name a pet after a movie. “Let’s go check on Daddy, yeah?”
She laughed when the puppy barked and ran towards the kitchen, knowing exactly where Giles was. Even though she was the one who wanted the dog, it was Giles that Indiana was attached to and Buffy thought it was just adorable how Giles interacted with the puppy. She made her way to the kitchen, smiling when she saw Giles cuddling the puppy as he looked out the kitchen window.
“What in the world are you doing?” he chuckled as Indy attempted to climb on to Giles’ head before settling for resting his front paws and head on his shoulder. “No, Indiana! Ow!”
“That’s not a chew toy, buddy.” Buffy said as she took the puppy from Giles, rubbing Giles’ back as he gently massaged his earlobe. “You should know better by now than to wear your hoop when you hold him,”
“We’ve had him for four months,” Giles grumbled as he turned around to look at the Slayer. “He ought to no better by now, considering how many times I’ve gotten after him.”
“Giles, he’s only a baby.”
“He’s six months, and that’s a few years according to him.”
“Well, we’re humans and not dogs.” Buffy pointed out as she set the puppy down. “So we go with Indy being six months, and that makes him a baby. He doesn’t know any better,”
The Watcher glared at her, rolling his eyes when she smiled up at him. They stood in silence for a few minutes while Indiana chased an empty plastic bottle around the kitchen. The occasional growl and bark brought a smile to both of their faces.
“We should go to dinner tonight,” Giles suggested as he watched Indiana pounce on the bottle before running after it when it skidded across the floor.
“Not that I don’t wanna spend time with you, but why do you wanna go out tonight?” she asked as she walked over to the island counter and hopped on it.
“We don’t have to go out, Buffy. We could always just order in,” he glanced up at her before looking back down as Indiana dropped the bottle at his feet, gently kicking the plastic to the other end of the kitchen. “I just don’t feel like cooking tonight.”
“I could cook,” Buffy rolled her eyes at the look Giles gave her. “I can cook!”
“Would it be eatable?” he raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.
“Right, because you’d like to eat huh?”
There was a brief moment of silence before they started laughing, which caused the puppy to pause in his activity to cock his head to the side. The look of confusion on Indiana’s face caused Buffy to laugh even more. It took them a few moments before they had composed themselves enough to talk.
“How is it that you have an estate but no staff?” the blonde asked after her giggles had subsided.
“Buffy, this was left to me years ago. I had no intentions of ever living here, so I found no reason to keep a staff.” He answered as he walked over to her, placing his hands on to of her thighs.
“Then why are we living here now?”
“Because the flat I own only has one bedroom.”
“And that’s a problem because…?” she asked as she played with the hair on the nape of his neck.
“At the time, we weren’t in a relationship. And that left the estate the best place to live…” he shook his head when she interrupted him.
“But we’re together now and we still live here,”
“And that would be because you wanted a dog before we started our relationship,” he smiled at her when she gave him a sheepish smile. “And the flat is not place for a pet.”
“So we’re stuck here?” the teasing tone in her voice betrayed the frown she was wearing.
“I’m afraid so, darling.” He chuckled as his hands moved to her hips. Giles noticed the question in her eyes and just smiled softly. “And no, I don’t plan on hiring a new staff. I want it to just be the two of us,”
A small bark caused the two of them to chuckle before looking down at the puppy.
“I think you forgot someone,” Buffy whispered.
“I want it to just be the three of us,” Giles smiled as he picked up Indiana, placing a kiss on the top of his head.
“See? Daddy didn’t forget you,” Buffy smiled as she kissed the pup’s nose. “Now, about that suggestion of ordering take out?”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“You know he’s not allowed on the bed, Buffy.” Giles sighed as he stood next to their bed.
“But he’s already asleep,” Buffy cooed as she looked up from cuddling with Indiana.
“He’s on my side,”
“How old are you, Giles?” she rolled her eyes as she patted the space behind the puppy. “There’s plenty of room for you on your side.”
Grumbling, the Watcher climbed into the bed and propped his head on his hand as he lay on his side. He watched Buffy softly run a hand over the pup’s fur.
“You really wanna put him in his little crate when he’s already all comfy?” Buffy’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.
“Of course I don’t,” he answered as he slid under the covers, resting on his side to face Buffy. “I just can’t…”
The Slayer laughed at the helpless gesture he made with his hands, his eyes darting from her to their dog. Her laughter grew as Indiana kicked out with his back paw and hit Giles’ stomach. The Watcher just glared at his girlfriend when she continued to laugh.
“Hold on, Grumpy.” Buffy giggled as she climbed out of bed, gently picking the sleeping puppy up.
“What are you doing, Buffy?”
She gave him a look before sliding back into the bed, her back pressed against Giles’ chest as she placed the pup on her side of the bed. A small smile spread across her face as Giles wrapped an arm around her waist and placed a kiss on her shoulder.
“Feel better?” she asked, one her hands playing with his fingers.
“Much,” he whispered.
“I can’t believe you’re jealous of a dog, Giles.”
“I am not jealous,” he protested.
“Really?” Buffy turned around to face him, a huge grin on her face. He rolled his eyes and restated that he was not jealous of a dog. “Okay, then why are you throwing a fit about our dog sleeping on the bed?”
“What if I just wanted to spend time with you tonight?”
Any response Buffy was going to give was cut off by a small whimper from Indiana, which effectively took her attention from Giles. He softly smiled as he watched her cuddle Indiana, thinking not for the first time that she would make an excellent mother. He shook his head before that train of thought could continue. He knew better than to even think that Buffy would want a family with him- Giles wasn’t stupid, he knew there were still issues she had yet to talk to him about.
But he wasn’t exactly going ruin what they had by making her talk about it, especially when he knew the result of that conversation, when it did happen, would result in him being alone. As much as he wanted to have a future with his Slayer, Giles was perfectly content with having a relationship- no matter how strained it became at times- with her than having no contact with her for the rest of his life.
“Night, Giles.” Buffy yawned, turning her head to quickly place a kiss on his lips before snuggling back into his embrace.
“Good night, Buffy.” He muttered as she quickly fell asleep, leaving him wondering how she could fall asleep so quickly.
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Rating: R for violence and language
Timeline: Season 8 AU
Synopsis: Instead of dying at the hands of a Twilight controlled Angel, Giles walked away from the crater that was known as Sunnydale. With the seed destroyed at the world changed (again), Buffy and Giles left to England as the rest of the Scoobies adjust to a semi-normal life in their own way. But how will Giles and Buffy's relationship pull through with the issues of Giles' miraculous survival between them?
Author's Note: I was originally going to post this on my last day for
summer_of_giles , but I've decided to post the first chapter now to see if this worth continuing. I mean, I like how I have this story planned out but I wanna see if it'll be received well by you awesome folks who read my fics.Author's Note 2: I know the first chapter is a little blah, but I needed to write to establish everything that has happened.
It was stupid, and he would be lying if he said he expected to live through this. Giles tightened his grip on the Scythe as he ran towards the seed, trying to ignore the overwhelming sense of doom.
I’m not going to make it, he realized when the sounds of the fight had ceased.
“Buffy, you abandoned me…” Angel’s voice was the only sound he could hear, and his heart sped up at what was coming next. “For this?!”
Icy fingers wrapped around his neck and Giles knew, and yet he hoped the outcome would be different. It was as if everything slowed down as Angel- Twilight, he corrected himself- began to force his neck to turn. There were so many things he wished he had done differently, so many things he wished he had said. He felt the snap begin and he did his best to come to terms with his choices in the few seconds he had left to live…
“Giles!” he sat up and looked around, momentarily confused by his surroundings.
He was struggling to catch his breath when he noticed the knowing expression on Buffy’s face, and then everything clicked into place. His hand was shaking as he ran it through his hair, wincing at how damp it was from the sweat. His heart rate began to slow down once he remembered that he was back in the estate his parents had left to him years ago, and not laying at the bottom of Sunnydale with his neck snapped.
“Nightmare?” Buffy asked him as she sat on the coffee table across from him.
“When am I not having nightmares?” he answered as he stretched, confused as to why he was on the couch. “Why am I on the couch?”
“You fell asleep about an hour ago, and I thought I’d let you nap since you’ve been exhausted lately.” She explained. “What happened this time?”
“The same as always,” he muttered as he took a deep, shaky breath. “Eight months later and I’m still having bloody nightmares about it.”
Buffy just watched as Giles got to his feet, making his way to the kitchen before sighing, In the eight months since they had destroyed the seed to save the world a lot had changed; Dawn and Xander had gotten an apartment a few minutes away from Willow in San Francisco, and Buffy had gone with Giles back to England to cope with everything that had happened. And to keep an eye on Giles- despite what he said, the Slayer knew how shook up his brush with death had left him. Plus, there was still the issue of Angel’s accidental staking that Buffy had yet to confront Giles about. But she wasn’t entirely ready to talk about that, not when her emotions were still mixed up about that subject.
There was also the relationship her and Giles had started three months ago, which she knew was probably not the greatest idea either of them had ever had. She had fallen so deep into her thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed the small black and white Siberian Husky trot over to her, only realizing he was there when he licked her hand and pawed at her knee. The blonde smiled down at the puppy before scratching behind his ear.
“Hey, Indy.” She giggled at the memory of Giles’ reaction when she had decided to name the dog Indiana, muttering something about how ridiculous it was to name a pet after a movie. “Let’s go check on Daddy, yeah?”
She laughed when the puppy barked and ran towards the kitchen, knowing exactly where Giles was. Even though she was the one who wanted the dog, it was Giles that Indiana was attached to and Buffy thought it was just adorable how Giles interacted with the puppy. She made her way to the kitchen, smiling when she saw Giles cuddling the puppy as he looked out the kitchen window.
“What in the world are you doing?” he chuckled as Indy attempted to climb on to Giles’ head before settling for resting his front paws and head on his shoulder. “No, Indiana! Ow!”
“That’s not a chew toy, buddy.” Buffy said as she took the puppy from Giles, rubbing Giles’ back as he gently massaged his earlobe. “You should know better by now than to wear your hoop when you hold him,”
“We’ve had him for four months,” Giles grumbled as he turned around to look at the Slayer. “He ought to no better by now, considering how many times I’ve gotten after him.”
“Giles, he’s only a baby.”
“He’s six months, and that’s a few years according to him.”
“Well, we’re humans and not dogs.” Buffy pointed out as she set the puppy down. “So we go with Indy being six months, and that makes him a baby. He doesn’t know any better,”
The Watcher glared at her, rolling his eyes when she smiled up at him. They stood in silence for a few minutes while Indiana chased an empty plastic bottle around the kitchen. The occasional growl and bark brought a smile to both of their faces.
“We should go to dinner tonight,” Giles suggested as he watched Indiana pounce on the bottle before running after it when it skidded across the floor.
“Not that I don’t wanna spend time with you, but why do you wanna go out tonight?” she asked as she walked over to the island counter and hopped on it.
“We don’t have to go out, Buffy. We could always just order in,” he glanced up at her before looking back down as Indiana dropped the bottle at his feet, gently kicking the plastic to the other end of the kitchen. “I just don’t feel like cooking tonight.”
“I could cook,” Buffy rolled her eyes at the look Giles gave her. “I can cook!”
“Would it be eatable?” he raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.
“Right, because you’d like to eat huh?”
There was a brief moment of silence before they started laughing, which caused the puppy to pause in his activity to cock his head to the side. The look of confusion on Indiana’s face caused Buffy to laugh even more. It took them a few moments before they had composed themselves enough to talk.
“How is it that you have an estate but no staff?” the blonde asked after her giggles had subsided.
“Buffy, this was left to me years ago. I had no intentions of ever living here, so I found no reason to keep a staff.” He answered as he walked over to her, placing his hands on to of her thighs.
“Then why are we living here now?”
“Because the flat I own only has one bedroom.”
“And that’s a problem because…?” she asked as she played with the hair on the nape of his neck.
“At the time, we weren’t in a relationship. And that left the estate the best place to live…” he shook his head when she interrupted him.
“But we’re together now and we still live here,”
“And that would be because you wanted a dog before we started our relationship,” he smiled at her when she gave him a sheepish smile. “And the flat is not place for a pet.”
“So we’re stuck here?” the teasing tone in her voice betrayed the frown she was wearing.
“I’m afraid so, darling.” He chuckled as his hands moved to her hips. Giles noticed the question in her eyes and just smiled softly. “And no, I don’t plan on hiring a new staff. I want it to just be the two of us,”
A small bark caused the two of them to chuckle before looking down at the puppy.
“I think you forgot someone,” Buffy whispered.
“I want it to just be the three of us,” Giles smiled as he picked up Indiana, placing a kiss on the top of his head.
“See? Daddy didn’t forget you,” Buffy smiled as she kissed the pup’s nose. “Now, about that suggestion of ordering take out?”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“You know he’s not allowed on the bed, Buffy.” Giles sighed as he stood next to their bed.
“But he’s already asleep,” Buffy cooed as she looked up from cuddling with Indiana.
“He’s on my side,”
“How old are you, Giles?” she rolled her eyes as she patted the space behind the puppy. “There’s plenty of room for you on your side.”
Grumbling, the Watcher climbed into the bed and propped his head on his hand as he lay on his side. He watched Buffy softly run a hand over the pup’s fur.
“You really wanna put him in his little crate when he’s already all comfy?” Buffy’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.
“Of course I don’t,” he answered as he slid under the covers, resting on his side to face Buffy. “I just can’t…”
The Slayer laughed at the helpless gesture he made with his hands, his eyes darting from her to their dog. Her laughter grew as Indiana kicked out with his back paw and hit Giles’ stomach. The Watcher just glared at his girlfriend when she continued to laugh.
“Hold on, Grumpy.” Buffy giggled as she climbed out of bed, gently picking the sleeping puppy up.
“What are you doing, Buffy?”
She gave him a look before sliding back into the bed, her back pressed against Giles’ chest as she placed the pup on her side of the bed. A small smile spread across her face as Giles wrapped an arm around her waist and placed a kiss on her shoulder.
“Feel better?” she asked, one her hands playing with his fingers.
“Much,” he whispered.
“I can’t believe you’re jealous of a dog, Giles.”
“I am not jealous,” he protested.
“Really?” Buffy turned around to face him, a huge grin on her face. He rolled his eyes and restated that he was not jealous of a dog. “Okay, then why are you throwing a fit about our dog sleeping on the bed?”
“What if I just wanted to spend time with you tonight?”
Any response Buffy was going to give was cut off by a small whimper from Indiana, which effectively took her attention from Giles. He softly smiled as he watched her cuddle Indiana, thinking not for the first time that she would make an excellent mother. He shook his head before that train of thought could continue. He knew better than to even think that Buffy would want a family with him- Giles wasn’t stupid, he knew there were still issues she had yet to talk to him about.
But he wasn’t exactly going ruin what they had by making her talk about it, especially when he knew the result of that conversation, when it did happen, would result in him being alone. As much as he wanted to have a future with his Slayer, Giles was perfectly content with having a relationship- no matter how strained it became at times- with her than having no contact with her for the rest of his life.
“Night, Giles.” Buffy yawned, turning her head to quickly place a kiss on his lips before snuggling back into his embrace.
“Good night, Buffy.” He muttered as she quickly fell asleep, leaving him wondering how she could fall asleep so quickly.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-07-19 04:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-19 04:51 am (UTC)As far as the backstory goes, I'll just tell you on Skype
no subject
Date: 2011-07-19 07:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-19 03:37 pm (UTC)The only thing that needs to known is that the seed (which is the source of all the world's magic) was destroyed, which cuts off the Slayer line (so no new Slayers after the current ones die) and no more Wiccas since there is no more magic.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-03 05:16 am (UTC)