Seal of Fate
Author: Nikki
SUMMARY: Sequel to Ripping Confessions.Giles begins to hear Buffy's thoughts, and then dreams he feels her death.
Part 1
Giles hardly knew when it had started. His ability to read her mind unnerved him. He had always been vaguely aware of Buffy's whereabouts. Even when she had run away all those years ago he had still known that she hadn't left the country. Now he was beginning to have nightmares about her. That was always a bad sign for a Watcher.
~~*~~
They were walking down the street eating ice-cream. Willow and the others were behind them dressed in black. The wind blew Buffy's hair into her eyes and it swept his high silk hat off his head. He chased after it, catching it and looked back as the galloping black horses rode straight over him baring his Slayer to Hell.
~~*~~
"Giles? What's the matter?" Buffy's smiling voice brought him out of his trance like sleep. He smiled wanly in her direction. She'd bought him ice-cream. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He really must stop reading Edgar Allen Poe for relaxation.
"Ooh, vanilla my favourite." He smiled and took the tub from her hands. She shook her hands. They were frozen from holding the ice-cream for so long.
"Anything happening in the Watcher-world?" She raised her voice over the din of bowls being fetched from his kitchen cupboards. Giles didn't answer immediately because he had snuck a sneaky spoonful of vanilla delight in the kitchen.
"Uhm, no just the odd dream. Nothing unusual. What's happening in the Slayer World?" He brought the bowls into the living room. He gave Buffy the bigger serving; after all, she had bought it.
They passed a pleasant couple of hours chatting in general about nothing in particular. He tried not to continuously end each of her sentences for her but he seemed to hear her before she said anything. In the end he waited until she stopped speaking before nodding in response. If he could hear her, couldn't she hear him in turn?
"Well, I've got to go..."
"....on a hot date? Off you go then Buffy. Be careful after your movie."
"How'd you know I was going to a movie?" She sounded annoyed. This whole visit had been slightly creepy. Her Watcher laughed and shrugged.
"Don't know. Call the X-files!" He laughed some more. Buffy shook her head, convinced that Giles had been smoking grass again.
~~*~~
He ran after the vampire. Although the stake in his hand felt familiar, the rhythm of his stride was all wrong. It almost felt like he was shorter. He flew gazelle-like over obstacles that were placed in his path by the fleeing vampire. Eventually the vampire was cornered in an alley. Standing triumphant at the mouth of the alley, he waited for the vampire to make its final assault. Launching itself forward in a vain attempt to escape its fate, the vampire impaled itself on the stake, showering his clothes with dust. He coughed, tasting the foul dust in his throat. He found his throat constricting and could not draw a breath. The smell of the dust was familiar, like bitter almonds. He sank down on the damp ground gasping his last breath...
~~*~~
He shot up in bed taking a giant breath, bathed in a cold sweat. That was awful. Choking he left his bed and dashed to the bathroom, hastily filling a glass with water and greedily gulping it down, the coolness soothing his parched throat. He glanced in the mirror and saw a ghostly image of Buffy curled on the ground of an alley. Her mouth open in an agonised silent scream for breath, her hand falling away from her throat as her eyes fluttered closed in death. The glass shattered in the basin as he gripped the edges of the bathroom mirror in disbelief.
"Buffy..." He gasped
Part 2
Giles stared in shock as the ghostly vision misted and faded from view. His hands fell from the mirror into the basin and he gasped in pain as the splintered glass pierced his fingers. He quickly wrapped a hand towel round the wound and opened the cabinet door for the first aid kit.
With his fingers cleaned and bandaged he sat down on the couch in his living room and stared into the empty fireplace until the dawn chorus shook him from his reverie. It had come then. The hour that every Watcher dreads, the death of his Slayer. He was strangely calm. He sighed and walked to the phone. He had to call someone; who first?
His front door burst open. He dropped the phone. Buffy! Buffy in his arms. He hugged her, squeezing the life from her.
"Giles.. Not that this isn't nice, but the doors open.. The neighbours will talk.." Her voice was music.
"Not to mention the best friend!" Willow remarked playfully.
He released her and cleared his throat. Where were his glasses? He found himself dreadfully embarrassed and awfully relieved to see her safe and well. Willow's smile faded when she saw his hands.
"Giles! What happened?" She took his warm hands in her cool ones and examined the bandages. He let himself be lead to the sofa. Buffy went into his kitchen and made tea.
"Willow, it's nothing. I cut myself on a glass last night. That's all." Her concern warmed his heart and he dared to stroke her bowed head as Buffy put the tea on the coffee table. Buffy smiled secretly at his gesture. He'd been doing that a lot lately. Willow noticed and didn't notice, like she almost expected affection from him but never encouraged it.
Xander had once made a bet with Buffy as to who would touch the other first. (Willow and Giles) It was an on-going thing. Giles was winning but not by much! Buffy didn't know if she liked the touchy-feelies between her Watcher and her best friend.
Giles picked up his tea cup awkwardly. "I had a bad dream, I got up to get some water..." He hesitated remembering the choking sensation and the acrid scent of bitter almonds. "...the glass slipped and I stupidly tried to clear it up in the dark." He lied. No reason to alarm Buffy over a dream!
"Last night Willow, Watcher-man and I shared ice-cream. That's probably what did it y'know. He wolfed down half the tub!" Giles smiled indulgently at his Slayer. Let her tell the story, he thought. He sat back and let the quiet babble wash over him. Just a dream.
"Get the rose lipstick, Buffy. Red is too dark for your colouring." He got up and walked to the kitchen with his cup and saucer.
Buffy and Willow stopped talking mid-word with puzzled looks on their faces.
"What? We were talking about a calculus assignment.. Giles are you feeling OK?"
He froze in the kitchen. He'd heard the calculus conversation, but he'd also heard a third voice rabbiting on about lipstick. It would be laughable if it wasn't so strange! The voice was worried now, not saying anything. Just feeling it.
"Oh, sorry. My mistake. It's true though. Red wouldn't suit you." He called trying to make light of his statement while his forehead creased in a frown. He massaged his temples. Maybe he needed more sleep?
"Okay, I think that's enough weirdness for this morning.. Willow you coming? We can grab breakfast on the way to the job hunt." Buffy said over- brightly.
Giles came from the kitchen. Willow hurried after Buffy, hesitated at the door, then ran back to Giles to give him a small kiss goodbye. He bent his neck slightly so the kiss landed on the corner of his mouth. She dashed away and he remained where he was head bent still feeling the press of her soft lips against his. He smiled to himself and turned to go upstairs to dress. His fingers smarted as he grabbed the hand rail. Damn dream!
Part 3
Giles decided to forego his research and be out in the throng of bargain hunters. As he walked through the Mall absently looking at the displays, a few people he knew smiled at him.
He stopped by the jewelery shop and did a double take. That was just what he needed for Buffy. It was a charm with a hinged top containing a seal in the design of a cross and stake. It would go well with the others on her charm bracelet. He had bought her a charm for every Birthday since she had been a Slayer. She had become a lovely young woman and he was proud of his Slayer. It was a great pity that the Council didn't think the same. As he walked out of the shop the man who had served him ducked into the heavily shaded back room. Then, a woman's voice came from the shadows.
"Well done. I have decided, you are the one who will poison the Slayer." Extending her pale hand, he brushed his lips over her cool flesh. As she gasped at the heat of his lips her face changed to reveal broken scarred vampiric ridges. It was a face that bore witness to an ancient encounter with a Slayer past. Every Slayer now became subject to her terrible retribution. The ancient vampire bent to kiss her serf's hand, nipping his fingers gently. He hissed in pleasure, honoured to be her Chosen One. The lady Mary lifted her heavy veil to his gaze. Her terrible beauty held him transfixed while her fangs closed on his throat in a fatal kiss.
Soon, Mary's chosen returned from the dead. Enfused with speed and power, her chosens only needed these attributes for a short time. The chosen drank the poisoned blood from a crystal goblet that he smashed on the floor after he drained the last drop.
~~*~~
When Giles returned, he opened his door to find both Buffy agitatedly pacing and Willow curled up on the sofa reading one of his forbidden texts. At his entrance she slammed the book shut guiltily, pinching her fingers. She "Ow'd" silently then smiled as Giles wagged an admonishing finger at her. He was in a good mood.
Giles winced as Buffy shouted obscenities at him in her mind. What she said was..
"Where've you been? I've been waiting for hours!" He frowned at her.
"Well, twenty minutes." She pouted. Ah, the new lipstick, he thought.
"Out.. Just for a walk. Window shopping, actually," he said hanging up his coat and walking to the kitchen to make tea.
Willow and Buffy migrated to the stools on the far side of the breakfast bar. Their murmured chatter lulled his brain. He put the tea in the pot whilst absently humming the tune that Buffy exercised to in the morning. The kettle boiled and he poured the water, holding the heavy vessel with a cloth.... Suddenly he had a flash of his nightmare.
~~*~~
Harsh, ragged breath and darkness, he was running following the fleeing figure in a dark suit. There's something familiar about him. He's the man in the jewelers!
~~*~~
That revelation evaporated as the boiling water scalded his skin. "FUCK!" The kettle slipped from his grasp slopping on his clothes. He leapt from the kitchen and hurtled for the shower. Cold water, cold water. His hands stinging he quickly ripped off his jeans and threw them in a corner. He spun the control to cold and stepped quickly under the icy torrent. He angled his body and arms for maximum cooling effect. Someone was knocking. He opened his eyes, shivering.
"Yes!" His voice echoed.
A tiny, alabaster hand thrust round the door holding his robe. He turned off the water and stepped out, his wet feet squeaking on the floor. He took the robe.
"Thank you." The hand made a "thumbs up" sign. Slipping his robe on he shuddered from the cold and ran his hand through his hair, whipping icy droplets onto the floor. He studied his hands; they were scarlet. "Stupid Bastard," he muttered to himself. He then stilled himself as he remembered his vision. Who turned the assistant and when was he turned? Did his buying Buffy the charm have some evil portent? He shook his head while tying his robe.
~~*~~
Giles fell asleep over his books in the lounge, his open fingers twitching as he dreamt. The horses were galloping closer thundering over him, pounding into his head. He shouted to Willow and Xander for help. Only Willow answered him. He lay still shrouded in darkness. The graveyard at night in Sunnydale was far from peaceful. As he wandered around, he noticed that something was different. His heart began to race and he felt a curious ache in his belly. A vampire was near.
There, emerging from the tombside crept the assistant from the jewelers. The chase ended with the vampire trapped in the alley. He was breathing hard. No! Don't breathe this time. Use the extra time to learn! The vampire lunged toward his stake. An odd tinkling sound accompanied its headlong rush ending in dust.
He heard the choking, his vision blurring, swallowing the urge to breathe to hold on longer. Buffy's hand fell from her throat, her bracelet tinkling on the ground. His breath left him explosively. He woke starved of air with a parched throat that curiously filled with liquid. Bathroom!
He staggered out holding the doorjamb for support. His vision still swam before him as tears spilled from his eyes. He had bought her a gift in innocence. That gift had sealed her fate. He sniffed back his tears and crossed the room. He locked the 'seal' in a drawer. Now she would never have it. Buffy would live. Ripper would see to that.
~~*~~
The dark figure crept from the shadows. He had lingered by one storeroom for an hour to familiarise himself with the patrol schedule of the guards. He looked at his watch counting the seconds in his mind. Luckily Buffy was oddly quiet tonight, so he had no distractions. He made his move, skirting the shuttered doorways of the shops until he found himself at the right location. But, it wasn't there! He stared at the tiled floor. The shape of the unit was there. The shop had gone. He stared at the ceiling and kicked at the dusty outline. Dropping to his knees he sniffed the air and found the smell of bitter almonds.
"Shit!" He carried the poison already. Then a guard spotted him and approached, drawing his weapon. Ripper spun away into the shadows and escaped into the silent night.
Part 4
His nightmare was always the same, his desperate chase and the vampire's headlong rush. Its expression of resolve matching its suicidal assault and the brief smile before the dust that peppered his lungs with an engulfing poison.
Giles arched out of his bed and heaved into a bucket at his bedside. His throat and lungs burning, without pause he reached for the bottle of water he now kept on the nightstand, taking a huge swallow to slake his thirst. He shifted his pillow and sat upright swallowing the tiny eruptions of bile that threatened. He opened his eyes and surveyed Sunnydale in the grey light of dawn.
Sunnyhell, Spike had called it. Too bloody right, he thought. His head rolled to his mirror illuminated by the bright sunlight that lanced into his room highlighting his wretched reflection. Ripper had been out every night for a month. Brute force wasn't working although it felt good for a while. He knew that Cyanide had killed Buffy in his nightmare. She was going to die it was inevitable. He dragged his bone weary body to his bathroom for a shower and shave. He had to go out today; he needed help. The Council was his last resort. He couldn't go on feeling like this!
He felt Buffy wake as he stepped under the shower's icy stream and his daylight nightmare started. He rested his head against the streaming tiles, shutting his eyes and ears to the incessant chatter of his Slayers' mind in the morning. His head ached with a slow thudding. He didn't realise he was pounding his head against the tiles until blood mixed with the water pooling at his feet. His eyes wide with shock; he threw back his head and adjusted the temperature of the spray. The blood washed out of his eyes. He ordered himself to concentrate.
He wiped the condensation from the bathroom mirror and donned his glasses. Considering his hand shook through lack of sleep, his shave was remarkably bloodless. He dressed and was soon on his way to the CyberCafe where Willow worked for the summer.
~~*~~
He opened the door and slipped guiltily inside, sliding into one of the window seats. He glanced at the bank of computers staring ominously at him from the far wall. He shifted his gaze to the tabletop, his eyes obscured by the dark glasses he wore against the sun's glare. Someone waited expectantly by his elbow. He breathed in her honeysuckle scent.
"Willow?" His head snapped up and he immediately regretted it. He saw in a nano-second all the worries and concerns of the world rip over her elfin features. She swallowed.
"Rup...Giles! What have you been doing to yourself?" She queried, aghast. Her hand reaching out to the fresh cut on his forehead he stopped her with a weak smile.
"I tripped in the shower this morning. I've not been sleeping well.." He added knowing that she had seen the dark circles under his eyes.
"Or eating.. I'm going to get you breakfast! Then I want some answers." Willow left the spectre of her "resolve face" bristling in her wake. Coming here was a mistake!
She was back in ten minutes with enough food to feed an army. His stomach flipped and complained. He lifted his cutlery and began. She helped him with the croissant.
"You don't have to stay and watch me eat, Willow. Don't you have other tables to wait on?" He looked around; he was the only one in the cafe. She smiled at him smugly. He put his knife and fork down.
"Finished?" He nodded. "Good, now why are you here? Apart from eating breakfast." She quantified.
"Can you show me how to operate one of those things" He waved his forefinger in the direction of the terminals. "I need to do a search and to send an e-mail to someone." He smiled apologetically. In response she gave him one of her enchanting smiles. It nearly took his breath away.
"Follow me...." she crooked her finger.. He followed willingly and sat down awaiting instruction. Then the music started. Buffy was doing her exercises. He paled as the horrendous beat pounded inside his head. Willow was talking to him. He could just make out what she said by lip-reading. He asked her to write down some instructions for him to follow and he managed as best he could. The tension in his shoulders increased by the minute, causing him to rub his hand over his knotted muscles and sigh.
"Only an hour..."
Giles logged on, resting his head in one hand, trying to remember the password. The thundering rhythm stopped abruptly and he took advantage of the lull and quickly typed:-rgSlay2004 in the appropriate box. The save prompt came up and he saved all the information to disc. He swung his legs round the stool and was about to leave when the newspaper headline caught his eye.
The story told of Sunnydale's newest horror. He searched the cafe for Willow, grabbing the paper he surreptitiously nipped round the counter. He overheard Willow talking to Buffy on the phone. That's why the din had stopped!
"He look's awful, Buffy, like he's not slept or eaten in days... I think he's hurting himself as well."
Willow, he wouldn't do that, not Giles.
"Well you don't know how depressing it is being all alone with no-one to talk to.."
:Will, if he's depressed we have to undepress him. Give him an invite to my party! See if that cheers him up. Gotta go, gotta aerobiscise."
Willow hung up and the music battered him almost senseless again. When Willow came out of the back room Giles had left. He forgot to disconnect his terminal and she spied some information on "A Slayer's death" before the connection terminated automatically.
~~*~~
Buffy pulled the headphones from her ears and listened. Someone was downstairs pounding on the front door. She tripped lightly down the stairs to open the door. Her smile of welcome faded when she saw her Watchers face. Undammed rage clouded his handsome features.
"Will you shut the fucking row off! It's driving me mad!" He bellowed and pushed past her into her hall. He took the stairs two treads at a time on the hunt for her CD's and batteries. He bounded down the stairs and whipped the headphones from round her neck and the stereo from her hands. She regarded him with an expression of shock written all over her face.
"Take up yoga!" He snapped and slammed the door behind him.