Title: Chumashed
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRM
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Timeline: Set directly after the events of Pangs (S4)
Author’s Notes: Special thanks to wyvernwolf who has done another wonderful job as my beta.

 

This was written in response to a prompt for the Hurt/Comfort Ficathon. The prompt is as follows:

“Buffy; season 4; The arrow that hit Buffy in 'Pangs' is a ghost arrow and Slayer healing can't fix the wound. Giles steps in with research, support and a little bit of magic”

 

 

Over twenty-four hours earlier, Buffy had stormed out of his apartment in anger. Giles took some comfort in the fact that he wasn’t the only person she was angry with, but somehow it wasn’t enough. He found that his heart still ached when she was angry with him. He shook his head sadly as he put the last of the clean dishes away.

 

He turned and looked longingly at the phone. He had called her five times already, each call ending with him hanging up on the answering machine. As much as he wanted to apologize for not telling her Angel was in town, he refused to do so via a piece of electronic equipment.

 

He glanced at the clock and with a heavy sigh, picked up the phone. He had pressed five numbers on the handset when a knock sounded at the door. He grumbled under his breath as he punched the ‘end’ button and tossed the phone onto the counter.

 

He opened the door, more than mildly surprised to find her on the other side.

 

“Buffy?”

 

“Giles…”

 

“I’ve been trying to call you. In fact, I was calling you just now. I…I want to apologize…”

 

She interrupted him swiftly. “So not worried about that at the moment.”

 

Hearing her words, and more importantly her tone, he took a moment to really look at her. Her face was flushed, her skin glistening, and she was leaning heavily against the doorframe. He suddenly realized that his Slayer was not well.

 

He ushered her in quickly and closed the door. “What’s wrong, Buffy?”

 

“I have a problem.”

 

His eyes widened in surprise as she shrugged her jacket off and dropped it to the floor. “Buffy?”

 

She smiled wearily at him, lifting her arm slightly. “Something’s wrong.”

 

His eyes immediately darted towards her bandaged forearm and filled with concern when he registered that not only was her arm bandaged, the bandage was red…blood red. He led her to the couch and sat her down before retrieving his first aid kit.

 

“What happened?” He asked softly as he sat down beside her.

 

She stared at him for a moment, and then slightly narrowed her eyes in confusion. “I was shot with an arrow?” She pointed weakly towards the other side of the room. “Right over there.”

 

He met her eyes, his brow furrowing. “Buffy…that was twenty-six hours ago.”

 

“Uh-huh…”

 

He gently touched the bandage and then inspected the red smear on his fingertip. “This is fresh blood.”

 

“Uh-huh. Remember when I said I have a problem? This is it. Slayer healing isn’t kicking in, Giles.” She wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Something’s wrong.”

 

“Lie down.” He requested softly as he carefully pushed her onto the cushions. “I’ll get you some water.”

 

He pulled the afghan from the back of the couch, covering her body before rushing into the kitchen.

 

“You cleaned up.”

 

“Pardon?” He walked back into the living room and sat down on the coffee table, holding the glass for her as she sipped the cool liquid through a straw.

 

She swallowed and let her head fall onto the arm of the couch. She lifted her hand and gestured towards the kitchen. “You cleaned up. I was…I was going to help.”

 

“Oh.” He placed the glass on the table next to him and shrugged a shoulder. “It passed the time. Now…do you mind if I remove this and have a closer look?”

 

She shook her head. “That’s one of the reasons I’m here.”

 

He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question her on her other reasons for coming to him. There were more important matters at hand…namely, figuring out why her Slayer healing was seemingly crippled. He carefully removed the bandage, grimacing when she hissed softly.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“S’okay.” She watched his face as he examined the wound. “What’s the diagnosis, doc?”

 

“I’m not sure.” He shook his head, his eyes narrowing. “This is rather disturbing.”

 

She chuckled half-heartedly. “And here I was thinking you were gonna say ‘interesting’.”

 

His eyes darted to hers. “I do not find this interesting in the least, Buffy.”

 

“I’m sorry. Just trying to lighten things up.”

 

He brushed her sweat-dampened hair back from her face. “There is nothing light about you being in danger.”

 

He cleared his throat and set to the task of cleaning the wound, adding some ointments to it, and then re-dressing it. She watched him closely, not missing the expression of true concern and fear on his face. She reached up and lightly grazed her fingertips along his cheek.

 

“I’ve missed you.”

 

He looked down at her, clearly startled. He swallowed and stopped himself before he leaned into her touch. He spoke gently, under the assumption that she was delirious.

 

“Buffy, I’m not Angel.”

 

“No. You’re Giles. I’m not healing, but I haven’t completely lost my mind. You’re Giles…and I’ve missed you.”

 

He took a deep breath. “I’ve missed you as well.” His eyes narrowed again as he glanced at the small red patch appearing on the fresh gauze. “Rest now. Are you in pain? I’m sure I have some painkillers in the medicine cabinet.”

 

“It doesn’t feel good, but it’s manageable.” She closed her eyes and shuddered lightly. “I’m scared, Giles. What’s wrong?”

 

“I don’t know, love.” He covered her back up and cradled her cheek in his palm. “I don’t know. But, I’ll find out. You rest for now and I’ll see what I can find.”

 

She nodded sleepily. “You’ll keep me safe? Make me better?”

 

“I’ll do my level best.” He whispered softly.

 

She smiled. “You always do.”

 

When she yawned, he placed his hand on her shoulder. “Did you sleep last night?”

 

“I dozed.”

 

He narrowed his eyes. “Buffy, you need rest. You’ve been pushing yourself – ”

 

“I know, Giles. Trust me, I tried to sleep. But…”

 

When she didn’t finish her statement, he gently squeezed her shoulder. “But, what?”

 

“It hurt. And…I couldn’t get comfortable.”

 

He sighed softly. “You should’ve come to me last night.”

 

She looked away from him and spoke quietly. “I was mad at you last night.”

 

“I know. And – ”

 

“And I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay? Can we just focus on this for the time being?”

 

“Of course. I, uh…are you sure you wouldn’t like anything for pain?”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

 

He offered her a gentle smile. “Accepting pain relief is not a sign of weakness, Buffy.”

 

She chuckled. “And why do you have a stockpile of painkillers?”

 

“Numerous visits to the emergency room for head trauma…and various other injuries.”

 

“And you didn’t take them? You just said that it’s not a sign of weakness.”

 

He cleared his throat and smiled shyly. “I said that ‘accepting’ isn’t a sign of weakness. I accepted them. I even took a few of them.”

 

“Semantics, Giles.” She grinned briefly before the throbbing in her arm caused her to wince. “Yeah, okay…maybe something light?”

 

He gave her a quick nod and rushed into the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and after scanning the labels on the bottles, he found the one he wanted and ran back into the living room.

 

“You in a hurry, Giles?”

 

“Well…you’re in pain. The faster I get these into you, the faster you’ll be out of pain.” He shook a pill into her palm and handed her glass of water to her. “This will help…and should help you get some sleep as well.”

 

She glanced at the pill and then looked into his eyes. “What will you be doing?”

 

“Researching.” He gestured towards the table. “I’ll be right over there.”

 

“Promise you won’t leave?”

 

“I’m not going anywhere.”

 

She gave him a nod and popped the pill into her mouth, quickly swallowing a mouthful of water to wash it down. As she lay back down, he covered her back up with the afghan.

 

“Close your eyes, Buffy. Get some rest.”

 

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Fifteen minutes later, her breathing evened out as she fell asleep. He sat with her for a few moments, searching for any evidence of her being in pain. Finding none, he stood and quickly made his way to the bookshelf.

 

 

Chapter Two

 

Return to Fic Index