Title: Tesla
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRM (mainly for language)
Pairing: Buffy/Giles…with a little Ethan thrown in
Timeline: Three months after One Last Time
Synopsis: Ethan’s illness is taking its toll. How are Buffy and Giles coping with this?
Author’s
Note: This is a Time Stamp fic requested
by wyvernwolf. Also…betaed by wyvernwolf…thanks!
Giles opened the door of the
house and walked in. The house which
they had purchased a week after his wedding to Buffy. It was a lovely two storey house…white with
the stereotypical white picket fence.
They had decided on a largish house…after all, they were planning on
having children at some point.
Four bedrooms…three upstairs,
along with a study and a full bath...one downstairs, down the hall from the
living room. It worked well…and he was
hoping that soon they would be redecorating one of the rooms upstairs in a
light green with pictures of dinosaurs or Winnie the Pooh gracing the walls.
He smiled warmly as he walked
into the living room to find Buffy curled up on the couch with a book in her
hands as she watched the television. He
found it oddly charming that she would read while watching television. Sometimes she would only read during the
ads…and sometimes, she would lose interest and she would read during.
However, the television was
always on.
She looked up and smiled as he
sat down next to her, closing the book and tossing it onto the coffee
table. “Hey…”
“Hello.” He whispered, leaning over and giving her a
lingering kiss. “How are you?”
“Bored, but feeling better
now.” She replied, sliding her right
hand up his chest to rest on his shoulder.
“You know, I was perfectly fine to go on patrol tonight.”
“One more day’s rest is a good
thing, Buffy.” He argued gently. “Let me see.”
She rolled her eyes, but
unbuttoned her shirt. She felt a rush of
love for him as his eyes darted to the healing wound when she pushed the
material of the shirt to the side. It
had been four days since she’d been skewered in the shoulder by that Frasha’ha
demon they had encountered and Giles had inspected the healing wound at least
four times a day.
It had been a through and
through injury, but Giles had taken no chances.
He, with the help of
“It looks much better.” He whispered softly, tracing the outer edges
of the wound with his fingertip.
“Perhaps you can resume patrol tomorrow night. A light patrol, though…no need to rush back
into it full-force.”
“Giles…”
He met her eyes quickly and
shook his head. “I can’t lose you too,
Buffy.”
She didn’t know what to say, and
so she leaned into him and kissed his warm lips. As she pulled back after a moments, she ran
her fingers through his damp hair.
“Get caught out in the rain?”
He smiled as she traced his ear
with her fingertips. “Only for a
moment. It was a brief shower…”
His smile faded slightly as he
glanced towards the hall. “How, uh…how
was he tonight?”
“Sarcastic and horny.” She replied with a tender smile. “Our typical Ethan.”
“Went to bed early?” He asked as he turned his eyes back to her.
She nodded slowly. “He took Emma with him. He, uh…he looked fairly pale. And even though the lewd comments were there,
he just sounded…so tired.”
Giles sighed sadly. “Did he seem to be in pain?”
“No. But, you know Ethan…he doesn’t like to show
it…”
“I know.” He gestured towards the hall and gave her
another light kiss. “I’ll just go check
on him…and then we can go to bed, if you’d like.”
Buffy nodded and gave him
another smile.
* * *
Giles slowly opened the door and
poked his head in. Emma lifted her head,
but made no effort to move. Giles
stepped inside and raised his hand.
“Lay back down, Emma.” He whispered softly.
Emma yawned and lowered her head
back to the mattress, her tail wagging lightly before she closed her eyes. Giles smiled as he made his way to the bed,
leaning over Ethan’s body to rub Emma’s head.
“Good girl, Em.”
“She is, isn’t she?” Ethan’s tired voice asked.
Giles knelt next to the bed and
smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake
you.”
“Still alive, mate.” He smiled back and gently patted Giles’
arm. “Go to bed…”
“Ethan…I’ve been doing some more
research…”
Ethan chuckled, his brown eyes
shining in the dim light. “God,
Rip…more? For fuck’s sake, you’re a
newlywed. You’re supposed to be having
sex with your wife every night…trying to have a baby…building your future
together…or something. Research should not factor into a newlywed’s life…”
“We do.” Giles whispered with a smile. “Our sex life is not lacking, Ethan.”
Ethan grinned, a flicker of
mischief showing in his eyes. “Tell me?”
Giles raised an eyebrow. “Tell you?”
“Mm…it doesn’t matter what,
just…fuck, I miss sex.”
Giles reached out and brushed a
strand of hair back from Ethan’s face.
Though he had a full head of hair, the texture had changed during his
illness. Giles tried not to think about
how coarse Ethan’s hair was now.
“We’re trying to have a baby.”
Ethan smiled, leaning into
Giles’ touch. “I was actually wanting
something in a bit more detail, mate.”
“You mean, like the time he bent
me over the edge of the bed and fucked me until I was begging him to come?”
Both men turned towards the
door, Ethan licking his lips as Giles swallowed.
“Yeah, something like
that.” Ethan grinned.
“Buffy…”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “I’m not dead yet, Rip…”
Emma stood up and stretched
before jumping off the bed. Buffy
smiled, running her fingers through the dog’s soft fur as Emma walked by
her. Closing the door behind Emma, Buffy
walked over and climbed onto the bed next to Ethan.
Giles furrowed his brow as Buffy
placed a soft kiss on Ethan’s forehead.
“Is this what you do when I’m out?”
Ethan snorted and met Giles’
eyes. “Yes. We cuddle in bed and Buffy tells me stories of
your sex life so that I can get off…”
“No, that’s not what I
meant.” Giles responded softly,
continuing to stroke Ethan’s hair.
Ethan’s smile faded, sadness
flickering in his eyes. “I…don’t really
like being alone. And…sometimes, it’s
just too hard to actually move around all that much.”
“So…Emma and I come in and keep
him company.” Buffy added, tilting her
head slightly when Giles looked into her eyes.
“What do you two get up to when I’m
out?”
Ethan lifted his hand to Giles’
cheek and sighed. “It’s mostly Rupert
rejecting my sexual advances…”
Giles chuckled softly and shook
his head. “Or…Ethan grumbling over the
fact that I’m spending too much time researching.”
“Well, I’ve told you time and
again…there is no cure for this.”
The light in Giles’ eyes dimmed
and he swallowed hard. “Ethan…”
“Your time is better spent with
your wife and your friends. There’s no
point in wasting time on this.”
Giles’ eyes glistened as he
started to stand. Ethan’s hand wrapped
around Giles’ wrist, stopping his movement.
“Rupert, please don’t.”
“Giles?” Buffy asked, concern in her eyes.
A single tear escaped the corner
of his left eye. “There’s nothing I can
do. I’m watching my best friend…someone
who has been in my life for nearly thirty years…die. And there’s not a fucking thing I can do!”
“Come here.” Ethan whispered, gently tugging Giles’
wrist. “Please, come here.”
“Ethan, I – ”
“Shut the fuck up and come
here.” Ethan grumbled, tugging again.
Giles took a shuddering breath as
he lowered himself to sit on the mattress next to Ethan. Ethan let go of Giles’ arm and placed his
hand on Giles’ chest.
“Bloody hell, mate…don’t you
understand that you have already done so much for me?” He glanced at Buffy and made an
amendment. “Both of you. Without the two of you, I’d be alone in
His hand slid upwards, his
fingertips gently touching Giles’ lips.
“Please don’t say there’s nothing you can do. Because you’ve both proven otherwise.”
“I can’t save you.” Giles whispered emotionally.
Ethan flicked his eyes to
Buffy. “Tell him what I told you
earlier.”
Buffy took a deep breath and
gave Ethan a nod before meeting her husband’s eyes. “You might not be able to cure him, but you have saved him.”
When Giles started to reply,
Buffy smiled lightly and continued.
“And my ass still makes his
mouth water.”
Despite the seriousness of the
situation, a slow smile appeared on Giles’ lips. Ethan leaned up, moving his hand to the back
of Giles’ neck, and gently brushed his lips across Giles’.
“There’s my Ripper.” He whispered, his warm breath ghosting across
Giles’ lips.
“Ethan…” Giles started, only to be interrupted by a
quick shake of Ethan’s head.
“Just give us a kiss…and then
take your wife to bed.”
Giles sighed and slipped his arm
around Ethan’s back, supporting Ethan’s thin frame as he leaned down and kissed
him warmly. As Ethan’s tongue nudged its
way into Giles’ mouth, Giles lowered him back to the bed. He kissed Ethan for a few moments longer and
then slowly pulled away.
As Giles looked into Ethan’s
tired eyes, Ethan smiled and ran his hand down the side of Giles’ face. “Go on…I’ll be here in the morning to annoy
you immensely about the most trivial thing I can find.”
“I’m looking forward to
it.” Giles whispered, stroking his
fingers across Ethan’s forehead. “Get
some rest, yes?”
“Mm…” Ethan turned his eyes to Buffy and
sighed. “G’night, love.”
“Goodnight, Ethan.” She said softly, leaning down to kiss him
gently.
She wasn’t overly surprised when
he opened his mouth beneath hers and sucked her tongue into his mouth. What surprised her even less was the
sensation of her husband’s hand gently rubbing her back.
She lifted her head and sighed
softly at the look of exhaustion in his eyes.
“You need to sleep, Ethan.”
“Mm, yeah…” He closed his eyes and chuckled. His chuckle held no amusement, however. “Three months ago, I would’ve fucked you
after a kiss like that. Of course, three
months ago I had the energy to fuck you.”
He opened his eyes and stared at
her. “However, I do have the energy to
just…lie here…”
Giles smiled. “And there’s our Ethan…”
Ethan grinned sleepily. “I’ve always been here, mate. I’ve just been a little…preoccupied…”
When Ethan’s eyes closed and his
breathing started to even out, Buffy carefully climbed off the bed and walked
around to the other side. She placed her
hand on Giles’ shoulder and gently squeezed.
“He’s asleep, Giles.”
“Yeah.” Giles murmured, reaching up to cover her hand
with his. “I…um…”
“Ssh.” She whispered, leaning down to press a soft
kiss onto his cheek. “Come on, let’s go
to bed.”
Giles nodded numbly and stood up,
looking down at his friend. He couldn’t
remember a time when Ethan looked so weak…not even when he had accidentally
overdosed and ended up in the hospital.
Ethan had nearly died that night…but, he still hadn’t looked as gaunt as
he looked now.
He swallowed the sudden lump in
his throat and, after whispering a soft ‘goodnight’, he turned and allowed
himself to be led back to the door. He
couldn’t help but smile when Buffy opened the door to reveal Emma sitting patiently
on the other side.
“Go on, Em…go keep Ethan
company.”
They watched Emma walk over to
the edge of the bed and gently jump up.
She quickly laid down and scooted over next to Ethan, placing her head
on his shoulder.
“She’s good for him.” Buffy whispered softly.
Giles nodded absently, stepping
out of the room and quietly closing the door.
“I…don’t know how she’s going to cope when…when he…”
Buffy moved quickly, sliding her
arms around him and holding him tightly.
He held her in return and inhaled shakily.
“I don’t think he has much time
left, Buffy.”
“I think he realizes that as
well. He’s trying to prepare us
for…” She trailed off and sighed, not
really wanting to finish the statement.
“You see that, don’t you?”
Giles nodded slowly, pulling out
of the embrace and leading her down the hall and back into the living
room. “Knowing doesn’t make it
easier. In fact, I’m rather sure that
it’s made some things much more difficult.”
“Yeah.” Buffy agreed, flicking the light switch as
they started to climb the stairs to their room. “He’s been writing a lot the past few
days. He won’t tell me what he’s
writing, he just smiles at me each time I ask.”
Giles gave a soft chuckle and
steered her into their bedroom. “I would
say he was writing lewd poetry again…but, he would have no issues showing you
that.”
Buffy quickly began to shed her
clothes as Giles closed the door. His
eyes raked over her body as he pulled his shirt off and moved his hands to his
belt buckle. He felt a sudden rush of
desire flow through him, followed by an equally hurried rush of guilt.
Buffy slid her nude body under
the sheets and looked at him, furrowing her brow when she recognized the
tell-tale look of guilt in his eyes.
“Giles?”
“I want to make love with
you.” He answered softly.
Confusion shone in Buffy’s
eyes. “And that makes you feel guilty?”
“No.” He shook his head, sighing as he removed the
rest of his clothing and climbed into bed next to her. “Wanting you this badly while Ethan
is…dying…in the house that the three of us share…”
“It’s not about where we are,
you know.” At his raised eyebrow, she
continued. “It’s about the fact that he
isn’t well enough to have sex right now…and you feel that you’re, I don’t
know…it’s almost like you feel like you’re betraying him somehow.”
“Not betray.” Giles corrected softly, pulling her warm body
to rest against him. “I don’t want to
seem like I’m rubbing his nose in it…and that gave a very strange mental image.”
Buffy chuckled as she tilted her
head to kiss his chin. “Yes it did…an
image that Ethan would probably enjoy.”
Giles smiled and nodded in
agreement. “Yes, he would.”
“I need to tell you
something. And I’m not sure if right now
is the right time, but…”
Giles pulled back just enough to
look into her eyes. “It’s always the
right time to talk to me, Buffy. What is
it?”
“I made a doctor’s appointment
for tomorrow.”
Concern blazed in Giles’ green
eyes. “Are you alright? How long have you – ”
“Calm down.” She whispered urgently, kissing his lips and
then smiling brightly as she rolled him onto his back. “I’m not sick…well, not yet. And even when I am, if I even get sick, it’ll
only be for a little while…”
Giles’ brows knitted together in
confusion. “What? Buffy, you’re not making – ”
“I’m pregnant.” She sighed happily as she watched his
confusion melt away, to be replaced with elation. “At least…according to the pregnancy test I
took this afternoon, I am.”
“My God.”
She bit her bottom lip for a
moment. “Is that a good ‘my God’?”
His eyes glistened as he smiled
widely. “Oh, yes…yes, it is.”
She closed her eyes as he pulled
her down to his lips.
* * *
Ethan opened his eyes when he
heard a soft moan. A tired smile graced
his lips as he reached over and gently ran his fingers through Emma’s fur.
“Think I can talk ‘em into
namin’ the baby ‘Ethan’ if it’s a boy?”
Emma rubbed her left front paw
over her face and snuggled closer to Ethan.
Ethan closed his eyes and hoped
that they would make the formal announcement to him tomorrow. He would try to pretend to be surprised…it
wasn’t like he meant to find the test in the bathroom earlier in the day.
As he heard another moan come
from the room above him, he smiled. His
smile faded somewhat as he felt himself being pulled back into slumber.
“Please…let me live long enough
to see the baby.” He murmured to no one
in particular.
Emma opened her eyes, the
chocolate brown orbs holding a flickering blue light. With a gentle lick of her tongue against his
cheek, Ethan’s wish was granted.
No one in the house knew it, but
Emma was currently being used as a host.
The being’s name was Tesla…well, actually it was
Ravishnteslizcoatlarish’marahnij but no human had ever been able to pronounce
her name, so she had made herself known as Tesla.
She had been sent to protect
Ethan Rayne’s soul when he first became ill.
It had been hard following him around as a non-corporeal being and so
she had inhabited the body of a lost retriever…and followed Ethan home. Luckily, no one had the heart to send the dog
away…and so now she was able to guard Ethan without having to announce her
presence.
Tesla didn’t enjoy seeing Ethan
in pain…after all, she was a compassionate being. But there was nothing that could be done to
save Ethan’s body. She had been able to
preserve his mind, but his body was deteriorating quickly. She would stay until he took his last breath
as a human. And then she would leave
Emma’s warmth and embrace Ethan in death.
The blue light faded as Tesla
settled back down to patiently wait for the time to come when she would guide
Ethan’s soul to his eternal home. She
just hoped that the Watcher and Slayer would be okay.
She had a very strong suspicion
that they wouldn’t. But, she was also
sure that they would help one another through the loss of their friend.
~ End