Title: Prospekt’s
March
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRT
Pairing:
Buffy/Giles
Timeline: Post
series, AU.
Synopsis: The
aftermath of the carnage left by a demon’s rampage.
Author’s Note:
Album fic. Song and lyrics can be
found here.
Giles coughed,
holding his ribs as he groaned in pain.
He spat at the ground, not surprised that most of what he spat out of
his mouth was blood. Narrowing his eyes,
he looked around at his surroundings…or what he could actually see through the
smoke.
He saw destruction…he
saw fear and pain. He could feel the
waves of sadness emanating from the survivors as they held their loved
ones…dead or dying. He tried to quell
the panic building up within him at the realization that no one was here at the
moment to hold him.
He stumbled and
looked down to see what he had tripped over.
He closed his eyes when he saw that it was a shoe…with a foot still
inside.
“Christ, Buffy…where
are you?” He whispered to no one as he
continued through the ruined roads of the town.
He heard a groan on
the side of the road and turned towards it.
A badly injured man raised his hand weakly, beckoning Giles to him for
help. Giles made his way over, carefully
sitting down next to the man.
“My…my name is
Rupert…”
“Brian.” The man replied, pain evident in his
voice. “What…what happened?”
Giles had spent many
years covering up the destruction caused by demons. He had blamed the mayhem on everything from
snakes in the sewers to natural gas explosions to Mother Nature’s fury. He regarded Brian and sighed sadly. Brian wouldn’t survive much longer…he
deserved the truth.
“A group of Fire
Demons led by Prospekt ripped through the wall of reality and destroyed this
town…and everyone in it. My Slayer,
Buffy…”
“Slayer?” Brian swallowed, his unfocused eyes blinking
against the grime and grit in the air.
“Fire Demons?”
“The world is not how
you imagine it, Brian. We…Buffy and
I…and our friends…we, we protect the world to the best of our ability…”
“Am I dying?” Brian asked softly.
Giles nodded,
reaching out a trembling hand and gripping Brian’s shoulder. “Yes.”
Brian looked away for
a moment and then nodded. “Are you?”
Giles swallowed,
grimacing at the overwhelming taste of copper in his mouth. “Quite possibly.”
Brian stared at
Giles, tears welling in his blue eyes.
“Who are you?”
Giles wiped the back
of his hand across his mouth, smearing blood onto his hand. He had no doubt that there were some internal
bleeding issues. He wasn’t surprised
considering that he had to dig himself out from under a mound of rubble.
“I’m…I’m Rupert
Giles, Watcher. I…I have spent the last
few years…training…the current Slayer, Buffy Summers.”
With Giles’ help,
Brian sat up and leaned against a broken concrete pylon. He heard the hesitation on the word
‘training’. “What is she to you? Besides…besides a Slayer? And…what is that?”
Giles smiled
weakly. “She…she is my love. And a Slayer is the one girl – ”
“You shouldn’t bore
him with that, Giles.”
Giles and Brian both
looked towards the voice. Brian barely heard Giles breathe the name
‘Buffy’. He grasped Giles’ forearm, his
lips quivering as Giles turned towards him.
“Brian?”
“Thank you…for…for
the truth.” Brian whispered, glancing at
Buffy as she knelt next to Giles.
“Take…care of him…”
A single tear slipped
down Giles’ cheek as Brian closed his eyes, one last gasp being heard before
Brian’s chest stopped moving.
“Giles?”
He turned towards
her, his ribs protesting the movement.
“I…didn’t want to die alone…”
Buffy swallowed hard,
wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“You’re not going to die period, Giles.
Not now…not here. We’re getting
you to a doctor.”
Giles closed his eyes
as a wave of pain coursed through his body.
“We?” He croaked on a hoarse
whisper.
A car screeched to a
halt in front of them and Xander jumped out of the driver’s seat. “Oh God…”
Buffy looked up
quickly, fixing a soft glare on him.
“He’s going to be fine, Xand…we just need to get him to a doctor.”
Slight amusement
flickered in Giles’ darkened green eyes.
“I look that bad, do I?”
Buffy shook her head
quickly, gazing into his eyes. “You look
hurt.”
“I’m dying.” Giles whispered in a tone that only Buffy
could hear.
“No you’re not.” She replied with no hesitation, lovingly
rubbing her thumb over his bottom lip.
“It’s not your time, Giles.”
Giles glanced at
Xander, who was staring at him anxiously, and then took as deep a breath as he
could. “I’ll bleed out before you can
find a doctor, Buffy.”
Buffy looked at
Xander and gave him a quick nod. Xander
returned the nod and ran back to the car.
“What…”
“Shh.” Buffy murmured, leaning into him and placing a
soft kiss on his trembling lips. “Don’t
worry, but…he’s calling
Giles’ eyes
widened. “No, no…she shouldn’t be doing
magicks, Buffy. It’ll – ”
“I’m not losing you,
Giles.” Buffy interrupted. “We are not losing you.”
Giles stared at her,
tears glistening in his eyes as he swallowed.
“How long?”
“I don’t know
yet.” She whispered honestly, sliding
her fingers through his hair. She bit
her lip when she realized that what she had thought was sweat matting his hair
was actually blood. “Giles, please…”
Giles squinted
against a sudden flash of light next to the car, nodding as
“Yes?” Buffy confirmed urgently.
Giles licked his
lips, forcing another steady trickle of blood to roll down his chin. “Yes.”
Giles smiled thinly,
his strength quickly diminishing.
“Haven’t felt this bad since then either…”
“Willow,
please.” Buffy whispered, her eyes
pleading with her best friend.
Giles gave a slow
nod, his eyes moving in and out of focus.
“I…I have to be here for them.”
“Them?”
Buffy’s bottom lip
quivered as her tears finally broke free.
“Please, Will…he doesn’t have much time left.”
Xander knelt beside
of Buffy, his left arm around her shoulders, as
White light
surrounded
She felt a flutter in
her abdomen as Giles’ eyes met hers. The
darkness of his eyes lessened as his injuries quickly healed. When he smiled and reached out to cover her
hand with his, she knew…
Prospekt’s march had
come to an end.
~ End