<see Part 1 for disclaimers>

Afterlife

Red Moon Series, Book 9

Frau Hunter Ash

www.hunterash.com

Part 5

Summary: The Scoobys are finding out more and more about what Dawn and Giles went through in the other realm and attempt to deal. Someone is keeping an eye on them with plans as well.

Rating: PG13

# # #

Joyce lay in Giles’ arms, her head on his chest, just listening to his heartbeat. She still couldn’t believe that he was back. Him and Dawn.

“Rupert, where did Ethan disappear to?” she asked softly. “He went with the kids to the hospital and then disappeared once he knew you both were okay.”

“He’s around,” Giles said after a moment. “He’s probably waiting to approach us.”

“How do you know he’s around?” Joyce asked, pulling back to look at his eyes.

“I can tell,” Giles frowned. “I could probably find him if I went looking.”

“How are you still connected to him, Rupert?” Joyce asked softly.

“I couldn’t get through to Willow or Tara,” Giles said, thoughtfully. “I started in on Ethan’s dreams. A bit like he did helping me in my dreams. I guess after what was a couple of months to me and a couple of weeks to him, Ethan figured something might be out of line and not just nightmares and started investigating.”

“Is it because I’m not a witch that you couldn’t reach me?” Joyce asked, trying not to sound hurt.

Giles nodded and hugged her tightly. “Our magic is almost the same, especially with the past stuff of possession and dream work. Tara’s is very nature based and Willow is energy.”

“And because you were…”

Giles kissed her gently. “I’m with you, Joyce. I love you more than anything. It was coming back to you and the girls that brought me back when I was caught in those memories. Ethan just showed them how to help me, he couldn’t reach me.”

Joyce sighed softly. “I’m sorry, it’s just… confusing.”

“And Hank left you for a younger secretary and Ethan might be a threat because he and I were together before?” Giles asked softly and wasn’t surprised when she nodded. “We’re still connected, luv, but I’m not in love with him.”

“How do you know where he is now?”

“When Ethan began suspecting something was strange about the dreams, he… uh,” Giles hesitated and blushed. “He had the tattoo put on his other arm to help reconnect with me.”

“That damned tattoo that got you in trouble years ago?” Joyce squeaked. “Buffy didn’t tell me about hers until last year. Giles! He nearly got her killed with that demon!”

“No, I did,” Giles said softly. “The demon was coming after me and Ethan. I brought that demon into this world. It nearly killed Buffy and Jenny.”

“And you,” Joyce countered and frowned. “So what does this mean? Iggywhatshisname can come back and try again because you haven’t had that thing removed?”

“No, Ethan and I are the only ones left and he certainly doesn’t intend on risking that again and neither do I,” Giles shook his head. “It means Ethan and I can find each other if we use magic, know if one or the other is extremely sick, hurt or dead, and are close by.”

“You love him,” Joyce said with a frown.

“In a way,” Giles said slowly. “Joyce, I’m yours, absolutely.”

Joyce nodded and laid her head back on his chest. “I love you, Rupert.”

Neither looked assured.

# # #

Despite Giles predicting Ethan would come around, the sorcerer had waited until Giles and Joyce were away for the day before coming calling and visiting Dawn.

Ethan ran a hand over his hair and cleared his throat before knocking on the Summers-Giles door. He had watched the place until he saw Joyce and Giles drive off on some errand before getting out of his rental car and approaching.

Dawn opened the door and squealed in delight and jumped out the door into his arms.

“Uncle Ethan! Where have you been?” she shouted.

Ethan laughed and hugged her tightly. “Just waiting for the right moment to have you to myself for a bit before I head back to England on some business.”

“But I’ve missed you! You have no idea what it was like this last year!” Dawn protested, dragging him inside the house.

“Ripper gave me a video version in my dreams,” Ethan said softly as Dawn dragged him to the sofa to sit down. “I’m sorry, luv, I would have acted faster, I should have acted faster.”

“It’s okay,” Dawn smiled softly. “I’m just glad you found us. Why are you leaving? You’re not going to see Dad?”

“Not this time, pet,” Ethan said softly. “He and I connected again and he needs time to reconnect with Joyce.”

“You guys could work something out,” Dawn frowned, hugging him again. “I know he cares about you.”

“And his life is here,” Ethan smiled sadly. “You know me, pet. I’m not the settling kind and he’d be lost if he wasn’t here. I’ll be around again, no worries about that.”

“Can I come visit this summer?” Dawn asked, looking up, making her eyes big and puppy dog like.

Ethan laughed and nodded. “Why not bring the entire clan. I’m sure Rip would love to see the old homeland again and show off where he was raised.”

“I’d like that! I could show Tara and Willow some of the old power spots you showed me!” Dawn said enthusiastically.

She pulled back and looked at him thoughtfully.

“What?” he demanded but with a smile.

“I heard things when they didn’t think I was around,” Dawn said slowly. “Dad didn’t like you at times and Willow has teased Buffy about bashing you.”

Ethan shrugged and smiled a charming smile. “You know I’m dedicated to chaos, occasionally that means dashing in, stirring things up and dashing off again. Messing with chaos on a Hellmouth meant things were a little more dicey than anywhere else.”

“Meaning you almost got people killed,” Dawn said with a smirk.

“Well…,” Ethan grinned. “Not intentionally the third time I messed with Rip. I was just a contractor on a sorcery job.”

“And didn’t check who your boss was or what the price tag was?” Dawn ventured.

“Well, something like that,” Ethan admitted, his eyes twinkling. “Ask Buffy about the candy incident. Guaranteed Buffy, Joyce and Rip will blush a bright, bright red.”

# # #

Buffy’s mind finally caught up with her body and she found herself standing in the doorway of her mom and step-father’s bedroom in the middle of the night two weeks later. Her heart pounding and body ready to fight, Slayer energy running rampant.

She took in the fact that Joyce was on her knees on the bed, trying to hold Giles’ wrists as he thrashed.

“Rupert! It’s alright! Come on, baby!” Joyce said urgently.

Buffy felt/heard Willow and Tara dashing up behind her as she moved into the bedroom and grabbed Giles’ wrists for her mom.

“Giles! Snap out of it!” she said loudly. “Don’t make me slap you.”

Joyce shook her husband firmly and Giles stopped struggling, panting, and opened his eye. “W-what?”

“Nightmare, baby,” Joyce said softly as Buffy let go of her Watcher’s wrists and moved off the bed.

Willow and Tara hugged Buffy, both looking worried.

Giles nodded, a hand going to his covered eye as he turned, moving into Joyce’s arms.

“It’s alright, girls,” Joyce said softly, wrapping her arms around him. “We’ll be okay.”

“Okay, Mom,” Buffy nodded. “Love you, Giles.”

Giles didn’t respond except by snuggling closer in Joyce’s arms.

Willow tugged on Buffy’s sleeve and the three turned back towards their room. They weren’t really surprised to see Dawn standing in the door of her bedroom.

“Nightmare?” she asked softly.

“Yeah, took him a minute to come out of it,” Buffy sighed. “How are you doing, runt?”

“I’m okay,” Dawn said slowly. “That one always gets him.”

“What is it, Dawnie?” Tara asked softly as the three of them moved into Dawn’s room with the teen.

“We had a small fighting group,” Dawn said slowly as Buffy sat down on the floor with Willow as Tara sat down next to Dawn. “We were getting ready to attack a small group of human sorcerers the vampires and demons were using against us. They had just worked something major and were weak. We found out where they were and were going to take them out and the vampires knew that.”

Buffy felt Willow’s hand reaching for hers and squeezed her wife’s hand softly. Dawn hadn’t talked much about her time in the alternate universe, just that it had been rough and she knew how to fight. There was also an awe in her eyes and voice when she talked about Giles that always made Buffy smile and wonder just how much strength she had missed in her Watcher and stepfather.

“They caught Dad,” Dawn continued, her voice dropping. “They tried to make him talk, tell them where we were and what the plans were. And they tortured him just for fun.”

“Dawnie…” Tara said softly and the young teen shook her head.

“It’s okay, we’ve lived with it for awhile,” Dawn sighed, leaning into Tara as she wrapped an arm around Dawn’s shoulders. “It took us three days to rescue him. Dad was pretty bad off for awhile. He looked like he went a few rounds with that horror movie guy, the one with knives for fingers. Dad wouldn’t say what happened except he didn’t talk and that they took his eye very slowly and painfully.”

“Oh God,” Willow whispered.

“He has nightmares about it and can’t wake up sometimes,” Dawn sighed. “Took him a long time to recover physically.”

“You said he lost the eye to a sword,” Buffy said softly.

“He said don’t bring up torture, it would hurt you guys,” Dawn explained.

Buffy leaned against Willow as Dawn began talking about some of her life in the other realm. She wondered how long it would take for Giles and Dawn to recover mentally and emotionally.

# # #

The tall figure whistled as he moved his cleaning cart down the hall of the hospital. He was a familiar sight and the nurses barely looked up, barely acknowledged his presence. There was something about him that made all of them uncomfortable.

The man cleaned the rooms, bathrooms and halls quickly and efficiently. No one really noticed him taking a little longer in one room. The ward was for long term patients, those not likely to ever leave their beds again. Stroke and coma patients, Alzheimer patients that required restraints, and quadriplegics that had no family to care for them.

The man brushed hair out of his good eye and looked down at the small figure on the bed. He knew her history. Found in the back of a truck with a knife wound and head injury. Not expected to live, then not expected to survive more than six months, then not expected to ever wake up.

“They don’t know we’ve been building your energy over the last two months, do they, Blueberry,” the man said softly. “Time to wake up and give a little back.”

Rack ran his hand over the young woman’s face and then the monitors. The readings all remained the same even when he removed the breathing tube and pulled the heart monitor leads off of her. The machines continued beeping steadily.

He ran his hands over the woman and smiled when she opened her eyes and sat up abruptly. Her hands went to her abdomen, a frightened expression on her face.

“That healed a long time ago, Blueberry,” Rack said softly.

“How long?” Faith demanded, pulling wires away and then yanking the IV out of her arm.

“Buffy Summers is a sophomore in college,” Rack grinned, nodding at her expression of disbelief. “She’s still the Slayer, the Watcher married her mother and she has a stepsister. Summers has two lovers, approval by everyone, is loved by all and is the best Slayer in history, so the story goes. You are a bad memory.”

“Bad memory, huh?” Faith asked, standing up and looking down at her body, not caring that the hospital gown fell away in front of some strange guy. “I’ve been on my back for two years or so and I can stand?”

“I’ve been pumping you up for awhile now,” Rack explained. “What would you like, Blueberry?”

“A drink, a good lay and Buffy Summers in that frickin bed,” Faith said, her voice low and growling.

“And the others?” Rack asked, pulling out a bag of generic clothes from a bag in his cleaning cart and handing them to her.

“Messed up, broken and begging for mercy,” Faith smiled an unpleasant smile.

“I want the Watcher and his daughter,” Rack said softly.

“G-man has a kid? I don’t care,” Faith shrugged, pulling on a pair of sweat pants and then a t-shirt. “You help me, I help you and they all fall, right?”

“Yes, that’s exactly the plan,” Rack grinned.

“Want, take, have,” Faith smirked. “What’s your name?”

”Rack,” the sorcerer answered. “Let’s go, Blueberry.”

# # #

Willow tried to place a book in her backpack as she walked out of class. She had been busy taking notes when the end of class had caught her unprepared to leave. Then the professor requested to see her about an assignment and Willow was behind schedule. Her next class was clear across campus and she regularly had to dash to make the class on time.

Willow moved down the stairs at the far end of one of the buildings quickly. The first bell had already rung and Willow despised being late to class!

The witch squeaked in surprise when someone stepped out of a partially open door and slammed her against a wall. Before she could respond with a quick spell, someone else joined her attacker and touched her cheek. Willow cried out in pain, it felt like she had been hit with an electrical bolt that hit every magical nerve center she had.

The redhead slid to the floor, trying to clear her head and eyesight. Someone grabbed Willow by the front of her shirt and yanked the student to her feet. She blinked as a dark haired, dark eyed female shook her.

“F-Faith?” Willow squeaked and managed to take in the fact that the tall guy beside the rogue Slayer was Rack.

“Hello, Strawberry,” Rack smirked.

“Hey, Red, hear you don’t drive stick anymore,” Faith grinned, moving to nuzzle a very stunned and startled Willow’s neck.

”Hey!” Willow protested and tried to kick Faith.

The rogue Slayer laughed and slammed Willow’s head into the wall.

“Play nice,” Faith said softly. “Tell Buffy I’m going to make her life hell before I put her in a grave.”

Rack laughed and hit Willow with another burst of energy. Faith smirked at the redhead and dropped Willow, letting her fall to the floor.

“Tell Ripper I’m going to use him again and again and he can watch while I have some fun with his daughter,” Rack whispered in her ear. He stood up and laughed, following Faith down the stairs.

[ Home ] [ Up ]