<see Part 1 for disclaimers>
Red Moon Series, Book 7
Frau Hunter Ash
Rating: R (US), 15 (UK), MA (Aus)
Dedication/Thanks: To Rachel for allowing me to use the idea of the attack by Eyghon. She's a fantastic writer and a great RPG player. I'm grateful. Check out her stuff at: http://www.palaceofwinds.com/ink/
Also to Stephanie - my BTVS Beta reader and always, to Dev. my original beta reader and best friend and sometimes muse. With the three of you - I stay slightly sane.
# # #
Part 3
Buffy sat against the wall near the sleeping Tara and Giles and semi-tranced Willow. Joyce hovered on the other side of the bed, holding Giles’ hand. It felt like it had been hours since Tara had gone inside Giles’ mind to try and guide him back to reality.
The Slayer glanced at her watch and frowned, it had only been and hour and a half. Xander had stuck his head in after a half hour and looked worried and pained when Buffy merely shook her head to his unanswered question
Buffy jumped to her feet instantly when Willow coughed and stirred. Joyce moved around the bed Willow raised her head and opened her eyes, blinking.
“Will?” Buffy asked anxiously.
“I’m okay, they’re okay,” she said softly. “It’s like they’re taking a break or something. I’m still connected to Tara though.”
“Can you tell how it’s going?” Joyce asked gently, glancing at her husband.
Willow looked up into Buffy’s eyes and then away quickly. “Uh, I can tell Tara is seeing some stuff that… that horrified and disturbed her. I don’t think she’s made direct contact with him.”
Buffy looked over at her Watcher and wished this was something she could hit, slay or banish. This was something spiritual, an area where the Slayer wasn’t the strongest. Buffy wrapped her arms around Willow and held her tightly until Willow pulled back slightly.
“I need to go back in,” the red-haired witch said reluctantly. “Guys, I don’t know if this is going to work. I’m getting a sense that Tara hasn’t seen everything, like… like it’s not in the present yet. Short sentences get through but… it’s like a fuzzy walkie talkie or something. She hasn’t found the key yet.”
“She’s seeing memories?” Joyce asked with a puzzled expression.
“I think so, she hasn’t tried to guide him out yet,” Willow nodded, closing her eyes. “And… there may be another energy in there. It doesn’t feel threatening and she seems okay with it but it’s confusing me.”
“Another energy? Someone guiding or distracting her?” Buffy asked, suddenly very worried.
“I don’t know what it’s doing but Tara doesn’t seem concerned, more like curious,” Willow said slowly. “I don’t dare try and get closer, I want to maintain a little distance so I can, uh, pull her out if…”
“If things go wrong and she can’t bring him around,” Joyce finished, moving back to hold Giles’ hand.
“It’s okay, Will,” Buffy said softly, kissing the witch tenderly. “Take care of her and you.”
“We won’t lose him, Buffy,” Willow whispered as she hugged the Slayer.
“I know.”
# # #
Tara felt Willow joining her again, reconnecting their life-lines together. The blonde witch was slightly worried, if she became lost in the dreamscape world of Ripper, Willow might be caught up as well.
Older Ethan walked up out of the fog and smirked at the witch. “Ready for the next round?”
“If you weren’t there, how do you know what happened?” Tara asked.
“I’ve been in his mind and nightmares since,” Ethan shrugged. “I’ve already been in those places that he can’t look. I needed to know what they did to him, I needed answers.”
“If you know it wasn’t his fault that he left, why do you torment him?”
“Because he didn’t come back,” Ethan snapped. “He chose to stay with Her, even after he was fired.”
“You’re upset because he stayed Buffy’s Watcher?” Tara asked, confusion in her voice. “That’s what he was destined to do, like she didn’t have a choice in being the Slayer.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Ethan muttered. “I know all about that. He was released from that obligation and stayed!”
“But the only time you’ve been around has been to cause trouble,” Tara countered. “How could he know how deep your feelings went when you were trying to kill Buffy or cause havoc?”
“I’m dedicated to chaos, that’s what I do,” Ethan shrugged. “And you don’t know how many times I’ve been in Sunnydale and been with him or when we would get together on some of his trips away from this damned place.”
Tara was stunned and it showed. “H-he would see you? Friendly like?”
“Not always friendly,” Ethan chuckled. “Sometimes there was the requisite clobbering before the shagging. Shouting at me about his Slayer, whacking me and then trying to walk away. All it would take would be one kiss and a grope of the hand and he was mine again.”
Tara wondered if she really wanted to know how recent Giles had been with Ethan. She knew Giles loved Joyce very much, it was to Buffy’s mother he had turned to when under the influence of bespelled candy and Joyce he always came back to.
But there, apparently, was always Ethan in the background and Tara was afraid to learn that might be one of the things Giles was having a problem in dealing with.
Tara blinked and felt Ethan moving closer to her as she looked around the semi-dark room. She made out Giles lying on the floor of a dingy cell. The witch started towards him and Ethan held her back.
The future Watcher had been beaten so badly he just lay on the cold cement floor, curled up in a ball. He was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt that might have once been white but was now rust colored from dried blood and dirt.
“What happened?” Tara whispered.
“More re-education training,” Ethan’s voice was bitter and pained in her ear. “This is about a month after they found him. Just watch. I… I can’t.”
Tara looked around panicked. “Ethan? Where are you?”
The witch tried to fight against the panic and looked back at Giles as the door to the cell opened. The young man whimpered and tried to curl up into a tighter ball and covered his head. Two large men dressed in hospital whites, reached down and dragged him out of the cell, his feet dragging behind him.
Tara found herself following reluctantly.
# # #
Buffy jumped out of her chair when Willow’s head snapped back and the witch whimpered. “Willow?”
Tara sat up suddenly, crying out as if in pain.
Buffy grabbed Willow, ensuring the witch didn’t fall out of her chair as Joyce rushed around to Tara. The blonde witch’s eyes were wide with fear and her hands were clenched into fists.
“Willow? Tara?” Buffy asked softly as Willow opened her eyes, blinking.
“Oh God, that hurt!” Willow whined, curling up in Buffy’s arms.
Tara’s head dropped forward for a moment and then she looked up again, her eyes calmer and more aware.
“I’m sorry. I-I c-couldn’t take it anymore,” Tara whispered.
“What happened?” Joyce asked urgently. “Is he alright?”
“Just caught in his memories,” Tara shook her head. “No real change, he can’t get past the memories of them. He’s now seeing things he hasn’t looked at in years, most of it he blocked and didn’t remember.”
“What happened to Giles?” Buffy demanded, helping Willow sit up.
Tara let Joyce wrap an arm around her shoulder as she trembled. “The Council tortured him until he blocked Ripper out of his mind and hated his own bisexuality.”
“Torture?” Joyce asked, her voice disbelieving.
“I… I couldn’t… they did horrible stuff,” Tara whimpered, tears streaking her face. It was several minutes of crying in Joyce’s arms before Tara could tell them only that.
“They programmed the perfect Watcher,” Willow said bitterly. “How do we get him past it?”
“I don’t know,” Tara admitted.
“He needs to accept Ripper and his past,” Willow said slowly. “And accept and remember what the Council did to him.”
“How do we do that?” Buffy frowned.
“I’ll try and draw him past it and talk to him, pull him into remembering and past it. I might have some help,” Tara sighed. “I need to go back in.”
“Help?” Joyce asked, “What kind of help?”
“I’ll explain when I bring him back,” Tara said, laying back down on the cot.
Buffy hugged Willow and then Tara as both witches closed her eyes.
# # #
Tara looked around the cobblestone streets and found Ethan leaning against a familiar wall. “Will you help me?” she demanded.
“Hello to you too,” Ethan smirked. “I’ve tried in the past to get him past this. I’ll help, that’s why I’m here.”
“If we get him back, he’s married to Joyce and happy, what do you get out of it?” Tara asked, puzzled.
“I want him awake and aware,” Ethan shrugged, moving closer to her. “I’ll chance how we deal with each other in the future. I’m hoping for a truce and occasional contact.”
“Not like before,” Tara clarified. She knew Joyce wasn’t the type to share her husband with a former lover, especially Ethan.
“No, I won’t come between them,” Ethan sighed. “You’ll get your Giles back.”
“If you can’t get him back, then why?” Tara asked as the scene began to shift again.
“I have reasons for wanting him awake,” Ethan frowned. “Can you reach him? He thinks I’m just part of his nightmares.”
“We can try,” Tara nodded, turning to look at the young man playing the guitar in a grimy low-rent apartment kitchen. Back in time in his memories, once again avoiding moving past the torture.
# # #
It seemed like an hour later before Tara huffed in frustration and turned to Ethan. So far nothing had gotten through to Younger Giles.
Ethan shrugged. “Told you, I’ve tried before. I was hoping he’d remember you and jump start him forward.”
Tara frowned and looked at young Ripper playing his guitar.
“We didn’t see what broke him, did we?” she asked softly and saw the pain in Ethan’s eyes. “What happened?”
Ethan looked down at his shoes as the scene shifted again to the fog-bound streets. “I’ve seen it once, I can’t see it again.”
“You want him back? We need to get him past it!” Tara said forcibly. “I’ve an idea. What was the thing that broke him?”
Ethan sighed as tears filled his eyes. “They broke him. Finally resorted to keeping him from sleeping and beating him. Lack of sleep will drive someone insane pretty quick, you know.”
“They didn’t trust that he’d follow his destiny. They thought he would come back to me,” Ethan said softly. “They hate emotions and attachments. They are the only things they can’t control in humans.”
“Buffy explained that’s why most potential Slayers are taken from their families and Watchers aren’t allowed spouses if they have Slayers,” Tara nodded thoughtfully.
“Yeah,” Ethan agreed, leaning against a damp wall.
“So… they had to break his relationship with you,” Tara said slowly.
“Finally catch on, do you?” Ethan asked bitterly.
“He loved you deeply,” Tara muttered, looking down as she pondered. “They had to break that so he’d never go back to you or the magic. He shut Ripper away and Rack opened it up again.”
“And his mind couldn’t handle it without coming into conflict with the conditioning,” Ethan finished the line of thought. “Yeah, Rack smashed the walls Jack had kept pretty well up.”
“Alright then we’re approaching this wrong,” Tara decided, looking up at the sorcerer.
“Eh? I thought we were supposed to get him past it,” Ethan complained.
“Yes, but we’re going in the wrong direction,” she insisted. “Come on, think! Get us to the Watcher, the perfect Council Watcher!”
Ethan frowned. “That’s not my connection with him! That’s your end!”
“No,” Tara shook her head. “He had already changed by the time I met him.”
“Then bring in one of the other brats,” Ethan snapped. “Much longer in here and we’ll be pulled into one of these damned memories and get lost.”
“Stay here,” Tara said firmly.
“And where would I go?” Ethan growled. “Silly bint.”
# # #
Tara opened her eyes to find Willow and Buffy standing next to her, the red-haired witch holding her hand and Buffy brushing her hair back.
“Hey, baby,” Willow said softly as Tara looked over and found Joyce anxiously watching Giles for any change. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Tara said slowly as Buffy helped her sit up, wrapping an arm around the groggy witch. “How long have I… Nevermind, important stuff. Which one of you can reach the Watcher you first met.”
Buffy looked puzzled and Willow’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“What do you mean, Tar?” Buffy asked softly.
“To get him back, we need to get the perfect Watcher to face something from his past,” Tara tried to explain. “I don’t know that Giles, you both do. Which one of you could get him to be aware of you in there?”
“Buffy,” Willow said quickly and Quentin stood up, his face turning red.
“Shut up, Jeeves,” Buffy muttered. “How do I do this?”
“I’ll guide you and Willow will anchor you,” Tara explained.
“Alright,” Buffy said calmly. “Anything for him.”
The Slayer found it easier than she thought to join Tara in the dreamscape and Buffy realized how tired she was.
Buffy looked around and was stunned to see what Tara now considered almost a second home, the fog bound street of 19th century London. “What?”
“Where his mind goes subconsciously,” Tara smiled, taking Buffy’s hand. “Now, listen closely, baby. There’s someone here that’s been helping me and I need you to promise not to yell or hit him before we talk, okay?”
“Hit?” Buffy repeated, puzzled. “Whoa, Willow said someone was in here with you but it felt okay.”
Ethan smirked as he stepped around the corner of a building. “Don’t hit me this time. I actually get along rather wonderfully with your wife. Why can’t you be like her?”
“And why couldn’t you be more human?” Buffy snapped, her hands clenching into fists.
“Buffy, he’s been helping,”
Tara repeated, stepping between them. “He wants Giles back like he was.”
”There’s a trick,” Buffy muttered, watching the sorcerer and glaring at his
smirk.
“No, I don’t think so,” Tara said softly, stroking Buffy’s cheek, trying to calm her protective Slayer. “Please, trust me.”
“You I trust, him I’ll pound if he hurts Giles,” Buffy finally declared.
“Deal,” Ethan said firmly. “What’s the plan?”
“You two find the Giles he was after the Council trained him, after he met Buffy and become very cemented in that role,” Tara said slowly, as if just working it out in her head. “Reach him and get him to see what he can’t face. He has to accept Ripper, Ethan and what the Council did to him. Mostly, he has to accept his own betrayal.”
“Betrayal? What happened?” Buffy asked anxiously.
“Giles was tortured until he snapped and he can’t live with that memory,” Tara said gently. “He has to face that.”
“Okay,” Buffy said softly.
“It won’t be nice, baby,” Tara warned. “They… they’re modern Nazi’s.”
“I’ll do anything to get him back, even hang with Ethan,” Buffy smiled, kissing Tara tenderly.
“Terrific, I love you too, Slayer,” Ethan muttered. “Spoiled brat.”
“Self centered coward,” Buffy muttered back as Tara smiled and backed away from them.
“Bring him back, Buff,” she said as she faded from sight.
“Okay, one Watcher in tweed coming up,” Buffy shrugged. “How do we get there?”
“Concentrate on where you want to go,” Ethan sighed. “We’re trying to dive into his memories rather than flowing along with them. It’s a little harder to control. Think of when you met him, what was he like? Was he like the first Watcher you had? Dressed in tweed and stammering? Lots and lots of books but with a hint of strength in that body?”
Buffy closed her eyes, remembering Giles and their awkwardness when they first met.
# # #
It seemed like over an hour before Ethan finally threw up his hands and snorted in obvious disgust.
“I didn’t have to see this the first time! Think I want to see it now?” he demanded.
They had been watching various memories of Giles during his years at Sunnydale High as Buffy’s Watcher and mentor to the others and had spent most of the time trying to reach him.
“You think I want to see my sense of fashion in those days?” Buffy quipped, knowing it would irritate the sorcerer and she was right. She laughed as he rolled his eyes. “Look, how do we get through to him? It’s like we’re ghosts that no one can see or hear.”
“What would startle him from you?” Ethan said slowly after a few moments of watching Buffy fighting another two vampires and Giles fighting one himself.
“If I was on time?” Buffy said absently and then grinned and approached a very studious Giles in the familiar surroundings of the school library that they would blow up on Graduation Day with a Snake Demon Mayor inside. “Hey, Ripper!”
Giles’ head snapped up, his eyes wide as Ethan chuckled behind ghost-like Buffy. The Slayer knew she had reached him when his eyes focused on her and widened.
“You’re not… you’re…” he stammered.
“I’m Buffy, Giles,” she said softly. “Trust me and take my hand.”
“No,” the Watcher protested, standing up and almost tripping over his chair. “It’s a trick.”
“It’s not, I swear it,” Buffy smiled. “You’re John Rupert Giles, you were known as Ripper in your youth and did some stupid things, including getting a tattoo of a demon on your left forearm.”
Watcher Giles blinked and glanced down at his tweed covered arm. He looked back up at the girl in front of him. She was older than his Buffy, more experience in her eyes and manner but something told him this was his Slayer.
He held his hand out wordlessly.
The Watcher blinked, glancing around in confusion at the fog encased streets the three of them found themselves at again. “Ethan? What?”
“Come on, Giles,” Buffy urged. “Move your mind forward, damnit. I want my step-dad back and Mom wants her husband.”
Giles blushed and blinked. “J-Joyce?”
“Yeah, you married June Cleaver,” Ethan smirked.
“Was that before or after I bashed you,” Giles growled, his hand becoming a fist. “What’s happening?”
“You’ve been zapped mentally and are lost in your memories,” Buffy explained. “We’re trying to get you back.”
“Can’t you make contact with my, er, well, current self?” Giles asked. “And please don’t tell me you married Xander or Angel.”
Buffy looked down at her hand, realizing he had spotted the special wedding band and grinned. “Uh, no to both.”
Ethan smirked and leaned over her shoulder. “Can I tell him and watch him faint?”
Buffy elbowed him in the ribs and kept her focus on Watcher Giles.
“Alright, what is holding me in here?” Giles asked, ignoring the sorcerer as well.
“You were shocked into Ripper again and couldn’t handle it,” Buffy continued with the explanations. “Your mind can’t accept all the parts of you, Ripper, Giles, Rupert, Jack, whatever.”
“Of course not!” Watcher Giles frowned. “People died when I was Ripper, you know that Ethan.”
Ethan shrugged. “We all paid for that, mate.”
“Giles, I need you to see something, okay? Keep trusting me?” Buffy said urgently.
“Alright,” Watcher Giles nodded. “I don’t see why you need to focus on Ripper. That’s dead and buried in the past.”
“And the past comes back and bites you in the ass,” Buffy grumbled. “Scream 3, Jamie Kennedy. Xander would be so proud of that.”
Watcher Giles blinked. “Xander didn’t change over the years?” he asked, his voice slightly whining and Buffy grinned.
“Well, he married an ex-vengeance demon and they have sex frequently,” Buffy laughed as Watcher Giles blinked and began cleaning his glasses.
“Uh, yes, well, uh, where are we going?” he stammered.
“To when the Council tortured you and drove you insane,” Buffy said firmly and grabbed Giles’ arm when he tried to back away.
“T-that never happened! They rescued me, let me go back and trained me,” he protested.
Buffy grabbed both arms and forced him to look at her.
“Listen to me, if you don’t face this I lose you! You’ll roam through here until your body just gives up and dies,” the Slayer growled. “My Mom loves you very much and we’d be lost without you! Willow, Xander, me, and other people you don’t remember yet! My Watcher left the Council because they wanted to separate you and me! Come on, Giles! You don’t run from things!”
Giles’ eyes narrowed with a flash of emotion and Buffy nodded.
“If this is one of your tricks, Ethan, I’ll hurt you so badly they’ll have to use fingerprints to identify you!” Watcher Giles warned.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, already got the warnings from Super Bitch Barbie here,” Ethan shrugged.
“Ethan, I haven’t seen where we need to go,” Buffy said softly and saw Ethan wince.
“I have once,” he admitted. Buffy thought for a moment that he was going to refuse and was amazed, she had never seen strong emotions from the sorcerer other than self-preservation. Buffy was beginning to think he had a lot to do with what they had to see.
“Close your eyes, kiddies,” Ethan sighed and concentrated.
# # #
Buffy felt the tears staining her cheeks as she held a sobbing Giles, sitting on the cold hard floor of the Watcher Council medical area where they had tortured him to the point of madness. Just to build him into the perfect Watcher.
She glanced up and found Ethan hugging himself, biting his lip as the brown eyes darted between the shattered young man on the gurney in front of them or the weeping ex-lover Buffy was holding.
“Giles, come on, you survived this,” Buffy said softly. “You broke their conditioning and became a loving, emotional, and talented guy. Kinda sexy and cute too.”
“E-Ethan!” Giles sobbed. “I… I betrayed us!”
“Accept it and move on, Jack,” Ethan said softly. “I forgive you. Anyone would have broken. They took the one love, the one true emotion you had left and shattered it. The bird is right, you found it again.”
Buffy sighed. Tara had warned her that it would be unpleasant but watching them torture the young man until he screamed for them to torture Ethan instead, that it was all Ethan’s fault, had been hard to deal with. Having to watch Giles relive it with her had been worse.
The Slayer had almost resorted to strangling him or breaking his arm to keep him there with her and Ethan.
“Look forward, Giles,” Buffy urged. “Move past what Rack did. You love my Mom, you love all of us, even Xander.”
“Ethan?” Giles asked, looking up at the sorcerer.
“We were done after that night with Eyghon, luv,” Ethan said softly, squatting next to his former mate. “We were on borrowed time. We’re not friends, we’re not enemies. Sometimes we’re at odds.”
“I… I didn’t find you, Eth?”
“No, they had their cardboard tweed guy,” Buffy said gently.
“I love you, Rip, and I wouldn’t mind a shag, which we’ve done occasionally. Maybe I’ll mess with you and Mrs. Clever someday. Not right now though,” Ethan shrugged.
Buffy resisted smacking Ethan for even suggesting sex with Giles. The images suddenly popping into her head were going to last far longer than she could ever want and she wanted to pound the sorcerer for it.
Giles nodded and looked into Buffy’s eyes.
“I want to go back,” he said softly.
“Then make peace with yourself, Ripper,” Buffy said firmly. “You are John Rupert Giles, aka Ripper. You were in love with Ethan, you loved Jenny Calendar and you love my Mom.”
The Slayer stood up and looked at Ethan. “This doesn’t make us friends but… I won’t hit you on sight anymore.”
“Thank you for bringing him back to life,” Ethan said softly and Buffy knew how hard it must have been for such a prideful man to say thank you, to anyone but especially to her.
“You’re welcome,” she nodded and closed her eyes. “Willow, bring me home.”
# # #
Buffy opened her eyes and found Willow moaning and holding her head and Tara holding Willow. Joyce was in her usual spot next to the comatose Giles. The Slayer sat up slowly.
Quentin Travers and Council members were by her side instantly.
“Well, how did it go? What did you see?” Quentin demanded.
“Send your soldiers out,” Buffy said softly.
“What, they’re here to…” Quentin began to protest.
“Send them out!” Buffy snapped as Willow shook her head and stood up. The two witches joined their Slayer, both faces firm.
Quentin nodded and the Watcher researcher and magic user left the room.
“I saw the reconditioning the Council put Giles through,” Buffy said softly, glancing over at her mom, hoping she wouldn’t have to describe too much of what they had seen in Giles’ mind.
“And I saw more,” Tara added.
“And?” Quentin asked softly and Buffy thought he suddenly looked ten years older than normal.
“I saw where he broke, the point where he couldn’t live with the past and himself,” Buffy said slowly. “I also saw a young man named Quentin demanding that things change later in front of the Council.”
Tara and Willow turned to Buffy with surprised expressions.
“You changed the Council, didn’t you? That’s why Giles stayed and was given a Slayer, me,” Buffy ventured and Quentin nodded.
“They wouldn’t listen to me at that point but when they did, I made sure that never happened to another Watcher, destiny or not,” Quentin said softly. “No one deserved that.”
“Why didn’t you try to get him some help?” Tara asked, still shaken by what she had seen.
“It was determined that it would do more damage and he was functioning fairly well,” Quentin sighed. “I fired him from the Council but I was glad it happened like that. It pleased me that he had attached to you and was rediscovering his emotions and capacity for love. He was far too emotional to be a Watcher.”
“You’ve hated us ever since then!” Buffy protested.
“Of course! You’re a spoiled brat who goes against every common sense course of action from the Council,” Quentin grumbled. “I thought it was good he left the Council, that didn’t mean I wanted YOU to leave, young lady.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell him or us?” Buffy asked, trying to fight off a headache.
“For what purpose? He had left the Council, was building a life, still acting like a Watcher and helping you all save the world,” Quentin shrugged. “Even battling against the Council was seen as a good sign that he could work past the conditioning eventually.”
“And then Rack blasted the walls down instead of opening a door,” Willow grumbled.
“So now what?” Joyce asked from her husband’s side.
“Now we wait and see if our Giles can make peace with Ripper and Ethan,” Buffy mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
# # #
It seemed like an hour but the clock in the room let Buffy know that only twenty minutes had passed when Giles’ body jerked and her mother cried out in surprise.
“Rupert?” Joyce asked anxiously, stroking his forehead and hair. “Honey? Can you open your eyes?”
“Giles, come on back to us,” Willow urged, squeezing Buffy’s hand tightly as Tara wrapped an arm around the red-head’s shoulders.
“Come on and fight, Ripper!” Buffy said firmly, hoping to shock him with the name and Giles’ body jerked again, his hands clenching suddenly.
Giles opened his eyes slightly, his left hand rising off the bed and then falling back again.
“Stay here, damnit!” Joyce shouted, shaking him. His eyes opened wider, surprised.
“Joyce,” he whispered, his voice more of a croak from a dry throat.
Joyce broke into relieved tears. “Yes, Rupert, I’m right here. You’re safe.”
“Love… you…” he said slowly as Willow held a cup with a straw to his lips. Giles closed his eyes and his breath evened out.
“He’ll sleep easier now and he’ll wake up himself,” Quentin said calmly.
Joyce sighed with relief. She could tell that something had changed. It was as if she could sense or see that her husband was once again in his body and his spirit was no longer lost. She looked up at her daughter and Buffy’s wives.
“Thank you, all of you,” Joyce said softly.
“You bet, Mom,” Buffy smiled and stood up with a stretch. “Food?”
“Oh yeah,” Tara agreed. “Very hungry.”
Slayer and witches stopped when the hospital room door opened and Ethan stuck his head in. “Still not going to hit me?” he grinned in Buffy’s direction.
“You’re safe,” Buffy said slowly. “No tricks, Ethan. None of us have a sense of humor right now.”
Buffy noticed Willow moving back around Giles’ bed to stand next to Joyce and Tara moved protectively in front of Giles.
“Pax,” Ethan smirked, stepping into the room. “I told you I wanted him back as he was. Now that we worked things out maybe I could pop around every six months for a night out at the pub.”
“Maybe,” Buffy said slowly. Glancing back she saw her mother’s confusion and shrugged. “I’ll explain later, Mom.”
“He caused this!” Joyce protested.
“Actually, the deal with Rack was for one night,” Ethan shrugged. “He broke the deal and zapped the hell out of me. I couldn’t get back in to get Rip out so I made sure you could track me without making it too easy.”
“Because if you just came to us for help…?” Willow snapped.
“You would have suspected a trap and bashed me and wasted all kinds of time,” Ethan smiled. “I don’t like being hit by a Slayer.”
“But I still hit you to ensure the information was correct,” Buffy grinned.
“You just like hitting me,” Ethan muttered and then brightened. “Well, I told you I had reasons for wanting Jack back to himself.”
“Uh oh, here’s the catch,” Willow complained in a low voice.
Ethan grinned and opened the door wide. “Come on in, luv. Meet the people I’ve been telling you about.”
A teenage girl of about sixteen walked cautiously inside the hospital room and stood near Ethan. She had long brown hair, blue eyes, and sharp features. A somewhat thin frame that hinted at a touch of height in a year and an intelligence in her eyes that Willow could appreciate.
She was dressed in a nice flower print blouse, hip hugger jeans and shoes that Buffy recognized immediately as being very fashionable.
“This is Dawn. The guy on the bed is John Rupert Giles, that’s his wife Joyce. The soulful eyes over there is Tara. The red-haired one with the stubborn streak is Willow. Barbie over there is Buffy and the stuffed shirt is Quentin Travers,” Ethan said as way of introduction.
“Hey, Dawn,” Willow said with a cautious smile.
“What’s up, Ethan?” Buffy asked, wanting to know what the catch was.
“Well, Quentin will remember that Giles cut loose for a long weekend about seventeen years ago,” Ethan said slowly, wrapping an arm around Dawn. “Went and got drunk, listened to rock music, and did a bit of magic. Something of a relapse. Monday morning the Council found him, smacked him around a bit and took him back to the bloody fortress. Leaving behind one broken-hearted waitress.”
“Oh man,” Willow muttered.
Ethan’s grin widened and Buffy felt her mind trying to go numb. It was too much to absorb in one day.
“This is like a bad romance novel,” Joyce complained. “Let me see if I can fill the rest in. The waitress found she was pregnant but couldn’t find Rupert and he didn’t know she was pregnant and never went back.”
Ethan nodded. “Maggie found me. She was a smart one, actually. Went researching the tattoo at a bookstore that a friend of mine owned. He put her in touch with me and I pieced things together and took care of her.”
“Mum died in childbirth,” Dawn said softly. “Uncle Ethan raised me.”
“Why didn’t you tell Giles?” Joyce demanded. “She’s his, right?”
“Yes, and Maggie and I never hooked up,” Ethan smiled. “I knew he couldn’t handle it. That would have been the same as what Rack did. Me showing up with his daughter.”
Buffy didn’t believe Ethan for a moment that he hadn’t been closer to Dawn’s mother but kept quiet. It wasn’t the time or place to debate his past sexual history or motives with him.
“So you needed him integrated,” Tara suggested.
“It came up after Rack was done with him and I ran with it,” Ethan corrected. “I sent for Dawn and helped you get him back.”
“Well, Dawn,” Joyce said slowly, watching the young girls’ fearful eyes. “Welcome to California and the Summers family. Rupert will be surprised but pleased, I think.”
“Yeah,” Buffy smiled. “I’m your step sister. Your older step sister.”
“I’ve explained the weirdness of the family but not Sunnydale,” Ethan smiled and kissed Dawn’s cheek. “I’ll be around off and on.”
“Okay, take care, Uncle Ethan,” Dawn said, quickly hugging him.
“Welcome to Sunnyhell,” Willow muttered, frowning in deep thought.