Impact

Buffy returned to the bedroom to find Giles asleep. She stood there for a moment looking at him, a slight smile on his face. His hair was all rumpled, and he needed a shave badly. He looked very vulnerable to her, and it made her heart quell to protect him. She set the book on the side table and pulled off her jeans. She also reached under her white cotton tee shirt and pulled off her bra, and then crawled in beside her Watcher in just her tee shirt and panties. She lay on her back at his right side. He wasn’t completely asleep, and sensing her near he wrapped his right arm around her, cradling her neck. She snuggled closer to his side, and he gently ran his fingers up and down her neck. Buffy sighed, contented, and whispered, “I love you.” Then she closed her eyes allowing Giles’ gentle breathing and the rhythm of his stroking fingers on her neck to lull her to sleep.

Giles was getting sleepy as well, but his sore and broken body prevented him to be as content as Buffy. He yearned for his body to heal so that he could hold her in both arms. He turned his head and he gazed at her relaxed face. He knew she wasn’t asleep yet, but she was close. Gently, he lowered his hand down the front of her shirt and cupped her right breast. It was a gesture that gave them both comfort. It was a more intimate touch than either had shared before, but it went no further that night. They fell asleep together that way, touching each other, holding each other, and loving each other. They both wished they could stay that way forever.

Wesley was the lone one awake. He was in his room researching Lorne’s vision again. It bothered him that there were so many clues, but not so many answers. Usually they had these type cases solved by now. But it didn’t help that Angel was so distracted by Buffy and Giles, that his head just wasn’t in it. Lorne could hardly be bothered to come out of the new offices, so entranced was he by all the entertainment information now at his fingertips. And Fred and Gunn? Wesley just shook his head. He didn’t have any idea what they were up to, but it definitely didn’t seem to involve Angel Investigations. It was nice having Xander and Willow and Dawn around, and they did help with the researching, but he couldn’t expect them to stay up all night every night. They were all exhausted from their battle with the First, and had not yet caught up on all the rest needed to restore not just their physical well being, but their emotional needs as well. Xander was still grieving over Anya’s death too. Wesley had seen the young man near tears several times during research. Xander would come across some reference in a demon text that would pierce his heart in memory of the vengeance demon that he had loved so much.

Finding Bunny’s whereabouts had turned up nothing. The hospital staff barely knew her, sighting that she was newly employed and that she didn’t hang around after work. They barely recalled seeing her. Lilly had tried to be helpful when Wesley had spoken to her, but the poor nurse had been fighting a migraine off and on and Wesley tried to keep the conversation as short as possible so that Lilly could go get some rest. Supposedly Bunny was due in to work in the morning, and Wesley planned to be there to ask her why she desired the book on prophecy.

He flipped through pages in the book, skimming the lines. The words were starting to blur, and he rubbed his eyes. A few moments later he too was asleep, his head resting on the desktop, pillowed by a book.

Drusilla and Bunny stood in the courtyard. It was time. Dru wanted, no, needed that book. She needed her Spike back. They could have a fresh start. He would be William for her again, just like when she had sired him before, and it would be as it was before. She had lost Angel, and Darla and her had never really been close. Drusilla was tired of walking the dark streets at night alone. She wanted her Spike back, and she would have him.

She looked up into the heavens at the twinkling stars. They weren’t as bright here in the city as they were in the jungles or the plains. But she could hear them singing just the same. “The stars are singing, the stars are singing,” she said in a singsong voice.

Bunny looked at her boss, again wondering what she was doing there. This client was indeed five cans short of a six pack, but her duty was almost complete. The demon wasn’t required for the ritual. For whatever reason, Drusilla had needed her to locate the book. That job was done. Now they just needed to extract it.

Drusilla was not sure if she would be able to enter Buffy’s bedroom. The hotel was supposedly a public place, and she would be welcomed there, but she thought it better to use the Blimey demon. Besides, she didn’t yearn to see Angel again. The last time they had met, he had burned her and Darla. Burned her badly. Tears fell down her cheeks just thinking about it. Then she grinned wickedly. Her Spike would take care of it, when he was back. He’d take care of everything for her. “Hello, Daddy.” Dru whispered to the entrance doors. “I’m here for my book now.” She nodded at Bunny. Bunny looked around to make sure that they were still quiet alone, and then she morphed into a spider and crawled under the door into the hotel. She needed to find the right room that held the book.

Buffy woke suddenly. Her spidey sense was going off. She sat up, moving gently so as not to wake Giles. She just sat there and listened for a moment. There was not a sound, besides those of the city. She got up slowly and walked to the window, peering out. The window faced the courtyard behind the hotel. The garden was dark, and she saw no shadows. She thought perhaps she should go out into the lobby and look around, but when she turned she saw that Giles had awakened and was watching her intently, a small frown on his face. “Thought I heard something.” She whispered. He nodded at her, and strained to listen himself. There was nothing.

She shrugged and went back to the bed. Angel was there, and Wesley. Surely they would notice if anything was up. She was probably just being extra sensitive anyway. She smiled at Giles, kneeling on the bed now beside him so that she could face him fully. They looked softly at each other, and then Giles placed his right arm behind her, cupped the back of her head in his hand, and pulled her gently towards him, capturing her lips in his. She placed her hands on either side of him, careful to not put pressure on his broken ribs, and put everything she had into the kiss. Giles deepened the kiss, drinking her in. His tongue searched and probed and tasted, and she matched him with her own tongue.

Finally they broke the kiss, only when oxygen became an issue. Buffy rested her forehead against his, and he placed his hand underneath the back of her tee shirt so he could stroke her back. She shivered against him, but not because she was cold. She moaned softly at his touch.

It was then that the door crashed open.


TBC