TITLE: "Do What It Takes"
AUTHOR: ASH Watcher/Slayer Watcher
EMAIL: GGtheSlayer@aol.com or BeeGee548@aol.com
RATING: PG-R, just to be on the safe side.
PAIRING: None...Giles/Angel/Buffy friendship.
SUMMARY: What if Giles and Angel had been there when Willow and the others had brought Buffy back?
SPOILERS: Mostly, "Bargaining Part 1" and "Bargaining Part 2"
DISCLAIMER: I own this fic. Joss Whedon and his Minions, own the characters and such.
FEEDBACK: Please and thank you....all flames can be delivered to Spike's crypt, just make sure he signs for them. :P
DISTRIBUTION: My LJ(http://www.livejournal.com/users/gilesgirl), ash_watcherfanfiction, and anyplace else I stick it. If you'd like to have it, then email me and ask. :)
DEDICATIONS: Queen Boadicea, for the positive feedback. Musey, cuz ya know, she muses. Tango, Gia, indie, Yseult, Chloe_Sarai, Kim, Molsey, Maquis Leader, Hannahbee, PigPimping, Jenji, and everyone else on my LiveJournal friends list. *BIG HUGS* :)
Oh yeah, this fic isn't beta'd....boohoo. ;)
***************
"Giles, it's Angel."
"I rather expected you'd be calling."
"You expected right then. I can feel that something big is coming and it'll happen tonight in Sunnydale."
"You're correct, Angel. I've over heard Willow and the others talking about resurrecting Buffy. Naturally, they don't know that I know what they're up to. I was in England, because Sunnydale holds too many memories of her. I flew into Sunnydale the day before yesterday. I've talked with everyone a few times since I've been back, but have been more or less keeping my distance. I gather they all think I'm too distraught still, to do very much bonding with them right now. The point is, they're planning on bring Buffy back. You and I must find a way to either stop them or to be the first ones to help Buffy once she's among the living again."
"I've been going through some of Wes' books, trying to find out just what's going to happen tonight. You say they've been talking about bringing her back? Why in hell would they want to do that?" Angel growled. Giles agreed with him completely. Willow was too damned cocky about her magicks and if she wasn't careful, she was going to wind up causing some serious damage, and not just to herself.
"Angel, I believe that everyone will be converging at her g-grave tonight around eight o'clock. How soon can you be here?"
"I'll be there no later than six. Where would you like to meet, to figure out a plan?" Angel asked.
"I'm staying at the Sunnydale Holiday Inn. Room 150, so just head there once you hit Sunnydale. Angel? D-do you want Buffy to be brought back?" Giles wondered. There was silence on the other end of the line. Angel didn't know what to say. If he said "yes", was he just being selfish? And if he said "no", would that make him seem uncaring about his beloved? Buffy deserved to be at peace. She'd fought to save the world and her friends and family, for the last five years of her life. However, if she was trapped in a Hell dimension, how could they, her loved ones, let her stay there and suffer?
"I....I don't know Giles. How can we be sure she's truly in Hell?" Angel responded softly. Giles agreed with Angel...why bring her back unless she was in Hell? Surely not for their own selfish reasons.
"Once you get here, we can do a spell to find out for sure where Buffy is. I have an idea of one, and I shall use the time it takes you to get here, to research every book I can. I bid you farewell and a speedy trip. I'll see you when you arrive," Giles told the vampire. Angel said his good-byes as well, and the two of them hung up. Angel had to fill an hour's worth of time, before he could safely leave the hotel. Perhaps Wes had one or two resurrection spell related books that Angel could flip through. Before Angel went to search for Wes, he quickly threw a few changes of clothing into an overnight bag. He wouldn't worry about his meals until he'd gotten to Sunnydale.
************
An hour later, Angel was speeding down the highway, on his way to his beloved's town. He'd grabbed three resurrection related books from Wes' collection, while the former Watcher was out running an errand. Hopefully Giles could find something in them...unless he had already come up with a spell from his own books.
************
Rupert Giles was busy going through some books, when there was a knock at his hotel room door. He got up from the table and went to answer it. Seeing Angel standing there, after looking through the peephole, Giles immediately opened the door. Angel came into the room and Giles closed the door behind him.
"Have a seat, Angel. Would you like something to eat or drink or shall we just look for a spell?"
"I'm fine, thank you. I brought you some of Wes' books. They might help, but I'm not sure."
Angel gave Giles the books and then grabbed a book from the table.
"What exactly are we looking for, Rupert?" Angel questioned.
"You mentioned earlier on the telephone, that you'd been searching some other books while trying to figure out what's to take place this evening?"
"Yeah, I brought the one I looked in earlier....maybe you can find something I missed. Basically, I think that resurrecting Buffy, is going to mess things up. Both for the line of the Slayer and for evil itself. I think we can worry about that after we find out where she currently is," Angel told the man. Giles agreed, then went back to looking in the book.
***************
Twenty minutes later, Giles let out an excited noise. Angel put his book down, while he waited for Giles to tell him what he'd found.
"What did you find, Rupert?"
"I...I'm not quite sure...but I believe it's a spell that will enable us to determine where Buffy is. However, there is something the spell requires, that I'm not sure I can find."
"What is it?"
"It's the blood of the soul-mate or true love of the person the spell is supposed to find. The spell won't work without it, but I'm not sure who's blood it would need."
"That's easy. Mine," Angel said. Giles looked at him and nodded when he saw the love, determination, devotion, and sorrow in the vampire's eyes.
"Right then. Let me gather the other ingredients for the spell, then I'll set everything up and we can begin." Angel nodded, then waited semi-patiently while the Watcher got everything together. Within minutes, Giles was drawing the circle for the spell. All of the required ingredients for the spell had been prepared and the only thing needed now, was Angel's blood.
"All right, I only need a few drops...would you like some assistance in withdrawing the blood?" Giles cautiously asked. Angel shook his head, then quickly bit into his wrist and let the blood drip into a bowl that Giles had given him. Giles thanked him, then went over and began the spell. The spell didn't take very long, so in a few minutes, Giles had completed it. Angel didn't like how Giles looked...his facial expression, was one of relief, sadness, love, and indecision.
"Did...did you find her, Rupert? Did you find Buffy?"
"I...I did find her, Angel. She...she's not in Hell of any kind...she's in Heaven. Her mother is there as well as other loved ones of hers. Angel...she looks so happy and she seems so full of peace and joy. But... I...I can't let her leave there," Giles whispered, while tears trickled down his handsome face. Angel instantly knew what Giles was feeling. To take Buffy from Heaven would be the worst thing they could do.
"Angel...I think perhaps Buffy is missing something, though. I'm not sure what it could be, however."
"Did she seem at all sad, Rupert?" Angel asked.
"I'm not sure. D-do you think that p-perhaps she only seemed happy and at peace?"
"It's possible, definitely. But how do we find out one way or the other for sure?"
"I don't know, Angel....I just don't know." Giles glanced at his watch. It was close to eight o'clock...the time when Willow would be casting the spell to bring Buffy back. He told Angel what time it was and the two of them grabbed their things and headed towards Buffy's grave.
***************
By 11pm, the spell to bring Buffy back had gone as planned...however, with the interruption from the demons and vampires, during the casting, everyone had fled. Everyone except for Giles and Angel, who'd been nearby, fighting the demons and vampires, with some help from Gunn and his gang. They came out of their hiding spot and walked over to Buffy's grave. The two men stood there, waiting to see if anything would happen now. The interruption during the spell, had caused everyone who'd witnessed it, to believe that it hadn't worked.
But Giles and Angel were worried that the spell *had* worked. What possible side effects could happen, because of the spell being disturbed? Would Buffy be zombie-like? Would she be human? If she was human, what kind of human would she be?
As Giles and Angel stood vigil over her grave, musing about all of the potential problems Buffy could or would have if she came back, Angel's preternatural hearing picked something up. It was very faint and even with his super-hearing, he could just barely pick it out. He dropped to the wet ground and waited, praying he'd hear the noise again. In a few seconds, the noise came again. It sounded almost like scratching.
Angel panicked and frantically began clawing and digging at the earth. Giles wondered what he was doing, but decided not to ask him. Instead, he raced to his car and grabbed a shovel. Then he too, began digging. What were they digging for and what would they find? Only Angel knew...but he was too busy pulling up dirt, to tell Giles anything.
"Angel...did you...did you hear something?"
"Buffy."
Giles blanched, then began using the shovel even more vigorously. He knew exactly why they were digging now...Buffy...could it be the spell *had* worked? Was she alive? If she was...what must she be going through right now? Oh god, the thought of her alive and trapped not only in a coffin, but six feet under ground as well, made Giles want to retch.
The closer they got to Buffy, the louder the noise got. Angel was in full game face and snarling...but he was also keening too. His mate...his reason for living...was trapped...buried alive and he *had* to save her! Giles and Angel worked doggedly for roughly half an hour, before they struck wood. Buffy's coffin. Angel scrambled to remove more dirt from the top of the coffin. Once the lid was free from all dirt, he reached down to open it...
**********
**Dark, scary, small, frightened, help me! Where am I? Mommy, where are you? I can't breathe, I can't see...what's going on?**
These thoughts ran through Buffy's head while she scratched and clawed her way out of her grave. All of her fingernails had broken off and her hands were bleeding from the struggle to free herself. She was close to suffocating from terror and lack of oxygen, when suddenly there was a light. And a cool breeze on her face.
**********
"Oh gods....Buffy!," Angel cried, as he reached into the coffin and pulled her out. She clung to him, seeming to recognizing him immediately. Giles dropped to his knees and prayed to every deity he knew, for the safe return of his beloved Buffy. Angel sat down next to Giles, trembling and crying. Buffy was still uncertain of where she was and what had happened to her...but she was certain of who held her and who was sitting next to them.
She didn't know how she knew both men, but everything in her screamed that both men were familiar to her and safe. They wouldn't let any harm come to her ever again. They would protect her until their dying day. She didn't speak and neither did they. The trio just sat there on the lawn next to where Buffy had been laid to rest a few months before.
In the hours, days, weeks, and possibly months to come, Buffy would have to do a lot of healing...as would Angel and Giles. Eventually, Giles and Angel would head to L.A. with Buffy and whatever came their way next, the Watcher, the Slayer, and the Ensouled Vampire, would face it together...
THE END
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