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summer_of_giles2019-07-20 08:56 pm
aaronlisa) wrote in summer_of_giles2019-07-20 08:56 pm
Entry tags:
FIC :Never Enough (FR13, Giles, Gen)
Title: Never Enough
Author:aaronlisa
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Characters: Rupert Giles, Xander Harris, Willow Rosenberg, Buffy Summers, Cordelia Chase
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon & company.
Notes: Written for 2019summer_of_giles.
Summary: Giles realizes that Buffy's friends don't have the greatest of parents.
Word Count: 1590
He had always found something slightly comforting in the universality of hospital emergency rooms in either the UK or the USA. There was always chairs in the waiting area that were just barely comfortable, the overpowering scent of disinfectant that masked the scent of illness and death, the tea or coffee machine that dispensed a luke-warm beverage that tasted awful, and then there was the nursing staff that seemed to wield more power than the doctors on duty ever did. It wasn't as if he had much experience with emergency rooms, a handful of visits over the years when he had taken other people for a variety of ailments and complaints. It wasn't really until Sunnydale when he began to abhor and fear them.
* * *
The first time he has to visit the emergency room in Sunnydale is when Xander sprains a wrist during a patrol. He had been against Willow and Xander tagging along with Buffy and himself but Buffy had been insistent and he could see the logic in Willow and Xander getting some field experience. It was supposed to be a quiet patrol after a near week of inactivity, Rupert had allowed himself to be convinced. Of course, he had warned the trio that if he found them to be distracted during the patrol, it would be the first and last one of it's kind.
The three teenagers had been well behaved and he could honestly say that Xander wasn't injured due to Buffy being distracted. It was just the fact that they were outnumbered by six vampires. Thankfully they were mostly new vampires so it was easy to dispatch them but Xander had still been hurt.
"I will take you to the hospital," Giles wearily says. "Buffy please be sure to escort Willow home and report to me if you notice anything unusual."
"I'm fine, I'll sleep it off," Xander announces.
Buffy arches an eyebrow at him and he realizes how he had sounded. It wasn't intentional, it's just that he's tired and the last thing he wants to do is waste more time at the hospital when he has to be at school bright and early the next day for a professional development day.
"Xander, I insist," Giles firmly says.
"Yeah Xan, it could be worse and well we're not like Buffy," Willow says.
"Fine, let's go then," Xander angrily says.
Buffy and Willow wave goodbye as Xander and he make their way to his car. He wants to call Xander out for his rudeness but he suspects that his attitude is more from pain than anything else. As they get closer and closer to the hospital, Giles notices how Xander is slowly getting tenser and tenser. He wants to ask the boy about it but it feels uncomfortable. Despite his relationship with Buffy and her friends, there is still a divide between them so he remains silent.
"You can just drop me off," Xander quietly says when Giles is parking the car. "I know how to get home from here."
"I don't think that would be wise," Giles replies.
Xander just sighs and the pair of them make their way into the hospital and approach the admitting nurse She looks up at Xander and sighs.
"Hello Mr. Harris, what did you do this time?"
There's something in her voice that Giles can't quite decipher but he can detect her hostility towards him in her next question.
"And who is this?"
"Hey Sandy, this is my teacher from school. He was chaperoning a thing at the uh school when I hurt myself so he brought me here," Xander tells the nurse.
"Of course," Sandy tiredly replies.
She directs them where to go next and Xander follows. It's not until the doctor is in with the teenager and Giles is waiting outside that he realizes just how familiar everyone is with Xander and it's not hard to connect the dots. He suspects that either Xander is incredibly accident prone - which he feels foolish for even thinking - or that he's being abused. And there's absolutely nothing that he can do to help Xander. He can sense in the tired resignation of the doctor and the nurses and in the teenager himself.
When he was told he would be an active Watcher, Giles never expected that he'd have to deal with something like this. He wonders how other Watchers have handled this. As he breathes in the scent of disinfectant, he feels sick to his stomach. He knows how the Council deals with things like this - they don't.
* * *
Willow has been hurt enough to require stitches. Giles had bandaged the wound before bundling her up in his car after telling Buffy to get Xander and Cordelia home safely. The normally chatty teenager is silent in his car. And he's certain that he's breaking several speeding laws as he pushes his car to go as fast as it can. It's his fault that she was hurt. It's his fault for letting Buffy have friends who have become targets to every single demon, vampire and monster that wants to take on the Slayer.
"It's okay," Willow quietly says.
"No, it's not," Giles tells her. "While I agree that you and the others should know how to protect yourself, I don't think you should be out patrolling with Buffy."
"I know," Willow meekly says. "But it helps Buffy to feel normal."
And it's like Willow has taken a knife and stabbed him and then twisted the blade. He knows how unfair it is to his Slayer (and to all of them). The Council robs them of so much. He even knows how the very first Slayer was Chosen and that a group of old men had forced her to become the warrior. Every Slayer has been used by the Council with no thought of who the girl is, what she wants, what she dreams of, and so on. They rob them of their future and force them to die at a young age. He hates himself for even being involved at all.
There's no more time for words as they have arrived at the hospital and he's helping her into the emergency room. It's a quiet night so they are easily admitted and are awaiting a doctor to see to her wound after the nurse and confirmed it's not life-threatening.
"Should I call you mother?" Giles asks.
"My parents are out of town, if you want I can call for a taxi for a ride home."
Giles looks at Willow. She is refusing to look at him, her eyes are glued to the floor, and her cheeks are red from embarrassment.
"I will take you home, Willow," Giles tells her, "Are your parents often away?"
"Yeah," Willow replies.
And once again, he feels powerless. The scent of her blood and her fear seem to be stronger than the disinfectant. When he goes to fetch a cup of coffee for the pair of them, he wants to be sick. Even not knowing about the supernatural, what type of parent would leave their daughter alone in a place like Sunnydale? And there's nothing he can do. He can't even offer much more than to let her stay overnight at his house for the night because he has no space for anyone in his tiny little apartment. He pinches his nose and decides he will suggest that Willow stay with Buffy when he sees the Slayer tomorrow.
It's all he can do.
* * *
When Cordelia is injured and he has to take the cheerleader to the hospital, Giles is defeated even before they arrive. Buffy is with them so the cheerleader spends most of the riding telling Buffy how she will get the best treatment because she can afford it and she has her father's credit card with her. When he meekly suggests calling her parents, Cordelia tells him about her father is in Mexico and her mother is at some health spa. He lets the two girls go into the hospital as he tries to find a spot to park in.
He feels sick to his stomach. He wonders if this is how his parents had felt when he hard hurt himself: powerless, sick and weak. He wants to know why their parents aren't here to support them, to care for them and protect them. It's awful what the Council has done to a series of girls over the centuries but at least they thought they were doing the right thing.
And he knows it's not all parents, since the last time Buffy had injured herself enough to require a doctor's care, Joyce Summers had come to the library and given him a piece of her mind as to how she was to be immediately called if her daughter was ever injured. But he's in been in Sunnydale long enough to know most parents seem to be care little about their children's safety - it's not just the parents of Xander, Willow and Cordelia. He wants to burn the town to the ground, to find a ritual that will close the Hellmouuth, anything to make these children have parents that care. There's only so much he can do. And he knows that it's not enough. It will never be enough. And he hates himself for who and what he is because he knows now that he's just as guilty as the parents of Xander, Willow and Cordelia for letting a child be harmed.
((END))
Author:
aaronlisa Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Characters: Rupert Giles, Xander Harris, Willow Rosenberg, Buffy Summers, Cordelia Chase
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon & company.
Notes: Written for 2019
summer_of_giles. Summary: Giles realizes that Buffy's friends don't have the greatest of parents.
Word Count: 1590
He had always found something slightly comforting in the universality of hospital emergency rooms in either the UK or the USA. There was always chairs in the waiting area that were just barely comfortable, the overpowering scent of disinfectant that masked the scent of illness and death, the tea or coffee machine that dispensed a luke-warm beverage that tasted awful, and then there was the nursing staff that seemed to wield more power than the doctors on duty ever did. It wasn't as if he had much experience with emergency rooms, a handful of visits over the years when he had taken other people for a variety of ailments and complaints. It wasn't really until Sunnydale when he began to abhor and fear them.
* * *
The first time he has to visit the emergency room in Sunnydale is when Xander sprains a wrist during a patrol. He had been against Willow and Xander tagging along with Buffy and himself but Buffy had been insistent and he could see the logic in Willow and Xander getting some field experience. It was supposed to be a quiet patrol after a near week of inactivity, Rupert had allowed himself to be convinced. Of course, he had warned the trio that if he found them to be distracted during the patrol, it would be the first and last one of it's kind.
The three teenagers had been well behaved and he could honestly say that Xander wasn't injured due to Buffy being distracted. It was just the fact that they were outnumbered by six vampires. Thankfully they were mostly new vampires so it was easy to dispatch them but Xander had still been hurt.
"I will take you to the hospital," Giles wearily says. "Buffy please be sure to escort Willow home and report to me if you notice anything unusual."
"I'm fine, I'll sleep it off," Xander announces.
Buffy arches an eyebrow at him and he realizes how he had sounded. It wasn't intentional, it's just that he's tired and the last thing he wants to do is waste more time at the hospital when he has to be at school bright and early the next day for a professional development day.
"Xander, I insist," Giles firmly says.
"Yeah Xan, it could be worse and well we're not like Buffy," Willow says.
"Fine, let's go then," Xander angrily says.
Buffy and Willow wave goodbye as Xander and he make their way to his car. He wants to call Xander out for his rudeness but he suspects that his attitude is more from pain than anything else. As they get closer and closer to the hospital, Giles notices how Xander is slowly getting tenser and tenser. He wants to ask the boy about it but it feels uncomfortable. Despite his relationship with Buffy and her friends, there is still a divide between them so he remains silent.
"You can just drop me off," Xander quietly says when Giles is parking the car. "I know how to get home from here."
"I don't think that would be wise," Giles replies.
Xander just sighs and the pair of them make their way into the hospital and approach the admitting nurse She looks up at Xander and sighs.
"Hello Mr. Harris, what did you do this time?"
There's something in her voice that Giles can't quite decipher but he can detect her hostility towards him in her next question.
"And who is this?"
"Hey Sandy, this is my teacher from school. He was chaperoning a thing at the uh school when I hurt myself so he brought me here," Xander tells the nurse.
"Of course," Sandy tiredly replies.
She directs them where to go next and Xander follows. It's not until the doctor is in with the teenager and Giles is waiting outside that he realizes just how familiar everyone is with Xander and it's not hard to connect the dots. He suspects that either Xander is incredibly accident prone - which he feels foolish for even thinking - or that he's being abused. And there's absolutely nothing that he can do to help Xander. He can sense in the tired resignation of the doctor and the nurses and in the teenager himself.
When he was told he would be an active Watcher, Giles never expected that he'd have to deal with something like this. He wonders how other Watchers have handled this. As he breathes in the scent of disinfectant, he feels sick to his stomach. He knows how the Council deals with things like this - they don't.
* * *
Willow has been hurt enough to require stitches. Giles had bandaged the wound before bundling her up in his car after telling Buffy to get Xander and Cordelia home safely. The normally chatty teenager is silent in his car. And he's certain that he's breaking several speeding laws as he pushes his car to go as fast as it can. It's his fault that she was hurt. It's his fault for letting Buffy have friends who have become targets to every single demon, vampire and monster that wants to take on the Slayer.
"It's okay," Willow quietly says.
"No, it's not," Giles tells her. "While I agree that you and the others should know how to protect yourself, I don't think you should be out patrolling with Buffy."
"I know," Willow meekly says. "But it helps Buffy to feel normal."
And it's like Willow has taken a knife and stabbed him and then twisted the blade. He knows how unfair it is to his Slayer (and to all of them). The Council robs them of so much. He even knows how the very first Slayer was Chosen and that a group of old men had forced her to become the warrior. Every Slayer has been used by the Council with no thought of who the girl is, what she wants, what she dreams of, and so on. They rob them of their future and force them to die at a young age. He hates himself for even being involved at all.
There's no more time for words as they have arrived at the hospital and he's helping her into the emergency room. It's a quiet night so they are easily admitted and are awaiting a doctor to see to her wound after the nurse and confirmed it's not life-threatening.
"Should I call you mother?" Giles asks.
"My parents are out of town, if you want I can call for a taxi for a ride home."
Giles looks at Willow. She is refusing to look at him, her eyes are glued to the floor, and her cheeks are red from embarrassment.
"I will take you home, Willow," Giles tells her, "Are your parents often away?"
"Yeah," Willow replies.
And once again, he feels powerless. The scent of her blood and her fear seem to be stronger than the disinfectant. When he goes to fetch a cup of coffee for the pair of them, he wants to be sick. Even not knowing about the supernatural, what type of parent would leave their daughter alone in a place like Sunnydale? And there's nothing he can do. He can't even offer much more than to let her stay overnight at his house for the night because he has no space for anyone in his tiny little apartment. He pinches his nose and decides he will suggest that Willow stay with Buffy when he sees the Slayer tomorrow.
It's all he can do.
* * *
When Cordelia is injured and he has to take the cheerleader to the hospital, Giles is defeated even before they arrive. Buffy is with them so the cheerleader spends most of the riding telling Buffy how she will get the best treatment because she can afford it and she has her father's credit card with her. When he meekly suggests calling her parents, Cordelia tells him about her father is in Mexico and her mother is at some health spa. He lets the two girls go into the hospital as he tries to find a spot to park in.
He feels sick to his stomach. He wonders if this is how his parents had felt when he hard hurt himself: powerless, sick and weak. He wants to know why their parents aren't here to support them, to care for them and protect them. It's awful what the Council has done to a series of girls over the centuries but at least they thought they were doing the right thing.
And he knows it's not all parents, since the last time Buffy had injured herself enough to require a doctor's care, Joyce Summers had come to the library and given him a piece of her mind as to how she was to be immediately called if her daughter was ever injured. But he's in been in Sunnydale long enough to know most parents seem to be care little about their children's safety - it's not just the parents of Xander, Willow and Cordelia. He wants to burn the town to the ground, to find a ritual that will close the Hellmouuth, anything to make these children have parents that care. There's only so much he can do. And he knows that it's not enough. It will never be enough. And he hates himself for who and what he is because he knows now that he's just as guilty as the parents of Xander, Willow and Cordelia for letting a child be harmed.
((END))