Watching Over

January 2003

Set immediately following "Becoming Part 2." Thanks to Bonster and Siege for the beta, and to Michelle for the final once over. To Alan, as a belated birthday present.

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Pain. That was the first thing Giles felt as he slowly came back to awareness. His hands hurt. His knees hurt. His head hurt. Every single part of his body was in pain.

Then, he felt the softness of a bed, sheets. He was warm. The chill of the room back at the mansion was gone. He could no longer hear the sound of dripping water. The torture had stopped.

Giles turned and groaned as his muscles protested.

"Giles." A voice exclaimed, a bit sleepily.

"Xander?" The watcher gasped, trying to open his eyes, but finally giving up.

"Yeah, I'm here." Xander moved closer to the bed, scrubbing his eyes. "You're in the hospital."

Giles sighed in relief and, after a bit of a struggle, opened his eyes. He brought his hand up to his face. "Ow." He frowned and looked at his hand.

"Oh, right." Xander said quickly. "In addition to being black and blue all over, you got two broken fingers, a few bruised ribs, got a good blow to the head and your knees will probably be sore for a while. At least, that's what the doctors said."

Giles looked at Xander, impressed. "Thank you, Xander. Were you asleep just now?"

Xander looked behind him at the chair in which he'd been sitting for the last 7 hours. "Yeah. Kinda. I couldn't really sleep. More like. drifting." He smiled sheepishly.

"How long have you been here?" //Watching over me?//

Xander shrugged. "Dunno... a few hours maybe. I looked in on Willow earlier."

"Is she all right?" Giles asked, suddenly worried.

"Yeah. She was knocked out for a while, but she woke up just before I went to the mansion to get you out. She tried the restoration spell again. But we're not sure it worked. She was pretty beat up."

"Buffy?"

Xander closed his eyes and turned away. "Haven't heard from her. Last thing I knew, she was getting the better of Angel. But after that nothing."

"How long has it been since I...?" Giles looked around trying to find a clock.

"Seven hours 29 minutes since you passed out. I brought you here. Thought it was what i should do." Xander looked back at the watcher and then down.

Slowly, Giles reached for the young man's hand and held it weakly. "You did good, Xander. Thank you. You probably saved my life."

Xander smiled. "I did, didn't I?" His smile went away. "But I wasn't fast enough. He did a lot of damage. At first the doctors didn't even think they could patch up your fingers. They talked about taking 'em off."

"You should have seen him, Mr Giles," a voice in the doorway said gently.

Giles turned and tried to focus on the newcomer.

"I'm Georgia. I was there, Mr Giles. This young man yelled at the doctors for even thinking about cutting your fingers off. You're a librarian and need your hands to work with the books. Or so he said." The smiling nurse said, as she checked Giles' vitals.

Xander blushed and looked down. "I just thought you'd like to still be whole when you woke up."

Shocked, Giles looked back at the young man, their hands still intertwined. "You yelled at doctors?"

"Well, not actually yelled, but I did voice my opinion rather loudly. Yes." Xander explained still embarrassed.

"Well, I must say Xander, I do prefer all of my appendages attached." The older man chuckled and squeezed Xander's hand.

The nurse smiled at them, not missing the slight blush covering the younger man's cheeks. "Well, Alexander has been watching over you since your arrival here and he made quite an impression on all of us as well." An embarrassed silence crept into the room as the nurse adjusted the IV and monitors, and then turned back to them with a smile. "Well, everything here is fine, you just have to sign your release papers and then you should go home and get some rest, Mr Giles. I strongly suggest that you do not stay alone though. We haven't seen any signs of concussion, but we can never be too sure." She glared lightly at Giles.

"Sure, thank you Miss. I'll be sure to follow your advice. Thank you." Giles sat slowly, smiling when he felt Xander's hands helping him up. The watcher got dressed and they both left the hospital, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep the weariness away. But one more thing remained that needed to be done.

"You think we should. maybe. go to the mansion and make sure everything's ok?" Xander asked, a bit awkwardly. He didn't want Giles more injured than he already was, and he surely didn't want to find Buffy's dead body, but he needed to know, and he was sure Giles did too.

The older man nodded, understanding the younger man's dilemma. "If we could reach my car, it'd be easier. It's probably still in the school parking lot."

Xander nodded and they walked in silence, Xander's arms holding the watcher up. They found Giles' car and started toward the mansion. Both felt their own sense of dread and foreboding as each block took them closer. Xander drummed his fingers along the steering wheel, while Giles looked anxiously out the window, clouding it with his warm breath. Faster than they realized, they were there. The night was coming on, but there was still light outside.

Silently, Xander helped Giles out of the car and they made their way up the stairs. In the mansion, the air seemed stale and Xander glanced nervously over at Giles. The first thing they noticed was the silence. The echo of their footfall died only a few feet in front of them, and the surrounding silence seemed to press in on them.

They looked into each and every room. No one was there. No bodies left on the ground. No signs of Angel either. And Acathla was dormant, a sword imbeded in it's chest.

"She did it." Xander whispered in awe.

Giles nodded. "Quite. I believe she must've been quite exhausted after the fight. She probably went home to get some rest."

Xander nodded and they made their way back to the car, Xander still supporting the older man. They drove to Giles' apartment in silence, still touching; Xander's hand remained on Giles' shoulder. It was comforting, a little reminder that they were both still alive. That Giles was still alive.

Xander cut off the engine in front of Giles' house and helped the librarian out of the car again. They walked inside and Xander immediately put the kettle on before Giles could reach for it and made some tea.

"I'll turn in, I think. You're welcome to use the couch." Giles said gently.

Xander nodded, then realized something and shook his head. "No. I'll sleep on the floor up there. Cause, I'm supposed to wake you every couple of hours, for the concussion thing and nothing tells us that you won't faint in your sleep -"

"The nurse only said, possible concussion, Xander." Giles argued faintly. The truth was, he would feel better with Xander up there with him.

Xander glared at him and continued. "Or fall out of the bed or something. I don't want to see you hurt. At least more hurt than you already are."

Giles thought for a second and then nodded. "All right."

Xander watched closely as the librarian stood up, shaking slightly on his feet, and shook his head. "Hold on, lemme help." Xander leapt to his feet and helped Giles up to his room.

Giles laid down and then turned to Xander. "The extra-blankets are in the bathroom. In the cupboard beind the door. Help yourself."

Xander took his time in the bathroom and when he came out, Giles was almost asleep. The young man laid the blankets down and then looked at the watcher. "You sure you'll be all right?"

"I'll be fine Xander. Sleep." Giles muttered.

"Good. I'm glad you're ok Giles," Xander said, as he slipped into the make shift bed and made himself comfortable. "Cause life wouldn't be the same without you," he whispered, closing his eyes.

But Giles had already drifted to sleep.

The End

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