BROKEN CHILD
Laura Smith
Giles paced the length of the doctor's office before sinking into the orange plastic chair. He sat there for a moment, his fingers drumming against his knees. Moments later, he stood up and began pacing again. The door to the examining room opened and he rushed to Willow's side. "Well?"
Willow smiled her response, as he swept her up into a hug. He threw back his head and laughed. "You, Miss Rosenberg, are the most beautiful woman in the world."
"And you, Mr. Giles, are making me dizzy."
He set her down and shook the doctor's hand. "Thank you."
"I really didn't have anything to do with it." He shook his hand anyway and smiled at the excited couple. Handing Willow a sheaf of papers, he glared at her. "Follow these instructions. It's important."
"I will." She took Giles' hand. Walking side by side, they left the office and headed for the car. "Should we tell everyone?"
"Do you want to?"
"Well, Buffy knows. Or at least, expects. I think if I didn't tell Xander, he'd come after you with a butcher knife."
"I vote for telling him."
She laughed. "All right. We'll tell everyone tonight?"
"Dinner?"
"Dinner."
*****
Xander dropped the pizza onto his lap. He stared, wide-eyed, at both of them. "Pregnant."
"Yes."
"Pregnant."
"Yes." Giles tried to hide his smirk.
"Pregnant? Are you insane?"
Willow frowned. "Not quite the reaction I was hoping for Xander."
"Sorry. I'm finding this a little hard to take. You're pregnant. With a baby?"
"His baby, to be exact."
"No." Xander shook his head. "Not possible. You're not even married."
"We're engaged."
He glared at Giles. "You're supposed to be responsible. You're supposed to be an adult. You're not supposed to impregnate my friend!" He stood up and stormed out of the library.
Willow started after him, but Giles' hand stopped her. "Let me. I think we have some things we need to talk about. This is more than just your pregnancy. It's about your friendship." He kissed her quickly. "I'll be back."
Willow took a bite of her pizza and sighed. "What happened to wow, Will. That's great. I'm so happy for you?" She asked herself as she bent down to pick up the remains of Xander's pizza. She wondered how their conversation was going.
*****
"Xander."
"Go away. I don't want to talk to you right now."
"Xander." He sat across from him in the student lounge. "If we talk about this, we can resolve it."
"There's nothing to resolve. You've already gotten her pregnant." He glared at the older man. "She's nineteen, Giles. I realize you love her. That's great. I'm all for it. But she's got her whole life ahead of her and you're putting her in a position where she's going to have to give up everything."
"I would never hold her back from anything. You must know that."
"She turned down Oxford to be with you."
"I never asked her to do that. She made that choice on her own." He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I love her, Xander. And I'll admit I want this baby. Very badly. The thought of having a child with Willow is the most exquisite thing in the world. But I would never ask her to do something she didn't want to do."
Xander looked down at his hands. "I know. I just…she's not the Willow I grew up with anymore. She's an adult now, doing all these adult things. I mean, if you had asked me freshman year if I thought Willow would be the one getting la…having…with a regular boyfriend, I would have laughed at you. Sometimes…sometimes I miss the girl I grew up with."
"I'm not taking her away from you. She's still your friend and she always will be. If you feel you're not spending enough time together, make some time to do so. I'm not going to get…"
"Jealous? Like you did the night we went to the Bronze?"
"That was more of the circumstance than the situation. I don't begrudge you the time you spend with her. I know that you two have been friends for a long time. I don't want to ruin that. I'm going to be her husband. That doesn't exclude the need to have friends. She's probably going to need you now, more than ever, actually."
Xander looked frightened. "I'm not good with babies."
"You don't have to be. Just be good with Willow."
"That I can do."
*****
Willow tried not to worry. They were just going to talk. They weren't going to kill each other. No one was going to get all macho and fight over her honor. She hoped.
She looked up as the library doors swung open. "How did it…?" Terror filled her features as she stared at three very large, very angry vampires. The largest of the three walked up to her, catching her as she tried to run for the stacks.
"You're the Watcher's bitch."
"No. No." She struggled against his grip as it continued to tighten on her arm. He pulled her to his chest and tilted her head to the side. "Please, no."
"Well, since you asked nicely." He grinned, his fangs glinting in the fluorescent light. "I'll make sure you come back in time to kill him."
She struggled, her mind blank with fear. Thoughts she couldn't quite grasp seemed to dance on the edges of her consciousness. Suddenly, she remembered. She screamed.
*****
Giles and Xander were halfway back to the library when her scream rent the air. Frightened eyes met and they both took off at a dead run.
Sliding to a stop outside the door, Giles burst through them. His heart stopped. The vampire was holding her in front of him, her neck exposed. His fangs were poised for the bite, but he was obviously waiting for his audience. "So, Watcher. We wanted you to see this. You're going to make quite the first meal for your darling lover here."
He couldn't move. Her green eyes were wide with fear; her skin was nearly white. "Let her go."
"Aw, gee. No. But you guys are so polite. I'm gonna make sure that gets noted. We'll be sure to let your Slayer know that you guys were darn nice right up till the end. Right before we kill her. There's a new boss in town, Watcher. And you and your lover and your Slayer are going down." He licked Willow's neck. "Mmm. She's tasty. I can see why you past over the Slayer. You're the first male Watcher I've heard of who didn't indulge in his Slayer."
Giles carefully noted the position of the other two vampires. He could get one without any problem. He could probably take care of the other. But there was no way he could reach Willow in time to do anything more than watch her die in his arms. Then put a stake through her heart.
Which would be like putting a stake in his own.
"What can I do to get you to let her go?"
"You don't get it, do you? I thought you guys were supposed to be so smart. But you're dumb. There is no letting her go. She dies so that you're nothing more than a weak shell of a man. Well, a weaker shell. For the whole day it'll take her to rise then she'll come to you and feed on you. And that'll destroy your Slayer. It's a simple plan, actually."
"It's been tried before. It never works." Giles vaguely wondered where Xander was. Hopefully he'd been smart enough to try to find Buffy. He had to hope that she would burst in any second and save Willow. It was the only thing he was holding onto.
"Right. Angelus killed your last girlfriend. But she wasn't who you really loved, was she?" He pressed his teeth to Willow's skin almost puncturing the surface. "You've wanted the redhead since the beginning."
Giles moved slowly to the circulation desk. The crossbow bolts were lying there, waiting for Buffy to arrive for practice. If he threw one, he ran the risk of hitting her. So that was out as far as Willow's captor was concerned. No matter how he thought this through, it came down to one thing.
Willow was going to die.
*****
Xander glanced at the clock on the wall. Buffy should have been here by now. He'd paged her with the code for just such an emergency. He walked quickly and silently to the library doors. Buffy appeared and he pulled her to the side. Explaining quickly, he filled her in on both the situation and the vampire's locations.
"Okay. I want you to follow me in. I'm gonna get Willow then you get her the hell out of there. Got it?"
He nodded. "Buffy? She's pregnant."
"Okay. So I'll be sure to be extra careful." She smiled. "Don't worry Xander. I'm a trained professional."
*****
Buffy entered through the door in the stacks and made her way to the front of the library. The stupid vampire was talking, thanks to Giles. What was it with bad guys who always felt the need to explain their cunning plans? Didn't they know they were just setting themselves up for the kill?
She caught Giles' eye and he nodded surreptitiously to his left. He would attack that one first. His hands were in his pockets and she hoped he was carrying a stake. The vampire to his right was thumbing through a book, his expression one of bored disinterest.
Buffy turned her attention to her victim. He kept getting close to Willow's neck before backing away. She judged his stance and prepared to attack. Suddenly, Xander came flying through the door followed closely by yet another vampire.
He landed in a heap at Willow's feet. She cried out at the vampire holding her jumped, his teeth puncturing the skin. Droplets of blood pooled on her neck and she shivered. Giles nodded and Buffy leapt out of her hiding place. Tackling the vampire from behind, she aimed toward her right, away from Willow. Giles drove his stake into the heart of the vampire that had followed Xander in, throwing one of the crossbow bolts at the same time.
Showers of dust rained down as Buffy and the head vamp went sprawling, careening into Giles after tripping over Xander. Willow landed hard on the floor. She managed to fight her way to her hands and knees. Looking up, she saw the other vampire smiling at her.
"I have a job to do." He approached her, casting a quick glance to the tangle of people near the doors. "They've forgotten about you. But I haven't." He swung his steel-toed boot forward, catching her in the stomach. She collapsed and curled herself into a ball, her only thoughts centered on protecting her child.
He laughed softly before kicking her again. He heard a rib break. She cried out and her body responded reflexively. She jerked, offering him a clean blow. He kicked her harder this time, putting all of his vampiric strength behind it. He aimed for her head, but she moved just in time. He caught her low in the stomach, almost in the pelvis. She screamed and the smell of blood filled the air.
Giles grabbed the arm of the vampire he and Buffy were fighting and wrenched it away from his throat. Willow's cries had given him strength and he knew he needed to rush to her side. This vampire was in the way. He grabbed the stake out of Buffy's hand and imbedded it in the vampire's heart. He evaporated to dust and they both stumbled as they were freed.
Buffy rushed to Xander's side, just as he began to regain consciousness. Giles ran toward Willow, stopped by the creature that had been hurting her. Blind rage filled him. Stronger than anything he'd felt before, even when he'd found Jenny in his bed.
Ripper wasn't just back. He was pissed.
He grabbed the vampire's head and quickly snapped its neck. It crumpled to the floor and he grabbed a chair. He slammed the leg into the creature's chest. It exploded and he let the chair fall to the floor. He fell to his knees beside Willow, his eyes automatically going to the pool of blood gathering between her legs.
"Buffy, call an ambulance. Now." His voice was emotionless, cold.
Her voice was barely a whisper. "Giles?"
"I'm right here, love."
"It hurts." She tried to focus her eyes but couldn't quite manage it. Her whole body was flooded with aching, bitter pain. "I love you Rupert."
"Don't say that with such finality." He reached down to touch her, but found he couldn't do it. The contact would be more than he could bear. "I fully expect to hear it again in a few hours."
Xander came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Giles?"
"Is the ambulance on its way?"
"Yes." Buffy joined them and knelt beside him. "They'll be here any second."
He blinked back tears and nodded. "She's going to be fine."
*****
Xander paced. Buffy paced. Giles sat in a chair very similar to the one he'd been in only hours before and stared at the ground. No longer was there any burning anticipation. No longer was there any excitement of their future prospects.
There was only a dull, aching throb where his heart used to be.
They'd been here for hours now. They'd called Faith and asked her to patrol, called Oz and told him the news. He'd rushed over and joined the pacing until ten minutes ago when he'd gone on his coffee run. They'd taken turns bringing back cups of the most vile liquid known to man.
They lay around them like dead soldiers, drained of the bitter drink. Giles wouldn't drink until Buffy threatened him, but even then his eyes were empty. Haunted. Buffy looked up at the clock. 4 AM. They'd been here for seven hours. Willow had been in the operating room for seven hours. Giles had been silent the entire time.
She could barely stand to look at him. If anyone had doubted his feelings for her, they would see the error of their ways. It wasn't just Willow in there on the table. It was his life. Buffy smiled slightly. His love had overtaken his duty.
She sat beside him and placed a comforting hand on his arm. He turned to her, but his eyes were unseeing. She reached up and touched his cheek, not even minding the rough stubble against her palm. "Giles, she's going to be fine. And you'll start over."
"I couldn't protect her. Just like before."
Buffy's lips trembled as she fought her tears. She wouldn't cry. The last thing he needed was to have her break down in front of him. "Giles, you couldn't stop Angelus. You couldn't have stopped Jenny from dying. But this time is different. Willow's alive. And she's going to stay that way. She knows how much we all need her."
"She's my life, Buffy." He met her eyes again and this time there was a wealth of emotion there. Tears coursed down his cheeks and he trembled. She wrapped her arms around him and felt the thin control he had on himself crumble. Sobs wracked his body as she held him. Xander walked around to the other side of him and helped Buffy hold him.
They sat there in silence, only Giles' sobs filling the air. At the soft sound of footsteps they all looked up. Oz stood there, horror in his eyes. The cups of coffee crashed to the floor and he shook his head. "No."
Xander stood. "No. No. We haven't heard anything." He walked over to the other boy and led him to a chair. "Sorry. We didn't think about how it might look. Giles just needed someone to hold him. Buffy looked like she did too."
"I was scared."
"We all are."
*****
6 AM. Buffy blinked to clear the blurriness from her eyes but it didn't help. Her mother and Faith had joined them and everyone looked half asleep. Except for Giles. He looked tortured. He still sat in the same chair. He hadn't moved all night. Hadn't left for anything, not even bathroom breaks. He just stared at the floor or, occasionally, at the door leading to the operating rooms.
No one spoke once Joyce and Faith had arrived. Xander was leaning against the wall, his head fallen forward in a light sleep. The slightest movement woke him and so the others tried to remain as still as possible.
Which wasn't hard. They were all exhausted.
Finally the doors swung open. Giles was on his feet in an instant. His whole body radiated impatience as though he hadn't been sitting still for hours. He glared at the doctor, Ripper still in his eyes. "Tell me."
"She's fine."
He let out a shuddering breath and felt his legs tremble. Buffy was immediately beside him, supporting him. "Thank God," he whispered.
"She had severe internal hemorrhaging, which we managed to stop. She had three broken ribs and a concussion. She's in a lot of pain."
Giles saw the answer in the doctor's eyes, but he knew he had to ask. "And she lost the baby?"
"I'm afraid so, yes."
He looked down at the ground again, his shoulders hunched as though they supported the weight of the world. "M…may I…I see her?"
"Of course. No more than two of you at a time." He gestured down the hallway. "She's groggy and she'll need her rest soon."
Buffy looked at him. "Do you need some help?"
"No. I can make it." He gave her a smile, thanking her and followed the doctor.
Xander moved over to stand next to Buffy. "Is he gonna be all right, Buffy?"
"Yeah. He is."
*****
Her face was pale from the amount of blood she'd lost and she looked like a small child. He thought back to the last time he'd seen her in a hospital bed. It seemed a thousand years ago that she'd loved Xander and Oz and wanted them by her bedside. Of course, it seemed a thousand years ago he'd arrived at the hospital.
She opened her eyes, struggling to focus. "Giles?"
He moved closer, taking her small hand in his own larger one. "I'm here, love."
"I don't feel so good." She tried to laugh, wincing at the pain. "Did we win?"
"That we did."
"Did we lose…?"
"That we did."
Her chin trembled and tears slipped down her alabaster cheeks. "I'm sorry."
"Not as sorry as I am. I shouldn't have ever left your side." He bent down to kiss her lips softly, trying to control his own tears. He rained kisses on her face, tasting the sadness.
"Do you think…we could try again? Maybe not for a week or two, but again?"
"I think we could do that."
"I'm sorry, Rupert. I wanted to have your baby." Her voice was fading quickly.
"You will, someday. For now, I'm happy just to have you."
"For now?"
"Forever."
Next: Recovery