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tamingthemuse2014-04-29 10:11 am
dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com) wrote in tamingthemuse2014-04-29 10:11 am
Entry tags:
406 - Diaglyph - And If My Love Had Never Let Me Go - dragonypoenix - BtVS
Title: And If My Love Had Never Let Me Go 9/15
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 406 - Diaglyph
Warnings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: Trekker wrote a series called In Another Life where Rupert went back to the Council but never broke up with Ethan. In the chapter “The Dark Age, Postscript”, Ethan is drawn into a universe where his and Rupert's relationship had ended. It was such a fascinating idea I couldn't help but play with it. This is a remix of that chapter.
Note: The story shifts between the two verses but headers are included to orient the reader.
Note: It's easier to read in AO3
Note: insipired by a prompt at Open on Sunday: ring
Note: My home computer has died, again, so this is the first draft. The finalized version of this chapter will be posted at Ao3
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 406 - Diaglyph
Warnings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: Trekker wrote a series called In Another Life where Rupert went back to the Council but never broke up with Ethan. In the chapter “The Dark Age, Postscript”, Ethan is drawn into a universe where his and Rupert's relationship had ended. It was such a fascinating idea I couldn't help but play with it. This is a remix of that chapter.
Note: The story shifts between the two verses but headers are included to orient the reader.
Note: It's easier to read in AO3
Note: insipired by a prompt at Open on Sunday: ring
Note: My home computer has died, again, so this is the first draft. The finalized version of this chapter will be posted at Ao3
IALverse
When Buffy saw occult objects scattered all over the hospital room, she stopped just inside the doorway. It was worse than she'd thought. Giles always cleaned up after himself. Always. Even that time when Ethan had told her about the prophecy, the one that said she'd die at the Master's hands, even then when Giles had been as grungy and worn out as she'd ever seen him, even then he'd put away all the books but the one he'd been using. Now not only was nothing put away but Giles was scrambling through mystical-looking doodads and muttering like a madman.
She called out as she walked toward him. “Hey, Giles, what'cha doing?”
“Just one more spell.” He didn't seem to be talking to her. “There's been no response, almost as if he's not in his body, but that's impossible. Almost impossible. I think Moore's Astral …”
“There will be no more spells.”
Buffy stood her ground but it wasn't easy under Giles' glare. “Do you want to repeat that?” he asked. He hadn't raised his voice but she could hear the menace. “On second thought, don't. I don't want to have to kill you.” For the first time since she'd met him, Buffy wasn't sure she could take Giles if it came down to a fight.
“You've gone through all the spells. You aren't learning anything new.” At least that's what Miss Calendar had told her. “Go home. Get some sleep.”
“Go home?” At least he'd shifted from murderous intent look to questioning her sanity look. “While Ethan's life drains away?”
Miss Calendar appeared in the doorway. “Rupert, you're not doing him any good. You're exhausted. What do you think you can do in this state?”
“I can save his life.”
“Really?” Miss Calendar asked. “How?”
Some sort of mystical whatsit, something made of gears and feathers, fell in pieces from Giles' hand.
“Leave,” Buffy said. “I mean it. If you won't go home, at least cross the street and get something to eat.”
“And if I refuse?”
She hated to say it but she knew he'd never leave on his own. “You can walk out of here on your own two feet or I can knock you unconscious and carry you out.”
He stared at her for a long moment but then merely brushed the rest of the feathers from his hand, gave Ethan a long kiss, and walked out of the room.
Miss Calendar mad way for him. “Want company?” Buffy could hear her speaking in the hallway.
“I suppose someone has to act as spy, to ensure I obey the tyrant's commands. Xander, why don't you accompany me?”
Buffy heard Giles' shoes clacking against the floor as he walked away. Even his footsteps sounded angry. When Miss Calendar and Willow joined her in Ethan's room, Buffy turned from them and started picking up the occult objects. Miss Calendar had said Giles needed a break, and it had made sense when she'd explained it, but Buffy felt like a bully. If it had been her sitting with someone she loved, she wouldn't have wanted to leave.
Rupert allowed Xander to lead him to the diner down the street. He would have preferred silence, but Xander kept up a constant stream of chatter. At least he didn't expect a response. Once settled, Rupert held his cup of tea in both hands, soaking in the warmth. Sunnydale wasn't cold but today he couldn't get the chill out of his bones.
Xander had blown across his hot chocolate and then put it aside as if waiting for it to cool. “Hate to say it, big guy, but you're looking worse than Starvin' Marvin.”
Rupert merely stared over his cup and felt slightly annoyed that he couldn't tell if Xander's look of surprise was real or exaggerated. “South Park?” the lad asked.
Rupert didn't bother to reply.
“I thought Ethan was keeping you up on culture …” Now that was true shock. Xander obviously regretted mentioning Ethan although Rupert couldn't imagine why. He couldn't forget for even a moment.
Xander's usual reaction to stress was to babble. “So, Starvin' Marvin. He's from Ethiopia, see. These guys won him, kind of like a prize, but not really …” Rupert let Xander's words, something about stop watches and Sally Struthers, wash over him. He was very tired and food wasn't about to help that.
Rupert didn't think before he stood but realized it was abrupt by the look on Xander's face. “I'm … exhausted. I need to walk.”
“I'll come with.”
“No!” That was harsher than he'd intended. “I'm just going to walk up and down the street. I'll be back before the food is ready.” Xander seemed uncertain but Rupert walked off quickly. He hadn't been lying. He did hope that exercise would help wake him, but also, if he couldn't be with Ethan then he wanted to be alone.
Rupert had walked three blocks when he let himself fall against the side of a building. He knew he was being conspicuous, but what did it matter. He wasn't going to be able to save Ethan. The one time it truly counted was the one time he failed. Ethan was, already, almost as good as dead.
Sunlight caught the ruby of Rupert's wedding ring. The tiny spark of light glittered as brilliantly as the sun rising over the wine dark sea. Rupert leaped to his feet. Of course! The rings.
The three of them were just standing around Ethan's bed, staring and doing nothing. It was creepy how Ethan just lay there. Willow had never realized, until now, that he was never still.
“Does anybody else feel like we're the three witches from Macbeth?” Buffy asked.
“If we were, we could predict him a better fate than this,” Miss Calendar replied.
“Maybe we're more like the three Fates,” Willow said.
“Don't they decide when people die?” Buffy asked.
“But … no!” Willow felt panic rise. “Not like that. In a non-cutting the thread of life way. Then he'd never die.”
“He wouldn’t want to be like this forever,” Jenny said.
None of them replied to that but it didn't matter because Giles barged into the room. His hair was wild, unkempt. It looked like he hadn't brushed it in days, which couldn't be because Ethan had just been brought into the hospital that morning.
Buffy frowned. “Aren't you supposed to be eating?”
“The rings,” he said. “The sacred scarab. Rebirth of the sun after the dark night of the soul. Resurrection.”
Buffy, of course, obsessed on the rings. Willow had tried to explain the symbolism to her, countless times, but Buffy had never gotten over the dung beetle thing. “Scarabs? You don't mean those dung beetles you had carved onto your wedding bands?”
“Actually the scarabs are carved into the rubies.” Actually they were rather pretty although Willow had learned not to say that to Buffy.
“What do you mean, resurrection?” Jenny asked. Willow suddenly felt bad. No one cared that the rings were diglyphs, not when they had a cure for Ethan.
“The stones, they're attuned to our essences: my ring to Ethan's and his ring to mine. I can bring him back.” He glanced around the room. “Where are my texts?”
“We moved them back to the car, but Buffy and I can go get them.” Finally, something they could do.
Jenny put her hands on Giles' shoulders. She looked like she was ready to shake him. “Rupert, you don't know what's wrong. What are you going to do? Try random resurrection spells? You could kill him. You could do worse than kill him.”
Giles fell into his chair. His face was almost whiter than Ethan's. “If the stones hold his essence,” Willow heard herself saying, “maybe you could talk to him.”
Buffy and Miss Calendar looked confused but Giles looked hopeful and energized, which was good because Willow wasn't quite sure what she meant. “Of course,” he said, “a connection spell, a scrying spell perhaps. We could learn what happened before he fell ill without binding or harming his spirit.”
Miss Calendar's words came out slowly as if she was thinking through scenarios as she was speaking. “That could work.”
“So we will need the texts,” Willow added.
“Sounds like a plan.” Buffy stepped to the door, as if she were heading out to get the books, but only looked both ways down the hall. “What did you do with Xander?”
She called out as she walked toward him. “Hey, Giles, what'cha doing?”
“Just one more spell.” He didn't seem to be talking to her. “There's been no response, almost as if he's not in his body, but that's impossible. Almost impossible. I think Moore's Astral …”
“There will be no more spells.”
Buffy stood her ground but it wasn't easy under Giles' glare. “Do you want to repeat that?” he asked. He hadn't raised his voice but she could hear the menace. “On second thought, don't. I don't want to have to kill you.” For the first time since she'd met him, Buffy wasn't sure she could take Giles if it came down to a fight.
“You've gone through all the spells. You aren't learning anything new.” At least that's what Miss Calendar had told her. “Go home. Get some sleep.”
“Go home?” At least he'd shifted from murderous intent look to questioning her sanity look. “While Ethan's life drains away?”
Miss Calendar appeared in the doorway. “Rupert, you're not doing him any good. You're exhausted. What do you think you can do in this state?”
“I can save his life.”
“Really?” Miss Calendar asked. “How?”
Some sort of mystical whatsit, something made of gears and feathers, fell in pieces from Giles' hand.
“Leave,” Buffy said. “I mean it. If you won't go home, at least cross the street and get something to eat.”
“And if I refuse?”
She hated to say it but she knew he'd never leave on his own. “You can walk out of here on your own two feet or I can knock you unconscious and carry you out.”
He stared at her for a long moment but then merely brushed the rest of the feathers from his hand, gave Ethan a long kiss, and walked out of the room.
Miss Calendar mad way for him. “Want company?” Buffy could hear her speaking in the hallway.
“I suppose someone has to act as spy, to ensure I obey the tyrant's commands. Xander, why don't you accompany me?”
Buffy heard Giles' shoes clacking against the floor as he walked away. Even his footsteps sounded angry. When Miss Calendar and Willow joined her in Ethan's room, Buffy turned from them and started picking up the occult objects. Miss Calendar had said Giles needed a break, and it had made sense when she'd explained it, but Buffy felt like a bully. If it had been her sitting with someone she loved, she wouldn't have wanted to leave.
Rupert allowed Xander to lead him to the diner down the street. He would have preferred silence, but Xander kept up a constant stream of chatter. At least he didn't expect a response. Once settled, Rupert held his cup of tea in both hands, soaking in the warmth. Sunnydale wasn't cold but today he couldn't get the chill out of his bones.
Xander had blown across his hot chocolate and then put it aside as if waiting for it to cool. “Hate to say it, big guy, but you're looking worse than Starvin' Marvin.”
Rupert merely stared over his cup and felt slightly annoyed that he couldn't tell if Xander's look of surprise was real or exaggerated. “South Park?” the lad asked.
Rupert didn't bother to reply.
“I thought Ethan was keeping you up on culture …” Now that was true shock. Xander obviously regretted mentioning Ethan although Rupert couldn't imagine why. He couldn't forget for even a moment.
Xander's usual reaction to stress was to babble. “So, Starvin' Marvin. He's from Ethiopia, see. These guys won him, kind of like a prize, but not really …” Rupert let Xander's words, something about stop watches and Sally Struthers, wash over him. He was very tired and food wasn't about to help that.
Rupert didn't think before he stood but realized it was abrupt by the look on Xander's face. “I'm … exhausted. I need to walk.”
“I'll come with.”
“No!” That was harsher than he'd intended. “I'm just going to walk up and down the street. I'll be back before the food is ready.” Xander seemed uncertain but Rupert walked off quickly. He hadn't been lying. He did hope that exercise would help wake him, but also, if he couldn't be with Ethan then he wanted to be alone.
Rupert had walked three blocks when he let himself fall against the side of a building. He knew he was being conspicuous, but what did it matter. He wasn't going to be able to save Ethan. The one time it truly counted was the one time he failed. Ethan was, already, almost as good as dead.
Sunlight caught the ruby of Rupert's wedding ring. The tiny spark of light glittered as brilliantly as the sun rising over the wine dark sea. Rupert leaped to his feet. Of course! The rings.
The three of them were just standing around Ethan's bed, staring and doing nothing. It was creepy how Ethan just lay there. Willow had never realized, until now, that he was never still.
“Does anybody else feel like we're the three witches from Macbeth?” Buffy asked.
“If we were, we could predict him a better fate than this,” Miss Calendar replied.
“Maybe we're more like the three Fates,” Willow said.
“Don't they decide when people die?” Buffy asked.
“But … no!” Willow felt panic rise. “Not like that. In a non-cutting the thread of life way. Then he'd never die.”
“He wouldn’t want to be like this forever,” Jenny said.
None of them replied to that but it didn't matter because Giles barged into the room. His hair was wild, unkempt. It looked like he hadn't brushed it in days, which couldn't be because Ethan had just been brought into the hospital that morning.
Buffy frowned. “Aren't you supposed to be eating?”
“The rings,” he said. “The sacred scarab. Rebirth of the sun after the dark night of the soul. Resurrection.”
Buffy, of course, obsessed on the rings. Willow had tried to explain the symbolism to her, countless times, but Buffy had never gotten over the dung beetle thing. “Scarabs? You don't mean those dung beetles you had carved onto your wedding bands?”
“Actually the scarabs are carved into the rubies.” Actually they were rather pretty although Willow had learned not to say that to Buffy.
“What do you mean, resurrection?” Jenny asked. Willow suddenly felt bad. No one cared that the rings were diglyphs, not when they had a cure for Ethan.
“The stones, they're attuned to our essences: my ring to Ethan's and his ring to mine. I can bring him back.” He glanced around the room. “Where are my texts?”
“We moved them back to the car, but Buffy and I can go get them.” Finally, something they could do.
Jenny put her hands on Giles' shoulders. She looked like she was ready to shake him. “Rupert, you don't know what's wrong. What are you going to do? Try random resurrection spells? You could kill him. You could do worse than kill him.”
Giles fell into his chair. His face was almost whiter than Ethan's. “If the stones hold his essence,” Willow heard herself saying, “maybe you could talk to him.”
Buffy and Miss Calendar looked confused but Giles looked hopeful and energized, which was good because Willow wasn't quite sure what she meant. “Of course,” he said, “a connection spell, a scrying spell perhaps. We could learn what happened before he fell ill without binding or harming his spirit.”
Miss Calendar's words came out slowly as if she was thinking through scenarios as she was speaking. “That could work.”
“So we will need the texts,” Willow added.
“Sounds like a plan.” Buffy stepped to the door, as if she were heading out to get the books, but only looked both ways down the hall. “What did you do with Xander?”