Drabble: Fire

[randigiles]

Here is my offering for this week.

Title : Fire
Author: T. Dunn
Rating: FRT
Characters: Giles, His Mum
Summary: Giles remembers a conversation he had with his mum.

Disclaimer: I thank Joss Whedon for the character of Rupert Giles and Anthony Head for the awesome performance of that character. I write to satisfy the author within and will make no money from this.

Staring into the flames a vision of his mother broke through the foggy unpleasantness. They were on one of their many walks through the woods. His sad eyes looking up at her; the sun glinting off her golden tresses. 

“Remember Rupert, death is a part of life. Though Ginger was with us for a short while; she did give us so much joy. We can always get another.”

“No, I don’t want another. It hurts too much to love.” His voice cracked from the pain of loss.

She could see the torment in her son’s sensitive eyes, “Love is very powerful and when we lose that love it can drive some to madness. Just remember there are others who love you and would miss you terribly if you were to leave this plain of existence.”

A loud pop from the fireplace brought Giles back to the present. He took in a deep breath, his mother was right; loss can compel one to do things otherwise unthinkable. He hit the release on the revolver and unload the weapon. She was also correct in that, there are others who would be deeply saddened by his departure.

Comments

[il_mio_capitano]

God I hope Ginger wasn't his father's slayer.

Oh no, wait I get it. :)

[randigiles]

In my head I some how don't see Giles' father as ever having a slayer. He had his hands full with bringing Giles up. That could be why there was some tension when Giles was appointed Buffy's watcher. Great concept to play with.

[il_mio_capitano]

I must agree that that does seem to be a fanfic thing. Giles would surely be a bit better at understanding slayers if he'd grown up with one.

Lovely writing, by the by. I forget to post that.

[randigiles]

Thank you.

[littleotter73]

Yikes, that turned in a direction I didn't see coming!

Interesting question of how Watchers cope. Thankfully Giles has a strong foundation built by his mother to fall back on. Nicely done!

[randigiles]

Thank you. I must have started this one at least a dozen times before this final version. I was afraid the ending would be too predictable.

[littleotter73]

I didn't think it was predictable, but then I've never seen Giles as the suicidal type. Depressive, but never suicidal.

[randigiles]

I think what got me to think in that direction was after Jenny was murdered. He had someone he could vent his anger toward (Angelous). Buffy died after he murdered Ben. There was nothing left to fight. And if you look the group around Buffy's body they either broke down completely, like Spike, or they had someone to cling to. To me, Giles eyes spoke of a devastation beyond comprehension.

Of course it is all up to the interpretation of the writer. Which is why I love reading all of the different fics out there.

[littleotter73]

Yeah, it's definitely up to interpretation. We all have our own headcanons, that is for sure. Mine goes like this:

When Giles went after Angelus, he was in a rage. I don't think he thought his plan all the way through, meaning he had a definite exit plan whether successful or not. Giles is very savvy in tricky situations and can handle himself, barring being knocked out and concussed. I figured after Angelus hurt Buffy and killed Jenny, Giles figured he'd just kill Angelus himself (Buffy certainly hadn't gotten it done and had showed herself incapable of killing Angelus during the fight she had with him after blowing up the Judge). He had a plan and it might've worked too and if that had been the case, he would've walked out of the burning warehouse. Did I see it as a suicide mission? No. Do I think that he put his life on the line? Yes. But he does that almost every night on the Hellmouth. In fact, just his roll as Buffy's Watcher makes him inherently vulnerable.

When Buffy died, he was devastated. They all were. But I don't think anyone with the exception of Dawn, could possibly match the pain Giles felt (and I feel both would feel extreme guilt over Buffy's death), even the overly dramatic Spike. But, because of my interpretation of Giles' character, I wouldn't consider him suicidal. He stayed to train the Buffy-bot, knowing there was still work to do, he stayed for his friends (though it wasn't enough), and when he finally did leave, he went back to England to try and start anew. If you read between his lines in Flooded, he even tried dating.

But I have read fic where Giles is suicidal at times and I have enjoyed them. Interpretation is what keeps the fandom alive. And I enjoyed this take on it. :)

[randigiles]

I like your vision too.

I've written stuff both ways myself. I guess it depends on how I am feeling and what is going on around me on that particular day. I've gone back to some stories, that I haven't completed, read them then asked myself ... what the hell was I thinking?