Dead Serious
Pairing: Giles x male!Ghost!reader
I was inspired by a request for more male readers in our little btvs community. It's a little angsty and a little fluffy. Hope that’s okay !! 💖
Warning: Reader's death, smoking, drinking. Giles dealing with your death. Vague mention of people staring/homophobia but you're from the Ripper days so forgive me xo
It was Friday evening and your love was still hunched over a book. He took his glasses off, exasperated as he couldn’t figure something out. Cleaning his glasses he thought for a moment, probably realising it was time to retire to bed.
Once he rested his glasses back on his face he saw you. He jumped when he did. He sometimes did this when he was tired, forgetting everything except whichever book he was reading.
“Y/n” he spoke your name barely above a whisper but you felt it deep in your heart. His face had paled. He had never looked at you this way before. Dead serious and pained to scan your face.
You didn’t understand why his usual soft smile didn’t form, his eyes didn’t glisten in the way you adored. You frowned, taking a step towards him but he rose from his chair and moved backwards.
You were the man he loved. Had loved so deeply. So wholly.
“Ripper, what’s wrong?” You asked, perplexed.
He always had time for you. Even when he was frustrated or upset. Even when his harsher traits bled through, he was always soft on you.
“Do you not recall?” He eyes scanning your form, as if checking it really was you.
He reached for you, his love, the man he has held dear for so long. Until that fateful day had separated you, he had thought forever. He knew it was pointless, he knew he could never feel your touch again but perhaps if he imagined it, that touch. That feeling. Maybe he could transport back there.
You were still wearing the same clothes you had the day you died all those years ago. He choked on a sob and turned away from you.
It had been late one night, you were curled in bed, your side pressed against his. His hand was resting behind your head, his fingers twisting strands of your hair every so often as you slept. He couldn’t sleep, he had been reading by candlelight.
That was when it happened, the door collapsed into splinters on the floor. The snarling, clawing beast entered and lunged for you.
Something had come back to bite you. Literally.
You had both fought it fiercely, your fight complimenting each other. You knew each other's bodies so well. He took his eye off the beast for a moment, hearing a commotion in the corridor. Ethan Rayne had been coming to help, having tracked down the beast. He had needed its blood for a spell but it had got free, seeing you as its creator. As its enemy. You had summoned it and the only way it would be free was to kill you.
And that was exactly what it did.
It had been a slow death, Giles had cradled you in his arms after the threat had been removed. He stroked your face, insisting that you would be okay. He never forgave himself for the last words he spoke to you being a lie.
He had tried desperately to bring you back but all he had tried had failed. He threw himself into his studies, denouncing the dark magics and making an enemy out of Ethan.
Giles had poured himself another scotch. You had seen him daydreaming. Going back there. To those happy days.
“I just wanted to see you one last time” you said softly. He had never known you to be so earnest. He knew you loved him, of course, you always told him that. But vulnerability had always been difficult for you.
“They let you out of Heaven for that?” He asked, you laughed at this. Appreciating the sentiment, the way Giles saw you as nothing but goodness.
“You really think they let me in there? It’s just darkness. Like I’m waiting for something. But what, I don’t know”
“To be here, surely. To assist us on the Hellmouth”
“Makes sense I guess, I always though a Hellmouths were a myth” You shrugged. Staring at him, wishing so deeply that you could touch him. Hold him.
You spoke for hours, he caught you up on his life since you had gone. He glossed over the trauma, the way he had spent many sleepless, bitter nights trying to get you back. Trying to forget the pain. He drank, he fought. He did anything to feel something that wasn't the emptiness of losing you.
Soon, he grew tired and curled up in his chair.
“Sleep, love” you whispered, leaning in as if to press a kiss to his forehead before recalling that you couldn't. You didn't sleep so you just enjoyed your time in his home. Being enveloped by his scent. Reading the spines of his many books and watching over him as he slept.
When he woke he was sure he had been dreaming. Surely you hadn’t been there. Telling him you had chosen to visit him out of everyone on Earth. Though he supposed if it has been the other way, he would have chosen you. Every time.
He walked into his kitchen to brew some tea. There you were leaning against the counter, looking at him that way that made him melt. That made that smile creep onto his face, the one that was just for you.
The last time you had looked at him that way, so carefree, had been decades ago. You were leaning against a wall taking a drag from a cigarette. You ran a hand through your hair, watching him with that look as he walked towards you.
He pulled you into him when he reached you, taking the smoke from your hand and putting it to his lips. A playful smile on his face as you pecked his cheek.
You walked through the streets, glaring at any onlookers and slung your arm over his shoulder as you walked. He grinned, sliding his hand around your middle. enjoying the stares. Enjoying the horror in their stupid little faces.
He had felt untouchable. Invincible. With you by his side. You hung out in demon bars, your combined power earning you respect. That, or the amount of bar fights you had been in and won.
Giles had been on the phone for half of the morning, it was the weekend and he seemed to be calling some sort of meeting. When they arrived, you could tell you were in the presence of a Slayer. One with friends by the look of it, something unheard of back in the day.
Giles was asking (near pleading) with them to help find a way to make you corporeal again.
“We have to, it, ah, I believe there was a scroll or a prophecy of some sort-“
“Giles, make with the slowness”
"Calm down, G-man"
“You said yourself, you can never bring anyone back or they’ll be all ooky and changed”
“But this- he’s different I’m sure of it”
“Giles, be rational”
“I have never seen anything so clear”
“He’s not a slayer or anything powerful…”
“He’s in the room you know” you rolled your eyes. You had already said all this yourself to Giles. You both knew better than to mess with resurrection spells. Not again, anyway.
“No, he’s much more than that. He’s the love of my life” Giles stated solemnly, despite the words he uttered being one that would usually denote joy. He looked as if he was on the verge of tears.
The Scoobies all exchanged glances. They had never really thought too much into Giles’ dating preferences before. Plus they had never really seen him so vulnerable and it made them all a little uncomfortable. Tears welled in Willow’s eyes as she moved to comfort him.
Buffy, although not as visibly emotional as Willow, resolved to fix his sadness. She was incredibly fond of Giles and suddenly her one mission in life (besides the slaying, of course) was to reunite you and your love.
It was sweet, how much these young people cared for him. You and Ripper had been a lot less mature at their age. You had broken every rule in the book, and then some.
They hit the books immediately. You could do nothing to help except tell them to rest when they all looked like they were going to pass out. Or offer them advice when you caught them talking about their cute little mortal dramas. They became increasingly fond of you, you were an honorary Scooby.
Then one day, they found something. That could maybe bring you back.
“Are you serious about him?” Buffy asked, scrutinising your face as she reread through the book's warnings.
“Dead” your eyes glistened with humour but you didn’t smile. She seemed to nod her approval, something that made the man stood beside you relax slightly. It was clear he took his watcher role very seriously. It was nice seeing him this way.
It would only be for twenty four hours it was the best they could do. And much more that you could have ever asked for. Any more than that and their own life forces could drain away. You hadn’t really thought about the sacrifice these people were making until it came down to it. Resurrection spells could mess with the mortality of any of the casters.
All four of them made a circle around you, holding hands and muttering words you didn't understand. You felt conflicted, you were desperate to be with him, to touch him the way you once had. To feel that intimacy that could never be replicated. But you didn't want to come back as something evil or nasty and hurt him all over again.
They all started shouting, appearing to be possessed by something. Smoke filled the air and then a blinding light. And suddenly it all went quiet.
“Alright love?” You grinned, the smoke clearing. Your eyes meeting his.
He rushed to you, cupping your cheeks in his hands. Pressing a kiss to your lips, but not stopping there. He pressed kisses against your cheeks, your nose, your forehead. As if he wanted to make sure each part of you was real. That each part had his adoration.
His eyes glistening with tears that threatened to spill. He hadn't felt this happy in so long. He didn't think of what would be coming after today. Couldn't allow himself to. For now, he had the man he loved back in his arms. And that was all that mattered.
“Thank you all, truly. I will never forget this” He turned to them briefly but you pulled him back into you. Craving the contact. Craving everything you had lost for so long.
“We’ll, uh, get going” One of them muttered awkwardly as they raced each other out of the door.
But neither you nor Giles were listening. You slid your hand up his chest, unbuttoning the waistcoat he was wearing slowly. Your lips exploring already claimed territory.
You were lost in each other. He was yours and you were his. For tonight and long after.
