Title: Kody
Author: Froxyn
Rating: FRT
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Timeline: This is so AU that it doesn’t matter.
Synopsis: Giles meets someone…and can’t help but help
him.
Author’s
Note: Album fic. Song and lyrics can be found here.
Giles paused on the
sidewalk, a couple of bags of groceries held in his arms. He looked at the boy sitting on the curb
looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Giles judged him to be fourteen or so, quite
a few years younger than Buffy. He shifted
the bags and cleared his throat.
“Everything
alright?”
The boy looked up and
gave a small nod. “Yeah. You?”
Giles smiled softly,
even though he could see the weariness in the boy’s eyes. “I’m well, thank you.”
The boy narrowed his eyes
as he looked at Giles. “You’re...Mr.
Giles, right? You used to work at the
high school. The first one, I
mean...before it exploded...”
Giles nodded, taking
in the boy’s appearance. He looked
familiar, but he was far too young to have been a student with Buffy and the
others. The boy smiled and stood up,
brushing the dirt from his hands onto his jeans.
“My brother went to
school there...
“Tyler
Leonard...” Giles thought for a moment
and then smiled. “He had a strange
fascination with Russian novelists. He
ran through my entire collection during my first semester at the library.”
Giles’ smile
faded.
“You married the girl
who saved all those people at the graduation that year, didn’t you?” When Giles raised an eyebrow, he shrugged a
shoulder. “Small town...word gets
around. I’m Kody,
by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Kody.” Giles
smiled. “And yes...Buffy and I were
married last year. And...I’m very sorry
about your brother.”
“It’s not your fault
Mr. Giles. Sunnydale’s
not really a safe town...” Kody sighed and shook his head before gesturing to the
bags. “Can I help you with that?”
When Giles handed one
of the bags to Kody, a unique and genuine friendship
was born.
* * *
Over the next few
months, Kody came by the Giles’ house regularly...at
least three times a week. One day, Xander joked that Giles and Buffy should adopt him. Kody just blushed
and then threw a handful of popcorn at Xander, much
to the amusement of Buffy and Giles.
It was obvious that Kody’s home life wasn’t ideal. But, each time Giles tried to talk about it, Kody would change the subject. It reminded Giles of the times he would try
to talk to Xander when he was a teenager. Giles was worried, but Kody
always gave him a bright smile and a hug when it was time for him to go home.
And then...Kody came by the house wearing a turtleneck in the dead of
summer. Had it not been two in the
afternoon, Giles and Buffy would have suspected the worst. Two hours later, they had persuaded Kody to show them what he was hiding...and Giles wasn’t
sure what would have been worse.
Vampirism or...the truth.
Kody’s neck was a mass of bruises...bruises in the
shape of a hand. A man-sized hand. Kody’s eyes filled
with tears as he begged them not to say anything. Because if they said anything...or if the
police were called...bruises would be the least of Kody’s
worries.
Giles’ rage had been
barely contained as he agreed...on one condition.
And the next day,
while Kody’s mother and stepfather were at work,
Buffy and Giles...with the help of
When the others
announced that they would protect him as well, tears welled in Kody’s eyes. The
only person who had ever tried to protect him had been
But, now he had the Gileses...and the Scoobies. And once he could have himself emancipated
from his mother...his stepfather would have no hold over him anymore. And he’d be free.
Four months later, Kody finally had a real family. A family with parental figures and built-in
siblings in Willow and Xander. And though he didn’t call Buffy and Giles
‘Mom and Dad’, they had told him that they were having a baby...and that they
would like for Kody to consider himself the baby’s
big brother. When Kody
questioned them, Giles just smiled and ruffled his hair...and said ‘because we consider you the baby’s brother.’
Kody was walking home from school, the weariness
gone from his eyes and a copy of The Gift
by Vladimir Nobokov under his arm. He heard the squeal of tires and
turned...just in time to see the black
The last thought he
had was that he should’ve had his last name changed to ‘Giles’ like he had
discussed with Buffy and Giles.
* * *
Seven months later,
Giles sat down on the ground...a baby in his arms and Buffy sitting next to
him. He sighed heavily and looked at the
headstone. Kody
Allen Giles. They’d had his name changed
posthumously...with no arguments from his mother.
Giles doubted that Kody’s biological mother even knew her own name these
days. Not long after they moved Kody out of that house, his stepfather had slipped a
massive amount of LSD into the mother’s drink.
She rarely had lucid moments now.
Giles cleared his
throat and smiled. “I’m sorry we didn’t
come by last Saturday, Kody. Um...Buffy had the baby. See?”
Buffy stroked the
baby’s head and kissed Giles’ cheek.
“His name is Dakota. I...I wanted
to name him Kody, but Xander
said I couldn’t have two sons named Kody. And then he kinda laughed and said it was weird
that I had a son who was only nine years younger than me.”
Giles smiled down at
his son when he whimpered. He took a
deep breath and looked back up.
“Jack’s sentencing
was last week. No one needs to worry
about him hurting anyone…ever again.” He
handed Dakota to Buffy and reached over to pull a stray weed from the edge of
the grave. “I miss you, Kody. We all
do. I just hope…I hope that you know how
much we love you. And…how much joy you
brought into our lives.”
Kody smiled as he sat on top of his headstone, his
feet swinging through the dark granite.
“I love you too, Dad.”
Giles smiled, feeling
Kody’s presence, and sat back. He wrapped his arm around Buffy and proceeded
to tell Kody everything that had happened since their
last visit.
Kody especially liked Xander’s
reaction to Buffy’s water breaking in the living room.
~ End