Title: The Demon Hunters

Author: Kate R.

Disclaimer: Own nothing and no one used herein.

Rating: PG-13 to possible NC-17 in parts

Pairings: Giles/Ethan, Wes/Angel (Eventually for both. I don't know anyone else yet)

Summary: Buffy abuses Giles, Buffy gets her ass kicked, Buffy loses everything.

The Demon Hunters
by Kate R.

Prologue: What is Wrong

"Come on, Giles," Buffy taunted as she stood over him. "Get up! You're so tough, get up. You should be able to take anything I throw at you and come back, isn't that right, Watcher?"

"B-Buffy, please," Giles moaned as he was kicked n the stomach again. He was lying prone on the floor where he had been since this started. Giles screamed as he felt the pressure being applied but the end of the staff in his back increase.

Buffy smiled cruelly down at him. "Roll him onto his back, Willow," Buffy said as she stripped her own clothes off. "It's time for fun."

"N-no please," Giles stammered. "Please don"t."

"Shut up," Buffy hissed as she worked his pants open.

Giles remembered nothing after that but screaming in agony as he was hurt over and over
in ways that were cruel and unusual. He screamed until he blacked out. He vaguely heard, as darkness swallowed him, Buffy and Willow laughing. On days like this, he prayed for the old days when it was just Him and Ethan doing their part. Just---Him---and---Ethan---.

And he smiled as the darkness claimed him and he could dream in safety.

Chapter 1: Remembrances

London: 1973

He'd left oxford to get away from his destiny but now, it appeared to be staring him in the face. He'd heard tales on the streets of a boy who could beat the shit out of vampires and demons barehanded. So, unable to resist this proof of his theory of Male Slayers, he'd followed the leads and tracked the boy down. He'd found the boy in the person of one Ethan Rayne. 15
years old and he knew what he was doing. Rupert had watched him for a day or so to see if it was true and he found it was. He saw Ethan bend a steel bar around a demon's throat and then twist, decapitating it. He was doing well untrained. But he could do so much better if he was trained.

"Just gonna stand there?" The boy said, catching him off guard. "I ain't got all night and you obviously want to speak to me so---."

"Do you know what you are?" Rupert found himself asking.

"Yeah, and if you give the long drawn out speech about this being impossible because I'm male I'll laugh at you and then hit you like I did the other guy. What'cha want with me?"

"I want to train you. I think you're right and they are full of shit. You could do so much more if you were trained properly how to use things and how to fight."

"An' you can do this?" Ethan asked as he lit a cigarette.

He was young to be smoking but Rupert had learned he did it to keep warm. The kid had no home.

"Yeah I can," Rupert said. "If you wanna learn, stay alive longer and prove those fat assed prigs wrong, I'll train ya and you can do it."

The boy thought for a few minutes and then finally nodded. "Yeah, sure. Like I got anything better to do. When do we start?"

"Tomorrow, after we get you better clothes and a bath. Slayers of all kinds need to be warm. Got me?"

"Yeah, fine," Ethan said as he moved to follow Ripper. Some instinct told him this was right. He knew, somehow that he could trust the older boy. Something told him this was the start of something good. He couldn't wait.

Sunnydale, Present:

In his bedroom, placed there by Buffy once she finished his torture for the day, Rupert Giles Smiled at the memories. He missed Ethan but he was glad to know. Ethan had survived. The Council was never able to touch him. Lord knew he needed his Slayer now. But, He knew someday. Someday Ethan would come looking for him. And everything would be better. Someday

Chapter 2: Contacting Ethan

"I got it, Whelp," Spike called as he entered the mansion.

Xander looked up in shock as Spike handed him the piece of paper with the phone number on it. "Willie had it. Told him I needed it for you. Gave it right to me. Whelp, you really sure you wanna call this guy? He comes and this town is likely to not need a Slayer before he leaves."

"This is bad how? Spike, Giles, is hurting. I know and you know that none of us can stop Buffy. Not even if Angel let his Other out could we stop her. We need someone who is as strong and fast as she is and is not hampered by Daylight."

"Alright, mate," Spike said as he handed Xander the cordless phone. "Call him then."

Xander nodded and dialed the number on the piece of paper. Here was hoping Ethan Rayne did still love Ripper Giles.

/Hello? / An English accented voice said. Xander swallowed hard.

"Are you Ethan Rayne of Ripper/Rayne?" he asked.

/Yes, I am, / Ethan said.

Xander sighed with relief. "Ripper needs you," he said.

He waited with his breath held for the answer.

/Who has hurt him? / Ethan Rayne asked in a voice so cold the polar icecaps would have felt like Florida in comparison.

"His Slayer," Xander said.

/I am his Slayer young man, try again, / Ethan said.

"Buffy Summers," Xander said. "She's abusing him and it's getting really bad and I don't know what to do and---."

/Hush, child. / Ethan said. /I am on my way. /

"Thank you," Xander breathed. "How much will this cost?"

/Not a damn thing, / Ethan said. /I'll be back in Sunnydale as soon as I can. Watch over him for me, okay? /

"Yes sir," Xander said feeling relieved. Help was coming.

Thank God.

He hung up and looked at Spike.

"He's on his way as we speak," Xander told the bleached blond vampire.

"Thank you gods," Spike said as he watched Xander relax slightly. Finally, someone cared. The sodding Watcher's Council didn't but They had hit on the one who did:

Ethan Rayne.

May God have Mercy on Buffy Summers' Soul because Ethan Rayne most certainly would not.

Spike couldn't wait for the fireworks to start.

Chapter 3: Saving Giles

"Sunnydale," the man on the motorcycle said as he simply appeared on the road at the town limits. "Hell, California. Population 1500---not counting the vampires, demons and other assorted nasties. Oh, well. Ripper needs me, Ripper will have me."

He started his bike again, revved the engine and then drove to the High school. If Ripper was researching, he was here. If not, Ethan could use something in his office to find him.

As he drove through the streets, he was plotting on what he was going to do the blond bitch who had hurt the man he loved, the man who had trained and then given himself up to keep Ethan safe.

Ethan was going to hurt the little bitch badly for this. She would learn a painful lesson by the time he was done with her. He owed Ripper his life a million times over. It was time to repay some of that debt.

He pulled up outside the school an then made his way inside, following by instinct the halls that lead him to the library. He was at the door when he heard the taunting.

"Isn't this fun Giles?" the girl's voice asked cruelly. "Oh, do your arms hurt? Well, I suppose you can put it down. No, wait, I changed my mind."

Ethan growled and made his way into the library, moving as fast as Buffy herself. She found herself thrown as if she weighed nothing across the library and Ethan got Giles untied and the thing he was being forced to hold on the floor before it hurt him.

"Are you strong enough to ride behind me?" Ethan asked as he supported the weight of his mentor, lover and best friend.

Giles looked up at him blearily. "Ethan?" he asked.

Ethan smiled and kissed him gently. "In the flesh. Now, can you hold on to me or do you need to ride in front of me?"

"I---I think it'd be best if I rode in front of you. I don't think I'm---Ethan, Watch Out!"

Ethan's foot shot out and Buffy yelped as the blade on the side of his boot connected with her arm. It was only a graze but it was painful.

Next, he grabbed her arm, the same one he just cut, spun her around and slammed her into the book cage, knocking her unconscious.

Ethan then gently got Giles to his feet and led him out the door. They avoided Buffy's body, lying on the floor and Ethan got Giles to his bike. It was new because the other one had met an unfortunate end in a fight with a demonic horseman. He's won but the bike was totaled.

He got Giles settled on the front and then slid on behind him.

"Rupert, lean your head against my shoulder and place your feet behind my calves. I need to be able to reach the pedals."

"Okay," Giles said weakly.

Ethan had no time to guess where Rupert lived, he peeled out of the library and took them to the mansion he had traced the phone call to.

A boy was sitting on the front step. He jumped when Ethan pulled up.

"Ripper, untangle our legs and put your feet on the ground. Do not stand up until I have you."

"All right Ethan," Giles said as he did as directed.

Ethan got off the bike and then slid his arms around Giles' shoulders. Once he was off the bike, he put Giles' arm over his shoulders and took almost all of his friend's weight. He led him into the mansion and up to a room the large vampire directed him to he remembered form the Ehygon thing. He then came back down after getting Giles tucked in and asleep.

"What the hell happened?" was all he asked as he took the glass of soda from the bleached blond vampire. "Just tell me that so I can deal with the little bitch."

Chapter 4: Casualties

"Uhm, Ethan?" Xander said as he approached the dark man.

Ethan looked at him. He'd been in thought since he was told about Ripper and what had been done to him.

"There is a uhm---second casualty."

"What?" Ethan asked. "Where?"

"This way," Xander said as he led the sorcerer to a set of double doors.

Ethan followed the youth inside to where there was a hospital bed set up. A girl with long dark hair was sitting by the bed and it contained a young man with dark hair. He seemed to be unconscious and he was restless. Sweating and moaning and yet unable to wake up.

"˜What happened?" Ethan asked as he took the young man's hand. "Who the hell did this?"

"Willow," the girl with dark hair said. "I'm Faith by the way. Who're you?"

"I'm Ethan," he told her "I'm Ripper's First Slayer. Who is this?"

"This is Wesley," Faith said. "He's My Watcher. I'm His Slayer. Willow hurt him badly. Put him in a coma and forces him to relive nightmares. Thing is, we can't hurt her without hurting him and---."

"Easy does it. Ripper and I are powerful mages. Once he's rested we'll se what we can do. For now---. Here," Ethan laid his hands on either side of Wesley's face and chanted a few words.

He immediately settled. The pained expression leaving his face.

"He'll rest now," he told Faith. "I've set wards to block the nightmares. I need Ripper to boost me before I try waking him."

"Thank you," Faith said.

Ethan nodded and walked back out of the room. As soon as he was away from the door, he slammed his fist into the stone wall. His fist went through it.

"They will pay for this," Ethan growled. "ALL Of Them."

"All of them?" Faith asked from the bedroom doorway.

Ethan turned and walked back into the room. He looked down at Wesley and sighed. "He came here against their orders, did he not?"

"Yeah," Faith said.

"They were punishing Giles for training me. I prove them wrong. I am a Slayer. I make their laws wrong and they hate that. And they hate that Rupert kept me alive. This was his punishment. Wesley came here against orders. That's why they won't help him either. They will pay as surely as Slutty the Vampire Layer and The Wicked Bitch of the West will. I am not playing games this time."

"This time?" Faith asked.

Ethan looked at Xander with a grin.

"Halloween and the Candy."

"Not your funniest, luv," Giles said from behind him. "Amusing but still not your funniest. Lets do this. The boy has been out for more than a month."

"Shit," Ethan muttered as he and Giles walked into the room.

Giles stood on one side of the bed and Ethan on the other. Their hands touched over Wesley's head and they began to chant a reversal spell. There was a flash and when Faith could see again, Wesley was looking at her sleepily. He was awake. Out of the coma. Now he just needed some real sleep.

Ethan touched his forehead again, chanted a sot spell and then smiled.

"You will rest without nightmares this night," he told the young man. "Now, excuse me, I need to get Wonder Watcher here to bed before he collapses. Yes, Luv, I will stay with you this time. I just needed to know what happened."

"All right," Ripper said as he and Ethan made their way back upstairs.

Moving slowly for Ripper's sake.

"Will you lay with me tonight?"

"Only for sleeping tonight my love. You need to rest more before we do anything else," Ethan said as the bedroom door shut.

Xander sighed with relief. It was working. The Male Slayer was fixing things. Thank God.