Protective Coloration
by: Sweetdoggie
Rated R
Email: Sweetdoggie
Summary: Buffy and Giles resolve some of their problems and Buffy gets a new chance at life.
Spoilers: None. Willow didn't bring Buffy back, the Powers did.
Disclaimer: No permission has been granted to use the characters. They are owned by their creator, Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB, and Mutant Enemy. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
Part 1
Giles nursed the glass of soda he had picked up at the table and tried to slink quietly away into a corner. He heard the shrill voice of the Dean's wife, Mrs. Jenks, call his name and closed his eyes momentarily in the hope that if he couldn't see her, she wouldn't see him. It was a forlorn hope. She tracked him to his corner like a big game hunter on the trail of a kill. "Oh, Professor Giles! I'm so glad you could come this evening. There's somebody I'd like you to meet." The harpy had his arm and it took all his tact not to yank it back out of her grasping claw.
"Ah, yes. As you wish." He said distantly as he allowed her to drag him off to meet some other member of the harpy sisterhood as he had taken to thinking of her associates.
He was introduced and immediately forgot the woman's name. He stared down into his Coke as she droned on endlessly about something. He realized that she had finally shut up and was waiting for some remark from him. He looked up. "Well, nice to meet you. I must be off now." He set his drink down on the nearest table and turned his back on her deeply affronted face. He made his way to the door without heeding the shrill whinny of the Dean's wife as she tried to head him off. He cleared the building and managed to make it to his car in a very few moments. Thank God, he breathed, another faculty party over with.
He drove back to Buffy's house and parked his car. Checking carefully for signs of unlife, he got out and made it safely to the house. Buffy was seated on the couch watching an old movie. She looked up as he entered the room.
"You look tired. How bad was it?"
"The harpy introduced me to another female. I have no idea what her name was. I wish the old bat would simply leave me alone. She can't bear to see any man single. It must offend her sense of balance or something." He sank down onto the couch next to her.
"What you need is some protective coloration." Buffy told him cheerfully. "She'd leave you alone if she thought you were involved with somebody."
He looked and sounded morose as he told her that there was no one in his life in that capacity. "I'm alone." He sounded depressed and full of self-pity.
"You may not have a girlfriend currently," Buffy said, "but you aren't alone. You have all of us. You have me." She patted his hand.
"You all have lives of your own." Giles told her. "Xander has Anya, Willow has Tara, you and Dawn have each other, and someday soon you will find another young man and then you won't have any time for me again." He sighed. "That's as it should be, of course, but it does rather leave me out in the cold."
Buffy suddenly leaned forward and put her arms around him in a tight hug. "You will never be alone as long as I live, Rupert Giles."
He put his arms around her and stroked her hair. He loved these moments when she actually touched him. He lived for them if the truth were known. He had tried losing himself with other women, but his heart belonged to Buffy and that was all there was to it. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. He knew what she was doing and it never failed to make his own heart flutter a little. It was such a little thing, but she found such comfort listening to his heartbeat that it made him proud to be alive for her.
Buffy listened to his heart and then sat up with a giggle. "You know, if she could see us tonight, she wouldn't have any doubts about you having a girlfriend." A funny look crossed her face. "That's it! Why didn't we think of this sooner?" She turned to him in excitement. "I can pretend to be your girlfriend. You can take me out and be seen with me in places where the harpy will be sure to get word. It's perfect."
"I don't think that would be a good idea. We'd have to pretend to be in love. We would have to be demonstratively affectionate towards each other. It could be awkward," he told her, his heart racing at the idea.
She pooh-poohed his apprehensions. "We wouldn't have to be all over each other. Nobody would expect that sort of behavior from you. You're too conservative to go around having PDA's where everybody could see. Besides, I don't have a problem with some affection from my Watcher."
He was tempted. Maybe if they were actually dating, she would see him as a man and not just a Watcher. It was deeply appealing. "We would have to actually go out on dates," he warned her. "You couldn't take up with another man while we are supposedly together."
"Not interested in another man," she asserted. "Can't handle all the men in my life now. Besides, you already live here. It makes darned good camouflage. And we already have plenty of back-story if people get curious. We can even use some of the truth. We met when I was sixteen and became friends. Let's leave that open to interpretation. Nobody is going to ask if we were lovers when I was a minor, but it adds piquancy." She savored the word. "If we can hesitate before we say friends, that wouldn't leave any doubts. Nobody needs to know anything else. It's a matter of public record that you moved in here when mom passed away. They don't need to know you have your own room."
He suddenly felt freer than he had in several years. "All right. Let's do it." He said recklessly. "What are we going to tell the others?"
Buffy tilted her head sideways as she thought. "Let's not tell them anything. None of them can keep a secret more than thirty seconds and we don't want to take the chance of having somebody blurt out something in public. We'll just let them know we decided to start dating each other and let them assume they know what's going on."
"Buffy they are our friends. Don't you think they deserve to know the truth?" He chided slightly more as a matter of rote than having any real compunction about lying to the others.
"No, I don't." She told him succinctly. "If we tell them it's for show they wouldn't act right with us. If they think it's a real romance, they'll settle down faster."
"I don't know how this is going to work. We've never been demonstrative around each other."
Leaning into him, she said, "I'll get to satisfy my curiosity about something after all these years."
"What would that be?"
"I've wondered since I was sixteen, just exactly how good a kisser you are. We saw you kissing Ms. Calender in the library once and it looked to me like you knew what you were doing." She grinned up at him as she played with the buttons on his shirt.
"Oh, you've been curious about that, have you?" He chuckled and before she could move, pulled her onto his lap. "No time like the present to satisfy your curiosity. We need to be more comfortable with each other anyway. May I kiss you?"
"I'd be pretty disappointed if you didn't after this build-up."
He leaned down tentatively and ran his lips over her soft cheek. Slowly, giving her every chance to turn away, he settled his mouth over hers. Hesitantly, his tongue stroked her lips. He was surprised when she opened for him. He deepened the caress. By the time they pulled away from each other, they both wore stunned expressions.
"I think this idea just got a whole bunch easier." Buffy told him.
"Yes, I do believe you may be correct," he said, bending her down for another kiss.
Her hands had entwined in his hair and his arms had drawn her tiny body tight against him. Neither of them heard the footsteps on the stairs.
"Oh, My, God!" Dawn shrieked. "You're kissing Giles! Giles was kissing you! You had your lips on each other! Eeeeuw!"
"Ah, it's not what it looks like!" Giles quickly protested.
"You mean you and my sister weren't playing tonsil hockey?" Dawn said skeptically.
"Well, ah, that is--" He looked helplessly at Buffy.
"Giles and I are going to be dating, Dawn. Kissing is allowed." Buffy kept her cool even though her cheeks were red.
"Dating! Oh No! How can you be dating? I'm going to be the biggest freak in school again!" Dawn yipped.
"Why is that?" Giles asked her calmly.
"Because my stupid sister has another boyfriend and everybody is going to know you live here." Dawn said. "They're going to think you guys are doing it!"
"Dawn, Giles and I are entitled to have a life which, strange as it may seem to you, may include kissing and dating and doing it!"
Giles felt as if he had been electrocuted. Nothing else could account for the sensations whipping through his body at his darling girl's words. "Ah, quite right, Buffy. Dawn, your sister and I are adults and we have an adult relationship between us. This isn't going to change how things are around here, believe me."
"You mean, you'll still be Buffy's Watcher and you'll still take care of me?" She asked him with trepidation.
"Of course. Those things will never change," he assured her.
"What happens if you guys break up?"
"Nothing will happen. We love each other, Dawn and whether or not that love takes a romantic form or a more platonic variant, does not change our deep feelings and affections, nor will it ever."
Buffy nodded her agreement. "Whether or not Giles is my boyfriend, Dawn, first and foremost, he is my Watcher. That tie can never be broken."
He nodded and hugged her. The younger girl looked at the pair of them. "OK, but I don't want to have to see any gross tongue kisses or anything," she warned them.
Giles lifted Buffy off his lap and patted her bottom. "Well, I had better get to bed as should you girls. Ah, Buffy? Would you care to have dinner with me tomorrow?"
She grinned. "I'd like that."
He smiled down at her and it was every bit as intimate as the kisses they had shared. "Good night, then."
He marched Dawn back to her room and tucked her in. "Say your prayers like a good girl."
She rolled her eyes but obediently ran through her litany of thanks for her sister being back from the dead and for all the other good things that had happened in her life. She wished her mother a good night in heaven, promptly turned, and fell asleep.
Buffy made sure the house was locked up before carrying her soda can to the kitchen. She poured what was left down the drain and threw the can into the recycle bin. One way or another, today had been very significant.
Part 2
Giles spent a long time thinking about what had happened on the couch. Consequently, he overslept and dashed off to his job as a Professor of Antiquities at UC Sunnydale without his lunch.
He didn't realize his lack till eleven-thirty rolled around and he was starving. His stomach growled. He pulled out his wallet and groaned. He had five dollars. He'd meant to stop at the ATM, but had been too rushed this morning. Just as he resigned himself to going hungry he heard a familiar voice asking permission to enter his office.
"Buffy! What are you doing here?" He didn't realize the secretary was watching their every move.
"You ran out of the house this morning without your lunch. I thought you might be getting a little peckish about now." She held out a good-sized brown paper bag. "I brought enough to share if you're in the mood."
"My dear, I'm always in the mood when you're around." He joked. The secretary looked shocked. This girl was young enough to be his daughter and whatever relationship they shared, it certainly didn't seem familial.
He got out from behind his desk and came towards her, drawing her into a deep kiss before closing his office door.
The secretary heard laughter and giggling from both of them and wondered exactly what was going on. She heard a rhythmic knocking shortly thereafter and was deeply shocked. She hadn't thought Professor Giles was that sort of man!
Buffy had sat upon Giles desk while they ate lunch. He told her a couple of jokes he had heard and they had shared laughter. She had drummed her heel against the side of his desk as her leg swung back and forth till he told her to stop. They cleaned up the remains of their lunch and she got up to leave. He opened the door. "I'll see you tonight, love." He told her. "Don't forget to dress up."
She leaned up and kissed him quickly. "See you tonight, Giles."
She nodded goodbye to the shocked secretary on her way out of the office.
Giles stood in his office doorway for a few minutes and watched her walk down the hall. He didn't realize that his expression was doting. He sighed when she was out of sight and turned to the secretary. "Maria, could you get me the test questions from Professor James's class last year?"
She blushed as she looked at him. He seemed so quiet and staid; she would never have suspected him of being the sort of man who would have sex on his lunch hour with a girl young enough to be his daughter. Wait till she got to take her own lunch. Boy, would she have a story to tell today! The Dean's wife, Mrs. Jenks, was always going on about how poor Rupert needed to be with somebody and was deeply distressed by her inability to interest the man in any of her female acquaintances. It was a standing joke around the campus. Well, now she knew why he wasn't interested! This blonde girl must be fifteen to twenty years younger than the women he was introduced to. No wonder all those potential relationships had fallen flat. Professor Giles wasn't going to settle for meatloaf when he had filet mignon waiting for him at home.
"Your, uh, friend seems like a very nice person." Maria commented. "Have you known her long?"
He gazed down at her absently. "Buffy and I have been together for seven years."
Maria hid her surprise. Maybe this Buffy character was older than she looked. Sometimes it was hard to tell. How could se elicit this information from him? She settled for, "She looks good for her age."
"Well, I hardly think twenty-two is over the hill, do you?" He asked somewhat sarcastically as he went back to his office.
'Twenty-two! My God!' The secretary did her math. That meant the girl had been only sixteen when she had gotten together with Professor Giles. He was a cradle robber! She considered a moment. Still, if they had been together that long, there must be something there. She had never seen him look so happy as when he was gazing at the tiny blonde. She knocked on his door before sticking her head in. "I'm going to lunch now, sir. I'll be back in an hour."
"Fine." He told her without looking up from the book he was reading.
She raced down the stairs to the staff lounge and found a couple of other secretaries to share her story with. They passed it on to another couple and then to another. By the time lunch hour was over, half the campus knew about his tryst and the story had lost nothing in the retelling. Word came to the ear of Mrs. Jenks within an hour. She was outraged. If the man had already been dating, he should have said something. She didn't like to think of all the potential candidates she had wasted upon him. Maybe the rumors of a romance she had heard were wrong, she thought. Such things happened all the time. She would see for herself.
At three o'clock she marched over to his office only to be told that he was teaching a class. She waited impatiently but by the time four-fifteen had rolled around, she resigned herself to the idea that he wasn't coming back. "Tell me what you saw of this so-called girl-friend." She demanded of Maria.
The secretary told all that had gone on and described Buffy right down to her clothing. "She sounds beautiful." Mrs. Jenks said thoughtfully.
"She was." Maria told her. "A real knockout!"
Mrs. Jenks nodded. "Tell Professor Giles that I'd like him to call me tomorrow." She swept out of the room.
Giles got home just after five and went to take a quick shower. He ran an experienced hand over his chin and decided that he needed to shave again. As soon as he was finished with that tedious chore, he dressed in a pair of gray dress pants and a white button down shirt. He got out his favorite suit coat and a red necktie that he had always liked. After combing his hair carefully, he pursed his lips and pulled open his dresser drawer. After a moment of fishing around, he pulled out a small jewelry box and pulled out a tiny gold hoop earring that he popped into his left ear. He smiled knowing Buffy would like the result.
At ten after six, he heard her knock on his door. "I'm all dressed up, Giles. Where are we going?"
He opened the door and looked down. "There's a tiny café near campus. One of the other professors was telling me it's the place to go if you wish to be seen socially." He smirked at her groan. "I also understand the food is excellent."
"Well, OK. You twisted my arm." She grinned. She turned and knocked on her sister's door. "Dawn we're leaving. Don't invite anybody in. We'll be back in a couple of hours. I expect to see finished homework when I get back!"
"Geez, what a slave driver you are." Dawn complained with a grin as she opened the door. "Don't try to tell me that you were a good student when you were my age either, cause I found a box of your old report cards. The only thing you ever got an A in was Library Use."
Buffy returned her grin. "Yeah, and it got me a boyfriend of my very own!" She turned to a smirking Giles. "You know, I wish we could have made out a little in the Library. Everybody thought we were anyhow."
He looked stunned. "What! Everybody thought we were doing what?"
She turned around and gave him a look. Butter wouldn't have melted in her mouth, thought Dawn. "Everybody thought we were in the library catching smoochies. I thought you knew."
"But, but how, why?" He raised his hands helplessly. "You bloody awful Americans!" He finally ground out.
"Ooooo." Buffy cooed. "Well that's putting me in my place!" She went down the hall laughing.
Dawn watched them go rolling her eyes the entire time. Buffy and her men folk. At least Giles was intelligent. Sometimes, when Buffy had been seeing Angel she had wondered if he were bright enough to tie his own shoes. Dawn had often thought that Angelus was much smarter than Angel-of course, there was that whole evil undead thing going on, but still. She chuckled and headed back to her bedroom where her math homework was crying out to be finished.
Buffy was always impressed with Giles' old-fashioned manners. He opened her car door, held doors of buildings open for her, took her arm when she walked, and generally made himself useful and attentive. She killed things for a living and he made her feel all girly and tiny. She liked it a lot. You didn't have to be a psychologist to know that was why her preferred type of boyfriend was easily a foot taller than her as a rule. She liked the illusion that her man could protect her. In Giles case, she mused, it happened to actually be true.
The drive to the café was full of jokes and laughter. She commented upon his earring and told him he looked hot. He chuckled. "Not as hot as you, my dear girl. I swear, seeing you in that dress probably took ten years off my life. I nearly swallowed my tongue."
She grinned. "Thanks, it's nice to be appreciated."
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as he was still trying to drive. "Buffy, you are a beautiful young woman. You were a gorgeous teenager, and I have no doubt that you were a knockout as a child. When have you ever not been appreciated?"
"Well, it's not like I was hideous or anything, but looks are very surfacey things. I mean, I could have been injured in a disfiguring way at any time during the last seven years of fighting the good fight. Slayers heal, but still…what if a demon had knocked all my teeth out or something? Eeeeuw!"
"You'd have still been beautiful even if you had to gum your food." He said gallantly, fighting hard not to laugh. "Besides, you would have probably grown new teeth."
"Get out! Really?" She asked him.
"Out of all the super abilities you have, that one surprises you?" He asked her, slightly astonished.
"Well, yeah," she said. "Generally, you get two sets of teeth, baby and adult. I've never heard of anybody getting more."
"I dare say it's a survival mechanism." He told her. "A Slayer needs to eat to keep her strength up. If her teeth were bad, she wouldn't be able to do that. Hence, extra teeth when necessary."
"Huh," was her comment.
The restaurant was busy even for a weekday night. Faculty came here to eat because the food was good and the atmosphere congenial. Students came because it was plentiful and cheap. As soon as they walked in the door, Giles spotted several faculty members he knew. The volume level dropped several decibels as he and Buffy entered the room then rose again as the gossip engine cranked into high. They took a seat at the bar and Giles ordered himself a Scotch and Buffy a glass of white wine. Nursing the glass along carefully, she took a sip about every ten minutes wanting to give the alcohol time to metabolize in her system. A drunken Slayer wasn't an attractive thing, she mused.
At last, their table was called. Giles helped her up and she noticed that she had better slow down even more on the wine consumption if she were going to last the evening. They had placed their orders and were settling down to some dinner conversation when a large, bald man approached their table. He was carrying a glass of booze with ice in it. Buffy couldn't tell what kind.
"So, Rupert. This is the little friend I've heard about, eh? You old dog!" The man nudged the Watcher and gave him a sly look.
Giles' glance would have frozen water at ten paces but the inebriated co-worker didn't notice. He didn't want to introduce this boor to his darling Buffy but he didn't see any way out of it. "Buffy this is Professor Calloway. He teaches mathematics."
Buffy looked unimpressed. "How do you do?" She finally acknowledged.
"Where has our Rupert been keeping you, sweet pea?" The man wanted to know.
Buffy's foot ached to stomp a little professorial butt, but she refrained out of respect for her escort. Smiling sweetly up at the drunken teacher, she replied; "What does it matter where he keeps me, as long as he keeps me satisfied?"
She watched him nearly choke on his drink at her words.
"And how does he do that?" Calloway wanted to know.
Buffy took another sip of her drink before answering. "Amply and with great attention to detail." She finally responded.
Giles decided that she was getting rather too well lit to be responsible for her words and calmly but firmly told the mathematics professor that they wanted to be alone, if he didn't mind. The tiresome old bore took himself off, replete with gossip to spread.
Her Watcher regarded her with amusement. "Amply and with great attention to detail?"
"Well, I had to speculate a little." She admitted. "Are you saying it's not true?" She asked, stirred to curiosity by the wine and by feelings that she was beginning to recognize as sexual hunger for this man.
He put his hand out and stroked hers softly. "I didn't say that."
They gazed deeply into each other's eyes, each searching for something that they easily found. The waitress brought their food and they were forced to break contact. Giles ate his dinner thoughtfully. He was definitely building some sort of sexual rapport with his Slayer. The kisses last night, her greeting at lunch, the innuendos she had planted in the mind of the math professor…it all added up if you looked at it in a certain light. The trouble was, how much of her affection for him was feigned for the purpose of throwing off the Dean's wife and how much was real? It felt real, he admitted, but he didn't want to make a pass at her and be rebuffed with her saying he totally misinterpreted the situation. Did he even want a romantic liaison with this girl? Yes, he admitted, he very much would like that.
Buffy was glad he was quiet. It gave her a chance to think things over. She was definitely feeling attracted to Giles of all people. Those kisses the other night had been hot and she admitted how much she liked the feel of his large hands on her body. Could she, after all these years, be having a thing for her Watcher? She was stunned to realize that it wasn't a sudden thing at all. She had been having feelings for him for years when she thought about it. The problem was, how did he see her? Was she just the means to get the Dean's wife off his back? She didn't want to make a pass and have it be rebuffed because she misinterpreted the situation. There was only one thing for it, she mentally groaned. They were going to have to talk.
They looked up at the same time and met each other's eyes. Both smiled, hands automatically stretching across the table to touch each other. "I've been thinking…" began Buffy.
"I as well." Rupert acknowledged. "You go first."
"Well, it occurs to me that what we have is more than what we talked about the other night," she said, mindful of eavesdroppers. "That is, I think it could be much more than that, and if you feel the same, I'd like to try it for real."
He was amazed. "That's exactly what I was thinking! I'd very much like to try this for real."
"Cool. Then I guess we're going steady." She smiled at him.
"Very steady." He acknowledged with a happy grin. He pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed her fingers before smoothing them over his cheek.
His caress started a tingle that went from her hand directly to her groin. Buffy nearly moaned at the sensual pleasure he wrought with his simple touch. They finished dinner in a much better frame of mind than when they had started it. For the rest of the evening, assorted faculty members casually strolled along past their table and just happened to notice them. Each "accidental" meeting required an introduction. By the time they had finished their dinner, Buffy felt like she had met half the staff at the college.
Just as they were getting ready to leave, a teacher came up and was introduced as Dr. Williams. Buffy nodded to acknowledge the man but was frankly getting tired of all the extra company. "So this is your young lady," he began conversationally. "Why haven't we heard about her before?"
Giles was sick of it too. These people were so incredibly nosy! They wanted a story and he was feeling pushed enough to give them one. "I've had a relationship with Buffy since she was sixteen. Do you really think we wanted to advertise that?" He told the other man coolly.
Dr. Williams mouth gaped open and he reminded Buffy of a fish out of water. "Sixteen?" He gasped. "How on earth did you get the jump on everyone that early, Rupert?"
"I was a librarian at Buffy's high school." He said shortly.
Buffy had mercy on him. "I walked into the library my first day of school in Sunnydale and there he was, my destiny. It didn't take me long to fall totally in love," she said truthfully.
Giles heard the truth in her voice. "Angel?" He asked, totally ignoring the presence of the other teacher.
"A last ditch effort to avoid my fate."
"Riley?"
She waved her hand. "The expected thing, plus being total rebound guy. Jenny?"
"A very sweet young woman, but I was settling," he admitted.
"Olivia?" Buffy frowned. She apparently still had burning Olivia issues.
"An old friend." He waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing important."
"Ethan?" Buffy guessed.
"Not like that, at least on my part." Giles admitted. "Just a friendship that took a wrong turn."
Buffy felt relieved. In a very few words they had managed to explain to each other an entire handful of bad, failed relationships. They were starting fresh. It was going to be fine.
Still ignoring the teacher who stood by, trying to make sense out of their conversation, they paid the bill and left. He took her home and they sat on the sofa side by side, both eager, but feeling very awkward.
Finally, he put his arm around her. She turned to him and slipped her arm around his waist from the front, pressing her firm breasts against his upper body. They fell into a kiss that was definitely leading to other things when Dawn came downstairs. "Oh, Gods! Are you guys at it again? Am I going to have to break out the fire hose or what?"
They pulled reluctantly apart. "I think you're just going to have to get used to it, Dawn," Buffy grinned. "Giles and I are going to be together."
"Reeeechk!" Dawn made a gagging sound. "I don't see how either of you guys could even be interested in sex. I mean you're both like totally old!"
Buffy looked indignant. "I got news, kiddo. Twenty-two isn't really over the hill-and for that matter, neither is forty-two."
Dawn looked repulsed. "I so don't want to know about that."
Buffy stood up and stretched. "Don't you have homework that I'm supposed to be looking over?"
Dawn rolled her eyes, shrugged and fetched the homework. Buffy spent ten minutes looking over the problems and questions. It was mostly for show because Dawn was much more academically inclined than she was. She mainly checked to see that everything was done with the occasional foray into essay reading. Luckily, Dawn usually knew what she was doing, so Buffy didn't have to try to manufacture answers for her.
Giles stood and slipped his arm around Buffy's shoulders. "Remember when I used to do this for you?" He asked quietly.
"Yes, and I deeply appreciated the help," Buffy said. "Of course, you actually provided help and not just monitoring, so I got the better deal, but the point is the same. Both Summers' girls got help from people who loved them."
He smiled down at her. "Yes. That is the point. You're getting much better at self-perception than you used to be."
"Even Slayers sometimes get to grow up." She told him with a smile.
He kissed her ear and Dawn quietly slipped back upstairs. She really wasn't all that disgusted with her sister and Giles. They were two very lonely people who had finally found each other. That was good, she thought. Of course, it was going to take nerves of steel not to woof when she walked in on kissage. Still, for her sister and the Watcher, maybe she would make the effort.
Giles left Buffy rather reluctantly at her bedroom door. He knew that it was too soon for them to move on to a physical relationship, neither of them were ready for that, but still, he was a man and had been reminded of that fact almost continuously all evening.
That night they both slept like logs. It was a nice change from waking and worrying about the Hellmouth, or work, or Dawn or any of the thousand other things that raced into their lives long enough to cause trouble. Giles managed to get up on time and pack his lunch, while Buffy made sure that Dawn had a decent breakfast before driving her to school. She headed to the gym where she taught basic self-defense to frightened women and then moved on to aerobics training. In the afternoon she walked to the high school and taught another self-defense course. She would have liked to teach monster slaying, but, of course, that was out of the question. Her job wasn't all that fantastic, but the pay was adequate when you factored in Giles paying for almost everything in their household. She was able to buy clothes for herself and her sister with occasional luxuries like new boots thrown in for fun.
It had bothered her at first that she had to depend on Giles' largess to finance her life, but he had explained that was why Watchers received large salaries in the first place. "I should have been supporting you all these years. It's money you earned, love. You fight to keep the world safe-I hardly think the pittance I spend on you is going to spoil you. Besides, if the Council weren't quite so antiquated, the Slayer would have a salary, not because this is a job, but because the life you live more or less precludes anything but subsistence employment."
So Buffy had let him move in and begin paying for stuff. She tried to repay him by being a better Slayer and was more diligent in her patrols and training. She also took a great deal better care of him than she had previously. She wouldn't let him stay up for days at a time researching things anymore. When they had an emergency, all of them researched, including Dawn. It didn't get shoved solely into his lap quite as often. Giles had seemed to appreciate it, but he was worried that he wasn't important to her. If he wasn't providing information, and he didn't patrol or really train her any longer, what good was he?
She had put a stop to his worries by telling him that being a Watcher was more than being a pocket book for her to dip into, or being her punching bag, or her encyclopedia of bad things; he was her partner, her helpmeet, and her very best friend in all the world, and he'd damn well better not ever forget again or she'd kick his butt. He had laughed and they had grown a great deal closer in the past two years.
The battle with Glory and Buffy's temporary second death had put a tremendous strain on them, but the Powers had opened a portal and sent her back saying it was not yet her time. Buffy had confided to Giles that she often felt like the Energizer Bunny-she just kept going and going. "Not that that's a bad thing," she told him with a grin. "Being dead and all, well, kind of a drag."
He had pulled her into his arms and simply held her. His life without her had been miserable and dreary and he could foresee nothing but more of the same without her. Her return had signaled a new level of closeness between them that seemed to be culminating in this next step of a romance. It was fine with him, if that was what she wanted, but he didn't think he could bear it when she finally tired of him and moved on. He knew that when that day dawned, it would be his last.
The drive to the campus didn't take very long. He walked whistling into his office to be met with the message from the Dean's wife to call her. He groaned. "Did she say what she wanted?" He asked the secretary.
"No, sir. Just for you to call her." Maria didn't volunteer any more information.
He entered his office and put his briefcase down on the floor. He fiddled with the papers on his desk, sharpened four pencils and untangled the cord on his phone. When he couldn't put it off any longer he dialed the harpy's number.
"Rupert Giles here. Mrs. Jenks. My secretary informs me that you wished to speak to me?" He looked out the window wishing he were almost anywhere else.
"Yes, I do want to speak with you, Rupert. I'm having a small dinner party this Friday and I'd like to invite you and a guest to come. Do say you'll be there." She said, steel in her voice.
"What time?" He asked, resigned.
"We'll have drinks and canapés at seven and dine at eight."
"Fine." He sighed. Buffy wasn't going to be happy, but he knew she would cooperate.
He got off the phone and looked at his watch. Buffy wouldn't be home from work yet for several hours. He wondered if she'd let him patrol with her tonight. Maybe he could kill something evil and pretend it was Mrs. Jenks.
He got home at his usual time and felt tired. He decided a short nap before dinner might be appropriate. He lay down on the couch and within seconds was fast asleep. When Buffy came in she saw him sleeping like a baby. He was so cute. All his troubles were smoothed away when he slept. He looked about twenty. She went into the kitchen and popped a frozen pan of homemade lasagna into the oven. She pulled a loaf of crusty French bread out of the breadbox and sliced enough to make garlic toast for all three of them. Next, she chopped up an assortment of fresh vegetables for a salad, which she put back in the refrigerator till the lasagna was cooked. She glanced up as her sister let herself in the back door.
She watched Dawn pour herself a glass of juice. "I got home a while ago," the younger girl offered, "but Giles was asleep on the couch and I didn't want to wake him."
"Thanks." Buffy replied. "He doesn't get enough rest." She smiled. "Though I may have a plan to make sure he gets more from now on."
Dawn caught the innuendo and shrugged. "Good. He's a very good guy. He probably deserves somebody way better than you."
Buffy frowned at her without much effect. "Yeah, I know. But we sort of belong to each other. I love him so much, I'd probably kill any other woman who tried to take him now." She shook her head. "I've never felt like this about anybody, ever."
"Not even Angel?" Dawn was curious. Angel had been her sister's big love thing like forever. It could only be good news if the stupid vamp was replaced.
"Not even Angel. I never thought I would say this, but the world looks a whole lot different at twenty-two than it does at sixteen. Never tell anybody this, but I think Spike's right."
"About what?"
"Angel does have stupid hair." Both girls laughed so hard Dawn choked on her sip of fruit juice and had to be pounded on the back.
Part 3
The laughter woke Giles and he made his way to the kitchen. They didn't have the heart to tell him he had the imprint of the couch on his face and that his hair was standing straight up on one side. Buffy went to him, pushed him down into a kitchen chair and smoothed his hair.
"Oh dear, it is wild?" he asked her.
"Just a little." She kissed him and he slipped his arms around her and returned her gesture. She pulled back and grinned down at him. "I like it wild."
He had a feeling that the conversation had gone beyond the state of his hair and blushed. He leaned over and whispered something in her ear that made her cheeks grow as rosy as his. "Well, I'm free later," she told him.
They ate dinner and he kept his eyes on her through the entire meal. Dawn asked Buffy if she could spend Friday night at her friend's house. It brought their attention away from each other and focused it on the younger Summers girl.
"I guess," Buffy said. "But you know the rules. No boys, no booze, no drugs, no vampires."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm older now than you were when you and Angel…" she waved her hand expressively. "When do you think I'll be old enough?"
Buffy put her hand to her forehead. "Maybe when you're thirty, I'll let you date. Seriously, you're not thinking of?"
Dawn looked at Giles and blushed. "No! Of course not, I'm not stupid, you know. Sex is too dangerous just for a quickie. Do you know the prevalence of STD's in my age group? It's horrendous. Besides, with my luck I'd end up preggers." The girl shuddered. "I so do not want to be a mom."
Buffy gave her a wry look. "You never know how you're going to handle something like that till it happens. Let me tell you, I know. My baby turned out to be fifteen years old, but still…"
"I'm sorry you got stuck with me, Buffy. I know it must be a total drag to have to be all settled down when you're only in you're twenties," Dawn said sadly.
"Oh, Dawnie! Sure it's hard. I'd be lying if I said this was easy. But being here for you isn't the hard part. It's being good enough. Mom always seemed to know stuff-she could spot a lie or an evasion a mile away. She knew when we weren't feeling good about something, she could tell when we were in trouble-she knew what to do for that sort of thing. What do I know? I don't have any mom genes at all as far as I can tell. I mean, I can make you do your homework and eat your salad and make sure you get to bed at a decent hour, but what do I know about making you feel OK about things? What am I going to do when you do bring a boy home? It's not like I'm a shining example for stable relationships-except now I think I finally have a decent shot at that with Giles," she shot a smile at the bemused man.
"I was the Chosen one for less than a year, you know, before I died and Kendra was called. After that, I was just a Slayer. It's never happened before as far as we've ever been able to find out. Then Kendra died and Faith was Chosen. We know how that went," she sighed. "I guess what I'm trying to get at is, I'm not by nature a nurturer. I'm a killer, it's what I do and I'm good at it. I try to take care of you as well as I can, but the truth is, I'm much better at killing than cooking and what I know about taking care of a seventeen-year-old girl could fit on the head of a pin. The only reason you aren't totally screwed up is because of Giles."
"Here now, don't blame me!" He chuckled. "I've trained as a Watcher for more than thirty years and let me tell you that what I know about young girls is miniscule."
Dawn tipped her head sideways. He was struck by the resemblance to her sister. "I would think as a Watcher that you'd have lots of knowledge of teenage girls. You know, prep for the Slayer and all."
He snorted. "I should let you read the Slayer's handbook sometime. Once you stopped laughing, it would give you some appreciation of exactly what Watchers are taught to believe about young girls. Why, when I came to Sunnydale, it honestly never crossed my mind that Buffy wouldn't be thrilled to be the Slayer." He shook his head. "I was in for a rather rude awakening."
Buffy put her hand on his shoulder. "Sorry about that, Rupert."
He smiled at her use of his first name. "Quite all right, Buffy. If you had been the obedient little robot the Council tries to create, none of us would be alive now. Something bad would have eaten us all."
"Have some more garlic bread." Buffy said as she offered him the plate. They all laughed.
"Are you patrolling this evening?" He asked her.
"Thought I would." She told him as she and Dawn began to clear up the table.
"Can I come? I haven't been on a good patrol for six weeks at least. I wouldn't want to lose my edge."
"Sure. I don't see why not. If Dawn will be all right?" She asked her sister questioningly.
Dawn waved at her. "I'll be fine. You kids have fun."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "OK, I'm going to change. Want to go in about forty-five minutes?"
"Sounds like a plan." He told her using one of her phrases.
They left the house slightly later than they had planned because Willow called and wanted to talk. She said she had heard rumors on campus all day of Professor Giles' girlfriend, a tiny blonde. Did Buffy know what they were talking about?
"Well, actually Will, that was something I've been meaning to talk to you about. Giles and I sort of decided that we'd like to start dating. I was going to tell you and Xand tomorrow at lunch." The Scoobies always made a point of eating lunch together every Wednesday.
"Dating? Dating who?" Willow asked confused.
"Dating each other." Buffy spelled out.
There was a moment of silence on the other end before Willow gave a shrill scream. "Oh my God! This is huge news! I can't believe you two finally opened up your eyes! Oh man, wait till I tell Xander!"
"So, I take it you aren't upset?" Buffy asked her.
"Upset! I think this is the best thing to happen to either of you since you came to Sunnydale! How could I be upset about two people who are obviously so right for each other finally getting together?"
They talked for a few more minutes before Buffy excused herself to patrol. She turned to Giles who was standing next to her. "Willow's OK with us."
"How do you think Xander will take it?" He asked her.
"A little screaming, then he'll be fine." She predicted.
They walked all over Sunnydale, hitting five of the nine cemeteries, the docks and even spent twenty minutes at the Bronze. Not one lousy vampire managed to show himself and Buffy was disgusted. "Boy, you can't ever count on vampires for anything!" They even swung by Willie's Bar, but it was virtually deserted. There wasn't even the general scuttling escape of the evil undead when the Slayer walked into the room.
Willie made his usual announcement about "Slayer in the House" and most of the clientele didn't even bother to look up from their drinks.
Buffy and Giles leaned against the bar and ordered two Coke's in unopened cans. Willie brought them the drinks and went back to cleaning his bar. They looked up as the door opened and a Tholat demon sauntered in. It looked around, spotted Buffy and quickly made it's way toward her. Giles looked alarmed and stood up, ready to defend her.
"Clem!" Buffy yelled and pulled the demon into a hug. She leaned back grasping his arms. "Let me look at you! Gee, you look great!" She told the demon.
"Thanks, Buffy. I've been working out a little." It smiled at her showing it's serrated teeth.
"You know my Watcher, right?" Buffy said performing the introductions.
"I haven't had that pleasure." It grinned and offered Giles its hand.
Giles shook the proffered limb but had to refrain from the urge to wipe his hand on his pants afterwards. "How do you do?" He offered courteously. "Ah, how is it that you come to know Buffy?"
"Oh, Spike introduced us last year." He smiled and the four extra pounds of skin on his face wiggled. He flipped an ear back and raised his eyebrow. "I heard he took a little trip over to LA?"
"Yeah." Buffy nodded. "They've got some new big bad uprising and he said he would go give Angel a hand."
Clem shook his head in dismay. "You know, it just seems really odd, vampires with souls. It's almost like starting a trend."
Buffy nodded solemnly. "Going to put me out of business if it continues." She joked.
"Ha!" Clem laughed. "I can't believe that! Why I heard just the other night you took out the Ferguson brothers down by the docks."
Buffy wrinkled her brow. "Were those the two red-headed vamps that were eating panhandlers?"
Clem nodded. "Yeah. They were thugs when they were alive and being undead didn't do much to change their life-style."
"So, anything interesting going down in Sunnydale lately?" Buffy asked him casually. "I patrolled forever tonight and didn't spot even a single vamp."
"I heard it's that thing in LA. Big power. Blocked out the sun for a while." Clem shrugged. "Then the sun came back and there were an awful lot of surprised blood-suckers. Well, they were surprised for a little while anyhow. Afterwards they were kinda busy being on fire to really worry about it."
"Cool." Buffy noted. "When the go all flamey it's kind of interesting." She sighed and straightened. "Well, say hi to the family for me, OK? Giles and I need to get home. Have to work tomorrow."
He patted her hand and kissed the air by her cheek. Buffy hugged him and Giles, who was feeling rather left out, waved. They walked home. As they neared the Summers' house, Giles asked her about the demon. "Oh, we met when you went to that Retreat thing last year."
"You didn't mention it to me." He said sounding miffed. "They are quite poisonous, you know."
"Tholats? Yeah, I know. Clem's a good guy though. Just don't play poker with him." She shuddered.
"He plays poker?" Giles said feeling lost.
"The monsters around here have a variation that humans wouldn't, ah, appreciate." Buffy told him. "They don't use money."
"What then?" He wanted to know.
"Kittens."
"Gods!" He shuddered. "I suppose you learn something new everyday on the Hellmouth."
They went home and had showers before meeting again in the kitchen for a late night snack. "I forgot to mention," Giles began. "The Dean's wife has invited me to dinner on Friday-I'm to bring a guest."
"You ought to take Dawn. It would totally thwart her evil ways." Buffy grinned with some malice.
Giles laughed. "I can see the look on her face when I walked in with a seventeen-year-old child. Good Lord, they'd have the police there before you could say Bob's Your Uncle!"
"I've never understood why anybody would want to say that." Buffy noted. "Do you want me to come with?"
"I would be honored if you would attend with me. But you know it isn't going to be pretty. The harpy will be in attack mode. She expects to know every detail of faculty lives and will be quite upset that I have managed to maintain a relationship without her knowledge."
"Cow!" Buffy said.
"Precisely." He agreed.
She kissed him goodnight. He loved the feel of her supple body pressed against him. "You know, Dawn's going to be away Friday night." He mentioned with the utmost casualness.
"I know. We can have a little time to ourselves after the dinner thing."
"Yes, exactly." He looked down at her fondly and stroked her hair. "I know the d, dating relationship is new for us, but we've been together such a very long time, I was wondering, that is, ah, never mind." He stopped when he realized that he simply couldn't come out and ask when she would be ready to move their relationship into the physical realm.
She slipped her hands up behind his neck and pulled him down for another kiss before whispering in his ear that Friday sounded good to her. They broke apart and looked at each other shyly before heading off to their separate beds.
They met the Scoobies for lunch on campus the next day. Xander had been told and after giving them both stern looks pulled them into close hugs. "I love you guys so much and I'm so happy you've finally found each other." He told them with a grin. "If you break up, I'll be very disappointed in both of you."
"We aren't going to break up." Buffy said, holding Giles hand.
"Just so." Rupert seconded.
"Well, all right then." Xander allowed.
They chatted for a good hour, snarfing down the hamburgers and fries Xander had purchased and laughing like the long-time friends they all were. Giles and Buffy drew their now-usual looks and finally it was time to go. "Want to get together for a movie night Friday?" Xander asked.
"Can't. We have a school thing." Buffy said glumly.
"Saturday would be fine, however." Giles put in. He actually liked movie nights, though he would never say so and ruin his image. "Just don't bring the Princess Bride, please. I'm now able to quote from it and that pains me to no end."
They laughed again and went their own ways. Buffy walked Giles back to his office where Maria the secretary was waiting. "Mrs. Jenks called. She heard your, ah, friend was on campus and wants to meet her. She's on her way."
Buffy tried to look sincere as she apologized. "I can't wait around I'm afraid. I have to be at work in ten minutes and it's a good long ways from here." She beat a hasty retreat.
Five minutes later, Mrs. Jenks came into the office to find that Buffy was gone, and Giles had stepped in to teach a class for an associate who had gone home ill. To say she was vexed would have been an understatement. She stomped out of the office angrily. She had half-a-mind to speak to her husband, the Dean, about this evasive behavior. He would tell Professor Giles that he had better mind his step. She nodded.
The rest of the week passed uneventfully. Buffy killed one vampire on patrol Thursday. Before staking him she had asked about LA. He had told her that the vampire community (he actually said that, having been a guidance counselor in life) didn't know what had caused the sun to be hidden or what had brought it back. He had been napping and had missed being torched. He came back to Sunnydale for lack of anything better to do.
"You guys really are stupid, aren't you? Why not go to some town that doesn't have a Slayer in residence?" The question was rhetorical because he was dust in the wind by the time she asked it.
She walked home and reported to Giles. "I wonder if we should give Wes a call?" He pondered the situation.
"Nah. I'm sure if they need us, they'll ring." Buffy said, not really wanting to see Angel again. She knew he had a thing going for Cordy now and it sort of wigged her. He still loved her, but he was a very needy being and any female that paid the slightest attention to him was at risk of becoming his latest obsession. She wondered if that was a common vampire trait because Spike was still obsessing over her and had felt the same about Dru for more than a century. She shuddered remembering how Lothos had stalked her when she was still a kid and the encounter with Dracula several years later. She made a note to ask Giles sometime when they weren't wrapped up in something else.