Standing True
Giles had the store to himself for the morning and he was glad of it. He couldn't keep a smile off his face. Anya would be on to him the second she saw him if he couldn't get himself under control, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't believe it had all happened. Buffy loved him. How had his life changed so completely from one day to the next? He could still feel Buffy's lips on his, her legs wrapped around him. Giles was growing hard just thinking about it.
He grinned again. She was his, completely, in every way. His life was so full now. And he hadn't even known how empty it was. Not until Paul and Roger pushed their way into his life, and not until he'd heard Buffy tell him that she loved him. And now, he was so full his heart almost ached with it.
Giles decided to make himself some tea, hoping it would calm him, as Anya would be here any moment. Or maybe Anya would be so intent on sharing her own anniversary stories that she wouldn't pay any attention to him as long as he made the appropriate noises at the appropriate times. Once his tea was made he sat at the table and flipped through a book. None of it connected with his brain. Giles didn't care. He just sat there grinning.
Paul, Roger and Anya all arrived at the same time. Giles looked up as the bell rang announcing visitors. He tried to stop grinning and knew he was only being marginally successful.
Anya had learned to tolerate the brothers. She almost liked them. If they ever actually bought anything she might really like them. But at least Roger kept his hands off of the merchandise now and she couldn't deny that they put Giles in a good mood. There was certainly no denying that he looked happy now.
Anya moved behind the cash register, and then she looked at Giles again. Her eyes narrowed and she gasped. "You had sex last night."
Paul and Roger's eyes widened and they settled back to watch yet another confounding conversation between Giles and Anya.
Giles let out a breath. "Anya…"
She interrupted him. "You had orgasms. It's written all over your face. Who, who was it?" She looked at Paul and Roger.
Paul put up his hands. "It wasn't us."
Anya looked back at Giles. "Some complete stranger? Did you go to a bar and pick somebody up?" Anya grinned at that thought but then she frowned. "Did you practice safe sex? I don't want a boss with diseases. You might die and that would be sad. Unless of course you leave the store to me, in which case it would still be sad but at least I'd have money."
Giles rubbed his hand over his face. "Anya…"
"So, who was she? Hey, come on, I tell you everything."
Giles let out an exasperated groan. "Anya, I know you do. But I have no intention of repaying the favor. I'm going to lunch and I may be a while."
Anya humphed, opened the till by forcefully hitting one of the buttons to demonstrate her displeasure, and started counting money. She immediately began to feel better.
Giles turned to Roger and Paul and spoke quietly, almost desperately. "You are here for lunch, right?"
They both grinned. Paul spoke. "Lunch and an interrogation."
Giles pinched his nose under his glasses. "Still better than Anya."
Anya glared at him. "I heard that." She yelled at him as he was leaving the shop. "I'm telling Buffy."
Giles let out a half laugh as the door shut behind him. Paul and Roger were both laughing. Roger pointed at Giles, a taunting look on his face. "We already know who you had sex with last night."
Giles rolled his eyes but he could feel the warmth of a serious blush on his face.
Paul smacked Roger. "Hey, stop that, you're making him blush." Paul and Roger both started laughing so hard they had to stop walking. At the look on Giles' face, Paul tried to explain. "I'm sorry, I think I'm still a little out of it. You see, I've had a couple of really, really odd days." With that comment they both were off again, tears streaming down their faces.
Giles was unable to keep a grin off his face, their laughter infectious, even if it was partly directed at him. "Can you two walk long enough to get to Frank's or should I go get him to deliver your beers here?"
Roger took a couple of long deep breaths. "Oh God. Sorry." He began laughing again but he grabbed Paul's arm and they followed Giles to Frank's. Sliding into their usual booth, Roger took another deep breath. He looked at Giles and shook his head.
Giles looked at him, his brow furrowed. "What?"
"You. I mean, here you are, still the same Rupert Giles we've known for what, six months? But, somehow, you're completely different now."
Giles shook his head. "No, I'm not."
Paul saw this funny look on Giles' face and he hastened to reassure him. "Not like that. Not in any way that makes us feel any differently about you. It's just all this time we knew you had secrets, we knew you weren't telling us things but…" His voice trailed off.
Roger shook his head, looking at Giles with a look of incredulity in his eyes, finishing off Paul's thought. "Let's just say …holy shit, and leave it at that."
Giles sighed. "I imagine it is a bit hard to believe. Vampires and demons have been a part of my life since I was a child; I hardly think about what I do as being odd anymore. Not unless I have to talk about it, or have to try not to talk about it, in this case, with people who don't know anything about it." He smiled at them both. "It's one of the reasons I…" He softly laughed. "It doesn't matter now."
Paul leaned towards him. "It's one of the reasons you tried so hard to avoid us, isn't it?"
"Yes it is. I couldn't imagine how I could keep the charade of having a normal life going for any length of time. It certainly is one of the reasons I was sure you would end up avoiding me. I know I'm not a very good liar. I know every answer I gave you was full of holes."
Paul nodded in a self satisfied way. "But you didn't bargain on pure Irish bullheadedness, did you?"
Giles grinned at them both. "No, I didn't. And now I find myself feeling very grateful to that Irish bullheadedness, and that's not an easy thing for an Englishman to say."
Frank showed up with three beers. Roger smiled at him and then his eyebrows rose as he thought of something. "Frank, sit down."
Frank looked around the bar and seeing that no one seemed to need him he sat next to Giles. "What's up?"
Roger tapped the table with his index finger. "We're spilling secrets today. Time for you to spill yours."
Frank looked at Giles with some alarm. Then he looked back at Roger. "What secret?"
Roger rolled his eyes. "What secret? That secret. The one that look was about. The one you've been keeping ever since we've known you."
Frank just stared at them, mute, and finally Giles took pity on him. "It's all right, Frank, they know about vampires, they know I kill them."
Frank looked even more nervous. "Jesus, that thing really was a vampire? I thought it might have been, but…"
Roger looked exasperated, wanting the facts. "What happened?"
Giles answered his question. "Frank got attacked by a vampire. I happened to be there and I staked it. End of story."
Frank snorted. "He saved my life. Then he brushes himself off, cool as a cucumber, and tells me to be more careful when I go out at night. Then he walks away, like he was the Lone Ranger or something."
Paul shook his head. "So, all this time while we've been trying to figure out who the heck Giles is, while you've been watching us try to figure out Giles, you had actually seen a vampire, and watched Giles stake one, and didn't tell us? Man."
"It's not the sort of thing you just tell anybody." Frank gestured at Giles. "I tried to talk about it with him, to at least thank him, but he didn't ever want to." He glanced at Giles. "I figured if you didn't even want to talk to me about it, then you probably didn't want me to talk to anyone about it, so I just kept my mouth shut."
Giles smiled at him. "Thank you for that. I had hoped you'd keep it quiet."
Frank nodded, satisfied, glad he'd repaid Giles in at least this small way. He noticed someone up at the bar. "Gotta go." He stood up and glanced at Roger and Paul. "How'd you guys find out?" Waving his hand at them. "Never mind. You can tell me later." Frank headed towards the bar, and then turned back. "You guys need Kathleen? You having lunch?"
They all nodded and Frank headed off. Roger grinned at Giles. "Poor Kathleen. All her hopes dashed in one night."
Giles glared at Roger. "Please shut up." Roger kept grinning, unrepentant.
Paul was staring at Giles, almost studying him. "How often does that go on? You just happening along and saving someone's life."
"Not very often. It happens to Buffy all the time, of course. But Buffy can move much more quickly than I can. Usually by the time you see someone being attacked by a vampire it's already too late. Frank was lucky."
Roger glanced up at the bar. "I can't believe he kept that a secret."
Giles shrugged. "Even if he'd chosen to talk, who could he have told who would have believed him? Would you have believed him?" He glanced at them, and they both reluctantly shook their heads. He continued. "The people in this town are blind. They ignore what's in front of them, they have for years."
Paul blew out his breath and leaned against the seat. "I swear there's something in the air. I had to fight hard to see it, to keep seeing it, to see all the people dying and how they were dying."
Roger poked him. "And then you go and arrest the Slayer."
Paul rolled his eyes. "How was I supposed to know?" He pointed to Frank with his chin. "Can we tell him how we know, what we know?"
Giles looked over at the bar, considering Frank for a second. "I suppose, if you can be discreet about it. At least I know he'll keep it to himself."
Paul looked at Giles and shook his head. "I still can hardly believe it's all true." He gestured in a way to include himself and Roger. "Okay, we have about 200,000 questions to ask you. You all right with that?"
Giles grinned. "I don't think we can cover all of those at one lunch but I'll do my best."
"And I don't want to hear the words 'that's complicated' once, unless it's followed by a long explanation."
Giles sat back in his chair. "Go ahead. Again, I'll do my best."
Paul grinned at Roger. "He's actually going to answer our questions. I think I might pass out from the excitement."
Giles rolled his eyes. "Ha bloody ha. You'd better hurry, I might change my mind."
Roger decided to begin. "Let's start with what you said before. Vampires and demons since you were a child?"
"My father was a Watcher and my grandmother before him. Slayers were always around when I was growing up and where there are Slayers and Watchers there are vampires and demons."
He stopped talking as Kathleen showed up. As she started pouring on the charm for Giles, Paul shook his head at her. "Sorry, darling. He's a taken man, now."
Kathleen's eyes opened wide and she sent Giles a look of dismay. Giles was blushing which made her eyes narrow. "You going around my back, sugar?"
Giles' eyes widened in alarm. "I…you…we…" He took off his glasses and covered his face with his hands.
Paul reached out and took one of Kathleen's hands in his. "I'm afraid he found the love of his life last night and he's off the market. But I'm available if you need a shoulder to cry on."
Kathleen shook off his hand and glared at him, and then she glared at them all. Squaring her shoulders she took out her order pad. All business, she snapped at them. "What do you want?"
They all gave her their orders, and after writing it down she snapped the pad shut and walked away.
Giles groaned and glared at Paul. "You had to do that, didn't you? She'll probably poison our food."
Paul winced at the thought and called to Frank. Frank walked over to the booth. "What?"
Paul motioned him to lean down and then he spoke. "We just broke the news to Kathleen that Giles is unavailable. Would you please make sure she doesn't poison us?"
Frank grinned. "I'll go remind her that you're the Chief of Police and just itching to arrest somebody."
Roger snorted. "Tell Kathleen she's lucky she isn't a small blond." He let out a yelp of pain as Paul elbowed him in the side. At Frank's puzzled look he laughed. "I'll explain later." Frank stared at all three of them for a second and then headed for the kitchen. Roger turned to Paul. "That hurt."
Paul looked smug. "It was supposed to. How was I supposed to know that Buffy was one of the good guys? Every time I saw dead bodies she was always around." He looked at Giles, the smug expression gone. "I really am sorry about that."
Giles waved off his concern. "No harm done. In fact, quite a bit of good has come of it, so in a certain light, I should be thanking you."
Paul grinned and then he turned to Roger. "So there. Please keep your snide comments to yourself."
Roger ignored him and got back to business. "Is being a Watcher handed down? Like a family business?"
"It was for me. But it isn't always. One has to have some skills. A gift for languages, for fighting, for teaching." He smiled a rueful smile. "For obedience. Just because one of your parents is a Watcher doesn't mean that you will be chosen. And there are those who should never have been allowed to become a Watcher. There are many at the Council who believe I never should have become a Watcher, or should be one now."
"The Council?"
"The Council of Watchers. Its fundamental purpose has always been to protect and support the Slayer. It selects and trains Watchers."
Paul frowned. "Why would anyone ever think you shouldn't be a Watcher? You know plenty of languages and I have no doubt you'd be an excellent teacher. Can you fight?"
"Oh yes, I can fight." He smiled a lopsided smile at them. "I just never did very well with the obedient part. Remember, I was fired as Buffy's Watcher for disobedience. The Council doesn't tolerate that very well."
"But, you're her Watcher now, aren't you?"
"Yes, they reinstated me, kicking and screaming, the Council that is, not me, and only because they wanted Buffy back." He smiled. "And she wouldn't come back unless they made me her Watcher again." He shook his head. "You should have seen her that day. She was magnificent." He sighed and then looked up to find them grinning at him. Giles rolled his eyes. "Next question."
"Can all Watchers do magic?"
"No. Most of them can't. I took…" Giles made a face. "I took a bit of a detour from my Watcher training. I left and started keeping company with some people of disreputable character and began to study magic. It's not a time of my life I'm particularly proud of and not one I like to talk about. To cut a long story short it all ended very, very badly and I went back to Watcher training."
Paul and Roger exchanged a look. As it had last night, the stories Giles was choosing to edit from their conversation, considering what he had told them, made them both extremely nervous. Paul pressed on. "But the magic's come in handy, hasn't it? I mean, you saved Willow last night."
"Yes, I suppose it has. I had sworn never to do magic again but shortly after I met Buffy I had to reverse a spell that had been done to her. I broke my vow, and did a casting to save her life." Giles tightened his lips. "It taught me that I could do magic without losing control, so I use it now when it's needed."
The brothers let that thought settle and then Paul let out a short laugh. Giles sent him a puzzled glance. Paul snorted. "Do you do magic tricks. Remember? I asked you that the day we first went out to lunch. You said that magic was an interest of yours and I asked you if you did magic tricks." He started to laugh. "I'm surprised you didn't choke on your food."
Giles grimaced. "I hated lying to you all the time." Then he grinned. "Not that you would have believed me if I'd spoken the truth that day. I can just imagine your face if I'd told you the sorts of magic tricks I can do."
Roger had a thought. "Speaking of Willow, how is she?"
"I called her this morning. She seems to be suffering no ill effects from the spell she did." Giles shook his head. "She's lucky."
"Lucky she knows you."
"It's only because she knows me that she got into magic at all. So to a certain extent, I'm to blame."
Roger cocked his head to the side, taking Giles in with a knowing expression. "Do you blame yourself for everything?"
Giles raised his eyebrows and then he let out a soft chuckle. "Yes, I suppose I do have a tendency to do just that." He shook his head. "It's difficult not to. I've done so many foolish things, it seems as if I ought to be able to prevent others from making the same mistakes."
Roger shook his head at Giles. "Well, you won't be doing that when we're around, taking the blame, that is, carte blanche. My guess is there's lots of blame to go around." He grinned. "Don't worry, when you do something stupid we'll be sure to blame you, just in case you're afraid you might go into blame withdrawal."
Giles rolled his eyes. "Thank you so much."
"Hey, that's what friends are for."
Frank showed up with their meals. At the raised eyebrows he explained. "She's in the bathroom, crying."
Giles let out an exasperated sound. "Good Lord. How can she possibly be that upset? I never did anything to let her think I was remotely interested."
Paul just looked at the food. Frank grinned. "It's safe. She dropped the order off and left the kitchen. Carlos made it." With that he headed back to the bar.
Paul heaved a sigh of relief and dug in. Noticing that Giles was still looking concerned Paul gestured him towards his food. "Eat, she'll get over it."
Giles protested again. "There was nothing for her to get over."
Roger grinned at him. "It's that magical aura of yours."
Giles glared at Roger. "Ha, ha."
Paul redirected the conversation back to the issue at hand. "Okay, next question. Explain Anya."
Giles barked out a laugh. "Explain Anya." He shook his head.
Paul leaned in towards Giles. "You told me she was a part of the team. What does she do?"
Giles put his fork down. "It's not so much what she does as what she is and, because of that, what she knows." He smiled. "You said you had 200,000 questions. The problem is that with every question I answer, you'll have 10 new ones the answer generates."
Roger grinned. "That's becoming abundantly clear. Don't worry. We have lots of time to ask all our questions. I mean, not at this lunch necessarily, but we have a lifetime of them ahead of us." Roger didn't miss the shadow that passed over Giles' face. Roger grimaced. "Assuming…"
Giles smiled gently. "You have to assume that we'll survive, that we have a lifetime ahead of us. It would be impossible to get through the day otherwise. But some days it's harder to believe than others. And I never forget the fact that Buffy has already outlived most Slayers and is living on borrowed time." Giles blew out a breath and ran his hand through his hair.
Roger could see this was a difficult topic for Giles but he had to ask. "How long do they usually live?"
"Half of them are dead before they reach their 18th birthday."
"I don't understand. If so many of them die, why would they test those that are still alive and put them at risk? Wouldn't the fact that they are still alive be proof enough of their skill?"
Giles shrugged. "You would think that would be a reasonable assumption. I personally believe that the test was started not so much as a way to make sure the Slayer was strong enough, but rather to ensure that she was still strong. That way they could weed out the weak ones and allow a younger, stronger Slayer to be called."
Roger looked confused. "What sense does that make? Wouldn't her years of experience make her more valuable than a brand new Slayer?"
Giles shook his head. "You need to understand. The Council has looked to its Watchers to bear the burden of experience. The Slayers have been looked at as an instrument of death, her strength and fighting skills being all she needed to bring to the table. It's pretty bloodless, the whole affair. One Slayer dies, the next one is called. One after the other, replaceable fighting machines, that one never makes the mistake of getting attached to."
"Is that how you were trained?"
"Oh, yes. And everything I learned went out the window the second I met Buffy." He grinned at them. "That's why I was fired as her Watcher, because I cared for her too much. I didn't want her to risk losing her, I didn't want her to undergo the test."
"What would have happened if you hadn't started the test?"
"I'd have just been fired sooner and a new Watcher would have been chosen and he would have given it to her, without any remorse. And if I'd told her about the test in order to prevent her from getting tested at all, I still would have been fired. It doesn't make me feel any better but I knew I was good and stuck. In retrospect I suppose I could have confided in Buffy and asked her to play along. We might have got away with it, except Buffy is so stubborn sometimes, she just as well might have refused." He smiled a sad smile. "Fortunately for me, Buffy is an excellent Slayer, and she passed the test and even more amazingly, she forgave me."