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"I musta missed something with this thrall stuff. I didn't have near as much fun as Giles did," Xander quipped as he helped Buffy maneuver Giles up the steps to his apartment. The older man was still a bit groggy and disoriented during the ride back, and Buffy was getting worried. Still, he was awfully cute when he was befuddled... she wondered just where that thought had come from.
"Neither did I. All I got was a hickey and a messed up head. But I didn't feel like I was drunk."
"I am not drunk! Haven't had a drop. Just a bit light-headed from exertion, s'all." Giles' voice slurred despite his best effort. "I was fighting for my life, you know."
They lowered the older man to sit the couch, not wanting to risk the loft stairs. Xander stood back as Buffy settled beside Giles. He still had his arms folded tightly, holding his ruined shirt in place, and he shivered from time to time. She began to get worried. He wasn't shaking the encounter off, like he usually did.
Xander was worried, too. "Buffy, there's no way he should stay here by himself tonight. Drac may be gone, but the vamp babes are still there. They could come after him, or he might go back to them."
"I will not! The very idea!" Giles' face was the picture of indignation.
Riley looked doubtful. "You tried to go back into the chick-pit after your shoe. I had to drag you away."
"This is... was... a very expensive pair of shoes, I'll have you know. Irreplaceable." He held up the one shod foot and pointed grandly.
"I'd stay, but I have to go to work. Lovin' the night shift in Sunnydale, I'm tellin' ya." Xander managed to look sorry for himself. Delivering pizza after dark was a dangerous job. He much preferred selling ice cream in the bright sunshine, but the pay was lousy. Pizza guys got tips for fast delivery... if they stayed alive.
Buffy pushed Giles' glasses back into place. They'd slipped halfway down his nose. He gave her a brilliant, if unfocused, smile. Her heart leaped unexpectedly. 'Giles has a great smile,' she thought. 'Wish he'd smile more often. That's probably my fault, too. I'll have to work on that.'
"No, it's okay, Xand. Me and Riley will stay with him. No Draco-babes for you, Mister." She tapped his nose affectionately, and the smile returned.
"Um..." Riley shifted uncomfortably.
"Or, maybe not... what?"
"I can't stay. I have... well, I promised the guys we'd stay in touch... y'know, the ones that are still around. We were supposed to meet up at ten, to hang out." He gave her an apologetic look. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to come..."
"Oh." She wasn't as disappointed as she should've been, but she ignored that. "It's okay, go on and play with your soldier buddies. I'll stay here and watch the Mad Nuzzler."
Riley and Xander chuckled, but Giles didn't. If anything, he looked hopeful.
"Okay. Well, I'll see you tomorrow." Riley bent over the back of the couch and gave Buffy a chaste kiss. Giles glared, wondering why he had the sudden urge to throttle the lad. Riley left without noticing Giles' look or Buffy's reaction. Her eyes got wider and wider. Giles looked jealous.
"I'm gone, too. Clock-Punching-Guy must be on time. Bye, Giles. I'm glad you weren't vamp chow."
"So'm I, Xander. Thank you for not calling me G-man."
Xander grinned as he left. Good ol' Giles.
Buffy tried to think of something to say. She couldn't, so she resorted to one of Giles' old tricks. "So, you want some tea?"
"What?" Giles looked even more out of it than when they'd first arrived. Buffy stared at him for a long moment, trying to decide what to do next. He stared back.
"Giles, what's wrong? You're, like, not of this world right now."
"I imagine it's the aftereffects of being bitten."
"WHAT?"
"I can't really say t'was pleasant. Well, parts of it were pleasant, but actually being bitten was rather... unpleasant. I don't know how you stood it. Twice."
Buffy began frantically checking him over. He had several scrape marks on the inside of his left wrist, and the right side of his neck sported a perfect set of fang holes. They were bleeding sluggishly, so she knew they weren't very deep, but still! "Oh, Giles... why didn't you say something?"
"S'nothing, really. Scratches."
"You're all light-headed from blood loss on top of everything else. You need to go to the hospital."
"Nonsense. No need to rush off. I'm perfectly fine."
"Giles..."
"No, I mean it, Buffy. No hospital."
She tried pouting, but he wouldn't budge. She didn't really feel like knocking him out and carrying him. She wanted to be nice to him instead.
"Okay, but you have to tell me what happened before Riley found you. He said you weren't resisting too much, but I'd rather hear your personal, non-chuckling version."
"Wasn't much point in struggling, was there? Flat of my back with the wind knocked out of me, no weapon, and three vampires holding me down."
"Three?"
"Yes. The three sisters. Actually, they were quite lovely."
"Sisters? Lovely?" Something began to rattle around in Buffy's overworked brain. Lovely??
"Oh, yes. Very. Long, flowing dark hair. Very flattering gowns... red, I think. T'was too dark to be sure."
"Giles..."
"Didn't much care for their 'game faces', though. The fangs weren't terribly off-putting, but the yellow eyes..."
"Giles!"
He gave her a devilish, if lopsided, grin. "What?"
"You're teasing me," she accused in a dangerous voice.
"A little."
He was staring at her in woozy defiance, and she felt reality shift inside her for the second time that night. She'd come so close to losing herself... to losing him. The thought brought an almost physical pain that centered in her heart. She reached up and removed his glasses, placing them on the sofa table behind her.
He squinted slightly, but held her gaze. "What did you do that for?"
"I want to see your eyes."
He cleared his throat. It was getting uncomfortably warm. He thought about getting up and adjusting the thermostat, but changed his mind. He didn't really want to move.
"My... my eyes?" His voice was suddenly hoarse.
"Um hmm." Her face was serious as she examined him closely. "Your pupils are dilated."
"So are yours, actually."
"And you're hot and sweaty, too."
"You seem a bit... flushed, as well."
"Really? This probably means something. Be all Watcherly and figure it out, okay? You've got me worried about us."
What remained of his analytical mind grabbed the tiny clues and ran with them. "Obviously, we're still under some sort of hypnotic influence."
"We? How? I staked Dracula. Twice. And Riley got you before you did something besides 'stake' those vamp chicks."
"Buffy, really!" Giles blushed brightly, but tried to concentrate. "How? Simple. We were both bitten recently, by powerful vampires. And, I had every intention of staking those three... I was merely waiting for an opening."
"Oh, I bet." She ran a gentle fingertip over his cheek, then outlined his lips. He forgot to breathe for a minute or two.
When he finally remembered, he gulped a lungful of air. "Buffy..." His head was spinning madly. He fought to regain his composure. "It's a well-known fact that being bitten induces a kind of euphoria..."
"Only in the survivors." She said sagely, then noticed scratches on his side, the marks of five perfectly placed fingernails leading from just under his right nipple all the way to his waist. She traced them with a shaky finger, and said softly, "Poor Giles."
"Buffy, please s-s-stop." She ignored him, ostensibly looking for more injuries. He was deliciously warm. She decided she liked touching him. She slid closer.
"Ahh... Buffy, I'm not thinking too clearly at the moment..." Her gentle caresses were driving him crazy.
"What else did they do to you?" she crooned, scooting closer. "Tell me... Riley said you were nuzzling them."
"Probably some form of hypnosis... I managed to resist... somewhat. They were very powerful."
"You resisted?" She leaned against him, not even pretending anymore. Her hands explored his exposed torso with increasing boldness. 'Kinda like I did when Dracula came into my room,' she thought guiltily. 'This is all my fault.'
"Y-y-y-y-y-esss..." 'Much as I am now...' he thought shakily as he brushed a lock of hair back out of her eyes. 'Which is to say, not much at all.'
"I wonder... did they do something like this?" She trailed her tongue up the uninjured side of his neck, finding an interesting spot behind his ear. He fought the urge to pull her head towards him.
"Ahh... yes, I do seem to remember s-something like that..."
"Did you resist then? Or, maybe... when they did this?" She nibbled her way back down and settled on his throbbing jugular. He yelped as she marked him, using just enough force to bruise without breaking the skin.
"Uh... huungghhh..." His eyes rolled back into his head. He gulped for air and grasped for the shreds of his tattered reason. He knew it would be his last effort. Control was heading towards the horizon at a jaunty clip. She teased his ear with her tongue as he begged, "Buffy... please, stop. Y-you're f-feeling the effects as-as well... it's a... residual effect of... interrupted vah-vah-vampire seduction... oh, dear God..."
She shut him up completely by giving his mouth something else to do. She teased him for a minute with tiny, lipping kisses, watching with satisfaction as his expression melted into one of complete pleasure. She decided to stop playing around and kiss him for real. So, she did.
The kiss was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Dracula's kiss brought confusion and weakness. This one brought only clarity.
Giles got over his surprise in a hurry, holding her head with one hand while the other pulled her tight against him. He murmured her name against her lips, then kissed her again with the kind of passion she wished Riley could muster. Riley... Riley, who? It was all Giles... his hands, his chest, his heart beating frantically against hers, his mouth... oh, that mouth...
She didn't break away until the need for oxygen became urgent. They stared at each other, panting. Her eyes were glazed, but she managed to gasp, "Oh, you're good. You're really good."
"Thank you. And, I get better with practice." He kissed her thoroughly once more, and she moaned and squirmed in his arms, sliding her hands under his shirt and around his shoulders.
She broke away again, laughing breathlessly. "I can't believe you said that. I can't believe you did that!" She was sure of one thing, though. She wanted him to do it again. Lots of times.
"Neither can I. Buffy, seriously, you should, ah, leave. Now. I'm not safe to be around. We're not safe together..."
"Who says I wanna be safe?" She held his gaze and straddled his lap carefully. "Maybe I wanna be wild." She kissed the tip of his nose, watching as the corners of his mouth quirked upward. "With you."
"What about Riley?" He was woozy, but not that woozy.
"Riley, who?" she said without thinking.
She'd never heard her Watcher... ex-Watcher... growl before. It was sexy.
********
Xander knocked on Giles' door at nine o'clock the next morning, wondering if he should've come by earlier. Was it his fault Anya had decided to check up on him when his shift ended? He was smiling to himself when the door swung open and revealed a very disheveled Slayer wearing an over-large robe.
"Buffy! You're still here. You look like you just woke up... unless there's a new fashion trend I'm not aware of."
"Hey, Xand. C'mon in." She ignored his joking and shuffled back into the darkened apartment.
"No lights? Where's Giles? Did he try and sneak out? Is he okay?"
She curled up on the couch, sipping something from a steaming mug. "Hold it right there, or I won't be able to keep track. We just got up, in the bathroom, no, he was here all night, and yes, he's fine."
He gave her a nervous grin. "Great. Then why are you all 'Lost Weekend-y?' You're missing class, by the way."
"I don't know, and I know."
"Y'know, my brain doesn't want to work that hard this early in the morning. I'm not asking any more questions."
"Sorry." She looked up as Giles wandered in from the hall. He was wearing black silk pajama bottoms. Nothing else. "Hey, there you are. I thought you fell in."
Giles gave her a sleepy glare, then noticed Xander. "Um, hello. I didn't hear you come in."
"That's obvious. You two look like you've been on a binge." He stared at them, alternating between Buffy and Giles until they began to shift uncomfortably. "Something's going on, right? Something nasty. You guys aren't over that whole Dracula thing yet, are you?" He gestured nervously at them. "I'm not gonna start eating bugs again, am I? Because that bites. And crunches." He gave a horrified shudder.
"No, Xander, we're all fine, now. I think." Giles rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. "There were some... residual effects from our encounter, but they're gone now."
"Good." He looked at Buffy, looking forlorn and lost on the couch, then back up at Giles, standing rigidly across the room. He was definitely interrupting something. He jumped to his feet. "Okay. I was just checking on you guys. You've been checked. So, I'm going."
"Bye, Xander." Buffy didn't get up. She was staring at Giles, her blue eyes wide and searching.
"Yes, good-bye." Giles didn't move either, so Xander let himself out.
"Now that was weird," he commented to the air as he headed for his car.
********
"So." Buffy continued to hold Giles' eyes, looking for something to pin her hopes on. The vampiric compulsion was gone, but her heart still went all melty when she looked at him. She patted the cushion beside her, and he finally crossed the room and sat uncomfortably, leaving room between them.
"You hated it, didn't you?"
"What? Oh. No, of course not." He realized her timidity wasn't because she was horrified at spending the night with her forty-something Watcher. She thought he was horrified! "No, Buffy... not that. Not that at all."
She relaxed a little bit. "Good. It's nice to know I'm not gross or anything."
He gave her the gentlest of smiles, and touched her shoulder with his fingertips. "Never gross. You're beautiful."
She looked down, pleased beyond reason. "Thank you. So are you."
He made a scoffing noise. "Oh, yes, I'm sure I compare quite favorably to a virile twenty-one-year-old soldier."
She looked up at him, the truth in her eyes. "You're right. There's no comparison. You blew him away."
He looked stunned, then pleased, then remorseful again. He reached for his teacup and sipped carefully, hoping the familiar routine would ease his frazzled nerves.
"So what do we do now?" She grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her to mask her insecurity. It only served to highlight it.
"What do you want to do, Buffy? Simply go on as before? Put this behind us?"
"Pretend it didn't happen?" she added.
"Yes."
"No."
He looked at her sharply, confused.
"I don't think I can. I mean, I have all these... feelings... inside. The vamp thrall is gone, but they're still there. For Riley. For you. I don't know what to do."
"I wish I could help you, but I'm as flummoxed as you are. And embarrassed." He looked directly into her sad eyes. "And... delighted. And ashamed. And..." He cupped her face in his hand and brushed her cheek with his thumb. His eyes continued where his voice failed. 'And I very much want to do it again,' he thought helplessly.
Her eyes agreed, but her mouth said, "This changes everything."
His mouth said, "Perhaps," but his heart said, 'This changes nothing.'
He pulled away, stood and began pacing. "Buffy, there's something I need to tell you."
"It's bad, whatever it is."
He stopped mid-stride. "Why do you say that?"
"Because, you're pacing, and rubbing the back of your neck. And, you pinched your nose under your glasses. Big-time warning signs. Apocalyptic scale."
He managed a smile at her description. She knew him so well. He forced himself to sit back down, turning on the couch to face her. He slid his hand under his bent knee to hide its shaking.
He sat there so long Buffy began to fidget. "I don't think this qualifies as talking."
"No. I'm sorry. This isn't easy."
"Giles? What is it?" Dread began to close itself around her heart.
"Buffy, I haven't been your Watcher for a long time. Over a year." He hesitated, and her face shifted. Suddenly, she knew.
"You're leaving."
"I... I'm going back to England."
She sat stunned for a moment. "No." Her voice shook.
"You no longer need a Watcher. You've come so far... I'm very proud of you." He stood and started his pacing again.
"No." She shook her head stubbornly.
"Buffy..."
"You can't leave now. Not when... when I'm just starting to figure things out."
"What things?"
"You, you big idiot! This! Us! What's going on! Why I can't sleep unless I've staked a vampire! Why I dream about you when I'm supposed to be dreaming about Riley! Why I don't know how to act, or what to say around you anymore, because I'm so..." She jumped to her feet and grabbed him by the shoulders. "I think I'm in love with you, and you're leaving? Uh uh, no way, not gonna happen."
"I've already made the reservations... you think what?"
"You heard me. This... vamp thrall thing sorta pushed things along, but the feelings were already there." Her hands slid from his shoulders to his neck and caressed the skin gently. "They were already there for you, too... right? Please say I'm right..."
He didn't have to say anything. It was all in his eyes. The expressive green orbs were boring into her, feeding his emotion to her like a wire feeds electricity to a socket. The words wouldn't form, his tongue wouldn't move. He was helpless, again.
Finally, she spoke, her voice soft and caring. "You didn't have any reason to stay, before. I was ignoring you, pretending you didn't have a place in my life. But you do. You're the other half of me... the taller, smarter, older, not-overconfident, level-headed part of me."
He grinned sheepishly at her turn of phrase. She always had such a unique way of putting things.
She smiled back hopefully. "You're my Watcher. It's in your blood, just like Slaying is in mine. We're connected. Different. Special." He shuddered as she trailed her fingers through the hair on his chest. "Say something... please..."
He smiled, then. "I love you."
She pulled him in for a long, healing embrace. So right, so perfect, it almost hurt. "Hold me, Giles. Don't let go."
"I won't. Not now. Not ever. Not even if you change your mind," he vowed, his voice muffled by her hair.
She rested against him, truly relaxing for the first time since the combination spell had opened her mind to new possibilities. "I won't. This is different."
"Yes."
He bent to kiss her, then, allowing the love he'd hidden before to come bubbling to the surface. He had to fight the laughter that wanted to spill out. It would probably confuse her. He fed his passion to her with his lips and tongue, telling her plainly of his fidelity in no uncertain terms.
He broke the kiss slowly, and she rested her head against his warm chest again. "Giles?"
"Yes, love?"
"I'm scared."
He chuckled. "So am I."
"This changes everything, doesn't it?"
This time, his mouth and his mind agreed. "Yes. It does."
The Beginning