Buffy Story Ideas

Out of the Something Blue (FR13)

mmooch — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 17:09:08 GMT

Out of the Something Blue (FR13)
Author: mmooch
Summary: Wolfram & Hart didn’t expect to lose one of their best young lawyers quite like this.
Crossover: none, unless you count Angel as a crossover.
Characters: Lindsey, Holland Manners, Giles, Spike and Buffy.
Challenge: CYA (Choose Your Author) over at livejournal. The request I got was this:

**I'd love an AU Buffy/Lindsey. As for what the AU is... have fun with it! If you can make it be wacky, sure, why not? I'd prefer Angel not be in it, but if it's really minor to make the plot work, that's okay.**

Timeline: AU ‘Something Blue’ for BtVS and post-‘IWRY’ for AtS.
Warning: non-canon death.
Rating: pretty mild, maybe FR13.
Word Count: 1830
Thanks to my beta: JacobPhoenix.
Special thanks to akat, cloudesongurl and BuffyCharmed for providing the wonderful fanart to serve as inspiration for the story.
Disclaimer: BtVS and AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

fanart by cloudesongurl

Wolfram & Hart, LA

After he finished listening to his superior’s initial presentation, Lindsey shook his head slightly in bewilderment. The firm wanted him to bring information to Buffy Summers in Sunnydale. Normally being a messenger wouldn’t be an issue, but she was a special case. “Why exactly are we helping the Slayer? Isn’t she, you know, on the side of good?”

Holland Manners understood his protégé’s concern, for it had been his as well. However, Holland had years of experience to temper his reactions; he knew that sometimes you had to* choose between enemies. “But she is just one girl – albeit one with friends, unlike most Slayers. This group in Sunnydale is a bigger problem at the moment; one we would like her to take care of for us,” he explained. “In order for that to happen, she needs just enough information to cause her to go after them herself. If we’re lucky, she’ll die in the attempt.”

“So what do you want me to tell her?” Lindsey asked, knowing that any further arguments from him would be ignored. Worse, they might hurt his chances for advancement later on. It was better to just agree.

“Here’s the packet. Oh, and visit the salon; we thought a more…rugged look would appeal to her more than the preppy lawyer look. If she’s attracted to you, it increases the likelihood that you can get her to trust you.” Holland grinned widely. “Gotta love those teenage hormones!”

fanart by akat

Giles’ apartment
Days later…

After he re-read the same passage for the fourth time, Giles set the tome down, pulled his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. Apparently researching couldn’t take his mind off his missing Slayer. He stood up to stretch his legs while he contemplated Willow’s punishment. If anything happened to Buffy because of that sloppy, selfish spell she cast…

A few seconds later, Spike called out from his seat on the couch, “Oi! Watcher! Quit your pacing! It’s not gonna bring the Slayer back any sooner and it’s distracting me from my show!”

Just like the old stories where saying a name caused someone to appear, Buffy breezed through the door, barely glancing at Giles as she passed. “Hey, Giles!” she called out and kept going to the couch to block Spike’s view of the TV. “Hi, Spike,” she greeted, then leaned down to slap him in the chest. “Bye, Spike,” she quipped as he disintegrated into ash.

Giles just stood there, speechless, as his Slayer grinned madly at the weapon in her hand. What had she done?!

“Look, Giles!” Buffy exclaimed excitedly, showing off her new ‘toy’. “If I arm the weapon by pushing these two buttons, all I have to do is slap a vampire over the heart with my hand and this sliver of wood will come up from under my sleeve and jab in like a needle. I don’t even have to hit them that hard! Isn’t it cool?! I’m not sure what kind of wood it is, but obviously it’s really flexible to curve like that and not hit me.”

“Buffy! You killed Spike!” Giles cried out, finally having found his ability to speak. “We needed him to--”

She cut off his rant, “Actually, we didn’t. Hubby’s already taken care of the Initiative. That’s what those soldier guys were called, by the way.”

Instead of a happy expression at her news, Giles looked extremely concerned. “So Willow’s spell did affect you after all,” he concluded. “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way--”

She cut him off again, “So it was Willow who put the spell on us! That explains a lot. Oh, and you can’t interfere with us; I wouldn’t even want you to if you could. Now that he’s free of Evil Inc., Lindsey is a pretty good guy.”

“What do you mean he’s free of them?” Giles inquired. “Simply because he married you? I would think they would try to control you through him.”

Buffy shot him a grin that usually meant some vampire or demon was about to die; the ‘good’ equivalent of an ‘evil’ grin. “They tried, but found out that it’s better to leave us alone. All bets would be off if we became a problem for them, but honestly…as long as they stay out of Sunnydale and away from our families, I’m not going to LA to fight them. I have enough trouble keeping up with things here. Angel and his group can worry about those guys.”

Intrigued by her comment, Giles asked, “What happened when they tried to use Lindsey?”

“When we got off the plane in Hawaii – where Linds was taking me for a quick honeymoon – this sorcerer guy tried to cast a spell on Linds while the vamps with him came after me. The magick rebounded, killing the sorcerer and the vamps. That happened a couple more times in different ways, but all ending with the people/beings involved getting toasted. Guess that what the Mage dude meant by ‘no magick tearing us asunder’ during the soul-binding spell. Anyway, they decided not to try anymore.”

Now the Watcher was truly alarmed. “Soul-binding spell?!”

Buffy just shrugged. “Linds was worried after we did the wedding thing with a justice of the peace that either you guys or Wolfram & Hart would make us get an annulment, so we went to this demon reader-slash-karaoke singer in LA, who directed us to somebody who could bind our souls…if he wanted to. Apparently it’s kinda a big deal to do the ritual he did for us; only happens like once a century or so, and our souls have to be compatible or something. Now nothing can tear us apart except for death, and if that happens, whoever caused our deaths will die too.”

She got a thoughtful look on her face and wondered aloud, “Wonder what that would mean if it was because of natural causes…Oh, or an accident! I hope that there’s a loophole for accidents!”

“Buffy! Focus!” Giles demanded, terribly worried about what this would mean for her. “How do you know this isn’t a setup by his employers?”

“Well, apart from those people dying when they tried to interfere, I guess it’s because the Mage who did the ritual was the same one who helped us trick Faith into believing she freed Angelus last spring. And he said to tell you that ‘there is no favor owed for this’. If this ritual is done, there cannot be strings attached by anyone.”

When he still looked concerned, Buffy tried to assure him, “Don’t worry…part of the deal with soul-bindings is that we can’t betray or intentionally hurt each other. Even accidentally hurting each other has limits. Like he can’t get drunk and spill secrets to a bad guy about my weaknesses,” she explained. “He can forget my birthday or our anniversary, though, so I’ll have to show him why that’s a bad idea.”

Deciding to set that aside for the moment until he could research it further, Giles went back to his first concern, “What about the soldiers?”

Before she could answer, there was a knock at the door. When Buffy answered, the young lawyer who first appeared on Giles’ doorstep a few days ago was there again, but sporting a clean-cut appearance instead of the scruffy one he had previously.

“Hello, darlin’,” he drawled as he leaned down to kiss his bride.

“Hey, sweetie,” Buffy replied after the kiss went too long and Giles had to cough several times to remind them they weren’t alone. “How’d it go?”

“Mr. Giles,” Lindsey acknowledged the older man’s presence with a handshake. Then he answered Buffy’s question, “The secret base is emptied. The soldiers’ loyalty only lasted until they found out that demons weren’t the only things being experimented on by their bosses.”

“Dear lord! Even their own people?” Giles exclaimed.

Lindsey nodded, wrapping his arm around Buffy and holding her tight to his side. The pair sat down in one of Giles’ chairs together, looking entirely too cute for being enemies just days before. “They really wanted super soldiers, and didn’t care what they had to do to get them. The scientists involved in the experiments were arrested and on their way to Leavenworth. The college will have a few less professors tomorrow and maybe even several dozen students as well.”

“Hmm, wonder if I know any of them,” Buffy mused.

“I have a list of names if you’re really interested,” Lindsey offered.

“Perhaps later,” Giles answered for Buffy. “First I’d like to know why Buffy staked Spike when she came in.”

“With the Initiative taken care of, why keep him around? After all the crap he’s put us through, Lindsey thought I’d enjoy getting rid of him as a wedding present.” She looked at her husband with a bright smile and said, “He was right, too. I loved it!”

“But he was harmless,” Giles protested. “Who knows what kind of information we could have gotten from him--”

This time it was Lindsey who interrupted him, “First of all, he was hardly ‘harmless’. Simply because he wasn’t able to physically act on his evil impulses himself doesn’t mean that he couldn’t hurt you in other ways. Believe me; some of the most dangerous creatures I dealt with at Wolfram & Hart never raised a finger or tentacle against another being. Mind games can sometimes cause more damage than a blow to the body. Secondly, what’s to say that you could trust anything Spike told you?”

“Besides…” Buffy interjected, “Now you don’t have to put up with his whining all the time.”

That was the clincher for Giles. It was his turn to grin madly at the thought he no longer had to deal with the bleached vampire. “That’s true!” he exclaimed giddily, then sobered as he looked at the happy couple curled up in the chair next to him. “That doesn’t mean that I trust you just yet. I will need to speak to the Mage and verify your story first. Even then, if I find out you’ve hurt Buffy, I’ll feed you to the Hellmouth, one piece at a time,” he growled out menacingly.

Lindsey blinked hard at the warning. This guy could put some of his former superiors to shame when it came to intimidation. They’d better make sure Giles never went evil or there’d be big trouble. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied seriously. Somehow he knew that while Buffy could be flippant with the man, it wasn’t a good idea if he tried – at least until there was some trust between them.

“Well, now that you’ve gotten one parental figure’s death threat, let’s go talk to my mother and explain how a friend’s spell caused us to get married,” Buffy quipped, pulling her hubby up from the chair.

Giles just chuckled at the young man’s almost fearful expression. This could be fun to watch…if he could convince Buffy to let him tag along.

fanart by BuffyCharmed

A/N: Sorry for the abruptness of the story, but I had a death in the family and had to rush to get this out like I had promised before leaving for the funeral.

I Was Wrong About You (mild FRT)

mmooch — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:19:06 GMT

Summary: Travers talks to Giles after his return to England in season 6. WARNING: Nice Travers. Not Giles-friendly, but not bashing…I think.

Warning: I don’t know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Rating: maybe a mild FRT?

Timeline: season 6, after ‘Tabula Rasa’.

Challenge: In keeping with my attempts to redeem unlikeable characters, now it’s Travers’ turn for a humanizing makeover.

A/N: Consider this my vent fic (or at least one of them) for Giles’ departure.

Thanks to my betas: zigpal, AshDawnSoulmates, and AerynSpeedleCaine.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Watchers Council HQ

Settling in his chair, Giles inquired warily, “You wanted to see me, Quentin?” He had just returned to England a few days ago, and seeing Travers wasn’t high on his list of things to do.

Travers set aside the report on the other Watcher’s recent movements and said, “Yes. I’m concerned about your repeated trips back to England the last few months. Is there something you are searching for, and why haven’t you requested the Council’s help in locating it? I can only assume that since the world hasn’t been turned into a hell dimension that your Slayer was successful in defeating Glorificus.”

Giles nodded, “She was.”

“Then what is the newest threat that has you bouncing back and forth across the Pond like a tennis ball at Wimbledon?” Travers inquired with concern.

“No threat,” Giles assured him curtly.

Sensing there was more to this, Travers pressed on. “Did something happen to Miss Summers?”

“You could say that.” When Travers continued to stare at him, Giles sighed, resigned to the fact he’d have to go into more detail. “Buffy kept Glory occupied long enough that the hellgoddess was unable to use the Key to return to her dimension. Unfortunately, one of her followers had already started cutting the Key’s body to start the ritual. When Buffy got there, the portal had begun to open. With only two choices to save the world, Buffy had to decide whether to sacrifice herself or the Key.”

“Why would the Slayer’s blood work to close the portal?” the older Watcher demanded.

Giles was unwilling to out Dawn to his co-workers, even now that the threat was past. “Something the monks told her…about tying the Key to Buffy through blood,” he hedged.

Nodding his head in understanding, Travers remarked calmly, “Ahh, knowing the girl, I’m guessing she chose to sacrifice herself.”

“Yes.”

“Seeing as how there hasn’t been another Slayer Called by Miss Summers’ death, I will assume that the line runs through the other one,” Travers commented with obvious disdain for the rogue Slayer. “Most unfortunate. However, I hear that she turned herself into the police. Was that solely to hide from the Council, or do you believe she is sincere in her desire for redemption?”

Caught off-guard by the inquiry, Giles’ response was less than Gilesy, “Huh?”

Travers decided to be more blunt in his inquiry this time. “I’m curious whether we should send a team to remove the rogue Slayer, or if you feel she deserves a second chance. We cannot allow the Hellmouth to remain unguarded – not with how active it has been over the last several years.”

Giles shook his head in confusion, muttering, “It isn’t unguarded.”

“I admire your faith in Miss Summers’ friends, but they are hardly adequate substitutes for a Slayer. While the vampire has the strength, what’s to stop him from changing sides again if he gets that chipped removed?” Travers asked with definite concern about what he deemed an untrustworthy ally.

“That’s not what I meant, Quentin. Buffy’s guarding the Hellmouth,” Giles corrected the other man.

It was Travers’ turn to be caught off-guard now. “I thought you said--”

Giles cut him off with a blunt, “They brought her back.”

Travers stood up and yelled in indignation, “What?! And you allowed that to happen?!”

Unsure of what bothered Travers more – the resurrection or the fact it was Buffy who was resurrected – Giles attempted to put the best spin on it he could, “They waited until I left the first time, then performed the spell to rescue Buffy from the hell dimension they believed she was in.”

“Her body disappeared into the portal?” After a momentary pause, Travers sat back down and asked, “What did they use as a focal point for the ritual?”

“Her body didn’t disappear,” Giles informed him, remembering the broken body at the base of the tower.

Travers’ confusion was plain when he demanded, “Then why would they believe she was in a hell dimension? While I haven’t had the best opinion of some of the things Miss Summers has done, she is a Warrior for the Light, and her soul wouldn’t go to hell without her body.”

“They didn’t know that.” In fact, Giles hadn’t been sure of that himself.

“How is Miss Summers faring?” Travers asked, sounding actually sincere in his concern for her well-being. Then a thought occurred to him and he inquired, “Wait! What are you doing back here without her?”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Giles explained, “I went back to Sunnydale when they informed me of Buffy’s return. She was…broken. After several weeks, I came to the realization that staying would only keep Buffy from becoming strong again. She was relying on me entirely too much to pick up the pieces for things. She even wanted me to assume parental responsibility for her sister when there were problems of discipline.”

“How long was she gone?”

Giles answered immediately, staring at his hands, “Almost five months.”

“So she was back for about what…a month, month and a half when you returned to England the second time?” Travers estimated.

“Six weeks,” Giles confirmed, unaware of the thin ice he was skating on with his reply.

Travers asked one last question of the Watcher before him, “Did you think that she was in hell, too?”

“I’m not sure what I thought, but we all found out the truth a couple days before I left. There was a demon who made us sing our deepest feelings and secrets. Buffy confessed that she was in ‘heaven’ – or at least she was at peace,” Giles admitted sadly.

Almost staring through the other man, Travers remarked coolly, “It isn’t often that I admit I’m wrong, but I have to say…I was wrong about you all those years ago.”

“What do you mean?” Giles asked bewilderedly.

“When I claimed you were too emotionally attached to your Slayer to be an effective Watcher. Clearly, you have a harder heart than I do,” Travers added, but there was no pride in his voice, only slight contempt.

Giles started to grow angry, and growled out, “What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

Remaining calm, Travers hypothesized, “Either you hate the young woman now, or you don’t care at all. It’s the only reasonable explanation why you’d leave her after something so traumatic.”

“I love her as if she were my own child!” Giles shouted.

The proclamation didn’t appear to affect Travers’ opinion though. He simply replied, “Huh, then you are more like Roger Wyndam-Pryce than I thought. His ‘love’ for Wesley seems about on par with your actions.”

Roger was one of the biggest prats that Giles knew. To be compared to him… “I’m nothing like that pillock!” he denied.

“You could have fooled me. This isn’t a broken leg she’s recovering from, Rupert.” Travers felt himself grow angry as well, so he took a moment to compose himself before reminding the younger Watcher, “Five months…she was gone for five months! Even if – for some unimaginable reason – she had been in a hell dimension and survived long enough to be rescued, she would have needed more time than a mere six weeks to recover.

“Strictly from a Watcher’s standpoint, she would need time before she could return to slaying. Add to that, the knowledge that she has to deal with where she was torn from and that it was her own friends that did it to her. Plus, from the sounds of it, she somehow has custody of her teenage sister? Not that there are any precedents for this sort of thing, but I’m rather astonished she hasn’t attempted suicide…or running away. The pressure on her right now must be overwhelming,” Travers finished sympathetically.

Giles was stunned by Travers’ words. “I’m surprised you sound so compassionate. Like you said before, you don’t like Buffy.”

“I never said I didn’t like Miss Summers,” Travers clarified. “Some of her choices, yes. Like having a boyfriend who’s a vampire – even one with a soul – that is a choice I feel is foolish. As for the woman herself, I find Miss Summers to be quite refreshing. I can see how her fighting spirit has helped her succeed so long on a Hellmouth.

“And she was quite right about our last visit; it was wrong to attempt to coerce her back into the Council by withholding information vital to the safety of the world. Call it an act of desperation on my part.” He thought for a moment, then added, “So what was your take on Faith?”

“Why?” Giles asked warily.

Travers answered as though it should be obvious to anyone with half a brain, “So she can assume responsibility of the Hellmouth.”

But apparently, Giles’ brain wasn’t up to its usual standards, because he said, “But Buffy’s back…I told you that.”

Deciding to treat Giles as a child, Travers explained as though he was speaking to his 8 year old nephew, “Clearly she cannot resume her duties as Slayer until she’s stronger.” He pushed the button for the intercom, and ordered his secretary to come in with her pad. Turning back to Giles, he inquired, “Other than schooling for her sister, what else will we need to offer Miss Summers to get her to take a holiday?”

“She has bills she needs to pay in order to keep her home,” Giles answered in a daze, starting to wonder if Travers had been possessed somehow. This wasn’t the man he saw several months ago.

“Why didn’t you tell us this? A Slayer needs shelter. While her mother was alive, we didn’t see a need to interfere, but once her financial support was gone, you should have told us,” Travers chastised Giles.

“I didn’t think you’d care,” Giles shot back.

Travers nodded, “Valid point considering our past encounters where Miss Summers is concerned. Alright, so we’ll take care of all of her outstanding debts, and make sure that her home is paid for when she’s ready to return to the Hellmouth. We’ll have to find out where she’d like to go during this recovery period.”

“Someplace warm that speaks English as a primary language,” Giles responded automatically before double-checking, “You’re serious about doing this?”

“Of course. Miss Summers has given the world over five years of service, and has died twice in the line of duty; the least we could do is allow her the chance to regain herself before asking her to resume slaying. Now, what is your opinion on the other Slayer?” Travers asked for the third time.

“Uh, oh…” Giles thought for a moment, then concluded, “Faith seemed genuine in her search for redemption. I’d suggest having somebody she trusts to help her, though. Right now, the only one who fits that description is Angel.”

“I’d feel better if we had a Watcher there to keep an eye on things as well,” Travers thought aloud, wondering if he could get Diane’s cousin to accept the job. After all, from Diane’s accounts, she got along decently with Faith. Maybe with both of them caring about the fallen Watcher, Faith and Michael would get along well.

Giles’ words cut off that line of thought, “I suppose I could go…” He guessed that given Wesley’s last encounter with Faith, he would refuse to work with her again, and that she wouldn’t trust any other Watchers. That meant he was the only choice.

Disappointed that he’d return for Faith, but not for his own Slayer, Travers turned to his secretary, who had be patiently waiting for orders of some kind. “Susan, please get Miss Summers on the phone. I need to speak with her. Oh, and start looking for schools for teenagers. Start with Australia. Sydney might be a good choice. I’d like to have a few choices to offer her when I present this.

He looked back at Giles and said, “I’d like some privacy, if you don’t mind, Rupert. You can wait in the outer office while I speak to her. That way, if she has any questions – especially about my motives – you can reassure her.”

~~~~~~
A bit later…

Travers leaned back in his chair, staring at the phone. He wasn’t sure what to make of Miss Summers’ attitude. He expected suspicion, perhaps some hostility. He certainly didn’t think she’d agree to his offer right away. What made it even more worrisome was the fact she considered it some kind of order of the Council that she go to Sydney.

Even the news that they were taking care of her financial woes was met with a soft murmur of gratitude from the resurrected blonde. She appreciated not having to worry about losing her home or how to feed herself and her sister.

When he explained that he would be getting Faith released so she could watch the Hellmouth in her absence, and that Rupert offered to resume his duties as Watcher in Sunnydale, Quentin could have sworn he heard a slight sob on the other end of the line. He shook his head sadly, wondering if Rupert knew just how much he had hurt the young woman by abandoning her.

Perhaps with time, Miss Summers would be healed enough to tell him. Quentin certainly hoped so. Those two together were a formidable force to be reckoned with, and he should know. When he offered to get Rupert on the phone, she begged off, saying that she needed to get packing for the move.

But for now, the main thing was to get Miss Summers away from the Hellmouth so she could recover, and to get the Slayer out of prison so she could do her duty. Sorting out Rupert’s problem would have to wait until later.

A/N: Oi, nice Travers and unintentionally cruel Giles wasn’t very fun to write. Well, mostly just the Giles part was unpleasant for me. I kinda liked writing Travers as a nice person for once.

The Watcher Nuzzles (FRAO)

mmooch — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:18:33 GMT

The Watcher Nuzzles
Summary: The Sisters’ thrall doesn’t wear off after Giles leaves the castle…at least not until it causes some changes in relationships.

Rating: Oi, I’m trying to write a smut scene, so it will be FRM/FRAO. Sorry if it sounds lame.

Timeline: season 5, post-‘Buffy vs. Dracula’.

Challenge: for the livejournal Drunken Giles Ficathon 2010.

14. This one takes a little off-roading, but the thought of it keeps making me giggle - what if the affect of the Three Sisters in Buffy v. Dracula didn't wear off immediately, and nuzzly, less-inhibited Giles continued for a day or two - extra love if Xander is the recipient of the nuzzling, love. {Sorry, couldn’t handle G/X, so I changed it to B/G.}
26. Giles/Buffy, any rating, a drunken Giles leads to some erotic displays of magic.

A/N: At first it was just gonna be #14, but then I got to the sex scene and decided to add #26.

Thanks to my betas: zigpal and AerynSpeedleCaine.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Dracula’s Castle

Riley raced to Buffy, hoping she could pull her Watcher away from the Three Sisters, seeing as how his own attempts failed miserably. You’d think the guy liked to be macked on by the undead or something. Hmm, Riley considered that for a second before shaking his head. Buffy would kill him – even if she had a thing for vampires, which between her ex, Angel, and Dracula, it seemed like she did.

He found her just as she staked Dracula. “Buff? You may need to come rescue Giles from the brides of Dracula. I don’t think he’s trying very hard to get away.”

“Okay, you go on ahead and make sure they don’t turn him into a snack. I’ll be right behind you,” she promised. A couple more stakes to the heart, and Buffy was certain that ol’ Drac wouldn’t come back in her town.

~~~~~~

The Sisters’ pit
A bit later…

When Buffy got to the room where the Sisters had Giles ‘hostage’, the strangest feeling overwhelmed her. If it was anyone else, she’d almost think she was jealous of those skanky vampire hos. But this was her Watcher, and he was old and gross, and didn’t have a shirt anymore…and-and what was her point again? Oh right, she couldn’t be jealous of him with other females!

She jumped into the pit, staking all three Sisters before they could get off her Watcher. Okay, maybe that was the wrong way of putting it, but they were dead and Giles’ life and virtue were saved.

The problem came when she tried to help him get out of the sunken room. He was acting like she did when she went all Cave!Slayer the previous year. Only, he was more cuddly than violent. He was like one of those amorous drunk people! ‘Just what my confused emotions needed right now,’ she thought to herself.

~~~~~~

Giles’ apartment

By the time they reach Giles’ place, Buffy wasn’t the only one uncomfortable with the nuzzly Watcher. Xander felt awkward, mostly because of the triangle issue, and Riley was irritated, mostly at his girlfriend, who didn’t seem to be fighting the old man off. What was it with those two? Did they have some kind of vampire fetish?

A shocked gasp from Buffy and a groan from Xander told the former Initiative member that those last thoughts were accidentally said out loud.

Fighting the urge to hurt him as bad as his comment hurt her, Buffy ground out, “If that’s what you really think, Riley, then you’d better leave before I say or do something that I might not regret.”

Apparently, the part of his brain responsible for keeping him alive and unmaimed went on vacation in the last hour or so, ‘cause Riley just snapped at her, “You’d like for me to leave, wouldn’t you? That way you can have sex with your Watcher. You never do normal relationships very well, so that should work out perfectly for you,” he spit out with disgust in her voice.

Oh, that did it! Buffy wasn’t worried about hurting his feelings anymore now. “At least I know from my mom’s memories of her night with him that he wouldn’t leave a woman hanging…unlike some guys I know,” she threw back in his face, pointedly glancing downward on his body.

Riley either didn’t hear the slight on his manhood, or more likely, chose to ignore it so he could focus on the bigger issue – at least in his mind, “Your mother slept with him? You are such a classic example of the Electra Complex!”

Xander guessed that Riley wasn’t referring to the Marvel character, so he hauled off and punched Riley in the jaw. He figured he’d better do it before Riley said something even worse that made Buffy hit him; her angry punches could kill a normal human being.

“You know, I thought you were good for Buffy; a nice change of pace from Deadboy. You’re just like him, though,” Buffy’s defender sneered at the fallen man, before tacking on a correction, “Except for the vampire part. You want her to be your ideal woman. Giles is the opposite of both of you. He sees her flaws and cares about her anyway. You know what? If they got together as a couple, they’d be great for each other! Much better than a self-absorbed jerk like you!”

“You really mean that?” Buffy asked her best friend/brother-figure, forgetting all about her ex-boyfriend.

Thinking it over for a second, Xander nodded slowly, “Wow, I actually do. Weird, huh. Seriously though, Buff. Besides the Watcher/Slayer deal, you’ve got the brain/muscle, the quiet/outgoing…and probably a bunch more if I really thought about it,” he said with a smile.

“The nancy Soldier-boy is gone,” Giles announced before sticking his head back in Buffy’s neck.

Looking where the asshole used to be, Buffy quipped bitterly, “So he is. Guess that’s one more failed relationship for me.”

“Whatcha gonna do about him?” Xander inquired, gesturing at Buffy’s newest attachment.

Buffy sighed. The responsible thing or the fun thing? She sighed again and answered, “Nothing…until he’s sobered up – or whatever it is he needs to do to get back to Giles again. Then I can think about it with a clearer head.”

“Well, no offense, but just because I think you two would be great together, doesn’t mean I want any previews. I’m gonna take off.” Xander stopped at the door and yelled over his shoulder, “Call if you need anything, ‘k?”

Next day…

After 24 hours of almost constant cuddling with her Watcher, Buffy was about to snap. She was torn between screaming in frustration or throwing him on the bed and having her way with him. Then that shrinking part of her conscience would speak up, reminding her that it would be wrong of her to take advantage of him while he was like this.

According to Wes – who they called for help when it was obvious that Giles wasn’t going to be of any use – and Willow’s research the night before, the Sisters’ affect would wear off in a day or two…based on past reports where their victim was left alive. That meant Buffy just had to be strong for another day. She just wasn’t sure she’d last that long.

“I’m telling you, Willow,” Buffy whimpered over the phone while Giles was going to the bathroom. “Anymore of this and I can’t be held responsible.”

Willow murmured sympathetically, “Would it help if I came over to watch him for a while?”

“Remember what it was like yesterday when I tried to leave while he was taking a shower?” Buffy replied, referring to her only attempt to get some time away from Giles.

“Oh…right.” Willow’s wince could almost be heard over the phone. Then she checked, “How are the bruises on your arms where he grabbed you?”

“They’re fine,” Buffy said, not worried about the physical pain. It was the emotional that was hurting more at the moment.

“Maybe that should be telling you that Giles really wants you – like deep down wants you, and not just the thrall,” Willow offered as a hypothesis. She also remembered how down Giles was before Dracula showed up, and that he was planning to leave Sunnydale because he didn’t feel needed by Buffy anymore, but didn’t want to betray his trust by mentioning it now.

Sighing, Buffy leaned back against the door jam, looking at the living room. “Still, it should be when he’s rational enough to make the choice on his own. Otherwise it feels like I’d be coercing him,” she admitted.

“Rational? Coercing? Gee, Buffy, you’re already sounding more like Giles,” the redheaded Wicca teased, hoping to get a smile out of her best friend.

And it worked…briefly. Buffy rolled her eyes, then pleaded, “Haha, very funny, Willow. Just do me a favor and see if there’s a way to speed up the wearing off thing?”

“Okay,” Willow promised. Before she hung up, she called out, “Hey, Buffy?”

“Yeah, Will?”

“Just wanted to tell you that I’m happy for you guys. I hope it all works out.”

Hanging up the phone, Buffy muttered, “Me, too.”

Giles popped up behind her and resumed his nuzzling, “There’s my lovely Slayer. I missed you while I was freshening up.”

Buffy bit her lip in frustration and blinked away the tears that welled up. Suddenly it was too much for her and she pulled away from him. “I’m sorry, Giles…I need to use the bathroom,” she told him with a hint of wavering in her voice that she couldn’t hide.

Before he could stop her, she raced into the room and locked the door, praying that he didn’t decide to pick the lock like he did the day before when she took a shower. When it didn’t sound like he was coming in, she started the shower and let herself break down in tears.

~~~~~~

Outside the bathroom…

Giles stood at the door, listening to his Slayer cry over the sound of the water. ‘You prat,’ he berated himself. ‘You just had to push her one last time, didn’t you?’

While he was in the shower, he had felt the last of the Sisters’ thrall leave him. Giles stood there as the memories of the previous day swept over him. The way he had thrown himself at his Slayer, and her tender care of him, in spite of how uncomfortable he’d made her.

Even the simple act of releasing him from his restraints when he seemed determined to hurt himself to get to her.

After Xander had left, and Giles was getting a bit too frisky, Buffy had tried to tie him up for both their sakes. When she saw it wouldn’t fully stop him, she let him go; said she was unwilling to hurt him to keep him in line.

Then he remembered overhearing her fight with Riley. He hadn’t paid attention while it was going on because he was too busy memorizing every inch of her skin, but now he did. And Xander’s defense of both of them…and his approval of a relationship between them. A relationship!

For all of his powers of observation when it came to matters of slaying, the Watcher couldn’t pinpoint a specific moment in time that he’d fallen in love with his Slayer. Maybe brief flashes here and there, but those were too quick to assume anything…right? Yet here he was, standing in his hallway, listening to her cry because he wanted to be sure she really wanted him – despite hearing her confess it to Willow just moments before.

He had to make this up to her somehow.

First he needed a way to convince her he wasn’t enthralled anymore. But how?

~~~~~~

A bit later…

Buffy came out of the bathroom, emotionally exhausted from her crying jag and found Giles asleep on the couch. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight, but a tiny part of her was actually missing the cuddly bear – even with the hell it put her through. Man, was she sick or what?

Deciding to take advantage of her good fortune, she slipped past him, up the stairs to his loft to take a nap of her own. Maybe she’d get lucky and he’d sleep until the thrall was over.

A few hours later, she woke up to see Giles standing over her. She waited warily to see what he did or said.

Sounding like her stuffy Watcher once more, Giles started the conversation, “Buffy, I feel the need to apologize for my inappropriate behavior this last day.”

“Giles! You’re you again!” Buffy declared happily, fighting the urge to hug him. After all, wasn’t the overabundance of hugs the problem currently?

“Indeed. And I unfortunately recall everything.” He started pacing to avoid looking at her in his bed. “I don’t even know where to begin--”

Buffy interjected, “Hey, it’s not as if you could help yourself. It was like me and the beer thing,” she said with a shrug, trying to give him an easy out.

Giles kept his eyes lowered, not wanting her to see the desire still raging in his eyes. “Still, I know I made you horribly uncomfortable with my attentions.”

Taking a deep breath, she decided to throw caution to the wind. She was the Slayer, and ‘live in the moment’ was supposed to be her motto, right? ‘Carpe Diem’…she told Willow years ago. Well, now she wanted to ‘Carpe Giles’. “Maybe a little, but only ‘cause I didn’t feel like I could respond until you were you again and it wouldn’t be taking advantage of your altered state,” Buffy answered shyly, hoping he’d see what she was trying to say.

The way Giles smiled broadly made her think he did. Especially when he answered almost Ripperishly, “I’m no longer in an altered state, but feel free to take advantage of me all you’d like.”

Buffy shuddered at the desire she felt all over. “You’re sure that there’s no thrall leftovers clouding up your judgment?” she panted out, worried at the un-Gilesy way he said that.

Giles’ eyes softened as he caressed her cheek. “The only thrall I feel is your natural thrall over me, love, but that hasn’t changed since the day we met – except to grow stronger each passing year. Are you sure that you don’t want to patch things up with Riley?” he asked, giving her one last opportunity for a relationship with somebody other than him. After tonight, he wasn’t leaving her until he was dead.

For a long moment, Buffy didn’t say anything. It wasn’t that she was considering leaving; it was that she honestly had forgotten who Riley was at that point. All she could think of was that Giles was touching her! The desire in her eyes kept Giles from worrying that it took so long for her to answer, “Not even if you weren’t interested.”

“I’d have to be a bloody eunuch not to be interested in you,” Giles declared, lowering himself to the bed. “Even then, it wouldn’t be a sure thing.”

Buffy shook her head, reaching to pull Giles in for a kiss. “No talking of eunuchs right now. I want to know about stevedores.”

“Anything for my goddess,” Giles vowed.

As they kissed, Giles felt the magick he had long repressed bubbling up through him, and without realizing it, they were transported to his fantasy of where he wanted to make love to his Slayer for the first time.

~~~~~~

Buffy opened her eyes and saw the library…before it was blown up. It wasn’t the only thing that had changed, either. She was in a gauzy, white teddy and Giles stood before her in red silk boxers. “What’s going on?” the Slayer asked breathlessly – partly from the scene, but also from the kiss.

Understanding that his innermost desires were responsible for this, Giles admitted freely, “I thought about where I really wanted our first time to be, and my magick brought us here.”

“Are we safe?” she asked, always a little unnerved when it came to magick – especially magick that whisked them away somewhere.

Giles’ smile reassured her just as much as his words did. “This is good magick; it won’t harm us. This is merely the setting for my greatest fantasy.”

That tingly feeling was back full force, so Buffy stepped back and ordered him, “Then fantasize away, Watcher-mine.”

With those words, a bed of rose petals of all colors appeared at Buffy’s feet. And by ‘bed’, it wasn’t simply a light scattering of them, it was several inches’ worth to cradle her body as he made love to her. The magick kept them from spreading apart. Right now, the only spreading apart to be done was the sweet lips protecting Buffy’s nectar.

Something Giles eagerly feasted on. “Dear lord, you’re like a sweet wine! So intoxicating!” he proclaimed in between drinks.

If she had been capable of counting, Buffy would have realized that she’d already climaxed more times with Giles than she ever did with Riley – and that included the possessed time in the frat house! And this was just the foreplay!

Finally, Buffy needed a breather, so she pulled on Giles’ arm to stop him. His look when he gazed up at her wasn’t smug with the knowledge that he’d pleased her so many times – although it would have been deserved if it had been. No, he gazed at her with love and worship in his eyes. That look humbled her like nothing else could have.

“My turn, lover,” she claimed, shifting so he could take her place on the petals. As he laid back, the bed changed to silk sheets, which was her fantasy. ‘Hmm, interactive fantasy room! Could be useful,’ she thought wantonly.

Taking her time to massage and kiss every inch of his body, Buffy had Giles in a paradox of boneless mush and rigid anticipation when she reached her prize…the last 8 or so inches she had yet to touch. Technically it was more than that, but the equation for finding area and other math things weren’t really on her mind. Except for maybe how much suction it would take to find out the volume of those 8+ inches.

Already on the brink from her build-up, Giles cried out, “Buffy, if you do what I think you’re planning on doing, I’ll cum!”

“Goody!” Buffy cheered. “Then I’ll get to see what you taste like.” Even though she learned to do this with her ex, she hadn’t really enjoyed it before. The power she had over her normally calm Watcher was an aphrodisiac to her though. Every lick, every suck, every pump of her hand caused him to writhe below her.

A few minutes later, she got her answer: an unusual mixture of smoky flavor like scotch, blended with the sweetness of a jelly donut. It was a combo she could get used to very easily.

They caressed each other for a few minutes, exchanging vows of love, until Giles got his second wind. When she felt him hardening, Buffy reached for him, but he brushed her hand away.

“Not this time, love. This time I want a different set of muscles grabbing me, urging me to release,” he rumbled in her ear.

His growly voice caused Buffy to whimper in desire, “Uh-huh.”

From the instant they connected, it felt like they were floating. The rest of the world ceased to exist for them. In…out…in…out…over and over…more times than they could count. When they went over the edge together, fireworks burst above them in the room.

Buffy caught her breath and commented, “Assuming it isn’t too hard to do this, I kinda like having a room of requirements for our sex times.”

The term confused her Watcher, who asked, “Room of requirements?”

“Harry Potter thing. Room gives you whatever you want to use inside the room. Like…if I were to say that I wanted chocolate body paint to draw on you with…” Buffy trailed off expectantly, and some paint appeared in her hand, so she sat up and grinned down at him with mischief in her eyes.

A/N: That was as smutty as I could write without bursting a blood vessel in my brain.

It Wasn't Me (mild FRT)

mmooch — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:36:11 GMT

It Wasn’t Me
Summary: Giles has just proposed to Buffy when he gets ‘proof’ she’s been cheating on him. She has to convince him she hasn’t.

Warning: I don’t know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Timeline: post-‘Chosen’, as per the challenge. The ‘Season 8’ comics are crazy, and therefore don’t exist in my world.

Rating: FRT…maybe? Probably not that high, but better safe than sorry.

Challenge: for the livejournal Drunken Giles Ficathon 2010

#29. Giles/Buffy, any rating, post Chosen. Giles and Buffy in an established relationship. Giles receives a photograph showing Buffy being intimate with another man. Its a ruse by the latest baddie. Giles gets drunk. Buffy has to convince him the photograph is a lie.

A/N: Sorry to any fans of the character who I made out to be the bad guy. Can’t say who ‘cause I want it to be a surprise.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission. ‘You are so Beautiful’ as made popular by Joe Crocker. Hanky alert if you want to listen to it.

Bath, England

Buffy bounced along the sidewalk, not at all concerned that she looked a little loony to the people she passed. She was happy and in love and if she had been cursed by gypsies, her soul would have been long gone by now. Her life couldn’t get more perfect, and it was all because of her Watcher, Rupert Giles.

Of course, he wasn’t simply her Watcher anymore. And he wasn’t just a friend, either. Nope, as of 12 hours ago, he was her fiancé!

It all started during the last battle with the First, when she tried to shut the door in his face after he conspired with Wood to kill Spike.

Flashback…

The door had only moved an inch before he grabbed it with his hand and forced it open again. Then he pushed past a stunned Buffy, into her room, and locked the door behind them.

He said the time had come to clear things up between them, once and for all…starting with the real reason he left her after finding out she was in heaven. It wasn’t because he thought she was being too dependent on him – although that much was true. The truth was that he was sick, really sick, and he didn’t want to be one more burden on her shoulders, which were already weighed down too much.

All of his head injuries over the years had finally taken their toll, and he was in serious danger of having multiple aneurysms. After having to bury her mother because of an aneurysm, he didn’t want her to see him die the same way. It took months of treatment, both natural and from the coven, but they finally removed the danger. He had the brain of a 20 year old…so to speak. It wasn’t a reversion, like with the band candy, though, he quickly assure his Slayer.

Then came the mess with Willow, and there wasn’t the time to say anything that he desperately wanted to say – especially after hearing about her and Spike. And before he could come back to Sunnydale to try and make things right with her, Watchers and Potentials started dying, and suddenly there they were, in Buffy’s bedroom.

Buffy was practically biting through her lip in agony, scared that Giles could have died and she wouldn’t have found out until after the fact, and even then, who knows how long it would have taken for the Council to tell her? As mad as she was with him for helping Wood, it was more that he didn’t just talk to her about Spike; that he went behind her back to get rid of the second strongest fighter they had. No matter how angry she was, and no matter what she just said to him, she couldn’t live without him – or at least knowing he was alive somewhere, ready to drop everything to come to her side.

Finally, she gave into her emotions and hugged him tightly, almost forgetting her strength. A slight gasp from Giles reminded her and she eased up…just a little. No way was she letting him go again.

Spike picked that moment to crawl through her window, after he tried her door and found it locked. He tried to get Giles into trouble with Buffy by tattling on the Watcher, but Buffy just snapped at the blond vampire to leave them alone. She softened her reply by saying that what they did was wrong, but it wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things. If Spike wanted to leave, that was his choice. Things were gonna be different though. Not liking the protective stance the Slayer had for the Watcher, Spike huffed a little before sweeping out of the room dramatically.

Stunned, Giles thanked Buffy for putting Spike in his place.

She further shocked him by caressing his cheek with her hand, saying that between the two Brits, there was no contest who she’d rather be with – recent words notwithstanding. Now that she knew the truth about his ‘abandoning’ her, all the anger she had held onto for over a year had vanished. All that remained was the warm feeling of home and security she had when they hugged for the first time after her resurrection.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Giles leaned down to give her the lightest, sweetest kiss she had ever gotten. Despite only lasting a second or two, it left her breathless. The smile on her dazed face emboldened him to kiss her again, this time with more passion. After several minutes of ‘snogging’ – as he so Englishly put it – they broke apart. As much as they wanted to continue, possibly advancing to ‘shagging’, there was a fight to be won first.

~~~~~~
Whether he thought he could win her back with his sacrifice, or just make her feel guilty for not picking him, Spike stuck around and wore the amulet that closed the Hellmouth for good. Then the survivors drove to the nearest hospital to get the wounded treatment. By the time they got there, the new Slayers had reverted to Potentials again, something they guessed had to do with that balance deal which wouldn’t allow for even two Slayers – although neither Buffy or Faith lost their powers, so…whatever.

When they called to tell the gang in LA the news, Wesley offered to go with Faith to Cleveland. He thought maybe it was time for him to be a Watcher again; hopefully a better one than the last time he tried. Faith agreed, saying that it was her turn to be the Hellmouth’s guardian; also hopefully doing better than last time, she added with her trademark smirk.

The Scoobies accepted Giles’ invitation to go with him to England so they could recover before making any plans for the future. It also gave them the opportunity to regain some of that closeness that had been slipping away from them over seven years. By the time they went their separate ways, they were as tight as ever.

It didn’t even really surprise the others when Buffy moved into Giles’ bedroom once they reached Bath. The looks the Watcher/Slayer team shot each other the remaining days in Sunnydale and beyond were enough to clue even the most oblivious people in – one of which just happened to have just taken over an evil law firm in LA.

He had gone to Sunnydale with the amulet with the hopes of helping Buffy again, only to find her somewhat cold to his presence. Oh, she thanked him for the info and the ugly trinket, then practically pushed him out of the town. It wasn’t until he saw her with Giles afterward that it hit him that she was over him for good.

End of flashback…

Now, less than three months later, Giles had popped the question! Dawn even admitted to her that he asked for her permission first, seeing as how Dawn’s opinion was far more important to Buffy than Hank’s. Then he pulled that ‘focusing on a crystal’ deal again, but this time, snuck an engagement ring into one of the crystals somehow without there appearing to be a seam anywhere.

He knelt down and poured out his love for her with a song – ‘You are so Beautiful’ – then asked her to marry him. He barely got the words out before she tackled him and said yes.

Giles’ smile could have brightened the darkest caverns in hell as he lifted the crystal to retrieve the right from its little nook and placed it on her finger.

Buffy was going to see Dawn to show off her beautiful little ring, since Dawn had been warned to stay away from the house if she didn’t want to listen to their celebrations the night before. The blonde Slayer couldn’t help staring at the pretty on her hand, a ballerine solitaire* in a platinum setting. Only her wonderful Slayer-sense kept her from running into people on the way.

~~~~~~
Giles’ home
A few hours later…

The house was dark when the exuberant, newly-engaged Summers girl returned, causing her to frown. Giles hadn’t said anything about going out. She bit her lip in anticipation…maybe he was waiting inside to surprise her. A shiver of tingly hit her lower areas; she liked his surprises – at least these kinds.

So she was more than just a little disappointed to find him in the study, gulping down scotch like it was water and he just got out of the Sahara.

When he saw her, he growled and knocked back another tumblerful of the amber liquid.

Instantly concerned, Buffy rushed over to him and asked, “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“Maybe you should ask your lover that, darling,” he spat at her.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” she replied in confusion. “You are the only lover I have anymore. Or even want to have anymore.”

“Coulda fooled me,” Giles slurred, thrusting something at her. It was an envelope with photos of her and Spike…in various compromising positions, and in the background you could see the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, just a short drive from Bath. “Surprised you could drag yourself away from him, or is this just a quick stop to break up with me so you can get on with your life with that bloodsucker?”

“Giles, I have no idea where you got these, but this isn’t me! I was with Dawn, planning our wedding! You know, yours and mine! You can call and ask her if you don’t think you can trust me,” Buffy added sadly.

Tearing his eyes away from her pain-filled ones so he wouldn’t give in, Giles scoffed, “Pfft, she’d just lie too. She always favored that pillock.”

That announcement made Buffy roll her eyes. “Okay, now you’re just talking crazy. Dawn loves you almost as much as I do – except in a much, much different way, I hope. There’s no way she’d lie to you about Spike – who was dead the last time I checked, by the way,” she reminded her Watcher/fiancé.

Just then, the phone rang and even though she didn’t want to, Buffy felt she’d better answer it. Thank goodness she did, too, because it was one of Angel’s employees, Lorne. He wanted to give her a heads up that Spike was back again, and now that he was corporeal again, he took off for England, planning on getting her back, no matter what it took.

“Is that him? Is he afraid that you’re giving the old man one last pity shag?” Giles snarled contemptuously.

Counting to ten, and praying it was just the liquor causing him to say those hurtful words to her, Buffy looked back at her love. “No, it isn’t,” she answered, hanging up the phone. “It was Lorne, calling to tell us that Spike was headed this way. My guess is that you got the pictures from him, hoping that it would break us up so I’d go back to him – which sooo wouldn’t happen again, even if I didn’t have you.”

“Then how do you explain--?” Giles broke off, gesturing to the hated photos.

“Well, there are these wonderful computer programs that allow you to cut and paste pictures together so that you can have Abraham Lincoln shaking hands with Avril Lavigne,” Buffy explained before realizing that he probably would have no clue who Avril Lavigne was.

Still, Giles got the overall message. With a glimmer of hope in his drunken eyes, he said, “I wish I could be sure.”

“I’m sorry that you can’t see how hopelessly in love I am with you, you big dope.” She glanced at the photos more closely, then cried out in triumph, “Wait! Here’s proof!”

“What?”

“See her stomach?” Buffy asked, pointing at the imposter.

Giles stared at the naked body that tormented him. “Yes…what about it?”

Buffy smacked his shoulder, willing him to open his eyes. “Giles! There’s no scar from the Turok-Han there!” She lifted her shirt to show the scar she mentioned, the one that convinced him that there was no time to waste in proposing to her. He came far too close to losing her in that last battle. That’s why it only took three months to propose instead of a year or more.

Giles ran his finger along the scar, causing Buffy to shiver and bite back a moan. “My beautiful Buffy. Even your scars are beautiful,” he murmured.

“I’m glad you think so,” she answered wryly, glad that he finally seemed to believe her.

“God, I love you. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I hope you can forgive me for not trusting you,” Giles pleaded, latching his arms around her legs and kissing her scar in between his words.

Buffy bent over to kiss the top of his head. “You loved me, that’s all. Can you promise to at least give me a chance to explain things if this ever happens again?” He just nodded into her stomach, which made her arousal rise even more. “Then I’ll forgive you for being an idiot. Spike’s always been pretty good at pushing your buttons.”

“Too bloody good,” Giles agreed with venom in his voice. “I’m staking him the next time I see him, soul or no soul.”

“Hey, after almost breaking us up, I might just let you.” Buffy put her hand under his chin and made him look her in the eyes. “Now…how drunk are you? I mean, we did just have a fight and everything; shouldn’t we have make up sex?” she asked with a naughtiness he loved to hear.

Giles growled back, “I assure you that I’m not too drunk for that.”

Cheering silently, Buffy said, “Then you head to the bedroom and I’ll meet you there after I lock up, ‘k?”

As she reached the back door, Buffy felt a familiar feeling tingle and opened the door. “Spike, I know you’re there, you might as well show yourself,” she called out.

Seeing the dried tear tracks on her face, Spike assumed his plan worked. Still, he’d start slow with his greeting, “Hey, Slayer, aren’t you happy to see me again, alive and well, so to speak?”

Buffy crossed her arms, mostly to keep from killing her ex-sex partner. “Not really, Spike. I might have been if you hadn’t pulled that stunt with Giles. He’s ready to stake you on sight,” she advised.

“You wouldn’t let him do that to me, would you? I got a soul and everything,” he reminded her, knowing that she couldn’t help her weakness of not hurting beings with souls – even vampires.

“You almost managed to break us up with that crap!” she almost yelled, then calmed down enough to add, “I’m giving you one warning…only one. Leave and never show your face around us again. Whatever it was between us is long over, and Giles is the only one for me.” With that she shut the door, locked it and made her way to the bedroom where her fiancé was waiting for her.

“Come over here so I can apologize properly to you,” Giles commanded in his sexy ‘I’m gonna make love to you until you forget your own name’ voice.

Which caused Buffy to whimper slightly. She could only nod in reply, all speech leaving her for the time being.

THE END...'cause I can't write smut without sounding goofy.

A/N: *The ring Giles gave Buffy - Ballerine Solitaire.

Feel the Silence (FR13)

mmooch — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:56:41 GMT

Feel the Silence
Summary: During her fight with Kathy, Buffy is damaged physically. Joyce sends her away to a relative to recover.

Warning: I don’t know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Timeline: Season 4 ‘Living Conditions’ BtVS; Season 1-2 NCIS.

Challenge: personal request by andiesimmo, altered slightly.

A/N: Some AU-ness, mostly in ‘The Freshman’, but there’s a touch in ‘Living Conditions’…for obvious reasons.

Rating: FR13

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. NCIS characters belong to Donald Bellisario, Don McGill and CBS Paramount Television. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Prologue: Descending Quiet
Buffy swung at her demonic roommate Kathy in something close to desperation. If only the others had believed her when she said the annoyingly chipper girl was evil. It was bad enough she had to figure out the missing college kids thing on her own, now they don’t even trust her Slayer instincts?

Flashback to ‘The Freshman’…
Buffy looked at Eddie’s room, which had been stripped, and shook her head in disbelief. The note he supposedly wrote shook slightly in her hands.

‘This is too much to handle. I can’t take it anymore. No time to say goodbye! Eddie’

She knew he was having trouble adjusting – just like she was – but leaving? Then she saw what she felt was proof he didn’t leave…at least not of his own freewill. It was his copy of M. Somerset Maugham’s ‘Of Human Bondage’. He never went anywhere without that book. It was his Mr. Pointy, except for not being a weapon.

~~~~~~
Then she went to who she thought was her Watcher for help. Buffy snorted to herself. ‘Some help he was. ‘You haven't described anything that you can't do yourself. You're out of school and I can't always be there to guide you.’ Wasn’t that the description of being a Watcher? It should be like the first rule of Watching!’

Maybe they didn’t expect Slayers to survive until high school graduation. Maybe they didn’t want them to. She thought Giles was different from the others though. Her eyes widened in alarm, was it possible that that wasn’t Giles? Or maybe he’d been brainwashed somehow.

First things first, she needed to find some help. That meant rounding up the Gang.

~~~~~~
Several hours later, Buffy found the flaw in that plan…finding the gang. Willow and Oz were unfindable and Xander was still on his journey across America. Damn, as much as she didn’t want to do this, she may have to call Angel for help. It’s not as if she could call the Council – seeing as how she was worried they were the ones behind Giles’ strange behavior.

Just then, she saw Eddie walking down the path in front of her. She ran to catch up, only to find out that he had been turned. After staking him, she heard a voice call out from the shadows, eerily reminiscent of when she met Spike a couple years back. Except this time it was a female vamp, and she was joined by several other vamps. Still, Buffy kept waiting for Sunday (And people mocked her name? At least she wasn’t named after a day of the week.) to say in a cockney accent, ‘I kill you on Saturday.’

She had to admit, Sunday isn’t a bad fighter for a relatively young vamp. After she got in a couple lucky shots though, Buffy turned the tables on her. “I may be having trouble getting my bearings in college, but one thing I don’t have trouble with? Slaying!” she declared as she buried her stake in Sunday’s unbeating heart.

The other vamps took one look at their leader’s ashes settling on the grass, glanced at each other, then turned to run. The Slayer was only able to take out a couple more before the rest got away. She walked over to the stoner vamp and moved him to a quieter location while she waited for him to wake up. Remembering her interrogation technique when the Master’s followers kidnapped her friends, Buffy unhooked her necklace to dangle it in front of the vamp’s face.

“We can do this the easy way, or the painful. You tell me what I want to know and I’ll make your death relatively easy. You don’t… Have you ever wondered what a cross does to the inside of a vampire’s mouth? No? Well, I happen to know ‘cause I did this before. Let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty,” she warned with menace clear in her voice.

He spilled his guts about the closed fraternity house and how they only picked off the students who looked lost. True to her word, his staking was very easy.

~~~~~~
A short while later, Buffy snuck up to the frat house with her crossbow and a bunch of stakes. Fortunately, there weren’t too many vamps left for her to deal with. Still, she ended up with some semi-serious injuries.

Not wanting to get thrown out of Giles’ again, Buffy made her way back to her house to see if her mom could help her with the cuts she couldn’t handle herself.

~~~~~~
As she was bandaging her daughter, Joyce asked, “Not that I’m complaining, but why didn’t you go to Mr. Giles’ apartment for this? Don’t you have to tell him what happened anyway?”

Deciding to tell her mom the truth about her worries, Buffy started her explanation of what happened earlier that day, “Uh, I think there is something wrong with Giles. He wasn’t acting very Gilesy. I tried to tell him about Eddie going missing and that something weird was happening. He basically told me to handle it myself; that I had to learn not to rely on him so much.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? It means he trusts you to do things on your own. Do you want him to keep treating you like a child?” Joyce had to admit it sounded strange, but maybe he had a good reason.

Buffy pouted as she considered it. “Maybe, but it’s awfully sudden of him. I mean last week he’s all ‘Don’t forget our training and be sure to check in after patrol.’ This week he’s saying he’s there for me, but do it myself. I’m just worried that the Council might have done something to him.”

Joyce conceded that her daughter had a point; that was kind of an abrupt change of attitude on his part. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“Well, I couldn’t find Willow or Oz, and Xander’s not back yet, so I think I have to call Angel.” Seeing the flash of anger in her mom’s eyes, Buffy quickly explained, “I know you don’t like him, but he’s the only other person I know that can help. Ironic thing is, this is just the kind of thing I’d ask Giles about.”

Moving to give Buffy a careful hug, Joyce assured her, “Don’t worry, I’m sure that you’ll get this all worked out.”

~~~~~~
As it turned out, Giles had just been having an off day – or that’s how Buffy interpreted his hurried apology. Despite being hurt by his dismissal, she accepted that it was temporary insanity. After all, she didn’t act much better towards him; she acted worse than she did when she found out her dad had a live-in girlfriend. But in a way, it kind of made sense; she relied more on Giles than Hank Summers, so the idea of not being number one in his life was much more frightening.

End of Flashback

Just as the rest of her soul returned to her, the blonde Slayer landed the killing blow. As Kathy died, she emitted a high-pitched wail that made Buffy’s head feel like it was going to explode. When she opened her eyes, she saw that a portal had opened in the floor of her dorm room and Kathy’s body fell through, followed by another demon jumping in after it.

And then there was silence…too much silence.

She brushed it aside for the moment as she tended to her injuries and tried to repair the damage to the room. It wasn’t until the others came bursting into the room to help her that she realized something was terribly wrong. When they tried to explain that they believed her now, she just gave them an odd look.

To their amazement, Buffy ignored their pleas for forgiveness to walk over to the CD player that held the infamous Celine Dion music and turned it on to full blast, causing them all to cover their ears – all except the blonde girl fighting her tears.

Just like that, Buffy Anne Summers, the Vampire Slayer understood the problem. She couldn’t hear, and the demons now had the upper hand. She collapsed to the floor and let the tears break loose. How could she be the Slayer anymore?

A/N: Next…Joyce makes a decision.

Buffy’s New-ish Watcher (FR-13?)

mmooch — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:20:37 GMT

Buffy’s New-ish Watcher
Summary: When Giles leaves Buffy in season 6, she ends up with a new Watcher, only he isn’t really new.

Warning: I don’t know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Timeline: Season 6, post-‘Once More With Feeling’ BtVS, same time for AtS.

Challenge: ‘A Birthday Request: Every Slayer Needs a Watcher’ by thelogicalghost

***My challenge is to reconcile Wes with either Buffy or Faith, and by "reconcile" I mean totally and completely, with no room left for doubt. I have always wanted to and been unable to write a fic which leaves me feeling in the end that Wes has truly formed the kind of bond that is part of his bloodline, breeding, and heartfelt duty as a Watcher. It's a tough request, so I'm going to set some specific guidelines: (more)***

Rating: FR-13 or so.

A/N: To be honest, I sorta forgot where I was going with this one.

Thanks to my betas: None until I post on TtH or fanfiction.net.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Prologue: After the Dawn
After ‘Once More With Feeling’…

Spike was surprised when Buffy followed him out of the Bronze after spilling the news that she had been torn out of heaven by her friends. He was even more surprised when she pulled him into a passionate kiss. When he regained his senses, he pulled back and stared at her with a sad look in his eyes. “You don’t want to do this, pet.”

“Of course I do; that’s why I did it,” Buffy insisted, moving to grab him again to prove it.

However, the blonde vampire just kept her at arm’s length. “You only think this is what you want because you can’t talk to the others right now. If we do anything like what just happened, you’ll hate yourself…and you’ll hate me if I give in.” Spike knew he needed to explain this better. “Before you died, Buffy, you treated me like a man; like someone who mattered. It would kill me to lose that respect. I’d rather get a stake in the heart, luv.” Then he smirked at her in that insufferable way of his. “Though, I’m sure if the two of us ever decided to shag, we could bring down the house around us.”

She rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt to fluster her with his last comment. However, it was the use of her name that really struck home with the blonde Slayer. Spike hardly ever called her Buffy. Deciding to treat him like a friend, she confided, “What do I do? Like you said, I can’t talk to them about how I feel. Even Giles and Dawn. Dawn! Spike, I’m screwing up so badly with her, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

“Did you ever consider the fact you weren’t meant to become the mother of a teenager when you’re only a few years older?” he asked gently, not wanting her to feel like a failure in any way.

Still, Buffy’s eyes narrowed at him. “What are you saying?” she demanded.

“Try calling that deadbeat you call ‘Da’ and make him do right by her,” Spike suggested. “If for no other reason, it would get the ‘Bit away from the Hellmouth and all of the nasties around here.”

The idea of keeping Dawn safe appealed to her – as well as the relief she felt when she considered not having to raise her sister. Buffy bit her lip thoughtfully. “But wouldn’t she hate me for doing that?”

Spike shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Look, you said that when he actually tries, he’s a pretty good parent, right?”

“Yeah,” Buffy agreed, remembering the happier times of her childhood.

“What your sister needs is a strong parental figure. You’re too close to do what’s sometimes necessary. Right now you’ve been having the Watcher take care of it, but she needs a full-time Da. She may fight it at first, but make it clear to her that you love her and only want the best for her. As long as you make sure she understands that you aren’t just getting rid of her to make your life easier, she’ll forgive you,” Spike explained, confident that he was telling her the truth.
~~~~~~~~~
After ‘Tabula Rasa’…

Grabbing her sister after the spell lifted, Buffy took her to the Pump to talk. Once they sat down with their hot chocolate, she started, “Dawnie, I’ve talked to Dad, and he’s agreed to take custody of you.”

“What? Why?” Dawn almost yelled, feeling hurt that Buffy wanted to get rid of her.

Buffy saw the pain in Dawn’s eyes and held her hand to keep her attention. “You know that it’s not safe for you to stay here; tonight was just the latest threat on your life.” She struggled for a moment, then decided that her sister deserved the whole truth. “I love you, Dawnie, but I’m having a hard time trying to keep myself alive right now. You aren’t the Key anymore, so we don’t have to worry about supernatural stuff – except for the normal ‘you’re the sister of the Slayer’ stuff. And that shouldn’t be an issue if you aren’t here for them to grab.”

After staring at her mug for a minute, Dawn looked up with wet eyes. “So you’re not doing this ‘cause you resent me?”

Truly confused, Buffy asked, “Why would I resent you?”

“You had to die to save me,” the former Key whispered, just loud enough for only the Slayer to hear.

Buffy moved over to embrace her sister tightly. “Oh Dawnie…I would do it again in a second if I needed to. I died so that you could live, and that’s the same reason I asked Dad to take you. If you stay here, chances are you’ll get hurt or die. At the very least, you’ll probably have to watch me die again. You deserve a better life than that. Now that Dad’s gotten rid of that bitch who didn’t tell him about Mom dying, he wants the chance to make things up to us…especially you.”

Quickly warming up to the idea of being with her dad, Dawn still wanted some reassurance from Buffy. “We’ll keep in touch, though?”

Smiling widely, Buffy replied, “You got it. Dad said that he’d get us cell phones for that very reason. And who knows, maybe I’ll even be able to sneak away from the Hellmouth for a few days every once in a while to visit you.” They both knew those visits would be few and far between, though.

Dawn was surprised. “All the way to Spain?”

“Oh, that’s the other thing; Dad got transferred back to the States. You get to live in the Big Apple, baby sis,” Buffy announced, knowing her sister’s love of New York City. If there was any doubt, a person would only have to look at the posters adorning the younger Summers’ bedroom to see that.

And just like that, Dawn’s expression was one of utter joy. “Really?!” she squealed.

“Uh-huh, and if you think I’m gonna give up the chance to go shopping there, you’re crazy!” Buffy teased.

Dawn made her decision – if she truly had one to make – and said, “Okay, I’ll go. But if I don’t like it, I want to be able to come home, ‘k?”

Buffy smiled, happy that this had gone so well. “Fine with me. We’ll tell Dad that this is a trial thing. And if you ever need me, just call and I’ll have Spike cover the slaying while I’m gone. Got it?”

“Spike? Do you really trust him that much?” Dawn knew that the two blondes were close, but she didn’t realize they were that close. She wondered what was going on between them.

Guessing where Dawn was going with her question, Buffy simply responded, “You know, since I found out about Mom, he’s tried to be a friend to not just me, but both of us.”

Dawn nodded before she added, “And he did stick around to protect me after you died.”

Buffy considered whether she should tell Dawn the whole truth, then figured it wouldn’t hurt at this point. “After Sweet got me to confess where I really was, I went after Spike and kissed him.”

The sight of Dawn’s eyes bugging out made Buffy giggle. “What?!”

“But he stopped me from doing anything that I’d regret,” Buffy went on before Dawn could say anything else.

“But why? That would be his greatest fantasy!” Dawn exclaimed, monumentally confused now.

“Because he knew that I’m not in the best place mentally or emotionally right now. He didn’t want to risk me hating him and myself by getting involved that way. That proves to me even more that he’s a good friend.” Buffy looked almost happy at the thought she had a friend she could trust like that.

Dawn was still stuck on Spike saying no. “Wow. I just can’t believe he’d turn down the chance to be with you, not matter the reason why.”

Buffy shrugged. “It would only be a sex thing; just like when he had the Buffybot. He wants more than that.”

Staring intently at her older sister, Dawn asked seriously, “Do you think you’d ever care for him like that?”

Not wanting to be glib about it, Buffy thought for a second, then answered, “I don’t know. Easy answer would be no. I’ve done the doomed romance with a vamp, and it’s not that much fun. I know it would be different with Spike, but…” she trailed off.

“It’s still weird?” Dawn finished for her.

“Yup.”

Wanting to know if it was just Spike or not, Dawn pressed on, “What about Angel? You know, if he didn’t have to worry about the clause?”

Buffy turned a little sad at the question, but still replied, “No. When I saw him a few weeks ago, it was clear that we have different lives now. Even if I were the same girl who fell in love with him five years ago, he’s not the same guy I fell in love with. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. Really, how many people end up with the first person they fell in love with?” she asked rhetorically.

“Good point.” Wanting to get off the depressing topic, Dawn asked, “So when’s Dad coming to get me?”

“In a week or so. Should we get you packed? Then we can focus on having as much fun as sisters can in the time left,” Buffy vowed, not wanting Dawn to think she couldn’t stand to be around her.

Dawn looked positively mischievous when she inquired, “Ooo, will you let me pick some of the things we do?”

Fighting a chuckle, Buffy said, “As long as you don’t pick patrolling.”

A/N: Next…Not sure at this point.