Rupert Giles had been Buffy Summers’ Watcher for over seven years now. He had watched her grow, from being the girl who had only wanted to be normal, the reluctant Slayer that he had been forced to drag out for patrolling, to being the woman that she was now. Even when she turned him away, he had still been hers. She had been his first Slayer, and she had been the one to make him smile and laugh, to bring him joy and light in his bland life.
Buffy had changed his life. She had made him better than he ever could have been alone. And he may have been upset when they had brougt her back to life, but he could not see any other way that things would have gone. Without his Slayer, his Chosen One, his life was something less. Even knowing that, he had stepped out of her life before, to try what was best for her.
After his mistakes he had made since coming to Cleveland, he had stepped away from her again. He had betrayed her trust, had gone against her, he had done everything that one should not do to their Slayer. He watched over her from afar, how she kept her head high and how strong she still was, even if she was broken. She was his hero.
Perhaps things were coming together. She had agreed to meet with him, to see if they could be all right again. She was coming to what was meant to be his reopened magic shop, but the media explosion was keeping him from opening it.
Giles grunted softly as he landed on his back, before sitting up. Rebekkah, the Slayer he was training with at the moment, gasped and kneat beside him. “Are you all right, Mr. Giles?” He laughed and nodded, rubbing his back. “Oh, I’m quite all right. You’re not the first Slayer to knock me off my feet in training and you certainly won’t be the last.” She managed a smile for him before she helped him to his feet. She was rather timid, one of the more reserved of the girls, but the raven-haired girl was also a fierce fighter.
“Very good with the offensive manuevers. Now, let us move onto defense. Prepare yourself.” She nodded and slid into a defensive stance. Rupert took a deep breath and lunged at her. Only a moment later, he landed on the padded floor again, this time on his stomach. “Oh, it’s quite all right, quite all right.” He assured her as she helped him up.
The bell on the door jingled gently and they both looked up to find Buffy in the doorway. Giles smiled and Rebekkah slipped away to get her things. “See you tomorrow, Mr. Giles. Later, Miss Summers.” She waved to them and then closed the door behind her. Giles wiped his brow and then slid his glasses back into place.
“I remember when this used to be you and I.” He said with a soft laugh.
Buffy had missed Giles more than she’d ever be willing to admit. The truth was, after almost a decade of knowing him, he’d become something of a father to her. He had been with her through almost all of her struggles, leaving her for a time but eventually returning to Sunnydale when she’d gotten herself into dire straits during his absence. She needed him that much was obvious. Things just seemed to go to hell when he left.
Giles was more than a Watcher. He was a father to her in ways she couldn’t explain. He real father probably didn’t even know she was alive; much less that she was a slayer. He hadn’t been there for her mother’s funeral, and a lurking suspicion told her he wasn’t there for hers either. But Giles had been there. He was one of the few people she felt she could actually express her emotions to, when things became too much for her to handle his shoulder was there for her to cry on. Buffy didn’t often talk about her feelings, though they were easily read on her face. She truly did wear her heart on her sleeve, despite her efforts to hide it. So it truly was rare that she willingly told Giles what she was feeling. But she trusted him. He supported her in all that she did and he treated her like an adult despite the fact that she still had so much growing up to do. He was her stronghold, the one constant in her life. When Sunnydale fell to the earth, he was home.
She couldn’t lie to herself, the way he’d gone behind her back with Willow on the whole Faith situation had really hurt her. She felt betrayed. But that betrayal was nothing in comparison to what she was feeling about Cameron. She had trusted Cameron, enough to let him see her most vulnerable and intimate side. It seemed like only moments before that they were happily expecting a baby. They weren’t in love, but she knew they would be good parents together. There was a sort of mutual understanding and partnership she could depend on. Correction, a partnership she thought she could depend on. But he chose evil and didn’t even seem to feel bad about it. He was actively working to make it impossible for slayers to kill the forces of darkness that would feast when there wasn’t anyone to stand between the world and total oblivion. And he knew it.
When she thought about what Cameron had done to her, well… What Giles did was easy to overcome and forgive. She even felt her heart softening toward Willow, which she didn’t think would be possible for a long time. But when the world is in mortal peril, personal drama tends to seem petty. It all looked so easy to overcome, and it felt like she’d been making a mountain out of a molehill the whole time. Apocalypse really put things into perspective.
So Buffy found herself making her way to the new Magic Box. It had yet to open, which Buffy suspected was due to the media frenzy that had recently begun. She didn’t bother driving there, instead opting for a brisk walk to the shop. Walking had given her time to think, to sort out her thoughts. She wanted things to be right between her and Giles.
Finally the shop came into view; she walked to it hastily because she didn’t like to linger outside for too terribly long. Media people seemed to have this eerie way of knowing where she was at any given time, and of hounding her with questions when they caught a hold of her. She turned the handle gently and stepped into the shop. Immediately she felt at home there. The shelves were half stocked and the center of the room had been converted into a training arena, it lacked the privacy of the Magic Box back in Sunnydale for the time being. But it held potential and brought back memory after memory of inspirational speeches, long nights spend researching demonic forces, and the hatching of some thoroughly brilliant plans.
Speaking of potential, the young Slayer Giles had been working tensed up at the sight of Buffy and hurriedly slipped out of the shop muttering her farewells in passing.
“Later, Miss Summers.” No, no, no! Buffy didn’t like the sound of that at all. Was she really old enough for teenagers to call her by her last name? Almost all the young Slayers seemed to react to her this way, something she still hadn’t gotten used to.
“Please, it’s Buffy!” She called after the girl, Buffy thought her name was Rebekah, but she was already gone before the words would have reached her ears. She looked over to Giles who seemed a bit winded, training always did tire him. She tended to forget that he was really just a normal person in that respect, he was too spectacular to just be a normal person. But he did seem to have some sort of super intelligence going for him which Buffy always respected though she’d never said anything about it. It was no secret that she wasn’t as book smart as the other Scoobies.
“I remember when this used to be you and I.” Buffy smiled at the thought of those days. She walked over to Giles as quick as she could. Once she was close enough she threw any sort of caution or reservations she had to the metaphorical wind and wrapped her arms tightly around him in a bear hug. She remembered and just saying it wasn’t enough. She needed to show how she felt, her emotions were overflowing and she couldn’t help it when a tear slid down her face.
“I remember, Giles. I missed you so much.” Her voice cracked ever so slightly as she uttered the last few words of her greeting. She needed Giles. How could she have ever forgotten that? She pulled away from the hug and tried discreetly to wipe the tears from her cheeks, offering up a wide grin to Giles.
This Is A Test 