The Adventures of Willow and Giles

by SmileyBoo

What do these two actually do during their research time? Because I can promise you it isn't always research... Oneshot

Disclaimer: I own nothing…yet.

The Adventures of Willow and Giles: It's Not What It Looks Like

"Buffy-it's not what it looks like!"

"Yes, well, um, we, you see-"

The Slayer stared at the scene before her.

"I don't really want to know."

"Is anyone else here mentally scarred?"

"I know I am. What are you guys even doing?"

Giles just stared at the assorted teenagers. What could he possibly say to sugar-coat the awkward position he was in?

"It's a long story." Willow offered, embarrassed.

"Well I'd definitely like to hear it." The blonde glared at her best friend.

"It happened like this…"

It was just another typical day at Sunnydale High. Kids were slacking off, teachers were babysitting, and the Scooby Gang? They were in the library, as usual.

"So; what's our demon of the day?" Buffy, the spunky student questioned.

"Well, um, it seems to be-" The watcher tripped over his words.

"Let me guess-one of the Master's vampire-y henchmen?" The Slayer suggested.

"No, actually." The middle-aged man corrected, "It seems we have a new evil in our midst."

"You don't say." The blonde sardonically responded.

"So; what are we up against?" An enthusiastic adolescent chimed in.

"At the moment, I'm not quite sure." Rupert confessed, holding up a picture of a crimson, horned, clawed, monster, "This is all I've found, from Buffy's description."

"Then I-I guess we'll be researching, huh?" A red-headed witch-in-training looked up from her homework.

"It would seem so." The graying man replied, rubbing his glasses yet again, "In the meantime-"

"What's going on?" A prep-ily-clad brunette burst in through the sanctuary's double-doors, "What are you losers up to this time?" She inquired, uninterested, resting her Prada purse on one of the wooden, book-filled desks.

"If you must know, just your state-of-the-art demon low-down." Xander informed her, teasingly. Cordelia glared at him for no reason in particular; she just seemed to loath the air he breathed.

"Anyway; Buffy, you should patrol tonight, and be sure to tell me of any more sightings-"

"Yeah, yeah." The brash teen cut him off, "I know the drill."

"Quite." The annoyed adult agreed.

"I think I'll head out with Buff. You never know if she'll need some back-up." The dark-haired boy grinned.

"From you? Right. Like you could ever help her." The prissy girl scoffed.

"Hey! That's not true! Remember that time when-"

"Please! Let's not relive Xander's single moment of glory again." The story was always the same-Xander really wasn't that much of a help when it came to the supernatural.

"Don't worry Xander-we all know the truth." Willow assured her long-time crush.

"Good. And don't you forget it!" The slacker commanded his friends.

"So, I guess you guys better get going then." The studios one prompted.

"Yeah; no more hanging around for Buffy. Bring on the slayage."

"Goody!" The goofball joked as he followed his buddy out. Cordelia sighed at the immaturity.

"I'll see you all later-not that I'll make an effort-I just keep running into you creeps accidentally." The brunette collected her books and left the remaining two.

"Phew." Giles sighed, once the aforementioned was out of earshot.

"I completely agree." The red-head sympathized, packing her books away into a pink back-pack, "So; which volume's first?"

"No Willow; we'll have none of that tonight." The watcher smiled slyly.

"W-what? But we always-no. You didn't-"

"Precisely." The graying elder looked smug, "I finished the research this afternoon, right before lunch."

"No way!" The budding witch was shocked into disbelief.

"Way, as they say." Rupert was triumphant.

"So, what did you have in mind?"

A few weeks after Buffy had established her friendships with her trusted slacker and brainiac, the three sort of fell into a routine. The Slayer would, obviously, slay, and Xander, the lovesick, would follow his crush into the breach, while Willow, the sweet little bookworm, would aid Giles with his endless research. The watcher observed all this, less-than-pleased with the actions of the former two, and much obliged to the latter one. However, after a while, he came to notice that, whereas Buffy's mother often worried about her whereabouts, he had never once had to deal with either the red-head, or the goofball's guardians. Though not too concerned with Mr. Harris, being a young man of irresponsibility which, in Rupert's opinion, his parents must have been aware of, Willow's mother and father had to be wondering where their daughter was. Thus, quite curious about the whole affair, one of the numerous nights spent together in supernatural study, the adult asked his young companion just that. He was shocked-appalled, even, to hear that the poor girl was practically neglected by the grown-ups in her home, who were both much too concerned with their careers than that of the fruit of their loins. The watcher was equally as sorry to hear that the only 'fun' the red-head had was when her friends accompanied her to that awful club the 'Bronze'. Willow had, in her short life, barely received any parental affection at all, and Giles, who never had a child of his own, was determined to change that. Hence, a couple days after their little chat, the graying man surprised his little helper by completing all needed research beforehand, and taking the delighted girl out for some ice cream. Ever since, at least once a month, the kind gentleman would complete this small token of affection for the deprived student, and the two would have a calm and tranquil evening, unspoiled by the immature antics of Xander, or the hellish evil that Buffy took care of while patrolling.

"That was so great! Did you see that guy-he was just like Buffy, with the kicking and the punching, and the ducking!"

"Yes, quite." The watcher chuckled. Rupert and the young witch had just left the cinema, where they had watched a delightful film about some sort of superhero-action-guy. It seemed cool to Willow, as her best friend performed those very same moves in real life, without the use of super-powers…mostly.

"Thanks, Giles." Willow grinned up at her 'date', "Are you sure you don't want me to-"

"No, for the hundredth time." He responded, irritated. The one thing the man could not stand was the red-head's constant guilt, which led to the much-repeated question of 'Can I please pay you back?'

"Okay." The young woman shrugged, as they left the multiplex in silence, "So…do you think they're wondering where we are?" That was the brainiac's main concern on every one of these 'secret outings'.

"No." Giles replied sincerely, "And even if they are, they'll just think that we went home. Besides," He assured her, "we'll get back in no time-they'll hardly have noticed we were gone."

"If you say so." The girl smiled, comforted by the watcher's words. They hadn't been caught yet-so why should this night have been any different?

"So, i-is there anything else I can, you know, help out with?" The intelligent one inquired as she returned to the library.

The watcher, as always, responded, "Well, you see, research is never really finished."

"I know that, but could I maybe stay here and, do my homework or something?" She grinned, hopefully.

"I suppose you could." The older man considered her request, "But you could also continue investigating the master."

"Yeah, yeah-I know; the fate of the world outweighs the simple task of homework." The witch nodded at her chaperone's constant focus, "I-I'm on it."

"Good." Giles affirmed, as he and the child formally ended their break.

Minutes, maybe an hour passed in this fashion, each occasionally declaring some text 'garbage' or a passage 'worth noting'. But it seemed all too soon when the graying elder glanced at his watch and remarked, "Oh dear. It is getting rather late. I don't think Buffy will need our assistance tonight, Willow. I believe it's high time we packed up our things."

The girl in question sighed, never eager for the night's events to end. Nonetheless, she obeyed the respected authority, marking the page she left off on.

"Would you like a ride home?" The kind watcher offered politely.

"N-no thanks." The red-head brushed him off, "I-I think I'd better go alone."

"Yes, quite so." Rupert rubbed his glasses. He felt bad, forcing the teen to leave her beloved haven, but all good things had to end sometime, as they say. It just ate him up inside, knowing that she so despised closing time, when the watcher had to lock the library so they could both leave and get some sleep. There was nothing scarier in Sunnydale than a dark, empty, house; and that was exactly what the girl was heading home for. No wonder she wanted to walk home; at least it would prolong the time before she got there.

Now normally, as the watcher said, the library would have been evacuated as usual, its late-night tenants far gone. But on this night, just as Giles had locked the grand double-doors, something stopped him. This happened to be Willow, who slapped a hand to her head and exclaimed, "Oh! I-I'm sorry but would you mind o-opening the doors again? I-I forgot my homework." The poor teen looked ashamed.

"Oh, um, certainly." The middle-aged man stuttered, obeying the young girl's request, "There you go."

"Thanks Giles. You're a life-saver." She exclaimed, collecting the lost sheets.

"Yes, well, um-" It was at that moment that a large, scaly, red demon lunged through the window, effectively scattering glass fragments throughout the room.

"Willow; look out!" The adult cried as the monster bared its horns, attacking the teen with razor-sharp claws.

"Ah!" The vile being had the witch in their grasp, about to bore its jagged teeth into her flesh, "Giles; help!"

The watcher wasted no time in grabbing the nearest axe and, well, axing. The creature howled as the blade impacted between its shoulders, dropping its frightened pray.

"Get Buffy!" The graying man shouted, fending of the wounded beast.

"No!" The red-head refused, "There's no time! I need to stay here and help!"

"Do as I say!" Cried the frustrated man, as the scarlet demon knocked his weapon away.

After a final blow, Rupert lay on his back, the ghastly thing preparing to tear him to shreds.

"Don't you touch him!" The vehement child warned, thrusting a sword into the beast's leg. It howled in pain, retreating from the wounded watcher.

"Giles; a-are you okay?" She rushed to her companion's side, helping him onto his feet.

"Yes, I believe so. But we have more important things to worry about." The man motioned to the moaning monster.

"Him? Don't worry; I-I don't think he's going anywhere." Though this in itself was true, it didn't stop the thing from using its other powers.

Raising its hardened head, the demon spit a long, dripping stream of transparent liquid at the two.

"I'm not so sure-" Giles stopped his speech to grab Willow to him, thus saving her from the creature's sly attack.

"Thanks." The red-head smiled gratefully at her protector. Then, noticing that he hadn't yet released her from his…intimate hold, she added uncomfortably, "You know, you can let me go any time now." Unfortunately, that was not the case. You see, the gooey substance that the monster shot at them had formed a loop on the floor around them, with only enough uncontaminated space to allow the humans to retain their position, but not do much else. Even worse, the scaly thing hadn't exactly finished spitting at them, rather, it was adding more and more layers around them, until almost the entire library was coated in it, from the bookshelves to the door. This meant that there was no possible way either Willow or Rupert could jump over the ring of clear stuff, and could therefore not release their hold of each other.

"I-If you would, um, be so kind as to look around…" The watcher trailed off, in a pathetic attempt to explain their predicament.

"We're surrounded!" The witch stated the obvious, "So c-can we step on it?"

Giles, ever-heroic, decided to try the suggestion, placing a tentative foot on the goo. No sooner had he done this, than the gunk began to dissolve the patent-leather of his shoe. Shaking the acid-eaten remnants off, the man replied, "No. We most certainly can not."

"S-so what do we do?" The red-head was truly scared.

"I-I'm not sure…" The watcher's council employee was at a loss.

They stayed in their awkward position for a while, the elder considering the exact reason the beast had shot acid around them and not at them, and the youth fretting about their imminent deaths. Both, however, were drawn from their musings when the demon began to limp towards them, the knife still embedded in his slimy skin.

"G-Giles?" Willow, who was facing the monstrous thing, frantically pulled at the person in question's sleeve.

"Aha! I know why it didn't kill us!"

"Giles?" The beast came nearer still.

"It trapped us so it could feed on us later!"

"Giles!" The witch was practically shaking.

"How could I have been so stupid!"

"Giles! Later is now!"

"What?" The graying man turned his head, coming face-to-face with the creature, "Oh, dear."

"Giles; what do we do!" The irked teen stared at the demon, who was about to bite of Rupert's arm.

"On the count of three," the man directed, formulating a plan, "grab the sword from his leg-you can see it far better than I can-and try to…perform some sort of harm on him."

"O-okay." Willow nodded.

"Very well then; one…two…three!"

The girl grabbed the knife, and with all of her might, pulled it from the monster's thigh, distracting it from its planned course of action. Growling at her, the monster circled around so he was facing Willow's back, ready to tear her to shreds.

"Give me the sword!" The watcher ordered, as the child obeyed.

When the beast pounced, Giles sliced it right through the stomach, watching as it crumbled to the ground, dead.

"D-did you get it?"

"Yes."

"S-so can we, uh, get out?"

"Oh, um, yes, of course." The man stuttered, "After you."

"Thanks you." The red-head stepped onto the vile corpse, attempting to use it as a bridge. A scream was heard a moment later, as the teen rushed back to the little island, her 'bridge' disappearing beneath her. It seemed that, though the monster's feet had been immune to the clear liquid, the rest of its body was not, and, much like Giles' shoe, was no more. But, unlike it, the soles of the demon's acid-immune feet still remained planted in the goo.

"It seems we have a small problem."

"Small? This is a majorly big problem!" The younger of the two freaked.

"Well," The watcher tried to calm her, "We can still use his feet to get across."

"O-oh yeah? W-well, how are we supposed to get them?"

She raised a good question; one Rupert was not entirely sure of how to answer.

"Hm…"

"'Hm' what?" The girl questioned.

"Perhaps, if I reached out for them…"

"Well?"

"Hold me, will you?"

"E-excuse me?"

"When I reach for the feet, I need you to hold me so I don't fall in."

"O-oh, okay." Willow obliged, grabbing his torso as Giles got on his knees, then leaned out as far as possible, and tried to grab the necessary items.

"Damn." The watcher missed, but tried again. He was still unable to complete the task.

"Maybe, i-if we set up out shoes in a line, t-then I could walk across and bring the feet back."

The graying man looked at her quizzically.

"The shoes will be dissolved by the acid-"

"I-I know. But it takes a couple seconds, a-and I could take that time t-to run to the demon feet a-and then put them on and bring them back."

Rupert thought about the suggestion. It just might work, but let a child risk her life-for him? He was a little older, and less light on his feet…there was no possible way Giles could complete the mission in time.

"Fine." He relented. So, carefully taking off their remaining shoes, Willow put the first shoe on the goo, hopped onto it, then jumped off in favor of the second, then the third. By the time she made it to the third, the other shoes were gone, and the one she carefully balanced on was deteriorating-fast. There was no way she could possibly reach the saving phenomena in time. So, thinking quickly, she shouted; "Giles; close your eyes!"

"Close my eyes? But Wi-"

"Just do it, Giles!" The desperate girl cried. The man finally obeyed. So, her last shoe on the verge of giving out, Willow removed her denim skirt, laying it over the clear acid, and rushing across it to the feet.

"I got them!" She smiled triumphantly, stepping into the resistant soles.

"Excellent…" The elder man had mistakenly opened his eyes to see the now scantily-clad girl in nothing but a long-sleeve shirt and pink stockings, "Um, I, well, this is, um, I think…" Ending his meaningless blabbering, the watcher simply covered his eyes as the teen made her way back to him, her cheeks as red as tomatoes.

"R-ready to w-walk back?" She asked, still avoiding eye-contact with the watcher.

"Y-yes, um, quite."

"S-so, um; h-how did you want to do this? S-should I just w-walk out and them throw the feet back to you, o-or did you have something else in mind?" Giles hadn't really thought this part of the plan through. But the demon soles were pretty big, so he suggested, "Why don't we each take one, break it in half, and then head out together?"

"Yeah," Willow agreed, "o-okay." Thus, the two did just that, the teen in the lead.

However, as with many plans, this one had small glitch; this being that the demon soles, after a period of time, after being detached from the living beast, only retained their acidic immunity for a short span of minutes. Neither the girl nor the adult knew of this, and, thus, continued happily on their journey to the library doors. Both moved with cautious steps, constantly checking to see if the other one was okay. They made it about halfway to the doors when the feet lost their touch. Willow was the first to notice.

"Giles…"

"What-oh my." The watcher looked down at his make-shift shoes, which were slowly disappearing.

"D-do you think w-we can make it t-to the door?"

"I don't believe so…" The graying man confided.

"Take your shirt off!" The watcher stared at the girl, confused, "If you put your shirt down, w-we can walk o-over it."

"Ah." Rupert did not like this idea. He wasn't one for stripping. But, well, their lives were at stake. Sighing, the man speedily undid his white button-down and handed it to Willow, who laid it down and ran across it. Giles followed suit, and, realizing that they had nothing else to use within their reach, proceeded to take off his pants and lay them down. At that instant, the teen chose to turn around to her guardian, and, realizing he was practically naked, turned away in shock, which caused her to lose her balance and fall towards the goo.

"Willow; no!" The watcher cried, throwing the pants away in favor of catching the girl. Unfortunately, though he did catch her, the red-head had still managed to get some acid on her sleeve. Noticing this, the man promptly pulled the shirt off of the girl and threw it down.

Willow just stood in shock. Had Giles seriously just ripped her shirt off? The guy didn't seem to be focusing on the embarrassment of the teen so much as their survival, and, seeing that she wasn't about to move, picked up the girl and stepped onto her scrunched-up shirt. They were still several feet from the library's exit, and the watcher realized that no additional articles of clothing would aid their escape. Thus, still holding Willow so that she might live a few extra minutes than him, he said tearfully, "I'm so sorry it has to end this way, Willow; in such an unflattering state of dress." He noted their revealing attire, "You were always my favorite." He confided, hugging the red-head to him. This was the end. Sure; it wasn't in the heroic way the Ripper envisioned going, but at least he was with someone he loved.

"Um…Giles?" The girl seemed surprisingly calm, "W-why aren't you, you know, being eaten up by the acid?" It was true; Willow's shirt had dissolved, as well as the man's socks; so why hadn't Giles' feet?

"What?" The watcher wiggled his toes, poking the clear substance. "That is bizarre."

"So; i-is it safe for you to put me down?" The red-head prompted.

"I'm not so sure of that…" Rupert was confused. Why hadn't the acid eaten him up? Had it lost its potency? He pulled off a string from Willow's tights. The goo ate it up instantly. Could it be…the acid was only effective on fabrics! That's why it destroyed their clothes! And the monster-it must have been composed of something similar! Giles smiled at his own genius.

At that exact moment, a certain blonde protégé and her dark-haired friend burst in.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

"Giles; get your hands off of her!"

"Buffy-it's not what it looks like!"