A/N- Okay, so I finally logged back in and decided to start another story. And what fandom did I decide to write for...why BtVS, of course! Anyways, this is my first Buffyverse story and I think that's all that needs to be said on this matter. And yes, this is a B/G story. If you don't like this pairing, then either don't read this story or don't review to bash the pairing. Thank you.

Disclaimer- I do not own BtVS or anything you may recognize from the show. That honor goes to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I don't even own the city this story takes place in or the names of certain places, cities, and schools...all of those places are real places where I live and I have frequented them often. I do, however, own any characters you don't recognize.

Spoilers- This story takes place roughly 13 years after the end of the series, so anything's fair game. Although I did take creative freedom and mold certain events to fit the plot of this story.

Pictures of You

"This is the clock up on the wall, this is the story of us all, this is the first sound of a newborn child before he starts to crawl. This is the war that's never won, this is the soldier and his gun, this is the mother way to buy the fall praying for her son. Pictures of you, pictures of me, hung up on your wall for the world to see. Pictures of you, pictures of me, remind us all of what we used to be."

'Pictures of You'- The Last Goodnight

The sound of laughter followed the shattering of glass, a group of teenagers doubled over as they each took turns throwing whatever they could get their hands on at the high school they attended. They would pause long enough to take a swig from the beer bottles at their feet or take a drag from the cigarettes they were sharing.

Out of the four 16 year olds, there was one in particular who was enjoying the act more than the others. His dark brown hair stuck up on end and his light blue eyes held a certain gleam that the others couldn't quite name. He was by no means the leader of the group, but he somehow demanded a degree of respect from the other three. There was a bruise around his right eye and a trail of blood that formed at the corner of his lip, along with scrapes and bruises on his knuckles, from the fights the group had engaged in earlier.

"Think your mom will figure out you helped with this, Dakota?" one of the teenagers asked the brown haired boy.

"Nah," he answered, a cigarette dangling between his lips. "They're too busy with their work to notice that I'm gone."

"What about your brothers?"

"Brennan wouldn't rat me out, and Evan...well, let's just say the little freak doesn't mess with me."

Dakota Alexander Giles chucked his empty bottle at the building's window, punching the air when a shatter rang across the empty courtyard.

A grunt echoed in the basement his parents had converted into a training room for his mother, the dark green eyes of Brennan Christopher Giles focused on the punching bag. His parents had gone out in search of his twin, leaving the blonde 16 year old to work out his frustration by hitting the punching bag for a while. He was tired of Dakota assuming he would cover for him every time he snuck out to hang out with his punk friends.

"He's gonna get himself killed," he muttered, his fist driving into the bag again. "Dumb ass."

He hit the punching bag a few more times before calling it quits, and walking over to sit on the bottom step. Brennan wasn't stupid, he knew exactly why Dakota's behavior bothered his father so much; after all, his parents didn't call him 'Watcher' for the hell of it. Their father may have never come out and said it, but the blonde was sure that his twin reminded their father of his past in some form or another.

"I just don't understand why Dad won't sit him down and talk to him," Brennan muttered, tugging on his left earlobe as he began to feel jittery again.

Heaving a soft sigh, the 16 year old got to feet and ran through the breathing exercises his parents had taught him in hopes to calm himself down enough to go back to sleep.

Light green eyes stared at his bedroom ceiling as he listened to his parents argue over his older brother, the 13 year old not knowing why he was surprised. Out of all the things his parents argued about, Dakota seemed to be one of the most reoccurring arguments for them. He ran a hand through his sleep tousled brown hair as he turned on to his stomach, chewing on his bottom lip as he registered the rising intensity of the argument.

He winced at the sound of a slamming door and footsteps stomping down the stairs. There was no doubt in the boy's mind that his parents loved each other, but he often wondered if Watchers and Slayers were meant to marry one another. Taking a deep breath, the small teenager climbed out of bed and made his way downstairs.

A shock of cold hot him as soon as his bare foot hit the tile of the entryway, but that didn't stop him from making his way to the family room. He stood in the opening to the room as he watched his father pour himself a drink, something he had grown accustomed to over the years.

"You are going to make up with Mum before morning, right?" his small voice asked as his feet carried him over the couch.

"Of course I am," his father replied, ruffling his son's hair. "We both just need to calm down before I go back up there, Evan."

The boy nodded his head as he rubbed a circle in the back of his head, his eyes showing his worry as he watched his father. Sensing his son's concern, he quickly down his glass and gave him a gentle smile.

"Would you feel better if I were to go back up there now?"

Evan nodded and a yawn ripped through him, much to his annoyance.

"Well then, come on. Let's go back up and you get back to bed."

They made their way back up the stairs, the 13 year old hugging his father before climbing back into bed. He waited a few minutes to make sure another argument didn't break out, and when he heard silence he decided it was time to go back to sleep.

The last thought on Evan Bradley Giles' mind was that he hoped just because he looked like his father didn't mean he would act exactly like him.

Rupert Giles slowly made his way into his and Buffy's bedroom, sighing softly when he saw her sitting on the edge of their bed. Running his fingers through his hair, he gently cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Come back for round two?" her hazel eyes bore into him, daring him to start another argument.

"Buffy..." he sighed, his right hand diving into the pocket of his jeans.

"I just don't get why you won't tell Dakota about your past?" she cut him off, genuine puzzlement in her voice. "If he knew that you went through a rebellion period, he could stop before we're dealing with 'Ripper's revenge'."

"And if it gives him more of a reason to continue, what then?" Giles countered, sitting down beside her. "I could tell him about Ripper and where that led me, and it could give him more of a reason to not listen to me. It may very well even plant ideas in his head,"

There was a pause as Buffy thought over what her husband had said. He had a point, but so did she. And there's where their problem laid; they both had points on how to deal with their son's behavior.

"Telling him about that part of my life is a last resort, Buffy." He added, his jade green eyes focused on the carpeted floor. "When we have no other options, I'll tell him."

"Will that be before or after he overdoses on something?" Buffy felt his eyes on her, prompting her to look at him. "You know that's where Dakota's heading, Giles. The booze and the cigarettes I can handle, but the drugs I couldn't handle."

The Watcher had no response to give. Instead, he averted his gaze and sighed.

"Just talk to him, okay?" she grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers when he nodded his head in agreement. "Did you think we'd be here all those years ago?"

"What?" he looked at her and tilted his head in confusion at the change of subject.

"Did you ever think that you'd be married to me and discussing on how to deal with Ripper Jr.?" a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth at her smirk.

"Do you mean before or after I found out my 19 year old Slayer was pregnant from the casual sex relationship she had with me?"

They both broke into a fit of giggles, her head coming to rest against his shoulder. Giles sighed as he pulled her closer to his side, reflecting on complicated journey of their relationship.

When Buffy had come to him the night of her first Thanksgiving in college, he had no intentions of letting it become a regular occurrence. Of course that hadn't been the case. They both fell into the habit of finding comfort within each other and it didn't take long until it was purely casual sex between them, but it couldn't stay that simple. He had found out that he was going to be a father when Faith had switched bodies with Buffy five months after they had started their relationship, in the loosest idea of the term.

From then on out, things had snowballed. Both Watcher and Slayer had decided to actually try for a real relationship and soon after, Giles had found himself falling in love with her. The moment he had told her, he had allowed himself to toy with the notion that they both may have found some form of normalcy when she had admitted to feeling something for him-she just wasn't sure if it was love or not.

Seven months after Giles and Buffy had begun dating, the twins were born and made it that much harder for Giles when Buffy had died in Dawn's place. It was only after she had been resurrected that the complications came into play. Not being able to deal with the mess that was his Slayer pretending to live, and after finding she had been sleeping with Spike on the side, Giles had left for England and left the twins in Anya's care.

He had known, without a doubt, that there would be a lot to fix between them when he arrived back in Sunnydale to deal with Willow. And when he showed up on Buffy's doorstep with a few Potentials, he knew that it would never be the same between them. That fact was further encouraged by the rift that had grown with each disagreement they had, whether it be about Spike or how she was handling the situation with the First.

Giles had been so certain that Dakota and Brennan would be his only children, until Buffy came to him looking for comfort- yet again- when the Hellmouth destroyed Sunnydale. They feel into the easy routine of using sex for comfort, the result being Buffy becoming pregnant again. After a few months of debating, Giles and Buffy had settled down in Spring, Texas with the twins and Dawn.

They didn't entertain the thought of a relationship again and after Evan had been born, Buffy left for Huntsville to attend Sam Houston State University to obtain a degree in teaching. By the time Evan was 4 years old, Buffy had talked to Giles about giving them another chance and 3 years later the Watcher and Slayer were married. After another 4 years, Giles had allowed someone else to be the head of the new Council in order to try and solve the problems his frequent travels had caused.

A gentle poke to his stomach caused the Watcher to come back from his thoughts and notice Buffy calling his name.

"You okay?" she asked once she realized she had his attention.

"Yes." He gave her a small smile as they both stood up and prepared for bed. "I was thinking, that's all."

"About..." his wife encouraged him to elaborate.

"No," he continued at her raised eyebrow. "I didn't think we'd end up here all those years ago."

"Ah." She climbed into their bed and snuggled up against his side once he settled himself under the covers. "Do you regret it?"

"No, but that's not to say that I don't wish certain things had not happened." He could tell she was thinking about the exact same instances he was thinking about. "But I'm very glad at where I ended up."

"Good," she placed a soft kiss on his lips before resting her head on his chest. "I love you, Watcher-mine."

He chuckled at the old endearment. "I love you too."

Within minutes, both were asleep.

Okay, folks. What do you think? Is this something you guys would like to see continued? Have any suggestions/improvements/things you'd like to see? Hit the ol' review button and drop me a comment to let me know your thoughts, suggestions and anything thing else dealing with this story. Thanks for taking the time to read this.