CHAPTER TWO: WHAT WATCHERS ARE GOOD AT

Rupert Giles stepped forward slowly, his eyes never leaving Willow, even though he desperately wanted to rush over and check on the prone form of his Slayer.  Seeing her lying on the ground, bruised, bloodied and semi-conscious was something that no Watcher particularly wanted to see.  He was grateful for the small movements that Buffy was making that proved that she wasn't dead.  Yet, a voice in the back of his mind added.

Xander and Dawn looked at the Watcher, thankful that a miracle seemed to have just been provided.  They could only hope that the Watcher would be able to do something to stop the insanity that was happening.

"Uh oh," Willow said, her voice cold and mocking.  "Daddy's home.  I'm in wicked trouble now."

"You have no idea," Giles replied, his voice soft, cool, threatening.  "You have to stop what you're doing."

"Sorry," Willow said, fake smile on her lips.  "Can't do that.  I'm not finished yet."

"Neither am I." 

Willow struggled to get to her feet, and Giles waved a hand in her direction.

"Stay down."

Willow collapsed to the ground, and Xander, Dawn and Anya watched in amazement.  Xander knew it was inappropriate, but he idly wondered whether Giles was a Jedi Knight.  Willow glared.

"That's borrowed power," she accused.  "No way is it gonna be strong enough-"

"I'm here to help you," Giles said, interrupting her.  He hated the cold tone in Willow's voice.  He hated that part of this was his fault.  He knew he shouldn't have left and he was regretting his decision more and more every second.  He hadn't know things would go this badly.  He could only hope to fix some of it by being here now. 

"Thanks but…I can kill a coupla geeks all by myself," Willow informed him, rolling her eyes at this sudden need for Giles to be pushing into something he'd had no interest in up until now.  "But hey, if you'd like to watch.  I mean that's what you Watcher are good at, right?  Watching?  Butting in on things that don't concern you."

"You concern me Willow.  Stay on this path and you'll wind up dead," he cautioned.

Willow just laughed and shook her head.  She moved to stand up and Giles waved his hand again.

"Stay down," he ordered.

Willow moved her own hand as though tossing away the wave of energy that was thrown at her.  "No."  She moved to stand directly over Buffy and Giles shifted nervously.  He wanted to get Willow away from his Slayer, but he was concerned about the lengths Willow would go to if he tried to do that.  And considering that Xander, Anya and Dawn were still in the room, he was even more concerned about what Willow would resort to if she felt threatened.

"Why'd ya come back Giles?" Willow asked, tilting her head questioningly, her black eyes gleaming with evil mischief.  "I thought you were headed back to England.  Permanently remember?  So you wouldn't have to deal with little miss 'Woe is me, you pulled me out of Heaven'."

Xander and Dawn flinched at the harshness of Willow's statement.  The problem was, they hadn't been coping too well with Buffy's constant depression, and having it flung at them in such blunt terms made them feel incredibly guilty for not being more supportive of Buffy. 

"You don't know what you're talking about Willow," Giles said coldly.

"Don't I?" Willow asked.  "Come on, Giles.  Tell me honestly, you left so you wouldn't have to see her being so thoroughly depressed.  You left a bunch of twenty year olds and a self-obsessed teenager to deal with her when she needed an adult to help her through it.  You know what your precious Slayer did, Giles?  She started fucking Spike just so she could feel something.  She called out for you in so many of her nightmares but you were never there.  She wanted you here to help her, to watch her, but no…you couldn't deal with it.  You couldn't handle seeing her die again."

Giles swallowed and found himself unable to look Willow in the eyes.  As harsh as the statements were, there was truth to it.  Whilst on one level he didn't enjoy being used as a permanent safety net, he had left because he knew that if he had to watch his Slayer die again, he wouldn't live through it.  And to hear about Buffy's liaisons with Spike…they hadn't come as too much of a shock, he'd been suspecting it for a while, but the bluntness of Willow's statement made it seem that much harsher.

"I guess I should apologise in advance then, huh," Willow said calmly, keeping her eyes on the Watcher.  "I mean, you left so that you wouldn't hafta watch her die, but…well, you can't win em all I guess."

She dropped to her knees and had her hand on Buffy's chest before Giles, Xander or Dawn could even move to push her away from the fallen Slayer.  Giles face was the picture of pure horror, and Xander and Dawn couldn't believe that it had come to this deliberate attempt of murder.  Fighting was one thing, but this…

Xander went to tackle Willow away from Buffy, but a white light enveloped the two girls and Willow was thrown backwards, hitting her head against the staircase to the balcony of the Magic Box.  She slumped to the ground, but Xander and Dawn paid her no attention.  The Carpenter, the Key and the Watcher were all on their knees besides the Slayer who was suddenly very much conscious.  Her eyes opened and she looked groggily at her sister, her best friend and…her Watcher.  Her eyes widened as she took in the much-missed man.

"Giles," she whispered.

He smiled and took hold of her hand, squeezing it tightly.  Dawn had tears running down her face, her mind racing frantically, trying to catch up with what had just happened. 

"Are you okay?" Dawn whispered.

Buffy forced herself to look at her younger sister, an attempt of a smile on her face.

"I'm so sorry Dawnie," Buffy said softly.  "For everything."

Her eyes fluttered shut and her head lolled to the side, the slight pressure that Buffy had been applying to Giles' hand stopped and Giles once more knew true despair.