"Hey, Giles, over here," Xander called out as the Librarian finally came to the area of the park Xander had been guarding for the last half hour.
"Okay I'm here, now exactly what was it you needed my expert opinion on," grumbled the Englishman in a very annoyed tone.
"This," said Xander as he pointed to the statue, one that looked completely harmless and not at all threatening in the early morning light.
"Xander," Giles growled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "All evidence aside, I do not think you are dull, or slow witted. To the contrary you have proven yourself quite intelligent by coming up with remarkably creative solutions to impossible problems. Now holding that last statement to be true, I must inform you that if you woke me up after only three hours of sleep only to look at a bloody statue, Snyder will stand in awe at just how miserable I will make your life."
"Speaking as someone who thinks that forcing someone to get up before noon should be a crime punishable by death, I can sympathize, but this is a special case. The thing is that before the sun came up she was a full on flesh and blood demon that took out a group of vamps and a Polgara."
"It can't be," whispered Giles in an almost reverent voice as he dropped down to his knees and started to run his hands over the smooth stone. "No tool marks, it's a gargoyle, a true gargoyle."
"Uh, you're kind of freaking me out here Giles," said Xander as he stared at the Englishman.
"Oh yes, sorry about that," Giles said as he stood up and brushed himself off. "I suppose some explanations are in order."
"Well yeah, that's why I called you. From the way you were acting earlier I figure that you know what she is, so now the question is do we need to kill her."
"Absolutely not," said Giles in a very firm voice. "Gargoyles are unique among the nonhuman inhabitants of the world in that they actively fight to protect humanity where other friendly races are neutral at best."
"Cool, so how come I haven't heard of them before now? You'd think that with them protecting people and all they'd be way up there on the do not kill list."
"Small minded bigots and a few bad seeds I'm afraid," said Giles. "Because of their physical appearance it is all too easy for people to see them as demons that would cause them harm. This fear has caused humanity to turn against gargoyles again and again, killing noble beings when they were asleep and couldn't fight back. I'm ashamed to admit that some of the more hard edged members of the Watchers Counsel have fanned the flames in the past, despite having documentation on their true nature."
"So they have the endangered species deal going then," said Xander as his gaze turned to the fearful expression that was frozen just a few feet away.
"Very much so I'm afraid," Giles said with a bit of a sigh. "At the moment the Council only knows of five groups of gargoyles scattered across the world. There may be more hidden in remote locations where the Council doesn't have a presence, but I doubt there are that many more."
"So where is she from?"
"I don't have a clue," said Giles with a genuine smile. "While gargoyles have a great amount of genetic diversity in even small groups, many have regional identifiers, such as resembling local fauna. I'm not seeing any familiar characteristics, and the tomahawk indicates Native American ties, so I'm assuming that she's from an unknown group."
"You know Giles having a super brain about things that go bump in the night is kind of your trademark, but all this info is going above and beyond considering you haven't looked at one book," Xander said as he closely studied the older man. The best description of Giles at the moment would be geeky, and not the normal bookworm geeky but the kind of geeky that would result if Xander met Superman or something.
"Guilty as charged," said Giles, his smile never faltering. "I became fascinated with them as I was studying non-hostile species in the course of becoming a Watcher. I even met a couple back in my Ripper days."
"How was it?"
"A bit of a disappointment actually," the ex-Watcher said as he sat down on the ground. If he was going to talk about his favorite subject he may as well be comfortable doing so. "They both appeared to be simple bookstore owners, exhibiting none of the traits I read about that made them desirable to meet. I suppose the sad fact is that to survive anywhere close to a group of humans, gargoyles have had to curb their instincts to protect so that they may remain hidden."
"What about her? Personally I can't see her in a bookstore or a library," the young man said right before a thought occurred to him. "Well okay I can see her in the school library but that's built over a mouth of hell, so it doesn't count."
"Point," said Giles as a bit of humor crept into his voice. "Judging by her appearance and your story I'd say it's safe to assume that she is more of a protector than the gargoyles that I encountered."
"So what's the plan here Giles? Unless you say otherwise I'm just going to call up Buffy and Faith and tell them that the demonic looking Xena here is on the do not kill list, then go to bed," said Xander as he stifled a yawn. Hunting straggling vamps and demons that liked to stay out close to sunrise was a good plan tacitly, but one that his inner slacker hated.
"Usually I'd agree that would be the best course, but I simply can't let an opportunity like this pass. I'm going to stay in this area to ensure that no harm comes to her before she wakes up at sundown."
"Cool." Xander turned to leave to get some shut eye, but took one more look at the sorrow that had been temporarily set in stone, and then turned back. "Do you think it'd be a good idea for me to be here Giles? You know, to apologize for making her think I was going to kill her."
The elder librarian couldn't help but smile at the maturity that the often annoying young man was showing. "I think that would be an excellent idea. Afterward we can even have a discussion about just what you were doing wandering around Sunnydale at night, without any backup."
"Uh yeah, really looking forward to that," said Xander in a way that even a blind and deaf person could tell that it was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Good. Now go home and get some sleep."
"Okay Giles, see you later." Xander turned and started to walk towards home. He needed some sleep, then food, then some more sleep. Something told him he wouldn't be getting much of either item after the sun went down.
Xander arrived a few minutes before sundown, and found Giles in very un-Giles like clothing. "So what's with the normal clothes today G-man?"
"You have no room to talk about others fashion choices as long as you have one Hawaiian shirt that hasn't met its end in an incinerator. Tweed may not be appropriate for spending the day in a park, but at least it speaks of sophistication and higher learning."
"You keep telling yourself that Giles, maybe someday someone will believe you."
Any further banter was cut off as the sun finally completely sank under the horizon, and the guest of honor began to wake up. The first thing Xander noticed was the sound, like ice splitting when you pour hot liquids over it. Next a visible web of cracks formed along the surface of the statue, showing glimpses of living flesh beneath. The last part was the most surprising though. The gargoyle let out a deafening roar as she burst out of her stone shell, eyes blazing that eerie red that they had shone during the battle last night.
"Xander, put the stake away," said Giles in an even voice.
Xander looked down to the stake in his hand before doing what Giles had asked him to do. "Sorry Giles, she wakes up a bit more loudly then she goes to sleep."
The London native simply gave a slight nod to show that he understood before he started to walk toward the gargoyle. He made sure that his steps were measured and steady, arms away from his torso, and palms facing forward so he would look as non-threatening as possible.
"Do you understand the language I am speaking?" When the gargoyle simply gave him a confused look Giles repeated the question in each language he knew, none of witch sparked a look of understanding.
"I was afraid of this. Xander would you be so kind as to light the candle located where I was sitting earlier?"
The man whose name was still whispered in fear in some of the darker corners of London closed his eyes and cleared his mind. The magic flowed through him, and into the creature of myth standing just a few short feet in front of him.
"Do you understand the language I am speaking?"
"Yes." The ridges over her brows came together in a look that screamed confusion at her comprehension. "How is this possible?"
"I used a minor spell to help us communicate. The artificial knowledge will fade after a few months, but hopefully by that time you'll have gained enough true knowledge to understand what is being said."
"Thank you," the gargoyle said, her voice surprisingly soft considering her tough appearance.
"Think nothing of it. However if you feel so inclined as to answer a few questions before you go about your business I would be very grateful."
"I too have questions that need to be answered. Perhaps an exchanging of information is needed?"
"That sounds perfect. If you would be so kind as to follow us I'll lead you to a place where the more unsavory members of the town are unlikely to bother us," said Giles.
When the gargoyle nodded her consent Giles started to walk out of the park, heading for the Library forcing Xander to jog a bit to catch up. The situation was just a bit surreal for him, and considering his nighttime activities that was saying something.
"Hey Giles, why is the gargoyle speaking with a slight British accent now?" Xander asked the older man once he had caught up.
"A side effect of the spell. It was developed so that a Watcher and Slayer could communicate even if they both spoke different languages by dumping the native language of the Watcher into the brain of the Slayer. As a result the recipient of the language dump takes on some regional inflections until they learn to speak the language themselves."
"Ah gotcha. So just how much is it worth to you for me not to tell Buffy you knew this spell when she was failing French?"
"It's worth enough that I'll inform her about your early morning escapades when she is in a good mood instead of a murderous one." The Englishman stated with a feral grin that Xander didn't think he could have managed back when he was possessed by the hyena spirit.
"Okay, shutting up now."
"A wise decision," said Giles before letting the rest of the walk pass by in silence, and for their new gargoyle companion to wonder about the sanity of the humans she may have to trust.