Chapter 3

To say Giles was pissed would be an understament. He was seething with fury. But his desire to comfort Buffy pushed it under control. He held the sobbing woman. He lead her over to the cot that had been used for boxes over the summer then was cleared, and sat down, pulling her with him. Every bit of emotion she'd felt since coming back was pouring out into her sobs.

"Oh Buffy." he whispered, stroking her back. "I'm so very sorry." He rested his cheek on her head. She continued crying. They sat there for a good ten minutes. When she stopped crying, he removed his head and lifted a hand to her cheek, wiping away tears with his thumb. She hiccuped.

"I got your shirt all wet." she said with a wobbly smile. He chuckled.

"It's quiet alright." he assured her. She laid her head back on his chest and took a deep breath.

"What do I do now?" she asked, voice muffled in his shirt.

"What ever you want?" He paused. "Whatever you want that does not include any humans getting killed." he amended. She chuckled.

"So I can't kill Willow?"

"No my dear, you can not. No matter how tempting the option is." She giggles and rubbed her head against his shirt, clutching at the fabric.

"Can Faith do it?"

"No, no one is allowed to kill Willow. Why are you targeting her anyway?"

"Why did you yell at just her?" she countered.

"Touche. I yelled at just Willow since she was, as I'd said, the once I trusted the most to respect the forces of nature."

"Well, I know Xander. He'd only do it if he was close to 100 sure it was right and would go right. Tara... I think she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't help."

"And Anya?"

"Who knows." she said with a shrug. There was a silence that conveyed all they wanted to say.

"You should tell them." he said, stroking her hair once again.

"I don't want to." she said, shifting nervously.

"I'll be there."

"I don't want to hurt them." she said. She felt him stiffen and flinched at the expected rage. Instead, he took a shaky breath and mentally counted to ten.

"And they didn't hurt you."

"Not intentionally."

"You really need to keep your views strait. You're mad at them, ready to kill, Willow mainly, for pulling you from heaven after your well deserved rest, yet you don't want to tell them?"

"Yeah." she said with a nervous chuckle. He sighed.

"You are a very strange woman Buffy."

"You're just NOW figuring this out?!" she asked in mock outrage and bewilderment while standing. He followed her. "Where have you been all these years?!"

"Unconscious?" They shared a brief laugh over the joke. When the amusement died in her eyes, he frowned once more. She hesitantly cupped his cheek.

"I feel bad...all those times you were hurt because of me." She ran her thumb over a hidden scar in his eyebrow. "Angel...us tortured you because of my selfishness." she said, sadness in her voice. He gently grabbed her wrist, brought her hand down to his mouth and kissed her finger tips.

"You couldn't have known the consequences." he whispered. She sniffed.

"You've been hurt so many times because of me."

"Don't believe that Buffy. It was my duty to stay by you and guide you. If I happened to acquire a few bumps and bruises-" she snorted. "-then it was worth it."

"Giles, you got more than 'a few bumps and bruises'." she said with a smile. He smiled back.

"That may be so. The point is Buffy, I would take a lot more for you to survive."

"What's the point?" she asked, eyes flashing. "I'll just be brought back anyway." she spat. He held her close.

"No you won't. When your time comes once again, which I'm selfishly hoping isn't for many, many years, you will be able to rest, I promise." he said. Her anger disappeared and she looked into him.

His expression was kind, but after all the years with Giles, she knew what to look for. There was a slight crease by his eyes and she could see that the vein in his temple was beginning to show as it pulsed a little harder. He was angry. And he was good at hiding it.

"Thank you." she said with a smile. He ran the back of his hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes and almost purred at the feel of his soft, yet toughened skin on her on her smooth cheek. Everything feel away as he caressed her. She slowly opened her eyes. He ran his thumb over her lips. The emptiness of her mind stayed as she smiled. Nothing was said, yet they both knew.

"Will you tell them?" he asked.

"Will you be by my side?" she asked, looking directly into his eyes.

"Always." he said.

"The yes, Giles, I will tell them. It's no going to be easy."

"Nothing is ever easy my dear."

"Getting drunk it easy."

"That is not easy. You usually don't get drunk when you want to."

"We did."

"And I do not think I shall ever figure out how."

She chuckled. "You're so British."

"I am British you silly girl." he said affectionately.

"Giles, you stopped being British after six months of knowing me." He grumbled slightly.

"I did not."

"You act like more of an American every day." He glared as her and she started laughing. "It was a joke!"

He placed a hand on the back of her neck and tiled her head back. She stopped laughing. Giles ran a finger over the collective bite marks with a growl. The Master, Angel and Dracula. She shivered, the skin sensitive.

"America is highly over rated." he said wile running the finger across her throat. She swallowed, hard. "It always has been, and always shall be." he said. She almost whimpered at the loss of contact.

"So, is everything American and in America overrated?" she asked while looking at him, eyes slightly glazed. He almost smirked.

"No. Just the country and what it has to offer." Buffy touched his cheek and ran a finger down it, and to the middle of his chest, where she flattened her palm.

"So, since I'm in America, and I'm an American, I suppose that makes me something it has to offer." she said, looking at him and locking gazes. "And that means I'm overrated." He loosened his grip on her neck and lightly massaged the area his fingers had been.

"No." was all he said before bringing his lips to brush hers. She pushed on his lips. He moved his hands, on the small of her back, the other in her hair. She looped her arms around his neck and gasped slightly. He took the opportunity to grab her bottom lip in his teeth. When she moaned, he released her. Their foreheads touched as they tried to catch their breath.

"That was nice." she said. He chuckled.

"'Nice' isn't how I would describe it." She tried to scowl, but it came out as a smile.

"Hmph. Is you say so." She rested her head on his chest. He hugged her and was about to kiss her again when-

Bang! The front door was slammed. They jumped apart at the slam.

"Buffy?!" Dawn yelled from the dining room. Buffy groaned.

"This is really unfair." she whispered. Giles kissed her forehead.

"We can see what Dawn want, then head over to the Magic Box. Is that alright?" he asked. She nodded and took a deep breath.

"It's going to hurt her."

"We've been through this."

"But Dawn didn't do anything."

"Buffy?" Dawn asked, opening the basement door. They were hidden from view thanks to the staircase. They quietly pulled apart.

"Coming." she called back. She looked at Giles and slipped her mask back into place. He shook his head, only slightly comforted that the mask also hid her emotions about him from Dawn until the time was right to tell.

Dawn went back into the kitchen and began raiding the fridge. By the time Buffy was up the stairs, there was ice-cream, cookies and pop all over the counter. She hadn't realized they'd own that much junk food. Giles shut the door.

"Hi Giles." Dawn said, only flicking her gaze at him. She snatched a paper from the counter. Buffy frowned.

"Why are you home so early? It's only-" she checked the clock. "-eleven?!" she exclaimed, thinking it had been at least one, one thirty.

"School's out?" she suggested. Giles saw her shove her hand in the pocket with the paper. His frowned deepened as he recalled the color.

"Buffy, I believe the pink slip Snyder always threatened you and the others with has been handed to Dawn." Dawn scowled. She'd been planning to tell Buffy in a very different way.

"Suspended. Had it over Dawn." Buffy said with a sigh. When she read the pink rectangle paper, she turned white and red faster in record time. Her mom still held the record though. "You'd better have a VERY good excuse Dawn." she said, looking up from the paper. Giles plucked it form her hand.

"Good lord." he exclaimed before taking off his glasses. He threw the slip to the youngest person in the room and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I can explain." Dawn said. Buffy folded her arms. Giles looked at her and could have screamed. She showed no anger, no disappointment. Just blankness. He was determined to shatter that mask so it created more dust than a vampire.

"Please do." Buffy said while sitting on one of the stools. Giles just stood, rubbing his forehead. He replaced his glasses.

"Well, I was at my locker, and this girl came up to me. She knocked my bag from my hand. I didn't do anything about it except clean up my things. Later in class, I was taking notes-" Buffy snorted. "-and she 'tripped'. So, she was on the floor and everyone was laughing. She got mad and took a swing at me. I jumped from my desk and tried to get away but-"

"Dawn, this said you hit a teacher."

"I was getting there! I couldn't get away because she grabbed my hair and yanked. Well, I kicked her , but the teacher was trying to break it up. I accidently kicked Mr Jisle and knocked him down." Dawn finished. Buffy shook her head and reread the slip.

"'Suspended for five days do to attack on teacher. The teacher was attempting to get Ms Summers off of another student when she turned and punched him in the face.' That says nothing about a kick Dawn." Giles said as he read over Buffy's shoulder.

"Go to your room while I think about this." Dawn stormed off. Buffy sighed and put her head in her hands.

"Once again, what do I do?"

"Punish her accordingly."

"She doesn't follow my punishments." Buffy said. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We can figure it out later. Come, we can leave for the Magic Box." he suggested.

"I don't want to go yet."

"Buffy-"

"No, I'll go. But not yet." she stated, standing. She went to the stairs in the entryway. "Dawn!" The teenager grumbled and came out of her room, stomping and sulking. "I'm going out. I want you here when I get back."

"Whatever." she said before going back to her room and slamming the door. Buffy turned on her heel and headed out the front door after grabbing her leather jacket. Giles plucked his jacket from the dining room chair and followed, shutting the door. Upstairs, Dawn waited a few minutes before sneaking out.

Watcher and Slayer walked around town, not really talking about anything specific. They walked through one of the parks and around the hill. Taking a shortcut through the woods, they arrived a clearing, of sorts. Neither noticed where they were until it was to late.

They were feet away from Buffy's grave. The usually grassy area was pathetic, since the entire area had been upturned. There was brown and little tuffs of green sticking out of the lumpy soil. They stared a the headstone. Buffy as sucked back in time.

The Slayer took a deep breath of the musty air into her lungs. Her eyes snapped open, but all she could see was blurs. She became frantic, the almost nonexistent air was suffocating. But she wondered how she was in a padded box until she realized that she wasn't in heaven anymore.

She began clawing at the cushioning as her lungs screamed for air. Her only thoughts were getting out of the box. But it didn't prove simple. She ripped the fabric and broke through the wood eventually. It wasn't fun. She knew what had happened. She'd been "watching" in a way. The second air invaded her lungs and brain, she wished she'd stayed in the box.

"Buffy?" Giles asked as her face screwed up in anger. She clenched her hands into fists until blood trickled from her palms. He laid a hand on her shoulder. She looked at her hands.

"There's no scaring." she said. He looked from her face, to her knuckles, to the grave, to her knuckles and back to the grave.

"Oh good lord." he whispered.

"You didn't know."

"I suppose everyone else did." he said bitterly.

"I thought you knew." she said in a small voice.

"My god Buffy-I can't even begin to imagine..." he trailed off, looking at her. "No, I'm not angry at you. I may possible take back what I said about killing them." She chuckled slightly, but the amusement didn't reach her eyes.

"It's alright." she said, taking a t step towards him. Her foot knocked a piece of the broken and forgotten urn towards his foot.

"It's not bloody alright. You dug your way out of a coffin." he growled.

"I remember, thank you very much." she said with just a shadow of anger. He sighed and gently took her hands in his.

"I'm so very sorry I wasn't here."

"It's not your fault."

"Buffy-"

"Oh no, I'm not letting you out of this one. I know what happened. Willow told me, and I figure out the rest. They let you leave and later that night they did the spell." she said, looking at the stone. She strode over to it and kicked it, but not enough to break it. She'd do that later. "I'm ready to go now." she said, turning towards the woods.

Giles took a few steps before something under his food cracked. He stopped a knelt down. Frowning, he picked up as much of the urn as possible, then followed her. They took shortcuts through the woods, arriving at the shop in ten minutes. Buffy's bloodied palms were dried. She opened the door and it slammed against the wall.

"Buffy! You're here! Please be more quiet before you scare away the costumers!" Anya said as she came from behind the counter.

The last costumer was just finishing their purchase and left. Anya had to close the shop for lunch anyway. The Scoobies usually met during that hour, sans Dawn of course. Giles followed Buffy. Willow and Tara were already there. Xander came through the back entrance carriyng fast food backs.

"Hey Buff." he said, smiling. "What's wrong?" he asked noticing her bad mood.

"Are you alright Buffy?" Willow asked, standing as Buffy didn't answer. Tara flicked her eyes from Giles, to Buffy, to Giles' hand a few times and swallowed.

"Now I'm not 'alright'." she snarled. Willow's eyes widened. "You're a bitch Willow. How could you?!" she demanded, going to the table. Buffy was reminding them of the ghost thing that passed through the dimensions when she'd been brought back. Giles went to the table and laid down the broken urn. Well, most of it anyway. Willow gulped.

"What is this Willow?" She mumbled something. "What was that?" he asked, eyes blazing.

"The Urn of Osiris." she mumbled. Bad Willow didn't want to emerge right then. Because Ripper was close to making an appearance. Giles growled.

"The stain Willow. I know what the pot was from the designs." No one answered at first, even though only one knew what the stain was.

"'Vino de Madre'." Xander finally said. "I-I think she called it 'wine of the mother'." he said, looking around. Willow's eyes were wide with fear. Giles' knuckles were white as he resisted the urge to strangle her.

"You used DARK MAGICS to bring here back?!?!" he demanded. Buffy was still angry on her own. Anya looked at Xander, not having know it was blood that she's taken by magical influence. Tara looked down, not having thought about that particular ingredient after she'd seen it.

"What is it Giles?" Buffy asked, taking a step towards him.

"What did you use Willow?" he asked, ignoring the Slayer. "Answer me Willow." he snarled, banging his fists on the table.

"I-it had to be done."

"Tell. Me. What. You. Used." he repeated slowly, jaw clenched. Willow moved away before answering.

"A fawn."

"You used magic to call it didn't you?" he hissed. She hung her head. But it snapped up quickly, her eyes darker.

"I did what I had to do to get Buffy back!" she snarled, taking a step towards him. Her anger began radiating off her. Buffy was red with rage. "You would have done the same!"

"No I bloody well wouldn't have! You-do you have ANY idea what you've done?! You've created a dangerous backlash tha-"

"And it'll come back to me!" she said, cutting him off.

"No, it won't." Buffy said, moving next to Giles again.

"How do you know?" Willow asked, returning to herself a little. Buffy's chin lifted as her eyes flashed with fire.

"Because your backlash is on me. I know, because I couldn't feel a god damned thing since I crawled from my own grave!"

"That wasn't supposed to happen." Tara said, looking at the floor.

"We save you Buff. You said so yourself." Xander said, trying to calm everything down. He got the gist. Willow was in serious trouble. Giles and Buffy were beyond pissed. Only Tara noticed the flicker in Buffy's eyes.

"Oh Goddess!" she exclaimed, hand to her mouth. "Oh no." Buffy turned to Tara, smiled and turned back to Willow.

"You didn't save me. You didn't think."

"I did think! I though since the moment we buried you!" Willow cried. Buffy let out a cry of rage.

"I wasn't even in the ground a few minutes before you began plotting!" she screeched. "DAMN IT Willow! Why couldn't you let me rest!"

"Because you were in hell. You said so. You jumped and you went to hell." Giles laughed cruelly.

"You really believe a Slayer would go to hell? That BUFFY would go to hell? My lord, you ARE stupid." Giles said.

"She admitted it!" Willow cried.

"I LIED!" Buffy said. Silence fell. "I lied. You all thought you did good. I let you believe it. But I'm tired. You all ripped me from my rest. I've never been to hell, but I know I'm here know! You pulled me from heaven for your own selfish needs!" she said, fists clenched once more. "And you never even thought that my actions as a Slayer would get me some rest." she added quietly. Willow took steps backwards and fell into a chair. "You didn't have enough faith in me that I would be happy. You still don't."

Giles laid a hand on her arm. "Lets go Buffy." he said. His anger wasn't heard in his voice. She nodded, her own anger moving away from him.

"I don't want to hear anything from any of you until you think about what you did." she snarled as they stared at her. Willow and Tara were in tears. Xander was as white as a sheet, and Anya's mouth was open so far, you could rent it out as a motel. They couple left the shop. The door shut and Buffy punched the wall. The brick now had a crater in it. Her knuckles were bloody, and she stared at them.

"It'll be alright." Giles said, taking her hand in his own. He touched each knuckle, unfazed by the injuries. He brought them to his lips.

"No it won't. They don't-" her voice cracked. "They don't understand what they did Giles. They probably never will." He stroked her hair and pulled her to his chest. She cried. "It's not fair Giles! All I wanted was for everything to be fine. It was! Everyone was grieving, but there was no hell on earth and I was the only one of us dead!" Sobs shook her body with her words. His anger flared again. He knelt on the sidewalk as her knees gave out.

"I know darling, I know." he whispered, a tear running down. He shot his gaze to the shop. Inside, the four Scoobies shivered.

"I want to go home." she whispered, looking at him. He wiped away a tear with his thumb then traced her lips.

"My poor girl." he said in a low voice before standing and lifting her. He frowned at her light weight, but didn't comment. His anger for the others and the love for her gave him the strength to carry her to her house. (It's sappy, I know) He unlocked the front door and carried her up the stairs.

She had fallen asleep on the way there, so he just laid her on the bed. After covering he with a blanket, he started towards the stairs and paused when he passed Dawn's room. He heard nothing. Opening the door, he saw Dawn wasn't in the room. He knew she was nowhere in the house.

He growled and went into the living room and began looking through bookshelves. He selected an old novel he was sure had been put there for him or Willow. What he found when he pulled the book away from the shelf completely set his blood a boil. Lethe's Bramble, the flower used in memory charms and mind control spells. He crushed the bag in his hand. If Willow thought she was in trouble before, then she was going to be in for a very large surprise.

AN: Comments? Anyone? Only ten pages. More with Ripper, Giles, Buffy and the gang coming to a computer near you! promotional music in the Buffy theme song