A/N: I noticed what might be seen as a continuity error in the last chapter. In the first chapter, Giles was shown to not know what a Slayer was, but then in the last chapter, he knows perfectly well what a Slayer is. I never intended for Giles to not know what a Slayer was at ten. Notice how Slayer is capitalized in the boy's point of view; it is simply a potential in which he's not sure about. That being said, I might go back and change it because it's going to bug me that I did not make it clear.

Also, this is the last chapter in this particular story, but I leave it rather open-ended, so stay tuned.

Chapter 3

A knock on the door startled both of them out of their slumber. Giles began to shake when he saw the time.

"Wh-who would be calling this late?"

"I don't know, but I'll get it. You stay here, okay?"

"Y-you're not leaving me, are you?"

The pleading in his voice made Buffy want to ignore whoever was at the door and continue to hold the child as tight as she could. However, the knock returned, and louder this time.

"I have to see who it is. It might be Xander or Willow."

"Who?"

"You'll find out," Buffy said with a laugh. She heard an audible whimper when they separated, but Buffy did her best to ignore it. Buffy trotted down the stairs as she heard a louder knock this time. Her consternation grew in that she was quite sure Xander or Willow have never been this impatient, even when they needed Giles urgently. Once Buffy got down the stairs, she felt a familiar cramp in her abdomen which indicated a vampire nearby.

Oh crap, Buffy thought. Of course the timing was perfect, but then again so was the monster. Vampires could not come in unless they were invited, and one knocking on the door indicated an amateur. This should be an easy slay and then she could return to comfort Giles.

Once she got within a few yards of the door the door was suddenly blown off its hinges and flew straight into Buffy.

"Buffy!" She heard Giles shout from the loft. She had hit the couch, and the heavy door had given her a good blow to the head and crushed her foot. Thankfully, her arms were unharmed, so she pushed the door off her to face the intruder.

"So, this is the Slayer," said a feminine voice from the doorway. Buffy looked up through the haze likely caused by a concussion. She saw a woman with long black hair which cascaded over her chest. She was wearing a simple sundress and was barefoot. She walked into the house without an invitation, so Buffy questioned if she was, in fact, a vampire. However, the cramp in her stomach could not be ignored, and this person clearly had magic on her side. Vampires with magical inclinations had been known to subvert the invitation rite, but thankfully not much else. She could be killed just like any other vampire.

"Frankly, I expected more from you," she said in a somewhat familiar English accent. "Usually those who are so well indoctrinated put up more of a fight."

Buffy glanced over to the still exposed pile of weapons by the stairs, and wondered how fast she could get over to them with a broken leg.

"Stay away from her!" Giles shouted while he was running down the stairs. Buffy looked up to see him holding one of the aforementioned weapons in his hand and shaking like a leaf.

The vampire turned to face Giles, and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, sweetheart. The spell worked. Thank God."

"Stay back," he shouted, still brandishing the stake. "H-how d-did you…I-I k-killed you."

Buffy's eyes went wide. This vampire was Giles' mother? This was impossible. It was beyond impossible. Just when she thought Giles' pain threshold had reached its limit, something else came to test it.

"You were lied to, son. Whoever told you vampires cease to exist after they were dusted? Your father? The Watcher's Council? Fools. That is why I had a spell cast on you so you could be back the way you were; so that all the pesky Watcher training would stop corrupting your brain."

"G-Giles! Don't listen to her! She's not…"

"Silence," the vampire said to Buffy. Suddenly, the only thing coming out of her mouth was pained gasps. He voice now refused to make sounds, and pure panic raced through her.

"Don't!" Giles shouted when he saw what had happened to Buffy.

"Don't what? Keep me from finally taking my son home? Do you know why I left, Rupert? Did you hear the quarrel your father and I had before I left?"

"Yes," Giles admitted, lowering his weapon. "Y-you said you didn't want m-me to have to fight dark things."

"Yes, at the time I was looking out for your interests, but now I know these forces are not truly dark. I am not inhabited by a demon, but rather have been given the gift of immortality. I have been given a second chance for us to be a family. Oh Rupert, how I wanted to take you with me when I left, but I couldn't. The Watcher's Council is quite powerful, and it would have been a lost cause."

Giles snorted. "If you really loved me, you would not have cared."

"Why do you think I came back for you?"

"Shut up!" Giles shouted before raising the weapon again. "Y-you killed Anna. You hurt Buffy. You're evil."

"Don't be concerned with the affairs of Slayers," the vampire said as she shot a disdained glance toward Buffy. The Slayer could not think of anyone she hated more in this moment than this creature. She was now more than determined to send her back to the ground where she belonged. However, Buffy had no stakes or other defenses, and getting to them would mean pulling herself along the floor around Giles and his mother without being noticed.

"Slayers have been killing our kind. I am in the business of protection."

"B-Buffy's a hero. She has saved the world."

The vampire laughed. "Is that what she told you, eh? Don't you see, Rupert? It's all lies. They want you to participate in the Watcher's Council by feeding you lines about demons and destiny. They have no idea what they are talking about and only want to add you to their list of martyrs."

"B-but you're going to kill me."

"Oh son, I'd never kill you. I have been allowed to come back to you so you could be given a second chance to make the right decision." Giles' mother slowly approached him as he backed away as much as he could muster. "You're not going to kill me this time, Darling. In fact, you will allow me to give you the gift of immortality? It is not a curse as you have been taught."

"I don't believe you," Giles whimpered. Buffy became alarmed that the courage he had displayed as a boy was now waning. Buffy could only surmise over thirty years of longing for the touch of his mother was casting a shadow of Giles' younger self, and was leading him to question his decisions.

The Slayer turned to her ankle and tried an examination of if it needed to be set or not. When she saw no immediate danger of her foot healing deformed, she grabbed the couch so she could leverage herself upward.

"Don't even think about it, Slayer," the vampire called. Instantaneously, a ball of energy shot out of her palm and Buffy felt like a sledgehammer had hit her in the chest. She fell to the ground and struggled to catch her breath.

"Giles," she rasped, figuring she was beginning to get her voice back.

Giles looked at her with frightened eyes. His stake was already at his side, but his trepidation had never been higher.

"Don't have any compassion for her. She's simply upset you will not love her back."

Giles furrowed his brow. "But…but she said…"

"More lies. Did she tell you about your hands and how she left you to be tortured? Did she tell you about getting someone you loved killed? Did she tell you about the miserable hours she spent worrying about you when she ran away without even saying goodbye?"

Giles looked toward Buffy who had by now managed to open her eyes. Buffy could feel her voice was now functional, but could not bring herself to speak due to still being breathless. She silently pleaded with Giles to be brave once again and see this demon for what it really was.

"Son, I know you are scared, but when you become immortal, all that fear and doubt goes away to make room for strength you never thought you could have. All those boys on the school yard? They would cower in your presence. You would no longer be their punching bag. You would be their Master."

Giles gulped. She was now close enough to run a finger down his cheekbone and down his neck. She brought it to rest on his shoulder in an almost sensual manner. Buffy felt herself having to gulp down bile as she took in the sight. The disgust was replaced with terror as she saw the female vampire sink her teeth into Giles' neck. He let out a short scream of pain before the thrall hit him and he closed his eyes

Buffy's mind had to act fast. She could hear the greedy sucking as the vampire stole Giles' lifeblood from him. The Slayer quickly used her arms to drag herself within arm's reach of the vampire and give one swift karate chop to her leg. The following scream of agony signaled to her the move did its job. Both involved parties sunk to the ground. Giles' mother was clutching her leg in pain and Buffy used the opportunity to pull Giles' limp form to her breast.

"Giles," she frantically whispered. The clotting mechanisms in the vampire's saliva were doing their jobs and the bite mark in Giles' neck had already stopped bleeding. However, his eyes were still closed and his form still limp.

"You meddlesome, stupid girl!" The vampire cried once she pulled herself upright using the nearby banister.

Buffy barely heard her as Giles' breathing quickened and his eyes opened. He appeared to calm once he saw whose face was over him.

"Buffy," he said with relief. "I-I'm not a vampire, am I?"

Buffy laughed. "No, you're not." He put a weak arm around her neck and held her close as if to hug her. The hug was somewhat awkward, and the emotion behind it was still the same.

"How could you?" The vampire screeched. "Rupert, you're the love of my life. How could you choose that…Slayer over me?"

Giles features hardened as he untangled himself from Buffy and pulled himself upright to face the woman before him, whose features had now shifted to the demonic visage.

"This Slayer has showed me more love in the past hour than you ever have." Giles growled. "You were loving when your carcass inhabited my mother, but that's not who you are anymore. You're a demon, and one who would not know love if it slapped you in the bloody face. I knew it the moment you touched me. It was cold and dead, and it reminded me my mother is never coming back. At first I was angry and sad I staked you. Now I could not be happier."

It took a minute for the vampire to take what the boy had said in, but once she did, she let out an ear-piercing scream which caused a nearby mirror to shatter. Buffy flinched and started to pull herself upward, but a hand to his chest stopped her.

"I've got this," he said before giving her a quick kiss on the lips. Buffy's eyes widened and he smiled at her reaction. "You're a sorry liar."

Giles got up to his feet just as the vampire began stretched out her arms and caused all of the wood in the flat to turn to sawdust. The crashing sound of collapsing books and collectables and plates barely registered with Giles as he held up a hand and shouted, "Back!"

The vampire flew backward and hit the wall with a loud cry.

"Apparently I have magic, too," he said smirking. He then turned to Buffy and said, "Why didn't you tell me that part? It could have been useful."

Buffy's brow furrowed and she gulped. "I…I know you did some magic when you were younger but…I didn't know you could do…that. H-how are you using it?"

Giles shrugged. "Instinct, I guess." When the vampire began to pull herself up again, he let out another pocket of energy and pushed her to the ground again.

Buffy audibly gulped. From what Giles had told her about his past, it sounded like he had dabbled in magic as a way to have sex or get high. She had no idea it was like this. She had no idea he was so powerful. He still was powerful. The power was stark enough that a foreign body could not only sense it, but know how to use it. Why had Giles not told her? Why had he not used his power to help her fight evil?

"Fool," the vampire cackled, startling Buffy out of her thoughts. "Of course you have magic. It's in my family's blood. Anna did not need to invite me in that night. I invited myself. Vampires as powerful as me do not need to abide by such archaic rules."

"If you're trying to convince me to become a vampire, I'm not interested. I don't want to die."

"So you fancy living your teenage years in a middle-aged man's body? Your life's been taken away, boy. You are now chained to this putrid girl for the rest of your life. Even after she dies you will be thinking of her. She will be on your heart constantly. You have been given a second chance to be free. Will you take it?"

Giles stood resolute for a breath before turning to look at a still crippled Buffy. "There are worse places to be." He said before lifting his arms and closing his eyes. He turned again toward the vampire and muttered an inaudible incantation before blue energy shot out of his hands and engulfed her. A blood-curling scream lasted less than a second before the light faded and the ashes of the dead demon laid on the floor. Buffy felt jarred by all of these events happening in the span of a minute, but she recovered once she saw Giles collapse to the floor.

"Rupert!" Buffy cried before crawling over to her lover. She turned him so he was lying on his back. He had a significant nosebleed and so Buffy tore off a piece of her shirt to put against his nose. She titled his head back to allow for breathing and for the blood to stop.

"Buffy?" Giles mumbled around the cloth. Something in the voice caused some hope to rise in her chest. The tone and timbre was similar to that of her Giles, but she could not hope for fear of disappointment. She noticed the blood had stopped flowing and she propped him up on the couch. She coughed and realized they were sitting in the pill of sawdust that used to be Giles' desk.

"God, it's bloody impossible to breathe," Giles growled. He tried to open his eyes, but they kicked up the remains of the wood whenever they moved, and it made the air thick with pollutants.

"C'mon, let's go to the bathroom and get cleaned up," Buffy managed. She found she had to help the still weak Giles on to his feet, but he appeared to be regaining energy quickly. She almost forgot she could not support her own weight and collapsed once she stepped on her broken foot. Giles caught his balance and did not join her.

"That was immensely stupid," Giles chided, his voice full of concern. He took her foot in his gentles fingers and examined it. "It does not look like it needs to be set, but we should get you to the ER to be sure. I don't know how Slayer healing works with broken bones, but…" Giles stopped when he noticed Buffy looking at him with a shocked expression.

"I-is that you, Giles? Are you back?"

Giles appeared confused for a minute, but then let out an embarrassed smile. "I suppose I am, and it appears my 'Watcher mode' is more automatic than I thought."

Buffy's heart surged with joy, but she could not allow it to take over. She had to be sure.

"What's my sister's name and who's after her?"

Giles laughed. "Glory is after Dawn because Dawn is actually a mystical Key given to you by a band of monks to protect."

Buffy gave a long sigh. "Thank God," she cried before leaning forward and throwing her arms around the Watcher.

"Buffy….ow."

"Oh, sorry," Buffy said, trying to hold back tears. Even though he had only been a child for a few hours, it had felt like an eternity. "D-do you remember what happened?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Giles said, his face falling. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"Oh God, don't apologize. It wasn't your fault. It was that crazy mother of yours. Do you have any idea how she can come back?"

Giles' face fell further. Buffy almost regretted the question, but she knew treating Giles with kid gloves would not help matters, so she resisted the temptation to do so.

"It is not unheard of – vampires being resurrected that is. However, I have no idea why it would happen with her."

"Would it have given her powers?"

Giles sighed. "No. She had those before."

Buffy furrowed her brow. "You never told me that."

Giles hesitated, but soon gave in to the guilt so he could tell her more about his past. "I was not planning on keeping it from you forever, but I was not ready to tell you."

Now it was Buffy's turn to feel guilty. "Y-you don't have to tell me now. I'm sorry if I'm pushing…"

"You're not pushing, Buffy," Giles insisted. "You deserve to know. I meant what I said before. If we're going to be together, I want you to know all parts of me, including the part descended from witches."

Buffy's eyes widened. The revelation should have been an obvious one, but it was still an odd phrase to hear. She thought back to her first month in Sunnydale when she and Giles went after Amy's mother. She wished she had known Giles better at the time so he could decipher his reactions and feelings. He must have been in a world of pain. "Y-your mother was a witch?"

"I thought it would be obvious."

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, well…I guess I didn't think of you like that."

Giles grabbed a large volume nearby when had fallen to the ground as a result of the disintegration of his bookshelves. He placed it underneath her crippled foot and scooted himself so he was beside her and took her in his arms. They both leaned against each other in silence for a moment before Giles continued to speak.

"My mother was not like Willow. She has the magic in her blood. She was descended from a long line of witches. She belonged to a powerful coven in Devon who was briefly in the employ of the Watcher's Council. However, both groups began to take very different views on what the term 'employ' meant, and they went their separate ways, but before this happened…"

"She met your dad," Buffy finished. "I can see the Romeo and Juliet story now."

"It was not as much Shakespeare as it was Jane Austin," Giles replied.

"I bet," Buffy said as she snuggled closer. "Does that mean you have the magic in you, too?" The Slayer immediately regretted the question once she felt him stiffen beside her.

"Yes, b-but I suppressed it a long time ago."

Buffy wanted to ask more, like why he suppressed it or why the power came out so strong if he had not been using it. However, his tone cautioned her to be happy with the answer she had. He was becoming uncomfortable beside her, and she detected a hint of sadness in his features. After all he had been through tonight, she would be sad, too.

"So, you want to come to my place and look on the net for some new furniture?"

Giles laughed, diffusing some of the tension. "No. I would rather take you to the ER."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "If I say no, you're going to bug me until I agree with you, right?"

"Of course," Giles said. "I'm offended you even need to ask."

Buffy sighed and nodded. "Let's go."

Giles helped her off the floor and again she winced in pain. She had many other bruises and cuts all over her body she was now noticing, and it was making her want to stay in one spot forever. Giles noticed this, and decided to make another conversation to distract her.

"I'm sorry our romantic evening didn't work out," he said after stepping through the open hole which used to be his front door. "I'm going to have to call Xander and Willow to watch the house."

"Don't…be sorry," Buffy managed. "It was not your fault."

Giles smiled. He knew she meant it. He let his support of her body turn into an awkward embrace and let their bodies mold into each other like two puzzle pieces. Suddenly, he felt something within him. He felt the sudden urge to push her to the floor, rip her clothes off, and have his way with her. While the desire to take her to bed had been sudden, this was like a ton of bricks hitting him in the noggin. He pushed her away immediately, and stared at her with frightened eyes. Buffy nearly fell over before falling against a nearby wall and finding balance with her good foot.

"Giles?" Buffy said, her voice tinged with alarm. "What the hell?"

The desire was gone as quickly as it had came, but the fact that it existed in the first place terrified him. Giles knew he could not be with Buffy until whatever this was had been deciphered. However, he knew there would be no need on his end. He knew exactly what had caused him to dream about raping his love, and it scared the hell out of him.

"Sorry. I-I thought I saw a spider."

"A spider?" Buffy said with one eyebrow raised. "Why do I get the feeling you pulled that out of your ass?"

Giles blushed and attempted to take her weight again. Buffy hesitated. "You're not gonna throw me to the ground this time, are you?"

The unpleasant reminder of his earlier urge made him blush further, but he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Buffy. You can trust me, I swear."

Buffy hesitated, but did end up smiling in silent agreement, and let him take her in his arms.

oOoOo

"Wait. You're not angry?"

Lindsey laughed as he took another sip of his scotch. "That's the problem with you sorcerers; your egos are twice as big as your brains. Did you honestly think we wouldn't have a Plan B? Or was your spell so fool proof nothing could possibly go wrong?"

Ethan sighed and took a long swig of his beer.

"Look at the facts, Ethan. It's not like your spells have not gone wrong before. Thankfully, this Plan B might go better than the first."

"B-but you said the Dark Powers brought Isabelle Giles to you instead of that other vampire for a reason, right? Are you saying it was just a random mistake?"

"It might have been the doing of your deity, Ethan," Lindsey said. "Chaos has a bad habit of messing with us."

"So, your plans with Angel were ruined, but that's okay?"

"Angel's pain will come soon enough. Right now, the Watcher has become more of an interest to me. He can hurt her ten times worse than Angel could have. With him being a vampire, it was expected. However, the Watcher, whose duty it is to protect her and guide her…that's a longer way to fall. The pain she went through when he took her powers away was ten times worse than what she went through with Angel because of this. It is made better by the two being lovers."

"Yes," Ethan said, his mind working to make sense of what he was hearing. "And I'm guessing if Ripper was a vampire, the pain would not be as bad since, like you said, it was expected."

Lindsey nodded. "We thought this was the only way for him to hurt her, but now we know this is not true. Why did you not tell us of his work with the dark arts?"

Ethan gulped. "W-we dabbled when we were together. We only used the magic for…fun. But I had no idea he was going further. I only went further after he left, you see."

"Well, now that Rupert has awakened the beast, his path can only lead one place."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ethan objected. "Ripper's legit now, and he suppressed it once before. He will hold it back for the woman he loves, and for his duty."

"Then you'll just have to help him along, then," Lindsey said with a smirk. "Mark my words, friend, not only is Ripper coming back, but his work for our side will be legendary."

END

oOoOo

Here are some stories I am currently working on. I would like you guys' opinions on which ones I should pursue. I'm quite ADHD, and I'm a part-time grad student, so I doubt all of these will get published. However, the more encouragement I get, the more likely I will be to work on these projects.

- Right now, I am in the process of writing an AU version of the final battle with Glory, and Buffy's death and resurrection. What makes it an AU? Well, it's B/G for one, and everyone has dӕmons ala the His Dark Materials trilogy. Well, everyone except for those without souls. Also, it puts Giles in the role Tara had at the end of season five.

- Apparently I like to cause Giles pain, because another fic I'm working on in a non-con mpreg story. Before you turn away in disgust, please know that I tried to make it as believable as possible within the universe of Buffy. I'm not saying I succeeded – that will be for you guys to decide. Again, it's B/G. It will be a trilogy, and the first part is almost finished. It would be all finished had I not decided to alter a significant part of the plot.

-The sequel to this story is already percolating in my head. Not only will it involve the final words Lindsey said to Ethan, but it will be a crossover with A Wrinkle in Time. The darkness will indeed start to take over Giles, and the situation will be similar to that of season 6 Willow, but different in many ways.