A/N: Hello, beautiful, wonderful people that make smile! This little fact is extremely important because right now, life sucks. I'm gonna just rant a little bit here, so you can just skip to the chapter if you want. However, for those of you who will actually take the time to read this, I thank you. Someone's listening! Grrr...okay, first things first. Monday sucked. My AP Bio teacher decided to conveniently forget to tell us that we had our unit test over botany. That sucked. Then, that same day, my english teacher nixed my thesis statement for my research paper. It was an AWESOME thesis, but she made me chop it in half because one half was not 'really needed.' Now, my thesis is bland and boring and uncreative and awful. Soo...you'd think Tuesday would get better right? But nooooo...I myself conveniently forgot that our AP Bio tests last two days and day two is the open response. Failed that too. Epically. It doesn't help that my teacher was absent both these days. But you know, I was like, 'I don't care' so I turned in my damn test that will earn me a wonderful F. Possibly a D if the PTB are on my side, which, right now, they are NOT. Anyway, continuing through my second day of suckiness, I went to AP Psych. I love Psych, some of my best guy friends are in there and they are absolutely hilarious. So, I laughed, felt better, and thought that maybe the day would get better. Wanna guess what happened? It got worse. I go to AP Calculus. I know we have a quiz. Known that for days now. I thought I was ready. I knew the formulas. I'm good with numbers. I get the quiz...and proceed to stare at it blankly for five minutes. We even got to work in teams because my Cal teacher is, admittedly, pretty awesome like that. This fact, however epic, just doesn't compensate for the low grade I know I got. I already have a B in there, which, I'm good with. And now our homeowrk on chain rule is due tomorrow...and I know how to do it, and yet I don't know how to do it...that's very frustrating! But...yeah...I'm running out of steam guys...thanks for listening to my pity party/ramble/rant...

Sooooo...back to the reason we're here right? Angel! Buffy! Got together and made with the love last chapter! Glad everyone enjoyed that. Made my day reading your reviews! This chapter sets the ball rolling with my little evil plan that Joss didn't think of. Bahahahahaha...

Random Disclaimer: (I don't own Buffy).

Me: Okay, guys! Chop, chop, we've got a chapter!

Booth: That's my line...except not my line.

Brennan: (frowns) Booth, that makes no sense.

Angel: Why do you look like me?

Buffy: (smiles) That's you in ten years, Angel.

Me: Agent Studly, Bones...what are you doing here?

Booth: (stares at Angel) This is weird...hey, I look pretty good, don't I Bones?

Brennan: The resemblence really is quite remarkable.

Giles: Um, can we get on with the chapter? I think this is getting out of hand...

Me: (giggles) Sorry.


Eye of the Beholder Chapter 9

The kettle was whistling. The birds were chirping. The morning sun was shining softly through the windows of Giles' apartment. This was exactly the peaceful beginning of the day that Giles hoped for every night. Today he'd been blessed with his wish.

He took the kettle of the stove and set about making his morning tea. His eggs and toast lay waiting untouched on his plate. Giles poured himself a cup of his freshly made, steaming hot tea and sat down at his kitchen table.

Idly, he flipped through one of his many occult books that lay on the table in front of him. Giles had always found reading to be relaxing. Letting the text come to life in his mind, making it real, and seeing the pictures play out in his head. It was all a wonderfully addictive process that he never tired of.

Giles was determined to have a good day. The past few weeks…no, that wouldn't do. The past few months had been hell. Short and simple. Angelus had returned with a vengeance, haunting his surrogate daughter, watching and waiting for her to break. Jenny had been killed, cruelly murdered by the person whom she had hoped to revive to his true self.

He himself had been tortured. Strapped to a hard back chair, ropes tied so tightly around his wrists that they had gone numb within seconds. After a while he'd no longer felt the sharp binding cutting into his wrists. He'd stared into the face of the vampire who his Slayer had fallen so madly in love with, a face which she had thought held so much love and compassion. Giles himself had seen it a handful of times.

But not then…no. Love and compassion had been nonexistent in that beast's eyes.

Giles just wanted to have a good day. Today, it seemed, had possibilities.

The phone rang then, its tone shrill and demanding. With a sigh, Giles rose from the table to answer it. The voice on the other end of the line startled him. It was not who he expected.

Quentin Travers.

As Quentin talked, Giles' complexion slowly paled until he'd lost virtually all color. Travers' words did not slowly sink in. No, it was like they'd been slammed into his mind with a sledge hammer. The abruptness of it all was shocking.

Nerves knotted his stomach as Quentin promptly said goodbye and hung up, not giving Giles time to return the sentiment. Numbly, Giles moved back towards the kitchen table where he half sat/half fell into his chair.

He stared at his half-eaten breakfast, suddenly feeling nauseous at the once delectable meal. Giles cursed quietly, though it did not hold half of the spark it should have. He was still too dazed to put any real feeling behind it.

Consequences. He was taught about consequences at a young age. There was a consequence for everything one did. Even the slightest thing held its own consequence. However, sometimes, when the action was not so slight, for example, like the subsequent betrayal of your organization, of your oath that you had taken and promised to uphold. The consequences were swift and severe.

Slowly, Giles brain began to work. He needed to pack. He needed to call Buffy and Joyce to tell them what was going on. Should the rest of the Scoobies know? Giles filed the thought away for later.

He needed to pack. He needed to call Buffy and Joyce. Buffy needed to pack. He needed to find Angel.

The Watchers were coming.


Buffy stretched out languidly, a lazy smile on her face. The morning had gotten off to a rough start for a moment, but, well, they'd made up for that—a lot.

"We have to get out of bed sometime today," Angel said as he traced random patterns across her back.

Buffy lifted her head off his chest, pouting. "Why?"

"Because, the world exists outside of the bedroom," Angel answered with a low chuckle.

"Why?" Buffy asked again, this time purposely looking as adorably pathetic as possible.

Angel just shook his head, a wry smile on his face. "You're doing that on purpose."

"Why?" Buffy repeated with a mischievous smirk.

Angel rolled so that he was on top of her. His lips found hers and they kissed slowly, savoring the taste of each other. "Mmm," Buffy murmured as he pulled away. "You know, you're good at a lot of things," she told him as Angel quirked an eyebrow. "But you kiss like a god."

"Ha, ha, funny," Angel smiled, but he couldn't resist kissing her one more time.

"I'm being serious."

"I know, that's why it's so funny," Angel grinned as Buffy playfully pushed him off her.

Buffy smiled, and tried to permanently engrain the picture she was seeing in her mind. Angel smiling, really smiling…it was the care-free, happy smile that made him look like he really was twenty-six.

"You think our pillow talk has improved?" Buffy asked as she planted feather light kisses on his chest before moving up to his neck.

"Definitely," Angel answered with a chuckle.

They were both silent for a few minutes, enjoying the moment, the peace. Both of them knew that the minute they got out of bed, the real world would be waiting. Angel was still practically banished from the Scoobies. Buffy still had things to settle with her mother and with her friends, specifically Xander. Everyone had to try and move past what had happened. They had to try and start over, if such a thing were really and truly possible.

"We probably need to get up," Buffy finally sighed as she sat up in the bed, holding the covers over her chest.

She felt Angel's gentle touch on her back, and smiled. "Is this you trying to convince me to stay?" she asked.

Angel's arm suddenly wrapped around her waist, and before she knew it he was on top of her. "No," he shook his head, grinning mischievously before capturing her lips with his as his hand ran down her side and settled on her hip. They continued to kiss until Buffy had to break away to breathe.

"That was me convincing you to stay," Angel whispered in her ear before beginning to kiss his way down her neck.

Buffy laughed, "And it almost worked," she smirked before flipping them over so that she was straddling him. Angel chuckled as Buffy kissed her way up his chest before placing a soft, smiling kiss on his lips. "But I really gotta go," she said before climbing over him and out of the bed.

She quickly pulled on her jeans as they were closest to the bed. Buffy walked over to the lamp and picked up her bra off the shade. "How did this end up all the way over here?" she asked, turning her head to glance over her shoulder back at Angel who was grinning to himself.

"No idea."

Buffy rolled her eyes and put the garment on. "Your shirt is by the door," Angel said helpfully.

Buffy sighed and walked over to where the hastily discarded article of clothing lay, pulling it on over her head. She would never have thought that they'd be the ones to toss clothing around the room, although, now that Buffy really thought about it, she wasn't that surprised. The thought made her giggle.

When Buffy turned around, Angel was already half dressed. In fact, he was just putting his arm through his shirt sleeve. Grinning, Buffy sauntered over to him and ran her hands down his stomach lightly, enjoying the feel of his muscles tensing underneath her fingers. It thrilled her that she had just as much power over him as he had over her.

Buffy wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest, not wanting to lose the skin to skin contact she'd grown addicted to so quickly. "Is it always like this?" she asked quietly as she felt Angel's arms wrap around her protectively.

"I don't know," Angel answered truthfully. "But I hope it is."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "Me too…cause this is nice. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside."

Angel chuckled and kissed her hair before gently pulling away from her so he could button up his shirt. He noticed Buffy's slight frown, and just shook his head wryly.

"I guess I better go," Buffy said sounding disappointed at the knowledge. "Make sure Mom doesn't have a cow."

"She didn't know you were here?" Angel asked, his brows knitting together as he considered how worried her mother might be.

"I said I was going for a walk," Buffy admitted somewhat sheepishly. "I didn't think about running into you, until, well, I ran into you, and then after that I really had other things on my mind."

"You need to let her know that you're alright," Angel said as he pulled her towards him, kissing her lips softly before pulling back at planting a delicate kiss on her forehead.

"You're making the whole bit about leaving seriously difficult, ya know," Buffy said dryly, hugging him tightly for a second before dropping her arms and heading towards the door while she still had the determination.

She paused as her hand touched the doorknob. Buffy looked back over her shoulder to see that Angel hadn't moved at all, simply standing there, watching her go. They still had so much to work through, but they'd tackled the big things. Well, at least, they'd gotten a start on tackling the big things. What was settled in her mind would not be settled in Angel's for a long time, Buffy knew.

"See you later," she smiled softly before opening the door and slipping out into the early morning sun.


Hesitantly, Buffy opened the door of her house. Stopping in the entryway, she looked towards the living room, half-expecting her mother to be sitting on the couch waiting for her, a scold already prepared and rehearsed. However, the living room was empty.

Buffy moved towards the kitchen and noticed that her mother wasn't there either. Just as she was about to head upstairs to peek into her mother's bedroom, her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that she hadn't eaten in a while.

Suddenly, the toaster popped causing Buffy to jump, startled by the noise. Joyce entered the kitchen then, a coffee cup in hand. "Oh, there you are," she said as she set the toast on a plate and sat down at the table. "I was wondering when you'd come home," she said absently. "That was quite a long walk."

Buffy sighed and dropped into the kitchen chair next to her mother, immediately recognizing the fake, blasé attitude her mom always adopted when she'd gone far beyond worried and entered the first stages of panic.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I was with—."

"Angel, yes," Joyce interrupted as she spread an amble amount of grape jelly on a piece of toast. "I guessed that you were with him."

"Oh, well, yeah," Buffy stammered, feeling awkward as images and feelings of her time with Angel filtered through her brain. It was definitely not something she wanted to remember at the kitchen table with her mother.

To try and divert her attention, Buffy snatched a piece of toast from her mother's plate and began to pick it apart into little pieces.

"Did you have sex?" Joyce asked suddenly, causing Buffy to choke on the piece of toast she'd just swallowed.

Buffy coughed, her eyes watering. "Um," Buffy cleared her throat. "What?"

"Buffy, I'm a woman, and although you would rather not think about it, I have had sex before," Joyce said, ignoring Buffy's cringing face. "I know that look."

"What look?" Buffy tried to think of a way to reroute the conversation to something that didn't involve her sex life. Hey, she had a sex life! The thought almost brought a smile to her face, but she quickly forced herself to be serious.

"The wide, bright eyes, the silly smile, the glow," Joyce studied her daughters face. "You and Angel had sex last night, which is why you didn't come home."

"We didn't plan it," Buffy immediately defended, knowing when she was caught. Moms—there was really nothing you could fully hide from them. "I was going for a walk. I went down to the docks, and well, Angel was there, and we, um, argued, and then we…yeah…"

"You argue a lot?" Joyce asked worriedly. "That's not good for a relationship, Buffy."

"We don't argue all that often," Buffy shrugged. "But we both have tempers and well, when we do argue—it's not pretty. We don't fight or anything," Buffy said before frowning. "Well, I did punch him once."

"Buffy—," Joyce began but she was interrupted by the phone ringing. With a sigh, she got up to answer it. Buffy listened to her mother's side of the conversation.

"Oh?...Who are they?...What?...How long?...You don't know? Well what do I tell Buffy?...Angel?...I'm sure she knows where he is…okay, yes, okay, bye."

Joyce hung up the phone, looking perplexed. "What?" Buffy asked curiously.

"That was Mr. Giles," Joyce explained. "He says that you and Angel need to pack—you're going to London."

"What?" Buffy repeated, wide-eyed. "Why?"

Joyce frowned. "Something about a Watcher's Council?" she offered, hoping that it would make more sense to Buffy than it did to her. "They're coming here, apparently, to talk, and then they will escort you, Mr. Giles, and Angel back to London."

Buffy's stomach dropped to her knees. This was not good. The Watchers were not good. She remembered what Kendra had said, about how Giles was so different from her Watcher. How she had no friends, how she read the handbook and knew all this supernatural stuff.

For Buffy, those circumstances did not apply. She'd never read the handbook, in fact, Giles had said that he'd tossed it. She got new rules. Buffy still lived with her mother. She still had friends, and said friends helped her with Slaying. She had Angel.

Buffy was pretty sure that was a big "no-no."

"So…" Buffy said slowly, trying to gather her thoughts and squelch the nervous panic that had settled in her stomach. "Um, what's the weather like across the Pond?"

"Pack a raincoat," Giles said as he entered the kitchen. "Do forgive me," he apologized in advance. "I let myself in. I must speak with Buffy. Well, both of you actually," he amended. "May I?" he asked, gesturing to the chair next to Buffy.

"Sure," Buffy said quickly. "Sit down Giles. Take a load off."

"If only it were that simple," Giles muttered just low enough for Buffy to hear.

"So, London, huh?" Buffy asked as Giles nodded. "Did I earn enough slayage points to earn a free trip?"

"Not exactly, no," Giles said as Joyce set down a cup of tea in front of him. "Thank you," he said gratefully, taking a sip and noting with some surprise that it was the brand he himself used.

"So then why are you, me, and Angel taking a field trip to London?" Buffy asked. "More importantly, why is Angel going at all?"

"Because," Giles sighed as he set his tea down. He took off his glasses and cleaned them on the hem of his shirt, not really caring if the action was pointless. He just needed something to do to organize his scattered thoughts.

"Because, why?" Buffy pursued, growing worried. "I mean, they don't know that he—that we're…"

"Lord no," Giles shook his head. "The Watchers are unaware that you and Angel are…together. All I've told them was that Angel was a vampire with a soul that helped you." Seeing Buffy's curious, yet still somewhat betrayed look, Giles quickly elaborated. "As a Watcher, it is my duty to report the going-ons of Sunnydale and your Slaying. I have to include what demons you face, the vampires you slay. Workout regimens, class schedules, you name it, I have a duty to put it in a report that I send monthly."

"So they know all about the Scoobies, and how I do nothing the way I'm supposed to?" Buffy asked worriedly.

"Well, um, yes," Giles confirmed. "To an extent—," he added quietly.

"Which would be?" Joyce prompted.

"As I stated before, the Watcher's are unaware of the extent of Buffy and Angel's relationship," Giles began. "However, they do know about Acathla. They have many witches and warlocks under their employ that keep up with influxes in magic—like portals to hell opening."

"They know that Angel lost his soul and opened the portal," Buffy said softly, reading in between the lines. "You told them…"

"I had no choice, Buffy," Giles said sadly. "He was not Angel. Angelus was running rampant, and that was a fact that I could not fail to report."

"So they're coming for me?" Angel asked as he tossed off the thick wool blanket that covered him.

"Angel?" Buffy asked shocked. "How'd you get in here?"

Angel looked confused for a moment. "I don't know."

Buffy looked to her mother. "Did Willow come by?"

It was like a light bulb went off over Joyce's head. "Oh, yes, she did! Not too soon after we left the meeting last night. You'd already gone. She murmured some words. I didn't understand them, but it was like the air shimmered for a moment, and then it was back to normal."

"Good thinking, Wills," Buffy said approvingly.

"So…" Angel said looking at Giles. "How much trouble are we in?"

Giles didn't even answer. He just glared at Angel.

"Lots of trouble then?" Angel assumed. "Thought so."

"Angel," Buffy called quietly, motioning wordlessly to the empty seat to her right. Angel cast a quick look towards Giles and Joyce before complying. Once he was next to Buffy, he took her hand underneath the table.

Joyce looked at the clock on the wall. "I've got to get to the gallery," she announced as she got up from the table. She turned to Buffy, "I expect to be filled in later."

"If she's not already gone," Giles interrupted quietly.

"Then I expect a note," Joyce retorted easily.

Buffy smiled slightly. "Got it. My note-taking skills are up to the challenge."

"Good," Joyce said with a tight, nervous smile as she slung her purse over her shoulder and grabbed her keys off the counter. "I love you Buffy."

"Love you too, Mom," Buffy replied quietly, but sincerely.

Joyce hesitated for a moment before turning and leaving the kitchen. They were all silent until they heard the door shut, and then Giles immediately glared at Angel.

"They're going to try and kill you," he told the vampire bluntly.

"I sorta expected that."

Giles turned his gaze to Buffy. "You'll be put on Review. It's a euphemism for trial."

"Yippie."

"And I'll probably be fired," Giles said bitterly as he stared into his now cool cup of tea.

The three of them were silent for a moment.

"Well," Buffy sighed. "I hear there's a shoe sale at the mall…"

"You can never have too many shoes," Angel agreed with her, squeezing her hand.

Buffy leaned her head against Angel's shoulder. "I've always thought so."

Giles looked at the ceiling, and closed his eyes briefly. "We're all doomed."


Well, there we go! The Watchers are coming, the Watchers are coming! Ah!

Review and my day will suck a little less,

ArthursCamelot