Sorry for the really late posting. To make it up to you, I will post the next chapter early.


Chapter 9

As Giles rode up to the stables, a brunette woman stepped out of the open double doors. "Hey," she smiled at Giles. "How was the ride?"

"Magnificent, Brittany. Thank you."

"I see you picked up a hitchhiker," she nodded towards his passenger.

"This is Buffy. She's Dawn's sister. Buffy, this is Brittany. She's in charge of the stables." The ladies greeted one another. "Better get Merlin back in." Giles walked the horse into the stables and down to his stall. Once inside, he slid from the horse. Buffy did the same.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Well, I'm going to clean him up. Want to just meet me back at the inn?" He started to undo the saddle.

"How are you cleaning him up? With a bath? Like you would a car?"

Giles chuckled. "Not quite. I'm going to get him undressed and then brush him out. You are more than welcome to stay if you wish."

"Nah. I'll head back. I'm feeling a little undressed at the moment anyway." Giles winked at her and she giggled. "I'll see you before we leave for dinner?"

"Yes, M'Lady."

"Ooh. I like that." She walked over and kissed him once again. "See you soon."

She said bye to Brittany on her way out of the stables. The woman had offered her a ride back, but Buffy turned it down. She felt the strong need for her mind to process the afternoon.

She was just entering the gardens when she heard two people talking. They were a bit far off, so if it hadn't have been for her Slayer hearing, she wouldn't have heard it at all. Curiosity getting the best of her, she decided to listen.

"I think we should tell him."

"Grace, no! That's crazy!"

"But, Ethan, I think he could help me!"

"Why? Why do you think that?" Buffy could hear the desperation in Ethan's voice as he begged his little sister.

Grace sighed. "I don't know. I just get this feeling about him. And Buffy."

"Oh, so now we are trusting her with your life, too?"

"You are being very dramatic today," she grumbled.

"Dramat-". He stopped himself short. He was clearly annoyed. "Seven years, Grace. Seven years I have been behind you. Supporting you. Watching out for you. Doing everything I can to keep you safe, to keep you hidden from those who will just take you away. And now you want to go blurt it out to two strangers? Risking everything?"

She sighed again. When she spoke, her voice sounded strained, as if she were on the verge of tears. "I just want some answers, Ethan."

"And we will find some."

"How?"

Now he sighed. "I don't know." Buffy heard a mumbling coming from Grace, but couldn't make out what it could be. Ethan responded saying, "You aren't and you won't ever be. You have me."

Buffy listened on a little longer, but it was silent. She couldn't help wondering what the two teens were talking about. Whatever it was sounded very serious. She hoped that neither of them were in trouble. If one of them was, it sounded like Grace. And for some reason Grace thought Buffy could help. And she would if she could, but what could Buffy possibly do?

It seemed as if it was something they had been dealing with for a while. Seven years Ethan had said. Seven years he had been looking out for her. But as her older brother, shouldn't he be doing that anyway? What could have happened to them seven years ago?

"Oh my god," Buffy mumbled. Seven years ago, Buffy had lost almost everything. Seven years since her home sunk into the ground. Seven years since she activated all the potential Slayers. Could Grace be...?

She had said she had this sense about Buffy and someone else. A male someone else. It had to be Giles. She had to be sensing Buffy as a fellow Slayer and the magic in Giles. But then why not sense Portia, Willow, and Amanda?

Buffy suddenly remembered the girl's strength leading them to the fountain. And Ethan's sudden weariness over it. Grace had looked positively worried when she realized what she was doing. At first Buffy thought it was just out of embarrassment for her eagerness at the moment. But looking back now, it sort of made sense.

Then again, maybe she was just misunderstanding the whole thing. Maybe she was forcing puzzle pieces into spots they didn't fit. Perhaps she should test the girl. Buffy could always throw a knife at her head, she if she catches it. She kind of always wanted to do that with one of the girls. But if she were wrong, Giles would be mad.

Giles. She needed to talk to him. He would know exactly what to do. After all, he dealt with this sort of thing all the time, right? Later, she decided. After dinner. Possibly before. When he got back from the stables. For now she would just go back to her room, (put on some panties), and gather her thoughts. After all, she had a lot to think about.


He had sex with her. My god, he had sex with her! What had he been thinking? What had they been thinking? Giles was lost in his own head. He knew he should feel guilty. Buffy was involved after all. But he just couldn't bring himself to that point. Instead, he actually felt happy. Complete. As if a part of himself had been missing for, well, forever. With Buffy, everything felt right.

So, no. He did not feel guilty. Yes, he did feel happy. Then there was that other feeling. The one he kept pushing down deeper and deeper. Ignoring then pending doom that was doubtless to come. The one that kept reminding him that this would never work out. That they couldn't be together. That this was all just temporary.

But right now he was happy. Happy to be connected to his Slayer once again. Even if it was in a way he never thought he would be before.


Buffy stood in front of the mirror, wrapped in a towel, after her shower. She stared at her reflection. She didn't know what to make of the woman staring back at her. She didn't know what she felt.

Well, that wasn't completely true. Buffy felt many things. Joy, curiosity, worry, guilt. She just wasn't sure what the winning dominant feeling would be. She knew what it should be; guilt. She felt a tad guilty for what she had done with Giles. Or, more specifically, to Tony. She had never cheated, not once. Not on him or anyone else. It was never even an option in her mind. Yet, she had been the one to push the boundaries with Giles.

She could have easily stopped him if she had wanted to. He had even given her plenty of chances to stop and she refuted each one. She hadn't just wanted to be with him; she needed to be with him. Needed to feel that closeness, that bond with him once again. True, they had never bonded in that way before, but now that they had, she wondered why not.

It felt so natural to her. It never crossed her mind that it shouldn't be happening. Not really, anyway. Afterwards, in the shower, she briefly thought of it that way, but it didn't carry much weight. Buffy and Giles just clicked together. As if they belonged.

Shortly after Sunnydale, Buffy had been talking with some of the Potentials turned Slayers. It was just random small talk. But a few of the girls mentioned they had been intimate with their Watchers. She had been shocked to hear this. Most were still teenagers. One had grown up with their Watcher as a guardian. They had not been intimate until after she was 16, but still! Buffy had mentioned that it was too weird to think about her and Giles being that way, especially while she was in high school. But all the girls had said the same thing; it was perfect. It had not felt weird or wrong to any of them. It was natural. Buffy had dismissed it all at the time as inexperienced girls, sheltered girls, not knowing the difference. But now... now she understands them completely.

This, of course, brought up both curiosity and worry. Curiosity about what this could mean for her and Giles. Where would this go for them? Realistically, not far, which is what brought worry. Worry about what this meant for her and Tony. Despite everything, she loved him. Truly loved him. They had been together for almost four years. He was sweet, smart, sexy, devoted. She realized she could say all those things about Giles as well. She didn't want to leave Tony. But Giles...

Ugh! It all made her head hurt. She didn't want to think about it anymore. She knew it was a serious issue that needed to be addressed, but couldn't she just enjoy herself for now? Couldn't she just pretend for a little while that she was truly happy?


There was a knock at Buffy's door. She opened it as she finished putting in an earring and smiled at the person on the other side. Giles smiled back at her. He stepped in and shut the door behind him as she walked back to the mirror.

"You look very lovely tonight," he said.

Buffy glanced down at her outfit. She was wearing a sleeveless, tea length dress with a solid black top and a floral printed black and white skirt. "Thank you. Not looking half bad yourself, Mr. Giles," she stated with a wink.

He straightened the navy tie that perfectly matched the navy jacket over the white button down shirt. "Did you have a pleasant afternoon?" He sat on the edge of her bed.

She smiled coyly at him. "You know that I did." She then thought of the conversation she overheard/eavesdropped on between Ethan and Grace. The smile slipped from her face.

Giles brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"

"How do you test if someone is a Slayer?"

"Oh, umm, well," he he took off his glasses and polished then with his tie, "at first we knew who some of the Potentials were from the Seers. They had already been recruited and in the process of training with their own Watcher. We had the coven in Devon find others that were previously undetected, much like you had been at first. Once they were located, we asked a series of questions and then performed minor tests."

"Minor tests? Like blood work?"

Giles chuckled. "No, not lab tests. We checked strength, agility, reaction, speed."

Buffy sat on the bed next to him. "Ever have a hard time convincing someone they are a Slayer?"

"Sometimes they don't want to acknowledge it at first, like someone I once read about." Buffy smiled at him. "Usually they have some indication that they are different or that they have changed. Eventually it is accepted." Buffy nodded at looked to the floor. "Why do you ask?"

"I think Grace might be a Slayer." She looked back up at him.

Giles sighed. "I admit, I had that thought as well. What lead you to believe this?"

"I heard her and Ethan talking in the garden earlier. She could sense something about us and wanted to talk to us about something. Ethan told her it was too risky. That he had watched over her for the last seven years and would continue to search for answers. Tell me that doesn't sound like a Watcher/Slayer relationship."

"Hmm." Giles stared straight at the wall in front of him, thinking.

"Are you going to throw a knife at her head?"

Giles looked to Buffy as if he were insulted. "Why on Earth would I do something so recklessly dangerous?! What if we were wrong?"

"That's what I said to Merrick when he did it to me."

"Dear Lord." Giles rolled his eyes and shook his head.