Chapter 9: Kidnapping The Enemy's Lover

Buffy walked through her front door five minutes later, seeing Dawn, Willow and Tara sitting around the TV watching an old romance movie. She stepped aside to let Giles in, blushing as she felt him brush up against her body. She closed the door, and shook the feeling off, turning to see Dawn running straight for her.

"Whoa...what's with the major hugs?"

"We were getting worried...You didn't call last night to let me know you where okay."

"I'm sorry, Dawn I was a little...occupied."

Her eyes had shifted to Giles at the last word and turned back to her sister who was huddled into her chest hugging her so tight she thought she might explode. She had been pretty forgetful to not at least call Dawn. It wasn't a good thing to do after what had just happened to their mom. She hugged Dawn in return, before pulling away from her. Dawn smiled up at Buffy as she spoke, her mood changing from worry to happiness in a split second.

"Its okay....Are you guys just now coming back to town?"

"Yes."

Giles spoke to her, knowing that Buffy wanted to keep what had happened between the pair of them a secret from Dawn for as long as they could. It was probably for the best, as it would be hard for Buffy to explain to her fourteen year old sister what had happened. Dawn was too young and innocent, and Buffy would shield her from that kind of talk for as long as she could. Not that she didn't know that Dawn knew about sex, she just didn't want to have to go into a deep discussion with her baby sister about it. Giles walked over beside Buffy, kissing her cheek softly before speaking.

"I need to go now, Love."

"You going to the Magic Box?"

"Yes...I'll call you tonight."

She smiled and nodded before waving goodbye to everyone else and making his way out the front door. Buffy watched him leave, and felt like a piece of her heart had went with him. She turned back to see Dawn, Willow and Tara staring at her. She blushed and turned around, heading to the kitchen with out another word. Dawn tried to follow her but Willow told her to stay with Tara. Willow knew something had happened that Buffy wasn't going to say in front of Dawn. She headed to the kitchen behind Buffy, who was pulling out a box of cereal from the cabinet above her.

"Buffy? You need to talk?"

Buffy turned to see Willow standing behind the counter in the center of the room, staring at her. She sighed and placed the box of cereal down beside her, crossing her arms and looking towards the ground. She was trying to think of how to tell Willow about what had happened.

"Um....Yeah. I just don't know how you are going to feel about what I have to tell you.'

"What happened? I mean...you and Giles seemed different....like you where hiding something....Buffy, please tell me what's going on..."

Buffy took a deep breath, knowing that she had to tell Willow exactly what had happened whether she anted to hear it or not. She knew it never worked out when she lied to her best friend, and she needed to tell someone what had happened the night before.

"Giles and I....didn't just get back from the desert. I..spent the night at his apartment. Will, we...made love...and it was the most wonderful and exciting experience of my life. I just couldn't say anything in front of Dawn. I know you must feel incredibly strange and weirded out by what I just said but.."

"No, Buffy...I mean yeah, I'm a little weirded out, but if your happy about it, than so am I."

Buffy turned around and went back to her cereal, wondering if it had been such a good idea to tell Willow. Her friend had given her a look of disgust as she confessed what had happened. She was more freaked by it then what she admitting to Buffy. Willow walked around the counter and wrapped her arms around her best friend's shoulders, giving her a hug.

"Buff, don't worry about it. This relationship is new to you and to all of us...I think a little weirdness is allowed."

"I know. It's just...Will, he makes me incredibly happy. Happier than even when I was with Angel. There is just...a deeper connection between us...and the Spirit Guide told me not to reject love and risk the pain, so that is what I plan on doing..."

"Spirit Guide? Buffy, what are you talking about?'

"Oh, right. I didn't tell you. That was why Giles and I went the desert. It was a slayer ritual to help me...regain focus. I was afraid that if I kept being the Slayer, I would lose the ability to love. The guide, well...It was the First Slayer. She came to me and told me that I am full of love, but because I have so much love that I run from it. And then she told me that love would lead me to my gift...and that Life is my gift. It's all one jumbled mess that I really don't understand."

Buffy took a bite of her cereal after she finished speaking, looking up at Willow. Maybe Will would have some kind of idea as to what the spirit guide meant. She could see that her friends was already processing all of Buffy's words into her head.

"Well, Buff...that could really mean a number of things..."

"I know...It's just important that I figure it out, and soon.."

"You can do it...I know you can."

"Thanks, Will."

Willow moved away from her friend and walked back over to the doorway, turning her head over her shoulder to look back at her friend. Willow spoke to Buffy, a smile forming on the red head's face.

"I think Tara and I are going to head back to the school. We will see you later?'

"Of course, Will. Thanks again for watching Dawn for me."

"No problem..."

Buffy watched her friend walk out of the door way, hearing the door open and close behind them. She sighed, looking down at her cereal. She didn't know what was in store for her, or what the Spirit Guide had meant about Life being her Gift, but she was sure it had something to do with her defeating Glory. It just had to be something that important or she would not have been told it. She finished her cereal and placed the bowl in the sink, her thoughts flowing back to the night before and to Giles. Somehow, she knew that he was involved in what the spirit guide had told her. She didn't know how or why but she knew he was a part of it, just as he was a big part of her life now. She turned to see Dawn standing behind her, tilting her head.

"You okay, Buffy?"

"Yeah....just tired. I'm gonna go and take a nap, okay?'

"Oh...Okay."

Buffy smiled at her little sister before exiting the room, making her way back up the stairs to her bedroom. She had a lot of thinking to do, and she couldn't do it with her baby sister watching her every move.

Glory, the hell-goddess trapped in a man's body, had been hatching a plan to steal the key from the Slayer. She told her little minions to watch the Slayer with her people, and to report back to her with whom they thought the Slayer considered "most precious" to her. Glory would then use this person for information about the key. It had been a brilliant plan. She knew that the key was in a "flesh wrapper" as she had put it. And that the key would also be one of the Slayer's people. She just had no idea who it could be. So, the plan to torture a loved one of Buffy's for information had been hatched. She sat in her apartment, her golden hair tightly curled and dressed in a red skin tight dress and high heels, with her scabby and crusted minions bowing at her feet.

"What do you got, worms?"

"Your Most Magnificent One, we know who the slayer considers "most precious" to her."

"Well, spill it you little ingrates. I really don't have all day...or all year for that matter."

The scabby demons looked at each other, wondering if they should really tell her what they had saw, and if their God would believe them. They had seen the Slayer and her Watcher in his apartment the night before, kissing and caressing each other. It had been easy to catch her with the one that she cared for the most. It was almost too easy. Jinx, the demon Glory depended on the most, was the first to speak.

"Your beautifulness, I believe that the Slayer has grown an attachment to her Watcher."

Glory sat up, peaking with interest at the statement. Sure, any one with eyes could see that they cared for each other. But, there was something different about the way Jinx spoke about this "attachment". It was in a tone that usually meant that their was a deeper meaning to the word he had used. Her interest had been peaked and she sat up, looking down at Jinx before speaking.

"What do you mean, Jinx?"

"We saw the Slayer and her Watcher being...intimate with each other..."

"You mean like, sex and stuff right?"
"Yes, your great marvelousness."

Glory cackled, her head shoot back and her legs kicking in laughter. It was too easy. The slayer had given in to passion and allowed Glory to find out what her deepest weakness was. It was too easy and too hilarious all at one time. When she had finally been able to stop laughing and regain her composure, she spoke. She wasn't necessarily speaking to her minions, but speaking allowed to herself. It was a habit she had that she couldn't quite break away from.

"Well now....I didn't expect that little twist of events. The Slayer and the Watcher? It's kind of poetic if you think about it."

Glory stood up and the minions that had been bowing at her feet scrambled up to get out of her way. She turned back to them as they stood up, her eyes narrowing as wicked smile formed on her face. She spoke her orders to them, her voice and face growing more and more excited as time passed.

"He's the one I want, fellas. I'll make him bleed until I get the answers I need. Bring him to me. And make sure the Slayer or her posse see you."

They all muttered and bowed before shuffling out of the room in pursuit of Giles.

Giles had been at the Magic Box for a little over five hours, and the day was beginning to wind down. Anya was busy over at the cash register, and Giles set at the round table, his back to the door that led to the area he used for Buffy's training, and the door that led to the back alley. His eyes scanned over the book he had been staring at for the last four hours. It was a book he had read over a thousand times, but he still read it again. There had to be something about Glory that he was missing. She had to have some weakness. Something had to be able to defeat her and get Dawn away from her. Giles looked up to see Xander, Willow, Tara and Dawn walking through the front door. But no Buffy. He hadn't had time to call her and check on her. He was getting worried. Dawn moved over to were he was sitting, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. He grinned and patted her hands before watching her sit down beside him.

"What you doing?"

"Reading.....Stalling, really. I can't...find anything I haven't read before."

He closed the book and pushed it towards the center of the table in frustration. Dawn watched him, her eyes shifting from him to the book. She had an idea of what he had been looking at, but she didn't want to talk about it. The whole Glory subject was not something Dawn liked to talk about. She turned back to him, speaking to him with her voice barely above a whisper.

"You okay?"

"Yes, Dawn...I'm fine. Where is Buffy?"

"Oh yeah...I was supposed to tell you. She's not feeling well and she wanted to stay at the house for a little bit longer. She said she would call you in a little while."

"Is she all right?"

"Yeah. I think she's just really tired. She went up to her room to try and sleep after you left this morning and she couldn't. I kept hearing her tossing and turning..."

Her words troubled him. Something was bothering Buffy. Was she bothered by what had happened the night before between them, or was it something to do with the Spirit Guide? It had always bothered him whenever Buffy was in pain, but he found himself needing to check on her himself. He stood up and looked down at Dawn, before speaking to her.

"I am going to go call her and see if she is all right..."

"Okay...You do that. I'm sure it'd make her happy."

Dawn smiled up at him and he nodded, saying hello to Willow and the others as he passed them on the way to his little office behind the counter, and the phone. He dialed her number, hoping that she would pick up. His stomach grumbled with nervousness with each second that passed. It only took a few seconds for the receiver to make the clicking noise that told him someone had answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Buffy? Are you all right? Dawn told me you weren't feeling well."

"I'm fine....I just couldn't sleep and wanted to rest before I came to the shop."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Giles. I'm fine. I promise. I will be there in a little while, okay?"

"All right. If you still don't feel well than don't push yourself..."

"Giles. I will be there. I promise."

"Okay....I love you."

"I love you too. Give the others my love as well."

"I will. Buffy – I..."

Giles couldn't finish his sentence before the door behind him swung open and a group of unfamiliar demons charged into the room. He dropped the receiver and fell to the ground with one of the demons on top of him to hold him down. The others had begun to attack the rest of the gang. Giles struggled but the creature had his hands pinned behind his back. The next thing he knew he felt a sharp pain to the back of his head, and the last thing he heard was Buffy's voice in his ear screaming his name and asking if he was okay.