Chapter 9: The Shovel Speech

A/N: Only a couple more stories to go and I'll have updated all my fics in the past month. Woot!

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Challenge: #1530 'Transferring Inspectors Andy Trudeau / Darryl Morris or a scooby Challenge' by InvisibleA.

Thanks to my beta: zigpal.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Charmed characters belong to WB. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Giles and Buffy's home

Same night (September '97 – 16 months after Acathla)…

It took another few moments after Buffy's departure before anyone moved. In the back of his mind, Andy realized the order of their brief presentation was probably done deliberately. If he hadn't been in a state of shock from Buffy's bombshell, he would have reacted more strongly to her dragging a man out of the next room, then stabbing him in the heart. Which led to another good idea of hers/theirs: getting the vampire to show his fangs before she killed – was it killing if the 'person' was already dead? – him.

Glancing at Darryl and Sheila, he could tell they were still trying to process the last five minutes or so.

Apparently, Giles took his movement as an invitation to start his own speech, "I want to impress upon you how much courage it took for Buffy to share her secret, and I hope that you prove worthy of her trust. In her mind, the best case scenario is that you believe we are lunatics and refuse to speak to her ever again."

His choice of words snapped Sheila back to the present. "That's her best case? What's her worst?"

Giles' expression turned grim as he answered, "That you do believe us and insist on helping her in her fight. She believes that is the worst case because she equates you helping with you getting killed or turned into a vampire. Either way, she would feel responsible for your deaths."

Quickly putting two and two together, Andy asked, "So her friends who were murdered? They were…"

"Killed by vampires, yes," Giles confirmed.

Taking advantage of the slight pause in conversation, Darryl asked his own question, "What would your best case be?"

"That you believe us, but don't put yourselves in harm's way by being active in that part of her life," the Watcher replied earnestly. "But if you do decide to get involved, that you agree to be trained for it. The children never asked, and to my shame, I never insisted – despite having a regular training schedule for Buffy."

Darryl still looked perplexed by something. "If you don't want us involved, why even tell us at all?"

"It's because of what I saw her do earlier, isn't it?" Andy guessed. He had to admit – if only to himself – that he hoped the answer was 'no'. Granted, Buffy was only his friend at the moment, but he wanted that to change, and the idea of being with somebody who lied and kept secrets this big from him didn't sit well.

"Partially," Giles admitted. "She was trying to work up the courage to tell you anyway, but then this happened and forced her into it before she was emotionally ready. Although, to be fair, I'm not sure how long it would have taken her to get ready."

Sheila was actually curious about something else. "What would be your worst case scenario of how we would react?"

As the nightmare played out vividly in his mind, Giles shared it, "That you would betray her by telling some unscrupulous government agent or scientist, so they could turn Buffy into a lab experiment in order to find out what makes her the way she is."

Aghast at the idea, Sheila exclaimed, "We would never do that!" And if by some bizarre chance her husband even considered doing it, she would make herself a widow. Not that she thought he would, though. With the way Andy felt about Buffy, she didn't worry that he would betray her either.

Giles gave them a small smile. "I didn't think you would, but that happens to be my greatest fear if the wrong person or persons learned about her secret." His gaze turned deadly as he added, "If somebody ever tries that, they had better make sure to kill me first, because I will make them beg for the sweet release of death by the time I get through with them. Nobody hurts my Slayer intentionally and gets away with it!" he spat.

Thinking that he understood the relationship between Buffy and Giles better, Andy breathed an inner sigh of relief at the not-so-subtle threat. The older man's protectiveness didn't sound like it was based on romantic feelings. Outwardly, he replied, "Can't blame you for that; I'd feel the same way if anyone went after Darryl…or Sheila."

Pleased that the inspector didn't appear to be put off by the evening's revelations, Giles nodded his head in a show of respect. "Before you decide whether or not you want to stay in Buffy's life, I'd like you to read this book. It goes into more detail about her life – including why she's called the Slayer. Afterwards, you should sleep on your decision. Feel free to ask any questions that come to mind; just know that we may not be able to answer them. Now, there's no rush on your decision, but please don't leave Buffy wondering too long," he pleaded on her behalf.

After flipping through the first few pages, Darryl looked up in surprise. "These are fairy tales! Really twisted and terrifying fairy tales – like if they were written for a horror movie or something."

"I specifically wrote them that way," Giles confirmed. He spent weeks changing the contents of his Watcher's Diaries into storybook form so that when Buffy was ready to share her secret, they would have something more than dry facts and anecdotes to show her friends. Plus, it gave him the chance to indulge his hidden desire to write 'fiction'. "Just in case it ever fell into the wrong hands, nobody would ever be able to connect it to Buffy. The stories aren't wholly accurate either – for much the same reason – but they should still give you a clear enough picture of what she's faced in the past 4-5 years since she was Called."

Morrises' home

Once Giles dismissed them, the trio decided to go back to Darryl and Sheila's place to read the book together. They knew it was best if they could talk about it as they went through it – especially for Andy's sake.

"He really thinks we'll be able to sleep after reading this?" Sheila complained, fighting the urge to throw up when she finished the bug lady story.

Darryl wrapped his arm around her shoulders to comfort her and said, "I think that's the point of this little test. If we can't handle reading about her life, how can we ever be part of it?"

Andy nodded in agreement, "I think you're right, partner. Question is: does he hope this will scare us off?"

"Something tells me that if that man wanted to scare us off, he would succeed," Darryl answered confidently. He smirked and added, "And you should probably prepare yourself for another talk with him as soon as this is settled." Somehow it didn't occur to any of them that they might not remain friends with Buffy; it just didn't seem possible.

Given the opportunity to tease and play matchmaker, Sheila perked up considerably. "Yeah. Something about the challenges and dangers of dating a Slayer. There are even a couple stories in here about it."

Darryl's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really? Which ones?" he demanded.

Flipping to the table of contents, she replied, "The fourth story in the first section after the prologue: 'The Slayer's Wrong Love' and the one from section three titled 'The Slayer's True Love Turned Nightmare'. Not sure if there are any others, but those two sound like a good place to start."

"At least this explains why she seemed to understand the dangers of being a cop so well," Darryl commented absently.

With that, they fell into silence as they continued to read about Buffy's past.

Meanwhile…

As she entered another cemetery which had burials that day, Buffy tried not to obsess over what her friends were doing or thinking at that moment. She especially tried not to think about Andy's reaction. It was weird…when Angel became Angelus, she thought she would never love again; never trust herself or another man enough to let it happen. And even when she could think about the happy times with Angel without automatically having the bad times with Angelus ruin them, Buffy still couldn't imagine risking her heart to another.

She fought the idea of her and Andy as long as she could, afraid that if she got involved with him, it would end in tragedy. But Giles was right; Andy deserved to know the truth before they were anything more than friends. Would it change his interest in her, though? That was what she wasn't thinking about…not in the slightest.

Which is why it came as such a surprise when a voice behind her…well, surprised her. She didn't even hear anyone approaching.

"Good evening, Miss Summers," a man's voice greeted. "I have something to discuss with you."

A/N: Next…Buffy gets an offer.