ZEALOUS

There was nothing.

Rupert Giles opened his eyes and found himself sitting on the floor, his hands tightly gripped on either side by two people, who in turn had their hands entwined with others, forming a united circle around the incantation symbols they had drawn on the floor. Small licks of flames continued to burn around them, but even the fire had died out to almost nothing. The shaking had vanished and the sounds that had been escaping the into the air were gone, leaving nothing but silence. The Watcher took a moment to take this all in and then, for the first time in a very long time, let out a surprised but happy laugh. It was purely stress relief, born from impossible worry and terror suddenly being abated.

After a beat, Xander joined him.

"We did it!"

Willow cheered and turned to Xander, giving him a great big hug as Buffy hugged Spike despite herself. He had been instrumental in preventing an apocalypse, after all, so it warranted a hug. Faith grinned proudly and watched the group, then moved to Giles and threw her arms around his neck, tugging him to her. The awkward sound he made was one torn between joy and confusion, though he was more than happy to hug the second slayer tightly in relief.

She took his face in her hands and looked at him.

"You saved the world, Giles," she said, and he scoffed. Before he could open his mouth to say something stupidly dismissive and Britishly self deprecating, she pressed her lips to his and kissed him deeply. The cheers and laughter around the duo died out as everyone began to notice, and then got caught up in staring at the strange scene. The young Slayer was really letting herself go, wrapped up in what had become a fairly passionate and intense kiss, though the Watcher looked like he was about to start flailing his arms in his confusion. She drew away, as if sensing he had reached his limit, and grinned at him from ear to ear.

"Listen, G. You and me... we've been through a lot, don't you think? This whole thing... nearly getting killed. You can pretend all you want that you didn't play a big part in the success of all this, but you did. I know that I would have died if it weren't for you, and I'm not going to let you brush that off as just part of the job. You're her Watcher, not mine, but you still stuck your neck out for me."

Instinctively, Giles touched his hand to his throat, where the bandage was still tightly wrapped, small blood stains seeping through. He had, indeed, stuck his neck out for her, and nearly lost what was attached to it in the process.

He would do it again in a heart beat, and he knew it. They all did.

"I think you're over exaggerating just a little bit..." he started to say, his tone quiet, humbled by her words and actions. He was still struggling to get his senses back after that kiss, as it had sent his brain spiraling in different directions, splitting his common sense from his instincts, and his intelligence from his desires. They were all whirling around his headspace uselessly now, and he was trying to grab onto something useful to ground himself a bit. "I... I ah... well, I mean..."

"No, she's right," Buffy said, looking at him. "though I think I did a lot too, considering I killed the scale-y guy. Not that I want a big Faith kiss." She wrinkled her nose and Faith grinned at her, popping her hip out and placing her hand on it tauntingly.

"Aw, B, you know I don't need a reason for that. You want a kiss, all you have to do is ask."

"Can I have a kiss?" Xander asked, and Willow sputtered and started laughing. Buffy, Spike, and Faith joined in with Xander himself, which led Giles to relax a bit and start to laugh as well. The small gang of heroes, bruised and battered as they were, laughed until they were bent in various directions, draped over furniture and each other, shaking and trembling. Willow had tears running down her face, and she clung to Xander tightly until she could not bear it any more, and buried her face against his chest. She began to sob, and Xander held her, his own laughter fading as tears stung his eyes. It was such a powerful rush of emotion, and Giles motioned from his perch on the floor for Buffy and Faith to come over to him. They did so and he hugged them, suddenly reminded, as Faith sat near to him and Buffy clung to his side, that they were still young. They were still vulnerable, and no one could deny how close to dying they had all come.

It had been a harrowing few days, and this last desperate spell had not been the triumphant moment they had wanted it to be. It was a feeble and hopeless last ditch effort while staring down certain, terrible death. But somehow, through their strength and their force of will, they had managed to get it to work. If it was his research, or Buffy's fighting skills, or Willow's magic, they would never know. In his heart, Giles felt it was the combination of all of their efforts, and nothing short of that. Without one of them there, even Spike the useless vampire, they would have certainly failed. The world would have ended around them and the demons would have kept them alive to watch it all burn, until they were all that was left.

It was natural to fear death, but it was far more horrifying, traumatizing, to know that there was something far worse waiting just beyond the horizons of their futures.

Somehow, they had managed to not only defeat a powerful enemy, but the had overcome their fears and doubts. They had faced their own flaws, their very nightmares, and each one of them had emerged on the other side. Not scar free, not cured, maybe not even stronger for it, but they had emerged. They had survived. And they were together. These were facts, Giles knew as he hugged the two Slayers to him, that would always remain. Whatever happened, they would face it. And they would win.