WDWG - Chapter 36: The Academy

"Ru, you really need to brush your teeth," Buffy complained groggily as she snuggled into the warm body behind her. Strong arms pulled her closer and she heard a soft sigh by her ear. Somehow, even in her sleep addled state, the logistics of a breath behind her and the pants of smelly air in front of her didn't make sense. Tentatively opening one eye, she grinned as her goofy wolfhound greeted her with adoring eyes and his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"Good morning to you too." She reached out, ruffled his shaggy head, and whispered, "Has anyone told you that you could use a breath mint?"

Shifting his weight from one paw to the next, Seamus' tail thumped expectantly.

"I guess you need to go out and do your thing, huh?"

Behind her Giles stretched and snuggled in closer, his hands starting to explore her curves. Her body shivered from his caresses and she wanted nothing more than to surrender herself to his touch, but the huge dog yawned and let out a little whine.

"Okay, okay, I get it, but you've got to let me get up and get dressed," she told him as she pulled the covers off and started to gently pry herself from Giles' arms. Her lover rolled over onto his back and she looked at him longingly, the tented sheets at his groin causing her to whimper with regret. "You owe me, dog!" she growled good-naturedly as she rose up and headed to the bathroom, grabbing a set of clothes from the dresser as she passed by.

Buffy walked Seamus off lead along the paths through the gardens and woods. He would run about 100 yards ahead, turn and run back, and nudge her legs before taking off again.

"No, I'm not running today," she said as he took off after his third pass. "Too much to do with all the Watchers here. Besides, yesterday kinda sucked big time." When he nudged her during the next pass, she gave in and took off after him, unable to resist the urge to stretch her legs. "Crazy dog!"

They raced back to the house where she ran into Sebastian finishing up his walk with Ivey.

"Good morning, Buffy," he greeted as she approached. The two hounds started to happily wrestle together before taking off down the drive in a merry game of chase.

The Slayer walked up to him with a smile and kissed his cheek. "Good morning, Your Lordship."

"You know better than to address me as such!" he scolded, his ice blue eyes shining in the morning light.

"How did you sleep?" she asked.

"Well enough, and yourself?"

"At this point, I could sleep just about anywhere," she laughed. Nodding towards Seamus she asked, "Does he always get up this early?"

"He's accustomed to my schedule, I am afraid. Old men and children have early mornings," the senior Watcher explained. "I should've taken him up with me last night, I apologize."

"No, no, it's fine. I like having him close. He's a comforting presence."

"Well, it's rather apparent that the feeling is mutual." They watched the wolfhounds tumble together in the grass after Ivey ran down her brother. "Did Rupert explain to you about Seamus?"

"That he's bonded with me?" she asked. Sebastian nodded and clasped his hands behind his back. "Yeah."

"Good," he replied before he whistled for the dogs. They immediately stopped their play and raced back. "Then it is settled. Seamus will go home with you." As the wolfhounds approached, the nobleman commanded them to sit before addressing them, "Come! To the kitchens."

The dogs got up and followed him into the manor home.

"Sebastian," Buffy called. He turned, his face grave and she ran over to him, her heart heavy. She really didn't know what to say. Biting the inside of her lower lip, she simply stated, "Thank you."

"It's as it should be, Buffy, he was yours the moment he laid eyes on you." A small smile graced his features. "Much like Rupert, I imagine."

The Slayer watched Sebastian retreat into the house, her heart full of sadness for him and gratitude at being given such a gift. He'd raised Seamus and Ivey from puppies and while Ivey seemed to be his constant companion, he loved Seamus with the same devotion. Wiping an errant tear from her eye, she decided she wasn't ready to head indoors just yet and walked over to the stables.

In the nearby field, the mare and foal were out grazing and Buffy wandered up to the fence, leaning against it to watch them. She hadn't done any riding in a while and found that she missed it. Sighing she lowered her head to her arms, smiling as the foal danced around its mother.

"Good morning," a female voice said, interrupting her solitude.

The Slayer turned her head and greeted the Dutch Watcher, "Good morning. How are you?"

"Very well, thank you, and yourself?"

"Up earlier than I like, but it's a beautiful morning."

"Indeed. Rupert showed us the horses yesterday on our tour of the grounds. The little foal is darling," Griet commented with a smile.

"She is," Buffy agreed. The two women stood leaning against the fence in quiet companionship.

"No one has said anything formally about your relationship with your Watcher," the other woman said after a while.

"Is there a problem?" the Slayer asked, stiffening and waiting for the disapproval.

"None at all," Griet reassured her with a smile. "Looking at the ring on your finger, I wanted to offer my congratulations."

Buffy looked down at her left hand and relaxed. "Thanks. Sorry, I'm not used to approval when it comes to Watchers other than my own."

"I never understood why Travers fired Rupert. My Slayer and I couldn't have been closer if we tried. Sentiment isn't a bad thing."

"You and she were..."

"Sisters."

"Oh!" Buffy was taken back, unprepared for that answer, and then her face dropped as the reality of that arrangement set in. Never in a million years would she have been able to send Dawn out into the darkness night after night.

"I miss her everyday. She was my best friend."

"I'm so sorry."

"I've always meant to thank you."

Buffy looked at her companion in confusion. "For what?"

"Lothos. Lothos killed her."

"He was a bastard," she stated simply.

Griet nodded. They went back to admiring the horses in the field before the older woman looked at her watch and excused herself to attend the Board meeting for the final vote regarding the purchase of the estate. If all was to go as expected, the paperwork would be signed following the meeting. After a few minutes of solitude, Buffy headed back to the house, thinking of her fiancé and knowing that he would want her by his side. Giles would soon be as free of Hawkingridge as he could be as one of the heads of the Council, that would spark a whole range of emotions that she knew he would have difficulty processing.

XxXxXxXx

As Giles climbed out of the last few layers of sleep, he realized that his body wasn't blanketed as usual by the woman he loved. He reached across the sheets looking for her, biting back his disappointment when he confirmed that she wasn't there. Since reconciling with Buffy in the desert, he'd woken up with her by his side most mornings. Looking around the room, he noticed that Seamus wasn't in his makeshift bed either and figured that she must have taken him out for his morning walk.

Glancing over at the clock on his nightstand, Giles noticed that it was still early. The Board members wouldn't cast their votes for another two hours. Thinking on the sale of the estate, the conflicted baronet blew out a breath, unable to stave off the feelings of guilt and a sense of disapproval from his father and generations of long dead forebears.

After taking a quick shower, Giles threw on a short-sleeved polo shirt, a pair of jeans, and slipped on his loafers. He snuck down to the kitchen to grab a piece of fruit and anything else he could find for breakfast, not in the mood to entertain guests lingering over breakfast in the dining room. Looking around, he found he was alone with a tray of freshly baked pain au chocolat and smiled. He took two pastries off the baking sheet and placed them in a bread basket along with a plum he found ripening in a bowl on the prep table. There was still coffee in the pot and he helped himself to a cup before heading up to his family's living quarters in the east wing of the great house.

He'd originally thought that he would retreat to his childhood room again, but found himself in Miri's room. Nothing had changed. If it weren't for the twenty packing boxes set in the back of the room filled with his sister's possessions from her flat in London, it would've been as though he'd stepped back in time. After setting the basket with his breakfast down on the vanity, he cautiously walked over to the wall of stacked boxes and ran his right hand along the tops.

"Should I go through with this, Miri? Sell the place?" Giles asked quietly, taking off his glasses. Making his way over to the wing chair in the corner, he flopped down onto it. "I bet father's having a right time of it, wanting to cuff me about the ears for this." He laughed mirthlessly before placing his head in his hands and then rubbing them through his hair. "I never expected any of this. Hawkingridge was yours and I expected to die fighting along side my Slayer as she saved the world. Now... here I am and you're not. I've been given life and love... and happiness. God, I'm happy, Miri. Buffy is... she's given me all that. How you would have loved her!"

He stood up and paced the floor. "You know I hate it here, though I suppose not so much anymore, and I find myself conflicted. I don't know what is selfish anymore. Buffy and I want to have children. Imagine that, Miri? Your irresponsible rebel of a baby brother. Hawkingridge would be their legacy. Do I keep it for them? Or do I sell it because I want no part of it? Save them from having to deal with running an estate, the taxes, the excessive privilege? Do I want them to grow up with this? Would they want it? I've never wanted it. Since you died, all I could think of was finding a way to get rid of it. Now I look to the future and wonder if it's the right thing to do."

Giles allowed himself to slide down the wall of boxes and onto the floor. Leaning his head back, he stared at the ceiling. "The Academy is in need of a place such as this, out of harms way, to allow the potential Slayers and Watchers to train, to study, to prepare them against the demons and the darkness. We need to do right by them after creating this new world. We owe them that much."

Closing his eyes, he asked, "Family or duty? Which is it? What is the right answer?"

He lost track of the time, unsure of how long he had sat there contemplating the situation he was in. Even up to arriving at the family home, he was ready to make the deal with the Council. Feeling someone sit down beside him, Giles turned his head and gazed into the deep green eyes of his fiancée.

"Pain-y for your thoughts?" she punned, handing him a pastry.

Giles started to giggle and then it turned into an all out belly laugh. Rolling his head in her direction, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, taking the pastry from her and deliberately taking a bite.

"God, how I love you," he declared after swallowing, his jade green eyes full of adoration.

Buffy smiled, looking down at her lap before peaking up at him. "I love you too."

"I missed you this morning," he said casually, moving the strands of hair that covered her face.

"The downside of owning a dog, morning snugglies get put on the back burner," she replied. "But it was nice getting out for a walk."

"Wake me tomorrow and we'll go together."

"Sure," Buffy replied, leaning to give him a kiss before pulling off a piece of the croissant for herself. "I ran into your uncle and Ivey while we were out walking."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Kinda awkward, but Seamus is officially ours now."

"We'll have to get supplies for him," Giles mused. "There is a pet store not far from here. Maybe we can slip out later."

"Hiding from the others?"

Giles shifted next to her. She knew him so well, but he wasn't willing to own up to the fact that he hadn't wanted to meet with anyone after leaving their room earlier that morning. "No one to hide from. I had a bit of a lie in and when I finally got up the meeting should have already started or nearly so, so I headed to the kitchen, grabbed the pastries and fruit and found myself here."

Buffy laid her head against his shoulder in quiet support.

"How did you get through it?" Giles asked after a few moments of reflective silence between them. "I look at the boxes and I can't bring myself to open one."

"I had you," she stated. "Of course there was the gang, but it was you who helped me accept mom's death and start living life without her."

Turning his head to look at her, Giles had to admit he was surprised. He had helped out with sorting her mother's estate, cooking dinner, babysitting Dawn during Buffy's patrols, and providing what guidance he could, but he hadn't known to what extent he had helped her out emotionally.

"You've always been my rock, Ru. Always," she said softly, taking in the stunned look on his face. "I was just never good at telling you. I know Miri was your rock. I am sorry she's gone. Would you let me be that for you now?"

"Oh, Buffy, you already are... and you've always been my beacon, at times even before we ever met." Giles pulled her into a tight embrace. After a few moments he sighed, "If I could just forget all this, lock the doors, and leave it to our children's children to sort out after we are long gone, I would."

"You didn't let me get away with that option."

"No, I didn't."

"If you want to keep Hawkingridge, you can just lease it back to the Council and set up the Academy as planned. You said before it's what your dad would've done."

Giles swallowed hard. "No. This is the way it should be done, for both corporate and legal reasons. It's better for all involved."

Buffy nodded. "They should be done voting by now."

Giles looked at his watch. "So they should." He stood up and offered her his right hand to pull her up.

As they headed out the door, Giles' mobile phone rang and he fetched it from his pocket. "Giles," he answered. "Oh, hello, Xander. Everything alright? It's the middle of the night over there... Yes, just a moment." Turning to Buffy he said, "Everything's fine, he just arrived in Cleveland and wants to speak to both of us. I am putting it on speaker."

"Hey, Xand, what's up?" Buffy asked after Giles hit the button.

"Hey Buffster, greetings from Cleveland," the man on the other line said cheerfully. "I got Giles' email the other day. I can leave here by the end of the week and head to Merry Old."

"That's good news, Xander!" Giles said. "The Board should be done voting. I expect we'll have a home for the Academy shortly."

"Excellent. Hey, listen, I delivered four baby Slayers to Faith and Robin earlier and one of them, her name is Kara, is brand new. Called just a couple weeks ago, long after the spell was cast. She's a runaway from the foster care system in Kentucky and has been on her own for about eight months."

"That's interesting," Giles said, his brows furrowed as he moved to lean against the door frame. "Are you sure she's just not misremembering the dates?"

"Nope. She remembers when they kicked in. She was fighting for her life under an underpass in Lexington. One minute she was getting the shit kicked out of her, the next she was delivering the beat down of a lifetime on the guys who attacked her," the younger man explained.

Buffy looked at Giles. She was troubled. "That means..." Her voice trailed off.

"Yeah," Xander sympathized. "Looks like we've lost a Slayer somewhere. At least now we know succession goes through each Slayer... Faith's still here and so are you, Buffy, and all known Slayers are present and accounted for. Anyway, Faith's got Rona assigned to Kara to help her acclimatize, and Robin and Andrew are going to get her status sorted out with the authorities and place her in the school he's set up here."

"Well, if they need help or resources, we can back him up from here," the Head Watcher offered.

"Yeah, I think he said he was trying to find a way to get the school properly funded, accredited, and legitimized as far as the State of Ohio is concerned. Something he was talking with your uncle about a few days ago."

"We might want to ask Jonathan to help," Buffy suggested. "Being American and a lawyer he can lend some of his experience."

"Who's this?" Xander asked.

"Jonathan Adams. He was Watcher to the Slayer before Buffy," Giles answered.

"No shit? Yeah, he might be useful to have around. I'll talk with Robin and Faith."

"We'll broach the subject with Jonathan. I'll let you know in email. Okay, Xand?"

"Sure, Buff."

"I miss you, big brother."

"I miss you guys too. Not long now, and you'll be sick of me within a couple of hours."

Smiling, Giles answered, "We'll send a car from the Council to pick you up."

"Excellent. Might want to call Willow and have her join us. I think it's time for a Scooby reunion. Well, I gotta go crash out. Too many days on the road and I've just spent the last few hours briefing everyone here."

"Goodnight, Xander. See you soon." Giles pressed the button to hang up.

Buffy blew out breath and ran a hand through her hair before looking up at her fiancé with wide, misty eyes. "We've lost a Slayer... and we don't even know who."

"I know," he answered, putting an arm around her.

Wiping the unshed tears from her eyes and squaring her shoulders, the senior Slayer declared, "Let's go see what the verdict is."

"Buffy," Giles called as she made her way towards the door.

"I'll be alright, Ru," she said. "It's just-"

"Don't speculate, love, nothing good comes of it. We'll light a candle for her tonight."

"Honestly, I'll be okay. I know when it comes to slaying to expect death whether it's some random person or a Slayer. And I know not everything is my fault," Buffy stated, looking up at him. "I stopped playing 'what if' long ago. 'What if I was just a little faster? What if I chose to patrol the north end of town first? Would I have gotten there in time?' She might have died anyway if she hadn't been Called, but it doesn't lessen the impact that we've lost a new Slayer on our watch."

Giles pulled her into his arms and she gratefully returned his embrace. Closing his eyes at the feel of her, he let out a gentle sigh and said, "I've needed to hold you."

"The feeling's mutual."

They stood there content in each other's arms for a few moments longer before he released her. "I'm sure they are waiting for us."

As they reached the library where the meeting was being held, they met Declan O'Faolain in the hall. "Ah, there you two are. The votes are in and tallied."

Buffy reached for Giles' good hand and they walked into the room together seeing the members of the board seated around the great wooden research table in the middle of the room.

"Rupert, Buffy, please sit down," Sebastian said. When they had taken their seats, the Chairman of the Board continued, "We've just finished up here and the Board members are unanimous in their decision to purchase the manor house and it's surrounding lands for the purpose of training new Watchers and Slayers. Your demand that the existing staff remain in employment should they wish it has also been granted. I believe this was already agreed upon, but I wanted to mention it again." The couple nodded as Sebastian peered over his reading glasses at them, his intense blue eyes serious. "The Council solicitors and your family solicitor, Rupert, are waiting in the drawing room for the signing of the legal documents."

"Very good," Giles replied neutrally.

"Matthew, would you please show the solicitors in?" the Chairman asked of the butler who was standing unobtrusively in the back of the room. Turning his attention back to Giles, the older man continued, "As there will be phases of construction while the house is being converted to satisfy the needs of the school and curricula needing to be drawn up for the students, and as there are other constraints on your time, we're allowing a period of six months for you to remove personal items from the house."

"That's more than sufficient, thank you," Giles stated. Several minutes later, three men entered and Giles stood up, greeting a short, thin gentleman, "Mr Allen, it's good to see you again."

"Sir Rupert," the lawyer replied, shaking his client's hand. "Let's get down to the business at hand, shall we?"

After the third page of watching Giles sign his name right handed, Buffy teased, "Your signature is more legible now."

Giles glared at her, but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes and she laughed, knowing she had lightened his mood, if only a little bit. When all the i's were dotted and t's crossed, and things signed in triplicate, champagne was handed out.

"To the Academy," Daniel McTavish said, charging his glass.

"The Academy," the rest agreed in chorus before taking a sip of the sparkling wine.

XxXxXxX

Later that evening, after all the Watchers, with the exception of Sebastian, had left, Giles and Buffy flopped down on the sofa together. The older man joined them with the two wolfhounds and he sat down in the chair opposite the couple.

"Well, that's done," Sebastian stated, reaching down to scratch Ivey behind the ears. Seamus took up his customary spot at his Slayer's feet and Buffy used the great beast for a foot rest.

"No doubt my ancestors will haunt me tonight," Giles half joked as his fiancée snuggled into his side. He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"Special interest aside, you've done the right thing, my boy. I know your father would not have chosen the same solution, but he would have accepted the decision you made, and if it helps, your sister would've made the same decision as you if she were still alive." Giles looked up at his uncle, surprise on his face. "Miri was a pragmatist, Rupert, you know this, and, as much of a daddy's girl as she was, she would've seen the situation for what it was and come to the same conclusion. I have no doubt."

Giles took a moment to think on what the older man had said. Miri had regularly broken with tradition, both professionally and personally. Council protocol had been to shun wayward Watchers and Watchers-in-training who had lost their way. Miri stood up for him, defended him, and the Council welcomed him back. Perhaps not with open arms, but he was given a second chance and Daniel had stepped in to become his mentor. She had also worked against tradition to improve Council methods and change prevailing beliefs based on her findings and research, and had succeeded in many areas despite meeting opposition from Travers and his ilk.

Not only had she gone against convention at the Council, she had done what was needed to take care of Giles after their mother had passed and never once begrudged him for it. Not many young adults will take on raising their siblings. His sister had done so without hesitation and had always been there for him.

Smiling, Giles knew his uncle was right. Miri would've seen the problem at hand with needing to protect the Slayers and Watchers and provide them with a secure training facility that would also remove the distractions of the city, and would've come to the same conclusion.

"Neither do I," he agreed. Looking down at the woman in his arms, he continued, "I don't know about the two of you, but I feel the need to get away from the house for a while. Shall we head into Bristol for dinner this evening?"

Buffy grinned up at him. "As big as this place is, it is a bit confining," she agreed.

"I'll make reservations," Sebastian said, pulling out his mobile. "We need to celebrate."