"Are you ok?"

Buffy came into his office and shut the door, giving indication to anyone else that she did not want them to be disturbed. She sat in a chair across from him and took all of him in. Uncharacteristically he was hunched in his chair, his shoulders sagging under some unseen weight. His chin was dropped forward, almost touching his chest. The cup of tea in front of him had gone cold. He didn't notice it, though. She realized rather quickly that even when his eyes were turned toward her they didn't really register seeing her. He was looking somewhere far away instead. She waited for a minute to be sure he didn't just need time to realize she was trying to start a conversation before she realized he wasn't.

She stood up and touched his hand. He jerked it back and blinked a few times, his eyes searching her face desperately for recognition.

"Buffy, I…" He fell silent, shrugging helplessly. "I was just thinking."

"I can guess what about."

"Yes, I suppose you can."

He picked up the teacup and took a sip, grimacing at the tepid water he consumed before setting it down and pushing it away.

"I know you're worried about me. I'm not blind to your concern, Buffy, yours or the others. Things are just difficult and complicated right now. Faith is so wounded by everything that happened. She's not the same as she was. I'm desperately worried she'll do something rash, do herself harm, if I cannot help her."

"And focusing on her means you don't have to focus on yourself. How very Giles of you."

She gave him a pointed look that he returned with banal amusement, leaning back in his chair. He crossed his arms over his chest, but not in a way that suggested her was upset by her little joke. No, on the contrary. He seemed to be trying to protect himself. She swallowed hard, frowning.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"No, you're right. I've always said you're a very perceptive girl."

"Faith isn't the only one carrying some serious PTSD worthy trauma right now. That thing was inside you, in your skin."

"More than that. He was in my mind. He had whole control over me. I saw what he wanted me to see. Not just what he did to Faith, though I saw that plenty, but he could summon to me any memory, any vision, he wanted me to see. And when he shut me off entirely there was no sense of time. There was nothing there but darkness and his evil machinations."

He began to tremble as he opened himself up and told her what had happened. For her part she stayed close, laying her hand on the table between them, in case he wanted it. Otherwise she stayed silent and let him share what he was ready to share in his own time.

"When he was particularly angry with Faith he punished me for it. He enjoyed playing us off of one another, knowing he could keep us docile in this way. He made me relive discovering Jenny's body in my flat over and over again. It was so real, Buffy. Even the smell of the champagne in the air when the bottle burst. At first it was just Jenny lying there in bed, her neck…" He shook, taking up her hand and holding it tightly in his own. "After a time he made it Faith lying in my bed waiting to be discovered."

He looked up at her, stricken, silent tears streaking his cheeks. His other hand groped for a handkerchief and found one in his pocket, ineffectual wiping his eyes.

"He made me relive it so much I ceased to know what was real and what was fake. When he had me barricaded away I had no sense of time. Five minutes may have as easily been five days for all I knew. I truly began to believe that it was Faith I had discovered and my heart broke no less for that. The things he tortured me with were intolerable. To be honest I see them still, when I close my eyes."

"Giles."

The word came out in a hushed whisper and she gave his hand another gentle squeeze, comprehending for the first time how much he'd been hiding from all of them. She got up and crossed in front of him, dropping to her knees to wrap her arms around him in a much needed hug. He returned it without hesitation, clinging to her as tightly as he could, which, as it turned out, was quite tight.

"You can't go on like this."

"It's not as though I can just forget. These things just simply must be dealt with in time."

"I'm here for you. We're all here for you. If Faith wasn't so wigged out she'd be here for you too."

She pulled away from him and looked him in the eye to show how sincerely she meant what she said. She leaned her forehead against his and closed her eyes, taking a few breaths and willing his trauma away if sheer willpower could make it happen. When she pulled away she found him looking at her, eyes misty but with an expression she couldn't read.

"There's more?"

"No. I mean, yes. Maybe. Curse these muddle thoughts!"

"I'm in no hurry to go anywhere."

"My pains won't be solved quickly, I'm afraid, but I've had an idea how I can get through to Faith."

The truth was since her outburst she'd been staying in their bedroom for the most part. She'd been plagued with nightmares. Everyone could hear her screaming in the night to the point where Willow had cast a soundproofing spell on the flat so that the neighbors didn't complain. He often came into the room to find her huddled in the corner and occasionally in the closet, her knees to her chest. Her face would be drawn tight in fear and it would take a long time to talk her down. She reminded him of an animal caught in a trap that was unsure whether to gnaw their own leg off to run away or trust their rescuer.

"I think she's still mad at me."

"What? Whyever would you think that?"

"Because I had Willow send that demon away. I didn't try to trap him or destroy him."

"You were wise to do that."

"But she wanted to hurt him. She wanted to punish him for what he'd done. To be honest, I keep thinking about him tricking his way into another body and starting all over again."

"We'll figure something out. No one else can make the same mistake I made." He touched her cheek, cupping it in his hand. "She'll make her peace with that in time."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was. I made a foolish decision and convinced myself that it was the right thing to do. Looking at it now I mostly wanted to know if I could, to ease her mind. And if I don't kid myself I wanted to be young again. Not just for Faith's sake but for my own as well. This is my chance to be happy, to create a life and family that I did not allow myself before."

"Remember when I slept with Angel and he lost his soul?"

He looked up in alarm, wondering why on Earth she'd touched on that particularly dark time in their lives. Slowly, he nodded.

"You wouldn't shame me. You didn't wag your finger or blame me for anything that had happened. I kept expecting you to and you never did. You gave me respect, Giles. We didn't know then what would happen but you supported me when I needed it. You have me now. I'm supportive Buffy, here to support you."

He smiled a little, his lips barely tugging up.

"You are a wonder to me. Thank you."

"I'm your Slayer. You're stuck with me now."

"Happily so."