All hail Joss Whedon, he owns these characters, the town of Sunnydale, hack, probably even the way the characters talk! So, um, yeah, just borrowing!
***"Bunch of wanna-blessed-be's. Nowadays, every girl with a Henna tatoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones." --Willow ***
Buffy frowned. She had to find out what was wrong with Giles, which involved finding out what he was thinking, which, unless the thought was disapproval, was impossible.
"Why so concentrate-y, Buff? I think I can see the smoke coming out of your ears."
Buffy turned to Xander. "I think something's wrong with Giles. He was all 'Grr . . . Messing with things you don't understand . . . Grr . . . Stomping away.' And that was with Willow, for goodness sake. She's the favorite."
"Yeah, I see what you mean. Maybe he's possessed."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I have a feeling this funk he's in has an un-demony cause."
"Geeze, Buff, you take all the fun out of everything. So how come Will's not in on this one?"
Buffy swallowed. "She's uh, with Adva. I thought that was more important." She took a deep breath. "So, let's crack this mother wide open."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"So do you want to pretend I never said that, or should I?"
Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg had been very cool about Adva staying for a while. They had a brief conversation with Jordan which sealed that decision. So, Adva was unpacking when Willow got home and peeked into the guest room.
"Hey, Willow."
"Hey, Adva. What's up?"
Adva shut a drawer. "Your parents have been really nice."
"Yeah, they do that." Willow took a seat on the bed. There was a friendly silence. "So, um, do you do a lot of this rune stuff?"
"Kabballah? Yeah, Sam . . . he was really into it. His parents taught him."
"So . . . How powerful are these runes?"
Adva sat down next to Willow. "They usually do the trick, but they're not sure-fire. If you want, I can find something more potent for you--"
"No! No, it's okay, I was just . . . wondering about it."
"What happened? You seem all squeamish about it now. We were having so much fun last night."
"I . . ." Willow decided partial truth would have to do now. "A teacher saw it. He looked at me funny, asked if I was messing with the occult, blah, blah, blah." She laughed a little.
"That's a knowledgeable teacher, recognizing the Aegishjalmur. What does he teach?"
"He's, uh, the librarian, actually."
"So, Buff, how exactly are we supposed to find out more about Giles by spying on the library door?"
Buffy rolled her eyes, and looked back at Xander, a difficult thing to do in their scrunched up position against a door window facing the library entrance. "We have to wait for Giles to leave, then we can go in there and see what's up. If he knows we're here, he might try to cover things up, or make me train or something."
"At any point did you try talking to him about it?"
"If you know Giles, you'll understand why that's plan B. Or maybe C, depending on how secure his apartment's front door is."
"Buffy!"
"Joke." She turned back to the window as the door to the library opened. Giles was leaving with his briefcase. "Good. He's leaving for the day." She frowned. "I did want to look in his briefcase, though."
"It looks like he's gone."
"Yeah, let's head out." They carefully shut the door behind them and tip-toed out into the hallway, peering around the corner in the direction Giles had gone.
"Coast is clear," Xander whispered.
Buffy popped the lock on the double doors with her library card, then they slipped inside, locking the door behind them.
"Look at whatever's open on the table there. I'm going to go to his office."
"Yeah, I'll be the lookout."
"Whatever. Everyone's gone. All you need to look for are clues for what's making Giles angry."
Xander pouted. "Okay."
Buffy knelt with her card in front of the office door. She sighed. "This one's not like the other one." She slipped a bobby pin out of her hair and jiggled it in the lock. It finally popped, and she stepped inside the office, looking around for open books or any clue as to what was on his mind.
There, open on the desk was an old yearbook. In the center of one page was a picture with the caption 'Rupert and Simon". Buffy smiled at the picture of Giles as a teenager, then looked at the guy next to him. He had dark hair and glasses. She looked closer. Simon had what looked like a little tattoo peeking out from under the short sleeve of his shirt.
She was walking to show Xander the picture when she heard him exclaim from the library. "Hey! This looks like Will's tattoo." Buffy ran and grabbed the book from him.
"Let me see," she nervously covered up, and handed the yearbook to Xander. "Look at this."
"Oh my God, Giles went to high school."
"No, look at the guy he's with. His arm." Buffy closed the book she had taken and put it on the table while Xander looked at the yearbook.
"Oh. That looks like rune to me."
"Exactly. You know what? We should go to Willow's. Her cousin's got to know what that rune is for." Buffy was anxious to get Xander away from the book about Willow's rune. After photocopying the page, she put the yearbook back in Giles' office and locked the door. She turned around to leave, when she was stopped in her tracks.
"What's going on?" Giles looked at the two of them expectantly.
"We came here to wait for you. We're, uh, worried about Willow, and we wanted to talk to you about it." Buffy tried to smile sincerely as she discreetly folded and stuffed the photocopy up the back of her shirt.
"In my office?"
Buffy winced. So he had seen that. "I was . . . You left the light on, I was just worried about the wasted electricity."
"You should be ashamed about all that wasted wattage, watcher."
"Xander, do shut up." Giles put a hand to his forehead and sighed. "Assuming that I believe you, wasn't the library locked?"
Buffy looked at the library doors and shrugged. "We just opened them. Maybe you forgot or something."
Giles looked puzzled for a moment.
Bustling towards the door with Xander in tow, Buffy called back an excuse. "We really have to get going, now, though. We're supposed to meet Willow."
"Who we're really worried about," Xander added, falsely grave.
"Yes, very, very worried." Buffy pushed the door open and they ran down the hall and through the front doors of the school.
Buffy made Xander take Adva to get snacks so that she and Willow could talk slayer. She showed the folded copy to Willow.
"Do you think Adva would know about that tattoo?"
"I don't know about the tattoo, but I'd be more concerned about the necklace."
"The bat thing? I thought that looked like tacky Halloween junk."
Willow squinted at the copy. "It's hard to tell in black and white, but do you see how it's kind of medium-dark with darker streaks?"
"Um, kind of."
"I think it's bloodstone. And bloodstone in a bat shape is said to have special powers."
"Like what? Supersonic radar?"
"More like the power to control demons. I think vampires, mostly."
"Are you serious about this bat thing? I mean, if it works, then what am I doing? Why can't Giles just carve up some bloodstone and I can make them all work for charities or something."
"I don't know exactly, but it's dark arts stuff. I'll have to do more research on it. But chances are that it's trouble. I mean, most dark power has some negative consequence. And my guess is that something bad happened to this guy, and that's why Giles doesn't like the runes."
"So in some weird subconscious way he's just protecting you."
"Yeah, I think so."
"Well, that's all overly protective and fatherly. And kinda nice."
Xander and Adva returned. "Who wants snack cakes?"
Buffy started at the sight of Giles behind them. "Well, look what the Xander dragged in."
"Giles!" Willow sat up and nervously straightened the blankets.
Adva turned around to see what they were talking about.
"You two left the library rather, oh . . . that's quite disconcerting."
Buffy looked around. "What?"
"Willow, your cousin . . ."
"Adva," she supplied.
"She looks just like someone I knew back in England. In high school, actually."
"Hey, someone you knew, or someone you knew?" Xander waggled an eyebrow.
"Xander!" Willow admonished.
"Anyway, I couldn't help but notice how quickly you two left the library, and I couldn't help but worry."
Xander started to stammer when Giles noticed the photocopy on the bed.
"What's this?" He picked it up.
Buffy smiled weakly. "Uh, a surprise?"
Giles raised an eyebrow.
"All right, fine, I'll tell you what's going on, but you're not going to like it. After you yelled at Willow in the common room, she got really upset. And then I was thinking and, um, Xander was there, and we were like, being mean to Willow isn't very Gilesy. So then I thought there might be something wrong, and so me and Xander broke into your office and photocopied your yearbook." She thought for a moment, then said gravely, "Because we were very, very worried."
Giles looked exasperated. "Like you were about Willow?"
"No, that was a lie," Xander said, trying to be helpful.
Giles looked at Adva, then back at Buffy. "Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed in you for invading my privacy like that."
"But you're glad we were concerned?" Xander patted Giles' arm hopefully.
"Not exactly." Giles glanced again at Adva, growing more flustered. "I . . . Uh . . . I'm sorry I upset you Willow, it's just . . . I . . . I'll be going now." He left.
Adva watched him go. "Did he make anyone else really uncomfortable?"
Willow smiled at her cousin. "You just made him remember something, that's all. He can be a little nervous when he sees something he doesn't expect."
"Because he always knows what's going to happen," Buffy interrupted.
Adva sighed. "All I know is that that was one big creepy experience."
"And all I know is that your freakishly familiar face got me and the Buffster out of major trouble." Xander flopped back down on the bed, picking the photocopy back up and unfolding it.
Behind him, Adva's eyes got big. "Shit!"
"What?"
"That guy . . . no wonder he freaked . . . that's . . . me!"
***"Bunch of wanna-blessed-be's. Nowadays, every girl with a Henna tatoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones." --Willow ***
Buffy frowned. She had to find out what was wrong with Giles, which involved finding out what he was thinking, which, unless the thought was disapproval, was impossible.
"Why so concentrate-y, Buff? I think I can see the smoke coming out of your ears."
Buffy turned to Xander. "I think something's wrong with Giles. He was all 'Grr . . . Messing with things you don't understand . . . Grr . . . Stomping away.' And that was with Willow, for goodness sake. She's the favorite."
"Yeah, I see what you mean. Maybe he's possessed."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I have a feeling this funk he's in has an un-demony cause."
"Geeze, Buff, you take all the fun out of everything. So how come Will's not in on this one?"
Buffy swallowed. "She's uh, with Adva. I thought that was more important." She took a deep breath. "So, let's crack this mother wide open."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"So do you want to pretend I never said that, or should I?"
Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg had been very cool about Adva staying for a while. They had a brief conversation with Jordan which sealed that decision. So, Adva was unpacking when Willow got home and peeked into the guest room.
"Hey, Willow."
"Hey, Adva. What's up?"
Adva shut a drawer. "Your parents have been really nice."
"Yeah, they do that." Willow took a seat on the bed. There was a friendly silence. "So, um, do you do a lot of this rune stuff?"
"Kabballah? Yeah, Sam . . . he was really into it. His parents taught him."
"So . . . How powerful are these runes?"
Adva sat down next to Willow. "They usually do the trick, but they're not sure-fire. If you want, I can find something more potent for you--"
"No! No, it's okay, I was just . . . wondering about it."
"What happened? You seem all squeamish about it now. We were having so much fun last night."
"I . . ." Willow decided partial truth would have to do now. "A teacher saw it. He looked at me funny, asked if I was messing with the occult, blah, blah, blah." She laughed a little.
"That's a knowledgeable teacher, recognizing the Aegishjalmur. What does he teach?"
"He's, uh, the librarian, actually."
"So, Buff, how exactly are we supposed to find out more about Giles by spying on the library door?"
Buffy rolled her eyes, and looked back at Xander, a difficult thing to do in their scrunched up position against a door window facing the library entrance. "We have to wait for Giles to leave, then we can go in there and see what's up. If he knows we're here, he might try to cover things up, or make me train or something."
"At any point did you try talking to him about it?"
"If you know Giles, you'll understand why that's plan B. Or maybe C, depending on how secure his apartment's front door is."
"Buffy!"
"Joke." She turned back to the window as the door to the library opened. Giles was leaving with his briefcase. "Good. He's leaving for the day." She frowned. "I did want to look in his briefcase, though."
"It looks like he's gone."
"Yeah, let's head out." They carefully shut the door behind them and tip-toed out into the hallway, peering around the corner in the direction Giles had gone.
"Coast is clear," Xander whispered.
Buffy popped the lock on the double doors with her library card, then they slipped inside, locking the door behind them.
"Look at whatever's open on the table there. I'm going to go to his office."
"Yeah, I'll be the lookout."
"Whatever. Everyone's gone. All you need to look for are clues for what's making Giles angry."
Xander pouted. "Okay."
Buffy knelt with her card in front of the office door. She sighed. "This one's not like the other one." She slipped a bobby pin out of her hair and jiggled it in the lock. It finally popped, and she stepped inside the office, looking around for open books or any clue as to what was on his mind.
There, open on the desk was an old yearbook. In the center of one page was a picture with the caption 'Rupert and Simon". Buffy smiled at the picture of Giles as a teenager, then looked at the guy next to him. He had dark hair and glasses. She looked closer. Simon had what looked like a little tattoo peeking out from under the short sleeve of his shirt.
She was walking to show Xander the picture when she heard him exclaim from the library. "Hey! This looks like Will's tattoo." Buffy ran and grabbed the book from him.
"Let me see," she nervously covered up, and handed the yearbook to Xander. "Look at this."
"Oh my God, Giles went to high school."
"No, look at the guy he's with. His arm." Buffy closed the book she had taken and put it on the table while Xander looked at the yearbook.
"Oh. That looks like rune to me."
"Exactly. You know what? We should go to Willow's. Her cousin's got to know what that rune is for." Buffy was anxious to get Xander away from the book about Willow's rune. After photocopying the page, she put the yearbook back in Giles' office and locked the door. She turned around to leave, when she was stopped in her tracks.
"What's going on?" Giles looked at the two of them expectantly.
"We came here to wait for you. We're, uh, worried about Willow, and we wanted to talk to you about it." Buffy tried to smile sincerely as she discreetly folded and stuffed the photocopy up the back of her shirt.
"In my office?"
Buffy winced. So he had seen that. "I was . . . You left the light on, I was just worried about the wasted electricity."
"You should be ashamed about all that wasted wattage, watcher."
"Xander, do shut up." Giles put a hand to his forehead and sighed. "Assuming that I believe you, wasn't the library locked?"
Buffy looked at the library doors and shrugged. "We just opened them. Maybe you forgot or something."
Giles looked puzzled for a moment.
Bustling towards the door with Xander in tow, Buffy called back an excuse. "We really have to get going, now, though. We're supposed to meet Willow."
"Who we're really worried about," Xander added, falsely grave.
"Yes, very, very worried." Buffy pushed the door open and they ran down the hall and through the front doors of the school.
Buffy made Xander take Adva to get snacks so that she and Willow could talk slayer. She showed the folded copy to Willow.
"Do you think Adva would know about that tattoo?"
"I don't know about the tattoo, but I'd be more concerned about the necklace."
"The bat thing? I thought that looked like tacky Halloween junk."
Willow squinted at the copy. "It's hard to tell in black and white, but do you see how it's kind of medium-dark with darker streaks?"
"Um, kind of."
"I think it's bloodstone. And bloodstone in a bat shape is said to have special powers."
"Like what? Supersonic radar?"
"More like the power to control demons. I think vampires, mostly."
"Are you serious about this bat thing? I mean, if it works, then what am I doing? Why can't Giles just carve up some bloodstone and I can make them all work for charities or something."
"I don't know exactly, but it's dark arts stuff. I'll have to do more research on it. But chances are that it's trouble. I mean, most dark power has some negative consequence. And my guess is that something bad happened to this guy, and that's why Giles doesn't like the runes."
"So in some weird subconscious way he's just protecting you."
"Yeah, I think so."
"Well, that's all overly protective and fatherly. And kinda nice."
Xander and Adva returned. "Who wants snack cakes?"
Buffy started at the sight of Giles behind them. "Well, look what the Xander dragged in."
"Giles!" Willow sat up and nervously straightened the blankets.
Adva turned around to see what they were talking about.
"You two left the library rather, oh . . . that's quite disconcerting."
Buffy looked around. "What?"
"Willow, your cousin . . ."
"Adva," she supplied.
"She looks just like someone I knew back in England. In high school, actually."
"Hey, someone you knew, or someone you knew?" Xander waggled an eyebrow.
"Xander!" Willow admonished.
"Anyway, I couldn't help but notice how quickly you two left the library, and I couldn't help but worry."
Xander started to stammer when Giles noticed the photocopy on the bed.
"What's this?" He picked it up.
Buffy smiled weakly. "Uh, a surprise?"
Giles raised an eyebrow.
"All right, fine, I'll tell you what's going on, but you're not going to like it. After you yelled at Willow in the common room, she got really upset. And then I was thinking and, um, Xander was there, and we were like, being mean to Willow isn't very Gilesy. So then I thought there might be something wrong, and so me and Xander broke into your office and photocopied your yearbook." She thought for a moment, then said gravely, "Because we were very, very worried."
Giles looked exasperated. "Like you were about Willow?"
"No, that was a lie," Xander said, trying to be helpful.
Giles looked at Adva, then back at Buffy. "Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed in you for invading my privacy like that."
"But you're glad we were concerned?" Xander patted Giles' arm hopefully.
"Not exactly." Giles glanced again at Adva, growing more flustered. "I . . . Uh . . . I'm sorry I upset you Willow, it's just . . . I . . . I'll be going now." He left.
Adva watched him go. "Did he make anyone else really uncomfortable?"
Willow smiled at her cousin. "You just made him remember something, that's all. He can be a little nervous when he sees something he doesn't expect."
"Because he always knows what's going to happen," Buffy interrupted.
Adva sighed. "All I know is that that was one big creepy experience."
"And all I know is that your freakishly familiar face got me and the Buffster out of major trouble." Xander flopped back down on the bed, picking the photocopy back up and unfolding it.
Behind him, Adva's eyes got big. "Shit!"
"What?"
"That guy . . . no wonder he freaked . . . that's . . . me!"