CHAPTER TWELVE: LIBRARY

Giles drove towards the Council compound, worry lines stretching across his forehead.  He had tried calling Buffy six times, but there hadn't been any answer.  He had finally given up and assumed that the Council had tampered with his phone lines to not allow any phone calls to Buffy's house to go through.  He drove past the gates towards the parking area and automatically knew that something was happening that he wasn't supposed to know about.

Two members of Council pointed towards his car and the younger of the two raced into the building, presumably to tell someone that Giles had arrived.  He swallowed nervously, wondering why the Council would be so desperate to keep him away.  Keeping him away from his Slayer was technically murder, and knowing that the Council was willing to let Buffy die just because they did not agree with her way of being a Slayer was not enough reason to kill her.

Giles parked quickly and headed towards the building, hoping that he would be able to get inside without alerting the Council that he knew that there was something happening back in Sunnydale with his Slayer.  If he could 'play dumb' chances were that the Council might just let him have access to the library.

"Mr Giles," greeted a member of security.  There was a note of panic in the guards voice that Giles wouldn't have noticed if Ethan hadn't told him about the Council's duplicity.

"Good morning Charles," Giles said, trying to keep a smile on his face.  It was difficult to not just take out his anger on the first available person.

"What brings you to the Council proper?"

"Oh, you know me," Giles replied vaguely.  "What man among us can pass up the opportunity to take advantage of the Council's library?"

Charles smiled tightly.

"Anything in particular that you're after?" he asked.

"Nothing specific.  Just some light reading," Giles replied.  "Something to keep me occupied in this dreary weather."

Sometimes, the English weather did have its advantages.  Charles gave him another tight-lipped smile and waved him into the building.

Giles breathed a sigh of relief and walked quickly towards the library.  He avoided making eye contact, pretending to be reading another of the Council's books that he had loaned the week before.  He made it to the book archives without anyone else interrupting him. 

The head librarian looked fairly panicked when Giles entered.

"Rupert," he greeted.  The man was almost breaking into a nervous sweat.  "What brings you here?"

"Oh, this and that," Giles replied.  "I came to return this to you.  And perhaps see if I can find something else of interest."

Years of training in secrecy did wonders for Giles' acting abilities.  Roger Sampson looked visibly relieved with Giles' answer, and Giles knew that he had just pulled off an award-winning act.  He handed the book to Roger, deliberately dropping it onto Roger's side of the counter.  He gave a quick apology and when Roger bent down, Giles quickly took off towards the section which housed the diaries.

With a quickness that he hadn't know he had, Giles located the two Slayer's journals that Ethan had told him about and moved out of the area towards a generic section on the mythology of dragons.  When Roger rounded the corner to see Giles scanning a book on the different sub-species of Norwegian Ridgebacks, Roger again sighed in relief.

Giles watched out of the corner of his eye and waited until Roger was out of sight.  He pulled out on of the two journals and flicked towards the back of the diaries. 

What he read in Leila Rado's journal sent chills down his spine.  If this was the sickness that Buffy had, then he knew from Leila's words that it was painful.

"I miss him with every inch of my being, every part that makes up who I am.  I cry out at night, desperately craving his touch.  My body aches for his, but I cannot reach him…It has been nearly eight weeks and everything within me is screaming for him."

Eight weeks.  He mentally did a quick calculation of how long he had been back in England.  Seven and a half weeks, eight on Saturday.  He shut the journal and opened up Sarah Jacob's diary.

"I may have a new Watcher in name, but Nicholas will always be my true Watcher."

Giles closed the journal, and, sneaking a look around the corner, showing Roger back at his counter, he quickly went back to where the diaries were kept and placed them back in their rightful positions.  He kept hold of the book he had been pretending to look at and walked towards the counter, giving the book over to Roger.

"Mind if I take this for the week?" he asked.

Roger looked at the book with confusion.  Giles kept back a grin, keeping his face purposefully innocent.

"Sure thing Rupert.  Won't be a problem," he replied.  "Business or pleasure?"

"Just pleasure I'm afraid," Giles replied.  "No dragons attacking us anytime soon as far as I know."

Roger smiled and quickly noted down the name of the book and who was taking it.

"We'll see you next week I assume," Roger said.

Giles just shrugged a little.  "Perhaps.  I'll be sure to return this soon."

Roger just nodded and let Giles leave without incident.  Giles, however, turned back to see Roger get on the phone and call whomever had told him to keep Rupert Giles out of the Slayer's diaries.  Little did Roger know, but he had failed miserably.

Within twenty minutes after returning home, he had a bag packed, his passport in his pocket, and he was on his way to the airport.  He was going home.

On his desk in the flat that he was leaving behind was a book on dragons and a simple note to whichever Council lackey they would send when they finally worked out that Giles had left England.

Without limit, always prepared.

- R.G.  Watcher.