TITLE: Over her (12/?)
PART: Unhelpful Fantasies
AUTHOR: Gabriele Schulz
EMAIL: gabi@gschulz.de
RATING: PG (might go up)
DISTRIBUTION: Everyone who has my general permission. Others please ask first.
SPOILERS: Up to Selfless
FEEDBACK: Love it. Especially if you like the story ;-)
SUMMARY: On Buffy's 25th birthday Giles visits Sunnydale, finally over her. Or so he thinks.
COUPLES: Buffy/Giles, Willow/Anya, Dawn/OC (male), mention of Wesley/Faith, Cordelia/Angel
DISCLAIMER: The characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Productions, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television, the WB Television Network, and whoever else may have a hold on them. I do not mean to infringe upon any copyrights.
DATE: 02/03/03
--------------------------
"That wasn't so bad."
Giles sat at the kitchen island next to Buffy, finally at the end of his tale.
"That's because you got the condensed version. Wesley managed to repeat everything at least three times and use the most complex way of explaining it possible."
"Who would have thought someone could be more long-winded than you."
He glared at her.
"Aww, I'm sorry. Poor Giles." She patted him on the shoulder, smiling. Then her expression became serious. "Poor Wesley."
He gave her a look.
"What? Not only is his Slayer pregnant, she's also his girl-friend and it's his child. And that story with the blood-spitting and whatnot was not pretty."
"Buffy, it was the middle ages. It might have been totally unrelated to the pregnancy."
"Or it might be only because of the pregnancy. Who knows? I can understand Wes' panic. Wouldn't you be worried? If it were us?"
He was about to answer when she uttered the last question, which made him stop and look at her instead.
"I mean, imagine..." She trailed off, looking away. After a moment she fixed her eyes on him again, continuing. "You probably *have* imagined. Have you never wondered about it?"
"Uhm... I..."
"I'm sorry. Forget that. I didn't mean to embarrass you. It's really not my business."
"It's all right. As long as we're talking about this kind of musings, I'll manage. Unless you'd feel embarrassed?"
"No, why would I? They're *your* fantasies. It's not like we're talking about hardcore Watcher/Slayer bond- *Anyway*. I'd like to hear your thoughts on us, a potential us, I mean, formerly possible potential, hell, you know what I mean."
"I think I do. I'm just a bit surprised that you don't even seem to feel a bit... uncomfortable."
"It's not a disease. You were in love with me, Giles. And that's kinda wonderful. Actually I think I'd like to hear more about that." She faltered, but then went on. "I'm not sure I really got it. It's all a bit vague in my head and I don't really think about it. But it's there somewhere. I'm making no sense whatsoever, I know. Maybe we could just start with talking about what you thought about my possible pregnancy. Keeping on topic with Faith and stuff. Would that be all right?"
He looked at her, trying to file away her jumbled thoughts for later inspection.
"Yes, of course. The thought of having a family with you has crossed my mind many times, but I'm afraid I never really wondered about any possible problems during your pregnancy."
"But you knew that there might be problems?"
"I must have been aware of it. Yes, I think I *did* wonder about it, but seeing as it was just a fantasy I saw no need to go further into the matter."
"Everything always went happily ever after, huh?"
He looked away.
"Not necessarily. But my darker, pessimistic views of our possible future never revolved around you being pregnant."
Buffy understood.
"I died."
He looked at her smiling painfully.
"It wasn't real. I'm sorry, I'm not very helpful. I think investigating Slayer pregnancies would have been a bit presumptuous. Like a waitress rehearsing her Academy Award acceptance speech."
"Hey, you say that as if it's a bad thing."
He looked at her surprised.
"I didn't know you had acting ambitions."
"I don't. But I have practiced getting my Olympic Gold for figure skating."
He smiled at her.
"Oh, then I must be careful that you won't transfer your hopes on our poor children, forcing them to make up for your failures."
They looked at each other for a moment, before Buffy spoke seriously.
"You *do* understand how Wesley feels."
"Yes, I do. But I cannot help him. And even if he asks ten times more, I still won't know if Faith is in any danger. I wish I could help them. I wish I knew if it was safe for a Slayer to have a child." He looked at her, letting her know he didn't think just of Faith. "But I don't. I can only hope that they will be all right and continue to research and offer assistance if they need it."
"So you really think she'll be okay for the moment."
"For the moment, yes. I wouldn't stay here, if I didn't think so."
"So you are staying here, with us I mean?"
"If you'll still have me."
She smiled and got up to hug him.
"I'd love to."
They stayed like that, arm in arm, looking at each other for a moment, before Buffy moved away to prepare for work.
A/N:
This wasn't in my original outline for the next few chapters, but I felt I needed a bit more shippiness before the shopping and I think this turned out quite nicely.
Thanks for the reviews :)
Angelia Love: Thanks. It's good to be back :)
Queen Boadicea: Yep, Buffy is still clueless, but in a way I think she might actually be aware of it, if that makes any sense (which it probably doesn't). And there'll be something of an eye-opener sooner rather than later...
cyberwulf: I hope this was soon enough ;)
PART: Unhelpful Fantasies
AUTHOR: Gabriele Schulz
EMAIL: gabi@gschulz.de
RATING: PG (might go up)
DISTRIBUTION: Everyone who has my general permission. Others please ask first.
SPOILERS: Up to Selfless
FEEDBACK: Love it. Especially if you like the story ;-)
SUMMARY: On Buffy's 25th birthday Giles visits Sunnydale, finally over her. Or so he thinks.
COUPLES: Buffy/Giles, Willow/Anya, Dawn/OC (male), mention of Wesley/Faith, Cordelia/Angel
DISCLAIMER: The characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Productions, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television, the WB Television Network, and whoever else may have a hold on them. I do not mean to infringe upon any copyrights.
DATE: 02/03/03
--------------------------
"That wasn't so bad."
Giles sat at the kitchen island next to Buffy, finally at the end of his tale.
"That's because you got the condensed version. Wesley managed to repeat everything at least three times and use the most complex way of explaining it possible."
"Who would have thought someone could be more long-winded than you."
He glared at her.
"Aww, I'm sorry. Poor Giles." She patted him on the shoulder, smiling. Then her expression became serious. "Poor Wesley."
He gave her a look.
"What? Not only is his Slayer pregnant, she's also his girl-friend and it's his child. And that story with the blood-spitting and whatnot was not pretty."
"Buffy, it was the middle ages. It might have been totally unrelated to the pregnancy."
"Or it might be only because of the pregnancy. Who knows? I can understand Wes' panic. Wouldn't you be worried? If it were us?"
He was about to answer when she uttered the last question, which made him stop and look at her instead.
"I mean, imagine..." She trailed off, looking away. After a moment she fixed her eyes on him again, continuing. "You probably *have* imagined. Have you never wondered about it?"
"Uhm... I..."
"I'm sorry. Forget that. I didn't mean to embarrass you. It's really not my business."
"It's all right. As long as we're talking about this kind of musings, I'll manage. Unless you'd feel embarrassed?"
"No, why would I? They're *your* fantasies. It's not like we're talking about hardcore Watcher/Slayer bond- *Anyway*. I'd like to hear your thoughts on us, a potential us, I mean, formerly possible potential, hell, you know what I mean."
"I think I do. I'm just a bit surprised that you don't even seem to feel a bit... uncomfortable."
"It's not a disease. You were in love with me, Giles. And that's kinda wonderful. Actually I think I'd like to hear more about that." She faltered, but then went on. "I'm not sure I really got it. It's all a bit vague in my head and I don't really think about it. But it's there somewhere. I'm making no sense whatsoever, I know. Maybe we could just start with talking about what you thought about my possible pregnancy. Keeping on topic with Faith and stuff. Would that be all right?"
He looked at her, trying to file away her jumbled thoughts for later inspection.
"Yes, of course. The thought of having a family with you has crossed my mind many times, but I'm afraid I never really wondered about any possible problems during your pregnancy."
"But you knew that there might be problems?"
"I must have been aware of it. Yes, I think I *did* wonder about it, but seeing as it was just a fantasy I saw no need to go further into the matter."
"Everything always went happily ever after, huh?"
He looked away.
"Not necessarily. But my darker, pessimistic views of our possible future never revolved around you being pregnant."
Buffy understood.
"I died."
He looked at her smiling painfully.
"It wasn't real. I'm sorry, I'm not very helpful. I think investigating Slayer pregnancies would have been a bit presumptuous. Like a waitress rehearsing her Academy Award acceptance speech."
"Hey, you say that as if it's a bad thing."
He looked at her surprised.
"I didn't know you had acting ambitions."
"I don't. But I have practiced getting my Olympic Gold for figure skating."
He smiled at her.
"Oh, then I must be careful that you won't transfer your hopes on our poor children, forcing them to make up for your failures."
They looked at each other for a moment, before Buffy spoke seriously.
"You *do* understand how Wesley feels."
"Yes, I do. But I cannot help him. And even if he asks ten times more, I still won't know if Faith is in any danger. I wish I could help them. I wish I knew if it was safe for a Slayer to have a child." He looked at her, letting her know he didn't think just of Faith. "But I don't. I can only hope that they will be all right and continue to research and offer assistance if they need it."
"So you really think she'll be okay for the moment."
"For the moment, yes. I wouldn't stay here, if I didn't think so."
"So you are staying here, with us I mean?"
"If you'll still have me."
She smiled and got up to hug him.
"I'd love to."
They stayed like that, arm in arm, looking at each other for a moment, before Buffy moved away to prepare for work.
A/N:
This wasn't in my original outline for the next few chapters, but I felt I needed a bit more shippiness before the shopping and I think this turned out quite nicely.
Thanks for the reviews :)
Angelia Love: Thanks. It's good to be back :)
Queen Boadicea: Yep, Buffy is still clueless, but in a way I think she might actually be aware of it, if that makes any sense (which it probably doesn't). And there'll be something of an eye-opener sooner rather than later...
cyberwulf: I hope this was soon enough ;)