CRADLE

Disclaimer, etc. as on first chapter.

A/N: Right, here we go with the angst once more, as Giles finally tells Buffy he's leaving. I'd like to mention that I wasn't entirely sure what to do with that sequence, and I hope it works… Same threat applies as the last time :P Oh, and that I don't like coffee, so cannot pass judgement - the comments herein are purely Buffy ;) (On the other hand, I do know quite a bit about the cuddly status of Spike. But I told that story already :P)

Incidentally, I saw "Beneath You" tonight, and what can I say, other than 'Wooooow'… I went "Ouch" at several points throughout. So glad I didn't have to wait til Easter to see that… Not sure if I'll be jumping on the bandwagon with a post-BY fic, but, hey, I may as well try, right? If I can think of anything, that is…

I think that's about it. Oh, except that I typed this up originally on a typewriter, and will be scanning it, for anyone interested in seeing it in its badly-typo-ed glory :D Keep those reviews a-comin'!

Cradle

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Giles woke early on the morning of 'their' departure, mainly because he was finding it completely impossible, and ultimately futile, to sleep, under the circumstances. As it wasn't another 'ungodly hour' - although Buffy would most certainly have disagreed - he decided to call Vivianne one more time. He'd forgotten, with all the stress over helping Buffy, to ask if the witch was able to help Willow.

Dialling the familiar number - and grateful he didn't have to add the international code first - he waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Vivianne. Me, again."

"Oh, Rupert. What is it? No problems, I hope?"

"No. Everything's fine. Just… something I forgot to ask you about before."

She sighed heavily. "Go ahead."

"Right," he began. "Well, as you know, Willow's purging was the indirect cause of Buffy's predicament… However, it transpires that she purged a lot more than we ever anticipated. The Dark Magic latched onto her own inner power… It just ripped it out of her, Vivianne…" He rubbed his eyes wearily. "Is there anything you can do?"

She thought about it very hard for several seconds, but came up with nothing. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. I'm sorry."

Trying to hide his disappointment, he said, "All right. It was worth a try. Thank you, anyway."

"Sorry again. I wish I could help, but some things are beyond the realms of mortal power."

"Yes… I realise that. You tried…"

She decided to change the subject, as she knew there was obviously something else bothering him. "So… is Buffy going home today?"

"Yes."

"And have you told her yet…?"

"I… no…"

"Rupert!"

"I know, I know… It's a very delicate situation." Realising that wasn't going to work as an excuse, he added, "I'll tell her today. I'll have to. At the airport. Then, she'll have less time to dwell on it… or convince me to go with her."

"Why are you staying here? It's obvious you care for her… for all of them."

"I do," he clarified. "But it's for their own good. They need to learn to live without me supporting them through all their troubles."

"I suppose…" With a sigh, he added, "Just try to break it to her gently, all right? She might seem strong, but I can tell she's fragile inside. Make sure you can give her plenty of reasons in your defence, too."

"I can. It may not seem like it, but I've thought this through."

"Good," she said. "I wish you both luck."

"Thank you."

"Goodbye, Rupert." More humorously, she added, "And don't let her scare you…"

"I won't. Goodbye."
br>

Heathrow Airport, several hours later…

They were at the airport's check-in, and Buffy was still blissfully unaware of the bombshell her companion was going to drop. His attempts to try and talk to her had failed miserably. She was chattering non-stop, and he was unable to get a word in edgeways. At least she was happy, though. That would make it slightly less impossible, if not easy.

"Ugh," she announced. "I so cannot wait to be home. I mean, no offence or anything, England's great, but if I have to drink any more of that crap you call coffee, I think I'll go insane. Beginning to see the deal with you and tea, Giles, seriously. And you know? The whole upcoming conversation with Spike about you-know-what? So not worried any more. In fact, I may not even bother with it. Who needs all that extra hurt from the past, anyway? This is about the future. I just wanna get back, and tell him I love him, and be with him. Forget all the hassle." Giles smiled. If he'd had any earlier doubts about her relationship with the vampire, she was allaying them by the minute. It may not have started perfectly, but she was clearly adamant to make it so. "Did you know he could hug?" she continued. "It's true. I never realised before, 'til the night Xander nearly killed him. Well, okay, I've never actually taken the time to hug him, but anyway, he's really quite cuddly. In fact, screw slaying. I'm just gonna cuddle with Spike for the rest of my life-"

"Buffy…"

"Dawn can slay. I'm hereby promoting her."

"Buffy," he tried again, louder. She halted in her babbling and looked at him. He indicated the woman at the desk, who was waiting patiently, and slightly amusedly, to check her ticket and weigh her baggage.

"Oh. Sorry…" she muttered, sheepishly. She hoisted her case onto the weighing machine with ease; the desk clerk looked incredibly surprised by the weight of it, but said nothing, sending it through. She checked Buffy's ticket, and directed her towards the passenger lounge, telling her to listen for announcements.

Together, Giles and Buffy headed for the lounge. It was then that she realised something that seemed to be just a little amiss…

"Uh, Giles? I know you travel light, but… isn't this taking it just slightly too far?" She indicated his complete lack of luggage, and, right before he could say anything, added, "And why didn't she check your ticket?"

Now or never, he thought. "Buffy, there's something I have to tell you."

"Well, it better end with the words 'luggage is being sent later'…" she said, pointedly, one eyebrow raised to suggest that he wouldn't like the consequences if it didn't.

He sighed, and ushered her towards one of the quieter seating areas, trying to keep her calm. Once they were seated, and when it was quite clear that her expectant, irritated expression wasn't going to go away, he explained, "I'm not going back to Sunnydale with you…"

She gave a bitter laugh, devoid of any humour whatsoever. "I'm sorry, I must have heard that wrong. It sounded like you said you're not going back with me."

He cringed. He'd been expecting this, but he'd been half-hoping she'd make it easy. "Will you at least let me explain?" he implored.

"What's to explain?" she asked. "You're deserting me. That's all I need to know." With that, she got up from her seat, and stormed off; he gave chase, and managed to catch hold of her arm to stop her. She wrenched free of his grip easily, and spun to face him, giving him a stony, hurt glare. "God, just when I thought everything was going to be fine, and you-"

"Buffy, please…" he begged. "Don't make this any more difficult."

That was the last straw; the final shred of her tenuous self-control fell apart. "Don't make it any more difficult?! As if you're making it so easy! Were you gonna tell me at all, or were you just gonna wait 'til I got on the plane and realised you weren't there?"

"I couldn't tell you sooner. You'd only have managed to convince me to go with you."

"And that'd be so terrible?"

He shook his head, defeated. Clearly, she wasn't going to make it any easier on him. "Look, just… just give this" - he fished in his pocket for the letter, which he'd finally succeeded in writing - "to the others. It explains everything. When you're less angry, call me, and we can… I'll…" He gave up. "I'm going…"

He handed her the letter, then turned and began to walk away. Buffy stared at the envelope blindly for a few moments, then at his retreating back. She dropped her head, tears stinging her eyes, then she started to run after him. "Giles!"

He stopped, relieved beyond measure, and turned just as she skidded to a halt in front of him. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes as they regarded each other; suddenly, neither of them knew what to say. All of Giles' carefully planned explanations had vanished from his brain, seeming mediocre and pointless when he was confronted with his Slayer so upset. And Buffy was speechless now, her anger more or less spent and ultimately futile. She was still battling against tears, but it didn't last long; the moment they fell, Giles enveloped her in his arms. This was the one thing he'd hoped wouldn't happen; the one thing he was unable to fight. When she'd stopped sobbing enough to listen, he released her and manoeuvred her back to the seating area.

"Now," he said. "Can I explain?" She nodded, wiping her eyes, annoyed that she'd let her guard down around him. He handed her a handkerchief from his pocket while he spoke. "This is… difficult, Buffy. It's been a terrible decision to have to come to, and it's taken me a long time to convince myself that it is the right thing to do. I know it seems like I'm deserting you again - I don't blame you in the slightest for thinking that - but, believe me, it's for the best. You all need to learn to live without me there to…" He trailed off, trying to think how to word it without it sounding patronising.

"Bale our asses out of trouble?" she offered.

He smiled at her colourful use of language. "Precisely. You're all mature, sensible adults; Dawn is growing up fast, and she has all of you to help her. You have to learn how to get on with your lives."

"I know," she admitted, sniffing. "But it's just…" She sighed. This conversation was beginning to sound incredibly familiar, and reminded her of the one she'd had with Spike only a few days ago in the basement. "Look, everyone I've ever loved has left me… even Spike. And I really thought I'd got you back for good this time, Giles. It's not just me. Dawn needs a father… dammit, so do I…"

He couldn't help but feel proud of that. "Buffy… I've been around for the most important events of your life. As for Dawn… much as I'm loath to admit it, she has Spike… and, God-forbid, Xander. Those two are enough to keep anyone out of trouble." That raised a smile. "I'll be a telephone call away."

She seemed to be far more accepting of the situation now he'd had time to explain, but one more thing was still bothering her about it. "Okay… I realise why you have to stay. Far be it for me to try and force you into coming h-" She caught herself before she said 'home'. Sunnydale wasn't his real home, England was. She blinked, and tried again. "…coming… back with me. But why didn't you even tell the others?"

He looked embarrassed. "Because… because I've said goodbye to them all twice this year… and I have yet to say goodbye to you. I-I didn't want them involved this time."

Buffy was touched by the admittance. "I guess I was a superbitch the last time, huh?"

"You had your reasons."

Their conversation was then interrupted by an announcement for Buffy's flight, requesting the first batch of seat numbers to board. She looked at her ticket and saw that she would probably be called for next. "Wow. I suppose this is it…"

"Yes." He got up, and offered her a hand. After he helped her out of the chair, unnecessarily, they both stood there rather uncomfortably. Now that the time had come, he had no idea what he wanted to say. "I'll… I'll walk you to the gate."

Side by side, they headed towards the boarding gate, in silence. Buffy looked at the dwindling queue of passengers waiting to have their tickets checked again, and suddenly froze where she stood. "I don't wanna go…" she muttered, as the last passenger went through.

"You have to," he said, futilely. Another announcement called for the second batch of passengers that included Buffy's seat number. "You really have to…" He took hold of both of her hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be fine. And you won't even have to explain to the others; I've done that already in the letter."

"Yeah…" She took a deep breath, eyeing the slightly longer queue nervously, wondering if she had time to say everything she suddenly wanted to in the short time left. "Giles… God, I don't know where to begin. Uh…"

He smiled, saving her by suggesting: "If there's really so much, write it all down on the plane and send it to me when you're back. Or you could summarise…"

"I'll do both," she said. "Right. Summarise…" She thought about it. "Okay. Giles, I'm sorry. For everything this past year, and probably for everything before, too. For… for the whole back-from-the-dead freak-out thing, for putting on you all the time… for Spike…"

"Don't worry about the last one. I can see now that it's not nearly as hideous as I'd have thought."

She smiled. "I'll… take that as a compliment. And that's the other thing. Thank you. For… being around… and for being you."

"Any more?"

She looked at the queue again - there were very few passengers left and if she didn't go soon, they'd be considering her a no-show. "Yes…" She hesitated, considering how it might be received. "I… I want you to know that I love you, Giles. I don't say that enough, to anyone, and especially not to you, but… I do."

He smiled. "I know." Silence fell. Then: "You have to go." "I guess…" There was an awkward pause, and then she flung her arms around his neck, practically suffocating him as usual, although he didn't complain. He hugged her back comfortably, and placed a kiss on the top of her head before he let her go, and then, before his brain had even registered what was happening, Buffy had kissed him.

It was nothing, really. A second later, he was looking down at her as she blushed furiously, turning an interesting shade of crimson. It had been an incredibly brief and chaste kiss, and she'd pulled away just as suddenly, as sanity kicked in. Her expression of complete mortification wasn't shifting. He stroked her cheek, smiling to let her know that he didn't mind, and she smiled back, relieved. "Sorry," she said. "Spur of the moment thing…"

"Yes…" The queue at the gate had dwindled to nothing. "And now you need to go…"

She nodded, determinedly, and looked towards the gate once more with much less dread in her expression. Looking back to him again, she said "And you are coming to Sunnydale for Christmas and New Year and my birthday. No arguments." She raised an eyebrow to suggest that disagreeing wasn't an option.

Giles laughed, but seemed to agree nonetheless. "Of course…" They shared a mutual smile, and he finally said, "Goodbye, Buffy. Although not forever this time."

"Goodbye, Giles."

With that, she picked up her rucksack, tucked the letter to the Scoobies into her own pocket, and headed towards the departure gate with her head held high. Giles watched as they x-rayed her bag, checked her ticket, and waved her through; at the door, she stopped to look back, and waved, waiting for him to wave back before finally boarding the plane.

Approximately half an hour later, he was sitting by one of the airport's large viewing windows, hands wrapped around a cup of coffee (no matter what Buffy thought, it wasn't going to stop him drinking it) as he watched her flight take off. Now, he was a lot more certain that he'd made the right decision by staying in England. Buffy understood his reasoning, and he could only hope that her friends would, too. In retrospect, he'd left them to their own devices right when things were looking up, and eventually, no matter how they'd probably argue to the contrary, they wouldn't need him anyway.

Summers residence

"Okay, up a little… stop! Down… No, that's too far, Xander. Honestly, if you want something doing…"

Anya was, for some reason nobody could work out, in charge of the final preparations for the surprise party, having come back from her apartment. She was currently ordering around Xander and Dawn, and thoroughly enjoying it. They were and leattempting to hang the roughly painted banner up on the wall, with Xander on one chair, and Dawn on another. Willow had wisely left them to it, and was baking something in the kitchen that was apparently going to be just as much of a surprise as the party would be. Spike hadn't been seen for hours, only to occasionally emerge from the basement in search of blood from the fridge.

The two banner-hangers' arms were now beginning to ache from the constant repositioning, and Anya still wasn't satisfied with it. Xander sighed. "Come on, Anya. It's not like it's going to stay up…"

"That's no excuse for a bad job," she explained. "Dawn, your end is drooping."

The brunette sighed heavily. "That's probably because I can't feel my shoulder." At this point, the phone rang. "I'll get it!" she shouted, dropping her end of the banner and leaping from the chair to answer it. Anya yelled something in protest that fell on deaf ears, and ran to save the material from the evils of the carpet.

Dawn practically fell on the phone as she picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Dawn," came the muffled voice on the other end of the line."

"Buffy!" she said, just loudly enough that everyone would hear. The two exchanged the usual pleasantries while the rest of the Scoobies - including Spike, after Willow had alerted him - came to hover nearby. "How was England? And how's Giles?"

"England was… cold," she said. "Kinda pretty. And tiny." Dawn giggled. "And Giles is… is fine…" Changing the subject, she added, "What about you guys? All still alive?"

"Pretty much…" Seeing that everyone was getting impatient, she asked, "So where are you now?"

"At the airport. Just calling to check in. Be home in about an hour, okay?"

"Kay, Buff. See you in an hour."

She put the phone down and turned to the others. "We've got an hour to get this party ready."

Willow shrugged. "I think we can manage that. Of course, it'd be a lot faster if I…" She trailed off when she noticed her friends giving her the "don't-even-think-about-it" expression. "Kidding…"

"Okay," said Xander, "so what's left?"

Willow did a mental checklist. "Uh… just gotta wait for my surprise to finish cooking, get that banner up, and blow up the balloons."

Spike put his hand up. "I can do that." Off the minor quizzical looks he received, he explained, "Vampire, remember? Can't run out of breath."

"Great. Thanks, Spike," said Willow. "The balloons're in the bag on the kitchen table." He nodded in understanding and headed for the kitchen. "Can anyone think of anything else?" Everyone thought about it, and simultaneously shook their heads. "Right. Let's get finished, then."

The house became a bustle of frantic activity as they attempted to finish preparing the lounge. Anya, authoritative as ever, continued to order Xander and Dawn around in an effort to get the banner straight, before finally conceding defeat and taking over herself. Spike set about inflating the balloons, realising he wasn't sure how many to blow up and then deciding it probably didn't matter and, after all, a hundred couldn't be that many, could it? Willow's mysterious foodstuff finally finished baking and she put it on the dining room table, and put a slight protection spell on it while she was at it, so nobody would sneak a peak (but not before muttering a slight apology heavenwards.)

Forty-five minutes later, they'd finally finished, and crashed out in the lounge, exhausted. All that was left to do now was wait for Buffy and Giles to arrive so they could spring the surprise on them…

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry, sorry… I was going to get around to the party this chapter, but it didn't wanna happen. But that means next chapter is pretty much wholly dedicated to that, Giles' letter to the Scoobs, and the beginnings of a Buffy/Spike conversation. And also another Spike/Anya conversation, which may, in fact, come first… ah, well, I'll see how it goes…

19 reviews away from my target, people! You know what to do!

Oh, and Darryl? Where's your review for Chapter 26? I missed it :(