A/N : If all goes to plan they'll be just two or three more chapters of this fic! Yep, it's almost over, but there's still more to come for now so don't despair! Thanx to those who reviewed chapter 15; Sweetbitter, Rachel, courtney, SouthernRain,SpIkEs AnGeL, theonendonlygurl, supergirl212 - glad you guys are still liking this. Keep on reading and reviewing please...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 16 - Blast From The Past

Whilst Cordelia and Buffy attempted to make polite conversation with the possible other son of Giles, Willow kept one eye glued to the window. As soon as she saw the car pull onto the drive next door, containing Giles, Spike and Doyle, she was on her feet and looking worried.

"They're back" she told the room and Buffy ran at the door, wanting to catch them before they went inside and sort this all out as soon as possible, not only for Wesley's sake or for her own piece of mind, but also for the sake of Giles and Jessica's wedding that was looking a little doubtful right now.

"Giles" the blonde called from the front porch, earning a strange look from the man himself, his son, and his nephew as they exited the car "could you come to our house for a minute...actually you two better come too" she realised, knowing Spike at least would not want to be left out of a family matter and probably his cousin wouldn't either.

"Whats up, pet?" Buffy's boyfriend asked rushing to her side with the other two men close behind.

"Long story" she frowned as she led them inside "and its really not mine to tell..." she trailed off as she went into the house with the three men.

"Oh, hello" Giles smiled a little bemusedly as he found Cordelia, Willow and a man in the living room.

"Giles, hey" Willow smiled and immediately Wesley was on his feet, right in front of the man he believed to be his father.

"Rupert Giles?" he checked, stepping so far forward that the older man found he needed to step back just to breathe properly.

"Yes. Can I help you?" he asked, completely baffled by this young man and his strange behaviour. He seemed almost enthralled by the sight of him and in was all very unnerving.

"My name is Wesley Wyndham-Pryce" he introduced himself "I'm your son" he added proudly and Giles' face went ashen with shock.

"Bloody hell!" came Spike's opinion, loud and clear, Buffy grabbed his leather clad arm as her boyfriend stepped towards Wesley in a somewhat threatening way.

"You're his what?" Doyle frowned deeply at hearing the news, looking to Cordelia for some kind of explanation. His girlfriend only shrugged, for once in her life keeping her mouth shut.

Giles had still yet to speak and all eyes were on him and the man in front of him.

"I know it's a great shock but..." the younger man began to say but he was cut off by the man he believed to be his father.

"It's impossible" he said simply and surprisingly calmly.

"Too right it's bloody impossible!" Spike yelled as Willow blushed at the sound of her cellphone ringing in the relative silence.

"Oh, excuse me" she mumbled, hurrying into the kitchen to take her call. It was Xander asking if she was still at Buffy's and if he was going to see her tonight.

"Xand, you won't believe what is going on here" she whispered into the phone, "but meet me in the Espresso Pump in ten minutes and I'll explain" she left her boyfriend slightly confused as she hung up the phone and crept out the back door, deciding it was best not to go interrupting the strange family reunion type event in the living room. She left a note on the fridge saying where she had gone, just in case anyone worried though she doubted anyone would even notice her absence given the circumstances.

"Maybe we should go?" Cordelia suggested to Doyle as she glanced around the room. Giles and Wesley standing toe to toe unsure who should speak next or what they should say. Spike looking daggers at his possible brother, Buffy clinging to his arm with all her Slayer strength to stop him from doing something stupid, and Doyle just looking completely bemused.

"I dunno, Princess" the Irishman replied, glancing at her briefly "You want me to go Uncle Giles?"

"I don't see why everyone should leave" Wesley answered instead "We are related after all...my mother's name was Julia Stevenson, she lived in Oxford. She fell pregnant with your child, with me" he told Giles matter-if-factly "but you disappeared and she married her friend Robert Wyndham-Pryce, the man I believed to be my father until not-so-long ago"

The thoughts running through the librarian's head were many and varied but one thing he knew for sure was he was not this man's father. He had never known a woman by the name of Julia Stevenson, which begged the question, how did this young man's mother ever come to the conclusion that he'd fathered her son?

"How old are you?" he asked Wesley, eyeing him suspiciously, a possible explanation forming inside his brain that was not entirely pleasant but definitely possible. This young man had said he was from Oxford after all...

"Twenty four" Wesley smiled like a proud child, momentarily forgetting that he'd just been told this man could not possible be his father. He was about to be reminded...

"Wesley, I'm terribly sorry but, I truly am not your father..." Giles sighed, sinking into the armchair behind him. The rest of the room wondered why he looked so worried and possibly sick.

"But Robert wouldn't lie to me" he young man protested as the others looked on, hoping some explanation would soon come to light "and I know my mother wouldn't lie to him, why ever would she?"

"I'm sure neither of them lied" Giles assured the somewhat deflated Wesley who dropped back into his seat on the sofa "but I know someone who probably did..."

"You want to explain that riddle, Dad?" Spike asked, an edge to his voice that said he really wasn't too happy with what he was hearing right now.

"Perhaps you should all sit down" the oldest man in the room urged the others and Spike muttered to himself as he shared the other chair with Buffy;

"Oh great, cos things are always 'hugs and puppies' when you start an explanation with that line"

"Spike, please" his father snapped "You're not helping"

"I'll be helpful" the bleach blond spoke through gritted teeth "when I hear the story of how I magically got an older brother!"

"Well if you give me two moments" Giles sighed yet again "I will explain...There was a time, when I was young, before I even met your mother Spike, I was attending the Watcher's Academy and I fell in with a somewhat unsavoury crowd, the head of which turned out to be one of the nastiest thugs I had ever had the misfortune to meet" the Watcher explained to the room full of young people, each one hanging on his every word "There was an occasion when the group had got into a fight with another gang, the long and the short of it being that a young man ended up dead" he said with a frown, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes, the memories he'd tried so hard to repress all flooding back so hard and fast it gave him a headache "I knew only too well at whose hands that man's life had been taken"

"So, what?" Spike shrugged "You grassed up the murderous git?" trying to put all this together and make some sense of it.

"I had to" Giles nodded slightly, replacing his glasses and staring at a spot on the carpet "A man's life had been lost and I knew who was to blame. I'd been in on the gangs petty thefts and ridiculous scams" he admitted, somewhat uncomfortably in front of his son and other young people that should respect him "but I would feel unimaginable guilt if I let a bringer of death go unpunished"

"I'm not understanding what this has to do with your man here" Doyle piped up, gesturing a hand towards Wesley "and the possibility that you're his father"

"I was just coming to that part" Giles told him, taking another deep breath "This louse of a man went on the run as soon as he knew I'd reported his crime. It wasn't just that he'd get thrown out of the school that was his problem of course, there was the police to consider" he told all the people in the room, who were eager to know what had happened next and how all this connected Giles to Wesley "He took it into his head to blame me for ruining his life, when truly he'd done it for himself. After he'd gone I waited for the beating I was sure his friends would inflict upon me but it never came" he sighed "In my heart of hearts I knew I couldn't be that lucky, that he'd have some other vengeance planned and I was right..." Giles' sentence tailed off as he knew he was going to have to tell Wesley the horrible truth that he had just realised for himself.

"Go on, Dad" Spike prompted, literally on the edge of his seat.

"The police caught him in Oxford" Giles said quietly, still looking at the floor "the year was 1980"

"The year I was born..." Wesley all but whispered, now he understood.

"Oh my God!" Buffy gasped, realsing the truth, that Wesley was actually the son of this awful man, this murderer!

"Bloody hell!" came Spike's equally shocked repsonse "Are you saying this bastard's punishment on you was be a total wanker and knock up some girl using your name?" he asked his father in disbelief.

"It does rather seem that way, doesn't it?" the older man frowned, hating the fact he had to bring up such an awful topic and that he'd just had to tell this young man before him that his male parent was far from a pleasant man.

"You're truly not my..." Wesley stammered, immediately on his feet, "my father was...he was a monster" he realised, looking like he might cry or something. Everyone looked the other way, surprised and astounded by the revelations they'd just heard, and feeling so bad for this poor young man but not knowing what to say to him.

"No Wesley, he wasn't" Giles assured him, also getting to his feet, everyone watching the two, each wondering if it would have been better for them to be related or not, "Yes, Ethan Rayne was a monster, but your father was the man who's name you carry" he explained "the man that brought you up, cared about you, and loved you. Biology makes you genetically connected to someone but a father is the one who is there for you and who tries to do his best by you" he didn't notice Buffy and Spike standing behind him until he turned around and they both smiled. He may not have been there all of Spike's life, but Giles was making up for it now, and he'd certainly been a better Dad to Buffy than her real parent ever had.

There was silence for a moment before the Watcher noticed the time and turned to Spike and Doyle.

"Jessica will be wondering where we all are" he told them both as he headed for the door and Wesley dropped back into his seat still trying to process the information he'd just received.

"No, she won't" Buffy called behind the three men who turned back suddenly.

"Whatever do you mean Buffy?" Giles asked as the girl looked uncomfortable. She sighed and said;

"You might wanna sit down again..."

To Be Continued...

[Next Update will be on Oh Brother! Look out for Chapter 16 of that v. soon]