REUNION

Spoilers- general stuff for early to mid S3.

Disclaimer- I only own Zombie, all other characters and settings are owned by Joss Whedon and co. The songs belong to … well actually I think they belong to Michael Jackson, but they were originally performed by the Beatles.

Note- breaks in the story are marked by &&&.

Enjoy!

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Giles puttered around the library, picking up bits and pieces as he went, placing them in his office or the book cage. Buffy and Xander looked on in amusement, they hadn't seen the librarian this flustered in a long time. Giles scuttled back into his office, paying no attention to the teens that were currently inhabiting the library. Buffy glanced at Xander and grinned wickedly, she pulled a small dagger out of her boot and placed it in plain sight on the table.

Giles came out of the office, scanning the room for the more obvious pieces of evidence of his calling. His sharp eyes spotted the dagger and he hurried over to pick it up. As soon as his back was turned Buffy reached down and pulled out another dagger. Buffy and Xander had to stifle their laughter while Willow looked over at them from her station at the computer, frowning slightly at their antics.

As soon as Giles disappeared into his office Willow slid out of her seat and came up to the table to scold them. "You know how important this inspection is to Giles, how important it is to the school!"

Xander held his hands up defensively. "Chill Wills, what's so important about this imspection thing anyway?"

"Yeah," Buffy chimed in. "Why has it got Giles in such a spin? It's not like he's going to lose his job."

Xander laughed. "God, could you imagine Giles unemployed?"

Buffy laughed as well. "Nuh uh. Giles and unemployment don't go together king of like oil and water. Never gonna mix."

Willow arched an eyebrow at them. "Oil and water can be mixed together if there is a emulsifier."

Buffy and Xander looked at her. "What?"

Willow sighed. "Giles could be fired if they believe he's a danger to the students, or bad example. And besides, if this inspection doesn't go well the school's funding could be cut and then the computers would be the first to go…"

"Arrh," Xander nodded knowingly. "We get to the root of the problem."

Willow wrung her hands worriedly. "I don't want Giles to lose his job, and I don't want to lose the computers."

"Don't worry Wills, we'll be good." Buffy traced an x over her heart. "Promise."

Willow let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

Just as she was returning to her computer, footsteps in the hall could be heard. The door was pushed open. "And this is the library." Snyder's voice could be heard clearly.

Snyder entered the library, a tall older man following just after him. Snyder sneered at the teens. "Don't you have classes to be at? Or rooms to trash?"

Buffy shrugged. "We have a free."

Snyder was stopped from replying when Giles came out of his office. Snyder grimaced, and rubbed his neck. He gestured towards Giles. "Mr. Elis, this is our librarian Mr. Giles, he…"

Mr. Elis cut off Snyder. "Ripper?"

Giles looked around Snyder. "Zom, is that you?"

Zom pushed Snyder aside and clasped Giles's hand in his. "Good to see you old man. Didn't know you were here."

Giles raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Zom smiled at him. "Yeah, I would have organized to have a drink at the pub after the inspection, if I had known."

Giles grinned. "You're doing the inspection?"

Zom shrugged. "Yeah."

Snyder interrupted them. "So you two know each other?"

Zom looked down at him distractedly. "Umm, yeah since high school. You know what Mr. Snyder I think my old mate Ripper can help me finish the inspection. No need to keep you from your duties."

Snyder frowned and stomped out of the library, allowing the doors to slam shut.

Zom's eyes moved towards the table, where Buffy, Willow and Xander looked on. "Ripper, you always did like them young and pretty."

Buffy stiffened. "First eeewww, he's Giles and second who the hell do you think you are?"

Giles turned to face the three teens. "Zom, this is Buffy Summers, the vampire Slayer. And these two are Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris, they assist Buffy with her slaying. Buffy, Willow, Xander this 'Zombie' Elis. We attended Watcher's Academy together, we rebelled together as well."

Buffy slid into fighting stance. Zom chuckled slightly. "I wasn't around for the black magic stage Slayer, nothing to worry about."

"So you knew Giles in his punk period, huh?" Xander asked.

Zom laughed. "Of course, we even started our first band together."

Giles cleared his throat. "They know, they found the photo."

Zom sighed. "You and that leather jacket Ripper. That bloody lucky jacket never got turned down did you?"

Willow blushed, immediately understanding what Zom was referring to. Xander and Buffy made 'eeewwww' face.

Giles quickly changed the subject. "So you joined the U.S. education department?"

The bell rang and Buffy and the others grabbed their bags. "We'll leave the two of you to catch up."

Grabbing Willow and Xander's arms Buffy hurried out the library before they could learn anything more disturbing about the librarian.

Zom watched as the doors swung closed. He turned to Giles. "So you got anything to drink in this place?"

&&&&&&&&&&&

Hours later Buffy returned to the school for her briefing before patrolling. She strolled into the library, and frowned. Giles was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Wills, you seen Giles?"

Willow shook her head. "Nope, he wasn't here when we arrived, was he Xander?"

Xander shook his, mouth full of Twinkie. Willow brightened. "He might still be with his old high school friend."

Buffy shrugged. "Yeah, he might be."

A loud crash echoed throughout the empty building. Buffy stilled Xander and Willow. She gestured for them to follow her. They grabbed weapons and snuck into the hall. Making as little noise as possible they crept along the hall, stopping in front of the music room.

Buffy pressed her ear to the door, then jerked back wincing as a guitar and drum set came to life. A voice floated out the door.

"It's been a hard day's night

And I've been workin' like a dog.

It's been a hard day's night,

I should be sleepin' like a log.

But when I get home to you I find the things that you do…"

A second voice interrupted. "No not that one, the other one." The first voice started to sing again.

"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away,

Now it looks as if they're here to stay,

Ohh I believe in yesterday.

Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say…"

He stopped. "No I don't really like this song."

"Imagine there's no heaven,

It's easy if you try…"

Buffy slowly pushed the door open. The three stared at the sight in front of them, with their mouths open. Giles sat on a chair, guitar in his lap, hair ruffled and shirt open slightly; his tie was missing completely and it was obvious that he had been drinking. Zom sat behind a drum kit similarly attired.

They watched in astonishment as Giles and Zom turned to punk music, the sound echoing down the halls. Willow covered her mouth and squealed. "That was a e-flat, diminished ninth chord; it's really hard."

Buffy and Xander looked at her. She looked back at them. "What, Oz told me."

Xander's foot started to tap in time to the music and he started humming. Buffy glared at him. "Oh, come on. It's catchy."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Giles groaned as he entered the library the next morning, the light hitting his sensitive eyes. He groaned again as a bubbly voice drilled into his brain.

"Hi Giles!" Buffy turned to the others. "I think he has a headache."

"You know bloody well I have a headache and yet you insist on torturing me." He sunk into an unoccupied chair, one hand shielding his eyes.

Cordelia peered at him. "You really don't look good, drinking all night. Not good for the complexion."

"Yes thank you Cordelia that was exactly what I wanted to hear."

Oz leaned forward. "So E-flat, diminished ninth chord huh? That's a man's chord you could lose a finger."

Giles looked up. "What?"

They all grinned at him. Giles groaned. "Oh Bloody Hell."