What's up with Giles?

Buffy looked up at Jeff while she ran away from the diving knives that tried to stab the trio. "Some guard you are- you didn't even fight back when Miss Fang Thang escaped, did you? Who are you?" Buffy asked. She was sick and tired of everyone she met being some dark warrior for The First. It was getting to be ridiculous, and if Jeff happened to be secretly evil, well she should have just air-choked him awhile back and be done with it.

Jeff gulped, honestly intimidated by Buffy's sudden animosity. "I'm a good guy...that's all you need to know for now. Actually, I work for something that's more magnificient than good or evil, but that's besides the point. We gotta find a way outta here."

Buffy turned around toward Amy, and it didnt take her long to notice the horror in the ex-witch's eyes. She looked down and noticed Amy had been stabbed in the side. The slayer thought quickly and used her shield spell on the wound so that no moreblood would escape. The ex-bitch would still need to be properly healed, though.

Jeff turned his attention back on the Bringers who were guarding their only escape. He concentrated on trying to move his thoughts outward which should allow the Bringers to easily read his mind. Just as he planned, the Bringers charged at them, leaving the emergency exit exposed. Jeff grabbed Buffy's hand, Buffy grabbed Amy's hand and together the three dashed through the wall and out of the pit.

"Whew!" Buffy sighed after the three escaped, standing right smack dab in the middle of the football field. She turned around, expecting to see a pack of Bringers following them, yet there was nothing. They appeared to be safe, for now.

Jeff smiled. "Don't worry, they can't follow us."

Buffy nodded, catching her breath. "Gotta say, I really hate it when I have to run from the bad guys. It's supposed to be the other way around." She looked at Amy, who was crying helplessly. Buffy's first reaction was to call for an ambulance, but she soon remembered that the Hospital was permanently closed. "Xander!" Buffy finally cried out. "We have to get her to the parking lot. My friend can heal her."

Jeff nodded, assuming that this Amy girl was Buffy's friend or something. He helped Buffy carry her and together the two slowly marched her to the parking lot.

"What's this going to do?" Vi asked the gang, who were all sitting Indian-style on the parking lot save for Spike. The whole thing smelled just a little too koombayah for his taste. Instead, he was leaning on a sign, smoking a cig.

Giles looked up. "Well, we musn't give up. If Buffy can indeed slay this new monster, that should buy us some time."

"Until what?" Dawn asked. "It's just one thing after the another. Maybe we've been looking at this all wrong. Maybe we have to fight The First directly...somehow." She looked around. "Are we really gonna say it's impossible just because some floating eyes told us so?"

Anya thought about that for a moment. "You know, she's not wrong Giles. It's not some huge victory if Buffy manages to slay one measly Oldest One."

Xander quietly sat in the group, envisoning that there was a campfire in the middle of them and they were all just hanging out telling goofy scary stories and that there wasn't a war going on. He actually saw the cackling fire along with the bright comfort that came with the heat. He shrugged it off, it was just a vision. A possibility, but not part of this reality.

"Don't fret....dear Xander" Giles said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder while staring at his neck. His...delicious neck. It looked so moist and so penetrable, and could Xander be any more hotter? Giles gave into his new passion and delved forward into the young man's neck.

"Aieee!" Xander screamed, trying to bat Giles hand away. "What the hell are you doing!" he asked as he felt two fangs sink into his neck. A few seconds later and Giles was safely thrown off. Spike.

Vi stood in a fighting poistioned and together, she and Faith kicked Giles back down when he got up again. "Who are you!" the redhead screamed.

Andrew blinked, trying to understand what the hell was happening. "Oh no, Mr. Giles is a vampire! He grabbed a cross from his pocket and held it up to him. He realized it was upside down, so he quickly repositioned it the right away.

"I think I'm a vampire" Giles said, affirming Andrew's suspicions. "I feel fast...and strong. And strangely bisexual." He looked at Spike, Xander and Andrew. "It's bloody liberating!"

Andrew gulped. "He's a newbie, so he probably doesn't have as many hit points as Ubervamps or...Vengeance Demons." He looked at Anya and smiled. "Uh, we can do this gang!"

Faith kicked Giles in the face. She wasn't a slayer anymore, so he didn't go flying back as he normally would have, but it did enough damage to cause him to growl angrily. "Anybody got a stake on them?" Faith asked as though she were in prison asking for a cigarette. They might as well dust Giles before Buffy got back and saw what happened to him.

"No!" Xander proclaimed. "How could Buffy live with herself if she found out he's gone for good? And that's all that dusting will do... it won't stop evil. We just can't kill him."

Dawn nodded, agreeing with Xander. "I mean, she did the same thing with Angel and Spike. The whole not wanting to dust them thing." Then again, she wasn't screwing Giles Dawn thought. At least she HOPED not.

Spike groaned while slightly knocking Xander upside the head. "He's already dead! It's a war. People die. You even heard the damn speech from the great Buffy herself."

"No, damnit!" Xander screamed. "We can't do this to Buffy. I'm tired of losing people. We can re-soul him later...somehow." He thought of Willow's death and how there was never any time for him to grieve. "Just...tie him up."

"Tie him up?" Spike sarcastically mocked. He looked back into Xander's determined eye. "Oh fine Harris, but you owe me for this one."

Right when Xander was about to ask what that favor would entail exactly, the four women fought Giles back into the nearest tree. "Anybody have any rope?" Faith huffed, trying to pin Giles back into the palm tree.

Before the men could all respond with a resounding "no", Buffy appeared alongside Jeff and a limping Amy. The slayer's jaw dropped to the pavement when she saw Giles in game face.

Xander rushed over to Amy, noticing her wound. "Oh God..." He looked around. "I don't have to hug her to heal her, do I?" Xander noticed Jeff, who just kept staring at him. "Uh...hi there" he said to the stranger.

Ignoring Xander, Buffy stared into Giles direction. It was like everything around her had frozen into place and only she was the only one standing there. In fact, it wasn't "like" anything- Buffy really did stop time! She shook her head and unfroze everything. As soon as time went on ticking again, Giles leaped toward Buffy. Buffy closed her eyes and a single tear dropped down her cheek as her watcher pounced on her.

"Bloody hell slayer, you went from almighty know-it-all to crying doormat in all but a few hours?" Spike asked, tossing Giles off of Buffy. He looked at Buffy, then Xander. "I'm tired of saving you two. Either learn how to fight or-"

"Shut up Spike!" Dawn said. She put an arm around her sister and began stroking her hair.

Buffy shook her head, snapping out of her daze. "I-I can't fight anymore." Buffy sobbed. She looked over at Amy, who was crying just because she herself was crying. The slayer rolled her eyes at that. "I mean, I almost killed an innocent with my new powers. Meet Jeff everyone."

The Scooby gang all shifted their eyes toward Jeff, who was busily staring at Xander like he was Jesus or something. Jeff got down on one knee and started kissing Xander's toes through his sneakers.

Buffy arched a brow at the sight of such a big strong warrior worshipping her loveable yet geeky friend. "Well...that's unexpected." She looked back and forth between vamp-Giles and Jeff, trying to figure out which event was crazier.

Amy glanced down at her wound, noticing that it was completely healed up.. She was too shy to say thank you, so she just joined Jeff in smiling sweetly at Xander.

"Don't you guys see it?" Jeff said, crying. "Our savior is here!"

Xander looked around and smiled. "Savior? Wow!"

Giles growled. He was starting to become hungry for some blood, but as long as he was around all these superhero types, he couldn't get some. He ran away into the night.

Anya shook her head as she tried to register everything that happened. "And he was beginning to be so sexy too."

"Still kinda sexy" Andrew said, getting out another lollipop.

Buffy threw her hands up in frustration. "This is no time for jokes. Why is all this stuff happening to us? There has to be a connection."

Vi stepped forward. "Well, if we want to save Giles we gotta go after him. Maybe it's like on Charmed, where vampires aren't really vampires until they've had their first kill? Vi stepped back as quickly as she stepped forward when she saw all the 'You should know better' faces. "Uh...or not."

"How did this even happen?" Xander asked the gang. "Maybe I can find out....like, will myself to have a vision?" Xander closed his eye and concentrated on Giles...his presence, his tweed suits, his British-ness ...everything that just screamed 'Giles.' It wasn't long before Xander saw the female Ubervamp tied up at the school, just looking at Giles. Whoa.

Xander swallowed. "Female Ubervamp...but, wowzers. She just looked at him."

Buffy shook her head. "So they can turn people into vampires by looking at them? Nice, really - but I don't wanna know the how. I wanna know the why. Everything has to happen for a reason, right?" She pulled a strand of hair and yanked it out of frustration. She looked down at the piece of hair in disgust and let it slip out of her fingertips.

Jeff kept staring at Xander while praying. "Reasons ...don't matter anymore. Only love."

"Uh...well you're right in theory." Xander looked back down at Jeff. "And who are you again?" Before Jeff could answer, he pointed to Amy. "And what's her deal, she's obviously..." He remembered back to what Anya had said. "Oh Buffy, you didn't!"

Buffy nodded. "I had to Xand. Besides, she's not a threat to anybody anymore." Buffy looked around at all the chaos. "Okay, we still have to figure out what's up with me and Xander, but I can't just leave Giles alone out there. I know, it's not really him but I-"

Dawn smiled, giving her sister a half-hug. "It's okay, Buffy. You don't have to explain yourself."

Faith spoke up. "Guess it's time to split up then." She just wanted to get this whole good guy thing over with so she could go get some much-needed partying done.

Buffy nodded. "Okay, I want Anya, Andrew and Vi to go back in the school and do some research about what's going on. Find out anything you can about my new powers, what the hell happened to Xander. What's going on with Jeff...ANYTHING." She turned to Xander and Faith. "I want you two to bring Giles back and tie him up. Xander gave an 'I told you so' look to Spike while sticking out his tongue. "Uh, and bring Jeff along too...not that you have much of a choice." Buffy made an 'Ew' face as Jeff continued to kiss Xander's sneakers.

"Okay....so that leaves me, Spike and Amy to go to Willie's. There should still be some of the less-friendly demons left there." Dawn just looked at Buffy, obviously hurt, but the slayer was too caught up in her speech to pay any attention. "Amy is nothing more than an extra burden right now, but I can't just leave her alone. I'm the one that did this to her. I have to protect her."

Amy simply stared out in space like a deer caught in headlights. She insecurely draped a strand of hair over her face. "T-thank you. For saving me."

Buffy shook her head at that. "I'm saving myself Amy." She then looked back at Dawn, who kept giving her the evil eye. "Oh Dawnie! I'm sorry- I. I didn't mean to, I mean. There's just so many people here and well..."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I'll just go with Xander and Faith."

Buffy nodded. She looked at Xander and Anya. "As soon as you two are done with your missions, go back to my house. We'll all meet up there and share any information we may have gathered." She looked at the bleached blonde vampire. "Come on Spike." Amy submissively followed Spike and Buffy without any direction.

The three parties left the parking lot in opposite directions, each wondering where this whole situation will take them next.

NEXT CHAPTER: What's up with Spike?