Seeing with a Father's Love
By Teri

Chapter 2

Neither man spoke for a few minutes before the man Giles assaulted spoke again. "You were my daughter's watcher."

"And you are Hank Summers."

"Yes I am." He stood watching the man in front of him. He wondered idly why he hadn't gotten punched again. Could Giles be mellowing out or worse slowing down? Not that he wasn't grateful at the moment for small favors.

Giles moved into the man's personal space and was very intimidating; a move that squelched Hank's prior wondering about Giles. "Why did you leave her - them - when they needed you most?"

"I did what I believed best." Hank said his tone making him sound emotionless while in truth he fought to hold his flailing emotions in check.

It was the apparent lack of emotion that set Giles off, as he belted the man again. 'That felt good after all the hurt he caused Buffy and Dawn - and Joyce too.'

Hank had hardly gotten off the floor when a woman entered the library.

"Ah, Mr. Giles. I am so glad you stopped down."

"Mrs. Christiansen," he politely greeted her the perfect image of the gentleman he had been for years, no one would believe that this man was just assaulting a stranger.

"I asked Mr. Summers here to meet with you. He use to work for me . . . . " She stopped as she noticed Hank's face as it was starting to swell. "Hank? Your face?"

"My face? What's wrong?" He asked in mock horror. "Sylvia, did I forget to put my make-up on this morning?"

She placed an arm on her hip in the classic female authority position otherwise known as the mother pose. "Henry Summers." The warning was clear.

"I fell down and went boom. Okay? It's no big deal and I believe we have company." He finished as he gestured to Giles.

She shook her head slightly and gave him a look that said 'we are done yet' and he returned a 'you aren't my mother' look, which she returned with a 'don't be so sure Mister' look.

"I am sorry Mr. Giles. As I was saying Hank-er Mr. Summers use to work for me about a decade ago. He had quite a reputation for his accurate and descriptive visions, 'the one who sees.'"

"Really?" He asked as he looked over at Hank. Something about that last comment pricked the back of his thoughts, but was quickly forgotten as he realized that Hank had known about the Council before Buffy was called.

"Oh yes, I was so sorry when he left." Mrs. Christiansen smiled at Giles totally missing the undercurrent in the room. "He has also been doing good work since he rejoined us. I was so glad I ran into him or he would never have come back on his own. I thought he might be able to help you. His visions usually center around people he knows, so I thought introducing the two of you. . . ." She let the sentence drop allowing Giles to drawl his own conclusions.

"Thank you."

"I'll let you two work. I'll be in my office when you want me." She smiled as she started to leave. "Hank. Mr. Giles." She stopped and turned around again. "Oh Hank darling, Evan was practicing his baseball yesterday and he broke another window. Could you be a dear?"

Hank smiled at her. "I'll go over when I am done with Mr. Giles. Is that okay?"

"Thank you."

"Sylvia, try to get him to take up something less destructive, like chess or maybe controlled demolition?"

She smiled at him and left the two men alone.

Giles turned to Hank now. He was livid. "You knew about the council BEFORE Buffy was called?" He approached Hank slowly as if he were on a prowl. "You are a Seer? You see visions of people close to you?" Giles voice was dead cold; he was not yelling, but somehow the quiet deadly whisper was worse. "You could have stayed and helped her and you still left?"

"I did what I thought best." He repeated his answer from before.

"Couldn't live with what you would see is that it?"

"Isn't that why you went back to England after she came back the last time? Because you couldn't live with watching her die again?" Hank didn't mean to sound so spiteful and he did understand where Giles was coming from, but it still made him see red to be accused of running from his daughter even if that is how it looked.

"This isn't about me." Giles fumed both angry at the presumption of the man to psychoanalyze him and alarmed at just how accurate he was.

Hank said nothing.

"How could you?"

It was time to shift the focus of this conversation Hank decided. "I believe you had a problem, G-m--Gee, Mr. Giles? Perhaps I can help? I had the impression time was an issue. Is it Buffy?" Hank asked trying not to be afraid of the answer.

"I can't believe this." Giles removed his glasses a moment in an obvious attempt at reigning in his temper. "Yes, I do and it is something VERY important to Buffy AND Dawn. We will get down to business, but know this topic is not done yet."

Hank understood and never expected anything less. In a way, he was happy that there was someone looking out for his little girl when he couldn't anymore. Oh, how he wished it could be him.

"Our friend, Xander Harris, disappeared about three months ago."

"I don't think I will be able to help you."

"Why? You haven't even let me explain."

"Because I can't."

"I don't know why I even asked." He muttered as he stood and began to walk to the door. "I think it is time I called to see if any of Angel's resources found anything?"

"Deadboy? He won't be able to help you." Hank said, surprised that they had stooped to use the resources of the evil law firm.

"What did you say?" Giles spun in surprise.

"I said Angel won't be able to help you."

"That is not what you said."

Hank looked confused. "Yeah, it is."

"No, it isn't."

"Look, Giles. I know what I said."

"You said 'Deadboy?'"

"No, I didn't." He said with assurance, but wondered if he could have said it. He wouldn't have made slipped like that. Would he?

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, Mr. Summers you did."

"'Deadboy?' What on earth does that even mean? I mean really, Mr. Giles?"

Giles waked over to Hank. His first thought was that somehow he had a vision of Xander, but that explanation didn't feel right. None of this felt right. Again, something was nibbling at the back of his thoughts. "Where did you hear that term?"

"Look, I think you are missing your friend and you are just hearing things because you miss him. It is understandable that you would hear his words."

"I never said that 'Deadboy' had anything to with Xander."

"Didn't you?" He asked backtracking slightly. "Sorry, just had that impression."

Giles looked over at Hank carefully. Something in his heart was telling him something that his head refused to believe. He looked at the brown eyes of the man before him, something familiar, unique, utterly original, yet different. For a moment he felt like he had been struck.

"Xander?"


Hope you are still enjoying the story. Teri