Chapter 4

Surprised, Giles yelped, his hand still centered in Eve's body.

The giggling and shrieking died slowly as everyone in the room realized that the First had been living among them, that Eve must be dead.

"Stupid Watcher," drawled the First in Eve's Southern accent. "You couldn't just leave well enough alone, now could you?"

Buffy came up from behind Giles, pulling his arm back and gently patting his hand. Arms crossed, she looked the First up and down. Dawn moved up next to Giles, leaning against him.

"Ooh, scary, a teenage girl," Buffy said sarcastically.

"Scarier than a middle-aged woman with the giggles," the First retorted.

Xander snorted. All eyes turned to him.

"Sorry, that comment just ranked high on the lameness scale," he said.

"And Xander would know," Buffy said, turning back to the First.

"That's right, I would….Hey!"

Willow giggled softly. The First Evil was looking more and more annoyed with every passing second. Suddenly, it transformed into Buffy herself. The Buffy who had jumped off the tower a year before.

There was a collective intake of breath. Buffy looked at the First, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. She spun quickly to face Dawn and Giles.

"All right, no one could have mentioned I was getting a zit when I died? I mean, look at that thing!" She pointed sharply at the fake Buffy's nose. "Tell me they put plenty of make-up on that thing when they laid me out in the coffin."

Giles and Dawn looked at each other and shrugged.

She moved close to the image of herself and leaned forward, peering at the apparently offensive facial feature. The First backed up, looking furious.

"Oh well. Who's up for breakfast?" Buffy asked, waving the Potentials toward the kitchen. They went, chattering quietly, followed by the Scoobies and Dawn.

"Um, Buffy?" Giles asked. She looked at him, feigning unconcern. "What about…?" he tipped his head toward the fuming "source of all evil" in the corner.

Giles wished striking it would have some kind of effect. It had killed Robson, along with dozens of other Watchers and potential Slayers. So Quentin was no loss. So many others had been his friends, his comrades. Had gone through training with him, only to be hacked to pieces by Bringers or blown to bits in the Council building. He clenched his fists. Buffy noticed, eyebrows raised. She deliberately turned her back on the First.

"Who? Her? It? Whatever? It's not invited for breakfast. In fact, I suggest it leave."

"You haven't seen the last of me, Slayer!" the First shrieked. Buffy's image expanded and grew into a dark, shadowy devilish form, then vanished.

Buffy took a deep breath of relief. She settled on the stairs, shaking. Putting his own anger and upset aside, as he always did when she need him, Giles hurried over to put a hand on her shoulder.

"So now we know the answer to dealing with the First. Treat it like you don't really care what it does." She shook her head. "Too bad that doesn't work with a Turok-Han."

She put her hand on top of her Watcher's, looking up at him and smiling. "Always there when I need you, aren't you, Giles?" she asked him.

Giles cleared his throat. "That's my job," he said stiffly. "I…I mean…"

"That's not all I am any more, though, am I, Giles?" she asked. She stood up on the second step, eye-to-eye with her much-taller Watcher, still holding his hand.

Impulsively, Giles leaned forward and kissed her. The moment their lips touched, he regretted his decision. Until Buffy leaned into him and kissed him back, throwing both arms around his neck. He pulled her closer, hands running up and down her back.

"Holy crap!"

At the sound of Xander's astonished voice, Buffy and Giles broke apart. They stared at each other, flush faced.

"I, I…um…"Giles stuttered his way back from Buffy and vanished out the front door. Her face unreadable, Buffy turned and stomped up the stairs to her room.

Which left a very confused Xander standing in the hallway. "About time?" he whispered to himself.