Buffy knocked on Giles' door, unsure of how she would explain her presence
there. They hadn't seen each other in nearly five years, the cause of which
was Buffy's new Watcher, Philip Davies. He had swept into town, a gorgeous,
young, uptight product of Watcher training. Within weeks of her meeting him,
the council moved the two of them away from Sunnydale, effectively severing
the "unsavoryî ties she had there. After years of doing her job on their
terms, she retired, one of the only Slayers old enough to get away with that
choice. So, now she was back, at her old Watcher's doorstep, similar to the
way she came back to town after her first absence, but now she didn't have her
friends to back her up. She knocked again and waited.
"Oh my God! Buffy!î Before she could process the fact that this was not
Giles, she was swept into a hug.
"Xander?î
"Where have you been? We haven't heard from you in, God, it must be four
years. Why are you back? Not that I'm not happy you're back, but why now?î
Xander held his old friend away from him, and they stared at each other for a
few seconds. He looked older to her eyes. Still cute and young, but he stood
taller, and wore glasses, trendy wire frames. He looked like he had finally
grown up. He stood waiting expectantly for her to answer.
"Xander, do I at least get to come in before I get interrogated?î
He stepped aside, careful not to issue a verbal invitation, just in case.
She *had* disappeared without a trace. She walked into the house with no
problems and he grinned at her, but she was too distracted by looking around
to notice. The house looked different from the way she remembered it, like
Giles had a sudden decorating whim and piled assorted junk into his orderly
home. And why on earth were there so many clocks? And was that a box of
Rogaine? Xander once again hugged her before she had time to think.
"Xand, you're gonna break something internal if you don't let up on the
hugging. And where's Giles? And why are you here?î
Xander let her go, and looked as if he were about to say something, but
stopped suddenly. He yelled for Giles. Seconds later, the older man emerged
from the kitchen.
"Xander, really, my eardrums have taken such a severe beating since you - Oh
my dear lord.î Giles stopped in the middle of wiping his hands on the apron
tied around his waist.
"Look what I found on the doorstep. Yes, Giles, she's really here. Stop
standing there and hug the woman.î
Buffy ignored Xander and stepped up to Giles. She tentatively said hi, and
found herself swept into a fierce hug for the third time that evening.
"I can't believe you're back. How long have you been here? And where's your
Watcher? You're not back on Slaying business are you? They should have let
you retire by now.î
"Guys, could I possibly sit down and tell you all this? And I want to hear
what's been up with you all also.î
After a few more hugs, Buffy finally got the two men to sit down and talk to
her. She explained to them that after the Council moved Philip and her to
England, they were kidnapped and held by vampires for weeks, keeping her from
communicating with anyone. After that, she and her Watcher took time out to
recuperate, and found themselves traveling and eventually fighting whatever
evil they happened to come across. She showed them her wedding band,
explaining that after a couple of years of only being around one mortal
person, it was inevitable that they would fall in love. She continued to do
her job with Philip at her side, until the Council let her go to live her
life, and she decided to come back to Sunnydale.
"I went back to the old house on Revello Drive, but my mom's not there. What
happened?î
"Well, after we lost contact with you for so long, your parents found
themselves depending on each other so much, that they got back together. She
moved back to Los Angeles to be with him. We still keep in touch with her, so
you should call her the first chance you get.î
"I will, Giles. But first I want to know what's been happening with you
guys.î
They had been distinctly quiet and she was itching to know about her old
friends. Xander spoke first.
"After you left, we were all sort of shaken up, but we had to deal with what
we were going to do with our lives. Willow got into Oxford, and she and Oz
stopped seeing each other. She still lives in England, but she comes back to
spend Yom Kippur with her folks and humor us by spending Christmas here.
Faith moved back to Boston after she got a letter from her sister there, who
she thought was dead. As far as we know, she's fine. Oz and I both stayed
here for college, and we got to be really good friends. We opened up an
occult shop after we graduated. Giles does most of the work, so Oz and I
don't have to give up our slacker attitude.î He smiled widely at Giles, who
tried to frown, but failed miserably.
"What about Cordelia? And ... Angel?î
Giles noticed the slight stumble in her question, and took over the story.
"Angel left for LA, he figured that he could do more good there, without
the... the complications that Sunnydale held for him. Cordelia was headed
there anyway, for acting school, so she helps him with his endeavors. Before
they left, Cordelia and I realized that because I wasn't speaking to Angel,
and she wasn't speaking to anyone but me, the only way we would know any news
about everyone was through each other. I speak to her about once a month.
Apparently, she and Angel are quite happy... together.î Buffy nodded
slightly, satisfied with the answer, and Giles continued. "So, where is that
Davies man you married?î
"I wanted to talk to you guys by myself, so he dropped me off and went to
find a hotel.î
"Buff! A hotel? You're staying here, with us. You're family!î
"What, Xand, you moved in here?î
Giles looked at him and nodded ruefully, wondering how Xander was going to
explain this. Xander figured that the direct approach was the best way. He
held up his hand, showing Buffy a tasteful gold ring that she hadn't noticed
before.
"Well, after the wedding, we figured the relationship would work better if we
were living together.î
Buffy's gaze shot from the ring on Xander's finger to the matching one on
Giles' hand. She blinked a few times in confusion, quietly said "Oh.î and
promptly fainted in her chair.

Buffy sat outside, once again on the doorstep, chain-smoking. Xander came
out bearing a tumbler of liquid.
"Those things will kill you, you know.î
"I have a hearty Slayer constitution. They won't do a thing to me, except
help me calm down. And I'm hoping that whatever's in that glass will do the
same.î
He held out the glass to her, and she tipped it back, draining it in one
gulp. Then she gasped in pain and glared at him.
"Xander, you just let me chug tequila!î
"Jose Cuervo in fact. From my special stash. Giles calls me a heathen
whenever I drink anything other than good scotch, so I have to hide this from
him. Although I do hope he'll find out one day and punish me for it.î Then
he gave that goofy grin she missed, except she never expected it to come from
anything as strange as the mental image he had just left her with.
"So, Xand, how long have you guys been ... married? Is that the right term?î
"Knowing you, you're going to need more liquor for that story.î He rushed
inside, and came back with another glass, and the bottle of tequila. Sitting
down, he struggled to explain.
"After you left, Giles was really broken up. He knew that he had no official
authority in your life anymore, but he didn't expect them to take you from
him. You're like his daughter, he was worried every day. Whenever any of us
got letters from you, it made his whole week. And then, we had no idea what
happened to you. You were just gone. He had already lost so much. First Ms.
Calendar, and then you the first time you left, and then you were gone again.
And then we were graduating, and it looked like we were all gonna leave him,
too.î
He shuddered slightly, pouring himself a drink, remembering that dark time,
when everything had seemed so uncertain. "I just couldn't do it. We were all
he had. So I stayed here, and started spending a lot more time with him.
And, one day I just looked at him and realized that I needed him as much as he
needed me. He was one of the only constants in my life. And it was the only
relationship I hadn't managed to make awkward.î He chuckled slightly, then
tossed back the liquor, only wincing slightly, like a real man. Buffy weakly
smiled at him in sympathy.
"Imagine my surprise when, instead of just being thankful that I had him, it
developed into a crush. It was really weird to deal with. I had successfully
fucked up the last working thing in my life. But, I talked to Oz about it,
strangely enough, and he told me I was being stupid, because any moron could
see that Giles was in love with me. And I was confused, because *this* moron
didn't see anything, but Oz kept prodding me with those looks. You know, the
ones where he doesn't even need to say anything, but you know he thinks you
should know better than to do what you're doing? So, I finally worked up the
courage to do something.
"The next time we were researching something alone, I kissed Giles. At first
I thought I had made the stupidest mistake and that he would get all flustered
and British and never be able to look me in the eye again. But, obviously
none of that happened, since we're having this conversation.î Xander was
grinning again, but when he looked down, he realized that Buffy had worked her
way through most of the tequila. "Buff, you okay?î
"Yeah, fine. Just dandy. Continue the story. You were saying you jumped the
tweed man in the library.î
"Well, I don't know if jumped is the right word. Although it could be
applied later in the story. Anyway, I kissed him, and he kissed back, and it
was just perfect. Finally, something worked in my screwed up life. And so,
we got even closer. I was still a little uncomfortable with the ëI'm gay'
thing, but we worked through it.î He smirked. "You'd be surprised at how
convincing Giles is when he wants to be. He's got the most inventive mind.î
Xander grinned down at Buffy, completely happy with whatever lurid memory he
had just recalled. Buffy just shuddered drunkenly, bothered by Xander giving
her yet another mental image that she would be stuck with.
"I fell head over heels in love with him,î Xander continued. "Eventually, we
did the commitment ceremony thing in LA. We even got all the Scooby Gangers
to show up and pretend they liked each other for a whole day. I moved into
Casa de Tweed, and everyone lived happily ever after. The only thing missing
was our favorite roving Slayer. That's about the it.î
Giles came out of the house then, frowning when he saw the tequila, until
Xander caught his eye with an innocent smile. Giles flashed a Ripper grin.
Tearing his gaze away, he looked at Buffy and sighed.
"Xander, luv, you got her drunk on her first night back?î
"She needed to be calm while I talked to her. I didn't want her to faint
again.î
Giles helped her into the house, and then felt Xander's strong arms wrap
around his waist. Xander planted a warm kiss beneath Giles' ear before
speaking.
"So, I am getting punished for the tequila, right?î

THE END