__The Library__
By Gibberish
Giles looked carefully, but if there was note, he couldn't find
it. What could have happened? She'd been in such a good mood this
morning. So had he, if a bit frustrated. He picked up the phone
and called Willow. When that accomplished nothing, except to
worry Willow, Giles decided on the direct approach and went to
look for her.
Giles found himself, of all places, outside of
Spike's crypt. When he went inside, he found Spike lying on the
stone cover to the tomb, watching soaps.
"Whatcha want, Watcher?" Spike asked without looking
from the TV.
"Have you seen Buffy?" Giles asked. Spike turned to him
at the question. "When?"
"Today." Giles told him. "She wasn't there when I
got home. No note and her things were gone."
"Well, that's a good sign." Spike told him. "If
she were planning to walk into the sunlight, she probably
wouldn't have taken her things."
"Why doesn't that reassure me?" Giles commented.
"I take it you haven't seen her, then?"
"You try the Witch?" Spike asked.
Giles nodded. "First thing after looking for a note. Where
would she go? She's never gone out during the day."
"She hardly leaves at all." Spike pointed out.
"Except to patrol. What about the other Slayer? Could
something have come up?"
"She would have left a message." Giles said
thoughtfully. "Warren and Kelly were going to stop by today,
maybe she said something to them."
"Maybe they said something to her." Spike said.
By the time Giles made his way to Warren's it had
begun to grow dark. He knocked on Warren's door.
Warren answered the door. "Rupert." He said surprised.
"Is something wrong?"
He moved aside for Giles to enter, but didn't say a word. He was
relieved when Giles came in without a verbal invitation.
"Did you see Buffy this morning?" Giles asked.
"Yes, we asked her to tell us about her time here."
Warren told him. "I don't want Kelly unprepared."
"How did she seem?" Giles asked. "Was she upset or
...?"
"Rupert, what's happened?" Warren asked.
"She's disappeared." Giles said in agitation.
"When I got home, she was gone. She took her things. There
was no note, no hint as to what happened. I just ..."
"Oh dear." Warren uttered. "I'm sorry, Rupert. I
didn't think she would react ..."
Giles leaned towards him with narrowed eyes. "What did you
do?"
"I'm not blind, Rupert." Warren stated. "Do you
think I didn't notice the way you two are around each
other?"
"What difference does it make to you?" Giles asked.
"She's a vampire, Rupert." Warren said. "I
sometimes think you forget that. I know she was the Slayer. I
have a great respect for what she's done, what she continues to
do, but the fact remains that she *is* a vampire. I was worried
about ..."
"What did you do?" Giles asked again, colder, this
time.
"I had no idea that she would take off. Not like that."
Warren said quietly. Giles grabbed him by the shirt with both
hands and nearly pulled him off the ground. He got right into
Warren's face. "What did you say to her?"
"The truth. That a relationship between the two of you is
impossible." Warren told him.
"Because you say it is?" Giles asked harshly.
"She's a vampire." Warren said again.
"Do you really think I care?" Giles asked dead serious.
"She's still *my* Buffy. If anything's happened to her
..." He shoved Warren away, threw a right cross and stalked
out the door.
As he expected, when Giles returned to his place the
others were already there, waiting. Willow and Tara, Xander and
Anya, even Spike. "Where would Buffy go if she was
upset?" He asked immediately upon entering.
"What happened, Giles?" Willow asked.
Giles shook his head. "Where would she go? Someplace that
she could go, where we wouldn't look for her."
"We'd look everywhere." Xander pointed out.
"Someplace that she'd feel safe, but we wouldn't go."
Giles said, thinking aloud.
"We checked the mansion on our way here." Willow said
timidly. Giles looked at Willow and nodded, but didn't comment on
the mansion. "If Buffy needed comfort ..."
"Here." Xander said. "She comes to you. Since we
blew the Library up ..."
"The Library." Giles exclaimed. "That's it."
"Uh, Giles," Willow said. "The Library's
gone."
"I'll be back." Giles told them and left again.
Willow and Xander looked at the closed door and then each other.
Giles walked through the charred remains of the old
high school towards where the Library used to stand. He could
have walked the path with his eyes closed. When he got there, he
could see the open cavern of the dormant Hellmouth and looked
around. He moved towards where his office once stood. There, he
found Buffy huddled up under his comforter. "Buffy." He
said quietly, gently.
"You shouldn't have come here." Buffy told him.
"Why not?" Giles asked. He sat next to her on the
ground. "I could no more leave you alone than I could stop
breathing."
"I'm dead, Giles." Buffy said. "It's time I just
got out of the way so that you can live."
"Yes, because I did so well when I thought you were truly
gone." Giles said drily.
"Buffy *is* gone." She said. "I can't do this to
you. I should never have ..."
"Why? Because Warren said so?" Giles asked. "What
does he know about us?" He put an arm around her and pulled
her to him. "He meant well, I think, but he was wrong,
Buffy."
"Was he? Was he, really?" Buffy asked. "Giles,
I've been down this road. I should have known better, but
..."
"No, Buffy." Giles told her. "You can't lose your
soul like he did. You're not going to hurt anyone. This is
between you and I, no one else." Giles tilted her face up to
his and gently placed his lips to hers. Buffy responded,
hesitantly at first, but couldn't have pulled away if her unlife
had depended on it.
Giles lightly traced his tongue along the outline of her cool
lips, hopeful. When she opened her mouth, he slowly explored it
with his tongue. How long had he wanted to do this? Too long. He
let his hands explore her body, barely touching her. When his
hands grazed her breasts, lightly for the second time, she pushed
forward to deepen the touch.
They were on their knees, facing each other. His hands slid down
to her waist, then back up with her top and pulled it over her
head. He resumed kissing her as he unhooked her bra and slid it
off.
Giles laid her back on the comforter and, after he'd shed his
sweater, he followed her down to lay lightly on top of her.
Buffy gasped at the contact of his hair covered chest against her
bare breasts, her hands clutched at his back to bring his heat
even closer.Giles kissed down her neck to her right breast. He
kissed and nibbled and bit and sucked at it, while his hand
worked the other. Then he traded off. He shivered, when she ran
her nails up his sides. His kissed his way down her jeans, to the
snap. His own jeans were painfully tight, as he unsnapped hers
and pulled them, along with her panties, down her legs. Giles
took off her shoes and socks, then completely removed her jeans
and panties. His breath caught as he looked down at her. He took
care of the rest of his own clothes, never taking his eyes from
her.
Buffy took him into her hands as he knelt between her legs. Giles
closed his eyes in pleasure and groaned when she ran a single
nail from base to tip. He shuddered. He bent down, covering her
with his body. The contrast between his warm body and her cool
skin caused a shiver in him. He wanted to warm her. He lowered
his mouth to hers as he moved into position. Without warning, he
plunged inside.
Buffy's scream echoed throughout the burned out school. She
wrapped her legs around him and ran her nails down his back.
There was almost no build up, the pace was fast and hard. The
foreplay had been going on for days and they were both too far
gone too hold back.
It wasn't long before Giles felt Buffy reach the pinnacle, her
inner muscles tightening around him in pleasure. With a shout, he
followed her over. He rested his forehead against hers as he
gasped for breath. "I love you, Buffy. Don't leave me."
Buffy wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I won't. I love
you so much." Giles rolled to her side and held her to
him. She put her head on his chest. When she closed her eyes, she
could see the Library as it had been. "Do you miss the
Library?" She asked him.
"Yes, actually." Giles told her. "Do you?"
"That's why I came here." Buffy answered. She drew a
picture in his chest hair with her fingernail. "Right now, I
really miss that big reading table. I'm suddenly seeing it in a
whole new way."
Giles groaned. "That's bloody cruel. Do you have any idea of
just how often I saw you sitting on that table and thought just
that?"
"Really?" Buffy was intrigued. "Where's that big
dining room table of yours from Thanksgiving?"
Giles laughed and pulled her atop him. "It seems right
somehow, that our first time should be here."
"It was my haven." Buffy told him as she rested her
cheek against his chest.
"It's where I always found you." They were quiet
a while. "I miss the Library."
* * *