Rating: FRT for very mild sexual references. Pairing: Buffy/Giles, mention of Willow/Oz, Giles/Olivia Spoilers: Set during The Harsh Light of Day. Summary: Giles finds a surprising way to protect Buffy. Author's Notes: This one comes to you courtesy of Michelle's challenge #50 (Parker's Reputation) on Of Demons and Destiny, wherein Giles learns of Parker Abrams' reputation and interrupts their date by kissing Buffy. Giles poured himself a soothing cup of tea and prepared to dig into his breakfast. Sausages, fried eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast and marmalade wafted delicious fragrances to his nose. It had been a long time since he'd dared to risk that many calories, but his recent regimen of jogging, swimming, and fencing had gotten middle-aged spread under control. A few visits from Olivia made him feel younger than he had in years. He speared a sausage on his fork, closing his eyes to savor the moment. Just as he opened his mouth to taste it, the door swung open. Giles jumped and dropped his fork. He spun around quickly on his stool, knife in hand in case of attack. "Expecting someone else?" Oz asked. "What the hell are you two doing here so early?" Giles demanded of his visitors. "It's nowhere near a civilized hour." "Sorry, Giles," Willow said. "But this is kind of important and I've got class in an hour and we're really worried about Buffy, but we don't know what to do about this." She pulled her laptop out of her bookbag and set it up on Giles' desk. Giles tossed his knife back on the counter and was behind her in a moment. He leaned over to read the screen. "What is it? A new prophecy?" "Not as such," Oz said. "More of a bad feeling." "See, last night when we were leaving The Bronze, we had this little run-in with Harmony," Willow said. "Oh, you should probably know Harmony's a vampire now. Not nice. Sharp teeth. Anyway..." "Good lord! Were you attacked?" "Just a little. I'm okay, Giles, really. Oz protected me. He's my knight in... not exactly shining armor... more like a tee shirt and jeans, but all protecty and stuff." She flashed a bright smile at her boyfriend before her expression sobered. "It's Buffy we're worried about." "So you said," Giles said impatiently. "Is Harmony planning to target Buffy? What's she up to?" "Forget Harmony," Willow said. "She's just all vampy and skanky and dumb as ever. Not in the category of major threat." "Then why did you bring her up?" "It was supposed to be a smooth segue," Oz said. "Didn't exactly work out that way." "Why don't you ever stop me when I babble?" Willow asked plaintively. "It's what you're supposed to do." "Can't quite bring myself. You're too cute." "Could we please get back to the point?" Giles asked. "What sort of danger is Buffy in?" "Parker Abrams," Oz said. "See, after Harmony, I needed a band aid so we went to the dorm and Buffy was there with Parker Abrams." "Who is Parker Abrams?" "He's this boy Buffy's been... sort of... getting to know. I can't believe I thought he was cute!" "Is he a vampire? Some sort of demon?" "Not in the traditional sense, no," said Oz. "Then what concern is it of mine?" Giles said in a bewildered voice. "If Buffy likes this boy, and he likes her, I don't see where I enter into the question. It's not as if Buffy can't take care of herself perfectly well." Willow turned a sour glare on Giles. "Did you know she only stopped crying about Angel a few weeks ago? She got hurt, bad." "But she's stopped, now. She's doing better, taking responsibility, doing well in school. It's up to her whether she'd like to start dating again. I don't see what this has to do with me." "Oz! Tell him!" "What Will hasn't said yet is that this Parker is bad news. I've heard some rumors about him. Seems he likes to play the field." "For goodness sake, that's no crime." "No, it's not," Willow said, "but it's not nice that he never says he's playing until after he catches the girls." She pointed to the computer screen. "Something nasty came up when I Googled him. See? This girl Tracey has started a web community for girls Parker Abrams has convinced to make the first move and then dumped in the morning. There's twenty-five members so far." "Twenty-five...?" "And that's just girls who go to UC Sunnydale, have web access, and are willing to admit they got duped." Willow shook her head. "I still haven't sat down and extrapolated how many victims he probably left behind." "Will's all about the extrapolation," Oz said. "She should have the numbers by noon." Giles whipped off his glasses. "And you say Buffy is... involved with this boy?" "Last night at The Bronze, she was getting all giddy about how cute he looked in teal," Willow said. "She's got it bad and I'm worried he's going to hurt her. I don't want Buffy hurt." "Buffy in pain? Not pretty," Oz said. "You have to admit that. And Buffy mad? Scary." "What I don't understand is why I'm the one you're telling all this to. Why aren't you telling Buffy?" "You know me and telling the bad news, Giles," Willow said. "I get all nervous and babbly and it doesn't come out right. And Oz tends to get a little too minimalist. Besides, you're the one Buffy goes to for protection. She trusts what you say. And from what she's said the last couple times she's come to you for help, you might want to shore up the trust a little before it's all gone." "What are you talking about?" "You gotta admit the track record over the last few weeks hasn't been good. She comes for help, you tell her to go away. If you say it one more time, she just might start listening. Is that what you really want? 'Cause if that's your plan, you might as well pack up and go away. Not that I want you to do that, because I don't, because I like you and I want you to stay, and anyway who would I go to when my spells go blooey if you're gone?" "Willow, I'm not leaving." "Buffy feels like you kind of already have," Oz said. "She has to learn to cope with things on her own," Giles said stubbornly. "Why? Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want her to be strong or want her to think she's not good enough on her own, but aren't you here because Slayers need help?" "She's got the rest of you. She's got her mother. Neither of us works for the Council anymore. I appreciate your concern, but really, I ought to have left when we blew up the bloody library." "So why didn't you?" Giles sighed and put his hands in his pockets. That was a question he'd asked himself repeatedly over the last few months. Of course, he always changed the subject with himself before he could answer. He turned back to his forgotten breakfast and took a swallow of tea. When he turned his head, there was Willow looking oddly sympathetic. "I think it might actually mean a lot to Buffy if you're the one to try to save her," she said. "And maybe she'll see you if you let her know you care about Buffy her and not just Slayer her. I think that thing with Kathy when none of us believed her hurt more than she said." "I thought she was just having trouble getting along with someone new." "We all thought that, but I'm not sure why we did. The last time Buffy didn't like someone new that much, it was Faith and that turned out to be pretty smart. Oh! And Wesley. I know she did make friends with Faith eventually, but really we all should have listened to her in the first place. It might have saved a lot of trouble in the long run. I mean, yeah, Buffy's no saint and she makes mistakes, but Giles, she's eighteen. If you can't screw up and have your friends bail you out when you're a teenager, when can you do it?" "Besides," Oz said, "you're not looking so hot these days." "I haven't been this fit in years," Giles huffed. "You're trim, yeah, but you don't look happy. I think you might miss her more than you think." "When did this become an intervention for me? I thought we were concerned about Buffy." "Just because we care about her doesn't mean we don't care about you. So you'll talk to her?" "All right! I'll think of something to say to her." "Do it soon," Willow said. "She's going to a party at Wolf House tonight. She's gonna meet him there." "Tonight? That doesn't leave me much time to find a subtle opening." "You'll think of something. Oz and I have faith in you, right Oz?" "Sure thing." "Well, we'd better go," Willow said. "Class." "And I've got a paper to not work on in the library." "Oz! Didn't you learn anything when you didn't graduate high school the first time?" "Sure, babe. I learned the world doesn't end, unless the mayor wins." Oz continued to dryly tease his girlfriend as they shut down her computer, packed it away, and walked out the door. Giles sighed again and sat down to his delayed breakfast. It was now lukewarm and congealing in grease. Giles barely noticed. He drank his tea and contemplated how to warn Buffy off from this boy she was seeing. * * * * * As the day wore on, Giles seemed to keep just missing Buffy. When he heard she was in the library, he headed there only to find she'd just left for class. When he found the classroom at the end of the lecture, he discovered class was dismissed when the professor had an emergency and had to go ten minutes ahead of time. When he went back to the dorms, Willow told him Buffy had gone to the dining hall. When he got there, he found she'd met up with a girl she'd known in Los Angeles and they'd gone to lunch off campus. And so the day went until Giles despaired of finding Buffy before she went on her fateful date. At last he decided to attend the party and try to talk to her before she met up with Parker there. With that in mind, he went home and changed his clothes. Jeans, a soft gray sweater, and a leather jacket. That looked nice, but not as though he was trying too hard to look younger. As a final measure, he put a small silver hoop earring on. The effect looked rakish yet dignified, he decided. He nodded happily at his reflection. "Now let's just hope I'm in time." * * * * * Buffy frowned in annoyance. There was nothing like running into Spike and Harmony to really ruin an evening. On top of that, when she went to phone Giles, he wasn't home. She'd left a message about the gem Spike was talking about, but it wasn't like Giles to be out on a Friday night. She wondered unhappily if he was in and just not answering. If Olivia was in town, he might not be in the mood to talk to anyone else. She turned on her heel and went back inside. At least she could still flirt with Parker. She peered around until she found a familiar dark head. "Parker. I was worried I wouldn't be able to find you," she said with a smile. "I was getting a little worried." "I'm so sorry. It's just that... the English guy is an old friend. And he's not supposed to drink. And I saw him here in the land of the beer..." "It's okay," Parker assured her. "You did a good thing for your friend. Did... uh... did you and he used to go out?" Buffy burst out in a fit of hysterical laughter. "Um, no," she said. "We really, really didn't." Parker looked relieved. He moved in a bit closer. "Good. Now we have time to make up for. Think I could get a dance with the prettiest girl at the party?" Buffy's face fell in a mock pout. "What am I supposed to do? Stand over here and watch?" Her flirtatious smile at the end let him know he was still on track. He took her hand to lead her to the floor. Suddenly she was pulled away from him by a much larger man. "Sorry about this, but I'll explain later," the man said. Giles grabbed Buffy close and kissed her. After a brief, muffled squeal of surprise, she relaxed and began to kiss back. The only thought in Giles' head was that she tasted wonderful and sweet. This was quickly followed by delight in her responsiveness. Her back was nearly bare, and her firm flesh felt warm and good in his hands. He deepened the kiss. Buffy not only allowed it, but reacted enthusiastically. The world fell away until Giles was only aware of Buffy and what her tongue was up to, how she tasted, the warmth of her body against his. A moment later, he became aware of clapping, cheers, and rude suggestions about what he and Buffy should do as an encore. He pulled back with considerable reluctance. "We need to talk," he said. "Huh?" "Come on." Giles took Buffy's hand and lead her out of the frat house. She followed quietly, embarrassed by the catcalls and continued applause. As soon as they were off the porch, Buffy came to a halt and pulled away from Giles. "What the hell was that?" she demanded as she folded her arms across her chest. "A wake up call," Giles said. "Buffy, what do you know about that boy?" "What? So you're choosing my boyfriends now? How did you even know I was here?" "Willow and Oz were worried about you. They asked me to talk to you. Here I am." "And when do we get to the actual talking part? Did I miss it? Or were you just having a nice conversation with my tonsils?" "Well you didn't seem to mind at the time. You were participating pretty enthusiastically at the time." "Is that Gilespeak for 'what a slut'? I forgot my dictionary." "Actually, it's called a diversionary tactic. You remember those, don't you? I didn't have time to give you a lecture. I had to move quickly." "Do I ever get to know what exactly you thought you were saving me from?" "That boy." Buffy stared at Giles. Of all the things she might have expected, that wasn't one of them. "And why did you think you needed to save me from Parker? He's a nice guy. We've talked a lot. I know him." "Oh, do you? Do you really?" "Just what is that supposed to mean?" Buffy put her fisted hands on her hips. "How would you know how well I know him? It's not like you've wanted to know what I've been up to lately." "I know what he's been up to with every naive girl on campus. He tricks girls into thinking he wants a relationship with them, convinces them to go to bed with him, and then drops them. He's notorious." "You thought I was going to sleep with him? It wasn't even a date, really. Not that... look, it's none of your business, but it wasn't like I was planning... anyway, maybe he's been a little flaky, but his father died. Maybe it made him do some stuff he's not proud of. Being hurt makes you do some really stupid stuff sometimes. But he's learned a lot. He's not going to hurt me." "Are you talking about him or yourself?" Buffy stopped short and stared at Giles. "The hell? When did we start psychoanalyzing me?" "Everyone makes mistakes, Buffy. And everybody has some hurt they carry inside. I don't need a degree in psychology to know that. I also don't need a degree to tell me that we all try to make up the mistakes we made by doing stupid things with other people." Giles' expression softened. "Please, give me a chance to prove this to you. If you're not convinced, I'll tell Parker exactly what a prat I've been." He smiled wryly. "The chance to watch me eat that much crow ought to be incentive enough to go along. Please." For a long moment Buffy continued to glare. At last, though, she shrugged. "What the hell? God knows my evening is shot anyway. In fact, after your performance my entire campus life may be an embarrassment beyond words." "Was it that horrible, then, kissing me?" "We'll...talk about that later, okay?" She stomped past him. With a sigh, Giles turned to follow. * * * * * Buffy flung her door open and marched into the room with Giles following in her wake. Willow and Oz looked up, startled, and started to rearrange their disheveled clothes. Oz grabbed his shirt off the floor. "Buffy!" Willow said. "I didn't expect...I mean, I thought...oh, and you brought Giles. Eeep. Um, this wasn't...Oz, say something!" "Hey guys. We weren't expecting you." "Don't mention it," Giles said as he pulled off his glasses and began cleaning them vigorously. "Please, for the love of God, don't mention it." "What have you got on Parker?" Buffy demanded. "Just tell me that, and next time you feel the need to send someone to babysit me at a party, could you at least let me know he's coming before I find myself the subject of a vicious rumor?" "Vicious rumor?" Willow said. "What rumor? And...and why is it vicious?" "Well, everybody at that party now thinks I party with the geriatric crowd, thanks to Giles." "What did you do?" Oz asked. "I - she was about to dance with him! I had to do something!" "You couldn't have just tapped me on the shoulder and asked if we could talk for a minute?" "What did he do...or do I want to know?" Willow said nervously. "You want to tell them, Casanova? Or should I?" Giles looked stubbornly at the floor, his cheeks reddening. Buffy shook her head in disgust. "He kissed me." "Well you kissed me back." "I was startled!" "You kiss like that when you're startled? Good lord! I thought you were going to devour me!" "You started it!" "And you certainly didn't complain when I did!" "How could I? Your tongue was halfway down my throat!" "Well yours was halfway down mine in no time at all!" "Um, guys, do you want to be alone?" Oz asked. "Cause we could go someplace that's else." "And miss the floorshow?" Buffy said. "You all wanted to keep me away from Parker, but you couldn't just say you didn't think he was Scooby material, so you sent the kissing bandit here to destroy my college social life. Thanks a lot, all of you." "Buffy, we never told him to kiss you," Willow said. "We said talk. Kissing was his idea. And how did you get that idea, anyway?" Giles grimaced and sat on the edge of Buffy's bed. "It seemed like a reasonable course of action at the time," he muttered. "Well it wasn't," said Buffy. "Worked, though," Oz said. "You're not with Parker now." "And what was the idea of telling me I can't date who I want to? Okay, if he was another vampire, I could see why you might worry. There were issues. Things got bad a couple times. Worse than bad. But it's not like dating vampires has been this huge obsession for me... except that Angel did kind of fall into the obsession category, I know, but it wasn't that he was a vampire. It was that he was Angel and he was all cursed and broody and handsome and stuff. If I was dating Spike, now that would be a surefire case for intervention. In fact, we should probably hold one for Harmony. I know vampires as a group aren't that cuddly, but there's got to be someone better than Spike even among the undead." "Harmony's dating Spike?" Willow asked in a faint voice. "Ew. Maybe we should hold an intervention for him, too. There's got to be someone better than Harmony." "My feelings exactly." Buffy gathered her thoughts. "But my point was that Parker's okay. He's alive and he's helped me get along here. I know you guys don't know him the way I do, but you'll get to know him. Besides, every time I come to you guys for help lately, you're not there. Now all of a sudden when I don't need it, you're all over me. What gives? Why is the guy who's been patting me on the head and telling me to run a long like a good little girl suddenly putting the moves on me in public?" "I was trying to protect you. We all were." Giles sounded tired. "If you'll just listen, perhaps we can explain it to you. And if you like, you can tell everyone that I was a terrible kisser and you told me to get lost." "It's kind of too late for that," Buffy said with a wry smile on her face. "They all saw me kiss back. They know I liked it." "Y-you did?" "Giles, you were there. You know I was kissing back. If I'd hated it, that would never have happened." "Then why were you so angry?" "Duh! Because you didn't ask! You didn't give me any warning. You just... did. I never thought you'd just grab me like that. Not that I ever really thought about you kissing me before, but if I had I would have thought you might ask me out or something first. You know, build up to it. This way... it just looks like I'm slutty and you're pushy, and I know neither one of us is what we looked like. I hate knowing everyone's going to be whispering about us tomorrow. And you did that when you knew I was with someone. I mean, I wasn't with him like a real couple, but I was meeting him there and spending time with him and wanting to spend more time. You ruined my love life. You did it on purpose. At least when I showed up while you were with Olivia I didn't know she was there until I walked through the door, which you could have locked if you didn't want to be bothered with interruptions about vampire gangs. I probably did mess things up for you, but I didn't do it on purpose. It was just bad timing. And I know I acted like a brat, but every single person I knew had already blown me off. I couldn't believe you were doing it, too." "I didn't know that, Buffy. How was I to know? You didn't tell me. And I was busy. I had a guest." "And this time I was busy and I had... okay, not a guest, but someone I was with and I didn't want to be interrupted any more than you did." "But the whole bloody point of my going was to interrupt you!" "And you still haven't given me one good reason why you did." "Um, maybe I can help with that," Willow said. She crossed to the desk and booted up her computer. When she got to the site she wanted, she slid off the chair and gestured to Buffy. "Take a look at this and judge for yourself. C'mon, Oz. I think we need to find someplace to be that isn't here.' Willow and Oz quietly slipped out of the room. For a long moment after they left, Buffy continued standing where she was. "Are you afraid to look?" Giles asked quietly. "No. Of course not. Why would I be afraid?" "Because you might have to admit we were right about Parker and you were wrong. You don't like to be wrong." "Who does?" She hesitated a further moment, then went to the chair quickly, sat down, and looked intently at the screen. With every second that went by, her shoulders slumped a bit more and her movements became shakier. At last she switched off the computer and bowed her head. "How much of this did you know, Giles?" "Only what Willow showed me this morning. We were all concerned for you." "You must think my taste in men really sucks." "We all make mistakes, Buffy. Some of the girls I went out with when I was your age...probably really regret it. And there are a couple I regret having dated." He moved behind her and placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I acted impulsively and wrongly, I know, but I did have the best intentions. The one thing I wanted was to keep you safe, to protect you." "I don't need to be protected from every little thing, Giles. Isn't that what you told me that day? I do have to learn to handle stuff on my own, and you need to let me make my own mistakes. But I guess you did mean well, even if your methodology really sucked." "Buffy?" "What?" "Would you mind terribly...if I kissed you again?" "Depends. What are you protecting me from?" "Nothing. You're perfectly capable of protecting yourself." "In that case... yeah, I could probably be talked into it, but maybe not tonight. Giles, I'm not ready for you. I just got over Angel. I'm in college. Everything’s all mixed up and I don’t want to run to you for this because you’re safe. I think maybe I need to find my feet a little more firmly before I get too involved with anyone." "Who said involved? I asked for a kiss, not your hand in marriage." "Still. I'm not ready for it. But I might be sometime. I'd like to be. I know I've done nothing but yell at you about it, but it was nice." "Nice?" "Yeah. You're really not that old, and it definitely wasn't gross." They smiled at one another. Giles reached out a hand and cupped Buffy's cheek. "Then I'll take that rain check," he said. "Anyway," she said, "you have a girlfriend. I don't want to mess that up for you." "It isn't serious. We're not... let's just say neither one of us considers it to be an exclusive relationship." "Oh. But you thought that was bad about Parker." "What I think is bad is that he convinces girls he plans to be exclusive when he doesn't. Playing the field isn't wrong. Lying about it is. Making others feel used is very wrong. Having a bit of fun is actually rather nice." Buffy frowned. "Okay, are you sure that's really you? 'Cause I've never heard you talk like that before." "It's really me," Giles laughed. "There's a lot you don't know about me yet. Look, why don't we have lunch tomorrow? I feel I've been neglecting you." "Sure. We can talk about that gem of Amway thing Spike is looking for." "Amway...?" "Go home. Pick up your messages. Do some research. We'll talk about it over lunch. I think it can wait until then. It's not like he's actually found it or anything." "Tomorrow, then." Giles headed for the door. At the last moment, he turned back to her. "Oh and Buffy?" "Yeah?" "If you ever feel you want to kiss me, don't worry about warning. I think I'll get the picture pretty quickly." "You're certainly full of surprises tonight," Buffy said with a laugh. "Sometimes I think I don't know you at all." "Then let's use tomorrow to get better acquainted. I'll even buy." "Are you trying to make a sneak date?" "Is it working?" "I'll let you know when I know." "That's fair enough I suppose." Before he left the room, Giles couldn't resist giving Buffy an impulsive hug. She responded in kind. "It's not fair," she said into his shirtfront. "What's not fair?" "You're touching Buffy back. I'm touching scratchy wool sweater and leather jacket. I'm feeling a little... not really dressed here." "I don't mind that at all." Buffy pulled back and looked at his face quizzically. "Have you always been this big a flirt?" "With you? No. But I'd like to be." "You're not going to make taking my time easy, are you?" "Is there any reason I ought to?" "It might make me think it through a little faster," Buffy said. "Then I'll behave myself... for now. And just for that, lunch is now officially Dutch treat." "And they say chivalry is dead," she giggled. "You come swooping in like my knight in shining armor, and it turns out you're an overprotective, sarcastic, super flirt in an old leather jacket. And you know what the worst thing is?" "What?" "I don't miss the armor a bit." She pulled out of his arms. "Now go. I'll see you tomorrow about noon. And since I'm paying my half, we'll go someplace cheap." "Ah. In that case, my wallet is at your disposal. I really don't fancy eating at Doublemeat Palace because you're on a tighter budget than I am." He leaned down and gave her a quick peck of a kiss on the cheek. "Tomorrow then," he said. "Tomorrow." At last he stepped out into the hall. As the door closed behind him, he became aware of a young man arriving. Giles recognized the newcomer as the boy he'd just saved Buffy from. He smiled. Parker's eyes went wide and the single rose he carried drooped in his hand. "I really wouldn't go in there right now," Giles said. "Who are you?" Parker demanded. "What are you to Buffy?" "Me? I'm her protector. And if I were you, I'd find someone else to give that flower to." Parker gulped and turned on his heel. Giles smiled to himself. His position in Buffy's life might be in flux, but he had his identity back. What's more, he had a date with Buffy.