Welcome to Sunnydale: Part Eight
by Eliz
Buffy was surprised to find Giles standing at her front door when she opened it. Especially as the sun had yet to go down and the vampires hadn’t risen yet.

“Hi Giles”, she smiled, inviting him in. “Couldn’t stay away from your slayer, huh”.

“I need some clothes”, Giles came straight to the point.

“Giles, I know we often make fun of you tweed wardrobe but I don’t think women’s clothes are the way to go and, anyway, I don’t think mine will fit you”.

“Ha, ha. Very funny”, Giles smiled sarcastically. “They are not for me they are for Nikki. She doesn’t have any with her”.

“I’ll go upstairs and get some”, she ran up the stairs and returned a few minutes later with a armful of clothes.

“These should fit her”, she handed them to Giles. “Has Angel rang you yet. About Nikki”.

“Yes, he did and it seems that if Nikki agrees I’ll have a new guest”, Giles walked out to his car and waved at Buffy as he drove off.

He looked at the clothes Buffy had given him. They were mostly sweat pants and tee shirts that she wore for training or hunting. He thought he saw a spot of blood on one of the tops.

He made a detour to the library to collect some books and it was already dark by the time he was leaving. He arrived home to find Angel, Buffy and Nikki talking and laughing on the sofa like old friends. Nikki seemed to have relaxed and she looked more at ease.

Giles smiled as he heard Buffy finishing off her story about the invisible girl who had tormented students at the high school a few months ago.

“Well, hello”, Buffy looked up when she heard him come in. “I rang to see if the clothes were all right only to find out that you hadn’t come back yet. I guessed you were at the library so I came over to keep Nikki company”.

“Yes, I had to collect some books”, Giles nodded a hello to Angel as he gave Nikki the clothes.

Giles went into the kitchen to make some tea. He felt someone behind him and turned around to see Angel standing in the doorway. He had a knack for lurking quietly in the shadows.

“I spoke to Nikki and she agreed to stay here. She didn’t want to put you out but I told her that it was the safest thing to do. She not used to living on the Hellmouth, she wouldn’t be able to protect herself like the rest of us can and unfortunately I can’t be around to take care of her all the time”.

Giles nodded as they walked back to the sitting room. He understood completely.

Buffy and Nikki were sitting on the sofa. Nikki had changed into a pair of Buffy’s sweat pants and a tight tee-shirt and Buffy was telling her how great she looked.

Nikki self consciously put her arms around her body.

“It’s not really me”, she protested, but Buffy insisted that she wear it.

“You look great”, she assured her. Suddenly she jumped up, startling Giles. “Oh, I have to go and patrol. Hey, Angel, you wanna give me a hand”. Angel smiled and put his arms around her.

Giles grinned. He didn’t imagine there would be much hunting done tonight.

“Well”, Giles said, after Buffy and Angel had left. “I guess it’s just you and me for tea”. He poured her a cup and handed it to her before sitting down beside her.

“Thanks for letting me stay here, Mr. Giles”, Nikki said politely as she took the cup from him. Their fingers brushed against each other for a moment and Giles felt a sudden shiver run up his spine.

“It’s no problem. Angel is right - it’s safer for you here”, he assured her. “And please, call me Giles, everybody else seems to”.

“You have quite a collection of books”, Nikki said, looking around the room.

“Yes, I need a large collection. Being the Watcher means a lot of research”.

“Ever thought of using a computer”.

Thoughts of Jenny Calander suddenly entered his mind. His heart seemed to ache and his eyes began to water.

“Giles, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?” Nikki was concerned at how pale and distant he looked.

“I’m sorry”, he felt embarrassed at how emotional he was becoming. “It’s just that I recently lost someone I was very close to. She was a computer teacher at the school. She was killed by....” he couldn’t finish the sentence. He was terrified he’s break down.

“By vampires?”, Nikki asked. Giles nodded. Nikki suddenly moved closer to him and took his hands in hers. “I’m sorry”. He looked at her and smiled. She smiled back and for a moment they sat there, holding hands, and staring at each other.

They both jumped at the ringing of the phone. Giles managed to compose himself and picked up the phone.

“Hello.... Buffy, calm down.... Tell me what happened....Is she okay?... yes, of course, we’ll be there straight away”, Giles put the phone down and sat there for a moment, staring into space.

“Giles, what’s wrong”.

“It’s Willow. She’s in hospital”.


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