Buffy, Giles, Slayerettes, etc. belong to Joss and co. I own whatever's left including the character of Brenna Coventine. This was written over the summer so my Career day was not influenced by Career Week in WML 1 & 2. This takes place between The Pack and Angel.
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Part One
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The full moon's light struck the brass plaque on the crypt. A long-nailed, grey hand struck a match against it revealing the name Jannson. The yellow-eyed owner of the hand produced a squirming cockroach between the fingers of his other hand. He touched the match to the insect then dropped it to the ground and twisted it out underfoot. He stared at the flaming bug for a few more seconds then placed it in his palm and put out the fire. He quickly looked both directions then popped the blackened roach into his mouth and crunched down hard. A satisfied grin spread across his angular, demonic face as he chewed. A grin which revealed pointed white teeth lurking beneath his dry lips.
"Ya know, someone looking at your face would bet you couldn't get more disgusting." The young, female voice came from behind him. He spun around and had just enough time to see the petite girl in a blue tank top and jeans when she produced the stake from behind her back and stabbed it into his chest. "Sad thng is, they'd lose the bet," was the last thing he ever heard.
Buffy Summers brushed her hands off and turned to face Giles who was leaning against a nearby tree, his arms crossed over his chest. He was facing the ground and shaking his head. The proud smile Buffy had been wearing swiftly faded. She'd sighed and rolled her eyes before asking, "What'd I do wrong this time?"
Giles looked up and faced her. "I really am trying not to critisize but I cannot stress enough that you must focus on the task at hand. You need to pick safety over style. You could have easily finished him without him even knowing you were there. Instead, you called attention to yourself and even allowed him to face you before taking him out. Buffy, you are The Chosen One. There are so many things you are meant to do. You must not risk yourself unnecessarily."
"What am I supposed to do? Tip-toe up to all of them, sneak around their backs and plunge it in like "Tag, You're dead!"?"
"Of course not, but a face to face confrontation should be the last resort. If an opportunity like that presents itself, you should take it."
Buffy hooked her thumbs in her belt-loops and shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, you're right. Sorry."
Giles walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. "The important thing is you completed the job and walked away without getting hurt. I'm just trying to make you understand that if he had been a little stronger or had quicker reflexes, you may not have come out of it unscathed. You ust be careful Buffy, and you must always be ready."
"Okay, I get it." They started for the cemetary gates with Giles walking a little ahead. Buffy noticed Giles' arm tensing up a little. A sly grin broke out on her face. She could tell he was about to test that 'always be ready' portion of his lecture. Okay, she thought, I will be.
About a second later, Giles swung around on her and exclaimed "Ha!" as he lunged out and grasped her wrist and forearm.
Buffy clasped her other hand on top of his, ducked under his arm and twisted crying "Aha!" as she flipped him into the air. He landed sprawled on his back, blinking. Buffy couldn't tell if it was out of surprise or to clear the stars from his eyes. She went to his side and stood over him. "How was that?" she asked innocently.
"Oh...very...good," Giles wheezed. Buffy smiled and reached a hand down to help him up.
"Cheer up, Giles." Buffy said reassuringly as she brushed the grass off the back of his jacket. He straightened his spectacles and ran a hand through his touseled hair as he turned to face her. "At least it means I actually listened to you this time."
"Oh joy," he said unenthusiastically as she helped him out of the graveyard.
* * *
One hour later, the door to the Jannson crypt opened. A female figure appeared on the top step. She had blonde hair and wore a sweater with a short pleated skirt but was facially very similar to the male of her kind who'd been there earlier.
"Marcus?" she called out. A look of concern crossed her beast-like features. She descended the steps and called out once more. "Marcus, answer me now!" Again there was no response.
As she was about to turn around and go back inside, the moonlight illuminated a patch of ground that caught her attention. She rushed over to it and dropped to her knees, running her hands along a small area of ground covered in a thick layer of dust. "Marcus," she whispered.
She jumped to her feet and a snarl escaped her lips as she scanned the graveyard for the girl she knew was responsible. Her fury eased a bit as it became obvious The Slayer was long gone. She looked up at the position of the moon and knew there wasn't enough of the night left to mount a full search, but they'd get the brat soon enough, she'd promised herself that. Now she silently promised Marcus the same thing.
"When we finally do get The Slayer, she's gonna beg for a death as quick as yours was, I swear." She looked at the ground and a few feet away from Marcus' remains, she spied a little black object. She went over and picked it up.
It was a leather wallet. She flipped it open and saw a driver's liscense. "Rupert Giles." She stared at the picture. She knew she knew him but could not place where from. She glanced back at the dust that was Marcus and then it hit her. She slapped the wallet closed and gripping it tightly, re-entered the crypt.
* * *
"And you believe him to be the Watcher, Darla?"
"Yes. He was obviously there with her tonight and he was at the nightclub the night of The Harvest. I had him in my grasp then but The Slayer's scrawny playmate burned my face and I had to release him."
"And can we locate him?"
"There's a card inside. A faculty identification card for the high school. He's the librarian, Master." Darla smiled.
The Master returned the smile and licked his fangs. He leaned down to the small, brunette boy who sat on the arm of his throne. "You see Colin, things are looking up. This has potential."
"Why? He's just her tutor. He has no power."
"Ah, well sometimes power is in the eye of the beholder, my young friend. Mr. Giles just may have the power to deliver The Slayer to us. Slayers have a tendency to get quite attatched to these instructors. If we eliminate him, she'll not only feel is loss but, most likely, an overwhelmng sense of guilt at not having protected him. Then she will be ripe for slaughter."
"I see."
"I knew you would. You're such a quick study. You remind me so much of me." The Master stroked his chin with his talon-like fingers. "Darla, I have a mission for you. Before the darkness fades, there is someone you must bring to me."
"Who Master? Mr. Giles?"
"Oh no. That would be too quick. Where's the fun in that? Our beloved Mr. Giles is living on borrowed time but when his end comes, I want The Slayer to have a front row seat. No, I want you to bring me the one who'll set my plan in motion."
A look of understanding spread across Darla's grotesque features. She smiled at her king and left to carry out his orders as his cackling laugh echoed throughout the underground cavern.
* * *
Rupert Giles stood behind the conter of the Sunnydale High School library. Although it was early morning, the lights were on because the overcast drizzling sky afforded no illumination through the library's half-circle windows. Giles consulted his list, then bent down to retrieve a box from underneath. As he sorted through its contents, the doors swung open admitting Buffy and Willow. Giles glanced up muttering a brief "Morning," before turning his attention back to the box.
Willow and Buffy exchanged puzzled but amused looks. "Well we're in a lovely mood today. What's up with you Giles?" A miscievious look brightened Buffy's features. "Back still bothering you?"
Giles looked up and fixed Buffy with a sour expression that only made her smile. "Very amusing. No, somehow I allowed myself to get roped into participating in Career Day. I'm just gathering some things so that I can spend the rest of my day in a booth, in a cafeteria, being whispered about and pointed at by acne-ridden delinquents like some sort of exhibit in a freak show."
Buffy and Willow glanced at each other, each barely cotaining their laughter, when the door swung open once again. This time it admitted a woman they had never seen before. She looked to be in her early thirties. She had shoulder-length, straight, auburn hair and a lean build. She wore an immaculate, burgundy, knee-length skirt with matching jacket and a satin, champagne-colored blouse. She smled at the girls briefly then approched Giles with her hand extended.
"Mr Giles?"
"Yes." He shook her hand.
"Hi, my name is Brenna Coventine. I'm the travel agent for Career Day."
"Oh, well, that's being held in the cafeteria."
"I know that, its just that I found this in the bushes outside." She produced a small, black wallet from inside the briefcase she was carrying. "I thought you might like it back."
Giles' mouth gaped open and he quickly felt the lining of his jacket. "Good heavens. I didn't even realize it was gone."
"I kinda figured that part out."
"Thank you so much Miss...Coventine wasn't it?"
"I prefer Brenna actualy but whatever you're comfortable with." She handed him the wallet and he tucked it inside his jacket. "You know, you could return the favor if you would."
"Anything."
"Where exactly is the cafeteria? The girl who was supposed to be here today had a family emergency and I got called in last minute to replace her. I don't really know where I'm supposed to go. I'm late as it is and I have a booth to set up."
"Well, I can do you one better than that. I can take you there. I'm stuck in the librarian booth and I'm on my way over now."
Brenna smiled coyly "Good. It looks like today's not gonna be a total loss after all." Giles flashed her a quick grin then scooped up his box and headed out the doors. Brenna followed him out leaving a somewhat bewildered Buffy and Willow alone in the library.
"Nice to see you Giles."
Willow grabbed the "Library Closed For Career Day" sign from behind the counter and placed it in front of them. "I guess we'd better out this out front for him."
"And lock the doors. He forgot to do everything."
"I thik it's safe to say he had other thing's on his mind." Willow said, smiling.
"Yeah, I'll say. Just be thankful Xander wasn't here yet or we'd have to mop up all the drool before heading to class." Willow grabbed the sign and started for the door. Buffy ran over to Giles' office and grabbed the keys from his desk. She met Willow outside, locked up, and they left for first period.
* * *
"So, what are you doing after school, Mr. Giles?"
Giles flashed her a shy grin. "Please, call me Rupert."
"Okay Rupert." She gazed into his eyes as though her breath hung on his every word.
"Nothing really. Just putter around the house a bit, make some tea, read a book, go to bed." Giles turned from her a little, embarrassed at having uexpectedly revealed the details of his boring life. Of course that was what he'd do when he got home. When he wasn't fighting demons, training his Slayer, or organizing his library until the wee hours, what else did he do? Idiot! he mentally chastized himself.
"Well, if you could stand some coffee instead of tea, I though maybe we could go get some. It's just that I've enjoyed your company so much this afternoon and I hoped we could continue our chat this evening. I don't really get out much either."
Giles looked to her enthusiastically. The angle at which she stood afforded him an unobstructed view of her cleavage. The 'gentle' in him wouldn't let him look but the 'man' inside him stole a peek now and then. "That would be...smashing."
"Great. Why don't I pick you up at...seven?"
"Great." Giles scribbled his address on a piece of scratch paper and handed it to her. She smiled, waved good-bye, retrieved her briefcase and left. Giles finished packing up his booth.
"So Romeo, how was your day?"
Giles gasped for air as his Slayer's voice startled him.
"Sorry," Buffy said with a slight smile.
The hell she was, Giles thought, she loved to do that to him at the drop of a hat. Any hat. "Oh you. Hello. Why didn't you just meet me in the library? I was on my way there."
"And you were going to get in how?"
"With my..." Giles felt inside his trouser pocket. "Oh dear."
"With these?" Buffy produced his keys dangling off her manicured finger.
"Thanks," he offered sheepishly.
* * *
Rupert Giles could not remember the last time he puttered about his house with such speed. It was six-thirty. Brenna Coventine was on her way and he had to prepare himself. Just as he reached for his tie drawer, the doorbell rang. Damn, she was early. He hated being caught unprepared. He guessed it was a British thing.
He opened the door and was a bit taken aback when he saw Buffy standing there. "Oh you. Hello."
"You know, I could take offense to that phrase soon. Unless you're trying to develop a catch phrase or something. Confidentially, I think it needs a little work."
"What are you doing here? Has something happened?"
"Yes. You asked me to come here at this tie for training and I actually kept the appointment." She grinned at him brightly. "Aren't ya proud?"
"Uh...yes. Well...uh...come on in." She entered and he shut the door behind her. He exhaled heavily. "It's just that I sort of have a ...date kind of thing, I guess. I could cancel."
"No! No way. You never have any fun. I at least have Will and Xander and The Bronze. No, you're going if I have to walk you there myself."
Giles motioned for her to follow him. As she trailed behind, he snapped on the light in his bedroom and went to his bureau. Buffy crept in after him a little slowly. "I've never been in here before." The room was straightened, cetainly way cleaner than her room at home, but that was probably because most of Giles' belongings seeed to still be unopened in the crates that lined the room.
Giles turned to face her, tie in each hand. "Help. Which?"
Buffy smiled and sidled up next to him. She ignored his selection and rummaged through the drawer herself. She produced a solid emerald color tie. "This one. It goes with your eyes." Giles smiled and dropped the ties he held. He took the one she proffered and sat on the bed to tie it.
She wandered around the bed and saw a leather-bound book on one of the crates. She flipped the cover open with one finger and saw that it was a photo album. On the first page was an 8x10 black and white picture of a fair-haired teenage boy, a broad grin on his face. Buffy's eyes went wide. "Wow! Is he gorgeous. Hey Giles," she held up the photo so he could see, "Is ths a relative of yours? Say, one I could meet?"
"Why?"
"Look at him. He's a total babe."
"He's me. When I was seventeen."
"Oh," Buffy answered meekly, morified and sure she was turning red as fire, she closed the book and turned away from him. Giles smiled and turned a little pink himself.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"Oh God."
"Take it easy, Giles. Everything's gonna be great. You'll have a swell time."
"Right. Right."
"Now I get to figure out what I'm going to do. I told my Mom I was going on a study date. Afer the wat my grades have been, if I come home early she's gonna be pis...uh, really mad."
Giles leaned over one of the crates and pulled out a thick, ancient-looking book. He tossed it to her, smiling. "So study this. You're more than welcome to stay here."
"Thanks," she said, sounding sincere (or was that just Giles' wishful thinking?).
"Well, good-bye," Giles nodded to her as he grabbed his coat on the way out of the bedroom.
"Good luck," Buffy answered when she was sure he was out of earshot.
* * *
Giles opened the door to reveal Brenna Coventine. She wore a thigh-length, teal, denim skirt with a matching tank top and a see-thru black blouse over it. "Hi, am I on time?"
"Yes," Giles grinned. "Seven on the dot. He closed the door behind him as he exited. Buffy jogged out of the bedroom and up to the living room window to watch them drive away.
"Have fun," she said quietly to herself. She was still young and didn't know how far her powers as a Slayer stretched. She sometimes felt she cold almost sense Giles' thoughts and he hers but maybe she was imagining that. Just in case she wasn't, she reached out to Giles mentally, trying to attract positive luck to him, not that that kind of luck ever listened to her wishes or any thing. Oh well, she thought, at least I tried.
She shuffled her way back into Giles' room and opened the dusty tome that lay on the bed. THE SLAYER HANNAH BELLMONT: A DISERTATION OF HER POWERS AND EXPERIENCES. by the Right Honorable Hamlin Giles, Her Watcher, 1834: the title page read. What a lucky girl I am, she thought sarcastically as she turned to the first page.
* * *
"I don't want you to think I'm...weird or anything," Brenna offered bashfully. It was amazing to Giles how she still managed to look wonderful under the dim, faintly orange lighting of the cafe.
"Believe me, I know every possible meaning of that word. And none of them describe you."
"You know, I think that's possibly the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. No, it's just that I don't get out very much. I don't know wh. It's not that I absolutely love being alone or anything it just sorta happens that way. I don't know...I'm probably not making a lot of sense."
"Yes you are. Actually, the only thing I don't understand about what you just said is how you managed to describe MY existence in perfect detail after having only met me today." Brenna smiled at him, then took another sip of coffee.
Giles had always wondered how his father and grandmother before him had managed to have a family whilst balancing their duties as Watcher. He had alwats hoped that one day, somehow, the prize of a wife and children might be his also. He had thought of it more frequently ever since he had moved to Sunnydale and found himself a kind of surrogate father to two smart, wonderful, girls, and a Xander. He wondered if this could be the start of that time. Of course, neither his father's nor his grandmother's Slayer had lasted as long as he promised himself his would. And this was only the first date.
Brenna finished her drink, then looked to him. "Rupert, let's go for a walk."
* * *
Buffy lay sleeping on Giles' bed, one arm flopped across Giles' one hundred and sixty-three year old volume and the other arm folded underneath her head. Her face twitched under the stress of her terrifying dream.
She saw Giles and Brenna kissing in the graveyard. Then suddenly, vampires arose from behind most of the nearest headstones. They closed in on the couple and bore them out of her sight.
Next she saw herself at the cemetary searching frantically for Giles. He stumbled out from behind a tree, hair messed up, glasses askew, shirt untucked and the green tie she had picked for him hanging in shreds around his throat.
"Giles, my God!" She ran to him. "Are you okay?"
"Buffy...Buffy, God it was awful." Tears stained his cheeks, the sight of them shaking The Slayer. As soon as she was close enough, he reached out and clasped her to him with a hug, sobbing heavilly over her shoulder.
Buffy, bewildered, rubbed his back and in that soothing, comforting tone he had used with her so many times, she said, "It's okay. I'm here now. Everything's going to be all right."
"No it's not. Nothing's ever going to be all right again." Giles began to pull away from her. Worried, Buffy turned to look into his jade eyes.
Except that now, they were yellow.
His face had changed also, turning into the demonic vampire form of the enemy. As Buffy screamed, Giles opened his fang-filled, salva-dripping maw, and lunged for her neck.
Buffy's scream ripped herself awake. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. The sound of her rapid panting filled the dark room. She did not rest for long, one thought consuming her mind, "Giles!" She leapt off the bed and bolted for the front door.
* * *
Brenna and Giles walked in the moonlight down Sunnydale's deserted streets. As they neared the tall hedges that marked the cemetary's south side, Giles' shoulders tensed and his pace increased.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh...Oh nothing really," he lied. "It's just that, well, this isn't a particularly safe part of town."
"I feel completely safe with you Rupert."
Giles blushed slightly and looked away for a second. He was flattered at her trust and also fearful with the knowledge that if they ran into the kind of trouble he was thinking of, he would be primarily inadequate.
"What is this place anyway?" Brenna pointed to the hedges.
"The graveyard," he answered solemnly.
"Ooh, I love graveyards." Giles looked at her, vaguely horrified. "I love the tombstone art. I've never seen one at night before."
Giles turned and looked back down the street. Glacing at his watch, he said, "Yes. Well, I don't think tonight's a good time tostart. It's getting late. We probably should be getting back. I mean, you have work and I have ..." he turned back to face her but she wasn't there.
"Come on Giles," she called back to him from the middle of the cemetary. "This'll be great." She proceeded in without him, already too far out of earshot, Giles realized with dread.
"Damn." Taking the deepest breat he ever remembered taking, he jogged in after her. When he reached the oldest and most heavily populated section of the necropolis, he stopped to catch his breath. Calling her name between heavy puffs of air, he scanned the area but saw no sign of her. He leaned against a piece of statuary and drew in more of the cool, pine-scented air.
"Boo," Brenna breathed as she popped out from behind and grabbed his shoulder. Giles jumped away and turned on her as though he were ready for a fight. "Hey, take it easy. It's only me. Sorry, it was just a joke."
Giles lowered his fists. "Brenna, thank God. Come on, we've got to go." He turned and started to leave.
"I'm sorry. Don't be mad." She caught up to him and grabbed his hand.
"I'm not mad. I just think we should leave." He wanted to be mad at her but couldn't bring himself to it. How could she know what kind of danger they were in? Having lived her whole life in the 'real' world where vampires were but a myth.
"I don't believe you." Her grasp stopped him dead and she turned him to face her. "Look into my eyes and tell me that."
He saw a weakness there in her vibrant blue eyes. She looked as though she were on the verge of tears. He getly took her chin in his hand and locked eyes with her. "I am not mad at you," he said softly and firmly, "I promise."
"Rupert," she leaned quickly forward and kissed him. Giles, a bit suprised, recovered swiftly and kissed her back, embracing her as she did the same. All thoughts of impending doom flooded out of his brain at the return of this sensation which had been a memory for so long, he feared it may have only been a dream. He began to lose track of time, aware of sensations only, the warmth of her soft face against his, the gentle wind blowing through his hair, the tasteof her lips, the perfect still quietness of this night.
A quiet which was abruptly broken by the simultaneous sounds of a dull thud and a loud, female grunt. Giles pulled away from the kiss and turned just in time to see the origin of the noise. It was caused by Buffy, in mid-flip, kicking a burly male vampire square in the chest and knocking him down.
"Giles! Get out of here!"
When Giles snapped out of the spell he'd been in and became aware of his surroundings once more, he became aware that he was, in fact, surrounded by vampires.
"Rupert, what's happening?" The alarm in Brenna's voice was apparent.
He clasped her hand tightly and began to run with her in tow. "Follow me. Hurry!" He headed south as fast as he could and found himself both thankful that the vampires hadn't followed them and terrified because it meant that they had all stayed to face Buffy. He decided he would get Brenna to safety as quickly as possible then return to see what help he could be to his Slayer. Almost as instantly as he thought this, he felt himself being slowed down by a weight attatched to his hand.
"Rupert wait!"
"I can't. We don't have time. I've got to get you out of here and get back to..." Just then, he felt an earthshaking pain in the back of his head and the world faded to black.
Brenna stood over Giles crumpled and unconscious form, still clutching the rock she had struck him with. She dropped it on the ground next to him and glanced over at the Jannson crypt. "You can come out now."
The petite blonde vampire nearly sipped out of the mausoleum, a look of utter glee beaming from her flaxen eyes. "Well done, Thrall. The Master will be very pleased."
Brenna crossed to meet her, her back to Giles. She did not notice him begin to stir.
Consciousness played around the edges of Giles' brain His kull had been banged around so many times in his duties as Watcher, he was almost accustomed to it by now and had consequently developed a fairly rapid recovery rate. He blinked his eyes and could just make out two blurry figures a few feet away. He decided to keep his eyes closed and just listen. He was far too dizzy to run anyway.
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