Title: Clueless 8/20
Authors: Kim & Jen
Feedback: Oh yes, please! It's our drug of choice.
Disclaimer: We don't, never have, never will. We own our obsession with the G-man. We let them have fun and return them relatively unscathed to the Jossverse. Although, they probably have more fun with us.
After the others left the room, Giles bent to retrieve the baseball bat. As he stood, he saw Buffy guiltily whip her head around to look in a different direction. Smiling knowingly, he walked behind her and touched her arm.
She jumped slightly and giggled at her response, leaning against him.
"Giles, what do you really think is going on here?"
"I must say that Anya's point of view about this being revenge of some kind has distinct merit. However, I can't help but feel that there is an underlying menace to the situation. On the surface, the surroundings, the body, the note, all seem amateurish, but someone went to an awful lot of trouble to do all of this for a mere practical joke," he said, waving his hand around the room.
"It's a good thing I pulled out my Giles-to-English dictionary, huh? I actually got all that."
Giles snorted softly and rubbed her arm.
"I know. There's something just out of reach. If I didn't know that he was still in that detention facility, I would swear that it was Ethan," Buffy replied.
"You're right. This does seem exactly like what he would do. How do we know that he is, in fact, still detained?"
"I…I don't know. They would have let us know, wouldn't they?"
"This is a covert branch of the military, Buffy. They were not your biggest fans when they left, and I know of nothing that would have changed their ideas about you."
"I destroyed their secret project and probably saved a bunch of lives. Yeah, why should they like me?"
Giles pulled her to the sofa and sat facing her, clasping her hands. "Buffy, you should be proud of the way you handled that situation. You show an amazing amount of courage each night and have saved the world more times than you should have had to. They should be in front of you, on bended knee, thanking you. Those berks should hold you as the highest example, and yet they simply packed up and moved on, not caring about the repercussions of their actions and the possible response the demons could have had. We were very lucky that none of the demons decided to take advantage in the aftermath."
"You think way too much of me," Buffy said, smiling at him. "Giles?"
"Yes?"
"What's a berk?"
Giles started at the indelicate turn of phrase he had used. `After all, I still haven't answered her when she asked what a stevedore was.'
"Never you mind that. I shouldn't have said that," he said, blushing.
"But, what is it?"
"Buffy, I will not be telling you what it is. Maybe when you are older, I will."
Buffy's eyes widened. "That bad?"
"It rather is."
"Oh." Sensing the turn from the heavy conversation they had been having, Buffy decided to lighten the mood even more. "Could you show me one some day?"
Giles' color deepened. He moved off the couch and drew her with him. He didn't answer her, but she heard him mutter, "I haven't the equipment." Louder, he cleared his throat and suggested that they begin their search.
They walked slowly around the room, picking up objects and inspecting them. Giles lifted frames from the walls. The largest of the pictures wouldn't lift. Just as he started to call Buffy over to help him, it swung away from the wall.
A door-sized opening cut into the wall lay before him.
"Buffy," he called to get her attention from her position of looking under the couch.
She straightened and grinned at him. "Way to go, Watcherman. Wanna see where it goes?"
"Let's," he said entering the opening. Buffy grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Let me go first. In case there's something in there," she told him. Not being able to resist the temptation, she added, "Plus, my eyes are better."
Giles rolled his eyes at her quip. He stood back, bowing deeply and said, "After you, my lady."
As she passed him, she ran her fingers down his arm and replied, "Not yet, but if you play your cards right, I will be."
He smiled widely and followed her.
They walked a short distance before the floor began to slope downward. Giles kept one hand on the wall as they progressed through the darkened passage. He felt the wall give way to nothingness as they entered another chamber.
"Do you think that you will be able to use your superior eyesight to find a light switch?" Giles asked her.
Buffy giggled. "I already have."
He heard her move away and the sound of a switch being thrown. A cavernous area appeared before them. Boxes and crates were stacked along the walls. A roaring furnace sat in one corner of the room, heating the space comfortably.
"The cellar. I hadn't planned on coming down here yet, but we may as well inspect it," Giles said.
Buffy nodded and began to look through the boxes. Giles moved to the other side of the room and searched the crates.
Canned foods, blankets, and various other household supplies lined the boxes. Buffy looked at the items carefully, an idea forming in her head.
"Giles, do really think this is another dream, or could we really be here?"
Giles thought for a moment before replying.
"I suppose that a case could be made in either direction. If this is the work of a spell and we are actually here, an enormous amount of power would have to be behind it. It would be easier for the caster if it were a dream. Why do you ask?"
"Because this is an awful lot of food and supplies for a dream," she said, drawing him over to the boxes.
Giles peered into the boxes and sighed. "I fear you are right."
"Do you think you could…?" Buffy started before changing her mind.
"Could what?"
"Nothing," Buffy sighed and continued. "I know that you don't like to do magic unless you have to. But…"
"Buffy, any ideas may be helpful. Now, tell me."
"Is there a way to kind of like reach out and see if there is magic floating in the air? Not an actual spell, but can you get a sense of it?"
"There may be. I'm rather surprised Willow didn't suggest it before."
"You and me, both. Can you do it without supplies?"
Giles pondered the question. "If I were already familiar with the magic of the caster, it would be simple. If not, it would be more difficult, but nothing that Willow, Tara, and I couldn't manage."
"But, what about what happened with Spike? Could doing this make something else happen?"
Giles sighed. "I believe that it will be perfectly safe. I am not performing an actual spell, so nothing untoward should happen. Do you trust me?"
"With my life, Giles. You know that."
Their eyes met, and Giles held his breath at the feeling he saw in Buffy's gaze. For her part, Buffy felt like the air around them was charged with electricity. For just a moment, she was convinced that Giles was going to kiss her.
Just as her eyelids started to flutter closed, a scream wrenched them apart.
"Buffy!!!"
"That's Dawn," Buffy said.
"Let's go."