Title: In Giles' Living Room 1/3
Author: K.V. Wylie
Pairing: Giles/Ira Rosenberg (Willow's father)
Spoilers: Spoilers to Season 5 BtVS
Rating: R
Summary: Giles and Ira Rosenberg (Willow's father), long time friends, have just crossed the line into physical intimacy. When Willow and Buffy find out about the relationship, Willow feels betrayed and angry, and lands Buffy in the middle between her best friend and her mentor. In the midst of this, something magical is growing in Giles' living room.
Disclaimer: Permission to use these characters relating to BtVS & AtS, has not been given. Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy own TM and copyrighted them. This is purely for fun, and no copyright infringement is intended

This is not the way that you should see me, this is not the face I recognize
Should I lay my head down here for a moment? Would you sing to me like I'm your child?

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The first clue that something was going on with Giles came from Anya.

"He gets phone calls," she said, making conversation as she dropped the Magic Box's end of day cash into a floor safe. "And I know they're not about business because his voice goes all weird and he takes the phone into the back. So, where are we going? A grave?"

"A rave," Xander said.

"Backing up the batmobile," Buffy cut in, on the alert. "Giles. Phone calls."

"Oh, who cares?" Anya took Xander's arm and snuggled against him. "What's a rave?"

To Xander, Buffy said, "Please inform your girlfriend of the Scooby drill when it comes to weird, and how unpleasant testy Slayers are to deal with."

"The phone calls could be from a friend," Willow suggested.

"And doesn't Giles usually tell you if something's going on?" Riley added.

Thinking of when Eyghon figuratively hit the fan, Buffy said, "He's been known to play commander solo." She picked up the phone and dialed his apartment.

After fifteen rings, Riley took the receiver from her and hung up. "Perhaps he's out on the town."

"*Giles*?" Buffy, Xander, and Willow asked simultaneously.

"He has friends, right?" Riley asked, startled.

"We met one once," Anya said. To Xander, she added, "Do we dress up for a rave?"

"We dress down," Buffy said. "And no one is going until we check on Giles."

Riley put his arms around Buffy and kissed her. "We'll go there in the morning. He's probably on a date, like we are."

"You don't know him very well, do you?" Buffy sighed. "And the next time someone calls me clueless girl, I will remind all of you that I *did* try to go over there tonight."

As they went out the door, Anya said, "Dress down? So, what shouldn't I wear?"

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Giles woke to the sound of a whistling kettle. The male warmth he'd been nuzzling all night was up and out of the bed, an earlier riser than he, if such a thing was possible.

He stretched languidly. He had an entire day to do whatever he wanted with…..Giles paused. His associate? That certainly didn't describe the exquisite contortions they'd achieved under the covers last night. His S.O.? That sounded like a bad acronym.

He needed to find a word that fit, he mused, eyeing the impression in the pillow beside him. It had been a long time since he'd had something more than a few nights here and there. Last night had been the seventh, one week since they had first toppled so marvelously, and with so much guilt, into bed.

He'd known this man for four years, having met him at a parent-teacher night at Sunnydale High School. Giles had been standing behind the main desk in the library. He'd heard the door, looked up, and saw before him a tall man with deep brown deer-eyes on a level with his own. They'd shaken hands longer than they'd needed to. But the man had been in the company of his wife, and Giles had already invested too many years staying on the path of 'normal.' As well, he had a Slayer to train. Giles swallowed down the strange and sudden rush of feeling, and buried himself in the business of being a Watcher.

Or, tried to. The problem was, the brown-eyed gentleman was an archeologist. He knew the history of the area better than anyone else. He possessed an enviable library, and didn't mind being called in the early hours with odd questions. As the old saying went, all roads led to him. Professional calls became social ones, became friendship, became a few drinks and revelations about the state of the marriage.

And, after the quietly spoken, "I've left my wife.", became the first touch.

The smell of something cooking finally got Giles out of bed and downstairs.

"I wouldn't mind waking up like this every morning," he said, wrapping his arms around the man by the stove. "Eggs, pancakes, and the sight of you half-naked."

"Be careful what you ask for, Rupert," came the teasing response. "I'm leaving you with the clean-up."

They kissed, and for so long that the food began to cool. Giles loved kissing men, loved the breadth of them, the pull of beard against his skin and the aggressive nips horny males indulged in.

As his lower lip was sucked hard, his sex stiffened beyond its usual morning piss-hardness.

"Goddess," he breathed, piercingly aroused.

Giles' lip was given another tug. Then the other man grinned as he dropped to his knees and sought out Giles' erection with his mouth.

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Buffy rapped hard on the door, her no-nonsense-if-you're-a-lurking-demon-you're-dog-meat pound. Beside her, Willow jumped.

"Sorry," Buffy said as she peered through the frosted glass part of the door, trying to see if there was any movement inside.

Willow stood on tiptoes and tried to see too. "What if he's with someone non-demony?"

"Then we leave, hopefully before I put my foot in my mouth." Buffy raised her fist again, but the door opened.

Giles blinked at them, then gave himself away by glancing behind him. "G-good morning. Is, uh, something wrong?"

"Called last night. Got no answer. Any bite marks?" Buffy asked. Flustered, she quickly backtracked. "I mean, any bite marks of the vamp-kind. Not the other kind, because that would have nothing to do with Slayer Watcher stuff and I'm here totally professionally."

Giles noticed Willow angling behind Buffy, trying to get a glimpse beyond the door. He stepped forward to block the opening. "I was out late with a friend," he said.

Buffy frowned. His tone was off. He was uneasy, and far more so than the time she caught him with Olivia. "I don't leave without a pulse," she said.

Giles extended an arm and let her check. She found a heartbeat, but it seemed a little fast. Drinking binge? she wondered. However, she couldn't smell any alcohol and his pupils were normal-sized.

As she let go of his wrist, she noted that he'd pulled the door tightly against his shoulder. "Who's behind you?" she asked.

"A friend," he replied. The way he was holding the door had to be cutting off his circulation.

"I'd like to meet your friend," Buffy said.

Giles favoured her with one of his annoyed-Watcher glares.

"Nuh uh," Buffy said, staring him down as her Slayer antennae quivered into high gear. She smacked the door open and strode in past him, stake in hand.

"Buffy!" he started, but his voice was lost on her ears as she made a fast inspection around her. Everything seemed ok. No overturned furniture. No broken glass. Nothing out of place.

She caught movement from the kitchen and whirled around. A man stood by the sink, holding a dish towel.

Buffy lowered the stake. "Oh. Hello," she managed. "Um, sorry."

He didn't answer. Instead, his gaze shifted past her. Buffy frowned, spooked again. Details were wrong. The man was wearing only sweatpants. Giles was wearing just a robe. There were breakfast dishes on the counter. And the expression on the man's face was more apprehensive than surprised.

From behind Buffy, Willow suddenly cried, "DAD!?"

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Willow gaped at her father. "What are you doing here? And why aren't you dressed?"

Buffy realized Willow hadn't figured it out. She shot Giles an angry glance, but he was looking at Willow the way someone would look at a child teetering on a high ledge out of reach.

Ira Rosenberg took a hesitant step towards his daughter. "Willow," he said, "Rupert and I know each other. I'm not dressed because…..I have been up only long enough to have breakfast." To Buffy, he added, "Forgive me. Good morning. You must be Miss Summers."

Buffy nodded.

"Dad, why did you sleep here? Why weren't you at home?" Willow asked, her eyes going confusedly between her father and Giles.

In a soft voice, Ira said, "Willow, my dearest, please sit down and I will tell you."

Buffy planted herself in front of Giles. "You are in the deepest shit you've ever been in. Why didn't you tell her? Why didn't you tell me?"

"We were going to, but not like this," Giles replied quietly.

"Tell me what? What's going on?" Willow asked, panic edging her words. She didn't understand. Why wasn't her father at home? Why would he be at Giles' place? Where were his clothes? And why was he looking so grim?

"Upstairs!" Buffy said to Giles, with a jerk of her head.

"Excuse me, you are in *my* home," he retorted. He might back down elsewhere, but not in his own place.

Buffy wasn't impressed. She grabbed his arm and had him up five steps before he had time to blink. When they got to the loft, she shoved him down so hard on the bed, he bounced twice.

Giles opened his mouth, and she could tell by the breath he took that this was going to be loud. Buffy clamped a hand over his lips. "No, *you* listen! If it isn't serious, get out now. You'll only hurt Willow. If it is serious, I'll take your side. But I also am taking Willow's side. Got it?"

Giles' eyes widened. He hadn't expected that. Buffy tentatively took her hand off his mouth, and discovered he'd been startled into speechlessness.

"I'm not surprised, Giles," Buffy said. "I mean, I am, but not really. I'd already put you plus Ethan plus Randall, Philip, Diedre, and Eyghon orgy together, and figured out the extra footage. I thought it was something in your I'll-break-your-ass-as-soon-as-look-at-you youth."

"No," he said. "It's…..always been."

The way he spoke bothered Buffy. She sat beside him, trying to think of what to say.

Noises sounded downstairs, Ira Rosenberg's voice, then Willow's, the latter's higher-pitched than normal.

"He's married. You met her mother," Buffy said.

"Ira and his wife have been distanced for some years. By agreement, when one is home, the other isn't. Last week, he filed divorce papers."

"Willow didn't say anything," Buffy said.

"Willow doesn't yet know."

"Isn't that charming?" Buffy muttered. Giles didn't reply. She glanced at him; he was straining to hear the exchange down below.

"How long has this been going on, Giles? I knew you knew him, but I didn't know about the extreme togetherness."

"We've just started that…..last bit."

Downstairs suddenly silenced. Buffy held her breath, waiting.

The front door banged.

"Oh God, Willow!" Buffy ran down the stairs, past Willow's father who had half-risen from the couch and seemed suspended in a tableau. By the time Buffy caught up, Willow was out of the condominium courtyard and in the street. Moving erratically, Willow ran into a mailbox and a bicycle rack before Buffy could stop her.

"Will!" Buffy grabbed her friend's hands. Willow was sobbing so hard, she'd soaked the neck of her sweater.

"Don't cry," Buffy said. "Don't cry."

"M-m-my *father*!"

"I know," Buffy said, hugging Willow to her and letting her hide her face from people passing by.

"How could G-Giles?"

"Giles doesn't want to hurt you, Willow. Believe me."

Willow stepped away and shook her head so hard, her whole body shook. "They were, um, jogging. They were jogging and met and decided to have breakfast. That's what it was."

"Will, don't."

"They had tea and talked about urns and fossils."

"Willow, no urns. No fossils. They, uh, had sex. I could smell it on Giles."

"No! My father is married to my mother!"

Gently, Buffy asked, "What did your father say to you before you ran out?"

"He said…..that he was sorry." Willow folded up into a small huddle on a store's doorstep. The way she abruptly slid down scared Buffy, even as the latter was fascinated by the way Willow's stomach and legs all at once bent in on themselves.

"When my parents found out about Tara, my mother was upset. *Really* upset," Willow said, little shudders of her crying running through her words. "But my father said it was fine, as long as Tara was a good person and made me happy. My mother yelled at him. She said, "Oh, you *would* say that!" I didn't understand…..until now."

Buffy crouched down. "What else did your father say this morning?"

"He and my mother are….." Willow's face changed, became crimson and angry. "My parents' marriage is over because of Giles."

"No, Will," Buffy said. "This hurts. I know how much it hurts. I used to listen to my parents fighting. I know what that's like. And Giles is part of this, but he's not all of it."

"Giles has been right in front of me, Buffy. Right in front of me! And he never said anything. How he could look at me and *not* say anything? Isn't that the same as lying to me?"

Buffy felt a jolt of old remorse, and a memory of Giles standing in his library office came before her eyes. "He tortured me for hours. For pleasure." And her utter incomprehension that she had been betraying him so deeply. "Willow, sometimes speaking is so hard."

"Like those times when Xander and I looked right at Oz, and never said anything," Willow said slowly and bitterly. "But we didn't have sex."

Is that the line, Buffy wondered? Is that the line between quasi-ok and all-out deceit?

She heard a car pull to the curb behind her. Buffy turned. It was Giles' beemer, and Ira Rosenberg was getting out of the passenger side.

The men had dressed in a hurry. Giles hadn't buttoned up his shirt and Ira's sweater was crumpled, as if he'd put it on in the car.

Buffy got up from her crouch and took a spot between Willow and the men. Giles got out of the driver's side, but remained standing in the street. Ira stopped a few feet away.

This was the first good look Buffy took of him. Willow had inherited her copper-bronze hair and her lithe build from her father, but that seemed to be it. Ira Rosenberg was tall. He stood without fidgeting, gaze steady. He looked as if he could stand there forever, in silence. That look explained why Xander had told Buffy that Willow's father was intimidating.

Willow picked a spot on the cement and stared at it. At last, Ira said, "The way you ran out frightened me. Come home and we'll--"

"No," Willow told him. "I'm not getting in *his* car."

"The street is not the place to be talking about this, and I will not leave you here in such a state." Ira's voice softened. "Willow, you have known Mr. Giles for some years. Your anger at him is not fair. Be angry at me."

Willow didn't budge from her chosen spot. Ira continued, "Daughter, get in the car. We shouldn't be having this conversation in public."

"Appearances are the most important to you, aren't they?" Willow said, still unmoving.

Buffy intercepted. "I'll take care of her. I'll walk her home." Without waiting for an answer, Buffy propelled Willow down the sidewalk. A relief to get away, as quite a few people were staring now. Also, she needed to sort out her own feelings on the Giles' situation, and it wasn't easy with him standing right in front of her.

"Did you know?" Willow asked harshly.

"No."

"I thought you did. You're not upset or hitting things."

"I found out when you did. And I'd be upset if we'd walked in on it and Giles was drunk. Sober Giles is careful Giles, though."

"I used to think that."

"He's the same Giles," Buffy said.

"No," Willow said, "because where'd this come from? There was Miss Calendar and Olivia and now my *father*? And, and, I didn't know that my father would…..that he….."

"Where'd Tara come from?"

"You knew she was my friend before…..before the other. I didn't even know that Giles and my father knew each other."

"Your father has a lot of books on Sunnydale's history," Buffy said. "And Giles borrows them every so often."

"How do you get from borrowing books to, you know?" Willow said defensively. "Which one of them started it?"

"That part I'm not real clear on," Buffy said. "The same as I don't know how you and Tara got to you know either, but I'm dealing."

"This isn't one of your parents."

Buffy had the sense to stop talking then. She *did* understand about the parent thing, though she'd never spoken of the band candy night to any of the gang. Thinking about parents having sex was icky, in the worst way.

As for Willow's parents, Willow had once admitted that the Rosenberg marriage was of the ultra-crappy variety. They were rarely home at the same time. It was pretty much the same as a separation. Perhaps Willow had, in her more depressed moments, wondered if her parents were cheating during their times away from home. But this was the reality right in front of her. Clear evidence. Nothing vague about it at all.

If Buffy's father's roaming 'activities' were anything to go by, she doubted Giles was the first person Mr. Rosenberg had been with. Her father had been pretty damn active long before the separation came up. She figured, gay or straight, guys were guys and that was their pattern. As for Giles being part of a guy-guy, well, that wasn't a stretch. She'd seen him stutter and flail over and over when trying to talk to Miss Calendar, and she knew (even from her limited vantage point) that Olivia and Giles didn't have much of an emotional connection either. Olivia had come looking for a man she'd met long ago, and hadn't found him. Yet put Ethan in front of Giles for two seconds, and emotions came up with the force of hurricanes. Ethan had gone much deeper than either of the two women. As her aunt used to say, I don't need to tell you. it's right in front of your face.

Then, despite her earlier decision to keep her mouth shut, Buffy offered perhaps the worst opinion possible. "Will, I'm guessing you don't know your dad at all."

The incredibly hurt look she received silenced her for the rest of the walk.

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