Title: The Island
Author: Sweetdoggie
Email: (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
Pairing: B/G
Rating: R
Summary: Plane crash, island, lots of rope-making, B/G goodness
Spoilers: Season 6ish
Disclaimer: No permission has been granted to use the characters. They are owned by their creator, Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB, and Mutant Enemy. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.

Notes: Have fun with this.

Buffy looked at the small plane. “Uhn-uhn. No way am I getting into that thing, Giles.” She planted her feet, hands on hips. “I do not like to ride in big airplanes, but a small one is out of the question. There is no way in Hell I am getting on that plane!”

Giles tried to hide his smile. It wasn’t often that his Slayer betrayed any signs of nervousness. He had given her Valium to get her to make the flight from LA to Hawaii. Now she was refusing both the Valium and the plane that would take them on the second leg of their journey.

“Really, Buffy. Flying is much safer than driving a car. The odds are much smaller that anything might happen to you. Be a good girl and get on the plane, now.”

“Nope. Not going to happen, Giles. Besides, you know the old story, its not me I’m worried about, it’s the pilot! What happens if his number’s up, eh! Then we all buy the farm! No way are you getting me on that death trap.”

“Now, Buffy,” he spoke in a soothing, reasonable tone of voice, “there’s nothing to be frightened over. This is a very short trip and we will be done with it in an hour. I’ve made arrangements for a boat to bring us back, so you won’t have to fly again. I wouldn’t let anything happen to my Slayer, now would I?” He had taken her by the hand and led her to the tiny aircraft. He got behind her and boosted her into the open door. “Be good and strap yourself in. I’ll be up in just a moment.”

He went to speak to the pilot to tell the man not to delay. It had taken nearly an hour to coax Buffy into the plane and he wasn’t about to lose his headway. He went back to the plane and boarded. The ground crew closed the door, and soon he could hear the pilot reading off his checklist. Everything must have been OK because the motor of the craft started up and they began taxiing down the small runway. He noticed that Buffy had a death grip her seat, her eyes were tightly scrunched shut and her lips appeared to be moving in prayer. He smiled, amused. She was such a brave girl; it seemed odd that she would have a simple fear of flying. He briefly wondered if it were because she wasn’t in control of the aircraft but was wholly dependent on the unknown pilot. He pondered the thought.

Buffy was terrified almost to the point of catatonia. She couldn’t move, could barely breathe in fact. Her muscles had locked up so tightly that she knew she would soon have tremendous muscle-spasms if she couldn’t relax. She braced for the pain, hoping it might take her mind off the flight.

After the first thirty minutes or so, she was able to relax enough to take a deep breath. Giles held her hand and stroked her arm soothingly. He had kept up a spate of calm, meaningless banter the entire time they had been in the air. She was able to actually reflect on how much she loved the man sitting next to her.

Suddenly, the plane dived in the air. They heard the pilot give a harsh yelp and the plane began loosing altitude. Giles quickly unbuckled his seat belt and made his way forward. The man was slumped over the controls. Giles felt for his pulse, but found nothing. The pilot was dead. He quickly moved him out of the control seat and grabbed the steering column to level the plane off. He was able to stop their plunge, but he had no idea as to where they were. He kept the plane on an even keel and debated what to do.

Suddenly, to the east, he spotted a small island. He carefully turned the plane towards it. As the island rapidly approached he assessed their chances of surviving a crash landing. He decided they weren’t too bad if he could bring the plane down in the water. He cut their speed and slowly brought the plane down. It hit the water with a surprising bounce and skipped like a stone several times before settling down. It plowed through the water until it hit the sandy beach and came to a stop. Giles had hit his head at the first bump, but was otherwise all right.

He called for Buffy and was just in time to see her kick the door of the plane open and jump into the sand. He climbed down with her, the adrenaline rush still pumping strongly through his body.

His Slayer looked at him. “Oh, yeah. That was way safer than a car trip, Giles.” She looked around. “Where’s the driver?”

“I’m afraid he must have had a heart attack. He’s quite dead.”

“See! I told you! Didn’t I tell you that when it’s the pilot’s time to go, they try to take everybody with them?”

“I can see your not going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Hey, when I’m right, I’m usually way right!” She looked around. “So where are we, anyhow?”

“I haven’t got a clue, really. Somewhere in the South Pacific, I should suppose.” He was feeling rather snarky and put upon.

“Ha, ha. That is just so clever. Oh please stop, my sides are splitting.” She delivered in a deadly monotone.

She got up and slowly walked down the beach. There was absolutely no sign of human habitation. The forest was dense and path-free. She was sure there were probably bugs as big as kittens in the heavy foliage. She was also pretty sure they were simply waiting for her to walk by so they could drop in her hair. She shuddered.

Giles stood and followed her. “We need to find some spot of high ground so we can get our bearings. Maybe we just landed on the uninhabited side of the island.”

She gave him a look that could have frozen water and began climbing a tall palm tree. When she reached the top, she looked around. At first she could see nothing, but then off toward the center of the island, she thought she saw a flash of metal.

She pointed the direction out to Giles who marked it with a stick in the sand.

“What are we going to do with the dead guy?” she queried. “I don’t think we should just leave him. He might attract wild animals or something. Plus, its gross having dead bodies laying around.”

“I suppose you’re right. We should bury him. Let’s look through the plane and see what sort of tools and supplies are available.”

Buffy thought that was a fair idea and began to help him. They found some camping supplies, several canvas tarps, a small hand axe, a folding shovel, some freeze-dried packets of food and a water purification kit.

“Oh, I say!” said Giles happily. “This will come in quite handy.” He held up the kit excitedly.

Buffy took it and read the directions. “Oh, goody. If we follow the directions carefully this will allow us to drink our own urine.” She looked at him. “I am never getting on another damn airplane again. I don’t care if there is a prophecy telling me that I’m going to find a huge pot of gold, get three really good wishes, and find Prince Charming at the end of the rainbow. No more planes!”

Giles didn’t even try to hide his grin. “Now, now. You must be tired, Buffy. And as we all know from experience, a tired Slayer is a cranky Slayer. What do you say we bury the pilot and then have a nice nap? I’m sure we’ll both feel better after a bit of a lie down.”

Buffy snorted but grabbed the folding shovel and walked toward the forest. She got to the edge of the beach and began digging. Even with her Slayer strength it still took several hours to did a grave deep enough to bury the pilot. The tiny shovel was about as useful as a teaspoon, she thought. Luckily, she had her anger to help her out.

She and Giles carried the body to the grave and rolled it in. Buffy made Giles fill in the hole. When they were done, they stood there for a few moments thinking that something else was probably necessary. Buffy looked at Giles. "You probably know some sort of prayer or something, don’t you? Why don’t you say a few words.”

“Uh, Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Heavenly Father, we don’t know if this man was good or bad, but he is in your hands now. Please take care of him. Amen.”

“Amen.” Echoed Buffy.

They made their way back to the plane and carefully set up their camp for the night. Giles built a small fire and they ate something nasty from a packet. The label said it was beef stroganoff. Buffy thought it tasted like cardboard and worms in gravy.

“Say, Giles. Don’t airplanes have radios and those black box thingys? They can always find them on TV. Probably all we need to do is sit around for a couple of days and we’ll be fine.”

“Well, I tried the radio already. It’s quite dead. As for this aircraft having a “black box,” I rather doubt it ran to anything quite so high tech.”

Buffy silently assimilated this depressing news. “OK, how about we build a big bonfire and keep it going all night. Maybe somebody would be flying over it and see it.”

“Not a bad plan, but I don’t know if we have enough wood to do it more than once. We should keep it for emergencies-maybe only light the signal fire when we see or hear an airplane.”

“That makes sense,” Buffy agreed. “Tomorrow morning we need to start exploring this place. I guess we need to find fresh water because I am so not looking forward to drinking processed pee.”

Giles grinned. “That isn’t really on my list of ‘things-I-want-to-do-before-I-die,’ either.” He paused, gazing into their tiny fire. “You know, this is really sort of relaxing, in a way. We don’t have to worry about being eaten by Vampires, there are no demons to fight, and we are both alive and unhurt, stranded together on a tropical paradise. Some people would say this is terribly romantic.”

Buffy slid her eyes across her Watcher. “Hmmm. I guess it could be interpreted that way, except for the pee-drinking part, I mean.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “That goes without saying.”

Buffy got up and moved over to where he lay sprawled on the sand. She put her arm around his waist and spooned against him. “I’m just glad I’m stranded with you. Can you imagine being here with Xander or Anya?” She giggled at his heartfelt groan.

He rolled over so they were face to face. His look was serious. He reached out a hand and cupped her cheek gently. “I’m so sorry, Buffy. If we hadn’t needed to explore that prophecy none of this would have happened.”

She hugged him. “’S, OK, Giles. Not your fault. We do what we have to do to keep the world safe, this time we just happened to get stranded on a tropical island. Hey, it could have been way worse! We could have been on our way to Alaska or Antarctica or somewhere really cold.”

“Very true.” He smiled happily. “I’m sure that a positive outlook will work wonders for us in the days to come. Good show, Buffy!"

She tried not to look pleased by his praise, but she was. Somehow, a few words from Giles meant more than a whole speech from other people. She hugged him again. “I guess we need to figure out what to do about sleeping. I don’t think lying on the ground on this beach is a real good idea. I’ve seen enough nature specials to know that crabs and turtles and stuff come up out of the water sometimes. I don’t know what to do for a crab bite, so maybe we should sleep in the plane for tonight.”

“Very practical,” Giles complimented. They climbed to their feet and entered the small plane. Buffy looked around and decided that there would be more room without the seats. She anchored her feet on the floor and ripped them out one at a time, passing them to Giles to put outside for the night.

They found a couple of blankets in the back of the plane that served to pad the floor somewhat. The space was cramped so they rolled close to each other and drifted off to sleep, both exhausted from the days events.

Giles woke first, his frame curved around the soft warmth of a female body. It had been so long since he had felt that particular sensation that he was momentarily stunned. He smelled her hair and caught the light scent of vanilla. It was Buffy. Why, he wondered, was Buffy in his bed, and why was his bed so dratted uncomfortable? Gradually, his memories of the previous day filtered through his brain. He leaned over the girl beside him and gently shook her awake.

“Buffy, Buffy dear, we need to get up. We have a lot to do today.” He smiled when she tried to burrow her face into his chest.

“Five more minutes, I promise I’ll get up.” She moaned.

“No, we need to get up now, Buffy.” He stroked her hair softly.

Gradually, her eyes opened. “Giles! What are you doing in my bed?” She stretched uncomfortably. “And why is it so uncomfortable?”

He grinned to hear her echo his exact thoughts. “Remember our little adventure yesterday?”

“Oh, God! I was hoping that was just a nightmare.” She rolled onto her back and sat up. She rubbed her hip, sore from contact with the floor of the plane. “Boy, I’ve felt better. How are you?”

“Probably in worse shape than you are seeing as how I have an additional twenty years weighing down these old bones.” He groaned and stretched himself.

She looked at him closely. “Hey! You’ve got a beard thing going on! Cool!”

He dragged his hand across his face, wincing as it rasped on his whiskers. “I’d like to shave, but I only have an electric razor. Not much use in this situation, I suppose.”

Buffy looked at him and grinned. “I’m not hating it.” She reached out and stroked her palm along his jaw. “Oooo! It’s all manly and stuff. Neat.”

He blushed. “Here now, none of that sass, miss. Let’s figure out what we need to carry with us and head off to that bit of metal you thought you saw yesterday.”

They ate another packet of something vile and drank sparingly of the bottled water. Both went off into the bushes to relieve themselves and then headed back to the plane to load up for their trek.

Buffy tied a shirt over her hair. “I am not going to have bug-things and bird poop falling into it. Yuk!”

Giles hid a smile behind his hand. Sometimes she could be so young.

They carefully worked their way through the forest, keeping a sharp eye out for snakes, but saw none. They passed several different types of trees, and once stumbled onto a grassy meadow whose growth came nearly to Buffy’s ears. Giles used a stick to beat the grass ahead of them, just in case.

It was mid-day before they reached the bit of metal that Buffy had spotted. It turned out to be the remains of some sort of metal shed or small building. Its roof had deteriorated, but the walls were still mostly intact, though quite rickety. Close by, they found a pool of fresh water complete with a small waterfall. Giles remarked that it was quite beautiful.

“So, what do you think this place was?” Buffy questioned.

“Well, it’s rather difficult to say, but I suspect that this island was, at one time, an airfield.” He pointed out the now completely overgrown runway. “See how that growth is newer than the rest of the forest? I don’t think this place can have been abandoned more than ten or fifteen years.”

“At least we have fresh water.” She sighed with pleasure. “I’m pig dirty and I need a bath.”

He sniffed himself rather judiciously. “I find myself in much the same state. He gestured toward the pool. “Please, you go first.”

Buffy looked at him speculatively. She looked at the pool, then back to him. “Giles, we’re both adults who happen to be really hot and smelly right now. I think we both need to get clean as soon as possible and I don’t feel right about going first. You’re just as grubby as I am, after all. Why don’t we share the pool?”

He turned an alarming shade of red. “B, Buffy! That wouldn’t be proper! It’s not as if we’re used to sharing such intimacies. I’m your authority figure, your Watcher. You are essentially my ward, my Slayer.”

Buffy laughed merrily. “Authority figure? Giles when did I ever care about authority? Now, come on. Get out of those skanky clothes. We can wash them at the same time.”

He watched, mesmerized as she neared the pool, disrobing as she went. When she was totally naked, she laid her clothing out on a nearby rock and turned to look at him. “Well, come on, Giles. This feels so good, you won’t believe it.”

He shakily approached the pool, slowly shedding his clothes. He hesitated for almost a full minute before pulling off his sweaty boxer shorts. She was right. His clothes were skanky. He quickly stepped into the cool water. It felt like paradise. He carefully scrubbed his sweaty body while avoiding looking at her. She did the same, but wasn’t above sneaking a few quick peeks.

His body was very interesting, thought Buffy. Though he wasn’t totally muscular, he was still nicely put together. She liked the effect the chest hair had when it was slicked down with water. The scars on his body made her flinch at the knowledge of how much pain he had endured, most of it for her. She noticed how yummy his tush was; firm and tight, even at forty-two. His legs were long and hairy, but very muscular. She supposed that was the result of his daily jogging regimen.

When they had finished bathing, they worked on their clothes. It took only a few minutes to rinse them under the pressure of the waterfall. With no soap, it was the best they could do. Giles had gotten over his shyness to the extent that he was able to sit on a rock next to Buffy while their garments dried without too much embarrassment.

“It looks to me as if that hut thing is built on a cement foundation.” Buffy commented.

“Yes, I believe that you are correct. The walls, however, do not look very secure. I think the entire building might fall down if you touched it.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. But the cement floor is too good to pass up, so I was wondering if we could somehow build a hut out of all this foresty stuff?”

“How would we put it together? We have some very limited tools, no hammer or nails, no rope, not much of bloody anything, really.”

“I never thought I would say this, but I guess the ten summers I spent at camp have finally paid off. I think I can make some twine out of all that grass we saw a ways back. It looked strong. We could cut tons of bamboo and tie it together, maybe notch the joints for extra strength. Then we could cut a bunch of palm fronds and overlap them to make walls. Lots of work, though.”

“That’s a remarkable idea, Buffy. We might as well try it since it’s not as if we have a great deal to keep us occupied.” He stood up and pulled on his pants. “No point in dressing up fancy for this, I suppose. I’d just have to wash everything again.”

She grinned and pulled on her shorts and T-shirt, leaving off the bra. “Yeah, you’re right. Too hot for extras.”

She looked around. “Why don’t you knock the tin thing down and I’ll go cut some of that grass and see what I can come up with?”

He nodded. “Be careful, Buffy.”

They were right in that the hut fell down when he leaned on it. He carefully pulled the sheet metal off to the side of the clearing. He didn’t want Buffy to cut herself. When he was done with that, he set about cleaning the cement slab of ten years of accumulated muck. When he was reasonably pleased with his efforts, he went back to the pool for a quick dip.

He thought about what had happened earlier that day. How had Buffy ever gotten the courage to remove her clothing and somehow make him remove his? His skin felt tight at the thought of her beautiful body, exposed to his view. It had felt strange, but right somehow. He had loved her for years, since the day he had first seen her, in fact. Because she was still essentially a child, he had pushed those thoughts away. But, as he had seen today, she was no longer a child. Her twenty-year-old body was ripe, her skin firm, her breasts perky. He had wanted to cup them in his large hands, cover her soft bottom with kisses and love bites, plunge himself into her welcoming core and take her over and over again. Luckily, the water had been cool enough to help quell those thoughts, though he wondered how he would manage if they were stuck on this island for very long. Somehow, he was shedding the inhibitions that civilization imposed on him, and he was enjoying it.

Buffy returned after several hours with a huge pile of grass that she had somehow tied to her back. She sat down in the shade and pulled a few strands of grass from the pile. After grabbing them at one end, she began rolling them toward her using her thigh as a table. Soon, a thin strand had formed. She added several more lengths and continued rolling. It was quickly obvious that the method, while time consuming, was working rather well.

Giles was amazed. “Where on Earth did you learn how to make twine?”

Buffy looked up from her monotonous chore, but her hands continued to spin the growing pile of string. “Every summer, my parents made me go to camp for three months. Camps are usually big on craft-type things, and it’s usually so hideously boring that you learn it just to have something to do. One summer I made rope.”

Giles knew that many affluent American families thought children benefited from being sent to ‘camp.’ He had read of the practice, but it always sounded so odd, he assumed he must have been missing some vital part of the equation. “Tell me about camp,” he requested eagerly.

“Well, let’s see. My folks told me that I was going to camp for the summer the first time when I was five. I didn’t understand what that meant, and when they took me and then left without me, I was terrified. Three months without seeing your mom or dad is really a long time for a five-year-old kid. I cried a lot, but I learned how to sew together bits of leather to make a wallet.” She smiled reluctantly. “It was really ugly, but I worked for hours learning how to lace stuff together. It was hard. My fingers were so short and chubby I could barely hold the laces. I wanted to give it to my dad, but when they never came and never came, I just figured they were never coming back. I threw it in the bottom of my suitcase and forgot about it. I think I still have it somewhere.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” he enunciated very carefully over his budding rage. “You were five years old and your parents abandoned you to the care of total strangers for three months?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it. I think they went to Europe that year, or maybe it was a cruise. Doesn’t matter, really. You know, by the time they came to get me, I could hardly remember them.” She laughed softly but without humor. “I was so lonely at that place.”

“Did you tell your parents that?” Giles grated out.

“Oh, yes. Especially when I found out that I was going to have to go back the next summer. I cried and had nightmares for months. I just dreaded seeing the summer come. I went to a different camp, but they pretty much all work the same. When I was six, I think, I learned how to swim and fish. We did all that water stuff that summer."

“You swim very well.” He searched for a non-judgmental comment to make about her parents and gave it up as a lost cause. “Is it considered normal for parents to send their children away for such extended periods of time?”

“I think most kids went to camp for six weeks, but some of us went both sessions-so that was three months.” Buffy added. “I guess it depended on how busy your folks were or something.”

“Anyway, for the next ten years I learned all sorts of out-doorsy stuff. One of which was making rope. I also know how to make netting, tie a hammock, weave, braid, build a fire without matches, and find directions with the stars."

“All of which are admirable things to know,” he complimented. “I’m sure those skills will be very helpful since we might be here for a while.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I’m practically the Professor, like on Gilligan’s Island.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand the reference.” He admitted wryly.

“Oh, it was a TV show that was already in reruns by the time I was born. It was about this group of seven people who got stranded on an island. There was this really stupid guy called Gilligan and he was always fouling things up so their rescues always got messed up. One of the characters was this man called ‘The Professor.” He was a total brain and knew how to do all kinds of stuff. Like, they had this radio, but the batteries died and he figured out some way to make batteries using salt water and copper. It was cool.”

He raised his eyebrow. “What other adventures did these people have?”

She thought about it. “Lots of times, other people came to the island but for one reason or another, they never took the castaways with them. There was one episode where a mad scientist came and switched everybody’s brains around.” She laughed. “There was an episode where the Professor thought that the Island was sinking, because the stick he used to measure water height was getting lower and lower. It turned out the Gilligan was using it to attach lobster traps to or something.”

“Who were the rest of the people on the Island?” He asked, intrigued.

“There was the Skipper, Jonas Grumby. He knew all sorts of practical stuff and he hit Gilligan with his hat a lot. Then there was Gilligan. He was a total screw-up, but really a sweet guy. Uhm, The Professor, The millionaire and his wife-Thurston Howell the Third and his wife, Lovey. They were like so totally rich that they had trunks of money with them and they were always trying to buy stuff from the other people. There was a movie-star, Ginger Grant. She was all sultry and had a bunch of ankle-length gowns with sequins, and there was the wholesome farm girl, Maryann. She made lots of coconut cream pies. It was a really great show. I’ll bet when we get home, I can find reruns on cable for you.”

“That sounds very amusing. I think I’d like to see that.” He smiled.

Buffy added confidingly, “They had a theme song too. I’ll bet every kid in America can sing it.”

“Can you?” He questioned.

“Sure, if you don’t mind dogs howling and babies crying.”

“Go ahead and sing it for me.” He requested. “I’ll try to be brave.”

“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip.
It started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The Skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers sat sail that day
For a three hour tour.
A Three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The Minnow would be lost.
The Minnow would be lost.

The ship sat ground on the shore of this
Uncharted desert Isle,
With Gilligan, the Skipper too.
The millionaire and his wife,
The movie-star, the Professor and Maryann
Here on Gilligan’s Isle.

So join us here each week, my friend
You’re sure to get a smile
With seven stranded castaways,
Here on Gilligan’s Isle.

He clapped when she finished and she blushed. “That was very entertaining, Buffy. I wasn’t really allowed to watch television when I was a child, so I don’t have many stories to tell about that sort of thing.”

“What did you do when you were a kid?” She hesitantly asked him.

“I mainly studied. My father was quite strict, you see. Watchers training begins when we are ten, so there wasn’t much time for typical childhood pursuits. I wanted to be a pilot, I recall. I studied everything I could get my hands on, till I was ten.” He paused. “I suppose that’s rather a lucky thing, else I might not have known how to land the plane.” He grinned. “I wish my father could have seen that! He always said that I was frittering my time away on worthless bits of information. I’d have liked him to know that it wasn’t as worthless as he always supposed.”

“So, your folks are dead?” Buffy asked.

“Oh, yes. My father lived long enough to see me disgrace the family name when I ran away as a young man. He thought I was never coming back.” He looked thoughtfully at the ground. “My mother passed away when I was thirteen. She just sort of faded. Father would never speak of her, so I don’t know exactly what killed her. I always thought it was living with him for twenty years.”

Buffy stopped making string and reached for his hand. “Was she a good mom, Giles?”

“Oh Lord, yes. The absolute best. She used to bring me tea when my father forbade me having dinner till I learned some bit of Watcher lore. Sometimes, she would just touch me on the shoulder or hold my hand and I knew how much she loved me.” He looked at her, bringing her hand to his mouth and gently kissing it. “She was very much like you, in some ways. She cared a great deal about things and she loved unreservedly, though perhaps not all that wisely, since she definitely loved my father.”

Buffy crawled closer to him and hugged him tightly. “I wish she could see what a good man you turned out to be, Giles. If I ever had a son, I would want him to be just like you.”

He put his arm around her and returned her hug, carefully pulling her onto his lap. He cradled her against his chest. “Surely you wouldn’t want your child to be a boring old man like me, Buffy. I’m so stuffy, even I recognize it!”

She buried her face against his chest. “You’re not stuffy, Giles. You’re reserved and you are living in a culture totally different from what you were raised in. That’s bound to make you feel unconnected sometimes. But that’s not the sort of thing I mean, anyhow. I would want my son to be kind, generous, smart as all get-out, caring, understanding, and really handsome.”

He stilled. “You think I’m handsome?”

“Hello. Out of all the stuff I said, you catch that! Of course, you’re handsome. You have beautiful eyes, a great body, lovely hands, and a really, really nice butt.”

He felt himself getting very red. “I, I, uhm, that is…” He stuttered helplessly for a few moments. “Th, thank you. I rather thought you believed I was, um, ‘old and gross.’”

“Geez, Giles. I was so jealous I would have said anything if it could have hurt you. I thought you had that figured out by now.”

“Y, you were jealous? Of, of what?”

“Well, duh! Of Olivia, or really of you and Olivia.”

“I, I had no idea that you had, had those sort of feelings for me.”

“Neither did I till I thought you belonged to somebody else. I think I had been feeling that sort of thing for a long time, but circumstances and my extreme dumbness prevented me from recognizing what was right in front of me.”

He tipped her chin up so that he could look directly into her eyes. “What exactly are your feelings, Buffy? I need to know.”

She looked at him, love reflected in her eyes. “I love you, Giles. Slayer to Watcher, Student to Teacher, Friends, and most importantly, Woman to Man. I didn’t see it for so long. There was Angel, and Riley. I let the age thing stop me even after I knew how I felt. My mom would have blown a gasket. So many obstacles and I was just too afraid of you not feeling the same. Then we crashed here and I realized that life is just way too short to worry about you not feeling the same. I know you love me, and if its father to daughter or Watcher to Slayer or just as friends, well, any of those are good.”

He gripped her upper arms tightly. “And if its man to woman, Buffy?”

She smiled happily. “Then that is the best thing ever, Gi-Rupert.”

He leaned closer to her as she tilted her face up to him. Their lips met briefly, hesitantly, then longer and more passionately. His hands stroked her back and hers touched his chest. They grew more excited and touches began to become more personal. He cupped her breast and she ran her fingers over his nipples.

Giles moaned and she felt his erection pressing against her as she wiggled on his lap. His hands were shaking as he pulled her top off and suckled on her breast.

She arched toward him, her hands running through his hair. He allowed his hands to find the snap of her shorts and very shortly thereafter, he had removed them. She reached for his pants, but he pulled back. “Let me touch you, love. Please. If I take my trousers off, this will be over much too soon.”

She allowed her hands to fall back as he proceeded to love her body with his hands, mouth, and tongue. She orgasmed against his probing tongue and begged him to come to her.

His patience was nearly gone and he removed his remaining clothing. He poised over her, barely touching her warm heat with the tip of his penis. Then he entered her and they both groaned at the feeling. He thrust into her slowly at first, then building speed and strength till they both peaked within seconds of each other. She felt his essence pumping into her body. She felt completed.

Giles collapsed on top of her, but quickly rolled to the side to prevent crushing her. “I love you, Buffy. I love you.”

“I love you too, Rupert.” She paused. “It’s OK if I call you Rupert isn’t it? It just seems wrong to call you Giles after this.” She waved her hand over their naked bodies.

He grinned contentedly. “Rupert sounds wonderful when you say it, dearest.”

They lay side by side for an hour. “You know, Rupert. We really need another dip in the pool.” Buffy finally sighed.

“Yes, I suppose you are right. We also need to finish some sort of shelter for this evening.”

“Should we go back to the plane?”

“I rather doubt we could reach it before it gets dark, and while I know how good Slayer vision is, I can’t say I fancy stumbling about in that forest myself.”

“Good point,” she commented.

They swam and got themselves cleaned up again. Buffy went back to making rope and Giles cut more bamboo. He began framing the walls. Four bamboo poles with their ends notched so they fitted snugly against each other made the basic frame. A pole was lashed against opposite corners to give it added stability. They took palm fronds and tied them in layers and fitted them over yet more bamboo, which was then attached to the frame. It was fairly quick, but they still only had two walls completed before it was too dark to work. They built a fire, purified some water and ate yet another packet of freeze-dried glop.

“We have so got to do something about food.” Buffy commented as she finished her portion. “This stuff is OK for emergencies, but, eeeeuw, I don’t want to eat it any longer than I have to.”

“Yes, it is rather vile, isn’t it? We can go forage tomorrow after we finish the hut.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She grinned and snuggled against him. “Now, since we have all that hard work done, and it’s too dark to do anything else this evening, why don’t we get back to our interesting occupation of earlier this afternoon?”

Giles grinned down at her. “You want to talk about television shows? I was rather hoping to make love to you again, myself.”

She reached out and tickled him. “You guy, you.”

They made love twice more, both vowing that a bed of some sort was an absolute necessity. Buffy had taken the remaining pile of cut grass and wrapped it inside one of the tarps, and they both laid on that, but it was still uncomfortable.

“As soon as I get a chance, I’m going to make a hammock.”

“A hammock?” He echoed.

“Hey, if it was good enough for Gilligan and the Skipper, it’s good enough for me.”

“Ah, your show. What did the others sleep on?” He asked curiously.

“Well, I think the Professor may have had a hammock too, but the girls and the Howells slept in a sort of bamboo lawn chair. Didn’t look all that comfy.”

“I’ve been wondering,” he mused. “There were three unmarried men and two pretty young women on this island, and you mentioned that they were there for a long time, did any of them form couples?”

“Oh, there were a few episodes where they tried fixing somebody up. Usually it was MaryAnn and Gilligan, but sometimes it was the Skipper and Ginger or the Professor and Ginger. Nothing apparently ever came of it, though. Gilligan and the Skipper shared a hut and so did the girls, but nothing was implied about that. I think in the reunion show twenty years later or whatever, Gilligan and MaryAnn got married. You’d think that if they were doing it for twenty years, there would have been kids.”

Giles sat bolt upright. “Oh, my God! Buffy we haven’t taken any precautions at all! It never even crossed my mind. What if you get pregnant? What if you are already pregnant?”

“Well, what if I do, or am? We love each other and we’ll deal.” She shrugged, not worried.

“But we’re stuck on this island with no proper pre-natal care facilities, no doctor to deliver the child. What if something should happen?” He gripped her arms, worried nearly sick.

“Hey, I’m a healthy girl, honey. People had babies long before they had all the fancy stuff. If we aren’t off of here in nine months, we’ll worry about that when it happens.” She yawned. “Besides, as the Slayer, this might be my only opportunity to have a child. I doubt if I could afford to be pregnant on the Hellmouth. Here we are protected, no demons, no vampires, its just you and me. I like it.”

He held her closely against him, still deeply worried, but also soothed by her calm acceptance of their situation. He knew that he should stop making love to her, or at least attempt to interrupt the act so that she would not be exposed to his semen, but he frankly doubted his ability to do either. He needed her deeply on this most fundamental level.

She looked at him, seeing his face reflected in the light of the fire. “Do you want kids, Rupert?”

He pulled her tightly against him. “I would love to have children with you, Buffy, but I worry about the primitiveness of this situation. What if something should go wrong? I have heard about births where the baby is born backwards. I wouldn’t have any idea of what to do. If you died because I was ignorant or careless, I couldn’t live with myself.”

Buffy stroked his back gently. “Don’t borrow trouble, sweetie. We could be off of here before it becomes an issue, anyhow. I figure they’re already looking for our plane. We weren’t really off course by very much. The plane is sitting on the beach in easy view. We have a flare gun and tomorrow we’ll work on building an emergency bonfire. Maybe we could even take some fuel from the plane so that we won’t have any trouble starting it. I just don’t want you to worry about something that can’t be helped.”

He looked down at her. “We could help it, though. I could simply not make love to you till we are rescued.”

She took his face between her two hands. “I don’t think that’s an option, Rupert. I need you and you need me. Besides, we could be here for months if nobody finds us. Frankly, I don’t intend to do without for that long. Something will come up, it always does.”

He sighed, resigned and pulled her towards him. “I hope you’re right, dearest.”

They slept somewhat uncomfortably on the grass-filled tarp and awoke the next morning stiff and feeling excessively grubby. After a quick swim, they began foraging for food and found plenty of tropical fruits, coconuts, and even some taro root. Giles explained how taro was a staple for peoples in the South Pacific. Buffy thought it looked like sweet potatoes. She wished they had some butter.

Buffy found out the hard way that the island had a supply of wild pigs. She was poking about in the underbrush looking for potentially useful things when an irate boar rushed her. Since she was armed only with a stick, she braced the piece of wood against the ground and let the pig run itself into it. Even though the animal was fatally wounded, it still tried to savage her a few more times before finally dropping dead at her feet. She gingerly picked up the dead animal and carried it back to camp. After dumping the beast at Giles feet, she remarked that he could butcher it.

“How come I have to butcher it?” He complained as he got out the knife.

“’Cause I killed it, and its gross, and butchering meat is obviously a guy thing.” She replied as if this made perfect sense.

He shook his head ruefully and began the nasty chore. He gagged several times, but tried breathing shallowly through his mouth, which seemed to help.

Buffy built up the fire and got out the Dutch oven they had found on the plane. She took bloody chunks of pork and began browning them in their own fat. When they were lightly browned she peeled a couple of the taro roots, diced them, and added them to the mix. She added some water and set the thing to simmer in the heat of the fire.

Giles took slices of pork and stretched them out over twigs near the fire to dry. “We’ll still need to cook this before we eat it, but it should help preserve the meat for a few days.”

They roasted chunks of flesh over the fire, but these proved to be too tough to eat. Giles decided they might make excellent fish bait, as would the offal removed from the carcass.

They scraped some of the larger bones clean and sat them aside to dry. They might be able to fashion some useful tools from them. By the time they were finished butchering the pig, they were covered in blood. “This is just gross.” Buffy commented with disgust.

“Yes,” agreed Giles. “I think that is a fair summation. We need to get clean, but I hesitate to contaminate the pool. Why don’t we go down to the ocean and get washed off there, then come back here and get the salt off?”

“Good plan,” Buffy agreed.

The trip to the ocean took less than half an hour now that the path was beaten down, but it seemed longer because the blood was drying in sticky patches on their skin. They dove into the ocean as soon as they could, clothes and all, just to get the horrid stuff off them.

Giles told Buffy not to go out very deep due to the danger of sharks. “They can scent blood in the water, you know. We probably smell delightfully like lunch to them.”

Sure enough, within ten minutes, they saw the first fin. They ran out of the water quickly, though Buffy looked speculatively at the shark. “Shark meat is really tasty, Giles. We need to keep that in mind when we need food again.”

He licked his lips. “Quite right, my dear. Now, I suppose, we had better head back to camp and make sure our pig surprise is not burning.”

The pig and taro root stew was excellent, especially after two days of freeze-dried glop. The pork was tender and succulent and the taro root, while bland, made an interesting accompaniment. Giles had found a variety of fruits and they dined in fine style.

After dinner, they dug a permanent latrine and found some soft leaves to use as toilet paper. Buffy said it was gross, but better than nothing. Giles had laughed but agreed with her. They put the finishing touches on the hut and crawled inside at the end of the day well satisfied with their work.

The next morning, Buffy showed Giles the ins and outs of rope making and he helped her twist a sturdy, tight cord together. She made a back strap loom to begin weaving the hammock on. Most of the weaving would be done free hand, she explained, but it helped to have something to brace against to keep the fibers tight. He watched in amazement as the hammock took shape under her flying fingers. She showed him the simple knot that was used in both hammock making and netting and put him to work making a fish net. Though he didn’t have her speed and grace, he soon had a nice-sized net that would probably even catch a few fish. He felt extraordinarily proud of his achievement.

He cut two poles almost as thick as his arm and drove them into the ground on the opposite sides of the hut. She helped him cut grooves in the tops to mount the hammock to. They slept on the ground again but Buffy vowed it would be for the last time. She finished the hammock the next morning. They hung it and she climbed into it with some trepidation. Bouncing around, she discovered that the device was very sturdy. Giles tentatively climbed in beside her and they giggled as they were forced together by the weight of their bodies.

“How very interesting!” Giles remarked as he rocked against an armful of warm Slayer.

“Oh, yeah?” She said smugly. “I always knew I had potential, but I like being ‘interesting.’”

Life on the island took on a sameness. They foraged for food; beach-combed, built a bonfire just in case a rescue plane should fly over, and generally lazed away the warm summer days. A month had passed before they even noticed.

One day, Buffy was weaving a mat for the floor when Giles sat down next to her to work on his rope making. Of all the things they found they needed on the island, rope and twine were paramount. “Giles, we’ve been here over a month now. Do you think they’ve given up looking for us?” She asked tentatively.

Giles looked at her tenderly. He didn’t want to frighten her, but the fact that they had not been rescued in matter of a few days concerned him. “I suspect any official search may have been called off by now, but you know that Willow and the others won’t give up.”

She nodded and went back to her work. “I thought something like that might have occurred.” She admitted. “Do you think Willow could do a locator spell on us?”

“I don’t know if she could do one at this distance. That sort of magic is fairly localized.”

“Could she do a spell to find out if we are still alive?” Buffy asked.

“Oh, yes. That is certainly possible. I’m sure it has occurred to her to do so. I think we can safely say that our friends know we are alive and may even know our general location.”

“Can you do any sort of magic that would make us, oh, I don’t know, more attractive to planes flying over?” Buffy asked him.

“Well, I don’t have a spell book or any ingredients, but I might be able to do something. Let me think about it, love. Magic isn’t something you want to leap into blindly.”

She smiled at him. “I love that you call me that.”

He returned her smile sweetly. “I love you. I love everything about you. When I’m away from you, I can hardly bear it.” He pulled her into his arms. “Do you know why I don’t mind more being stuck on this island? It’s because I know you’re safe. No vampires, no demons, nothing evil to take you from me. No Watcher’s Council to tell me I’m doing wrong by you.”

She looked at him strangely. “Why would they care what we do, Giles? You can’t tell me that in the bazillion years of Watchers and Slayers none of them ever loved each other before?”

“Oh, no. Actually that’s quite common. What they would be upset about is not the fact that we are lovers, but that I have exposed you to pregnancy and that I’ve not married you out of hand.”

“Well, I understand the pregnancy part. I’m sure a preggy Slayer sort of puts a spanner in the works, but why would they want us to be married?”

He looked down at her, surprised. “Because a man, especially a man my age, does not get a girl pregnant and not marry her immediately. It, it, well, it makes him a cad.”

Buffy rolled her eyes but kissed him on the chin. “Geez, the Watchers need to step into the new millennium. Women get pregnant all the time and unless there’s a dad with a shotgun standing behind them, guys never get forced into marriage.”

He looked stern. “No, in this case, I’m afraid they are quite correct, Buffy. When we get off this island, my first action will be to marry you.”

Buffy sat up. “Giles, I have no desire to be married because the Council thinks it’s the thing to do. When I marry, I want it to be because my man can’t live without me in his life, that I can’t live without him. Sure, a baby would be hard, but single moms are practically the norm.”

He pulled her back into his embrace and squeezed her till she squeaked. “Never think I only want to marry you for any baby we might produce, or just to appease a rather strict moral code. I love you so much, my dear, that I really can’t picture a life that doesn’t have you in it. I hope you feel the same about me?” He sounded insecure.

She hugged him back. “Of course I do, Giles. It was just the way you explained it. I would marry you in a heartbeat, not because we might have a baby, but because of who you are, what you mean to me. I couldn’t live in a world that didn’t have you in it.”

He drew her even closer to him and kissed her hair. “I love you.” He said simply.

She smiled and wrapped her arm around his waist. “I love you too. Now, I think we need to train. We have kind of slacked off lately and we need to burn up some energy.” He agreed with her and went to retrieve the simple bamboo staves he had made. They worked out for a good hour. Sweat was pouring down their faces when they finally stopped. “See! I told you we need to do this more often! Neither of us should be winded after just an hour.”

Giles was rather surprised that they had gotten so out-of-shape, but consoled himself with the thought that staying alive on the island had first priority. They had needed to settle into a routine. Now that they were assured a good food supply, had fresh water and a place to live, they could afford to turn their attention to luxuries like training.

“You’re quite right, love. It certainly wouldn’t hurt us to work a little harder on our exercise. How about a run on the beach every morning?” He suggested.

“Good idea!” Buffy seconded. “It’s not that I like running, but I need to do more of it than I have been doing.” She looked down at her lap. “Rope making is necessary, but it doesn’t do much for lung capacity or upper body strength.”

After that they worked out for several hours every day. Giles taught her moves she had never seen before and she grew even faster than she had been. All in all, they enjoyed themselves immensely. It was the vacation they could never have taken voluntarily because the Hellmouth required all their attention. They both became very tanned and Buffy’s hair, which she had regularly dyed blond, grew out to its natural light brown color and then began lightening from the constant exposure to the sun. Giles remarked one day how beautiful her natural hair color was.

“Why do you dye it, sweetheart?” He asked curiously as they lay on the beach one afternoon.

“Wanted to be blond one day so I thought I’d just give it a try. It’s not a bad look for me, you know.” She grinned at him.

“Believe me, I know.” He returned her look. “Will you keep it natural when we get home?”

She pondered the thought. She had been various shades of blond for over six years, maybe it was time to give it a break. “Sure, I could do that. It means a lot less work and expense for me. I understand that ‘blonds have more fun,’ but I have a man all of my own now, so I can afford to let myself go some.” She laughed when he tossed a hand full of sand on her tummy.

*****************************************************************************************

By the end of the third month, they were both getting fairly tired of paradise. Buffy had developed morning sickness and was heartily wishing she could just have a nice hot cup of tea and a piece of dry toast to sooth her wobbly tummy. Giles was frantic to find a way to get them home. He began experimenting with assorted location spells, but nothing seemed to work.

Time passed slowly. Giles began taking more and more chances with his magical endeavors till Buffy put her foot down. “Giles, either we will be rescued or not, but I will not have you kill yourself trying to get us off this island.”

He attempted to argue. “But, Buffy, the baby…”

She cut him off. “The baby will take care of itself, honey. If you blow yourself up, how am I going to have this kid? Huh? I can’t do this alone.”

He sighed and nodded. “Very well, I won’t attempt anything dangerous.”

She looked at him; arms crossed and tapped her bare foot. “Oh, all right!” He capitulated. “I’ll stop completely.”

She smiled and hugged him. “See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

He frowned at her. “I still don’t see how we are going to get off this island without magical assistance, but I will bow to your wishes in this instance.” He was still unhappy but had heard that pregnant women must be humored and he didn’t want to upset her.

Buffy shrugged. “These things always work themselves out. We could stress ourselves to death wondering what’s going on in Sunnydale. Who’s taking care of my sister? What’s happened to our friends? But what good would it do? I mean really?”

Giles sighed. “You are, of course, quite correct, Buffy. There really isn’t a great deal we can do except relax and enjoy our enforced vacation.” He looked at her and marveled at the incredible beauty that she had become. Pregnancy suited her. Her breasts had gained a little fullness and her tummy was just starting to show. Only someone intimately acquainted with her body would see the difference, he thought. It was a wonder to him to think of a child of his growing inside her. He wondered if it would be a boy or a girl.

Daydreaming, he lay back and thought about the possibilities. Would his child want to be a Watcher? He could see a serious-faced little boy bent over a book, or maybe a tiny little girl asking him the meaning of a word. He smiled softly. “Buffy?”

“Hmmmm?” She didn’t open her eyes.

“Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?” He asked her.

“I don’t know. Does it matter?” She responded.

“No, of course not. I was just thinking about it. Do you think the child would want to be a Watcher?” He rolled over on his side and looked at her.

“I just don’t know, Rupert. It would be great if he or she got your intelligence, but what if they get mine? Yikes!” She laughed.

“Buffy! You know you are a very intelligent young woman. Any child would be deeply pleased to be as smart as you!” He protested automatically.

“Giles, I’m not dumb, but I’m not book girl either. If our child wants to be a Watcher that’s great, but if they don’t that’s fine with me too. As long as we don’t have a daughter who turns out to be a Slayer, I’m OK with whatever they want to do.” She told him.

“You wouldn’t want our daughter to be the Slayer?” He asked.

“Well, no, now that you mention it. It would be the absolutely last thing I would want my daughter to do.” She stretched slowly. “The extra strength and healing is nice, no getting around that, but the penalties…dying young, losing your sense of self, becoming a hardened killer, no, not what I want for our daughter.”

“Is that how you see yourself? A hardened killer?” He said horrified.

She glanced over at him. “Yes. That’s how I see myself. I kill things, evil things, yes, but I still kill them. And the really scary part is, I like it. When I stake a vampire or rip the throat out of a demon with my bare hands, I like it. There is a rush when the life leaves the body, Giles, and I’m tuned in to it. I can feel the things die and it makes me feel good.”

“Surely that’s because you know you have eliminated some bit of evil from existence, Buffy, not simply because you enjoy the kill.” He said.

“Some. I know that really is some of it. I feel like I’ve done my job when another nasty bites the dust, but it isn’t all of it. I know how Faith felt when she killed the Deputy Mayor. She was horrified that she had taken a human life, but also because it really didn’t feel any different than killing a monster. Dead is dead, you know? I think she just had a slightly lower threshold than me for being able to feel things. I was so lucky in my Watchers and in my friends, even in my parents to some extent. Having all of you in my life kept me from being her.”

“Buffy, you could never be like Faith. She wasn’t strong like you, she couldn’t love like you do, she had no faith in her duty, no knowledge that she was fighting for the greater good. With Faith, it was all for her, her amusement if you will. She enjoyed herself just as well working for the forces of Evil as in fighting them. Tell me, could you ever see yourself fighting for the Mayor instead of against him?” He probed gently.

She thought about it. “No. I guess I couldn’t do that, no matter how bad I was. It just wouldn’t be right. It would make the sacrifice of my life, of all the Slayer’s lives, worthless.” She rolled over next to him and hugged him hard. “Thank you, Giles. Thank you a thousand times. I’ve always had such a deep fear that I was like her, but you made me see that I’m not. Thank you.”

He held her close. “There is one other difference, dearest. I love you with all my heart and soul. I could never have loved her, even if I had raised her since she was a child.”

Buffy chuckled tearily. “That’s because you and I were destined, Rupert. You and I, not you and Faith, not Angel and I, not Riley and I, not you and Olivia or you and Jenny, or even you and my Mom. We are together because we were meant to be together. That’s one of the reasons I’m not all that concerned about getting off the island. I think this is a reward from the Powers that Be. I really do. They gave us to each other and they gave us a child to love. I can’t think of another way that we could have done this without getting killed, can you?”

He rocked her gently against him. “No, my love. I don’t know of any other way. Maybe you are right. You are the Slayer and yours are the powers. If that is how you believe it to be, then, I have no doubt you are correct.”

They made gentle love to each other for the rest of the afternoon before making their way back to their hut for a swim.

Buffy was well into the fifth month of her pregnancy when they discovered the bunker. As the baby grew inside her, she had grown rather unwieldy and spent more time resting. The most exercise she could do now was a gentle walk on the beach. She didn’t tell Giles, but her size was starting to worry her. Normal pregnancies didn’t get this big this fast. Being a man and totally unconcerned with babies except the making thereof, he had never studied the phenomena and so was unaware of all but the most blatant physical changes in her body.

Early one morning as she was strolling through the underbrush she saw the glint of metal off to the right of the path. Curious as to what it could be, she walked carefully over to it and discovered that it was a metal ring about ten inches in diameter. It seemed to be set into some sort of flat piece of metal. Picking up a stick, she cleared the forest muck, dirt, and plants away from what turned out to be a trap door nearly two feet square. It was set into the ground in a heavy-looking metal frame. There were strong bolts holding it closed. Looking at them closely, she could see they were welded closed by time and rust.

She was excited. After five months of nothing new, this seemed fascinating. She took careful note of the location and went to find Giles. “Giles! Giles” she called excitedly.

He looked up from his net making and saw her hurrying towards him. He stood up quickly. “Buffy! Are you hurt! Oh, God, not the baby?” He was babbling in fear as he reached her.

“No, we’re fine. I found something, it looks exciting!” She grabbed his hand and dragged him back down the path. After showing him the trap door, she stepped back and crossed her arms. “What do you think it is?” She asked.

His heart rate had finally dropped back toward something approaching normal. He was deeply worried about her and the child. When he had seen her rushing towards him he had automatically assumed that something had happened to her. Thank God it was nothing. “Buffy, you frightened me out of ten years growth! Please don’t do that again!” He looked at the trap door. “Hmmm. I wonder if there is some sort of underground storage facility here. It would make sense. Anything left above ground would quickly deteriorate, but something placed in a cement bunker could theoretically keep for years.” He bent down and examined the bolts.

“These seem to be quite securely welded into place. I doubt that I will be able to loosen them up. He looked at her. “If we lugged a couple of rocks here, could you bash them free? I wouldn’t want you to exert yourself too much. I could carry the rocks for you.”

She looked at the bolts. “I think maybe the back of the hatchet would be a better bet. What do you think?”

“Good idea. Why don’t you rest here and I’ll run back and fetch it.” He stood up again, brushing the forest debris off his knees.

“Better bring a rope too. We might need it.” She told him.

“Yes, good idea. How about a torch as well?” She nodded.

She sat down on a nearby rock and waited for him to return. It took him a good twenty minutes but he came back bearing the hatchet, torch, a long coil of rope, fire-making tools, and some water for Buffy.

Raising her eyebrow, she thanked him and took a small sip. He encouraged her to eat fruit and drink plenty of water on the theory that this was good for sick people so it was probably good for pregnant women as well. She picked up the hatchet and smacked the sealed bolts free in a couple of blows. Before she could reach the iron ring to pull the door up, Giles stopped her. “We don’t know what’s down there, love. For all we know, it could be booby-trapped. He threw the rope over a limb and tied one end to the handle of the door. Putting them both behind a large tree, he slowly pulled on the rope and raised the iron barrier. He waited for a few moments but nothing happened so he walked over to the hole and looked in. From what he could see, he was looking at an underground room, complete with an electric light bulb hanging from the ceiling. There was a sturdy-looking cement stair leading down into the chamber.

Lighting the torch, he lowered it carefully into the room before entering it himself. He had forbidden Buffy to come down till he checked it out. Looking around, he saw he was in some sort of storage facility. He walked over to the bank of switches on the wall. There was a large handle with ‘GENERATOR’ marked next to it. He raised the handle and heard a mechanical cough come from his left. The thing coughed again and then began humming—a sound he assumed was a function of normal operation. He saw a switch on the wall next to the stairs and flicked it. The overhead light came on. He walked back up the stairs and put the torch out. “Come down, love. I believe it’s safe.”

Buffy walked down the stairs rather gingerly since she could no longer see her feet. Giles helped her as much as he could. For the first time in over five months, she saw electric light. Tears poured down her face. She turned to him. “Oh, Giles! I didn’t realize how much I missed electric lights till now.”

He held her close, knowing it wasn’t the lights but what they represented that she missed. He kissed her tears away and they began exploring the room. On one side was a fuel depot that seemed to contain many fifty-gallon drums of some sort of generator fuel. They all appeared full. Another wall stored field rations. Giles thought he might give them a miss since the expiration date was twenty years ago. They found a door that led to another room in the back. Here they found metal cots and mattresses that were in excellent shape. Best of all for Buffy, they found several crates of toilet paper. There were several dozen unmarked crates and Giles began exploring them excitedly. One contained machetes and several hatchets while another held bits and pieces of mechanical junk, probably spare parts for the generator. In a steel box pushed against the back of the wall he found a radio transmitter.

“Buffy! Look at this! It’s a radio transmitter. If we can get it running, we might be able to signal our way off this island!” She came up and stood beside him, hoping but not expecting anything. He reached out and turned on the switch. A crackle of static came from the set. He began fiddling with it. He crouched in front of it for more than an hour but was unable to raise any response.

She was disappointed, but didn’t show it to him. Reaching down, she pulled him to his feet. “There’s plenty of time to play with this, Giles, but I need to rest and we have things we need to get done today.” She walked slowly to the stairs while he followed somewhat reluctantly. He turned off the generator and lights before he left the bunker carrying toilet paper and a metal cot. “I’ll come back after lunch for the mattress,” he told her. They made their way back to the camp talking excitedly of what this might mean. After eating, he helped Buffy into the hammock and she settled down for a nap. Giles returned to the bunker to play with the radio some more.

Four hours later, he walked slowly back into camp carrying the mattress and an extra machete. Buffy was still asleep. He hadn’t had any luck with the radio. He suspected that at one time it had been hooked up to an antenna of some sort to give it adequate range. There must be something they could use. He would think about it. In the mean time, he could make Buffy more comfortable by fixing up a cot for her. He knew that as her pregnancy had progressed getting into and out of the hammock was difficult for her. The cot would help, he hoped.

She woke when he entered the room. “How’d it go?”

“We need an antenna of some sort. The radio just doesn’t have the power to transmit over the distance required without it.” He told her glumly.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. We’ll figure something out. Maybe we can gut the plane and use parts to make an antenna.” She suggested helpfully. “I don’t know anything about that sort of thing, but I’ve seen TV shows where they used metal hangers and stuff for a TV antenna so maybe…”

He smiled at her and helped her out of the hammock. “We’ll figure out something.” He echoed her words.

Giles worked on the radio everyday for the next seven weeks. Buffy had grown so large that movement was next to impossible for her. Giles helped her to the latrine or into bed and that was about the extent of her progress around camp. He made her walk with him to the bunker because he was afraid of leaving her alone for more than a few minutes and because she swore she would go insane if she was left by herself. The journey to the bunker would normally have taken about five or ten minutes but her pace was so slow it usually took them half-an-hour.

On the morning of the first day of her eighth month of pregnancy, Giles made contact with the U.S. Coast Guard. At first they were skeptical, but after he explained who they were and when they had gone down, the authorities checked out their story and said they would send a boat. Giles begged them to send a doctor too. He told Buffy to pack and they slowly made their way down to the beach. It was two hours before they saw the boat and another hour to get on board. They were both crying when the men helped them on board.

The ship’s doctor examined Buffy very carefully. She looked ready to deliver at any moment and he wasn’t really up on his childbirth procedures. He hoped she would wait till they were on land and she wasn’t his problem anymore. His examination of Giles was also thorough. He pronounced them both in excellent health considering their lengthy stay on the island.

They arrived in Hawaii three hours later and were immediately taken to a hospital for tests and observation. Giles called home and got Willow on the phone. He explained what had happened and Willow promised to call the others with the fantastic news. He asked about Dawn and she told him that Tara had moved back into the house to take care of the young girl. Buffy’s father had not bothered to return any phone calls and they had given up trying to contact him. Spike had stepped in and had patrolled on a regular basis. The Council had sent several teams of Watchers and Slayers-in-training to help out. Things had gone pretty smoothly, she admitted.

He rang off and went to tell Buffy the news. She was happy that everyone was all right, but had begun having back pains and funny pulling twinges in her abdomen all afternoon. She got out of the hospital bed to use the toilet and her water broke, gushing down her legs and splashing on the tile floor. Giles tore out of the room and grabbed the first nurse he could find, dragging her back to Buffy.

While they fussed over her, he went out on a mission of his own. He found the hospital chaplain and explained the situation. The man returned with him to Buffy’s room. She looked up when he entered. “Hi! I wondered where you had gotten to.” She told him happily. This pregnancy thing was nearly over and she couldn’t have been happier.

Giles explained that the man accompanying him was the chaplain and he had brought him back to perform a marriage ceremony between them. “Please, Buffy, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes, of course, I will, Rupert. You know I love you to pieces.” She told him softly.

The ceremony was performed with as many members of the hospital staff in the room as could be spared. Somebody had a camera and pictures were taken. Buffy swore it was perfect, and if Giles wasn’t prepared to go that far, he was at least willing to admit that it was good.

Three hours later, a nurse handed Giles his son, Henry Alexander, and then five minutes later, his daughter, Louisa Wilhelmina. He looked at the babies, so small and helpless and loved them with his whole heart. He gazed at his dear wife and thanked God and the Powers that Be for her safe delivery and for his beautiful babies. Buffy looked at him tiredly, but with love in her face. “Told you.” She whispered.

“Told me what, love?” He asked her.

“Told you something would turn up. Told you it was meant to be like this.” She looked at the babies. “I never figured on two though. I knew I was too big, but…ooops.”

He was glaring down at her. “What do you mean, you knew you were too big! Why didn’t you say something?”

“Oh right! And you would have done what? More magic, something really stupid and dangerous? I don’t think so.” She told him easily.

“Well, I could have worried more about you for one thing!” He told her still slightly peeved that she hadn’t told him the pregnancy was abnormal.

“And that would have helped, how?” She said smiling.

“All right, it probably wouldn’t have helped, but don’t ever keep vital information from me again, OK?” He told her tenderly.

“We’ll see.” She told him with a happy grin.

They kept Buffy and the babies in the hospital for a week and were simply amazed at how fast she recovered. By the time they left, not even her husband could tell she had given birth to twins a week before. They each carried a baby as they boarded the plane for LA, both of them suffering more than a twinge of anxiety as they remembered how their last plane flight had ended. It was evening when they reached the city. They were both exhausted. They stayed at the Airport Hilton and slept like logs for all of two hours before the babies needed attention. After they had been fed and diapered, the weary parents went back to bed.

They arrived home in Sunnydale the next morning about ten. Giles had phoned and told them what time they would be arriving and could everyone manage to meet them at the Magic Box?

They pulled into the parking lot of the store and just looked around for a few moments. “I never thought I would say this, Giles, but I am so glad to be here!”

He grinned down at her. “Me too!”

They got out of the car, grabbed the combination baby carriers and car seats from the back of the rental and walked into the store.

The gang leaped up and started for them in an excited rush then stopped when they saw the baby carriers. Willow was the first to speak. “Uh, Hi, guys, what’s with the babies?”

Buffy looked up at Giles and grinned. “Well, Geez, Willow, there wasn’t much to do on the island, you know. Giles didn’t have any books and I didn’t have anything to slay, we had to find some way of killing time…”

Buffy and Giles both laughed their heads nearly off at the expression that passed across every face. Giles put his arm around Buffy. “We were rescued hours before Buffy went into labor. Luckily, I was able to find a chaplain to marry us in the, er, nick of time, as it were.”

The Scoobies sat back on their chairs and looked at the rescued couple, their babies, and each other. Finally, Dawn stepped forward. “I guess this means I’m an aunt now, huh? Do you want to introduce me to these little guys?”

The gang giggled over the names, but figured with parents named Rupert and Buffy, the babies got off lucky. Dawn thought they were super cute. She held them, rocked them and was thoroughly entranced by them. “Look at their little feet!” She exclaimed. “They’re perfect! How can they ever learn to walk on such tiny, soft little footsies?” She cooed.

Willow and Tara took sharing the twins with Dawn, Xander, and Anya. The shop bell rang and a smoking Spike ran into the store. He looked at the infants in awe. “Guess you two didn’t have a deck of cards, eh?” He snorted when Buffy glared at him.

“Good to have you two home again. The Hellmouth hasn’t been the same. The new Watchers and baby Slayers are cute, but not much of a challenge.” He shook his head. “Didn’t expect you two to come back all married with children, like.” Touching one of the little hands reaching towards him, he smiled softly. “They’re so little!”

Giles stepped close to the blond vampire. “Even thinking about hurting them will get you staked, Spike.” He explained calmly.

“I wouldn’t hurt the babies, Rupert. I’ve never gone after the kiddies. Keep them away from Dru, though.” He shook his head. “Angel told me she used to love children, wanted to have a bunch herself before he drove her into a convent. I have often wondered if that’s why she seems to go after kids in her real crazy periods.”

“You know,” Buffy spoke reflexively, “Angelus really has quite a bit to answer for, one way or another.” She looked at Spike. “We could do a soul restoration on Dru for you, Spike. She’ll still be crazy but not murderous. You could take care of her.”

“No.” The vampire shook his head. “I can’t be her lap dog anymore. My time with Dru is over forever.” He thought for a moment. “If you could restore her soul and make Angel take care of her forever, that would be a treat.”

Buffy looked at the others. “Why not? He did it to her, after all. He wants redemption, what better way than to take care of the poor creature he drove mad and murdered?”

Willow was already getting the spell ingredients ready. Xander had a question. “Um, is she even in LA anymore?”

“Last I heard she was.” Spike told them.

“Would Angel know where she is?” Giles asked.

“Probably.” Spike said. “He made her, he can feel her. He’s a very strong master, so he can even call her if he wants.”

Tara looked at her friends. “A, are we doing the right thing?”

“I am not having a vampire who knows me and doesn’t particularly like me roaming around loose when she specializes in killing babies, Tara.” The shy Wicca nodded.

Willow performed the ceremony easily. Her powers had grown considerably since she had first performed the spell on Angel years earlier. The orb of Thessala glowed briefly and the spell was finished. The group looked at each other. “Somebody needs to call Angel and tell him to watch out for her now.” Buffy said.

“Oooo. Let me!” Spike was practically dancing at the thought. He knew Angel would hate taking care of Dru but would be bound to do it nonetheless. The others looked at Giles who shrugged. “Spike has been hurt by Angelus’ actions no less than we, I say, let him do it if he wants.”

Spike made the call. Wesley picked up the phone.

“Angel Investigations.” The former Watcher spoke.

“I’m calling to speak to Angel. Could you put him on the line please?” Spike’s voice had shifted till he sounded very much like Giles or Wesley himself. There was a pause while Angel was called to the phone.

“Angel here. Who’s calling?”

Spike reverted to his more normal speech patterns. “It’s your grandchilde calling, Angel.”

“Spike? What the hell do you want?” Angel demanded angrily.

“Oh, just wanted to let you know that we performed a little bit of soul restoration on Dru. I hope you know where she is because she’s going to be all alone and helpless.” Spike grinned. “I knew you’d want to watch out for her, seeing as how you made her and all. Bye now.” He hung up the phone.

He turned to the others. “Payback is hell.” He grinned. “You know, it occurs to me that if Angelus hadn’t turned Dru, she wouldn’t have turned me. I’d have lived out my life as a solicitor. Probably married and had a brood of children, grandchildren, maybe even great grandchildren who would be alive today. Instead, I lost my life and my future because of that ponce. I hope Dru lives to be a thousand and he has to take care of her every bleedin’ minute.” He chucked Buffy under the chin. “Take good care of my godchildren.” He told her with a cocky grin as he wrapped his blanket around him and left the store.

Her mouth dropped open. “Spike is so not being the godfather of my babies.”

Giles patted her on the shoulder. “Well, he would watch out for them. And he didn’t lie about not eating children. The Watcher’s Council compiled quite a body of information about him and none of it has ever indicated that he has attacked children.”

Buffy growled. “I’m not convinced it’s a good idea, but I’ll think about it for you.”

They sat around the store and talked and heard the stories of the gang since they had been gone. Xander had gotten promoted at work, Willow and Tara had gotten better at magic, Dawn, after a shaky period when Buffy had disappeared, had gotten better and was actually acing school again. Anya had boosted store profits considerably once she had free reign of the place. All was well in Sunnydale.

The castaways told their story. Buffy had packed some of their hand-made items, knowing that their friends would want to see. She unrolled the hammock and showed it to them. They marveled over the detail and wondered how long it had taken to make it. Buffy shrugged. “It’s not like we didn’t have the time.”

“What was the worst part?” Willow asked.

“No toilet paper for the first six months.” Buffy said adamantly.

“What was the best part?” Tara said softly.

The married couple looked at each other. “Finding out we loved each other.” Buffy said and Giles nodded. “Though finding the bunker complete with toilet paper and a radio was a pretty close second.” Buffy teased.

Giles grinned. “Buffy and her toilet paper. You’d have thought we found Fort Knox the way she went on.”

Buffy grinned, unrepentant. “Gold bars wouldn’t have been half as helpful, sweetie. And you have to admit, finding that radio was brilliant.” She turned to the others. “Giles worked on the radio for seven weeks. He fixed up an antenna from the airplane and got the thing working. He was amazing.”

Giles yawned suddenly. “Sorry, the children kept us up and what with all the excitement…”

Buffy nodded. “Yeah, we need to go home and rest.”

Willow looked up. “Uh, about that…you know Tara and I moved in to keep Dawn when you guys disappeared? Once we got your phone call, we sort of packed up and moved all our stuff except a few changes of clothes to our new apartment. We’ll finish packing up this afternoon and be out before nightfall. Oh, yeah, um, sorry Giles, but we let your apartment go. We boxed you up and all your stuff is at Buffy’s.”

Giles was silent a moment. “I suppose I hadn’t really given any thought as to living arrangements. But thank you. I wonder if we should buy a new house?” He looked quizzically at Buffy.

She shrugged. “We can talk about it later. Right now, I’m dying to go home and sit on my own furniture and get settled in. Oh, and we need to buy some baby stuff too. We are going to need cribs for sure and that thing to bathe them in and, God, I don’t know, a million other things.”

Giles nodded. “Yes. I need to contact the Council as well.” He put his arm around her and smiled into her upturned face while the others goggled at them. An affectionate Giles was wiggy.

They gathered up the babies and offered Dawn a ride home, which she declined. “I have a couple of things to do first.” She told them with a smile.

Giles and Buffy pulled into the driveway of the house on Revello drive with something like trepidation. It had been nearly a year since they had stood in this house and now they were bringing their children home to it. “I wish mom could have lived to see her grandchildren.” Buffy commented softly.

“I too. It was a great loss for all of us when she passed on. No less a loss to our children who will only know her through our stories.” He put his free hand around Buffy’s shoulders.

“We’ll tell them though. And we can tell them stories about your parents and what it means to be the child of a Watcher.” Buffy said.

He smiled down at her. “And what it means to be the child of the Slayer.”

She grinned up at him. “We’ll be covering some new ground with that one, I bet.”

They linked their arms, took a firm grip on the baby carriers and strode into the house and into their future.

END