A Watcher's Slayer

SETTINGS: After 'Tabula Rasa'.  Giles is gone.  Probably about two months later.  The timing is sooo off for Angel, I fully forgot to account for the 'seven weeks later thing' until I was sixty pages in.  And seeing as I'm really lazy, it's set after the episode 'Billy' even though it should probably be about two eps after that.

DISCLAIMER: Not the prefix 'dis' and you'll quickly realise that these characters aren't mine.

RATING: PG-13 (as always)

PAIRING: B/G

ONWARDS:

CHAPTER ONE: GOOD

He'd been gone for seven weeks now.  She hated that he wasn't there, but to some extent, she knew that he had been right.  She laughed a little.  She never would have thought that she, Buffy Summers, would ever think that Rupert Giles had been right to leave her alone.  While she had hated and resented him, it had definitely made her grow up.

She missed him with a longing that she hadn't known previously existed, she knew that was for sure.  There was a certain ache within her that hurt every time she heard his name from one of the Gang.  She hadn't spoken to him since he had left, though she had written him a plethora of letters that she knew she would never send.  She knew that sending them would only make things worse, and at least writing the letters allowed her to vent about her feelings.

In all honesty, his leaving had been good for her.  She had realised that she was being a horrible sister to Dawn and a terrible friend to the Scoobies.  So, she had changed her attitude to life, and even though her life still wasn't exactly ideal, it was better than it had been when she had been allowing herself to wallow in her misery.

She had realised that she did have feelings after all, which was definitely of the good.  She loved the warm fuzziness that came over her whenever she and her sister hung out, and although she didn't enjoy the uncomfortable way her stomach would flip-flop when Giles was mentioned, she knew it was still a good thing.  She loved him and she wanted him back in Sunnydale.  She just knew that it probably wouldn't happen.  That thought alone could put her into post-resurrection depression and she generally tried not to dwell on it.

She had spoken to Spike and told him that they could never be together.  He had taken it badly of course, but eventually he had backed off.  It had taken him nearly four weeks to stop pestering her about it, but once he realised that she refused to talk to him while he was being a bastard, he quickly dropped the constant innuendoes and settled on being her friend.

Dawn was doing far better in school, and Buffy had been forced to go to a Parent/Teacher conference, which had sounded far scarier than it had actually been.  Dawn's teachers had been incredibly nice and had praised Dawn's good grades.  Buffy couldn't have been prouder.

Willow and Tara were still on a break, though they had started to get back into their relationship, taking things slowly and just having coffee at least three times a week.  Buffy joined them whenever she didn't have to work.

Buffy had been given a job at the gallery her mother had worked at.  She'd been walking past it when Mr Morrison, one of her mom's employees, had recognised her and invited her in for a cup of coffee and a chat.  Buffy, being too kind-hearted to turn down the elderly gentleman, had accepted.  An hour into the conversation, which she had found to be rather enjoyable, he had offered her a job.  She'd been astounded but had quickly accepted and was now helping Mr Morrison in cataloguing the artefacts that came through the museum.  She had found that Giles influence on her studying ancient relics had certainly helped, and with a little encouragement from the museum staff, she had taken to helping translate many of the ancient books. 

Without even knowing it, Buffy had found herself learning an entirely new language, one that she was becoming more than proficient with.  Giles would have been so proud.

She loved working there, and when Mr Jackson, Mr Morrison's right hand man, had announced his retirement, Buffy had jumped at the chance to become the junior curator at the museum.  She had grinned when Dawn had questioned whether it was her mom's influence or Giles' or both.  All she knew was, she had a job that she loved and a sister that she adored.  Her life was good.

(You can just tell something bad is gonna happen, can't you?)