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Part 1
As Buffy sat in Science, her mind (and eyes) wandered from sheer boredom. Her gaze settled briefly on Willow, who was sitting behind Xander. Willow seemed almost completely over Xander. Which, in Buffy's opinion, was a good thing. Oz was way better for Willow than Xander. Oz was repeating is senior year at Sunnydale and was, of course, still involved with the band.
Buffy's eyes strayed on to Xander. As if he could feel her eyes on him, he looked up from the book that he was pretending to read. Buffy casually moved her gaze forward in the row. She adored Xander, and sometimes when she was feeling very lonely and sad she considered Xander. But she knew in her heart that it could never work. After loving and being loved by a 241year old vampire, she wasn't sure if she could be happy with a high school boy. And it wasn't right to let him think that they could ever be a couple.
After a several seconds of staring blankly at the back of John Overtons head, she finally focused on what he and the other two football players were doing. They were paying attention and taking notes. Since Buffy had never seen them even crack a book, she was mildly curious as to what the teacher could possibly be saying that would be of any interest to those three.
Something about testosterone. Just then the bell rang and everyone gathered their things and exited. Buffy more or less forgot about the football players and their odd behavior.
Later in the afternoon, Buffy was having weapons training with Giles. They were each armed with a quarterstaff, and Buffy noticed that Giles was actually getting better. She could still take him, but not nearly as fast as she use to. Of course, since he trained her, he knew her weaknesses as well as her strengths. In fact, he probably knew her better than anyone else. Just then she saw her opening, and knocked his feet out from under him. As he went down, he swept her feet out from under her, sending her to the floor as well.
Buffy looked at him and smiled, "that's new. Did you practice that?"
His smile was a bit sheepish. "Yes actually." He rose to his feet and offered her a hand up. "You tend to lower your guard at that point. We need to work on it. Again?" At Buffy's nod, they resumed en garde stance and began again. Buffy had just landed Giles on his backside and sidestepped his response, when Willow, Cordelia and Xander wandered in. Buffy offered him a hand up this time.
The Slayerettes moved into the Library. Willow spoke to Buffy, "are you going to patrol tonight?"
Buffy looked at Giles before answering. "Of course. Is there some reason why I wouldn't?"
"No." Willow answered quickly. "No, of course not."
Now Buffy was in full suspicion mode. She looked again at Giles, who appeared to be as much in the dark as she was, then at Cordelia and Xander. While Xander looked confused, Cordelia's expression said clearly that she was in the know. Then she spoke. "You should patrol, Buffy. Keep Sunnydale safe from the forces of evil."
"Exactly." Willow seconded her.
Xander had the look that he always got when Willow and Cordelia seemed chummy. Panic and confusion in equal parts. "Are you two up to...?" He trailed off as Willow stepped on his foot and Cordelia whacked him on the arm.
"That would be a 'yes'," said Buffy. "Okay, what gives?" She looked back and forth between Willow and Cordelia, finally settling her Slayer glare on Willow, who was usually the weak link of secret keeping. Nothing. Cordelia. No response. Whatever these two were collaborating on, they were absolutely resolved. For some reason Buffy was nervous, but, since she could plainly see that she would get no information from the only people who had information, she decided that she would make her exit.
As soon as she was through the door, Xander turned to Cordelia and Willow. "Ow! What did you do that for?" He demanded.
"So you'd keep your big mouth shut," replied Cordelia with her usual tact.
Giles hid a smile, as Willow turned to him. "Are you going to patrol, too?"
He looked a little taken aback at the abruptness of the question. "W-well, yes. I usually do these days." He left the rest unsaid.
So Xander said it. "You mean since Angel?"
Giles sighed. "Yes Xander. That's precisely what I meant."
Willow spoke again. "Don't." She was speaking to Giles, who looked perplexed. "Don't patrol tonight. It'll be all right. Trust me."
Giles looked at Willow thoughtfully for a moment, then spoke. "You're not perchance planning to 'set her up', are you?"
"Well, yes." she seemed surprised by his perception.
Xander exploded, "that's a terrible idea. It's too soon."
"As much as I hesitate to agree with Xander, I must say he's right. It's only been a few months since Buffy had to send Angel to Hell. The wound is still too fresh and raw. Don't do this to her."
Willow looked startled that the usually reserved Watcher was so emphatic. Not to mention sensitive. Of course, looking after the Slayer was his duty. "It's just a distraction, Giles."
"Because she doesn't have enough distractions now?" Willow just looked at Xander and shook her head. "Are you fems going to patrol with her?"
"Yes." Willow looked at Xander earnestly. "Xander, he's a guy that Oz knows. He's in college-not a fraternity by the way. He's nice. He's into martial arts, so he'll be of some help." Now Willow turned to Giles. "He doesn't know Buffy's secret identity, but he does know that there are vampires. He thinks that Buffy's on a Vendetta, that a vampire killed her boyfriend. Which is kind of true."
"Well, sure, "said Xander reluctantly. "But..." he was still clearly searching for objections.
Giles spoke up. "I shall patrol." He held up a hand to forestall Willow. "I will stay a distance away. But I would be remiss in my duty as Watcher to entrust my distract young slayer to a college boy that I don't know."
Willow wondered if he realized how fatherly that sounded. "You'll give them space?"
"As much as I dare." And with that Willow had to be satisfied.
Later that night Buffy was on patrol in the Park with Willow and Cordelia. She had a strong feeling that Giles was somewhere close by. She was way on edge due to the extreme weirdness of the situation. Really-Willow and Cordelia patrolling, Giles hiding somewhere around, and, if she wasn't mistaken, Oz sitting on a picnic table with someone else. Someone not Xander. As they drew closer, Buffy could see that he was nice looking and trim. He had dark hair and light eyes.
She caught Willow looking at her anxiously. Yep. Definitely a fix up. Was she that pathetic? Probably so. By this time the girls were at the table. Oz and his friend stood. Oz introduced him as Brandon Wentworth, sophomore. Buffy shook his hand. Warm. Her smile was not. His smile wilted a little. Before they could begin to make small talk, Buffy glanced sharply to her right. A dog came wandering out of the bushes. They all laughed rather sheepishly. Buffy looked at Brandon embarrassed, unsure of what to say.
Before she could find the words, he spoke. "Me too."
She smiled a little more warmly. Then her smile faded and a puzzled look crossed her face. Willow rushed into speech, "Brandon has seen the ...you know." She was unable to say 'vampire' in front of Brandon. "He knows that they killed Angel, and how you felt about him." Brandon nodded. And Buffy smiled with reluctant acceptance.
And so began the Buffy/Brandon relationship. Buffy had to admit that it was nice to have someone male to hang with (Xander notwithstanding). They went to the Bronze, and the movies, and parties. She almost felt like a real girl. And she really did like him, but...whenever he kissed her (which was not often) there was no zing.
One day, about three weeks later, Buffy wandered into the Library, to find Giles alone, reading at the table. She sat across from him, with her chin cupped in her palm and stared over Giles' left shoulder. He looked up from the book, and, with a concerned frown, said, "hello. Why so glum?"
"I sort of have a problem."
"Ah. Is there...?"
"I can't really talk to any of the guys, 'cause they're all so into me and Brandon," she continued without hearing him.
"Brandon and I. This is about Brandon?"
"Yes. Willow, Cordelia and Oz are so 'yay Buffy and Brandon'. And you know how Xander is." He nodded and rose from the table. She also rose and started to pace. She stopped for a moment to look at him consideringly, her eyes wide and hopeful. Then she raised her eyebrows in question.
He looked at her in dread for just a second, then nodded and spoke. "Buffy, I am your Watcher and your friend. There is nothing that you cannot tell me. And if you need more than someone to listen, well, I'll do my best to help."
Her tense shoulders relaxed immediately. As Giles leaned back against the table, Buffy began again to pace. Giles was half-afraid that he was about to learn more about the intimate details of Buffy's love life that a Watcher really needed or wanted to know. But, as Buffy finally began to speak, he learned that the opposite was the case. "I really like him Giles. I do. But...when he does kiss me, there's no sparkage. Since he's never tried to go any farther, he either knows how I feel or he feels it too." Here she stopped pacing and took her accustomed perch at the table, right next to where Giles still leaned. "If there's no...zing, is there any point in going on. It's not like we could ever get married or anything." She leaned her head against his arm. When he spoke she tilted her head up to catch his words.
"If, as you say, he's aware of the lack...in the relationship," he balked at using words like "sparkage" and "zing", "he too, may just be more interested in a comfortable companionship. A pretty girl to go around with." As he spoke, Buffy couldn't help but wonder if that's what Giles was looking for now. With his Jenny gone, there didn't seem to be much hope for sparkage for him. Then the rest of what he said sank in.
"Did you say 'pretty'? You think I'm pretty?"
"Well, certainly. I was rather under the impression that most men find you attractive."
"Yeah, but you're not most men. You're Giles. You don't really seem too caught up on 'pretty'. I know that you think I'm capable, but it never occurred to me that you...." She stopped because she caught his expression. He was frowning big time. She had insulted him, which was not her intention. How to explain to him that he seemed above the shallow, hormone driven guys that she knew; that the fact that he thought she was pretty somehow meant more. She put her hand on the now tense arm that she was still leaning against. She even managed to say, "no, you don't understand...", before Xander and Cordelia swept into the Library. They stopped short at the tableau.
Xander spoke first, "aw. Did we interrupt a Slayer/Watcher bonding moment?'
Then Cordelia. "Geez, Buffy missing your Dad much?"
Giles looked up at them with a sharp word on his tongue, and then he saw Xander's face. "What, in Heavens name, happened to your eye?"
Which brought Buffy's attention to Xander's shiner. "Wow. Did you have to defend Cordy's 'honor'?" Even Giles smirked at that.
"No. Some guy bumped me in the hall, so I shoved him, then he hit me, and, well, you can see the rest,' he said, pointing at his eye.
Before Buffy could tease him any more, the bell rang for the next class. As Giles sank back into his seat, he was equal parts angry and ashamed. He was angry with Xander and Cordelia for a hundred "old Guy" remarks. He was angry with himself for letting it get to him so. Usually it was only mildly irritating, but today.... And he was ashamed of himself. Ashamed of the relief that he felt about Brandon. Not just because didn't want to hear the details. But, also because of the reason that he didn't want to hear them. And he was even more ashamed that he had noticed how Buffy's hair had smelled as she had nestled against him. And worse, that he had noticed her cleavage in her tank top, when she had leaned into him. "You bloody idiot," he addressed himself.
Later that day Buffy and Willow sat on their usual bench in the quad. It was between classes and they were just hanging out. Buffy didn't quite know how to bring up the subject that was bothering her. As it turned out, she didn't have to-Willow did, obliquely. "Is it just me or are the guys acting weirder than usual?"
"It's not just you. Even Xander and Giles are...different. Xander actually got into a fight. And Giles...." Now that she had her opening, she didn't want to go there. But it was too late.
"Giles what?"
"I don't really know how to explain it. We were in the Library, talking, and Giles mentioned that he thought that this gir...woman was pretty. I was surprised that he noticed. He was miffed." She couldn't have said what made her hedge. But it seemed like a good idea.
"Geez, Buffy. You all but called him a gelding. No wonder he was miffed."
"I did not...."
"No, but you might as well have. Look, Giles may be you Watcher, and have put his life, including his love life on hold for you, but that doesn't that he doesn't have the same drives and desires that other men have. He's a good-looking man. He could be dating if he wanted, but you are his first priority. Miss Calendar was a good match, because she knew that and why. Well, good, except for the part where she kind of betrayed you. But when you were so angry with her, he totally backed you up. He barely spoke to her until you let him know that you were okay with it. Think about that next time will ya'?"
Buffy was stunned by the barrage. Apparently Willow had been thinking about this in depth. "Willow, I know that he likes women, and I certainly never meant to insinuate that he was less than a man. Just the opposite. But he took it the same way you did, and now he's angry and I don't know how to fix it.
"Start with an apology, and then tell him what you just told me. That'll be a start. You know he'll forgive you just about anything. Eventually."
Buffy nodded absently, puzzling over something that Willow had said earlier. "You think Giles is good looking?"
"Yeah. You don't?"
"I never really thought about it." She did so now. "I suppose he is kind of handsome. Not my type of course, but he has really nice eyes and hands. Also he's in good shape for someone over forty."
"All those training sessions," Willow agreed. Before she could ask who Buffy and Giles had been talking about or, more importantly (to her), why Xander had gotten into a fight, another one broke out not ten feet away from them. Buffy was halfway off of the bench when Willow stopped her. "I don't think that it's a good idea for you to get involved. Boys are kind of fragile, ego-wise." By the time she was done speaking, the fight had gone from two boys to six or seven. "Uh oh. No Buffy, you can't. You know Snyder is just looking for an excuse to kick you out for good."
"I know you're right. It's just...."
"Not your nature to sit idly by. I know. The best we can do is tell a teacher."
"You mean like that one?" Buffy asked, pointing a one of the brawlers. They exchanged worried looks. "We should definitely bail." Willow nodded and the gathered their things and headed down the hall toward the cafeteria. There they found another fight. Most of the guys were in the middle of the large room, fighting. Most of the girls were standing along the wall with almost identical puzzled looks. Buffy and Willow saw Cordelia and went over to where she stood tapping her foot.
"Is Xander in there?" Buffy asked.
"Yes," Cordelia bit off angrily.
"How did it start?"
"I have no idea. One minute we were sitting there eating, the next a tray lands on our table from across the room and Xander, Mr. Chicken Little himself, hops up and wham! Right into the middle of it. Look," she said, pointing. "Even Jonathan is it in. What's going on?"
"I don't know. But I think we should go to the Library and find out." Willow and Cordelia nodded their agreement.
They had a difficult time getting through the halls. There were several shoving matches. Willow and Cordelia had to physically restrain Buffy when some guy grabbed her rear-end. They hurried her along to the Library. There they found a haven from the chaos.
Giles was just walking out of his office with a modest stack of books, when the girls walked in. "Hello." Then he looked at their concerned faces. "What's the matter?"
They took turns trying to explain what was going on. Giles responded by going to the doors and poking his head out. He drew back in shock. "Good Lord. Do you mean to tell me that this is going on all over the school?" The girls all nodded. "For how long?"
They considered, then Buffy answered. "Really, all week. At first it was just little things. A push, a shove. But it's definitely worse today."
"Is it that the violence is escalating or that the threshold is lower?"
"Both." Again it was Buffy who replied. "But it's only the guys. Or almost only. We did see a couple of the tougher girls right in the middle of it."
Giles looked at her appraisingly. "H-have you felt any overwhelming compulsion to fight?"
Buffy smiled, "only when some guy grabbed my a...er, rear-end. But I would have reacted that way any time." She shrugged.
"Who!?" Giles recovered quickly, and went on more calmly. "Did you see who had taken such a liberty?" He asked, with a glance at her typically short skirt.
"I think it was John Overton," said Cordelia. Giles clearly didn't recognize the name. "From the football team?" Still no recognition from Giles.
Something about that was tickling Buffy's memory. Then Willow spoke up. "The first guys I noticed acting...odd, were football players. More aggressive, pushier."
Cordelia gasped. "Like the swim team?!" They all looked at Giles. "Giles? Could it be steroids again?"
"I rather doubt it. Too many of the boys seem to be affected."
"That's true. And Xander sure isn't playing football." Buffy and Willow exchanged a look at Cordelia's disappointed tone.
"Xander's being affected?"
"Do you remember his shiner this morning?" At Giles' nod, Buffy went on, "well, when we last saw him, he was trying to make it a matched set."
"And we all know what a wimp he is," said Cordelia.
Then Willow spoke again, "except when he was a hyena. He was pretty aggressive then." Then her eyes widened at what she had just said. All eyes were again on Giles.
"Again, I rather doubt it. Possession seems highly unlikely. One-the sheer volume of those being affected. Two-almost exclusively boys."
Buffy interrupted. "Not just boys. Men, too." Giles looked taken aback. "We saw more than one male teacher brawlin' with the boys." Buffy got an impish look as she turned to Giles. "So, Giles, have you?"
"Have I what?" He asked warily.
Buffy threw his words back at him. "'Felt any overwhelming compulsion to fight'?"
"Well, hm, er, no." Even as he said it, he realized that it was probably untrue. His own strange compulsions had started when this had. It was, after all, Tuesday when he had caught himself smiling as he noticed how the sun had played on Buffy's hair, Wednesday, when he had ended training abruptly, because he was finding himself.. 'distracted' by her lithe form, and just today, Thursday, he had not only noticed how nice her hair had smelled, but caught himself admiring her cleavage. He chose, however, to keep this information to himself. It might, after all, not have anything to do with...this.
Abruptly, Cordelia laughed. "Right. Giles?"
Before Giles could respond, Buffy did. "Look, maybe our Giles isn't ruled by his testosterone like John 'the football god' Overton, but he is a man, in case you haven't noticed." Cordelia's response was a derisive 'hmmmph'.
Giles was torn between exultation that Buffy was aware that he was a man, and insult by the inference that it might have been overlooked. In the end insult won out. So when they split into two groups, Willow and Cordelia going to extract Xander for some tests, it was a very stiff and formal Giles who accompanied Buffy to the boys locker room.
[Note**IMHO no one could overlook the manliness of Giles. Even Cordelia. But....it is fiction. :)]
Giles went into the Locker room first, to make sure that it was empty. There was a boy coming out, so Giles leaned down to take a drink from the drinking fountain. He waited until the boy had left then, signaled to Buffy that the coast was clear. She strode in on full alert. Her eyes darted about as she took it all in. She indicated a few lockers that looked like they had been dented by something really hard. Like the head of a high school boy. One of the benches had actually been ripped from the cement floor and was resting atop some lockers.
She continued to look around until she finally looked at her Watcher. She took in his expression and posture. "What?!" She exploded. "What did I say now?"
A very stiff-rumped Watcher bit out, "I'm terribly sorry that you find my testosterone levels inadequate."
"I never said...that's not...." She stopped as several pieces of a puzzle suddenly fell into place. "What did you say? Testosterone?"
"Yes." Their eyes met. She said it.
"'Testosterone is the great equalizer. It turns all men into morons.'"
"Even Watchers, who bloody well should know better."
"You are not a moron. You have been acting different. But you haven't been fighting in the hallways. So what exactly is it...?"
Giles interrupted before she could ask him to explain what was happening to him. "Look." He pointed toward the steam room. In front of the open door was a boy laying on the floor. They could see his chest rising and falling as he breathed. They went over to him.
As Giles bent down to examine the boy, Buffy glanced down. "I think his name is Rob. Do you think he was one of the locker denters?"
"Probably," he replied, gesturing to the lump on Rob's forehead.
Buffy nodded, then wrinkled her nose. "What's that smell?" She followed her nose and stepped over Rob and walked to the door of the steam room. "Whatever it is, it's stronger in here." She closed her eyes as the heat from the steam room washed over her. She leaned her head in to peek around. Some towels and a broken beaker were all that she saw. She heard Giles come to stand behind her, and then she heard something else. She turned to face Giles, and caught just a glimpse of someone over his shoulder, when whoever it was apparently shoved Giles and sent him falling toward her. Being caught off guard, Buffy could only fall when Giles slammed into her. He instinctively turned them so that he would break their fall, instead of her. While her own instincts led her to cradle his large frame with her own much smaller one.
They fell hard on the cement floor, as they heard the door slam. She felt the "oomph" of air as the wind was knocked out of Giles. Her own arm where thrown it protectively behind his head, stung from the impact, but she was otherwise uninjured. Not so Giles, whose eyes were closed as if in extreme pain.
She patted his cheek. "Giles? Are you all right?" She was still basically where she had landed, atop him. He opened his eyes, and in them Buffy saw something she had never seen there before. It was gone before she could name it. His hands gently slid up to her waist. She shivered despite the heat of the room. His hands tightened as, with surprising strength, he lifted her straight up, sat up and ever-so-gently sat her on the floor next to him. He rose quickly to his feet and, leaving her to watch in shocked silence, crossed to the wall. He put both hands on the wall and then leaned his head against it too.
Buffy came to him and placed her hand on his arm. He flinched. Before she could ask if he were okay, he spoke. "Buffy, please...." His voice was harsh, raspy even. He went on in a gentler tone, "please just go sit down. I'm fine. I-I just had the wind knocked out of me is all. I'm fine." He sounded as if he'd had more than the wind knocked out of him. Then Buffy saw what her Watcher had been at such great pains to hide. She drew her hand back as if burned. Her eyes flew to his and read the regret and shame there.
"I'll just go and sit down while you catch your breath." Now she saw gratitude in his green eyes. He nodded, closing his eyes. Before she walked away, she risked a quick glance downward. Her eyes widened, and then she walked over to the bench and sat, waiting.
After a few minutes, Giles turned to her and spoke in his usual calm voice. "Apologies see, inadequate."
"Apologies? For what? This is not really you. It's not something you did on purpose. It's not your fault." She paused for a second. "Right?" She asked uncertainly.
"Yes, right. Still, I should have more control. Lord knows I've had enough prac.... I am truly sorry, Buffy."
"Accepted. And besides you've shown a lot more control than the rest." She was trying to be nonchalant about something that, quite frankly, scared the hell out of her. Her proper, oh-so-calm and controlled, repressed, forty-something, tweed-clad, uptight, upright British Watcher was in libido overdrive. And she knew as well as he did that how they handle this would affect the Watcher/Slayer relationship forever. Not to mention the friendship that had come to mean so much to them both.
She searched for the words that would reassure him, and herself, that this was not important, that it did not make a difference. But since she knew in her heart that it did, the words would not come.
So for a change, Buffy was the Watcher. She watched him try the metal door, even though he had to have known that it was locked. It was. There was a kind of desperation on his face when he turned back to her. She watched him prowl the small room as he struggled for control in the face of their enforced togetherness.
Finally, he sat down on the bench as far away from her as he could. He risked a glance at her face. What he saw there was not the condemnation or shock or even horror that he had expected. He saw only concern for him and sympathy.
As the awkward silence grew from seconds to minutes, finally Buffy spoke. "Can I ask you a potentially personal question?" He braced himself, then nodded. "Is this what this morning was all about?"
"I did not mean to snap at you, but...." She interrupted him.
"No, not that part...the other." She stopped, ashamed of herself for asking, especially now, when he was so...whatever he was. But she knew that this was probably the only chance she had to ask him when he might actually answer. She couldn't have said why it was important for her to know. It just was.
"Oh," was all he said as he realized just what she was asking. He lowered his gaze to the floor. His face, already red from the heat, grew even redder. He almost didn't answer, thinking for a moment that she sought to tease him. Then he looked at her face. He could barely see her; his glasses were so fogged up. So he removed then and put them in his jacket.
Her face was clearly embarrassed. He didn't think that she was asking for her own amusement, so he reluctantly answered. "I won't lie to you, Buffy. No." Her shoulders slumped. "That had nothing to do with this," he vaguely waved his arm toward the locker room. "Although, I probably would not have said it if not for...." Again the wave. She straightened up and met his gaze. On her face was a happy smile.
"Really?" He nodded, more confused now than embarrassed. His puzzlement must have shown on his face, because she rushed to explain. "I know it probably seems weird, and I guess it is, kind of, but it seems, kinda' ...more...that you think I'm ...pretty. Your...standards are higher, I guess. Your head doesn't turn for every pretty face or tight skirt...." She forced herself to shut up, and shrugged. "If that makes any sense."
"Some, I suppose." He still looked a little confused, but seemed to accept her 'explanation'. "It's probably also seeking approval from the male role model- a pseudo-father figure."
She looked him square in the eye, "Giles, you are not my father."
"No, no. I'm well aware of that. But I'm probably the closest thing to one in your day-to-day life." She just shook her head 'no'.
"So what's the plan," she asked.
"We need to find a way out of here, determine how this is being ingested, and stop it."
"Gee, thanks for the summary, Giles. Now how are we going to accomplish goals 1 through 3?" He raised his eyebrows at her tone. "Sorry. We just really need to get out of here."
"Agreed." He took off his jacket and loosened his tie as he looked around the small room. "Our options are limited, I'm afraid. Do you think that you fit through there?" He indicated a small ventilation shaft above them.
She eyed it, mentally measuring it against her hips, absently sliding her hands down her hips, until Giles' sharp intake of breath. She dropped her hands, embarrassed by her thoughtlessness. He dropped his gaze to the floor, aghast at the thoughts running through his mind.
She put her hand out in apology, hesitant, ready to pull back if he showed the slightest reluctance to take it. He took her hand immediately, but did not meet her eyes until she gently jerked his hand.
He was so clearly embarrassed when he spoke that Buffy almost couldn't hear what he was saying. "Buffy, it's getting worse."
"Worse?" She was almost afraid to ask her next question. Fortunately, she didn't have to.
"Worse. The...compulsion to...ah...um...is stronger."
Buffy's eyes were round as saucers. Giles was actually admitting that he was horny. Her Watcher. Before this morning's talk with Willow, that thought would have been an euww. But as she looked at him now, his hair mussed up, glasses and jacket off, the thought gave her an odd, not unpleasant, sensation. <whoa, girl.> she thought <don't go there. He's your Watcher. Psuedo-father figure, remember?>. Still, as se looked at him, her own words came back to haunt her. "You're not my father."
"Giles? Don't you think it's odd that it's getting worse?"
"Odd? Not really. I'm trapped in a small, hot room, with a beautiful, scantily clad girl," indicating her tank top and short skirt. "The lessening of the compulsion would be odd."
"So testosterone would cause...uh...increased um...?"
"Yes."
"I kind' thought that it would just make you more aggressive. Fights. That sort of thing."
"No. It also affect libido." He seemed more in control, talking facts. "If we don't hurry up and find the source and stop it, there could be worse repercussions than a few black eyes and bloody noses from this testosterone induced idiocy."
"Do you mean like...?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Indeed, yes. As it worsens, these boys are most likely going to become more aggressive sexually, as well as the fights."
Buffy looked at him, her eyes sad. "They won't take 'no' for an answer?"
"Some of them won't. Some of them will not be affected that way." As she stood there just looking at him, it occurred to him that she might me concerned about being locked in a room with someone it quite obviously was affecting 'that' way. Not that she couldn't take care of herself, but still, a chilling thought, to have to fend off your Watcher. A rebellious part of his brain asked <but would she?> He ruthlessly squashed that down as he sought to reassure his Slayer. "Some of us have more experience in controlling those urges."
She looked at him blankly for a minute, then realized that he was rather obliquely trying to tell her that she was safe with him. "Giles, I know that you would never hurt me." Her words affected him in two totally opposite ways. It was like a cold shower to his libido, and a nice warmth filled his chest.
He smiled and nodded. She smiled back, and looked around the room, thinking. "So, getting worse, huh? Could it be inhaling the fumes from that broken beaker?" She gestured toward the corner.
"No. It would have to ingested or injected by needle."
"Odds are, all you guys haven't gotten a shot this week." Giles shook his head 'no'. "Ingested? Like eat or drink?" He nodded.
"Something only we males would have access...wait a moment." She raised her eyebrows in question. "I took a drink from the drinking fountain just before you came in, in fact, I think I've had a drink from it every day this week, for one reason or another."
"The drinking fountain?"
"The drinking fountain."
"Okay," she accepted. "So, we just need to get out of here and check the fountain to see how they did it and how to reverse it. Right?"
"Yes, right." They looked at each other, then both looked up at the vent. There was no way Buffy could reach it and open it at the same time.
"Giles, I just want to warn you-there's going to be touching." She grinned at him, and he gave her an embarrassed smile in return.
A few minutes later, Buffy was standing barefoot on Giles' shoulders, with him resolutely staring straight ahead, and trying not to notice how soft her bare legs were. He was actually doing quite well, when she gave an abrupt jerk on the vent, throwing them off balance. Seeking to steady her, he slid his hands up from her ankles.
But it was already too late. She couldn't regain her balance, which, in turn, threw him off balance. They swayed for a second, then, she went tumbling, with him grabbing her.
This time when they landed, Giles didn't look like he was in pain. Actually, he was laughing. Buffy could feel his chest rumble with laughter beneath her. Afraid that he had finally snapped, she was too surprised to move. "Giles?"
"I'm fine," he gasped. He was barely able to catch his breath, between the laughter and her laying on him. For a few seconds she was absolutely quiet, then she, too, burst into semi-hysterical laughter at the whimsy of the universe to put them in this situation. Again. As they laughed together for a few minutes, he held her to him, loosely, while her head rested on his still rumbling chest.
Slowly, the laughter faded, then stopped. She raised her head, their eyes met. The arms that had held her so innocently, tightened, almost imperceptibly. In his eyes she saw that same look, only this time she knew its name. For a spit second he looked almost dangerous, but she was not afraid, and she did not pull away. His arms tightened a little more, drawing her closer.
The door rattled, startling them both. Before they could move, it opened. There stood Willow, whose eyebrows rose at the tableau. They scrambled to their feet. Buffy, with rare sensitivity, stood casually in front of her Watcher, shielding him from Willow's sharp eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder, and gave a gentle squeeze, recognizing her thoughtfulness.
"Hi, Will." She knew that if she rushed into an explanation, that it would look suspicious, so she wisely (and uncharacteristically), kept quiet.
"Hi. I thought I heard laughing?" This was clearly a question.
"You did. We were trying to get out through the vent," she pointed up. "We fell."
Willow looked puzzled. "That was funny?"
"I guess you had to be here." Then a thought occurred to her. "Why are you here? Not that we aren't glad. I don't think I was going to fit through the vent."
"Oh! I think we figured it out."
"Testosterone?"
"Yeah." She seemed surprised. "But we don't know how." She shrugged.
Buffy and Giles shared an amused look. He had moved from behind her and now stood at her side. "Actually, Will, we think it was through the drinking fountain, here, in the boys locker room."
Willow looked taken aback that they had apparently solved the big mystery, while locked in the steam room. She looked back and forth between the two of them, sensing that something had changed, having no idea what.
Buffy offered her friend a consolation prize. "We still don't know why."
"Oh!" Willow was clearly excited. "I know that one." At Buffy's questioning look, she went on, "because they're boys."
"C'mon, Will ..." Buffy began, but Giles interrupted her.
"She may well be right. It may be just that simple."
"Teenage boys are strange," said Willow wisely. "And they'll try anything for sex." She uttered the last word in almost a whisper. Buffy shot her a startled glance, which she mistook for confusion. "Testosterone affects the sex drive." Giles had gathered his jacket and tie and had exited the room. As the girls followed him out, Willow continued. "You're lucky you were trapped with Giles, and not some guy who would want you. You know, in that way."
"Yeah, I'm very fortunate that I was stuck with someone with some self control."
"Yeah, well, it's not necessarily a matter of self-control. The guy would have to be having feelings for you to start with. It's not like testosterone can suddenly make you have feelings for someone. It would...uninhibit feelings that were already there. Like drinking. So, yeah, you were lucky."
All the while Willow had been speaking, Buffy had been staring at where Giles had stopped by the drinking fountain, her mouth agape. Giles had turned around to face them, his eyes wide in horror. His eyes met Buffy's shocked gaze. She started to say something, then, with a quick glance at Willow (still happily rambling on), she shook her head, clearly saying 'not now'. He nodded, grateful for the reprieve. Although, he had no idea how he was going to explain it to her. Then, incredibly, she smiled. It was not a flirtatious smile, just on of her old 200-watt smiles. It had been so long since they had seen it. Willow stopped talking and gave a happy smile in return. And Giles felt the fear that had settled into a heaviness on his chest lift. It would be all right, they would get through this together. He gave a shy smile in return.
They turned their attention to the drinking fountain, dismantling it. They found where the boys had jury-rigged it. They quickly removed the apparatus, and reassembled the fountain.
Then they left the boy’s locker room and went to the Library, where Cordelia and Xander were waiting. School was dismissed, begrudgingly by Snyder (who had been set upon no less than five times, oddly enough with no witnesses).
Giles half expected Buffy to show up at his place over the weekend, demanding explanations, but she never did.
On Monday, when Buffy came after school for her workout, she made no reference to it, and was clearly subscribing to the "if-we-don't-talk-about-it, it-wasn't real" theory. He did notice, however, that she wore extremely conservative (for her) clothes to work out in. Giles wasn't sure if she was protecting her or him.
Their workout was lukewarm. She seemed afraid to strike at him, He was perplexed, until he had an odd thought <she can't possibly think that the fighting excites me, can she?> He didn't know how to reassure her, without actually saying anything. He decided to keep an unemotional visage, calm and professional.
It worked. Soon Buffy had immersed herself in the workout, kicking and spinning. Finally, after a series of kicks, she knocked him on his backside. Without thinking about it, she offered him a hand up. Without thought, he took it, and rose to his feet.
"I think that will be enough for today, Buffy."
"'Kay, see ya' later."
"Yes, right," he replied absently, picking up a book, and settling into a chair.
Buffy smiled at the normalcy of this. The she gathered her things and walked to the door. At the door she paused, feeling his eyes, knowing that he was watching her walk away.
Giles flushed as he realized what he was doing. He lowered his eyes back to the book.
As Buffy walked through the doors and out of the Library, there was a wide smile on her face.