Chapter Text
After the Hellmouth comes crashing down around their heads and after a couple months of mad scrambling (what to do and where to go), Faith takes off. It's pretty sudden, even for her.
Giles makes the announcement at breakfast, barely pausing before moving on to the day's to-do list, but he takes a moment to gauge the reactions his news provoked.
Dawn grimaces and says, "It figures." Xander shakes his head and Robin is completely silent. The younger slayers whisper amongst themselves excitedly while Andrew gasps in shock. Willow looks concerned and Kennedy rolls her eyes.
But Buffy's response is the most interesting.
Too bad they can't afford a maid, Giles thinks as he watches the remains of eggs and pancakes slide down the wall. Someone's going to have a hell of a time getting it clean. He doesn't even want to think about what the syrup is going to do to the carpet.
Buffy stalks out of the room in a fury, fists clenched, eyes hard, and Giles makes a mental note to speak with her later, because frankly, he didn't expect such anger. It's not like the two women had become friends in the short time Faith had been back in their midst. Friendlier, yes. The bristles and swishing tails of their earlier interactions had started to settle into something quieter and more accepting in the last months and Giles had expected, well hoped, that they had finally learned how to get along.
But time goes by quickly and there are so many things that need his attention. Too many. And pretty soon he forgets about the pain in her eyes that morning.
Buffy's mood swings and sleepless nights, the way she goes quiet halfway through a sentence, Giles chalks it all up to what happened in Sunnydale and Spike's death, to the pressure and scope of what they have to do. He never does make a connection between Buffy's change in attitude and Faith's leaving.
Because really, they've all changed. Too much has happened for their lives to continue as they were. Loss of home, loss of loved ones, loss of body parts. They all go through a period of mourning and readjustment.
Time passes.
They've moved out of the cramped London flat and into the countryside
Andrew takes charge of the day-to-day running of their ever-expanding household and he doesn't let them down; making sure everyone is fed and clothed and has a bed to sleep in. Outwardly he's changed the least, but Giles senses that the boy is finally taking the needed steps towards becoming an adult.
Besides, the younger girls need a mother hen, someone to bake them cookies and let them cry over missed families and friends. No one else has the time or energy to spare, and it is necessary. The girls need more than shelter and sparring lessons. They need a home.
Xander gets more serious, a strange counterpoint to Willow's sudden gaiety. He's found purpose, while she's found life again, her confidence and her powers have grown and the simple joy that she radiates is soothing for them all.
Giles worries about the effects of Anya's death and Xander's injury, but there is a strength to Xander that Giles realizes was there all along. He's soon off to Africa to look for newly empowered slayers.
Kennedy leaves not long after to do the same. Only she is headed for South America. Willow is staying in England to assist in the rebuilding of the Watcher's Council. She has a lot of grand ideas, her most current and somewhat farfetched is to start two schools for slayers and witches and watchers, one in England, the other in America. Giles doesn't see how it can happen, money and resources limited as they are, but he won't stand in the way of a determined Willow. Not when it makes her so happy to dream.
Robin goes back to America with a few of the older girls, Cleveland their destination. The Hellmouth there has no guardian and it makes them all uneasy.
Giles spends a lot of time with Dawn, who is elated that she is finally trusted to be part of the decision making, if not the actual missions. Buffy insists on the last part. Soon Dawn will be ready for college and Giles couldn't be more proud. Her quick mind and talent for languages will be an asset once her schooling is done.
And Buffy slays. Sometimes she sleeps and eats and sometimes she joins in the late night card games and popcorn and movies, but mostly she slays. Even when she's supposedly relaxing and enjoying the company of her friends, Giles senses an edge, an awareness that she won't relax.
He tries not to worry, keeps her as busy as he can, sending her out on patrols with the newbies, as Dawn calls them, in tow. She's a good teacher for the other girls, her experience and intuition can only benefit them.
Giles assumes that Buffy confides in Willow, that they are still close. He assumes that she is healing and adapting to their new life along with all the others. But he's wrong.
Time passes.