Ginger Snap

Hey, y'all. I'm back. Time to start going great guns on this story. It has fired ye olde imaginatione. So, onwards.


Chapter Three

*

The library was the same as ever. Buffy dumped her books on the check-out counter and leaned across it, trying to see if Giles was in his office. It was the first day back at school after the Christmas break, and so much had happened since she'd been here that it felt like everything should look different. Two weeks ago, she'd been pining for Angel, and desperately trying to save him from the First. Now she and Faith were together, and her mom was close to freaking out--not just about their relationship, but about her Slaying, too. Buffy sighed. Giles' kettle started whistling, and she went into his office to take it off the hot plate.

"Buffy, is that you?" Giles' voice drifted down from the stacks.

"Yeah," she called back. "You want me to make tea, or is it in the Big Book of British Rules that you have to do it yourself?"

Giles appeared at the office door, holding one book open in his hands and two others under his arm. He kept reading even as he took the kettle from her and warmed the teapot, swirling a bit of hot water at the bottom of it. "How was your patrol last night?" he asked.

Buffy slumped down in the desk chair and spun herself around. "Horrible."

Giles frowned and put the books on the desk. He studied her closely for the first time since he'd come in. "You're not injured?"

"No." Buffy stopped the chair from spinning and faced him as he filled a strainer with tea leaves. "My mom found two little kids in the park. Dead. She came out to bond with us about Slaying and she had to see that. Faith and I--"

"Faith was there?" Giles filled the teapot with water and let the tea steep.

"Yeah. Giles--" Buffy fiddled with a ring on her pinkie, twisting it around. "What would you say if I told you...um..." Buffy bit her lip and hesitated, then drew in a deep breath and rushed the words out. "...that Faith is my girlfriend and I'm kind of in love with her?" She hunched her shoulders and peeked up at him.

Giles opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but had forgotten what at the last moment. His ears turned pink. He cleared his throat, carefully poured tea into his mug, stirred it three times counterclockwise, and put down his spoon. "W-well, I, uh, I don't know, Buffy. I--I hadn't thought that, um, you were...uh...Two dead children? Do we know how it happened?"

"No." Buffy stood up and left the office. It was so typical of him to avoid stuff about her life with questions about the slaying. "So are you upset?" she asked, pushing him.

Giles followed her to the table in the middle of the library, currently covered books and parchments. "I-it's not my place to be, to be upset. It's not-- If--if you're, ah, happy...could it have been vampires?"

"There weren't any marks." Buffy sighed and leaned against the back of a chair. "Faith and I...It happened when we went skiing, in case you wanted to know."

Giles nodded. He put his mug down, picked it up again, almost took a sip, then lowered his arm again. "That's, that's, um. And, Angel...he...?"

"I told you I wasn't dating him anymore." Buffy sat down at the table and looked up at him. "I'm not gonna--Giles, when you found out I'd been hiding him, I knew I couldn't risk it, being with him. It was over."

Giles sighed and sat down across from her. He pushed some books aside and met her eyes. "Buffy, why are you telling me this--like this?"

Buffy shrugged. "I didn't want to hide it. I do too much hiding."

"Buffy..." Giles leaned forward. "I think you're asking for my approval."

"You said it wasn't your place to approve." Buffy parroted the words back at him.

"Nor is it." Giles pursed his lips, watching her closely. "I have nothing against you seeing Faith, as long as it doesn't interfere with your Slaying. As it happens, I know how difficult it is to...meet someone...outside of our, um, calling."

"Giles..." Buffy blushed, not wanting to hear about Giles meeting anyone, for anything. Then she remembered Miss Calendar and sank down in her chair, no longer able to meet his gaze.

"Listen to me, Buffy. I'm your Watcher, not your parent. This cannot be a substitute for your mother's blessing." Giles cleared his throat. "And I hope to make it clear that I do not want to catch the two of you--ahem--up to anything in this library."

Buffy buried her face in her hands. "Oh, God, I could have done without that image."

"And so can I." Giles gave her a slight smile. "I plan to continue believing you are a chaste, shy girl who has never had an impure thought in her head...much as the evidence would contradict me. Now." He tapped the table with one finger, signaling the end to that particular discussion. "What more can you tell me about these children your mother discovered?"

Buffy shook her head, trying to remember details. "They were kids, Giles. Little kids. You don't know what it was like to see them there. My mom can't even talk." Which was true, as far as it went. Buffy had slipped out of the house early that morning, before her mom could bring up her concerns about Faith a second time.

"We'll need more than that to go on if we're going to discover the cause of their deaths." Giles started rearranging papers and volumes into stacks.

The library doors swung open and Faith shoved through. Buffy smiled, feeling the familiar flutter in her stomach at her appearance. Faith looked as gorgeous as ever. Buffy could forget a lot of bad things, if she had Faith to stare at. Faith grinned back, cocking an eyebrow at Giles. Buffy nodded. Faith sauntered over and wrapped her arms around Buffy from behind, smoothing her hands over Buffy's stomach and resting her chin on Buffy's shoulder. Buffy sucked in a quiet breath, wishing Giles hadn't put a big old damper on all the library fun she and Faith might have had.

"Hey, G-man. Did B tell ya what's the what?" Faith breath was warm and tickly in Buffy's ear. Buffy felt her face go hot, but she forced herself to look at Giles.

Giles suddenly found the opposite wall to be incredibly fascinating. Buffy had to give him credit for not stuttering too badly when he answered. "Yes, Buffy told me about the children. No vampire markings mean it could be many things, and as such, we will be researching today..."

"No marks?" Faith asked. "I saw some. Not vampire, but..." She let go of Buffy and pulled out the chair beside her, picking up a felt pen and a piece of parchment off the table. "A symbol, like."

"Oh, uh, Faith--" Giles hurriedly set down his mug and reached over to stop her before she could draw anything. "Twelfth century, Papal Encyclical," he muttered. "Here, write on this." He handed her a spiral notebook.

Faith flipped to a blank page. Giles picked up his tea and watched her draw. Buffy leaned closer, enjoying the excuse to press her body against Faith's again.

"This was on their hands. I bet the cops don't say anything about it, but I could see it pretty clear." Faith pushed the notebook over, showing a triangle with a flaring U shape cutting it in half.

"Now why didn't I see that?" Buffy asked, murmuring the question in Faith's ear. She hoped the whole breathing thing had the same effect on Faith that it had on her. Faith shivered, and Buffy smiled to herself. Score one for Buffy.

"'Cause you were too busy checkin' out your really hot girlfriend?" Faith replied, with one eye on Giles to see how he reacted. He only peered at the symbol, but his ears turned pink again. Faith snickered.

"That must be it," Buffy said, amused. "Okay, Giles, find us the thing that uses that symbol and point us at it."

"Hmm." Giles stood up, sipping his tea. He wandered towards the stairs, carrying the notebook with him.

"Hmm?" Faith asked, pushing back from the table and thumping her feet inches from Giles' precious Papal parchment. "Hmm what?"

"Hmm means, 'I know something really bad but I think it'll wig you less if I just make thoughtful noises'," Buffy explained. "It doesn't work the way you think it does, Giles," she called to him. "Tell us what's going on."

"What?" Giles looked up, frowning at Faith's boots on the table. "Sorry. I just wonder if we're looking for a thing. The use of a symbol on a victim like this suggests a ritual murder and a cult sacrifice by a group."

"A group of...human beings?" Buffy asked, incredulous.

Giles nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"Someone with a soul did this? Fuck!" Faith slammed her feet down to the floor and stood up to pace. "Jesus, Giles, I hope you're gonna tell us there's a loophole in that whole 'Slayers don't kill people' rule."

Buffy touched Faith's arm to calm her down, but she was trembling with anger herself. Didn't they have enough to contend with, killing all the demons in the world? Evil couldn't just stayits its nice, Slayable box?

Giles sighed, looking at them sympathetically. "This is a dreadful crime, I know, and you have every right to be upset, both of you." He set down his empty tea mug on the table. "But, Buffy, I wonder if you're not letting yourself get a shade more personal because of your mother's involvement."

"Yeah, no kidding, Giles," Faith said. "Slaying is personal, it has to be. I mean, we gotta have a reason to fight, and it just happens that it's for Buffy's mom this time. She shouldn'ta had to see that."

Buffy met his eyes. "Just find me the people that did this. Please."

Giles nodded. "I'll tell you as soon as I know more."


*

To be continued.