Mrs. Giles

Thanks MarzBar, Mariana, Anon, and pinkyblue_ice;)

Buffy couldn’t believe what was happening. It was all to much. She never intended for it all to go that far. To be put in the man’s will, for goodness sake! Now she had a hard decision to make, and it had to be made nevertheless. Expose herself as a fraud, or run away.

“Damn. Wish I had a camera bout now to take a picture.” She said aloud to herself, in reference of what had been her beautiful home the last several weeks. She opted to run away. As she hurriedly packed her bags of possessions in which did not belong to her, the door to her room abruptly opened.

“Sorry to barge in, pet. But I was wonderin’ if- hey, what’s going on?” Buffy was awe struck to see Spike accompanied by a large bouquet of roses.

“What are those for?” She asked, completely ignoring his question. He looked nervous for a moment before further entering the room.

“Oh, um... these are for you. Kind of a congratulations for being, um, more so in the family?” He asked more than stated. In actuality, he bought them because he was so relieved that she was in no way involved with his brother, not after their money, and because he now felt officially guilt free in liking her.

“Oh, thanks.” She said before turning around to finish packing. Spike brushed off the fact that she didn’t take the roses and placed them on a dresser.

“No problem. Where you headin’ off to?” He asked, taking in the packed suitcases. Buffy finally stopped her movements, turning and facing him uneasily.

“Spike, I- I can’t stay here. It’s not right.”

“You’re more than welcome here. My father adores you and the baby. He- we want you to stay.”

“No, I... Don’t you see? This is all too much. It’s like taking advantage and-"

“Really, it’s not. My father’s not daft, you know. He’s fully functional. Stay here with us. You’ll be safe and taken care of. You and Faith both.” He pleaded.

“Look, I can’t explain. Well, actually I could, but it’d be really bad. I’m sorry, but we have to go.” Spike stared at her intently before completely exploding, waving his arms about.

“Bloody hell, woman! Are you completely around the bend?!”

“What? I’m not sure what that means, exactly, but it sounded insulting.”

“Are you insane?”

“Excuse me?” She asked, incredulous.

“I mean, you have everything here; a home, a family who cares for you-"

“You think I don’t know that? You think I’m leaving for fun? Cause it's so great to leave people who actually care about me?” She asked rhetorically, nearly on the verge of tears.

“No. It’s just, I’d like us to get to know each other better and... Just think about it, okay? Weigh your options a bit, and I’m sure that you’ll see that staying here is the heavier side. Ya know, cause there’s more for you here.” He said as he lightly grasped her hand. She gazed into his eyes, wanting to believe that staying was the right choice, but knew the answer already in her heart.

“All right. I’ll think it over.” He smiled at her then. Instead of replying, he merely nodded and left her to her thoughts. No sooner had he left was she sitting at the desk, writing her good bye letter. When she was finished, she got her baby and her bags and left for the train station. Little did she know she was being followed by a kind man with blue eyes.

“Oh god, where am I gonna go?” She questioned to herself as she sat on the bench at the train platform, clutching Faith to her chest. She was surprised when someone answered.

“How’s bout back with me?” She looked up to see Andrew standing before her.

“I can’t.” She replied, turning away from him.

“But you see, the beauty of it is you can. Real simple. Just mosey yourself along to the car while I carry your bags.” He said with a smile. Buffy merely gave him a sour look in turn. Giving a very much exasperated sigh, he plopped down on the bench next to her.

“Come on, Dru. The Giles men need you. I mean, do you know how incredible it is to see them happy? Smiling even? You know for awhile there, I didn’t think it was apart of their genetic make up. But, you just bring out this special something in them. It’s like you have this Force inside of you.” Buffy gave him a funny look as he made weird movements with his hands for emphasis on her “force.” Shaking her head, she began to speak.

“Andrew, I don’t belong there. I care about them, I do. But I’m not really apart of their family. I don’t want to leave, but I can’t stay because-" She stopped talking as the tears finally came. “Oh, I’m sorry. Damn hormones.” She sniffed. Andrew began to awkwardly pat her on the back.

“There, there. Look, maybe you’re not related by blood or whatever, but you’re still in their hearts. They care about you. I mean, Master Splinter adopted the turtles and they weren’t even the same species! They were so happy. It was so beautiful!” He exclaimed before bursting into tears. Buffy let him lean on her shoulder as she began to return the favor of the “ awkward comfort back pat.”

“I’m sorry. I just get a little emotional sometimes.” He said as he wiped his eyes. “Don’t give up on them, Dru. You and Faith make the family whole again. I mean, first losing Mrs. Giles and then Randy... losing you and Faith would be too much. You don’t want to put them through that again, do you?” Buffy looked indignant at the idea of hurting Giles or Spike like that intentionally.

“Of course not.”

“Then come back with me, you silly goose.” Buffy thought it over. It’s not like it’s even my real name in the will. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to play the charade a little longer? Not like I have another place to go anyway.

“Andrew, if it’s not too much trouble, could you please carry my bags?”

“Of course, madam.”

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


“Drusilla, we were terribly worried! What’s wrong? Where did you go? What-" Giles fired at her in a distressed tone.

“Whoa, da, slow down a tick. Give her a minute. I’m sure she’ll explain when she’s ready.” Spike said as he watched her carefully.

“I’m sorry you guys. I just got so... overwhelmed I guess. It won’t happen again.” Buffy said, hanging her head.

“But it’s all cool now. We had this talk about, um, stuff and we sorted it all out. Everything’s okay now. Right Dru?” Andrew asked, desperate for the recognition in being the one to bring Drusilla back.

“Yeah. Andrew here helped clear my head on some things.” He smiled gratefully at her.

“Well, I guess my work here is done. Night, all.” Andrew said before going to his room.

“I’m kinda beat too, guys. I’ll see you in the morning.” Buffy said before heading to her room as well.

“What do you suppose that was about?” Giles asked his son.

“I dunno. Maybe she really was overwhelmed. But why speculate? She’s back, right?” He replied. Giles nodded in quiet agreement. But of course, I’m going to find out the real reason tomorrow. He thought to himself.