WINNER GETS
Laura Smith
Giles patted his pockets, searching for his keys. He had to pick the worst of all possible days to be running late. Spotting the faint glimmer of metal beneath the sofa, he bent and retrieved them. A slow smile spread over his face as he remembered how they'd gotten there. "Willow? Are you coming?"
"You're down there!"
He shook his head. "I'm late."
"All right." She came down the stairs, his briefcase in her hand. "You might need this."
He handed her backpack to her. "And you this."
"We make a good team." She kissed him quickly and opened the door. "We…" She stopped. "Hello."
"Giles?"
"Quentin. What an unpleasant surprise."
"I need to speak with you."
"You'll have to do it at the school."
Quentin stood his ground. "May I remind you, Mr. Giles, you are a Watcher, not a librarian."
"Must I remind you, I am both." Giles brushed past him and headed for his car, Willow's arm firmly in his grasp. "I'll have you drop me off. That way you won't be late."
"Who is he?"
"He's from the Watcher's council."
Worry lines creased her face. "Is it bad?"
"Undoubtedly." He saw her worry and took her hand in his. "Don't worry, love. We'll get through it."
*****
Quentin slammed into the library behind Giles. "I will not tolerate such disrespect."
"I believe you remember Buffy?" Giles dodged his Slayer's roundhouse kick, allowing it to catch Quentin directly in the chest. "Excellent form."
"Oh, did I hurt him? I hope I hurt him."
Quentin sighed angrily and struggled to his feet. Brushing himself off, he followed Giles into his office. "You haven't returned any of our phone calls."
"I'm not returning to England for this. We're on a Hellmouth that can erupt at any time. For me to leave and go to England is pure folly. You know that as well as I. You never wanted me to go in the first place, simply because you thought I was a bad influence on other Watchers. Now you simply want me there so you can keep an eye on me. If you feel you must watch your Watcher, then you can bloody well do it here."
Buffy stood outside the door, her eyes wide. Giles was furious.
"We have. You're becoming too close to this girl. It was bad enough when it was your affection for your own Slayer, but this is unacceptable."
"Why? Don't you want hordes of little Watchers running about? How exactly do you expect me to do that if I'm celibate?"
"You just have to impregnate her. You don't have to like her."
Buffy heard the soft gasp at her side and turned to see Willow standing there. She looked back into the room, realizing that Giles hadn't seen or heard them.
"I will do as I please. And if pleases me to like the child, I will do so. If you have any other instructions?"
"We approved of this, solely because of her talents as a witch. Don't fool yourself into thinking it was anything otherwise."
Giles felt the keys hit his chest before he heard the sound. Instantly, his eyes went to the doorway where Buffy stood. She was still in shock, hurt and worry on her face as she looked after Willow's departing figure.
"Fuck."
*****
Willow sat on the bench, staring out at nothing. Her whole world had crumbled in just one conversation. She'd always thought that was so dramatic when it happened on television. Now, she just thought it was horrible. She felt him sit by her, knew his scent and feel immediately. "Please go away."
"I can't. Not until you let me explain."
"You don't have to." Her voice was small and sad. "I'm smart, remember? They like that I'm a witch, so they want you and me to have kids, so they can be Watchers or Slayers or other powerful things." She bowed her head so that he couldn't see the tears in her eyes. "I didn't realize I was another assignment."
"That is not what you are to me. Willow, I love you…"
"It pleases you to like the child." She said in a bad English accent. "It's okay. I guess now I know how Buffy feels about being the Chosen One. The bad parts really do outweigh the good." She stood up and pulled away from the hand he reached out to her. "Was this what you were going to surprise me with tonight for my birthday? My special calling as your brood mare?" Tears coursed down her face making her green eyes sparkle with sorrow. "You'll forgive me if I don't show it off to all my friends."
"Willow, please, listen to me." His voice was thick with emotion. He truly wished something decidedly evil would kill Quentin. "I do love you."
Quentin and Buffy both appeared behind Giles. Willow smirked. "Your master's voice is calling, Mr. Giles." She turned around and walked toward the parking lot.
Giles turned to Buffy, his eyes pleading with her. "Please, stay with her?"
"I'm afraid your Slayer is needed for more important things than watching your upset girlfriend." Quentin reached out to take Buffy's arm. She grabbed his hand and snapped the wrist easily.
"Screw you." She dropped his hand and ran after Willow.
Giles smiled, motioning back to the library. "Well then, shall we?"
*****
Buffy finally found her in Giles apartment, throwing clothes into a suitcase. She sat down on the bed and looked up at her friend. "Wills? You want to talk?"
"No."
"Willow, you know that he loves you. Giles doesn't use people like that."
"He drugged you because the Council told him to. He almost cost you your life because the Council told him to."
"Which makes me believe more than ever that this isn't because the Council told him to. Willow, after what he did to me, he hated himself. I hated him. But we forgave each other and ourselves about stuff because we're a team. Him and me. Watcher and Slayer. You guys are a team too."
"Which team is most loyal to, Buffy? If it came down to it? Chose your Slayer or your lover? Which would he chose? He chose you over Jenny. I'm no different." She smiled weakly. "This is going to sound like me blaming you, which I'm not, but it seems like whatever guy I chose, you're there first."
"That's not true, Will."
"It's true enough. I love him, Buffy, with all my heart. I sit there in class when I'm supposed to be caring about molecular biology daydreaming about the things he does to me. I dream about things I'm never gonna have." She turned away from her friend, rubbing her nose. "I guess I keep dreaming."
"Are you going to let those jerks on the Council win? Are you going to let them destroy your love? It seems to me you're letting go awfully easy." Buffy shrugged. "I mean, my boyfriend is a vampire, killed people I loved and I sent him to hell. But we still date."
Willow couldn't help but laugh.
"See, Will. Giles is doing a job. Maybe the second most important job in the world. And you make his life worthwhile, worth doing the job for. He has to pay homage to the council, and maybe that requires that he say some things he wouldn't normally say. But I don't doubt his love for you, and you shouldn't either. The guy puts up with Xander and your father for you. Think about that."
Willow dropped the clothes she was holding back into the drawer. "I overreacted, didn't I?"
"No. You reacted much like I would have, which I feel puts you in fine company."
She walked over to the bed and sat next to Buffy. "But it's still true. You're his first loyalty."
"I can't change that, Will. Any more than I can change what I am. I'm sorry. If I could, I would."
"I know. And that makes it okay."
*****
"Where is it?" Giles' teeth hurt from clenching. He'd had them clenched almost since the moment he saw Quentin on his doorstep. "Where is the damn Black's Chronicles?"
"Here."
He looked along the smooth leather cover, up her slender arm to her glorious face. It was pale from her crying with random red splotches staining her cheeks. "You're back."
"Yeah."
"To stay?"
"I don't know. I think so." She looked down then back up at him. "I don't like the thought of them knowing what we're doing. It's bad enough that the bad guys spy on us. I don't like it when the good guys do too."
"I know."
She looked at his hands and noticed they were trembling. "Why are you trembling?"
"Because I was scared to death you were never coming back through those doors and I can't quite get over the fact that you're here." He raised one shaky hand to her cheek and stroked it lovingly. His eyes closed and he took a shuddering breath. "Willow…"
She turned her head to kiss his palm, whispering apologies.
He pulled her to him and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Don't ever leave me again."
"I won't."
*****
"I don't want to do this tonight."
"I don't care. You're doing it."
"I don't want to."
"You have to."
"No."
"Yes."
"I'm the Watcher. I say no."
"Do it, or I kick your ass." Buffy glared at him, daring him to take her up on it. Giles cast a quick glance over to the library table where Xander, Oz and Willow were finishing up the last of the birthday pizza they'd ordered. Their original plans for dinner had fizzled when Buffy and Faith had stumbled into a den of vampires with several mystical objects in their arsenal.
"But this is hardly the romantic setting or the proper day for it! For heaven's sake, you were barely able to convince her that what I said was simply for Quentin's benefit!"
"It was, wasn't it?"
"Of course."
"Then get your Watcher ass out there and ask her!" Buffy grabbed his shoulders, turned him around and shoved him out of the office. The three at the table looked up, all with slices of pizza half way to their mouths. Buffy laughed to herself before following him through the door.
"Well, how are we coming with those artifacts?" He ignored Buffy's glare and leaned over Xander's shoulder.
"Here's the ring. Belongs to some guy named Lechito, who surprisingly isn't the guy who came up with the chip. He was some Spanish nobleman who thought the ring had some special power making him invulnerable to the bite of a vampire. Didn't work, apparently, but it is said to contain some energy storing properties."
"Excellent. Oz?"
"I've got Mehitabel. Well, her brooch anywise. Same sort of deal as the ring. Used in spells to channel power and souls, much like our friend the Orb of Thessulah."
"Wonderful. Willow, will you marry me?"
"I found…what?" She looked up from her book, the artifact in her hand long forgotten. He moved over to her and knelt at her feet. Holding up a simple solitaire diamond, he blushed profusely. "Otherwise, you're simply going to have to research this ring as I doubt I'll be able to find any other use for it."
Xander leaned forward and whistled. "Wow, those things are supposed to cost two month's salary, right? How much do you Watcher guys make?"
"Shut up, Xander." Willow hadn't looked away from Giles, her eyes locked with his. "You realize how bad this looks coming on the heels of what I heard today."
"Yes."
"It makes it seem like everything he said was true."
"I know."
Oz looked over Xander's shoulder and showed the same shock at the ring. "You're right. That's quite the rock."
"Oh, Christ, it's my mother's." Giles glared over his shoulder at the two boys before turning back to Willow.
She barely managed to hide her smile before he turned around. "Did you ask your Mum if you could marry me?"
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "Well, I told her we were living in sin and she insisted I make an honest woman of you."
"I think I like your Mum."
"I hope so, you'll meet her this weekend."
*****
Willow glared at him from across the bed. "You did all this on purpose."
"What? Invited a group of soul stealing vampires for the same weekend as my parents, not thinking about who'd get the couch?"
She tried not to smile. "Quit being funny. I can't meet your parents."
"Yes you can. I'm quite sure. At the airport, perhaps?"
She focused on the buttons of her shirt as she undid them, not noticing him watching her with a most appreciative grin. "Meeting your parents is a big step. They're important Watcher type people." She looked up as she started to remove the material, catching him. "Are you listening?"
"What are my alternatives?"
She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "I'm being serious."
"No. You're being attacked." He grabbed the other pillow and leapt up onto the bed. She shrieked and ran from the room, him hot on her heels. "You may as well stop running, Willow. I'm going to catch you and you're going to submit to my will!"
They headed down the stairs and she quickly grabbed two small pillows off the couch. As soon as he cleared the landing, she tossed them at him. "They're not call throw pillows for nothing!" Grabbing a few more, she ran around the sofa as he circled the coffee table.
"That was the worst grammar…"
"Self-defense doesn't require proper speech." She stood behind the couch, legs spread, ready to run at the slightest move from him. She smiled widely, taking in his rumpled appearance. His hair was mussed from where she's smacked him with the first pillow, he had no shirt on, his belt buckle was undone and he was barefoot. He looked good enough to eat. "Winner gets?"
She was delectable. Her shirt hung open, her breasts barely covered by the lace bra, her skirt was in a crumpled heap beside the bed upstairs and the hi-cut panties she wore conformed to her figure perfectly. "Whatever he wants."
"She wants."
"Deal." He growled, watching her eyes. Buffy had taught him a thing or two during their training sessions. He sensed her getting ready to run and stepped onto the couch. Tackling her, landing both of them on the pillows, he planted a firm kiss on her now exposed nipple. She struggled beneath him, allowing him access to even more of the supple flesh.
She gave in to his gentle sucking, moaning his name softly as his lips caressed her damp skin. He slipped one finger up to undo the hook before smoothing the material away from her. He kissed his way up her neck before claiming her lips with his own.
She wrapped her arms around him, loving the feel of his sweat-dampened body against hers. Pulling back, she leaned down and licked his neck. "You're all salty. I was right, you are good enough to eat."
"Ah-ah. Winner gets." He kissed her quickly.
"What does winner want?"
"Tease me?"
"No."
He raised an eyebrow. "You goin' back on the bet, luv?"
She glared at him before pushing him off of her. Rehooking her bra and doing up her buttons, she walked over to the turntable and searched for a record. "You are so outdated. Do you have anything from after the 70's?"
"I'm not laughing. Or being teased."
She bent over to find the record she was looking for, ignoring his wolf whistle.
"All right, that's more like it." He grinned, propping himself up on some pillows to enjoy the show. Knowing how it would end, he slipped out of his slacks and lay back to wait.
The soft pulsing rhythm of New Orleans jazz oozed out of the speakers as she turned to face him. Her eyes were closed, her hands on her undulating hips. She rocked side to side, swaying to the music, letting her hands slowly travel up her body.
She opened her eyes slightly, licking her lips as she looked at him. With tantalizing slowness, she began unbuttoning her shirt, her body constantly moving to the music. He watched as she let the shirt fall to the floor. His body, flushed from their earlier chase, seemed on fire with wanting her. She unhooked the bra and let the wispy material fall. With a smile of pure seduction, she slid her hands over her hard nipples, moaning as she bit her lower lip, her thighs grinding together.
"Winner gets," he purred.
She walked to him, straddling his legs. Slowly, she lowered herself, reaching a hand down to guide him inside her. Her skin was still slippery with perspiration as he grasped her hips to help her settle herself on his shaft.
He stiffened, shuddering as she took him inside her, her firm buttocks pressed against his thighs when he finally filled her.
She kissed him softly, licking his lips. "Good enough to eat, Rupert." She raised herself slightly then sank down, pacing herself with the music.
"Now I know why you chose this one. Nice rhythm." He kept hold of her hips, guiding her, eagerly watching the rise and fall of her breasts as they moved with her strokes.
She closed her eyes, letting her head roll back. Sensing her relaxing, he released one hip and softly pinched her nipple. She moaned and started to move faster. Her muscles clenched against his cock and he knew she was close. He grabbed her hips again and used them to force her to speed up, push harder. Her breathing grew frantic and labored, his own came in short, shallow pants. He bucked his hips up off the floor, desperate for the hard force of contact with her. Practically digging his short nails into her smooth flesh, he jerked up just as she came down and they both cried out in release.
*****
Giles slowly unbent his fingers. "Are you all right? Did I hurt you?" He tried to see, but she grasped his chin and pulled him into a passionate kiss. She held his hands to his sides, her tongue plundering his mouth. He felt her grinding her pelvis against his still semi-erect penis and realized the problem. She finally groaned her satisfaction as her second orgasm rocked her. He repeated his question. "Are you all right? Did I hurt you?"
Willow blinked rapidly. "No. Were you here?"
"Thank you."
She grinned impishly. "That was wonderful. For that, I'll meet your parents."
Next: Room Service