All I Need is You

Giles walked into the motel room with a funny grin on his face. "That was more entertaining than I could have imagined. Do you think I can convince them to push him around just a bit more before they take him away?"

Riley smiled "Sorry, sir. Ethan Rayne is a dangerous man. We need to make sure he's put away where he can't do any more damage for a long, long time."

Just then, Forrest poked his head through the door. "Agent Finn? We have orders to transport the prisoner back to base immediately for debriefing."

"That's my cue," Riley sighed. "You two going to be okay here? Need a taxi or anything?"

"No, thank you. I have my car ... well, actually, I believe Spike has it."

"You let Spike drive your car?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"It's a, uh ... long story." Giles changed the subject. "I believe we'll be fine. I could use a brisk walk to clear my head."

"Alright then." Riley leaned over and kissed Buffy goodbye. "Call me tomorrow."

And then they were alone.

Buffy punched Giles on the shoulder, hard. "What was that for?" he exclaimed as he rubbed his wounded limb.

"For leaving me. Don't you ever think about doing it again."

Giles removed his glasses. "I wasn't leaving you, Buffy. Actually, I was beginning to feel that you were leaving me."

"So you decided to go drinking with your good friend Ethan who's proved to be oh so trust worthy? Don't you listen to your own 'you've got to be more responsible' lectures?"

"I just ..." Giles sat on the edge of the bed "You've grown up, Buffy. You've moved away from home, started college, and survived much longer than most slayers do. You are very capable of handling yourself in any situation. You don't ... you don't need a watcher anymore."

Buffy knelt on the floor and looked up into Giles' face. "Yes I do. Tonight, when I thought something had happened to you ... I didn't know what to think. And look! I even tried to kill you with a letter opener that wasn't real silver." Giles smiled a bit at that. "You never would have let me do that. I ran off without thinking things through. Giles, you're my rock. You keep me grounded in reality ... even when reality doesn't seem very, uh, real."

Giles wasn't convinced. "You have Willow to help with that. And Xander is, well, sometimes he manages to get things right. And then there's Riley with the infinite resources of the initiative right at his fingertips ..."

Buffy interrupted. "But none of them are you! Don't you see that? I don't need you for what you do for me. All I need is you."

For a moment, all was silent. Then Buffy heard an unfamiliar sound. Giles was crying.

Buffy moved to sit beside her watcher, and wrapped her arms around him as he wept.

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