Title:  Aftermath II
Author:  Jadedragon
Rating:  NC-17
Pairing:  Buffy/Giles
Summary:  Sequel to Aftermath. My version of Season 6 with Giles added.
Disclaimer:  The characters from BVTS don't belong to me (sigh); they are the property of Joss, the WB, UPN and Mutant Enemy. I'm just playing with them for a while.
Spoilers:  Season 6 up to Tabula Rasa, then I start changing things.
Distribution:  If you would like it for your site, e-mail me.
Feedback:  I'd love to know what you think. If you disagree with something I would like to hear it, small flames okay, but bonfires are not appreciated.
Warning:  Character Deaths
Notes:  The Spy Store is a registered trademark, no infringement is intended by its use in the story.
Thanks:  My deepest thanks go to Aleta, who helped to make this story much better. She not only corrected my spelling, but enhanced the way the action flows

* * * * *

Buffy stopped Giles as they turned to enter her bedroom. "Giles, there's one thing that I feel I need to tell you."

"Luv, I thought you wanted to talk later?" With the revelation that his dream was now reality, he was eager to wrap her in his physical being.

"I do, but I need to tell you this now, because you may not want to be with me after you know what I've done." She told him with tears in her eyes as she sat on her bed.

"Buffy, I love you. We both have made plenty of mistakes," he told her as he sat down beside her. "We have hurt each other and those we love. Nothing you tell me could stop me loving and wanting you. Nothing," he assured her.

"Even if I slept with Spike?"

"Even if you slept with Spike." His eyes widened momentarily, then he resolved to assure her, sadness in his voice. "Buffy, I'm not proud of some of the things I've done, people I've slept with. But that's in the past." Giles told her.

"I just felt so alone. He seemed the only one who understood." Buffy told the man she loved, tears falling down her cheeks. "He was the only one that knew where I'd been"

He stopped her with his hand on her lips. "Buffy, do you love him?"

"No, I was just using him."

"Will you sleep with him again?"

"No! I only want you in my life. I love you, Giles." She told him with fear in her eyes.

"Then, I say that we forget about Spike and past histories. I want to make love to the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with. Can we talk about this later?"

Buffy nodded as Giles caressed her face, looking into her eyes seeing the love for him shining there. He felt so lucky. He took her into his arms and kissed her, the passion quickly rising between them. Giles soon felt her hands on his bare chest, never realizing that she had unbuttoned his shirt and was trying to push it off his shoulders. He let go of her long enough to get rid of the shirt and she in turn pulled off the top she had been wearing and threw it and her bra to the floor.

Buffy pulled Giles back into her arms, wanting to feel him again. She left a trail of blazing kisses, which started at his mouth down his chin, his neck and to his left nipple, which she took into her mouth and caressed with her tongue. Giles moaned as he felt the fire of her kisses and the tightening in his groin as she licked and bit his nipple. Soon, she traveled that same smoldering osculation to the right one, giving it similar treatment. He held her, kissing her head and stroking her back. He pushed her away from his chest as he took her mouth in his again. He then blazed his own trail down to her cleavage and gave them the same treatment. Slowly he licked, sucked and nipped her breasts, which fit his hands as if they were made especially for him.

Buffy was moaning, the pleasure more than she had felt in a very long time. Feeling, she was feeling and there was no guilt. Her hands went to Giles belt, wanting to 'feel' his entire body against hers. The dream had been wonderful, but she wanted to feel the actual heat of him. Giles, realizing what she wanted, pulled back and stood up. Slowly he unzipped his slacks and allowed them to fall to the floor, leaving him in gray silk boxers, with a decided tent. Buffy stood up and reached behind her to unzip her skirt and when it dropped she was left in a tiny silver blue thong. She reached out to the man she would spend the rest of her life with and eased his shorts over his hips, his aroused manhood and down his long legs. Giles stepped out of them and when Buffy stood up he reached over to the woman he had loved for so long and eased her thong over her hips, helping her to step out of them. When both were nude and standing before each other, Giles held his arms open and Buffy went immediately into them and felt that she at last had come home. Never had she felt so much peace, so much love.

Giles carefully lowered them to her bed and began kissing her, worshiping her body, cherishing each inch of her, branding her with searing kisses, which stoked the passion in their bodies. He trailed kisses down her stomach and down her left thigh coming close to her nether lips, but never quite touching them. His breath was taunting as he continued his path. His mouth massaging down her left leg to her shin, then ankle, and then back up her right from her calf to her knee, and along her inner thigh. This time when he neared her nether lips he kissed them, deliberately outlining her sex with his tongue. Buffy was moaning and begging him to stop teasing her. He gently pulled the lips apart as he leisurely licked her clitoris, feeling her nub and tasting her true essence for the first time. His tongue caressed her slowly, allowing her passion to build until she was mindless with wanting. He reverently pushed his forefinger into her tightness in a slow rocking motion, as he caressed her with his tougue. He knew that she was very close and he added another finger to the first. Soon she was screaming his name in the throes of her first orgasm. Before she had come down he'd risen over her and slowly entered her pulsing heat. He allowed her to feel him filling her, letting her get use to his size before he started moving within her. Her passage was so tight, swollen from his friction, cloaking him in her love. He kissed her as he felt her coming to another orgasm. He held himself back until she came again and then he let himself go. He couldn't hold back any longer and thrust into her once more before pumping his seed into her clenching channel.

Lulled with contentment, he rolled over on his side, pulling Buffy with him. They lay in each other's arms and were soon asleep, each sleeping better than they had in over two months.

**********

Buffy slowly awoke in the dark, feeling a hand caressing her breast and realizing that it was Giles. Slowly she turned over into his arms.

"That was the best birthday that I can remember," she told the man in her embrace.

"I'm glad that I could make it memorable," Giles told her with a twinkle in his eye. He bent down to capture her lips in his, but before they went very far they heard the front door hesitantly open and heard someone cautiously entering downstairs.

Buffy and Giles quickly slipped back into their clothes and silently left her room, creeping stealthily downstairs to see who had entered the house. As they reached the landing, they saw a light in the living room. Giles held her back so they could observe the intruders to determine their intentions.

"I don't know about this, putting a camera in the Slayer's living room seems a little much?" Jonathan whispered to Warren who was placing a camera in the fireplace under the logs stacked there.

"We need to know all of her moves if we're to stay ahead of her. We have to keep her from the caves and know if she is heading in that direction. We can't let her find the treasure before us."

"She has no idea about the old caves or what is buried there. Warren let's make this quick, I don't want to be here when they return." Jonathan whined.

"Jonathan, you worry too much. I'm finished. I told you it would only take a couple of minutes. We'll be gone before anyone is the wiser." Warren told his accomplice.

Giles quickly pulled Buffy upstairs so the two wouldn't see them as they left. After Warren and Jonathan had gone out the front door, Buffy turned to Giles.

"Lets follow them and see where they're hiding now. Maybe they'll lead us to these caves they were talking about."

Giles nodded his agreement and both quickly grabbed weapons and supplies, got their shoes back on and were out the door after them.

Warren and Jonathan were on foot and were easily followed to a rundown area of town where they entered the basement of an abandoned house. Once the location was noted, Giles quickly led Buffy away from the location. When they were about a block away, Buffy turned to Giles.

"Why did we leave so soon? I wanted to see if we could hear anymore of their plans?" Buffy complained to her Watcher.

"Buffy, there were magical traps set all around the building. It will take some research to break these spells without tripping the 'alarms'," he quickly told his lover. "I suggest that we get back to your house and call the rest of the gang to meet us at the shop to discuss this situation. I need you to tell me everything you can about Warren and Jonathan and their schemes since I left."

"Giles, do you think that they've put a camera at the shop?"

"That's a good possibility. Let's go to Xander's, it's less likely that his apartment is under surveillance."

Giles and Buffy were soon back at her home and then quickly on their way to Xander's. Buffy had picked up Willow's laptop to take with them. It was after midnight when they knocked on Xander's door, which was quickly opened.

"Well, I didn't think to see the two of you again tonight," he told them as he let them into the apartment.

After they were seated around the dining room table Buffy started. "We had a couple of unexpected visitors, Warren and Jonathan."

"Are you alright?" Willow asked. "Well of course you are, with your being here and all, but did they hurt you? No pokey demon stabby things?'

"We're fine. We watched them put a camera in the fireplace to spy on us then Giles and I followed them to their 'hideout', an abandoned house over on Grady Lane. We overheard them talking about something in a cave that they want to keep us from finding. There's probably a camera or two at the shop. That's why I brought your laptop, Will. Is there some way that you can detect them so we can be aware of where they are?"

"I can't do it with my computer without tapping into their network and possibly tripping any alarms, but there are devices that you can buy at The Spy Store in the mall to sweep a place for 'bugs' there should be something similar for cameras," Willow told her friend.

Giles and Tara discussed the magicks that he had sensed protecting the house where the nerdy three were hold up. They made plans to spend the next day researching at the Magic Box while Willow and Xander went to the mall to obtain the electronics to sweep the store and Buffy's home to locate any other cameras and bugs.

Buffy couldn't believe the lengths to which the three had gone. It was scary. At first she had thought it was a cruel joke that the nerdy trio really thought that they could take her on and defeat her, but it was anything but a joke now. She wanted to know just what was hidden in the caves that had been mentioned and she suggested the Scooby gang research that as well.

Buffy and Giles finally crawled back into bed about 3:30, planning to be at the store by 8:00 to start the research. Both fell immediately asleep, tired from all the earlier activity, sexual and creeping about Sunnydale in the middle of the night.

As soon as they got to the shop the next morning, Giles cast a spell to hide everything happening in the store to anyone trying to spy. To the observers, they would just see and hear a slow day with few customers. Once he completed the spell, he turned to Buffy, taking her into his arms, wanting to be as close to her as possible. They sat, just holding each other for about fifteen minutes until the rest of the gang joined them. Xander had stopped by the doughnut shop and had brought breakfast, which included plenty of jellies. They quickly ate and started researching.

Willow went on the net trying to locate any histories of the area, which would tell them what the trio might be looking for in 'those caves'. In case Willow couldn't find anything on the net, the rest were searching protection spells, trying to locate which spells may have been used to protect the trio's lair. Giles intended to remove the spells so they could enter the lair and discover what the three were planning. At 10:00, Willow and Xander headed to the local mall to buy the electronics they had discussed the night before and Anya opened the shop. She waited on the few customers while the rest, excluding Dawn who had gone to school, continued to research.

When Willow and Xander returned with a scanner, they detected one camera hidden inside a skull, which was on the counter. They moved it to the display in the window where it looked out into the street. Just in case it also had audio capabilities, they moved the speakers, of the music system Anya had just purchased, close to the skull to mask any sounds.

Willow went back to researching the history of the area and any possible treasures that could be hidden in the caves that were in and around Sunnydale. Just after lunch she called everyone to the tarot table to show them what she had discovered.

"Look here; a pirate by the name of El Mirada was known for attacking ships along the California coast when it had been a Spanish Territory. He had taken many ships laden with gold and precious jewels," but what drew Willow's attention was a shipment of magickal manuscripts that had disappeared in 1790.

The books were reported to have belonged to Alejandro Reyes, a Spanish practitioner of the Black Arts who, in order to escape the Inquisition in his native Spain circa the late 1600s, had fled to California. Once he had arrived in the New World, he quickly disappeared with what was described as one of the most complete Occult libraries known, ever assembled by a solitary man. The Church searched for him, but he had vanished, never to be seen again.

Over the years, paying the local pirates to protect him and supply his needs he continued his research into the Dark Arts. There were even recorded rumors that Reyes had moved to the mountains in Northern California. In 1789, a sheepherder found a cave where there were crates of books. Not being able to read, he told his priest who upon examination declared the discovery of the lost library of Alejandro Reyes. Arrangements were made for the manuscripts to be sent back to Spain, then to the Vatican for study. "El Mirada was reported to have attacked the ship, on which the books were carried, and if so he would have returned the books to Reyes, a powerful sorcerer who may well have prolonged his life with castings."

Once Willow had read them the story, and shared her conjecture, she pulled up a map of the area where the books had been found. It corresponded with the caves that Adam had used when they were freshmen.

It was soon decided that Buffy, Giles and Xander would go search the caves to see if they could discover where the books might have been hidden. If Reyes had lived in the caves, his lair would be cloaked in spells and Giles would be able to sense when they were near any magickally protected areas.

As they prepared to leave, Giles took Buffy and Xander into the training room, Tara following behind them. Buffy looked at Giles wondering why he had asked them in there.

"Buffy, Xander, I am going to cast a series of protection spells on you. These spells will muffle any sounds and allow you to blend in with the background. Once I have finished, Tara will cast the same spells on me."

"Giles when did you become all magickal?" Buffy asked him. He never cast spells.

"Buffy, I won't lie to you. I haven't cast anything since I saved you from Catherine the Great, other than simple wards. I haven't done a lot of casting since Eyghon. I'm too scared of being pulled back into the dark side of magick. But to protect you, Xander and our child, I will do whatever is necessary."

"What do you mean, dark side of magick?"

"After Eyghon, I was pulled completely into the dark. It was only the Council and their Mages who were able to bring me back. It was a very dark time of my life and I will tell you about it, but later. We need to find these books, if they exist. I have already alerted the Council. If we do indeed find these volumes, only the most highly trained Mages will be capable of removing such dark manuscripts without harm to themselves or others. None of us are to touch them. Is that understood?"

Buffy and Xander slowly nodded their heads, never had they seen Giles appear to be truly scared of anything.

"If these books exist, they will be protected by very powerful dark magick and possibly demons. Once I sense the dark magicks, we will leave the caves. We won't try to find the exact location, it would be too dangerous."

"But, how..." Buffy started.

"Buffy, I won't risk you or Xander by going too close to such dark magick. If you're worried about the trio finding the manuscripts, don't. They could never get close enough to even open one book, much less try to use any of the magicks contained within them. I have heard of Reyes and his Black Arts. You may rest assured that no one would be able to get too close without knowing exactly what they're doing. From what you have told me of the trio, they are incompetent dabblers compared to even Tara, much less a master of the Dark Arts as Reyes was purported to be," Giles finished, the expression on his face very stern.

He then instructed Xander and Buffy to stand before him and he began casting the cloaking spells on them. As the spells took effect, both sensed a tingling over their skin. It wasn't unpleasant, just an awareness that it was there. Once he was finished, Giles stood to one side, as Tara cast the same spells on him.

Buffy, Giles and Xander quickly left, using the back door to the shop. They made their way to the caves, Giles driving the SUV, as close to the opening as he thought was wise. They entered through a cave that Buffy hadn't seen before, which had been indicated on the map that Willow had found on the net. They had been exploring for about an hour when they heard voices up ahead of where they were.

"We can't get past the barrier!" Jonathan whined.

"We just have to find the right spell. Lets go back to the lair and look through the new books we got in L.A. last week. We'll find a way in," Warren assured Jonathan.

"All that power just beyond our reach. We'll really show the Slayer once we get those books," Andrew assured the worried Jonathan.

"Yeah, once we discover a way through it!" Jonathan continued to whine.

"Sparky, don't worry so much. I know that we'll find the spell, very soon. Let's head back. Now that we know where the books are, it's just a matter of time," Warren assured his partners in crime as they retraced their steps through the cavern from where the passage was blocked.

After the nerdy trio left the cavern, Giles turned to Buffy and Xander.

"That's not where the books are hidden. There is nothing past that barrier but a trap. I sense no blackness like the manuscripts would emit."

Buffy looked at her Watcher. This was a side of him that she had never seen. He was very confident in his awareness of the magical forces that they were searching for and it scared her a little. She had seen what the darker magicks had done to Willow and didn't want the same thing to happen to Giles, again.

They continued moving through the caverns for about an hour before Giles suddenly stopped.

"We don't go any further. There is the entrance to the hidden caves that house his library," he told them as he pointed indicating a dead-ended tunnel twenty feet in front of them.

"I don't see anything," Buffy told him.

"That's the point. You wouldn't. The entrance is concealed with spells. Only someone with a sense of magick will be able to sense the vault. Buffy, Xander, I need you to go back to the last turn we made and wait for me. I must leave an indication of where this is so the Council Mages can find this place without my having to lead them here."

Seeing the resolve on Giles' face, the two returned to the last cross tunnel and waited for him. He joined them about ten minutes later, looking very tired. He wouldn't answer their questions until they had gotten back to the SUV and were on their way back to the Magic Box.

"Giles, what's wrong? You look terrible!"

"Buffy, I'm fine, really. It's just been a long time since I used so much magick and it takes a lot of energy for the all spells that I cast today," Giles assured her. "Lets get back to the shop. I need to call the Council and let them know exactly what I found and see how soon arrangements can be made for the Mages to come and remove the manuscripts from the caves."

"What about the trio?" Xander asked.

"I'm not so worried about them. They'll trap themselves before they cause any real trouble," Giles informed them before continuing. "The barrier they found is simple and can be breached by any of several spells. I expect that within the next couple of days, they'll try to open it and will be trapped in the stasis field that has been left on the other side of the barrier."

"How do you know that?" Buffy asked her lover.

"I could sense the trap on the other side and I could very easily have opened the barrier, but I know better than to try to breach barriers left by a master of the Black Arts." Giles explained to them as he pulled up behind the Magic Box.

Once they got in, Giles went to call the Council and make arrangements for the Mages to come immediately and remove the dangerous magickal texts from the cave. He was told that they would be leaving London in the next afternoon and would contact him when they arrived in Sunnydale. Reyes' library was legendary and The Council was very excited that the manuscripts had been found. Not all of the works were purported to be of the darker arts and it was expected that many other forgotten texts would be rediscovered.

The next afternoon, Giles was working at the Magic Box, helping Anya with inventory when he felt the barrier trap being set off. He called Buffy and picked her up at home and they went back to the caves. The barrier had exploded and the trio was trapped in stasis behind where the barrier had been.

"Giles, can they get out?" Buffy asked concerned about the further havoc they could do.

"No. The Mages may be able to release them, but I doubt it. This is a time stasis field and can only be released from the other side of the time line."

Buffy looked at her lover with a questioning gaze, unsure of what he was talking about.

"A stasis field of this type is begun in one time and can either continue for a set period of time or for an indefinite period of time. If set for a confirmed period of time it can be released once that period of time has passed, but only with the proper spell. If set for an indefinite time period, anyone caught in the spell will quickly age and die while trapped. I can't determine which type it is, but maybe the Mages can when they get here."

Buffy looked in horror at the trapped young men. They had caused her a lot of trouble over the past several months, but she wouldn't have wished this on her worst enemy, not even Ethan Rayne.

Giles took her hand and they left the cavern in darkness with the three trapped, possibly for the rest of their lives.

**********

The next afternoon the Mages arrived and met with Giles at the Magic Box. He explained the situation to them about the barrier trap and the three young men who were caught when it had been triggered. The Mages promised they would do their best to release the trio, but told Giles, as he had told Buffy, that it really depended upon what type of stasis field it was. He knew that it would take the Mages at the very least, several weeks of study before they would even be able to attempt to open the vault of Reyes, so he was surprised when one of the Mages appeared at the Magic Box the next afternoon.

"Mr. Giles, it is with great sadness that I have to inform you that we could not save the three men trapped. It was an indefinite time stasis and they were dead when we finally released the spell earlier today. We did all that we could, but nothing would have saved them after the trap had been sprung," the Mage informed the Watcher.

"I appreciate your trying to save those young men. They had caused a lot of problems but I hate that they had to die like that," Buffy told the Mage as she came up behind Giles having heard the conversation.

"Ms. Summers, it is an honor to meet such a renowned Slayer. I am also here to inform Mr. Giles that we have verified that the few books behind the stasis field were indeed from Reyes' library. Once we have removed and confirmed that the vault contains the rest of his collection, you'll be receiving the reward. The Council has been looking for this collection ever since it disappeared in the late 1600's. Many of the books Reyes brought with him to the New World were taken from a Watcher he murdered in Madrid. We'll contact you before we leave Sunnydale, but it will take several months to disarm and safely remove the rest of the collection. We'll be in touch." With that he vanished.

Buffy looked at Giles, "A reward? How large would such a reward be?"

"Considering how long they've searched, quite large. But don't start spending it yet. It will be several years before they can verify the collection and it has to be removed first," he told her not wanting her to get her hopes up for a quick check.

"Okay, but can I help you spend it?"

"Of course, but why don't we us it to start a college fund for the baby?" he asked as he hugged her to him.

"That's a great idea. Now we can think of the baby and our future together," Buffy answered her lover as she melted into his arms.

"I know one thing that I want to talk to you about," he told her as he led her to the tarot table and sat down beside her.

Clutching her hand, he expressed with sincerity, "Buffy, I never thought I'd have the chance to have children. Our child is a blessing I never fathomed would happen to me. Your love is another. When I'm with you, I feel that the missing piece of my soul has been found, and I don't want to lose it, ever," he said as he got down on one knee. "Buffy, will you honor me with your hand in marriage?" Giles asked her with hope in his eyes.

Buffy looked through her tears at the man she loved. She couldn't believe that he truly loved her. "Rupert I will be honored to be your wife. There is no one I would rather spend my life with."

Giles took Buffy in his arms and kissed her deeply. They were still kissing when Xander, Anya, Dawn, Willow and Tara entered the Magic Box.

"Is something going on here?" Dawn asked with an impish grin.

"I've just asked your sister to marry me and she said yes!" Giles told the young girl as he looked into his love's eyes.

"Yeah! Let's have that party we missed out on, this is of the happy!" Dawn insisted

Later that night, Buffy and Giles celebrated their engagement and Buffy's birthday with all their friends. This time there were no interruptions.

THE END