Title:  What She Left Behind 3/3
Author:  Michelle
Email:  mrsdrake@sff.net
Date:  July 2004
Rating:  PG-13
Pairing:  Buffy/Giles
Summary:  Giles deals with Buffy’s death and return
Setting:  End of season 5 and beginning of season 6
Disclaimer:  These are not my characters.  They belong to Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy.  This is purely for fun.

Author’s note: This is a backup fic for the Allthejellies Angstathon.  It will be either two or three parts when complete.
My assignment was:
1. lj/name: aaronlisa
2. season: Post season 5/Early season 6
3. rating: (If you want a NC-17 rating then you must have a season 3 (post-birthday)requirement or higher.) any rating is fine
4. 1 thing you don't want: (This is something that you don't want in the fic written for you...like slash, Riley, etc.) No Riley
5. 3 things you do want: Giles copes with Buffy's death and then return due to the spell in Bargaining

* * * * * * * * * * *

Over time, the ache in Giles’ heart lessened, but it never truly disappeared.  He dreamed of Buffy every night.  In his dreams she was still alive.

Sometimes, when he woke, he would reach out to touch her, and find no one there.  Those were the worst days.  On those days, he was tempted to start drinking again.  Then he would see Buffy looking at him from one of the pictures.  What would she think?

She was still watching out for him, even when she was gone.

* * * * * * * * * * *

When Willow told him she had fixed the Buffy Bot, he was angry.  Did she think it could replace Buffy?

She insisted that it was only to fool the vampires and demons into thinking the Slayer was still alive.  Of course, in the fall, when school started for Dawn, the Buffy Bot fooled the teachers.

If Giles had taken the time to really think about it, he would have realized Willow’s true reasons for using it.  He would have known it was only a substitute until they brought Buffy back.

If he had known they were going to resurrect Buffy, he never would have left.  He would have stayed and stopped them, or, at least, made sure they had done it properly.

Willow had used the first spell she had found.  It would work to bring someone back from the grave.  In a few instances, it had worked perfectly, but more often than not, the person would come back wrong.  It was never anything immediately discernable, but something one could see over time.  Unless you were trained to notice such things.

When he had walked into the Magic Box and saw Buffy, he knew she had returned to them wrong.  Something about her wasn’t quite right.  When she looked at him, it wasn’t with the love he had expected.  She wasn’t the same Buffy who had sent him the video tape and letter months earlier.  She didn’t even remember anything about them.

He stayed and helped for a while, but, soon, it all became too much for him.  He couldn’t see her like this every day.  It was too painful, and he couldn’t do it anymore.

So he made the decision to leave.  This time he wouldn’t be returning.

* * * * * *
The End
* * * * * *