The Dark Age

Buffy was going through her aerobic exercises with great pep in her energy as the music pounded off the walls of the library. Libby was jumping rope a couple feet away and while her arms and thighs were on fire, she was going for a record of 200 jumps in a row without any trip ups. And, of course, poor Giles had to cover his ears at the repetitive and loud techno beat just to maintain some semblance of sanity.

"Must we have this noise during your calisthenics?" Giles yelled over the stereo.

"It's not noise. It's music." Buffy replied without stopping her exercise.

"I know music," Giles argued, "Music has notes. This is noise."

"I'm aerobicizing! I must have the beat!" Buffy insisted. "And so does Libby! Right Libby?"

198, 199, 200! Libby stopped jumping rope with a satisfied smile on her face and nodded her head at Buffy.

"Wonderful. You both work on your muscle tone while my brain dribbles out of my ears."

"Oh Giles," Libby smirked as she walked over to the stereo and turned the music off. "It may not be good music, but it won't turn your brain to goop either."

"As long as the rest is silence." Giles smiled as he let his body relax.

"You know, I wasn't done yet." Buffy bumped Libby's elbow with a grin.

"Well, I am so that means you are cause I'm tired." Libby laughed.

"Very well," Giles said as he rose from the table, "Shall we convene tomorrow morning?"

"We shall." Buffy nodded as she went to get her things.

Libby stayed and looked up at Giles with concern as she said, "I hope you go to sleep all right, but if not I'm there to talk, okay?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Bad dreams ahead, right?"

Giles face went from confusion to shock, but there was still disbelief in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You'll know when it starts."

The next morning, Libby sat with Buffy and Willow outside under the warm sun and the protector was enjoying the soft and cool breeze as her friends talked together.

"I'm on a beach, but not one of those American beaches," Buffy began daydreaming, "One of those Island beaches where the water's way too blue. And I'm laying on my towel and it's just before sunset…and Gavin Rossdale's massaging my feet."

"Oh, that's good," Willow complemented as she begins to dream of her own perfect day. "I'm in Florence, Italy. I've rented this scooter that's parked outside. And I'm in a little restaurant eating ziti. And there are no more tables left so they have to seat this guy with me and it's John Cusack."

"Very impressive," Buffy giggled with Willow, "You have such an eye for detail."

"'Cause with the ziti." Willow smiled.

"What are you three up to?" Xander asked as he walked over to his group of girls.

"Just having a quick game of 'Anywhere But Here'." Buffy answered.

"Oh! Amy Yip at the water-slide park." Xander responded without skipping a beat.

"You never come up with anything new." Willow informed with an amused grin.

"I'm just not fickle like you two. I'm constant in my affections. Amy Yip at the water-slide park. Oh hey, did I miss Libby's answer?"

"What?" Libby said as opened her eyes and came back to the waking world. It had been a long night listening to Giles toss and turn through the night and then dealing with the denial in the morning. She caught a glimpse of the tattoo when he was cleaning up, but damn did the British man know how to avoid.

"If you could be anywhere but here, where would you be?" Buffy asked very interested.

Libby let out a hum deep in her throat as she tilted her head back again before she said, "I'm in Australia. I've wondered the coast until I finally found a place on the water that's not crowded with people. I swim out into the waves and climb onto this rock that's in between sea and land and as the sun begins to dry my skin, a boat sails up to me and Hugh Jackman offers me a ride."

"Wow," Buffy groaned with jealousy, "Can I join you?"

"That sounds amazing." Willow agreed in wonderment.

"Can I be on the boat when the sun's drying you off?" Xander asked as he sipped his juice box to keep from drooling like a horny teenage boy.

Libby came back to present time with a friendly smirk for Xander and said, "Why not? You can even have a sailor cap and everything."

"I like it." Xander wiggled his eyebrows, making Libby laugh and shake her head.

"Do you think Giles ever played Anywhere But Here when he was in school?" Willow thought aloud as she saw the watcher walk in their direction.

"Giles lived for school," Xander replied, "He's actually still bitter that there are only twelve grades."

"He probably sat in math class thinking, 'There should be more math. This could be mathier.'" Buffy agreed.

"Come on! You don't think he ever got restless as a kid?" Willow debated.

"I think he got beyond restless," Libby joined in. "In fact, he was quite the rebel in his day."

"Really?" Willow inquired as her curiosity heightened.

"Oh yeah, restless doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of who he used to be…trust me. Right, GILES?" Libby shouted only the last word to have the watcher find them.

"Oh, there you are." Giles said as he came over.

"Hey, morning," Buffy greeted as she stood up to meet him.

"What have you got for us today, Giles?" Libby asked him, actually forgetting what he needed them to do and hoping he'd actually talk to her now that they were at school.

"Nothing today, but tonight is very important."

"Now that's a surprise." Buffy replied as they all walked into the school.

"Oh, the blood drop-off right?" Libby remembered. "We make sure the vampires don't take it home with them?"

"Precisely," Giles confirmed as they reached the lockers, "We'll meet outside the hospital at 8:30 sharp. I'll bring the weaponry."

"I'll bring the party mix." Buffy said with a straight face.

"Just don't be late." Giles responded with almost a scowl.

"Have I ever let you down?"

"Do you want me to answer that or should I just glare?"

"We'll be there, Giles," Libby assured with a gawky smile, "On time and ready because I have yet to let you down."

"Shut up," Buffy snapped at her sister for pulling that card.

Jenny then saw an opening and walked up to her sexy librarian and said, "Morning, England."

"Oh, hello, Ms. – err – Jenny." Giles smiled like a schoolboy.

"Feel the passion." Willow told Xander a little louder than she meant to.

"Willow." Jenny warned in her teacher tone.

The redhead coughed and replied, "Coughing, not speaking."

"Are we still on for tomorrow?" Ms. Calendar continued with a new subject.

As Willow nodded, Xander regrettably inquired with, "What's tomorrow?"

"I'm reviewing some computer basics with a couple of students who've fallen behind. Willow's helping out for extra credit."

"Those poor schlubs have to attend school on a Saturday." Xander laughed.

"9:00 am okay with you, Xander?" Ms. Calendar informed, not asking.

The smile instantly disappeared from Xander's face and immediately formed on Libby's.

Buffy, with a smirk as well, turned to him and said, "Got a bit of schlub on your shoe there."

Libby couldn't help but laugh at this and Xander sent her a very unhappy glare.

"Cordelia's gonna meet us." Jenny sent another hit at Xander.

"Oh gang did you hear that? A bonus day of class plus Cordelia. Add a little rectal surgery and it's my best day ever!"

Ignoring Xander, Jenny turned to Giles and offered, "Walk me to class?"

"Pleasure."

The two walked in the opposite direction of the kids and the four watched them go.

"Look at them." Buffy pondered.

"A twosome of cuteness." Xander added with distaste of weekend school in his mouth.

"Can't you just imagine them getting together?" Willow said with a great big smile on her face.

And once they all started to think about it, their face's turned sour as if they all just bit into a giant lemon. But not Libby. "I think they'd be at their happiest if they did."

Libby's face fell into solemnness as she walked off and away from her friends because she knew Ms. Calendar's fate as well as that she and Giles never truly got together. However, she was determined to try and change that.

Buffy followed her protector and called, "Wait up! We have the same class silly."

"Sorry, lost in thought."

"What were you thinking about?"

"I guess now is as good a time as any," Libby began to slow her pace as she prepared to tell Buffy what evil was heading their way. "It's not just the blood bank that we need to worry about. See, Giles has a very dark past and it's coming back to bite us all in the ass."

"What? Giles? How do you mean?" Buffy stood there aghast at what Libby just admitted. Just the idea that Giles didn't wear tweed diapers was a stretch for the slayer to believe.

"When he was in college, he fell into this bad group of people and they practiced dark magic. Well, mostly they summoned this demon to get high, but it went too far and one of them died. Now, the demon's back and it's killing the rest of the group. The police are waiting for Giles in the library so he can confirm that the man murdered last night was his friend."

"Oh my God," Buffy breathed in horror, "I don't believe this…Giles? Why would he do that? How could he do that?"

"He was young and rebellious of his destiny," Libby answered, "We can relate to that."

"Yeah, but we don't summon demons that kill people! We kill demons that kill people."

"True, but Giles is still Giles. It's his past that's dark not his present." At the look of pain on Buffy's face, Libby consoled, "He's a real person, Buffy, not just our watcher. And it's our turn to take care of him because not only do we owe him that, but we love him too."

"Yeah, you're right, I'm just…still…processing."

"Well, while you do that we need to get a plan together."

"Please tell me you already have an idea up your sleeve."

With a sly smile, Libby replied, "Don't I always?"

The slayer and protector waited outside the hospital and had been for the last ten minutes. Buffy impatiently looked at her watch and huffed, "'Don't be late.' Sheesh."

"His friend was killed by a demon, Buffy," Libby reminded. "His mind is somewhere else right now."

"I know, it's just way too surreal for me."

The van delivering the blood pulled up and the girl watched it closely. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first, but the slayer and protector knew better.

"All's well that ends with cute ER doctors, I always say." Buffy joked as she watched with seriousness.

"Those aren't cute ER doctors." Libby corrected. "We're not that lucky."

"Typical."

As the van drove off, leaving the blood bags with the vampires, another car's headlights came on and drove out of the darkness of the night and stopped to collect the blood and beasts.

"Hey!" The driver called out with force, "No samplin' the product."

Buffy ran out into the spotlight of the parking lot without giving Libby any warning. She immediately started kicking every threat with fangs and before the protector knew it, Buffy was being slammed on top of the car. Libby ran out and hurled the vamp that was hovering over her slayer into the hospital wall. As the other two vamps began to rush them, Libby turned around to see Angel not two inches away from her face.

"AH! Angel!" Libby screamed in surprise.

"Libby. Look out!" He looked up at Buffy before he leapt over the car to tackle one of the vamps.

The blonde was attacked by another vampire but she was able to stake him with ease. The third vampire finally got back on his feet over by the wall, but before he could land a blow, Libby flung a stake through his heart. Angel wasn't so lucky. Even though he was able to win the fight, Angel didn't get a chance to stake his opponent because he retreated to his car and drove off as fast as he could.

Buffy went over to the bucket of blood after the fight ended to make sure everything was there, but she also looked up at Angel and asked, "How did you know about this?"

"It's delivery day. Everybody knows about this," the dark and handsome vampire replied. "They only ruined one bag."

"Do you think you can make sure the hospital gets the rest?" Buffy raised her eyebrows at Angel to get her order across and Angel gave her a one sided smile and a soft nod.

"Thanks. I'm worried about Giles. He was supposed to meet us here."

"Maybe he's late."

"More like drinking alone in the apartment." Libby confessed.

"Oh – uh – you both should go then."

Buffy smiled at her vampire beau and she ran off to Giles' with her sister leading the way. It didn't take them too long to get there, but Buffy felt a foreboding in her stomach about how bad Giles probably was.

"He'll get through this," Libby said for herself as well as for Buffy.

"I know, I just wish he felt like he could tell me himself ya know?"

"Come on, Buffy. We all have our own big dark secret we feel we can't tell anyone. Whether that secret is threatening or not, they're all shameful to the ones keeping them."

At that insightful statement her sister just said, Buffy could have sworn her heart jumped and raced in her chest so loudly that Libby should have heard it. All the slayer could do was nod because she was afraid that if she opened her mouth to speak, her secret might come out. The protector never outlives the slayer. I brought you here knowing you could die to let me live. Buffy carried that with her every second of every day, but now it was starting to surface and the last thing the slayer wanted was for it to get caught in her throat and pass her lips. She was going to do everything in her power not to have her sister die, but she couldn't deny the guilt of bringing her there regardless. Buffy just loved her protector, her sister, Libby, too much.

Libby unlocked the door and it made Buffy jump and return to what was happening.

"You okay?" Libby asked.

"Fine." Buffy practically choked out.

Giles swiftly jumped off the couch as the girls walked inside. His hair was a mess, like he had been gripping his head, his breath was in desperate need of mints and his clothes were open and sweated through.

"Girls, it's late. Why are you here? Are you all right?" He said in a low, distracted tone.

"For starters, I live here," Libby replied as she flung her coat over the chair. "And second, you forgot about the hospital. It's blood delivery day and that means grocery day for vampires."

"Oh, yes, um, are you all right? Were either of you hurt?"

"No, I mean our feelings a little." Buffy replied honestly.

"Giles, tell us what's wrong." Libby gently pleaded with her friend. "Your nightmares have been waking me up at night."

"What? No. Nothing, nothing. Nothing's wrong. I'm just in the middle of something extremely important."

"I know that, so let us help you." Libby urged.

"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to say good night now."

"Giles!" Buffy called out as he ushered them both out the door.

"You did not just kick me out!" Libby shouted as she stomped on the door. "I live here too ya know!" She was about to turn the key when Giles turned the deadbolt. Buffy's mouth dropped open. "I was afraid of this." Libby sighed as she turned around to look at her slayer.

"What are we supposed to do now? He didn't just not talk to us, he locked you out!"

Libby's eyes narrowed. "Plan B."

Libby marched down the halls in another one of her sister's skirts with Buffy keeping up behind her. "What are we gonna tell them, exactly?" she asked, worried about how all of this was gonna go.

"Just let me do the talking. We don't want them to be in the dark but we don't want them to be scared of what Giles has brought on either."

"All right guys, the first thing we're gonna do is…Libby? Buffy?" Ms. Calendar announced as she entered the classroom.

Xander perked up at the end of her sentence and hopefully said, "Did I fall asleep already?"

"Aw, you miss your friends?" Willow asked in a sweet and perky voice.

"Sit here, Buffs. Demilitarize the zone between me and Cordelia. Libby, please sit on the other side to make a beautiful girl me girl sandwich."

"Ugh, one of you please delouse him?" Cordy moaned in irritation.

"Actually, I'm here to tell all of you something very important and urgent."

"Please say that it's some crisis that requires instant action very far from here." Xander responded as he got up from his seat to stand near them.

"There's a demon here and its killing old friends of Giles'." Libby tried to continue.

"What? Is it coming for Giles?" Jenny desperately inquired.

"Yes, but we won't let that happen. This demon…uh…Urgo, no, Eyghon, when it gets here we need to not waste time in killing it. Its whole deal is that it needs to temporarily possess a dead or unconscious person to continue living so no one go near it because we can't risk anyone getting knocked out. Now, Eyghon is from Giles' past so after this is over, he's gonna need us, so no judging. Only love."

They all stared at Libby with wide eyes as they absorbed the information.

"How do we know when and where to go?" Jenny asked.

"You'll hear a window shatter in the library in about ten minutes. Come then."

"We'll be there!" Xander said with a mock wave of his fist. He was just thrilled that he didn't have to stay in tutoring all day.

Libby then exited the classroom and headed for the library with Buffy still following.

"Ethan Rayne! Come on down!" Libby hollered once they entered through the swinging library doors.

"Who?" Buffy asked close to Libby's ears as to not draw attention away from what her sister was doing.

"Costume guy."

"How did you know I was here?" Ethan came out from behind a bookcase with an exasperated look on his face.

"It's in the job description." Libby finished her answer with a flick of her hand that sent him flying over the staircase and landing at Buffy's feet.

"Nice." Buffy smiled.

"Do you think you could tie him up for me? Somewhere out of the way like by the door?" Libby asked as she went over to the phone.

"Can I beat him up first?" The slayer asked with a powerful smirk on her lips.

"Oh, you can do whatever you want." Libby smiled, a little surprised that Buffy thought she had to ask.

"I gotta say, this is kinda weird," Buffy admitted as she dragged an unconscious Ethan over to the door. "You being in charge and me following you around and doing what you tell me."

"Maybe she should be the slayer and you can be pointless." A waking up Ethan suggested and got punched hard in the face for it.

"You don't really think it's like that do you?" Libby asked, worried about what Buffy was thinking.

"No. We're a team. Neither of us is pointless."

"I know that, I mean me being in charge and you following orders."

"Well, it kinda is. I just think it's weird that you haven't taken charge like this already."

Libby put the phone down and walked over to the edge of the counter where her sister stood, tying Ethan to a chair. "I'm doing this to save Giles a lot of pain. Jenny too; seeing as how if I don't do this she gets possessed and their relationship goes to hell. I don't mean to be bossy or out-leader you. I hope you know that. It's not like this is gonna be a regular thing."

"I totally understand, Libby, really and I wasn't mad. I'm impressed at how you're handling everything. Besides, you could never out-leader me."

The sisters shared a laugh and Ethan ruined it back saying, "I think I'm going to be sick from all the sugar and spice and everything nice in here!" Just for fun and principal, Buffy punched him in the face again and to her happiness his lip began to bubble blood.

Libby picked up the phone and called Giles, who woke from a nightmare to hear the phone ring. He picked it up in a depressed and hangover phase and gave a very groggy, "Hello?"

"Giles, it's Libby. Your live-in ward that you kicked out last night."

"Libby, I am terribly sorry about h-how I handled that, but it-it was for the best. I promise you. To that end, unless this is an emergency, I'll see you on Monday and everything will be back to normal."

"I know about the Mark of Eyghon. I know what it means, about the demon itself and what it has to do with you. I know everything, Giles." Dead silence. "Giles?"

"Cat got his tongue?" Ethan shouted from the corner, only to get punched for a third time.

"I'm in your office with Buffy and we have your ex-friend Ethan Rayne tied up."

"He's there with you? Listen, Libby, you and Buffy are in grave danger while Ethan's there. I want you to put the phone down and get out of the library as soon as possible."

"We're okay, Giles, I have a plan, but you need to get over here now."

Right on schedule, the demon crashed through the window.

"Libby?" Giles called out through the phone. When he got no immediate answer, Giles grabbed his keys and ran out of the house, cursing himself for shutting her out.

Eyghon came at Libby from Giles' office, but she threw him over the counter and into the table across the room with her mind.

"Get me out of here!" Ethan yelled.

"Shut up!" Buffy demanded as she ran over to block the demon from Libby.

The gang came bursting through the library doors and almost tripped over Ethan.

"Make sure he doesn't escape!" Buffy ordered.

"Buffy, get down!" Libby bellowed over the growl of the demon.

The slayer dropped to the floor and the Protector flew Eyghon into the cage and then closed the door behind him. Buffy was on her feet in seconds to make sure that the door was locked and it was.

"Okay, you are getting really good at this! I'm so proud." Buffy cheered for her protector.

"Thanks, it feels awesome."

"So what are we dealing with again?" Xander asked as the gang moved to the center of the room while Buffy dragged Ethan to the desk.

"Eyghon possessing Phillip's body." Ethan answered. "Sorry Phillip."

"Don't act like you care, you heartless dick." Libby responded in a blunt manner.

Everyone stared at her in disbelief at her language, but Libby shrugged her shoulder and defended with, "What? He is."

"A dick maybe, but I'm not heartless. I am sorry about Phillip."

"Whatever."

"On another note, I'm not getting close enough to feel his pulse, but…he looks dead." Willow commented completely ooged out.

"Except for the walking and attacking Buffy and Libby part." Xander added.

"Oh he's dead, that's the demon." Libby explained.

Suddenly, an out of breath Giles appeared through the doorway saying, "Is everyone all right?"

"We're okay." Jenny answered.

"Dead guy here interrupted our tutorial," Xander added and then turned to the demon and said, "Been meaning to thank you for that." But the demon didn't like it so much and roared in his face as he tried to break through the door.

Giles walked over to get a better look and he couldn't believe his eyes. His old friend was gone and the demon he had been so afraid and ashamed of had butchered his body and presence.

"It can't be." Giles sighed.

"Yes, it can," Ethan interjected, "Hello, Ripper."

"I thought I told you to leave town."

"You did. I didn't. Shop's lease is paid till the end of the month."

"Why did he call him Ripper?" Cordelia innocently asked Xander.

Giles answered her question by grasping onto the back of Ethan's head with strength and forceful intimidation. He had a look in his eyes – a rage filled one – that scared Buffy.

"You should have left when I told you." Giles threatened.

"Giles!" Buffy exclaimed with fear and worry towards her watcher.

"You put these people in danger. People I care about." Giles snarled in Ethan's face.

"If you cared so much about them, why didn't you leave town?" Ethan brushed off Giles' fist and continued, "You've been having the dreams. I know. I have. We both know what's coming."

"Shut up! The both of you! We don't have time for this!" Libby roared at them all. "Jenny, get away from the door! NOW!"

Ms. Calendar backed away towards the counter and only seconds later the demon busted the door open. Cordelia screamed and Xander instinctively used his body to shield her and she clung to him like he was the only thing that could save her. Buffy went to kick the demon back, but Libby clutched her arm and pulled the slayer back.

"What are you doing?" Buffy yelled.

"Waiting! Remember the plan?" Libby answered.

"He's not here yet!"

"Yes, I am." Angel dashed directly to the demon and began to strangle it with his bare hands.

His vampire face appeared as the demon tried to fight back, but then the decomposing body turned to goo and entered Angel. The internal fight was amazing to watch. Both beings fighting for dominance over the body was like watching a one-man show with different characters to be played. Angel's face and Eyghon's face kept changing back and forth until finally the demon left Angel's body in an explosion.

Angel lost his strength and fell to his knees, but Buffy was right there to hold him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes, I've had a demon inside me for a couple hundred years just waiting for a good fight."

"Winner and still champion." Buffy smiled at her man.

"So, is it over? Can I go now?" Ethan demanded in an ungrateful and annoyed voice.

"I don't think so, you are in for a great, big –" Libby interrupted her slayer by untying him and flinging him through the double doors to let him go. "Why did you do that?" Buffy screamed.

"Because if he was in jail then we would never get to beat him up again," Libby replied nonchalantly. "Plus, he still has a stupid role to play."

"Well, at least it's over now." Cordelia rightly said.

The next day, Giles was back to his watcher/librarian self and when he saw Jenny, his heart pounded in his chest with nervousness.

"Jenny." He called to her and she immediately stopped to turn to him.

"Hi Rupert." She smiled.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine and not freaked by what happened this weekend."

"Really? That's – um – good. I'm glad."

Jenny walked closer to him and took his hand in hers. She gazed up at him in such a way that Giles almost forgot to breathe.

"I don't regret getting caught up in the middle of stuff like this because I want to be with you, Rupert. I just hope you're doing okay."

"I'm all right," Giles let himself grin, "I'm much better now, actually."

"Good, because I'm still planning on making you squirm."

She leaned up to kiss him and he kissed her back with all his heart. When she parted her lips from his she whispered, "I'll see you on Saturday."

As she walked up the stairs, Giles felt like he was going to float away but the sound of his girls' voices brought him back down to Earth.

"Hey Giles." Buffy greeted as she and Libby each took a side of their watcher.

"You two seem to getting cozy." Libby slightly sing-songed.

"Yes, well – um – we're – the –"

"Hills are alive with the sound of music?" Libby finished Giles' awkward and embarrassed stammer.

"What?"

"Say yes because that's what it is." Libby grinned and Giles gave in.

"Yes, they are."

"Good, I'm for one glad to hear it…I think," Buffy reacted in a confused way.

"Um, I actually wanted to thank you both for what you did on Saturday. I never wanted you both to see that side of me, but you saved me anyway. So thank you."

"I'm not gonna lie to you," Buffy softly replied, "It was a little scary. It's just I'm so used to you being a grownup and then Libby tells me that you're a person and I see it in a way I never thought I would."

"Yes, well, you'll find that most grownups are people." Giles responded without making eye contact with his slayer.

"Who would've thought?"

"Some are even shortsighted…foolish people."

"So, after all this time, we finally find out that we do have something in common. Which, apart from being a little weird, is kind of okay."

"I personally like openly knowing this about you," Libby divulged. "It means I get to know you even better for who you really are. Plus, I have something over your head now."

Giles couldn't help but laugh at his protector and her dry humor. "I'm sure that will not go over well." The watcher realized.

"Not for you." Libby snickered in a lighthearted tone.

"I am sorry for my actions, Libby. Will you forgive me?"

She smiled and said, "Of course. My never letting you forget has nothing to do with not forgiving you."

"Right, well, until then we should go train. You two need to concentrate on your flexibility."

"And you know what?" Buffy bounced in between them, " I have just the perfect music."

Giles eyed the CD and it was obvious how much he was dreading hearing what sounds would generate from it.

"Go on, say it. You know you want to." Buffy permitted.

"It's not music, it's just meaningless sounds."

"There. Feel better?"

"Yes. Thanks."

"If it helps, I brought my music for the second half of the training session." Libby offered.

"It helps greatly, I can't thank you enough for that."

"Mine's not that bad!" Buffy defended her CD.

"It hurts my eardrums." Libby confessed.

"You love it!"

"Do not."

"Do to."

As Giles listened to them fake argue over their tastes in music, the watcher couldn't help but feel the weight of guilt over what Libby did for him. Giles knew that while Buffy helped, Libby was the one who made all of it happen...especially the outcome. He didn't even want to think of what might have happened to him and Jenny if the events went any other way than the way they did. She knew his darkest secret, his damned youth and she not only saved him but gifted him with a clean slate with everyone he cared about.

And what has he done for her? Nothing, except tell Buffy how to bring her here so his slayer could feel safer and maybe live longer at the expense of Libby's life. He never wanted the outcome, but he never thought he would love her like a daughter either. So now he was drowning with guilt. What made it so much worse was that he was also happy with how this horror was handled. She was better than him and Giles knew that they couldn't keep lying to their protector forever. Libby deserved better than that. But how do you tell someone something this horrible? How do you tell someone you love like family that you brought them here to ultimately die?