Title: Jealousy
Author: Rari

(notes and disclaimer with part one)

Jealousy: Part 3

Buffy was feeling better. Giles seemed to be almost back to normal. She guessed his terminal case of embarrassment was finally fading. Buffy finished restocking the crystals and was half listening to Giles explain the meaning of an obscure piece of sculpture to a potential customer. The bell on the door rang, signaling the arrival of someone. Buffy frowned as Giles' voice just cut off mid sentence. She turned to look at him and found him staring, his eyes wide, at whoever had just walked in the door.

Buffy turned her head to see who it might be and she frowned. It was a woman, and a quite attractive in an older and very put together, wearing expensive clothes, sexy smoldering kind of way. She was staring at Giles too. Giles put the sculpture back on the shelf in an absentminded way and just walked away from the woman he'd been speaking to. He ignored her complaints.

Giles took another step towards the stranger and she took one towards him. He spoke first. "Sally?" He couldn't quite believe it was she. Here, in America, in Sunnydale, in his shop. Giles asked again. "Sally, is that you?"

Sally smiled and something about that smile made Buffy's hackles rise on the back of her neck. It was a 'you’re mine' kind of smile and this woman was giving it to her Watcher. Sally walked the rest of the way to Giles and put her hand on his cheek. "It's me."

Giles got the biggest grin on his face and then he just grabbed her. He lifted her off the ground and actually spun her around. Buffy was riveted. Giles put her back down and released her. He touched her hair. "I can't believe it's you." He pulled back and raked her from head to toe with a look that made Buffy's eyes widen. "God, you look good." Giles grinned again. "But, then, you always did." He leaned forwards and kissed her.

When Sally didn't demur, he kissed her again. And not just a quick smack. Granted it wasn't a kiss that belonged on the Playboy channel but it was a lingering kind of kiss. The sort of kiss that made it clear that kisses like this had happened before and were probably going to happen again. Sally put her hands on Giles' chest and laughed, in a purring kind of way. "You are just as sexy as I remember." She licked her lips and Buffy's jaw dropped.

The customer was tired of waiting. She tapped Giles on the shoulder. Giles looked over at Anya to see if she could step in but Anya had several customers at the cash register. Picking up one of Sally's hand, Giles playfully placed a kiss on the palm of it. "Don't go anywhere." He grinned at her, his eyes filled with mischief. Sally grinned back, her eyes gleaming with the same light.

Sally walked over to a shelf and began to look at some of the merchandise. Buffy went over to join her. "Hi, I'm Buffy. And you are…?"

Sally let her eyes linger on Buffy for a moment, assessing her. "I'm an old friend of Rupert's. My name's Sally."

Buffy pursed her lips. "I'm a friend of G…Rupert's too."

"Ah, are you two…?"

Buffy shook her head quickly. "No. We're just friends."

Sally smiled. "Lovely." She turned until she was facing Giles. "He still looks amazing."

Buffy followed her eyes. Giles was standing there still talking to the customer. "Amazing at what?"

Sally sighed. "He is just so good looking. Even after all these years."

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "Okay, what are you seeing that I'm not seeing?"

Sally turned to Buffy in some surprise. "I thought you were his friend."

Buffy looked affronted. "I am."

"Then I'm disappointed. How can you say you're his friend and be so blind? You look as if you're a grown woman. But perhaps I'm mistaken. Maybe you're just a young girl, and still locked behind some preconceived notion that beauty only comes in certain packages, or certain ages."

Buffy got a pouty look on her face. "I'm not locked." She didn't like to think that somehow she hadn't been a good friend.

Sally turned her until she was facing Giles. "Look at him. He's so strong, his body is strong, and his face is strong. There's so much character there. You see him and you know that he's lived his life, and that he can weather any storm. His face is so expressive. It's always been that way. Emotions like quicksilver running across it. He has the most beautiful eyes, and such a wonderful firm jaw. And his skin, I loved to touch him. He's such an alluring mix of softness and hardness. And that smile." Sally let out a little moan. "When he smiles at you, it always made me feel as if I'd won some prize, and when I could make him laugh, it was like Olympic Gold." She smiled. "But what I liked best was making him purr."

Buffy listened to Sally speak as she watched Giles. Her eyes narrowed to slits at Sally's last comment. Sally wasn't done. She didn't know why she was even talking to this young woman, but she felt strangely compelled to speak, just as she'd felt compelled to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in search of him. "He was the best lover I ever had. Ever."

Buffy turned very wide eyes to Sally, one hand gesturing to Giles. "Him?"

Sally nodded. "Oh yes, him. Those hands of his, those lips, that tongue. God he knew just how to use it all. He made me wild." Sally fanned herself. "I'm getting hot just thinking about it." She leaned towards Buffy. "You know, he has those lovely large hands, and his feet are quite large too. You know what they say…"

Buffy started to cough. This was information overload about her Watcher. Sally continued, her voice merciless. "He liked to try new things, experiment. Anything I wanted, he was willing to try it out."

Buffy's voice squeaked. "Like what?"

"If you can think of it, we did it. He was, hands down, the most amazing man in bed, and out of it, for that matter." Sally grinned. Many of their adventures had taken place in the most unlikely of spots. Giles leaned down to pick up a different piece of sculpture from the bottom shelf. Sally let out a groan. "God, he has the nicest butt." She put her hands out as if she was touching it. "He always did." Her eyebrows wiggled at Buffy. "I can see he's been keeping in shape."

Buffy wasn't really paying attention. She was somewhat captivated by Giles' butt. And she almost let out a gasp when Giles turned her way and smiled at her. It did make her feel like she'd won a prize. But then, with a sinking feeling, she realized that Giles wasn't smiling at her. He was smiling at Sally. Buffy looked up to glare at Sally but Sally only had eyes for Giles and Buffy hated her for it. She needed more information. "So, how long ago were you and Giles…?"

"The last time I saw him was when I drove him to the airport to come here, to America."

Buffy's eyebrows rose. That wasn't very long ago. Somehow she was thinking it had been years and years ago, when Giles was still young. Young and Ripperish. But this was six years ago. Sally was talking about a Giles just like the one in front of her. Older and all knowledge guy and dedicated. And apparently pretty damn good in bed. Which meant he was probably like that now. That thought made Buffy's body flush with heat. She couldn't seem to stop watching Giles' hands.

Giles finally finished with the woman and escorted her over to the cash register. He walked over to Sally and Buffy, smiling at them both this time. "Have you met?"

Buffy nodded. "Oh yes, we've been just chatting away." She moved a little closer to Giles.

Sally moved a little closer too. "Yes, Buffy tells me that you're friends."

Giles smiled at Buffy. "Yes, we are. Good friends."

"She also tells me that you, that the two of you aren't…involved."

Giles blushed. "No, no we're not." He moved a little closer to Sally, Buffy's nearness suddenly flustering him.

Sally linked her arm though Giles'. "Think you could sneak away for a while?" She grinned at him. Giles' body remembered being with Sally. He grinned back. Maybe this would help him get over his inappropriate longings for Buffy.

Buffy felt excluded and she didn't like it. She could feel the sexual tension between the two of them and she didn't like that either. She wracked her brain trying to come up with an excuse to keep him here. Some way to claim him as hers, which he was, if he could manage to remember that. After all, he was her Watcher. "Gi…Rupert. Shouldn't we be…?" She pointed back to the training room.

Giles' eyebrows rose. "Rupert?" He followed her pointing finger and he shook his head. "Oh, I think we can skip that for today." He turned to Anya. "Will you watch the shop?" Anya nodded, grinning wide. She wasn't about to stand in the way of orgasms and she could recognize another woman with orgasms on her mind.

Giles reached for Sally's hand. As one, they headed out the door, leaving Buffy behind. Buffy couldn't believe he was leaving. That he was leaving her standing there. That he was leaving and not even saying goodbye. She thought her heart might break. Buffy listened to the bell as it rang out their exit. Putting a hand up to warn Anya not to say a word Buffy just went into the back room and started hitting the punching bag.

***

As soon as they got to Sally's hotel room she jumped him. Giles allowed himself to enjoy being jumped until suddenly, even for his life, it all seemed a bit too surreal to him. He pushed her away and sat her down in a chair, sitting across from her on the bed. When she made as if to get up Giles put his hand up. "Please, not that I'm not delighted to see you, but, why exactly are you here?"

"I wanted to see you. I want to have sex with you."

"So, you just flew in from London for no other reason?"

Sally shook her head.

Giles took off his glasses and ran his hand over his face. "What happened to Todd?"

"Oh, I married him."

"Are things not working out?"

"No, things are great. I adore him. We have two children. Want to see their pictures?" Sally reached for her purse and rifled through it for her wallet. After opening it she moved to sit next to Giles on the bed to show him pictures of her children.

Giles forced himself to make appropriate cooing noises. Then he turned to Sally. "Sally, don't you find this a bit odd?"

"What do you mean?"

He gestured to her wallet. "You're a happily married woman, with two lovely children, I haven't heard from you for years, and suddenly, here you are, wanting to have sex with me. Just like that?"

Sally pursed her lips. "Now that you put it like that I guess it is a bit odd."

"What did you tell Todd you were doing?"

"I told him I had a business trip." Giles just watched her. She opened her eyes wide. "I lied to him. I lied to Todd. Why would I do that?" She paused for a minute and then looked at Giles. "We're not going to have sex are we?"

Giles sighed but he shook his head. "No, Sally, we're not."

Sally sighed back. "You always did have more integrity than any man I've ever known." She grinned at him. "So, what do we do now?"

"How about I take you out for dinner."

"And then maybe we can paint the town red."

Giles laughed. "We're not in London. There's not much of a town to paint, here in Sunnydale."

"Well, we could give it our best shot. What do you say?"

"Go out and about, with you on my arm? I can't think of anything I'd rather do."

She tilted her head at him and leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You always did know just what to say."

Giles stood. "Let's be on our way then. You can tell me all about your life."

"Yes, and you can tell me about that young blond woman."

"Who, Buffy?"

"I'd like to know why she never seems to have even thought of you as a man until today but she was ready to rip my head off the minute I walked in the store."

Giles frowned. Then he softly laughed. "She's why I came here."

Sally's jaw dropped. "She’s your slayer?" Giles nodded. Sally laughed. "Oh, my dear Rupert. I bet she's led you a merry chase."

Giles smiled ruefully at her. "You don't know the half of it."

Sally linked her arm through his as they headed out. "So, when did you start lusting after her?"

Giles' eyes widened and he opened his mouth to protest. Then he just barked out a laugh. "You always could read me like a book, Sally."

"Yes, I could. So how long?"

"Would you believe five days?"

Sally laughed merrily. "Oh, I cannot wait to hear this story. Do you love her?"

"She's my Slayer."

Sally pursed her lips. "I'm thinking that means you're sort of hardwired to love her. Would I be right?"

Giles ran a hand through his hair. He laughed a little, at himself. "Not that it makes any difference, but yes, I suppose I am."

"Why doesn't it make any difference?"

"You said it yourself, she doesn't even know I'm a man. I'm only her Watcher, through and through."

Sally shook her head. "I think you may be in for a surprise when you see her next." Sally hadn't missed that speculative gaze in Buffy's eyes when she was looking at Rupert's butt.

Giles looked confused. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Sally just grinned. "Never mind, I think I'll let you figure this one out for yourself. I'd hate to spoil the fun."

Giles put his hand over hers as they reached the sidewalk and he looked at her fondly. "It really is good to see you. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Smiling at each other they headed towards his car, arm in arm.

***

Buffy was sulking and Spike was having a hard time keeping a grin off his face. "So, what's got you all testy?"

Buffy glared at Spike. "Nothing."

Spike nodded. "Everything okay with your Watcher?"

Buffy's answer was defiant. "Yes. No. Maybe." She let out a disgusted noise.

Spike turned away for a moment and allowed himself a victory smile. "Well, that sounds clear as mud."

"I'm sure it's nothing. He's just visiting with an old friend. A very attractive old friend that he used to have sex with, a lot." She whined. "I'm sure they're just talking. You know, catching up on news."

Spike nodded. "Sure. That's the attitude, Slayer. I mean, what else would he be doing?"

Buffy whined again. "Nothing. I'm sure he's doing lots of the nothing variety of things." She sent pleading eyes Spike's way. "Right?"

Spike nodded again. "Absolutely." They strolled a bit. "So when did he leave the shop?"

"Around four."

"And he still wasn't home when you got there?" Buffy shook her head. Spike spoke again. "It does seem a bit odd that he didn't just bring her home. Where would they have gone?" Buffy had been wondering about that herself for the past couple of hours. Spike continued, trying to help. "I suppose he might have gone to her hotel room."

Buffy got nervous. "Right. Her hotel room. A room with mostly just a bed in it."

"And a TV."

"Yeah, a TV. So, maybe they're watching TV."

"Well, I'm sure he's home by now. I mean you can only catch up on news for so long. Let's head there and see if he's back. Then you guys can kiss and make up."

Buffy didn't want to think about Giles and kissing. Because every time she did she kept seeing Sally and Giles kissing and for some reason that was making her crazy. She'd headed for home shortly after Giles had left. Buffy had told herself she just wanted to get to know Sally better, seeing as she was such an important part of Giles' past. It had nothing to do with Buffy wanting to make sure that she was sitting in between them on the couch. But, when she had gotten home, Giles wasn't there. She'd sat there and waited for him for three hours, but he hadn't shown. Finally she'd gone out patrolling. Now, afraid of what she'd find she reluctantly followed Spike and they headed for her home.

He still wasn't there. Spike was actually surprised. He never figured Giles for a two-timer, and he hadn't been sure that this spell would work, but all the evidence seemed to be pointing in that direction. This tart must have been quite the piece of work. He grinned. Finally, a spell that seemed to be working. Spike decided that as it was almost midnight that Giles must be planning to make it an all-nighter. And that gave Spike an idea. One more nail to drive in the coffin. Buffy would never forgive Giles after this, or ever believe him again for that matter. He looked at Buffy. "So, what's this tart's name?"

"Sally." Buffy managed to imbue her name with a healthy dose of venom.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be home soon. I'll just see myself out."

Buffy barely acknowledged him. She sat on the couch. Giles' sheets, blanket and pillow were piled on one end. Buffy grabbed his pillow and held it to her chest. She let out a sigh and just sat there in the darkness.

***

Spike handed the demon the script. "You got it?" The demon nodded. Spike slapped him on the arm. "Right then, go." The demon started in response to the slap, then he nodded again, the script in one hand, and a picture of Giles in the other.

End of Part 3