RATING: If you watch it, you can read it.
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, don't sue
DISTRIBUTION: Ask and ye shall receive
FEEDBACK: I crave it. It's like cigarettes, you know? Just when I think I've quit
SPOILERS: 'Helpless' & very minor for 'Becoming' & the movie.
NOTES: This is the sequel to my story 'Making Amends' I'd recommend that you read that first.
NOTES2: I don't think Giles would do what he did so I've changed it
SUMMERY: I think the title pretty much says it all. Buffy has a HAPPY Birthday.

"No."

"Mr. Giles, your duty to the council demands that…"

"My first duty is to Buffy and I'm not doing it. She has suffered enough and I won't betray her trust."

Quentin Travers was silent as he tried to stare Giles into submission. He did it quite well and doubtless it had worked many times in the past but he had forgotten just who Giles was. To a man who had faced Angelus this attempt to be intimidating was laughable at best and his efforts were further undermined by Jenny who was standing, unseen, next to the other watcher and pulling faces at him, leaving Giles hard pressed to keep a straight face. Sensing Giles' amusement – although not the cause – Quentin asked, "This is your final word on the subject?"

"It is."

"And you are aware that in defying the council you are breaking your oath as a Watcher?"

"I am."

"Hmm. It is clear that your affection for your charge has clouded your judgement. You have a fathers love for the child and no longer view her as the weapon that she is. You're fired. As things stand now, you are useless to the cause."

Giles didn't flinch as he was expelled from the group that had, at one time, been like family to him. He knew that what he was doing was right – indeed there was no other choice that he could live with. The loss of the council's support was nothing compared to the knowledge that if he did as they asked Buffy could die as a direct result of his actions.

Quentin was watching him expectantly, clearly waiting for him to submit to the council in order to save his position. When it became clear that not only was he not going to beg but that he wouldn't even argue, Quentin looked at him incredulously and informed him that a new Watcher would be sent to take over from him.

"It would be best if you had no further contact with the Slayer."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"No, well, I didn't expect you would adhere to that. However if you interfere with the new Watcher or countermand his authority in any way, you will be dealt with. Are we clear?"

"Oh, we're very clear."

Quentin nodded and turned to leave but Giles' voice stopped him before he reached the door to the library. "There will be no test. Buffy's birthday is in just over a week and I seriously doubt that without my help you will be able to administer the drug but just in case I intend to inform Buffy and those closest to her of what it entails. Furthermore, if you hurt her in any way – I'll kill you. Do you understand? She has saved the world on several occasions, let that be proof enough of her abilities."

"You're threatening me?" he asked incredulously.

"Oh yes, but if Buffy is hurt because of you then you had better pray that it's me that finds you and not Angel because I'll at least give you a quick death – I can't guarantee that he would do the same."

Quentin searched his eyes for some sign that he was bluffing but he found nothing but a deadly sincerity. Shuddering, he nodded and said quickly, "There will be no test – I swear."

"Good, now if I were you I'd return to England as quickly as possible. You don't want to be around when Buffy and Angel learn what you had planned."

"Quite, quite, we'll leave at once."

"Oh, and leave Krelik where he is – I'll tell Buffy to take care of him."

Giles watched as the other Watcher scurried from the room with his tail between his legs. "Pompous ass!" he muttered to Jenny and went to phone Buffy asking her to collect Angel and the others and meet him in the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"WHAT?!"

"Now, Buffy, calm down…"

"Giles, don't tell me to calm down. I will NOT calm down. How DARE they?"

Giles looked over Buffy's shoulder at Angel, hoping he would be able to defuse the situation and was somewhat taken aback to discover that he was in full game face and growling softly. "Uh…Angel?" he asked cautiously at first and then, when there was no response, louder, "Angel!"

Angel's golden gaze flashed to his and after a moment his face slipped back into its usual handsome visage. "Sorry," he said somewhat sheepishly, "It's just… What idiot came up with that idea?"

"I don't know," Giles admitted. "The origins of the Cruciamentum have been lost in the mists of the distant past but the ritual itself is still faithfully carried out on every Slayer if she survives to see her 18th birthday. Until now."

"Great," said Buffy sarcastically. "As if Slaying isn't hard enough, now I find out that I can't trust the Watchers any more than the demons – present company excepted, Giles."

"I…um…" he stammered.

"Oh no, what else is there."

"I'm not precisely a Watcher any more."

"Meaning?"

"Since I refused to obey the Council's orders I've been dismissed from my post. My replacement should be here within about two weeks."

"What? No! Giles, you can't leave me!" It was a cry from the heart and if those listening had ever doubted that Buffy loved Giles as though he were her father, those doubts were erased forever when she threw herself into his arms.

He held her tightly and said against her hair, "It's all right Buffy, I said that they fired me – not that I was leaving. I'm no longer your Watcher but I'll always watch out for you and be here when you need me."

"You swear?" she asked in an almost childlike voice.

"I swear."

She looked up into his eyes, searching for confirmation of his words, and then nodded. "Thank you." She said as she released him and returned to Angel's side. "I'm so sorry that you've lost your job."

"Don't be. They wanted me to betray your trust and endanger your life – I don't want to work for an organisation that can treat you so badly after all you've done for them. What it came down to was that I could retain either your trust or their support and there was never any question of which I value more." It was clear that if Giles was like a father to Buffy, she, equally, was like a daughter to him and his desire to protect her outweighed everything else.

When he finished speaking, everyone was silent for a time, then, as if embarrassed by the depth of feeling he had revealed Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them as he returned to business. "I don't believe that the council will be able to continue without my assistance but just in case Buffy, you should be on the look out for any signs of unexpected weakness. The test is technically invalidated by the fact that you know of it but the council does not like being thwarted and they may bend the rules. It would probably also be wise to be wary of my replacement until he proves that he can be trusted."

Everyone nodded in agreement and then Buffy turned to Angel, "We should probably go kill this vamp they wanted me to fight. You know, I really don't know about a group of people who would keep a vampire in a box – it sounds to me like they're asking for trouble." The two of them left the room arm in arm and the others watched them go.

As soon as she was sure that they were really gone, Willow asked the question that had been burning inside all of them since they had first learned the details of the test. "Giles, how many Slayers have survived this Cruciamentum thingy?"

"Not many." He said sadly.

"How, how many is…is not many?" she persisted anxiously

"Willow…"

"How many!"

Giles sighed and looked down, "Maybe three out of every hundred Slayers survive and that's out of few who manage to survive to their 18th birthday in the first place. Most Slayers die within a year of being called."

"But…but that doesn't make any sense!" she exclaimed. "What can the council possible hope to gain from destroying the strongest Slayers."

Giles shrugged but before he could speak Buffy's voice said from behind them, "Control."

Everyone jumped and turned to see that she and Angel had quietly re-entered the room while they had been talking.

"Sorry Guys," she said with a slight smile, "I forgot my bag."

"What do you mean, control?" Xander asked, knowing that he wouldn't like the answer but feeling the same morbid curiosity that keeps people watching a car wreck.

"Think about it. We slay, we survive, we get stronger and more confident and as we do, we get tired of taking orders from a bunch of people who have never been anywhere near a battle. They have no idea of the reality we live with every day and yet believe that they know better than us how we should act. Their lives are based on ritual; mine on survival and eventually the two viewpoints are bound to clash.

When I first became the Slayer I depended upon my Watcher to instruct me. I believed that he – and the council – knew everything but over time that's changed. I don't take orders any more – I'll listen to advice and usually take it but I won't be controlled and that's the difference. That's what the council can't stand, it gives them a sense of power to have the Slayer jumping at their every whim and they hate it when that dependency ends. What they want is a Slayer who is strong enough to keep the world safe and yet has no mind of her own but they'll never get it because without the ability to improvise no Slayer, no matter how strong, will live for long."

Giles was shaking his head, "No, I can't believe that the Council would sink so low that they would deliberately…"

"Think about it, Giles." She instructed. "You've read all the diaries. The Slayers who were the most successful were also those whose methods were disapproved of by the council, weren't they? The ones who thought for themselves, and didn't do exactly what they were told?"

"I…don't…"

"Weren't they?"

Giles was silent, his eyes becoming slightly unfocused as he reviewed his memory, seeking to disprove Buffy's words. After a long pause he said slowly, "Now that you mention it…I believe you're right. I can't believe that I never saw this before! All this time I've been trying to get you to behave as the council decreed a Slayer should and now it seems that instead of aiding you I've been making your job harder. I'm so sorry, Buffy…I've let you down."

"Have you really?" Angel asked quietly, even as Buffy shook her head in denial of Giles' words. "I've seen other Watchers in my time and you don't act like them. How many rules haven't you told Buffy because they didn't seem important? How many have you broken in trying to keep her safe? You care about her and I don't think you're supposed to, are you?"

Giles shook his head, "It's part of why I was fired," he admitted, "I 'no longer view her as the weapon that she is' according to Mr. Travers, although I'm don't think I ever did – not from the moment she first walked into the library."

"It showed," Buffy told him with a smile, "You're my friend – and always have been – Kendra spent her whole life with her Watcher but I don't think she could have said the same."

Giles returned the smile and said, "In Mr. Zabuto's defence, you are a…somewhat unique…Slayer. I have difficulty imagining that you were ever as obedient as Kendra, even when you were first called. You certainly weren't when I met you."

"You're right, I wasn't. I didn't appreciate being called but I still did everything my watcher told me to – I just argued first. As for when I met you…well, that was after Merrick's death…and that changed everything."

"I never told you how sorry I was about that, Buffy." Giles told her softly, "He was a good man."

"Yes, he was." She said sadly, her eyes distant as she relived the past. "You and he are a lot alike, you would have liked him, I think."

"I did like him, he was one of my dearest friends."

Everyone but Angel looked on in confusion until Xander asked, "Who was this Merrick guy, anyway?"

"Oh…er…he was Buffy's first Watcher." Giles told them, absently, his mind still on his friend he failed to notice the surprised looks the others gave him. Somehow, none of them had ever thought of Buffy having had any Watcher but Giles even though they knew that she had been the Slayer before she had moved to Sunnydale…and before she had met Giles.

"So what happened to him?" asked Cordelia, tactful as ever.

This time it was Buffy who answered, "He died saving my life from Lothos, I'd just been called and he knew that I wasn't ready to face him. He told me to run... I did and he died." Her eyes glistened with tears and Angel drew her gently into his arms, holding her so that her back was pressed against his chest.

"It wasn't your fault," he told her softly.

"Wasn't it? It was my duty, not his."

"Buffy…"

"It was a long time ago," she dismissed it. It was an old guilt and one that she had long ago learned to carry. She seldom allowed herself to think of her failures because if she did, the guilt would overwhelm her.

Recognising what she was doing, Angel said nothing more but his eyes met Giles' over her head and each silently acknowledged that suffered far too much in her short life. It was a testimony to her strength that, not only had she not broken, she still had the ability to smile and enjoy the little things in life. She lit up the world of those around her, so subtly that they were hardly aware of it or of how bleak their lives would be without her. She was the glue that held this mismatched band of friends together and kept everything from falling apart. The pressure on her was enormous but she never complained except about the most trivial things and always had time for her friends when they needed her.

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