Can’t Forget You

Giles/Anya

FRT

Summary: When Anya shows up in London, Giles’ life is never the same.

Spoilers: AU ending to Chosen

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be mine, no infringement, no profit, just for fun.

Distribution: if you want it, just let me know where it’s going.

Feedback: Better than chocolate.

Beta: my goddess Antennapedia, her suggestions made this a much better story. Any mistakes left are my own.

Author’s Notes: Idea for Anya’s return gratefully borrowed from Fiareynne, the rest of the story is mine.

“Excuse me, I’m here to see Rupert Giles.”

Mrs. Porter looked up from her phone call to glance at the visitor. Youngish, slim and blonde, not very different from a lot of women in London. She raised an eyebrow and covered the mouthpiece of the phone while still listening to the caller ramble on.

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Giles is rather busy. If you would like to make an appointment, I can schedule you for,” Mrs. Porter flipped through a datebook, “Three weeks from Tuesday.”

“Three weeks? Are you kidding me? You must be kidding. I know how you humans love your jokes. Just page Rupert and let him know I’m here, okay?”

Mrs. Porter glared at the young woman. Mr. Giles was not known to be dating anyone, despite rumors to the contrary. But a man did have his…needs. Mrs. Porter was just stunned this young woman had the audacity to show up at his work.

“Your name?”

“Oh, I’m….”

“Anya?”

The young woman turned and Mrs. Porter leaned over to see who had called out. It was Miss Rosenberg, who was quickly approaching the desk with a look of confusion on her face.

“Is that really you, Anya? But Andrew said you were….”

“Dead? Yes, well, the little weasel doesn’t know everything.”

“But how?” Willow stepped forward, reaching out to touch and make sure that Anya was real.

“I’d like to save the explanation until everyone is in one place, say Rupert’s office? I don’t want to explain everything half a dozen times.”

“Oh, of course. Mrs. Porter, will you call all the Scoobies? The original team? Ask them to meet me in conference room four.” The receptionist nodded. “And don’t forget Dawn. Or Andrew. Oh, and I guess Spike too.”

“Spike?” Anya questioned. “I thought he…?”

“Long story, let’s go.”

Willow grabbed Anya’s hand and puller her towards the elevator. Mrs. Porter went about finding the ‘Scoobies’ as Miss Rosenberg requested, all the while wondering who this Anya girl was.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Willow, I was right in the middle of translating an important treaty with the Taranga demons. What on earth could be so important that I needed to come…?” Giles stopped short as soon as he saw her. “Anya.” He shouldn’t have been so surprised; it wasn’t the first time a death on the Hellmouth had not been permanent.

“Hello, Rupert. It’s very good to see you again.”

He stood there, speechless as Dawn appeared next to him, shrieking in surprise. He moved to a chair, watching as the girls talked. Giles kept looking at Anya; half expecting to blink and find that it was all a hallucination. He had never admitted to anyone that he did indeed miss her presence in all of their lives, especially his.

“Oh my god, you look so….” Dawn gaped.

“Good, yes, well demon healing does a lot. And you…have grown some.” Anya bit back a retort about whiny teenagers and mystical keys.

“Xander’s gonna freak.”

“Dawnie,” Willow warned.

“What?”

Giles just watched the interplay, unable to tear his gaze away from Anya. Until she glanced over at him. Then he pretended to be very interested in a piece of lint on his jacket.

“So how did you survive?” Willow asked.

Anya moved to stand at the head of the table. “I wasn’t dead. Andrew just assumed I was. I guess I should explain.”

Andrew showed up then and everyone got quiet.

“Oh, it’s like…like…I just….”

He enveloped Anya in a hug. Giles could see that she was…embarrassed, giving him a ‘help me’ sort of look. He just ignored it.

“Yes, I’m glad to see you too, Andrew.”

“You were so brave,” he sniffed. “Facing that Bringer. Just like Boromir saving Sam and Frodo, only there wasn’t anyone else to save but me. You were…,” he pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose.

Willow finally pulled Andrew to a chair and let him sob for a while.

“So, you were going to explain?” Dawn prompted.

“Well, Andrew did get one thing right; I was attacked from behind by a Bringer. Only it didn’t kill me. Do you know how hard it is to kill a vengeance demon? I would have thought that at least Rupert might know something about us.”

Giles removed his glasses in a familiar gesture, polishing them before putting them back on and countering Anya’s remark. “Actually, not much is known about vengeance demons. The Council records….”

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t have all day, Rupert,” Anya interrupted. “So, I’m lying there, blood everywhere, the building shaking, when D’Hoffryn shows up. He offers me one last chance. I guess he couldn’t stand to see his favorite buried under a ton of dirt. I’m guessing that Spike had something to do with that.”

“Knew the Reaper couldn’t keep a girl like you down.”

Everyone turned to look at the aforementioned vampire leaning in the doorway. Anya blushed. Giles had never seen Anya blush. He had almost thought her incapable of doing so. But then she glanced over at him, her blush deepening. He looked away, afraid he would start blushing himself.

“Yes, well, it seems that coming back from the dead is the in thing these days,” Anya said.

There was a bit of noise from the hall announcing the arrival of the last two Scoobies.

“So, Will, what’s the big? Buff and I were…” Xander strode in, hand in hand with Buffy. He gaped at what he saw. “Anya.”

“Uh, Giles, what’s the what here? I mean I know that the Hellmouth caused some weird things to happen but it went kablooey,” Buffy asked, steering Xander into a chair.

“I’ll catch you up later, Anya, please do finish.”

“Yeah, we know how you’re alive but not why you’re here or where you’ve been for the last year,” Dawn said.

“I was getting to that. D’Hoffryn took me back to Arash Mahar and got me patched up. I have a really nasty scar, would anyone like to see it?” Anya started to lift up her shirt.

There was a resounding “No!” from everyone in the room. She pouted and left her shirt alone. Giles felt an empty disappointment that she didn’t defy everyone’s wishes and showed the scar off anyway. He composed himself quickly so that he could listen to her story.

“So you’re what? A demon? Something else?” Xander accused. Anya could see he was gripping Buffy’s hand pretty hard.

“Xander, let her explain,” Buffy chided. “Go on, Anya.”

“I was told this was it, no more chances. I got to be human again. To show he was serious, D’hoffren banished my necklace to the void between dimensions.”

“Good riddance,” Xander muttered.

“Void between dimensions? I didn’t think that was possible,” Willow said.

Giles looked over at her. “It’s not very well known, but it’s there. It takes a very powerful being to reach it. I have a text on the subject. Please do come to me before attempting to access it.”

He watched as Anya poured a glass of water and drank some. It confounded him why he was so entranced by her. Then she looked at everyone as she put her glass down, stopping a little longer at him before continuing her story.

“It took me three months to fully heal. I got to stay in Arash Mahar, but then had to find my own way. I got two jobs so I could save up enough money to get here.”

“You could have called,” Willow said.

“Or e-mailed,” Dawn piped up.

“A postcard maybe?” Andrew supplied.

“No, I had to come here. None of you would have believed it was me unless I actually showed up at your door. And there’s this.”

Anya reached into her purse and pulled out a scroll. She set it on the table and rolled it over to Giles. He picked it up and looked at it.

“What is it? What does it say?” Buffy asked.

“There’s another apocalypse,” Anya replied.

“Of course there is,” Xander said.

“Hush, you lot wouldn’t know what to do with yourselves if you weren’t savin’ the world every six months,” Spike pointed out.

“Okay, is it a prophecy, cause I hate prophecies,” Buffy said.

Andrew shuddered and pulled his hands up into his sleeves. "No blood. Or killing your friends."

Dawn did the same. "Or monks or dimensional portals."

"Or ugly jewelry."

Spike put his feet up on the table. Giles glared, but Spike was looking over at Buffy. He gave up and watched Anya instead, as she sat down and adjusted her chair. His thoughts kept drifting back to Sunnydale, when they both ran the Magic Box. It had been a comfortable relationship. But he had always felt there was something more and the kiss they’d shared haunted him to this day. But he could not dwell on that. Finally Giles stood and called for quiet. It took him several tries before anyone actually was.

“Thank you. Now, I suggest that you all go about your business. I will need time to read and interpret this scroll. I will call you if and when you are needed. Understood?”

Everyone nodded and mumbled, “Yes, Giles.”

“Good, now off with you.”

He turned to pick the scroll up from the table where he had set it and was about to open it when Anya made herself known.

“Ahem.”

Giles turned back. “Oh, yes, Anya. I suppose that I should attempt to find you a place to stay.”

“That would be great, Rupert. I’ve been on a plane for more than half a day and came right here. I could use some rest and have no more money for accommodations.”

‘We’ve plenty of room for you here, Anya.” Giles smiled. He had missed Anya’s…unique way of doing things. “What can you tell me about the scroll?”

“Oh, that. I still had a few contacts in the demon world, some of them owed me favors. I’d heard a rumor or two about the apocalypse and did some digging. Next thing I know I’ve got the scroll in my hands.” Anya looked down at the purse in her hands, idly fiddling with the straps. “How long have Buffy and Xander been dating?”

Giles blinked at the unexpected segue. “A few months now. We did believe you were dead, Anya….”

“I know. Xander has always been in love with Buffy, even when he was with me. I don’t blame him for moving on, we weren’t together at the end there. I would have wanted him to be happy. Is he happy?”

“Yes, he is. He did mourn you, Anya.”

“Can we go now? I’m feeling really tired.”

Giles just nodded and put the scroll in his pocket as he stood. He followed Anya out of the room and wondered if she would move on too.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The apartment Rupert had found for her was nice enough, Anya decided. It was within walking distance to the Council as well as shops, a movie theatre and several pubs. It had come furnished and everyone had chipped in so she could buy more clothes. D’Hoffren had supplied her with some, but it really wasn’t enough.

A lot of her time was spent remembering the Scooby meeting. She had watched as the people she had once almost considered her family fought and argued and yelled and reminisced. But it was Rupert she had watched the most. Yes, she had missed Xander, but all the waiting around while healing had given her a lot of time to think. While Xander was a nice boy, and she did love him in a small way, it was Rupert she had kept thinking about.

The first week in England went by quickly. There was moving in to her apartment with help from most everyone, the occasional dinner and some shopping. It was during these that she caught up with what everyone had been doing.

Dawn and Willow worked directly with all of the Watchers, helping them with the Slayers, finding new Slayers and more Watchers for the growing group. Andrew was sort of Giles’ assistant, mostly to keep him out of trouble. Spike was a liaison between the Council and the demon world.

He’d filled her in on what had happened after the collapse of the Hellmouth and the apocalypse in LA that had led to Angel giving up a chance to become human. Rupert was convinced that was impossible, as was Wesley. They had triumphed, continuing to fight the good fight from a hotel, apparently. Anya was not surprised to hear that Angel and Wesley were in a relationship. She’d heard rumors for years but never said anything to Buffy.

Buffy and Xander, well, that was a little more difficult. Buffy was more than friendly, trying to bridge the gap between the two former lovers, but Xander…Xander was angry and hurt. Anya couldn’t blame him. Maybe in time they could be friends again.

Anya was getting bored. She wanted to work again. Earning money had brought a certain sense of security into her life. And it was fun. Maybe she should ask Rupert about working for the Council. If only he wasn’t avoiding her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Giles wasn’t avoiding Anya, not really. He couldn’t help it if a crisis seemed to crop up every time she called to talk to him. And as head of the Council his schedule was always full. There were meeting with everyone, but as typical with Scooby meetings they were raucous and complicated. There was never time for a word alone with someone.

He always sent Andrew to deal with her. The boy seemed to enjoy that. When Giles heard she was looking for work, he scoured the Council’s roster, wondering if there was a space for her. It would be better for all concerned if Anya was kept far away from Xander, so anything dealing with the Slayers or Watchers directly was out of the question.

Maybe something in the finance department. Anya had shown adeptness with money before. Then she would be kept occupied and Giles wouldn’t have to worry about her. He wasn’t going to think about the fact that the offices were ten floors below his. He wasn’t avoiding her. Really.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You know, you should really have a more unique password, watcher247 is far too easy to guess.”

Giles stood in the doorway of his office dumbfounded yet again. Anya was leaning back in his chair (too far he thought), her feet propped up on the desk. She was obviously going through his e-mail.

“Oh, you can also order lunch in today, your one-o’clock meeting was cancelled.”

“Anya…” he sighed, finally stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. “What on earth are you doing? I thought you had…things to do.”

“I did,” she smiled. “I finished them. So I came here to help you, like before.”

Her eagerness and bright demeanor were a complete contrast to the sullen down trodden ex-demon who had appeared month ago.

“Anya, I don’t need your help, I’m perfectly capable of getting things done on my own, thank you very much.”

He pushed her feet off the desk and held out a hand for the computer mouse. She tucked it up against her chest, keeping it away from him.

“Rupert Giles, you most certainly do need my help. Have you seen these projections?”

Giles heard the click of the mouse and glanced over to the monitor. Not only had Anya gotten into his e-mail, she had hacked into Council files. What he saw on the screen were the spreadsheets for this year’s budget.

“How did you…?”

“Oh, I didn’t hack it. I bugged Andrew for the password. Guilt gets a lot of mileage I’ve found. But that’s beside the point, look at the figures.”

The spreadsheets scrolled slowly and Giles couldn’t see any of the glaring red numbers that had been there before. Everything was in black. He found himself adding up everything in his head and when his gaze landed on the final six figure surplus he nearly collapsed in surprise.

“Anya, I…how…what…when?”

“Oh, I’ve been here since six o’clock. Whoever was doing the finances should be shot. I found half a dozen simple addition errors in the first five minutes of looking at those figures. I also took the liberty of redistributing some of the Council’s investments and you’ll be pleased to note that this surplus will cover salaries for all the Slayers and Watchers as well as a nice benefits package. I negotiated a great deal, in your name of course, for everyone. The Council will be in the black for several decades or more. I hope that was okay.”

Giles blinked and moved his look from the computer to Anya’s face. She had a look of hope and well, happiness that he hadn’t seen in a very long time. She placed the mouse on the desk gently and started to stand. He pushed her back down.

“Anya, this is…it’s unexpected, to say the least, but it’s more than okay. It’s fabulous, wonderful; I can’t begin to thank you enough.”

He leaned forward to place a kiss on her cheek, but she moved slightly to the left so that lips met. It was quick and gentle and Giles was prepared to apologize and forget that it had happened at all. Then Anya grabbed his head and pulled him back, her lips insistent and greedy. Giles got caught up in the emotion of the action, responding in kinds before forcefully pulling away.

“No, Anya, I….”

“What? You don’t find me desirable do you? It’s going to be like when we lost our memories isn’t it?” She curled up inside the chair, hugging herself. “A great, wonderful kiss that I’ll dream about for months but we won’t talk about it because we’re pretending it never happened and that we can go on like we did before. I almost wish….”

“Anya, please,” Giles warned, putting a hand on her arm.

“Oh, Rupert, I’m not that naïve. I’ll just leave and then you won’t have to deal with me ever again, I promise.

Anya heaved herself out of the chair, ready to storm out of the office. Giles pulled her back, standing toe to toe with her. She pulled at his grip once, feebly. His mind was a whir of thoughts. He took Anya into his arms, echoing what had happened at the Magic Box.

He kissed her, soft and romantic at first. Anya’s arms came up, holding onto Giles like he was her anchor, then he bent her backwards, her arms moving up to twine around his neck. Only this time there was no spell, no interruption. He brought them back up slowly, breaking the kiss.

Anya stayed like that, face inches from Giles, eyes closed, lips slightly parted. It was better than she’d remembered. Opening her eyes, she looked at him; he was just watching her, waiting.

“Rupert?”

“I...um, would very much like it if we could talk about it. About many things. I do believe I have an opening in my schedule. May I take you to lunch?”

Anya smiled again. “I’d like that very much.”