BtVS Triple Drabble: Unprepared

[bk_forever]

Title: Unprepared
Fandom: BtVS
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Giles, Willow, Buffy.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Prophecy Girl.
Summary: Giles has access to so much information, but none of it is any help in this situation.
Written For: Challenge 357: Amnesty at fan_flashworks, using Challenge 272: Law/Lore.
Disclaimer: I don’t own BtVS, or the characters.
A/N: Triple drabble.




Giles is an expert on Slayer prophecies, vampire lore, supernatural creatures, demons, monsters, witches, and the occult. He’s read all the extant volumes, or at least all those he’s been able to gain access to, and has amassed a quite impressive collection. Of course, some of the books were passed down to him by his father and grandmother, but many he had to track down and purchase by his own efforts, an achievement of which he’s justifiably proud. He’s acquired a number of volumes the Watchers’ Council itself is lacking.


As Watcher to the current Slayer, his books and extensive knowledge are perhaps his main contribution to the… partnership. A Slayer requires up-to-date information on the creatures she must face: How to identify them, how to locate them, and how to kill them. Research isn’t Buffy’s strong point, although Willow shows considerable talent; she would make an excellent protégé, but it’s not Willow who’s on his mind right now.


Buffy… Sixteen is so young, and she’s so vibrantly alive, but if the Pergamum Codex is to be believed, she may not be so for much longer. His other volumes agree with what the Codex tells him, and it’s simply too much to bear.


Giles knows prophecy and lore, he can quote directly from most of the books in his collection, and right now none of his knowledge is worth a damn, because everything tells him his Slayer is going to die. She’s hardly more than a child, she should have sixty or seventy years still ahead of her, time to live, and love, and perhaps have a family someday. The thought of her dying…


He’s her Watcher, he’s supposed to train and guide her, but nothing in the books of Slayer lore tells him how to prepare for her death.



The End

Comments

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

"...but nothing in the books of Slayer lore tells him how to prepare for her death".

How can you be objective over that?

I know why the other watchers did it. It doesn't mean I agree with it.

[bk_forever]

Yeah. Other watchers probably think of their Slayers as something disposable. One dies, the next is called. Giles sees Buffy as a young person who deserves to live a full life. He cares about HER not about what she can do. It makes him better than other Watchers.

Thank you!

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The other watchers don't care that they'll start over with another Slayer. Even if it means time doing training from scratch!

BUFFY: See ... I've had a lot of people talking at me the last few days. Everyone just lining up to tell me how unimportant I am. And I've finally figured out why. (looks Travers in the eye) Power. I have it. They don't. This bothers them.

In the words of Cordelia: Oh. And you're welcome.

[bk_forever]

I think a Watcher only gets the one Slayer, or potential Slayer, to train, with no guarantee theirs will be the next one activated. Buffy slipped through the net so she came to her first Watcher untrained, whereas Kendra was trained from early childhood.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Right. I gather that the TV series follows up where the movie left off. Buffy certainly achieved far more than a typical Slayer was suppose to. Don't mind me. I'm slow at considering the details.*mind still responding*

[bk_forever]

Something like that. I know her first watcher was killed, she moved, and Giles got assigned to her.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Watchers are pretty vulnerable themselves. Despite a majority of them acting pompous. Wesley was suppose to be a one off character.

[bk_forever]

For all their training, Watchers can't do all the things Slayers do. They don't have the same powers, and I think the Watchers Council hates that, which is why they try to keep Slayers under such tight control. The Slayers have all the power, and Buffy proved it by breaking away. There was nothing the Council could do.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

We got an idea on how resourceful Watchers could be via Giles with his supplies of weaponry and knowledge of casting spells etc.

It looked like the Watchers relied on the theory work and compensated by barking orders at their assigned Slayer. I wish they had made the Council less snotty.

[bk_forever]

I think the council being a snotty bunch of misogynists was part of the point. They hadn't changed their methods in thousands of years, but Giles was different and developed a genuine relationship with his Slayer, a parental, caring one.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Giles: Buffy no longer needs a Watcher.
Cordelia: Well, does he have to leave the country? I mean, you got fired, and you still hang around like a big loser. Why can't he?

That sounded more like an insult to Wesley than Giles. :D

It was fortunate that Giles was different. That and having Buffy having friends put things into motion. How else was the series going to include?*shrugs*

[bk_forever]

Yes, I guess that's all part of the show, that it was a pivotal moment where the relationship between Slayer and Watcher started to change, and Slayers came into their own. Buffy changed everything, she did her own thing, her own way, and to Hell with the Watchers Council.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

"...to Hell with the Watchers Council".

Sounds like something a person would say dramatically, before riding a horse into the sunset.

*pause*

Or maybe that's just me.*shrugs*

Willow: You're the Slayer, and we're like the Slayerettes.

[bk_forever]

Sounds to me like something Buffy would think *grins*

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Add wearing a cape to be flung aside, whilst doing so.:)

I'm starting to tread into pantomime territory...