Title: Unprepared
Fandom: BtVS
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Giles, Willow, Buffy.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 300
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, 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