the_huffster | Family Portrait: Chapter 6

Title: Family Portrait
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: Buffy/Giles
Rating: R for language and violence
Timeline: Post-Chosen, AU (slightly)
Synopsis: After the events of Chosen, Giles and Buffy have finally become a functioning family. But when Giles' past catches up with him, will Giles and Buffy rise above it or will their family be damaged beyond repair?

"So you really think it's good?" despite his efforts, the nervousness made itself known in Evan's voice. "I mean, you aren't just saying it's good to get me outta your hair right?"

"Evan, it's good. Just like your other short stories," his English teacher, Mrs. Mitchell, assured him as she placed his notebook down. "It's better than good, and you know it."

"You don't think I need to have my head checked out?" he kept his eyes trained on his notebook.

"Evan, writing horror stories does not mean you're unstable." The teacher assured him as she handed the spiral back. "You have yet to show that anyone needs to worry about your mental stability,"

He nodded in agreement as he put the notebook back in his backpack. For the past month, Evan had taken up the habit of stopping by his English teacher's room after school every time he finished writing a short story. The first couple of times he done so, a sense of anxiety settled in his stomach at the reaction his story would receive. The teenager had been afraid Mrs. Mitchell would tell the school counselor that there was something off about him based on the stories, afraid that using his mother's Slaying stories made him seem like a danger to society. But those fears had been cast aside over the past few weeks.

"You have a real talent for writing horror stories, Evan. If you keep this kind of writing up, you could have a future as an author." The two shared a smile at that comment. "Anyways, I'm glad you stopped by today."

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to know if everything was alright. You seemed…preoccupied during class, more so than usual." Mrs. Mitchell asked, concern in her expression.

"Yup, things are fine." The 13 year old answered as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Some things have just come up at home and it's just added to the tension."

"What do you mean 'things came up'?"

"It's complicated, but my dad's handling it. If anyone can make things better, it's him." A proud grin came across his face, the belief in what he had just said showing in his green eyes. "I've gotta go. Bye, Mrs. Mitchell!"

Slinging his backpack on his shoulder, Evan ran out of the classroom and out of the middle school as he made his way across the street to the high school to meet up with his mother.

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"How is your homework coming along?" Giles asked as he walked into the living room, sitting on the couch behind Dakota.

"Shouldn't you be helping Brennan with something?" the 16 year old continued to doodle on the page that was barely filled with his math homework.

"I'm here to help you, if you need it."

"Now you wanna help," Dakota mumbled.

Giles just sat for a while as he watched his son alternate between watching the television and staring at his math book. After five minutes of witnessing Dakota make no progress in his homework, he grabbed the remote and turned off the television.

"I was watching that!" the teenager turned around and glared at his father.

"Which is exactly why I turned it off," Giles explained. "You obviously can't do your homework while being distracted. So until that math gets done, no TV."

Dakota just gaped at him, not believing what was happening. His father had never had a problem with him putting off his homework before. Shaking his head, the 16 year old pushed to his feet and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed a Coke from the fridge and the jar of peanut butter from the pantry, scooping a fair amount on to a paper plate, before heading towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Giles' voice stopped him at the foot of the stairs.

"To the store," Dakota deadpanned, turning to look at his father. "Where does it look like I'm going?"

"Get back in the living room and finish your homework."

"Are you kidding? It's gonna get done before I go to math tomorrow." He argued. "You've never cared if I did after school or after dinner,"

"True, but that was before your teachers informed me of your failure to turn in homework, your poor test grades and your lack of attendance in some classes." Giles countered, looking at his son. "Therefore, you are doing your homework now."

"Or what? You'll ground me? News flash, I'll just sneak out."

At the look in his father's eyes, Dakota was aware that was the wrong thing to say. There was a brief second where the 16 year old was afraid that Giles might actually hit him and he felt his muscles tense in preparation to fight or take flight.

"Get in there and do your homework." Giles' hand gripped Dakota's forearm before dragging him back into the living room, releasing him next to the coffee table. "I'm so glad I have to make sure you do your work as if you were six instead of 16."

"This is so stupid," he grumbled as he placed his snack on the coffee table.

"Yes, because caring for your education is completely stupid." His father remarked, sending him a glare when he refused to sit and do his homework. "You're really going to make this difficult?"

"You're being unfair, Dad."

"Unfair? I'll tell you what's unfair, Dakota." The older man began. "Unfair is learning that my son is throwing away his education and future by being a moronic jackass."

"Well, maybe if you were a better parent you would have noticed my failure at school." Dakota smirked at the hurt look on his father's face. "Hell, if you were a better parent I might not be acting out like I am. You see? You're the one being unfair by not being a good parent, Rupert."

There was that flash in his eyes again, the one that made Dakota feel as if he was about to get hit- even thought his father had never laid a hand on him or his brothers.

"You don't get to talk to me like that, Dakota Alexander." Even though his voice was calm, it was clear Giles was seething. "You're a child and I'm the parent…"

"Then start acting like one! Why don't you actually do something about the fact that I might end up in trouble with the law?"

Giles took a step towards the teenager when a voice stopped him.

"What's going on?" both of the living room's occupants looked to see Buffy and Evan standing in the living room's entry way.

"Dad was about to hit me for not doing my homework."

Evan shifted his weight from one foot to another, his gaze going from his older brother to his father. The 13 year old and his mother had clearly walked in on something.

"You handle your son because I'm done," the Watcher stalked off up the stairs, slamming the bedroom door behind him.

"I don't even want to hear it," The Slayer fixed her attention on Dakota when he opened his mouth. "You're going to do your homework and then you, me and your father are going to have a talk about how you've been behaving at school."

Before the 16 year old could even blink, Buffy made her way up to the bedroom she shared with Giles. She found her husband sprawled out on their bed, his arms locked behind his head, staring at the ceiling. The bed shifted as she sat next to him, her fingers absently running through his hair.

"What happened down there, Giles?" she asked.

"He wouldn't do his homework, simple as that." He answered, his eyelids drifting close. "I told him to, and thus an argument broke out."

"You looked like you were about to deck him," he cracked one eye open and looked at his wife. "Not that you would ever hit any of us. But you had that look like you wanted to hit someone."

"And how would you know what that looks like?" he propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Buffy.

"Ethan Rayne. Do I need to say more?" they shared a smile before Buffy brought them back on track. "So what happened down there?"

"It was nothing. I just let my doubts and fears take over, and that doesn't exactly go with my anger." He sighed, continuing to beat himself up for letting things get out of control. "Dakota pointed out a few things that made me realize I'm turning into my father,"

"You are not your father, Rupert."

"Right," Giles fell back on his pillow, his arm automatically pulling his wife closer when she stretched out next to him. "My father was oblivious to what was happening with me and when he did realize it, he didn't care enough to try to make things right. I, on the other hand, know what's going on with our son and yet I'm doing nothing to correct it. I'm not my father, I'm worse."

At that statement, Buffy sat up and looked down on the brooding Watcher.

"That's bullshit and you know it."

"Is it, Buffy?" they were now sitting up and facing each other. "How do you explain what's been going on with Dakota? Besides, what do you care about what I think of myself?"

There was a hint of something in Giles' eyes, but it was gone a second after Buffy had noticed it. Whatever it was had been brief, but it was there long enough for the Slayer to know something else was troubling her husband. Now it was just a question of whether or not she could get him to tell her.

"What's really going on here, Giles?" her tone had softened as she looked at him, her hand resting on his knee.

"What makes you think there's more?" the walls were up and he had no intentions of letting her in.

"Because I know you, Giles. There's more to what's going on inside of that head of yours," hazel eyes stared into green eyes as she begged him to tell her. "Don't keep me out, please. There's already so much between us, don't add to it."

"If that's the case, then what's one more thing?" Giles observed, looking away from his wife in case he slipped up and let her in. "I'm an expert at dealing with important things on my own, Buffy. I've had loads of practice with all that'."

"As much as I would love to argue with you, I'm gonna save my breath," she made her way to the bedroom door when a knock sounded. "But we're having a talk with Dakota about school when he's done with his homework."

Giles gave a noncommittal response as his Slayer opened the door; only to bolt to his feet at the urgent call Buffy gave him. Brennan was standing in the upstairs hallway with a look of barely controlled pain on his face. In the few seconds it took for the Watcher to see what had brought his son upstairs, he realized that the shirt Brennan should have been wearing was wrapped around his left hand and was stained with blood.

"What the hell happened?" Buffy demanded as they directed him to the master bathroom, Giles pushing him to sit on the edge of the bathtub.

"I just wanted to check out Dad's swords…" his voice failed him when he received glares from both of his parents.

"I'll go clean up the basement,"

In the blink of an eye, Buffy was leaving the bathroom and Giles was kneeling in front of Brennan with the first aid kit. Giles gave the teenager a sympathetic look when he removed the ruined shirt; the palm was neatly sliced across, the cut nearly halfway through the hand. Both father and son knew there would be a scar once it was healed.

"How come you don't take me to the hospital? Ow!" Brennan hissed as his father set about cleaning the slice, attempting to yank his hand away at the sting of whatever it was his father was using.

"Why am I going to pay someone to do something that I can do for free?" Giles replied as he prepared to stitch up his son's hand. "Hold still,"

Silence fell over the two as Brennan watched his father close the wound, a look of concentration on the older man's face. He noticed that his father stitched him up with ease, an obvious sign that he had done this one too many times. By the time Giles was finished, Brennan wondered if he would be able to perform such a task the same way.

"It'll hurt like hell for a while, and any time you make a fist with that hand, but you'll be fine otherwise." The Watcher explained as he put the medical kit away, washing the blood of his hands at the sink.

"Dad?" the 16 year old stood a few feet behind him, his eyes locked on his father's back. "You are handling this thing with that vampire, right?"

"What?"

"You're going to make sure he doesn't hurt us…you're going to take care of it, right?" he just needed to hear him confirm.

"Of course I am, Watcher."

Brennan watched as his father left the bathroom, and he couldn't help but feel let down. While Giles did confirm Brennan's question, it did not go unnoticed by the teenager that he hadn't looked at him while answering. And it was that one little factor that caused a small part of Brennan to doubt his father
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