Baking Day
Content: No real harm was done to the kitchen.
Spoilers: After "Amends". Day after Christmas. (This was before I found out they haven't seen each other until "Gingerbread".
Summary: It's the day after Christmas and Giles needs someone to talk to...and so does Joyce.
Notes: Feedback, please.
*****
Joyce Summers looked down at the phone in her hand with a glare."No, Hank. I honestly think that your driving down from L.A. is really a *great* idea, especially since you want to take Buffy Christmas shopping after the Christmas, sleep over and then leaving Sunnydale in the morning."
She listened to the phone, and then rolled her eyes."Yes, I was being sarcastic. Hank, you know that Buffy has enough clothes, shoes and whatever else she needs and you know that I *really* don't have-"
Joyce listened again."No, Hank. Henry Summers, now you listen to me-Hank? Hank?!?"
Joyce stared at the phone, then slammed it down in its cradle."Oh! That man! It's not supposed to be this way! You divorced the idiot and that was supposed to be the end of it! Okay, Joyce...breathe. Breathe...breathe..."
After a few minutes, Joyce opened her eyes again and her lips pursed."The hell with this! I guess it's time for the big guns..."
*****
Giles sat with a book in his favorite armchair and moved restlessly. Finally, he lifted his head up from the book he was reading and looked at his living room. He stared at the cream walls as his mind echoed the conversation that he had with Buffy.
"Giles...I'm going to see Angel again,"she said quietly. Her eyes were filled with resolution, but her voice shook."He...needs me, Giles. And...and I need him. I'm sorry."
"So you are going to continue to see him against my wishes? Against mine and your better judgment?” he had said scornfully."Is that it? Your need to be with Angel overrides any and all concerns for the world? Your duties as a Slayer?"
To shake the voices from his head, Giles looked down at the book in his lap, then turned it right side up. After a few absent turning of the pages, he threw the book down on his coffee table. Spying his coat, he grabbed it."I need to get out of here. Walk will do me some good."
*****
When she put the cookie tray into the oven, Joyce took a deep breath. "This is not working. Baking is *not* making me feel better. I may need to bake something else. Or else I'm going to need to scream my lungs out..."
She eyed the flour can again....
*****
Giles stood in front of the Summers house and stared at it. He had no recollection of having any intention of coming here. And yet, here he was. In front of the Summers house. As he slowly walked up to the door, Giles looked through the picture window. He could see the gaily decorated Christmas tree, red, green and gold wrapping all around the base of it. He saw bows that littered the coffee table and gifts still in their boxes, still gaily wrapped. Absently, he wondered for who they were as he reached the door. His arm reached up to knock on the door, when he stopped.
[Why am I here? What am I doing here? Who am I going to talk to? Buffy isn't home...and from the looks of it, neither is Joyce. Not that she would even welcome you near her, especially after what happened on that night with the candy. Just go home, Rupert. ] he thought as he started down the steps again.
As Giles started walking down the steps, his head whipped to the house. Someone was screaming! From inside the house! It wasn't Buffy! It was..."Joyce!"
*****
"JOYCE!!"Giles yelled as he sped into the kitchen.
"Yaaahhhh!"Joyce screamed as she jumped back at the sight of a man barreling into her kitchen. When she calmed down enough to recognize who it was, she stared at him."Mr. Giles! What are you doing here? In my kitchen?"
Giles looked at her abashed."Well...I...that is, I was about to see, ah, you, but it looked like no one was home, so I was about to ah, leave, when I heard a scream. But it looks like...are you all right, Joyce?"
Joyce flushed as she made sense of his explanation. She nervously ran her hands through her hair, leaving in it streaks of white."Yes. I am. Thank you. Sorry to, ah, disturb you. I was just, ah, trying to get my frustrations out, and pounding on this dough just wasn't doing enough for me. So...I, ah, screamed."
Giles nodded his head slowly, then eyed the huge glob of dough. It was the width of his arm."I see. That's, ah, going to be quite a lot of bread you're going to be making."
Joyce blushed as she looked at it."It sort of grew without me paying attention to it. So...you wanted to see me? About what?"
Giles lifted his hand to his head. "Oh, well. I needed someone to talk to, because of Buffy...and Angel. And since-"
“And since I’m the only adult around that know that Buffy’s the Slayer or knows the whatever the real reasons of the strange things that happen in this town, I’m a logical choice. Great, sit,”Joyce nodded as she continued kneading the dough. She vaguely quashed a resentful feeling in her as she pounded on the dough.
"Sit. Watch out for the excess flour on the seats. She told me last night? Christmas evening...I'm assuming that she told you about her decision today,"Joyce said as she pounded on the dough. [Don’t you look at him, Joyce. You’re going to get flustered. ]
Giles watched as Buffy’s mother pounded the dough.”Well, yes. I mean, no. She actually told me last night, also, at about nine. We...had some words.”
“So that’s why she was so upset,”Joyce said as she pounded on the dough harder. [Make me upset. Don’t even call. Make my daughter upset. Hank coming here...Pound harder, Joyce. Feels a bit sticky still...]
She absently took some more flour out and sprinkled it on to the dough.”She bolted out of here this morning and headed over to Willow’s...we had some words ourselves last night, and then everything went downhill, again. So, what did you say?”
Giles watched as Joyce pounded even harder on the dough.”I basically told her that if she continues to see Angel, I sincerely doubt that I can continue to be her Watcher...after all that she and Angel have done.”
Joyce watched as Giles got off the chair and walked around the kitchen, agitated.”I know what will happen if she and Angel get close again, she obviously has no respect for me as her Watcher if she continues to see him. And I-”
“Mr. Giles? Mr. Giles?”Joyce said as she wiped her hands on the apron. Giles stopped mid-tirade to look at her.”You’re helping me pound on this dough.”
Giles stared at her. ”Excuse me?”
Joyce reached under a kitchen cabinet and grabbed a towel.”Take off your jacket and roll up your sleeves. You’re going to help me knead this dough. Here, I’m washing the other apron so you’ll have to use this. You’ll have to, um, tuck it in your, ah, waistband.”
As a puzzled Giles did as he was told, Joyce halved the dough and flour.”What do I do?”
“You knead the dough, or pound on it if you want. It needs to be kneaded a few hundred times, considering how much dough I made so far,”Joyce said as she resumed her own kneading.”Buffy said that killing vampires gets the negative feelings out, and since I can’t do that, I have to do what my Nana said to relieve anger and tension, bake bread.”
“I see,”Giles said as he kneaded the bread. It was really a squishy feeling that was going through his hands. He followed Joyce’s movements.”So...what are you feeling angry about?”
“Well, other than the fact that my daughter’s a Slayer who wants to continue dating an unstable vampire? The shipment that was supposed to arrive at the gallery today isn’t there, and two hours ago Hank called to say that he was staying over to take Buffy out shopping for Christmas after not being available for it, because of some God-only-knows what reason,” Joyce said as she pounded on the dough harder. ”Then I happened to open the mail and found that the small loan I applied for in order to fix the car was rejected. And *that*, Mr. Giles, was my morning so far. Merry Christmas. And so...you’re mad that Buffy doesn’t respect you as her Watcher if she continues to see Angel?”
Giles continued kneading his dough. He kneaded harder was the words rolled out of his mouth.”Yes...when I had found that Buffy had know that Angel was back for months, and she never told me...I was quite upset with her. Then, she tells me that she is *not* seeing Angel, then after she *is*, because of the snow yesterday.”
Giles pounded on the dough harder.”But she’s still not telling me everything. Anything that happens to her, I have to know. In order to protect her life. How can I do my duty to protect her if she continuously hides parts of her life from me? I just don’t understand why she cannot see that.”
Joyce remained silent as she pounded harder on her dough. Giles continued as he pounded on the dough.”Angel doesn’t deserve compassion or the right to be complacent about his existence here on earth. He is a monster that took delight in torturing me for pleasure, and he killed Jenny Calendar.”
[This really is therapeutic.] thought Giles as he smacked at the dough again.”He deserves to suffer, and suffer horribly. Buffy had no right to keep his presence a secret from me, it was a selfish judgment on her behalf and I cannot condone that action. Then to continue seeing him, after all that he has done to me and the others...and to...what?”
Joyce glared at Giles as she smacked at her dough again.”So, Buffy has no respect for you if she keeps secrets from you? She’s a selfish person because she kept Angel hidden and then nursed him back to health? Is that it?”
Giles nodded silently. Joyce glared at him again as she smacked at the dough.”Then what do you call your blatant disrespect for me?”
Giles stared at her.“What disrespect? I have always treated you with the utmost-”
“I’m talking about Buffy’s secret of being the *Slayer*. You know, the Chosen One? The one girl in each generation that’s destined to die a young life because she’s defending the world?”Joyce said scornfully as she pointed her floured finger at her.”That secret. Oh, the light smacks him. Glory be!”
Giles stared at Joyce as she pounded on her dough.”I am Buffy’s mother. I have a right to know what my daughter is doing and why. She’s my child, and yet you, as the adult figure in her life, conspired with her, for two years to keep that secret life away from me. It wasn’t until she ran away that I found what she was or what she did. *Then* I find that the both of you have also kept even *more* secrets from me!”
Joyce glared at Giles again.”You *never* told me that Buffy died once before. Or that she has to die in order to get replaced. What else haven’t you been telling me, Mr. Giles? Any more secrets? Like a secret demon that’s after you? Or witch that holds a grudge against you? Something that would threaten Buffy’s life?”
Giles glared at Joyce as she continued to throw flour on her dough and knead.”I admit, I was wrong to keep Buffy’s secret from you.”
“Oh, that’s big of you,”Joyce said scornfully as she smacked more flour on her dough.
Giles ignored the snide remark as he grabbed some flour to smack on his dough. He continued,”But this is vastly different from her keeping Angel a secret from me. I am her Watcher. It is my duty to protect her, to watch over her. Like a, like a-”
“Like a parent? Hah!”Joyce interrupted. Giles stopped and stared at her when she thrust her hand at him. Flour went flying into Giles’s face and chest as she kept using her fingers moving with every word. It went unnoticed as Joyce went on in her tirade.
”You are *not* her parent. I am! I have every right to know that she’s the Slayer, yet you took it upon *yourself* to not tell me! You have *no* respect for me or my position!”Joyce shouted as more flour and bits of dough went flying from her hands.
Giles lifted his floured fingers at her, and forcefully pointed at her. Flour flew into her face, but it also went unnoticed.”You didn’t want to see! You wanted your safe little world! Buffy desired to protect you from the dangers that she fights. If you are unaware of the dangers she faced then there would be no reason to harm you! It was your own reality that blinded you for so long of what she was!”
Enraged at his words, Joyce grabbed some flour to throw on to the dough, but somehow threw it at him.”I would have gotten rid of my reality a lot sooner if you had told me that she was the Slayer! Then *maybe* she wouldn’t have run away in the summer! How would you protect her then?”
Coughing, Giles reached for the flour and was about to throw it on the dough when he bristled at her words. In his agitated state to defend himself, he threw his hands out, and the flour went flying at her.”I would have found her! I never would have stopped searching for her! I am her Watcher!”
“You just said that you didn’t know if you could continue to be her Watcher! So go on to England if you want!”Joyce shouted as she coughed.”We don’t need you! You never say anything that isn’t related to Buffy or her sacred duty! She’s just a disposable Slayer to you! And I’m her equally disposable Mother!”
[I’ve got to throw something!] thought Joyce as she looked at Giles with a malevolent gleam in her eye, then grabbed the canister that contained the flour and threw some at him. This time deliberately.”Her MOTHER! I am Buffy’s *mother*! And damn it, get that through your thick skull! And take that! And you don’t even call to see how I am!”
Joyce kept on throwing flour at a coughing Giles as she shouted at him.
[This is utterly ridiculous! I need some ammo!] Giles thought as he dodged a spray of flour. Giles saw then grabbed a container from the counter and threw the contents at her. It was some crystallized red and green stuff.”I know that you’re her mother! That fact *never* leaves my mind! And I don’t want to go back to England! And you never call me! Buffy is NOT a disposable Slayer! And YOU are NOT her disposable MOTHER!”
Joyce ducked the Christmas sugar that he threw at her, and then threw her own batch of flour.”Then *don’t* go! And *don’t* keep me out of the loop on my daughter’s life! I won’t have it!”
“How can I keep you in the loop when I’m not even in it?”Giles shouted. He reached into his can again, and got nothing. Bloody hell! He was losing his ammo, he spied the flour dough on the island and made for it.
Joyce, seeing this, threw her can away and grabbed her dough, and threw it at him. Giles stumbled as the dough hit him square on the face.”Hah! You know more about Buffy’s life than I *ever* will! So don’t you tell me that you’re out of the loop!”
Giles peeled the dough from his face and looked at Joyce as he stalked her back towards the sink.”I may know about certain areas in Buffy’s life, but she still confuses me! And I have not been deliberately been keeping you out of the loop, like you have obviously with me!”
“I have not been keeping you out of the loop!”said Joyce, stepping back as she eyed the dough, bumped into the counter.
“Like hell you haven’t, Joyce! You’ve been avoiding me since Buffy’s SATs!”Giles shouted as he stepped closer.
Joyce quickly looked behind her and saw the kitchen sink. With a quickness that Buffy could admire, she grabbed the attached water gun and turned the knob on as she aimed it at Giles. Seeing her quick action, Giles rushed at her, and got shot in the face, a full stream of cold water. He wrestled with Joyce to get the gun away from her.
Joyce shouted when the cold water hit her face and felt something cold and clammy stick to the front of her chest. She screamed when the water hit her face. And jumped when she felt his warm body near hers.
Giles sputtered when the water hit him in the face again. And again. When he felt her warm body through the cold water, and her jump away, he cried,”Truce! Truce!”
“Agreed!” She shouted as reached for the knob to turn the water off. Joyce wiped her eyes and looked at the man standing uncomfortably next to her. Water had plastered the flour on his face, slacks and glasses. A towel hung from one side of his hip. Rivets of water dripped from his face. And his cotton shirt...Joyce hastily looked away, but not before she saw that it was molded to his chest as well as had some of the dough. A giggle burst from her lips, then into a full blown laugh. Soon she was doubled over with laughter.
Giles looked at the woman next to him. Her hair was dampened by the water, but it glistened with the red and green crystals that he threw at her. Flour was streaked on her cheeks, in her hair. Her apron was soaked with water and some dough was mashed on to her chest. He hastily looked away, but looked back when he heard her giggle. Soon her giggle infected him. He chuckled, then he started to laugh. The next moment, he was on the floor with her, laughing his head off.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Joyce looked at her daughter’s Watcher.”Oh, I feel better now, I think. What do you think?”
“I think that was the end of your bread,”Giles chuckled as he stood up. He smiled as he offered his hand to help her up. Joyce smiled hesitantly as she took it, then grimaced as she looked at her kitchen. Flour and sugar was everywhere. Water streaked the cabinets and floor. The island where she was kneading the dough was a total wreck. When she stared at the ceiling, Giles looked up as well.”How did that dough get up there?”
“God only knows, Mr. Giles. God only knows,”Joyce said as she headed towards the refrigerator. She grimaced when the floor crackled beneath her.”Want some juice? Before you help me clean this mess up?”
“Why not?”Giles said as he searched into the cabinets for cups.”So does this all mean that we’re feeling better?”
Joyce poured the juice into the cups.”I don’t know about you, but I am. So what happens now? Between you and Buffy? Are your going to resign as her Watcher?”
“No. I actually meant what I said before...about not going back to England,”Giles said slowly as he sipped his juice.”And I suppose that I owe you an apology for keeping Buffy’s secret from you for so long.”
“Yes, you do. But then, I suppose that I owe you thanks for helping keep Buffy alive for so long,”Joyce said with a small smile, then she chuckled.”Aren’t we a pair!”
Giles gave her a puzzled look which made Joyce laugh.”I mean, here we are, the two of us...getting angry at each other when it’s Buffy we should be mad at. She’s the one with all the secrets!”
“Yes, she is,”Giles chuckled.”I just wish that I could understand her and the things that she does.”
“From what I know, its an epidemic. Parents will never understand their children. Welcome to the club,”Joyce chuckled as she toasted him. Giles stared at her.
“But I’m not-”
“Her dad? No. Hank’s her dad, and he will always be. But for all intents and purposes, and all the little things in her wacky, paranormal Slayer filled life? You’re her father,”Joyce said gently.”The one she turns to when Slaying gets to her, the one she made a deal for with Spike. Buffy would turn handsprings all over the world for you to keep you safe. And...I suppose that I’m a bit jealous of that fact.”
Giles looked at Joyce.”But I’m not the one she turns to when she needs comfort. Buffy loves you very much Joyce. That’s why she never wanted you to know about the dangerous things she was doing as a Slayer.”
“Same reason could be applied for her reason in keeping Angel a secret from you,”Joyce said as she sipped her juice. She waited for that fact to sink in.”She wanted to protect you from doing something dangerous. Like going after a vampire who’s still not too stable.”
“I never thought about it that way,”Giles said slowly. He looked at her.”So then...where does that leave us, Joyce?”
Joyce shifted uncomfortably as she set her cup down.“Well, I really don’t know. Is there an ‘us’? No, wait. Forget that. I didn’t say that.”
Giles put his cup down and looked at Joyce seriously.”I can’t. For all that it’s worth, I have never thought of Buffy as a disposable Slayer. And never you, Joyce. In fact-”
“WHAT HAPPENED?”Buffy shouted as she entered the kitchen.”Giles? Mom? You look...”
“Ohmigod! Giles? Mrs.Summers? You look...”Willow looked at Buffy frantically. Faith walked into the kitchen, then stopped.
“Whoa! Looks like a war went on here! And you two! Were you wrestling with each other or what?”
Joyce smiled weakly at her daughter.”Well, no, actually. We were-”
“We were wrestling with a faulty sink,”Giles said quickly.”I had come over to talk to you Buffy, and your mother was, ah, baking bread. And the sink-”
“The sink started spraying water, but Mr. Giles managed to get it all under control,”Joyce said with a cough.”Unfortunately we both got wet in the process. Buffy, can you-”
“Bread? Baking bread? BREAD? Oh, I’ll go get the towels, the ones upstairs,”Buffy said quickly as she disappeared through the doorway.”And the mop. And the bucket. And this may take a while Mom! Willow!”
“We’ll help,”Willow squeaked as she pulled a protesting Faith with her. Giles looked at Joyce.
“I never saw them move so quickly,”Giles commented.”Not unless there was a demon after them.”
“Buffy knows what it means when I bake bread, so she clears out real fast,”Joyce chuckled.”Obviously, she told Willow about it.”
The oven’s buzzer rang, and Joyce quickly went over to it.”Well, the scones are ready. Would you like some, Mr. Giles? They’re filled with currants and chocolate chips.”
“Oh, yes. Love to have some, Joyce,”Giles said as he wiped some flour from his glasses.”But, when do you think that you’ll start calling me Rupert?”
”Well, since it’s going to be the New Year, maybe next year,”Joyce said as she placed a hot scone in a napkin next to him. She smiled shyly at him.
“Dad! What are you doing here?”
Joyce rolled her eyes and sighed.”But only if I manage to survive the end of this one.”
~Fin.