Responsible Figures

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Buffy/Devil May Cry
Chapter Summary: Willow finds Giles in the mirror maze and warns him about the fact that Xander's gone missing, only to find that Giles himself is acting strangely.
Word Count: 915
Rating: Teen

 

          It takes her what feels like forever and a couple random inquiries to even find Giles. Which is a starting point. She tries asking about Xander first, but realizes that’s a fool’s errand pretty quickly. No one has, although they all seem worried and assure her they’ll tell her if they see him, maybe even make an announcement over the intercom, to which she assures them it’s fine, sorry to bother them, and runs away again. and then, of course, that’s a pretty good assumption. Of course nobody’s seen him, not when he’s using his powers, which is maybe kind of cheating, but then, she would’ve done the exact same thing. She’s probably going to be baking guilt cookies again, but that’s fine. Xander deserves all of them. Thank goodness chefghost let her use the oven so much.
          She’s already checked the out of the way places, the high-up places like the Ferris Wheel, and the food stands. She’s reasonably certain he wouldn’t have left. He’s upset, and maybe for a good reason, but he’d also made a promise, and he takes his promises to them pretty seriously. He’d at least reappear when they’re about to leave.
          So then she tries for Giles, and, somewhat unsurprisingly, it was the description of the accent that gets her some directions, though also some funny looks until she remembers that, oh yeah, adding the stuff about the glasses probably makes her sound at least a little less like a weirdo. She finally finds him in the house of mirrors. It’s unlikely if he’s been in here trying to work out the directions on what looks like a little typed riddle-card they handed out (the worker had tried to hand her one as she ran past, but she didn’t even stop) he’ll have seen anything at all, because she’s pretty sure Xander wouldn’t have come in here, but still, she has to try. “Have you seen Xander?”
          “Er—what is that?” He sounds like he’s concentrating hard, and for a moment Willow thinks he’s just trying to solve the whole funhouse mirror thing. “I’m sorry, Willow? What did you say?”
          Then she realizes that it’s pretty much impossible to sneak up on somebody in a room full of mirrors, and he’s distracted. It happens sometimes when she’s trying to teach her, especially if he gets into one of the books, but it shouldn’t be happening now.
          “Um…is something wrong?” Of course something’s wrong. Xander’s missing. Again. But it doesn’t seem like that’s why Giles is worried, which…makes her worry even more. This was supposed to be a nice vacation! Can they not go anywhere without something happening?
          “I’m sorry, what—Oh, no. Everything’s fine. It’s just been a while since I’ve tried to solve a maze.” Also, he is such a liar. But then, she supposes, it’s not like he’s had all the practice in the world. From what she can tell, he’s tried to be as honest with them as he can. (Well, except for Xander. Because he’s having trouble getting over his issues, though to be fair, he does seem to actually be trying now.) “Why were you looking for me?”
          “Well, if we’re going to follow the rules, you’re kind of our guardian figure now,” she points out, and weirdly enough he actually kind of jumps in surprise. “Also, Buffy and Xander kind of had a fight and we’re trying to find Xander. It’s nobody’s fault, really, except for maybe mine because I said something I shouldn’t, but really, you shouldn’t get mad at anyone. But you should probably come help us look, and maybe stay with us. I’m not sure. I mean, we’re all more capable of taking care of ourselves, and it’s not like there’s something evil here waiting to eat us, but people are still scary and I’m not sure any of us know what to do if there’s vanilla humans who aren’t good people…”
          If she’s not wrong, he twitched a little when she mentioned that there wasn’t something evil here. Which she’s pretty sure does mean there’s something evil here. She’s not sure, and she’s not sure why he’d be hiding it if there was, but he’s definitely acting suspicious. Still, he pulls himself together pretty quickly.
          “That’s certainly a bad habit, and the fact he can teleport away doesn’t help,” Giles agrees. It’s…most of all, it’s the fact that he somehow looks older. Like he’s suddenly trying to play Atlas and take on the weight of the world. “Why don’t you go back to the entrance—”
          “If Xander’s in trouble, I want to help.” And not just because she’s got a crush. Because he’s her friend, and it’s the right thing to do. Maybe Giles is trying to protect her, but if that’s the case, he can come out and say that himself. She’s not going to start interrogating him, because if he doesn’t explain with a hint he’s certainly not going to answer a direct question.
          And he doesn’t. He just looks a little frustrated, but he nods like it’s perfectly fine. “Well, if you find Buffy again, perhaps it’s best to stick together. We’ll go to the entrance and wait if I find him, or at the food stalls if I can’t convince him to do that.”
          “But why can’t we go together?” She’s asking the air. It’s entirely possible Giles heard her and is ignoring her, but either way, he left like she hadn’t said anything.