Recruit (3/9)
Fandoms: Buffy/HP
Canon Compliancy: Set in 2004; through Buffy season 8, issue 4; post-HBP
Pairing: Giles/Snape
Rating: NC-17, slash
Genre: Drama/Humor/Romance
Word Count: ~22K
Status: Complete; will be posted over July 2nd and 3rd
Summary: Slayers abounded, and even with new innovations in training and technology, the Watcher’s Council struggled to cope with the decimation of its ranks wreaked by the Bringers. Willow’s sudden return offered Giles the chance to discover much-needed new recruits. Yet nothing quite prepared him for one Severus Snape.
Previous: Chapter 1, Chapter 2.
Disclaimer: Not mine; no money.
Thanks go to the wonderful
firefly_124, who betaed for me, and to the amazing
saracen77, who Brit-picked.
Chapter 3
As the man walking beside him was slightly taller yet leaner, nothing of Giles’s had fit. Which meant that Giles was going to have to get used to seeing Snape in trousers and shirtsleeves at some point in the near future. Bloody hell, Buffy was right - I feel as if I’m stuck in a period-piece where the very sight of him without the frock coat seems … decadent.
Pausing to step temporarily off the curb so that a determined-looking woman with a rather industrial pram wouldn’t take him out at the knee caps, Giles watched Snape similarly edge towards the other side of the pavement. Quite the arse on him.
The other man chose that moment to turn and capture his gaze, raising one eyebrow in amused query.
Giles jerked his eyes to the pavement ahead and began walking again. Once at Snape’s side, he said, “We’ve been lucky really. While the original Headquarters in Westminster was lost, the Council bought an entire block of houses in the eastern part of Chelsea in the fifties. As the leases on flats came due, the Council was persuasive in getting the tenants to move instead of renewing, and by five years ago, only Council members resided there. We’ve kept a small section as Watcher flats and converted the remainder to other facilities such as Slayer dormitories, classrooms, offices, etcetera.”
“Where did the Council’s members in residence go?”
“All but a handful were … lost in the explosion, and their families were willing to relocate to places less fraught with memories.”
Snape grunted a reply.
Giles looked at his profile. “It’s quite healing for most people - to remove themselves from the scene of painful remembrances.”
This time it was Snape who halted, waiting for Giles to face him before speaking. “I was raised half-Muggle, you know. Your somewhat blatant attempts at psychoanalysis do not evade my notice.”
Fighting to suppress a grin at the other man’s sardonic tone, Giles said, “I didn’t expect them to,” before turning and continuing on.
Within two strides, the dark man was once again at his side.
~~~
“Headquarters is shielded, so you’ll be able to do magic as long as you’re within the building,” Giles said as he walked through the front door.
“Indeed?” Snape glanced around the rather spacious entrance hall. “I would think the energy expenditure for such a large structure would be tremendous.”
“Oh, it is. But we did learn something from the past Council’s hubris - we will never again assume that we cannot be attacked.”
Snape focused his full attention on Giles, who said, “In fact, Willow was able to -”
“Giles!” Aiko yelled from the first floor landing. She sprinted down the sweeping staircase, her long black hair penduluming with every jump, and halted before him, not the least bit breathless. “I’m so glad you’re here. The virtual simulator in room three is down, and Lexie and I can’t get it back up.”
“Andrew -”
“Andrew took his team out for practical maneuvers in the Tuscan countryside yesterday. They’re out of cell phone range until tomorrow.”
“Well, then, Katie in Berlin.”
“She doesn’t have any ideas that I haven’t tried.” She bounced on her toes.
Removing his glasses for a bit of a polish, Giles donned them before saying, “As you have a far superior knowledge of that and any other computer-driven contraption at our disposal, I have nothing more to offer. If I could, I’d have you unplug all of the simulators and we’d be back to nothing but basic hand-to-hand with sparring partners.”
“What do you think I’ve got the girls doing now?” She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Really, Giles, the simulators work - you saw the numbers from Deng’s analysis. And it’s not as if all one hundred of us could beat up on you all at once.” Her sudden grin looked lethal. “Though if you keep calling my babies ‘contraptions,’ that could be arranged.”
“Yes, well.” Giles cleared his throat and looked over to see what he was now beginning to recognize as the default expression on Snape’s face - a smirk. “Aiko, I’d like you to meet Mr. Snape, who is considering joining us as a Watcher. Aiko is not only a Slayer - she’s also quite adept at computer technology.”
“How do you do?” Snape offered a nod instead of his hand.
“Nice to meet you.” She turned quickly back to Giles. “So anyway, I’m going to wipe it and reload all of the software. It’ll take most of the day since I’ll then have to recalibrate it. Can you take my ten o’clock class?”
“Certainly. We do not meet with Willow until two. It will also serve to provide Mr. Snape with an idea of the … physical side of our training.”
“Thanks, Giles!” Flashing one quick yet blindingly brilliant smile, she bounded up the stairs, taking them effortlessly two at a time, even though she stood barely over five feet in height.
“Is she one of the original members of your ‘gang’?”
“Aiko? She was one of the first batch of Potentials called when Willow did the spell to activate them all, but she was still in Japan at the time. No, the original group was quite small. There was Buffy, whom you met, and Willow, whom you’ll meet this afternoon.”
Anticipation flashed across Snape’s face to be quickly masked.
Interesting. It looks as though Willow may hold the key to having him join. “Dawn is … unable to travel at the moment, but you’ll meet Xander in a week or two if you stay. He heads one of our main bases, which is located at a castle in Scotland -”
“Wait - a castle in Scotland, you say?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
The grimace on Snape’s face clearly said that it was.
“I doubt you’ll ever be required to go there, as it’s more of a central control for active Slayer units than a research or teaching facility since the young women there tend to have completed A levels already or didn’t go on to A levels.” Deciding to change the subject to something hopefully more attractive, Giles glanced at his watch and said, “Well, if I’m to teach at ten, it gives us just enough time for me to give you a quick tour of the facilities culminating in a longer visit to our library.”
“Library?” That one eyebrow raised in interest.
“Indeed.” Giles couldn’t restrain his smile.
~~~
“And finally the library,” Giles said, pushing open the heavy oaken door to reveal a large room that actually took up the space of what had been two entire flats. “It’s not a patch on the original one, I’m afraid, but we’ve done fairly well in the past year. Council locations in other countries have duplicated their collections and sent us the originals. As I said - this building is much better warded than any previous.”
Noting the keen interest on the other man’s face as Snape looked at the large number of bookcases, Giles said, “In fact, depending upon your desires, your duties may include quite a bit of time in here.”
“How so?”
“I could determine from the scant information we have that you were a teacher, but I could not determine much else. Such as what subject you taught or if you actually prefer it as a calling.”
“Potions - I taught Potions. And I do not consider teaching to be … where my interests truly lie. Children … irritate me.” His lip curled into a sneer upon uttering the last phrase.
“Remind me to never consider assigning you to oversee a group of Slayers then.” Giles grinned. “And since we don’t have much call for Potions classes - the few Slayers with magical abilities train with our coven - I may ask you to consider joining our Research Department.”
Umming noncommittally, Snape immediately walked to the right and began perusing the closest shelves, one hand reaching out to stroke across the spines of the books in a gesture that appeared unconscious. Halting only three feet in, he unshelved a text and cradled it in his arms.
Unable to restrain his own curiosity, Giles moved until he could peer around Snape’s shoulder. Ah, Bettlelow’s Compendium - I would imagine he’d be drawn to it. It doesn’t seem as if earth-magic spells are used in the Wizarding world.
The dark man stroked one hand repeatedly over the gilded ends of pages before cracking open the text to a place approximately one third of the way through the tome.
Giles shifted around to his side so that he could get a clearer view of Snape’s countenance.
He was engrossed, completely taken over by the words his eyes flew across, if the rapid movements of such were any indication. His face had lost the stony façade of careful control it usually wore, the lines around eyes and mouth easing. The fingers of one hand traced a path across the words, and Giles found himself following those digits instead of reading along.
And since when do I not read a reference text if given opportunity? Turning his attention back to the words on the page, Giles recognized the passage with some excitement. “Why, you’ve opened to exactly the place where Bettlelow first conflated Druidic and Etruscan water magics. That’s his most crucial work. How ever did you know?”
“I did not precisely know what I would find on this page - I simply knew that the most interesting item would be located there.”
“But …”
“I cast a spell - a simple spell of my own devising: Protractum.” He did not look up and kept his voice carefully neutral. “There is no real cataloguing system for texts in the Wizarding world. It speeds research immensely to have something that can locate desirable material.”
“Fascinating! Does it only work once you’ve chosen the book or -”
“Indeed not. It also functions to detect the more pertinent volumes themselves. If you noticed, I touched multiple spines before selecting this one.” Snape glanced over and smirked. “Unless you thought me a closet hedonist who caresses books.”
“There’s nothing wrong in taking a sense of physical delight from books,” Giles replied passionately. “I find engagement with physical texts inherently satisfying - their feel, their smell -” He broke off abruptly. And now I sound like a raving loon.
Yet instead of derision, Snape’s lips quirked slightly in the faintest of smiles, and he tipped his head slightly as if conceding the point. “I must admit I agree with you. But then, the ‘contraptions’ known as computers were not prevalent when I last lived in the Muggle world, so I confess to a certain amount of bias.” His full smirk returned. “Yet even having said as much, I still believe we are in the right.”
Giles found himself grinning in return. “Well, of course we are.”
~~~
The ridges of the tatami matt dug into the vertebrae of his back as he slid across its surface slowly, pushed by the weight he was grappling with. Bracing his feet so that they came to a halt, Giles snapped his hips up and abruptly to the right, throwing the other body to that side. Yet the fingers locked into his shoulders only tightened their grip, and he found himself rolling with the movement so that he now straddled the struggling form below him.
A rather feral grin stretched Giles’s face as he watched the dark eyes glare up at him, and he adjusted his center when he felt Snape attempt to shift. This is much better than wrestling with Slayers - a bloke has a sporting chance for one thing.
Leaning forward to complete a Jujitsu front chokehold, Giles’s bared forearm slid across the skin of Snape’s neck, and Giles was suddenly aware of the sound of Snape’s panting, having finally come close enough to hear it over his own. One puff of breath feathered across his cheek, and the awareness of just how close together they were flushed across his body.
That and the sudden realization that, unless Snape had three hipbones, there was an interesting physical reaction occurring in his wrestling partner. A reaction he was well on his way to mimicking.
A quick glance confirmed that Snape was glaring at him somewhat defiantly even as Snape’s body betrayed him.
Ducking his head to protect his nose from a possible head-butt, Giles’s grin grew ever wider as he thought, I suppose this answers the question of whether he’s interested or not. He shifted his hips slightly, tingling warmth flowing from his erection, and heard a corresponding grunt from the man below him.
Yet before he could fully revel in the sensation, a loud throat clear sounded to his right. “Uh … Giles … are you done with the demonstration yet?”
Reminded of the others in the room, he pulled back immediately and looked at the ring of faces surrounding him. All twenty Slayers watched with avid interest, though their expressions ran the gamut from startled to amused.
Shakina was one of the ones who looked shocked. “You’ve … uh … you’ve pinned him for longer than ten seconds and all.”
“Yes, but he hasn’t tapped out.” Giles turned his attention back to the dark man below him. “Do you concede defeat?”
One last shift of Snape’s hips briefly rubbed their erections together before he smirkingly said, “I … concede.”
AN: Protractum - Latin for to draw forward, to reveal, to compel.
In martial arts, one taps out (hits a hand or foot to the matt a few times) to acknowledge that one has been pinned.
On to Chapter 4.
Canon Compliancy: Set in 2004; through Buffy season 8, issue 4; post-HBP
Pairing: Giles/Snape
Rating: NC-17, slash
Genre: Drama/Humor/Romance
Word Count: ~22K
Status: Complete; will be posted over July 2nd and 3rd
Summary: Slayers abounded, and even with new innovations in training and technology, the Watcher’s Council struggled to cope with the decimation of its ranks wreaked by the Bringers. Willow’s sudden return offered Giles the chance to discover much-needed new recruits. Yet nothing quite prepared him for one Severus Snape.
Previous: Chapter 1, Chapter 2.
Disclaimer: Not mine; no money.
Thanks go to the wonderful
firefly_124, who betaed for me, and to the amazing
saracen77, who Brit-picked.
Chapter 3
As the man walking beside him was slightly taller yet leaner, nothing of Giles’s had fit. Which meant that Giles was going to have to get used to seeing Snape in trousers and shirtsleeves at some point in the near future. Bloody hell, Buffy was right - I feel as if I’m stuck in a period-piece where the very sight of him without the frock coat seems … decadent.
Pausing to step temporarily off the curb so that a determined-looking woman with a rather industrial pram wouldn’t take him out at the knee caps, Giles watched Snape similarly edge towards the other side of the pavement. Quite the arse on him.
The other man chose that moment to turn and capture his gaze, raising one eyebrow in amused query.
Giles jerked his eyes to the pavement ahead and began walking again. Once at Snape’s side, he said, “We’ve been lucky really. While the original Headquarters in Westminster was lost, the Council bought an entire block of houses in the eastern part of Chelsea in the fifties. As the leases on flats came due, the Council was persuasive in getting the tenants to move instead of renewing, and by five years ago, only Council members resided there. We’ve kept a small section as Watcher flats and converted the remainder to other facilities such as Slayer dormitories, classrooms, offices, etcetera.”
“Where did the Council’s members in residence go?”
“All but a handful were … lost in the explosion, and their families were willing to relocate to places less fraught with memories.”
Snape grunted a reply.
Giles looked at his profile. “It’s quite healing for most people - to remove themselves from the scene of painful remembrances.”
This time it was Snape who halted, waiting for Giles to face him before speaking. “I was raised half-Muggle, you know. Your somewhat blatant attempts at psychoanalysis do not evade my notice.”
Fighting to suppress a grin at the other man’s sardonic tone, Giles said, “I didn’t expect them to,” before turning and continuing on.
Within two strides, the dark man was once again at his side.
~~~
“Headquarters is shielded, so you’ll be able to do magic as long as you’re within the building,” Giles said as he walked through the front door.
“Indeed?” Snape glanced around the rather spacious entrance hall. “I would think the energy expenditure for such a large structure would be tremendous.”
“Oh, it is. But we did learn something from the past Council’s hubris - we will never again assume that we cannot be attacked.”
Snape focused his full attention on Giles, who said, “In fact, Willow was able to -”
“Giles!” Aiko yelled from the first floor landing. She sprinted down the sweeping staircase, her long black hair penduluming with every jump, and halted before him, not the least bit breathless. “I’m so glad you’re here. The virtual simulator in room three is down, and Lexie and I can’t get it back up.”
“Andrew -”
“Andrew took his team out for practical maneuvers in the Tuscan countryside yesterday. They’re out of cell phone range until tomorrow.”
“Well, then, Katie in Berlin.”
“She doesn’t have any ideas that I haven’t tried.” She bounced on her toes.
Removing his glasses for a bit of a polish, Giles donned them before saying, “As you have a far superior knowledge of that and any other computer-driven contraption at our disposal, I have nothing more to offer. If I could, I’d have you unplug all of the simulators and we’d be back to nothing but basic hand-to-hand with sparring partners.”
“What do you think I’ve got the girls doing now?” She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Really, Giles, the simulators work - you saw the numbers from Deng’s analysis. And it’s not as if all one hundred of us could beat up on you all at once.” Her sudden grin looked lethal. “Though if you keep calling my babies ‘contraptions,’ that could be arranged.”
“Yes, well.” Giles cleared his throat and looked over to see what he was now beginning to recognize as the default expression on Snape’s face - a smirk. “Aiko, I’d like you to meet Mr. Snape, who is considering joining us as a Watcher. Aiko is not only a Slayer - she’s also quite adept at computer technology.”
“How do you do?” Snape offered a nod instead of his hand.
“Nice to meet you.” She turned quickly back to Giles. “So anyway, I’m going to wipe it and reload all of the software. It’ll take most of the day since I’ll then have to recalibrate it. Can you take my ten o’clock class?”
“Certainly. We do not meet with Willow until two. It will also serve to provide Mr. Snape with an idea of the … physical side of our training.”
“Thanks, Giles!” Flashing one quick yet blindingly brilliant smile, she bounded up the stairs, taking them effortlessly two at a time, even though she stood barely over five feet in height.
“Is she one of the original members of your ‘gang’?”
“Aiko? She was one of the first batch of Potentials called when Willow did the spell to activate them all, but she was still in Japan at the time. No, the original group was quite small. There was Buffy, whom you met, and Willow, whom you’ll meet this afternoon.”
Anticipation flashed across Snape’s face to be quickly masked.
Interesting. It looks as though Willow may hold the key to having him join. “Dawn is … unable to travel at the moment, but you’ll meet Xander in a week or two if you stay. He heads one of our main bases, which is located at a castle in Scotland -”
“Wait - a castle in Scotland, you say?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
The grimace on Snape’s face clearly said that it was.
“I doubt you’ll ever be required to go there, as it’s more of a central control for active Slayer units than a research or teaching facility since the young women there tend to have completed A levels already or didn’t go on to A levels.” Deciding to change the subject to something hopefully more attractive, Giles glanced at his watch and said, “Well, if I’m to teach at ten, it gives us just enough time for me to give you a quick tour of the facilities culminating in a longer visit to our library.”
“Library?” That one eyebrow raised in interest.
“Indeed.” Giles couldn’t restrain his smile.
~~~
“And finally the library,” Giles said, pushing open the heavy oaken door to reveal a large room that actually took up the space of what had been two entire flats. “It’s not a patch on the original one, I’m afraid, but we’ve done fairly well in the past year. Council locations in other countries have duplicated their collections and sent us the originals. As I said - this building is much better warded than any previous.”
Noting the keen interest on the other man’s face as Snape looked at the large number of bookcases, Giles said, “In fact, depending upon your desires, your duties may include quite a bit of time in here.”
“How so?”
“I could determine from the scant information we have that you were a teacher, but I could not determine much else. Such as what subject you taught or if you actually prefer it as a calling.”
“Potions - I taught Potions. And I do not consider teaching to be … where my interests truly lie. Children … irritate me.” His lip curled into a sneer upon uttering the last phrase.
“Remind me to never consider assigning you to oversee a group of Slayers then.” Giles grinned. “And since we don’t have much call for Potions classes - the few Slayers with magical abilities train with our coven - I may ask you to consider joining our Research Department.”
Umming noncommittally, Snape immediately walked to the right and began perusing the closest shelves, one hand reaching out to stroke across the spines of the books in a gesture that appeared unconscious. Halting only three feet in, he unshelved a text and cradled it in his arms.
Unable to restrain his own curiosity, Giles moved until he could peer around Snape’s shoulder. Ah, Bettlelow’s Compendium - I would imagine he’d be drawn to it. It doesn’t seem as if earth-magic spells are used in the Wizarding world.
The dark man stroked one hand repeatedly over the gilded ends of pages before cracking open the text to a place approximately one third of the way through the tome.
Giles shifted around to his side so that he could get a clearer view of Snape’s countenance.
He was engrossed, completely taken over by the words his eyes flew across, if the rapid movements of such were any indication. His face had lost the stony façade of careful control it usually wore, the lines around eyes and mouth easing. The fingers of one hand traced a path across the words, and Giles found himself following those digits instead of reading along.
And since when do I not read a reference text if given opportunity? Turning his attention back to the words on the page, Giles recognized the passage with some excitement. “Why, you’ve opened to exactly the place where Bettlelow first conflated Druidic and Etruscan water magics. That’s his most crucial work. How ever did you know?”
“I did not precisely know what I would find on this page - I simply knew that the most interesting item would be located there.”
“But …”
“I cast a spell - a simple spell of my own devising: Protractum.” He did not look up and kept his voice carefully neutral. “There is no real cataloguing system for texts in the Wizarding world. It speeds research immensely to have something that can locate desirable material.”
“Fascinating! Does it only work once you’ve chosen the book or -”
“Indeed not. It also functions to detect the more pertinent volumes themselves. If you noticed, I touched multiple spines before selecting this one.” Snape glanced over and smirked. “Unless you thought me a closet hedonist who caresses books.”
“There’s nothing wrong in taking a sense of physical delight from books,” Giles replied passionately. “I find engagement with physical texts inherently satisfying - their feel, their smell -” He broke off abruptly. And now I sound like a raving loon.
Yet instead of derision, Snape’s lips quirked slightly in the faintest of smiles, and he tipped his head slightly as if conceding the point. “I must admit I agree with you. But then, the ‘contraptions’ known as computers were not prevalent when I last lived in the Muggle world, so I confess to a certain amount of bias.” His full smirk returned. “Yet even having said as much, I still believe we are in the right.”
Giles found himself grinning in return. “Well, of course we are.”
~~~
The ridges of the tatami matt dug into the vertebrae of his back as he slid across its surface slowly, pushed by the weight he was grappling with. Bracing his feet so that they came to a halt, Giles snapped his hips up and abruptly to the right, throwing the other body to that side. Yet the fingers locked into his shoulders only tightened their grip, and he found himself rolling with the movement so that he now straddled the struggling form below him.
A rather feral grin stretched Giles’s face as he watched the dark eyes glare up at him, and he adjusted his center when he felt Snape attempt to shift. This is much better than wrestling with Slayers - a bloke has a sporting chance for one thing.
Leaning forward to complete a Jujitsu front chokehold, Giles’s bared forearm slid across the skin of Snape’s neck, and Giles was suddenly aware of the sound of Snape’s panting, having finally come close enough to hear it over his own. One puff of breath feathered across his cheek, and the awareness of just how close together they were flushed across his body.
That and the sudden realization that, unless Snape had three hipbones, there was an interesting physical reaction occurring in his wrestling partner. A reaction he was well on his way to mimicking.
A quick glance confirmed that Snape was glaring at him somewhat defiantly even as Snape’s body betrayed him.
Ducking his head to protect his nose from a possible head-butt, Giles’s grin grew ever wider as he thought, I suppose this answers the question of whether he’s interested or not. He shifted his hips slightly, tingling warmth flowing from his erection, and heard a corresponding grunt from the man below him.
Yet before he could fully revel in the sensation, a loud throat clear sounded to his right. “Uh … Giles … are you done with the demonstration yet?”
Reminded of the others in the room, he pulled back immediately and looked at the ring of faces surrounding him. All twenty Slayers watched with avid interest, though their expressions ran the gamut from startled to amused.
Shakina was one of the ones who looked shocked. “You’ve … uh … you’ve pinned him for longer than ten seconds and all.”
“Yes, but he hasn’t tapped out.” Giles turned his attention back to the dark man below him. “Do you concede defeat?”
One last shift of Snape’s hips briefly rubbed their erections together before he smirkingly said, “I … concede.”
AN: Protractum - Latin for to draw forward, to reveal, to compel.
In martial arts, one taps out (hits a hand or foot to the matt a few times) to acknowledge that one has been pinned.
On to Chapter 4.