"Discipline is a reward, Giles?" Buffy glances at him incredulously, taking to pacing slightly back and forth, as she did when she was irritated or restless- before she takes a deep breath and looks her Watcher straight in the eye, her expression unreadable.

"Back at home? I was the big news around Sunnydale. The Slayer. Warrior of the people, mythic and defendery- the thing monsters used to run from. That was back when training did something, when we were actually working towards something."

A pause and her face starts to flicker, the non-committal expression she's trying so hard to maintain is currently on a downward slope.

"Here? Giles, I can't do anything here. Even if I could kill most of the things in the city- like you said, they'll come back. And they'll come back pissed. I couldn't help Wesley. I couldn't stop Drusilla from attacking that guy- because believe me, I looked for her."

"I couldn't stop Dawn from leaving." it's barely a whisper and she's stopped pacing and opted for toying with the hem of her shirt, eyes shut tightly.

"I can't keep my friends or the guy I might just really, really like. I can't, I can't, I can't. Are you seeing a pattern here?"