Multifandom Het Recs

Fandom Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing: Anya Jenkins/Rupert Giles (various other secondary pairings)
Fic Title: Investigations and Acquisitions (series/verse)
Author: ljs
Link: The original Investigations and Acquisitions series is here. Fill-ins and sequels can be found here (I’ve attempted to list the stories chronologically at my journal here. (ETA: all the links should now be working.)
Rating/Warning(s): Each story is labelled. Varies from about what you’d see on the show (teen?) to adult.
Genre: Romance, drama, mystery, supernatural, family, adventure, spies, ghost stories, AU, crossover, established relationship...
WIP?: No.

Why This Must Be Read: Because any Anya/Giles written by Lori is a treat. The Investigations and Acquisitions 'verse is a richly imagined spin-off ‘verse, where some of season 7 of Buffy happens slightly differently so that Giles and Anya find each other and leave California for England and a new life. Their relationship is the central strand, and this is a great established relationship series, looking at how they deal with their pasts together and all manner of dangerous cases, not to mention the family they end up creating. There's a crossover strand with Spooks, and it will help if you've seen episodes 1.4 and 1.5 and have some idea of what happened to main characters in the next few seasons. Having said that, one fic has a crossover with Doctor Who, which I don't watch, but enjoyed anyway. The writing is uniformly excellent and gorgeous. The author has a great grasp of who the characters are – Anya and Giles, of course, but also various familiar faces and original characters. Particularly with the original series (I&A), you’ll want to know what happens next and every instalment adds a rich new layer.