Buffy decided to have one more try at persuading Willow on her theories about Giles' unusual behaviour. She met up with her for lunch and suggested they take sandwiches to the park. Willow agreed and didn't mention the subtext of returning to the locus of her picnic with Giles.
Buffy found a park bench near to the "scene of the crime" and nonchalantly set out their sandwiches between them.
They talked about classes and the last band they had heard at the Bronze. After about fifteen minutes Willow crumpled her lunch bag and tossed it into the nearest bin. "OK" she said "Enough with the soft soap, what did you bring me here for?"
Buffy tried to look hurt "Willow, we can't have a nice picnic lunch without you suspecting my motives?"
Willow just stared at her with a look of 'not buying the line'.
Buffy sighed. "OK" she looked a little sheepishly at their surroundings. "Maybe I thought this would bring back happy memories for you?"
Willow smiled a little sadly. "You know that it isn't exactly a 100% happy memory?"
"I know, but perhaps we can do something to make the good stuff come right?" Buffy asked and put her hand on Willow's arm.
Willow shook her head. "Buffy there are some things even the slayer can't make happen". She continued to shake her head "No, really, Giles and I have agreed that we need to keep our friendship as it was before his accident"
Buffy finally managed to interrupt her "But you were pretty much at the face sucking stage then!" Willow just looked sadly at their surroundings. Buffy was getting exasperated "I mean you guys were made for each other, anyone can see that and now you won't even sit in the same room as him"
Willow looked abruptly back at Buffy "I'm just giving him some space!" but Buffy wasn't buying it.
"You may even believe that yourself but I know both of you well enough to see you both backing off fast enough to get speeding tickets!"
Willow was getting angry now. "Once and for all Giles and I are just friends and I don't want us to be anything else, not now, not ever!" Buffy tried to interrupt. "How many different ways do I have to say this?" Willow was shouting. "I don't love Giles and if he had all of his memories he would remember that he didn't love me!"
Buffy stared in amazement at her retreating back. She was still sitting there trying to work out what just happened when Xander sat next to her. Her concentration was so intense that he had to cough to get her attention. "Hey, Buffster, what's up?"
She shook her head and turned to look at him. "Willow just told me she will never love Giles and he didn't love her?" she said slowly.
Xander frowned "I think you're just going to have to let this one sort itself out"
"No, you don't understand" Buffy said distractedly "She said she doesn't love him now or ever and he didn't love her." Xander looked completely confused at the distinction she was trying to make.
"Tense!" Buffy shouted at him and he dropped off the bench and rolled to the side, ready to defend himself from attack.
"Not like that" she said and put her hand out to help him up. "I mean she said, in the past tense, that he didn't love her" He still wasn't getting it. "She meant that she knew, for definite, that he had no feelings for her before the accident, how could she know that?"
Xander finally got to the same page. "The only way would be if they had already been here and broken up before the accident." Buffy shook her head in amazement "We couldn't have missed something like that could we, after all, we were spending nearly every waking moment with them right up to the fight at the sawmill"
Xander nodded "Well yeah, except for the last few days they weren't out of our sight for weeks before." They both looked at each other and arrived at the same conclusion at the same moment. Both returned to sit on the park bench and remained there for the next half hour without speaking.
Giles was sitting in an armchair, surrounded by books, when Xander knocked and entered. "Ah Xander" he said "I was looking for an excuse for a break and you're it!"
Xander laughed and helped him remove some of the books to the table. "So" Xander started while following him to the kitchen "How we doing with the memory thing?" has asked nonchalantly.
Giles looked a little bemused and held up a coffee mug, Xander nodded. "If you mean how much have I remembered, Doctor Alexander thinks I'm OK up until about eighteen months ago." Xander looked a little disappointed and Giles smiled "Is there something in particular you need me to remember in a hurry?" he asked.
"No, no, no" Xander replied and took his coffee from Giles. "Just keeping track of which jokes you remember and which ones will be new to you still!"
Giles laughed "Since all of your jokes are several decades old I think you're fighting a losing battle over that one" Xander laughed as well but it was obvious his heart wasn't in it.
"How you doing with the research stuff?" Xander asked, as much to keep the conversation going as for any other reason.
"Everything's going fine, Xander" Giles replied but he knew that the young man was there for a specific reason and decided to have some fun with him while he waited for the reason to make an appearance. "I always meant to ask you" Giles started. "As the only other man in the company of so many women, I guess we had quite a special relationship?" Xander nodded and looked a little confused at the turn the conversation was taking.
Giles was enjoying himself and settled onto the sofa with his legs stretched out in front of him. Xander nervously sat in the armchair opposite. "I would guess that we shared confidences and would even 'hang out' together regularly, just us guys?" it was all he could do to keep a straight face at the panicked look Xander gave him.
Xander wasn't sure where this was going but he decided to head it off at the pass before it got there. "Not really" he started "We were both pretty busy with researching and patrolling"
Giles nodded sagely "I understand that but I was meaning our free time, when we were off duty, so to speak" he raised an eyebrow in Xander's direction.
Xander had started to sweat "Well that time was mostly taken up with our female companions" he stressed the last two words.
Giles shook his head "You see that's where I'm having a problem as I can't remember anyone other than Jenny and I know we never had time to get to know each other very well." Giles decided to go in for the kill "I was wondering if perhaps, you were all being coy about my love life because I was gay?"
Xander jumped up from the chair as if he had received an electric shock. "No way" he shouted and spilled coffee on the carpet as he gestured with his mug. "You were a babe magnet and there was never anything else between us but good, honest, manly death and mayhem"
Giles couldn't keep a straight face any longer and managed to put his coffee cup down before he collapsed back onto the sofa in hysterics. Every time he looked at Xander standing scandalised in the middle of his living room he would start laughing again. Eventually the light dawned in Xander's eyes and he started to chuckle as well.
"Jeez" he finally said as he threw a cushion in Giles' direction "You're British sense of humour will get you in trouble some day"
Giles eventually stopped laughing long enough to wipe his glasses and apologise to the young man. "I'm sorry Xander" he held out his hand for Xander to shake. "I just couldn't resist it when you started on about my memory again and got that 'he's forgotten something really important' look on your face"
Xander smiled and shook his hand. "It's OK, I guess, although that conversation goes no further than these four walls!" he finished on a strident note.
Giles smiled at him "It's not exactly a rumour I want spread abroad either! What was it you came to see me about?" Giles asked as he moved back towards the books around his chair.
"I was just wondering if you could remember anything that happened around the time of the last battle" he asked and looked expectantly.
Giles shook his head sadly. "Sorry, still drawing a blank there, was there any reason in particular?" he asked.
Xander shook his head "No, nothing important." He looked around at the books strewn all over the floor. "Do you need a hand with any of this" he gestured at the books on the floor.
"Yes, that would certainly be a help " Giles smiled at him "I seem to be on the right track for that book I wouldn't let any of you see." He gestured to one book in particular. "I think I would probably have followed up a couple of leads in this as part of the research pattern we were undertaking about the prophecy, but it takes a lot more time when you're doing this on your own." He looked around a little sadly and Xander realised he was missing his favourite research partner. He took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.
"All right" he said, rubbing his hands together. "Second pair of hands and eyes ready and raring to go, where do I start?"
Giles smiled at him and handed him a large book. "This has pictures right?" Xander asked and looked from the book to Giles.
"Of course" Giles said with a serious look on his face "Even has some nymphs I seem to remember." He laughed as Xander whooped and threw himself onto the sofa to start reading.
After four hours had passed Xander finally admitted defeat and slammed shut the book he was reading. Giles gave him a questioning look.
"Either they invented animated books in the fourteenth century or those words really are dancing in front of my eyes!" with this he stood up and stretched, wincing as his back and shoulders made ominous creaking noises.
Giles took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "I know what you mean, why don't you put the kettle on and we'll have a break?" Xander nodded and headed for the kitchen.
Giles stifled a yawn "I just need to finish this chapter, it seems quite promising, then perhaps we could organise some food"
Xander leaned against the counter "You just said the magic word G-Man, I'll get the menu's" he moved to a drawer in the kitchen. "What do you fancy tonight, Chinese, Mexican, Italian?" he ran through the United Nations of food options available take away.
Willow sighed as she packed her books away. The library was empty and she hadn't realised how late it had become. She sighed again, this was harder than she had ever imagined. Keeping away from Giles was easier said than done. She hefted her bag onto her shoulder and waved to the librarian who was clearing the stack of returned books.
During her time watching over him in hospital she had made a lot of promises to herself and, at the time, had genuinely believed they were achievable. Most had revolved around him returning to full health so she could apologise for the things she had said to him. She couldn't stand the thought of their last words being bitter and angry. She also made some promises about trying to talk to him more rationally about their ‘friendship'. She chuckled to herself, she had never envisaged him losing his memory. Now she was left with all of the guilt and no one to share it with. It was ironic really as under normal circumstances she would probably have asked his advice about this moral dilemma.
Recently, even being in the University library had reminded her of their past. Despite the fact that he had never worked there, he would always be linked to the smell of old books in her mind. She smiled to herself, and promised to tell him of this strange olfactory memory trigger. He would probably take it as a compliment, or, she corrected herself, ‘before' Giles certainly would have but she wasn't so sure about the new improved version.
She hadn't realised that she had company behind her until she heard the faint whoosh and Buffy shouted her name. “What the hell are you doing walking alone around here at night!” Willow looked a little bewildered until she recalled leaving the library and being deep in thought. She looked around and saw a small pile of ashes being distributed by the slight evening breeze. “Oh my God, Buffy” she looked at the angry girl with a large stake in her hand “I'm sorry I didn't realise the time and then I was thinking about stuff and..” her bottom lip trembled and she realised, with horror, that she was going to start crying.
Buffy put the stake back into her pocket and moved to hold Willow as she started to cry in earnest. “Willow” she said softly, stroking her hair “I didn't mean to frighten you, are you OK?” A couple of students passing by gave them a strange look and she glared back at them. “Uhmmm, Willow” she put her arm round the girl's shoulder and turned to face her “We should probably get back to the dorm?” The crying had turned to sobs but a small nod told Buffy that she agreed about the relocation.
After a warm shower and a large mug of tea Willow sat on the edge of her bed and looked a little embarrassed. “I'm really sorry that I worried you and then got your jacket all wet”.
Buffy made a dismissive motion with her hand “I'm sorry I shouted at you but normally you're a bit more aware than tonight, what was so engrossing in the library that you tuned out?”
“Nothing really” Willow took a sip of her tea. “It's just the strain of the last few weeks and then shouting at you the other day and being in the library just kind of reminded me…” she trailed off.
“Of the good old days?” Buffy asked gently
“Yeah, and how weird is that?” Willow asked “I mean the old library was kind of a second home but I was one of the main movers and shakers in the whole blowing it sky high thing”
Buffy nodded “I know, but we had some good times there as well, after all, it was the gang hut for quite a while and we all grew attached to the old place”
Willow took another sip of her tea “Not just the place” she murmured quietly. Buffy remained silent, giving her the opportunity to get it out of her system if she chose to.
The silence stretched for what seemed like minutes until Buffy thought that Willow had lost the courage to talk further. Just as she was about to suggest an early night Willow appeared to give herself a ‘shake' and she started talking in a low tone.
“I can't keep this to myself anymore” she looked up at Buffy and moved to a more comfortable position, lying on her side on the bed. “You were right the other day, about Giles and me”
She smiled at the slightly satisfied look that flashed across the slayers face, but to her credit she didn't do the ‘I told you so' celebration dance.
“Over the last year I've grown more and more aware of Giles as, …something other than a librarian” she checked that this was making sense and Buffy nodded while she also lay down on her bed facing Willow.
“I know that I had a crush on him when we first met but that had grown into a genuine friendship and I didn't really recognise the other feelings for quite a while. Eventually, at Thanksgiving, I realised that the people I wanted to spend my time with were you and Xander and Giles.” She looked a little sad “After years of having other people intrude on our little world, it had finally come back down to just us again”
Buffy scrunched further down the bed and smiled to herself, she knew exactly what Willow meant, these three people meant more to her than anything else in the world.
“You remember that Giles went back to England to attend that family funeral? Well, it was like one of my arms had been amputated! I had no idea what was wrong with me but I felt something vital was missing from everything I did” Willow's voice had dropped even lower than before and Buffy leaned forward a little to make sure she heard everything.
“The day after Thanksgiving, when we were all together at your house, eating turkey sandwiches and watching bad movies, well that was the only time I was truly happy and even then, it just wasn't quite right.” Willow shook her head, still able to feel, even after all this time, the sense of ‘wrongness' she hadn't been able to shake.
“It was late afternoon and we were all snuggled under a duvet on your sofa when your Mum announced that we had a visitor. We all groaned a little at having to tidy up and be sociable, but when Giles walked in with that huge suitcase and smiled at all of us I suddenly realised that the ‘wrongness' had turned to ‘perfect rightness'. Does this make any sense?” she asked plaintively.
Buffy nodded. “At the time I was glad to see him as well and for a while everyone was hugging and asking about his trip and stuff, but eventually I noticed you were a little quiet and I thought you were just tired and too stuffed with turkey to move!”
Willow laughed “Well there was that as well, but mostly it was like shock. You know, when everything that's been kind of ‘off' for a while finally clicks into place and all is right with the world again?”
Buffy nodded and took a couple of moments to remember a similar situation.
Willow looked at her friend and smiled as she realised that Buffy knew exactly what she was talking about.
Buffy eventually roused herself and asked “So, what did you do about it?”
“DO!” Willow laughed. “This is me we're talking about, I don't do stuff, no siree, I think about things, cogitate, ponder, mull them over even, but I definitely don't do!”
Buffy smiled “You mean you suddenly realised you were madly in love with him, then continued as if nothing had happened?” Willow nodded. “You should definitely sign up for that drama class, you had all of us completely fooled!”
“It was difficult at first, but we were busy and, well, when we both get our heads stuck in books the time just passes”
Willow smiled apologetically as Buffy laughed. “Only you could find someone like that sexy.” Buffy stopped laughing and sat up on the edge of her bed again. “So what happened to change all that?”
Willow turned onto her back and stared at the ceiling. “I honestly don't know. I thought I picked up some signals from him, that he may have similar feelings for me, you know the kind of thing” Buffy nodded. “Anyway I was going to say something to him when all hell broke loose with the demon and suddenly two weeks had passed and we were facing the whole demon army thing, again.” Willow made it sound like an inconvenient interruption in her life but Buffy knew how scared they had all been at the time.
“We were all together for the weeks before the attack, but you and Xander had to resupply the weapons so Giles and I were finishing up the book stuff the night before” Willow lifted her hands to rub her eyes. “I really thought this might be ‘it' and decided I couldn't take much more of the ‘not knowing' thing so I asked Giles if he felt the same as I did”
Willow took a deep breath and turned to face Buffy again “He flatly denied that I was ever anything more than a friend to him and, well, I didn't take that too well. The next thing I know we're having a stand up argument and he's being old and pig headed and I'm being young and pig headed. Then I'm telling him he's old and pig headed and he's telling me I'm young and pig headed and things kind of went down hill from there”
Buffy shook her head “I never thought I would say this but Xander was right, you are the smartest, stupidest people I know”
Willow looked a little bemused but continued “The last thing I said to him was, well, pretty awful and we were both really angry” she felt herself tearing up again but wiped her eyes with her pyjama sleeve and kept going. “The next thing I remember we were in the middle of the fight and I end up surrounded by five of the biggest vampires I have ever seen!” she shuddered a little at the memory. “Just when I think it's all over, Giles throws himself on top of two of them and knocks over a third one as they all fall. The other two are so surprised that I managed to stake one and push the other one onto the conveyor belt. When I look round Giles had dusted two of them and is facing off the third with the scariest Ripper look on his face that I have ever seen.” Buffy leaned forward, intrigued to find out what happened next.
“I shouted out his name, I'm not sure why really. Anyway, he suddenly looked at me and turned back into Giles, which was when the vampire picked up the piece of tree trunk and hit him” Willow was crying again but the tears were rolling down her face unnoticed as she pictured the scene in her mind again. “I honestly thought he had taken his head off!” she gulped a little. “I don't even remember picking up the stake but I've never wanted to kill anything as completely as I wanted that vampire to turn to dust. When the red mist had finally cleared I heard you yelling that they were all gone and saw him lying there and all I could think was that the last thing we had done together was argue. I thought he was dead and I couldn't even go near him to check”
Buffy moved over to her and held her as the sobs overtook her again. “Willow, you should have told me, you shouldn't have kept this to yourself.”
Between the gulps and sobs Willow mumbled “I know, but I thought Giles and I could sort it out between us when he recovered.” A shuddering sigh escaped her as she tried to pull herself together. “Then, he wakes up as a mixture between Cary Grant and James Bond and I'm in seventh heaven” more sobs as she remembered her feelings at the time.
Buffy stroked her hair “Then the picnic happened and you realised that he wasn't Cary, James or even Rupert?” Willow nodded her head against Buffy's shoulder.
“Oh God Willow I'm sorry” Buffy squeezed her friend even more tightly “I've just spent the last two weeks trying to get you both together and it must have been tearing you apart every time I mentioned it!”
They were both crying now and it took another ten minutes before they were able to wash their faces and return to some semblance of normality.
“So” Buffy said, returning to business mode “What do we do about this?”
“Again with the doing!” Willow said, but smiled to show she was only teasing. “He's everything I've ever wanted but I can't have him like this” this was said quite calmly and Willow seemed to think it was the end of the matter, she should have known better.
“Come on Will” Buffy went to the freezer to recover the emergency tub of ice cream and two spoons. “I don't think you were mistaken about the signals he was sending out before the accident, even I kind of picked up on them, although I didn't realise it at the time” Willow looked a little uncertain as she sat next to Buffy and claimed her spoon.
“But he was quite emphatic that he hadn't been doing anything of the kind.”
Buffy shook her head “But perhaps his true feelings are what he's been channelling since he woke up and there was some reason for him to lie about his feelings before the accident?”
Willow looked bemused “I can't think of any reason he would have done that, after all, he must have realised that we may not have survived the coming battle and I can't believe he would put himself through that again.” As she got to the end of the sentence she suddenly realised what Buffy had been hinting at. “Oh my god, you think he was trying to avoid me becoming his next Jenny?”
“I think he may not have realised that was what he was doing” Buffy looked a little unsure of the logic behind this but seemed reassured that Willow was considering this as likely.
Willow considered the new idea for several minutes, polishing off her share of the ice cream, before she turned to Buffy again “It just doesn't feel like something he would have done” she announced. “I mean, even if he didn't admit his true feelings to me, in this scenario he would simply have lost someone he did love but had never ‘come out' to.” Buffy laughed at the image this presented and then looked a little unsure “I'm not sure either” she admitted “But what other reason could he have had?”
Both girls thought seriously for a further twenty minutes, starting sentences before shaking their heads and rejecting ideas. Eventually Buffy yawned and Willow smiled at her “I'm sorry I didn't realise the time, lets sleep on this and see if we can come up with anything tomorrow”
Buffy hugged her and snuggled under her duvet “Sleep well” she mumbled before putting her light out.
“You too” sighed Willow, although she knew she wouldn't sleep until this had been resolved.
Fraser smiled at Giles over the top of his beer glass and toasted him before taking a drink. "Its good to see you back on familiar territory Rupert" he said.
"It's down to you that I'm here at all" Giles replied and raised his own glass in the Doctor's direction.
"Well I think it had more to do with your thick skull but I'm prepared to let you buy me another drink if you're still feeling grateful!" he smiled.
Giles laughed and signalled the waitress to bring another round of beers. "I know we're not on office time but would you mind if I asked you a question about my condition?"
"Only if I get to ask you a few questions in return" replied Fraser and finished his first drink. Giles smiled, he was pretty sure that even if he told the Doctor the whole truth he could probably get him drunk enough to forget it by tomorrow morning.
"OK" he smiled "It's a deal. First of all I need to know whether I will remember the day of the accident. When we spoke just after I woke up you said I may never recall the few hours or days immediately prior to the injury?"
Fraser pondered the question for a short time. "So far you've remembered about 90% of the lost time?" Giles nodded his agreement. "I guess that means you're just a few months short of the critical period so you may still retrieve everything. Although it is most common for the actual event that caused the trauma to remain forgotten as the 'memory' never gets the chance to be processed and 'remembered'. Is this making sense?" he asked and squinted at Giles.
"Sort of" he replied. "The thing is, I really need to remember something which happened in the fortnight leading up to my accident and it would be easier if I could find some kind of trigger to get it back sooner rather than later." He smiled apologetically at the Doctor, knowing he was asking a lot of his friend.
"Perhaps I could help you there" Fraser thanked the waitress for his drink. "So far your memories have been returning when certain senses have been triggered?" he waited for Giles to take up the point he was making.
"Well that was certainly the case with the first couple of instances but less so now" Giles drank some more beer and pondered the question. "Initially it was smell which triggered my first return of memory and I remembered Jenny when Willow and I were kissing" he blushed slightly at the memory and noticed Fraser's eyes narrow. "However, the biggest portion returned that night when you mentioned a key phrase which, well, opened a door and let an entire raft of memories return"
Fraser nodded "Just as I thought, it seems to be a combination of factors which are effecting the return of your memories but if you experience two triggers fairly closely together, as you did with Willow and I, then more memories will hopefully return as a consequence"
Giles nodded and smiled at the Doctor. "Thanks, you've given me something to think about"
"My turn" said Fraser and emptied his second glass. "First of all, what on earth do you do here?"
Giles looked a little surprised and couldn't understand what he was getting at. Fraser sighed and explained "I know you're not a librarian and I'm guessing you are some kind of mentor to these kids who adore you so much, but I can't for the life of me imagine what you're mentoring them in?"
Giles signalled for another round and sat back to look at his friend. He had finally remembered their previous nights together in this bar and had offered to stand Fraser a few drinks as a thank you, however, it was proving a little more complicated than he had expected.
"First of all" he started. "I was actually a librarian at Sunnydale High but you are right, it wasn't my chosen profession" he paused, still unsure how much to tell him. They both sipped from their recently delivered drinks and Giles decided that he would tell him as much as he could and let Fraser decide whether to believe it or not. "You may not believe what I'm about to tell you but if you could bear with me I will try to explain as much as I can"
After two hours, and several whiskies to go with the beers, Giles finally finished his explanation. Fraser was looking a little unfocused but was still able to follow the conversation. "Wow" he breathed. "That explains sooooo much about the last few years"
Giles, who if truth be told was a little squiffed himself, smiled and leaned in towards him. "You have no idea how much better I feel to have finally told you." He reached out and patted the Doctor's hand. "But remember, not a word to anyone"
"Abso-blooming-lutely old chap" Fraser said and put his finger to his lips. "Not a word." They sat amiably smiling at each other for some time before Fraser remembered he had another question. "So" he beckoned Giles to move in closer. "If you don't think Willow feels that way about you, how would it be if I offered to take her out and give her something else to think about for a while?"
"You could do that" Giles nodded. "But then I would have to beat the living daylights out of you and I don't really want to do that"
Fraser considered this for a few seconds. "Fair enough then" he nodded and promptly fell asleep on the table. Giles smiled at him and finished his own drink, carefully moving the empty glasses aside before he too fell asleep with his head pillowed in his arms.
The next morning Buffy arrived for a training session and was more than a little surprised to see the 'dishy doctor' sleeping on Giles sofa. She rushed over and tried to shake him awake, afraid that Giles had needed his professional help the night before and worried that he had felt the need to stay. She soon realised, however, that it was more than tiredness that was keeping him unconscious and smelled the beer and whisky fumes coming from his snoring mouth. "Oh boy" she murmured and headed for the stairs to Giles' bedroom. Even as she reached the middle of the stairs she heard muffled groans coming from his room. "Please God" she whispered to herself "Let him be alone in there!" Edging to the top of the stairs carefully she peeked round the banister to see him sitting on the side of his bed with his head in his hands. She squinted to see if anyone else was in sight but eventually realised that he was in the same condition as his friend downstairs. She smiled and remembered her experiences with alcohol, and his subsequent lectures, and decided to get her own back. Gently she took a couple of steps back before hollering "Giles" at the top of her voice. She rushed into the room. "Are you alright?" she shouted at him.
He had fallen off of the bed onto the floor when she shouted his name. Now he was kneeling on the carpet trying to hold his head to stop it from falling off and, unsuccessfully, trying to get her to lower her voice.
"Who did this to you" she shouted dramatically and stamped her foot. She did feel a little guilty when he grabbed his mouth and headed at top speed for the bathroom, but she felt he deserved it and headed downstairs to make him some tea. Fraser was still deeply asleep, even with the racket she had been making, and she simply made sure he was covered with the blanket before heading to the kitchen. She was debating making Giles fried eggs when she heard the shower running upstairs. A thought struck her and she turned the hot water on, only to hear a muffled scream as he got the cold shower treatment upstairs. She figured he had suffered enough and turned the water off, taking her tea to the table and opening one of her textbooks to read while she waited for him to come down.
He finally emerged about half an hour later. Although he had shaved and showered he still looked awful and she couldn't help the small giggle that escaped from behind her hand. He tried to glare at her but his heart wasn't in it and he slumped into the chair across from her and groaned. "Never again" he croaked. She patted his arm gently and got him a cup of strong tea from the kitchen.
"Do we need to worry about the good doctor or will he recover soon as well" she asked, pointing to the sleeping form on the sofa.
"I don't bloody care, it's all his fault I'm in this state" he grumbled.
"He tied you down and made you drink until you were ill?" she asked with an astonished tone.
"Not quite" Giles acknowledged and grimaced as the hot tea burnt his mouth. "I told him all about us and then needed to get him drunk enough so he would forget it"
Buffy stared at him and then laughed a little. "I must remember that excuse when I next over indulge." She finally took pity on him. "I guess the training session is postponed?"
He looked at her out of red eyes and smiled slightly "I'm game for the crossbow practice if you are".
"Nooo" she laughed "Perhaps another time, I've got to get to class anyway but I do need to talk to you about something else, perhaps I could call by tonight?"
"Sure" he said "I'll probably have recovered enough to be at death's door by then, but just in case, please be gentle with me"
"Aren't I always" she smiled sweetly at him and left. He shook his head and then wished he hadn't. After a couple of minutes of deep breathing he finally had the energy to stand up and head back to bed.
He finally woke, and felt human, about three hours later. He washed and dressed again and went downstairs, realising he was hungry and trying to remember if he had anything "munchable" to eat.
Fraser was sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal in front of him. For someone who had passed out on the sofa he looked remarkably chipper and grinned at Giles as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Morning Rupert" he said cheerily and munched another spoonful of sugar puffs. Giles winced slightly and took the chair opposite the smiling doctor.
"Why are you so bloody cheerful?" he growled. "Unless you have some drugs you can give me to get rid of this headache now, I might have to wipe that cheesy grin off your face!"
Fraser sighed. "I thought you were only this grumpy when you woke up in hospital". He reached behind him for his jacket and took out a bubble pack of white pills. "How did you ever get a woman to stay for breakfast with that charming attitude?"
Giles took the two pills from him and used his mug of cold tea from earlier to wash them down. "Cheeky bugger" he murmured then went into the kitchen to get a bowl and spoon.
After they had finished their breakfast, and the painkillers were finally working their morning after magic, Giles apologised. "I'm sorry about last night and this morning".
Fraser smiled gently at him. "I don't normally prescribe strong drink for my patients but I think it helped me to get some things straightened out, how about you?"
Giles looked a little abashed. "My cunning plan was to get you drunk enough that you wouldn't remember anything I told you, I'm guessing that it hasn't worked?"
Fraser laughed and moved to the armchair. "Come on Rupert, heavy drinking was a prescribed part of the medical training at Oxford, wasn't it taught to you history buffs?" Giles seemed a little distant and Fraser could tell that he had uncomfortable memories from his time at the University. He decided to focus on something a little closer to home.
"So" he looked straight at Giles "How is the vampire and demon business doing, keeping you busy?"
Giles shrugged. "I make a living." He did like this man and was comfortable in his company but he couldn't really understand why he had told him the deepest secret he held. After all of the lectures he had given the gang about their secret identity and the responsibility of their roles he had blabbed it all to the first friendly face from home.
"I would like to help" Fraser said softly and saw his friends face transform into a scowl. "I don't mean I want to become one of the slayer SAS, just that you might need medical assistance in the future and I'm fairly well qualified if I do say so myself"
Giles looked a little less argumentative. "It wasn't my idea to have a group of people involved in the first place but Buffy and I kind of inherited Xander and Willow from the very beginning of our work here." He still found it difficult to understand how he had allowed that to happen. "Once they knew, various 'significant others' came onto the scene and pretty soon we had assembled the cast of a De Mille film into our secret, exclusive group." He looked seriously at Fraser. "We have lost a lot of friends over the years, probably people who passed through your hands and others who never even made it that far" Fraser nodded his agreement. "We are all very aware of the dangers but others aren't quite so clued up and it takes time and energy to keep them safe, time and energy which could be better used elsewhere."
He hadn't meant to sound so judgmental but Fraser took his comments on board. "I don't intend to be someone else you have to baby sit and worry about, but I do have certain skills which would be useful in your line of work and I'm more than happy to get the call whenever you need me"
Giles put his hand on the doctor's shoulder. "Thank you, Fraser" He couldn't think of anything else to say but he wondered whether the doctor understood the import of what he was offering to do.
"Anyway" Fraser said and stood up. "How about I buy you some lunch and you can explain to me again how an old man like you is going to stop me taking Willow out to dinner?"
Buffy returned that evening and they sat together listening to music and drinking coffee. Eventually Giles asked "Was there anything specific you wanted, not that I'm not pleased to see you for no reason." She looked at him with one eyebrow raised and he shrugged his shoulders. "You know what I mean, anyway you said there was something you needed to talk about this morning?"
Buffy stared into her coffee mug and eventually turned on the sofa to face him. "Have you remembered anything about the day of your injury?" she asked him in a quiet voice.
He shook his head. "No more than when Xander asked me the same thing the other day." He drank some more of his coffee and looked uncomfortably at her. "Fraser said that I might not remember the actual injury but that I should be able to get back everything else up to it." She didn't seem convinced. "I don't think there is anything I can do to make it come back any quicker but if there is something specific you need me to remember why don't you tell me about it, it may even jog the memory into coming back?"
She looked sceptically across the room at him then shrugged. "You're not going to like this but I think you had serious concerns about our safety during the last battle, or particularly Willow's safety." He looked up sharply at mention of the girl's name. "I promised I wouldn't tell you any of my reasoning behind this but I think it may have had something to do with the prophecy you found and then wouldn't tell us about"
He looked even more frustrated. "I just can't remember" Buffy winced at the anguish in his voice. "Xander and I managed to find some interesting references the other day, but this will take weeks unless you can persuade Willow to come back and help out." Her heart sank as she saw the hope in his eyes and realised how much he had missed Willow over the last few days. "It was partly my fault" he continued. "I thought it was for the best to give her some space but I've missed her more than I care to admit and her absence is slowing down the work I've been trying to do."
Buffy nodded. "I'll see what I can do but she is pretty screwed up about everything right now and I don't know that putting you both together in a room for several days is going to resolve anything." He looked even more crestfallen than before and she moved over next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It won't be much longer before we can get this sorted out and you'll have all of your memories back." He put his hand of top of hers and squeezed it gently. She hated seeing him like this, especially when she couldn't fix it by beating up a demon. "Anyway" she said as she returned to the sofa. "I don't want to see you destroying any more brain cells with alcohol Mister, we need all of them working this thing out!"
He laughed and took his glasses off. "I suppose I should be lucky that I didn't wake up as a demon that you were hell bent on killing this time around."
She looked a little surprised and then guilty. "How come you can remember every time I've screwed up and none of the times I've been heroic and brave and stuff?"
As they took their cups to the kitchen he coughed slightly and looked a little nervous. "I was wondering if I should ask everyone over for dinner or something?"
She looked nonplussed "OK, Xander will definitely come if you're making pizza"
"No" he said and looked even more uncomfortable. "I was meaning a proper dinner type, party sort of thing" he ended in a quiet voice and looked at her.
"OK" she shrugged. "Why"
He concentrated on rinsing out the mugs before turning back to her as he dried his hands. "Well I did tell Fraser, that is Doctor Alexander, all about our activities and he offered to become our team medic" Buffy stared at him in astonishment. "I know" he forestalled her lecture about secrecy and continued. "I know I've lectured you about this on numerous occasions but we could do with someone more expert on the medical side, even just for training injuries, and anyway…" his voice trailed off again.
She shrugged "OK, I guess you do know what you're doing and it's not as if the Watcher's Council can rap your knuckles any more than they have in the past." He looked a little relieved. "But that still doesn't explain the dinner party idea?"
"I thought it would be a good way for Fraser to get to meet everyone and you could all get to know him a little better"
Buffy considered this for a while and then her face lit up. "We're not really multiple cutlery people but you could bring him to the Bronze on Saturday night and he would get to meet us in our natural habitat"
Giles looked a little surprised and then relieved again. "I'm not sure he's ready for Xander's dancing but perhaps he should know what he's letting himself in for from the very beginning."
Buffy smiled. "I'll let the guys know and we'll meet you there about 8.00?" He nodded but looked a little concerned. "Was there anything else?"
He took his glasses off. "Fraser is interested in Willow and I think it's reciprocated and well.. I, that is perhaps .. or maybe" his sentence died an honourable death and he put his glasses back on and looked at Buffy.
She was shocked but knew that she couldn't tell him about Willow's confessional. "I don't think Willow feels that way about him and anyway, I was hoping to bag him for myself!" She was amused that he went from relieved to worried in the space of one sentence. "I'm only joking" she sighed. "Nice to see you're losing your sense of humour and getting back to normal Giles"
He leaned against the wall as she grabbed her bag an exited. Sighing he shook his head and wondered, again, how he had managed to cope with all of these young people and their hormones while training a top class slayer. He took a sip of his whisky and suddenly realised that his secret had been to keep his own hormones and feelings under lock and key. A curious feeling of relief that he wasn't able to do this any more and sadness that he had lost this ability was his companion for the rest of the evening.
Fraser was a little surprised at the phone call from Giles with the invitation but promised to change his shift and meet him there on Saturday evening.
"Not another one" Xander sighed. "Have you been monkeying with a love potion young woman?" he asked a bemused Willow.
"Of course not" she replied a little crossly. "Are you sure about this?" she asked Buffy.
"Giles seemed pretty sure" Buffy replied. "He started to stutter, wiped his glasses and looked at the floor. Need I say more?"
Willow shook her head. "This is just typical, the minute you think you've found someone and stop looking, more come out of the woodwork!"
Xander looked at Buffy and raised his eyebrows. "I think I've missed something here" he said. "You've found someone else, please tell me it's still Giles and you haven't picked out another one?"
Buffy sighed. "We're not going through all that again, just believe me when I say that Giles is back at the top of her list"
Xander looked between the two of them and realised he wasn't going to get any more information. "OK" he said, getting up and putting his jacket on. "That makes tonight so much more interesting, let's get over to Giles' and get some research time logged"
Giles was on the phone when they arrived, and he gestured them inside. He took the phone back into the kitchen and they all moved to take up their usual lounging positions. He finished a minute later and apologised. "It was an old friend from England" he smiled and pointedly didn't expand. Buffy raised her eyebrows at him and he imperceptibly shook his head. She guessed that it had been Olivia and hoped that Willow didn't notice the sudden blush that crept over his face.
Willow did notice the blush and realised who it must have been but she couldn't feel jealous, after all Olivia had already made her choice and was still in England. Instead she put down the book she had started to leaf through and looked up at him. "Where do we start?" she asked in a quiet voice.
He cursed inwardly as he realised that she knew exactly what had just happened. Perhaps she should go out with Fraser after all, he certainly couldn't make her any unhappier than she was at the moment. Instead he moved to pick up several books from the table. "These all seem to lead in a similar direction" he began. "I think we would have followed leads from some if not all of these to the prophecy which I kept from all of you." Xander looked up at him expectantly. "I'm sorry I still can't remember what the prophecy concerned but I'm quite sure we are nearly there"
They spent the next three nights working until they grew too tired to read the words on the page. On Friday Buffy was the first to stir from her concentrated pose and ask Giles to check the reference she had found. He leaned over her and read the passage she indicated. He smiled and let out a small sigh "I think that's what we're looking for." Everyone let out the breath they hadn't realised they were holding.
Giles checked the reference once more and started looking through the pile of books for the next link in the chain. Xander said he would organise some snacks Willow stood up to stretch her back and neck.
After another half an hour Giles removed his glasses and wiped his face with his hand. "I think that's enough for tonight, I should be able to crack this in the morning."
Xander jumped up from the chair with surprising speed. "You don't need to tell me twice, I've got some quality R&R due and I'm not going to spend another night here" The last words were flung over his shoulder as he headed out the door.
Buffy laughed. "Somebody's keen, I'll go with him and make sure he gets home safe and sound." She moved over to Giles. "Well done" she said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "We're nearly there and you'll soon be back to the stuffy old librarian we all know and love"
He looked a little wearily at her. "Thank you Buffy" he said dryly. "Perhaps you should hurry to catch up with Xander?"
She smiled at Giles and looked over towards Willow. "Do you want me to wait for you?"
The question seemed to bring Willow back from the daydream she had been absorbed by. "Sorry, no its OK, I'll wait here for a while." She looked over towards Giles. "If that's OK with you?" she asked shyly.
"Of course" he said, affecting a lack of concern he certainly didn't feel.
"OK, if you're sure" Buffy stared at her for a moment then nodded and headed out to catch up with Xander.
Willow moved over to the table to examine the book he had been reading. "You don't really mind if I stay to help, do you?" she asked.
"No" he answered without looking up. "I was going to call it a night as well and finish this in the morning but I could give it another twenty minutes I suppose"
Her laugh was deep and an expression of genuine amusement. "They may believe that you would call it a night but I know that look on your face." He looked up at her and smiled gently. "We'll both stay on this until the research is done, then we'll both get some rest." She pulled out the chair across from him and sat at the table. "What did you come up with?"
He explained the stage he thought they were at and showed Willow the passages in the latest book that he thought were most promising. In order to read the same book she moved her chair round and scrunched up next to him.
He hadn't realised how much he had missed her smell, her warmth and her energy until now. He knew that something had been missing since they had mutually decided to give each other some space, but he didn't realise how much it had affected him until she had returned. He had stolen occasional glances at her during the evening and marvelled at her composure when she had looked up once and caught him, holding his gaze, apparently daring him to take the moment further. He had simply shaken his head slightly and looked back to the book on his lap.
Willow took a deep breath as she realised that he was glancing at her while she finished the passage he had marked for her. She had known how hard it would be to be in close proximity to him again, but it was hardly the biggest sacrifice she had ever made for their work. She had been aware of his eyes earlier in the evening and had held his gaze for what seemed like hours, wishing he would find the answer and that Buffy and Xander would leave them alone together. Eventually he had broken the look and she had cursed herself for allowing her feelings to surface so obviously. After all, she was the one who was denying their burgeoning romantic relationship and it was unfair of her to give him glimpses of her desire.
Both of them realised that neither had turned a page of the book for some time and she sighed a little guiltily. "Perhaps a cup of tea would get our concentration back?" she asked.
"Let me" he said, his voice a little hoarse. "Would you like something to eat?"
"No thanks" she answered, surprised at how cold her shoulder felt when he moved away from her side. With a small shudder she realised that he must have been breathing on her neck and shoulder and mental pictures of him continuing to do so flashed through her mind before she could stop them. She held her head in her hands and moaned slightly under her breath.
Giles glanced round at her from the kitchen and saw her holding her head. He moved quickly back to her side. "Willow are you OK?" he asked with concern in his voice.
"Sure, I'm fine" she answered and looked up a little embarrassed. "I think I've just got some eye strain causing a bit of a headache"
He straightened up and looked seriously down on her. "As the resident expert on headaches I say we should have a proper break, away from the books." She giggled slightly as he put his hand on his hip but allowed him to manoeuvre her from the table to the sofa. He cleared a stack of books out of her reach and moved over to switch the record player on. She winced slightly as the volume blasted out the beginnings of a rock track but he quickly turned it down and changed the record to a more soothing instrumental track. "Sorry" he said as quietly as he could and practically tip toed back to the kitchen.
"Giles" she laughed. "I'm supposed to be the one looking after you" and she got up to help him carry the cups through from the kitchen.
Willow felt a little awkward as she sat sipping her tea. In the past they had been able to talk for hours or not talk for hours and be just as comfortable with each other. Now she felt the silence weighing heavily in the air and wracked her brain to come up with a topic of conversation that wouldn't make them feel any more awkward in each other's company.
"Buffy told me about tomorrow night, it sounds like a great idea" she even managed to sound enthusiastic.
"Mmmm" he agreed around his mug of tea. "I think she was a little surprised that I told Fraser about us but she's prepared to put it down to my addled old brain for now." He was hoping and praying that Buffy hadn't told Willow about the second part of the conversation.
Willow was about to continue when she remembered about Fraser's confession to Giles. She squirmed in her seat a little and tried to find something else that didn't lead to broken hearts or kissing. Sighing she finally admitted "I don't think we're ever going to get back to being regular research buddies are we?"
He was relieved that she had finally broken her silence. "Perhaps, with a little more time, you will be able to forgive me and feel comfortable with me again"
She was getting more than a little fed up that he was taking all of the blame for this again and found herself getting very angry, very quickly. "Stop being so bloody understanding about this."
He looked genuinely shocked at the change in her demeanour. "What do you mean?"
"I mean" she said and stood up to pace. "That we both experienced very strong feelings for each other and I'm the one who put the brakes on things going any further" He sat up in the armchair and was about to interrupt. "Let me finish" she practically snarled at him. "You have been a perfect gentleman and anything that has happened between us was between consenting adults. I've caused the discomfort between us and I just wish you would stop being so noble about it all"
He started to laugh. "You want me to start blaming you for the situation we find ourselves in?" She had turned to stare at him, her hands on her hips and a look of defiance on her face. "OK" he agreed. "I still don't remember how we felt about each other immediately prior to the accident but what I do remember is a very close relationship and a feeling that if I hadn't been such a bloody coward I would have taken things further."
Her face fell a little as she continued to stare at him.
"I remember the emptiness in this room when you left after every research session." He was on a roll and she moved to the sofa while keeping eye contact with him. "God help me I even remember those feelings first surfacing when we were working together just before we blew up the school." He stood up this time and started to pace, he needed to keep moving until he could get control of his emotions again.
"I remember the fear I experienced every time I let you go out on patrol with Buffy, the relief whenever you returned safely. I even remember trying to be severe with you during the training sessions for your magic studies and how you used to look innocently up at me and assure me that you were being careful" He finally remembered to breathe and put his mug down.
Willow was speechless, she couldn't believe that he was saying everything she'd hoped for but she still felt unsure as to how much he remembered. "If you felt that way about me why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't know you had feelings for me and I thought it would upset the group dynamics if I said something and was rebuffed. Perhaps you would trust me less or work with me less often and that would have affected the survival chances of all of us" he wouldn't meet her eyes.
Willow shook her head in wonder. "How could you not know the feelings I had for you?" She was incredulous. "I picked up the signals you were sending me and you weren't even trying to send any, my God I must have been glowing in the dark with what I felt for you!"
He took his glasses off to clean them and she moved forward and took them from his hands. "Giles, the only reason I haven't tied you down on this sofa and ravished you so far is because I wasn't sure the 'before you' felt the same way about me"
He looked round astonished and started to laugh quietly. "Lets keep the mental picture of you tying me down for a while shall we?"
She smiled gently at him.
He ruffled his fingers through his hair. "I remember being madly in love with you for a long time before the accident. Last week I even started to remember the erotic fantasies I used to have about you, after Oz left. Fantasies in technicolour with bloody surround sound." He blushed a little as he thought about them and she stepped back in astonishment.
She was staring at him open mouthed. "You had fantasies about me?" she asked in a weak voice. He just nodded but wouldn't meet her eyes. "Tell me about them"
"Please Willow" he covered his eyes with his hand. "The important thing here is to get this work finished and I can't concentrate on that and have those pictures of you running through my mind at the same time."
When he uncovered his eyes she was staring at him. "We have one more hour to find the information we're looking for"
He looked perplexed. "Why one hour, we'll take as long as we need" he replied.
"I can just about guarantee to keep my hands off of you for an hour and neither of us will be in the correct frame of mind to be undertaking serious research after that" she nodded and headed for the kitchen to splash some water on her face.
He stared after her and finally gathered himself together with an effort. When she returned to the living room he was back at the table with the book in front of him and a notepad beside it. "I'll note the texts we need to cross reference if you'll get started on the first one?"
"You're the boss Mr Librarian" she nodded and moved to pick up one of the texts he had indicated earlier. It was going to be the longest hour of her life but it may just turn out to be worth it, after all the fantasies sounded intriguing and she was a sucker for a good bedtime story.
When she finally found the passage it was an anti climax. He had moved to the armchair and was reading when she said quietly "I think I've found it."
Because she didn't sound excited he didn't quite get her drift. "Mmm that's good" he mumbled then suddenly dropped the book he was reading and moved to join her.
He looked over her shoulder and read the chapter she had found. "Oh dear lord" he finally managed and moved back to the chair with his glasses in his hand.
"Well it certainly explains a lot" she sighed and moved to the sofa. "Buffy and I thought you were certain one of us was going to be killed and that was why you kept it a secret but this makes much more sense." She looked at her watch "I'll wait till the morning to tell Buffy and Xander"
"No" he said quietly and she wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. He finally shook his head and put his glasses back on. "You can't tell Buffy or Xander about this".
"Don't be ridiculous of course we have to tell them" she began then saw the anguish on his face. "Don't we?" she ended uncertainly.
Giles sighed and explained, in a quiet but determined voice, exactly why she couldn't tell the others.
"You're worrying over nothing" she finally said to him. "The chances of these events recurring are remote".
He shook his head. "You, of all people should understand, in Sunnydale these events could occur every week and I can't have the slayer being distracted by worrying about me"
Willow was pacing again. "OK, lets think about this rationally"
"I thought that was what I was doing!" he said, getting a little angry.
She ignored him. "Bolak is an ancient demon who is able to move to a new ‘host' human body, we're not sure how yet, but is hell bent on avenging the death of his original body by a slayer several hundred years ago. In order to achieve this he enlists the services of vampires"
"Exactly" he nodded and started pacing as well. "Which is exactly the reason why this revenge motive won't disappear any time soon. If he didn't die during the last battle he'll be back and just because his plan didn't work first time around doesn't mean he won't try it again!"
"Which is exactly why we have to tell Buffy and Xander what we are all up against!" she was frustrated that he couldn't see the obvious point she was making.
"But the prophecy says that 'during the battle the one who watches will lay down his life and, only through his death will the slayer escape and vengeance be served' " he translated from the manuscript in his hand.
"Look" Willow said in an exasperated tone. "We beat him last time and you didn't die but you're telling me the only way to get rid of him for good is for you to sacrifice yourself?" When he didn't respond she started to get angry again. "Why don't I just stake you through the heart right now, that should sort him right out!"
Giles was now getting angry as well. “You don't understand anything. If I tell Buffy and Xander then they will prevent me from taking part in the next attack on Bolak and she may die” His face crumbled a little and Willow took a deep breath and bit back the comment she was about to make. “You may not believe it but I would sacrifice myself to allow the slayer to continue her work”
She was staring at him in horror and he moved to be beside her on the sofa. “I'm not saying I'm going to commit suicide as a noble sacrifice but I don't think it's a good idea to put any more pressure on Buffy to protect me. After the last battle she's already going to be distracted and watching my back instead of her own”
“I just don't think I can do this” Willow whispered. “We've finally admitted how we feel about each other and I don't want to lose you before we've had a chance to see if this will work”
“I know love” he said as he took her in his arms. “It's going to be very difficult for you but now you can see why I didn't tell you before. I couldn't admit my feelings for you, only to disappear from your life a short time later”
Eventually she ran out of steam and gave up putting the same arguments to him time and time again. “I know I can't stop you but you also can't stop me from telling Buffy and Xander what I know!”
He looked at her and nodded sadly. “I don't think I've ever been able to make you do something you didn't want to, but I can appeal to your conscience” She looked sceptically at him, unable to think of anything he could say that would change her mind.
“I just don't think we could live with ourselves, as individuals or a couple, if anything happened to Buffy because she was being over protective of me” he looked away from the pain in her eyes. After a few minutes of silence he roused himself. “Can I give you a lift home?”
She looked at him as if she had forgotten he was there. “No it's OK, it'll be dawn in half an hour and I think I'd like the walk to try and clear my head.” She stared into his eyes, noticing the tiredness etched in the lines and black marks around them. Even when he was exhausted and rumpled she found herself wanting to kiss him. She noticed him leaning against the chair and pinching his nose. “Are you OK?” she asked in a worried tone.
“I'm just a little tired” he replied. “This is the first all night research session I've done since the accident and I'd forgotten how much they take out of you”
“You should get to bed, I'll just tidy up a few things here and then I'll head off”
He was dog tired and, although he hated to leave her alone with her thoughts he knew he needed to get some sleep soon or he would pass out and that would only worry her more. “If you're sure” he mumbled and headed for bed.
Willow phoned Buffy early Saturday morning. "Buffy, we found it"
Buffy whooped. "And it was good news, right, the prophecy is finished with?"
She sounded a little worried towards the end of that sentence and Willow tried to sound certain. "Yup, nothing to worry about any more"
"Excellent, let's meet for lunch and celebrate" Buffy sensed a little hesitation. "Willow, are you OK?"
"Sure, I just didn't get much sleep last night" Willow realised that this was the truth, although not all of it.
"Hey why don't I bring some sandwiches to the dorm and we can have lunch there?"
"Well" Willow hesitated again and sensed her friend getting impatient. "I'm not at the dorm, I stayed at Giles' place last night" she eventually admitted.
"Willow" Buffy yelled. "No wonder you didn't get any sleep!"
Willow sighed long sufferingly. "We were researching until 5.30 this morning"
"Oh" Willow could almost here her winking. "Is that what we're calling it now?"
"Buffy please" Willow said a little more forcefully. "I want to tidy up some of our notes and check Giles is OK before I leave. Perhaps we can talk about this later?"
Giles groaned and turned over as the sunlight crept through a gap in his bedroom curtains. He realised that his head ached and he had a horrible taste in his mouth. After ten minutes of trying to regain the bliss of unconsciousness he gave up and pulled on his robe over his pyjamas. Wiping sleep from his eyes he headed downstairs to the kitchen for some breakfast and was surprised to find Willow lying on the sofa, fast asleep. She had used the throw from the sofa as a blanket and he gently replaced it over her where it had slipped off.
She woke thirty minutes later and found him sitting in the chair nursing a mug of tea and concentrating on a newspaper in his lap. She thought about lying still and watching him for a while but a bone-cracking yawn gave the game away and he looked up as she stretched and shook herself fully awake.
"I didn't know you had decided to stay" he said quietly. "I would have given you the bed and I would have taken the sofa"
She smiled gently and headed for the kitchen. "You're still officially the patient remember, besides I'm kind of getting used to the lumpiness of your sofa"
When she returned with her own tea he laid the newspaper aside. "Perhaps we should talk about what happened last night?" Her head had ducked and he sighed. "Please Willow, neither of us can go on like this for much longer"
"Before we do I need you to know that I phoned Buffy this morning and told her everything was fine.” Her voice was flat as if she didn't know which emotion came top of the list of pain, hurt, fear, betrayal and sorrow that were running through her at that moment. “How much do you remember from before your accident?" she asked in a small voice, still not meeting his gaze.
He nodded in reply to her statement but knew that nothing he could say to her now would make her decision any easier to live with. Instead he answered her question. "I'll need to check with Fraser but I think I've got pretty much everything till about two weeks before the fight" He put down his mug and moved over to sit beside her on the sofa. "I know this is difficult for you but keeping the prophecy from the others is the only way I can think of to keep them safe in the future." She nodded but still wouldn't meet his eyes. "Please Willow, if you can think of another way tell me!"
"I know you're right about this, it just doesn't make it any easier on you and I hate having to lie to Buffy and Xander" she was speaking quietly and finally looked up at him.
"About the memories you're missing, I have something to tell you which may mean you'll feel differently about me"
He looked intrigued and sat back. "I doubt that but please tell me what you know". He knew that she was about to let him in on the secret that they had all been keeping from him for the last two weeks. A strange sense of foreboding came over him but he pushed it down and smiled gently to encourage her to begin.
"OK" she blew out her cheeks. "I'm going to have to fill in some background so stick with me." He nodded and she continued. "It begins with the fight with the vampires at the crypt, where we lost the book they were reading from?" Again he nodded that he remembered that much. "Anyway, after that we were all pretty much in full-on research mode. I don't think any of us left this apartment for the next week except to pick up food and patrol. Eventually Buffy and I had to attend some classes and Xander had to persuade Anya that he hadn't been horribly disfigured and was hiding until the scars healed" she rolled her eyes and he smiled. "We all helped you as much as we could but you were really intense and eventually Buffy and Xander checked in every day but left the researching to you and I"
He laughed a little "No change there then!"
She smiled as well. "Buffy covered for me and we spent the next week tracking down the leads we've just followed again." She seemed a little more nervous as she reached this stage. "Near the end of the second week we were both pretty much dead on our feet and I fell asleep at the table. While I was sleeping you obviously got lucky and skipped a few steps to come upon the manuscript that prophesied your own death and then decided to keep it from all of us, including me"
She still couldn't believe that he had decided to keep her in the dark about this, but took a deep breath to gather her emotions and continued. "I was out for about four hours but it was long enough for you to destroy the notes we'd made and hide the manuscripts which led us to this stage. By the time I woke up you told me you had found the prophecy but it was nothing to worry about and we should go ahead with the attack as planned." A silence fell between them. "We know now that Buffy would only have stopped you from joining in the attack" she said in a quiet voice and he nodded his agreement. He was about to answer her when she shook her head. "We're getting ahead of my story"
"So" she straightened up on the sofa and ran her hands through her hair. "We all think that the battle is going ahead as prophesied and we have the usual odds stacked against us but nothing more serious than the end of the world rests on the result." She looked at him to check that he was following her and also to see if he showed any sign of remembering any of it. "About this point I begin to wonder whether the signs I'm picking up from you are really telling me what I think they are or if I am just wishful thinking"
He sat up himself and took more notice. "That's the second time you've mentioned that, but I was trying not to show my feelings around you!" he protested.
She shook her head and smiled indulgently. "I eventually realised that three months of being madly in love with you may end with one or other of us dying in the attack without the other knowing how we felt. I decided to act on an impulse and simply ask you whether you wanted me as much as I wanted you"
She noticed his jaw slacken a little as he understood what she was saying and she continued, determined to get this out in the open once and for all. "Anyway I finally plucked up the courage the night before the attack and, even though I say so myself, I thought it was a well thought out and reasoned argument I put to you for us to be together!" she smiled a little.
"You did?" he looked completely bewildered and obviously still had no recollection of the events she was relating. "What did I say?" he asked and swallowed nervously, he knew it wasn't going to be a good answer.
"You flat out denied having any feelings of that nature for me" she let the import of that sink in and took a few seconds to ensure she didn't cry over the next few minutes. "You told me that I was a good friend but you didn't love me any more than you loved Buffy and Xander and you were happy with that state of affairs and saw no reason to change the status quo" she was obviously quoting his exact phrases.
"Oh my god Willow" he swallowed. "What have I done to you?" He reached out to touch her hand and looked into her eyes. "I obviously thought it was for the best but if I had known how much I was hurting you .. how can you ever forgive me?"
She frowned a little but left her hand in his, he felt soft and warm and she needed that right now. "At the time I was shocked, I mean I didn't think I could have been so wrong in interpreting the looks, dilated pupils and increased respiration from you whenever we were near each other. After the shock wore off I got angry and we had a blazing row." He used his free hand to remove his glasses and pinch his nose.
"We both said things which were very hurtful. If I had known then that you were only trying to protect us from the knowledge of the prophecy I wouldn't have dreamed of saying the things I said, but you had made me feel pretty awful and I wasn't thinking straight"
She sounded as if she wasn't too sure whether to continue but he replaced his glasses and covered her hand with both of his. "Please continue, I need to hear all of this before I can start to repair the damage I inflicted"
"That was pretty much it" she sighed. "During the battle you saved my life, as usual, and then, because of me, you got hit upside the head with a very large tree trunk thingy and I thought you had died" she had tried to be matter of fact about this but she finally broke down. "It was terrible" she sobbed. "I thought you were dead and the last thing we had done was argue and say horrid things to each other"
He held onto her for ten minutes, although her crying had subsided after a couple of minutes and he kept her in his arms until her breathing returned to normal.
"I'm sorry about your PJ's" she said as she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.
He glanced down at the damp patch on the front of his top and shrugged. "I have some questions but I need some time to think about this and I guess I should be getting changed anyway, can you put the kettle on again while I grab a quick shower?"
He stood under the water jets and tried to remember anything of what Willow had just told him. Shaking his head he angrily muttered “Shit” and turned the water off. All of his adult life he had been able to rely on his intellect and reasoning to get him out of most situations. He had never before experienced a prolonged period without these most precious assets. Even when he had been drinking heavily or indulging in soft drugs he had always been aware of what he was doing and the consequences, although he would never admit this to Buffy or her mother!
Ever since he had regained consciousness he had been completely at a loss to understand or rationalize his feelings for this young woman. He could now remember her as a child when they first met and feel slightly guilty that, after only a few years, he could envisage erotic encounters without too much effort. Indeed many of his most recent fantasies came unbidden, although not unwelcome.
Sighing he finished toweling himself dry and groaned at the reaction from his body. “Oh bloody hell, not now” he muttered and moved to get dressed as quickly as he could.
She heard him moving around in his bedroom and set the breakfast out on the table. Stifling another yawn she remembered that her sleep patterns had been disturbed by thoughts of Giles, in one way or another, for several weeks now. She smiled wearily and sat down to daydream about their picnic. She was remembering their first kiss when she heard him cough gently from the stairs.
“Willow, I'm sorry to disturb you but you can have a few hours in bed if you want” her eyebrows automatically shot up at this phrase matching her fantasy almost exactly and she laughed a little when she saw him blush bright red. “To catch up on your sleep I mean” he mumbled.
She shook her head and tried not to laugh again at his embarrassment but she failed dismally and heard him sigh as he moved towards the breakfast she had set out.
“I'm definitely getting too old for this” he mumbled and poured them both some coffee.
“Were you always like this with women?” she asked in a wondering tone.
“I could lie and say that I used to be a stud but the head trauma has turned me into a bumbling idiot?” he left the sentence unfinished but she started to laugh again. “Or I could tell the truth and say that there haven't been that many women to practice on and they didn't stay long enough to allow me to perfect my technique” he was laughing as well now.
“What are we going to do?” Willow asked as she buttered some toast for him. “Now that we both know how we feel about each other, I don't think I can go back to being Scooby gang members and nothing else”
He looked at her for a few seconds, as if gauging his reply very carefully. “I really don't believe for a minute that Fred and Daphne were celibate, do you?” he asked in a quiet voice.
“Giles!” she squealed. “You know who was in the Scooby Gang!” Immediately she finished this sentence the meaning of what he had said reached her cognitive reasoning center, which immediately passed everything onto her adrenal glands and she had jumped into his arms before she realized what was happening.
A slight groan escaped his lips as she crushed his slice of toast against his shirt but then his glands took over as well and his brain shut down for several minutes.
CHAPTER 9
After five minutes of incredibly smoochy and sloppy kisses Willow pulled back and smoothed his hair away from his forehead. "You've mentioned having fantasies about me twice since your accident, feel like sharing?"
He smiled a little ferally "I would like nothing better but we have some work to finish"
Her face fell a little and then she pouted. "If I promise to do double homework tomorrow can we cut it now?"
He groaned and kissed her again. When he finally surfaced for air he gently touched her fiery red lips and smiled. "You are a miraculous young woman, and I could do this all day, but we have some work to finish before we get to playtime"
Willow sighed a little and slid off his lap. "We really need to talk about your overriding sense of duty and responsibility. When I meet your father I'm going to turn him into a toad".
"I doubt anyone would notice the difference" he laughed. "Besides we have the rest of our lives to snog on that chair and only a few hours to iron out the problem of Bolak"
"A few hours?" Willow asked as she moved to the kitchen with the breakfast dishes.
Giles lifted the remainder and joined her in the kitchen. "I suppose I should be ecstatically happy that you've forgotten about our Bronze night out for everyone to meet Fraser?"
She slapped her forehead with her hand. "How could I forget meeting the dishy doc?" she laughed.
He grabbed her from behind, round the waist and lifted her off her feet. She squealed a little and he pulled her closer until she could feel his erection against her back. "No more of that, unless you want me to beat the crap out of him tonight?" he growled.
"God I love it when you're masterful" she said whimsically and wriggled out of his grasp. "No more touchy feelies until we're finished the researching or I won't be able to answer for the consequences!" she said sternly and wagged a finger at him.
He growled again and made to chase her but she skipped out of his way and headed for the bathroom. He heard the shower running and shook his head. Now that his hormones were out of the box he was reminded of his teenage years. He hoped that he had learnt a little restraint over the intervening years but he wasn't sure he could ever remember feeling this strongly about anyone before. Sighing he moved up the stairs to get her some fresh clothes to change into. After knocking on the bathroom door and leaving the clothes outside (he knew he didn't have the control to go in there and not get in the shower with her) he moved to the books they had left last night.
After clearing the useless manuscripts out of the way he sat down to translate the entire chapter relating to Bolak.
He was completely immersed in his work and didn't notice the door opening and a small hand reaching out for the clothes. Nor did he hear the giggle emerging when the bathroom door next opened and Willow emerged in a pair of jogging pants about a foot too long for her and a large white t-shirt. She stood and waited for him to notice her then shook her head and moved over to stand next to him.
"You know" she whispered in his ear. "It's just as well I love the book-geek thing you do or I would be feeling jealous of that ancient text by now"
He jumped a little and turned to stare at her. He gently laughed at her attire and then pulled out a chair for her opposite his at the table. "Perhaps you should bring some extra clothes over in the future?"
"I wasn't planning on wearing very many clothes here in the future" she said, leaning her chin on her hands and raising her eyebrows. She was a little shocked at her outrageousness and the feelings of wantonness and desire that were overtaking her again and she guessed that some of vamp Willow was still hanging around in her brain for just such an eventuality.
He stared at her open mouthed. She had completely robbed him of the ability to speak as his mind ran through various scenarios for future visits.
After thirty seconds she took pity on him and reached over to touch his hand. He jumped as if an electric shock had passed between them. "I'm sorry" she said sheepishly. "I promise to behave until we get the work done"
He gulped a little and nodded. "Perhaps that would be best" he agreed.
Willow picked up one of the books they had decided would provide supporting evidence of the prophecy and settled down to translate some of the interesting passages.
After two hours she had double-checked her translation and still couldn't make any sense of the answer. She rubbed her tired eyes and plaintively said "Giles, this doesn't make any sense, could you check my translation?"
He mumbled "Uhuh, just give me a minute"
She stood up to stretch and moved around a little, shaking out her shoulders and rolling her neck to release the tightness. After tonight's get together she was seriously considering a day in bed relaxing. She glanced over at Giles, busily finishing his notes and deep in concentration. Perhaps tomorrow in bed wouldn't be so relaxing? She felt a shiver going down her spine and was amazed at the strength of her sexual attraction to him. Her stomach was doing backflips and she hadn't wanted anyone this much since Oz. She had to admit that Oz had been good for her and she still missed him but she knew that they would never recapture the feelings of first love and had decided that he was a pleasant memory. She leaned against the back of the sofa and tried to work out how this man sitting reading could make her feel more turned on than she could ever remember being while watching her ex boyfriend playing guitar on stage.
He finished his notes and took his glasses off to rub his eyes. He heard her sigh and looked over at her. "What was it you wanted me to check?" he asked and put his glasses back on.
She moved back to the table and showed him the passage she was having difficulty with. "I know what this looks like but it doesn't make any sense" she explained.
He smiled at her kindly "Let me have a look." He noticed she looked a little flushed and asked "Are you OK, you look a little warm?"
She coughed a little. "I'm fine" and turned away to hide her embarrassment at the direction her thoughts had taken.
He shrugged his shoulders and looked at the passage she was having difficulty with. "Hmm I see what you mean" he mumbled and reached to another of the supporting manuscripts they had to work with. He spent five minutes looking through this and, eventually, Willow moved to look over his shoulder as he quickly translated the page. "OK, I think you may be right, we seem to have a problem" he said. He looked up at her and took his glasses off. "What do you make of it?"
She smiled, this was more like normal operation than recently and she took a breath and ordered her thoughts. "It seems that these texts are describing Bolak as a demon of various different forms, including the undead, which we both know means one which inhabits vampire hosts?" she looked to check he was agreeing with her so far. "The main prophecy seems to indicate he is a demon of the living, like Eghyon, who prefers to inhabit live human hosts"
He winced slightly at memories of his past and nodded. "They seem to contradict each other on this specific point" He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "Let's try the other two supporting texts and see if we can get a consensus of opinion"
She nodded and took one of the two remaining books. After five minutes she sighed. "This is another vote for the undead" and looked towards him.
"This one as well" he said and swiftly shut the book he was reading. "Of course you know what this means?" he looked at her and noticed the spark of hope in her eyes that he knew was in his own.
She nodded but tried to keep her excitement under control. "We'll need to check some more references on Monday, but if he was inhabiting a vampire body then he was dusted along with all the rest at the sawmill". She remembered the aftermath of the fight. Although she had been distraught at his injury they had all taken time to ensure that every vampire was dusted and none had escaped.
They both stood in silence for a minute and then he shook himself a little. "Perhaps I should take you back to the dorm to get ready for tonight?" he asked a little distractedly.
Willow checked her watch. "Oh my gosh, look at the time" she yelped and started to pack her clothes into her bag. "What time did we say we would meet them?" she asked as she frantically searched for her sweater under the cushions on the sofa.
He laughed and moved to get her sweater from over the back of the chair where she had left it. "We still have two hours, plenty of time" and handed her the final piece of clothing.
"Two hours" she yelped again. "I'll never be ready by then" she stopped her packing and looked towards him with a glint in her eye. "Perhaps we should call Buffy with a rain check and research some more?" she asked innocently.
He helped her on with her backpack and grabbed his car keys and a jacket. "You are incorrigible, how could you keep this wanton vixen hidden for so long behind a veneer of innocence?" he laughed.
She sighed and preceded him out of the front door. "I've had plenty of practice" she mumbled under her breath and followed him up the stairs to the waiting car.
When he arrived outside the dorm he wasn't sure whether to kiss her again or not. After all, he reasoned, perhaps she wasn't ready to go public with him. He got out and went round to open the door for her then leaned down as she continued to sit in her seat. "Is anything wrong?" he asked.
She was wondering how he would feel about kissing her in public, after all people still remembered him as a faculty member at the high school and she didn't know how he felt about being 'outed' in public with her. She decided to test the waters and, grabbing his shirtfront, kissed him, practically pulling him into the car with her. "No everything's fine" she said huskily as she exited the car and headed to her dorm. "Pick me up at 7.45?" she asked. Well, she thought, at least he didn't seem too shocked. When she looked back at him he was still holding on to the car door and looked a little stunned.
"Of course" he nodded then realised he had to go before he could come back for her.
She smiled as she saw him drive slowly off and headed for the dorm at top speed. Typical of a man, she thought, he thinks two hours is enough time to get dolled up for our first official date.
Giles had showered and changed within half an hour and spent the rest of the time getting something to eat and straightening up the apartment. He genuinely enjoyed their company but the three of them could make a room look like ground zero within about five minutes and they had been here constantly for nearly a week.
By 7.00 he couldn't think of anything else to take his mind off Willow and decided he would rather be in the car and driving towards her than sitting here. He checked his pockets for wallet, keys and stake. He was nearly out of the door when he remembered something else and ran up the stairs to the bedroom. He knew he was being presumptuous as he put the condoms in his wallet, but he would rather be prepared now than disappointed later, at a crucial moment.
He parked outside her dorm block and checked his hair in the mirror of the car. "Bloody hell!" he mumbled to himself. "She's been looking at you for six years you old fool"
He felt a little awkward moving through the dorm block and was sure he got some strange looks from a couple of young students. However most of them recognised him as the old guy that hung out with Buffy and Willow and he wasn't challenged as he made his way to her room.
He knocked on the door and ran his hands through his hair one more time. He heard a muffled shout from inside and opened the door. "Ehm, Willow" he peeked round and saw a blouse thrown from the closet. "I know I'm early but I thought you might be ready as well?"
A muffled curse came from the closet and he closed the door and moved towards the sound. "Are you OK?" he asked with concern.
"I'm fine!" she growled at him and he decided discretion was definitely the better part of valour on this occasion and moved to sit at the desk on the other side of the room.
Eventually she emerged from the closet, looking harassed and carrying three different blouses. She stood before him and asked impatiently. "I've given up trying to work out which is your favourite, which one should I wear tonight?"
He gulped and pointed at the rust coloured one in her right hand then turned to stare determinedly at the blank computer screen as she threw the other two onto the bed and put the blouse on.
"OK" she sighed. "I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be!"
He looked round and was relieved to see her fully clothed this time. "You look lovely" he said in the time honoured male response to seeing a woman ready for a night out.
She checked her watch and moved over to sit on his knee. "Hey, you're early" she said as she nibbled his ear. "And hey, you're kind of excited for a night out with the gang aren't you?" she smiled as she started to kiss the side of his neck.
He squirmed a little to make her more comfortable and blushed at her mention of his very obvious erection. "No bloody wonder" he grumbled. "What do you expect when you wander around half naked, I'm only flesh and blood you know"
"I can't have you meeting the rest of them in this state, can I help you to get rid of the evidence at all?" she asked, innocently letting her hands wander down to rub his chest.
He gave up the struggle and kissed her. One of his hands found the back of her head and ruffled her hair, while the other ran down her side and rested on her thigh as her hands found his nipples and rubbed them through his wool jumper. His breathing was starting to be a little laboured when she stopped and moved off his lap.
"Perhaps you would be more comfortable over here?" she asked as she shoved her discarded clothes to the floor and sat on the edge of the bed.
He checked his watch then took his jacket off, carefully folding it over the back of the chair. He grinned at her as he then carefully removed his watch and set it on the desk, before removing his glasses and placing them next to it.
He then sat down and began undoing his shoelaces slowly. He could hear her sigh in impatience as he deliberately took his time.
"Even in Jane Austen the bodice ripping is quicker than this!" she quipped as she sat back to lie on the bed and watch him.
"Some things are worth the wait" he said as he stood up and removed his sweater, revealing the crisp, clean undershirt.
"You couldn't have left the t-shirt off just once?" she asked exasperatedly as he moved to the bed.
He ignored her and lay down next to her. "You know" he said as he undid the buttons on her blouse. "I think I liked the blue one better after all"
She giggled and shrugged out of the blouse. "Perhaps you would like to critique the rest of my ensemble?" she asked as he moved his hands over her bare shoulder.
"Well I think you are a little over dressed for the occasion" he mumbled as he leaned in to kiss her throat and neck.
"Mmmmm" she managed to groan as he licked the hollow of her throat and his hands moved to her breasts. She decided that he was taking too much of the hard work on himself and tried to pull his undershirt from the waistband of his jeans. However, as he began to tease her nipples through the lacy fabric of her bra she suddenly lost the ability to complete even the most mundane tasks and her hands simply grabbed his hips and pulled him towards her.
He continued to lie on his side, and used his free hand to move behind her and undo her bra. Thanking god for the memory of how to do this one handed and with a minimum of fuss he gently pulled it free and tossed it over the side of the bed to join her other clothes. He looked up at her to gauge her reaction but she had her eyes closed and a silly grin on her face. He took this as a good sign and started to kiss and lick his way down her cleavage to her breasts.
She knew that she had a high quality, functioning brain but right at this moment it appeared to have gone on vacation. In its absence her hormones and nerve endings seemed to have staged a coup and taken control of her body. Wherever his lips were currently situated was where her entire nervous system was concentrating. A small part of her mind was still functioning and noted how tender his kisses were but the rest of her was on automatic pilot and she gave up the struggle to understand the emotions that were overcoming her and gave herself over to them entirely. She turned onto her back and pulled him on top of her. She now had both hands free to travel over his back.
He made sure he took the bulk of his weight on his arms as he leaned over her. Her lips looked delicious and he decided to taste them without further ado. Leaning on his forearms he gently kissed her. As well as her lips he placed gentle kisses on her eyes, nose and forehead. He could hear her sighing gently and feel her squirming underneath him and smiled in wonder at her. How could he possibly have thought of turning her down when she propositioned him?
Eventually she registered that he had stopped kissing her and she opened her eyes to gaze up at him. "Giving up already old man?" she asked quietly.
His eyes twinkled. "I just can't believe that this is even better than the fantasy" he smiled and bent to kiss her again.
She kissed him back with interest and raised her right arm to run her fingers through his hair. When he made to pull away she pulled him back, nipping his lower lip with her teeth before she released him. She could feel his hand rubbing her breast again and, when she bit him he stopped for a second before pinching her nipple between his fingers. Her whole body lifted off the bed, her heels and shoulders holding them for a second or two before she subsided underneath him.
He looked a little quizzically at her. "You like?" he asked and smiled.
"What do you think" she asked breathlessly and lifted her leg to rub her thigh against his.
He was about to reply when the telephone beside the bed rang. They both jumped a little at this intrusion from the outside world but when she automatically reached for it he growled "Leave it" and kissed her again. After several rings the answer machine took over and they both heard Buffy's worried voice.
"Willow, if you're there pick up" she waited a couple of seconds. "OK, we're all at the Bronze and neither you nor Giles are here so Xander is heading to his place and I'm coming to the dorm"
Giles hurriedly reached over and lifted the receiver. "Buffy" he said a little breathlessly. "What, oh yes, I just ran to catch the phone when I heard it ringing." Willow giggled a little underneath him and he put his free hand over her mouth and sat up.
"No we're both OK just got a little caught up in the books this afternoon and I've brought Willow here to get changed." By now Willow was curled up in a ball trying to smother her laughter in a pillow. He could feel himself starting to get the giggles as well. "No, honestly, we're both fine and we'll be there in about half an hour, OK?"
When he hung the phone up he started to laugh as well. "OK, that never happened in my fantasies" he finally managed to say.
"I would certainly hope not!" Willow gulped and moved to gather her clothes from the side of the bed. "You could at least have told them we'd be an hour" she sighed and pouted again.
"What makes you think that would have given us time for anything worthwhile?" he asked and moved to the chair to put his shoes back on.
"Pretty soon I'm going to make you prove these boasts of sexual prowess Mister!" she said and lifted the rust and blue blouses from the floor. "Which one did you eventually choose?"
CHAPTER 10
When he pulled up outside the Bronze he gasped and looked at the car he had parked next to. "What's wrong?" Willow asked anxiously, scanning the group of people outside the club to spot any danger.
"The car" he said and pointed to the spitfire parked next to them. "That's the one I saw you in" he said and turned to look at her.
"When?" she asked a little bemused.
"Remember I told you about the dream I had of you and I driving in an open top sports car?" he got out of his own car and moved to gaze into the interior of the other.
"Vaguely" she said and followed him. "Are you sure this is the car?" she asked.
"Positive" he said. "I used to own one just like it years ago and I haven't seen one since I came to America. I wonder who's it is?"
"Perhaps the guy on the door saw who drove it in?" she suggested. She shook her head as he headed off at speed to ask him then laughed a little when he turned round, headed back to her and held his hand out for her to take.
"Sorry" he said and smiled at her. "I got a little carried away, forgive me?"
She pulled him to her and kissed him quickly. "I've forgiven you everything up to now haven't I?"
He gave her a fierce hug and whispered in her ear. "I promise never to give you anything else to forgive"
He pulled back and looked into her eyes, surprised at the depth of emotion he saw there then a little concerned as worry lines appeared on her forehead and he saw her frown. "What's wrong?"
"Are you OK about everyone knowing?" he looked a little puzzled. "About us I mean?"
He laughed gently and pulled her into a hug again. "I think everyone knew about us before we knew ourselves. I doubt this will be a surprise to any of them"
She smiled and pulled back, taking his hand as she headed for the front door. "You're right, it'll probably be more of a relief for them that we finally did something about it"
When they finally made it inside they saw Buffy first of all, anxiously scanning those entering. Giles raised his hand and waved at her, giving Willow's hand a final squeeze before they finally met up with her.
"Where were you guys?" Buffy asked a little anxiously. "We rang your apartment and the dorm, we were worried” and she looked at Willow for an explanation.
Willow sighed and let go of Giles' hand, pulling Buffy off to one side to explain exactly what she had been doing when Buffy called.
Giles looked after them a little nervously, unsure whether he wanted his love life to be a topic of conversation between his girlfriend and his slayer. He shook his head a little, realising that he finally had a girlfriend again and knew there was nothing he could do to stop the conversation they were obviously having.
He was half way across the dance floor, heading for Xander and Fraser, when he heard Buffy squealing and turned to see her hugging Willow and jumping up and down excitedly. As he reached the two men they both looked at him a little surprised. "What's up with Buffy?" asked Xander.
"Isn't that Willow with her?" asked Fraser and looked at Giles. "Ohhhh" he said and held his hand out for Giles to shake. "Well done, you finally made her realise that a classic old car is better than a shiny new one?"
"Something like that" Giles admitted, blushing slightly and hoping it wouldn't show in the darkness of the club. "By the way is that your car outside?" he asked.
"The spitfire?" Fraser asked and smiled when Giles nodded. "Yes, I just got her a couple of weeks ago, she is a beauty isn't she?"
"She is indeed" Giles agreed. "I may have a favour to ask from you later tonight" he leaned over and cryptically whispered as Buffy and Willow joined them.
"What's going on?" asked Xander, aware that there was a crackle of electricity in the air but not sure why.
Willow stood next to him and whispered in his ear. He stared at her for a moment, noting the glint of determination in her eyes and the slightly raised eyebrow as if she was waiting for his answer.
He grinned and held his hand out to Giles. "Congratulations G-Man, you better look after her!"
Buffy squealed again and hugged Giles. "I'm really happy for both of you" He looked a little helplessly at Fraser and Xander and then at Willow, who was struggling to keep a straight face.
Fraser finally took pity on him. "Perhaps I should get us a round of drinks to celebrate this happy occasion?" he asked. "Rupert do you want to give me a hand?"
Giles smiled his thanks and gently disentangled himself from Buffy's grip. "Thank you" he said as they headed for the bar.
"No problem" Fraser answered. "It was getting depressing seeing you with every beautiful woman in the room hanging on your arm anyway"
Giles laughed. "I'm sorry about not letting you know about Willow and I but this has happened suddenly" he stared at Fraser's face as he ordered the drinks to see how upset his friend was.
Fraser turned to him and smiled. "Suddenly?" he said incredulously. "Rupert that girl has been in love with you for months. I knew I never really had a chance with her but perhaps my suggestions otherwise helped you to make your mind up?"
Giles looked at him aghast for a minute. "You were playing mind games with a patient who had severe head trauma and amnesia?"
"There have to be some perks for the long hours and rotten hospital food!" Fraser smiled as he accepted a tray of drinks from the barman.
After several toasts, and much arm punching and double entendre from Xander, Giles finally managed to drag Willow onto the dance floor. "You always said you didn't dance" Willow whispered as she smiled up at him.
"It was the only way to get you alone and discuss how much you told Buffy?" he asked a little anxiously as he shuffled a little to a slow dance.
Willow looked speculatively at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean" he whispered fiercely. "How much did you tell her about what we were up to when she phoned?" He glanced back over at the table and saw Fraser lead Buffy onto the dance floor. "I don't really want our love life to be the general topic of discussion among the extended membership of the Scooby Gang"
She buried her head against his chest and laughed. "She guessed some of it but we didn't go into details" she assured him. "Although next time you better let me answer the phone, at least I won't sound as out of breath as you did!"
"Are you saying I'm not in good shape, young lady?" he asked in mock indignation.
She just smiled and pulled him down to kiss her. They didn't notice the music stopping until Buffy tapped him on the shoulder.
"You're wigging out the freshmen, old man" Buffy sternly told him then smiled. "How about a dance with your slayer?" she asked as the music started up again. She noticed his hesitation and sighed "I promise you can have her back once Fraser has finished with her!"
He looked over Buffy's shoulder to see Fraser twirl Willow off to the other end of the dance floor and felt his heart tighten. Buffy could sense his discomfort. "Giles it's OK, I had a chat with him earlier and he doesn't really have a thing for her you know"
"I know Buffy, I'm sorry" he admitted as he awkwardly took her hand to begin a slightly more energetic shuffle. "I just can't bear to have her out of my sight right now, do you understand?" he asked as he finally looked down at his dance partner.
"I know exactly what you mean and, although it hurts like hell, I hope that feeling never leaves you Rupert" she said softly and moved closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
He was a little taken aback but then gently put his arms round her waist and swayed with her, thanking god that they had survived long enough to have this unspoken but nevertheless unbreakable bond between them.
As the music ended and they headed back to the table Xander was talking to some old school friends.
He slapped a few shoulders and made a few 'witty' remarks, which everyone groaned at, then headed back to the table where the others were waiting. "I don't want to worry you guys but I think we're back on duty"
Fraser noticed the atmosphere change and felt as if the temperature had dropped by several degrees. Everyone had stopped kidding around and laughing and moved closer to the table to hear what Xander had to say.
"Couple of guys from school said they just saw Harmony out there with a couple of biker types"
Everyone nodded and Giles turned to explain to Fraser. "I think I mentioned the Graduation Day/Ascension event?" he asked. Fraser nodded. "Good, well we know that Harmony was definitely taken as a vampire that night and she's been popping up every now and then to annoy us ever since"
Buffy was having a quick discussion with Xander and Willow then she turned to Giles and Fraser. "You guys stay here and Xander and I will go outside and see what's happening"
Giles was about to argue when she took him aside. "I know you want to be involved but we need to have you and Willow stay here for now in case they get into the Bronze. How much does Fraser know?" she asked as she quickly took her jacket off and slung her large handbag over her shoulder.
"He knows enough to keep out of our way" Giles whispered and she nodded.
"Good. Do you have any weapons?" she asked as an afterthought.
"Never leave home without him" Giles said, opening his jacket to show her the stake in his inner pocket. "I also have the bag of training weapons in the boot of the car"
"We may need them, give me the keys and Xander will bring it back in to you" He nodded and handed her the car keys.
"Buffy" he said as she moved off. "Be careful" he said as she turned round.
"Giles, I'm planning on being chief bridesmaid at your wedding, how could I not be careful?" and with this she touched Xander's arm and they both headed out the door.
Giles was stunned at her comment, my god they had Willow and him married off already! He hoped that she had been making a joke to relieve his anxiety but a deeper part of his mind was already picturing her in a bridesmaid's outfit and he shook himself to get rid of the mental image. Turning round he saw Willow urgently whispering to Fraser and pointing out the fire exits with quick hand signals.
He moved back to the table and took a large swallow of his beer. "Willow got you up to speed on everything?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm 'number one evacuation guy' apparently" he nodded and, to Giles' surprise, didn't look too concerned. Giles hoped he wasn't underestimating the seriousness of the situation but decided that a baptism of fire would soon cure him of this, should he survive the night.
He turned to Willow. "Have you got a stake?" he asked.
She shook her head and looked a little embarrassed. "My mind was on other things when I got changed this evening" she whispered fiercely but not quietly enough that Fraser didn't hear her. He nearly choked on his drink and coughed for several seconds. Willow grinned ruefully and slapped his back. "You didn't hear that" she said with a smile.
"Yes, well, ehm, perhaps" Giles coughed a little himself before recovering his composure. "Xander is retrieving the weapons from my car so make sure you get yourself something suitable?"
She nodded at him and leaned over the table. "I love it when you get all watchery with me" she said and kissed his nose. He sighed and leaned over the table as well to capture her lips. They only broke apart when Xander coughed politely.
"I leave you in charge for one minute and you go all 007 on me" he exclaimed then realised that Fraser and Giles were staring at him in incomprehension. "You know, scent of danger in the air and the suave British guy kisses the first beautiful woman he meets in the bar?" He gave up and dumped the sports bag at Giles feet with a clatter. "I give up, my popculture referencing talent is wasted on you guys"
Buffy returned a short time later as Willow was concealing a wooden cross in her purse and trying to decide where to keep a large stake. Eventually she pushed it into the waistband of her skirt and lifted her blouse over it to conceal it. Fraser nodded to Giles. "Remember that's in there later or I'll be pulling splinters out of interesting parts of your body all night!"
Xander snorted and was about to add his own comment when Buffy put a hand on his arm. "Sorry to interrupt guys but Harmony has company in the form of four very large vampires." Everyone sobered and looked to Buffy who started to smile. "Either there's a Village People convention in town or these vampires were taken when leather jackets, chains and big moustaches were in!"
Everyone now looked at Giles who shrugged. "I never had chains on my leathers!" he said, then grinned a little. "Well not many anyway"
Buffy smiled at him. "Alright, how bright can they be to team up with Harmony? I can take two of the big ones out fairly quickly but someone needs to distract the other two and Harmony" She looked at Xander and Giles. "My two best guys feel up to a work out?"
"I'm sure we can manage to keep them busy for a short while" Giles said dryly then turned to Fraser. "You and Willow will need to keep everyone in here. Make up some story to keep people from getting into the car park"
Willow nodded and pulled Fraser over towards the bar. Giles sighed inwardly and knew he was glad that she hadn't made a fuss. He also knew that the feeling of excitement coursing through him was a natural reaction to the adrenalin seeping into his system but he still felt guilty.
The three of them slipped out a back door of the club and Willow arrived at the bar with Fraser. "OK, are you sure you're OK with this?" she asked as she signalled the barman over.
"I'm sure" he grinned and leaned over to speak quietly to the barman. When he nodded Fraser turned to the club and raised his voice to be heard. "We just got engaged - drinks on the house for everyone!"
There was a second of silence then a queue of people waiting to pump his hand up and down and be his best friend for as long as the drink flowed. Willow laughed, well Giles had said to keep everyone inside the club!
Xander and Giles split up from Buffy at the end of the alley behind the club. Xander had grabbed two stakes and Giles had chosen a small hand axe. He gently flexed his hand around the handle and tested the weight. Xander glanced at him "Ready big guy?"
"Ready when you are" Giles nodded and they headed for the car park.
Buffy ran round the outside of the club and came upon the car park from the opposite direction. She staked one vampire before they knew she was there and the other was so surprised at her appearance as she vaulted over his shoulder to land in front of him that she dusted him before he could blink. She turned round, ready for the others when she saw the scene before her and started to laugh instead.
Xander had his head covered with his arms as Harmony rained blows from her tiny fists on him. "Will you stop that" he yelled and pushed her away. She landed in Giles arms and he grabbed hold of her before she could turn towards him. Instead she stamped down with her high heel on his left foot and he was soon hopping around cursing and holding his foot. Buffy finally noticed that the other vampires were nowhere to be seen and ran towards Xander.
"Where'd the leather boys go?" she asked.
"We dusted them first thing" Xander said a little breathlessly. "We got one each and then Harmony started to whine and I tried to get her too, just to shut her up, when she started all that girly fighting stuff"
Buffy laughed and moved over towards Giles, who was leaning on the bonnet of his car and gingerly rubbing his foot. "Xander said you got one of the vampires, you OK?" she smiled.
"Yes I'm fine thank you, you?" he asked and winced slightly as he put his foot down again.
"Peachy" she announced and put out her arm for him to lean on. "Harmony ran off but I thought I'd leave her for you to get your revenge next time?" she smiled up at him. "Did you use the hand axe?" she asked with professional interest as they headed for the front door of the club.
"Yes" he nodded as Xander joined them. "It has a nice weight and is quite adequate for most vampires if you get a good enough back swing"
Xander was about to enter the discussion on the merits of a hand axe versus stakes, when they all stopped and stared, open mouthed, at the scene before them.
Fraser and Willow were sitting on chairs that had been placed on top of the pool table. Everyone in the club was singing a very bad, karaoke version of 'Love and Marriage' at them and toasting their general direction with drinks of every imaginable colour and variety. Several of the younger revellers were cheering as Fraser downed a beer in one go.
"What the bloody hell!" Giles growled and limped determinedly towards the table. He elbowed several people out of the way and stood looking up at Willow. "What are you doing?" he shouted at her.
She grinned rather stupidly at him. "It's all my fault and it's just gotten a bit out of hand"
He was starting to upset several of the revellers. "Hey buddy, leave the happy couple alone!"
Buffy and Xander had collared an acquaintance and gotten most of the story by this time. They shook their collective heads and moved to extricate Willow and Fraser before Giles could get to them.
As the happy couple left, with many shouts and cheers of goodwill from the assemblage, Fraser was trying to explain everything to Giles. He wasn't succeeding, mainly because Buffy, Xander and Willow kept breaking into gales of laughter.
Eventually Willow realised how agitated he was getting and pulled him towards the alley. Buffy and Xander walked Fraser to his car, Buffy trying to find out if the Doctor was in a fit state to drive.
Willow held onto Giles' hands as she reached up and kissed him. He wrinkled his nose a little at the smell of alcohol on her. "How much did you have to drink?" he asked quietly.
"I only had one but when Fraser announced our engagement and free drinks for everyone to celebrate I got splashed by a few passers-by" she explained quickly. "Before either of us knew what was happening, they had hoisted us onto the pool table and started singing that stupid song." She lifted her right hand, still holding his, and kissed the palm of his left hand. "I'm sorry but it was my idea, please don't take it out on Fraser"
"I'm just relieved we all made it through tonight safely" he sighed. He had felt a tingle down his spine when she had kissed his hand and knew that the adrenalin that had slowed to a drip feed was starting to make him want her more than ever. "Let's go home?" he said a little breathlessly. She nodded and led him back to the others.
Fraser looked a little sheepishly at him through bleary eyes. "I'm sorry Rupert, are you two OK?"
Giles smiled and patted his shoulder. "Thank you for keeping her safe for me Fraser, perhaps Xander could drive you home?"
Fraser nodded and handed Xander his car keys. The young man's face lit up but Giles took the keys out of his hand and replaced them with his own. "Xander use my car to get Fraser and Buffy home, I'll take Fraser's to drop Willow off"
Fraser looked at him, a little surprised. "Remember the favour?" Giles asked him quietly.
"Of course" Fraser nodded and lost his balance a little. "I'll use your car for a few days?"
Giles smiled and nodded. "I'll get this little beauty back to you on Monday" he said and walked Xander and the Doctor over to his own car.
Buffy hugged Willow. "I'll see you on Monday then?" she said with a quirky smile.
"I guess so" Willow nodded and blushed a little.
"Just be gentle with his left foot" Buffy whispered in her ear and then hugged her again before heading for the other car. She passed Giles on the way and gave him a hug as well. "Give me a call and let me know when your mind's back on training" she said and left him standing, looking after her.
He had his arm round Willow, opening the car door for her, when Xander shot out of the parking lot in his car. The tyres screeched and they could hear the stereo blaring as Xander headed down the street.
When he sat in the driver's seat she rested her hand on his thigh. "You know he's only teasing you, the car will be OK"
He nodded. "I know but he didn't do it right" Giles sighed. She didn't understand until he said "Buckle up" and threw the car into gear. The car headed straight for the wall of the Bronze and she was sure they were going to hit it until he pulled on the handbrake and the car screeched in an impossibly tight turn to face the exit from the car park. He turned to grin at her and dropped the handbrake off again as he put his foot down. Admittedly her eyes were closed but she was sure that the exit through the gates was a pretty close call.