Watchers Council

Chapter 11

Despite her promises to Giles, Willow had spent a restless night and finally rose at six to drink several cups of coffee. She smiled to herself as she imagined Buffy’s disapproval of her caffeine intake. She hadn’t bothered to unpack the night before so it only took five minutes to repack the car and get started back towards town. Even allowing for a stop for kfaskfast she was on the outskirts of town just after eight. She debated whether to go to her office and call first but then shook her head and gave herself a stern lecture about procrastination.

Xander was asleep on Giles’ sofa, snoring, when Alex tiptoed past him to the front door. They had stayed up till the early hours looking through the diaries and she knew that she wasn’t the only one to be surprised at some of Giles’ entries. Dawn had been the first to give up, claiming Giles’ bed. Xander had fallen asleep shortly afterwards and Buffy had stayed up with her for several more hours, talking softly about the friends they had made and lost over the years.

Buffy was just coming out of the kitchen with a mug of coffee when she ran into Alex heading for the front door. “Is everything OK?” she asked anxiously. She had thought their time together last night had reassured the girl enough to make her stay to meet Willow.

“Everything’s fine” Alex whispered and gestured back towards the kitchen. “Sorry, it’s just I usually take a run first thing in the morning and I suddenly needed to get out in the fresh air, clear my head a little” she accepted the mug of coffee Buffy handed her. “You look remarkably chirpy, did you get any sleep?"

“Slayer bonus” Buffy shrugged. “Only need a few hours a night and can get by on less if I have to”

“And the slayer gig helps with the good skin and perfect hair?” Alex grinned at her.

“Nope, expensive moisturiser and good genes from my mom” Buffy grinned back and looked at her watch. “I’m not sure when Willow is due but if you want to go for a run I can wait here for her in case she’s early”

“I think I’ll sit in the garden for a while, it’s really just the air I want, not the exercise” she shrugged and opened the back door.

Buffy pottered around the kitchen, tidying up after their ice cream fest of the previous night. She looked at her watch again and poured another two mugs of coffee before setting off to waken the workers.

Alex smiled to herself as she heard the panic from inside as Dawn and Xander tried to get ready before heading out to work. After ten minutes the noise suddenly stopped and she could hear Xander’s car leaving. She held the mug in both hands and watched the steam rise from it. Occasionally she would take a sip and then watch her breath as it misted just past her lips. She heard the door open behind her and waited for Buffy to join her.

Willow stood in the doorway and watched Alex sitting on the step. She saw the rounded shoulders and dishevelled hair and shook her head, one of her girlfriend’s few faults was her obsession with her appearance and she would be really annoyed if she looked in a mirror right now. Alex eventually turned round to see what was keeping Buffy and stared at Willow as she continued to stand in the doorway. “Hey” Willow finally managed a mini wave and a slightly watery smile.

Alex wat the the fear in Willow’s eyes and the nervous way her hand was flexing and closing on the door handle. “Hey yourself” she finally answered and tilted her head. “You look awful” she smiled a little as she checked out the bed hair and crumpled clothing.

“Oh goddess, so do you” Willow sobbed and finally came down the steps towards her. Alex barely had time to put down the mug and stand up before Willow had gathered her in her arms. “I am so sorry” Willow whispered in her hair as she took a deep breath and tried to hug even more tightly. “I talked to Giles last night and he was really mad at me for leaving you to work everything out for yourself” Willow finally sniffed and loosened her grip a little.

“I always said he was the smart one” Alex mumbled as she ran her hands across Willow’s back and swallowed a lump in her throat. “The guys went over some things with me last night and I think I understand most of it a little better” she took a deep breath. “But I still can’t get my head round the Warren thing”

“I still have a little trouble with that myself sometimes” Willow suggested and pulled away to sit on the step. Alex sat next to her and handed her the coffee. “This is my fifth this morning” Willow took a gulp and looked guilty. “Don’t tell Buffy, she’ll make me go cold turkey for the rest of the month” Alex smiled as she took the mug back and drank a little herself. “I know it’s a lot to ask but I really love you and if you could just give me a chance to prove myself to you then I think we might be able to work through this” Willow took a deep breath. “Unless, of course, you’ve already decided in which case I’ll understand and just tell you that I don’t blame you for leaving”

Alex shook her head. “I’ve never said I’m leaving” She watched Willow try to hold down the hope that was obviously bubbling under the surface. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to imagine what you were like after Tara died and I think that’s because I’ve only ever seen the adorable, kind, sweet you” she turned to look at Willow. “It’s like you are two different people and I think you’ve managed to drop a house on the wicked witch part of you” she ran her hand down the side of Willow’s cheek, gently tracing the jaw line.

“I’m both of those people and it wasn’t a house so much as a box” Willow shook her head and caught Alex’s hand in her own. “Don’t ever think the darkness has gone because it will always be there, I just control it now”

“So you’re bad ass evil self is doing mime for all eternity inside the box?” Alex smiled. “I can deal with that and I’d like to think you trust me enough to let me help you with it as well”

“I don’t deserve you” Willow looked deep into her eyes. “I’ve done terrible, horrible things and yet I still manag hav have you in my arms” she matched her actions to her words.

“So, what say we go home and get cleaned up?” Alex suggested, very aware that she was still in her clothes from the day before.

“I think that’s a very good idea” Willow sighed and held her hand out to pull Alex up. “I just need two seconds with Buffy”

Alex shook her head. “I’m not letting go of your hand” she gripped a little tighter. “Let’s both thank Buffy”

Buffy was standing watching them from the kitchen window and closed her eyes in relief when she saw them heading back indoors, hand in hand. “I take it my ice cream therapy worked?” she asked and grinned at Willow.

“I missed an ice cream night?” Willow pouted. “Thank you” she pulled Buffy into an embrace, laughing when Alex joined in, still holding onto her hand.

“Actually it wasn’t the ice cream so much as the pictures of Will in the leather mini” Alex giggled and pinched Willow’s bottom as she let go of Buffy. “You’ve still got that at home, right?”

Willow looked scandalised. “Halloween?” she finally asked and covered her eyes, groaning. “You couldn’t have shown her the graduation pictures?”

Buffy smiled and shrugged. “Sorry”

“What else did you tell her?” Willow narrowed her eyes and saw Buffy look sheepish.

“Not much” she tried to dissemble, badly. “Just brought her up to date on the Scooby Gang and it’s early exploits”

Alex grinned and kissed Buffy’s cheek. “I owe you” she pulled Willow’s hand and headed for the door. “I think you get a slap up dinner just for the Oz stories alone” she threw over her shoulder and laughed as Willow tried to turn back towards Buffy. “We really need to be naked for the next bit and I’m sure Rupert’s neighbours would objectthatthat happened now” she looked at Willow as they stood on the doorstep. “Come on” she winked at Buffy and pulled Willow towards the car.

Buffy finished tidying up Giles’ place, carefully replacing the photograph albums before pouring herself another coffee and sitting down with his diaries. She had discussed them with him often enough and he had even let her read a few of the entries but she now suspected that he had deliberately shown her the boring bits so that she would never ask to read them again. During their education of Alex the previous night she had glanced through his earlier diaries and found herself stunned by the level of emotion contained within the entries, particularly around her eighteenth birthday. For the next few hours she diligently read his entire collection, from his earliest volumes containing his worry about the others becoming involved to the latest one she could find. This ended abruptly just before the battle with Glory. Only one other entry was made after the battle, mentioning Ben’s death and his part in it. She stared at the words for many minutes before putting the notebook down and closing her eyes to think back to the battle. She had wounded Glory and been a little phased by the sudden reappearance of Ben but hadn’t had the time to do anything more than warn him of the dire consequences of ever letting Glory have the ascendancy again. She knew now what Giles had done after she had left them alone and realised that it was the only answer to removing the threat permanently. She roused herself from the sofa, unwilling to remember the remainder of that day. Cleaning her mug she made sure the door was locked behind her and set off to her own house.

*****

Giles sighed. He had been away for two weeks and the excitement of some truly unique artefact finds had waned a little. He had forgotten how painstaking this kind of work was and the many hours of boredom inherent in sitting looking at a pile of mud slowly being pared away to reveal the tiniest of fragments. He shook his head and walked towards the communications tent again. He hated to admit it to himself but he would rather have been in his office at the campus, receiving progress reports in the form of digital pictures and emails from those on the ground. “I’m getting too old for this” he mumbled as he slogged through the mud. “Brian” he nodded at the young man he had met on his first day. “Any messages for me?” he asked as a formality, there hadn’t been anyickeicked phone calls since Willow’s return.

“Not a thing Rupert” the young man smiled up at him. “Want me to hook you up for your emails?” he asked and set about connecting Giles’ laptop. He had assumed that the older Englishman was the same breed as the other ‘experts’ he regularly encountered but was surprised to learn he was a little more down to earth than his initial appearance would have suggested. They had spent a few nights playing cards and drinking while the other archaeologists argued the merits of the latest papers on the tribe they were investigating. After the second night of listening to the same arguments Giles had explained to Brian how he was used to being the only stuffy adult in the company of younger people and how this return to stuffy adult world was a little disconcerting.

“I keep wanting to throw in references to movies” he had admitted and they had laughed quietly as the battle of words raged around them.

Once the connen wan was completed he settled down to read his emails and worry about what they were all doing with his baby. He quickly scanned through the inbox and dealt with all of the business emails from Dawn and the other Watchers first. After half an hour he had answered all of the queries and smiled as he turned to read the emails sent by Xander and Willow. He could imagine them both standing next to him while he read of the continuing exploits of Mr Smythe and the progress made on the construction to date. Even business emails from Xander were entertaining but he laughed the loudest at his wickedly accurate description of an unfortunate incident between one of the Watchers and Buffy over a battle scenario they were re-enacting for one of her classes. He snorted as Xander relayed the demon she had asked the Watcher to portray and winced as he detailed exactly where Buffy had hit him when the Watcher had decided to change their carefully planned tactics half way through. He assured Giles that it hadn’t looked deliberate and Buffy had been a little embarrassed while patiently explaining to the younger Watcher that he had zigged when he should have zagged.

Once he had cleaned his glasses he opened a couple of messages from Willow. The first was a quick confirmation that she had completed the report she had been working on and it had only been delivered three days late. The second was a more personal note thanking him for his advice when she had called him and assuring him that everything was back to normal and he didn’t need to bring his return forward. He sighed and glanced over his shoulder to see if Brian was nearby. A scowl appeared on his face as he argued with himself as to how ethical his intentions were before finally taking a deep breath and cursing at the laptop. “Bloody Hell” he swore again and quickly shut down the connection and powered off the laptop. “I can’t believe they could have made such a mess of the project when I’ve only been gone a short while” he tried to rant a little but found it surprisingly difficult to fake. He searched his memory for a suitable trigger and, remembering his first meeting with Professor Walsh, he felt the anger rise within him and turned to find Brian looking towards him questioningly. “I leave them simple instructions and they’ve managed to completely disobey most of them already” he threw his hands in the air and took his glasses off. “There’s nothing else I can do, I’ll need to go back early” he looked crestfallen and Brian tried to dissuade him. “No, honestly Brian, I’d lov sta stay but I need the project to be completed successfully and I obviously need to be there to make sure that happens” he shook his head apologetically. “Can you sort out some transport for me back to the airport?” he asked and headed for the entrance to the tent. “I’m just going to let Professor Robinson know and I’ll be packed in an hour”

*****

Buffy was more than a little surprised to get the call from Xander. “He wants me to pick him up?” she asked in surprise and heard Xander sigh. “Oh I see” she giggled and started pulling clothes out of her closet. “So he doesn’t know that you’re too busy to get him?” she pouted while she listened to his reply. “Of course I’ll be careful, I do have slayer reflexes you know, driving on the freeway can’t be that difficult” she waited till he had finished explaining how difficult it could be before blowing a raspberry down the phone at him. “He’ll be fine, do we know why he’s coming home early?”

*****

Giles hefted his bags and looked towards the entrance to the terminal building. He was expecting to see Xander and was surprised and dismayed to see Buffy waving at him instead. “Xander’s waiting in the car?” he asked hopefully but saw her dangling the car keys from her finger. “Oh dear” he mumbled under his breath.

“And don’t think I didn’t hear that” she smiled sweetly at him as she took his biggest bag and swung it easily onto her shoulder. “Xander’s meeting ran late and you asked him not to tell Willow, Alex or Dawn so he was left with yours truly as first alternate.” She popped the trunk and threw his bag in. “How was your flight?” she asked and watched with concern as he winced while lifting the other bag into the trunk. “Are you OK, did you hurt yourself?” she moved to stand next to him. “Is that why you came back early?” she was almost in panic mode by this time and he put his hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

“Buffy I’m fine, just a little stiff from the dampness and the camp bed I had to sleep on” he yawned and winced again. “Honestly I’m fine, nothing a few nights in my own bed won’t solve” he pulled her into a hug. “Anyway, I missed all of you”

“Alright, enough with the schmaltz” she smiled at him and opened his dooBut But you need to see the doctor as soon as we get back” she wagged her finger at him.

“Yes Mum” he grinned and slowly lowered himself into the passenger seat.

*****

“Giles?” Dawn looked up in surprise as he stood in the doorway. “What are you doing back?” she caught sight of Buffy standing behind him and her slightly worried expression. “Is everything OK?” she stood up to give him a hug.

“Why do people keep asking me that?” he sighed as he headed for his office. “Everything’s fine and I just wanted to come back a little earlier than I originally planned” he took a deep breath before lowering himself into his chair.

“He’s hurt his back and he won’t go to see the doctor” Buffy explained and shook her head.

“No problem” Dawn mumbled and made a quick phone call. “Perks of the job” she explained to Giles when he looked quizzically at her. “Doctor Crow is on his way up”

“There really is no need” he tried to explain but it was half hearted at best as he really was in a considerable amount of pain. “ But if it will settle your mind” he smiled at both of them and ran his hand through his hair. “So what’s been eninening while I’ve been away?”

“Nothing much” Dawn shrugged and looked to Buffy for confirmation. “Everything’s been running smoothly and there haven’t been any major disasters”

“Excellent” he yawned. “Any chance of a tea?” he asked and the girls left his office, Dawn to make his tea and Buffy to drop his bags at his place before returning Xander’s car and suffering the inevitable inspection for damage. “Oh, I meant to ask” she stuck her head back round his door. “Why didn’t you want Willow and the others to know you were back?”

“No reason, just wanted to surprise you all” he shrugged and then regretted it as shooting pains ran down from his shoulder. Buffy was about to ask if he was OK again when the doctor arrived and she closed his office door to give him some privacy. “Any ideas?” she asked Dawn as she returned.

“Nope” her sister shrugged and knocked his door before entering and handing over his tea. “Maybe he was worried about Willow?” she suggested.

“But Will and Alex are fine” Buffy shrugged. “I mean Willow only surfaces for a few hours during the day to show face at the office before heading straight back to her place”

“Yeah, I know” Dawn giggled. “Danny says she’s kinda embarrassed about the whole thing, but doesn’t look like being back full time any time soon”

“Danny?” Buffy raised her eyebrows and settled down in the chair facing Dawn’s desk. “Tell me more”

“Nope” Dawn grinned.

“I need to get the car back to Xander but you and I are having a talk about this tonight” Buffy promised her sister.

“So I’m signing you off for a couple of weeks and I’d better not hear about you being in this office” thetor tor wrote out a prescription as Giles slowly rebuttoned his shirt. “At the very least you’ve got to promise me you won’t be sword fighting till the tear heals” he looked at Giles over the top of his glasses.

“I think I can manage to keep that promise” Giles grinned.

The doctor shook his head and stopped to talk to Dawn on his way out. “He’s torn a muscle in his shoulder, try to keep him away from the office for a couple of weeks”

“Not even if you sedated him” Dawn suggested and watched the doctor nod in agreement as he closed the door. “Are you OK?” she asked quietly as Giles slumped into the chair across from her desk.

“Bloody knackered and I can’t believe I’ve been in the jungle for two weeks and I hurt my shoulder on the flight home” he huffed. “I think I just need a hot bath and a good night’s sleep”

“Sure, take a few days at least, you know I’ll call you if there’s anything” she smiled and picked up the phone again. “I’ll get you a cab home”

*****

He waited till he was in the taxi before asking the driver to take him to a different address. As they drew up outside the apartment he asked the driver to wait, in case there wasn’t anyone home. “Alex” he smiled as she opened the door and stared at him in surprise. “Give me a minute?” he asked as she started to ask him questions. He paid the cab and returned to find her putting the kettle on. “I’m fine, just got a bit fed up and decided to come home a little early” he explained in answer to her questions. She grinned and hugged him, pulling back quickly when he winced. “Sorry, I was being a gentleman on the flight home and offered to get a bag out of the locker for an elderly lady sitting next to me” he gingerly rotated the shoulder before sitting down. “I’m not sure if it was bricks or anvils she was transporting, probably both, anyway it seems I’ve torn a muscle”

“That’s gotta hurt” Alex sympathised as she put a mug of tea in front of him.

He nodded and took a sip of the hot tea. “Oh, that is wonderful” he closed his eyes and blew out a deep breath. “Even while surrounded by Englishmen, you make the best tea I’ve tasted in years” he smiled at her.

“So that’s why you were so keen to get Willow and I back together?” she giggled and sank into the other armchair. “Oh and I haven’t thanked you properly yet” she muttered and stood up again to kiss him.

“Remind me to do you some more favours” he flirted with her as she moved back to the chair and blushed. “Anyway, I’m hoping that you and Willow have managed to talk about her past?” he asked.

“We’ve done a lot of talking” she nodded. “Part of me still can’t reconcile my Willow with the person who murdered Warren” she shrugged. “But I figured that if Buffy, Xander, Dawn and you saw Willow like that, saw what she did, and you still love her then it’s the least I can do to try and understand what she went through”

“She has worked very hard to control her powers and even risked losing control again to save all of us from the First Evil” he settled more comfortably into the chair. “I think that must have been the most difficult decision” he continued. “The rest of us were choosour our own fate but she had to decide whether to risk unleashing her own darkness and possibly becoming a more formidable enemy than the one we were fighting”

“She’s told me some of what happened near the end” Alex explained. “The trust and confidence that you all had in her abilities seems to have given her the strength to do what she had to do”

“There is a point, in the preparation for every battle, where everyone suddenly knows that what they are fighting for is too important to contemplate defeat” his eyes were focussed on his memories.

“That’s another thing” Alex smiled at him. “You’re sitting there talking like a commander in chief and looking like a slightly rumpled ex-librarian” she shook her head. “It’s not just Willow’s alter ego that I can’t visualise”

“You only need to deal with the people we are now and accept, if you can, what has gone into making us such a strong team” he yawned and put his empty mug down beside his chair. “I was hoping to be able to wait till Willow came home but I think I’m going to need my bed a little sooner than that”

Alex glanced at her watch. “She’ll be home in five minutes” she smiled and blushed again. “For some reason she wants to work from home a lot at the moment”

“I shouldn’t complain” he admitted. “I was the one who lectured her on not delegating enough in the early days”

“I’ll get you some more tea, would you like anything to eat?” she started to potter around the kitchen.

“Honey, I’m home” Willow shouted as she slammed the door behind her. “Giles!” she grinned as she saw him standing up from the chair and headed towards him.

Alex stepped in between them. “No rough stuff, he’s hurt his shoulder” she warned Willow and kissed her.

“What happened, were you attacked?” Willow started to look panicked.

“Nothing like that, just a bit of a strain” he smiled and held out one arm for a hug.

Willow gingerly stepped into his embrace and hugged him before slipping her hand inside his jacket and resting it on his injured shoulder. “That feels like a little more than a strain” she pulled back to look at him. “Have you seen the doctor?”

“Yes” he muttered and sat back down in the chair.

“And?” she stood in front of him with her arms crossed.

“What did you just do?” Alex looked completely confused.

“It’s nothing much” he pouted a little in answer to Willow.

“I’ll come back to you in a minute” she pointed at him before turning towards Alex. “Do?” she asked with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

“Unless Buffy forgot to mention x-ray vision in your list of super powers, how do you know how bad his shoulder is?” Alex furrowed her brow and crossed her own arms.

“It’s not really a super power” Willow shrugged. “I just picked up a few healing spells over the years”

“I thought you had talked about your past?” Giles asked in surprise. “You haven’t told her about the coven?”

“Coven?” Alex looked completely confused now and quickly looked down at Giles before returning to Willow.

“I spent some time in a coven in England with Giles, after I went off the rails” she explained before turning to Giles. “And we have talked, I just hadn’t got round to the details yet”

“I should leave” he shook his head. “I just wanted to know that you were both OK before I headed home”

“Do you want me to work on it before you go?” she pointed to his shoulder.

“You can fix as well as diagnose?” Alex was struggling to keep up with the conversation.

“Obviously this is a bad time, I’ll see you in a few days” he leaned forward to kiss Willow’s cheek but she stepped away from him.

“Giles, please, could you just give me five minutes and I’ll have a look at it for you” she begged and held out her hand to Alex. “Alex, can I see you for a minute?” she took her hand and dragged her towards the bedroom.

“Damn” he muttered under his breath and ran his hands through his hair before wincing. The main reason he had come to see them was to reassure himself that Willow had dealt with the situation and that Alex understood the position she was placed in. The earlier discussion seemed to suggest that Alex had only been told the bare bones of the history and didn’t really have any idea of Willow’s strengths.

“So what, you’re still doing spells and stuff?” Alex opened her arms and took a few steps away from Willow. “You told me that was all behind you”

“No, I said the dark forces were under control, I never said I didn’t still undertake magic when I needed to” Willow tried to keep her voice low, she really didn’t want to escalate this into an argument, particularly in front of Giles. “The only spells I’ve done since Sunnydale have been some healing stuff with Dawn when she broke her arm”

“No love spells?” Alex asked belligerently.

“What?” Willow shouted and then closed her eyes. “Of course I haven’t used any love spells on you”

Alex noticed the slight hesitation and started to get really worried, the love spell slur had been a stab in the dark in anger but it looked like she had hit a nerve. “You’ve done something, haven’t you?” she suddenly got very quiet.

Willow swallowed. “When you hurt your knee, out running a few months ago, I helped the recovery along a little” she finally looked up and met Alex’s shocked gaze. “I was only trying to help, you were in so much pain”

“Since when did you get to decide what other people feel?” Alex shook her head and reached for her jacket. “I can’t be near you right now” she brushed past Willow and walked out.

Willow took a deep breath before returning to the sitting room. Giles was cleaning his glasses and waiting for her to tell him what was going on. “It’s Tara all over again” she sighed and slumped down onto the floor in front of the fireplace. “I just can’t seem to get it through my thick head” she sat cross legged, her head in her hands.

“What did you do?” he asked quietly and leaned forward.

“Just a teensy healing spell on her knee about six months ago” she shrugged and looked up to see him shaking his head. “I know, but I didn’t think she’d ever find out and..” she stopped and groaned. “Don’t” she whispered as he took a deep breath.

“Willow, you of all people should know how important it is to respect someone’s free will” he stood up to pace a little.

“She was in pain and I’m in love with her Giles” she tried to make him understand. “I can feel how much pain you’re in from here and I want to help you, why is that so wrong?” she looked up at him.

“You don’t need me to tell you” he shook his head. “I’m sorry that I caused the argument between you, but if you only gave Alex half of the story then this will happen whenever a new detail crops up” he stood up to lean against the fireplace. “You need to get all of this out in the open now and let Alex decide if she can deal with the whole package”

“She’s only home for another six weeks, it would take longer than that to give her the full history” she scowled. “And anyway, there is a lot of stuff that we did that I'm really proud of and I’m getting a bit pissed at having to apologise for everything that I’ve done in the past eight years”

“Nobody’s asking you to apologise” he sat back down on the edge of the chair. “But if Alex is truly the one you want to be with then you must tell her everything that happened with you around Tara’s death”

“Some of it isn’t mine to tell” she looked up at him. “She doesn’t know about Buffy dying and the resurrection” she watched as he shook his head. “Oh come on, do you know how much she’s had to take in over the last couple of weeks?”

“But if you drip feed the information to her then she’s constantly going to be waiting for the next big revelation” he explained. “I know this is very difficult and I’ll help as much as I can” he started.

“No” she interrupted. “You’re right, I’ve just got to tell her everything and deal with the fallout” She sniffed and sat up a little straighter. “Anyway, I’m fed up talking about my problems, why are you back early and what did you do to yourself?”

He explained about the incident on the flight and Dr Crow’s diagnosis. “He says a few weeks rest should see it healed” he shrugged and then winced again. “I’ve got to remember to stop doing that” he cradled his right arm in his left.

“Please, let me help you?” she stood up and held out her hand to help him. “Call it repayment for the increasingly frequent pep talks”

“OK” he smiled and yawned. “But would you mind coming back to my place because if you’re going to tell me to relax I’ll probably sleep for three days”

“You call a cab and I’ll get some bits and pieces together” she smiled and headed for the bedroom.

*****

Alex came home to find the house empty. “Willow?” she called out and then tried each room. In the bedroom she found a note on her pillow and gulped as she stood looking at it. “She can’t have left you, this is her house” she muttered to herself and gingerly picked it up. She blew out a deep breath when she read that Willow had taken Giles back to his place and would be back in time for dinner. Her finger traced the W initial with three small kisses under it until her eyes teared up and she couldn’t read it any more. Sniffling she went to the kitchen to start dinner before heading for a shower.

Willow arrived home three quarters of an hour later, having left Giles in less pain and almost asleep on his feet. She dropped her bag at the front door and sniffed at the aromas coming from the kitchen. She smiled and looked around the sitting room before hearing the shower. Dropping clothes as she went she finally arrived in the bedroom in her underwear just as Alex appeared from the bathroom wrapped in a towel and drying her hair. “Dinner smells good” she suggested and stood rather awkwardly. “I thought I’d take a shower before we eat” she pointed towards the bathroom and felt rather foolish.

“Sounds like a good idea” Alex shrugged and let the towel drop to the floor. “I could probably do with a shower myself” she watched Willow’s eyes close in relief before making up the space between them. “Is Giles OK?” she asked as she held Willow in her arms.

“He’s fine and I’m really sorry” Willow took a shaky breath. “I never meant to control what you were feeling and I’d never do anything again without discussing it with you” she mumbled and started to kiss Alex’s neck as her girlfriend’s hands evened them up in the clothing stakes.

“Please stop apologising” Alex managed before letting her head roll back and sighing deeply. “I just got a bit of a shock and we can talk about the boundaries and stuff later” she licked her suddenly dry lips.

“We need to talk about some other stuff too” Willow looked up and waited for Alex to open her eyes and meet her gaze. “Everything out in the open, once and for all” she promised.

“Does it involve you being straight again?” Alex asked as she breathed deeply.

“What?” Willow looked completely confused.

“Cause if it doesn’t it can definitely wait till later” Alex lifted one eyebrow and knew her grin was widening at the same speed as Willow’s.