Watchers Council

Chapter 17

Giles helped Dawn on with her jacket as they all prepared to walk to her apartment. “I can’t believe I ate that much in one sitting” Dawn grinned at him.

“I think Xander must have stopped eating a week ago to pace himself” Giles suggested with a grin and followed her out to meet the others.

“He’s probably forgotten all about it” Buffy suggested to Willow and heard Alex laughing behind her. “Please Willow, I wanted all of us to be together today” she tried pouting.

“Come on Will, you can’t avoid him for much longer, he is one of your best friends, never mind being your boss” Alex reminded her and put her arm through Willow’s. “Besides you spent hours wrapping the presents, I want to see everyone opening them”

“OK” Willow mumbled and saw Dawn and Giles come out of the main building. “We’ll see you guys there” she said quickly and pulled Alex after her.

Buffy shook her head and turned towards her sister and Giles. “You have got to let her off the hook on this” she suggested and pointed towards where Willow was trying to speed walk while Alex reminded her about her knee.

“I haven’t said a word about it” he protested and grinned as Xander joined them. “Everything sorted?” he asked and rubbed his hands together as Xander nodded. “It really isn’t my fault that Willow won’t even speak to me” he shrugged and started to walk beside Buffy.

“I just wanted today to be all about our happy family and I’m not even sure she’s going to be able to sit in the same room as you” Buffy tried pouting at him to see if it worked any better than it had on Willow.

“If I remember my early Christmas’ correctly, we usually ended up with family members in every room of the house refusing to talk to each other” he smiled at her.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if you had just shouted at her and been furious” Dawn suggested. “It’s the understanding and wry amusement that she’s struggling to deal with” she nodded sagely.

“Alex and I are fine and I haven’t treated her any differently” he pointed out reasonably.

“Alex didn’t have a crush on you in high school and remember you in tweed suits being all mentory and fatherly” Xander reminded him.

“What do you want me to do, apologise to her for interrupting her snogging session in my office?” he asked and turned to Buffy. “Her own office is one floor away from mine, why didn’t she use it and save herself all of this embarrassment?”

“I thought you said you remembered what it was like?” Buffy said quietly and smiled wickedly up at him. “Sometimes in the heat of the moment anywhere will do, even a police car” she whispered.

“Buffy Summers” he warned her and scowled. “That was completely different, we were under the influence of magic and..”

“Aaaahaaa” Buffy stood in front of him and poked him in the chest. “Exactly my point” she grinned. “Willow was under the influence just as much as you and the other person were” she carefully reworded her sentence as Dawn and Xander caught up with them.

“But I didn’t blame the policeman for the events that unfolded” he explained uncomfortably. “Willow is blaming me”

“Policeman?” Xander asked and quirked an eyebrow at Buffy. “Tell all”

“Nope” Buffy shook her head and smiled sweetly at Giles. “I just think that you need to make the first move to clear the air”

“Oh all right” he mumbled and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Alex was breathing heavily and starting to feel the effects of the power walk. “Willow” she wheezed. “I’ve only been off the crutches for a few days, you need to slow down” she stopped to catch her breath.

“Sorry” Willow turned to see where the others were. “Ready?” she asked a few seconds later.

“Please just talk to him” Alex asked and slowly continued in the direction of Buffy’s apartment. “He isn’t mad and completely understands that we’re sorry” Alex assured her for the fifteenth time that week.

“I just keep remembering the look on his face when he realised what he’d interrupted” Willow moaned and closed her eyes to try to get rid of the mental picture.

“Oh for heaven’s sake, he thinks he interrupted us kissing, maybe preparing for something worse but not there yet” Alex grinned as Willow turned to stare at her. “I talked to him about it yesterday and apologised but he laughed and said he wasn’t so old that he had forgotten what it was like”

“But you didn’t tell him” Willow needed the reassurance about the lifeline Alex had thrown her. “He doesn’t know what we were actually doing”

“I think the longer you avoid him and go bright red whenever he is near you, the more he is going to get an idea that it’s a little worse than he thinks” Alex suggested. “Which is exactly why you need to talk to him and get back to normal”

*****

“I’m just sorry Danny couldn’t make it” Buffy sighed as she walked ahead with Dawn.

“He doesn’t usually make a big thing about Christmas but his father’s been ill so he needed to be there this time” she shrugged and looked towards her older sister. “He asked me to go with him” she whispered and blushed a little at Buffy’s astonished stare. “I said I had this thing to do with you guys but maybe I’d fly up to join him for New Year”

“That sounds serious” Buffy suggested and frowned a little. “Are you sure about him?”

“As sure as you can be about someone in this life” Dawn replied.

“You are too young to be that cynical” Buffy said sadly before sighing. “But he seems like a nice guy and I’m assuming he knows better than to hurt you”

“I would guess the s lec lectures he’s had separately from Willow, Xander, Giles and Alex would have prepared him even if he didn’t have any idea about the slayer” she suggested wryly.

“Hey, I should be the one doing the stern lecture thing” Buffy complained before looking at the couple in front of them and the two men behind. “Then again, maybe it’s good that you have so many people looking out for you” she shrugged.

“Peachy” Dawn sighed but continued to walk beside Buffy with a small grin on her face.

*****

“More eggnog for anyone?” Buffy asked as she poked her head around the kitchen door. She was met with a series of groans and shook her head before taking the apron off and picking up two large bowls of popcorn.

“I don’t think I can move” Xander groaned and spread himself out on the sofa a little more.

“Do you want me to open your presents for you?” Alex asked seriously and grinned as he sat up and glared at her. “It’s a miracle” she said dryly and handed him a large box with his name on it.

Once everyone had a couple of presents in front of them Alex held her hands up for some quiet. “Just before we start ruining the careful packaging” she smiled at them all. “I just wanted you all to know that this is the best Christmas I’ve had since I was five and it’s all down to you welcoming me into your family” she glanced around all of the slightly embarrassed faces. “Unless someone has bought me a pony in which case this is my best Christmas ever” she reassured them as they all laughed.

They settled down to opening the presents and the jewellery, clothing, books and DVD’s seemed to be to everyone’s liking. Once the paper had all been gathered Giles cleared his throat.

“Xander and I have worked together this year to give you all joint gifts” he said as he stood up and went to the hall cupboard.

“And it wasn’t just because it was cheaper” Xander reassured them all and helped Giles carry large packages into the room as the girls all laughed.

“Buffy and Dawn” Giles said as he squinted to read the labels on the two boxes he carried.

“Willow and Alex” Xander grinned and handed theirs over as well.

“They don’t explode?” Alex checked and saw the others looking a little suspiciously at their packages as well.

“Damn you’ve found us out” Giles said evenly. “After all nothing says Christmas quite like TNT”

“OK” Alex laughed and held up her hands in defence.

“I’ll go first” Buffy nodded and ripped her paper to reveal a carved wooden box. “Xander?” she looked up as she recognised his workmanship. “It’s beautiful” she leaned across to hug him.

The others all duly oohhed and aaahhed over their presents and several minutes were spent comparing the differing carving on each one. Eventually Xander glanced at Giles and shrugged. “The rest of the present is inside” he mimed opening the boxes and went to sit on the arm of Giles’ chair.

Silence fell on the room as they all opened the boxes to find neatly partitioned sections, each containing photographs. Dawn sniffled a little as she found pictures of her mother while Buffy and the others all sat in silence looking through several of their own before Willow finally looked up at Giles. “Where did you get them?” she asked and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

“I had all of my photographs in storage in England when Sunnydale was destroyed and Xander and I trd dod down some from relatives and on the internet” he shrugged and looked with concern as Willow, Buffy and Dawn all wiped tears away. “When he told me that none of you had any we agreed to see how many we could get copied in time for Christmas”

“Thank you” Alex was the first to stand and hug Giles. “This is perfect” she smiled and moved on to Xander.

Giles looked around to see the three other women in the room converging on him at once. “Ooff” ff” was all he could manage as they all hugged him and told him how wonderful the present was. He looked over his shoulder at Xander and Alex as they grinned at his predicament. “Help?” he suggested and was relieved to see them persuading Willow and Buffy to let go of him. “Dawn?” he looked down as she continued to bury her face against his shirt front. “Are you OK?” he asked quietly.

“I was scared I’d forget what she looked like” she whispered and finally looked up at him. “Where did you get the pictures of her from?” she asked and took a step back to give him some breathing space.

“I called your father” he admitted quietly and handed her his handkerchief. “He agreed to send me everything he had and I could copy what I wanted” he shrugged. “I still have all of them if you want to choose some more” he wiped the tears from her eyes. “It was quite difficult to find the time to do all of this without you finding out and I only had time to choose from a few of the albums he sent”

“Thank you” she sniffed again and stood back as Buffy hugged him and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.

“Dawn will explain about the other photographs you can choose” he smiled down at her and once again marvelled that Hank could live his life without either of his daughters. He didn’t think he could manage much more than a few weeks without seeing them and hated it when Buffy went on her travels for months at a time. Buffy stepped back and hugged Dawn as they both continued to cry a litte.

“Giles” Willow said quietly from behind him and he turned to see her holding Alex’s hand. She gulped a little before squeezing Alex’s hand and taking a step towards him. He opened his arms a little wider and she moved into them. “I’m sorry” she whispered and felt him swallow before running his hand through her hair. “Thank you for giving me back my memories” she sniffled a little and stepped back into Alex’s arms.

Alex looked at Giles over her shoulder and smiled at him. “Thanks to both of you for giving me somewhere to keep my future memories” she grinned at Xander as well. “But you’ll need to spend the rest of the afternoon telling me everything about each photograph” she suggested and everyone agreed that this would form the entertainment for the rest of the day.

*****

“So the knee isn’t going to stop you going away?” Dawn asked several hours later as she chatted with Alex in the kitchen.

“Nope” Alex shook her head. “To be honest if I don’t get a trip in soon I can see myself never wanting to leave again” she shrugged and leaned against the sink as she sipped her juice. “And I hear I’m not the only one flying off in the near future?” she raised her eyebrow.

“I’m only going to New York” Dawn shrugged and glanced at the others in the living room before confiding in Alex. “He phoned me this morning and said he was really miserable that we couldn’t be together today” she whispered.

“Sounds serious” Alex suggested and smiled at the grin on the young girl’s face. “Should I be getting a wedding present while I’m in Mexico?” she asked and laughed as Dawn blushed. “Or maybe it can wait till I’m in France in February?” she teased her some more.

“Don’t even joke about that in front of the others” Dawn begged. “I’m sure it isn’t coincidence that Giles recently mentioned some chastity belts that are in the stock room from the old storage warehouses”

“Isn’t it a bit late for that?” Alex smirked at Dawn’s blush. “Six months ago I would have assumed you were being metaphorical” Alex shook her head and laughed with Dawn as she realised how different her life had become. “So we just need to find someone special for Buffy and Xander and then we can get a discount at the jewellers” she suggested.

*****

“It can’t possibly be during our first year in school” Willow patiently explained to the others as they tried to date a particular group shot. “My hair was never that short when I was younger and anyway, Giles is wearing something other than tweed” she dropped the picture onto the table top and looked between Buffy and Xander.

“Fair point” Xander agreed and they returned to trying to figure out the correct date to write on the back of the photo for Alex.

Giles shook his head and checked if anyone needed anything to drink. Dawn passed him on his way to the kitchen and rolled her eyes as she heard them raising their voices again to argue about another photograph. He was chuckling to himself when he entered the kitchen and smiled at Alex as she stood waiting for the kettle to boil. “Apparently my choice of clothing is more accurate than carbon dating” he shrugged and put the glasses in the sink.

“Which reminds me” Alex pulled another mug down. “You are looking very dapper today” she smiled at him and held the mug up to ask if he wanted tea.

“Yes please” he smiled and looked down at his shirt. “This old thing, it’s just something I threw on” he assured her.

She shook her head and poured the hot water into the teapot to heat it. “What is Kate doing for Christmas?” she asked as she carefully measured the loose tea into the teapot.

“I think she mentioned she was visiting her sister” he tried to affect an unconcerned tone but smiled bashfully when she handed him his mug of tea with a raised eyebrow. “We’ve agreed to go out for dinner when she gets back in a couple of days” he admitted.

“And everything worked out OK, with the boy?” she quickly glanced at the door to make sure the others were still engrossed.

“He spoke to the students who were with him that night and admitted what he had been doing but asked them to help him stop” Giles sipped his tea. “I know you think it was a little over the top but it was important to be seen to take a stand on something like that, particularly when so many of our students knew about it” he blew across the mug.

“Surely slayers don’t need to get a high from anything?” she asked in a surprised tone of voice.

“It turns out the slayer metabolism is very susceptible to certain drugs” he shrugged. “Buffy can tell you how quickly alcohol affects her and it is no different for the others or with different stimulants” he shrugged. “It’s one of the research projects that the medical team are working on but, to be honest, I’m not in any hurry to find a way to let them all drink or take drugs”

“I would guess not” she nodded. “Anyway” she topped up his mug before her own. “The important thing is how grateful was Kate?” she giggled as he glared at her.

“Ms Sinclair is happy that her student has seen the error of his ways and continues to be interested in our teaching methods” he said seriously before breaking into a grin.

“I saw how you two danced that night” Alex reminded him and smiled as she saw the far away look on his face. “Just promise me that I’ll get regular updates while I’m away”

“You’re only going away for a week” he protested.

“In January” she reminded him and put her mug down quickly. “That reminds me I have a favour to ask” she limped to the doorway and glanced at the others before closing the door quietly. “Is there any way Willow can get some leave in February?” she whispered.

“I don’t see why not, she only has to fill in tolidoliday request forms and I’ll sign them off for her..” he didn’t get a chance to finish.

“No, I need her to get the holidays without her knowing about it” Alex explained patiently but saw his blank look so tried again. “I’m in France in February and I thought it would be cool to surprise her by flying her out to meet up with me in Paris” she glanced over her shoulder to make sure they were still alone. “I thought we could spend a couple of weeks seeing the sights before we flew back because the rest of my trips are likely to be short haul after that”

“I’ll have a quiet word with Dawn and we’ll sort it out for you” he grinned and raised his eyebrow. “So, Valentine’s Day in Paris?” he asked.

“You and Kate could always join us?” she suggested and saw him shake his head.

“Is everything alright at work?” he asked.

“Fine” she shrugged and lifted a bowl of popcorn before heading back to the others.

“Then why are your trips all going to be short haul?” he asked. “I’m assuming that means less travel abroad, are they annoyed at the time you’ve taken off?”

“It’s my decision” she smiled at him. “I asked them to start finding me different work, closer to home and on shorter shoots” she explained. “I’ve been near the top of my little world for a few years now and it’s time to start working in different areas” she followed him into the living room. “The agency want to keep me so they are talking to several photographers and trying to get me some more magazine work”

“What kind of magazines?” Xander asked with a grin and neatly side stepped Willow’s elbow.

“Cosmo, Vanity Fair, that type of thing” she grinned back at him and sat down on the sofa. “I get to wear more clothes and, hopefully, less travelling” suggeugged Willow as she sat down next to her. “And if it all works out I should be home more often” she kissed Willow lightly and smiled fondly at her.

“Remind me to change the locks on my office” Giles whispered to Xander and both of them started to laugh as the others stared at them.