Watchers Council

Chapter 2

She could barely make out Xander among the group of men standing around the table in the middle of the building site. Waiting till he had finished she watched him at work, explaining pertinent points from the drawings spread out in front hem hem and patiently dealing with questions from the English consultant who was standing looking over his shoulder. Eventu the the other men all nodded their heads and the group split up, except for Xander and his shadow as he obviously explained some points again.

She shook her head and took pity on him. “Mr Harris, do you have a moment?” she was standing behind him and saw him straighten his shoulders a little as he turned round to answer her.

He grinned when he saw who it was and winked at her. “Ms Rosenberg, always a pleasure, have you met Mr Smythe?” he turned to the young man standing beside him. “Mr Smythe, Ms Rosenberg is our Head of Research and Development”

The young man shook her hand a little timidly, he had heard of her of course and quickly decided he was surplus to requirements. “I’ll head back to the site office and get up to date with the paperwork” he suggested and nodded.

Willow barely managed to let him get out of earshot before giggling. “You’ve been scaring the tourists again” she punched his arm. “As soon as you introduced us he got the scared rabbit look and couldn’t wait to get out of here”

“Perhaps I mentioned some of your more unusual talents” he acknowledged and dropped his hard hat on the table before putting his arm round her. “How weird is it to be Mr Harris and Ms Rosenberg!” he smiled as they headed back towards the main building. “I still can’t get used to it”

“I know what you mean” she grinned. “You’re alright, you’ve still got your construction crew with you, I’ve got sixty year old librarians calling me Ms Rosenberg”

“I wonder what Giles threatened them with if they didn’t kowtow enough?” he held open the door for her.

Willow shrugged and looked up at him in surprise. “Buffy?” she suggested wryly and the friends were still laughing when they arrived at her office.

“Did you need me for anything or were you just rescuing me from the walking clipboard?” he asked as he threw his jacket over the back of a chair before slumping into it.

“Uhuh” she mumbled as she quickly read ugh ugh some of the messages on her desk. “I was talking to Giles and he is getting a bit frayed at the edges so I suggested we take a road trip to chill out” she looked up at him and saw the grin that meant he liked what he was hearing.

“Sounds like a plan, I would only need three or four day’s notice to clear my schedule at the moment” he rubbed his hands together and got the old Xander twinkle in his eye. “So which is it to be Sodom or Gomorrah?”

“Xander!” she started to laugh. “Remind me to tell you what they actually mean and I don’t think you want to go to either of those places with Giles or me”

He looked embarrassed. “Probably best you don’t explain” he nodded at her in agreement. “But seriously, where are we going and is the Buffster coming?”

“Don’t know, I came to ask you first” Willow shrugged. “Perhaps you could think about it and we’ll all have dinner tomorrow night to sort out some plans”

“Best news I’ve had all day” he sighed. “I’d better get back before Mr Smythe tries bossing the drywall crew around again – he nearly ended up inside a partition wall yesterday” he picked up his jacket and headed back out.

Willow spent the next hour catching up on some urgent business before heading back over to Giles’ office. “Hey, I’m back” she smiled round the door at him. “Anything you need me to do?”

“Not really” he squinted at her as he glanced up froe boe book he was reading. “I was just checking over a prophecy or two before dealing with the requisition forms”

“Which means you’ll forget about them again and we won’t have any stationery or soap next week” she sighed and pulled up a chair next to him. “If I help you with them we can get through it in an hour or so”

“If you insist” he pouted and lifted the textbook out of her way.

“Does Dawn complete the orders for you or does she pass them onto someone else?” she asked forty minutes later.

“Not really sure” he admitted. “Perhaps you could leave them for her to sort out tomorrow?"

“Good idea boss man” she grinned and placed the stack of forms on his desk. “Ooohh I forgot to tell you, I spoke to Xander and he is definitely in on the trip”

“Who else do you want to ask?” he leaned back, tipping his chair onto the back legs. “Buffy, obviously, but I’m not sure if she can get away any time soon”

“I know but I’ll ask her anyway, how about Dawn?” Willow suggested and rested her feet on the edge of his desk.

“I’d rather she was here if I wasn’t” he admitted. “She’ll be able to deal with most of the queries and is the best person to decide whether we need to be contacted in an emergency”

Willow nodded and put her hands behind her head. “How about anyone else?” she asked shyly.

“Up to you and Xander but I can’t think of anyone I’ve missed” he shrugged.

“Metherther” she shrugged and they both settled into silence.

“Anyway” he dropped his chair to all four legs suddenly. “Have you come up with any venues?”

“Nope, but we could have a planning meeting tomorrow night, I’ll cook” she suggested.

“That would be lovely” he smiled at her. “Look, I don’t have anything else I need done today and I can probably deal with the phones until we shut up shop”

“I do have some things I should be attending to in my office” she nodded and headed for the door. “Can you tell Dawn I’ll pop round in the morning to bring her up to date?” she asked and grinned as he nodded. “I’ll also collect my winnings from the bet”

“Willow!” he shouted after her but she shut the door and headed for her own office.

*****

Dawn snorted into her coffee when Willow demanded payment for their bet the next morning. “He couldn’t possibly have lost that many files in one week – his personal best is ten!” she shook her head.

“You’re forgetting that the Board of Directors are here until tomorrow and you know how much that distracts him” Willow laughed. “Anyway, stop trying to wriggle out of the bet, you owe me seventeen dollars”

Dawn put her coffee down before rummaging in her handbag. “This plaster keeps getting in the way” she moaned as she finally pulled some money out and handed it over.

Willow took the money and backed out of the office, waving her hands in front of her. “Oh no you don’t, don’t think you can pull the sympathy-guilt thing with me, I’ve done my bit and you’re welcome to him”

Over dinner that night Xander and Buffy were laughing as Willow explained the bet to them. “If you’d told me I would have lost twice as many and we could have split the difference” Giles suggested and grinned. “It would make her think twice about breaking any limbs and leaving me in the lurch again”

Buffy shook her head as they all left the dining table and headed for the soft seats. “I don’t think you should be plotting to defraud my sister in front of me”

The four friends assumed various lounging positions and sipped at their coffees. “So have we decided on a holiday spot?” Xander finally asked.

Willow shook her head. “Nope, I’ve been too busy catching up at work”

“I won’t be able to get away for another month at least so I’ll choose the destination for the next one” Buffy shrugged.

Giles seemed to be asleep but roused himself enough to open one eye. “I don’t mind waiting till you’re able to be part of the trip”

Buffy looked at Willow and Xander and saw them nod in agreement. “If you’re sure that would be great, the old gang together again” she grinned and they all sank into silence again as they tried to come up with a place to head for.

After ten minutes or so Willow leaned across and lifted the mug of coffee from Giles’ hand, placing it on the nearest table. “He’s exhausted, that’s why we need to take a break because he won’t stop unless we’re there to make him” she pulled a blanket from the back of her chair and placed it over him. “I had no idea how much red tape he has to work through just to get the simplest thing past the Board” she sighed and motioned to the others to follow her to the kitchen. “This week he has been working eighteen hours a day and he’s trying not to burden us with too much but he doesn’t have anyone else to share the load with”

Xander nodded. “I just assumed that the other watchers would rally round and all help out but they’ve just stood back and let him deal with everything”

Buffy sat up on the kitchen counter. “Especially when there are only twenty or so left” she nodded. “But the Board were right about one thing, Giles is the only one who could pull it all together”

An hour later Xander helped Buffy on with her coat. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take him home?” he asked Willow in hushed tones.

“He’s fine where he is and it would be a shame to waken him” Willow shrugged. “Anyway I’ve got some work to finish off so I’ll be down here for another couple of hours”

Buffy hugged her friend. “Thanks for dinner Will, I’ll let you have some idea of when I can get free of my classes and the number for the cabin on the lake”

Xander hugged her as well and smiled. “And I’ll get the details of the place at the beach”

Willow shook her head as she heard Buffy explaining patiently, once again, that she wouldn’t wear a bikini no matter how often he asked. Putting the kettle on she settled at the dining table with her laptop and pulled some folders from her briefcase.

*****

Giles groaned and tried to move but his neck was stiff and his arm had gone to sleep. He wasn’t sure if it was the chair or his back that creaked more ominously when he finally managed to stand up. After several moments he found the light switch for the table lamp and then his glasses on the table. Squinting round the room he checked his watch and shook his head as he saw it was four in the morning. He shuffled quietly to the bathroom and on his way back noticed Willow’s bedroom door sitting open and the bed obviously not slept in. Looking puzzled he returned to the living room and switched on the overhead light.

Willow winced as the light penetrated her eyelids and she slowly pushed herself up from the table top. “Oh goddess, what time is it?” she blinked several times before being able to focus on her wristwatch. “Four am, damn” she muttered and looked round to see why the lights had spontaneously come on. “Giles, are you OK?” she asked while running her hands through her hair.

“I would seem to be in a better condition than you right now” he suggested and moved to the kitchen. “Why didn’t you wake me when the others left?”

She yawned and followed him. “You seemed to be quite comfortable and I thought you needed the rest” she shrugged. “I know how hard you’ve been working and I’m worried about you”

“And you were using your laptop as a pillow because it’s good for your back” he suggested sarcastically. “You shouldn’t have to work till all hours of the morning, that’s why you have a team of people to delegate things to”

Willow laughed. “Mr Pot meet Mrs Kettle” she poured some milk into his tea. “Lets just agree that we both need this break and hope that we can last till the end of next month”