Watchers Council

Chapter 4

Xander signalled to Buffy as she entered the cafeteria. She nodded to him and collected a tray of food before heading towards him. “Hey Xan, how goes the building blocks business?” she grinned.

He shook his head. “Going well, we’re ahead of schedule on the gym but the pool is causing some problems”

They ate in silence for a moment or two. “Have you heard from Giles or Willow about the holiday?” she finally asked.

“Nope, I was just going to ask you the same thing” he admitted.

“I finished classes two weeks ago and I thought you were all waiting for me so which one of them is it that’s holding it up now?” she sighed and pushed her bowl of ice cream towards him.

He grinned and tucked into the desert. “Last time I spoke to Giles he said he only needed two more days to confirm some prophecy or other and then he was good to go”

“I’ll see Willow after lunch, you speak to Giles and we’ll try to get them away from here on Friday afternoon” she huffed. “At the very least they can take a long weekend to discuss the holiday plans”

Xander nodded in agreement and checked his watch. “I’d better go, see you at dinner to report back?”

She nodded and sat in silence for a few minutes more before pushing away from the table and taking a deep breath. “I just hope she isn’t still mad at me” she shook her head and trudged towards her friend’s office.

“Can I help you?” a young man asked as she entered Willow’s room.

“Looking for Will, I mean Ms Rosenberg” she stuttered.

He nodded and returned to the papers he had been looking through. “I think she went for a walk in the garden to read through some research papers”

“Thanks” Buffy waved but he was engrossed in what he was doing and didn’t even acknowledge that she had left. She took a turn through the main entrance and tried to find Willow amongst the carefully laid out lawns. Shaking her head she stood to think for a moment before clicking her fingers and heading round the side of the building.

In the early days of their tenancy Giles had come to Buffy with an idea that he wasn’t sure about. He wanted to erect some sort of memorial for the people they had lost in Sunnydale, people who no longer had graves that could be visited. Buffy had thought about it for several days before agreeing with him that it would be the best way to honour those who had fought beside them. It was Xander who had come up with the idea of a large granite obelisk, inscribed with the names of those who no longer had a resting place in Sunnydale. The obelisk had been sited behind the main building on a piece of ground overlooked by old oak trees. A short ceremony had been held and the memorial dedicated by representatives of the main religions and belief systems followed by those in residence. Dawn, Buffy, Xander and Giles had all been deeply moved by the ceremony but they had all admitted afterwards that their concerns revolved around Willow’s reaction to seeing Tara’s name. Willow had been quiet for many days before and after the ceremony but she had eventually seemed to return to normal, although none of them ever heard her mention the memorial.

Buffy walked slowly towards the secluded spot and recognised her friend sitting on one of the benches, deep in thought while poring over a pile of papers. “Hey Will” she said quietly and sat down next to her.

“Buffy, what’s up?” Willow asked and marked her place in the report.

“Nothing’s up” Buffy shrugged and squinted at their surroundings. “Just came to see how you were and some pimple faced twelve year old in your office said you were slacking off in the grounds”

Willow chuckled and shuffled the papers together before placing them back into her bag. “That would be Danny and he does look incredibly young doesn’t he?” she giggled a little. “Actually he’s a year older than us but the shy boy thing works well for him with some of the girls so he hasn’t bothered to lose it yet”

They sat together in silence for a while before Buffy sighed. “This is a beautiful place, do you come here often?” she asked.

“Does that line still work for you?” Willow asked incredulously and grinned as Buffy looked shocked. “I come here about twice a week, it’s peaceful and helps me to think stuff through” she admitted.

“I usuabrinbring flowers whenever I get back here and before I leave but I don’t seem to get the time to visit while I’m teaching” Buffy shrugged. “We were all kind of worried about you when the ceremony took place, did you sort out whatever you were going through?”

“I guess” she shrugged. “I haven’t tried to destroy the planet recently so I take that as a positive sign” Willow grinned.

“Talking about positive signs” Buffy took a breath and wrestled the conversation round to the topic she wanted. “Can you get out of here this weekend?”

Willow looked a little confused. “I suppose, where am I going?” she asked.

“Xander and I are getting fed up waiting for our holiday and you keep blaming Giles and he keeps blaming you for the delays so we’re all going away for a long weekend to relax and plan the proper break” she nodded.

“Sounds like a plan to me, where are we going?” she shrugged her shoulders.

“Ah!” Buffy admitted sheepishly. “Xander and I were expecting you and Giles to put up more of a fight so we really haven’t planned anything concrete yet” she grinned. “How about we drive down to the beach and spend a few days lazing and soaking up some sun?”

“OK” Willow jumped up and gathered her bag. “We’ll meet up at dinner tonight to confirm things” she nodded and turned back towards the main building. “I’d better go and offload some more work onto Danny if I’m going to sneak off” she grinned and left Buffy sng ong on the bench.

After a few moments of confusion she stood up and placed her hand against the cool stone. “Thanks guys, I couldn’t have done it without you” she murmured and headed towards Giles’ office to see how Xander was getting on.

*****

“I suppose so” Giles grudgingly conceded to the person on the other end of the phone. “Just let me check my diary” he sighed in resignation and put the call on hold. “Dawn, have I anything in my diary for this weekend?” he shouted through to her office.

“Yep” she answered and grinned at Xander, putting her fingers to her lips to keep him silent.

“I do?” he sounded surprised but shook his head and shouted at her again. “What about next weekend?”

“Nope” she was struggling not to laugh now and had her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggles.

Giles took the call off hold and explained to the person that he wasn’t available until the following weekend but he could probably fly up to them and spend a week or so sorting through their problems. When the other person was satisfied he hung up the phone and made some notes of the gist of the conversation. Finally he stood up and walked into Dawn’s office. “What do I have in the diary for this weekend?” he asked. “I don’t remember planning anything”

Xander had sneaked out of her office while Giles was finishing the call and met up with Buffy in the corridor. He gave her the thumbs up sign and they both grinned and went their separate ways.

That night they met up in the cafeteria for dinner. “Did you call the rental place?” Xander asked as soon as he sat down.

“Uhuh” Buffy nodded and waved to Willow and Giles as they came into the room.

When everyone was seated Giles brandished his fork at Xander. “That was sneaky, you shouldn’t bribe Dawn that way” he scowled.

Willow raised her eyebrows. “What did you bribe her with?” she asked and saw Buffy look interested as well.

“A private arrangement between Dawn and myself involving an introduction for her to one of my more studly construction workers” he admitted and waited for the outcry to die down a little. “I wouldn’t set her up with anyone I wasn’t sure about, would I?” he asked and watched the three others grudgingly admit that this was unlikely. “I’ve also fully briefed him on what a retired slayer, retired watcher and retired witch can do to a boy who misbehaves on his first date” he nodded and returned to his dinner.

Buffy and Giles stared at him, completely speechless but Willow had a calculating look on her face. “Not so much with the retired” she mumbled and waved her fingers at him.

“Willow” Giles dragged the name out slowly under his breath as he watched Xander’s cutlery bend and twist as if it were made of paper. “Not when the children are around” he glanced at the other diners to see if anyone else had noticed her actions.

“Sorry” she pouted and muttered a single word to return Xander’s cutlery to normal.

“Anyhoo” Buffy raised her eyebrows and let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. “Now that we are all agreed, I’ve booked the place at the beach and we should be there in time for dinner on Friday night”

Xander knocked his fork against the table a couple of times to make sure it was solid before continuing to eat. “I don’t need to be back until Tuesday morning so we could keep the cabin till Monday night if you guys can spare the time?” he looked towards Willow and Giles and they both nodded agreement. “Great, I’ll pick you all up in front of the main entrance at three on Friday afternoon and don’t forget the bikinis” he wagged his finger at the two women. Willow giggled as Buffy kicked him under the table and Giles rolled his eyes.

*****

“It feels weird to be sneaking out while everyone else is still working” Willow whispered as she met up with Giles in the main hallway.

“I know” he looked around to see if anyone was watching them. “Definitely feels like we’re bunking off and my father is going to catch us any time about now” he smiled at the ridiculous situation.

“Hey Giles, Will” Buffy marched into view carrying a tiny bag and her jacket.

“Sssshhhh” Willow hissed at her and Buffy immediately began tiptoeing towards them.

“Who are we hiding from?” she whispered as she grinned at Giles.

He shrugged and was about to explain their strange behaviour when Xander sounded his horn outside. “Never mind” he sighed and held the door open for the girls to precede him.

*****

“But we’ve only got another fifteen minutes till we’re there” Xander explained for the third time.

“And I’m telling you I need to stop now!” Buffy insisted and nudged Willow as she started to giggle next to her.

“Perhaps if you hadn’t consumed a giant slurpy at the last stop” Giles sighed and indicated the next exit to Xander.

“That’s better” Buffy grinned as she met them back at the car. “Do we need any supplies?” she asked and pointed to the store.

“Nope” Willow nodded towards the trunk. “I filled up on barbecue supplies at the last stop and Giles has banned slurpies for the duration” she frowned.

“Much as I’m enjoying our road trip to every truck stop I thought the idea was to get to the beach and relax this weekend?” he suggested and climbed back into the car. “Xander can we please not have the same music for the last leg, perhaps something a little more soothing?”

Xander stuck his tongue out at him and turned the volume down a little. “Listen you are on a road trip with three happening young adults, you should be glad of the chance to be brought up to date with the latest tunes” he patiently explained.

Buffy giggled from the back. “Xan we’ve been listening to the Best of the Eighties since the turn off the freeway”

“If that is the best I shudder to think what the rest of it was like” Giles suggested in his stuffiest tones and winked at Willow in the mirror.

She grinned back at him and yawned. “It’s only five and I’m sleepy already” she put her hand over her mouth to cover an even larger yawn.

“That’s because you’re finally relaxing” Xander nodded. “You can keep going on adrenaline for weeks but eventually your body needs to relax” he wagged his finger at her. “This is what we’ve been warning both of you about” he turned back to the front to waggle his finger at Giles. Giles glared at him then stuck his tongue out and laughed along with the others as Xander stared at him in astonishment.

*****

“Wow” Willow dropped her large bag at her side. “Look at that view”

The three others were standing next to her, all of them staring out the large picture window at an incredible view of the ocean. “I’ll see your wow and raise you a woo-hoo” Xander mumbled and shook his head. “Last one in the ocean cooks dinner”

Buffy and Willow picked up their bags and dived for the nearest rooms. Giles shook his head and carried the grocery bags into the kitchen. Two minutes later the girls came tearing out and headed through the open french windows to the sand. Xander trailed behind them and they screamed as he caught up with them near the edge of the water.

The barbecue was on the deck facing the ocean and Giles lit it to his satisfaction before preparing the steaks in the kitchen. Once it was ready he chose the remaining room and changed into shorts and a loose shirt, smiling at his reflection in the mirror. He was sitting on the deck, occasionally checking on the steaks and baked potatoes and drinking a beer when the three friends returned.

“You should have joined us” Buffy picked up a towel to dry off her hair. “The water was lovely after the long drive”

“Perhaps in the morning” he shrugged. “I was hungry and thought you might all be ready for dinner”

“You are a mind reader” Willow flopped onto the chair next to him. “Thanks Xan” she smiled and took a long pull from her bottle of beer.

“This is the life” Xander sighed and toasted the others as he settled onto the top step next to Buffy and watched the waves roll onto the beach.

“Indeed” Giles sighed and they all lapsed into a contented silence for a few minutes. “If you want to change before we eat I suggest you go now, this is nearly ready” he finally roused himself to turn the steaks one last time.

“Giles” Xander sighed as the two girls nodded and headed inside. “We just got the two most beautiful women we know into wet swimsuits and you go and tell them to put more clothes on” he shook his head. “Sometimes I think Watchers are immune to female flesh”

“Quite a few of them are” he acknowledged with a wry grin and waited for Xander to catch his meaning. He chuckled as Xander turned to stare at him in surprise. “However, I expect I’ll have plenty of chances to see them in their swimsuits and I don’t want to be distracted from my dinner”

They were laughing together when the girls returned, both having thrown shorts and t-shirts on over their swimsuits. Willow threw a t-shirt to Xander and went back inside to the kitchen. “What’s so funny?” Buffy asked and Giles left Xander to explain his comments while he helped Willow lay the table.

*****

Willow pushed back from the table and stretched her legs out in front of her. “Good old American cooking, at last” she sighed.

“Finest there is” Xander agreed and helped Buffy collect the dishes from the table. “Anyone for coffee or are we sticking to the beer?”

“Beer is fine for me” Giles mumbled. “Perhaps we could sit on the deck for a little longer before the bugs get to us?” he asked and returne his his chair, resting his feet on the railing of the deck.

Willow sat next to him and pulled her knees against her chest as she watched the waves lap against the shore. “It’s so peaceful” she sighed and lapsed into silence.

Buffy and Xander joined them ten minutes later, Buffy handing a coffee to Willow before joining Xander on the top step again. “This is nice” she smiled and the group fell into silence again.

Giles had almost nodded off when he heard Willow squeak a little beside him. He opened one eye and turned his head to see what was bothering her. She was ineffectually swatting at tiny flies and he smiled as he watched her. His heart lurched as he remembered nearly losing her to the dark energies she had absorbed after Tara’s death. He shook his head, cursing the return of the memories at such a happy time. He sat up a little and saw Buffy and Xander having the same problem. “Do we want to move inside or shall I get rid of the flies?” he asked quietly.

“You have a can of Raid and you’ve waited till now to tell us?” Xander scowled at him.

“It seems such a shame to miss the sunset but we should probably go inside” Willow sighed and made to stand up.

He put his hand out to rest on her knee and winked at her as he murmured a short Aramaic phrase. Willow shuddered as she felt a brief burst of energy then stared in awe as the flies flew in one swarm back out towards the ocean.

“Hey” Buffy said quietly and then snuggled against Xander’s side as she got comfy again. “Neat trick Giles” she smiled.

He shrugged as Willow stared at him and settled back into the chair. Willow shook her head and chuckled. He never failed to surprise her, even after all these years and with all that had happened to them. She let the final warmth of the day seep under her skin and just enjoyed being with the three people closest to her in the world. The sun slowly sank towards the sea and she gently shook Giles’ arm just before it disappeared completely. He had fallen into a light sleep and smiled at her as he watched the sunset through half closed eyes.

*****

The next morning Buffy was sitting eating breakfast when Xander staggered into the kitchen. “Mornin’” Buffy mumbled before returning to her book.

“Morning” he yawned and poured himself some cereal. “Where are the others?” he asked as he settled down at the table.

“Still asleep” she shrugged. “I checked on Willow when I got up and she looked like she was still dead to the world”

“I guess the relaxation thing is finally kicking in for them?” he suggested. “Perhaps they’ll take us seriously when we talk about a longer break.” When he had finished his breakfast he lifted both of their plates and washed them before turning and leaning against the sink. “So it’s just you and me?” he raised his eyebrows. “Any plans or do we just frolic in the sea until sleeping beauty and Willow wake up?”

Buffy chuckled and stretched as she stood. “I’ll just check on Will then frolicking sounds good”

“I’ll make sure Giles is OK and meet you down there” he grinned and took a deep breath as he watched her disappear into her bedroom. “No way she was ever going to go for me” he sighed and shook his head.

Willow finally surfaced just before noon and wandered into the kitchen in her pj’s. She was still wiping the sleep from her eyes when she stopped to stare at the sight before her. Giles was standing on the deck and using a foot pump to blow up several inflatable beach toys. He was facing out towards the sea and watching Xander chase Buffy towards the rocks at the end of the beach. What captivated her was what he was wearing, or rather what he wasn’t. He was standing in a pair of beach shorts and a loose t-shirt without any sleeves. The leg that was working the foot pump showed pretty good definition of his calf muscles and she justjust tilted her head a little to see if she could make out the thigh when he turned and saw her staring at him. “Hey” she jumped back and bit her lip, praying that he wouldn’t notice the blush as he was wearing sunglasses.

“Good morning, Willow, did you sleep well?” he asked pleasantly. “If you want some breakfast it’s in the kitchen or yan wan wait till we go for lunch in an hour or so” he took his glasses off and came inside to see her better. “Why on earth are you wearing fleecy pyjamas?” he laughed.

She clutched her top to her chest and took another couple of steps back. “I thought it would get cold at night and I didn’t think I’d be sleeping during the day and what time is it and shouldn’t you be wearing a shirt, you know with the sun and everything” she had edged almost back to her bedroom door.

He looked down and realised what she was talking about. “Oh no, I’ve got plenty of sun cream on, you don’t need to worry about me” he smiled and didn’t notice her discomfort. “I’ll put some on you when you’re ready?”

She stood stock still and stared at him. “I just need to change” she indicated her clothing and darted into the bedroom. “What on earth was that?” she asked as she stared at herself in the mirror on the back of the door. When he had offered to help her with the sun cream she’d suddenly had an extremely vivid mental picture of him rubbing cream all over her body, his strong hands kneading the muscles in her back as she stretched under his attentions. She blew out several deep breaths before starting to pace. “Obviously had too many beers last night and coupled with the romantic sunset and relaxy thing..” she trailed off in her list of probable causes for her mind’s aberration. “Giles?” she asked and ran her hands through her hair. She paced for another moment or two before stopping in front of the mirror again and pointing to herself. “Aha!” she fixed herself with her own steely gaze. “Sunstroke” she nodded several times and headed for the shower to try to cure the sudden onset of sunstroke that had undoubtedly caused her minor mental breakdown.

Giles headed down to the others with a large alligator under one arm and a shark under the other. “Willow’s up” he smiled as Xander grabbed the shark and threw it into the water. “She’s just getting changed”

Buffy sighed and looked a little glum as he handed her the alligator. “Sharks are way cooler” she explained and set off at a run to catch up with Xander.

He was about to ask what on earth had gotten into them when he realised he would be wasting his time. Buffy and Xander were reliving their childhood beach holidays. He shook his head as he sat on his towel and stretched out, laughing as Buffy ducked Xander again. Perhaps they had the right idea, after all none of them could afford to indulge their inner child at work, although neither him nor Willow seemed to be having much success even now that they were free from their responsibilities.

“Room for one more?” Willow asked ten minutes later as she lay her towel down next to him.

“I think we could squeeze you in” he grinned and pointed at the others. “They appear to be finding the fun” he shrugged.

“Perhaps they’ve got the right idea” she pushed her sunglasses up her nose and pulled her knees against her chest.

“That’s just what I was thinking” he smiled at her and sat up to lean on his hands. “Do you want some sun cream?” he asked and was surprised to see her shudder a little. “Are you feeling OK?” he asked in concern and turned on his side to watch her.

“Fine” she managed to smile at him. “I think I maybe drank a little too much last night” she shrugged as she grasped at number three on her list of probable causes.

“You’re probably just dehydrated” he nodded. “I’ll get you some water” he jumped up and headed back towards the house before she could stop him.

She turned to watch him walk away from her and found herself watching his butt again. Instead of being freaked out this time she took some time to analyse her reactions and nodded slightly to herself as she admitted that he had a really nice butt. She turned to watch Xander and Buffy splashing in the waves. As Xander ran out of the water towards her she tried to work out why she wasn’t as interested in his butt, after all she had been in love with him for many years. It was no good, her sunstroke was only making her have inappropriate thoughts about Giles. “Perhaps not” she muttered under her breath as Buffy chased Xander, running past her. She stared at Buffy’s butt, “Nope” she sighed. “Just Giles” she lay down to let the sun fry some more of her brain.

*****

“Willow?” Buffy stood in front of her friend. “What is wrong with you, that’s the third time I’ve asked you a question?”

“Oh, sorry” Willow mumbled and looked at her friend. “The hat looks really good on you” she suggested and smiled when Buffy nodded. It had been a guess but she knew she wouldn’t get that lucky again and tried to gather her thoughts and pay attention.

“Honestly” Buffy huffed as they moved away from the stall. “Anyone would think you didn’t like shopping or something”

“I’ve just got a lot on my mind” Willow shrugged. “Where are the guys?” she looked around the boardwalk without seeing them.

“They ducked into that comic store back there” Buffy nodded towards a tiny shop front. “Xander dragged Giles in to illustrate his point of why comics are better than books”

Willow stopped walking and stared at Buffy. “I’m not sure which one of them will need rescuing but I’m sure we should get them out of there”

Buffy shook her head. “I told them I wasn’t getting involved and besides, I want to see the jewellery on the next stall” she pulled Willow to her side and they oohed and aaahed over various bracelets and necklaces made from beads and shells.

Giles shook his head and looked around the various stalls to locate the girls. “Xander you will never persuade me” he sighed and pointed. “Let’s meet up with the girls and sort out something for lunch, I’m starving”

Xander shook his head but followed him. “I just think you need to open your mind a little to more modern forms of expression” he was explaining patiently when they came within earshot of Buffy and Willow.

The girls both laughed and Buffy put her hand on Xander’s arm. “I think you’re going to have to call this one a draw Xan, I know that look on his face and he isn’t going to change his mind”

Willow put her arm through Giles’ and the two couples wandered towards several different restaurants and bars. When they had chosen one, Giles held Willow’s chair for her and then headed off to the bar to sort out some drinks. Buffy and Xander were scanning the menu and by the time he had returned they had all agreed on cheeseburgers and fries. “We ordered for you” Willow smiled as he set down a large diet coke in front of her. “Hey, how come I’m on the soft stuff and you’re all drinking beer” she pointed at the three bottles and pouted.

“You said you thought you had too much to drink last night so I thought you’d rather stick to the non alcoholic today” Giles shrugged and tucked his sunglasses into his shirt pocket.

“How could you drink too much?” Xander snorted into his beer and wiped away the froth that bubbled at the neck of the bottle. “You only had two light beers!”

“Probably just too much sun or something” Willow muttered and scowled as she blew bubbles in her drink with her straw. Now that they were discussing her unusual behaviour this morning she was reminded of the even more unusual feelings she had been experiencing. Her mind had been concentrating on working out what was wrong with her while they had all been shopping but she hadn’t come up with any reasonable explanations. The only thing she could imagine was that she was the victim of a love spell but she absolutely refused to believe that Giles would do that to anyone, let alone her and she knew that Xander and Buffy didn’t have the power to undertake anything like that. She realised that she had tuned out again when she noticed that all three of her lunch companions were staring at her. “What?” she asked.

“Willow are you feeling alright?” Giles asked softly and moved his chair a little closer to her. “Is something troubling you or has someone done something to upset you?”

“No” she shook her head but realised that she hadn’t even convinced herself. “It’s just being away from the compound and I’m worried about some of the projects I have running and perhaps we shouldn’t all be away from there at the same time and….” She trailed off and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry guys, it’s just taking me a little while to get with the sun, sea and sand frolicking programme”

Giles leaned towards her and placed his hand on her arm. “Are you sure?” he looked seriously into her eyes.

She gazed into his eyes and felt her stomach melt and her knees go wobbly. Blinking rapidly she took a shaky breath and continued to stare back at him. “I’m sure and I’m sorry, I’ll try to relax”

Giles kept eye contact for a moment longer but their food had arrived and he obviously wasn’t going to get any more out of Willow on the subject. He looked back towards Xander and Buffy and they both frowned and shrugged their shoulders, they had no idea what was bothering her either. “Let’s eat, I’m starving” he suggested and everyone tucked into their food. One thing troubled him for the rest of the day however, he was sure he had seen complete confusion in Willow’s eyes when she had stared at him, almost as if she was seeing him for the first time.