Watchers Council

Chapter 8

Buffy was walking towards the main building when Willow and Xander came out, laughing and joking. She grinned as she flashed back to them walking down the front steps of Sunnydale High doing exactly the same thing. “Hey guys” she waved and went to meet them. “Why the grins, are they serving green jello in the cafeteria?”

Xander grinned and nudged Willow. “Nope, tell her Will”

“It’s supposed to be a secret” Willow said sternly then started to grin and grabbed Xander’s arm. “OK, but you have to promise not to tell anyone” she looked at Buffy.

“No problemo” Buffy waited to hear the news.

“No way” Willow shook her head. “You really need to promise this time, not like last time and then you tell Giles anyway” she poked Buffy’s shoulder. “I think I’m still kinda mad at you for telling everyone like that”

“Ouch” Buffy pretended to have been bruised. “Oh come on Will, you’re telling me you didn’t enjoy having to make up with Alex?” she held her arms out and shrug

“Just tell her Will, Giles already knows anyway” Xander looked round to see if they were alone.

“You told Giles a big secret before me?” Buffy pouted. “Now I really am hurt”

Willow looked a little embarrassed. “Well Giles is my friend too and he was the one who told us about the bonus, which was what made my idea doable and then Giles and Xan were telling me what they were spending their bonus on and I just had to tell..”

Buffy waved her hands in front of Willow’s face. “We’re getting a bonus?” she turned to er ter to confirm the good news. “How much?” she clutched her hands excitedly.

“Enough that the savings are now a deposit for the Harris-Summers Property Development Company to make their first purchase” Xander assured her and they danced a tiny dance of joy together.

“Hey” Willow looked pointedly at both of them. “That isn’t my secret” she glared at Xander. When they had stopped dancing and Xander had mumbled an apology for taking them off topic she finally turned back to Buffy. “Alex and I are going to live together until Christmas, just to see if it works out” Willow stood a little straighter. “And I’m going to buy her something outrageously expensive and faceted to celebrate!”

“Are we talking the food of many rabbits?” Buffy grinned at her friend. “Will, that’s great news” she hugged her tightly as soon as the answering nod started.

“And Will said I get to be best man” Xander tapped Buffy on the shoulder and got the old Xander glint in his eye. “Which means you’ve just got to get the ugly dress out of storage and we’re having a party”

Buffy shook her head vigorously. “No, no, no, no, no” she looked towards Willow and frowned. “Do I have to kick your ass again?” she asked.

“I’m only getting her a ring, there will be no wearing of ugly dresses and anyway, I kicked your ass if I remember correctly” Willow took a couple of steps back to stand behind Xander.

“I think I saved both of your delightful arses” Giles suggested as he appeared behind Buffy.

“How do you do that!” Willow and Buffy both said together and the small group started laughing.

“Much as I enjoy these trips down memory lane, perhaps we should all get back to work?” he suggested and watched Xander and Willow heading sheepishly in their different directions. “Buffy, do you have a moment?” he asked.

“Yep, I don’t have class for another half hour and I was just going to warm up, want to talk while we walk?” she headed up the front stairs. They had made it half way to the basement without a word having been spoken when Buffy turned to him. “You understand the concept of talking and walking together, right?” she asked.

“Of course” he muttered and indicated that she should continue towards the gym. “I suppose Willow told you about her plans” he sighed.

“That was why we were all doing the happy dance outside, she was just telling me about the bonus and the glass cutter she’s planning on buying Alex” Buffy grinned as she dropped her sweatshirt and bag on the ground and started to stretch her shoulders and neck. “Why do you have worried and anxious face?” Buffy stopped what she was doing and watched him. “Is there something wrong with Alex?” she was starting to get worried.

“No, absolutely not, well not as far as I know” Giles shrugged. “It’s just I’m a little worried that she is rushing into this and I don’t want her to get hurt”

Buffy shrugged as well and returned to her warm up. “Don’t scare me like that” she muttered. “Anyway, you’ve said it yourself, they are a great couple and I think that Alex really does mean it when she says she loves Willow”

“Well who wouldn’t?” he suggested and cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment. “What I mean is that they have only known each other for a few months and quite a lot of that time they’ve been apart”

“They met almost eight months ago and they know about the long distance thing that’s why Alex is going to live here for a while” Buffy lifted one leg onto the bar attached to the wall to continue her stretches. “Giles is there something wrong here that I don’t get because you are acting kind of weird”

“No, no” he shook his head and cleaned his glasses. “I’m just a concerned friend and I don’t want to see either of them hurt” he replaced his glasses as several students joined them in the room and began warming up as well. “I’d better get back to my office, Dawn has some papers I need to sign”

Buffy watched the door after it closed behind him for a while. It had been many months since she had seen him so distracted and he hardly ever did the glasses cleaning thing any more. She shook her head and promised herself that she would speak to Dawn later to see if she had noticed anything off about Giles recently.

*****

“I should really have given you my expenses report to sign” Dawn sighed as he handed her back a pile of letters.

“Sorry?” he shook his head slightly and tried to work out what she was talking about.

“You didn’t read any of those letters and I could have put a blank cheque in front of you and you’d have signed it” she dumped the letters on her desk before returning to his office and closing the door. “So what gives?” she asked and tapped her fingers on his desk.

“Please” he asked and put his hand out to stop the drumming. “I’m just a little distracted that’s all” he took his glasses off to clean them.

Dawn frowned. “Is everyone OK?” she asked, a little worried now. “You haven’t done the glasses cleaning thing since we came back from England and that scowl you’re doing right now is definitely out of the annoyed surrogate father booklet”

Giles stood up to look out of the window. “Willow and Alex are going to live together and Willow mentioned that she was planning on buying a ring with her bonus” he lifted his shoulders and took a deep breath in, holding it for several seconds before blowing it out and relaxing again. “So, about that moving on thing you were suggesting, any ideas where I could start?” he was still staring out of the window but she knew she wouldn’t be able to read anything in fac face anyway.

“Oh Giles, I’m really sorry” Dawn felt a knot form in her stomach. “I’m guessing you never had the chance to have a serious talk with Willow?” she asked quietly.

“Never have, never will” he sniffed and turned back to his desk. “I knew it was always doomed to failure anyway, after all she had chosen an entirely different path but I must admit to a little flicker of hope after the discussions at Xander’s the other night.” He looked up and saw her face, a mixture of happiness at her friend’s good news and sadness at his pain. “I’ll be alright Dawn, and this trip to Central America couldn’t have come at a better time” he shrugged again and smiled slightly. “So what did I just sign?” he asked.

She accepted his decision to change subjects and couldn’t think of anything else to say to ease his pain anyway. “Just the usual stuff, holiday requests for everyone, increase in wages and an agreement to turn the gym into a nightclub” shr shrugged and stood to return to her own office. “You know if there is anything I can do?” she left the sentiment open and smiled as he nodded.

She was nearly back at her desk before he shouted her name and she went back to the door between their offices. “That nightclub, would it have a singles night?” he grinned and picked up a report as she giggled and went to answer the phone.

*****

“I’m just not sure” Willow admitted as she finished her coffee. “I mean there are only so many times you can drag someone past jewellery shops to guess their favourites before they become suspicious”

Buffy grinned. “Why don’t you just buy the biggest one in the shop, I don’t know many women who would turn down a humongous diamond”

“I know but I don’t think that’s her, somehow” Willow scowled in frustration. “I just want this to be perfect”

“Well we still have another three weeks before the bonus gets paid and Alex comes back in a few days so I guess you still have some time” Buffy glanced at the wallclock. “Sorry Will but I’ve got to meet up with the mini-giles’ to sort out some of their training plans”

“Do you ever forget and call them that to their faces?” Willow giggled. “Or even worse, in front of Giles, you know how unimpressed he is with them”

“Worse than Wesley on a wimpy day” Buffy nodded and grinned. “I made the mistake of mentioning one of them near him yesterday and he almost growled” she laughed at the memory.wishwish Wesley would visit, it would be priceless to see his reaction to them”

“Oh I don’t know, he’s kind of toughened up a little in LA” Willow smiled. “Although he did still get tongue tied and blush when I told him about what I’d been up to since high school”

“I’m not surprised” Buffy stood up to leave. “Some of your exploits would make a marine blush” she winked as she turned away but could hear Willow spluttering and trying to decide whether to be happy or annoyed with her rep.

Buffy was half way through her meeting when one of the students knocked nervously and put her head round the door. “Sorry to disturb you but Ms Rosenberg said this was urgent” she handed Buffy a folded slip of paper and closed the door quickly. The young men in the room looked interested and ever so slightly concerned, something urgent to Willow and Buffy wasn’t necessarily good. Buffy stood up and walked to the other end of the room to read the message. “And you would know!” it said. Buffy looked completely mystified and checked both sides of the paper for any other message. She stared into space for a moment or two before remembering her parting shot at her friend. She turned to the wall and tried to mask her laughter. After a couple of moments she had composed herself and returned to her seat to continue the discussions of training techniques. Occasionally she would catch sight of the piece of paper and she vowed to get her revenge on the red head before the week was out.

*****

Xander bumped into Dawn as she came out of her office. “Hey, Dawn, what’s the rush?” he asked and stepped aside as she continued past him.

“Dinner date and I’m late!” she winced and headed at speed for the front entrance.

Xander shook his head and went into the office. “Giles?” he asked and looked round the door of his office. He saw Giles on the phone and mimed whether he should stay or go.

Giles shook his head and pointed to a chair, finishing up with the phone call after a minute or so. “Sorry Xander, I was checking my flight details for next week”

“I thought you weren’t leaving till the end of the month?” Xander looked surprised.

“They’ve just found some very interesting artefacts and there isn’t anything really keeping me here” he shrugged and put a sheet of notepaper covered with times and connection details into his pocket. “So what can I do for you this fine day?” he asked.

“Just dropped by to confirm that the final health and safety inspection’s done and the dorm is ready for occupancy” Xander smiled at Giles’ delighted expression. “I know we’re a little ahead of schedule but we were able to source some of the materials from a local supplier”

“That’s marvellous” Giles smiled and checked his watch. “Good lord look at the time, do you want to have a drink to celebrate?”

Xander grinned and rubbed his hands together. “I think I can manage one or two small sherrys” Giles stopped putting his papers away and looked up in astonishment. “What?” Xander looked behind him to make sure nobody else had entered the office.

“I think you’ve been spending a little too much time in Alex’s company” Giles grinned.

“But Alex isn’t due back till next week” Xander shrugged and then the penny dropped. “Oh you mean Smythe” he guessed and then looked disgruntled. “Please tell me I don’t sound like one of the tourists” he begged.

“You call them the tourists?” Giles asked in surprise and raised his eyebrows.

Xander grimaced. “Sorry, but we never use it when they are around, it’s really a pet name”

“Come on, you can buy me a beer and tell me what else you’ve picked up from Mr Smythe” Giles picked his jacket up and ushered Xander out of his office.

*****

Willow had agreed to meet Alex at the ort.ort. “Did you miss me?” she asked when her lips were finally free.

“Not really” Alex shrugged and picked up her bag. “Just every minute of every day and most of the nights as well” she nodded towards the baggage reclaim. “I have some other bags this time”

“Most of the nights?” Willow pouted a little. “Does that mean you’re going off me”

“Stop fishing” Alex put her arm round Willow’s waist and steered her towards the luggage trolleys. “Grab a couple of these while I find my cases” she instructed and kissed her on the cheek before heading into the scrum of people around the belt.

They wheeled two loaded trolleys to the car park. “I can’t believe they let you carry this much luggage” Willow puffed as her trolley took another errant turn as they rounded the final corner.

“Some of it was charged as excess but it’s amazing what you can get past a check in clerk who’s a fan” she grinned and popped the trunk before stacking cases.

“Male or female?” Willow asked suspiciously and was satisfied when Alex shook her head and told her he was an overweight forty year old who only wanted an autograph.

“So, do you want to stop off for a late dinner?” Willow asked as she made it to the freeway.

“Nope” Alex settled down in the front seat and stretched her legs out in front of her. “Straight home and a long, hot shower” she grinned and closed her eyes before yawning. “I missed the earlier connection by ten minutes and had to hang around the airport for eight hours before getting this one”

“Oohh, you should have checked into a hotel and we could have met up tomorrow” Willow suggested and glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.

“Nope” Alex smiled slightly, her eyes still closed. “Physically impossible to spend another night apart from you” she mumbled and moved her hand to rest it on Willow’s thigh before falling asleep.

Willow shook her head and concentrated on getting them home quickly and in one piece. “Alex” she said quietly as she turned the last corner before the driveway. “Come on honey, wake up” she reached across to shake her shoulder and smiled as a groan came from beside her.

“Oh god Will I’m sorry, have I been asleep the whole time?” Alex yawned and looked out the car window.

“I don’t mind, I could watch you sleep all night” Willow said shyly and parked the car. “Why don’t you go inside and put the kettle on while I get your cases indoors?”

“I can’t let you carry all of my stuff for me!” Alex protested and stretched. “Come on, if we both do it we can be in the shower in ten minutes” she opened her door and laughed as Willow ran round the car and opened the trunk before she could reach it. “Someone’s keen” she grinned and lifted the first suitcase to the front door.

Willow followed behind with two smaller bags and looked confused when Alex passed her on the way back to the car. “Hey, we’ll never get in if you pile them there”

“Don’t have a key” Alex shrugged and came back with another suitcase. “Hurry up” she suggested as she went back for another one.

“I can’t believe I forgot to get you a key made” Willow pouted before running her hands through her hair and letting the water run down her face. “I mean” she spluttered “I’ve planned this night so carefully so that you would feel like you were coming home, to your own place, and then I go and forget something as simple as that” she scowled at her own stupidity.

“Willow!” Alex put her arms round her and pulled her back under the water. “Please shut up about the key” she waited till Willow had wiped the water out of her eyes before taking a deep breath. “We are both standing under a hot shower and I was fantasising about this moment hours ago in a smelly, dusty airport lounge and now you’re complaining about ruining my night” she le aga against her to kiss her. “So long as we are both together then nothing can ever ruin my nights again” she insisted and waited for Willow to get with the program.

“Right, happy thoughts” Willow smiled and took a deep breath to release the tension. “I guess I should just concentrate on making this memorable?” she asked coyly and ran her hands down Alex’s back.

*****

Buffy, Xander and Dawn were walking towards Willow’s apartment. “Are you sure about this?” Dawn a and and looked towards Xander for support. “I mean Alex only got in on Friday night and they might not welcome a wake up call at ten on Sunday”

Buffy shrugged. “We’ve got doughnuts, how can they possibly be mad at us?” she asked and strode ahead of the others. “Besides, now that they are officially co-habiting they need to get used to doing couply things like Sunday morning breakfast with their friends”

Xander shook his head and fought with Dawn on who was standing at the back of their little group as Buffy rang the doorbell. “Will, good morning, we bring doughnuts and Sunday papers” she grinned and pushed past Willow into the front room. “Where’s Alex?” she asked as she set down the boxes and sat down.

“Out running” Willow shrugged. “She should be back in about ten minutes”

Buffy looked a little disappointed that she hadn’t spoiled a morning in bed for them but she was determined to make the best of it. “We thought we’d come round and see how the happy homemakers were getting on”

“I’ll put the coffee on” Willow smiled and headed for the kitchen.

They were tucking into doughnuts and coffee when Alex arrived back. “Hey guys” she waved as she headed for the kitchen with a grocery bag. “How have you been?” she asked as she returned. A chorus of ‘fines’ and ‘goods’ were followed by offers of doughnuts. “Not for me thanks, I’ve got to be careful” she patted her perfectly flat stomach and sat on the arm of Willow’s chair.

Willow rolled her eyes and passed her a piece of her doughnut. “One tiny piece won’t kill you” she suggested and smiled when Alex relented and took the piece from her hand, being careful to lick off all of the frosting on her fingers before pulling back. Willow knew she was blushing and didn’t care. “Anyway” she finally pulled herself together and remembered she was the hostess. “You can always use the gym at the campus if you want, I’m sure Buffy would show you round”

Buffy grinned. “Sure, that would be fun”

Alex paused for a moment before nodding and smiling at her. “If you’re sure it won’t take up too much of your time?” she asked and waited for Buffy’s nod. “When are you heading off again?” she reached across for Willow’s coffee and sipped from the mug.

“I don’t know” Buffy shrugged. “I might hang around for a while once classes finish, until Giles gets back anyway”

“Where’s Rupert off to?” Alex asked surprised. “I thought the building would collapse without him being here 24/7?”

Xander nodded in agreement. “He got a better offer” he shrugged. “Somebody dug up some dead bodies in Central America and he’s hearing the siren’s call” he shook his head. “He says it’s only for three weeks but I remember what he was like when we found dead bodies at school”

Willow was frantically making signals to Xander to stop. “Somebody found a dead body while you were at school?” Alex asked in astonishment. “Oh my God, what happened?”

Buffy saw Willow’s rising panic and realised with a shock that Alex didn’t know about their former life. “Workmen were digging for a new cultural centre and found some old graves” she shrugged and hoped that Xander and Dawn would get the message. “Giles used to work in the British Museum and was asked to help identify the remains”

Xander was looking completely confused but Dawn seemed to have guessed what was happening and nudged him in the ribs.

Alex looked to Willow. “You never told me” she said.

“No reason to” Willow shrugged. “It was kind of weird but it didn’t really affect any of us personally” she smiled and put her hand out to rest on Alex’s thigh. “We helped Giles with the research a little and some of the popular kids thought we were kind of weird after that, anyway none of us were really cool to start with”

“Hey” Buffy and Xander both looked aggrieved.

Alex laughed. “I just can’t imagine any of you in school, don’t you have any pictures or anything?” she asked.

“Not really” Dawn sighed. “They were all destroyed when the earthquake hit the town” she looked towards Willow. “It’s weird, almost as if none of us even existed until a few years ago” she smiled at the joke and saw Willow’s eyes widen in surprise.

Buffy looked round at her sister, realised that she was teasing Willow and decided to join in, after all she still had to get payback for the note during her meeting. “Yeah, not even a graduation certificate” she shrugged. “For all you know none of us graduated because the ceremony was interrupted by a giant snake”

Willow stood up abruptly, nearly knocking Alex off her perch. “So, you guys have things to do this afternoon, that’s a real shame because we’d love you to stay but if you’ve got to go” she shrugged and glared at Buffy.

The three friends got the message and made their exit, Dawn turning round on the doorstep. “Oh listen, Giles flies out on Wednesday so I’ve persuaded him to have dinner with us on Tuesday night as a send off”

“Sounds like a good idea” Alex smiled as she leaned against Willow in the doorway. “Why don’t you all come here, I’m sure Willow and I could conjure up something edible”

Xander saw Willow turn white and decided to end the discussion before his head exploded. “Great, we’ll see you then and let us know if there’s anything wn brn bring” he herded Buffy and Dawn down the steps. “She hasn’t told her!” he asked when they had rounded the corner. “They’ve been going out for nine months and she doesn’t have any idea of Willow’s former life?”

“I know” Buffy shook her head. “I can’t believe we haven’t blown the secret before this but it looks like Will just told her we all went to school together and ended up working here”

“So what on earth does Alex think we do at the campus?” Dawn asked and tried to imagine how the school activities would look to an outsider. “I mean how many schools take young girls from all over the world and teach them to kick ass, have a research and development department that costs more to run than your average high school and need to import wimpy English guys as part of the faculty”

“The wimpy English guys are a fixture at every education establishment in the world” Buffy shrugged. “But you’re right, it’s pretty strange that she hasn’t questioned what Willow does before now” They all headed towards the centre of town in silence, bewildered by this turn in events.

*****

Alex was running through the grounds of the campus early the next morning. She was smiling, she’d left Willow half asleep and grumbling about the alarm going off and planned to be home in half an hour to waken her properly. She rounded the last corner and saw another runner coming towards her. “Rupert?” she stopped when they drew abreast. “I had no idea you ran” she smiled and hugged him quickly. “Sorry, I’m a bit sweaty”

“Perfectly all right” he was breathing heavily. “It’s good to see you again, I understand you’re with us for quite a while this time?” he rested his hands on his thighs as he bent over to recover.

“Till the new year” she shrugged. “And now I’ve stopped travelling I hear that you’ve started” she jogged on the spot a little to keep her heart rate up.

“Just for three weeks, some colleagues are on a dig and have found some rather interesting artefacts” he twisted at the waist to stretch out his back.

“I don’t know if you’ve spoken to Dawn but we’re having dinner at our place on Tuesday night to send you off in style” she glanced at her watch. She liked Giles but she was anxious to keep to her schedule and get back home. “Listen, are you free for lunch?” she waited for his nod and reached up to kiss him on the cheek. “Great, my treat, I’ll come by your office about one” she took a deep breath and smiled, a little embarrassed. “I really need to get back, see you later” she jogged off slowly before picking up speed again and pounding down the track.

He watched her receding figure before turning and judging the distance to the main building. “Just about make it” he sighed and started running. Once he had showered and changed he headed to the canteen for breakfast, picking up a muffin and two mugs of coffee once he’d finished his cereal. “I brought you breakfast” he put the coffees down on Dawn’s desk and handed her the slightly bashed muffin. “Sorry, I had to put it in my pocket” he smiled and watched as she cleared some space.

“Thanks” Dawn mumbled around the muffin. “What’s the plan for today?” she asked when she had finished it.

“Just some bits and pieces to clear up before I leave and, oh before I forget, Alex is meeting me for lunch, can you keep everything clear from one till two” he sipped his coffee and flipped through the bundle of mail on her desk.

“Oh, oh, oh” Dawn bounced on her seat until he looked up at her in astonishment. “You’ll never guess what we found out about Willow and Alex yesterday” she waved her hands.

“I’m not sure I want to know” he suggested.

“No, you will, trust me” she nodded and looked behind him. “Close over the door will you?” she asked and waited till it was closed before beckoning him nearer the desk. “Willow hasn’t told Alex anything about the Hellmouth” she whispered conspiratorially.

“Don’t blame her, now it’s gone I’ve tried to forget about it as well” he shrugged.

“No, I mean she hasn’t told her about the slayer/watcher/witch, scooby gang, bad guy, vampire, werewolf thing” Dawn stopped to take a breath. “Alex has no idea about the Watcher’s Council and I doubt Willow’s mentioned the magic thing either” Dawn shook her head and finally saw concern creep onto Giles’ face. “Exactly” she nodded sagely. “So if you’re having lunch with Alex you’d better watch what you’re saying”

“Oh marvellous” he threw his hands up. “I obviously haven’t said anything to her before but now I’m bound to say something today, why did you have to say that!”

“Hey” Willow popped her head round the door. “Are you guys busy or can I have a minute?” she looked towards Giles and felt the hairs on the back of her neck start to rise. “Dawn told you?” she asked quietly and came into the office, shutting the door behind her.

“Come on in” Giles sighed and ushered Willow in front of him. “Dawn, hold my calls till we’re finished” he suggested and shook his head before going into his own office and closing the door firmly behind him. “Is Dawn right in her assumption?” he asked quietly and watched as Willow sat with her head bowed, staring at her hands.

“If she told you that Alex doesn’t know anything about our lives in Sunnydale then yes, she’s right” she finally looked up and sniffed. “How do you even start to explain something like that?” she asked him and smiled a little. “Even the regular weird stuff would be hard enough, but the dark magics and what I did?” she shook her head and returned to her investigation of the floor.

“But you want to enter into a relationship with her, she deserves to know the truth” he suggested softly and watched her swallow before looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

“Like Olivia?” she kept eye contact with him and saw him flinch before he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, but what if she can’t deal with that stuff, I don’t want to risk losing her”

“It’s bound to come out eventually” he took a deep breath. “It’s a miracle none of us have given the game away by now”

“Actually none of us really talk about it that much any more” she shrugged. “It was one of the first things I noticed about this place, those of us who were on the front line hardly ever mention it and those who weren’t are afraid to mention it when we’re around”

He tilted his head slightly as he thought about what she was saying. “I suppose you’re right” he shook his head a little. “But something is bound to come up that will bring her face to face with the reality and she needs to be prepared for that” he argued. “It’s the same argument you and Xander used when you first wanted to help Buffy, it’s better to be aware of the demons and fighting against them than unaware and a victim”

“I know but what’s the likelihood of anything happening here?” she indicated the building. “I mean, who’d be stupid enough to attack an entire building of slayers and witches and watchers..” she trailed off and saw the essence of his argument as she remembered the building and people they had replaced. “Sorry” she whispered and stood up to pace a little.

“Look Willow, you’re quite right about Olivia and I, but I think you and Alex have a better chance than we did, and you don’t need to tell her about the dark magics if you can’t” he shrugged. “However” he saw her stiffen as he continued. “She is someone you are hoping to commit to and a loving relationship is based on trust so you should think very carefully about keeping anything major from her”

Willow looked miserable. “She’d never want to be near me again” her lip trembled and he handed her his handkerchief. “I mean how do you start that conversation?” she sniffled. “Honey I love you more than anything in the world and by the way I flayed someone alive once cause he pissed me off” He tried to interrupt but she was on a roll. “And darling, did I mention the time I tried to kill my best friejustjust before I was well on the way to destroying the world” she blew her nose. “And oh, would you like a necklace to match the ring?” the tears were rolling down her cheeks now and she was sobbing. “Giles, I know I shouldn’t ever forget what I did, it’s part of the punishment, but I thought I could be happy again”

“You can be” he said gently and came round his desk to hold her in his arms. “But you won’t be happy if you have to spend the rest of your life censoring every conversation and avoiding situations and friends” he held her a little tighter as she put her arms round his waist.

“I just wish there was some other way” she whispered as she leaned into his shoulder.

“There is one” he suggested and met her eyes as she pulled back to look at him. “You could resign and move away” he suggested and saw the hope in her eyes flicker and die. “Statistically you are more likely to encounter strange occurrences around us than if you were out on your own and I’m fairly sure you could deal with anything that tried to trouble you” He watched the battle being waged in her eyes before seeing her frown and shake her head. “Then I’m afraid you have to tell her, at least an edited version” he sighed and took a step back. “I’m having lunch with her today but I won’t say anything about your visit”

She wiped her eyes with his handkerchief and stuffed it into her pocket. “I know she told me she’d met you this morning”

“You know you can contact me, even while I’m away” he said softly and returned to his own chair. “But you are the only one who can choose the right time and place for this discussion, don’t let the others bully you into anything”

Willow turned towards the door and was about to open it when he quietly said her name. “Willow” she turned towards him. “Everything, good and bad, we encountered in Sunnydale has gone towards making us the people we are today” he swallowed the lump that threatened to catch in his throat. “I don’t know Alex all that well but I don’t think she’s a fool and if she lost youauseause of this, that’s what she’d be for the rest of her life”

She stood watching him for a moment before turning the door handle. “If it happens she’ll still be less of a fool than Olivia” she said and headed out the door.

*****

“So anyway” Alex ladled some more salad onto her plate. “Buffy said she would help me out to begin with and I just wanted to make sure it was alright with you if I used the gym while I was here?”

“Of course” he smiled and held her chair for her before sitting down. “Buffy will know the quietest times and she is an expert in all of the equipment downstairs” he poured her some water from the jug in the middle of the table. “Once the new gym is completed we should be able to offer much better facilities”

“I don’t mind” she shrugged and started eating. “I just know that I tend to slob a bit when I visit Willow and that’s OK if I’m only here for a couple of weeks at a time but the longer term thing could seriously jeopardise the earning potential”He dHe drew back in his chair a little and checked her out. “I can see what you mean, you are a disgrace to young woman everywhere” he grinned and laughed when she raised her eyebrow. “What does Willow think of all this exercise, I seem to remember she had a bit of a phobia about it at school”

“Mmmm” she nodded and finished chewing. “Obviously some things haven’t changed” They were silent for a few minutes as they finished their meals. “Actually that’s one of the things I wanted to ask you” she smiled at the waiter who cleared their table. “What was Willow like when she was at school?”

He smiled and seemed to lose focus as he thought back to the early days. “She was painfully shy and constantly moping around after Xander for the first few years” he laughed as Alex looked surprised. “I’m not really sure I should be telling you any of this”

“No, honestly I really want to know, she doesn’t talk about her teens very much and I just want some idea of how much she has changed” Alex shrugged. “She said she used to be the unpopular science club geek type and I can’t really work out the path from that to what she is now”

“I know what you mean” he nodded and waved to a waiter to bring them coffee. “I was there during those years and I can’t quite believe the transformation either” he shook his head.

“It’s not just Willow” Alex admitted with a gleam in her eye. “I also can’t work out how a high school librarian ends up running a college this size and doing consultancy work for international archaeological foundations” she raised her eyebrows expectantly.

“Aah” he smiled, glad that he had spent some of the morning working out a cover story. “I was actually a curator at the British Museum before I came over to America” he felt more comfortable explaining his own background and settled back in his chair. “I wanted to work on some research papers and was too busy in London so I thought I’d take a sabbatical, get some nice weather and some peace and quiet to finis wor work” he shrugged and stirred his coffee. “Of course I thought the librarian’s woulwould be a nice change of pace and it also gave me access to the reference material I needed. I didn’t allow for the irritating and bewildering American youths who would plague me with requests for Shakespeare in ‘proper english’ and never return books on time”

“I can’t believllowllow ever got a fine for a late return” Alex laughed and rested her chin on her hands.

“Certainly not” he agreed. “Willow was one of the few who actually liked to be in the library and she was something of a computer whiz” he grinned. “They all quickly realised my ineptitude with the damn things and she made it her own project to teach me how to use one” he shrugged. “After several years I had started to get the hang of it and, once the school closed down, I got a laptop at home and she agreed to continue the lessons”

“Did you ever write the research papers?” she giggled and saw him look a little surprised.

“Not really no” he admitted. “I did complete some very detailed research on several subjects but I didn’t bother getting any of it published, it just didn’t seem so important any more” he shrugged. “I’d made friends in Sunnydale and I decided to remain here once the British Museum politely reminded me that the sabbatical was over”

Alex was entranced by his story, she had wanted to know more about him from their first meeting and was enjoying his wander down memory lane.

“I looked around for a while to find something different to do with my life and I finally found an old fashioned magic shop that was for sale so I became a shopkeeper” he looked quite proud. “I’d wanted to be a grocer or a fighter pilot when I was younger and this was pretty close to achieving one of my ambitions” he shrugged as she laughed. “You may laugh but I made a tidy sum selling rabbit’s feet and bundles of sage to the new age college students”

Alex was giggling as he explained about his Halloween special sales and how Willow and the others had helped in the shop whenever it was busy.

He was laughing as well and finding it surprisingly easy to provide the expurgated version of events. He realised that he had actually enjoyed much of his life in Sunnydale, if you discounted the demons, and vowed to spend more time remembering the good bits. “Anyway” he finally shook his head and glanced at his watch. “The earthquake put paid to the retail experience and then this job came up and I thought it was probably time to return to academia” he shrugged. “And I’m sorry to end such a delightful lunch but I have quite a few reports to read before I leave”

“Of course” Alex stood up and walked towards his office with him. “I’m glad you’re only away for a few weeks, I’d like to hear some more of the Librarian Tales” she suggested with a smile. “Oh, perhaps you can share some secrets at dinner tomorrow night?”

“Perhaps not” he chuckled. “I’m fairly sure Xander, Buffy, Dawn and Willow would all try to poison me if I threatened to reveal their high school secrets”