CHAPTER 16

They woke early the next morning still wrapped in each other's arms. He kissed the top of her head and she scrunched round to meet his lips with her own.

"I don't think I ever want to wake up without you" he sighed as he held her tightly.

"Mmm it is nice to see you last thing at night and first thing in the morning" she mumbled and kissed the arm that was draped over her shoulder.

"I'm serious" he said and turned her to face him. "I know this may be precipitate but I need to have you here, will you move in with me?" As soon as he heard the words leave his mouth he was startled but knew that he wanted her to agree.

She looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure?" she asked as she pulled back to get a good look at his face. "Maybe it is a little quick?" she suggested then saw the sadness hit his eyes. "I mean I would love to but perhaps we should leave it another week or two?" she pleaded.

"Of course" he nodded and tried to keep the disappointment from his voice. What on earth had he been thinking? He chastised himself as he headed for the bathroom and turned the shower on. "Why don't you just ask her to have your name tattooed on her forehead you idiot!" he mumbled to himself and stood under the cool water to try and relieve the hard on he had woken with.

She lay in the bed and stared at the bathroom door. She wondered where the hell had that come from and turned her gaze to the ceiling. She started running through her feelings and realised that the emotional reaction she had experienced yesterday morning was intensified today. She couldn't remember what it was like to wake up without him and didn't know that she wanted to experience it first hand any time soon. She shook her head and got out of bed, striding to the bathroom door and pulling back the shower curtain without breaking her step. "If you can spare some time this morning I'll need to pick up some stuff from the dorm" she announced and climbed into the tub with him.

He had backed against the tiled wall and was holding a small face cloth over his groin. She leaned against him and he yelped as the cold tiles hit his buttocks. He finally got his priorities sorted out and dropped the cloth to put his arms around her. "I'm sorry" he said in a slightly choked voice. "I didn't mean to surprise you, it just sort of slipped out before I was completely awake"

She stood back a little and watched as the water spray hit his chest and ran down his abdomen. "Are you having second thoughts now you're wide awake?" she asked as her fingers traced several drops to their destination. "Because I could just visit a couple of times a week and stay for the occasional weekend as a trial run?" her fingers continued their exploration of his stomach muscles.

"I, well, perhaps we could…." He ground to a halt as she picked up the face cloth and began lathering his chest and stomach. He reached out and stopped the motion of her hands. "Before we lose the ability for coherent thought, are you sure about this?"

"Yes" she said impatiently. "You just caught me off guard" she smiled. "Anyway, I'll have you know I never stop having coherent thoughts!" Her hands started their circular movements again.

"We'll see" he sighed enigmatically and pulled her against his chest, bringing her under the water spray.

Half an hour later the bathroom floor was soaking wet and little puddles of water stretched from the doorway to the bed. The duvet and pillows had been thrown to the floor and two damp bodies were slowly disentangling themselves. "Now I'll need to have another shower" Giles grumbled and looked across to gaze at her. "I'm sorry I sprang that on you earlier" he sighed.

She giggled uncontrollably and turned to face him. "It's on a spring?" she asked incredulously and started giggling again.

He shook his head and turned towards the bathroom again. "This time I want to finish a shower on my own" he grinned.

She reached over the side of the bed and pulled a couple of pillows under her head. Gently she traced a finger down her stomach until it reached her pubic hair. She could still feel the deep muscle tingle of her recent orgasm and pressed gently on her pelvis. A deep groan escaped her lips and she closed her eyes for several minutes, remembering the frantic gasps that had escaped her as he had lifted her legs to rest over his shoulders, deepening his penetration and allowing him easier access with his incredibly precise fingers. She could still feel him gently tugging on her clitoris and the incredible feeling of her entire blood supply rushing to engorge the tissue around his hand.

He came back into the room ready to ask if she wanted to go out for breakfast and found her still lying on the bed, gently rubbing the muscles of her abdomen with one hand while the other traced a spiral pattern around her breast. Her eyes were closed and she had a look of such utter contentment and arousal on her face that he blushed while he stood watching her. He knew that she wasn't aware of him and quietly went back into the bathroom. He finished drying himself and shouted her name before entering the bedroom again. She was just getting off the bed, slightly flushed and her breathing still returning to normal.

"You shouted?" she asked and moved past him to the shower.

He smiled and started dressing. "It was nothing really, I just wondered if you wanted to get some breakfast at the diner in town before I dropped you off for classes?"

"Sounds great but I don't have any classes this morning" she shouted as she stood under the water. "I was serious when I said that we should trial living together, maybe for a couple of weeks to see how we get on. We could pick up some of my stuff and bring it back here before I have to go in this afternoon"

He sat in the chair and tied his shoelaces, watching her through the bathroom door as she finished drying herself and fixed her hair. He leaned back and sighed, he hadn't felt this content and happy in years. A small voice at the back of his head reminded him of Jenny and Olivia but he knew that neither of them had caused such deep emotional currents, the former because it had ended before it had really begun and the latter because Olivia couldn't accept his life choice. Now he had found someone who had already dedicated her life to the same causes and intrinsically seemed to understand his deepest needs.

She smiled as she came into the room and rummaged through her overnight bag to find underwear and a sweater. "Things will be easier when I don't have to live out of a suitcase" she murmured and quickly got dressed. Willow watched his eyes follow her every movement and felt her temperature rise as she reveled in his scrutiny. "I guess your back is feeling a lot better this morning?" she asked as she finally pulled her sweater on and his eyes returned to her face.

"What, oh yes" he admitted shyly as he realised that she had been aware of his admiring gaze. "It usually clears up after a few days and I noticed a big improvement when I woke up earlier"

"Me too!" she announced. "I'm starving let's get some breakfast" she grinned at him as she saw him begin to blush. "I love it when you blush like that" she teased him as they headed for the front door.

They decided to walk to the diner and were holding hands. Willow was laughing at his description of the training exercise of the previous day when Mrs Leech met them. She smiled indulgently and put down her shopping bag when Willow stopped and wished her a good morning.

"Good morning dear" she nodded to Willow. "Good morning Mr Giles" she added as he put his arm round Willow's shoulder.

"Good morning Mrs Leech" Giles said. "Any more trouble with the trash cans?" he asked pleasantly.

"No, I haven't heard anything else. I expect you were right about them moving on after a few days dear" she suggested to Willow.

"I'm glad to hear it Mrs Leech" Willow smiled in reply. "Can I help you with your shopping bag?" she asked as she noticed the heavy bag. "Rupert would have offered but he's hurt his back you see" she continued with a mischievous grin.

Giles sighed a little and pulled his arm from her shoulder. "Mrs Leech doesn't want to hear about my aches and pains" he said quickly and bent to pick up the grocery bag. "I'm sure I can manage this for you"

The groan as he lifted the bag from the sidewalk could have been heard several blocks away but he manfully tried to pretend nothing was wrong. "Don't you dare" Willow ordered and took the bag from his hand. "Wait here with Mrs Leech and get your breath back" she nodded to Mrs Leech and headed for the apartment block. "I'll be back in a minute"

Mrs Leech smiled gently at him. "Are you OK?"

He grinned ruefully. "Just my pride and several vertebrae hurting right now" he said and gently rubbed his lower back.

"She's a lovely girl" Mrs Leech said, looking towards Willow's rapidly departing back. "She seems to make you very happy?"

He also turned to watch her and only answered when she had disappeared round the corner. "Happier than I ever thought I could be and certainly more than I deserve" he smiled and then remembered that he was opening his heart to an elderly neighbour and blushed slightly.

She sighed nostalgically and put her hand on his shoulder. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You will remember these moments for the rest of your life and there will be times when they will be the only things to keep your heart beating and your feet moving on some of the journeys you have ahead of you"

He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. "Mr Leech?" he said quietly and she shook her head and smiled at him.

"No" she whispered and suddenly looked very old indeed. The moment passed and she returned to her mid sixties persona. "Cherish every moment" she looked him straight in the eye and then turned. "Thank you dear" she smiled at Willow who had just arrived at his side. "I hope your back gets better" she said to Giles and moved off up the road.

He stood rooted to the spot and only heard Willow when she said his name for the third time. "Rupert what on earth is the matter with you?" she asked in an exasperated tone.

"Nothing" he murmured quietly and pulled her into his arms.

The hug lasted for half a minute and Willow eventually emerged from his grasp a little red in the face. "Thank God you've given up wearing tweed or I would have suffocated in there" she said and stared up at him. "What were you and Mrs Leech talking about?" she asked.

He shook his head and put his arm back round her shoulder, starting towards the diner again. "Nothing important" he shrugged and she knew she wouldn't get any more out of him.

By the time Buffy and Xander had helped Willow to his car with several cases and boxes Giles' patience and sense of humour were deserting him. Buffy knew that another joke about his back injury and its causes would probably bring them to the end of his tether and she hugged Willow in preparation to letting her get in the car.

"Buffy" Willow finally managed to say over the slayer's shoulder. "I'm only going to Giles' place and I'll see you in class in an hour"

Xander joined the hug. "It's just difficult for the parents to cut the apron strings and let the youngest leave the nest" he sighed and stood back to shake Gile's hand.

"If there is a metaphor to be mixed you are the man to do it" Giles pronounced gravely and shook Xander's hand.

"You still haven't told me what your intentions towards Willow are" Xander ignored his comment and looked seriously at him. "I mean what exactly are your prospects?"

Giles sighed and rolled his eyes while Willow giggled and got in the passenger side of the car. "Cut it out you two, I'll see you tonight at the Bronze Xander?"

"Sure" he smiled at the red head. "You bringing hip and groovy G-Man?" he asked and Buffy grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the car as Giles started to get back out.

Willow carried the heaviest boxes to the apartment but he managed a few of the suitcases and insisted on unpacking for her. "Great" she giggled as she kissed him in the doorway. "I've always wanted my socks filed alphabetically and cross referenced with my shoes"

It took him the rest of the afternoon as he had to half-empty the boxes before he could lift them. By the end of the task he was sweating profusely and decided that a cool shower would be better before he settled down to study the manuscript again.

Willow arrived home at six o'clock and found him in jogging pants and a t-shirt, his hair still damp and scrunched up from being rubbed with a towel. He was sitting in the armchair, a cup of tea by his side and his glasses halfway down his nose as he concentrated on the text in his hands.

She closed the door behind her and sighed. He looked up and smiled at her. "Hard day at work honey?" he asked as he put the book down and moved towards her.

"It's a rat race out there" she pronounced sternly and wrinkled her forehead. He spent several minutes kissing his way along the wrinkles and rubbing his hands up and down her back before standing back and taking her bag from her. She stood, swaying slightly and with an incredibly soppy grin on her face. When he moved towards the kitchen she took a deep breath and let it out. "Every time I think I love you more than is possible you find another way to make me love you more"

He put a mug of tea in front of her. "I've given up trying to quantify how much I love you, big numbers always confused me" he smiled. "How did your classes go this afternoon?" he asked and moved back to his chair.

"Pretty well" she answered and stretched out on the sofa. "But I was a little distracted by the entire 'living in sin' thing I'm doing at the moment with this incredibly sexy English guy"

"You shouldn't let a fabulous sex life and perfectly filed socks get in the way of your education!" he said in his best 'father knows best' voice.

She giggled and jumped up from the sofa. "I totally forgot, how did you get on with the unpacking?" she asked as she ran up the stairs to the bedroom. "Oh … my …. God" he heard, quickly followed by howls of laughter. When she finally descended she was wiping tears of laughter from her face and still chuckling. "You actually put clothes away in colour order?" she asked incredulously.

He frowned slightly and headed for the kitchen. "How else would you know which top half to wear with which bottom half?" he stated reasonably and started preparations for dinner. "I thought I would make shepherds pie, is that OK?" he asked.

As he turned to hear her response she kissed him and pushed him gently against the counter. "I don't have to go out tonight you know?" she suggested as her hands wandered under his t-shirt.

"Yes you do" he laughed and slapped her hands away. "I need to finish the translation on those texts and I've got several other books to catch up on. For some reason I can't concentrate when you're around at the moment" He kissed her quickly and pushed her from the kitchen. "Now go and disarrange your carefully organised wardrobe and get changed to go out while I make dinner"

They were doing the dishes when Buffy arrived to meet Willow. After a whispered conversation they disappeared upstairs and he sighed as he finished putting the dishes away and took his mug of coffee to the table. He was studiously pretending to read a book when Buffy came back downstairs and he tried to ignore the sniggers and coughs as she waited for Willow to collect her jacket.

Buffy sidled round behind him and pretended to read the book over his shoulder. "I've never seen her this happy" she quietly whispered in his ear as she leaned over.

"If I'd known I would have organised her wardrobe years ago" he observed dryly and took a sip of his coffee.

She put her hand on his shoulder. "You know what I mean" she laughed. "Although you will be ragged about the sweaters for several decades to come, especially when Xander finds out" Her hand was still resting on his shoulder and she squeezed it gently. "This is going to sound really weird but I think I'm glad you got that last shot to the head, it seems to have made the difference for both of you"

He put his hand on hers and she moved round to lean on the table next to him. "I know what you mean" he acknowledged. "But I like to think we would have finally sorted things out between us without my having to spend three weeks unconscious" She shook her head and was going to say something when he put his hand on hers again. "However, I think you played a large part in getting us to finally admit our feelings for each other and I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you"

She smiled fondly at him and they both turned when Willow coughed from the foot of the stairs. "Hey" she said as she smiled at them both. "Get your own English librarian guy, this one's taken"

Buffy laughed and headed out the door with Willow. She turned back and grinned at Giles. "I'll think of something suitable with which you can repay me"

"Enjoy yourselves" he shouted after them as they shut the door and he settled down to finish his work on the manuscript. After two hours he had a worried look on his face. His latest findings were leading him in a very different direction as to the best way to hunt down and destroy the demon which still hung over all of them. He paced for several minutes as he pondered his next move and finally settled down on the sofa with a glass of whisky as he dialled the LA number from memory.

He was lying on the sofa listening to music and reading a magazine when Willow and Buffy returned. He sat up and kissed Willow briefly before going to look outside the door. "What are you looking for?" Buffy asked as she accepted a glass of orange juice from Willow.

"I thought you were going to bring Xander for the wardrobe exhibition?" he asked and smiled at them as they giggled.

"He wanted to come but Anya whispered something in his ear and he went a bit red and said he would see it another time" Buffy rolled her eyes and finished her drink. "I'm going to patrol for a couple of hours before heading home, I'll see you in class tomorrow Will?"

Willow nodded and Giles moved to open the door for her, following her outside. "Anything wrong?" he asked.

"Nope, just need to work off some extra energy from the club tonight. I don't want to take it out on you at training tomorrow morning!" she laughed and headed up the stairs.

"Be careful" he said and took a final look around before heading back inside and locking the door. He turned to find Willow in the armchair nursing a large glass of orange juice and flicking through his magazine. "Did you have a good time tonight?" he asked as he moved back to the sofa.

"Uhuh" she murmured then looked up at him. "I had no idea you read Cosmo" she said incredulously and held the magazine up for him to see.

"Oh that" he said. "Fraser left it last time he was here, it seems he leaves them in his office waiting room to make women think he's sensitive, or something like that" he shrugged and smiled when she started to look righteously indignant. "I suppose this means I've got my revenge over the bet he made with you?"

She shook her head and moved over to sit next to him. "I think I'd rather try to win the money back double or nothing" she pouted and lifted his glass from his hand before leaning in to kiss him. They kissed for several minutes until he pushed her back and retrieved his glass. "I'm waiting for a long distance call and I don't want to start anything that's not interruptible" he sighed and took a long pull on his whisky.

She sighed and moved back to the armchair. "I don't think that's a word" she suggested and smiled at him. "So what's the identity of the mystery caller who's wrecking my love life?" she asked and raised her eyebrows over her glass as she took a drink.

He looked a little vague and she put her glass down and turned away from him. "Olivia?" she asked, trying not to sound miffed.

"What?" he looked surprised. "Of course not darling" he moved to her side and bent down to kiss her head. "Angel is checking some things for me in LA and said he'd call back as quickly as he could" He tilted her head so that she was looking into his eyes. "Why on earth did you think it was Olivia?" he asked gently.

"You just looked kind of shifty, as if you didn't want to tell me who it was and I thought the worst. Not that Olivia's that bad, I mean she dumped you but that doesn't make her a bad person. Well actually it does but not really bad in the normal sense, just incredibly bad taste really. Not that I think she had bad taste when she first started going out with you….." She finally ground to a halt when she lost track of the point she was trying to make and just looked up into his eyes with a miserable look on her face. "Not really the way I planned our first 'living in sin' night going" she sighed.

He looked a little bemused. "OK, now that you've got that out of your system we need to get some things straight" he took her hand and led her back to the sofa to sit next to him. She turned to put one leg under her and faced him from one end, looking embarrassed. "First of all, I may have to speak to Olivia at some point in the future but it will be as an old friend and nothing else" he looked at her until she nodded. "Secondly, that's the second time you've used the phrase 'living in sin' and I'm beginning to think you're concerned about it and, if you are, then you can move back to the dorm whenever you wish and it won't mean I think any less of you, OK?" She was looking thoroughly miserable by now and he took pity on her. "I thought you understood that I wanted to be with you more than I've ever wanted to be with anyone else in my life and I plan to remain by your side for the rest of our lives" he leaned forward to take her hand in his. "I could always come by and rearrange your clothes in the closet at the dorm for you" he suggested and was relieved to see her smile.

"I'm sorry for being stupid about the phone call" she began and squeezed his hand. "I know I don't have anything to worry about with Olivia or anyone else. I think I've just been kind of worried since we finally got together that you would change your mind and end up with someone nearer your own age" she met his gaze and was a little surprised when he grinned.

"I've been expecting you to do the same thing" he shook his head. "At least we have our insecurities in common" he laughed as he pulled her into his arms and held onto her until he felt the tension leaving her body and she relaxed against him.

"The 'living in sin' thing is just a novelty" she finally admitted. "I used to read books which made it sound terribly grown up and risque and I've always had a secret hankering to try it" she turned her head to look at his face. "I'm sorry it bothers you, but it doesn't mean I want to move out again"

He hugged her tightly and smiled. "I'm glad because I'm too knackered to move all of those bloody books again"

They were still kissing when the phone rang, shattering the quiet and making Willow jump in his arms. "Tell Angel to get the exposition done quickly" she murmured huskily in his ear and headed for the bedroom.

He watched her walk quickly up the stairs and cleared his throat before answering the phone. "Angel" he said in a distracted way. "What, no I wasn't asleep, just reading a magazine" he smiled.

The call took thirty minutes and Willow was sitting up in bed reading a large textbook when he finally appeared.

He lifted the book from her hands and placed it on the bedside table, raising his eyebrows at the title. "I expected to find you immersed in a Jackie Collins bodice ripper" he smiled. "You know the one about the handsome, dashing Englishman who lures young American women to his bed to ravish them"

She snuggled down and pulled him on top of her. "Is that the one where he spends half an hour chatting to a vampire while the young damsel in distress awaits his pleasure in her boudoir?" she pouted.

"Damsel in distress?" he asked and sat up to remove his t-shirt. She watched as he removed his jogging pants and socks before sliding under the covers with her. "Is there anything I can help you with?' he asked as he ducked his head under the covers and kissed her breasts.

"Distress levels dropping already" she smiled and pulled the covers over her head as she moved to kiss him.

 

CHAPTER 17

The next couple of days fell into an easy routine, with Giles getting used to having someone living in his house and Willow getting used to being that someone.

Buffy and Xander continued to patrol and both reported that minimal vampire activity was still the order of business. Whatever had caused this slump after their last battle was still having its affect.

Angel arrived three nights after the phone call. Giles had suggested that Willow patrol with Xander and Buffy to ensure she was out of the house when Angel arrived.

A knock on the door signalled his arrival. "Good to see you Giles" he said quietly.

Giles shook his hand. "And you Angel, come in" he offered, aware of the vampires reluctance to enter without his specific permission despite his standing invitation. "Thank you for coming, how are Wesley and Cordelia doing?" he asked as he moved to the kitchen.

"They're fine and Wesley said he was glad he wouldn't be required for replacement Watcher duties again" Angel smiled, putting down the books he was carrying and accepting the beer that Giles had handed him. "I understand congratulations are in order?" Angel said shyly and moved to sit on the sofa.

Giles grinned soppily. "Yes, Willow agreed to move in with me. I think she was getting embarrassed by the whimpering and begging" he smiled.

"I'm really glad for you both" Angel toasted him with his drink then put the bottle down on the table. "We should probably get rid of this Bolak demon once and for all and let you get back to the important stuff?" he suggested.

Giles nodded and handed him the small book. "This seems to be the best description we have of the host/demon transference procedure and, as I explained on the phone, I think there are a couple of obvious weak points during which we could strike" He drank his beer as Angel quickly read through the appropriate pages. He had only ever envied the vampire on his mastery of languages that had been built over the centuries.

Angel nodded and looked up at him. "I agree, but I think you may have overlooked something" Giles looked up quickly to meet his gaze and Angel continued. "I found a text which relates a previous Bolak/Slayer encounter and it seems to suggest that the demon wasn't in human form at all but took a wolf as his host"

"Animal transference" Giles said and took his glasses off as he paced quickly. "I've never heard of anything like that before unless you allow for the early historical references to wizards in ancient mythology who were purported to transmogrify into animals as part of their rituals"

Angel put a large leather bound book on the table and turned to a specific page. "Here it mentions the slayer having to defend against the teeth and claws of the demon in his animal state"

Giles leaned over his shoulder. "They always did go in for gruesome pictorial representations in the 12 th century didn't they?" he asked as he noticed the picture on the opposite page. He quickly read through the passage Angel had marked and sighed. "I never even considered this as a possibility but it gives the entire problem a new dimension and explains why things have been so quiet since the battle"

Angel stood up and took the book back from him. "You couldn't be expected to think of everything after all you were recovering from amnesia and this is very unusual even in the demon world"

Giles smiled up at him. "You don't need to humour me, this is my job after all, I should have gone through all of the possible options and I missed this" He stood and paced. "If Bolak took an animal host after the last battle we don't have much time. If he hasn't yet found a human host he will soon and we want to try to remove him before he gets that far"

Angel agreed. "But how do you go about finding an unspecified, warm blooded animal with no outward signs of demonic possession. I mean I don't even want to think about how many rats there are in the sewers" He thought for a minute or two. "Buffy made sure that there weren't any humans or vampires around after the fight?" Angel finally asked.

"That's what she told me and they are all quite familiar with the process of sweeping up any loose ends, although I doubt they checked for animals per se" Giles replied, his head on one side as he considered the question.

Angel considered the situation and finally said. "The only part of your original plan which will change is that we can now utilise another non-human animal as the recipient when we initiate another transfer of the demon"

Giles stared at him for several seconds. "An animal wouldn't have any control over the process, we would need to strike in the middle of the transference but ensure both the existing and potential hosts were dead and no others presented themselves"

"The only other option is for one of us to present ourselves as the host and disrupt the transfer from within" Angel suggested.

Giles nodded. "But surely that is also the most dangerous time for the prospective host?" he asked. "After all, there is no guarantee that we would be able to completely eradicate the demon once the transfer has begun"

"I'm no expert on the magic side of things but isn't there some kind of spell we could use to help the host disrupt the process at the crucial point. If your book is correct, and the transfer relies on an awake, fully aware host during transference, then that may be enough to put Bolak off and allow us to finish him"

Giles stood up and began to pace. "I had thought of that but the host would have to initiate the final stages of the spell themselves and time it perfectly"

Angel and Giles sat down to consider the options for several minutes. Angel finally roused himself. “We need to try and sort out what form the demon has taken at the moment and the only way to work that out is to find out what happened during the battle”

Giles sighed. "I don't have any memories from the few days before the fight until I woke in the hospital several weeks later" he looked miserable. "We'll quiz Buffy to find out the exact details"

They stared at each other for several minutes before Angel finally spoke again. "Are you going to tell Willow and Buffy the whole plan this time or try to keep them in the dark again?"

"I think they'll need to know as I'm going to need both of them to ensure the success of any plan" Giles said and sat down again. "The only problem is I may not survive their anger to face the demon"

Angel idly flicked over some pages in the book he still held and soon became immersed in a particular passage. Giles left him in peace, well aware of the studious look and sure that he would be given the information once Angel had sorted through his thoughts.

They were still sitting in silence, pondering the situation, when Buffy and Willow arrived back. "Angel" Buffy shouted and stood in the doorway looking at him in astonishment.

Willow hugged him then moved to sit on the arm of Giles' chair reaching down to kiss him. "Why didn't you tell me he was coming?" she asked as Buffy loudly complained to Angel at the lack of notice for his visit.

Both men smiled at each other and Angel took Buffy's hand to lead her to the sofa. Willow slipped from the arm of the chair onto Giles lap. "We had some business to discuss and I knew that you would monopolise Angel's time as soon as you arrived" he suggested dryly looking at Buffy.

She pouted. "Not true, I can behave myself until the business is out of the way"

Angel smirked and looked at her. "And after the business?" he asked quietly and laughed as she blushed and punched his arm.

Giles smiled at them and pulled Willow a little closer. "Angel's right, we'd finished what we were discussing anyway so let's relax and enjoy his visit" he suggested. "Tell us about the cases you've been handling in LA"

Angel understood that Giles wanted to have some time to think through the problem before he tried to explain the unlikely circumstances to anyone else. He nodded and began telling them outrageous tales of life in the big city.

"You expect us to believe" Willow asked as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "That Cordelia actually scared the ghost haunting her house into leaving it?"

Buffy looked at her and said, in mock seriousness. "Yep, no problem with believing that at all" and they all started laughing again.

Giles eventually suggested that they get some rest after Willow had stifled her third yawn. "You've both got classes tomorrow and I've got a dinner to prepare for tomorrow evening"

"Pizza?" Buffy said hopefully.

"No" Giles laughed and stood to hand Buffy her coat. "I'm going to make you all sit down and eat a proper meal for once and Fraser can finally meet the famous Angel he's heard so much about"

Willow smiled. "That sounds great, you'll like the dishy doc" she nodded to Angel.

He raised his eyebrow and looked at Giles as both girls started laughing again. "I like him already, I think" he smiled and headed out to walk Buffy back to the dorm.

As Willow grabbed the vampire for a final hug, Giles followed Buffy outside. "I'm sorry Riley can't be included in tomorrow night's get together, unless you think…?"

"No" Buffy agreed. "Somehow they don't seem to get on" she shrugged. "Some day you can explain to me the mystery that is man" she suggested and hugged Giles. "Thanks for a nice night, I'll let Xander know about tomorrow"

He locked and bolted the door as he returned to find Willow tidying glasses in the kitchen. "Come on" he said, taking her hand. "One more yawn and you'll break your jaw and I have better uses for it"

Some time later, as they lay in bed in each other's arms, Willow asked the question that had been annoying her since she had seen Angel. "What did you guys work out about the demon?" she whispered.

He bent down to kiss the top of her head and squeezed her a little tighter. "We think we've come up with an interesting hypothesis which explains the demon's apparent disappearance after the fight and the lack of activity recently, but it is quite unusual and we need to do some further research before we can be sure. After dinner tomorrow night we'll let you all know how far we've got"

She nuzzled his arm as it lay across her shoulder "No more life or death secrets though?" she mumbled and heard him sigh against her back.

"No, I promise" he whispered in her ear. She giggled and he nibbled her earlobe. "What's so funny?" he whispered again, causing even more giggles.

"Your chest hair is tickling my neck" she said as she wriggled against him.

He sighed heavily. "I know watchers get used to managing on very little sleep but you are the biggest challenge I have ever faced" By the end of the sentence he had rolled her onto her back and was lying on top of her, his erection now rubbing against her thigh.

"I'm really sorry" she gasped insincerely as she ran her nails over his lower back. Her legs parted and he slipped between them. "Now I'm not sorry at all" she grinned at him.

"Where do you get the energy from?" he asked wonderingly as he reached to the bedside table for a condom and stared into her eyes. "You had classes all day and patrolling for most of the night"

She tutted impatiently and crunched her pelvic muscles to place his erection at the correct point. "Always with the talking, we'll really need to work on that" He slid into her and the next few minutes were taken up with slow movements and deep breathing.

He gazed into her eyes in wonder as he tried to remember what it was like to have a full nights sleep without her in his arms. Just as he was about to kiss her he felt her muscles clench against him and her breath quickened. He noticed a grin spreading across her face and her eyes were suddenly screwed tight shut. She panted and writhed underneath him as he increased his pace to try and catch up with her obvious head start. When her orgasm hit, her entire body closed in on itself before relaxing and shuddering beneath him. He continued his ever-increasing pace and felt himself get ever closer to his own release but he had reached a plateau and couldn't seem to get above it.

Willow noticed the sweat beads starting to form on his forehead and trickling down the side of his face. She continued to grin and held his gaze as she clenched and released her pelvic muscles to encourage him. He shook his head as he slowed down. "I'm sorry love, I think I'm just too bloody knackered to get there. Maybe in the morning?" he suggested then noticed her mischievous look

Willow shook her head. "You're giving up way too early. What would all those stiff upper lip types back home say?" she giggled as she reached down and gently squeezed his balls. His gasp reassured her that she wasn't coercing him into anything and she continued to caress with her hand as she wriggled out from underneath him.

Giles felt himself being rolled over onto his back and opened his eyes to protest. "I cannot go back to Fraser with another bedroom injury" he tried to sound determined about this but she had removed the condom and her lips had reached the head of his penis and he only managed occasional groans and grunts thereafter.

She knew that he was close and used her hands to stroke his erection and testicles as she moved back up to kiss his lips and eyes. She heard him sigh and sped up her hand movements as she leaned down to whisper in his ear. "After everyone's gone tomorrow you are going to put on one of those old tweed suits and we are going to have a private party of our own" she murmured breathily against his neck as she nibbled his ear. "First I'm going to put the suit on you then I'm going to slowly take it off, just like I imagined all those times in the library. All those times you used to smile at me and look over my shoulder, when I could feel the tweed through my shirt and wanted to turn round and kiss every bit of you right there"

Her thigh was rubbing against his thigh as she increased the pace of her hand still further, however, she gasped in surprise when he pushed her hand out of the way and began doing it himself. She stared at him for a few seconds until he opened his eyes. "Talking was good, keep going" he grinned at her and used his free hand to rub her still erect nipples.

She groaned and pushed her groin against his thigh. "Now I've got you pushed against the book cage and I'm using handcuffs to keep your hands above your head. Once you're secure I start unbuttoning your shirt and kissing your chest" She matched her actions to the words for several seconds. "Now I'm kneeling in front of you and pulling your belt out of the way to get your trousers opened” She placed kisses down his stomach to his navel and rested her head there to watch in fascination as he continued to masturbate.

"Jesus, don't stop" he groaned and she chuckled as she continued her journey down his body.

"Now I've got you completely naked and I gently lick the inside of your thighs" she suggested, a little unsure of how to participate without getting in his way. She needn't have worried as he came with her last words and shouted her name as his sperm coated his hand and thighs.

He pulled her back up into his arms, as he turned onto his side to face her. "Well that was an interesting first" he murmured as he kissed her and nuzzled her neck.

"First?" she asked a little incredulously. "You mean to tell me you've never done that before?"

He sighed dramatically. "Nooooo, I went to an all male boarding school when I was ten and I've never wanked before" He pulled her lips back to his as she tried to bury her head in his chest while she laughed. "I mean it's never been a team sport before" he laughed gently and hugged her.

"Not even with matron?" she whispered, managing to look a little sheepish as he looked at her in shock.

"She scarred me for life, I never could understand men finding nurses uniforms sexy" he muttered. "At least I'll be the only one having to dress up?" he smiled as she blushed.

 

CHAPTER 18

Fraser arrived at the same time as Xander. Giles welcomed them both and asked them what they wanted to drink, sighing as Xander asked for a double bourbon and handing him a low alcohol beer instead. Fraser, who had asked for a whisky, smiled when he received his. "I've had a long day, tell me this isn't apple juice?" he asked plaintively.

Giles smiled. "I've seen how much you can drink and I think I can risk you on the real thing for now"

"Dr Alexander" Buffy said, a little nervously. "I'd like you to meet Angel"

"Please call me Fraser" he smiled as he shook hands with the young man. He looked at his own hand when he released Angel's and stared back at him. "I've heard a lot about you but I don't think it did you justice" he said with a slight smile on his face.

Angel met his gaze steadily and a slight smile turned his mouth up at the edges. "I understand that you helped Giles get his memory back?" he asked, giving the doctor a chance to get back onto familiar ground. "You did a good job, he's very important to Buffy and the others"

"And you?" asked Fraser quietly. He looked round to find that Giles and Buffy had moved over to discuss something with Xander and Willow and they could speak in relative privacy. "It would have been better for you if he had never regained some memories?"

Angel winced slightly. "That's true but he wouldn't be their Giles without all of his memories, good and bad, and they needed their Giles back more than I needed him to forget what I had done"

Fraser nodded. "If it's any consolation I think he would rather remember everything about Jenny than nothing" he said quietly and put his hand on Angel's arm as he took a drink.

Angel nodded and moved to the kitchen to mix some more drinks for everyone. Fraser watched him go and then turned his attention to the gathering. "Willow" he said, raising his voice above the discussion the group was having. "What does an ex-fiancé have to do to get a welcome hug around here?"

Willow smiled and moved over to hug him as Buffy reminded Xander about the ruse at the Bronze. "You owe me twenty dollars on the double or nothing bet" she whispered in his ear as she hugged him.

He laughed and took his wallet out, handing her two ten-dollar bills. "Rupert this young woman is trying to tell me that you can teach an old dog new tricks" he suggested with a raised eyebrow.

Giles groaned and covered his eyes with his hand as Xander and Buffy looked between Willow and him before looking at each other. "We don't want to know" they both said in unison.

Angel came back into the room looking a little bemused. "I'm fairly sure I don't want to know either" he agreed. "Giles, something is starting to burn in the kitchen" he said and stood aside as the Watcher practically ran into the other room. "Fraser, can I top that drink up for you?" he asked as they all heard mutterings and swearing coming from the kitchen.

Everyone looked at Willow. "What?" she whispered back at them fiercely. "Oh right!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I keep forgetting I live here now and I'm not just a Scooby guest" she smiled a little sheepishly and headed for the kitchen. Seconds later she backed out of the kitchen quite rapidly and announced "There will be a slight delay in dinner, nothing to worry about"

Buffy laughed, "If the dinner's fighting back perhaps I should offer my assistance?"

"Noooo" Willow shook her head. "Even with slayer strength you don't want to get between an Englishman and an uncooperative turkey" she pronounced as if this was a well-worn adage.

"I'm glad to see the English is finally starting to surface in the patient again" Fraser smiled as they all moved to sit on the sofa and armchairs. "I guess he's pretty much back to normal?" he asked as they all settled down. He had expected everyone to agree that this was the case and was a little surprised to be faced with several seconds of silence. "He's not?" he asked, directing his question to Buffy.

She shook her head. "I shouldn't complain because the stuff he hasn't got back yet is the stuff we could manage pretty well without. None of us are anxious to remind him of the worrying he used to do on our behalf, or the barriers he built around his feelings and emotions just to get through the days with us"

Xander nodded and glanced anxiously to make sure Giles was still in the kitchen. "He's like Giles' twin brother, and they were separated at birth and one was brought up in England, all tweed and stiff upper lips, and the other was raised in the good old U S of A" he nodded and looked around a room full of mystified faces. "Don't any of you ever watch Jean Claude Van Damme movies?" he sighed.

"What Xander and Buffy are trying to say is that he's changed but for the better" Willow suggested and the other two smiled in agreement. "Since I'm the one who's benefited most from his transformation I guess I'm biased when I say I like the new guy"

Angel smiled. "I have noticed a change in him on a personal level but, during our discussions last night, he was the same old Giles when it came to work so I don't think the differences you've all noticed will affect him in that sense" He stopped talking and glanced up at the kitchen. "So I said to Wesley that he would never get the stain out and he should stop wearing pure wool sweaters to work if he was going to keep moaning about it" and he laughed.

Fraser looked a little bemused then realised that Giles must have re-entered the room behind him. "So this guy Wesley dresses well?" he asked and was relieved when the awkward moment was covered by guffaws of laughter from everyone in the room. Angel was smiling at him and he turned to face him. "So tell me about Wesley and Cordelia" The next half-hour was passed with tales about their friends in LA.

"Dinner was lovely" Fraser said to Giles as he helped him with the coffee later. "I can understand now why you are all so close"

"We make a good team and it's pleasant to come together as friends and forget about work for a while" Giles nodded then sighed. "Having said that, later tonight we need to discuss work again. Angel and I are going to outline a plan to overcome the demon that put me in hospital and it might not go quite as smoothly as dinner" he suggested. "I know this is throwing you in at the deep end but this needs to be resolved quite quickly and I'd understand if you wanted to leave before the fireworks start"

Fraser looked at him for a while. "Rupert, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" he asked and noted Giles surprised glance at him then his nod in agreement. "What prompted you to tell me about everything?" he asked and leaned back against the counter with his coffee as Giles considered the question.

"I'm not really sure" Giles started uncertainly then seemed to stall in his attempt to find an answer.

"Perhaps I can guess that the after effects of your injury have left you a little less concerned about how things are done and a little more concerned about why?" Fraser suggested quietly. "I mean" he continued. "I don't want to get heavy and I'm not on duty, but everyone here tonight has noticed a change in you since the accident and most of them agree it's for the better" He took a drink of his coffee. "This is something we can talk about with the psychologist but I think it would be wise to put any major, life or death decisions on hold for a couple of weeks until we sort out what's missing from the new you"

Giles looked up sharply. "They don't trust me?" he asked quietly.

Fraser shook his head. "As I've said before, these people would trust you if you told them the world would end tomorrow but the strange thing is that they aren't questioning the extent of your recovery despite the fact that they all know you are a different person" Fraser paused. "Rupert, I'm not trying to hurt you but I'm concerned that they are all too close to you to understand the implications if you're not a fully functioning Watcher right now"

"He's fully functioning, you can trust me on that" Willow said emphatically from the doorway. Giles and Fraser jumped as they hadn't heard her approach.

"Willow I didn't mean.." Fraser began but she interrupted him.

"That's OK, I know you're only concerned for him but you have to trust us that we know what we're doing" She moved to hug Giles who was still quietly considering what Fraser had said. "We know that we're only 95% of the way towards our Rupert but we will do everything we can to get the remaining 5% back, even if that is the uber-adult, cautious, English, librarian bit" she smiled up at Giles and he put his arms round her in reassurance.

When the coffee was done, and they were all relaxing and laughing at memories from high school, Fraser noticed that Giles had withdrawn from the group. He was still sitting in their company but his mind was obviously somewhere else. Buffy had just finished an outrageous description of Xander in swimming trunks, much to his embarrassment, when Willow also noticed his introspective mood. "Rupert?" she asked quietly as Xander retaliated with tales of Buffy's cheerleader tryouts. She shook her head at the lack of response and decided drastic action was required, after all he was the host. "Rupert!" she said a little more forcefully and pinched his thigh.

"Ouch!" he reacted and nearly spilled the remains of his coffee. "What on earth did you do that for?" he asked in a surprised tone then realised everyone was staring at him.

"She probably did it to make sure you were still alive" Buffy sighed. "Whatever is on your mind hurry up and tell us so we can get back to the making merry"

Giles glanced furtively at Angel then Fraser, causing Willow to also sigh dramatically. "Oh for goodness sake Rupert, just tell us. We know it has something to do with the demon but we can't sort it out till you let us know what's going on"

He coughed apologetically and stood, moving to the bookcase to retrieve a large notebook. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, recognising the delaying tactic even as he used it. Replacing his glasses he stared at them all then started to pace.

"It's worse than we thought" Xander groaned and ducked his head as Buffy and Willow glared at him.

"Angel found an interesting passage in a text he had in LA and it seems to indicate that Bolak was at the last battle, probably coordinating things until he was mortally injured himself"

Buffy interrupted him "So the big bad is dead after all?" she asked a little confused.

He shook his head. "Not quite" he paused again and took his glasses off. "It seems that the demon can transfer itself into any warm blooded, sentient animal" He looked round at a sea of bewildered faces.

Fraser finally coughed slightly apologetically and asked. "You mean that it doesn't need to be a human?"

Giles smiled at him and nodded. "Exactly, yes that's it" He stopped pacing and put the notebook down on the arm of a chair. "What's always confused me about the last battle was that Bolak didn't seem to be anywhere near the battle, yet it was obviously organised by someone as evidenced by the concerted attack on Willow" he looked at Xander and Fraser, both of whom looked totally confused. "Five large vampires converged on Willow towards the end of the battle and were obviously acting under orders to single one of us out for the final phase of the attack"

Willow nodded "They suddenly appeared out of nowhere, almost as if they were held in reserve until that point"

Angel joined the conversation. "That agrees with the battle scenarios of previous meetings with the slayers. Also, he likes to pinpoint his victims quite specifically and make it a bit more personal than just a free for all fight"

Buffy sighed. "What you mean is that Bolak was there as a human but he was injured in the fight and had to choose an animal as his next host?" Giles and Angel nodded. Buffy shook her head "I would have remembered fighting another human and I didn't"

Xander furrowed his brow. "Me neither, everyone I tackled did the dance of the newly dusted"

Willow sighed and nodded her agreement. "I'm sure one of us would have noticed if we had injured another human"

There was a silence for a minute until Fraser coughed slightly apologetically. "You are all forgetting something, or rather someone" he suggested.

His statement was met with blank stares from all those present until Giles stood up and quietly muttered "Oh bugger" under his breath.

Buffy blew out her cheeks. "Of course, it must have been you Giles, don't you remember any of the battle?"

Giles' mind tried to recall the events they were discussing so dispassionately but he simply had no memory of them. He was brought back to the present by Angel's hand on his arm. "Giles are you OK?" he asked quietly.

Giles looked a little unsure. "Yes, I'm fine, I just can't quite explain the feeling when you can't remember something that you know happened to you" he sighed.

Buffy also stood and put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you wouldn't have harmed a human unless you believed they were playing host to a demon" she turned to the others. "Let's run through the events and see if we can come up with any ideas"

Everyone sat quietly for a few moments, recollecting what they could of the battle. Xander went first. "As we got to the wood stockpile in the yard we were jumped by a few vampires. They split us up pretty effectively but only slowed us down a bit"

Willow nodded. "That's right, there only seemed to be a few of them and, looking back now, they were obviously only trying to split us up and get us disoriented"

Buffy took over the narrative. "We came out the other side of the logs and headed for the building, I was running ahead of you guys but I could see each of you. When I kicked the door in there were a few more vamps behind a barricade but they crumbled fairly quickly as well and, by the time you all got to the door we had a clear path to the centre of the main storage area"

Xander nodded. "We regrouped in the middle of the main work area and had formed a loose circle of cowboys to wait for the indians" he smirked then saw Giles looking impatient and carried on. "We didn't have to wait very long before about two dozen vampires suddenly ran from a side door and headed straight for us. At the last moment we broke formation and all picked a dance partner for the stake polka"

Fraser looked completely bemused. "So four of you were attacked by two dozen vampires and you took this in your stride?" he asked a little incredulously.

Buffy smiled slightly. "Most of them were inexperienced, recent vampires and they kind of got stage fright"

When Fraser shook his head Giles decided to translate for him. "I think what Buffy means is that, for a vampire, coming up against the slayer is their equivalent of a royal command performance. Every vampire wants a chance to come up against a slayer and prove himself the champion which means they get over confident and well…"

"Stage fright-y" Buffy said impatiently as she glared at Giles. "After all for most vampires their first meeting with the Scooby Gang is usually their last and there aren't many old timers around to provide advice for the young pups" she smiled at Giles as she finished the last sentence.

Giles shook his head. "That's why we have the advantage, we have at least one wise head on several young shoulders"

Willow sighed. "If you two are finished?" both Giles and Buffy nodded a little sheepishly. "After the first wave we had reinforcements popping up from various areas around the workshop and, before any of us knew what was happening, we were split up into the four corners of the room" Her voice lowered a little. "I don't remember seeing what the others were up to and didn't realise that Giles was closest to me until he jumped the vampires that had surrounded me"

Xander tried to move them on from the painful memories this caused for all of them. "I was nearest to Giles on the other side and he seemed to be holding his own, although I was pretty busy myself" he finished apologetically.

Angel stood and crossed to stand next to Giles. "So far" he recapped. "We have the four of you fighting in different areas, Willow I know you were next to the conveyor belt and Buffy, you told me about chipping machines you were backed against."

Willow nodded. "I noticed, when we were checking the room later, that there was a pile of logs near where Giles must have been"

Xander agreed. "Yeah, we were both against the long wall with logs piled up to about seven or eight feet high"

Willow scowled. "No, I mean the logs were lying on the floor all higglety pigglety"

Xander stood and paced. "Nope, the logs behind me were still stacked when we finished. They were held in place by a couple of wedge shapes in the bottom row and I remember thinking that it didn't look very safe"

Willow and Buffy stared at each other, trying desperately to remember further details. Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I'm with Willow here, I remember the logs lying about and thinking it looked like a giant's game of pick up sticks"

Angel smiled. "That means that, at some point, the Watcher was attacked and the pile of logs cascaded down. Did anyone check under them when the fight was over?" he asked quietly.

Buffy looked crestfallen. "That's my fault, I honestly didn't think for a minute that anything would be under them and I doubt that anything could have survived under them for very long, if at all"

There was silence in the room for several minutes until Fraser stood to get himself another drink. "I know I'm a bit slow but you are suggesting that a demon infested human attacked Rupert and was left for dead under the fallen pile of logs?"

Buffy nodded. "That is the only way a human could have been injured in the fight as we all fought vampires and there weren't any bodies around at the end, except for Giles" she grimaced slightly and turned guiltily to Willow. "Sorry Will, I didn't mean…"

Willow stood up and patted Giles' shoulder as she went past his chair. "I know, it's just another in the long line of horrible memories for my old age" Giles smiled up at her but was obviously distracted by his thoughts. She filled her glass with orange juice and moved towards the fireplace. "What Angel is suggesting is that there was an animal of some kind in the vicinity that was close enough to become the host for Bolak?"

Angel nodded. "It could have been anything, although I'm guessing you would have noticed something big. We're probably talking about a dog or a cat"

Xander stood and poured himself another drink of orange juice. "That would certainly explain the vampire work to rule we've had for the last couple of months. I can't see them taking orders from a talking cat"

"Oh bloody hell!" Giles spat out as he stood and started to pace. "It was right under our noses all that time" Everyone stared at him then at Fraser, as if he would be able to translate. Giles looked round them all then stopped his pacing in front of Willow. "Heard about any wild dogs hanging around recently?" he asked and stared into her eyes.

"Mrs Leech?" Willow asked incredulously. "But that could just be a coincidence, couldn't it?"

Giles shook his head and turned to look at the rest of the gathering. "Our neighbour Mrs Leech told us that she had heard and seen a wild dog hanging around recently. At first I worried it was a full moon but it seemed to just be a normal dog and I forgot all about it"

Buffy nodded. "When was the last sighting?"

Willow considered. "She told us about it the morning after the first night I… well we….. that is" she ground to an embarrassed halt.

Xander held up his hand to stop her. "Please don't finish that sentence. Shaggy DA demons are bad enough but you two sha…"

"Xander!" Giles shouted him down before he could finish his sentence.

Buffy stood in front of Giles to block his purposeful strides towards the young man. "Giles" she said and waited, her hand upon his chest, until he looked down at her. "We're talking about approximately a week ago, right?" she waited until the anger left his eyes before she removed her restraining hand.

"Yes, about that" Giles admitted and turned back towards the fireplace to stand next to Willow. She was blushing furiously and staring at the floor.

Angel took pity on her and coughed slightly to get everyone's attention. "If this is the demon then he may have found a human host already. We'll need to question this neighbour tomorrow to establish the last sighting then check the papers for any missing persons since then"

This return to standard operating procedure seemed to break the tension in the room and Willow looked up gratefully at him. "Last time we did this I found a few new web sites that should help narrow the search down" she smiled.

Angel answered. "Although, it seems likely that he's still stuck in his present form until he can find a human host again because there hasn't been another assault yet"

Giles took a deep breath and returned to his notebook. "However, we need to consider all of the possible scenarios and, in a way it will be easier to overcome him if he has found a human host, after all he'll be easier to identify" he smiled a little. "If he has found a human host then Angel and I have finalised the procedure to disrupt the transfer from one host to another " he continued. "We've come up with a plan which should rid us of the demon for good but it is quite risky and it will require all of us to play our parts to ensure it's success" He stopped pacing and met each of their gazes. He was instantly transported back to the library and numerous previous occasions when they had all sat waiting for him to come up with the important information. He glanced at Fraser and wondered if the Doctor was correct. If he wasn't functioning at his best, he could be missing something vital and jeopardising their lives as well as his own.

Buffy looked towards Angel. "Won't the old Eghyon switcheroo work again?" she asked.

Fraser looked confused but knew that someone would explain to him later.

Angel shook his head. "This demon requires an awake, fully conscious, live body to transfer into and two out of three won't do"

Giles coughed slightly. "Exactly, but the previous plan is still a good working theory to start with"

Willow winced as she knew how much he hated to be reminded of his mistakes and their consequences. "What do you suggest?" she asked quietly.

Giles took a deep breath. He could predict their reactions but it didn't make it any easier to say what he had to say. "Angel and I think that, if we could all engage the demon in battle and ensure that his current host is mortally wounded, we should be able to persuade him to transfer into a host of our choosing" There was deadly silence in the room, with only Fraser lagging behind in understanding what Giles was proposing. "The host would be able to disrupt the transfer at a vital stage and allow Angel to defeat the incorporeal demon spirit before it could find another host" he finished in a rush and held his breath for the expected riot.

Instead they all looked a little confused. "How would we get him to choose a specific host?" Buffy asked.

Angel stood beside Giles and decided to take some of the flak for him. "Because everyone else would be out of the locked room or unconscious and he would only have one live person left to choose from" he said quietly.

Buffy still looked a little confused but Angel and Giles both noticed a look of realisation dawn on Willow's face. "Still trying to work through the prophecy Giles?" she asked quietly and stared at him. Fraser noticed the change when she called him Giles and felt the tension in the room mount again but he had no idea what they were talking about.

"What are you all talking about?" he asked plaintively and everyone looked at him as if they had forgotten he was there.

Willow stood up to pace as she answered him, causing Giles and Angel to get out of her way. "Plan A is to track down every dog in Sunnydale, identify the possessed one and then kill it and Plan B means that Giles allows an eight hundred year old demon to inhabit his body in order to kill it before it can make the residence permanent" She was working up a head of steam as she continued "He is proposing that we all fight this demon and his henchmen to the death and then leave him while he and Angel fight it out with the bad guy"

Xander and Buffy were staring at her, Xander in horror, Buffy with a calculating look that meant she was trying to figure the odds in this particular battle scenario.

Willow stopped pacing and stood in front of Giles. "He is then proposing that he disrupts the transfer in some way to allow Angel to mop up the messy ectoplasmic leftovers of the demon" She shook her head and turned to Fraser. He sat back a little, shocked at the anger in her eyes despite the enforced calm of her speech. "I was wrong Fraser, he is far from fully functioning" she announced and left the others staring at the front door as it slammed behind her.

The brief silence was broken by Giles. "Well that went better than I expected" he suggested.

Angel nodded. "Yeah, much better" he agreed and followed Willow out of the front door to ensure her safety.

Xander stared at Angel's back. "Was she right?" he asked, changing his incredulous look to focus on Giles. "Because if she was I think the Doc had better call for backup, your brains are still on the fritz" he looked to Buffy for her agreement.

She was staring off into space. "Why does it have to be you, why can't I do it?" she asked quietly. "After all, this Bolak is after me, not you"

Giles wearily shook his head. "The only way to ensure the host can disrupt the transfer at the precise moment of weakness for Bolak is by magic and that is one of the few things you have never mastered. The rest of you will remove yourselves from the demon's choice of hosts. The host has to control the moment of interruption precisely and a magic spell is the only thing I have been able to come up with that would work"

"It won't work" Willow said quietly from the doorway. Xander stood and moved to her side, giving her a hug and moving her to a chair at the table.

"Willow, please, I know what I'm talking about, it will work" Giles said quietly, not meeting her gaze.

"Oh the spell would work" she agreed. "Just not if you're the one to do it"

His head whipped up and he met her gaze steadily. "What do you mean, nobody else has the ability to …" his words trailed off as he read her meaning in her face.

"Giles" she stood and moved towards him. "We both know that you aren't 100% fit yet and, although we've been practicing magic again you are still way too shaky to take on anything large, let alone a spell this tricky" she was kneeling in front of him. "Whereas," she put her hands on his knee, "We both know that I am more than capable of doing this"

Buffy was on her feet a split second before Xander. "Wait a minute Willow, you can't be serious" she started before Willow interrupted her.

"Giles simply doesn't have the big guns that this will need but his star pupil does" she stated with absolute certainty, holding his gaze while the others continued to argue.

Angel looked at the couple and gestured to Fraser. "We should leave them alone to sort this out" he suggested and moved to collect Buffy. Fraser nodded and ushered Xander into the courtyard before quietly shutting the door behind them.

"Hey what's the big idea?" Xander asked indignantly when he realised that Buffy and him were now arguing outdoors.

"Ssshhhh" Fraser pointed at his watch. "We don't want to wake up the neighbours" he suggested and moved towards the stairs. "Come on, let's all grab a coffee and you can explain what just happened in there"

Buffy stared at Angel then nodded. "Come on Xand, let's give them some time alone" she said quietly and linked her arm through his.

Giles was standing at the fireplace gazing into the flames. Willow tapped his shoulder lightly and handed him his drink when he turned to face her. "Why didn't you tell me what you were planning?" she asked. "I could have helped" she looked away and returned to the sofa.

"Angel and I only finalised the plan this afternoon and I wanted to tell you but I was selfish and afraid that we would fight and ruin the time we had together" he said quietly and sipped his drink. "As the Watcher I knew what had to be done but I couldn't separate that from the person who wanted to wake up next to you"

Willow sniffed a little. "You can trust me not to move out at the first sign of trouble Rupert, I thought you understood that my feelings for you were a little longer lasting than that"

Rupert sighed and moved to sit beside her, handing her his handkerchief as he put his arm round her. "I'm not saying we couldn't survive an argument about toothpaste tubes but I was suggesting putting all of us in danger and I knew you wouldn't agree with the role I chose for myself"

Willow gulped down a sob. "You definitely are not fit enough to do it and I won't let you" she finished on an angry note.

He sighed and hugged her against his chest. "I can imagine what you're feeling right now because I've felt that every time you went on patrol with Buffy but it doesn't change the facts"

She pulled away from his arms and started to pace again. "This isn't a girlfriend thing" she shouted at him. "In the best interests of Buffy and the others I should be the one to do the spell" she turned to stare at him.

Part of her brain noticed dispassionately the anger that flared in his eyes. "I think I know more about the magic involved than you do, after all I have been practicing serious magic a little longer than you" He said angrily and swallowed the rest of his whiskey as she continued to pace.

She turned to stare at him and he felt his glass being lifted from his hand and found it floating in front of his face. "Take the glass away from me" Willow said quietly.

He stood up abruptly and moved towards the kitchen. "This isn't a bloody circus Willow, and I'm not going to perform stupid magic tricks to win this argument"

The glass followed him into the kitchen. "Take the glass away from me" she reiterated through clenched teeth. "You know that you don't have the strength to beat me at parlour game magic yet you think you're strong enough to go up against a demon of Bolak's abilities?" she asked incredulously.

He whirled to face her and she hovered the glass in his face. With an angry gesture he swung his arm and swept the glass into the sink where it shattered. "Willow I will not let you do this" he shouted at her and strode towards her. "You have never faced anything like this before and I have. I have the experience of defeating demons like this and it's my job and I will do it, with or without your agreement" he was standing in front of her now, his anger making his breath come in short, sharp gasps.

She didn't even realise what she had done until she saw the reddening finger marks on his cheek. Her tears were generated by anger but soon turned to sobs as the adrenalin left her system. She ran from the room and he heard her run upstairs before he moved from his position. Eventually he raised his hand and touched his cheek where she had slapped him.

 

CHAPTER 19

Angel quietly unlocked Giles' apartment door. He had assured Giles that he wouldn't use the spare key he had been given, but he needed to check some of the texts they had been using and he was pretty sure he could get in and out without disturbing them.

Moving swiftly over to the table he was surprised when a light came on and he found himself staring into the business end of a crossbow. "Giles!" he whispered and took a step back.

"Sorry" Giles mumbled and put the weapon down. "Wasn't sure it was you" he sighed and returned to the pile of books he was reading.

"Giles are you OK, you look terrible?" Angel asked then realised that he already knew the answer to the question. "Did you manage to sort everything out with Willow?"

Giles looked up at him. "Yes, we managed to sort it out, that's why she's sobbing her heart out in the bedroom and I'm down here bleeding to death with a pile of books" He raised his right hand and Angel saw a bloody dish towel wrapped around his fist.

"What happened?" Angel asked as he moved to the kitchen to get more towels.

"I smashed a glass then cut myself trying to clear it up … and Willow was crying upstairs …. and I couldn't open the medical kit …. and I didn't know what to do …and" he ran out of steam.

Angel sat down next to him with the medical kit and a bottle of whiskey. "Drink some of this and let me sort that for you" he gently removed the sodden towel and winced at the deep gash across Giles palm. "This is pretty deep, should I call Fraser to give you some stitches?" he asked.

Giles shook his head. "It's not that bad, can't you do it yourself?" he asked plaintively.

Angel nodded and pushed the bottle towards him again. "Start on the anaesthetic or we'll wake up the entire block" he suggested and hunted for the needle in the kit.

Half an hour later Angel had finished dressing the deep gash and was helping Giles finish off the bottle of whiskey. "Don't you think you should check if she is OK?" he asked and nodded his head towards the stairs.

"She just doesn't believe me when I say that I can do this" Giles sighed and settled further into the sofa. "I mean I wouldn't risk my life if it wasn't completely necessary, especially now that we are together" he frowned and took another pull at the glass in his left hand.

Angel sighed as well. "I'm not taking sides on this but perhaps she is right?" he started quietly and was relieved to see the alcohol dulling the righteous indignation Giles was trying to express, turning it into spluttering instead. "Hear me out Giles" he said quietly and moved to take the glass from him.

"While you were in the kitchen tonight we were discussing your recovery and everyone agreed that you aren't back to your old self" Angel began and returned to his seat. "I argued that the personal side may have changed but the business part of you still seemed pretty much as I remembered it" he smiled as Giles stopped trying to interrupt and settled with a happy grin on his face. "But I'm not so sure now" the grin faded as quickly as it had appeared. "Before the accident you tried to protect all of them to the best of your ability but you still sent them out on patrol and you still gave them the information to try and beat whatever the 'Hellmouth Poster Boy of the Week' threw at them" Giles nodded and his eyelids drooped a little. "I guess I've just realised that you don't do that anymore, now you want to go out there and fight the bad guys for them and that's not what you're good at"

Giles opened his eyes again and sighed. "There have been other occasions when I've had to be on the front line because of my particular skills and everyone has understood that before, why can't they understand it now?"

Angel shook his head. "I think they are just worried that you haven't fully recovered and don't want to risk you, after all Bolak may be defeated but it won't do anyone any good if his last act is taking you with him"

"Or Willow?" Giles asked quietly. "It's not just because we're together now that I don't want her doing this"

Angel interrupted him. "I know that Giles, it's because she's never faced anything like this before and you have" He sighed "If only there was some way for both of you to do this together, her strength and your experience would be an unbeatable combination" Giles continued to stare at him for some time in deep thought before his eyes started to droop again. Angel smiled at him and glanced out of the window where the early signs of dawn were already showing. "Damn" he swore under his breath and moved to put a blanket over Giles' gently dozing form.

He glanced around then seemed to come to a decision. With his usual stealth and speed he mounted the stairs and headed for the bedroom. He paused half way up the stairs, memories of his previous visit inundating him for several minutes. Finally he sighed deeply and reached the bedroom.

Willow was lying on top of the bed, still fully dressed. He smiled in relief and moved to kneel by the side of the bed. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered her name. "Willow wake up, its me Angel …… come on Willow wake up" She started to stir then opened her eyes and nearly jumped out of her skin. He moved back and raised his hands while frantically shusshing her. "It's OK, stop shouting or you'll wake up Giles"

At the mention of his name she stopped and took a deep breath. "What on earth are you doing here and what time is it anyway?" she asked as she reached for the bedside clock. "Five thirty am, are you insane?" she whispered fiercely at him. "Oh my God what's wrong, is Buffy OK?" she jumped from the bed and headed for the stairs.

He sighed and reached her before she had made it half way. Gently he guided her back to the bed and sat down beside her. "Everyone's OK except you and Giles and I'm sorry it's so early but I needed to borrow some texts and ended up talking to Giles downstairs until after sunrise"

She was fully awake now and had gathered herself together. "Is he OK?" she asked sadly and nodded her head towards the stairs.

"He'll be fine, although he'll have a hangover and the stitches will probably hurt like hell for a couple of days" he smiled to reassure her. It didn't work.

"Stitches" she said in a loud voice and was on her feet again. "What happened to him, how did he get hurt?" she was heading for the stairs again when he started to laugh. Willow stopped in her tracks and turned to stare at him. "I've never heard you laugh before" she said in amazement and moved to sit next to him again. "OK" she smiled at him. "Now you've got my attention but make it quick before I tickle you!" she grinned at his look of amazement.

Angel recovered fairly quickly and put his hand on her arm. "He cut himself while he was cleaning up some broken glass and was feeling a bit sorry for himself when I arrived. I tidied up the wound and we ended up talking about the best solution to the problem" He realised that she was fighting to hold back tears. "He is OK, I promise" he said urgently.

"It's my fault, I made him break the glass" she mumbled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She took a deep breath that turned into a sob but she managed to regain control and looked at him again. "Anyway, we did resolve the problem earlier, I'll do the host spell and he can be my backup" she nodded and met his steady gaze.

Angel shook his head. "I know why you would suggest that and I agree with you but there must be another way" he stood and moved to the armchair that faced the bed. "Ideally we would find some way to get Giles' experience and your strength together but we can't have that so we need to work out a compromise which will mean a minimum amount of danger for whichever one of you is the host" He bowed his head and pretended to stare at his clasped hands in his lap, instead he sneaked a look at her and found her staring at the wall with a concentrated look on her face. He smiled to himself and waited for five minutes before standing up and sighing. "I'm sorry I can't come up with anything useful but I will study the texts all day and see if I can find something"

She shook herself out of the reflective mood and stood to face him. "Could you help me get him up to bed?" she asked quietly and he smiled at her and nodded.

Giles woke later that morning and groaned as the sunlight shone through the open curtains. He turned over and tried to pull his pillow over his head but his hand wouldn't work and he grumpily woke up to see Willow sitting in the armchair reading a newspaper. "What time is it?" he asked and started to cough as he found his throat dry and discovered a taste in his mouth as if some unknown animal had chosen to die there.

Willow glanced up from her newspaper and sipped her coffee. "Ten thirty" she said brightly. "Sleep well?" she asked as he struggled to disentangle himself from the bed covers. Eventually she stood and helped him up. "If you keep on like that you'll tear the stitches" she suggested in a tone reminiscent of her mother's voice.

He stopped in the middle of his shuffle to the bathroom and looked back at her. "Stitches" he mumbled and brought his hand up to his face to peer at the dressing. "How the bloody hell did that happen?" he squinted at her and she shook her head and gave him his glasses.

"You were clearing up some broken glass and cut yourself" she explained and led him to the bathroom. "Get a shower and I'll sort out some tea and aspirins" she said quietly as she closed the door behind him. She waited until she heard the shower start before heading downstairs.

Angel looked up as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "How is he?" he asked.

"I'm just glad Fraser didn't ask for triple or nothing on our bet" she sighed and filled the kettle. "Would you like some tea or coffee?" she asked him. "I'm sorry we don't have anything else…" the sentence trailed off.

"Tea would be fine" he smiled and put down the book he had been reading. "I'm sorry you're stuck with me all day, you two should be sorting this out between you"

She smiled as she sat next to him at the table. "We'll sort out our problems once Bolak is out of the way" she nodded definitively and pulled a large, leather bound book towards her. "I've been thinking about what you said last night" she looked up at him. "About putting our strengths together to take care of demon guy"

He nodded. "It was just an idea but I'm not sure it would work, after all it took Xander, you and Giles to strengthen Buffy the last time around" he looked speculatively at her. "Have you worked out a plan?'

"Sort of" she nodded eagerly. "The only problem is that we need the grumpy papa bear to check it out and he's not going to be much use until he has his porridge" she grinned at Angel then jumped at a voice just behind her.

"You'd better get out of my favourite chair then Goldilocks" he growled and put his arms round her as she jumped out of the chair.

"Rupert" she squealed and wriggled in his arms. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that on a hellmouth" she huffed when she couldn't loosen his grip.

He leaned down and kissed her neck before sliding onto the chair and grinning at Angel. "So where's the porridge?" he asked and laughed as she rolled her eyes and headed for the kitchen.

"You seem a little brighter" Angel said quietly. "How's the hand?"

"Bloody sore and impossible to shower with but I remembered, while I was washing, the subject of our discussion last night and I think I've got a plan" Giles suggested eagerly and was about to expand when Willow put his tea in front of him.

"This is turning into cunning plan day" Willow sighed and set a mug in front of Angel before settling herself into a chair. "While you were sleeping" she started pointedly and noticed him looking guiltily at Angel. "I called on Mrs Leech this morning and got a description of the dog. Buffy is checking out the pound to make sure it hasn't ended up there" she smiled at him. "OK, now tell us your plan" she sat back and took a drink of her tea. "Oh, before you start" she jumped up just as he was about to speak. "Good morning darling" she said quietly and kissed him before returning to her seat. "Ready when you are" she nodded and drank her tea.

Angel smiled and looked away as his friend tried to gather his thoughts. Eventually Giles coughed a little to clear his throat. "I'm assuming a worst case scenario, that Bolak has taken human form again. Angel and I were talking last night and he said, off hand, that it was a pity that we couldn't have your strength and my experience in one body" he nodded at Angel who glanced quickly at Willow to see her reaction. She was looking at him intently and a small smile crept over her face before she composed herself and turned back to Giles. Angel knew she would play her part.

"SO?" Willow asked in an exasperated tone as Giles took his time to get to the good bit.

"SO" he glared at her. "Perhaps we can effect some sort of transition to get the best of both worlds, after all we've done something similar before"

"But it took both of us and Xander to get there before and we were only backing up the slayer, how can we manage something like this without them?" she asked and noticed Angel take a drink of his tea to hide his smile. She knew she was playing his 'devils advocate' role but she was determined that he wasn't going to have all the fun.

Giles didn't notice their interplay as he stood and started to pace. "I admit the timing is going to be the most difficult part but I think we can do it" he turned to look at her. "It would mean that, although I was the host you would be there with me to back me up" he looked towards Angel.

"I've been checking some of the texts you referenced when you joined at the Initiative and I think I may have found something that will help" Angel said quietly and pulled a large book from the top of the pile.

Willow came to stand and read over his shoulder, after a few seconds she gave up and returned to her chair. She smiled at Giles "I still can't sight read Sumerian that quickly" she sighed.

Angel and Giles spent ten minutes reading through various parts of the text, occasionally disagreeing over the translation of one word or another. Willow sighed as she saw Giles get more and more agitated, and she knew that they had found what they were looking for. After all, if anyone could recognise the look on his face when he found the important clue to solve that week's mystery it was his research assistant.

Buffy arrived after lunch, tentatively knocking on the door and waiting for it to be answered. Willow pulled open the door and looked at her in astonishment. "Buffy, what's the matter?" she asked as she looked around behind the Slayer.

"Is it OK to come in?" Buffy asked in a stage whisper and tried to see behind Willow into the room.

Willow looked suspiciously at Buffy then opened the door wide and said in a loud voice. "NO, I do not invite you in"

Buffy stared at her for a second then brushed her aside as she walked through the door. "If I was a vampire I wouldn't be up and about during the day would I?" she said sarcastically then stopped in her tracks as she saw Angel standing at the fireplace. "Or then again maybe I would"

Willow laughed and shut the door behind her. "It's just I've never heard you knock on Rupert's door before" she smiled at Buffy. "A girl can't be too careful in this town you know" she nodded as if to emphasise her pronouncement.

"What happened to your hand?" Buffy asked Giles as she nodded to Angel and sat on the sofa.

"Minor accident in the kitchen" Giles murmured and moved to stand next to Angel. "How did you get on at the pound?" he asked.

"Lots of fluffy puppies but nothing close to the description I'm afraid. I gave the attendant the usual 'my room mate's dog's been missing for weeks now" story but he hasn't had a dog like that in months"

Giles nodded. "Willow and Xander should concentrate on tracking down any missing persons or missing pets over the next few days, in the meantime I think Angel has come up with a plan that may work if we need to tackle a human host" he stated.

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Are we OK with the plan now?" she asked, looking between Giles and Willow.

"Essentially" Giles said and looked a little uncertain. "Willow and I have agreed that we both need to be involved at the final stage, however, we haven't quite worked out the details yet"

Willow nodded. "Angel has found a variation on the joining we did to defeat Adam and it should be strong enough to allow us to combine Giles' knowledge and experience with my strength"

Buffy shifted her gaze to Angel and raised her eyebrows. He nodded slightly and she held his gaze for a few moments. Eventually she stirred herself. "So long as the slayer spirit and cheese guy aren't part of the deal it sounds OK. I think I need some fresh air, how about joining me for a run, if you're feeling up to it Giles?"

He looked at her a little surprised. "Well actually I'm quite tired, I didn't sleep much last night and I did have quite a lot to drink and we still have a lot of work to do and …"

She cut him off. "No more excuses" she announced and took her sweater off to reveal a t-shirt underneath. "You need some aerobic exercise and fresh air" she glanced at Willow. "You're heading back towards the flabby librarian we used to know and I don't think I'm the only one to notice"

"He is not flabby" Willow started and then realised Buffy was joking and sank down on to the sofa. "OK, maybe you're right" she nodded and stood up to kiss Giles. "I'll be ready with the massage oil when you come back" she whispered in his ear and watched him blush and start to cough.

"Willow!" Buffy shouted in outrage. "Please don't do that to my Watcher" she moved to Giles side and helped him to a chair. "Go and hunt up his running gear while I revive him" she ordered and watched as Willow smiled and headed upstairs. As soon as she was out of earshot Buffy gestured to Angel to join them and knelt in front of Giles. "OK, what's the plan?" she whispered and all three huddled together as the two men explained the basics to her.

By the time Willow returned they were all sitting on chairs around the table and discussing battle tactics and venues for the upcoming encounter. "I'll wait down here while you change" Willow smiled at Giles. "I've left your things on the bed"

Angel smiled and sighed. "Perhaps we could have a break as well?" he suggested to Willow and headed for the kitchen. "Lunch?"

Willow agreed and helped him choose sandwich fillings while Buffy started stretching. Giles emerged a couple of minutes later in his running gear and carrying a pair of dark glasses.

They ran for five minutes before he finally stopped and put his hands on his knees to gulp air into his tortured lungs. "Getting too old for this" he rasped and sat down on the grass beside the track.

Buffy jogged on the spot for a few minutes then sat down next to him, looking across at his face before asking "Are you happy?"

"If my lungs don't burst in the next two minutes I'll be delirious" he managed and looked across at her serious face.

Buffy smiled and leaned her head back to feel the sun on her face. "I meant a little more long term than the next two minutes"

He laughed and lay back, putting his hands behind his head. "I am truly happy but I still wonder if Fraser is right and I'll wake up one morning as grumpy Giles and spoil everything"

"What makes you think that Willow won't love you anyway?" she asked quietly.

"It's not Willow I'm worried about, after all I do believe her when she says that she loves me and has done for some time" he paused, sorting his thoughts before expressing himself. "I'm worried that I'll return to being petrified of being in love with her and put up all of the barriers again, pretending that we're just friends and not allowing anything else to happen"

They both lay quietly for several moments before he climbed slowly to his feet. "Come on, I think I'll last a few more laps without medical intervention" and he slowly jogged away from her.

Buffy caught up with him and turned to face him, jogging backwards and keeping pace easily. "I think you will get all of your memories back but I don't think you have to worry about running away from the relationship, after all you were able to deny your feelings before you knew what you were missing, it isn't as easy to give it all up, believe me"

He stopped running and stared at her. "My memory still bothers me, were you always this smart and understanding?"

"Oh yes" she nodded and pulled away from him as she lengthened her stride. "You often used to come to me for relationship or careers advice"

He knew he had no chance of catching up with her but gently jogged for another couple of minutes before giving up. Buffy completed her fast laps and returned to sit next to him. "Are you sure you're up to dealing with Bolak?" she asked, taking a drink from her water bottle.

He lay on his back, seriously considering his answer before sitting up and taking his sunglasses off to stare at her. "I wouldn't endanger you, Xander and Willow by attempting this if I didn't think I would succeed" he stated with certainty.

She stared back at him, noticing his bloodshot eyes and the touch of gray at his temples. "I know the old Giles would never have considered that for a moment but I just needed to hear it from you, today" she nodded and handed him a bottle of water.

"Do you really think I've changed that much?" he asked as he finished his drink and replaced his glasses. "I remember what I was like and it doesn't feel any different to how I'm reacting to things now" he reflected.

"You said it yourself" she sighed and leaned back to enjoy the sun. "You used to be much more reserved about things. We only ever knew you to completely relax once and that was when you sang at the Espresso Pump, I only wish I had been there to see it. Since the accident you seem to be 'Mr Acoustic Rock God' all of the time. Not that it's a bad thing, I kind of like the new you and I know that Willow really likes the new you!"

He laughed. "After this is all over perhaps we could have a night out at the Espresso?" he suggested. "I'm fairly sure I can remember most of the old classics, although it may take a while for this hand to heal" he winced as he flexed it.

 

CHAPTER 20

Willow and Xander were sitting at the dining table when Giles and Buffy returned from their lunchtime training session. Willow had been hunting through various web sites containing information on missing people while Xander had been trawling through local newspapers for incidents concerning missing dogs.

"Any luck?" Buffy asked as Giles placed a kiss on Willow's head on his way to the fridge.

"None at all" Xander grumbled and stood up to stretch. "We've been at this for two days, if there was anything to find we would have found it by now"

Willow sighed and flexed her neck muscles. "We'll pull a late shift tonight and give it one final push"

Giles returned from the kitchen and threw a bottle of water at Buffy. "Oh no you won't" he said and took a drink from his own bottle. "Xander needs a night off and I have some other areas of research I want you to concentrate on"

Willow looked at him in surprise. "OK, what's the new idea?" she asked.

Buffy finished her water and tossed the empty bottle back at Giles. "Please don't explain just yet, Xander and I were just leaving" she laughed and grabbed Xander's jacket.

"We were?" Xander asked then realised that he was being given an early pass and quickly followed Buffy out of the door. "We were!" they heard him say as he pulled the door shut behind him.

"What on earth was that all about?" Willow asked as she turned in her chair to look at Giles. He was leaning against the counter and smiling at her, a lascivious look on his face. "What are you and Buffy up to now?" she laughed and stood to kiss him.

He sighed as he released her lips. "I suppose I should be devastated that you've forgotten our anniversary"

"Anniversary?" she giggled. Her brow furrowed as she frantically tried to work out what he was talking about.

He pushed away from the counter and took her hand, guiding her towards the stairs. "I'm supposed to be the one predisposed to amnesia, not you" he growled.

Once in the bedroom he hugged her and she wriggled in his arms. "I guess I'll just have to find some way to force you to tell me?"

He stood back from her embrace and began removing his clothes. She sat back on the bed to enjoy the display as he removed his shirt first then his slacks. Before he put the trousers on the chair he removed a small package from the back pocket. Willow lay on the bed, watching him remove the rest of his clothes. "You really should be getting undressed, you're already in enough trouble you know!" he mumbled as he headed for the bathroom.

She stood up and quickly undressed. "God I love it when we play guidance teacher and naughty pupil" she laughed and followed him into the bathroom. "You're taking a bubble bath?" she asked incredulously

"No, I'm not but you are" he smiled at her and pulled her into a long, lingering kiss. When he released her he placed the small package into her hand. "Happy Anniversary darling" he whispered and kissed her again.

She pulled back from him and smiled a little uncertainly. Opening the small envelope she let a fine gold necklace fall into the palm of her hand. She held it up and saw a small golden key hanging from it. Completely bewildered, but entranced, she looked back into his eyes.

He sighed and turned her round to fasten the necklace for her, fumbling a little with the sticking plaster on his right hand. He kissed her neck and rubbed his left hand over her stomach. "One week ago you moved in with me and made me the happiest person in the world. I gave you a key to the apartment and you already had the key to my heart so now you have the complete set" he whispered in her ear. He felt her sink into his arms as she leaned against him. "And now I'm going to treat you to a few anniversary surprises, starting with a bubble bath"

She turned in his arms and he could see tears running down her face. "You've done it again" she sighed and wiped some of the tears from her cheeks. "I now, officially, have the most incredible, handsome, sexy, adorable, caring, loving, sexy man in my life" she kissed him for several minutes and only pulled away when he had to stop the water running into the bath.

He turned back to her and grinned. "You said sexy twice" he laughed as he lifted her up and placed her, gently, into the bath.

She pulled him to her mouth again and continued the interrupted kiss. "I'm going to have to invent another word then because you are the equivalent of a dozen sexy-s in the same sentence"

The next few minutes were taken up with finding the soap as it disappeared beneath the bubbles several times.

Eventually, with more bubbles on the floor than in the bath, she grinned at him. "I'm really sorry I forgot our one week anniversary but it just feels like we've been together for so much longer"

"I know what you mean" he sighed as he stood up to dry himself off. "I can't tell you what a relief it was when you agreed to live here, I couldn't have faced a night without you by my side" He gave her his hand to help her from the bath and proceeded to dry her off.

She wriggled under his ministrations with the towel. "Carpe that diem, that's what I always say. Particularly when you live on a hellmouth and a man you've lusted after finally gets around to asking you to live with him"

"Finally?" he said as he stood in front of her and finished drying himself off. "I asked you to move in three days after we finally realised how we felt about each other" he spluttered. "I don't know how the haste could have been any more indecent" he finished and turned her round to look at her in the mirror. "Besides you're only here on probation you know, I may decide I don't like living with you after all" his eyebrows raised in a question as he finished.

She stared at his reflection in mock seriousness. "Are you suggesting that you would take advantage of a young maiden and then throw her out into the streets after you've had your wicked way with her?"

"I'm fairly sure I'll get tired of you after fifty or sixty years" he nodded over her shoulder. "I might have to trade you in for a younger model at that stage"

She sighed and leaned back against his chest. "I'll just have to spend the next fifty or sixty years persuading you that I'm worth all of the stresses and strains"

He pulled her more tightly against him. "I'll hold you to that and much more" he said and smiled at her reflection.

She stood looking into the mirror at the necklace hanging round her neck and sighed. "Thank you Rupert, it is the most beautiful present I've ever received from anyone"

He kissed her shoulder and neck before pulling her against his now obvious erection. "So where have you hidden my present?" he smiled at her.

She looked crestfallen then a smile crept over her face.

Two hours later Willow woke up and stretched. She took a moment to remember why she was in bed when it was still light outside then glanced over at the chair. His trousers and shirt were missing and she quickly got up and threw on some clothes. A yawn overtook her as she headed downstairs, where a delicious smell wafted from the kitchen.

He smiled at her from the kitchen. "Give me a second" he muttered as he finished returning a large dish to the oven. By the time he had changed the temperature and turned round she was standing behind him. "Did you have a nice nap?" he asked and bent down to kiss her.

"Mmmm" she murmured. "Very refreshing, what is that fabulous smell?" she asked.

"Special anniversary dinner" he smiled. "Can you light the candles for me?"

"I really don't deserve all this, you know" she suggested from the dining table. "I should be doing something for you, after all, you let me move in with you" She was concentrating on the candles and didn't hear him coming up behind her.

"Let's not argue over who deserves what and don't ever think you don't do anything for me" he kissed her and led her to the sofa. "Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes so we have plenty of time to discuss a system of reward and recognition"

After a leisurely dinner and two glasses of wine Willow was lying out on the sofa with a dreamy look on her face.

Giles put a mug of coffee on the table for her and sat in the armchair, smiling at her. "Don't you dare fall asleep again" he murmured quietly.

"Not going to, just resting my eyes" she answered and grinned at him. She opened one eye and looked at the mug then sat up and took a sip. "Are you trying to sober me up before you take advantage of me again?" she asked with a mock serious look on her face. "Because that is not the action of the dastardly English bounder in any of the books I've read"

He laughed as he put his own mug down. "I was your librarian for five years and I never knew you read such libidinous texts, where on earth did you get them from?"

"It's amazing what you can download from the web these days" she smiled at him.

He shook his head. "And I thought you were illegally hacking into private files for the good guys"

She took another sip of her coffee. "I was doing that as well but even cyber trespassing needs to be livened up occasionally"

"Talking of which" he suggested as he stood up and placed her laptop in front of her. "I was partly serious when I told Buffy that I needed some other research done tonight" he looked a little embarrassed. "It should only take you a couple of hours and then we can finish the anniversary celebrations"

She stared at him for a moment then shook her head. "Buffy will never believe that I spent tonight researching"

He sat beside her and put his hand on her thigh. "Buffy doesn't need to know what you spent tonight doing" he suggested as he put his glasses on and watched her log onto the system.

"She obviously had a good idea of what you were planning, if the speed she left here at is any indication" she looked at him as she waited for the internet to connect.

He looked a little sheepishly at her and returned his attention to the screen. "Well she was with me when I picked up the necklace and I had to explain some things to her" he risked a look back at her face and saw the shake of her head that indicated her disbelief. "She is very persuasive you know" he added and sighed.

"What are we looking for?" Willow asked as her fingers were poised over the keyboard.

After one hour and fifteen minutes she had found the title deeds and followed the trail to the death notice in an obscure newspaper from another state. They both sat back and considered the information. "It never occurred to me how strange it was that a demon who habitually worked with vampires would choose a sawmill to stage his big attack" she finally admitted.

He nodded. "Mmmm, it only occurred to me a couple of days before the battle but I didn't have time to chase it up and I was more concerned with the prophecy itself by then"

She roused herself to save all of the information to disk before shutting down the laptop. "So" she finally said as she turned to face him, one leg beneath her. "We have the owner of the sawmill suddenly behaving strangely about six months before the battle, then disappearing altogether, only to turn up dead in some out of the way town two weeks later"

He nodded and took his glasses off to rub his eyes. "It would appear that the demon inhabited his body and spent some time building his forces before staging the attack on home ground" He stood to organise his thoughts, walking to the kitchen to refresh his drink. "It must have been this host who attacked me and was mortally injured under the logs. We can only surmise that some vampires returned later that night and removed the dead body to inter it as far away from here as they could get during the hours of darkness"

Willow shook her head as he offered her more coffee. "I don't want to be awake all night" she suggested and grinned at him. "So we now know how he organised the first attack, how does this help us to sort out his next move?"

He yawned and stretched his back gently. "It doesn't but it is one more piece in the puzzle" he suggested. "Enough for tonight I think, we still have some celebrating to complete" His suggestion was slightly ruined by a huge yawn that shook his frame as he put his coffee mug down.

"That's what you get for all this sneaking around organising afternoons and evenings of passion" she scolded him. "When was the last time you had an uninterrupted nights sleep?"

"I think I was unconscious in hospital" he admitted sheepishly. "Even before you were actually in my bed I used to lose sleep thinking about you being in my bed"

"Me too" she grinned and kissed him quickly before putting out the lights around the room. "Come on, major league cuddling taking place in the bedroom in two minutes"

He held her hand as they walked upstairs. "You have no idea how many times I wished your research on that bloody laptop would end like this" he murmured as he lifted her hand to his lips.

"You're not the only one" she sighed and quickly removed her clothes before snuggling under the duvet.

He smiled as he slowly climbed in next to her and pulled her close to him. "Do you think that the novelty has worn off?" he asked in a serious tone.

She sighed. "Not a bit, the best part of being in love with someone is just being able to hold them and be with them" He kissed her neck and behind her ear. "Although of course hot and steamy sex is pretty high on the list as well" she suggested as she arched her back against him.

He sighed and pulled away from her. "I really am tired, darling"

She wriggled round to lie on her back and look into his eyes. "Sorry, sometimes my body goes onto autopilot. Let's get some sleep" she smiled at him and reached up to give him a quick kiss.

Just as she drifted off to sleep she heard him murmur against her hair "I really do love you Willow Rosenberg" and she smiled.

Giles woke early the next morning and was a little disconcerted to discover himself alone in bed. He quickly got up and pulled on some jogging pants and a t-shirt before heading downstairs. He found Willow sitting at the table staring at her laptop screen in deep concentration. He noticed a mug sitting next to her and lifted it, the contents were stone cold. "What time did you get up?" he asked and was surprised when she jumped in her seat and squeaked.

"Don't do that" she said as she tried to catch her breath. "Do Watchers get special sneaky guy training?"

He put his arms round her and looked over her shoulder at the screen. "Sorry, but I got concerned when you weren't in bed when I woke up"

Her breathing finally returned to normal, she kissed his cheek in an absent minded way and pointed to the screen. "I woke up in the middle of the night with a thought about the last host and I didn't want to wake you until I had something concrete to go on"

He lifted her chair and pulled her back from the table before reaching down and kissing her properly. "Good morning darling" he finally said as his kiss left her staring dreamily into his eyes. "Can I get you some breakfast?"

"Mmmmm" she said as she licked her lips and stood up to hug him. "Perhaps I could start with an English muffin?"

"I would like nothing better but don't you have early classes this morning?" he suggested and, disentangling himself, headed for the kitchen to make her some tea.

"Blast" she muttered and saved her work before shutting her laptop down.

Her breakfast was ready on the table when she came back downstairs half an hour later, looking slightly pink from her recent shower. He was reading a newspaper and put it down to pour her some tea. "My classes finish at three thirty and I can be home by four" she started as she buttered some toast. "Do you have any plans for this evening?"

"Actually I was going to meet Fraser for a drink after my appointment with the psychologist this afternoon but I was thinking of putting him off anyway. I'd like to spend as much time as possible on this new lead and try to get a bit more information collated before Angel returns from Los Angeles tomorrow" he sat back in his chair and crossed his legs, sipping his tea. "Did you get any further last night?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I was trying to track down known associates of the sawmill owner and to find out as much about him as I could. I thought that there may be a reason why he was chosen as Bolak's host"

He smiled at her. "I was thinking along those lines myself. I'll do some checking at the Town Hall after I've been to the hospital"

A knock at the door startled them both and Giles sighed when he opened it to find Buffy standing on the doorstep. "Would you like some breakfast?" he asked as he held the door open for her to enter.

"Nope" she smiled and stepped past him. "I was out running and thought I would walk back to campus with Willow"

Willow finished her toast and took a last gulp of her tea. "I'm ready" she smiled at her friend and picked up her backpack. "Perhaps we can meet for a coffee after you're finished at the records office?" she suggested as she stood on tiptoe to kiss him quickly.

"Sounds fine, I'll meet you at the Espresso Pump about four" he waved after them and returned to his breakfast.

Angel returned two days later and apologised for the delay in bringing back the information he had gathered. "A little local difficulty" he explained. "I left Wesley to tidy up the remnants and got back here as quickly as I could"

"I guess you found something important about our local difficulty then?" asked Xander.

"You could say that" Angel agreed. "Bolak chooses his hosts from members of several demon worshipping organisations" He let the import of this sink in with them all and put several books down on the counter top before removing his jacket. "These secret organisations may worship specific vengeance demons or warrior demons but their adepts are inducted into an inner circle of worship for Bolak himself"

Giles had his glasses in his hand and rubbed his eyes. "I've heard of similar groups, indeed we've shut down a few in our time, but I've never heard of one which supported Bolak"

Angel handed him a tattered cloth backed book. "I've never come across one myself either but I think that's part of their plan" he explained. "They try to avoid all contact with the slayer and her associates until they are ready to support Bolak in his battle plans"

Willow was reading the marked pages over Giles shoulder. "So what you're saying is that they've been planning this for months or years and only decided to strike once they had themselves organised?"

Xander shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense. They could have attacked the slayer at any time during the last few years and they wait till we're all getting the hang of this?"

Buffy nodded her agreement. "Xander's right, they could have joined forces with the Mayor or the Master and probably achieved their goal years ago. Why wait till now?"

Angel sat down on the edge of the table. "I explained before that Bolak likes the personal touch in his revenge on slayers. He prefers to carefully plan the attack and gather his forces for one, all out battle during which he selects his victim and challenges them personally"

Giles looked up from the book and handed it to Willow. "Angel's right. He wouldn't have wanted to share the credit with anyone else, even if it meant achieving his ultimate goal a couple of years early"

Everyone sat quietly for several minutes, contemplating the information they now had, before Willow abruptly shut the book she had been reading and stood up. "I'm getting a bit fed up with this demon" she announced. "Can't we just find him and get rid of him once and for all?"

Angel smiled a little. "Easier said than done" he suggested. "I doubt we can hurry him along in his plans"

Buffy also stood and moved next to Willow. "Will's right. I'm fed up playing this game to his rules. Let's start scoring some points ourselves and take the game to him"

Xander raised his hand. "Are we still looking for a dog or are we assuming he's a human being again?" he asked.

Giles nodded. "Good question Xander. I think we have to assume that he has found a human host of some kind after this length of time, however, this information that Angel has provided has considerably reduced the numbers of possible hosts"

Xander looked a little confused. "Run that by me again?" he asked.

Giles started to pace. "If, as Angel suggests, the hosts are taken from a select group of adepts from within specific organisations, then we can track down these organisations and their members until we find the right one"

Xander shook his head. "Gee, do you think that's why they're secret organisations?" he asked. "I doubt they'll release their membership list to the first written enquiry with nice penmanship!"

Giles ignored the sarcasm. "That is exactly why we have an expert computer hacker, a top researcher and slayer/vampire combination who can break and enter with the best of them on our team"

Buffy smiled at them all. "I love it when a plan comes together" she suggested and offered Xander a high five.

He returned her gesture without any enthusiasm. "I guess I'll be on the book team and not the breaking and entering team?" he asked resignedly.

 

CHAPTER 21

Willow shivered in the cold night air as they tried to pretend they were an amorous couple in the doorway. "I don't know why I always get picked for the outdoor decoy stuff" she complained. "The only danger I'm in here is from pneumonia" The last phrase was slightly muffled as he put his arms round her and pulled her into a clinch.

"Talk about danger" he murmured into her neck as he pretended to kiss her passionately. "If my decoy act is too convincing Giles will kill me" sighed Xander.

Willow giggled and put her hand on his butt. "But if we're not convincing then the bad guys might get suspicious" she dissolved into even more giggles as he nearly jumped out of his skin at her touch.

"If your neck wasn't so warm I might think you were evil, vampy Willow" he laughed.

"I don't think you were her type Xan" Willow whispered as two large men strode past purposefully.

"I did have my suspicions at the time" Xander nodded and turned her round so he could watch the two men entering a warehouse across the street from them. His mind was completely concentrated on watching the other doorway, whilst continuing the decoy act, and he didn't notice the approach of Giles and Buffy from the other direction.

Giles tapped him on the shoulder. "Hands warm enough?" he asked sardonically and was rewarded by Xander jumping away from Willow as if she had become electrified. "Willow?" he asked looking down at her smiling face.

"We saw them going in" she ignored his unasked question and nodded to Buffy. "They didn't seem to use a secret knock or anything, just opened the door and in they went"

Buffy checked the sidewalk in either direction and then indicated a row of small windows high up on the side of the warehouse. "I guess that's the best place to get a look at what they're up to in there" she suggested and looked to Giles for confirmation.

"Yesss" he agreed. "Although it will leave the viewer rather exposed to any perimeter guards they may set up. After all, the fire escape doesn't provide much cover"

"I guess that's where you and Xander come in?" she suggested and set off to climb the fire escape.

"That's a plan then?" sighed Xander as he trotted after her to cover the rear of the building.

Giles shook his head and turned to Willow. "Can you stay in this doorway and alert us if any reinforcements turn up?"

Willow nodded. "Please be careful, I don't think these guys are looking to take prisoners"

The nervous tension of the situation kept them all on their guard but was, eventually, rewarded with anticlimax. Buffy came down the fire escape and found Giles behind a large trash can. "I think they are getting ready to leave, we should probably do the same" she whispered and went to find Xander.

The four rendezvoused two blocks away and went into a late night café for hot chocolates to warm them up. Sitting in a booth and speaking in hushed tones Buffy related the scene within the warehouse. "Thirteen of them gathered around a central figure in a red robe who didn't move for the entire time I watched" she began. "The others were wearing blue robes and they circled round this central guy for about ten minutes before breaking up into groups and reading from several large books they had resting on tables around the edge of the circle"

Giles eyes opened a little. "Did you notice anything specific about the books?" he asked hopefully.

"Made of paper with inky markings on them" Buffy shrugged. "They were too far away and the blue robes were gathered round them too closely"

Willow sighed a little. "Did you hear anything of what they were saying?" she asked.

Buffy shook her head. "Sorry, but I was too far away"

Xander seemed to rouse himself from his thoughts. "We only counted thirteen guys going in there and we were at the warehouse for four hours before the meeting began" he said and everyone nodded their agreement. "So where did the fourteenth guy come from?" he asked and looked round their faces.

"He must have arrived much earlier and brought the books with him" Giles suggested and they all considered this for several minutes. Eventually he took his glasses off to rub his eyes. "This isn't getting us anywhere, let's find the car and get back home to a warm fire and comfortable seats"

"I'm getting too old to creep around behind warehouses in the dead of night" Giles groaned as he stretched his legs out in front of the fire.

Xander was sitting on the floor leaning against the sofa. "I think I'm getting too old for it so you must be way past it G-Man" he sighed as he took another drink of coffee.

Buffy laughed and sat down behind him on the sofa, pulling her legs underneath her. "How can you complain about being stuck in a doorway pretending to kiss Willow for forty minutes?" she asked incredulously.

Willow brought through a large dish of popcorn and sat it down next to Xander before sitting at the opposite end of the sofa. "He's more used to utility closets" Willow suggested and smiled sweetly at Xander.

Xander glared at her and looked up towards Giles. "Do you think any man will ever win an argument with these two?" he asked plaintively.

Giles opened one eye and smiled at Xander over his mug. "Well you do have a proclivity for cleaning fluids and janitors buckets" he suggested and closed his eye again.

"Hey, I resent that remark" Xander said indignantly then looked towards Willow. "He was making fun of me, right?"

Giles sighed deeply. "If I hadn't seen the certificate myself I would never believe you graduated from high school"

Buffy sighed. "Whatever happened to the good old days when you could kill the big snake by blowing up the school and consider it a job well done?"

Xander sighed deeply and nodded. "Demons these days, they don't have any style or imagination" he turned to lean on Buffy's legs. "I mean, whoever heard of a group of demon worshippers getting together to read books then going home?" he warmed to his subject. "Not a single virgin sacrifice to be seen" he shook his head.

The three friends nodded to each other and silently thought about their frustrations in not being able to resolve this particular problem.

Giles finally roused himself and stood up slowly. "Do you two want to stay?" he asked Buffy and Xander. "Buffy and Willow could have the bed and Xander and I could manage on the floor and sofa.

Buffy also stood up and stretched. "No thanks Giles, I'll walk Xander home then head home myself"

Willow slowly uncurled herself from her position on the sofa and took Buffy's mug from her. The three of them stood looking down at Xander, who appeared to be in a world of his own. "Xander" Buffy said and gently kicked his leg.

"Mmmm" he mumbled as a smile crept across his face. "With you in a minute"

Willow sighed deeply and leaned closer to him. "If you don't get up now I'll tell Rupert what you're thinking about" she whispered in his ear and stood back as he abruptly jumped up and took his jacket from Giles' hand.

"Are you OK?" Giles asked and was met with a very embarrassed mumble and Xander pushing past him to follow Buffy to the door.

Willow hugged Buffy and laughed as she closed the door behind them. Giles was looking at her quizzically but she shook her head before heading for the stairs. "I'm not going to tell you until he has a head start"

Ten minutes later they were lying in each other's arms and Giles was tickling her to torture the truth out of her. "OK, OK, I give up" she gasped. "He was imagining Buffy and I in the same bed" she laughed. It took a further ten minutes for her to kiss the look of shock from his face.

Giles was on the phone when Buffy and Xander arrived the next morning. Xander was hanging back a little and signalled to Willow to come outside. "Is Giles OK?" he asked furtively.

"He's fine" Willow leaned in close to him. "Why are we whispering?" she asked and started to laugh at the worried look on his face. "He's probably forgotten already"

"I hope so" Xander mumbled and followed her back inside. "Somehow I think I'd rather fight Oz at the wrong time of the month than face Giles any time"

"I'm glad to hear it" Giles said from behind the door as he closed it behind Xander. "Perhaps we can focus our minds on the demons?" he asked and looked at Xander who nodded vigorously and sat down at the table behind a large pile of books.

Buffy moved from the kitchen with a glass of juice. "Did you get anything useful from Angel?" she asked.

"He wasn't there" Giles shook his head and took his glasses off. "But Wesley had some very interesting information on the particular band of worshippers we saw last night"

Willow was sitting next to Xander and cleared some of the books from the table. "Did he get any names?" she asked hopefully.

"Not quite" Giles leaned against the back of the sofa. "However he has been investigating a similar group recently and had some interesting insights into their rituals and the texts they use in their meetings"

"Go Wesley" Willow cheered then looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry" she whispered as Giles glared at her.

"He is sending you an electronic mail message containing the information he has to date" he continued and looked a little uncomfortable. "You can deal with that I trust?"

Buffy handed Willow her laptop from the counter and smiled. "Giles, if Wesley can learn how to do this stuff why can't you?"

"Well Wesley is a little younger than me.." began Giles before the laptop beeped at him and he abruptly stood back.

Xander laughed a little and Willow kicked his ankle under the table. "It might take a little time to download the attachments" she smiled at Giles. "What else did Wesley say?"

It was four in the morning before they had worked through the leads suggested by Welsey's information. Giles had spent an hour and a half on the phone with Wesley and Angel while Willow and Xander had ploughed through most of the books on the table. Buffy had returned from patrol an hour before and was listening to Giles finish up his call.

"OK, where are we now?" she asked Giles.

Giles sighed then rolled his neck and shoulder muscles. He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. "Both Angel and Wesley are convinced that the group were performing a final ritual of allegiance. What you witnessed last night seems to have been the final stage in the adept's training to see which one will become the host for Bolak during his battle with the slayer"

Willow and Xander leaned on the table, trying to assimilate what Giles was saying. "I know I've asked this before but does that mean that Bolak is still a dog?" asked Xander.

"No" Giles shook his head and walked to the kitchen. "Wesley has a theory, and I tend to agree with him, that the demon would have found an intermediate, human host to enable him to complete the rituals and choose the adept most suitable for the coming battle"

"How long do we have?" Buffy asked quietly and accepted the glass of juice from Giles.

Giles sighed and gave glasses to Willow and Xander. "We're not sure, but I think he will move quite quickly after choosing his preferred host" He had returned to lean against the back of the sofa. "I would think the vengeance which is his reason for existing will be at it's peak, particularly after his humiliating defeat at our last meeting"

Buffy nodded and glanced at Willow and Xander. "And Angel still thinks he'll go for the big set piece and 'High Noon' approach and not just sneak up behind one of us?"

Giles folded his arms. "Both Angel and Wesley agree that he will stick to his preferred modus operandi" Giles let the sentence trail off.

"And you?" asked Willow.

"I don't have any evidence to base this on" he shrugged his shoulders. "But I think he'll try to get the job done as quickly as he can, after all he's waited more than long enough and his enforced lack of action recently must have driven him to the edge" Giles suggested.

"A hunch?" asked Xander.

"I'm afraid so, yes" Giles replied and smiled at him.

Willow and Buffy looked at each other and Willow nodded slightly. Buffy moved to stand in front of Giles. "I would rather trust your hunches than anything that Angel or Wesley could come up with" she declared and put her hand on his arm. "After all you've been working and living on a hellmouth for long enough to have developed a sixth sense about things by now"

"Maybe you're developing spider sense as well" Xander suggested and covered his mouth with his hand as he finally gave in to a huge yawn.

Giles seemed to appreciate the sentiments but looked troubled. "But Fraser and the psychologist will both tell you that I'm not fully recovered and you all know that there is still some way to go" he suggested and Willow moved to stand beside him. "I'm not sure I can trust myself in this situation and I don't think you should base any decisions on my opinions"

Willow sighed. "OK, we know that you're not 100% the Giles we had before the accident but you are talking to three people who know you better than just about anyone else and if we're prepared to trust you then that must mean something"

"I think you should take Welsey and Angel's advice very seriously. I would understand if you decided to accept their assessment of the situation instead of mine" Giles stood looking at each of them in turn.

"Perhaps Giles is right" Buffy suggested and he felt his heart sink.

"Buffy!" Willow shouted and turned to face Buffy with her arms folded. "How can you say that?"

Buffy held up her arms and silenced her friend. "I'm serious Will" she said quietly and waited till Willow relented. "There was a time I thought I could trust Giles completely and then he mentioned that he'd forgotten to tell us about the demon he'd summoned years before" Giles took a step back as if he had been struck but he didn't say anything. Xander and Willow were both staring at Buffy in amazement. "Even when he was being sneaky and Watchery he couldn't go through with it because he realised where his loyalties lay, although we shouldn't forget the whole prophecy secret he kept from us the first time around" she continued then her face softened a little. "The only thing is I can't quite get over the fact that we are all still here because we've listened to him and trusted him since day one" she paused and saw a look of surprise cross Giles' face.

Willow looked at Giles quickly but he wouldn't meet her eyes. He was staring intently at his slayer and Willow could almost feel the communication passing between them. She knew that she would never have that level of understanding with him but she also knew that she wasn't jealous of their relationship.

"Anyway" Buffy finally said and looked towards Xander. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've only ever had one Watcher and protector whom I trusted completely and I'm standing in front of him right now" she smiled at Giles.

Xander stood up and moved towards the three of them. "I think a group hug is called for" and, before anyone could protest, he herded them all against Giles.

"Thank you Xander" Giles suggested dryly and disentangled himself from the huddle. "And thank you Buffy" he said quietly and moved to the table to pick up one of his books.

Willow and Xander were still hugging Buffy. "Guys" Buffy finally managed to croak. "Pep rally's over, let's get back to work"

 

 

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