Paul got into the car, Buffy's address in his hand. He sat in the dark for a few minutes. He couldn't decide if what he was planning was a good idea or the stupidest thing he'd done in a long time. His need to understand, and his need to try and make amends made his decision. He looked at the address again, sighed, and started driving to her home.
Buffy, after watching Giles drive away, opened the front door again. She walked out and sat on the front steps. She wanted to be under open skies for a few minutes, not caring that they were dark and potentially full of things that go bump in the night. Even though she had been locked up for a relatively short period of time, the house made her feel claustrophobic. She sat quietly, wishing she had asked Giles to stay, not wanting to be alone. She knew he would come back if she called, but she had already ruined his life enough tonight. Ever since her mother had died he had spent so much of his time and energy helping her, pulling her life together, emotionally patching her up. He deserved the rest of the night off.
She continued ruminating about Giles when she saw the car pull up. Her heart started speeding up as she recognized the chief getting out of his car. She started to get up, to go into the house, thinking she might need to call Giles after all. Paul saw the flight response begin in her body. He called out, "No, don't go, I just want to talk for a few minutes." His voice expressed a tired need that impressed itself upon her and it held her, silently watching him as he walked closer. She saw the sadness and confusion on his face and she realized in a brief flash of intuition that this visit was about Giles, not about her. She sat back down and patted the space next to her. He smiled briefly and sat down next to her.
The two of them sat there, in companionable silence, the irony of that lost on neither of them. Finally Paul shifted his weight.
"I'm sorry about tonight, how I treated you."
"No big, it's not like you knew or anything."
"No, that's true enough, seeing as I still don't know." Another few minutes of silence ensued.
"So, can you tell me what's going on?"
"Giles is explain-guy, he's much better at it than I am."
"Are you a vampire?" Paul clapped his hand over his mouth not even believing he asked the question out loud. Buffy's eyes grew huge and her jaw dropped as she turned to look at Paul. She barked a laugh out.
"God, is that what you think? That I'm a vampire?" All of a sudden she started giggling, and snorted in the middle of it, which made her giggle even harder. Paul sat there grinning back at her, her giggling infectious. Then her eyes narrowed and she looked at Paul again.
"How do you know about vampires?" She asked with a suspicious tone in her voice.
"You mean there are vampires?" He shot back, feeling like he was in the twilight zone all of a sudden.
"Yeah," Buffy replied softly, "but I'm not one."
Another few minutes of silence occurred, less comfortable than before. Paul wondered why every conversation he was having tonight seemed to spiral rapidly out of his control.
"So, how long have you known Giles?" Paul decided to bring the topic back to safer ground.
"Since I was a sophomore, he was the librarian at my high school." In answer to his unspoken question, she said, "I'm 20, so a little over four years."
"Are you two…?"
"Are we what?" She looked at Paul, not sure where his question was leading. Then she got it. She blushed, "No, no we're not, we're…well, something different." She didn't know what she and Giles were, it was not easy to explain to someone who knew so little about anything having to do with her life. Her response to Paul made her feel lonely. She almost wished she could have said yes, just to somehow claim Giles in a way Paul might understand. Make him understand that Giles belonged to her.
She returned the question, "How long have you known Giles?"
"For about six months."
"What's the attraction? I mean, why him? There are all sorts of people to be friends with, why pick Giles?" She couldn't keep the suspicion, and if she was honest with herself, the jealousy out of her voice. Paul stared at her, wondering what on earth she meant. He somehow felt defensive on Giles' behalf.
"Why Giles? He's the best man I know, apart from my brother. Who wouldn't want to be friends with him?" He paused lost in thought about Giles. "Not to sound overly maudlin about it, but Roger and I are crazy about him, and…"
"….And?" Buffy prompted.
"I saw his face tonight, when he thought I had betrayed him, but I didn't, I didn't know about you and him. I was just doing my job, I really thought you…" He didn't finish his sentence. Buffy stayed silent. Paul started speaking quickly. "Can you talk to him for me? Can you try and explain that he means more to me than…well, just about anything, and I don't want to lose him as a friend? I wouldn't know how to talk with him after tonight, after seeing that look on his face. I know I don't have the right to ask you but maybe he'll listen to you." Paul drew a breath, and shifted his body so he was facing Buffy, waiting for her response. He wouldn't have blamed her for refusing, he actually half expected her to.
Buffy suddenly couldn't breathe. She looked at Paul with such sadness on her face. He didn't understand why she looked that way. All of a sudden, tears filled her eyes and her lips trembled.
"Buffy, what is it, what's wrong?"
She covered her face with her hands, trembling with emotion. Paul realized she was crying and looked at her speechless, not knowing what to do. "Buffy, did I say something…what's wrong?"
Buffy started to speak, in between her hiccupy breathes. "No, it's me, it's me." Buffy couldn't put it in words, but she was overcome with sadness that this man sitting in front of her, who had only known Giles for a short time, seemed a better friend to Giles than she had ever been. Paul had been willing to put his job and beliefs on the line tonight for Giles, and now he was here, talking with someone he had no reason to trust, just on the off chance she could give him Giles back. It shamed her and she whispered, "I don't deserve him."
"Who?" Paul was lost again.
"Giles."
"Well, he obviously thinks you do." He was confused at the direction this conversation was taking.
Buffy shook her head, "No, I have treated him so badly, after everything he has done for me." At that thought, Buffy began to cry again in earnest. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She couldn't believe that she was saying these things, that she was bawling her eyes out in front of a man she hardly knew. Paul continued to look at her, baffled, and then reached over and pulled Buffy into his chest. She started crying harder. Paul wondered again at how weird the evening had become. Here he was comforting the young woman he had started off hating with a vengeance just a few short hours ago. He awkwardly patted her on the back, whispering inane words of comfort, trying to think of something to say, to console her, and to get her to stop.
"Well, can't you just do whatever it is you need to do to make him deserve you?" Paul decided to go for the simplest approach.
That question stopped Buffy in her tracks. She pulled back and looked at Paul, tears staining her face but a determined gleam in her eyes. She sniffed, wiping her nose with her hand. She nodded her head. "Yes, I can, and it starts right now, c'mon."
"Come on where?"
"We're gonna go see Giles."
"But, it's late."
"I may not deserve him, but I know him, and I know he'll still be up, thinking too much about what happened tonight. I'm going to fix things between the two of you."
They both got up, and approached his car. Paul opened up the passenger door for Buffy. She paused, remembering how he had shoved her in the back seat earlier in the evening. Before she got in she looked up at him with a small smile on her face. Paul shut her door and he walked around to the other side of the car, similar thoughts running through his own head. He drove to Giles' apartment. When they arrived, the downstairs lights were still on, and she could see him sitting behind his desk. She motioned to Paul to join her and she went and knocked lightly on his door.
Giles started, pulled out of his thoughts by the knock on the door. He assumed it must be Buffy, but wasn't sure why she would be dropping by, especially after he had told her to stay in for the rest of the evening.
Buffy held up her hand, "Wait, Giles, this is of the good." She walked in dragging Paul behind her. She pulled Paul into the living room and told him to sit. She walked back to Giles saying, "We need to talk." She walked out onto the terrace. Giles followed, a quizzical expression on his face.
"I don't understand, why are you here with Paul? Has something happened? Are you all right?"
She just looked at Giles, really looking at him, appreciating him, thankful beyond words that he had been sent to her, that out of all the watchers she could have ended up with, that he'd come, that he was hers. She felt a longing, that shook her to her core, to get to know him better, not him her watcher, him, this man sitting next to her that she felt she hardly knew, had in fact, never bothered to get to know. She felt another surge of shame shoot through her, and she lowered her eyes, blushing. Giles tried to follow her thoughts but emotions flickered over her face too fast for him to follow. So, he just sat there, at her side, watching her watch him, and waited for her to speak.
"Giles, Paul dropped by a while ago to talk."
Giles responded by raising his eyebrows, his eyes wide. "Talk about what?"
"About you."
"What about me?"
"Never mind, I started this wrong. Listen, Paul feels bad, you feel bad, Paul doesn't want to lose your friendship over this, you don't want to lose your friendship. So, I brought him over so you guys could kiss and make-up, but without the kissing part. Right? I mean, why would there be kissing? I mean, okay, I'm babbling so I'm stopping now."
Buffy blushed at her words. Giles just stared at her, her words starting to penetrate. She took a deep breath, "So, this is a good thing, right? I mean, I'm not in jail, and I actually kind of like Paul so you guys can still be friends, and I did a good fuzzy friend sort of thing for you." She paused, "So, yay me." She looked up at Giles, an entreaty in her eyes, looking for confirmation that she had done well by him.
Giles looked at her, a smile forming on his face, his heart full as he realized that she was trying to make things right for him. "Thank you Buffy, this means a lot to me." Buffy grinned back. She stood and pushed him in the direction of the door.
"So, go talk, and tell him what the sitch is. It might be nice to have the police on our side for once." She turned to walk away.
"Do you want me to drive you home?"
"Nah, I'd rather walk." She looked down at herself. She was still wearing his jacket; she had forgotten to give it back to him. "Can I keep your jacket for the night though? The pocket contents might come in handy."
"Of course, be careful, please. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Night."
"Goodnight, Buffy." He watched her walk away until the night swallowed her up, loving her so dearly, and wishing he could always keep her safe from harm.
Paul, while waiting, had started looking at the books lying around and felt another twilight zone moment as he perused the titles. He opened up the one closest to him, and looked at all the pictures of monsters in there and wondered for what felt like the billionth time tonight what the hell was going on. Giles walked in at that moment. Paul looked up, with a crooked smile, and spoke first.
"Giles, I'm sorry, I didn't know, still don't, but I never would have…." He stopped, hoping he was getting his point across, however badly.
"No, Paul, I should apologize. There is no way you could have known, well, any of this, and I was wrong to assume that you did, and that you used me to get to her. I tend to get a little protective of Buffy."
Paul let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I noticed that." He smiled at Giles, feeling that things were going to work out.
Giles sat down, smiling back, feeling the friendship reassert itself and relaxing into it. "I suppose you'd like some explanations?"
"Well, it would certainly help me make sense of this evening. I asked Buffy if she was a vampire, and she laughed at me… a lot, for a long time."
Giles barked out a laugh. He caught Paul's expression. "Paul, I'm sorry. I will explain, and then you'll hopefully see the humor in it as well. I don't mean to laugh at your expense."
Paul waved his hand, dismissing his concerns. "Laugh away, as long as I can get in on it at some point, I don't mind. Where did Buffy go, by the way?"
"She's walking home."
"She's walking home?"
"She'll be fine, don't worry." He sent a prayer skyways,
Paul accepted that and settled back in his seat, waiting. Giles shifted in his, wondering how to begin. "What I need to tell you won't be easy for you to believe, and knowing it will change your life. I wouldn't blame you when I am done, if you chose to just walk out that door and be done with both Buffy and me." Paul again dismissed his words, and then gestured for him to continue. So Giles did. He spoke about Slayers and Watchers, vampires and demons, about the Hellmouth, even about Buffy's two cellmates at the police station. Paul believed him; he believed everything he said, although it terrified him. Finally the talking was done, and they sat there for some time, Giles letting Paul process the extraordinary information he had just been given. He felt a momentary sadness, grieving for the lighthearted friendship he'd had. He wondered how things would change, knowing that they had to.
Paul desperately needed a light moment, "Okay, well, and here I thought you were going to tell me something I didn't know." Paul glanced over at Giles, a crooked smile on his face.
"Sorry to bore you." Giles retorted, a mirror smile on his face. "I imagine for an officer of the law, battling evil and so forth, that this is pretty run of the mill."
Paul snorted. "Oh yeah, absolutely, run of the mill." He shook his head. "I keep waiting to wake up."
Giles needed to offer, although he didn't want to. "Do you want to leave? You could pretend this conversation never happened."
Paul responded without a pause, "Giles, this stuff, the stuff you just told me, it scares me, I won't deny that. But the thought that I could help in some way, that I could stand at your side and fight with you, that makes me proud and it gives me hope. It makes me proud that you felt you could tell me and it makes me proud to be your friend. You couldn't pull me away from this for anything in the world."
Giles felt moisture prick his eyelids. "You'll be in danger, you could die." He needed to make sure that Paul understood the risk.
Paul quickly responded. "I was in more danger being ignorant, as well as being dangerous. I almost destroyed this town's best hope tonight because of it. I'd rather know what the danger is and face it than go around knowing that people keep getting killed and I can do nothing about it."
"People still die, we're not enough to stop it."
"I want to help." His tone of voice brooked no argument. "Hey, and I also volunteer Roger." Paul grinned thinking about explaining this to Roger. "I can't keep this from him." He said that, but he looked at Giles, asking for permission.
"No, I couldn't ask that of you, but you need to keep it between the two of you."
"Like anyone would believe me."
"Well, why don't you and Roger plan to come over for dinner tomorrow night. In fact let's do it at Buffy's. She has a little more room. Maybe you can meet some of the rest of the team."
"There are others?"
"You've met one already…. Anya."
"Anya, you mean Anya at the Magic Shop?"
Giles grinned, understanding Paul's amazement. Paul had been at the store frequently enough to see Anya in action abusing tact and diplomacy like nothing he'd ever seen.
"Yes, well, Anya is a long story."
"I can hardly wait to hear it. What time?"
"6:00?"
"We'll be there. We'll bring the beer."
The two men looked fondly at each other, relieved that this night hadn't destroyed their friendship. Paul got up and let himself out. Giles watched from the door making sure he got to his car safely, then slowly shut the door. He headed up to his loft, knowing now that he could sleep.
***
Giles called Buffy in the morning to tell her she was having company for dinner. He asked her to contact Willow and Tara and see if they wanted to come over as well. She agreed to have dinner at her house providing Giles did the cooking. Giles agreed to her condition and got off the phone. Giles extended an invitation to Anya and Xander but Anya refused saying it was their anniversary and she was expecting lots of orgasms. Giles sighed and turned away only grateful that no customer had been within earshot.
***
Giles left the shop early to go grocery shopping for dinner and arrived at Buffy's at 5:00. Giles moved into the kitchen with ease and started pulling out the pans and utensils he would need. Buffy was frantically trying to pick up and make the house presentable for company. The Scoobies were one thing, but this was Real Company. It made her miss her mom, and she stopped moving, trying to breathe through the tightness in her chest. She turned and saw Giles humming quietly to himself in her kitchen. She felt such a surge of love for him that she was able to start breathing again and attacked the rest of her chores with a lighter heart.
"Giles, did you hear from Willow today?"
"No, I thought you were going to call her, or see her in class."
"I tried, but I never got through, and she wasn't in class, which is way not like her."
"Well, she didn't come by or call the shop. I didn't stop home on the way here, I suppose she might have called."
"I just hope she's okay."
"Is your spidey-sense kicking in about her?" Buffy grinned at Giles' use of that phrase.
"I don't know, it's just not like her to miss school."
"Do you want to run over to their place and see if everything is okay?"
"No, if I haven't heard from her before I go patrolling, I'll run by there then. So, why aren't Anya and Xander coming?"
Giles cleared his throat. "It's some anniversary." He gave her a look she interpreted correctly, and she laughed out loud.
"Orgasms, hmmm?"
"Yes, well, enough about that. Do you know where your whisk is?"
"What's a whisk?"
"Never mind."
***
Paul and Roger arrived promptly at 6:00. Paul had filled his brother in on the general gist of the grisly fairy tale they were now a part of. Roger still hadn't decided if this was some elaborate practical joke. Buffy answered the door, flashed Paul a brilliant smile, and invited them both in. Paul introduced Roger to Buffy. Giles came around the corner wiping his hands on a dishtowel.
"Roger, Paul, come on in." He relieved Paul of the beer he had carried in asking, "do you guys want one of these?" Seeing their affirmative nods he motioned them into the kitchen. Buffy tagged along. Giles got out a beer for both of them and one for him, putting the remainder in the refrigerator. He removed the cap from his beer with a deft movement. He looked at Buffy. "What would you like?"
"I'll have a beer too." Giles looked at her surprised; she rarely drank beer.
"Are you sure? I bought you some Coke."
"Yes, I'm sure. I like beer." Buffy grimaced at herself. She felt like a kid trying to prove that she is all grown up. She didn't like the feeling.
"You won't like this beer. It's for professional beer drinkers only." He grinned at Paul and Roger.
Buffy just lifted her chin so Giles handed her a beer after removing the lid for her, and he watched her take her first swig. He grinned as she schooled her face to not squint up. She moved to sit on the counter away from Giles' dinner preparations.
Giles, Roger and Paul saluted each other with the beer and each took a hearty swallow. Giles turned back to his dinner-making chores chatting easily with his friends. They each talked about their day, lightly touching on those events that would make for amusing conversation. Buffy watched them from her perch, mostly watching Giles. He had taken off his jacket and tie, and was dressed in khakis and a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked relaxed and casual, and there was no hesitance or stuttering in his voice as he kidded with Paul and Roger. Buffy couldn't ever remember seeing him this way. He looked like a normal guy. A guy, guy. Like a guy who might not be a Watcher with a Slayer. Like a guy who could have an okay life without her in it.
Roger and Paul watched Giles move around the kitchen with an easy familiarity. They also watched Buffy watch Giles, and watched the play of emotions on her face as she watched him move, and talk, and laugh. Buffy noticed their looks and wondered what they were thinking. She felt in competition with them for Giles' attention and felt like she was somehow losing.
Giles started asking Buffy about her day at school and before long all four of them were chatting easily throughout dinner. When they were finished she went outside to shut the sprinklers off and watched the three of them through the kitchen window. Giles was walking across the kitchen to get some containers for leftovers. She watched him move and gasped when she realized that she was checking out Giles' body.
Giles excused himself to use the restroom and Paul and Roger looked at each other. Roger spoke first, "Are you sure there's nothing going on between them? Because it sure feels like there is."
"Buffy said they weren't involved that way. I would think she would know."
"Yeah, you'd think so." He paused, thinking about how they behaved together. "But I'm thinking they're both clueless." Paul looked up at Roger at these words, noticing a familiar gleam in his eye.
"Roger, I know you think that you are the world's best matchmaker, but I think you should leave this one alone."
"Why? Just a few gentle shoves and if it's meant to be then it will happen."
"They've known each other for four years, if it was meant to happen it already would have happened."
"Nah, she's been too young. He never would have done anything about it if he had feelings for her. It just isn't done, old chap." He made this last statement using an English accent and Paul laughed at him.
"Well, don't push too hard, or make Buffy upset, because I already learned the hard way that he doesn't like it."
"Gotcha, subtle it is."
Giles walked back into the kitchen and looked at the two of them suspiciously. "What are the two of you up to? I've seen that look before and it means nothing good." He was met by two sets of innocent eyes. He snorted and began to clear the table.
"So, Giles, she's quite the hottie." Giles almost dropped the plates he was carrying at Roger's remark.
"What?"
"Buffy, she's a babe."
Giles' eyes narrowed, he looked at Paul, but Paul shrugged his shoulders as if to disclaim any relationship with Roger.
"Roger…." Giles began, but stopped, not quite knowing where to go.
"C'mon Giles, you can't possibly be that blind, she's gorgeous. Quite the little package."
Giles turned to Roger, feeling his annoyance grow. "Roger, that's my…." Again he stopped. "And, no I'm not blind, but that's not how…" Again he stopped. He couldn't seem to finish any of his sentences. Of course he wasn't blind, he'd been watching Buffy for four years, watching her grow from a young teenager into a breathtakingly beautiful young woman. But, he worked hard to keep those thoughts buried. He had to work too closely with her, had to be too near her body all the time, to risk having those feelings surface. It would make things awkward, and he didn't need that. He glared at Roger only to find him laughing at him.
"Ha, bloody, ha." He went to the refrigerator to get another beer inquiring with raised eyebrows if either of them wanted one. He emptied out the remainder of Buffy's beer, which, he noted with a grin, was most of it, and threw the bottle away.
Suddenly there was a frantic knocking at the front door and he heard Tara's voice calling for him. He raced to open it and found a frightened Tara supporting Willow who looked too pale and listless. He reached over and picked Willow up in his arms and took her over to the couch.
"Giles, thank God you're here. I went to your place first and you weren't there so I thought I'd try here." She was trying hard not to cry. Roger and Paul walked in. Roger, shifting into physician mode, went over to the young girl, to see if he could help.
"Tara, what happened?" Buffy had walked in as well by this time. "What's wrong with Willow? Did you get attacked?"
Tara seemed to have a hard time answering. Giles walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. He lifted her chin and gave her a long look. "Did she do a spell?" Tara nodded her head, meeting his eyes with difficulty.
"I tried to talk her out of it, but she was so excited, I thought maybe if I helped, that it would be okay. But I think something went wrong. She didn't feel well after the spell and she's just been getting weaker and weaker all day. Is she going to be okay?"
"I need to know what spell she did before I can answer that."
"The book is in the car, I'll go get it." Tara ran out of the house, towards her car. Giles walked over to the couch to look at Willow. He ran his hands a couple of inches away from her skin over the length of her body. Roger moved over to give him room. Giles took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then after putting his glasses back on, he ran his hand through his hair.
Roger looked at Giles, "How can I help? I'm guessing they left this out of my medical training."
"I'm not sure yet, I need to see what spell she did."
"Spell?"
"Willow and Tara are both witches, part of the team."
"Witches, like…witches?"
Giles let a small smile grace his face. "Another long story, I'm afraid."
Tara returned with the book in hand. Giles took one look at the book and stood up suddenly looking quite fierce. "Why do you even have this book? I expressly forbid her to even touch it, let alone do a spell in it. She is not strong enough to do any of these spells without a severe backlash. Tara, why did you let her…?" He stopped his tirade, seeing the look on Tara's face. He took a deep breath. "Tara, I'm sorry, I know that Willow can be very persuasive. Please show me what spell she did."
Tara opened up the book gingerly and flipped to a page. Giles looked at the page and cursed. Buffy walked over to him.
"What is it Giles, what happened to her?"
Giles didn't answer, lost in thought. Buffy opened her mouth to speak again, and then, looking at Giles, chose to remain silent. Giles was already deep in research mode, reading the spell, trying to determine what it might have done to Willow. The four of them watched him, waiting for him to speak. Several minutes passed. He looked at Tara, "Why did she do this spell, what was she trying to accomplish?" As Tara paused before replying, Giles spoke again, "This is important Tara, and I need you to be honest with me. This spell can be used to achieve several different objectives. It will help me figure out what went wrong."
That convinced Tara. She spoke, "She was trying to make herself stronger. She gets frustrated when you tell her she isn't strong enough." She flashed an apologetic look at Giles, then continued, "So she thought she could use that spell to make her powers stronger." Giles clenched his jaw.
Giles started issuing commands and as a group they moved to obey. Paul and Roger moved the coffee table and other couch. They rolled up the carpet. Tara started drawing a large pentagram with chalk, large enough to place Willow in. Buffy ran to get candles and matches, and the herbs he wanted. Giles had them perform these tasks without talking. Giles stayed by Willow, continually running his hands in the air over her body. Inside himself, he was conflicted. The spell had backfired, and all of Willow's magic was hovering outside her body. Anyone, with any skill in magic could simply take it away from her to increase his or her own power.
A small part of Giles was tempted to take it himself, not to increase his own power but to protect Willow from herself. She frustrated the hell out of him with the chances she took. He knew better than anyone how much damage magic could do once it got out of control. But, Willow would never forgive him, and he didn't have the right, as much as he wanted to protect her.
He glanced over and seeing that the pentagram was nearly done, lifted Willow up and placed her in the center. He had Tara close the symbol. Buffy smudged the outline with sage, at his direction, and Tara lit the candles. He knelt close to Willow outside the pentagram, at one of its points, and closed his eyes. He lifted his hands with palms facing Willow and started an incantation. All of a sudden they could all see a greenish glow around her. Giles opened his eyes and moved to each point of the pentagram repeating the incantation. Paul and Roger watched, as spellbound as Willow.
After the last point and incantation, Giles sat back. Tara lifted her eyes to him in tears, "Will she be okay?"
"I hope so Tara. The spells in this book are dangerous in so many different ways. This spell created a backlash that actually removed her magic from her body and made it available for someone to take. That's it, that greenish haze around her, that's her magic." The group all watched Willow. Giles continued, "I have placed wards around her so no one can take her magic away while she is vulnerable. Now we have to wait and see if it will reabsorb."
"How long will it take?"
"I'm not sure, but the longer it takes, the more chance there is that it won't reabsorb."
Tara gasped. "So, she could still lose her magic?"
Giles looked at her sadly, "Yes, that is possible." Tara started to cry and Buffy went over to her and held her, murmuring softly to her.
Roger looked at Giles and said, "Okay, the two of them are witches, what the hell are you?"
"I'm a Watcher."
"Nope, not good enough. Are you a witch too?"
Giles hesitated, and then answered. "Well, for a male the word sorcerer is the correct term."
"Fine, are you a sorcerer? I mean it's fine with me if you are, I just want to make sure I know all the facts here so I can have my story ready when I get taken away by the men in their clean white coats."
"Yes, he is, but he doesn't like to talk about it." Paul and Roger looked up at Buffy as she spoke in response to Roger's query. "He's full of all things magic but…" she lowered her voice to a dramatic stage whisper, "we don't ever talk about it."
Giles shot her an exasperated look. She shot one right back at him. "Is that look supposed to intimidate me oh Watcher-mine? I think it's cool that you're all magician-y." She grinned at Giles, then lost the grin when she moved over to Willow. "Do you think she'll be okay?"
"I believe so, the haze has already started to diminish. She seems to be reabsorbing it without difficulty."
"Ooh, she's gonna be in so much trouble with you when she wakes up, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is. She could have killed herself, or given her magic to something incredibly evil. I just don't know how to impress upon her the importance of not doing such dangerous spells."
"Poor Giles, surrounded by people with no impulse control." She got up, moving over to Giles, and sat down next to him, as close as she could get, and put her head on his shoulder with a completely false look of penitence on her face. Giles looked down at her and snorted.
"Bloody right about that." But, he relished her closeness and had to resist putting his arm around her. He took his glasses off and pinched his nose instead, missing the knowing look that Roger flashed to Paul and the responding grin.
Now that the crisis had been averted Tara was introduced to Paul and Roger. The five of them quietly talked, allowing Paul and Roger to ask all the questions they could think of, while Giles intermittently monitored Willow. Suddenly the green haze disappeared and Willow opened her eyes. She looked panicked for a moment until she saw where she was, and who was with her, well except for the two guys she didn't know. That confused her for a minute, and she closed her eyes. In a couple of minutes she opened them and tried to sit up. She saw Tara and smiled at her, but then she saw the look on Giles' face and gulped.
"I'm guessing something went wrong." She meekly stated. Then she saw the book on the coffee table. She looked at Giles' face again, gulped again, guilt written all over her face. Giles didn't trust himself to speak to her yet so remained silent as he slowly started to take down the wards, and open the pentagram so she could exit it. Tara helped her up and over to the couch. Buffy introduced Willow to Paul and Roger. Suddenly feeling an urge she couldn't resist Willow reached over to touch the spell book.
"Don't touch that book, ever again, without my express permission." Giles snapped at her. She pulled her hand back as if she had touched fire. Giles picked the book up, picked up his keys and walked out the front door. The five of them looked at each other, eyes wide. Willow looked at Buffy, worry evident in her eyes. Buffy consoled her, "Willow, he'll be all right, he just worries about you. He's gonna talk to you like he always does, and then he'll make you feel better and everything will be back to normal." She stopped for a moment, thinking about what had just happened. "You scared the crap out of all of us. You gotta stop with the magic badness."
"I know it Buffy, I just can't seem to resist. Where did Giles go?"
"He's probably putting that book in the car where you can't get to it."
"I don't know why he doesn't just teach me more stuff."
Tara put her hand on Willow's shoulder. "Willow, you almost lost your magic tonight, completely. Giles saved you…it…got it back into you safely. Someone could have stolen it from you." Willow's eyes opened wide again and she looked at the other four people, all nodding their heads at her in confirmation. She gulped again.
Buffy began to wonder what was taking Giles so long. She got up and walked out the front door to find him. He was standing by his car, lost in thought, all his worry lines in full play on his face. She stopped, just watching him, as he was not yet aware she was there. She wanted to go to him, touch his face, and smooth all the worry lines away. She wanted…if she was honest with herself…to have the right to touch him. It saddened her that she didn't, that she didn't even know if he would want her to touch him. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and walked over to Giles. "Are you all right?" He looked down at her, anguish clear in his eyes. She knew he was reliving his own nightmares of magic gone awry. "Do you want me to tell her to go home, that you'll talk with her later?"
"That might be best, I don't want to regret what I might say to her." Buffy looked at him, waiting to see if he was finished. He reconsidered. "No, I….she isn't….I need to talk with her now." He sighed and headed for the front door. As he walked in the front door Willow opened her mouth to speak. Giles raised his hand, silencing her. Looking at his expression she snapped her mouth shut. He pointed into the kitchen and then headed that way. Willow reluctantly got up to follow him.
The four of them sat in silence for a few minutes, hearing the rise and fall of Giles voice and an occasional response from Willow, but they were unable to make out any of their words. Paul suddenly stood up announcing, "I'm sorry, it's the cop in me, I have to go eavesdrop." He started to walk softly over to the kitchen door. He looked behind him and saw that they were all following him. He grinned at them and put a finger to his lips cautioning them to be quiet.