Part 10

Anya handed a wrapped parcel to a customer dressed in gothic black and adorned with several piercings. She eyed the chain connecting the girl's nose ring to her earlobe. "Now, you'll want to be careful when you rub these stones together. The sparks can jump, you know. I've seen people with chain mail sustain quite serious burns. You could be at risk."

The girl didn't respond, but took her package and left. As she exited Giles walked in.

"Giles!" Anya was surprised to see him. "What are you doing back? The shop is fine. I make a tidier profit than you did, so you can't have it back."

He was carrying a large cardboard box that appeared to be full of books. "Good Anya, I'm relieved to hear it." Giles realized that he has missed her quirkiness, but only a little bit. "Actually I'm here with business proposition for you."

At his words her eyes lit up. Business and proposition: two concepts that were completely up her alley. "Have a seat Giles." She hurried over the door to turn the "Open" sign to "Closed". For extra insurance, she locked the door. She stopped to smooth her hair behind her ears, then sat at the table across from her former business associate.

"OK Giles, shoot. I'm ready."

"And its very nice to see you too again, Anya" Giles responded lightly.

"Oh. Did I forget the greeting again?"

"Not to worry. Now, I was wondering if I might be able to rent some space from you in the shop."

"Did you want me to figure the price in square feet or just offer a flat monthly rate? Also, I will probably include an in-out fee."

Giles removed his glasses and wiped them with his handkerchief. "Anya, I see that this is not a new concept for you."

"Of course not Giles." She dismissed the implication with a wave of her hand. "Consignment and storage are the wave of the future!"

"Fascinating." Giles turned and gestured to his box. "I have some more of these outside in my car, probably enough to fill about 6 shelves. Of course there will be more in the future."

"Are you moving back to Sunnydale."

"Actually, no. I am helping a new...uh... Watcher set up in town."

Anya leaned forward, "A new Watcher? What for? Buffy's been doing fine without any help."

"Thank you Anya." Giles tried not to be stung by her words, considering their source, but it did touch on some tenderness inside of him. "I had every certainty that Buffy would be fine. This Watcher is here to train. He will work with Buffy initially since she is already familiar with our duties. After his training is complete, he will move on. With Faith's death it is only a matter of time before a new Slayer is called."

"Oh. So we will be meeting a new stuffy English gentleman?"

Giles paused for a moment to consider how he wanted to answer her. "Well, Anya, not exactly." He stood. "Call everybody together tonight at six. I'll bring him by then. I will go out now and bring in the rest of the books for his library."

As he reached the door Anya called after him "I'll have your contract ready then."

"Of that, I had no doubt." he replied with a smile.

*****

It was four o'clock. Buffy glanced at her watch again. Dawn would be home any minute. Janice's mother was dropping her off. Buffy had called the Doublemeat Palace that before her shift was to start at eleven and told them she wouldn't be in. She and Spike had talked until she noticed he couldn't hold back his yawns. It was his first experience with jet lag and he had already been up for over twenty hours. She had sent him upstairs to her mother's room for a nap. Occasionally she could hear a deep resounding snore. It made her smile. She had never heard him do that before.

She was still in somewhat of a state of disbelief over his sudden reappearance in her life. Except for the physical changes he was very much the same as he used to be. He had the same snarky sense of humor and lack of tact. His vocal inflections and expressions were all the same. Still, there was something very reserved about him. He was holding part of himself back. She sensed he still had some feelings for her, but he hadn't tried to make any physical advances. She couldn't help but to be a little disappointed. She was curious about what it would be like to touch him now that he was a living, breathing man. Maybe all of this was still too new and overwhelming for him, and that was why he seemed so distant.

Speaking of that man, he was still up there sawing logs. He had slept for several hours now. Should she go up to wake him? Yes, that was a good idea. It was never right for a jet-lagged man to sleep all day. It just took him longer to adjust. At least, that's what Giles and her father had always told her. And if she had to shake him or squeeze him a little to rouse him, well, that was all the better!

She was headed up the steps when the door opened and Dawn came in. Rats! She put a smile on her face and turned. "Hi Dawn."

"Buffy." Dawn was surprised "What are you doing home?"

"I took the day off. I have a huge surprise for you. Come on. Lets sit down."

"OK shoot." This had to be good. Buffy never shirked her working duties for anything, not lately.

"Giles came back to visit today..."

"Giles? Really? Where is he?"

"He left to take care of some business and to get some rest, but he will be back in about an hour."

Dawn looked disappointed that she had to wait to see him. Buffy hurried to continue. "But Dawn, there's more. He brought somebody with him and it is such a miracle. You'll never believe it."

Dawn still looked disappointed. "I don't care who he brought with him. I'd rather see Giles than anybody, unless they have figured out a way to bring Spike back."

She noticed Buffy's startled expression, then she screamed and jumped to embrace Buffy. "Is it him Buffy? Is it Spike? Please please please say yes."

Buffy's eyes misted with tears at seeing her sister's joy. She nodded her head and said with a breaking voice, "Yes."

Dawn looked up at the stairs and screamed with glee again. Spike was standing on the steps. Dawn ran across the room and launched herself up to him. She hugged him and kissed his cheeks and wept all over him. He seemed to be greeting her back just as enthusiastically. His smile was huge.

"So much for my theory on his reserve." Buffy muttered to herself.

"Ah… Nibblet. Go a little easy. You're about to dislocate my shoulder there."

"Sorry!" They were back in the living room now. Dawn was full of questions. "How did this happen? Why are you here in the daytime? Is this a spell or something?"

Buffy interrupted, "Dawn, give him a little room. We'll tell you what happened."

Dawn sat and pulled Spike down on the couch beside her, still holding his hand. "OK, tell me everything!" She paused and looked down at their joined hands and suddenly realized... "Spike, you're warm!"