Two hours later, Anya joined them and occasionally threw her own viewpoint into the discussion of informing the former New Yorker of the place he had moved to and Buffy's role in it. Buffy was obviously uncomfortable with being talked about but tolerated it and threw in her own version of things occasionally. Anya had gone out and brought back sodas for everyone, as Giles was finishing up his explanation. Brad sat back in his chair and took a long steady look into the face of each of the other people in the room. His well honed detective skills and instincts told him that they weren't lying to him; either they were all insane and shared the same delusion or they were quiet serious. That probably also included Riley Finn, given the encounter Brad had walked in on earlier. "Vampires, werewolves, secret government operations, witches, slayers and watchers, oh boy," he muttered. "Have I stumbled onto the set of the Twilight Zone?" "I wish it were that simple, not many people died on the Twilight Zone," Buffy countered. "Here they die every day and usually horribly." "I can prove it to you in a few hours," Giles said calmly. He was tired and had a headache. He also needed a shower after tracking Buffy through the woods and caring for his injured Slayer. "Okay, I'll give you that some things appear weird around this town and no one seems to notice it," Brad Santiago said reluctantly. "I'll even agree that everything you've said fits the evidence I have." "But?" Giles asked with a slight smile. "How do you intend to prove it to me? Have me sit on a fresh grave and let a vampire pop up like that other Watcher did to Buffy?" "Something like that, yes," Giles answered. "Okay, I'm all for field trips and I'll take you up on it," Brad said. "You're taking this well," Anya commented. "Most run screaming in the night when confronted with vampires, or stand around in disbelief which makes them easy meals." "Yeah, well, I grew up in New York, I've seen a lot of stuff," Brad grinned. "My grandma was also a Brujah woman." "Brujah, that dumb vampire role playing game?" Buffy asked. "No," Brad laughed. "No, Spanish witch woman. Incense, prayers, a little home magic." Buffy began nodding off when the second round of pain medication began to take affect. "So, Buffy might be a werewolf like Oz, this secret government organization wants her to experiment on, Willow and Tara are witches, and Anya there is a former demon. Does that cover it?" "Yes, actually, you keep track well," Giles admitted. "Thanks, I'm putting two guards on the door outside Buffy's room to keep Riley Finn and his comrades out until she can be released tomorrow. I'm going to call my wife and let her know I'm going to miss dinner tonight," Brad said, getting to his feet. "Don't eat dinner before going out," Anya suggested. "Sometimes the vampires have very poor hygiene and the smell can make you hurl." "Uh, thanks." =============================================================== A somewhat green looking Brad Santiago joined the Scooby Gang at the home of Joyce and Buffy Summers. Xander, Tara, Willow and Joyce were obviously confused since Giles had called a meeting to discuss their plans for Halloween and bringing a police detective didn't seem like part of the plans or discussion. Then the Watcher explained that Brad Santiago of the Sunnydale police force had been given the basics about vampires, werewolves, demons, Slayers and the Hellmouth. Both Willow and Tara started blushing and Xander was angry. "Shouldn't you have asked us?" he demanded from Giles. "Probably but there wasn't time," Giles said firmly. "Detective Santiago caught me with an automatic weapon pointed at Riley Finn and threatening his life. Buffy agreed." "Okay, Xander!" Willow snapped. "It's done! Giles is right; we could use someone in law enforcement." "Oh you mean someone who isn't just a mall security jerk!" Xander snapped back. "I didn't say that!" Willow protested. "Don't go getting male territorial!" "Me? Who said I was territorial?" Xander demanded. "Children!" Giles snapped. "Let's get down to the planning, shall we? As unpleasant as it is, we need to discuss what we're going to do Halloween night." "Well," Willow said hesitantly. "I kinda had a plan if everyone agrees." "Let's sit down at the table shall we?" Joyce suggested. "I helped Willow and Tara draw out plans of the crypt and graveyard where Oz built that cell." The Scooby Gang, minus Anya and adding Brad, sat down around the table and turned their attention to Willow. "Welcome to the Scooby Gang, Detective Santiago," she said shyly. "Scooby Gang?" he questioned with a smile. "Kinda of a traditional name we have for ourselves. We're like Slayerettes and Buffy is the Slayer. We help her, doing research and helping during battle sometimes," Willow explained. "Don't let her fool you, Detective," Xander grinned. "Those two are becoming scary with their magick type skills." Brad smiled at how both young witches began blushing on cue. "Why don't you all call me Brad?" he suggested. "After seeing a vampire up close and personal tonight, I'm honored to be included with a group that is brave enough to face that night after night." There was an awkward silence as the Scooby Gang blushed, no one protested that they were brave but they were thinking it. The Gang looked at it somewhat like Buffy, they didn't have a choice in fighting the evil things because it had to be done and they were there. Brad would have pointed out that it was exactly this attitude that made them heroes if anyone had asked but he kept the thought to himself. he thought to himself. "Hey, enough mutual admiration!" Xander declared. "Night before and Halloween night! What's the deal, Will?" "Well, I have a new spell I want to try while Buffy is locked in the… in the…" she hesitated as she glanced over at Joyce. "It's okay, Willow," Joyce responded to the witch's discomfort. "I know that we're going to have to lock her up until we know for sure if she's infected. It's a cell in a crypt, I can handle that." "I want to be left alone with Buffy," Willow continued and held her hand up against the protest from around the table. "We know from experience that if Buffy is a werewolf, she'll respond better with only one person in the room and that logically is me." "Okay, what is this spell?" Giles demanded. "Two spells actually," Willow tried to smile. "I think Tara should be outside the crypt and cast the second spell. It's a protection spell that makes a shield of silver; werewolves shouldn't be able to break it. That'll keep Oz and any of his pack out of the crypt." "What about the secret passages, we know they didn't just vanish when you were there," Xander asked. "The spell will wrap the crypt in a silver light, it'll cover the secret places too," Willow explained. "And your spell?" Giles demanded again. "It's a massive sleep spell and it might catch me in it as well. I figure if Buffy starts changing, I throw the spell and hope to prevent some of the pain and the werewolf frenzy." Giles frowned but nodded. It made sense and it was a good plan. He knew the rest of the plan had the rest of the Scooby Gang outside protecting the crypt and slaying anything getting too near it. "I'm on shift Halloween night," Brad said thoughtfully. "There's already extra patrols being added because of what night it is. How else can I help?" Tara giggled and everyone turned to look at her. "It's a safe bet that Riley will be looking for Buffy that night, right?" she asked Giles. "Yes, it would seem likely that he and one of his team will be waiting outside for Buffy to go out slaying that night or for us to take her someplace safe for the night," Giles responded. "Do you think that Riley could be picked up by the police for the night? A case of mistaken identity or something?" she suggested. Giles looked surprised and then pleased, everyone else looked confused for a while longer. Then grins spread around the table. "I think something might be arranged," Brad said slowly. "You know I'm crossing a line here." "Yes, and if it's beyond what your morals can handle, we'll understand," Giles said quickly. "We would never ask you to do something you couldn't live with." "I notice that you don't limit yourself to asking me to do something illegal or that could get me fired," Brad pointed out. "No, I'll admit that," Giles nodded. "Already you've been aware that we illegally carry pistols, that we have filed false police reports, have hacked into government computer records, and have destroyed bodies that could be evidence." Brad frowned. "Okay, I'm in, totally. We moved to Sunnydale to give my daughter a safe place to grow up and now it looks like we moved into Spook Central. I'll fight that with you." "Thank you, we try and stay on the legal side of things most of the time, at least the morally legal side," Giles smiled. "Okay, I'll get Riley Finn out of commission that night. What about the other government types, won't they just go after Buffy?" "Probably only half-heartedly," Giles commented slowly. "Most of them didn't care to be shown up by a small female all the time and resented her presence as well as Riley's focus on her. Given a choice they'd rather forget she exists." "They'll also have their hands full that night," Willow added. "Halloween brings out all the crazies, the Initiative doesn't know about the Rule and they'll expect the dead and undead ones to be out." "Rule?" Brad questioned. "It's kinda of an unwritten thing among them," Giles explained. "They take the night off on Halloween and let the mundanes, the humans play." "That is totally weird," Brad complained. "Willow, are you telling us everything about those spells?" Joyce asked pointedly. "I'm hoping that the spell will pull the wolf spirit into a dormant state," Willow admitted. "Where did you find this spell, that doesn't sound familiar," Giles asked. "Through my contact on the internet, Grayfox," Willow answered. "He's been very reliable in the past," Tara commented and Giles merely nodded. "I suggest we move Buffy to the crypt early that day to avoid any potential ambushes from the Initiative," Xander suggested and everyone nodded. "Okay, Willow, you and Joyce go to the crypt tomorrow and set things up since you know what you need for your spell," Giles instructed. "Xander and I will check the weapons and pick up Buffy from the hospital first thing in the morning." Everyone nodded and Giles looked around. "Any questions?" "Yeah, what kills a vampire other than a wooden stake and do silver bullets really work on werewolves?" Brad asked. Xander grinned and everyone smiled. "Let's have some coffee while we talk about Slaying 101, shall we?" Giles suggested, including Joyce in it as well. "Giles, we're going to the living room and watch TV," Willow told the older man and he nodded. "Guess that makes me one of the adults of the group, huh?" Brad asked with a laugh. "Reminds me of holidays, kids in one area, adults in the other." "Yes, but these kids risk their lives and souls every night," Joyce commented bitterly. =============================================================== October 28 It was after midnight when Tara nudged a sleepy Willow and suggested they head to bed. The witch looked over and found Xander half dozing on the sofa. "You need a quilt?" Tara asked the young man as she helped Willow stand up. "Nah, I know where they are. I'm going to watch the Dracula marathon," he said softly. Tara hesitated in front of Willow's door and the redhead smiled playfully. "You've been in before," she whispered and took Tara's hand and pulled the taller woman into her bedroom. Once inside, Willow shut the door firmly and led Tara over to the bed without turning on the light. Tara smiled in the faint light of the growing moon and lit a candle on Willow's nightstand and turned to help the other witch out of her shoes. With her left hand and arm in a cast, the red-haired witch had switched her usual jeans and t-shirts for sweatpants and larger t- shirts. If she wanted to wear anything more than plain Birkenstock sandals, however, Willow discovered she needed someone to help her put on socks and tie her shoes. Feeling like she was four years old again was a hassle but neither Tara nor Buffy complained at tying her shoes or doing anything else to take care of her. As Tara knelt in front of Willow to untie her tennis shoes, the red- haired witch reached out and began to gently stroke Tara's long hair. Tara laid her head on Willow's thigh with a smile, comfortable in the silence. After a moment Willow raised Tara's head with a gentle finger under the witch's chin and let Tara see the love and desire Willow knew was showing plainly on her face and in her eyes. The blonde witch rose up and slowly met Willow's lips with her own. Once again Willow marveled at how everything disappeared except for the feelings and emotions surrounding her and Tara at that moment. She felt Tara hesitate and Willow ran her hand through Tara's hair and pulled the other witch's head to her, holding Tara into the kiss as it became more passionate. Willow moaned and Tara moved Willow back onto the bed while their tongues dueled. The red-haired witch tried to maintain her balance and composure with a heavy cast on her arm. They ended up on the bed somehow, falling and giggling in the process, as their limbs intertwined. Tara was just grateful they had ended up on the same end of the bed and she hadn't gotten whacked by Willow's cast. After the giggles had subsided, Tara leaned on an elbow and looked down at Willow and saw the other witch's eyes were slightly darker and her eyelids were heavy. "Please," Willow said softly and drew Tara to her and let down her mental shields, drawing Tara's mind and spirit in as well. Tara gasped and pulled back slightly in surprise. Willow tried to take advantage of the movement to remove her t-shirt but lying under Tara and working with only one hand made it more than difficult, especially when she got caught in it. Tara laughed lightly and helped the t-shirt become a memory and then lost her laugh in a sense of awe when she looked at Willow half naked under her. "Goddess, you're so beautiful," she whispered. "So are you, my love," Willow smiled, blushing lightly. "I can feel what you're feeling," Tara said softly and lowered her lips to Willow's neck. Willow's body shuddered and Tara moaned as the sensation rocked through her body as well. As Tara's hands found her breasts the witch gasped. They had shared long sessions of kissing and making out before, but this was different and both of them could sense it. The sharing of the emotions and sensations was adding an intensity that was causing Willow's breath to quicken and her heart to start racing. The witch pulled irritably at Tara's shirt and the rest of their clothing was quickly done away with. The intensity swept them higher with each piece of clothing being removed as more and more skin began to touch naked skin. Willow whimpered slightly as Tara cried out at Willow's touch on her nipples, her back arching. "I love you, Tara," Willow whispered and moaned when Tara became the initiator with a passion that was surprising both of them. "Goddess, you feel so wonderful," Tara whispered as she began to nibble from Willow's neck to her nipples while her hands ran along the smaller woman's back, shoulders, lips, and down to caress her wonderful ass cheeks. Willow felt like everywhere that Tara was touching was electric, like moving too close to a static machine at a science fair and she was squirming while clinging to the other witch. Willow thought Tara was going to tease and torment her nipples and breasts forever as the lightning danced between them until Tara's lips and tongue were moving across Willow's ribs, exploring almost every inch of the redhead. Willow gasped with twice the pleasure as she felt what Tara could feel in making love to her. It was almost overwhelming for both of them. Tara thought she was in Nirvana when she worked her way between Willow's legs and inhaled the unique scent that was the young witch. The shy college student had never been with another person sexually but felt this was like coming home and was where she wanted to be. Willow's hips jerked and she bit her lower lip as Tara's fingers began their own exploration of the inside of her thighs and sexual lips. Tara moaned as Willow's arousal level hit her through their connection and felt Willow's need as if it was coming from within. Her lips and tongue joined her fingers in exploring her lover and both women cried out as Willow's hips left the bed in reaction to the intensity. Tara thought nothing would ever compare to making love to the beautiful woman with her right then, she knew it would be different with Buffy. As intense and just as emotional but also different. She had been drawn to Willow first and Willow was her first lover. "Oh my God, Tara!" Willow begged. Tara let her fingers sink into the warmth that was begging for her attention and Willow's hand clenched the blanket underneath her as her back arched. Tara pulled almost out of the body enveloping her and then pressed in again. Tara's body jerked from their connection and began a rhythm that Willow quickly matched. "Tara, harder!" Without the connection, Tara would have worried that she was hurting Willow but she could feel how the intensity was building as Willow's body begged for more of her touch. Tara couldn't believe that she was actually causing this much pleasure for her lover and could feel it. She thrust harder and Willow cried out and almost bucked out of Tara's arms. Tara added another finger and cried out herself as the energy rebounded into her body. Feeling Willow's muscles contracting, she let her tongue begin a wonderful dance over Willow's clit and began drinking in the essence of Willow. Willow, hovering on the edge of climax, screamed Tara's name as her body arched off the bed. Tara followed, holding Willow's hips with one arm and thrusting into her with the other hand until Willow's body stopped convulsing. Tara moved up onto the bed and pulled Willow into her arms and gently rocked the witch until her heart rate began to slow back to a safer range. "Do you need your meds?" she whispered. "I love you too," Willow mumbled. "I think I'm okay without them." "That was....w-wonderful," Tara said softly. "Thank you." "Oh Goddess, thank you!" Willow countered. "That was incredible!" Tara felt herself blushing and Willow gently kissed her. The blonde witch squeaked with surprise when Willow rolled over onto of her, the witch's green eyes flashing with mischievous energy. "That connection was interesting, I want to try it on this end," Willow grinned and lowered her lips to Tara's breast and opened her mental shields up to Tara before the blonde could protest. Tara moaned and felt fire flowing through her entire body as Willow's skin touched her everywhere. In minutes Willow had Tara in the same heightened arousal Willow had been in earlier. "Willow, yes!" Tara begged, not knowing exactly what she was craving but needing it immediately. Having had the connection with Willow was only making it more intense and desperate. Willow started to enter her lover and hesitated, her green eyes catching Tara's blue ones. "Tara?" "Yes, now!" Tara responded and whimpered slightly as Willow took her virginity then she heard noises and realized she was making them as her body began to shake and buck against Willow's fingers and body. "Oh Goddess! Willow, don't stop, please!" Sometime later, Xander sat upright on the sofa, eyes blinking and heart racing. "I think that was…I think this time it was Tara screaming Willow's name," he said aloud to the empty room with a wolfish grin. "Earlier it was Willow yelling 'harder', for the Goddess and then just Tara's name," Xander smirked. He had plenty of ammunition to tease his best friend with and had already mentally filed it away. He returned to watching Christopher Lee as Dracula bent over to bite another well endowed blonde victim on the television and wished Anya was there with him. =============================================================== The police officers reported that three young men had approached Buffy Summers' room the night before and had been very insistent on seeing the young woman until threatened with arrest if they didn't leave. From their descriptions Giles confirmed that they sounded like part of Riley Finn's organization, the Initiative. Brad Santiago and Giles found Anya kneeling beside Buffy's bed with her pistol in her hands and being steadied by the bed as she aimed at the door. Both men moved out of the way quickly and yelled at her to put the thing away. Giles peeked around the doorway as Anya put the pistol away in her waistband and saw Buffy was doing her best not to giggle. Brad followed him into the room and shut the door. "What was that about, you know there are police guarding the door," Giles demanded from the former demon. "They are men and men can be fooled very easily," Anya countered and Buffy shrugged as Giles looked at her for support. "Those two men outside nearly let three large hulking types in last night when they claimed to be friends. I yelled that Buffy had no friends other than geeks and library types, certainly not football type jerks." "Thanks!" Buffy snapped. "What?" Anya asked innocently and Giles held up his hand to stop the argument. "Get dressed, Buffy," he ordered. "The doctor hasn't released me yet," she responded while glaring at Anya. "I'm afraid there's a problem," Giles hesitated and began cleaning his glasses. "Oh God, it's serious," Buffy muttered and noticed that Brad Santiago wasn't smiling and his eyes were cold. "How do you know that?" he demanded. "Giles always starts cleaning his glasses when he doesn't want to talk about something and it's usually serious," Buffy explained. "They found Oz's body in the woods this morning," Giles said softly. "His what?" Buffy demanded in a low, disbelieving voice. "His body, he was cut to shreds," Brad informed her. "He had a silver dagger sticking out of his chest and your prints were on it." "No, that's not right," Buffy protested. "I fought with him and he hurt me. I stabbed him but he was up and running. I only stabbed him once and I dropped the knife when I went into the creek, it wasn't in his chest." "The knife was embedded into his heart, all the way to the hilt, much like he did to Willow Rosenberg, your best friend," Brad declared and glanced at the two police listening in as they stood guard at the door. "There was no evidence of whatever device you say he used on you and there was only your knife in his chest." "Whoa!" Buffy shouted. "Wait a goddamn minute! Oz was a stalker, he hurt and tried to rape Willow, he threw Giles into a wall, Tara through a window and gave me one hell of a headache and now I'm the bad guy?" "We only have your word and those of your friends that anything happened to all of you," Brad countered. "We believe that Ms. Rosenberg was attacked and you were angry about that. Angry enough to kill?" "Yes, no, I don't know! He attacked me!" Buffy shouted and Anya growled. "I certainly didn't make these wounds myself!" she said, pointing to her bandaged chest. "Actually the doctors admit that there is that possibility with the same knife," Brad countered. "What?" Buffy whispered and turned to Giles for support and found him looking down at his shoes. "Giles?" "They want to take you in until they clear this up, Buffy," he said softly. "Officer!" Brad called and both officers stuck their heads in the open doorway. "You," Brad said, pointing to one of them. "I want you to clear the corridor in 10 minutes when I bring Ms. Summers out." "Yes, sir," the young, military looking male responded. "Please get dressed, Ms. Summers," Brad ordered. "You can change in the bathroom, leave the door open." Buffy couldn't believe what was happening, especially when Giles reached into the wall locker and handed her the clothes she had been wearing the day before. "I can't wear these," she protested, holding up the ripped and bloody sweatshirt. "I'll get the hospital to give you some scrubs," Brad said in a flat voice. "He turned to the two police officers. "Find a nurse and get a set of surgical scrubs. Ms. Summers is going to be heading straight to jail and will be there for several days. Given the nature of the crime, no judge is going to grant bail." The detective turned back to the Slayer. "You'll just have to miss playing Halloween pranks with your friends." "Halloween, you're going to lock me up over Halloween?" "Maybe even longer if I can make the murder charge stick," Brad promised. "Wait a minute! I thought he was on our side!" "Buffy!" Giles snapped, glancing at the police officers. "I advise you not to say anything. I'll be right behind you and I've phoned for an attorney." Buffy slammed her jaw shut but her blue eyes were blazing with anger as the police officer returned with a set of surgical scrubs and Brad waited with crossed arms. Buffy grabbed the clothing and moved to the bathroom to change. Giles opened the door slightly as his Slayer tried to pull the surgical shirt over her head. He took the top from her and helped it over her head and arms. "Don't fight this and don't escape, trust me," he whispered. "It's not what it looks like. Continue to act pissed off though, you have an audience." Buffy nodded and followed him out the bathroom door and was quickly turned around and handcuffed. "Hey, goddamnit, this isn't funny!" she shouted. "Neither was Oz' body when we found him," Brad Santiago growled. =============================================================== Buffy was still fuming when she and Brad Santiago walked into the Summers' home to the relief of Tara and Joyce. "Hey, I said I was sorry," Brad continued protesting as they walked in the door. "Okay, just easy with the cuffs next time!" Buffy snapped. "Cuffs?" Tara questioned as she gently drew Buffy into a hug. The tension melted from the Slayer as she felt her body melding next to Tara's and the witch's warmth settling in over her. The Slayer nuzzled the neck of the taller girl and hugged her as tightly as her injured rib muscles would allow. "We dragged Buffy out of the hospital in handcuffs," Brad explained. "You what?" Joyce demanded as she hugged both girls quickly and turned to the detective. "Anya said that three football type guys tried to get into Buffy's room last night and my police officers almost let them," Brad explained and sat down on the sofa. "I already suspected I might have a couple of Initiative types on the police force so Giles and I already had this planned. I arrested Buffy on the charge of murdering Oz in the woods yesterday and injuring herself to cover the killing. I dragged her out of the hospital protesting. The Initiative 'containment' squad will be checking the jail for Buffy, not here." "That means we have to get her out of here," Joyce reasoned. "Yes, Giles suggested moving her, Willow and Tara to the crypt now," Brad confirmed. "Is Oz dead?" Joyce asked with a frown. "No, he's still alive," Brad explained. "Where's Willow?" Buffy asked. "Upstairs on her laptop," Tara said. "Let's go pack an overnight bag," Buffy suggested, reaching up to quickly kiss Tara and then dart upstairs. Brad and Joyce watched the two young women disappear, pounding up the stairs and Joyce caught the detective shaking his head. "What?" she questioned. "She was nearly dead yesterday and now she's barely hurting," he commented. "Giles says that's normal for a Slayer, its one way she was able to keep being the Slayer a secret from me for so long," Joyce explained. "I hardly ever knew she was hurt and if I did she'd shrug it off as a gym accident or something." "Where's Giles?" Joyce asked after a moment. "Watching the police officer I suspected, he should be here any minute." A few minutes later the three college students came down the stairs, Tara and Buffy had bags. "Where's your bags, Willow?" Joyce asked. "I'm staying here tonight, I need some time to get ready for the ritual part tomorrow night," Willow smiled, holding Tara's hand. Joyce's eyes narrowed in suspicion but merely nodded. "Okay, Brad is going to drive you," she said as she hugged Buffy tightly. "We'll be there before dark that night. Got things to keep you occupied?" "Yeah, a couple of board games and stuff," Buffy smiled but her mom could see the underlying tension and hugged her daughter again. "You're not alone, Buffy," she whispered. "We'll be right there with you." "Thanks, Mom," the Slayer whispered back and moved aside to let Joyce hug Tara as well. "Don't let her drive you crazy with that energy of hers." "I won't, Mrs. Summers," Tara answered. "Joyce, or Mom, please." "Joyce Mom?" Tara smiled and Joyce hugged her again affectionately. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Willow hovered over her laptop and frowned. There was another email from Grayfox and this one was marked urgent. The red-haired witch debated about opening it but clicked on the email. Willow closed the email without responding and called up the file Grayfox had sent her days before. It had taken her forever to figure out the translation from the mixture of Old English, Latin and several witch glyphs. Parts of it were intentionally obscure and backward, making translation from a foreign language very difficult. Fortunately, she had been able to retrieve the same program that Jenny Calendar had used to translate the spell to bring Angel's soul back to the vampire. The program was a random search pattern of various old dead and obscure languages as well as known glyph type writing systems. It had worked just as well on this spell as it had for the one she used on Angel. The ingredients hadn't been a problem; the spell was more mental, emotional and physical. Willow continued to frown and set the laptop aside. She began to gather the ingredients she would need for the spell. It wasn't easy with one hand but she wanted everything right and ran down the list twice. She looked up as someone knocked on the door and opened it slightly. Giles stuck his head in and Willow smiled. "Come on in, Giles," she offered and sat down on the bed, leaving room for him. "We didn't talk much over dinner," he began. "Nope, you're being a typical father figure image and British, which is making you a reserved type guy. Makes asking about relationships and possibly sex difficult for you?" "God, I do like your babbling at times," he muttered. "But tonight is not one of them, right," she smiled. "Right and you're trying to distract me," he smiled back. "Willow, you didn't go to the crypt tonight with Buffy and Tara because you're giving them space and opportunity to be together, aren't you?" "Yes," the witch admitted. "You were with Tara last night?" Willow's eyes widened and her face flushed but she nodded. "Willow, did you plan to be intimate with both of them just for your spell?" "No, Giles, honest," Willow stammered. "I want them, both of them and they both love each other too." "Willow, what is this spell you're planning?" Giles asked gently. "Hopefully, it'll send the wolf spirit inside Buffy to sleep," Willow explained. "Is that all?" Giles asked. "No," she admitted. "There's a risk of it backfiring and sending me into a coma for a week." "Willow!" he suddenly shouted, jumping to his feet. "Giles, calm down!" Willow smiled. "It's not fatal! I'd only sleep for a few days. If it means me catching up on my sleep or leaving Buffy as a werewolf, I'll take the risk of falling asleep." Giles continued to frown. "Willow, I don't want you to take any risks," Giles muttered. "I also understand that I'm not going to stop you from this, am I?" The college student stood up and hugged the closest thing she had to an actual father figure. "I love her, Giles, I have to try something. She took the bite for me." "I know, I just feel so helpless," he complained. "Me too," she whispered. "Especially with that damned Initiative looking for Buffy." "I agree, that young officer went immediately to the frat house where Riley lives after Brad took Buffy away. Moments later Riley and the officer came out and drove off. I assume they were headed to the police station," Giles recounted thoughtfully. "You know they'll be here tomorrow looking for Buffy." "I know, Joyce Mom and I are going out with Xander and Anya at first light for breakfast and a day trip while you sneak food into Tara and Buffy," Willow smiled and sat back down on her bed. "Just be careful," he asked. "You bet, just take care of Buffy and Tara until we get there," Willow countered. TBC