WDWG - Chapter 7: Plans
When they awoke the next morning, they were tangled together in the sleeping bag, with Buffy's body half draped over Giles'. Neither could remember a time when they slept better. Giles leaned over and kissed her softly. "Good morning, love."
"Mmmmm, good morning. Oh! Seems like someone else is enjoying the morning too." Buffy teased, feeling the evidence of Giles' appreciation against her thigh.
"You have no idea." He sighed. "Did you sleep well?"
Buffy giggled, loving his playful side. "Best sleep ever... Do we really have to get up?"
"I think we would be missed, don't you?"
"Would it be bad of me to say that I don't care? Anyway, I smell coffee and something that might resemble breakfast. What time is it?" She stretched against him, causing him to moan softly.
"You minx!" Giles growled, reaching over to grab his watch from on top of his pile of clothes while trying to behave. He had to blink twice, "would you believe 10:30?"
"What?"
Giles' lips twitched into that embarrassed grin that Buffy found so endearing, "So much for discretion. I guess we need to put in an appearance."
"You might need to wait awhile," She laughed.
"Ha Ha. Get dressed!" He bantered back giving her a playful push.
She was less shy this morning, but still asked him to turn so she could change into her clean clothes. It took him a few minutes to settle down, but he finally got things under control and dressed as well. Grabbing their toiletries, they turned towards the entrance.
"Ready to face the hordes?" Giles smiled.
"Why do I feel like I am doing the walk of shame?" Buffy giggled. He crawled over, gave her a kiss and headed out of the tent. As soon as Buffy exited, the camp exploded into a round of applause and cat calls.
Xander yelled, "About damn time!"
Giles blushed to his hairline. He wanted nothing more than to turn on the glare, but when he caught Buffy's amused expression, he just couldn't help laughing. This was a good thing. They were a good thing and they had the approval of their friends and family to prove it.
Sitting around during their late breakfast, it was obvious they had been the hottest topic of that morning's conversations, so to keep them from public scrutiny, Faith rounded up the Slayers for another round of Tai Chi training. Accepting the gesture with a grateful nod, Buffy decided to lead the afternoon hand-to-hand training session. Since the battle, the girls' faith in her had been restored, and they were once again treating her with respect and reverence. Of course Buffy wanted nothing more than for them to treat her like their friend, but she knew she was the "General". She could walk amongst her troops and banter, but she could never have the close relationship with them that Faith had.
"Coffee's better this morning." Buffy remarked trying to shake her gloomy musings.
"For that, you have Xander to thank. He commented that yesterday's coffee was a tad on the weak side, so when we were at the store, we picked up some extra bold roast." Giles replied.
"Well, thank you, Xander." Buffy held her cup up in a salute.
"No problem, Buff. So, what's on the agenda for today? I know it's gonna be another scorcher out here in the land of cacti and Joshua trees. Don't you think we should think about where to next?"
"Yes, well, I thought it would be a good thing to take the bus and find some place private so we could talk as a family. While we are together, we are also individuals and it's important that we talk through what we want to do next before we make plans for everyone else." Giles suggested. Buffy moved to sit on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her stomach and rested his chin on her shoulder.
Willow smiled at them. They were just so darned cute together. And who knew Giles was a PDA kind of guy? "I think that sounds like a great idea, Giles. When do you want to go?"
"How about in 15 minutes since we're getting a late start and it's about 30 minutes back to the town. There's a restaurant there, so we can sit inside and be comfortable." The Scoobies all nodded and he patted Buffy on the rump to get her to move so he could stand up and make his way over to Robin. "We're leaving shortly and will be back later this afternoon. Oh, and we'll be heading back into that town. Is there anything you can think of that we need?"
"Other than showers and a nice comfy place to sleep, I think we're good to go." Robin answered.
"We can probably pack up and head to L.A. tomorrow, everyone is on the mend now. I've still got the Council credit card. We can charge our expenses, assuming assets haven't been frozen. If they have, then I've got reserves we can dip into." Giles offered.
"I do too, it doesn't have to be all on you." Robin replied. "Now go take care of your family and I'll see what interest I can drum up for Cleveland."
XxXxXxXx
"So, I call this family meeting to order." Xander proudly bellowed slamming his palm down on the table.
Giles just glared. Dawn giggled, "You are so weird, Xander Harris!"
"Does the distinguished young lady in the blue shirt wish to take the floor?" Xander continued.
"Distinguished?" Buffy guffawed earning her a raspberry from Dawn.
"Be a good lad and do shut up, Xander!" Despite the words, there was no malice in Giles' tone. He was happy that Xander was joking around even if he wasn't 100%. None of them were.
"Aw, cranky Giles. Who knew you could be in love and still be cranky." Willow teased.
Buffy just laughed. "Ok Watcher-mine, let's get this going. What's the what?"
He pulled his glasses off and polished them on one of his shirt tails. "Yes, well. Obviously, we're all thinking about what's next. I know what needs to be done, but I also want to know what it is that you want to do. I guess I should just lay it out there. The Council needs to be rebuilt. It needs to support the Slayers we already have, as well as find new Slayers out there, and it needs to provide training. This of course means that we need Watchers, and the problem with that is we don't have many Watchers left, at least not that we know of. So, there's going to be a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done and I'd like your help with that."
"Ok, a bit daunting, but I have ideas on that." Willow supplied.
"Before we get ahead of ourselves," Giles interrupted, "I think it's important that we take some time. We've been in a war together for these last seven years. There hasn't been much time off for holidays or just fun outside of Sunnydale. I want to know what it is that each of you wants to do for a well deserved break."
"Ooh, kinda like. 'You've closed the Hellmouth and defeated the First, what are you going to do next?' 'Well, I'm going to Disney World!'" Xander quipped.
"Something like that, yes." He wasn't going to admit to Xander that he'd been thinking the same thing earlier.
Xander looked up with a serious demeanor, "I never really did get that cross country road trip. I think I would like to take a few months and just go where the road takes me." Giles nodded at the young man before looking at Willow.
"Well, I think I want to go back to the Coven for a bit. This whole experience with the spell, the scythe and the multiple Slayers has me intrigued and no doubt the Coven will want to discuss it, too. I also should visit my mom and dad for a few days to let them know I am alive. Um, maybe I'll just call, they're in Africa somewhere after all. So yeah, I think that covers it. I want to go to the Coven, get some R&R and then maybe bum around Europe for a few weeks."
"Dawn?" Buffy asked her sister.
"Umm... I don't know, Buffy. It's up to you, I mean you are my guardian." Dawn deferred.
"Let's forget that for a moment, Dawn. What do you want to do?" Giles asked softly, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I... I don't want you take this the wrong way, Buffy." She looked up into her sister's expressive green eyes with some trepidation. "I think I want to see Dad. I mean, just for a little while. I need to find some normal and pretend that there aren't things that go bump in the night."
Buffy sighed, trying not to feel rejected. She knew things hadn't been great between her and her sister. Dawn had even kicked her out of the house, but she thought they had found a new understanding over the past couple of days. "It's ok, Dawnie. Do you want to live with him? Or just visit for a while?"
Dawn looked at her sister, "I'm sorry, Buffy. I know this hurts you."
"No. I mean, yeah, it does hurt a bit, but you have to do what feels right. If you want to be with Dad, then you need to do what's right for you."
"What are you going to do?" Dawn asked her sister.
"Short term, I am going to take it easy, not sure how just yet, but long term, Giles asked me to come back to England with him. I'm going to go, Dawn." She looked at Giles and then her friends, before bringing her attention back to the teen. "I thought you would come with, but now, I am asking you if you would join us and go to school over there."
Giles knelt next to Dawn, "There's a great school not far from my home outside of Bath. Most of the graduates are accepted to prestigious universities around the world, and I know with your smarts, you would be a great candidate for Oxford. I would be proud to support you in that endeavor, Dawn."
Dawn looked overwhelmed. "I-I don't know. Can we find Dad first and see what happens from there? England sounds so tempting, but..." Her voice trailed off and she started to cry.
Both Buffy and Willow leaned over to hug her. "It's ok, Dawn, really. No pressure. Let's find Dad."
"We'll head to L.A. tomorrow. Hopefully your father is there and we'll work with him to get you settled, for however long you like." Giles didn't hold out much hope that Hank Summers would assume responsibility for Dawn, the man had, after all, abandoned his children after their mother died, but he would do everything he could for the young girl.
"So, then it is settled. Xander, you shall have your road trip, Willow will return to the Coven, and Dawn will go to her father. Now, we should discuss the long term plan. Robin and Faith are going to head to Cleveland since there's a hellmouth there trying to make its presence known and it's already drawing vampires and demons to it. They are going to recruit some of the new Slayers to go with them, but we've yet to decide what to do with the ones that don't want to go. They can go home, or they can come to England once we have a place to put them." Giles had a pad of paper and a pen and scrawled some notes to himself. "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there, I guess. Anyway, I'd like to have all the help I can get with the Council. There are people I have to speak with when I get back, since I can't make decisions without knowing all the factors, but I need to know if you all will help."
He got agreement from all, with the exception of one. "Dawn, are you going to help?"
"What do you have in mind, Giles?"
"Well, honestly, I don't know. Maybe some sort of internship when you visit on holidays. Basically, doing what needs to be done when we need it." He did not want to patronize her by creating some sort of arbitrary position, but he did want to include her. She would make a good Watcher one day if she wanted to, and he wanted to take advantage of that as well as her status as The Slayer's sister.
She grinned at him, "All the stuff I do already, huh? Yeah, I can do that." He returned her smile and then shifted his focus to Xander.
"Xander, I am going to need a Director of Operations. That pretty much encompasses anything I need at this point. I need to be able to point you in a direction and have you run with it, we can always firm up duties as we get through the planning and execution phases. Are you on board?" Xander stared at him in disbelief, "I need someone I can trust, Xander. There is no one more suited for this than you."
"Sure, Giles, I've got your back." Xander's heart swelled and he tried to choke back a sob. "I um, have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."
Giles then turned to Willow, "And now to you, my dear. I have a tall order for you, as well. I need you be my techno mage. Obviously, we need a secure intranet and a system by which we can communicate with our operatives in the field."
"Go you, Giles, with the geek speak!" Willow beamed.
"Yes, well, one must evolve and adapt," he blushed. "If you need to hire someone to help with all of this, we can do that, but that person will either need to be vetted or be someone we know and trust. Also, we'll need to set up wards and find someone to help with the physical security of the new facilities."
Xander rejoined them and looked at Willow as she bounced in her seat. "I can be Computer Girl, Giles. You can count on me. When we need to set up the wards, I'll want to enlist members of the Coven. Are you good with that?" Willow asked.
"I could be. I just don't know. I don't want to make decisions now."
"Oh right, sorry, you know me. Always working the problem, even before there is one." Willow apologized in her excitement.
"Don't apologize, Willow. And there are a lot of unknowns right now, a lot of factors that could make all this a moot point. For example, there could be a Watcher's Council still. Or there could be a few survivors already building one from the ashes as we speak. We just don't know. And sitting out here in the desert doesn't answer any of those questions. As soon as we get to L.A. I will make some calls, but for now, at least I have you three on board."
Dawn spoke up, "Besides the obvious, what about Buffy? If she's going with you, then she's not fighting right away, right? I mean, she'll be helping with the Council, but I guess there are vampires in London and in Bath."
"Yes to London, but rarely in the west of England, where Bath is located. They don't like it. Stonehenge and other circles are nearby. My theory is that they don't respond well to the mystical energies surrounding the area." Giles explained. "But Buffy will always be The Slayer, in whatever role she wishes it to take." He turned to Buffy. It was her news to tell.
She smiled warmly at her Watcher and then looked at her sister and friends, "Actually, guys, I'm retiring from the slay-gig. Things got too close for comfort in the cavern and quite frankly, I'm tired of it. I have responsibilities to Dawn as her sister and guardian, and responsibilities to you all as my family, and also to the new Slayers, ensuring their well-being and safety. After eight years of it, it's time to turn the reigns over to Faith and the newbies. I'll train them, I'll teach them, I'll guide them, whatever, but I am not going to fight unless I absolutely have to. Heck, I might even research!" She belted out with a self-deprecating grin.
They all snickered over that one. Giles leaned over and kissed the top of her head resisting the snarky comment that popped into his head. "I'll take all the help I can get, love. Besides, we need to ensure that the Council understands it's duty is to the Slayers, not the other way around. I am sure you will be very persuasive."
Buffy's sister and her friends moved to embrace her offering their congratulations on her retirement. They felt lighthearted knowing they wouldn't have to worry even during the most routine of patrols that something horrible might happen.
Willow smiled over at Giles, "You'll see to it that Buffy gets a vacation too, right, Giles? I mean she totally deserves it and I know you're going to be preoccupied with the Council stuff and all, but you both need to have some fun too."
"I have a couple things in mind, but I will see to it that we get some time off." He replied, amused to hear Willow babble again, it seemed like such a long time since she had.
"Well, being that it sounds like business has concluded, I move to adjourn this Scooby meeting." Xander offered. "All those in favor?" The girls all raised their hands enthusiastically. "All opposed?" Giles just shook his head in amusement. "Motion carried, let's get back to camp."
"Yeah, I am leading training this afternoon and weirdly enough, I am lookin' forward to it." Buffy laughed and took Giles' hand in hers as they left the abandoned restaurant they'd used as their meeting room.
Having a plan both immediate and long term eased the angst they all felt. In the long term, they would be together and that was what was important. There had been an initial fear in the back of each of their minds that they might go their separate ways; that the events of the last two years would be too much to overcome. They needn't have worried. The bonds that connected the core four were too strong.
