~Giles~



I hung up the phone and looked at Willow. "You seem to have caught that at
the precise moment it was needed. Well done."

Her smile was warm and she touched my hand gently. "You were the one who
translated it correctly, Giles. I just noticed the small error in the
notes." She lifted her shoulders slightly. "Either way, finding something
at the exact moment we need to find it is always a good. Are Oz and Buffy
okay?"

"Yes. Buffy seemed to have an idea when I told her about the translation.
They shouldn't be too long," I assured her and then nodded when her eyes
continued to remain cloudy and worried. "They will be all right, Willow."

Willow sighed heavily, walking over to Xander and sitting down next to him.
I watched, fascinated, as she moved her hand up to clasp his even before he
had settled it on her shoulder, as though she knew his every movement before
it happened. "I know. I'm just a little high-strung."

"You have reason to be," Angel said calmly from the darkest corner of the
room.

Xander rolled his eyes. "If that was meant to make us feel better, I want to
make sure that you know that it doesn't."

"I just meant that no one can blame her for being tense," Angel said dryly,
darting Xander a slightly annoyed look. "I didn't mean..."

I chose that moment to interrupt, realizing that everyone's nerves were on
edge and an argument could easily erupt from their habitual banter. "Yes,
let's not jump to any conclusions. Angel, do you need something to drink?
Xander, Willow?"

Xander and Willow shook their heads casually, the subject dropping, but Angel
looked mildly uncomfortable. "I'm good," he said after a moment.

"Are you sure?" I offered, curious at his behavior, "I have some blood in my
refrigerator if you need..."

"How can you...?" He looked at me strangely and then shook his head. "Never
mind."

It suddenly struck me and the absurdity of how I could have forgotten almost
made me laugh. I settled for smiling at the forlorn vampire. "Angel, you
have nothing to be ashamed of..." I paused for a moment. "Well, you have
plenty to be ashamed of I suppose, but not about what you are. And not for
what you've been for the past ten years. We've all come to accept who you
are. It truly didn't occur to me to be uncomfortable with..."

"I'm sorry." He stood abruptly, his eyes dark. "Excuse me."

He walked up the stairs quickly and I watched his departing back, bewildered.
I turned to look at Xander and Willow, both of whom were staring back at me
with widened eyes. Willow bit her lip. "Would you like me to follow him?"

"Perhaps I should," I murmured, turning.

"Should what?" Cordelia emerged from the bathroom with her hair wet, a cloud
of steam billowing behind her. "Where did Angel go?"

"I think I may have said something that could have offended him," I admitted
hesitantly. "I offered him some blood and he left the room."

"The man has eating disorders, I guess," Xander said with a crooked smile.
Cordelia threw him a glare and then turned to me.

"I'm sure it's not you, Giles," she said gently. "He just has some...
Issues, I guess. I'll go after him. Don't worry."

She climbed the stairs and then the silence settled over the room. The three
of us glanced at each other awkwardly. After a moment, Willow spoke up. "I
think I would like something, Giles. Tea?" I nodded, grateful for something
to do and moved into the kitchen. I heard Xander cleared his throat and
then Willow spoke up again. "Xander wants a Pepsi if it's not too much
trouble."

I halted, setting the cups down on the counter, and slowly made my way back
into the living room. I looked at them. "Has something happened?"

Xander shrugged innocently, kneading a spot on Willow's shoulder. "Feel
better?" he murmured to her. She nodded and he turned to me. "What do you
mean?"

"I mean with the two of you," I clarified, my confusion mounting with each
second that passed. "You seem... Somehow in sync with each other in a way
that I've never noticed before."

"We've just known each other our whole lives," Willow said, throwing a warm
glance at Xander. "You learn things after over twenty years of friendship."

It still seemed a bit suspicious to me. "And that's all?"

They looked at each other and then back at me. "That's all," they said in
unison before laughing.

I smirked, sure that there was something happening that I couldn't see with
my own eyes but decided not to pursue the subject any further; they weren't
going to tell me anything. "All right."

I finished making the tea and poured Xander a soda and went back into the
living room. We sat in silence for a while, sipping our drinks, comfortable
in the friendship that we shared. At length, Cordelia and Angel descended
the stairs, and Angel looked quietly ashamed. "Giles?" He cleared his
throat. "You said that you have blood?"

"Yes." I stood back up. "Would you like me to get it for you?"

"No, thanks. I can." He hurriedly went into the kitchen and came out a
moment later, his face changed into that of a vampire's true visage and
swallowed the blood down from a glass. Cordelia smiled at him proudly and he
glared back at her, but there was a hint of a smile around the edge of his
blood-reddened mouth.

I smiled. "Please just tell me if you need any more. I believe that's the
last of it, but I could get some."

Angel looked back at me, subdued, and nodded. "Thank you."

Just then, Buffy and Oz opened the door, stumbling inside. Quickly they set
down a large wooden box and then paused to shake themselves off. Large
amounts of dirt fell to my floor and Buffy looked up sheepishly. "The woman
didn't have a shovel," she explained.

I shook my head, my eyes resting on the box they had carried in. It was made
of heavy mahogany, inlaid with three large jewels on the lid. I walked over
and touched the smooth surface with my fingertips, closing my eyes with
relief.

We would finally have our answers.