The drive back to Giles' flat was oddly silent. Xander drove the rental car, Anya sitting uncomplainingly next to him, while Tara and Willow shared the back seat with perfect speechless contentment. In the other car, Buffy noticed Olivia giving Giles an occasional worried glance as she drove. Buffy wondered if he would say anything, too, but still felt strangely peaceful. She hadn't even minded when Spike piled into the back seat between her and Dawn. She was even faintly amused when Dawn dozed off with her head on his shoulder.

When they reached Bath, they stormed the kitchen for food. "Strange how almost getting killed by demons and the threat of being trapped in Hell forever can cause you to forget about meals," said Xander.  As they sorted through the half-filled cartons of leftovers, Buffy realized Giles hadn't joined them. She left the others to their scavenging, and found him and Olivia upstairs.

"I've been afraid." Olivia turned to face Giles. "Those… things… you deal with, they're hard to believe in, they shake me to my core. It's been easier to not believe. But RG, after seeing what your friends would do for you -- the kind of man who could inspire that kind of loyalty, that's the man I want to spend my life with. With you, for you, I could believe. With you, for you, I want to believe."

She brought her face up to meet his coming down in a long, tender kiss. Buffy discreetly cleared her throat. Giles looked up, noticeably irritated.

"Must you always walk in at these moments?"

"Sorry. But on the plus side, I don't think it's nearly so icky anymore."

Giles began to respond, but Olivia gave him a nudge, smiling at Buffy. The Slayer grinned in return.

Giles sighed. "Was there something you wanted?"

"You think he made it out?"

"What?  Who made it out?"

"Ethan," said Buffy. "Do you think he got out before the portal closed?"

"Oh," he said, with a dry look. "I expect he did. Ethan always finds a way to escape. Even if he didn't, he'll figure some way out. I can see him now, negotiating with whatever Hell god rules that dimension, promising him a mutually advantageous deal."

*****

The kitchen was mostly silent as the hungry group devoured whatever they could find.  Dawn noticed Spike frowning into a square white carton.

"Hey, what's wrong? Is that spoiled?"

"Worse. It's bland." He made a disgusted scowl and glanced around to see what the others were eating.  "Don't they make anything spicy in this sodding country?"

"Um, Spike," Dawn looked at him skeptically. "You're from England."

"Was." He clarified, tossing the half-filled carton into the sink. "You know, I didn't get a taste for the tangy stuff until I started eating Californians."

Dawn moved away and tried to look put off by his words, but couldn't help laughing once she turned away.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," Anya spoke up between swallows, "but I'm ready to get out of this place. It is very wet and dreary, and there are far too many strange people here. And Spike's right. The food is terrible."

Xander threw an arm around her shoulder, then lifted his eyebrows, somewhat surprised when she didn't shrug him away. "Ah yes, strange people. We never meet those in Sunnydale."

"Aw, Xander." Anya eyed him compassionately. "You're starting to get two little beady black eyes.  They're so cute!"

Willow wrinkled her forehead. "Actually, I think we've met all these strange people in Sunnydale!"

Tara smiled at her shyly. "You're right honey."

Willow moved over to the sweet witch. "Tara," she reached out to gently take hold of her hands. "What we went through in Hell, well it was so hard."  Tara nodded her understanding. "I didn't know if any of us would get out of there, or if I'd ever even see you again."

"I know." Tara told Willow, squeezing her hands.

"It… it's just that, even though I knew we could die, I didn't want to use my magic and risk losing you forever, even if there was only a tiny chance that we could make it." Willow let go of Tara's hands and slid her arms around her lover's waist. "I love you, and I don't want to spend anymore time apart from each other.  We never really know how much time we have left."

Tara blinked back the tears in her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around Willow. "I love you too, Sweetie, and as far as I'm concerned, you proved yourself out there today. I trust you and I don't want to be separated from you either."  They melted into a deep kiss as the others in the room discreetly slipped away.

*****

Buffy Giles and Olivia moved down the staircase and into the living room to find Xander and Anya sitting on the settee while Spike flipped though Giles' record collection.  Dawn kept taking peeks into the kitchen and emitting small squeals. 

"Where are Willow and Tara?" Giles asked.

"They're in the kitchen." Anya informed him. "Engaged in heavy kissing and very likely mild petting."

"Oh." He removed his glasses. "I see. Well then, they've mended fences."

"There are no fences," Anya said, "but apparently Willow earned some sort of reward for refusing to use her powers for the greater edification of the group."

"No An," Xander shifted slightly and groaned, touching his nose gingerly. "Ow. This is really beginning to hurt. I can't explain now."

"I can." Buffy stepped forward. "Willow chose to do the right thing, even though everyone and everything around her was pressuring her to do the wrong thing." She looked meaningfully over to Spike who had stopped browsing through the music collection to listen to her. "Sometimes doing the right thing for the right reason still hurts."

Spike acknowledged this with a quick nod, then looked down.

Anya turned to Xander. "This is one of those things you always feel the need to educate me about, isn't it?" She didn't wait for his answer, but continued. "You want me to do the right things at the right time because you think it would be better for me."

Xander looked sad. "Yes, but I still did the wrong thing at the wrong time."

"Oh!" Anya softened. "Yes you did!"  She leaned over to kiss him, but stopped abruptly at his howl of pain. "Just wait, Xander. Once your nose is healed, if you're still reasonably handsome, I'll probably give you an opportunity to plead your case."

The opening of the kitchen door interrupted them.  Willow and Tara walked into the room with fingers entwined and lips rosy and swollen.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Willow asked. She gestured to the room she had just left. "There's an, um, clock in there, and the plane leaves in an hour."

"That's it then." Buffy rubbed her hands together. "Time to go." She started toward the door, then stopped to glance at Spike. "How will you get back?"

He shrugged. "Same way I came, most likely."

"Oh, yeah." She looked at Dawn, who shrugged her shoulders. She turned back to the vampire. "Before we go, I want to... I guess, I just want to say thanks for helping out."

Spike nodded in acceptance, then raised his brows to address the group. "Well then, I'll be off to see if there's any decent pig's blood in this burg."  He turned and, with a flap of black leather, exited through the back of the brownstone.

The rest of the group sounded their farewells and moved out the front door. Buffy was the last one out. "Goodbye Giles." Buffy leaned forward to embrace her former watcher.  She moved to hug Olivia as well. "Take care of him."

"I intend to." Olivia told her warmly.

Giles stepped to the doorway to wave them all goodbye, then softly closed the door.

THE END