Chapter 11
After Spike had exited Buffy's room he had still stayed close. He wasn't worried that Nils would hurt her, he might try but he wouldn't succeed. He just wanted to be close to her. But when he heard footsteps approaching he hid behind an opened door and watched. It was Giles.
Spike got a very strange feeling as he watched the man, and he couldn't shake it off. Something was wrong, he didn't have a doubt in his mind. He listened to the watcher knocking on Buffy's door and seconds later he was let in. Slowly Spike walked closer to be able to hear what was said.
"Why can't I bring them?" he heard Buffy ask. She sounded mad or maybe confused. He wasn't sure.
"Because you have to do this without them, Buffy," Giles said. Sounding like he was explaining something to a small child. "I can't explain why right now, but please just trust me."
He could hear Buffy sighing and someone started pacing back and forth. Spike guessed it was Buffy.
"It's not that I don't trust you, you know I do, it's just that I feel strange leaving without them like that."
"But Buffy, you fought without them many times before, it's no difference now," Giles said, sounding like he might loose his patients very soon.
"Hey," someone said in the background. Spike after a moment of confusion remembered that Nils was also in there. "I don't want to intrude or anything, but I just want to say that I agree with the Slayer. The more people you are, the bigger is the chance to win." After a short silence the man continued. "And since I'm supposed to be on your side from now on, I just wanted to say that."
Neither Buffy nor Giles seemed to take interest in what Nils had said, and they continued their bantering like before.
"Spike then," Buffy said, the mention of his name by her gave Spike a warm feeling inside that he couldn't really explain. "Spike should at least come with me. That was the whole point of bringing him with us in the first place."
Spike could almost hear the watcher clean his glasses.
"No, no one. Please Buffy, if you've ever trusted me, do as I ask. Come with me and fight these vampires alone."
Spike listened in surprise. What was this? Why was Giles so determined in her going alone to fight vampires? That made no sense.
"All right," Buffy said, finally giving in. "But I just have to say one more time that I don't like this, and that I want a good explanation when we get back, okay?"
Spike didn't hear what Giles said because he was just at that moment dragged away from the door by Xander.
"What the hell are you doing, Spike?" Xander asked angrily. "I thought you'd gotten over the whole spying on Buffy thing."
Annoyed Spike got up and scowled at the brunette.
"I'm not spying, I'm listening to her and Giles," he said. Then he noticed Willow and Alex behind Xander. "'Lo Red. Can you ask mister aggressive here to back away? I would do it myself, but I have a feeling he wouldn't listen."
Before anyone had time to say anything else Buffy opened the door and stepped out.
"What's going on here? We could hear you through the door." She looked around at her friends.
"Dead Boy jr. here was spying on you," Xander said, pointing at Spike.
Buffy raised her eyebrows and gave Spike a questioning look.
"I did no such thing!" Spike said, trying to sound convincing. At her disbelieving look he caved. "All right, I might have listened to some of the things you and watcher said, but I wasn't spying."
She rolled her eyes and walked into her room, motioning for the others to follow. Giles was sitting by the table with Nils.
"I can just as well tell you all while you're here. Giles and I are going out to kill some vamps soon. I don't know when we're going to be back," Buffy told them.
Willow shrugged and sat down on the last chair that was left in the room.
"Okay, I'll go get some supplies, and then we can all go," she said.
Giles shook his head and got up.
"No, just Buffy and me. The rest of you will stay here."
Xander and Willow looked at him in confusion.
"Why?" Xander asked. "No reason we can't help out."
Spike walked up to Buffy and looked at he resolutely.
"Yeah, my thinking exactly. Watcher here seems to have other ideas, but I will come with you and back you up, Slayer."
She looked around firmly.
"No. Giles and I will go alone. We'll be back before you know it."
A chorus of protests was heard, but Buffy quickly silenced them.
"Hey! What's the big? I've gone out slaying vamps on my own before, almost every night back in Sunnydale as a matter of fact, and no one's been all with the protests then."
Alex, who had been quiet up till then now stepped forward.
"It's because this isn't Sunnydale. This is Luleå in Sweden, a city you've only been in for a couple of days. You only know how to find your way a couple of blocks away from the hotel, go any further and you'll have no idea where you are. And all the signs are in Swedish, and as far as I know neither you nor Giles know how to read it."
Nils nodded and got up.
"Yes, she's right. You should at least bring me or Alex with you, we know every bit of this place," he said, earning surprised looks from both Willow and Alex, none of them expecting him to back Alex up about anything.
But Giles wouldn't let himself be persuaded.
"This is not up for debate," he said sternly. "We will leave in a little while, I'm just going to go pack some things, and I would suggest you give Buffy time to do the same." After that, he walked out of the room.
"Slayer-"Spike started, but was cut off by her hand over his mouth.
"No, Spike. Giles has his reasons for doing this, and even though I don't know what they are yet, I'm absolutely sure that he will tell me when it's time. And now I really have to get ready."
Spike sighed and stormed out, soon followed by Nils and Alex. But Willow and Xander stayed behind with Buffy.
"You sure you should do this?" Willow asked. "I mean, remember that thing we talked about before, Giles being up to something? I hate to say this, but this is another of these strange things he's been doing lately." Willow looked back and forth between Buffy and Xander, the later of the two was staring at her like she was crazy.
"Giles is up to something? You got to be kidding, right? This is Giles we're talking about. And I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason for all of this, he just thinks its best not to tell us yet."
Buffy sighed and started packing some weapons in a bag.
"I hope you're right Xander. But I will keep an eye on him tonight, and hopefully he will explain everything to me."
Xander nodded and walked out. Willow looked like she wanted to say something more, but she decided not to and soon she followed Xander outside.
Then Buffy remembered something and she ran out after them.
"Hey, where's Dawn?" she called out. "I haven't seen he since breakfast."
Willow smiled.
"She's out with Simon. They were talking about seeing a movie and grabbing some pizza afterwards," she told Buffy.
Relieved that her sister was out having fun, and that she wasn't sitting alone in her room, Buffy returned to her packing.
~*~
"The movie was great!" Dawn said smiling as they returned to the hotel. "I don't think I've ever laughed that much in my whole life."
Simon laughed and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah, me too. We should do this again some time," he said.
Dawn was practically bouncing as they walked in through the entrance. None of them was really paying attention to where they were going and they bumped into Giles.
"Watch where you're going!" he said furiously before noticing who it was. "Oh, hi Dawn," he said with an excusing look on his face, "I didn't see it was you. You had a good time at the cinema?"
She nodded, still a little shocked by his outburst.
"Yeah," she said slowly. "Um, I'm going to go up and change, I spilled coca cola all over my sweater. But I'll be back soon," she said, and gave Simon a quick kiss. "See you later Giles."
"Yes," Giles said and watched the teenager leave. After making sure that she was far enough not to be able to hear what they were saying he turned to Simon.
"So, how is it going?" he asked inquisitively.
Simon shrugged.
"All right, I guess. But I would really appreciate it if you told me right no that it is over. Don't get me wrong, she'd a nice girl and all, but quite annoying."
Both of them turned and walked further down the hallway, not seeing Dawn returning. She didn't call out to them since she was curious about what Simon was saying about her.
"It is over soon, but you'll have to keep up your end of the bargain even if it would take a little longer. Dawn is not to be anywhere near the others tonight, and it is your responsibility to make sure she isn't." Giles gave the boy a determined glare. "You understand?"
Simon sighed again and nodded.
"Yes, I understand. I'm taking her to rent a movie when she gets back, and then we will be up in my dad's apartment for the rest of the night. I WILL do as I have promised."
Dawn couldn't believe what she was hearing. No way Simon was just saying that! Didn't he like her, had it all been just a show? And what did Giles have to do with this? Confused and hurt she started walking away, but as she did so she caught Simons attention.
"Dawn!" he called out after her. "You down here already? You were quicker then I expected you to be."
She put on a fake smile and walked up to him and Giles.
"Yes, I already knew which one I wanted, so it didn't take long." She took a deep breath and coughed loudly. "You know, I'm not feeling to good, you mind if I just stay in the rest of the night. We can do this whole movie thing tomorrow, okay?" She coughed again, this time even louder.
Simon looked at Giles for advice, but the watcher had his eyes fixed on Dawn.
"Of course you should rest if you're not feeling good, but don't you think it would be much nicer to rest in Simon's dad's apartment?" The suggestion was said in a caring way, but Dawn could see that he was irritated and mad over that his plans had been shattered.
"No, but thanks anyway. I think I'm just going to go to bed, maybe read some."
Giles sighed and gave her a broad affectionate smile.
"All right. But you promise me you'll stay in the whole night? I don't want you to get sick."
"I promise," Dawn said and gave him a quick hug. She turned to Simon and when he kissed her softly on the lips she had to force herself not to turn away from him.
After saying her good bye's she hurried upstairs.
~*~
Alex waited for Willow at the bottom of the stairs, hoping that she'd persuaded Buffy to let them come along. When Willow finally arrived Alex immediately understood that she hadn't.
"Come on," the red-haired girl said tiredly. "We should go do some research. You know anything about a large group of vamps hanging out around here somewhere?" she asked.
Alex thought about it for a moment and then shook her head disappointedly.
"No, from what I've heard they're all really shattered. If there is a large group here, it must be very new."
Willow sighed absently and looked like she was lost in thought. Alex hesitated for a second and then continued.
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way, or think that I'm interfering with things that isn't any of my business, but I think that it's something very wrong with Giles." When Willow didn't seem to take offence she continued. "I mean, from what I've heard from all of you talking, he's a really nice guy, but that's not what I've seen him like. Maybe he just don't like me, but. I have a feeling that isn't all there is. And I trust my feelings."
Insecure of how her opinions had been received she watched Willow pensively.
"I know what you mean," the red-haired witch answered after a while, that seemed like forever. "He's been acting all strange since he got back from England. I never really thought about it then, I was to engrossed with my own problems, but now I realize hasn't been the same for a long time, maybe even before I went back to Sunnydale."
Willow seemed to truly be in agony over the fact that she hadn't noticed anything before, and Alex felt the need to comfort her.
"Sh, it's all right," she said and hugged her, holding her tight. "It's not just you, no one else noticed it either. You shouldn't blame yourself. It's not your fault." She kept on holding her tight, and slowly started rocking back and forth to sooth the now crying witch.
Wiping away the tears from her face, Willow swallowed and looked back up with swollen eyes.
"I just feel so helpless," she cried softly.
~*~
Dawn was running like crazy to her sisters room, making every effort not to start crying. When she reached the door she walked in without knocking and was surprised to find the room empty. She looked around for any indication of where Buffy could be, but all she saw was the usual mess of clothed that lay spread across the room, on the floor and on the furniture. Almost crying just of disappointment she sat down on the floor breathing heavily. She barely even noticed it when someone else walked in.
"You all right, 'bit?" Spike asked worryingly and put a hand on her shoulders. When she didn't answer he sat down beside her and laid his arm around her shoulders, making her lean against him. She sighed heavily and let the tears roll down her cheeks.
"My life is hell," she whimpered. "Why did I agree to come here?"
Spike didn't know what to do, so he just held her and wiped away the tears.
"'S all right, luv. That Simon bloke did something to you? If he did I swear I'll give him a long and painful death."
Scared that he would actually do it, Dawn shook her head violently.
"No!" she cried out. "I mean, yes he did do something, but there will be no killing!"
Smiling slightly he tried to reassure her.
"I wouldn't do that, 'bit, you know that. But what did he do, you know you can tell me."
She breathed in deeply and got up and started pacing in the room.
"He never liked me," she said. "He was only with me because Giles made him."
Spike stared at her in shock.
"Wait, did you just say that Giles made that kid ask you out? That's crazy."
Dawn nodded and sat down again.
"Yeah, and there's more. Giles didn't want me to be around the rest for you tonight for some reason. The only reason he let me go up here was because I said I was sick and needed to go to bed."
Spike shook his head in disbelief. Sure, the Watcher had been acting odd lately, but why would he do something like that to Dawn? He was almost like a father to her.
"We need to tell Buffy about this," Dawn said determinedly. "Where is she?"
"You just missed her, she and Giles were going out slaying some vampires tonight. He wouldn't let anyone else join in."
Dawn stared at him in fear.
"She's out there in a city she don't know anything about alone with Giles? I'm sorry, but that doesn't really calm me," she almost screamed at the blond vampire.
"Me neither," Spike said and quickly got up from his position on the floor. They both hurried out to find Willow.
~*~
Xander rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. No way Giles was up to something bad, no matter what this Swedish witch said. But the fact that Willow and Buffy seemed to be convinced also freaked him out a little. He couldn't believe that they wouldn't trust Giles, after all they'd been through. His last hopes were that Dawn and Anya would see it his way.
And seeing Dawn coming towards them cheered him up a little. But that positive feeling soon died away when he saw her companion.
"What is he doing here?" he groaned and put on a fake smile for Dawn. "Hi Dawnie, you had fun with Simon?"
She looked like she was about to cry and he realized something was wrong. 'God, don't let anything have happened to Buffy,' he thought while, panic rising in him.
"Has Buffy left yet?" Spike asked, nothing of his usual arrogance in his voice.
Really starting to worry, Xander decided not to pick a fight with the vampire.
"Yeah, you just missed her. She and Giles drove away maybe five minutes ago. Something's wrong?"
When neither Dawn nor Spike replied Xander lost his patience.
"I can see something's up, and I think you should tell me what it is. No matter how un-useful you think I am Spike, I can still help."
Spike continued ignoring him and looked around in the hallway where they were standing. Except for the three of them it was completely empty.
"Where's Red?" Spike finally said. "I thought she and Alex would be around here somewhere."
"In the cafeteria," Xander replied after a moment of thought. "No please tell me what's going on!"
Spike turned and started walking towards where Willow and Alex were. Dawn gave Xander a reassuring smile and motioned him to follow her.
"You'll find out when we tell the others," she said. "You know where Anya is?"
Xander nodded.
"Yeah, she's in there also together with that Swedish guy. They seem to get along real good." It was a hint of jealousy in his voice that Dawn seemed to not notice, or maybe ignore.
"Great," was all she said as they entered the cafeteria.
Spike was already sitting by the table beside Alex, Willow, Nils and Anya. Soon Dawn and Xander had joined them and they all were quiet and listened to Dawn's story. After she'd told them about Simon and Giles' conversation they all sat there without saying anything for quite a while.
"You sure you didn't misunderstand anything?" Xander finally said, still not willing to even contemplate the thought that Giles might be up to something.
Dawn gave him an annoyed look and got up, frustrated with being questioned of whether or not she was knew what she was talking about. But luckily, Spike came to her rescue.
"'Course she didn't misunderstand, Whelp. She isn't five, you know. She's upset enough as it is without you acting like she made it all up." Pure anger was displayed in the blonde's eyes.
Xander had the decency to look ashamed and they all pointedly ignored him.
"Anyone else thinks that we should find Giles and Buffy right now?" Alex finally said after an uncomfortable silence.
A chorus of 'Yes', 'Bloody hell yes', 'okay' and 'Sure' was heard and everyone turned to Willow. When Buffy and Giles wasn't there she was the natural leader.
"There's no point in us all going," she said calmly and business like. "Spike, you and Alex should go after Buffy. The two of you could probably fight of almost anything, plus you could find your way in this town blind- folded Alex." When no protests were heard she continued. "I will stay here and research, Dawn you can help me." She shot the teenager a soothing smile. "Xander, you and Anya should stay here and wait to see if Buffy calls. Nils, I think you should go see your brother, make sure he's with us."
Everyone nodded and got up. Time to get to work.
TBC
A/N: This chapter took a while for me to write, because of a small family crisis. But I just wanna say thanks for all the wonderful reviews I've gotten. Luv you! I'm starting to get to the end --I think-and I hope you all will like the ending I have planned! ( /mell
After Spike had exited Buffy's room he had still stayed close. He wasn't worried that Nils would hurt her, he might try but he wouldn't succeed. He just wanted to be close to her. But when he heard footsteps approaching he hid behind an opened door and watched. It was Giles.
Spike got a very strange feeling as he watched the man, and he couldn't shake it off. Something was wrong, he didn't have a doubt in his mind. He listened to the watcher knocking on Buffy's door and seconds later he was let in. Slowly Spike walked closer to be able to hear what was said.
"Why can't I bring them?" he heard Buffy ask. She sounded mad or maybe confused. He wasn't sure.
"Because you have to do this without them, Buffy," Giles said. Sounding like he was explaining something to a small child. "I can't explain why right now, but please just trust me."
He could hear Buffy sighing and someone started pacing back and forth. Spike guessed it was Buffy.
"It's not that I don't trust you, you know I do, it's just that I feel strange leaving without them like that."
"But Buffy, you fought without them many times before, it's no difference now," Giles said, sounding like he might loose his patients very soon.
"Hey," someone said in the background. Spike after a moment of confusion remembered that Nils was also in there. "I don't want to intrude or anything, but I just want to say that I agree with the Slayer. The more people you are, the bigger is the chance to win." After a short silence the man continued. "And since I'm supposed to be on your side from now on, I just wanted to say that."
Neither Buffy nor Giles seemed to take interest in what Nils had said, and they continued their bantering like before.
"Spike then," Buffy said, the mention of his name by her gave Spike a warm feeling inside that he couldn't really explain. "Spike should at least come with me. That was the whole point of bringing him with us in the first place."
Spike could almost hear the watcher clean his glasses.
"No, no one. Please Buffy, if you've ever trusted me, do as I ask. Come with me and fight these vampires alone."
Spike listened in surprise. What was this? Why was Giles so determined in her going alone to fight vampires? That made no sense.
"All right," Buffy said, finally giving in. "But I just have to say one more time that I don't like this, and that I want a good explanation when we get back, okay?"
Spike didn't hear what Giles said because he was just at that moment dragged away from the door by Xander.
"What the hell are you doing, Spike?" Xander asked angrily. "I thought you'd gotten over the whole spying on Buffy thing."
Annoyed Spike got up and scowled at the brunette.
"I'm not spying, I'm listening to her and Giles," he said. Then he noticed Willow and Alex behind Xander. "'Lo Red. Can you ask mister aggressive here to back away? I would do it myself, but I have a feeling he wouldn't listen."
Before anyone had time to say anything else Buffy opened the door and stepped out.
"What's going on here? We could hear you through the door." She looked around at her friends.
"Dead Boy jr. here was spying on you," Xander said, pointing at Spike.
Buffy raised her eyebrows and gave Spike a questioning look.
"I did no such thing!" Spike said, trying to sound convincing. At her disbelieving look he caved. "All right, I might have listened to some of the things you and watcher said, but I wasn't spying."
She rolled her eyes and walked into her room, motioning for the others to follow. Giles was sitting by the table with Nils.
"I can just as well tell you all while you're here. Giles and I are going out to kill some vamps soon. I don't know when we're going to be back," Buffy told them.
Willow shrugged and sat down on the last chair that was left in the room.
"Okay, I'll go get some supplies, and then we can all go," she said.
Giles shook his head and got up.
"No, just Buffy and me. The rest of you will stay here."
Xander and Willow looked at him in confusion.
"Why?" Xander asked. "No reason we can't help out."
Spike walked up to Buffy and looked at he resolutely.
"Yeah, my thinking exactly. Watcher here seems to have other ideas, but I will come with you and back you up, Slayer."
She looked around firmly.
"No. Giles and I will go alone. We'll be back before you know it."
A chorus of protests was heard, but Buffy quickly silenced them.
"Hey! What's the big? I've gone out slaying vamps on my own before, almost every night back in Sunnydale as a matter of fact, and no one's been all with the protests then."
Alex, who had been quiet up till then now stepped forward.
"It's because this isn't Sunnydale. This is Luleå in Sweden, a city you've only been in for a couple of days. You only know how to find your way a couple of blocks away from the hotel, go any further and you'll have no idea where you are. And all the signs are in Swedish, and as far as I know neither you nor Giles know how to read it."
Nils nodded and got up.
"Yes, she's right. You should at least bring me or Alex with you, we know every bit of this place," he said, earning surprised looks from both Willow and Alex, none of them expecting him to back Alex up about anything.
But Giles wouldn't let himself be persuaded.
"This is not up for debate," he said sternly. "We will leave in a little while, I'm just going to go pack some things, and I would suggest you give Buffy time to do the same." After that, he walked out of the room.
"Slayer-"Spike started, but was cut off by her hand over his mouth.
"No, Spike. Giles has his reasons for doing this, and even though I don't know what they are yet, I'm absolutely sure that he will tell me when it's time. And now I really have to get ready."
Spike sighed and stormed out, soon followed by Nils and Alex. But Willow and Xander stayed behind with Buffy.
"You sure you should do this?" Willow asked. "I mean, remember that thing we talked about before, Giles being up to something? I hate to say this, but this is another of these strange things he's been doing lately." Willow looked back and forth between Buffy and Xander, the later of the two was staring at her like she was crazy.
"Giles is up to something? You got to be kidding, right? This is Giles we're talking about. And I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason for all of this, he just thinks its best not to tell us yet."
Buffy sighed and started packing some weapons in a bag.
"I hope you're right Xander. But I will keep an eye on him tonight, and hopefully he will explain everything to me."
Xander nodded and walked out. Willow looked like she wanted to say something more, but she decided not to and soon she followed Xander outside.
Then Buffy remembered something and she ran out after them.
"Hey, where's Dawn?" she called out. "I haven't seen he since breakfast."
Willow smiled.
"She's out with Simon. They were talking about seeing a movie and grabbing some pizza afterwards," she told Buffy.
Relieved that her sister was out having fun, and that she wasn't sitting alone in her room, Buffy returned to her packing.
~*~
"The movie was great!" Dawn said smiling as they returned to the hotel. "I don't think I've ever laughed that much in my whole life."
Simon laughed and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah, me too. We should do this again some time," he said.
Dawn was practically bouncing as they walked in through the entrance. None of them was really paying attention to where they were going and they bumped into Giles.
"Watch where you're going!" he said furiously before noticing who it was. "Oh, hi Dawn," he said with an excusing look on his face, "I didn't see it was you. You had a good time at the cinema?"
She nodded, still a little shocked by his outburst.
"Yeah," she said slowly. "Um, I'm going to go up and change, I spilled coca cola all over my sweater. But I'll be back soon," she said, and gave Simon a quick kiss. "See you later Giles."
"Yes," Giles said and watched the teenager leave. After making sure that she was far enough not to be able to hear what they were saying he turned to Simon.
"So, how is it going?" he asked inquisitively.
Simon shrugged.
"All right, I guess. But I would really appreciate it if you told me right no that it is over. Don't get me wrong, she'd a nice girl and all, but quite annoying."
Both of them turned and walked further down the hallway, not seeing Dawn returning. She didn't call out to them since she was curious about what Simon was saying about her.
"It is over soon, but you'll have to keep up your end of the bargain even if it would take a little longer. Dawn is not to be anywhere near the others tonight, and it is your responsibility to make sure she isn't." Giles gave the boy a determined glare. "You understand?"
Simon sighed again and nodded.
"Yes, I understand. I'm taking her to rent a movie when she gets back, and then we will be up in my dad's apartment for the rest of the night. I WILL do as I have promised."
Dawn couldn't believe what she was hearing. No way Simon was just saying that! Didn't he like her, had it all been just a show? And what did Giles have to do with this? Confused and hurt she started walking away, but as she did so she caught Simons attention.
"Dawn!" he called out after her. "You down here already? You were quicker then I expected you to be."
She put on a fake smile and walked up to him and Giles.
"Yes, I already knew which one I wanted, so it didn't take long." She took a deep breath and coughed loudly. "You know, I'm not feeling to good, you mind if I just stay in the rest of the night. We can do this whole movie thing tomorrow, okay?" She coughed again, this time even louder.
Simon looked at Giles for advice, but the watcher had his eyes fixed on Dawn.
"Of course you should rest if you're not feeling good, but don't you think it would be much nicer to rest in Simon's dad's apartment?" The suggestion was said in a caring way, but Dawn could see that he was irritated and mad over that his plans had been shattered.
"No, but thanks anyway. I think I'm just going to go to bed, maybe read some."
Giles sighed and gave her a broad affectionate smile.
"All right. But you promise me you'll stay in the whole night? I don't want you to get sick."
"I promise," Dawn said and gave him a quick hug. She turned to Simon and when he kissed her softly on the lips she had to force herself not to turn away from him.
After saying her good bye's she hurried upstairs.
~*~
Alex waited for Willow at the bottom of the stairs, hoping that she'd persuaded Buffy to let them come along. When Willow finally arrived Alex immediately understood that she hadn't.
"Come on," the red-haired girl said tiredly. "We should go do some research. You know anything about a large group of vamps hanging out around here somewhere?" she asked.
Alex thought about it for a moment and then shook her head disappointedly.
"No, from what I've heard they're all really shattered. If there is a large group here, it must be very new."
Willow sighed absently and looked like she was lost in thought. Alex hesitated for a second and then continued.
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way, or think that I'm interfering with things that isn't any of my business, but I think that it's something very wrong with Giles." When Willow didn't seem to take offence she continued. "I mean, from what I've heard from all of you talking, he's a really nice guy, but that's not what I've seen him like. Maybe he just don't like me, but. I have a feeling that isn't all there is. And I trust my feelings."
Insecure of how her opinions had been received she watched Willow pensively.
"I know what you mean," the red-haired witch answered after a while, that seemed like forever. "He's been acting all strange since he got back from England. I never really thought about it then, I was to engrossed with my own problems, but now I realize hasn't been the same for a long time, maybe even before I went back to Sunnydale."
Willow seemed to truly be in agony over the fact that she hadn't noticed anything before, and Alex felt the need to comfort her.
"Sh, it's all right," she said and hugged her, holding her tight. "It's not just you, no one else noticed it either. You shouldn't blame yourself. It's not your fault." She kept on holding her tight, and slowly started rocking back and forth to sooth the now crying witch.
Wiping away the tears from her face, Willow swallowed and looked back up with swollen eyes.
"I just feel so helpless," she cried softly.
~*~
Dawn was running like crazy to her sisters room, making every effort not to start crying. When she reached the door she walked in without knocking and was surprised to find the room empty. She looked around for any indication of where Buffy could be, but all she saw was the usual mess of clothed that lay spread across the room, on the floor and on the furniture. Almost crying just of disappointment she sat down on the floor breathing heavily. She barely even noticed it when someone else walked in.
"You all right, 'bit?" Spike asked worryingly and put a hand on her shoulders. When she didn't answer he sat down beside her and laid his arm around her shoulders, making her lean against him. She sighed heavily and let the tears roll down her cheeks.
"My life is hell," she whimpered. "Why did I agree to come here?"
Spike didn't know what to do, so he just held her and wiped away the tears.
"'S all right, luv. That Simon bloke did something to you? If he did I swear I'll give him a long and painful death."
Scared that he would actually do it, Dawn shook her head violently.
"No!" she cried out. "I mean, yes he did do something, but there will be no killing!"
Smiling slightly he tried to reassure her.
"I wouldn't do that, 'bit, you know that. But what did he do, you know you can tell me."
She breathed in deeply and got up and started pacing in the room.
"He never liked me," she said. "He was only with me because Giles made him."
Spike stared at her in shock.
"Wait, did you just say that Giles made that kid ask you out? That's crazy."
Dawn nodded and sat down again.
"Yeah, and there's more. Giles didn't want me to be around the rest for you tonight for some reason. The only reason he let me go up here was because I said I was sick and needed to go to bed."
Spike shook his head in disbelief. Sure, the Watcher had been acting odd lately, but why would he do something like that to Dawn? He was almost like a father to her.
"We need to tell Buffy about this," Dawn said determinedly. "Where is she?"
"You just missed her, she and Giles were going out slaying some vampires tonight. He wouldn't let anyone else join in."
Dawn stared at him in fear.
"She's out there in a city she don't know anything about alone with Giles? I'm sorry, but that doesn't really calm me," she almost screamed at the blond vampire.
"Me neither," Spike said and quickly got up from his position on the floor. They both hurried out to find Willow.
~*~
Xander rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. No way Giles was up to something bad, no matter what this Swedish witch said. But the fact that Willow and Buffy seemed to be convinced also freaked him out a little. He couldn't believe that they wouldn't trust Giles, after all they'd been through. His last hopes were that Dawn and Anya would see it his way.
And seeing Dawn coming towards them cheered him up a little. But that positive feeling soon died away when he saw her companion.
"What is he doing here?" he groaned and put on a fake smile for Dawn. "Hi Dawnie, you had fun with Simon?"
She looked like she was about to cry and he realized something was wrong. 'God, don't let anything have happened to Buffy,' he thought while, panic rising in him.
"Has Buffy left yet?" Spike asked, nothing of his usual arrogance in his voice.
Really starting to worry, Xander decided not to pick a fight with the vampire.
"Yeah, you just missed her. She and Giles drove away maybe five minutes ago. Something's wrong?"
When neither Dawn nor Spike replied Xander lost his patience.
"I can see something's up, and I think you should tell me what it is. No matter how un-useful you think I am Spike, I can still help."
Spike continued ignoring him and looked around in the hallway where they were standing. Except for the three of them it was completely empty.
"Where's Red?" Spike finally said. "I thought she and Alex would be around here somewhere."
"In the cafeteria," Xander replied after a moment of thought. "No please tell me what's going on!"
Spike turned and started walking towards where Willow and Alex were. Dawn gave Xander a reassuring smile and motioned him to follow her.
"You'll find out when we tell the others," she said. "You know where Anya is?"
Xander nodded.
"Yeah, she's in there also together with that Swedish guy. They seem to get along real good." It was a hint of jealousy in his voice that Dawn seemed to not notice, or maybe ignore.
"Great," was all she said as they entered the cafeteria.
Spike was already sitting by the table beside Alex, Willow, Nils and Anya. Soon Dawn and Xander had joined them and they all were quiet and listened to Dawn's story. After she'd told them about Simon and Giles' conversation they all sat there without saying anything for quite a while.
"You sure you didn't misunderstand anything?" Xander finally said, still not willing to even contemplate the thought that Giles might be up to something.
Dawn gave him an annoyed look and got up, frustrated with being questioned of whether or not she was knew what she was talking about. But luckily, Spike came to her rescue.
"'Course she didn't misunderstand, Whelp. She isn't five, you know. She's upset enough as it is without you acting like she made it all up." Pure anger was displayed in the blonde's eyes.
Xander had the decency to look ashamed and they all pointedly ignored him.
"Anyone else thinks that we should find Giles and Buffy right now?" Alex finally said after an uncomfortable silence.
A chorus of 'Yes', 'Bloody hell yes', 'okay' and 'Sure' was heard and everyone turned to Willow. When Buffy and Giles wasn't there she was the natural leader.
"There's no point in us all going," she said calmly and business like. "Spike, you and Alex should go after Buffy. The two of you could probably fight of almost anything, plus you could find your way in this town blind- folded Alex." When no protests were heard she continued. "I will stay here and research, Dawn you can help me." She shot the teenager a soothing smile. "Xander, you and Anya should stay here and wait to see if Buffy calls. Nils, I think you should go see your brother, make sure he's with us."
Everyone nodded and got up. Time to get to work.
TBC
A/N: This chapter took a while for me to write, because of a small family crisis. But I just wanna say thanks for all the wonderful reviews I've gotten. Luv you! I'm starting to get to the end --I think-and I hope you all will like the ending I have planned! ( /mell