As Dawn and Buffy said tearful goodbyes to the last house they had ever shared with their Mother, Spike wished silently that they would allow him to comfort them somehow. Wesley and Faith were beginning to regret not getting into Xander's car to go to the mansion, and Mop the dog was just hoping for a window seat.
Giles saw the discomfort of the group and gave Anya a play-along look. "Let me see that coin," he demanded, holding out his hand to her.
"Rupie, don't you trust me?" There was a collective eye roll at Anya's false pout.
"Not when you have that look in your eyes, I don't...and, you called me 'Rupie.' It's a dead giveaway."
"You just made that up on the spot! We haven't been together long enough for you to be able to tell something like that."
"We've done this every time we need to go somewhere." Giles indicated the coin in Anya's hand. "I've only won once, so you must be cheating somehow. Now give me the keys." Then he threatened, "We have been a couple long enough for me to know where you're ticklish, darling."
"You wouldn't dare!" Anya tossed the keys into the air and shouted, "Wes, catch!"
Wes caught the keys easily and ran for the driver's side door with them. Giles pretended a wounded look and said, "That's cheating."
"Don't worry Rupert; if neither of us is driving, then we can cuddle a little," Anya consoled him.
"Good job, keeping the waterworks at a min, Watcher," Spike said quietly as he passed Giles before getting in the van.
Giles nodded and looked at Anya, whispering his own "Thank you" to her.
Dawn said, "Giles, stop nibbling on Anya's ear. If we don't get going, the Potentials will get all the good bedrooms." Dawn wore a huge grin now and so did Buffy. If Giles could be silly then things couldn't be so bad."They wouldn't dare," Buffy said, in full general mode. "I told them to wait."
"As if that matters, sister dear. Amanda wants a corner room; she told me so."
"Unless they break and enter, they'll have to wait for us. I have the key," Anya said smugly.
"All hail Anya, holder of the key!" Dawn said then sheepishly continued, "Okay, I'll shut up now. I just gave myself a flashback of one of Glory's scabby hobbits." Once they were crammed into the van, Dawn looked out into the twilight and felt like everything would be all right, like this was a family and not an army on the move. Dawn thought it could be because the van was so crowded that the passengers couldn't avoid touching the person beside them. Everyone was certain to be real. After a moment of basking in the warmth and safety, she said the one thing that needed to be said. "Are we there yet?"
Buffy poked her playfully. "I thought you were shutting up."
888
The tired group had done what they could to get settled in. They had settled in the great-room together, trying to wind down after a meal of take-out. Giles and the others had done their best to catch the newcomers up on the events in Sunnydale. "So, is anyone going to tell me why I needed to be a part of this little house party? It's not as if I was a huge asset when I was here last," Wesley said.
"Well, people change. You seemed to be pretty good at getting the job done back there in L.A." It was debatable if Faith believed that the change was for the better; her voice gave nothing away, in spite of the words themselves.
"As I was saying," Giles continued, "Anya and I invoked a spirit guide to gain insight on defeating the First. This didn't go exactly as expected, however; the guide took corporeal form to lead us here. There is a hidden library here that I'm sure holds key information. Most of you already know this. What you don't know is that I was given a vision by the guide that night. I was given a look at many possible futures and the conclusion was that, if we are going to defeat the First at all, it will be done not just by Buffy, but by all of us together."
"That's supposed to be news, Giles? Been there, done that, sung the theme song—or did you forget about that? Like I said before, I'm here for Buffy and Willow," Xander said.
"I meant all of us in this room. Before Buffy, the Slayer was alone and considered expendable. You changed that and helped her to overcome her destiny.
Now it's time for the circle to widen further and not one of us can be lost...or we all are; Giles explained, wanting to give Xander all the credit he was due. Giles was impressed by the fact that whatever bitterness the younger man felt over losing Anya, Xander directed mostly at himself.
Amanda said, "That's scary; that means if Wesley unzips his throat, Spike slips and gets a splinter in the heart or chows down on Andrew, we all die."
"Essentially yes, some may survive but it would be at a grave cost." Giles reached for his glasses. Anya took his hand before he could take them off and clean them. "She also said, 'When a plant becomes root-bound it needs replanting. Find the vessel and so that you all may become what you already are.' The vessel may be some artifact we need to find or something else entirely. I'm not sure.
"Why do these things always have to be riddles?" Spike asked.
Buffy spoke up. "We were crowded may be the new house is us getting replanted. We've all been hearing over and over how the First can't be destroyed. So now at least we have some hope. We'll work with whoever we have to, to do it."
"Forced to be allies with those we despise. It's just like being chained to Sidney Poitier. The sexiest role Tony Curtis ever had, but definitely one of the best." Andrew half-muttered, then seemed startled when they all looked at him with varying degrees of incomprehension. "What? You think the only movie I've ever saw was 'Star Wars'? I have layers! The lair got TMC too. One time, the others were away, and I snuck into a Cary Grant marathon."
"Despise is an awfully strong word, but you keep working on it, layer-boy. You'll have everyone despising you in no time." Vi's tone was falsely reassuring.
"There is one other thing," Giles said over Andrew's sputtering. Knowing that the party its self was not what was to be kept secret he asked, "Faith, your birthday was a milestone in the vision. When will you turn 22?"
"My birthday's not for another seven months; it's July eleventh. Is there something I need to be ready for?" Faith asked.
"No not at all; actually it was only a party. I'm afraid I've ruined your surprise." Giles said truthfully. No one but Anya noticed that he'd gone pale for a moment.
888
"So spill, mister; what's so scary about Faith's birthday?" Anya asked when Giles came into their new bedroom after brushing his teeth. "You're not going to distract me with yummy kisses. Tell me the truth."
"Simply making sure you're not the First. After all, here we are in a room together with a lock and a real bed, and you want to talk about Faith."
"The sooner you talk, the sooner we use that bed."
"It's really nothing bad, I promise," Giles said, kissing her neck. "It was like a snapshot of a party. I just though it was farther in the future because— maybe this will work better if I show you. You were standing beside Faith under her birthday banner, Buffy was on her other side and I was behind you like this with my arms a—" Giles and Anya both startled and headed for the hall, as they heard the unmistakable sound of Dawn's scream.