Two hours later, Anya joined them and occasionally threw her own 
viewpoint into the discussion of informing the former New Yorker of 
the place he had moved to and Buffy's role in it.

Buffy was obviously uncomfortable with being talked about but 
tolerated it and threw in her own version of things occasionally. 

Anya had gone out and brought back sodas for everyone, as Giles was 
finishing up his explanation.

Brad sat back in his chair and took a long steady look into the face 
of each of the other people in the room. His well honed detective 
skills and instincts told him that they weren't lying to him; either 
they were all insane and shared the same delusion or they were quiet 
serious. That probably also included Riley Finn, given the encounter 
Brad had walked in on earlier.

"Vampires, werewolves, secret government operations, witches, slayers 
and watchers, oh boy," he muttered. "Have I stumbled onto the set of 
the Twilight Zone?"

"I wish it were that simple, not many people died on the Twilight 
Zone," Buffy countered. "Here they die every day and usually 
horribly."

"I can prove it to you in a few hours," Giles said calmly. He was 
tired and had a headache. He also needed a shower after tracking 
Buffy through the woods and caring for his injured Slayer.

"Okay, I'll give you that some things appear weird around this town 
and no one seems to notice it," Brad Santiago said 
reluctantly. "I'll even agree that everything you've said fits the 
evidence I have."

"But?" Giles asked with a slight smile.

"How do you intend to prove it to me? Have me sit on a fresh grave 
and let a vampire pop up like that other Watcher did to Buffy?"

"Something like that, yes," Giles answered.

"Okay, I'm all for field trips and I'll take you up on it," Brad 
said. 

"You're taking this well," Anya commented. "Most run screaming in 
the night when confronted with vampires, or stand around in disbelief 
which makes them easy meals."

"Yeah, well, I grew up in New York, I've seen a lot of stuff," Brad 
grinned. "My grandma was also a Brujah woman."

"Brujah, that dumb vampire role playing game?" Buffy asked.

"No," Brad laughed. "No, Spanish witch woman. Incense, prayers, a 
little home magic."

Buffy began nodding off when the second round of pain medication 
began to take affect.

"So, Buffy might be a werewolf like Oz, this secret government 
organization wants her to experiment on, Willow and Tara are witches, 
and Anya there is a former demon. Does that cover it?"

"Yes, actually, you keep track well," Giles admitted.

"Thanks, I'm putting two guards on the door outside Buffy's room to 
keep Riley Finn and his comrades out until she can be released 
tomorrow. I'm going to call my wife and let her know I'm going to 
miss dinner tonight," Brad said, getting to his feet.

"Don't eat dinner before going out," Anya suggested. "Sometimes the 
vampires have very poor hygiene and the smell can make you hurl."

"Uh, thanks."

===============================================================

A somewhat green looking Brad Santiago joined the Scooby Gang at the 
home of Joyce and Buffy Summers.

Xander, Tara, Willow and Joyce were obviously confused since Giles 
had called a meeting to discuss their plans for Halloween and 
bringing a police detective didn't seem like part of the plans or 
discussion. Then the Watcher explained that Brad Santiago of the 
Sunnydale police force had been given the basics about vampires, 
werewolves, demons, Slayers and the Hellmouth.

Both Willow and Tara started blushing and Xander was angry.

"Shouldn't you have asked us?" he demanded from Giles.

"Probably but there wasn't time," Giles said firmly. "Detective 
Santiago caught me with an automatic weapon pointed at Riley Finn and 
threatening his life. Buffy agreed."

"Okay, Xander!" Willow snapped. "It's done! Giles is right; we could 
use someone in law enforcement."

"Oh you mean someone who isn't just a mall security jerk!" Xander 
snapped back.

"I didn't say that!" Willow protested. "Don't go getting male 
territorial!"

"Me? Who said I was territorial?" Xander demanded.

"Children!" Giles snapped. "Let's get down to the planning, shall 
we? As unpleasant as it is, we need to discuss what we're going to 
do Halloween night."

"Well," Willow said hesitantly. "I kinda had a plan if everyone 
agrees."

"Let's sit down at the table shall we?" Joyce suggested. "I helped 
Willow and Tara draw out plans of the crypt and graveyard where Oz 
built that cell."

The Scooby Gang, minus Anya and adding Brad, sat down around the 
table and turned their attention to Willow.

"Welcome to the Scooby Gang, Detective Santiago," she said shyly.

"Scooby Gang?" he questioned with a smile.

"Kinda of a traditional name we have for ourselves. We're like 
Slayerettes and Buffy is the Slayer. We help her, doing research and 
helping during battle sometimes," Willow explained.

"Don't let her fool you, Detective," Xander grinned. "Those two are 
becoming scary with their magick type skills."

Brad smiled at how both young witches began blushing on cue.

"Why don't you all call me Brad?" he suggested. "After seeing a 
vampire up close and personal tonight, I'm honored to be included 
with a group that is brave enough to face that night after night."

There was an awkward silence as the Scooby Gang blushed, no one 
protested that they were brave but they were thinking it. The Gang 
looked at it somewhat like Buffy, they didn't have a choice in 
fighting the evil things because it had to be done and they were 
there. Brad would have pointed out that it was exactly this attitude 
that made them heroes if anyone had asked but he kept the thought to 
himself.  he thought to himself.

"Hey, enough mutual admiration!" Xander declared. "Night before and 
Halloween night! What's the deal, Will?"

"Well, I have a new spell I want to try while Buffy is locked in the…
in the…" she hesitated as she glanced over at Joyce.

"It's okay, Willow," Joyce responded to the witch's discomfort. "I 
know that we're going to have to lock her up until we know for sure 
if she's infected. It's a cell in a crypt, I can handle that."

"I want to be left alone with Buffy," Willow continued and held her 
hand up against the protest from around the table. "We know from 
experience that if Buffy is a werewolf, she'll respond better with 
only one person in the room and that logically is me."

"Okay, what is this spell?" Giles demanded.

"Two spells actually," Willow tried to smile. "I think Tara should 
be outside the crypt and cast the second spell. It's a protection 
spell that makes a shield of silver; werewolves shouldn't be able to 
break it. That'll keep Oz and any of his pack out of the crypt."

"What about the secret passages, we know they didn't just vanish when 
you were there," Xander asked.

"The spell will wrap the crypt in a silver light, it'll cover the 
secret places too," Willow explained.

"And your spell?" Giles demanded again.

"It's a massive sleep spell and it might catch me in it as well. I 
figure if Buffy starts changing, I throw the spell and hope to 
prevent some of the pain and the werewolf frenzy."

Giles frowned but nodded. It made sense and it was a good plan. He 
knew the rest of the plan had the rest of the Scooby Gang outside 
protecting the crypt and slaying anything getting too near it.

"I'm on shift Halloween night," Brad said thoughtfully. "There's 
already extra patrols being added because of what night it is. How 
else can I help?"

Tara giggled and everyone turned to look at her.

"It's a safe bet that Riley will be looking for Buffy that night, 
right?" she asked Giles.

"Yes, it would seem likely that he and one of his team will be 
waiting outside for Buffy to go out slaying that night or for us to 
take her someplace safe for the night," Giles responded.

"Do you think that Riley could be picked up by the police for the 
night? A case of mistaken identity or something?" she suggested.

Giles looked surprised and then pleased, everyone else looked 
confused for a while longer. Then grins spread around the table.

"I think something might be arranged," Brad said slowly. "You know 
I'm crossing a line here."

"Yes, and if it's beyond what your morals can handle, we'll 
understand," Giles said quickly. "We would never ask you to do 
something you couldn't live with."

"I notice that you don't limit yourself to asking me to do something 
illegal or that could get me fired," Brad pointed out.

"No, I'll admit that," Giles nodded. "Already you've been aware that 
we illegally carry pistols, that we have filed false police reports, 
have hacked into government computer records, and have destroyed 
bodies that could be evidence."

Brad frowned. "Okay, I'm in, totally. We moved to Sunnydale to give 
my daughter a safe place to grow up and now it looks like we moved 
into Spook Central. I'll fight that with you."

"Thank you, we try and stay on the legal side of things most of the 
time, at least the morally legal side," Giles smiled.

"Okay, I'll get Riley Finn out of commission that night. What about 
the other government types, won't they just go after Buffy?"

"Probably only half-heartedly," Giles commented slowly. "Most of 
them didn't care to be shown up by a small female all the time and 
resented her presence as well as Riley's focus on her. Given a 
choice they'd rather forget she exists."

"They'll also have their hands full that night," Willow 
added. "Halloween brings out all the crazies, the Initiative doesn't 
know about the Rule and they'll expect the dead and undead ones to be 
out."

"Rule?" Brad questioned.

"It's kinda of an unwritten thing among them," Giles 
explained. "They take the night off on Halloween and let the 
mundanes, the humans play."

"That is totally weird," Brad complained.

"Willow, are you telling us everything about those spells?" Joyce 
asked pointedly.

"I'm hoping that the spell will pull the wolf spirit into a dormant 
state," Willow admitted.

"Where did you find this spell, that doesn't sound familiar," Giles 
asked.

"Through my contact on the internet, Grayfox," Willow answered.

"He's been very reliable in the past," Tara commented and Giles 
merely nodded.

"I suggest we move Buffy to the crypt early that day to avoid any 
potential ambushes from the Initiative," Xander suggested and 
everyone nodded.

"Okay, Willow, you and Joyce go to the crypt tomorrow and set things 
up since you know what you need for your spell," Giles 
instructed. "Xander and I will check the weapons and pick up Buffy 
from the hospital first thing in the morning."

Everyone nodded and Giles looked around. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, what kills a vampire other than a wooden stake and do silver 
bullets really work on werewolves?" Brad asked.

Xander grinned and everyone smiled. 

"Let's have some coffee while we talk about Slaying 101, shall we?" 
Giles suggested, including Joyce in it as well.

"Giles, we're going to the living room and watch TV," Willow told the 
older man and he nodded.

"Guess that makes me one of the adults of the group, huh?" Brad asked 
with a laugh. "Reminds me of holidays, kids in one area, adults in 
the other."

"Yes, but these kids risk their lives and souls every night," Joyce 
commented bitterly.

===============================================================

October 28 

It was after midnight when Tara nudged a sleepy Willow and suggested 
they head to bed. The witch looked over and found Xander half dozing 
on the sofa.

"You need a quilt?" Tara asked the young man as she helped Willow 
stand up.

"Nah, I know where they are. I'm going to watch the Dracula 
marathon," he said softly.

Tara hesitated in front of Willow's door and the redhead smiled 
playfully.

"You've been in before," she whispered and took Tara's hand and 
pulled the taller woman into her bedroom. Once inside, Willow shut 
the door firmly and led Tara over to the bed without turning on the 
light.

Tara smiled in the faint light of the growing moon and lit a candle 
on Willow's nightstand and turned to help the other witch out of her 
shoes. With her left hand and arm in a cast, the red-haired witch 
had switched her usual jeans and t-shirts for sweatpants and larger t-
shirts. If she wanted to wear anything more than plain Birkenstock 
sandals, however, Willow discovered she needed someone to help her 
put on socks and tie her shoes. 

Feeling like she was four years old again was a hassle but neither 
Tara nor Buffy complained at tying her shoes or doing anything else 
to take care of her.

As Tara knelt in front of Willow to untie her tennis shoes, the red-
haired witch reached out and began to gently stroke Tara's long 
hair. Tara laid her head on Willow's thigh with a smile, comfortable 
in the silence.

After a moment Willow raised Tara's head with a gentle finger under 
the witch's chin and let Tara see the love and desire Willow knew was 
showing plainly on her face and in her eyes. The blonde witch rose 
up and slowly met Willow's lips with her own.

Once again Willow marveled at how everything disappeared except for 
the feelings and emotions surrounding her and Tara at that moment. 
She felt Tara hesitate and Willow ran her hand through Tara's hair 
and pulled the other witch's head to her, holding Tara into the kiss 
as it became more passionate.

Willow moaned and Tara moved Willow back onto the bed while their 
tongues dueled. The red-haired witch tried to maintain her balance 
and composure with a heavy cast on her arm. 

They ended up on the bed somehow, falling and giggling in the 
process, as their limbs intertwined. Tara was just grateful they had 
ended up on the same end of the bed and she hadn't gotten whacked by 
Willow's cast.

After the giggles had subsided, Tara leaned on an elbow and looked 
down at Willow and saw the other witch's eyes were slightly darker 
and her eyelids were heavy. 

"Please," Willow said softly and drew Tara to her and let down her 
mental shields, drawing Tara's mind and spirit in as well.

Tara gasped and pulled back slightly in surprise. Willow tried to 
take advantage of the movement to remove her t-shirt but lying under 
Tara and working with only one hand made it more than difficult, 
especially when she got caught in it. Tara laughed lightly and 
helped the t-shirt become a memory and then lost her laugh in a sense 
of awe when she looked at Willow half naked under her.

"Goddess, you're so beautiful," she whispered.

"So are you, my love," Willow smiled, blushing lightly. 

"I can feel what you're feeling," Tara said softly and lowered her 
lips to Willow's neck.

Willow's body shuddered and Tara moaned as the sensation rocked 
through her body as well. As Tara's hands found her breasts the 
witch gasped. They had shared long sessions of kissing and making 
out before, but this was different and both of them could sense it. 
The sharing of the emotions and sensations was adding an intensity 
that was causing Willow's breath to quicken and her heart to start 
racing.

The witch pulled irritably at Tara's shirt and the rest of their 
clothing was quickly done away with. The intensity swept them higher 
with each piece of clothing being removed as more and more skin began 
to touch naked skin. 

Willow whimpered slightly as Tara cried out at Willow's touch on her 
nipples, her back arching. 

"I love you, Tara," Willow whispered and moaned when Tara became the 
initiator with a passion that was surprising both of them. 

"Goddess, you feel so wonderful," Tara whispered as she began to 
nibble from Willow's neck to her nipples while her hands ran along 
the smaller woman's back, shoulders, lips, and down to caress her 
wonderful ass cheeks. 

Willow felt like everywhere that Tara was touching was electric, like 
moving too close to a static machine at a science fair and she was 
squirming while clinging to the other witch.

Willow thought Tara was going to tease and torment her nipples and 
breasts forever as the lightning danced between them until Tara's 
lips and tongue were moving across Willow's ribs, exploring almost 
every inch of the redhead. Willow gasped with twice the pleasure as 
she felt what Tara could feel in making love to her. It was almost 
overwhelming for both of them.

Tara thought she was in Nirvana when she worked her way between 
Willow's legs and inhaled the unique scent that was the young witch. 
The shy college student had never been with another person sexually 
but felt this was like coming home and was where she wanted to be.

Willow's hips jerked and she bit her lower lip as Tara's fingers 
began their own exploration of the inside of her thighs and sexual 
lips. Tara moaned as Willow's arousal level hit her through their 
connection and felt Willow's need as if it was coming from within.

Her lips and tongue joined her fingers in exploring her lover and 
both women cried out as Willow's hips left the bed in reaction to the 
intensity. Tara thought nothing would ever compare to making love to 
the beautiful woman with her right then, she knew it would be 
different with Buffy. As intense and just as emotional but also 
different. She had been drawn to Willow first and Willow was her 
first lover.

"Oh my God, Tara!" Willow begged. 

Tara let her fingers sink into the warmth that was begging for her 
attention and Willow's hand clenched the blanket underneath her as 
her back arched. Tara pulled almost out of the body enveloping her 
and then pressed in again. Tara's body jerked from their connection 
and began a rhythm that Willow quickly matched.

"Tara, harder!" 

Without the connection, Tara would have worried that she was hurting 
Willow but she could feel how the intensity was building as Willow's 
body begged for more of her touch. Tara couldn't believe that she 
was actually causing this much pleasure for her lover and could feel 
it. She thrust harder and Willow cried out and almost bucked out of 
Tara's arms.

Tara added another finger and cried out herself as the energy 
rebounded into her body. Feeling Willow's muscles contracting, she 
let her tongue begin a wonderful dance over Willow's clit and began 
drinking in the essence of Willow.

Willow, hovering on the edge of climax, screamed Tara's name as her 
body arched off the bed. Tara followed, holding Willow's hips with 
one arm and thrusting into her with the other hand until Willow's 
body stopped convulsing. 

Tara moved up onto the bed and pulled Willow into her arms and gently 
rocked the witch until her heart rate began to slow back to a safer 
range.

"Do you need your meds?" she whispered.

"I love you too," Willow mumbled. "I think I'm okay without them."

"That was....w-wonderful," Tara said softly. "Thank you."

"Oh Goddess, thank you!" Willow countered. "That was incredible!"

Tara felt herself blushing and Willow gently kissed her.

The blonde witch squeaked with surprise when Willow rolled over onto 
of her, the witch's green eyes flashing with mischievous energy.

"That connection was interesting, I want to try it on this end," 
Willow grinned and lowered her lips to Tara's breast and opened her 
mental shields up to Tara before the blonde could protest.

Tara moaned and felt fire flowing through her entire body as Willow's 
skin touched her everywhere. In minutes Willow had Tara in the same 
heightened arousal Willow had been in earlier.

"Willow, yes!" Tara begged, not knowing exactly what she was craving 
but needing it immediately. Having had the connection with Willow 
was only making it more intense and desperate. 

Willow started to enter her lover and hesitated, her green eyes 
catching Tara's blue ones. "Tara?"

"Yes, now!" Tara responded and whimpered slightly as Willow took her 
virginity then she heard noises and realized she was making them as 
her body began to shake and buck against Willow's fingers and 
body. "Oh Goddess! Willow, don't stop, please!"

Sometime later, Xander sat upright on the sofa, eyes blinking and 
heart racing. "I think that was…I think this time it was Tara 
screaming Willow's name," he said aloud to the empty room with a 
wolfish grin. "Earlier it was Willow yelling 'harder', for the 
Goddess and then just Tara's name," Xander smirked. He had plenty of 
ammunition to tease his best friend with and had already mentally 
filed it away.

He returned to watching Christopher Lee as Dracula bent over to bite 
another well endowed blonde victim on the television and wished Anya 
was there with him.

===============================================================

The police officers reported that three young men had approached 
Buffy Summers' room the night before and had been very insistent on 
seeing the young woman until threatened with arrest if they didn't 
leave. From their descriptions Giles confirmed that they sounded 
like part of Riley Finn's organization, the Initiative.

Brad Santiago and Giles found Anya kneeling beside Buffy's bed with 
her pistol in her hands and being steadied by the bed as she aimed at 
the door. Both men moved out of the way quickly and yelled at her to 
put the thing away.

Giles peeked around the doorway as Anya put the pistol away in her 
waistband and saw Buffy was doing her best not to giggle. Brad 
followed him into the room and shut the door.

"What was that about, you know there are police guarding the door," 
Giles demanded from the former demon.

"They are men and men can be fooled very easily," Anya countered and 
Buffy shrugged as Giles looked at her for support. "Those two men 
outside nearly let three large hulking types in last night when they 
claimed to be friends. I yelled that Buffy had no friends other than 
geeks and library types, certainly not football type jerks."

"Thanks!" Buffy snapped.

"What?" Anya asked innocently and Giles held up his hand to stop the 
argument.

"Get dressed, Buffy," he ordered.

"The doctor hasn't released me yet," she responded while glaring at 
Anya.

"I'm afraid there's a problem," Giles hesitated and began cleaning 
his glasses.

"Oh God, it's serious," Buffy muttered and noticed that Brad Santiago 
wasn't smiling and his eyes were cold.

"How do you know that?" he demanded.

"Giles always starts cleaning his glasses when he doesn't want to 
talk about something and it's usually serious," Buffy explained.

"They found Oz's body in the woods this morning," Giles said softly.

"His what?" Buffy demanded in a low, disbelieving voice.

"His body, he was cut to shreds," Brad informed her. "He had a 
silver dagger sticking out of his chest and your prints were on it."

"No, that's not right," Buffy protested. "I fought with him and he 
hurt me. I stabbed him but he was up and running. I only stabbed 
him once and I dropped the knife when I went into the creek, it 
wasn't in his chest."

"The knife was embedded into his heart, all the way to the hilt, much 
like he did to Willow Rosenberg, your best friend," Brad declared and 
glanced at the two police listening in as they stood guard at the 
door. "There was no evidence of whatever device you say he used on 
you and there was only your knife in his chest."

"Whoa!" Buffy shouted. "Wait a goddamn minute! Oz was a stalker, he 
hurt and tried to rape Willow, he threw Giles into a wall, Tara 
through a window and gave me one hell of a headache and now I'm the 
bad guy?"

"We only have your word and those of your friends that anything 
happened to all of you," Brad countered. "We believe that Ms. 
Rosenberg was attacked and you were angry about that. Angry enough 
to kill?"

"Yes, no, I don't know! He attacked me!" Buffy shouted and Anya 
growled. "I certainly didn't make these wounds myself!" she said, 
pointing to her bandaged chest.

"Actually the doctors admit that there is that possibility with the 
same knife," Brad countered.

"What?" Buffy whispered and turned to Giles for support and found him 
looking down at his shoes. "Giles?"

"They want to take you in until they clear this up, Buffy," he said 
softly.

"Officer!" Brad called and both officers stuck their heads in the 
open doorway. "You," Brad said, pointing to one of them. "I want 
you to clear the corridor in 10 minutes when I bring Ms. Summers out."

"Yes, sir," the young, military looking male responded.

"Please get dressed, Ms. Summers," Brad ordered. "You can change in 
the bathroom, leave the door open."

Buffy couldn't believe what was happening, especially when Giles 
reached into the wall locker and handed her the clothes she had been 
wearing the day before.

"I can't wear these," she protested, holding up the ripped and bloody 
sweatshirt.

"I'll get the hospital to give you some scrubs," Brad said in a flat 
voice. "He turned to the two police officers. "Find a nurse and get 
a set of surgical scrubs. Ms. Summers is going to be heading 
straight to jail and will be there for several days. Given the 
nature of the crime, no judge is going to grant bail."

The detective turned back to the Slayer. "You'll just have to miss 
playing Halloween pranks with your friends."

"Halloween, you're going to lock me up over Halloween?"

"Maybe even longer if I can make the murder charge stick," Brad 
promised.

"Wait a minute! I thought he was on our side!"

"Buffy!" Giles snapped, glancing at the police officers. "I advise 
you not to say anything. I'll be right behind you and I've phoned 
for an attorney."

Buffy slammed her jaw shut but her blue eyes were blazing with anger 
as the police officer returned with a set of surgical scrubs and Brad 
waited with crossed arms. Buffy grabbed the clothing and moved to 
the bathroom to change.

Giles opened the door slightly as his Slayer tried to pull the 
surgical shirt over her head. He took the top from her and helped it 
over her head and arms. 

"Don't fight this and don't escape, trust me," he whispered. "It's 
not what it looks like. Continue to act pissed off though, you have 
an audience."

Buffy nodded and followed him out the bathroom door and was quickly 
turned around and handcuffed.

"Hey, goddamnit, this isn't funny!" she shouted.

"Neither was Oz' body when we found him," Brad Santiago growled.

===============================================================

Buffy was still fuming when she and Brad Santiago walked into the 
Summers' home to the relief of Tara and Joyce.

"Hey, I said I was sorry," Brad continued protesting as they walked 
in the door.

"Okay, just easy with the cuffs next time!" Buffy snapped.

"Cuffs?" Tara questioned as she gently drew Buffy into a hug. The 
tension melted from the Slayer as she felt her body melding next to 
Tara's and the witch's warmth settling in over her. The Slayer 
nuzzled the neck of the taller girl and hugged her as tightly as her 
injured rib muscles would allow.

"We dragged Buffy out of the hospital in handcuffs," Brad explained.

"You what?" Joyce demanded as she hugged both girls quickly and 
turned to the detective.

"Anya said that three football type guys tried to get into Buffy's 
room last night and my police officers almost let them," Brad 
explained and sat down on the sofa. "I already suspected I might 
have a couple of Initiative types on the police force so Giles and I 
already had this planned. I arrested Buffy on the charge of 
murdering Oz in the woods yesterday and injuring herself to cover the 
killing. I dragged her out of the hospital protesting. The 
Initiative 'containment' squad will be checking the jail for Buffy, 
not here."

"That means we have to get her out of here," Joyce reasoned.

"Yes, Giles suggested moving her, Willow and Tara to the crypt now," 
Brad confirmed.

"Is Oz dead?" Joyce asked with a frown.

"No, he's still alive," Brad explained.

"Where's Willow?" Buffy asked.

"Upstairs on her laptop," Tara said.

"Let's go pack an overnight bag," Buffy suggested, reaching up to 
quickly kiss Tara and then dart upstairs.

Brad and Joyce watched the two young women disappear, pounding up the 
stairs and Joyce caught the detective shaking his head.

"What?" she questioned.

"She was nearly dead yesterday and now she's barely hurting," he 
commented.

"Giles says that's normal for a Slayer, its one way she was able to 
keep being the Slayer a secret from me for so long," Joyce 
explained. "I hardly ever knew she was hurt and if I did she'd shrug 
it off as a gym accident or something."

"Where's Giles?" Joyce asked after a moment.

"Watching the police officer I suspected, he should be here any 
minute."

A few minutes later the three college students came down the stairs, 
Tara and Buffy had bags.

"Where's your bags, Willow?" Joyce asked.

"I'm staying here tonight, I need some time to get ready for the 
ritual part tomorrow night," Willow smiled, holding Tara's hand.

Joyce's eyes narrowed in suspicion but merely nodded.

"Okay, Brad is going to drive you," she said as she hugged Buffy 
tightly. "We'll be there before dark that night. Got things to keep 
you occupied?"

"Yeah, a couple of board games and stuff," Buffy smiled but her mom 
could see the underlying tension and hugged her daughter again.

"You're not alone, Buffy," she whispered. "We'll be right there with 
you."

"Thanks, Mom," the Slayer whispered back and moved aside to let Joyce 
hug Tara as well. "Don't let her drive you crazy with that energy of 
hers."

"I won't, Mrs. Summers," Tara answered.

"Joyce, or Mom, please."

"Joyce Mom?" Tara smiled and Joyce hugged her again affectionately.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Willow hovered over her laptop and frowned. There was another email 
from Grayfox and this one was marked urgent.

The red-haired witch debated about opening it but clicked on the 
email.



Willow closed the email without responding and called up the file 
Grayfox had sent her days before. It had taken her forever to figure 
out the translation from the mixture of Old English, Latin and 
several witch glyphs. Parts of it were intentionally obscure and 
backward, making translation from a foreign language very difficult. 
Fortunately, she had been able to retrieve the same program that 
Jenny Calendar had used to translate the spell to bring Angel's soul 
back to the vampire. The program was a random search pattern of 
various old dead and obscure languages as well as known glyph type 
writing systems. It had worked just as well on this spell as it had 
for the one she used on Angel.

The ingredients hadn't been a problem; the spell was more mental, 
emotional and physical. 

Willow continued to frown and set the laptop aside. She began to 
gather the ingredients she would need for the spell. It wasn't easy 
with one hand but she wanted everything right and ran down the list 
twice. 

She looked up as someone knocked on the door and opened it slightly. 
Giles stuck his head in and Willow smiled.

"Come on in, Giles," she offered and sat down on the bed, leaving 
room for him.

"We didn't talk much over dinner," he began. 

"Nope, you're being a typical father figure image and British, which 
is making you a reserved type guy. Makes asking about relationships 
and possibly sex difficult for you?"

"God, I do like your babbling at times," he muttered.

"But tonight is not one of them, right," she smiled.

"Right and you're trying to distract me," he smiled back. "Willow, 
you didn't go to the crypt tonight with Buffy and Tara because you're 
giving them space and opportunity to be together, aren't you?"

"Yes," the witch admitted.

"You were with Tara last night?"

Willow's eyes widened and her face flushed but she nodded.

"Willow, did you plan to be intimate with both of them just for your 
spell?"

"No, Giles, honest," Willow stammered. "I want them, both of them 
and they both love each other too."

"Willow, what is this spell you're planning?" Giles asked gently.

"Hopefully, it'll send the wolf spirit inside Buffy to sleep," Willow 
explained.

"Is that all?" Giles asked.

"No," she admitted. "There's a risk of it backfiring and sending me 
into a coma for a week."

"Willow!" he suddenly shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Giles, calm down!" Willow smiled. "It's not fatal! I'd only sleep 
for a few days. If it means me catching up on my sleep or leaving 
Buffy as a werewolf, I'll take the risk of falling asleep."

Giles continued to frown. 

"Willow, I don't want you to take any risks," Giles muttered. "I 
also understand that I'm not going to stop you from this, am I?"

The college student stood up and hugged the closest thing she had to 
an actual father figure. "I love her, Giles, I have to try 
something. She took the bite for me."

"I know, I just feel so helpless," he complained.

"Me too," she whispered. "Especially with that damned Initiative 
looking for Buffy."

"I agree, that young officer went immediately to the frat house where 
Riley lives after Brad took Buffy away. Moments later Riley and the 
officer came out and drove off. I assume they were headed to the 
police station," Giles recounted thoughtfully. "You know they'll be 
here tomorrow looking for Buffy."

"I know, Joyce Mom and I are going out with Xander and Anya at first 
light for breakfast and a day trip while you sneak food into Tara and 
Buffy," Willow smiled and sat back down on her bed.

"Just be careful," he asked.

"You bet, just take care of Buffy and Tara until we get there," 
Willow countered.

TBC

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