Title: Family
Author: Rari

(notes and disclaimer with part one)

Family: Part 3

Giles was feeling concerned. He looked out on the class of student Watchers before him and wondered what it would take to jolt them out of their reserved natures. Giles knew he had been reserved, still was, he supposed to a certain extent, but he had always been passionate about his work.

These students were very quiet. They hardly asked questions. They just sat and stared at him as he taught. He wondered if it was his reputation that had them acting like this. Maybe Benjamin had been talking and they were all afraid he would turn one of them into a frog. He bit his lip to keep from smiling remembering Willow's escapade. He had not had any time to spend with her or Tara since that night as he'd been in instructor meetings every night for the past five evenings.

She was out there too with the rest of the first year students, being as quiet as the rest of them. That disconcerted him, as he wasn't used to Willow being quiet. He had been hoping that she could loosen up some of the students, but instead they seemed to be affecting her. He looked at her and saw that she wasn't paying any attention at all. He was discussing various methods of killing vampires and supposed, as she probably knew more about it than the rest of the students combined, that he could understand why her thoughts were wandering. Giles decided to get her mind back on class.

He picked up where he had left off, keeping an eye on Willow. "It's important to remember that cranberry juice is an effective vampire repellant. And bug spray. And if you're ever really in a jam you can use your cell phone. Just turn it on and point it at them. The frequency makes them dizzy and they're easier to kill that way." Giles noted some incredulous stares from his more knowledgeable students, but no one had the temerity to correct him. Others, he saw, hiding a grin, were furiously taking notes.

Willow was daydreaming but her eyes lit on the notebook of the young man sitting next to her. She absentmindedly read what he had written. Her eyes started to widen as the words sank in. She sat up straight and yelled out without thinking. "Hey, hey, you're not telling it right."

Giles bit back a grin. "Ah, Ms Rosenberg, back with us, I see. What exactly am I saying that's incorrect?"

The class as a whole took a breath, waiting for her response and then his backlash. No one corrected a Watcher. Willow stood, uncertain. But then she saw the notes again. "Cranberry juice? You know cranberry juice won't kill vampires. It might make them really angry and then they'd just try and kill you faster. And bug spray? That would really, really make them mad. And the only thing you could do with a cell phone is maybe throw it at them."

As she spoke Giles started grinning and towards the end of her speech she began to realize that he had set her up. Before she could complain about it Giles interrupted her. "So, perhaps you can tell the class the best way to kill a vampire."

"A good staking, right through the heart. But it's harder than it looks. All their bones and stuff are still there so it helps to have a very pointy stick unless you're the Slayer. Oh, and you want to hold onto it because if you let it go it goes poof with the vampire and if it was the only stake you had, that would be bad if there are other vampires."

Murmuring swept through the classroom. Giles spoke up. "For those of you wondering how Ms. Rosenberg knows these things, allow me to introduce her. This is Willow Rosenberg, best friend of the Slayer, Buffy Summers, and someone whom I've had the pleasure of knowing and fighting vampires with for the last 10 years." Willow blushed. Giles wasn't done. "Willow has killed more vampires and other demons than you can imagine."

Willow shook her head. "No, I mostly just throw holy water on them and get out of the way so Buffy or Giles can kill them." She pointed at Giles. "He's the one who's killed a bunch of vampires. You should see him with a sword in his hand. He can decapitate more vampires than Buffy can stake." Willow grinned at Giles, whose turn it was to now feel uncomfortable at receiving praise.

He pushed on, wanting to use this opportunity. "Get to know her, use her as a resource. She's been researching for me for years, can recognize most demons on sight and has been in more battles and shown more bravery than most anyone I know." He looked around the audience. "Let's see who else we have here. Has anyone else killed a vampire or any other kind of demon? Or seen one?" Several hands went up. And Giles began to call on them to let them tell their stories.

His classes starting getting very full after that. Giles was sure that there were more people showing up than his roll sheet could account for. Most of the classes were standing room only, especially his evening classes, as Spike often came to those. And Spike brought guests. Most of the time they were benign demons because Giles wanted to get across the idea that not all demons were evil. But every now and then he'd bring someone dangerous. The class lived for those nights.

Spike paid the demons to come, and extracted promises from them not to hurt anyone. Most of them time things went without a hitch. Spike, Giles, Willow and sometimes Benjamin would surround the demon, all holding crossbows, as the class observed and got to ask questions. Every now and then a demon would act up. And if they couldn't be subdued, they'd end up dead. That only happened a couple of times. After that, the demons figured out that if they wanted their money, they'd answer the stupid questions and then leave. Even Watchers began to come to Giles' evening classes.

What Giles wanted was for Buffy to be there. Yes, it was important to train this generation of Watchers to understand what was out there, to let them see and touch a vampire and for them to understand that they could have demons for allies. But what he really wanted was for them to understand the Slayer. That she was as human as they were, with the same hopes and fears. That she was not an instrument, but rather someone who would become stronger with a personal relationship with their Watcher.

Of course, he also wanted her there because he missed her. This last year had been wonderful in so many ways, but he missed Dawn badly, and he longed for Buffy. He'd almost given up hope that she would ever see him as anything but a friend, but it seemed beyond his abilities to stop wanting it.

Dawn knew, of course. Dawn didn't miss much. But he had asked Dawn not to interfere. And it seemed as if she was honoring that request, although she was always more than happy to trash Buffy's latest beau when she spoke with Giles on the phone. Giles sighed. There was no shortage of men who wanted Buffy. Sooner or later she would meet one that swept her heart away, and his dreams would turn to dust.

*****

"What do you mean you have a date?" Dawn wanted to throw something at her sister.

"I have a date. Four words that mean the same thing they've always meant."

"With who?" Dawn tried to keep careful track, as she had no intention of letting Buffy get serious about anyone. It was true that Giles had asked her not to interfere, but she couldn't help it. They were both a pair of doofuses.

"With Kevin."

Dawn relaxed. "Oh, that butthead."

"Will you stop calling everyone I date a butthead?"

"I will when you stop dating buttheads."

Buffy sighed. "Look I can't help it if I live on the Hellmouth and every eligible, worthwhile guy has been eaten, sucked dry, or sacrificed to some slimy purple acne'd demon."

"Not every guy," Dawn mumbled.

"What? Stop mumbling."

Dawn threw her sister a disgusted look. "Never mind." She got up and stomped up the stairs to her bedroom. Something had to be done. Giles was already old, but he'd be ancient by the time Buffy figured anything out. She could see the wedding, Giles holding on to his walker as Buffy walked down the aisle. Dawn rolled her eyes. Something had to be done and now.

She threw herself on her bed and eyed her alarm clock. Dawn pursed her lips, as she tried to figure out what time it was in England.

*****

Willow and Benjamin strolled along a tree-lined street, keeping an ear out for vampires as they talked. Benjamin wanted to learn all he could about magic and Willow loved to talk about magic. Giles had told him that under no circumstances was he to participate in any spells with Willow, but he hadn't said he couldn't talk to her.

He couldn't believe what had happened to his life. And although it was true his father was barely speaking to him anymore, everything else about his life was beyond great. He was the envy of the other apprentices having Giles as his mentor. It was amazing how much power he had, now that it was his word that would get a student into one of Giles' classes. He was enjoying a popularity he'd only dreamed of.

Even more amazing was that he did have magic. That in and of itself seemed a sort of magic. And he knew two witches. Willow and Tara. It was Tara who was teaching him. Giles had hired her to teach elementary magic to all the students, and asked her to give Benjamin private lessons. He'd actually levitated a pencil the other day.

He knew Willow had been a little annoyed that Tara was the one doing the teaching, but Benjamin had been around Willow enough and seen enough of her spells go wonky, to get the big picture. Besides, he liked the way Tara taught. She was so sensible about it. Just like Giles. And Willow hadn't stayed angry long. She was too in love with Tara to let something like that get between them.

Benjamin had been disappointed when he'd figured out that Tara and Willow were lovers. It would have been perfect if either one of them had ended up his girlfriend. They were so much fun, and knew what being a Watcher was all about, and they'd tie him to Giles. Benjamin wanted to be tied to Giles. If his father had any idea how much he thought of his mentor, he'd be booted out of the house.

He realized that he had totally zoned out on whatever story Willow had been telling him. He began to listen.

"And then he ended up being this little tiny demon, and Buffy just squashed him, flat like a bug." Willow smiled, grimaced, and then smiled again.

He was trying to figure out how to get her to tell him the story again because the ending sounded great, when they both heard someone approaching. Benjamin felt inside his jacket for his stake. The adrenalin rush when a vampire attacked still overwhelmed him, but he'd staked enough at this point for it not to paralyze him.

Willow grinned in relief. "Spike."

Benjamin dropped his hand. "Hey, Spike." He thought it was so cool that he could be friends with a vampire.

"Red, MG."

Benjamin didn't even care that Spike had given him a nickname. MG. Mini-Giles. He liked it. He thought it was very cool that a vampire had given him a nickname. Everything about his life was cool now.

"You talk to Niblet recently?"

Willow slugged Spike in the arm. "You know she hates it when you call her that."

Spike grinned. "Why do you think I do it?" He lit up a cigarette. "Anyway, you talk to her?"

Willow sighed. "Yeah. Those two so need to wake up and smell the roses."

Spike took a long drag. "I think she's the only one who's in need of convincing."

Willow's eyes widened. "Really. You mean Giles is already sweet on her?"

Benjamin's ears perked up. "Sweet on who? Giles is sweet on who?" How had he missed this?

"The Slayer."

Willow qualified Spike's answer. "His Slayer. Buffy."

Benjamin's jaw dropped. "He's sweet on Buffy?" He thought about it for a minute. "I thought he was like her dad or something."

Spike let out a snort. "No, he's Dawn's dad. He's never been Buffy's dad. She wouldn't let him. They've been more like husband and wife for the last four or five years. Ever since she came back from the dead."

Benjamin loved that story. Everything about Buffy and the Scoobies and Giles fascinated him. "Is she sweet on him?"

Spike took a last drag and threw his cigarette to the ground, smashing it beneath his black boot. "That's the problem. She hasn't quite worked it out yet."

Willow sighed again. "Dawn wants us to figure out a way to get them together. She's running out of ideas."

Benjamin knew an easy solution to this problem. "We just need to make her jealous. She'll figure it out fast enough if she likes him or not."

Spike scowled at him. "With who? Giles isn't exactly working his way through the ladies."

"We make someone up. I mean, Buffy's in America, how is she going to know if Giles' new girlfriend is real or not?"

Willow stared at him. Then she smiled. She turned to Spike. "We make someone up. We can both talk to Buffy and let things slip." She let out a squeal. "I love this plan. It doesn't involve bloodshed or spells or anything evil." She turned to Spike. "What do you think? It won't work unless you do it too."

Spike looked scandalized for a moment. "You want me to lie to Buffy?" He grinned. "I think I can do that."

Willow linked her arms with Benjamin and Spike and wiggled her eyebrows at them. "Now, what should this mystery lady of Giles' be like?"

End Part 3