Giles was not having a good day -- not that he'd expected to.

As expectged, his intention to hire Spike as a freelance researcher under Buffy had been meet with objections and a few calls for outright staking. "How can you stand to have that...creature anywhere near a slayer?" Havers demanded. "Does she know his history?"

"If you have an objection regarding Buffy's personal life, I suggest you take it up with her," Giles snapped. "She's a grown woman and perfectly capable of making her own choices. I would suggest, however, that you ensure there are no sharp objects about when you do so."

Somewhere around the table, someone snickered. Havers glared, but seemed unable to find the culprit. Taking advantage of his distraction, Giles pressed on. "We are still terribly shorthanded and it's important we use our resources wisely. Buffy Summers had moved far beyond the point where she needs a watcher's guidance; did we not, in fact, place eight slayers in her care so that she could train them? There's also the matter of finding someone to replace David Starkey; we are in desperate need of an experienced man to guide the slayers in that area."

Even Havers couldn't argue with that and he reluctantly agreed they should at least talk to Spike to determine if he truly had the qualifications he claimed to possess. A quick phone call and Spike agreed to a meeting the next day. Giles did not pass along the editorial comments concerning his fellow watchers' intelligence, parentage and sexual habits, amusing as they were.

With the Spike issue temporarily settled, attention turned to Narissa, Xander's new watcher candidate. At that moment, Giles was rather glad Buffy and Faith were spending the day working with the other slayers; it was bad enough with Xander hovering just outside the door during the interview.

Knowing there was a potential romantic entanglement involved, Giles had worried if perhaps Xander was being overly optimistic about Narissa's abilities. It was a pleasure to be proved wrong. Narissa was quiet, but she was also clearly quick and intelligent, and knew a fair amount of demon lore from the oral tradition of her people -- including a story about a demon who could grant the wish of any who passed the trials. Giles made a note to ask her more about that later, wondering if that might be the same demon Spike had dealt with.

There was no doubt that Narissa had the potential to be a watcher; the problem arose once she'd left the room and the question of where she would be trained was discussed. Another long debate ensued, though more of the small group of experienced watchers were willing to allow that it might be best not to hew exclusively to the old methods of the Watchers' Academy. Of course, they weren't in favor of allowing new watchers to be trained solely in the field (and old Parkinson wisely pointed out that if Xander had a falling out with the girl during the training, she might well walk away), but the compromise of a combination of field work and traditional training in London was one Giles thought might actually serve the Council better in the long run.

That left only Willow on the agenda and finding her a new place. Looking down the lists of what personnel was assigned where, he realized it wasn't going to be an easy task. Over the last two years, Giles had been attempting to ensure that slayers in the field had mystical support as well as the traditional research resources. Like so many other things, though, they were still stretched thin in that area and there were several spots that needed someone of Willow's ability and experience, Buffy's enclave in Rome being one of them. The Vienna group was another, and perhaps that might be best; Maximillian had been much like Willow when he was young and Giles thought the two might get along. Besides, Vienna was a two-hour flight from Rome, which meant Willow could visit from time to time. That might strike a balance; give Willow the closeness of her friends, yet far enough away she wouldn't constantly be underfoot. If there wasn't Narissa, Giles would have considered sending her to Xander. But there was that potential relationship to consider, along with the fact Xander had the support of several local shamans.

Vienna it was, then. Now all he needed to do was convince Willow of it, which he knew could prove might more difficult than it sounded.

He found her in the newly reconstructed library, poring over some ancient tomes in pursuit of research. She actually looked happy for the first time since her arrival when he sat down opposite her. "I'm afraid I've been hiding from Kennedy," she admitted. "She never goes near libraries; swears she doesn't have any use for them."

Somehow, that didn't surprise Giles. Kennedy was far from stupid, but she'd shown little patience for or interest in anything other than the physical. "You can't hide from her forever," he said gently. "Kennedy is still a slayer and still part of this organization. It's likely you will have to deal with her sooner or later. I understand that it's hard now, but it will get easier as time passes."

Willow was quiet for a long moment. "Xander's talking about avoiding Buffy," she said at last. "We had breakfast this morning, and he said he thinks it's probably best if he's not around her for a while. He's not taking the fact she's with Spike very well."

"I heard last night. She and Spike were leaving at the same time I was."

"Well, she rattled him pretty badly. She told him he had to decide whether or not he was willing to still be friends if she was with Spike, because she wasn't leaving him."

Willow chewed on her pencil for a minute, looking over Giles' head at some distant point. "I don't think that's really it, though. I think it's the fact she wouldn't justify being with Spike, just told him to deal with it. She's always defended her boyfriend choices to Xander. I think he was expecting the whole "he has a soul now" argument and she didn't give it to him."

Giles was of the opinion that Xander wasn't the only one Buffy had spent time over the years justifying herself to; both he and Willow had demanded it at one time or another. "Maybe she doesn't feel the need; we all know what he did, that he sacrified himself to help close the Hellmouth. Would Xander have accepted those arguments?"

"Probably not. He...he was really angry when he heard Spike was back. He kept asking why Spike got a second chance and Anya didn't. Poor Spike; he kinda bears the brunt of everything Xander feels about Jesse and Angel going all psycho on us and killing Miss Calendar and then there was that time Spike had sex with Anya."

Somehow, Giles had missed that particular piece of gossip and decided he was glad of it as Willow continued. "It's a whole bunch of things and there was a point where Xander was ready to forgive him, because the killing with the soul really wasn't him, but the First. I mean, the only person we ever actually saw him chow down on was Andrew and that's, well, Andrew. It's not like he was actually starting to like Spike, but he was tolerating him, if you know what I mean?"

Giles nodded. "And then Andrew told us about seeing Spike."

"Every ounce of good will went out the window. Narissa seems okay, but I don't know if Xander's actually ready to be dating and it could be that she's the rebound girl -- kinda like Buffy dating that Immortal guy...or me and Kennedy."

"It's a decision he needs to make on his own, Willow."

She sighed. "I know, but it got me thinking. Maybe I shouldn't be reassigned to Rome. I'd had this idea that if I was there, Xander could come visiting and it'd be the three of us again. I guess I didn't stop to consider Spike."

It was all Giles could do not to heave a sigh of relief as Willow continued. "If I'm in Rome, Xander's not going to want to come visit, at least not for a while. He's my friend and I don't want us to drift apart even if he and Buffy do. Buffy's going to be all caught up with Spike anyway; you know how she gets when she's involved in a new relationship -- it's like the rest of us don't exist. Any suggestions? It should be somewhere that wouldn't be too hard for Xander to get to or for me to fly down and visit him. If it was convenient for all three of us -- me, Xander and Buffy -- that would be terrific. Maybe we could get together somewhere neutral."

Vienna was suggested and accepted and Giles heaved a sigh of relief. At least something was going smoothly today.

He should have known it wouldn't last.

There was no patrol or exercise that evening, but Willow and Buffy both wanted to meet Narissa (somethng Xander had avoided so far), so plans were made for dinner. Faith and Wood declined to join them, preferring to spend an evening on their own. Xander looked relieved at that decision, relieved enough that he seemed able to deal with Spike for a few hours. Maybe he was too nervous about his friends' reaction to exert much energy in that direction.

The dinner started out pleasantly enough. Xander was definitely on his best behavior and Narissa charming enough that she seemed to thaw any possible objections. Spike was making an effort as well, merely grinning at Xander's obvious discomfort as Buffy, Willow and Dawn cross-examined Narissa about her background instead of adding his own pointed comments. For a brief time, it looked as if they'd get through the evening without any upset.

Trying to pull the spotlight off himself for at least minute, Xander asked Willow, "So do you know where you're going to be posted yet? Someplace closer than South America, I hope."

"Giles suggested Vienna and I agreed. It sounds good and it's not that long of a flight from either Rome or where you are...not counting having to drive across the bush to the airport. I mean, maybe the three of us could get together for a weekend. You know, the Scoobies together for old time sake."

She didn't say it, but there was clearly something in the invitation that didn't include significant others. Narissa lifted an eyebrow and looked across the table at Spike, but he just shrugged, not seeming too bothered by the idea. Then it happened.

"It was really great you said I could come live with you in Rome, Buffy, but I think this is probably best for a whole bunch of reasons. You understand, don't you?"

Buffy's smile was suddenly frozen on her face as both Spike and Dawn's heads whipped in her direction. "I thought you were going to talk to me before you made any decision," Dawn said, her voice decidedly frosty.

"I...Willow's not coming to Rome, Dawn. Didn't you just hear her say she's going to Vienna?"

"But you agreed. This isn't the first time you've done this and it'd be nice to be consulted once in a while."

"We can talk about it back at the hotel," Spike said. There was no mistaking the tightness in his tone.

"But..."

"I said later, Bit. Not the time or place now."

Willow was looking Buffy, a bit of a worried expression on her face. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Dawn said. "You didn't."

Dinner went downhill after that. The original plan had been to go on to a club for some dancing once dinner was done, but Spike excused himself, Buffy and Dawn almost as soon as the plates were cleared. "I think I screwed up," Willow said when they'd left. "I guess Dawn didn't want me around and you could tell Spike's pissed off."

"Buffy made the offer," Xander said. "She knows who her friends are."

Willow looked unsure, but she didn't say anything more, playing with her wine glass. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked her."

Personally, Giles agreed with Willow, but saying so wouldn't serve any purpose at the moment. "I don't think that's the point; I think the issue is that she didn't communicate with either Spike or Dawn. Remember, they've both had problems with Buffy about that before."

Giles remembered all too well how badly things had been the last time that happened; as Spike would say, bloody hell.

On to Part Eight

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