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"Where's Willow?" Giles asked as Buffy and Xander walked into his apartment without knocking, yet again. "I was hoping she would be here. I have something that I need her to look over."
"She had something to take care of." Buffy threw herself onto his sofa. "She'll be here in a little while. Don't get that worried look on your face. She'll be here soon."
"She's not with Tara, is she?" Buffy's face showed the answer to Giles' question. "Really." He shook his head. "I really thought of all of you, that I could rely on her to do the right thing. This is just too much."
Buffy shook her head. "Listen, Giles. We all know the score. The dangers that are out there. But we are just humans. Sometimes those human emotions get the better of us. All of us." She glared at her former watcher. "Or do I have to do the little reminder of some older gentleman who went all revengy on me two years ago and nearly got himself killed in the process."
"Well, it's not..." Giles got a flustered look on his face. "It's not the same thing. The circumstances were different."
"How so, G-man?" Xander took a seat next to Buffy. "I mean, love is a powerful thing. We all know that it makes you do the wacky from time to time. Like getting a novice witch to do a love spell that went just a little wrong."
Buffy laughed. "A little? I was turned into a rat. I had the need for cheese." Xander squirmed next to her. "But I also still remember what the gentleman you were and how hard it was for you to be that gentleman. I'll always be grateful."
"What more could a guy ask for than the never ending gratefulness of a beautiful girl that he will never have a chance with in a million years." He shrugged. "I so need to find a girlfriend. Maybe I should ask Will for some pointers. After all, she just came out and she's already in a solid relationship. Or at least I think it's solid." He turned towards Buffy. "Not to sound all overprotective or anything, but how much do we really know about Tara?"
Buffy shrugged. "Not much. Just that she wouldn't tell Willow where she was from, wouldn't talk to her until she showed up here looking for her, and that she apparently is a powerful witch just like Willow." Her eyes grew wide. "I think I'm seeing your point and not necessarily liking it. We really don't know anything about her." She shook her head. "I'll talk to Willow. See what she knows and if she's going to find out more if she doesn't. And what about this Gem thingy."
Giles sighed heavily. "I was hoping that your discussion would eventually get back to what is the current apocalyptic event that we shall be endeavoring to stop."
Buffy raised her eyebrows. "It's been upped to apocalyptic? When did that happen? I knew you said it could be of the bad if Spike were to get his hands on the Gem and be able to activate it. Since when has it become of the apocalyptic?"
"Well, I did some research last night. Actually.." He took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "I called the concil."
"Giles!" Buffy stood up and began pacing. "You called those guys that put my life in danger and didn't even care enough to say sorry, good job." Buffy shook her head. "What exactly were you thinking?"
"That we had pretty much used up all of our resources." He shrugged. "I even called Angel in L.A. He has limited knowledge of the Gem of Amara. And even less knowledge of how to destroy it. He did tell me that on occasion he has seen Wesley. I was waiting for Wesley's phone call when I decided I had better just bloody well do something constructive. I felt terrible for having to tell Willow and Tara not to see each other. They appear to be quite close. And I wanted them to be together. We should all be so lucky to find somebody that we care about."
Buffy stopped pacing. She got a huge grin on her face. "You aren't your typical stuffy Brit, now are you." She smiled even larger as Giles' face blushed slightly. Suddenly, her smile faded. "It's still really of the bad that Willow and Tara are together, right?"
Giles looked at her suspiciously. "Buffy, what's going on? What aren't you telling us?"
"Willow's alone with Tara right now."

"Two pretty ladies." Spike smiled at both Willow and Tara as they clung to one another. "This is a grande sight indeed. I can't wait for the two of you to have lived out your usefulness. Two delectable treats such as yourselves are hard to wait for."
"Blondie Bear, I thought I was your delectable treat." A pouty, whiny voice came from behind Spike. One that was oh so familiar to Willow.
"Harmony?" Willow's voice was full of surprise as Harmony shoved Spike out of the way. "You're a vampire?"
"Well, duh!" Harmony leered at Willow. "How else do you think I'd get to hang around with my Blondie Bear." She eyed Willow some more. "And you're gay now. A lot of changes since we graduated, huh?"
"Enough of this crap!" Spike shoved Harmony back into the hallway. "It's time for the two of you to come with us. You have important things that need doing."
"We won't go with you and you can't come in." Willow stood taller. Her mind was racing with a million spells. None of which seemed right for the situation. She could see at least five other vampires besides Spike and Harmony. The odds were definitely in not in their favor.
Spike laughed his laugh. "You really have a lot to learn about all this, don't you Red. See, even though this is your living quarters, it's also a public building so.." He slowly stepped into the dorm room and towards the two witches. "That's not exactly a problem for us vampires. We've got an open invitation." He leered at the two.
Again, Willow's mind was racing. Spells. Weapons. What on earth was she going to do if Tara was hurt. There was no way that she would give up now. She had too much to look forward to. She and Tara barely knew each other. And they had that little thing that they had been in the middle of to get back to.
Willow tried to get to Buffy's closet. Spike quickly jumped in her path. It really didn't seem like there were many options at this point. There were too many vampires for them to use the spell that had shielded them from Spike. If only she had gotten that fireball spell down. But half the time, everything exploded. And she didn't want to hurt anybody else. Only these seven vampires that were threatening them.
"Nice try, Red." Spike laughed. "You don't have any options at this point." He turned around quickly at the familiar sound of a vampire being turned to dust.
Harmony ran into the room and cowered behind Spike. "She's here, Spikey. Buffy. The slayer is here to kick our asses."
"Oh, bloody hell." Spike saw that his five minions were no more. Buffy was standing in the doorway, smiling. Behind her was her watcher and the boy. "You've always got to bollocks up my plans you stupid bint." He glared at the slayer.
"What can I say?" She smiled even larger. "Those darn good guy things get in the way every time." She moved closer. "So, you ready to have our next little dance, Spikey?"
"Another time, slayer." He ran towards the window and crashed to the ground. Harmony was right on his heels.
"Thank Goddess you showed up when you did, Buffy." Willow made her way over to Buffy and gave her a big hug. "Who knew that a vampire didn't need an invitation into a college dorm room. That's scary. And I'm going to look into a way of changing that as soon as we're safe with the Gem." She could feel Giles' eyes glaring at her. She pulled out of her hug with Buffy. "I'm so sorry, Giles, we should have stayed apart. But it wasn't Tara's fault. It was mine. I was the one that went to her and I'm the one that couldn't control myself and that's not gonna be an issue because I've learned that once we get rid of the Gem, Tara and I can be together without putting the world in danger and that's what matters. Not that we don't matter, but hello, end of the world. I think that's bigger."
Giles' expression softened greatly. "It's all right, Willow. I do understand. And I'm sorry that I said that the two of you should stay a part. While the two of you together could unlock the Gem of Amara, it was unfair that I forbid you to see one another. In fact, I believe that I was wrong. I'm happy for the two of you."
Willow turned towards Buffy. "He looks like Giles, but the words don't make Giles sense. They make us sense. What exactly happened."
"I kinda reminded him of some other times." Buffy shrugged. "He remembered what it was like to be in love and how much pain it caused when that love was taken away." She looked over at the blonde witch who was standing silent, with her head looking down at the floor. "Are you all right, Tara?"
Willow turned on her heels and made her way over to the blonde. "Baby, are you all right? You must be terrified." Willow took her into her arms. The woman was still shaking. "I'm here. You're safe. We're both safe. And did you hear Giles? We don't have to be a part. We can stay together."
"N-no, w-we can't." Willow backed off from the hug. "W-we almost d-destroyed the w-world by being c-caught together. W-we should b-be a-apart." She put her hand on Willow's right cheek. "I-it's for the b-best."
"No!" Willow kissed the blonde tenderly. "I won't leave you alone. You think that this is the end of Spike trying to get to us?" She turned to Giles. "This is something we overlooked. Wouldn't it be just as dangerous for us to be separated? I mean, if Tara is on her own, who's going to be there to protect her. She should stay here, with Buffy and me. Or at your place. But we should be close and with someone that can help keep us from the clutches of Spike."
"She's right, G-man." Xander smiled. "The two of them are in as much danger separately as they are together. And if they stay with one of us, than we can help keep an eye on them." He took a step towards Willow. "The two of you would be a more powerful team when it came to looking up the witchy stuff, now wouldn't you two?"
Willow smiled. "There's that." Willow took Tara's hand in her own. "She has so much knowledge. Stuff that I don't know. And stuff that I don't think you know, either Giles. We need to be together. We'll be careful. I promise. Holy water, crosses, stakes, garlic, you name it and we'll carry it. Until we take Spike down."
Giles simply nodded. He sighed heavily. "I feel that you two can be alone together if you take the proper precautions. That means that you two would not necessarily have to stay with Buffy or at my apartment."
Willow's eyes widened at the thought. She also felt both her and Tara's hands begin sweating. There was this instant heat suddenly between them. Like they both knew that they were going to be free. Free to finish what they had so lovingly started earlier but had held back so that they didn't harm the world. Her smile was so large that it took up her whole face.
"Tara does have some spell books that we don't have in her dorm room. We can spend the next few days doing some research." Willow squeezed the blonde's hand. She let go and grabbed her duffle bag. "I'll just take a few things and we can spend a little time together." Willow zipped the duffle shut. "Doing research. Research only." She added nervously.
The three watched as Willow and Tara made their way down the hallway. Xander was the first to say anything. "Why is it I don't see a whole lot of research going on in this scenario?"
Giles sighed. "They don't even know that the can also make the world a place where all vampires can exist without fear. Not just the holder of the Gem. We have to go after them and tell them."
Buffy shook her head. "In the morning. Let's give them tonight."