"I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like I'm going to be gone forever."

"But *two weeks*? I don't know if I could deal without you for two weeks." Gunn leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms.

"Yes you can, Charles," she replied firmly.

"But what if I find one of them and I need help?" he asked, gesturing vaguely with one hand.

"You know where Wesley is - besides, he'd be more help in that situation than I would."

"Fred..." he pleaded.

"I'm still going." She crossed from her dresser to where her suitcase lay open on the bed and dropped a shirt inside. "I've only seen my parents once since I got back from Pylea."

"But why do you have to go now?"

She stopped in the middle of her return trip to the dresser, sighed, and turned to look at Gunn. "We haven't had a client in more than a month," she began ticking off on her fingers, "neither of us has had a good night's sleep in weeks, we’re frazzled and on edge all the time, and we haven't been able to find any leads yet...." She threw her hands up in the air.

"And so you're walking away?"

"No, I'm not walking away. I'm just taking a much needed break. And when I come back, I'll be ready to throw myself 110% into it again."

Gunn sighed in resignation. "Fine. Promise to call me once in a while?"

"I will, silly." She smiled and went over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Just because I'm going home for a visit, it doesn't mean I'm breaking up with you."

"Good." He pulled her to him and gently kissed her.

After Fred left the next morning, Gunn wandered aimlessly around the hotel for the next few hours, trying to decide what to do next. Calling Wesley was still out of the question, no matter how much Gunn agreed with Fred deep down - that he was their best option. Actions still spoke louder than words. He knew that most of his friends would probably refuse to help him now - especially in finding Angel. As he wandered into the office for what seemed like the hundredth time, his eyes lighted on the box of Wesley's things that had been collected after Fred had taken the box with what she had thought were all of Wesley’s belongings back to him. Bored, he set it on the desk and began rummaging through it. He pulled out the battered dartboard and smiled wistfully, remembering fondly the lessons Wesley had given him. Impulsively, he stood and hung the dartboard on its nail and dug out the darts. He threw a few rounds and noted that he was still a lousy player before sitting back down to go through the rest of the box. Most of the items held little interest - an extra mug and spoon, some tea bags, a book of poetry by Auden…. But at the bottom of the box was a small booklet. Gunn pulled it out and set the empty box on the floor. Recognizing some of the names as he flipped through it, he found it was Wesley's informant address book. 'Why would he leave this at the office?' Gunn thought. When he came to the entry 'Giles, Rupert', there was a note with it. "If not home, try Buffy's number." It dawned on Gunn that Giles might be able to help find Angel, since most of the numbers in Wesley's book had been put into the office's Rolodex during previous cases and had already been called by either Fred or himself. He wasn't exactly sure what Giles could do to help him, but Gunn figured it was better than nothing since Wes had thought enough of this guy to put him in his book. He dialed Giles' number and was unsurprised to find no one there. He flipped through the booklet until he found Buffy's number, and called.

******

"But the *whole* summer? You just got back and Willow needs us." Buffy scowled at Giles and his plans to leave again so soon.

"I don't deny that," Giles sighed, "but Willow needs more help than we can give her. I’ve done everything I can for her here and she needs someone beyond my expertise." The phone rang suddenly, cutting off the rest of his response. Being closer, Giles picked up the receiver and said, "Summers' residence."

"Hi. I know you don't know me, but my name's Charles Gunn and I'm a friend of Angel and Cordelia's." The voice at the other end of the line was one that Giles didn't recognize, but something in the man's tone immediately put him on alert. "Umm...we - well, I need some help and didn't know where else to turn."

"What's wrong?" Giles asked reflexively.

There was a pause, as if this Gunn person was trying to figure out exactly what to say. "Angel and Cordelia have disappeared and we need to find them. Like I said, I wouldn't be calling if -"

Angel and Cordelia were missing? That definitely wasn't good. While there was no love between he and Angel, Giles had to admit that from the infrequent reports from Willow, Angel had been doing some good in LA. And Cordelia - even though she had been frustrating at times to work with, he had been told that she had nonetheless been a big help. Besides, she couldn't defend herself like Angel could. And for that matter, why was Gunn calling them? Didn't he have contacts in LA? And what about Wesley? Drawing again from things that Willow had told him, he knew that the younger ex-Watcher had set up shop in LA and had been working with them. Something definitely must be wrong if Gunn felt the need to call Sunnydale. And this would be an added bonus in helping him get Willow away from Sunnydale and to the help she needed. While he was loath to remove her from her support group, taking her away from the places where everything had happened was probably better. He knew she didn't want to leave her friends, but was agreeable to leaving Sunnydale for a short time to get help. "No, I understand," he finally managed. "I was planning on coming to Los Angeles for some personal business with a friend. I'll have to discuss this with her, but I'm sure we'd be happy to help."

Gunn let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Do you know how to get to the Hyperion hotel?"

"I don't, but Willow - my traveling companion - does."

"Okay." He recognized the name and remembered meeting the redhead about a year earlier. "Yeah, I remember meeting Willow before - when Buffy died." He quickly stopped himself, in case if that was still a sore subject. "When will you be getting here?"

"We plan on leaving as soon as possible, so I would assume later today."

"Okay, then I'll look for you guys later."

"Right then. Good-bye."

"Bye."

As Giles hung up the phone, Willow appeared in the doorway and Buffy asked, "Who was that?"

"An associate of Angel and Cordelia's - Gunn," he replied, acknowledging Willow's appearance with a small smile. "They're having a bit of trouble and wanted to know if we could spare anyone to help."

"I'll get my stuff," Buffy replied, as she began to move.

"You're not going."

"What do you mean I'm not going?" Her eyes flashed dangerously.

"I mean you're not going. You need to stay here." Giles took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "With all the things that have been happening recently, I wouldn't be surprised to see more of a surge in demonic activity. There's already been a slight rise in vampire activity after some big magic. That almost always portents a larger problem." He leaned against the window frame and crossed his arms. "Willow and I plan to only be gone for a month and finding two missing people - or a missing person and a vampire - shouldn't be that hard. You'll only be a phone call away if we need help. Besides, Willow and I have already discussed that it would be good for her to get out of Sunnydale for a while and go to LA."

She stared at him for a long moment, trying to find any weakness, before finally saying, "You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Fine. But you better keep in touch and let us know what's going on."

"Don't worry - we will."

"I'll finish packing," Willow commented as they moved out of Buffy's room.

******

Gunn distractedly paced in the lobby of the Hyperion, eyes unfocusedly staring at the floor. He was beginning to have second thoughts about what he had done. He didn't really know any of the Sunnydale crew - aside from the few and far between references by Cordelia. The only one that he had met had been Willow, when she turned up about a year ago to tell them about Buffy, but it wasn't like he had really gotten a chance to get to know her.

The sound of the door opening pulled him from his thoughts. He looked up to see a redhead and an older man enter and then hesitate on the top step.

"Hey," Willow said a bit nervously. "Gunn, right?"

"Yeah." Gunn gave her a warm smile and started to move closer to them. "Willow, right?"

"Yep. And this -" she motioned to the man standing next to her "- is Giles."

"Hey." Gunn extended his hand. While he hadn't known what to expect after talking to Giles on the phone, as Gunn sized him up, the man standing before him seemed to somehow fit the voice he had heard on the phone, seemed to feel *right*. Giles wasn't anything spectacular, but he definitely had a presence that was hard to dismiss easily.

Giles shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"So, where is everyone?" Willow asked, looking around the hotel lobby expectantly.

"That's part of the problem - they sort of disappeared."

"What do you mean - disappeared? When?"

"About a month ago."

"Have you filed a missing persons report?" Willow came farther into the lobby and set her bag down on one of the couches.

Gunn grabbed the file he and Fred had started on Cordelia from off the counter. "For Cordy - yes, but nothing's really come back and they're not hopeful. Angel - well...not exactly sure how to explain him to the police."

"What about Wesley? Or the others?"

"Wes and I haven't been on the best of terms lately, but last I heard - he's still around. Lorne went to Vegas to try his luck. I could care less about Connor - the boy can take care of himself. And Fred just left earlier today to go visit her parents for a while and take a break."

"I'm sorry," Giles broke in, looking confused. "But I'm not familiar with some of these people. Who are the latter three?"

"Lorne's an anagogic demon from an alternate dimension called Pylea. He's helped us a number of times and he's pretty cool. Connor is - well, it's complicated, but he's Angel's son. And Fred is my girlfriend - who we picked up in Pylea, but she's human and from this dimension - she was sent there somehow."

Giles stared at him perplexed and then took off his glasses to clean them. "Go back to the part about Connor. He's Angel's *son*?"

"Well, it's long and complicated, but one night a while back Angel got it on with his sire, um - Darla, I think, and then she showed up a few months later pregnant and all. She got a conscious because of her hormones or something since she didn't want to hurt Connor, she staked herself and because of that, he's born alive. And before we could catch our breaths over that, he was kidnapped and taken through a portal to a hell dimension. When he finally comes back, he's 18 years older, even though it's only been a few weeks here." When he saw their astonished expressions, he said, "I told you it was complicated."

"But Darla was killed 5 or 6 years ago by Angel back in Sunnydale," Giles finally managed. "How did she end up in LA?"

"Wolfram and Hart - this evil law firm - resurrected her about a year ago to use her against Angel."

"Oh, dear. Are you sure Angel's not Angelus?"

"Positive. Besides, his ass would have been staked by now if he was."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"It might be a good idea to get over to the psychiatrist's some time today," Giles commented quietly to break the silence.

"Yeah," Willow replied nervously.

After a very vague explanation, Giles and Willow left and Gunn resumed his restless pacing in the lobby, still hoping he had made the right decision. Giles returned about an hour later, looking somewhat relieved.

"How'd it go?" he asked as Giles descended the steps.

"Very well - at least the bit that I was privy to. I really hope that he can help her."

"What happened exactly?"

Giles studied him for a moment before taking off his glasses and cleaning them. As he did so, he responded, "About a month ago Willow's girlfriend was killed inadvertently by a young man we've been having problems with for some time. In her grief, she abused her knowledge of magic, killing him, and putting herself, and the rest of us in grave danger." He put his glasses back on and put his handkerchief away. "But it's not really my place to say."

"Wow," was all Gunn could think to say.

"I would have to agree," Giles responded. "Part of the reason we decided to jump at the chance to come to LA and assist you was because I know a psychiatrist here who deals with magic and figured it would be beneficial to Willow to see him." He moved to sit down on one of the couches and Gunn followed his lead and sat on the other across from him.

"Good idea." There was a slight pause and Gunn took the time to size Giles up again and get a better look at him. He seemed to be in good shape for a guy who looked to be about 50 and he *definitely* didn't fit the picture that Cordy had painted of him as a stuffy British Watcher the few times she had talked about him. Gunn wondered how well he'd be able to do in a fight. From what he knew of Wes, he figured that Giles *would* know how, but from the way Wes talked sometimes, it seemed like Watchers came in all shapes and sizes. He'd just have to keep an eye on him if they did have to go fight a demon, just in case.

Breaking the silence, Giles asked, "So, what have you done in your search for Cordelia and Angel?"

"Well, Fred and I have called all our contacts - trying to find someone that may know something about where they were last seen - Angel out on Point Dumme and Cordy on the interstate."

"What about Wesley?" Giles queried, leaning back against the couch. "From what it sounds like, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem like you two have been on the best of terms lately. Does he still work here? Does he know Cordelia and Angel are missing? If he knew Cordelia and Angel were in danger, don't you think he'd be willing to help?"

"You're right - we haven't been getting along lately. Some stuff happened with him over the whole Connor thing and he doesn't work here any more. But Fred talked to him a few times, so it wasn't for lack of trying, and he didn't seem interested in helping us. But he knows what's going on."

"And he hasn't offered assistance? I haven't kept in contact with him since he left Sunnydale, but even then he was pooling his resources and willing to save Angel when the vampire was sick. He must have contacts if he's been working here in LA with you lot and it'll be nice to have all the help we can get available. Whatever happened between the two of you, I'm sure, is not as important as finding Angel and Cordelia."

"You're right, it's not. But that doesn't mean that I have to like the idea of working with him."

"I'm not asking you to - I'm just trying to get you to use some common sense. After we find them, I don't care what happens between you and Wesley. If you give me the number, I'll give him a call and see what I can do."

Gunn let out a resigned huff and stood. "Fine. I'll get you the number, but it doesn't mean that he'll help us."

"All I'm asking is for a shot."

Gunn grabbed the cordless phone and absently dialed Wesley's cell phone number before handing it over to Giles.

"Wesley," he said when Wesley answered. "Rupert Giles, here."

"Giles?" Wesley asked after a pause. "Wha- why are you calling? Is everything all right?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I've been led to believe that you're aware of what's happened with Cordelia and Angel? I was wondering if you could assist us in finding them."

"You're in LA? What are you doing in LA?"

"I brought Willow to see a psychiatrist who specializes in magic. I'll explain later. But it would be a great advantage if we could get your assistance in finding Cordelia and Angel."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, before Wesley let out a long sigh. "I'll help - but only out of deference to you, Giles. After that -"

"I'm not expecting anything after that, Wesley."

"I'll be over in a little while." Then his phone clicked off.

Wesley and Willow both entered the Hyperion at the same time about an hour and a half later, chatting quietly. Giles looked up as he heard them come in and wondered who the haggard-looking young man with her was, not recognizing the other former Watcher. The psychiatrist had a private practice and no one else had been in the waiting room when he had left. And he highly doubted that Willow would pick anyone up this soon. There must have been some danger, he reasoned, because otherwise she wouldn't have brought him back with her.

"How did the psychiatrist go?" Giles asked, breaking in.

"Really well," she replied brightly. "He thinks that I 'have a lot of potential for a full recovery'. But we're going to have a pretty rigorous schedule for a while. He wants me to meet with him for a few hours every day for the next couple of weeks."

"Good for you."

"And Wesley here," she motioned to the man next to her, "was telling me about some meditations that might help too."

"Thank you, Wesley, both for -" Giles said turning to him, trying to hide his shock at how much the younger man had changed as recognition set in.

"Not exactly what you were expecting?" Wesley asked calmly.

"No, but you look good."

"Don't be ridiculous; we both know I look terrible."

Giles tried to hide his embarrassment at not remembering his ex-colleague. "But you do look better than when I last saw you - at the Sunnydale High Graduation." He played with the contents of a pants pocket and tried not to meet Wesley's gaze. He wasn't exactly sure of the reception he would get from Wesley.

"Ah, yes, because I'm not being loaded into an ambulance, I presume. Well, that wasn't exactly one of my finer moments. But welcome to the Hyperion."

Gunn cleared his throat. "I hate to break up the reunion, but could we please get to finding Angel and Cordelia?"

"Good idea," Wesley replied. "What do you have so far?"

"Didly-squat. You?"

"About the same, I'm afraid. I had a few promising leads, but they haven't gone anywhere yet."

"Have you tried a locator spell?" Giles asked Wesley.

"Yes, but with little success. Although, I've never been very good at magic when it involved distance. I don't have that much power, I'm afraid." His cell phone went off and he quickly excused himself to go answer it.

"Don't look at me," Willow quickly interjected.

"Don't worry - we won't," Giles replied comfortingly. "And after recent events in Sunnydale, I won't be up to my full potential for a while either."

Willow turned back to Gunn. "Okay, fill me in. What can you tell me about Angel and Cordy's disappearing act?"

"About a month ago, Cordy and Angel were on their way to meet each other and they disappeared," Gunn replied, shrugging. "And we haven't heard from either of them since. And I don't know about Wes, but Fred and I have tried every source we could think of and we haven't come up with anything yet, although we did get both of their cars back. And Dennis is going nuts," he remarked more to himself than anyone else.

"Who's Dennis?" Giles asked.

"Cordy's ghost. He lives in her apartment."

Willow's eyes lit up. "Ooohhh, do you think I could meet him? Cordy's told me a lot about him."

"Might not be a bad idea," Wesley replied as he returned to the group looking a bit perturbed. "And he might enjoy your company."

Willow turned to Giles. "That's a good idea. We could stay there and keep Dennis company. From what Cordy says, it sounds like there's enough room and Dennis is a harmless and social, ghost."

"Good idea," Giles remarked. "That way we won't be encroaching on anyone here."

"You wouldn't have to worry about that," Gunn replied. "It's a hotel, so there's obviously plenty of rooms and only Fred and Angel actually live here. But we can go over later and you can at least meet Dennis."

Gunn tried to stay out of Wesley's way as much as possible that day, since Wesley had made it clear that he didn't want to be around the black man and Gunn didn't really want to be around Wesley. He didn't have time for betrayers.

"What exactly happened between you and Wesley?" Willow asked later that evening as the two of them played cards on the floor of the Hyperion lobby, her back against one of the couches.

"He kidnapped Connor and gave him to Holtz - Angel's enemy," Gunn replied as he laid down some cards and then glanced in Wesley's direction. The Brit was on the other side of the lobby arguing heatedly into his cell phone about some piece of weaponry or something.

"What? Why?" Giles asked looking up from where he was sitting on the couch, one of Wesley's books that he had been perusing open in his lap. "Granted, Wesley appears to be much changed since the last time I've seen him, but I can't believe he would kidnap an infant. And even so – there must have been a very good reason for it."

"I honestly don't know. He seemed to love the kid - we all did." He drew a card from the pile and then discarded another.

"Have you asked him about it?" Willow asked as she took her turn.

"Nope. But he doesn’t seem to be very willing to talk about it either." He laid the last of his cards down. Changing the subject, he asked, "So what's this meditation stuff that you and Wes were talking about?"

"It wasn't anything special - just some calming exercises to help me clear my mind and focus better." She started totaling up the points. "I went through a rough patch recently with my magic and he thought of a few things that might help me get over it so I can possibly use magic again." She collected the cards and began shuffling them. "Want to play another hand?"

"Sure." Gunn casually glanced at the scores, seeing that Willow was winning by a couple of points. "I may still beat you yet."

She smiled. "I'd like to see you try. I've been winning gin rummy since I was five."

As she began dealing cards to herself and Gunn, Wesley came over, flipping his phone shut. "Any interest in getting started?" he directed to Willow.

"Sure." She glanced at Gunn. "If that's okay with you?"

"Go ahead," he replied, "I'd rather you feel better than lose at a game of cards - which you can do any time."

She laughed. "I'll hold you to that." She handed him the deck of cards before getting up and following Wesley.

"I hope you don't mind me saying," Giles began hesitantly, "but I think it might be in your best interests to attempt to reconcile with Wesley."

"Why?" Gunn asked as he began to idly shuffle the cards, his tone part challenge and part frustration.

"Because I have a hunch that whatever happened with him and Connor isn't what you expect - even if he's changed more than I had expected. And because I'm sure you'll need his assistance again in the future. Willow and I won't be around forever to help you out – even after we find Cordelia and Angel."

"I'll think about it. I do agree that it doesn't seem like Wesley to give Angel's son over to Holtz, who Wes knows is his enemy, but sometimes it's hard to know what that man's thinking." He glanced towards the garden, where Wesley and Willow had disappeared. "You think you've got him figured out and then he surprises you."

The next morning, after Giles dropped Willow off at the psychiatrist’s office, the three men convened early to hopefully devise a plan for finding Cordelia and Angel.

“Okay,” Giles remarked, taking command as they gathered around the counter. “In searching for Cordelia and Angel, what information has been gathered so far. Gunn?”

“Nobody’s seen either of them for a month. It was a struggle to get both of their cars out of the impound lot since we didn’t know how to get money out of the accounts.” He practically glared at Wesley.

“All right,” Giles replied. “When you say everyone you mean…?”

“Everyone in the Rolodex.”

Giles simply nodded. “Wesley?”

“Same with my contacts, but I’m not surprised, since most of mine are –“

“Moving on,” Giles interrupted firmly, giving the two younger men each a stern look. “Obviously something isn’t working here. Have you tried your contacts more than once?” He looked at Gunn. “Followed up on the missing person’s report?” Then looked at Wesley. “Tried a locator spell?”

“Yes, somewhat, and not my department,” Gunn replied.

Giles looked at Wesley. “A few, no, and no.”

“What have you two been doing with your time? Picking your navel?” Giles asked forcefully. “For two people you profess to care deeply about, it doesn’t seem like you’re doing a bloody hell of a lot to find them.” He paused for a second while they looked suitably ashamed. “So what do you propose we do?” he asked as if he was talking to two children.

“Go through the Rolodex again?” Gunn offered unsure.

“Good. And?”

“Meet with them as well,” Wesley put in. “It’s easier to lie on the phone.”

“Good again. Anything else?”

“Locator spells.”

“Good.” Giles eyed the full Rolodex. “We best get started. Gunn – start making calls to meet with your contacts. Wesley – find a locator spell.” Wesley nodded and headed into the office to complete his task.

“And what about you?” Gunn questioned.

“I’m going to have a look at Point Dumme. Maybe I’ll be able to find something.”

“But it’s been a month,” Gunn pointed out.

“And your point is?” Giles’ tone warned against any further argument.

“Never mind.” Gunn watched Giles leave before heading to the Rolodex and the phone. He didn’t like outsiders giving him orders, but when Giles did it…it was hard to say no.

Giles came back a few hours later with Willow and lunch for the two men. “Any progress?” he asked as he set the paper sack of sandwiches on the counter.

“Why?” Gunn asked as he eyed the bag of food, suddenly realizing how hungry he was. “Are you not going to feed us if we haven’t?”

“Of course not,” Giles replied tersely. “But I do think I should be able to inquire into an investigation you pulled me into.”

“It’s going. I’ve got some meetings lined up this afternoon.”

“Good. Wesley, how’s it coming?” he asked the other young man, who had ventured out of the office upon hearing the new voices.

“I found a couple of spells that look promising,” he replied, “and I think I’ll be able to figure out which one can best suit our purposes in another hour or so.” He eyed the food that Gunn was taking out of the bag.

“Catch,” Gunn said as he lobbed one of the small subs and a small bag of chips at Wesley, who barely caught them, before sitting back down at the desk and unwrapping his own sandwich.

“Why, um, thank you,” Wesley said, surprised. He came over to the counter and set the food down. “How did the appointment go?” he asked Willow, as he began to open his sandwich.

“Good,” she took a sip of her soda. “Well, for starting to get into the icky stuff.” She gave him a small smile. “Thanks for asking.” He smiled and gave her a small nod as he started eating.

That afternoon and the next two days were spent combing through Wesley and Gunn’s contacts – all of which turned up the same thing. They hadn’t seen either Cordelia or Angel, whether separately or together, for at least a month, if not longer. The few contacts that Giles had in LA that weren’t in common with Wesley and Gunn’s pool said exactly the same thing. On Friday morning they decided to go ahead with the location spells that Wesley had decided on – one for Cordelia and one for Angel. He had figured that using two more specific spells – one for humans and one for the more humanoid demons would be easier than using a general humanoid-shaped life form location spell. By the time Giles arrived after dropping Willow off, Wesley had everything ready to go for the first spell – which they had decided would be for Angel.

Gunn listened half-heartedly while Wesley solemnly explained the procedure for the spell. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust that Wesley knew what he was doing – he did, regardless of what had happened between them – he just wished that this whole thing would be over so that things could return to normal. He and Fred would be together, he and Wes would get along again, he would be laughing at the barbs Cordy and Wes threw at each other, and he’d respect and work with Angel, even if he didn’t always trust him.

He glanced across the circle at Giles. Gunn still wasn’t sure what to make of him, even after working with him for most of the week. He was usually very stern with Gunn and Wesley, keeping them focused and away from arguing. But Gunn had also seen that he softer side with how he dealt with Willow – whether it was after she came back from a draining session or when he was helping her through a text as he taught her a new language. He could also tell that he had a sense of humor. There had been numerous times when he and Wesley would share stories from their days at the boarding school – or whatever it was – and Giles would tell of some of the pranks that he and the older boys did on some of the younger ones.

A pair of fingers snapped in front of his face, bringing him back to the present. “Some of us would like to get done today,” Wesley said tersely.

“Sorry, man,” Gunn replied a bit sheepishly.

“Please – focus for twenty minutes. If you’re capable of doing so.”

Any comment Gunn was going to make was stopped short by a stern look from Giles.

The spell went off without a hitch. Well, in the sense that it didn’t blow up in their faces. They weren’t able to pinpoint Angel’s location. All that Giles and Wesley were able to discern was that Angel was still on the plane and somewhere nearby, but they couldn’t get his position because something was obscuring it – either a lot of metal or a lot of water, Wesley wasn’t sure which.

While Wesley was taking a breather before setting up to do Cordelia’s location spell, Gunn wandered out into the garden. He sprawled out on one of the benches and stared up at the clouds in the sky to try to clear his mind.

“While Wesley was in Sunnydale,” a voice began.

“Hmmm?” Gunn interrupted, turning his head to find Giles standing nearby him, but not looking at him.

“While Wesley was in Sunnydale,” Giles repeated in the same soft tone, “I resented him immensely because he was there to replace me. I rationally knew in the back of my mind that it wasn’t his fault and that he shouldn’t be blamed for what had happened to me, but I did. Maybe because he was, at the time, an embodiment of everything I thought was wrong with an institution that had abused me.” He looked at Gunn. “What’s your excuse?”

“Excuse for what?”

“Being a wanker towards Wesley.”

Gunn sat up and ran a hand over his scalp. “He took Connor and gave him to Holtz.”

“And got his throat slit in the process.” Giles ambled a few steps closer. “That doesn’t exactly help your ‘in league with the bad guy’ theory, now does it?”

“Wha-? How did you find that out?”

“He told me when I asked him about the scar on his throat yesterday while you were out.” Giles sat down next to Gunn. “Just as I was wrong, I’m sure that you’ve painted him a bigger villain than he actually is.”

“But he took Connor!”

“Why? I think we both know Wesley well enough – and I’m certain you know him better than I do – that he wouldn’t give the child of someone he cares deeply for to his sworn enemy.”

“I – I don’t know.”

“Then maybe you should go talk to him.”

“Why do I have to, anyway?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because the two of you used to be very close and even if you don’t achieve that again, he would like to at least be friends?” Giles’ tone made Gunn think that Giles thought it would be easier to rationalize with a brick wall.

“Did he tell you this?”

“No. The Queen Mum did.” Now Giles’ voice took on a highly exasperated tone. “What do you think?”

Wesley popped his head out the door before Gunn could reply. “I’m ready, if you two could please join me,” he said.

“I’m holding you to it,” Giles said as they got up and went inside. Gunn only nodded in reply.

Cordelia’s location spell went similarly to Angel’s. Only, this time, not only could she not be found in the vicinity, she wasn’t to be found on the plane.

“How did the locator spells go?” Willow asked as she came in early that afternoon.

“Great,” Gunn sighed as he sank down on the couch across from Giles after helping to clean up. “Angel’s probably at Sea World hanging out with Shamu and Cordy probably went back to Pylea with Groo because she realized she likes being a princess too much.”

“In other words,” Wesley supplied. “Not very conclusively. We know that Angel’s not too far away, but something’s obscuring our ability to tell – possibly a large amount of either metal or water.” He cast an exasperated look at Gunn. “Hence the Sea World. And Cordy isn’t even this plane any more.”

“Hence the Pylea,” Willow added, looking thoughtful. “Heh. Well, at least we can now rule out that they’re together.”

“How was the psychiatrist?” Giles asked as he made eye contact with Gunn, raised his eyebrows and jerked his head toward Wesley.

“Good,” Willow replied as she went over to the couch to tell Giles about the session.

Gunn rolled his eyes, but did what he was asked. He went over and leaned against the counter, using it to separate himself from Wesley, who was sitting at Cordelia’s old desk. “So,” he started casually, “how exactly did you get your throat slit by the people you were supposed to be helping?”

“I don’t know,” Wesley replied calmly, but didn’t look up from his book. “How did it feel to kick me when I was already down?”

“Hey, man, you said that if I ever put one of the group in danger again, I was out. Should go both ways.”

“I never said it didn’t,” Wesley looked up at him. “But at least I was able to look past your mistake.”

“And taking Connor was just a mistake?” Gunn clenched his fists, anger and hurt starting to boil beneath the surface.

“Yes, it was. Though I thought it was the best idea at the time.”

“How could kidnapping a baby be ‘the best idea at the time’?”

Wesley practically ripped a tablet of legal paper from beneath a stack a books and papers. He got up and shoved it across the counter to Gunn. “What would you have me do?”

Gunn looked down at the top sheet. In the middle of the page, surrounded by words in various languages was, in Wesley’s bold print and underlined, “The father will kill the son”.

As he stared at it, Wesley said softly, “Which would you have me do? ‘Kidnap’ Connor until I knew the danger to both he and Angel was over, or allow it to be fulfilled? Not to mention that I didn’t find out until after everything was said and done that it was a false prophecy.”

“Wes, I –“ Gunn started, bewildered.

“Of course you didn’t know. But then, I guess the need to be attentive to Fred can be an all-encompassing job.” His voice became quieter and slower. “Even more so than making sure everything was all right with your best friend, who hadn’t eaten or slept for days straight trying to make the prophecy not be true.”

Gunn felt as if the floor had been pulled out from under him. He should have known Wesley well enough to know this. “Wes –“

“What’s done is done.” He looked at Gunn with a level gaze. “I don’t need you to slit my throat again with your silent accusations and guilt. I’m capable enough to do it myself.” He picked up the notepad and returned to the desk, dropping it on top of the pile that he had originally pulled it out of, before going back to the text that he had originally been perusing.

“Do you think we could ever be friends again?”

Wesley didn’t look up as he replied half-heartedly, “That would depend.”

“On what?” Gunn asked, perplexed.

“Letting me be ready. It wasn’t easy to get betrayed by someone I had tentatively started to trust and then be kicked in the arse by everyone I loved. Obviously, I have some issues of trust that I need to work through.”

“Anything you need, man. Anything you need.”

Wesley finally looked up at him and gave him a tentative smile. “Thank you.”

“So, would you like some help looking stuff up?”

“That would be wonderful. I think it would be better to investigate Cordy’s disappearance first, since she’s not on this plane.” He handed Gunn a book as he sat down across from him. “Wherever she is, she was probably sent there involuntarily, so I’m sure she’ll want to come home. And, as we all know, some planes and dimensions aren’t suitable for us humans. I thought we could first find any and all locator spells that would go beyond our own dimension and plane. After that we could try to narrow it down to the best one that would suit our needs.”

“Would you two like some help?” Willow asked.

“If you feel up to it, I’d be happy for it,” Wesley replied with a small smile. “But we’re researching locator spells, so I’ll understand if you’d rather not.”

“I think I might pass. Things are better, but…”

“I completely understand.”

“If you don’t mind, then,” Giles commented, “we might go do a bit of sight-seeing. Would you two care to join us?”

“I don’t know,” Wesley hesitated. “It might –“

“Oh, come on, Wes,” Gunn cut him off as he stood. “I’m sure Cordy will understand when we find her. Besides, she might be in a dimension where the past month’s only been a couple of hours.”

“Or a few years.”

“But until we know that for sure, let’s go with the first option.” He went around the desk and pulled Wesley’s chair out. “Come on, let’s go try to find John Woo’s star on the Walk of Fame.”

Wesley looked bewildered as Gunn hauled him up. “John Woo doesn’t –“

“Let’s argue on the way.”

“Where to first?” Wesley asked as they walked outside.

“Can we go to Santa Monica?” Willow asked brightly. “I’ve always wanted to see the Pier.”

“We can do Santa Monica,” Gunn said. “One giant Ferris Wheel, coming up.”

After managing to catch the last open parking spot in the Pier lot, the foursome wandered up onto the pier. Willow was taken with the vendors on the pier and stopped at each to examine their wares. They wandered around in the small amusement park on the boardwalk.

“Care to go on the Ferris Wheel?” Wesley asked Willow after he caught her staring at it for a few minutes while they ate an ice cream cone.

“I’d love to. Do you two want to come?” she asked Gunn and Giles.

“I think I’ll hang out here,” Gunn replied. “I’m not too big on the whole Ferris wheel thing.”

“And I’m inclined to agree,” Giles added. “But go and enjoy yourselves.”

As they watched the pair head to the Ferris Wheel, Giles stated, “I take it your talk with Wesley went well?”

“Very well,” Gunn replied as he finished off his cone. “And you were right.”

Giles chuckled. “I knew I was.”

Gunn looked at him and smiled. “So does this mean you’ll stop yelling at us?”

“For the record, I never actually yelled. But if the two of you stop acting like wankers, yes.”

They sat in comfortable silence as they waited for Willow and Wesley return. Gunn enjoyed the fact that Giles didn’t seem to be expecting anything from him. He didn’t have to pretend to have all the answers or be the strongest in the group, or whatever. It was a nice change.

When Willow and Wesley returned, Willow sporting a huge grin, they stood and collected their used napkins, fingers brushing quickly. Gunn looked at Giles sheepishly. Giles just rolled his eyes and kept going without missing a beat.

“How was it?” Giles asked them as he threw the trash away.

“Fantastic,” Willow replied. “You can see *really* far from the top. It was really cool.”

Gunn fell in step with Wesley behind the other two. “You like it?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did. It made me think of the Millenium Eye – which I had hoped to see in London, but no such luck.”

They wandered around for a few hours, staying pretty close to the beach, before ending up at the Library Alehouse for dinner.

Once they were seated on the back patio, Giles said, “I know some people that specialize in trans-dimensional spells and the like. If you want, I can talk to them about spells and such.”

“That would be great,” Wesley replied. “Spells were never my strong suit, so I’d appreciate all the help I can get.” At the uncomfortable look on Willow’s face, Wesley changed the subject with, “And what else would you like to do?”

“I don’t really know,” she replied. “Seeing at least part of the Walk of Fame would be cool. And Groman’s Theatre. And maybe take a tour of a film studio. Or go to Disneyland.”

“I wouldn’t say that’s not knowing,” Gunn commented. “Sounds like you know what you want to do.”

Giles smiled. “She usually does.”

Willow linked arms with Gunn as the foursome made their way back to Wesley’s car. “How are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m doing good,” he replied with a smile. “How are you?”

“Great.” She gave him a wide smile. “Would you like to play some cards or something when we get back?”

“Sounds great.”

“Giles is single, you know.”

That threw him for a loop. “What?”

She blushed a bit. “I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at him off and on today. It’s not that noticeable, unless you’re batting for the other team yourself.”

“Which you are.”

“I am.”

Gunn kept his voice calm, although his head was starting to spin. “And how would you describe how I’ve been looking at him?”

“Like you’re trying to figure him out, see how he fits together, what makes him like Wesley and what makes him different.” She patted his arm. “Be careful. Thinking that way for too long usually causes you to fall in love.”

He looked down at her. “I’m guessing that’s happened to you before?”

“Yeah,” she replied a bit wistfully. “But it was good.”

Gunn was almost afraid to ask, but felt as if he had to. “And Giles…does he -?”

“I’m not totally sure,” she admitted. “We’ve only seen him with Olivia – and Buffy caught him with her mom once, but they were under a spell at the time. Otherwise, he’s pretty private about his love life. But every once in a while I’ll get some blips on my gaydar.”

He looked perplexed. “But he doesn’t –“

“We come in all kinds, Gunn,” she said with a smile.

Gunn let out a resolved breath. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Regardless of how I’m looking at him, I’m happy with Fred.”

After they got back to the hotel, Gunn and Willow set up a new game of gin rummy while Wesley went out into the courtyard to make some phone calls and Giles looked at some of the books in the office collection. Gunn kept sneaking glances at Giles, trying to figure out if he *was* looking at Giles a certain way.

Giles was leaning against the lobby side of the counter and Gunn had to admit that he did have a nice body – well, as nice a one as one straight guy could tell about another who had all his clothes on. His brow was scrunched up, he was chewing on one of the earpieces of his glasses, and his mouth was moving as he tried to decipher a passage. Gunn guessed he looked good. He wasn’t exactly sure how to tell if a guy was good-looking or not.

“Hellooo,” Willow said. “You playing or not?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Gunn said as he drew a card. “I was just thinking.” He discarded another.

“I could see.” She looked a little upset. “I shouldn’t have said that about you and Giles, should I?”

“Naw, it’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting it, you know? So now I’m just trying to wrap my brain around it.”

“Which part? That you were obvious enough for someone to catch you or that Giles might actually be attractive?”

“The second. I’m still too deep in denial about the first one. My masculinity’s hurt.” He gave her a pout.

She discarded a queen. “Well, James Dean was gay and he’s all man. So you’d be in good company.”

Gunn snerked as he picked up the queen. “I doubt James Dean was gay.”

While Giles and Willow did some sight-seeing of their own on Saturday, Wesley and Gunn did some research into locator spells. They were still tip-toeing around the topic of magic with Willow, even if she was saying that she didn’t mind them researching it around her, as long as they didn’t actually *do* it around her. Gunn had to admit to himself that he did miss having Giles around. It wasn’t just that his presence made Gunn feel like everything was going to be okay, there was something else to him that drew Gunn’s attention – some sort of charisma or something.

On Sunday, Willow answered a call from a client wondering if she still owed anything from when she had had a demon squatter evicted from her apartment. After getting the woman situated, Willow decided to go through the files and organize them with an actual system, as well as start a computer database on the office laptop. And she didn’t seem to hear the protests from Gunn and Wesley that while the system didn’t seem to make sense, it did actually work.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday passed quietly and with an air of routine. Willow would go to the psychiatrist in the morning and in the afternoon spend her time organizing the paper files and entering them into the laptop. Meanwhile, the guys went through their contacts again, this time looking for someone that knew a good multidimensional locator spell. While none of their contacts knew of one specifically, they were given a few names of people who actually might.

After they had quit for the day on Wednesday, the phone rang and Gunn grabbed it.

"Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless," he said rotely.

"Hey, Charles, it's me," Fred replied.

"Fred! Hey, sweetie! How's my girl?" He grinned and turned away from the lobby - where Willow were playing a game of Solitaire, Giles was reading, and Wesley was talking on his cell phone for the third or fourth time that day and looking more than a little annoyed.

"Good."

"How's Texas?"

"Same as it was when I left."

He frowned slightly. "You okay? You sound a bit -"

"Oh, I’m just tired. There’s a nest of Thraxas demons that’s been living outside of town for a while now and since I’m the one that’s had the most experience dealing with demons, even though not with these demons, I kinda got put in charge of getting rid of them."

"I’m sorry to hear that, baby. How’s your trip going otherwise?”

"It’s been great. I’m really enjoying my time with my parents and hanging out with my friends from school and stuff."

"Do you think you’ll be able to come back at the end of the week?"

"I don’t know. The Thraxas problem’s taking a lot long than expected, plus there’s been a vampire problem too. So I’ve been having to teach people how to deal with *them* as well as try to figure out how to deal with the Thraxases. Why? Do you need me to come back?”

"Of course I do…I miss you. But we’re doing okay. Some people from Sunnydale came up to help and Wesley’s here too. It’s slow going, but we might be finally starting to get somewhere. I don’t know though. We’ll have to see how some of this stuff pans out. So tell me about some of your friends.”

“There’s not a whole lot to tell. They’re pretty boring compared to the gang that you used to hang out with. Mostly just high school friends who’ve kept in contact with people and have been telling me all the gossip and stuff about people in our class.”

“Any old crushes?”

“Why? You getting jealous that there might be?”

“Maybe,” he said lightly.

"Well, sorta. One of the guys I knew in high school is still around, and we were close back then, but didn’t actually go out or anything. We've just been hanging out and stuff."

"Let me guess - he's a physicist? Do you still like him?"

"Pediatrician, actually." Gunn could hear the nervousness and uncertainty creep into her voice. “I don’t know. Maybe. He’s just gotten out of a bad relationship and I’ve been helping him deal with that. But I’ve only been his friend, Gunn – nothing more.”

Gunn could feel himself freeze up inside. "Answer me honestly, Fred. Do you want there to be more?"

"I don't know, Charles," she replied softly. "I really do love you, but at the same time, I still have feelings for him. I’m not going to be unfaithful to you, if that’s what you’re asking – I love you too much to do that. But sometimes I just can’t help wondering ‘what if…’.”

Gunn felt as if he had been punched in the stomach, but managed to say, “Would it be better if we took a break and let ourselves see other people? Do you think that might help you out?”

“I don’t know.” She sounded as if she was about to cry. “It might. But I don’t want to –“

Gunn steeled himself. “Look, you’re not going to loose me. Whatever happens between us, we’ll still be friends. And this way you can investigate things with your pediatrician and not have any more doubts.” He paused. “Call me if you need help with the Thraxas demons or want to talk or something. And let me know what you decide, okay?”

He heard her sniffle. “Okay. Thank you, Gunn. I love you.”

"I love you too," he replied softly. He set the receiver down abruptly before standing and pulling on his jacket. "I'm going out,” he announced.

Willow just nodded as she glanced up from her game.

Wesley just nodded as he paused in the heated conversation he was having on his cell phone.

"So where’s a good place to get a stiff drink?” Giles asked as he fell into step with Gunn outside.

“And what if I want to be alone?” Gunn asked gruffly.

“That’s fine,” Giles replied. “I just want to know where to get a drink.”

“There’s this English-type pub that Wesley and I used to go to a lot that’s about two blocks up. I’m sure they could help you out.”

They walked the two blocks in mostly comfortable silence. Upon entering, they both scanned the room for any imminent threats before heading to the bar.

After getting drinks and ordering food, Giles followed Gunn to a table and sat down across from him. “Can I help you with something?” Gunn asked sharply.

Giles studied Gunn for a moment as he took another sip of beer, before saying, "Is everything all right?"

"Just fine," Gunn replied shortly. "Why?"

"I don't know - you just seem a bit down."

'Well, yeah,' he thought, 'because I don't know why I'm really drawn to you and because -' "Fred and I broke up today," Gunn blurted.

"Ah." Putting two and two together, Giles said, "Phone break ups are among the worst."

"Personal experience?"

"My fair share."

"Have you ever done it?"

"Once or twice."

"Were you involved with someone else when you did?"

"No - those were usually of the 'getting caught' variety, the couple of times they actually happened. Is this what happened with Fred? She was with someone else?"

"Yeah. Well, sort of. She said she knew him in high school or something like that and that they were close then and that she still might have feelings for him. But I know she wouldn’t cheat on me. And since she’s going to have to stay in Texas for a while to help with some demons, I told her we could take a break for a little while so she could figure things out. I want her to be happy."

"But it hurts like a bugger, doesn't it?" Giles replied with a small, knowing smile.

Gunn nodded. "Definitely."

“And that was very generous of you,” Giles said as their food was set down in front of them. “Not many men would do that.”

After their food was served, and wanting to deflect the conversation away from himself, Gunn asked, "So what's it like working with the Scoobies, as Cordelia calls them?"

"Both terribly frustrating and very rewarding.” Giles ate a french fry. “I've basically watched them grow up and have worked with them from the time they were sixteen, and the growth that they've gone through is just amazing, while -" He cut himself off. "But you don't want to hear this."

"Actually, I don't mind. Besides, you knew Cordelia when she was in high school, I'm sure you could tell me all sorts of stories." He flashed Giles a wicked smile as he picked up his burger.

"She was possibly one of the more frustrating ones in the long term I've had to deal with - although they've all had their moments. She was part of the popular crowd at the high school." He let out a small giggle. "There was this one time, though, where I was roped into running the school talent - or talentless as the others liked to call it - show by Principal Snyder. He’s a little troll of a man who was much like Quark from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", if you're familiar with that series. Anyway, during rehearsal one day, Cordelia came up to me after her routine and was going on and on about it, so I tried something Xander told me about - which was to stare just above her head and make some vague comments about her hair. She ran away practically in hysterics to check her hair."

Gunn practically choked on a french fry. "You've got to be kidding."

"Absolutely not," Giles said with a smile before taking a bite of his burger.

"So what about the others?"

"Their stories are actually more mundane - I think it was because they were more involved in demon fighting. A small favor of normality, I guess. Not that they didn't have their growing pains, mind you - but they definitely seemed to be more of the garden variety."

A second round of drinks was put down in front of them and they ate in silence for a few moments.

"Well, it doesn't sound too bad," Gunn finally remarked.

"No, not always. Although sometimes working with Buffy can be highly frustrating. And being the mentor-slash-parental figure-slash-research leader doesn't always do very well for one's private life."

"I get that. Considering how much time I've spent with the others fighting demons and all, sometimes I'm surprised Fred and I have actually had real dates, much less anything else."

"At least you had that. The last time I've had anything was about two to two and half years ago. And wanking off gets old after a while."

"That sucks. But I'm sure a guy like you could get a date."

"Easier said than done, mate," Giles commented before taking a long drink.

"Oh?" Gunn asked a bit surprised. "From what I've seen, you're a great guy. And you're good looking too - not that I swing that way or anything, I'm just saying." 'Even if I *have* been having *way* too many thoughts about you while I was still in a relationship,' he thought.

"Well, thank you," Giles replied, blushing slightly from the unexpected compliments. "And don't worry - if you did swing that way, I wouldn't think any less of you. I think it has more to do with the fact that life on a Hellmouth isn't exactly conducive to having a relationship of any real meaning."

Giles finished his second beer before Gunn got a third of the way through his own and ordered another as their now empty plates were taken away.

"Fancy a game of pool?" he asked when the beer was set down on the table.

"Sure," Gunn replied. “But I’m not very good.”

“Not to worry. I’m quite good and I’m sure I could teach you.” Giles moved to get up and Gunn followed.

After scratching practically every shot in the first game, despite Giles’ patient instructions, Gunn was ready to give up.

“Come on,” Giles said as he started to rack the balls. “One more game.”

“Naw, man,” Gunn replied as he started to put his cue up. “You saw that I’m not any good.”

“Come here,” Giles said as he motioned him over after putting the cue ball in place. “At least let me show you how to make a good break.”

“Okay, fine,” Gunn replied. He went back over to the pool table.

“All right, get into position like you’re going to break.”

Gunn did so and Giles fussed over him, moving him this way and that. Gunn hated to admit it, but he did like the feel of Giles’ hands on his body. When Giles told him to break, he did so and it turned out quite well. He ended up finishing the game in the hopes that Giles might touch him again.

By the end of the second game, Gunn could tell that the alcohol was starting to take a toll on Giles and figured it would be a good idea to get him home. Putting up his cue, he said, "Come on, Giles, let's get you home."

"Home?" Giles asked curious. "Why are we going home? It's still early."

"It might still be early, but I think it would be a good idea for you to get to bed. You're not doing too good of a job of holding your alcohol." Gunn quickly ushered him outside, hoping that there either wouldn't be a scene or that it would at least wait until they got outside.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Giles said once they got outside. "Usually I can drink most people under the table."

"Maybe it's because of what happened with Willow," Gunn replied. "Dealing with that kind of magic could probably screw you up in more than just using magic."

"True." Giles stumbled a bit and Gunn caught him and helped him right himself. "Careful, feet," he muttered as he instinctively wrapped an arm around Gunn’s waist. Gunn put an arm around his shoulders to keep him steady. He had to admit that it did feel good to be touching Giles like this. It felt different than the times he had done it with Fred, but definitely not in a bad way.

Gunn helped him back to the Hyperion and then led him up to Fred's old room. "You can stay here tonight," he said. "The room’s already made up and I don't want you driving back to Cordy's."

"What about you?” Giles almost pouted, which Gunn had to admit was kind of irresistible. “You could drop me off."

Gunn faked a yawn. "I'm beat and I don’t feel like driving. I think I'm gonna stay here tonight too. I'll be right down the hall." Giles just nodded and Gunn turned to leave.

"Gunn." His name was spoken softly, but he still heard it and turned. Giles had taken off his glasses and Gunn couldn’t help but think how sexy he looked. ‘Must just be the alcohol talking,’ he thought.

“Yeah?”

Before Gunn knew what was happening, Giles had his arms around him and was kissing him – deeply, yet softly. Gunn stiffened for a second before giving in and hesitantly kissing him back. Giles backed off a tiny bit, but continued.

When Giles finally broke it off, Gunn, trying to stay calm, held up a hand - hoping to curb any possible comments by Giles. "I think we should talk about this tomorrow, man - when we're both sober."

Giles let out a small sigh and nodded a bit dejectedly. "Good night, then."

"G'night."

Gunn shut the door behind himself, headed down the hall, continued down the steps and out into the courtyard. After pacing for a few moments to try to clear his head, he sat down on one of the benches to think. Way too much had happened tonight. Not only had he and Fred broken up, but he had just been kissed by someone he had known only for a week and a half. And that someone happened to be a guy, no less. Hopefully Giles' actions tonight had been mostly the beer talking and not Giles.

Not that he was totally averse to trying new things, by any means, but he wasn't sure that doing intimate stuff with another guy was one of them. And he had meant what he'd said earlier - Giles was definitely a nice guy and definitely good looking. He had admitted to himself before that Giles was attractive - obviously not in the same way that a woman was attractive, but he was. Like, there was something about his eyes - which could twinkle with merriment one moment and be shooting daggers the next (he had seen it a couple of times with a joke Willow would make while they were working or back when he and Wesley were still fighting). And his voice - he could probably make a good living doing voice-overs or audio books or something. Gunn thought that he might actually be finally getting an inkling of what Fred and Cordy meant when they said that someone's voice made them melt. And even his glasses were kind of sexy - in a classy, debonair sort of way. But he had never actually thought about doing anything physically with him and now it was hard to not remember how Giles’ lips felt and tasted.

Oh, God. No matter how he tried, he seemed to be getting himself in deeper than he wanted. Maybe there was something in the beer that they had been drinking, because this was crazy. He, Charles Gunn, wasn't gay. And yet, he found that he was definitely intrigued by what had happened. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to see how things went tomorrow. Giles would probably feel guilty, apologize, and that would be the end of it. And just because he experimented, didn't mean he was going to be batting for the other team or anything. But Giles definitely was attractive - in an older, British sort of way.

He rubbed his eyes and then put his head in his hands and tried to cut off that train of thought, since it wasn't going anywhere good. Yes, he’d admit that he found Giles at least somewhat attractive. And, yes, he’d admit that he had enjoyed the kiss. But, no, he wasn’t gay. And he knew that he should be more torn up over his mutual break-up with Fred, but he couldn't seem to muster the effort. It was almost as if he had expected it in a way - after the stuff that had happened with the professor and their progressively colder and less intimate relationship. After another moment or so, he got up and went back inside, hoping that a movie or a video game would help his mind get off the one track that it didn't seem to want to leave at the moment.

The next morning as Gunn headed down from the room he sometimes used at the Hyperion, he heard someone moving about in the lobby. He couldn’t think of who would be here this early, since he was usually the first one here anyway, but then he remembered the events of the night before. He quietly finished making his way down the steps and sat on the landing so not to disturb Giles. The older man was moving about the lobby – tidying up the odds and ends that had built up over the past few days. Gunn couldn’t help but watch as Giles moved around the lobby. He had such a natural and fluid way of moving, that spoke of how comfortable he was with himself and his surroundings. It was actually rather sexy. And he looked rather good in the jeans he was wearing. Gunn tried to block that thought out as quickly as possible, but it wouldn't totally go away.

Giles turned to where Gunn was sitting and noticing him, jumping slightly. He blushed a tiny bit and stammered an apology - hoping he hadn't been too noise and awoken Gunn.

"Don't worry, man. My room's up on the third floor. Besides - even if I could hear you up there, I’d rather find you than an intruder." He smiled. Quickly changing topics, he asked, "Have you seen the others yet today?"

"Not yet. But Willow had said something yesterday evening about picking up lunch this today and Wesley had said something about a meeting this morning, so that may be what's delaying them."

Gunn finally broke and said, “Look, about last night –“

Giles picked a stray section of newspaper up off the counter and put it in the trash. "Yes. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for you having to see me drunk."

"It's okay, man. It's not like it was the first time I've seen someone else drunk, so we're cool."

Giles gave him a small smile. "I'm glad to hear that. Now about what I did – I’m sorry I kissed you. Well, not sorry for kissing you, but sorry about the circumstances. You’ve just come out of a serious relationship, you’re straight and even told me so, and we were both a bit drunk. It shouldn’t have happened, and for that I’m sorry.”

Hoping Giles wouldn’t mind, Gunn asked, “So are you gay or were you just drunk too?”

“Bisexual, actually,” Giles replied calmly as he sat down next to Gunn. “Does it bother you?”

“No. I was just curious.”

“But, yes, I was drunk as well. So,” Giles said, “what should we do about the kiss? Chalk it up to being drunk and move on? Or…” He paused for a moment before saying, “I’ve seen you watching me over the past week and a half, as if you’re trying to figure me, or something about me, out. And that’s perfectly okay. If you just happened to be looking in my direction while working something else out, that’s perfectly fine. And if you actually were looking at me and trying to figure out whether or not I was attractive for whatever reason is perfectly fine too.” He smiled. “Everyone has a crisis of sexuality, Gunn. It’s normal human nature. The abnormal part is to deny letting it run its course – whatever that may entail.”

Gunn swallowed, suddenly nervous. “What would you suggest?”

“Whatever you want. Helping you find resources about being gay and/or bisexual, go with you to gay clubs or other openly gay places – as out of place as I may be at my age,” he gave Gunn a reassuring smile, “allow our mutual attractions to take their course, o-“

“Wait! ‘Our mutual attraction’? What do you mean ‘our mutual attraction’?”

“Just that I find you attractive and that I didn’t kiss you because we were both drunk and because I’m bisexual it means I’ll take whoever I can get. I’m actually rather picky.”

“When did it happen for you?”

“When I first met you. I think I just happen to have more experience being covert about the whole thing.”

“Are there any more options?” Gunn asked, slightly uncomfortable about the whole situation.

“We could just forget about the whole thing and pretend it never happened. We’d go back to you being perfectly straight, me being slightly bent, and let that be the end of it. It’s totally up to you. But please think about it before you make decisions any hasty.”

Gunn was quiet for a few moments. "Well, I wouldn't mind at least trying it out a bit with you," he finally managed. "At least I know you – well, sort of. But I'm not exactly sure how far I want to go with it."

Giles gave him a warm smile. "We can go as little or as far as we want. But let’s let things develop naturally, okay?"

"So how are we going to do this?" Gunn asked, unsure if this would be like going out with Fred or be completely different.

"Well, it's not like we're going to kill a demon," Giles replied, chuckling at the serious look on Gunn’s face. "We could always try another kiss and make sure that this whole thing isn’t just a drunken fluke and after that we can take things as they come."

Gunn let out a puff of air. "Okay, I think I can do that." He was slightly scared because this kiss couldn’t be passed off as being alcohol-induced, but at the same time he was slightly excited.

"I'm sure you can." Giles gave him a warm smile. He leaned in and gently captured Gunn’s lips with his own. He cupped Gunn’s cheek with one hand while using the other to keep his balance. Gunn instinctively turned towards Giles to make the kiss easier. He used one hand for support and kept the other in his lap, unsure of what to do with it. As Gunn kissed Giles back, he couldn’t help but think about how different this was from kissing Fred. Her lips were soft while Giles’ were firmer. Fred was always timid and submissive, while Giles was more demanding, but at the same time very gentle. Giles gently ran his tongue over Gunn’s bottom lip. Gunn let out a soft sigh before opening his mouth and letting Giles deepen the kiss. Gunn copied Giles’ movements, hoping that Giles liked it.

After Giles had broken the kiss, with a quick kiss as a bit of punctuation, his hand slipped around to the back of Gunn’s neck and began gently massaging it. “So…what did you think?” he asked.

“I think I liked it,” Gunn replied with a smile.

Giles returned the smile. “I enjoyed it too. Let me know when you’ve decided, okay?”

“I think I’ve made my decision already. I think I want to ‘allow our mutual attractions to take their course’.”

“Are you sure?” Giles asked. “I don’t want you regretting this down the line.”

“Well, if everyone has a crisis of sexuality like you said, I don’t want to deal with mine by sticking my head in the sand.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

Late that evening Giles came back from a meeting with one of his contacts looking very tired and worn out. “I think I may finally have a lead on Cordelia,” he said as he wearily sank down onto a couch.

“And?” Gunn asked after a moment.

“Ask me tomorrow,” Giles said sleepily. “I never knew getting information out of slime demons would be so tough. Usually they hemorrhage information and gossip at the same rate they do slime.”

“At least write down the pertinent bits before you fall asleep,” Wesley remarked, handing him a pen and pad of paper. “Otherwise it’s likely it’ll become garbled with the rest of what the slime demon told you.”

Giles sighed as he sat up. “Yes, Mother.” He took the pen and paper and scribbled a few things down before handing them back to Wesley and lying back down.

Looking at the paper, Wesley muttered aloud, “‘Dinza’ and ‘The Axis’? What are those?”

“Dunno,” Gunn replied. “That’s why we’re so good at the thing called ‘research’.”

Wesley just gave him a ‘look’. “Well, best get started.”

“Wes, man, it’s, like, 11 p.m.,” Gunn said with a sigh. “I think it can wait until the morning when we can see and think straight. You were just complaining about how your eyes were crossing while you were trying to read your own writing.”

“Okay, okay,” Wesley relented. “We’ll start first thing in the morning.”

“Good,” Willow said as she came out of the office. “I can do general research – but not at this time of night after staring at the computer all afternoon.”

“How’s that coming?” Gunn asked.

“Pretty good.” She smiled. “By the time I’m done with it, it’ll be a lot easier for you guys to access files, see who’s paid, and stuff. It’ll give you guys more time to focus on the problem solving and demon slaying.” She glanced over at Giles, who looked like he was practically asleep. “I better get him back to Cordy’s before he falls asleep. Otherwise I won’t be able to move him.”

“I’m awake,” Giles mumbled from the couch as he sat up.

“But it doesn’t look like you will be for long.” She went over and pulled him up. “Come on, let’s go get some sleep.”

“I thought we were going to do some research,” he said, confused.

“Consensus decided we will tomorrow.” She started to leave. “Good night, you guys.”

“Oh, okay.” As he passed Gunn to leave, Giles patted him on the upper arm and gave him a warm smile. “Good night, Gunn.” He turned to Wesley as he continued on his way. “Good night, Wesley.”

They worked all day Thursday and Friday trying to find information to substantiate what the slime demon had told Giles along with continuing to meet with contacts to try to get every inkling of information they could. It didn’t help much that the bits of information that they could find on the Dinza and the Axis were in other languages – which left most of the research to Giles and Wesley. Gunn spent most of his time meeting with contacts or learning the new computer system from Willow.

Gunn and Giles, for the most part, didn’t do anything to develop their new relationship. At least, not anything overt. There would be the hand on the shoulder when Giles came over to check how they were doing or the slightly more obvious looks from Giles – which Gunn found to be a good thing and not something that weirded him out, but in stead made him feel wanted in a way he hadn’t felt before.

“Finally,” Wesley said early Saturday afternoon, from one of the desks in the outer part of the office where he and Giles were researching, as he poured over a book. “It appears that the Dinza is a dark goddess of the lost. Hopefully she’ll have information that will help us find Cordelia. And,” he paused as he scanned the rest of the page. “Ah, yes, here it is. Apparently, the Axis is a mystical relic that can locate souls in other dimensions. But it doesn’t say where it is.”

“What about the Dinza?” Gunn asked from where he and Willow were playing cards at the counter. “Where’s she?”

“From what it looks like, in one of the sewer ducts off Hollywood. But I’m not exactly sure which one.”

“You can stop looking,” a feminine voice stated. “Although, the Dinza wouldn’t have been a bad idea.”

They all turned to see Cordelia sitting on one of the couches, one leg crossed over the other, and hands folded in her lap. Her white robe seemed to glow softly.

"Cordelia!" Gunn and Wesley both exclaimed as they rushed to her.

"Hey guys," she answered, smiling, as she stood up and hugged them both.

"Where have you been?" Wesley asked. “I thought you were on another plane or dimension.”

"What's going on?" Gunn asked at the same time.

"Calm down," she replied with a chuckle. "I was, but I decided to come back for a bit. Now look, I can't stay very long. I just wanted to tell you that you can stop looking for me. Not that I don’t appreciate all the effort.” She looked past them to Willow and Giles, who were coming over more slowly. “Hey, Willow. Hey, Giles.” She moved past Gunn and Wesley to give the other two each a hug.

Gunn could see the wheels turning in Wesley’s head before he said anything. “What do you mean you can’t stay? Where’ve you been? What’s going on?” Wesley asked.

“The Powers decided that I'm doing a good job, so they made me a ‘Higher Being’. That’s what Skip told me when he came to get me while I was on my way to meet up with Angel. And he said I can do more good this way anyway, instead of by doing the day-to-day stuff down here.”

"What do you mean you're a ‘Higher Being’?" Gunn asked.

"I mean I'm a ‘Higher Being’." She let out a small sigh. "Do I have to spell this out with flashcards for you guys? For whatever oddball reason, someone thought I was doing good work and decided to give me a promotion."

"I think we can deal without the flashcards," Willow replied sadly, some of the joy that had initially been on her face fading and an expression of resolve taking its place. "But couldn't you have let us know sooner that you were all right? We've been searching frantically for you."

"I know - and I tried. But the Powers keep having me do things that are urgent and you know - can't say no to them. But I am sorry. I didn't want you guys to worry, but this is the first time I could come back and tell you. The Powers That Be are really weird about rules and stuff – especially for new people, so I have to get back before they realize I'm gone.” She turned to Gunn and Wesley. “I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm okay and I'm happy where I am. Well, pretty happy. I do miss you guys a lot, though."

"Do you like it?" Gunn asked.

"Aside from not being able to be with you guys - yeah, I do." She gave them a warm smile.

"I hate to ask, but would you happen to know anything about what happened to Angel?" Wesley asked. "We haven't seen him since he left to meet up with you."

"I don't know an exact location, since the PTBs don’t give us all-knowing powers right away – they make us earn it. But I do know that he's definitely still on this plane. And wherever he is, there's a lot of water. I know that’s not much, but it definitely rules out all those other dimensions and planes and stuff, doesn’t it?” Giles and Wesley both nodded with a small smile. “But I do know that Connor can help you. Again, I can’t tell you how I know he can or even how he can, I just know he can – one of the those gut instinct things."

"But we haven't seen him in a month," Gunn put in.

“He’s still around too. I don’t know where he is either, but he can’t be too hard to find – Jungle Boy that he is. If you guys did such a good idea in finding me, I’m sure finding him will be a cinch. But I really do have to go now.”

"Can't you stay for a while and help us out?" Willow asked asked.

"I would, but I can't. If I’m lucky, the PTB’s haven’t noticed I’m gone yet. If they have, hopefully the worst that’ll happen is I’ll be turned into a rock. I really do wish that I could help you guys out more, but I can’t. My ‘special powers’ aren’t all that special yet, so…."

"Will we ever see you again?" Wesley asked.

"Probably not, but you never know - the PTBs are pretty fickle beings. But I'll always keep an eye on you guys. And give you a nudge in the right direction when I can." She gave them each a tight hug.

"Bye, Cordelia," Willow said.

"Bye, Willow," she returned gently with a warm smile and a squeeze to the shoulder. "And things will get better - trust me." Before anyone else could say anything, she disappeared.

There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Well," Giles said to finally break the tension. "That was, uh – interesting."

"Yeah," Gunn pitched in as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "So Angel's in water. That's real specific."

"At least that let’s us cut out searching in the vast amount of land in the area," Wesley corrected abruptly. "And we can rule out pools, zoos and aquariums – he surely would have been found by now if he was in one of those."

"So... what about Connor?" Willow asked.

“Well, my vote’s for letting him do his own thing,” Gunn replied. “If he was all talk about working it out with Angel and fighting demons and would rather be doing his own squirrelly thing, I don’t think we should disturb him.”

“But possibly he doesn’t know that Angel’s missing,” Giles replied. “If he’s been off fighting demons on his own, he may not know that Angel’s disappeared. We should at least try to find him and let him know that much. And then he can take it from there to do as he so wishes.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Wesley replied. “His lack of will on following through with things may leave something to be desired, but we could use all the help we can get in finding Angel. And if Cordy seems to think that Connor can help us, I would like to try that avenue – especially since she risked a lot to come see us.”

“Yeah, that was weird,” Gunn commented. “She didn’t seem like she was totally herself.”

“She may have just been distracted by trying to tell us what she needed to before she had to go back,” Willow replied. “Not that I know what Higher Beings are like or anything like that.”

“True,” Wesley remarked. “I am grateful that she did come see us. From what the text said, the Axis can be very hard to find most of the time and the Dinza rather moody if not treated properly. Not that it says how to do so.”

“If you want, I can go look for Connor,” Willow cut in. “I still don’t trust myself with magic and since we have a better idea of what type of locator spell to use, I’m sure you’ll want to try it.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Wesley replied.

“Might want to check with the shelters first,” Gunn supplied. “He may not be the shelter type, but if he’s been on his own for about a month and half, he’s bound to have stopped into one at least once. Or you might get lucky and somebody’s seen him.”

“I’ll get you a picture that I found that Angel must’ve taken,” Wesley said, as he moved into the office. “Usually it’s easier that way, since so many people go through the shelters.” He came back with the candid photo and handed it to Willow. “There’s a shelter a couple of blocks down. They can give you directions to other shelters when you’re done there.”

“Thanks. I’m glad to be of some help. I’ve got my cell, so if you need me for anything, just give me a call,” she said to Giles. She gave the men a smile before heading out.

"Okay, so let’s start researching again," Giles said to Gunn and Wesley as soon as she had left.

Gunn sighed. "Yeah. And 'a lot of water' isn't very specific when you live on the West Coast."

"We could always try calling fisheries and diving schools, see if they've turned up anything," Wesley replied.

"Aaahhh, phone duty - the kind of research I love most," Gunn replied sarcastically.

“Yes, we al know of you love for the telephone as compared to driving around for information,” Wesley replied dryly as Gunn went into the office for the phone book.

"I'll start with the fisheries if you guys are going to keep going with the locator spells," Gunn claimed, ignoring Wesley's comment as he grabbed the phone book and set up next to the phone on the counter. "So, either of you want to join me?"

"Might as well," Giles replied as he grabbed the materials he had been using earlier on and a stool and took them around to the other side of the counter and began setting up. Gunn just gave him a smile and began calling.

Gunn began to work his way through the listings in the phonebook as the two ex-Watchers began looking for new locator spells based on what Cordelia had told them. By the time most of the places had closed that evening, Gunn had gotten about a quarter of the way through and still hadn't found anything, although both Giles and Wesley had found a few spells that looked promising and would need to be looked into further.

Gunn was relieved when they finished. Not only had it been as boring and repetitive as Hell, but he had been finding it hard to concentrate with Giles sitting across from him. The older man actually smelled really good, even if Gunn couldn’t place the scents. There had also been more than a few times when they would both reach for a pen at the same time to either make notes or cross off another fishery and their hands would brush. Giles’ skin was actually quite smooth and Gunn was actually beginning to give serious thought to finding a way to find out if he felt the same way all over. Surprisingly, that thought didn’t freak him out as much as it once might have. Giles had proven himself to be a calming, if sometimes forceful, presence that seemed to right Gunn’s world by assuring him that they would find Cordy and Angel as much as it turned it upside-down by turning who, and what, he thought he was attracted to on its head.

Wesley’s cell phone rang and upon answering it, he said, “Hello, Fred…Oh, I see…Yes, I know where that is…I’ll be down in a few minutes to pick you up.” Disconnecting the call, he said, “Willow’s down at Anne’s shelter. She says that Anne told her Connor’s been coming there rather frequently lately, but that he doesn’t usually get there until just before she closes up for the night and she can’t always predict when he’ll be in. I’m going to go pick her up, since it’s starting to get dark.”

After Wesley left, Giles asked, “So how are you doing?”

“Well, I’m not freaking out as much as I was earlier, so that’s a good thing,” Gunn replied. “Still not exactly sure what to do, you know? When you’re with a girl, it doesn’t matter what point you’re at in the relationship, you always know what to do.”

“Being with another man isn’t much different,” Giles replied. “Social stigmas aside. What are you thinking about?”

“I don’t know, really.” He blushed a little, even though he was sure Giles couldn’t tell. “I’m just pretty confused about this whole thing. Like, am I gay because I like you? Am I bi? What if it’s only you I’m attracted to?”

“And those are all valid questions.” Giles put a hand on top of Gunn’s and began to gently stroke the skin. “Which only you’ll be able to answer in time.”

A small shudder passed through Gunn. The action, which was actually quite small and insignificant, was sending sparks all through his body. “Have you ever -?” Gunn stopped himself from continuing and blushed again.

“Have I ever had sex with another man?” Giles asked. Gunn nodded. “Yes, I have – a few times. It was very pleasurable each time. Much like being with a woman, but different, as I’m sure you’d guess.”

“Did you, um….” Gunn trailed off and blushed deeper.

“Are you trying to ask if I’m either a top or a bottom?” Gunn didn’t meet his gaze, but nodded again. “I’ve done both, depending on the partner. What is it about this subject that makes you so hesitant? It’s only sex.”

“But it’s different,” Gunn protested.

“How is it different?” Giles countered. “It’s just two people, regardless of their biological gender, using any one of the myriad of reasons that get thrown about to have sex.”

“I guess,” Gunn relented hesitantly. “It’s just weird thinking about something that you’ve always been told is taboo as normal.”

“Yes, it usually is.” Giles gave him a small smile. “A lot of this stuff is going to be more normal than you think.”

They spent the rest of the time waiting for Wesley and Willow to get back by talking about more general subjects – where they grew up, their families, things they liked. Giles never took his hand off of Gunn’s and Gunn kind of liked it. It felt normal and that was something he needed to help balance the rest of the weirdness of what he was doing.

When Willow and Wesley did show up, they pulled apart and Gunn turned to face the newcomers. Willow announced to Gunn and Giles that after discussing it with Wesley, she would be on Connor detail for the time being. It would be a way for her to help without having to do anything magical, and still hopefully get some information on Angel, since Cordelia seemed to think Connor had an idea where he was. She was planning on going back over to Anne’s shelter early the next morning in hopes of seeing if Connor had shown up and catching him before he left.

“And I think we should go out tomorrow night,” she said. “The four of us, anyway. We’ve been working really hard over the past two weeks and I think we need a break.”

“What would you suggest?” Giles asked.

“I don’t know. Dinner and a movie? Dinner and something? I just think we should go do something and the sooner the better.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Gunn replied. “There’s that bowling place a few blocks over. I think they have disco bowling or something on Sunday nights.”

“That sounds cool,” Willow said with a grin. “Tomorrow we should get some dinner and then do that.”

“And what’s the significance of tomorrow?” Wesley asked, looking confused.

“None, really,” she replied. “I’m just pooped now from trying to find Connor.”

“I think it sounds like a really good idea as well,” Giles put in. “What do you say, Wesley?”

“I don’t know,” Wesley replied slowly. “It might be a good idea to continue doing research, since we’ve finally started getting some definite leads.”

“But all work and no play makes Wesley a dull boy,” Willow countered. “It’ll be fun, Wes. And a couple of hours away won’t hurt our chances of finding Angel – especially if he’s under water or something.”

“She’s got a point, man,” Gunn agreed. “Besides, we can all do some work before we go tomorrow.”

“All right, all right, I’ll go,” Wesley said with mock exasperation.

Willow smiled brightly. “Gunn?” she asked with a smile.

“Sounds great,” Gunn replied with a smile.

The next day Giles and Wesley continued to search for more locator spells and making slow headway. Gunn called more fisheries, all with negative results. Willow headed over to Anne’s shelter, in hopes of finding Connor, but without any luck – Connor hadn’t shown up the previous night.

That evening the foursome decided on going to an Italian restaurant for dinner. They had an enjoyable dinner and shared humorous anecdotes about things that had happened in recently to each of them, keeping the mood of the evening light and fun. By dessert, it seemed that Wesley, who had originally had some reservations about taking time off when they were finally getting somewhere, was beginning to acquiesce that going out was a good idea.

"See? We told you that this was a good idea," Gunn rubbed in as the four of them pulled on their bowling shoes.

"Yes, pasta and disco bowling is really going to help us find Angel," Wesley replied dryly.

"And yet you're still doing it."

"Much to my utter amazement."

Gunn paused in putting his boots aside and looked at Wesley. "What's up, man? I know you normally get focused on a case, but this is a little insane. You do realize that once we find Angel, things are still going to be bad between the two of you? I don’t think that a month under water – or wherever he is – is going to change that."

"I know. It’s just that I've just been under a good deal of stress lately and I didn't really want to do this tonight. Well, one can always hope that a month of time alone would help."

Gunn set his boots down. "Well, if you want to go, then go do what you gotta do. But you gotta learn to put stuff aside more often and blow off steam. I’m just trying to help you out this time."

"Well, I did pay for two games so I may as well stay.” Wesley gave him a smile. “And you are right – I do need to set things aside more often."

As the group played their two games, Gunn didn't know what to make of Giles. The older man seemed very relaxed and confident and while he wasn't a great bowler, he was better than Gunn had expected him to be – and better than Gunn was. And, unless he was mistaken, Gunn was almost positive that Giles was hitting on him. It was done very subtly - the tone of his voice, some of the double entendres, the way he would catch Giles looking at him, even the way he smiled. And Gunn had to grudgingly admit that he liked the attention and that it actually did turn him on. It kind of frightened him, but at the same time, it was rather intriguing. And when Willow and Wesley took a time out and excused themselves to get some refreshments for the four of them, Giles took the opportunity to kiss Gunn. It was rather brief, but very intimate and made Gunn’s insides melt.

“Wow,” was the first thing he said. Then, “Aren’t you afraid we’ll get caught?”

Giles looked around at their secluded side of the bowling alley. “Not especially. Are you?”

“I don’t know.” Gunn dropped his gaze. “Maybe.”

“It’s okay to be,” Giles said softly, as he began to caress the back of Gunn’s neck.

Gunn sat back in his plastic chair. “Did you have a hard time coming to terms with the whole liking guys thing?” he asked, looking at Giles.

“Yes, I did,” Giles replied, as he continued to stroke the back of Gunn’s neck. “I realized it as a teenager – which during the ‘60s and ‘70s in England may not have been the best thing, but I did all right. And I know you will too.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I am – you’ll see.” He gave Gunn a quick kiss to the temple and a caress just above his other ear before pulling away as the other two approached. The action had been oddly comforting and Gunn gave Giles a small smile.

After getting kicked out of the bowling alley when it closed, they went back the Hyperion and ended up playing cards and drinking for a few more hours. Gunn couldn’t deny that he had enjoyed the evening more than he had thought he would. It was great to be able to hang out with Wesley again and Willow was a lot of fun. And Giles…Giles was…Gunn wasn’t exactly sure what Giles was, but he knew that he did like him – a lot. And Gunn was slowly getting more comfortable in his skin with the idea that he might like guys – even if he didn’t know to what extent. He still wasn’t sure if he was gay, but he was definitely more open now to the idea that he could be attracted to other guys and the idea was rather intriguing and something that he wanted to pursue with Giles.

Around 3:30 am, they disbanded to different rooms in the Hyperion, since no one could be bothered to drive home - either from the alcohol or just plain exhaustion. Gunn and Giles wandered upstairs together, neither wanting to break off their companionship just yet. When they reached Gunn’s “room”, he asked, “Would you like to come in?”

"If you’re not too tired,” Giles replied.

"Not at all," Gunn answered. "We can chat or something."

"‘Or something?’” Giles asked with a quirk of an eyebrow and a smile. “Should I ask what you may be implying?"

“Ask, think, or imply what ever you want,” Gunn said as he shut the door behind them, “but I’m probably not going to answer.”

“Fair enough.” Giles gracefully flopped down onto his back on the queen size bed. “Rather bare in here, don’t you think?” he asked as he looked around the rather sparse room.

“I don’t spend a lot of time in here because I *do* have my own apartment,” Gunn replied as he kicked off his shoes and lay down next to Giles, crossing one ankle over the other and putting his hands under his head. “I only stay here if we go out to drink and then come back here or if we get back really late from demon fighting or something.”

“Ah.” Giles rolled onto his side facing Gunn and leaned his head against his right hand. He moved his left hand like he was going to touch Gunn’s stomach, but then hesitated, letting it hover.

“What’s wrong?” Gunn asked, turning his head to look at Giles. “You weren’t very hesitant earlier.”

“I know. But things could go…differently now. I don’t want you to think anything I may do is forcing you into anything.”

“Don’t worry, man. I think I can handle it. And if I can’t, I’ll let you know.”

Giles smiled and lowered his hand onto Gunn’s stomach, where he began to gently run his hand over it. “I’m sorry if all this touching is making you uncomfortable. I’ve always been a tactile person, but being British doesn’t exactly go hand in hand with that.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Gunn exhaled lightly before reaching up with one hand, cupping one of Giles’ cheeks, and pulling him down for a kiss.

The kiss was light and sweet as their lips gently brushed over the other’s. Giles hesitantly deepened it, and Gunn responded in kind, his free hand beginning to wander over Giles’ chest. It was weird feeling the expanse of a powerful and flat chest when he was used to a smaller and more delicate chest and a pair of small, soft orbs. But it didn’t feel as weird as he thought it would and he found himself wanting to explore it more. Giles’ hand slipped beneath Gunn’s t-shirt and Gunn stiffened slightly for a second, before hesitantly arching into the touch. They continued the intense kiss as Giles’ hand began to explore the expanse of skin on Gunn’s chest and Gunn hesitantly followed on the outside of Giles’ shirt.

Giles hesitantly broke off the kiss. “If you’re ready, may I….” He blushed. “I’m sorry – for once I don’t seem to have the words.”

“It’s okay,” Gunn replied with a smile. “I’m not the most touchy-feelly person – just not really used to it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it.” He sat up just long enough to take off his shirt. “Is this what you wanted?”

Giles nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“I wouldn’t’ve if I wasn’t.” Gunn gave him a small smile.

“Would you like me to reciprocate as well?” Giles moved to start taking off his shirt.

“I guess,” Gunn said hesitantly.

Giles stopped. “I won’t if you’re not –“

“No, I think I am.”

Giles nodded and took off his shirt. Gunn studied it for a moment – taking in the sprinkling of hair over Giles’ chest, his sinewy muscles, the tiny amount of pudge around his middle, and his dusky nipples. He tentatively reached out and caressed the skin on Giles’ shoulder and slowly moved down. Giles, on the other hand, started down by Gunn’s belly button and worked his way up. As they continued touching, Gunn felt himself starting to get slightly turned on. He didn’t know exactly what was happening, just that he liked what Giles was doing to him. They continued their exploration – Gunn tentatively and Giles more confidently– in addition to more kissing and quiet talking until sleep claimed them.

When he awoke the next morning, Gunn stretched languidly before opening his eyes. He was more relaxed and rested than he had been in a long time. The previous night's activities still hadn't totally sunk in as actually having happened, but it had definitely been good. The idea of simply *touching* was something novel to him and it had felt good – to just feel and explore and have that be the sole objective of the experience. It was refreshing to be with someone who didn’t put pressure on him to put out. Not that Fred had, but Gunn had felt that that would be the only way he’d be able to keep her.

Giles stirred behind him and put an arm around him and kissed the nape of his neck. "Sleep well?" he murmured as he pulled Gunn closer.

Gunn turned in his arms. "Yeah. You?"

"Definitely." Giles gave him a smile.

Gunn smiled back. "Last night was great. Thanks."

"You're very welcome. I’m glad I could help you out in some small way. Are you still okay with all of this?"

“Yeah, I am.” Gunn ran a hand over Giles’ upper arm and shoulder. “I still don’t have things totally worked out in my head, but they don’t sound quite so weird now.”

“That’s good.” Giles gave him a quick kiss. “We should probably get up so I can get back to Cordelia’s apartment and get a shower and a fresh change of clothes.” Giles moved to get up.

Gunn followed and pulled his t-shirt on. “Shower definitely sounds good. Do you think you’ll need a ride?” he asked.

“We’ll just have to see, but it’s a distinct possibility.” Giles looked at his watch. “Actually, yes, I think I will. Willow should be up and gone to the psychiatrist’s by now, so…”

“No problem,” Gunn replied, cutting him off. “I can swing by and drop you off and then pick you up on the way back.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Giles agreed.

When they got back to the hotel, it was later than they expected. Wesley was arguing on his cell phone again with Emil (who he seemed to argue with a lot) about some weaponry he had supposedly ordered that wasn’t quite right.

“I wonder if Willow’s gotten back yet,” Gunn asked as he looked at his watch. “She’s usually back by now.”

"She might be out in the courtyard,” Giles replied. “I know she’s said that she likes it out there and says it helps her feel better."

Gunn nodded. “I’m gonna go see if she’s found anything on Connor. The more help we’ve got the quicker we can get this done.” Gunn crossed the lobby and started to go through the doors to the courtyard when he heard voices coming in from outside. He slowed down, not wanting to startle anyone. When he saw that Willow was talking with Connor, he stopped just inside the door and moved off to one side so he could listen without, hopefully, being seen. The downside was that he couldn’t see what was going on.

“– was it like in Quor’toth?” Willow was asking softly.

“Hard,” Connor replied. “Harder than here, anyway.”

“Do you miss being there?”

“Sort of – but not really. I miss my father, though.”

“Well, if you help us, we’ll be able to find Angel quicker.”

“Not Angel – Holtz. He’s my father.”

“But Angel –”

“He’s not my father. He’s a *vampire*.” Connor practically spit out the last word. “I hope he suffers where he is.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“No,” he replied defensively.

“Okay. I was just asking because Cordelia seemed to think –”

“Angel can rot in hell for all I care.”

“But he’s –”

“Angel means nothing to me.”

Gunn heard a sigh, some movement, and then some footsteps. He quickly moved to make it look like he was just coming outside. “Hey, Willow,” he said brightly. “Connor.” He couldn’t help the way his voice tightened. As much as he had loved baby Connor, teenage Connor got on his nerves. “Giles and I just got back and I wanted to see how you were doing,” he said to Willow.

“I’m doing good,” she replied with a smile as she and Connor mounted the steps. “And Connor’s here, as you can see, so hopefully with his help, we’ll be able to find Angel.” She directed the last bit more to Connor than Gunn.

“I hope so,” Gunn replied. “How you doing, Connor?”

“Fine,” was the short reply. “I’m going out. There’s a nest of vamps that needs to be cleaned out.”

“I’ll come with you,” Gunn said.

“No,” Connor replied sharply. “I can handle this myself. You look for your precious vampire.”

“Is he always this frustrating?” Willow asked when he had gone.

“Yeah,” Gunn replied.

“Is Quor’toth really that bad?”

“From what I’ve heard.” Gunn headed over to the counter to retrieve his things so he could start making phone calls again.

“Oh.” Willow frowned. “Do you think he might know anything?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Gunn replied with a smile. “I would put it past him to try something though.”

“Okay, I’ll keep working on him, then,” she replied. “So how’s it going with Giles?” she asked with a smile as she leaned against the counter. “You two seemed pretty cozy last night.”

“Things are good,” he returned with a smile. “We’re kind of testing things out. But he’s great.”

“Yeah, he is. Not that I would, you know, personally know about stuff like this, but otherwise –” She blushed.

“How long have you known you were gay?” Gunn asked as he shifted in his seat.

“Maybe three and half years? Somewhere around there.”

“Was it hard to come out?”

“Not really. Or at least not as hard as I thought and all my friends were really supportive. But I know it’s different for everyone – both inside and out. Obviously, not everyone’s like, ‘Gay pride – whoo!’ And some people don’t come out to their friends and family for years. And some have a good same-sex relationship or two and then go back to being straight. I was with a guy for a year and a half or so before I was with Tara.”

“And what happened?”

“We broke up – he was a werewolf and he wanted to get more in control of himself.”

“Do you think you’ll ever go out with another guy – or girl?”

Willow shrugged. “I don’t know. I just kind of want to be alone right now.”

“I understand.”

Giles came over. “How does the psychiatrist think you’re doing?” he asked.

“He thinks I’m doing really good,” she replied with a small smile. “But he’s not sure what he can do for me in the long run, once we work through most of my issues. He suggested that we should maybe see about visiting the coven in Devon, since they’re better equipped at working with magic than he is.”

Giles nodded. “The coven had expresses an interest in meeting with you after everything was over, so see what they could do to help you. So if you’re interested, we could look into it.”

“Yeah, it might be a good idea. I’ll think about it, okay?”

“Just let me know.” He gave her a supportive smile.

Wesley came over, shutting his phone off. “We should get started again,” he commented. “Was your discussion with Connor successful?” he asked Willow.

“Not really,” she replied with a sad smile. “He’s still very ‘Angel equals evil’. I guess if Connor does know what happened to Angel, it didn’t make him feel any better.”

“Keep working on him. I have faith that you’ll be able to get whatever he knows out of him.”

She blushed a bit. “Thanks. I’m going to go down to Chanterelle – Anne’s shelter for a bit. I kinda knew her in high school and maybe we could catch up for a bit while I wait to see if Connor shows up again. At the very least she’ll have an extra set of hands. It seems like things have been pretty busy down there lately.”

“It’s always busy down there,” Gunn replied with a smile. “Anne’s pretty popular among us street kids.”

“Yeah, I kinda noticed.” Willow said with a smile. “She said she knew you guys. She thinks you’re great and hopes you find Angel soon.” She grabbed her purse. “So I’ll see you guys either later tonight or tomorrow. And if it gets late,” she said to Giles, “I’ll find my way back to Cordy’s.”

“All right,” he replied. “Do you have the key?”

“Yeah, I do. Do you want it?”

“Keep it. If I don’t see you tonight, I’ll just stay here and go back over in the morning before you leave.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” He gave her a warm smile. “Go have fun.”

After she left, the men went back to work. By that evening, Gunn had finally finished the fisheries, with no luck. Giles and Wesley, on the other hand, hand finally narrowed down the location spells they had found that involved locating people in or near a lot of water. Not wanting to waste any time, they did the spell right away, using ingredients that had been left over from previous castings. But, like the other spells, it didn’t come up with anything conclusive.

“Well, at least we know he’s between here and, like, Midway,” Gunn replied after they had finished. “We keep doing it this way, we should find him by about 2012.”

“Yes, well….” Giles started and then drifted off, not knowing what to say.

“Wait!” Gunn said, getting an idea. “Remember how you had said after we did the first spell for Angel, that he could be either in a lot of water or surrounded by a lot of metal?” he asked Wesley. Wesley nodded. “Well, since we know from Cordy that he’s in a lot of water, but things aren’t getting much more specific, what if he’s surrounded by a lot of metal, in a lot of water? Because I’m sure Angel knows how to swim, so there must be something that’s keeping him from swimming back here.”

“Locator spells may not be an exact science,” Wesley replied, “but that’s a really good idea. We’d have to figure out a way to combine two spells,” he said to Giles, “since they don’t usually include two elements.”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult,” Giles replied thoughtfully, “especially since we already have this spell. That’s a great idea, Gunn,” he said with a smile, clapping him on the back. “And it should help us get much closer to finding Angel, if not pinpointing his location.”

“And you might want –” Wesley started.

“I know, I know,” Gunn interjected with a smile. “I’m gonna start calling the diving schools just in case they picked something up the fisheries didn’t. I’m on it.”

They worked for a couple of more hours until Anne called them. She had just wanted to let them know that Willow was still there and that she was going to be staying for a while, since Connor had just come in and they were talking. When pressed, she only replied that they were just talking about general things and seemed to be becoming friends. After the phone call, Giles borrowed Wesley’s motorcycle to see if he could find some old friends that he hoped were still in the city. And Gunn and Wesley went down to the pub to throw some darts.

“So you and Giles, hmm?” Wesley asked as they set up their game.

“What of it?” Gunn asked, not sure where Wesley was going with the conversation.

“Just making the statement,” Wesley replied, through the first dart – bulls-eye. Gunn was screwed.

“Jealous or something?” Gunn threw his first dart and hit the outer ring.

“Not at all. Just….” He stopped and Gunn could see the wheels turning as he tried to figure out the best thing to say.

“Yeah, I know. Kinda threw me for a loop too. But it’s good – I think.”

“You think?” Wesley raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you know - still trying to figure out what this all means in the cosmic scheme of things. This whole thing isn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and yet it’s weird that I don’t feel as guilty as I think I should be.” He shrugged. “I guess I’m just weird that way.”

“Understandable.” Wesley threw another dart and hit just above the bulls-eye. “And you could do a lot worse than Giles.”

“Were you two ever –“

Wesley laughed. “Lord, no. Only speaking from what I know of him. He’s a good man and a great Watcher.”

“Would you ever?”

“Possibly. But he’s not exactly my type.” He took a sip of his beer. “You never did tell me what exactly happened between you and Fred. Giles alluded to it, but…”

“We’re taking a break at the moment. She thought she still had feelings for this guy from home and I want her to be happy.”

“How very noble of you,” Wesley commented with a smile.

“Well, it’s not like there’s much I could do to stop her anyway,” Gunn replied as he took a sip of beer, “with her being in Texas and me being here.”

“True. And how opportune that it happened at such a time that you could pursue this with Giles.”

Gunn glared at Wesley before throwing another dart. “Since when did you get so cynical?”

“Sorry – force of habit after getting my throat slit. How are you handling it?”

“Which part?”

“Both – either.”

“Pretty well.” Gunn took his last shot. “I’m not too torn up over everything with Fred. Things have been pretty tense between us for a while, so the break might do us good. And things with Giles are definitely interesting.”

“I’m sure. If you ever want to talk about it…”

“Thanks, man.” Gunn smiled.

“You’re welcome.” Wesley smiled back. Things were going to be all right between the two of them.

That night as he lay in bed, Gunn couldn’t help but think about what it might be like to actually have sex with Giles. He wasn’t going to kid himself and call it ‘making love’ because while he did like Giles *a lot*, he had to admit that he was more ‘in like’ with him at present than ‘in love’ with him. Not that he couldn’t – or wouldn’t – fall in love with him, given the right circumstances, he just didn’t know if he should allow himself to consider it – especially since there was the possibility of Giles and Willow going to England for a while. And even if they didn’t go to England, they would still go back to Sunnydale after Angel had been found. And while it wasn’t that far to Sunnydale, it was still far enough that it would be tough.

But no matter what, it wasn’t helping him any because the more he thought about Giles – in any sense – the harder he got. He tried thinking about other things, but it didn’t work. His mind kept going back to the older Englishman and he kept getting more aroused. Gunn finally gave in and reached beneath his boxers to jack off. His precum helped lubricate his shaft as he began to firmly stroke himself as thoughts of Giles flitted about in his brain. Giles smiling. Giles talking. Giles researching. Giles eating. Giles kissing him. Giles touching him. Giles naked. Giles kissing him while they were both naked. Giles taking him – many times. Giles taking him hard and rough. Giles taking him softly and tenderly. Gunn came hard – semen shooting over his hand, chest and boxers.

He sighed as he cleaned himself up, stripped, and then rolled over onto his stomach. Those were very likely scenarios. Giles had never shown any indication he wanted anything really physical. But then, he could just be doing that for Gunn’s sake. Gunn was going to have to find a way to deal with this. Tomorrow. Gunn fell into a contented sleep, hoping he could make some of those fantasies come true.

When Gunn arrived at the Hyperion the next morning, he heard Giles’ voice coming out of the inner office. And he was singing. Gunn stopped at the counter, not wanting to interrupt Giles. It sounded like Giles was singing from either The Doors or The Who or something from the first Woodstock, but Gunn wasn’t sure exactly sure. And Giles’ voice - *wow*. Gunn couldn’t exactly describe it, but it sent shivers down his spine. The last person that had been able to do that had been Lindsey McDonald (although there had never been anything sexual attached to him. Giles came out of the office looking at a book and jumped upon seeing Gunn.

“That was great, man,” Gunn replied with a smile.

“Thank you,” Giles replied, blushing as he came over to the counter and set the book aside. “I don’t sing a whole lot anymore, though.”

“Why not?” Gunn took one of Giles’ hands in his.

“I don’t know, really. Just too busy, I guess. Not that I don’t do it on occasion – as you just saw, but….” He smiled. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah. Did you?”

“I did.” Giles leaned over the counter and gave Gunn a quick peck on the lips. “Good morning.”

“Good morning to you too.” Gunn smiled. “So where’s Wesley?”

“Meeting with whoever he’s been yelling on the phone with for the past couple of weeks. Hopefully they can get it resolved this time.”

“Yeah, I agree.” Gunn paused, weighing what to say next. “We should probably get to work,” he finally found himself saying.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Giles agreed, but he didn’t move. “I’ll miss you once Willow and I are gone,” he said quietly.

“I’ll miss you too,” Gunn replied, trying to reassure him. “But you’ll only be up in Sunnydale and that’s not *too* far away.”

“No, it’s not. But we’ll more than likely be going to England for a while after we get done here.”

“But it won’t be forever.” Gunn smiled. “I think we’ll be able to make this work if we really want to.”

“I know you’re right,” Giles replied. “I must be getting maudlin in my old age.”

“You’re not old,” Gunn reassured. “Maudlin? Not so sure. I’ll let you know after I look it up in the dictionary.”

“Thank you,” Giles replied, with a smile and a squeeze of Gunn’s hand.

When Wesley arrived an hour later, he said, “That’s finally all straightened out. Emil’s good, but sometimes I don’t know where his head is. How are you two coming?”

“Coming,” Gunn replied. As someone picked up at the other end of the call, he said, “Hold on. Hi, my name’s Charles Gunn, and I was wondering if you do any type of treasure hunting dives…Yes, I see…Have you found anything recently?…Oh, really? That’s interesting…And about where was that?” He scribbled something down on a piece of paper. “Thank you for the information. Can I get back to you on scheduling a dive?…Thanks.” He hung up the phone and picked up the piece of paper. “I think we’ve got something.”

“And?” Wesley asked hopefully.

“Some student divers with the Pirates of the Pacific diving school spotted a large metal object not far south of Santa Cruz Island about a week ago. But they didn’t have time or equipment to investigate it and no one’s been back in the area since.”

“They probably thought it was just some junk, anyway,” Giles added. “But it does sound promising. We should finish this spell,” he said to Wesley, “that way we’ll know for sure.”

Wesley nodded. “Definitely.” He smiled at Gunn. “Looks like we might finally be getting somewhere.”

Willow came in later that evening, looking exhausted. Sinking down onto the couch, she said, “Connor’s as stubborn as a brick wall. Maybe more, even. But I’m getting to know him more.”

“Has he said anything more?” Wesley asked.

“Nope. And I honestly don’t think he will. But he’s a smart kid. Holtz must’ve taught him a lot of stuff.”

“How does he seem?” Giles asked.

“Fine.” She sighed. “Well, aside from the obligatory ‘I hate Angel’ every other sentence. He can hold a grudge with the best of them.”

“Mind manipulation at its finest,” Gunn commented. “He probably would’ve grown up to be a pretty good kid, if Holtz hadn’t gotten to him.”

“Yeah, I agree.” She yawned. “I’m gonna go back to Cordy’s apartment and get some sleep. Do you want to come back now, Giles, or are you going to stay and work some more?”

“I think I’ll finish up a bit here,” he replied, “and then I’ll catch a ride from one of these two. Go get some sleep.”

She stood. “I’m going to. Good night,” she called as she left.

“Good night,” followed her.

As the three men were closing up about an hour later, Wesley bade the other two men good night before whizzing off on his motorcycle. Gunn drove Giles back to Cordelia’s apartment building and cut the engine after parking outside.

“So…um…good night,” Gunn said after he had kissed Giles good night.

“Yes, good night,” Giles replied, but he seemed reluctant to leave.

“Do you want to come back to my place?” Gunn asked after a moment of comfortable silence.

“That would be great,” Giles said with a smile.

“You must not spend much time here, either,” Giles commented as he surveyed the spartan apartment.

“Not really,“ Gunn agreed as he locked the door and then kicked off his boots. “Make yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink? I don’t have much, but…”

“No, thank you.” Giles crossed to the bed and sat down before taking off his shoes. Gunn kicked off his shoes and then sat down next to Giles. “And so here we find ourselves again,” Giles commented after a few moments of comfortable silence. “So close and yet…”

“You said you’ve been with other men,” Gunn asked slowly, eyes on the floor. Giles only nodded and took one of Gunn’s hands in his, letting the younger man say what he wanted in his own time. He looked up at Giles. “What was it like?”

“Amazing,” Giles replied softly. “It’s hard to compare with being intimate with a woman, since things are different, even if much of it is the same. But it is a very pleasurable experience.”

“I’ve, um,” Gunn paused, “been having thoughts – fantasies –“ he paused again and wiped his free hand over his face and Giles gave his other hand a reassuring squeeze, “about us. I’m not ready yet, but I am curious.”

“Ask me anything,” Giles answered.

“Could I – could I see you? Naked?” Gunn’s voice trembled the tiniest bit, giving the black man another reason for Giles to find him attractive, and possibly even fall in love.

Giles kissed Gunn’s knuckles. “Sure.” He released Gunn’s hand and stood, turning to face Gunn. He slowly took off his button-down shirt and his undershirt, letting both slip unceremoniously to the floor – as if he had done this many times before. He unzipped his jeans and began to push them down over his hips, exposing some of his white with gray elastic boxer-briefs, before pausing. He looked at Gunn and asked, “Are you sure about this? I don’t want to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“I think I’m ready, so go ahead,” Gunn replied somewhat hesitantly.

“Gunn,” Giles commented. “I need to know that you’re definitely sure about this. I don’t want to do something that will make you uncomfortable.”

“No, I’m ready,” Gunn said with an air of conviction.

Giles shucked off his jeans and socks and stood before Gunn in his boxer-briefs. “Last chance. Positive?”

“Positive. Take it all off.” Gunn gave him a small smile that Giles thought was supposed to be reassuring, but didn’t quite make it.

Giles took off his boxer-briefs and stood before Gunn in all his glory, waiting for a reaction. Gunn was quiet for a while as he took him in, eyes raking over every inch of him as Giles did a slow turn. Gunn had to admit that he did find Giles very attractive and that he did look better in person than in his fantasies. Giles’ cock was large and Gunn wondered what it would be like to touch it – how it would be different from his own, what it would feel like hard.

“So am I acceptable or shall you be trading me in for a newer model in the morning?” Giles asked, amusement in his voice at Gunn’s focused gaze.

“I think I like this model a lot,” Gunn replied with a smile as he stood and closed the distance between the two of them, “but I might need to check out some of the features.”

“Be my guest,” Giles continued lightly. “Just be careful – this isn’t a new model.”

Gunn smiled widely. “That’s what I like about it – proves it was built to last.”

He leaned in and kissed Giles deeply as his hands began to gently caress Giles’ shoulders and back. Giles moaned slightly and leaned into him. Gunn cupped Giles’ ass and pulled him closer. Giles’ hands slipped underneath Gunn’s t-shirt and began to caress his back. Gunn shivered slightly and leaned into the touch as he felt himself start to get aroused. Giles maneuvered them to the bed and carefully pushed Gunn down onto it and quickly followed after. He began kissing across Gunn’s jawline and down his neck, gently sucking and nipping along his jugular. Gunn moaned and arched against Giles, gripping his ass a little tighter and pulling him closer. He wasn’t sure what else to do with his hands – or his body for that matter.

“Giles?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes?” Giles replied as he paused in kissing along the exposed bit of Gunn’s shoulder.

“What should I be doing?”

Giles settled a little more of his weight on top of Gunn and looked up at him. “What do you think you should be doing?”

Gunn liked the feeling of Giles on top of him. It felt good, right. “I don’t know. This is different –“

Giles didn’t try to question, knowing to what Gunn was referring. “Just start feeling around. You’ll know when you do something right.”

Gunn’s brow creased in consternation. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Giles replied with a smile. “I have a tendency to be a *very* encouraging lover.”

“Good to know.”

“So, do you think you’re ready for a bit of ‘I showed you mine, you show me yours’?” Giles asked lightly.

“Not just yet – if that’s okay.”

“Perfectly fine, though I’m going to run out of new areas to explore, soon.” He gave Gunn a small smile.

“Then just kiss me.”

“That can be easily arranged.”

Giles captured Gunn’s mouth again and began kissing him deeply and slowly as he rolled them over so Gunn was on top. Gunn began to gently caress Giles’ body, encouraged by Giles’ soft moans and his body instinctively arching into Gunn’s touch. When Gunn’s hand brushed against Giles’ semi-flaccid cock, Giles moaned and Gunn hesitated for a second. Then he moved off of Giles before taking Giles’ cock in his hand. Giles watched him quietly as Gunn seemed to study the cock in his hand - feeling its weight, cataloguing the contrast in skin tone between them. Then he began to gently stoke it, feeling it from base to tip and then back down, feeling the softness of the skin. Giles moaned and arched towards Gunn as his cock started to harden.

Kissing Gunn’s scalp, he whispered, “Don’t stop – that feels good.”

Gunn wrapped his hand around Giles’ cock and began to pump it slowly, the stiff organ becoming slicker as he spread the precum along his cock. Giles continued to kiss Gunn’s scalp and whisper encouragement in his ear. Gunn also added his other hand and began playing with Giles’ balls – which caused the older man to moan rather loudly and arch into him. Gunn liked the feel of Giles’ cock in his hand. It was thicker than his own, and a tiny bit smaller, but it was beautifully shaped and there was something highly erotic about the way the precum ran along the cut head. The whole experience was *very* erotic, and Gunn couldn’t deny that it was making him hard. Maybe he would take Giles up on the “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours”. Rubbing a thumb across the tip, Gunn felt Giles thrust against him and he came, any noise muffled by Gunn’s head. Giles kissed Gunn’s scalp before relaxing back into the bed.

“Was that -?”

“That was great,” Giles cut him off. He grabbed some tissues from where they were conveniently placed on a bedside table and cleaned himself and Gunn off. Then he kissed Gunn again. “Best hand job by someone other than myself. Seriously.”

Gunn stood and hastily undressed, knowing that if he didn’t do it now, it was likely that he never would. He settled back down next to Giles, who gave him another kiss. Then Giles slowly raked his eyes over Gunn’s body. Instead of it feeling weird, Gunn actually found it to be quite erotic – which caused his mostly hard cock to harden even more.

“I see you’re obviously not totally averse to this whole thing,” Giles replied as he gazed at Gunn’s cock. “May I?”

“Sure,” Gunn replied. “It’s only fair.”

“It’s only fair if you’re ready for it,” Giles replied. “Are you?”

“Yes.”

Giles took Gunn’s erect cock in his hand and began to milk it very gently. Gunn moaned as tendrils of pleasure snaked through him. Giles was definitely an expert at this. He drew the experience out farther than Gunn knew it was possible to go – it normally only took Gunn a few quick strokes before he came (okay, so usually he would have to be horny most of the day and thinking about someone like Vivicia A. Fox, but still…). Giles on the other hand, knew how to give the term ‘erogenous zone’ a whole new meaning. Had he read a Karma Sutra for the Masturbator or something? After Gunn came, he relaxed languidly into the bed, feeling more relaxed than he had in a long time – even with Fred. After cleaning them both off, Giles pulled Gunn closer and kissed his temple.

“Wow,” was all Gunn finally managed to say. “Wow.”

“Is your brain fried?” Giles asked, slightly amused.

Gunn nodded. “That was…amazing.”

“You’re beautiful,” Giles commented seriously. “And I think you’re glowing.”

Gunn could only smile before pulling the older man to him and kissing him senseless.

When they arrived at the Hyperion the next morning, Wesley excitedly rushed out of the office. “I’ve got it!” he exclaimed.

“Got what?” Gunn asked, taking in Wesley’s disheveled appearance and slightly sleepy look. “Did you stay up last night?”

“Well, um, yes, I did. But it was worth it. I’ve been able to corroborate Angel’s location with what you were told by the diving school. He *is* located not far off of Santa Cruz Island.”

Gunn and Giles both looked at each other and smiled widely before Giles pulled Gunn in for a hug and a quick kiss. “That’s some of the best news I’ve heard in a long time, man,” Gunn said to Wesley. “Now why don’t you go get some sleep? Angel isn’t going anywhere any time soon and you look like Hell.”

“I don’t –“

“Go!”

“*Fine*, but not for long.”

“All right, just as long as you get something. We need you awake and alert to be able to help plan how to get him back here.”

While Wesley slept, Willow popped back in. She looked a bit sleepy, but otherwise happy. “Hey guys,” she said, as she entered the office where Giles was trying to give Gunn some pointers on playing darts.

“Hey there,” Gunn replied. “How’s it going with Connor?”

“It’s going.” She sank down into the desk chair and watched them play. “Connor’s a great kid – when he gets past the whole ‘I hate Angel’ attitude. But I still don’t think that that I’m any closer to getting anything out of him about whether or not he knows were Angel is.”

“That’s fine,” Giles replied, taking his last shot. “We were able to find Angel’s general location. Well, Wesley was – but it was a group effort.”

“I wish I could have helped more,” she replied a bit sadly.

“Oh, you certainly did, Willow.” He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You followed up on an important lead so that the rest of us could continue with our work.”

“Yeah, most of which was dead ends,” Gunn supplied.

“I still don’t feel very comforted,” she replied, but she smiled.

“Well, Cordy seemed to think that he’s important – even if you couldn’t get anything out of him yet,” Gunn supplied. “Some nuts are just harder to crack.”

“True.” She yawned. “I’m so tired.”

“What’d you do all night?” Gunn asked.

“Talked and taught him some card games. I’m going to take him to the movies later since he’s never been.”

“What are you going to see?”

“We haven’t decided yet.”

“I’m sure it’ll be an interesting experience for him,” Giles commented dryly. “Maybe you should take a nap. Might not be good for you to fall asleep while he’s in the theatre for the first time.”

“You’re right,” she replied as she stood. “I think I’ll go sleep in Fred’s room. I’ll see you guys later.”

Not long after Willow had left, Wesley came back downstairs, looking more refreshed. “Have we heard from Willow?” he asked.

“Yeah, she’s up taking a nap,” Gunn replied. “She was with Connor all night and wanted to get some shut-eye before taking him back out.”

“Didn’t you tell her we already found Angel?”

“Yep. But she seems to like the kid, so go figure. And maybe she can get some sense into him.”

“Well, I won’t argue with that. Shall we continue?”

“That would be a good idea,” Giles commented as he perched on the corner of the desk. “Aside from the obvious of blood and trying to find a boat, what else will we need?”

“Maybe another locator spell?” Gunn asked. “I’m not sure about using sonar or whatever with how much shit’s on the bottom of the ocean. And probably a change of clothes.”

“Good ideas,” Wesley replied.

“Will Angel be okay? I mean, he hasn’t had any blood for almost a month.”

“Well, it’ll depend on if he had any blood earlier on the day that he disappeared,” Giles replied. “And if he’s down there for too long without blood, it could cause brain damage, but I think he has a high chance of be able to handle a month without blood – provided we get some into his system as soon as possible. Do either of you have any idea of how to get a hold of a boat with a winch?”

“I know of some people who might know how to get a hold of one,” Wesley answered as he sat down at the desk. “I don’t think it’ll take me very long.”

“Well, we’ll leave you to it. Come on, Gunn,” Giles replied as he stood and left the office. Gunn shrugged at Wesley as he picked up the phone before following Giles.

“When do you think you’ll talked to the witches?” Gunn asked when he got out into the lobby.

“Probably after we get Angel back on land,” Giles replied as he sat down on the couch. “I do feel bad for leaving you, though.”

“Don’t, man,” Gunn said as he sat down next to him. “It’s not like you’re leaving me for someone else. And we never actually, you know, said this was long term or anything.”

“I know, but I feel like I have an obligation to you to help you finish this journey you’ve started.”

“Well, there’s always email and the phone. And when you get back to Sunnydale, it’s not that far, right?”

“True. But what of this relationship that we have?”

“Why don’t we just leave things as they are, but if someone else comes into the picture or we find that it just isn’t working, we can discuss it then?”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to –“

“Positive.” Gunn leaned over and captured Giles’ mouth with his own. When he pulled away, he said, “Sometimes I think you think too much.”

“Yes, I have been accused of that.”

“Okay,” Wesley said, coming out of the office. “I’ve procured a boat for later tonight.”

“That was fast,” Giles commented.

“Well, I had a few favors I called in. And I think we’ll be able to modify the spell that I used to find Angel with a guiding spell and we should be in business.”

“Guiding spells are used to find stuff or people, right?” Gunn asked. Wesley and Giles nodded. “Well, then wouldn’t using a locator spell and a guiding spell be kind of redundant?”

“Yes and no,” Wesley replied. “Using a locator spell is like being told where your keys are while using a guiding spell is like actually being shown where your keys are.”

“Then why wouldn’t we just use a guiding spell? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

“Just trying to hedge our bets. I highly doubt we want to be lead to an angel in Receda or something. They’re not really known for understanding intent.”

“I’ll let you two get to your thing, then,” Gunn said as he stood. “I’m gonna go out and get some food. Would either of you like anything?”

Arriving back about an hour later, Gunn was glad that they had decided to get something for Willow, since she was up. “How’s it coming?” he asked as he laid out the sandwiches.

“We’re just waiting for nightfall, now,” Giles replied.

Gunn nodded. “Are you coming with?” he asked Willow as he handed her a sandwich.

“I don’t think so,” she replied. “I still don’t trust myself around magic. I know Wes said that this spell isn’t *that* big of a deal, I just want to make sure.”

“I get that.”

Wesley, Gunn, and Giles set out two hours after sundown to give themselves as much time as possible. After getting the boat, Wesley cast the engineered spell, which the captain warily followed. When they arrived at the location that the spell indicated, and the ship’s captain verified that there really was something down there, a diver was dispatched to help bring Angel up. A few minutes later, the diver reappeared again and they began pulling the heavy box up from the bottom of the ocean. After they had gotten the huge box on board, they approached it cautiously.

"Remember to be careful," Wesley cautioned. "While Angel should be okay, we don’t know for certain."

Wesley used a blowtorch to cut through the rusted bars that held the lid in place and then he, Gunn, and Giles slid off lid of the box. As the two Englishmen moved the lid out of the way, Gunn grabbed a pair of heavy-duty cutters and severed the chains holding Angel in place.

“That was rather anticlimactic,” Gunn commented as they came back over to help get Angel out of his rusted prison.

“I’d rather that than something go wrong,” Wesley commented.

As soon as the comment escaped his mouth, a hand shot out of the box and grabbed hold of Wesley’s neck. Wesley and Angel stared at each other for a moment, as the others looked on in shock, before Wesley easily pried Angel’s hand off and put it down.

“Okay, let’s go,” Wesley said to the captain, who nodded and started back to shore.

Gunn and Giles got Angel out of the box and wrapped him in blankets as Wesley fetched the cooler with blood. He then got behind Angel and supported Angel against him as he tried to slowly feed him some pig’s blood. After feeding him about half a jar, they waited for a few minutes, but Angel didn’t rouse any further.

“Is it working?” Gunn asked skeptically.

“It should be,” Giles responded. “But being underwater for a month might be affecting him more than we anticipated.”

“I don’t think the pig’s blood’s working,” Wesley observed. “He needs more substantial nourishment.” He pulled a small Bowie knife from the back of his jeans and cut open his left inner forearm –

“Jesus, man, what are you thinking?” Giles asked, moving to stop Wesley.

- before holding it in front of Angel, who took it and began drinking hungrily, but didn’t vamp out. When Angel suddenly coughed, Wesley pulled his arm away and stanched the bleeding with his handkerchief.

“What’s going -?” Angel croaked.

Wesley rubbed Angel’s arms. “It’s okay,” he replied, “Don’t try to speak yet.”

Once they arrived back at the Hyperion, Wesley and Gunn helped Angel upstairs while Giles went to heat up some blood. After they got him situated and, as far as they could tell, asleep, the three men ventured back downstairs. Willow and Lorne were chatting quietly as they waited for them.

Willow smiled brightly when she saw the three men and asked, “So how did it go?”

“Angel’s upstairs resting,” Wesley replied. “He should be all right by morning.”

“That’s great,” Lorne commented. “Even if I can understand the whole ‘hatred of a parental figure’ act he’s got going, I didn’t hate my mother *that* much.”

“What are you doing back?” Gunn asked him. “I thought you were making your fame and fortune in Las Vegas.”

“I was, but it got old after a while. Doing the same show eight times a week got boring after a while. I like to mix things up a little bit every now and then and they didn’t.”

“Fired?”

“Quit.”

Gunn arrived at the Hyperion late the next morning to find Giles conversing on the telephone and no one else in sight.

“Yes…yes…I understand,” the Englishman was saying. “That shouldn’t be a problem.” He jotted something down. “We’ll be out there as soon as possible. Thank you so much for agreeing to this so readily.” He smiled. “I will. Good-bye.”

As he hung up the phone, Gunn leaned against the counter and said, “So I take it you two will be leaving soon?”

“It appears so,“ Giles replied. “The coven was very willing to see Willow as soon as possible. We’ll more than likely take a flight later tonight so that we can arrive there early morning their time.”

Gunn nodded. “So where are the others?”

“Willow’s at the psychiatrist’s office, finishing up her last session. She had only signed up for a month on a trial basis, so that works out well. Wesley, I haven’t seen. Lorne, is it? Is out with a client or a friend or something, I’m not quite sure. And Angel’s down in the basement working out. He appears to be doing quite well and said something about having gotten enough sleep while at the bottom of the ocean.”

“I don’t blame him – especially if that’s the only thing he can really do down there.”

“I agree.” He paused. “I best call Buffy now and let her know that there’s been a change in plans.”

As Giles made the other phone call, Gunn checked the messages through the phone in the inner office. Most were old ones that he deleted, but there was one new one.

Fred’s voice floated over the line as her message played. “Hi, Charles. I just wanted to call and let you know that I’ve made my decision. I’m going to stay here. I love you and I love the guys, but this is where my heart really lies. I’m sorry. I’ll be out in another week or so when things quiet down to collect my things and really say good-bye. I’m sorry.”

As Gunn deleted the message, he felt good, in a way. He had suspected that things were going to end up this way when she had called before, and was glad that the confirmation had finally come.

That evening, Gunn drove Willow and Giles to the airport after a round of sentimental good-byes back at the hotel. Angel had thanked them both profusely – again – for helping find Cordelia and himself. Willow had kissed all the guys on the cheek and given them a hug – including Lorne. (She had gone to see Connor after her session.) Giles didn’t say much, though Gunn saw an expression that looked much like the stoic one that Wesley usually wore when he didn’t want to let the emotions beneath shine through as they made plans to get his car back to Sunnydale and he said his good-byes.

As he pulled up to the curb, he said, “I’d come in with you, but it’s kind of pointless now since I wouldn’t be able to get very far.”

“It’s okay,” Willow replied with a smile. “Thanks for everything.”

“You’re very welcome.”

She got out of the truck and pulled her bag out of the back. “I’ll give you guys a couple minutes to say good-bye. I’ll be waiting right inside the door,” she said before shutting the door.

Giles squeezed Gunn’s hand. “I had a wonderful time,” he said softly. “I hope I’m not leaving you in too bad a place, am I?”

“I don’t think so. Like you said before – we’re still together and we’ve got phone and email and visits after you get back. I’m sure we’ll get by. I think it’ll be good that I’m at least physically alone for a while. Might help me sort things out.” He gave Giles a quick kiss on the lips. “Have a goof flight and call me when you guys get there, okay?”

“Will do.” Giles smiled as he got out of the truck. “I’m glad I met you, Gunn. You’re an amazing person.” He shut the door and grabbed his suitcase out of the back. He waved and then disappeared into the building.

Gunn shook his head as he pulled back into traffic. This had definitely been one crazy month. But he wouldn’t have traded it for anything.