Giles smiled to himself. Sitting with Oz while Buffy showered blissfully emptying his hot water heater was a relief. He could see that things were changing. Perhaps she was done playing around with her heart. She seemed happier and more in tune with herself. Giles closed his eyes and remembered Buffy arriving at his door after patrol three nights before and blurting out that she was living with Oz by way of greeting. He had smiled and asked her if Oz liked the spare room. After seeing them together, he knew Oz's room would be spare again soon.

"How is living in the eye of the storm?" Giles asked.

"Peaceful. I like it." Oz smiled and seemed to look inward.

"I take it she hasn't told Willow you're back. Is there any reason or is it just Buffy being Buffy?"

"Buffy being Buffy. She's worried about hurting Willow, but I'll handle it soon. I want to make her life easier, Giles. She has enough to do." Oz looked at him their eyes locked for a moment. "I was going to come here to talk to you in the morning."

Giles nodded and pulled his glasses off to polish them.

"I want to do the right thing. I need to know that I'm not hurting her." Oz looked at the ground feeling ashamed.

"If this has something to do with your nature, I rather think your condition makes you a better choice for her. You are stronger and harder to kill. You will never leave her."

"I'll never leave again either way. She's my alpha. The Scoobies are my pack. I want to be by her side in any capacity she allows."

Giles looked at the wolf. "It won't be easy. I see the benefits for her, but you must be aware that there are some rather difficult realities in your future."

"I know there's a good chance she'll die before me." Both men fell silent, dreading the future they could all to easily imagine.

Giles stood and paced to the counter. He poured two glasses from his finest single malt. "A few precious hours against the endless years." He handed Oz the drink.

" Still, think of those hours, alive in the eye of her storm." Oz grinned at the watcher as he tried not to blush. "And you as a watcher in law. I think it will be enough and never enough."

"I think that's how you know it's right, Oz."

"And I get you as a watcher in law."

"But you get stuck with Hank Summers as a father in law."

The two men shared a look and small chuckles before settling down to the real work of waiting for Buffy.

Giles pulled books from the shelves and handed one to Oz. "Let the research begin."

Oz looked the book over,

"Can I take this one with us?"

"It's a good general source on lycanthrope behavior, so you are welcome to it. I have a slightly different edition compiled thirty years earlier." Oz went very still and ran a finger along the cover. Giles noted the change. Everything with Oz was subtlety. "I started researching for you the day she took you under her wing."

"Thanks." Oz smiled quickly and pulled a second book from the desk.

"Have you seen her library?" Giles asked though he knew the answer.

"If you mean the absurd amount of fashion magazines, then yes. Is there more?"

Giles pushed back from the desk. "Buffy hates research, but shortly after you left she started attending various estate sales and auctions with me. In the last year, she has started acquiring books for her own research. I can't tell you what all she has, but three months ago, she sold a weapon to purchase a series of diaries."

"Buffy sold a weapon? She's maniacal about them. I mean I remember how she used to treat them, but she must spend two hours a day on maintenance now."

"It is a rather lovely dagger, cost me a bit to get it back for her, when I discovered what she had done." Giles pulled out a small wooden box and passed it over to Oz. "I intend to return it to her for Christmas."

"I won't spoil it." Oz plucked the dagger from the velvet lining. Turning it in his hand admiring the balance. The hilt was formed around a series of stones.

"Three slayers have owned that weapon before Buffy. It was used to avert an apocalypse at the turn of the century. Buffy sold it to buy a collection of journals written by a Welsh woman who mated a werewolf."

Oz felt joy surging through him. He sighed and returned the blade to its case. "Interesting." Oz handed the treasure back to Giles with a half smile tugging at his lips.