Title: Green Raven Shantey 1/6
Author: Elisabeth
Email: dragonydreams@yahoo.com
Rating: G - this part (NC-17 eventually)
Pairing: Willow/Giles, Buffy/Riley, Xander/Anya, Willow/Tara implied
Summary: Giles receives a mysterious brochure to a resort and takes the gang on vacation.
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Joss et al.
Spoilers/Timeline: Day after the episode 'Restless' (end of season 4).
Distribution: WLS, WWW, ODD, anyone else - please ask.
Author's Note: Thanks to my wonderful Betas for all of your help.

Giles wearily opened his apartment door. He tossed the keys and mail on the desk and made his way over to the whiskey bottle. He poured himself a generous portion, picked up the mail and made his way over to the couch.

It had been a couple of long, trying days. Last night's nightmares certainly explained his immediate tiredness. Almost being murdered by the First Slayer is enough to give anyone an unrestful night's sleep. He was never able to get back to a sound sleep that night.

And the days before that were, of course, taken up with preparing to fight, and take down Adam. Spike's games of trying to break the group up were tiresome as well. Of course Giles had spent most of those days in a drunken stupor. The hangover was virtually unbearable.

Giles cleaned his glasses and turned his attention to the post. Bill… worry about it later. Motorbike magazine… will put in bathroom. Vacation brochure… will go in trash.

As he starts to go to the next piece of mail his eyes are drawn back to the brochure. He had no plans to go on holiday, yet the log cabins surrounded by trees looked very inviting. He set the rest of his mail aside and began to peruse the pamphlet.

Half an hour later, after carefully reading the entire pamphlet, twice, Giles had made up his mind. He was going to treat the gang to a vacation at the Green Raven Shantey. After all, he rationalized, they had earned it.

He no longer felt exhausted as he went to the phone to call Buffy and Willow's dorm room. Buffy finally answered on the third ring.

"Hello?" she groggily asked.

"Buffy? I'm sorry, were you asleep?" he looks at his watch, realizing the time.

"Uh huh. What is it Giles? Can it wait until morning? How are you even awake? After last night I couldn't wait to get to bed."

"I must have gotten a second wind. I apologize for waking you. Could you and Willow please stop by tomorrow? And bring Xander."

"Yeah, sure. See ya then."

"Good night Buffy."

"Night."

*****

Giles was up bright and early, after a very sound sleep, anxiously waiting for the 'children' to arrive.

He was practically bouncing off the walls by the time they arrived around noon time.

He hurried them into the apartment and into seats, barely containing his excitement.

"So what's the big emergency that you had to interrupt my beauty sleep?" Buffy chided.

"Yeah G-man, you're practically giddy, which is giving me the wiggins," Xander agreed.

"Please tell us," Willow quietly added.

"How would you all feel about going away on holiday?" Giles excitedly asked. When he was met with blank stares, he continued. "Yesterday I received this brochure for the Green Raven Shantey and I thought that we could all use some rest and relaxation after defeating Adam. Here take a look for yourself." He handed them the pamphlet.

They all squished together on the couch to read through the brochure. Buffy, Willow and Xander exchanged nervous glances before they replied.

"It looks great," Buffy tentatively agreed. "It's just that Riley and I kinda wanted to spend some time together."

"Yeah, me and Anya too. She's been feeling a little unappreciated what with the whole fighting a part-human-part-demon-that-wants-to-build-an-army-of-freaks thing."

"Bring them along. Tara too. The more the merrier." He could see Xander about to object again so he added, "And I'm paying, for everyone."

"Then count us in," Xander practically jumped for joy.

"Us too," Buffy agreed.

"I'll ask Tara," Willow ventured. Something about this situation didn't feel completely right to her, but she couldn't put her finger on what was wrong. She skimmed the brochure in front of her again. On the second read-through it sounded more inviting, and it did look nice and relaxing.

"So when are we going?" Buffy bounced in her seat.

"I was thinking the day after tomorrow. I called them this morning to see if they had four rooms available this week and amazingly they did. I told the manager that I would give him a call back this afternoon to make the arrangements after I discussed the details with you."

"Well, call him back," Xander encouraged. "We can't let those rooms get away."

*****

Two days later Giles, Buffy, Riley, Xander, Anya and Willow piled into the minivan Giles had rented for the trip. Willow explained upon her arrival that Tara wasn't comfortable going on vacation with the group. (She also hadn't seen the brochure to see how wonderful it was going to be.)

The drive to the retreat seemed to take forever, especially to Giles, who was forced to listen to the others sing travel songs and play car games. Luckily the "punch-buggy" game was nixed after Buffy nearly bruised Xander's arm after an enthusiastic punch. In reality the drive lasted for approximately two hours.

They all agreed that the trip was well worth the drive as they drove down the shady lane to the cluster of "shanties" half a mile up the road. The grounds consisted of a large wooded park with hiking trails, a small spa with a gym and swimming pool, and in the main building were a concert hall, a dining room, and a library with state of the art computer equipment as well as a diverse assortment of books.

Giles parked in front of the main building to check everyone in. The gang milled around the lobby, even more impressed about the resort than they had been. After sorting out the room keys they headed off to their individual cabins to relax before dinner. The four cabins that were assigned to the Scooby Gang were laid out such that two were right next to each other and the other two were a bit separate, from each other as well as the first two. Giles and Willow took the cabins next to each other and gave the couples their privacy.

Through the closed circuit monitoring system in the back room the resort's owner watched the new arrivals with great interest. "That was even faster than I expected," he mused to himself. "Well, Ripper, let the games begin."

*****

The group had planned to meet at the entrance to the dining hall at 8:00pm. Giles and Willow were the first to arrive, as they had no one to wait for, or waiting for them. Buffy and Riley arrived a short time later with Xander and Anya completing the ensemble fifteen minutes later.

Once seated they all agreed that the accommodations were amazing.

"I couldn't believe how soft the bed is," Anya commented. "It has so much bounce to it. We're going to have to be careful not to bounce onto the floor tonight," she tells Xander.

"Does your room have a Jacuzzi in it?" Willow hurriedly asked, noticing the blush rising on Xander's cheeks. "I can't wait to try it out."

"I know," Buffy agreed, "a Jacuzzi for two, very romantic." She winked at Riley.

"Um, yeah," Willow shifted uncomfortably, once again reminded that her girlfriend didn't want to come.

Thankfully the food arrived soon and everyone spent the next several minutes eating instead of talking.

Giles wiped his mouth with his napkin before tossing it on the plate and commenting, "That was magnificent." He stretched a little in contentment. "Well, what would you all like to do this evening?" he asked, looking around the table.

Four sets of cheeks blushed and eight eyes stared at their plates before anyone replied. Finally Riley coughed, "Well, you see… we were kind of hoping…"

"We want to have sex," Anya stated.

Willow's mouth dropped open and Giles and Riley coughed.

"Leave it to Anya to say what everyone's thinking," Xander commented.

"Of course you would like some time alone after the past week's excitement." Giles agreed, in a roundabout way. "I should have expected that. Well, off you go."

Before dashing off, Buffy turned to Willow, "You gonna be okay? I know you're all alone here."

"I'll be fine," she answered, only a slight hint of sadness in her voice.

"And she's not alone," Giles added. "Willow, would you like to spend the evening with me?"

"That would be nice. We could explore the main building, maybe?"

"An excellent idea. You see, Buffy, Willow…" he turned to address the Slayer, but she was no where to be seen, "has me." He turned back to Willow with a hearty grin gracing his face, willing her to know how true that statement was.

They left the dining room and headed towards the concert hall. There was nothing on the schedule for that evening, so they were able to walk through and admire the space. The room echoed with their footsteps. When they spoke, they whispered, afraid to break the spell of the room. There was something about being in an empty concert space when there wasn't a performance that felt incredibly naughty. And they were thoroughly enjoying being naughty together.

*****

At breakfast the next morning the girls decided to spend the morning at the spa, leaving the men to entertain themselves. Riley managed to convince Giles and Xander into working out in the gym for a while. Riley immediately headed for the weight machines and free weights. Giles enjoyed making use of the treadmill and punching bag. Xander opted for the swimming pool and spent the morning floating around on his back.

Meanwhile, Buffy, Anya and Willow bonded over mud baths, massages, manicures and pedicures. They had ample time to talk about the previous evening. Anya gave a bit more detail about her night in bed with Xander than the other two girls felt comfortable with. Yes, they loved Xander, but neither of them really cared to know about his bedroom technique. Eventually Buffy was able to get Anya to stop talking by telling of her night in the hot tub with Riley. Anya paid close attention, asking pointed questions, so that she could spend that night doing the same with Xander.

"So how was your evening with Giles?" Buffy finally asked.

"It was magical really," Willow sighed.

"Magical?" Anya snorted. "Were you performing magick on vacation?"

"Not that kind of magical," Willow laughed. "We walked around the concert hall."

"Doesn't sound very special to me," Buffy commented.

"Maybe you had to be there," Anya agreed.

"Maybe." Willow hesitantly agreed. "I don't know how to describe it. The room echoed when we walked or talked, so we had to be quiet and speak to each other in whispers. And the room practically vibrated with the excitement of past performances. There was this energy in the room, of anticipation, or something very much like it."

Buffy and Anya noticed the wistful expression on Willow's face and then exchanged a worried look. Hope was written clear as day in her features. They wondered what she was hoping for.

*****

After lunch the group broke into couples again. Buffy wanted to explore the woods with Riley and Anya wanted to check out the hot tub with Xander. Willow and Giles decided to take a leisurely walk around the property and do a little forest exploration themselves.

As they walked around they discussed their mornings. Giles commented on how good it had felt to simply lose himself in the physical exertion of a workout. It has been ages since he had done so. Willow offered up an image of Xander doing any kind of physical exertion, causing a long and hearty laugh, both agreeing that the pool suited him. As Willow described her morning of pampering Giles tried, in vain, not to imagine her spending the morning in nothing but a towel or robe, or less.

As they entered the forest the same sense of awe they had felt the previous evening returned to them. The forest held a different kind of peace and quiet than the concert hall had, yet it was just as powerful, perhaps even more so. Their conversation died on their lips as they slowly walked down the dirt paths. Giles paused and put his hand on Willow's arm to stop her as well. Off to his left side, not a dozen feet away, was a family of deer eating lunch. Giles' arm made its way around Willow's shoulders and hers found its way around his waist. They stood together, watching the deer, for what seemed like hours.

A loud crash broke the silence and the deer scattered. Before they could react, Buffy and Riley came crashing through the trees, half clothed. They stopped in their tracks at the sight of Willow and Giles with their arms around each other, mindless of their own appearances.

"Uh, hi guys," Willow started. "It's a nice day for a walk in the woods isn't it?"

"Ah yeah," Riley agreed, pulling on his t-shirt.

Buffy quickly pulled her top on as well. "We found this really nice clearing a little further up with this big moss covered rock…" Giles' look of mortification was enough to stall the rest of that sentence. "So what were you guys doing?"

"Actually we were enjoying the *serenity* of nature." Giles pointed out.

Willow clarified, "There was a family of deer eating right over there," she pointed to the spot near where Buffy and Riley and come from, "and we were watching them."

"I always knew you liked to watch," Buffy commented. Giles glared at her. "Sorry, Giles, I couldn't help myself."

"That's alright. Willow and I weren't done exploring yet, so we'll leave you to finish what you were doing."

"We were pretty much done," Riley started, until Buffy elbowed him. "But we could definitely explore some more, just us."

"We'll see you at dinner then?" Willow asked.

"Actually, we were planning on ordering room service tonight, if that's okay with you."

"That's fine Buffy. We'll see you tomorrow then."

The two "couples" separated and went on with their explorations.

*****

When they returned to the main building there was a message for Giles from Xander saying that he and Anya were planning on ordering room service too, and they'd meet up again in the morning.

"I guess that you're stuck with me for a while longer," Giles said.

"I'm not stuck," Willow argued. "I enjoy spending time with you. I'm just sorry that you're stuck with all of us."

"It was my idea for this trip Willow. Therefore I am no more stuck than you are," he smiled. "Did you want to eat in the dining hall or would you prefer to order room service as well?"

"I thought we were going to spend the evening together?" she worriedly exclaimed.

"And so we shall. I meant that we could order room service, together, from one of our rooms, if you would like."

"Oh," she blushes. "Let's do that. I've never ordered room service before. It always sounded so decadent."

"Well then, that's exactly what we should do," Giles decided. "My room or yours?"

"Mine. Just give me an hour first? I want to take a shower and rinse the dust off before dinner."

"Of course. I think that I'll do the same. I'll be there in a hour." Giles kissed her cheek to seal the promise before heading off to his cabin.

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