Midnightobsidian-thank you very much and as you can see…I have continued haha.

Zigpal- Buffy will find out how long they knew for (I don't think she fell for their lies from the off. Hehe) but twill be in a while and thanks for the review.

So here is the next chapter; choices. Tis rather long but hope you like and review like you've never reviewed before! Hehe

(And appreciate my effort in typing this as at the time my 'U' key wasn't working too well in the sense that it wasn't.I had to like hit down really hard and never till now did I realize how many words have U in it. Haha)

"Sounds like your Mom's in a state of denial" Willow acknowledged at lunch. She, Oz and Buffy were sat outside at one of the school's picnic benches.

"More like a continent," Buffy paused, "I think maybe I should join her there"

"Huh?"

"This morning when she came into the kitchen gushing about my results…Giles was with her," Buffy told them.

"Huh" Was all Oz had to say.

"That's nice them spending time together" Willow said, her naivety once again shining through.

"Willow it was half eight in the morning" She told her friend simply, but she still didn't get it.

"So?"

"Will, the only way for him to be there that early was if he had spent. The. Night," Buffy explained slowly and Willow's eyes widened.

"Oooooh!" She said in realization and Buffy nodded.

"Exactly" She sighed, "It's fine and all…it's just I don't think I can take seeing a reminder of it everywhere I go. Not just yet anyway"

"Well, he is going to be hanging out a lot more…" Willow reasoned "Or maybe your Mom will be over at his house more or the library…and…this…isn't what you wanted to hear is it?"

"I think it's cool" Xander commented from his seat under the tree and Buffy raised an eyebrow at him.

"You dated Cordelia," she stated simply and he shrugged in acceptance.

"Sure I've flaws in the romance quarter of life…. but still, you don't think it's kinda cool?" He asked, "I mean now you no longer have to worry about Giles being seduced by demon women and your Mom won't be dating anymore robots. Or weird guys who have a strange love for the circus"

"It's all good I know…" Buffy admitted, "But it doesn't mean I have to like it"

"Just accept it contentedly," Oz advised.

"Exactly!" Buffy agreed, but then realized she hadn't quite heard him and could have been agreeing to anything, "I think…"

"Maybe just focusing on your colleges is the way to go" Willow advised, "Feed that denial"

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, "It is getting pretty hungry…" She picked up one of Willow's acceptance letters, "I still can't believe you got into Harvard…"

Just one night to get away from it all. Everything that was going on. Buffy was taking charge of the mayor situation and she and her friends were getting organised and so Giles had time on his hands, more than a few hours in fact, which was why he was sat here in a beautiful restaurant with a beautiful woman. Her dress-well, black and backless was definitely her style and the black made her dark blonde, curly hair seem lighter and it lit up face. He realized he was staring.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, as she put down her menu and caught him staring. He smiled.

"You"

"I figured as much," She teased, "But why?"

"Because I like to." He answered simply and she blushed slightly.

"Just so you know though, I feel a bit nervous when you do" She decided to shift the topic, "Well, our first official date. That is, one where we don't have to worry about having to hide under tables"

"Yes, it is, uh, rather nice not have to worry about being caught" He agreed.

"Kind of exciting though…" Joyce teased with a smile. "Having to hide from everyone…keeping it secret…."

He raised his eyebrow at her.

"Are you saying, perhaps, that now it's out in the open, this relationship has lost his appeal?" He was teasing, but inside he really wanted to know the answer to a genuine question.

"No." She told him, "Just nice…in a different way. In a relationship way"

Giles picked up his glass.

"To our first official date" He toasted and they chinked glasses.

"To our first official date" Joyce repeated, taking a sip of her wine. A figure appeared at the table and she looked up at what she thought was a waiter, "Willow" She stated simply.

"Willow what are you doing here?" Giles asked and then thought for a moment, "How did you know we were here?"

"Erm-Buffy told me." Willow answered the last question first, "I'm sorry to come over like this and…well, but Giles, we kind of need your help. We found out what the mayor's up to…sort of, but we kinda need you to help."

Giles really didn't want to leave, their date hadn't even started and now it was being forced to finish? Nothing about that was fair, but then again, this was the life they all lead. Which meant there was rare time for normalcy. He turned to Joyce.

"I am sorry Joyce, but, well, uh, duty calls" He got up to leave but she reached across the table and grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, I'm coming to" She told him, standing up with him.

"Joyce…" He tried to reason but she interrupted him before he could.

"No. Buffy has always tried to keep my out of her slayer affairs and I accepted that, but…well…I think it's time that changed." She admitted, "Too many people I care about are involved and well, it's part of your life. A huge part of your life and well…I want in" She smiled in determination.

"But Joyce, I'd be so worried if you were going to-" Giles argued.

"Deal" She told him simply before turning to Willow "Lead the way"

Giles couldn't deny she was a stubborn woman. He liked that about her. Well, it was one of the many things he liked.

They had drove to the library separately; Willow in Oz's van and both Giles and Joyce in the Citroen. As soon as they had arrived (after Buffy's momentary shock and protest against her Mother's presence there followed by acceptance) they had been updated on recent events and now they were working in a fluid motion to bring everything together.

"The Box of Gavrock" Buffy read from a book "It houses some great demonic energy or something which the mayor has to chow down on come a-day."

"Demon take-out" Oz acknowledged.

Giles, Willow and Joyce came in through the library doors. Both Giles and Joyce were carrying large drawings that had the possibility of being blueprints.

"What's that?" Wesley asked.

"Maps. And stuff" Giles quoted Buffy from before in answer.

"Plans for City Hall. They were in the Water and Power mainframe," Willow told them and Joyce smiled.

"She's such a computer whiz" Joyce said, having never seen Willow's brilliant ability to hack in before, "I knew she was good, but…"

Willow smiled, obviously very proud of the compliment.

"The box is being kept under guard in a conference room on the top floor" Buffy pointed out a place on the map, "There. Unfortunately that was all I could get out of my informant before his aggressive tendencies forced me to introduce him to Mr Pointy"

"Mr Pointy?" Her mother asked in confusion.

"Stake of preference" Buffy answered and her Mom nodded in acceptance, and then paused in confusion.

"You named your stake?" She asked and Buffy shrugged.

"It was pre-named by a friend" They turned back to look at the plans.

"Now here's what I think we should do…" Wesley began.

"I'm thinking I go in through the skylight. I'll take Angel with me" Buffy said.

"Agreed"

"And there's a fire ladder on the east side of the building" Xander pointed out, "here"

"Yes, yes fine" Wesley tried to bring himself back into play, "but we still need to consider whether the mayor-"

"It won't be enough to simply have possession of the box" Giles interrupted and Willow nodded in agreement.

"Right, we have to destroy it. Not just physically but ritually-with some down and dirty black magic" Joyce looked at her, "Which isn't really that black. More like a dark grey."

"Hang on" Wesley spoke up again, "We don't know what sort of ritual it would require"

"Oh, Rupert found something about that before" Joyce answered.

"Yes," Giles agreed, "I think the Breath of Atropyx is standard for this sort of thing. Fairly simple recipe. Xander?"

Wesley attempted to read the book over Giles' shoulder but he had already handed it to Xander.

"I know" Xander said, "I'm ingredient getting guy"

"A vital role" Oz told him, "I'll help"

"Alright stop!" Wesley exclaimed, reaching the end of his tether, "I demand everyone STOP this instant! I'm in charge here and I say this is all moving much too fast. We need time to fully analyze the situation and devise a proper and strategic stratagem"

"Wes" Buffy told him, "You need to hop on the train or get off the tracks"

"Because you see" Joyce added, "The third choice doesn't have too good an outcome for you"

Wesley looked at them worry flashing across his face for a moment. He wasn't too fond of the mother-daughter one-two team.

"The mayor will most assuredly have supernatural safeguards protecting the box" He was met with silence and he smiled smugly, "Oh we all forgot about that did we?"

"Looks like a job for Wiccan girl" Buffy said turning to her friend, "What do you say Will? Big time danger"

"Hey I eat danger for breakfast" Willow replied bravely.

"But oddly enough" Xander commented, "She trembles in the face of breakfast foods"

"Let's get to work," Buffy announced and the group left the library. Giles shoved a map into Wesley's arms before walking off himself. Wesley contemplated whether to follow or not for a moment, before realizing he didn't really have a choice and he walked after them.

That night the whole group except for Xander and Oz, who were working back in the library, arrived at City Hall in the van. Giles was driving with Joyce riding shotgun and Wesley sat not quite at the back but directly behind the two front seats. Joyce couldn't help noting that the image was extremely comical.

"Now remember if anything should go awry," Giles said as Willow, Angel and Buffy climbed out of the van, "We will create a diversion"

"Let's synchronize our watches" Wesley suggested, "I have twenty one four…" He trailed off as he saw Willow and Buffy holding up bare wrists. He rolled his eyes, "Yes, typical"

"Maybe we should just count" Willow suggested, "One one-thousand, two one-thousand…"

Joyce smirked, before becoming serious.

"Please be careful," She told them.

"Always" was Buffy's reply before the three set off.

Wesley sat back into a seat in the back of the van in exasperation. Once he was out of sight Joyce employed a we-can't-see-you-so-you-can't-see-us policy and shuffled over closer to Giles.

"So, what are we going to do while we wait?" She asked him in a tone that suggested she knew exactly she wanted to do while they waited.

"Calming your nerves might be, uh, a good thing" Giles suggested.

"Mm-hmm…" Joyce nodded as the two leaned towards each other and were so close to having a long-delayed kiss when Wesley spoke up.

"I really don't appreciate that while I'm still in the van," He stated and Joyce pulled back from Giles with an annoyed sigh and a roll of the eyes. She turned to glare at Wesley.

"You can't pretend to be non-existent for one minute can you?" She asked him angrily, when she spotted a velvet pouch on the floor of the van. She leant over and picked it up, instantly recognizing what it was.

"It's Willow's potion pouch," She said, "Doesn't she need this for the box spell thing?" She asked, looking at Giles.

"Oh god, yes" Giles agreed, realizing. Joyce started to open the car door, "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking it to her" She answered simply.

"Joyce, just wait until they come back, I don't want-"

"I'll be fine," She told him before he finished his sentence. He finished anyway.

"Anything to happen to you"

"It won't. Promise" She told him, leaning over the car seat to kiss him. The kiss was longer and deeper than she intended, her initial intentions to be a brief, warm kiss that would tell him she'd be back safe and sound soon, but the moment her lips were on his she got carried away. As the kiss deepened and the passion unavoidably rose she eventually pulled away and broke the kiss, "Promise" She repeated, getting out of the car.

As she walked off in the direction the group had headed she heard Wesley murmur something but she heard Giles loud and clear when he said

"Oh do shut up"

In the wrecked conference room the Mayor surveyed the destruction left behind by Buffy and Angel. Vampire guards stood nearby with their heads hung down in shame, or fear. The Mayor felt either feeling would be appropriate.

"Well this is very unfortunate" He complained, "I just had this conference room decorated for Pete's sake. At taxpayer's expense no less and oh yeah…" He turned to the vampires as his cheery façade melted away. He kicked a chair in anger and it splintered, "They got my box"

Suddenly Faith walked in holding onto two women, a knife at both their necks. If they mayor wasn't mistaken he recognized them to be the slayer's witch friend and the slayer's mother. Both had a look of intense fear on the faces that was, if he was not mistake, mixed with a touch of defiance. Feisty for people going to die.

"Hey but looky what we got" Faith said to him and he smiled widely.

"How could you let…how did this happen?" Buffy asked in panic. Both her mother and willow were nowhere to be seen which could only mean one thing-the mayor and Faith had them.

"We thought they both stayed with you" Giles said, sounding as distraught as Buffy felt and he ran his fingers through his hair in stress.

"They must have grabbed them when they hit the ground" Angel guessed, "I'm so sorry Buffy"

"Look it's nobody's fault" She replied, "We just need to focus and deal" She glanced at Oz and Giles both of which were wearing matching expressions of worry and fear, "I will not let them hurt them okay?" If anything happened to her Mother…or Willow, she was going to personally kill Faith herself.

"We go back." Xander said, "Full on assault"

"They'd kill her" Giles said then corrected himself, "Them. We need to do something though, fast."

"We're assuming they haven't been killed already," Wesley said, but everyone purposefully ignored him and what he had to say, except for Buffy.

"No-they know what they mean to us. They're too valuable as long as we have the box"

"We trade" Giles said, taking the words right out of Buffy's mouth.

"We can't" Wesley argued.

"Yes we bloody well can" Giles replied in anger.

"It's the safest way," Buffy agreed. "We could call the Mayor and arrange a meeting"

"This box needs to be destroyed," Wesley insisted.

"I need a volunteer to hit Wesley" Xander asked and he couldn't ignore the fact that Giles stepped forward slightly and apparently neither could Wesley.

"Giles, we are talking about saving thousands of lives, you know I'm right about this"

"And I'm talking about saving the woman I love" Giles automatically argued and then there was an utter silence in response to his choice of words.

"He's talking about Mrs S right?" Xander whispered to Oz.

"Although he's fond of her, I don't think he sees Willow that way" Oz murmured back, deadpan.

"Is that true?" Buffy asked Giles carefully, "Do you?"

"I well, uh" He took off his glasses for a moment before putting them back on again, a clear sign he was nervous from the attention being paid to what he was saying, "I hadn't really thought about it before, but, erm, yes, I suppose so…yes. Yes I do." He admitted and Buffy didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure what she thought. On the one hand it meant her Mom had finally found someone decent who cared a lot about her, loved her even. Yet, this also meant that their relationship was definitely in a state of extreme seriousness and Buffy didn't know whether she was happy about this or whether she just had the uberwig.

"Can we get back on task, please?" Wesley interrupted the moment and everyone glared at him.

"Joyce is right," Giles told him, "You can't even pretend to cease to exist for one moment can you?"

"Wesley you wanna duck and cover at this point?" Buffy asked threateningly.

"Damn it you listen to me!" Wesley shouted, "This box is the key to the mayor's ascension. Thousands of lives depend on getting rid of it. Now I want to help them as much as the rest of you but we will find another way"

"There is no other way," Buffy argued.

"If we don't make the trade then both Joyce and Willow will die," Giles said.

"This is the town's only hope of survival," Wesley pointed out, before adding to Buffy, "It's your chance to get out"

"You think I care about that?" Buffy asked in disgust, "It's my mother and my best friend. Are you made of human parts?"

The group broke into a large argument as everyone spoke at once and didn't listen to each other.

"You'd sacrifice thousands of lives?" Wesley asked above the din, "Your family and friends?"

Giles grabbed the collar of Wesley's shirt and shoved him up against the wall angrily. Wesley couldn't hide the fact that he felt very frightened, but he still couldn't deny that he felt himself to be right, threatened or no.

"Joyce and Willow are our family and friends," Giles told him, "Now if you think for one minute we're going to-"

Giles was interrupted mid-threat by the crash of the pot containing the means to destroy the box being thrown into a glass cabinet by Oz. Giles let go of Wesley as the whole group looked at each other realizing the decision had been made by the most quiet of the group.

"Giles, make the phone call" Buffy said.

"God these windows won't budge" Willow complained as she tried to break out of the room for the fifth time in the past minute. She and Joyce had been thrown into the small office room after Faith had presented them to the Mayor with a knife at their throats. She wondered why they hadn't been killed then, but then maybe she shouldn't question a good thing.

"Is there no way out?" Joyce asked again, searching herself for an escape route. She noticed a cloth hung up over an area of the wall that bore resemblance to a tapestry. She instinctively reached up and pulled it down to reveal a door. "Willow" She whispered.

"Ooh!" Willow exclaimed quietly, "Door-good in so many ways"

Just before Joyce went to open it though it was opened from the other side and the two women saw one of the vampire guards stood there. He grinned evilly, his fangs shown and his ridged face became more grotesque. Before Joyce could take a step back, he grabbed her tightly on the arm.

"Well if isn't the slayer's Mom…" He commented and she tried to shake off his grip.

"Get off me" He wasn't for letting go though and he was too strong for her.

"And where might you two have been going?" He asked, stepping into the room, but still not letting go of Joyce so she was forced to walk after him.

"Looking for sucking candy?" Willow said and the vampire let go of Joyce to prowl over the red-head, "because my mouth gets dry when I'm nervous or held prisoner against my will" Joyce saw Willow glancing at something on the desk. She looked in the same direction and saw files… "And suddenly I'm thinking sucking isn't a good word to use around vampires…" Pens…. "Hey! Did you get permission to eat the hostage?" Pencil…wait, was that it? Pencil? Pencil could be used as a makeshift stake. "I don't think so" Willow carried on talking to the vamp nervously, "You're going to be in some trouble when…Ow" She complained as he backed her up into the wall.

"Just a little taste…" He said, but just as he leaned forward to bite into her neck he turned to dust and as the air cleared Willow saw Buffy's mom stood there holding the pencil and looking more than a little startled.

"Very good" Willow said, relieved she hadn't become a vamp snack.

"It was actually my erm, my erm first, erm-" Joyce stuttered.

"Dusting?" Willow supplied and she nodded.

"Uh, yes, pretty much"

"Well it was a very successful first go." Willow told her, "Now let's go ourselves"

The two headed out of the other door and into the hall. However they soon heard the voice of the Mayor and Faith coming down the corridor and so they dived into another room to hide, but left the door open so they could listen in.

"She's not gonna be brain-dead," Faith said to the Mayor conversationally, "but she'd be to come back here tonight"

"Ever had a dog?" The Mayor asked and Faith was understandably confused by the topic shift.

"What?"

"I did. Rusty, Irish setter. A dog's friendship is stronger than reason, stronger than it's own sense of self-preservation. Buffy's like a dog" Joyce let out a gasp of indignation, "And" The mayor continued, "hey, before you can say Jack Robinson, you'll get to see me kill her like one" This threat was clearly too much for Joyce.

"That evil son of a-" She said, automatically going to head after him, but Willow stopped her.

"Come on" Willow headed off down the corridor in the opposite direction of the Mayor and Joyce followed, but the witch stopped when she realized they were passing the Mayor's office and she headed inside.

"What are you doing?" Joyce asked, but following her nonetheless.

"Maybe we can find something out about the mayor. Something that could stop him." Willow explained as she opened the cupboards and saw all sorts of arcane, dark objects not the least of which were skulls. Willow didn't like to consider who or what they belonged to. Her eyes settled on the books on the bottom shelf, "Or possibly the books of ascension" She said, taking a seat next to the books. Joyce spent a second worrying about being caught, before she was drawn in herself and she sat down next to Willow.

"These were what Buffy and Rupert were after?" Joyce asked and Willow nodded.

"Yep, the key to the Mayor's ascension."

The two grabbed some books each and had been skimming through for a while when a voice drew them back to reality, or rather the non-textbook reality.

"Check out the bookworms" Faith commented with a twisted grin.

"Faith!" Willow exclaimed in shock and both she and Joyce jumped up, the two of them feeling more vulnerable if they remained sat on the floor.

"Well, Joyce, officially joined the Scooby gang now have ya?" Faith asked, brandishing a knife "Reading away with little Nancy Drew here. Didn't Buffy ever tell you that'd get you into trouble? Because now you both know too much and that just naturally leads to killing"

"Maybe," Joyce admitted, "Not necessarily with us two on the receiving end" Faith raised her eyebrows at the reply.

"Huh, you've got a feisty confidence there Joyce" Faith commented, "It's pointless and incorrect…but I can definitely see where Buffy gets it" She headed forward with the knife.

"Faith! Wait!" Willow stopped her, "We wanna talk to you"

"Oh yeah, give me the speech again" Faith prompted, "Faith we're still your friends. We can help you. It's not too late"

"You really like hearing yourself speak don't you?" Joyce asked, but it wasn't really a question.

"And it's way too late" Willow added and Faith looked at her in genuine surprise-she hadn't expected that, "You know it didn't have to be this way, but you made your choice. I know you had a tough life. I know that some people think you had a lot of bad breaks. Well, boo hoo! Poor you. You know you had a lot more in your life than most people"

"Buffy and I-we invited you into our home, we had you over for Christmas, the group couldn't have involved you more and you still threw it in our faces" Joyce told her, "They even helped you through and backed you up when you killed a man. What the hell more did you want?" Joyce's tone at the end had moved from angry to exasperation as though she really didn't understand Faith anymore and doubted whether Faith understood herself.

"All that huh Joyce?" Faith asked and Joyce yet again felt a twinge of annoyance that she was calling her by her first name while people like Willow and Xander were referring to her as Mrs Summers, "All the while you were all praying for me to be more like Buffy, none of you ever thought I could be as good as your heavenly daughter!"

"And, well, we can see how wrong we were" Joyce said sarcastically and got slapped across the face hard for her troubles.

"You don't know anything about me!" Faith screamed at her and Willow spoke up.

"We know you were a slayer and now you're nothing." She told the slayer and carried on talking despite the psychotic look in her eyes warning Willow to stop, "You're just a big selfish, worthless waste"

Faith thumped in the jaw and the impact knocked Willow to the floor.

"Willow" Joyce exclaimed in worry and went over to check she was okay. With one strong arm though she was intercepted by Faith.

"You hurt me, I hurt you" Faith told Willow who was still crumpled on the floor, while still holding Joyce back, "I'm just a little more efficient."

Willow got up again, rubbing her jaw.

"And here I just thought you didn't have a comeback"

"You're begging for some deep pain," Faith told her.

"I'm not afraid of you" Willow replied but couldn't hide the fact her eyes widened in fear a little when Faith held up the knife again.

"Let's see what we can do about that" She grabbed Joyce who was closest to her and put the knife to her throat.

"Girls, I hope I don't have to separate you three" The Mayor spoke from the doorway, "Faith you can play with your new toy later. Something's come up" Faith still didn't remove the knife from Joyce's throat, "Faith. You know I don't like repeating myself" Faith dropped the knife and shoved Joyce back towards Willow.

"I've got someone. I got him," Faith told them, taking a seat on the Mayor's desk.

"Yeah, coz that's something to shout proudly from the rooftops" Joyce rolled her eyes.

"I just received a heck of an interesting phone call," The Mayor told them.

The cafeteria had seemed a relatively safe place for the gang to wait until the lights went out without a switch being flicked.

"Guess they're shy" Xander commented.

"I can see alright," Angel told them as he watched two vampire guards push open the cafeteria and let the Mayor walk through. He was followed by Faith holding onto both Joyce and Willow. Buffy stepped forward as did the Mayor till they were practically in arm's reach of one another.

"Well this is exciting isn't it?" The Mayor chuckled out of context, "Clandestine meetings by dead of night. Exchange of prisoners. I feel we should all be wearing trench coats"

Giles couldn't take his eyes off the fact that Faith was holding a knife tightly against Joyce-the sort of tight that any small movement could cause her to be killed in an instant. It was only this that stopped him charging across the room.

"Let them go" Buffy ordered.

"No" The mayor replied simply, "Not until the box is in my hands. So you're the little girl that's been causing me all this trouble. She's pretty Angel. A little skinny. Still don't understand why it couldn't work out between you and my Faith. Guess you have a strange taste in women"

"What can I say?" The vampire shrugged, "I like 'em sane"

Both Willow and Joyce whimpered slightly as Faith tightened her grip on them threateningly.

"Angel…" Oz said warningly.

"Well I wish you kids the best I really do" The mayor spoke directly to Buffy and Angel, "But if you don't mind a bit of fatherly advice, I, uh, I-I just don't see much of a future for you two. I don't sense a lasting relationship. And not just because I plan to kill you. You two have a bumpy road ahead."

"I don't think we need to talk about this" Buffy interrupted.

"God you kids you know" The mayor whined, "You don't like to think about the future. You don't like to make plans. Unless you want Faith to gut your mother and your friend like a sea bass, show a little respect for your elders."

"You're not my elder" Angel argued, "I got a lot of years on you" The Mayor used Angel's words to his own advantage.

"Yeah, and that's just one of the things you're going to have to deal with. You're immortal she's not. It's not. I married my Edna May in oh-three and I was with her right until the end. Not a pretty picture. Wrinkled and senile and cursing me for my youth. Wasn't our happiest time. And let's not forget the fact that any moment of true happiness will turn you evil. I mean, come on. What kind of a life can you offer her? I don't see a lot of Sunday picnics in the offing. I see skulking in the shadows, hiding from the sun. She's a blossoming young girl and you want to keep her from the life she should have until it has passed her by. My God! I think that's a little selfish. Is that what you came back from Hell for? Is that your greater purpose?"

Angel and Buffy looked at each other, uncertainty flickering clearly in their eyes despite the darkness.

"I don't think it's any of your business either way" Giles spoke up, catching the Mayor's attention.

"Well, you haven't got exactly the ideal relationship have you?" He asked, "The mother of the slayer has complications of it's own, but not just everything that goes with it. You're constantly in danger everyday-she's going to worry constantly. Not exactly healthy is it? She's going to want to be there, make sure you're okay which leads to things like…this" He gestured back at Joyce being held by Faith, "It's not a safe lifestyle is it? Just by being with her you're putting her in danger everyday. You won't be able to save her every time. Gosh, you didn't save the computer teacher did you? Miss Calendar was it?" No one had anything to say and Mayor Wilkins shook his head in disgust, "Make the trade," He told everyone.

Faith shoved Willow and Joyce forward just as Buffy passed her the box. Willow ran to Oz and Buffy turned to see her Mom run into Giles' arms, obviously petrified.

"Well that went smooth-" The mayor was interrupted as two policemen and Principle Snyder walked into the room.

"Nobody moves!" Snyder commanded and the Mayor moved into the shadows so he wouldn't be seen while one of the policemen locked the cafeteria doors ominously. "I knew you kids were up to something…"

"Snyder get out of here," Buffy told him.

"You're not giving orders young lady," He replied.

"Oh for god sake's listen to her," Joyce pleaded and Snyder frowned.

"Why do I know that voice?" He peered through the shadows, "Mrs Summers. I shouldn't be surprised that this is a family business…"

"What?" Joyce asked in genuine confusion.

"I suppose you're going to tell me I won't find drugs in this box," Snyder said, taking the box from Faith and handing it to a policeman.

"Wait!" Buffy exclaimed seeing Faith pulling a knife on the principle.

"Principle Snyder" The Mayor stepped out of the shadows and Snyder jumped in surprise. "I think we have a problem"

"Mr Mayor, I had no idea you…I'm terribly sorry"

"No it's I who should apologize," He told the Principle, "Coming down here at night, what must you be thinking? But you see-" He spotted the policeman opening the box, "No, I wouldn't do that if I were you" Before he could stop however a spider creature jumped onto the policeman's face and he dropped the box as he tried to pull off the creature and failed. He fell to the floor lifeless. Horrified by the sight, Joyce buried her face in Giles' chest so she didn't see what he did-the spider climbing off the face of the policeman and scuttling off to some unseen area of the room.

"Oh god" Wesley panicked.

"Where did it go?" Xander asked, resisting the urge to jump up on a table.

"Get that door open!" Snyder told the policeman.

"No!" Giles stopped him and the policeman nervously dropped his keys, "You can't let that thing out of here."

"It's still around?" Joyce asked. Several things creeped her out and spiders were in the top three.

"I still want to know where it went," Xander repeated, looking around the ground around him nervously.

"Listen" Buffy shushed everyone and as they fell quiet they could hear the scuttering of the creature's legs. Everyone looked around in puzzlement, trying to figure out where it was, but the question was answered when it dropped onto the Mayor's face.

"Boss!" Faith shouted, running over and pulling it off his face. The spider dropped to the ground and ran off again. The Mayor sat up and everyone watched in morbid fascination as his face self-healed.

"Wouldn't leave that open" The mayor advised, glancing at the still open box. Buffy dashed forward and slammed it shut just as another creature was about to climb out and she cut off three of it's legs with the lid. Suddenly one of the spiders dropped onto her own back and as her reflexes kicked in she lay down flat and heard the satisfying squelch of it being squashed. Downside? Her clothes were ruined.

"No!" Wesley screamed, thinking the knife was aimed at him as he hadn't noticed the creature crawling up the wall behind him, He ducked just as Faith threw the knife and it landed squarely in the middle of the spider.

As the mayor picked up the box, Oz had to ask the question that was on everyone's minds.

"Is that all of them?"

"Ah not really" Mayor Wilkins answered honestly, "You see there's about fifty…billion of these happy little critters in here. Would you like to see?" The remaining policeman finally opened the door and raced out, closely followed by the two vamp guards. "Raise your hand if you're invulnerable." The Mayor smiled when there were no replied, "Faith, let's go" Faith just looked at her gift embedded in the spider on the wall. "Faith" Faith continued to stare for a moment, before giving up hope on retrieving it, before following the Mayor.

The group sighed a silent sigh of relief when she and therefore the last of the Mayor's entourage left and noticed that Snyder was still in the room, holding a stool in front of himself protectively.

"Snyder you alive in there?" Buffy smirked.

"Why couldn't you just do drugs like normal kids?" He asked, shaking his head and leaving and still refusing to put the stool back down.

"Well that went swimmingly" Wesley summarised.

"We did alright" Buffy half agreed, looking at the group.

"Are you okay?" Giles asked her Mom and Buffy couldn't help listening in.

"I've been better" Joyce laughed, if a little weakly. "I was just so scared" She admitted and they hugged each other tightly.

"I love you, you know that" Giles told her. He had been initially worried about what her reaction would be, but after listening to what the mayor had to say, he had become determined to say it no matter what.

"I love you too" She replied immediately, but still not pulling out of the hug which suggested she thought saying it was a natural thing to do. She pulled her head back slightly to reach up to kiss him. He kissed her back warmly, the two a little too shaken up for the passion that had arose earlier in the van. "Didn't break my promise did I?" She asked him and he frowned. "I said I'd be fine and I am….ish." She smiled and the two kissed again.

Buffy had listened in to every word and although she had immediately looked away when the kissing started, she thought maybe she was more okay with the Mom/Giles thing.

"You're still thinking about what Mayor Wilkins said aren't you?" Joyce asked as she took a seat on Giles' sofa beside him.

"What?" He asked.

"You've been off and quiet all night" She told him, "You're thinking about what he said in the school the other night."

"Maybe"

"He's evil." She reminded him, "Why pay attention to what he said?"

"Because some of it was true" Giles answered honestly, "You wouldn't have been there if we hadn't been dating, and if you hadn't been there you wouldn't have been kidnapped…being with me puts you in danger. I should know. I've seen it often enough over the years"

"Rupert" She decided to level with him and she looked him in the eyes, "No one, I'm sure, quite had the life I have. Let's face it with Buffy being the slayer I'm in danger anyway. Let's not forget that the first time we met was because I was in hospital from a vampire bite. And then there was parent's evening. And Ted. And the eggs from the health class that turned us all into Zombies…then the actual zombies that came to my house…" He didn't look convinced, "I'm never going to be totally safe or immune from the supernatural things going on in your life. As was proven by the event that started all of this…eating chocolate had always been a guilty pleasure but that took it to new heights." He laughed a little, "But I think I'd be a little bit safer if I know I've got you there, looking out for me"

"I'll always look out for you," He told her automatically and honestly.

"Then there's no problem, is there?" She asked before she kissed him to stop him asking any more questions, or thinking at all. He still went to speak. "No more talking," She told him firmly and when she kissed him again, harder and more passionately this time, he found it hard to disagree as, mid-kiss, he took off his glasses and placed them on the side.