Chapter 21: I was made to love you
Robot chick pretty much. Read it, and be prepared for something about Laim I bet none of you expected. Enjoy.
Angel was packing up his suitcases in, now, his and Buffy's room. Buffy was on the chair with her arms crossed looking at him with a scowl.
"I don't want you too." Buffy said.
"I know but I have a job." Angel explained for the umpteenth time.
"You could quit."
"Buffy" he faced her and sighed. "It's not that simple."
"Say you quit and leave" she said getting up and walking over to him. "Very simple to me."
"Buffy I have a duty. I am meant to be in LA helping the helpless. Even Liam says so."
"What does he know?" Buffy said. Angel gave her a look. "Right. Stupid question." Angel finished packing. "I just don't want you to go."
"I don't either. But I've been gone long enough. They may start thinking that you killed me. They are my friends after all."
"I know." She sat on the bed and Angel came over and sat down next to her. "It's just that we're engaged now. We're happy. We'll have children. I want that now."
"I do to." Angel put his arm around Buffy and brought her close. "But Liam told us to wait until we have dealt with Glory and are married. We can still call each other, visit each other, and we can still make wedding plans. This isn't something to cry about."
"I still don't want you to go." She snuggled in to Angel. "Makes me remember when you went off to LA and never visited."
"I visited."
"Twice. Once in the shadows and never told me. Two, you beat up Riley and came to my door to apologize for yelling at me."
"Well I liked the beating up Riley thing." He said with a grin. Buffy playfully hit him. "And I never want to leave things between us rocky."
"Me either." Angel kissed the top of her head.
"I promise to call whenever I get the chance to. And if you need me or the team to help you with Glory, remember we do take credit." He joked. Buffy laughed and hit him again. He laughed to. "We'll always be there for you Buffy. Free of charge." Buffy sat up and looked at him lovingly. He looked back.
"I love you." She said.
"I love you." He said back. They kissed and the kiss got heated. They made love that night as a reminder of their own love.
…...
Angel had left early the next morning so that he could make it back to LA before Buffy and Dawn were sitting on the couch in the Summer's living room the next day. Joyce was wearing a black evening gown with large flowers on it. She spun around as Buffy and Dawn watched.
"I might like it more than the others." Buffy said. "Can you spin around again?" Joyce spun again and Buffy smiled.
"Ooh, I'm not sure." Dawn said. "Once more." Joyce spun again and smiled at them.
"Now could you go the other way?" Joyce started to spin, stopped and looked at them.
"You're messing with me!" Joyce realized. Dawn laughed.
"We just wanted to see how many times we could get you to do it."
"Was that five, or four and a half?" Dawn asked.
"So is anyone gonna talk about my dress?" Joyce said holding out her arms.
"I like it."
"You sure? I mean, it's not too mom-ish?"
"Oh. That was why I liked it." Joyce looked disappointed.
"You're both crazy. It's not mom-ish at all." Buffy said. Joyce looked relieved. "It's sexy. It screams, 'Randy sex kitten, buy me one drink and I'll...'" She paused. "Oh, wait, that's not really good either." Dawn shook her head in agreement.
"Oh god. What time is it?" Buffy checked her watch.
"4:23. You have lots of time until seven. Vast acres of time in which you could plant crops." The front door opened and Liam came in.
"Anybody home?" he asked not aware that they were all in the living room.
"Right here sweetie." Buffy said. Liam turned and went into the living room and hugged Buffy.
"Hi mom." He looked to Dawn. "Hey Aunt Dawn."
"Hey Liam." She said back. He turned to Joyce
"Hey gran….WHOA!" his expression changed from happy to clearly shocked. He was obviously not expecting to see his own grandmother getting ready for a date.
"Oh...you like it?" Joyce asked hoping to get a boys perspective. Liam was still in awe.
"I see, I like, what they hell have you done with my grandmother?" he asked.
"That is your grandmother." Buffy pointed out.
"I know that." he said looking at her than looked back at Joyce. "I just never expected to see my own grandmother look….uh…I don't even want to finish that sentence out of pride."
"So you like the dress?" Joyce asked with a smile.
"Yeah I do. What's going on here?"
"Moms getting ready for a date tonight." Dawn said with a smile.
"Well good for you grandma." Liam said looking at her again.
"I hope you're not getting any ideas." Buffy said playfully.
"Please" Liam said looking at her. "I'm a one girl kinda guy."
"You mean you have a girlfriend?" Buffy said smiling.
"I ain't talking." Liam mimed zipping his lips. Buffy pouted then turned back to Joyce
"So you tell me about your date." She demanded. "Tell me about this Brian and what his intentions are."
"Maybe he's a gigolo." Dawn said. "Was his shirt all shiny?" She and Buffy exchange an amused look.
"No!" Joyce said. "He works for a publishing house. He's a nice normal guy, okay?"
"I think I've heard of those." Buffy said.
"He came to the gallery ... my first day back, when I was, you know, kinda shaky, starting over. And he asked a question about these antique cameos and I was so lost, because ... Carol had been doing the ordering while I was sick. Well, it turned out that he didn't know anything about them either, so we had a lot to talk about."
"So what's the plan for tonight?" Dawn asked smiling.
"Dinner and then a movie." Joyce answered with a smile. Then she frowned. "Or maybe it was ... a movie and then dinner. Which might be better, because ... you know, then we could talk about the movie. Or maybe a movie isn't a good idea at all, because, well, you know, you can't talk during, and, and then, you know, what's the point of any of it? Oh, and about the restaurant. Do you think ... that it should be one with candles, and romantic music, or is that pushing it?"
"This reminds me of me before my first date." Liam stated.
"You acted like this?" Dawn asked.
"Well, maybe grandma is dealing with it better than I did. But yeah."
"Buffy, what do you think?" Joyce asked. "Should I, you know, try to make things romantic, or ... sorta let him set the pace?
"Why are you asking me?" Buffy cried.
"Hello you're engaged, mom." Liam said.
"Doesn't mean I know about love. I only had two boyfriends. Both of them left. Left left. Left town left. But one did come back and proposed to me."
"That usually means you know about love Buffy." Dawn said.
"If you want my advice grandma" Liam said. "Just be yourself and everything will go great. Even if he isn't the guy you'll end up with, it'll end well."
"Oh really?" Joyce asked looking reassured.
"Totally."
"That's great, Oh god. Brian. What time is it now?" Buffy checked her watch.
"4:25." She said.
"You sure the dress is okay?" Joyce asked nervously.
"Have you tried spinning for them?" Liam asked. Both Dawn and Buffy laughed. Joyce gave them an amused-scolding look. Buffy turned to Liam.
"So are you coming to the spring break party at the campus?" Buffy asked her son. Liam sighed.
"I was actually thinking of hanging out with Dawn tonight."
"No. No you're not. Giles will take care of Dawn. You and your father are so much alike. You will go to the party with me. You will have fun and you will enjoy yourself." Liam sighed thinking about it. "Don't make me ground you." Buffy warned.
"Alright." Dawn and Joyce snickered at Buffy's warning to her future son who was technically older then her. Liam leaned and gave both of them a scowling look.
…..
Liam went to the party under his own mothers will but it wasn't bad as he thought. They were both dancing with each other. Buffy laughed as Liam dipped her playfully and brought her back up.
"Having fun?" She asked.
"Yeah." Liam admitted. "It's nice to do this. Just wish it wasn't with my mother."
"Only you and I know that."
"Makes it somewhat worse." Liam said. Buffy laughed. The song ended and Buffy led Liam off the dance floor.
"I need a drink." Buffy said.
"I think I'll start drinking again after what we just did." Liam said.
"We weren't doing anything dirty."
"What? You were doing something dirty?" Xander said as they met up with the gang.
"No we weren't" Buffy defended. "He's just worried because he knows Angel and what he's capable of."
"Yeah." Liam said going along with it. "I don't want to piss off Angel. I know what he can do."
"Don't worry." Buffy said. "I say something against it, he doesn't do it. At most he'll just threaten you."
"Doesn't make it all that better." Liam said. Buffy laughed.
"So you're having fun Buffy?" Tara asked.
"Yeah. I am" she replied then took a sip from her cup.
"Hey Buffy. There's Ben." Liam said pointing to Ben who was on the other side of the room.
"Yeah it is." Buffy said seeing him. "I'm going to go talk to him. I'll be back." She went over to Ben. Liam stayed with the gang. Buffy walked over while Ben is looking the other way. "Hi Ben." She said getting his attention.
"Buffy." Ben said noticing her.
"I didn't even know you were here."
"Well I couldn't pass up an opportunity to be a normal guy every now and then." He said grinning. "How's your mom?"
"She's good. She's got a date tonight."
"Oh, good for her. Is she here?"
"Oh god no. She went to the movies and then to dinner. Or maybe dinner and then the movies. I don't know. She's just not here."
"Oh ok. So long as she's doing alright."
"She is. Dawn told us you helped her out at the hospital. We didn't get chance to thank you."
"Oh, it was nothing." Ben said quickly. He looked a little uncomfortable.
Back with the rest of the gang, Xander and Anya are investigating the munchies.
"Look at these tiny grain patties." Anya said. "They're woven. That's craftsmanship." She ate one.
"They aren't hand-woven, you know." Xander said.
"Then how?"
"Well, it's a, a machine, and it's ... it sorta …it presses." Xander got distracted, as looked across the room. A brunette girl in a pink dress entered the party. "And there may be a mold of some sort ... who's that?" he asked looking towards the girl. Liam looked to.
"Whoa…same question." Liam said. Anya looked.
"Oh, that girl. Tara and I met her." Anya said. "She speaks with a strange evenness and selects her words a shade too precisely."
"Well, some of us like that kind of thing in a girl." Xander said.
"Wouldn't mind having that myself. Might save me from a few encounters with….." Liam trailed off and looked down with a bit of a sad look. Willow walked past the girl and approached the gang. She noticed Liam's expression.
"Hey, you ok?" Willow asked. Liam looked up at her and changed his expression.
"Yeah fine." He said quickly. "Just…..remembering."
"Remembering what?" She took some Chex Mix and looked at them then at Xander. "I thought you were getting the crunchies."
"Xander got hypnotized by the strange girl." Anya said. "I am remaining calm, however."
"Uh-uh, no, I'm, I'm right with you." Xander said. "You don't know what you're talking about. Here she comes." He said quietly. The girl approached them with her big smile.
"I heard that Warren was here." She said. "Is Warren here?"
"Um, Warren who?" Xander asked.
"He's ... Warren. And he's looking for me. He lost me." She walked away. Liam eyed her suspiciously as Tara approached the other scoobies.
"It's that girl again." Tara said. "Is she still looking for Warren?" They nodded. "Weird, it's been like all day."
"There's something strange about her." Willow said. "She talks funny."
"Some men find that appealing." Anya said. She smiled at Xander, who smiled back, although he was still occupied watching the girl.
"I just hope she finds him." Tara said.
"Yeah sure." Liam said. He too was still staring at the girl but wasn't thinking about hooking up with her. In fact he was contemplating something about her.
"Somehow I don't think a girl that looks like that's gonna be lonely for too long." Xander said.
"Definitely not." Willow grinned and nodded in agreement. Then she noticed Tara who frowned and folded her arms. "Oh, not me, I, I was just saying, a pretty girl like that, there's always someone lurking around, looking for some action." Tara looked mollified. Willow looked a little embarrassed.
"How about this Willow." Liam said still staring at the girl. "That girl's looking to drive a stick, instead of searching for a plug in." Willow gave him a bemused look. Tara smiled at the statement.
Buffy was still talking to Ben when Spike entered the party and spotted her.
"Small world." Spike said coming to her.
"Spike" Buffy said with a smile and hugged him. Ever since the deal with Drusilla, Spike, Buffy, and Angel had spent more time together just hanging out and trying to be family. To their surprise, it was working. Spike still acted like a jerk sometimes but they shrugged it off. They all had really gotten along.
"Sorry I'm late." He said pulling out of the hug.
"Oh it's fine. It's good you made it though." She looked to Ben. "Ben this is Spike. My future brother in law. Spike this Ben. He's the intern at the hospital."
"That right? Hey, good job on fixin up Joyce. We really appreciate it."
"Uh…no problem." Ben said a little nervous. He looked to Buffy. "Brother in law? I didn't know you were getting married."
"Oh I am" Buffy said holding her hand with the claddagh ring.
"Well that's great. Congratulations."
"Thanks"
"Sorry to leave so abruptly." Spike said looking into the crowd and eyeing the girl that kept asking about Warren. "Figure I could have some fun and I think I just found her. Excuse me." he left and went over to the girl.
"Good luck." Buffy said back and turned to Ben.
"Look." He said. "I gotta run. Emergency call at the hospital. But if you need anything," he pulled at a piece of paper and wrote something on it. "My phone number. He gave it to Buffy. "You know, in case your mom needs anything, or need some medical advice. I'd be happy to help."
"Thanks" she said.
Spike walked up to the girl who was asking about Warren.
"And who are you, darlin'? "he said with a grin.
"I'm April." She responded. "I'm looking for my fella."
"Maybe you just found him."
"Really? Where?" April said excitedly. Spike grinned, leaned in and whispered in her ear. April looked angry.
"Oh!" she said and grabbed Spike by the front of his shirt and lifted him over her head.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Spike said. This brought he attention of everyone at the party.
"That would be wrong." April said still holding Spike. "You are not my boyfriend!" She threw Spike through a window, which shattered. Everyone stared. Spike got back up and looked through the now glassless window.
"Bloody hell! You threw me through a window!" Spike yelled. "What's that about?"
"You do not make those suggestions to me." April answered. "I have a boyfriend. Warren is my boyfriend."
"You know what? My bleeding sympathies to Warren." Spike walked off annoyed. April turned away from the window and the onlookers moved back a bit.
"No one but Warren can touch me." she stated and began to walk away. Buffy intercepted her.
"Excuse me." she said. "Hi. Um, uh, maybe you and I could talk. You know, 'cause, throwing Spike through a window, well, that's really good... um, but, you know, generally speaking…"
"Do you know my boyfriend?" April said not paying attention to what Buffy was saying.
"Okay. I think you need to take a second and stop looking for your boyfriend." That wasn't the best thing to say. April grabbed Buffy by the upper arms and flung her backwards. She flew back several yards and landed on the floor with an expression of pain, grabbing her arm.
"I have to find him." April said walking over to where Buffy was sitting, clutching her arm in pain. "If I hurt you just now, I'm sorry. And I hope that your boyfriend will take good care of you." April walked away as Ben, Xander, Willow, Anya, Liam, and Tara rush over to Buffy. Buffy pouted sadly as she watched April leave.
…
The gang gathered in the student lounge in the dorm. Buffy was pacing, still holding her arm. The Scoobies are sitting in various chairs.
"Ow." Buffy said. "I don't know about you guys, but I've had it with super-strong little women who aren't me."
"Well, at least she didn't do too much damage." Tara said.
"Are you kidding?" Xander said. "Double-glazed windows ain't cheap. And the jamb needs to be completely repaired." He paused for a moment. "Oh dear god, I'm the grownup who sees the world through my job. I'm like my uncle Dave the plumber. I must be shunned."
"Okay." Willow said.
"So, what do you guys think she is?" Buffy asked. "I mean, this may sound nuts, but I kinda got the impression that she was a…"
"Robot." Tara finished. Everyone nodded in complete agreement.
"Oh yeah, robot." Xander confirmed.
"Android is the proper term." Liam said. Everyone stared at him. "What I mean is…through some…..movies I've seen…Robots are metallic while…androids look more….human." He stammered. He just dodged a bullet.
"What do you think she wants?" Buffy asked.
"Warren, whoever that is." Tara said.
"It's gotta be the guy that built her." Xander said.
"It's an unusual name." Willow put in. "There's hardly any except ... Warren Beatty and, you know, President Harding. It-it's probably not either of them."
"But it should narrow the search down considerably." Liam pointed out.
"Will, can you track down this guy with only a first name?" Buffy said.
"Given enough time." Willow said. "I can get a list of the Sunnydale students named Warren tonight, but ... then we'll have to call them or go to their dorms, so we probably can't start narrowing it down till tomorrow." Buffy frowned
"She could do a lot of damage by then." Anay said.
"To who, Spike?" Xander said. "See how vigorously I don't care." Liam scowled and Buffy gave him a look that said 'down boy'. "She was looking for this Warren, but it didn't sound like she wanted to hurt him. She said he's her boyfriend."
"I agree." Willow said. "I'm not sure this is a code red. Hey, is there a code pink? We need more codes." Tara smiled at her.
"Okay." Buffy said. "We'll track down Warren tomorrow. Tonight I better go rescue Giles. He's been watching Dawn while my mom's out on her date, and I have a feeling there's only so much he can take."
"Oh, Giles and Dawnie?" Tara said. "I bet they ended up having a blast."
…
"Dear god, Buffy, there's only so much I can take." Giles complained after they both of them got home. Giles, Liam, and Buffy were standing in the Summers foyer, by the open door. "We're going to have to change the system. A fourteen-year-old's too old to be babysat, and it's not fair on her." Liam leaned into Buffy.
"Told you, you should have let me take care of her." He said with a grin. Buffy nodded and also grinned.
"What'd she make you do?" She asked Giles.
"Um, well," He began. "We listened to aggressively cheerful music sung by people chosen for their ability to dance ... then we ate cookie dough and talked about boys." Buffy laughed. Liam snickered.
"I'm sorry. I'm very very sorry, but if it makes you feel any better, my 'fun time Buffy party night' involved watching a robot throw Spike through a window, so if you wanna trade... No ... wait ... I wouldn't give that memory up for anything."
"A robot? Sounds interesting."
"Proper term is android." Liam corrected the both of them.
"What is the difference?" Buffy asked.
"I explained already. Robot shiny and metal. Android looks like human."
"Whatever. We're gonna work on it in the morning." She looked to Giles. "I mean, unless you wanna stay for a while, and then you and I could…" Joyce appeared behind Giles, entering the house with a big smile.
"Who wants to hear everything?" she said happily.
"...listen to my mom talk about boys." Buffy finished.
"Right, must go." Giles said quickly. "See you tomorrow. Bye Joyce." He left.
"Bye Rupert." She said back. Joyce closed the door behind Giles, turned and gave Buffy and Liam a big smile. "Gosh, I'd forgotten how much fun dating can be."
"I don't know." Buffy said smiling. "I was standing right here. I didn't see Prince Charming. I didn't even see a goodnight kiss." Joyce smiled and walked past Buffy to put her purse down. "It all looked pretty tame to me."
"Just wait for the next one." Liam said with a grin.
"Well, I suppose by your standards it could seem pretty ... Oh dear."
"What?" Buffy and Liam said together.
"I left my bra in his car."
"Mother!" Buffy said looking shocked and horrified. Liam started to snicker. Payback time.
"I'm joking." Joyce said smiling. Buffy sighed
"Good god, that's horrible. Don't do that."
"I left it in the restaurant." Joyce continued. Liam snorted
"No more! No more! No more!" Buffy put her hands over her ears and started running up the stairs
"On the dessert cart!" Joyce yelled up the stairs. Liam burst out laughing
"I can't hear you!" Buffy said faintly.
"Not so funny when it's done to you is it mom?" Liam called up. They heard Buffy's door close. They laughed for a little bit before calming down. "That was fun."
"Oh I got that from her."
"Maybe next time, she'll be careful about what tricks she pulls in front of you."
"Maybe she will."
"So how was the date?"
"Absolutely wonderful." She said with a smile. "Now I'm off to bed. Good night Liam."
"Night grandma." Joyce went upstairs and Liam smiled and chuckled. He walked to the door and then leaned his back on it. His smile faded and then looked really thoughtful. He sighed heavily and slid down the door. He was in a crouched position leaning on the door and he bowed his head in sadness.
…
The gang had gathered in the magic shop the next day talking about April. Buffy and the scoobies sat around the table.
"And you're certain she was a robot?" Giles asked.
"Android." Liam muttered under his breath.
"Absolutely." Buffy answered Giles' question not hearing Liam.
"Well, she practically had "Genuine Molded Plastic" stamped on her ass." Tara said. Giles and Willow gave her looks. "Just ... tryin' a little spicy talk." Willow smiled at her. She looked to Liam who mouthed 'nice'. Tara smiled.
"She was looking for someone named Warren." Anya informed them.
"Willow's already checked the Sunnydale enrollment." Buffy said.
"And got nothin'." Willow finished. "I found one Warren, but he moved out of the country a year ago. I'm checking nearby schools."
"Check some more of the Techy schools." Liam suggested.
"On it."
"Whoever he is, he knows his stuff." Xander said. "That girl, well... that was a nice-lookin' girl." Tara gave Xander a dubious look.
"It's okay for him to say that, 'cause I know that he really loves me only." Anya said. Xander leaned over to took Anya's hand. Liam watched a little sadly.
"Is there something the rest of us could be doing?" Giles asked.
"What can we do?" Xander replied.
"Oh, do you have any books on robots?" Tara asked.
"Oh, yes, dozens." Giles said sarcastically. "There's an enormous amount of research we should do before - no, I'm lying. I haven't got squat, I just like to see Xander squirm."
"Funny." Xander faked laugh. "Charming and funny."
"Hey! I think I found him." Willow said. "A Warren Mears. He went to Sunnydale High with us for a semester, and then he went to the tech college over in Dutton. I've got a local address where his folks still live." She wrote the information down.
"He's probably home for spring break."
"Well, I'll go talk to him." Buffy said taking the paper from Willow.
"I'll come too." Lia said getting up.
"No no no no no, wait," Giles objected. "We don't know what you're walking into. Uh, we have no idea what his motive is for building this thing.
"Um ... don't you think she's just..." Tar sais making an insinuating face)
"Yeah ... she's just sort of a..." Willow said making the same face.
"She's a sexbot." Xander blurted out. "I mean, what guy doesn't dream about that?" Liam raised his hand. Giles walks off to help the customer. "Beautiful girl with ... no other thought but to please you ... willing to do anything..." Xander said wistfully. He looked up and saw all four girls staring at him. Xander laughed nervously and looked to Liam. "You get it right?" Liam shook his head. "Too many girls. I miss Oz. He'd get it. He wouldn't say anything, but...he'd get it.
"Why would anyone do that if they could have a real live person?" Anya asked.
"Maybe he couldn't. Find a real person." Willow said.
"Oh, come on." Buffy said. "The guy's just a big wedge of sleaze, don't make excuses for him."
"But it's really hard out their Buffy." Liam said. "There are some people who don't find their true love until their forties. Some never find love at all. All we want growing up in life is to be loved by…someone." He bowed his head looking sad again. Giles finishes helping the customer and returns to sit with them.
"I'm just saying, people get lonely," Willow continued. "And maybe having someone around, even someone you made up ... maybe it's easier."
"But it's so weird." Tara said. "I mean, everyone wants a nice normal person to share with, but this guy, if he couldn't find that, I guess it's ... kinda sad."
"It really is." Liam said sadly.
"We should get going." Buffy said an turned to leave. Liam got up and went around Xander. As he pasted, he slapped Xander up the side of the head.
"Hey! What was that for?" Xander cried.
"For thinking that a sexbot is what all guys want." Liam replied.
…
Buffy and Liam were walking to Warrens house. Liam was walking with his hands in his pockets and his glasses on. Buffy noticed this but hadn't said anything while they walked.
"You're awfully quite." Buffy finally said. "Penny for your thoughts." She looked a little confused. "Where did that saying come from? Did people actually pay someone a penny to her their thoughts?"
"I don't know." Liam said not caring.
"Are you ok?" Buffy asked. "You see….sad."
"I'm just…." Liam sighed. "Little home sick is all." Buffy nodded understanding.
"Miss your own time?"
"Yeah. My time. My family. My friends. My w…" he stopped before he could say anymore.
"What was that?" Buffy asked.
"Nothing." Liam quickly said. "We're here." They reached their destination and were about to knock on the door when it opened and Warren stood there with a girl and a bag.
"I have to talk to you." Buffy said.
"Who's are they?" the girl asked.
"Is this about her?" Warren asked Buffy not paying attention at his girlfriend.
"Yes." Liam answered.
"Her who?" The gril asked annoyed. "Warren, something's going on here. Strange girls..."
"Katrina, please be quiet, okay, this is important." Warren said to her. "Wait in the kitchen."
"And I'm not important? Warren, just tell them to go away."
"I can't."
"You're keeping secrets from me. Other girls, and who knows what else?"
"Trina, shut up." He yelled. That wasn't smart.
"That's it. Forget it, Warren. I'm gone." She said furious and walked out past Buffy and Liam.
"No, Katrina! Ahhh..." Warren called desperately. Buffy shrugged and she and Liam walked inside.
"My name is Buffy Summers." She introduced herself. "We were at Sunnydale High together. Do you know who I am?"
Yes, I know. Who is he?" He asked looking at Liam.
"A friend." Liam replied.
"Right. Um, April, did she hurt someone?
"Yes. Me and my future brother in law."
"She's looking for me. You know, uh, she followed me here."
"Figured that out already." Liam said.
"No, no, there's more. Uh, there's something you need to know about her."
"We know."
"No, wait, this is important."
"Believe me, we worked it out." Buffy said.
"No, this is something, uh, that you can't possibly know." Buffy folded her arms and nodded to him to continue. "She's a robot." Buffy looks at him as if expecting more.
"Uh-huh." She said.
"Proper term is android" Liam said and Buffy elbowed him to shut up.
Warren begun to explain his reasoning for building April. Buffy sat on the sofa while Warren paces. Laim stood leaning on a wall.
"So you have girl troubles." Buffy pointed out. "They're not talking to you, you're not gettin' dates ... you start thinking, 'hey, this isn't fair.'"
"Yeah, I mean, I felt like I deserved to have someone." Warren said. "You know, I mean, everyone deserves to have someone."
"Of course." Liam said.
"So naturally you turned to manufacturing." Buffy said.
"Kinda." Warren said.
"And how long did it take to build yourself that little toy?"
"Oh, no, she's not a toy. I mean, I know what you're thinking, but she's more than that."
"I'm sure she has many exciting labor-saving attachments."
"No, I made her to love me. I mean, she cares about what I care about, and she wants to be with me. She listens to me and supports me. I didn't make a toy. I made a girlfriend."
"A girlfriend. Are you saying ... are you in love with her?"
"I really thought I would be. I mean, she's perfect. I don't know, I ... I guess it was too easy. And predictable. You know, she got boring." Buffy rolled her eyes. "She was exactly what I wanted, and I didn't want her. I thought I was going crazy."
"Really? You?" Liam said.
"Then something happened. Katrina was in my engineering seminar, and she was really funny and cool. You know, she was always givin' me a hard time, real ... unpredictable. She builds these little model monorails that run with magnets, and ... Anyway. I fell in love with Katrina."
"Swell." Buffy said. "Romance and magnetic trains. But first you decided to take April out of the box, play with her for five minutes, and then what? You got bored, decided to dump her, tell her to go away?"
"Kinda."
"And she got mad." Liam said. "She didn't go, huh?"
"Okay, I didn't really dump her, as much as I, uh, went out, and, uh, didn't come back." Buffy and Liam stared at him. "I left her, I ... left her in my dorm room."
"You left her in your dorm room?!" Buffy said angrily.
"Dude." Liam muttered.
"Well, I figured I could just kinda get away until her batteries gave out." Warrant tried to explain. "Which should have been days ago."
"Did you even tell her?" Buffy asked. "I mean, did you even give her a chance to fix what was wrong?"
"I didn't need to fix anything. I mean, her batteries were supposed to run down. Really, they should be completely dead by now."
"So why aren't they?" Liam asked.
"I don't, I don't know. I mean, maybe ... uh, she must be recharging them somehow."
"Warren, this is important." Buffy said. "Is she dangerous?"
"She's only programmed to be in love."
"She's dangerous." Both Buffy and Liam said at the same time.
…..
Warren, Buffy, and Liam were walking around, looking for April.
"April! April, are you there?" Warren yelled. "If the batteries are still working and she hears my voice, then ... she'll answer."
"She's voice-activated?" Liam asked.
"Well, I made it so that if she heard me and she didn't answer, it causes this kind of feedback."
"Wait, if you call her and she doesn't answer, it hurts her?" Buffy said appalled. Warren looked embarrassed. "You're one creepy little dweeb, Warren."
"April!" he yelled again.
"Warren!" Aprils suddenly cried. Buffy, Liam, and Warren stopped walking, looking shocked.
"April." Warren said. April was standing by the playground holding Katrina by the neck. Katrina's feet were not touching the ground and she appeared to be unconscious.
"Where have you been?" April asked. "I couldn't find you, and this girl kept lying to me, and ... then she went to sleep." They all stared at her in dismay.
"April, what did you do?" Warren cried. April looked at Katrina then back at warren.
"Please don't be angry, Warren. I'm trying very hard to make you happy."
"Got to admire that about her." Liam muttered.
"April." Buffy said. "I want you to put the girl down."
"Warren?" April asked him. "What should I do?" Warren hesitated.
"Talk to her!" Buffy told him
"Pu-put her down!" Warren told April. April lowered Katrina. Buffy and Warren carried Katrina to a nearby bench and laid her down.
"Is she broken?" April asked. Liam felt Katrina's neck for a pulse.
"She's alive." He said. Warren looks relieved and moved toward April.
"Warren, honey, what's going on?" April asked. "Why did you go away? Is it a game?"
"No. No, this isn't a game." He said.
"Did I do something wrong? I waited a long time and you never came back. A long time. I made you five sweaters." Liam mouthed sweaters to Buffy. Buffy shrugged.
"That's great, you could go back and get them. So you could wait there and…"
"Warren!" Buffy said. "You have to tell her. And do it right."
"Better get it out of the way dude." Liam said. Warren looked nervously at April.
"What are they saying, Warren?" April asked. "What do you need to tell me?"
"April, I made a mistake." Warren stammered.
"You can't make mistakes." April laughed.
"No, I did. I thought that I made you everything that I wanted, but it wasn't really what I wanted. I'm sorry, bu-but it's over."
"But ... I can be whatever you want." April smiled. "I love you. I'll do whatever you want. Would you like a neckrub?" She moved in forward reaching for Warren's neck. He fended her off.
"No, hey, no. See, I - I know that you love me, but the truth is, I can't love you. I mean, it's not your fault, but... I don't love you." April frowned "I love her!" he indicated to Katrina but Aprils monitor focused on Buffy and April immediately went into kill mode. She growled.
"She growls?" Buffy asked. "You made her so she growls?"
"Cool" Liam looked impressed.
"Well..." Warren began. April grabbed Buffy and flung her away. She landed on some grass and got up as April approached.
"Buffy!" Liam cried. He went to April from behind, but she simply back fisted him without looking. He went out like light.
April went over to a see-saw and lifted one end of it. She brought her arm down on the middle of the board so it snapped in half. Buffy looked alarmed. April swung the piece of wood at Buffy, who grabbed it. They grappled. Buffy kicked April in the stomach and she stumbled back, grabbing the bench to steady herself. Buffy swung the piece of wood but April got out of the way and it slammed down on the bench. It awoke Katrina, who sat up. Buffy swung again and hit April in the stomach, tearing away her dress and exposing machinery in her stomach.
"What's going on?" Katrina asked.
"No, no, Trina-" Warren said. Liam was coming to. He groaned and looked up, seeing his mother fighting April. April's inner workings started sparking. "Get away." Warren yelled. Katrina got up and backed away from the fight, toward Warren. Liam got up and joined them. Buffy swung the wood at April again and April grabbed it, pulling it out of Buffy's hands, tossing it away and punching Buffy. Buffy flew backward and landed on her back, turned it into a back flip and got up. She ducked a punch and landed another one on April.
"What is ... what ... that's a robot!" Katrina stammered while she clutched her throat.
"Android" Liam corrected.
"She wasn't just for sex." Warren blurted out.
"Is that ... is that your ex-girlfriend?" Katrina asked.
"Dude." Liam said putting his hand on his forehead. "You don't tell your current girlfriend that your ex-girlfriend android was not just for sex." Katrina started to run off. Warren ran after her.
Buffy and April continued exchanging punches and head-butts. Buffy kicked April, who fell down in the sand next to a swing set. Buffy grabbed the chains holding a swing up and used them to hold her up while she kicked April in the face, then hit her with the swing itself. April grabbed Buffy by the throat and lifted her off the ground as Buffy struggled and gasped for air. Liam started to run over.
"You took my man." April said. "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to ..." She paused. "I can't ... can't crush! So ... tired." She lets go of Buffy, who coughed and gasped. Liam went to check on her. April stared at her own hand. "Warren?" she said anxiously. "Where are you? What's happening to me?"
"My guess is your power supply has run out." Liam said observing her. April's hand slowly dropped to her side. A little later. Buffy and April were sitting on the swings side by side. Liam was leaning on it. April was leaning against the chain as it was the only thing holding her up.
"Can you cry?" Buffy asked. "Sometimes I feel better when I cry. But ... there might be rust issues."
"Crying is blackmail." April responded. "Good girlfriends don't cry."
"Oh."
"Yeah they do." Liam said coming into April's line of sight. "Sadness is what helps make the relationship grow. Love isn't bowing down to the other's every whim. It's doing things for them, and they do things for you. You'll cry, you'll fight, you'll get angry, but that's how a normal relationship works."
"I rechecked everything." April said. "I did everything I was supposed to do. I was a good girlfriend."
"I'm sure you were." Buffy said.
"I'm only supposed to love him. If I can't do that, what am I for? What do I exist for?"
"I don't know. It isn't fair. He wasn't fair to you."
"And that's how a relationship works." Liam said. "Being fair to each other. Otherwise it isn't a relationship at all." April looked around, moving only her eyes.
"It's getting dark." She said. Buffy and Liam looked around too. It looked as sunny as ever. "It's so early to be dark."
"Yeah." Buffy said softly.
"What if he comes back and he can't find me in the dark?"
"I'm here. I'll make sure that he finds you."
"So will I." Liam took a seat on the ground.
"Maybe this is a girlfriend test." April smiled. "If I wait here patiently this time, he'll come back."
"I'm sure he will." Buffy said. "And he'll ... he'll tell you how sorry he is." She paused. "You know, he told me ... how proud he was of you and ... how impressed he was with how much you loved him and how you tried to help him." April smiled happily. Liam stared at his mother and then smiled too. "He didn't mean to hurt you."
"He's going to take me home, and things will be right again."
"It'll be fine."
"When things are sad ... you just have to be patient." Her speech began to slow. "Because ... because every ... cloud has a silver lining. And ... when life ... gives you lemons ... make ... lemonade."
"Clouds and lemonade, huh?"
"Yes. And ... and ...things are ... always ... darkest ... before..." She stopped frozen with a small smile on her face. Her eyes stayed open. Liam looked at her with a frown, and then looked down pensively. Buffy saw this.
"Feeling sympathy?" she asked. Liam looked up at her with a sad face.
"Something like that." he said and got up. "I gotta go. Get some sleep. Had a real crazy day."
"I understand that." Buffy said and Liam left.
…..
Buffy got back home later and went to her room. The phone rang and Buffy went to answer it.
"Hello" she said.
"Buffy" she heard Angels voice.
"Angel! You called."
"You sound surprised."
"Well I thought you might be out on a case or something."
"Just finished up. So what's going on since I left?"
"We fought a robot girlfriend of a weird creepy geek who dumped her in the wrongest way possible."
"Wow. A robot. That must have been interesting."
"Yeah it was. Liam kept telling us that she wasn't a robot but and android. He was very picky about it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. So how's LA? How did your team take you being permanently ensouled and being engaged?"
"They were shocked. We had to go through a process to make sure I wasn't Angelus for them to believe me. once they found out that I wasn't Angelus, they congratulated me before Cordy got a vision about this vampire motivational speaker who was raising an army with some sort of coloring system."
"Vampire motivational speaker hunh? Did they run out of the good people to turn into bloodsucking demons?"
"Hey?"
"You know I love you Angel."
"I do. Look I gotta go now. But it was nice talking to you."
"You too. Come visit me?"
"I will let you know when I have chance to come and when I'm in town."
"I'll be waiting. I love you."
"I love you too, Buffy." He hung up and so did Buffy. She sighed a happy smile and went to her room.
…
Warren was at his house and was talking on the cordless phone, moving around, packing.
"Trina, no, wait, listen, listen, I'm so sorry." Warren said into it. "I guess I asked- No, no, just give me a chance to explain, I ... Yes! No, but she - no, no, listen, listen, I'll do anything, just, no, no, don't hang up!" He sighed and went to hang up the phone. He turned around and gasped in shock as he saw Liam standing behind him, holding a box full of stuff. "How, how'd you get in here?"
"Your mom let me in." Liam said and walked closer. "I'm placing an order."
"Oh, no, no, I'm not making any more girls."
"Sure you are." He shoved the box into Warren's hands. "Here's your specs." Inside the box were a number of pictures and clothing items. All of them Buffy's. Warren stared at Liam. "You're gonna make her real good."
…..
Liam got back to his apartment. With his dad out of town, he didn't want to stay at the mansion. Especially after the day he had. He had actually asked Warren to make him the Buffybot he was told about. He didn't really know why. All he knew was that it helped the gang out in the future. He was just making sure that he followed history. If what is to come actually does come, he would need it. They would need it. But his mind wasn't entirely on ordering the Buffybot, it was on something else. April and Warren, Anya and Xander, Willow and Tara, His grandmother and her date, his parents. Couples really. Liam felt alone.
He went to his bed and lifted up his pillow. Under it was a jewelry ring box. He picked it up and opened it. inside was his fathers claddagh ring. While it wasn't his dad's in his time, it used to be when he and his mother were together before both of their deaths. Now it was his. He took it out of the box and placed it on his left ring finger, with the point of the heart pointing towards him, signifying he was married. He laid on the bed and traced his thumb over the grooves of the ring. He kissed the ring and leaned back closing his eyes with a heavy sigh.
"Delia." He whispered.
Like it? Love it? You tell me. Liam is married. He orders the Buffybot for a certain reason. Can you figure it out? Probably, but remember this, I might throw a curve ball at you guys. Tell me what you think. Review and Comment.