Rarely is a spur of the moment meeting at 3 in the morning a fun thing, and this one was no exception. Giles had called and awakened the Summers women, and stopped by to pick Willow up as she snuck out of her house. They reached Revello Drive and were greeted by Joyce Summers and a cup of coffee for each of them. Gathering around the dining room table, Giles began discussing recent events.

"Xander called me an hour ago, having just survived an attack by the Watcher's Council's Special Operations Group."

The women's collective shock allowed Giles to continue. "No one was hurt, at least none of our people. It appears, though, that the Council's team was decimated. Three men dead, one injured. Derek and Wesley were able to gain an idea of what's been happening at Council Headquarters from the survivor. There are political maneuvers going on, and someone decided to keep the contract on Faith and Wesley valid, and turned the SOG loose on them."

Joyce was the first one to regain her composure. "What happened? How did they find out where Faith and Wesley were?"

"Joyce, these men are very good at their jobs. It's most likely a combination of skill and good fortune. If Derek had not had trouble sleeping after their welcome home gathering, I dare say we would not have the opportunity for reconciliation. However, Xander pointed out, after Derek's interrogation of the surviving member of the SOG, that if there is a power play going on, then someone might have a desire to reassert the Council's dominance over the Slayer. As such, they might send the Special Operations Group to Sunnydale."

Buffy exploded. "Giles, we've gotta get ready for this! Those guys were nuts! If they're coming out here, how can we stop them? They're human, how can I fight them? Can they really come out here and just get us to do whatever they want us to?"

Willow was strangely silent. Her world had been rocked over the last few days, and this was too much. She managed to stammer out, "Is Xander, I mean, is everyone OK out there?"

Giles smiled a bit at the young redhead. "Yes, Willow, everyone is fine. Derek's inability to sleep turned out to give them enough of a warning to let them prepare and counter the attack. Buffy, as to your question, your concerns are valid. In fact, the others are equally concerned about our wellbeing. Derek urged Xander to get in touch with us, to give us a warning, but also to extend to us an opportunity."

"Rupert, what opportunity are they offering?" Giles was not surprised to note that Joyce was trying to push the conversation forward as a way to help the girls see the need for more help.

"Xander told me that Wesley and Derek were considering inviting us out to Idaho later this summer. They had hoped that by opening up their lives to us that we could all work through the trust issues that the last year had revealed. I must admit, the gesture is incredibly honest, and had the summer progressed normally, it would have been well received. However, they want us to come out there immediately."

Willow's eyes grew twice as large as they normally were. Buffy just sat, dumbfounded. No one spoke for nearly a minute. Finally, Joyce broke the silence.

"Rupert, what do you think about going out there?"

"Joyce, I must admit, their idea has merit. Although the timing is not ideal in as much as the critical nature of the threat, going out to Idaho would give us time to get to know the real Faith and Wesley, not to mention Derek. We could also work together to make sure that if the SOG attacks, that we are properly trained and equipped. I think we should prepare to head out to Idaho immediately. I told Derek that I would contact him once we'd discussed the matter and came to a conclusion."

Joyce nodded and looked at her daughter and Willow. "Girls, get ready to go to Idaho." Giles went to call Derek as Joyce continued. "Willow, should I call your parents? We can tell them that something happened to Xander, and that we're all going to visit him."

Willow shook her head. "They left earlier this, well, yesterday afternoon, on some three week safari in Africa. I'll just need to pack a few things."

Giles just got off of the phone and walked back into the dining room. "Derek advised us to get moving now. Willow, is there anything at your house without which you can't live?" Willow shook her head. "Good, we'll stop and replace personal items when we're on the road, once the sun comes up. Derek assured me that he could get us the clothes we need once we got to Idaho, and that it would actually work out better that way for us, since we'd have clothes like everyone else, which would help us blend in, should we need to stay for an extended period of time."

Just as Giles was talking, the doorbell rang. Willow yelped, Joyce nearly jumped out of her chair, partly because of the bell and partly because of Willow, and Buffy raced to the door, Giles close behind her. As she looked through the glass at the top of the door, Buffy was stunned.

"It's Angel."

Opening the door, Buffy nearly threw herself into the arms of her love. However, Giles grabbed her by the arm. "Buffy, wait."

Angel understood Giles' hesitation. "I just got off of the phone with a contact of mine at the hospital. Faith's missing; she disappeared from the hospital with some guy. I couldn't leave, not when Faith's a threat, so I turned around."

Joyce and Willow joined Buffy and Giles at the front door. Joyce, looking a bit irritated, spoke first.

"Angel. Nice to see you," she said through a facial expression which said that she was anything but pleased to see the vampire.

"Mrs. Summers, I'm really sorry to do this, but I couldn't just leave while there was a possibility that Faith could be on the loose. Wait, it's 3 AM; why are you all here, and awake?"

Buffy smiled a bit. "Funny thing about that. You're a little late to the game, Angel. Come in and sit down. We'll get you up to speed. But you're going to have to listen fast; we're on the way out of town."

Angel was confused as he entered the house. "What do you mean? I don't get it." Buffy greeted his entry with a hug, but nothing more.

Joyce sighed and spoke to the vampire. "Come in off of the porch, Angel. Like Buffy said, we don't have time to sit you down and walk you through this, but I guess you're part of the trip now." Turning to Giles, Joyce said, "Rupert, can you call Derek and tell him we have another visitor?"

"Yes, I'll go do that." Giles wasn't happy that Angel had come back, but he understood the vampire's concern.

Twenty minutes later, Angel, while educated on the recent events, was still confused. "And you say she'd been undercover the entire time? Wesley, too, and that there was some other guy? Hmm, that explains the unfamiliar scents I'd pick up from time to time." Buffy smiled as she packed.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Hey, at least I got college paid for, right?"

Angel smiled as he helped Buffy get her bag downstairs. As Buffy went back upstairs for her toiletries, Angel walked into the kitchen to see Joyce packing up some food for the trip. Sensing the irritation, Angel wanted to offer an explanation.

"Mrs. Summers…" he began.

Joyce interrupted him. "Please, Angel, don't 'Mrs. Summers' me," she said in a calm but serious manner. "We've been through too much in the last year or so to stick with the formalities. Call me Joyce from now on. Angel, I know about your relationship with my daughter, and I know that you meant to leave. I don't have to like this situation; frankly, I think that sometimes Buffy can become short sighted when it comes to you. However, if the last three days or so is any indicator, we all have some growing to do, myself included. Now, we are all on the same page, so I think it's time that you and I get on the same page. We're going to Idaho to try to avoid, or maybe train for, an attack by a faction within the Watcher's Council. I suspect that you're probably a target for that faction, too, so you are welcome to come with us. But you need to understand that we are all going to be working on handling things differently than we did over the past few years, and that means we're going to be open and honest with each other. So consider this me being open and honest with you. I don't expect secrets from either of you, Angel. If you want to try to give Buffy a normal life, then you need to treat your relationship with her like an adult would, and that means being honest and up front with her, not to mention encouraging her to do the same. Show me you can do that, Angel, and you will have my blessing, but show me that you can't do it, and I'll make your life short and miserable. That's my promise to you, as Buffy's mother."

Angel took all of this in. He'd been wondering how this conversation would go, but he had to admit, this wasn't what he expected. He'd expected fireworks and bluster, but what he got was Joyce's firm commitment to her daughter. She was protective without being smothering, and Angel saw that indeed, things were different, even though he'd only been gone for a few days.

"Joyce, I don't have a problem with that. It sounds like things are changing for the better, and I don't want to mess that up for anyone, much less Buffy. I thought that by leaving I could help give Buffy a normal life, but once I heard about the Faith situation, I couldn't avoid coming back to try to protect her."

"I understand, Angel, more than you might think. I just want Buffy to be able to work through what happened this year. Please, if you do love her like you say, you'll help her do that."

Angel nodded, but before he could speak, Buffy walked in. "Laying down the law, Mom?" she said, a hint of a smile creeping onto her face.

"Well, that horse has left the barn, young lady, but since I had the chance to talk to Angel, I wanted him to know how I felt. We are being honest with each other, right? Well, he needs to know that I'm concerned about my young daughter's heart, and I always will be."

What could have become incredibly awkward and frustrating turned out to be a tender moment between a mother and daughter. Buffy moved to give her mom a hug. "Thanks, Mom. OK, are we ready?"

Giles walked into the room. "We're all set. I spoke to Derek, and he's fine with Angel coming along."

"Does he know I'm a vampire?"

Giles nodded. "Yes, and he said that it would be alright with him, but that there were some of his friends that would be a tad suspicious of you, but they wouldn't make it a big deal if you wouldn't. He did ask if you could get by with animal blood? There isn't a hospital close by, and even if it was close, he didn't have the contacts to help you out. I told him you'd be fine with animal blood."

"No problem. Thanks for thinking about that."

"Yes. Alright, it's time to go. Angel, grab some bags, and we'll head to the cars."

Angel stopped Giles. "Are we taking two cars?"

"Yes, mine and Joyce's."

Angel thought for a moment. "Why don't we leave them here? If someone is tracking you, then they'd probably know your cars. No one knows mine; I kept it in storage, so it's not something that anyone has seen in Sunnydale."

Giles replied, "That's a good idea. Let's get everything into Angel's car and get on the road."