I walked quietly down the street in behind of my friends we had just been hanging out, Willow and Xander are walking in front of me on the way to my house arguing and Buffy was in ahead of us all.

Buffy gets out her key and reaches up to put it in the door lock when she pushes on it to insert it the door just swings in.

My heart drops and Buffy looks at me concerned "You guys wait here a second" I growled walking into the house until I hear a glass break and mom cry out.

"No!" mom screams, Buffy and I rush through the kitchen door "Mom!" We scream seeing our mom kissing a man, they break off their kiss, and we all stare awkwardly at each other.

"Oh, my..." Buffy says in shock "I'm sorry, I... I heard..." I stuttered as I looked at her and the smoothed out her hair "Uh, I-I-I broke a wine glass. Y-y-you're home early" she says to us as the guy smiles and waves at us "Hi," he says smiling brightly.

"Hi," we say back "Oh! Uh, these are my twins, Buffy and Nikki" Mom says to the man "Girls this is Ted" Buffy turns to look at me unsure how to react.

After going to get Xander and Willow from the porch mom had invited them to stay for dinner and Ted was cooking for us. I was sat on the bar stool as Buffy stands by the door with mom.

"Okay, here we go!" Ted says handing us a mini pizza each, eating mine I had to admit he was a great cook."Sprinkle that on..." Ted says as he sprinkles cheese on our pizzas "Uh, a little more. Okay, more..." Xander says eating his pizza.

"I like my new nine-Gig hard drive," Willow says to Ted after she found out he sells computer stuff "But you don't love it, 'cause without the DMA upgrade your computer's only half a rocket ship," Ted says nodding.

"Yeah, but who can afford the upgrades?" Willow says sighing "Well, you can! I get the demos for free, I don't see why I shouldn't give 'em to you for the same price! Any friend of Buffy and Nikki's" Ted says happily.

Willow squeals "What?" Ted says looking at me for help "Oh, that's the sound she makes when she's speechless with geeker joy" I tell him with a smile.

"Can I just say, this is the finest pizza ever on God's green Earth. What is your secret?" Xander says with a mouthful of pizza.

"Well, after you bake it, you fry it in herbs and olive oil, but you gotta use a cast-iron skillet. No room for compromise there" Ted says knocking on the bottom of the pan.

"Y'know, you should market these things. I mean, you can get two, three hundred bucks a piece!" Xander tells Ted shoving the pizzas in his mouth.

Ted laughs at that and takes the plate with the pizzas over to Buffy "Hungry?" he asks her but she just shakes her head "No, thanks" Ted sighs and puts down the plate.

"Nikki, Buffy, I want to apologize. That wasn't how I wanted us to meet I wanted it to be perfect. I'm very fond of your mother, I guess that's pretty obvious. I know you two the most important things in her life, and, well, gosh, that makes you pretty important to me, too" Ted says smiling at us.

Mom stands next to Ted "Girls, I really want you to be okay with this" Mom pleads looking at us "Beg to differ we really want you to be okay with this" Ted says wrapping his arm around mom.

"I'm okay" Buffy mutters "You are?" Mom asks shocked "We are" Mom and Ted look at me "Just don't hurt her" Ted nods "or I'll be swimming with the fishes right?" I just laughed sarcastically "You have no idea".


Walking through the hall at school the next day the subject again had turned to Ted again "Did you even bother to taste 'em? Nooo! Well, I did, and I'm here to tell ya those mini pizzas have changed my life! Ted is the master chef! I mean even Nikki tried them and she's the most anti-social person I've met" Xander says pointing at me.

I looked at him with a glare "I mean that in a nice way it's uh cool you're protective of us, that why we're not dead yet.. thank you" Xander says hugging me.

Buffy sighs "Fine! So he's a good cook. Well, what does that really tell you about a person?" I rolled my eyes at my sister "Everything" Xander shouts at her defending Ted.

Willow looks at Buffy softly "You don't like him?" Buffy shrugs and sighs "I don't know him. I, I mean, so far all I see is someone who apparently has a good job, seems nice and polite. I can't believe you've not said a thing" Buffy says looking at me.

I looked at Buffy seriously "She's happy Buffy that's all that matters to me" Buffy nods sadly "Mom really likes him" Xander looks and Buffy weirdly "What kind of a monster is he?" he says sarcastically.

"I'm just saying there's something a little too clean about this clown," Buffy tells us, Willow giggles to herself "He's a clean clown!" She senses our stares and looks up "I have my own fun" We stop at the vending machines "Buff, you're lacking evidence.I think maybe we're in Sigmund Freud territory," Xander says putting his coins into the machine and I press the button for him knowing what he'd get.

"He has a point. Separation anxiety, the mother figure being taken away, conflict with the father figure" I nodded at Willow as Buffy growled at them "He's not my father figure"Xander looked at Buffy "Having issues much?" Buffy pouts "I am not!".

Xander does a funny dance, pointing both fingers at us and teases in a sing-song voice You're having parental issues, you're having parental issues..."Xander..." I growl looking at my friend "What? Freud would've said the exact same thing except he might not have done that little dance" I rolled my eyes and took the can away from him and drank it "Hey" he called.

"Okay, I admit it's weird. Seeing my mother frenching a guy is definitely a ticket to therapy land, but it's more than that. I'm pretty good at sensing what's going on around me, and there is definitely something wrong with this... Ted" Buffy spits out.

I spot Ted coming down the stairs "Ted!" I say loudly and Buffy looks at me confused "Of course, Ted. Who'd you think I was talking about?" Xander shakes his head with a smile "Hi, Ted! Ted, who's here" Xander explains to Buffy "Hello, kids!" Buffy and Willow turn to face Ted.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asks Ted almost accusingly "I'm updating the software in the guidance office. Which reminds me" Ted pulls several discs from his pocket and hands them to Willow "your upgrades"Willow takes the discs "Oh, what a day! Thank you!" Buffy gives Willow a look.

"Think nothing of it. Girls, do you like miniature golf?" Ted says smiling at Buffy and me, Xander puts his arms across our shoulders "Who doesn't!" he laughed "Well, your mother and I were thinking maybe this Saturday we could drag the four of you out to the course, spend some time swinging the iron with the stuffy old people." Ted smiles again.

"Well, uh..." Buffy stutters "I'm making a picnic basket" Ted adds looking at us "With mini pizzas?" Xander asks looking wide eyes "And cookies!" Ted says winking at me mom had obviously told him my love for cookies.

Xander inhales in wide-eyed "You know what, we, we would love to, honestly, but, um, unfortunately, we have that thing on Saturday" Buffy says looking at Willow for support.

"Oh, that thing. That thing" Willow agrees "Hey, we can do that thing anytime. I'm tired of doing that thing. We're on!" Xander tells Ted who smiles widely at us "Great!" He tells us happily "Yeah great" Buffy mutters annoyed.


I laughed as I swing my mini golf club, I was actually having a good time "Ah, the dreaded five-par cuckoo clock. Ha! So many have come, so few have conquered" Xander says jokingly.

"That picnic was delicious" Mom tells Ted "You know how rare it is to find a man that cooks?" Mom as with a happy smile.

"So, Nikki, Buffy, I bet the boys are lined up around the block tryin' to get a date with you," Ted says smiling at Buffy and me.

"Not really" Buffy mutters at Willow nods quickly "Oh, they are, but she's only interested in..." Buffy quickly nudges Willow "uh, her studies! 'Book-cracker Buffy', it's kind of her nickname".

"Well, glad to hear it. I bet that means your grades will be picking up soon" Ted says to Buffy "My grades?" Buffy asks shocked.

"So Nikki your mom say your usually very untrusting well I just wanted to say thank you for trusting me with your mother," Ted says smiling at me at he swings his club I just nod at him "Like I said I just want her to be happy".

Walking to the next hole Buffy is ready to take her shot "Keep your eye on the ball. Watch those elbows!" Ted says but she swings a bit too hard, and the ball ricochets off of the castle and into the rough behind it.

"Oh! Bad luck, little lady!" Ted says as Buffy starts over to her ball"Oh, we won't count it" mom says supportively "We won't?" Ted says turning to look at mom.

"Well, it's just miniature golf," Mom says smiling "It is, but the rules are the rules and what we teach her is what she takes out into the world when we're not there, whether it's at school or an unchaperoned party," Ted says to mom.

"I don't mean to overstep my bounds, this is between you and your mother, I just think right is right" Mom nods at Ted's words "He has a point" Buffy grits her teeth at them "Fine. I'll just go hit my ball from the rough"Buffy walks away and Ted follows her.

"So what do you think of Ted?" mom whispers to me but I shrug "He seems cool, just as long as your okay," I tell her unsure.

"Hey, how 'bout that! Got a hole in two!" Buffy calls from behind the castle we all began to walk to Buffy whose now glaring at Ted "Who's up for dessert? I made chocolate-chip cookies!" Ted grins.

Mom opens the zip-lock bag of cookies "Yummy!" Xander says grabbing a handful "Cookies!" Willow says excitedly, putting my hand into the bag I look at my sister's face and stop.

"What wrong Nikki, you're mom said you love cookies" Ted said smiling at me but something felt wrong my head was beginning to tingle putting my hand on my head I groaned "Um I just don't feel too good" mom looked at me concerned but I just looked at Buffy who looked like she could cry.


Waking up the next morning I trudge downstairs where mom and Buffy were stood "Hey baby you feeling any better" I smiled and nodded a little "Ok well I've got juice, I've got sticky buns, oh, don't they smell good!" Buffy picks up part of a bun "Ted made them."Mom says as Buffy puts it back down.

"What?" mom asks when Buffy pulls a face "I'd just like to eat something around here that Ted didn't make" Mom sighs "Oh, what kind of an attitude is that?"Buffy exhales heavily "Look, Mom, I know you think he's great and all, but I...".

Mom pours me some juice "Y'know, he went out of his way to be nice to you, and you couldn't say two words to him on Saturday" Mom says as she looks at Buffy."I do not expect you to love him right away like I do, but I do expect you to treat him decently".

Buffy looks at mom in shock "You love him?" mom looks over at us "I-I don't know that just slipped out but I guess, I mean, it's not exactly like men beat down the door when you're a single..." Mom stops in her sentence short.

"When you're a single parent" Buffy whispers looking sad "Girls, look I wouldn't have anything to do with anybody if they didn't care about you. But he does! I don't understand why you can't see that!" Mom says looking at Buffy.

"He threatened me," Buffy tells us "What?" mom asks in disbelief "He threatened me. He said that he was gonna slap my face" Buffy told us as I looked at her worried.

"He said no such thing! Honey, Ted told me what happened. He caught you cheating, didn't he?" Mom tuts at Buffy "Yeah, I kicked my ball in, put me in jail, but he totally wigged!" Buffy shouts at her.

"And he didn't say anything about it in front of the others, did he?" Mom said to Buffy knowingly "Uh, no, but I don't think that's the..." Buffy mutters looking at the ground.

"Well, I thought that that was pretty decent of him! Ted said we are just gonna have to give you time to come around. Oh, speaking of which, he's making dinner for us tonight, so I'd like you at home, please," Mom says to Buffy before looking at me "promptly at six".

Buffy gives mom a look and stalks out of the kitchen with me following her "I believe you" I told her making tears come to her eyes "Whenever I'm around him my senses just go out of wack. So how do we prove he's up to no good"


Willow, Buffy, Xander and I are walking across the quad "What do you mean, check him out?" Buffy sighs annoyed."I mean investigate him. Find out his secrets, hack into his life" Buffy asks Willow as Xander scoffs "Can you say 'overreaction'?".

Buffy just glares at Xander "Can you say 'sucking chest wound'?" Willow sighs and looks at us "Buffy, it just seems like you want him to be corrupt, or something" Buffy looks at Willow upset "The guy lost his senses over mini-golf".

Xander shrugs still eating his cookies "So he's a little uptight. Last I heard that's not a slaying offense" Buffy and I give Xander a look "Don't gimme the look, I'm on your side. I'm just saying there are some things in life you have to accept"Buffy, Willow and I sit on a bench.

"I'm beginning to think Ted ain't one of 'em" I mutter rubbing my temples "Hey, Cordy! Nice outfit" Xander calls to Cordelia who stops and looks at him "Oh, very funny".

"Not really," Xander tells Cordelia "What are you saying?" she asks "Nice outfit?" Xander tries again as we all stare at him weirdly.

"Well, why don't you just keep your mouth shut!" Cordelia shouts at Xander walking off "Would you guys excuse me for a sec?" Xander says running after Cordelia.

"What's up with them?" Willow asks " I have no idea" I mutter with a raised eyebrow."Anyway Will, I'm not wrong here. Ted has a problem with me. He acts like I'm in the way or something he's never been off with Nikki and Mom's been totally different since he's around" Buffy mummers with a frown.

"Different, like happy?" Willow asks looking at Buffy who nodded "Like Stepford. Will you help me?" Willow nods at us softly "You know I will. What do you want me to look for?" I smiled at Willow "Let's start small. Can you find out where he works?" Willow nods.


Sitting at the dinner table I glared at Ted, Buffy had gone to where he works and found out he was planning to marry mom and get Buffy out of the way.

She told me about the creepy picture of mom and me on his desk like he's trying to create a perfect family and obviously Buffy wasn't part of his plans.

Ted begins to say grace "We thank you for what we are about to receive, and we ask that you bless this house, and help the people in it to be more productive, more considerate and more honest. Amen"Ted and mom lay their napkins in their laps.

"Well, another great day at work! How was school today, Girls? Did you learn anything?" Ted says looking at Buffy and I. Buffy just smirked "Quite a bit" Ted nodded happily "Good for you! Well, Joycie, what do you think?" Mom swallowed her food "I think every home should have one of you. It's fantastic!".

Mom turns to us "Don't you think?" Ted smiles over at us "Looks good" I muttered making Ted grin at me "Well, you know, princess, it's not just for looks, it's for building strong bodies".Buffy just sits there staring at Ted "Honey?" mom says to Buffy "Are you two engaged?" Ted's head shoots in Buffy's direction.

"Goodness, no! Whatever gave you that idea?" Mom asked Buffy with a small laugh, Ted turns to mom"Now, Joycie, let me handle this. Buffy, your mother and I are taking it one step at a time. And if things go the way I hope, maybe someday soon I just might ask her to tie the knot. How would you feel about that?" Buffy sat in silence not answering his question.

"It's okay to have feelings, Girls, and it's okay to express them," Ted said to us"I'd feel like killing myself," Buffy said out loud shocking our mom "Buffy!".

"No, no, I, I told her to be honest," Ted said smiling at our mom "Sweetheart, you should try and get used to me, 'cause you know what? I'm not going anywhere" I glared hearing the threat in his voice.

"May I be excused?" Buffy asks through gritted teeth "You can go to your room, young lady, that's where you can go" mom tells Buffy with a sigh, Buffy gets up and leaves the table without another word.

"Ted, I.. I am so embarrassed! I-I-I don't know what's wrong with her!" Mom says looking at Ted "Joycie, you don't get to be salesman of the year by giving up after a couple of rejections. She'll come 'round".T

They both turn to me "Why don't you eat up Princess" Ted says as he looks down at my untouched plate "Sweetie?" Mom says "Are you feeling unwell again?" I just nodded "I'm going to go lie down," I told them "Rest well my Princess" I heard Ted say from behind me.


Opening my eyes I yawned I must have fallen asleep, getting up to change into my bed clothes I heard a bang from Buffy's room, jumping up I ripped the door open and saw Ted holding my sister up by her collar.

"Hey!" I shout as I punch him, Buffy kicked Ted making him fall against her door, Ted grabs Buffy he picks her up by the shirt collar again but she kicks him in the shin.

Mom comes to the door "Buffy! Stop that!" I elbow him in the face "Stop it!" Mom screams again as I kick Ted in the chest, making him stagger backward out into the hall, where mom holds onto Buffy.

Following Ted I punch him in the face as he trips down to the end of the hall before regaining his balance and hits me making me stagger back into the wall, Seeing red I quickly roundhouse kicked him with all the strength I had making him fall down the stairs, tumbling to the bottom.

Mom goes running down the stairs and Buffy wraps her arms around me "Ted..." Mom cries as she tries to shake him awake "Ted! Ted!"Buffy and I slowly descends the stairs as Mom looks up at me "You killed him!" I stare down at Ted's unmoving body, not believing what just happened.


I sat on the stairs as Ted's body is being zipped up into a body bag, Mom watches as the coroner's wheel Ted's body away "He fell. Down the stairs, he fell" Mom says to the Detective.

"I see. Uh, did he slip? Do you know what made him fall?" The Detective asked looking around "I hit him, I hit him" I whispered trying not to break.

The Detective drove us to the police station so he could take our statements and other things, I sat in an interrogation room with Buffy "He was in my room. And we got into an argument" Buffy told the Detective who wrote down what we said.

"About what?" Detective Stein asked, "He, um..." Buffy said looking down at the table "Was this the first time that you two had had an argument?" Detective Stein asked again making Buffy look up at him.

"No. He threatened me. He, he said that he would slap me" Buffy whispered to him"That was tonight" Detective Stein questioned "No. But he had my diary, and I-I tried to take it back, a-and that's when he hit me".

"Where?" Detective Stein questioned looking at Buffy, Buffy raises her hand to indicate her right cheek "Well, it doesn't look like he hit you very hard" The detective scoffs."We don't bruise easily" I told him "So you've been hit before?" The Detective asks us "Yes".

"But Ted never hit you" Stein questions as Buffy sighed annoyed, "I told you..." Stein waved his hands"Before tonight, Ted never hit you before tonight?" Buffy shook her head.

"What do you want? I-I told you what happened, I didn't mean to!" I shouted desperately "I believe you. Things get outta hand. He's a big guy" Stein says as he writes some notes on his pad.

"Are you charging her with something?" Mom asks when we're lead out of the interrogation room "We're not bringing anything up against your daughter right now. She says Mr. Buchanan struck her sister and she came to her defense and if that's the case..." Detective Stein said looking at Mom with a shrug.

"Anyway, we've gotta examine it further. Right now I think you should just take her home, and the three of you should try and get some rest" Stein says as Mom nods and leads us out of the police station. Sitting in Mom's car the silence was deafening I didn't want to talk I couldn't, I turned my head to look out of the window sighing.


The next morning at school Buffy led me down the halls as everyone seems to be looking at us as we slowly make our way to the lounge "Buffy, Nikki!" Xander shouts as he and Willow walk towards us smiling.

"Are you okay?" Xander asks me but I just shake my head "She hasn't talked much since..." Willow nods sadly"How come you're here?".

"We couldn't stay at home" Buffy mutters "Mom won't even look at me," I told Willow as she rubs my shoulder, Xander sits on the table in front of me and rubs my knee comfortingly.

"What happened?" Willow asks before looking at me wide eyed "Unless you don't want to talk about it" Buffy sighs and looks at me "We had a fight and he hit me" I cleared my throat "I found him hurting Buffy and I lost my temper. I really let him have it."

"The paper said he fell" Willow whispers "He fell. Hard." Buffy muttered, "What was he?" Xander asks me making me look at him confused "What?".

"What was he? A-a demon? A giant bug? Some kind of dark god with the secrets of nouvelle cuisine? I mean, we are talking creature-feature here, right?" I just looked at my hands."Oh man!" Xander says when he realizes.

"But I'm sure it wasn't your fault. He started it" Willow mumbles "Yeah. That defense only works in six-year-old court, Will" I scoffed, Xander looks at me shocked "Court? Wa-wait. Are they charging you with something?".

I just shrugged "I-I don't know. Not yet, he was a person, and I killed him" I said looking at my hands again.

"Don't say that!" Buffy scolds as I look up at her "Why not? Everyone else is. And it's the truth" Xander puts his arm around me "It was an accident".

"I'm a Slayer I had no right to hit him like that," I told them all "Look, I don't know what happened exactly. But I do know you. And I know you would never hurt anyone intentionally. Well, you know, unless..." Xander stops.

"Unless they were dating our mother" Buffy mutters, I looked at Xander who was flabbergasted "I gotta go" running away again.

I quickly walk down the hall and watched as Giles comes out of a classroom nodding to a man standing outside the door "Nikki?" Giles says and I stop in my tracks "Are you alright?" I just look up at Giles and blinked.

"Oh, uh, stupid question, I'm sorry. Look, i-i-if there's anything you need, of course, just, just ask"."What's going on?" I walked towards the classroom with Giles stuttering behind me "Oh, you needn't worry about that. They're just asking a few questions, your, your, your behavior and... um... uh...".

I looked into the room through the door window and see Detective Stein talking with two of my teachers "Of course, I told them you, uh... I..." Giles said behind me but I felt like I couldn't breathe so I ran... again.


Willow and Cordelia are at the library table, Giles is behind them in the cage getting together some weapons with Buffy, and Xander is pacing.

"Man, this is killing me! That bastard was up to something, I know it. If I could just get my hands on him..." Xander says until he sees the look Willow is giving him "Earlier this week".

"I thought you liked him," Cordelia asks as Xander walks over to Cordelia "I sometimes like things that are not good for me. Besides, no way, no how does Nikki put the big hurt on an innocent man. Nice Uncle Ted was dirty".

"We've gotta prove that somehow. Xander, do you have a pen?" Willow says as she looks at the computer in front of sets the bag on the table and puts the crossbow in "If Nikki has to go to jail because of that creep I'm gonna lose it. He's gotta be in there, Will. Uh, history of domestic violence, a criminal record?" Buffy says desperately.

Xander opens his satchel and fins ziplock bag "Ooo! Cookies!" Cordelia sighs and looks at everyone "I don't get it. Nikki and Buffy are Slayers. Shouldn't they have...".

"What, a license to kill?" Xander asks as he eats his cookie "Well, not for fun but they're like Superman. Shouldn't there be different rules for them? Cordelia asks frustrated sure Nikki scared the crap out of her from time to time but she was pretty cool.

"Sure, in a fascist society," Willow says "Right! Why can't we have one of those?" Willow just smiles at Cordelia "Nikki's not going to jail. It's not fair".

"Whatever the authorities have planned for her, it can't be much worse than what she's doing to herself. She's taken a human life. The guilt, it-it's, it's pretty hard to bear, and it won't go away soon" Giles says as he puts weapons in his bag.

Cordelia nods at Giles "I guess you should know since you helped raise that demon that killed that guy that time?" Giles looks at Cordelia seriously "Yes. So let's bring that up as often as possible" he says and heads back to the cage.

"Ted's got no criminal record! Damn! This guy's like citizen of the year!" Willow growls as she looks at her computer "Don't sweat it. It'll be fine" Xander says as Willow looks up at Xander weirdly "Don't sweat it?".

"Yeah, cute buddy!" Xander says as he walks over to Willow "We'll work it out!" he says ruffling her hair "No worries!" Cordelia looks over at Xander confused "What happened to 'this is killing me'?" She says as Xander looks at her.

"Worrying isn't gonna solve any problems," Xander says as he shakes his cookies in front of her face, The cookie catches Willow's eye and she grabs it from Xander, breaking off most of it she turns it in her hand as she looks at it.


Standing at the kitchen door I watch as mom is packing away a bunch of baking pans and bowls "Can I help?" I asked my mom quietly.

"It's done. I've been meaning to clean out this junk for months. Do you, uh, have homework?" Mom says not looking at me again "I didn't mean to hurt him" I whispered walking towards her.

"I don't wanna talk about this" mom says turning away from me "Mom, please, you have to know..." I said trying but she just shook her head again.

"I can't, not yet. Please, Nikki, just go to your room" Mom tells me as I watch tears run down her face, turning I ran to my room.

Sitting at my desk facing into the room I sighed and trained with my telekinesis when I heard a noise "Mom?" I call but she doesn't answer me back "The hell with this" Getting up I go to my window and try to lift it but it's stuck in place.

Looking down I see the problem "She nailed it shut. Well, it's official, this day can't get any worse" I mutter turning around and see Ted standing behind me "Beg to differ"I stared at Ted horrified "You died" I whispered as Ted stared at me dangerously "That's right, Princess, you killed me. Do we have something to say about that? Are we sorry?" Ted says to me like it was perfectly normal.

"What are you?" I asked him "I'm a salesman! That's what you should've remembered. No matter how you put him down..." Ted grabs me by my shirt and throws me across the room ...a good salesman always bounces back!"I get to my feet as Ted comes for me, I immediately kick him in the gut and follows up with a left punch to the jaw.

Ted flinches, but doesn't back off, I punch him twice in the stomach and again in the face but he isn't he grabs me by the throat and backs me into and over my desk, pinning me against the wall "You see I had to shut down for a while. You should've seen the interns face when I got up off the table, it was a hoot! Fun's over, though" Ted says as he laughs maniacally.

He wraps his other hand around my throat and begins to squeeze, I look over at my nightstand for anything to use as a weapon and reach for my nail file that's lying there.

Grabbing it I stab Ted in the left forearm slicing it open as he jerks back, with the pressure gone I collapse to the floor "That wasn't playing fair, missy!" Ted says as he grabs his left wrist and looks down at the wound there are torn wires and sparks and smoke coming from it.

"You're gonna find..." His head jerks to the right "Hell of a day! Makes you feel like you're eighteen again!" his head jerks back "...that I don't like being disobeyed!".

Looking to my door I hear the sound of the door closing downstairs, realizing my mom is still down there I try to get up but Ted quickly turns to me and kicks me in the jaw.


Groaning I opened my eyes "Son of a bitch" I growled before standing and walking to my door but it was locked "Shit" I swore standing back I swung my foot up kicking out the doorknob.

Creeping downstairs I looked at the walls trying to see if I could see Ted, walking past the pantry I leaned in and grabbed the cast-iron pan he loved so much "Nikki, come out! I don't stand for this kind of malarkey in my house!" I heard Ted call.

I stood behind Ted as he walked into the kitchen "Uncle Teddy?" Ted turns to face me as I swing the pan up and Ted flies back hitting the floor hard "This house is mine!".

Ted rolls around to face me I grimace when I see some of the skin has been torn from his lips and left cheek, revealing the metal underneath, Ted stands back up "Nikki? How about a nice game of Parcheesi?" I raise the pan and slam it down onto his head just as Buffy comes running through the door.

Ted falls backward and convulses on the floor as his circuits begin to overload he finally crashes, and his eyelids jerk open in a dead stare.

I look at my handiwork in satisfaction "Guess you weren't wired that way" I whispered as Buffy wraps her arm around me comfortingly "I'm sorry" she whispered as she pulled me closer.


Back at school the next day Xander, Buffy, Willow, Cordelia and I walk together "So, I'm Ted, the sickly loser. I'm dying and my wife dumps me. I build a better Ted" Xander says.

"He brings her back, holds her hostage in his bunker'o'love until she dies. And then he keeps bringing her back, over and over. Now, now that's creepy on a level I hardly knew existed" we all frowned at Xander's words.

"The sad part is the real Ted must've been a genius. There were design features in that robot that pre-date..." Willow starts "Willow, tell me you didn't keep any parts"Willow looks at us "Not any big ones" we all smirk at Willow "Oh, Will, you're supposed to use your powers for good!" Buffy says teasing the small redhead.

"I just wanna learn stuff" Willow mutters gives Willow a weird look "Like how to build your own serial killer?" Willow frowns "Uh, it's so hard to rent one nowadays," Xander says clicking his fingers sarcastically.

"Can we just drop the subject?" Cordelia moans "Absolutely. I plan to forget the whole thing and pick up right where we left off" I smile as we look into the library through the round door windows and immediately turn around and leave.

"Okay! That's it! I give up! Do I have to sound an air horn every time I walk into a room?" I groan as I walk off "I mean, what is it with grown-ups these days?" I say as I try to get the image of Giles and Jenny kissing out of my memory.

A/N: okay so this chapter was a little long so sorry if you thought it was too much but I just wanted to get it out of the way, Ted isn't one of my favorite episodes but I do love John Ritter (RIP)