Joyce watched the new vampire with wary eyes. He made her uncomfortable. Men like this were never interested in women like her for long, but he never looked away. His eyes tracked her every move. It was disconcerting to say the least.

Giles, Sophie, Buffy and Spike had their heads together. They'd get this sorted. She sighed.

"I never knew you were the mother of the Redeemer. I only knew I would find you through her." The vampire came closer to her. She didn't want to talk about this.

"So, you still live in Rome? It must be strange to watch a city change over so many years." Joyce sat down and watched as he did the same.

"It loses its amusements after the first couple of centuries." He angled his head just so. The light hit his hair and accentuated his features. He wasn't like Sophie or Spike. Everything was artifice, and she hated it. He reminded her of Hank.

"Stake him." She looked directly to Spike as she spoke. "He's playing us and I don't trust him worth a damn."

Spike nodded and Giles shook his head. They retreated into intense whispers.

"You do not trust me, my Joy?" He looked down as if her words had some power over him.

"Buffy is a thing to you. Our lives are games. It shows." Joyce stood and glared down at the former emperor. "You want us to trust you, but you won't let us see you."

He stared up at her for a moment and then he growled. The others whirled around and the tension flared.

"I have spent a millennia waiting for this time, waiting for you, Joy." He snarled. "I have been a ruler in the mortal world and the immortal one. I have been worshipped as a god, but it does not impress you."

"Why would that impress me?" Joyce poked him in the chest. "I could care less about what you have been. I need to know what you are. You can't rest on your laurels here. This is my family."

"I am yours. I have been yours since I first saw you laughing in a vision." He grabbed her finger. "I will be what you need me to be. If I don't know how to be as you desire, I will find someone to teach me. You are mine. My joy. I will do whatever you require."

He yanked her up against his chest and kissed her. Joyce felt the world swim around her. God, the man could kiss. His tongue traced the seam of her lips and she opened to him, the cool slide of his tongue on hers was intoxicating. She shivered and gripped his biceps. Every inch of him was muscle. She pushed back from him and panted.

"I want you, my Joy. Your daughter and her family will be my family as well. If I must go and kill the entire nest that threatens them by myself to prove this, I will." His eyes flashed amber.

"Show me your demon face." Joyce swallowed. "I've seen theirs. I need to know what yours looks like."

"No, you are human. I would be hideous to you." He pulled back from her until her fingertips rested on his wrists.

"My daughter is the slayer and the redeemer. I'll need to have that explained in some detail soon. My son in law is a vampire. Sophie is a vampire and Giles is something like whatever my daughter has become now. I can do weird." She smiled at him and touched his lips, tracing them with one finger.

He shifted. The grating of his bones sliding sounded far louder than she expected. She squeezed his fingers to offer some comfort. He raised his eyes to meet hers. She could feel the tension in him.

"Do you like what you see, my Joy?" There was hurt in his tone. She stroked his hands with her fingers and tilted her head, considering. He was handsome In this form as well. She had adjusted to the vampiric facial structure in the last few weeks.

"Actually, I do." She looked at him squarely in the eye. "Swear allegiance to my daughter on what you hold most dear. Do this for me and I will consider finding out if I could be your Joy."

She stepped back from him and crossed her arms over her chest. She knew they were all listening to her rocketing heart beat. Living with the lot of them was challenging. There wasn't much privacy. What they didn't hear, they smelled. She rolled her eyes at Buffy's smirk.

Buffy did not move. She watched her daughter glare at this man that had once ruled most of the world and realized how very much she didn't know about her child. When Marcus moved, she sighed.

Marcus' eyes were locked on Buffy, but she didn't squirm or say something quippy. Her baby had grown up. She swallowed back the tears that threatened. This was not a time for weak emotions.

A Roman emperor fell to his knees before her daughter. He covered his heart with one hand and extended the other up.

"I offer my blood as my bond that my allegiance is yours. I swear this faithfully upon the life and soul of your own mother, my beloved Joy." His solemn tone sent shivers down her spine.

Spike and Giles nodded. Buffy took his hand and smelled his wrist, running her nose along it.

"I accept your blood and service. Your life is mine to command." Buffy waited for his slight nod before she sank her fangs into his arm and drank. Buffy's eyes glowed, and she pulled her fangs from his wrist. "Feed my clan and find your place."

Buffy stepped away from him and handed his wrist to Spike. There was a moment as Spike stared at the older vampire. She held her breath until Marcus lowered his gaze and nodded. Spike took his blood in a long steady draw. She watched as Spike pulled free from the older vampire's wrist and hummed.

Sophie touched Spike's shoulder gently took his place. She touched Marcus' hair in a comforting gesture and smiled when he nodded without meeting her gaze. Joyce felt a surge of guilt. They were cowing this great man. He had bared himself starkly before her. She looked away. Watching these private moments was wrong.

Spike touched her shoulder.

"You asked this of him. Watch his sacrifice. This is for you." Spike turned her to see Giles at Marcus' wrist. "He is fighting a battle for you. He is finding his place in your world."

Buffy moved her watcher on with a gentle tap on his shoulder. She touched Marcus' jaw and drew his gaze to hers. They stared at each other. Buffy stroked his hair and smiled. Joyce squirmed at the odd intimacy of the gesture. Her daughter's life was so strange.

"Thank you, Marcus." Buffy licked his wrist with the flat of her tongue. "Your power is a gift."

"She is learning how to handle these things with such grace." Sophie smiled and patted Joyce on the shoulder. "I am proud to be hers."

Giles and Spike nodded.

Marcus stood and Buffy offered him a small glass. He looked into the glass reverently.

"My oath holds. You do not have to offer me this." He looked to Buffy.

"You surrendered everything for my mother. She didn't understand the nature of her request, but you didn't go all wiggy." She giggled at his puzzled look. "Plus, if you want to court my mother you need to become one of us. Bottoms up. Giles and Sophie will handle the rest."