Chapter 36: Still Charmed & Kicking Part 3
Paige led Buffy through the front door hoping that no one was around to see the gash on her girlfriend's shoulder blade. She didn't want to have to explain why Buffy had the gash to begin with.
"Hey, you two enjoy your date?" Dawn called out. Buffy and Paige turned and saw that she and Leo were standing in the dining room holding a pile of dishes.
"Yeah," Paige said as she turned and pushed Buffy toward the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Leo frown.
"Hey, whoa," he said. "Buffy, you're bleeding. How did it happen?"
Paige let out a sigh.
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Piper stood behind the bar at P3 checking on the status of the club on the computer. "One week," she muttered. "One lousy week. Are you kidding me? Barry Manilow? Dad, you booked Barry Manilow? What were you thinking?"
Piper heard the front door close and Dominic, one of the employees come down the stairs. "Hello?" he said when he saw her.
"Dominic, thank God you're here," Piper said. "Are these all the receipts for the last seven nights? Has everything been entered?"
"I'm sorry," Dominic said confused. "Who are you?"
"Uh ... I'm—I'm Julie—I mean, Jenny Bennett," Piper said remembering at the last minute that Phoebe was supposed to be Julie. "I'm, uh, Victor's cousin ... pfft—niece. I'm Victor's ... niece."
"Okay. So what are you doing with our computer?" he asked. "And how did you get the password?"
"Uh ... Uncle Victor gave it to me. Excuse me," Piper said as she reached down and removed the high heels that Buffy had gotten her and waved them at Dominic. "Uhh! "New shoes. They look a lot nicer than they feel."
"So you work here now?" Dominic asked.
Piper shook her head. "No, I'm just helping out a little, you know, 'cause Victor and Buffy asked me to help out."
Dominic thought about it for a moment. He knew that according to Piper's will the club was in trust for Buffy and that Victor was executor of Piper's estate till Buffy was 21, when she would get the club. Still that was also public knowledge for anyone who wished to do the research. "You wouldn't mind if I called them to verify that, would you?"
Piper shook her head. "No, not at all. Please. Knock your socks off."
"Okay," Dominic said as he walked into the office.
"Hello?" Piper said as she answered her cellphone a second later. "What? Wait. Wait. What? Leo, we're not supposed to have family emergencies anymore. We're done with that. What do you mean it has to do with Buffy and Paige? All right. Fine. I'm coming, but you need to come down here and find a way to save our financial butts."
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Paige sat across from Buffy at the table in the attic scrying over a map as Piper and Phoebe walked through the attic door.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Piper asked.
"Leo told us you fought a demon?" Phoebe added.
Paige sighed as she glanced at Buffy. "I can explain."
"What is this?" Piper asked as she grabbed the scrying crystal from Paige. "What are you doing?"
"I am trying to find a girl," Paige responded.
"Okay, look, we have been through this, okay?" Phoebe said. "If anyone finds out we're alive, we're screwed. Also, Buffy, you need to make it appear that you are only here to protect your brothers. If demons think you're not going back to Sunnydale they'll flock there. Also …"
"Okay," Paige said. "Would you please just be quiet for a minute and let me explain? Thank you! First of all, Buffy did not intentionally engage a demon."
"Oh, don't say engage," Phoebe said as she noticed Piper, Paige and Buffy look at her. "Don't ask."
"Look, I kept getting a call from someone—and figured if I answered, that maybe, you know –"
"The only ones you are supposed to respond to now are Buffy, Dawn and Joyce. Not anyone else, not anymore," Piper said.
"I understand where Paige is coming from," Buffy said. "It would be like asking me to no longer be the Slayer. As much as I would love to give it up to be a normal teenage girl, I know that's not possible and knowing that someone could be calling for my help. I would have to respond, just as Paige did."
"We understand that, Buffy," Phoebe said. "But Paige has to, okay, we've had this conversation."
Paige sighed. "Buffy and I both know we have, but it's not that easy."
"Okay," Joyce said as she stepped into the attic. "Everybody calm down." She looked at Buffy. "Did you vanquish the demon?"
Buffy shook her head. "No."
"But on the bright side, he only recognized Buffy," Paige said.
"Which could be good or bad," Joyce said. "The one thing you all have to remember. Buffy is only supposed to be on call. That is to keep up pretenses that Victor can raise Wyatt and Chris by himself with no magical assist. And to make it look like Buffy is staying in Sunnydale when Victor doesn't need her help. If demons think she is moving here, they will flock to Sunnydale. Now Buffy, if you didn't vanquish the demon, what happened to it?"
Buffy shrugged as she looked at Paige.
"We don't know," Paige said. "This chick came along and scared him off."
"What chick?" Phoebe and Piper asked.
"We don't know," Buffy said. "But, she showed up right after we got there."
"Could she be a witch?" Joyce wondered. "Maybe your new charge that you've been hearing a call from? Think about it. You orb in and seconds later she appears. That's a pretty big coincidence."
"No, this girl definitely did not need my help," Paige said.
"Could have been a bad witch," Phoebe suggested.
"And if that's true, and she figures out who we are ..." Piper said. "Or worse yet she thinks Buffy is moving here …"
"She was after the demon," Buffy said. "I don't think she even identified me at all, nor was she interested in either me or Paige."
"She might have ID'd you, Buffy, and you just didn't know it. If she did that would be very bad like Joyce suggested!
"Oh, for crying out loud! Give them a break, will you?"
Joyce turned at the sound of the voice and saw Grams standing over in the corner. "Mrs. Halli…"
"We're both adults, Joyce," Grams said. "You can call me Penny."
"What are you doing here, Grams?" Phoebe wondered.
"Well, I'm trying to keep you from ganging up on Paige and Buffy, that's what," Grams said.
"Well, you're sort of dead, so this doesn't really concern you," Piper said.
"Actually it does," Joyce said. "Her legacy is at stake."
"Joyce is correct," Grams agreed.
"Oh, please I think we've paid our dues," Phoebe said.
"And neither Joyce nor I are saying that you haven't," Grams said. "You have every right to want to live normal, unencumbered lives, just as Joyce did when Patty died and she bound her own, Buffy and Dawn's powers. But just because you want to doesn't mean you can, just as Joyce found out."
"You're a little late with that speech," Piper said.
"Perhaps," Joyce said. "But not for Paige, am I right, Penny|?"
Grams nodded. "Joyce is correct. Whether or not you succeed remains to be seen, but you cannot deny that Paige is being called by someone other than Buffy, Dawn or Joyce," she said. She looked at Paige. "And you can't deny it, either."
Paige sighed as she heard another call. "You're right. I can't deny it."
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Downstairs Dawn was on her way to the kitchen when she heard a voice coming from the foyer.
"Hello, Victor. Now, are you sure you don't want to sell?"
Suddenly, the front door burst open. Dawn peeked around the corner and saw a woman a little older than herself and Buffy walk through the doorway. She turned and rushed upstairs before anyone could see her and to the attic. "Buffy, what did your mysterious woman look like?" she asked.
"About our age, maybe a little older, about your height, black hair," Buffy said. "Why?"
"She's downstairs."
Just then, explosions sounded from downstairs.
"That doesn't sound good," Phoebe said.
Piper shook her head. "No, it doesn't!"
"Thank you for coming," Paige said gratefully to Grams. She turned and followed her sister, Joyce, Buffy and Dawn out the attic door and down the stairs.
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Victor rushed past Joyce, Dawn, Buffy, Phoebe, Piper and Paige as they came down the stairs. "Hey!" he called over his shoulder. "Thank her for me, will ya?!"
Suddenly, a demon went flying backward through the air past the stairs and smashed into the wall before exploding into flames. They look downstairs in time to see another demon throw a fireball at Paige and Buffy's mysterious woman. She jumped up and flipped over the couch and over the fireball. She landed in front of the demon and whipped out an athame and stabbed him in the gut vanquishing him.
In the conservatory Paul Haas got to his feet. Phoebe pointed just as Buffy was about to orb out. Joyce grabbed her daughter's arm and shook her head. "We don't want you ID'd," she whispered, "by her."
"Behind you!" Paige shouted as the demon turned and looked at them.
The mystery woman threw her athame at Haas just as he flamed out. The athame flew right where he stood a second earlier and hit the conservatory door frame. She held out her hand and it flew back to her. As she tucked into her boot she looked at them. "Thanks."
"Show-off," Piper muttered as the mystery woman jumped over the couch and ran out the front door, disappearing into the night.
"Well, she can't be all bad. She said "thank you," Paige said as they stood up and walked down the stairs into the living room.
"We don't know what she is," Piper said with a sigh. "She didn't stick around long enough for us to ask."
"You got to admit, that was a nice flip, though," Phoebe said as Buffy nodded in agreement.
"Though to her knowledge we are all mortals," Joyce said. "So it surprises me she didn't care that we saw her use her powers."
"Yeah," Piper agreed. "What was up with that?"
"I think that's because she was tracking the first demon. I mean, he was the same one she was after before," Paige said.
"I also think she may be your new charge," Joyce said.
"Huh?" Paige said.
"What are you talking about, mom?" Buffy said equally as confused as Paige.
"It's the second time she's showed up right after you got a call, Paige," Joyce explained. "It'd be too much of a coincidence if she wasn't."
"Which means she probably knows who we are, and she could expose us," Piper said.
"I don't think so," Dawn suggested. "Before I came and got you guys. I saw her entrance. She was obviously after the demons. I believe she tracked them here. And from what I overheard the demons were after your father."
"I think Dawn might be right," Phoebe said. "And dad should be our main concern right now, not this ... Supergirl."
"I agree," Joyce said. "You need to send a message. A message that will keep them away from Victor. Otherwise the only other solution is that Buffy move to San Francisco for appearance sake. And we all know she has to keep up the appearance that she is in Sunnydale."
"Even if it risks exposing us," Paige said.
"Joyce is right," Piper said with a sigh. "The problem is we can't just vanquish the one demon. As Joyce said, we're gonna have to make some sort of a statement. Otherwise, what's to keep the
entire underworld from coming after dad again and again without Buffy here fulltime?"
"Well, here's our conundrum, people. How do we make a statement without letting them know it's us?" Paige wondered.
"I have an idea," Buffy said with a smile.
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The front door of Victor's apartment opened and Victor walked through it. As he shut the door he reached over and switched on the lights.
"I knew you'd come home sooner or later," said Haas
"You again," Victor said as turned to look at Haas and the two demons that flanked him.
"Yep, me again ... and this time I know you're alone. Just out of curiosity, Victor, who are all those women at the house? Of course I recognized the Slayer, but the other five. If you tell me, I promise to make your death relatively painless."
"Gee, thanks," Victor said.
"Believe me, considering all the pain your daughters have caused over the years and your adopted granddaughter has caused since being called, that would be a gift. The women, who were they?"
"I, uh—I don't know who the one you all were fighting, "but, uh ... two of the others are Buffy's mother and sister. And the others are my nieces. They're moving in till Buffy turns eighteen."
"No, they're not," Haas said with a smirk. "I am."
Victor raised his eyebrows at them just as Buffy and Wyatt orbed in.
Haas laughed. "You've got to be kidding me, right? You think that they can stop us all? He's what two? And the Slayer won't even be here full time. She has …"
"Responsibilities in Sunnydale," Buffy finished for Haas. "True. But part of the thing about being the daughter of a Whitelighter is that I can orb here at a moment's notice. I don't have to move here to help out. But I'm not the only one protecting Grandpa Victor. Wyatt is after all twice blessed, which if I remember my dad's lessons, it makes him pretty powerful all on his own. So try it, I dare you."
Haas stared at Buffy and Wyatt. Suddenly, Wyatt pointed at Haas and slammed him back against the far wall.
One of the demons powered up a fireball and threw it at Buffy.
"Fireball!" Buffy said and the fireball orbed out and with a flick of her wrist she threw it back at the demon as it orbed in, vanquishing him.
Haas got up and threw an energy ball at Wyatt. Wyatt freezes the energy ball and then telekinetically moved second demon into it vanquishing him.
"Pass it along," Buffy said. "You've made an enemy of the Wyatt and Halliwell familes. Leave Grandpa Victor alone or I will move to San Francisco full time and make it my mission to hunt you down. And should you manage even in the slightest to take me out," she looked to Wyatt, "guess who will be taking my place. And believe me, my little brother will not be letting my death go unavenged."
Haas looked at Buffy and Wyatt and then flamed out.
Once gone, Wyatt smiled at Buffy and Victor, who returned the smile.
"Well, how'd it go?" Paige asked as she opened the door and walked in.
White orb lights swirl around Victor to reveal Phoebe as white orb lights swirl around Wyatt to reveal Piper.
"What do you think?" Phoebe asked looking at sisters and Buffy.
"I think it worked," Piper said. "I don't think he would have left unless he got the message."
"The question is will he deliver it?" Phoebe wondered.
"And will it stick?" added Paige.
"I think so," Buffy said. "From what you all have told me everyone in the underworld is afraid of Wyatt. And of course while they know demons and vampires would flock to Sunnydale, I don't think they want me to focus my attention on San Francisco either."
"So that's it?" Phoebe asked. "We can get back to our lives now?"
"Whatever those are," Paige said with a sigh.
"Well, one of them has wedding bells in them," Phoebe said.
"Huh?" Paige and Buffy said as they looked at each other in confusion.
"Later," Phoebe said.
"Okay," Paige and Buffy said.
"Well, just as long as we're still demon-free, that's all that matters," Piper said.
"Oh. Lookey, lookey who's finally come around," Phoebe said with a smile.
""I told you I just needed a little time and, you know, a very big reminder of what our lives used to constantly be like," Piper said. "Though now that I think about it, maybe we should have included you, Buffy."
"No," Buffy said. "It's appreciated, mom. But for one thing, there was a reason I didn't fake my death with you both. We had to keep up some pretenses for the demons. And second I do have, whether I like it or not, whether I'm ever going to be ready or not, responsibilities in Sunnydale. Maybe someday I will be ready to disappear, but not yet."
"Even though I would love for you to live a demon free life," Piper said. "I have to say I'm proud of you."
"We still have the little witch to contend with," Paige reminded them.
"No," Buffy said. "With you and me, yes. She's your charge. And I as your girlfriend, will stand beside you, remember?"
"Maybe you won't hear from her again," Phoebe said as they headed for the door.
"I have a feeling she'll be sticking around for a while," Paige said with a sigh.
