Chapter 11: Veronica's New Reality

*****A Bit Later Same Day*****

Buffy made Xander drive her to her mother's art gallery. "Are you going to talk to your mom?" Xander ask as he turned off the car.

"Nope," she said. Then she got out of the car and went straight to Mr. Mars' office. Since it was a business, she didn't knock but opened the door.

Keith looked up when he heard the door. "Buffy? Hello. Is your mother okay?" he asked, not able to think of another reason why she would be there.

"She is, and she better stay that way," Buffy said, glaring at him.

Keith could see that she was really angry, and he held up his hands in surrender. "Please, don't worry. I would never do anything to hurt your mother," he said.

"Oh, really?" she asked, arching her eyebrow. "I just had a little chat with your daughter, Veronica. She tells me that you are basically a man-slut. I've had an experience with a man-slut before, and I will not tolerate a man-slut toying with my mother! Bones will break, and your little man-slut tool will hurt for weeks once I'm done!"

Keith warred with several emotions at once. He was shocked that his own daughter would in any way imply he was a man-slut. Hearing the phrase man-slut in reference to him, however, made him want to laugh. Concern, though, that Joyce's very capable daughter might cause him bodily harm was a bit high.

"Buffy, I can't imagine that my daughter would call me a man-slut," he said. "I assure you, though, it's not true."

Xander had gone to Joyce and let her know what was going on, so she came into the room as this point. "Buffy, what's going on?" she asked.

"Mom, I ran into Keith's daughter on the beach," Buffy said. "Talk about not living up to the hype. But she did tell me that her dad was a player. The word man-slut was my own."

"Now, Buffy, I can't believe you would attack Keith like this," Joyce said, giving her a look of disapproval.

"You are my mother," Buffy said, crossing her arms and looking stubborn. "No Lothario is going to come along and seduce you and then break your heart because he gets bored and needs a new conquest."

"I would never do that!" Keith assured them.

Buffy moved closer to him. "My mother is a wonderful, caring, intelligent, and skilled woman. She is a lot more trusting than I am," Buffy said, glaring. "She doesn't always see when a guy might be a scumbag, but I do. If your own daughter is warning me about your behavior with women, what does that say about you?"

"Honestly, I can't fathom why Veronica would say such a thing," Keith said. "But she is an only child, and she doesn't always handle change well."

"If you don't think you can be serious and faithful about my mother, then you better tell us now," Buffy said, clenching her fist. "Or I can knock your teeth in right now and make sure you remember to treat her right!"

"Buffy!" Joyce exclaimed in dismay. "You will not threaten to hurt Keith."

At that moment, Veronica had arrived. Predictably, she reached into her handbag and pulled out her Taser. "I find actions speak louder than words," she said as she pushed past Joyce and tasered Buffy.

For the first time ever, however, the person she put the taser to didn't fall to the ground.

When Buffy felt an electric charge hit her, she immediately turned, grabbed the weapon and attacked. Since she recognized Veronica, she didn't strike her with her fist. Instead, she turned her own Taser against her, tasering Veronica, who fell to the ground.

"Stop it!" Keith yelled, pulling Buffy back.

Joyce, though, was pissed that his daughter had pulled a weapon on her daughter. She put her hand on Buffy's to get her attention. Buffy turned off the Taser and stepped back. It was Joyce's turn to yell.

"Keith, I am sorry that Buffy was so rude to you. It won't happen again," she said. Then she gave Veronica an angry look. "However, your daughter is way out of line! Not only does she tell Buffy you don't respect women or implied you will treat me badly, she attacks my daughter unprovoked. Buffy is a weapon, an expert in martial arts. No one should ever attack her unless they want to be hurt. She's lucky that Buffy only turned her own weapon on her."

Veronica was stunned. Not only at the fact that Buffy didn't fall on the ground after getting tased, but she'd so easily grabbed the weapon from Veronica and turned it against her. Her father reached down to help her up.

"I agree that Veronica's behavior is unacceptable," Keith said. When Veronica opened her mouth to say something, he gave her that look of his. She closed her mouth.

"I'm keeping this Taser," Buffy said. "When Veronica can apologize for attacking me unprovoked, I might give it back."

"You were threatening physical violence against my dad!" Veronica said, unable to stay silent.

"Veronica," Keith said, frowning at her.

"I'm not going to shut up, Dad," she said. "I only did it because I thought she was going to hurt you."

"You and I will talk about your total lack of respect for me later," he said. "Go into my office. You've done enough."

Veronica knew not to push him further and did what he asked. Xander, who had been standing in the background, decided that his presence would not help the situation, so he left.

"I wasn't about to attack you," Buffy said to Keith. "I have more self-control than that. If you had hurt her, though, I might've punched you."

"If I hurt her, you have my permission to," Keith said. "I'm sorry about my daughter. She is impetuous and overly protective."

"Buffy, can you go mind my gallery?" Joyce asked. "I would like to speak to Keith."

Buffy nodded and left. Once she was gone, Keith moved closer to Joyce, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Joyce, I am truly sorry about all this," he said. "I want you to know that I have real feelings for you. Something, I haven't felt in a long time. I've dated a hand full of woman—maybe five at the most—besides Veronica's mother. I don't toy with women, and I don't really know what possessed my daughter to say anything to Buffy indicating I might do such a thing to you."

Joyce nodded. "Okay," she said. "I need some time to think about this. If it was just us, I would say, let's keep going forward. But it's not just us. We have our girls, and even though they're adults, we're both very close to our daughters. They live with us, and if we're going to be together, they have to be together or able to be together."

"It's early. Give it time," he said. He pulled her in for hug, but she pulled away when he tried to kiss her.

"Talk to your daughter. This kind of thing can't happen again," Joyce said. "You have no idea what my daughter's been through. Now she's happy for the first time in years, and your daughter's jealousy or insecurities are threatening that. We are too new."

"Don't you feel it, Joyce?" he said, reaching for her hand. When she didn't pull away, he continued. "This is special. We have so much in common. We have so much fun together. It may just be a month or so, but I feel like I've always known you. Don't you feel the same?"

Joyce closed her eyes, a pang in her heart at his words. Finally, a man she both admired and respected really liked her, but it might be over before it really got started. "I do," she admitted, looking at him. "But our daughters mean more to both of us than our personal happiness. Talk to Veronica and come see me before you close up for the day."

Keith felt relieved that she wasn't shutting him out completely. "I will," he said.

After she left, he went to his office. "I can see getting booted by the FBI taught you nothing about restraint or trusting your partner," he said to Veronica as he sat in his chair.

"I thought she was going to hurt you, Dad," Veronica said defensively. "Weevil had just told me that she was a black belt and had fought off some Russian thugs very recently."

"So you immediately came to the conclusion that I couldn't do anything to defend myself?" he asked, annoyed.

"It just seemed the easiest way to defuse her," Veronica said. "I didn't realize the girl was such a freak of nature that a taser wouldn't faze her!"

"Let's forget about Buffy and the Taser a moment," Keith said. "I would like to know why she insists you told her I was a man-slut who would toy with her mother's affections."

"I never called you a man-slut!" Veronica said.

"You didn't imply to her that I have lots of lovers and her mother couldn't trust me?" he asked. "The girl was too mad to have made it up."

"Well, maybe she misunderstood me and is prone to overreacting," Veronica said.

"Quit evading the question, Veronica. What did you say?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

"I just said that you went out with a married woman that one time and had dated Wallace's mom," she said defensively.

"Do you not want me to be happy?" he asked bluntly. "It wasn't enough that you screwed up my re-election chances, so now you want derail my budding romance with a terrific woman?"

Veronica couldn't believe he'd said that, and she stood to her feet. "How can you say that to me? I didn't mean for that to happen! It was Jake Kane!" she said defensively.

"Who you pissed off when you tried to blackmail him," he pointed out. "Remember, Veronica, I know you. I know that you are suspicious by nature, but I honestly thought you weren't petty or jealous—at least I didn't raise you to be."

Veronica felt a stab of guilt. "I'm really sorry, Dad," she said.

"Joyce is a wonderful woman, Veronica," he said. "She and I have a lot in common."

"She owns an art studio, Dad," Veronica said. "I've never seen you collect art."

"Well, then you're not that observant, are you?" he asked. He pointed to the wall next to the door.

Veronica looked at the painting of a man playing with a young girl at the beach. "I didn't see it," she admitted.

"That picture reminded me of you, and Joyce gave me a really good deal," he said. "Your mother and I used to go to art shows, Veronica. I even went to one with Alicia once."

"I will apologize to Joyce," Veronica said.

"You will apologize to Buffy, too," he said.

"She tasered me, too!" Veronica pointed out.

"Only after you tasered her," he countered. "If you want your taser back, you will apologize because I will not be interfering in that."

Veronica didn't want to upset him further, so she left. She knew she should go apologize to Joyce right then, but she didn't want to see that Buffy freak again. The fact that she had her own Taser used against her pissed her off. Of course, she knew that she didn't have much of a moral high ground.

Instead, she called Mac. "Hey, Mac. I'm back in town," she said.

"Really? I thought you weren't coming back until next month," Mac said.

"What can I say? The FBI and I decided to part ways," she said in an upbeat voice she didn't feel.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Mac said. "You feeling okay?"

"I'll live," she replied. "I'm more upset over this big fight my dad and I got into in."

"You and your dad never fight," Mac said.

"I know," Veronica said. "I really messed up this time. Are you home? I'll come over and tell you all about it."

"I will be for the next half hour or so," she said. "Come by. I'm having dinner with my two new friends."

"You made two new friends? I'm so impressed!" Veronica said.

"My mother is over the moon," Mac said. "She was a real social butterfly, and my being the opposite has always disappointed her. She was glowing when I had actual friends over for the Fourth of July."

"Who's the new friends?" Veronica asked.

"Willow and her girlfriend Tara," Mac said. "I'd love for you to meet them. Can you come to dinner with us?"

"You have a lesbian couple friend? How in vogue of you," Veronica said. "I'm so interested."

"Willow is a computer geek like me—computer science major. Tara is kind of shy but super sweet," Mac said.

"I'm on my way," Veronica said.

She went to Mac's and told her about running into Weevil on the beach flying a kite with a blonde girl and another guy. "I found out the girl is the daughter of the lady my dad is dating," Veronica shared.

Mac's eyes widened as she wondered how to let Veronica know she knew the people in question. "You're not the only one making friends," Veronica said. "Weevil told me the guy was his new co-worker, and he's been dating the girl."

"I actually knew that," Mac said. "Don't kill me, but Buffy was my first new friend. I have had breakfast at Xander's."

"You're sleeping with Xander?" Veronica asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

"No!" Mac exclaimed. "Friends. We're just friends."

"What's wrong with him?" Veronica asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing. He's great. His best friends are girls—he's like Wallace," Veronica said.

"Really?" Veronica asked intrigued.

"We're getting off track," Mac said. "You were venting about your dad. I can fill you on my stuff later."

"Fine, but I'm not going to forget," Veronica said.

"I'm sure you won't," Mac said, grinning.

Then she shared her comments to Buffy about her dad.

"Why did you say that? Your dad is amazing," Mac said, surprised.

"I know he is," Veronica said. "I'm not really sure what made me do that. Nor can I explain following Buffy to my dad's work and tasering her."

"You did what?" Mac asked in shock.

"I know. Not my best move," Veronica said. "But I've been punished for it. Not only is my dad super pissed, but Buffy didn't fall to the ground. Instead, the freak turned and took my Taser from me. Then she tasered me with it. I only did it 'cause she was threatening violence against my dad."

Mac didn't think she could get more shocked, but she was. Then she started giggling. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "I just can't believe this! Wow!"

Veronica gave a rueful smile. "Yes, I know. Weevil will bust a gut laughing his ass off—so will Wallace," she said.

"So I have about fifteen minutes before I'm meeting Willow and Tara, but I need to tell you about Buffy," Mac said.

"Why do I feel I'm not going to like this?" Veronica said with a groan.

"It all started with my camping trip. Mom made me go buy a new bathing suit," Mac said. She told her about her first meeting with Buffy. "Here's this girl who looked every bit like an 09er, and she readily admitted to loving clothes and shopping. She should've been someone I never spoke to, but she was just so nice that I couldn't believe it. When I found out that she didn't own a cell phone and had walked the five miles to the store, I gave her a ride home. She lives just a few blocks from me."

"Why did she walk five miles?" Veronica asked.

"Buffy isn't like anyone we've ever met," Mac said. "She's an insane athlete—something of a savant. She just doesn't get tired. As I was talked into playing volleyball with her, Wallace, and her friends, I can attest to that."

"Weevil said she kicked some Russian thugs' asses," Veronica said. "That was somehow in defense of Logan—do you know about that?"

"I do, but that's another long story," Mac said. "It's time to go meet the girls." If she brought up Logan dating Buffy, the evening would derail entirely.

Mac offered to drive, so Veronica rode with her to the Mexican restaurant they were eating at. "Dad says I have to apologize to Joyce and Buffy," Veronica said.

"I hope you do," Mac said. "Buffy is actually pretty likeable once you get to know her."

"She said she wouldn't give me back my Taser until I gave her a sincere apology," Veronica said with a grimace.

Mac snickered.

"Hey, you're my best friend! You're supposed to be on my side!" Veronica exclaimed.

"I am!" Mac said. "I just can't help but picture that scene."

Veronica glared but wasn't really mad. She knew that the situation was mostly of her own making. When they made it into the restaurant, a red-headed girl waved at Mac.

Mac realized something and stopped and jumped in front of Veronica. "I forgot to mention something. Something super important," Mac said. "Willow is adopted, so don't freak out when you notice who she looks like."

Veronica peered around Mac and took a closer look at the woman, and her mouth fell open. "That's freakin' insane! She's the spitting image of Trina Echolls!" she exclaimed.

"They are biological sisters, and let's not talk about it now," Mac said.

Veronica was stunned as she was introduced to Willow and Tara. As she got up closer, it was clear there were differences as Willow had a softer appearance—a joyful look about her.

"Oh, I am so glad you brought Veronica!" Willow gushed—much to Veronica's surprise. "I've heard so much about you that I feel like I know you already!"

"Really?" Veronica asked.

"I haven't exactly had a chance to tell Veronica everything," Mac said.

"Well, let's get some drinks," Tara suggested. "Once Willow gets going, it's hard to get her to slow down."

Veronica saw the loving look passed between the two women and couldn't help but respond. Smiling, she asked, "How long have you guys been together?"

"Always it seems," Willow said. "But not quite a year."

Tara's bashful smile made Veronica love her in that moment. It's Meg. Meg from middle school before she became confident. Wow!

"We met at our Wicca group at USC Sunnydale where we transferred from," Willow said.

"Wicca? I have never met any Wiccans before," Veronica said.

"It's all about Mother Earth and reading auras and stuff," Willow said easily.

"You can read auras?" Veronica asked interested but skeptical.

Willow shook her head. "No, not really. I've not been a Wiccan long, but Tara's mom was Wiccan and taught her a bunch—she can," Willow said.

Tara blushed at the attention. "Oh-well-it's just-just something I can do," she admitted, clearly uncomfortable. "It teaches me about a person sometimes."

"Oh really?" Veronica said.

"Hey, let's order. I'm hungry!" Mac interrupted, not wanting Veronica to start interrogating Tara. Tara's phone beeped, and she pulled it out, sending a text.

They took a minute to peruse the menu and ordered as their chips and salsa were placed in front of them.

"So what made you transfer to Hearst?" Veronica asked, changing the subject.

"Well, Sunnydale had a lot of violence," Willow said.

"Too many murders," Tara said.

"Neptune's had some murders—mass murders even," Veronica said.

Willow and Tara both looked sad as they nodded. "Yes, we heard," Willow said. "But our high school newspaper had an obituary column it was so bad."

Veronica's eyes widened. "Really? That's insane!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry about your friend," Tara said to Veronica. She was sitting across from Veronica.

Her softly spoke sincerity touched Veronica, and she really liked the girl in that moment. Too few people had ever offered her real sincerity. "Thanks," Veronica said. "It's been over three years, though. I've gotten used to Lilly being gone."

"My mother died about three years ago," Tara shared. "You don't really get used to them being gone. You just get used to the giant hole in your life."

Willow reached over and squeezed Tara's hand. "And you keep them with you," Willow said softly.

Tara gave her a gently smile and nodded. "Yes, you do," Willow said.

Mac was relieved that Veronica was getting along so well with her new friends and relaxed. The three of them shared the inconsequential things a person shared when meeting a new person.

After their food arrived, they ate in silence a few minutes. Then Willow said, "I was really impressed to hear that you are such a clever investigator so young. I'm sorry, though, you had to get attacked so much." Willow admired this girl a lot as Buffy got attacked a lot, but she could more than take care of herself. Veronica didn't have superstrength—just her immense intellect. "I was attacked once my sophomore year. I was super shy with boys, unable to form coherent sentences around them. I was foolishly crushing on my best friend, who was a guy. Then I made a new friend who encouraged me to embrace the moment, so I did. I didn't know the guy I agreed to go get ice-cream with was such a creep, though."

"Oh, God," Veronica said, upset at the thought of another girl suffering like she did. "I'm so sorry!"

Mac hadn't heard this story and felt the same. "Me, too!"

"It's okay," Willow said. "My new friend, Buffy, who is now my second-best friend, she heard my screams and came to my rescue. She's my hero."

"Buffy? You know Buffy?" Veronica asked. She gave Mac a disgusted look.

"I didn't want you to be prejudice," Mac said.

Willow frowned. "You met her?" Willow said, confused by the comment.

"I had the displeasure," Veronica said. "She threatened my father with bodily harm."

Willow didn't seem surprised by that and exchanged a look with Tara, who had a slight smile on her face. "Oh, well, she does that sometimes," Willow said. "It's how she shows her love."

"By threatening to hurt people?" Veronica asked.

"No, by threatening to hurt people who might hurt someone she loves," Willow said with a grin. "Sunnydale was a violent town, and until Buffy moved there and stood up to the gang members—"

"With her fists," Tara interjected.

Willow laughed. "Yes, with her fists, the murder rate was high," Willow said. "Our graduating class even gave her the class protector award because she saved so many lives. Our graduating class has the lowest mortality rate in decades."

Veronica and Mac both were more than rattled by Willow's story.

"God, Willow. I didn't realize it was so bad," Mac said with sympathy.

"Yea, I didn't know any place was that much worse than Neptune," Veronica added.

"Oh, Neptune is like heaven in comparison," Willow said. "Buffy can be a bit abrasive, and she's insanely protective. She's threatened a lot of guys on Xander's behalf—he's my best guy friend."

"Of course, he is," Veronica said, giving Mac a look. Weevil's kite flying male buddy was known to these girls, too.

Mac looked guilty. "I told you I had a lot to tell you," she said.

"There's my two favorite witches," a voice said.

Veronica looked up and groaned. "God, hates me," she muttered as she saw Dick Casablancas coming toward them. She looked at Mac. "What is he doing here? Why is he calling us witches?"

"Oh, he's talking to me and Tara," Willow said. "He's our friend."

"And here I was thinking you two were such nice, sensible girls," Veronica said. Willow just laughed, unoffended. She had been warned by Mac about Dick's history with Veronica.

"Dick, we're having lunch," Mac said, hoping to ward off the inevitable spat.

"I can see that," Dick said. "But when you told me that Ronnie was here, I had to come and see how she was."

"I'm fine, Dick," Veronica said. "You can see that, so now you can leave. I don't even care enough to ask why you suddenly care about my well-being."

"Have you had lunch?" Willow asked. "Do you want to join us?"

Dick snickered. "Not unless I want to get stabbed with Ronnie's fork," he said. "I just had to come see how she was since a little birdy told me she tried to taser someone and got a taste of her own medicine." He looked entirely too pleased by that fact.

"Who told you that?" Veronica asked with narrowed eyes.

"Who do you think?" Dick asked with a wide grin. "Logan is dating Buffy after all. Of course, she told him you were in town like five minutes before tasering her. Buffy thinks you did it over her mom and your dad dating, but we both know it wasn't about that."

"You don't know anything," Veronica said. "Why don't you leave and mind your own business?"

Tara didn't like conflict and could see that Veronica really didn't like Dick's teasing. "Dick, maybe you-you should-should go," she said.

"Not before, I say one more thing," Dick said, eagerly. He couldn't believe Veronica got tasered by her own taser, and he wasn't there to see it. As soon as he heard Logan's phone conversation with Buffy, he knew he had to come give Veronica a hard time. "Logan doesn't know what to think, but I know you were just looking for an excuse to taser the new hot blonde in Logan's life."

Veronica frowned, trying to make sense of the idiot's ramblings. When she glanced at Mac and saw a guilty expression, she realized what Dick was saying.

Buffy Summers was dating Logan.

*****To Be Continued*****