Stepfather

Chapter 3: Revelations Part 2

Takes place immediately after the last chapter

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"It's... my mom?!" said Buffy disbelievingly.

The gang shifted back and forth on their feet, studied the fliers hanging on the outside wall of the restaurant, and checked the time on their watches. Anything to avoid looking at the horrified Slayer or the spectacle inside the restaurant. Not that Giles and Joyce were making much of a scene. To anyone else, they appeared to be a perfectly polite, respectable, middle-aged couple out for an evening on the town. Dinner and a show, perhaps? Only the quintet of teenagers loitering outside the restaurant knew better. This was not any couple. This was horrible. This was unimaginable. This was Giles and Buffy's mom on a DATE!

As usual, Cordelia was the one to break the silence. "Buffy, I didn't know that your mom and Giles are a couple."

Buffy's head whipped around so quickly that not even radar could have clocked it. "They are not a 'couple'!" Buffy replied through slightly clenched teeth.

"I don't know, Buff," said Xander, standing up for his girlfriend. "They look kinda coupley to me."

"They're not coupley. They're just friendly. Very friendly. Always making new friends. That's my mom," Buffy said with the smallest amount of panic in her voice.

Willow smiled a little and then she walked over to Buffy and wrapped her arm around the blonde girl's shoulder. "Hey," said Willow. "What do you say we go and do something fun? We could go by the Bronze. Or if you're not in a crowded-clubby mood, we could make it a Blockbuster night with a couple of pints of Ben & Jerry's."

Buffy smiled at the red-haired girl gratefully. "Thanks, Will. I think I just want to go home." Buffy looked up at her friends. "Look, you guys go ahead. Have fun." Buffy's friends just looked at her questioningly. "I'm serious. Go. Dance. Be young."

"Buffy...." Xander began.

"I'll be fine. Just go."

"Need a ride?" offered Oz in his typically succinct style.

Buffy shook her head at the offer. "No thanks. I'm going to do mini-patrol on the way. Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and find something to kill."

"That's the spirit!" yelled an overly enthusiastic Xander. Cordelia just rolled her eyes at his lame attempt at humor.

The gang, minus Buffy, climbed back into the van. This time, Willow took shotgun. Buffy gave her friends one last look, then turned around and headed for home. She briefly considered going to see Angel, but then thought better of it. He would just want her to talk about what was bothering her, and Buffy wasn't in a talking mood.

Buffy's brisk walking pace soon turned into a run. So what if I'm running, she thought. Nothing wrong with going for a run every once in a while. Nothing at all....

***********

Buffy decided to patrol only one place that night: Brookside Cemetery. It was about two blocks from her house. Even when Buffy was tired or feeling kind of out of it, she always made sure to take a walk through Brookside. It was small; that helped. No impressive mausoleums or ancient relics, so not much chance of meeting up with a really-big bad. But the main reason she always did a sweep of Brookside was its proximity to her house. Buffy felt two blocks was not a large enough distance between her mom and a vamp breeding ground. Her routine seemed to work. It quickly got around town that the place in Sunnydale you were most likely to meet the Slayer was Brookside. She hadn't seen a vamp there in more than a month.

Of course, like all other societies, the Underworld of Sunnydale had members of the sane and the not so sane variety. Good, old-fashioned, you-don't-bother-me-and-I-don't-bother-you vampires never came to her cemetery anymore. Of course, that meant if there was a vamp in Brookside, it would be of the crazy, suicidal variety, looking to pick a fight with the Slayer. Just like the one that was standing in front of her now.

Buffy looked the vamp up and down as she took in his totally non-scary countenance. The vamp appeared to be about 19 years old. He was wearing acid washed jeans and an green, day-glow shirt, hinting that his burial occurred sometime during the 80's. "Slayer, I have come for you," he said. He bared his fangs at Buffy in an attempt to be menacing.

Buffy reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a black scrunchee. As she was putting her hair up into a ponytail she said, "Are you sure it's me you're after?"

"You will kn- huh?"

"You're not looking for Faith?"

"Who?" said the confused vamp.

"Faith. You know, new Slayer in town. Brown hair, a bit taller than me, dresses kind of scary. Not that it matters much. Regardless of which one of us you get, your still going to end up the same amount of dead. It's just that you seem to have put a lot of thought and planning into this moment and I just wanted to make sure that you're getting staked by the right girl."

The vamp growled and rushed Buffy with his arms outstretched, trying to grab her. Buffy held her ground until the last possible moment, then she ducked under the vamp's arms and did a forward roll to her left. The vamp flew passed her and crashed into a small statue of an angel, his head cracking the stone base a bit. He slumped to the ground, stunned. Then he started struggling to stand.

Buffy came out of the roll. Her feet touched the ground softly and she used them to counter her current momentum as she came to a stop. As Buffy stood and turned to face the vamp, she withdrew the stake that was tucked into the waistband of her jeans. The vamp got up from the ground and shook his head in an attempt to rid himself off the last of the effects of the blow to his head.

Holding the stake firmly in her right hand, Buffy strode confidently towards the vamp. When she reached her target, the vamp aimed a right cross towards Buffy's jaw. She expertly blocked the blow with her left arm and drove the stake home with her right. The vamp had just enough time to look down at the wooden object embedded in his chest, then up at the Slayer, his eyes wide with surprise, before he exploded into a cloud of vile dust.

Buffy shook her head at the ease of the dusting. "You know," she said to no one in particular, "you'd think if a vamp is going to go to all the trouble to seek the Slayer out, he'd have a few tricks up his sleeve. Like a magic amulet, or a force field, or a half a dozen demon buddies or something. Nope. Apparently, all you need to be a vamp nowadays is a massive ego and a complete lack of a self-preservation instinct."

Buffy sighed. She brushed her hands over her outfit, trying to rid herself of the last traces of the vamp. Vampire dust had an amazing ability to linger and cling, especially to black. Buffy walked over and picked the stake up off the ground. She tucked the unassuming weapon back into her pants and started off on the short walk home.

**************

Joyce and Giles were laughing as they walked into the darkened living room. "Are you sure Buffy isn't home?" Giles asked as he wrapped arm around Joyce's waist.

"No, no. She's at the Bronze with her friends. She won't be home for hours," Joyce said as she flipped on a light.

As the couple's eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness they heard a familiar voice coming from the living room sofa. "Actually, I've been home for hours. The question is: where have you been?"

Joyce jumped a little at her daughter's words. "Buffy! You startled me." Joyce placed a hand on her chest to help calm her breathing. "You're home early." Joyce suddenly seemed to remember the man at her side. "Ru- Mr. Giles and I..... We ran into eacho-"

"Don't bother, Mom," Buffy said, cutting her off. "I saw the two of you out together."

"You were spying on me?" Joyce asked, her voice sounding angry and hurt.

Aggressively, Buffy stood from her seat on the sofa and took a step towards her mother. "And when were you going to tell me about this? Were you-"

"I think," Giles said cutting Buffy off. "That we all need to sit down and discuss this rationally." Giles turned to his date. "Joyce, do you have any tea?"

Joyce had to think about this for a moment. "Yes, I think we do."

"Would you mind brewing us a pot? Buffy and I will wait here until you return."

Joyce threw him a questioning look but headed towards the kitchen. Giles took a seat in one of the chairs that faced the sofa. He then motioned for Buffy to do the same. Buffy ignored him and sat down hard on the sofa. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

The minutes passed as the two of them sat in silence. The only sounds disturbing the calm were those of Joyce puttering around in the kitchen.

Finally, after several long minutes, Joyce returned from the kitchen. She held a tray with three tea cups full of steaming water, a random assortment of tea bags, a small serving bowl of sugar, a half empty, bear-shaped container of honey, and a plate with several cookies on it. Joyce nervously set the tray down on the coffee table.

"I hope this is all right. I'm sure this isn't what you're used to, being from England and all. I didn't have enough tea to brew a pot. Besides, everything I do have is a different flavor. I haven't forgotten anything, have I?"

Giles smiled at her while motioning for her to sit in the chair next to his. "No. It looks lovely."

Joyce sat down awkwardly. "I wasn't sure..."

Buffy took inventory of the items on the tray in front of her. She said softly, "Giles takes his tea with milk."

Joyce immediately stood. "I should have known. I'll go get some." Giles reached out for her wrist and held it lightly, restraining her.

"What you have is perfect," he said. He threw a pointed glance at Buffy as he repeated, "Perfect."

"Oh. Okay," Joyce said as she sat back down in the chair. She crossed her legs at her ankles and placed her neatly folded hands on her lap. Buffy recognized the defense mechanism. Whenever Joyce was nervous or unsure, her posture and demeanor became very polite and proper. Buffy almost laughed remembering her mom trying to make civilized conversation in this very room with Spike.

"What's so funny?" Joyce asked when she saw the smile on her daughter's lips.

Buffy shook her head. The sound of her mother's voice had chased away the stray memory. "Nothing."

Joyce took a deep breath. "Okay, young lady. I think I deserve an honest answer to this question: why were you following me?"

"I wasn't following you."

Giles leaned forward as sudden comprehension flooded his expression. "You weren't, were you? You were following me. Why?"

Buffy decided to let it all out. She was tired of lying and being lied to. "I was following you because you lied to me. I could tell something was off when you told me what you were doing tonight. Then, when we got to your house-"

"We?"

"Me, Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordy."

"Oh, of course," Giles said sarcastically.

"When were got to your house, I saw the weapons bag-"

"Weapons!" This time it was Joyce cutting in.

"When I saw the bag," Buffy continued, "I thought that you were still upset. About what we talked about. I thought....." Buffy trailed off, unable to finish the accusation. There was no need. Giles knew what she meant.

"You thought I'd go after Angel."

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't be the first time."

"Buffy, that's not fair."

"No, but it's true."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Joyce said. Buffy and Giles fell silent. "Everyone hold on a minute. Where were these weapons?"

"On the floor of the back seat of the car,"

Buffy said, answering her mother's question. "And about that- who brings that kind of arsenal on a date? What'd you have in there? A few stakes, a cross, some holy water?"

Giles tilted his head, remembering. "One stake, plus one on my person. No holy water, but I did have a crucifix and a crossbow." Giles loosened his tie and undid the top button on his shirt. He reached into his collar and pulled out a simple silver cross on a chain. "And this."

"Why?" asked Buffy.

Joyce turned to her date. "Yes, I'd like to know that, too."

Giles shrugged. "We live on the Hellmouth. And unlike the majority of the populace, I know that. For heaven's sake. I'm usually more heavily armed than this when I go to the grocery store. Not all of us have Slayer strength."

"Oh," said Buffy, looking contrite. "Okay, then."

"Not 'okay,'" contradicted Giles. "I can't believe that you have so little faith in me. Yes, I'm upset that you didn't tell us that Angel was back, but after his help with the glove..." Giles fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and began cleaning his glasses. He put his them back on and looked into Buffy's eyes. "I would never do anything to hurt you. You do know that, yes?"

Buffy nodded and looked down at her hands. Then she looked back up at Giles and her mother. "Why didn't you guys tell me that you were a couple?"

Giles and Joyce looked at each other in surprise. "Well, we're not...." Giles began.

"We haven't really discussed....." continued Joyce, a little unsure.

"It's not that..."

"I never assumed that...."

"I enjoy your company and I wouldn't be opposed....."

"Yes. I mean, if you want to......"

"I want to," said Giles, taking Joyce's hands in his own.

"You do?" said Joyce hopefully. Giles nodded. "I do, too." said Joyce with a smile. The two of them leaned into each other. Closer, until.....

"Gross!! Don't do that while I'm sitting here. You guys are going to scar me for life. You know that, don't you?"

Giles and Joyce both jumped when they were reminded of Buffy's presence. "It seems-," Giles began.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," said Buffy. "You two are steadys. It's very cute. Listen, I'm going upstairs to take a long shower and scrub away the memory of this evening. I'll see you guys later." Buffy stood and started up the stairs, then stopped and turned around to face the couple in the living room. "As much as this squiggs me out, I'm glad you guys are happy. But I'd be even happier if Giles would go home right now, so I don't have to hear anything."

Giles smiled a tight grin. "I'll be on my way shortly."

"Good." Buffy, once more, started up towards her room. This time it was Giles's voice that stopped her.

"Did you patrol tonight?"

"Yeah. Quick sweep of Brookside. One vamp. Dusted fast. No big."

"Good, good."

"Buffy," said Joyce, "you're being careful, right?"

Buffy smiled. "Yeah, Mom. I'm being careful."

"Goodnight," called Joyce.

"Good night," said Buffy. "To the both of you."

Buffy went straight to her room and grabbed her bathrobe. As she walked to the bathroom, she could hear her mother wish Giles good night.

Buffy shook her head. I can't wait to call Will tomorrow. She is not going to believe this.

To be continued....