I had been thinking I might be able to wrap this story up in this chapter, but it was too much. This story, though, will definitely have a sequel.

Chapter 25: Joyce Learns the Truth

*****The Next Day*****

Giles did his duty and picked up the new watcher, a Wesley Wyndam-Price, before nine the next morning. He was young and good-looking with wire glasses.

"My father tells me that you have Iron Man, that cheeky playboy, involved with your slayer," Wesley commented in disapproval.

"It was not something I orchestrated," Giles said. "However, he has been quite helpful. Not only are the slayers both getting wages for their work, but he has made protective gear and a few weapons to help. He also renovated a very large and old mansion he acquired in town that he allows you and your slayer to live in as well as keeps it stocked with food. There's plenty of space for all the kids and a state-of-the-art gym for them to work out."

Wesley considered the more experienced Watcher's words. Tony Stark was not a man he should waste energy battling as Travers had already warned him against such a fruitless exercise. If the United States government could not muzzle the man, there was no chance Wesley could. "I hear that he is very brilliant and talented in many ways, but I did not know he was so benevolent," Wesley said tactfully.

Giles smiled. "He is the most exhausting and fascinating man that you will ever encounter. He seeks to know everything, and his questions are endless. I thought working with Buffy and her friends had prepared me for about anything. I also work as the school librarian, but Tony has more energy than any grown adult should ever have. There is no limit to the things he will seek to know," Giles shared. "He hates injustice and has a strong sense of fairness. He also has become enamored with all the children. They respond to his attention in ways that I never would have predicted. Your slayer has spent the least time with him, so you won't have to worry about him too much interfering."

Wesley was relieved to hear that. "What is my slayer like?" he asked.

"She is the opposite of my slayer in many ways, but they also have the same drive, of course, to stomp out evil. While Buffy often misses her life of frivolity she had before she was a slayer and complains about her calling, Faith embraces it with eagerness. Buffy is a California girl all the way while Faith is from Boston. They are well-matched. Buffy is the superior technical fighter as she is more experienced and cooler under pressure than Faith. However, I suspect that Faith could one day be her equal as she loves being a slayer," Giles shared.

"That is good to hear," Wesley said pleased.

"You know Faith took her bullet protecting Buffy?" Giles told him.

"That was to be expected," Wesley said.

"Maybe. However, when bullets fly, one's instinct is not always trainable," Giles stated. "Some will run or duck. Faith chose to protect her sister-slayer. Too bad there was another shooter that came out of nowhere."

"I would have thought that Stark would have given them bullet proof vests or something," Wesley said.

"Oh, I'm sure he will now," Giles replied with a snort. "However, guns are not something we see on the hellmouth as you know they won't kill a vampire nor do much harm to a demon."

"And with Americans proclivity to shoot first and ask questions later, it is probably best that our slayers not be seen with guns," Wesley acknowledged.

Giles chuckled. "True," he said. "Of course, they were dressed up to go to the high school homecoming dance, so I don't think anything could've prevented this."

Wesley had never considered that a slayer would still have a life outside of her calling. Watchers rarely did much that didn't center around research or the Council. His new job would be one for the history books.

When they arrived at the Slayers' Headquarter, Wesley could not contain his reaction. The house was nearly as big as the Council headquarters. Houses like this were rare in the colonies.

"Good God!" he exclaimed. "This is where I will be staying?"

"Tony bought this abandoned mansion and renovated it for when he comes to town. There are around a dozen bedrooms in the place, so he insists that Faith and her Watcher stay here," Giles shared. "If people live in it and call it home, then vampires cannot come in—that's the added benefit of you two dwelling here. There is also a werewolf safe room for Oz, Willow's werewolf boyfriend. Currently, Buffy has a vampire in there, which we will deal with when she gets out."

"Oh my," Wesley murmured.

"Quite," Giles remarked but refusing to comment further. "It has a state-of-the-art gym and sparring room, so the girls love it. There's a game room, of course, as Tony is an overgrown child, sometimes. He even has food deliveries once a week."

"No one on the Council would ever be so generous," Wesley observed.

"No," Giles replied. "Tony is unlike anyone you will ever meet. No matter how smart or educated we are, he is smarter. His mind operates on so many different levels at once, and he is relentless when he wants to know something."

"My father told me he was surprised that Travers did nothing to dissuade him," Wesley told him.

Giles smiled. "Travers was wise, for once, as Tony was ready to reveal our secrets to the world and have the Prime Minister arrest Travers for the exploitation of a minor," Giles shared

"Really?" Wesley said, surprised. "Father did not mention that." He got out of the car and walked to the trunk to get his bags.

Giles reached for the one on wheels and led him into the house. Faith was inside the living area flipping channels on the obscenely large television.

"Is that him?" Faith asked, eyeing the new watcher with skepticism.

"It is," Giles said. "This is your new watcher, Wesly Wyndam-Price. Wesley, this is Faith, your slayer."

Wesley stepped forward, holding out his hand to the beautiful young girl. Her suppressed energy would have been a clue if he had seen her without the introduction. However, she wasn't interested in shaking his hand.

"So you going to wuss out, too?" she asked, a note of derision in her voice.

"Wuss out?" Wesley asked, confused.

"Turn tail and run the first time you get hurt," Faith said. "Giles has been knocked out like a dozen times. He was even tortured by Angelus and Drusilla, but he doesn't abandon his slayer. Are you going to stick around? If not, I'm not going to bother learning your name."

After saying that, she got up and left.

"Where are you going?" Giles asked.

"To see B," she replied as she left.

"Well, that was unfortunate," Wesley said, reaching down to turn the television off with the changer.

"It's not surprising. The girl was very attached to Diana, and she doesn't get close to people very easily. Most likely, she is feeling abandoned," Giles said. "Let me take you to your room, so you can get settled."

Wesley allowed himself to be led to his new quarters, hopeful that he would survive his time on the hellmouth.

Across town, Willow was getting dressed. Buffy was going to be transferred to a rehab facility that day, and Willow wanted to see her. They knew Buffy probably didn't need rehab, but they could not exactly refuse after the major trauma her body went through.

When she opened her front door, she was bombarded by flashes. "What?" she exclaimed in confusion. Her entire yard was filled with reporters.

"How did your friend get shot? Did they catch the guy? What does your mother think? Did your bodyguard really shoot the killers?"

The questions came one after another before she could even think. "Willow?" Natalie called. "Shut the door."

Willow quickly did as ordered. "How did they find out?" she asked. The press had not followed her to Sunnydale—much to Tony's surprise. Pepper had refused to tell any reporter where she lived, so there wasn't much to worry about.

"I think word of Tony's surgery got out and that Pepper was here to see her daughter," Natalie replied. "One of them caught wind of the shooting and asked the police for a statement. They are the ones that revealed that I had to shoot two assailants who shot two of your friends."

Willow didn't think that she'd ever get used to the fame that seemed to come with being so closely connected to Tony's world.

*****The Hospital*****

Buffy was relieved when the doctor left after examining her.

"I am so glad that you have such a good prognosis," Hank told her, reaching out to hug her.

"Are you going to go home?" Buffy asked, trying to hide her disappointment.

"I have to get back to work since I left so suddenly. Thanks to Mr. Stark, I can return to Los Angeles and not back to Spain. I'm going to fly to New York to meet up with him in three days to go over his insurance needs," he said. "But I would love for you to spend Thanksgiving with me if your mom is okay with that."

Joyce, who had been there even earlier that morning than Hank, nodded. "Of course. I was thinking of going on a buying trip out of town anyway. Traffic slows down until Black Friday at the gallery," she said. She idly wondered if Phil would enjoy a trip with her since he would be out of school. Things between them had been going very well, and she was hopeful that the relationship would continue to grow.

"Great!" Buffy exclaimed.

They had breakfast together, and then Faith showed up to see her.

"Dad, this is Faith, a friend of mine. She actually took a bullet for me," Buffy said.

"Which was a waste of time since there were two shooters!" Faith said with a grin.

"Twins. Who would've thought?" Buffy added, laughing.

Hank was both disturbed by his daughter's light attitude and glad she didn't seem traumatized. "Well, I am both relieved you both are okay and angry that this kind of thing happened in such a small town," Hank commented. "It seems so peaceful."

"Oh, it mostly is," Buffy said quickly. "There are a few bad apples, but we feel okay walking places at night." No sense in adding that she and Faith didn't fear anything. Bullets, though, had never been the weapon of choice for any of the demons or vampires in towns. Too bad the twins were humans, willing to kill two teenage girls for price money. Of course, Dad didn't need to know any of that.

They had a nice visit; Faith regaled them with amusing stories. Then her dad had to go.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked Faith once they were alone. It was obvious she was upset as her air of joviality left as soon as Buffy's parents left.

"Diane left," Faith shared, letting her hurt and disappointment show for just a moment.

"What?" Buffy asked. No one had told her.

"She said getting hurt and all the violence was too much for her," Faith said flatly.

"Really? That sucks!" Buffy exclaimed.

"They already sent her new replacement. Some tool with glasses," Faith shared.

"Oh," Buffy said. She didn't think she could handle it if Giles ever left her. "I would die if Giles tried to leave me."

"Like he ever would," Faith scoffed.

Buffy reached out and squeezed Faith's hand. "I'm really sorry, Faith. I know Diane loves you. It must have been very hard for her. Giles comes from a family of watchers and raised demons for fun in college. Diane probably lived a much more shelter life. Don't take it personally."

Faith nodded. "I suppose," she said. "So where's your hot older guys? I was going to totally hit on Foggy some more."

Buffy laughed. "Well, they had to go home and back to class," she said.

"Too bad," Faith said. Then she noticed that Buffy looked a bit flushed. "Did something interesting happen between you and Matt? You're looking a bit flushed. Spill!"

Buffy put her hand to her cheek and could feel that it was heated. Damn her light complexion! "Matt knows that I'm underage, and I'm in the hospital. What could've happened?" Buffy asked, trying to sound casual.

Faith wasn't buying it. "Did he kiss you at all?" she asked.

When Buffy hesitated before responding, Faith grinned. "You totally did!" she exclaimed.

"There was a kiss," Buffy finally admitted. "But it doesn't change anything. He's in New York, and I'm here. He's an adult, and I'm not."

"Not yet," Faith pointed out. "And who knows what your future brings? At least he's a hot-blooded hottie with a pulse."

Buffy winced. "Thanks," she said.

"Sorry, but you gotta know that you and Angel have no future. If that is even Angel and not Angelus in the Hulk room," Faith told her.

"I need to get out of here, so I can go deal with that," Buffy said.

"It will keep. Giles knows, and he didn't have a meltdown," Faith said.

"I guess getting shot and hospitalized is good for something," Buffy remarked.

"Only you, B," Faith said, snickering.

Then they were interrupted. "Miss Summers, it's time to get you transferred to the rehab facility across the street," the nurse said.

"Why can't I go home and do outpatient?" Buffy asked.

"It's protocol," the nurse said. "With spinal injuries, there's always a risk of reinjury, so you must be supervised for a bit."

"It's gotta be better than this place," Faith pointed out as she got to her feet.

"I'll see you later," Buffy said.

"Call me and let me know what room you're in," Faith said as she moved toward the door.

"I will," Buffy said. "Don't forget to get some food for Angel."

"Will do," Faith said with a grin as she left.

She was almost out of the hospital when she spotted Phil coming into the hospital. "Hey, Mr. P. What's up?" she asked.

"I thought I'd come by for a quick visit on my planning since all the kids are at school," Phil replied. "How's she doing?"

"Well, she's getting ready to be transported to the rehab place across the street," Faith said. "You may wanna wait. Nurse ran me out."

He nodded. "Okay. Do you want to grab a coffee over there?" he asked, pointing to the coffee house next to the hospital.

Faith was never one to turn down free anything and shrugged. "Sure. I like the blueberry scones they sell," she remarked.

Phil grinned. "Then a scone it is," he said. He'd not spent enough time with this slayer since being introduced to everyone else. It was time to rectify that.

*****New York****

Bruce went through his emails after he, Tony, and Pepper returned to Stark Tower.

"Hey, Tony. I got a reply from Dr. McCoy," Bruce said.

"What did he say?" Tony asked.

"He said that activating the gene would probably be his best bet, but it could also give him other abilities," Bruce said. "Dr. McCoy reminded me that he became blue and furry when he tried messing with his own mutant gene."

"Willing to use his own body for experimentation? Sounds exactly like you," Tony said with a smirk. "Might be your long-lost twin or soul mate."

"Whatever," Bruce said, rolling his eyes. "He isn't wrong, though. We will need to explain things very carefully to Oz."

"Did you want to do this over Christmas break or after graduation?" Tony asked.

"I think he'd prefer graduation, but we'll ask him," Bruce said. "He also invited you and me to their school. Professor Charles Xavier would like to meet you."

"A visit to a school full of mutants? I am so there!" Tony replied with an excited grin.

"I will arrange for us to visit on Friday. How does that sound?" Bruce asked.

"Good," Tony said. "JARVIS, put it on the calendar. Don't forget that Hank Summers will be here on Wednesday."

"I do not forget," JARVIS said, a note of offense in her voice.

"How does he do that? He sounds like you've offended him," Bruce said.

"It's programming," Tony replied with a shrug.

"You know the kids don't think so," Bruce said. "They think that you've given him a part of your soul, and he's actually alive."

Tony laughed, dismissing the suggestion.

*****Sunnydale*****

Buffy was settled into her spacious rehab room when her friends started to arrive for a visit since school was out for the day. Willow was shadowed by Natalie and carried a plant.

"I thought it'd spruce up the place," Willow said, sitting it down next to a few of her bouquets of flowers.

"Where's all your flowers?" Xander asked, noticing most of them were gone.

"Mom took most of them. She knows this technique for turning them into potpourri," Buffy said. "One of them she was taking to her work to brighten up the place."

They caught up on their day, and Willow opened up the book bag that Oz had been carrying. "I brought your homework," she said.

"Of course, you did," Buffy said, giving her a fond look. "I guess I can get started on it."

"The TV has all the cable channels," Xander said as he flipped through them.

"It's the least they can do for people stuck in this place," Cordelia said.

"So are the rumors insane at school?" Buffy asked her.

She nodded. "Of course. Your gang affiliation is now official," she said, grinning.

Buffy groaned. "So not fair," she muttered.

"Oh, I had tons of reporters on my lawn," Willow shared. "I've been discovered, so be careful who you talk to you."

"Will do," Buffy said, nodding. Their lives had become very surreal.

Eventually, her friends left, and then her mother and Phil showed up with dinner.

Phil knew that he was getting too close to the slayer's mother, and he had to break protocol. He informed Fury earlier that keeping his cover would work more to alienate the slayer, which no one wanted to do. Fury didn't like it, but he allowed Phil to use his best judgement.

As they were eating the chocolate fondue that he had brought, he announced, "So there's something that I need to tell you both."

"From the look on your face, it isn't going to be good news," Joyce said, frowning.

"Good thing I'm in a food coma," Buffy said, licking the spoon that had some traces of chocolate on it. "I think French cuisine is my new favorite. Where did you find this place?"

"I drove out of town and heated it up before bringing it here," he admitted.

Buffy laughed. "This one's a keeper, Mom," she said.

"What's wrong?" Joyce asked.

"I'm not exactly a teacher," he said.

"But you are," Buffy said. "I've seen you all year in my history class."

"True," Phil said. "However, I was sent here in case you ever needed help."

Buffy's face became mutinous. "The Council? I thought Tony had scared those clowns!" she exclaimed.

"No, not the British group," Phil replied, looking at Joyce, whose somber expression betrayed her growing sense of betrayal. "I am an Agent of Shield."

"What's that?" Buffy asked. "Do we know that?" She looked at Joyce, who shook her head.

"It's a government agency that flies under the radar," he said. "It was created back at the end of WWII to deal with Hydra agents, but now it deals with any threats like alien, etc, that normal FBI or Homeland can't handle."

"So you're, like, a spy?" Buffy wondered, glancing at her mother, who seemed shocked. "You don't look like a spy. You look kind of nerdy even."

"I'm sorry," Phil said, looking at Joyce. "I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but I felt that it was time. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell all your friends."

"I don't keep secrets from Giles," Buffy said, frowning.

"I understand, but I am still at the school as a teacher," Phil said. Natasha told him that this was not a good idea, but he just felt like scum every time he left Joyce. Although he had not slept with her yet, he knew the woman had feeling for him. She thought his old-fashioned courtship sweet, and he felt the wrongness of what he was doing more and more. The fact that he genuinely liked her and found her attractive was what pushed him to reveal who he was.

Joyce was still not speaking, and Buffy glanced at her mom in concern.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked her.

"Sure," Joyce said. "I think that I finally met a nice guy, a decent guy, but it's all just a lie." She stood up.

"No, it's not like that," Phil said, getting up and reaching for her.

When she jerked back, Buffy began to get angry. "Leave her alone!" she yelled.

"I'll call you later, honey," Joyce said. Then she left the room.

"Mr. Coulson," Buffy called out, stopping him from following her mother.

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I really didn't mean to hurt your mother. I care a great deal for her," he said.

"Then you should've been honest from the start," Buffy said. "When I get out of this hospital, you're going to be in considerable pain if you don't make this right."

Phil nodded and left to find Joyce. There had to be a way he could make this right.

******Chapter End*****

Okay, after weeks of trying to write this chapter, I only managed 9 pages. I hope, though, you found it an enjoyable update. I will try to do better. Thanks for reading! Take a minute and leave a review!