A/N: Hey thanks for being so patient everyone. Here's the latest installment of "Battle of the Bands." I'm not too sure about this chapter. I always liked Joyce and wanted to give her a little more substance. Plus I felt that the plot needed a good bit of "oh no, we're never going to make it!" lamenting from Buffy considering she's kind of past the golden age of rock star discovery, meaning she's not 17. I guess most stars have worked at it for so long, but so rarely do I see any with actual college degrees. NOT that there's anything wrong with that. I just like the idea of Buffy having had an education too. Does that make me should so awful? Actually, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray (sooo hot!) has a BS in Marketing or something from UCLA or some Cali university. His dad made him go to college before he would allow him to start playing rock music. Plus I guess I wanted it to seem like Buffy and her friends were doing something else in the past few years, giving serious attention to the little nagging thoughts they'd had about not making it big.
Anyways, thanks to everyone for the reviews!!! You are so super peachy! And thanks for the comments on my other story, "Dancing." :)
Chapter 5: The Gig"Buffy, hi honey! It's Mom. Where can I park?" Joyce Summers said, talking into her cell phone while steering down Main Street, headed for the Bronze. She and Dawn were reaching the Bronze at 6 pm that Saturday night, ready to grab a good seat for the Dingoes and Scoobies concert. Unfortunately so was the rest of Sunnydale. Everyone had heard that the Dingoes were back in town and were excited to see their local rock and roll stars.
"Hey Mom! Okay, what you need to do is go around to the back and park where it says 'Reserved.' I gave your license plate number to the club, so they'll make sure you won't get towed. Come in the back entrance, the one marked 'Private,'" Buffy replied.
"Great, I'll see you in a few minutes!"
"Oh my gosh, this is totally the coolest! Thanks for taking me, Mrs. Summers! Mom and Dad said they'd be here as soon as work got off, so they could see the show," Dawn's best friend Janice piped up from the back seat. Coincidentally she was also the younger sister of Dingoes member, Owen Thurman.
"Yeah I know! VIP treatment. We rock! Kind of makes me think that we should form a band too," Dawn babbled. "Uh, I mean after high school... becoming valedictorian... and... and... a-a-and going to …Oxford?" she quickly supplied after a glance from her mother.
"Oh look, there's Buffy! She's at the door waiting. This must be so exciting! Giving a concert with Dingoes! Maybe there'll be some agents or something in the crowd tonight?" Joyce exclaimed.
"Mom, first off, in the biz we call it a 'gig' and secondly, agents don't just come to Sunnydale. Get with it!" Dawn said.
There came another sidelong glance paired with a frown. She raised her eyebrows at her youngest daughter this time and said, "I went to school in the '60s and '70s kiddo, I think I know a little something about music and gigs. Ever heard of Jimi Hendrix?"
"Isn't he Superman's sidekick?" Janice said.
"No, that's Jimmy Olsen! And I heard Justin Timberlake is going to play him in the next Superman movie! I hope they choose someone as hot as Tobey to play Superman!" Dawn said, correcting her friend.
"No way! Tobey is so not hot! James Marsters is so much better looking!" Janice said.
"Okay that one I'll give you!"
"Come on, girls! Everybody out! We're here," Joyce said as she put her vehicle in park.
"Hi Mom! Hey guys," Buffy greeted her mother and the teens as they walked into the Bronze.
"Wow! This place looks awesome! Hey are the Dingoes here?" Janice asked eagerly. "Is Gunn here?"
"They're still setting up. And yes, Gunn is here. He's over there by Faith," Buffy answered, rolling her eyes at them, knowing it was impossible to stop teenage girls on a mission.
"Thanks! We'll see you at the table, Mom. C'mon Janice!" Dawn exclaimed, grabbing her best friend's hand as they scampered off giggling.
"Buffy, this really is wonderful. Who knows, a few more shows like this and maybe you could be headlining somewhere one day!"
"It's just the Bronze, Mom. I mean I know it's a big deal, but we've played here a few times already. This isn't any different."
"Oh but it is, honey. You've got the star power of the Dingoes behind you. Maybe there could be some agents or promoters or even reporters in the crowd tonight. You never know. Any little thing could help," Joyce said.
"Whoa! Back up there, Mom. I really doubt that. We're just doing this as a favor to the guys." Buffy sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Sometimes I feel like nothing will help these days. No matter what we do, it's just not good enough. You know, I've been thinking, and that PhD has been sounding just a little less terrible lately."
"But will you be doing what you love? I saw how much your father hated his job, how much it tore him apart some days, tore us apart even. I don't want to see you stuck behind a desk doing something that's going to drive you crazy ten years from now. I know you hated me in high school for not letting you quit and try to make it big, but I'm really proud of all that you've accomplished. You got through school, you did what you had to --"
"That's because we never got that big break, Mom. Do you honestly think I would have stuck with college had we able to become something bigger?"
"I'd like to think so, I really do. I'm sorry honey, but you know I couldn't have lived with myself if you hadn't gone to college, especially after getting SAT scores like yours. And even when you brought home a few C's, you were still going to school and trying. That's all I ever wanted, to make sure you had a good foundation and now you do."
"I know. I get that now. At least now I never have to worry about having to work at the Doublemeat Palace because the music business chewed me up and spit me back out. Well, actually it never even decided to take a bite -- and -- and I'm going to stop now because that sounds totally gross."
"I just want to see you happy," Joyce said to her older daughter.
"Then Willow and I should have just took off after junior year and found a recording contract. We're too old to be discovered now. Everyone's searching for the next Britney or Christina, no one wants a rock band."
"Again with the high school bit, Buffy? I don't know how you and Willow would have taken off considering it was just the two of you. I'm glad Oz and Devon were around to drill some sense into you girls and make you stay put," Joyce said. She smiled at Buffy and pulled her in for a hug, knowing her daughter was just getting the normal pre-show jitters.
Buffy sighed, resting her head on Joyce's shoulder. "It's really not so bad, Mom. I don't mind doing research and I like my job. So do the rest of the gang. I mean, we had dreams about waking up one day and being the next Green Day or Coldplay or No Doubt, but it's no big. We still have fun doing what we're doing. The guys and I have had so many long talks about this by now. You know I think that even if the Scoobies is just a hobby it's something we'll always have for stress relief. It's still a part of who I am, and it'll always be a part of my life. But we've got other things to worry about now," Buffy sighed again.
"No Buffy, I still see big things ahead for you girls. I know it's not easy to make it, and you all have worked so hard. But I still don't think this is it. I think you needed a while to mature before you were able to get really good, like you are now. Maturity has something to do with being a good writer and a good lyricist. At least now you're not writing about 16-year-old teen angst? You've lived enough to write some meaningful lyrics."
"I thought you liked our stuff back then?" Buffy said, staring at her mother.
"I did, but I like your music better now. Its so much more hip," Joyce said.
"Mom, please don't use the word 'hip' unless you're referring to your own," Buffy said, shaking her head and grinning.
"What? Why is it both of my daughters think I lived in a box before you girls were born? I knew how to boogie back in the day!" Joyce joked.
"Ahhhh, Mom!!! Please! I'm nervous enough as it is, I don't need to hear about you 'boogie-ing!'" Buffy said, putting her hands over her ears.
Joyce put a hand to her mouth, stifling a laugh. Being a parent was just too much fun sometimes. "Maybe it's like you're cookie dough," Joyce began again.
"Huh?"
"That's it, you're like cookie dough."
"And let me repeat, 'huh?'" Buffy said, confused.
"Well see, it's like you guys are still cookie dough, and you've been mixing and trying to find the right ingredients all these years. You're almost ready to go into the oven, and one day you will, and all of a sudden you'll be done and you'll come out cookies."
"Oh," Buffy paused to reflect on her mother's words a moment before continuing. "I get it, but cookie dough?"
"Sorry," Joyce said, shaking her head and laughing. "I actually had time to bake some cookies before today's show. Just for good luck, speaking of which -- I think I left those in the car! I'm going to pop out and get those, okay?" She returns a few moments later to find Buffy going over last minute voice warm ups with Anya, Faith, and Tara.
"Hey, Mrs. Summers! Glad you could make it," Tara said, hugging Buffy's mom.
"Yo, Ms. S, what's the happening?" Faith said, turning to take the tray of cookies from Joyce's hands.
"These wouldn't happen to be your famous double-chocolate-extra-mocha-walnut-I'm-going-to-gain-10-pounds-by-smelling-them cookies, would they, Joyce?" Willow said, coming up to join the group. Smiling she gave Mrs. Summers a hug.
"I find that sugar can be healthy on certain occasions. Under a mother's supervision of course," Joyce grinned, hugging Willow back. She gazed fondly at her daughter's red-headed best friend before saying, "I can't tell you girls how proud I am of all of you. This place looks fabulous. I was telling Buffy that I can't believe how a few years ago you girls were asking for rides to shows and scraping together money to pay for instruments and lessons."
"Yeah it does look pretty jazzed doesn't it? I'm hoping the after party will be just as fun," Faith said.
Buffy said, "Mom's been going on and on like this is some big accomplishment. I tried to tell her that we're about this close to throwing in the towel and settling down like --"
"Like really boring people who've had it up to here," Faith ended.
"What about the concert you girls had a few weeks ago? And the one last month was a big hit too. And now this? You're just warming up." Joyce said, trying to be encouraging.
She didn't want to let on that she knew, but Joyce had been hearing talks of the Scoobies ending it for good for the last 3 months. Music was such a big part of their lives and she was afraid to see it go to waste. She'd never told anyone, but she'd always dreamt of becoming a painter, traveling through Europe trading secrets with artists and finally ending up somewhere in Greenwich Village with a chic pad and living by her wits and her skill. It was her mother who'd forced her to go to school to become an art historian. She'd ended up managing a gallery -- which she did love, but it wasn't her first love. Lately she'd been afraid that she'd made the same mistake with Buffy and didn't want her oldest daughter to have a big regret for the rest of her life. She had thought seeing Buffy -- the girl who never believed she had a smart brain cell to her name -- being able to graduate from college was the single most happiest day of her life. But it was her dream she had been asking Buffy to live for so long. Joyce hoped she hadn't realized it too late.
Joyce continued, "I just think that something feels really special about tonight. I don't know what, call it mother's intuition maybe?"
"Well, the Troika's illness is very beneficial for us. Who knew that vomiting your guts out could have such widespread benefits, for us and for the crowd. We do sound much better than the Troika anyways," Anya commented in her blunt manner.
"Ahn!" Willow said.
"What? What? Wait, am I doing that thing again? The one you hate?" Anya said, confused.
"You mean where you say the things that no one else should ever hear?" Tara smiled.
"Yeah that one," Willow finished.
"Twently minutes till curtain, chicas!" Owen said walking up to the group with Dingoes. "Oooh cookies! Thanks Mrs. Summers!" he said, diving for one.
"What? Twenty minutes! How's my hair?" Devon said, beginning to worry.
"Has anyone ever told you that you were going bald in the back of your head?" Gunn said, messing up Devon's hair.
"Bald?!" Devon said, choking on a cookie.
"Chill, boy. I don't know how you've lived so long being so shallow. Are you sure you and Buffy aren't meant for each other?" Faith joked.
"Ring ring! Kettle? Hello, this is Pot. Guess what, you're black!" Buffy said, laughing at her own joke.
"B, that's not fair. I'm not shallow. You're just jealous that you don't naturally look this good," Faith said, pulling at a strand of Buffy's long blonde locks.
"At least my wardrobe includes more than black leather pants. Dominatrix-y much?" Buffy said, pointing to Faith's ensemble.
Oz came up and put his arms around Willow. "Must they always be like this?" he said.
"I think it'd kind of a pre-show ritual with those two. You know them, always a drama queen, never a queen," Willow said.
"Guys, I think its time you hit the stage. Final sound check time, people. Let's move it!" Gunn said, clapping his hands.
"Let's get ready to party, ladies!" Owen said, grabbing another cookie.
Dawn and Janice came up and giggled, hanging on to every word the Dingoes said. Tara hugged Dawn and said she was glad Dawn could make it. Buffy and Faith finally settled down and Faith started running through a final outfit inspection with Anya. Buffy, Gunn, Oz, and Willow were going over a last minute checklist in Oz's hands. Devon and Owen were trying to amaze Janice with how many cookies they could fit into their mouths.
Joyce stood back watching the scene unfold. It honestly seemed like yesterday when Buffy and Willow had run home breathless and excited about their very first gig at the Espresso Pump. Where did the time go? she thought to herself, laughing at the antics of her daughter and her closest friends. Everyone gathered in for a final good luck group hug, before breaking and getting ready to give Sunnydale one of the best shows in rock history.