Chapter Sixteen: Goodbye, For Now

When Batman returned to the clearing, he saw Nightwing spring forward.

"Jay?" he breathed.

"Nightwing," Batman snapped. (Time for reunions later!) "Report."

"The Joker and the other humans have been restrained," Nightwing told him. "The supernatural entities have been dealt with or fled. We decided to wait until you came back." He took a lighter tone. "Certain people wanted to go after you, but we 'decided' to wait until you got back."

"Nightwing wouldn't let us!" Dawn Summers called. "We should've voted!"

"They wouldn't leave until they knew everything was okay."

"I got shot," Xander called. He sounded drugged. "I should've got two votes!"

"You gave him something," Batman observed.

"Yeah."

"It should have been stronger."

Buffy came to join them. "Get them to the hospital," she told him. "We need to move the humans somewhere."

"Nightwing, take them to the hospital," Batman told him. "Miss Summers and I will handle the Joker and his men."

"Batman," Batgirl said. She reached into her utility belt and pulled out the re-breathers he had given her. "If you use the caves, you'll need these."

"Understood," he nodded. Nightwing led the procession away. Everyone present except Jason joined them.

"Uh," Jason said, "if you're gonna take care of the thugs, shouldn't you call the cops around here?"

Batman reached in his utility belt and pulled out a communicator. He handed it to Jason along with one of the re-breathers. "This is linked to the local police department's mainframe. As soon as we are done, press the button, and you will be patched in as if you called 911. Tell the operator that you've seen the Joker and his men at the cave system by UC-S."

"Okay," Jason nodded. He took the communicator and put on his re-breather. He went to one of the thugs, hoisting him over his shoulder. Batman and Buffy did likewise, and headed off to the caves.

"So that's one of your kids, huh?" Buffy asked him quietly.

"Yes."

"He wanted to go back, didn't he?"

"Yes."

Buffy sighed. "Next few months are gonna be hell."

"He's strong," Batman replied confidently. "He will recover. You did."

"Some days I think so."

"How are they?" Buffy asked as she joined her friends in the hospital. Anya, Willow, and Giles were sitting on chairs. Dawn was stretched out, asleep.

"They're fine," Willow said. "Tara's resting, and the doctors won't let anyone in to see her yet. They're looking at Xander right now, but I do know that he'll be fine. Nothing major was hit. He'll have to go through physio for a while, but he'll be fine."

"You certainly buried them quickly," Anya told her. Buffy winced, and so did the other Scoobies, but fortunately nobody in earshot noticed. "Sorry," Anya muttered contritely.

"I helped our friend in spandex move the thugs to just outside the caves, and the cops picked them up there," Buffy said quietly.

"Including You-Know-Who?" Willow asked, flashing a false, overly-large grin.

"Yeah, Will. Lord Voldemort got picked up by the SPD. Harry Potter will never have to fear him again."

"It's Kevlar, actually. Not spandex." Buffy jumped and looked up. Robbie Malone was standing there. "May I join you fine ladies and Mr. Giles?"

Buffy nodded, and he sat down.

"Where is your family, Mr. Malone?" Giles asked him.

"Oh, they went to help your friend with the bleached hair back home before swinging by the Magic Box to turn off the lights." He smiled at Anya. "You shouldn't have left them all on."

"I know," Anya moaned. "The electric bill is gonna skyrocket." She glared at him. "You know the past few days have been very expensive for me!"

"At least you still have your health."

"Yay me," Anya muttered.

"Where are you gonna stay?" Buffy asked.

"We'll bunk at the store."

"No, you won't," Buffy said firmly. "You're family, and family means that you stay at my house while they rest. We'll fit the five of you in- somehow."

"I can help with that," Willow told her. "I don't have classes tomorrow, so I can stay here. I wanna see Tara and Xander as soon as I can."

"I'd stay here too, but I have to sell even more merchandise to recoup my losses," Anya said.

"Uh-huh," Willow muttered.

"Anyway," Buffy said, "I'll go talk to the nurse." Buffy walked to the nurse's desk. "Excuse me, I'd like to ask about-"

"Maclay and Harris," the nurse finished. "Maclay's in recovery, and the earliest you'll be able to see her is tomorrow. Ditto for Harris." She looked up, and she must have seen Buffy's surprised expression. "I saw you talking with them," she smiled. "They've been up here a lot, especially the blond who keeps talking about money."

"Thanks," Buffy smiled as she went to rejoin her friends.

"Don't worry about the medical costs," she heard Robbie say. "Pop came into a bit of money recently, and nothing would please him more than to donate it to the health and welfare of my cousin's family and friends."

"Now Robbie," Buffy started, but he cut her off.

"Please, let us help you out like this, okay?" His tone was pure Robbie, but the look in his eyes was pure Bat. She didn't know he could give the Bat stare.

"Alright," Buffy sighed. She sat down. "How did you explain Xander's wound anyway?"

"Don't ask," Willow shuddered, glancing at a grinning Anya. "Just, don't ask."

Further conversation was stifled by a yawning Dawn. Buffy went to join her. "Hey," she smiled.

"Hey," Dawn smiled back. "Everything cool?"

"Frosty."

"Good."

"Yeah. Listen, Dawnie, about the way you handled yourself back there? You were good. You were really good, actually."

"Thanks," Dawn grinned. "Good enough to start slaying?"

"We'll see."

"So you remember it all?" Willow asked Buffy.

"Yeah."

"What was it like?"

"Freaky," Buffy said shortly. It took all of her willpower to not look at Robbie. "Really, really freaky. Eleven out of ten on the wiggins scale."

"Yeah," she heard Robbie add. "Very, very freaky."

"Speaking of wiggins," Dawn asked. "If I ask to stay home from school tomorrow, will you wig?"

"No," she said as she turned to the others. "Speaking of places to be, how are we gonna explain Xander's being shot to his construction crew?"

"A way will be found," Robbie told her with a grin. "Trust me." He stood up. "It's getting late," he said. "I think it would be best if all of us goin' just go."

Juggling the sleeping arrangements wasn't too difficult. Dawn, Buffy, and Batgirl bunked together. Nightwing and Robin were put up in Willow and Tara's room. Jason got Buffy's bed, and Batman was given a cot from the basement, which he set up in Buffy's room. This left the couch for Giles. All the Bats were in Malone dress, but they acted normally.

(Good! They're too freaky otherwise!)

"Do all your fights end like this?" Buffy asked Batman, who was using a laptop he got from somewhere. He was seated at the kitchen table. Since she was in 'after-Slay' mode, she was hungry, and getting a snack.

"No," Batman replied. "This one was unique."

"I'm not gonna wake up and have you all be gone, am I?"

"No. In our community, when a hero enters another's town on business it's customary to announce his or her presence, and to inform the resident hero when he or she leaves. That is the least we owe you, and I know that my people are going to want to say goodbye to yours. Actually, the least we owe you is this." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a scrap of paper. "Keep this safe. I advise you to memorize this as quickly as possible, have your people do the same, and then destroy it."

Buffy looked at it. There were a couple phone numbers, and an e-mail address or two. "What is it?" she asked.

"Contact information."

"For who?"

"Oracle."

"The mask in your computer?"

"Oracle is a real person. She serves as a coordinator and an information channel. If you have any trouble that requires outside assistance, contact her. Help will be on the way as soon as possible."

"Thanks," she smiled.

He looked away from the laptop. "You aren't alone anymore, Miss Summers. That means that you will have help when you need it. It also means that you will be called in if a situation calls for someone with your… unique talents." He stopped typing, and shut down the laptop. "Good night, my niece," he said, becoming Matches for a second as he stood up to go upstairs.

"Good night, Uncle Matches," she grinned. She suddenly felt serious. "Wait."

He turned to look at her.

"Your kid- Robin, or Jason-"

"You heard his name?"

"You said it once, and I- well, the spirit of the First Slayer- picked up on it. Anyway, he's gonna be going through hell for the next few months."

"I know."

"You don't. You really don't." She motioned for him to take a seat. She gave him an abbreviated version of everything she felt and did in the months after her resurrection. She would never have bared herself for a practical stranger, but since his son was about to go through something like what she did, she had little choice.

"Thank you for that," he told her. What she had told him was… disquieting, but he felt that he could handle it. Her situation was different from Jason's, because her killer didn't torture her after she was resurrected, but he recognized how difficult it was for her to tell him everything. He could tell that she was holding a few things back, but he could also tell that they were deeply personal. She would have said something if they were pertinent to Jason's situation. "I will keep it in mind."

After she woke up and had breakfast, Barbara Gordon did what she always did when a crisis wasn't happening- went to her computer and checked her messages. She found a few, but the most prominent was from Batman, an e-mail with a file of his latest case log attached. She opened it and read it. What she read made her eyes widen, but the biggest piece of news was extremely happy news. There were instructions along with the log- she had to invent an excuse for Xander Harris to be away from his job- but that was easily accomplished. Working with superheroes with secret ID's made her very proficient at inventing excuses for sudden absences. She went to the phone after she was done, and she dialed the number. It was just early enough that Alfred would be up without actually rousing him. He deserved to know about Jason's resurrection immediately.

"Good morning, Wayne Manor," his calm voice said on the other end of the line.

"Alfred, it's me," Barbara said before launching into a circumscribed version of what had happened.

"My word," she heard Alfred softly breathe on the other end of the line. "Thank you for telling me, Miss Barbara. I shall inform Doctor Thompkins immediately."

After breakfast the next morning (More like brunch, really), Giles returned to the Initiative. He had to retrieve the tomes that Willow had left behind, and he had hoped to find anything that Dala and the Monk might have left behind. If they were interested in thwarting prophecies, it stood to reason that they had books of prophecies with them, or at least records. They wanted Buffy for a reason, and even though they were dead it would be a very good thing to know what that reason was.

The tomes of dark magic were easily found. As he'd expected, Willow's release of the power sent the darkness back to its original home. (Homes, rather.) He put them in his bag, and began the search for the prophecies. It took him the better part of a half-hour, but he found the stash of prophecies. It was a small but impressive collection, and most likely only a small part of the lore that the two vampires had accumulated over the years. (Bollocks) He reviewed the titles: the Tiberius Manifesto, the Pergamum Codex, the- (The Pergamum Codex?)

Giles opened the book carefully, and read it. It was noticeably older and thicker than his copy. (This is possibly the original) He noticed that a bookmark had been placed near the end, so he turned to it and read it.

"…And the Slayer that died and returned shall be imbued with the spirit of the First Slayer, and the Son of the Bat shall be imbued with that of her lover, and the two spirits shall consummate the love they were barred from consummating in life. From that union a girl-child shall be born, and the child shall be a Slayer from the moment of her birth…"

He almost dropped the book a second time. (This prophecy is most definitely not in my copy!) His grasp of the language was far from perfect, but for once the wording of prophecy was crystal clear. He added this copy of the Codex to his bag, along with all the others. He needed to consider this, and what it meant for his Slayer. (Or) he thought with a feeling of cold dread (quite possibly what it will mean for her.)

Nightwing didn't know how it happened, but it did. He had been left alone with Buffy Summers as she did the breakfast dishes. Dawn was off somewhere, and Batman and Robin were packing up the equipment he had taken to the Magic Box, while simultaneously keeping an eye on Jason. Nightwing's job was to make sure that no traces of the 'Malones' remained at the Summers house. (Well, I guess that explains how it happened.) He had finished his job, leaving him with nothing to do. He joined Buffy with the dishes. They worked in awkward silence.

"So," he finally said.

"So," she said back. They continued to work. "God, this is awkward," she finally said.

"Yup," Nightwing agreed, happy to hop on that train of thought. "I mean, we're both healthy adults!" A sudden horrible thought struck him. "We are both healthy, aren't we?"

She looked at him, obviously thinking the same thing. "As far as I know, we are. What about as far as you know?"

"As far as I know!"

"Good," she nodded, still looking nervous. "That's really good."

"Yes, yes it is." Another sudden, horrifying thought struck Nightwing. "Um, about last night, that wasn't- well, it's absolutely none of my business, but given the circumstances I'd hate to think that last night was, well-"

"No, it wasn't my first time. Yours?"

"No," Nightwing said fervently. "God, no!"

"Good," Buffy smiled. "I'd hate to think that last night was your first time, I mean what with our bodies being taken over and all."

They had finished cleaning the dishes. There was just one last question that he needed to ask her. "You're not going to tell anybody about this, are you?"

"Oh, no. It's bad enough that Tara and Batgirl know. And Spike. Oh God!"

"Agreed," Nightwing told her with a fervent nod. He heard Robin opening the kitchen door, mercifully putting an end to the conversation.

"Hey, sweetie," Willow beamed as she entered Tara's hospital room.

"Hey," Tara smiled back. Willow leaned in for a careful hug and quick kiss.

"You were incredible," Willow beamed at her.

"Tell me what happened." Willow recapped the night's events for her. "Wow."

"I'll say." They sat together in silence for a while. "So when do the doctors say you can come home?"

"The end of the week, if I'm lucky."

"Great." They sat in silence for a while longer. "About last night…"

"Yeah?"

"Is it always like that for you?"

"Not always, not even close. I don't always call on those magics, and even when I do it's never that intense."

"Oh."

Tara scrutinized her carefully. "You're not saying you want the power, do you?"

"No. I'm not saying the power wasn't nifty, because it really, really was, but…" Willow took a few seconds to put her thoughts in order. "I want you to teach me," she blurted out. (So much for order, Rosenberg!)

"Huh?" Tara looked confused.

"I want you to teach me more about how you do magic. I don't think I'll ever be able to do it like you do, but I want balance."

"So no more dark magics?"

"I'm not gonna promise that. You said it yourself- sometimes you need a bit of the dark stuff. But no more book-absorbing benders," Willow shuddered. "That was just freaky!" She looked back at Tara and smiled. "Like I said- balance. I wanna be a witch worthy of you." She lowered her eyes and blushed. "I wanna be a woman worthy of you, too." Tara's reply was a deep, passionate kiss.

"Mr. Harris."

Xander gasped as he jumped out of his light doze. There, standing in front of him, were the Malones- the Bats- whatever.

"Sorry for waking you," 'Matches'- really Batman, since he lost the super-thick accent- told him. "We will be leaving soon."

"Oh. Okay?" Xander felt a little groggy, and very confused. His confusion vanished when 'Robbie' came over and extended his hand. They all shook hands, even 'Matches'. 'Candy' took both of his hands into hers and gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. She slipped a piece of paper into his left hand. He even shook the hand of the guy that was brought back with the Monk. He thought he heard Buffy say that he used to be Robin before he was killed, or something. Batman had him dressed up as a Malone as well, but his clothes were just slightly too big for him. (Probably borrowed from 'Robbie') Speaking of whom…

"It was good meeting you," Nightwing smiled at him. "Who knows- maybe it'll happen again."

"Just as long as I get shot in the other shoulder next time," Xander joked.

After they left, Xander opened his left hand. He saw a folded piece of paper. He opened the piece of paper she left him and looked at it. There, in the middle, was 'BATGIRL' written in big capital letters. It looked like somebody just learning how to write. (Why would she write it like that? Oh- she did it so nobody could recognize her handwriting! She's pretty smart!) "I got a superhero's autograph," Xander gloated to the room. Nobody was there to hear it, but it felt good to say it.

Dawn jumped as the door to Xander's room opened. She had just been about to open it.

"Ah, my niece," 'Matches' said. "So glad I could run into you."

Dawn felt weirded out. Having Batman claim to be their uncle was incredibly creepy, even if it was just pretend. His 'kids' were pretty creepy too, but only when they were like this. Buffy kept checking out Nightwing's butt- (which is damn fine)- but she preferred Robin. When he wasn't in costume, he had nice eyes. (Really nice!)

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We have to go back home, see, and we weren't about to leave without saying goodbye." He put his arm across his shoulder and led her to the lobby. "We stopped by your friend Spike's place, and we already said goodbye to Willow and Tara, so now we have to say goodbye to you." The rest of the Scoobies, including Anya, were there.

"Ah, both my nieces are here!" Matches crowed. "Come here!" He steered Dawn towards Buffy, and hugged them both. "I am gonna miss you," he told them, actually sounding upset.

The goodbye's continued from there. Dawn hugged the rest of the Malones, including the (Understandably, since he was dead two days ago) creepy one- (Batman never did say what his name was)- and somehow ended up alone with 'Jack.'

"Bye," she said after they hugged.

"Bye," he whispered in his real voice.

"Yo, Jackie!" Robbie called. "Time to go!" Dawn saw Matches raise his hand as Jack dashed off to join them.

SMACK!

"Ow! Pop!"

"Keep it down, boy! You're in a hospital!"

"Sorry, Pop!"

"If your grandmother heard about this-"

The closing hospital doors cut off the rest of the conversation. "There they go," Buffy muttered.

"What do you think of the relatives, Buffy?" Dawn asked.

"They don't quite live up to all of their rep," Buffy said after a moment, "but I like them better that way. In fact I like them, period. They're good people- weird and extremely wiggins-inducing, but good people."

"Quite," Giles nodded. "So, Buffy- what exactly did Spike mean about bites and bruises?"

Buffy made a face. "You don't wanna know."

"I do, or else I wouldn't ask."

(Oh man) "I don't know how to say it except to just say it. It's exactly what it sounds like. I had sex with Spike." Giles started at her for a few seconds before he started to laugh. Buffy felt shocked. (I tell him I have sex with Spike and he laughs?)

Giles managed to regain control of himself for all of five seconds before breaking up again. Buffy was suddenly struck by the ridiculousness of what she had just said, or else Giles' laughter was contagious. She started laughing as well, which set Dawn off, and once Anya started, well… they continued until a nurse told them to stop or leave. They managed to stop. As Buffy continued to fill Giles in, Dawn slipped her hand inside her pocket. She intended to take out a lip-smacker, but she found a piece of paper. She withdrew it and read it. The contents made her eyes widen.

'Dawn,

It was great to meet you. If you're on-line sometime, and wanna talk to me, here's where you can reach me. Jack.'

Beneath the note itself were an e-mail address and a IM name. Dawn put the paper back in her pocket with a smirk. (I got a super-hero's e-mail address!) she mentally crowed.

"So," Nightwing asked once they were in the Batplane and in the air, "what do we all think of the Scoobies?"

"Brave," Batgirl said. "Resourceful. Fun."

"They're something, I'll give them that," Robin said with a smile.

"I like them," Nightwing announced. "Batman- your impressions?"

"They do good work in a difficult situation," he finally rumbled from the cockpit.

"Wow," Nightwing whistled, "your highest compliment. If I ever told anybody about what you just said, would you admit it?"

The silence was deafening. "I'll take that as a no, then."