Okay, I want everyone to know after this update, I'm going to start working on my other two fics, The Antilles Life, and If You Love Me, so I probably won't update this for a while. I may get a chapter in here and there, but otherwise don't expect chapters often.

Slayers circled around the edges of the room as John and Joyce faced each other. Joyce had her long hair tied up and out of her face, and she was wearing a light exercise suit. John was wearing customary black.

"Now, don't try to go easy on me because I'm a girl." She told him, grinning. "Because I won't be as easy."

She made the first move, going blindingly fast, her foot spinning up to meet his head. He caught it, just in time, and flipped her over. She landed on her back, but was up second later.

They continued to fight, and the Slayers started cheering. Not for either of them in particular, just cheering for the fight. Faith and Kennedy were enjoying this.

"Come on, Grimm. Stop trying to hit me and hit me!" She cried, dodging his fists for what seemed like the millionth time.

Alright, she wants a fight, she's got one, John thought, brought up a roundhouse that would kill a normal person. It hit Joyce and she was knocked backwards. He smirked as Joyce lifted herself up off the ground. The room was quiet now.

"That it?" Joyce asked, and everyone began cheering again. The fight picked up again, and Joyce was starting to get pounded. And John wasn't even trying, for the most part.

"What on Earth is going on here?" Buffy asked, walking into the room. The Slayers began to make excuses for them, but Buffy sighed. Sam followed Buffy into the room

"Can I get an explanation? Please?" Buffy asked, and Joyce, looking at John, answered.

"We, uh, wanted to see who was stronger. We weren't going to kill each other, honest. It was just sort of combat training. Or something to that effect." Joyce told her mother, who obviously didn't believe it.

"It was my idea, Buffy." Faith stepped out of the crowd. Both Joyce and John opened their mouths to protest, but Kennedy gave them a warning look.

"Your idea? Why on earth would you want to do this?" Buffy still didn't believe it. Faith wasn't this crazy. Or maybe she was.

"We were having a tournament of sorts. Whoever won this one, would go on to fight Kennedy, then so on. Just something to test our strengths, see where we need to improve." Faith hoped she didn't blow this out of the water. Both those guys would owe her one.

"Um…alright. I don't want to see it again unless I'm down here, alright? Someone could get really hurt, and that's not what we need right now. Anyways, I need Kennedy and John upstairs in the planning room." Buffy bought it, and when she walked out, Faith blew out a breath.

"Thanks, Faith." Joyce said. She walked out, waited for Sam to leave the room. Joyce knew what the others were planning. She needed to talk to Sam about planning of her own.

Up in Joyce's room, Joyce and Sam began talking about John's squad. Sam really didn't know some of them all that well, and the devised a plan to get that information out of John without him suspecting anything.

"Duke was alright, I guess. I understand why he kept hitting on me. Stuck in a barracks for six months with a bunch of guys, I'd feel the same too. Portman, eh….he was, to put it as nicely as possible, a pervert. Majorly. The others, I didn't know too well. Destroyer was quiet, following orders without question. I got the impression he was a nice guy, though, unless you were the enemy." Sam took a breath while Joyce wrote all of this down.

"What exactly do you want to know all of this for?" Sam asked, and Joyce grinned.

"A Christmas present for John." Was all Joyce said.

John took a deep breath. He walked up the stairs that led to Joyce's room. Heard Sam and Joyce talking, and Sam laughed.

Maybe now's not the best time for this John thought, as he knocked on the door. Sam opened it, and smiled at John as she left the room.

"Hi, John." Joyce said, tucking the notebook into her nightstand. She tilted her head slightly to the side, her senses picking up on his mood changes.

"Well, I was wondering, if you're not busy, if you'd like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night." He said, all paranoid that she'd say no. Its not like he had much practice with this. She smiled. Did he just ask me on a date? Or is he just trying to get me out of the house?

"Um, no. I'm not doing anything. I'd love to go with you." Joyce was calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside, she was flustered. It was hard to get the words out, but somehow she managed. John nodded and left the room, and Joyce let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Joyce waited until she was sure John wasn't around then she bolted to tell the other Slayers. They reacted rather well and wanted to help her get ready.

"You scored a date with him? Oh my god, Joyce! He's like the hottest around, even though he's an older guy! Are you sure your dad's going to let you?" One, a Slayer named Emily, said, going through Joyce's closet a few hours later.

"How about we go shopping? You need a new outfit, none of these scream first date, if you know what I mean. Come on, my treat." Emily pulled Joyce down to the garage, and found her car. Well, actually, it belonged to the six slayers that paid for it, but hey, she helped.

The girls went to the nearby mall, and found a stunning outfit for Joyce. It was a crimson halter that came with a jet black miniskirt. It came with a long black wool coat, being December, it was necessary.

In a shoe store, the girls couldn't decide if they wanted to get a pair of knee high boots, or some high heeled sandals. They chose the sandals, and left the mall rather satisfied. And they probably would have had a good day, if it wasn't dark out already. And they weren't attacked by a vampire. It was nothing special, just some random vampire, but it still made the girls rather nervous. They hurried back to the Summers residence.

Word got around to Buffy that her daughter was going on a date with John Grimm, a guy she had only know for about a week. Oh, she'd known Sam for months, but John? Uh, no. Not yet. But she didn't hear about it until the two had already left, and Joyce didn't have her cell phone on her.

Sam saw Buffy storm up to her room, and threw a questioning glance at Spike, who shrugged. Spike walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. It was his room too, but Buffy didn't like people just walking in.

"Buffy? Love, are you alright?" He opened the door, and found Buffy gathering a few things in a black bag.

"I'm fine. I'm going out on patrol. You can watch the girls while I'm out, right?"

After dinner, the two went out dancing. Joyce proved she was Buffy's daughter, showing her mother's skills, and a little that Faith showed her. John was thoroughly impressed, not thinking someone of her age could dance like that.

"Man I wish I was you." John looked over and found Portman standing there. Only he knew it was the First. It was hard to resist trying to punch him, even though he knew nothing would happen.

"If you-"

"I'm not going to hurt her. Yet, anyways. She's still got to gain a little more power. Then, well, I'm afraid she won't be Joyce Summers anymore." The First winked out, and John growled. Joyce walked up to him, smiling.

"It's getting late, and I didn't even tell mom I was going out. I hope Kennedy covered for me, like she said she would."

They left the place, and climbed into John's car. Joyce called Kennedy to tell her she was on her way home.

"Alright, you might want to hurry, though. Buffy left, Spike said she was going out on patrol, but I don't believe it. She usually takes a Slayer with her, or Willow, or someone. Chat with ya later!"

Joyce let out a sigh. Buffy was being all paranoid again. She reached in her purse, and found her mirror, and saw that her hair was a mess. She attempted to tidy it, and John reached over and grabbed the mirror.

"It looks fine. Don't worry about it." She smiled, them looked up at the road.

"Watch out!" She cried, grabbing onto the dash. John swerved to miss the man standing in the middle of the road. After they had just passed him, John hit the brake, and took a deep breath.

"He wasn't there a minute ago. I swear he wasn't." John told her, and Joyce's face was a mask of concentration. She didn't like this.

"It's a vampire." Joyce reached into her purse and found a stake. She unbuckled herself and stepped warily out of the car.

"Sir, are you alright?" She called, and he turned towards her. His mouth was covered in blood. John pulled a handgun out of his pocket, in case it was something else.

"I'm fine, girl. You, on the other hand-" Joyce let out a shriek as another vampire grabbed her from behind. It turned to dust as the stake went through his heart. The vampire up ahead gaped at her.

"I'm the Slayer's daughter. Did you really think I'm helpless?" She asked, walking towards the other vampire. He continued to gape at her, and a police car slowed down. The vampire, not seeing it, attacked Joyce, who sidestepped and grabbed the vampire's shirt as he sped past.

"Tell the First hi for me." She slammed the stake into his heart, and he turned to dust.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" The cop asked, climbing out of her car. Joyce pushed a strand of hair out of her face and nodded.

"He tried to attack me, but I guess you scared him off. He jumped over the railing and dashed into the woods." Joyce had the stake hidden behind her.

"You're bleeding. Do you need me to look at it?" The cop asked. Joyce reached up, and felt it.

"No, I'll take care of it. I'm trained for it. She'll be fine." John told her. He was trained for emergency medical care.

"Alright. Be careful. I'll look into it." Joyce and John got back into the car, and drove away.

"That was close. I almost thought she had us for a minute." Joyce sighed. She grabbed her mirror to see how bad the cut was. It was already healing, would be finished by the time she got home. She wiped the blood away with a tissue, and looked at it again.

"These vampires around here just don't get it." She said, looking around as they pulled into the Summers driveway. Joyce opened the garage door, and John parked right behind a green car, which belonged to Willow and Kennedy.

Kennedy ducked her head through the door that led to the house, a stake in her hand. She grinned when she saw the two. "About time you guys got back" She said, hitting the button that closed the garage door.

"Where's Mom?" Joyce walked up into the house, which as usual was a hive of activity. Six girls were tailing Xander, and he appeared amused by it. Sam and Spike were chatting in the corner, and Buffy was nowhere to be seen.

"She said she was going out on patrol, but I think she's looking for you. She didn't tell Spike where she was going, she didn't tell him you went out on a-" Kennedy stopped as Spike looked sharply up to the two. Sam flinched, not expecting the sudden movements.

"Hi, Daddy!" Joyce waved to her father, who narrowed his eyes for a moment before turning back to Sam. Sam asked something, and Spike replied, and turned to leave. Sam rolled her eyes, muttered something that looked suspiciously like 'men' and left the room, bumping into Wesley on the way. The two left together, and John made a mental note to watch that guy.

"I'm gonna go upstairs. Talk to ya later, or tomorrow, whenever I see you next." Joyce bounded upstairs, Kennedy on her heels.

"So….how'd the date go?" Emily asked, sitting on the corner of Joyce's bed. Kennedy was draped across a desk chair, magazine in her lap. Two Slayers sat on a beanbag chair, and three others sat on the floor.

"It was good. You know, he's not such a bad dancer. You'd think those military types couldn't dance at all, but whoa…" Joyce smiled as the girls' eyes widened. All of them started asking questions at once, but Joyce held up a hand.

"Mom's home." Joyce said, those two words sending the Slayers scrambling out of the room. Only Kennedy and Emily stayed, Emily hurrying and grabbing two books from Joyce's bookshelf and handing one to Joyce. They opened them to random pages and began reading.

The door flew open, and Buffy barreled in, not looking happy at all. She pointed to Kennedy and Emily.

"You two, out now." Buffy ordered, and neither of them moved. Joyce looked up, a smile on her face. Kennedy yawned and Emily turned a page. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Where were you?" Buffy continued, and Joyce closed her book, the 'who-me?' look on her face. Buffy wasn't falling for it this time.

"Yes, you. Word has it you went on a date with John." Buffy put her hands on her hips, and Joyce knew that pose. It was the 'I'm the supreme ruler of the universe' pose. Joyce hated that one, because even Giles couldn't convince her of anything.

"Yeah….So? Its not like we went to a rave or anything. He took me out to dinner, big deal. How did your relationship with dad start, hmm?" Joyce's sharp green eyes flashed, meeting Buffy's squarely. Buffy didn't like it when her daughter brought that up. She was right. But John was older than her, and Buffy didn't know him at all.

"You're not going out with him again." Buffy ordered, and Joyce rolled her eyes. Her mother would forget, and she'd go out again, get yelled at again, and deal with the same old routine. Not that she minded. She'd still get to go out on dates.

"Fine. I won't." Joyce opened her book again. Buffy left, not looking happy at all and when the girls couldn't hear Buffy anymore, the three of them started laughing.