Chapter 16: Revelations Part 4

Shadow Dimension, January 14th, 2017

"And this is Dawn Summers," James Lake Jr said, gesturing at Dawn.

"My little sister," the Slayer added.

"And the vessel for the key the mass-murdering hell-goddess is after," Dawn said. "So, don't stay too close if a bottle-blonde bimbo arrives. Well, one that's taller than five feet."

The Slayer nodded, then blinked and glared at Dawn. "Hey!" she blurted out, cutting off whatever greeting Mr and Mrs Nuñez had been about to say.

"What? We don't want them to mistake you for Glory!"

"I'm not five foot!"

"I was being generous!" Dawn waved her hand at her sister.

"I'm five foot four inches!"

"Only if you're wearing heels."

"With heels, I'm even taller!"

"Five foot four inches isn't tall at all."

Jim cleared his throat. "So, yes, that's Dawn. You know Toby already. This is his grandmother, Mrs Domzalski."

"Ah, hi!" Tobes waved.

"Hello!" And his grandmother beamed at the Nuñez. Or in their direction - Jim wasn't sure how well she could see in the demi-darkness of the portal dimension.

"Hello," Mrs Nuñez said. "You know about…" She trailed off. "Of course you know, silly of me."

"Oh, yes, I've been told today. It's so exciting!" Toby's nana replied. "Though it'll be rough for the first day."

"We've got camping supplies!" Toby added with a smile.

Jim took a glance at Mr and Mrs Nuñez and could tell that they weren't fond of camping. Or camping in a weird magical dimension. He cleared his throat. "We'll organise some better, ah, digs. A caravan or two. Legally."

"On a Sunday?" Dawn frowned. "With the portals, we can get a caravan easy-peasy. And it's kind of an emergency. Wouldn't saving the world entitle us to, uh, requisition what we need?"

"Not if you claim that you need a new TV and computer," the Slayer retorted.

"You claim to need new shoes!"

"I do! Slaying is hard on shoes."

"Hard on stupidly expensive shoes, maybe. Which wouldn't be damaged if you hadn't worn them for slaying!" Dawn sniffed.

"I can't just count on always having my slay-shoes with me when I have to slay!" The Slayer looked as if she was about to stomp her foot, Jim thought.

"Well, dress more practical and less fashionable? It's not as if you're dating anyway!" Dawn shook her head. "It's just your vanity talking here."

"And your greed!"

Jim sighed and shook his head. The Slayer and her sister were really something. He didn't know what they were, or how to say it politely, but they were something. Although… He looked around. Where was Claire? He would've expected her to comment on the girls' antics.

Claire was standing at the edge of the 'island' floating in this weird space, looking at… the rest of the dimension. He pressed his lips together for a moment, then walked over to her. "Claire?"

She jerked, then turned to face him. "Jim? Do we need to go?"

"What? No, no." He shook his head. "I was just wondering… How are you doing?"

"I'm OK," she said. She didn't look OK, though.

Jim didn't say so, of course. He didn't have to.

After a moment, Claire clenched her teeth. "I've told them about Enrique. They know it's my fault."

"It's not your fault! There was nothing you could've done," he protested. "If anything, it was my fault. If I had done a better job as the Trollhunter…"

"It wasn't your fault!" Claire protested.

"But…"

"No!" She glared at him.

Jim opened his mouth, closed it when she narrowed her eyes even further, then suddenly snorted. "Didn't we go over this already?"

She frowned a moment longer, then nodded with a weak smile. "I guess we did."

"Well, we can decide who was at fault when we aren't trying to save the world or Enrique," Jim said. "The Slayer promised to help us, after all."

"She better keep that promise." And Claire's scowl was back.

"I will!" the Slayer yelled from the other side of the island.

"I really don't like her hearing," Claire muttered.

"Tough!" came the unwanted comment from the Slayer.

Jim looked over his shoulder at her and frowned before turning back to Claire. "Anyway. Don't blame yourself, OK?"

"OK."

She would keep blaming herself. Jim knew it. But he hoped she would blame herself a little less. He changed the subject. "So, now, let's see how we can turn this into a decent camping spot?"

"After we fetch Xander and Willow," Claire said. "They're more exposed, being at the hospital."

"Right. Afterwards." Jim nodded.

"We have to make a list, anyway, so we don't forget anything," Claire added as she put her staff on her shoulder to walk back to the rest of the group.


"So, how about your mom?" Buffy Summers asked when Jim and Claire rejoined them.

The boy winced. "She's still magically tied to Strickler, the evil changeling. If we take her, he might notice."

"And who knows what he might do then?" Claire added. "If he thinks we're trying to remove his hostage…"

Jim nodded with a grimace.

"Well, that's the plan," Buffy pointed out. "We get your mom to safety, then work on removing that curse. Willow's good at that, and we can get Tara as well. And Giles can probably help as well."

"I will endeavour to be helpful with my meagre skills," Giles agreed.

"Well, you do know… Wait!" Buffy pouted. "You were sarcastic about your 'meagre skills', weren't you?

"I don't want to toot my own horn, but I do believe that I have the most experience with magic in our group." Giles polished his glasses. And not in the nervous way.

Yep, he had been sarcastic. Buffy frowned. "Well, Anya has been a vengeance demon for a thousand years or so, so she has more experience with curses, I think." Mostly the casting, not the breaking of them, but it counted. Probably.

"Her help might be useful, given her experience with Olaf," Giles said.

"'Vengeance demon'?" Mr Nuñez asked.

"Anya was a vengeance demon for a while," Dawn said. "She's now back to being a human. No sweat."

"'A while'?"

"About a thousand years or so, but that's not really important right now," Buffy cut in. She ignored the gaping faces of the parents. "Anyway, we need to get all the parents and guardians and other family members here. We need to get enough tents and stuff to make it comfortable. And we need a curse broken and a baby rescued." She blinked. "Though most of all, we need to keep Glory from destroying the world."

More gaping. Seriously, had they forgotten about this? Buffy had told them before!

"And we need to call Washington to handle the local police response to Glory," Giles said. "Unless I'm mistaken, the state government is trying to handle the matter, and, in light of their ignorance about the supernatural, the likelihood of whatever measures they are taking causing more trouble for us is quite high."

Buffy blinked again as she translated the Giles-Speak. "You want the state cops out before they get killed."

"Amongst other things," Giles confirmed.

"The police cannot ignore this - two officers were killed!" Mrs Nuñez protested.

Right. Not Sunnydale, Buffy reminded herself. Two dead, officers or not, would've barely made the back page of the local news at home.

"Can't they just send Riley's guys?" Dawn asked.

Buffy pressed her lips together. The last man she wanted to see was Mr 'I can't handle you being stronger than I am so I'm going to hunt demons with the army'.

"The armed forces are generally not authorised to operate on American soil," Giles said. "Such a move would attract even more attention from the press and various other parties. I believe a few Federal agents would do best, once read in."

"So, you gonna call the Men in Black?" Buffy beamed as Giles's polite smile turned into a grimace for a moment. She still got it!

"I'm going to call the Council's contact handling these matters," Giles said.

"Right!" Buffy resisted the sudden urge to salute and grin. "So… we'll fetch Willow and Xander, then Jim's mom, then camping gear and stuff. Then Mom and the rest. Or mom and the rest first, if they reach L.A. more quickly than that. Or whatever pickup point we can direct them to."

"I think we should get camping supplies first," Jim said. "Especially camping toilets."

"Ew." Buffy frowned.

"I didn't mean it like that," the boy replied. "But… we do need to be prepared. And we need food and water, too."

"And a way to cook!" the grandmother with the shovel added.

Well, most of that would be solved if they got a caravan or mobile home, or a few of them. But renting them on the quick? On a Sunday? Maybe they should just borrow them.

"There's a mobile toilet at the construction site near the canal," Toby said. "We could take it - no one will be using it right now."

Buffy suppressed a shudder. She'd only use that after a thorough cleaning, but it was a good idea. And they could put the toilet back once they had a better alternative. "Sounds good."

"You want to steal a mobile toilet?" Claire asked.

"It's kind of an emergency?" Buffy told her with a smile. "Or do you want to go behind a bush?" She hadn't seen many bushes on the floating island here.

A moment later, they were looking out through a portal at a deserted road construction site. It looked like something had torn up the street. "What happened here?" she asked.

"That wasn't our fault," Toby commented.

Which, in Buffy's experience with and as a teenager, usually meant it totally was their fault.


The torn-up road wasn't their fault. James Lake Jr hadn't even heard about the troll trying to hunt racoons with a sledgehammer until the damage had been done already. Literally. But they had more important things to do than explain this to the Slayer. "OK, let's get the toilet." He blinked. That sounded… well, whatever. He started to head out through the portal, but Claire stopped him.

"Wait!"

"What?" Jim looked around at once. Had he missed an enemy? Glory?

The portal vanished. A moment later, it reappeared - and the toilet was straight in front of them. Claire smiled. "That's easier and quicker."

And safer. Jim grabbed the thing and heaved it inside without ever setting foot outside.

"Smart," the Slayer agreed. "That way, Glory can't even hurt us. Well, unless she manages to grab your arms or something and drags you out. Or tears them off."

Jim frowned at her. He could have done without imagining that.

"So, we've got a toilet. How about we raid a Walmart or something?" Dawn asked. "We need more supplies."

"We're not going to steal things," Claire told her.

Jim nodded.

"Then how are we going to get beds and tents? It's the middle of the night on the weekend," Dawn said. "And it'll be dangerous - and suspicious - if you're spending time in a shop to buy stuff the regular way. We're wanted people, remember?"

"Do you think Glory will watch every shop in Arcadia Oaks?" Jim asked.

"No, but the police will be looking for us," Buffy said with a sigh. "Though they'll be suspicious anyway if a dozen people disappear, and then camping gear gets stolen."

"So? That's still safer than braving the housewife weekend warrior shoppers," Dawn said.

"I concur," Mr Giles cut in. "Also, could you keep a portal open for the next twenty minutes so I can make a few calls?"

Claire looked at Jim. After he nodded at her, she moved her staff, and Mr Giles smiled.

"Thank you. I've got a signal now." Mr Giles started to make his call.

Jim noticed that Mr and Mrs Nuñez were also using their phones.

"Oh! Buffy, get me a new phone as well," Dawn piped up. "You can keep my old one."

"You want me to steal a phone for you?"

"Yes? I need a new phone no one knows the number of, so Glory's minions can't track me down. Or anyone else." Dawn smiled widely. "It's for a good cause!"

"You… I can't believe…" The Slayer shook her head. "You just want a new phone!"

"You've got my old one; of course I want a new one. And I need one."

"Better get her one," Claire said. "If only to keep her busy."

Jim snorted almost against his will at the expressions of the Slayer and her sister. Then he remembered that he'd have to tell Mom and sighed.

"What's wrong?" the Slayer asked.

"I'm just trying to work out how to tell Mom," he said.

"It'll work out," Claire told him. "If my parents were reasonable, then your mother will be as well."

Jim pressed his lips together. It wasn't that easy. Mom would be hurt that he hadn't told her. And scared for him. It had been bad enough when she had thought Toby and Jim had broken into a museum for a lark, but hunting monsters that killed dozens of people? "There's something else," he said. "Strickler."

"The half-troll-principal from hell?" the Slayer asked with a frown. "What about him?"

"We need to deal with him as well," Jim said. "He'll notice that Mom's not around any more, and he'll know we'll be working on removing the curse. So, he'll try to stop us. And that could cause a mess."

"You want to tell him about Glory?" the Slayer asked, cocking her head to the side.

"I don't want to tell him," Jim retorted. "But I can't think of any other way to keep him from doing anything to Mom. "And… if he doesn't know about Glory, he might meet her and get killed. Which would..." He swallowed.

Claire put a hand on his arm, and they smiled at each other.

"We could capture him," the Slayer said. "We kept Spike chained up in Giles's bathtub for weeks, once."

Jim wasn't sure he wanted to know any details about that. "He'll find a way to hurt himself to hurt Mom."

"We might have to ask Willow about spells to contain people - and trolls." The Slayer didn't seem very concerned. "It'll only have to work until we can break the curse."

"And what if we can't break the curse quickly?" Jim asked, shaking his head. "I think we have to tell him. He wouldn't want the world to end, either. And he'll keep himself safe that way." Jim didn't really want to do it. He loathed Strickler. The monster had betrayed his trust, fooled Jim's mom into believing Strickler over Jim and was working for Gunmar. But it was for Mom.

And once they had broken the curse, Jim would deal with Strickler personally. Once and for all.


Arcadia Oaks, January 14th, 2017

Buffy Summers refused to feel like a thief. Even though she was in the process of, well, clearing out the local Walmart's camping section. But they needed the supplies, and they were needed to save the world. And if the world ended, the camping supplies would be lost anyway, so it wasn't as if this would hurt the store.

Willow wouldn't even care about hurting the store, Buffy knew. Her friend was quite opinionated about the store chain's policies. Especially those concerning the environment and wages. Buffy had no doubt that Willow would be enthusiastic about this. Perhaps they should've taken her along - although Buffy doubted that she'd have left Xander, who still hadn't woken up and so couldn't be moved from the hospital.

"Buffy?" Jim asked.

She blinked, then realised that she had been overfilling the water tanks. "Oops! Lost in thought a little, sorry!" She grabbed both full tanks and carried them towards the portal.

"I should be able to create a portal to a water faucet and allow us to fill them easily," Claire said as Buffy approached.

"If we're already here, we might as well take advantage," Buffy replied with a grin, then dropped the tanks off on the other side.

As she stepped out again, Jim arrived, pushing a cart loaded down with cans of all types. And lots of spices. Like Buffy and Claire, he was masked and in disguise. They should've taken out all the cameras in the store, but better safe than sorry, right?

Buffy helped him push the cart over to the portal space thingie; without his armour, he wasn't any stronger than an average teenager. "So… what's next?"

"More water," Jim said. "In case we get stuck over there."

Right. The one drawback of their plan: If anything happened to Claire and her staff, they were stuck outside or inside the portal dimension. "Right. Let's get more water!"

"I can place a portal in the middle of the river," Claire offered.

"Then we need water filters," Jim said. "I'll fetch some." And he was off.

Claire didn't look happy, Buffy noted. She took a step closer to her and whispered: "What's wrong?"

"We're stealing."

"We need the stuff, and we can't buy it without drawing attention," Buffy said.

"We're still stealing. And my parents know it."

"And haven't said a word about it," Buffy pointed out.

"That'll happen later, once they're over the shock."

"By that time, they'll be accomplices for using all the stuff," Buffy said with a grin.

It earned her a glare in return. "That's not the point."

"We'll pay the store back. Once this is all over. And if we remember." Buffy shrugged. "And if not, they've got insurance."

"It's still stealing."

"But for a good cause." Buffy frowned for a moment. It was stealing, but… after having defended their plan, she didn't feel bad about it any more. "Thanks!" she told Claire.

"What?"

"Nothing." Buffy grinned again. "I'll go fetch more water tanks."

"And more propane gas - to cook," Jim told her as he arrived with a cart full of water filters and other survival stuff Buffy didn't quite know. She was the Slayer, not the Ranger. Or a ranger, as Riley would say.

If only they had, as Giles put it, established lines of communication with the local army base, but, apparently, there were difficulties or something. At least so their contact claimed. Something about clearances. The security kind.

Well, it was easier to rob a Walmart than an army base. And the stuff here was nicer too. Army rations… She shuddered.

She returned with two more full water tanks. Jim was stocking up on pans this time.

"We might've been faster just dropping the entire store through a portal," Buffy joked.

"What?" Claire wasn't amused.

"Well, I wasn't serious, but… would it be possible? How big can you make your portals?" Buffy cocked her head sideways as she looked at the girl.

"I…" Claire frowned. "I never tried for one so large."

"Well, it might exhaust you, so wait until we're safe." Buffy nodded at her and went to gather more tanks.

It was kind of fun, she realised. Like shopping without having to pay money and the added excitement of doing something bad. Slightly bad. And Walmart had everything… She blinked. "Right. Clothes. Shoes." They would be icky cheapo clothes and shoes, but cheap was better than nothing at all. And unlike Jim, Claire and the others from Arcadia Oaks, Buffy and her friends had lost their luggage unless they stole it back from the cops. Which might be harder but not impossible, actually.

Buffy snorted - she was turning into a thief. Xander would make a comment about dual-classing or something. If he were here and awake, instead of still sleeping off his surgery… And there went her mood.

Half a minute later, she reached the clothing section, which didn't help at all with cheering her up.

Those clothes were ugly! And cheaper than she had feared. Even Willow would have some concerns, and not just about how environmentally friendly they were or weren't. And Giles…

Actually, Giles's reaction would be funny!


Shadow Dimension, January 14th, 2017

"Alright. I think we've got the essential supplies handled," the Slayer said. "Food, water, shelter. And a toilet. Wipes until we get a shower. Unless you want to brave a camping shower."

James Lake Jr nodded They could always use more supplies, though. Perhaps more food and water, just in case. Or a spare tent. Maybe one of those mobile showers? Walmart didn't sell them, but they could probably look for one in a speciality store in L.A. They should be able to find one in the internet, and travelling a little…

He took a deep breath. They didn't need any of that. Not now. He was stalling. Stalling, so he wouldn't have to…

"Let's go get your mom," the Slayer said with a smile. "We can fetch Xander and Willow on the way."

"Right," Jim said, taking another deep breath.

"It'll be OK," Claire whispered next to him.

"Can't be worse than my first attempt to tell my parents the truth," the Slayer said.

Jim wasn't about to ask how it had gone. She had mentioned something about an asylum. Mom wouldn't do that. Probably not. They could prove he wasn't delusional. "Let's go," he said, with - or so he hoped - more confidence than he felt.

Since Claire gave him a peck on the cheek before opening a portal, he probably hadn't managed to hide his anxiety. Or she knew him too well.

"Watch your phones, moving portal," Claire announced to the rest of the group. Since no one protested, they weren't in the middle of a call.

Then she waved her staff, and Jim was looking at the back entrance to the hospital.

The Slayer was typing on her phone. Texting. Then she sighed. "Xander's still asleep. I'm so going to tease him for being lazy when he finally wakes up."

"So, portal to Jim's home?"

"Let me first check if Dr Lake is still in the hospital," the Slayer replied.

"How? Are you going to hack their database and check her badge?" Jim asked.

She grinned in return and touched the tip of her nose with her finger. "Nope! I'm going to track her scent."

Jim couldn't say what was more disturbing - that the Slayer could track people with her nose or that she knew his mom by scent.

Or that she could break into the hospital in less than thirty seconds without leaving traces.

Shaking his head, he turned to Claire while the Slayer disappeared into the hospital. "Thanks." She looked confused, so he added: "For being here with me."

"Oh." She smiled. Was that a blush? "You were here for me as well."

It was the least he could do since her troubles with her parents were his fault. Mostly. He knew better than to say that out loud, of course. Claire was adamant that it wasn't his fault. Even though it was.

"So, this is going to suck for you, huh?"

"What?" Jim turned. Dawn had wandered over.

She nodded towards the rear area of the island, where the Nuñez and the others were putting up the tents. Or trying to, in Toby's case. "This is going to put a cramp into your style."

"What?" Jim stared at her.

"You're going to bunk with your parents."

Why would that… Oh! Jim blushed. "It's not like that!" Mostly. Somewhat.

"We haven't…" Claire trailed off, blushing worse.

"You don't smooch?" Dawn frowned.

Jim narrowed his eyes. He wasn't going to answer that. Then he saw the girl smirk - he probably had, somehow.

"That's none of your business," Claire whispered.

"Hey!" Dawn raised her hands. "Just trying to be helpful here!"

"We can handle our own affairs, thank you," Claire told her.

"Oh, your affair?" Dawn held up her hands again. "Just kidding. Sorry, it's a habit. I blame Buffy."

"You blame me for what?"

The Slayer had returned, and Jim hadn't noticed. He clenched his teeth at his oversight.

"Your mom went home already," she said. "Don't know how long ago, but it wasn't too long - her scent lingered."

Jim didn't want to know anything about his mom's 'scent'. "Let's go, then," he said.

"Right. Giles!" The Slayer had a good set of lungs. "We need you to make with the explanations for Jim's mom!"

Mr Giles joined them with a slightly exasperated expression but didn't comment.

"Changing portal!" Claire announced.

"I still need a phone," Dawn said.

"We got you a laptop," the Slayer replied.

"What? And you didn't tell me?"

"I forgot."

"No, you didn't!"

Claire moved her staff while the two girls bickered, and Jim was looking at his room back home.

"Oh! Better not let your parents realise you're familiar with Jim's bedroom!" Dawn snickered. Apparently, teasing them took priority over squabbling with her sister.

But it was a sort of welcome distraction. Jim wasn't feeling as nervous as he had felt a moment ago when he stepped through the portal and into his room.

Until he turned around and saw Mom standing at the door, phone in hand, staring at him.

Damn.

"Jim?"

"Mom?" Jim blurted out before he could help himself.

"Hello, Mrs Lake," Claire said, smiling brightly - and forcedly; Jim could tell - as she stepped through the portal as well.

"Hi!" The Slayer joined them, waving as if this were a normal meeting on the street.

"Good evening, Dr Lake." Mr Giles said.

"Jim… but…" Mom was looking from one of them to the other, then back at Jim. "What… this isn't possible!"

"On the contrary, Dr Lake," Mr Giles replied while Jim still struggled for words. "I'm Rupert Giles. This is Buffy Summers. I believe you are acquainted with Miss Nuñez."

"Claire…"

"It is a little cramped here. May I suggest heading to the living room? We have a serious matter to discuss."

"But…" Mom lowered her phone.

"And you can hang up," the Slayer said. "Your son's back, after all. She called the police," she added with a glance at Jim and the others.

"Already?" Jim's eyes widened. That would make things worse. Detective Scott would follow up on this.

"Jim! I came home and discovered that you were gone! Snuck out without telling me! And there were dangerous criminals roaming the street! They had killed two people already - at the police station!" Mom yelled. "Where were you, at this time of the night?" She suddenly glared at Claire.

"It's not what you think!" Jim told her, taking a step in front of Claire. "We're not…"

"You're not what? Risking your life for..."

"We're here to explain what your son is doing, Dr Lake," Mr Giles cut in. He gestured at the portal behind them. "And as you can see, things are a little more complicated than what might appear a mere youthful fancy. But I really do think that we would better sit down for this discussion."

"Please, Mom," Jim said, looking at her with pleading eyes. And unlike when he had asked for a Vespa, this time, she nodded. "Alright… let's go to the living room."

She didn't take her eyes off Jim and Claire, though, as they went downstairs. And as soon as they sat down, she snapped: "Talk!"

Jim took a deep breath. "The cops weren't killed by criminals, Mom." He saw her grow pale and quickly went on. "It was a monster. And we know because we're fighting the monster." She opened her mouth, but he kept talking. He had to get it out all at once before he lost his nerve. "I'm the Trollhunter. I fight monsters to protect trolls and humans. Monsters who want to kill us all. Claire helps me, as does Toby. We're the Trollhunters. And this is Buffy Summers, the Slayer. She hunts monsters as well. And this is Mr Giles. He helps her. And you're in danger because of this."

Mom stared at him. Her mouth moved without making a sound for a moment. Then she exploded. "This is completely ridiculous! Have you lost your mind?" Her eyes widened, and she gasped. "Is that it? Are you taking drugs?"

"I should've bet on this," the Slayer muttered.

"No!" Jim protested. "I'm telling the truth! And we can prove it!"

"Well, us stepping through a magic portal should've been proof already," the Slayer added, "but I guess we have to do the whole spiel." She stood, grabbed the couch with one hand - the couch upon which Mr Giles was still sitting - and lifted it. One-handed. "I'm the Slayer. Supernaturally strong, tough and fast. I hunt demons."

Mom was blinking. Stammering something unintelligible. Jim stood, moving to hug her. "Mom!"

She felt stiff and tense in his arms. "This has to be a trick. Yes. A trick. A prank - I've heard about those Youtube pranks!"

"And you're up, Jim! Show her the magic armour!" the Slayer said, shaking her head.

Jim frowned at her, but she merely nodded at him with a beaming smile that was probably meant to be encouraging. And she was right. Sighing, he released Mom - not that she was hugging him, anyway - and stepped back. "Mom?"

She looked at him.

He raised his hand with the amulet. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!"

Jim closed his eyes as the armour appeared in a swirl around him and settled on his body until he held Daylight in his hand.

Mom seemed to be shocked again.

"Jim's the Trollhunter. Chosen by Merlin's magic," Claire added. "And I wield the Shadow Staff." She demonstrated it by opening a portal in the living room.

"But… how is this possible? Magic isn't real."

"Magic is real, Ms Lake," Mr Giles told Mom. "Although the vast majority of humanity ignores it, the world is older than you know…"


"...and that is why we're in Arcadia Oaks, hiding from Glorificus," Mr Giles finished his explanation.

Jim blinked. After hearing the whole spiel for the third time, it was getting very repetitive. And slightly boring. Not that he would say so, of course. Unlike the Slayer, who had made no effort to hide how bored she was. He cleared his throat. "So, Mom, you see, you're in danger."

"From a hell-god." Mom didn't look convinced.

Before Jim could say something, the Slayer sighed. "I guess we'll have to call on Arg again?"

"AAARRRGGHH!," Claire corrected her.

"What I said: Arg."

Jim put his hand on Claire's shoulder. The Slayer was just riling her up. Or she honestly had trouble with names. Either way, it was pointless. "Mom, please. We're telling the truth. You've seen magic."

"I've seen dead patients in the hospital," she retorted. "And I've seen no proof that this hell-god exists."

Yes, they needed AAARRRGGHH!. Or Blinky. Blinky might actually be better, in Jim's opinion - he was far more eloquent. And passionate. "Claire, can you open a portal to Blinky's home?"

She closed the current portal - a small one to keep the others connected to the mobile phone cells - without hesitation and opened a new one into Blinky's library. "Blinky?" Jim asked, taking a step closer.

No answer. He frowned and stepped through the portal. "Blinky?"

"Trollhunter." Ah, Vendel was there. "What news do you have?"

"Ah… we found out that Glory can't go through portals, so we are evacuating the key and our families into the, ah, space between portals."

Vendel's eyes widened for a moment, then he slowly nodded. "The Shadow Dimension. A fortunate discovery." Tilting his head, he added: "But I thought your families were unaware of your… calling, Trollhunter." And the eyes narrowed.

Jim smiled weakly. "Well… that's 'were', yes."

"I see."

"So, where's Blinky? We kind of need a troll to persuade my mom that magic and trolls and demons are real. Not that Blinky's a demon, but getting a demon to show is a little hard."

"It wouldn't be hard in Sunnydale or L.A., but your town seems to be more demon-free," the Slayer suddenly cut in.

Jim gasped - a little- and turned. There she was, sticking her head through the portal. "Hi, Mr Troll Mayor!"

"Blinkous is currently checking the runes on the entrances to Trollmarket," Vendel said. "In case your activities lead an angry hell-god to our doors."

Jim flinched. That was his fault for bringing the Slayer - and the key! - to Trollmarket.

"Good idea," the Slayer agreed. "Won't help you if the world turns to hell, but it should keep Glory out. Unless she gets a pickaxe and starts digging, I guess. Then again, she isn't exactly the manual labour type. Unless it's smashing people to pulp. Though that's probably entertainment for her. Anyway! Can you come over quickly and tell Jim's mom that you're real?"

"In the interest of saving the world, I think I can spare the time before I am needed to mediate a dispute over the damage done to furniture by a gnome who escaped the neighbour's home."

Jim was pretty sure that that was sarcasm, but he nodded without laughing. Better safe than sorry. "Thank you."

Vendel inclined his head in return with that expression of his he usually had when Blinky explained things.

Well, good enough.

Jim stepped through the portal back into his living room. Where Mom was staring at him while Mr Giles was talking about myths or something. "Mom? This is Vendel. The Elder of Trollmarket."

And now she was staring at Vendel. And growing pale. And sitting down. Hard.

Jim winced.

"Good evening, Mrs Lake," Vendel said.

"But… this is… this impossible!"

"Great. She's like my Mom," the Slayer muttered behind Jim.

Jim ignored her. "Mom!" He quickly went to her side. "It's OK. Vendel is a good guy. Troll. A good person."

"But…"

Jim turned to smile at Vendel. "You can touch him, Mom. Check that it's not a trick." She was a doctor - she should be able to tell. Vendel frowned, and Jim smiled widely and apologetically at him, mouthing 'please' behind Mom's back.

The troll rolled his eyes and sighed. "I am indeed real, Mrs Lake. You're free to check, although I hope you'll be able to do so without an invasive procedure."

"Ah… but…" Mom was shaking her head, but she was standing up and walking towards Vendel. She reached out with her hand, hesitated a moment, then touched his arm. "It's like stone, but…" Cocking her head, she moved her hand to Vendel's elbow. "It's not rigid."

"It would be hard to move if it were," Vendel commented.

Jim bit his lower lip. Glaring at Vendel would be unfair. He was helping them, after all.

"Three fingers and a thumb… and the muscles are so different…"

"Trolls express a wide range of physiques," Mr Giles cut in. "Mr Galadrigal has six eyes, for example, and four arms."

"What?" Mom turned. "That's impossible!"

"I assure you it's entirely possible," Vendel said. "We're trolls, not humans."

"There are different tribes and clans, though," Claire pointed out.

"Correct. My point stands, though."

Mom shook her head again. "It's unbelievable."

Well, at least she wasn't claiming that it was impossible any more.

"Yes, yes. But as you can see, trolls are real. So are demons. And hell-gods who want to kill you. Well, take you hostage, in your case," the Slayer said. "Which is why we need to evacuate you to Claire's pocket dimension so Glory can't get you as leverage against Jim to make him do something stupid that we have to beat him up for."

"What?" Mom rounded on the Slayer. "What are you saying?"

"What Buffy is attempting to communicate, in her charming if slightly misleading way, is that you are in danger, Dr Lake. Glorificus, as I've mentioned before, cannot be stopped by mundane means. The hell-god killed dozens in Sunnydale, and the police here didn't manage to faze her. You need to join Mrs Domzalski and Mr and Mrs Nuñez on the other side, so to speak. We've prepared a camping site and will do our best to make things as comfortable as we can manage over the next few days."

"Days? I can't go away for days! I've got work! I can't just leave without notice!" Mom protested.

"We can handle that," Mr Giles told her. "We have contacts amongst the federal authorities."

"But… I can't leave my patients. If such a monster is loose in Arcadia Oaks…"

"Mom! You are in danger. And if you go to work, then Glory might attack you there - and endanger all your patients and colleagues," Jim pointed out as he grasped her hands. "Please!"

Mom hesitated again, looking around the room at everyone present. "But what will you tell everyone?"

"That you witnessed an incident and were taken into protective custody," Mr Giles told her. "That's one of the, ah, standard excuses used in such cases. Which are, I assure you, very rare."

Mom looked at him, then at Jim. Jim nodded at her. "Please, Mom."

She finally sighed. "Alright. But I'll have to tell Walter. He'll be worrying otherwise."

Jim grimaced. "Ah, Mom, there's something you need to know about Stricklander…"