Days Later: Night
Sunnydale, California
Restfield Cemetery
A blonde young woman is sprinting at top speed through the cemetery with someone pursuing her.
The woman stops in her tracks and searches for a place to hide when the person following her pushes her hard across the face, knocking her to the ground. The woman's pursuer kneels down and grabs the young woman, but someone picks him up and throws him into a nearby tombstone.
Falling down in his front, Nick winced in pain and looked up at his attacker. His eyes widened to see the sight of Faith standing over him. "Aunt Faith…" He whispered under his breath.
Faith grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him onto his feet, pinning him roughly against a mausoleum. "Whatcha wanna do to her, vamp? Huh? Somthin' like this?" Faith threw her fist out, aimed at Nick's head.
Nick ducked under the punch and shoved Faith away. "Listen, there's been a bit of a misunderstanding here. I'm—" Faith kicked Nick in the torso, knocking the wind from his lungs. "Oww! Bloody hell! What're you doing? I'm on your side."
"Yeah? Maybe you haven't heard. I've reformed." She punched her fist into Nick's face, but he dodged her oncoming punch at the final second.
"Stop…" Nick dodged her right fist, "trying to…" he dodged the left fist, "hit…" he dodged her right fist, "me!" He kicked her into the stomach, forcing her away from him. "We're on the bloody same side."
"Please. You think I'm stupid?"
Nick shrugged. "Kind of."
"You were attacking that girl." Faith moved to attack Nick once more when a powerful fist collided with Faith's right cheek, knocking her to the ground.
Wiping the trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth, Faith lifted her gaze to see Buffy standing over her. "Sorry, Faith." Buffy said with phoney innocence. "I didn't realise that was you."
"It's all right, B. Luckily, you still punch like you used to," said Faith getting back onto her feet.
Glaring at her old rival for a moment, Buffy turned her attention to Nick and eyed him for injury, but he just looked oddly surprised, wondering if he also knew Faith in the future. "You okay?"
"Yeah, bloody terrific." Nick ran a hand through his ruffled dark hair.
"Are you protecting vampires?" Faith asked, shocked. "Are you the bad Slayer now? Am I the good Slayer now?"
Rolling her eyes, Buffy folded her arms across her chest. "He's with me. Nick's human."
"Oh, sorry, British kid. Is he like a mini Giles or something?"
Insulted, Nick's face twisted in a deep seated frown at the audacity of the comparison to his father. "No. I am nothing like Rupert."
"He fights on my side." Buffy shook her head, having heard this before when the girls at the house asked about that too. "Which is more than I can say for some of us."
"Yeah, well if he's so good, what's he doing chasing down defenceless—" The young woman Nick had been chasing tackled Faith to the ground, attacking her.
Pursing her lips, Buffy pointed to the woman that happened to a vampire. "That's one of the bad guys." She smirked, entertained by the fight.
Faith kicked the vampire off of herself and flipped back onto her feet. "You should make 'em wear a sign." Faith grumbled as the vampire attacked her. Ducking under the vampire's flying arm, Faith reached for the stake in Buffy's pocket. "May I?" She took the stake. "Thanks." Faith continues fighting the vamp woman, then stakes her into the heart.
Still aggravated by the comparison to his father, Nick saw himself as someone much cooler and more popular than his stuffy father. "Rupert's dull as a table lamp, who's main hobby is cross-referencing, bloody boring."
Buffy rolled her eyes, turning away from the teen.
"Okay, catching up." Faith caught her breath, tossing the stake back to Buffy. "Anything else I gotta know?"
The corners of Buffy's mouth tugged into a smile. "Nice to have you back."
1630 Revello Drive
Arriving back to the house, Nick asked Faith an endless amount of questions, wanting to know so much more about his favourite Aunt.
His Aunt Faith was by far the coolest person that he knew. She was tough, a badass, with a bad reputation, and took no shit from anybody. When he just needed to get away from his parents, Aunt Faith welcomed him, letting him hang around her as she trained Slayers.
"Whoa. Memory Lane. Same old house." Faith said, following Buffy and Nick into the house overfilled with people.
Buffy shrugged, closing the door behind Faith's back. "Yeah, well, every piece of furniture's been destroyed and replaced since you left, so, actually, new house." She turned into the living room. "We have a new house guest."
"Hey, got a spare bed for a wanted fugitive?" Faith nervously smiled, noticing Giles and Dawn emerged from the background to the forefront.
Giles removed his glasses, wary of the once rouge Slayer. "Hello, Faith."
"Well, I guess 'wanted' wasn't really accurate." Faith felt the weight of the Scooby's gaze.
"Does she have to stay here? Because there's some nice hotels that welcome tried-to-kill-your-sister types." Dawn snarkily asked, turning to Buffy.
Smiling with amusement, Faith ran her eyes over the teenager. "Check it out. Brat's all woman-sized."
Nick snickered and earned a warning look from Buffy. He covered a fist over his mouth, trying to hide his widening smile.
Turning to the former Watcher, Buffy said, "Look, I need to get to the hospital. Some girl was attacked on her way into town. We think she might be a—"
"Willow's been calling." Giles slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "She's still there. She's gonna call if the girl wakes up."
"Fine." Buffy nodded.
Well, Faith," Giles stood in front of the burnette, "we better, um, see if we can find some place to squeeze you in for the night."
"She can room with me in the basement." Nick chimed, standing beside Faith.
"No." Buffy and Giles replied in monotone unison, much to Nick's aggravation. He rolled his eyes and walked over to the couch, falling back on it. He took out the iPhone from his pocket and mindlessly shuffled through the unworking applications.
Faith raised the arch of her brow, turning her eyes to Buffy. Buffy sighed, shaking her head, not wanting to deal with the teenager's fluctuating attitude.
Seated on the arm of the couch with the attention of the room around her, Faith told
"And all of a sudden, I hear this screaming from outside. So I go tearing out, stark nude," Nick's eyes widened, entranced by the story as well as the others, "and this church bus has broken down, and there's these three vamps feasting…"
Buffy rolled her eyes, having heard this story before and was still unimpressed.
Faith continued, "... So I waste the vamps, and the preacher comes up, and he's hugging me like there's no tomorrow, when all of a sudden, the cops pull up and they arrested us both."
The room 'ooed' and 'awed' at the story, smiling to one another, fascinated by the second Vampire Slayer.
Nick loved listening to his aunt's stories.
"Haven't changed that story after all these years." Sarcasm seeped into Buffy's halfhearted jab.
"You've been arrested too?" Nick asked, never having known any of this before. He knew his mother and Aunt Faith butted heads in the past, but he figured it was just over petty jealousy and girly things. He didn't know Aunt Faith had been in and out of jail, making one wrong decision after another.
"Oh yeah." Faith nodded, turning her eyes to the blonde, standing by the french doors with her arms folded. "B also had a bit of a run in with the law."
Nick whirled around, staring at his 'future' mother wide-eyed. Never in a million-zillion years did he even expect to hear that. "Really?"
"I was let go." Buffy said, not at all wanting to bring up this grim part of the past.
Faith laughed, amused by Buffy's obvious embarrassment. "Yeah, after we kicked our way outta the cop car when we were headed to the jail."
"Enough." Buffy scowled, standing straight.
Stuck in a state of total disbelief, Nick struggled to wrap his head around his mother's 'troubled' past. "What'd you get caught for?"
"Doesn't matter." Buffy said, dismissively.
"B & E." Faith answered.
Nick ran his fingers through his hair, jumping up to his feet. "Are you kidding me?" He quickly paced back and forth in distress. "I can't believe this."
"I was young and I was stupid and Faith is a horrible influence." Buffy glared at Faith across the room.
Laughing hysterically, Faith didn't even care that Buffy was getting more pissed off with each passing second. "So what's going on here? I get the wannabe's," she nodded her head towards the potential Slayer's and turned her eyes to Nick, still reeling from his shock. "Kinda shaky about you."
"I'm from the future." Nick said, rubbing a hand over his face, still stunned by the revelation about his mother and after she gave him such a hard time about his arrest for the same crime.
"Oh, right on." Faith said, scaling her eyes over the sixteen-year-old, finding him vaguely familiar, but quickly shrugged it off.
Sitting back down on the couch, Nick exhaled a breath and turned his attention back to Faith. "What was the story about the alligator?"
"Oh, there's this Big Daddy Vampire out of Missouri…" Faith began to tell the story.
Buffy rolled her eyes, turning away from the living room and stepped into the foyer, running into Giles coming from the narrow hallway from the kitchen.
"They seem to be getting along." Giles looked over Buffy's head into the living room to see Faith and Nick laughing.
Biting the insides of her cheeks, Buffy looked at the pair from over her shoulder. "A little too well."
Giles lowered his gaze to Buffy, finding her jealousy somewhat amusing. "She's here only temporarily, Buffy. We need all the strength that we can get." He carefully reminded her.
"I know." Buffy sighed. "I'm not… Ugh, I don't know. I feel like she's just…" she turned back to the living room, watching Nick and Faith joke like old friends. "Look at him. He's completely in awe of her. They all are."
Softly smiling, Giles lowered his head, whispering for one her to hear, "Your stories are just as impressive. You should open up a bit and tell them."
Buffy watched the pair laughing and inhaled a deep breath, considering Giles' advice.
Sunnydale Memorial Hospital
Since Faith's arrival, Buffy had come face to face with a new agent of The First. A man dressed as a preacher calling himself Caleb. She had been approached by the 'preacher' at the high school, when she went to look at the seal in the basement.
Giles and Faith entered the hospital with Nick in tow, wanting to be a part of the action. Willow finally gave the call that the potential seeking Buffy's protection had been attacked by Caleb.
Not far behind, Buffy entered the hospital through the double sliding doors, easily finding the group standing in a small circle in the waiting room. "We've got a new player in town." Buffy abruptly announced, not wasting a moment of time. She wanted to track this new player down before the chance to hurt someone else. "Dresses like a preacher. Calls himself Caleb. Looks like he's working for The First. He's taunting us, calling us out. Says he's got something of mine. Could be another girl, could be something else. Don't know, don't care."
"What do we know about him?" Giles asked, removing the glasses from his face and the lens cleaning cloth from his pocket.
"Nothing. He's got something of mine and I'm getting whatever it is back. We need to start arming the girls. I wanna be ready to move when we find him." Buffy resolutely commanded.
Willow frowned. "We don't even know where we're going."
"'S why I figured we'd do a little recon first." Buffy turned her gaze to Faith. "You up for it?"
Faith folded her arms across her chest. "Point me where you want me."
"And you're certain this is the best course of action? You don't even know what this man has of yours—if he, in fact, has anything." Giles said, wanting Buffy to slow down and think rationally. He could sense Buffy's eagerness and the guilt that this injured girl was weighing on her and it was clouding her judgement.
Buffy looked at him and answered, "It could be a girl, a potential trying to get to us."
"Could be a stapler." Giles sighed, putting on his glasses.
Not at all appreciative of his sarcastic tone, Buffy glared at the former Watcher. "Going in anyway."
"With the girls?" He asked, challenging her. "Most of whom have yet to be in the field, let alone in a life or death situation."
"Then it's time we test them." Buffy said, her patience rapidly dwindling. "Look, I'll just take the ones that have been here the longest. The rest can stay behind."
"Could be a trap." Giles said.
Standing outside the circle, Nick tried to insert himself inside. "I have a suggestion."
He went ignored as Willow continued the conversation about Caleb's potential trap. "What if this Caleb-guy lures you and then kills the girls we leave behind."
"That's why I need you to stay here with them." Buffy looked at the redheaded wiccan. "You're my most powerful weapon, Will. I know you can keep them safe if anything happens."
Xander shook his head, not at all like the sound of this. "An unknown man breezes into town, says he has something of yours. Buffy, this thing's got 'trap' written all over it."
"I have a suggestion." Nick said again, but went ignored… again.
"He won't be expecting a full attack—not this soon," Buffy thoughtfully bit the insides of her cheeks, "that's why we have to move."
Holding his hands inside the pockets of his coat, Giles remained hesitant with this plan. The red flags were too glaringly obvious. "We know nothing about this man. We cannot go into battle unprepared. We have to have more time."
"Giles, we don't have time. And you're not going into battle. I need you to stay behind with the others," said Buffy.
"I have a suggestion." Nick sternly said, frustrated that no one was listening to him.
"What?" Buffy impatiently glared at the teenager.
"What if you, me, and Faith go in?" Nick said, already seeing the group shaking their heads, he quickly added, "Just the three of us. Small numbers make our sneaking around less obvious, don't you think?" Nick turned his eyes to Buffy and began to smile when she did not immediately reject the idea as he expected her too.
Buffy pursed her lips, thinking hard.
Abandoned Vineyard
The path the threesome followed through the woods had gotten more dense. The safety of sunlight disappeared once far enough into the woods.
Using the girl is the hospital's description of where she had been chased by Bringers and 'rescued' by the insidious preacher man, Buffy, Faith, and Nick narrowed down any possible locations to an abandoned vineyard.
As they drew closer to the vineyard, they saw a small group of Bringers standing on lookout.
"No eyes. Do they have sonar or something?" Faith sarcastically commented, hiding behind a tree.
"Or something, I guess." Buffy frowned, counting the four Bringers standing around the vineyard's open front area. "Pretty good when they attack."
Nick frowned, having a sinking feeling. "Do they normally roam around this freely?" He asked, looking at Buffy.
Buffy shrugged. "Normally, they just show up out of nowhere,and then either stab or get stabbed, and then they run off."
"Lends weight to the whole 'it's a trap' theory." Faith said, eyeing the Bringers. "Let's go into the hornet's nest."
Quietly, the threesome travelled closer towards the vineyard, noticing a door, which probably led to an underground cavern for the wine barrels.
"I'm counting two on guard of that door," said Buffy.
"There's another pacing other there." Nick whispered.
Buffy nodded, narrowing her eyes on the Bringer standing at the door. "Faith and I will get the two by the door. You get our extra friend."
Like Special Forces sneaking in the night, Buffy, Faith, and Nick quickly and silently took down the Bringers standing on guard with little noise, never being detected.
Carefully opening the cavern door, Buffy was the first to enter, followed by Faith then Nick.
Walking further into the underground cavern, Buffy's senses were on high alert. "Stay alert, you guys. Bringers are here somewhere. Just need to find out where."
Nick frowned, spotting a group of Bringers emerging from the darkness with axe weapons in hand. "Shouldn't be too hard."
The group of Bringers, which outnumbered Buffy, Faith, and Nick came out in a charge, quickly splitting the threesome.
Easily dodging the attacks, Buffy managed to steal the Bringers dagger and slice him across the chest and stomach. She then whirled around to another oncoming Bringer, charging at her at top speed and threw the dagger in the air, impaling the Bringer in the chest. The Bringer collapsed at her feet.
A man dressed in a black shirt, clerical collar, and black trousers came from the shadows wearing a maniacal smile on his face. He knew the Vampire Slayer would come, it was all going according to his plan. "You think you're blazin' like suns, when really you're burnin' like matchsticks in the face of the darkness. You having fun? Now, I hope my boys haven't worn you out too much—I need you fit for when I purify you."
Buffy whirled around to the preacher and rolled her eyes impatiently. "Save the sermon, padre. I heard you have something of mine."
Caleb chuckled. "Well, I do now. You liked my little message, did you? You know, I ruined a perfectly good knife on that girl. Got her soiled blood all over the place. I may have to get a new truck."
Buffy bit the insides of her cheeks, growing angrier by the second.
"The Slayer. The strongest, the fastest, the most aflame with that most precious invention of all mankind—the notion of goodness. The Slayer must indeed be powerful." Caleb backhanded Buffy with one powerful punch, sending her flying across the cavern room. "So, what else you got?" He smugly smiled.
A gang of Bringer's come from the shadows overrunning Nick and Faith. They kicked and punched a hole through the gang of Bringers, killing them left and right.
Meanwhile, wincing in pain, Buffy got back onto her feet and came face to face with Caleb hovering over her. Clapping his hand around Buffy's throat, he pinned her against the wall and sucker punched her into the stomach, knocking the wind from her lungs.
Buffy gasped, feeling dizzy.
Twisting the Bringer's neck broken, Faith dropped the body and charged at Caleb. "Son of a bitch, I can't believe how much I'm gonna kill you!"
Looking over his shoulder at the brunette sprinting towards him, Caleb grinned. "Oh, good. More of you." He dropped Buffy to the ground, turning to face Faith.
Reaching the preacher, Faith immediately fired a series of rapid powerful punches that went easily blocked.
"Well, you're the other one, aren't you." Caleb backhanded Faith across the face, sending her flying across the cavern. "Your Cain to her Abel."
Faith pulled a knife from her boot.
"No offence meant to Cain, of course." The preacher smirked.
Faith attacked Caleb with the knife, swinging it left to right, aimed at his torso. Caleb swiftly grabbed her by the arm and twisted it behind her back. He squeezed her hands tightly, until she was forced to drop the knife.
Faith grunted and knees the preacher in the groin, causing Caleb to let go of her just enough for her to escape.
"Was never much for the 'Good Book'." Faith backhanded a powerful fist across Caleb's face.
Aggravated, Caleb jumped to his feet and latched a hand around Faith's arm, and punched her in her lower back, causing her to double over, gasping for breath. She dropped to her knees as he tightened her restrained arm. "Oh, it has its moments. Paul had some good stuff, for instance. But overall I find it a tad complicated." He slapped Faith. "I like to keep things simple." He kicked Faith into a stack of barrels. "Good folk, bad folk, clean folk, dirty folk…" He wiped his hands.
Finally free to aid his mother, Nick went to her side, frowning at her. She was not getting up easily and this frightened him.
"We have to get out of here." She told him, getting back onto her feet. "Help Faith and get out of here."
Nick hestitanted.
"Now." Buffy's commanding voice pushed Nick forward. Nodding his head, he ran over to Faith, helping her back onto her feet. He guided the injured Slayer out of the cavern, far enough for safety then turned back to get his mother.
"C'mon." Nick hooked Buffy's arm around his neck, assisting her upright.
Caleb turned, noticing the sixteen-year-old for the first time. "Now, what do we have here?" A dark wolfish smile tugged at his lips, walking closer, sensing something powerful in the teen and turned his gaze back and forth between Buffy and Nick. "Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death."
Seeing Caleb approach, Buffy shoved Nick out of the way in order to protect him and face off with the preacher. Nick caught his footing and turned around to see what had frightened his mother when a daggered impaled his gut.
"Nick!" Buffy panicked, watching Caleb rip the dagger from Nick's stomach.
Holding his oozing wound, Nick stared down at his bloody hands in a state of shock. He dropped to his knees.
Caleb menacingly chuckled, disappearing back into the darkness.
Sliding onto her knees, no longer feeling the wretched pain of her own body, Buffy wrapped an arm around the teen, holding him against her as her other hand covered over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
Knowing that they could not stay here, Buffy circled one arm around his back and other under his knees, picking him up and sprinting quickly out of the cavern, far enough for her to inspect his wound.
Nick's hands shook. The colour in his face paled to an almost ghostly white. He lifted his green eyes to his mother's face and coughed. A trickle of blood dripped down his chin from the corner of his mouth.
"It's going to be okay." Buffy tenderly assured him. "Stay with me."
"Mummy…" Nick's voice is hardly audible. He closed his eyes, passing out in Buffy's arms.
"Come on." Faith recovered enough to help Buffy up from the ground with Nick still in her arms. "We gotta get to the hospital."
Sunnydale Memorial Hospital: Emergency Room
Running into the emergency room behind the crowd of doctors and nurses pushing the gurney. Buffy stared wide-eyed at the chaos trying hard to stop the bleeding from Nick's wound bleeding.
"What happened?" A doctor asked, looking up from examining Nick's deep stab wound.
Buffy stammered, trying to think quickly for a lie. "There was a mugging."
"Are you injured?" The doctor racked his eyes over her, noticing the blood on her clothing.
Buffy shook her head, her eyes on Nick. He looked so deathly pale it sickened her. "He protected me." She quietly said, her eyes on the teen.
"You know him? What's your relation?"
"Um…" Buffy swallowed, squeezing her eyes closed, struggling for the words.
The nurses pushed the gurney into the trauma room. The doctor held out his arm, blocking Buffy from entering. "We'll take it from here."
"But I…" The tears welling in Buffy's eyes blurred her vision, she looked back and forth to the doctor and Nick lying lifeless on the hospital bed.
"Ma'am." The doctor's voice was booming and stern, pulling Buffy from her guilt stricken haze. "Let us help your son."
Her brows pinched together in confusion and began to say, "He's not my…" when the door closed in her face.
After a few minutes of standing outside the trauma room door, Buffy exhaled a breath, pushing back the strands of her hair. She turned away from the trauma room and walked over to a payphone on the wall.
Dialling her home phone number, Buffy waited a minute for someone to answer. "Tell Giles we're at the hospital." Buffy hung up the phone and pressed her back against the wall.
She lowered her eyes to the blood staining her hair from trying to stop the bleeding. He was just a child, with so much to live for. If he dies the weight of guilt on her shoulders would be unbearable.
Some time had passed since the ambush fight against Caleb and his army of Bringers and bringing an injured Nick to the hospital.
Buffy and Giles sat in the waiting room in silence, patiently waiting for the doctor to give them an update.
Giles knew Buffy felt a monstrous amount of guilt for bringing them in the cavern and Nick's injury. She had told him that Nick came back to help her when Caleb stabbed him in the stomach.
She admitted that she was so mad at his selfless bravery, coming back for her after she commanded him to get as far away as possible with Faith. Giles circled his arm around her shoulders, hugging her into his side, giving nothing but his support, despite having never agreed with this invasion to begin with.
From the double doors which led into the ICU, the doctor appeared.
Buffy shot to her feet, anxiously anticipating the update. Inhaling a deep breath, Buffy prepared herself for the worst.
"Nick is in stable condition." The doctor said, much to their relief. "He did lose a lot of blood and had to get a few stitches. No vital organs were damaged. Your quick actions saved his life. He's going to be sore for a while, but Nick will make a full recovery."
"Thank you, Doctor." Giles softly smiled at the doctor, watching him exit for a moment then turned back to Buffy. "He's going to be fine."
Buffy nodded, not quite believing it. She pushed her hair out of her face and said, "Uh, Willow is meeting Faith at the police station. They're gonna try to see what they can find out about Caleb. If he has a track record."
Realising what she was doing, Giles accepted the abrupt subject change and replied, "That's good." He watched her carefully, the tears glistened in her eyes.
"This is my fault." She said, her voice hardly above a whisper.
"Buffy, you can't say that." Giles laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He volunteered to go. He understood the risks."
Buffy lifted her eyes to his face. "He's sixteen. It was my decision to go in there. He could've been killed." Buffy sat down, burying her face into her hands. "Too many people are dying around me. I can't let Nick be one of those casualties. He's just a kid."
Sitting down beside her, Giles rubbed a soothing hand on her back. "You're doing the best you can. Nick will be fine." He touched the tip of her chin, forcing her to look at him. "He's fine."
Buffy wiped away the fallen tear and leaned in closer, laying her head into the crook of his neck. Giles wrapped his arm around her back, pressing his mouth over the top of her head.
2 Hours Later
ICU: Room #214
Seated in the darkened room at Nick's bedside, Buffy slouched back in the chair, not at all willing to leave his side until he had awoken.
Buffy felt a plague of guilt in her chest. This was her fault. If she had just listened to everyone around her and took a moment's pause, they probably wouldn't be in this position. Nick wouldn't have been lying on this bed, fighting for his life.
He's so young with so much to live for. Buffy wondered what his life was like in the future. Who his friends and parents were and if they knew about vampires.
In the seven years since being called as the next Vampire Slayer, Buffy had a lot of blood on her hands of lives she had failed to save. Each innocent life that had been taken weighed heavily on her conscience. She was the thing between life and death, it was a vulnerable and dangerous position to be in.
If Nick died, Buffy got the feeling that she would never recover from it. There was something about him, a feeling that she felt whenever he was around. Call it maternal instinct, but he felt like hers. Like he belongs to her. It felt similar to the connection she felt for Dawn but it went deeper.
An alarm ringtone startled Buffy from her wandering thoughts. She frowned and noticed the iPhone on the nightstand beside the bed in a plastic bag with a few other things from inside his pockets.
Buffy frowned, taking the cell phone out and trying to press a button to stop the ringing, but it didn't stop. Her brows furrowed over her eyes and pressed the circular button at the bottom of the flat cracked screen.
It was password protected.
Taking Nick's hand, she positioned his thumb over the circular button, opening the iPhone to its main screen.
Overwhelmed by its futuristic look, Buffy bit the insides of her cheeks, she navigated through the phone trying to find that infuriating ringtone.
Clicking randomly on applications, Buffy frowned when none of the apps worked properly because none of them had been invented yet, nor was there Wi-Fi.
After a few minutes, Buffy finally located the ringing noise which was an alarm he had set for some unknown reason.
Lifting her eyes from the cell phone to see Nick still asleep, Buffy pursed her lips for a minute, coming to a decision.
She lowered her gaze back to the cell phone and pressed a few more applications that continued not to work. She accidentally pressed on a game and its blasting cheery music startled her.
Wide-eyed, Buffy looked at Nick to see if he had been disturbed, he was still out.
Continuing her digging into the mysterious time walker, Buffy's brows pinched together eyeing the application with a multi-coloured abstract flower.
Pressing on the app, Buffy was immediately presented with a page labelled 'My Albums'. She clicked on the square that said 'Recents' and lifted her eyes again to Nick's face. She knew that she shouldn't snoop, but she desperately wanted to.
Many of the images were of Nick and other younger boys his age, Buffy assumed were his friends. She clicked on an image of Nick and a cute girl. She had dark brown hair, thick eyebrows, almond-shaped dark eyes, a radiant ivory smile. The girl reminded Buffy of Audrey Hepburn. Buffy softly smiled at his grinning face, clearly enjoying his life.
Clicking the back arrow, Buffy chose another picture to view. She was surprised that it happened to be a video. It was of Nick and a redheaded boy walking in the dark of what looked to be an abandoned factory.
Bringing up the volume enough to hear, Buffy listened carefully to Nick/Future speaking into the camera. "Nick and Ian here. We are enterin' an abandoned factory for a bit of explorin'."
Buffy dragged the video along then pressed the back arrow going back to the main screen.
Scrolling upwards to a few older videos, Buffy paused on another video of Nick wolfishly smirking into the camera.
Clicking onto the video, Buffy cocked her head slightly to one side.
The video began in a bit of a scramble as Nick flipped the camera from himself to see in front of him. Travelling through what looked to be a large and lavish house. Nick turned the camera onto himself, grinning widely. "Mum! Mum! Mum!" He said, extending his arm out and pulled a futuristic Buffy into frame.
Buffy's eyes widened at the sight of herself in the video. She looked a bit older, small creases at the corners of her eyes, but still youthful and obviously living very well in the year 2021.
"Mum, say something for the fans."
Buffy/Future rolled her eyes, circling her arm around Nick's lower back. "You have fans?" She asked sarcastically, looking up at her teenage son.
Nick/Future rolled his eyes. "Yes, I have… eleven thousand and nine hundred fans. How many fans do you have?"
"Oh, see that?" Buffy/Future pointed at the comments rapidly appearing at the bottom of the screen. "Judochop69 says to be nice to your mother. Wise advice, Judochop69."
Nick/Future laughed, laying his cheek on top of his mother's head and hugging her neck tightly. "I love my mum. I am nothin' but an angelic son. Always have been."
Amused, Buffy/Future rolled her eyes. "You're 'angelic' all right. Goodbye." She stepped out from under her son's arm and headed out of fram.
Laughing and reading the comments below, Nick/Future followed his mother into another room. "They're saying don't leave!" He flipped the camera to see Buffy/Future walking away.
"Oh, but I am." Buffy/Future waved and turned a corner.
Nick/Future flipped the camera image back onto himself. He gave a little shrug and the video cut to black.
Staring at the video in shock, Buffy swallowed. She inhaled a deep breath and played the video again and paused at the image of her future self under Nick's arm, smiling into the camera.
A son? I have a son… Nick is my… The thoughts in her brain circled her brain at lightning speed in total disbelief. Her eyes lifted from the iPhone to Nick lying in the hospital bed. Her pounding heart rang in her ears. Her chest moved up and down, breathing heavily. Son?
Needing further proof, besides the video, Buffy scrolled upwards to even older photos and clicked on an image of herself, Nick and… Giles smiling happily inside the beautiful Barcelonian Sagrada Familia temple on what looked like to be a family vacation.
Buffy stared at herself grinning into the camera with Nick and Giles at either side of her. They appeared to be so happy.
In a state of disbelief, Buffy pressed the back button and scrolled to a photo of Nick and Giles. Their arms were around one another, grinning widely, it was then Buffy realised how much the apparent father and son looked alike.
Since Nick's arrival, Buffy felt something, a connection towards him. She didn't understand it but it all made sense. Despite the vast amount of time between them, Buffy knew deep down that he was hers.
The sounds of loud beeping pierced Nick's sensitive ears as he regained consciousness and slowly inhaled a breath that caused a sharp pain in his side. He winced in pain, gritting his teeth.
Scrunching his nose, Nick squinted her eyes open and stared at a dim fluorescent light above his head. It blinded his unfocused vision and summed up a throbbing headache. His entire body felt sore and detached from his neck.
Nick raised a hand to his head and felt a small tug of ivy wires taped to his hands. He lowered his squinting eyes to the wires on his hand, realising that he was in a hospital room.
Noticing the movement on the bed, Buffy quickly turned the screen off and placed the cell phone aside on the nightstand. She sat forward on the chair, leaning closer to her… son. It was still so strange. Nick was her son. Her child. She and Giles have a son together. Her mind struggled to wrap around this.
"What happened?" Nick hoarsely asked, swallowing the dyrness in his throat.
"A preacher stabbed you." Buffy softly replied.
"Huh?" Nick frowned then remembered running back inside the vineyard cavern to help his mother out when an evil preacher man stabbed him in the gut. "Oh, right. New big bad?
Buffy shook her head with a small shrug. "I think he's just a fun addition to the current big bad. How are you feeling?" She asked, lowering her eyes to his cut up and bruised hand.
"Like I've been stabbed."
Buffy smirked, happy that he still had a sense of humour after the traumatic ordeal he had just experienced.
"Where's Da—Rupert?" Nick asked.
His small slip up did not escape her… this time. She wondered then of how many times he had made that same mistake and she never realised it. "Talking to the doctor. He says you're going to be fine. No major organs got kebabed. You're just gonna be really sore for a while."
Nick nodded his head and struggled to sit up in the bed. He laid back down, exhaling breath and looked at his 'future' mother. He noticed the strange look in her eyes. It was a look of confused wonderment. "What?"
Realising that she was staring, Buffy sheepishly lowered her gaze. "Um, nothing… Uh, while you were, uh, sleeping, your phone made a…"
"Did you…" Nick's eyes widened, snatching the iPhone off of the nightstand, checking it. He lifted his eyes, glaring at her. "You went into my phone?" He asked with an accusatory tone.
"I needed to stop that ringing but then I, um…" The voice in Buffy's brain screamed at her to stop talking.
"This is private!" He raised his voice, holding the cell phone up. "I don't go through your things and look around!"
Buffy's brows pinched together, ready to tell him that she had heard about his snooping in her bedroom. "Well, actually, Giles said—"
"No!" Nick interrupted. "This is an invasion of privacy, Mum!"
Buffy's heart leapt up into her throat. Hearing him so freely call her 'mom' was all the proof left that she needed. It was real. She was in fact his mother.
"I hate it when you do that! I'm not a child!" He continued until shortly realisting this slipup mistake. Nick stared at her wide-eyed, unsure how she'd take the news.
Buffy rubbed her hands between her knees together. "So it's true. Those pictures and that video…"
"You saw…" Nick nervously gulped.
Buffy nodded. "You're my…"
Inhaling a deep breath, Nick prepared himself for an outburst. At worst, she'd deny paternity, and that was his biggest fear. "Yeah. I'm your son."
"How?"
The frown on Nick's face tugged into a small smile, amused by the seemingly naive question. "I think you know how."
Rolling her eyes, Buffy shook her head and stood from the chair, pacing back and forth for a minute. Nick anxiously watched her, unsure what to expect.
She paused mid-step and faced him in front of the foot of the bed. "I have a son." She said, mostly to herself, still processing the reality.
"You will…" Nick shrugged, "... eventually."
"And Giles is…" Buffy watched him quietly nod his head. "Oh, my God." Buffy continued to pace around the room. "Me and Giles?"
"I know it's a lot to take in."
"Ya-think?" Buffy's voice squeaked with distress. "Is this real?" She stopped and looked at Nick, exhaling a soft sigh in a state of disbelief. "Of course, it's real. You look just like him." Her eyes tossed around his face, noting how his cheekbones, chin, nose, the curve of his smile were all Giles. But Nick had her eyes. She was positive about that.
"I couldn't tell you." He admitted. "I'm sorry. I didn't know how you'd react."
Buffy's heart clenched seeing the guilt stricken look on his face. She stepped back to the chair at his bedside and sat down. "Hey," Buffy took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, "listen I get it. You don't need to explain that to me."
Nick exhaled a breath in relief. He had envisioned this entire conversation going in an entirely different direction.
"Wow. You're my son." Buffy tenderly smiled. "Makes sense." She said, studying his fingers wrapped around her hand.
"How?"
The smile on her face gently widened. "There's no way you could drive me crazy the way that you do if you weren't." Buffy sat forward and affectionately combed her fingers through his short dark hair. Her heart was so full of love for him, there were no questions about it. He was hers and she loved him to pieces.
Appearing in the doorway, Giles gently knocked a knuckle on the hospital door, interrupting the tender moment between the mother and son. Buffy and Nick turned their eyes to Giles entering the room. "Oh, you're awake." His voice was soft and the soft smile on his face slowly dwindled, curious of what he had just walked in on. There was a feeling in the room he could not descrube. "How are you feeling?"
"I've been better." Nick glanced at Buffy.
Silently nodding her head, Buffy let go of Nick's hand and stood from the chair. She needed to tell Giles the truth. He, of course, had the right to know that he was a father—or will be eventually.
"We need to talk." She told the former Watcher and gestured for him to go with her into the waiting room.
Giles frowned, following her out of the hospital room, shutting the door behind him.
Nick sat up a little, until he felt resistance from his wound, forcing him to lay back down. His eyes were on Buffy and Giles sitting down together.
Unsure how to start, Buffy stared at her hands between her knees for what felt like hours. Giles remained patient, although anxious as to what she wanted to tell him. His eyes were on her, studying her unreadable expression carefully.
Breaking the silence between them, Giles said, "The doctor says that Nick will make a full recovery." The frown set on her face deepened which caused him concern. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Lifting her head, Buffy glanced at Nick's hospital room and exhaled a breath and turned her attention to Giles. "There's something that you need to know… It's about Nick."
The lingering silence between them was unbearable. "Please, tell me, Buffy. Whatever it is, we can handle it." He told her.
Buffy looked at him, wondering for a brief moment if they could handle this news together. "Nick… is my son." She carefully revealed.
Giles' brows rose high up his forehead, a thousand questions flooded his mind. "Oh." He swallowed, feeling a bit of heartbreak that sometime in their future, Buffy would meet a man and they'd have a baby. Giles felt a bit hopeless in whatever was happening between them currently. It didn't matter because she'll find someone else. "Um, that's…"
"There's more."
"Good Lord…" Giles didn't think he could handle anymore news.
"He's your son too."
Giles' head felt like it spun around 360°. Of all things he had anticipated of her to say, that was not it. "Pardon? How?" He shared her shock.
"His phone was going off and to turn it off I needed to go into the phone and…" She sheepishly looked at Giles, "I got to exploring…"
"You didn't." Giles removed his glasses, looking at Buffy disapprovingly.
Buffy chewed her bottom lip, knowing that she shouldn't've been snooping. "Most of the stuff didn't work but I went into his pictures and… Giles, there are videos and pictures of us as a family. Nick is our son. We have a son." The shock was evident in her voice.
From the hospital bed, Nick couldn't hear the conversation between his parents, who now knew of their future. He could tell they were both astonished by the news that in the next two years they'd have a child together.
He watched as Giles took Buffy's hand in her lap. She tilted her chin upwards to look at him and after a moment of hesitation, Giles slowly lowered his head, placing a kiss upon her lips.
A relieved smile tugged at the corners of Nick's mouth as he watched his parents briefly share a kiss. Buffy then wrapped her arms around the former Watcher's neck. She hugged him tightly, burying her face into the crook of his neck.
Nick picked up the cell phone and pointed the camera at his parents in the waiting room, snapping a candid photo of them.
Eyeing the photo, Nick softly smiled.