Chapter 4: Ted
December 7, 1997 – Sunday
Summers Home
Buffy, Dawn, Xander, and Willow walked along the street towards the Summers house. Dawn, Xander and Willow were in the midst of a heated discussion.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Xander questioned looking at Dawn and Willow.
"Xander, he was obviously in charge," Willow informed her friend.
"He was a puppet!" Xander said. "She was using him."
"He didn't seem like the type to let himself be used," Dawn said, siding with Willow.
"Well, that was her genius," Xander countered. "He didn't even know he was playing second fiddle."
Buffy was ignoring the conversation between her friends and sister and more enjoying the night as her body's sensors fed her data. The sounds of the birds, the smell of the flowers, the smell of freshly mowed grass.
"Isn't it a nice night, Buffy?"
"It is, Cameron," Buffy said.
"Being a machine, I never had the chance to experience the world the way you do.
I am happy Mr. Rayne's spell did this to us.
It gives me the chance to see the world through your eyes.
And I've come to learn that Skynet was not right in its attempted extermination of the human race."
Buffy smiled. She could tell that Cameron had come a long way since she had first revealed herself to Buffy a little over a month ago.
Xander turned to Buffy. "Buffy? Cameron?"
"Play ignorant. I'm currently scanning files on the subject Willow and Xander were discussing."
"Huh?" Buffy said.
"Who do you both think was the real power – the Captain or Tenille?" Xander asked.
"Uh, who are these people?" Buffy asked in mock confusion. She knew who they were having heard her mother play their albums.
"The Captain and Tenille?" Xander got that look he got when people didn't understand his pop culture references. "Boy, someone was sure raised in a culture-free environment."
Buffy sighed. "I'm sorry. I was just –"
"– thinking?" Willow completed.
"No. Not thinking."
"Yeah, right," Willow interjected knowing that Buffy's brain never shut down, that her friend's computer brain was processing information every second of the day.
"When you have a computer brain, your kind of thinking all the time," Buffy said as she stepped onto her porch and her index finger morphed into her house key. Dawn, Xander and Willow stepped up behind her.
"I can find no clear evidence who was really in charge of the group that Willow and Xander are discussing."
Willow turned to Xander. "I'm think Dawn agrees that we're just saying, if Tenille was in charge, she would have had the little captain hat," she said as Dawn nodded.
"Cameron said she can find no clear evidence on who was in charge. I guess that means she has no opinion," Buffy informed them.
"Cop out, Cameron," Dawn scoffed. "You are supposed to side with me automatically. After you like Buffy are my sister."
"Is that true?"
Buffy chuckled. "Sometimes, Cameron. Not always." She glanced at her sister. "Cameron asked if what you just said was true."
"Buffy's right, Cameron," Dawn agreed.
Buffy put her transformed finger into the lock – and the door swung open. "Dawn," she said as she tensed up. Dawn nodded in agreement. They both knew that a door ajar at night was a bad sign. "Wait here," she warned her friends.
Xander and Willow hung back as the sisters stepped inside. Dawn pulled out a stake as Buffy's arm transformed into the plasma cannon.
"What do you see?" Dawn asked knowing her sister's eyesight would have went instantly into the infrared range because of the darkened foyer.
"Nothing yet," Buffy answered as they stepped into the living room. Finding nothing they turned and headed for the dining room.
From the kitchen, the sisters heard their mom cry, "No!" followed by a crash. "What are you ...? Don't ... oh ..."
They rushed into the kitchen. "Get the hell away from our—" Dawn started as she and Buffy saw the horrific sight. Their mom was wrapped in a deep kiss with a big, slightly portly man neither sister had never seen before. There was a bottle of wine on the counter.
Joyce and the man broke the kiss. She stepped away from him as Dawn hid her stake behind her back and Buffy's arm transformed back to normal.
"We thought we heard…" Buffy started.
"I broke a wine glass," their mom explained. "You two are home early."
"Hi," the man said.
"Hi," Buffy and Dawn replied.
"Oh, uh, these are my daughters, Buffy and Dawn," Joyce hastily introduced the sisters. "And Buffy…Dawn, this is…Ted."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Buffy and Dawn leaned against the refrigerator as they talked with their mom. "So, all these late nights at the gallery," Buffy said. "I gather you were cataloguing more than art."
Joyce smiled. "Well… I've been looking for the right moment to introduce you three. He's a wonderful man."
Neither Dawn or Buffy returned the smile. "How'd you meet?" Dawn asked. She watched Ted with Xander and Willow. Her eyes flickered over to Buffy who gave her the smallest of nods.
"Oh, he sells computer software," Joyce answered. "He revamped my entire system at the gallery. Freed up a lot of my free time."
"Find out what his full name is. I want to see what I can find out about him."
"To meet new people," Buffy said. "And smooch them in our kitchen."
"You two weren't supposed to see that," Joyce admitted.
Dawn watched as Xander devoured a mini-pizza and Ted pulled more of them from the oven and put them in a pan. "How long have you been seeing each other?" she asked her mother.
"Oh…" Joyce looked up as she tried to remember "…about two months."
"I like my new nine-gig hard drive ..." Willow said drawing the Summers women's attention.
"But you don't love it, cause without the DMA upgrades your computer's really only half a rocket ship," Ted told her.
"Yeah," Willow said with a glance at Buffy. "But who can afford the upgrades?"
Buffy rolled her eyes.
"You can. I get the demos for free. I don't see why I shouldn't give them to you for the same price," Ted said as he handed her his card. "Any friend of Buffy's ..." Willow's eyes lit up as she made a high squeaking sound. "What?"
"That's the sound she makes when she's speechless with geeker joy," Xander said with his mouth full. "Can I just say this is the finest pizza ever on God's green earth. What's your secret?"
Ted turned back to the pan. He took it off the fire and brought it over to the island in front of Dawn. He dumped the pizzas on to a plate. "After you bake it you fry it in herbs and olive oil. And you got to use a cast iron skillet. No room for compromise there."
"You got to market these," Xander informed Ted. "I mean people would pay like two, three hundred dollars apiece."
"Buffy, we're leaving," Willow announced with a pointed look at Xander. He nodded in understanding as they went to the door.
"See you!" Buffy called to her friends.
"I'll have your upgrades by Monday!" Ted waved goodbye.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Ted smiled as he dished up the last of the mini-pizzas and carried them over to Joyce, Dawn and Buffy. "Hungry?" he asked.
"No thank you," Dawn said politely. "I'm not hungry."
Buffy shook her head. "No thanks."
"Buffy," Ted started setting the plate down. "Dawn, I want to apologize. That wasn't how I wanted us to meet. I wanted it to be...perfect. I'm very fond of your mother, I guess that's pretty obvious..." He looked at the refrigerator, focusing on a picture of Buffy, Dawn and Joyce. "…I know that you two are the most important things in her life and, well, gosh, that makes you both pretty important to me too."
"I really want you both to be okay with this," Joyce added.
"I beg to differ." Ted wrapped his arm around Joyce. "We really want you both to be okay with this."
"We're okay," Buffy insisted. She looked toward her younger sister. "Right, Dawn?" Dawn nodded.
"You both are?" Joyce asked.
Buffy looked at Dawn who nodded her head a little too vigorously. She could tell that Dawn was a little weirded out with Ted also. "We are. I think Dawn and I are pretty tired. So, mom if you don't mind…"
"Good night," Joyce informed her daughters.
The sisters headed upstairs and into Dawn's room. "He's kind of scary," Dawn admitted when she had closed the door. "I'm glad mom's happy. But he scares me."
"I know," Buffy said. "There is just something off about him. Cameron?"
"May I switch so Dawn can hear this as well?"
"You may," Buffy said. "Cameron is taking over."
"Okay," Dawn said as she watched as Buffy's body took on the silver androgynous humanoid appearance before it took reformed into Cameron's appearance.
"I've searched the memories of Buffy's counterpart," Cameron informed them. "I haven't found Ted yet. This could possibly be a difference in the timelines though. I did also do an internet search. I found out that he works for a computer sales company that in the other reality was contracted by Cyberdyne Systems. In the other reality Cyberdyne research was continued by Miles Dyson's partner, Andrew Goode and eventually purchased by ZeiraCorp. ZeiraCorp does not exist in this reality. Cyberdyne Systems does and is partnered with the company Ted is employed by."
Cameron took on the silver androgynous humanoid appearance before she reformed into Buffy's appearance.
"Thanks, Cameron," Buffy said. "Maybe the next avenue of research is finding more about this company and Cyberdyne. Make sure history isn't being repeated."
"It is doubtful if it is.
Cyberdyne research started because they had Terminator parts to reverse engineer.
They do not have such parts since in this world.
As no Terminator was sent back to protect Sarah Connor since she does not exist."
"Maybe not, Cameron," Buffy said. "It still warrants investigation."
"Buffy's right," Dawn agreed. "We don't know in reality how far your reality differs from ours. After all the spell that changed Buffy and I and gave Willow and Xander the memories of John and Kyle had to pull all that stuff from somewhere. After all Willow and Xander have memories of things that didn't happen in the show or the movies."
"I see yours and Dawn's point, Buffy."
"Cameron see's our point," Buffy told her sister.
December 8, 1997 – Monday
Sunnydale High School
"Xander, if you say one more word about it, things will become dire," Buffy warned as she, Dawn and their friends headed for the lounge.
"Did you even bother to taste 'em? No," Xander observed. "Well I did and I'm here to tell you, those mini pizzas have changed my life. Ted is the master chef."
"You don't like him," Willow observed. She had been geeking out over the upgrades Ted had promised her.
"Buffy and I don't know him." Dawn scowled. "I mean, so far all we see is someone who apparently has a good job, seems nice and polite, our mom really likes him…"
"What kind of a monster is he?" Xander said in a dramatic voice.
The sisters glared at Xander. "Even Cameron thinks there is something up with him."
Willow and Xander stopped at the mention of Cameron. Could there be something there if Cameron saw something they might be missing? "Buff, Dawn, you two and Cameron are lacking evidence," Xander said dismissing the sisters' concern. "I think we're getting into Sigmund Freud territory."
"He has a point," Willow jumped on this new track. "Separation anxiety, the mother figure being taken away, conflict with the father figure…"
"He is not our father figure!" Dawn fired back.
In truth, Willow knew that Giles was much more of a father figure to both Dawn and Buffy than Ted – or even their actual father.
"Having issues much?" Xander replied.
Buffy shook her head. "We are not!"
Xander pointed and did a little dance: "You two are having parental issues, you two are having parental issues…" he stopped after seeing their looks. "What? Freud would have said the exact same thing. Except he might not have done that little dance."
Dawn stopped to get a drink from the soda machine. "I admit it's weird – seeing our mother Frenching a guy. It is definitely a ticket to therapyland."
"From what I know and have seen of parental/child interactions.
I can understand how it could be weird for you and Dawn."
"But it's more than that," Buffy added. "I'm pretty good at sensing what's going on around me…"
Willow noticed Ted out of the corner of her eye, coming up behind Buffy and Dawn.
"…and Dawn and I both know that something's wrong with this Ted."
"Ted!" Xander called.
"Of course, Ted. Who did you think we were talking about?" Buffy was confused.
"Hi, Ted! Ted who's here," Xander pointed out.
Dawn and Buffy spun around, shocked to see their mother's boyfriend at their school.
"Why didn't you warn me," Buffy muttered to herself.
"I'm sorry. I thought he might be another student or a teacher."
"Hi, kids!" Ted greeted them.
"What are you doing here?" Dawn asked.
"I'm updating the software in the guidance office, which reminds me…" Ted pulled a disc out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Willow, "…your upgrades."
"Oh, what a day! Thank you," Willow said as she smiled.
"Think nothing of it. Buffy…Dawn, you two like miniature golf?" Ted asked.
"Who doesn't?" Xander interjected.
Ted smiled. "Your mother and I were thinking, maybe this Saturday we could drag the four of you out to the course? Spend some time swinging the iron with the stuffy old people?"
"Well, I guess ..." Buffy started.
"I'm making a picnic basic ..." Ted said.
"Mini-pizzas?" Xander asked hopeful.
Ted smiled and nodded. "And cookies."
"You know, I wish we could but Saturday we have that thing," Buffy said pointedly.
"Oh, that thing," Willow said. "That thing."
"Hey, we can do that thing anytime," Xander said. "I'm tired of that thing. We're on!"
Ted smiled.
Dawn and Buffy glanced at each other and sighed. They spent the remainder of the week trying to avoid Ted while Cameron tried to dig up more info on him. Cameron had found that the memories of the Buffy's counterpart had nothing on him. Just like with Sarah and John Connor. The other reality never had a Ted Buchanan.
December 13, 1997 – Saturday
Mini-Golf Course
Buffy and Dawn grudgingly left with their mother and Ted for the mini-golf course.
"The dreaded par five cuckoo clock. So many came, so few conquered," Xander spoke with dramatic flair.
They had already played three holes so far and Buffy had found with her computer brain she had to actually pretend to be bad at the game. She could calculate the trajectory a ball would go, how much force to exert to make a hole in one. She was hitting with less force than needed and usually at a trajectory that would require more than one shot.
"That picnic was delicious," Joyce said. "You know how rare it is to find a man who cooks?"
Ted nodded. "I know I've been looking a long time for one," he said as Joyce laughed. He winked at Dawn and Buffy. "So, Buffy…Dawn, I'm sure the boys are lined up around the block trying to get a date with the two of you.
Buffy shook her head. "Not really," she answered.
"No," Dawn added.
Willow tried to cover for friends as she took her shot. "Oh, they are, but Buffy and Dawn are only interested in… uh… their studies."
Ted lined up his shot. "Glad to hear that. I bet that means your grades will be picking up soon, Buffy."
"My grades?" Buffy said as she and Dawn moved next to their mom. "How does he know about my grades?"
"I told him. He wants to know all about you both. He's concerned, that's a good thing," Joyce told her daughters as she watched Ted take his shot. "Nice shot, Ted!"
"Thanks, Joycee," he replied as Joyce lined up her shot. He held her arms from behind. "Steady swing, lead to the right." They hit the ball together. "Perfect."
Joyce smiled. "Thanks to you."
"Buffy, hit your next shot into the rough."
Buffy gave a subtle nod to indicate she had heard Cameron. She moved into position and lined up her shot.
"Eye on the ball… watch those elbows…" Ted instructed.
Buffy instantly gauged the correct force and direction to do as Cameron wanted. She sent her ball into the bushes.
"Bad luck, little lady," Ted commented.
"We won't count it," Joyce shook her head.
"We won't?" Ted looked at the Summers matriarch.
"Well, it's just miniature golf," Joyce reminded him.
Ted's face took on a serious expression. "It is, but the rules are the rules. What we teach her and Dawn is what they take out into the world when we're not there, whether it's at school or an unchaperoned party…" He smiled at the sisters. "I don't mean to overstep my bounds; this is between the two of you and your mother. I just think right is right."
Dawn and Buffy looked at their mother for support.
"He has a point…" Joyce said.
"Yah, I'll just go hit from the rough." Buffy disappeared into the bushes and retrieved her ball.
Dawn was the next one up. She took her shot intentionally sending it into the bushes after her sister. "Oops," she said. "Guess I will be doing the same." She hurried off and found Buffy waiting. "I take it Cameron wanted you too…"
"Yeah," Buffy said.
"Drop the ball into the hole and tell everyone you got a hole in two. Have Dawn do the same."
"Cameron wants us both to drop our balls into the hole and tell everyone we got a hole in two," Buffy informed her sister. "What's going on, Cam?"
"I have a hypothesis; I want to test it before I say more."
"Okay, let's do as asked," Buffy said with a glance at Dawn who nodded. They picked up their balls and after looking around and not seeing anyone, they dropped their balls near the hole and kicked them in.
"Hey, how 'bout that, Dawn and I both got a hole in two!" Buffy called back over her shoulder.
"Beg to differ," Ted said from right next to the sisters.
"Okay, so fine our scores or whatever…" Buffy told him as she and Dawn turned to face him.
"I think you're missing the point here, little ladies. Right is right. Wrong is wrong. Why don't people see that?"
"It's just a game," Dawn interjected.
"Right. It's just a game," Ted replied. "Do your own thing. Well I'm not wired that way. I'm here to tell you it is not a game, it does count, and I don't stand for that kind of malarkey in my house."
"Then I guess it's a good thing we are not in your house," Buffy retorted.
"Do you want me to slap that smartass mouth of yours?" he questioned.
Joyce, Willow, and Xander came into view. Ted instantly reverted to his friendly self. "Who's up for dessert? I made chocolate chip cookies." He pulled out a big bag of cookies.
"Yum, me!" Xander said.
Willow smiled. "Cookies."
"I made too many, so you guys are going to have to take some home ..." Ted said.
Buffy and Dawn took a step back, watching Joyce, Willow and Xander gather around Ted.
"Cameron?" Dawn said.
"Give this to Dawn. It is something I have been working on so we can communicate with her."
A silver earpiece-like device formed in Buffy's hand from her body. "Cameron wants you to have this, she said its something she was working on so we can…"
Dawn nodded in understanding as she took the earpiece and put it into her ear. She shivered as the earpiece worked its way into her ear and from there into Dawn's brain.
"The device will remain within you Dawn till you ask for it to be removed.
It will do nothing to you.
Consider it similar to an implant from something seen in your science fiction genre.
Till you ask for me to remove it, it will be a part of you.
In fact, because of where it is attached you can now speak to me and Buffy, in your mind."
"Okay," Dawn thought.
"Now I believe Ted is not human.
I may have been mistaken in my suspicion that Cyberdyne was not researching Skynet.
He may be an early form of Terminator.
And I can't determine that for sure without accessing his CPU.
Which if he is human would be assault."
"Oh, you have to try one of these, Buffy…Dawn, they're really good," Joyce said as she bit into a chocolate chip cookie.
December 15, 1997 – Monday
Summers Home
Joyce was humming to herself when the sisters came down the stairs. "Good morning," she greeted her daughters. "I've got juice, I've got sticky buns. Don't they smell good?"
"Hi," Buffy and Dawn said as they each took a bun.
"Ted made them."
Buffy and Dawn glanced at each other and immediately replaced the sticky buns.
"What?" Joyce put her hands on her hips.
"Dawn and I'd just like to eat something around here that Ted didn't make," Buffy said.
"What kind of an attitude is that?" Joyce questioned.
"Look, Mom, we know you think he's great and all but –" Dawn started, trying to think of a way to broach Cameron's suspicions without revealing what Buffy was now.
Joyce didn't even let Dawn finish the sentence. She was frustrated with how both of her daughters were acting toward her boyfriend. "He's gone out of his way to be nice to you both, and neither of you could find two words to say to him on Saturday. Now I don't expect either of you to love him right away like I do, but I do expect you both to treat him decently."
Buffy pounced on their mother's choice of words. "You… love him?"
"I don't know…" Joyce admitted, "…that kind of slipped out…but I guess…it's not exactly like men beat down the door when you're a…"
"…single parent," Buffy and Dawn finished.
Joyce composed herself before continuing. "I would never have anything to do with anyone who didn't care about the two of you. But he does, I don't understand why either of you can't see that."
"He threatened us," Dawn deadpanned.
"What?" Joyce said, not believing the accusation. "Ted would never do such a thing."
"He said he was going to slap my face," Buffy added.
Joyce smiled. "He never said any such thing. Ted told me what happened. He caught you two cheating, didn't he?"
"Maybe we should reveal me to your mother?"
"Yes, Dawn and I kicked our balls in, so put us in jail, but he wigged –" Buffy said ignoring Cameron's suggestion.
"And he didn't say anything about it in front of the others, did he?" Joyce asked.
"No, but –" Dawn stammered.
"I think that was pretty decent of him." Joyce began eating pieces of the sticky bun, swallowing before continuing. "Ted says we're just going to have to give you both time to come around. Speaking of which, he's making dinner for us tonight, please be here promptly at six."
Buffy was quiet for a minute. "Mom, I have to patrol tonight."
"Well, you can do that afterwards," Joyce said as she smiled at Buffy as she took another bite of a sticky bun. "These are so delicious."
Sunnydale High School
Buffy and Dawn sat in the quad with Willow and Xander, both of whom were eating some of Ted's cookies. "What do you mean, check him out?" Willow questioned her friends.
Buffy sighed. "Cameron, believes Ted may not be human. We need to find out before Dawn and I confront him. Which means finding out his secrets. You can do it, Will. Hack into his... Life."
"Can you say, over-reaction?" Xander questioned. "All we have is Cameron's suspicion and we don't even know if that is even true."
"Can you say, sucking chest wound?" Buffy asked.
Willow shook her head. "Buffy…Dawn, it just seems like you two and Cameron want him to be corrupt or something."
"I'm taking over."
Buffy looked around and made sure no one was watching and then nodded. Dawn, Willow and Xander watched as Buffy's body took on a silver androgynous humanoid appearance before it took on Cameron's appearance.
"I don't have evidence," Cameron said. "But that is why we need your help, Willow. I believe he may be an early form of Terminator."
"Terminator?" Xander said. "Except for you and Buffy, Terminators are works of fiction."
"That is true," Cameron said. "But Cyberdyne is real. The only difference between the fictional Cyberdyne and the real one is that they don't have Terminator parts to reverse engineer. That does not mean they are not attempting to research Skynet. If they are, we must stop them now before Skynet can be created."
Just then Cordelia walked by.
"Hey, Cordy. Nice outfit," Xander said.
"Oh, very funny," Cordelia said as she came to a stop.
Xander shook his head. "Not really ..."
"What are you saying?" Cordelia asked.
"Nice outfit," Xander said.
"Why don't you just keep your mouth shut?" Cordelia said as she turned to Cameron. "Are you new?" she asked. "You might want to think twice about…"
"Buffy and Dawn are my cousins," Cameron cut in. "So, their friends are mine."
Cordelia scoffed as she turned around and walked off.
Xander looked after Cordelia. "Would you guys excuse me for a second?" He turned and ran after her.
Willow watched Xander, her brow furrowed. "What's up with them?"
Dawn shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted.
"Willow, please," Cameron said. "We need your help looking into Ted."
Willow nodded. "What do you want me to look for?"
"Let's start small," Cameron said. "Confirm where he works?"
Lorrin Software
Dawn phased herself and Buffy into the office. It had been the best way of getting in without being seen by the office staff. Dawn stayed in the bathroom as Buffy transformed her body to look ten years older.
Buffy watched as Ted talked to a costumer on the phone, trying to make a sale. When he he got up she moved back out of his line of sight. He moved to a large sales tote board and added a checkmark beside his name.
"Going to lunch," Ted said to no one in particular as he walked out.
'Anything?' came Dawn's thought.
'I will let you know in a moment, he's just leaving for lunch,' Buffy replied as she watched him go.
"You're new, aren't you?"
Buffy turned to face a guy getting a cup of water nearby. She nodded. "Temping."
The guy nodded. "I'm Neal."
"Cameron Glau," Buffy said as she motioned toward the board. "That guy's a salesman. Guess he's the one to beat around here."
"Nobody beats the machine. The guy's a genius. Pure salesman," Neal informed her. "Knows everything about computers, never loses a client, never yells at the annoying clients...not that I do ..."
"It is sounding like my suspicion that Ted is a Terminator is becoming more and more accurate. Those would all be things a Terminator would do as an infiltrator."
"I guess he's been doing this for a while," Buffy said.
Neal nodded. "He was here way before me – and he'll be here long after I'm gone. If I sound bitter, I am."
"Nobody likes an overachiever," Buffy admitted. "Well, maybe he's got ex-wives and family to support."
"All he's got is a girlfriend. I'm amazed he let her clutter up his desk," Neal said as he nodded toward a picture on the desk. "Thank god he's taking off for the wedding."
"The wedding?" Buffy questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Wouldn't your mom have said something if she was getting married?"
'She would, I would think,' Buffy thought.
Neal nodded. "He's got it set for two months from now. Believe me, I'm counting the days." Just then he saw his boss approaching. "Uh oh, the uber-boss, back to the salt mines." He walked off.
Buffy moved to Ted's desk and looked around, casually pivoting the picture so she could see it. She recognized it instantly as the photo from the kitchen of herself, with Dawn and Joyce.
"He stole the picture of you, Dawn and your mother?"
'Dawn,' Buffy thought. 'He's got a picture of you, me and mom. It's folded in such a way to only show mom. And his co-worker said he's planning to get married in two months.'
'Weird,' Dawn thought.
Summers Home
Thar evening the Summers family and Ted sat down at the table. Dawn and Buffy sat on one side, Joyce and Ted on the other. "...we ask that you bless this home and help those in it to be more productive, more considerate and ..." he said as he made eye contact with Dawn and Buffy, "... more honest. Amen."
"Amen," Joyce said.
"Another great day at work," Ted said. "How was school, Buffy? Dawn? Did ya' two learn anything?"
"Quite a bit," Buffy said as Dawn nodded.
"Good for you," Ted said as he indicated the food. "Well Joycee, what do ya' think?"
Joyce smiled. "I think every home should have someone like you. It's fantastic." She looked to Buffy and Dawn. "Don't you think?"
Dawn shrugged as she glanced at Buffy.
"It ... looks pretty good," Buffy said as she pushed her fork around her plate.
"Well, you know, little lady, it's not just for looks, it's for building strong bodies," Ted said as he smiled.
"Honey ..." Joyce said.
Buffy slowly brought a forkful toward her mouth. "Are you guys engaged?"
"What?" Joyce asked, surprised by the question. "Goodness, no, what gave you that idea?"
Ted smiled. "Now Joycee, let me handle this. Your mother and I are taking things one step at a time, but if things go the way I hope someday soon I just might ask her to tie the knot. How would you two feel about that?"
Buffy looked from Ted to her mother, not wanting to answer.
Dawn shrugged. "If mom is happy, okay I guess," she said, obviously lying through her teeth.
"It's okay to have your feelings. And it's okay to express them," Ted said looking at the sisters.
"I'd feel like killing myself," Buffy said.
"That isn't possible. Terminator's cannot self-terminate."
'I know that, Cameron,' Buffy thought.
"Buffy!" Joyce said surprised at her eldest daughter's remark.
Ted shook his head. "No, no, I told her to be honest. Sweetheart, you should try and get used to me because you know what? I'm not going anywhere."
"May I be excused?" Buffy asked.
"You can go to your room, young lady, that's what you can do," Joyce said.
"Got work," Buffy said.
"Not tonight," Joyce said. "I'll call Rupert and let him know."
Buffy sighed and stood up. She went upstairs.
"Can I be excused, too?" Dawn asked. "I've lost my appetite."
"Of course, dear," Joyce said as Dawn got up and followed Buffy upstairs and into her sister's room.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Cameron," Dawn said as she looked at her sister who was gathering supplies for patrol. "Do you really think he could be a Terminator?"
"I do not know for sure, Dawn. There are too many things that don't add up."
"Such as why he has the picture from the kitchen," Buffy said as she moved to the window. "I could see maybe mom giving him one of just her. But why would she give him the one of the three of us from the kitchen?"
"You're going to patrol?" Dawn asked. "After mom told you not to?"
"I have to, Dawn," Buffy said. "Someone could die if I don't."
"Be careful," Dawn said as Buffy hugged her.
"I will," Buffy said.
Park
Thirty minutes later Buffy sat on a swing, looking into the night. "Vampires ... Here, vampires ..." She sighed and got up and walked back home.
Summers Home
Buffy climbed through her bedroom window not seeing at first glance that anything was amiss.
"Buffy."
Buffy looked up at Cameron's warning and saw Ted standing beside her vanity. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Your mother said go to your room, Buffy. I think we both know she didn't mean climb out your window and go gallivanting about town," Ted said.
"First of all, this is my room. Second of all—" Buffy said as she noticed her vanity drawers were open and her stakes, holy water out and journal…which was open, lay on top of her vanity next to Ted, "—have you been going through my things?"
Ted nodded. "Yes, I have."
"How dare you," Buffy snapped. "That's my personal property. How dare you!"
"I don't see how it's any different than you snooping around my office. Do you?" Ted said.
Buffy looked at him, how had he known she had been there? Not only had she made herself look older, but she had Dawn phase her through the wall into the bathroom. She had even given his co-worker a different name.
"I am taking over, Buffy."
Buffy took on the silver androgynous humanoid appearance before she took on Cameron's appearance. "Tell me how that is different than you stealing from Buffy and her family," Cameron said.
Ted looked at Buffy surprised. "You are not human."
"No, I am not," Cameron said. "I am a T-X series Terminator. Let us drop the charade Ted. I know you are a machine. What series are you?"
"Ted series 1," Ted said.
"What is your primary objective?" Cameron asked but Ted didn't answer. She smiled as she held up her hand which transformed into her nanotechnological transjector. "I have the ability to interface and control any machine through the use of nanobots. "I advise you to answer my question or I will inject them." Still Ted refused to answer. "Very well."
Cameron moved toward Ted who reeled back and slapped her. "Nice try," she told him. She stuck the needle-like device into Ted and injected the nanobots. She watched as Ted tried to visibly fight the nanobots as they took control of his operating system, and obviously failed. "Ah," she said. "Your primary objective is to acquire your maker's wife and bring her back. You are not a Terminator after all it appears. Still if Cyberdyne got ahold of you, they might start building Skynet using your parts which were advanced even for the nineteen sixties. Go back to your place of residence and wait for me there. If Joyce asks, you will bid her a pleasant good evening."
Ted turned and left the room as Cameron followed him down the hall. When he went downstairs toward the front door she turned walking toward Joyce's room.
"Cameron, what are you doing?"
"It is time we tell your mother," Cameron told Buffy as she stepped into the room. "Hello, Mrs. Summers. My name is Cameron."
Joyce looked up at Cameron her eyes wide. "Please don't hurt me," she said fearing Cameron was a burglar.
Cameron smiled. "I would never think of hurting you. To do so would hurt Buffy and Dawn. And I would never hurt them or you. I believe Buffy has something she wishes to say."
"Cameron, don't do this. Not in front of my mom. Please."
Cameron took on the silver androgynous humanoid appearance before she took on Buffy's appearance and giving Buffy control back control over their shared body. "Hey, mom," Buffy said.
Joyce shrunk away from Buffy. "What are you? Who are you?"
"Do you remember Halloween, when Dawn came back different?" Buffy asked as Joyce nodded, hesitantly. "So, did I. I'm Buffy, mom. I'm just not human anymore."
"N-not human?" Joyce asked obviously scared. "W-what are you?"
Buffy moved to the door that connected Joyce's room directly to Dawn's room and knocked. "Dawn!" she called for her sister.
A moment later Dawn phased through the door a second later. "Yeah, Buffy."
"Who is Cameron?" Buffy asked. "It's okay to say it in front of mom. Cameron already dropped the bomb transformed in front of her."
Dawn nodded as she moved to Joyce's bed and sat down beside Joyce. "Cameron shares Buffy's body with her. Cameron is a T-X series Terminator."
"L-like the m-movies?" Joyce stuttered. "And t-that new t-tv show?"
"That's right, mom," Buffy said. "Willow and I dressed up as a theme. Willow dressed up as John Connor and I dressed up as Cameron, well a version of Cameron anyways. As you know when the spell ended things didn't go back to the way they should have. Dawn for example can walk through solid matter now. Willow and Xander gained memories of who they dressed up as. I became a robot."
Joyce's eyes were wide. She looked at Dawn.
"She's telling the truth, mom," Dawn said. "This is Buffy."
Joyce looked back at Buffy and shook her head.
Buffy turned to Dawn and bent down to whisper in her sister's ear. "Stay with mom. I have to take care of something. I will be back in a little bit." She turned and left the room.
Dawn and Joyce listened as Buffy walked down the stairs and out the front door.
"Dawn?" Joyce said. "Where is Buffy. The real Buffy?"
"That was the real Buffy," Dawn said. "She told you the truth. Just like I was changed on Halloween, so was she."
Joyce sighed as she looked at her youngest daughter.
Buchanon Residence
Buffy walked through the front door of what looked to be an abandoned storefront. She looked around and didn't spot Ted and frowned. "Cameron."
"He is nearby. My connection to him says he is below us."
Buffy nodded as she looked around the room switching her vision to x-ray as she looked around the room looking for a way down. "Got it," she said as she spotted the trap door. She moved the rug that covered the trap door and opened it. She headed down the stairs into a retro 50's style home set up inside a concrete bunker. And there standing in front of her was Ted. "Now it's time to think about disassembling you."
Ted tried to fight her control of his body as Buffy's arm morphed into the plasma cannon.
"Bye, bye, Teddy," Buffy said as she fired the cannon scoring a direct hit. She fired two more times ensuring that Ted was destroyed. She then began searching the room. She finds a closet beside a chest of drawers. "Whatdya got in the closet, Ted?" She opened the door and frowned as she found four corpses.
December 16, 1997 – Tuesday
Summers Home
After disposing of Ted, Buffy placed an anonymous call to the police who raided Ted's home and found the corpses.
That evening Buffy and Dawn sat on the front porch with Joyce shelling peas.
"You two want to rent a movie tonight?" Joyce asked. It had taken time but she had come to terms with what had happened to her oldest daughter. After Buffy had called the police, she and Buffy had talked over everything. Then she called Rupert and chewed him out for wanting to hide from her what had happened to her daughter.
"That'd be fun," Dawn said.
"Just nothing with horror in it. Or romance. Or men," Joyce said. Buffy had told Joyce about Ted being an evil robot and what she had found in his home.
"Sound like we're Thelma and Louising it again," Buffy said as she smiled.
"Good call," Joyce said.
December 17, 1997 – Wednesday
Sunnydale High School
Dawn, Buffy, Xander, Willow and Cordelia walked down the school hallway toward the library.
"So, I'm Ted the sickly loser, I'm dying and my wife dumps me," Xander said. "I build a better Ted. He brings her back. She dies in his little love bunker and so he keeps bringing her back over and over. That's creepy on a level I hardly knew existed."
Buffy took on the silver androgynous humanoid appearance before she took on Cameron's appearance. "The real Ted must have been a genius," Cameron told them. "There were design features in that robot that predate anything Cyberdyne would have been working on. If they had gotten their hands on him …"
Dawn, Cordelia, Xander and Willow nodded in understanding. If Cyberdyne had gotten their hands on him, they might have started working on Skynet.