zigpal- Thank you for claps and review and yes, Joyce does seem to be getting a hard time of it doesn't she? haha. But actually this time round it's not actually Joyce in danger...and thanks on the CwDP comment.

rabidreject- You've been waiting for this all week? I'm touched. Really! And I'm of the glad you found it so totally awesome. And as for the Joyce sitch...you'll find you're right on the money. ;-). Enjoy.

Three Days Ago

Wolfram and Hart, L.A Branch

Lilah Morgan had been spending more time in the Wolfram&Hart Science Department in the last two weeks than she cared to. But she wished to oversee everything. It wasn't that these guys could make a mistake- they were the best after all- but they couldn't be trusted not to relay the information to the Senior Partners directly, taking the credit for her research and ideas themselves.

The girl that had appeared in her office and taken down several guard demons within a minute, the one that Alan had found to be from the future and was called 'Lilian Giles', hadn't left a lot of her blood smeared on Lilah's desk, but it was enough to keep running tests on it. Plus, once they'd gathered enough the scientists had been able to duplicate it to allow more tests. However, this hadn't gotten them any further.

No matter how many times they copied or developed the blood, even creating test tube baby prototypes using the blood from Lilian combined with the frozen eggs and sperm they had kept in the lab, the results had shown that the 'children' were not Slayers at all and the qualities of the blood had not passed onto the next generation. That at least confirmed her 'active generation' theory, but it unfortunately meant that the blood they had was useless. If she were one of the active generation then anything that came after her, or came from her would be dormant; there would be no Slayer or even Potential qualities. Just an average human, which, to say the least, did not suit Lilah's interests.

So, Lilah, not being one to be deterred so easily, devised another plan. They needed more blood, but more importantly not Lilian's blood. Her parents on the other hand, her Mother specifically, had the blood that held the key to the Wolfram&Hart-raised Slayers Lilah planned. All she had to do was send some of the wetworks guys- reminding them that for once there were no wetworks, but wetwork-like sneakiness was required- to the home of the Slayer, Buffy Summers and make sure Wesley didn't hear a word of it. He was really rather tolerant about her work at Wolfram&Hart- even if did believe that light shone out of, well, everywhere in the Southern twig- but even Lilah knew he would draw the line at involving Slayers. Not only had he once been a Watcher but if her research was correct- and it was never wrong- then he also knew the Slayer and her family personally and an action such as this could piss off a really great lover. Not something Lilah had planned on her agenda...unless it had benefits of course.

Now

Sunnydale.

Both Giles and Lily had a headache. Ones that were slowly developing into migraines. Which might have something to do with the five increasingly annoying and chatty Potentials crammed in the car with them. Lily had not been happy about the number they were bringing home. It was less than she had intended, but so many were already on their way to Sunnydale- sent by their Watchers to a place they believed they could be kept safe- and the others...well, the others they hadn't been in time to save. However, if she were to look on the bleak yet bright side, five was more than her Mom had told her had arrived in the original time line. When they had only found out about the murdering of Slayers from a bleeding Potential collapsed on their doorstep from a mortal wound. They had only brought back two then. That is Giles had only brought back two as he had traveled alone. Lily just wished her Mom had told her more about the events instead of sticking to this whole 'some things just have to play out' angle. But they had five this time. Five annoyingly chatty potentials called Molly, Annabelle, Kennedy, Natasha and Rachel. Molly and Annabelle were from England, whereas Kennedy and Rachel were American. Natasha was from France, though fortunately she spoke well enough English to understand them and have them understand her in return. She wasn't the problem and neither was Rachel or Annabelle- though Annabelle seemed to be missing the humor gene entirely. No, it was Molly and Kennedy rabbiting on constantly. Kennedy took everything mystical about the Slayer with a pinch of salt and at nineteen thought she had seen everything, whereas Molly, barely 15 and loyal to the Watcher's Council teachings was adamant on the mythical side of the Slayer. The two arguing constantly was enough to drive both father and daughter insane.

"Oh mon dieu!" Natasha exclaimed, "Fermez la bouche la deux! S'il vous plait!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Lily added from the front seat, "Except, you know, I would have said it in English"

"Whatever," Kennedy said which Lily took to be agreement as the nineteen year old leaned forward in her seat so her head was between Lily and Giles.

"So you're the Slayer?" Kennedy asked, looking at Lily as though inspecting her.

"A Slayer, not The Slayer," Lily replied, "I'm not from this time remember?"

"Yeah...forgot about that..." Kennedy said in a voice that revealed she wasn't too impressed with the information but was slightly confused, "But you are a Watcher right?" She asked Giles, "I mean from this time?"

"Yes," Giles nodded, "And Lily is one also"

"Yeah," Kennedy nodded, "Because she's ya daughter right? But really she's only five months old?"
"Yes," Lily nodded, "Which, okay, wiggy I know"

"And your sister is Buffy Summers, the present Slayer?" Kennedy checked, "Because you," She looked at Giles, "Shacked up with her Mom"

"I did not-" Giles sighed in exasperation and wisely chose to just return his attention to the road.

"Sorry," Kennedy meant anything but as she sat back in he seat, "But I'm just saying- your family is seriously wacked out"

"Kennedy," Annabelle reprimanded, "Mr Giles does not need you commenting on his family so" Lily smothered a laugh and Annabelle looked at her questioningly.

"Sorry it's just...erm, nothing..." Lily finally decided to tell her, figuring that explaining hearing someone put a 'Mr' before Giles was surreal to her would only lead to a conversation that she really wasn't in the mood to have. She'd always called him Dad obviously, her Mom always called him Rupert and everyone else that were around now, just called him Giles. Speaking of, she turned to her Dad, "You're awfully quiet. Getting The Headache too?"

"No, well, yes absolutely," He amended his initial answer, "But it's not just that, it's-"

"Randall?" Lily guessed correctly, "Dad it was The First. You know it was," She reminded him. The morning after that event Lily had noticed a quietness about him and had bluntly asked him what was the matter. She hadn't let go of it until he'd confessed to her the events that had occurred in the early hours of the morning. Combine that with the information they had stolen from the Council and it was easy to deduct that Randall hadn't been a ghost at all but merely a image The First had taken on.

"It was just...the things he said. I can't help-"

"Lies," Lily cut him off, "That and twisted truth. Just because it wore a familiar face does not mean you listen to what it said." He looked unconvinced, "Trust me," She told him, "Everything's fine. And even when it's not it isn't your fault. It was just preying on your fears. You're better than that," She smiled at him and he found himself smiling back, if in a slightly reserved way.
"Are we done with the family scene here?" Kennedy asked impatiently and Lily turned around with a glare.

"Shouldn't you be doing that annoying arguing thing with Molly you've gotten down in the past oh I don't know...forever!"

It was daylight when Buffy finally made her way back to her house. Since her patrol and coming across a newly risen Holden, someone she had apparently gone to High School with, and being psychoanalyzed by him ending with his confession that Spike had been the one to sire him, Buffy had been at Xander's. She had spent the entire night there going over everything. The facts and the speculation. The conclusion being that Xander thought he was capable and a killer because he was a vampire and didn't get the nickname 'Spike' for nothing, whereas Buffy was firmly on the side of non-killer as Spike not only had a soul but a chip that sent paralyzing shock waves through his brain if even so much as thought about biting someone.

She was just reaching to open the front door when she heard the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway and she saw that Giles and her sister were back. Finally.

"Giles," She smiled, "Lily, hey!" She went toward them to hug them but stopped when she saw five other unknown girls pouring out of the car. "Potentials?" She guessed.

"Potentials," Lily and Giles replied in sync in a tone that told Buffy it hadn't been the most joyous trip for them.

"I thought there'd be more," She commented as she let them all in and Giles nodded in agreement.

"So did we, but...I'm afraid it's already begun and we were too late."

"Too late for what? What's already begun?" Buffy asked. All Lily said was Potentials were in danger. She never said why exactly- just that the dreams she and Tara had been having were connected with it and that it involved the thing that had tried to destroy Angel four Christmases ago.

"We'll explain more once we're inside," Giles told her, "But I'm afraid The First's plan is more insidious than we initially believed,"

Buffy raised her eyebrows questioningly as they stepped inside the hall and she closed the front door behind her.

"Dawn!" She called out, but there was no reply and she shrugged, "She must still be at her friend's. Mom!" She called out next. There was no answer.

"Joyce?" Giles added for good measure, heading up the stairs in case she was somewhere she couldn't quite hear them. He didn't want her coming down the stairs to find, without warning, five strangers stood in her living room.

"Why don't you guys erm...take a seat?" Buffy offered, gesturing to the living room and each of the five potentials warily took seats "And...I'll erm, start taking names"

"Kennedy," The oldest of the group automatically told her in a city-devil-may-care accent. She was sat casually on the arm of the sofa.

"Okay...and you?" Buffy turned to a petite red head with large blue eyes and pouting lips painted peach. She was dressed head to toe in different shades of blue, even down to her sandals. She looked to be about Dawn's age, maybe a year older- like seventeen going on eighteen.

"Je m'appelle Natashe" She replied and then smiled, "Er, that eez, er, my name eez Naatashaa"

"My name is Annabelle," A dark-haired girl who looked to be sixteen added next and the first word that came to Buffy's mind when she looked at her was 'snob'.

"That's great Annabelle," Buffy smiled before turning to the next who Buffy was sad to see, was no older than she herself had been when she first became the Slayer. A fourteen year old shouldn't be in danger like this, away from her home and her parents.

"Molly," She told her in a cockney accent, holding onto her lunchbox nervously, "Nice place you got"

"I'm Rachel," The girl was Texan and blond. Two words that when put together screamed stereotype. She looked more likely to be presenting Good Morning America rather than fighting demons, but Buffy had to remind herself that she had been of the cheerleading variety when she had been called and even now looked more of a valley girl than a Slayer.

"Buffy! Lily!" Giles called out, coming rushing down the stairs with baby Lily in his arms.

"Is that you then?" Molly asked Lilian with a bemused frown, pointing at the baby in Giles' arms, but she wasn't paying attention and neither was Buffy as they looked at Giles' worried expression.

"Your Mother's gone," He told them.

Joyce's head was banging and she winced as she tried to turn her neck, her equilibrium far from gained as the room around her spun. She vaguely remembered being in her bedroom and then..not being. She looked around and saw she was in an unfamiliar place and outside was light. It was early day time and it had been night time when she had been in her room. So maybe not that much time had passed. She sat up on what she discovered to be a leather sofa in an extravagant office.

"Ah you're awake," A man's voice said pleasantly, but Joyce got a less than pleasant vibe from him. She forced herself to look over at him, ignoring the dizziness that overcame her at the action. He was Korean, dressed in a gray business suit and had a distinct evil thing going on. Though that might have something to do with the file and briefcase in his hands that just screamed 'lawyer'.

"This 'being kidnapped' is getting very, very old," Joyce could only grumble in response, "You don't happen to have Willow with you do you?"

"Pardon?" The man frowned, genuinely confused and Joyce shook her head- but immediately regretted the movement.

"Never mind"

"You don't seem too concerned with your predicament," He acknowledged.

"There's been worse" She said simply, finally getting her senses back as the room around her stopping swaying and spinning. Then she started getting her memories back slowly, bit by bit. Chloroform. That bit she remembered very well, "None of them were crude enough to use something like Chloroform though" She added.

"Really?" The man grinned, clearly intrigued, "Enlighten me and then maybe I can tell you why we here at Wolfram and Hart should strike more fear in you than all of the above"

"Enlighten you?" Joyce eyed him, not believing he was challenging her but figuring keeping him talking was the most probable way to keep one alive she bit, "Okay, there was an insane, drug-dependent vampire with Mother issues, a soulless Mayor who wanted ascension or something to that affect, a psychotic Slayer, The Watcher's Council," The Lawyer nearly choked with the laughter of disbelief at that she saw, but he managed to keep his cool, "A Hell God, three murdering magic-obsessed, well, nerds for want of a better word, a dark empowered Witch and now you whatever you are"

"Gavin Park," The man introduced himself offering a hand which Joyce didn't take. At which point a brunette who's clothes and power walk said she was a business woman who actually meant business came into the room. "Lilah you've gotten yourself an expert here," Gavin smirked at the woman who had just entered the room, "Seems this isn't her first kidnap"

"Well, then things should go along a lot smoother," Lilah smiled.

"You knew this was going to happen?" Buffy asked Lily in disbelief, "You knew Wolfram and Hart or whatever were going to take her and you didn't say anything?!"

"I didn't know when exactly it would happen!" Lily defended herself, panic evidently mounting equally, "I thought we'd get back here, stop it in time before it happens. And then none of you would have to know...or worry about it.."

"But now it's just-!" Buffy retorted, but before she lay into her youngest sister even further, her anger depleted and she sighed. "Whatever. Look it's done now. You made a wrong choice and it's not we haven't all done that at some point, right? We'll just go to this Wolverine thing and we'll get her back. Where is it?"

"It's a law firm in L.A," Lily replied, eyes downcast, "It was actually where I sorta turned up when I arrived here. I landed in Lilah Morgan's office"

"That's one of the lawyers?" Giles asked and his daughter nodded.

"But eviler," She told him.

"And she saw you?" Buffy asked slowly, "Like when you arrived?"

"Yeah," Lily nodded, "She tried to get these demon thingies to keep me there, why?"

"Call it a long jump to conclusion but I don't think it's coincidence that you come across Lilah and a week or so later Mom's gone," Buffy said to the both of them.

"You think there might be a correlation?" Giles asked and Buffy shrugged.

"No such thing as a coincidence," She frowned, "That is what you mean by correlation right?"

"Well, I suppose we ah, should get going," Giles suggested, "Except-"

"Except what?" Buffy forced him to get straight to point.

"Who's going to look after Lily?" He asked, nodding down at the six month old, who presently looked half way between asleep and awake as she clung to her Dad's collar with her hands but her eyes kept closing and her head kept tipping to the side against his chest as though she were falling asleep but fighting it.

"You are," Lilian replied, frowning a little, "Gonna look after little me god this so weird. And you're gonna stay here and watch the Potentials. And we are gonna go to L.A"

"Lily, I am not staying here while your Mother's trapped by some evil, uh, law firm," Giles replied adamantly.

"But what if-" Lilian seemed slightly worried bordering on panicky at the though of her Dad going to L.A with them, but Giles was having none of it.

"I'm going and that's final," He told her.

"Does leave one problem though," Buffy said, "Well three really. One- who's gonna stay and look after Lily. Two- who's gonna stay and make sure the Potentials don't break anything-"

"Hey-" Rachel protested, but Buffy ignored her.

"and three- Dawn isn't home yet. Someone needs to be here to tell her"

"Oh, what a shame," Lily said, meaning anything but as she patted her Dad on the shoulder, "Looks like you will have to stay. Right, now that's settled-"

"No, it bloody isn't," He protested, "I'll get hold of Tara and Willow"

"Anya won't be pleased that you didn't choose her for babysitting duties," Buffy pointed out with a wry smile.

"I'm sure she'll be grateful when she finds out the ah, 'duties', include five teenage girls"

"Good point"

"I hope our guys weren't too, well, rough getting you here," Lilah smiled, perching on the edge of her desk as she talked to Joyce.

"Who are you?" Joyce replied.

"Oh sorry," Lilah apologized, acting as though this were merely a meeting between two business women, "Lilah Morgan, Head of Special Projects here at Wolfram and Hart" She held out a hand that Joyce didn't take.

"And what? I'm one of these 'special projects'?" Joyce guessed.

"Well, yeah," Lilah laughed a little, "See- a week or so ago we got a visit from your daughter" Joyce's eyes widened, "The one that's meant to be only five months old? Lily something? Escaped from an attack that left enough blood for us to find out not only is she a Slayer and a Watcher, from the future no less!" Lilah added with a laugh of disbelief, "but she has another sister who is a Slayer, in fact The Slayer, and another who is, well is what used to be The Key. Pretty powerful sisterhood don't you think?"

Joyce had never thought about it that way in all honesty. They were her daughters and that's as far she saw them. Being Slayers or mystical Keys didn't actually ever come into it.

"Now the one connecting factor here," Lilah continued, "Is well you. Your blood to be specific. See, I figured out what Wolfram and Hart have been trying to for centuries; how exactly is a Slayer, well a Potential anyway, discovered by the Watcher's Council. The answer is unbelievably simple- inheritance. Slayer gene passed down through the women generation to generation until it actually becomes active. Whether that active one will ever be a Slayer is something we don't know, but we know enough now to know how to get a whole lot of em on our side. And it all comes down to your blood," Lilah smiled and Joyce, instead of replying or continuing to look at her which she knew had the danger of actually revealing the fear she was feeling, turned away from the lawyer and looked out the window. Her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. When she had first woken up she had just seen daytime, but now that she was fully awake and her eyesight had cleared she saw fires burning everywhere, destruction and craters where it looked like bombs had fallen.

"Oh yeah," Lilah said, walking over to her as she followed Joyce's gaze, "Little hitch. Rain of fire last night. Just a little apocalypse, nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Joyce asked sceptically. From her experiences Apocalypse always meant 'bad'.

"Well, not exactly," Lilah admitted, "It doesn't fit in with our schedule which is a bit of a problem, but hopefully we'll be able to cut a deal with The Beast or whatever the hell the Senior Partners know it is. What I meant was," Lilah smiled, "Is that you have things a little closer to home to worry about. Gavin- could you please collect the files from lower office for me?" She asked the man just as Joyce, having been looking at Gavin felt a prick in her mid-arm and wondered what the hell had just happened. "And even so much as read the title and I'll be sending you home in boxes" Lilah warned him and Gavin gulped and nodded before leaving the room. A moment later he came back in though, followed by an eighteen year old boy who pushed Gavin out of the way to talk directly to Lilah. Joyce tried to focus on his face, but her vision was becoming fuzzy again and she got a sickening feeling she now knew what that pin prick in her arm had been.

"I have questions," The boy said firmly, glaring at Lilah. Joyce was conscious enough to hear Lilah say the boy's name 'Connor' before she blacked out.

"You just know when the power goes out that that can't be good," Buffy said as they walked along the second floor corridor of Wolfram and Hart. The three of them had successfully got into the law firm without being detected by any of the employees unbelievably walking through the front door. They had checked all the first floor rooms they could and found no Joyce and so had now moved onto the second storey. However once they reached the top stair all the power had gone out as each light had blinked off leaving them in darkness saved for a low, low green back-up light.

"Come on," Lily said, "We have to do this faster"

The other two agreed but didn't voice their agreement, merely started looking in each room at a much quicker pace. They all came to a halt though as they heard dying screams reverberate from downstairs.

"Oh god, what's happening?" Buffy asked, turning around but Lily grabbed her arm.

"No, you can't go down there. It will kill you" She told her firmly and Buffy became suspicious.

"How much about this do you exactly know?"

"Just what I was told," Lily replied, "But enough to know that if you go down there you won't come back up. We need to find Mom and get out of here as quick as possible"

"She's right Buffy." Giles added, "We can't risk it"

Buffy nodded in reluctant agreement and they all resumed searching, which was made all the harder by the hundreds of Wolfram and Hart employees bursting out of the offices and fleeing in the opposite direction to which the three of them were walking. It was like literally walking against a tide.

At the end of the corridor was an open door labeled 'Head of Department'. It was the last office on the corridor and Buffy really hoped this was it or they were going to have to head up another flight of stairs putting themselves all in more danger of whatever it was that was attacking everyone downstairs. She was lucky.

"Mom!" She exclaimed before turning back to her sister and Giles, "She's in here" The two came running in and saw what Buffy saw- Joyce laid out on the leather sofa in the office and clearly unconscious and therefore oblivious to the danger going on around her.

"Joyce," Giles said, gently shaking her but she didn't even move in reflex, "Joyce"

"Forget it," Buffy ordered, "We just need to get her and us out of here. We'll worry about waking her up later"

"Right," Giles nodded before slipping his arms under Joyce's legs and around her back and picking her up. Not even this amount of movement brought her back to consciousness and her eyes remained closed. Giles forced himself to push the why worries aside and focus on the task at hand. Which was getting them all out of here safely. "Which way?"

The sound of metal clanging down sounded all around them as each of the windows was blocked out by a thick metal bullet-proof and most likely Slayer-proof shield.

"I vote for the exits not covered in steel," Lily said, looking around.

"Guess that leaves us with the corridor," Buffy sighed before leading the way, the others following on. Once she reached the corridor though she glanced both ways in confusion, "I don't know where to go from here though"

"Opposite direction to everyone else," Lily suggested, "The demon will go where the crowds are"

Buffy nodded but looked uneasy, clearly thinking of all the people who were being slaughtered that she wasn't saving them or even trying to.

"You can't help them Buffy," Giles told her, reading her thoughts, "The only thing we can do now is get out of here"

"Which is how?" Buffy asked, "Every where's blocked with steel."

"There must be a door somewhere. All we have to do is find it" He reasoned just as a shadow of a distinctly non human shape loomed at the end of the corridor near the fire escape stairs.

"Okay, not good" Lily stated the obvious, "Erm, what now?"

"We could try and fight it I guess..." Buffy shrugged in suggestion but as the demon started to come into full view she gulped, "Okay I don't wanna fight that. Run"

The decision wasn't even argued against, they all just wanted to be as far away from the demon as they could.

"I don't think there is a way out," Buffy panicked as they reached nothing but dead ends, locked doors and blocked windows. There was the sound of wood splintering as Lily kicked open one of the office doors, it's lock smashing away and the door swung open.

"Dad, get in there with Mom," She told Giles, "Buffy and I'll...I don't know find a way out and keep the demon away or something..."

"Lily if-"

"No, just get inside," She told him, cutting him off but he went to argue again and this time she didn't even let him speak, "No," She said to him, "Go inside there. I'm not asking" and with that she and Buffy set off down the hall leaving him with no choice but to let them go and to head into the office with an unconscious Joyce.

"Nice with the In Control Factor there but do you have any idea how to beat this thing?" Buffy asked her sister as they walked.

"Nope. All talk"

"Thought so"

The two sisters came to a halt as they saw the massed of dead bodies before them. Hundreds upon hundreds of people slaughtered, their eyes wide and unseeing.

"Oh god..." Buffy gasped and Lily tugged on her hand, pulling her away from the carnage.

"We can't do anything here. We need to f- argh!" She yelled, jumping on the spot in fright as they walked into three people. The clue that they weren't in danger was the fact the other three people screamed also.

"Buffy?" One of the guys asked in disbelief and Buffy smiled in shocked yet pleasant surprise.

"Gunn!" She exclaimed, reaching out to give him a hug which he immediately returned. A thin brunette beside him frowned at the two of them.

"You two know each other?"

"Yeah, Fred, this is uh, Buffy, we met a couple of years ago. She's like Angel on the fighting front only a girl, nicer and well,not dead"

"A Vampire Slayer," The man beside him said, "As much as this chat is pleasant I do think we should be moving on"

Lily and Buffy's eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Wesley?" Buffy asked, "Look at you. You're no longer erm...geeky. It's like you got a dictionary and looked up 'butch'."

Gunn laughed a little.

"Wes, are you guys okay?" Lily asked, "The demon thingy or whatever hasn't found you? Well, of course it hasn't. If it had you'd probably be eviscerated or dead or most likely both and we wouldn't be here having this conversation which we are because here we are h-" Buffy put a hand over Lily's mouth, quietening her.

"She does that sometimes," She said to the others in explanation.

"Who is she?" Gunn asked, before turning to Lily, "Who are you?"

"Long story," was all Buffy said in reply, "Do you guys know a way out? We've been trying to find one. Mom and Giles are in an office down the hall"

"There's only two exits I know of," Wesley said, "The lobby and one on the third floor."

"Well let's get Mom and Dad and then go to the third floor," Lily said.

"There's a slight issue with that," Wes informed her.

"What?"

"Zombies," Gunn explained, "In the army sense of the word"

The two sisters looked past the three members of Angel Investigations and indeed saw hordes of zombies heading towards them. They turned back in the direction they had seen the bloody tableau moments before and those bodies there were beginning to rise also.

"Again with the running?" Lily asked Buffy and she nodded in confirmation.

"Again with the running."

They all began to race towards the office Giles and Joyce were currently in.

"Did you just refer to Joyce and Giles as your parents?" Wesley asked Lily as they rushed along the corridor.

"Buffy said it was a long story," Lily told him just as they reached the office, mere minutes ahead of the zombies and they slammed the door closed behind them, shoving an accoutrement of items against it to keep it from being knocked open easily.

"How's Mom?" Buffy asked, going over to Giles.

"She still won't wake up," He replied, the worry evident in his voice as he knelt beside her trying to shake or wake her.

The other door to the office burst open and the gang all looked in preparation of facing the zombies but instead saw Angel and Connor come into the room.

"Connor," Fred said in relief.

"We've got we came for," Angel said, and then spotted who else was in the room, "And then some. Buffy..." He whispered and the two ex-lovers looked across the room at one another, holding the intense gaze for a moment almost in silent greeting before they both moved into battle mode. "Let's go. Wes, where's the exit?"

"Third floor," He replied.

"But that's too far from here," Fred said.

"We can make it," Buffy said confidently, in perfect sync with Connor and Angel looked slightly taken aback by this.

"Not all of us Buffy," Angel said, "Not everyone here has the same abilities as us and well, it looks like your Mother is unconscious"

"Well then how the hell are we supposed to get out of here?" Lily asked, "We can't just stay here"

"Well there's-Erm who are you?" Angel asked, seeing her to be the only person in the room he didn't recognize.

"She's 'Long Story'," Wesley told him wearily, "You were saying Angel?"

"Yeah, there is one other way out." He said to them all, "The White Room. It's an inter-dimensional space here at Wolfram and Hart"

"Sounds kinda portaly," Gunn said, not sounding too keen on the idea.

"Not exactly," Angel told him, "More like a gateway. And there's a little girl there. Or something old and evil that likes to pretend it's a little girl"

"And we're going to trust Evil Matilda to get us out of here?" Buffy asked sceptically, "Angel, L.A has messed you up in a wicked way"

"She might be able to help us" He reasoned, but both Gunn and Buffy shook their heads.

"No, no way Angel,I'm not trusting anything evil" She told him.

"Yeah- seven flights of zombies or sweet talk a nasty little girl. You know where my heart's at," Gunn hefted the weapon he was carrying, clearly preparing for battle.

"I gotta disagree," Fred told him before turning to Angel, "I vote for the White Room. How do we get there?"

Reaching the White Room (eventually) the entire group had found The Beast, as Angel and the rest had called it, had gotten there before them and had overcome the 'little girl'. However, with her last ounce of power, after giving the Angel Investigations the cryptic message of 'the answer is among you', she had sent all of them away from Wolfram and Hart in a flash, and they all found themselves suddenly in the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel. Rupert instantly checked on Joyce who he was still carrying in his arms and noted in extreme worry that she had remained unconscious. Surely she should have woken up by now.

"Well hail the conquering heroes," Lorne exclaimed after a moment of contemplating whether his drink had caused him to see things, "And my word, you seem to have multiplied." He then caught sight of the fact that one of the newcomers, who wasn't entirely new as he had met her before, wasn't walking amongst the conscious. "Oh god, what happened?"

"We don't know," Rupert replied, "Wolfram and Hart took her from Sunnydale. We found her like this and she...she hasn't woken up once"

"Come on, get her on the sofa," Fred said, clearly a space for Giles to place his wife.

"They took her from Sunnydale?" Angel asked, "Why?"

"I don't know," Buffy shrugged, "But these might hold some answers," She took out some folded pieces of paper out of her jacket pocket and held them out to whoever wished to take them which turned out to be Wesley, "I found them in a file beside her. Decided to take them"

"I think I might know why she hasn't woken up," Lorne said, after checking over Joyce and he extended her right arm so all of them could see the inner of it. There was a mark on the upper part of her lower arm which showed the evidence of an injection, "I think our favorite Lawyer Scum injected her with something that certainly wasn't Joy Juice"

"More than likely a normal sedative," Wesley said as he read the files Buffy had stolen, "Just an especially strong dose if what is being said here is correct. They wouldn't want to contaminate her blood with anything else- it's what they were after"

"Her blood?" Buffy asked.

"Something to do with generating a Slayer...well, army actually," Wesley said, raising his eyebrows in surprise, "They somehow figured about the 'Active Generation' theory due to two of her daughters being Slayers and another being strong enough to contain the form a Key. They theorized that using Joyce's blood would allow them to create Slayers from eggs they were scientifically fertilizing. It's also linked strongly to a girl called 'Lilian Giles'." He looked over at Giles. "Relative of yours?"

"You could say that," He smirked a little, feel a little less panicked now that he knew there was nothing drastically wrong with Joyce beyond being dosed with a strong sedative causing her to sleep the sleep of the knocked unconscious "Wesley, this," He gestured over at Lily who was stood in silence near the registry desk, "is mine and Joyce's daughter Lily"

"But she...you, Joyce was only just pregnant with her last year"

"Can't anyone's kids age normally around here?" Angel grumbled to himself as he thought on the Connor situation and then tried not to as it led to thoughts of Connor and Cordelia together. And then with Buffy here as well...it definitely added for complications.

"She's, ah, she's from the future," Giles explained, "Temporarily. Younger her is back home being looked after by Willow and Tara. She's six months old"

"Ah," Wesley nodded in understanding, turning to Lily who he saw, upon looking at her, didn't seem too fine as she slid to the floor, crying slightly though it seemed to be more from relief than anything.

"I just...oh god, I thought it was going to happen all over again..." She cried softly, "I thought I wasn't going to be able..." She brushed away tears harshly before standing up, "God I'm sorry. I'm being ridiculous," She told them before turning to Wesley, "Where's the, uh, where's the bathroom?" She asked, and when Wesley told her she thanked him and headed in that direction.

"Behold the weirdness," Cordy said, watching her go.

"W-w-what weirdness?" Joyce asked sleepily and Giles turned sharply to see that she was blinking her eyes open and was slowly wakening.

"Joyce?" He asked quietly, not wanting to speak too loud while she was still, technically under sedation and she lifted a hand up drowsily, placing it on his cheek.

"You're here..." She said to him, before frowning, "Where's everybody else? Shouldn't everybody else be here?"

"They are," Lorne told her with a smile, having been stood opposite to her, directly in her line of vision, "Just not in your line of vision" He

"Am not...I'm not singing for you," She grumbled, "Not like...did it one time. And felt like...a...a..a..." She tried to think of an appropriate term, but Lorne was already walking away, "'bloody fool'" She smiled at Rupert, "There...used your word"

"Okay, evidently she's still...well, not quite with us," Wesley deducted.

"Really?" Gunn asked sarcastically, "Coz I thought Buffy's Mom was always a rambling idiot"

"I do not...r-r-ramble," Joyce slurred to Gunn slightly, "I merely" She looked to Giles, "What'ssss that word you use that you you you say I do?"

"Babble?" He filled in with a smile and she nodded emphatically.

"Yes, babble. Th-that's exactly it." She looked over at Gunn, "Babble not ramble"

"Okay," Rupert said to her, "I'm going to advise you stop talking until you're completely yourself again as I'm afraid you'll say something you'll regret and then later on, well, blame me for it"

"Don't be silly," She told him with a smile, trying to sit up, using her hands to push her self into a seating position as her legs felt quite numb and she told Rupert so, "They aren't working properly"

"They will in a moment," He assured her.

"Anyway," She continued, "I wouldn't bl-aame you. Coz...coz I love you" She started to drift off into sleep again but she continued to look at him, "and you love me don't you?"

"Of course I do," He smiled at her pushing her hair off her face and she smiled, happy with this answer as she drifted into sleep again though this seemed to be a natural one.

"Thought...so...more than...thought. What does she know anyway?" She asked him softly.

"Who? The person who took you?" He asked, but Joyce was definitely going to sleep now but she somehow continued to answer. Sleep-mumbling as Xander called it.

"Jenny...she said. Rose quartz doesn't mean...you don't..."

Giles was stunned into silence. Her mention of 'Jenny' and a rose quartz could only possibly mean one thing...couldn't it? Maybe while he had been seeing Randall, she had been visited by-

"Joyce, Joyce," He tried to awaken her again, "Who- did Jenny come to see...did you see her last night? Joyce? Joyce?"

"'m awake.." She mumbled with her eyes closed, "Just tired"

"Did you see her?" He asked.

"See who?" Joyce opened her eyes slightly, still very sleepy.

"Jenny" He elaborated and she nodded.
"Once...once upon a dream..." She laughed to herself, while holding Rupert's hand with her own, "She said things...some things I can't remember. Things though and...don't leave me"

"I'm not going anywhere," He assured her seriously and she shook her head with a smile.
"No, I mean now," She explained, "Don't tug away...to stand up. You're the only person I can focus on"

"Oh"

"Why can't I focus?" She asked, a frown across her face, "I don't remember. Why are my legs numb? What happened? "

"A lot of things," Rupert told her, lifting her legs so he could have a seat on the couch and he gently dropped her legs across him since they still seemed to be numb to her and so she had no control over their movements. If Wesley was right about the strong dose of sedative- and who knows what type of sedatives they had at that law firm- then it was most likely have temporary paralyzing effects and Giles was thankful for Joyce that it was only from the waist down and so she wasn't fully aware of it and he hoped the effects wouldn't last very long. "But it's okay now. You're at Angel's hotel."

"Oh..." Joyce nodded slowly, "Angel...right...wait..why are we here? Aren't we in Sunnydale? Where's Lily?"

"No love, we're not," He laughed slightly, "You were taken to L.A by a law firm which is why we're at Angel's now. And Lily One is at home with Willow and Tara. Lily two is in the bathroom"

"Lily?" Lorne called, tapping gently on the bathroom door where he knew the twenty year old had locked herself away.

"Who is it?" She asked, sounding sniffly.

"Lorne," He replied, but received no response and he sighed, "The green guy"

"Oh," She sniffled, opening the door to him, "What do you want? Do you want to use the bathroom?"

"No, not really," Lorne told her, leaning against the door frame, "I actually came to look for you"

"Me?"

"I don't even need you to sing for me, baby cakes, the confusion and grief is a comin' off you in waves. Course," He added, "The crying gave you away also"

"Oh you know," She said, "I'm just glad everyone's safe" She told him but Lorne was unconvinced.

"Nuh-uh, it's more than that. You're from the future right?"

"Mm-hmm"

"Had something happened here before there before the when and then?"

"Okay...sense that was not" Lily told him, frowning in confusion as she tried to decipher what he had just said.

"What I mean is, in the future, did you know something bad was going to happen? Maybe someone died who didn't this time round?"

Lily didn't say anything, but merely looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Lorne.

"Look, honey," He told her, guiding her to a seat along the corridor, "You look the image of your Mother-"

"It's the hair," Lily sniffled in explanation.

"and," He continued, "if you are anything like her in any other way then you'll be spilling your guts in no time. C'mon; share. It's what I'm here for"

"Look, last time I came to the past- because of some weird demon spell thing- I came from a future that was pretty much rosy and bright," Lily told him, "I mean sure thing's could be bad, but everything was fine really. All alive and safe and...alive and safe. But then when I went back..."

"Some things had changed?" Lorne guessed and Lily nodded sadly.

"I went back and...god it was all my fault," She cried, "I messed up the time line. Originally it never happened-"

"What never happened?"

"When I went back...to my time...Dad wasn't there. Buffy said that he'd died when I was a baby. Trying to get Mom out of Wolfram and Hart. Buffy got Mom out but...but Dad didn't make it...it was all my fault! If I hadn't messed up the stupid time line and you don't know how hard it's been pretending he's alive in my time and seeing him right there and acting like he sent me here when really it was just Mom and Willow and..." She moved into full-blown sobs.

"But everything's fine now chicken little," Lorne comforted her, "The sky ain't falling"

"Is it?" Lily sounded so unsure, "What if I go back to my time and then...saving Dad has made someone...what if someone else is dead when I go back? Or what if too much has changed?"

"Hate to break it to ya sweetcheeks, but the future isn't set in stone even if you're from it," Lorne told her, "Things are changing constantly, effected your time constantly- you're just not aware of it. You've been given a second chance here and you took it and you did your best with it- and that's a pretty darn good best if you've saved your Dad's life. 'Fraid you can't do more than that"