zigpal- Thank you for review (and claps of course). Houseguests wise, Joyce does do the take charge Mom thing...but there's going to be plenty more unexpected guests arriving next chapter...

g120- Glad you loved the chapter. And hey, you're right- that is similar to Back to the Future (Number two if I'm not mistaken). I didn't intentionally do it, but I do love those films so perhaps I was subconsciously playing homage. Yes, let's say that. Haha. Thanks very much for the review.

Rabidreject- Q&A central here! .haha. There is some Angel crossover here, but not much I'm afraid but there will be more later in the season. And well, Buffy does find out a lot of things and she is not happy about any of it. As for the future flashbacks from season 5 (Ooh, I'm so pleased you remembered) I have to say that that future has almost changed entirely. Remember- change on factor and you alter the entire equation.

When Giles awoke the first thing he became vaguely aware of was the weight on his legs. That and the fact he seemed to have fallen asleep sat up rather than lay down.

Opening his eyes fully and taking stock of his surroundings he found himself to be sat on the sofa in the lobby of The Hyperion Hotel and the weight on him was in fact Joyce's legs. She was asleep also and he saw that the two of them had drifted off where they had been sat after their encounter at Wolfram and Hart. They hadn't meant to stay the night. He, Buffy and Lily had planned to leave the moment they had retrieved Joyce. But having been injected with an extremely heavy sedative she had been barely able to move- her legs not resuming movement for some time after she awoke- and she had been exhausted and barely coherent and had soon fallen back to sleep on the sofa. He had obviously dozed off with her.

Looking around he saw that Fred and Wesley were on the floor in front of him, scattered papers, sketches and texts all around them while Gunn had a seat on a chair next to them and was looking through the same things. There was no sign of Angel or Lorne and Giles wondered where Lily and Buffy had stayed since they had ended up remaining at the hotel for the night.

As if in answer, at that moment Angel and Buffy came walking out of one of the rooms. Having lost their silent star-crossed-lovers expressions from last night, the two were now clearly in mid argument.

"How the hell did you expect me to react Angel?" Buffy was demanding, "It's CORDELIA you were having wrong lusty feelings for! Cordelia! And now she's with your son! Which, by the way, have I mentioned that you never mentioned!"

"Look can we just stay on topic here?" Angel asked with tired patience, "I'm having some serious issues and all you can do is yell at me"

"Not yelling," Buffy protested, "Just talking loudly. For God's sakes Angel. I actually don't know which shocks me more. Your Darla-Son or the fact you...you...you have been checking out Cordelia"

"Not checking out," Angel defended himself as the two of them walked towards his office, "I'm-"

"If you say love I will stake you right here and now," Buffy interrupted him firmly, not even letting him finish his sentence and he sighed.

"Look, I just want you to be a soundboard for the fact my son may be connected to this lawyer killing beast"

"'A soundboard'? That's all I am? What happened to 'love of my life' Angel? Or has that title gone to Cordelia now huh?"

"Buffy you know that-"

"No, I don't know" Buffy slammed the office door behind them and Giles heard no more of their conversation.

"It's like an old married couple," He murmured to himself.

"You'd best not be talking about us," Joyce told him, waking up.

"You're awake," He stated simply.

"I am," She agreed with a nod, "And this time not seeing two or three of everything. I've got a terrible headache though"

"That's to be expected," He told her softly, "How are your legs?"

"My legs?" She frowned in puzzlement before memory dawned on her, "Oh! My legs. Well, they feel okay. Working fine," She moved them a little for confirmation.

"That's good," He said, "Do you remember anything at all from yesterday?"

"Just...I was at home with Lily...and then I was at...I think it was a law firm? There were lots of people in suits, brief cases and I think a sign behind one of them said 'Wolfram and Hart'. And then I was here...waking up and telling you this story"

"You don't remember anything else?" He asked, "Of when you woke up the first time?"

"First time?" Joyce frowned.

"Here. You woke up." He told her, "You, ah, started saying some things"

"Yeah, told Lorne you weren't going to sing for him," Gunn chimed in, having overheard the conversation, "Even though he like never asked you. Like ever"

"Oh, I didn't shout at him did I?" Joyce worried but Rupert shook his head.

"I don't think you had enough energy to shout," He informed her, "But you did mention something." He prompted, "You ah, you, you mentioned, er, Jenny actually"

He felt Joyce tense ever so slightly and she sat up straight, swinging her legs around off of him so her feet were now on the floor.

"And you want to know what I was saying about her" It wasn't a question.

"I suppose so, yes" He agreed

"And is this because you're genuinely interested as to why I would be talking about her or are you clinging to any mere mention of her?"

"Joyce, I-"

"Rupert, I'm not saying...I'm not jealous of her. Far from it. That would be...ridiculous and selfish but I can't help...I can't help wondering whether I always take second place to her. And that may seem self-absorbed and awful, but I can't help that that's the way I feel," Rupert went to talk, but Joyce carried on, "I saw- when Willow caused us to time travel or whatever it was- I saw you two together and the way you looked at one another. In love. And I heard what the kids said about you two- before and after she...and I can't help thinking that maybe if it came to a choice between us that you'd find that you would choose Jenny. That maybe you feel that she was the one you were initially 'meant' to be with and I'm...the choice that's still around. I'm just convenient," She shut her eyes tightly, turning away from him, "I can't believe I just said that," She whispered, before turning back to look at him though not quite making eye contact, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"You're right to think those things," Rupert told her, cutting off her apology, "She was the first woman I ever truly loved. There was a time when I believed it wasn't ever going to end. I don't believe it would have had Angel not-" He forced himself to say the words, "killed her. Then again, I don't know that for a fact. Perhaps if she had lived we would have grown apart anyway, but I have a strong feeling we wouldn't have. But it doesn't really matter does it? It didn't turn out that way. She died- she was murdered and..and less than a year later, by pure chance I might add, I began seeing you which has led to a lot more than I believe either of us ever planned. I loved Jenny and I will always love her, but that- that doesn't lessen my love for you or the value of it at all. If Jenny had never died I would never have dated you, but that...that isn't how it happened; this is. And while I admit I still love Jenny, I do love you. And I'm afraid I can't offer you anything more than that"

"Oh," Joyce felt her cheeks turning red in embarrassment. She felt like a selfish child demanding more love from a parent than they had for the sibling. But this was a longtime issue for her though wasn't it? Loyalty, love and faithfulness. Hank failed on all three fronts and maybe Rupert was right last year when he said she seemed to be constantly testing him for the same fault. But the things Jenny had said to her- and the rose quartz in his drawer. It had made her all so uncertain and to be honest she still was. Yes, Rupert loved her, but he still hadn't clearly said 'yes, she was who I loved in the past but if it came down to it now I would choose you'. He hadn't said that. Maybe he didn't even know the answer himself and neither of them ever would.

"And," Rupert added, a slightly joking tone to his voice as though he were trying to lighten her heavy thoughts he could sense she was having, "As for choosing, being the Mother of my only child gives you a slight advantage"

She smiled slightly as she saw how he was trying to cheer her up and reassure her without lying or giving empty assurances. That was Rupert all over- true, honest reassurances or you just didn't get them. She smiled gratefully at him.

"Don't you two kinda need to kiss now?" Fred asked with a smile, having heard the entire romantic exchange and so couldn't help grinning from ear to ear from where she sat on the floor amongst the piles of research. She loved these two. They had that warm stability and reliability that came with parents, but seemed to face more supernatural and relationship issues than any of them at A.I and yet still always managed to come to a romantic conclusion. It gave Fred hope for her own present relationship status. Her issues with Gunn, her growing affection for Wesley as she began to forgive him of his past mistakes and started seeing him in an entirely new light. Add to that the obvious fact that while Buffy and Angel were clearly still in love with each other whether they could be together or not, Buffy and Gunn were clearly interested in one another, Fred thought it made for a very complicated soap opera like set of relationships.

"What exactly is it you three are looking at?" Joyce asked, breaking into Fred thoughts as she walked over to have a closer look.

"Rain of fire, hell beasts, symbols, Tet Ra assassinations..." Wesley listed off.

"Just your usual everyday apocalypse signs apparently," Gunn added.

"Tet Ra?" Giles repeated in shock, getting up himself just as Joyce's legs gave underneath her- apparently not as back to normal as she original thought- and he rushed to catch her around the shoulder, preventing her from falling completely.

"Okay, maybe they aren't quite working properly yet," She smiled in embarrassment as Rupert helped her stand up straight, though she couldn't stand properly on her own so she lent on him for support as if she had sprained an ankle.

"Hmm..." He said, looking at her in concern.

"What?" She asked worriedly, scanning his expression, "What are you thinking?"

"About that sedative they gave you," He said, "I know that strong doses can cause lasting effects. But the lower half of your body was paralyzed by the effects for a long time and now these, these er, relapses are slight cause for concern. I can't help worrying whether the particular injection had something supernaturally specific to their firm"

"What?" Joyce sounded slightly panicked, "You're saying I could just, erm, fall at any given moment?"

"No," Wesley shook his head, "Well, yes, within reason. But Giles, these are all natural effects of a too strong a dose. They wouldn't have given her anything Wolfram and Hart had supernaturally modified. They wanted her blood to be as pure as it could be. No use having a Slayer Army that wasn't quite-"

"Slayer Army," Giles repeated, the concept ringing a bell for him and his eyes widening in realization, "The Potentials! I'd forgotten all about them! We left them in Sunnydale with Dawn and Lily! We've got to get back!"

The sun was just beginning to set on Sunnydale when the family finally arrived back at Revello Drive (With Giles driving due to the fact neither Lily or Buffy could and well, right now, Joyce couldn't either which he found was more than frustrating for her. She was a person who liked to be in control of any given situation and the aftereffects of the injection Wolfram and Hart had given her, had taken that control away from her however temporarily).

"Well wonder how Will and Tara did with the Potentials?" Buffy mused as she and the others got out of the car.

"Potentials," Joyce repeated the word, "I'm still a little fuzzy on who these girls are. I mean how many are we talking? How old are they?"

"Well the youngest is fourteen and the oldest is nineteen," Giles told her and Joyce looked at him in shock.

"Fourteen? She's younger than Dawn! She's a child, she should be with her family, not here with-"

"I'm afraid it's safer for her to be here with us right now,"

"See, that's another thing I'm not clear on," Joyce admitted, "Neither you or Lily are giving me any details about any of this"

"Well," Lily said opening the front door to reveal Willow and Tara in the hall with younger Lily, Dawn in the living room looked frustrated with five unfamiliar teenagers, "There's five of them so far"

"So far?" Joyce asked, eyes wide.

"Well, we have reason to believe more are heading this way," Giles told her.

"Heading here?" Joyce asked slowly as they all stepped into the hall, "Rupert, where the hell are they all going to stay? There isn't the room here. There's barely room for all of us never mind-"

"Mr Giles you're back!" A young girl, the one Joyce presumed to be the fourteen year old, said in a cockney accent hurrying over, "Did everything go alright? You didn't get followed by the fellas with the alphabet eyes did ya?"

"No, uh, no Molly. Everything went fine," Giles told her but when he felt Joyce glare at him for the use of the word 'fine', he quickly added, "As fine as it could possibly go considering the uh situation of course"

"Oh," Molly nodded before turning to look at Joyce, "You must be Mrs Giles. Sorry you were took an'all. By whoever it was."

"Thank you, but erm..." Joyce wasn't quite sure how to reply. This girl's babbling put her own to shame and made it seem like laconic silence in comparison.

"Molly," Another English girl reprimanded, but in a much more upper class accent, "Please, give them all some air. They do not need you hovering around them when they return home"

"It's fine really," Joyce assured them all, "So you're...you're all Potentials?"

"Yep," The oldest of the lot nodded, "I'm Kennedy, that's Molly and Annabelle, this is Rachel and the girl over there is Natasha. She's French"

"Okay..." Joyce said, looking at each girl and committing face and corresponding name to memory, "It's nice that you're all here but-" She looked at Giles and Lily, "Now I'd like to know why"

An explanation had warranted an entire collection of Scoobies and so Lily and Giles only begun to explain once- along with the potentials and the Giles-Summers Family- Anya, Xander, Willow and Tara were gathered in the living room also.

"They're all Slayers?" Xander asked, feeling in all honesty overwhelmed by that fact, "Like really all of them"

"Potential Slayers," Giles corrected him, "It's not quite the same."

"Kinda like Slayers-in-Waiting," Lily explained, "They hang around until they're called and get the Chosen gig"

"There were many more like them, all over the world," Giles said, "But even though we've saved many and brought back a few whilst others are heading this way, it still isn't anywhere near as many as there used to be. There's now only a handful.

"The others...were murdered," Buffy stated, her tone somber.

"My dreams..." Tara whispered, "Those were the girls in my...oh god..."

"We think they are after their Watchers also as numerous ones have been killed," Giles said, "We tried to warn the Watcher's Council, but they wouldn't hear anything we had to say. 'Over-dramatizing things'." Giles laughed in disbelief at the concept, "We all feared this day would come though. When Lily said about all this, I had hoped that it wasn't the same thing. That it was only striking similarities, but..."

"Striking similarities to what?" Buffy asked.

"An attack." Giles replied simply, "Not just to an individual Slayer, but against the whole line. The First wants to erase all Slayers in Training and their Watchers, along with their methods"

"And then Faith. And then me." Buffy finished, "And with all the Potentials gone and no way of making another...it's the end. No more Slayer. Ever"

There was a silence as a collective chill spread throughout the room. That is until Joyce broke it.

"It wants to kill all Potentials?" She asked and Giles nodded.

"Yes, that's it's primary plan, yes"

"Doesn't that include Lily?" Joyce asked referring to six and half month year old Lily asleep upstairs, her voice shaking a little in fear and worry as she did so.

"She is a potential..." Willow reasoned.

"But she's just a baby!" Anya protested, "They wouldn't...It wouldn't. She's not a threat"

"She does one day, for sure, become the Slayer," Giles said looking over at twenty-year old Lily, "That confirmation makes her more of a threat to

The First than the others" Giles' tone was understandably somber as he said this and the mood of the room darkened even further.

"I've got to go check on her," Joyce said, getting up, and walking up the stairs with a slightly hurried pace.

"Giles, this First- it's the same thing that attacked Angel right?" Buffy asked.

"I presume so yes"

"But how are we supposed to stop it or get to it? I mean we barely got any information on it last...time..." Buffy trailed off as Lily dropped a thick file of papers onto the coffee table with a resounding 'thunk!'.

"We swiped them from the Council," She admitted. "Everything about The First they had"

"Well we couldn't very well just ask them could we?" Giles said in his and Lily's defense when the Scoobies all looked at him in shock, "There wasn't time for bureaucracy or debate but the Council know no other way"

"So what does all that say about The First then?" Buffy asked just as her Mom came back down the stairs carrying Lily.

"Very little," Giles admitted, "It can change form but can only appear in the guise of people who have passed away"

"Like...ghosts?" Joyce asked slowly as it all fell into place as to why she had seen Jenny.

"We all saw something that night," Tara said, "So I guess it can be in as many places at once as it likes...right?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Giles agreed, "Also, it's not corporeal. It can't touch or fight on it's own. It works though the people it manipulates and it's followers, The Bringers-"

"Hey, what's going on here?" Spike asked, walking into the room, "Having a Slumber Party are we?"

"Spike" Buffy said simply as she remembered her concerns over the fact he might be feeding again. In all the panic over her Mom being taken by Wolfram and Hart and all of them heading to L.A she had completely forgotten about how Holden Webster had told her that Spike was his sire. She couldn't let him go out tonight just in case. And she needed to tell Giles and the others. Only she and Xander- Anya had been asleep at the time she had rushed over- knew about it presently. But she couldn't talk about it with all the Potentials in the room.

"You know what- Spike's right," Buffy said, "About the slumber thing. We kinda need you guys to have a place to sleep that isn't the living room floor..." Buffy looked around helplessly, "Mom? Any ideas?"

"Well, Dawn's room has a lot of space..." She semi-suggested.

"What?!" Dawn yelped, "You can't seriously be thinking about putting them in my room? No way"

"Well, I supposed one or two could fit in Buffy's," Joyce reasoned, "But they certainly can't fit in our room, what with Lily- erm, baby Lily- in there as well. And Lily's room barely fits her in there..."

"But Spike doing the biting thing isn't possible is it?" Willow asked after Buffy had explained to everyone (once the Potentials were upstairs trying to get everything sorted sleeping quarters wise) what Holden had told her about Spike, "I mean he's all chipped out. I don't think even Spike could get over electric shocks"

"I know...but why would Holden say that?"

"We all heard things that...weren't what they appeared that night Buffy," Giles said, choosing his words carefully, "Now I don't trust Spike as far as I could throw him soul or not- but as Willow said, he is physically incapable of biting anyone"

"Or maybe he's just the world's best actor," Xander countered, but Buffy, thoroughly unconvinced, shook her head.

"No. The chip works. I've seen it." She insisted, "I just...but he wouldn't anyway. He has a soul now"

"Is there anyway to know?" Joyce asked, "I mean, I agree with you entirely honey- I don't think Spike could but...this, this erm- First is it? The one behind the attacks- maybe that has something to do with it. But I don't know how you could find out for sure"

"Follow him," Lily said, "Spike I mean, not the First"

"Finally." Anya nodded, "A sensible plan," She smiled at the others, "Someone that's not me should follow him as personally, I don't want to be the one with my throat ripped out" Buffy glared at her and Anya laughed nervously, "Not that he's guilty..."

"Follow him?" Buffy asked Lily, "Spike may not be himself lately but I don't think he's gonna fall for the dark glasses and trench coat deal"

"Got a better plan?" Lily challenged softly and Buffy relented. No, she didn't.

The potentials were temporarily set up on the floors of Buffy's and Dawn's rooms with sleeping bags as beds. Joyce had suggested that Xander perhaps throw something of the bed variety together and Xander, claiming to be the all-purpose carpenter had agreed and had begun work on smallish, space conserving bunk beds the previous night. But it would be a while before they were all complete, so for now the Potentials were covering the floor of the bedrooms upstairs. Dawn was upstairs with them to both get them to stop chatting so much and to also make sure they didn't touch or knock over any of the things in her room.

Buffy was out following Spike and she had taken Giles with her. Or rather he had selected himself to go along on the grounds that he was not as biased as Buffy in the view of Spike and was able to offer an objective opinion on the matter. Buffy had complained that just as he presumed she would easily redeem him, he would as quickly condemn him, but she had not said no, so now the two of them were following Spike around the streets of Sunnydale to see if he had in fact taken up old habits once again.

Baby Lily was upstairs, fast asleep, oblivious to the Potentials in the next room while the older Lily was downstairs in the dining room, wandering around, wondering what to do with herself. Her first instinct was to patrol but with her Dad and Buffy following Spike she didn't want to inadvertently cross paths and ruin the whole plan. But there was nothing else she could really do.

"Honey," Her Mom's voice drifted out from the living room, "If you keep on pacing like that you're going to wear out the rug"

Lily smiled nervously in embarrassment at having been caught in the act of pacing as she walked into the living room where her Mom was sat on the sofa, leaning over at the coffee table at some work that was splayed out there. Joyce set aside the papers and smiled at her youngest daughter knowingly.

"Feel like telling me what's on your mind?" She asked and Lily shrugged.

"I just...I don't know why I'm still here," She admitted.

"What do you mean?" Joyce frowned and Lily took a seat beside her.

"That spell...the one that brought me here. It just allowed me to be here to fix things that needed to be fixed. And I've done that. I've helped get the Potentials, I've told you all I'm allowed about what's going on, I s- I..other stuff. But I'm still here...and I don't know why"

"Maybe there's something else for you to do," Joyce suggested softly and Lily just looked helplessly confused.

"Like what? You guys have got The First gig sorted...I'm pretty much just the spare part right now"

"No you're not," Joyce laughed slightly, "But has it ever occurred to you that maybe the thing you still have to do here isn't supernatural related? Maybe it's something perfectly ordinary."

"Like what?" Lily asked, intrigued by theory, but still not sure what it could mean.

"That, I'm afraid, I do not know," Joyce admitted with a supportive smile, "But I'm sure you'll figure it out"

"I just..." Lily sighed, as she thought on how she had left a time Dad-less but had since saved him, "I just wanna see how things are going in my time now"

"Your time..." Joyce nodded, looking down at her hands in her lap, clearly going over any number of thoughts in her head, before she looked at Lily, "I have a question about that. It's actually been preying on my mind a good long while," She admitted with a self-conscious laugh.

"What?"

"You told me...well, maybe not so much told as you let it slip last time you were here...that, in the future- in your time- I was...I'm a erm..."

"Watcher?"Lily filled in with a smile and Joyce nodded.

"I know I probably shouldn't think about it or ask about it...but," She sighed in exasperation, "But everything Watcher-and-Slayer it's always been Rupert and Buffy's thing. And their friends. Of course, I know a lot more of what's going on now but still- it's...it's not me. I c-can't be someone who, who guides Potentials or trains them. I can't look at them in that way. They're too young. I'd just want to keep protecting them. And and then there's the research," Joyce added, clearly getting to the heart of her worry now as her speech picked up pace, "I only know two languages. And that's English and French. And most of the languages on those texts aren't even human. Or they're Latin. Possibly Sumerian," She added as an afterthought, "And I don't know any of those. Or where to look. Or-" Lily started laughing at her and Joyce frowned with a helpless sigh, "What?"

"Sorry, it's just...don't worry about it okay?" Lily told her, "The research thing? C'mon you do it like regularly."

"I do not," Joyce immediately protested firmly but her daughter was insistent.

"Yes you do. You may not be knowledge girl when it comes to all the demon mumbo-jumbo but you do help with it. And you do it like all the time for art stuff. So trust me, it is not to worry. And as for Slayers- uh, Potentials," Lily quickly amended, careful to not reveal too much about the future. "You don't really do the same thing as Dad or the others"

"I don't?"

"No," Lily shook her head, "It's hard to explain without giving too much away. But while the others are like training the older-like sixteen onwards or whatever- Slayers- Potentials- who want to be part of,well any battle I guess, you kinda work with the lot younger ones"

"Younger?"

"Yeah," Lily nodded, "I mean Potentials and Slayers aren't limited to like teenagers. They're like kids out there as young as five who have this power inside of them- yours truly included- and it can be pretty freaky for both them and their parents. Can kinda make school difficult too. So it's those that you work with. The kids. It's just you all over; trust me. You're Watcher person while still being the Mom- which, between you and me, is something you're really good at," She added with a smile, "That way it's a lot easier- and less scary- for the kids and you get to work your Mom magic on the parents. We sort of have a school there too which is not as X-men as you'd think but-" She broke off, "Look, I can't tell you much more than that, but trust me and just don't worry about it"

The following day Buffy was in full 'just do as I say and don't question me' mode. A confrontation with Spike the previous night when she and Giles had followed him had put her in a very bad, yet determined mood.

"Guys, find me some evidence that he did this okay?"

"Really?" Anya asked, almost challenging her. But maybe being forced to leave the Magic Box so as to help had put her in a bad mood too, "Is that what you want?"

"Or find me some proof that he didn't, I don't know"

"You only think Spike is turning people because that vampire told you right?" Dawn asked and Buffy nodded, "But that night...you were all told stuff that wasn't true"

"Maybe..." Willow acknowledged half-heartedly as she looked sidewards at Tara who she knew was not exactly convinced by the whole 'it's all a lie' theory.

"He's a vampire. He could be biting people. I say you just stake him," Kennedy said, popping a potato chip into her mouth.

"How about no?" Buffy countered, glaring at the Potential who had wandered away from the rest of the group who were presently gathered in the living room together. Kennedy rolled her eyes at Buffy's response, shrugged, and headed back to the others. "I swear," Buffy shook her head, "She is worse than Faith ever was. Now back to the fact-finding"

"Well, if Spike's biting people...shouldn't we be able to find more victims?" Joyce asked, "With neck trauma"

"Yes," Giles agreed, "If Spike is truly killing again I doubt it would go unnoticed. Willow, could you find that out for us?"

"No."

"No?" Anya asked, "We can't find that? But that's easy. That computer's a moron"

"I mean no, there isn't any increase in neck injuries," Willow explained, "But..."

"But what?" Buffy immediately jumped on that, "Will, what is it?"

"Missing people. Maybe eight. Oh, ten of them. No bodies, they're just missing."

"M-missing?" Tara asked and Willow nodded.

"Young girls mostly. Lotsa girls..."

"But this still doesn't prove it's Spike," Buffy pointed out.

"Yeah, but if you're gonna look at it like that then it's only Spike that knows for sure," Lily said and Buffy had to admit she was right.

"I know..." She agreed, "I'll...I'll do some hands-on research tonight. See what I can find. Lily; joiny?"

"Erm..yeah, sure," Lily agreed, slightly thrown by the offer.

"You guys make sure Spike doesn't head out," Buffy ordered the others, but since only Joyce, Giles and Dawn lived at the house, the order was mainly aimed at them, "For tonight he's grounded"

She'd only gone to the shop at the bottom of the street. They had been out of milk. But coming back she found the front door wide open and an unconscious Rupert on the hall floor. Things had not gone well with Spike. She dropped the bag carrying the carton of milk on the floor and hurried to his side to see if he was okay, lifting his head up onto her lap as she knelt on the floor.

"Rupert?" She said softly, trying to wake him gently but it didn't look like it was happening any time soon. She sighed in frustration. What was it with him and being knocked out? He was unconscious more often than her.

At that moment Dawn came down the stairs followed by a few of the Potentials, who admittedly, seemed to be following the teenager around as though she were their grounding point and compass in a strange land.

"What happened?" She asked, "I just heard a noise"

"Spike," Joyce said in answer, correctly assuming what had gone on. Rupert had attempted to prevent the vampire from leaving which had obviously not worked out well. How could Spike knock him out with the chip in his brain though? Did that mean the chip wasn't working? Joyce looked over at Dawn, "You say this just happened?" Dawn nodded, "Call Buffy on her cell. Tell her Spike's gone" Dawn nodded and headed off to the phone while Joyce reverted her attention back to Rupert who she predicted was going to have a huge bump on his head later.

"And you believe him?" Giles asked quietly as he, Buffy, Lily, Dawn and Joyce were gathered in the dining room after Buffy and Lily had brought Spike home. The same Spike who right now was curled up in one of the living room armchair, wrapped in a blanket by Joyce much to Giles' chagrin- not feeling particularly generous towards the vampire given he'd been knocked out by him, and staring into a grate that had no fire burning in it.

"You didn't see him down there," Buffy told him, "He really didn't know what he'd done. It was like he wasn't in control."

"Oh marvelous," Giles said sarcastically, "A mentally unstable vampire. Wonderful" His intensely spoken sarcasm caused him too much expression and he winced as it could him pain where a bruise and bump had formed on his forehead. Joyce was presently stood beside where he was seated, dabbing the bruise with a cloth soaked with Witch Hazel to attempt to bring down the bruising but so far it wasn't doing much. Perhaps because every time she touched it he flinched away.

"Stop flinching like a child," She told him impatiently, "You really do have to stop being knocked out Rupert..."

"I could say the same thing about you and being kidnapped," He retorted with a slight smirk and she pressed the bruise firmly with the cloth and he cried out a little with a mixture of shock and pain.

"Oh, sorry," Joyce apologized, not sounding entirely sincere, "Did that hurt?"

"Are we sure we wanna keep Spike here?" Dawn asked warily, "I mean if he is killing again...is it really safe? For us?"

"Look I don't have all the answers Dawn," Buffy admitted, "And I'm not taking him on like some kind of project. I don't just wanna help him; I think there was something there in the basement. Talking to him. Making him do things"

"We think it might be like what came to everyone that night," Lily said, "I mean The First's messed with Angel's head so why not Spike's?"

"I've done the best I can," Joyce said to Giles, tossing the cloth aside, "With you acting like a five year old. I could soak a band-aid?" She suggested but he shook his vehemently.

"No, I'm not having a plaster on my forehead." He protested, "Particularly since I know for a fact the only ones we have in are the ones for Lily and I am not having The Little Mermaid on my head"

"Point taken," She said, smothering a laugh, before kissing him on the lips.

"Now, that could be an effective remedy," He commented with a smile when she drew away, but she merely smirked at him in reply, before returning her attention to the conversation at hand.

"Look, something seriously evil is working us," Buffy was saying, "If we're going to have a chance against it, we're gonna have to learn everything we can about it. And those Council files are pretty minimal on the info about The First and this thing has been closer to Spike than any of us"

"So if you want to understand The First..." Dawn said, understanding what Buffy was getting at.

"I'm gonna have to get close to Spike," Buffy finished.

"Are you sure honey?" Joyce asked worriedly, "I mean with the way Spike is right now are you it's safe to-"

"I don't have a choice," Buffy told her, "The First, this 'From beneath you' line; it's bad. And it's only gonna get worse"