Rabidreject- Thanks for the review and kind words and well, things build up even more in this chapter. And as for never ending, I know what you mean. I feel so attached to this story now, but I do in fact have an entire Post Chosen thing planned that will help lead the gang into where Season 8 should begin in the comics. And who knows? Maybe I'll end up going into that. Haha. And you really inflated my ego with the award comment, but wow, thank you so very much

Zigpal- Thank for hand clappage and review. And yes, there is a reason Lily is still around, but Joyce is onto something with what she said last chapter. And I'm glad you think the Kennedy/Buffy stuff is on the money.

A/N: One last chapter before Christmas. Suitably dark I think for Christmas considering this is originally a Joss creation, hehe. Enjoy and have a very Merry Christmas (Or whatever the heck you celebrate)
"So the basement was filled with bodies?" Tara asked the next day at the Summers-Giles residence. The Potentials were out in the garden being trained basic exercises by Giles, so there was no worry over them over hearing the Spike centric conversation and adding their, for the most part unwanted, opinion.

"Apparently," Joyce replied as she tidied the living room up. Her house ended up a mess often enough as it was what with the demons attacking and the entire group seeming to have adopted it as their second home and three daughters in the house (four technically if you counted Lily twice). But since the Potentials had moved in the house had been packed, and therefore more messy, than ever before and she felt she was coming to breaking point over the amount of people living in her home.

"And Spike could have sired god knows how many others around town?" Xander asked, "Well," He said, looking around at the others, "That's a comfort"

"I mean what exactly are we waiting for him to do?" Anya asked nervously, "For him to go crazy and kill us all? Would that be enough evidence for her?"
"Anya..." Tara said softly, "Buffy knows what she's doing. We just have to trust her"
"Xander," Anya turned to her husband, "You've always been in the 'Spike is Evil' faction, you know what I'm talking about"

"Hey, I'm staying out of this for my own safety," He said, holding his hands up, "It's a Summers thing. It's all very violent"

"Fine," Anya said, rolling her eyes, "You guys keep your heads in the sand. But I think we should all prepare ourselves for the possibility that William the Bloody is back"

"Well, as long as he doesn't require a single bedroom for himself, I'm not too concerned right now," Joyce muttered, tossing some rubbish into the corner bin just as there was a knock at the door. "I doubt I'll be able to retain my sanity once more uh... Potentials arrive" She told them as she headed to the door and pulled it open. "I just-" She cut off as she saw the familiar faces on the doorstep. Dan Wright, the Mancunian Watcher she had met a few years ago was stood there along side Rupert's sister Jacqueline and her son, Ted. Beside them was another woman Joyce recognized to be one of the Watchers she had seen when Quentin Travers had arrived at the Magic Box nearly two years ago to test Buffy. Joyce believed her name was Cassandra.

"'Ello," Dan grinned goodnaturedly, breaking the stunned silence.

"Dan..." Joyce barely voice aloud, "Jacqueline...what...what are you..." She suddenly became suspicious, "What's going on?"

"I believe you have a slight apocalypse?" Jac replied with a small smile.

"I don't see we have to do this stupid breathing exercise anyway," Kennedy complained in the garden.

"Parce que," Natasha told her, "Eet is part of ze trainin' and zo you aff to do eet"

"Just saying; pummeling much better way to train"

"I ain't so good with the pummeling" Molly admitted nervously, "I kinda prefer this"

"Erm...Rupert?" Joyce called out from the kitchen doorway, interrupting the session, "I think you should- " She broke off when she caught sight of seven month old Lily sat on the garden table, in the shade next to the wall of the house. She was sat up on a blanket watching the tableau before her, "Why is Lily out here?"

"Oh, I uh," Rupert stuttered in reply, "She was rather restless, so rather than have her upstairs I brought her out here. She seems to enjoy watching it all"

"Well," Joyce said, picking the little girl up in her arms, "You're going to have to put this on hold. We have some guests."

"Who?" He frowned, walking over.

"Oh, I think you're going to want to see for yourself," Joyce replied, heading back into the house with Lily and he followed on curiously.

"Joyce,what is going on? Nothing's happened has it?" He asked frantically, worried that The First had done something as he followed her, practically on her heels to find out what she was talking about. Reaching the living room however,Giles saw not more Slayers, but more Watchers.

"Jac, Ted, Dan, Cass..." Giles said the names, a little too stunned to say much else, "What on earth are you all doing here?"

"We'll tell you that in a moment," His sister informed him, walking over to Joyce and Lily, "But first, who is little darling?"

"Oh erm.." Joyce faltered. She and Rupert had never told any of the Watcher's Council about Lily, which included Giles' family. It was the only way they could secure no involvement from the Council or Giles' Father who would undoubtedly enforce the recruitment of Lily to the Council. So what was she supposed to say?

"Jacqueline, this is...is Lily..." Giles managed to say, "She's..." He sighed, "She's mine and Joyce's daughter"

This statement was only met by silence from the Watchers. The first to speak, was obviously, in typical fashion, Daniel.

"You? With a kid?" He asked sceptically, "Nah. No way"

"I'll choose not to interpret that comment Daniel," Giles told him smoothly.

"A daughter Rupert?" Jac asked in disbelief, "But...but when Dad spoke about children when you two were getting married, you both said you were firmly against it."

"N-no," Joyce argued, stuttering slightly, "What I said was that we weren't planning any children. And we uh didn't. Plan"

"Lily...just sort of came upon us," Rupert explained, "Not exactly planned"
"Are you trying to say I was a mistake?" Older Lily asked, coming down the stairs from helping Buffy with Spike and having heard the end of the conversation. She then caught sight of the newcomers. "Hey, Aunty Jac," She smiled, heading over to give the woman a small hug, "And Ted...and...Dan...and you-" She looked at Cassandra, "I'm afraid I so don't know you"

"The same could be said about you," Jacqueline said, looking at the twenty year old suspiciously, "Who are you exactly?"

"Oh, I'm Lily," Lily held out her hand and once Jac shook it, she revealed the rest of who she was, "Your niece. From the future"

"This is Lily in twenty years time," Giles explained with a sigh in response to Jac's startled and confused look, "She's here to ah, help us with a few things"

"Man, when we thought things were bad we didn't think they were confusin' an'all" Dan commented with a laugh as went over to shake Lily's hand in hello.

"So your this one's kid eh?" He asked and she nodded.

"Erm...yes," She laughed, "What are you doing here? All of you I mean?"

"That's what we've been trying to find out," Giles told her, "But we have as of yet to be informed"

"Well, we're here because of you actually," Cassandra said, "I believe you appealed to the Council some few weeks ago," She reminded him, "Claiming about an attack?"

"Yes," Giles nodded, "We did come and...but they- you- wouldn't have any of it"

"That's not strictly true," Jacqueline told him and in anticipation of an explanation all three sat down. Lilian sitting on one of the armchairs while Rupert and Joyce sat on the couch together with baby Lily. Jac noted that while last time she had seen the two of them, the couple had been slightly awkward around one another in front of the family- as though constantly conscious and worried about impressions- but now they were a lot more confident in it and less worried about how they appeared to the family. Comfortable in their roles as husband and wife, instead of being initially new to it, Jac noted. "You see, Quentin and the rest- they know exactly what is going on"

"They do?" Giles asked, outraged, "Then why the bloody hell didn't they-"

"Because he doesn't want you involved," She told him, cutting him off, "You're the most lax Watcher on the Council, Rupert and to be honest they truly don't trust your methods. They believe they had a better way of going about it. We were the meager few who disagreed"

"They didn't fire you did they?" Joyce asked with a wince, remembering that was how they had dealt with Rupert's lack of co-operation.

"No," Jac smiled, "Nothing like that. We just decided to take matters into our hands and head to the Hellmouth situated in Sunnydale. To help in anyway we can"

"Isn't Ted a little young to be helping?" Joyce asked, "He's only sixteen"

"Well, I believe it's more safe to be here with us"
"Why?" Lily asked, "What's going on?"

"The First." Jacqueline replied, "I know you said there was attacks on Potentials. But there's also been other attacks- by the Bringers- on Watchers. All of them dying gruesomely and horrendously. Robson- you remember him don't you Rupert- was the most recent"

Giles felt sick to the stomach. Yes, he remembered him. He had been good friends with him and his wife. And now he was dead. Killed by agents of The First. He looked over at Lily and from her pale expression, correctly assumed that she had not been informed about the Watcher attacks before arriving here. She was as shocked as the rest of them.

"It seems we made the right decision in coming here," Cassandra added, breaking into the mournful silence, "Just before we left England we heard news of something extremely tragic. I truly don't know how..."

"What? What happened?" Giles asked.

"The Watcher's Council. The entire building and everyone in it. It was blown up."

"What?" Joyce whispered, not sure she had understood Cassandra's words correctly.

"A bomb, presumably set by The First's Harbingers. It destroyed the entire Watcher's Council and everyone in it," Cassandra said sadly, taking a seat.

"And we mean everyone Rupert," Jac added, putting an arm around Ted supportively, "Harvey's dead, Rupert. And so is our Father. We and the Wyndham-Pryces are all that's left of the Watcher's Council"

"How are you?" Joyce asked Rupert in the kitchen a little while on after details of everything Watcher and England related had been told. Baby Lily was still in the living room being fussed by Jacqueline- not only did she evidently and immediately the love the child, but Joyce suspected that the infant was a welcome distraction from the pain of losing her husband and Ted's Father.

"Pardon?" He asked, watching the Potentials be led by Kennedy in the garden in basic training.

"How are you holding up?" Joyce rephrased the question, but he remained silent "You've lost friends and family, Rupert. I think it's alright to break the British resolve"

"I'm not sure I can," He admitted honestly.

"Of course you can," She insisted, "It's just me here. No one else"

"They were people I was friends with, grew up with...and yet..." He sighed, "Perhaps it hasn't quite sunk in yet"

"Perhaps," Joyce agreed gently, as he put his arms around her, taking silent strength in her embrace.

At that exact moment, breaking the quietly emotional moment, the sound of the front door being slammed open carried into the kitchen and the couple broke apart, looked at one another questioningly, before heading back into the hall and living room to see what the hell was going on.

"Look what I found" Willow announced dragging in what appeared to be Andrew. Tara, Xander and Anya wore scowls that matched the ones being worn by Joyce and Giles as they all looked at Andrew but the others- Jac, Cass, Dan and even Lily since she apparently didn't recognize him- just looked utterly confused wondering who the blond boy was and what was the significance of his presence.

"What the hell are you doing back in town?" Xander demanded, "Last time we saw you, you and Jonathon were doing the Run of the Cowardly Wimp"

"Guess who was buying mass amounts of pig's blood at the butcher's shop?" Willow told them all, not letting go of Andrew's collar so he was unable to bail and run out of the house.

"I doubt it's for homely purposes," Giles commented and Andrew glared at him- or at least tried to.

"You'll get nothing out of me, Watcher"

"Man, you're like outnumbered ten tuh one," Dan pointed out.

"I shall not speak one word to you," Andrew protested dramatically and Xander rolled his eyes.

"Well, we'll see about that"

Fifteen minutes later Andrew was tied up in a chair in Joyce and Giles' room since Dawn's was too packed with remnants of Potentials and Buffy was 'questioning' Spike in her own room.

"He can't stay here," Joyce said to her husband outside the room while Anya and Xander were in her room interrogating the boy. "There isn't the room" As something suddenly occurred to her, she turned to the other Watcher, "You all have somewhere to stay right? Somewhere else I mean?"

"Yes," Cassandra assured her, "There's an inn not too far from here. It's reasonably empty. We've taken rooms there"

"Oh good," Joyce nodded, then another thought occurred to her, "The girls couldn't join you could they? The Potentials I mean? We really don't have the room you see"

"Oh well, uh, I'm sure we could work something out..." Cassandra told her, taking the concept into consideration.

"I just, I can't take them being all over my house anymore," Joyce told her, sounding precariously close to breakdown, "And do you realize how much it costs to feed them? Not to mention that there just isn't the room! And-"

At that moment, cutting Joyce off, Anya and Xander came out of the bedroom, closing the door behind them. They were wearing deadly serious expressions until the door clicked shut and they burst out into broad grins.

"Did you see that?" Anya asked, practically giddy, "I actually made him cry!"

"Anya..." Joyce reprimanded tiredly, "You're not meant to make the boy cry..."

"Why not?" Anya was genuinely puzzled.

"She was perfect," Xander assured Joyce.

"Yes," Giles nodded, "But let's not overdo it, hmm?"

"Well, I thought I over did it with the whole easy way/ hard way thing-"

"No, that was great," Anya assured him, "I wasn't sure if I should slap him-"

"You slapped him?" Cassandra asked, aghast.

"Well, he made me wanna slap him," Anya explained, "So I thought 'slap him'"

Buffy, at this point, walked out of her own room though she seemed much more subdued about her interrogation than Anya and Xander were and Joyce sympathized with her.

"Are you okay honey?"

Buffy just nodded, a small, sad smile on her lips.

"It's fine," She told her, "He hasn't started talking yet. But we'll get there. Eventually. How's Andrew?"

"The weasel wants to sing," Anya said, sounding tough and NYPD-Blue like, "He just needs a tune"

"He's primed," Xander added in agreement, "He'll be ready to pump in no time"

At this comment, everyone stared at him silently and questioningly. He looked down at the ground in shame, "He will give us information soon," He said quietly, almost to the floor.

It was much later on and night had fallen and Anya and Xander were still upstairs interrogating Andrew while Buffy was still attempting to get information about The First out of Spike. The Potentials, much to Joyce's happiness, were gone, having left for the Sunnydale Inn with Cassandra and Dan. Jac had remained, preferring to stay with family right now due to the recent loss of her husband, her Father, her colleagues, and her friends, and obviously Ted remained with her. Baby Lily was asleep in a portable cot in the living room due to the fact Joyce and Giles' room was being used for interrogation purposes while older Lily- she of the greater appetite than Xander- was in the kitchen making herself something to eat with Joyce, Giles, Jac and Ted remaining in the living room with her younger self.

It had been blissfully quiet up until a little a moment ago when Spike had gone completely insane, vamping out and breaking free of his bonds before attempting to attack Andrew. Buffy had claimed the vampire had shown no interest in her, only in Andrew and moments before he had changed, she had overheard him talking to someone who she strongly suspected was an element of the first. This knowledge wasn't exactly a comfort. It was also suspected a First promoted trigger in Spike was the cause of the change. Which again, was not a comfort.

"Are you sure you should have ah Spike here?" Jac asked the others nervously, "His behavior is terrifyingly unpredictable right now and we have no idea when he'll change his demeanor at any given point"

"It's better here than anywhere else," Joyce reasoned and Giles nodded in agreement.
"Buffy has control- as much as any Slayer can that is," He told his older sister, "Trust me, it does not get any safer than that"

Suddenly all the lights went out, the electricity completely gone.

"You were saying?" Jac asked, suspecting that this wasn't a regular power-cut. Her fears were confirmed when the living room window was smashed through, the shards of glass shattering painfully upon them from where they were sat on the couch. Next, several black hooded figures leapt through the new empty window pane.

"The Bringers," Giles gasped, moments before one cracked him around the head with a staff. It didn't knock him out, but it sent him sprawling to the floor. He didn't even feel the pain though as his first thoughts and concerns went to the vulnerable baby Lily in the middle of the room. A Potential Slayer the Bringers undoubtedly wanted dead. But he got up to see, in a moment of time-freezing surreality, Lily grabbing her younger self for protection, fighting of the Bringers with several expertly delivered kicks as she began to exit the room once again.

He barely had time to see if his sister, wife and nephew were okay, before the front door was smashed open and several more of the hooded figures barged in.

"Oof!" Jac exclaimed in painful surprise as she landed painfully on the coffee table, twisting aside just in time to avoid the deadly dagger being wielded by The Bringer after her. Ted, her son, was fighting off his own, but was only just keeping him at bay.

"Rupert, where's Lily gone?" Joyce asked, running over to him, having not seen daughter run off with self.

"Lily's got her," Giles explained, "The other Lily- Joyce!" He exclaimed, seeing the axe before she did and not knowing what was coming at her she did an all-safety maneuver- and ducked. It was surprisingly effective. He was about to help her, but while still crouched low she swung one of her legs round taking the Bringer's own legs out from under his feet and he collapsed on the ground. Rupert was slightly surprised by this quick move on Joyce's part, but was pleased she had remembered at least some of the training he had given her a few years back. Perhaps, he realized, in light of recent situations, the two should start that up again. Joyce got back up in time to see Rupert's surprised face.

"What?" She asked, "You don't think I have a survival instinct?" before dodging another staff swung their way and Rupert pushed all thoughts aside as he focused on that very same instinct and will to survive.

"Dawn!" Joyce cried out, ducking and rushing through the chaos in the living to find her other daughter who she knew to have been in her room. That very daughter, at that moment came tumbling down the stairs. Joyce went to run to her, but was prevented by two things. The fact that Dawn got up almost immediately and was very much prepared to fight the Bringer coming for her as she aggressively wielding one of Buffy's throwing axes. The second thing was the Bringer blocking her path. He was swiveling a small dagger in one hand and held a long staff that ended in a scythe in the other. The odds weren't good.

He swung around with the scythe first.

Rupert was, if he admitted it to himself,losing himself in the moment. He was doing extremely well in the fight against the Bringers and it was exhilarating for him. The fourth to come against him favored a sword and Rupert grinned. Alongside the crossbow, the sword was the weapon he was best with. If he got it off the Bringer, it would be clear sailing from then on. The Bringer swung and Giles ducked and swerved, before eventually reaching up with both hands and grabbing the wrist of the Bringer that wielded the sword. He twisted, so the sword's point was down, before kicking the Bringer in the lower abdomen. It was enough to loosen the grip on the sword slightly and with one mighty tug, Rupert pulled it free of the grip, got a firm handle on it himself before he sliced through the Bringer's arm and then directly through the stomach. The 'man' fell down dead. He turned to see who was next, but in fact saw Joyce facing up against her own opponent, who, given his two choices of weapons had a firm advantage over Joyce.

The Bringer swung the Scythe at Joyce and in pure defense she reached up with both hands, grasping hold of the staff. As surprised as the Bringer at this action the two stood there motionless for a moment, before she twisted it round in the opposite direction, allowing the bottom end to knock him upside the head. He fell back but he did not let go of either weapon. Joyce twisted again on the staff just as he lashed out with the dagger. She was vaguely aware of the feeling of metal delving into her, but her will to survive overrode it and a scythe posed more of a threat to her right now than a dagger. She allowed some self defense she remembered taking in the 80s to come into it as she stepped on his instep before kneeing him in where she presumed the man/potential demon had balls. As he fell down to his knees in pain that revealed he was man and not demon (although that could be debatable) she was left with the weapon in her own hands. And she stood there, doing nothing else. She knew everyone else around her was killing the Bringers. Out of the corner of her eye she had seen Dawn finish off the one that had thrown her down the stairs, but looking at the eyeless thing before her, she didn't think she could do it. He was evil, doubtless, but still technically human and she could not take a human life. Unless, he was threatening her family.

Rupert knew what was going through his wife's mind and understood and empathized. In all honesty, he didn't want her to take that life. The Bringer deserved to be killed, yes, but Joyce was a Mother not a fighter and that was the way it should be. He went over to help, well to finish the job, but was distracted by the two Lilies coming into sight of the doorway to the kitchen, obviously haven gotten rid of more Bringers there herself. The Bringer before Joyce, although it could not see, did sense the presence of the two same girls and grasped a firmer hold of the dagger he had used to stab or graze Joyce- Giles was not yet sure which- in an action as though to throw directly at them. The aim would pierce the baby through the middle; that much was clear.

The Bringer didn't even get a chance to begin the throw.

It was the last Bringer, or seemingly the last, and as an almost-silence fell, so did the weapon and Joyce, as she collapsed to the floor. Rupert rushed over to her, kneeling beside her and saw she was in an almost catatonic state of horror. She was also bleeding on her left arm where the now decapitated Bringer had cut her. She paid no attention to the injury or Rupert.

He held her in a tight embrace not just to comfort her but to stop her sudden violent, horrified shaking.

The Bringers had taken Spike. That was what they had come for all along. Everything else had been a distraction. Rupert was leaving it to the others to sort all that out as right now, his main concern was Joyce. Both Buffy and Dawn viewed her as a main concern also, but were unable to deal with any of it and so had opted for now, to stay away.

They were in their bedroom- from which Andrew had been moved and there was now a huge hole in one of the walls where Spike had burst through- and Joyce was still almost catatonic. Barely paying attention to Rupert's presence if any. And she was still shaking. Her arm was now bandaged and had ceased bleeding, but she clearly didn't care about that. She was replaying over and over again in her mind what she had done.

"Joyce..." Rupert said gently, "Joyce..."

She did not reply. Did not respond. So he just held her, keeping her hands in his to stop them shaking as much as the rest of her was. She just stared blankly at the ground, the expression of horror frozen on her face.