Chapter Twenty-Three: Therapy Group Session: Popping Bubble Wrap

Buffy spotted Willow standing with Xander over by the buffet table. She stormed over, taking great care not to fling Bruce's guests to and fro. When her friends looked at her, they knew she was not happy.

"Did you talk to Bruce?" Xander asked through a mouthful of what Buffy had to guess was caviar by the small amount dribbling down his chin. She felt her stomach lurch. She always hated caviar: it looked like goose poop. And apparently her unborn child agreed with her. Score one for mama!

"Yes," she stated, rather snappish. "I did. He got all jerky. I hit him. Now I am leaving."

"Wait! You hit him?" Willow was shocked.

"Well, not hit-hit. I slapped him," Buffy said, thinking about grabbing a few shrimp and stuffing them in her mouth. Baby did not disagree. She lunged for them. "Trust me: he deserved it. He better be glad I didn't put my full force behind it or he would have traveled between rooms the hard way."

"Buffy! I can't believe…" Willow trailed off, shaking her head. "Are you alright?" Buffy nodded, cramming another shrimp into her mouth. Willow looked between Buffy and Xander: Buffy she knew why she was eating like a pig, but Xander was like gluttony fest. She sighed, shaking her head at him in disgust. "Let me go find Kennedy, Giles, and Richard, and we will go home."

Buffy shook her head, swallowing. Willow was surprised that her friend did not choke. "No. I will get Richard and go home. It is getting late. You guys stay here. I mean it."

Willow watched her go, her heart breaking for her friend. How much more was she going to have to endure in her life as the Slayer? When was it going to be enough? Sighing again, she turned to find Xander downing a glass of champagne in one big gulp, while another one waited its turn in his other hand. He sat the glass down on the table, belched very loudly, smiling sheepishly, and raising the glass still in his hand in salute to all the people who were looking at him. Willow cringed, unable to believe Xander could be such an embarrassment. It just went to prove that you could put a man in a really good suit, but it didn't change who he really was at all. Covering her face with her hand, she just wished everything was normal and that everyone was happy.

Buffy found Richard following Alfred around.

The boy surprised her so much. Not for his abilities, even though that was reason enough. How he knew things and saw things that others could not was amazing in and of itself. But what she was most proud of was how well he had adapted already. He had only lost his parents a few weeks ago. He had seen it happen, unable to do anything. Then he had been taken in by strangers to a home he had never known.

But yet here he was, happy, smiling, as he followed Alfred around. Everyone was smiling at him, thinking him such a darling little boy. Her heart clenched in her chest thinking of Bruce. Not about their fight or the question as to whether or not they would get through all of this and come out together or separated, but how much he cared for the boy and the boy cared for him. Both had lost their parents to violence, and while that is not the best reason for bonding, one would hope that it would be something happy and bright, but it was all they had and it made them kindred spirits. She did not want to come between that at all. She had a feeling that bond would be the foundation for something they both needed, and she was convinced would be good for the city of Gotham as well.

She approached Alfred and Richard once again clung to her, taking her hand, and hugging her side. "I am going to get Richard home. It is getting late." She stroked the boy's soft black hair, smiling down at him.

"Of course," Alfred said, and then, as if in afterthought: "Have you seen Master Bruce?"

"Yes," she said nodding innocently. "I left him in the kitchen. Good night, Alfred."

"Good night, Buffy. You Master Richard."

The drive home was a nice one, in spite of everything. The night air was a little chilly and smelled of rain. Once back at the mansion, Buffy took Richard upstairs and drew him a bath while she herself went into Bruce's bathroom and proceeded to dispose of the shrimp she had ate like she had been starving. Why they called it 'morning sickness' she would never know. For her it was more like 'all day sickness'.

She stood and turned to find Richard in the doorway, watching her. He had changed into his pajamas already.

"You should drink raspberry tea. It will help with the morning sickness," he told her. She loved the boy, but sometimes she felt he was way too wise for his too few years. "And something bad is about to happen. We should hide."

"Xander. I can't believe that you have food in your pockets!" Willow almost yelled.

Once she had dragged him away from the buffet table and found Giles, they had decided that following Buffy home would be the best course of action, especially after Giles had been told that she had slapped the host of the party, and owner of the house they were staying in. In his pessimism, he had stated that they should probably be prepared to be kicked out of the manor. Willow sincerely disagreed with this.

Kennedy, who had stashed a pair of jeans and a sweater in the car, had changed and taken off, citing she had to patrol. Willow did not understand what was up with her since they had arrived in Gotham and why all the sudden she was so jealous of Buffy. She had tried to talk to her about it, but Kennedy had just brushed it off and would not talk about it. Willow was starting to worry.

They arrived back at the mansion, Willow parking the car and they all got out. Xander was still talking about how good the food was, and that he had drank a little too much. Giles was wondering where they were going to sleep tonight and every other night until this Insurrection thing was over. Willow just sighed, shaking her head for what felt like the hundredth time, and reached into her purse for the key to the front door.

That was when the door opened and someone stepped out. But it was not Buffy.

It was the Joker.

There were men in the house already by the time she and Richard left Bruce's room on the second floor. She could hear them downstairs, turning stuff over, breaking things. By her estimation there were at least twenty, and while she could not kill humans, she could certainly beat them to a bloody pulp, which is exactly what she wanted to do. But she had to think of Richard and protecting him. She wanted to save Bruce's house, but that was not in the cards for her at the moment.

Glad that the others had stayed at the party and that she would not have to worry about them, she took Richard's hand and led him down the hall away from the demolition that was going on down below. She knew it would not be long until they extended their search and destroy to the second floor. They had to hurry and hopefully not get caught.

"This way," Richard told her in a whisper. He held her hand tightly and took the lead.

"Where are we going?"

"This way. I have something to show you!" He trudged on. Buffy pulled him to a stop.

"We don't have time, Richard. We have to – "

"I know. This way." And off he went again. Buffy had no choice but to follow, looking behind her to make sure they were not being followed or that no one was around below and just happened to spot them. They hugged the wall as they went, soon coming to the end of the hall, near Willow and Kennedy's appointed room, and Richard grabbed for the door handle.

"This is the master suite," Buffy stated. "It was Bruce's parent's room. We shouldn't go in there. We need to get to the cave."

Richard nodded, and then opened the door. "Bruce showed this to me. In case of an emergency." And he led her inside and closed the door softly behind them.

The room was dark save for the momentary illumination from lightning outside through the cracks in the curtains. Buffy could make out the bed and several tables including a dresser, but not much else. Richard led her forward without hesitation, as if he knew the room by heart. They crossed over to a blank space of wall, set between the large dresser and a door to what Buffy had to guess was the bathroom or a walk-in closet. Richard stopped for a moment and then the wall swung in and out with a loud grinding noise that made Buffy's cringe.

They hurried inside and the wall slid closed behind them. "Where does this go?" She asked in a whisper. She was listening to see if anyone was coming into the room they were just in to investigate the noise. So far, they were clear, though she doubted that they would figure it out let alone find the switch that had triggered the secret door.

"To the room right next to the piano room," he answered, also in a whisper. He took her hand and began leading her down a hallway of sorts. The walls were close on both sides, so much so that her shoulders brushed each side. She imagined that if Bruce had been with them, he would have had to have walked sideways to get through.

Around a corner was a stairway leading down. It was also narrow and covered in dust. Buffy counted twenty steps before coming to another hallway, this one shorter than the last. Richard touched the wall and it swung open but just a few inches. Light streamed in and he peered out at his level. Buffy leaned over him and peered out as well. They could see no one, but she could hear voices and more sounds of destruction coming from not too far away.

Once they were sure it was okay, Richard touched the wall again, and the secret door swung open enough for them to squeeze out, and then he tipped a figurine of a lion on a table next to the opening over a few inches and the wall closed back up.

Looking around the doorway, Buffy could see the state of disarray the house was in. She hated that it was happening, after all it was not only Bruce's family home, but he had just rebuilt the place. There was nothing to be done about it now, though. She had to get Richard someplace safe and then she would come back and deal with these guys.

Of course, as they tiptoed from that room into the piano room, she realized it was more like Richard leading her to safety than the other way around.

The right keys were struck, by the boy, and the bookcase opened up. Down the stairs they went to the elevator, the way behind them shut tight. Once in the Batcave, Buffy took Richard into the area where Bruce kept his metal cutting and sharpening machines, determined to leave the boy and go fight the bad guys.

"There isn't enough time," Richard told her, holding onto her hand securely. "You have to stay here."

"Wha – " The word did not make it out of her mouth before a sound like a loud roll of thunder could be heard, and then everything started to shake. For a moment Buffy felt as if she was back home in California during an earthquake. Debris fell down on them, and she pulled Richard under the table to protect them. Then she realized what had just happened.

The mansion had just blown up above them.

If Willow had been able to, she would have screamed.

Watching Wayne Manor explode, lighting up the sky with a red-orange color, knowing that Buffy and Richard were in there, was one of the most horrible things she had ever witnessed. She tried to scream through the gag in her mouth, and fought against the restraints that held her hands together behind her back, but there was nothing she could do. The van that they were in sat far back from the explosion, but it still rocked with the impact.

"All that magic you conjured," the Joker said from the front seat of the van, his hands sprayed out in the air, "Protected nothing really. Not the house, nor the Slayer. Pity really." He put his hands down, slapping his knees. "Nothing produces more powerful dark magic that something touched by a great light. The blood of this Slayer would have been amazing to use in opening the hell mouth. But you know what would have been even better? The blood of a Slayer's child." He turned in the seat to face them as the van began to back up. "Tell me: how far along was she? Do you think it would have been worth the wait? Seriously."

Willow could only sob. Next to her Giles was silent. Xander was unconscious from a blow to the head inflicted while trying to protect Willow.

"Oh well. It doesn't matter now. Slayer's blood will do just fine, and fortunately for us, I happen to have a spare just lying around."

Willow gasped, or as good as she could around the gag. They had Kennedy. Buffy gone. With no way to warn Bruce, with no way to get word to the Batman, she felt that this was one disaster they might not make it out of.