g120- Mwa haha (that was my attempt at an evil laugh. It was unsuccessful.). I like my cliffhangers, haha. Glad you're liking the story though and that its keepin ya on ya toes. Hopefully, this chapter will answer a lot of questions. Thanks for reviewyness
Rabidreject- Thanks for review- and yes, all the way to post chosen. It's ridiculous. This story is contaminating my mind. I'm off wandering into season 8 here and season 5 of Angel and argh, it's all too much. My brain may explode (hopefully not though). And I'm happy to know you'll be here reading my ramblings. Hehe
zigpal- Yes, the general consensus this update seems to be that I am evil. And yes we love to see Giles squirm. nee hee. But well,all your questions (and Giles' squirminess) shalt be answered henceforth. Thank you for my clappy review. ;-)
A/N: Okay, my cousins kids have been dumped on me these past few days. Yes I mean, dumped. There's three of them okay? Triplets? All of them five. All of them hyper. Two girls. One boy. One of which after looking after them for four days while their parents were on holiday (yeah, I know!) has taken to calling me 'Mom' on occasion. Marvelous. This is all because I made them funny shaped pancakes in the morning. It seems to have created an unconditional love for me. It's a pain when I'm taking them round town to have to explain to passers by 'no really, i'm not- I'm not their Mom' which is shortly followed 'and no, I didn't kidnap them either'
They also don't let you have sleep. Got to bed nice and early the other night. Good night's rest. Only to be awoken at 5.00am by the screams of the two girls and the giggling glee of the boy. You know those toy goo-y snakes that are available in joke shops? Guess who thought they'd be a fun sleepover buddy?
Oh yes, when you think the world is your oyster there's nothing like a hyperactive five year old boy to bring you back down to Earth. He really wasn't happy when I confiscated the snake.
So, the point of this rambling? I have wrote this chapter in the few spare half hours I occasionally have when not playing Mom for the week. Oh yes, there's a few more days of this to go. And god help me I still love 'em to bits. This unconditional love thing's a bitca. Anyway, on with the story.
Parents are just children who grew up and their kids are just parts of the dreams and hopes they had.
Joyce Summers, 1998
"Is this Sunnydale?" The girl asked, looking around at the room in awe, her jaw practically dropping to the floor, "Man, this is just...freaky," The girl frowned at the group, "What date is it? The year like?"
"D-December 2001..." Joyce managed to answer, frowning in deep confusion at the girl, "I'm sorry, but...who are you?" She asked, but the girl didn't seem to hear her as she started wandering around the living room, taking in every detail with that stunned expression permanently plastered on her face.
"Wow this...wow, this is a long time back," She said, half to herself and Buffy became very impatient.
"Okay as much as I'm loving your confusing ramblings that are just passing the time oh-so-slowly, you've told us squat about who you are or what you're dong here so spill"
"Yes, wh-who are you exactly?" Giles asked, more curious than confused.
"I'm your daughter," The girl replied pointing at him and Joyce, "In about twenty years," She added casually.
At this announcement Joyce's legs gave a little from shock but luckily, Giles, through his own shock caught her around the shoulders, before she fell to the floor.
"H-h-how is that...what...where...why..." Joyce stuttered as she used Rupert to pull herself back upright and regain her balance, "Huh?"
Dawn took a step forward towards the girl, scrutinizing her as she took in every detail. It was then that she started to see the similarities. The girl's hair was very similar to her Mom's, being only slightly less curly, but a perfect match for the color. Her eyes were green, but not the same green as Buffy's. There was a tiny fleck of brown in one eye that mirrored Giles' own eyes completely. It was only these two details that stood out significantly- the hair and the eyes- but Dawn was sure, that if she took a closer look she would see more of her Mom there or, yee gods, wiggins, more of Giles. She saw a similar look to Buffy there also, and, yay, even saw some of herself in the girl.
Soon the rest had also gathered round the twenty year old, searching for the same details Dawn had already found.
"Okay, could we not?" The girl asked, looking incredibly paranoid due to all this attention and the group, thankfully, stepped back.
"Well, the similarities are there," Dawn concluded and Buffy winced.
"Freaky," She said and at Joyce and Giles' look she shrugged, "What? It is"
"Erm," Joyce finally spoke up, swallowing very loudly as she had clearly temporarily lost her voice, "What, what is your uh name?"
"Lily," The girl told her with a smile, "Well, Lilian really, but no one ever calls me that. Except you. And Dad. When you're mad at me"
"Oh," Joyce nodded and she and Giles fell into a seat on the sofa, both looking so shocked they seemed to be unaware of their surroundings. Neither said anything or looked at anyone.
Lily looked over at Buffy and Dawn in concern, but those two were only faring slightly better.
"Do you like it?" Joyce suddenly asked, and the three girls looked over at her like 'huh?', "The name," She explained.
"Yes," Giles agreed, "B-because we, uh, we-we, could change it..."
"No, I like it," Lily assured them with a warm smile, "I mean...it's me now. It'd be weird if I was suddenly called like Nymphadora Giles or something. Plus you picked Lily for a reason"
"We did?" Joyce asked, her voice slightly higher than usual and she cleared her throat immediately afterwards and grabbed hold of Rupert's hand tightly.
"Yeah," Lily nodded, "But I'm not telling"
"Why do you keep looking at me?" Buffy asked, feeling slightly paranoid herself as Lily looked back at her yet again.
"Sorry...it's just all a bit...mind-blowing," Lily admitted, "I mean Mom and Dad are like twenty years younger...and you, you're my oldest sister and you're like my age. I mean in my time your like Mom's age now"
"What?" Buffy choked out, a mixture of emotions rushing through her. On the one hand- wow she actually made it to her forties. On the other hand- argh! Her forties. She looked at her Mom and maybe it was her Slayer mentality, but she found it very hard to contemplate being that age.
"So what are you like?" Dawn asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs.
"Excuse me?" Lily raised an eyebrow, completely clueless to what Dawn was asking her.
"Well, do you take more after Mom or Giles? Art geek or book geek? Ooh, are you a Watcher? Or do you not...ooh, but you're a member of the Scoobies right? The Scoobies are still around?"
"Whoa, Dawn, ever heard of 'leaving space to breath'?" Buffy asked, taking a seat in the remaining chair, leaving Lily to sit down on the coffee table in between them all.
"Plus, I can't actually tell you anyway," Lily added.
"What? Why?" Dawn whined. She really wanted to know about the future. Just a few...dozen or so things, but that was all.
"'Consequences, the Domino Effect our actions can cause'," Lily droned off, as though she had heard the reasons a million times, "Dad's always going on about it,"
"You do a lot of time travel where you come from then?" Buffy asked sceptically and Lily shook her head with a laugh.
"No...well not much. It's more of a Willow thing."
"Willow's still using magic in your time?" Buffy asked, immediately on edge and her youngest not-yet-born sister winced.
"Oops," She realized, in that one little snippet of information she may have given away too much, "Oh-erm..." She turned to Giles, "I kinda see what you mean now..." She admitted.
"Well, uh, right now I'm actually more concerned with how you came to be here," Giles admitted.
"I don't know," Lily shrugged, "I mean one minute there I was talking to Xander- or rather listening to Xander- and poof no more Xander and I'm...well...here"
"Oh," Giles said simply in reply, obviously having no clue what had happened, "Well that is...uh, slightly disconcerting"
"Ah don't worry, Dad,, you'll figure it out," Lily assured him,"You always do. In the mean time can I take a look around? Like Sunnydale and that?" She asked excitedly, the thrill of seeing Sunnydale before she was born, apparently being too much to resist.
"No," Everyone in the room except Dawn told her firmly.
"What? Why not?"She whined.
"Hey you were the one that was going on about consequences," Buffy retorted, "Have you even seen what happened on Back to the Future?"
"Both one and two," Dawn added, "But not three...coz that's just a Western and really isn't anything to do with Marty's parents..."
"Fine," Lily grumbled, "Spoil my fun,"
"So...I'm guessing research mode?" Buffy asked Giles and he nodded in resignation.
"Well, there seems to be no other alternative," He admitted.
"Ooh yay- to the Magic Box," Dawn smiled, but it soon became a frown, "I am allowed to do this research, right?" She checked and Joyce nodded with a smile.
"Yes, this time."
"Yay," Dawn repeated, already standing up and headed towards the door, right behind Lily. "Hey," She said, linking her arm through her younger sister's, "In the future...what I am like? Just generally speaking,"
"You know I can't tell you..." Lily began and Dawn frowned in disappointment, but it soon became a smile once again as Lily added, "...much, but I will say that you do kick ass on the fight front in the future and well...I've always looked up to you"
"Really?" Dawn asked with a grin
"Yeah, in fact...you were kinda like..." Lily seemed to search around for an appropriate word, "...my guide"
"A guide huh? Cool," Dawn nodded with an appreciative grin, clearly very pleased with what she had been told.
"Hello?" Buffy butted in, walking to stand beside them as they walked out the door towards the car, "What am I? Chopped Slayer?"
"You're...complicated,"Lily replied.
"Complicated?" Buffy asked incredulously as she followed the retreating figures, "What do you mean 'complicated'?"
Rupert and Joyce were the last to reach the front door, and they paused a moment to watch Lily talking to Dawn and Buffy. The latter two obviously trying to get her to spill information about the future.
"This is..." Joyce failed to find a word that would describe what was going on, but still, Rupert nodded in agreement. "I mean that's...she's ours...our little girl"
"Yes," Giles agreed, gulping in a way that wasn't quite inaudible and Joyce smiled at him knowingly.
"You like it when she calls you 'Dad' don't you?"
"Do we know what demon busting duty we'll be doing?" Willow asked as she, Xander and Anya reached the Magic Box.
"No, Buffy just said research time," Xander said.
"I thought it was very inconsiderate," Anya added, "She should know that few times I don't spend at the shop are usually spent with Xander and in that case, I do not wished to be disturbed"
"You mean 'we'," Xander corrected, but it was half-questioning, "'we' don't like to disturbed"
"Sure..." Anya half-heartedly agreed, before walking into the store, Xander and Willow following behind her.
"So what's the sitch people?" Xander asked as he saw Giles, Joyce, Buffy. Dawn and a girl he didn't recognize sat at the research table researching their little hearts out.
Everyone looked up in his direction, but the girl he didn't know was the one who looked most excited about their arrival. In fact, in Xander's opinion, she totally geeked.
"Oh my god," The Unknown Girl exclaimed, running over to the three of them, and giving Xander a hug that threatened his supply of oxygen. "I can't believe it- you guys look so different"
She then went on to hug Willow.
"Hi..." Willow said in reply, looking slightly wigged by this sudden attention.
"And oh my god- Anya!" The girl then went onto hug Anya, strangely enough, a lot more enthusiastically than she had hugged the other two.
"Okay, who is this chick?" Xander asked the group at the table, "And how come she knows us and we don't know her?"
"Xander," Buffy said, gesturing to the girl, "Meet Giles and Mom's daughter...in about twenty years. She's here from the future...for some reason."
"What?" Xander exclaimed, looking at the girl with wide eyes. "You're..."
"Lily. Hi" Lily greeted him pleasantly, holding out her hand for him to shake which he took weakly.
"Wow..." Was all Xander could find to say, "Uh...not tweedy at all. Very good." He looked back over at her parents and then back at Lily, "You look like your Mom" He stated simply, clearly having trouble forming his usual clever and witty sentence structures.
"Thank you..." Lily said slowly, obviously concerned about Xander, but instead of asking, she just hugging him again, before hugging Willow once more. She then went on to give Anya another bone-crushing hug, clearly ecstatic to see her.
"Well, clearly I'm better than you two in the future," Anya surmised casually, "No surprise there"
"Hey guys? Now we're done with the hugging- of which, none of us got by the way-" Buffy added, "Could we get on with the research?"
It was an hour or so later into the non-stop research and the group still hadn't found anything that would explain Lily's sudden appearance.
"Uh, my head hurts," Dawn whined, flopping her head down on the table with a loud 'thunk'.
"Well, it will if you continue doing that," Lily quipped and Dawn shot her a glare.
"I can see you've inherited his sarcasm," She guessed, jabbing a finger in Giles' direction and the man in question merely raised his eyebrows in mild surprise at the reference.
"Oh, yeah," Lily agreed, without doubt, "Although that wasn't my best" She added, before rubbing her eyes as though they were sore.
"What's the matter?" Joyce asked, looking at her in concern.
"Oh it's nothing," Lily waved the concern aside, "It's just my contacts are starting to itch"
"Contacts?" Buffy asked and Lily nodded.
"Mm-hmm. Along with Dad's eyes, I also got his eyesight...which, in all honesty isn't the most perfect in the world. I hardly ever wear my glasses though- I got contacts when I was like fourteen" At this comment she gave Buffy an accusing mini-glare that caused the Slayer to start a little.
"What was that look for?" She asked.
"I wanted contacts so badly when I was younger because you and Dawn were all...mocking-y" Lily explained and Joyce looked at her two oldest daughter disapprovingly.
"Buffy, Dawn," She reprimanded, even though they actually hadn't committed the crime yet and wouldn't for years to come.
"This researching is useless!" Xander suddenly exclaimed, slamming his book shut loudly and dramatically, "We got nothing"
At that precise moment a person burst into the store just as dramatically. A person that just happened to be a slightly-out-of-breath Ethan Rayne.
Buffy glared at Xander.
"You realize this is your fault, right?"
Ethan barely took two steps into the store, before the entire group went for him with something akin to murder in their eyes. Anya was the only one who remained seated. She glance over at the group and Ethan with mild interest, momentarily contemplating whether to join them or not. She decided on 'not' and instead picked up a nearby bridal magazine she had been hiding in one of the musty tomes, and began taking notes of anything that would be useful for her and Xander.
"Don't hit me," Ethan immediately said as the group reached him, holding his hands up slightly in defense.
"We're not gonna do that," Buffy assured him menacingly.
"Don't kick the crap out of me either," He added, but Buffy shook her head yet again, "Or...kill me" He said at a stretch, not sure whether the Slayer would go as far as to end his life. On the one hand Slayers don't kill humans, and on the other he'd caused her enough trouble to cause her to possibly see his murder as settling a score.
"I was actually planning on hitting you till you bled," Buffy informed him, already forming a fist, "It's a plan I've been working on for years"
"Years?" He asked and Buffy nodded.
"Yes, because every time you turn up trouble happens..." Buffy frowned in thought, "Oddly enough, usually something involving my Mother...so yes, years"
Ethan frowned himself as he contemplated what Buffy had said.
"Actually that is true..." He said, "Isn't that interesting?" He looked at Joyce and threw her his trademark wicked Aren't-I-Great grin, but found that unlike the first time he'd shown her that smile, this time she wasn't taken in and instead folded her arms to look at him evenly. He looked to see the three girls on her left- Buffy, Dawn and a girl he didn't know- were striking the same stance and expression. "Oh wonderful," He commented, "Matching fierce expressions all in a row. It's all very-" Ethan cut off as, after looking from one woman to the other, his eyes landed on Lily, and confusion flitted across his face. He looked at Lily and then turned his head to Giles, while keeping his eyes on Lily until the last moment. He looked at Giles for a moment, before looking back at Lily once again. Then he looked at Joyce. Rupert. Lily. "Hang on"
It was a little while later and while everyone was still pretty much wary of Ethan in the likely case that he might try anything, they had taken the time to explain the most recent of strange happenings in their life, mainly because he hadn't let up until they'd agreed to tell him.
"So you're..." Ethan looked at Lily with an expression of shock and wonder, "You're Ripper's daughter?"
Lily visibly seemed to be slightly uncomfortable with the use of the nickname, but she nodded anyway.
"From the future?" Ethan asked slowly. Another nod. "Well, this is interesting," He finally said, finding the concept of Ripper having a kid very intriguing. "I wonder who you take after most m'dear- Rupert or Ripper" Lily and Giles both threw him a matching glare that clearly said 'what of it?', "Oh- no reason really," Ethan answered casually, reading their expressions surprisingly well, "Just well, if you are more Ripper inclined- it would be quite an interesting concept in the future. Reliving the good old times and all that. Plus the added bonus of getting your feathers ruffled," Ethan added, nodding at Giles.
"Don't think you didn't try," Lily murmured and Ethan raised an eyebrow in interest.
"Yes, but did I succeed?" He asked in that particularly smarmy way of his that Buffy found out was a sure fire to make her want to hit him.
Lily didn't answer his question, but remained silent as she sat there, which only intrigued Ethan more.
"Okay, I hate to break the getting-to-know-you portion of the program," Buffy cut in, "But what are you doing here Ethan?"
"Well, funnily enough, I think it might have something to do with...with..." He looked at Lily for a prompt and she rolled her eyes.
"Lily," She filled in patiently.
"Right. Why I'm here might have a lot to do with her"
"Meaning?" Buffy asked.
"Well,you see, I was in that delightful town, Los Angeles," He said 'delightful' in a highly sarcastic way, heavily implying he thought the town to be anything but, "looking for a helpful little trinket that grants wishes"
"Wish-granting?" Anya asked, suddenly rapt with attention.
"Okay, honey, little less wish drooling," Xander told her, feeling slightly worried himself that she was still intrigued by that sort of thing. He sincerely hoped intrigued wasn't fast becoming tempted.
"Anyway," Ethan carried on, choosing to ignore Anya and Xander's interruption, "The talisman has a demon contained in it- and it's that creature that grants the wish. Unfortunately, you got there before me," He said looking at Joyce.
"I did?" Joyce asked, eyes wide, "I didn't" Both Rupert and Buffy had told her time and time again not to say the words 'I wish' out loud and she always made sure she didn't. After all, Anya was always there as a constant reminder.
"Well, the evidence is right in front of you pet, as that little bracelet hanging off your bag is the talisman," Ethan told her pointing at the bracelet she had been looking at when she and Rupert were at the arts markets with Connor. Joyce looked at the piece of jewelery, saw it was clearly there when it hadn't been before, and moved away from it slightly as though afraid it was going to jump at her and bite her. But then again, it was Sunnydale so it could happen.
"Mom, you made a wish?" Buffy exclaimed in exasperation.
"You know never, never ever to say the word 'wish'," Anya added, just as urgently and just as exasperated, "Demons are always listening in"
"I haven't wished anything," Joyce said in her defense, but then frowned as her thoughts drifted back to the market.
Lorne may have said the baby would be okay, but Joyce wished there was a way she could know that her daughter would be okay- would be fine, would survive whatever destiny was to be forced upon her.
Joyce shook her head, shaking away her too-deep thoughts and she looked up to see the young woman at the stall was looking at her. Oh yeah, she still had hold of the bracelet.
"Does it count if I said the wish in my head?" Joyce asked and there was a collective groan from the majority of the group that made her feel a little embarrassed.
"If you had hold of the bracelet, yes," Anya told her, "Demons in talismans can tune into human's thoughts"
"I can't control my thoughts," Joyce protested.
"Joyce, what was it you wished for?" Rupert asked carefully and Joyce shrugged in a slightly guilty way.
"Just that I wanted to know if Lily was going to be okay dealing with all the destiny Lorne talked about,"
"Oh..." Lily said, acknowledging the fact that she was here simply because her Mother wished it so. Go figure, "Well, I'm fine," She told her with a perky smile and Joyce couldn't help but give a little smile back.
"So we know how Lily's here," Willow summarized, "But that doesn't really tells us how to get her back..."
"There's something else," Ethan spoke up and Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Something disaterful no doubt," She sighed, "What is it?"
"Well, Joyce wished the First Wish...which means,this uh...Lily, here, is the one powering the demon- giving it enough energy to go off and grant some other lucky beggars some wishes."
"And then what happens?" Buffy asked, "I mean demon-wise I'm assuming it's not going to end with 'and they all lived happily ever after'"
"Well, no..." Ethan admitted, "The demon'd use the energy from the wishes to make him whole again- free them from the bracelet and you can be sure they're decidedly less safe when they're no longer bound to the latest in spring fashions"
"Okay- so wishing equals badness," Lily concluded, "Why do you care?"
"I want to make a wish myself," Ethan replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I planned to make the first wish and then bind the little git before it got carried away, but then your bloody Mother beat me to it"
"Hey," Buffy, Dawn and Lily all protested in a synchronized warning tone. Joyce was quite touched, but then something occurred to her. The kind of thought that revealed to her that maybe she did spend too much time with Rupert when he was on one of his research kicks.
"You said the demon takes the energy from the wishes to, uh, to revive itself?" She asked and Ethan nodded.
"Yes, that's the general idea."
"Does that mean- would it...would it eventually," Joyce struggled to actually say the word- it was made all the harder by the fact she kept remembering how she'd seen Buffy die once before, "Would it eventually...kill Lily?"
"Yes, I suppose so," Ethan agreed, without much emotion.
"We've gotta hurry with this research" Buffy spoke everybody's thoughts as everyone got up and already started heading towards the shelves for more texts that could help them. Even Anya set her bridal magazine aside.
"Quite," Giles agreed, "My strong suggestion is to initially stick to books that are more focused on wishing and bound demons. Then we'll branch out in time travel, Jagar demons- "
"Jagar demons?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow as she took a book off one of the shelves and headed back to the table.
"Demons that survive by draining the energy off of others," Lily told her automatically, the information just reeling off, and Giles could only be described as beaming with pride.
"Well, since you seem to have such a handle of things, I'll just be off- come back later," Ethan announced, already standing up, but Buffy placed a book in his hands.
"No one hates you being here more than I do," She told him, "Except maybe Giles. But while you are here, you're going to be useful"
"I am?"Ethan was skeptical.
"Uh-huh," Buffy nodded firmly, shoving him back down in his seat and he resignedly opened the book he had been assigned.
"Ah-ah!" Giles exclaimed later on, looking up from his book with an expression of accomplishment, "Ah it says here of Lysandria, a demon who wielded the power of the wish back in Ancient times and is the ancestral origin of Vengeance Demons," At this he gave a quick glance to Anya who immediately put on an innocent-as-could-be expression, "She became so powerful, through the magical energy she derived from granting wishes that she became a threat to the other demons and their own positions of power"
"Let me guess- it was them that bound her?" Buffy asked.
"Precisely" Giles nodded
"Well, the girl did say it was an antique," Joyce reasoned, looking at the bracelet from a safe distance.
"I think 'Ancient times' means it's closer to 'priceless', Mom," Lily added and Joyce shrugged in acceptance.
"Well, once the demon- uh, Lysandria- grants enough wishes," Giles carried on, "She will take corporeal form- ah, temporarily. Which means uh, one of two things can occur. One, she ah, once she has enough energy to ah- have some abilities- she can drain the remaining energy from all granted wishes to become permanently whole"
"Meaning me?" Lily asked slowly, but Giles immediately shook his head.
"No, no...well, uh, yes technically, but that's ah- not an avenue we'll be pursuing. I promise"
"I figured," Lily smiled knowingly. Clearly, she was used to Giles getting all stuttery and flustered over uncomfortable subjects, "So, I'm guessing there's other options?"
"Well, of course, once Lysandria's in her temporary corporeal form, she is well, vulnerable"
"So I can get slay happy?" Buffy asked and Giles nodded.
"Yes, but oh for a different phrasing. There's also two other options, one of which is another we won't be pursuing"
"What's that?" Anya asked bluntly and Giles informed her that it was to kill the person who made the first wish, which, since it was Joyce, made it a definite non-answer.
"And the other?" Dawn asked
"Is to bind the the demon back in the bracelet," Giles finished, but Buffy was already shaking her head at that idea.
"Just so another poor innocently clueless person can wish themselves into a hell dimension? No. This demon girl is getting the slice and dice deal"
"What is the binding spell?" Lily asked Giles, seemingly ignoring Buffy's decision, "Is it hard?"
"No, it's surprisingly simple really" He admitted.
"We're not binding it," Buffy said firmly.
"Okay," Lily admitted, while taking the book off her Dad to have a closer look, "But it couldn't hurt to have a back up plan. I mean we don't know how strong this demon is"
"Urgh," Buffy let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that what Lily was saying was reasonable, but really not wanting to admit that, "Oh my god you're not even born yet and already you're doing the annoying little sister thing"
Lily attempted to give Buffy the same innocent expression Anya used but was decidedly less good at it.
"Fine," Buffy grudgingly accepted, before looking around at the others, but mainly at Giles "So if she's free now, any idea how we find this thing?"
"That was easy..." Anya commented as the group reached Weatherly Park, "Except for the part where she could be any of the hundreds of people walking by here"
They had located Lysandria pretty easily- it even made sense, Weatherly Park was a busy place (in the day) and would be full of people unconsciously making wishes- but unfortunately, it had been revealed through further research that she would look just like an ordinary woman. Whether she had a true demonic visage or not was unknown, but they could be pretty sure that walking around the park, she was going to be looking fairly human.
So, the entire group had traipsed to the park. They had dragged Ethan along, mainly for the reason that they couldn't trust him to be left alone without trying something chaotic. They had also initially tried to get Joyce to stay behind, possibly with Dawn, but since it was another daughter involved Joyce had refused to not get involved, and so that meant no one was available to look after Dawn which meant...well, a whole group consisting of seven people and Ethan all stood together at the edge of the park not exactly looking inconspicuous.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Anya has a point," Buffy reasoned.
"Hey, offense taken" Anya told her testily, but Buffy seemed to ignore her.
"We have no clue where this Lissy gal is,"
"Looking for me?" A voice asked and they turned to see a young and pretty brunette stood there, blending in perfectly with the crowd.
Giles and Joyce instantly recognized her.
"You're the, the girl from the stall," Joyce pointed out, "Who handed me the bracelets"
"Wait, how is that possible?" Buffy asked, looking at Giles accusingly, but he truly had no answer.
"Uh, ah, I may have possible misread something"
"Possibly?" Xander repeated incredulously, like 'ya think?'.
"Lysandria I'm guessing," Buffy said, sizing the girl up in front of her. She looked like she could take her, but then again it had looked like she could take Glory. Then another again she had taken her in the end.
"Yes," Lysandria nodded, before looking at Giles and Joyce, "See, I can escape the bracelet for brief moments- perhaps no more than five minutes- at a time. I use that time to find someone appropriate to make a wish. Hadn't been one along in a while- you, my dear, were a gold mine"
"I was?" Joyce asked worriedly and Lysandria nodded with a smile.
"Oh yes, your mind addled with thoughts carrying the weight of the world. You were bound to make a wish- at least think one. I could tell. Just as I could tell there was something that tasted of Slayer on you. That was an added bonus"
"Okay, taste? Icky word to use," Buffy told her, wondering why she so suddenly had found herself falling back into Slaying in the way she had originally enjoyed it (well as much as you could enjoy Slaying). Up until now, despite her confession, she had still been just going through the motions...going through Spike...oh god, bad thoughts Buffy, stay focused. "And second of all- you can 'taste' me on Mom?"
Lysandria looked at Buffy evenly.
"No...though I can also taste Slayer on you...being as you are one," Lysandria smiled a smile that wasn't quite friendly so much as calculating, "She still tastes of Slayer"
"I do?" Joyce looked even more worried than before, but now she was also confused.
"And so do you," Lysandria said, looking at Lily, "Well this is a fortuitous day. Slayers are always an interesting thing to challenge"
"First- Again a word choice faux pas," Buffy told her, "'thing'? We're not things. And second-" She turned to Lily, "You're a Slayer?!"
"Oh god..." Joyce was distraught. Another daughter a Slayer? This just wasn't fair- weren't any of her daughters ever going to live a normal life. It was bad enough with the dangers Buffy faced everyday, but Lily was going to have go through the same thing. Suddenly, an even more distressing thought occurred to Joyce, "Wait, how- if you're a Slayer than either...oh God"
"No, it's fine. Buffy's alive in the future, remember?" Lily said immediately, and hoping no more questions were going to be asked, particularly about Faith, as there were things Lily really couldn't say yet. "Forty-two year old Buffy," Lily smiled, attempting at levity, but failing miserably. She sighed. She hadn't intended for any of them to ever find out she was a Slayer.
"Well, this is uh-" Giles couldn't think of a word that would describe the present situation.
"Fine," Lily filled in pointedly, "Everything is-"
Things stopped being fine as Lysandria, clearly bored with chitchat, tackled Lily to the ground.
"It has to be in a park in broad daylight," Buffy complained to herself as she headed forward, grabbing Lysandria by the collar and threw her off Lily and into a bush, "Couldn't be in a dark alley where no one would see us..."
She then spun around, knocking Lysandria even further backwards with a kick that connected right at the demon's jawline. The demon toppled in the direction of Lily, who much to Buffy's pride was ready and waiting, and roundhoused the demon into a tree. Lysandria seemed far from stunned by the that. In fact she looked hardly effected at all.
"Bugger," Lily cursed, causing Buffy to laugh a little. American accent and British sayings was an interesting mix. Although, now Buffy thought on it a little more, the girl did have a British twang as though maybe she'd spent time with you know the English-inclined, but had been corrupted at an early age by the Scoobies, thus forever preventing her from having an entirely RP accent
The two Slayers battled it out with Lysandria long enough to realize they were evenly matched, possibly with Lysandria having a slight nothing-seemed-to-faze-her advantage over them.
"Dad, Anya, Willow, one of you!" Lily called out as she fell hard on the ground after being backhanded by the demon, "I'm thinking the spell would be a good idea right about now"
"Yeah!" Buffy shouted in agreement as she ducked a punch, "Slaying not exactly a spectator sport here!"
The mention of a spell seemed to distract Lysandria for a moment as worry flitted across her face and Buffy used the moment to deliver a mean left hook that surprisingly knocking the demon unconscious.
"I'm good," Buffy smiled, quite pleased with herself, despite the fact she had as many cuts and bruises healing all over her body as Lily did. She looked around and saw not one person in the park had looked in their direction, "Sunnydale denial strikes again," She murmured as the others headed over.
"Perhaps we should get back to the house," Giles suggested, "I don't think the residents of Sunnydale have a range of denial that goes as far as to ignore a demon disappearing from their sight. Nice roundhouse punch there, Buffy, by the way"
"Thanks I- where's Ethan?" Buffy asked in panic, but was relieved when she saw Xander and Anya holding him back from running away, both of them doing so with minimal effort. It was like old times
"So you're a Slayer and a Watcher?" Dawn asked later on as Giles prepared the binding spell around a surprisingly still unconscious Lysandria in the basement (Clearly, when frustrated, Buffy's punches were more lethal than usual) He asked Willow to help minimally with some of the preparation, which she gladly did, even though she was restricted to circle and rune casting.
"Yeah, pretty much," Lily admitted, but then saw her Mother's worried look and rushed to reassure her, "No, Mom, it's fine. I promise." Joyce still looked unconvinced, "Look it's all good okay? I mean, don't ever worry about it being too much for me. I mean with like both parents Watchers how c-"
"What?" The question was a collective one from the entire group gathered in the basement, and Giles nearly burnt himself on the match he was holding.
"Oh crap," Lily winced as she realized she had unwittingly given away another fact about the future, "Maybe I just shouldn't talk"
"Well, it's ready," Giles announced, standing up straight after preparing the spell with Willow.
"Well, I guess is the goodbye scene then?" Lily shrugged and everyone (excluding Ethan who had been forced to sit on the solitary chair in the room with Xander and Anya keeping an eye on him) commenced the Hugging Ritual, until only Rupert and Joyce were left.
"Well, uh, I kinda don't know what to say..." Lily admitted, "I could say something cheesy or witty or...well, nothing at all. It's up to you really. But given how much I've slipped up while I've been here, I suggest the nothing at all choice,"
It was at this that Joyce pulled Lily into a tight, warm hug.
"Oh, I'm going to miss you," Joyce told her, pushing her away slightly while still holding onto her shoulders so she could look into her unborn daughter's eyes, "I don't know if I can wait to know this person"
"Oh trust me you can," Lily assured her, "I'm an amusing bundle of joy from day one. Promise...more or less anyway"
Joyce hugged her again. They pulled away from one another eventually after each saying that they loved the other, and then it was Giles' turn.
It was true that, despite the fact he had known her only a day, he already had an unconditional love for this girl. However, physical signs of affection such as say, hugging, weren't really his game and he felt quite awkward making for any sort of hug. Lily took the choice out of his hands, when she spontaneously hugged him.
"Love you Dad," She told him, which Rupert found to be the most touching thing he had ever heard and he immediately told her how he loved her in return- it no longer felt awkward, or strange, but very natural. He then realized he was struggling to breathe.
"Remarkably strong," He choked out and Lily gasped in shock, letting go of him.
"Oh- sorry!" She apologized, "I forgot what with- sorry"
"No it's fine," He assured her, but his pained expression said otherwise, "Buffy's done worse"
"Well, should we do the spell?" Dawn suggested.
"Guess so," Lily nodded, before turning to look at Giles, "Let's get me back to the future, Doc"
"Oh marvelous- you've inherited the pop culture gene," He groaned, but only half meaning it.
"Ah, but it's one you knew," Lily countered.
"Erm, the demon's starting to get all wakey-wakey..." Willow informed them, hinting for Giles to get on with the three-worded binding spell.
"Ah right, well,erm let's see, ah- everto exsisto reus"
As usual, a powerful spell was surprisingly anti-climatic and without even so much as a purple puff of magic smoke, Lysandria was gone, presumably into the bracelet that had been taken off Joyce's bag and laid on the floor. Lily was also gone.
"Rupert, she's gone," Joyce said, feeling sad, even though she knew Lily hadn't died and she was meant to go back to the future.
"I know," Rupert said, sounding just as reflective and sad as he walked over and gave Joyce a side hug, that she gratefully fell into as she slipped her arm around his waist and rested her head partially on his chest.
"Well that was something you don't get to see everyday," Xander said, "Even if you're us"
"I liked her. She was amusing in a carelessly blunt way," Anya added with a smile, "I say we bring her back"
Both Joyce and Rupert couldn't help but smile that Anya was voicing their own thoughts.
"Erm, guys..." Dawn pointed out quietly, eventually drawing their attention.
"What, Dawny?" Willow asked, thinking the fifteen year old was going to say something about Lily. Instead Dawn pointed in the direction of Ethan, who they found to be just finishing making a wish.
"Oh my god," Buffy couldn't believe her eyes, "You really do think you're above it don't you?"
"Aren't I though?" He grinned back, feeling quietly confident due to the fact he knew Buffy could do little to hurt him. Sometimes there were advantages to being human.
"No, not anymore, no," Buffy told him and his smile fell, "See, one of the options for stopping this demon was to kill the person who made the first wish and since that's you...I think I can pretty much class it as all for the greater good"
"What?" Ethan yelped, panic now creeping into his voice as he laughed nervously, "Now, now, let's not doing anything hasty"
"I'm not sure exactly," Ethan said, answering honestly for once, "But I suspect if you took her to a doctors they'd have some scientific explanation. A brain tumor more than likely" He said the devastating information with such casualness that Buffy couldn't believe how truly heartless he could be as she felt her Mother silently break down. Buffy tried to keep herself together. Her Mom had a brain tumor? Worse still, Dawn was the cause of it?
"Oh god…" She heard her Mom murmur. Joyce leaned into Giles and he put his arms around her, seeming in control of the situation but Buffy saw the briefest look in his eyes that showed he was very far from in control and was as close to breaking down as her and her Mom. Buffy decided to channel her upset through anger. At Ethan.
"So the hospital could fix this?" She asked him, "The doctors could fix it- so why the hell are you here? Why are you even involved?"
"Well, not exactly," Ethan smiled slightly as he answered, but it wavered when he saw Buffy and Giles both glaring at him, "Well, what I mean is, they could operate on the tumor, but she'll just begin fighting the spell again. Even though she knows the truth now- she'd still be refusing to accept the manipulations"
"I accept Dawn," Joyce told him, "She's my daughter"
"Be that as it may," Ethan accepted, "Your subconscious isn't too keen on the concept and it'd carry on fighting. And the symptoms will reform. Perhaps as another tumor or maybe even a more fatal aneurysm"
"Where do you come into this?" Joyce challenged Ethan head-on.
"I want to help," He told them.
"Buffy, no" Joyce said, before Buffy could cause any damage to Ethan.
"Mom?" Buffy frowned, "Mom, he's just deliberately freed the demon yet again."
"Buffy, please," Joyce said wearily, "Just...don't"
"Yes, listen to your Mother Buffy," Ethan insisted, but quietened when Rupert and Joyce threw him a glare that matched Buffy's.
Joyce looked to Rupert and was greatly thankful to see that the same thought she was having were going through his own mind as well. As horrible as it was to admit, they owed Ethan. Big time. And for that, they couldn't let him be sacrificed for the greater good. They would just have to deal with Lysandria the hard way again.
"Buffy, you can't," Giles said in agreement with Joyce and Buffy sighed in frustration.
"Fine, but what about the wish?"
Suddenly, Anya brought down a heavy object (that revealed itself to be an iron) down on the bracelet, smashing it into a million pieces with a flash of blue light.
"Problem solved," Anya grinned.
"Anya, what did you just do?" Giles asked.
"Well, I figured since you said she's the same kinda thing as Vengeance Demons that maybe destroying the bracelet would work in the same way as destroying our- that is, erm..a vengeance demon's power center."
Everyone looked at her tiredly, sighing collectively and unanimously and silently deciding not to ask why she hadn't suggested that before.
"I miss her," Joyce said the following night as she and Rupert sat together on the sofa in the living room, enjoying one of those rare moments where they were alone in the house.
"Me too," Rupert agreed, "But she's not really gone"
"No," Joyce agreed, "But I think it'll be a long while before she'll be able to talk that fast"
"Good point," Rupert acknowledged.
"Why is she a Slayer?" Joyce suddenly asked, causing Rupert to frown, "I mean , I understand why she'd be a Watcher, that makes sense- but a Slayer? It's not fair and it doesn't make sense"
"While I agree that perhaps it isn't fair," Rupert reasoned, "It does make sense. She inherits it from you"
"What?" Joyce asked, sitting up straight as she looked at Rupert in confusion.
"The Slayer gene passes down through the females in a family, generation to generation. Remaining redundant until a Slayer is called in the family, or at least a potential." Rupert explained to her, "The Slayer in your family could have easily have been your Mother, Grandmother, Great-great grandmother, even you. It's how the Watcher's Council recognizes Potentials before they're called- by their family line. If there has already been a Slayer in a girl's family, it is more of a likelihood that she will be called or is a Potential. It was why Buffy slipped under the Council's radar completely. For one she never emitted any signs of being a potential, but also no Slayers or Potentials have ever occurred in your family before- actively so anyway"
"So...it's my fault Buffy's a Slayer? And Lily?" Joyce asked sadly and Rupert shook his head.
"No, not at all. You must never consider this to be your fault, Joyce, or anyone's. It is their destiny and I'm afraid that is all to be said about it. I am merely saying that for two of your daughters to be a Slayer is undoubtedly to do with the Slayer gene being inherited through your family and this being the active generation," Rupert frowned suddenly, "I suppose the reason for Dawn not being a potential- or at least not to our knowledge- is the fact that she came about by...well, rather unconventional means"
"Well, to quote Buffy 'it sucks'" Joyce grumbled, but curling up to Rupert nonetheless and he chuckled slightly.
"I agree," They were silent for a little while before Rupert finally brought up something he had been pondering about since yesterday, "A Watcher eh?"
"Don't start," Joyce told him firmly, not even looking at him.