g120- oui, full of the intrigue. Hehe. And I'm really touched/glad/many other ego-boosty things that you thought Buffy's confession plans were more touching the cocorific way. And yah, Buffy is messed up- poor Buffy, but she gets a lot better in this chapter. With the laughter and the like. Thank you for the review. :-)

zigpal- yay, my claps. teehee. Thank you for the review, and well, there will be LOTS of changes in the later episodes to come. Lots and lots and...okay, I'm done.

Rabidreject- thanks for the review, I'm really glad you liked the chapter so much. You guys always seem to like the chapters I feel iffy about haha. And you'll soon find out what the big bad is and as for who will die, I will say that at least two people will die in the final chapters, but I am not revealing who. However, I will also say that I love Tara too much to be cruel to be kind. And ooh that good writer comment...beware there, you inflated my writing ego to a dangerous size...hehe. Hope you like this chapteryness.

Sorry it took so long to update guys, but you know what college people are like. They're all over with the essays and the homewotk and the lets make sure the students don't have a social life.

The sun was just beginning to disappear over the horizon when Dawn finally reached her front door after walking home from school. There was a slight January chill in the air that while it hadn't convinced Dawn to put on a coat in the morning, it did make her pull her small shrug a little tighter. Opening the door, she stepped into the comfortable warmness of her home.

"Mom?" She called out, seeing if she was the first home, "Mom?" She walked into the kitchen. The kitchen that was presently filled with crates, "The kitchen is usually...more kitcheny than this"

"Hmm?" Joyce looked up from a pile of papers she'd been absorbed in and finally noticed Dawn had arrived home, "Oh hi hon. How, uh, how was school?" She asked, but while she waited for an answer she picked up a ballpoint pen and returned her visual attention to the papers.

"It was okay," Dawn shrugged, trying to move past the boxes to get a drink out of the fridge, "Except for, you know, the learning part"

"Uh-huh," Joyce nodded, ticking something off on the top paper and clearly not focusing her attention on what Dawn was saying. Dawn attempted to work past this, forced herself even.

"So, it's Buffy's birthday tomorrow," She started a new topic and this one actually got her Mother's attention, at least partially for she did at least look up from the papers.

"Oh yes. Anya's insisting on having a party. Here. And organizing it. Here." Joyce said in a way that suggested she didn't completely trust Anya with this task, as though she expected her to organize male strippers or something equally random and horrifying for the birthday party.

"Well, I'm kinda empty handed on the gift front," Dawn admitted, "So I was wondering whether you wanted to go to the mall and help me pick presents. You know like in an hour or so?"

"What? Oh you should have told me sooner," Joyce said with a sigh, "I can't go tonight. I have all this inventory to go through for the show. And I need to get it done by tomorrow. Couldn't you get one of the others to take you? I mean, I know Buffy's going on patrol, but maybe Tara maybe? Or Anya?"

Later on, Dawn returned home from the mall. She had gone alone. She'd gone to see if the others were available but Giles, Willow and Tara were working on Willow's training, Anya was working at the shop and Xander had been working hard at the planning the shift schedule for his guys at work. So she had gone alone.

And now, she had to sneak into the house to make sure no one heard her return. For if they came to see her, to greet her they would see that the discount she had been using had been of the five finger variety.

Stepping quietly into the kitchen from the back entrance she closed the back door slowly and silently, before creeping along the dining room, into the hall and then up the stairs ever so slowly, making sure to miss the fifth stair which always creaked in a give-away sense.

Finally reaching her room, she sighed in relief as she closed her bedroom door behind her as quietly as possible, wincing when she heard the sound of the wood door pushing against the friction of the carpet.

But she was safe now. She was in her room. And no one had found her out. She headed over to her bed and emptied the stolen contents of her pocket onto the sunshine yellow duvet. The pockets were stolen as well, as were the coat they belonged to. It was Buffy's birthday present. A beautiful black leather coat. She'd love it. Dawn just knew it. Her present would be the best.

"Is there a chemical leak in here?" Buffy asked as she sniffed the air, walking into the kitchen.

"One would presume so, yes," Giles replied, equally offended by the smell.

"Anya's making hors d'oeuvres," Xander explained, pointing out his fiancée, "And your Mom is trying to stop her," He pointed out Joyce, who was indeed trying to stop Anya from making an hors d'oeuvre almost entirely out of mayonnaise.

"You just don't want me to cook," Anya protested, snatching her tray of not-yet-cooked hors d'oeuvres back and opening the oven.

"No, you can cook Anya, you can. Just not...that," Joyce closed the oven door again.

"Stop being so...so kitchen possessivey," Anya told her firmly.

"I am not-"

"Being pregnant is making you not appreciate a highly cultured starter. Clearly," Anya continued, "I've read about how pregnancy hormones can effect women's tastes and appetites. If you weren't all busy being pregnant you would know that these," She gestured at the hors d'oeuvres, "are just fine"

"Anya," Joyce said patiently, thought it was obviously coming to it's end, "I'm pregnant. Not stupid"

Anya opened her mouth in pure silent shock, before looking to Xander for support.

"Xander, tell her."

Not to be out done, Joyce turned to her husband for support also.

"Rupert"

At the sight of both Anya and Joyce looking for support from an equally cornered looking Giles and Xander, Buffy burst out laughing. This caused the two couple to look over at her in reserved shock. Buffy had been coping, even getting along, in recent months but this was the first time since she had been brought back that they actually heard her laugh. Like really laugh. It was something they all found great to see and even greater to hear.

"I'm sorry," Buffy apologized with a smile, clearing her throat to break her laughter, "It's just erm- ahem- please uh, continue"

"It's long past anyway," Anya informed her just as she shut the oven door on the tray of hors d'oeuvres and Joyce sighed in exasperated defeat.

"So who's coming tonight, Buff?" Xander asked.

"Just you guys, Willow, Tara...Spike I guess... and ooh- Sophie from college" Buffy told them

"Spike?!"Giles choked out just as Xander raised an eyebrow and asked "Sophie from college...?"

"Yes, Spike," Buffy nodded, "He's part of the gang... sort of. And yes, Xander, Sophie from College. What? You think I'm like one of those losers who can't make friends outside her tight little circle? No, I'm very friendly. We bonded right away. Peas in a pod"

"That's lovely, sweetheart," Joyce smiled, trying not to be too patronizing, but Anya just went for the obvious approach.

"Really?" She asked Buffy, sounding very unconvinced, "What's Sophie's last name?"

Buffy didn't have the answer.

"Okay, shut up"

"I'm still rather flummoxed over something," Giles admitted, "You say you invited Spike? Why on Earth would you invite him when he clearly-"

Buffy started look uncomfortable and a little unhappy, so Joyce took a hold of Rupert's arm and led him out of the kitchen.

"Come on, we need to check on...something," Improvisation wasn't particularly Joyce's strong skill. As the two left the room, they heard Anya and Xander confessing to Buffy about someone they had invited along to the party for her to meet. Joyce strongly suspected it was a guy someone in which case she was very happy about the spontaneous invite. True, she liked Spike and had no cause to hate him, but while she thought Spike could be very supportive for Buffy right now she definitely wasn't fond of their well, unconventional relationship, so maybe interest in another, human guy would help bring a stop to that madness.

"Joyce, what," Giles seemed to have ran out of interrogatives as she took him up the stairs out of earshot of the rest of the group, "Why does Buffy keep...why is Spike always here?"

Joyce sighed as she pointed for Rupert to go into the bedroom. She followed on, closing the door behind her.

"Rupert, now I'm going to tell you something, but only if you promise to not act over dramatically and over the top"

"Why would I over-react?" Rupert frowned and Joyce decided to come out and say it, even though she had promised Buffy she would tell no one.

"Buffy has...well, she's been having a less than conventional relationship...with Spike"

"What?"

"She's been, well, he's been there for her yes, I suppose, but then I think it began to lead from one thing to another and then well, we all know how Spike feels about her, or how he says he feels about her..." Joyce seemed to almost be talking to herself now as though arguing the point to her other half and Rupert brought her to a stop.

"What? Wait, just, stop uh stop talking. What are you saying is going on between Buffy and Spike?"

"They're uh...they're sleeping together..."

"WHAT?!"

"Shhh!" Joyce hurried to quiet him, "I told you not to over-react,"

"Well, how do you bloody expect me to react?" Giles retorted, "She's been sleeping with... how long have you known?"

"Just a month...or two,"

"A month?" Giles struggled to keep his voice non-shouty.

"Or two..." Joyce added again, "Look, she's not even sure what it all means. But right now, it just- okay, I don't know what the details are exactly and to be quite honest, I don't want to know them-"

"Why didn't she tell me?"

Rupert's question threw Joyce off completely.

"What?"

"She didn't tell me. Why not?" Giles repeated his question, "I always thought she'd be comfortable enough to come and tell me these sort of things"

"Maybe because when it comes to Spike you aren't the most understanding of people," Joyce reasoned.

"Well, it is Spike for God's sake," Giles retorted, "I mean of all- at least with Angel it was bloody understandable to some extent, but Spike? And-"

"See, I knew you'd react like that," Joyce cut him off, "And so does she. And when you get like that-"

"Like what?"

"When you look down on a decision of hers like that, just like you're looking now, you make her feel about this big," Joyce marked out the sized by holding her thumb and forefinger about a centimeter apart.

"I do not," Giles protested, "I always try my utmost to be understanding of-"

"I'm not saying you do it on purpose, but sometimes-"

"Maybe I should ah, talk to her perhaps? Maybe offer some words of-"

"No," Joyce cut Rupert off firmly, "No, you will not say a word about this. For one she made me promise to keep her secret just that- a secret. And second of all- you'll probably just end up placing your foot in your mouth completely,"

"Joyce, I am full capa-"

"Rupert," Joyce's tone of voice was warning, firm and offered no room for negotiation, "Not a word."

As the two came back down the stairs they almost bumped into Buffy who was walking out the door with a young guy who had a sweet homegrown-slash-surfer look about him. Someone they definitely didn't know.

"Hi," Joyce smiled politely before looking at Buffy questioningly.

"Oh, Mom this is uh- erm..." Buffy looked at a complete loss.

"Richard," The guy filled in helpfully and Buffy smiled in relief.

"Richard. And uh, Richard this is my uh Mom and Giles."

There was mutually polite handshaking through out for a moment.

"Joyce," Joyce introduced herself, feeling 'Mom' wasn't quite helpful to Richard who'd never met her before in her life.

"I was just going to show Richard the best place to park his car," Buffy explained realizing how completely lame that truthful explanation sounded, "Erm, Tara and Willow have just arrived. They're in the kitchen. With some other people"

Joyce and Giles both silently thought they knew who the 'other people' were that Buffy was referring to and while Buffy headed outside with Richard, the couple went in the direction of the kitchen.

The kitchen that was presently very cramped. Anya and Xander were where they left them, but they had now been joined by Dawn. Willow and Tara were near the kitchen doorway and Spike was at the door with an unfamiliar someone who looked incredibly like a demon. But surely there wouldn't be a demon invited to the party, Spike not included.

"Who are you?" Joyce frowned.

"And you say I'm blunt," Anya murmured to Xander.

"Oh I'm Clem," The demon smiled, his loose skin wobbling slightly as he stepped forward and held out a hand for Joyce to shake, "We've never met. But I know Spike. And I've met Buffy. Once. But we've never met, no"

"Really?" Joyce smiled weakly as she shook his hand. Clem then shook Giles' hand as well.

"Well, this should be fun shouldn't it?" Clem grinned at everyone, "I'm looking forward to it. Much fun." No one replied, but Clem seemed oblivious to the silence as he looked down at a platter on the side, "Are these hors d'oeuvres?" He asked, before taking one anyway.

"If we go get Buffy now, she can start on the presents. It's been enough time, hasn't it?" Dawn asked Anya and Xander impatiently as they stood in the living room, music playing in the background.

"Not yet sweetie," Anya shook her head.

"I think Buffy's busy right now anyway," Xander added.

"Buffy's making a new friend right now,"Anya informed her, "A grown up friend," At that she and Xander shared a 'secret' smile.

"What?" Dawn asked, "You mean that guy you asked to set her up with?"

Anya and Xander shared another secret, knowing smile.

"It's not like I don't understand why you invited him," Dawn pointed out, "I was there remember? I hear you when I'm in the room, you know. I do understand these things,"

"Yes you do," Anya agreed patronizingly, ruffling Dawn's hair as though she were a ten year old.

"You do know I'm in high school right?" Dawn asked in disbelief, but Anya merely ruffled her again and spoke in that same patronizing tone.

"Yes you are"

"Mom," Dawn turned to her Mother in frustrated exasperation, but Joyce had already left the room again. Dawn sighed in defeat and quiet anger- why would no one stay around long enough to listen to what she actually had to say?

"Uh..." Buffy frowned down at her present from Willow and Tara in confusion,

"See?" Willow pointed out, "It's a battery operated back massager, only it's portable, so you can take it with you on patrol"

"Willow picked it out," Tara explained, though whether this was to give Willow credit for the gift picking or rather to make sure she herself wasn't blamed for said picking.

"It's like instant gratification for all your little achys," Willow added with a grin and Buffy nodded again, before setting the massager aside.

"Okay, great thanks," Buffy smiled, "Okay so your gift's down, Mom and Giles...who's next?"

"Oh, do mine!" Dawn told her handing her a box and Joyce looked at Dawn questioningly- she hadn't told her what she had bought her sister, but at the size of the box she wondered what on earth she had managed to afford on her allowance.

All was revealed when Buffy took off the box lid to find a beautiful, black leather jacket.

"Dawn..." Buffy was completely stunned and clearly touched by the gesture.

"Do you like it?" Dawn asked anxiously.

"It's gorgeous," Buffy told her, inspecting the jacket caringly.

"I was so nervous," Dawn admitted, "I was afraid you wouldn't like it"

Buffy frowned as she came across a not-supposed-to-be-there-discovery.

"It's still got the security tag on," She told her sister, holding it up for her to see.

"Huh?" Dawn frowned also, "That's so weird, I can't believe they left that on..."

"It happens sometimes," Joyce shrugged, walking over to get a closer look at the jacket herself, "We'll just go back to the store on Monday and have them take it off. It shouldn't be a problem"

No one noticed Dawn's extremely nervous look at that suggestion.

"Happy birthday Buff!" Xander suddenly exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention as he wheeled in a beautifully crafted and intricately carved weapons chest.

"Oh my god," Buffy gasped as she, and everyone except Dawn and Joyce rushed over for a closer look at the gift Xander had made personally.

Joyce picked up the box containing the leather jacket and took a seat next to her youngest daughter.

"Dawn, how did you afford this?" She asked, looking closely at the jacket, and feeling the material underneath her fingers. It was clearly high quality, one of the best in fact, which made the fact that Dawn had afforded it somehow even more bewildering, "I mean...I know I didn't lend you any money towards...did Rupert-"

"No," Dawn shook her head, "I uh I-I saw it months ago so I was...uh, so I was saving up for it. I saved up the money"

Joyce nodded in understanding.

"Well, that's not fair," She finally said, "That's your allowance, it's the only money you have. I can't have you going without for months just to buy...I'll pay you back"

"No, it's fine really," Dawn hurriedly said, "I mean if you pay me back...it'll be like you bought it her and I didn't..." She added at a slower pace.

"No it wouldn't honey," Joyce told her, "But if you feel that way, maybe I could just pay half?"

"No, Mom really, it's fine," Dawn assured her but Joyce wasn't convinced.

"Sweetie you shouldn't have to pay so much, you're only fifteen and-"

"Mom,"

Just then, an unfamiliar girl walked in looking very much nervous and very much shy.

"Sophie, hey," Buffy smiled, spotting her friend from college and the nineteen year old seemed to relax.

"Hi," She smiled back.

"We're somewhere between presents and cake," Buffy explained before turning to Xander in panic, "There is going to be cake right?" Xander nodded in confirmation.

"Hey, um, my Mom told me to say thank you right away for inviting me otherwise I forget," Sophie spoke to the entire group, but her attention seemed to remain more or less focused on the one face in the room that was familiar to her; Buffy, "so thank you and also that I can't have any chocolate or peanuts or egg yolks or something dairy"

There was a short moment of silence as everyone took this ramble in.

"I'm sure that'll be fine," Joyce eventually said, Mother instincts kicking in as she headed over to the girl, "Let's just get your coat"

"Is this your friend from college?" Anya asked Buffy in a low whisper.

"Yeah, she's the only one in my catch up class who's not a JD so lay off," Buffy whispered back, "Besides- she works at that Doublemeat Palace place and I'm sure that does things to people. They all have that same vacant stare..."

"You think it may be something supernatural in origin?" Giles asked, picking up on Buffy's thoughtful tone and she shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably not. It's a fast food joint- tends to suck the brains outta people anyway,"

"Perhaps it'd be best to keep an eye on the place though," Giles suggested, "If you suspect something might be amiss,"

"Yeah, I guess..." Buffy shrugged in agreement.

"Dawn, would you close the door?" Joyce asked as she led Sophie to the kitchen to help her get a drink that she wasn't allergic to, "I mean since everybody's here"

"Yeah," Buffy agreed as her sister closed the front door, "We can do official introductions now everyone's officially here"

It was much later on in the night, leading on and way past midnight and the party was still going strong. Sure people were looking a little disheveled and empty plates and cups lay everywhere in disarray but everyone was still up at the house and fully in the party spirit. The only problem now was they had ran out of the thing they call the alcohol.

"No you go," Anya giggled as she sat on Xander's knee.

"No you go," Xander giggled back, poking her in the ribs playfully.

"No you go," Anya shook her head with a laugh.

"One of you bloody go, before I throw up," Giles grumbled from where he was sat and the couple took a moment from the giggle fest to glare at him.

"Okay, it's just a beer run," Willow said, "I'll go"

"I can't really, like, drink beer," Sophie informed them all, "cause you know, Barley, but I'll go with you to get some," She smiled.

"Perfect," Willow nodded in agreement, "Here we go with the beer getting"

Not one single person made an effort to move and eventually Willow slumped her head on the table in defeat.

As Dawn took in this sight and wandered around to look at everyone else and smiled at the fact that no one seemed to be leaving. They were all here, all spending time with her and not dashing off to 'more important' things like they had been doing lately. Even Richard and Sophie had had an actual conversation with her rather than ignoring her like people usually did and the skin demon, Clem, was turning out to be pretty okay. Spike of course was just his usual self, but Dawn couldn't help frowning at the thought of how she had noticed he seemed to be talking to her less than he used to and paying more attention to what Buffy was doing. But she refused to let that drag her off her company high.

"This sucks," Buffy announced in a game of monopoly she was playing with Richard, Anya, Giles and Dawn. "I'm out" She slammed her fake money down on the mini table dramatically.

"I usually like this game," Anya complained, "Bankrupting somebody is always the fun part." She turned to Giles with a scowl, "But you're doing better than I am"

"I am merely..." Giles went to answer with a neutral statement but changed his mind half way, "superior."

"Merely cheating you mean," Anya retorted, "You're a player and the banker. That's the easy street of cheat town"

Giles looked beyond offended, his face an expression of pure shock.

"Anya, just because I am better able at a game of a Monopoly is no reason to fire cheap shots,"

Anya went to retort with an even cheaper shot, but Joyce cut in.

"Okay, time out children," She told them taking a seat next to Rupert and taking the bank money away from him, "I'll be banker. It was the only way I was able to stop Buffy and Dawn cheating when they were little,"

"I haven't been bloody cheating," Giles insisted and Joyce leaned back a little so she could speak quietly in his ear and told him essentially, that she had seen him cheating quite frequently in the past hour. She changed the ear-whisper into a kiss on the cheek so the others didn't know what she had said, or that she had said anything at all, but she threw Rupert a smile that suggested he had better stop defending his integrity if he didn't want her to give him away. "So, Buffy," She said, looking at her daughter, "Are you dropping out?"

"No, no she's not," Richard shook his head at Joyce before turning to Buffy, "We've been playing for, like, three hours. It's already two something. You can't bail now"

"Yes, stay," Anya agreed eagerly, "If I can't bankrupt Giles, I can at least bankrupt you"

"If that's not incentive to stay, I don't know what is," Richard grinned, "Think of it as a challenge"

Buffy smiled and agreed reluctantly to stay in the game, proclaiming that if she got sent to jail, Richard was to be the one bailing her out.

Joyce and Giles both looked at Richard before smiling at each other. Richard was a nice guy, with no supernatural bad links (so far), decent job, and he made Buffy laugh. He was sweet and just the sort of guy the two of them thought Buffy needed, plus there was the definite upside of the fact he had a reflection.

"Hey, maybe we should have a slumber party!" Dawn suggested with a wide grin.

"I don't know..." Buffy shrugged.

"I don't think we have the room Dawn..." Joyce added.

"But everyone's just lounging around here anyway..." Dawn reasoned, smiling a winning smile and her Mom seemed to relent.

"Well, I guess," Joyce looked around at everyone, "I suppose everyone seems to be staying anyway. Might as well make it official"

Dawn couldn't have been happier.

They all had dozed off at some point, though no one in the entire room could remember exactly when. It was early morning and that special kind of light was filtered through the curtains. That morning light that only ever seems to be created after the house has been host to a sleepover. It was a sleepover light.

The living room was a complete wreck with empty bottles and cups everywhere, plates stepped on so many times they were practically part of the carpet, chip debris, empty packets of said potato chips, empty bowls that once held sweets.

Spike and Buffy were sat on the floor, lazily playing cards together. So lazily in fact that the game they were playing was Snap. And that was a very slow version. Rupert and Joyce both woke simultaneously, discovering that at some point in the early hours of the morning they had gained the rights to the sofa, while in even less understandable fashion Willow and Tara had fallen asleep practically in the fireplace.

Richard, the only one of the entire group that seemed fully awake, walked over to Xander expectantly.

"Xander, we have to be at work in a few minutes,"

"Yeah," Xander agreed, but made no movement to even take his eyes away from the cartoon he was watching with Anya, Clem and Dawn.

"Huh?" Willow frowned in confusion as she and Tara finally woke up, "Wait, does everyone know who they are?" Everyone looked at her silently, "Just figure it's a good idea to check"

"I can't be late today," Richard added, as though this would compel Xander to get up.

"What time is it?" Joyce asked everyone, but looked at her own watch anyway. Half eleven. "Rupert, we've got the doctor's appointment in an hour."

"Doctor's?" Dawn asked, immediately concerned.

"Just an ultrasound," Giles explained.

"One in a series of many," Joyce explained further.

"You know, you should definitely go Richard," Spike said, "Let's find your coat. Get you on your merry way"

"Spike..." Buffy said warningly.

"I don't know why I'm not going," Richard admitted, sounding completely flummoxed by the entire affair.

"Me neither," Spike agreed, "'sides, Richie, can't skip breakfast, growing boy like you. Me, I used to love breakfast." He looked pointedly at Richard, "In the olden days I would have probably eaten by now"

"Course with that new diet of yours you wanna be careful what you eat now, Spikey," Buffy said her tone as pointed as Spike's glare.

"Yeah?" Spike didn't sound at all deterred, "Dunno...tummy's making all kinds of grumblies, maybe I oughta just feed on whatever's around, even if it doesn't go down well," He smiled at Richard, "You work out?"

Before Spike could say another word Buffy dragged him up by the arm and dragged him out of the living room into the hall.

"Xander, we really should get to work," Richard repeated, but yet again Xander didn't look too keen to move away from his cartoons.

"If we must have the television on, can't it be a something more substantial than Wild E Coyote?" Giles requested, and Xander rolled his eyes.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked in a politely bored tone, strongly suspecting that he was going to have a request for the late morning news.

"Tom and Jerry perhaps," Giles suggested and Xander grinned.

"That? That I can work," He smiled, grabbing the remote and entering in a few digits. The channel loaded and an episode of Tom and Jerry flickered onto the screen.

Buffy rushed back into the living room suddenly, Spike close behind her.

"Giles; we have a problem"

"There's something keeping us in this house," Buffy concluded a little while later.

"But why?" Joyce asked, "I don't understand what this would accomplish"

"Cutting us off from the outside world- the phones are out and with no way to get outside- it could either make us go mad, homicidal, both or another factor is when we run out of food and we, ah, starve to death" Giles told her.

"That was actually a question that I didn't want you to answer," Joyce informed him, feeling slightly worse now.

"Has everyone tried to get out?" Tara asked.

"What if we, as a group, just get up right now and throw ourselves at the door?" Willow suggested.

"All right," Xander nodded in agreement, "On a count of three. One, two, three"

Nothing happened, in fact, no one even moved from their seat.

"And hence the dilemma" Buffy summed up the situation.

"I really need to go," Richard said, "I mean, I have a job to go to"

"I need to open the shop" Anya added.

"We have a doctor's appointment to get to," Giles informed everyone.

"And then I've got to get to the Gallery," Joyce added on.

"I have a shift at the Doublemeat," Sophie said, before realizing that wasn't the highlight of her day, "Actually, I'm alright here"

"I'm fine too," Clem said.

"Tara, Willow, Buffy- they all have class," Xander finished off the list, "I have to get to the site"

"I know, I know," Buffy nodded in agreement, "We all have places we'd rather be"

"Our first priority is to find a way out of here," Giles told everyone, "Though how we actually go about that I don't know"

"Sure," Dawn agreed in a bitter tone, "Of course you all wanna leave.'Cause being stuck here with me- that would really suck, right?"

"What?" Joyce asked in disbelief, "Dawn, no, of course not. It's just these things we have to get to are really impor-"

"Important, yeah," Dawn finished bitterly as she stood up out of her seat, "Whatever that means, right?" She turned and ran past everyone, up the stairs and presumably into her bedroom.

"Dawn?" Joyce pushed opened Dawn's bedroom door gently, "Dawn sweetie?" She walked into the room followed by the rest of the party guests save for Clem, Sophie and Richard who had remained downstairs.

"What?" Dawn asked, not looking at them, preferring to remain sulking on her bed.

"Dawn, did you, ah, do you know something about why this is happening?" Giles asked carefully.

"Me?? Why would I know?"

"Dawn, we're not mad," Buffy told her, "If you did do anything"

"I didn't!" Dawn yelled back, tension and frustration rising.

"No one's saying you did," Joyce assured, "We just want to know whether you..." She sighed, struggling to verbalize what she was trying to say.

"Whether you might know a reason why it happened," Tara continued, "Even if it wasn't on purpose. I'd like to think that if you did know something you could tell us"

"But I don't know anything!" Dawn yelled back. "I didn't do it!"

"No one's accusing you Dawn," Willow told her, "It just seemed like you were taking it kinda personal down there"

"What? So now you just assume it's all my fault?" Dawn asked them bitterly, "Great, here's me basking in the love"

"Dawn, is something wrong?" Joyce asked, deeply concerned, "Besides the obvious matter of we're trapped in the house...because you've never said anything about... there's nothing going on is there?"

"No, nothing except the fact you all seemed to think I'm to blame!" Dawn retorted angrily causing Joyce to recoil slightly.

"Dawn, we're just trying to figure out what's going on," Buffy said, attempting to calm her sister down.

"Figure it out yourself," Dawn told her angrily, "I'm done being talked to like a kid"

To reaffirm the fact that the conversation was over, Dawn turned on her side on her bed, her back to the entire group.

"Cause you know," Xander carried on regardless, "sometimes you do something that seems like a good idea at the time, like say, invoke the power of a musical amulet. And then it turns out you know, not so much"

Dawn sat up in a rage suddenly, turning to face them all with an angry glare.

"God! I didn't do anything!" She shouted at them, "But I wish I had!"

This got everybody listening.

"Things need to change around here!" Dawn told them all, "Nobody's ever around-"

"Dawn," Joyce began, clearly hurt by this proclamation, "I'm a-"

"No, no you're not. None of you are," Dawn cut her off, "To hell with you guys! I'm glad you're trapped! How else can I get anyone to spend any time with me?"

"Dawn, I spend time with you," Joyce told her, trying to mask her own hurt at Dawn's words.

"And you know you're always free to hang with us," Willow attempted to smile, but the atmosphere of the situation kept it more at a polite wince.

"Get out," Dawn murmured.

"Dawn-" Joyce tried yet again to reach her daughter, but Dawn was having none of it.

"Get out!" She screeched, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

"She's all confusing," Xander stated as the disheartened and concerned group, made their reluctant way back downstairs, "Stay here...go away..."

"I think she's possessed," Anya said simply, taking a seat in the living room.

"That'd be nice," Buffy agreed, "Coz possession? I am really good at"

"She's a teenager," Xander summed it all up and Giles nodded in agreement.

"Which is essentially the same as a possession at times," He reasoned.

"She's a teenager who's been feeling neglected," Joyce added, her forlorn tone revealing that she held herself entirely to blame and Giles immediately picked up on that.

"Joyce, you mustn't blame yourself," He told her, "Dawn is going through a hard time, that is true, but none of us are to blame. This is something Dawn herself has well 'issues' about and I'm afraid that means she's going to have to deal with them herself also."

"Great," Anya sighed, "That means a mopey teenager for two weeks. Maybe more. She can be pretty persistent when it comes to the angst"

"Anya," Joyce reprimanded, but Anya just looked at her with a shrug as though saying 'what? It's true'.

"She was so angry," Joyce was speaking to everyone but she was looking directly at Rupert as though it were only the two of them there, "I've never seen her like that"

"We all got like that though," Buffy reasoned, "Hell, I got like that." She added sheepishly, "A lot..."

"But at least you came to me about it," Joyce replied sadly.

"Hey, I don't wanna keep you all from the touchie feelies," Spike interrupted, "But maybe the encounter group could meet later? Say when we're not trapped in a house?"

"Even if Dawn does know something, she isn't going to help us right now," Tara reasoned, "We need to find another way"

"It seems our best bet is magic," Buffy concluded.

"Quite right," Giles agreed, "I'm at a loss for any other suggestions. I'm afraid we have very few supplies here though- Tara, you may have to just make the best of it"

"I'll see what I can do," Tara nodded, preparing herself for the challenge.

"What is going on?" Richard demanded of everyone while Tara prepared a releasement spell in the kitchen, "We're trapped in a house by what- some unseen force and-"

"Why don't you sit down?" Joyce asked tersely from where she was sat on the living room sofa, her own patience dissolving as Richard paced to and fro in agitation.

"Sit down? How can I sit down when all this weird stuff is going on? I mean those chicks are doing some freaky voodoo thing in the kitchen and then there's that blond guy over there-"

"Spike," Spike filled in simply and helpfully.

"Who let's face it- is just creepy, and then that-" Richard turned to point at Clem, "I don't think that's a skin condition"

"Pacing isn't going to change any of that," Joyce told him, "Just sit down. You're giving me a headache"

She rested her head in her hands in frustration and Rupert went over to her in concern.

"Are you okay?" He asked and she lifted her head to look at him wearily.

"I'm fine...I just, I don't do so well in confined spaces," She informed him, "Especially ones that contain lots of people"

"You're claustrophobic?" He translated and she nodded.

"A bit, yes"

"We'll get out of here soon, I promise" He told her, instantly reassuring her, believing his own words.

"I know," She managed to smile. "I'm okay...mostly"

"Try the door!" They heard Tara call from the kitchen.

Spike tried as hard as he could, the strain of the attempt evident on his face, but he couldn't step forward, couldn't even reach for the door knob and he sighed in frustrated defeat.

"Nope." He called back, "Can't."

The silence of disappointment lasted a second before the sound of the loud roar of a sword-wielding demon broke into the air. He charged at the group near the door, charging past Rupert and Joyce without a moment's notice, swinging his sword towards the pacing Richard who collapsed in pain as the weapon sliced across his stomach.

Willow, Xander, Tara and Buffy came running in from the kitchen in time to see the demon swinging around the now bloodied sword. Buffy tackled him, running him into the living room where Rupert grabbed Joyce's hand and immediately pulled her away from the danger zone, into the hall where the others were. As Buffy tackled the demon to the floor however, the demon disappeared into the floorboards, taking his sword with him and everyone looked around in panicked confusion. That soon turned into simple panic as the monster reappeared behind Buffy and sent her flying into an almost-ready Spike, before the monster yet again disappeared from sight as it melted into the wall.

The sound of Richard groaning in pain broke into the shocked silence.

"Someone uh, we need to get him upstairs," Joyce said as she tried to see if the man was okay. She pulled his hand back away from his wound gently and she wasn't the only one to gasp as she saw the gushing blood there, "Oh god...he needs a doctor"

"And we'll get one. Soon," Buffy told her, and by extension everyone else including Richard, "Trust me, we'll be out of here soon okay"

It was coming up for the early hours of the following morning and they still hadn't escaped the house and Rupert and Joyce were on Richard Watch. The Richard who at the moment wasn't looking well at all.

"He's just getting worse," Joyce said as Rupert re-entered the room, "The bleeding only stops for moments at a time"

"I know," Rupert nodded, taking a seat beside his wife, next to what was usually their bed, and she leant into him, grateful for one moment where she didn't have to be entirely strong and self-reliant, "Sophie's not coping too well downstairs and Anya...she has a lot worse case of claustrophobia than you can claim to. Xander can barely calm her down"

"What's keeping us here?" Joyce asked, sounding completely helpless.

"I don't know," Rupert was just as without answers, "I don't know..."

"We missed our appointment, the phones are cut so we can't call them or anyone else for that matter," Joyce listed off, "Richard needs a Doctor urgently, Dawn isn't talking to me and then there's this, this demon who can just appear from anywhere a-and... God, it's too much. I need to get out of here. We have to get out of here"

"I promise everything will be okay," He told her, even though he couldn't be sure it would be, "I won't let anything happen"

"I wish I could believe you," She told him softly as he put his arm around her soothingly, and he knew not to take offense in her words- she was just stating a horrible truth.

Suddenly, there was the sound of loud rustling from the room next door- from Dawn's room, as though someone were ransacking it. The couple got up,leaving Richard temporarily to see what was going on.

They entered Dawn's room to find Xander stood near the doorway helplessly while Anya rooted through all of Dawn's things feverishly.

"Anya, what are you doing?" Joyce demanded just as Dawn and Buffy came in behind her.

"She knows something," Anya said repeatedly, sounding completely crazed, "She does, I know it. We have to find out what"

"Ahn," Xander pleaded, "If you just stop for a second"

"Hey, stop that" Dawn said, stepping forward, sounding slightly panicked.

"Anya no" Buffy protested, "It wasn't her fault" she told her, but Anya wasn't listening.

"Where is it?" She asked as she reached for Dawn's jewelery box, opened the lid and poured the contents out onto the floor. Contents that still carried their tags. Their Magic Box tags.

There was a silent intake of breath as the implication of this evidence sank in. Anya dropped to her knees, grabbing the stolen items in her hands.

"How could you do this?" She sounded terribly wounded and hurt as she turned to look at Dawn.

"Dawn..." Joyce just sounded disappointed, while neither Buffy, Xander or Giles had anything to say though they also shared expressions of hurt and disappointment. "From the Magic Box as well..."

Dawn, unable to deal with so much disappointment, ran out of the room, but Anya- with the Magic Box items still in her hands- was hot on her heels and she and the others all followed Dawn down the stairs.

"I work hard at the store." Anya said, sounding too hurt to be overly angry, "And Giles as well. He looks after you, he's your stepdad. Is this how you repay him? Repay us for all we did for you?"

"Anya hold on," Buffy said, stepping forward, "Just tell her you didn't do this Dawn. Tell them it was a mistake"

Buffy was clutching at straws and she knew it. As much as her Mom was presently falling apart as was Giles, the two of them knew what they had seen. They knew Dawn had been stealing from the magic shop. Buffy turned away and her eyes fell on the leather jacket on the sofa. The one Dawn had 'bought' her.

"Oh god..." She breathed as the realization came to her.

"Dawn, how could do this? To Rupert and to Anya?" Joyce asked, pleading for some explanation as she too glanced at the leather jacket and made the obvious connection. "If you've been...Dawn, how can I, how can we trust you anymore?"

"You say you didn't put us here," Anya said, "But look at this stuff- how are we supposed to believe you?"

Buffy, though she was clearly still very hurt, defended her sister.

"No, it wasn't her," She told her and therefore everyone else, "I think it was her guidance counselor. Or someone pretending to be one. She got Dawn to make a wish"

"Guidance counselor," Anya sighed, "You made a wish to someone you've never met before?"

"I have a strange sense of deja vu," Giles admitted sarcastically, as he was reminded of a certain incident with Anya a couple of years ago which had resulted in a vampire double of Willow being summoned to Sunnydale.

"Did she wear a pendent," Anya asked Dawn, "With a blue stone?"

"And little red flecks..." Dawn added sheepishly as she realized what she had done.

"For crying out loud," Anya said in exasperation, before calling out "Halfrek!" She looked at everyone to explain, "It's Halfrek. A vengeance demon. You made a wish to a vengeance demon. Only a vengeance demon can undo her own vengeance spell, nothing else will work. She's the only who can get us out. Hallie, get your ass down here!"

Halfrek, in full demon face, attire, appeared in the middle of the living room dramatically.

"You rang"

It was the next morning and the house was blissfully empty save for the Giles/Summers family. Dawn was sat in the middle of the sofa, while her Mom, Giles and Buffy sat around her.

"I just wish you had come to me," Joyce said.

"I wanted to..." Dawn murmured, "But..."

"But what?" Her Mother asked, but her daughter was reluctant, "Dawn, you have to tell us sweetie. I think last night proved why"

"You all seem to be well, not not around, but not there," Dawn admitted, "I'd come to talk to one of you and you'd be...I don't know. Buffy's with her friends or patrolling or you two," She looked at Joyce and Giles, "Your attention's always on the most recent Lily update o-or...the other the day the two of you were just dancing in the living room"

"Dancing?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow, almost bursting out laughing.

"That's besides the point," Giles informed her, before turning to Dawn, "Dawn, are you suggesting that what qualifies as spending time with you is in fact neglecting to have lives ourselves?"

"No...not exactly..." Dawn murmured.

"Because that seems to be what you're asking of us," Giles admitted.

"Honey, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I thought I was neglecting you. I don't understand why you don't see that," Joyce said, "You are always my priority. But you have to understand that that doesn't mean I'm constantly focused on you entirely. I do have other responsibilities. Lily is one of them yes. And Buffy, the Gallery, Rupert...all these are other priorities in my life- just like Buffy and Rupert also have theirs. But that doesn't mean that you aren't one of them"

"Dawn, you have to tell us these things," Buffy said kindly, "Because well, in our life they tend to turn a kinda supernatural nasty rather than just your average fester zone"

This prompted a little smile from Dawn.

"So we're good?" Joyce asked, even though she knew it would be a long time before it was completely true "You're okay now?"

Dawn nodded.

"Good," Joyce smiled, giving her daughter a hug, "I hate to see you upset. Any kind of upset. You know that."

"Now, we do have an even more serious matter to discuss," Giles announced and Dawn immediately looked down at her lap in shame. "Now, I am not going to request you explain what prompted you to steal from mine and Anya's store, but what I- and consequently Anya also- do request is that you make up for it in some way, pay us back if you will"

"How?" Dawn asked warily.

"Working at the store I think will suffice," Giles informed her, "Your Mother and I have worked around your school timetable and a schedule for homework to allow the majority of the rest of your time to be focused on working at the magic shop"

"As for the items from the others stores," Joyce said, "You are going to work with Buffy and I to return all said items and apologize personally to each owner or manager of each and every store"

Dawn nodded, knowing she couldn't argue as she was fully in the wrong, but she couldn't help feeling the months ahead were going to drag at an embarrassingly slow speed.