zigpal- Thank you for the review, and as always my clap dosage and you like my take more than Joss'?! That comment just blew me away (not that I'm dramatic or anything...oh no, not at all)- it was just such a big compliment. Thank you. And trust me, there's biiig changes on the way. biiiiig. hehe.

rabidreject- Thank you and yeah, I felt they needed a family moment. and yes two flatlines. And you'll never guess who. never, never, never. .::laughs childishly::.

A/N: Oh my god, it's taken me a whole week to update! Damn college. Making me write essays. I mean are they beneficial to anyone, at all? Really? Anyway, so sorry for the long wait and I'll try to update sooner next time. yeesh. Hope you like this chapter guys.
Dawn wandered into the kitchen, a bright smile on her face since it was Saturday and that equaled mall trip with her friends, and absolutely no school, or in fact anything educational. When she reached the kitchen though she saw Giles was the one making breakfast and her Mom, the usual breakfast maker in the house, was sat at the island, her head slumped down on the table as though she wanted to block out the entire world.

"Mom?" Dawn questioned, but Joyce didn't answer so Dawn looked to Giles for an answer, "Is this another pregnancy thing?"

"Your Mother's depressed. Temporarily at least," He answered and Dawn frowned.

"What do you mean? Why?"

"Today is the day she's realized she's going to have to buy maternity clothes," Giles explained gravely and Dawn frowned yet again.

"But what's she been wearing till now?"

"I've just been going up a size," Joyce, now sat up, answered, "But now the bump's got to that point that if I go any further sizes up...the shoulders are all big and loose"

"So what's the big?" Dawn asked, "Buy maternity clothes"

"But they're all...frilly," Joyce half-whined.

Dawn managed to suppress a laugh "No they're not"

"Yes, yes they are," Joyce insisted, "Pink and frills...and things for... twenty year old cheerleaders"

"The conclusion is we're going, ah, shopping today," Giles said, suppressing his own laugh as he served Dawn a plate of pancakes which she greedily took.

"Stop finding it funny," Joyce told him, catching the smile he was trying to cover up. "I mean this is all- oof," Joyce winced slightly,putting a hand to the bump that was presently, in her opinion, the cause of all the world's problems.

"Joyce?" Giles frowned in concern.

"It's fine," She told him, "It's just, she's been moving and kicking a lot lately."

"Really?" Dawn grinned, "That is so cool"

"No," Joyce shook her head, "Not cool. For all of you it's 'cool'- you just get to feel it from the outside occasionally. It's me she's kicking, from the inside, constantly."

"This is one of those days isn't it?" Dawn whispered to Giles, "Where everything is all complainable?"

"I think so," Giles sighed, "Perhaps it would be best if you-"

"Stayed out of the war zone?" Dawn finished, "I'm thinking yeah"

"Stop talking about me as though I'm not here," Joyce complained, "I'm pregnant, not deaf"

"Okay, the mall is calling to me," Dawn told her Mom, "I promised I'd meet Janice and the others in a bit so...I'm...uh...bye!"

Dawn rushed out of the kitchen before her Mother could protest and she bumped directly into Buffy, who was sleepily heading towards the kitchen, still in her pajamas. Dawn didn't bother to warn her of the danger zone that was currently their Mom.

Buffy naively walked into the kitchen, heading directly for the fridge where she knew there was a carton of OJ with her name on it.

"Morning all," She greeted them briefly, figuring that was enough communication for first thing in the morning.

"Buffy," Joyce said, looking over at her daughter and pushing a too-shiny magazine open at the middle page across the island towards her, "What do you think of those?" She asked in a non-biased, attempted-neutral tone.

Buffy grabbed her orange juice carton and a glass before leaning over to have a look at the pictures her Mother was showing her.

It was a catalog magazine and the page was filled with items abundant in pinks, lemons and tassels and frills. It was all way too girly for Buffy's liking.

"Wicked frilly," Buffy shook her head in distaste and Joyce turned to look at Giles.

"I told you!" She said to him, essentially saying 'aha!', "I'm not a frills person. And I don't wear pinks. Or lemons. blues...reds...whites yes- all colors that don't make me fade into the wallpaper. But no pastels."

"Did I miss something?" Buffy asked in confusion.

"Maternity clothes," Giles explained with a sigh, knowing this was going to set Joyce off on another rant.

"These are what I'm expected to wear!" Joyce exclaimed, jabbing her finger on the pictures of the offending items.

"Mom, it's okay," Buffy attempted to calm her Mother down. Joyce was usually such a calm, even minded person, who even when stressed beyond belief was able to keep her Mom Cool and deal with things rationally. However, Buffy found that the further Joyce got in the pregnancy the less rational and calm she had become. "Look, these aren't the only maternity clothes. I mean sure they're the only ones in Sunnydale...but erm...maybe Willow could do some shop search online? Frill-less maternity clothes delivered straight to your door"

Her Mother's expression was so filled with hope, Buffy struggled to keep a straight face. "You know what? I'm off to see Will and the gang in a hour so I will have a little chattage with her and erm...see what we can do. Erm, till then...make the best of a frilly situation?" Buffy suggested with a wince and as Joyce sighed in frustrated and depressed defeat at this frill reminder Giles looked as though he really wanted to throw something at Buffy.

After Buffy had walked out of the kitchen- or rather fled for fear of having to use her Slayer reflexes to defend herself- Joyce turned to look at Giles.

"Will you still love me when I'm frilly?" She asked, so earnestly asking the question, she herself hadn't realized how ridiculous it sounded.

"Always," Rupert smiled, giving her a brief yet tender kiss before taking a seat beside her at the island.

"How did we get here?" She asked suddenly and Giles frowned in confusion.

"Pardon?"

"We never intended to go this far did we?" She asked him, looking into his eyes, "When it started out...it was just meant to be some fun. Albeit somewhat needed fun, but...still just fun. I know a serious relationship hadn't been on the agenda...and I personally had no plans for anymore children. I mean one was enough. Two. One" Joyce shook her head in confusion, "Sorry...it's just the further along I am in this pregnancy the more the non-Dawn memories seem to keep re-affirming themselves"

"Really?" Rupert asked, suddenly deeply concerned, "And that's happening a lot?"

"Not a lot a lot," Joyce answered, "But sometimes...," Before Rupert could express any further concern over this information, Joyce carried on, "The point is I'd been there enough to know that well...sometimes you don't always find Love...or even flowers. Time's pretty much for just finding something that makes you happy"

"But...?" Rupert prompted.

"But here we are over three years later and we're so 'serious' that it's still surreal," She sighed a reflective sigh, "How did we end up here?"

"I don't know,"He answered honestly, "I really don't know"

The two sat together in comfortable silence for a while, before Giles spoke up.

"Was that a clever and touching way to make me feel content so as to ensure I won't remind you of the shopping duties you have to fulfill today?"

Joyce was silent.

"So Mom's pretty much a war zone right now," Buffy explained to the gang as they all gathered together at a too-small-for-so-many-of-them table at the Espresso Pump. "I rushed out as fast as I could to see you guys and Dawn's at Janice's. Thereby leaving all responsibility and war-yness to Giles, where it belongs."

"Darn tootn," Willow agreed with a grin, before taking a big slurp of her Frappacino that caused several other customers at the Espresso Pump to look over at her in distaste and she blushed.

"S-so your mom is just upset about clothes?" Tara asked, as though to straighten the facts out for herself and Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, that and other things. I have a strong feeling Giles is next on the list."

"Ah the complicated bliss of married life," Xander commented, inwardly laughing at Giles' predicament.

"Of which you will get to experience for yaself up close and personal soon," Willow grinned as she took another, more silent, slurp of her drink and she was sure she saw Xander gulp at the thought.

"Where is Anya?" Buffy asked as the ex-demon was the only one absent from the Scooby coffee gathering.

"Where else?" Xander asked in reply, "The Magic Box. Can't let those profits go to waste!" Xander grinned, though it was strained, "Actually later on we've gotta pick up my relatives and her demons at the airport"

"Demons are taking the plane?" Tara frowned in genuine confusion.

"No," Xander shook his head, "These are your more traditional demon teleporters"

"Of course," Willow nodded in mock seriousness, before turning to Buffy, "Tell your Mom I'll have a look online tonight. If I get any good sites I'll send them her way"

"Much appreciated," Buffy smiled thankfully, "Personally I'll just be glad when this whole nine-month deal is over and I can have like normal Mom back. Mom two point oh is just a little too...unpredictable. And lately," She looked at her friends pointedly, "She's been worse than Dawn for whining"

There was one good thing about this trip to the Mommy-to-Wear store. One thing. And that was that Joyce was seeing the funny side of things again and was no longer complaining, but actually fighting to keep back a laugh. The downside for Giles was that he was actually there at all.

Not many husbands actually did go on the maternity wear shop with their wives, but due to the crazy unpredictable mood Joyce had been in lately none of the girls had been willing to go with her, and Giles knew for sure that Joyce wouldn't have gone alone since she didn't want to go at all in the first place, so he himself had stepped up to the challenge and offered to go with her himself.

And now he was being lectured on some parent related topic by one of the shop clerks as she piled clothes options for Joyce into his arms. He felt and looked ridiculous.

And it was this that Joyce seemed to be finding so funny. She of course wasn't being given any clothes by the clerk and in fact even had a seat to sit down in while she watched Giles in amusement.

"Ah, I don't think we quite need these," Giles tried to inform the shop assistant but she wasn't quite listening, "Especially as Joyce isn't entirely keen on-"

"I think we have enough to look at for now," Joyce said to the clerk, throwing Giles a life preserver he was heavily grateful for and he sighed in relief as the shop assistant reluctantly left to help (or rather pester) somebody else.

"I deem this highly unnecessary," Giles announced, dropping the pile of clothes onto a nearby chair and as Joyce got a closer look at them she gave the items a look of pure disdain. They were undeniably frilly and so very not-Joyce it was unbearable.

"I am not trying those on," She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Yes you bloody well are," was Rupert's instant reply. After listening to the clerk rant on to him about things he shouldn't have Joyce doing- such as drinking caffeine, eating any pork products, standing on her feet for periods longer than ten minutes- while giving him item after item to hold, he was damned determined that Joyce was going to try on the clothes for his patient efforts. However at this comment Joyce just threw him a challenging, unimpressed look that clearly said 'what did you just say? Do you dare repeat it?'

"Please Joyce," He said in a gentler tone, "We don't have to actually buy any...just an effort to be ventured perhaps"

Joyce nodded reluctantly, but still looked unhappy as she glanced over at the empty changing rooms that at least were private enough to have doors with locks rather than a curtain to pull across.

"It's just..."

"Just what?" Giles asked, crouching down on the floor so he was eye level with Joyce.

"Over five months ago, if we'd had an option to go into a changing room like that you'd have dragged me in there and had me half way to Happy Land by now," Joyce sighed, "Instead you have me trying on clothes that Laura Ashley would be ashamed of"

Giles was thoroughly taken aback. Joyce's comment could not have been more unpredictable and he had no idea why she had suddenly thought to bring sex into the entire thing. The doctor had told Giles that the further along in the pregnancy Joyce became the stronger the tendency would be to have mood swings. He hadn't however warned him of how random and unpredictable Joyce's chosen topics of conversation would become. Then again, it was better than what the Doctor had also warned him about- something that was sometimes referred to as Pre-natal depression, when the later stages of pregnancy cause the mother to become extremely down and depressed. Somehow, he thankfully didn't ever see Joyce going that way.

"Let me understand this," Giles said slowly, "You're not so much upset because of the clothes you have to try on, but rather...because I won't have sex with you in a public place?"

Joyce averted her gaze so she didn't have to look him in the eyes.

"Maybe...no," She answered, "I don't know."

"Joyce, we're not teenagers anymore- even temporarily," He said to her, "I don't think we would-" She just gave him an even look, "Okay maybe sometimes, under certain circumstances we would have, but things change-"

"Exactly," Joyce suddenly agreed but it was an unhappy agreement, "...you don't find me attractive anymore"

Anya had warned him about this. Anya of all people.

"What? That's ridiculous" Rupert told her, "How can you even say that?"

"Isn't that what you think?" She asked him, her eyes searching and Giles saw an insecurity there he hadn't known existed and somehow he thought he understood.

"Joyce, when you were pregnant with Buffy...did Hank...?"

"He wandered," Joyce admitted quietly and tightly, "If that's what you're asking." She sighed, "He tried...but he was...he could be quite shallow. And when I put on weight he found it very hard to keep his attentions away...from slimmer parties so to speak"

"Joyce, I would never- I could never-" Rupert struggled to say what he was trying to without it sounding too cliché or accidentally empty so instead he settled for the more obvious approach to showing he still found her attractive- by kissing her fiercely on the mouth. The sudden contact caused Joyce some surprise and she didn't immediately open her mouth in response, but a split moment later and she closed her eyes, engaging fully into the kiss that was so involved that Joyce thought Rupert was giving it as a replacement for changing room sex. And in fact when she eventually pulled away she was slightly out of breath.

"Most people prove a point with words," She half-smiled, attempting to lighten an overly serious moment, but he could see there was relief in her eyes. The only thing he didn't understand was why that relief needed to be put there in the first place.

"I still don't understand why the point needed to be proven," He told her, "I..." He trailed off as the couple suddenly developed the intense feeling of being watched and they glanced around to see a couple of nearby customers and shop assistants staring at them, no doubt since their impromptu kiss-a-thon. "Erm," Giles cleared his throat self-consciously, "This is a, uh, private conversation if you will"

"Try having it somewhere private then," A woman immediately retorted and Giles sighed, resigning to carry on the conversation regardless and hope the small crowd would soon lose interest. As he carried on talking, he found they thankfully did.

"Joyce, I don't understand how you can think for one moment that I'd-"

"Do we have to buy the clothes?" She asked, cutting him off mid-sentimentality.

"Pardon?"

She leaned over to him, speaking in his ear in a quiet, conspiratorial way.

"Can't we just leave? And leave them behind?"

When he looked at her questioningly, as though to double check he understood what she requested, she merely smiled back at him, so much more relaxed than she had been the past couple of days. Was that really what had been on her mind all this time? That was all that had been plaguing her thoughts? That he didn't find her attractive anymore? God, the divorce had done so much more damage to her than she ever let on. There were insecurities there that she seemed to keep almost permanently hidden, ones he himself wasn't even to know about. How could one single man cause another person so much...pain? Giles knew that he himself had caused Joyce enough unnecessary pain over the years, things he was eternally regretful for, but he was sure he hadn't marked her with the emotional insecurity...scars that Hank had evidently left behind.

"Why not?" He finally said in reply, shoving his complicated and overtaking thoughts aside and Joyce smiled thankfully at his agreement.

"Thank God," She rolled her eyes, "Let's go,"

As the two slid into the seats of the car that had been waiting patiently for them in the car park, Giles realized he couldn't let the mini confession in the store go. Not starting the car, he turned to Joyce with purpose and she frowned in confusion.

"What?" She asked bluntly.

"Joyce-"

Joyce knew he was going to bring something deeply serious if he was saying her name in that way. Every time he started a serious or deep topic of discussion with her, he always started with her name and it was always in that same tone. She sighed and waited for him to continue.

"-why do you keep thinking things of me such as what you what mentioned in the store?"

"Huh?" Joyce frowned further, she couldn't even make sense of the question she'd been asked.

"It's just that, it simply appears that you, at repeated times in our relationship, seem to suddenly and unexpectedly expect the worst of me" Rupert explained.

"No, I don't, of course I don't," Joyce immediately protested, but Rupert shook his head in argument.

"Yes you do," He told her, not wishing to bring up examples but being forced to nonetheless, "At Buffy's prom you seemed to question whether or not I would be 'staying around', when Olivia arrived at my flat a couple of years ago you immediately feared the worst- not to mention you felt quite uncomfortable not knowing about my life in England in a way that now I reflect upon it wasn't just simple interest." Rupert saw that Joyce was no longer looking him in the eye, but rather gazing down at her own lap, "so...why?"

Joyce didn't answer. She just remained silent, staring into her lap, or the part of her lap that wasn't obscured by the bump.

"Joyce...?" Giles prompted kindly and she sighed in resignation.

"I-I have...trust issues, okay?" She finally told him, but apparently Rupert didn't deem this a suitable enough answer.

"I had gathered that much, the question is why...with me? I admit I haven't been the most perfect of-"

"No, you've been great," She interrupted him immediately with reassurances, "You've been wonderful"

"Then, why...?" Rupert questioned, not actually being fully sure of the question he wanted to ask, but the look Joyce gave him gave him the answer anyway and he sighed, "Joyce...you can't. You can't keep comparing and contrasting me with Hank. It isn't simple and it doesn't work that way. Not to mention it's slightly unfair on me" He added.

"I can't help it," She told him, voice slightly louder as her emotions ran a little higher, "Some part of me always..." She exhaled, unaware that she had been holding her breath in the first place, "I think...that maybe that is, how my marriage with Hank went, is how marriages go, no matter what I do. Or maybe it was me that made the marriage go that way-maybe I wasn't enough, maybe I didn't...and...and," She couldn't look Rupert in the eye, "And I compare constantly to make sure..." Another world-weary sigh, "to make sure that I'm not, I'm not making the same mistakes again. That you and I aren't going down the same path as me and Hank"

For a moment, Rupert simply didn't know what to say.

"Joyce, I won't pretend to understand in the slightest why you believe anything of what happened with Hank was your own fault. You've always been a wonderful Mother to Buffy and Dawn, and at the slight risk at sounding entirely cliché you can't be anyone but yourself in a relationship...and if that wasn't enough for ah, for you and Hank then it's through no fault of your own" Rupert tried to catch her eye but she would only glance up for a second before looking back down at her lap, so he continued anyway "Now, I'm not going to lie and say marriage isn't hard or without its struggles and difficulties as we both know that isn't true. But I will say that no matter what happens to us, we won't go the 'same way as you and Hank'. We won't."

"But-" Joyce began to protest, but looking into her eyes so she felt unable to break eye contact, he spoke over her.

"We won't," He insisted, "i would never, ever uh, ah-"

"Cheat?" She filled in and he nodded.

"I would never cheat," He assured her, "And as for attraction, I'm afraid I will have to admit that even if we do end up going our separate ways, I doubt I would ever cease to find you attractive"

She smiled a small smile that she couldn't hold back and he returned it, glad he had reassured her and cheered her up in the process.

"Believe me, it's what caused me trouble in the past," He added and she looked at him in interest.

"What do you mean?" She asked, keen for details.

"Well we did meet a considerable amount of times before we ah, had 'our first night on the town' so-to-speak. And the fact that you were ah, pleasant to one's eye did not escape my attention...unfortunately"

"Unfortunately?" Joyce teased and Giles saw all the worries of before brushed away completely, it was a complete transformation. One he sincerely hoped would never transform back.

"Well, I have to say it did make me decidedly uncomfortable considering your daughter is the Slayer. I dreaded her ever finding out I had ever given you so much as the eye," He admitted and Joyce smiled even wider.

"She does instill that fear in people," She agreed, "I thought it was a Slayer thing, but erm...Dawn has the same ability"

Giles didn't bother to mention that maybe the edge of unvoiced threat was in fact A Joyce Thing.

"Well, I suppose we both have jobs to get to," He finally said and Joyce sighed.

"Guess so." It wasn't that she didn't want to go to work, rather she didn't want to have to go to work, "Work, Parker," She smiled in a British Accent that caused Rupert to raise an eyebrow.

"That was rather good," He informed her as they pulled away from the maternity wear store.

"It was only two words," Joyce reasoned, "And I hear you talk often enough"

"I'll choose to not take that as an insult," He told her semi-lightly, while thinking to himself that even though he knew Joyce's marriage worries, would unfortunately never leave her, he hoped they were no longer at the forefront of her mind.

Darkness had fallen when Giles finally made his way home. He'd been at the shop till the very final hours due to the fact Anya had left with Xander for the airport to pick up some of his relatives and apparently, some of her demons also. Giles didn't like to think on that fact too much as it gave him a feeling of intense dread related to the wedding. He just couldn't see how things could go smoothly when one invited soulless, bloodthirsty demons to the reception, it just didn't work. The entire concept was making his whole world and it's rules and morals dissolve around him.

As he pushed open the front door to his home he took solace in the fact that this was the one steady place in his entire life. Sure it had it's ups and downs as any home life but there was never anything out of-

"Giles," Riley Finn smiled from his seat on the sofa next to an unfamiliar woman of a similar age.

-place.

"Riley," Giles said but it came out more of a interrogative than a declarative and he turned to Joyce questioningly who was sat on the chair next to the one Buffy and Willow were sharing.

"Erm, Rupert...look who's here," She said unhelpfully, clearly as thrown by the situation as he was. In fact, looking around, the situation apparently called for a sea of shocked faces.

Anya and Xander were stood together near the fireplace, Xander looking thrown while his fiancée only looked slightly intrigued by the arrival. Dawn was doing her best to look unimpressed, clearly unhappy with Riley over his abrupt departure. Tara was stood next to the chair Buffy and Willow were sharing, but looked without expression as the situation itself didn't effect her too much. Her girlfriend however looked almost as stunned as Buffy. Joyce merely looked confused.

"It's Riley," Joyce continued, stating this fact as though it had escaped Giles completely, "...and his wife...Sam," She added and Giles was even more stunned than before as he looked over at the married couple.

"Guess we both got hitched," Riley smiled uncomfortably, nerves evident in his posture.

"The difference being you knew about mine," Giles replied smoothly, before getting straight to the point, "Not to sound rude or blunt, but why exactly are you here?"

"Sam and I have been tracking a Suvolte demon from Central America," Riley immediately replied in full Initiative Mode, "Killing machine. Nearly mature"

"Three months old and growing fast," Sam added and Giles nodded in agreement.

"Yes, they fully mature at five months"

"Which is why we need to catch it fast," Riley said seriously, "From the moment they hatch they start killing, maiming-" He paused as his eyes fell on Dawn, "Dawnie, are you sure you want to be hearing this?"

"Ah, c'mon Finn," Sam said to Riley while looking over at Dawn, "She looks all grown-up to me." She turned to Joyce, "I mean if it's okay with you"

"I-uh," Joyce stumbled, thrown by being immediately put on the spot. Usually a question like this didn't cause a pause for thought; Dawn wasn't to hear these sorts of things, end of. But Mrs Finn had a quality about her that was disarming, and you found it hard to disagree with her. "I don't know..."

"Please," Dawn asked her Mom, "I am so grown-up enough,"

Joyce sighed in resignation, realizing it was a losing battle.

"Fine, but only for a little bit. If it gets too graphic then you go to your room, no arguments, understand?" Joyce laid out her conditions and Dawn, proud to be considered a grown up no matter how temporarily, nodded in agreement immediately, before turning to look at Riley and Sam.

"So these demons shredded your guys and now you're looking for a little payback?"

"Dawn," Joyce immediately reprimanded and her daughter sulked.

"It came to the Hellmouth to spawn," Sam explained, "Make a nest, lay it's eggs, hatch a bunch of baby hostiles"

"Well, no problem," Xander announced, "so track the demon, find the nest, Mr and Mrs Finn here make with the killin' everyone goes home happy," He took a seat beside the newlyweds, "But seriously married man, we need a second opinion- and the only other married couple around here had their wedding accidentally turned into a supernatural fiasco- but forced to choose between a photographer or place settings-"

"We can't track the demon," Buffy mumbled, cutting Xander off, "I killed it...okay so who's hungry?"

"You killed the demon?" Giles asked.

"Well, it was getting all violent...you know like demons do..." Buffy explained, squirming in her chair in embarrassment.

"Buffy it's a good thing you killed the Suvolte, before it killed us," Sam told her kindly, before turning to Xander, "Disposable cameras"

"a-deh-huh?" Xander frowned, but Anya was immediately intrigued.

"Disposable cameras?" She asked and Sam nodded.

"Yeah, y'know the little plastic ones? Ten bucks a pop, arrange them like table settings, guests snap photos- it breaks the ice and when it's over you get to keep the pictures"

Anya looked as though she considered Sam the Goddess of Wedding Planners.

"I love it," She told her before looking at Xander enthusiastically, "Let's do that"

Giles cleared his throat.

"Perhaps if it's not too much trouble, we could return our attention to this rather alarming news that there is a Suvolte demon spawning in Sunnydale"

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, looking uncomfortable as she spotted Riley and Sam comfortably holding hands the way couples in love tended to do. In fact, as she thought on it she saw Anya and Xander were doing the same thing as were her Mom and Giles. Marvelous. Well, this was certainly a mood booster, "So demon eggs, we got a timetable on when they're gonna hatch?"

"Hatching's not the problem," Riley told her and his wife elaborated.

"We think the eggs will be sold on the black market. There's some foreign military powers that'd love to have their own Suvolte"

"Like the Initiative...?" Joyce asked carefully.

"If it were still around it'd definitely be on the list," Riley agreed, "But there's government organizations that we don't even know about fully...but they'd definitely be into the demon market stuff. These eggs- they'd love em. I mean you can never train a Suvolte but..."

"Drop it on an urban population..." Sam finished with a wince, "And it...well..."

"Cleanses the area," Riley selected his choice of words very carefully.

"Is that a nice way of saying it kills people?" Dawn asked.

"Lots of them," Sam confirmed and Joyce started to look uncomfortable about Dawn's presence there in the conversation.

"Honey maybe...maybe this is too much," She decided, "Why don't you go to your room. Call Janice or something?"

Dawn let out a frustrated sigh, but knew it would be pointless arguing so she just rolled her eyes in typical teenage fashion before walking out of the room and headed upstairs. Sam waited till Dawn was gone out of the room completely before she carried on.

"Anyway, there's a dealer in town, calls himself 'the doctor'. Willow- think you could help out with a little locating spell?"

There was an uncomfortable tension throughout the room and it was Will that spoke first.

"I don't know...I can't really do...a lot of magics anymore...I can only do little things. Tara would be better"

"Not I'm doubting how great you are Tara at the magics," Sam said, "But Riley told me Willow was coming on to being a major league Wicca"

"I got addicted," Willow told her bluntly, "The way addicts do. Trust me- Tara's better for you" She got up out of her seat and headed into the kitchen. Tara rushed after her.

"Willow-"

"Oh god," Sam winced, "I really put my foot in it didn't I?" she asked and the silence she was met with was clearly translated as 'yes'. "I'd better..." She got up and headed into the kitchen after Willow and Tara, leaving the group behind in awkward silence.

"Well..." Riley said uncomfortably as he tried to break the tension, "So much has gone on here in Sunnydale. Though why I would expect any different" He smiled and it was met mildly by the others.

"Well...a lot can happen in over a year," Anya told him bluntly, but not at all in a nasty way. Riley knew she was just stating it as it was.

"Yeah," He nodded in agreement, "I'm feeling that. I mean you and Xander are getting hitched," He turned to Giles and Joyce, "You two have already tied the knot and erm...Dawn's not going to be the baby of the family anymore. That must be a bummer for her"

"Not really," Everyone else in the room said in chorus just as Sam, Willow and Tara came back into the room, looking as though their problems had been resolved, at least slightly and Riley started issuing orders. The final conclusion being Tara, Buffy, Sam and Riley actually doing something to help while the others...were left hanging. Though considering the day/week they were all having the remaining taskless few were rather relieved. Particularly Anya and Xander who had to get home and check their families weren't ripping each other apart.

Amazingly, within two hours the entire 'mission' was complete and the Finns were getting ready to leave.

"I actually thought it was gonna take longer," Dawn admitted as she and her Mom followed the others to the sidewalk outside the magic box.

"Yeah, me-" Joyce paused mid-agreement as she realized the only way for Dawn to have that thought was for her to have known what was going on and what the plan had been, "Dawn- were you listening in?"

"Just a little..." Dawn mumbled in admittance before running over to stand beside Willow and Tara.

"Think we can have Xander work on sound-proofing our entire house?" Joyce asked as she stood beside Rupert.

"Pardon?" He asked, completely flummoxed by this random question.

"Never mind," She told him, "I'll explain later"

A small wind picked up in the area, but it quickly built up to a deafening gale that whipped everybody's hair about in a extremely frustrating way. And for added annoyance, bright search lights shined down on them, blinding them all.

"So," Dawn turned to look at Riley evenly, "Are you gonna actually say goodbye this time or just split all secret agenty like last time?"

"Depends," Riley told her, "Do I warrant a hug?"

Dawn just glared at him, but when he looked genuinely hurt yet acceptive of this response she relented and hugged him.

"Goodbye Dawn," He told her with a smile.

"Thought it would suck less this time," She told him, "Doesn't"

"It was great meeting you all," Sam said as a harness was lowered down to them from the helicopter, "Ready for Nepal agent?"

"Firefights...bug hunts...big body count..." Riley reasoned, "Yeah, I could use a break" He smiled as he attached the harness to his own vest and held onto Sam very tightly so she would be taken up with him and the two were whisked up and away leaving the group from Sunnydale on the ground waving goodbye up to them all.

"Are you okay?" Joyce asked Buffy and Buffy kept her gaze on Riley and his wife as she answered the question.

"Yeah..." She seemed to contemplate her own answer, considering it's own meaning, before realizing she really was, "Yeah...I am"

Nevertheless, okay or not she still leant into her Mom for a much-needed hug.

"We're just friends,"

Joyce was on the sofa, suffering from a mild case of insomnia when she heard Buffy's voice and she turned to see her daughter walking into the living room, having just come home.

"What?"

"We're just friends," Buffy repeated, taking a seat beside her Mom, "Me and Spike. Now. We're just friends"

Joyce wasn't sure what to say, she didn't even know whether there was anything to say to this announcement. Although the first thought that came to her mind personally was 'good'.

"He can help me...sometimes and sometimes he can be a nice guy...he can," Buffy seemed to be talking as though she was trying to win an argument that she wasn't even having, "But...sleeping...I was using him. And it made me feel good for a moment, but afterwards...? The bad feeling just didn't go away. And it was killing me."

Joyce had a look of understanding but still there was nothing to say. Still she remained silent.

"So we're just friends," Buffy concluded, "...just friends..."