Warnings and disclaimer in Chapter 1. Enjoy.
"How did it go?" Giles asked as he entered the house early the next morning to find four tired, but happy women congregating in the kitchen. Willow and Tara were of course not used to being woken up in the middle of the night constantly to feed and care for infants, but they handled the situation well.
"It worked," Joyce told him. She looked much better than she had in the past week, but Giles could still see dark circles under her eyes. "I kept waking up whenever I heard Buffy, but Dawn handled everything well. I think we might have found a solution."
"Where is Buffy?" Giles asked, so used to seeing Buffy with the group that her absence disturbed him. Dawn smiled.
"Still sleeping," she said proudly. She pointed to the second baby monitor that had 'Buffy' labeled on its side. The light was blinking slowly, indicating that both units were turned on and transmitting, but no sound could be heard coming from her.
"As our former librarian you should appreciate the phrase 'Silence is Golden'," Willow said, taking a sip from her coffee mug. Tara plopped the other monitor, which was labeled 'Twins' on the counter.
"It is amazing," he said. "How did you do it?"
"It was Dawn's idea," Joyce said proudly.
"Actually it was Andrew's idea," Dawn countered. "Which is very disturbing."
"Did it work?" Andrew asked, leading Veronica and Albert into the house. Joyce noticed he didn't even bother to knock anymore, and wasn't at all disturbed by it.
"It did," she said, reaching over and giving him a quick hug. "Thank you."
"Just doing my job ma'am," he said in a horrible southern accent before rounding the counter. "Who wants omelets?"
"Oh omelets," Xander said, as he and Anya entered the kitchen.
"Don't you people have your own kitchens?" Albert asked with a chuckle.
"Yes, but our omelets are never as good," Anya said. Andrew had made at least one ally in the group, as long as he didn't try to do anything but cook.
"Oh look, the gang's all here," Spike drawled as he casually walked into the room.
"Isn't it a bit late for you to be taking your midnight stroll?" Xander asked, pointing to the window and the sunlight streaming through. Spike deftly avoided the light as he helped himself to a cup of blood.
"I was waiting in the basement for you lot to wake up," he said, placing the mug in the microwave.
"Problems?" Giles asked casually. Spike shrugged.
"Nothing Big Bad couldn't handle," he said as the microwave pinged. He took a long drink of the warm blood. "Bunch of demons passing through on their way to L.A. Whatever their apocalypse is it's about to happen."
"I'll warn Wesley," Giles said. "Anything else?"
"A couple demons trying to start something down at Willies. I put a stop to it permanently. A few vampires passing through thought it would be fun to raise some hell on the Hellmouth. I taught them the error of their ways. And a couple of voodoo wanna-be's were trying to raise a zombie. I scared them off before they could do any real damage, but you might want to look into that."
"Right," Giles said, making a mental note to talk with the local voodoo practitioners. He saw Spike still looking at him. "Something else," he said, knowing it wasn't a question this time. The vampire sighed.
"Dru's back. Darla too, probably, but she's so young now that I can't sense her." Everyone looked up in panic. The few times the crazy vampire had returned someone nearly died. "Not in town," Spike quickly clarified, "but she's near. If what witchy boy said was true and Wolfram and Hart are trying to bring back Angelus they're probably waiting to see if it works. Just thought you should be on your guard in case it isn't simply a case of watching the show."
"Thank you," Giles muttered. "If you hear anything else?"
"I'll let you know," he assured them, though everybody knew that wasn't any guarantee. Spike could never be completely objective when it came to his Sire. He tended to give her a free pass as long as she didn't do anything to destructive when she was in town. But they also knew from experience he would intervene if she tried to hurt any of them.
"Right," Giles said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them. "But perhaps it would be prudent for you to have some assistance during patrols for the next few days." Spike shrugged.
"Whatever you say Watcher," he told them, expecting nothing less. He was secretly glad for the company when dealing with his crazy ex. He was terrified she would find a way to lure him back to the darkness and he would hurt one of them. "Where's Buffy?" he asked, suddenly noticing she wasn't there.
"Sleeping," Joyce said distractedly. Spike cocked his head, listening hard, before smirking.
"Not for much longer Mum," he said, finishing his blood and rinsing the cup out in the sink. "Now since I'm trapped here I think I'll head down to my room for the day. Night."
"Night," everyone chorused after him as he left. Joyce looked at the monitor intently. Sure enough a few seconds later they could hear sounds as Buffy stirred.
"Stupid vampiric hearing," she grumbled as she prepared to climb off her stool. Just as she was about to stand Giles put his hand on her shoulder.
"You are exhausted," he told her. "Perhaps it would be best if someone else helped Buffy this morning."
"She's my daughter," she protested. Giles raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. The two had a silent staring match before Joyce backed down. "Who's going to help her?"
"I have cared for her before," he told her, "and I know exactly what she needs."
"Are you sure?" she double checked. "This is very personal."
"I'm sure," he told her. "I suggest you take a nap and let us help you." She nodded, letting her head fall onto the counter. Giles moved upstairs.
"Good morning Buffy," they heard before he turned the second device off. Dawn reached out, resting her hand on her mom's shoulders.
"Maybe you should go back to bed?" she suggested. Joyce shook her head.
"I can't. I have too much to do at The Gallery. I really need to go in for a full day."
"What about Buffy and the twins?" Dawn asked. "I already had plans to go out with Janice and her family. We're preparing for the camping trip. Remember?"
"Ohh," Joyce groaned as she suddenly remembered the conversation she and Dawn had last night. They had this trip planned for months. She had completely forgotten, the success of the night completely eclipsing everything.
"I can stay," Veronica volunteered. "I wasn't helping in Rupert's shop in any way, just getting a feel for a typical day on a Hellmouth."
"I can stay as well," Albert told them. "The various arms of The Ring are shut down. The Watchers are in cleanup mode. I don't need to be available to direct operations any more. I'm just waiting for the field reports, which I can do here as well as anywhere."
"Two Watchers, a Slayer, and a vampire stuck in a house all day long," Dawn said, grinning slightly. "Sounds like the start of a bad joke." They all laughed as Andrew dished out the first of the omelets.
"What about me? I can help too."
"Yes you can Andrew," Anya told him, taking the first omelet she could get. "At The Magic Box. It's inventory time and I need someone to count while I hold the clipboard."
"Cool," he said, obviously excited to be included.
"Dare I ask what's cool?" Giles asked as he wheeled Buffy into the kitchen. Joyce raised her head as Andrew place an omelet beside her and studied her daughter. Buffy looked content and Giles only had a small blush on his cheek so she figured everything went okay.
"I'm going to work in The Magic Box today," he said as he finished dishing out the omelets.
"Anya," he groaned, even as he helped himself to the breakfast.
"What?" she asked confused. "You delegated the task to me. Now I'm delegating it to him. I don't see why you're so upset. Inventory will get done."
"But I don't want to pay him," Giles complained.
"Who said anything about paying him?" Anya asked. "He's volunteering." Andrew nodded at this.
"Oh. Well then. Good plan." Anya smiled. They quickly finished their breakfast before heading off to work.
"Are you sure?" Joyce asked again. She wasn't too concerned about the twins, but this would be the first time Buffy would be alone without one of the gang present. Although Joyce had gotten to know Veronica very well, and liked her extremely well, she still wasn't a Scooby. Who knew what sort of reaction Buffy would have to her.
"I'll call if I need you," she promised, "and Spike is still in the basement if it gets too bad. You know he wouldn't let anyone hurt her." Joyce nodded as she left the house. Ten minutes later she entered The Gallery. Tara smiled at her as she went to her office. Joyce went to work immediately on the layout of the New York show. She was inspired and quickly figured out the best placement for the various pieces. She drew a rough outline, which she handed to Tara, knowing the girl could be trusted to place the pieces. Next she figured out what items she would use to accent each piece. She started two lists. The first being things they had in storage and the second being things they needed to shop for.
"This looks amazing," she said as she left her office for the showroom. Tara had recruited Willow, Andrew, and Anya and between the four of them they had most of the paintings hung. Several stands for the smaller sculptures had also been built and were piled in a corner, just waiting for their space to open up.
"Thanks," Tara said. "Xander said he would come by and help with the lighting after the site closes down for the day."
"He is so sweet," Joyce said.
"He is," Anya agreed. "You can't have him." Joyce smiled, pulling out the list of things they needed to buy and handing it to the former demon. "What's this?" she asked, scanning the list. "I get to go shopping?"
"If it's okay with Giles," she said.
"It's fine," he said, standing in the doorway between the two shops. "Everything is relatively quiet right now. Nothing I can't handle on my own."
"Woohoo," Anya cheered, passing the display she was making onto Andrew.
"Just what's on the list," Joyce told her, handing her the shop's credit card. Anya deflated slightly, but just smiled as she grabbed the card and ran from the shop.
"Daring," Willow said. "Last time Giles did that she came back with magical aphrodisiacs."
"I thought we agreed never to discuss that incident," Giles said, before someone opened his door and he had to retreat to his own shop.
"I remember," Joyce said, "but he should know better than to send her out for love potions." Joyce smiled before turning to Tara. She handed her the other list she made, along with the rough idea for the displays. "Here's what I'm thinking." Tara scanned the papers quickly.
"We should be able to do this," she said confidently. "I think I remember where everything is and once Xander finishes with the lighting we'll be able to start working on the center displays." Joyce nodded, a yawn escaping her lips. Tara looked up. "You should head home. Take a nap before we all come barging in later on."
"I think I might just do that," she said. Tara nodded her agreement.
"We'll get started on the displays and rounding stuff up. You get some sleep." Joyce nodded tiredly and grabbed her purse and keys. She waved goodbye to the young adults, who were working in the store and headed for the car. She soon found herself entering her house into one of the strangest scenes she thought she would ever see.
Albert and Veronica were comfortably seated in the recliners. They each were holding a baby and their attention was focused entirely on the couch. Curious, Joyce moved over so she could see what held their gaze. She blinked when she saw Spike sitting on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table, one arm around Buffy and the other holding a book. What shocked her even more was that he was reading out loud, even using different voices for different characters. She stood in the hallway for a few minutes, just letting his voice wash over her. Now she understood why the Watchers were so mesmerized. Eventually she moved to put her purse down.
"Joyce?" Veronica called out, seeing the movement. Spike stopped immediately, as if he had been caught doing something wrong. Joyce quickly unloaded before heading into the living room. She was unsurprised to find Buffy curled up against the vampire, her head resting comfortably on his chest. That was quickly becoming one of her favorite positions. What did surprise her was the Giles family. It was obvious that they had been listening to the vampire for quite some time if their rumpled clothes and empty drink cups were any indication.
"Please don't let me interrupt," Joyce said, quickly checking on the infants. Both were asleep, held securely in the arms of the Watchers.
"Please join us," Spike said. Joyce nodded, sitting down on the other side of the vampire.
"What book are you reading to my daughter?" she asked, reaching out for said book. "Demonology? Vampiric lineages? A traveler's guide to Hell?" Spike smirked and held out the book. "Fairy tales?" she asked, slightly confused.
"Not much to choose from if you want something lighter than blood and guts," he said, taking the book back. "Thought this might help the Slayer get some peaceful rest." Joyce looked over at her daughter. She was extremely content right now.
"It worked," she said.
"It definitely worked for the little ones," he said, flipping a few pages until he found where he let off. He started reading again and Joyce found herself sinking into the couch, his voice wrapping around her like a quilt. She didn't realize she drifted off until Dawn was poking her gently in the shoulder.
"Dinner is ready," Dawn said as soon as her mother opened her eyes. Joyce nodded slowly, stretching her arms over her head, before climbing off the couch and heading to the dining room. "So who's taking twin duty tonight?" she asked.
"I will," Albert volunteered. Everyone looked at him warily. "The Ring has all but been eliminated. My business here is almost complete and I will need to return to London shortly. Children of a Slayer are a rare treat, and if it's okay with you," he nodded towards Joyce, "I would like to spend more time with them before leaving." Joyce nodded her approval.
"Okay," Dawn continued. "The twins are taken care of. What about Buffy duty?" Joyce automatically opened her mouth, but Giles beat her to it.
"I will."
"Rupert," Joyce complained, but Giles simply shook his head.
"No. You are so exhausted you can barely function, and you have a very important show in a few days. You need a full night's sleep." He put his hand on her shoulder. "Let me do this for her. For you." Again all Joyce could do was nod. Assignments made, the group settled down for the night.
"Alright," Xander called softly down the stairs as he left the nursery and headed into the living room. "Billy is down again. He didn't need anything so there's every possibility that Alex won't wake up. So where were we?"
"You were," Anya started when Xander rounded the corner. "Burping me?" she asked smirking.
"What?" Xander looked confused. Anya giggled, pointing at the burping cloth he still had draped over his shoulder. He shrugged it off, draping it across the back of the couch before settling down with Anya. She leaned in and started kissing him intimately.
"I believe we were here," she said, straddling him as she nipped at his neck. His hands went for her shirt, ducking underneath to feel her bare skin. Her hands ghosted over the bulge in his pants, only to pull his shirt up and over his head. Her shirt was about to join his when a small cry could be heard. The couple groaned, Xander's head falling back on the cushion of while Anya rested her head on Xander's shoulder. "I'll take this one," Anya said when Xander started getting up. She quickly climbed off Xander, taking a minute to fix her shirt before heading upstairs. He slowly got up and put his shirt back on.
It was Saturday night, the night of Joyce's art show. Xander and Anya had volunteered to babysit while everyone was attending the show. The couple decided to take advantage of the empty house and have a date night, something they haven't been able to do for a very long time. He took a second to refill their wine glasses and check that the CD's was still going, before sitting back down on the couch. He looked up when he heard Anya coming back down the steps.
"Where were we?" he asked slyly, only to groan when she rounded the corner with Alex in her arms.
"She wouldn't stop fussing," Anya told him honestly. "Every time I went to put her down she started crying again."
"It's okay," he told her lovingly. "The night was just about over anyway."
"There's still some things we can do," she said mischievously. She sat down so close to him she was almost on his lap, swinging her legs across his. She placed Alex where their bodies met then rested her head on his shoulder contentedly. Xander automatically reached out for the baby, letting her grab onto his finger while he held his wife close with his other arm.
"Do you sometimes think about kids?" he asked, suddenly breaking the comfortable silence they shared.
"It's hard not to think about them when Alex is right here," Anya replied, resting her hand on the baby's stomach. Xander rolled his eyes.
"I don't mean these kids," he told her. "I mean kids of our own. Our kids." Anya looked up at him.
"After marriage, children is the number one cause of vengeance," she told him.
"But we're handling the marriage part fine," Xander said. "Haven't you ever wondered what having a baby would be like? Starting a family?"
"Perhaps before I became a demon," she admitted, "but I've seen a lot since then. What parents can do to children and what children can do to parents. It's not pretty." He was about to respond when the door opened.
"I'm back," Joyce called out quietly as she hung up her coat and put the keys away. She moved into the kitchen, seeing the bottle of wine resting on the counter. "Am I interrupting anything?" she asked quietly, waiting for an answer before moving into the living room.
"Xander already ruined the mood by choosing to discuss propagating," Anya said, making no move to move from her comfortable position.
"Please tell me you're not propagating right now," Joyce said, "because I can come back in a bit if you still need to finish up."
"No," Xander assured her. "The mood is definitely ruined." Joyce sighed as she entered the room, half holding her hand up ready to close her eyes at a minute's notice. "We were talking about having kids."
"Which is absolutely silly," Anya added, "since we have three babies here. Two of which are infants."
"Anya," Joyce sighed, knowing Anya wasn't saying this to hurt anyone. She rounded the couch only to see Alex with them on the couch.
"Isn't she supposed to be upstairs asleep?" she asked.
"She wasn't settling down," Xander told her. Joyce nodded.
"Besides," Anya continued, "if I ever did want to stretch my maternal instincts I could always borrow one of the kids. I'm sure Joyce wouldn't mind if we took one for a test ride. She's certainly eager enough to accept our help raising them, why can't we partake in some of the better moments too?" Joyce tiredly rubbed her eyes.
"I'll talk to her," Xander promised. Anya looked confused.
"How did it go tonight?" Joyce asked, trying to change the topic of conversation. Xander smiled.
"Good. We had a nice romantic dinner, gave the twins their dinner, then Anya got the little guys down while I stayed with Buffy till she fell asleep. That trick of using Mr. Gordo was inspired."
"I wish I could take credit for it," she admitted, "but it was Andrew's idea."
"Well it worked like a charm. She hasn't made a peep all night," he said, indicating the two monitors that were sitting on the coffee table. "I wish the same could be said about this one and her brother." He mock scowled at Alex, but the effect was lost as the baby finally was sleeping soundly again.
"That's good to hear," she said, trying unsuccessfully to stifle her yawn. "I can take it from here if you want to get some rest." They nodded, Anya carefully scooping up Alex as she climbed off Xander when a scream tore through the house, coming from both upstairs and the 'Buffy' monitor. Alex woke up screaming, which was soon echoed from Billy, as everyone ran for the stairs. Anya detoured into the nursery, trying her best to get the infants to settle back down, but Joyce and Xander headed directly for Buffy's room.
The blonde was screaming hysterically, looking around the room in confusion. "Hey Buff," Xander said calmly as he took a step into the room. Buffy screamed louder, the terrifying sound echoing throughout the house. She threw her stuffed pig at him, causing him to automatically jump back, then began trying to get as far away as she could. She would have fallen out of the bed if Xander didn't come back in and quickly steady her. Her response was a slap on his cheek.
"Buffy!" Joyce automatically admonished. The terrified girl turned toward her, fear in her eyes as she began backing away from the newest threat. There was no recognition in her daughter's eyes at all. "Anya? Can you call Giles please?" she asked, without breaking eye contact with the blonde. Buffy turned away first, as she started searching for escape routes. Joyce sighed as she once again nearly fell out of the bed in an attempt to get away. "Xander? Can you raise the rails then come over by me?"
"Yeah," he said, shaking his head dazedly. Careful not to make any sudden moves, he slowly inched toward the bed. Buffy shrank back from him, screaming the entire time, but made no move to hit him again as he raised one rail then circled around the bed for the other. "So this is what I missed the other day?" he asked when he rejoined her. She took one step back, so she was right up against the wall.
"Yes," she told him, never looking away, "minus the screaming. Did she hurt you?"
"Naw," he dismissed her concern. "It stings a bit, but nothing like she could do. It had strength but no skill."
"You still might want to put some ice on it," she said, breaking away for one second to inspect the damage. Xander nodded and left the room. Joyce looked back at her daughter. Buffy had stopped screaming as soon as Xander left, but she continued to watch her mother warily. The cold look shook Joyce to the core. As the staring match continued she dimly heard Xander help Anya get the twins settled and the door open as Giles hurried over.
"Joyce?" Giles asked quietly from her room. He was wisely staying out of view until he could assess the situation. Joyce took a slow step backward, passing through the doorway and into her own room. As soon as she crossed the threshold, Buffy started shaking, awkwardly pulling her legs up to get into as small a space as possible. "Another nightmare?" he asked knowingly.
"Yes," she confirmed, "but it's different from before. According to Xander she didn't make any sounds until she started screaming. And when we got up there it was like she didn't know who we were. Almost like she was still trapped in the nightmare and we were just her tormentors."
"That's entirely possible," he said, snaking his head around the doorjamb to see the girl. "We all have a moment or two of disorientation when we wake up from a particularly frightening nightmare. A brief time when dreams and reality are blurred and we can't tell which one we are in. I would imagine she must be experiencing that effect a thousand times worse."
"No it's more than that," Joyce insisted. "It's like for a minute she wasn't Buffy. Ever since you entered her mind she's been different. And not just in the bad, nightmarey way either. She was slowly being Buffy again." He nodded, showing he saw the changes as well. "Right now though, there was no warmth or playfulness that Buffy shows. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was The Slayer."
"Really?" Giles asked, studying the girl intently. Buffy realized she wasn't going to get passed the rails on the bed, such a minor roadblock that would normally garnish nothing more than a laugh from the lively girl. Instead she had curled up in the farthest corner of the bed, her body shaking as a result of her terror. "May I?" he indicated her room. Joyce nodded, stepping aside so Giles could enter.
As soon as he stepped foot inside the room Giles noticed the change. Buffy immediately stopped shaking, eyeing him like he was prey. She released her grip on her legs, letting them flop down uselessly, and assumed whatever defensive position she could. He took one step forward and she started screaming, never taking her eyes off him. He stepped back to the wall just as Joyce had earlier. "Xander? Could you go get the sedative please?" he asked calmly.
"Way ahead of you G-man," Xander said, pointing to the small box on Joyce's dresser. He stepped back through the doorway, watching as Buffy once again reverted to her shaking form.
"See what I mean?" Joyce asked. He nodded as he prepared a dose of the medicine.
"It's like we're not dealing with Buffy right now," Xander said lightly. "She reminds me of the First Slayer we met in Buffy's mind."
"Oh my God Xander," Giles said, slowly lowering the syringe and carefully putting the vial back into its case before pulling his glasses off. He started polishing them as he thought out loud. "That actually makes sense. We know The Slayer has been helping Buffy cope with her real life trauma. It makes sense to carry that help to her nightmares. If she was woken up suddenly while the First Slayer was trying to protect her, it's entirely possible that Buffy isn't who we are dealing with right now."
"So how do we help her?" Joyce asked. "How do we get our daughter back?" Xander frowned slightly as Giles sighed, pulling his glasses off.
"Eventually Buffy will reemerge. It is still her body and her mind. The only thing we can do is wait her out. Be ready when Buffy does emerge, show her she is safe and doesn't need to hide behind The Slayer."
"We still gonna give her the mickey?" Xander asked, pointing to the syringe lying on the dresser. Giles nodded.
"It will help calm her down and hopefully will encourage Buffy to come out."
"Okay," Xander told him, "but she's got a mean punch."
"I am well aware," Giles responded, putting his glasses back on and grabbing the syringe. "Let's do this." The three of them stepped back into the room, Buffy's cold stare immediately on them. She let out a shriek as they slowly moved to the bed, Xander veering to the left while Joyce and Giles headed right. She got more agitated as they continued moving closer, eventually swiping at Xander who quickly stepped out of range. Giles took the opportunity to grab her arm. Her head whipped to his side, her left arm rising to attack when Xander threw himself on it.
"Anytime," Xander said as he struggled to keep her arm down. Joyce copied his actions with her right arm and Giles quickly administered the sedative as soon as he could. Buffy was screaming and bucking the entire time, not resting until as one they let go and backed away from the bed.
"Now we wait," he said, grabbing a chair and moving it toward the wall but not leaving her room. Joyce copied his actions. She watched them intently, her cold gaze never leaving theirs, but made no further moves against them.
"You want some help?" Xander offered, already knowing what their answer would be. As expected, they shook their heads. He gently took the syringe from Giles's iron grip. "I'll take care of this stuff," he told them, "then Anya and I will take care of the twins tonight. You two just focus on their mother." They nodded and he left his best friend with her mother and her Watcher.