Chapter 50: Ted Part 2

Halliwell Manor

Buffy and Dawn orbed into the conservatory of the Manor and was instantly greeted by Piper and Leo.

"Buffy? Dawn?" Piper said as she and Leo hugged the two girls.

"Mom," Buffy said. "Dad." She and Dawn went and sat down on the couch.

Piper and Leo looked at each other and then back at the girls, seeing the sour expression on their faces.

"Paige?" Piper called out. "Buffy and Dawn are here."

"Problems with Ted?" Leo asked as he sat down opposite the sisters.

"We went mini-golfing today. Xander, Willow, Mom, Buffy, Ted, and me," Dawn explained.

"And?" Paige asked as she walked into the room and sat next to her girlfriend.

"Ted threatened to slap my face after I kicked my ball in," Buffy said.

Piper, Leo and Paige looked at each other. Each of their faces showing concern.

"Buffy and I don't get why everyone else like him so much," Dawn said. "He's a total control freak, and Mom's been completely different since he's been around."

"OK, but why did you come by at 6:00 in the morning to talk about it?" Leo asked.

Buffy looked down. "I had a dream – could have been a premonition. I orbed into my room with Dawn. We have been out patrolling. Ted was in my room."

"Buffy…" Paige took her girlfriend in her arms.

"Buffy and I are worried that he's going to find out about us and mom being witches, Buffy being the Slayer, a Whitelighter and the Guardian of the Box," Dawn said.

"Don't worry," Piper said as she sat next to Dawn. "We'll work it out. You know that your dad, Paige and I won't let anything happen to either of you."

Summers Home

Joyce was humming to herself when Buffy and Dawn came down the stairs. "Good morning, sunshine," she greeted Buffy. "I've got juice, I've got sticky buns. Don't they smell good?" She didn't notice the sour expression on her daughters faces.

"Hi," Buffy and Dawn said as they each took a bun.

"Ted made them."

Dawn and Buffy glanced at each other as they immediately replaced the sticky buns.

"What?" Joyce put her hands on her hips.

"We'd just like to eat something around here that Ted didn't make," Dawn said.

"What kind of an attitude is that?"

"Look, Mom, I know you think he's great and all but –" Buffy started.

Joyce didn't even let her daughter finish the sentence. She was frustrated with how both of her daughters were acting towards her boyfriend. "He's gone out of his way to be nice to you both, and neither of you could find two words to say to him on Saturday. Now I don't expect either of you to love him right away like I do, but I do expect you to treat him decently."

Dawn pounced on her mother's choice of words. "You… love him?"

Oops. "I don't know, that kind of slipped out… but I guess… it's not exactly like men beat down the door when you're a…"

"…single parent," Buffy finished.

Joyce composed herself before continuing. "I would never have anything to do with anyone who didn't care about you both. But he does, I don't understand why you can't see that."

"He threatened me," Buffy deadpanned.

"What? Ted would never do such a thing."

"He did," Dawn explained. "I was there, mom, he said he was going to slap Buffy's face."

Joyce smiled. "He never said any such thing. Ted told me what happened. He caught you both cheating, didn't he?"

Buffy and Dawn glanced at each other. He caught them both cheating? Buffy had been the only one to kick her ball in. How did he catch Dawn when her only offense was standing up for her older sister "Yes, I kicked my ball in, so put me in jail, but he wigged –" Buffy said.

"And he didn't say anything about it in front of anyone but the two of you, did he?"

"No, but –" Dawn stammered.

"I think that was pretty decent of him." Joyce said as she began eating pieces of the sticky bun, swallowing before continuing. "Ted says we're just going to have to give you both time to come around. Speaking of which, he's making dinner for us tonight, both of you please be here promptly at six."

"Would it be possible for Paige over tonight?" Buffy asked. "There is something she says she needs to talk to you about anyways."

"And that would be?" Joyce asked suddenly worried.

"She won't tell me," Buffy shrugged. "She said she needs to talk to you first about it before she talks to me."

"Alright, she can come to dinner," Joyce answered. "Probably be a good idea to get that out in the open since she's over here quite a bit anyways."

"Thanks, mom," Buffy said.

Sunnydale High School

"What do you mean, check him out?" Willow asked looking at Paige, Buffy and Dawn.

"We need you to hack into everything," Paige said.

"Can you say, over-reaction?" Xander asked as he and Willow each took a cookie and ate it.

"Can you say, sucking chest wound?" Dawn asked.

"Look," Paige said. "Buffy and Dawn orbed to the Manor after your mini-golf session on Saturday. They told me, Piper and Leo some things that has us worried."

"Such as?" Willow asked.

"He threatened to hit me," Buffy admitted. "When I kicked my ball into the hole. Dawn was there, she saw it."

"Please, Will," Dawn begged. "Will you help us?"

"You know I will. What do you want me to look for?" Willow asked.

"Start small," Paige said. "Find out where he works."

Lorrin Software Company

Paige orbed into the women's bathroom and then walked out into the large office space. She had chosen to dress professionally. She looked at the rows of desks separated by dividers for Ted's cubicle.

"...it's a fantastic product, no p.c. should be without it... yes, it's a little pricey but... no, I don't think you're a feeble-minded moron... thanks for your time..." said one salesman as he hung up and then dialed another number.

"No Mrs. Lawndale, it's not an inexpensive piece of software," Ted said as he too was on the phone. "As a matter of fact, it's a very expensive one. Which removes the risk of crashing your whole system. Of course, if you prefer something cheap, I can recommend..." He smiled. "...trust me, you won't be sorry." He then hung up the phone as he stood up.

Paige recognized Ted from Buffy's description. She made sure to be out of his line of sight. After all he was going to be seeing her at dinner that evening. She watched as he moved to a large sales tote board and place a checkmark beneath his name.

"Going to lunch," he said to no one in particular. He then walked away.

Paige watched him go as a salesman walked up next to her. "You're new, aren't you?" he asked.

Paige smiled as the salesman got himself a cup of water from the water cooler. "Temping," she said.

"I'm Neal," the salesman said.

"I'm Paige," Paige said. She motioned toward the board. "That guy's a salesman. Guess he's the one to beat around here."

"Nobody beats the machine," Neal said. "The guy's a genius. Pure salesman. Knows everything about computers, never loses a client, never yells at the annoying clients... not that I do..."

"I guess he's been doing this for a while," Paige asked.

"He was here way before me – and he'll be here long after I'm gone. If I sound bitter, I am," Neal admitted.

"Nobody likes an overachiever," Paige said. "Well, maybe he's got ex-wives and family to support?"

Neal shook his head. "All he's got is a girlfriend. I'm amazed he let her clutter up his desk," he said as he motioned toward a picture on Ted's desk. "Thank god he's taking off for the wedding."

"The wedding?" Paige said with a frown.

"He's got it set for two months from now. Believe me, I'm counting the days," Neal said as he noticed his boss looking his way. "Uh oh, the uber-boss, back to the salt mines." He returned to his desk.

Paige walked to Ted's desk and with the exception of the picture of Joyce, the computer and the phone it was empty. She picked up the picture and frowned. She saw what looked like the edge of a head next to Joyce's head. She opened the back of the frame and took out the picture. As she looked at it, she realized she recognized the picture. It was one from the kitchen of the Summers home with Joyce, Buffy and Dawn. Ted had folded the picture so only Joyce was showing.

Summers Home

"Hi, Mom," Buffy greeted her mother as she and Paige walked through the front door.

"Joyce," Paige said. She had butterflies in her stomach. Not because Buffy had invited her to dinner, but because she was going to try and get Joyce alone to ask if she could marry her daughter.

"Hi, Paige," Joyce returned. "Why don't I take your jacket, Paige?"

"Thank you," Paige removed her jacket and handed it to Joyce, who placed it on a coat hook near the door.

Paige noted that Joyce was wearing a nice red blouse. She could sense anxiety from her elder charge. "It's okay, Joyce. No need to be nervous," she whispered to the woman as they walked into the dining room. She looked at Ted, who wore a collared shirt and nice pants, and sized him up. It didn't look like he had changed from when she had seen him at work.

"Ted Buchanan," Ted extended his hand.

"Paige Matthews," Paige shook it.

"Buffy's told us very little about you," Ted joked.

Paige glanced at Joyce, she was sure the lie was so that Joyce, Buffy and Dawn didn't have to reveal to Ted that they were witches.

"Well, I hope I can rectify that tonight," Paige replied returning her attention to Ted.

"I think that was the entire point of Paige coming for dinner," Buffy added.

"Well," Joyce said after a significant pause, "dinners on the table."

They all sat down at the table. Paige and Buffy sat on one side, Joyce and Ted on the other with Dawn at the head of the table. Paige was quick to start on her chicken.

After a few bites, Joyce asked, "So, how did you two meet?"

"At the Bronze," Buffy answered hoping that Ted wouldn't recognize Paige from the reveal last week. "We started talking, Paige mentioned she was a social work major, so I asked her if she could help me with my studies."

"You're at UC Sunnydale?" Ted asked.

"Was," Paige corrected. "I graduated last spring."

"Very nice," Joyce said trying to keep the lie going. "And what do you do now?"

"I'm currently an assistant librarian," Paige said. "I've been working there till a social worker position came open."

"So, you're from around here?" Dawn inquired. She had been keeping an eye on Ted to see if he was buying the lie and what his reactions were to Buffy dating someone older.

"Hardly." Paige smiled. "I was born in San Francisco."

"I have to say," Ted took over the inquiries, "Paige is an interesting name. I assume there is a backstory to it?"

"There is," Paige answered. "It was a family tradition in my family. My grandmother was named Penelope, my mom was Patricia, my eldest sister was Prue and my remaining two sisters are Piper and Phoebe. All of us with the exception of Piper's sons have names starting with P."

"Interesting," Ted said.

"I like it," Buffy put in. She took Paige's hand, and they just gazed at each other for about a minute.

The rest of the dinner went well. The topic of conversation shifted away from Paige and onto Ted.

As everyone finished up, Joyce turned to Buffy. "Buffy, can you help me clear the table?"

Paige got up quickly. "I'll help you, Joyce," deciding this would be a good time as any to ask Joyce her important question.

Joyce smiled at Paige as they collected plates and brought them into the kitchen. As Joyce began washing, she turned to Paige. "Paige, Buffy said you had something you needed to talk to me about."

"That's right," Paige said. "I've already talked to Leo and Piper and they've given their consent. I would like to get your consent to marry Buffy."

Joyce blinked as she looked at her Whitelighter. "You mean when she turns eighteen?" she asked in surprise.

"No, I mean, now," Paige answered. "Well not this second of course. Joyce, you know about what the Elders told me. That a seer saw Buffy die. I don't want to go through life without having been married to my girlfriend. Especially if I can't save her from that death."

Joyce moved to the kitchen island and sat on a stool. She watched as Paige continued with the dishes. She could see Paige's reasonings and couldn't fault them. But could she really let her eldest daughter get married so young? "I will admit, Paige, ever since you became Buffy's girlfriend. And stood by her side through everything our world has thrown at her. That I hoped you would one day ask me for permission to ask for her hand in marriage. But I always pictured it later, after she graduated from high school, maybe even college."

"I know," Paige said as she turned to face Joyce. "And in a perfect world I would have waited. Is Buffy ready, maybe not. But if I don't do this and she does die. I will regret not doing this while she was alive."

Joyce looked at Paige and saw a tear escape Paige's eye. She got up and walked around the island and pulled Paige into her arms. "I would be happy to see you as my daughter-in-law," she said. "You have my consent."

"Thank you, Joyce," Paige said as she smiled at her girlfriend's mother.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"It was very nice meeting you," Ted shook Paige's hand.

"We'll have to do this again sometime," Paige replied.

"Mom, would it be okay if I walked Paige home?" Buffy asked.

"Well…" Joyce looked to Ted.

"Oh, it's not far," Buffy said knowing that Joyce was looking at Ted not for advice but to make it seem like Paige did actually live in Sunnydale. "There are some things I want to talk to her about."

Joyce nodded. "Be back by 10:00."

Streets of Sunnydale

"Well?" Buffy said as she and Paige walked down the street.

"I'm not sure," Paige admitted. "Something definitely seemed off. He could be a warlock; I just don't know. Things just don't add up."

"Okay," Buffy sighed. "Will you fill in mom and dad in when you get back to San Francisco. Maybe look in your book just in case?"

"Promise," Paige said. She looked around and saw they were alone and she orbed out.

Summers Residence

Buffy walked back into her home to find Dawn and Joyce sitting on the couch watching TV. "Where's Ted?" she asked.

The question was directed more toward Dawn but it was Joyce who answered, "Bathroom."

"Okay," Buffy said. "Giles and Ms. Calendar is patrolling for me tonight. So, I think I am going to turn in."

"Okay, sweetie, good night," Joyce said.

"Night, Buffy," Dawn added.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy walked up the stairs and down the hall toward her bedroom. She frowned when she saw Ted wasn't in the bathroom. She turned into her bedroom. She was about to reach for the light switch when she spotted Ted leaning against her vanity. "What are you doing?" she asked.

That was when she noticed her vanity drawers were open. Her stakes, holy water and her journal was lying out next to Ted. "Have you been going through my things?" she asked.

"Yes, I have," Ted answered.

"How dare you. That's my personal property. How dare you!" Buffy screamed. It didn't matter if he was a human or a warlock. He had stepped over a line either way.

"I don't see how it's any different than you having your girlfriend snooping around my office," Ted said. "Do you?" He picked up her journal. "What exactly is a vampire Slayer? Then there is this business about being a witch, half-Whitelighter and the Guardian of Pandora's Box. Then there is your so-called girlfriend along with her sisters being the Charmed Ones."

"That's none of your business," Buffy bit out.

"Beg to differ, little lady. Everything you do is nothing but my business from now on," Ted said.

"You better get out of here. Now," Buffy growled as Ted moved closer to her, invading her space.

"Or what. You'll slay or vanquish me? I'm real, I'm not some goblin you made up in your diary. The psychiatrists have a word for this kind of thing...delusional," Ted said. "From now on you are going to do what I say when I saw or I show this to your mother and you spend your best dating years behind the walls of a mental institution. Your mother, Dawn and I are going to be happy. You're not getting in the way of that. Sleep tight."

He turned to go just as she grabbed his arm. "That's mine and you're not leaving this room with it," she told him.

"Take your hand off me," he ordered.

"No," Buffy said and then he suddenly slapped her. "Oh. I was so hoping you'd do that."

Buffy backed up and raised her hands and smirked. "I got this little power when I became the Guardian of Pandora's Box." She fired a telekinetic blast from her hands sending him flying backwards He slammed into her bedroom door knocking it open into the hall.

He came for her, fast and vicious. He swung at her as she orbed out and in behind him. She spun into a kick and knocked him backwards

"Buffy! Stop it!" Joyce yelled as she appeared in the hallway.

"I think he's a warlock, mom," Buffy said. "And we're witches, with active powers, remember?" She fired another telekinetic blast from her hands sending him flying out the door.

Ted careened off the wall, lost his footing and tumbled head over heels down the stairs. His head landed at the bottom with a sharp and nasty THUNK. She stood at the top of the stairs, breathing hard. She saw Dawn at the base of the stairs.

Dawn leaned down and checked for a pulse. Ted was dead. "If he's a warlock, shouldn't he have gone poof?" she asked.

Buffy and Joyce looked at each other in realization. Ted wasn't a warlock. "I killed him," Buffy said. She looked at her mother. "I really thought…"

It was at that moment that Paige orbed in. "He's…" she saw the tears in her girlfriend's eyes. "What happened?"

"I killed him, Paige," Buffy said softly. "I'm evil." She then orbed out.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Paige sat on the porch swing having glamoured herself to look like Buffy. That way the police wouldn't be suspicious that Buffy was missing. Joyce stood next to her watching as Ted's body is carried out past them.

"Ma'am, I'm Detective Stein..." said Stein as he approached Joyce. "I'm sorry but I need to ask you a few things... Your relationship with the deceased?"

"We were... um, seeing each other," Joyce answered.

Stein nodded. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"He fell. Down the stairs. He fell," Joyce said with a glance at Paige.

"I see. Did he slip, do you know what made him fall?" he questioned.

"He was in my room," Paige said giving the facts she had identified from examining Buffy's room. "Going through my things… I hit him."

Sunnydale Police Station

"Mom?" Dawn said sitting next to Joyce on a bench as they waited for Stein to finish interrogating Paige. "You're not mad at Buffy, are you?"

"I don't know, Dawn," Joyce sighed. "On the one hand I see where she was coming from. She was just trying to protect us. If he was a warlock, he would have been the first since our powers were unbound. But on the other hand, she did kill a human being. That's not what I taught you girls. I taught you girls that we must protect the innocent, not punish the guilty. Yes, what he did was wrong by snooping in her room, invading her privacy. But what she did by using her powers against him, was also wrong."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Detective Stein sat across the table from Paige, who still had the glamour showing she was Buffy.

"He was in my room..." Paige explained. "We got into an argument..."

"About what?" he asked.

"He was going through my stuff," Paige answered. When she had seen the stakes, the journal and the holy water she had orbed anything that could link Buffy to being a witch or the Slayer to San Francisco so as not to implicate her girlfriend in a crime.

"Was this the first time you two had had an argument?"

"No," Paige said. "He threatened me. He said he would slap me..."

"That was tonight?" he asked.

"A couple days ago," Paige answered. "Tonight, he had my diary and I tried to take it back and... and then he hit me."

Stein nodded as he looked at the bruises that Paige had glamoured onto herself. She knew if Buffy had actually been there, there would have been no bruises to prove or disprove her story. "Was this the first time he hit you?"

"He threatened before, but no he never hit me before tonight," Paige said.

"I believe you," he admitted. "Things got out of hand. He's a big guy."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Are you charging her with something?" Joyce asked as she looked at Stein, who leaned against his desk.

"From the bruising on your daughter's face," Stein said. "No. I believe her it was self-defense."

Streets of Sunnydale

Paige sighed as she released the glamour. "Joyce," she said as Joyce drove her and Dawn to the Summers home.

"Don't, Paige," Joyce said. "As I told Dawn I am unsure how I feel right now. On the one hand she truly believed she was protecting us from a potential warlock. On the other she did kill a man. Since our powers were unbound, I have tried to teach the girls not to do this very thing. I am beginning to think unbinding our powers were a mistake." She glanced at Paige. "When you find her. Don't bring her back home till I call for you."

Paige nodded as she orbed out.

Sunnydale High School

"You didn't find her?" Dawn asked when Paige had arrived the next day for school glamoured as Buffy.

"No," Paige answered. "I think she used the spell Piper, Phoebe and I used to cloak ourselves from the Elders to cloak herself from me. Wherever she is, she wants to deal with this alone."

As they pass several girls, the girls suddenly go quiet as they nudge each other and indicate Paige and Dawn. Further down the hall and they pass two teachers who stare at Paige unabashedly. They joined Xander and Willow in the student lounge.

"Buffy! Are you okay?" Xander asked.

"It's Paige," Paige whispered. "I'm glamoured. I can't sense Buffy. And she never went home."

"What happened?" Willow asked.

"Buffy hit Ted, killed him," Paige answered as they sat at one of the tables. "From what I gather, Ted went through Buffy's things. Found her stakes, holy water and her journal that detailed everything about her life from when she met me to last week's reveal."

"The papers said he fell," Willow said.

"Buffy used her powers," Dawn said. "She knocked him down the stairs with a telekinetic blast of her Guardian powers."

"So, was he a warlock?" Xander asked.

"Not that Piper, Phoebe or I could tell," Paige said. "We even looked through our book several times to be sure. From the way it looks, he was mortal."

"Oh, man..." Xander said in shock.

"But I'm sure it wasn't her fault," Willow said. "He started it!"

"Only if they believe the story I gave and the glamour of the bruises," Paige said.

"Are they going to charge her with something?" Willow asked.

"Their obviously still investigating," Paige shrugged. "Likely will wait for an autopsy before they officially rule it self-defense. Regardless, she killed a man. That's why she's cloaked herself from me."

"She's afraid of what you would say," Dawn said as Paige nodded.

"And too a degree she should be more worried what your mom, Piper and Leo would say. As her Whitelighter I had to cover, because she used her powers," Paige said. "I better go see, Giles. Fill him in."

She stood and walked down the hall and entered the library, she found Giles waiting for her.

"Buffy. Are you all right?" he asked. "Stupid question. I'm sorry. Anything you need, of course, just ask."

"So, you haven't seen Buffy," Paige asked as Giles looked at her quizzically. "Glamour, I'm Paige."

"No," Giles said as he sat down. "And I am worried. You might want to dispel the glamour. The police are here asking questions about Buffy. You are one of the last they have yet to talk to."

Paige sighed. "I wonder if I can get Agent Murphy to sweep this under the rug."

"She did kill a man, Paige," he said.

"She used her powers, Giles," Paige said. "How long do you think it will be before they could uncover what really happened? I had to glamour last night when she ran off and cover for her with the police. If her powers are exposed it could literally be a witch hunt. And my sisters have actually already gone through that when my eldest sister Prue died, and they can tell you if Buffy's powers are exposed that …"