A/N New chapter. Relatively short one this time. Hope you enjoy!
Parasite
Aisling buried her face in her arms as she listened to Xander and Cordelia argue with each other in class disguising it as discussing the consequences of sex.
"I know." She heard beside her she turned to see Devon speaking to her. "They should just get a room."
Aisling laughed.
"Something so funny?" The teacher said, looking relieved to get away from Xander and Cordelia's argument.
Aisling and Devon immediately shook their heads. "No. Apologies."
"Then can you name a consequence of sex?"
"STDs?" Aisling asked. "Or pregnancy."
"Two for one is good for you, but today we'll be focusing on pregnancy or at least the end result of pregnancy."
Aisling pursed her lips as the teacher pulled a sheet off the mound on his desk to reveal a bunch of eggs.
"So, you get to partner up with whoever you want." He said, "Each duo gets one egg."
"So… you want to partner with me?" Devon asked.
Aisling crossed her arms as she looked at Devon. "Depends. Are you actually going to do your share of the parenting? Or am I going to be a glorified only parent?"
Devon chuckled, "No, No, see how about, I'll take the egg the first day, and you take it tomorrow, and we go from there?"
Aisling furrowed her brow and held out her hand. "Deal."
Devon shook her hand.
They both stood and walked to the teacher's desk together. Aisling picked up a random egg and held it out for Devon. "First night goes to you, as promised."
"Never miss a thing do you?"
Aisling shook her head. "Don't forget to bring it to school tomorrow."
"So… who's my partner."
"Jonathan." Aisling said handing the egg to Buffy, "He was the only one left unpartnered so… he's yours. If you want he'll meet you at the library tomorrow and the two of you can discuss like who gets what night and stuff."
"Couldn't tell me this himself?"
Aisling shrugged, "He said he had to hurry home after school." Aisling said.
"Hmm," Buffy said. "What about you?"
Aisling flushed, "My partner is Devon."
Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Oz's friend?"
Aisling chuckled. "Mmmhmm."
"Isn't he a year older?"
Aisling shrugged, "He has a couple of grade 11 credits that he hadn't taken last year. So he's taking it this year instead. He's still set to graduate at the end of the year."
"Wow, you know a lot about him." Buffy teased.
Aisling rolled her eyes. "We're friends. I sing for his band sometimes. Of course, he and I talk. We're in a couple of the same classes."
"Okay, Okay, yeesh," Buffy said. "Don't get all—defensive. I think your crush on Devon is cute"
Aisling glared at Buffy.
"Hey. Honest." Buffy said.
"Hey Da'" Aisling said as she walked through the door, and placed her bag on the table. "Have a whole, 'take care of a fake baby' thing to do for class."
Spike blinked and stared at Aisling. "Fake baby?"
"Yeah," Aisling said. "We were paired up. My partner has the egg – the fake baby – tonight. I'll collect it tomorrow. I don't know it's supposed to teach us the consequences of sex and responsibility"
"Not to be all – when I was your age – but… when I was your age… we didn't really need that lesson."
"Because you were stuffy Victorians."
Spike rolled his eyes. "You're hilarious." HE said. "Go do other homework."
Aisling gave him a sarcastic grin before she gripped her backpack and hurried off to her room. "Who's cooking dinner tonight?"
"I will," Spike said. "What do you want?"
"Hot dogs," Aisling said.
"Aye-Aye," Spike said, he stood by her door for a moment listening to her pull books out of her backpack before he smiled and turned back to the living room.
Aisling hurried to the library the next day before school started. Devon was waiting for her.
"Hey, Dev," Aisling said slightly out of breath. "The egg is ready for me."
Devon produced it for her yawning slightly as he did so.
Aisling furrowed her brow. "Get any sleep last night?"
"I did," Devon said. "I don't know, I just woke up exhausted."
Aisling nodded. "Maybe you're coming down with something?"
"Maybe," Devon said. "Anyway." He nodded at the egg and handed it to her. "It's yours have fun."
Aisling stared at the egg in her hands. "I will." She said.
"Don't break it." Devon said, seriously. "seriously…"
Aisling stared at his seriousness. "I won't."
Devon hesitated for a moment staring at the egg. "Maybe I should—"
"Hey. It's safe with me." Aisling said pulling the egg back. "Trust me ok?"
Devon froze and looked confused. "God I'm tired." He said. "I'll see you tomorrow morning with the egg."
"You will," Aisling promised.
"Teen Health is cancelled, Mr. Whitmore is out. Couldn't find an Egg Sitter or Something." Xander said. Willow and Buffy climbed up the stairs looking exhausted.
"Well, then, could you give me a hand?"
"No." Buffy and Willow said at the exact same time as they sat down on the steps.
Xander and Aisling hurried up the steps. "Sure," Xander said. Aisling had already carefully and gently placed her egg in her backpack and had placed it down by the railing.
Aisling and Xander began picking up books to put away.
"How did the, uh, hunt go last night, Buffy?"
"No, Go," Buffy said.
"No, you didn't go? Or No you were unsuccessful."
"Oh, she went," Aisling said as she put a book on a shelf. "Got a good word from Da' that Angel and Buffy were out patrolling together."
"Your dad was spying on us?"
"He was out on a job, Buffy." Aisling said, "He took a shortcut through the park on his way home. Happened to see you." She shook her head. "Honestly I'm surprised Angel didn't sense him."
"Oh, you're just—"
"Girls." Giles sighed rubbing his forehead as tough to fend off a headache.
"Sorry, Giles," Buffy said. "No, Gorches."
"What was your father hunting last night?" Xander asked.
"A small demon was nesting in the attic of a young couple's recently acquired house," Aisling said.
"And he charges for that?"
"Mmmhmm," Aisling said. "Difficulty and danger plus equipment." She said.
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Equipment?"
"Well yeah," Aisling said. "I mean… nine times out of ten it's just killed. But some demons can only be killed in very specific ways. Like Vampires, you need stakes, decapitation or fire. If he's hired to take down a vampire, and the stake turns to dust with the vampires—as they've been known to do – then yeah. He needs to be paid to replace it."
"It's just wood."
"Ok, it's a bad analogy," Aisling said. "Fair enough. But other demons require more expensive items that stick through the heart. Especially if we're dealing with magic or possession."
"Ok. Back to the discussion at hand." Giles said. "You and Willow do seem a bit sluggish though."
"Yeah. I noticed that too."
"Maybe it's something we ate," Willow said.
"Or perhaps it's the burden of parenthood." Xander said, "Notice how seriously you two have taken this egg thing. While I, in turn, have, uh…" Xander pulled out his egg from his pocket and started tossing it up and down. "Chosen a more balanced approach."
"Xander maybe you shouldn't," Willow said looking concerned.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about." Xander said, "You can't stress over every little thing. A child picks up on that, which is a one-way ticket to the neurotic city." Xander missed catching the egg and it dropped to the ground.
Everyone gasped, even Aisling jumped forward to catch it.
To everyone's surprise, however, the egg didn't crack.
"It didn't break. How come it didn't break?"
"Which is another secret to conscientious egg care. Pot of scalding water and about 8 minutes" Xander said bending down to pick it up.
"You boiled your young?" Willow said horrified.
"Yeah, I know it sounds cruel, but sometimes you gotta be cruel to be kind. You can bet that little Xander Junior is going to be thick-skinned now."
"Actually… Xander brings up a good point." Aisling said confused. "Why weren't these eggs boiled in the first place?"
"What do you mean?" Willow asked.
"I mean… think about it. Rotten eggs stink to high heaven. So… these eggs should have been boiled to avoid the smell and like to stop bacteria growing and shit."
"Maybe it's a punishment. We break the egg; we have to deal with the smell as well as the horror of what we've done."
"Horror?" Aisling said coming downstairs and pulling her backpack on. "It's an egg, Will. I get the symbolism and all… but it's still just an egg."
"You should both be ashamed."
Aisling waved her hand away.
"Figures you three would be hanging in a dungeon," Cordelia said, walking toward them. "While something major's going on at Sunnydale High?
"Hey, Cordelia," Aisling said as she stepped down the stairs. "What's going on?"
"Mr. Whitmore didn't show today."
"That news is of the past," Buffy said exhausted as though it was hard to think.
"He's missing," Cordelia said, her tone suggesting she thought something more was going on. "Presumed dead?"
"Presumed by whom?" Giles said.
"Well, me."
"How often is it that a missing teacher has shown up dead?" Aisling asked.
"Happens more than you'd think," Giles said as he continued putting books away. "Still… I think we should wait a few more hours before we panic."
"Well, I think we should look around don't you, Xander?"
Xander turned his head and shook his head frowning. "It can wait."
"Well, his body could fall out of a closet somewhere, so we should check some closets to see if he's in a closet."
Wow. Aisling thought to herself as she watched Xander's reactions to Cordelia's words. Subtle as a brick to the face.
Xander pointed at Cordelia. "You're right." He said, "There could be a closet. Let's go" he said. He spoke to Aisling, Buffy and Will, "You guys look for more clues. We'll meet back here."
"Need help?" Aisling said unable to keep her mouth shut. "Someone with a cellphone to call someone if they find something… interesting."
"No. No." Xander said, "You help Giles, Cordy has a cell of her own."
Aisling bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.
"Are they getting weirder? Have you noticed the weirdness of them?"
Aisling bit her lip to keep from speaking out. She had a feeling she knew what was going on, and if Xander wasn't telling his friends it was for a good reason.
"They're weird."
"Said the slayer" Aisling muttered to herself.
"What was that?"
"Nothin'"
"Should I have guilt about not looking for Mr. Whitmore?"
Aisling looked at Buffy, "I don't know enough about the missing-to-death ratio of teachers in this school to have an opinion." Aisling said.
"I'd rather conserve your strength for hunting the Gorches."
"Any chance the two are connected?" Aisling said.
"Can't see what interest the Gorches would have in a science teacher."
Aisling looked at Willow. "Are you honestly asking what interest the Gorches would have in a human?"
Willow blushed embarrassed.
"I'll be fine by tonight, maybe I'll sweep the cemetery."
"Maybe check the sewers before sundown." Aisling said, "Lots of vampires use those to get around in the daytime."
"Yes thank you for telling me how to do my job."
"Be careful." Giles said, "If you're still feeling a little sluggish."
"No worries."
"And Angel's helping you, Right?" Willow said.
"Yeah." Aisling said with a grin, "You'll still be getting a lot done with him helping you."
"You've been spending a lot of time with Xander."
"Nope." Aisling said, "Spent a lot of time with a vampire."
Aisling gave a smile as she walked up toward Buffy. "Hey," Aisling said. "Any more strange eggs? You made me nervous when you called last night."
"No. Everyone's egg seems normal." Buffy said honestly.
Aisling nodded. "Mine too." She said.
"Glad to hear it."
"Did you bring the thing that attacked you?" Willow asked.
"Yeah." Buffy said, "Giles wants to see it. He's in full Research Mode."
"Ok, Well… bring it to the science lab, and I'll get Giles and we'll analyze it."
Buffy nodded, and turned to Aisling, "Maybe you could give your insight, tell me if your father ever fought anything like this before?"
Aisling turned to Buffy, "Sure." She said, "Though… I might not be able to help you it's not like my father's fought every single monster in existence."
"Still." Buffy said, "Would be better to take a look?"
Aisling nodded as she rubbed her eyes. "Sure." She said as they walked up to Xander to see him falling off the stone bench and screaming after he saw that his egg wasn't a regular chicken egg.
Aisling bent down and picked it up sharing a look with Willow as she did so.
"Can I just say… Guh." Xander said,
"I see your Guuuhhh and raise a nuuuhhh!"
Aisling bit her lip, "At least it's small." She said.
"Still creepy."
Aisling gave a slight side-eye but said nothing about it.
"What is it."
"No idea," Aisling said, she gave Buffy a look. "Sorry, I've never dealt with this before."
"Maybe your father-?"
"Asleep," Aisling said pointing to the sky. "Daytime."
"Right." Buffy said, "Sorry."
Aisling gave a slight smile. "No worries."
Buffy turned her head to see Willow coming in. "Hey, Where's Giles? He wouldn't want to miss this."
"He said to get started. He'll be by as soon as possible."
There was a mild argument as they tried to figure out who was going to dissect it but they barely got anywhere before Aisling, Cordelia and Willow knocked them out.
Aisling and Cordelia stared at each other before they dragged the two of them into a closet, Aisling pulled a couple of eggs out of her pocket and placed them on the floor next to them. She stared at the two of them before they turned and walked out.
They walked down toward the basement, grabbed shovels and began digging for more eggs. In the distance, Spike could be seen also digging for eggs. Aisling had gone to school early that morning to grab a couple of eggs. She'd left Spike alone and gone to school. It was nice to see that they'd attacked him while she'd been out.
Soon their siblings would be joining them.
Aisling woke up confused. "Why am I in the basement."
"I'll explain later," Buffy said.
"Da!" Aisling said having seen her father, she crawled to him. "Da?" She whispered as he blinked blearily up at Aisling.
"Little Bit." Da said, "What are we…"
Aisling stood,
"We must evacuate," Giles said. "Gas leak."
Aisling and Spike shared a look but decided not to argue as they slowly stood and made their way out.
On their way out, Aisling saw Buffy and hurried toward her. "Buffy." Aisling said, "What-?"
"Don't worry about it." Buffy said, "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow." She looked behind her to see her mother walking toward her.
Aisling rubbed her forehead. Even without the exact details from Buffy, she could tell that she'd been mentally manipulated again.
The question was… how? The ruby she wore prevented magical means of manipulation.
Did that mean that whatever had happened wasn't magical?
Aisling looked up at Spike her whole body shaking, as several realizations hit her.
"Let's get home," Spike said as he realized the oncoming signs of a panic attack. "And when we get home you make an appointment with your therapist alright?"
Aisling nodded as she tried to get out of the school without breaking down.
She managed to keep it together until she made it home, where she allowed herself to finally and fully break down.
A/N Yeah, since Aisling was out for the count, the chapter is pretty short.
Anyway, next chapter begins Buffy's birthday fiasco. Hope you enjoy it!
