Life didn't get any less hectic after Professor Walsh's death, in fact it had become much worse. It was found out that the Polgara demon did not kill Maggie, only part of it did, a part that was stitched to human body parts and various robotic mechanisms. A strange amalgamation that only wanted to kill, which made him so strong that Buffy was unable to defeat him and instead got her butt kicked.

Riley had been injured and had to take a few days to recover, which helped Graham to stay away Eris which made the woman stress out immensely. Even when Riley came back, Graham still stayed away. She was happy to give him space, but she was also selfish and wanted to fix everything and go back to being happy lovers. She hadn't been coping very well.

Along with that, the second Slayer, also known as Faith, had woken from her coma and her immediate thought was to seek revenge on Buffy. Somehow, she had managed to get a spell that made her and Buffy switch bodies. It was easy for Buffy to fix, but Faith had technically won when Buffy found out Riley slept with her. He didn't mean too but it didn't help Buffy feel any less hurt.

Oz had also returned, wanting to show everyone how much he had gained control over the werewolf. But with the Initiative around, he was captured pretty quickly and used as a science experiment. The gang saved him, but now they had the military hunting them down. Oz ended up leaving once more to continue his journey on control, which saddened Willow, but she handled it better than she did the last time.

The only positive to come out of all the chaos was that the Gang finally got to meet Willow's secret friend, Tara, who was definitely more than just a friend to the ginger. She was a little awkward with getting to know the group but managed to fit in really well.

Eris was truly happy for Willow, hoping that the kind Witch would have a happy life with her new lady love. If only her own relationship could be so happy, "I was so stupid…" she muttered to herself as she trudged around her room to grab a carton of milk from her mini fridge. She needed coffee, and a lot of it.

As the kettle finished boiling, a heavy knock sounded on her door, "what now…" she angrily trudged to the door and swung it open to see Spike on the other side, "what do you want?"

He raised a brow at her attitude, but decided to brush it off, he had a job to do, "I came to ask where the Slayer is, I need to talk to her," he pushed passed her, casually walking into the room like he owned the place.

"Come on in Spike, you're always welcome," she said with an immense amount of sarcasm, "and I have no idea, she went to L A to speak to Angel, she could come back at any time."

The Vampire sat himself on the bed and lounged back, "Oh? The Slayer doesn't even bother to keep her own flesh and blood in the know, huh?"

"I'm not her mother," Eris moved over to the kettle to finish her coffee.

"Never said that, but you'd think she'd give you the decency to keep you in the loop. Most of the time all I see is you on the sidelines, being the last person to find anything out."

She didn't reply straight away, mainly because she did feel in some part he was right. She usually wasn't told anything until someone bothered to include her, or she happened to stumble on something, "I'm not very responsible with a lot of things. So its probably because of that."

Spike snorted, what a pitiful excuse, "you may act childish sometimes but that doesn't mean you should be stuck in the kiddy pen."

"Kiddy pen?" she asked as she turned around, fresh coffee in hand.

"Oh, just something Buffy said to Xander when I spoke to them last."

"What?"

He kept his innocent act up, but on the inside he was having so much fun manipulating all these idiots, "she didn't use the words Kiddy pen, but she certainly said you were too immature for all the supernatural stuff, was why you were sent here, wasn't it?"

Eris frowned deeply, that just doesn't sound like something Buffy would say. But Spike knew she was sent here, which only the gang knew, "that just…that doesn't sound like something Buffy would say."

"It's not like she's the same Buffy, even I can see that. She's always focused on her solider boy, she barely focuses on any of your little Scooby Gang."

"Why do you care so much?"

Spike jumped up to head to the door, "I don't, not at all, I just had some information I wanted to give to people I thought we're a competent team, but all I find is people who are tag alongs that the Slayer cares little about," he left the dorm without another word, leaving Eris standing still, holding her coffee that she no longer had the appetite for.

Willow had been working on opening up a file Spike had managed to get her from the Initiative base, but no matter how much she tried it just wouldn't budge, "its still encrypted," she said before heaving out a frustrated sigh.

No one seemed to be in great moods as they all sat in various places around Giles' loungeroom, only Tara seemed to be in a positive mood, "Willow's working really hard on it."

Buffy stood next to Willow, her arms were crossed across her chest as she impatiently looked at the Witch, "ok, how long before you un-crypt it?"

Willow didn't look at Buffy when she asked the question, her eyes completely focused on the scrolling codes that flew across her laptop screen, "hours/ Days, maybe? Anyone suggesting months would not be accused of crazy talk."

Giles piped up from his spot in the kitchen, his words slurred by the copious amount of alcohol he had consumed throughout the day, "whatever happened to latin? At least when that made no sense, the church approved."

Buffy huffed and thew her arms down by her sides, "I can't just wait around, Will. That disk is no good to me unless you crack it soon."

"Hey," Anya shot back in offense, "we worked really hard getting that. Xander delivered clothing."

"Sorry, you guys, we're on a clock here," Buffy looked at them apologetically for a moment before going back to business, "ok, Adam was at that cave so maybe he was there for a reason. I-I could…I could go back, scope it out, track him if I have to."

"Right, and then maybe you'll get lucky, and he'll still be there, and he can rip your arms off for you," Willow shot up from her chair and moved over to the group, "Buffy, you can't go back alone."

"You never train with me anymore, he's going to kick your ass."

"The fuck Giles?" Eris snapped, eyes widened in surprise at the Watcher's bluntness.

"Sorry. Was that a bit honest? Terribly sorry."

Xander agreed with Eris at the rudeness and shot up from his chair, "so she doesn't go alone. Giles, weapons all around."

"You're not going, Xander," the dorky man looked back at Buffy, confusion on his face, "you'd get hurt."

It was like a lightbulb switched on in his head, one that made him not look very happy, "oh…ok, you and Willow go do the superpower thing. I'll sit around with Eris and putt around the Batcave with crusty old Alfred here, assume she's in the same weak human category I am."

"Ahh no, I am no Alfred sir. No you forget. Alfred had a job."

"Where did the weak human part come from?" Eris asked, she could sense the tension brewing in the room.

"Willow is not going, either. I'm doing it alone."

"Oh great, and then when you have your new no arms, we can all say, Gee, it's a good thing we weren't there getting in the way of that."

Xander looked at Willow and nodded in agreement with her words, "right. And maybe we can help in other ways. Want some fighting pants, Buff? I can get you some new fightin' pants."

Anya had slowly slid off the couch to move over to Eris who was a little more out of the way, feeling awkward that she was between people who were arguing, "you guys, this isn't helping," Buffy tried to scold, not understanding what was happening, but her friends just seemed to get angrier.

The Witch gave Buffy a sarcastic smile as she spike, "Oh, wow, we're already getting in the way. We're pretty good at this, Xander, huh?"

"Right Willow, I'm so good at it, you might have to ship me off to the army to get me out of the way."

Buffy looked stunned and unsure of what was happening, they were throwing things at her for reasons she could not understand, "the army?"

"You didn't know I knew about that, did you? You two talking about me behind my back."

Now it was Buffy's turned to get angry, "us talking about you? How about you telling Riley every last detail of my life with Angel?"

Eris decided it was her time to chime in to this little anger fest, "at least you guys get told things," she said in the most snarky tone she could muster which made the group looked at her in surprise, "I'm just the little tag along that's too childish to be kept in the loop. Its always you guys in cahoots and I'm put in the corner so I don't break anything."

Willow scoff at her words, "when is there ever any 'you guys'? you guys are the you guys who are the guys, I'm the one in the corner."

"Uh-huh, but maybe that all changed when I'm doing sit-ups over at Fort Dix."

Xanders words made Giles crack up laughing, showing how inebriated he truly was, "are you drunk?" Buffy asked, sounding much like a disappointed mother.

"Yes, quite a bit actually."

"Well stop it," Buffy at this point had enough with the accusation that were being thrown at everyone, she wanted this to end so they could focus on Adam, "this is stupid."

"Stupid," Xander began, not letting go of the anger, "so you finally had the guts to say it to my face."

"Oh, come on Xander, she didn't call you stupid, stop acting like a victim," Eris snapped, she may have been pissed but some of the things Willow and Xander were saying were so incredibly stupid.

"Guys, please. Just let me fix this," Buffy looked at the group with sadness and desperation, "I need all of you, all the time, just…not now. Adam is very dangerous-"

"-Wait," Willow cut off Buffy when a thought popped into her head, "how do you need me, really?"

"You're good with the computer stuff. Usually. And…And there's the witch stuff."

"Witch stuff? What exactly do you mean by' witch stuff?"

"Why are you acting all offended? There isn't a need to be so angry!"

"Stay out of it, Eris," Willow snapped back without even looking at the black-haired woman, "this doesn't concern you."

Eris stood up the moment those words left the Witch's mouth. She stalked over to Willow and glared angrily at her, "doesn't concern me?" her voice was low, and threatening which made Willow slightly uneasy, "both you and Xander are acting like a bunch of childish bitches and attacking Buffy like you've lost your brains. I may be pissed off but I'm not about to go shit all over someone I care about."

"Hey, back up Eris," Xander said as he moved closer to Willow.

"Make me Xander, I'd like to see you try!"

"I wouldn't try Xander, she's the only one that's been training with me. She'll kill you," Giles chimed in from his drunken corner.

Buffy had watched the scene unfold, why was this happening, "you guys, what is happening? This is crazy."

"Oh, no it's not. It's all finally making perfect sense, and I'm not gonna miss a moment of it," Giles waddled himself over to the table to lean against it like he was watching an entertaining sitcom. Only instead he missed it completely and fell to the ground.

The group continued their nasty comments thrown at each other. The more things were thrown out the nastier they got. There were things about everyone going off to college and leaving Xander, Willow having Tara as her girlfriend and thinking Buffy couldn't handle it, Buffy trying her best to fix things and Eris just threatening to hit Willow and Xander if they didn't calm the fuck down.

The entire situation eventually wore Buffy down, with her heart breaking with every verbal jab thrown her way. She couldn't handle it anymore, "I'm starting to understand why there's no ancient prophecy about a chosen one and her friends," she looked at Willow and Xander one last time before storming out, "if I need help, I'll go to someone I can count on. Eris, stay here."

She left with a slam of the door, leaving everyone to stew in their own thoughts and anger, "you guys are assholes, honestly," Eris hissed out angrily, "she's goes out of her way to help everyone, yet you guys and you throw it back in her face."

"Yea but-"

"No Xander, you don't get to talk anymore. She has died for the world, full heart no longer beating lying on the grown not breathing type dead, but nooooo, your feelings are more important," she went to leave before a thought crossed her mind, "before this explosion of emotions, did either of you actually go and talk to Buffy about these issues?" all she got was silence and guilty looks, "that's what I thought. You had problems and didn't bother to share them, you let them fester and now you exploded and massively hurt someone that didn't deserve it."

"What about you?" Willow asked, "we heard your problems, you were angry just like we were."

"Yea I was! But you know what I was going to do when I had the chance, TALK TO MY COUSIN LIKE A NORMAL ADULT WOULD!" she threw her hands up in the air, "you both need to grow the fuck up, I'm outta here."

Eris stormed out the house, hoping maybe she could find her cousin before she was in any danger. She didn't care about how Willow or Xander felt, she just hoped she made them feel guilty and stupid, it was the only thing she could do that wasn't hitting them.

Eris had looked for Buffy for the entire rest of the night and into the morning, but no matter where she looked, she couldn't find her cousin. The Slayer had most likely gone out to hunt for Adam which meant that she would not be able to be found until she resurfaced.

She was about to give up and head back to her dorm, but as luck would have it, it was Buffy who found her, "Eris, get in your room, I need to use your phone."

"Huh? Buffy, are you ok?" Eris tried to get an answer but Buffy gently yet hurriedly shoved her into the room, "hey hey, enough with the shoving."

"That argument we had last night, that seemed out of the blue right?"

"Yeaaaaa, why?"

Buffy moved over to the phone and started dialling Willow's number, "Even you seemed angry, which I will talk to you about I promise, but I have to know, did you talk to Spike before hand?"

"Yeaaaaa, why?" Eris repeated.

"I think he did the same to the others, I spoke to him earlier and he somehow knew I had a falling out with Willow. I think he caused this."

"That son of a bitch! And I was just starting to be ok with him again," Eris huffed and sat on her bed with an angry plonk, "you calling the others?"

"I need to fix this," was Buffy's quick reply before she started calling Willow, Xander and Giles respectively to ask them to meet her at the college. She had to fix this, she needed to. She needed them, they were the only thing that kept her fighting for the world.

They had agreed, albeit reluctantly, which made her feel less stressed. It didn't take long to make them all realise that Spike played them and was working for Adam, which honestly was not that surprising if you really think about it. Everything seemed all too convenient as well as they all spoke about the situation. Spike had magically gotten them information about Adam's entire plan that detailed how he wanted to manufacture a bunch of creepy cyber-demonoids like him and have an army at his silver coated fingertips. It was obvious that Adam fed Spike the disks he gave the gang.

Adam was going to make the demons attack the Initiative from the inside. Demons versus soldiers, a fight that would give Adam enough body parts to start assembling his army, and with Buffy being lured in, she would be able to even up the kill ratio. They had to shut him down, and fast.

The biggest war they had ever face would start soon, and it would be a bloody massacre.