Joyce Summers sighed heavily as she walked tiredly into the lounge, carrying a sandwich on a plate and a glass of cold orange juice. It had been about a week since Buffy had left the house after their fight, and the longer Buffy stayed away, the more concerned Joyce became. "Mom, I'm a vampire Slayer". Joyce shook her head gently, trying to sort the jumbled thoughts in her mind into some recognisable pattern. Even though Rupert Giles had tried to explain everything about Buffy's duty to her, she was still somewhat confused. And with Buffy gone...Joyce sighed again and sat down on the sofa, placing the plate and glass quietly on a nearby coffee table. It was then that she noticed the sheet of paper lying silently on that very table, displaying what Joyce knew to be Buffy's handwriting. Snapping the note up nervously, she began to read. A look of slight confusion and dissatisfaction, but also relief, crept over her weary features.
A knock on the front door forced Joyce to stir from her comfy position on the couch, and on investigating the knock, she found herself looking at Willow, Oz, Cordelia and Xander, all of which looked slightly tired and anxious.
"Hi, Mrs Summers - we were looking for Buffy. Is she home?" asked Willow as cheerfully as she could, but her happy facade collapsed as Joyce shook her head.
"No, she isn't. Buffy hasn't been home all week, not since... well, you know. But I did just find a note she left me, saying that she was sorry, but she had things to do, and would be home this evening shortly after sunset."
"Oh ok, well, we'll.... we'll come back then! Thanks Mrs Summers, we'll see you later!" said Willow, again chirpy at hearing of Buffy's return home. Joyce smiled.
"My pleasure, Willow! I'll tell her you intend to drop by when she gets home." The gang smiled and waved, and headed back down the path, somewhat cheerier at the news that Buffy would be home.
"Mom!! I'm home!!" Buffy yelled, banging loudly on the door. Joyce bounded down the stairs and opened the door. "Good heavens, Buffy!! A bit louder and Australia would be sending the sound police!" Joyce teased, half-jokingly. "Well, come on in! I don't know why you didn't just use your key..." muttered Joyce, as she ushered her daughter in and headed back upstairs. "I'll be back down in a minute. Go and fix yourself something to eat - you look awfully pale, Buffy!" Buffy just smiled, opening the front door again briefly while Joyce dabbled about upstairs. Moments later, Joyce came back down and headed towards the kitchen. "I would like to know why you didn't...Oh!!" Joyce gasped in momentary fright as she encountered a tall figure on the way. Buffy giggled.
"Oh mom.... you remember Angel, don't you? The guy that..."
"...you were going to kill, last I heard. Buffy, what is going on?" Joyce demanded angrily, hating not knowing what on earth was happening. Buffy crossed the room and walked past her mother into the kitchen.
"Things change. Angel is okay now. Or, should I say, I'm okay now. Say, mom, are we ready to eat?" Buffy opened the fridge nonchalantly, screwed up her nose at the contents, and pushed the door shut again. Joyce sighed.
"Yes, I had fixed myself something. What would you and your....umm...boyfriend like? Oh, and by the way, Willow and..." Her sentence was cut short as Buffy interrupted, stepping casually towards her mother as Angel came up from behind.
"Actually, mom, I think Angel and I would like...you." Buffy sneered deviously. Her mother was far from impressed.
"Buffy, what are you talking about? Stop this nonsense right now, and...hey!" Joyce slapped Angel's hand away from her shoulder. "Get your hands off me!" She spun around to say more on the subject to the offender, and yelped as her eyes met a somewhat different face to the one previously seen. "What on earth...?" Joyce turned back to Buffy for an explanation, but received nothing but a devilish smile. Buffy snarled and morphed into her vampire visage. Joyce screamed.
"Dinner is served, my love!" she said, snickering, and wrenched her horrified mother towards her, biting down hard on the precious vain down the side of her neck, while Angel took his share from the other side.
"Hey, where is everyone?" whispered Cordy quietly, grasping Xander's arm tightly as they followed Willow and Oz through Buffy's house. Willow shrugged.
"I dunno, but something isn't right," replied Willow anxiously, "I think Buffy's spider sense has rubbed off on me. Something is way not right here."
"Let's try the kitchen," suggested Oz, glancing briefly behind them to acknowledge the silent nods, and the group proceeded towards their destination. Xander swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and pushed the swinging door to the kitchen open to enter, followed by the rest of the gang. The first sight his eyes met was that of a vamped out Buffy seated on the bench moaning quietly as she and Angel exchanged fervent kisses. Immediately sensing the group's arrival, Buffy pulled away and looked up at the astonished eyes of her former friends. Willow squeaked an "Oh my..." before fainting dead away, while the rest stood wide-eyed and speechless in complete shock.
"Why look, it's the Slayerettes, come to visit their neighbourhood Slayer. How sweet," said Buffy dryly, rolling her eyes. "As much as I love...err...hate you guys, you are interrupting a tender moment, so if you would just leave before I have to kill you, that would be...well, that would be kinda not fun, but a girl's gotta have time alone with her lover, ya know?" she added, shooting disdainful glares at the wide-eyed group still standing in the doorway. Angel, annoyed, snarled viciously at the group and made to move in their direction, but was stopped by Buffy's hand. "No, Angel. Later," she said firmly. Angel growled, and stepped back. Xander shook his head vigorously to right his senses, helped Oz pick Willow up, and moved the foursome faster than they had ever moved before out of Buffy's house.
Once out on the street, while Oz attempted to revive Willow, Cordy held tightly onto a Xander, pale-faced and visibly freaked out.
"Did you see? Did you see her, Xander? Dead...Buffy..." stammered Cordelia, nervously glancing behind them. An extremely horrified and despairing Xander pulled her close.
"Yeah, Cordy, I saw Buffy," he replied sadly, closing his eyes in an attempt to block out all thoughts. Cordy shook her head and pulled away slightly.
"No! Not Buffy...God, Buffy...." she mumbled, the realisation of what she really did see hitting her. She sighed quietly, and continued, "but did you see? Did you see her mom?!" Cordy cried. Xander's eyes shot open.
"What? Mrs Summers? She was there?"
"Yes! On the floor, beside the bench. You were so busy looking at Buffy and Angel... she was lying on the floor, blood... and... stuff... holes in her neck... just lying there...." Cordy shuddered, and began sobbing uncontrollably. Xander pulled her to him again, and blinked hard, trying desperately to make sense of all that had just occurred. *What on earth are we gonna do?? No Slayer...no...no Buffy...* Tears fell freely as all that had just occurred built up in his mind. So, Buffy and Angel had killed Joyce. Who would be next? Xander looked over at Willow, who was now awake and standing, and crying loudly into Oz's shoulder. He sighed, wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand. There was only one person he could think of at that moment who he needed to talk to about this tragic turn of events.
"We have to get to the library and see Giles," Xander instructed, his voice hoarse, "And ya know, I get the feeling that he...he's not gonna like this."