Part Two
"Stop it! I can manage fine on my own." snapped Buffy. She had just returned from grocery shopping for herself and Angel, and he was fussing around her, trying to take the bags from her.
"I know, but I want to help you." he said, taking two of the bags. The smell of blood overtook him, but he fought back the demon.
"That one's for you." she said, pointing to the bag in his left hand. Sure enough, inside were several bags of blood.
"Thanks. You didn't have to. I could have gone." he told her. She sat down by the fire.
"Well, I was in town anyway." she put her feet up on the table.
"Are you tired?" he asked her.
"A little." There were just two weeks before graduation, and Buffy was now four months pregnant. Her clothes were beginning to get tight, but all anyone at school had noticed was that she no longer wore lycra or tight tops.
The new slayer, India Hamilton, had arrived from England a few weeks previously. She was seventeen and from London, as Giles had told them. What he hadn't told them was that India was dark and beautiful, with big blue eyes that jumped out from her pale skin. Cordelia had been concerned initially with Xander- knowing his predisposition towards slayers, but India was like Buffy in many ways, and saw Xander as just a friend. In fact, Buffy was more concerned than Cordelia, because it seemed that India shared tastes in men with Buffy. Namely: Angel.
"How's India?" Angel asked. Buffy stiffened in her seat.
"Fine." she said, her teeth grinding slightly.
"Don't you like her."
"Oh sure, I like her. She's like a little sister to me."
"I sense a sarcastic tone." Angel told her. Buffy sighed.
"I do like her, she's nice and she's dedicated to slaying. But she creeps me out. Haven't you ever seen Single White Female?" Angel looked blank.
"I should have known." she sighed again. "It's like she's taking over my life- she lives in my old house with my mother, she's doing my job, she's friends with my friends, and she wants my boyfriend...." Buffy trailed off. Angel looked on in understanding now.
"Buffy's jealous." he said, trying valiantly not to smile.
"You're a fine one to talk!" she exclaimed. "And I'm not jealous per se, just..."
"Concerned." His battle against smiling was rapidly being lost.
"Yeah. Concerned."
"Buffy, even if she does like me, it doesn't mean I like her back, does it? Or that I'm going to dump you for her." Angel looked at her seriously.
"If you did, that would be really sucky, what with my condition and all." she said, smiling slightly.
"Well, exactly." he smiled again "Do you want something to eat?"
"No. I had a snack at the Mall." she suddenly remembered something. "Willow invited us to her house this evening for a nice quiet night in with videos."
"OK." Angel said, more interested in rubbing her feet at that point.
"So we'll go?"
"Sure."
That night, all was quiet for a change, as Buffy, Angel, Willow, Oz, Xander, Cordelia and India settled down to watch movies, and eat popcorn.
"What shall we watch first?" asked Willow, holding up two video boxes- Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
"Ferris Bueller." said Buffy. The others nodded in agreement and they settled down to watch the movie.
"Erm, Will, can I ask you a question?" began Xander.
"Sure."
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit? What were you thinking?" Willow scowled at him.
"I think it's funny." she defended. "And Roger's cute."
By the end of the night, they were definitely bored. Willow was braiding Oz's green hair, Cordelia was lecturing Xander on the importance of regular use of hand cream, while Buffy and India painted Angel's finger nails.
"Would anyone come and rescue me?" he called feebly to Xander, to Oz, to anyone.
"Shut up." Buffy told him as she added a second coat of black to his left thumbnail.
"It's black, Buffy."
"Yeah?"
"I'm a walking cliché. I'm Spike."
"Is he always this unadventurous?" India asked the older girl.
"Not always." Buffy smiled at him slyly. Angel glared at her.
"Make it stop, Buffy." he pleaded.
"Never." she grinned at him, placing a tiny kiss on his hand.
"Why am I letting you do this?" he asked.
"Because you love me, and because we'd kick your ass." Buffy told him chirpily.
"Yeah?" he challenged.
"Yeah. Two slayers against one itty bitty vampire? When one of the slayers is me?" she said. Angel thought for a moment, and a low, feral growl came from deep within him, but he just gave up, and sat quietly while he got his manicure.
When Angel and Buffy arrived home at the mansion, another car was parked there. Buffy extracted a stake from her jacket, and the two of them approached their own front door cautiously.
"Buffy!" a voice called. Buffy's heart leapt into her throat for a second, before calming down. It was Joyce.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" she said, clutching at her heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack. You shouldn't be out here when it's dark."
"But this is the home of the slayer and her vampire boyfriend. Who would dare come here?" said Joyce. She had a good point. Everyone in Sunnydale of the demonic persuasion knew that the big mansion on Crawford Street was no go.
"Just come inside." Buffy said, taking her mother into the house.
"It's huge." commented Joyce.
"Yeah. Angel likes his space, what with not getting out in the day so much." Buffy told her. Joyce paused for a moment, considered this before dismissing it.
"Would you like a drink Mrs Summers?" Angel asked her politely.
"Well, a coffee would be nice." she said. Angel nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. When he returned with two mugs of coffee, Buffy and Joyce were sitting by the fire talking. He placed the coffee down, and went to leave them to it.
"No, Angel. Don't leave. This concerns you too." Joyce said. He obeyed, sitting down next to Buffy.
"Now, I know I haven't been very supportive, but it's been an awful lot to take in. My daughter's a slayer of something I was led to believe didn't exist, she says she's in love with someone who had a bicentennial...."
Buffy cleared her throat. She didn't like the insinuation that she wasn't completely in love with Angel. Joyce continued
"She's having a baby, living in a mansion with her boyfriend, and she's already died once. Yet she's still just shy of her nineteenth birthday."
"I know it's a lot to deal with, mom. That's why I tried to keep the truth about slaying from you, for your own sake. I don't want to see you hurt, I don't want to put you in any danger." Buffy told her.
"This I do know: You're not a little girl anymore, you can make your own decisions, and soon you're going to have to look after a little baby. And I don't want to make your life harder. I'll always support you Buffy. Always. I just needed a little time for the information to filter through. And that goes for you too Angel. You have my support." Buffy beamed in delight. Angel nodded to Joyce in silent acknowledgement.
"Well, I should go now, I have to be at the gallery early." she got up from her seat.
"Good night then," she smiled before making her own way out. Angel followed her, and saw her get safely to her car and drive away.
"Well, that went well." he said. Buffy nodded.
"Tired?"
"Yeah." she curled up on the sofa.
"Buffy?"
"What?"
"Can you help me get this stuff off my hands now?" he asked her, with his puppy-dog expression he knew she found irresistible. She rolled her eyes, and led him into the bathroom.
Two weeks later, Buffy and Willow were sitting in the library. It was just half an hour until the Graduation ceremony. Joyce would be there to see Buffy graduate. Principal Snyder had already congratulated her on graduating- knowing he wouldn't have to put up with her next year after all.
"Will you miss this place?" she asked Willow.
"School? Or just the library?"
"Both."
"Well, I'll miss the library, but we'll probably still spend time here with Giles."
"That'll please Snyder." commented Buffy.
"And school in general? I'm not so sure. A lot of these people teased me for a long time. I don't think I'll miss the people. But I'm scared of, you know, leaving it all behind, and going on to the unknown."
"College?"
"Exactly."
"Well, look on the bright side, maybe I can get kicked out of UCSunnydale too." said Buffy. Willow smiled.
"Oh! Will you sign my yearbook?" she asked Buffy, thrusting said book into her hands.
"OK. Dear Willow.... Thanks for everything.... Love you to bits....See you at college...Congratulations you genius witch hacker you..... Love Buffy." she mumbled as she wrote.
"Thanks. Is Angel coming to graduation?"
"Not without getting a severe case of sunburn."
"Oh, of course." Willow inwardly yelled at herself for being so stupid.
"Doesn't matter. He'll be waiting in here. Hence the curtains." she motioned to the blackout material on the windows.
"Ready?" Xander stuck his head round the door. Willow and Buffy exchanged glances, linked hands and walked out of the library.
"Congratulations Willow," Angel told her as he signed her yearbook.
"Thanks." she said, still giddy from the ceremony. Giles had arranged for a small party for the Scooby gang in the library.
"Did I tell you? I'll be moving most of the relevant books to my apartment, so you wont need to come here anymore. That would raise Snyder's suspicions too much." Giles told them.
"So, it's the end of an era?" said Xander.
"Yeah. It means Giles is going to have to get a computer." said Willow with a grin. Giles looked a little shocked, before realising it was time to join the twentieth century. With six whole months to spare.
Life was now more simple for Buffy. Like Angel, she mostly slept during the day, enabling her to be fresher and more alert for the little patrolling Giles still allowed her to do. Admittedly, she was often afraid of getting hurt, or more importantly, hurting her baby, but it wasn't like she had the opportunity to get hurt: she was always accompanied by Angel or India. She was beginning to feel a little hemmed in, never alone. She was always with Angel, which she didn't mind, or with someone else. They never let her alone for a moment. She was now six and a half months pregnant, and she knew she wouldn't be able to slay at all soon. She shuffled tiredly into the living room and sat by the fire. She and Angel really needed to get central heating.
"Morning." Angel said from the kitchen. He came in with a bowl of cereal and a spoon, and handed them to her.
"Hi." she said. "I thought I might go to the mall today."
"OK. Who are you going with?"
"No one."
"Oh."
"I can go on my own! I'm not entirely helpless! I can be left alone without anything bad happening you know." she exclaimed. Angel looked at her strangely.
"I didn't say you couldn't." he said softly.
"I'm sorry Angel, I didn't mean to be, well, mean. But I never seem to have any time on my own now." she began to cry softly.
"Hormones troubling you at all?" he asked.
"I haven't really had a problem with them to be honest." she said. He looked at her, expecting her to be joking. She wasn't. He looked at her. How did she not realise that one minute she was screaming at him, the next sobbing? He smiled, and hugged her.
"Do you want to take my car?" he asked.
"That's so sweet of you!" she said, dissolving into tears once more.
**
"Hey Mari!" called Heather. It was time for history, but she really wasn't in the mood for anything academic. She beamed as her friend came down the corridor to her.
"Hey Heather."
"How'd the slaying go last night?"
"I didn't go. I won't be slaying until I've trained some. Angel said he'll train with me too. He doesn't fancy that Giles guy's chances against me."
"My grandmother told me that his father was your grandmother's watcher."
"Yeah. Angel said. He really doesn't want me to do the whole slaying thing. He wants me to have a normal life. What is normal, anyway? I slay, therefore I am."
"You getting philosophical Mallone?" asked Heather with a grin.
"Philosophical is such a strong word. I like to think of it more as pondering." said Mari.
"You look like two young ladies with too much time on your hands." a voice bellowed. It was their adored Principal Carter.
"Principal Carter. What a lovely morning. And that is a very fetching blouse." said Mari. Principal Carter scowled at Mari.
"Don't you have a class to be in?" she asked.
"Yes Ma'am. I was just collecting the relevant books from my locker." Mari said, smiling prettily at the Principal. It worked. The principal just looked at her, and then went down the hall.
"How do you do that?" asked Heather.
"What?"
"That smile. Everyone falls for it. Even her." Heather nodded in the direction of Principal Carter.
"I don't know, it's like a gift." Mari told her with a wink, and they went off to history.
**
Sunnydale, California. Early 2000.
Buffy was screaming in pain. It was a hard labour, and she'd already been there two hours. Nothing was going anywhere fast.
"Angel!" she screamed. It was, however, still day light outside, and he'd been forced to stay at home until sunset. Even in her current state, she could imagine him at home, prowling, growling at the clock, trying to make time move faster.
"It's almost sunset Buffy. He'll be here in time." said Willow. She was currently holding her best friend's hand as the contractions coursed through her body. Xander had also been present, but had passed out at the mere sight of some of the medical instruments used.
"How's Xander?" Buffy asked in between contractions.
"He's outside, sipping mineral water." Willow stifled a giggle.
"Mom? Giles?"
"She's at the gallery, and will be along in ten minutes, when it closes. Giles said he was on his way but he was taking the Gilesmobile, so who knows when he'll get here."
"True."
"India's going to patrol tonight. Cordelia's just gone off to her obstetrician's exam, she'll be back soon. She found the Xander passing out incident awfully funny." Willow told her.
"It was funny." Buffy said, smiling, until another contraction hit her.
Half an hour later, her condition was still the same, but Angel was now there, holding her hand. The contractions were finally beginning to be more frequent.
"It hurts, Angel." she said almost whimpering, gripping his hand tightly. He smiled. She'd been hurt worse than this before. But she really seemed to be in pain. And that alarmed Angel.
"Is everything OK?" he asked the doctor in charge. The doctor smiled.
"Sure it is. Just relax. We'll get through this. The contractions are getting harder and more frequent, so it's getting closer to the next stage. She'll be fine." he added for emphasis.
"When I'm out of this bed, I'm going to kill you Angel." Buffy said through gritted teeth. He looked shocked. The midwife smiled.
"They all say that. Don't worry, she'll forget her homicidal notions once baby is here."
"No I will not." said Buffy, gripping his hand tighter.
"Buffy! Ow!" Angel winced in pain.
"See how you like it." she said, managing a small smile before the next contraction.
"Do you think she's OK?" Joyce asked for the millionth time. She, Giles, Xander, Cordelia, Oz and Willow were waiting outside.
"I'm sure she's fine. Just relax." said Giles. Joyce didn't hear him.
"Are you OK Xander?" Willow asked the boy, who was still nursing a bump on his head.
"I'm fine." he said, trying to ignore Cordelia's pathetic attempts to stifle her laughter.
"You could be more supportive." he told her. She laughed.
"Xander, you passed out because of some tweezers and stuff."
"It wasn't tweezers and stuff. They were like instruments of Satan. And look: this bump is almost as big as yours!" he said, pointing to his girlfriend's rather pregnant state. Cordelia gave up trying to hide her amusement, and laughed long and hard. A piercing scream cut through the air. It was unmistakably Buffy.
"What?" Joyce was up on her feet. Then, a few seconds later, the sounds of a baby wailing came to their ears. A nurse appeared a few minutes after that, and led them into the room where Buffy lay, cradling a little baby girl in her arms.
"Buffy!" cried Joyce. The others rushed in, with the exception of Xander, who first checked to see if the doctor had left any of his 'Instruments of Satan' in the room. Satisfied, Xander joined his friends.
"How are you Xand?" Buffy tried not to laugh.
"Fine thank you," he said a little tersely. Then his annoyed expression melted entirely. In Buffy's arms was the most beautiful baby he'd ever seen.
"Buffy...." he began, but stopped, unable to find the words to continue.
"Do you have a name for her yet?" asked Oz. Buffy looked at Angel.
"Maybe Roslyn. Or Paloma. Or Lilyella." she said. "We haven't decided yet.
"I love her stuff." said Cordelia. They all looked at her strangely. She clarified:
"Paloma Picasso? Please!" she gave up hope.
"We know who she is Cordelia." Buffy reassured her. "We just didn't think of you as a Paloma Picasso kind of girl."
"I like Paloma. And Lilyella." said Joyce. "Lilyella Summers. Paloma Summers."
"Lilyella Summers is a bit of a mouthful." said Giles.
"Paloma it is." decided Buffy. Angel nodded. "Paloma." Buffy whispered to the baby.
**
"Mari?" Angel called. She'd just got home from school. She'd hoped he hadn't heard her come in, so she could have a minute's rest before he dragged her down into the basement for training. She decided not to answer him.
"Mari." he scolded lightly, appearing in the doorway. He couldn't venture out too far into the bright and sunny living room, and she had no intention of moving.
"Leave me alone! I'm tired." she said, taking on an expression of exhaustion. It wasn't working.
"Come on Mari. You've got a lot to learn. You've started late."
"Late? You've been training me to be the slayer since I was born! Don't lie, you know you have." she accused.
"No I haven't. I've been teaching you how to look after yourself. This is different. It's not just about being able to get out of any danger that arises, it's about actually going into dangerous situations willingly." he told her.
"What are you, my watcher?" she said.
"I'm your grandfather and you'll do as I say." he tried putting on a stern voice, but he could never really raise his voice to his Mari. She knew it too.
"Please, let me just have half an hour?" she gave him a wide eyed little girl look, which she knew was guaranteed to work. And with a sigh, Angel headed back down into the darkness.
"I'm ready now." she called down, before heading down into the basement. He was there, waiting for her. She noticed the empty packets of blood in the bin. He'd just fed. That would make it harder for her.
"Oh, you think so?" he taunted her. He ran at her, but she blocked him. They fought frenetically for minutes, neither gaining the upper hand. Mari was getting tired, but she willed herself to carry on. She was the Slayer, and she wasn't about to let some old guy beat her. Especially not this one. She'd never hear the end of it. Summoning all her strength, she threw him off, and he landed heavily on the floor. Without giving him time to recover, she dived at him, and pretended to stake him.
"I win." she said with a huge smile.
"Barely." he said. "And I wasn't trying my hardest." she gave him a look. He threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of frustration.
"You're just like Buffy." he told her. She smiled at that. It was just about the biggest compliment Angel could give her.
"Am I as good as her?" she asked, suddenly anxious. Angel smiled.
"Come back when you've been slaying a couple of years, we'll fight and then I'll give you an answer." at that, Mari vowed to practice, survive and one day be an even better slayer than Buffy had been.
**
Sunnydale, California. 2016.
Many long and mostly happy years had passed, and Paloma Summers was now sixteen years old. She was, like her mother, a pretty blonde girl. She shared with her father deep, dark eyes which no one could ever quite fathom. She was Homecoming Queen, Prom Princess, the co-captain of the cheerleading squad, and she was probably the most popular girl in school. A few comments were occasionally made about how her father seemed so young- Angel, after all, still passed easily for twenty five years old- but Paloma's life was pretty much perfect. She knew all about the things that go bump in the night, and she was secretly relieved to be just another girl. Paloma had never wanted to be a slayer- she'd wanted to be a real girl. The triumvirate that was Buffy, Angel and Paloma had often worried that one day she would be called, but as she reached sixteen, it was clear that she was not what Slayers were made of. She was a cheerleader and proud of it.
Buffy continued slaying, becoming like a mentor to each new slayer that passed through the tourist spot known as The Hellmouth, just as Giles continued to watch, having been reinstated to the Watcher's Council years before. And Angel? He still suffered from his sunlight and crucifix allergies, and helped his adored Buffy after sundown.
"Hey! Paloma!" a deep male voice called to her. She was sauntering along the edge of the school football field, still in her cheerleading uniform, on her way home. It was late autumn, and she knew Angel would begin to worry if she wasn't home before the sun began to set. But, against her better judgement, she stopped and turned around.
"Hi?" she said, momentarily stunned. She might be the most popular girl in school (and how she knew it!) but she was still surprised that the star quarterback for the Sunnydale Razorbacks was running towards her. Jason Mallone. He was everything that Paloma had ever wanted. He was gorgeous in a blond, perma-white smile, All-American kind of way, he was kind and sweet and an athlete. Pulling herself together, she gave him her most dazzling smile.
"Jason!" she said, wishing her mind would function properly long enough for her to get out a sentence.
"Are you going home?" he asked. "I'll walk with you, you know, if you want."
She smiled again.
"Sure."
"You live in that great house on Crawford Street, don't you?" he asked conversationally.
"Yeah."
"I heard that it used to belong to this huge movie star back in the 1930s." he told her.
"It did."
"Who?"
"I don't know. Just some huge reclusive star who locked herself away in her big house at the first sign of a wrinkle." they laughed. She definitely liked Jason. Or, as Aunt Cordy would say, he was definitely what could be classed as 'salty goodness'.
"My dad bought the house before I was born. Him and my mom did the whole place up, to make it less Haunted House on the Hill." They strolled along the wide streets of Sunnydale, basking in the warmth of the dying sun. After five minutes walking, talking, they arrived at her home. It was definitely pretty dark. Angel would be mad. She opened the door, and silently nodded to Jason to go in. Angel and Buffy had instilled in their daughter the importance of knowing who to invite in, and who not to invite in. If someone actually needed to ask to be invited in, then it was fairly safe to say that they shouldn't be invited in. To her relief, Jason walked straight in and she followed.
"Daddy?" she called. It was dark enough for him to be outside now, and so she led Jason into the kitchen.
"Would you like a drink?"
"A Coke would be great." he told her. She opened the fridge, and quickly closed it again. Inside hung several large packets of blood. She didn't want to even begin explaining that one to Jason. She opened it again just enough to slide her arm in and pull out a can of Coke. She took him into the living room, where Angel had lit a fire.
"You have a real fire!" he exclaimed. Such things weren't exactly the norm now.
"Yeah. We've got real heating too, but Daddy likes the fire." As if on cue, Angel himself entered from the garden.
"When did you get in?" he asked.
"Since about ten minutes ago." she lied, hoping he wouldn't have been aware if she had been back before sunset or not.
"You, Paloma Lilyella Summers, are a liar." Angel said, without the slightest hint of annoyance, just concern for his beloved little girl.
"I am not lyi- OK, I admit, we got in about two minutes ago. Practice ran late." she paused, noticing Angel's suspicious look towards Jason.
"This is Jason Mallone, he's the quarterback for the Razorbacks. He walked me home."
"Hi."
"Jason, this is my dad, Angel."
"Mr Summers," said Jason a little over-eager in his attempt to shake Angel's hand. Angel smiled tightly, before disappearing back into the garden.
"Don't worry about him, he's just like that around anyone he thinks might corrupt his little girl." "He looks too young to be your dad." Jason commented.
"He has great bone structure." Paloma said, a little cryptically.
"Where's your mom?"
"She's out pa... at her friend's house." Paloma checked herself. Jason would want to know what 'patrolling' involved. They sat talking, about anything, everything and nothing, when about half an hour later, the sound of screeching tires was heard, before Xander Harris came rushing in. He went straight past Paloma and Jason, into the garden. A few seconds later, he and Angel ran back through the house, and the car roared off again.
"What was that about?" Jason wondered aloud. He noticed Paloma's worried expression.
"I.... I don't know. Could you wait a sec?" she asked, before going to the phone. She was getting worried. There was no answer from Willow, or Giles. And Angel was injured, hence his not patrolling. Something big was going on. She never admitted as much, but her mother's slaying petrified Paloma. She went back to Jason.
"I should probably get you home." she told him. She picked up the keys to Angel's precious 1968 convertible.
"Is everything OK?"
"I'm not sure. I'll drive you home. You live on Peachtree Road, right?" Jason nodded. There was something in Paloma's eyes which worried him. He didn't notice her pick up a bag containing stakes and holy water. She led him quickly to the car, and he got in. But before she could get in the driver's side, a vampire sprung from the shadows. Using the techniques she'd learned from her parents, she kicked it away, giving her enough time to grab a bottle of holy water, and throw it in the vampire's approaching face. It screamed with pain, and was preoccupied long enough for her to drive a stake through it's heart and it turned to dust.
"They never learn." she muttered. She got into the driver's seat, and then noticed Jason's expression. She sighed. She had no idea how to explain that away.
"Mom?" Paloma called, when she heard the front door open later that night. She rushed into the living room, expecting to see Buffy a little bruised, but not much more. Instead, she watched as Angel carried her into the room. Oblivious for the first time to his daughter since her birth, he swept past her into their bedroom, followed closely by Giles, Willow, Xander and Cordelia. Paloma went to follow, but Cordelia stopped her.
"You don't want to go in there. Trust me." Cordelia smiled comfortingly at Paloma, trying to reassure her.
"She's going to be OK, right?" Paloma asked for the fifth time in as many minutes. They were all sitting in Buffy and Angel's bedroom, waiting for Buffy to wake. It hadn't been as bad as Paloma had first feared- cuts, bruises, a knock on the head.
"What was it?" she ventured. Giles spoke softly,
"A large posse of the Eliminati ambushed her."
"El Eliminati? But mom killed that Balshazzar guy."
"Balthazar. Yes she did, but El Eliminati still exist." Giles told her.
"Why Buffy? She's not the slayer anymore. Roisin is." Xander said, less of a question and more a vocalisation of his wandering thoughts.
"Everyone knows that Buffy's stronger and more dangerous than Roisin. She's the one to kill around here, official slayer or not." Angel spoke for the first time since arriving back home. His voice carried bitterness, sarcasm and concern. Even as he spoke, his eyes never left Buffy's face, his grip on her hand never lessened. All eyes were on Buffy, willing her to wake up. And, eventually, she did.
"Angel?" she said. Xander handed Willow a crisp twenty dollar note.
"What was that for?" she asked.
"I bet Xander that the first thing you'd say on waking up would have something to do with Angel." Willow grinned triumphantly. Buffy smiled, albeit weakly.
"Are you OK?" Angel asked softly. Buffy smiled.
"Yeah. Paloma, don't look so worried." she said with a laugh.
"I was scared. And on top of all this I dusted a vampire earlier."
Everyone looked at her.
"What?"
"Yeah. After Xander came to get you, I thought I'd better drive Jason home, in case of bad stuff. And as I was getting in the car, a vampire jumped out of nowhere, but it was slow and dumb and I killed it."
"It was here?" Angel was astonished. Every single creature of the night knew it was suicide to go anywhere near the house of the Slayer.
"He was a newly made vamp, I don't think he was here for a purpose."
"How do you know he was newly made?" asked Giles.
"He was still covered in graveyard earth. And he was dumb." Paloma told him.
"Very observant of you." he told her. She beamed proudly. Angel looked up at his daughter for the first time since he'd returned with Buffy. He couldn't describe how happy he was that his daughter was not destined to be a slayer. It was strange enough for her to have a slayer mom and a vampire dad, but these things were trivial compared to the day to day reality of being the slayer. He thanked whoever it was that decides such things for sparing Paloma this destiny.
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