Family Ties: Part 2
by Allicat
Disclaimer: You guys know the drill. The BTVS characters and their story lines from the show don't belong to me. The only characters I've invented Máire and her mother. The rest are the product of someone else's fertile imagination.

Author's Notes: "Máire" is pronounced "Moira"; "O'Leaghaire" is pronounced "O'Leary"

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Máire got out of the taxi in front of Sunnydale High School and looked around. She saw a boy, probably a senior, sitting on a picnic table with an electric guitar plugged into an amp. He was strumming some chords, and looked to be practising his fingering. Máire wandered over. "Are you in a band?" She asked.

Oz looked up at the voice. Standing in front of him was a beautiful woman, probably in her mid-twenties, with dark brown hair and dazzling green eyes. She smiled. He melted. "Yeah, we're called ?Dingoes ate my Baby'. Ever heard of us?"

"Nope, sorry." Máire shook her head.

"Yeah, well I guess we haven't made it all the way to Ireland yet."

"How did you know where I was from?"

"Well, you're obviously not from around here, otherwise I would have definitely noticed you before. And, you have that killer accent. Plus..." he paused, thinking about what he had said. "No, that's it, just those two reasons."

Máire smiled again. "I'm supposed to meet Buffy Summers here. Do you know her?"

"Oh yeah, I know Buffy. If you wait here with me, Buffy wil be along in a minute. I'm supposed to meet her and my girlfriend for lunch."

"Oh, cool. I'll just sit right down then. Hey, do you know how to play anything that I would know?"

"Uh, well, I do know some Sinead O'Connor!" Oz looked hopeful. Máire laughed. "Ok, sure, you play and I'll pretend I can sing."

A shadow fell across the table. "Aren't you toads, er, students, supposed to be in class right now?" Oz looked up and saw Principal Snyder.

"Well, I've got this class called ?free period' right now," said Oz, looking at Snyder with disdain.

"I'm not a student here. I'm just visiting," said Máire, trying to be helpful.

"ALL visitors MUST register at the office!" Snyder grabbed Máire's bags and marched towards the school building.

"Hey, wait! That's my stuff!" Máire stood up and ran after Snyder. Oz, grabbed his guitar and followed Máire. "Welcome to Sunnydale High," he chuckled under his breath as they proceeded to follow Principal Snyder into the school.


* * *
Buffy walked into the library. Her two best friends, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris followed behind her. "C'mon Buffy, tell us about this new girl. Is she a complete hottie?" Xander, ever hormonally charged, pressed for details. "Is she single? Cause you know I like older women."

"Xander, you like any woman who has a pulse" said Buffy. Willow looked hurt for a split second, as she recalled that Xander hadn't noticed *her* pulse, then she smiled. "Ooh, plus, you only seem to appeal to the undead and Monster-chicks," she added, "and Máire hasn't shown any of those tendencies."

"What do you mean, Monster-Chicks? What about Cordy?" Xander asked.

"Monster-chick. Definitely." Buffy and Willow responded in unison.

"Greetings all," said Rupert Giles as they approached the stacks. "What brings you here? Was there actually some news to report from last night's patrol?"

"Actually, yes, but it's not what you think. I ran into an acquaintance of yours. Her name is Máire Kinsella." Buffy plopped herself into a chair and tossed her backpack onto the table in front of her. She put her feet up on the table and looked over at Giles casually, trying to gage his reaction.

"Máire Kinsella? That names does ring a bell. She must have been one of the apprentices at the Museum when I first started there." Giles put his hand on his chin and began pacing in a distracted way.

"Close, Giles, but not quite. Máire was an apprentice at the Museum but it was only a few years ago, just before you came here."

"That's odd. I'm sure we didn't take on any students after 1985." Giles was lost in thought about his Museum days again. "There was Roddy in ?80, and then Patrick and Angela the following year, and then Máire..."

"Uh, nope - wrong again Giles. That would make Máire about 10 years old when she came to the Museum, and that doesn't make sense in any kind of parallel universe."

Just then, the doors to the library opened and Oz came in with Máire following behind. "Hey everybody, Máire and I were just getting acquainted with each other and with Principal Snyder and I figured it would speed things up if I brought her to you Buffy. I figured there was a more than total chance that you would be in the library." Oz walked over to Willow and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Hey there, hottiest hottie!"

Willow and Buffy exchanged looks. "Guilt kiss," said Buffy. "Oh don't I know it," said Willow. She looked at the beautiful stranger and then at Oz. The normally laid back guitarist blushed a deep shade of crimson. Willow looked at him and smiled, shaking her head slightly. Even though Willow had long been thought of as a computer geek in the halls of Sunndale High, she knew that Oz truly cared about her and that his distraction by Máire Kinsella was fleeting at best. Willow looked over at her best friend, Xander. He was obviously quite taken by Máire's presence. Willow could see the subtle clues, like the restless fingers tapping on the desk. There were also the not so subtle signs, like the babbling train of non-sensical words coming from Xander's mouth. "Máire, that's a very weird name, but I guess that weird is normal in Sunnydale, so Máire is a normal name for a very normal girl, er, woman, er..." Xander looked at his friends and trailed off sheepishly.

The slayer and her pals looked up as Máire, ignoring Xander's babbling, walked over to Giles. "Hello Mr. Giles. It's so nice to see you again."

Giles dropped his book. "Máire Kinsella -- it's can't be you! I haven't seen you in--"

"Sixteen years. I know, Giles. It's been a very long time.

Buffy and Willow looked stunned. "That's impossible!" Willow exclaimed. Xander looked at Willow, then at Giles. "Why? Oh - yeah, right - that's not right with the numbers and all." Willow and Buffy shot him a look "I TOLD you I needed help with the math!" Xander said.

"Máire, please, come into my office - I think we need to talk." Giles gestured to the open door.

"Yes, we do. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and I have some as well."

They walked into the office and Giles closed the door. The gang sat down at the table and looked at them through the window. They appeared to be pleasant with each other, but they looked uncomfortable. Giles noticed the gang watching him, and reached over to close the blinds.

"Well, that was totally not fun. Now what do we do?" Xander asked.

"Speculate endlessly about what possible reason Máire could have for being an elementary school aged museum apprentice?" Willow asked.

"You know guys, something weird happened last night." Buffy said.

"Hmmm, Hellmouth = weird goings on. Colour me shocked and spank me senseless!" Xander said sarcastically.

"Seriously guys. We were just outside my house when Angel showed up. He tried to attack Máire, then we were fighting. He knocked me down and went for the kill. I was coming up behind him and I was just about to hit him with my stake when-"

"Let me guess," mocked Xander, "you decided you couldn't kill your boyfriend?"

"I've told you Xander, Angelus is NOT my boyfriend. OK? I accept that the Angel that I loved is gone. Drop it!" Buffy glared at Xander.

"What happened, Buffy? Did you miss?" asked Willow.

"No, I didn't have a chance to hit or miss. I was just about to do it when he touched Máire and said "you are protected" or something like that. Then he ran off. It was like she wigged him out somehow. And it must have been serious spookage, because he was all vamped out and ready to munch."

Willow, Oz and Xander looked confused. Just then Cordelia walked into the library. "So, did I miss any exciting tales from the loser crypt?"

Cordelia looked in the direction of Giles' office. "What's going on in there?"

Just then, the door opened and Giles came out. "Máire has something to tell you. I think you'd better listen to this, Buffy."

Máire walked out of Giles' office. She sat down in the chair across the table from Buffy. She looked at the gang. Cordelia introduced herself. "I hope I haven't missed any details about corpses and vampires, because you all know how I LOVE that stuff." Buffy shot her a look. "What, doesn't Máire know about--"

"No, but keep it up and she will!" Buffy interrupted.

"Actually, Buffy, I think I know what Cordelia is talking about, and I do know who you are and what you are. You are the slayer. Rupert is your watcher."

Buffy turned around and fixed Máire with a steady gaze. "Okay, so what is this thing you have to tell me?"

Máire cleared her throat. She looked around at the gang. "My name is Máire Kinsella," she began, " and I came to Sunnydale to find my family."

Máire looked at Giles. He nodded at her to continue.

"My mother grew up in a small village in the Scottish highlands. She was of the clan Mackenzie. The people in her village were very superstitious. They thought she was a witch, because when her mother died in childbirth, my mother didn't begin to cry until her mother had died. The villagers thought my mother had stolen my grandmother's soul. My grandfather loved my mother, and he wanted the best for her, but when she grew up, he couldn't find any man in the village who would marry her. Everyone was afraid that she would cast spells, or wreak some form of vengeance. Most of the people in my mother's village were raised on the old stories and myths. My grandfather was educated, but poor. He went to school in England, at Oxford University. When he was in school, he became friends with an Irish earl. He wrote to his friend and suggested that my mother should travel to Ireland to meet a husband. They agreed that my mother could stay with the earl and his wife and they would introduce her in ?polite society' so she sould meet men and perhaps find someone to marry her.

My mother was very beautiful. It didn't take long before all of the men in County Galway, where the Earl lived, were in love with my mother and calling on her. My mother was very particular though. She liked one specific man who was charming and roguish. He expressed some interest in her, but she was not sure if he was the marrying kind. Then, one day, he took her to Galway Bay to The Claddagh. It was a small fishing village at the mouth of the River Corrib. He took her hand and put a claddagh ring on it, and asked her to marry him. My mother was overjoyed. She immediately said yes. That night they returned to his house and..." Máire paused, not knowing what to say next.

"They sealed the bargain?" offered Giles helpfully.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Máire blushed. "My mother told me later that I was conceived that night."

Willow smiled at Máire. "Well, what happened then? Did they have a romantic wedding? Oooh - I know, they eloped right?"

Máire smiled sadly. "My mother's fiancé left to meet some of his friends for a night of drinking, to celebrate his betrothal. A sort of bachelor party, I suppose. He disappeared that night. No one ever heard from him again."

"And you think he may be here in Sunnydale?" Xander asked.

"Yes, or at least I'm hoping so. I've been looking for him for a very long time."

"Wow. That must be, like some kind of freaky obsession that keeps you awake at night wondering where he could be on the entire planet, or even if he is still alive, and maybe he's not and you've been wasting your time..." Cordelia stopped talking when she realized everyone was staring at her. Máire looked at her and continued.

"Last night I think I found him." Máire looked at Buffy.

"Oh, you mean the dead graveyard guy?" said Buffy.

"Yes, in a manner of speaking," said Máire, looking at Giles.


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