"And that other girl," Angel
added.
Barnabas, Quentin, Beth, Cordelia and
Wes stepped out of the mansion. Carolyn stepped out of the garage.
"Demons got inside," Barnabas
said. "Is everyone all right?"
"I have a headache," Xander
grumbled.
"Rupert will be all right,"
Angelique said as she helped Giles sit up.
"Yeah, no sign of internal
bleeding," Buffy added. "What the hell were those things."
"Lei-Ach demons," Giles said
softly.
"What the hell is going on?"
Rich Maclay demanded. "What were those?"
"Actual demons," Buffy said.
"What are all of you?" he
asked.
"Heroes," Giles said softly.
"Come along, Xander, let's find the aspirin."
"Tara, we're leaving," Maclay
said firmly. "We can send for your things. You're gonna to do
what's right, Tara. Now, lets go before someone gets killed. The
girl belongs with her family, I hope that's clear to the rest of you,
her demon side brought these things down on us."
"She isn't part demon,"
Barnabas said. "And she's not going with you."
"That's not your decision!"
Maclay yelled.
"It's not yours either,"
Barnabas said calmly but Buffy saw his hand clench into a fist and
stepped between the vampire and the older man.
"Did you slip something into the
food? I couldn't have seen people turning into dogs and back again!"
Maclay yelled.
"Wolf," Thomas said as he
picked up his crutches.
"What?" Maclay asked.
"Wolf," Thomas repeated.
"I'm a werewolf."
"And some of us are vampires,"
Angel added. "Some vampires can change into wolves."
"You're all insane!"
"Tara, do you want to go with
them?" Buffy asked without looking at Tara.
"No," Tara said softly.
"You can take her but you gotta go
through me," Buffy said firmly.
"And me!" Dawn said and
rushed up beside her sister.
"Is this a joke? I'm not gonna be
threatened by two little girls."
"You don't want to mess with us!"
Dawn said firmly.
"She's a hair puller," Buffy
added.
"You're not just dealing with two
young ladies," Barnabas said. "You're dealing with all of
us."
"Except me," Spike countered.
"Except Spike," Angel agreed.
"This is insane. You people have
no right to interfere with Tara's affairs. WE are her blood kin! Who
the hell are you?" Maclay yelled.
"We're family," Buffy said
calmly.
Tara hugged Willow tightly.
"Dad! You... you gonna let 'em
just... Tara, if you don't get in that car, I swear by God, I will
beat you down!"
"And I swear by your full and
manly beard that you're gonna break something trying," Xander
said as he and Giles stepped back outside.
"You all are pieces of work!"
Spike declared. "Some family legend about demons when your wife
turned out to be talented with the magic, right? Something to keep
'em in line, right? I like you."
"Your business here is finished,"
Barnabas told Maclay.
"Tara, for 18 years your family
has taken care of you and supported you. If you wanna turn your
back..." he began.
"Go home, Dad," Tara said.
"I'm staying."
"You want to stay with werewolves
and vampires?" Maclay demanded.
"Dad, I'm a vampire," Tara
said as she stepped up next to Buffy.
"She was near death after helping
to save the world," Barnabas said. "To keep her alive, she
was turned into a vampire."
"She's a hero and one of us,"
Buffy said firmly. "Leave."
Maclay hesitated.
"Get off my property or I'll show
you my war face again," Angel said as he handed Wesley the sword
he had been holding.
"Which one of you killed my girl?"
Maclay asked softly.
"I did," Angel said before
Barnabas could speak. "Try and find me in LA. Get out."
Donny tugged on his father's sleeve.
"Come on, Dad."
Rich Maclay turned towards the gate.
"Beth?" Tara asked as her
cousin hesitated. "Stay."
The message was clear, stay and find
freedom.
"I hope you're happy with this!"
Beth snapped and ran for the gate.
Tara turned and hugged Willow tightly.
"I am."
Barnabas walked over to Angel. "Why
did you do that?"
"I don't come from a small town in
Maine," Angel said. "And I've got a pretty wide community
that would steer him off a pier before giving me up."
"Thank you," Barnabas said
and shook the other vampire's hand.
Angel looked around and shook his head.
"You are hard on my building, Buff."
"Want to consider selling?"
Giles asked. "While retaining visiting rights?"
"What do you mean? No offense
but..."
"I'm not a poor church mouse,"
Giles said. "Think about it. Right now I'm going to sit down
for a bit."
Angel and Buffy watched the Watcher
move to a lawn chair and kiss Angelique when she bent over him.
"Now we need to figure out what
sent those things and what that ditzy blonde wants and how to keep
Dawn out of Nicholas Blair's hands," Buffy said. "Piece of
cake."
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