Note: ~< >~ indicates telepathic conversation

Crowds pushed and shoved their way either to their flights, or to freedom. Buffy concentrated on gathering her ‘special’ cargo. Luckily, Giles had taken care of the paperwork before the journey.

“Is that it?”

“Just sign here, Ma’am, and you can be on your way.”

Buffy hesitated before signing the papers, gathered her things, and left without a word to the guard. He called out a wistful ‘Have a good day’ to the pretty girl who had grinned at him when they had started.

Willow knew something was wrong, but waited for it.

“Will. Is there something wrong with my clothes? Do they look okay?”

“What? Uhm, no. I mean, yes. They look great.”

“What about my hair? Is there something wrong with my hair?”

“Buffy! It’s fine. What’s up?”

“I just got ‘Ma’am’ed! I’m not old enough. I don’t look like a ma’am. Do I? Maybe I need a cut. Or some new -”

“BUFFY! He was probably just trying to be polite.” Willow kept a straight face as she worked on convincing her distressed friend that she didn’t look like a ma’am as they wove through the crowd.

Suddenly, Buffy realized Willow seemed to know where they were going.

“Um. Don’t we need to find someone to direct us to where we’re gonna meet our ride?”

Willow seemed puzzled. “I’m your tour guide, aren’t I?”

“Yeah.” It came out a bit hesitantly. She hadn’t expected Willow to take her seriously.

“So. I prepared. I looked up a layout of the airport, where we were likely coming in and where we were meeting your cousin. That kind of thing.”

“You . . . looked up the airport’s layout?”

Not noticing Buffy’s dropped jaw, Willow continued scanning the crowd.

“Of course. This is the area, so they should be here somewhere.”

Buffy was the one who saw them first. The shock drove all thoughts of airport layouts and ma’am’s completely out of her mind. Pulling Willow back behind a column, she studied them. Belatedly, she noticed the “Summers and Rosenberg” sign.

“What’s wrong?” was a startled whisper in her ear.

Still concentrating, she pointed out the four people waiting for them.

“Hey, our ride. Why are we hiding from them?”

“What do you see?”

“Well, there’s a tall guy with brown hair holding the sign. He must be your cousin. He’s kinda cute. The woman beside him must be his wife. I still don’t get why - “

“Willow. What did the guys in my dream look like?”

“What?”

“Oh.”

“OH!”

“Oh no, Buffy. What are we gonna do? We can’t go off with demon people.”

Both of them watched the older man in the wheelchair say something to the African woman. The redhead made a comment that seemed to fluster the man holding the sign.

“They . . . don’t look like demon people,” ventured Willow. “Or even mean, really.”

Buffy frowned in concentration.

“I’m not picking up any evil vibes from them, either. They might be a type of evil that I can’t pick up, though.” They watched for a little longer. The redhead poked the man in the ribs and he danced out of the way.

“They just don’t feel evil. But, my dreams - “

“But you’ve always said your dreams were useless, because they made no sense until it was over.” With Buffy’s attention on her, Willow gamely tried to think of something positive.

“Maybe - Your dreams aren’t exactly straightforward or clear, are they? Maybe the dreams don’t mean they turn into monsters. Oh! Oh! Maybe what they mean is that we have to stop them from being turned into monsters. Like Xander and the swim team. Although, we didn‘t do so well with the swim team.”

Buffy thought on that. Willow shrugged.

“Or maybe it means something totally different. I’ve read some dream interpretation books, but I don’t think they apply to slayer dreams.”

“You might be right.” She kept an eye on her cousin as his wife coaxed him into a smile. “If - If I have to stop them from being turned into monsters, it’s not their fault. Right? They’d be the people we’re supposed to protect, not our enemies. Right?” She looked to Willow for assurance.

“Right.” Willow wasn’t positive about this, but she wasn’t going to let Buffy down.

“So, it’s a bit like being undercover. Like on TV. We just have to act normal, contact Giles to let him know what’s going on, and keep a lookout for creepy or weird things.”

Both shared a look as they silently agreed on what usually worked best for the Sunnydale gang: winging it until they discovered what in the heck was going on.

* * * * *

Jean and Ororo had been quite successful in distracting Scott. They had been tag-teaming him since they had left the mansion. Most recently, Jean had been teasing Scott about how “manly” he looked holding the sign and that she approved of where he had positioned it. She had then turned to Ororo to discuss something totally different, and Scott was left wondering exactly that was supposed to mean.

Xavier was very impressed with their tactics.

Just then, a young woman jumped and waved an arm above her head as she ploughed through the crowd toward them.

Small and bouncy, was Scott’s first thought. And energetic.

“Hi! So, I bet you’re my cousin Scott. Mom really liked how you talked to her on the phone. But if you’re a teacher, I guess you’ve had some experience with talking to parents. Oh, I’m Buffy and this is Willow.”

The shy redhead gave a little wave from behind Buffy. Personally, he had been much more like Willow seemed as a teenager. He had never been as outgoing as Buffy appeared to be. And he tended to shut down when he was nervous. From the looks of it, Buffy chattered. She continued without a pause for him to answer any of her quasi-questions. He wasn’t certain if he could have. He felt half-stunned by the stressed and nervous chatterbox.

“I really hope you’re the right people, and - jeez, you’re tall!” Buffy had stopped looking up at him enviously. “How come I missed the tall gene?” Obviously embarrassed at the question, she said the first thing that came to mind. “Well, were you surprised to find out that you and Alex weren’t the only fruits on the Summers’ family tree?”

She stopped dead. Her mouth still partly open in horror, she stared straight ahead.

“Wills?”

“Humm?”

Buffy’s voice trembled in quiet humiliation. “Did I just say what I thought I just said? Please,” She interrupted Willow’s choked affirmative, “say no, Will. Tell me I did NOT just say that.”

Ororo gasped for air and turned sideways, shaking with muffled laughter.

“Oh GOD, just kill me now.”

Buffy whirled and buried her burning face in her hands. Scott, whose jaw had dropped at Buffy’s comment, whooped, first in surprise, before losing himself, with an atypical lack of self-consciousness, in laughter that bent him double. The stress he had been under had broken in what was, for him, a very unusual way.

Willow put her arms around Buffy and awkwardly patted her on the back as Buffy embedded her face and hands in Willows shoulder. Willow’s face was tomato-colored as she tried to keep from laughing at her friend’s plight. She failed.

Under the laughter, an embarrassed moan worked it’s way out along with a groaned ’fruity’, which just sent Scott off again.

Reluctantly, Buffy removed her head from her hands and Willow’s shoulder to face them. Seeing that Scott was incapacitated, she addressed Jean.

“I have a curse. It goes: ’Have open mouth, will insert foot’. I didn’t mean it like it sounded. I just get nervous and then I babble.”

“I understand completely. Don’t worry about it. He didn’t take offence. Did you, Scott?” The last was a threat that the elbow to the side made sure he noticed.

He waved the ‘fruits’ comment of with one hand, still sputtering with the occasional gurgle of laughter.

“Welcome to New York, my California Cousin. I can tell you’re going to liven the place up.”

Buffy’s cheeks flamed again.

While they packed the enormous amount of luggage into the trunk of the Rolls, Scott caught Jean’s eye.

Scott’s stomach, which had just settled from the earlier hilarity, started to sink.

What?

___________________

I’ve had a couple of questions about what universe this is in. It’s in the comic universe. Mostly. As far as them knowing about her being committed after the fire - - I haven’t decided yet. I know what I want to have happen for major event and details. But some of the smaller details are still fuzzy, and probably will be until I write them. But I hope this chapter answers the question about if the Professor or Jean can read them. As far as relationships go, I think I am sticking with the established ones. And I wanted to thank everyone who answered my ‘gas main explosion’ question. I really appreciate it. And I REALLY appreciate all the reviews. It’s amazing how much they motivate me to continue. Thanks again.