Disclaimers: Don't own em. Sorry to disappoint ya! They belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Fox..........Please don't sue!>
Rating: PG
Summary: The gang, plus Angel and Cordelia, hightail it to Iowa to take care of some demons. Fun ensues on the way........
Spoilers: Let's just say the whole season, k?
Authors Notes: This was fun to write! Thanx to Leroy, who made this story happen, Angelina for reading it, and Michelle who made me laugh today.....this is 4 u, k, girl???
Challenge: Challenge by Lejla........ There is demonic trouble in Iowa, and the Scoobys along side of Angel and Cordy go out there to help out… Must have: Buffy being forced to milk cows… The gang having to deal with Mrs. Finn, now divorced and heartbroken… Riley's sister falling in love with Angel… Riley bashing… A phone in the shape of a block of cheese… Buffy saying that she hates cheese… Sheets with little cows on them… Riley bashing…>>

"I'm soo excited!" Riley squealed, and jumped in his airplane seat for the fifteenth time.

Buffy Summers sighed. She turned the other way. Oops, not a good idea. Angel was sitting across from her.

How did she get into this mess? She wasn't exactly sure. Giles had called the gang together, telling them the Council just called. There were a group of demons terrorizing people in Iowa. If they weren't stopped now, then they would grow stronger and bigger, and eventually, over the years, unstoppable. As Xander exclaimed, "Road Trip!". Well, not exactly. Giles had called Angel, telling him he was needed. He told Buffy Angel had to come with them, or else the demons could outnumber Buffy, since there was a gang, and not just one or two.

So now Buffy was on the red-eye flight to Iowa in company of Willow, Xander, Anya, Riley, Spike, Angel, and Cordy.

And of course, Angel and Spike's seats had to be across from her and Riley's. Riley. Sometimes, like now, he embarrassed her so much. Especially in front of Angel and Cordelia. The Scooby Gang knew how he could be, but those two didn't. Especially by the sympathetic looks Cordy kept giving her.

How did they get these seating arrangements? Well, Buffy was sitting with Riley, who insisted he be with her, Willow with Cordelia, Xander with Anya. Somehow, the flight attendants had mixed up the seats, and Spike ended up next to Angel. Angel and Spike had desperately tried to change seats with anyone, but everyone else was happy with their seats.

Except Buffy. By this time, she wished even Spike would trade places with her.

"Aren't you excited, Buffy?? I can teach you how to milk cows, and my Ma will teach you how to make all different dishes involving cheese!" Riley looked like he was going to fall out of his seat with excitement.

"Riley, I told you, we'll probably spend most of the time hunting these demons. And anyway, I hate cheese." Riley looked crestfallen.

"Well, we Finns can change that! And you'll love all of my brothers and sisters! There are 12 of us! There's Rebecca, Riina, Ralph, Ronald, Rocky, Richard, Renee, Roberta, Rotimer, Riisa, and finally, Rachel. Rachel, the little one, is a little odd. We adopted her, and she doesn't like cheese! She hates cows, too. I don't understand. She just isn't like us Finns. But the rest of them, you'll love them!"

Buffy looked out the window. How long was this trip going to last??

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*

"We are now landed in Hickerton, Iowa. The temperature in Hickerton is 86 degrees, and it's 2:00 AM. Thank you for flying Delta!" The flight attendant put down her microphone and went back to the front.

Buffy stood up and grabbed her carry-on bag from the overhead. While doing so, she elbowed Angel. She blushed and said, "Sorry."

"That's ok." He got his carry-on bag, which consisted of all his "food" for the trip.

"Are you ready for the time of your life, Buffy?" Riley squealed.

"Oh, yeah, this will be a blast," Buffy heard Cordelia mutter.

"Let's go, guys," she called to everyone behind her.

"Kay, Buff," Xander called.

In a matter of fifteen minutes, they were all off the plane.

"We're meeting Ma by the front," Riley said, and raced toward the front.

The airport was deserted. As in, absolutely no one there. The only person Buffy could see was the guy at the ticket counter, reading a magazine.

"Ralph!" Riley shouted as he intercepted a fat, young man. He looked about 16, and was hairy with acne all over his face.

"Riley!" Ralph shouted. The two brothers hugged each other. The Scooby Gang approached the two.

"Buffy, this is my brother Ralph!" Riley introduced.

"Hi, Ralph," Buffy said politely. Ralph whistled in return. "Riley, she's hot!"

Angel unconsciously growled low in his throat. Cordelia elbowed him. The only people that noticed were the people from Sunnydale. Riley and Ralph were completely oblivious.

"Hey, stay off, Bro! She's mine," Riley said, grabbing Buffy around the waist. Buffy shuddered in his grasp. Ralph was looking at her like he was going to eat her or something.

"Alright, let's go, Bro. I wanna see the rest of my family. Wait, where's Ma?" "She is sitting at home, with the girls comforting her. Pa divorced her a couple of months ago, and she's been devastated ever since. But let's go! I just got my licence!"

"Ok, Ralph!" Riley headed off to the car with the keys Ralph handed him, to open it up.

Ralph whistled as each girl passed him. "My goodness," he said in appreciation. Xander tightened his hold on Anya as he walked by. In the parking lot, Riley was standing next to a beat-up, old blue pick-up truck. It was as dirty as hell.

"Ralph, you cleaned old George!" Riley said, pointing at the car.

Ralph grinned in proudness. "I know. I fixed him up yesterday!"

Cordelia muttered to Willow, "If that's what it's like when it's clean, what's it like when it's dirty?" Willow shuddered in reply.

Anya was looking at the truck. "How is there enough room for all of us in that tiny cabin?"

Riley rolled his eyes. "You guys are sitting in the back!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

BUMP! The truck hit a huge pothole. So far, the gang was shaken. "He's a worse driver then Cordy!" Willow said to Xander.

"Thanks a lot!" retorted Cordelia.

Buffy grimaced. Ralph had managed to hit about every pothole and ditch on the road. Even Angel was rubbing his back from pain.

"Isn't this great?" shouted Riley from the open window. He was is the front, in the cabin.

"Yeah, it's fabulous," shouted Anya over the wind.

The truck suddenly slowed down and pulled into driveway. From the truck, the gang could see a house, a big red barn, a pasture with cows in it, and rows and rows of corn fields.

"This is Hick Town USA," Cordelia whispered to Xander. He nodded in agreement.

"Riley! Riley!" 11 kids came running out of the farm house to greet Riley.

"Bloody hell," Spike whispered to Angel, "They all look like that wanker."

And he was right. Each one looked similar to Riley. Each one resembling a fish, they all ran up to him.

"Hi Rebecca, Riina, Ronald, Rocky, Richard, Renee, Roberta, and Rotimer! I missed all you guys. Oh, yeah. Hi Rachel." He looked at the rest of the brothers and sisters. He pointed to the Scooby Gang members as he said there names. "That's Buffy, she's my gal, Willow, Xander, Anya, Spike, Cordelia, and Angel."

"Hi, Angel," one of the girls.....Rebecca...said. She giggled flirtatiously. Another one, Renee, giggled also. Angel smiled politely at them.

Buffy, meanwhile, was turning an angry red at this. Willow tapped her and gave her a look. Buffy immediately blushed.

"Ok, let's get you settled in. Then, in the morning, we can go milk cows!" Riley skipped into the house. All his sister and brothers followed in suit, except Rachel, who tried to pick up one of Buffy's bags for her.

"Hi-ya. I'm 6 years old."

Buffy smiled at this girl. The adopted one. The one that wasn't like all the other Finns. "It's ok, I got it."

Rachel smiled and followed the group in the house.

*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Scoobies went in to see Riley hugging a large woman. She looked exactly like Riley.

"Oh, my Riley is here! I'm so gosh-darn excited!" Mrs. Finn sat down in her chair, which was surrounded by a dozen boxes of Kleenex.

Her happy attitude seemed to dissolve soon enough.

"Ma, this is my gal Buffy!" Riley said shoving Buffy forward.

"Pleased to meet yo-" Before she could finish, Mrs. Finn began sobbing.

"Ma, Ma, what's wrong??" All of the children came forward.

"You-you-you look like the blond girl Roland ran off with," Mrs Finn sobbed, grabbing a Kleenex.

"Aw, Mama, it's ok," Rachel said, stepping forward. The rest of the children shoved her from their circle they had formed around their mother.

"Go away, you're just making her feel worse," Riina said snootily.

"Yeah," joined in Renee.

Rachel looked heartbroken, and sat in a chair across the room.

Mrs. Finn finally stopped sobbing for a minute. "Rebecca, why don't you show them to their rooms." She pointed to the gang. "If you're staying here, you have to do the chores. You milk the cows, feed the chickens, and such. No being loud, no makin fun or whatever you do to the young-ins, and no being cruel. I know how you older girls can be, and your cruel ways." She glared at them.

Rebecca looked at Angel and giggled. Renee ran up to her ma. "Ma, can I show them up, too?"

"No, let Rebecca do it. She's the oldest gal." Rebecca shot a snooty glance at her sister.

Renee sat in the corner and pouted, seeing the Rebecca got a chance with Angel.

Angel sighed. This was going to be a long vacation.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"And this is where the girls will sleep," Rebecca pointed to a bedroom. The 4 girls of the group departed into the room. "Bye, guys!" Willow called as Buffy closed the door.

Rebecca led the remaining group down the hall, to another bed room. "And this is where you guys will be staying. Riley's room is right across from yours. I hope you like it!" she looked at Angel, and giggled again. She went down the hall, leaving the guys alone.

The bedroom was decorated in a farm design. There were 3 beds, 2 windows, and 3 bureaus. There was a mirror by one of them.

"Hey guys, look at this," Xander said pointing at the phone in the room. It was shaped like a block of cheese.

"How the hell am I going to live through this?" Angel muttered to himself. He was rooming with a guy who loved to annoy him, and his once-worst enemy. His thoughts were interrupted, by Spike.

"Bloody hell!" Spike exclaimed. "This is too much." He pulled off the comforter to reveal the sheets, which were decorated with little cows. Xander pulled of his comforter to find little corn stalks all over them. Angel had little tractors.

"Peaches, I have a question," Spike said, looking at the mirror. "How are we going to go to sleep in the daytime?"

"Buffy's going to explain to the Finns about our 'skin condition'," Angel replied, still looking at the tractors.

"Oh," Spike replied.

And they all started to get settled in.

*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*

Buffy put her last pair of shorts in the bureau and sat down on her bed. The girls' bedroom was done like the boys', except instead of a farm design, they had a forest design. Their phone was shaped like a tree, and Buffy's bedspread had little squirrels on it. Willow's had leaves, Anya had birds, while Cordelia was stuck with bees.

"Well, I think I'm done," Willow said, planting herself on the bed.

"Me too," Buffy said.

"I am so sick of this. I can't wait to get out of here," Cordelia groaned.

"As much as I hate to say this, I agree," Buffy said. "This place is too weird for me, and I've been in a lot of weird places."

"Guys, it's not that bad," Willow said, trying to see the bright side.

"Well, guys, I'm going to sleep," Anya said, climbing into bed.

The girls agreed, still tired from their flight, and climbed into their own beds and fell fast asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*

"GOOD MORNING, BUFFY!" Riley shouted as he bounded into Buffy's room. >

"Riley?" Buffy murmured. "What time is it?"

"It's 5 o'clock! It's time for breakfast!" Riley said. He snapped open the blinds, hoping to wake them up. But considering that the sun just came up, and it was on the other side of the house, it didn't do much.

"Let me sleep!" Cordelia said from her bed.

Riley walked over to her bed. "WAKE UP!!" he shouted in her ear. He did the same thing to each girl, and eventually they were sleepily putting on their clothes. Riley had left to help with breakfast.

"This sucks!" Cordelia said, putting on a pair of jeans.

Willow was to sleepy to answer.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~

The 4 girls trudged down the stairs to find Riley, Xander, and all the brothers and sisters sitting at the table. Angel and Spike were upstairs due to their 'skin condition'.

Rachel smiled shyly as Buffy sat down next to her. She smiled back.

"I made up a list of chores for y'all to do," announced Mrs. Finn. "And, most of them you do at night, so that the two boys upstairs have to do work, too. But for now, we have to get milk. Buffy, go milk the cow."

"What?" Buffy was wide awake now.

"Go milk Bessie." Mrs Finn glared at her.

"I don't know how to milk a cow." Buffy smiled sweetly.

"Rachel....go help Buffy. Now."

"But Mama..."

"Now!"

Buffy and Rachel quickly went out to the pasture to find Bessie.

"So, you like the Finns?" Buffy asked her as they led Bessie into the barn.

"I try too, but they don't like me," Rachel said, making a sad face.

"They don't?"

"No. Riley decided he didn't wike me, so now they all don't. I don't understand."

"It's ok," Buffy comforted her.

"Are you my friend?" Rachel asked her, wide-eyed.

Buffy smiled. "Yes. Now let's get this cow done so your mom doesn't get mad. Ok?"

Rachel smiled back. "Ok."

As Rachel taught Buffy how to milk the cow, she asked, "Is Angel your boyfriend?"

Buffy looked at her, surprised. "Not anymore. Riley is."

Rachel frowned. "Do you love Riley?"

Buffy sat down on a bale of hay. "No, I don't think so. I want to be. But I can't."

"Do you wuv Angel?" Rachel asked.

Buffy looked at her thoughtfully. "I don't know. No, I'm not," she said firmly, trying to convince herself.

Rachel gave her a doubtful look.

"Ok, I do."

Rachel smiled. "You should tell Angel you wuv him. Does he wuv you?"

Buffy smiled sadly. "I don't think so."

Rachel looked at her thoughtfully, and Buffy picked up the milk bucket, and they both headed toward the house.

*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Angel rolled over. It was about 4 in the afternoon, and he had just woken up. He looked over at Spike. His childe was sleeping soundly between his cow sheets, and he looked content on staying there.

Angel turned over and closed his eyes. Just as he was falling asleep, someone sat on his bed.

He opened one eye to find one of the Finn children......the littlest one....Rachel.

"Hi," she said.

He opened both eyes and turned over. "Hi," he said sleepily.

"I'm Rachel. I'm 6," she said, putting up six fingers. "How old are you?"

He sighed. If you can't beat em, join em. "I'm old."

She seemed content with that answer. "Are you my friend?" she asked.

Angel looked at her. "Do you want me to be?" She nodded. Angel was surprised. "Ok, then I'm your friend. Do you mind if I go to sleep?"

"No. But can I tell you a secret?"

"What?"

"My sisters? Rebecca and Renee? They have a...a..." she paused thinking for the word. "A....crush on you."

He raised his eyebrows. "How do you know that?" Angel asked.

"They were talking about it when I was sleeping. But I wasn't really sleeping, I was just pretending. They kept saying you were hot. Are you hot?" she squinted at him.

"No, I'm not," he said, smiling.

"Good, cause then you would be uncomforble. You go to sleep, ok?"

"Ok. Bye."

"Bye."

Angel rolled over, and at the corner of his eye, could see Rachel perch herself on Spike's bed. He laughed silently to himself, and fell asleep.

"Hi," Rachel said to the blond haired man.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, and opened one eye. "What do you want?"

"I'm Rachel. I'm 6. How old are you?" she asked.

"I'm old. Now can I please go back to sleep?"

"No. I wanna talk to you."

"Why the hell me?"

"Because you're cool. And you're hot. I think. That's what Renee said. Are you hot? Angel said he wasn't. But you could be. Are you?"

"No, I'm not hot. But I am tired."

"Ok. But if I let you go to sleep, will you talk to me when you wake up?"

"Fine. Goodnight." he shut his eyes.

Rachel wandered out of the room, while the other vampire quickly fell asleep, too.

*~*~*~~*~*~*~**~~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~~**

At about 7:00, the two vampires walked down the stairs of the Finn home. The rest of the family was eating dinner. "You are too late to have some," Mrs Finn said, glaring at them. Instead of turning to crying out of being heartbroken, she had turned to cranky.

"No that's ok," Angel said. The 2 had drank some blood before they came down. Both were full.

Rebecca and Renee looked at them, and they both blushed.

"I've made a list of chores for all of you to do."

"Bloody hell," Spike muttered, and when he looked back up, all of the Finn children, including Riley, were looking at him wide-eyed.

"You said the 'h' word," Rocky gasped. The rest of the children were still stunned.

"He didn't mean it," Buffy interfered, knowing fully well Spike did mean it, but to cover his butt.

Rachel had climbed out of her chair and sat on Spike's lap. Spike was surprised, but he didn't shove her off.

After the dinner, at about 7:15, Mrs Finn sent the children up to bed, and sent the Scooby Gang off to do their chores.

"Bye, guys!" Riley called as he went off to bed.

The group trudged out the door.

"I can't take anymore of this!" shouted Cordelia. "No more! Us girls spend the day learning how to cook!"

Xander replied, "At least you didn't spend the day with the boys! We had to ride cows to town to get things. We have to do it the rest of the week, too! I feel like such a dork!"

The rest of the group agreed. "Ok, guys. We're going to defeat the demons in three nights. In five nights, we are going home," Willow said. "Here are the chores: Xander and Anya, you have watering and planting the garden out front. Buffy, you're setting up hay stacks in the barn, and Angel, you're feeding the cows in the barn. Me, Spike, and Cordelia are picking corn stalks from the rows. Everyone, good luck." And with that, they all started toward their jobs.

Buffy headed toward the barn, fully knowing that Angel was following her to do his job also. This was going to be an interesting week. The two did their work silently, "ignoring" each other. In body that is. In mind, the two couldn't stop thinking about each other.

By 8:15, the whole group was done their jobs and headed in for bed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*

At about 2 in the morning, Rachel tiptoed into the boys' bedroom. The one man, Xander, was sleeping, but Angel and Spike were wide awake. Angel was reading a book and Spike was reading a magazine while listening to headphones.

"Hey, Rachel. What's up? Angel asked as she came in.

"I couldn't sleep," she said. She sat next to him on his bed.

"Why not?"

"I had bad dreams. Can I stay here wif you and Spike?" Angel nodded, and she looked at him.

"Do you like cheese?" she asked.

"Not really."

"Do you love Buffy?" she asked.

His head shot up. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you?"

"Yes, I do." He couldn't believe he was telling this to a 6 year old. He looked back down at his book.

"She loves you, ya know." Angel looked at her. "No she doesn't. She loves Riley."

Rachel shook her head. "No she doesn't. She told me she loves you. In the barn the other day."

"Are you sure?" Rachel nodded. He smiled at that thought, and Rachel laid down next to him. He continued on with his book.

"What's the runt doing here?" Spike asked, turning off the Sex Pistols, and pointing to the sleeping Rachel.

"She couldn't sleep."

"Oh. What a cool kid. Can't stand Riley and likes me. Why can't the world have more kids like that?" And with that, Spike went back to his magazine.

Angel rolled his eyes. Some things never change.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*

After a full day of cooking cleaning, and riding cows, the group assembled outside the Finn house, and then went off to do their chores.

Buffy quickly stacked the bales of hay, trying not to look at Angel. He looked so cute in that black t-shirt....Stop it! she scolded herself.

Angel grabbed the oats out of the bin, trying not to look at Buffy. She looked so pretty in that shirt that brought out her eyes......Stop it! She's not your girlfriend anymore!

"Angel I-"

"Buffy I-"

Buffy blushed. "You go first."

"No it's ok....you go first."

"I think we should get back together. I mean, as in a boyfriend girlfriend sense. Ya know? I can't stand Riley, or his family and I want to be with you and I just think if I stop being-" she stopped as she realized she was babbling. "Maybe I should go. Ignore that whole thing." She turned and started to leave the barn.

But Angel grabbed her arm. "Buffy, wait." She stopped and looked at him. "I was thinking about what Rachel said the other day, and I....."

"Rachel talked to you too?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah. And she told me you loved me. I'm not sure if it's true, but-"

"It is."

"It is?"

"I don't love Riley. I love you. I realized it when I was talking to Rachel the other day. I want us to be together. And the curse, well Will can research it, and we'll find a cure and-what is it? You have a guilty face on."

"Well....the curse is permanent. As long as I keep saving people."

Buffy looked at him, stunned. "Really?"

"Really?"

"Well, then there's only one thing to do, then."

"What?"

She looked at him, and kissed him deeply. "That."

"Does that mean...?"

"Yes. We are now back together." She kissed him again. He broke it off.

"What about Riley?"

"What about Kate?"

"Good point." He kissed her, and they both collapsed in the hay, until about 20 minutes later, when Xander realized they were missing and dragged them back in the house.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*

"Angel?" Buffy asked as she tiptoed into his bedroom.

"Buffy, what is it?"

She gave him a pouty face. "I can't sleep."

"Come here." She curled up in bed next to him.

Spike looked up from his magazine and turned off his headphones. "Bloody hell. Are you two together again?"

Buffy giggled and nodded.

And Rachel smiled from outside the door. She giggled to herself. She liked Buffy too much for her to be with yucky Riley. She went back into her room.

And Riley, who was across the hall , was asleep the whole time.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~~**~*~*

Buffy sighed as she trudged back in the Finn house. The group had just come back from fighting the demons. It had been a hard fight, but they had eventually won. And Riley hadn't even noticed the loving looks her and Angel kept shooting at each other.

Mrs Finn was waiting for them. "Time to do your chores! Riley....go up to bed. You look horrible!! All of you, out to your chores."

Everyone groaned. Except Buffy and Angel. They went and did their chores very willingly. But they were usually the last ones in.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"We're finally going home!" Cordelia sighed happily as the truck flew over another pothole in the road.

At first, Buffy was worried about how she was going to break it to Riley that she was with Angel now. But it all took care of itself in the fact that he himself decided he missed farm life too much to leave. So now, Sunnydale had lost one of its finest fish-boys.

Of course, being the wonderful girlfriend that she was, Buffy had been so heartbroken that she had tears in her eyes.

Actually, they had been tears of laughter that she hadn't wanted to escape out. She thought it was the funniest thing in the world that Riley had decided to stay home.

And what can I say? They all lived happily ever after. Even, sadly to say, Riley, who married Bessie in Iowa.

WAIT@@!!!!!!!! Whatever happened to Rachel???????
Well, Rachel had "ran away" from home. Well, more like went on a plane to Sunnydale. The Finns were glad to get rid of her, and gave the adoption papers up willingly. Rachel is now in the care of Angel. (and sometimes Buffy, speaking that she came over a lot) .

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