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Author's Chapter Notes:
Just want to warn everyone up front, this is not a happy chapter, well, none of them have really been happy, but this one is also really just plot that I needed to get out of the way so that I can finally get into the real heart breaking stuff.



I’m not sure how many more chapters there are going to be, I think between 5-7 maybe, but don’t quote me on that.



Oh, one last thing, you know that whole, “Knights of Templar” or whatever thing that’s going on at the same time as Glory? Ya, not in this fic.



Anyway, sorry about the lack of length, but remember this is just useless plot.



Happy Reading.
Over the next few weeks everything settled into a surprisingly easy routine. Joyce had come home after her surgery, only to have Buffy dote on her whenever she got the chance. Dawn was once again living in the Summers residence, and thuroly enjoying all of the attention she was getting from her new grandmother.
The newest, and most surprising addition to Buffy’s home life was Spike.

When she had told him to take the lead, she had figured that he would merely focus his attentions on Dawn and maybe Joyce. She hadn’t expected him to come over for dinner every night, and make a play at them being a real family.

It took some getting used to, but Buffy was proud of herself, and the way she was handling everything.

Over the next month or so, as Joyce recovered, Buffy and Spike grew closer; going on patrols together, sitting in the kitchen drinking hot chocolate after Dawn had gone to bed and discussing their days.

The biggest difference in their relationship was the conversation. As time went on and they learned to trust each other more, both Spike and Buffy allowed themselves to open up. They talked about everything, from their favorite battles to their favorite foods.

Of course, she didn’t know about him but, in Buffy’s mind, her and Spike were slowly mending. And she thought, maybe, even becoming friends.

Little did she know, this new happy environment was merely the calm before the storm.

***

It was weeks later, when Buffy entered her silent house. Closing the door behind her, she vagly wondered at the silence. ‘Well, Dawn is over at Janice’s, and mom is probably having a nap.’ Taking a step forward towards the stairs, Buffy was proven right by the sight of her mother asleep on the couch. In her work clothes. And her eyes open.

“Mom?” Joyce didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Buffy took a shallow step closer. “Mommy?” The pale blue tint that now covered her skin seemed almost transparent, where the sickly yellow colour that clouded her eyes made them unrecognizable.

Almost demonic.

Dead.

Buffy knew. She knew instantly. She had seen bodies look like this every time she had been too late to save someone. But this wasn’t a body. This wasn’t merely a failure on her shoulders. This was her mother…her mother…

In slow motion Buffy walked over to the couch, not wanting, but knowing, that she had to check the body.

She had to call someone. The police? The ambulance? She couldn’t remember her address. Who was she supposed to call? ‘Watcher’ her mind whispered to her.

‘Giles. Call Giles.’ He was on speed dial. Even if she was silent he would know to come for her.

It felt as though she was trying to move through water, slow and sluggish, and taking all of her strength to lift her foot off the ground. Even her brain had near shutdown. It was only the strength of the Slayer that forced her to walk into the kitchen and pick up the phone.

“Giles?” She didn’t notice that her voice had taken on a small, dull, yet almost childish tone.

“Buffy? What’s wrong? What’s the matter?” Even the comfort that Buffy usually got just from the sound of her watchers voice was gone now. In its place, a slow creeping numbness that was threatening her entirety.

“Help.” She whispered, as she sank to the floor. Her eyes open yet unseeing, just like her mothers are…were…

“Buffy?! What is it? Buffy speak to me!” Even the sound of Giles’s frantic voice didn’t shake her.

“Help.” She whispered one more time before letting the phone fall to the floor.

Finally her strength gave out, and, like a frightened child, Buffy sank to the floor to lay on her side in a featle position. Her eyes open, yet unseeing. And waited.

***

Hours.

Minutes.

Days.

Seconds.

Nothing.

Numbness.

Nothing.

As Buffy sat, curled into a ball against the wall, her knees tucked into her chin, she lost all sense of time.

She didn’t care how long she had been sitting there, but as soon as her Watcher’s worried and pain filled face interrupted her vision, she felt as though she were waking from a dream.

“Giles?”

“I’m here Buffy. I’m here.” He said, reaching a hand out slowly and stroking her hair.

Buffy blinked once, then uncurled herself and gently climbed into Giles’s arms; silently begging for his comfort.

If Giles was surprised by her actions, he didn’t show it.
He merely sat there on the kitchen floor rocking Buffy silently, waiting for her to wake up from her trance like state.

*

“Giles?” Buffy asked in a hoarse voice an hour later.

“Yes Buffy?”

“Where’s Dawn?”

Despite himself, Giles couldn’t help the loving smile that crossed his face. With all of the horrors in this young woman’s life, her first thought was still of others.

“I called her father right after the ambulance left. He said he will be sure to pick her up and that she could sleep at his...residence for the night.” Ever since Buffy had told him about her feelings for the bleached vampire, Giles had had a hard time even saying his name, often times just referring to him as “the vampire”. In a moment of honesty, Giles confessed to the Slayer one night, that, it wasn’t the potential for a relationship between the two that caused the aversion, but the fact that “the vampire” had hurt Buffy, both physically and emotionally, he did not feel that such a creature deserved her affections.

Buffy nodded her head. She seemed to become more alert with every passing moment.

“Did-did you-did you tell him? About mom?”

Giles sighed.

“No. I didn’t think it wise to have him come running over here unnecessarily, or telling Dawn before you could be there to comfort her.”

Buffy nodded again, and let her stiff muscles relax a fraction.

“What-what happened?” She asked shakily, still not letting he eyes focus on anything.

“I called the emergencies, and they came and took away her body. It’s at the hospital now. When you feel up to it, they’ll need you to identify the body.”

Buffy listened, and she understood what Giles was telling her, and the terms he was using. In their world, after a person truly died, their body was rendered what it was at its basest form. A home for the spirit. What Giles was trying to remind Buffy by using those terms, was that; Joyce may have been gone from this plane, but it was now her time to move on to her next task: whatever that might be.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy let it out in a sigh, and slowly stood up.

Just as Giles stood up from the floor with a stiff groan, Buffy’s eyes bulged, and she lunged for the kitchen sink; emptying the contents of her stomach.

Giles waited a few steps back, not sure how to handle the situation. It wasn’t until Buffy had started to fall apart in front of the sink that Giles let his instincts take over, and he rushed to hold Buffy up as she released her pain.

The sounds coming from his surrogate daughter’s throat were so agonizing and pure, that Giles had to wonder how long this release had been building.

“It’s ok Buffy, it’s ok. I’m here. I’ll help you. I’ll help you.” Giles whispered into her hair over and over again.

Holding and supporting her as she finally purged herself.





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