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It shouldn't be this easy to pack up one life and start another.
In a mere few days, the room that had been Joyce Summers' refuge, that reflected her tastes, her color scheme, and her personality, had become something transitional—a blend of male and female. A wooden valet sat in one corner next to the brass and glass vanity. There were men's shoes in the closet. As far as Buffy knew, as long as Joyce Summers lived in Sunnydale, there had never been men's shoes in that closet.
There was a hole in Buffy's heart, just as real and painful as a physical wound, but she felt the tendrils of happiness and contentment closing around the injured organ. Being in love with a wonderful, strong, kind-hearted, loyal man was the only thing that kept her grounded during the hazy days that followed her mother's death.
It was his steadfast presence that allowed her to be there for her distraught little sister. His calm, rational thinking helped her focus on the very real and still imminent presence of the hell-god Glory and her threat to their world.
The petite blonde stared at the suitcase, her eyes roaming over the stack of neatly folded sweaters. Bulky and masculine, they reminded her of their owner. He was the eye of her hurricane, the only safe port in the storm that had taken over her already tumultuous life. She lifted the winter white cable knit from the top of the pile and ran her cheek over the nubby material, sighing like a small child clutching her favorite blanket.
She shook herself after a moment and turned to rummage in the closet for a padded hanger. Her relatives--and some of her friends, as well--were shocked that she would displace her mother's things after such a short time, but asking Giles to give up his apartment necessitated a little steel-toed determination. Joyce's will had made it clear that she trusted no one but Giles to care for her family. That fact had not made Hank Summers a happy man. The fact that Buffy intended to marry this paragon of parental protection blew the cork off of Hank's already taxed self-control. Buffy learned a few new descriptive words the day they told him.
She tried to convince herself she didn't care what her father thought, but deep inside, she did. He wasn't much of a father, really... never there when she needed him, always too busy for his wife, and his daughters... but he was her father, and she loved him. Still, his discomfiture wasn't her priority. Protecting Dawn, saving the world... again... these were priorities. A distant, infrequent disapproval from a man she'd seen only three times in as many years... this wasn't big on her list of major deals.
She finished hanging the last garment and snapped the suitcase closed with a sigh. Her eye caught a silver picture frame, and the warm, lovely face of a much younger Joyce Summers caught her eye.
"You sure surprised me, Mom," she said softly to the photograph. "I didn't think you'd ever accept me marrying a man older than you were."
She thought back, remembering that conversation vividly...
********
"I wasn't keeping secrets from you, Mom." Buffy glared at her traitorous little sister, vowing to find a way to make her wish she'd never spilled the beans.
"It sure looks that way to me!" Joyce's voice may have been weak, but the tone was biting, and Buffy winced slightly.
"I told Dawn to let me tell you. I begged her to keep her big fat mouth shut for just a few more hours, Mom, but, as usual, she didn't listen."
"Oh, yeah, drag me into this!" Dawn protested, as only a baby sister could.
"You're the one that decided to run home and ruin things for everyone. You drug yourself into it!"
"You weren't gonna say anything!"
"I was in SCHOOL, you idiot!"
"So was I, and I found out!"
"Dawn..." Buffy's voice grew exasperated. It was the sworn duty of kid sisters to screw up their big sisters' lives... it had to be a law.
"Both of you STOP!" Joyce's voice cracked, but remained firm. "I don't need this right now." Their exhausted mother collapsed onto the couch, her head in her hands. "Dawn, go do your homework."
"I already did it at Giles'," Dawn declared defiantly.
"Then go to your room and watch TV."
"Why am I being punished? She's the one who lied!"
"Dawn." Joyce's voice turned threatening. "You have one more chance. If you won't listen to me, then I'll just have to call your father and have him take you for a while."
Dawn blanched. The last time her father had her for a week, he treated her like she was six. She spent most of her time sitting in his waiting room with her sweaty, short-encased legs sticking to the leather chairs. He'd even offered her a coloring book, for crying out loud! It was a nightmare.
"I'm going, I'm going," she mumbled, as she dragged herself up the stairs.
"Mom? Do you want me to get your medicine?" Buffy was frightened by her mother's pale face. She crossed the room and sat next to Joyce on the couch, her eyes wide.
"I'll be okay in a minute."
"I really didn't mean to upset you. I was coming straight from the shop to tell you, but Dawn saw the ring..."
"I know... I know. I just feel so left out of your life at times, honey. I overreacted."
"You're still recovering. I didn't want to upset you." She paused, anger clouding her face. "That dumb kid... I should kill her and tell God she died."
"Buffy..."
"I'm just soooo mad, Mom. She tries so hard to make me look bad."
"She's competing with you." Joyce managed a weak smile. "You're the oldest. You're the Big Sister, as well as being the Slayer, and you're the standard she measures herself against. It's hard."
Buffy snorted. "Yeah. It's hard being the baby, getting by with murder, and then having big sis to bail her out when she gets in over her head, which is almost daily right now."
"You've never been the youngest, honey. You don't know how it is."
"She hurts you when she pulls something like this. I can't stand that."
"It hurts me worse not knowing, Buffy. You know that."
"One day, Mom... less than twenty-four hours... that's how long I waited."
"Not to mention the fact that he's older than I am..."
"Yeah, you promised a few months ago you wouldn't mention that, didn't you?"
"I can't help it. Just a few months ago, you were only dating him. Now you're marrying him!"
"Because I love him, Mom. Isn't that important any more? Or have you forgotten what it's like?"
"I haven't forgotten, honey, just like I haven't forgotten how horrible it is when love betrays you. Not that I think Giles will, it's just that he's already taken so much from you... your childhood, your innocence..."
Buffy fought down a sob. Why did everyone in her family insist on misunderstanding her? She tried to get her tumbling thoughts in order, and took a deep breath. "You still don't understand, Mom... just like every other normal person around me, you forget that I'm the Slayer."
Joyce's head snapped up, her eyes blazing with anger. "Not since I heard the truth have I ever, for one second, forgotten that fact," she snapped in a cold, hurt voice.
"No, you know about me being the Slayer, Mom," Buffy said as gently as possible. "But you don't know what it's like to be the Slayer. What it means... how it feels. How I have to act normally in a world that is the farthest thing possible from normal. How I know more ways to kill things than a professional assassin, but I have to pretend to be a helpless, ordinary girl. I tense up every time someone uses the words 'vampire' or 'demon,' even as a joke. I have to pretend they don't exist during the day, but at night, when I'm on patrol, I have to forget about normal and become the total Slayer again... instantly... or someone could die. Today, right now, I have a hell-god from another dimension trying to take my sister away, kill me and destroy this world all at the same time.
"Every night, when I go on out, when I face creepy crawlies, I have to shut part of myself down... the sane, normal, logical part of me that would like to go stark raving crazy because none of this is supposed to exist!
"Sometimes I forget that everyone else isn't doing the same thing. I forget that you can't shut the normal, Mom part of you away until all the stabbing is over. I'm sorry."
Joyce's eyes filled with tears as Buffy took a shuddering breath and continued.
"There's really only one person that can even halfway understand the need to focus, to go beyond the normal, and that's Giles. He does it, too, all the time. The gang knows when he goes into 'Research Mode' there's nothing that will distract him until he finds what he's looking for... because it's for me. His life is for me. Do you know what that's like? To know that kind of devotion? To be able to be myself? To not have to pretend?"
Joyce smiled through her tears. "I've seen how he is with you. It's like nothing else exists."
"There's no one else in the world that can feel that for me, or that I can feel for without keeping a part of myself back. He's my other half, my partner in the fight. He's there for me, even when I don't deserve it.
"And that's why I didn't come straight home and spill my guts, Mom. I got some news about Glory, and Giles is my partner, in more ways than one. I had to talk to him right away, to tell him what I found out. That had to come before telling you. It was supposed to come before the little snitch finding out. It had to come first."
Joyce sniffled. "That's so unfair... to all of us!"
"Yeah, it sucks royally. But, stopping the end of the world has to come before wedding plans. There has to be a world left to make wedding plans in."
"Wedding plans..." Joyce's focus shifted suddenly, and she sat up with a determined look. "We'd better get to work on them, before something big, ugly and slimy interrupts us."
Buffy's relieved hug engulfed her, and she smiled through her tears.
********
Buffy slipped a heavy, three-piece tweed suit from its travel bag and inhaled the fragrance of memory. Instantly, she was back in the Library, hearing the wooden floors squeak with every step, sparring with Giles, bantering with the gang...
Smiling, she found a place for the suit. His side of the closet wasn't full. Giles didn't have that many clothes. She'd have to take him shopping once the dust settled. She looked around the room that would soon be their room. She didn't know whether it was morbid or poetic, but she was really looking forward to making love to her new husband in their brand new, big, comfy, king-sized bed. His bed was pretty small.
Despite her melancholy, she started giggling at herself. The giggles stopped when her eyes fell on her black dress, hanging on her side of the closet apart from the rest of her clothes. It instantly took her back to Joyce's funeral...
********
"It is fitting that the sun would shine on such a day as this, for truly Joyce Anne Summers was a ray of light in all our lives."
The minister's voice continued with quiet confidence as Buffy's thoughts wandered. Giles' hand gripped hers reassuringly, and she favored him with a quick smile. Next to her, Dawn clung to her side, sniffling and wiping her face with Giles' handkerchief. Next to Dawn stood a surprise visitor: Hank had arrived just before the graveside service commenced. Both girls greeted him with tears, but their hugs were brief and stiffly delivered. They hadn't forgiven him for being unavailable during the most horrible months of their lives.
After the brief service, Buffy turned with Dawn to start back for the family car. Hank was momentarily startled that his daughters were ignoring him, and he sprinted to their side, determined to win them back. He was sorry that Joyce was gone, both for the inconvenience and the loss, but he was still Buffy and Dawn's father, and he had a duty.
"Buffy?"
She stopped and turned to him, a weary smile on her face. "Hi, Dad. You missed the funeral. Actually, you missed the mood swings, the fainting, the tests, the biopsy, the diagnosis, the surgery, the recovery, and the unexpected death... not to mention the trip to the morgue."
Hank blanched, and Giles spoke her name softly in admonition.
She bowed her head, acknowledging his quiet rebuke. "Sorry. That was catty. It's just... it's been bad."
"I know, and I'm so sorry I couldn't be here sooner. I was out of the country on business..."
Buffy shook her head slowly, and he stopped in mid-sentence. "Dad, Dad... you need to teach your receptionist to lie for you. She told me you were on vacation in Spain."
"A working vacation! I was..."
"...with your twenty-two year old secretary."
"Did she tell you that?" He made a mental note to fire his receptionist as soon as possible.
Buffy shrugged wearily. "Does it matter?" She turned away from him, too drained to continue.
"Where are you going now, Buffy?"
She looked at him strangely. "Home. We're all tired."
"Back to the house? Good. I'll meet you there. We need to talk."
"Dad." Buffy stopped him with a hand on his arm. He was surprised at the strength of her grip. "We're going home. To rest. I'm just not in the mood to catch up on old times. Come by tomorrow, after we go see the lawyer. Maybe for lunch, okay?"
Hank was taken aback for a few seconds, but he recovered quickly. "I'm staying with you girls. You shouldn't be alone right now."
Buffy laughed bitterly. "If it was up to you, Dad, we would've been alone for three years, now. But don't worry. Giles will be there."
"Giles? Is this Giles?" Hank turned a distrustful gaze on the quiet man beside Buffy. "Who are you, and why are you staying with my daughters?"
"Rupert Giles, Mister Summers. Were circumstances--and your past behavior--different, I should be pleased to make your acquaintance." Giles nodded with feigned courtesy at Buffy's estranged father.
Dawn giggled soggily. Giles could put someone down so elegantly they didn't even know they were being dissed.
"You didn't answer my question, Mister Giles," Hank growled, hoping he wouldn't have to make a scene in front of Joyce's grave.
"No, Mister Summers, as a matter of fact, I didn't." Turning, Giles dismissed the other man without a backward look. Giles took Buffy's elbow and held out an arm for Dawn, who immediately came to his side. Dawn loved her father dearly, but he hadn't even returned her frantic phone calls when her mother became ill, and she was still furious with him. She clung to Giles as he said calmly, "Good day, Mr. Summers. Buffy's invitation still stands."
The trio walked away from the confused man and got into the waiting limousine. Hank couldn't think of anything else to say, so he watched them go, hurt and anger in his eyes.
********
The telephone rang, and Buffy lunged for it, stopping its shrill voice before it could disturb the peaceful atmosphere that had settled over the house.
"Hey, Buff! Is everything ready yet?"
Buffy smiled at her friend's cheerful voice. "Almost finished unpacking. Just a few more ten-ton tweed suits and I'm done."
Willow giggled. "You only have a couple of hours to get yourself ready, remember?"
"I know. I have everything laid out and ready. Just a quick shower, fixing my hair and throwing some war paint on my face, and I'm good."
"I'm doing hair, and Cordelia wants to do your nails."
Buffy had to chuckle, herself, at that. "Why not? Tell her to come with you."
"Okay! That's about it, I guess. Except... how are you doing? Personally, I mean."
Buffy considered the question for a few seconds, smiling. "I'm good. Really. Moving Giles' stuff in here actually helps... more than I thought it would."
"I'm glad. So, I'll see ya in about an hour, okay?"
"Okay." She paused, her eyes full of emotion. "I kinda love you, you know that?"
"Yeah, Buff, I do. I love you back, too. Bye."
Buffy returned the phone to its cradle with a tender smile. She had lost her mother, but she still had so much love in her life. And that was good. Even among all the sadness, things were allowed to be good.
She sighed deeply, and went back to work.
********
It was a good thing Giles had such amazing restraint, because Buffy had an idea that having Hank Summers in his life was going to try that restraint each time they met. She expected Hank to resent Giles, but she had no idea they would completely and totally hate each other on sight. Hank instantly assumed that Giles was a dirty old man and an opportunist. Giles had long considered Hank a deserter and a complete pillock for his behavior towards his daughters, and their first meeting did nothing to change his opinion.
She hated the idea of Hank being the enemy. He was her father. But now she was facing him across a lawyer's table, arguing about custody of her sister. The house was hers without question, as well as the Gallery, for they were entirely in Joyce's name. But Dawn... according to all legal accounts, a child belonged equally to both its mother and its father, unless the court could prove otherwise. Buffy knew Joyce wanted Giles to take care of Dawn, for, despite Joyce's tentative confidence in Giles' ability to protect Dawn against supernatural forces, she had been fully aware that Hank stood little or no chance of being any use where those forces were concerned.
"Mister Summers, I'm afraid Mrs. Summers will is specific. She left Dawn in Mister Giles' custody until she turns 18."
"But he's not even a relative! She had to be out of her mind! Her sickness... the brain tumor... it must have unbalanced her!"
The slender, stern-faced lawyer leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. "The codicil was written almost a year ago, Mister Summers. Long before there was any sign of a tumor. I can produce a doctor's statement of health, if you like. She was very thorough." Admiration for the woman who was so careful of her daughters' well being was plain in his voice.
"But he can't have them! They're my children!"
Giles leaned forward, unable to keep silent any longer. "Yes, they are, but apparently that's the extent of your involvement with them. What score did Buffy get on her SATs? Any proud father would know that figure off the top of his head."
Hank opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Finally, his face hardened. "I suppose you know," he snapped.
"Of course. 1430. An excellent score."
"You were a teacher at her school. It would have been easy to find out!"
"And why would I have done so, had it not mattered to me? Her scores were good enough for her to be accepted at Northwestern, Joyce's alma mater." Pride dripped from every word, and the lawyer couldn't help smirking at Hank in derision.
Hank couldn't keep the sadness off his face, no matter how hard he tried. He didn't know...
"Hey, Dad," Dawn said challengingly. "What did I get Buffy for her birthday this year? Oh, that's right... you weren't there. Just like you weren't there last year, and the year before." She turned to Giles. "What was it, Giles?"
"A picture of the two of you and Buffy at the beach. A very nice shot. Sea shells decorating the frame, wasn't it?"
Dawn beamed, and Buffy patted his hand softly.
"Okay, you've made your point. I haven't been around much lately..."
"Three years, Dad. You've been not around much for three years."
"Okay, three years! I've been busy! It's not like I forgot I had a family!"
Dawn's face grew hard. "Then what was it like? 'Cause, speaking as a member of the family, it sure felt like that to us."
There was a thick silence that blanketed the room, causing Hank to squirm uncomfortably. The lawyer, tired of the conflict and sure he'd done his legal duty, stood and handed the thick folder of papers to Giles. "If there's nothing else, then I have another appointment. Thank you for coming. Mister Giles, if you have any questions, feel free to call me."
Giles shook the man's hand cordially, glared at Hank, and escorted his girls towards the door. The beaten father followed them several paces back, looking completely demoralized. Before the trio could reach the outer office, Hank caught up with them.
"Mister Giles? Please, I want to ask you something."
Giles turned, one eyebrow raised. "Yes?"
"Can I still see my daughters? I can't change the past, but maybe I can start making up for it."
Giles studied the man before him, then turned to Buffy and Dawn. "It's entirely up to your daughters, Mister Summers."
Buffy and Dawn's eyes met briefly, and agreement passed between them in a flash. Buffy turned a gentle smile to Hank and said, "I think we'd like that, Dad."
Giles had never seen a man more relieved. "Thank God. I will do better, I promise."
"You can start by coming to my wedding."
Giles flinched inwardly. Buffy certainly had picked a difficult starting point.
"W-w-wedding?" Hank sputtered, his face turning red.
"Yeah, since Giles is already living with us, we kinda thought it would look better if we were married. And, since Giles already asked me right after my birthday..."
If Giles hadn't been standing so close to the poor man, he would have chuckled. She wasn't going to make this easy at all!
Hank straightened his shoulders and swallowed hard. "Just tell me when and where."
Brave man, Giles thought.
"Oh, and would you..." Suddenly, Buffy turned shy and hopeful. "...give me away? It was going to be Xander, but he could be Giles' best man instead."
Hank felt his eyes unexpectedly fill with tears. "I would be proud to, honey. I'll be there."
Giles then decided perhaps Hank Summers wasn't a complete pillock, after all.
********
"Dawn? Need some help getting ready?" Buffy slowly pushed her sister's door open, spotting her dark head as she sat in front of her vanity. "You haven't put your dress on yet. Willow's gonna have a cow."
"I don't feel so good," Dawn whined, turning her slightly flushed face up to Buffy's.
"You're just nervous, Munchkin."
Dawn grimaced. "Stop calling me Munchkin."
Buffy giggled and ran a fingertip down through her little sister's long hair. "I have to bug you somehow, and right now a pillow fight is out of the question."
"Yeah, 'cause you're already dressed." Dawn looked at Buffy, her expression turning envious. "You look great."
"Thanks. It's all the Happy Wedding vibes. I can't help it." She reached for the bridesmaid's dress and held it up in front of Dawn. "And, when you get all fixed up, everyone's gonna forget to look at me because you'll be soooo be-yooo-tiful."
Dawn couldn't help giggling, as she gave Buffy a slight shove. "Shut up. You're in total dreamland."
"On my wedding day, it's allowed."
"Okay, let's get this dumb dress on and get this show on the road. I'm getting hungry."
"That's the little sis I know and love! Then I can help you with your hair..."
********
Giles heard the doorbell ring and started across the room with some trepidation. He halfway expected Buffy's father to threaten to thrash him as soon as they got back from the lawyer's office. He only hoped, for Buffy and Dawn's sake, that the man had decorum enough to honor Joyce's memory and hold his temper.
Buffy was upstairs with Dawn, so he raised his voice just enough to reach them and announced, "Your father's here!"
"Be down in a minute!" they echoed in unison.
Giles was chuckling as he opened the door, and Hank frowned suspiciously as he entered the house. His entire being resented the other man's presence, but it was obvious that Mister Giles was firmly entrenched in the family's good graces. It was going to take time to win his girls back, and alienating this usurper wasn't the best way to go about it. Still, this wedding business needed to be straightened out, and the sooner, the better.
"Mister Giles."
"Mister Summers, come in and have a seat. Would you like something to drink? Tea? Lemonade?" He gave Hank a piercing look. "Scotch?"
Hank snorted. "I want the Scotch, but I'll take the tea," he answered truthfully.
"I certainly understand. This is a bit... um... awkward." Giles nodded and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Hank to his brooding. A clatter of footsteps on the stairs interrupted his thoughts, and he stood self-consciously as Buffy and Dawn came into the room.
"Hey, Dad," Buffy said softly, and surprised him with a warm, lingering hug. Following her sister's lead, Dawn relaxed and captured his other side, allowing him to hold both of them for a blissful moment. When he released them, he was teary-eyed once again.
"I thought you didn't have any of those left for me, girls," he whispered, holding her back to look in her eyes.
"The bad stuff isn't gonna go away overnight, Dad. But we still love you, and we're trying."
He stroked her golden hair wistfully and pulled Dawn closer. "I'm trying, too, sweethearts. As hard as I can."
The three of them looked up as Giles entered the room with a fully loaded tray, and Buffy grinned at him.
"British to the last, huh, Giles?"
"Of course. Can't have you bloody colonials corrupting me, can I?" Giles retorted with a smile, putting the tray on the coffee table. Without thought, the three of them arranged themselves on the couch, with Giles at one end, Buffy comfortably at his side, and Dawn curling up next to her sister. Hank was left with the armchair across the table, and it was painfully obvious by their body language and position that he was still very much an outsider.
Giles stalled any conversation by passing out the mugs of hot tea. Buffy took hers gratefully, relishing the heat being transferred from the mug to her hands. Dawn busied herself with doctoring the tea until it resembled hot chocolate. Giles sipped absently, watching as Hank stirred his cup unnecessarily.
"So... what happens now?" Hank finally blurted, his nervousness getting the best of him.
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked calmly.
"Are you still going to stay here?"
"Yes."
"But, why? You know you can come back to LA with me... both of you. With all due respect to Mister Giles, Buffy... you don't have to rush into marriage just to provide Dawn with a stable household. You have that already... with me!"
Giles frowned as Hank careened back into the pillock camp, but he forced himself to let Buffy do the talking.
She was more than ready to respond. "Yeah, I'm sure. You're gone, off and on, about six months out of the year, to who-knows-where, with Miss Secretary-of-the-Month, and you won't answer your messages. That's really stable."
"That's not fair, honey. I was single and lonely..."
"...and totally unattached... no responsibilities... no kids to take care of... footloose and fancy-free... why is this supposed to fill me with confidence?" Buffy sank back against Giles, feeling his arm against the back of her neck, just as she expected it to be. She resisted the urge to turn her face into his shirt, snuggle into him and avoid this unpleasant conversation altogether.
"But, if the two of you were there, I wouldn't be alone! I'd have someone to come home to, to take care of. Don't you see, it'd be different if you two were there!"
Buffy's heart yearned for that kind of connection with her father. Yet, she knew without doubt that it was far too late to go back to being Daddy's little girl again, no matter how much she wanted to.
She shook her head. "No, I don't see. It might be different for a few weeks, or even months, but then we'd just start getting in the way. Dad, face it... even three months of us during the summer was more than you could handle." Her face fell and she looked away. "At least, that's how it was when we used to spend summer together."
"I'm sorry," he murmured, dropping his head. "Time just got away from me."
"Yeah. I know."
An awkward silence followed, and Giles finally decided to speak his piece. Clearing his throat, he said quietly, "You are always welcome to visit us, and Dawn can certainly come to see you any time she wishes, within reason, as long as her school work permits."
Dawn rolled her eyes and gave a heavy sigh. "Way to go, Giles... bring up homework now, as if things aren't tense enough already."
Buffy and Giles both chuckled at Dawn's disgust, and she smiled reluctantly despite her ire.
Hank's face went from defeated to hopeful, and he looked up at his oldest daughter, his eyes searching her face. Briefly, Buffy wondered if Hank would be able to understand that, before the intervention of those wacko monks, Dawn didn't even exist. Then she realized that it didn't matter. Now was now...
"Buffy? Will you come and visit me sometime, too?"
She let out a long breath. "Yeah, Dad. Sometime. Right now, we have a wedding to deal with."
Hank couldn't help stating, "For the record, I don't think this marriage is a good idea."
"For the record, Dad," Dawn said laconically. "I didn't want to even invite you to the wedding. But Buffy insisted. You better be nice to Giles, or nobody will be visiting anybody anytime." She gave her new guardian a smug grin. "Besides, only me and Buffy are allowed to rag on him."
Buffy giggled, and Giles gave her his usual Stern Teacher look.
"Oh, and Xander and Anya and Willow... they're allowed. Tara usually defends Giles. And we always ignore Spike when he cuts Giles down, 'cause he's such a big loser, even if he does have a crush on Buf..." Dawn blanched as she realized she'd said too much, and threw an appealing look at her big sister. "Oops."
"Dad can meet the rest of the gang at the wedding, Dawn. No big, okay?"
"Oh. Okay. Good." Dawn slumped with relief. She usually said something stupid, and then had to listen to Buffy rant and rave about it later. Maybe this slip up wasn't so terribly bad.
Unfortunately for Dawn, Hank sat up straight, his eyes boring into Buffy's. "Who's Spike?"
Dawn groaned. Buffy threw a pained look at Giles, then fixed her sister with an icy glare. "Way to go, doofus. Just for that, you get to explain."
"Buffy, I'm sorry..."
Buffy shook her head and leaned back against her fiancé's side, clearly indicating that she wasn't going to help one bit. Giles tried to keep his expression neutral, but his eyebrows were slightly drawn together behind his glasses. Dawn knew that was a sign of irritation, and she sighed heavily.
She was on her own.
"Dawn?" Hank queried, getting a bit nervous about the undercurrent of secrecy that permeated the room. "Buffy? Will someone please tell me what the big deal is with Spike?"
"Looks like it's up to me." Dawn squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Okay, there's this guy... Spike. He's a bad guy that was sort of a good guy for a while, except that he really wants to be bad, see, but he can't, on account of he's got this chi... uh... chicken... streak. He's been hanging around, trying to be friends with everyone, but nobody likes him. Except, I sorta did at first, but now, eww. He has a crush on Buffy. It's disgusting."
Buffy gave Dawn an amused glare. "Thanks!"
"He came by the other day, and Giles told him to get lost. I think you really scared him too, Giles. Way to go!"
"Thank you, Dawn." Giles favored her with a genuine smile, and she returned it happily.
"So what does he have to do with the wedding?" Hank was totally confused.
Buffy couldn't help herself. "Nothing, I hope!"
"He might try to crash it," Dawn said hesitantly.
"Over my dead body," Giles retorted with some heat.
"That's what I'm worried about." Buffy turned to face Giles, her face going soft with love and concern. "Rupert, Spike is evil. He may be relatively harmless, personally, but he's always scheming and trying to get other va... I mean, other punks to do his dirty work. I don't trust him anywhere near us!"
"I know, love. We'll just have to see that he stays far, far away from you."
"It's you I'm worried about! He might try to do something to you, to get you away from me!" She suddenly realized that her father was sitting on the edge of his seat, taking in every word. She cleared her throat and added, "He might try to, um, slit your tires, or break into the store, or fake a call saying that I'm in the hospital... to make you, y'know, late for the wedding."
"Buffy." He took her hand in his reassuringly. "I understand what you're saying. I will be extremely cautious, for both our sakes. All right?"
"Okay."
"And you will do the same, yes?"
"Definitely, yes."
Giles leaned forward slightly, including Dawn in his protective gaze. "Dawn? You too?"
Dawn started to protest, but saw the look in her new guardian's eyes, and realized how concerned he was. "Yeah, me too."
They all sat back, relieved at the resolution of the perceived problem. After a few quiet seconds, Dawn said conversationally, "At least Glory's not around to bug us right now. That would really be a problem."
Buffy's hand tightened convulsively on Giles', and he winced as the bones in his hands popped. "Ow... Buffy..." he whispered as softly as he could.
"Sorry, hon." She released him with an apologetic look on her face, then turned to give Dawn the Slayer Laser Stare of Death. "Dawn..." she grated threateningly as the teen shrank back into the couch cushions.
Hank sat forward again, wondering just how his kids' lives had gotten so complicated in three years.
"Okay... who's Glory? Another psychopath?"
Buffy sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon. "Well, Dad, now that you mention it..."
The End