Joss and the WB all own the known characters. I own only the plot, my creatures and characters that sprang forth from my imagination. Nothing else.
Author's Note: Story takes place awy after "Becoming" and after Joss decides to bring Angel back from the Other place.
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Part Four
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Everyone gathered at Buffy's house. It was dead quiet now in the middle of the afternoon. Giles placed Joyce into her bed while the Slayerettes all took care of the phone calls that came to the house. Willow started cleaning the counter in the kitchen while Xander and Oz were outside mowing the lawn. Cordelia was resetting the magazines and papers that were around the living room. Then she looked through them before resetting them again.
Giles came down the stairs from Joyce's room, and looked at his young friends absently. It was odd to see that the four were cleaning the Summers house, but there was nothing that else to do. Buffy was dead. That thought kept echoing through out his mind. Suddenly, his mind jumped to the conversation he and Joyce had after he took her home. "Joyce," Giles began in a hoarse whisper. But Joyce just looked at him with those crushed brown eyes of hers. They were gleaming from held back tears and her mouth was trembling. Giles had never thought that he would see her like this, but then, for so long, he had never thought that he would have to face this day. The day that his Slayer was dead, the day that Buffy, the pride and trial of his Watcher existence, was dead. "Joyce, please."
She ignored Giles, she could not face the Englishman just yet. She would not crumple in front of him, her daughter's Watcher. She was just to fragile. "I have to lie down, I don't feel very well. Buffy is-was supposed to vist him today, but he called to say that he got stuck in Thailand. When I told Hank, he said that he is coming over as soon as he could. I wasn't supposed to make the arrangements without him."
"Joyce,"Giles began. "I know how you feel-"
Joyce Summers whirled around, he face furious."YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL?!? I think that you know nothing of how I feel! I just lost my daughter! You know nothing of how I feel!"
Giles glared to her. He was hurting too, damnmit!"I was her Watcher!"
"And a fine job that you did! You weren't watching over her!"shouted Joyce angrily. "My daughter is dead!"
Giles looked as if she had slapped him in the face, but Joyce was too angry, too sad and too much into her rage to stop now."I have tried so hard after she ran away to accept that she was the Slayer. That she was going to have a limited life. I tried so hard not to worry about what night she wasn't going to come back home. And in the end it was of no use. My daughter was still killed, and she died alone. Again. With no one there. And this time, she isn't going to come back. She is never going to come back. And there isn't anything that you can say to make it better!"
After a deep breath, Joyce saw the effect that her words had on him, and was immediately sorry. Through crumpled eyes and with trembling hands, she reached for him. He held them as if they were a life line. She was so sorry, Joyce thought. "Giles, I'm sorry, I know that it wasn't your fault, and I didn't mean half the things that I said, but I don't think that you understand yet. There will always be another Chosen One, another Vampire Slayer. But I will never have another daughter, another Buffy. And I can't stand the thought of my little girl being gone."
"Joyce," Giles said softly as he held on to her hands,pleading for her to understand. Wanting her forgiveness for not protecting her only child. "I know. There was no warning, nothing to say that we knew that she would die last night. Nothing. It was supposed to be a slow night."
"I know, she just went there out of a feeling. And now she's gone, and we have to deal with it. It wasn't your fault that she's dead, I know. But I can't help wanting that she wasn't alone when she died or that she wasn't the Slayer. Do you understand?"Joyce asked softly. Giles nodded."Please, I have to be alone. Tell the kids that I'll say good-bye when they leave."
Giles nodded his head as turned to leave. When he shut the door, all that he saw was Joyce, one moment facing the window, then her body slowly folded over, holding her pain inside. Through the door, he heard muffled sobs that followed in his mind down the stairs.
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"Giles? Earth to Giles? Come in Giles."
"Hm?" said Giles. He shook his head and saw four pairs of eyes looking at him. "Yes?"
"Xander, why are you and Oz so dirty?"
Oz and Xander looked at their clothes absently. Oz shrugged."We were mowing the lawn to kill off excess energy. Willow cleaned the kitchen and Cordy rambled through the mags. Nothing big done."
"So what's the deal?" asked Xander."What do we do now?"
Puzzled Giles looked at the boy. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, something had to have killed Buffy. Some great evil that she wasn't ready for, so we're gonna even the score. So what do we do now?" Xander asked impaitently. Cordelia nodded her agreement. Giles looked at their determined faces and lead them all to the living room. thought Giles determinedly. He was going to avenge the death of his Slayer. And may the heavens help him.
"Well, I think that we had better start with finding out what happened at the pier. Then we could decide what happened to Buffy and act accordingly," decided Giles.
"And then we'll find my daughter's killer," announced Joyce from the top of the stairs. Everyone swung their heads to look at the Slayer's mother. "And that thing will pay for killing Buffy. I swear it."
"Ms. Summers, are you all right?"asked Willow hesitantly. Joyce smiled slightly to the red-haired girl. She was her daughter's best friend. "I'm fine dear, just feeling a bit vengeful right now."
"I think Joyce-"began Giles. Suddenly, there was the screaching of tires in the driveway. As Joyce and everyone went to look, they saw a black clad figure bound out of the black car and head toward the door. The hard pounding caused Joyce to run and open it before the hinges of the door would break off.
"Angel!"said Joyce, stunned as he grabbed her by the shoulders. He held her painfully.
"Joyce! Where is she?" Angel said frantically."Where's Buffy? It was a joke, right? She's not...She can't be..."
Gently, Giles touched Angel's shoulder. "Buffy is dead, Angel. She died early this morning. She was shot in the face with two bullets. And there was dust all over her. Buffy's dead."
"No!" Angel howled. He was about to run out the door when Joyce grabbed his arm to force him to face her. She recoiled in shock when she realized that his game face was on.
"I'm gonna find out who did this and I'm gonna torture him,"Angel growled. Giles grabbed the vampire's arm.
"That's what we're all going to do. But it doesn't help to go off half cocked, Angel. We must plan a course of action," Giles said sternly. Angel glared at the Watcher, then returned his face to normal.
"Well, now where were we?"
"We were at the point where we were trying to find out what happened to Buffy. What demon would take guns and shoot someone in the face?" Cordelia said tactlessly."What?"
"Sensative much?" said Xander as he nodded his head silently towards Buffy's mother.
"Not many vampires or demons would do that,"said Angel musingly.
"Yeah, and that Buffy's dead because of this, I mean, why not suck her dry? Or have no body at all? I mean, iremember when the swim team left their skin and all their clothes when they turned into a fish? It wouldn't have hurt Buffy to ditch her clothes and those old shoes she was wearing if she was turned into a fish," said Cordelia. Again the eyes were staring at her.
"What?" whispered Buffy's mother. Xander looked at her and added consolingliy. "Don't mind her, she has too much conditioner on. Makes her babble more."
Cordelia glared at Xander, but Joyce ignored them. She ran into the side closet and started throwing shoes around.
"Joyce, what-"started Giles, wondering if Cordelia's words had some effect on the woman. A shoe hit him on the head.
"Aha!" shouted Joyce as she triumphantly held a pair of old sneakers for everyone to see. She hugged them tightly to her breast."Look!"
"At what, Ms.Summers?" asked Willow hesitantly. Joyce looked at her owlishly.
"Buffy and I were taliking about her shoes last night. She was wearing her new ones and didn't want me to know. The body was wearing old sneakers,"said Joyce expectantly. The others could not follow her, but Willow did.
"So that body was not Buffy, and that means-"
"That Buffy is ALIVE!" shouted Joyce happily. Giles's head was reeling with this new information.
"Are-Are you sure?"
Joyce glared at him. "I know my daughter Rupert. She would never wear something old unless she had something new. Never."
Willow nodded happily.
"But then where is she?" asked Angel quietly." Where is Buffy?"
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