As Giles walked in the front door of the Summers' home, he pondered what the next step would be for them. It had been easy to take charge at the morgue. He had been there before, had filled out the paperwork… and it had been difficult, but it had not drained him like this the last time. Jenny's death had broken his heart, but Joyce's death was breaking Buffy's soul and that was breaking him.

He shut the door and turned right, to the sound of Willow's voice.

"I don't know, maybe we should take shifts… Oh, Giles, it's good to see you." The redhead gave him a half-hearted smile.

"Take shifts for what? Patrol?" Giles felt more tired than usual and, as he looked around Buffy's dining room table, he saw that his weariness was not unique. All of the children's faces were drawn, their eyes red-rimmed and their lips dry. However, Buffy and Dawn were not among them. "Where are Dawn and Buffy?"

Xander looked up at Giles, his eyes shifting uneasily and giving a deep sigh, "They're upstairs, having some sister-time, trying to get some sleep. We're trying to figure out how to handle slayer-duty…"

"… And still be here for them at the same time," Willow gave Xander a weak smile as she interrupted, "I mean, they need someone here to help."

Tara walked in from the kitchen with a tray of drinks, and began passing them out, "Hello, Mr. Giles, can I get you something to drink? Tea?"

He looked at Willow's dutiful girlfriend; she was always there, taking care of Willow. And now she was taking care of them all.

"No, thank you, Tara. I think I've had about all of the tea I can take today." She smiled at him shyly and moved away.

Giles looked at them, trying to be adults, trying to fix things, as he walked around the table he took off his glasses and started cleaning them with his handkerchief. "I think it would be best if Xander and I took on patrolling with the rest of you filling out the ranks, but, I'll speak to Buffy first. We need to find out if there's anyone else she wants to notify of Joyce's passing."

Anya looked around, "Who else is there? I mean, we don't know where Riley is."

"I have to call my dad."

Buffy's sudden appearance in the doorway startled the group. Giles walked over to her and, placing his hands on her shoulders, tried to think of what to say. Willow saved him the trouble.

"We thought you and Dawn were resting, Buffy." Willow got up and offered her chair to Buffy but

Buffy, unaware of Willow's offer, moved away from Giles and into the room. Willow sat back down as Buffy leaned on the back of Xander's chair.

"I can't sleep. Dawn just curled up on Mom's bed and cried until she dropped off. I can't even shut my eyes. There's so much to figure out." Buffy wearily rubbed her eyes and sighed.

Giles took a deep breath, "Well, we can take care of contacting any family and friends, and patrols, I think you should focus on yourself right now."

"I can't. Dawn needs me. And I have to call my Dad…" Buffy paused as tears began to well up in her eyes, "a-and I should call my Mom's new boyfriend."

Willow hopped out of her chair and ran to Buffy, "Oh, we'll take care of it, I'll call everyone myself. I promise, Buffy."

Giles gathered both girls up in his arms and led them into the living room, "There are some, um, complicated details we should discuss, Buffy…"

"We'll take care of patrols, Giles, it'll be okay…" Rupert cut Willow off as he sat them all down on the couch.

"Willow, that isn't the matter I wanted to discuss. We have to face the possibility that Hank might get custody of Dawn," Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes and seemed to come out of her haze, "Now, Buffy, I don't know what provisions Joyce's will makes regarding you and Dawn, but it's a distinct possibility. In that case, we may have to explain your unique situation to your father."

"No, he can't take her, he can't protect her from Glory, he doesn't even know her anymore! She needs to stay with me."

"Okay, then, the first step is to find out what your mother's will says…"

"Giles," Willow was angry, "Are you insane? Why are you bringing this up now? Do we really need more bad news right now?"

"Willow, I have to make sure that no matter what, Buffy's duty as The Slayer to Dawn is not left undone. It may seem too soon to think of these things, but we have to prepare for anything, and Buffy is just not ready to handle this herself. So, when you make the phone calls, start with Joyce's lawyer."

Buffy looked at her best friend and sniffed up her tears, "Giles is right, Will, I can't prepare for all of this by myself. Giles is just being my Watcher."

Willow nodded and resigned herself to phone duty, "Buff, did your mom have an address book or something?"

"Yeah, it's in her purse. It's in the hall."

"Okay, I'll start in the morning. Do you want me to call your dad?"

Buffy shook her head, "No, I'll call him, I should call him." Willow, choking back tears, leaned over and hugged Buffy, then walked into the hall.

"Well, Xander and I will head up patrols starting tonight…"

"No, Giles, stay here."

"Buf—" Before he could finish, Buffy grabbed his hand, "Giles, Dawn and I need you here. Please. Stay here tonight." Buffy's tears started again and Giles wrapped his arms around her.

"Buffy, it'll be okay, I'll…" He didn't know how to finish the sentence because he didn't know what he would do. "I'll stay."

Buffy pulled away from him and wiped her face again, "I'm going to go upstairs and check on Dawn."

"Okay, I'll be down here if you need me."

"I always need you, Giles." They both managed weak smiles as Buffy headed upstairs. The others had started gathering in the hall, quietly talking to each other, Giles got up and went over to them.

"Um, Anya and I are gonna' head out, do some patrolling on the way home. Willow, do you and Tara need a ride?"

"Yeah, thanks Xander." Willow paused as she reached for her coat, and looked up at Giles. "Are you going to stay? 'Cause someone should stay and we can if you're not..."

Rupert reached out and gave Willow small squeeze on her shoulder, "Yes, I'm staying, and we should all meet here again tomorrow morning, to discuss things, I suppose."

"What about the magic shop, Giles?" Anya meekly raised her hand, "Will it be open?"

After a small pause of consideration, Rupert shook his head, "No, I think I should close it until further notice. What with everything going on, I think it might be an unnecessary distraction."

Anya caught herself before she said something inappropriate about money, and with reluctant good intentions she volunteered herself, "Okay, I can go by in the morning and put a sign up, or something."

Giles gave her a small smile, "Thank you, Anya."

Anya smiled and hugged Giles, catching him off guard and released him as quickly as she had captured him, "Okay, Xander, let's go home. Goodnight, Giles." Xander and

"Goodnight, everyone." Giles slowly shut the door behind them as they walked out to Xander's car.

He had never thought of himself as a fatherly man, but the affection he felt for these young people couldn't be described as anything else.

They were all the children he would never have.

But they all belonged to someone else, even Buffy. Especially Buffy. She belonged to everyone else, friends and boyfriends stacked up, everyone except him, and he belonged, unrecognized, to her, only. That was how it worked. He breathed out a sigh and leaned his forehead against the door as he thought about these things.

He thought about Joyce, and how readily she accepted Dawn as "The Key" when she realized that Dawn wasn't her daughter. She grabbed onto Dawn as tenaciously as if she had been hers. So different from her reaction finding out that Buffy was the Slayer…those had been hard times, but Buffy and Joyce had gotten through them, gotten through that first difficult year at college and had grown extremely close this past year. And both of them caring for and protecting Dawn had made them both stronger.

He turned to walk up the stairs and noticed a picture of the three Summers women. All smiling. Dawn was so different physically from Joyce and Buffy. The contrast that Dawn provided with her dark hair, wide eyes and full lips was jarring. He hadn't realized it before, how alike Joyce and Buffy were. They had the same eyes. He had seen so many things in those eyes; anger, fear, hate, surprise, wonder, love and even passion.

Staring at that picture, he thought back to that night of reckless youth that he had shared with Joyce. He had thought it was her eyes had drawn him in, but Rupert realized something as he stared at that picture. The eyes he had ascribed to Joyce, the ones he was so convinced were lonely and beckoning, full of admiration and longing, weren't Joyce's eyes at all; they were the eyes that had asked him to stay there that night. He felt something in him break; guilt, surprise and grief kept washing over him, and he had to sit down. Looking up the stairs, his pulse quickened, Buffy had always meant so much to him. He had always wanted to tell her, he had tried to on her 18th birthday, but he couldn't bear to speak to her. He felt too guilty. He always felt too guilty to tell her things she deserved to know. He felt the loss of those lost opportunities, for the years spent in impotent isolation and he grieved for them.

Rupert Giles' grief carried him up the stairs to the door of Buffy's room and he wondered what might keep him there.