Disclaimer: I do not own Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
Got this idea from a little conversation with Brainstorm Sorcerer so thank you very much to him, and fair warning, if you can't handle Buffy being criticized, best for you to look away right now.
This was inspired by HIMYM too, and takes place after 6x17.
Buffy returned home, putting her cap from the Doublemeat Palace down, but then noticed Willow, Tara, Dawn and Xander all standing in front of her, holding notes, and up on the wall was hung on a cloth with a single word on it- 'Intervention'!
Before Buffy could respond, Willow told her. "Buffy, this is an intervention."
"It's about how you've been treating everyone", Tara then spoke up from next to her, and she did not sound pleased herself.
"What? Treating you guys…What are you on about?" Buffy asked, in denial over how badly she had treated all of them.
"Dear Buffy, you ignore me, by staying all day on the job, then on patrol, I don't matter to you, even if I fail in all classes I don't think you'd care enough", Dawn started it all by reading her own note, which made Buffy look at her incredulously, as if she had grown two more heads.
"You really think I care that little? Because if you do fail all classes I'm not going to be pleased", Buffy said, shaking her head.
"So it's something that drastic that will get you to care, huh?" Dawn asked, shaking her head. "Okay then."
"Look, it's just been really hard since I came back-"
"Dear Buffy, every time you say that, it becomes less of a defense and more of an excuse, so stop punishing us because you're not in Heaven anymore and try to move on and live your life", Willow read out from her own note for Buffy, who folded her arms.
"You are the one who got me out of there", Buffy snarled, making Tara and Xander look at her.
"The two of us and Anya were with her too, sure she convinced us and the idea was hers, but we are our own people, not just extensions of Willow, we helped her on our own accord", Tara told Buffy, deciding she won't let Buffy make her girl, yes, her girl, the sole scapegoat over her bad behavior any longer.
Willow shot Tara a grateful look for being defended by her.
It was easy for Buffy to blame Willow, since Willow had fallen off the wagon soon after Buffy's resurrection, but Buffy was ignoring that she herself had fallen off the wagon too, just because the others didn't know didn't mean it wasn't true.
And she needed to realize it now.
"Dear Buffy, I used to think of you as a hero, but after you tried to kill me, Willow, Dawn and then Tara last week, I sleep with one eye open", Xander said, reading out from his own note, and it was clear he hadn't forgiven her for that.
"That other reality was affecting me!" Buffy snapped in her own defense. "I made a mistake!"
"No, you made a choice, you chose to live in that reality because you had no responsibilities there, and you didn't have us", Dawn said, now deciding to let Buffy have it over her bad behavior. "You wanted to live there, and me, Willow and Xander stood in your way, and then Tara too when she arrived here. You did not lose your soul like Angel, you did not go insane like Faith, and you were not mind-controlled either, so stop with your excuses."
Buffy opened her mouth to speak but no words came out, especially since her favorite excuse of 'its been really hard since I came back' had been ripped to shreds already by Willow and Tara.
"Dear Buffy, your current lifestyle and mannerisms are toxic and unhealthy, you may have asked for help with those, but you also need to let us help instead of just asking, and you need to help yourself too", Tara read from her own note finally, and Buffy knew what she was talking about.
Tara was the only one Buffy had confided in about her toxic relationship with Spike, and Tara had told no one, and even here in this intervention, Tara had kept her secret, for which Buffy was thankful, but Tara had still subtly referenced it and called Buffy on it.
"So what do you want me to do?" Buffy finally asked.
"Let us talk to you, like really talk to you", Dawn told Buffy, folding her arms. "Because every time we do, you make your excuse of life being hard after coming back to life."
Xander decided to just be blunt. "We get it, the world sucks, get over it."
"Xander", Willow said to him in an annoyed tone, but he wouldn't back down this time.
"No, look, I may not have been a good friend to you all the time, but I don't think I did anything so bad that I deserved to be killed by you", Xander said to Buffy, who couldn't even look him in the eyes due to her guilt and shame. "So maybe its time for you to just move on from where you were, and focus on making a living for yourself and little Dawn here, and actually act like a sister and friend."
Buffy held her head, rubbing it, this being a little too much for her as she walked over to the kitchen, and Tara followed her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe you need to stop going to Spike now", Tara said to Buffy. "Just let the whole thing go completely, its clearly affecting your judgment and moral compass."
Buffy turned to Tara as she continued. "Maybe you do love him, and he loves you, but neither of you have really treated each other well, have you? Like, you go to him for lovemaking, then beat him and ditch him, and he clearly wants to draw you into this darkness that has consumed you since you came back, and keep you that way, keep you messed up."
"I'm not messed up", Buffy shook her head, still in some denial.
"Yes you are, and there is nothing wrong with it, wrong is staying that way instead of trying to fix the mess", Tara said to Buffy, grasping her shoulders. "Please just talk to us, let us help you, you are not a robot Buffy, you can let it all out."
Buffy's lip quivered as she clutched her fists, and then she punched the wall really hard, denting it, and with primal screams, punched the wall even harder until it was broken, and the others came in to see what the commotion, as Buffy let out a sob and put her arms around Tara, breaking down, while Tara hugged Buffy for comfort and let both of them fall over to their knees to balance them out, while rubbing Buffy's back, as the other three watched sadly.
And so eventually, Buffy confessed the truth about her and Spike to everyone. None were pleased but decided not to make a fuss about it, except Xander who cracked a comment or two but seeing her state made him decide not to say much about it either, or it'd be 2 steps back.
Because of that, the next week when Buffy and Xander found Anya and Spike having sex, and Spike revealed he'd been having sex with Buffy too, it didn't drive them to heated words, though Spike still tried to force himself on Buffy and rape later, but was kicked away, and went off on his way to get a soul.
Willow was grateful to Tara for defending her from Buffy's accusations during the intervention, and so that led to them getting back together that same week, and so they went out on a date when Warren arrived to shoot Buffy.
It did injure her badly but she was taken to the hospital and saved, as Warren was gunned down by the police in a shootout.
After her recovery, Buffy finally let her anger go, and genuinely and properly apologized to everyone for her bad behavior, climbing out of the pit that she had let herself fall into after her resurrection.
Well, this was something, but hope you enjoyed, and its always a pleasure to fix the mess that was the 2nd half of Season 6.
Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with some other update.