"Lullaby" by Ben is Glory

Pairings: S/B(sort of), W/T, and X/A

Summary: A singer comes to town, but turns out to have special demon fighting skills

Timeline: Season 5, after Forever

Thanks to: yordan for all the help

Dedicated to: Yordan

Disclaimer: 20th Century Fox and Mutant Enemy own all the characters, settings, blah blah blah.
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Chap 1

Joyce-less

"Buffy, you need some sleep. Go home to bed."

"Shut up Giles. I want to train."

"You've been training non-stop, except for patrols. If you don't need sleep, the rest of us do. OOF!"

"Sorry about that one, I didn't mean to hurt you. Maybe I could use a break." Buffy didn't really want one, she wanted to keep focused on kick, block, punch, but she could see Giles was truly worn out.

"Right then, help me out of these pads, I can't very well sell magic trinkets in layers of styrofoam."

Buffy did as she was asked and the two ventured back out into the magic shop.

"Good you're back. I really really need a potty break." Anya looked as though she might pop right there behind the cash register.

"Sorry, An. I kept Giles from duty too long.", Buffy apologized

"Yes you did.I will never get used to this bladder thing." With that Anya was gone.

Giles took his place behind the register and looked at Buffy. "I really think you need to go take a rest. You've got a while before sundown."

Buffy didn't want to go home. Home was where her mother wasn't. Home was where the house was empty and screamed silent accusations at her. Sleeping was also out of the question. Even if she could have slept, she didn't want to. Whenever the slayer closed her eyes, she saw Joyce. Joyce standing over her, asking Buffy why she hadn't come home in time, asking why Buffy hadn't loved her. No sleeping at home was not on Buffy's list of most fun things to do at the moment.

"Giles I-"

"Will go get some rest before you collapse."

"Right."

The sunshine outside the Magic Box was very bright. As Buffy walked toward Sunnydale University, she saw couples picnicking in the park. Children chasing each other in the School playground. A blonde middle aged woman going into a salon. The woman looked curiously like Joyce. Buffy couldn't stop herself from craning her neck to get a closer look. Of course it wasn't Joyce. Joyce was buried 6 feet below and not coming up. Never. She was Joyce-less. God, Buffy needed some company.

"No wonder people take up smoking." Buffy mumbled under her breath. "Tar is better company than no one."

Willow was in her dorm room, thank God. Buffy couldn't stand the thought of being alone a moment longer.

"Oh hi Buffy. Come in." The dorm room was full of harsh, glaring sunlight. Well, no vampires here, at least.

"Where's Dawn?"

"At school. Or maybe Xander's"

"That's good. Xander's is fun."

"Yeah. Fun."

"Buffy, are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be ok? I'm fine. I'm FINE."

"Alright. You're fine. Its just that you're kind of...fidgety."

"Fidgety?"

"Like the wiggle wiggle can't sit still thing."

It was true. Buffy had wandered from bed to window to desk to bed since she had entered the room. Of course, that wasn't far to wander under the circumstances.

"Oh. Sorry. Just a little restless."

"Maybe you should go exercise. You know, punch some stuffed dummies or something."

"I just trained with Giles. He kicked me out. Said I needed sleep."

"Oh. He has a point. You haven't slept in a week The circles under your eyes are threatening to take over."

"I just can't. Icky nightmares."

"Ah. I see. Well, maybe you need a break. Some happy-let's-forget-about-life-time."

"Like what?"

"Don't look so wary. I'm not going to bite you. I'm not a vampire. I just thought some fun might help."

"Maybe. What kind of fun?"

"One of Tara's favorite singers is coming to town. Carmen Candide. I said we'd go. We could make it a group thing."

"Tara wouldn't mind? I don't want to sit in on a date or something."

"No. We'll bring Xander and Anya, too."

"Okay. Group party for Buffy. What about Dawn?"

"I'll talk Giles into Dawn watching. Don't worry. In the mean time, you can hang out here."

"Thanks, Wil. Thanks a lot."

"Anytime. I have some reading to do, but make yourself at home." Then, looking at Buffy, "I'm right here. Super Willow on call to wake up from nightmares, make soup, or hold crying slayers."

"Thanks again."