Chapter Two: Requiem for the Dead pt. 2

Sunnydale, CA.

The next day was difficult. Both parties, who had reunited early in the morning, were slightly on edge around each other, each for their own reasons. Amidst preparations for the funeral, which was to be held the next night, the X-Men were trying to feel out Buffy's opinions of mutants, and Buffy had cornered them into a discussion on what they thought of New Agars.

Scott and co. were pleased at Buffy's opinions of mutants: "Mutants are people, and anyone that says they're not is a total moron. They don't ask for these powers. I mean, who in their right mind would? Can't those bigots understand what it's like to wake up one morning to find yourself being able to do stuff that no one else can do? Can't they understand what it is to live with that kind of secret, to go out with your friends and know that you're a threat to them, and that you know no matter how much you want one, you can never have a normal life again? Don't they get that it's frightening and confusing and that the only way that they can make their powers go away is to die?" Buffy seemed a little too knowledgeable about what it was like, which privately convinced the mutants that Buffy was indeed what the Professor called 'Gifted.'

Buffy was likewise happy about Scott's opinions on the supernatural: "We don't know what's out there. We don't know how the universe was created or where people go when they die or even if there's such a thing as a soul. For all we know, things like vampires and werewolves and demons really could be walking among us right now. Science can't explain everything, and I hope that it never does."

Alex added: "Can you imagine how boring life would be if we all acted like Vulcans? Sure there's stuff we don't know. But, to quote on my favourite shows, 'The Truth is Out There,'" he dramatically quoted the X-Files.

Lorna said: "Our friend Hank McCoy, who's a scientist to the bone by the way, likes to quote Shakespeare. One of his favourites is, 'there are many things in heaven and earth, Horatio, that are not dreamt of in your philosophy.' He pulls it out whenever someone asks him about the supernatural. I don't know if I'd put it like that, but that's what I believe."

"Magic exists," Jean said simply. "It may not be the type of thing that, say, turns people into toads, but it exists in the love that we feel for each other. In this world, where there's so much pain and sorrow, a person can look at perfect sunset, or at a rainbow, or a laughing child, and suddenly be hopeful for the future. No one's going to tell me that that's not magic."

Buffy smiled. They got the good side of magic, and were apparently able to deal with the unknown. But could they deal with vampires and werewolves and demons? Knowing how she herself did, and how all of her friends adjusted, Buffy guessed yes.

The only person oblivious to all the 'feeling out' was Dawn. The Dawnmeister was torn up over the death of her mother, but she was also happy about having all of the people that she loved under one roof for the first time in both her actual and remembered lives. All but two, that is.

"No, Dawn, I can't get a hold of Dad," Buffy told her sister for the umpteenth time. Dawn was upset of Hank Summers' absence, and truth be told, Buffy was as well. But for Dawn's sake, Buffy held it in.

As for Spike… well, even if it was daytime, there was no chance that he would be allowed into the house. Ever again. Dawn privately thought that that was stupid. Spike had proven himself to her, and to Joyce as well. In fact, Dawn knew that Spike was upset over Joyce not only for what her death was doing to her and Buffy, but for his own sake. Joyce was the only person related to the Scoobies, except for Dawn herself, and Tara, that treated Spike like a person. But he did creep Buffy out now that she knew that he was in love with her, and to be fair, he did try to kill Buffy, so she kept her mouth shut, difficult as that was.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

After a large and delicious lunch, made by all those in the house- except Angel, who claimed that he was feeling ill ("Yeah- he's allergic to sunlight," Dawn whispered to her),  Buffy took her family, Dawn included, for a viewing of Joyce's body.

The place that they had Joyce was - false. Oh, it was meant to be cheery, and Buffy could understand the reason. But for someone that had dealt with the reality of death for far too long, the cheer was not only false, but entirely unwarranted. Death was never happy, it was never pretty, it was just- death. That was it. Any attempts to dress it up not only failed to be a true comfort, but were really disrespecting of the gravity that death deserved, and by extension, of the life that the deceased had lived. Buffy really needed to stop thinking about such things.

She and Dawn had already said their final goodbyes to Joyce, so she let Scott, Alex, and Lorna and Jean go in to say theirs. Except the Summers sisters hadn't really said their final goodbyes. A goodbye was spoken to a person that could hear, understand, and hopefully respond, not some- some thing of inanimate flesh that resembled the woman who brought them into the world.

*    *    *    *    *     *    *    *    *

Scott entered the room first. Words could not express his desire to not be in that room, to be anywhere but there, to not have to be there at all. But there he was. He couldn't feel Jean in his mind. His love was obviously and very deliberately giving him privacy. He smiled through his sorrow. She knew him so very well.

He went over to get a better look at the body. She was dressed up nicely, at least. The morticians did an excellent job of making her look alive, as beautiful as ever, just sleeping deeply- oh god, he swore that he wouldn't cry so soon.

He knelt next to the body.

"Here I am, Aunt Joyce. It's me, your worthless nephew, Scott. Yes, I am worthless. I should have dropped everything and came to your side when you were sick. I should have taken care of you. But I didn't. Why, you might ask? Well, it's all because of a dream.

"I've told you about Charles Xavier. I may not have made my feelings about him perfectly clear, so I'll tell you now. I love Charles Xavier. He is the father that I haven't had since my dad died. Except dad didn't really die, although you probably know that by now. He was captured by aliens, and is now a semi-legitimate interstellar pirate, who is on good terms with the ruler of the empire he robs but not with her government. I know how crazy it sounds, but you know it's the truth. I've got to be the one to tell him that you're dead. It isn't a job I'm looking forward to. He always liked you, but you knew that even before you died." Scott stood up.

"I'm an X-Man, Aunt Joyce. I'm a mutant. I'm the greatest threat to ordinary humans that exists. I'm the saviour of many innocent lives, human, mutant, and other. And believe me, there's a whole lot of 'others' out there. I believe in the Professor's dream, which is that humans and mutants are capable of living together in peace, harmony, and love. It's my duty to do everything I can to see the dream through, and I usually do it by fighting any threats to it. That's why I couldn't be there for you. And that's why I should have, because if I can't be there for my own family, how can I be there for the people that seem to need me?

"I failed you Aunt Joyce. If I could trade my life for yours, right now, I'd do it in a heartbeat. You deserve to be alive. You deserve to be there when Buffy graduates from college, when Dawn graduates from all of the schools that she'll be going to- and she'll be at the top of the class, I'm sure. You deserve to dance at their weddings, to hold and love all the grandchildren that you're going to have. But you're not going to. And it's all so senseless! I've met truly evil beings, most of whom are alive right now, breathing the air when you aren't, drinking their coffee when you aren't, basking in the sun, when you aren't. And here I am. I just had a great lunch, and I think that I'm going to throw it up all over the floor, and you're never going to eat anything ever again. I know, I know- you won't miss the vomiting.

"But worst of all, you're not going to be there for Buffy and Dawn. You're not going to be there for them as they grow into the amazing women that I can already see emerging. You're not going to be there to take care of them when they need it. But I will, I promise."

Scott kissed his aunt's forehead.

"I'll be there for them like I couldn't be for you, I swear it. I won't be Uncle Hank, who we can't even find. I won't be my father. I'll do everything that I can for them, Aunt Joyce. I'll do it for them, and I'll do it for you. You know, I never ever thanked you for trying to adopt Alex and I? Alex ended up with a nice family, but they couldn't have loved him as much as you could've. I want to thank you for both of us. I love you, Aunt Joyce. I only wish that I could have told you sooner."

Scott Summers rose, tears spilling from his eyes, and left the room. He didn't look back.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Alex Summers entered the room that held his aunt's body. He quickly went over to her. She was as pretty as Scott said she was. That was good. She should look pretty in the face of decay. Maybe beauty would keep time's inexorable march away for just a bit longer than it normally would. He could see moisture from where Scott's tears fell on her.

"I'm here, Aunt Joyce. It's me, Alex." That was good, good beginning, Al.

"After my parents died, I remember hearing about how you and Uncle Hank tried to adopt Scott and me. I don't think that I ever thanked you for that. So I'll change that. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. I've got a bunch more thank you's to say, but I won't take up all your time by saying them.

"There's a lot I never told you. I never told you that I'm a mutant. I never told you that I was an X-Man for a while. Lorna and I both were, in fact, and Scott and Jean still are. Why did I stop? I guess it's because I want a normal life. I still do, and I've got one, most of the time. But lately, I'll confess, Lorna and I, we've been thinking about getting back into the superhero life. Things are getting worse for my kind, Aunt Joyce. But I'm sure you knew that, just as I'm sure that you hated it. You always told me to only bop someone on the nose for who they are, not for what they are. And I know you believed that, too. Buffy's a mutant too, isn't she? I've seen how strong she is.

"And I don't mean just physically. You'd be proud of how she's holding up. She needs to break down, but she doesn't, for Dawn's sake. They're very close, Aunt Joyce, and they'll be there to take care of each other. But they won't have just themselves to rely on. They've got a great group of friends, as you know, and they've got Scott, Lorna, Jean, and yes, even me, your 'little scrapper.' I'll take care of them, Aunt Joyce. We all will." He got and made for the exit. He turned around.

"I remember the time when I told you that even though you and Uncle Hank were getting divorced, you were still a Summers. It was the first time that I'd ever seen someone cry because they were happy. I wish I could see that expression on your face at Scott's wedding. I wish that I could see it at Buffy and Dawn's weddings. And I wish that I could see it at my wedding to Lorna, whenever that'll be- and I'm confident that it will."

His eyes finally started to tear up. He started to cry- at an unexpected time. Unexpected times seemed to be the story of his life.

"I love you Aunt Joyce. Goodbye."

He left the room, greatly needing to feel the sunshine.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Lorna Dane was the party's third viewer of Joyce Summers' body. She knew Joyce, but not as well as she'd wanted to. She'd only actually net the woman once, and talked to her on the phone every once in a while.

She stood by the dead woman's body. Joyce looked nice, which she hoped was a comfort to her family and friends. For her part, Lorna thought the whole process fake, and not a little morbid. At least her eyes were closed.

"Joyce, it's me. Lorna. I didn't know you very well, and I wanted to know you better, but something always came up, and I put it off. I always thought that there would be another time, and now there aren't any more times.

"Well, now I'm going to tell you all of the things that I've wanted to say. Thank you. You've been great to Alex. You made him very happy, and I can't tell you how much that means to me. Anyone that makes my man happy is purely of the good as far as I'm concerned, but you were also good to me. You didn't make any of the catty or snide comments that I've heard that people make about people who don't look traditional." She twirled a lock of her curly green hair.

"You always treated me with respect, and you listened to me in those times when I confided in you, like that one time you called after Alex and I had that fight. You could have been a bitch to me, in fact I sort of expected it, but you weren't. You listened to both of us, and to be honest, I don't think we would have forgiven each other so quickly if you hadn't said all of the things that you did.

"I want you to know that I still remember what you told me, that one time at the restaurant you took us to in L.A. after you dropped Buffy and Dawn off to spend the summer with Hank. Alex went to the men's room, and you turned to me and said: 'Lorna, it's hard to love a Summers, but it's also worth it. I know because I'm the mother of two Summers', and I used to be married to a third. Just don't use Hank and I as role models, and you and Alex will be fine.' I never forgot that piece of advice.

Lorna began to leave, then turned back.

"Alex and I aren't traditional people, but then you know that. We've been 'living in sin' for a few years now, and you never said anything about it. We're also mutants. I wish that we'd had the guts to tell you while you were alive to respond, but I know that you wouldn't have cared about that either, as long as we were good people. Rest in peace, Joyce Summers. You more than deserve it."

And with that, she exited the place of death.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Jean entered the room last, and made her way to the body. Joyce Summers looked much as she did in the pictures that Scott showed her, except she lacked Joyce's quality of life that even a photograph couldn't miss. Jean sighed. The woman was truly gone, but then again she knew that. She waited for a few moments, then finally began to speak.

"I never met you, except for that one time on the phone. All I know is that you lived, and now you don't. A very wise man told me that that's all that really matters. 'Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee,' he says. And he's right. Your life enriched mine, and your death diminished it. That would be enough for me to mourn you, but you were so much more to me.

"Scott told me of how you and his uncle Hank fought to gain custody of him and Alex. I wish to God that you had. If you did, he would have gone through the time in his life when he gained his powers surrounded by people that loved him. He wouldn't be the same man that I fell in love with, but he would have been far happier. And I would have fallen in love with him anyways.

"When I look at Scott, and yes, at Alex too, I see young men that have been shaped by their experiences into the strong men that they are today. Part of the credit for that goes to you, and for that alone, I owe you more than I can ever repay. Thank you, Joyce Summers, for all the ways that you touched my life. I wish that you could have lived to see Scott and I happy. I wish that I could have known you better."

Slowly, memorizing the features of Joyce's face, she left the room, and her family left the place of death shortly after, to emerge into light.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

By that evening, all of the preparations for the big day had been made. All of Joyce's friends and family had been notified as to the location of the funeral, and about the fact that there would be no wake.

            Buffy sighed. It had been a long day. She really loathed having to go to the place where her mother's body would be kept. For once, she actually felt like slaying. It had been too long since she'd just killed something deserving. She remembered her talk with her friends the previous evening. She grabbed a stake, slipped it into her purse, and found her friends and family in the living room.

            "Hey, Scott? Alex? Jean? Lorna? I'm going out for a walk. Want to come with?"

            The Scoobies' ears perked up at Buffy's request. Just one thought went through their minds- She's going to go through with it! While some of them, especially Giles, were somewhat apprehensive about Buffy letting her identity slip, they all recognized that it was her choice. And given the possibility of a misunderstanding over the source of Buffy's powers, getting the truth out may well be the best thing to do.

            For their parts, the X-Men could tell that something was up. *There's more to this than just a walk,* Jean sent. *I don't know what it could be, but I'm certain.*

            Scott nodded. "That sounds great. What do you think?" he asked his family.

            "Sounds good," Alex said.

            "Can I come too?" Dawn asked.

            "No!," Buffy exclaimed. "I mean, it's probably going to be long, and it's a little late for you as it is."

            "But-"

            "No, Dawn." Dawn turned pleading eyes to Scott.

            "Dawnie, I love you, but I am NOT getting involved," Scott told her, and the others nodded.

            "I have an idea," Jean said. "Why don't you and Alex go out with Buffy, and Lorna and I'll stay here with Dawn."

            "Okay," Lorna, said, instantly getting Jean's plan. "It'll give you three a chance to talk, and let us have a talk with Dawn."

            Alex and Scott made a show of thinking it over, then accepted. None of them needed to send the thought that whatever surprise was coming, the Summers brothers could probably handle it. And if they couldn't, their far more powerful ladies would be ready to come running if either of them gave a psychic signal.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Sunnydale was a small town, but Buffy's patrol route was long. While they chatted, about nothing in particular, she also played tour guide.

            "There's the Magic Box," she pointed at a building with a bright sign saying 'The Magic Box.' "Giles owns it and Anya works there. Most of us help out from time to time, except for Xander. He works on a construction site."

            The trio passed by another building. They could hear loud music coming out.

            "That's the Bronze. It's where we hang out. Well, I haven't been there in a while, because, well, y'know." She was silent for a while after that, and Scott and Alex respected that.

            They walked in silence until they walked past the burnt out shell of what appeared to be a large building. Scott and Alex stopped to look at it.

            "What the hell was that?" Alex asked.

            "That? Oh that used to be my high school, good old Sunnydale High."

            Scott and Alex looked at each other in disbelief.

            "Uh, Buffy," Scott asked her in a joking tone, "have you been playing with matches again."

            "Actually, Scott," she replied in a too calm voice, "I blew the school up to save Sunnydale from our now-dead Mayor, who turned himself into a giant demon snake."

            Scott was silent for a moment. Buffy was possibly a mutant, and the X-Men had certainly done weirder things to weirder creatures.

            "Of course I haven't been playing with matches, you jerk! There was a gas main that exploded!" She lied as she punched him on the arm. Hard, but not at her full strength.

            "Oww!"

            "Scotty," Alex laughed, "I love you bro, but you need to get a brand new joke-detector. Buffy wouldn't go straight to blowing up schools from burning down gyms."

            "I didn't burn down Hemery's gym! Well, not entirely on purpose, anyway. I had a good reason!" 'Not that I can tell you what it is, yet,' she thought to herself.

            "See? She only does things like that for good reasons. Now, if we'd heard about her blowing up her chem labs, I'd believe that she turned into a bomber."

            Buffy punched Alex's arm. Hard, but again, not at her full strength.

            "Oww! That hurt!"

            "Whiner," she snorted.

            "Now I'm regretting going easy on you when we had our childhood wrestling matches," he grumbled, rubbing his sore arm.

            "Oh? I thought she always beat you because you were a wimp," Scott laughed.

            "Really?" Alex turned to his 'dear' big brother.

            "Yes, really. Otherwise, why did you go crying to mom every time she whupped you?"

            "She always bit me!"

            "I don't remember any bite marks."

            "That's because there weren't any," Buffy said smugly.

            "But you did pull my hair!" Alex protested.

            "I was six, Alex. And it's not my fault you had a mullet when you were ten."

            "I didn't have a mullet!"

            "What would you call it, Scott?"

            "It certainly looked like a mullet."

            "Everybody hates me," Alex whined.

            "You're sounding like Dawn right now, you know," Buffy snickered. "Now she was a vicious little anklebiter."

            The joking continued until the Summers cousin's reached the Fairview Cemetery. The one where Joyce would be buried.

            "Well, I didn't mean to bring you two here, but here we are," Buffy said quietly. She cursed herself mentally. What did Professor Walsh say about how some accidents were Freudian slips? The woman may have been a psychobitca, but she did know her stuff.

            "Do you want to go in?" Scott asked her.

            Buffy thought for a moment.

            "We may as well. I'd like to see the place, before it gets all crowded." Of course, in Sunnydale, every cemetery was crowded, one way or another.

            "Well then, after you," Alex said.

            Buffy led them to the gravesite. It was positioned by trees and bushes. The grave was already dug, and the headstone already made. It read: "Joyce Lynne Summers. Devoted mother, beloved friend. May she rest in peace." May she rest in peace. Buffy quietly snorted- she didn't order that, but she wasn't surprised. Almost every headstone in Sunnydale had a variation of that put on.

            "Well, the tombstone's nice, at least," Alex said quietly.

            "How long has Sunnydale been around," Scott asked.

            "About a hundred years," Buffy replied. "Coming up to 102 pretty soon. Why?"

            "Oh. I didn't think a town so small would have such a big cemetery."

            It took all Buffy had not to laugh. The Fairview was the youngest of Sunnydale's twelve cemeteries, and the smallest.

            "Let's get out of here," Alex said suddenly.

            "Good idea," Buffy fervently agreed. This place suddenly seemed cold.

            "Oh, Slayer, leaving so soon?" came a voice from behind them.

            The Summers' whirled around. There, a few feet away, stood the tallest man that Buffy had ever seen. Except it wasn't a man.

            "You are the Slayer, aren't you?" the vamp asked her. "Buffy Summers, isn't it? Short, blond, bad attitude? Not that it'll matter for long."

            "Who the hell are you?" Alex demanded. The vamp looked at him scornfully.

            "No one you need to concern yourself with, blondie. But if you want," he suddenly smiled, "you can be an appetizer."

            "Scott, Alex, get behind me!" Buffy cursed herself yet again. What the hell was she thinking? If Scott and Alex weren't mutants, they'd be defenceless against this vamp if he killed her.

            "No, Buffy, I don't think so." Scott said as he and Alex stepped in front of her. "This lady's our cousin, and if you want to hurt her, you'll have to get through us." From behind, she could see Scott grabbing the edges of his glasses, as if he was about to lower them. For his part, Alex was holding his arms like he was about to push something.

            "Do you want to get your little attack doggies killed, Slayer?" she could hear the vamp ask her. Buffy pushed herself in front of her cousins.

            "This is my fight!" She turned to the vamp. "One on one?" she asked him.

            "Buffy-" Alex started.

            "Believe me, Alex, I've handled worse."

            "Yes, one on one," the vamp said loudly, too loudly. Other vampires emerged from the bushes.

            Buffy only had time to say, "Why am I not surprised?" before the fight began.

            The big vampire, evidently the leader, went at her. He was fast, and strong. Buffy barely had time to get Mr. Pointy out before he got in too close for her to use it. He headbutted her, forcing her to drop the stake. It hurt! But she quickly recovered, kicked the vampire's legs out from under him, and made for the stake. She grabbed it, and barely got up before he was at her again. This time, she was ready. She hit him on the jaw with her free hand, and plunged the stake to his chest while he was dazed.

            But Buffy wasn't the only one with a quick recovery time. The vamp grabbed the her arm, and flipped her onto the ground. Hard. Before she could react, he had her pinned, facing up, and he had Mr. Pointy, poised for her heart.

            "So tell me, Slayer, how do things look from this end of the stake?" The vamp was grinning. Buffy smiled too. Did this skeeze really think that she'd never been put in this position before? But before she could react, she heard a noise like a laser firing, the vampire yelled in agony, and she smelled something burning. She pushed him off of her, got up, and looked down. His back was on fire, and the rest of him was catching. He'd be dust in seconds.

            She looked in the direction that the laser must have come from. The other vamps, and Alex, were staring at Scott, who was staring at the now dusted vamp. His hand was holding the edge of his glasses, and from where Buffy was standing, she could see him mouth 'Oh my God.'

            Suddenly, the vamps sprang back into action. Before she could yell a warning, one of them hit Scott on the head from behind, so hard that it caused his glasses, which was still holding on to, to fall off.

            Red streams of light came from his eyes, and Buffy heard the laser noise again. His eyes quickly closed as he fell unconscious, but it was too late. The light hit her. Buffy tensed, closed her eyes, but she only felt a tickling sensation. She looked down. The lower half of her shirt had a large new hole, but she was fine! She looked back at her cousins. Alex was being mobbed, but was actually holding his own. The vamp that hit Scott had him on the ground, and was about to plunge a knife into his back. Buffy grabbed Mr. Pointy and raced to her older cousin, afraid that she wouldn't get there in time. Suddenly, she saw an all too familiar figure bodily grab the vamp and say: "Didn't your mum ever teach you not to hit a man with glasses?" It was Spike. What was he doing here?

            "Buffy!" Spike yelled. He tossed the vamp at her, and turned to help Alex. The vamp flew through the air at her. Buffy took careful aim, and jabbed Mr. Pointy where his heart would be. Bull's-eye! Dusted in one. She turned to help Alex and Spike.

            The other vamps were fleeing. Alex was snarling.

            "Oh no, you don't," he hissed. He thrust an arm out, and rings of yellowish energy shot out at the fleeing vampires. The energy engulfed them. They caught of fire, and quickly turned into dust.

            "Holy shit!" Alex exclaimed. "It's never done that before!" Spike just stared, and so did Buffy. On the ground, Scott started to moan.

            "Scotty!" Alex went to his brother's side.

            "Glasses," Buffy heard him say. She saw Alex turn Scott over. Scott's eyes were held tightly shut. Alex found the glasses, and put them into Scott's hands. Scott put them on, and Alex helped him up. The Summers brothers just looked at Buffy, and Buffy just looked at them.

            "What the HELL is going on here?" Naturally, Spike was the one to break the silence.