Buffy came back down dressed for the party. She smiled when she saw Spike. He offered his arm to her and walked back to Roosevelt Room, Abbey smiling at their backs. The top fit her best of all the options, but the dark colour did draw attention to her pale, and drawn, appearance.

Willow was first to greet them when the arrived back in the Roosevelt Room. She saw them coming down the stairs and stood up. Spike held the door open for Buffy. Willow nodded politely to him before gathering her friend into a gentle hug.

Buffy leant her head on Willow's shoulder for a moment.

"You're my best friend, Buffy," Willow said. "I hope I can be the same for you."

The Slayer pulled back slightly and looked at looked at her friend properly. She was surprised by what she saw; Willow's strength. This was not the Willow who needed reassurance and protection and offered as much as she could in return, this was Willow who knew that her friend was hurt and tired and would need some measuring of looking after in return.

Before Abbey had fussed over whether Zoë's or Ellie's clothes would fit better, she hadn't been looked after since her mom had died. It felt okay for the moment.

Dawn came up to them slowly. She stopped about two feet away from Buffy, staring at her sister and odd mixture of clothes she was wearing.

"I know, not what I'd normally wear," Buffy said, pulling at the dark material. "I may have to borrow some of your clothes when we get back home."

"No way, I'm not letting you near my wardrobe," Dawn said, with a horrified look.

Buffy giggled. She stopped abruptly when she realised what she was doing. Do I really mean that? she thought. Maybe it's just because it's not Sunnydale yet.

"Alright, Dawn, I'll respect the sanctity of your wardrobe," she said, as if by rote. "But you've got to do the same for me."

Dawn nodded eagerly. She was still being thrown too easily by Buffy's abrupt changes in temperament. It had been two weeks, and she had begun to accept that her sister wasn't going to be back. Now she was and she was treating it so lightly.

With rare insight Dawn realised that it was probably to big to process yet. She stepped forward and hugged Buffy, too.

"I wasn't gone that long," Buffy said.

Giles had the heart to smile at the vague attempt to joke. Spike patted Dawn gently on the shoulder. Buffy smiled quietly at Dawn, acknowledging the solemnity of the situation silently.

"Thanks," she said.

Dawn nodded her understanding and Buffy was relieved that she didn't have to be pleased to back, at least just yet.

"We've greeted the Buffster," Xander said. "Greetings, Buffy. So is it time to party yet?"

"By party you mean eat, don't you?" Willow said.

"Well, of course," Xander said. "But they should do really good food here. They do, don't they, Mrs Bartlet?"

"Yeah," Abbey said, trying not to smirk. "We can go up now."

Giles walked next Buffy on the way up and she appreciated the protection that that offered. But she was feeling alright. Spike was still hovering over her. She found more amusing than anything else.

Donna and the President were already there when they arrived. The President greeted them all magnanimously and enjoined them to partake of refreshments and hors-d'œuvre.

Buffy was still a little removed from the atmosphere. The others took drinks and started chatting about odd things. Giles was drawn into a conversation with the President about London. Donna approached Buffy.

"Hey," she said.

Buffy smiled. "Hey," she answered.

"I just wanted to say that I hope you don't mind being back too much, because I really like it here. I think it can be great sometimes."

"I get that. It's just that it's hard, too. It's hard and it's painful and it's everyday," she murmured.

"I know what you did," Donna said. "I dreamt of your death."

The half-smile of Buffy's face went from pensive to wistful.

"I wish I couldn't have done what you did."

"I did what I had to do," Buffy said.

"No," Donna said. "What you had to do is let your sister do what she had to do."

Buffy closed her eyes. She was hit by the sudden memory of Giles slowly leading her to the inevitable conclusion. She shook her head.

"I couldn't do that," she said.

"When I dreamt about it, I knew what you were doing, all of it. And I wished that I had the strength to do it. I also wanted very much to have people in my life like you have Dawn and Giles and Willow."

"You've got Josh," Buffy said.

She said it as something to say, and hoped to change the topic. Donna however, blushed and looked more uncomfortable then Buffy expected.

"He's, you know, my boss," Donna said.

"But you owe him your life? He's the one person you can trust to help when you need it, and one person you can complain to, even about himself?" Buffy asked, teasingly.

"Pretty much," Donna said.

C.J and Toby chose that moment to arrive. They tried to sneak in and find a drink and a corner. Giles and the President, however, claimed Toby. Buffy wouldn't let Donna leave.

"He's the person you're closest to," Buffy said. She looked up quickly to see Giles about to disagree with Toby. "Don't let him go."

"Who's Donna not letting go?" C.J asked.

Donna turned quickly to face C.J.

"Ah it's nothing, we're just talking about …"

"Josh," Buffy said. "Donna's got a thing for Josh, and I think that he's a good guy. Even if he isn't, she has superpowers now."

"You owe him your life," C.J said. "And you can trust him with anything, or any problem. You've never had any trouble telling him he's an idiot."

"Is this training I missed?" Donna asked, looking from C.J back to Buffy.

"Slayer thing," C.J said. "You'll have to take him out on patrol."

"Okay," Donna said, uncertainly.

"It'll be fine thing," C.J said. "Leo and I have worked out what we can say. You just have to keep it, all of it, out of the office."

"C.J!"

Donna blushed. C.J grinned her cat-like smile and patted Donna on the shoulder. Josh opened both doors into the room and entered, flanked by a grinning Sam and an amused Leo.

"Leo, Sam, a word," C.J said.

C.J tried to push Donna towards Josh, but the younger woman had grabbed her arm. Leo left the scene immediately to talk to Abbey. Buffy smiled politely at Josh and Sam and wandered over to Giles.

Giles smiled warmly when Buffy came up to him.

"We're just on to discussing cultural relativism in relation to demon cultures," he said, stepping back to let Buffy into the circle.

Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"If it wants to kill me, or someone else, I kill it," she said.

"You don't take into consideration the cultural beliefs and practices that inform demon actions?" the President asked.

"I don't normally think about it," Buffy said. "I interrupt the rituals, save the sacrifices. If the demons attack, I kill them. It's either them or me."

"You simply fight," the President said. There was mild reproach in his voice. Buffy bristled.

"Yeah," she said. "It's up to Giles to make sure that they need killing. I need to talk to you," she told Giles.

The President nodded. He turned to Toby an continued to quiz him on various demon laws. Having gotten over his decades long denial of what he'd stumbled into in London, he wanted to know more about it that at least the rest of his staff.