Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.

A/N: This chappie is a little depressing. I'm very sorry for the ages it took me to update (anyway, it's not like anyone really cares…:'( Yes, the relative lack of reviews is making me very upset!)

'Spike, my little boy, will you come here and listen to the Earth? It's talking to me. It's saying naughty things. Naughty things for Spike and Drusilla. Come here, my love,' Drusilla said in her sing-song voice, with an ear to the ground and her dark hair splayed over the mansion floor.

But Spike was not in the mood to listen to the Earth. All he wanted to do at that moment was to find Angelus and drive a red hot railroad spike through his head. Maybe that would remove his grand-sire's obsession for the Slayer. Because all this obsession was doing was to bring trouble. Two of the Slayer's inner circle dead in two days; all this was achieving was to make the Slayer more furious, more dangerous and all of them just a little bit closer to their dusty end.

But of course, Angelus was nowhere to be found. Spike recognised that hiding had been the only intelligent thing his grand-sire had done in the last forty-eight hours. He just hoped the Slayer wouldn't come looking for revenge any time soon, at least not before Angelus returned, otherwise he knew she'd end up dusting the wrong vampire.

His musings were interrupted when Drusilla sat straight up, in a sudden, almost unnatural movement, and started whimpering and shaking uncontrollably.

Spike was at her side in less than a moment.

'Dru? Dru, luv, what's wrong?' But she kept on whimpering and crying like a frightened child, unheeding to his attempts to comfort her.

'What are you all staring at, get the soddin' hell out of here!' he yelled at the minions who had gathered around them to get a glimpse of the shaking form of Drusilla, and they scattered, getting as far away as possible from the wrath of their master. Immediately, Spike turned his attention back on Drusilla, and seeing that being gentle was to be no use, seized her shoulders and shook her violently back and forth, until she stopped making any noise at all.

'Dru! Bloody hell, Dru, will you tell me what's wrong?' the bleached vampire hissed.

She looked at him, and for the first time in their decades together, Spike saw terror in her eyes, as she whispered shakily: 'Oh, Spike, it's bad, it's very very bad! She's going to kill us, she's coming here and she's going to kill us all!'

'I'm going to kill them all,' Buffy told Giles. 'I'm going to go there now, to the Mansion. I'm going to kill him, and then I'm going to kill them all.'

It was Saturday, which meant there was no school, and Giles was grateful for that. He didn't think he could face another day in the company of people who still had the ability to laugh and to be cheerful. And he knew that neither could Xander, and neither could Oz, and neither could Buffy. And he didn't think any of them could face each other either. His argument with Xander had made everything worse and Giles was just thankful there'd be two days for things to cool down, otherwise he thought he might not be able to keep himself from hitting Xander. So the Watcher expected everything but Buffy knocking on his door, although what she had come to tell him was hardly surprising.

But he still had the impossibly hard and exhausting job of saying things he knew others would not want to hear. So:

'That's not a very good idea,' he stated simply. He was met with her steely glare. Sometimes he marvelled at how her eyes, which could be so soft, and sweet, and loving, could at other times exude such irrefutable authority.

'It's the only idea,' she replied, the same steel of her glare present in her voice. Giles thought it sounded so unlike her to talk like that, to say the bare minimum, to not make one of her silly puns or jokes.

He looked at her sadly. 'I don't think you should go.'

'I don't care what you think,' was her reply, although the hitch in her voice made it clear she didn't mean it.

'Of course.' He smiled desolately. 'But you will not face Angelus only, if you go to the Mansion. Drusilla and Spike will be there too, and all of their minions. It's broad daylight, they will all be there. You know that. Getting yourself killed is not the solution, Buffy.'

'It doesn't matter. I don't make much of a difference anyway.' She felt the corners of her eyes prickling, but ignored it. It wasn't the time to be weak now.

'Is that really what you think?' he asked her, as gently as he could with all those unshed tears choking him. She didn't reply. But he saw how she swallowed, how she suddenly looked at her feet, how she was so determined to go through with a plan which would almost certainly result in her death. He knew that she really did think that, and she had thought it even before Xander had said anything.

'This is not what Willow would have wanted.'

'Willow's dead.'

God, she sounded so distant. For a fleeting instant, he thought of grabbing her, of shaking her until she reacted in some way, until she came out of this self-destructive apathy. But he didn't have the courage.

'I'm not going to let you go.'

'You can't stop me.'

'Of course I can't.'

They exchanged a look.

'Please, at least let me hug you,' he said. She didn't move, so he stepped close to her and embraced her, as tight as he could. If this was going to be the last time he touched her, saw her, he'd better do it properly. So this was how it felt, to lose a daughter? He stroked her hair and held her close, and although she didn't react in any way, although she didn't hug him back or even lift her arms, it was enough for him. Enough to stop his heart breaking for another minute.

After a few seconds, he stepped back and smoothed her hair and looked her in the eyes.

'Thank you. You can go now, if you really must.'

She fumbled around his living room for a little longer, adding a couple of stakes to the arsenal she was already carrying on her, while he still stood there, next to the couch. Then, she walked to the door. Before she left, she turned around and looked her Watcher in the eyes.

'I'm sorry. I love you.'

Then, she slipped away.

Giles sat on his couch. The minute had passed. His heart could break now.

A/N: God, that was depressing to write! I hope I didn't overdo it… Review, gentle readers, and tell me if you liked it. I shall love you forever!

TBC…