This idea has been floating around my head for quite a long time. I finally got down to putting it on paper. I do want to thank Starway Man for betaing it and giving his input for the story.

I had fun coming up with the various quotes at the end of the story. All but two of them are either historical or from established movies/shows/stories.

Disclaimer- All intellectual properties referenced in the story belong to their proper owners. I have no ownership interest in any of them. No copyright infringement is intended and not one red cent is being earned from this story.

A CONVERSATION BEFORE

Summers residence, Cleveland

March, 2022

"Buffy."

Buffy Summers turned at the sound of a vaguely familiar voice calling her name. Her stomach fluttered, as the voice was one that she had not heard in years. Surely, she must be imagining it...

Her eyes grew wide at what she saw, well - at *who* she saw. Right there, standing several feet away from her, was Joyce Summers - her mother.

A range of emotions swept through Buffy; initially, she felt joy at seeing her mother. Then there was awe and wonder at how this was possible, since her mother had died over twenty years ago... so how could her mom be standing in the living room of the apartment? Then despair showed up, as Buffy knew it was impossible for the real Joyce Summers to be here. This was quickly followed by anger, as she realized what 'Joyce' had to be.

Buffy's face went hard as she looked at what was in front of her.

"Oh, it's you! I thought we saw the last of you years ago," Buffy got up from the chair she had been sitting in and started to walk away. She left the cup of tea she had been drinking in front of her, steam still rising from it.

"No, Buffy, it's not that. I'm not the First," Joyce said plaintively.

Buffy rolled her eyes as she went to the door, intending to open it as a sign that her unwelcome companion should leave. "Still playing mind games, huh? They didn't help you back then in Sunnydale, they ain't gonna help you now."

Joyce walked over to Buffy and got to her before she could open the door. "Listen, I know this is confusing. There are a lot of things going on. Things are about to happen – things you probably wouldn't understand, even if you remember them. But, first and foremost, I need you to know that I am your mother."

With that, the image of Joyce reached out with her hand and physically touched her daughter.

Buffy initially recoiled in shock at the feeling of the hand on her shoulder. But then – she drew a quick deep breath, and a deep sense of calm came over. She blinked at looked at who was in front of her.

She knew, she didn't know how, but she *knew* that this really was Joyce Summers, her mother.

"Mommy?" she whispered.

Joyce nodded. Within seconds, she was enveloped by Buffy in a tight hug.

"Mom!" Buffy blurted out as she held on tight. "I've missed you so much, I..."

Joyce returned the hug. "I know, I know. Dear, I missed you too."

"How are you here?" Buffy asked, still hugging her mother tightly.

Joyce leaned back slightly, smiling at Buffy. Her little girl looked so vulnerable, despite being in her forties now. Joyce reached out and absentmindedly brushed a hair out from in front of Buffy's eyes. She was silent for a few moments.

"I can't really explain it, Buffy. I don't understand it completely myself, but I've gotten this chance to talk to you before everything happens."

Buffy frowned. "What's gonna happen?"

Joyce broke the hug, even as Buffy whimpered in disapproval. Joyce smiled at her daughter and led her back to the couch where Buffy had been sitting. Buffy sat down where she had been originally, while Joyce looked at the tea.

"Do you mind if I get a glass of wine? I could really use some alcohol right now."

Her daughter nodded, so Joyce started to walk towards the kitchen next to the living room. Buffy stood up and followed her, keeping her eyes on Joyce the entire time. Joyce walked into the kitchen and started poured herself a glass of red wine. Buffy followed her into the kitchen and watched her mother do so.

"I should call Dawn and have her come over, right?" Buffy asked, once Joyce finished taking a drink of the wine.

Joyce shook her head. "No, Buffy, I'm – I'm actually talking to her right now, as well. And yes, I know that doesn't make any sense, but it's still true. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you – alone – about what's coming." She lifted up the glass of wine and sniffed it. After a few moments, she took another sip and sighed. "That's some good wine you have here, dear."

Joyce looked at Buffy, who was staring at her as if she might disappear at any moment.

"It's alright Buffy, I'm not going anywhere until we talk. Come on." She led Buffy back to the living room. Joyce looked around. "I will admit, these are some good pieces you have." Joyce was nodding at some of the paintings that were hung on the wall. "I guess you did inherit something from me, besides medical bills. Sorry about that, hon."

Buffy was barely holding it together and sniffled at her mother's comment. Joyce hurried over to her and touched her. "It's alright, sweetie," she said sweetly. "I wanted to tell you I'm so proud of you and all you've accomplished."

Buffy smiled at Joyce's praise. "Mom, I did what I could, but -"

"But nothing! You died, and you coped as well as you could have after you were brought back – even if I wanted to set Spike on fire for some of the things he did! And afterwards, I saw you fighting the First and leading the other Slayers. My heart swelled with pride when you wielded the Scythe. And the things you did afterwards, rebuilding the Watchers Council, dealing with the supernatural, saving the world once a year... you did so much." Buffy reached over and hugged Joyce tightly. "I know it's been rough, but you came through it all well."

"Mommy..." Buffy sobbed.

Joyce leaned back and looked at her daughter. "It's alright, Buffy. Don't cry, because if you keep crying, I'll start crying too and I'll never get through it."

"Get through what?" Buffy asked, getting herself under control. "Is there something coming that me and the other slayers need to slay?"

Joyce smiled. "Something's coming, but you can't slay it, no. Still, I had to talk to you before it happens," Joyce answered.

Joyce took a breath before she continued. "I know your life has been rough. There's been loss. There's been pain. A lot of things have been happening, and not just to you and the others."

Buffy watched her mother carefully. "It's confusing, and to be honest, I don't completely understand it myself. I think the Wizard understands it, but then..." Joyce noticed Buffy's confused look. "Oh! I forgot, you never met Irving; that was another you."

Now Buffy was completely confused. "What do you mean, another me?"

"I can't explain the multiverse, dear; it's really confusing. But getting back on topic, why I'm here...what's going on is that..." Joyce paused for a second before continuing. "Think of reality as like a house. If you hit the house often enough and hard enough, you start to affect the foundations. The house gets shaky and dangerous to live in. Remember how many times our house back in Sunnydale got hit or damaged, and Xander had to fix it? Well, to use an analogy, something had to be done to fix the house."

"I don't understand," Buffy said, shaking her head.

"You don't need to understand the how, just the what - and I wanted to tell you the why personally," Joyce explained to Buffy.

Buffy frowned. "So, someone has been, like... taking a troll hammer to the house?"

Joyce smiled. "Well, not our house alone. A lot of houses, and a lot of towns. Make that a lot of worlds and universes," Joyce paused and took another gulp of wine.

Buffy was still confused, "Huh?"

"Oh, Buffy, you'd only recognize a few of the names responsible. Glorificus, The First Evil..."

Buffy scowled. "Oh. Yeah. Have they returned?"

"No. It's just – they damaged a lot of things. Them and... others."

"Like who?"

"Well, most of the names would mean nothing to you. Thanos, Darkseid, the Draka and their mole holes, Lillith, Evil Morty, the Daleks, the Shadows and the Vorlons, the Markann, Chuck. Oh, Chuck was a big one in all this."

"Chuck?"

"I know, dear. Considering who he is, I agree it's strange that he calls himself that, of all things..." Joyce smiled as she answered. "But that's the thing. Now, all of them have been defeated, are being defeated or will be defeated."

Buffy rubbed her forehead. "I'm getting a headache."

"Like I said, it's confusing. Willow might understand if it was explained to her in enough detail. The Wizard said she was the smartest of your little group." Joyce smiled. "The damage they've all done – well, it just can't be fixed. Again, to use an analogy - simply painting over the cracks isn't going to cut it anymore. Something... bigger is about to be done."

Buffy felt her stomach start to flutter. She knew the feeling well. She would get it when a Big Bad was about to make its move and she had to stop it.

"What do you need me to do?"

Joyce smiled with pride. "That right there, it's one of the reasons I'm so proud of you. You run towards the fight, no matter how much I want you to run the other way. However, there's nothing you can do right now. Everything's being taken care of. That's why I was allowed to come here and talk to you and Dawn."

"What's about to happen?" Buffy asked with a stern look.

"Well, I don't know where to start in explaining it. There are so many different things it's been called – the reshuffle, the reboot, the shattering, the rearranging, and the circling back. Then there's my favorite – Reality Quake," Joyce shrugged.

Buffy was now really confused. "Okay, a lot of words there, mom."

"I know, what they're doing has a lot of aspects to it. I like to think of it as... going back to the beginning."

"The beginning of what?" Buffy asked.

"Everything," Joyce told her. "It'll be like going back to the start of the movie or play. Only, history might not turn out the way you remember."

"How is that possible?"

"It'll be as if the movie hasn't been fully written yet. The script will be written as you watch the movie happening..." Joyce reached out and touched Buffy on the shoulder. "I know, it doesn't make much sense – if any. Hmm, it's like if you wrote a school report on the subject and didn't like the ending. You can rewrite it and make it better, or different. However, you want."

"Maybe I should call Willow, you said she might understand."

"That won't be necessary, and by the time I can explain it to her, the reality quakes will already be here." Joyce took a final sip of wine. "That's the important thing, Buffy – the most important thing is that you won't be forced to make the same mistakes you did the first time."

"Mistakes?"

"Buffy, I'm proud of you, you know that right?" Joyce looked intently at her daughter.

"Yes, I know..." Buffy said hesitantly, she could sense a 'but' coming.

Joyce smiled and nodded. "Good. The thing is, some of the decisions you made or were made for you, well... I'm not exactly a big fan of them. Big picture requirements, sure – but you're my daughter and you got hurt a lot, got hurt too young and too often. Those decisions led to what you're unhappy about with your life today."

"I'm not unhappy!" Buffy said defensively.

"As you say, dear, but look at the situation. You're living alone, and what's the longest relationship you've ever had? You've built a lot, but you've also stumbled and isolated yourself. Didn't you want kids by now?"

Buffy looked down. "Sure. I always wanted the house with a white picket fence in the suburbs, along with a husband, a dog and at least two kids. But mom, I'm the Slayer – the longest living Slayer, at that. Being the Chosen One doesn't give me that path in life."

"Why not?" Joyce asked.

"What do you mean? You *know* why not! I *always* make the hard choices to save the world. I mean, May is traditionally the month of the annual apocalypse..." Buffy semi-spluttered.

"I know, and some of that you won't be able to change. However, speaking as your mother, I'm hoping you'll remember enough – maybe at a subconscious level, maybe not – to make *different* choices that'll lead to different results – results that will make your life a happier one. It's going to be that way for a lot of people," Joyce explained.

"Mom, what's happening?" Buffy was scared now.

"I told you, dear, a new start. You might actually stay the same – or you might be one of the new starts. I'm hoping they'll be for the better." Joyce smiled. "I'll be in some of them. I'm hoping I'll remember enough to guide you. After all, you're my baby girl. There's so much I want to protect you from."

"You can't protect me from being the Slayer, mom," Buffy shrugged. "You never could, remember? Lifetime gig and all that."

Joyce frowned and gritted her teeth. "I know. And like I said before, I know what Spike tried to do to you in the bathroom that night. I wanted him to suffer so much back then..." Joyce trailed off her tone full of ire. "Then I learned what was behind all that. And I swear, I never wanted to punch someone in the face so hard, when I found out just who and what was behind of some of the bad things that happened!"

Joyce straightened herself and put the wine glass down. She continued, "There's not much time left, sweetie."

Buffy reached out and hugged Joyce tightly. She was going to take advantage of every moment she could with her mother. "I'm so glad you're here, even if it doesn't make any sense – and everything you've said is majorly wigsome..."

Joyce hugged her back and continued talking, "You're better than that. I know you think you're not. That because of your Calling, because of everything that's happened since you were fifteen, you don't *deserve* what other girls get. That's not true. You deserve it just as much as the next person. However, you have to 'make' it happen, you can't just stand around waiting for it to happen. You have to go out and seize it."

"Mom..." Buffy muttered as she buried her face in Joyce's shoulder. "I can't..."

"Yes, you can. You're one of the strongest people I know, if not the strongest. If you want it, you can make it happen. Also, you'll have your friends to help. Don't forget that. I know when you started - and when you start again, you were told - and you'll be told - that the Slayer has to work alone. You have proved and will prove them wrong. You're stronger when you have friends and allies at your side. Never forget that." Joyce leaned back and looked Buffy in the eye. "Tell me you'll never forget that."

Buffy stared in her mother's eyes, with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Tell me!" Joyce commanded.

"I won't, I won't forget that my friends are there for me," Buffy managed to get out over a sniffle.

Joyce nodded and smiled sadly. "Good, that'll get you through a lot. Now, there are a few other things..."

Buffy kept looking at her mother. "Go on."

"Being a teenage girl, it's very easy to make bad decisions – and before you know it, all those bad decisions have added up and you'll feel trapped and forced to make worse decisions. You'll think you know everything, but you won't. There's a reason older women like us look back wistfully at our youth and curse our decisions back then."

Buffy nodded. "I know that mom."

"Yes, but you have to *remember* that. I know you may not remember all this consciously, but on a subconscious level – hopefully you'll remember that, and when an important decision has to be made, you'll make the better one, the mature one," Joyce said. "Also, don't trust anyone named Joss. Don't ask me why; just remember that it'll be important."

Buffy and Joyce were startled by a loud meow. Buffy looked up and there was a large gray cat sitting on the windowsill looking at them.

"When did I get a cat?" Buffy asked softly. The cat just meowed again.

Joyce nodded. "I know, just a few more moments?" she pleaded. Joyce turned back to Buffy. "This above all, don't overlook what's standing right in front of you just because you think there's something better – more exciting – out there. If you do, before you know it, you'll be a middle-aged woman living alone...and secretly bitter about the past, regretting how life turned out for you."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Mom?"

"Be nicer to your sister. Be strong and don't despair, that's important."

"MEOW!" This time is almost sounded like a command, and the cat leaned forward.

"Okay, fine," Joyce said. She hugged Buffy one last time before disentangling herself and standing up. "It's time."

"Mom?" Buffy said as she stood up.

In an instant, Joyce was gone. It was just Buffy and the cat, alone in the apartment.

Buffy frowned and looked at the cat. "What are you, and what did you do?" she said in a tone that would normally cause Big Bads to shudder and lose bodily functions.

The cat stared back, almost looking nonplussed. "Meow," it purred and jumped down and started walking through the apartment towards the spare bedroom.

Buffy started following. "Hey, get back here!" She got to the hallway where the cat had gone down.

"Hey, what's going on-?" The cat had vanished, just like her mother.

Feeling worried, Buffy looked around and started to retrace her steps to make sure it hadn't hidden under a piece of furniture or something.

As she looked under the couch, she stopped and listened. She heard the faint sound of voices.

She turned around and headed towards the hallway where the voices seemed to come from. "Hello?!" Buffy called out.

The voices grew louder, and she could tell there were coming a lot of different people. She stopped and listened as they became distinct and separate. She surprised to recognize of few of them, including her own voice.

"You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet."

"I have a Dream!"

"Saving people, hunting things. The Family Business."

"You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

"Yesterday, December seventh, a date which will live in infamy."

"Easy, Miss. I've got you." "You – You've got me? Who's got you?"

"We Fremen have a saying: "God created Arrakis to train the faithful." One cannot go against the word of God."

"Paris is worth a mass."

"God has a plan for you, Gaius. He has a plan for everything and everyone."

"He's dead, Jim."

"What do you want?"

"I'm Buffy. The Vampire Slayer. And you are?"

"Sam!"

"Jelly baby?"

"The, uh, stuff dreams are made of."

"Make your own future. Make your own past. It's all … right… now."

"Use the Force, Luke."

"Well, we try to not get killed. That's part of our whole mission statement. Don't get killed."

"We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."

"I'm shocked. Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here."

"Now if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed – or worse, expelled." "She needs to sort out her priorities!"

"Dean!"

"Make it so."

"I can do this all day."

"Five by five."

"In every generation, there is a Chosen One."

"I'm an archaeologist from the future. I dug you up. See you in four hundred years!"

"Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

"Open the pod bay doors, Hal." "I'm Sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Ah, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package, how efficient of you!"

"I'm real when it's useful."

"The Force is strong with this one."

"So, say we all."

"If we're going to figure this out, we need to work together." "The Nite Owl made you. You want to tear all that down?" "With a wrecking ball. You want to help me swing it?"

"I hate snakes, Jock! I hate them."

"You're a wizard, Harry!"

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

"Fear is the Mind killer."

"We saved the world. I say we party."

"It's larger on the inside."

"What are you?" "I'm Batman."

"I am inevitable." "And I am Iron Man."

"I speak with the authority of the Conclave."

"Make it a good one."

Buffy hurried down the hallway to reach the voices.

"Meow." She saw the cat sitting at the end of the hallway looking at her.

She started towards it, when everything started getting white.

And then everything which had been, was suddenly no longer.

Outside Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale

January, 1997

Buffy waved as her mother drove away from dropping her off at the school. It was her first day at her new high school, and hopefully a new start for her after Los Angeles.

She smiled and started walking towards the school. She paused for a second and looked at the lawn to the school.

Off to the side, near some shrubs, was a large gray cat looking at her. Buffy looked at the cat. The cat returned the stare for a few seconds, before turning around and starting to saunter off.

'Did that cat just wink at me?' Buffy thought to herself in bemusement, before moving off towards the main building of the school.