A/N: Here it is folks, the final chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it!

As always, thanks to Geliot99 for your incredible support!

Chapter 6 Priorities

Buffy opened her eyes reluctantly at the sound of someone knocking on her bedroom door. Spike was sprawled face down half laying on her with one leg and an arm pinning her in place where she had been sleeping on her back, body tilted slightly in his direction. The knock came again.

"Buffy?"

Dawn's voice broke through the sleepy haze clouding her mind.

Uggh— I don't wanna get up… too cozy— With my very naked boyfriend practically on top of me— ohh no, no, no, Dawn can not see us like this.

"Don't come in! Humm, what do you want, Dawn?"

"I so wasn't planning on it… The Scoobies are here. Xander brought donuts."

Buffy groaned, "What time is it?" She shifted Spike's arm from her, trying to look at her clock, 10:00am.

I don't remember the last time I slept in this late…

She huffed and rocked Spike's shoulder, "Come on, pretty sure we're late for my intervention."

Spike growled, "What are you on about, luv?"

"Apparently the gang is downstairs."

"Ahh, intervention, I get it now," he said, pulling himself up to sit, "how do you want to play this, Slayer?"

She chuckled darkly, "Like we're not here."

Spike snorted, "Don't think that's an option."

Buffy rolled out of bed and started pulling on clothes, a pair of leggings and an oversized comfy sweater. Spike followed suit realizing that his shirt was still downstairs. He shrugged away the thought as he fastened his belt and reached for the door.

"Forgetting something?" Buffy asked him, eyeing his bare chest.

"I'm not, but you might be," he smirked.

Buffy's cheeks flushed, "Oh, right— I humm- I think I have a t-shirt or something that might fit, if you want one."

"Wouldn't be a proper walk of shame if I put a shirt on now would it?"

"That's not shame, that's bragging. Also Dawn is down there."

"Oh fine, what do ya got for me then?"

Buffy rummaged through her drawers and pulled out an old gray t-shirt with paint stains all over it. Spike raised an eyebrow.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Just put it on."

He took it from her, pulling it on, it was a snug fit but not indecent, "Feel like a bloody Jackson Pollock painting."

Buffy bit back a grin, "That's my paint shirt from when we painted the house and when Willow asked me to help her paint her room."

"Wouldn't have guessed," he said dryly, shaking his head, "fairly certain this shirt's gonna speak volumes all by itself."

"Behave yourself."

He snorted, opening the door and making an 'after you' gesture, Buffy passed him out into the hallway. Spike followed close behind. A twinge of guilt shot through her as they neared her mother's bedroom. Buffy paused by the door and Spike laid a hand on her shoulder, "We'll call the Watcher. You and the bit can go spend the day with her, luv."

Buffy nodded heavily. Spike staying over as a distraction had worked almost too well. For a short time she had nearly forgotten about everything. Including her friends.

As much as I love them, I really just don't want to deal with this crap right now— not with mom—

"Alright, Buffy?" Spike murmured.

She shook her head, "I just wish they would have waited until we knew what was going on with mom before they pulled a stunt like this."

"Is in rather poor taste."

Buffy sighed, "Let's get this over with," she murmured into a kiss.

She took a deep breath, took his hand in hers and led him down the stairs. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, at the sight of her friends making themselves at home with Dawn in the living room.

Dawn was sitting in one of the chairs with her arms crossed over her chest, a scowl on her face. The rest of the Scoobies had been talking and broke off as they noticed Buffy and Spike come down the stairs. Spike kept a hand on the small of her back. It was a gesture of support as well as possession and Buffy was surprised to find that she didn't mind it in the least. He had given himself to her first after all.

Buffy tried her best to shake off the feeling of dread that had taken up residence in her stomach at the prospect of discussing her relationship with her friends. Spike's hand rubbed her back gently and she relaxed a fraction. "Dawnie said there were donuts, give," she said tightly.

Tara handed over the box letting Buffy have her choice. Buffy plucked out a chocolate donut with pink icing and sprinkles and turned to offer Spike one. He pulled out a classic donut with white icing and sprinkles, "Ta, don't mind if I do, pet."

She gave him a small smile as she handed the box back over to Tara. "Has anyone talked to Giles yet? Dawn, has he called about mom?"

Dawn shook her head, "I actually called him. He said mom had a pretty good night and she was even talking to him a little which is a good sign. They were running a bunch of tests this morning. He said he would call when he knew more."

Buffy let out a harsh sigh, "Thanks Dawnie, I'll probably call the hospital in a little while," she paused, taking a bite of donut. "So what do we got? You guys didn't all come over uninvited and unannounced to find out how mom is doing so what is it? Will said you were late getting to the hospital yesterday because of research… Did you find anything out about Glory? Maybe something about why we haven't seen anything from her or her bumpy little minions?" She asked the room at large.

Her tone made it perfectly clear that they were going to talk about the important stuff before she was even remotely ready to discuss her love life.

Spike eased into the only empty chair, patting his knee. Buffy looked around the room expectantly as she slipped onto his lap, letting him wrap an arm around her while he finished off his donut. Buffy took another bite of hers and settled into his embrace a little more.

Willow cleared her throat, "Oh yeah, yeah, we think we have actually. We found a passage detailing the way she was imprisoned in our dimension. It said she was forced to share the body of a male human child in order to survive in a weakened state."

Buffy frowned, glancing at Spike, "Kill the human, kill the hell god," she said hollowly.

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" Spike asked.

"I think so," Buffy nodded.

"Bloody fucking hell—" Spike swore under his breath, then shot Dawn an apologetic look, "sorry, Nibblet."

Dawn shrugged and gave a little smile.

Willow and Xander exchanged a look, "You wiggy lovebirds want to fill us in on your theory here?" Xander asked.

Buffy took another bite of doughnut and rolled a shoulder, "Remember that thing with the train and the two nurses at the hospital?"

Xander shrugged, "Well, sure we struck out at the train station and—"

"And that one nurse was the cutie you were talking to for a little while there," Willow interjected.

Spike gave Buffy a lazily raised eyebrow, "Seems you dodged a bullet on that one, pet."

"Big time." She wiped a little frosting off his lip with her thumb, "Can't you eat anything without getting it all over yourself?"

Spike raised an eyebrow at her and Buffy blushed.

Oh my god, I can't believe I actually just said that—

Spike chuckled and readjusted his hand on her hip. He turned his attention back to the group. "Slayer and I been working on a theory. We were thinking this Ben fella might have been working with Glory but this new information changes that theory."

Buffy nodded, "This makes sense when Drusilla said that thing about 'double life single death'."

"Right you are," Spike agreed.

Xander huffed, putting his hands up in surrender for a second before dropping them into his lap, "Does anyone want to back up here? When was his psycho ex-girlfriend around?"

"The train was Dru, so was the hospital," Spike said, matter-of-factly.

"Well she's dusty now isn't she?" Willow squeaked.

Buffy shook her head, "No, I let her go. Something about Ben made her sick. It wouldn't have been a fair fight." She slipped a hand around Spike's shoulders, "Dru was our first clue that something wasn't right with him."

"So what, you're thinking is that when Drusilla killed Ben, she also killed Glory?" Anya interjected.

Spike shrugged, "It would certainly explain why none of us caught on, and what gave Dru the tummy trouble. Also why we haven't seen anything out of her little minions either. Buffy and I have been all over this town and haven't caught wind of anything yet. It's like they just vanished."

Xander sputtered, "Wait, you're saying Ben was Glory? And Glory was Ben? Wait— how comfortable are we with this theory?"

Willow scrunched her forehead, "So I guess that means Drusilla took out our big bad for us."

They all looked at each other dumbstruck.

"Bloody hell, Dru, you daft bird," Spike chuckled under his breath, "stopped an apocalypse and didn't even know it," he chortled.

Buffy glanced at him, "Kinda glad I let her go now."

"No kidding. Dru's reverse screwup just saved us a whole lot of headache," Spike turned towards Dawn who had been listening, dumbstruck. "Would seem you're in the clear, Nibblet. No more hell-bitch to hunt you down."

Dawn smiled, "Really?"

Willow cleared her throat with a tiny cough, "I can do a spell to confirm that she's gone but if what Buffy and Spike are saying is true, then yeah. I'd say you're in the clear."

Dawn's face lit up "Does this mean I don't need a constant babysitter? I can just be a normal kid?"

Buffy pressed her lips together, "Let's see how things go with mom and get confirmation that we're right about Glory/Ben before we start breaking out our happy dances."

Dawn nodded but it didn't wipe the smile off her face. "Can we go see mom?"

Buffy shifted a little in her seat on Spike's lap before she answered, "Yeah, we were already planning on it. Will, do you have everything you need here to do your confirmation thing?"

Willow exchanged a look with Tara, "I think we are going to need a few things from our place, but it's not a complicated spell so it shouldn't take long."

"Good," Buffy nodded briskly, "I don't want to say anything to mom about it until we know for sure that Dawn is safe."

"Should probably call the Watcher too, luv," Spike interjected.

"Oh definitely, I'm gonna be a nervous wreck until we know more about Mom," Buffy said, exchanging a look with her sister.

Dawn nodded her agreement, "Totally."

"I really don't know what the hospital can tell Giles. I'm probably going to have to go in myself." Buffy said, chewing her lip.

Spike patted her hip, "Imagine you'll want to get changed out of your comfys before you head out."

She glanced down at her lounging outfit and his ill fitting shirt, "Could say the same about you, mister."

He smirked, casting an eye toward Willow, Tara and Anya sitting on the couch, "Any of you find my shirt over there? I seem to have misplaced it."

The three of them looked around on the couch. Anya plucked it out from underneath her with a look of interest on her face, tossing it over to him.

Spike caught it one handed with a smirk, "Ta, luv."

Xander looked around, "Alright, so are we seriously just not going to talk about the evil elephant in the room here?"

Spike glared, pursing his lips, "Oi, that's enough, I'm reformed."

Xander scoffed, "Just because you're all chips ahoy, does not mean you're reformed, evil dead. What the hell is going on here?"

"Well the last time this happened it was because of a spell. Did someone cast another spell or something?" Anya asked, turning towards Willow.

Willow's eyes went wide, "Don't look at me! I didn't do this!"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "There's no spell."

"Well you two are awfully intimate," Anya replied, "I imagine the sex is extremely satisfying."

Spike snorted, "Absolutely. Though I hardly think this is the time to discuss it."

Buffy punched his arm. Spike winced but smiled.

Dawn snickered, "It's definitely not a spell guys, they're totally a couple."

Anya shifted in her seat, giving them a quizzical look. "I don't understand, if you two are dating why didn't you just tell us?"

"I've been called a lot worse than an 'evil elephant' in my day but it should still be something of a clue, wouldn't you say?" Spike drawled coolly as his gaze shifted over to Xander.

Xander rubbed his neck in agitation, "I— okay, I'm sorry about the elephant thing, but I mean… come on—"

Spike pulled Buffy a little closer, "Just proves a point. It's not like you lot are my biggest fans. What the Slayer and I get up to isn't any of your business, now is it?"

"Besides, it isn't like any of you had to ask for permission to love who you want anyway, why should we have to?" Buffy asked.

Tara squeezed her girlfriend's hand and frowned, "No one is saying you have to have our permission, Buffy."

"Maybe not you, Glenda," Spike replied, looking expectantly toward Xander.

Xander bristled, "This isn't about permission, Buff. But I mean come on. You have to admit, you don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to dating big evil."

"Says the demon magnet who tried convincing me to give Riley a second chance. No thanks."

"Didn't tell me that bit, pet," Spike said cooly.

"Yeah well that was never going to work out anyway," Buffy shook her head, "this isn't about my track record. This is about who I choose to love, and that's the end of it. It's my life, I made my choice," she turned a smile towards Spike, "and I chose him," she said leaning in for a kiss. Spike reached a hand into her hair deepening the kiss.

Willow frowned slightly, "I get it, and I'm not saying you have to run stuff by us but you're talking about love. I know you're stressed out about your mom but that's no reason to rush into a relationship. Especially with someone who threatened to kill your best friends. I mean what is your mom going to think? And what about Dawn?"

Buffy snorted, about to speak but Dawn beat her to it, "They have been together for a couple of weeks now guys and seriously, Spike is the first boyfriend Mom and I have actually liked. You guys really need to get over this," Dawn stood up, "Come on Buff, if we're going over to visit Mom we should probably pack a few things for her. Who knows how long she'll be in the hospital."

Buffy gave Spike's shoulder a squeeze before standing up too, "Good thinking. Willow, I'd really appreciate it if you and Tara can get on that Glory-go-bye-bye-confirmation thing. I'd feel better if we knew for sure Dawn is safe."

"Hum yeah, sure, Buff," Willow answered.

"We'll probably be at the hospital most of the day if you need us," Buffy said dismissively as she pulled Spike along with her towards the stairs following her sister.

The Scoobies remained where they were, slightly dumbstruck.

"Wow— what just happened?" Xander asked wide-eyed.

Willow chewed her lip, "I'm pretty sure they just put us in our place."

Tara gave a little hum, "They have a good point though, it is their choice."

Anya just shrugged, grabbing a second donut, "I was just surprised they didn't say anything… or that she didn't jump his bones sooner to be honest. The guy is incredibly attractive when he's not threatening to kill all of us."

Buffy sat by her mothers bedside at the hospital. Dawn had ventured down to the Gift shop in search of something to brighten up their mother's room. Buffy looked over at Giles, he looked exhausted. "Why don't you go home? At least for a little while, take a shower and get something to eat. Maybe even a nap?"

"Oh I'm quite alright. This chair is actually much more comfortable than it appears," he flipped a lever on the side and pushed the chair back into a fully reclined position.

Buffy chuckled at the idea of him sleeping like that and rolled her eyes. "Okay, even if sleep is a non issue a shower and real food definitely are."

"Really, Buffy it isn't any trouble," he answered as he set the chair back into its upright position.

"I know you want to be here for her, but Mom has been fast asleep for an hour now, I'm not going anywhere. Go take care of yourself and come back tonight. Don't make me toss you out of here," she grinned.

"You talked to Spike," he said, removing his glasses. It wasn't a question.

Buffy nodded, "He might have pointed out a few things I should have realized years ago."

Giles nodded, "Buffy, I—"

"Oh please. Don't give me any stupid line about it being inappropriate or anything like that because seriously that's a dumb excuse at this point."

Giles pressed his lips together, "It isn't just that."

Buffy frowned at him, "Giles I'm an adult now and as much as the ick-factor is still alive and well, you can still talk to me about this stuff. I can handle it," she replied, hoping desperately that she could keep her word.

Giles took a deep breath and nodded, "You are certainly turning into quite the remarkable woman. I am quite proud of you, you know," he paused, nodding again, "I suppose the problem. The main problem, that is— is fear, if I'm being honest. None of my past relationships have ever seem to end well—"

"Well, look at the upside, she already knows about the spooky side of things. And even bigger plus side— she's not going to question why you hang out with a pretty young girl who carries around pointy sticks," she smiled brightly.

He gave her a very tight smile "Yes, well be that as it may, a lot of it does rather depend on your mother as well." He took a deep breath, "Spike mentioned that she had recently started dating again."

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Okay seriously? Yeah mom was excited about the date, but I have a feeling that if she knew you were even remotely interested, she would probably drop him like a hot potato."

"And what makes you think so?" Giles asked dubiously.

Buffy shrugged, "She kept the coat you stole for her for starters."

That gave Giles pause, and he raised an eyebrow at her. "Did she really?"

Buffy nodded, "Her friend, Carol, came over one time when mom was cleaning out her closet and asked her about it. Mom told her that she couldn't get rid of it because an old boyfriend had given it to her."

Giles gave a sad half smile as he gazed at Joyce.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Buffy turned to see Willow and Tara coming in with a large basket of flowers. "Hey guys, how's mama Summers doing?" Willow asked. "We come bearing pretties. Their from the whole gang. Anya and Xander said they would come by later, they didn't want to overwhelm your mom."

Buffy gave a weak smile, thankful that her friends seemed to be getting the message, "She's all right. She was awake for a little while when Dawn and I first got here but," she gestured to her sleeping mother, "the doctor says it's totally normal with the medication she's on so it's probably good that they are coming later."

"Is there any update on her condition?" Tara asked.

Buffy nodded. "They got the results back from a couple of the test. The doctor says that it's looking like a sort of a best case scenario. She might have some problems getting back on her feet and she might need some extra help around the house for a while, but right now her neurologist is optimistic."

That's fantastic news!" Willow, said excitedly, and caught the sight of Buffy's still rather serious expression, "Isn't it?" She asked.

Buffy nodded, "It's definitely good, it's just— they said that she might have some complications afterwords, similar to a stroke."

"Like speech problems or paralysis? Is that what you mean?"

Buffy, sighed, "Her speech really doesn't seem to be that bad. Couple of words are a little weird, but it's not bad. They're more worried about her left hand and maybe her leg. She will have to go to physical therapy. Maybe use a cane. I can't imagine what I would do without mom."

Giles shifted in his chair and stood up. You know I think maybe I will take you up on your offer and get some fresh air, perhaps something to eat."

Giles's sudden movement seemed to jog something in Willow's brain, "Oh wait! Before you go, I wanted to tell you guys what we found out about Glory."

Buffy leaned forward looking up at her, "Yeah, what's the scoop?"

"The scoop is a big nada— like nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Well not nothing exactly. We were able to find some residual energy from places she spent a lot of time, including the hospital, but it's all fading. She isn't anywhere. We think Ben really was the human vessel. The residual energy at the hospital pretty much confirms it. Ohh and another good but weird thing is that the hospital had a bunch of mental patients suddenly recover fully, like they were all connected."

Buffy let out a huge sigh of relief, "Oh good, I mean not good for Ben, but wow— that's really great for Dawn and the mental patients."

Giles smiled, "Oh that is good news. I'm sure Joyce will be glad to hear it when she wakes up," he leaned over to squeeze Joyce's hand before turning back to Buffy and the two witches, "If you ladies will excuse me, I think perhaps I will see if I can track down Dawn and let her know you have some news for her," he glanced at Buffy, "unless you would rather tell her later."

Buffy shook her head. "No, it's alright you can even tell her if you want, I think Dawn could definitely use some good news right about now. The idea of mom not being 100% kind of freaked her out. I think that's why she went down to the gift shop to begin with."

Tara nodded, "I can see that. Dawn is really sensitive but I think she'll be all right. Just having her mom home will really help."

"Let's just hope that's sooner than later," Buffy sighed.

Buffy handed her mother a cup of tea as they settled in on the couch. Dawn was curled up on Joyce's other side, relieved to have their mother home after such a big scare. It had been a close call. Joyce had spent several days in the hospital and had been sent home after her doctor was satisfied with her improvement. She was healing nicely, continuing physical therapy, and under orders to take it easy.

Spike came in from the kitchen with a massive bowl of popcorn and grinned at the sight of all three Summers women curled up on the couch waiting for him before turning on the movie.

"It's about time," Buffy complained teasingly as she took the bowl of popcorn from him.

"I know better than to stand between you and your snacks," he grinned as he sank down onto the floor, leaning back against Buffy's leg.

Dawn lifted the remote, "Shhh, movie time. Mom and I have been waiting to see this one."

Dawn had no more than pressed play when there was a knock at the door. Spike got up to answer it to find Giles looking around a little nervously.

Spike smirked, "To what do we owe the pleasure, Watcher?"

Giles straightened a little, "Joyce asked me to come."

Spike waggled his eyebrows at him, "Did she now?" He grinned, opening the door a little wider, "After all the time you've spent hanging about in her hospital room? My, my, my… did someone take advice from the evil vampire to heart?"

Giles pushed past him rolling his eyes, "Oh do shut up, Spike."

"Rupert!" Joyce leaned forward in her seat between her daughters, smiling warmly, "I'm glad you could make it. Come in, have a seat. You're just in time."

Giles returned Joyce's smile in kind. Spike leaned in close to his ear as they moved into the living room," I do find it curious that just before all this she was going on about this bloke who'd sent flowers, and since she's been home, she hasn't said a single word about the fella. Wonder why that might be."

Buffy looked up at Spike, catching his eye, "Play nice."

"As you wish, Slayer," he grinned. He leaned in for a kiss before settling on the floor in front of her. Resting his head against the leg she had folded in front of her as though it were his pillow, he slid her other leg over his shoulder pinning him in place. He tilted his head back to look at her and she bent in for a kiss as the movie started.

Dawn looked around the room grinning, "Look, it's like family night at the Summers house," she giggled.

Buffy smiled looking at each of the most important people in her life in turn, "Yeah, it really is."

Fin