Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

Faith's sudden shrieks for help, along with Echo's mournful howls, drew the attention of the gang downstairs. Willow rushed up to help, suddenly freezing when she reached The Slayers' bedroom doorway.

"I c-can't wake her up" Faith cried, clutching Buffy's limp form to her chest. "She's breathin' and she's got a pulse, but I can't wake her up." Tears were streaming down the Dark Slayer'sface. "Why can't I wake her up, Red? Why won't she wake up?" Willow remained rooted to the spot, her feet unable to move. The scene inside the room was all to familiar to her, the memories it evoked all to raw and painful.

"I c-can't" she stammered, slowly backing away. "I'm sorry, I can't.." Willow turned and ran, almost crashing right into Tara as she ran upstairs to see what was going on.

"Willow?" she frowned, concerned. "What's wrong baby? What happened?"

"Never mind me" said Willow, voice shaking. "Faith needs help."

"Then why didn't you.."

"Just go, she needs you more now. I'll tell you after, okay?" Willow pleaded. Tara, although concerned about her wife, did as Willow asked, mostly because she was just as concerned about her de facto younger sister.

"I can't wake her up, T" Faith repeated as Tara ran into the room. "She won't wake up." Tara checked Buffy over, and, as Faith had said to Willow, she was breathing, though shallowly, and she did have a pulse, albeit a weak one.

"I think she's in a coma" Tara frowned. "That's the only reason I can think of for her not waking up."

"Well.. well that's okay then" said Faith. "People are wakin' up from comas all the time, right?" To Tara, it seemed like the Dark Slayer was desperately clutching at a quickly shrinking number of straws, but underneath her tough persona, she knew that Faith was already so broken, and she just didn't have the heart to break her anymore.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine."

With Faith temporarily calmed down, Tara made her way back out to Willow who stood by the stairs, hyperventilating a little.

"Okay, spill" she said, pulling her wife around to face her. "What's the problem?"

"It.. that.. you" Willow got out finally, tears filling her eyes. "In there with Buffy and Faith, it reminded me too much of what happened when you died. I held you, and screamed, and cried, just like Faith was holding Buffy and screaming and crying. I know it's different because Buffy's not actually dead, but.. it just hit a little too close to home, that's all."

"Oh baby, come here" Tara pulled Willow closer to her, kissing her forehead and gently stroking her hair. "Better now?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Yeah" Willow smiled, snuggling closer into Tara's chest. The sound of her wife's heartbeat always had a calming affect on her nowadays. Unfortunately, Tara's comforting actions were brought to a premature halt when shouting, screaming, crashing, and other signs of conflict were heard downstairs, along with the sound of baby Lily's cries.

The couple rushed downstairs to find Spike and Riley throwing punches at each other, along with Angel, who, under the guise of breaking them up, was really making things worse. Connor, who really had tried to break it up, had been knocked to the floor, and was being lovingly tended to by Dawn. Anya, new-found maternal instincts kicking in, had taken Lily and retreated into a corner away from the fighting, with one arm around her friend's baby and the other hand resting on her own small baby bump. Xander was standing protectively in front of them. Illyria was sorely tempted to jump into the fight as well, but Sophie was clinging to the back of her leg, so the God-King's growing protectiveness toward the little girl compelled her to stay put.

"This is all your fault!" Spike yelled, throwing another punch that connected with Riley's cheek. "If you'd never bloody come back the Slayer would still be alive!"

"I hate to agree with Spike" said Angel, "But I agree with Spike."

"You think I wanted this to happen?" Riley shouted.

"I don't know what you were bloody thinking, but what I do know is that Buffy's dead because of you!" The fighting continued.

"Stop!" Willow cried, to no avail. "Stop fighting, please!" The ensouled vamps and soldier ignored her. "Stop, stop!" Willow was still ignored. "I SAID STOP!" she screamed angrily, magically wrenching the three combatants apart. "Buffy is not dead!" she growled. The witch was mad as hell, but Tara's calming presence by her side and the sound of her child crying in the corner kept Willow grounded, stopping her from completely losing control. "But she will be if we don't find a way to cure her soon. So you three better sit down, shut the hell up, and get on with your freaking research!" The three men, all a little frightened of the flame-haired wicca by this point, obeyed Willow's orders. Then, taking a deep breath to calm herself, Willow moved to Anya and took Lily from her arms, so gently it was hard to believe she had been screaming just a few moments before. "It's okay Lily, Mommy Willow's got you now. Your silly uncles aren't fighting anymore.."