Spike thought driving over the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign might make his Dark Princess giggle, that kind of thing usually did. Instead the moment they entered the city limits of the city with the largest Hellmouth in the world, known simply as The Hellmouth, Drusilla began to shriek and than was reduced to sobbing, her frail looking undead body shaking with the force of them. Alarmed, Spike pulled over and parked.
"What is it, love? What's wrong?"
"They're all gone, Spoike!" She wailed, her accent giving his chosen name an exotic sound, even through her tears. "All of them!"
"All of who, love?" He asked, concerned.
"Our family. Grandmother and Great-grandfather and not Daddy, all of them. We're alone, Spoike. It's all lost."
"Not daddy, that would be Angel, Angelus cursed with a soul. You're saying he's been destroyed?"
"Yes, the naughty Slayer and the puppies, they chewed him up and spit him out."
"A Slayer, huh?" Spike latched on to the part he understood. "So there's a Slayer in Sunnydale, perfect, I'll get my hat trick. Grandmother, that's what you called Darla, guess the Slayer's done for her too. Great grandfather, that would be the bloke that made Darla, the Master. So this Slayer got them all? A challenge, than, you know how much I love those, pet. We'll get you cured and then we have some fun with the Slayer."
"It's too late, Spoike. The key to my cure was Daddy and he's gone. There's no other way."
"The Slayer destroyed your only chance of getting better?!" Spike demanded to know. That meant Dru would just keep wasting away. Whatever that blasted mob in Prague had done to her, it had all but destroyed her. And now she was telling him her only hope of recovering had been destroyed by the Slayer. Destroying her was now personal and he intended to torture her until she begged for death and than torture her some more. It's what she deserved for taking Drusilla's chance of a recovery from them. Didn't matter that the Slayer had no idea what she'd done, she still deserved to suffer.
"I promise, love, I'll find this Slayer and destroy her. Wait, I'll bring her to you, her blood should make you stronger, shouldn't it?"
"It can't fix what's broken, Spoike, only the Angel-beast could do that. I'm lost!" She wailed. "Lost!" She continued to cry and Spike continued to try to comfort her, not knowing how to help her, but vowing to find a way. He couldn't lose his Dark Princess.
"So parent teacher night is this week." Willow reminded Buffy as they walked down the hall to class. "Should go pretty well, your grades are good."
"Thanks to you and Johnathan helping me." Buffy agreed. "And I've stayed out of trouble, which should make Mom happy. What about you?"
"My parents never come to parent teacher night, Buffy, they're on their latest lecture tour and don't have time. But I did volunteer to help with decorating the lounge for the parents."
"Why?"
"It's the kind of thing that looks good on a college transcript and career week is coming up. There's only a year and a half until graduation, well for me. Oz graduates this year, but he's ambivalent about college and I'm not. I don't know what I want to do with my life yet, but I know I want to go to college."
"And given the size of your brain, you could go to a really good one, I bet. But it's still a year and a half away, so don't be putting a lot of pressure on yourself, okay? Pressure can break you and I need my Willow shaped friend to stay solid because I'm afraid the pressure will break me myself without you."
"I know you're right, my parents are psychologists and I've read their books. Pressure, bad. Okay, here's me taking a step back and a deep breath and reminding myself I've got a year and a half to think about graduation. And we'll keep each other from breaking."
"Good, now I don't have any plans for parent teacher night, so I'm willing to volunteer too. Unlike you, I actually can use the extra boost to my transcripts."
"Buffy, your grades are fine." Willow reminded her.
"Yeah, I know, but it's something else to focus on. We've been so busy that I've put off telling Mom I wasn't crazy and vampires are real. The longer I put it off, the harder it will be, but I just don't know how to do it."
"Buffy," Willow said disapprovingly. "Giles may think telling her is a bad thing, but we both know how ridiculous that idea is! She's in danger, she doesn't know to wear or carry a cross or holy water or a stake. She often works late at her gallery and even though it's Warded now, thanks to Ms. Cooper and Mayor Chase, there's still the walk to her car where she's vulnerable. We're all willing to help you tell her, but you have to tell her soon. It's the best way to keep her safe."
"I know and I will, soon. I promise." Buffy agreed, knowing her friends were right, telling her mom was the best way to keep her safe. Little realizing that all too soon circumstances would force her to reveal the truth.
A/N Although I have no plans to bring Glory into this story at all, I like the idea of bringing in Dawn as a born into the Summers family child and annoying younger sister, which is something I haven't done yet. Opinions?