Chapter 20 – Staging an Intervention


Sunnydale, 2000


About a week later, Buffy went to Giles’ apartment after receiving a phone call from him earlier that day. The concerned tone in his voice was not lost on her, and she was anxious to hear what he wanted to talk to her about.

She didn’t expect that Willow, Tara, Joyce, Xander, and Anya would be there, too.

As Buffy walked through the front door and spotted everyone, she raised an eyebrow when her eyes settled on her mother. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

“Have a seat, honey,” Joyce said, motioning for her to sit down on Giles’ couch.

“Why aren’t you at the gallery?” Buffy asked. “I thought you said you were going to work when you left this morning.”

“I’m taking a break for a little while,” Joyce answered before looking at Giles. “Are you going to start, or am I?”

“What’s going on?” Buffy repeated, her eyes gaze traveling to Giles’ before she scanned the room, looking at the worried expressions on her friends’ faces. “Did someone die?”

“That’s why we’re here,” Xander said as Buffy sat down. “Your sister died, remember?”

“Xander,” Willow hissed, shaking her head at him.

“How could I forget that Dawn is dead?” Buffy asked, frowning at him. “You don’t think I’m reminded every day that she’s gone?”

“Really?” Xander asked. “Because none of us have seen you grieve. You haven’t-”

“We’re afraid that you’re busying yourself with your slaying duties and that you’re not grasping the weight of the situation,” Giles said calmly.

“I’ve got a good hold on it, thanks,” Buffy replied sharply. “I know Dawn is dead – that fact hasn’t escaped my mind. Just because I’m not walking around like a zombie or a sobbing mess doesn’t mean that I’m not grieving. I love Dawn and I miss her, but she’d want me to go out and keep living my life instead of sitting around and moping. I’ve still got a mission to do, one that won’t stop being a part of my life until I’m buried beside her.”

“But you could take a night or two off a week and give yourself some time to relax and think about things,” Joyce said. “You’ve been going out nightly and don’t come back until sunrise. I feel like you’re shutting yourself off from me, from your friends and focusing on slaying only.”

“Of course not,” Buffy said, angry. “I haven’t been closing myself off from anyone. I came here today, didn’t I?”

“That doesn’t change the fact that whenever any of us try to talk to you about everything, you change the subject or leave altogether,” Giles replied. “You’re trying to ignore your emotions and turn your attention elsewhere so that you won’t have to face the fact that-”

“That what?” Buffy asked, standing up. “That Dawn’s dead? I know she is! What do you want me to do? Sit here and cry, listen to you all comfort me?” She clenched her fists, trying to keep the tears that were ready to spill over at bay. “Do you want to know why I won’t want to sit down and talk with you guys? Because you all keep making things harder for me! I can handle my emotions and feelings on my own – I don’t need you all around to coddle me and make sure that I’m grieving properly.”

“On your own?” Xander asked. “Then tell us why Spike’s become a permanent fixture in your life.”

Anya looked at her boyfriend and frowned. “Now isn’t the time.”

“No, I think it’s a great time,” Xander replied, getting up from his seat and walking towards Buffy. “You won’t talk to your friends, but you’ll spend time with a vampire? Are we really that bad that you’ll let an evil creature in but not us?”

“He understands me,” Buffy said. “More than most of you do right now, at least.”

“If you’d talk to us, maybe we could understand, too,” Willow said quietly. “We all feel like you’re shunning us.”

“I’ve been busy.” Buffy crossed her arms and looked down.

“You’ve been making yourself busy and not giving the rest of us the time of day,” Xander corrected. “You can’t take an hour out of your day to see us?”

“It’s not about us,” Tara said. “We should be worried more about if Buffy is alright and if she needs anything.”

“I’m fine,” Buffy replied. “And the last thing I need is for you all to be attacking me over nothing.”

“We’re not attacking,” Anya said. “We’re making sure you’re not going to have a breakdown any time soon.”

“I’m fine!” Buffy repeated, upset.

“You don’t seem fine to us,” Giles said. “You need to sit down and talk to someone about what you’re going through.”

“Fine, I will,” Buffy said as she walked to the door. “I’ll go see Spike.”

After the door closed behind her, everyone looked at each other, feeling as if they had been defeated.

“Well, that got us nowhere,” Anya said, sighing. “What a waste of time. Xander and I were supposed to spend the afternoon having many orgasms, not talking to Buffy.”

Xander shot her a look before turning his attention to Giles. “We should talk to Spike about this.”

“We’ve already told him how we feel about him,” Giles replied. “And our opinions as to a possible relationship between he and Buffy – he knows what faces him if he steps out of line.”

“Maybe we should remind him,” Xander said sternly.

“Whatever goes on between them isn’t our business,” Willow said, and Joyce and Tara nodded. “We care about Buffy, just like he does – he doesn’t want to see her hurt, either. Let them be unless Buffy asks us to step in.” She hesitated and looked at her hands, folded on her lap. “All we can do now is hope that Buffy will start healing in her own way and will maybe let us be more helpful in her life again.”

“Do you think we should give her more time?” Giles asked, looking at Joyce.

“I know my daughter,” Joyce said. “And what she needs is to figure things out on her own for a while before she turns to others.” She sighed. “She has Spike – I guess we should all be thankful that he’s willing to help her.”

“I’ll never be grateful for him,” Xander replied, scowling.

“Well, he’s the only one she’ll talk to,” Joyce said. “So we might as well support him and hope that he’ll get through to her somehow.”

~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of hours later, Willow knocked on the door of Spike’s crypt and sheepishly smiled when he opened it, surprised to see her.

“What can I do for you, Red?” he asked, opening the door wider and letting her come in.

“I wanted to talk to you about Buffy,” she said, looking around the interior of the crypt.

“She came here before,” he replied, lighting a cigarette. “Said you and the rest of her pals had an intervention today.”

“We didn’t… intervene,” Willow said, sitting down on top of a tomb. “We wanted to make sure she’s doing okay. She hasn’t been talking to us much lately, and we’ve been worried.”

“She’s getting over Dawn’s death slowly but surely,” he said. “She’s hurting, but she’s getting better.”

“I hope you’re right.” She looked down. “I know most of us haven’t really embraced you as part of the group, mainly because Xander isn’t exactly a fan of you, but I think you’re a valuable asset to us… and I want to say thank you for looking out for her while she’s pushing the rest of us away.”

“Willow-”

“I know you’re doing everything you can to help her, and I appreciate that,” she said, getting off of the tomb. “So do Joyce and Tara. Anya probably feels the same way, but with Xander being so angry all the time, she might be influenced by him.”

“And Giles?” he asked.

“He might feel the same way I do, too, but he won’t say it,” she replied. “I know you’ve tried to kill us all in the past, but you’re not the same vampire anymore and I trust you with her. You care about her, right?”

“More than you know,” he murmured.

“Good,” she said, smiling softly. “Keep it up, then – she needs all of the love and support she can get.”

“Love?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

She walked to the door and opened it before looking over her shoulder at him and smirking. “I’m not blind, Spike.”

He watched the door close behind her, tilting his head as her words sank in, his mind racing as he thought about what she had said.

He walked down to the lower level of his crypt and lay on his bed, mumbling, “You’re not wrong, Red.”