Saving Grace
By Lacy

Title:Saving Grace 2/?
Summary: What happens after "Grave". Everything changes.
Spoilers: Season Six, pretty much everything up to and through "Grave".
Pairing: B/G (duh), a bit of W/X/A/S angsty-ness (or there will be)
Rating: PG for this part. Nothing too bad, just some language. (I promise the smut is coming eventually!)
Feedback: Please! lacy@empiredc.com
Use: Want.Take.Have. Just tell me where it goes.
Disclaimer: These are obviously not my characters. They are all owned by Joss the Evil, ME, UPN and a bunch of other folks that I don't know. I'm borrowing them for fun. I'll put them back when I'm through. *grin*
Author's Notes: Lissa, yay, for being a fabulous beta.

Buffy woke the next morning with a pounding headache. It felt like every blood vessel in her body was on fire. she thought painfully.

The sound of light snoring beside her made her smile. Who knew Giles snored after he'd been drinking? Buffy stifled a laugh, thinking how odd it was that this should be the first time she'd encountered this-- Riley'd never been much of a drinker, and well...Angel and Spike weren't exactly big with the whole breathing thing. It was weird that she'd known Giles for so long, and never known this fact. She realized how well she'd slept the night before, even with the snoring. Having Giles here....everything felt more like normal. More right.

Her head aching, Buffy slipped out from under the protective arm her Watcher'd thrown over her in the night. It had been so nice to be held like that. Peaceful. Shaking her head, she decided to get some aspirin. Maybe bring Giles some. He'd probably need it when he woke up. Padding downstairs Buffy encountered Dawn in the kitchen fixing herself a bowl of cereal.

"Hey, Dawnie. Aren't you about to be late for school?"

"Morning, sis. You look like crap. Want some cereal?"

"Oh, God, no." Looking at Dawn pouring milk onto her cornflakes was making her want to retch. "I'm not feeling so hot this morning."

"I can tell."

"So...school. And the going to it and all."

"I was kind of hoping..."

"No, you cannot stay at home today."

"But, Willow--"

"Is sick" Buffy finished for her. "And we can't do anything till Giles figures out how to make her better. You shouldn't miss anymore school."

"But, Buffy--"

"And, it's probably going to require some serious working of the magic type stuff that you know you can't be around for anyway," she smiled when she said this, to take the sting out of it.

Dawn looked at her for a minute, "Okay."

"Wow, no arguments or screeching. When did you turn into a grownup so fast?" Buffy smoothed her sister's hair fondly.

"Yesterday in a hole in the ground" Dawn replied, almost flippantly. "Seriously though, if Willow, if it's bad---"

"I'll come get you. I promise."

Dawn grabbed her bag and headed out, muttering something about bossy big sisters in a teasing tone.

Xander entered the kitchen as Dawn exited.

"Hey, Xand."

No response, he just sat at the table and stared morosely down at it. Buffy fished a bottle of aspirin from the cabinet. "How's Willow?" she asked as she poured a glass of water. "Any change?"

"I can't...I can't reach her. It's like, it's like she's turned off Buffy. Sometimes she cries...or sleeps. But, she won't talk to me. She's there, but she's gone too. She's just _empty_."

Buffy sighed and hugged him. "We'll help her. Giles will find a way---"

"Oh, yeah", Xander's voice had a bitter sound in it. "Cause Giles of late has been so big with the sticking around to work out problems. I don't see him here now, do I?"

"The bloody hell you don't" a voice croaked near the stairs. Giles was shirtless and squinting his eyes against the light in the room. Unbidden, Buffy looked at his softly furred torso and thought again how nice it'd been to be held there.

Giles rasped, "Buffy, might there be some----"

Wordlessly she walked to his side, handing him the aspirin bottle and her unfinished glass of water.

He smiled at her gratefully. "Smart girl." Their eyes locked for a brief, strange instant before Giles was back to business.

"Xander, go upstairs and look in my bag until you find a small brown pouch containing some truly awful smelling herbs. Make some tea, put the herbs in it, and see if you can't get Willow to drink a little bit of it. I'm going to the ruins of the shop to ferret for supplies, and make some calls."

"What for?" Xander replied flatly. "I thought you were all super mojo guy now. Why can't you just go and zap her or something?"

"I...this ritual will takes several people. I can't do it alone, so I'm going to have to find someone to assist me. It's strong magic, Xander, and it's quite dangerous, but it's all I know to do for her."

"Then go do it." Xander's voice was hard suddenly and he looked at Giles with something like anger in his eyes. "Do whatever to make her okay again." The older man dropped his gaze.

"I'll...I'll just run throw something on" he stumbled. And retreated upstairs.

"Xander!" Buffy exploded the minute Giles was out of sight. "What is your issue?? You know Giles will do whatever he has to do to help her."

Xander's voice was tight, and sounded harsh. "Willow could die. She may never wake up. I think I get to be on a pretty short chain emotionally for a while. I can't lose her. She's...she's *Willow*. And while we're on the subject, look, Buffy, it's none of my business and after the whole sex with Spike thing I guess it is a step up, but could you please indulge in your Watcher/Slayer lovefest fun when Will *isn't* in some crazy magical coma?"

Buffy's eyes got huge. Her voice sounded like a whip crack. "You are the stupidest, most selfish prick sometimes Xander Harris. You didn't want Willow, till you thought she was going to die! Now all of a sudden she's the most important person in the world to you, again? You were so busy planning your wedding and then running from the altar that you didn't notice she was a magic addict. Not that I'm all pure on that part myself, but at least I'm not suddenly acting like she's my everything either. We all screwed up Xander. All of us. Giles is at least trying to make up for it. What are you doing, besides being a pain in the ass?"

Xander glared at her but said nothing.

"And," Buffy continued, "while we're on the subject of Giles, you know he nearly died last night, again! On purpose! He *let* Willow beat the crap out of him to try and save the world, but not only do you fail to notice or care, you can't even say thank you? He came here *expecting*, *planning* to die for us, Xand. Think about that. You can't be angry at him. Get angry at Willow, dammit! I am! She wasn't a victim here, you know. It's not nice, but it's real and we have to deal with it." Buffy seemed near tears. She wasn't really sure who she was yelling at anymore. Xander, Willow, or fate for dropping them all in this position. But, the yelling made her feel better for a moment.

A quiet voice interevened. "Ah, Buffy? I could use some help carrying things back from the Magic Box, if you'd...." his voice faded out.

Her eyes felt attached to the floor. "Sure, Giles." She grabbed her sweats from the couch and followed him to the door. .

But it wasn't till she got outside that Buffy realized she didn't even think to contradict Xander's implied statement. And she was surprised to find she didn't blush when she thought about what he'd meant.

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