"Call me if it's the end of the world." Giles said easily. He picked up his bag. "Be careful. Both of you." He touched Buffy's shoulder as he went past.

"See you Monday." And he left.

 Willow looked at Buffy. "You didn't tell him."

 "Tell him what?" Buffy asked without looking at her.

 "About the nightmare." Willow reminded her unnecessarily.

 "What about it?" Buffy asked. "It was a nightmare, Will. I have a lot of those. I don't tell Giles about all of them."

 "What if it's prophetic?" Willow asked.

 Buffy shrugged. "It'll wait till Monday."


   Olivia sat on the king size bed while she spoke to the front desk. "... And I'm telling you, if one call comes through to this room ... This is a special weekend and I want nothing to interfere with it. Do you understand? If a call comes in, take a message." She hung up just as there was a knock at the door. She answered it and found Ripper. She pulled him in with a passionate kiss.


   Saturday night. Buffy patrolled as she normally did. She wanted to like Olivia, but she just couldn't seem to. She tried to keep her feelings to herself, or at least away from Giles. Olivia made him happy and that was a good thing. So, she kept her opinions to herself.

 She slowed her pace. She heard something. She turned, abruptly, stake ready and found ten vampires. Bad odds. She turned to run. Ten more. Worse odds. "Damn."


   Willow waited at the Bronze. Buffy was late, big surprise. She looked over at Xander dancing with Anya. Willow sighed. She put her chin in her hand and waited some more. 'There were too many of them, Will. They surrounded me.' Willow nearly fell out of her seat when Buffy words went tumbling through her head. Buffy's nightmare.

 Willow's eyes widened and she ran out onto the dance floor. She grabbed Xander and pulled him along, followed by an indignant Anya. Once they were outside, Xander stopped.

 "What's the matter, Will?" Xander asked. He was angry and confused by Willow's actions.

 "She's probably just mad that Buffy's late again." Anya commented.

 "No." Willow said. She sounded frightened. "Something's wrong. I know it. I know Buffy's always late, but I can feel it. She's been having nightmares. I can't explain it. I just know."

 Xander looked at her funny. "If we find her playing footsie with Riley, you and I are going to talk. Let's go."


   In the hotel room, Giles and Olivia were asleep. Suddenly, Giles sat straight up in the bed. "Buffy."

   Willow, Xander and Anya found Buffy in the cemetery. It took Willow a minute to find a pulse and she was barely breathing. They got her to the hospital and called her Mother. Anya went to Giles' to get the phone number he left. She made the first call.


   At the hospital, when Anya returned, Joyce was there. They waited. After an hour, Willow went to try to reach Giles again. She returned without talking to him. "I left a message." Willow said with a shrug.


Monday morning. Giles was grabbing the last of his things and dropped his wallet into the small garbage can. When he grabbed his wallet, he saw a piece of paper with his name on it. He unwrinkled it and looked at it. **Rupert Giles.  Something's happened. Anya.** "Anya?" He reached into the garbage can and found more messages. **Rupert Giles. Buffy's hurt. Willow**  He looked at the next one. **Rupert Giles. Where are you Giles? Buffy needs you. Xander** He looked at the last one. **Rupert Giles. 3rd floor, Sunnydale General. Hurry. Joyce** "Joyce?!" He turned and knocked on the bathroom door. "Liv? Liv, what are these? Where did they come from?"

 Olivia opened the door and saw the notes in his hands. "They just want attention, Rupert." She told him mildly.

 "Attention? Buffy's in hospital." Giles said angrily.

 "She probably just hurt her ankle or something." Olivia said calmly as she moved around him.

 "How do you know?" He asked hopefully. "Did you check?"

 "Of course not." Olivia told him. "She's a big girl, she can take care of herself."

 "And if she's not all right?" He asked in disbelief.

 "What were you going to do?" Olivia asked. "You aren't a doctor."

 "Olivia, you've seen what she faces on a nightly ..." Giles cut himself off.

"I'm leaving. Are you coming?" He gave her a hard look and the last message.

"That's not one of the kids. That's Buffy's Mother."


   Three hours later Giles rushed off the elevator at the hospital. Olivia behind him. He saw Willow first, she was leaning against Xander and Anya didn't seem to mind. "Willow?"

 Willow looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. "Giles? Where have you been?! We've tried to reach you for two days."

 Giles glared at Olivia, then turned back to Willow. "Where's Buffy?"  Willow looked away from him and he followed her eyes. Through a glass window, he saw Joyce and Hank standing next to a bed. "Oh God." He whispered. He could barely see Buffy for all the tubes and machines.

 "They don't think she's going to make it." Xander told him. He saw Olivia, literally, fall into a seat. "She okay?" Xander indicated Olivia.

 Giles didn't even look at her. "What happened?" His eyes had glazed.

 "We're not sure." Willow told him. "But from the dust piles, I'd say there were a lot of them."

 "It looked like a couple dozen vacuums exploded." Xander elaborated. "She either took them out, or they left her for dead."

 Olivia stood up and went over to Rupert. "I'm sorry, Rupert." She said softly and laid a hand on his arm.

 Giles yanked his arm from grasp. "Leave."

 "What?" Olivia asked.

 "Get out. Go home." Giles told her.

 "Rupert, I couldn't have known." Olivia defended herself.

 Giles turned on her and she took a step back. "We would have known had you given me my messages. You didn't care. You didn't want anything to interrupt your weekend and you certainly didn't want to be reminded of this place."

 "It's frightening." Olivia said in a small voice.

 "I understood that." Giles said, almost gently. "Really, I did." His eyes turned hard again. "But you had no right to keep this from me." The others watched in morbid fascination.

 "I-I didn't know." Olivia pointed out.

 "You didn't want to know." Giles told her softly. "Just ... Go home, Olivia." He told her tiredly and turned away from her.

 "You've changed, Ripper." Olivia said softly.

 "Of course I've changed." Giles said. "You can't see what I've seen, without changing." He looked at her oddly. "Or, maybe you could."

 Olivia looked away first. "Oh, I've changed. I just couldn't change into her." She looked at the still girl behind the glass. "Good-bye, Rupert." She left.

 Hank brought a crying Joyce out of Buffy's room. Joyce saw Giles and looked at him angrily. "Where the hell have you been?"

 "I came as soon as I found out." Giles said inadequately. "May I ... May I see her?" He asked.

 Joyce nodded. The anger gone as quickly as it came. "She asked for you a couple of times. "

 Giles felt like he'd taken a blow. He nodded and went into Buffy's room. The gang and Joyce watched him through the glass. Hank didn't know what to think. Couldn't really think at all.
 

   Giles stood next to her bed and picked up her hand. "They tell me that you aren't going to make it. Of course, they don't know you." He said, his voice barely audible. "I know that you're tired, but you must fight." He brushed back hair from her forehead.

 "Oh Buffy. You can't leave me. I can't do this alone. Maybe it's not fair to use your own words against you, but it's true nonetheless. You're the heart of this team. We'll fall apart without you. I'll fall apart." He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

 Buffy's eyes opened as Giles pulled back. "Giles?" She asked weakly.

 Giles looked down, she could barely keep her eyes open. "Buffy? What is it?"

 "If I die again," She paused to catch her breath and her thoughts. "Will another Slayer be called again?"

 "I-I don't know." Giles told her. "It's never happened before."

 Buffy just looked up at him. "Coming after you."

 "What?" Giles asked confused. "Who's coming after me?"

 "Vamps." Buffy told him. "Said after me. Get you."

 "Did they say why?" Giles asked.

 "Stone." Buffy explained. "Kalder Stone."

 "Kalder Stone?" Giles echoed blankly. He thought about it. "Do you mean the Caulter Stone?"

 Buffy nodded weakly. "Careful."

 He raised his brows at her. "You mean you aren't going to protect me?"

 Buffy looked away. "Can't."

 "Why can't you?" Giles asked gently.

 "Going soon. Heard them tell Mom." Buffy told him.

 "They're wrong." Giles told her firmly. "They don't know you. You can beat anything. Vampires, demons, Hellmouth. Prophesy, fate ... Death itself. I've seen you do it."

 Buffy shook her head. "Tired."

 "I know you're tired." Giles said gently. "And nobody deserves a rest more than you, but I still ..." He caught himself. "We still need you."

 Buffy looked at him as if she were looking for the truth. "You need me?"

 "We all do." Giles told her.

 "*You* need me?" Buffy asked again.

 Giles gave up. "*I* need you."

 "Why?" Buffy asked.

 "You're Buffy." Giles told her with a small smile.

 "Tired." Buffy said again and closed her eyes.

 Giles closed his own eyes and went to move away. Her hand gripped his. He looked down at her and her eyes were open again.

 "Stay?" Buffy asked.

 Giles smiled. "Of course I'll stay." He pulled the chair over and sat down next to the bed.


   Joyce watched amazed through the glass. "How does he do that?" She asked no one in particular.

 Willow just smiled as she leaned against Xander's shoulder. "He's Giles."

 Xander felt like a pillow. Anya was asleep on one shoulder and Willow leaned against the other.

 "Would someone tell me who that man is?" Hank asked as he watched.  As Joyce watched, she saw something else. "We'll talk about it later." She told Hank distractedly.