This was inspired by an episode of Supergirl called "For the Girl Who Has Everything" as well as the Superman comic that the episode was based off of I hope you enjoy, even if the first chapter is kinda short.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Buffy woke up to the glare of the bright hospital lights. The first thing she saw when she sat up is the loving smile on her mother's face.

"Mom?" Buffy asked. "What's going on?"

"You're awake!" Dawn cheered. "Omigod Buffy, I'm so glad you're okay."

"Dawn?" Buffy asked. "What happened? Why is Mom-"

"You've been sick for almost a week," a gentle voice said. Buffy looked over to her right and saw Tara smiling down on her. "Your mother has been at your side nonstop."

"I take it my daughter has finally recovered?" Buffy looked at the door of the hospital room and saw Ben and her father walking in.

"I think she has, Doctor Wilkinson," Tara said.

"B-But you're…" Buffy looked to her dad and then to her mother. "And you were…"

"You've been having a lot of nightmares," Joyce said. "Dawn says you talk in your sleep."

"This is wrong," Buffy said. "I can't be here. I want to...Where am I?"

"You're in Los Angeles Memorial Hospital," Tara said. "I'm Tara, a nursing student."

"But you and Willow-"

"Willow and all the others are waiting for you at home," Hank said.

"In Sunnydale?" Buffy asked.

"Sunnydale?" Dawn asked. "Why would we live in such a boring old college town?"

"Now, Dawn, let Buffy have some space," Joyce said. "Maybe we ought to take her home. Buffy hates hospitals and I think staying here any longer will only make her remember her nightmares."

Dr. Ben gave Joyce a folder with papers and said, "Just sign these forms and you'll have her out of here in no time."

While Joyce was filling out the hospital paperwork, Tara went to get Buffy water. Dawn was jumping around excitedly, looking forward to going to the mall with her sister again. Hank congratulated Dr. Ben for all the work he and Tara did. Buffy, however, sat in her hospital bed and pondered. It didseem like she just woke up from a long nightmare. She heard Dawn listing the names of all her friends who were waiting for her. But in her heart, she knew she was missing someone. She just couldn't remember who.

###

"Buffy!" Dawn said as she walked through the front door. "Buffy, where are you? You were supposed to-" She gasped as she found Buffy lying on the floor with a strange plant with tentacles wrapped around her Dawn took a closer look at the plant: seven black roses with red tongues sticking out of them, purple tentacles snaking around Buffy's arms and neck.

She checked her sister's pulse. Buffy was still alive. It was like she was asleep, only with her eyes open. Flashbacks of Mom's body rushed through Dawn's mind.

"Willow!" Dawn shouted. "Where are you?"

"Dawn, what's going on?" Willow asked as she came down the stairs.

"I don't know," Dawn said. "I was just coming home from school and I found Buffy like this."

"She was supposed to go out on patrol, looking for that nerd trio." Willow walked into the living room and gasped at the sight of Buffy lying down on the living room floor. "Oh Goddess! What is that?"

"I don't know," Dawn said. "But we need to get it off her!"

The two of them struggled to pull it off of her, but it was no use. Whatever it was had a tight grip. Dawn then noticed a package nearby.

"This must be where the plant came from," Dawn said as she grabbed the box. "There's no return address or postmarks."

All of a sudden, Xander walked in through the door.

"Xander!" Willow and Dawn said.

Xander sighed in relief and gave his favorite girls a hug. Then he took note of the sight of Buffy lying down on the living room floor.

"What happened to Buffy?" Xander asked.

"I was coming home from school and I found her like this," Dawn said.

"Do you know what it is?" Willow asked.

Xander took a look at Buffy and then at the strange plant that encased itself around her body. "I can't believe it. It's the Black Mercy.

"What's the Black Mercy?" Dawn asked.

"It's from the Superman comics," Xander said. "It traps its victims in a fantasy of their greatest desires while sucking away all their life energy."

Willow and Dawn ran to Buffy to pull the plant off of her, but Xander yelled, "Stop! Don't! If we get it off of her, it'll either try to kill her or attach itself onto us."

"So what do we do?" Dawn asked.

"The only way to get Buffy free of it is to get her to reject the reality," Xander said.

"I really don't want to," Willow said, "but if there's some kind of spell that can help us look into Buffy's mind…" Before she could finish that sentence, Willow was already out the door, on her way to the Magic Box.

"Who do you think sent it to her?" Xander asked.

"Who do you think?" Dawn said with a snarky tone. "Probably those dorks that tried to rob the bank and think that they're Buffy's mortal enemies. What are we gonna do, Xander? I don't want Willow to do any more magic."

"Find Tara," Xander said. "I'll stay here with Buffy."

Dawn nodded.

Xander sat down next to Buffy and held her hand. "Hang in there, Buffster..."

###

As Buffy got in the car, she recognized the paper-maiche dice that hung in the rear view mirror. She felt some tug at her heart that told her that something was wrong. The image of her mother laid out on the living room couch, eyes wide and lifeless, flickered in her mind, but it faded as she looked out the window and watched the mountains zoom past.

"It just feels weird, Mom," Buffy said. "I feel like I need to go to Sunnydale. None of this feels...real."

"I think getting back home is what you need," Joyce said.

"But you and Dad are together and I'm not…" Buffy felt all the images in her mind slipping away like dead leaves over a rocky stream. "I'm still in college, right?"

"Of course you are, peach pie," Hank said. "Giles knows what's going on and he is willing to let you make up assignments over the Spring Break."

Buffy sighed in relief. "I can't wait to see Giles again."

All of a sudden, Buffy felt the car come to a stop in front of her old childhood home. The front porch looked just like it used to, only this time, Giles, Willow, and Xander were there waiting for her. The first person she hugged was Giles, followed by Willow and Xander. The four of them, plus Buffy's family, led Buffy inside, where everyone else was waiting for her. Anya stood up from the couch and hugged Buffy before giving Xander a loving kiss. Their gold rings glimmered in the sunlight. Buffy turned around and saw Tara walk in, greeting Willow with a sweet embrace and a kiss on the cheek. The two girls led Buffy to the dining room. Her jaw hit the floor as she saw a tall, dark, handsome man standing at the end of the table, holding a bouquet of roses.

"Angel!"

She ran to Angel and pulled him in close for a kissed. When she closed her eyes, a pair of fiery blue eyes flickered in Buffy's mind, but they faded as Buffy let go of the kiss. All of a sudden, everyone was sharing pizza and having a good time. Buffy took a deep breath and let go of all the images flashing in her mind. This was where she belonged...Right?

A small, but sharp tug at heart told her otherwise.

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