Author's Note: This post season 5 AU begins when the Scoobies take on Glory during the episode of The Gift (written by Joss Whedon). The prologue contains dialogue directly taken from the episode and I have supplemented that dialogue with my description of the events in that episode until the story diverges from canon within those set of events.

Prologue

Giles watched his Slayer take on Glory as she beat the hell god mercilessly with the troll hammer. It was a magnificent sight to behold after Glory had held the upper hand during most of their battles. At almost every turn, she had bested Buffy. She was stronger, faster, and extremely unpredictable, but now Buffy held the upper hand and was taking all of her pain out on her nemesis.

"Stop it!" Glory commanded, beaten and bloodied.

"You're a god," Buffy taunted as she pulled back the troll hammer and hit Glory once again, sending the immortal flying. "Make it stop." And with that, the Slayer began to pound Glory with the hammer over and over and over again until Glory finally morphed into Ben, unable to take the beating the Slayer was handing out and appealing to Buffy's humanity for mercy.

"I'm sorry," Ben gasped out, his mortal body battered and bruised so badly that he could barely move.

Buffy looked down at the young intern, her expression unwavering, "Tell her it's over. She missed her shot. She goes. If she ever, ever comes near me and mine again-"

"We won't," Ben interrupted, tenderly shaking his head back and forth. "I swear!"

Having been given the answer she was looking for, Buffy dropped the hammer and ran up the scaffolding to save her sister.

Ben coughed and grasped at his stomach as he laughed at the irony that was his life. "I guess we're stuck with each other, huh, baby?" he asked his other half as he writhed on the ground.

The Watcher made sure his Slayer had climbed several stories up the scaffolding before walking out of the shadows over to Ben's side and steeling his resolve.

"Can you move?" he asked sympathetically as he knelt over the young doctor.

"I need... a... minute," Ben answered. "She could've killed me."

Shaking his head, Giles answered, "No, she couldn't. Never. And sooner or later Glory will re-emerge and... make Buffy pay for that mercy. And the world with her. Buffy even knows that..." He pulled his glasses from his front pocket, "and still she couldn't take a human life. She's a hero you see," he continued as he put on his glasses. "She's not like us."

"Us?" the injured man asked as Giles' hand darted out grabbing his nose and covering his mouth.

He kept his calm eyes trained on Ben as the younger man lashed out and grabbed at him with his arm, trying in vain to fight for his life. Giles responded by tightening the seal over the young intern's mouth and pinching his nose tighter until he watched the life fade from his eyes.

Ben was dead, and by extension, so was Glory. Lowering his head, Giles said a few words over the body. It wasn't personal, it was a matter of saving the world. He'd deal with the after effects on his psyche later. The war wasn't quite over yet.

Standing gingerly, the pain in his side from the lance wound still rather fresh, Giles turned to see what he could do to help the others.

"Stop right there," one of Glory's minions commanded from behind. "I've… I've got a gun."

He raised his hands and slowly pivoted on his feet to face his attacker.

"Stop!" yelled the diminutive demon, quivering as it held the standard police issue 9mm Glock pistol. The weapon looked ridiculously large in its tiny hands.

"Your goddess is gone. You are free to run along," the Watcher entreated, his voice low and calm.

"You have killed Glorificus, our most resplendent one, and you shall pay for your treachery!"

Giles knew the things were fiercely loyal, but they were also cowards and opportunists. He expected it to run, but it didn't and he watched as the little beast bravely walked towards him, cocked the hammer back, and pulled the trigger. Pain seared through his thigh and he fell to the ground on his back, biting back the scream he wanted to release as he grabbed for his leg. He couldn't distract Buffy from her task. She needed to save Dawn.

"That's for Glory!" the enraged minion shouted as it approached its target, aiming the gun and shooting Giles twice more in the chest before leaving him for dead.

—

Buffy reached the top of the tower as Doc looked at his watch again.

"We're almost out of time," he said gently, lifting the knife for Dawn to see. "All it takes are shallow cuts, you see. We must give Glory enough time to enter the portal to get home."

"Dawn!" the Slayer called, causing Doc to spin around.

"Buffy!" her sister screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The Slayer rushed along the platform and pushed Glory's henchman off to his death without so much as a glance his way, reaching her sister and untying the ropes that held her in place.

"Dawn, are you alright?" Buffy asked, relief spreading over her as she took her sister into her arms and hugged her closely.

"Y-yeah, no blood," Dawn answered, shaking from the trauma of her ordeal. "Oh god, Buffy."

The two girls stayed in each other's embrace until the wind started to whip around the tower.

"Let's get out of here," Buffy declared, taking her sister's hand and leading her across the platform and down the countless flights of stairs to safety.

When they reached the bottom, Buffy looked over and saw her Watcher lying sprawled across the ground next to a very dead Ben. Blood oozed out of Giles' chest and leg, slowly seeping into the hard, sunbaked earth.

"Giles!" she yelled, immediately letting go of Dawn's hand and running towards him. When she reached him, she immediately dropped to the ground and pulled him up onto her lap and into her arms. "Giles! Oh no, oh no! No!"

Dawn screamed for help and the others came as quickly as they could only to stop when they saw Giles lying limp in Buffy's arms and bleeding out.

"Is… is he…?" Willow couldn't continue, unable to articulate the question. She didn't want to know the answer.

Buffy shook her head, tears streaming over her face and Giles' blood staining her hands and clothes. She'd lost her mother recently, nearly lost her sister, and now was on the verge of losing Giles… again. It wasn't something she would allow.

"No, call an ambulance," she managed, fighting the huge lump in her throat. "He's losing blood fast."

Xander put his hand on her shoulder. "We can't have the ambulance come here, Buff, we've got to get him off site."

"He's right, pet," Spike agreed, limping over towards the group.

"He doesn't have that kind of time! Call an ambulance!" Buffy ordered, on the verge of hysterics. "I don't care what we tell the authorities, we can't move him!"