Disclaimer:  Nope, still don’t own anything.  Sigh – it would be really awesome if I did, but alas, I am but a poor college student.   Hurting   Scott gently stroked Buffy’s back, her sobs still echoing throughout the room.  He glanced briefly to the woman with auburn hair, motioning slightly with his head to indicate for them to leave the room.  She nodded, glancing at each of the other members of the room.   She quietly but efficiently helped the man by the wheelchair up, lifting him with some effort.  After that was finished, she led the other out of the room, each of them sparing a backwards glance to Scott and the woman, sobbing, in his arms.   Buffy paid no heed to the others, instead taking comfort in the arms of Scott.  Her sobs lessened slowly as all of the worry and anxiety she had felt over seeing him again after so long was released.  Slowly, very slowly, she disentangled herself from his arms.  She stared at him, her eyes red from crying.  He gently wiped a piece of hair from her tear-stained face.   “Buffy, what’s happened?” he asked softly.  He watched as her face contorted in pain and grief for a moment before she seemed to shake it off, her face becoming so tired and world-weary that he was shocked.  “Buffy?”   Buffy sighed wearily, bending her legs and pulling them against her chest protectively.  She glanced away from him as tears once again welled in her eyes.  She blinked quickly, willing them away, missing Scott’s look of concern.  “They’re gone.  All of them.  I….I tried to s-stop it, but…”   Her voice trailed off as a giant lump appeared in her throat.  Scott placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly, trying to lend her reassurance.  “What is it?  Did something happen with Aunt Joyce or…”   “Scott,” Buffy whispered, cutting him off.  She looked him directly in the eye, her lower lip trembling slightly.  “Scott…mom’s…she’s…she died.  Almost two years ago.”   Scott physically reeled back, shaking his head as he digested in the information.  “Wha…?  But that’s so long ago.  Why didn’t you tell me?”   Buffy bit her lower lip, looking away from her cousin.  “We tried.  Da….I tried to call you, but the phone just kept ringing and ringing.   I tried for awhile but no one ever answered.  I would have kept calling but…well, dealing with everything and all.”   Her last words were so much softer than the rest that Scott had to strain to hear them.  He closed his eyes, trying to control his own grief in order to provide strength for Buffy.  He took a deep breath before speaking.  “What about Dawn?  Is she ok?”   “Dawn…Dawn was killed.  By my friend.”   At those words, she could no longer hold in her tears.  They streamed down her face in streams, threatening once again to overwhelm her.   “Oh Buffy,” Scott whispered, once again pulling his cousin into a tight embrace.  His heart broke for her as he felt her pain roll off of her in waves.  He just held her for a few moments, giving her time to cry once again to help and release her pain.  “What happened, Buffy?  Why didn’t you call me if you were having troubles with anyone?”   “It happened to fast,” Buffy whispered, her face ashen.  “I tried to stop her, but I couldn’t save them.  They were all dead before I could reach them.”   Buffy looked at up him again, her face a picture of despair.  “They’re all gone, Scott.  All of my friends, my family…they’re gone.  Dead.  And Willow dead…by my hand.”   Scott tried to stop his shock from appearing but even he could not control it.  Instead of saying anything though, he merely hugged her again, letting himself for now to look past her last words.  Right now, she needed someone to be there for her, not push her away.  She was all he had left now.   Time passed and soon Buffy’s tears began to subside.  The exhaustion of the last few days finally caught up to her and soon, she had fallen asleep in Scott’s arms.  Scott sighed as he glanced down at her sleeping cousin, worry frowning his forehead as he slowly picked her up and cradled her against his chest.   She needs to eat more, he thought to himself as he realized how light she was.  He carefully carried her out of the room and down the hall.  He climbed the stairs carefully, not wanting to disturb her.  He silently gave a prayer of thanks as he made it to the top of the steps without the stairs creaking once.  He carried her to an open, unoccupied room and gently laid her down.  He pulled her shoes off and carefully placed the covers around her.   He walked out of the room, listening for her shallow breathing.  As he closed the door, a voice quickly for comfortingly filled his mind.  Scott, what is happening?  Who is she?   He walked down the stairs and into the room he had just left, shutting the door behind him.  He looked at everyone who had entered the room, breathing heavily.  “She’s my cousin, Buffy.  And it seems as if her entire world has just fallen apart.”   “I could have told you that, Cyke,” a gruff voice said.  Scott turned and stared at the man.  “From the moment I saw her, I could sense that she was hopeless.  I’m surprised none of you caught it – it was pretty obvious.”   Scott menacingly took a step towards the man but was cut off with a restraining hand of the auburn haired woman.  “Scott, now isn’t the time.  We have many questions about her that need to be answered.  We can’t deal with petty feelings that might cause conflict within the group.”   He sighed, feeling the tension run out of him under her touch.  “I know, Jean.  It’s just…she’s changed so much.  And she’s just lost almost everyone she cares about.  I’ve lost…”   His voice trailed off as he struggled to regain control of his raging emotions.  Jean gently enveloped him into a hug, searching his mind for the answer to his feelings.  Her heart sank as she found it, hugging him tighter.   I’m so sorry Scott, she mentally whispered to him as she felt his grief.  I wish there was something I could do.   He merely nodded, not wanting to answer her out loud.  For a few moments they just stood there, embracing each other tightly, until Scott felt himself gaining control.  He gently stepped out of her embrace, though his arm slid down until it was placed gently around her waist.  He looked around at the others in the room, taking a deep breath.   “Almost everyone she cares for has been killed.  By, from what it seems, by one of her friends.  And, the friend was killed by Buffy herself.”   Silence filled the room at those words.  A few of the people looked at each other in uncertainty, not quite sure how to react.  Jean was the first to recover, for she had found out about it before the rest of the group.   “No matter what has happened, we can’t treat her with unkindness.  If Scott trusts her, there must have been very good reasoning behind what she did.  Besides, there are other questions that need to be answered right now.  Like how she was able to notice Professor in her mind and how she was able to push him out.”   “She is very powerful,” said the man, the Professor, in the wheelchair.  His aging face was filled with wisdom as well as a bit of awe.  “I have met very few people with the strength and control that she has.  It makes me wonder if perhaps she is a mutant like us.”   Scott shook his head negatively.  “I don’t know about that, Professor.  She never showed any signs of mutant manifestations.  And now, she is long past the age when the manifestations begin.”   A young female, white streaks at the front of her brown hair looked around nervously at the others.  “But she was able to push Professor out of her mind.  That can’t be natural.”   “I know,” Scott admitted.  “But I just don’t think she’s a mutant.  When she wakes up, maybe we can talk to her a little, find out about what’s been going on the last couple of years.  Maybe we’ll be able to find some answers then.”