...His words managed to moderately ease her knee-jerk defensive reaction. She couldn't keep her chin up with Spike like she could in front of the others. He knew. He could predict how much of a drain it would be on her. And Buffy had been trying very hard to keep Summers and the Slayer separate -- only occasionally deigning to fight alongside her pirate-boyfriend and only now, when the same pirate's past was in question, was she forced to confront the conflict between these two parts of herself.

"It's worse than that, Spike. They've given up on living..."

The General's faith in death and its release still gave her nightmares.