FIC REC: It Never Happened by Shadowscast - Giles/Spike

I haven't recced fic in ages, because there was a time when I didn't read a lot of fanifc. I' missed a lot of good stories that way and am only now catching up.
This is an old hat for some of you, I know, but there are other drive-by lj-readers out there, and if only one or two of them catch this fabulous story, then it's worth my while pimping this story.

Title: It Never Happened
Author: Shadowscast
Fandom/Timeline: BtVS - Set during Buffy's death between S5 and S6. Fits very neatly into canon.
Genre: Slash-with-plot; hurt/comfort
Pairing: Giles/Spike; Giles/Ethan as past lovers
Rating: R - Mature
Summary: It's the summer of 2001. Buffy is buried under a stone that says "She saved the world. A lot."
Giles and the others are struggling to figure out how to live in a world without her, and how to continue to protect it. An encounter with a strange demon turns Spike into an ordinary human, which complicates matters. Meanwhile, a curious new camera shop has opened up in Sunnydale...

It Never Happened (LJ version at Summer_of_Giles)
It Never Happened (Archive of our Own)

Why I love this story: It's plotty, with a distinct gen-fic feel in that all the character voices ring true; also I can literally see all the characters; it's like watching an episode of the show - only with genuine slash. The sex scene are well-written but never gratuitous. Giles acts like a grown-up, and the hurt/comfort pushes all my buttons. Even Ethan has a cameo (I truly love his prank) and sounds as though Jane Espenson wrote him. A truly brilliant story!
If you haven't read it, do so now! If you have, well, maybe it's time to read it again.