The Song Remains the Same

by SMac

Summary: Life can be difficult when you are fifteen years old with a baby and few options. Fortunately Buffy Summers is a resourceful girl. Spuffy.

6. Chapter 26 thru 30

The Song Remains the Same

By Sara M

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Because 'A Vague Disclaimer Is Nobody's Friend'
Willow Rosenberg

IMPORTANT NOTE (And the Please Humor Me Award goes to...):

As I've stated several times over the course of posting this story, the laws and programs involved are hugely complex and I'm not writing a thesis here. Fed laws, State laws, County programs, the criminal justice system thrown in for good measure - it's mind boggling, really. In Part One, I did the best I could to create a legally correct framework, although I can't guarantee that every detail is perfect.

For instance, it turns out that the hospital rule may apply only to teen foster children having babies, which Buffy was not, although she was a resident in a maternity home at the time and it was clear that her parents would not permit her to return home with a child, so maybe it would apply, but then she was under sixteen, so maybe it wouldn't apply. Who the hell knows? That's New York, and they have their own problems. New York gives me a headache. In the universe of my story, I declare it to apply. I have gone back and edited that chapter to specify foster children, without further comment, so do what you will with that one.

In California, I purposely sped up the dispositional hearing, and combined it with the temporary custody hearing (which is required to be held within 24-72 hours), and skipped the probation dept reports entirely, in order to get Buffy out of detention and into a home more quickly, and also to get Katie settled. I am operating under the principle that Buffy's situation was unusual anyway - having two minors without support or adult guardian of any kind, needing state intervention, and whose cases depend entirely upon each other's dispositions - and Buffy being subject to a Juvenile Court judge's special sentencing instructions and qualifications for probation, due to an actual criminal conviction being alleged and determined, etc. Different counties do things so differently as it is, I figured we could play with it in a fictional county. The required six month review after initial foster placement actually should be 120 days for a child under three, which Katie is, as they want to either reunify or get the little one adopted faster than older children would be because there are psychological developmental issues at work there for babies and toddlers. It's a whole thing, so I messed that up. I've gone back and edited those chapters to state 120 days instead of six months, so please keep the new time frame in mind, if you're following that sort of thing in the story.

There're lots of details like this that are difficult to pin down and work with. Trying to get firm answers on scores of fine points like this, consistent answers and for the right calendar years and in the right states and counties, is a task that could lead one to the use of massive amounts of alcohol, just to dull the pain.

So, don't look here for legal advice. I am using general information regarding these laws - as accurate as I can but still - and a firm belief in the legal principle that just because you're a kid doesn't mean you that don't have legal rights as a parent, all laid out in the context of a fictional story, for the story's sake.

As for Part Two, it is even more complicated and I am therefore going to be vaguer about specific things and am intentionally doing that because I do not want to spend all my free time doing legal research instead of actually writing the story. I've done some research, am trying to make it real, am trying to give programs in the correct part of the state and for the correct year their actual names and content, but frankly, the subject would bring better people than me to their knees, and I want to live. So you're getting the blurry watercolor version. After all, this IS a love story. If you want pitch-perfect law, read a law book. :-)

The song quoted is Let Me by Paul Schwartz and Lisbeth Scott. It is actually a spiritual song, and is extraordinarily beautiful. But whenever I hear it I think of Buffy and Spike in this story, in the context of the spiritual link between two people whose destiny it is to intertwine and lift up the other. If you wish to hear it you can find it at with that rather lengthy disclaimer out of the way, we head into Part Two. At last.

Disclaimer: The characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Fox studios. This story is not meant to infringe upon anyone's rights, only to entertain.

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PART TWO

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Chapter Twenty-Six
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Appearances

Buffy closed the heavy front door with care, and took a good look around at what she could see of the beautiful home from the entrance. An impressive staircase stood to the right and rear wall of the wide entry hall, it's dark wooden banister curving elegantly as it wound it's way up to the second story landing. The entry hall itself had dark wooden flooring, polished to a lustrous sheen, a perfect contrast with the cream colored walls. A tall ornate wooden coat rack and side table stood to the left of the door, and a matching umbrella stand and side table stood to the right. A round claw foot table stood in the middle of the large entry hall, with a large urn of red poinsettias displayed at the center.

She looked right, and saw before her the open double doors to a formal dining room. A long dark walnut table with intricately carved chairs stood in the center of that room, with matching sideboard and buffet along two separate walls. Heavy dark gold draperies graced the tall windows looking out over the front yard. The traditional oil paintings above the buffet and along the far wall appeared to be expensive. An oriental rug in a classical design covered the polished wooden floor.

Turning back to the left of the entryway, was another set of double doors, opening onto a very large living room, with a thick pile cream carpet and two formal sofas and several wing chairs, in shades of gold and dark green and brown. A massive brick fireplace stood on the far left wall, with an expensive and ornate fire screen placed before it. More expensive-looking traditional oil paintings graced these walls, also. A perfect, ceiling high, Douglas Fir Christmas tree, decorated in stylish-yet-homey ornaments, garlands and many little twinkling colored lights, stood in front of the center window looking out to the front yard. The same dark gold drapes and more of the same style of expensive dark wood furniture was placed around this room, and the entire effect was one of traditional tastes and a very comfortable income.

Buffy found the decor to be extremely tasteful, classically beautiful, and depressingly stifling. That last feeling, she reminded herself, was a reaction to years of living in a similar home with a mother who could not tolerate the slightest disorder or opposition. Buffy sincerely hoped her feelings were misplaced, and that the elegant furnishings in her new foster home did not come equipped with their own brittle rigid control freak. She really wasn't in the mood right now.

Noticing that the tea service had been removed from the coffee table, Buffy followed a hallway that branched off from the entry hall, into what she was certain was the back part of the house. Here was another living room, this one much less formal, and thankfully promising to be much more comfortable to relax in. It was, Buffy was certain, a 'family room', and acted as the actual day to day living area for the family. It was decorated in a more American country theme, in blues and reds and golds. This informal family room opened up completely, with no partition other than a breakfast bar, into a very large state of the art home kitchen. A table, in the same American country theme, sat near a back window on the kitchen side of the large living area. Buffy would bet money that this is where the family actually shared their daily meals.

The tea service sat upon the breakfast bar, waiting to be washed and put away. Still, there was no one here.

Strange, that she'd just disappear like that.

Buffy walked over to the french doors and saw that they opened into a large backyard, as carefully kept as the front was. The central highlight of the backyard was a truly spectacular built-in swimming pool. There was redwood decking, and some good quality wrought-iron chairs and tables sat on this side of the pool patio, as did an enormous barbecue grill station. Even though it was December and rather chilly out, she was really tempted to try out that pool. The whole set up just screamed family gatherings, pool parties, and barbecues. So far, that was her favorite part of the house.

Turning back again, her eyes swept the kitchen/family room and still detected no one there. She continued her trek through the lower level and discovered a laundry room, two powder rooms, and the entry to the three car garage. An enormous black Ford Expedition was parked there, and the garage was as clean and tidy as the rest of the house seemed to be.

Finding nothing else to interest her down stairs, Buffy wandered back to the entry area, took her suitcase in hand, and ascended to the second level. The staircase ended on a short landing that opened into a large hall running the length of the house sideways, with windows letting in light on either end. She counted four doors to her left, and six doors to her right.

Buffy stopped at the entrance to this hall, feeling that she had gone as far as she dared go in someone else's home without invitation. She retraced her steps, placing her suitcase on the top landing, and stepped slowly back down the stairs and returned to the formal living room. She hoped that Blonde Woman would return soon. She was very anxious and thought she'd feel much better when she was in her own designated room and had unpacked. She sat on one of the sofas to wait for her foster mother to return and show her to her room. She also thought the woman should tell her what her name was, and what she was expected to call her. Strangely, that had been glossed over when she'd first entered with Tanya, and Blonde Woman had talked so incessantly that the lapse was forgotten.

Great. I live with a ditz whose name no one has even bothered to tell me. And she's wandered off somewhere. Does she even remember I'm here?

Buffy picked up a magazine that had been carefully laid out among five others, upon a shelf beneath one of the end tables. The magazine was new, and although it was House and Garden, it was the most interesting of the choices before her. She thought she'd just read until Blonde Woman returned, and hoped she didn't fall asleep in the process. She was exhausted from the drama of the day, and desperately wanted to get into her new room and lay down for a bit.

"Oh!" came an astonished cry and a giggle from behind her. "I forgot all about you!"

Standing in the doorway from the hall, Blonde Woman looked both amused and embarrassed at her lapse. Buffy had the impression that she thought it was a cute little lapse. From this and the earlier conversation between Tanya and Blonde Woman, Buffy was starting to think Blonde Woman thought everything she did was cute. She thought that that was going to get old real fast.

For her part, Buffy was annoyed to be forgotten so quickly, but had decided early on to humor Blonde Woman as much as necessary. She really wanted to get along here, and make her stay in foster care as drama-free as possible. She felt that if this was the path Judge Holtz had laid out for her to get her daughter back, then she would walk it perfectly. She had her eyes on a goal and by God she was going to reach it as fast as possible.

So Buffy gave Blonde Woman her best smile, and assured her that it was fine, she didn't mind a bit. Blonde Woman beamed at her happily, and offered to take her on a tour of the house. Buffy didn't want to admit she'd been wandering on her own, so she took in the new information and sights as though she'd never seen them before.

Once Blonde Woman reached the top of the stairs, Buffy realized her suitcase was sitting right there as a testament to her having walked this way previously. Fortunately, Blonde Woman was chattering on and didn't appear to have noticed, so Buffy snagged it and continued to follow Blonde Woman through the second story.

"Our bedroom is at the end of this hallway, the last door on the right," Blonde Woman nodded toward the left hallway without walking any further down that way. "There is a linen closet on the near left, here, and a guest room at the far left. The room on the near right is my doll room."

Buffy gazed down the hallway at the various doors Blonde Woman pointed out to her.

"The 'doll room'?"

"Oh, yes!" Blonde Woman gushed. "I collect antique dolls and dollhouses, and that entire room is where I display and store them. There are some dolls placed around the house, of course, but most of them are in that room. I'll show them to you later." Blonde Woman turned to go down the hallway on the opposite side. "Do you have any hobbies or collections?"

"Um...no."

"Well, that's too bad. I believe every woman should have a hobby of some kind. I've found that it really relieves a lot of tension. And, it's such fun!" Blonde Woman beamed.

Not knowing how to respond to this declaration, Buffy quietly followed Blonde Woman down the right hallway.

"Now, here is my husband's home office, on the right here," she turned to Buffy and warned her gravely, "You must never go in my husband's office. He's very strict about his office." She turned and indicated the open door across from the office. "To your left here is the upstairs bathroom," and she continued down the hall, pointing out the different areas as though she were a docent giving a guided tour in a museum.

"Next on our right here is another bedroom, for another foster child should we decide to bring one in." She turned to Buffy with wide sincere eyes, laid a hand on her arm and nodded in all seriousness. "You're our only foster right now, though."

She then turned back to her tour, pointing to a door on the left, across from the 'other foster bedroom'. "That's another closet, and the door on the far left is another guest bedroom. And this," she announced dramatically while opening the last door on the right, "is your new bedroom." She smiled happily as she waved Buffy into her new room.

Buffy slowly entered the room and stopped a few feet beyond the door. The room was a light, cheerful room, painted in cream, as most of the house seemed to be, with deep blue curtains pulled back by a sash at each of the three wide windows, which were also fitted with wooden slat blinds, for privacy in the evening. At the center back wall, there was a double size french sleigh bed with a down duvet covered in a blue-and-cream thin-striped fabric. Fluffy down pillows, in flouncy white shams, sat two deep on each side of the head of the bed. Over the bed hung a beautiful oil painting that drew Buffy's attention immediately. It was of a young Amish girl, dark blue scarf covering her blonde head, standing next to a barn in the middle of a light snowfall, herding some cows to the warmth inside. There was about the rural scene something so peaceful and timeless that Buffy found herself calmed as she contemplated it.

A matching bedside table graced each side of the sleigh bed, with a small stained-glass lamp atop each. A cordless telephone and an alarm clock sat on the right-side table.

A dark blue upholstered wing chair stood on the right side of the bed, on the opposite side of the bedside table. A bureau, a small bookcase, and a matching desk and chair completed the furnishings. There was a good-sized walk in closet, and Buffy could see a door on her right, opening into a private bathroom. Overall, Buffy was pleased with her surroundings.

I could do sooo much worse than this, Buffy mused. Although it looks like Blonde Woman is settling in to to keep me company for awhile.

Blonde Woman had indeed settled herself on the bed, next to the suitcase Buffy was now unpacking, and had not stopped chattering away. Buffy was having difficulty keeping up with the pace of her 'conversation', especially since the subjects kept changing back and forth at a rapid pace. It seemed as though Blonde Woman was easily distracted and would say anything at all as soon as it popped into her head.

She'll run out of things to say eventually. Right?

"Just the one suitcase? Well there's plenty of room, you can pick up some more things if you want. Tanya was telling me that you'll be attending Sunnydale High School. That's wonderful. It's a good school. We should get you some new clothes before the new semester starts. Oh! What an adorable little halter. I've never seen one like that before, can I take a look at it? Such lovely fabric, it must look just wonderful on you. Oh! I love that black dress. There's wooden hangers in the closet. I just can't abide wire hangers, can you? What a dear little stuffed pig! He looks well-loved, I'll bet you've had him for years. Are those pictures? May I see them? Is this your baby? What a little doll! What's her name? How old is she? Will you be bringing her here sometimes? I'd love to see her..."

Buffy was astonished at the sheer speed and number of questions Blonde Woman asked. She barreled through them so quickly that she didn't really seem to stop to hear any answers. Buffy's headache was getting worse, and she really needed to rest a minute. But she didn't want to insult or alienate the strange woman, especially since she had been quite friendly so far. Since Blonde Woman didn't look to be slowing down any time soon, Buffy decided she'd just have to be as determined to interrupt as Blonde Woman was to talk.

"Um...I...What is...I don't know...I never got...What is your name?!" she finally increased her volume and asked her question as rapidly as possible.

Blonde Woman finally registered and stopped speaking. "Oh! Did I forget to introduce myself? I'm so sorry. My name is Rosemary. You can call me Rosemary. Everyone calls me Rosemary. I never did like Rose, or Rosie, or Mary--"

"I'm very glad to meet you Rosemary. Your house is beautiful, and I really love the room you're letting me stay in," Buffy rushed on now that she'd managed to be heard. "But it's been a very long day and I'm getting a headache and I'd really like to just turn in for the night if that's all right? I need to just rest now." Buffy gave Rosemary her best 'hopeful' face, and prayed desperately that the woman would leave her be for a while.

"My goodness, what am I thinking, talking your ear off your first day here," Rosemary bounced to her feet, and announced "Actually, I do have an engagement I was planning to attend and it starts in about thirty minutes. I do need to get going." Rosemary started out of the bedroom and then turned at the door, "If you get hungry, help yourself to whatever food we have in the kitchen, there's a TV in the family room, and Tylenol in the bathroom cabinet down the hall. I expect to get back about ten-thirty and my husband won't be back until very late tonight. You'll meet him tomorrow morning. Breakfast is at 7:30 but if you want to sleep in tomorrow we can find something for you to eat after. We'll have to go shopping and get some foods you especially like, if you want... to..." She finally slowed down and took a breath. She continued more slowly, "I'm very glad you're here now, Buffy. In just the short time you've been here, the house doesn't seem quite so silent, you know?" She smiled sadly.

Buffy hadn't expected this last admission, but immediately thought of her own loneliness at the apartment, when Fred was gone and Faith was often absent. And at least she'd had Katie for company, too. She suddenly saw Rosemary, not as a talkative busy body with loose boundaries, but as a woman with a comfortable life and a beautiful home, but who still felt very much alone. Buffy thought she probably talked to her dolls, but the dolls couldn't talk back... at least she hoped they didn't.

"I used to get lonely at my apartment, too. It's good to have someone else around, even if they don't say anything at all, you know? Just being there in the house is enough, you know?" Buffy said softly.

"Yeah, I know," Rosemary smiled again. "Good night, Buffy."

"Goodnight, Rosemary."

Rosemary closed the door and left Buffy to herself finally.

Buffy finished unpacking, but the last item brought her up short. It was Katie's little black velvet Christmas dress, the one she'd just finished Saturday, minutes prior to the police pounding on her door. She had managed to partition off the pain she felt over losing Katie to someplace deep and inaccessible, just so she could get through the last few days with her sanity intact. She hadn't been able to let herself feel the pain and loss very deeply for fear she would crumple and die right there in the jail.

But as she now held the little dress in her hands, suddenly the enormity of her situation and her devastation at being separated from her baby all caught up with her. She crushed the little dress close to her chest and curled into a ball in the middle of the bed and wept until she fell into an exhausted sleep.

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Buffy woke around midnight, feeling uncomfortable and grungy, still fully clothed and atop her bedcovers. It took a moment to get her bearings and realize where she was. Once she remembered, she rose and put the suitcase and anything else left on the bed on the top of the bureau. She placed the little black dress carefully on a hanger in the closet. Then she stripped out of her clothes and took a quick shower, donning the loose cotton pajama bottoms and baby t-shirt that she usually slept in.

Once done, she looked around the room a minute and tried to decide what to do. The headache was gone, but she suddenly realized that now she was starving. Dinner had been early, and she'd had nothing since. She slipped her thin robe on and made her way through the dark house and into the kitchen. She turned on the light and looked around to see what snacks were available. Discovering some cereal, she made herself a bowl and settled down on the sofa to watch a little late night TV while she ate. Nervous about waking anyone else, she kept the sound very low.

Suddenly a strong male voice came from behind her, in the kitchen.

"Well, hello there," The Voice greeted cheerfully. "You must be the new foster kid."

Buffy put her bowl down on the coffee table and turned around to greet her new foster father, who was also walking over to meet her. Suddenly they both stopped and stared at each other in shock.

"John Smith!?" she gasped, then remembered her manners. "Um, I mean, hi." She smiled uncertainly at him.

John could not believe this. It was the girl from the beach last summer. The girl in the smokin' hot bikini with the little baby building sand castles at the lagoon. Oh God. How am I going to explain this? I flirted with this girl. And now she knows who I am. And that the children weren't even mine. Oh God.

Buffy was struck speechless. Omigod. He's the guy from the beach. With the little kids...who weren't his?! And he flirted with me! Omigod!

They both smiled tentatively at each other. John seemed frozen in shock, and Buffy shifted nervously. Neither knew how to say what they were both thinking.

That slimy scuzzball is married! And using someone else's kids to pick up women!

That incredibly hot girl is living in my house and could tell my wife at any moment what I was doing last summer! I am so screwed!

What if he comes on to me now!? What if he thinks he can blackmail me into letting him do things to me in order to stay in this home and not get Judge Holtz mad at me for messing up the placement!? I am so screwed!

"Well, nice to meet you, John. I'm Buffy."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Buffy."

"I'd better wash this up and go to bed now." Buffy started to take her bowl into the kitchen.

"No, leave it. I'm not ready to sleep yet. I'll take care of it for you." John stopped her and reached to remove the bowl from her hand.

Buffy looked down and handed it off to him. "Thank you. Good night."

John watched her walk out of the room. "Good night." He sat down wearily at the breakfast counter. "I'm in trouble now."

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Chapter Twenty-Seven
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Appearances, Part Two

Sunnydale High School

Two Days Later

Willow sat in a hard backed chair in the small vestibule outside Principal Snyder's office, nervously awaiting her summons inside. She had no idea why she had been called out of home room to appear before the horrible little man, but whatever it was could not be good. No dealings with Principal Snyder were ever good. There was an urban legend going around school that on one day long ago an encounter with the principal had been 'mildly okay', but it had never been proven. No, this had to be bad.

She caught herself biting her nails, then shoved both hands under her legs, on the chair seat, to force herself to stop. She was a good girl, a great student, she had almost perfect attendance, and never caused anyone a minute's trouble that she was aware. So why would she be called in --

Suddenly the outer door opened and Mr Giles, the librarian, walked briskly into the vestibule. He stopped abruptly upon seeing Willow and turned back to her without knocking on the door to the principal's office.

"Willow?"Giles asked in astonishment. "Why are you here?"

"I don't know," she looked at him with puzzled worry. "There was a note. I was sitting in American History minding my own business, and suddenly there was a note delivered saying I had to come to Snyder's office immediately."

"And you have no idea what this is about?"

"None. And I've been waiting twenty minutes now," she said miserably. "Was I bad? I can't be bad, I'm never bad, but Snyder never calls anyone in for good news, he hates good news, he'd rather pretend there is no good news than tell someone good news--"

"Willow," Giles held up a hand gesturing her to stop. "I'm sure it's nothing amiss. I too have been called in this morning and I strongly suspect that the reasons are related. Let's avoid falling into utter despair until we know what this is all about, shall we?"

Just as Willow was about to argue the point, Snyder's door flew open and the small balding man scowled at the two people in his waiting room.

"Miss Rosenberg. Mr. Giles." he greeted them coolly. "I will be with you in a moment Miss Rosenberg. Mr Giles," he eyed the librarian with narrowed eyes. "Please do come in."

Giles nodded his head in assent and gestured for Snyder to precede him inside. With a last look toward Willow, Giles closed the door to the office.

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Principal Snyder gestured to Giles to take a seat while he stood behind his desk and glared at his telephone as though he thought it would come suddenly alive and bite him. Giles thought Snyder looked more agitated this morning than he did during the incident with the band fundraiser, when almost the entire student and parent population of the high school had been stricken with food poisoning from the tainted candy bars.

Willow was right. This cannot be good. Giles waited silently for the grim man to tell him what the problem was this time.

"I've called you here this morning, Mr. Giles, because I have just gotten off the phone with the superintendent of the school district. He informs me that we are getting a new student here for the spring semester, and that she will require 'special handling'. Those were his words. 'Special handling'. I do not approve of 'special handling', Mr. Giles. The only 'special handling' students require is when they are expelled from school, not when they are transferred into it."

Since there was absolutely no circumstance under which Snyder would call him in to commiserate as a friend and colleague, Giles now understood that any 'special handling' of this student was going to be passed along to him. Bloody hell.

"What sort of 'special handling' is involved?" May as well get through this quickly and be done with the horrid little man.

Snyder sat down and folded his hands on the desk before him, leaning forward to cast a conspiratorial look at Giles.

"Did you hear about the raid on the strip clubs in San Martine Saturday? They were among several locations and businesses involved in a huge drug and identity theft criminal enterprise. Apparently it was all a part of a huge international smuggling ring."

"Yes, it was all over the news the last several days." Giles was irritated. What on earth had that to do with anything?

"One of the girls arrested was only sixteen years old."

"My lord! They had underage girls dancing nude in the clubs?!" Giles was horrified. That had not been in the news.

"Apparently so," Snyder's little eyes glittered. "I'm told she was supporting her baby by stripping in the club. And that she was also heavily involved in drug dealing and that drugs and weapons were actually found hidden among her child's toys."

Giles remained silent, waiting for Snyder to get to the point.

"And now, the little felon has been ordered by no less than Judge Daniel Holtz himself to enter a foster care home and attend high school right here, at Sunnydale High." If Snyder were any more incensed by the news he was imparting, actual smoke would be rising from his ears.

Giles thought this turn of events was very strange. "Shouldn't she be in jail, or a juvenile facility somewhere? Why is she coming here?"

"My feelings exactly. The superintendent did not have an answer to that question, he just said it was on the order of Judge Holtz and when Holtz wants something done, we're to do it." Snyder sucked in a deep breath and pursed his lips in distaste. "So here she will come."

Any brief sympathy Giles had felt for the girl was extinguished by the news that she had an infant involved in this mess, and that she'd hidden drugs and weapons among the child's toys. Such an action was so reprehensible that he could not fathom it.

"And what am I to do with her?" Giles frowned.

"She has been out of school for more than a year now. In fact, the last year she completed entirely was ninth grade, and she's had less than half of the tenth. Judge Holtz wants her tested so that she will enter at an appropriate grade level at spring semester. She should, at her age, be a junior. And he wants her to be tutored between now and mid-January so that she has as much assistance and opportunity to achieve an age-appropriate placement as possible."

"Judge Holtz seems to be taking an unusual interest in this girl. Have you any idea why he would push to have her handled in such a manner?"

"No. But he clearly is giving her special treatment." Snyder's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as he leaned in even closer. "Perhaps there's some quid pro quo involved."

Giles was taken aback that Snyder would suggest such a thing. Judge Holtz was known to be a very strict and disciplined jurist, and Giles really didn't see him using his position to barter judicial leniency in exchange for sex from a sixteen year old girl. But the situation did not seem right to him either. This was more of a puzzle the more he heard of it.

"Well, I'm sure there must be some other explanation," Giles frowned. "So, what do you wish me to do with the girl?"

"She is coming in tomorrow to receive her instructions. I have decided to have her report to the library to you. You are to get her study books straightened out and issued to her. I think we should start with the required course of study for the tenth grade, and see how she does with that material first. If she tests well on that, we can work on first semester eleventh grade required material."

Giles nodded his understanding. "Do you have any specific subjects and tests in mind?"

"Yes, here is a list of the subjects and the final examinations for each subject from teachers who taught them last year. Give her the tenth grade final examinations first, and any she fails please note what areas she was weak in and arrange for her to study those. Any tests she passes, we will move her onto the junior level list. In mid-January she's to be tested again and a final determination made as to her spring semester grade level. Clear?"

"Yes," Giles looked over the tests and lists Snyder had handed off to him. "I noticed Miss Rosenberg was waiting outside. I presume you wish to have her involved in the actual tutoring for this girl?"

"Yes. I am going to have Miss Rosenberg tutor her up to the time we make a final determination as to her correct grade level. After that we shall have to see." Snyder looked hard at Giles. "But regardless, once school begins the spring semester, I want the girl to report to you every morning one half hour before first bell, and to check out again at the end of the school day. The day's end check-in does not require she stay once she signs out with you. I am counting on you, Mr. Giles. I want this girl watched like a hawk. Judge Holtz or no Judge Holtz, if she so much as steps an inch out of line I want to know about it. I will not have some disgusting little juvenile delinquent running around my campus causing trouble." Snyder rose from his desk, indicating that the meeting was done. "Judge Holtz wants 'special handling'. I'll give her 'special handling'." he growled.

Giles nodded and turned to leave. Snyder called after him, "Send Rosenberg in."

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Chapter Twenty-Eight
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The New World

Tuesday

Buffy's first morning at the Smith house was...strained. She came downstairs for breakfast at 7:30 to find John reading the newspaper while finishing a piece of toast and a cup of coffee. Rosemary was nowhere to be seen.

As soon as Buffy entered the kitchen John gave her a terse 'good morning', folded his paper, and deposited his plate and cup in the sink. He swung on his suit jacket and grabbed his briefcase, looking like he couldn't get out of there fast enough.

"Is Rosemary up?" Buffy asked his retreating back.

John stopped and half-turned his head in her direction as he answered, "Rosemary wasn't feeling well this morning and decided to sleep in. Please don't disturb her today." He then continued on out the door to the garage. After a minute Buffy could hear his car start up and then drive off.

She looked around the room and sighed. So much for 'breakfast at 7:30'. At least she knew where the cereal was, she mused, and set about to make herself a bowl and pour a cup of coffee. She ate in silence at the breakfast bar.

xxxxx

Once she'd cleaned up the breakfast dishes, she wandered about the quiet house and finally wound up back in her room again. It was strange having nothing to do and no one to talk to. The house seemed oppressively silent, and she began to think that she would go crazy if she didn't hear the sound of someone's voice soon. After more than a year raising her daughter, the present complete lack of work or company hit her hard. She had so few belongings with her that it took no time at all to organize them in her room.

She went to the window and looked out over the street. No one was out, everyone was either at work or school by now. All the houses were beautiful and neat, but there wasn't the slightest sign of activity anywhere.

She decided that she really didn't know anything about her new neighborhood, and this would be a good time to go out and see what was out there. She dressed in a white v-neck soft cotton shirt, blue jeans, black boots, and a black leather jacket, and set out to see what the world had out there for a sixteen year old girl to see and do.

xxxxxx

It turned out that Sunnydale really was a small town after all. Although the area where her new home was located was an affluent section of homes winding around tree-lined streets on the hillsides close to the shoreline, only seven blocks away the houses became less impressive and more solidly middle class. And only nine blocks further still sat a primarily working class neighborhood of much more modest homes. The latter neighborhood covered the near and far sides of the railroad tracks which ran up the Pacific coast, and Buffy was reminded of that old expression 'wrong side of the tracks'. She thought with a jolt that her prior living arrangements were more 'wrong side of the tracks' than she had ever realized. Way way on the wrong side of the tracks. She thought with a frown that she had been closer to that trailer trash existence than she had realized. And yet...

I was happy then, and didn't really think about that kind of thing. I had Faith, and Fred, and Katie, and I was happy there. It didn't matter that we lived in a crappy area in a crappy apartment. I was happy. And now I live in a beautiful house with strangers who are probably stranger than anyone realizes, and I'm not happy at all.

She turned around and headed back toward the nicer middle class side of Sunnydale again, trying to shake out of the funk she had fallen into. She reminded herself that she needed to keep a positive attitude so she could impress everyone with how well she was doing and get her daughter back again. No one was going to give a baby back to a sullen sulking teenager. She had to make sure no one saw the darkness she was slipping into.

Finally. All that cheerleading 'upbeat and positive' crap can start paying off in real life.

When she got back to the center of the town again, she discovered the location of the Sunnydale Mall in relation to her new home. Previously it had just been on a bus route in her head. She also located The Espresso Pump -- the coffee house she had visited last spring -- sitting within a several block area amid quaint shops, the city library, and a full size movie theater. She liked that little section of Sunnydale very much. It reminded her of a village more than anything else. It was comforting to walk through there, somehow.

Everything seemed to be within a reasonable walking distance from 'home'. This was a relief because she didn't drive and had no bus fare of which to speak. With her money confiscated by the police as 'drug proceeds', Buffy had not even a dollar of her own to buy a coke. She hoped that Rosemary or John would bring the subject of an allowance up to her, because she was going to need some spending money and she really didn't want to initiate that conversation herself. She'd never had this problem at home, either in New York or when living with Faith. She didn't like being so dependent on strangers for every little thing now.

It was just past lunchtime and Buffy was getting hungry and thirsty, so she decided to head on back home. She passed Sunnydale High School on her way back, and stopped on the other side of the street to stare at the building that she would be going to on Thursday. It seemed so strange to be going back to high school again. She was so different than the girl she used to be, the one for whom high school and school activities had been almost her entire world. She missed her friends, and wondered if she'd be able to make any new ones now. She was pretty intimidated by the prospect of it all suddenly. What on earth would she have in common with high school kids now? She felt light years away from that world. She told herself that she'd just have to fake it and make sure that all anyone saw was what she wanted them to see. She'd fake anything she had to in order to get Katie back.

xxxxx

Once she reached the house again, she realized that she'd locked herself out when she left. Rosemary and John had not actually given her a key yet. She tried the garage and found it locked too. She looked around the yard and found that the gate to the back yard was unlocked. Walking around back, she took a look at the pool and thought that would make a pleasant diversion for the afternoon. Of course, if she couldn't get in the house she could hardly strip down to her underwear in order to go swimming. That would not be a good first impression to leave with her foster parents.

She tried the french doors and found they were unlocked. Thank God.

Once inside she looked around a bit for Rosemary, and called her name a few times quietly so as not to waken her if she were still sleeping. Rosemary's bedroom door was still closed, and a few careful knocks did not produce any response. So she changed into her bikini, grabbed a towel from the linen closet and went back downstairs. After fixing herself a sandwich and a soda she settled down to eat by the pool and spend some time swimming. It was too cold to stay out long, so she gave it up after a while, changed back into regular clothes and watched TV, waiting to see if anyone showed up.

Finally, John came back in around five-thirty and came into the family room, standing and waiting for Buffy to acknowledge his presence. When she turned to him and turned off the set, he cleared his throat to speak.

"Hey," he started uncomfortably as he put his hands in his pants pockets and nodded her way.

"Hi." Buffy wasn't sure what to expect, but she was determined to remain silent until he said whatever was on his mind.

"Yeah," John began. " Did Rosemary come down at all today?"

"Not that I saw, but I went for a long walk all morning, checking out the town, and I didn't get back until two to eat lunch. I didn't see any sign of her at all."

"Oh, I see," he looked at the floor, then suddenly frowned and looked up quickly again. "Lunch? Ah...lunch," He sighed and reached for his wallet. "I'm sorry, I should have given you some cash for some spending money, it completely slipped my mind." He pulled a twenty out as he walked over to her and handed it to her with a quick smile. "We'll have to work out an allowance for you so you can buy lunches, incidentals, that sort of thing. A sixteen year old girl can't walk around without any money..." He trailed off.

"Thanks," Buffy said softly as she stuffed the twenty in her jeans pocket.

"Sixteen," John mumbled to himself. He looked up at her with anguish in his eyes and rushed on. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking this summer, flirting with you on the beach like that. I had no idea you were sixteen, and really, I don't cheat on my wife, I really don't --"

"It's okay, we didn't do anything wrong, we were just talking, right?" Buffy reassured him hurriedly.

"Right. We just talked. It was harmless, a diversion..." John sighed miserably. "I swear to you, I would never have actually, you know, I was just having an innocent conversation, which may have been more suggestive than it should have been, but you've got to understand, I was having a hard time this summer, and you were this young beautiful girl who just seemed so sweet and kind and I wanted to just... talk to you. Be the guy who could talk to a girl like that." He looked at Buffy, trying to will her to understand what he was trying to explain.

"No, I get it, I really do," Buffy nodded. "I felt the same way. I hadn't had a guy to talk to in a long time, and you were nice, and the flirting was just nice, you know, and I never would have done anything more, I couldn't do anything more, I have my baby, you know? I just wanted to be a teenage girl who could flirt for a little while. You know?"

"Yeah, I know," he looked at her in relief. "So I guess we both were thinking the same thing then. Innocent flirtation, no follow-through intended, no need to ever mention it again to anyone else. Right?" he raised his head to look hopefully into her eyes.

"Exactly. Right." Buffy smiled and nodded at John, and he finally relaxed and smiled back.

They both felt a great sense of relief at having gotten the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room with them banished once and for all. Although there was still a small part of each of them that worried it might return someday.

xxxxxx

"So, Rosemary's been up there all day," Buffy noted worriedly as she picked out another slice of the pizza they had ordered for dinner. "She okay?"

The air cleared between them now, they sat companionably at the kitchen table, sharing their evening meal. John put his slice down and topped off both their glasses with more coke.

"She gets headaches sometimes. Really bad ones, sometimes lasts a few days. When she gets one of those she just stays in bed with the blinds closed and doesn't come down at all."

"I'm so sorry," Buffy stopped eating, then looked questioningly at John. "But if she doesn't come down, how does she eat? What does she drink? Should I have brought up something to her today or --"

"No, no," John reassured her quickly. "She won't eat anything when she has one of her sick headaches. There's a mini-fridge up in our room with things to drink and some light healthy snack food should she really want something. She doesn't like to come out into the light of the rest of the house, walk down the stairs, anything like that, when she's in the middle one of these headaches. The only thing to do is wait 'em out and when she's feeling better she'll come out and join the rest of the human race." He smiled and tilted his head. "It's nice of you to be concerned though. She'd be happy to know you were worried. Not that she wants you to worry," he rushed on. "But to know that you cared about her, she'd appreciate that. She gets lonely here I know, and I think she's glad to have someone else around when I'm at work."

"Yeah, I got that feeling yesterday when we were talking, that she might miss having people around to talk to sometimes." Buffy said quietly.

"I know she does, I know she does," John nodded. "Did she tell you about her accident?"

Buffy put her slice down and shook her head 'no' as she gave him her full attention.

"About six months ago, she was in a car accident," he looked Buffy right in the eyes. "It was a bad one, totaled the car, the other driver was killed outright." He paused a moment, then continued, "She got off pretty good, but she had concussion, and she needed some care for some weeks. My sister came out with her boys, and took care of her for a month, just was really wonderful to her, to us." He smiled guiltily. "Those were her boys with me at the beach that day. I took 'em to get 'em out of her hair." He shook his head with an embarrassed smile. "Not my best moment, as it turned out."

Buffy smiled and couldn't help feeling a little guilty at her part in that, even though she knew full well she hadn't done anything wrong. But there was Rosemary, trying to recover from a serious accident, while Buffy was swapping innuendoes with her husband.

"Anyway, she recovered pretty well over all, but she was left with these headaches from the concussion, and there's nothing really to be done about it now, the doctors say she'll get better over time, and she has - gotten better - but...she doesn't leave the house too much now, doesn't like getting in the car. I mean she can, but she doesn't want to, you know?"

Buffy nodded.

"We had other foster kids the last eight years, but they were younger kids usually. When Rosemary had her accident we had to give them up. She can't really take care of little kids right now, not with the headaches and all. So we thought we'd offer our home to a teenager, someone who wouldn't set the house on fire or starve to death or anything if Rosemary needed to lay down for a couple days with one of her headaches."

Ah, that explains a lot, Buffy thought. The pieces fall into place.

"And that's also why it didn't occur to us to give you any money yesterday or this morning. You don't really need to hand spending money off to a six year old, you know?" He stopped for a moment and then exclaimed. "Or a house key!" He bowed his head in embarrassment. "My god, what you must've thought today. At least you didn't wind up having to break back into the house. I'm so sorry."

Buffy laughed, "Don't worry about it. But I will take that key if you don't mind."

"Sure," John got up and pulled an extra set out of a kitchen drawer. "Front door, back door, French doors, garage."

Buffy accepted them with a smile. "Thanks."

"Well, anyway, I'm glad you're here, Buffy. And I know Rosemary is too. I think we're all gonna be just fine living here together."

"Yeah, I think we are." Buffy nodded with a soft smile. We're gonna be fine.

xxxxxx

That night Buffy lay awake thinking about her first day in the Smith's home and all that she had learned today. She really liked John. But then she'd known that last summer. She knew it was silly, but she still felt guilty about that. She figured she'd get over it eventually.

And she thought she could learn to like Rosemary, too, once she figured out how to work around the talkative over-sharing boundary issues with her. Perhaps it was a result of the concussion, too. Time would tell how their relationship would develop. For now she'd hope for the best.

Thursday though, that was a worry. She had to go see the high school principal on Thursday and find out what she was going to have to do to get caught up in school. She had no idea what level she'd test at. She had gone to an excellent private school before she was shipped off to the maternity home, and had continued studies while there. And she had tried to read and study some GED material this last year. Would it be enough? She hoped so.

I don't want to wind up being the oldest sophomore in the school, she worried. I've just gotta pass those tests.

With her thoughts spinning around and around all of her worries and fears, she finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

xxxxxx

Sunnydale High School

Wednesday

"What is this?"

Spike slid into the seat next to Xander and frowned thoughtfully at the scoop of orangey grey mush on each of their plates. "Too orange for mashed potatoes...too grey for sweet potatoes... it's... well... it's... it's not worth the risk, mate."

Xander sighed and stared morosely at his plate. "I'm starving, and this just sucks."

"Chicken fingers look okay. May be actual chicken in 'em this time."

"You think?" Xander asked hopefully as he picked one up and bit a piece off carefully.
"Hmmm...could be. Tastes like chicken." He popped the rest in his mouth and nodded happily.

"Don't they say that about every weird animal meat out there? 'But it tastes just like chicken.'" Oz sat down on the other side of Xander.

"Don't care. Hungry. In my world, if it tastes like chicken, it's chicken." He popped another one into his mouth and grinned.

"You live on the edge, man."

"That's cuz you haven't tasted my mom's cooking. This stuff?" he wagged a finger at their respective plates. "is considered gourmet dining at my house."

"Hey guys," Willow plopped down on the other side of Oz, who gave her a small peck on the lips in greeting.

Xander looked a question at her. "You missed most of home room. What'd the troll want with you?"

"You were called to the principal's office today?" Oz asked with concern.

"Bad to the bone, baby." Willow smiled teasingly. "Nah, he just wanted to tell me that I just volunteered to tutor a new girl."

"Volunteered?" Oz's lips quirked in amusement.

"New girl?" Spike asked carefully.

"You mean there's a new girl that Spike hasn't met and dated yet? I'm shocked." Xander placed a hand on his chest and shook his head in mock surprise.

Spike glared silently in Xander's direction.

"Actually, she hasn't started yet. She's gonna start at spring semester." Willow poked at the orangey mush and frowned. What is that? "I'm gonna meet her tomorrow at free period and set up a tutoring schedule for her."

Xander frowned. "That's weird -- don't eat that, try the chicken fingers, Will -- why isn't she in school somewhere now?"

"He didn't say. Maybe she comes from someplace where their semester schedule is different than ours is." Willow left the mush alone with a frown, and started on the chicken. "Or, maybe... home schooled?"

"Or...she just got out of prison!" Xander nodded excitedly.

"Nothin' like a good girl-on-girl prison fantasy to brighten a bloke's day." Spike smirked.

"Ew. No." Willow grimaced. "I keep telling you guys. No sexual fantasies during lunch!" She shook her head and blushed bright red. "It's very disturbing."

Xander and Spike shared a smile at Willow's discomfort. She was so cute when she was flustered, and she was never so easy to fluster than when the subject was sex.

"Anyway, she's off limits guys. She's just supposed to come to the library tomorrow to get her tutoring schedule and books, and then she has to leave. Snyder was really clear about that. The actual tutoring has to be at one of our houses."

"Weird." Oz pronounced.

"Yeah, I thought so too, but there has to be a reason." She nibbled delicately on a piece of chicken.

"Since when does the troll need a reason for anything he does?" Xander finished the last of his chicken and started eyeing the others' plates for potential leftovers.

Willow pushed her plate toward Xander, who waggled his brows as he happily snagged two more chicken fingers.

"I guess we'll find out what her deal is soon enough," he declared around a mouthful of chicken. "Willow'll get us the scoop."

Spike nodded silently in agreement, while secretly planning a way to get a look at the new girl during Willow's free fifth period tomorrow. Now that Harmony had finally stopped stalking him, he was seriously starting to think about his next conquest. He had thought a lot about what Willow had said about settling down with an actual, real girlfriend instead of the serial dating he had been doing, but he just wasn't ready yet. He'd had a good scare, a reality check with the Chelsea situation and the mess that was Harmony, but those were just the result of not being quite careful enough. He'd learned his lesson, and would just be more cautious in who he chose and be more diligent where protection was concerned. He was too young to be making commitments to one girl. Besides, he seriously doubted there was a girl out there who was worth the bother in the long run. And that included the new girl, whoever she was.

No, he wasn't opening his heart to anyone again. He was no fool.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's Note: Ta dum! At long last, the time has come to pull these two young people together. I make no promises for an easy time, but it will definitely be spuffy time. Enjoy!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chapter Twenty-Nine
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Worlds Collide, Part One

Thursday

Today was the big day, and Buffy was so nervous that she woke up very early and couldn't get back to sleep. Rosemary had emerged from her bedroom yesterday afternoon, feeling better than the prior day, but much quieter and tending toward crankiness. Buffy pretty much gave her a wide berth the whole day. The plan agreed upon between John, Rosemary, and Buffy was that Rosemary would drive her to the school this morning, and then Buffy would phone her to come get her when her meeting was done and she was ready to return home. Buffy was grateful for that, as she was a bundle of nerves and didn't want to walk all the way to the school before the appointment.

When she arrived downstairs, a nightgown-clad Rosemary was in the kitchen pouring coffee for herself and grabbing a muffin for breakfast. She turned when Buffy entered the area and just nodded sleepily in her direction and shuffled out again.

"Um, Rosemary?"

Rosemary stopped and looked expectantly back at Buffy.

"The meeting starts at 8:15 so should we leave here at 8 then?"

Rosemary frowned and sighed. "I can't deal with this right now. You're gonna have to walk this time." And she continued walking back to her room. "Sorry."

Great. Buffy rolled her eyes to no one. Annoyed and disappointed, she fixed herself some cereal and coffee and ate quickly, so she could get moving since she was now concerned about being late.

Before she left, though, she had one last thing she needed to do. She returned to her room and got out the little black velvet dress she'd hung in the closet with care and sat on her bed, holding it close to her heart.

"This is all for you, baby. Mommy's gonna do her best and get you back as fast as I can," she whispered as she laid the dress upon the bed and smoothed it out where her tears and fingers had wrinkled it. "I won't let them see my pain, or who I really am, or anything else that could make them keep us apart. You and I know that mommy's not perfect, but they can never see that, I can't give them any excuse to take you away forever. I'm gonna keep you close to my heart, Katie, and soon we'll be together again. We'll be together again. Just you and mommy." She wiped some tears from her cheeks. "I love you, baby."

She hung the little dress back up, washed the tear stains from her face, smiled prettily for the mirror, sighed deeply, and left for school.

xxxxxx

With not a minute to spare, Buffy walked into the main building of Sunnydale High School. A quick look around showed her that the Administration Office was immediately to her left. It was eight-fifteen, and except for a few straggling students everyone seemed to be in class already. With a deep breath, she entered the door marked 'Administration' and walked up to a long counter behind which were two secretaries, neither of whom acknowledged her presence. She wasn't sure how long she should stand waiting before calling their attention, since they were obviously aware of the fact that she was there for something and had not yet been helped.

Finally, a thin older woman with wispy red hair and glasses dangling from a cord around her neck entered from a further room, and approached the counter, asking with a smile what she could do for her.

"I'm Buffy Summers. I have an appointment to see Mr Snyder at eight-fifteen." she smiled at the woman.

The woman, however, stopped smiling at Buffy and gave her a long look up and down, sniffing as she pronounced, "Mr Snyder has left instructions that you are to go to the library and meet with Mr Giles there." She pulled out a xerox of the floor map, with the way to the library marked upon it, and handed it to Buffy. She then turned and without a further word sat down at a desk and began doing something else entirely. Apparently, Buffy had been dismissed. She noticed the other two women had stopped whatever they were doing, watching her carefully as she left the office. She smiled and gave them a little nod, but they did not respond in any way, just silently watched her leave.

Okay, and the strange behavior award goes to...

The library was relatively easy to locate with the map, and in no time at all she was pushing her way through the double swinging doors into an old-fashioned school library. All the shelving, tables, chairs, card files, stairs and banisters were of solid polished wood of some kind. A real throwback, and utterly unlike the modern chrome and plastic of her school library in New York. Buffy thought the wood made the room seem more real, more solid and secure. Warm, somehow. She kind of liked it. Odd that there were almost no computers, though.

No one seemed to be around, so she walked up to the counter near the entrance and rang the little bell. Almost immediately a rather tall, handsome, middle-aged man with brown hair and glasses, dressed in tweed, appeared from an inner office and approached the counter to assist her. Buffy was fascinated that the suit was tweed, having never actually seen anyone wearing tweed before in her life.

"Yes, may I help you?" Tweed Man asked politely, and she realized he was British.

Tweed. British. And the pieces fall into place, she thought. "I was told to come here and see Mr. Giles," she said cheerfully. "I'm Buffy Summers."

Whereupon Tweed Man's entire countenance changed from 'stick-up-my-butt-but-I'm-here-to-be-helpful-to-confused-students-like-you' to 'ginormous-stick-up-my-butt-and-my-true-purpose-here-is-to-shoot-you-down-like-the-insignificant-bug-that-you-are'.

The change was startling in it's swiftness, and Buffy's face fell for a moment before she caught herself and plastered the fake smile back on again.

"Yes. I've been expecting you. Please have a seat at the table over there," he nodded in a chilly manner and went back inside his office without another word.

Huh. She frowned as she sat herself down at the far side of the long wooden table in the middle of the room. She sat waiting for about five minutes and still Tweed Man had not returned.

I guess I gave the 'strange behavior' award out too soon.

Buffy started fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, adjusting her top, twisting the strap of her purse, crossing and re-crossing her legs, anything at all to occupy herself while she gazed about the room waiting for the man to come and tell her what to do next. I thought British people were supposed to be all polite and stuff. She sighed heavily, and continued to wait. The morning was off to a great start.

xxxxx

Giles watched the young girl from his office window as she fiddled with her skirt and looked around the room from her seat at the table. She was wearing a tan skirt that fell to mid-thigh, brown leather boots that came up to her knee, and a short-sleeved scoop-neck white cotton blouse that showed just a hint of cleavage. She had long blonde hair clipped on either side with simple barrettes, wispy strands of hair loosely framing her face. She was trim and toned and her skin glowed with just a hint of golden tan, in sync with the December season in California. He wanted to say she looked slutty, but really she just looked very young and pretty and aware of how to dress to her best advantage. And he had to admit, she was stunning.

But she was a stripper. And had a baby. And was a drug dealer. And exposed her innocent child to the unfathomable danger of drugs and weapons, hidden among the toys in her home, no doubt to thwart anyone looking for them, as absolutely no one would ever think that a mother would hide such dangerous things where her baby would have easy access to them. No, she was not just a pretty young girl who needed extra tutoring. She was a dreadful young woman who should rightly be locked in a jail cell somewhere, and not sitting in his library expecting his assistance in any way.

Wasn't she? Then why did she not seem more hardened, more world-weary, in her manner? She can't have come to do the things she did and be untouched by the tawdry evil of it all. Evil? Yes, he would go so far as to say that her world, her life, had been evil. He wished he could reconcile this girl with that tawdriness, but it was difficult.

Aware that he had left her alone for longer than he had intended, Giles picked up the test material and school schedule that he had prepared and walked to the table to start the process of preparing this questionable young woman for entry into Sunnydale High School.

xxxx

As she had suspected, Tweed Man was indeed Mr. Rupert Giles, the school librarian. As he laid out the testing and tutoring plan for Buffy, she was saddened to note that his tone toward her had not changed in the slightest. She couldn't understand why she was being treated so coldly by the adults she'd met so far. She wracked her brain, searching for something she might have done, to cause this attitude in these people. She was at a loss, though, and decided that either they'd learn to like her and ease up over time, or they would not. Either way, she was not going to let any adult with a nasty attitude keep her from her purpose of fulfilling her probation plan perfectly and getting Judge Holtz to reunite her with her daughter. She had to just toughen up and take whatever they gave out, with the sole thought of Katie in her mind. These people and their hatefulness were for a little while. Katie was forever. It was all for Katie.

Mr. Giles explained that she would be taking five tests that morning, all tests on subjects that were required studies for sophomore students and in line with work she had already started studying when she was in New York. If she passed a test, she would be permitted to 'pass' that particular course and move on to junior year level work. If she failed a test, she would receive special tutoring tailored to assist her to pass the test again in mid-January. A junior had been assigned to tutor her, a very good student named Willow Rosenberg. Buffy would meet Willow today and they would plan the where and when of the tutoring sessions. Before Buffy left today, she would know what subjects she needed tutoring in, and have been assigned textbooks to read and workbooks to study with. She would not return to the campus again until mid-January when she would take her final tests to determine what grade she was properly in and what subjects she would need to take from spring semester until graduation. Did she understand this?

The entire thing was a little overwhelming, but Buffy smiled and nodded and assured Mr. Giles that all was good. And then she took her tests. The first group decided upon were World literature/Composition, Algebra, Biology, World History, and second year French. Since Buffy had done a lot of work in those already as a freshman and at the maternity home, she actually did quite well on these tenth grade tests. She didn't like school all that much usually, but between her strict parents and the no-nonsense attitude of the staff at the excellent private school she'd attended when home, the tests weren't really all that difficult for the most part. She didn't ace them, but she passed them with a good margin to spare.

So really, it was the junior-level course work she'd need to test for now and perhaps study. She passed mid-term level Algebra 2, mid-term level American literature, and mid-term level Art history. She'd need to study Geography, Biology 2, and American history and re-test for those in order to be permitted to enter those classes at the junior level when she started school in a month. If she did that, she'd be right on track. If she didn't, then they would have to consider what coursework to permit her to take second semester. Mr. Giles sternly emphasized that it was in her best interests to pass those three tests in January. She assured him she understood what was at stake.

More than you know, mean British man, Buffy groused to herself.

It was discouraging, but it could have been so much worse. She was actually grateful that there were only three subjects that she'd have to really focus on. It made the studying that much easier when only a semester's worth of three studies was going to be crammed into one month. She hoped her tutor was a good one. She was going to need the help.

xxxxx

Tests complete, it was now lunch time. Buffy thought it might be a good idea to have lunch off campus since she wasn't sure if she wanted to sit alone in a roomful of curious students today. She'd pretty much had enough of being the object of curiosity and general meanness. She wanted a break.

Giles would not permit her to leave yet, though. He had decided that it was best for her to eat in the library, but he himself would get her a tray from the cafeteria. He didn't want her interacting with the other students yet. That seemed very odd to Buffy, but he was calling the shots today and she didn't want to get him any more annoyed than he already seemed to be, so she smiled and told him that his plan sounded good.

Giles left to get her lunch.

xxxxx

Spike had managed to get out of class early on a fake hall pass, and unobtrusively made his way over to the library to see if he could spy on the new girl from the round windows in the swinging doors. And there she was!

He was stunned. She was truly beautiful, and she looked fantastic in that little skirt. That little skirt that rode up her thigh tantalizingly when she crossed her legs. She was writing something down in a notebook, pausing to think with a little wrinkle of a frown, chewing her pencil thoughtfully, moving it in her mouth. Then out again. Then back in. Then out. Then in. He thought it was the most erotic thing he'd seen in a long time. Oh, he had to meet this girl.

He'd seen Giles leave a few moments before, so he decided that now was as good a time as any to introduce himself and feel her out for a date. He wasn't letting anyone get hold of this one before he'd had a chance at her, that's for sure.

xxxxx

Buffy sat writing some notes in the notebook Giles had given to her to use in planning her study work for the next month. She heard the double doors swinging in and assumed it was Giles come back in with her lunch. She was starv---

Oh. My. God. It's Great Coat Guy. Her heart slammed in her chest as her lips parted slightly. He's even more gorgeous now than he was at the mall. She just stared with wide eyes as he came over to the table. Here. He's coming here. She took a breath and put the pencil down.

Great Coat Guy sauntered over to Buffy with a smirk in place, his impossibly blue eyes glittering, and his duster billowing out behind him reminding her very much of some superhero walking in to save the fair maiden from the terrible villain. Or... like the villain coming to possess the fair maiden. She had no idea which fantasy excited her more.

"Hello, cutie." Great Coat Guy stopped a couple of feet away with his hands in his coat pockets and a tilt of his head. That amazing sense of being unequivocally, unrepentantly alive that she had noted in the mall almost a year ago, was very much in evidence today, even more so now that his attention was focused on Buffy.

She let his greeting roll through her like molten liquid. She had gone all gooey just seeing him again. But the British accent pushed her way over the edge. She was mush. She was a puddle of goo and if this amazing boy so much as crooked his finger at her she would follow him without further thought.

"Um, hi," she whispered, then cleared her throat and started again with more control. "I'm Buffy Summers."

"Spike," he said simply as a grin started to spread across his face. "Spike Rayne. Ol' Rupert here is m' uncle."

Buffy just stared at Spike a moment, then thought about what he'd just said. He was Mr. Giles' nephew. The Mr. Giles that apparently hated her for some unknown reason.

Please God, don't let Mr. Giles mess me up with this boy. This beautiful, sexy, amazing boy.

Outwardly calm, Buffy smiled sweetly, stood and leaned against the table in what she hoped was a pretty and mildly seductive pose. She hadn't really done the 'pretty and vaguely seductive young thing' pose since that long ago party that had changed her life forever. The manner came easy to her again, and she forced all negative thoughts about it out of her head. She wanted to impress this boy and get his attention. Assuming he didn't already have a girlfriend...

Oh God. Of course he has a girlfriend.

How could he not? It was probably that dark-haired girl she saw him kissing the first of the year. Still. He was looking at her like he'd devour her completely if permitted. And something deep inside of her wanted him to do just that.

"William? What are you doing here?" Giles walked through the doors carrying a tray with some indefinable school cafeteria lunch upon it, and placed it on the table behind where Buffy was leaning. He quirked his eyebrow and waited for his nephew's answer with apparent impatience.

Spike squeezed his eyes shut a moment, then turned an annoyed eye upon his uncle. Not only had Giles interrupted what was proving to be the high point of his day - of his week! - he had also referred to him as 'William' which was not a name he really wanted this gorgeous girl to know yet. 'Spike' held the promise of life and love and sexual exploration. All the name 'William' promised was that he'd do your English homework for you if you just agreed not to pummel him into the ground at lunch. Although this distinction existed only in Spike's head, he believed it with his entire being. Nobody called him William if he had anything to say about it. It was as though he'd exorcised the ghost of little 'William' long ago and did not wish the shy skinny kid he represented to take corporeal form ever again.

Buffy thought that 'William' was a great name, and thought that although he obviously had decided that the moniker 'Spike' was the one he preferred, she'd very much like to get to know who 'William' was, too. Two sides to this beautiful boy. And she also enjoyed the look of annoyance Spike showed when his uncle asked him why he was there. Apparently, this was an unscheduled visit. Could he have come in to meet her specifically? She could dream, anyway.

xxxxx

Giles didn't know why he was surprised that his nephew had managed to show up at just the right time to catch the beautiful young girl alone. He was not unaware of his nephew's reputation among the students. A part of Giles - the Neanderthal part that lay deep within all men - was proud of his nephew's sexual prowess and conquests. He buried that part deep down inside as ruthlessly as possible most days. The more civilized part of Giles was appalled that his nephew seemed to have lost his moral compass, his compassion, and his sense of fair play with the opposite sex. As terrible as this behavior was for the girls involved, Giles was more alarmed presently with its effects upon Spike in general, and upon the man he was growing to become. He wanted more for his nephew.

But with this girl there was an entirely new worry. She was clearly not the kind of girl he wished Spike to have anything at all to do with. His primary concern was that she could, with her dreadful background and lack of any moral compass of her own, drag Spike down to new lows that he had not yet achieved. That Buffy possessed both the knowledge and the desire to corrupt his nephew beyond anything he'd achieved thus far he did not doubt for a moment.

Giles was torn. As an educator, he was privy to confidential information about this girl that made her completely unacceptable as a companion for his nephew. But as an uncle, he wanted to shout from the rooftops all that he knew of her and prevent any relationship from forming, not with only Spike, but with any of the children he had grown fond of over the last few years. For a brief moment he considered the girl herself, and how this all might affect her, but tamped down those concerns immediately. She had made her choices before he ever met her, and become something he felt was unredeemable in the process. He needed to worry about his children, not this wanton girl before him now.

With a gruff clearing of his throat and a pointed glare, Giles ordered his nephew out of the library immediately. Buffy noticed he did the same head-tilt thing Spike did, although it wasn't nearly so cute on Giles senior.

Spike smirked and did his own head-tilt, and nodded without taking his eyes off this Buffy Summers girl that had so captivated him. With a grin and a promise to see her around, he sauntered back out of the room, coat billowing.

Giles turned his stare on Buffy, and for the first time she noticed the severe scowl he was directing her way. She straightened with a confused frown and shook her head gently, questioningly. She didn't know why this man seemed so hostile, but it was beginning to really upset her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked tentatively. "I mean, I'm getting the impression that you don't like me or something, and I don't know why."

Giles contemplated the girl before him now, and suddenly saw a very young girl who was perhaps not as certain of herself as she let on, and who seemed hurt that she was being treated rather harshly today. He saw for the first time that she really seemed confused by his attitude. Previously, he had assumed she knew exactly what his issues were and dealt with them by smiling and ignoring them. She wasn't smiling or ignoring them now.

"No, nothing is wrong," he lied easily with a very slight smile. "But your lunch is getting cold as we stand here. Please eat. I expect the young woman assigned to tutor you will arrive in less than twenty minutes, and it were better that you were finished and went home soon after. You have a great deal of material to study, and you have no time to be mooning about over boys, Miss Summers." He nodded briskly at her and returned to his office without another word. He could not allow any latent sympathy for this girl change his opinion of who she was and what she had done. He wouldn't let her get to him.

Buffy didn't know what to think about him any more, but she decided to give up on Giles for now. She needed to find out more about this Spike guy. Perhaps her tutor would be able to give her some information.

Spike had burrowed into her brain a year ago and stayed there. Seeing him today just made his presence inside her psyche all the more real and imperative. She needed to see him again. She wanted to get to know Spike. She needed to know him.

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Author's Note: Here's part two of the big 'first meeting' chapter. People are who they are, and they live and they screw up and they grow. As do my characters. Please keep that in mind when reading these chapters. They aren't fluffy bunny Spike and Xander and Oz (and Giles, for that matter) in these chapters. But this is a VERY LONG STORY. There's room for personal growth and forgiveness here. Thanks to all who read and review.

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Chapter Thirty
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When Worlds Collide, Part Two

Thursday Afternoon

In the Library

Shortly after having run Spike out of the library, Mr. Giles brought out a sign and placed it before the double doors, indicating to all that the library was closed for the afternoon. Having thus ensured that no one else was permitted to come into the library, he walked into his office, and closed the door. That had been thirty minutes ago, and he had not appeared since.

Buffy had attended private schools her entire life, from the very prestigious Catholic schools in her hometown, to the little classroom within the maternity home that she had been shunted off to prior to giving birth to Katie. But she had to believe that in spite of her lack of experience with either California or the public school system in general, that her treatment today at the hands of these educators could not be the usual public school experience. Something was wrong, and all the indicators said that it was her. Something was wrong with Buffy, and other students were being shielded from her as though she were a virus threatening to infect 'the system'. The 'system', in this case, being Sunnydale High School itself. This was a depressing thought, and one she did not entertain lightly. There were a lot of things she didn't know, a lot of signals that she had missed in her short life. Obviously. But she knew when people didn't like her.

She now sat at the table, alone, eating... something... in silence.

What is this? she wondered again, as she poked at a glop of mushy green...stuff. She tasted a tiny bit, but nothing registered. It looked like it was supposed to be in the vegetable family, but it was a baffle.

Skip that. Seriously. Life is telling you something when food looks like that. It's a warning sign, a big neon poster saying, 'poison' or 'ick'... Actually, it has a kind of neon quality to it--

Suddenly the double doors swung open. Buffy whipped her head around to see who had dared to defy 'the sign'. It was a small girl, about her size actually, with long straight reddish brown hair and a sweet face. She wore a fuzzy pink sweater with yarn flowers placed haphazardly upon it, and a little red skirt. Black tights and loafers completed the look. Buffy wasn't sure exactly what the look was supposed to say, but the girl seemed nice from her demeanor, and she was willing to embrace anyone in this building today that did not ignore her, disdain her, or try to seduce her. This girl looked harmless, at any rate.

Afraid that if Mr Giles realized she had company that he'd come and remove the girl bodily from the room, Buffy signaled to the new girl that she should be very quiet and come sit beside her.

For her part, the new girl walked quickly and quietly over and took the seat Buffy had indicated. Once the girl had settled down, Buffy took a good look at her new companion and realized with a start that she knew this one. It was Little Red-Haired Girl! From the Espresso Pump earlier that year. First Great Coat Guy, now Little Red-Haired Girl. It was almost like a reunion. Except that they of course didn't know each other, at all, and the others didn't actually know that she even existed, until less than an hour ago. It was ridiculous, of course, but this was the closest she had gotten to actually having kids her own age to talk to and 'hang out' with since she went in the hospital last November. Well, 'hang out', if you consider a few sentences for a few minutes at the most, 'hanging out'.

She'd take that today. That sounded like heaven to her today.

"Hi!" Buffy smiled happily at her new companion. "I'm Buffy Summers. And I am so glad to see you!"

"Me?!" Little Red-Haired Girl squeaked, then lowered a few octaves and said, "I mean, hi." She smiled nervously.

"Hi. I'm kinda shut up in here today taking tests so I can start school here for spring semester. And I so want to talk to someone who is not...old."

"Oh! Buffy I can do that," Willow chattered happily. "I'm your tutor. Willow Rosenberg. Happy to meet you."

Buffy beamed at her new tutor and pushed the tray far away down the table. "So, tutor, what's the plan for today?"

Willow looked around a second, and seeing no one else, asked Buffy where Giles had gotten off to.

"Giles? You mean Mr. Giles, the librarian, right?"

"Well, yeah, but we don't call him 'Mr'. Just Giles."

"He's okay with that?"

"I guess. It's what Spike calls him, and we're all friends for a while now, so we all kinda call him Giles too."

"You know Spike?" Buffy couldn't believe her good fortune. "Tell me about him. What's his deal?"

Willow was taken aback by Buffy's enthusiasm for Spike. She didn't even know she'd met him yet.

He works so fast! How did he get in here already? It's barely lunchtime.

"Um, he's a friend of mine for a couple years now, and he's a really great guy overall..." Willow trailed off.

"But? There's a 'but' in there somewhere."

"But, he got his heart stomped on a few months ago and he's in a dark place right now. I shouldn't even be telling you this, but I kinda think I have to warn you."

"Warn me?" Buffy frowned, dreading what was coming next.

"Yeah," Willow looked miserably at her new student. "I feel really disloyal telling you this, but..." She sighed unhappily and took the plunge. "He's kinda playing the dating scene right now."

Buffy stared at Willow blankly.

"Dating a lot." Willow tried again.

Nothing.

"He's had a lot of...girlfriends... this last six months or so, and I don't mean the kind he'd take home to meet his family."

"Girlfriends?" Buffy hoped she wasn't referring to hookers. Because that was so skeezy. And ick. And heartbreaking.

"What I mean is, he's been kinda getting to know girls, mostly girls who don't know him that well, and then acting all interested in them, then sleeping with them..."

"And then...goodbye, thanks for the ride?" Buffy finished with dismay.

"Pretty much."

Buffy sat back in her chair and tried to fathom the depths of her disappointment in this piece of news. She had been so happy to see him again, and he'd seemed so into her just a short while ago. He was playing her? Really? Just to get in her pants? This day really sucked.

Willow saw Buffy's disappointment and felt bad for having told her about Spike's history but she really didn't want to see her become just another notch on Spikes' belt. As her student and a girl completely new to Sunnydale, Buffy deserved to be informed if she was about to walk off a cliff and into Spike's 'little black book'.

xxxxxx

The Cafeteria

When Spike left the library, he headed straight to the cafeteria to have lunch and confer with his friends about the beauty he had just met.

Good. Willow is no where 'round, prob'ly on her way to talk to the girl even now.

Oz and Xander were seated at their usual table, debating whether the green stuff on their plates today was animal, vegetable, or mineral. It was a dead heat between vegetable and mineral. Green animal matter was simply too horrible to contemplate.

Spike slid in between them and hunched over conspiratorially, prompting them to move closer to hear whatever information he had obtained during 'Operation New Girl'. In all fairness, it was only Xander who actually called it that. As Spike observed, sometimes you simply cannot deny your inner dork.

"Well?" Xander prompted impatiently.

"Fuckin' gorgeous," Spike pronounced. "And right fuckable, too."

Xander sighed happily and sat back a little bit. He lived vicariously through Spike's dating life. And Spike's 'gorgeous' standards were high, so he had great hopes for this one's beauty. Not that it would make any difference to him, since Spike had called her, and Xander would not move into his territory for anything.

Right. As though that is what prevents me from stealing the girls who swoon over Spike.

"Willow in there?" Oz wanted to know.

"Dunno, m' uncle tossed me out on my ear before lunch even started," Spike informed Oz, then continued on. "And, this one shouldn't take but a minute to get to, she was already into me when I walked in the room there."

"No shit?" Oz raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"No shit," Spike nodded at Oz. "Was like she'd already met me, acted like she knew exactly who I was and what she wanted to do with me." He snagged a chip from Xander's plate.

Xander smacked his hand and pulled his plate away closer to himself in a protective shield. Then he looked at the food again, and moved the plate back where it was.

"And what exactly do you think she wanted to do with you, Spike?" Xander teased.

"Naughty things, my friends. Very naughty things." Spike smirked and stole another chip from Xander.

"Nope." Oz was succinct but certain.

"No?" Spike swung his head in puzzlement toward Oz. "What do you mean?"

"Willow's in there with her now."

"Yeah?"

"Talking with her?" Spike sat back and frowned. Oz continued. "Warning her..."

"Shit, you're right. She'd be all protective of her student, wouldn't she?" Spike had to think about this one. He knew Willow didn't approve of his dating behavior, but she had so far stayed out of it. Now, though, she might feel that Buffy somehow belonged to her, and become protective of her. This could turn out badly... No, no, he could still do this.

"I'll bet I can still get to her, even if Willow does interfere," Spike mused.

"No way," Xander pronounced with certainty. "Once Willow tells this girl what you're up to, she'll be immune from you. It's like she'd be vaccinated."

"What?" Spike turned to Xander in confusion.

"You know. Like when you don't want someone to get smallpox, you vaccinate them against smallpox so they can't get smallpox any more." Xander nodded wisely.

"You comparing me to smallpox, mate?"

"Well, you have been spreading through the freshmen girls." Oz noted dryly.

Xander and Spike both turned to stare at Oz in amazement.

Oz shrugged and rose from his chair.

The bell rang immediately afterwards.

"How does he do that? It's like when an animal senses earthquakes, you know?" Xander wondered.

Spike shook his head and pointed out sarcastically. "They have these things now. Clocks." He nodded in the direction of the one on the wall over their heads.

As they gathered up their trays and took them to the trash area, Spike leaned over and made Xander a little offer. "Twenty bucks says I can get this one on a date before the spring semester starts."

Xander thought about it a moment and said, "You're on." Then he added, "And a hundred bucks says you won't get her to sleep with you even if you do get that date."

"Forever?"

Xander gave that some thought. "Six months. From today."

Spike laughed and shook his head. "You better be ready to pay up. Cuz I'm gonna win that one easy."

Xander smiled, and shook his head. Not with Willow around you won't.

xxxxxx

In the Library

When Giles emerged from his office, he was startled to see that Willow had already arrived and was deep in conversation with Buffy. And if his ears were not deceiving him, his nephew's name was coming up a lot in the process.

He cleared his throat to get the girls attention, then sat opposite them at the table. Time to get their minds off boys and onto school work.

"Willow, I am very glad to see that you're on time. Here are the subjects Buffy must study," he handed her a folder with study guides and interim tests, and a stack of books Buffy had been assigned to read. "As well as the books she will need to use. She needs to pass the mid-term exams for each of these classes, and then once that is done attempt the semester final."

"Okay," Willow nodded cheerfully. "We can do this, no problem." She turned to Buffy, "As long as you spend some quality study time each day, hours of study time, we can get you past these tests by mid-January. Okay?"

Buffy nodded solemnly. "Major studying. Gotcha."

"Buffy," Giles started to chide her. "This is serious. You must study or there is no point in wasting either Willow's or my time with this."

"No! No, I am all with the studying. I'm all over it." Giles frowned at her. "Really."

Giles sighed and rose from the table. "Well then, I think it's time you should be leaving, Buffy. You have your assignments and your books. Did you set up a time to meet with Willow tomorrow and this weekend?"

Buffy looked uncertainly at Willow. "We exchanged phone numbers. But we could set up a time for tomorrow after school if that's okay with you, Willow?"

"Sure. We can get together right after school. And on Saturday!" Willow smiled.

Buffy's face fell. "Um, no. Saturday doesn't work for me. I have plans..."

Giles crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Buffy. "You have nothing more important to do than prepare for these tests in January, Buffy. There is no time for playing around."

Buffy's entire demeanor changed as she looked Giles straight in the eye and declared forcefully, "I'm not playing around. And there are some things that are more important than anything else. Even more important than studying for your tests, Giles."

He was about to take her to task for being both frivolous and impudent, but something in her eyes stopped him. She seemed deadly serious about this, and somehow he doubted that the 'other plans' had anything to do with hair appointments, parties, or dates with boys. Whatever this was, it was very important to her. He backed down, and nodded grimly that he would concede her point.

Buffy nodded once, then turned to Willow and told her she'd call her tonight and they could decide whose home to study in and what subjects and chapters to begin with.

And with that, Buffy thanked them both and left the library. She'd had enough of Sunnydale High School for one day.

xxxxxx

Outside in an old black DeSoto, Spike sat smoking a cigarette, waiting for 'his girl' to leave the library and head on home. As soon as he saw her leave the campus from the direction of the library, he started his engine and followed her from far enough away that she would not realize she was being tailed.

He watched as she walked about three blocks into an affluent neighborhood and approached a large beautiful house and let herself inside. He noted the street and house number, and drove on off.

It wouldn't be long before she was eating out of his hand.

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I think I need to remind everyone that this is a LONG JOURNEY, and to please just roll with it as it comes. Some conversations and behavior may not be fluffy bunny Spike (or Xander, or Oz), but this is what is right now. No flames, please. Thanks.

As usual, please read and review. Pretty please.

Sara