Author's note: ilovelobsters hs brought to my attention that Spike was too domineering and Buffy too weak in my last chapter.So, just as an explanation, Buffy has always been pretty emotionally fragile, she can deal with everything else, just not the emo stuff so that contributed to her non-violent-ness. Another is surprise that Spike was actually being domineering and serious with her (I didn't seem much of domineering Spike in Season 5) So that was why she just sat there and took it, as for Spike, well, he's a crafty one and he likes to speak his mind, so I think his level of dominance in chapter 35 was good-of course I'm the writer and I think all my characterizations are good. Nevermind, on with the story-

Chapter 36 - Whiplash

As soon as Spike left her room Buffy had gone back to simply wanting to kill him.

As painfully as she possibly could.

What had he done to her? She had just followed all his instructions, she sat there, on his lap like a hussy. And then she just listened to what he said and she just broke down.

Broke down crying, like some girly little missy.

How the hell did he do that?

He was just so-For some reason he-

It was really hard to explain.

She was in a really vulnerable position and he totally took advantage of her, in a way that was not taking advantage of her at all. He didn't sleep with her, he didn't kiss her he hugged her minimally for like a second and why did he want her like that?

And why did SHE suddenly really, really want him to?

Damn him.

She was exhausted, he little emotional out burst had drained her, but she had been so tired of holding fast and keeping everything back. No she needed to let go, she just felt so, gross and mucky and disgusting.

She felt really weak and gross and right now she wanted dust Spike for making her even thinking that weak was okay.

But she didn't want to deal with him now. She didn't want to deal with anything.

An she, supposed, it could have been worse. And right now, she didn't want to think about anything.

Right now she just wanted to sleep and forget everything.

When Spike walked back to his library he found his daughter sitting in his favorite chair and smirking at him. She sat crossed legged looking incredibly tiny sitting in the large lazy-boy like seat. She did look rather like him, she had his knowing blue eyes and the smirk. And he suddenly realized just how much that this was annoying.

"What is it, Minion?" he asked.

The smirk turned into a grin.

Spike sighed grabbing a leather bound volume off on of the tables. She would soon talk about why she was here.

"You are in my chair." he told her simply.

Alex didn't budge, her smile got only got wider. She lifted her chin and pointedly stared at her father.

"I know."

Spike sighed and shook his head.

"Minion what is this about?" he asked.

"You love her don't you?"

Spike's eyebrows shot up. He cocked his head to one side and crossed his arms. Alex just stared back mimicking his posture. After a few intense moments of the staring contest, Alex added,

"Buffy." she paused. "You love her don't you?"

Spike sighed, deciding that he would be in more trouble if he denied anything, and he could never hide affection for too long.

"Yeah!" he said arching an eyebrow. "What of it?"

A large grin spread over the young girl's face.

"Nothing." she said. "Just wanted to see if you would admit it."

"You think I wasn't going to admit to that kind of thing?" Spike asked disbelievingly. He had thought she knew him better than that.

Alex shook her head.

"Nope." she said. "You'd concede for sure, just the kind of thing you'd do."

"I thought it was an inevitable thing." Spike said, "The whole love-thing. I did in your dimension."

"I figured you and Buffy conveniently ignored that part of the tale."

Spike shook his head but he was smiling as he did so. He was pretty sure that Buffy did, even if he didn't.

"Perceptive little bint aren't we?" he asked, putting down his book and hauling Alex off his chair. Alex promptly sat on the arm rest ignoring his orders not to put her 'bloody' feet on his favorite 'sodding' chair.

"Learned from the best." She said with a smug grin.

He smirked.

"That's my girl."

Alex nodded, she hesitated for a second. Spike peered at her strangely for a moment; he nodded for her to push on.

"If you love her why don't you tell her?"

Spike's smirked turned into a frown. He looked down and then back up at his daughter, he could have sworn she looked much younger than fifteen at this moment. There was a vulnerability in her tone that he didn't like.

"I'm not sure." he admitted. "It's complicated."

Alex rolled her eyes, she punched him lightly on the arm.

"God, 'Da you're starting to sound like a shy teenager."

Spike shrugged.

"Just something about this place," he said with a smile. "Makes me feel like I am a shy teenager." he chuckled lowly. "again." He shrugged. "Look at me, Minion, I'm a hundred and forty seven years old and I'm still acting like that bloody ponce, William."

"Well, I think you should tell her." Alex said.

Spike cocked an eyebrow and studied his eldest.

She looked deadly serious.

"Playing cupid are you, minion?" he asked.

It wasn't a question.

Alex smiled. Leave it to her 'Da to see right through her.

"Where ever would you get that idea?" she asked playing innocent and knowing that he was not falling for the act.

"You are dealing with the master now." he said smirking. Then he reached over and grabbed her by the shoulders, Alex squealed and struggled to no avail. And set her down. "And get your bloody dirty feet off my sodding favorite chair."

Alex stuck her tongue out at him.

"Now run along," he said. "It's already ten and you have school tomorrow."

Alex shook her head.

"Tomorrow's Saturday." she said smugly.

"You know when I went to school I had to walk uphill both ways." Spike said with a smirk. "In the snow and rain without any shoes on."

Alex rolled her eyes. He plopped himself in down in his chair and opened the book in front of him.

"Try that again when we aren't surrounded by more money than an African country hopes to see in a decade." She said, waving her arms at the opulence. She turned on her heel to walk away.

"Oh and, minion," Spike called his eyes already fastened on the book.

"Mmhm?"

"You tell your mother about this conversation and I'll rip of your head and feed from your bloody brain stem." he said with a rather small, horrible smile on his face. "Don't want everyone to go around thinking I'm a ponce."

Alex rolled her eyes unaffected by the imagery. One got used to it with parents like Buffy in Spike. They complemented each other so perfectly; she only wished that they could see it.

"Yeah and being a watcher so doesn't do that to you already."

The next morning Buffy Summers-currently of Wescottshire, England-woke up feeling a stage less than hung over but still wholly and completely terrible. She realized that she was still wearing her gross clothing from the other day.

"Oh great." Buffy murmered.

She got up and crossed the room to her large bath room intent on scrubbing the last ten years from her body. And then conditioning, moisturizing, exfoliating the rest of what was left until she looked dewy fresh and absolutely perfect.

She figured that she might as well look perfect because she felt like absolute crap.

Where did Spike get off thinking that he could just go and dissect her like that? What was that about?

She needed to be weak? The strong need to be weak?

Yeah, whatever.

She was strong and she needed to be strong.

Pfft, weak her taut, chosen-duties toned ass.

She massaged conditioner into her hair, making sure she got into all of it. She had stopped using bleach when they had left the facility and if was turning back into its natural darker dirty blonde.

Buffy ran her heads through it and sighed.

Maybe if she hoped and wished hard enough, she may just reappear in her room back in LA that was a shrine to Dorothy Hamil and her ice skates and everything. Everything was so much less complicated.

Her parents were not yet divorced, not yet even thinking of it, she had never killed anything in her life save for maybe the odd cockroach that got in her way and most of all, she was not yet the slayer. She was still just Buffy, the cheerleader and the May Queen and the Queen Bee. back then she'd never have to send her first love to hell have him comeback, she would never have slime in her sweaters from slaying monsters, she'd never have to deal with all the crazy things she'd had become used to dealing with, she'd never have to go to Sunnydale at all.

Unfortunately, she opened her eyes to the pristine expensive tiling of her bathroom in Wescottshire, and she was still her nineteen-almost-twenty-year-old-self. she was also starting to get really wrinkly from all the moisture.

Damn.

Sighing, Buffy stepped out of the now steamed over shower.

She went up to the wardrobe to pick an outfit.

Fifteen minutes later, she was perfectly coiffed, she smelled amazing, her face was made up to perfection, her out fit was perfect and looked sophisticated and comfortable and she all in all looked wonderful.

She still felt like a tub of lard, though.

She couldn't put it put for much longer, she was hungry and bored.

Inwardly she fought with herself, it was either waste away in her room, moping or face that cocky-ass vampire. That cocky, fine-assed vampire.

Coming to a decision, she dragged her feet as she walked down the grand staircase

What was this?

Why was she being so mopey? She should be going down there, and if Spike even so much as thought something at her she would stake him before he had the time to say, "Slayer."

Shaking her head, she stood up straight and stepped lighter. When she entered the kitchen she noticed that little William was already in his chair and Alex was currently seated and was successfully feeding him some squash.

"Morning, mum." she said not looking up from her task.

At the head of the table, Spike put down his paper and stood up in greeting as he had been taught to all his life. (Actual life not unlife.)

"Morning, Slayer." he greeted taking a sip from his mug. (It had a picture of the count from Seasame Street on it. upon any other occasion Buffy would probably have burst out laughing.) Presumably it was his preferred morning drink of blood with shredded up Wheatabix. (How one earth did she knew this?) "You feeling better?"

Buffy sent him a glare that plainly said that, no she wasn't.

Spike raised both his eyebrows and went back to his paper.

She bored holes into it before turning to Alex.

"What's up?" she asked sitting down and helping herself to some Belgian waffles.

"You wolf is up." Alex said, she stirred the yellow squash mush. She gestured with her chin to the other side of the room where Rosemary was leading a man into the room and making him sit down. A man that looked startlingly familiar.

Buffy's eyes widened.

"Oz?"