*********************************TRAppED**********************************
Forty-Nine: Let's Talk About It
By Annie
2003-07-30
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Day Thirty-Eight.
8.30 a.m.
"...all stuffed with fluff, he's Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh; silly, nilly, willy old bear..."
His eyes opened and met hers as a smile spread across his lips. Her voice had gently disturbed his dreams and as he now looked at her a feeling of pure pleasure flooded his chest. Putting up a hand by her cheek he stroked his thumb over it and then he asked:
"You serenading me, love?"
"With the theme from Winnie the Pooh?" she asked back, a smirk occurring on her mouth and he chuckled.
"Hey, you could be Piglet," he offered and she giggled as well.
"That could get disgusting," she remarked and his smile widened considerably before he moved his arms and hooked his hands in her armpits, pulling her up so that he could kiss the tip of her nose.
Nudging his own along the side of it he then joined their lips softly.
Pulling apart she rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes.
"I dreamed about you," she mumbled.
"Was it a good dream?" he asked and she felt an ache somewhere close to her heart before she opened her eyes again and looked into his.
"Yeah," she then lied; not wanting to deal with the explanation she knew she would owe him if she said that it had been down right terrifying, not wanting to disrupt the comfort. "Yeah, it was a really good dream."
He turned his head to look over at the room's second bed, which was now empty as well as neatly made.
"Where's Red?" he wondered.
"She rises at dawn, I swear," Buffy muttered, then smiled as she sat up, collecting her hair to throw it over one shoulder as she kept her eyes in his. "Notice anything... different?" she inquired and he narrowed his eyes as he tried to see a change somewhere on her.
"Only lack of frenzy on you, pet," he finally concluded and her gaze grew even a few degrees warmer as she reached out and slipped her fingers to lock with his.
"I think I once told you that you know me way too well," she said and he cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "I wasn't exaggerating," she added and he grinned before he squeezed her hand a little.
"Now you're just bloody buttering me up... I scent a favor closing in..." he said and her eyes grew into pure innocence before she once again smiled, this time sweetly.
"Well, there is the lack of frenzy - you were SO completely right about that," she replied and he blinked, a meaningful expression taking a firm place on his features and she bit her lower lip before she continued: "But there's also the obvious need and severe hope that you'll grant me that inclosing favor and... come with me to see my mom this afternoon," she confessed, the last part so quickly that a human ear would most likely have been unable to perceive it.
However, both of Spike's ears suffered no such malfunction and he heard every word. They made his eyes grow into shock as he sat up and stared at her.
"Well... you don't need ME to come with you and see her," he stated, the trace of a question imbedded in the sentence. "I mean... bloody hell, Slayer, wouldn't she take to wondering what the hell I was doing back at her doorstep?"
Buffy shifted slightly in her seat when he let her hand go and removed the sheet, which had been covering his legs, in order to move to the side of the bed; opposite the one by which she was sitting. She looked at his back and then crawled over to him, leaning into him from behind and putting her arms around him before she rested her head in the cranny of his neck.
"No, she wouldn't wonder," she said and he turned his head to glance at her over his shoulder. "'Cause I'd explain it to her," she added and now he twisted his upper-body to once again ogle her, this time in clear disbelief.
"You don't have to do that," he grumbled, but she smiled once more, shaking her head a little at him.
"Do what - exactly?" she inquired gently.
"Turn everything upside down!" he answered, getting to his feet and spinning around to face her as her hands settled in her lap.
She furrowed her brow before replying:
"'Everything' is finally clicking into place! Can't you see?"
They simply eyed each other for a few short minutes and then Buffy stood as well, took the step up to him and wrapped her arms around him again.
"Don't you understand?" she asked as he tentatively held her back. "I want you in my life. And I want everybody to know it. That's how we can start..."
She trailed off, tilting her head back slightly to look up at him. He met her gaze and held it, then at last a smile formed on his mouth and she returned it with relief zooming through her nerves as she began to relax.
"You'll go with me?" she asked hopefully.
"I'll go with you," he confirmed and she smiled even brighter as she hugged him hard.
Releasing him she ran her hands down his chest in a tender caress before she turned away from him and said:
"I really dislike covering that magnificent body of yours - but Willow could walk through that door at any moment, and so perhaps you should put something on."
He smirked as he watched her begin to make the bed.
"Thought you said I shouldn't be shy," he pointed out. "Thought you said she wasn't 'into them' anymore."
He received a pillow in the face for that comment.
***
9.36 a.m.
Xander looked up when the door to Giles' apartment opened, and when he laid eyes on the two trotting rather insecurely through it he looked away with a tightening jaw line. Buffy drew a small breath and turned her head to Giles who came into the room from the kitchen. He gave her a greeting nod and then looked at Spike, who tried to keep a flare of arrogance about him, but had to admit to himself that it was a struggle.
He had never respected the Watcher until the moment the latter extended a hand to him the night prior. Now that respect seemed to expand into making it hard for the vampire to focus on anything at all as he realized that Giles was signing for him to come with him.
Buffy gave him an encouraging glance and he let the hand go, which he had been holding in an extremely firm grip ever since they left her dorm room fifteen minutes earlier, as he tried to send her the same emotion - knowing that she would now try to speak with Xander.
The Slayer and the Vamp split up and went to face whatever unknown terror might be up ahead.
Buffy went around to sit down on the couch next to Xander, who was gritting his teeth and twining his hands with stiff movements, ardently refusing to grant her even the slightest indication that he understood she was there.
She braced herself, then began to speak.
"I know it was a shock," she said. "I can't say I saw it coming myself. I mean, how could I have? I'd never disliked someone with such seethe before in my entire life! I couldn't even have imagined that all of a sudden he'd change my opinion of him so... drastically that I - now - actually find myself needing him... with me... Xander?" She paused, trying to make him look at her as she finished: "If you could just try..."
"To what?!" he interrupted, his voice low with the trepidation he felt at seeing her doing this - pleading that thing's case like this. "To see him through your eyes? Spare me the soap-bit, Buffy. I can't see him as anything but what he is. Sorry to have to disappoint you. Sorry to rob you of the silver lined ending."
She frowned, then shook her head.
"I don't want that," she stated. "I don't want you to lie and say you're okay with it. I don't want you to HAVE to. I can only ask this of you: that you try to understand, as my friend, that to ME he means something more; and that I can't change that simply 'cause you're having trouble accepting it. As for the 'seeing him for what he is' part I can't do anything but say wait and you might get to see just that. And once you do I believe that you'll change your mind about him, just like I did."
"Save the melodramatic punch lines," he snarled, rising to his feet. "They leave a bad taste in my mouth."
"Why do you hate him, Xander?" she asked, though she thought she might already know the answer she was still unsure whether Xander even knew it himself.
He paused, back to her, and then he turned around with an incredulous look on his face.
"Why?!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah..." she mumbled.
"The trying-to-take-you-down, the kidnapping-Willow-and-me, the trying-to- BITE-Willow, the never-ever-seizing-plans-for-destruction - those AREN'T enough of a reason for you?!" he barked and Buffy tried to remain calm as she looked up at him from where she was still seated.
"I think it runs deeper," she replied simply and before he could bellow another protest she hurriedly continued: "I think it has to do with your first introduction to this world we're living in... and the creatures that inhabit it..." He stared at her now, the anger and something dreadfully resembling hurt twirled in his gaze, but he waited for her to finish what she had begun and so she did, with: "I think deep down all of them stand for what killed Jesse."
He swallowed hard, then turned from her again about a moment too late to hide the shining tears filling his eyes.
"I know Spike has done so much harm. I know he might not deserve a second chance. But I'm asking you," she now said as she rose and slowly approached one of her absolute best friends, stopping right behind him as she added: "to please, give it to him. I'm not saying you need to like him... I'm just asking you to tolerate him. Please! For my sake."
"Buffy," Xander grumbled, moving his hands over his cheeks to dry the salt off of them before he turned his head to look at her. "He doesn't deserve to even rest his eyes on you, much less a second chance..." As he trailed off she felt her heart flutter with sudden hope and as Xander shook his head a little she felt it leap. "He's NOT a Scoob," Xander warned and Buffy threw herself around his neck in a harsh embrace which had him practically on his knees begging her to go easy on him.
She apologized with another smile as she made sure there seemed to be no signs of inner injuries and then she hugged him again, this time a bit more normal and he held her close to him in the protective way that he so often adopted around her.
"Who could ever resist you," Xander muttered and she laughed softly, patting his back before she pulled away from him.
"See," she then said, "I think you're already starting to understand him."
***
9.40 a.m.
Giles waited for Spike to step through the door of the guest bedroom before he closed it behind their backs and turned to the vampire. He had never seen the bleached blonde in such obvious lack of words and felt a need to smile over it, though he successfully managed to suppress it. He had the upper hand already as it was; there was no need to rub it in.
Spike glanced about his surroundings, at the tasteful decorating of bookshelves all filled with rare volumes and the large oak bed standing to his right. The room had such a clear English air to it that Spike could do nothing but be reminded of how the man now before him had more in common with him than he would have liked to admit.
"I have no proof as of this day that would tell me to trust you," Giles picked up the thread of speech and Spike fixed his eyes in his as he listened with rising worry, when the Watcher seemed to wait for a response Spike raised his eyebrows.
"No," he then agreed. "No proof at all. 'Xept maybe the me-helping-you-lot- yesterday... perhaps?" he then tried and Giles had the shadow of a smile grace his lips before he replied:
"And how can I know that that was not to serve your own purpose?"
Spike blinked.
"The purpose being something profoundly evil thus I helped to save your lives?" he then asked, growing just a tad aggravated and Giles eyed him for a moment before he said:
"You are older than me, by far. You possess, I am quite sure, wisdom regarding this earth and how to live on it which I shall never even come close to... I made a choice a long while back to pass from the line of doing nothing good and onto the path of something truer - something stronger. The saying 'good shall overcome' is not for not, as I am certain you are aware."
He paused and Spike grew slightly confused where the topic was headed; noticing this the former made the decision to go where he had set out to and continued with:
"In my younger and more foolish days I did some things of which I am not necessarily proud, but still they taught me to... see the good from the evil. They taught me not to be deceived or misled. The things I was involved in gave me one of the more important lessons of my life as they showed me where I did not want to be; where I never wanted to end up. At times you remind me of myself, Spike. You are reckless and a rebel... you want things the way YOU want them, and not the way they are and so you set out to either change them entirely - or simply destroy them. I do not know what has possessed you into changing lanes, Spike. Is it Buffy? Or is it merely the thought of her that serves as that trigger to change it all - or leave it utterly destroyed? Are you thinking of her... William?" Spike's posture grew slightly rigid at that, but Giles had yet to finish as he added: "Or is this another one of those mindless fix ideas that will not let you rest until thoroughly explored? What causes concern is not you telling yourself that it is true - but you telling her. Because, in case you failed to notice, she believes you as only she can when she sets her mind to it: with her whole heart. She cares for you, a great deal. It surprised me greatly to see it, I confess, but it also scared me in a way you never have been able to before. You are stronger than I, immensely so - but if you have set yourself out to cause her pain I swear to you it will return to you tenfold."
He seemed to be done. Spike stared at him with a blend of enraged astonishment moving around his heart. This had not been what he had been expecting.
"I won't cause her pain," he murmured, clearing his throat before he added with even more conviction: "I love her. More than you will ever know. And I was bloody appalled at first! For even... wanting her. But I couldn't fight it. She is everything I need to feel..."
"Good?" Giles filled in and at that Spike had to smile tentatively.
"I suppose this still doesn't count as persuasion for you to believe me," the latter stated. "Guess it's time's job to tell if you can trust me - or not."
They eyed each other in silence for a short while and then Giles gave a nod before he said:
"It is quite ironic, if you think about it."
Spike looked quizzical.
"What is?" he then asked and Giles smiled one of his small smiles again before he inquired:
"Remember what I asked you when I came to your crypt after you completely wrecked my car and I still had to pay you the debt I owed you?"
Spike thought for a moment, and then his eyes lit up just before he nodded that he did, and a smirk drew across his features as he recalled the dramatic getaway from the soldier boys and their killers on four wheels which he had managed in Giles' wreck of a machine. Then his smirk died as he also remembered exactly how long he had been able to hold onto the money Giles was referring to, which had been less than a day since he had been shot in the back and tagged and thus had needed the Scoobies now-for-sale help to get the darn device out of him.
"I think I remember, yeah," he muttered.
"What did I ask, then?"
"I don't remember THAT," Spike replied grouchily, still thinking of his three-hundred dollars as he added: "I remember the scenario of you coming to PAY me, not-..."
"I asked you if it hadn't occurred to you that all of it - you being chipped, only fighting demons, all of that - that it might be part of a higher purpose," Giles cut in and Spike clenched his jaws together as he actually did remember that, at the time, completely ridiculous question. "Listening to you is at times a horror, Spike," the Watcher now added. "At other times quite amusing and then there are those moments where you seem to let your intelligence shine through your rough exterior and I would not be the educated man that I am if I could not see it - or let the knowledge of me seeing it be admitted. Hearing you now... Well, I may not believe in YOU per say, but I believe in Buffy and so I will be no obstacle for her. Or you."
"Is that your blessing?" Spike asked, a hint of sarcasm in his tone and Giles smiled once more, patiently.
"She is still young, Spike. You need to remember that."
"And you need to realize that she is a lot more mature than most of you seem to get," the vamp retorted. "She saves the world and I'm sure she'll keep doing that till the day it bloody... kills her," he added, the last two words causing him to stop himself and he seemed to grow self-conscious as he suddenly drifted off into musings. "She's old for her age, is all I'm saying," he finally finished, looking back at the Watcher who had removed his glasses to polish them; and now put them back in place on the bridge of his nose.
"And you are eternal," Giles said much too gently, it made the words all the more sharpened and Spike felt the urge to wince, but fought it back down.
"I love her," he murmured, it being the only comeback he could think of.
"Then I suppose you shall love her forever," Giles replied, voice still as smooth as butter and Spike swallowed as he watched the other turn and open the door, stepping through it and closing it, leaving the vampire alone with a stillness that was much too quiet.
***
12.44 p.m.
The Summers home was filled with the smells and noises of cooking. From the food on the stove and from the lady cutting up salad to in the next moment swing around and check that the rise was coming along as it should. Buffy stood in the doorway, watching her mother do five things at the same time and wondering if she would ever be able to do that. What kind of a mother would she be?
Pushing the thought away she glanced back at Spike, who was lingering in the hall - duster replaced by a dark-blue sweater and his face a mask of forced calm. She gave him a smile and he returned it right before she stepped into the other room saying:
"Smells appetizing, mom! Whatcha making?"
Joyce looked up, clearly in oblivion that her daughter had already arrived, and then she smiled widely as she came around the breakfast table in the center of the kitchen (on which the vegetable ingredients as well as the cutting board for the salad were spread out) to give the latter a huge and warm hug.
"I've missed you!" she said and Buffy returned her smile. "I thought we said, with the whole Faith ordeal, that we'd see more of each other but you don't write, you don't call - what's a mother to do?" she added and Buffy's smile widened before she looked apologetic.
"I'm so sorry! It's just... I've been a little busy," she explained.
"With the vampires?" Joyce asked in a conspiratorially tone of voice and Buffy smiled - this time wavering - before she nodded.
"Yeah... Um, mom," she said and Joyce, who now had moved back up to the stove and took the rise off it, turned her head back to her daughter with a questioning look. "I brought someone," the latter added hesitantly. "For lunch. A guest... Well, you sort of know him..."
Joyce now had her full attention back on Buffy who leaned back slightly where she stood so that she could sign for Spike to come and join them. He did, all be it on the verge of cautiously, and when he entered the kitchen Joyce stared at him. Then at Buffy. Then back at him.
"I'm sorry, where are my manners," she finally got a grip on herself before she took the steps dividing them and resolutely reached out one hand, taking one of his. "Of course you're more than welcome. Please, go ahead into the dining room - it's right in there. Buffy, would you stay and help me?"
Buffy nodded, exchanging a look with Spike before he left the room.
"I think the roast is just about done," Joyce stated, looking into the oven. "If you cut up those tomatoes I'll take the cucumber and then I believe we're ready to serve this meal, don't you?"
Buffy opened her mouth to respond, but then changed her mind and moved around to stand by the cutting board, grabbing the knife already lying there and beginning to work on the tomatoes.
"So you... recognize him?" she finally had to ask and Joyce, pottering about with the rise as she put it on a serving dish, seemed to pause before she replied in a lowered voice:
"It's kind of hard forgetting someone you've hit over the head with an axe, especially after HE was the one who had to remind you of it! What is he doing back here? The last time I saw him he was bereft over some woman who had hurt him very badly and one moment he was practically pouring his heart out to me and the next Angel was standing in the doorway, telling me to get away from him, right before YOU stormed into the house and threw."
She paused, turning her head to Buffy with a searching expression and Buffy filled in helpfully with:
"Spike."
"Spike?" Joyce repeated, as though that word seemed as far fetched to be used as a name if she had ever heard one. "Well then, right before YOU stormed into the house and threw 'Spike' down onto a table threatening to do all sorts of things to him and it turned out he had actually KIDNAPPED Willow and Xander and... Oh, Buffy, what are you doing with him? I thought he left Sunnydale, you told me he left! And... why did you invite him here for lunch? What was that look you shared just now all about? What is going on?!"
Buffy swallowed, putting the knife down as she faced her mother who was clearly waiting for her to speak up.
"He came back," she said, hearing how little her voice sounded and not sure she knew a remedy for it. "He's been back now for a while and I... Well, we... I'm..."
She trailed off under her mother's inquisitorial gaze, feeling how she began to grow smaller and smaller.
"Does he eat?" Joyce asked and Buffy's eyes widened before she replied:
"If he feels like it..."
"So, he's still a vampire?"
"I'm not sure there are any un-vampires walking around out there... Usually they just turn into a cloud of dust and so it's kinda hard for them to... walk," Buffy answered, seeing her attempt at wit having been completely wasted on her mother she bit her tongue and confirmed: "He's a vampire."
"And if he loses his soul, like Angel did? If he goes on a killer rampage and hurts you as badly as HE did...? What then?"
Buffy murmured something.
"What?" Joyce demanded.
"He doesn't HAVE a soul, mom," Buffy replied and Joyce leaned back on her heels as if hit in the face, her eyes growing so much they practically bulged before she stepped forward and lowered her voice into a whisper.
"Are you crazy?!"
"Mom..." Buffy tried, searching desperately for the right thing to say. "He's not Angel. He's nothing like Angelus... He's Spike, and he loves me. He loves me! Listen to me..."
"No, no, I won't listen to you. YOU listen to me. He isn't real! Don't you see. If you love him back it's like falling in love with a dream. And it may be a beautiful, wonderful dream, sweetheart - but it's still a dream. And one day you're going to have to wake up from that dream. It's better if you do it today than someday when that dream is all you know!"
"No!" Buffy shook her head. "You're wrong."
"Am I?" Joyce asked, watching the defiant expression on her child's face. "And what future does the two of you have? You will grow old where he will stay young forever. You will die, Buffy, and he will have to go on and on without you. You won't be able to... Won't be able to have children with him, will you? Please! I'm begging you, for your own sake, you cannot..."
"Stop," Buffy cut her off, keeping the tears at bay with force as she met Joyce's gaze. "All of that doesn't matter. All of that could happen even if I had a human for a boyfriend, you know it could. The growing old together bit is something we'll still get to do. It's just that my appearance will change, where his won't. And besides..." She trailed off when she realized she had been about to state the fact that Slayer's didn't exactly have a reputation to live until they could die of natural cause. "Well, I don't know if I can have children," she directed the topic away from that road. "All the kicks I receive all the time... We'll... adopt, if that day comes. Don't worry, mom, you'll have grandchildren. But now I'M asking YOU: please, at least try to understand. He means so much to me, and if you just get to know him I KNOW you'll like him. I know you will. Please... say you'll give it one tiny chance."
Joyce hesitated.
There were a lot of contradictory emotions dancing within her in that moment. A big part of her remembered Angel and what she had actually done to make sure that her daughter would have the same opportunities in life as any other young woman her age. It turned out it had all been for nothing. Here her beloved child was, so strong and proud and sure of herself, professing her devotion to yet another of the being's she was supposed to be slaying.
Why did she have to keep falling in love with them? Couldn't she simply get rid of them BEFORE they could actually hold a normal conversation with her?
Joyce smiled at that thought and then she shook her head with a sigh.
"You're old enough to make your own choices, Buffy," she said. "And I couldn't let something as trivial as a boy come between us."
Buffy smiled back at that, embracing her mother and as they pulled apart she had to remark:
"He's like a hundred years older than you... Don't think he qualifies to be put under the 'boy' category."
Joyce seemed to grow pale for just a second, and then she laughed.
"This is going to take some getting used to, I tell you," she stated and Buffy smiled at her.
"Are we having red or white with dinner?" Spike asked as he entered the kitchen, looking at the two bottles he held in either hand before he looked up.
"Let me see which ones you chose," Joyce replied and Buffy watched them as Spike came up to stand beside the former, enabling her to read the labels. "Oh, you have excellent taste," she commended and Spike smiled tentatively at her before he gave a small shrug with one shoulder.
"I spent some time in France..." he said and Joyce's eyebrows rose with interest.
"Really? During which decade?" she asked and Spike stared at her, rather surprised, before he smirked and replied:
"The twenties and some during the thirties."
"Fascinating... You know, I've always thought England to be at it's most interesting during the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds, would you say that that was an accurate observation?" she then inquired, bending down as she grabbed the oven mittens and pulled them on, opening the oven and taking the roast out before she closed the former again again.
"I couldn't tell you of the late eighteen hundreds, I had a small problem with hatchets and burning torches greeting me everywhere I went during that time and so I thought it best to leave the country 'til it all boiled over," he answered and Joyce glanced at him before she shook her head.
"I hope it taught you a lesson," she said and he looked at Buffy, who merely shot him another smile of encouragement and he turned back to Joyce as he answered:
"It did... Just took a while for it to sink in."
"Let's have red, shall we?" Joyce said, in reference to the reason the vampire had even entered the kitchen in the first place, as she picked up the dish now harboring the meat and walked passed him. "We can save the white for dessert. Buffy, grab the rise. And what about England during the early nineteen hundreds?" she then asked as Spike followed her into the dining room.
Buffy could hear him reply and she smiled to herself as she grabbed the rise in one hand and the bowl with salad in her other before she followed the other two.
Yes, everything was clicking into place.
Finally.
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Wow, a downpour of positivity. Wonderful and lovely, as always. I bow my head and hope that I once more managed my aim and satisfied your appetite!
Warm and special thank yous to wolf116 (I agree fullheartedly on the Riley/wanker bit. It wasn't The Dream, I'm still not sure about Restless... well, hence there was no cheese guy. And thank you for hating it almost being over!) ;), Erica (hehe, good good. Sad too, but nice that you think it was a "good run". ;) Those old basement scenes, eh? Very good to hear you wanna relive!) ;P, maribel (oh, thank you for the - I suppose you at least meant to write - forgiveness... ;) Hope you enjoyed the chapter.) :), Leanne (whoa, nice review, girl. :) Thank you SO much for all the wonderful comments! Oh, and the Willow thing - I just gathered it to be kind of a thing between Buffy and Willow, that Buffy knew the Wicca wouldn't mind, y'know...? Guess that wasn't very clear...sorry. Oh, and haha about the half naked guy sharing. And it IS okay to share, truly! Hope you enjoyed the Joyce bit. Oh, and it was TRULY lovely to read that you enjoy me putting my own thoughts about your thoughts out for you to read. I'm happy that's appreciated 'cause I really love reading what you all write me! HOPE you enjoyed the chappie!) :), gattaca (oh, nice that you enjoyed! Hehe, I swear I'm no saint - I have a story on hold because I'm writing this! And thank you for that compliment!) :), Me (Great that you liked the previous chapter and I hope that the Joyce meeting Spike part of this chapter lived up to standards... Oh, and Dawn wasn't there when they defeated Adam. She emerges in season five.) ;), Alyssa (oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. Though I did mean for you to connect it with the character's deaths closing in on them. First Buffy and then Spike... *sob* Okay, so I hope this chapter brought more smiles than tears and the end isn't quite here yet!) ;), Shan-suedluvsbitch (thanks! And exactly! Hm...) ;P, Bitty-Buffy (*smiles* It's so nice to get encouragment on doing a sequel! I love this story too, but I have a story waiting to be finished which I really love writing as well and I'm looking forward to seeing where that'll take me! I'm so sorry to have to disappoint! Thank you for the words though! They warm!) :), Captain (Wonderful! I take it my advice helped? Or was it perhaps all your doing, don't mean to take credit! ;) Hehe, thanks for the understanding, my friend!) :), Caitee (thanks, girl! Hope you enjoyed this as well!) :), LizDarcy (aw, thanks a lot for those compliments, girl! So happy to read that! Just *hug* to you! And hope you liked the chapter!) :), Carol (wow, moved by your words! *smile* Thanks a lot, really! It means a lot to hear that you've enjoyed the full length of the story! I hope I will not disappoint!) :), Phyllis (thanks a lot for all three reviews! It's really great that you do that! Hehe with the cliffhangers. Nice you liked the bit with Adam. Oh, THAT was wonderful to read. Wow, outta hundreds? Exaggeration or no that is still thoroughly incredible to hear! Not that I think you LIE! Just... whoa and thanks and...wow!) :) and last but not least Tricia (ohhh, my friend! I do wish I could oblige and just see where I could go with season five, but as I've already stated there is another story waiting for comletion and I have to finish it. For myself and my readers! Thank you though, thank you so much for the encouragement! And for that very nice comment!) :) - to all - thank you so, so, so, so, so much! I look forward to hearing from you!
A.M.L, Annie.
Forty-Nine: Let's Talk About It
By Annie
2003-07-30
****************************************************************************
Day Thirty-Eight.
8.30 a.m.
"...all stuffed with fluff, he's Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh; silly, nilly, willy old bear..."
His eyes opened and met hers as a smile spread across his lips. Her voice had gently disturbed his dreams and as he now looked at her a feeling of pure pleasure flooded his chest. Putting up a hand by her cheek he stroked his thumb over it and then he asked:
"You serenading me, love?"
"With the theme from Winnie the Pooh?" she asked back, a smirk occurring on her mouth and he chuckled.
"Hey, you could be Piglet," he offered and she giggled as well.
"That could get disgusting," she remarked and his smile widened considerably before he moved his arms and hooked his hands in her armpits, pulling her up so that he could kiss the tip of her nose.
Nudging his own along the side of it he then joined their lips softly.
Pulling apart she rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes.
"I dreamed about you," she mumbled.
"Was it a good dream?" he asked and she felt an ache somewhere close to her heart before she opened her eyes again and looked into his.
"Yeah," she then lied; not wanting to deal with the explanation she knew she would owe him if she said that it had been down right terrifying, not wanting to disrupt the comfort. "Yeah, it was a really good dream."
He turned his head to look over at the room's second bed, which was now empty as well as neatly made.
"Where's Red?" he wondered.
"She rises at dawn, I swear," Buffy muttered, then smiled as she sat up, collecting her hair to throw it over one shoulder as she kept her eyes in his. "Notice anything... different?" she inquired and he narrowed his eyes as he tried to see a change somewhere on her.
"Only lack of frenzy on you, pet," he finally concluded and her gaze grew even a few degrees warmer as she reached out and slipped her fingers to lock with his.
"I think I once told you that you know me way too well," she said and he cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "I wasn't exaggerating," she added and he grinned before he squeezed her hand a little.
"Now you're just bloody buttering me up... I scent a favor closing in..." he said and her eyes grew into pure innocence before she once again smiled, this time sweetly.
"Well, there is the lack of frenzy - you were SO completely right about that," she replied and he blinked, a meaningful expression taking a firm place on his features and she bit her lower lip before she continued: "But there's also the obvious need and severe hope that you'll grant me that inclosing favor and... come with me to see my mom this afternoon," she confessed, the last part so quickly that a human ear would most likely have been unable to perceive it.
However, both of Spike's ears suffered no such malfunction and he heard every word. They made his eyes grow into shock as he sat up and stared at her.
"Well... you don't need ME to come with you and see her," he stated, the trace of a question imbedded in the sentence. "I mean... bloody hell, Slayer, wouldn't she take to wondering what the hell I was doing back at her doorstep?"
Buffy shifted slightly in her seat when he let her hand go and removed the sheet, which had been covering his legs, in order to move to the side of the bed; opposite the one by which she was sitting. She looked at his back and then crawled over to him, leaning into him from behind and putting her arms around him before she rested her head in the cranny of his neck.
"No, she wouldn't wonder," she said and he turned his head to glance at her over his shoulder. "'Cause I'd explain it to her," she added and now he twisted his upper-body to once again ogle her, this time in clear disbelief.
"You don't have to do that," he grumbled, but she smiled once more, shaking her head a little at him.
"Do what - exactly?" she inquired gently.
"Turn everything upside down!" he answered, getting to his feet and spinning around to face her as her hands settled in her lap.
She furrowed her brow before replying:
"'Everything' is finally clicking into place! Can't you see?"
They simply eyed each other for a few short minutes and then Buffy stood as well, took the step up to him and wrapped her arms around him again.
"Don't you understand?" she asked as he tentatively held her back. "I want you in my life. And I want everybody to know it. That's how we can start..."
She trailed off, tilting her head back slightly to look up at him. He met her gaze and held it, then at last a smile formed on his mouth and she returned it with relief zooming through her nerves as she began to relax.
"You'll go with me?" she asked hopefully.
"I'll go with you," he confirmed and she smiled even brighter as she hugged him hard.
Releasing him she ran her hands down his chest in a tender caress before she turned away from him and said:
"I really dislike covering that magnificent body of yours - but Willow could walk through that door at any moment, and so perhaps you should put something on."
He smirked as he watched her begin to make the bed.
"Thought you said I shouldn't be shy," he pointed out. "Thought you said she wasn't 'into them' anymore."
He received a pillow in the face for that comment.
***
9.36 a.m.
Xander looked up when the door to Giles' apartment opened, and when he laid eyes on the two trotting rather insecurely through it he looked away with a tightening jaw line. Buffy drew a small breath and turned her head to Giles who came into the room from the kitchen. He gave her a greeting nod and then looked at Spike, who tried to keep a flare of arrogance about him, but had to admit to himself that it was a struggle.
He had never respected the Watcher until the moment the latter extended a hand to him the night prior. Now that respect seemed to expand into making it hard for the vampire to focus on anything at all as he realized that Giles was signing for him to come with him.
Buffy gave him an encouraging glance and he let the hand go, which he had been holding in an extremely firm grip ever since they left her dorm room fifteen minutes earlier, as he tried to send her the same emotion - knowing that she would now try to speak with Xander.
The Slayer and the Vamp split up and went to face whatever unknown terror might be up ahead.
Buffy went around to sit down on the couch next to Xander, who was gritting his teeth and twining his hands with stiff movements, ardently refusing to grant her even the slightest indication that he understood she was there.
She braced herself, then began to speak.
"I know it was a shock," she said. "I can't say I saw it coming myself. I mean, how could I have? I'd never disliked someone with such seethe before in my entire life! I couldn't even have imagined that all of a sudden he'd change my opinion of him so... drastically that I - now - actually find myself needing him... with me... Xander?" She paused, trying to make him look at her as she finished: "If you could just try..."
"To what?!" he interrupted, his voice low with the trepidation he felt at seeing her doing this - pleading that thing's case like this. "To see him through your eyes? Spare me the soap-bit, Buffy. I can't see him as anything but what he is. Sorry to have to disappoint you. Sorry to rob you of the silver lined ending."
She frowned, then shook her head.
"I don't want that," she stated. "I don't want you to lie and say you're okay with it. I don't want you to HAVE to. I can only ask this of you: that you try to understand, as my friend, that to ME he means something more; and that I can't change that simply 'cause you're having trouble accepting it. As for the 'seeing him for what he is' part I can't do anything but say wait and you might get to see just that. And once you do I believe that you'll change your mind about him, just like I did."
"Save the melodramatic punch lines," he snarled, rising to his feet. "They leave a bad taste in my mouth."
"Why do you hate him, Xander?" she asked, though she thought she might already know the answer she was still unsure whether Xander even knew it himself.
He paused, back to her, and then he turned around with an incredulous look on his face.
"Why?!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah..." she mumbled.
"The trying-to-take-you-down, the kidnapping-Willow-and-me, the trying-to- BITE-Willow, the never-ever-seizing-plans-for-destruction - those AREN'T enough of a reason for you?!" he barked and Buffy tried to remain calm as she looked up at him from where she was still seated.
"I think it runs deeper," she replied simply and before he could bellow another protest she hurriedly continued: "I think it has to do with your first introduction to this world we're living in... and the creatures that inhabit it..." He stared at her now, the anger and something dreadfully resembling hurt twirled in his gaze, but he waited for her to finish what she had begun and so she did, with: "I think deep down all of them stand for what killed Jesse."
He swallowed hard, then turned from her again about a moment too late to hide the shining tears filling his eyes.
"I know Spike has done so much harm. I know he might not deserve a second chance. But I'm asking you," she now said as she rose and slowly approached one of her absolute best friends, stopping right behind him as she added: "to please, give it to him. I'm not saying you need to like him... I'm just asking you to tolerate him. Please! For my sake."
"Buffy," Xander grumbled, moving his hands over his cheeks to dry the salt off of them before he turned his head to look at her. "He doesn't deserve to even rest his eyes on you, much less a second chance..." As he trailed off she felt her heart flutter with sudden hope and as Xander shook his head a little she felt it leap. "He's NOT a Scoob," Xander warned and Buffy threw herself around his neck in a harsh embrace which had him practically on his knees begging her to go easy on him.
She apologized with another smile as she made sure there seemed to be no signs of inner injuries and then she hugged him again, this time a bit more normal and he held her close to him in the protective way that he so often adopted around her.
"Who could ever resist you," Xander muttered and she laughed softly, patting his back before she pulled away from him.
"See," she then said, "I think you're already starting to understand him."
***
9.40 a.m.
Giles waited for Spike to step through the door of the guest bedroom before he closed it behind their backs and turned to the vampire. He had never seen the bleached blonde in such obvious lack of words and felt a need to smile over it, though he successfully managed to suppress it. He had the upper hand already as it was; there was no need to rub it in.
Spike glanced about his surroundings, at the tasteful decorating of bookshelves all filled with rare volumes and the large oak bed standing to his right. The room had such a clear English air to it that Spike could do nothing but be reminded of how the man now before him had more in common with him than he would have liked to admit.
"I have no proof as of this day that would tell me to trust you," Giles picked up the thread of speech and Spike fixed his eyes in his as he listened with rising worry, when the Watcher seemed to wait for a response Spike raised his eyebrows.
"No," he then agreed. "No proof at all. 'Xept maybe the me-helping-you-lot- yesterday... perhaps?" he then tried and Giles had the shadow of a smile grace his lips before he replied:
"And how can I know that that was not to serve your own purpose?"
Spike blinked.
"The purpose being something profoundly evil thus I helped to save your lives?" he then asked, growing just a tad aggravated and Giles eyed him for a moment before he said:
"You are older than me, by far. You possess, I am quite sure, wisdom regarding this earth and how to live on it which I shall never even come close to... I made a choice a long while back to pass from the line of doing nothing good and onto the path of something truer - something stronger. The saying 'good shall overcome' is not for not, as I am certain you are aware."
He paused and Spike grew slightly confused where the topic was headed; noticing this the former made the decision to go where he had set out to and continued with:
"In my younger and more foolish days I did some things of which I am not necessarily proud, but still they taught me to... see the good from the evil. They taught me not to be deceived or misled. The things I was involved in gave me one of the more important lessons of my life as they showed me where I did not want to be; where I never wanted to end up. At times you remind me of myself, Spike. You are reckless and a rebel... you want things the way YOU want them, and not the way they are and so you set out to either change them entirely - or simply destroy them. I do not know what has possessed you into changing lanes, Spike. Is it Buffy? Or is it merely the thought of her that serves as that trigger to change it all - or leave it utterly destroyed? Are you thinking of her... William?" Spike's posture grew slightly rigid at that, but Giles had yet to finish as he added: "Or is this another one of those mindless fix ideas that will not let you rest until thoroughly explored? What causes concern is not you telling yourself that it is true - but you telling her. Because, in case you failed to notice, she believes you as only she can when she sets her mind to it: with her whole heart. She cares for you, a great deal. It surprised me greatly to see it, I confess, but it also scared me in a way you never have been able to before. You are stronger than I, immensely so - but if you have set yourself out to cause her pain I swear to you it will return to you tenfold."
He seemed to be done. Spike stared at him with a blend of enraged astonishment moving around his heart. This had not been what he had been expecting.
"I won't cause her pain," he murmured, clearing his throat before he added with even more conviction: "I love her. More than you will ever know. And I was bloody appalled at first! For even... wanting her. But I couldn't fight it. She is everything I need to feel..."
"Good?" Giles filled in and at that Spike had to smile tentatively.
"I suppose this still doesn't count as persuasion for you to believe me," the latter stated. "Guess it's time's job to tell if you can trust me - or not."
They eyed each other in silence for a short while and then Giles gave a nod before he said:
"It is quite ironic, if you think about it."
Spike looked quizzical.
"What is?" he then asked and Giles smiled one of his small smiles again before he inquired:
"Remember what I asked you when I came to your crypt after you completely wrecked my car and I still had to pay you the debt I owed you?"
Spike thought for a moment, and then his eyes lit up just before he nodded that he did, and a smirk drew across his features as he recalled the dramatic getaway from the soldier boys and their killers on four wheels which he had managed in Giles' wreck of a machine. Then his smirk died as he also remembered exactly how long he had been able to hold onto the money Giles was referring to, which had been less than a day since he had been shot in the back and tagged and thus had needed the Scoobies now-for-sale help to get the darn device out of him.
"I think I remember, yeah," he muttered.
"What did I ask, then?"
"I don't remember THAT," Spike replied grouchily, still thinking of his three-hundred dollars as he added: "I remember the scenario of you coming to PAY me, not-..."
"I asked you if it hadn't occurred to you that all of it - you being chipped, only fighting demons, all of that - that it might be part of a higher purpose," Giles cut in and Spike clenched his jaws together as he actually did remember that, at the time, completely ridiculous question. "Listening to you is at times a horror, Spike," the Watcher now added. "At other times quite amusing and then there are those moments where you seem to let your intelligence shine through your rough exterior and I would not be the educated man that I am if I could not see it - or let the knowledge of me seeing it be admitted. Hearing you now... Well, I may not believe in YOU per say, but I believe in Buffy and so I will be no obstacle for her. Or you."
"Is that your blessing?" Spike asked, a hint of sarcasm in his tone and Giles smiled once more, patiently.
"She is still young, Spike. You need to remember that."
"And you need to realize that she is a lot more mature than most of you seem to get," the vamp retorted. "She saves the world and I'm sure she'll keep doing that till the day it bloody... kills her," he added, the last two words causing him to stop himself and he seemed to grow self-conscious as he suddenly drifted off into musings. "She's old for her age, is all I'm saying," he finally finished, looking back at the Watcher who had removed his glasses to polish them; and now put them back in place on the bridge of his nose.
"And you are eternal," Giles said much too gently, it made the words all the more sharpened and Spike felt the urge to wince, but fought it back down.
"I love her," he murmured, it being the only comeback he could think of.
"Then I suppose you shall love her forever," Giles replied, voice still as smooth as butter and Spike swallowed as he watched the other turn and open the door, stepping through it and closing it, leaving the vampire alone with a stillness that was much too quiet.
***
12.44 p.m.
The Summers home was filled with the smells and noises of cooking. From the food on the stove and from the lady cutting up salad to in the next moment swing around and check that the rise was coming along as it should. Buffy stood in the doorway, watching her mother do five things at the same time and wondering if she would ever be able to do that. What kind of a mother would she be?
Pushing the thought away she glanced back at Spike, who was lingering in the hall - duster replaced by a dark-blue sweater and his face a mask of forced calm. She gave him a smile and he returned it right before she stepped into the other room saying:
"Smells appetizing, mom! Whatcha making?"
Joyce looked up, clearly in oblivion that her daughter had already arrived, and then she smiled widely as she came around the breakfast table in the center of the kitchen (on which the vegetable ingredients as well as the cutting board for the salad were spread out) to give the latter a huge and warm hug.
"I've missed you!" she said and Buffy returned her smile. "I thought we said, with the whole Faith ordeal, that we'd see more of each other but you don't write, you don't call - what's a mother to do?" she added and Buffy's smile widened before she looked apologetic.
"I'm so sorry! It's just... I've been a little busy," she explained.
"With the vampires?" Joyce asked in a conspiratorially tone of voice and Buffy smiled - this time wavering - before she nodded.
"Yeah... Um, mom," she said and Joyce, who now had moved back up to the stove and took the rise off it, turned her head back to her daughter with a questioning look. "I brought someone," the latter added hesitantly. "For lunch. A guest... Well, you sort of know him..."
Joyce now had her full attention back on Buffy who leaned back slightly where she stood so that she could sign for Spike to come and join them. He did, all be it on the verge of cautiously, and when he entered the kitchen Joyce stared at him. Then at Buffy. Then back at him.
"I'm sorry, where are my manners," she finally got a grip on herself before she took the steps dividing them and resolutely reached out one hand, taking one of his. "Of course you're more than welcome. Please, go ahead into the dining room - it's right in there. Buffy, would you stay and help me?"
Buffy nodded, exchanging a look with Spike before he left the room.
"I think the roast is just about done," Joyce stated, looking into the oven. "If you cut up those tomatoes I'll take the cucumber and then I believe we're ready to serve this meal, don't you?"
Buffy opened her mouth to respond, but then changed her mind and moved around to stand by the cutting board, grabbing the knife already lying there and beginning to work on the tomatoes.
"So you... recognize him?" she finally had to ask and Joyce, pottering about with the rise as she put it on a serving dish, seemed to pause before she replied in a lowered voice:
"It's kind of hard forgetting someone you've hit over the head with an axe, especially after HE was the one who had to remind you of it! What is he doing back here? The last time I saw him he was bereft over some woman who had hurt him very badly and one moment he was practically pouring his heart out to me and the next Angel was standing in the doorway, telling me to get away from him, right before YOU stormed into the house and threw."
She paused, turning her head to Buffy with a searching expression and Buffy filled in helpfully with:
"Spike."
"Spike?" Joyce repeated, as though that word seemed as far fetched to be used as a name if she had ever heard one. "Well then, right before YOU stormed into the house and threw 'Spike' down onto a table threatening to do all sorts of things to him and it turned out he had actually KIDNAPPED Willow and Xander and... Oh, Buffy, what are you doing with him? I thought he left Sunnydale, you told me he left! And... why did you invite him here for lunch? What was that look you shared just now all about? What is going on?!"
Buffy swallowed, putting the knife down as she faced her mother who was clearly waiting for her to speak up.
"He came back," she said, hearing how little her voice sounded and not sure she knew a remedy for it. "He's been back now for a while and I... Well, we... I'm..."
She trailed off under her mother's inquisitorial gaze, feeling how she began to grow smaller and smaller.
"Does he eat?" Joyce asked and Buffy's eyes widened before she replied:
"If he feels like it..."
"So, he's still a vampire?"
"I'm not sure there are any un-vampires walking around out there... Usually they just turn into a cloud of dust and so it's kinda hard for them to... walk," Buffy answered, seeing her attempt at wit having been completely wasted on her mother she bit her tongue and confirmed: "He's a vampire."
"And if he loses his soul, like Angel did? If he goes on a killer rampage and hurts you as badly as HE did...? What then?"
Buffy murmured something.
"What?" Joyce demanded.
"He doesn't HAVE a soul, mom," Buffy replied and Joyce leaned back on her heels as if hit in the face, her eyes growing so much they practically bulged before she stepped forward and lowered her voice into a whisper.
"Are you crazy?!"
"Mom..." Buffy tried, searching desperately for the right thing to say. "He's not Angel. He's nothing like Angelus... He's Spike, and he loves me. He loves me! Listen to me..."
"No, no, I won't listen to you. YOU listen to me. He isn't real! Don't you see. If you love him back it's like falling in love with a dream. And it may be a beautiful, wonderful dream, sweetheart - but it's still a dream. And one day you're going to have to wake up from that dream. It's better if you do it today than someday when that dream is all you know!"
"No!" Buffy shook her head. "You're wrong."
"Am I?" Joyce asked, watching the defiant expression on her child's face. "And what future does the two of you have? You will grow old where he will stay young forever. You will die, Buffy, and he will have to go on and on without you. You won't be able to... Won't be able to have children with him, will you? Please! I'm begging you, for your own sake, you cannot..."
"Stop," Buffy cut her off, keeping the tears at bay with force as she met Joyce's gaze. "All of that doesn't matter. All of that could happen even if I had a human for a boyfriend, you know it could. The growing old together bit is something we'll still get to do. It's just that my appearance will change, where his won't. And besides..." She trailed off when she realized she had been about to state the fact that Slayer's didn't exactly have a reputation to live until they could die of natural cause. "Well, I don't know if I can have children," she directed the topic away from that road. "All the kicks I receive all the time... We'll... adopt, if that day comes. Don't worry, mom, you'll have grandchildren. But now I'M asking YOU: please, at least try to understand. He means so much to me, and if you just get to know him I KNOW you'll like him. I know you will. Please... say you'll give it one tiny chance."
Joyce hesitated.
There were a lot of contradictory emotions dancing within her in that moment. A big part of her remembered Angel and what she had actually done to make sure that her daughter would have the same opportunities in life as any other young woman her age. It turned out it had all been for nothing. Here her beloved child was, so strong and proud and sure of herself, professing her devotion to yet another of the being's she was supposed to be slaying.
Why did she have to keep falling in love with them? Couldn't she simply get rid of them BEFORE they could actually hold a normal conversation with her?
Joyce smiled at that thought and then she shook her head with a sigh.
"You're old enough to make your own choices, Buffy," she said. "And I couldn't let something as trivial as a boy come between us."
Buffy smiled back at that, embracing her mother and as they pulled apart she had to remark:
"He's like a hundred years older than you... Don't think he qualifies to be put under the 'boy' category."
Joyce seemed to grow pale for just a second, and then she laughed.
"This is going to take some getting used to, I tell you," she stated and Buffy smiled at her.
"Are we having red or white with dinner?" Spike asked as he entered the kitchen, looking at the two bottles he held in either hand before he looked up.
"Let me see which ones you chose," Joyce replied and Buffy watched them as Spike came up to stand beside the former, enabling her to read the labels. "Oh, you have excellent taste," she commended and Spike smiled tentatively at her before he gave a small shrug with one shoulder.
"I spent some time in France..." he said and Joyce's eyebrows rose with interest.
"Really? During which decade?" she asked and Spike stared at her, rather surprised, before he smirked and replied:
"The twenties and some during the thirties."
"Fascinating... You know, I've always thought England to be at it's most interesting during the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds, would you say that that was an accurate observation?" she then inquired, bending down as she grabbed the oven mittens and pulled them on, opening the oven and taking the roast out before she closed the former again again.
"I couldn't tell you of the late eighteen hundreds, I had a small problem with hatchets and burning torches greeting me everywhere I went during that time and so I thought it best to leave the country 'til it all boiled over," he answered and Joyce glanced at him before she shook her head.
"I hope it taught you a lesson," she said and he looked at Buffy, who merely shot him another smile of encouragement and he turned back to Joyce as he answered:
"It did... Just took a while for it to sink in."
"Let's have red, shall we?" Joyce said, in reference to the reason the vampire had even entered the kitchen in the first place, as she picked up the dish now harboring the meat and walked passed him. "We can save the white for dessert. Buffy, grab the rise. And what about England during the early nineteen hundreds?" she then asked as Spike followed her into the dining room.
Buffy could hear him reply and she smiled to herself as she grabbed the rise in one hand and the bowl with salad in her other before she followed the other two.
Yes, everything was clicking into place.
Finally.
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ******************
Wow, a downpour of positivity. Wonderful and lovely, as always. I bow my head and hope that I once more managed my aim and satisfied your appetite!
Warm and special thank yous to wolf116 (I agree fullheartedly on the Riley/wanker bit. It wasn't The Dream, I'm still not sure about Restless... well, hence there was no cheese guy. And thank you for hating it almost being over!) ;), Erica (hehe, good good. Sad too, but nice that you think it was a "good run". ;) Those old basement scenes, eh? Very good to hear you wanna relive!) ;P, maribel (oh, thank you for the - I suppose you at least meant to write - forgiveness... ;) Hope you enjoyed the chapter.) :), Leanne (whoa, nice review, girl. :) Thank you SO much for all the wonderful comments! Oh, and the Willow thing - I just gathered it to be kind of a thing between Buffy and Willow, that Buffy knew the Wicca wouldn't mind, y'know...? Guess that wasn't very clear...sorry. Oh, and haha about the half naked guy sharing. And it IS okay to share, truly! Hope you enjoyed the Joyce bit. Oh, and it was TRULY lovely to read that you enjoy me putting my own thoughts about your thoughts out for you to read. I'm happy that's appreciated 'cause I really love reading what you all write me! HOPE you enjoyed the chappie!) :), gattaca (oh, nice that you enjoyed! Hehe, I swear I'm no saint - I have a story on hold because I'm writing this! And thank you for that compliment!) :), Me (Great that you liked the previous chapter and I hope that the Joyce meeting Spike part of this chapter lived up to standards... Oh, and Dawn wasn't there when they defeated Adam. She emerges in season five.) ;), Alyssa (oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. Though I did mean for you to connect it with the character's deaths closing in on them. First Buffy and then Spike... *sob* Okay, so I hope this chapter brought more smiles than tears and the end isn't quite here yet!) ;), Shan-suedluvsbitch (thanks! And exactly! Hm...) ;P, Bitty-Buffy (*smiles* It's so nice to get encouragment on doing a sequel! I love this story too, but I have a story waiting to be finished which I really love writing as well and I'm looking forward to seeing where that'll take me! I'm so sorry to have to disappoint! Thank you for the words though! They warm!) :), Captain (Wonderful! I take it my advice helped? Or was it perhaps all your doing, don't mean to take credit! ;) Hehe, thanks for the understanding, my friend!) :), Caitee (thanks, girl! Hope you enjoyed this as well!) :), LizDarcy (aw, thanks a lot for those compliments, girl! So happy to read that! Just *hug* to you! And hope you liked the chapter!) :), Carol (wow, moved by your words! *smile* Thanks a lot, really! It means a lot to hear that you've enjoyed the full length of the story! I hope I will not disappoint!) :), Phyllis (thanks a lot for all three reviews! It's really great that you do that! Hehe with the cliffhangers. Nice you liked the bit with Adam. Oh, THAT was wonderful to read. Wow, outta hundreds? Exaggeration or no that is still thoroughly incredible to hear! Not that I think you LIE! Just... whoa and thanks and...wow!) :) and last but not least Tricia (ohhh, my friend! I do wish I could oblige and just see where I could go with season five, but as I've already stated there is another story waiting for comletion and I have to finish it. For myself and my readers! Thank you though, thank you so much for the encouragement! And for that very nice comment!) :) - to all - thank you so, so, so, so, so much! I look forward to hearing from you!
A.M.L, Annie.