This is such a great continuation of your series - an excellent chapter.

An very well written chapter!  You captured the essence of the inner turmoil which suddenly plaqued Spike.  What happens when one is not prepared...  A true soul searching.

Another fantastic chapter. Please update again soon.

Oh I am glad that Buffy trusts him.

I love your line on Spike dilemma - unwilling to be a monster, unable to be a man. They are so.............delicious.....woohooo....

thank you for the update it's the best christmas present ever!!
Merry x-mas!

Wow, poor Spike! No chip, no soul, and only unrequited love to reign in the demon. He doesn't deserve this, and I can't believe Buffy expects him to control himself so easily especially with the whole debacle that was Angelus. Anyway,I enjoyed the beginning of the chapter with the fighting and punching of Xander. Thanks for for the great, extra long chapter right before Christmas! Merry Christmas and good luck with your shopping!

Ah, malfunction....and now temptation.

And I was starting to think of Willow's illness as some kind of curse....lucky for her Tara's a smart cookie.

Beautifully written dilema for Spike. You can feel his pain and fear along with the flicker of hope that his unnatural days are over. He is in a private hell that you painted vividly.

Glad Buffy stood up for him with the group. I was delighted at her pure joy in the "fight" when she found out he was off the leash. It speaks volumes that she didn't distrust him at all not from the start!

Aha! Willow is being attacked by this sorcerer...this could be very very bad indeed.

Thanks for the Christmas prezzie!

Kathleen

Great chapter, loved it. I had wondered if it was Buffy or just the chip this time, and I really like what you did with it. LOVED the fight, too. Very them. And the tension was high, and if the audience wasn't there, I bet it would have ended in another hot and sweaty activity right there on the floor.

And now the real test. Will Spike be able to make it without the test? Buffy can't just expect him to know what to do, she needs to show him.

I do like how tender she was with him, though. She actually cared about his pain, even more than on the actual show when the chip was degrading.

I love the way you've written poor Spike's dilemma; finally the chip is out, but now what??? So often fics have the chip come out, and its no big deal; but Spike IS a demon, and you've laid out his quandry beautifully; I love this series, and can't wait for more; Merry Christmas!!!

Hmm... waiting to see what happens next..
poor Spike. not as strong as I thought he would be..

Enjoy your holiday..