This story is wonderfully written.  Good plotting with bang-on characterizations. Sooo looking forward to its continuation.

I've came into the story late and have been reading from the very start but just had to stop and post after this chapter...

Giles is a pompous git in this chapter....well in most of the chapters so far.  Boo him!

Buffy's comments about Anya are fabulous, with just the right amount of in-their-faceness.  I loved the line "why Anya is allowed to sit at that table..."  Go Buffy!

Now if she would just wise up and realize that the witches are taking advantage of her.  Well, at least Willow is.  I just love Tara too much to think ill of her!

Keep writing!

This story is wonderfully written.  Good plotting with bang-on characterizations. Sooo looking forward to its continuation.

I've came into the story late and have been reading from the very start but just had to stop and post after this chapter...

Giles is a pompous git in this chapter....well in most of the chapters so far.  Boo him!

Buffy's comments about Anya are fabulous, with just the right amount of in-their-faceness.  I loved the line "why Anya is allowed to sit at that table..."  Go Buffy!

Now if she would just wise up and realize that the witches are taking advantage of her.  Well, at least Willow is.  I just love Tara too much to think ill of her!

Keep writing!

Oh, no Spike!  What are you up to now?

This story is so great.  I loved every word of it, and cannot wait to read more!

Damn girl, this shit is good. you need to start writing faster

I must have been logged out when I posted my comment.  This was me, IB:

From here, "All that evening, Spike lay in a sprawl atop the hard slab of the sarcophagus, his blue eyes fixed on the clouds of dust motes drifting near the stone supports of the cobwebbed ceiling" to here, "Finally, she was exposed and all his, and he kissed his way along her breastbone and her stomach…all the way down to the place that had been his undoing" is hard evidence of your brilliance.  I know, I keep saying that, but I feel the need to repeat myself everytime I read a passage like this one.  You had my rapt attention from the very first sentence, though I admit that I zoned out for a moment picturing Spike naked

I read this last night, but didn't have time to comment, mostly because I was trying to translate Latin   I even downloaded a translator...Then I remembered that Husband took Latin in school, and there's a dictionary on the shelf   The Bible reference is used very well.  In one little sentence, we are reminded that Spike is not the leather-clad hoodlum that he appears to be: he's well-educated from an era when Latin wasn't quite dead and was once a respectable Christian man.  In other words, he was William.  He still is.

you are amazing. 

I'm very proud of Buffy! She finally stood up to all of them, and Anya. Well, you gotta love her.

For a moment there I had a flash of Ethan standing in the doorway of Spike's crypt. But he knows what Ethan looks like, right? And why would I think that you would have him team up with Ethan. *shrugs*

Still enjoying this greatly. Looking foward to your next installment! Keep up the awesome work!

Seriously hoping that Spike doesn't screw it up big time now that Buffy seems to have come around!

Loved Buffy standing up to Giles , but I'm a bit scared for Spike cause... well, he is going to screw up isn't he?

Finally, Buffy makes a point with the "in control of her life" crowd. Now I don't dislike Anya at all (always thought her demon knowledge was seriously underutilized), but Buffy does have a very good point. Not to mention that every single one of the Scoobies has done something destructive in their lives. Eyghon, anyone? What was that, hyena-boy almost rapist? And Ms. Almost-A-Vengeance-Demon over Veruca?

excellent scene with buffy confronting  the scoobies. loved anya. very good read, thank you very scary last line.

Nice short chapter. Going to cut right to it and give my favorite part straight up...


“How many people have you killed?” Buffy demanded. “How many lives have you ruined and people have you tormented? You didn’t have to do anything you did—you had free will and you knew right from wrong. You enjoyed the things you did—you still enjoy the memory of them—and you’re somehow considered better than Spike?”

“She’s over a thousand years old!” she persisted, focusing her gaze on him now, as well as Anya. “Spike isn’t even a hundred and fifty. You do the math and tell me whose tally of victims runs higher, and then you tell me why Anya is allowed to sit at that table with everyone else while Spike is considered so disgusting people are paying me to stay away from him!”

Thank you for adding this crucial point to your story. One I know that bothers other Spike/Spuffy fans as much as it does me. Anya, over a thousand year old 'ex' demon who killed not to mention probably tortured ( after all she was a vengeance demon) many people is excepted by everyone, yet Spike who was/is a harmless chipped vamp is still hated. I do seem to remember a conversation that Giles had with Spike in The I In Team where he said "has it occurred to you that there might be a higher purpose--" At that moment Giles even suspected that he could be more.  Yet the writers keep forcing the issue that Spike is evil and that everyone must hate him. Too bad that's not what the fans wanted. Thanks for pointing out the contradiction.

As for your last paragraph, all I can say is ..its an ill wind that blows no good.
-

From here, "All that evening, Spike lay in a sprawl atop the hard slab of the sarcophagus, his blue eyes fixed on the clouds of dust motes drifting near the stone supports of the cobwebbed ceiling" to here, "Finally, she was exposed and all his, and he kissed his way along her breastbone and her stomach…all the way down to the place that had been his undoing" is hard evidence of your brilliance.  I know, I keep saying that, but I feel the need to repeat myself everytime I read a passage like this one.  You had my rapt attention from the very first sentence, though I admit that I zoned out for a moment picturing Spike naked ;-)

I read this last night, but didn't have time to comment, mostly because I was trying to translate Latin :-P  I even downloaded a translator...Then I remembered that Husband took Latin in school, and there's a dictionary on the shelf :-P  The Bible reference is used very well.  In one little sentence, we are reminded that Spike is not the leather-clad hoodlum that he appears to be: he's well-educated from an era when Latin wasn't quite dead and was once a respectable Christian man.  In other words, he was William.  He still is.

All that evening, Spike lay in a sprawl atop the hard slab of the sarcophagus, his blue eyes fixed on the clouds of dust motes drifting near the stone supports of the cobwebbed ceiling. He was naked, his hair disheveled and his neck bruised, his lips stained the same faint red as the sunset sky outside. He hadn’t set his feet on the floor since Buffy had left almost nine hours before; he hadn’t eaten. He hadn’t even moved. He’d done nothing but lie on his back, gazing upward. Though unsmiling, his swollen mouth held a vague suggestion of happiness, the bottom lip drooping, unneeded breath rasping over it with lifelike regularity. The long fingers of his left hand tangled in silky material of the underwear she’d left behind, but he didn’t feel that any more than he actually saw the cracked ceiling on which his eyes were trained. He wasn’t really there, wasn’t really alone, and the passage of time meant nothing because it was still last night and she was with him.

Now that is what they call "afterglow."  I call it hazy sensual perfection.

Also, I don't think I've mentioned before, but I really like your characterization of the other characters, too.  Yes, Giles makes me want to throw things, but you are doing a tremendous job of giving him motive.  If he ends up being a villain in all this, then he will be a great villain, because he'll think he's doing the right thing for the person he loves.

Whoa.  That last bit could have been about Spike.  Well, while I'm waiting on tenderhooks, I'll go look up the Latin phrases you used.  Thank you so much for updating!

Thanks for the update.

Dear besotted vampire!  I can picture him laying there lost in the memory of her...very very visual!

<i>"But, in here—” she placed a hand over his unbeating heart “—you’re exactly the same. You tried to tell me; I just wasn’t ready to listen until now.”</i> Yes she really does get it finally...hope she holds onto that fact as time passes and everyone nibbles at her resolve.
<i>"Sex with her had little to do with the ultimate climax and everything to do with the road that led them there. It was the joining that mattered to him, her body locking with his, wrapped around him so tightly that for the moment, at least, he didn’t have to worry about her slipping away. He would have felt the same sort of satisfaction had she let him crawl into her head, her heart. If he could have, he would have nestled into the soft bed of her temporal lobe or been held by the pulsing muscles of her right atrium. He would have become so deeply embedded that she couldn’t ignore him or run away; he would have been part of her."</i> OH yes, you've caught the intensity of his love, he need there! 
<i>"The Order of Turaka—the Gem of Amara—even Adam—what would have happened if any of those schemes went according to his plans?"</i> An duh....I remember Giles said the der of Turaka NEVER stopped and yet they did....obviously Spike had to have called them off as their purpose had been to be a distraction.  HE was winning when they fought over the Gem....only when he deliberately goaded her into fury did she win and then she sure got that ring off easily....I think he let her win to a degree (subconsciously)..as for Adam...he just wanted the chip out and they had NOT been nice to him.  Not a good argument Giles!

Oh dear I am so afraid that Spike is being set up (and also afraid Giles may try to stake him "for Buffy' good" for that matter).  Just know something bad is in the works for our couple. How nice if this Buffy gave him the benefit of the doubt now.

EXCEPTIONAL chapter!  You just keep the level of quality at the highest.

Kathleen

Excellent chapter, I'm guessing Spike is about to get himself into a heap of trouble!

same man as before, but he didn’t want her to think he was the same person - nice distinction. 

Oh boy - is Buffy going to be disappointed.

Oh no spiiiiike think!!!! think!!!

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.  You're killing me here.  Absolutely killing me.  What the hell is it Spike is doing to earn money???  OMG!!!  You're driving me nuts.  Loved loved loved the scene b/n B & S when she told him he doesn't have to change who he is; thank GOD for Dawn!!  Also loved the confrontation b/n B & the Scoobs; finally someone brings up Anya's past!!  I never understood why she was accepted and Spike wasn't??  Amazing chapter; can't wait to see what happens next; update soon, pretty please?  I'll give you a cookie if you update soon!!!  LOL!!

I found this particularly hilarious for some reason:  "'Well,' Anya said finally, using the chipper voice that almost always preceded a divulgence of something terrible..."

And yay for Spike's afterglow!  And yay yay for Buffy standing up to the group!  Well, mainly to Giles, but yay!  And evil Giles, lying to her all this time.  Even though he was trying to protect her, but still.  And I just hope Spike isn't doing anything TOO awful to get that money....   Another excellent chapter!

Lovely line - she was seawater to a drowning man.  I see Spike is up for yet another setback.  His head is so full of Buffy, he's maybe not being as careful as he should!

An emotional roller coaster of resolution and falling apart.  That's the brilliant quality of your writing.  You give us hope and then stomp on it a bit.  Lovely update.  Amazing story! 

It's so nice to have an update - still loving the story and hope that you can bring us the next chapter soon - what in the world is Spike getting himself into - especially after all the show of support from Buffy and Dawn. 

"...it was a triumph just to be able to confront them this way..."

I'm so glad she recognizes a victory that doesn't involve a stake!

"She has a point. I have killed a lot of people.”

Hell, Anya started a *war*.  And she chose to become a demon, twice.  Only took them four years to finally point that out.

And I'm sure that bit in the end was Latin, dude, I have no idea what it means.

"Not even once did it occur to him that he might not be doing the right thing."

Well...shades of gray, and all that.  A lot of people make crazy sacrifices and do, well...funny things for the one's they love.  And man, talk about fangirl-ism--I can whitewash almost anything he does, can't I?  :P

You build us up with hope, then take us right back to worrying with that last statement!!!

And really, pointing out Anya was the only response Bufy *could* give in that moment.....they won't believe her justifications, except for Anya, who already knows the truth and doesn't need to be convinced, anyway.

The suspense! I love this story

oh god now what

come on let him do good so Buffy doesn't have to defend him again

Great chapter!