Pity that you elected to make this a one-shot, this is excellent, but extremely dark; as not only does it appear to depict suicide- thereby her actions play into her greatest adversary's hands among her adversary records, which are quite significant; but also she's the abuser in this dark tale!

All in all, I loved it! Thank you for writing this!

Sincerely one of your hopefully many fans;

Palpatine. 

Wow! I have to be honest and said I was not expecting that... Of course I knew it was a a dark story/no happy ending you made that clear, but WOW! Commonly, as awful as it sound, the woman is the one been treated that way, so I wasn't expecting to be the other way...Great job! :D

Exceptionally well done. Truly dark, and the end was a fitting twist, almost a physical/bodily apology of sorts. It was very hard for me to read, yet almost like the proverbial train-wreck; I was glued to it, perhaps morbidly so, and I HAD to keep reading til the very end. It was also hard to read, yet having to, because I've been there, was there for 8 1/2 yrs, & made it out alive somehow alive (if not all there, tho'). Your twist, tho' was making Buffy, the woman, the abuser. It's not as rare as one would think, however. Having been a victim, myself, somewhere along the way I read some info on reversed spousal abuse (as it is called here, lumped together if any sort of couple) situations. Also of note, is the syndrome among survivors of these kinds of abusive relationships, to become abusive, controlling, etc, themselves, in their personal quests, goals, etc, to be strong, independant, never to be at someone's mercy/controlled again. Well-written and memorable.
fyreburned

wow. i was soooo shocked at this the first time I read it then I had to go and re-read it again cuz I thought spike ws the abuser. I feel guilty cuz buffy's more believeable especially considering season 6. loved it sooo much even though it was a little hard to read at some points. great job.

Very real and very believable. The ending was very fitting. Poor Buffy. :( I honestly am having the hardest time getting my mind to wrap around the fact that you wrote this so. It's so completely the opposite of your norm. But, I think it's a good idea for authors to step outside of their comfort zone once in a while, it helps keep things... fresh, I suppose.

You did a really nice job with this. :)