This chapter as most of your chapters are not one dimensional, you really encompassed quite a bit in it. Your muse just had to kill the blue bomber to add to the mansion of misery in this phase of their lives. Buffy learning to sew is a big...big leap of her determination to make ends meet. I myself love sewing, though I’m surprised that she didn’t ask for someone to give her pointers or lessons for sewing, she just jumped in cold. Wondered about the scrunchies, now this world has them, thank goodness, a world without scrunchies is too horrid to imagine. Necessity really is the mother of invention in this case. I feel sorry for Spike, not only is the loan shark upping the money for Spike, but he is giving him an impossible deadline for it. Billy with all of his empathic skills is good on the stage - he found his passion! Hope that a gem of amarra can be made for Spike soon, he needs to go out in the daylight and be undusty! You are hinting at more tears soon, so your muse is obviously planning something sinister and wicked. Grabs box of tissues for the next chappies!

Author's Response: Hi Vette! Yeah, I have a hard time writing just single-themed chapters 'cos there're so many characters now and life just isn't like that, anyway. Even evil Joss tried to (usually) punctuate the bad with a little humor or fun. My evil muse just couldn't let Spike off the hook *that* easily, he had to kill the car, too... Poor Spike. Poor Buffy. Not sure who she would've asked for sewing pointers ... maybe one of the teachers at school I guess, but, she figured it out! I've been sewing since I was a kid, don't love it, don't hate it ... I have made some sewing machine quilts that came out really neat, and LOTS of curtains. I've been waiting and waiting for Billy to get old enough to play Eeyore! And with the sewing I finally found the perfect time to kill two birds with one plot! yay! I can't remember when the tears start, we may have more fight club next ... darn, not sure. But there will be more tears to come, no doubt. Will try to get another chapter up by Friday. They're working on the Gem, but it's gonna take some time. Thanks so much for stopping in! Love hearing from you! -p4s 2012.01.05

Love the fact that she has decided to start a scruchie empire. Surely a bit less angsty than the mandrake. Curious what Bess has found in Cleveland. And hope that Spikes next fight goes well. Update soon!

Author's Response: heehee! Yes, there's much less risk to scrunchies than mandrake! LOL! We will catch up with Bess and see what's gonig on with her in the next little bit - can't exactly recall now how long before we get back to her. Spike's fights are going to be getting harder and harder ... we will get to see some in more detail soon. Thanks much, BuffyRat! -p4s 2012.01.05

Scrunchies! That's brillant :-). Between the two of them perhaps they can crawl out of the bottomless money pit their lives have become. Fingers and toes crossed!

Author's Response: heehee! And you thought my muse was just being weird with the lack of scrunchies in their new world! LOL! See, he may be evil, and he may not always tell me his evil plans, but he usually has reasons for his werid things like the scrunchie-less world! :) Who am I to question him? Trust me ... he wouldn't tell me anyway. Keep them fingers and toes crossed!! Thanks Sibb! -p4s 2012.01.04

Glad our little girl finally received some closure. Sure seems that Wanda made the right decision to stay and help her family out all these years. Sure got a lot of family, and one guardian cat. :) Hope Bess is going back towards Sunnydale. Update soon!

Author's Response: Hi BuffyRat! Yes, I think that she really needed to close that door so she could see ahead of her rather than always wishing she could just go back. Bess is headed back west, but she's gonna make a pit stop on the way ... we will check back with her in a bit. Thanks so much for reading and always stopping in! -p4s 2012.01.04

Spike must’ve been desperate to get his hands on money to help Bess out by taking a loan from the “land shark”. Threatening his family brought out the warrior in Spike risking his unlife to protect them. Funny how Spike and Buffy keep secrets from each other, they really must have good control over their bond to keep the other in the dark. Buffy with the platters of food and Spike with the borrowed money, they are just hopelessly lost to their parental instincts. The fight club Spike fought in is brutal, they are not going to just give the opponents money easily without bloodshed. Love all the thought out details you wrote into the fight club establishment such as the de-conning process. Your muse has to have blood spilt, poor Spike, how is he ever going to explain his injuries to Buffy. She is not stupid.

Author's Response: Hi Vette! Well, it really wouldn't be much fun if they could totally read each other's minds, now, would it? That would just suck. Spike felt terribly guilty about Bess running off, then the bike breaking down, you know him, he *had* to help her. There was no way to get the money elsewhere, Mr. Shark was his only choice. Buffy is in a very trusting place now - I think maybe because of her dad and her realizing how much better a person Spike is than him and she's just gonna trust his his stories about his injuries, which he'll explain as bar-fights. She will come to regret this trust, however. {{cue JAWS music ... dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun-dun-dun}} To be very honest with you, the original premise of this *entire* story was the fight club and Spike fighting in UFC type matches to try and get money. The going to get Bess? An excuse for him to give up the Gem ...so he could fight in the club and be able to get hurt or killed ... :O . Of course, once my muse starts writing, things start taking on a life of their own, so he couldn't let the trip to England pass without a nice torture session or two... There is still lots more to come ... {hugs} -p4s 2012.01.04

Thanksgiving, it brings out the best and the worst features in people. The best would be Tara (where was she when Bess went all “rebel without a cause” anyway?). Hank thought that his DNA contribution to Buffy was enough for him to enter her life and demean it. HOW DARE HE! Hank is literally the turkey for the Weckerly’s Thanksgiving. Anya sure gave him a good talking to though; don’t you just love her at those times? Angelus at his worse didn’t inflict the verbal damage that Hank did in the little time he made his unwelcomed presence known. Loved the “dressing down” Buffy and Spike gave Hank. Your muse is evil! I know every family has a Hank in it, which for some reason never chokes on a turkey bone but your muse had to remind us all!

Author's Response: Hi Vette! Unfortunately Buffy and Spike didn't consult Tara when they brought Bess home and then, when they knew that something was horribly wrong, it was a little late. I do love writing Anya when you can just get all those totally true digs in!! She's so fun!! Yes, every family has a Hank - he is perhaps every horrible 'friend' and relative I've ever known wrapped up into one horrid creature. I have to admit that I had a lot of fun writing his evil-ness and even more fun when Buffy finally came to her senses and tossed him out. Parents can reduce their kids to children, it seems, at will - no matter how old. I know my dad could always do that to me. Thank goodness he wasn't like Hank! heehee! {hugs} -p4s 2012.01.04

Loved! Loved! Loved this chapter! I'm so glad Wanda was able to help Bess break down those walls. And she helped Angelpie too! I think (and hope) that Angelpie is destined for great things. Thanks for such a lovely, touching update. More soon please.

Author's Response: Thanks so much, Melly! My muse has been whispering this chapter to me for ... well, probably months. I'm so glad I was able to capture his vision of it. I think Angelpie is most definately destined for great things and I think she'll be around for a good long while. So glad you enjoyed it! Will have more soon! Thanks for all your wonderful encouragement and feedback! I love hearing from you! Happy new year! -p4s 2012.01.01

I really enjoyed this chapter. I like that Bess was finally able to get some closure, so that now she can go home to her family with no doubts. I hope that she persues some kind of job working with animals because I think she would love it.

Author's Response: Hi Michelle! I also think she'd love working with animals. We'll see how things go now for her and if she can persue something like that as time moves on. Thanks so much for reading and stopping in! -p4s 2012.01.04

Well, dumb idea or not, I hope this actually works out for Spike. I'm tired of seeing them struggle like this! They definitely deserve a break--and so does Bess! This living from hand to mouth bit is getting old, life is tough enough for them without worrying about every penny on top of everything else :-).

Author's Response: Hi Sibb! We'll find out how things go for Spike over the next few chapters. First we're off to check on Bess and see how her journey is going. Thanks so much for your continued support! Reviews are like chocolate for my soul and inspiration for my muse. You have no idea how much it helps to hear from you! Hope you have a wonderful 2012! -p4s 2012.01.01

I must mention how well you made Buffys thoughts about her father and how she reacts and thinks about what he said. "You are always a child with your parents".

Nice how both Spike and Buffy has sent Bess things without telling the other. And now Spike will make extra money. He didn't want Buffy to go out so it must be something big. I'm a little surpriced that Buffy didn't suspect anything he wasn't that subtle.

Author's Response: You are always a child around your parents, I don't care how old you get, they can reduce you to a kid in an instant. Buffy will come to regret how trusting she's going to be of Spike over the next few weeks ... it will definately be a sore spot for her later. Next chapter's up so you can see Spike's money making plan now. Hope you have a wonderful New Year, Magnus! I always love your reviews! -p4s 2011.12.31

Can't wait to learn how Bess reacts to receiving the Thanksgiving feast. Your muse and Spike have me really worried so please update soon and thanks for the two updates!!

Author's Response: Hi Melly! You're welcome - it really was just one chapter, my muse just got long-winded and TSR will only take 10,000 words per chapter, so had to break it up. We'll check in on Spike next, then to Bess and see how she spends Thanksgiving and what happens with the mean Buffy sent ... Thanks soooo much! Love hearing from you! It makes my day! -p4s 2011.12.29

I just love this story so much, even when I'm bawling my eyes out from all the angst. I really hope that Spikes way of making money is not going to be so bad that Buffy leaves him. I'm a little scared.

Author's Response: Hi Michelle! Thanks so very much! I know my muse just loves to torture us and Spike and Buffy so much ... he's quite evil. Good thing he's so handsome or I might have to consider trading him in for a nicer model... ;-) Buffy isn't gonna be happy about what Spike does, however, she's gonna be even more unhappy that he does it without telling her ... :O We'll soon know what it is, but Buffy won't know for some time ... never a good thing! Thanks again for stopping in here - don't be a stranger! You have no idea how much hearing from readers helps keep my muse off the couch! -p4s 2011.12.29