1. Chapter One: Bargaining by MsClawdia [Reviews - 2] (1150 words)
Authors Note: This is my first (posted) Buffy fic. Feedback is treasured. Big thanks to Kar for the beta job.

This story is a response to Shan's challenge (BSV285), which supposes that Joyce survived the fifth season. In our first installment, Spike finds the recomposed Buffy and brings her home.

2. Chapter Two: After Life by MsClawdia [Reviews - 0] (1292 words)
Big thanks to Karbear57 again for the beta job. In our second installment, Buffy makes with the true and false confessions, but are all the Scoobies buying it?

As noted in the summary, dialog may be familiar in the early chapters. There will be greater divergence from canon soon, I swear…

3. Chapter Three: Flooded by MsClawdia [Reviews - 0] (1230 words)
Kar continues to rock the beta job.

In our third installment Giles returns to Sunnydale, Spike gives Buffy a present, and Willow reflects.

As noted in the summary, dialog may be familiar in the early chapters.

4. Chapter Four: Life Serial by MsClawdia [Reviews - 0] (1689 words)
Thanks again to Kar for beta.
In our fourth installment, Buffy has a bad day, Spike has a nice evening, and Joyce has a plan.

5. Chapter Five: All the Way by MsClawdia [Reviews - 5] (2201 words)
Thanks again to Kar for the beta job. This was a tougher chapter, longer and pretty much all mine.

In our fifth installment, Spike and Buffy celebrate Halloween, Joyce ruminates, and Dawn gets busted.

6. Chapter Six: Once More With Feeling by MsClawdia [Reviews - 4] (2173 words)
Author's Notes: Thanks to zanthinegirl girl for giving this a look-over while Kar's away. This chapter is all original, bookending the action of the episode. There are some differences from canon that aren't exposed until the next chapter, which is mostly ready and will hopefully be posted soon. In
ur sixth installment Buffy thinks, Spike drinks, musical hijinx, and Anya poses a question.

7. Tabula Rasa by MsClawdia [Reviews - 2] (2599 words)
Author’s Notes: Thanks to Kar for the edits and to you all for the reviews. And also a big thank you to whoever nommed me at the LLGAs. I am so thrilled that people are enjoying the story so much. This chapter contains a few bits of familiar dialog.

8. Chapter Eight: Smash and Grab by MsClawdia [Reviews - 4] (2738 words)
Author’s Notes: Well, my courage did indeed hold out. Thanks to Kar for the fabulous beta job and to my reviewers for the comments. Please keep the feedback coming, especially for this chapter because I am one nervous gal.

Some recycled dialog in this chapter and a minor title change since the content is rather different than canon.

9. Chapter Nine: Wrecked by MsClawdia [Reviews - 2] (3389 words)
Thanks once again to my beta Kar and to my wonderful reviewers. Kar ended up beta-ing twice for me this time. Based on some feedback from my readers, I decided to revamp a few sections in order to get deeper into Buffy’s head, which is still pretty messy at this point. Please keep the comments coming. It does help me write. The first draft of ten is done, but it may also get a few tweaks once youall weigh in on this part.

Disclaimer: Characters not my own, some dialog borrowed from episodes. For entertainment purposes only, no infringement intended.

10. Chapter Ten: Gone by MsClawdia [Reviews - 2] (5105 words)
Author’s Note: Thanks to Kar again for being a generally awesome beta. Thanks to all my readers for the feedback. In addition to making the whole writing experience worthwhile, it gives me inspiration for future chapters. Eleven is coming along and hopefully I’ll have draft to Kar by the end of the week.

11. Chapter Eleven: The Espresso Pump by MsClawdia [Reviews - 4] (3341 words)
Thanks as always to Kar for the beta and to my fabulous readers for the reviews. I was really proud of the last chapter. This one was tougher, and the Dead Things chapter is turning out to be really difficult to write. Hopefully I can pummel it into shape this weekend. Anyway, this one is a shortie.

Notes about the timeline: I am taking some liberties with how events fell on the calendar. The holidays didn’t get much play in season six after Halloween. I’m sticking them where they work for this story.
Disclaimer: Characters not my own. No infringements intended. Some dialog borrowed from episodes.

12. Chapter Twelve: Dead Things by MsClawdia [Reviews - 6] (2970 words)
Thanks as always to Kar and my reviewers. This one was tough for some reason, but I’m already two scenes into the next chapter so hopefully the gap will be shorter. I am delighted to be the featured challenge response on BSV! Please keep the feedback coming. I will also admit that I have not watched AtS, so if the timeline doesn’t work well, I apologize. This was what worked for my story…

13. Chapter Thirteen: Older and Closer by MsClawdia [Reviews - 3] (3668 words)
Author’s Notes: Thanks to Kar and my wonderful reviewers. This chapter starts a number of things moving along. And also, unlike last chapter, has some graphic Spuffy lovin’. Please keep the feedback coming. I’ve started on fourteen already and hopefully it will be drafted soon.

Some dialog recycled from the show, Robert Frost, and The Ramones.

14. Chapter Fourteen: Reveille by MsClawdia [Reviews - 7] (4854 words)
Thanks once more to Kar and my reviewers. This chapter took a long time for some reason. So thanks also for your patience. Please keep the feedback coming. Heading into the home stretch with this fic. Kinda hard to believe. Some dialog borrowed from episodes.

15. Chapter Fifteen: Hell's Bells by MsClawdia [Reviews - 3] (1738 words)
Author’s Note: Thanks as always to Kar and my reviewers. You guys are really making this a great time for me. This chapter is a fluffy bit of nothing before the Big Badness of the season starts making itself known. I’ve updated my outline for the last few installments and hopefully I’ll be able to get them written in a timely fashion.

16. Chapter Sixteen: Potential for Normal by MsClawdia [Reviews - 6] (3011 words)
A big thank you to my beta Kar and to my reviewers. Special thanks to zanthinegirl and zoegrace, whose discussions with me helped me sort some of this out for myself. This one took awhile to get through and I appreciate your patience. Big things are on the horizon and I needed to set the stage properly. Please keep the feedback coming.

17. Chapter Seventeen: Entropy by MsClawdia [Reviews - 3] (2355 words)
Author’s Note: Big thanks to Kar and my reviewers. I’m actually managing to get some writing done while the in-laws are here. So we’ll just have to see how long you’re left in suspense after this chapter. Please keep the feedback coming!

18. Chapter Eighteen: Seeing Red by MsClawdia [Reviews - 5] (2324 words)
Author’s Notes: Thanks to Kar and my reviewers. I can hardly believe I’m nearing the end of this story. You guys have made this really worthwhile.

19. Chapter Nineteen: Villains by MsClawdia [Reviews - 3] (1850 words)
Author’s Notes: Thanks to Kar for being so quick with edits given my sudden burst of speed as the story nears it’s end. Only two installments to go folks. Thanks to all of you who are reading and especially those who are reviewing. The reviews on the last chapter helped me to know some things I needed to clear up in this chapter (where Tara is, for example). So please keep that feedback coming.

20. Chapter Twenty: Fix It by MsClawdia [Reviews - 2] (1623 words)
Author’s Notes: A big thank you once again to Kar and to all my readers. I’m posting the last two chapters. It has been quite a ride. Thank you all so much. Credit for the poem go to Kahlil Gibran.

21. Chapter Twenty-One: Lost and Found by MsClawdia [Reviews - 5] (1110 words)
Author’s Notes: Thanks to Kar for betaing two chapters in one day and for taking this ride with me. Thank you to all my readers and reviewers. I’ve had such a great time with this.

22. Epilogue by MsClawdia [Reviews - 14] (1127 words)
Author’s Notes: Huge thanks to Kar for all her beta work and the banners. Thanks to my readers and reviewers. This has been such fun thanks to all of you.