Great story! I love reading from Spike's head. Also didn't mind the Dru closeness, since you're starting off from canon. Poor Spike....he's trying to reach so high, and nobody gives him an ounce of credit. It was amazing, really, that with all the constant ridicule by the Scoobies, that he never just took the lot of them out, once and for all...and the chip isn't in the way for succeeding in that when all he has to do is hire some demons or throw a homemade bomb in a room.

What he's really asking of Buffy is just acceptance of herself, and him. Talk like respectful equals. Buffy could have made a lot of their encounters easier on herself if she had just listened without being cruel and snide. She never grew past that popular bitch of 14 that she was before becoming the Slayer. One of the reasons I'd take Cordy over Buffy any day.

Author's Response: I totally agree concerning Spike. He may be rash but he did have numerous resources with which to annhilate the Scoobies. I still believe though that Buffy can develop to be more accepting, its just that in my fic she is forced to acknowledge Spike far sooner than in the show.