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

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