Don't know about the thank you at the end of section two. On the whole, the exchange seemed more fond than I remember from cannon. Inner thoughts and feelings aren't nessessarily the things we say and do, and I think you could have made it more subtle and still gotten the message across. But on the whole, a good story -- it does clear up why they kept Spike as long as they did, and made some wonderful jokes about the "spell" they were under. Well done.