Okay....sobbing now. That was a great fic. I like all of the emotions you were able to pull out of the both of them. Thanks so much for sharing!

Author's Response: I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reading.

Adorably wonderful. I loved it. Makes me giggle!! :) Thanks so much for the enjoyable fic.

Author's Response: I'm so glad you like it. I tried to make it just something kinda simple and cute, love hearing I succeeded. :)

Sequel????? Gotta hear the Scooby reaction and have the eventual Spuffy-ness.

Awe! Cute. Loved it. "Lame but sweet" totally sums up Spike!!!

Author's Response: THANKS :D I just loved Spike's awkward gestures during season 5 and early season six and wanted to see another one.

Great update! I really loved this line: "The shy man she thought she knew had devolved into a sheet-stealing card cheat in the last twenty-four hours." Also loved "Before William unpacked their picnic, he untucked two cloth napkins from his pocket, pilfered from the breakfast buffet no doubt; her formerly innocent husband’s proclivities towards criminal activities caught her off guard once again".

Both of these lines really reminded me of Spike. Of course, I'm sure that William has every intention of returning these items.... unlike his vampire counterpart.

I really, really LOVE your development of William. Starting with the forward-ness he acquired during 'Yours William', to the remarkable transformation he's made in his fic, you've made a great William character. Often, in time-travel fics when William becomes more 'bold' or gets used to Buffy being around, William becomes Spike. You, on the other hand, I believe have created a wonderful representation of what, or who rather, William would have become with the positive influence of Buffy in his life. Spike has his demon, has a history of violence with Angelus, has a million other things that make him Spike. William can't just become Spike once he has confidence. Instead, I think he would very much become the man you've created. Bold, yes. But also funny and kind and with a depth of emotion that you've shown him to have. Yes, we've seen these characteristics in Spike during his quieter moments, but you have successfully pulled out those intangible qualities and made a truly unique character for William that I've not seen in other fics. You've found a middle ground of who he could be without the influence of the demon and he is wonderful.

Thanks so much. AND I can't wait for the next installment! ;-)

Author's Response: Inara, thank you for your thoughtful words. They mean more to me than you would guess, for real. I am so happy that you like the way William has developed, but he\'s always been the only William I see. I read so many authors who are so much more talented than myself and who see other facets! I have to recommend them to you: Unbridled Brunette and Amy Xaphnia. They both wrote William stories that just blew me away. Hopefully next installment soon. Things are about to change for our couple - long train trip,Dru unleashed and ... (spoiler alert). I hope to update soon tho :) Thank you again for your thoughts and your support.

Ooooh sexy bath time fun.

I was definitely ready for a happy...*ahem*.... I mean a good moment between those two! *wink* They deserve a break from all the crazy. But what is going on with the Billy-ghost and the return of the Shinning Man???

I mean I know we have to finish up that storyline, but I wasn't expecting Billy. Can't wait to see what you do with him.

I loved it when Dru snickered when she learned the Shinning Man's name is Warren. I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for whatever torture you have devised for Warren. I just can't stand him. It's a testament to Joss (and fanfic authors such as yourself) that a character can inspire so much hate years after the show is over.

Speaking of Joss, no I didn't hear about the thing in San Diego and yes, he is wonderful for being such fun.

Thanks so much and I can't wait for the next installment!

Author's Response: So glad you liked that chapter. Can you believe there are only a few chapters left? Me neither! Makes me kind of sad.

Okay.... uh, I'm sorry to tell you this, but that was pretty damn incredible. ;-) I don't even know where to start. So, I guess I'll begin with: You think I'm gonna complain that I get to have more than 36 chapters? Are you insane? And, why do you break my heart and say "it will definitely be under 40 chapters"? As far as I'm concerned - you could go to 140 chapters and I would be one happy girl.

Favorite Moments:

1) “Know you’re real! It’s why you have to go. Run! Bloody Dru. She’s close.” Awe... William, all beat up and still his first concern is the Buffster and her well-being. Hasn't seen her in weeks and yet he instantly understands the situation and tries to get her out of there.

2) “I ain’t even got a weapon. All I got — is me.” Very reminiscent of the Angelus/Buffy S2 fight with take away all your weapons, all your friends, and what do you have left. -Me- Clearly, Billy's "Me" was not enough like Buffy's. Also reminds me of the whole "a slayer should never reach for her weapon - I've already got mine". Very nice touch.

3) “You shot my fucking EYE! You weren't supposed to do that! Jesus Christ! It stings! You no good, fucking son of a whore!” the cowboy screamed. Did Billy expect him to play fair?? WTF was he thinking? I just about fell off of my chair laughing at that one.... but I didn't laugh as hard as:

4) “Kindly do not make disparaging remarks about my mother.” That was CLASSIC! Nice way to have a "mamma" joke back in the old Wild West. And the phrasing was so spot on for William. It was great. It took me a while to stop laughing before I could get back to reading the next part! :)

5) “Not my dark prince! Not my William!” She stumbled off the porch, clawing her way through the deep underbrush toward the clearing. Does she mean Billy, Spike, or both? I'm still questioning how much Dru understands her role in all of this. Is she a "free agent" so to speak without Miss Edith and without Warren? Does she just know she's supposed to have a "William", but can't decipher who is who? Anyway - just thought the mystery behind the statement was nice - cuz technically Billy died so she lost him, but also with William slaying Billy - she loses Spike too.

6) “Yo, bitch-face.” Enough said.

Oh - and I keep forgetting to ask you. When you decided to give William the duster a couple of chapters back were you only thinking of giving Spike back his signature outfit or were influenced by the James Marsters "High Plains Invaders" movie with cowboys (James - in case you haven't seen it) fighting aliens?

Can't wait for the next installment. Thanks again for update!

Author's Response: Thanks so much for this lovely long review Inara :) Usually by Tuesday I have about half of the next chapter finished. Not this time! I\'m a bit stuckish - but this review has me all bouncy and inspired now so sitting down to write after this! I\'m glad you liked the finding WIlliam on the porch scene. I had trouble getting that started and I really hated to go with something cliche. When I got inside William\'s head, turned out he just wanted her to go away! It was great to hear your reaction to the \"yo mama\" joke too. As enraged as Billy was, to have William respond with \"Kindly...\" was fun to write. I always loved it when Joss would put jokes in the middle of very tense scenes, but you never know if it\'s going to \"work\" or not. ~~~ I\'m glad you like the ambiguousness of Dru as well. Not sure who her William is. No, we\'re not sure because she\'s not sure. ~~ Giving William the duster (and scar) wasn\'t because of High Plains Invaders (yup, saw it) but was a nod to Spike for two reasons. 1. Clothes make the man. As William is becoming more like Spike in ways (being a match for the slayer) he should look like the slayer. 2. For a mysterious reason I can\'t tell you about. 3. (Yes, I changed my mind. A third reason) It\'s his DUSTER! He looks HOT in it! And they wore those then! I HAD TO! ~~ ((hugs)) Hope all is well in your life.

Author's Response: Oops. I have a TYPO in my response to a review! See why I need betas? Anyway, the duster was so that William could look more like SPIKE, not \"the slayer\". Duh. He wouldn\'t look like the slayer unless I got him in tight red leather pants! (Which I won\'t!)

GREAT CHAPTER! I love the way you are portraying Oscar. No need to feel worried about writing him anymore!

I think Oscar would be an incredible watcher. He wouldn't pull that "I know what's best for you" crap. I can't wait to see how his role in Buffy's life plays out.

AND... how dare you?! J/K - no hate mail on my part! Bring on the ANGST!! It's my favorite kind of torture! ;-) My heart was clenched the entire chapter. I felt this profound need to apologize to William for any wrongdoing that *I* had done!! I felt very much in Buffy's shoes and so deeply saddened to have hurt such a remarkable man. Damn you and your writing skills!! When he wouldn't meet her eye... and then wouldn't let her touch him... and then wouldn't finish the conversation... and then went to go get drunk... and.... and... oh, my heart broke.

Dru. Billy. William. "Did you miss me, William? I missed you." Oooh. Super spooky for William. Is she going to turn him? How much does Dru realize is going on? Does she know that he was supposed to be hers? Can't wait for the smack-down on the Hellmouth!!

I've had a pretty crappy week at work (and it's only Tuesday! - Argh!) and this was a great pick-me-up. See what I said about loving the angst? I'm one sick puppy.

By the way, loved the Oscar rant about tea. Also, really enjoyed the Mary Dunn comment about getting her mother to shut up by saying Buffy jumped because of her!

Thanks for the update. Can't wait for the next chapter!!!

Author's Response: Inara - Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thought with me. I don\'t think I can express what it means to me that this chapter cheered you up at the end of a bad day ... so I looked up something Joss Whedon said a few weeks ago, right after \"The Avengers\" was kicking ass at the box office. He said, \" If you think topping a box office record compares with someone telling you your work helped them through a rough time, you\'re probably new here.\" I feel JUST like that (with less box office success). Thank you for the trust you\'ve placed in me and I sincerely hope I don\'t let you down. As a fan of angst, you will be well fed for two chapters, at least. I was so pleased that you like Oscar - he\'s an awful lot of fun to write and I love that you can see how the Buffy-Oscar dynamic is going to be different than the Giles-Buffy duo. ALSO! Aha! That you picked up on Dru not realizing what is going on. A lot of people don\'t know the significance of who they\'re dealing with. Dru doesn\'t know that Billy the Kid is a big deal and Buffy is only dimly aware of who Oscar Wilde is. And ... that will play out a bit more in Ch 34 but NO SPOILERS! :) ((hugs)) Next chapter is at 2K words right now (most are 4-5K) and I am working through some sticky bits.

Oh my goodness. Where to being? Sexy eyebrow scar like Spike - check! Love the idea. Oscar Wilde - you sooo did not go there!! Haha. But I love it. I've always loved him. I seriously cannot wait to see what you do with him. And it brings up so many questions - was he assigned to the current generation's slayer? Or is Buffy his first? Will Buffy be able to form a relationship with a new Watcher considering how betrayed she was with Giles? (And, oddly - I feel a little... I don't know - guilty maybe? - at the thought that Buffy could have a relationship with someone other than Giles? God I love Giles! Well, before the whole season 7 gonna kill Spike attitude and the season 6 Buffy you need to be on your own even though you just came out of heaven attitude).

Additionally, with the appearance of a new watcher, how aware is the Council that things are seriously wrong in the timeline? Will there be great-great-whatever-Travers to be royal pain in the ass? Are the PTB ever going to get their asses in gear and help the girl out?

And William - poor William - how is he going to deal with Buffy's lies/secrets? She has to come clean - and, heaven forbid, SHARE her emotions with HER HUSBAND! Surely she learned the first time around that Spike/William does not like being kept in the dark. And HIS adorable speech to the crowd - calling to their inner goodness (so sweet that he thought an appeal like that would work), clearly shows that even in his human incarnation, he's not going to sit idly by while she's in danger.

SOOO many good things happening. I can't wait for the next bit. Please don't stop writing. I have to know how this ends!!! Thanks so much.



Author's Response: Haha! What a terrific way to start my morning. Cup of coffee with caramel flavoring and responding to this review from you, Inara. What a lovely long review it is!! I had one of those nights where I couldn\'t sleep and just had to settle for scribbling notes about upcoming STUFF until past 2 am! (I wish I didn\'t obsess about stories, but that seems to be the way of it!) I was working through a lot of Oscar stuff last night. I\'ve researched him, but I need to get inside his head and see what makes him tick. He\'s such a singular sort of person. I think you will see that as different as Giles is from Oscar, so will the watcher-slayer relationship be different. No worries about Oscar \"replacing\" Giles, per se. I remember reading my first Oscar Wilde short story in elementary school and ... he\'s really the first writer I remember. I just adored him and thought society treated him so cruelly. Let\'s hope Dru and Billy won\'t stop me from being a little nicer to him. I\'m so glad you liked William\'s speech. I wanted it to be convincing without being condescending. And I wanted him to play a real part in quelling the riot (using a poets words and not a slayers fists). Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Keeping a connection like this is what keeps me going - knowing that you\'re with me and seeing the things I\'d hoped you\'d see. I won\'t stop writing - the story is all lined out....8 pages of outline. I just have to ... ya know, write it out of outline form! Hugs!

THE MAYOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, okay so yeah, he's totally one of my favorite Buffy villains. I see no reason why evil can't be courteous. Rude and evil are in fact mutually exclusive things. I'm a dork, I know.

Is the Mayor the white demon? I know we're in a split off/alternative universe, so I assume that if Buffy kills the mayor now it won't have an effect on her defeat of him at the school??? Right??? Sorry - probably way more than you wanted to think about. Anyway, I can't wait to see how Dru's army works with the Mayor and why she was oddly coherent about what is going on. There is still the question of who Billy is? Is he the First? 'Cuz Billy in real life wasn't that smart and definitely not omnipotent. Curiouser and curiouser. Although, gotta say, poor Buffy is she has to face that big bad again.

Can't wait to see what happens! Thanks again.

Also - I'm glad you get to move back "home". Although, having just moved myself, I sympathize.

Author's Response: Thank you again Inara, for your excellent feedback. I need to more clearly define who Billy is (the first? a spook? her mind?) and I will do that. Someone commenting on EF made me include the Mayor. Feedback, I will humbly admit, totally changes this story. It is absolutely collaborative. The white demon thing will be made absolutely clear too. I will say that ... William\'s dream on the hill. Pretty accurate foretelling. Hugs! Thanks so much for your input hon!

Hey there! Sorry about the super late response... things have been a little crazy over on my end.

Thank you so much for a wonderful story and a much needed sequel to the lives of Buffy and William. This story was fantastic and I loved seeing the evolution of both Buffy and William. Although I am saddened that William had to lose some of his adorable innocence as he faced both human and real monsters, I loved his transformation and, more importantly, loved that both William and - eventually - Buffy, learned how to change together. They both realized that they truly were partners and that this partnership wasn't dependent on physical strength, but rather the strength that they found in each other. Thank you so much once again... and if a little one-shot for those to characters is rattling around in the writing genius you call a brain... *please* don't hesitate to share. ;-)

Can't wait to read more from you and I hope you have a successful move!!!

Author's Response: Thanks Inara. I was a little worried about the ending, but when the story popped into my head, this was the ending it had. And no matter how I twisted and turned, it was the ending it insisted on having. You\'ve been such a little beam of encouragement as I wrote this and I can\'t thank you enough. The move, unfortunately, didn\'t actually happen, so I\'m stuck here for a bit longer :( Hope to see you in another story soon.

Okay, so...

#1 You ARE evil
#2 I fully hope that you plan on going with Alternative B
#3 You ARE evil ; - )

A great chapter! I love that Buffy is finally starting to get mushy feelings for William. I can only hope that eventually she connects the dots and sees that while William is different from Spike, there is much of William in Spike. She is Season 5 Buffy, right? Spike was definitely starting to show his softer side around that time.

Also, I'll be interested to see what sparked the sex-a-thon (pretty please, let there be one). Is Buffy just sad about George and the current state of her life, and thus, has the need for not so cold comfort? Or, is she starting to have feelings??????

I know I've said it before, but I just LOVE your historical sidebars and the pictures are the best!!!! I'm a big history nerd and just can't get enough. The Statue of Liberty picture was especially cool.

Thanks so much for a great update. Can't wait for Alternative B!!! :-)

Author's Response: 1. Thanks for the review! I never know if I\'m cramming in too much history and this is starting to feel like a class. Good to know I haven\'t crossed the line. 2. I love that you wonder what sparked the whole \"jump my bones, William\" from her. I think late season 5 time-travel trauma Buffy is a lot like Season 6 back from the dead Buffy. And she may be trying to feel better by getting groiny. But William isn\'t Spike... so how that might play out is interesting! 3. I am not evil. Not PURE evil. 99 percent? Maybe