One Good Lay | Christmas Frost and Fairies by Pattyanne

Christmas Frost & Fairies
Parts 1-3

Written by: Pattyanne
Author's Website

Summary: Takes place shortly after 'Smashed'. Buffy has a unexpected encounter in a cemetery.
Disclaimer: The show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all of it's characters belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, & Fox Prod.
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Part One...

"Spike...what's done is done. But it was a mistake, and it can't happen again."

Buffy turned on one heel and walked away. Spike was right on her heels and caught her arm, forcing her to stop.

"It WASN'T a mistake...and it CAN happen again." His tone was quiet and serious, but his voice sounded strained, as though was struggling to hold back an onslaught of emotion. "If we both want it to."

Buffy shook her head. "But, that's what I'm trying to tell you. I don't want it to."

*<*God strike me dead for lying*>*

"I don't believe you." Spike cupped her face in his hands, pinning her gaze with his. "I was right there with you that night, Buffy. Holding you...touching you. I heard everything you said to me as I made love to you. You BEGGED me not to stop, remember?"

She remembered it all right. Every look, every caress, every word of love and desire that he'd whispered in her ear.

It was one of the sweetest memories she had...and the saddest...knowing it would never happen again.

The memory of it was all she had...all she would EVER have.

*<*I can't think that way. If I do, I'll give in to him, and I can't let that happen. I can't go through it again. I won't survive it...*>*

Gathering up the tattered remnants of her resolve, she pushed him away.

"Stop it, Spike," she said harshly. "You're making a fool of yourself."

Surely those words would sting. Now, he'll fling her away...tell her to go to hell.

Spike did neither of those things.

"Do you really think I care about that?" he asked. "I've made a fool of myself over you so many times that I've lost count. I got no pride where you're concerned. Don't you know that by now?"

Buffy had no idea how to respond to such heart breaking words.

"Listen to me," he said urgently. "Hear what I'm saying! I love you. I love you more than...come back here..." He caught her around the waist when she tried to leave.

"Spike...let go of..."

"Please." He cut her off in desperation. "Please don't turn your back on me, Buffy. I need you."

He looked glassy eyed, and Buffy was afraid that he was on the verge of breaking down right there in front of her.

And, oh God...she didn't want to see that happen. Not to him.

She sighed deeply. The convictions she had been so sure of were beginning to fall apart. He looked so sad...so wretched at the cruel fate she was dishing out.

It had been so easy in the beginning, their roles in each others lives had been clearly defined.

He was a vampire, and a particularly vicious one. She was a slayer, chosen by fate or whatever, to destroy him. To put a stop to a career steeped in blood, and gore, and violence.

She had tried to do it, but had never manged to pull it off.

Spike was the only demon she'd ever fought and not been able to kill. Over the past year or so, she'd begun to wonder if there was a reason she failed so consistently.

Had someone...somewhere...been guiding their fates, knowing that someday she was going to need him?

Why else would he keep returning to Sunny- dale. He'd gotten clean away more than once, but he always turned back up.

Oh, he'd had his reasons. "I'm looking for this...I'm waiting for that...I'm gonna kill you, Slayer."

Still, it was stupid to keep coming back. Look where it had landed him.

Spike was no longer the demon he'd once been. The Initiative had seen to that.

They'd caught him, and caged him, and did the thing she hadn't been able to do...stopped him cold.

Modern technology had clipped his wings with a tiny microchip placed in just the right area of his cerebral cortex.

After that, their relationship had slipped into the surreal. They hadn't trusted each other, they'd argued and fought with and bitched at each other constantly.

She'd tormented him about his inability to perform as a vampire, while he'd gotten even by taunting her about her own inability to hang on to a man.

The turning point had come when Willow, in an emotional tailspin over Oz's departure, had botched up her 'Do My Will' spell.

She had struck Giles blind, sicced an army of demons on Xander, and betrothed the slayer to her mortal enemy.

When she found out exactly what she had done, she broke the spell...broke it at the very moment when Buffy and Spike were in the middle of a passionate kiss and on the road to intercourse.

They had responded the way they were expected to, with gagging and shudders of revulsion as they'd rubbed their mouths to the point of bleeding.

Life had gone on. Buffy's relationship with Riley had developed, and she'd been pretty happy for a while.

But, every now and then, without warning, something would spark a memory of that short lived engagement, and she would find herself reviewing it in her mind, moment by moment.

Because although she'd claimed an amnesia-like recollection of the experience, she had been lying through her teeth. She remembered every second of it...in excruciating detail.

And, sometimes, she would catch Spike looking at her in a way that made her wonder if he remembered it just as clearly.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"What are you thinking about, Buffy?"

His voice snapped her back to the present.

Looking up at him, she found him smiling in a way that told her that her silent memories must be showing in her _expression, making him think that she was softening.

*<*Maybe, I should. Just give in...give him what he wants...and maybe what I want too...*>*

Their one night together had been incredible. Passionate and intense, and deeply satisfying on a level she'd never reached before.

Her memories, fantasies, and the physical attraction she'd always felt towards him, had merged and blended with her need to be held, and kissed, and touched by a man who knew how to please a woman.

And she HAD been pleased...over and over and over again. So many times, and in so many ways, that they had both lost track of things.

It would be so easy to allow herself to be drawn back into his embrace. To forget everything in the world but him.

Spike loved her. It was as simple, and as complicated, as that.

He had told it to her, shown it to her, proved it to her, time and time again. In fact, truth be told, he loved her far more than Riley ever had. Probably even more than Angel.

Neither of THEM had stayed with her when the going got rough.

But, Spike had. He had stood beside her throughout the most terrifyingly hopeless time of her life. Even in the face of certain annihilation, he hadn't faltered.

He'd remained on his feet, and helped prop her up as well.

What had happened to her had not been his fault, although he had blamed himself for failing her when she needed him the most.

She knew that if he could have died in her place...he would have.

After she'd come back, he been just as persistant in his devotion. No matter how many punches and kicks she landed, how many nasty and hurtful words she'd flung at him, he never walked away.

Oh, he'd leave her alone for a few days, but it never lasted longer than that.

If she turned him down now, would she ever find another man who could make her feel the way he did?

Had he been right when he'd told her that he was the only man here for her?

What other man would understand and accept the things that happened to her? The experiences she'd been through, and the ones still to come...

But, if she surrendered herself to him, how long would it last if things changed? What would happen if that chip in his head malfunctioned?

He'd already tried to have it removed once. What if he tried again...and succeeded?

What would become of them?

Would he turn on her with his fangs bared, forgetting that he loved her? Would he treat it all like a dirty joke...laugh at her stupidity..redouble his efforts to bag a third slayer...

Return to Drusilla?

Angel had. He'd done all that, and more.

Buffy hadn't forgotten the pain and brutality he'd inflicted on her and the people she loved.

She couldn't go through it again with Spike. Couldn't bear to see a lover turn back into an enemy, literally before her eyes.

No. Never again. Once was more than enough.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"Buffy...please talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking about so hard...what you're feeling."

When she didn't reply, Spike placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to kiss her.

She turned her face away.

"Please, luv," he said quietly. "Don't make me beg."

Buffy steeled herself. "Let go of me."

"Buffy, please. Don't do this to us."

"There is no US, Spike! Why can't you get that through your thick..."

He tightened his hold. "Yes, there bloody well is! Why can't YOU get it through YOUR thick head? I love you...and I know...I KNOW...that you..."

"DON'T feel the same way," she finished his sentence, finally succeeding in pushing him away. "Now will you PLEASE just go away and leave me alone!!"

She turned her back on him, but hadn't gotten more than ten feet away when his voice rang out harshly, in a tone that she hadn't heard from him in years.

"FINE...GO...I'VE HAD ALL OF THIS I CAN BLOODY WELL STAND!"

He followed after her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around roughly.

"I'm done with this, Buffy. Done with...with beating my fists against that stone wall you've built around your heart."

He released her and pushed her away so abruptly that she nearly fell backwards over a grave marker.

"I mean it, Buffy," he said. "You're gonna get exactly what you want...to be alone. Be- cause I am through!"

Spike raised his voice, becoming more and more worked up as months of frustration came spewing out of him.

"I'm through following you around like a lost puppy. Through with begging and pleading, with pacing the floor all night hoping that the cold hearted BITCH that I love will feel something...ANYTHING...for me!"

Buffy couldn't take her eyes off him as he began to back away from her.

"You...are a stupid little girl. So, you run along and find yourself an equally stupid little boy and live happily ever after. As well as you can."

He turned away from her, then paused. "Oh, and don't worry about running into me somewhere around town. I'll make sure that never happens. Christ, will I EVER make sure of it!"

With those final words, Spike disappeared into the cemetery, leaving Buffy standing in open mouthed shock as the cold December air bit into her like a vampire's kiss...icy and deep.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

She made her way through the twists and turns of the path through Sunnydale's oldest cemetery.

It only took a few minutes to find what she was looking for, and when she reached her destination, she sank to her knees on the neatly trimmed grass.

The frost soaked through her slacks, chilling her skin. It was unpleasantly cold, but she remained where she was, gazing with fresh pain at the words carved in white marble.

Joyce Elizabeth Summers
1958-2000
Beloved Mother

Buffy felt tears sting her eyes. The shock of seeing it never wore off.

Struggling to maintain her composure, she swallowed hard.

"Hi, Mom. I know it's been a while since I came. It's just that I...well, it's hard. Things are...complicated right now. So...so much has happened...and I...I just....oh...oh, my God..."

Her last few words came out on a choked sob as she lost the control she'd been clinging to, and burst into tears.

Covering her face with her hands, she cried so hard that her entire frame was shaking violently.

"Mommy...Mommy, I miss you...I need you so much. I...I don't know what I'm doing...I can't make it work...I'm making so many mistakes...I just...Dawn is...I don't know if she's gonna be all right, Mommy...I don't know how to take care of her..."

Bathed in pain, Buffy flung herself down on her mother's grave, her fingers digging into the wet moss.

"Please, Mommy, please...I need you. I'm frightened...I'm scared all the time...and...and I want you back...Mommy...I love you...I love you..."

Her voice trailed off into harsh weeping. Wave after wave of sadness washed over her, so strong that they were almost physically painful.

She wanted to scream, to dig, to claw at the ground until it gave her mother back to her.

But all she had the strength to do was lie there like a broken doll...her body heat melting the light coat of frost...and cry.

The cold began to seep through her clothing and into her bones, making them ache.

Finally, with a huge effort of sheer will, she sat up, wiping her wet face on her sleeve.

"It'll be Christmas soon. How are we gonna do it without you? I can't make Christmas the way you did...I...I wouldn't know where to start."

She pushed her messy hair out of her eyes and away from her damp skin.

"There's so much I needed to talk with you about...so much I never got to ask you..."

"Ask me now."

Buffy froze, staring at the ground in front of her.

Her common sense told her that she wasn't hearing properly, that she could not have just heard her mother's voice.

She was afraid to move, afraid to turn around, because if she did...and her mother wasn't there...she would just die.

So, she remained perfectly still, scared of what she might see, but more scared of what she might not.

"Buffy, turn around. See with your heart."

Slowly...cautiously...she obeyed. "Mommy?"

Joyce smiled at her, a smile that Buffy had despaired of ever seeing again.

"There now," she said, holding out her arms. "That's my good little girl."

Fresh tears traced a shiny path down Buffy's cheeks. Her mother was standing only a few feet away, smiling and beautiful, wearing a white dress with billowing sleeves and a hem that touched the ground.

With no more hesitation, no longer caring that this was probably some demon or another playing a cruel joke on her, Buffy stumbled into her mother's embrace.

Arms wrapped tightly around her daughter, Joyce crooned soothingly, stroking her hair. "It's all right, darling. Mommy's here."

Buffy clung to her mother, a small child once again, snuggling into arms that had always meant security and unending love.

"Buffy? Look at me, honey." Joyce took a step back and cupped Buffy's face in her hands.

She was surprised by their warmth. The night air was cold. How could her mother be standing here, clad in nothing more than a silk dress, and still be so warm?

"Come and sit with me," Joyce said, taking Buffy's hand and leading her to a small bench that she didn't remember being there.

They sat quietly together, with Buffy staying close to her mother's always comforting presence.

Part Two...

Joyce finally broke the silence. "I know things have been hard for you, honey. I'm so sorry I had to leave you that way."

Buffy sniffled. "I didn't even get to say goodbye, Mom."

Her mother nodded. "I know. That's one of the reasons I'm here. But," she added, "I can't stay long. Things get a little busy up there around this time of year."

"So...you're in Heaven?"

Joyce raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Don't sound so surprised. I was a pretty nice person, even if I was an occasionally grumpy mom."

"Oh, you were," Buffy said quickly, squeezing her mother's hand. "You were the best. Everyone loved you. It's just that..."

"Just what, honey?"

Buffy sighed. "Well...I was there, too. In Heaven. I actually..." She paused. It was still hard to say that she'd died. Such a bizarre concept...coming back from the grave.

Joyce helped her out. "I know what happened to you, Buffy."

Buffy looked into her mother's eyes, trying to collect her thoughts.

"But...if you were there...well, I always thought that when you...you know...and went to Heaven, then you got to be with the people you loved. That 'we'll meet again one day in Heaven' sort of thing?"

"That's very true," Joyce assured her.

Buffy was still confused. "Then why didn't I...Mom, I never saw you there. Not even one time." The memory still hurt. "Come to think of it, I never met anyone in Heaven. I mean, I saw people...but no one ever spoke to me."

"I know, honey." Joyce passed a gentle hand over her daughter's hair.

"Are you sure I was really there?"

Her mother laughed. "Of course you were there. Now, where else would you be after all the battles you fought against Heaven's enemies?"

"Then how come everyone ignored me? Aren't angels supposed to be nice to everybody?"

"Yes. And they are."

"Well, not to ME they weren't," Buffy mum- bled.

Her mother hesitated briefly. "There WAS a reason for that, Buffy...a reason why no one came close to you, why you didn't see me."

"What reason?" Buffy asked. "Why?"

After another short pause, Joyce answered. "Because you weren't supposed to be there."

The slayer stared at her mother, eyes wide, and mouth slightly open, horrified. "You...you mean I was supposed to be in.." She couldn't stand to say the word. "..the OTHER place?"

"Oh, no!" Joyce rushed to reassure her. "You weren't supposed to be there YET. It wasn't your time, honey. No where near it. That's the reason I never came to you."

Buffy felt as though she were groping her way through a dense fog, trying to under- stand. "But whether it was my time or not..I was THERE. Didn't you want to see me?"

"Honey...of course I wanted to see you." Joyce pulled Buffy close, hugging her tightly. "Staying away from you was the hardest thing I'd ever done. But...I had to do it."

Buffy shook her head. "Why?"

Joyce sighed deeply. "Because I knew...every- one knew...that you couldn't stay. You had to go back, and we were afraid that if you saw me...if I was with you...you would fight it. It would have been much harder on you."

"But why couldn't I stay?" Buffy asked, her voice shaky. "Why did I have to go back?"

Joyce pulled her daughter's head down on her shoulder, holding her tenderly. "Because you were still desperately needed here."

"You mean...you mean the SLAYER was needed here?" Buffy frowned. "But, there would have been another one to take over."

Joyce shook her head. "No. I mean YOU...Buffy Summers. You're the one who's needed here. Honey, you are so deeply loved by everyone in your life...by your sister, by your friends...and by..."

"MOM" Buffy cut her mother off in mid-sentence. "You said before that it wasn't my time...that it was nowhere near it."

"Yes, that's right."

"Does that mean that you know how much time I still have?"

"Well..."

"Because slayers don't usually have a long shelf life. We don't die of old age."

Joyce took hold of Buffy's hands. "Buffy...you had years of your life stolen from you. That was NOT God's plan."

These words made Buffy smile. "God has a plan for me?"

"God has a plan for everyone," Joyce said firmly. "Never doubt that."

"Yeah, okay...but..."

"Buffy...what are you? Not WHO are you...but WHAT are you?"

Buffy considered the question. She was pretty sure her mother wasn't asking if she was a girl, or an American citizen, or a sister, or an average student.

"I'm...the slayer?" she offered tentatively.

Joyce smiled. "Go on."

"Uh...the chosen one?"

"There you are," Joyce nodded. "Now...tell me who chose you."

Buffy shrugged. It sounded so pretentious to say it.

Joyce cupped one hand beneath Buffy's chin, forcing her to meet her eyes. "God has chosen you, Buffy. He's placed his finger on your heart," she said passionately. "You are his child. You are his warrior. You are his emissary here on earth. And what was done to you, was NOT to be tolerated."

The edge of anger in Joyce's tone began to fade. "Most of the time," she went on. "God gives his children choices. Unfortunately, many of them end up making the WRONG choices."

Buffy smiled. "I've noticed that too."

"Yes. Well, in YOUR case, he couldn't give you a choice," Joyce explained. "He needs you here to fight for him...to do battle in his name...and to help bring the ones who have lost their way, who made the wrong choices, out of the darkness and back into his light."

Buffy was silent as she processed this new and startling revelation.

"Do you understand a little better now?" Joyce asked.

Buffy nodded. "I think so." She looked at her mother in wide eyed wonder. "It's just...I've never thought of it that way before. It's such an amazing thing."

"Enlightenment usually is," Joyce replied. "So, don't blame your friends for taking you out of Heaven. It really wasn't their doing."

"But, Willow...."

"I know. But who gave Willow the power? Who told her what to do, and guided her hand?"

"She said that..."

Joyce shook her head. "No, Buffy. It was no magic or mystical power. No spell, or witchcraft, or sacred artifacts brought you back. There is only one with that kind of power. He simply...channeled it through Willow in a way she was capable of understanding."

"So...so it was a plan?" Buffy asked.

"Yes," her mother stated emphatically. "Every page of your life has already been written. Your destiny was charted long before you were even born."

Buffy's world and all of her preconceived notions about it were crumbling like a house of cards, thrown completely askew by these new revala- tions.

Her "sacred duty" as Giles referred to it, suddenly seemed more sacred than ever."

"Your destiny was tampered with," Joyce continued. "Altered by outside forces. THAT is why God intervened. What was wrong, had to be put right."

"For me?" Buffy sighed. "Wow."

"Yes. For you. And believe me, God does not take such measures lightly. In fact, it's extremely rare." Joyce glanced away for a moment, deciding how to best explain what she needed to say next, so as not to hurt her daughter.

"Buffy...do you remember when Angel came back...literally out of nowhere?"

"Of course I do," Buffy said.

"God wasn't finished with him. He needed Angel here. There was still too much he had to do." Joyce squeezed Buffy's hand and smiled. "I can't reveal to you what it is, but Angel has a destiny ahead of him that will soon change him forever."

Buffy's heart nearly stopped. The words 'Angel' and 'change' were not always a good combination.

"Not in a bad way," Joyce added quickly when she saw Buffy's reaction to her words. "What's going to happen will change several lives for the better, and it will bring Angel the first real peace he's ever known."

Buffy swallowed hard. "Will he..will it make him happy?"

Joyce smiled at her daughter's wistful tone. "It will make him very happy. But, don't worry...his soul is secure. He's earned it."

*<*Angel will be happy...without me...*>*

Buffy was surprised that the notion didn't hurt as much as she would have expected it to.

"Buffy? Are you all right?"

She smiled and leaned against her mother. "Yeah, I'm fine. I want Angel to be happy. He deserves it...even if I'm not a part of God's plan for him anymore."

Buffy didn't see it when her mother turned her head slightly, as though someone had called her name. "I know," she murmured.

Buffy raised her head. "What?"

Joyce turned back to her daughter. "Honey, there's more I need to tell you, and I don't have much more time, so listen closely."

"Okay...I am."

"I don't want to upset you by telling you this, but...God's ultimate plans for Angel never included you."

Buffy was completely surprised by this. "They didn't? Ever?"

"No." Joyce shook her head. "Angel...well, Angel loved you in a way he'd never loved anyone before. But...he didn't NEED you for his salvation."

Buffy stared at her hands, rubbing the finger that Angel's ring had once graced.

"But," Joyce touched Buffy's cheek, making her look up. "There is another who needs you desperately. Without you...he will be damned. Eternally."

Buffy gazed at her mother calmly, as though she'd been expecting these words all along.

Part Three...

"You're talking about Spike, aren't you?"

Joyce chuckled softly. "As unlikely as it sounds, it's what God has planned for you...and for him." Becoming suddenly serious, she leveled a direct gaze on her daughter.

"Buffy...Spike needs your love far more than Angel ever did. He just didn't know how to ask for it."

Buffy felt a sense of rightness at her mother's words, as though she was finally hearing exactly what she'd been needing someone to say to her.

It was almost like a benediction...a blessing from...

"Like a sign from Heaven," she said softly, as her heart did cartwheels inside of her.

"Buffy...?"

The slayer smiled at her mother. "He loves me," she said simply.

"Yes, he does." Joyce smiled back at her. "He truly does."

Buffy sighed, shaking her head. "For the longest time I didn't believe it. I didn't think he COULD love me."

"Believe it," Joyce said. "Because he more than loves you, darling. There is nothing he will not do for you. He would die for you...without thinking twice. He nearly did."

Buffy felt tears sting her eyes at the memory. "I know...it's just that..."

Joyce touched her finger to Buffy's lips. "Listen to me, honey. You are his life and his salvation, and he knows it."

Buffy blinked back the tears in her eyes. "And after all the times he tried to kill me, all the fights we've had."

"Yes," Joyce agreed. "And it might have escaped your notice, but neither of you ever won any of those fights. You never managed to kill each other. Why do you suppose that is?" She wore a look of amused perplexity. "Do you think that maybe someone was watching over..."

"I get your point, Mom." Buffy interjected. "But he was so bad for so long. It kinda makes you wonder what God was thinking about when he planned all this."

"Don't question his plans, honey." Joyce squeezed Buffy's hand. "You'll just go round and round in circles, and end up with a headache." She smiled. "Just know that there is a reason for everything. You may live an entire lifetime and never understand, but there IS a reason."

Buffy took a deep breath. "I'll try and..." She stopped suddenly when she remembered. "Mom, he's gone. I made him leave...I was so cruel to him...said such awful things." Fresh tears brimmed in her eyes. "I told him that I didn't care...that what we had together meant nothing." She looked at her mother with desperation. "Oh, God...what have I done?"

"Buffy, don't cry." Joyce brushed a single tear from her daughter's cheek. "He's not going anywhere," she said insistently. "Not without you. He loves you far too much to ever leave you...no matter WHAT he says."

Buffy stared at her mother, wanting to believe her words. "Oh, Mom...what am I gonna do?"

"The only thing you can do," Joyce said, aching for her little girl who seemed so terribly lost and alone. "Follow your heart. It won't let you down."

Buffy sighed. "You make it sound so easy." She waved one hand as though it held a magic wand. "Just follow your heart and you'll live happily ever after."

"I didn't say it would be easy," Joyce chided. "But if you want it badly enough, if you're willing to work at it...then there's nothing you can't accom- plish."

Buffy gave her mother an imploring look. "I'm not very good at being happy...and I'm scared."

"Scared to love?" Joyce asked. "Now, I don't believe that. I've never known anyone who loves so completely as you do."

Buffy shook her head, searching for the words. "I'm scared to love HIM," she said, her voice breaking a little. "They always leave, Mom. They say they love me...and then they leave."

"Buffy, listen..."

"I can't go through it again. I can't bear to have another man leave me behind."

"Buffy!" Joyce said again. "You have to believe me when I tell you that will never happen. I know this to be true."

She eyed her mother questioningly. "You know because..." She tilted her head, gesturing skywards..."you have inside information?"

Joyce laughed. "Let's just say that I know." Seeing that Buffy needed more, she added, "Look at it this way...if you give your heart to him completely, without holding anything back...he'll have no reason to leave you. Because it's all he really wants."

A new thought occured to Buffy, a more fright- ening one. "But the chip...what if it malfunctions or he gets it taken out. If he reverts back to what he was...I'll have to kill him. It'll be like Angel all over again."

One diamond bright tear escaped and trickled down Buffy's face, and Joyce once again brushed it away with a gentle fingertip.

"And what if none of those things happen?" she asked. "Buffy...don't waste your life wondering what if. Life doesn't give you guarantees. All it gives you are choices...the rest is up to you."

"Oh, great," Buffy mumbled. "Cause I'm SO good at making choices."

"Don't mumble, dear," Joyce scolded. "It's very annoying."

Buffy smiled a little. *<*Mom is still Mom...no matter what...*>*

It was a reassuring thought.

"Now," Joyce said briskly. "Before I go, there's one more thing I have to tell you. Something that I don't want you to ever forget."

"Okay," Buffy nodded.

"Spike chose his path. The choice was given to him, and he made the right one." Joyce's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Call it a test. A test that he passed."

Buffy caught her mother's teasing tone. "Got a good grade did he?"

"Yes, he did...and it had NOTHING to do with that stupid chip!" Joyce rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Good LORD, I am tired of hearing about that thing."

Her tone was no longer light.

"I mean...all it does is keep him from harming humans. THAT is it's only purpose, so don't give it too much credit."

Buffy saw the familiar signs of her mother beginning to get worked up, and she smiled at the memory of being on the receiving end of her irritation."

"And what a thing to do. Just...just CHIP somebody without knowing a thing about them!"

For some bizarre reason, Buffy heard herself offer a small defense of the person her mother was speaking about. "Well, you know...Professor Walsh was just trying to control..."

"Oh, I KNOW what she was trying to do," Joyce interrupted. "But she didn't do her homework"

"What?"

"Protecting us from 'the hostiles'. But it wasn't for protection, was it? It was her own agenda she was concerned about. Those nasty little experiments of hers. She didn't care what she had to do or who got in her way."

"Yeah, that's true," Buffy agreed, remembering what had happened when she'd been the one to piss off Maggie Walsh.

"Buffy, you have no idea how many UN- hostiles she used," Joyce said indignantly. "I don't know what that woman was thinking."

"Why don't you ask her when you go back?"

"Are you serious?" Joyce arched her eye brows. "SHE'S not there."

TBC...

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