~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

BUFFY: Spike! Spike, listen to me.

SPIKE: Yeah.

BUFFY: Are you all right?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

SPIKE: Get these sodding things off me, I'm fine.

BUFFY: Don't you think you should take a little time...calm down?

SPIKE: I am calm. This stone of yours is out, right? It did it's job, so I'm de-triggered, right?

GILES: Spike, what do you remember about the song?

SPIKE: Oh yeah, the song. It's called "Early one Morning," old folk diddy.

WOOD: What's it mean to you?

SPIKE: Mean? Nothing. Just...uh, my mum. It was her favorite, she used to sing it to me. When I was a baby.

GILES: And?

SPIKE: No "and"...that's it. Look, shouldn't you check on Dawnie? Clocked her noodle pretty fierce.

BUFFY: She'll be okay. She's tough.

(Later)

GILES: Think about what you're doing.

BUFFY: I have. (Goes to unchain Spike)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

BUFFY: Spike? What happened? (Spike opens the door) Oh my God...

SPIKE: I gave him a pass, let him live on the account of the fact that I killed his mother. But that's all he gets. He even so much as looks at my funny again, I'll kill him.

(Buffy goes inside and helps Wood stand before turning and looking at the room she's in.)

BUFFY: I lost my mom a couple years ago. I came home and I found her dead on the couch.

WOOD: I'm sorry.

BUFFY: I understand what you tried to do, but she's dead.

WOOD: Because he murdered her.

BUFFY: I'm preparing to fight a war and you're looking for revenge on a man that doesn't exist anymore.

WOOD: Buffy, don't delude yourself. That man still exists.

BUFFY: Spike is the strongest warrior we have, and we are going to need him if we're going to come out of this thing alive. You try anything again, and he'll kill you. More importantly, I'll let him. I have a mission, to win this war, to save the world. I don't have time for vendettas. The mission is what matters.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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