Damn. Since you ended with the hand down her back, I'm kind of consumed by that right now, but before that happened, I was being very impressed by your Buffy in this chapter. All her issues are so obvious here, ones she's had and ones she had in canon that are only just coming to the surface now that she realizes that she's been missing something. Wonderful writing.

And I love this: Then she knocked him to the ground in an alley and changed everything. Existence was worthwhile, because of her. He believed the world could be a better place, because of her. He could never atone, but maybe he could help—because of her. Because you're still reminding us that while things are so different in this AU, so much would still be the same between them.