"You goddamn sneak!" Before he can even say boo, she's over there, grabbing his hand, pulling him to his feet, wrapping her arms around him. "You fucker! I thought I was never going to see you again!"

He may be Beth's guy, but he's her niece's dad and that makes him family. There's also something else, though: this whole goddamn trip she's been doubting her sanity. It isn't just hearing Victoria; she knows how to deal with that. But she's been thinking maybe, just maybe, the whole thing about the bar's been nothing but a dream, a fantasy, something she made up. Yeah, she's got the pictures and yeah, she's got Santa Madre and Beth Junior here with her, but somewhere inside she's been wondering if the whole thing was just some weird hallucination.

Seeing Spike makes it all real. Painfully, wonderfully real. "You son of a bitch," she sobs against his shoulder. "Have you really been here the whole goddamn time?"

Of course he has. Of course he has: their way back got run over right after she got here. "That fucking cape." It might come in handy.

Especially for getting the babies past the amazons guarding the harbor.