It's been two years since Spike helped Buffy make sure The Master wouldn't be resurrected, and his unlife has gone from bad to worse. Now that he's fed up with both Dru and Angelus, he comes back to Sunnydale, to the source of all his misery for a new beginning, revenge, and a bit of fun.
What he finds, though, is slightly different than what he planned

I had something to say to each of them, but I don't think the message got through. It's harder to communicate in dreams than you'd think.

When Buffy brings her mom and sister to Spike to protect from the hell god, Glory, he sees a chink in her armor—she needs him, she trusts him... maybe, just maybe, she doesn’t hate him as much as she claims. Will that boatload of manly responsibility the Slayer’s dropped into his lap save Spike from a life of lonely desperation?

Two months after the events of Hurricane Mitch, Anyanka heeds the call for vengeance at Sunnydale High. Because it’s absolutely the best way to get the job done, she infiltrates the school as a supply teacher. But why on earth would Ripper Giles be there?

Rupert can’t believe his good luck in getting a second chance.

Like all of the Further Tales, this can be read as a stand-alone ‘what if’, but the Ballad stories are best read together.

During Band Candy, Ripper heads out to the Fishbowl instead of staying home with Joyce to gorge on enchanted chocolate. And so begins his whirlwind romance with Anyanka the vengeance demon.