Pairing: W/S
Rating: R
Warning: Character death
Summary: A sad tale
Disclaimer: All characters and aspects of the fictional environment are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox, et al. There is no intent, or remote possibility, of anyone profiting from this.
Distribution: If you'd like it ask and I'll let you take it.
Feedback: Please
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Most of them were young; you didn't last long in this business. They looked old and worn, but that was the game and the stuff that put them there or kept them there.
It was chilly; LA can be a cold place in many ways. They were dressed for the job, not the weather. Some huddled together while they waited; trying to generate some warmth mouthing the hopes and dreams the street had heard forever.
Some stood alone, hopes and dreams not extending beyond the next John or the next needle.
She was one of the solitary ones. Thin, painfully so, uniformed in mini, halter and boots, she patrolled the center of the block. She'd been there longer than most. Career changes came quickly on the street. For every one that moved up, ten ended in an emergency room or alley.
A car slowed and she stepped into the street. The passenger window slid down as it paused.
"Looking for a date?" she said, her voice worn and emotionless.
"What are we talking about?"
She leaned into the window, " 20 hand, 50 head anything else, we can negotiate."
The driver leaned closer and got a good look at her spindly arms. She'd stopped trying to hide the tracks.
She had to jump back as the car took off.
With a shrug, she returned to the sidewalk.
As she stood waiting for the next potential customer, she idly toyed with a small silver tube she wore around her neck. All the others had wondered about the odd necklace that she always wore. When someone new would ask about it, the rest would shake their heads and tell them to forget it. Later if the questioner kept at it or more likely if one of the others was feeling a little too good, they'd tell the story.
When the girl had shown up, she was in pretty rough shape already; not one of your corn fed Iowa farm girls fresh off the bus. No, she was hooked and hooked good. She didn't have much to say and she got along all right, that is until Harry showed up.
Most of them considered him a natural irritation, like rain or mudslides. He'd deal a little and threaten a little. They'd pay him a few dollars and some of the dumb ones would even cut him in regular, at least until they figured out that there wasn't much to his big talk except talk.
The girl didn't bother with him, but he was interested in her. Well, he was interested in the silver tube that she wore around her neck. Harry had seen too much TV and was sure that she was holding diamonds or uncut drugs or some other thing that would make his fortune.
The others tried to tell him that if she had anything like that she would be putting nicer things in her mouth than she was, a nice white girl like that.
Harry wouldn't listen. One night on the way back to her room, he pulled her into a deserted alley.
The end of the story was always the same.
"It was Tiffany Jay that found him. She had need of a private spot and picked the same alley. She was looking for a likely place when she heard someone moaning, not the $20 type moaning but really hurt moaning. Following the sound, she found him. It was Harry, she could tell from his clothes. She couldn't tell from his face, he didn't have one. He had been skinned, skinned alive. Tif was scared, but he was trying to say something and she leaned down as close as she could. He mumbled about dust and then something about trees and nails, and then he was gone. Later the cops said that he crossed some Colombians in a drug deal and they did it, but they never arrested anybody. Nobody ever bothered the girl again."
The traffic was slowing and soon the streets would be empty. The girl stood and fingered the silver tube. The tube that Harry found too late contained only dust. The engraving was worn, but the words "Spike & Willow" could still be read.
With a sigh, she turned and walked slowly back toward her room.