Chapter 38
At last we meet




Buffy Anne Summers, once crowned worst actress of Hemery High after the talent show, now had to give the best performance of her life. Thankfully, the importance of what was at stake here should be motivation enough.

She walked into the bar with all the fake confidence she could muster. Swaying her hips like a seasoned seductress, she maneuvered expertly through the surprisingly crowded place and perched herself on a high stool. Buffy scanned the place for Mr. And Mrs. MacAlister, but didn‘t have to look very far. Right across from her, sitting at the u-shaped bar, were Angel and Darla. If anybody in the bar other than Buffy would spare them a glance, they’d see nothing special. A couple out to have a good time. Rude, somewhat obnoxious, a little arrogant maybe, but nothing special. Buffy saw them as her mission, and these people crowding the bar tonight would never see the monsters amongst them unless she succeeded. She needed to focus only on the mission and get it done, because nothing else mattered.

Waiting for the bartender to notice her, Buffy observed Angel and Darla as discretely as possible and quickly got lost in her thoughts. Images of the lives they had ruined flashed behind her eyes. She thought about that girl, Drusilla, who despite being a drug addict and a manipulative nut case, still didn’t deserve to die like that. She had been young still; life could have taken a turn for the better. Who knows, maybe one day she would have checked into rehab, gotten a job, start anew. But Angel and Darla had made sure that would never happen for her.

Her thoughts drifted to William, herself and their unborn child. Because of these monsters, their daughter or son would be raised without a father. They had so effectively destroyed William’s life that it seemed to be only going from bad to worse They had aimed at hurting him, and even a year later, it still kept snowballing. Now, not only was he in prison for life, but he was going to have a family outside, and not be able to be with them. Granted, he didn’t know about the baby yet, but when he found out, it would make being locked away even more of a torture. The MacAlister’s plan had worked perfectly. They definitely had fate working for them. Buffy could only hope that life would soon give Spike a break.

*It will.* She thought with more conviction than she felt. *As soon as I put these assholes behind bars.*

“So?”

Buffy looked up, startled. “What?”

The bartender was staring intently at her. “I asked you if you want something to drink or eat. Because if you don’t want anything, hon, there’s not much of a reason to be here in the first place. You’re certainly not here for the décor, are you?”

Buffy smiled apologetically. “Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.” She leaned over the counter, exposing her miracle bra enhanced cleavage. “I’ll have a rum and diet coke without rum please.”

At the bartender’s confused look, she slid a ten dollar bill in his direction and added, “Just make it look like you’re serving me alcohol, please. And every time I ask you for a rum and coke, don’t put rum in it. I… have my reasons.”

Somehow, explaining to this man that she couldn’t drink because she was pregnant, but still needed the people sitting across from her to believe she was a party girl, seemed way too complicated.

The bartender leaned forward close to her, as if he was about to share an important secret: “Honey, if you give me ten bucks for a diet coke, you can call it whatever the hell you wanna call it.”

She laughed and pulled out more bills from her wallet. “Could you also serve two more drinks to that couple sitting over there? Tell them it’s on me.”

“Sure thing, sweetheart.”

The bartender put the diet coke in front of her and brought Angel and Darla their drinks. Buffy saw him point at her with his thumb over his shoulder before walking away to serve other customers.

*Here goes nothing.* She thought before giving them her sexiest smile.

Angel was sitting on a stool with Darla glued to his side. She was standing next to him, an arm resting on his bulky shoulders and her cheek against his. They were both studying Buffy with interest and after a few seconds passed, matching grins appeared on their faces. Buffy couldn’t help comparing their expression to the cat who’s about to have some cruel fun with the mouse. She shuddered.

To signal that she had their approbation, Angel lifted his glass in her direction and mouth “cheers” before swallowing the whole thing. Darla motioned for Buffy to join them.

Buffy’s heart was beating a steady staccato as she stood up. In no hurry to face the two homicidal maniacs, she took the time to smooth down her short black pleated skirt and ran a shaky hand through her long hair. She knew she looked great. A little on the slutty side, but great nonetheless. She just hoped her nervousness wasn’t showing too much. These two could smell fear, she was sure of it.

When Buffy was within hearing distance, Darla asked in her airy and slightly nasal voice: “What’s this for? Feeling a bit lonely tonight, honey?”

Doing her best to look nonchalant, Buffy leaned her back against the bar and looked around with a bored expression on her pretty face, before looking back at the couple. “The two of you seemed like the most interesting people in this hellhole tonight. I figured it’d be more entertaining to hang out with you than staying by myself fighting off a bunch of horny assholes.”

Obviously liking the answer, and enjoying getting her ego stroked, Darla smiled her first genuine smile.

“Good choice. We are fun, aren’t we darling?” She looked at her husband, waiting for him to agree with her.

“Was there ever any doubt? The real question is…” He gave Buffy what she assumed was meant to be an intense look but made him seem almost constipated. “Are you?”

“Depends.” She answered cryptically.

One of Angel’s big bushy eyebrows lifted slightly in an attempt at a confused expression. But despite his best efforts, the man seemed to have only one facial expression: broody. Anything else was merely a slight variation on the same theme.

“Depends on what?” Darla asked, a touch of impatience evident in her voice.

“By day, I’m as boring as can be. Boring job in boring office with boring people. But I compensate at night.” She flashed them a sassy smile. Thinking of one of her favorite movies, she added: “I like to get fucked up.”

Darla’s feminine laughter echoed shrilly through the bar. A few people glanced their way out of curiosity, but she couldn’t have cared less. She lifted her glass in a toast to Buffy. “Well, we like to get fucked up too.”

Buffy sourly completed the quote in her head *yeah I bet you do* But forced herself to smile back, and raised her glass too. “We should get along perfectly well then. Cheers.”

Their glasses clanked loudly together, and Buffy made a show of chugging down her drink and asking for another one. The bartender was true to his word and gave her a diet coke.

Darla moved from Angel’s side and made Buffy sit on a stool between the two of them. It made her feel trapped but she did her best to ignore the feeling and relax.

Angel turned sideways to face her. “What’s your name, gorgeous?”

Buffy hesitated for a second, but thankfully not long enough for the drunk couple to notice. “It’s Anne, but I like gorgeous.” She winked, making Angel chuckle drunkenly. When he failed to provide her with his own name right away, she grinned playfully and asked. “And do I call you sugar and honey all night, or do you have names too?”

Darla’s eyes lit up. She told Angel: “I like her, she’s sassy.” Then, turning to Buffy, “I’m Darla. And this is my loving husband, Liam. But he…”

“It’s Angel.” He snapped, glaring at his wife.

The blonde huffed in annoyance, a noise that sounded oddly ladylike for such a trashy woman. “As I was going to add before being so rudely interrupted.”

The two women shared a laugh at Angel’s dejected look.

The guy standing in front of the Jukebox put some money in, pressed a button, and ’Pour some sugar on me’ came on. The bartender cranked up the volume. Buffy jumped on the occasion to save herself from having to exchange pleasantries with the two psychos.

“I love this song!” She looked at Darla. “Wanna dance? Torture those horndogs on the dance floor, then leave ‘em high and dry for fun?”

Darla put her arms around Angel’s neck and kissed him. “Angel, baby, I love the way she thinks. Can we keep her?”

“I’m not against the idea.” He replied, grinning at Buffy.

She shuddered at the look the couple gave her. At this moment, she wished she was anywhere but in this place, with these people. She seriously hoped hanging out with them really would get Spike his freedom.

Darla extricated herself from Angel’s bulky arms. “Come join us in a couple of minutes to scare away all the horny losers, OK?”

“Sure thing babe. But let’s do a shot first, shall we?”

Buffy tried to find a way of getting out of this but didn’t sound very convincing. “We’re gonna miss all the song.” She pouted.

But Angel had already ordered three shots of Tequila and almost as soon, they were on the bar.

“To a new… friendship.” Darla toasted, a pinched smile on her face that Buffy was starting to realize was just her signature smile. Probably because of her tiny eyes and nose. It made her look arrogant and slightly disdainful.

Angel and Darla both downed their drinks. Buffy hesitated, but finally told herself that women used to drink alcohol all the time back in the days when it wasn’t known that alcohol was bad for pregnant women, and the human race didn’t face extinction. So one shot probably wouldn’t hurt.

*Sorry little one…*

She drank the tequila and bit in her lemon.

“All right.” Darla exclaimed cheerfully. “Let’s go dancing.”

The two women made their way to the dance floor holding hands like best friends. Not one man in the place remained indifferent to them, all turning to watch as the two beautiful blondes took a spot in the middle of the dance floor and started undulating to the beat of the loud music. They moved around each other with grace and sensuality, aware of all the eyes on them, but not caring one bit.

After the first song ended and another started, the more adventurous of the bunch dared getting closer. Buffy and Darla indulged them for a little while, but the second one of the guys dared put a hand on Buffy, Darla pushed him so roughly he fell on his ass. She glanced quickly in Angel’s direction, but he was already on his way so Darla turned to the guy who was picking himself off the floor. She gave him a contemptuous look. “Anne, darling, I’m sorry I’m a bit impulsive. Where you at all interested in this guy?”

Buffy snorted in mocked disgust. “Not at all. I usually prefer my men taller than me, and with a dick between their legs.”

The two women laughed. The guy with the bruised ego was fuming. “You stupid whores!”

He stood up and started advancing on them, but Angel’s hand on his shoulder stopped him from going any further. He squeezed hard and the other man howled in pain. He took a swing at Angel, but he was expecting it and side stepped the drunk shorter man who went sprawling on the dance floor. Angel kicked him hard enough to break something, then grabbed him by the back of his shirt with one hand and lifted him off the floor.

“Consider that you learned something tonight, my boy. Never take on bigger and badder than you, or mess with his girls. It’s basic survival instincts, really.”

The rest of the crowd, knowing Angel MacAlister by reputation, had been smart enough not to get involved in the altercation. They stayed at a safe distance from the scene.

Buffy was feeling horribly guilty. She’d never intended for her little act to go this far. She’d just wanted to prove to Darla and Angel that she was one of their kind; someone they would want to hang out with. She never wanted anyone to get hurt. But if she said something now, she’d ruin everything. She had to see the big picture. This guy might end up with a few bruised ribs and a head ache in the morning, but he’d get over it. Spike faced life in prison. The decision to cheer Angel on was relatively easy to make when seen this way.

Linking arms with Darla, Buffy watched as Angel administered another blow to the guy’s jaw, then dropped him unceremoniously. He wiped his hands on his black leather pants, as if they were dirty.

“Well, that was fun. Wasn’t it, girls?”

“Best entertainment I’ve had in a while.” Buffy did her best ‘Spike sexy smirk’. “I knew you guys were fun.”

“We’re the best. The scourge of Sunnydale. Feared by all.” Darla snickered. “I think this calls for a drink. Doesn’t it baby?”

Angel put his arms around both Darla and Buffy’s shoulders, and walked them to the bar.

After an hour of making fun of pretty much everyone in the place and trading stories, Buffy was starting to think she’d never find a way out of there. She was just about to gouge her eyes out when she was saved by the proverbial bell. Her cell phone.

“Hello?”

“Buffy, it’s Wesley.”

“Yeah, what is it?” She answered abruptly for her companions’ benefit.

“Is everything all right?”

“Uh huh.”

“You’ve been in there an awfully long time. I was worried.”

“Sure.”

“Sure? What do you mean… Oh, you’re not alone. I see. Do you need more time in there?”

“No!” She looked at Angel who was observing her. “No, damn it. I’m busy. Whatever it is, deal with it yourself.”

She rolled her eyes and mouthed ‘brother’ as an explanation.

“What did you get yourself into again?” She continued, taking the one sided conversation where she wanted. “… All right, stop freaking out… I’ll be right there.”

“Buffy?”

“I’ll see you in a minute… Yeah… Bye… And thanks for ruining my fun, AGAIN.”

She hung up.

“Sorry guys, my little brother has a way of always getting himself in trouble, and of course, I’m his knight in shining armor. I have to go.”

“Really?” Darla whined in her high pitched voice. “Are you coming back tonight?”

“I doubt it. Sounded serious. But…” She turned her cell on and opened the address book. “We could exchange phone numbers if you want.”

Angel and Darla looked at each other and for a moment, Buffy was afraid they’d say no. Maybe she wasn’t convincing enough, maybe they didn’t like her as much has she thought they did.

Angel smirked. “Sure thing sweetheart. We might have a party next week-end, we’ll call you.” He gave her their phone number and she programmed it into her cell phone before giving them hers.

“It says X. Harris on the caller display when I call. That’s my brother. The cell is under his name.” She stood up. “I had a great time.”

Darla pulled her in a quick hug and Buffy tried not to stiffen. “Bye Anne. You definitely need to come to that party. You should see the losers my Angel invited. It’s going to be deadly if you don’t show up.”

“I didn’t invite losers! I don’t hang out with losers. The only losers that are going to be there are your cousin and his annoying little friends.”

“Don’t start on my cousin, Angel.” Darla warned.

“The boy is GAY, Dar. Wake up and smell the fag.”

“Riley is perfectly straight. Get off his case already!”

Buffy smiled uncomfortably. “Gotta go. But definitely looking forward to this party.”

She waved and walked away as fast as she could without looking like she was running.

When the cool night air hit her, she heaved a sigh of relief. She jumped in her car and drove the short distance to the 7/Eleven where Wesley was waiting for her outside. He was definitely not expecting the tiny blonde woman to run straight into his arms. She hugged him fiercely.

“Oh my God, Wesley. I’ve never been so happy to receive a phone call in my life.”

“That bad?” He asked curiously.

“Worse.”

“Let’s go in there.” He said, pointing at the 24h coffee shop next to the convenience store. “You can tell me all about it in front of a warm cup of tea… Or whatever strikes your fancy.”

She was shivering in the crisp night air so he covered her bare shoulders with his jacket and led her to the coffee shop. They took a seat at a booth in a quiet corner of the shop. Wesley ordered tea, and Buffy a coffee and a slice of coconut cream pie.

“Would you like to tell me what happened?” The P.I. finally said, after taking a sip of his steaming hot tea. “Were you in any danger? You really should have called me or walked out of there if it was the case.”

“Relax, Wesley. I wasn’t in any danger. In fact, they kind of liked me I think. They even invited me to a party next week-end.”

“But then…”

“Doesn’t mean I had fun though. “ She shuddered in disgust. “It was horrible. I thought the night would never end.”

She shoveled a forkful of coconut cream pie in her mouth and let out a blissful sigh. Wesley smiled, amused.

“It’s not just that they are horrible people, it’s that I had to put on a show all night, act like someone I‘m not, try not to get mixed up in my lies…. It was nerve wracking, Wesley. I was so scared I would screw up and blow my cover. There’s so much at stake, you know?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I only had one shot at this.” She continued. “If they didn’t like me, if they found out I was lying or anything else that could have possibly gone wrong, it would have been over for Spike. I know they can’t possibly connect me to him but I was still worried about it the entire time I was there. And can you believe I had to watch that big cave man beating up some guy and pretend I thought it was the funniest thing?”

“You shouldn’t worry too much about this, Buffy. Angel beats up guys every night according to what I found out about him. I don’t think it matters much if you were laughing or not.”

Buffy looked down at her plate, playing distractedly with the left over pie.

“I know.” She said forlornly.. “It’s just that these people are everything I’ve been against my whole life. It’s hard pretending to like them when all I want is to take a bar stool and break it over that big idiot Angel’s skull.”

Wesley leaned forward to get closer to her. “But you know something? Cracking that stool over the wanker’s head will give him a bump that will last for a week; what you’re doing now might require a bit more patience on your part, but will send him to prison for life. Don’t you think the second option will be more satisfying in the end?”

A smile lit up Buffy’s face. “Absolutely.”

“And I have good news too. I talked to my friend Kate a few hours ago.”

“Kate… That’s the police woman, right?”

“Inspector.” Wesley corrected. “She had her boss reopen the case and she’s got everything in order. She has in her possession a sample of Liam’s voice from his interrogation a year ago. This will speed things up tremendously. When we get that confession out of him, we won’t have a problem positively IDing his voice.”

“That’s great Wesley. I know you’re going above and beyond in this case. I don’t know why you’re doing it, but thank you. Now, let’s just hope I can fool them to the point where they trust me enough to let their guard down.”

“Judging by your success tonight, I have no problem believing you can do this, Buffy. You certainly impressed me.”

She blushed at the compliment.

“May I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“What in the bleeding hell is an evil slutty dumb blonde? I’ve been trying to picture it but came up with nothing.”

Buffy grinned. “Ever watched House of 1000 corpses?”

Wesley stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

“Then rent it and you’ll see there’s a character named Baby. She’s the perfect example of ‘evil slutty dumb blonde’. Baby is someone a guy like Angel would brag to about murdering someone. So that’s how I’m trying to act around them. Trust me on this one.”

Wesley chuckled. “I would never dream of doubting you. You’re one hell of a woman, Ms. Summers. William Rayne is lucky to have you in his corner.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Chapter 39: New recruit on the team




Loaded with her heavy briefcase and her purse, and carrying thick files under one arm, the warden rushed past her secretary’s desk. If the brilliant smile on her face was any indication, Buffy was in a good mood.

“Good morning, Harm.” Buffy greeted cheerfully.

The other woman lifted her head to look at her, and opened her mouth to speak, but Buffy was already walking into her office. She was in a hurry to get back to work. She wouldn’t say that she had been neglecting her work, but she definitely hadn’t given it her full attention lately. Things had been so hectic since the holidays. She couldn’t believe it was mid February already. So much had happened since the New Year fiasco that she hadn’t been able to give the prison’s affairs all her attention. But after her success with Angel and Darla the night before, she felt like she could take on any challenge and she would come up on top. She felt almost like her old self again.

Buffy stopped in her tracks when she saw the red head sitting in one of the big leather chairs facing her desk, casually sipping on a steaming hot beverage--knowing Willow, probably some kind of herbal tea. The woman couldn’t handle caffeine. One cup of coffee and she’d drive everyone around her crazy with her incessant chatter, so she usually stuck to the safer choice: chamomile. She was wearing light gray trousers and a mint green peasant shirt. Her shoulder length flaming red hair was pinned up around her pixie face, green eyes bright and awake as usual.

“Willow! Hey. You’re up early. Don’t you usually start your day at 9?”

The other woman gave Buffy a radiant smile “Couldn’t sleep. I needed to talk to you.”

Buffy dropped her briefcase and purse on the floor and put the files on her desk before sitting in the seat next to Willow.

“Your weekend was that exciting?” She asked her friend with a smile, unable to hold back her amusement. Willow was buzzing with barely contained energy.

“Actually, it was pretty boring. Until yesterday morning.”

“What happened?”

The red head leaned forward in her eagerness to share what was on her mind. Her enthusiasm was contagious and Buffy found herself sitting up straight and giving Willow her entire attention.

“OK, so you know how once I start something, I don’t accept failure, right? I just can’t help it; I turn into the pitt bull of problem solving. Good thing I’m not a police inspector because I’d drive myself insane in no time. I wouldn’t sleep at night…”

“Will, is that coffee in your hands? Because you know what that stuff does to you.”

“Nope, it’s green tea. So, as I was saying--” She continued animatedly, “ --and I swear there‘s a point even if it doesn‘t look like there‘s one yet. I was in my office yesterday, tidying up and putting files up to date, when I came across William Rayne’s file.”

Willow didn’t notice Buffy tensing up, and just kept talking.

“I looked through my notes, and yours, and just couldn’t accept the ‘inconclusive results’. It bugged me and I couldn’t admit defeat. So I called Faith in my office and asked her to take me to William.”

Buffy frowned. “To do what?”

“To talk to him, what else? I just have this obsession with needing to understand that guy. I had to try one more time. I know you did a great job talking to him, but you didn’t tape it and there aren’t many notes. I needed to talk to him myself.”

“But he already told you he didn’t want to. Not that I have anything against you talking to the guy. I actually think it would be a good thing for him to open up to someone else and it might as well be you, but…”

“And he did!” Willow interrupted excitedly. “That’s what I was getting at. I went to see him with Faith because I had nothing else to do yesterday afternoon. I could have gone home, but I couldn’t leave it be. I went to him and asked if he’d reconsider talking with me. And believe it or not, he said yes.”

“Really? That’s great, Will. Did he say anything interesting? Did you figure him out? You said you didn’t sleep last night so I’m thinking it didn’t go so well?”

Why the pang of jealousy, she couldn’t tell. Most likely, there was a selfish part of her who liked being the only one Spike trusted. But at the same time, she wasn’t lying when she said it would be good for him to open up to someone else.

“He told me EVERYTHING.” Willow answered, almost bouncing on her seat.

Buffy reached out and took the mug from the other woman’s hand before the liquid could spill everywhere, and set it down on the desk.

“Sorry.” Willow blushed. “It was just so great. We talked for two hours. Childhood, move to America, meeting with Drusilla, his life in Sunnydale… and the murder. I know none of this is news to you. He told me he already told you everything. But it was great to be able to make my own opinion.”

“And what is your opinion?” Buffy asked, curious to hear what Willow thought of Spike after hearing his story.

“Well, actually… that’s why I’m here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not a stupid woman, and I know what I think doesn’t change anything about the guy’s situation. And despite the fact that he has the sexiest smile and the bluest eyes I’ve seen, don‘t go thinking that he seduced me into believing him or anything. I mean, he’s good looking, but I‘m not that dumb. And don’t look at me like that! He’s cute, but I’m married and I love my husband.” She added, her cheeks flushing at the amused look Buffy was giving her.

“Just because you’re on a diet doesn’t mean you can’t look at the menu, you know?”

Buffy laughed. “Will, please try to focus.”

“Sorry, I did it again.” She took a deep breath and finally said: “I don’t think he did it. Am I crazy? Maybe, I don’t know. But it just doesn’t add up. The guy doesn’t have the profile. I don’t buy that he’d have killed that girl no matter how much of a bitch she was. Not nice calling a dead girl a bitch, but hey, she really was. Anyway, even a passion crime… he’s just not the type. Guys who commit passion crimes can be nice normal guys too, guys that have been pushed too far, but they all have that little something that William just doesn’t have.”

Desperate to prove her point before letting Buffy speak, Willow talked so fast that when she finally stopped, she was almost out of breath.

“It’s OK Will, take a deep breath. You do realize there is caffeine in green tea, right? You should stay away from that stuff.” She blinked her sparkling emerald eyes in confusion. “Really?”

Buffy gave her a half smile. “Well, I don’t know for sure, but I’m starting to have my doubts after hearing your serious babble fest there.”

“Sorry, but I’ve been dying to talk to you since yesterday and every time I called you, I got your voice mail. I almost left a message, but you see in what state I’m in right now? I don’t think my message would have made much sense. You know the main reason cell phones have been invented is that you can be reached when you’re not home, right?”

“Geez, I can’t want to be alone for one lousy weekend without everybody giving me a hard time about it. I get it. I’ll never turn my cell phone off ever again, promise.”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to get you all growly.”

Buffy sighed. “It’s got nothing to do with you, Will. It’s just that when I turned the damn thing back on, I had a bunch of messages. I swear some people were about to call 911 and report me missing.”

“Oh. That’s good, isn’t it? That means people care about you and if you ever get kidnapped, it won’t take too long before somebody notice.” Willow grinned at her friend’s perfect eye roll. “Can we get back on topic? I’m much calmer now, I promise.”

“Topic. Check. Go ahead.”

“Actually, it was kinda your turn to say something. Personally, I’ve reached my conclusion. I don’t think William Rayne killed Drusilla Blackwell. Now, if you want me to get into boring details of what made me draw this conclusion, psychological analyses, theories, references, quotes from obscure authors that you probably never heard of… I even have a few books to back me up. I noted the pages if you’re interested…”

Buffy’s eyes were wide with sudden fear at the idea of being submitted to this torture. “A world of NO. But thanks. Not that I’m not all for feeding my intellect, but that sounded way too college-like for my taste. There‘s a reason why I took a year’s break from my ongoing Psychological studies ya know. My brain was about to explode after finishing Psych of the criminal mind last year. And it didn‘t help that the woman teaching it was psychotic. What was her name again? Oh yeah, Professor Walsh. I think she was evil…” Buffy shuddered.

“You’re taking another degree?” Willow asked, her interest flaring.

“Yeah. You know what they say, you never stop learning. I have to keep up to date. But I figured with the new and very demanding job, I should take a break for a while. But, we were talking about William.”

“Right, William, who I believe is behind bars by mistake.” The two friends smiled at each other, then Buffy continued in a more serious tone. “You don’t have to convince me, Willow. I already came to that conclusion on my own. I don‘t think he did it either.”

The entire time Willow had been rambling, Buffy’s thoughts had been in a jumble over what exactly she could reveal to Willow. Part of her was tempted to tell her old friend everything that’d been going on over the past few months. But unless she’d changed a lot since they were kids, Willow couldn’t keep a secret to save her own life. Not to mention that the more people knew, the higher the exposure risk got. She couldn’t take that chance, no matter how much she loved and trusted Willow. But it was still nice to have someone else who believed Spike was innocent. It made her feel like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. At last, she had a proof that she wasn’t just very naïve to believe in Spike’s innocence despite the lack of evidence. If someone as rational as Willow, who had such a brilliant mind, could believe him too, then it meant Buffy wasn’t merely blinded by love. The only thing left was to determine exactly what to reveal, and how much she wanted the red head involved in all this.

Buffy chuckled at the look of pure shock on Willow’s face.

“Oh, come on Will. Of all people, you should know I can look beneath the surface--think outside the box--whatever. After all, you are talking to the first person who ever thought that instead of building a tree house with wood, it’d be so much easier and faster to bring my Little Pony tent up the tree. See? I started thinking outside the box at a really young age.”

Willow laughed at the memory. “And also broke an arm in the process.”

“Yeah, laugh it up. But that’s beside the point.” She pouted, making Willow laugh even more. “I was just trying to remind you that your friend Buffy can keep an open mind.”

Willow struggled to regain her seriousness. “Yes, of course. I mean, after all, you did manage to see pass Cordelia Chase’s vain, egotistical and bitchy personality and become her BFF.”

“Her what?”

“Best Friend Forever.” Willow said, putting on a ditsy look and clasping her hands together in her best cheerleader imitation.

“Bite me, Red.”

Willow finally calmed down. She sat back and looked at Buffy in silence for a moment, a cryptic smile on her lips.

“What?” Buffy asked, wondering what was going on behind her friend‘s green eyes.

“Nothing. It’s just… William calls me that.”

“Calls you what?” She asked, pretending not to know what Willow was talking about.

She knew damn well that Spike called Willow ‘Red’, which probably explained why she called her that too. But she didn’t want to sound like she was hanging out with Spike all the time and make her friend suspicious. Of course, she was about to find out that this was a waste of time and Willow, being the smart woman that she was, already had suspicions.

“Buffy, can I ask you something a little personal?”

“Sure…”

“Do you like William? I mean as in like-like him… not just like. But you know what I mean by like, right? No need to explain that. And I‘m babbling again.” She shook her head and chuckled nervously, her cheeks flushing a deep crimson.

“What makes you think that? Because I think he’s innocent? I finished Psychology of the criminal mind at the top of my class, Willow. I’m in my element when it comes to understanding criminals. There’s nothing more to it.” Buffy said quietly, not quite able to bring herself to look the other woman in the eyes. She hated to lie to Willow.

“No. That’s not it. I’ve had my doubts since that day in my office. You remember when we tried to talk to William together?”

Buffy nodded, looking a bit tense.

“That day, I left the two of you alone. When I came back a little while later, I walked in without knocking and…”

Buffy frantically tried to remember that day. She didn’t have sex with Spike in Willow’s office, did she? That would have been way stupid.

“… well I think William was crying. And there was just something about the way you were comforting him. I didn’t ask you about it, but I’ve been wondering ever since. Not that anyone could blame you.”

“That’s just crazy, Willow. I really don’t feel that way about Spike.”

“Whatever you say. But I think it’s really too bad he’s a prisoner because I think he feels the same way about you. Whenever your name is mentioned, his face just lights up, his eyes sparkle, he gets more animated… I think he loooves you.” Willow tried to joke, but it fell flat. Buffy didn’t even smile.

“I thought I was a romantic fool, but apparently, you’re worse than I am. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter who has feelings for whom and who doesn’t. I’m more interested in finding out why you wanted me to know that you think he didn’t do it. I’m sure you didn’t tell me that just to share a juicy gossip.”

Willow’s shoulders slumped a bit at that. “Honestly? I don’t really know. I know I can’t do anything about it, and you can’t do anything either. But I couldn’t file the information away and go back to my normal life as if nothing happened. I don’t know what I thought sharing this with you would accomplish, but I figured that it would make me feel better not to keep that to myself. Buffy…”

She hesitated a moment, looking down at her clasped hands in her lap.

“I really feel bad for the guy. A part of me almost hopes that we’re both wrong and he did kill her because I don’t even want to imagine what it must feel like to be in prison when you never did anything wrong.”

Willow seemed genuinely upset over this, and seeing the conflicted emotions play on her friend’s face, Buffy decided to share at least part of her secret with her. She hoped it would make her feel better somehow.

“Can I let you in on my little secret?”

Willow nodded eagerly.

Sitting on the edge of her seat, Buffy leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. Willow felt the need to do the same, as if they were not alone in the room.

“I’m already working on getting him out of here.”

Buffy told her old friend everything about Angel, Darla, the PI she hired and her plan to bring the two murdering bastards down. Willow listened with great interest, her mouth slightly opened as she took in all the details of Buffy’s story.

“Wow. I don’t know what to say. This all sounds potentially dangerous, Buffy.”

The blonde woman waved her hand dismissively “Nah. You know me, I’m a tough cookie. Super Buffy to the rescue. I’ll beat the bad guys’ asses, free the innocent, and restore justice in my prison.”

“Will you let me buy the rights to the movie? That sounds like a potential blockbuster.”

Buffy raised one arm towards the sky a la Super Girl, and both women burst out laughing. When the laughter finally died down, Willow asked: “So, was I right? Are you doing all this because you like him?”

“I don‘t think it matters if I have feelings for him or not.”

“Why do you do it then? It‘s a big risk to take for a stranger.”

“For the same reason you came in my office this morning. Because I can’t just sit back and do nothing, knowing what I know. It isn’t right. This man doesn’t belong in prison and if the system was too corrupt to see it the first time when he was on trial, then I’ll make damn sure it sees it clearly this time around.”

Willow nodded slowly, seemingly lost in thoughts. She finally spoke up.

“I want to help.”

“What?”

“I need to do something. I can’t let you do this by yourself. I want to help you. I’m not very brave or anything, but I still want to do this with you. Even if I’m just moral support girl. What do you say?”

“I don’t know, Will. I really don’t want to drag you into this. If something happened to you, I would never forgive myself. I know the risks and I accept them so if something happens to me, fine. But you…”

“I know the risks too, obviously since I just told you it was dangerous. I’m a grown woman, Buffy. I’m not saying I want to do anything crazy, but if there’s anything I can help with, I’d like to do it.”

Buffy looked away, lost in her thoughts. She knew she should say no. Everything inside her was telling her this was a bad idea and her instincts were usually right. But at the same time, she wouldn’t feel nearly as alone and vulnerable in this if Willow was there. She knew she was being selfish, but she made her decision nonetheless.

“Alright. If you really want to help, I can’t stop you. But if you change your mind, it’s fine too.”

Willow’s eyes lit up, her cheeks were pink with excitement. “Really? So what can I do to help?”

“Well, there’s this party Angel and Darla invited me to. I’m a little uneasy about going there by myself so maybe you could come with? It’s next weekend.”

“Sure. And stick out like a sore thumb. That’ll be fun.” Willow said, red eyebrows raised in disbelief at the idea that Buffy would think she could blend in with that kind of crowd.

But instead of admitting the idea was absurd, Buffy grinned at her friend, an evil glint in her eye. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

The red head frowned, suddenly worried. “No--no I’m pretty sure I’m not. What are you thinking exactly?”

“I’m thinking make-over. I‘m thinking long girlie afternoon, trying on clothes and drinking margaritas, I‘m thinking…”

“I’m thinking you’re totally NUTS!”

Buffy’s smile broadened. “And it feels grrreat!”

They chuckled. Willow stood up and grabbed her mug from the desk where it had been forgotten for the past half hour. “All right. It‘s back to work for me. Don‘t want you to think the prison is paying me to do nothing.”

Buffy smiled warmly at her friend. “Wanna have lunch later?”

“Sounds great. I’ll be in my office. Come and get me when you’re ready to go.”

“Will do.”

She watched as her friend left the office, suddenly feeling a hundred pounds lighter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike looked up when the library’s double doors opened, then stood up a little too quickly.

“Rayne! What the FUCK? Look what you’re doing!”

He looked to his right just in time to see that he had knocked over one of the piles of books they’d spent the afternoon reorganizing. He tried his best to catch it but it fell to the floor despite his best efforts. The other guy working with him gave him a murderous look. And considering this was a prisoner, it wasn’t only a figure of speech.

“Look what you did, you dickhead!” The other guy spat.

In a corner of the library, a guard was sitting with his boot clad feet on the table, his chair reclined on two legs as he read a porn magazine. He looked up from his reading at the ruckus.

“What’s going on over there?” He yelled at the two prisoners, not too gently.

The other prisoner answered before Spike could open his mouth. “Nothing, sir. Just Rayne pissing me off, sir.”

“Well, get back to work. I don’t want to spend all afternoon in here.”

Normally, Spike wouldn’t have let the other guy talk to him like that, but he was too busy looking at his girl to care. Buffy was standing right by the door of the library, surrounded by two guards and a trio of men in suits.

He crouched to pick up the fallen books, never taking his eyes off her. He’d been worried all weekend that maybe something was wrong with her, but she looked fine. She was talking animatedly with the three men accompanying her. Looking around, she saw him. Their eyes locked for a moment and she spared him a ghost of a smile.

It sounded corny even in his head, but just seeing her for a second like that made his day.

Spike smiled back before returning to what he’d been doing. He started putting the piles of books back on the now clean shelves. The library was closed for the day so he as well as three other guys could tidy up and reorganize everything. He didn’t mind this. The library was his territory and he felt more relaxed in this place than anywhere else in the prison. Here he didn’t have to talk to anybody or pretend to be a hard ass. If he could go from his cell, to the library, and back to his cell every day, he’d be a happy man. Well, with a stop in Buffy’s office, of course.

And the good thing about it was that the library was one of the places in the prison where they weren’t watched by the guards all the time. Except today because two of the prisoners were there as part of their extra New Year chores. The guys were tired of paying for the New Year riot so the guards had to be more vigilant. But usually, you could go from the common area to the library without being escorted and handcuffed. In prison, you hang on to any bit of freedom you can find; which was usually not much.

Spike looked up to see Buffy shaking hands with the three men before one of the guards escorted them out of the library. He expected to see her follow, but instead, she walked towards the shelves accompanied by Faith. The other guy--Bill, Spike thought his name was--stood up. From the other side of the room, Andrew trotted hurriedly in their direction, a rag on his shoulder, apparently eager to find out what the warden wanted with them.

“All right, guys. You did a good job. I was conducting an inspection and the ‘important’ people I was with were impressed. Thank you. I think that means you deserve a break. Why don’t you go outside and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.”

Andrew raised his hand.

“Huh.. Yes.. Andrew is it?”

Wide eyed Andrew turned to Spike and whispered excitedly “She remembered my name!”

Spike shook his head. Buffy rolled her eyes.

“Yes, and I can also hear you. What do you want Andrew?”

“Mrs Warden Summer, I just wanted to say that we’re not finished yet.”

Andrew squealed when Bill‘s elbow connected painfully with his ribs.

Buffy gave Bill a nasty look but didn’t say anything to him. “It’s all right Andrew. You guys can finish tomorrow. You can go now.”

The guard who’d been reading porn threw the magazine on the table and was the first out the door, followed by Faith and the three prisoners. Just before Spike could walk out of the library, Buffy stopped him.

“Prisoner Rayne, could you hold on, please? I need your help with something before you leave. It will only take a minute…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 40
Destroying prison property




Spike followed the petite blonde Warden through the library in silence. He had tried to say something, but she’d put a finger to her lips, then pointed at the sign above the door that said “Quiet please”. Spike bit his lower lip, amused by her antics. Obviously, his girl was up to something. She finally came to a stop in front of two boxes.

“Could you help me carry these boxes, please?”

Spike couldn’t help but wonder if she’d really asked him to stay behind only to help her with manual labor. He frowned, but picked up the two boxes full of old damaged books anyway.

Buffy made her way to a door and he followed her, waiting as she pulled out her big key ring and looked for the right key to unlock the door. It was the study room 16a, the one that had been locked all weekend for unknown reasons.

She got the door open then moved aside to let him go in first. Buffy followed Spike inside the room and closed the door behind them. The room was dark, the only light coming from the small high window covered with steal bars. Spike bent down to put the boxes on the floor and for a few seconds she allowed herself the luxury of taking the sight in. Muscular arms straining against the weight of the boxes, yummy tight ass on display as he crouched down to put his load down on the floor… She shook herself out of her reverie, remembering that she was supposed to act all sexy, not slack jawed and drooling like a school girl. She leaned back against the door, her arms crossed in front of her and a sexy smirk on her lips, waiting for him to turn and look at her before speaking.

“I learned an interesting tidbit of information about this room today. Do you know what’s special about it, prisoner Rayne?”

Spike repressed his smirk, deciding to play along with her. He shook his head. “No Warden, I don’t believe I do.”

She slowly pushed away from the door and took a step forward. “It’s interesting, really. As a matter of fact, it’s the main reason why I decided to end my inspection with the library… So I could see if what I was told was true, and if I could take advantage of it if it was. Knowing that my favorite prisoner was here weighted heavy in the balance too.”

“And may I be so blunt as to ask what exactly is so special about this room, Warden?”

She took two more steps until she was standing right in front of him, invading his personal space. Spike held his breath in anticipation.

“So, you’re really interested to know why this study room has been locked for the past three days?”

“Dying to find out, ma’am.”

She took another step, forcing him to take a step back. The edge of the table stopped him from going any further. Buffy put both hands on his muscular chest and trailed her nimble fingers down his torso, making him shiver in lust. She leaned forward, her lips brushing lightly against his earlobe.

“The surveillance camera is… broken.”

Buffy pushed him roughly on the table, laughing at the expression on his face. He was lying there, pushing himself up on his elbows to get a better look at what she was doing, obviously shocked and aroused by her actions.

“And I intend to take full advantage of that fact, Mr. Rayne. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, Warden. No problem at all.”

“Good.”

He watched in fascination as Buffy pulled her black skirt up to give herself more freedom of movement, and crawled on top of him, giving him a smoldering look through her long eyelashes. She advanced on him until she reached his lips, almost touching them with hers, but last minute pulling just out of his reach. She sat up, one knee on each side of his lean hips.

Reaching up, Buffy pulled on the elastic band that was holding her hair back into a ponytail, and shook her head. Her mane fell sexily on her shoulders, framing her face with golden waves. He tried to reach out to touch it, but she swatted his hand away, not ready for him to participate just yet. She wasn’t done with the teasing.

“No Mr. Rayne, not yet. Maybe if you’re good, I’ll let you play later. But for now, all you do is watch. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Buffy resumed her teasing by starting to unbutton her crisp white shirt painfully slowly, one tiny button at a time, while shifting her hips back and forth over his growing erection. She let the shirt slide down her arms to her elbows, exposing the white lace bra barely containing her perky breasts. Still moving her hips in slow circles, Buffy let out a soft sigh of pleasure at the feel of the hard bulge rubbing against her bare clit. She lifted her skirt higher on her hips to let him see that she hadn’t bothered with underwear. Spike groaned at the sight, using all his self-restraint not to grab her and have his wicked way with his blonde goddess. Baby wanted to play, obviously.

She put both her hands flat on his stomach, reveling in the feel over his tight abdominal muscles underneath her palms. But what she really wanted was to feel his warm skin. So she went to work on the buttons of his shirt, impatiently undoing them to expose his torso to her hungry stare.

“Perfect.” She whispered softly to herself.

She got off of him and stood between his legs at the end of the table.

Spike let out a disappointed “Hey!”

“Don’t worry, baby. Patient boys usually get what they want.”

She ran her hands up his legs until she reached the top of his pants. Only a button and a zipper stood in the way of what she wanted and she remedied that situation, freeing his engorged erection.

“Is that for me, prisoner Rayne?”

“All for you, Warden. You know that. I’m yours to do with as you please.”

Buffy smiled and bent down to place an open mouthed kiss to the head of his cock. Spike was breathing faster already, turned on by her little display of authority and by the sight of her lips on his erection. She was so beautiful with her long hair falling freely around her face and that devilish gleam in her hazel eyes. He could barely contain himself.

While licking and kissing his straining cock, Buffy finished pulling his pants down and playfully raked her fingernails down his hard thighs. Spike shivered at the sensation she was awakening in him. He was amazed at how easily this woman could make him lose his mind. She was perfection. Everything about her was just pure perfection and he didn’t know what he’d done to deserve her.

Buffy relaxed her throat muscles and took him in all the way, before sucking hard as she let him out of her mouth slowly, torturously. She let the object of her lust flop out of the warm cavern of her mouth. The expected moan of protest echoed through the room.

“Buf… Warden, please. Need you.”

His cock was resting on his stomach, swollen and an angry shade of red. She knew he must be aroused to the point of pain and so was she, so she decided to stop playing games. They had been apart for too long already and she couldn’t bear to be without him for even another moment. Buffy climbed back on the table, straddling him again and attacked his mouth hungrily.

“Missed you…” She murmured against his lips between two passionate kisses. “Miss you so much, Spike.”

Realizing that play time was over, Spike wrapped his arms tightly around her and lifted his hips off the table to make contact with her aching sex.

“Missed you more.”

Buffy smiled against his lips. “Doubt it.”

He pulled away from her and huffed, giving her a disbelieving look. “Damn straight I did. Didn‘t you get the fifty messages I left you about that?”

A look of shame flashed on Buffy’s face. “Did I mention I was sorry for not calling?”

Spike smiled and pulled her back into his arms. “I’m kidding, pet. Don’t fret.”

“But still…” She tried to explain, but he put a finger to her lips to stop her from talking.

“Buffy, you don’t owe me anything. You don’t have to tell me every time you’re going somewhere. I’m not your dad. I was just in a weird mood this weekend, is all. I swear it’s all right. And who said you could stop moving?” He added mischievously when he noticed that her hips had stilled.

“Oops. Sorry. Got distracted.” She bit his shoulder playfully before sitting up on him. “Now, lie down, relax, and let me do the work.”

She reached down and took his hard shaft in her small hand, guiding him inside of her without any further preamble. She moaned in ecstasy at the feeling of his girth stretching her, pushing almost painfully against her walls, and making itself at home inside of her.

“God, luv… So amazing.”

Spike groaned in pleasure as she flexed her inner muscles around his hypersensitive cock. He reached up and freed her breasts from their confine of lace and silk, so he could play with the luscious mounds of soft flesh, and tease her pink nipples into hard peaks.

Buffy closed her eyes against the sensation overload. She started moving her hips, letting his cock slip almost completely out of her, before slowly taking him back inside. She placed her hands on his shoulders and lowered herself until her breasts were within reaching distance. Spike instantly obliged and took one of her nipples in his mouth, sucking hard on the tiny little bud. She whimpered in pleasure, never halting her movements on his hard penis, driving both of them slowly insane.

“Spike… you feel so good. Nothing like this… nothing ever felt this good.”

Unable to keep her control on the situation, Buffy’s thrust gained momentum and soon, she was riding him hard and fast. Their heavy breathing, soft sighs and moans filled the room but neither of them could have noticed, or cared less, lost in each other as they were.

The wet nipple Spike had been working on slipped out of his mouth when Buffy sat up. She arched her back, grabbing hold of his legs to stabilize herself and Spike took it as his cue to start thrusting up, plunging his meaty shaft inside her pussy hard and fast. Both of them were looking at where their bodies were joined, fascinated and aroused beyond belief by the sight of his cock appearing and disappearing inside of her, glistening with her juices.

Feeling his control slip, Spike grabbed Buffy around the waist and flipped her over so he could pound into her aching center more freely.

The old table protested loudly against the ongoing assault, but the lovers didn’t even realize until it collapsed beneath them. They barely paused in their frantic lovemaking.

“Oops.” Buffy giggled.

“You OK, pet?” Spike asked, worried that she might have been hurt.

“Better than I’ve ever been. Please don’t stop.”

Spike smirked and attacked her lips, resuming his hard thrusts. Buffy wrapped her legs tightly around him, lifting her hips to give him a chance to get deeper inside her. She dig her finger nails painfully into his back when the violent orgasm hit her. Her entire body tensed and her pussy clenched around him, her muscles preventing him from withdrawing from her. She milked his cock for all he had, triggering his own orgasm.

Spike bit her shoulder to keep from shouting his release and alerting the entire prison to what exactly they’d been up to. He spilled himself inside his girl, then collapsed half on top of her, exhausted by the effort.

“Oh. My. God.” Buffy breathed. “Death by orgasm.”

“Bleeding hell.” He mumbled. “Is my brain leaking out of my ears?”

“We broke the table.”

They looked at each other, than burst into laughter. Spike kissed her, then rested his forehead against hers.

“Destroying prison property…” He whispered before pressing his lips to the tip of her nose for a quick kiss. “Now THAT was fun.”

They remained silent, enjoying the peaceful moment.

Finally, Buffy broke the silence. “Guess who was waiting for me in my office this morning?”

“Um, don’t know. The dominatrix fairy godmother?”

She slapped his arm playfully. “No doofus, Willow. She said she saw you this weekend.”

Spike pouted like a little kid. “Do we have to talk about Red when I’m still comfortably buried inside you? It’s disturbing.”

She chuckled. “Whatever. I’m sure it takes a lot more than that to disturb you.”

He tried pulling out of her, but she stopped him. “Don’t you dare. Stay right where you are, mister. I’m comfy.”

“Bossy chit.”

“Damn right. So, as I was saying… I talked to Willow today, she was really happy. She said she talked to you this weekend.”

“Yeah. What of it?”

“Nothing. I was just wondering what made you change your mind.”

“She scared the bleeding hell out of me, that’s what made me change my mind.”

Buffy gave him a disbelieving look. “Willow? My Willow? She scared YOU?”

“Well you didn’t see the determined look on that chit’s face. She called that her ‘resolve face’ or something like that. I could just tell she would not give up until I spilled my guts. I knew it was a battle I was going to lose.”

Buffy laughed and gave him a resounding kiss before messing up his hair. “Aw, poor baby. I can’t believe she pull the ‘resolve face’ on you. That face is impossible to resist. She’s been practicing it since we were five.”

“Yeah. I tried, but I failed. And I was a bit lonely this weekend. Needed to talk to someone. Now that I know she’s your oldest friend, talking to her didn’t seem so terrible.”

“Well I’m glad she was there for you when I couldn’t be. She believed you. She was really upset this morning.”

Spike frowned with concern. “I didn’t mean to upset her.”

“Don’t worry baby, she’ll get over it. I told her I was taking good care of you… screwing your brains out ‘til you forget how much life sucks in here.”

She laughed at the expression on his face.

“Come here.”

She pulled his face to hers and suckled lustily on his full lower lip. “I love you.”

He pulled away to look her in the eyes. “I love you too, Buffy.”

Spike buried his face in her neck and peppered butterfly kisses up and down her throat.

“Spike, I gotta tell you something important.”

“Um… What is it?” He mumbled against her skin, obviously not wanting to stop what he was doing.

She sighed, not particularly liking the idea of having to stop him either, but doing it anyway. It was more than time she told him. He had a right to know.

“I‘m not kidding, Spike. It’s important.”

She tried sitting up, only to have him push her back down on what was left of the table top. “Can it wait? I’m kind of in the middle of something here, pet.” He whispered lustily.

Spike grabbed her wrists and held them above her head, pinning her under his weight.

“No, it can’t wait.” Buffy said breathlessly. Lust was fogging her own brain and the feeling of his cock hardening inside her again almost made her change her mind, but she had to tell him now or she‘d never have the courage again. “…waited long enough already.”

Spike ignored her and resumed kissing her neck, licking her salty skin and blowing cool air on the wet trails his tongue left behind. Buffy wiggled beneath him, trying hard not to laugh.

She gasped. “Spike, stop it!”

And he did. Not that he had a choice in the matter. Spike was grabbed from behind and thrown half way across the room before he could even process what was happening. Two strong hands fisted in his open shirt and lifted him off the floor before slamming him into the wall.

“I believe the lady said to stop.”

Buffy could only watch in horror as the scene unfolded under her eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 41
Testing friendship's limits


A few minutes earlier…

Sitting on a plastic chair too small for his large frame, Charles Gunn was watching TV with a couple other inmates. He was bored out of his mind and wondering why of all the channels available, the guards had to leave it on the one airing Oprah. A psychic was currently telling the viewers how she was solving crimes using her ‘super psychic powers’. He looked around, hoping against all hopes that someone else would demand that the guard change the channel, but everybody seemed fascinated by what was happening on the TV screen. He sighed, wishing Spike were there bitching about missing Passions again.

Standing up to leave, Gunn noticed Bill walking into the room. Bill had been with Spike in the library so he walked up to him and asked if he’d seen Spike.

“Why the fuck should I care where Rayne is? He’s probably somewhere pissing someone off. That’s what the asshole does best, isn’t it?”

“Thanks, man, that was helpful.”

“Always a pleasure to be of help.” The large, bald guy snickered disdainfully before walking away.

“Charles?”

Gunn turned around when someone tapped him on the shoulder, only to roll his eyes in annoyance when he saw Andrew standing there.

“What do you want, Frodo?”

“I overheard you asking where Spike was.”

He took a deep breath, trying not to lose his patience. “And?”

“Well, I know.”

“Andrew, will you spit it out or do we have to stand here all day playing twenty questions? Where is he?”

The smaller man puffed out his chest in self importance. “We were leaving the library when the Warden asked him to stay behind to help her with something. That was half an hour ago so maybe he already left. But maybe he’s still there. Want me to go get him? Cause I could if you want.”

Gunn turned walked away without answering, leaving Andrew standing there.

“Want me to come with?”

“NO.” Charles snapped before walking out of the room.

“Everybody is just sooo rude in here.” Andrew mumbled to himself, before taking the chair Charles had vacated. “Oh! Oprah, yay!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present time…

Spike tried to speak, but the forearm crushing his larynx prevented him from making more than a weak groan.

“HOW COULD YOU? Of all the things you could have done, this is the WORST. Hurting a woman half you size?! What kind of a sick pervert coward are you? I’m disgusted to ever have called you my friend.” Charles spat in Spike’s face.

“Charles!” Buffy yelled, trying to get him away from Spike. But he didn’t even hear her in his fury.

“I thought you were a good guy, Spike!”

Spike managed to kick him hard enough to make him loosen his hold on his throat. But right away, Charles retaliated with a right hook that sent Spike sprawling on the floor.

“She’s the warden, you dumbass. They’re gonna put you away for good. And I’m not even sorry for…”

“ENOUGH!!!”

Buffy was standing there, hands on her hips, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger, her hair wild around her face. She’d managed to lower her skirt and button her shirt the best she could in such a hurry.

When she had the black man’s attention, she lowered her voice. “Charles, calm down. Spike wasn’t hurting me.”

The rage contorting his features changed to confusion, then understanding.

“Yeah mate, I appreciate the vote of confidence.” Spike croaked from where he was still on the floor, a hand massaging his sore throat. “Nice to see that you eagerly jump to the worst possible bloody conclusion about me.”

Letting go of his painful throat, he took the pants that were still hanging from one of his ankle, and swiftly pulled them on. Wide eyed, Charles looked from Spike to Buffy, to Spike again. He took a step back. “Dude, you’re not serious…”

Buffy looked away and busied herself tucking her shirt inside her skirt. She smoothed down the wrinkles on her skirt and ran her fingers through her hair.

Spike stood up and wiped his bloody lip with the sleeve of his shirt. “Yeah, we are.”

“But… The table… And the ‘please stop’?..”

Buffy answered this one, still unable to look him in the eyes. “Table wasn’t as sturdy as we thought it was. And the ‘please stop’ is out of context.”

“Holy fuck!”

Buffy glanced toward Spike. “You OK?”

“’m fine, pet.”

“Can you wait here? I’ll be right back.”

Spike frowned, not sure what she was going to do, but nodded anyway. “Sure. I’ll tidy up the room a bit. It’s a bloody mess in here. Someone’s gonna ask questions.”

She walked up to Gunn, grabbed his arm and led him out of the room and to a table in a corner. “We need to talk.”

They both sat and an awkward silence settled over them. Two people couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable if they’d tried. Buffy was playing with a loose tread on the hem of her skirt, her eyes downcast. But she needed to act like a grown up and say what she had to say so she took a deep breath and looked at him.

“Charles, what happened in there…”

“Is none of my business.” He hurriedly answered, not giving her a chance to explain. He wanted nothing to do with this if he could help it.

“You’re absolutely right.” She said, surprising him into looking up at her. “It’s between Spike and I, but you saw it, so it makes it your business. Look… You’re not a stupid man. You know this gives you a lot of power over me and you could make my life miserable if you wanted to. I don’t know what to say or do to convince you to keep this to yourself.”

Gunn’s eyes lit up with outrage. “Excuse me, but with all due respect… Ms. Summers…”

“You’ve seen me half naked, I think you can call me Buffy.” She tried to joke, but he didn’t smile.

“With all due respect, Buffy, I’d like to point out that I was actually trying to help you in there. Why would I go from trying to help you to trying to ruin your life?”

She blushed slightly and looked down. “I know it doesn’t sound very rational seen that way. But if you were in my position, you wouldn’t want to take any chances either.”

“Yeah well, sorry for saying that but I think you took plenty of chances when you--did what you did--with both the library and the study room doors unlocked.”

She gave him a tight, humorless smile. “Yeah, thanks for pointing that out. I hadn’t noticed.”

“All I’m saying is you’re lucky it was just me. You have a lot of enemies in here, ya know. You’re the warden, you’re not exactly the most popular girl on the block.”

“…I know.”

“But I’ll keep my mouth shut. No need to worry about that. I would have even if you hadn’t asked me. I know it didn’t show in there, but Spike’s my friend. Or at least, he was. Not too sure after how I reacted. But that’s not the point. He’s my friend and I don’t make an habit of getting my friends killed. And believe me, he will get killed if the word ever comes out that he’s doing the warden. I’m surprised he didn’t get his ass kicked after jumping to your defense in the cafeteria in January, but after something like this, I don’t think he would make it through the day in one piece. So no, I won’t talk. You have my word.”

“Thank you. It means a lot to me. And to him.”

Gunn stood up. “Yeah, don’t mention it. Can you just tell Spike that I’m sorry? I didn’t mean to assume that he was trying to rape you. I should have given him the benefit of the doubt, but I’m an impulsive guy.”

Buffy smiled at the flustered man standing in front of her. “Don’t worry. I’ll make him see that you were just trying to protect me and he’ll forgive you.”

Gunn nodded and walked out of the library.

Buffy stood there for a long moment before finally going back to the study room. Spike had pushed the chairs neatly against the wall, and piled what was left of the table in a corner by the door. He didn’t turn to look at her when she walked in.

“What do we do with the table, luv?”

“I’ll lock the room and ask Giles to get rid of it tomorrow morning.”

He didn’t answer, just kept on buttoning his shirt in silence, his back still to her.

Buffy walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek against his tensed back.

“Are you all right?”

“Just dandy, luv. I just got my arse kicked by my best friend because he thought I was capable of raping a woman. Everything’s great.”

“Oh, come on. Put yourself in his shoes. It did look suspicious. The broken table, you pinning me beneath you, me telling you to stop… He was just trying to protect me. He was really upset. You should talk to him.”

“Is he gone?”

“Yes, he just left. He said our secret is safe with him. He said he didn’t want his buddy Spike getting killed for screwing the very unpopular warden.”

She let go of him and forced him to face her. He was still sulking so she placed her hands on either side of his head and pulled him into a kiss. “We really, REALLY, suck at having a secret love affair, you know.”

Spike half smiled, not able to hide his amusement from her. “I’ve noticed. And I’ve also noticed you have a problem understanding the concept of locks.”

She pouted. “Are you saying it’s my fault?”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything. But if the soddin’ hat fits…”

She hit him playfully. “Fine, I’ll admit it. It was my fault. But Giles was your fault so we’re even.”

They kissed passionately for a few moments before Spike pushed away to look at her. “Didn’t you have something important to tell me?”

Buffy smiled up at him. “Yes. I did. But I honestly think we’ve had enough emotions for today. And we’ve been in here long enough, you need to go back. It’s something that we need time to discuss. It will be best if I see you in my office sometime this week. I’ll talk to Giles and ask him to find a way to get us time together.”

“All right, pet.”

They locked lips one last time, then Buffy took a step back.

“You better go.” She said sadly.

“Yeah. I guess I should.”

“And promise me you’ll talk to Gunn. I don’t want you guys to fight because of what happened. He’s your only friend in here.”

“Fine, I’ll talk to the wanker.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

She watched him leave, then sank in one of the chairs by the wall.

Another apocalypse averted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHAPTER 42: Sugary treats, and sour threats

Buffy opened the front door and seeing that it was only her sister standing there, rushed back to the kitchen with a “come in” shouted over her shoulder.

Left alone on the front porch, Dawn bellowed: “Happy morning to you too, beloved sister of mine.” before letting herself in.

“Sorry!” Buffy yelled from the kitchen. “I was in the middle of a delicate operation.”

“The life or death kind?” Dawn asked, walking into the kitchen.

“To my Crepes Suzette, it could be, yes.”

“Crepes Suzette?” The tall brunette glanced over her sister’s shoulder with a frown. Buffy shooed her away.

Dawn casually perched herself on the breakfast bar from where she could observe the scene without being in harms way.

“Isn’t that a dessert?”

“And your point?” Buffy asked distractedly while looking around for something.

“Well,” Dawn continued, “It’s like, ten in the morning for one thing…”

“Uh huh.” Buffy found the bottle of Grand Marnier and splashed some over the crepes.

“AND there’s alcohol in this. Not good for my future niece or nephew.”

Buffy rolled her eyes and grabbed the lighter on the counter. “It’s flambé, Dawn. The fire burns away the alcohol. That’s why it goes out on its own after a few minutes.”

She faced the younger girl with an evil grin on her face, clicking the lighter threateningly. “Maybe you want to take cover. Just in case.”

Dawn hid her face behind her hands, pretending to be scared. “Tell me when to look. And since I’m risking my life here, can I have some too?”

“So you’re telling me that not only do I have to put up with you on my only day off, but I have to feed you as well?“ Buffy lit the dessert and watched the pretty blue flames until they vanished a few moments later.

Dawn jumped off the counter and went to get two plates from the cupboard. “No, you got it all wrong. The truth is that you have the incredibly rare luck of experiencing my delightfully entertaining presence on this beautiful day, and you also have the honor of sharing this sugary masterpiece you prepared with yours truly. And in the wise words of mom…”

“…sharing is the best way to express your love, and sisters are supposed to love each other; therefore they should share and blah, blah, blah.”

Dawn grinned. “Amen.”

Buffy served the sweet treat in two plates and poured two glasses of milk. She handed Dawn hers and they made their way to the living room. They sat on the floor in front of the coffee table and Buffy turn the TV on to the cartoon channel. This had been a ritual for them when they were little girls. Every Saturday morning, they’d eat breakfast while watching cartoons. They were rarely together on Saturday mornings now that Buffy lived in Sunnydale and Dawn was in college in L.A., but whenever they had a chance, they tried to keep the old tradition alive.

Buffy smiled when her sister closed her eyes and moaned in delight after taking a bite of her crepe.

“I take it it’s good then?” Buffy asked, grinning proudly.

“Are you kidding? I think I blacked out for a second. Who would have thought you’d become such a great cook. Do you remember that Thanksgiving when mom was sick and it was just you and me?”

Buffy groaned. “Could you please not remind me?”

“You were so desperate to have a real Thanksgiving even if mom wasn’t there that you spent the entire day cooking. You turned into the kitchen Nazi. I was not in the celebration or thankful mood, but you threatened to tie me up to a chair if I didn’t eat what you cooked and enjoy it.”

Buffy pouted. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Worst turkey I had ever had. And the yams… Oh God, the yams.” Dawn scrunched up her pretty face in disgust.

Buffy swiftly snatched the plate away from her little sister.

“Hey! Give that back!”

“Not until you apologize, missy. Mean people don’t get crepes.”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, give it back. It was great turkey and those yams were delicious. And did I mention the gravy? Best gravy ever. Didn’t taste burned at all.”

Buffy smiled. “OK, now you’re just being pathetic.” She put the plate back in front of Dawn and the brunette dove back into the dessert like a starving woman.

“And just so you know,” Buffy added, “you’ll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year. That gives you nine months to prepare mentally. That will teach you to make fun of me.”

“Yeah right, as if mom would let me cook anything after the peanut butter pancake incident.”

They laughed at the memory. The two girls finished eating in silence while watching some Japanese cartoon. When the cartoon was over, Buffy stood up to bring the dirty plates in the kitchen. Dawn followed her and grabbed a cloth to dry the dishes.

“How did you get here anyway? Did you take the bus?” Buffy asked conversationally.

“No. My roommate went on a romantic weekend with her boyfriend. She didn’t need her car so she let me borrow it.”

“Did you plan on making this an overnighter?”

“Well… yeah. Unless you have plans and you don’t want your bratty little sister around.”

“My bratty little sister is always welcomed here, you know that. But I do have plans for tonight. So I hope you don’t mind staying here by yourself.”

“Are you serious? With all the free food, free booze, satellite TV… I can even order porn and everything. It’s gonna be awesome!”

“Ha ha, funny.” Buffy gave Dawn her best ‘mom’ look and the taller girl put her hands up in surrender.

“Does that mean no porn then?”

“AND no booze.” She added sternly.

“Party pooper.”

“And proud to be.”

“So, where are you going?” Dawn asked curiously.

Buffy took the clean plates and put them away, turning her back on her sister. “I… uh, I have plans. With Willow. She’ll be here soon.”

Dawn turned around and crossing her arms, gave her sister a funny look. “You… uh… have… plans?” She repeated, mocking her.

Buffy sighed, annoyed at her sibling’s perceptiveness. “Fine. If you must know, Willow and I are going to a party tonight… at Angel and Darla’s.”

Dawn’s eyes bugged out. “At Angel and Darla’s? As in ‘the’ Angel and Darla? The ones that killed that girl and sent Spike to prison? You’re going there? With 5’2’’, 95lbs, Willow as your bodyguard? Are you NUTS?” Her voice got more shrill by the end of her tirade.

“Woah! Hold on just a minute.” Buffy exclaimed, giving her sister an incredulous look. “What the hell happened to ‘Go frame Angel’ and ‘Fight like a lioness for her cubs’ and all that stuff you were saying when I told you I was pregnant the other day?”

Dawn had the decency to look embarrassed. She went to sit at the kitchen table, shoulders slumped in defeat. “I said that, didn’t I?”

Buffy went to sit in front of her. “Pretty much, yes.”

“I guess it’s different when you’re faced with the fact. Saying this in the middle of a conversation, not exactly the same as knowing you’re going there tonight. Are you sure about this, Buffy?”

She waited a beat before answering, but when she did, her voice held no doubt. “Yes I am. I don’t think anything will happen tonight, at least anything that will get Spike out of jail. They don’t know me enough yet to share their dark nasty secrets, but it’s a step forward and I need to do this. I’m confident that this is all going in the right direction and that there’s a chance I’ll get what I want. I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that I’m actually taking action that makes me feel more positive. But in any case, it’s better than sitting on my ass and complaining about the situation.”

“Yeah, I guess. But you can’t blame me for worrying about you. You’re pregnant…”

“Not invalid. And besides, I don’t think they’d attack me or anything. It’s just a party.”

“When did you meet them? You didn’t even tell me.”

“Sorry kiddo, everything happened at the same time and I forgot to call you. I met them at the bar last week.”

“And I guess it went pretty well if they invited you to a party.”

“Yeah, they seemed to like me a lot.”

Dawn snorted. “I knew they were crazy.”

Buffy opened her mouth, feigning to be shocked. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I hurt your feelings? I meant that you’re adorable, of course.” She laughed, clearly amused by her own joke. “So, are you gonna tell me how they are?”

“Pretty much what you’d expect. Sleazy, trashy, nasty, obnoxious. Basically, not so nice people. And I acted just as badly so they really liked me. Which is what I wanted so yeah, it went well.”

“And what does Willow have to do with all this? Does she know about Spike? I feel like I missed an entire chapter.”

“Nah, you didn’t miss all that much. Willow doesn’t know. I don’t want her to know so be careful what you say in front of her later on when she arrives.”

“Hey, I’m a little insulted. Do you think I have that big a mouth?”

Buffy just raised an eyebrow without answering.

“Fine, whatever. I won’t say a word. Does she know you’re pregnant?”

“No. So again…”

“Yeah, yeah, not a word. I get it. But you still haven’t told me why she’s going to this party.”

“Will came to me to other day to tell me she believes William is innocent. I told her I thought so too and when she said she wanted to do something to help him, I told her about my plan. I asked her if she wanted to come to the party with me because, honestly, I’m a little nervous going there by myself.”

Dawn nodded silently, apparently lost in thoughts. “And why is she coming here so early?” She finally asked.

“Huh… did you ever meet Willow? Do you seriously think she could go to a party with these people and blend in?”

Dawn’s face lit up. “Make over?”

“Absolutely!”

The sisters’ laugh was suddenly interrupted by Buffy’s Blackberry ringing. She looked around, not sure where she’d put it, but quickly located the ringing device on the kitchen counter. She stood up and went to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hey beautiful.”

Buffy looked down to hide the silly grin that automatically appeared on her face at hearing her lover’s voice. But not fast enough for Dawn not to notice. The girl put her hands together and batted her eyelashes mockingly while whispering “Oh Spike, I missed you soooo much baby!”

Buffy rolled her eyes and turned her back on her sister, trying to ignore her antics.

“Hey baby, how are you?”

Dawn stood up and came up behind her sister, making kissing noises in her ear. Buffy pushed her away to no avail. She finally turned to her little sister and gave her a murderous look.

“Would you quit it already? He’s only got fifteen minutes!”

“Geez, sorry.” She put her face close to the phone and yelled “HI SPIKE!”

On the other end of the line, Spike chuckled.

“Don’t encourage her,” Buffy scolded. “She’s being a brat.”

“Come on, put the phone to her ear for a second.”

“Fine.”

Buffy took the Blackberry and put it to her sister’s ear.

“Hi nibblet.”

“Hi Spike!”

“Try not to drive your sister barmy or I’ll never hear the end of it, all right pet?”

Dawn giggled. “Fine. I’ll try to behave. Bye Spike.”

“Bye nibblet.”

Buffy took the phone back and Dawn went to sit back at the kitchen table.

“Sorry about that. I fed her sugar this morning, it always does that to her. I should know better.”

“Having a good time with your little sis, pet?”

“Yeah. She showed up on my door step this morning. We had breakfast together and watched cartoons.”

“Sounds fun.”

“What did you do this morning?”

“I had one of those rare good morning actually. Woke up at 8, had porridge that tasted like glue, then I went outside and found a quiet corner to read that book I just started. It’s really good.”

“Are things OK between you and Gunn now?”

“…”

“Spike, you did talk to him, right?”

“If by talking you mean exchange of words, then yeah, we talked.”

“Are you telling me you haven’t talked about what happened yet?”

“We haven’t spent that much time together this week.”

“Spike, it’s been DAYS. He’s your friend. You have to discuss this. He felt really bad for what happened, and I know you’re pissed that he jumped to conclusions about you. You can’t just leave it like that.”

“All right, I’ll talk to him. Bloody hell, woman.”

“You can ‘bloody hell’ me all you want, but you’ll bloody thank me when you still have a friend, mister.”

“OK pet, I’ll do it. Promise. Now, speaking of talking about things, wasn’t there something you were supposed to tell me about this week?”

**crap**

Buffy shut her eyes and winced. “I’m so sorry, Spike. Things have been insane this week and Giles went to Chicago for a seminar. I know I kept telling you tomorrow, then tomorrow I’d say tomorrow and yesterday, I was finally supposed to see you and then something happened, and…”

“Pet, slow down. I know, it’s all right. Don’t fret over this. I just thought maybe you could tell me now.”

Buffy swallowed hard, then licked her suddenly dry lips. She glanced toward Dawn only to see the younger girl staring intently at her, listening to every word.

“Spike, it’s really, really not something I can tell you over the phone. Believe me. I know you’re surrounded by people right now and you have no privacy at all. I prefer telling you in person.”

When he spoke again, there was concern in his voice. “Is it that bad, luv? You don’t… want to end things between us, do you?”

“What?” She exclaimed, horrified by the thought. “NO! Of course not. It’s not bad, it’s just… Damn it, can you just trust me on this? Please?”

From the corner of her eye, she could see Dawn’s countenance change dramatically. She was slowly shaking her head, the look of disapproval in her blue eyes stating clearly that she understood what the conversation was about. Buffy tried her best to ignore her.

“Baby please, don’t worry. It’s nothing bad, or at least, not that kind of bad. I’ll tell you soon, I promise, but I don’t want you to worry.”

“And the more you repeat that you don’t want me to worry, the more bloody worried I get. But I’ll wait if you say it has to be said face to face. It’s not like I have a soddin’ choice in the matter.”

“Are you mad?” Buffy asked in a tiny voice.

“No pet, I’m not mad. I’ve just been waiting all week to find out what the big secret was and I’m getting curious, is all. Sorry if I’m being a wanker. Weekends do that to me because you’re not here.

She smiled a little at that. “Sorry. Maybe I could start working seven days a week. I could give an all new meaning to the word workaholic.”

Spike chuckled at that. “No pet, wouldn’t want my girl to be exhausted. You work hard enough as it is. I’m sorry,” He added sadly, “I have to go. I ran out of time and the guard is telling me to hang up.”

“All right. Have a good weekend. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Can’t wait. Bye kitten.”

“Bye. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Buffy hung up reluctantly, then turned to face her sister’s wrath.

“How could you?”

“What?” Buffy asked innocently.

“Buffy Anne Summers! I can’t believe you. You haven’t told him yet??”

“I didn’t get a chance to.”

“Liar! You’ve known for almost a month! Don’t try to make me believe you haven’t seen him or talked to him for a month because I don’t believe you.”

“I have seen him, and I have talked to him, Dawn, but the circumstances weren’t favorable to that sort of talk. And every time I was about to tell him, something would come up.”

“Buffy, no offence, but if you really wanted to tell him, you would have. You’re the warden, it’s your prison, you do whatever you want to do. When it comes to finding ways to see him because you miss him, you’re never out of ideas.”

Buffy stood up and went to the kitchen to make coffee, needing to get away from her sister. She knew Dawn was right and it was making her angry. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s not that easy.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No it’s not!” Buffy snapped angrily.

“Really?” Dawn said, following her sister in the kitchen. “You know what I think? I think you’re getting pissed off because I’m right. The truth is, you’re being a coward and you’re pissed at yourself.”

“Fine!” Buffy yelled. “I’m a coward. Feel like switching place with me for a week, see if my life is so fucking easy, Dawn? I really wouldn’t mind having your life right now. Your biggest problem is respecting deadlines for schoolwork,which college boy to make out with, making sure you get invited to the coolest parties and that you hang out with the coolest people. Well guess what? My life IS scary right now. And yes, I’m scared of telling Spike and I’m probably subconsciously stalling. It’s stupid and immature of me but I feel like as long as he doesn’t know, it doesn’t hurt him. Judge me all you want, Dawnie, but you‘re not in my shoes.”

“I’m not judging you. But Buffy, if you don’t tell him... I will.”

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and took a step toward Dawn. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Dawn took a step closer to her sister. “Watch me.”

“This is none of your business, Dawn.” Buffy said through clenched teeth.

“You’re wrong. It is because when it all blows up in your face, it’s my shoulder you’ll cry on.”

Buffy narrowed her eyes at her sister. “All right. I’ll put your name on the list of people who aren’t allowed to visit him or talk to him if I have to.”

“ARGH! GOD!” Dawn threw her arms up. “I’m gonna walk away because I really want to shake some sense into you right now and you’re so small that I’d probably cause you some internal injuries. Considering you’re already brain damaged, it would be kinda mean.”

“I’m not brain damaged and don’t walk away in the middle of a fight. I’m not done!”

“You’re not done? You obviously haven’t been listening to some of the stuff coming out of your mouth because none of it makes any sense and you really should quit while you‘re ahead. I mean, come on! Miss “Oh I don’t want to hurt him” and then later on you threaten to stop one of the only people he has from visiting him? Wow, you really DO care.”

A part of Buffy really did want to keep screaming at Dawn, but somehow, her anger deflated. “I didn’t mean that and you know it. I was just… I didn’t know what to say. You started it by saying that you’d go ahead and tell him.”

“I was trying to get you to wake up and smell the coffee, Buffy. Of course I wouldn’t tell him. It’s not my place to do that. But I can’t let you ruin your relationship with Spike and just sit back and watch. When he finds out that you lied to him about this, it will cause damage that you won’t be able to fix. You know it.”

Buffy sat down and put her head in her hands. “I need more time.”

“You don’t have more time. You’re two months pregnant. It’s not like you can pause your pregnancy to buy yourself time. If you tell him right now, you can still pretend you just found out. If you wait any longer, it won’t be possible anymore and he’ll know that you waited that long to tell him. How do you think he’ll feel knowing that all this time you were seeing him, you knew you were pregnant with his child and you were not telling him? He deserves to know.”

“I know.” Buffy said quietly. “You’re right.”

“You’re keeping everyone you love in the dark, you’ll have to tell them one day or another. Mom, Cordelia, Xander…”

“Hey! You won a battle, don’t start a war. It doesn’t always pay to be too ambitious. I said you were right and I will tell Spike Monday.”

She didn’t need to look up to know there was a satisfied smirk on her sister’s lips.

“Don’t gloat.”

“I’m not. I’m just…”

“Gloating.”

“Enjoying being right is more like it.”

“Which is basically the same thing.”

“I’m sorry I was mean.” Dawn said, offering the olive branch.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you like a crazy woman.”

Dawn went to kneel next to where Buffy was sitting and put her arms around her sister. They hugged in silence for a moment, enjoying the calm after the storm.

“Buffy?”

“Hum?”

“I don’t need to be in your shoes to know that life has been tough for you lately. I’m sorry if I sounded like I don’t get it. But I do. Get it, I mean. I know you’re having a tough time, but I’m sure it’ll get better. And also… I really don’t mind when you cry on my shoulder. I don’t know why I said that. That’s what sisters are for, isn‘t it?”

Buffy smiled down at her sister, and with one hand, tucked her long brown hair behind her ears in a familiar gesture. “I know Dawnie, it’s OK.”

“And I wasn’t really gonna shake you or anything.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “All right, can we move on?”

Dawn pulled away from the hug and grinned at Buffy. “Yeah, let’s move on.”

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