William sat in a green lawn chair, which was located on the Wyndham-Price's balcony. He had been back in England for a little over three weeks, watching over their flat while they were gone.
Wesley Wyndham-Price had been William's friend for a long time; they had gone to school together, before William moved to the States. He and Wes had probably been the two biggest ponces you ever wanted to see, and they had stuck together through it all. Wesley had become like William’s older brother through the years. Wesley had even lived with William’s family for a year while Wes’ mother had been in the hospital. William also knew that Wesley had mourned just as hard for William's mother, as he himself had after her death. They had always been close even in the years when communication was little, and far between. They both knew the other was there if they needed anything.
After William and his family moved to the States, he and Wes kept in contact but really hadn't seen each other for a long time. That changed when William returned to England to attend university. William could still remember getting off that plane and Wes being there to greet him back home. To William, back then that was exactly what England was. Home. William had rented out the third bedroom in Wes’ flat, which was the only bedroom on the second floor. Wes, and now Fred, lived on the first floor now that they were married.
It had been three months after William had moved in that Wesley had literally found Fred. She had been a victim from one of the many cases being worked at AI, also known as Angel Investigations. Wes worked there for awhile, but had never gotten so involved in a case. This time had been different, and even William had seen the writing on the wall. William remembered well how his friend had acted, the night after the case had been solved. William had never seen Wes lose his temper, but that night Wes had let it all explode. Wesley later explained to William what had happened and William had just listened as his friend told him Fred’s story.
Wes had been in charge of the investigation, and hit a dead end. Fred had been missing for a week before they had gotten a lead from a local library. She had been seen on the corner outside the library, right after it had closed. Witnesses reported seeing someone that matched Fred’s description get in a white car and drive off. It took Wes another month before the investigation provided any leads, and he had slowly become more and more frustrated. Then the biggest break had come from Fred herself. She had acquired a cell phone from somewhere and had called for help. Wes and his team had found her by tracking the cell phone, which she had left on. Fred had been found in the back of an old basement. Her clothes barely hung on her shoulders in tatters, and she spoke gibberish, comprised mostly of numbers and letters.
After the investigation ended, Wes immersed himself in his work. One night, six months after Fred had been found, Wes returned home from work smiling. Fred had shown up at AI to thank all the investigators who had worked to find her. She had even given Wesley a peck on the cheek for “rescuing her” as she put it. Wesley had actually gotten a lot of flack because of it too. His co workers had a wonderful time teasing him about solving the case all by himself and saving the damsel in distress. Wes had actually taken it in stride, and went on working. It wasn’t long before Fred showed up again, but this time she was on a mission of sorts. She wanted to thank Wes by taking him to dinner, and that had been the beginning of the end for bachelor Wesley Windham-Pryce.
As a couple, Wes and Fred had their own problems and trials, but had worked through them. Fred still experienced panic attacks every now and then. She told William once that it was a daily fight for her. Some days were good, while others seemed as if the whole world was being shadowed out by fear. Fred said the tough days were the days that meant the most, because those days she fought, and won. Wes had always been there too, standing next to her, comforting her until she got past her fears. They were far from over the hill into happily ever after; but they made the most of the ride there. Now that Fred was pregnant, William hoped that their lives would calm down also. They deserved to live a normal life.
He wished it was that easy for him to just go back, but it wasn't. He had been hiding out in England for what seemed like a lifetime but had, in reality, only been a week. When Fred and Wes returned home early, William knew he could have left right away, but instead he had made excuses. William had been putting it off, hoping that maybe he would just be forgotten. He knew better though, no one that he knew would let him while away his life sitting on this balcony.
"Are you going to sit here and continue to sulk, or are you going to go back to the girl you love?"
William looked up and directly into Fred’s eyes, and his point was proven. Fred wasn’t going to let him just sit around. She had a perturbed look on her face, and he could hear her foot tapping on the cement floor of the balcony.
"Fred, if I go back we are just going to start our relationship right where it left off."
"And that's such a bad thing?"
"Yes it is." William said exasperated. "Listen, it moved too fast in the first place. I mean, what was I thinking, rushing into a relationship with my ex-girlfriend’s sister, merely hours after she was killed? Hello, doesn't it seem a bit insensitive? On top of that, Buffy is one of my best friends, and now I'm just totally in love with her? I had barely just realized that Buffy had grown from a little girl to a beautiful woman. I mean this is the same person who I used to give piggy back rides, and listen to all her teenage woes. Now I'm suddenly dating her, not twenty-four hours after I break up with her sister? Then to top it all off, I just suddenly fall in love with her? Now, come on Fred, how many things can you count wrong in this whole scenario?" William now leaned against the edge of the balcony looking out over the crowded street below. He felt that he had screwed up this whole thing and he didn't know how to fix it.
"First of all, I think you are looking at this in completely the wrong way. William, that girl as you so nicely put it has been in your heart for years. Even I knew it only after knowing you for two years. So believe me, nearly that whole list doesn't even count." He tried to interrupt but she continued to talk.
"As for Faith, I don't think you ever truly loved her, so no, it's not insensitive. I mean I've seen you and heard you gloat over the fact that Buffy was growing into such a beautiful woman. William, we all saw it a long time ago. How many times have you shown that little picture of a blonde that you carry in your wallet to your friends and anyone else you talked to? How many times did you actually show the picture of Faith that you also carry around?" Fred stood there giving him a look that just begged him to argue with her. "It's called love, plain and simple. William, you are tying to run away from something which you cannot escape. It's with you already, all these years that you've known Buffy it's been there. It was under the surface, but it's still been there. Believe me I know."
She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing. William would have stopped her but he was too immersed in his own feelings and questions to realize that this was hard for her to explain. It brought up a lot of things that hurt, but she knew that it would get through to William if she could just finish. "Who would have thought I'd want anything to do with something that reminds me what happened to me, and yet I stand here married and pregnant by the man who saved me. I would have rather moved on and not ever seen anything connected to those tragic few weeks. However, I knew from the minute Wesley took me out of that basement, I loved him. I tried to run; instead it just became more and more pressing that I see him. William, you can't run. Believe me, don't even try." She turned then to walk back in the house. Before doing so, she spoke once more.
"Oh, and one more thing William. Two years ago when you got the letter from Buffy about Parker, who was the one person that wanted to go back and kill him? If I remember correctly it wasn't pleasant what you had planned either, and please for my stomach’s sake don't remind me of the details." Fred began to walk back inside, with a soft smile on her face. In her wake, she left William to ponder one more statement. "Just think about it William. I'm sure you'll see I'm right."
At this point that was all William was doing. He sat on that balcony until the sun had gone down and the shops below had closed. He thought about all the years he had spent with Buffy. William really thought back on a lot of his past, and realized one true constant in his life. Whenever he had been at his happiest, and even his lowest times, he'd gone to Buffy. In all these years he had turned to Buffy when his life had seemed to be in the pits of hell, and slowly burning away. All those times she had been the one who listened and helped. He'd never realized before how much she had meant to him, and still did.
It didn't take him long to get a plane ticket, and he quickly packed. Tomorrow he'd be leaving for Sunnydale. He had some things to clear up and sitting around England wasn't getting it done.
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Anya came slamming out of her boss’ office. It had been nearly two months since Faith's murder, and after almost a month with no new leads or evidence, he wanted her to close the Summers’ case. The letters had led them nowhere, and she was starting to wonder if her boss had been right about them too. He had told her from the beginning that they were just prank letters, and not to bother with them. Anya had seen them as important evidence though. Now almost a month later she wondered if she had spent too much time on trying to find who had written the letters, and not enough time on the rest of the case. In the end, focusing on the other aspects of the case wouldn't have gotten her very far either.
They hadn't found the murder weapon yet, but they had determined that Faith had been killed with a knife. It had been determined that the knife had a blade which was approximately eight inches long and 1/4 inch thick. They had also determined that the murder had taken place in the alley, and that her body had been dragged to the side of the alley.
The autopsy had proved in the end that Faith most likely had not been able to scream, and even if she would have tried, it would have been a fading cry for help. The coroner had explained that the knife had actually gone in just right, causing death within minutes. It was unclear as to whether she'd been stabbed in the back before or after she was stabbed in the gut. The opinion was that Faith had been stabbed in the gut first, which had caused her to fall forward. The killer had then proceeded to stab Faith in the back. It had been determined that blood loss had been the cause of death. In the end Anya, didn't really care how it had happened. All she wanted was some piece of evidence to show her who the killer was.
Anya and a few other officers had interviewed all of the surrounding neighbors, hoping to find someone who had seen or at least heard something unusual that night. They had questioned everyone, from Mrs. Johnson, the little old lady that had found the body, to Harmony Kendall, an eighteen year old who lived in the vicinity and had been home alone that night. Ms. Kendall hadn't been able to provide much information, except repeatedly reporting that she had been at home all night and asleep by nine. Anya had thought she seemed a bit distracted but had attributed it to the fact that she had just had someone killed in her own backyard. They had even questioned a homeless girl who had been seen many times around the area previously. She had been at the shelter across town that night though, or at least according to her. No one at the shelter had been able to tell Anya whether or not Ms. Shelton had been there or not.
There had been no witnesses, and Anya knew that was what she needed to keep this case open. Just one person that had seen Faith with her killer that night, but Anya wasn't going to be waiting. No witnesses only meant one thing for this case -- it was closed. With Faith's killer still on the loose, Anya felt that she had failed.
Anya sighed as she closed the case folder with the picture of Faith she had been staring at for the last few minutes. It was one of the crime scene pictures, showing Faith slumped over a recycle bin. Her eyes were still open, in this black and white photo, which just added to the look of lifelessness in the picture. You could just make out the blanket which had been pulled back, the blanket was darker in some areas than others and Anya knew from experience that the discoloration was blood.
She shuttered as the air surrounding her seemed to turn icy, even though she knew that it was impossible, because it was hotter in the building than outside, and had been since the air conditioning quit working the day before. She walked towards her cubicle, not paying attention to her surroundings, and walked right into someone. The folder for the Summers’ case had fallen out of her hands and once again she was staring into those same dark pools of nothingness. She forced her eyes away from Faith's and into the ones that belonged to who she had run into. There wasn't much of a difference to these eyes though, because they seemed just as lifeless as Faith's. The person spoke then, the listlessness in the voice caused Anya to cringe. For someone who at one point in time had been such a jovial person, to be reduced to this, well it just wasn't right.
"Have you found anything new?"
"No, and..." Began Anya, as she went about putting the folder back together, and closing it back up, hoping she wouldn’t have to finish the sentence.
"You have to close it don't you? The boss wants it marked unsolved doesn't he?" This time the voice was impassive. Anya hated having to confirm the statement, but she knew she couldn't lie.
"Yes, Xander, I have to close the case." She watched as Xander shook his head in understanding and started to turn and walk off. She quickly grabbed his arm and turned him back around to look at her.
In the weeks since giving him the journal entries, she had watched his mood slowly decline. Immediately after Faith had died he just tried to hide his feelings, now he didn't care. Anya had slowly watched the weeks pass and Xander become more and more withdrawn from everyone. She had even heard that he had been taken home at least twice by some of his co-workers, because he'd been too drunk to drive. Although she knew that it wasn't all her fault, she couldn't help the thought that her comment hadn't helped things any. Anya replayed her actions in her head several times, and had ultimately regretted allowing Xander access to those few entries that Faith had written leading up to the days before she died. She hadn't known before now how to make it up to him, but in these last few seconds she knew exactly what she could do.
"Xander, I can't make promises but I will continue looking into this case. I promise I'm not giving up."
"Anya I know that you’re not going to give up, but you know as well as I do, the longer this goes unsolved the more likely that it will be buried until no one remembers. I'm not holding my breath to see it solved, because it most likely won't be." Anya let go of his arm once the realization hit her.
He was giving up, and not just on the case. She could almost see it in his eyes; he had given up on the job itself. Anya watched as he walked off and wondered how long it would be until Xander gave up his dream too.
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Buffy stood outside the Espresso Pump. She had about fifteen minutes left of her lunch break before she had to be back at The Magic Box - Giles' book store - which he had purchased two years prior, after he had retired. Giles had hired her for the summer, after her mother had complained about her working at the Double Meat Palace. Although it had been a rough start, including Buffy knocking down a whole bookshelf of English literature her first week on the job, Giles had stuck with her and gotten her successfully situated into the position of stock girl, after her failed attempt at sales girl.
As Buffy stood watching everyone pass her, she just took in her surroundings. It was such a beautiful day, the news had said that the heat would dissipate as the day went on, and they'd actually been right. There was already a slight breeze in the air and Buffy breathed it in through her nose and out through her mouth. It had been a while since she just stood and allowed herself to relax into the world around her. As she felt the warmth of the sun on her and the breeze ruffle the bottom of her flare jeans, she thought about William.
She had tried not to think about him too much while he'd been gone. Those first couple of days after he'd left she tried to overanalyze every thing about them. It had gotten bad enough that Willow had pulled out her resolve face, demanding Buffy calm down. That's when Buffy had realized she'd taken it too far because Willow almost never demanded anything. So Buffy had stopped worrying about her relationship with William -- well sort of. Starting work at the Magic Box had merely given her something else to worry about and she had pushed William to the back of her mind, not really thinking about him unless he called.
As Buffy brought her focus back to her current surroundings, she realized she was in the way of the door, and several irritated faces were staring at her. She quickly moved to the side and let the people, who she'd been blocking the way of, pass into the little coffee shop. As she walked away from the Espresso Pump toward the Magic Box, she realized suddenly that William hadn't called her in over a week, and that worried her a bit. He had been doing pretty well at calling her at least every three days. She pushed the worry away though, hoping it was just the fact that he'd gotten busy. She did make a note that if he didn't call tonight, she would be calling him herself.
Buffy continued walking until she reached the alley behind The Magic Box. She was about to open the back door that led from the alley into the shop, when she glanced at her watch and noticed the time. She still had eleven minutes until she had to be back in there. So instead of going in, she turned around and headed for her car, which she had parked farther down the alley. She had tried to make a habit of going home and checking on Little Willy. Mostly so he didn't have an accident on the floor again, but also because she wanted to make sure he hadn't found Mr. Gordo. She'd almost killed the dog when she had came home one day to find him right behind the front door with Mr. Gordo hanging out his mouth by an ear. Buffy had scolded the dog but she hadn't trusted that the pig would continue to live if she didn't keep him hidden. Then last week the dog had found the cute little pink pig and Buffy had to re-hide it. Buffy unlocked her car door and got in. As long as she was quick about it, she should be able to make it back in time.
It didn't take long to get there and as she got out of her car, Mr. Trevor, the mailman, was coming up the walk. Buffy waved and waited for him to reach her. Mr. Trevor had been the Mailman for a long time and Buffy could remember him having lollipops when she was younger. She could remember waiting every day, passing the time until the mail came so she could get that small piece of candy. She couldn't remember exactly when she had stopped, but probably when she started school. Now she hardly ever saw him unless it was a day like today where she had come home early. Once he was in front of her, she smiled and reached her hand out to take the mail he was holding. He handed her several bills and a few pieces that looked like junk mail. "So Mr. Trevor, how has the Johnson dog been treating you?"
Buffy watched as Mr. Trevor pulled his pant leg up and showed a fresh bandage, covering over what must have been a new scratch. "Still trying to get fresh meat."
Buffy laughed, saying goodbye, and heading for the house. As Mr. Trevor walked away, one piece of mail caught her eye as it was missing a return address. She flipped the envelope over, making sure it hadn't been written on the back, but nothing. She opened the letter and pulled out one lone piece of paper folded into thirds. She started to unfold it when something dropped out. Before she could bend and pick up what had fallen, her eyes were drawn to the oddly shaped letters on the paper. The note had been printed in a bubble like style and as Buffy read she knew that she had a problem.
Your sister didn't listen and look where she ended up. I'd suggest you heed what I have to say. He is mine and you will pay for thinking you can have him. Leave him alone or follow your sister’s fate.
Buffy folded the letter back up and put it in the envelope. She started toward her car before remembering that something had fallen out of the letter when she first opened it. She bent down hoping whatever it had been hadn't been picked up in the breeze. Buffy found what she was looking for right below where she had been standing. Reaching down, she picked up another piece of paper. On a closer inspection she realized that it was a cut out paper doll.
The blonde doll was wearing a black dress exactly like the one Buffy had worn to Faith's funeral; it even had a butterfly in the middle of the bodice. Buffy remembered that she'd put a stick pin in the dress that day because the button had popped in her rush to get ready that morning. Buffy's eyes weren't drawn to any of those details though. She intently stared at two red marks, which marred both the front and back of the paper doll.
Buffy was struck with the realization that she was being watched, and that whoever was watching her wanted her dead. The tears filled her eyes before she could stop them and all she knew was she had to tell someone. She turned back to her car with all thoughts of Little Willy or her job gone from her mind. She headed for the police station.
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Giles stood behind the counter, waiting on a customer. Although he smiled at the customer it was a forced smile, he thanked them for shopping there and watched them leave. Giles looked at the clock again and realized Buffy was now twenty-five minutes late. He had been waiting for Buffy to show up so he could take his lunch.
Normally Buffy just stocked books on the shelves and made sure the boxes were in order in the basement, but around 1:30 to 2:00 each day, Giles took his lunch break, and left Buffy to mange the store. He had attempted to train Buffy as a sales girl from the beginning, but that had resulted in several close calls and other fiascos. So they had compromised; she only had to watch the store for about an hour to give Giles his break. The hour she covered was normally slow, so she didn't get overwhelmed. He had seen it as a fair compromise, and it also saved him money from experiencing any more broken shelves.
Giles stood behind the counter furious; Buffy was late, and although he was bit worried, anger had taken over instead. He wondered how that girl ever expected to keep a job in the future if she couldn't be punctual.
Giles picked up the duster from behind the counter and started dusting off the bookshelves. He dusted in a rather jerky way that signaled to just about anyone, even someone who didn't know him, that he was furious. As he worked his way around the shelves, only one customer had come in. They had left fairly quickly though, after Giles cursed rather loudly over a jar of marbles he'd spilt, while dusting behind them.
After working his way across the floor so as not to trip on the marbles, Giles turned the open sign to closed. Since Buffy hadn't shown yet – she was now forty minutes late – Giles decided to just close the shop for an hour. Giles reworked his way around the marble mess and went to get the broom. He had no sooner picked up the broom, then he heard the jingling of the bell over the door.
"Buffy if that's you, you’re fired." Giles stated gruffly, hoping she'd hear the disappointment in his voice. As he returned to the front of the shop, he found a man standing there instead.
"Well I don't know Giles, I might be able to pull off the girly voice, but I’d never be able to talk like Buffy."
"William! When did you get back?"
"Just now. Fred and Wes came home early."
"Let me guess something important happened at Wes' office and he just had to be there."
Giles watched a smirk form on William’s face before he answered. "Not really, more like Fred left something in the oven."
Giles wasn't quite sure what William meant by that statement, and was about to ask him to clarify it when the bell over the door again sounded, and there stood Buffy. It was exactly who Giles had wanted to speak to, but before he could even address her, Buffy was running toward William, and he guessed his lecture would have to wait.
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Minutes before, Buffy had parked her car in front of The Magic Box, gotten out of the car, and locked it. She had planned on telling Giles that she didn't feel good and was going home. As she walked to the door, she couldn't help but be more aware of her surroundings. She paid attention to every detail she could, even down to a flash of metal she saw out of the corner of her eye. She quickly realized it was only the sun reflecting off a nearby trash can lid. Buffy was stiff as she opened the door to the shop, figuring that Giles would be ready to ream her about punctuality, or her glaring lack thereof.
Instead, she heard voices as she walked in. It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light of the shop, and when they had, all thoughts of Giles once again slipped her mind. There, not two feet away, stood William, and that was all she needed for her emotional walls to crumble.
Buffy ran straight for William and wrapped him into a tight hug, as tears began to course down her cheeks. She didn't think he had noticed though, because he was soon laughing and saying something about breathing. That's when she realized how tight of a hold she had on him. She loosened her grip a bit but still clung to William. Buffy took in a swift breath of air and was immediately comforted by the smell of bay-rum and something distinctly William. His arms holding her close just magnified the feeling of finally being safe.
William must have caught on that something was not right. "Hey Buffy, now, what’s wrong?" The statement was asked with a questioning lilt in his voice. William stepped back and gave Buffy an intense look with his own eyes, and Buffy watched as his smile faded. He had realized whatever was bothering her was serious.
.
Suddenly Buffy wasn't sure what to say. Should she tell him or should she keep quiet? It had been her sister’s mistake of not telling anyone about the letters that had probably gotten her killed. So she decided not to do what her sister had done and hide.
Buffy approached William once more, and hugged him tightly, hoping to gain enough strength to get through the explanation. When she stepped back, only one thing ran through her mind. No matter what, she would not let those letters ruin her life.
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