[Reviews - 92]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2029 times

- Text Size +




~Chapter 4: New Friends~

Buffy was completely in over her head. Since the first moment she had stepped into that interrogation room yesterday, and into William Pratt’s life, she had submersed herself into something she didn’t understand, and everything safe that had existed in her life had crumbled to pieces around her. It was like a tidal wave, growing higher and higher, threatening to wash down upon her and wipe everything she knew away.

It was overwhelming, and scary, and every other word that meant she was in a whole lotta trouble.

When Wesley had first received the phone call that informed him that his best friend had been arrested for sexual assault, Buffy had been extremely shocked that someone like her bookish boss would associate himself with someone so cruel. But after Wesley assured her that his friend of ten years was not capable of such a thing, Buffy’s restless mind had been set at ease.

At least for the most part, anyway.

Wesley had specifically asked for her help on this case, demanding that she accompany him to the police station where they would be filled in on what exactly William was being accused of. When Captain Lockley had explained that one of William’s students had told her father that her history teacher had forced himself on her during a tutor session, Buffy had seen another-very unpleasant- side of her boss that she had never witnessed before.

After a heated discussion with Lockley, both Wesley and Buffy were lead to the small interrogation room in the locked down part of the station for their meeting with William. By this point, Buffy had created a mental image of William in her head, based upon what Wesley had told her about him. Somehow the details that the stuffy lawyer had given her about his friend, had Buffy picturing someone completely different from the person that she came face to face to upon entering that room.

He was gorgeous! Wesley had failed to mention that little detail, and the petite blonde had found herself heating up as soon as those bright blue eyes had settled on her. She had to mentally slap herself a few times for zoning out of the important conversation taking place around her. It wouldn’t do good to be standing there ogling the potential convict while she was supposed to be paying attention, but a part of her couldn’t help it. It wasn’t like she had had much action these past few…years.

When he had just about broke down after Wesley explained everything to him, Buffy had found herself feeling her heart break a little for him. He appeared to be such a great guy; someone who had it all together, and enjoyed his life. Someone that Buffy would have showed interest in, had it not been for the unusual circumstances under which they met. It just seemed impossible to see him as something so evil as a rapist, and Buffy had to force herself to stand back from the whole situation and be objective in her thoughts.

After all, her first thought always seemed to be that Wesley’s clients were innocent just because the honest lawyer had promised her that he would never represent someone he believed to be guilty. The world was a cruel place sometimes, and if all the evidence was right, the man standing before her now, proclaiming his innocence, was guilty.

~*~*~*~

“Whatdaya mean, ‘you believe I’m innocent?’” Spike wondered, narrowing his eyes at her slightly.

Buffy sighed, letting her eyes drop to where her files were scattered about on the coffee table between them. She felt the strong urge to grab everything there and bolt from the house, fighting with herself to stand her ground.

Meeting his eyes, she spoke with a confidence she didn’t feel. “I mean that I believe that you’re innocent.”

He only raised in eyebrow in response.

“I don’t think you did this, William.” Buffy told him, honestly. But he kept looking at her like she was stupid, ands she felt the enormous impulse to smack him.

“And you would know this because?”

“Because Wesley said-”

“Oh, so now it’s Wesley who thinks I’m innocent, is it?” Spike mused, frowning at her as he put his hands on his hips skeptically.

“N-no! I mean, yes.” Buffy was starting to wonder if he was trying to make her nervous. “Of course Wesley thinks you’re innocent. But I do too.”

“And how’s this?”

“Whatdaya mean?”

“How would you know if I was innocent or not, when you’ve just met me not twenty minutes ago?”

“That’s not entirely true.” Buffy told him, pursing her lips in annoyance. “We met yesterday.”

“We were in the same bloody room for ten minutes, and didn’t say a word to each other.” Spike huffed. “That hardly counts.”

“It does so!” She shot back, feeling very much like an pouting child.

“It does not! How can you possibly tell if I’m guilty or not just by staring at me from across the soddin’ room?”

“Call it women’s intuition.”

“I’m in this whole bloody mess because of a woman’s intuition.” Spike said, looking a little put out. “I’m thinkin’ that’s not the way to go, right now.”

Buffy didn’t know what to say to that, so she kept her mouth shut. She tried looking anywhere but his face, and noticed for the corner of her eye, that he was doing the same. Good. At least she wasn’t the only one that felt unsettled.

“Look, I’m sorry.”

Her blonde hair whipped back when she snapped her head at attention when he spoke softly.

He met her eyes, and gave her an apologetic look, before continuing. “I’ve had a long bloody day, and I took it out on you. It was wrong of me, and I’m sorry.”

She nodded slowly after a moment, and gave him a hesitant smile. “It’s fine. I wasn’t expectin’ you to be all honky dory about all this.”

Spike chuckled, and that seemed to relax both of them. He sat back down slowly running his hands up and down the rough material of his black jeans in an attempt to clear the beads of sweat from his skin. “So, how long have you been workin’ for Wes?”

Buffy felt her hesitant smile turning into a full blown radiant grin, as she thought about her work. “‘Bout five years now. He’s such a good boss.”

“You enjoy it.” He observed, smiling kindly.

“I do.” She nodded, sitting down. “I like that I can go to work each day and work towards something that matters, ya know? I like knowing that, in some small way, I help people doing what I do.”

Spike nodded in agreement. “I get that.”

Buffy smiled broadly, feeling like she may have made a new friend. “I know you do.”

A comfortable silence settled over them then, and an unspoken connection seemed to be made as their eyes remained locked for a moment more. Buffy was starting to feel at ease with him now, and wondered why being objective felt a lot like being completely on his side. Could she really do this? Maybe she was getting too close already, and that was never good. Perhaps she only believed he was innocent because she felt an attraction to him.

But that couldn’t possibility be it, could it? Sure, she had been wrong before. Everyone was at some point. But in all her five years as Wes’s number one paralegal, she had always been objective, always doing what needed to be done to ensure that justice would be served. And that was the important thing in all this.

Buffy shook her head slightly to clear her head, hoping that Spike wouldn’t notice, and silently questioning if she was really capable of doing her job when she felt so unsure of herself.

When the door opened suddenly, both jumped in surprise, their eyes going wide. Spike rose to his feet immediately, and looked out toward the main foyer.

“Will?” A female voice called out in a Texas accent. “Anybody home?”

“In here.”

“Daddy!” Buffy started in shock when a small child ran past her suddenly, leaping into Spike’s waiting arms. He stood up, leaving a kiss on her forehead.

“Hey, Nibblet.” Spike smiled lovingly, hugging the little girl close. “I was beginnin’ to think you were gonna stay away forever.”

“Yeah right.” The dark haired girl snorted, pulling back to smile at her father. Her expression changed then, to one of curiosity. “Where’d you go last night?”

Spike looked nervous then, not sure how to answer her question, but gave her a small smile. “I just thought you might like spendin’ the night with Aunt Fred and Uncle Wes, was all. Did you have fun?”

“Yep.” The girl nodded enthusiastically, popping her ‘p.’ “We played board games, and watched movies. And this morning, Aunt Fred let me take a bubble bath, with extra bubbles!”

“Is that right?” Spike mused, sitting her back on her feet and ruffling her long hair. Buffy marveled at his way of changing the subject so easily. She wondered if it was an acquired skill, or if being a father just came as naturally to him as it appeared to.

“Uh huh.”

“And did you behave?” Spike asked, narrowing his eyes at her dramatically.

“She was an angel, as usual.”

Buffy looked up, and smiled softly when she saw a familiar face.

“Hey Fred.” Spike smiled fondly, looking happy to see his sister.

“Hey, Will. How ya holdin’ up?” She wondered, coming further into the room.

Spike gave her a pointed look, looking very sarcastic. “Oi, I’m just bloody peachy, pet.”

Fred chuckled softly, looking down. She seemed to notice for the first time that Buffy was in the room, and smiled. “Buffy.”

“You two know each other?” Spike looked confused, as Buffy stood to greet the taller woman.

“She works with Wes, Spike. ‘Course I know ‘er. Just ‘cause you never visit him at his office, doesn’t mean I don’t.” Fred informed him, smiling teasingly.

“It’s good to see ya, Buffy.” She moved to give Buffy a friendly hug, which Buffy returned. “Lemme guess. Wes got you here doin’ his job again?”

Buffy laughed quietly, stepping back slightly. “You know Wes. He’s not so good with the client interaction. Even if it is his own best friend.”

Fred snorted. “Oh, I know. I have no idea how he got as far as he did before he hired you.”
The two girls laughed good naturedly, and Spike cleared his throat behind them to gain their attention.

“Oh, right.” Fred uttered, grinning amusedly.

Buffy felt eyes on her, and turned to find Dawn staring at her intently, studying her with her big blue eyes.

“Daddy?” She whispered, pressing herself closer to her father’s leg to win his attention. “Who’s that?”

Spike glanced down at Dawn, then back up to Buffy. “That’s Buffy, pet. She works with Uncle Wes.”

Buffy sent the girl a friendly smile, but she felt her anxiety show through. She really wasn’t good with kids.

“But what’s she doin’ here?”

“She just came by to ask daddy a few questions, sweetie.” Spike answered gently, smiling down at her sweetly.

“‘Bout what?” Dawn kept on, never taking her eyes off of Buffy.

“‘Bout grown up stuff, princess.”

“Oh.” And that seemed to be the end of it.

“Um, Fred?” Spike cleared his throat. “Think I could have a word in the kitchen real quick?”

He met Buffy’s eyes, and silently asking her to give him a minute. The petite blonde nodded softly, and Fred smiled.

“Sure.”

Buffy let herself fall into her chair after the two left the room, breathing out slowly to try to calm her nerves. She had known Fred for a while now, since Wesley had brought her into the office four years ago to show her off as his new fiancé. She and Buffy had hit it off immediately, both being very quiet people who usually kept to themselves. Buffy had even been invited to be a bride’s maid at their wedding, but had politely refused on the grounds that she was going to be out of town that weekend anyway.

But somehow knowing that Fred was Spike’s sister made everything a little more wiggy. Especially since Buffy remembered how the lengthy Texan girl had tried to set her up with her ‘lonely, but very charming’ older brother at the wedding.

“Why are you named ‘Buffy?’”

Buffy head snapped up in surprise to find Dawn standing in front of her expectantly. Buffy watched as the girl bit her bottom lip in scrutiny, twirling her long dark hair around a tiny finger. Her large blue eyes were the same color as her father’s, Buffy noticed, and her plump cheeks added a fullness to her features that gave her a baby soft appearance. She stood at only about three feet tall, and couldn’t be more than six years old, but showed a confidence of someone much older. She was cute, innocent, and Buffy immediately found herself fond of the girl.

“What do you mean?” Buffy wondered, brows furrowing.

“Why are you named ‘Buffy?’”

“‘Cause that’s what my mother named me.”

“Oh.” Dawn seemed to be thinking about this carefully for a moment, then: “My mommy didn’t name me.”

Buffy frowned again at this, trying to picture the woman who was responsible for being something so adorable into the world, then immediately wondering where she was. She was sure the woman didn’t live here, and had not fore some time, if the way Wesley talked about her was any indication. Whenever the older British man would make an offhanded comment on his daft-ex-sister-in-law, Buffy got the impression that there were some unresolved hard feelings left behind.

“Did Wi-your daddy name you?” Buffy asked her, leaning forward on her elbows where they rested on her knees.

“Yep.” Dawn nodded, smiled broadly.

“It’s a very pretty name.” Buffy told her softly, smiling kindly.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

A beat, then:

“You have a funny shaped nose.”

“What?!” Buffy shrieked, reaching up to grab at her nose. “I do not!”

“Yes, you do. It’s all crooked and flat on the end.” Dawn told her seriously, reaching up to pin point the area she was critiquing. “See, right there.”

“It’s not crooked; It’s upturned.” The blonde replied, offended. This child was evil! How dare she say her nose was crooked! Buffy thought she had a cute nose.

“I think it’s crooked.”

“Well, you’re wrong.”

“Do you like Barbies?”

Buffy blinked, reeling from the sudden change of topic. “Uh…sure.”

“Cool.” Dawn smiled, reaching for her bag that Fred had set next to the couch. “Wanna play?”

Buffy hesitated, looking toward the entrance to the kitchen, wondering when Spike and Fred would be returning. She couldn’t hear them talking, but assumed that Spike was filling his sister in on everything that she hadn’t learned from Wesley. It couldn’t hurt to keep the overly hyped up six year old occupied, right?

Turning back to Dawn, she smiled cheerfully. “Okay.”





You must login (register) to review.