Buffy Summers smiled sheepishly at the police officer. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t really know how fast I was going.” She gave a small, self-effacing laugh. “That’s bad, huh? I know. I’m a complete mess today. Work ran late and then my mom called wanting advice on what to wear on her first date since she and Dad split and then Dad called wanting to know if I’d heard that Mom had a date.” She rolled her eyes. “And so now I’m running really late and…none of this excuses the speeding. I totally know better.”
The cop grinned indulgently. “So it won’t happen again?”
“No, sir.” She shook her head dutifully.
He nodded. “I’m going to let you off with a warning this time. Drive safely and have a good night.” He patted the top of her car before walking away. He watched her drive away with a smile, thinking that it was rare to meet such a nice young lady these days.
An hour later she had finally joined her friends, Cordelia, Xander and Faith, at their favorite club and had just finished retelling the tale.
Xander shook his head in disbelief. “You got off again.”
“That’s it. I’m making the appointment tomorrow. I’m going blonde.” Cordelia bitched amicably.
Faith looked skeptical. “Are you sure it wasn’t a little more like: Oh no, officer! Was I a naughty girl?” She bit her lip and undid an imaginary button on her top.
Buffy laughed. “No!” She shook her head. “I told you I just apologized and presto-no ticket. Besides,” she looked at her own shirt and sighed, “What would I flash?”
“Umm…good point.” Xander nodded. “Maybe you should flash us. You know, so we can make an informed decision.”
Buffy glared and waited for Faith to kick him under the table. “I’m telling you guys, it’s no big deal. I don’t understand why people don’t just try telling the truth and apologizing more often. It works for me all the time.”
Faith laughed. “And the charmed one strikes again.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “I’m not charmed.”
“Oh no?” Cordelia’s eyebrows shot up. “Shall we go over the list?”
Buffy tried saying no, but once her friends got started there was no stopping them.
Xander started. “So that’s at least five speeding tickets turned into warnings…this year.”
“And we can’t forget that radio contest.” Faith added before taking a sip of her drink.
“Lots of people win radio contests,” Buffy argued.
“Accidently?” Xander shook his head. “Who misdials while ordering pizza and ends up with free front row tickets to The Killers?”
“Ooh,” Cordelia leaned closer to the table. “Did I tell you guys about how Buff got her new Pradas for 10% of the regular price because someone put the decimal in the wrong place on the price tag? That’s 90% off. They might as well have been free. And it was only the pair in her size.”
Buffy blushed. She never knew what to say. “Okay, so maybe I’m a little bit lucky.”
Cordelia laughed, “A little bit? Ya think?”
“Oh it’s all right, B.” Faith reached over and gave Buffy a quick hug. “We’re just hoping it’ll rub off on the rest of us a bit.”
Buffy quickly latched on to the possible ending of the conversation. “Who’s up for some dancing? I love this song.” She clutched Faith’s hand and pulled her to the dance floor. The two danced together often and fell easily into a familiar and playful routine. Neither girl was surprised by the group of male admirers that soon surrounded them, but they’d have enjoyed the dancing almost as much without the company.
An attractive man with graying hair watched her from across the room. He turned to his dark haired , angel-faced companion. “You’re certain she’s the one? The small blonde.”
The other man nodded. “I’ve been watching her for a couple weeks. That’s our girl…or his girl I guess.”
“She’s not what I expected.” He removed an unnecessary pair of glasses and wiped them with a linen handkerchief. “She seems so…”
“Fun?” The younger man chuckled. “I know. Who would have predicted it?” He paled. “Well, I mean, except for Her. She obviously knows what she is…”
“Obviously. We cannot afford a mistake here, Angelus. If this isn’t the girl…”
“I know. That’s why I came up with one last test.” He grinned widely before snapping his fingers. Instantly, his appearance altered. His normally dark eyes took on a deep blue shade, his build thinned and his hair lightened to nearly white. Gone too was his dark navy suit and in its place a pair a black leather pants and a black tee-shirt clung tightly to his still muscular physique. Eyeliner and a spattering of silver jewelry completed the transformation.
Ripper frowned. “Yes, you look quite a bit like your cousin now. The point of this?”
“Well, we’ve got to make sure she goes for the look, right?”
“And the clothes? Those are certainly not his.”
Unusually pouty lips smirked. “Just a bit of icing.” Angelus headed to the dance floor. Sure he was there to fulfill his duty, but he could have a little fun while he was at it.
Buffy raised her eyebrows at the boldness of the man currently working his way in between herself and Faith. The other girl winked back at her and Buffy giggled. She couldn’t deny that the guy had a certain appeal. He was a bit more punk than her taste ran, but the look was striking. She shrugged and let him tug her a little closer, figuring that as long as he kept his hands at her waist she’d play.
When the song ended, he leaned in asked if he could get her a drink. She might have said no if he hadn’t had the sexiest accent she’d ever heard. She let him lead her to the bar, knowing the whole time that it was ridiculous to like a guy simply because he’d called you love.
It was the last thing she remembered when she woke up.
Buffy frowned as she studied the strange room. Surely, it was a dream. She wasn’t the kind of girl that went home with a guy she’d just met, no, not even hot ones with nice voices. And she didn’t remember going home with him.
There had to be an explanation. She tried to calm her quickening heartbeat. Think, Buffy, what do you remember? She struggled. There were bits, here and there. She remembered talking with the guy at the bar and maybe another man too. Yes, she nodded; there was an older guy there. She remembered thinking that he had kind eyes. But that was it. She had no idea how she had gotten to wherever she was.
She stumbled off the bed in a near panic. She was still dressed. She was still completely dressed and nothing hurt. Those were good signs, she assured herself; that meant that however she had gotten here, it couldn’t be too bad. Maybe she had fallen and banged her head. Yeah, she quickly adopted the theory, maybe she had forgotten her name and everything else and the guy she was talking to took her to his place hoping that she would remember in the morning.
Even as she thought it, Buffy knew that it was ridiculous. If it were the plot to a movie, she wouldn’t have bothered renting it. Even a girl who lived a charmed life knew better than to assume that she had woken up in a stranger’s house for her own good.
Swallowing the bile rising in her throat, she rushed across the room and tried to open the door. It was locked. Oh shit! Buffy ran out of good explanations. Trying to keep her panic at bay, she searched for her purse or a phone. She’d run back over to the bed and was pulling off the blankets hoping her stuff might still be tangled up in them, when the door opened.
A thin man with blue eyes and white hair entered the room.
Buffy didn’t waste a moment. She rushed towards him with her fists up. “You!” She flailed fairly ineffectively at his chest for a moment before he captured her wrists with his hands.
“I’m sorry you were frightened.”
“Frightened! I’m pissed you asshole. What did you do? Drug me? Why don’t I remember how I got here?” She tried to pull away, but his hold was firm. He was stronger than he looked.
He spoke in a quiet voice. “I haven’t done you any harm and I don’t intend to. We’ve never met.”
“Oh please! I remember that much. You were there. We…we danced and then…you did something to me.”
He pushed her hands down slowly. “It wasn’t me, pet.” William knew about his cousin’s glamour. He’d seen it several times. Angelus could do a close approximation of his appearance, but it wouldn’t hold under any real scrutiny. William suspected that his cousin could do better if he worked at it, but his cousin wasn’t one to work. “Take a closer look.” He leaned towards her slightly.
“But your voice…” Buffy frowned. It wasn’t the same man. His hair and build were similar and he had the same accent, but he was different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It was like the man from last night had been masquerading as this man. The one in front of her just seemed more real and also more appealing. She felt herself drawn to meet his eyes. They were gorgeous. She shook her head. It didn’t matter. The whole situation was out of control. “Are you going to let me go?”
He sighed and dropped her hands. “I can’t.”
Aphrodite was never wrong. William couldn’t deny the instant pull he’d felt towards the frightened woman in front of him. She was meant to be his. He watched with an aching heart as Buffy backed away from him with terror-filled eyes.
“I will get out, you know. And when the cops find out what you all are up to…”
“The situation is more complicated than…”
“You’re a pervert, right? Some kind of sicko who gets off on trapping woman and…and…” she broke off on a sob.
He took a step towards her, his arms aching to comfort her, but she only moved further away. It hadn’t been his plan to hurt her, it hadn’t even been his plan to bring her there, but William knew that it was his fault. She wouldn’t have been suffering if it wasn’t for him. He shook his head again. “I am sorry.”
Buffy didn’t realize he was leaving until he was at the door. She ran over but he’d already locked her in. She dropped to the floor and cried.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is a fic I started a very long time ago and then got entirely stuck on. I'm super excited to say that's changed and I now have it very close to completed. Guess this is the part where I see if anyone actually wants to read it. :) Please let me know what you're thinking. I've been waiting for a really long time for feedback. ;)
Chapter End Notes:
Thoughts? I'll post the next chapter tomorrow.