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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey everyone! It's been a looong time, I know. I'm very sorry for the lack of updates! It's just been really crazy… I've been taking these summer classes and things in my life have been a little, well, hectic, to say the least. But I promise to make updates more frequent from here on in, because honestly, this was kind of the pivotal chapter and the hardest for me to actually write, so it should all be kinda downhill from here. So thanks to everyone for sticking with this story and I hope you like this chapter! Sorry if it's a little confusing... this is a two parter though, so maybe the next part will clear a few more things up.
And also, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: BuffyandSpikeForever, Kimber, missy, PK, Caitie, dreamgirl4eva, Sevvy_O, and Bint .....
Also, I just wanted to let everyone know that I have my very own awards site up and running. It's called the Breathless Awards for spuffy fanfic authors...It's the very first round and there's not many nominees, so it'd be awesome if you could stop by and nominate a fic you love. Here's the link: http://www.geocities.com/breathlessones/BreathlessAwardsHome.html
"Take it easy, Hank," William forced himself to remain calm as he held up his hands in surrender. "No need to get violent."

"Oh, but I think there is."

Hank's eyes were cold, glossed over with a calculated rage, and William knew this whole scenario didn't arise unplanned.

William focused on his face, trying to keep his gaze from slipping to the pistol still gripped tightly in Hank's hands. The last thing he wanted was to show fear. Hank would simply feed off it like a vulture, and he refused to give him what he wanted.

Swallowing hard, his mouth feeling something akin to cotton, William opened his mouth to speak again. "And why's that?" He inquired. Though he feared he already knew the truth. His only hope now was to stall as long as possible, or as long as fate would let him, at least.

Hank chuckled.

"Oh, I think you already know, Billy." He cocked his head to one side, guaging his reaction.

"Humor me."

After a long pause, William had to physically restrain himself from breathing a loud sigh of relief when Hank momentarily lowered the pistol. Somehow it was a lot easier to think when a gun wasn't cocked and pointed directly in his face. Though he knew he was still far from safe, but at least he was buying himself a little time.

"Sit," Hank said simply, jerking the butt of the gun to indicate the nearby sofa. And William obeyed, as listening to the man with the gun was currently the wisest thing to be doing.

One thing William had learned about Hank is that he was a rather conceited man, who loved to hear himself talk. Which proved beneficial to William in a situation like this, and for the first time he was actually happy to hear Hank talking, as it bought him more time. And Hank wasted no time launching into his story.

"Your father wasn't always a stuffy librarian. Was he, William?" Not needing to hear a response, he continued speaking, answering his own question as he did so. "We both know he has a certain... hmm, past. Shall we say? Old Rupert…” He turned to face William.

“Or, should I say, Ripper?" Hank snickered, shaking his head, "Well, that's what we used to call him, back in the day." Letting his guard down just a bit, Hank paced the room calmly, methodically, his eyes darting around like a shark, though he never loosened his grip on the gun, nor turned his back on William.

"Let me tell you a little story, Billy," He paused for dramatic effect, "Once upon a time, I was a young boy. Eighteen years old, naive.
I had high hopes. Even had a scholarship to Cambridge University. I had the smarts, you know. Plus, I worked my ass off. I was excited, going to another country, finally ready to be free of my parents and go off on my own..."

Clearing his throat, he continued, "As I'm sure you already know, your father went to Cambridge too. Same year as me, as a matter of fact. Well, we hit it off right away, became buddies. We were two peas in a pod, you know."

William could bite his tongue no longer. "My father is nothing like you." He spat. He had known his father had done things in his past he wasn't proud of, but Rupert had lived every day regretting what he had done.

Hank tsk tsked. "Then you clearly don't know your father, my boy. He was quite the ruffian. Sure, we got into trouble here and there. Well, quite a lot actually. Stealing, brawling, stirring things up where we could..."

Turning to face William abruptly, Hank seemed to undergo an instant change in demeanor, anger contorting his features. "Has your father ever told you what he did to me, Billy? How he royally fucked me over?"

Silence.

Hank shook his head violently.

"Well, in that case, allow me to enlighten you."

Taking another step toward William, he continued, "At the height of our capers, we pulled off a pretty big heist... a diamond, from a jewelery store, to be exact. Very valuable, yet surprisingly wasn't all that hard to get our hands on. And we agreed that we'd split the uptake." Nostrils flared as Hank continued in a full blown rage.

"But then your father did a very stupid thing... He fell in love, with a girl. Named Jenny."

William winced as he heard his late mother's name, the pain of her loss still fresh in his mind.

"Needless to say, Rupert went soft after that. He decided he wanted to reform... He even wanted to turn us in, but I persuaded him not to do it, for my sake at least. "

"Finally, he agreed. But you know what he did then?" Again, he gave William no time to answer his mostly rhetorical question.
"He left. He just up and left with that bitch! And I never heard from him again!"

Hank took a brief moment to collect himself.

"Course, I got stuck with the fall out," He continued, his tone falling back into a more normal level, "I got caught with the diamond, and I was arrested for it. Because of Rupert fucking Giles, I went to prison!"

William continued to witness this tirade, realizing that the man in front of him, with his wild eyes, wide gestures, and face reddened with rage, was a ticking time bomb. He could go from zero to full blown pissed off in less than one second, without any warning. Definitely the mark of a very unstable person.

Hank's words once again penetrated William's thoughts.

"No one would listen to me, and I nearly died in that prison. I would get beaten every day, molested, humiliated..." For the briefest glimmer of a second, William almost brought himself to feel slightly sorry for Hank, who looked truly sorrowful as he recanted his experience in prison. Though once again, he changed his tune.

"Finally my parents came to bail me out. Oh, but they'd left me there a good long while, thought I needed to be taught a lesson." Hank snorted. "I was expelled from Cambridge, just two months shy of graduation. And when I returned to the US, my parents disowned me, because they thought I had become a disgrace to them... So, I wasted my life away in Sunny-hell. I had to start all over again, working odd jobs, trying to squeeze in some night courses in hopes that it would eventually amount to something. I even tried the family thing... found it didn't suit me."

William couldn't help but grimace at the cold and calloused manner in which Hank addressed his family, as though they were nothing more than an unsavory meal that he could dismiss with a mere flip of his hand.

Hank was on a roll now, none too keen to stop anytime soon.

"And that's when I met Angel. Or, Angelus, actually. But I gave him the nickname Angel...found it to be too ironic to pass up... Wolf in sheep's clothing, my kind of guy, learned from the best..." William was sickened to notice how pleased Hank looked with himself over that little factotum.

"Anyway, we hit it off right away. He could see the big picture. He understood that need for success, the desire to have it at all costs. So, we became buddies, and he was able to get me a job at Wolfrham and Hart, since he had a lot of pull, what with his father being the boss and all... And from that day, I vowed to do anything necessary to get my revenge once and for all. I knew I needed
money, along with a plan. As far as I knew, your father could have fallen off the face of the planet, because I had no idea where he had gone to. And I needed to find him. I craved it, that bit of justice..."

"So, I knuckled down, Angel taught me all I know about being a good lawyer, and I was a good student. I worked my way up,
became a top attorney, and finally, finally, I was ready to exact my revenge. Well, first thing I needed to do was drop the family, of course. Dead weight. Plus, didn't really want them nosing in my business. They were too close to it all to begin with, and no one knew about my vendetta against Rupert. I kept it all
inside for years. At least, until Angel came along."

Hank took a seat opposite William, facing him, crossing his legs and settling in as he pointed his gun. William struggled to keep his face impassive as he listened to the story.

"Well, it's a small world, isn't it, Billy? Because when I found out my daughter was marrying none other than Rupert Giles's son, it was
too good of an opportunity for me to pass up. So, I sprang to action. And since Angel was the only one who knew about my little vendetta, naturally, I hired him to spy on the newlyweds, to try
and find out some information on Rupert's whereabouts..."

William swallowed hard. The more he rambled on, the more William realized he was not dealing with a fully sane man, which only added to the ticking-time-bomb theory.

"But then, I realized something. I realized that I didn't want Rupert dead. At least, not right away. Nooo... I wanted to watch him suffer, to ruin his life like he ruined mine all those years ago. I figured, why go for the kill, when you can go for the pain? So, I went after the one thing I knew would hurt him the most..."

"His family.”

***************************************


“I thought this thing was supposed to be a turbo!” Buffy shouted, referring to Clem’s red VW beetle as they sped along on their way to the hotel.


“It is!”

Buffy looked at him incredulously. “Well doesn’t it go any faster?”

Clem shrugged, never taking his eyes off the road. “Nope.”

Buffy groaned, more of a half sob. “Then what’s this stupid thing good for anyway? I mean, I could practically run faster than this!”

Her voice trailed off, constricted with tears. She bit her lower lip, half wishing she could fly to get to William if that were at all possible, because this car ride seemed to be taking forever. Every second that passed seemed to take William further away from her, bit by bit.

Clem briefly took his eyes off the road to look at her, noticing the tears streaming down her face in torrents. “We already called the cops, Buffy.” He reminded her, “They’ll probably beat us there.”

Sniffling, Buffy didn’t even bother to wipe the tears away, as she was too distraught to even care. She shook her head. “I can’t lose him, Clem.”

“You won’t.”

She shook her head.

“I can’t lose him.” She simply repeated, her voice now a mere breathy whisper.

“I’ve already lost too much.”

********************************


William’s breath caught in his throat as he realized what Hank was saying.

“Yes, Billy. The accident. Your mother, your wife..."

He paused to let that fully sink in, " I hired Angel to wait for them. He used a rental car, made sure to attach the trailer hitch just right... and of course, he was able to get away without being caught. He's a good driver, that boy."

"You sick son of a bitch!" William flew out of his seat, momentarily forgetting about his opponent's weapon as his vision clouded over with red, his only thought seeking revenge on the bastard who'd taken so much from him, and who'd nearly taken even more.

Hank instantly stood and raised his gun, reminding William who was currently in charge.

"Now, now." He clucked his tongue, in a mock-sympathy, shaking his head.

"Just remember who has the gun."

William didn't respond, though he did manage to halt in his tracks. His face was bright red and his chest heaved, each breath almost painful as he turned over this new bit of information again and again in his head, each thought only fueling his rage.

“I wanted to make him suffer, to watch him squirm, just like he made me suffer all those years ago.”

“And you’d risk innocent people, your own daughter, just to achieve some twisted sense of satisfaction?!"

“Mere technicalities. They were in my way.” He explained matter-of-factly, as though it were nothing at all.

William shook his head in disbelief, trying to physically restrain himself from ripping off the man’s head with his own bare hands. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that, Hank?”

Hank grinned sardonically. “Been called worse,” He shrugged. "Now, best sit back down, Billy."

He pressed the gun, hard, into William's chest, the barrel digging into his flesh, forcing William to back up until his knees once again hit the back of the couch. reluctantly, he sat down, his eyes exuding hatred for the man before him.

"Good boy," Hank backed away, once again taking his seat across from William.

"Now, where was I..." Lost in thought for a moment, eyes cast towards the ceiling as he remembered
where he had left off.

"Oh, right." He turned his gaze back to William, who glared daggers back at him.

"Well, then disappeared for a while, too. Like father, like son, I suppose... So, while you were away, I had Angel get close to Buffy, to find out some more information. And see, the thing about Angel is... he isn't my most, stable colleague, to say the least. He took a liking to Buffy, or maybe an obsession is more
like it. He wanted her, and figured he might have a shot, especially since we were planning to kill you, anyway."

Hank laughed to himself quietly, seemingly amused, as though it were all some kind of sick inside joke. "Yeah, he went off the deep end when Buffy turned him down. Boy certainly doesn't take well to rejection." Hank paused and eyed William cautiously, laying the gun carefully in his lap and cracking his knuckles one by one, as though daring him to make a move.

"Well, as you may have guessed, you were my next target," Hank gestured grandly with his arm, indicating his surroundings, "And here we are. And surprisingly it wasn't as hard as I thought. In fact, it was too easy. Gotta tell ya, Billy, you're not the sharpest knife in the rack. You brought the fight right to my doorstep."

William clenched his jaw. "Fight?" He snorted loudly.
"What fight? You mean picking off everyone my father cares about
one by one, all over some warped vendetta that happened years ago? It's not a fight, Hank. It's a massacre. And you're nothing but a murderer and a coward!"

Hank stood up, lightning fast, raising the butt of his gun and smacking William square across the cheekbone. Will briefly saw stars, quickly recovering despite the blinding white pain as he felt a solid stream of blood gushing from his face. His head felt as though it were about to explode.

Hank sneered at him. "Watch your mouth, Billy." He scolded.

But William wasn't finished.

He stood on shaky legs, approaching Hank slowly, though his vision was clouded over with pain and rising vertigo.


"Hurts, doesn't it?" He taunted, "To know that my father is a better man than you could ever be. He had enough sense to walk away, enough morals to feel guilt for his wrongdoings. And," William took another step closer, "He was smart enough to not get caught."

"Shut up, if you know what's good for you!" Hank had the gun pointed directly at Will's forehead, right between the eyes. His arms were stiff, hands trembling with rage, clammy around the cold metal.

But William ignored him once again.

"It burns, to know that my father at least had one thing in life that you never will... True happiness. Because unlike you, he knows how to love."

"Love is for fools," Hank spat. "It makes you weak."

"Yeah, well who's the fool now?" Hank cocked his head slightly in question, seething on the inside. "You're standing here, waving a gun around. See, the thing is, I caught you off guard. Every other time, you were too much of a coward. You couldn't do any of it
yourself, so you'd have Angel do all your dirty work. And you see," William was now standing directly in front of Hank, staring at him challengingly. He felt the barrel of the gun pressing into his chest, but it didn't phase him. Instead, he merely watched as Hank
briefly looked to the gun, then back up, his eyes wild with rage.

William continued, "When it comes down to it..." He leaned in, his voice just above a whisper, the gun jabbing harder into his chest as he challenged him. "I don't think you have the stones."

"Wanna bet?" With those words, Hank squeezed the trigger.

'Click!'

Nothing.

Hank looked at the gun, then back at William, his eyes wide in confusion.

'Click!'

Again, nothing.

'Click, click, click!'

Hank proceeded to check every chamber.

The gun was empty.






TBC... part two of this chapter coming up soon....





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