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“Spike!”

Turning toward the door a few minutes later, Buffy frowned when she heard Gunn’s voice.

“You might wanna get down here. And bring your girl.”

“Your girl?” Buffy repeated, looking at him. “I’m not your girl!”

“Calm down, Betty.”

“It’s Buffy,” she said with an edge to her voice. “You were the one who had me kidnapped. Shouldn’t you know the basics?”

“Do you ever shut up?”

“Do you ever use your brain?” she retaliated, tightening her jaw when he grabbed her arm. “I can walk without your assistance, thank you,” she said sarcastically, jerking her arm out of his grasp.

“Making sure you’re not going to run away, Goldilocks.”

“Is that an option?” she muttered, watching him unlock the door before shoving him out of the way and marching down the hall.

“If you wanted to go first, you could have just told me,” Spike said with a smirk. “I definitely don’t mind this view.”

Turning around to shoot a glare at him, Buffy walked down the stairs, seeing Gunn sitting on the couch in the large living room, his eyes riveted to the television screen.

“What’s going on, Gunn?” he asked, carefully watching Buffy as she sat in a nearby chair, obviously nervous that Angel might appear out of nowhere.

“News event with her dad,” he replied, watching the TV.

“Again?” Buffy asked, rolling her eyes. “He’s milking this for all it’s worth.”

“I can’t honestly believe-”

“Save it, Spike,” she said, turning to face him with flashing eyes. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. You don’t know anything about my family, so do me a favor and shut up.”

Raising an eyebrow in his direction, Buffy turned toward the TV when she heard her father’s pleading voice, nearly gagging at the amount of fake emotion he was pouring into his words.

“If anyone has any information leading to the safe return of my daughter…”

“Give me a phone,” Buffy murmured, almost to herself.

“What?”

She turned toward the two men in the room. “A phone,” she repeated, her eyes widening as an idea hit her.

“You’re completely off your bird,” Spike said with a laugh.

“Look- you want your money, I want to stop getting harassed in the middle of the night. I’ve trusted you two enough…please just give me the phone.”

Exchanging glances with each other, Spike took a deep breath before walking into the kitchen, grabbing the cellular off the counter that they had arranged to use for later in the plan. Walking back into the living room, he tossed it to Buffy, raising an eyebrow in her direction. “One wrong word and-”

“I’ll be a good little girl,” she said, nearly rolling her eyes as she quickly dialed the number. Smiling briefly when she saw Hank’s eyes widen on the live broadcast, Buffy watched him fumble in his pockets, frowning when he didn’t see a number on Caller ID. Passing the phone to his assistant, he continued his supposedly heartfelt plea for his daughter’s return.

“Hello?”

“This is Buffy Summers,” she said, talking to the other man. “Put my dad on the phone.”

Smiling at the frantic gesture that his assistant gave to Hank, she breathed a sigh of relief when he picked up the phone while the cameras continued to tape.

“Buffy?”

“Daddy,” she said, putting as much false emotion behind her words as she could muster.

“Are you alright?”

“Get me out of here,” she said, shooting a look at Gunn and Spike, who were alternately watching her and the man on the screen.

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know,” she said, wishing that she could give him more information, knowing that he would never use it, and the consequences would be worse for her if she did. “Just pay the money and get me out of here.”

“I’m doing everything I can-”

Dropping the phony act, Buffy’s gaze hardened as she stood up from her chair. “Walk away from the cameras.”

“What?” Hank asked in confusion.

“You heard me, Dad. I don’t want any monitors, no microphones, no tapes. Walk away.”

Watching him make his excuses, twisting the truth until it made him look good for the reporters, Buffy waited until he walked away before speaking. “I don’t know what you’re ‘planning’, but this isn’t exactly a vacation for me. These people want you, and I’m stuck here because of it. Get me out of here, Hank.”

“We’re doing everything we can, Buffy,” he said in an appeasing tone.

“Don’t pretend like you care,” she said through gritted teeth. “Pay the money. If that’s your only concern, then I’ll…I’ll find some way to pay you back- just help me.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

Hearing the click of the phone, Buffy tried to control the tears in her eyes as she stared straight ahead, listening to the sound of dead air before she hung up the phone.

Wordlessly handing it back to Spike, she turned and walked up the stairs, not caring about anything and not wanting to see the son of a bitch that she called her father playing it up for cameras. Walking into the room that was her prison, she slammed the door behind her, not caring that it locked behind her, not bothering to try any means of escape. She just wanted to curl up on the bed that wasn’t even hers and forget that she had matching DNA with Hank Summers.

So lost in thought, she never even heard the door open.

“Did you really mean that?” Spike asked, looking at her after a moment.

“Mean what?” she asked, avoiding his gaze as she tried to steady her breathing, grabbing her blanket from the edge of the bed and wrapping it securely around her body.

“That you would pay him back if he paid the ransom?”

Buffy looked up, staring at him for a long moment before responding. “What do you think?”

“That wasn’t the…”

“Plan?” she filled in. “Well, excuse me for not wanting to go along with your plan,” she continued, taking out her frustrations with her father on the only person she could.

“We never wanted you to pay, Buffy.”

“Don’t do this,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Don’t get into the gray areas. We both know this is about money, and if you think that I’m going to sit here and have to spend more on therapy bills than I already am, you’re delusional. If I have to pay to get myself out of here, I will. I don’t care how long it takes.”

Unable to look at him, Buffy turned on her side and closed her eyes, wanting to forget everything.





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