Buffy woke to the sound of the key turning in the lock. She tried to pretend to be asleep, but knew she was doing a poor job of it. The moment he said her name the jig was up, he knew she was really awake.
"It's really not nice to play possum." He told her.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked him, without opening her eyes, not wanting to see him.
"Because you remind me of her, and now you belong to me." He answered.
"Who do I remind you of?" Buffy asked, still avoiding looking at him.
"My wife, Gladys, you look like she did at your age. More so, when you had the darker hair, but that is something we can work on." He told her.
"Where's Gladys, and why am I here and she's not?" Buffy asked, worried he might have killed his wife as well.
"She died of cancer two years ago, right before I moved here." He explained, "and then I saw you, and I knew you were my Gladys brought back to me."
"I want to go home and I'm not your wife." She told him, while keeping her eyes shut, not wanting to see his face and hoping she was dreaming.
"You are home now." He replied, noticing she never opened her eyes. "I hope you get over not wanting to be here when I return. I won't tolerate you not looking at me the next time we meet."
"You can't make me look at you."
"No, but I can make those you care about suffer for it." He hinted, "You will be responsible for what happens to them, just like you're responsible for your sister's death. She'd still be alive today if you'd been home that night like you were supposed to be."
"You killed Dawn because I wasn't home?" Buffy asked still shocked at hearing him say what she was afraid of out loud.
"You had to be punished for your insolence. You have until the morning to come to terms with the fact that we will be together as man and wife, until death do us part. I've been keeping tabs on you, Buffy. I know who you care about and I wonder if I should start with Faith or Anya." He threatened her easily.
"I promise I'll try, I really will." She begged, as she felt something inside her crack. "Just don't hurt anyone else because of me."
"Then welcome me as your husband after we say our vows in the morning." He replied, as he added, "I'm going to bed now, so be a good girl and don't do anything you'll come to regret. The room is sound proof, so no one can hear you scream."
Buffy nodded her head as the tears fought for freedom, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She refused to give up hope that someone would find her, feeling confident that Faith, Anya, and Angel would look for her, as would Lorne. The bartender knew she'd never leave her belongings there and he'd make sure Angel knew it. The feeling that Spike would also look if he found out she was missing entered her thoughts.
"Goodnight, my sweet one." Snyder said, and was surprised to her whisper back, "Goodnight."
He quickly left the room, knowing he had to hurry and meet up with Wilkins and play the concerned authority figure. It would've been fun to see her face when he told her that, but then again he didn't want to chance her trying to escape and hurting herself.
Buffy gave in to the tears once she heard the key turn in the lock, telling her he was gone for now. She'd face tomorrow when it came, but for now she let her fear and guilt overshadow the decision she'd have to make come morning. All she could think about was why she had to go to Willow's that night. Dawn would be alive, if only she'd been home as he had wanted her to be. Believing this was something more her parents would hate her for.
*******
Ethan sat back and watched as Mr. Snyder backed out of his garage, taking notice how the man surveyed the area longer than necessary before driving off. It appeared that the plan worked as Holtz and a few of his men quickly started working on getting into the man's home.
He joined them just as one of the men said, "Wow, this system is very high-tech for a high school principal."
"Can you override it without alerting him we've accessed his house?" Holtz asked.
"You bet I can, just need a wee bit longer is all." Doyle boasted, as he started playing with his keypad. "I didn't say it was undoable, just very high tech for a man like Mr. Snyder."
"Good, but try and make it quick. I want in there pronto."
"You got it sir."
*******
Snyder shook off the feeling that something wasn't right as he continued to drive toward the Bronze. He knew he had to play his part in making people believe he wanted Buffy Summers found. It just didn’t feel right to leave her on her first night in her new home.
He noticed a large group of people standing in front of the Bronze when he drove up. No one from Buffy's group of friends or her family was present which made him suspicious that something wasn't right here.
Quickly he parked his car, taking a moment to compose himself before getting out and joining the others. He was sure after a few hours they'd call off the search so he could go home and rest before he would see his girl again.
"Mr. Snyder, how good of you to come. We can use all the manpower we can find for this one." Lt. Gunn thanked him, trying his best not to let his true feelings show.
"Any time, detective, the children are our future." He said, with tongue in cheek, knowing his future was at home waiting for him.
"You and the Mayor will be with me. We're going to start in the alley. Kate, you take the parking lot, and Ford, you take the field across the street. Then meet back here after you're done, or call on the radio if you find anything." Gunn instructed them, knowing in his heart Buffy was not going to be found anywhere around here as he again looked at the principal.
"Where are Miss Summers' friends and family?" Snyder asked.
"Her family is distraught so I had someone escort them home." Gunn told him, "and her friends took a few of my officers to check a few of Buffy's other hangouts."
"I hope we find the poor girl, the Summers family has been through enough already." Snyder managed to say with enough conviction that even Gunn started wondering if Warren had lied, or had been mistaken.
*******
"Alright, sir…alarm is taken care of." Doyle announced as he then began working on the lock to the back door. "Either the man is paranoid, or he's protecting something very valuable."
"Meaning?" Holtz asked.
"Not your ordinary locks, sir. These were made to make a man of my past nature give up and move on to the next house." Doyle told him, "Back when I was a wee young lad who knew no better, mind ya."
"Can you pick it?" Holtz asked as he shook his head at his best officer
"Yes, Lt. I can, just give me a…well there ya have it." Doyle chuckled as he moved on to the bolt lock. "This one will be a bit trickier I'm afraid."
"Do your best, but can you have it done before the suspect decides to return home?"
"I can do better than that." Doyle answered as he twirled the lock and opened the door. "Open sesame."
Holtz slipped in crouched with his gun pulled looking around the kitchen. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary as he said, "All clear, bring the doctor in."
Ethan found himself escorted into the house and noticed a how immaculate the kitchen was. Nothing was out of place, telling him the man was most likely a bit obsessive compulsive.
"Lt. Holtz, look what I found in the garage?" One of the officers' said, while holding up a garbage bag. "Didn't they say that Miss Summers' was wearing black leather pants and a red halter top?"
"Yes, they did." Holtz answered as he went over and looked in the bag. "Bingo, we have our guy."
"Lt. I found another locked security door here." Doyle called out from somewhere down the hallway.
"Open it carefully. If she's locked in there we don't want to scare her more then she already is." Ethan told the officer. "Please, when you do get it open, let me go in first."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Dr. Rayne." Holtz tried to reason with him.
"It is the best idea. I wish to be the first face she sees…no uniform, just someone who is here to help her." Ethan explained.
"Fine, Doyle don't enter the room, let Dr. Rayne handle it from there, but back him up. I need to call Gunn and let him know what we've found."
"Could you let my nephew know we've found her?" Ethan asked, "Bring him here and have him wait for us outside."
"Do you think that's wise? What if she's dead?" Holtz asked, wondering what was up with this guy.
"I have a feeling she's very much alive. I'm sure he wouldn't have brought her here to kill her. I have a feeling that is not what he wants. He planned all of this for a very long time, and I don't think he wishes her harm. If that was the case her clothes would not be so easily found, for he is too meticulous to let something like that slip through if he planned on killing her. No, he truly believes we won’t find her and feels he's gotten away with it. The only thing he hasn't considered was Warren's death was a lie, and that the one and only witness to his crime is still alive. It is the fact he thinks he's gotten away with kidnapping her that has kept Miss Summers alive." Ethan explained, "The only thing I haven't figured out yet, is why her, why did he want Miss Summers?"
"I will have your nephew out front with one of my men until we know for sure." Holtz compromised.
"Thank you." Ethan said as he went to join Doyle at the door.
Holtz pulled out his cell phone and dialed the acting supervisor to let him know what was happening. "Gunn, Snyder is our man. We found Miss Summers' clothes here and we are trying to get into a locked room where we think he is keeping her. You have enough grounds here to arrest the fuck before something happens and he gets away."
"Thank you Lt., I will mark that area off the list. If you'd be so kind to call Kate and let her know too since she planned on going there next." Gunn answered, as he watched their suspect help go through one of the dumpster's in the alley.
"I will be right there for back up, he could be armed. He did already shoot a man." Holtz offered. "I will call Kate and the others and let them know."
"Great I will talk to you soon then." Gunn replied as he hung up the phone.
"Any news, detective?" Mayor Wilkins asked.
"No, just Holtz reporting in that the other hang outs were a bust." Gunn reported as he moved closer to the mayor and said with a smile. "He's the one, I want you to walk away once you see Kate come to join us."
Wilkins knew how important this was as he put on his professional show of bravado as he nodded his head and moved on to finish looking. He made a point to move a head of them to distance himself from Snyder.
Snyder felt like something was going on he should be aware of. He looked at his watch, knew he hadn't spent enough time here and it would look suspicious if he left too soon. He felt a touch of fear and anxiety when he noticed one of the officers pick up the rag he used on Buffy earlier to render her unconscious.
"Detective Gunn, sir, I think I found something." He called.
Gunn snuck a peak at Snyder and knew they'd found something by the way the man tensed up. He walked over and looked at the rag and noticed a smudge of makeup on it. Leaning in and taking a small sniff he knew they'd found how Miss Summers was drugged.
"Bag and tag it for forensic to take a look at. Have someone look in the duffle bag Miss Summers left behind the bar for any makeup and have them compare it to what's on the rag." Gunn ordered the officer. "I think we just might have found something." He said as he looked around, but making sure he kept Snyder in sight at all times.
*******
She slept peacefully as she dreamed of better times. Dawn was making her laugh at her sister's childish humor. But after a time the theme of the dreams changed, as she started to toss and turn about in the bed. The fear and anxiety had found her even in her dreams.
"Come on, Pet."
"But, I might fall."
"I'll catch you, Luv. Remember, I'll always be there to catch you if you fall."
"Do you hear that?" She asked, hearing a scratching noise coming from behind her.
"Don't listen to it, just look at me. Come to me, Kitten."
"It's getting louder, Spike. What is it?"
"It's not important, baby…just keep coming, you're almost home." He told her. "I'm right here, Buffy, waiting for you."
She could see him standing before her, with his arms open wide for her. The noise behind her was getting louder and harder to ignore. The scenery around her reminded her of something she had seen once before. The large cavern was dark, and yet she should see Spike before her waiting. The old stone bridge she was crossing seemed familiar somehow and felt a sudden fear she'd fall if she looked down.
Buffy could no longer ignore the sound behind her and turned to see. Hearing Spike's voice calling to her not to look, it was more important that she kept walking toward him. But the curiosity won as she turned and faced her captor. The creature looked liked the demon from the cave in "The Fellowship of the Ring". Except he now wore the face of her school principal.
She watched as the long fiery whip just like the one the demon used on the Wizard, Gandalf came at her. The bridge started to crack under the demon's weight, and she could hear Spike yelling for her to run. Closing her eyes, knowing she'd never outrun the whip and feeling the sensation of falling as the bridge collapsed brought her out of her dream.
"Spike!" She called out as she sat up in bed, crying when she noticed the door to her prison start to open. "Please, God, no. It can't be morning yet."
*******
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Nominated for best angst and best romance at Vampires kiss awards and Blood Ties awards.........and yes the next chapter will have Spuffy reconciliation.