Chapter 34
They stood in silence until Willow left the kitchen and they stayed that way a few minutes afterward. Trying to control her breathing, Buffy focused her attention on the glowing Coke machine in the corner of the room.
“You knocked Gunn out?”
“Why do you assume it was me?” Buffy snapped. “Faith was in the room too.” Out of the corner of her eye, she watched William’s sorry attempt at a shrug. Cursing softly, she flinched on his behalf as he struggled to take off his shirt.
“You can be so stupid sometimes!” she blurted out, reaching forward to help him with shaking hands. She couldn’t calm down and that made her more upset. “You beat the living shit out of him and I—damn it, babe, I haven’t hit someone like that in a very long time! I’m just as stupid as you are! We’re a couple of fucking idiots!”
He touched her upper arm as tears welled in her eyes. “Don’t,” she said, though she didn’t resist as he brought her closer. She let out a quiet sob as fingers ran gently up and down her lower back. “Police brutality. He’ll get away because of it. Wolfram & Hart’ll wreck the entire department because of us.”
“Maybe we can strike up a deal--.”
“William, if you make one more deal with that bastard, I’ll divorce you!”
“Okay, alright.” His battered body shook with a silent laugh. “That’s fair enough, but I was thinking more along the lines of quitting before the department can fire us.”
“What?”
He used the backside of his hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “Let the bigwigs use us as their sacrificial lambs. Let them think we’re taking more than just a slap to the wrist.”
“But we would be taking more than just a slap on the wrist. Both of us can’t be without jobs. We have bills. The twins will start school soon. The prices we’ll pay in diapers between Jo and baby number four will kill us! And the medical bills? God, I’m not even convinced I shouldn’t be carting you to the ER right now!”
“Breathe, Buffy. Take a deep breath. In and out.”
“William--.”
“Now,” he insisted. He watched her closely until she complied then he had her do it again. “Have you ever thought about us starting our own business?” When Buffy groaned, he laughed and kissed her cheek. “Alright, let’s say we had some help, would you consider it then? I know a lot of people, pet.”
“Yeah and the majority of people you know are criminals.”
“That’s mostly true, but there are a few exceptions. A mate of mine started his own investigation group early this year in LA, maybe he’d consider branching out to Sunnydale. I can’t promise you non-stop thrills, but we’d work together and you’d be able to help people. As a matter of fact, he prides himself on helping the helpless.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“Doyle came to me months ago, I swear it. I turned him down back then, but with the Angel case sorted out--.”
“What’s sorted about it? It’s a bigger mess now than it was a few hours ago!”
“I don’t know,” William remarked, kissing her temple. “We do have Angel on Faith’s tape recorder. It’s pretty legit too. She showed it to him, left it on the table, and he told her to turn the sodding thing on. We got him spouting off. Said some damning things, he did. Awful things. In fact, ‘awful’ doesn’t quite do them justice.”
“Hence you beat him to a bloody pulp.”
“And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. He mentioned ordering a hit on you and the kids. Said he exterminated our first child.”
Buffy swallowed, hit by a wave of nausea.
“Baby, are you alright?”
“Don’t ask me that, don’t ask me if I’m okay while you look like that. He deserved what you did to him and more, but I wish you hadn’t got yourself pummeled in the process.”
“It’s not so bad,” he said, grinning sheepishly. He waved his hands indifferently toward his torso. “Looks worse than it feels…mostly.”
“Yeah, mostly,” she tried to force a laugh, but it came out sounding too much like a whimper. “Babe,” her eyes fluttered shut as he kissed her forehead. His lips touched her temple again and the corner of her mouth. She let him touch her, but wouldn’t let him take her into his arms. “Can’t. I want to, but can’t. I need to clean you up. If I let you take me in now, I won’t leave. The girls might need me.”
“It never fails, love, you always end up taking the reigns.”
“I consider it more of a tag team. You had your turn, now I’m benching you. And I mean it. You’re done.”
He nodded. Patiently, he remained quiet and cooperative as Buffy applied ointments, taped on band-aids and inspected each bruise. “How’s it look? Will I live, doc?”
“You look…kinda pitiful,” she responded with a sigh, unable to think up a witty remark.
“And the blows to my ego keep coming…”
“Sorry.”
“Where did I go wrong? I thought you had a kink for wounds. You found ‘em sexy once. It’s probably because you went overboard with the bloody band-aids, yeah? You didn’t leave one scrape uncovered. You mummied me up with the little buggers.”
“That’s totally it, too many band-aids.” Rolling her eyes, she found it a little easier to smile. Unable to resist, she looked him up and down and yanked a band-aid from his neck.
“Hey!”
“If you think I’m going to congratulate you—I will not praise you for attacking him.”
“But--.”
Buffy covered his mouth with her hand. “Hush. I won’t say it, but… William, you should know how I feel.” She looked at him through her lashes and detected a smile underneath her fingertips. “I’m all over the place. The cop in me is thrilled and utterly jealous; the wife is scared stiff; the mom is worried about what the kids’ll think once their father walks through the door looking like Frankenstein. And the woman, the just Buffy part, is…”
“Yeah? Don’t leave off the good part, Summers.”
Noticing the unabashed twinkle in his eyes, Buffy snorted. “She’s tired, alright? She wants a vacation from this vacation. She doesn’t care about Angel or spells. She’s tired and pregnant and she’s desperately trying to convince herself she’s immune to morning sickness. She just wants to drag you out of here and never look back.”
“Mm. Is there anything else, my sweet?”
“Ah,” she breathed in and out, “she’d also like a big bunch of money to fall from the sky and maybe a magic wand that’ll make your sexy wounds disappear and reappear painlessly whenever convenient.”
“That all?” William laughed. This time when he reached for her, she went willingly into his arms. Humming, he buried his face in her hair. “I love you, Buffy.”
“I love you too and I do appreciate your heroics. I just can’t stand it when you’re hurt. It drives me crazy.”
“It is unpleasant, isn’t it? Especially when the shoe’s on the other foot.”
Buffy nodded. She kissed his neck, and mumbled, “Sorry about the band-aid. That was mean.”
“I forgive you.”
“Thanks,” Buffy said, reaching for the first-aid kit.
“Now, pet--.”
“Shut up,” she said, sticking a new bandage over the tiny cut that had stopped bleeding minutes ago. “Let me find you a fresh shirt.”
***
“Let’s see…there’s Fides. She’s a Roman goddess, the abstract deity of honesty according to Wikipedia if I’m remembering correctly. That’s interesting, no?”
Faith watched as Buffy’s friend spoke to herself and chewed thoughtfully on the cap of her pen.
“Guess we could go more simple and not so flowery,” she continued. “I still don’t think I could stomach something too rhyme-y though. English would be ideal, but… Hey, it’s Faith, right? Did you study any romance languages in college?”
“What do you think?”
“Um…it’s none of my business?”
“Good answer,” Faith snorted, closing her eyes once again. She was back at William’s desk, thoroughly enjoying his comfy chair.
“I hate to interrupt your nap, but I will need help. An assistant. You won’t have to do much. I mainly just need a chanting buddy.”
“What the hell are you talking about, carrot top?”
“Uh…”
“And where’s B and the boss? If they’re getting their freak on back there again, I’ll get the hose after them.”
“She’s probably still tending to his cuts and stuff. He was pretty banged up.”
“Yeah, but knowing those crazy kids, I doubt they could pass up the opportunity to play a round of naughty nurse.”
“So, um, why do you call William ‘boss’? He isn’t your boss.”
“He should be. Although he stepped down, he sure as hell acts like he is. He’s a real pain in the ass actually.”
“And Buffy?”
“Is she a pain in the ass? Usually. She’s more self-righteous than her hubby believe it or not. But she’s not so bad. She can even be fun, you know, when she’s out of the office and away from the kids.”
“Do they always use you like they did earlier?”
“You caught on to that?”
“So they trust you?”
“Yeah, they do, you got a problem with that?”
“No, no, I just--.”
“Why are you giving me the third degree, strawberry? Is this going somewhere?”
“You can call me ‘red’ if you want. William does all the time. Or just Willow, that’s good too. I was just,” she paused to smile, “Faith, you’re about to witness something pretty amazing. I just wanted to know if you were, you know, worthy.”
“Uh huh. What?”
“Okay, you don’t even need to chant. Can you just stand guard?”
“While you do what exactly?”
“While I get Buffy her confessions,” Willow answered, still smiling brightly.
***
“Faith. Bloody hell, pet, you’re sleeping again? What are you doing out here?”
Faith opened one eye and then the other to find William and Buffy walking into the room hand-in-hand.
“And will you get out of my fucking chair? You have a desk, use it.”
“Hey, where’s Willow?” Buffy asked, scanning the room. “Did she cast the—did she do whatever she needed to do?”
Not waiting for an answer, William went toward the interrogation room with Buffy on his heels.
“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. You’ll interrupt.”
“Interrupt what?” William demanded.
“The interrogation. Buff’s friend has Angel singing every dirty deed he’s done since kindergarten. I got bored and came out here. There’s a higher-up in there with him now if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“You mean it?” Buffy asked wide-eyed.
“He knows about the scuffle. He seemed miffed, but he’ll get over it. He’s just as eager to put Angel away as the rest of us. He asked for you, but I said you both went home.”
“Should I,” William reached for the door, but Buffy pulled his arm back. “Where’s Willow?” she asked again.
“Out front. She had to make a call to your nanny.”
“Good.”
“But, love…”
“Bye, Faith,” Buffy said, leading her husband through the workroom. She paused only to scoop up their jackets, her purse and his helmet.
“Yesh, I almost forgot! Put on your coat and I’ll be back in a flash.” She ran down the halls and returned with another helmet in her hand. “The last forgotten Christmas present, but this one’s for me.”
“Matching jackets and matching helmets?” William asked with a smirk.
“Thanks for your help, Faith. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”
“You don’t think I’ll see you before then?”
“Oh, I can guarantee it,” she said, hooking arms with William. “We’ll be in LA and I just decided we’re taking the kids to Anaheim. Want to join us? We could always use an extra kiddie handler when we do Disney.”
“Oh, God no.”
“Suit yourself,” she told Faith, pushing open the door. It was still dark outside. She saw Willow under one of the lights in the parking lot and waved. At the sound of car keys jingling in her friend’s hand, she spun on her heel.
“That’s it?” William whispered in her ear. “You aren’t curious to know more?”
“Nope. Not right now. If something important happens, Faith will keep us up-to-date.”
“Alright then.”
“And here I thought I’d have to twist your arm,” Buffy laughed.
“Your chariot, milady.”
“Thank you, kind sir.”
Buffy straddled the motorcycle, scooted as close to William as she could get, and held on tight.
***
A/N: I’m impatient, therefore I update. The epilogue is coming tomorrow. In my brain this is all the closure they needed: to feel it was okay to let go and move on. Family is more important than revenge and all that stuff, that’s the motto for this story. :)
Someone to Watch Over Me will be updated sometime this long weekend, so catch up if you need to.
[Reviews - 393]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 1745 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +