“All rise for Honorable Judge Maggie Walsh.”
Spike stood up, Wesley at his side. In the weeks since the pictures had been turned over to the police, Spike had been arraigned and the prosecutor was now trying to bring him up on criminal charges of statutory rape, or ‘unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.’ He’d posted the $20,000 bail, and now they were at the preliminary hearing. Wesley had counseled him on what was going to happen. But he was lawyer, he knew what was going to happen.
They had enough incriminating evidence to put him away for a while.
Wesley had suggested that they call Buffy and get her into the courtroom, but Spike wouldn’t allow it. He’d hurt her enough. Cecily had blackmailed her with those photos, Spike just knew it. That’s why she had left. To protect him. She’d tried to tell him, but he was to bloody daft to get the message until it was already to late. Buffy had already moved on with her life, was probably happy with some other bloke. He couldn’t interfere with her life.
The judge had finally finalized his divorce to Cecily, saying that the apartment was to be sold, but it was a bittersweet victory as he was in the courtroom trying to not get put away for years.
“Please be seated.” Judge Maggie Walsh sat down and looked down at the papers in front of her.
Spike and Wesley sat down, but the prosecutor Anya Jenkins stayed standing. Spike knew her from law school. She was a right vindictive bird, liked to pass vengeance onto who she deemed guilty.
“Your honor, I think the pictures we have are sufficient evidence to convince a jury of the defendant’s guilt. We also have a statement from the defendant’s ex-wife saying that she heard Mr. Giles and the girl, Buffy Summers, having a lover’s quarrel. The defendant took advantage of a sixteen year old girl, that was under his care, and trusted him. This should be enough evidence to convince your honor to let us take this to trial.”
“May I have a copy of these pictures Ms. Jenkins?”
Anya approached the bench and handed the pictures to the judge. The judge flipped through the pictures, eyeing each one. “And who is it that took these pictures Ms. Jenkins?”
“A private investigator by the name of Francis Doyle your honor.”
“I would like a statement from him as to the validity of these pictures.”
“I’m afraid that we haven’t been able to locate the P.I., but we feel these pictures speak for themselves, along with Ms. Addams’s testimony.”
Wesley stood up, “Your honor, Ms. Addams’s is merely a vindictive lover, who is trying to drag her ex-husband’s name through the mud out of spite. She would say anything that would cause my client difficulty. Also, if they can’t produce the person that took these pictures, how are we to know that Ms. Addams didn’t just fabricate this pictures on her home computer? “
Judge Walsh looked over her glasses at Wesley. “While true, I’m inclined to agree with Ms. Jenkins.” She sighed. “Where is this girl, Buffy? Why don’t we get her in here?”
“We are still-”
Just then the doors to the courtroom burst open, and in strode Buffy.
Spike’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at her. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her long hair hung in waves around her face, framing it. She walked with a stride that said she commanded the room. She spared a glance in Cecily’s direction, but didn’t let her eyes linger long.
“I’m right here your honor. Sorry to be late, traffic was a bitch.”
In the back of the courtroom, Cecily glowered.
Judge Walsh sighed. “Ms. Summers I presume.”
“Yes your honor.”
“Well Ms. Jenkins, would you like to call Ms. Summers as your witness?”
Anya Jenkins looked a little flustered but took it in stride. “Yes, of course. The prosecution calls Buffy Summers.”
Spike shook his head. What is she doing here?
Buffy walked up to the witness stand and put her right hand on the bible the baliff provided. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“Yup,” Buffy answered, popping her ‘p.’
“Now Ms. Summers have you seen the pictures in question?”
“Not quite sure what pictures you’re talking about. I just heard that Spike was being brought up on charges and I had to come.”
“Well Ms. Summers,” Anya said as she picked up another folder with copies of the pictures in them. “Here you are.”
Buffy opened the folder and stared at each picture intently before shutting the folder and handing it back to Anya. “That’s totally not me.”
Spike’s eyes widened slightly.
“Are you sure Ms. Summers?”
“Yeah, I think I woulda remembered that. Besides my boobs are way bigger than that.”
Spike smirked to himself. She was right, they were bigger now.
“Ms. Summers, these pictures were taken when you were sixteen. I’m sure you’ve grown since then.”
“I’m sure I have to, but that one of me and Spike in that chair? Can I see it again?”
“Of course.” Anya grabbed the folder and handed it back to her. Buffy pulled out the picture she mentioned.
“Yeah right here. That’s how I know they’re not real.”
“What do you mean Ms. Summers?”
“Well you see for my birthday when I was eleven, my father took me to see Cinderella On Ice, and I just fell in love with ice skating. After that I begged and begged my father to take me to a rink so I could learn to skate. I had all these delusions of becoming an Olympic skater. When he finally took me-”
“Is there a point to this story Ms. Summers?” Anya interrupted.
“Yes,” Buffy said glaring at her for the interruption. She sighed and continued. “Anyway, when we finally got there and he let me go the first thing I did was plow right into a group of people skating and caused a pile up. In all the mayhem I got cut with someone’s skate, and I have a scar on my right hip which should be visible in the picture.”
“Can we see this scar, Ms. Summers?” Judge Walsh asked.
“Of course.” Buffy stood up and pulled down the right side of her jeans, and sure enough, there was a scar there. Buffy sat back down. “Oh I almost forgot. Here’s a copy of my hospital records from the day I was admitted. Had to have twelve stitches.”
Buffy leaned down and grabbed her purse, and pulled a few pieces of paper out of it. “I don’t care that you look at it.”
The judge nodded to her and looked over the papers, then handed them to Anya. Anya looked them over, then looked up at Buffy, scowling.
“How old are you now Ms. Summers?”
“Just turned nineteen.”
“How long has it been since you saw the defendant?”
Buffy looked over at Spike briefly, meeting his eyes for the first time since she’d walked through the doors. The jolt of electricity that went through him at the connection took his breath away, again.
Buffy swiftly directed her eyes back to Anya. “A little over two years. Just before Christmas, when I was sixteen.”
“And why has it been so long?”
“I was a little rebellious when I was younger after my parents died. I was having trouble coping with it. Spike sent me to a good school so that I could get into a good college, which I did. I go to UCLA now. I just didn’t know what to say to him. I guess I was a little ashamed at how things ended between us, and the more time that went by, the harder it was to open up lines of communication again.”
“What exactly happened between you two?”
Buffy took a deep breath, prepared to answer.
“Your honor,” Wesley said, standing. “Ms. Summers has said what she came here to say. I feel the evidence that she has produced shows that the prosecution’s allegations are unfounded. With Ms. Summer’s testimony and the prosecution’s inability to produce the P.I. that took the pictures, I call for a full dismissal of the case.”
Judge Walsh nodded. “I agree with you. Considering the evidence and the testimony of Ms. Summers, I feel the pictures are invalid. Case dismissed.” Judge Walsh’s gavel came down with a resounding knock that reverberated throughout the courtroom.
Spike’s face broke out into a smile and he looked back at Cecily who had been watching the proceedings. She had a furious look on her face. She stood up and stomped over to Anya Jenkins, barely containing her rage. Spike shook Wesley’s hand. “Thank god its over mate.”
Spike looked up to find Buffy, but she was no where to be seen.
* * *
Buffy collapsed into her dorm room at UCLA. Seeing Spike after two years had been harder than she thought it would be. She’d tried so hard to exude an air of confidence and nonchalance around her that she was exhausted. She’d foolishly convinced herself that she was over him, but looking him into the eyes today had nearly broken her all over again. He hadn’t wanted her, was probably glad to have been rid of her.
On her eighteenth birthday, Buffy had sat by her window in her room at Saint Catherine’s waiting for Spike to come for her. Buffy had thought that since she was eighteen, it would be okay for them to be together. She was positive that he loved her, and wanted to be with her. But she had just been a piece of ass to him. When he had never come, Buffy had finally accepted that it was over between the two of them, and he was never coming for her.
While Buffy had been at Saint Catherine’s she hadn’t really made any friends, so she’d studied the whole time she was there, and it had paid off. She had gotten a full paid scholarship to UCLA, where she now shared a dorm room with Faith of all people.
Her and Willow were the only people that Buffy had stayed in touch with. When Faith had heard that Buffy was going to UCLA, Faith had come and signed up for classes and her and Faith became room mates. She had laughed when Buffy asked her why she was there and said she didn’t have anything better to do, and besides Buffy needed her. Faith was right. She had been her rock when she thought she wasn’t going to make it. Because she hadn’t really gotten over Spike. She was still in love with him, and knew that she always would be. That was why she had gone to help him, had purgered herself for him, broken the law by lying under oath. She had to. She couldn’t let Cecily ruin his life, she couldn’t let her win again. She’d already ruined enough.
So when Buffy had gotten wind of what date the trial was she’d driven down there as fast as she could, after she’d concocted the story about the scar. The scar she’d gotten soon after she was at Saint Catherine’s. She had been sneaking out her window into the tree outside and had fallen down. Buffy had gotten a med student friend of hers, Ben, to grab her medical record from the hospital, and change the year, and reason for the accident, before printing it out again. She was just lucky that the hospital was the same as the one she’d been to years before, when the actual accident had happened, sans stitches.
Buffy stood up and pulled her shoes off, rubbing her feet as she went. She’d righted the wrongs that Cecily had created. Maybe now she could move on with her life. Maybe Spike wouldn’t plague her every dream, and when she met guys, she wouldn’t instantly compare them to Spike. Maybe she wouldn’t be waiting for him anymore.
“Who am I kidding?” Buffy asked herself. She’d always be waiting for him. That was the single constant in her life these past two years, waiting for Spike.
Buffy sighed as she looked at the clock. It was 6:30. It had taken her a couple hours to get back to LA from Sunnydale, and she’d had to stop by her mother’s and Giles’s graves before she left again, because she didn’t know when she’d have enough time to come back. Buffy knew she needed to get up and get ready for work.
Buffy took a shower and then went to her closet to grab her work clothes. Before Buffy could get dressed she heard a knock on the door.
Buffy’s eyebrows scrunched together as she wondered who would be at her door. Probably just Willow.
Buffy walked over to the door and flung it open to the last person she expected to see standing on the other side.
“Hello cutie.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I’m trying my best to get the law part of this story accurate, but if I’m not completely correct, then I apologize. But while I’m at it, I’m going to give a quick little lesson of the things I researched for this chapter. If you want to you can totally skip it, without being to confused, but if you want to here it is.
A preliminary hearing is not a trial to determine the defendant’s guilt, but one to determine if there is enough evidence for the defendant to stand trial. The judge uses ‘probable cause’ legal standard deciding whether the prosecution has produced enough evidence to convince a reasonable jury of the defendant’s guilt. The prosecution may produce physical evidence, or call witnesses to convince the judge to let the case go to trial. The defense usually cross examines any witnesses and calls into question any evidence the prosecution presents, so the judge will dismiss the case before it even goes to trial.
In California, the use of a ‘grand jury’ is used in which a group of the defendants peers get together to decide whether or not there is enough evidence, but this is usually used on the federal level.
Okay, I hope that clears everything up for this chapter. Again, if I have anything wrong please forgive me.
A preliminary hearing is not a trial to determine the defendant’s guilt, but one to determine if there is enough evidence for the defendant to stand trial. The judge uses ‘probable cause’ legal standard deciding whether the prosecution has produced enough evidence to convince a reasonable jury of the defendant’s guilt. The prosecution may produce physical evidence, or call witnesses to convince the judge to let the case go to trial. The defense usually cross examines any witnesses and calls into question any evidence the prosecution presents, so the judge will dismiss the case before it even goes to trial.
In California, the use of a ‘grand jury’ is used in which a group of the defendants peers get together to decide whether or not there is enough evidence, but this is usually used on the federal level.
Okay, I hope that clears everything up for this chapter. Again, if I have anything wrong please forgive me.