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CHAPTER 11: Sightseeing tour
Her kitten heels clacked rhythmically on the well polished floor as Buffy made her way to the security guards lunchroom. She was well rested, in a good mood after spending the weekend with Dawn, and determined to make the most of her morning. She usually avoided the guards’ lunchroom because of the slight tension between her and her employees, but she wanted to say hello to Giles, and that’s where Harmony said she’d find him.
She composed her best “friendly boss” face, then walked in. Giles was sitting at a table, reading a news paper, while two of the guys where getting coffee from the vending machine. The two guards saw her, then walked out of the room. They brushed past her without as much as a look. They were obviously still not forgiving her for suspending Jake and Devon. Well, if they wanted to blame her for doing her job, too bad. They’d just have to get used to working for a warden who wasn’t corrupt.
Giles looked up from his reading and smiled.
“Looky, I walk in and the place clears up. Am I the most popular girl in the building or what?” she sat in front of him.
“Blubbering idiots they all are. Don’t pay attention.”
Buffy tilted her head to observe Giles, an amused grin forming on her lips. “You look tired Giles. Didn’t sleep well this weekend? Tell me, how was that date with Anya?”
She laughed when he blushed. He took off his glasses, a nervous habit she’d noticed he had.
“It went--rather well, I must say.”
“I still can’t believe you let her chose where you guys were going. I’m impressed, Giles. Knowing the girl, I’d say that was really daring of you. Where did she take you anyway? A strip club?”
He put his glasses back on his nose and tried to look dignified despite what he was about to say. “To a--wrestling show.”
Buffy went hysterical. She laughed so hard that tears were running down her face. She finally managed to calm down. “Please, tell me you’re kidding?”
“Surprisingly, I’m not. But I must say that after two or three lagers, I did enjoy myself. And it turned out that watching sweaty barbarian looking men rolling around on the ring together, puts Anya in a really good mood.”
“Hence the dark circles under your eyes?”
“Precisely.”
Buffy cracked up again, incapable of keeping serious. “Oh God, that’s too good! Well at least one of us is getting some action.”
Giles turned even more red at her comment.
“Yes, well, when you’re done laughing at my expense…” His words were scolding her, but he couldn‘t hold back the happy grin that was lighting up his face.
“Sorry, Giles.“ Buffy took a deep breath. “I‘m calm now, promise.” She got up. “Other than to tease you, there’s actually a reason why I’m here. My friend Cordelia is coming here this afternoon and I’d like to take her for a tour of the place. She’ll be here around 1:30. Could you have an escort ready for us? I‘ll need maybe two guards--no, make it three. Cordelia is kinda hot.”
Giles chuckled. “That’s not a problem, Buffy. I’ll have Faith, Ron and Dave to come with you. Faith is starting her shift at 1pm so I’ll just keep her around until then, and I’ll make sure the other two will be available In time.”
“That’s cool. Faith isn’t too much of a bitch when you get to know her. And Ron and Dave--they’re the nice ones, right?”
“Yes, they are. They like you so I’ll feel better knowing you’re with them. I would go, but I have to train a new guy this afternoon. Perhaps I could call him to reschedule if you‘d prefer.”
“No, don’t worry. That won’t be necessary. We’ll be all right. I’ll call you when my friend gets here.”
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Buffy was sitting comfortably on her couch with her shoes off, trying to concentrate on a file. She had to attend the parole board in the afternoon to study a case and having nothing else to do until Cordelia got there, she decided to take a look at it. She was starting to get bored when harmony walked in.
“Ms. Chase-Harris is here. Can I bring her in?”
Buffy looked between Cordelia who had already walked in, and Harmony who seemed to be waiting for an answer. “She’s… already in, Harm. But--huh--thanks anyway. That‘d be all.”
“All right then. If you need anything, I’ll be at my desk.”
“That’s--great. I’ll make sure to call you.”
Harmony closed the door, leaving the two girls alone.
“Ok. What’s with the poodle?”
“She made an attempt at curling her hair this morning. I think she didn’t get the result she was hoping for.”
“I wasn’t talking about the hair, I was talking about the IQ. But thanks for answering my next question.”
“Harm is harmless.” They both giggled at how funny that sounded. “You get used to her after a while. She’s actually quite entertaining. If I’m down, or just plain bored, I go and try to have a conversation with her for five minutes. I always come back to my office feeling so much better.”
“You don’t say.” Cordelia laughed. “Speaking of office…”
The brunette gave her surroundings an appreciative look. “Quite posh if I can say so myself. Not crazy about the sky blue of the walls though. I’d suggest a light green. Green goes well with your complexion so you’d look stunning sitting in that big leather chair of yours. Oh, and I have this great painting at home that would look awesome on this wall over there. And…”
“Cordy!” Buffy interrupted her, clearly amused. “My office is your canvas, oh great master of everything pretty and tasteful. Do whatever you want with it.”
“Really? Cause this place has huge potential. I could go nuts in here.”
“Go nuts, have fun.”
“Awesome! I’ll come back maybe next week or the one after if work permits. You won’t recognize the place. You won’t want to leave work anymore. It’s gonna be fabulous. It’s gonna be…”
“Is that Chinese food in your bag?”
Cordelia opened her eyes wide, not sure what Buffy was talking about, then looked down at the bag she was holding. “Oh. Yes. Yes, it’s food. Let’s eat.”
Buffy smiled and shook her head. Her friend was so enthusiastic whenever decoration or fashion was concerned that she could talk about it for hours and lose track of what was going on around her.
They set up the food on the coffee table and sat down to enjoy it. Buffy fought Cordelia for the pineapple chicken and won. She started eating voraciously.
“Oh God, this is soooo good. I was starving.”
Cordelia pouted. “You better leave some of that chicken for me, you ogre, or else your office will stay the way it Is.”
Buffy rolled her eyes and handed her the chicken container then took a bite off a spring roll. “So, how’s my little cutie pie going?”
“I’m doing great.”
“Not you doofus. Camille.”
“Relentlessly asking about you.” Cordelia said with a heavy sigh. She mimicked a high pitched voice, trying to imitate her daughter. “Mooommy? When are we gonna see auntie Buffy? Huh? When? Is auntie Buffy coming to see us? How many nightie nights before we visit auntie Buffy moooommy? I miss her!”
“Awww! Poor Cam. She’s so used to having me over at your place almost everyday, it must be hard for her to understand. I’ll visit soon, I promise. Maybe I could take her with me for the weekend. Give you and Xander some quality alone time.”
“That’d be great. She misses her godmother and I miss Xander.” Cordy frowned lightly. “He works like crazy and is tired all the time. Forget about his husband duties, he’s way too exhausted for that.”
“You mean the cleaning and the cooking?” Buffy asked, innocently.
“Ha, ha, funny. I’m horny as hell. He started last night, and fell asleep on top of me. I should have gone with my first idea and go on top. Do you have any idea how heavy a construction worker can be? Anyway, I had to finish the job myself. Damn, I’m actually looking forward to seeing a couple of rugged, prisoners. Can we stop by the work out area and look at the hot sweaty ones?” She batted her eyelashes at Buffy. “Please?”
Buffy chuckled and shoved a piece of chicken in her mouth. “Whatever you want, Cor. But I’m telling Xander you said that.”
“Don’t you dare!”
They both laughed and finished their lunch, just enjoying each other’s company. Then Buffy called Giles and he sent the guards to Buffy’s office.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
A tall, tough looking brunette in uniform walked through the door, followed by two other guards.
“Yo boss, how’s it going?”
“I’m cool, Faith. How are you?”
“Bitchin’.” She cracked her knuckles, making Cordelia wince. “Ready to whack some prison boys upside the head if they come anywhere near one of you girls.”
Cordelia gave Buffy a look, but the warden just shrugged. The two other guys chuckled and snorted when they saw the shocked look on Cordy’s face.
“Don’t worry about Faith, ma‘am,” the tallest one said “she’s not dangerous. Well… unless you’re a con an you’re not behaving.”
“Yeah, I can be quite the bitch. A girl’s gotta earn some respect around here if she wants to survive. Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”
They all left the office. Cordelia elbowed Buffy and whispered in her ear. “What’s the deal with that girl? Does she get testosterone shots or does prison do that to all women who work here for too long? Are you gonna turn like that?”
“That’s just the way Faith is. But I kinda like her. She looks after me and isn’t afraid to stand up for me. I appreciate that. I wasn’t so sure about having a female guard at first, but she really can hold her own. She has quite the reputation and the prisoners respect her.”
“No kidding. They’re probably scared of her.”
Cordelia had never been in a prison so Buffy showed her everything, explaining what was what and introducing her to people. They reached the open space that was the work out area Cordy had been asking about earlier.
“Wanted sweaty men?” Buffy whispered in Cordelia’s ear. “Here they are.”
“I think I specified hot sweaty men.”
“Well, if you’re gonna be difficult…”
Buffy spotted Spike. He was lying on the bench press, shirtless, sweat making his muscular torso look sleek and well defined. Faith noticed him too.
“Damn that’s a fine piece of man. The things I would do to that guy if I had the chance…” The brunette said under her breath.
Buffy turned sharply to look at her, barely controlling the urge to tell her to back off. She managed to give her a tight smile.
“A wise woman once told me ‘don’t ogle prisoners’.” Cordelia gave Buffy a questioning look but the blonde girl merely smiled. “I think that was one great piece of advice that you should follow too.. For your own good I mean.”
“Hey boss, don’t worry, just looking. That job can be a drag sometimes if you don’t have yourself a little look once in a while, don’t you think?”
She winked at Buffy, not noticing how the blonde girl gritted her teeth.
The group started to walk out of the room but Buffy stopped them.
“Wait for me outside, I’ll be right there.”
“Want me to stay with you, B?”
“No, Faith, I’ll only be a second.”
They all walked away, and Buffy made her way to the other end of the room, pretending to have to check on something. She made sure to say a word to two or three guys on the way so it wouldn‘t look too strange when she‘d talk to Spike. When she came back, she stopped by where he was sitting on the bench press. He had been looking at her.
Buffy made sure to keep a neutral expression not to attract any unwanted attention.
“Just so we’re clear…” She said in a voice low enough that nobody else would hear, “I haven’t been avoiding you. I just haven’t found a good reason to justify seeing you yet.”
His lips didn’t smile, but his eyes did. He just nodded, realizing that it would look suspicious if they seemed too friendly. She walked away. She could almost feel his eyes on her as she left the room.
She joined the others who were waiting for her outside.
“All taken care off.” She said with a bright smile. “Let’s go now.”
Cordelia kept giving her sideway glances as they walked, but Buffy ignored her. They passed through security and the two of them went back to Buffy’s office.
“So…” Cordelia started, her voice dragging. “I can see what the fuss was all about.”
Buffy looked up, her eyes full of incomprehension. “Fuss?”
“Bleached blonde, blue eyes, pouty lips, body to die for, smoking hot… staring at you with puppy dog eyes. That’s the guy, right?”
Buffy turned bright red. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Liar. I’m sure he was the one you were talking about the other day.”
“Oh. Him? I don’t know. Was he in there? I didn’t notice.”
“Yeah right. If YOU haven’t noticed, just call me Sister Cordelia and spank me. I saw the way you snapped at Faith in there for making that comment.”
“I did not!”
“Sure you did. You’re lucky she probably assumed it’s because you don’t want your employees to have too much fun with the prisoners. Why did you go back in there by the way?”
“Nothing. I just--wanted to check something.”
“Sure you didn’t go back to compliment Adonis on his toned body?”
“You’re such a freak, Cord. We’re not all like you, you know.” Buffy pouted exaggeratedly and silently hoped that Cordelia would let it go.
Cordelia laughed. “Oh come on. Stop blushing like a school girl. Nobody can blame you for drooling over that guy. He made me want to stay in prison for Christ sake. Too bad you can’t have him though. That’s a real shame cause the way he was looking at you…”
“He was probably looking at me the way a prisoner looks at his warden: with contempt and hatred.”
Cordelia just rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, blondie.” She grabbed her purse and started making her way to the door. “I have a couple of potential clients to meet in town this afternoon, but I’ll meet you at your place later. What time will you be out of here?”
“6ish.”
“I’ll stop by the grocery store and buy stuff we can cook on the grill outside.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. Do you need someone to escort you out?”
“I’ll be fine.” Cordelia said, blowing her a kiss. “See you later.”
Buffy felt almost relieved when her friend left. She had felt so guilty for not telling her the truth about Spike. But Cordelia would have screamed and call her a dumb ass, then she would have spent the next two hours telling her all the reasons why kissing Spike had been a bad idea. And how wanting to see him again was an even worst idea. She didn’t feel like hearing that right now, didn’t want someone to try to convince her that what she was doing was stupid. She knew it was. She just didn’t care so much anymore. She wanted that guy more than she’d ever want anything in her life and the last thing she wanted to do was being reasonable.
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Buffy got back to her office after her session at the parole board. The parole had been denied, and the guy didn’t take it well. She was exhausted. She was tidying up her desk and getting ready to leave when the door opened and a smirking Spike was roughly pushed inside by Giles.
“What’s going on?” She asked, surprised. Her eyes kept darting between Spike who had a smug look on his face, and Giles who looked pissed beyond the telling of it. “What did he do?”
“You heard the lady, Spike. Why don’t you explain to her what you did?”
“I walked up to Parker and broke his nose. Or at least, it sounded like it broke. Can’t be too sure though.”
Conveniently, someone called Giles on his walkie talkie. The timing couldn’t have been better.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be right back.” He walked out, closing the door behind him.
“What the Hell did you do that for?” Buffy got up and walked around her desk to face Spike. He had instantly dropped the though guy attitude he was putting on for Giles’ benefit and now looked like the man she had kissed a week ago.
He shrugged. “You said you hadn’t been able to come up with a reason to see me yet. So I gave you one.”
Buffy couldn’t help the smile that was tugging at her lips. “And why Parker?”
Spike smiled back at her. “You can never go wrong with Parker. He always deserves a good punch in the nose. I‘m sure he did something bad today. I just don't happen to know exactly what it is.”
Her grin grew wider. “You’re impossible.”
“Yeah. I know.”
They looked into each other’s eyes for a few moments until Buffy finally said “Oh fuck it!” and crossed the few steps that were still separating them.
Their lips met for a passionate kiss. His bound hands automatically came up to cup her face. That was the best he could do with the handcuffs around his wrists.
Buffy was scared of getting caught, but that only made it taste better. There was some desperation behind the act, but also tenderness and all kinds of emotions that couldn’t be described. They tried to take whatever they could from each other in the little time they were allowed. The kiss only lasted a couple of minutes, and it wasn’t enough, but they both knew they had to end it soon. They let their tongues duel for a few moments, both reluctant to stop even though they knew they should. It was too good to give it up, but they finally pulled apart. As soon as they did, they missed the other’s taste but there was nothing they could do about it. Giles would come back soon.
Her forehead still touching his, Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep shaky breath to try to regain her senses.
“Next time, I’ll make sure to tell Giles I need time alone with you to give you a long speech on how to behave correctly in a prison. And I’ll lock the door.”
“Yes. That’d be best. I wish I could have time to just sit with you for a while and find out more about you, pet.”
“Me too. This situation sucks beyond words.”
“I thought…“ He hesitated, looking embarrassed at his own insecurities. “I thought you’d changed your mind and didn’t want to see me again. Decided I wasn’t worth the trouble. I was going crazy. It’s been the longest bloody week of my life.”
“I know. I missed you, but I didn’t know what to do. I spent the week fighting with myself about how wrong this is. And even if I wanted to see you, I just couldn’t find a way. I’ll try being more clever from now on so it doesn’t take as long.”
Spike smirked. “You better. I can’t go around punching people for no reasons all the time.”
Buffy frowned. “You know I’ll have to do something about this now, right? If I just let it slide, people will start asking questions.”
“I know, luv, but it was worth it. Just send me to the hole for a couple of days, I don’t mind one bit. I’ll use the peace and quiet to replay that kiss in my mind. Besides, my cellmate snores so it’ll be good to spend a few nights alone without the little rat.”
Buffy heard someone behind the door and took two quick steps back to put a decent distance between Spike and her.
Giles walked in.
“Sorry about that, Buffy. There was an emergency.”
“Anything I should worry about?”
“No. Nothing like that. It was a false alarm.”
“All right.” Buffy nodded toward Spike. “Take him to the hole for a good two days. He obviously can’t be around people. It might do him some good to be isolated for a while.”
Giles took Spike’s arm and guided him out of the office. Spike turned his head to look at Buffy one last time. She mouthed the word “sorry” and he gave her a quick smile before disappearing into the hallway.
She sighed and hung her head.
“Was that William Rayne I just saw walking out of your office?”
Buffy looked up. Willow was standing in her doorway.
“Hi Will. Yes, it was Spike. Why?”
“Nothing. It’s just that this boy gives me the hardest time whenever we have a session together.”
Buffy looked surprised. “Really? I’ve never had a problem with him. Other prisoners have problems with him, obviously, since he was in my office, but he’s always been really nice and respectful to me.”
She went to sit at her desk and invited Willow to take a seat too.
“I’m not saying he’s mean or rude or anything. But he’s… Difficult.”
“What do you mean?”
Buffy was starting to worry. **What is it? Does he have a split personality or something and I was too naïve and blinded by his hotness to see it?**
“I’m really good at what I do, or at least, I like to think so.” Willow explained. “And yet, I’ve never been able to get a word out of him. He’s the absolute master of answering a question with a question, changing the subject, or distracting me until I forget what question I asked. He won’t say a word about himself, no matter what I try.”
“I don’t know what to say, Will. That just doesn’t sound like the guy I met.”
“I tried something different the other day. I tried having a conversation with him about trivial stuff. He was a completely different person. He sounded very well educated, smart, funny, almost outgoing. Then I asked him something personal, and he shut down like a clam.”
Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried for a second that Willow would tell her Spike was a psychopath. But he probably just didn’t want to tell the criminologist about his private life and his past.
“He probably just has a hard time opening up to people, is all.”
“But you said he wasn’t like that with you.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Will. He did tell me a little bit about his past, but that doesn’t mean we have a special connection or anything. He was probably just in a good mood that day…”
The redhead’s face lit up. “Do you think you could sit in with us tomorrow? I have a session with him in the afternoon. It would be great to have a second opinion.”
Buffy thought about it. First, that would get Spike out of the hole for an hour, second, she’d get to see him twice in twenty four hours. And as a bonus, she’d get to know a little more about him.
“Sure.” She answered with her brightest smile. “Not a problem at all. Tell me what time, and I’ll be there.”
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Chapter 12: Couch Confessions
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