[Reviews - 777]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 4032 times

- Text Size +




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


CHAPTER 15: Meeting with the Devil



Buffy was awakened from her light and agitated sleep by something, or rather someone, bouncing on her bed. The mattress on which she was resting creaked loudly in protest, head board banging against the wall. She opened an eye and automatically regretted doing so. The harsh sunlight assaulted her vision, making her groan.


Giggles.


Where was she again?


As her foggy brain slowly came to, she finally remembered that she had spent the night at Cordy’s.


The blonde woman opened her eyes again and smiled weakly at her goddaughter.


“Wakey wakey, auntie Buffy! Mommy made burned French toasts!”


Buffy couldn’t help but laugh at this, and finally fully awake, she grabbed the little girl around the waist and tossed her on the bed before starting to tickle her.


“Not nice to make fun of your mom’s cooking talents, little devil.”


Camille laughed and wiggled trying to escape Buffy’s torturous hands, her dark eyes dancing with merriment. She let the little girl go and looked up when she heard someone clearing their throat. Xander was leaning against the door frame, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand.


“Morning, Buffster. I see that you got your wake up call.”


“Yes, thank you. Very efficient I must say.”


Xander chuckled. “Hey, you’re the one who said you needed to get up early. Don’t blame me. I figured sending the little one would get the job done.”


“All right, I’m up. I’ll go take a quick shower and I’ll meet you guys downstairs for breakfast.” She gently ruffled Camille’s chocolate curls. “Why don’t you go make sure your mommy doesn’t burn down the kitchen, kiddo? I’m sure she needs your help.”


The little girl squealed and ran out of the room, tiny bare feet slapping loudly on the hardwood floor.


Xander shook his head, grinning affectionately at his daughter’s antics. “She was so excited that you’d spend the night. She probably didn’t sleep all night in fear that she’d wake up and you’d be gone.”


“I know. I haven’t visited as much as I wanted to.” Buffy said while putting her robe on and retrieving clothes from her suitcase. “Work has been pretty intense for the past two months. It’s hard to explain to a four year old and I know she doesn’t understand why I’m not here everyday like I used to be. But things should calm down eventually and I’ll visit more often, I promise.”


“Don’t worry about that. We explained it to her and she’s fine. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t miss you, but she’s a bright little cookie, she understands.”


“Yeah, she is smart.” Buffy frowned. “Wonder where she got that from..?”


“Hey!” Xander exclaimed, acting all offended. “I’ll have you know that I’m much smarter than my construction worker’s muscles, and rugged looks, would lead you to believe.” He pouted. “There I was, bearing presents, and what do you do? You insult me.”


He pulled out a little Blackberry from his jeans pocket and pretended to walk away.


Buffy laughed. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t go. I’ll behave, I promise. You’re really smart, and nice and good looking.”


Xander gave her a cocky grin. “Ah! I knew you had a secret thing for me. If things don’t work out with Cordy, I’ll give you a call.”


Buffy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. You know you’d miss Cordelia’s cooking. I’m worst than she is.” She reached for the Blackberry he was still holding. “Gimme!”


He gave the hand held device to the excited young woman, looking curiously at her.


“You’re welcome, Buffster. Here’s the gift YOU asked ME to buy for you with YOUR money and put under MY name. What’s the deal with that anyway?”


She turned away from her friend’s curious eyes, looking at her new toy. Now, Spike could both email her, and call her. She was beyond happy.


“No questions, remember? I can’t explain. But thank you so much. You have no idea how happy that makes me. I promise to pay the bill on time.”


“All right then. I’ll keep my questions to myself. I have to go to work. Call me when you get home, ok?”


“I will. Thanks again, Xand. That was really important to me.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Bye.”


“Bye Buff. And don’t worry, if Cordelia’s French toast are too much for your delicate stomach, there’s always jelly doughnuts in the fridge.”


Buffy chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind. Always good to have another option.”


Xander left, and Buffy went to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for her meeting.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Stressed out after spending an hour fighting with the early morning L.A. traffic, Buffy finally found a parking spot not too far from the building. She was now standing in front of the skyscraper and could honestly say that she was impressed. The whole building belonged to the law firm. A large sign in front of the main entrance said: Wolfram&Hart.


She took a deep breath, trying to calm her shaky nerves and made sure her gray pencil skirt and matching suit jacket weren’t too wrinkled. Trying her best to look relaxed and confident, she walked into the lobby and looked around for the elevator.


An authoritative voice stopped her. “Miss. May I help you?”


She turned around. The security guard had stood up behind his post, ready to stop her if she dared going any further. He looked intently at her.


**Wow. I guess you can’t just walk in this building without an invitation. What does he think I look like? A terrorist?**


She smiled nonetheless, intimidated by the large man.


“I’m here to see Ms. Morgan. She’s expecting me.”


The guard took a clip board from his desk. “Your name, please.”


“Buffy Summers.”


She waited as he looked for her name on the list, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her suit jacket.


He finally looked up, his previously severe expression replaced by a polite smile. “Take the elevator to the 15th floor and turn on your left. Have a good day, miss.”


“Huh.. Thank you.”


The elevator rode smoothly to the 15th floor in record time. Buffy was a little thrown when two doors opened, unsure which way to exit. The receptionist came to her aid.


“This way, Ms. Summers.”


Buffy’s eyebrows shot up in surprised at the receptionist knowledge of her name, but soon realized that the security guard probably called up to announce her.


**impressive** She thought, feeling more and more intimidated by the second. She scolded herself. **Geez, Buff. You run a prison and yet, you let mere lawyers intimidate you? What’s up with that?**


Buffy gave the woman a dazzling smile. “Hi. I’m here to see…”


“Lilah Morgan.” The receptionist interrupted her. “She’s expecting you.”


As she said that, another woman walked straight to Buffy, her hand extended in greeting. Buffy accepted her handshake graciously. Everything about this woman screamed “lawyer”. From her perfect chestnut hair to her outrageously expensive looking Manolo shoes, not to mention the exaggerate tooth paste commercial smile.


“Ms. Summers. So nice to meet you. I’m Lilah Morgan. I’ve been looking through the case you faxed me this week. Let’s go to my office.”


Buffy nodded and followed her into what Lilah had called “her office”. A family of six could live very comfortably in there! It put her own office at the prison to shame.


“Have a seat, please. May I offer you something to drink? It‘s a little early for a scotch, though some people say that it‘s always noon somewhere in the world, but I do have tea and coffee if you‘d prefer.”


Buffy smiled politely at the lawyer’s sad attempt at humor and agreed to a coffee. She waited anxiously for Lilah to finally sit in front of her. She had sent the law firm Spike’s case a week ago after being told by many people that they were the absolute best in the world. Which wasn’t even a figure of speech since they had branches in Paris, London, Rome and Tokyo, to name only a few.


Now, she was nervous. It was her first attempt at doing something to help Spike and the dreamer in her was hoping for some kind of miracle. Sure, if they’d take the case, she’d have to work until the ripe age of 150 years old to pay the bill; they didn’t look like the type to do pro bono work, unfortunately. But it would be worth it.


Lilah sat behind her desk and took a file from the top of a pile.


Buffy was staring at the file in the woman’s hands, thinking about how ironic it was that such innocent looking papers could hold the fate of a man. His right to live or die.


The lawyer opened the folder in front of her and looked at it silently, as if she was trying to organize her thoughts. Her eyes were expressionless and it scared Buffy. She started twisting her hands nervously.


Finally, Lilah looked up at her. “How can I put this, Ms. Summers. I looked through the case again and again over the week. You do know I’ve made a career of taking on the most complicated cases and always won, right?”


Buffy nodded carefully, unsure if an answer was expected from her. Of course she knew. She had done her homework before contacting Lilah. She was the best.


“But most of the time, it is the simplest cases that are the most difficult.”


“But.. It’s still doable, right?”


Lilah closed the folder containing Spike’s case dramatically slowly to illustrate her point. Buffy’s heart sank in her chest.


“No.” She answered with finality. “I’m sorry. There is absolutely nothing I can do for your friend. Sure, he could waste his time asking for an appeal, but without evidence, or someone else coming forward admitting to the crime, that’s just what it is: a waste of time and money. This,” She shook the folder to illustrate her point, “is set in concrete. They have the motive, the weapon with his finger prints on it, the witnesses. He should just count himself lucky that the judge took into consideration the attenuating circumstances of a passion crime and temporary insanity that his original lawyer pleaded for, or he’d be in a high security prison right now, waiting for his turn on the chair. I really am sorry.”


Buffy wiped furiously at a tear that’d run down her cheek, angry with herself for showing weakness. “So. You’re telling me that his only chance is a confession from the real killer, or nothing. Is that it?”


Lilah frowned. “Well--yes. But that’s not very likely to happen. Lets face it; if you had killed someone and got away with it, would you be stupid enough to go to the police and confess?”


Buffy remained silent for a few moments, lost in her thoughts. She finally looked up, determination obvious in her eyes. “Does it have to be to the police? I mean, if the guy who did it admits it, and I get it on tape. Would that be enough of a proof of innocence for William to be freed?”


“An admission is an admission. They would probably examine the tape to make sure it’s genuine and… Yes it would be enough. Of course, it would be better if the guy does something incriminating. But Ms. Summers, I get that you really believe Mr. Rayne to be innocent and you want him to be let out of prison, but I still don’t see how you could ever get a murderer to incriminate himself AND get it on tape.”


“I’ll find a way.”


The lawyer gave her an indulgent smile and stood up. “I’m sincerely sorry I couldn’t help you any further. If you ever need legal advice, don’t hesitate to contact me.”


Buffy took Lilah’s offered hand and shook it.


**At $100 a minute, you can be sure I will** she thought somberly, but managed to smile anyway.


“Thanks for trying.”


Buffy walked away, trying to hold back her tears long enough to make it to her car.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: I know I made you guys wait a long time for this update and I'm really sorry. Real life got in the way. I'll try to be a good girl and update more frequently from now on. If you want to be notified for futur updates, you can join my mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TFTHFanficupdates/
Thanks for reviewing!





You must login (register) to review.