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CHAPTER 57: Hot water

In what Buffy now called the antechamber of death, the only sound that could be heard were Harmony's noisy sobs and sniffling. It was getting increasingly difficult to ignore the whimpering blonde despite her best effort. It was already surprising enough that Buffy had found it in her not to strangle the brainless Barbie, she was certainly not going to comfort her.

The room was small and Buffy was starting to feel more than a little claustrophobic. Giles, Harmony and her had been waiting for more than an hour on very uncomfortable chairs and Buffy’s theory was that the man in charge of her case, Mr. Travers, was torturing them on purpose. Probably hoping they’d get bored and leave so he could fire her on the spot instead of listening to her defending herself against the accusations that had been made against her.

She should have known everything was too perfect to be true, she thought angrily. William and her had been living together for almost four months now and they were blissfully happy. Her mom and sister absolutely adored him and her friends got along with him perfectly. Even Xander--after getting over the fact he was the only one not in the know--was happy to finally have another male in the group to bond with.

And then,

this

happened. Thanks to her genius secretary, her perfect fairytale wasn’t so perfect anymore. Losing her job wouldn't change anything between Spike and her, but it would definitely put a damper on her happiness. So she‘d have to do her best to defend herself in front of those men today and hope for the best.
Not that she could defend herself with a clear conscience. After all, she was guilty of the accusations. But after a long discussion with Giles, she didn’t feel as bad about not saying the truth anymore. After all, he was right. Nothing that happened with Spike had affected the way she did her job or conducted herself in front of her staff and her prisoners. Yes, it was wrong to sleep with a prisoner, but the circumstances put things in a different light. Maybe sleeping with Spike had been a mistake, but even white hats sometimes make mistakes. You try to be a good person, you try to help people, and sometimes, you stumble. And if the outcome had been that an innocent man had been freed and justice had been served, than it couldn’t have been all bad.

Of course, the right thing to do now would be to admit to what she’d done and accept to lose her job, but Giles had been adamant that it was not an option he was willing to consider. He thought there was still a lot of good she could do in that prison and they needed her. She believed him.

Lost in her thoughts, Buffy almost didn’t notice the door opening and Jake Saunders walking out of the meeting room grinning like the cat who ate the canary. He stopped in front of Buffy.

“Buffy!" He exclaimed jovially. "Having a good day?”

Buffy pinned him with a glacial look, an even colder smile on her lips. “Probably not as good as yours, Jake. But thanks for asking.”

“Mine is wonderful so far. I think I’ll stick around to see the look on your face when they fire you, Summers. It will be worth the wait.”

Harmony stood up abruptly, her face red from outrage and all the crying she had done. “Shut up you big jerk! Why are you being so mean? You used me and you don’t even care that now everybody blames me and hates me!”

Jake smirked mockingly. “You just realize now that I used you? Darn, you’re slower than I thought you were. Of course I used you. What sane man would voluntarily put himself through the torture of listening to you talking about yourself for hours and hours? The only reason I dated you was because you‘re Sunnydale‘s most notorious big mouth and you work with Miss Hollier-than-thou over there.”

Harmony’s tears started falling again. She walked up to him and tried to slap him, but he caught her wrist and twisted it painfully.

Buffy stood up, walked up to him and grabbed his arm. She dug her nails in his skin until he yelled and let go of Harmony. “You bitch!”

Giles stood up too. “I suggest you leave this moment, Jake.” he warned in a frighteningly cold voice.

Jake snorted and walked out, obviously unwilling to push his luck.

They all sat back down, Harmony more miserable than ever, but quieter.

Her shoulder slumped and her head down, she finally found the courage to speak again.

“Thanks for stopping him.” She said quietly, her words directed at Buffy.

“Yeah, don’t mention it.” Buffy mumbled.

“I just wanted him to like me, you know.”

Buffy looked up sharply. “By making me lose my job?!”

“NO! I swear I never thought he would use it against you! To me, it was just harmless gossip. He looked bored and I wanted him to find me interesting. I made it all up. I knew you were seeing Spike in private a lot so I just embellished. I thought I was making it sound more romantic, that's all. I never thought for a second that he was a complete jerk and would place a complaint against you and tell people that you were having an affair with a prisoner. I'm so sorry."

"We are well aware that you're sorry, Harmony." Giles said harshly. "You've only been telling us every five minutes for the past two weeks. I'm afraid it is not improving the situation. Your malicious gossips have put Buffy in a dire situation and you certainly should have thought of that before opening your mouth."

Buffy rolled her eyes at Harmony's renewed tears. She sighed tiredly. "It's alright, Giles. What's done is done. It doesn't excuse it, and she should have known that I fired Jake and he hates me enough to pull something like that, but I don't believe she meant for this to happen."

Harmony threw her a grateful look, and Buffy couldn't help thinking she looked like a kicked puppy. A Poodle maybe. Or a Cocker. She couldn't decide.

The door opened again and they all looked up.

"We're ready for you." A definitely unfriendly looking men said in a hard tone.

The three of them stood up and made their way to the meeting room where four men in suits were waiting for them. Only one of the men stood up, Quentin Travers. By the look on his face, Buffy could have sworn he was enjoying this immensely. The other three only looked annoyed and bored.

"Ah, miss Summers. Please, take a seat." He said, gesturing for Buffy to sit, then nodded at Giles in greeting. "Rupert."

"Mr. Travers." Giles replied coolly, obviously not liking the overly familiar way the other man addressed him.

Harmony remained standing, unsure of what to do with herself. She was twisting her hands nervously, her face pale. Travers gave her his version of a warm smile, which would qualify as lukewarm at best.

"And you must be Miss Kendall, correct?"

Harmony nodded, unable to speak.

"Please sit down, Miss Kendall so we can start. I don't have all day."

He waited until she did has he said, then started speaking again. "Like you probably all know by now, a disturbing accusation has been made against you, Miss Summers. It has been brought to our attention that you may have had an inappropriate relationship with one of your prisoners..." He flipped a few pages of the file in front of him, pretending not to remember the name. "Ah yes, Mr. William Rayne. As you know, this is serious accusation and could be ground for dismissal if it proves to be true."

Harmony opened her mouth to say something, but one glare from Quentin Travers, and she decided it would be wiser to keep her mouth shut until permitted to speak.

"We conducted our own investigation and unfortunately, everything seems to point in that shockingly disturbing direction. But without concrete proof, we will have to base our decision on witness interrogation an listen to your own explanation for your actions of the past months."

He interrupted himself to take a sip of his water and Buffy narrowed her eyes at him thinking of how satisfying it would be to wiped the smug look off that bastard's face. But she decided it would be wiser to keep her mouth shut until it was her turn to speak.

"We spoke with the prison staff and it was confirmed that you had more contacts with prisoner Rayne than any other inmates."

Buffy had to bite her tongue not to lash out at the man. Yes, William had been a prisoner so the use of the term was correct, but it didn’t mean she had to like the reminder. It was a part of his life they both tried to put in the past and she hated that Travers kept referring to William as “Prisoner Rayne”.

Travers' face was hard, his lips a thin line on his face. "This is serious matter and I could very well decide not to waste my time listening to what you have to say in your defense. It is all up to me."

This time it was Giles' turn to get angry. "Don't threaten her, Quentin. I wouldn't have any problem going over your head. I'm sure the Governor wouldn't be too pleased to hear you treated Miss. Summers unfairly."

Travers' hand tightened around his glass of water and he smiled thinly. But he decided to let it go. "Let's get back on topic, shall we. As I was saying, we discovered that Mr. Rayne and Miss Summers met regularly and for unclear reasons during his stay at the prison. Another thing confirming our suspicion is the fact that Mr. Rayne and Miss Summers are now in a relationship and living together." He looked pointedly at the sparkling ring on Buffy's finger.

Buffy glared at him before hiding her hand under the table.

"We just finished interrogating Mr. Saunders, the man who brought this to our attention in the first place. He mentioned that he got his information from you, Miss Kendall. Maybe you could clarify the story and give us more details. It would be helpful in determining our course of action."

Harmony looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"Miss Kendall? Did you, or did you not tell Mr. Jake Saunders that Miss Summers was having an affair with Mr. Rayne?"

"I lied. It wasn't true." Harmony managed to say, looking miserable.

"You lied? So you did not say, and I quote: "they were locking themselves in her office and having steamy hot sex for hours like in prison x-rated movies"? Quentin asked, one thick eyebrow raised in question, his eyes burning holes through Harmony.

The young woman visibly shrunk in her seat.

Buffy gave her a horrified and disbelieving look. "You said what?!"

"Miss Summers! Please. I don't believe I addressed you. Your turn will come, but for now, let Miss. Kendall speak." Travers warned.

Buffy kept glaring at her secretary, but swallowed back her angry words.

"I did say it, but I made it up."

"Now, why would you say such a thing if it wasn't true?"

"I don't know. It was a stupid thing to say. I guess I was a little bit jealous. Spike is a good looking guy."

"Spike?"

"Oh, that's William's nickname. Anyway. He's good looking and I was jealous of Buffy because I'm all alone and I think I should have a hot guy like that. Plus I was on a date with Jake and he kept asking for dirt on Buffy because you know... he hates her and all. So I said the first thing that came to my mind because I wanted him to like me."

"So your saying that they did not spend time alone together? Because we have proof here that says otherwise."

"No... I mean... yes but..."

"Is it a yes or a no, Miss Kendall?" Travers snapped impatiently.

"They did spend time together, but never for very long and always with a reason. And... the door was open." She lied, hoping to help undo what she had done.

"The door was open, you say?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"And did she always give you the reason why she needed to see Mr. Rayne? Didn't it seem odd to you at times that they would see each other so often?"

Seeing the tears threatening to spill out of Harmony's eyes, Giles decided he'd had enough.

"That's quite enough. Dear Lord, Quentin, this is not a criminal on trial here."

"Quite right, but we do take this situation seriously. And I would like to get to the bottom of this."

"You want to get to the bottom of the story? Then let me say this. I was offered the position of warden quite a few times over the years and always said no. If you'll remember well, the last time I was asked if I'd be willing to take the duties of Warden, I said that if the next one turned out to be just as bad as her predecessors, I'd do it."

Giles didn't see the look of betrayal on Buffy's face, his blue eyes trained on Travers'. For a moment there, she'd jumped to the conclusion that he was about to take her down in front of these stuffy bureaucrats. But she kept her mouth shut and let him finish.

"And honestly, I was convinced it wouldn't be too long before I'd have to step up. Then Ms. Summers came along and now I know I'll never have to be Warden. Because I am more than satisfied calling this woman my boss. She's been doing nothing but a marvelous job ever since she took charge and the malicious gossips you came across I can assure you are nothing but rubbish."

"Mr. Giles, the fact alone that Miss Summers is now in a relationship with..."

"Means nothing at all." Giles interrupted brusquely. "William Rayne is an innocent man like you and me, I do not believe I have to remind you of this. And his brief stint in prison should have never happened in the first time. Yes, Ms. Summers has worked with William more than she'd normally work with a prisoner, but that was in hope of finding a way to help him prove he is innocent. I was there most of the time and can assure you it was platonic and her attitude was purely professional. Romantic feeling might have developed between the two of them during those months before he was declared innocent by the justice system, but they never acted on them and nothing inappropriate took place while he was in prison."

A door opened and closed with little delicacy and everyone in the room turned to face the newcomer. Faith stood there, looking incredibly uncomfortable in a classic gray pants and jacket suit. The only touch of herself that Buffy could see was the fact the red shirt she was wearing underneath the jacket was unbuttoned way too low to be decent.

She looked around at the room's occupants, a smirk on her red lips and a mischievous glint in her dark eyes. "Damn do I ever hate that deja vu feeling." She joked, referring to the time she had reported warden Wilkins. "Hello, Mr. T. I'd like to say nice to see you again, but I'd be lying."

Quentin looked annoyed. "Miss Lehane. May I ask what brings you here?"

"What? You thought I'd miss the party? Another warden about to get thrown out on her ass, of course I had to be here."

"This is no laughing matter, Faith."

"Oh, I'm not laughing, Quent. Ya think I would have bothered getting my sweet little ass all the way to L.A. if I thought this was a joke? I hate L.A. Too many over caffeinated, under nourished, bimbos out here if you ask me. But hey, can't judge someone fairly if you don't talk to all the witnesses, right?" She winked at the man.

"Is there a point to all this, Faith?"

“I always have a point, honey.”

Quentin Travers looked like he was about to growl, but he managed to keep his cool and detached front. Barely. “Enlighten us then.”

“Well you see, I figured you’d want to hear from someone unbiased. And since you already know I don’t have a problem telling the truth as it is, and since I’m not B’s biggest fan...” She lied smoothly, a smirk on her face.

Quentin visibly perked up at that. “Interesting. Any particular reason for not liking Miss. Summers?”

Faith let out an unladylike snort. “Well, ya know... She’s stuck up, annoyingly perky and happy, always does the right thing. Yeah, people like that just rub me the wrong way.”

“What else?” Quentin asked almost hopeful.

“Nothing.”

He frowned in confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Faith looked at him like he was a complete idiot. “You don‘t know what nothing means, Mr. T?”

“I am well aware of the meaning of nothing, Miss Lehane. I’m merely trying to figure out what you’re trying to say here.”

“What I’m trying to say is that she did absolutely nothing wrong. You guys jumped on that woman like a pack of wolves without even considering where the ‘accusation’ came from. Jake Saunders has no credibility whatsoever and neither does Princess Bubblegum over there.” She pointed at Harmony with her thumb. “Did you even take under consideration that Saunders recently got fired by Buffy? Never occurred to you gentlemen, while sitting in your posh penthouse office, that the guy is out for B’s blood? for fuck’s sake, we shouldn’t even be standing here! Goddamn waste of time if you ask me.”

“Could you please watch your language, Faith?” Quentin sighed in exasperation.

“Get the stick out of your ass, Quent. I’m a prison guard, not a Harvard graduate.” She rolled her eyes. “The point is, I might not like her much, but she does her job and does it well. And FYI, I was in on her plan to help Spike and when Giles wasn’t in the room with them, I was. I never saw anything that wasn’t PG-13. Believe me, I would have been the first to report it if I did.”

The three other men who had been taking notes during the meeting, were looking at each other, then at Quentin.

Quentin pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. “Very well. Please step outside while we discuss this.”

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Four very relieved people walked out of a building downtown Los Angeles. It was late afternoon and had been a long day for them, but the outcome had been satisfying. Buffy Anne Summers was still warden of Sunnydale’s prison.

The were walking on the sidewalk on the way to their parked cars, Faith and Buffy side by side, Giles a few steps ahead and Harmony trailing behind.

“Damn, B, the man does not like you. Did you see the look on his face when he agreed to let you keep your job? He looked like his puppy just died.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know. He was the only one who didn’t want me to get the position when I was nominated for it. He just doesn’t like me. He probably jumped on the chance to fire me. Too bad he didn’t have enough evidence against me.”

Faith smirked cockily. “The lack of evidence had nothing to do with it. I saved your ass back there. That was some wicked performance I gave.”

Giles looked over his shoulder at the two women. “You’re taking all the credit, Faith, but if I might say so myself, my speech was quite remarkable. I believe it helped influence the decision as well.”

Faith pretended to think about it, then shook her head. “Nah, Giles. It was all me. The pompous bastard is terrified of me. Actually, I think he might have a crush on me. The sick freak’s probably a masochist. I can see him with a leather collar and a leash.”

“Faith! Please... Mental pictures.” Buffy shuddered and Faith burst out laughing.

“Poor little girl, now she’s going to have dreams of naked Quentin on his hands and knees with his...”

“FAITH!”

“God! That’s disgusting!” Harmony whimpered, a few steps behind them.

For his part, Giles started walking a bit faster, trying to put some distance between himself and the women.

“So,” Buffy started, trying to change the subject to something a little less disturbing. “you sounded pretty convincing with all this talk about not liking me.”

Faith chuckled and put an arm around Buffy’s shoulders. “Aw, you know I loooove you.”

“So, what you said...”

“Oh, I meant every word.” Faith said brightly.

The look on Buffy’s face made Faith laugh. “Excuse me?”

“OK, fine. You’re not stuck up and you don’t always do the right thing. I mean come on, you slept with a prisoner! But you definitely are annoyingly happy.”

Buffy grinned. “Yep, I guess I am.”

“And seriously, Buff, it was easy to pretend to hate you. All I have to do is look at the bling on your finger... Which reminds me I'm still not too sure about that bride's maid gig. I swear, if you put me in a pink puffy dress, there will be hell to pay." Faith glared menacingly at Buffy, but Buffy only giggled.

"Actually, I believe Buffy had her eye on a lavender puffy dress." Giles said, difficultly hiding his smile.

The three women stopped walking and stared at his back in stunned silence.

Giles turned around. "What? I do know how to make a joke... I only chose not to."

Buffy and Faith burst out laughing, and even Harmony tentatively joined in.

They reached their respective cars, the collective mood much lighter than it was when they arrived earlier this morning. Faith's car was parked right in front of Giles, and Harmony had had to find a parking spot a little further down the street. Buffy had been too nervous to drive all the way to L.A. so she'd hitched a ride with Giles. She went to the passenger side and waited for him to unlock the door.

Walking pass Buffy with her head low, Harmony stopped and turned around. "So... I guess I'll see you guys around." She started hesitantly.

Buffy turned to look at the blonde standing on the sidewalk, looking like a lost little girl.

"I guess that invitation to your engagement party is like, not valid anymore so... I'll bring your present to work Monday... if you haven't found anyone to replace me yet, of course."

The misery on Harmony's face tugged at Buffy's motherly instinct. She was still mad at her secretary for being so careless and putting her in such a bad situation thanks to her big mouth, but she couldn't be mean to her.

"Harmony..."

"No, that's cool. Don't worry about it. I deserve it. I'll just... be going now. So--Bye." She said in a small voice, turning on her heels to leave.

Buffy sighed. "Harmony. Wait. Of course you're still invited."

Harmony's face lit up. "Really?"

"And I'm not going to fire you either."

Faith looked up sharply from where she was standing, looking through her bag for her car keys. "What? You're joking, right? You're keeping bimbo after all that sick mess she put you through?"

"Faith..." Buffy said warningly.

The brunette put her hands up. "Hey, your choice, B. But next time she flaps her gums and get you in trouble, it will be my intense pleasure to say I told you so."

Buffy rolled her eyes at her friend. "And I promise not to bitch about it if it happens."

Deciding he didn't want to participate in the conversation, Giles got behind the wheel and unlocked the passenger door from the inside. Buffy opened it, ready to get in.

"I promise you won't regret it, boss." Harmony said eagerly. She was beaming.

Faith shook her head. "See you in a couple hours at the Bronze, geeks and losers. I'm outa here." She got in her car and shut the door.

"All right then!" Harmony said brightly, walking away backwards. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Sure, Harm."

"We have so much to celebrate... We're gonna party!"

The blonde's good mood was contagious and Buffy couldn't help laughing.

"That we will."

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