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Chapter 23 – Brand New Girl


“Are you sure you feel up to this?” Giles asked, studying Buffy as she nervously tugged on the oversized shirt she was wearing, hiding the microphone that was taped to her stomach.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I’ll just feel better when this is all over.”

“I understand,” he replied with a warm smile before leading her over to two men, dressed in khakis and button-down shirts. “Buffy Summers, this is Wesley Wyndham-Pryce and Robin Wood. They will make sure to keep you in their sights while you’re talking to Abrams.”

“Miss Summers,” one of the men greeted with a nod. “Call me Wes.”

“And I’m Robin,” the other man said with a friendly smile, shaking her hand.

“Now, Miss Summers-”

“Buffy,” she interrupted. “Call me Buffy.”

“Very well, Buffy,” Wes said with a smile. “You know what to do?”

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself as she looked between the two officers before nodding. “Yeah…I got it.”

“Good,” he said, checking his watch. “Mr. Giles and Mr. Atherton will be in a car parked over there,” he continued, gesturing to the SUV with heavily tinted windows. “Robin and I will be following you at an unobtrusive distance, but we shall remain close enough to intervene, if necessary.”

“Alright,” she said with a nod, feeling Spike’s arms wrap around her waist.

“I’m off, luv. Want to get out of the way before the wanker shows up.”

“Okay,” Buffy whispered, biting her lip and nervously wringing her hands together as she nodded, relaxing when Spike’s lips caressed hers.

“I’ll be here for everything,” he promised. “If he even tries to lay a hand on you, I’ll be here.”

* * * * *

“You’re early,” Parker said, walking toward her and openly eyeing her up and down.

“So are you,” she replied with a tentative smile.

“You wanted to talk?” he continued, closing the distance between them, nearly causing Buffy to shudder at his close proximity.

“Y-yeah…I do.”

“I want the charges dropped, Buffy,” he said in a low voice. “Now.”

“It wasn’t my idea,” she replied, going over the planned conversation in her head. “The police, they talked me into it, and I was hurt and…and angry. I know you would never intentionally hurt me, Parker,” she choked out, making it sound surprisingly believable.

“That’s right, baby,” he murmured, running his hand along her cheek, never noticing or caring when Buffy flinched away from his touch.

Pulling back when he dipped his head for a kiss, she took a calming breath. Seeing Robin sitting on a bench over Parker’s shoulder and pretending to read a newspaper, she reminded herself that she wasn’t alone in this. “There’s something that I need you to do for me, Parker. Before we get back together.”

“What’s that?” he asked, slightly put off that she had backed away before he could kiss her.

“I want to know about you. I know some things, but I need to know about your past.”

“My life’s an open book, Buff. You know that.”

“Who was before me?” she asked, restraining the urge to run away from him. “Who did you love before me?”

“This is important to you?” he asked, tilting his head to study her through narrowed eyes.

“It is.”

“Her name was Darla,” Parker started with a heavy sigh. “I knew her in high school. Pretty, little blonde cheerleader. Resembled you actually.”

Buffy shivered at the comparison. Obviously Parker was trying to recapture what he had with her…or recapture the thrill he had when he beat her.

“What happened to her?” she asked, her eyes widening when his gaze snapped to hers. “I-I just mean…if you loved her, why aren’t you with her?”

“She was in an accident,” he said vaguely.

“Like the accident with me?” Buffy asked, knowing that if he related it to her, she might get more information out of him.

“I never meant to hurt you, Buffy.”

“I know,” she said through gritted teeth, keeping her calm exterior firmly in place. “What happened to her, Parker?”

Gently taking his hand in hers, Buffy’s skin crawled at his touch, but she needed him relaxed.

“She didn’t listen to me.”

“Like me?”

“Sort of,” Parker said with a shrug. “You know what happened to her wouldn’t happen to you, right?”

“I know,” she said with a reassuringly fake smile. “What happened to her, Parker?”

“We got into a fight…I don’t remember much after that.”

“Did you kill her?”

Buffy nearly shrank back when his eyes narrowed on hers, her own eyes widening when he grabbed her arms in a firm grim, jerking her closer to him. She was sure if she listened hard enough, she would be able to hear Giles restraining Spike from jumping out of the SUV.

“Why are you asking this?” Parker growled, shaking her once for good measure.

“Because we need a clean slate,” Buffy said softly, surprising herself with the calm edge to her voice. “We need to start fresh, and if we’re going to do that, I need to know everything about you…even the bad things. Please tell me the truth.”

Loosening his hold slightly, Parker studied Buffy for a long moment before nodding. “I lost my temper…the argument escalated and I hit her.”

“Did you know it would kill her?”

“It was an iron lamp…I had an idea,” he said with no remorse in his voice.

Buffy shuddered at the cold tone and the murderous glint in his eyes. Feeling rage flood through her for this poor girl who hadn’t been able to get away and the fact that it could have been her, she ignored the fact that Parker still had her by the shoulders.

“So, you’re just openly admitting to being a murderer? To killing this woman in cold blood, is that it?” she asked, not expecting a reaction.

“Yeah. What about it?” Parker countered, narrowing his eyes on her as he tightened his hold, obviously fed up with her insolence.

“Get your hands off me,” Buffy said through clenched teeth.

“You like my hands on you,” he replied with a smile.

“I never liked anything of yours on me. Now get the hell away.”

Before Parker could comprehend what was happening, Wesley and Robin had him in handcuffs, reading him his rights as he looked at Buffy in shock.

“You set this up?” he asked in disbelief. “This couldn’t have been your idea. The girl I know never could have pulled this off.”

“Good thing I’m not the girl you know, then,” she said with a raised eyebrow, leaning into Spike when she felt his arms wrap around her waist.

“You alright, baby?” he murmured into her ear.

“Fine,” she replied, seeing the shock on Parker’s face turn to contempt as his eyes narrowed on hers. Buffy let a smile play on her lips.

“You arranged this? You played me?” he asked in a low voice that used to fill her with terror before she met Spike.

“And the Oscar goes to…”

“You bitch!”

Buffy’s eyes widened when Spike’s fist slammed into Parker’s nose as the officers subtly looked the other way, before he leaned in close to the other man’s ear.

“You honestly thought I would give her up?” Spike asked in a menacing whisper, so low that even Parker struggled to hear him. “Beating her into submission to keep her with you? And you couldn’t even hold onto her that way. How does it feel, Abrams? How does it feel to know that the woman you supposedly love never even had an orgasm before I came along?”

“Shut…up,” Parker growled.

“You think about that when you’re sharing your jail cell with someone who wants to make you the bitch.”

Stepping away, Spike watched with smug satisfaction as Parker was dragged away before turning to Buffy.

“Let’s go home, baby,” he whispered, gently kissing her lips.

Sighing in contentment as she leaned heavily against him, Buffy nodded. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while.”





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