Chapter 14
There wasn’t even room to
decently pace. It felt like she was just
spinning in circles. Fred halted,
wrapped her arms around herself, and sighed.
If something didn’t happen soon she was going to scratch her own eyes
out. Never in her life had she felt such
boredom.
“I’m going loony bird,” she
muttered to herself.
“What’s that?” Her current keeper asked, looking up from the
book he was reading.
“Nothing,” Fred said,
plopping in the nearest chair. She
stared at Wesley Wyndham-Price across the tiny living room of her prison. He was the second police detective assigned
to watch over her. The first had
developed appendicitis that pulled him from the case and got her moved. Currently they were in some high security
location in the middle of
Wesley laid his book down
and returned her stare. She felt her
belly curl in interest. He was handsome,
intelligent and another cop.
“No,” she stated, standing
to pace again. This time, however, she
felt Wesley watching every movement she made.
She shouldn’t feel like this, wasn’t she in love with Spike? She reiterated to herself every wonderful
thing about Spike, twisting her engagement ring as if it was a rosary. Despite all the things that was worth loving
in Spike, it still came back to he was with Buffy again.
She should just take the
ring off; tell the bad guys that Spike couldn’t care two bits about her when
the blonde was around. This time when
Buffy showed up Fred ended up in hiding, away from Spike while Buffy was with
him. No matter what Fred did it always
ended up being about Buffy.
“No what?”
“Huh?”
“You said no. It was a very emphatic no. What was it for?”
“Nothing you would
understand.” Fred hopped up on one of
the barstools and returned Wesley’s stare.
The attraction she was feeling had to becoming out of the boredom and
the need for someone to find her attractive.
She was confident about one thing in her relationship with Spike; they were
great in bed together. Well that, and
their mutual love of food and old movies.
Other than that, he was all
jump into the action type and she was ‘let’s study it to death first’ type and
they often went in different directions.
He hated it when she suggested he slow down before jumping into
something and she hated it when he wanted her to be more spontaneous. The push pull they did only seemed to work
with sex.
An image of the wedding
dress she always fantasized about came to her mind. Feminine with lots of lace it that suited her
romantic nature. When she broke the news
of her engagement to her parents, they were so happy for her. Her father was all excited at the thought of
giving her away and her mother was relieved Fred wouldn’t be alone anymore. Tears welled up in her eyes as she wished
Spike was with her to reassure her that her dreams would come true.
Before she could retreat,
Wesley was in front of her, wiping the tears from her cheeks. His touch was gentle. The pity in his eyes was intolerable. She couldn’t decide whether to punch him or
lean into his touch.
“We don’t have a lot to do,”
Wesley whispered. “I’m a good listener.”
“Good line.” Fred laughed.
Wesley stepped back, taking
his touch with him. “It wasn’t a
line. If you prefer not to talk with me,
I’ll return to my book.”
“I’m sorry.” She linked her hands together. “I miss the life I was building.”
“And your fiancé?”
“Of course I miss
Spike.” Except it wasn’t what she
said. She closed her eyes as she
pondered what her subconscious had blurted out.
It was the life she said she missed and not the man. It couldn’t be true, could it? Suddenly she wanted to punch something. All this solitude was driving her
bonkers. If she could just talk to Spike
everything would be all right. Yes,
that’s what she needed was Spike. Only
he was with the woman he was in love with.
“I just don’t think he misses me.”
“Ah, that’s why the
tears? I think you’re overreacting. How could he not miss such a beautiful
intelligent woman?”
“Because he’s with
Buffy. It’s been about Buffy for years
now and I was the convenient woman.”
“Was he the convenient man
for you? Or has it been about this Spike
for years for you?”
Those questions she couldn’t
answer. She shook her head. Wesley was waiting. “I don’t know.”
But she did. She was trying to figure out how to answer
when the cell phone rang. They both
jumped, turning to stare at it. It was
supposed to be for emergency purposes only.
Something thumped in the hallway and Fred wondered if she would ever
have the chance to make a choice.
~~~~~
The four men moved closer to the car, pointing their guns
at the occupants. They didn’t say
anything, just stared at them with hatred in their eyes.
“Spike?” Buffy
asked, dumbfounded at the threat outside the car. She trembled uncontrollably, clutching
Spike’s arm unable to stop her nails from digging into his arm. This couldn’t be real. It must be the horror of her past replaying in
her mind that projected the bad guys into hallucinations outside the car. Within the steel cage of the car she was
safe. Hell was outside waiting for her. It
was as if the building itself had spawned the threat outside the car.
“Please,” she
cried out, wiping the back of her hand under her nose then flipping it over to dash
the remaining tears from her cheeks. “Make it go away.”
“Buffy, calm down,” Spike whispered.
“You see them?”
“Yes, they’re real, “Spike said. “Don’t make any sudden moves. Do you understand?”
His voice brought her crashing back to reality. The voice that tenderly took her from her
prison, the voice that whispered so softly to her as she learned about making
love and the voice that explained life to her with quiet reason. She trusted it above all else. She forced
herself to take a deep breath yet was unable to stop her body from shaking.
“It will be all right,” she murmured under her
breath. “It will be all right,” she
squeezed her eyes shut trying to get herself under control.
Spike’s body pressed in front of hers wouldn’t
protect her if the men started shooting.
Nothing could save any of them from bullets. Their only chance at survival rested in
Spike’s ability to get them out of this.
And he would need to know she was all right so he could concentrate on
the situation.
She visualized the hurt and frightened girl standing
alongside the stronger woman she was becoming.
The woman hugged the girl before sending her to a safe place. Along with the girl went Buffy’s emotions. She opened her eyes. .
“Is somebody going to do something?” She relaxed her grip on Spike, switching to a
soft caress instead to let him know she was all right. “If we’re going to die I’d rather get it over
with instead of wait.”
Gunn hid a chuckle under his breath even as she felt him
raise his hands. “Hey,” Gunn shouted out
the window. “You know, it’s me…Gunn. Lower them things before you hurt someone.”
“You know them?”
Spike asked. He didn’t sound
surprised or condescending just curious.
Buffy watched him appraise the scene, he was a cop and she could feel
the tenseness in his body that foretold his readiness to dive into action at
the first sign of the situation escalating.
It made her feel safe, but it also reminded her that she was able to
protect herself. She squirmed until her
hand was on her lap and ready to reach for the gun strapped to her own
leg.
“Yo dawg,” one of the men said, approaching Gunn’s
side of the car. He signaled for the
other men to put down their own weapons.
Buffy breathed a sigh of relief as the men on the other
side of the car relaxed. The doors swung
open as they climbed out. She scooted
out on Gunn’s side then slid down the side of the car so she was behind
him. There were a few moments of backslapping,
shoulder slamming as the five men greeted each other.
“Guys, I want you to meet some friends of mine,” Gunn
said, gesturing across the top of the car to Spike. “This is Spike.”
“He stinks like a cop,” a shorter Hispanic man
said.
“He is a cop,” Gunn replied. “But he’s cool. He’s Buffy’s cop.”
“This is Buffy?”
This time it was a short black man who spoke. He pushed past Gunn so he
could stand in front of Buffy. “Girl, we
have heard so much about you.”
The heat from a blush rose in her cheeks as the men
stared at her in obvious appreciation.
She suddenly wished she had her old baggy clothes on instead of the
costume she was wearing. Crossing her
arms around her middle, she stared at the ground. “Hello,” she mumbled.
Gunn slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her
close to his side. “Buffy, the big mouth
is Rico, this here,” he pointed at the tall Hispanic, “is Mike,” he waved at
the men in the back, “and those two are Dominic and Chow.”
“Chow?” Buffy
asked, looking up at the youth curious as to where he got the nickname.
“I’m the only one who can cook anything worth
eating,” Chow answered, with a shy smile of his own. “If it weren’t for me they would be eating
beans out of a can every night.”
“Nice to meet you,” Buffy replied. “Maybe you can give me some pointers because
I can’t cook very well.”
“It doesn’t look that way to me,” Rico inserted,
giving Buffy a once over that made her skin crawl. “You’re so hot that you’re cooking all by
yourself.”
Spike bristled at Rico for making Buffy
uncomfortable. He also wasn’t happy
about Gunn being the man who was protecting her. He made his way to the other side of the
car.
“I think you need to watch what you’re saying,” he
said, pulling out his most authoritative cop voice. He stopped next to Buffy and Gunn.
“Thought you had another woman?”
Rico stepped closer to Spike, but he refused to back
down. Without taking his eyes from Rico,
Spike asked, “How much did you tell your friends?” This time he didn’t care about the sneer in
his voice.
“Word gets around,” Gunn said. “Sorry man didn’t think you’d ever meet.”
“Buffy is still mine to protect.”
It wasn’t what he wanted to say. He wanted to be able to proclaim that Buffy
belonged to him and he was the man she loved.
That he couldn’t do because of his own stupidity, but he could still
stake a claim as being an important part of her life. He could only hope that she felt the
same. If her stiffened body stance was
the answer then he was probably wrong.
“I don’t need anyone to protect me,” Buffy said.
Spike doubted anyone but he could hear the quaver in
her voice that belied her fear. It was
hiding behind the brave front she was putting on for everyone’s benefits. He was proud of her. The girl he once knew would have been
quivering in fear, unable to separate the past from the present with such a
looming reminder of her nightmare only steps away. Despite the circumstances Buffy was poised on
the outside, giving no indication of the inner turmoil she must be
experiencing.
“Buffy’s a tough cookie,” Gunn added. “Wouldn’t mess with her unless you want trouble.”
“I’d take her kind of trouble…,” Rico started to say
but Mike smacked him on the shoulder stopping him from saying anything else.
“Give it up man,” Mike said. “She’s got all she can handle without you
drooling all over her.” He smiled at
Buffy. “Just ignore him.”
“I’ll try.”
Buffy said, sliding her hand into Spike’s even while she was still in
Gunn’s embrace.
Buffy’s action surprised him, but he didn’t
comment. Now wasn’t the time or the
place for any discussion. They needed to
get under cover and soon. He looked
around, taking in the windows overlooking the alley. He could feel someone watching them, but he
couldn’t pinpoint from where, if there was actually someone there, or if he was
overreacting.
“Do we have some place we can move this reunion
to?”
Gunn followed his earlier trail to the windows. He
must have had the same feelings as Spike did because he turned back to his
friends to ask, “Friends up there, Rico?”
“We gotta protect the homeland,” Dominic spoke for
the first time. “People always trying to
take over our territory.” He slid his
gun back into his belt. “You come for a
reason other than reliving old times?”
Gunn glanced at Spike as if asking permission to
state their business. He gave a quick
nod giving his approval, but he hoped that Gunn didn’t give away too many
details about their quest to bring down Luke.
All they needed to know was that they wanted more information on the
youth Luke murdered.
“Yeah, Manuel,” Gunn said. “His killers are making some wrong moves and
we need some info.”
“We don’t need no more trouble,” Chow said. “Those dudes are taking over as it is and
we’re barely holding ground.”
“They’re trying to kill me,” Buffy said. “And now they’re after my friends and
family. Please help me.”
“Man, we really need your help,” Gunn added when
Buffy’s pleas were met with expressionless faces. He leaned closer to his friend. “Spike made a deal to keep you guys out of it. We only need information.”
In the next few moments, Rico looked Buffy over and
then back at his friends before finally nodding. “Not promising nothing, but let’s move this
to some place a bit more private.”
Spike relaxed a bit.
“Thanks.”
“You a friend of Buffy and she’s under Gunn’s
wing. Can’t really refuse family, now
can we?” Rico said with a curt nod. “Drive down a bit further. I’ll have the guys open the door. “
Gunn and Buffy followed the others down the alley
while Spike hopped back into his car to follow.
A large door lifted at the end of the alley. He slowed down as he drove into darkness, but
as he crossed the threshold floodlights switched on letting him see the
cavernous warehouse.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath as he saw at
least a dozen men and women standing around watching his entrance. He pulled to where he was motioned to
park. They didn’t look welcoming as they
surrounded his car. He swallowed, hoping
that Buffy’s trust in Gunn was sound.
to be
continued…
