Chapter 22
The
conversation filling the apartment had yet to breech the subject they were
there to discuss. However, it could be felt lurking in the corners waiting for
the moment to invade the camaraderie among the gathered guests.
Typically,
the sexes had divided themselves between the rooms of kitchen and dining room. Spike
was holding court in the kitchen with Xander and Angel. Their favorite topics
of video games and cars were being bantered about in a display of macho
competitiveness as to what was the best and brightest.
The five
women present were seated around the table. Buffy sat at one end facing the
kitchen. Like sentries on either side of her were
And lastly
Buffy’s mother was seated beside
It was a
little overwhelming but also exhilarating to Buffy to have a house full of
people. There was a haze fluttering around her mind as she tried to cope with
this. Maybe if her mother wasn’t there, waiting to pounce at the first sign of
weakness from her, she would feel differently.
Thankfully everyone
else seemed to be comfortable together which helped to make things easier. Xander
and
Deciding
not to bother to cook, Spike had picked up pizzas, wings and salad from an
Italian restaurant down the street. It seemed to be one of the deciding factors
in the lapse of priorities in conversation. The spicy fragrance of peppers and
onions had seduced them all to eat first. And now, everyone was busy filling up
on the food in between sentences that flowed freely between them.
The buzzing
of words and laughter between Buffy’s friends helped to ease some of her
anxiety. They created a wall between her and her panic at being in this
unfamiliar atmosphere. Buffy breathed deeply to try and focus again. Her hands
tore apart a paper napkin in her lap as she took in what was going on around
her.
A part of
her couldn’t relax. Faith was constantly with her. It was like climbing a
mountain and you were almost to the top but every time you looked up it seemed
to be same distance away. She wanted it over with. Until this matter had been
finished, she couldn’t figure out what she was doing next. She knew what she
wanted and even thought it was the best choice for her, but Spike wasn’t open
to discussion about her future. She glanced over at him as she gave a huge
sigh.
“Tired of
us gabbing away?” Kate asked with a grin. She glanced at her watch. “It’s
almost
“No, I’m
sorry,” Buffy said, looking contrite. “It’s just me. I don’t want anyone to
feel…”
“It’s
okay,” Cordelia chimed in. “Really, we do need to figure this out. We’ll have
plenty of time for hanging out later.”
Later. It
was one of those things that Buffy wondered if she would have with this group.
With Spike. She glanced back at him to find him studying her with indiscernible
emotions filling his blue eyes. It shook her to her core to see how closed off
he was from her at the moment. Already Spike was putting distance between them
and she was determined that she wouldn’t let him go too far away from her.
“All right,
everybody,” Kate said, pulling everyone’s attention to her. “We need some
brainstorming on where Peterson might have put Faith’s…body,” she paused as she
reached over to cover Buffy’s hand with her own. Quickly she reiterated the
clues that might help them to find her.
“Wouldn’t
he have just gotten rid of her as quickly as possible?” Xander asked. “Like a
dumpster or even the dump itself.”
“Maybe if
he was panicked or something,” Kate said. “I just don’t know if he would do
that though.”
“From what
Will has told me,” Angel offered, moving into the living room to take a seat on
the arm of the couch. “It seems to me that he had the whole scenario with Faith
planned out, just like he did with Buffy. Scouted out a girl, figured out how
to get her to come with him, then knew he would kill her when it was over.
Using Buffy’s words against her, he would draw her further into his delusions
of them being in a relationship.”
“You mean
like making them Bonnie and
“No, no,
that’s not right,” Buffy protested. “He said he wasn’t going to come back for
me. He was going to leave me there to die.”
A shudder
ran through her and she crossed her arms in front of her. Every word was
bringing her nightmare to a jarring reality because it was no longer locked
away in her head. It was out in the open. Other people knew. They were talking
about it. It wasn’t something she could push to the back of her mind in a
desire for denial.
Spike came
to her, reaching for her, so he could switch places with her. He took a seat
before drawing her down onto his lap. His arms closed around her as his chin
rested on her shoulder. No one except her mother seemed to think anything was
amiss in his actions. Buffy could hear the subtle sniff of indignation that her
mother gave. She ignored it. She was in Spike’s arms and she was safe.
“Buffy, was
that the last night you saw him?” Kate asked, leaning on her forearms as she
met Buffy’s gaze. Her voice was filled with kindness as if she knew how much
this was costing the young woman.
“Once,”
Buffy answered. “He came to visit me one more time.”
Her hand
covered her face as images swirled in front of her. All these people knew. They
all knew what she had done with Peterson. They all knew what she did with
Spike. It didn’t matter how much they cared or how much they were trying to
help. She felt dirty and wrong under their scrutiny.
“Is this
necessary?” Joyce snapped. “Look at her…she can’t handle this. She needs to
just put this whole thing behind her and get on with her life.”
“Behind
locked doors at home,” Spike sarcastically replied. “Oh, yeah, she had a life
there, didn’t she?”
“She was
safe there.”
“Stop it,”
Buffy said, coming out from her hiding spot. “I can handle this, Mom.” She
raised her chin in the air and took the time to look everyone in the eye. She
had faced worse in the past few days. She would get through this.
“Mrs.
Summers,” Kate said, with a nod toward Buffy. “We understand your concern. Unfortunately,
Buffy is the only way we have of proving Peterson murdered this other girl. She
is the only one who can put the pieces together.”
“I just
don’t understand why this is Buffy’s concern,” Joyce protested. “She isn’t
responsible for what that man did.”
“Just like
I wasn’t the concern for all those volunteers that helped search for me,” Buffy
said, quietly. “It’s something that you know is right and you just have to do
it. No matter how much it hurts.”
Spike kissed
her cheek, squeezing her extra tight, and she could feel his love flowing over
her. The expression on the faces of the people surrounding her showed they
understood what she said. They had all made the same choice at some point in
their lives. She felt that she belonged here with them. It gave her the boost
that she needed to continue.
“He only
came back one other time after that,” Buffy said with the barest of a waver in
her voice. “That night is when I unconsciously started slipping in and out of
that place in my head.” She put her hands into Spike’s, curling her fingers
beneath his as if he could keep her from falling too deep. “He asked me if I
wanted for him to bring someone new. I said no, shaking my head, and hoping he
would leave. He slapped me when I drifted away, but it didn’t help. I guess he
got frustrated and just left. I don’t remember him leaving.”
“I don’t
understand why he didn’t come back,” Angel said, after everyone absorbed her
words for a moment. “He enjoyed the responses he got for his cruelty. So, why
would he just leave you down there to die? He wouldn’t be able to enjoy the act.”
“I’m with
you, Angel,” Spike agreed. “He kept trophies, the uniform, the underwear, and
he even asked Buffy to help him do it again. I would think he’d come back for
her and take her with him.”
Kate
drummed her fingers on the table for a second or two as she seemed to be trying
to connect something. The others waited for her to say whatever was on her
mind. She snapped her fingers and looked up at Buffy.
“Do you
have any recollection of time passing while you were there?”
“Uh-uh,”
Buffy answered. “It was all the same down there…just endless darkness.”
“What are
you thinking?” Angel asked, leaning forward with his hands on his knees.
“Well, what
if he was going to come back?” Kate said, glancing around at everyone. “What
if…?”
“But when I
saw him, he told me he wasn’t,” Buffy interrupted.
“You talked
to him?” Joyce interjected, harshness coating every word. “What the hell were
you thinking, Spike? Are you trying
to send her back to the hospital?”
Buffy
leaned back against Spike wishing she could hide inside of him. Let his bravery
lead her through her mother’s anger. Facing the past she could do. It was the
rejection of her parents that frightened her. If she didn’t have them to fall
back on then she was alone.
“It’s okay,
lamb,” Spike whispered, so that no one else could hear. “Don’t lose it now. You
can do it.”
Her eyes
fluttered closed as she let his words bring her back to what had brought her
here. The reason she had left Sunnydale. The reason she had come to him.
“I chose to
see him,” Buffy sternly said. “It was my decision and I survived…more than
survived. I realized he is nothing more than a man.”
“Buffy has
been holding up wonderfully,” Cordelia said, flashing a smile that showed how
proud of Buffy she was. “She’s coped with quite a bit this week and just keeps
getting stronger.”
“Thank
you,” Buffy said, returning the other woman’s smile. Buffy ignored her mother’s
dramatic sigh and slump back into her chair to show her continued disapproval
in Buffy’s actions. It only made her stronger. Buffy reached over to squeeze
Cordelia’s hand.
“It’s
okay,” Cordelia remarked. “You’re spunky and it’s growing on me.”
Everyone
but Joyce laughed. It was okay though, because everyone here cared about her.
She just had to remember that as she flushed under Cordy’s praise. It felt
good.
“Why would
he tell Buffy he wasn’t coming back for her if he was?”
“To play
games with her,” Cordelia answered. “Her survival and freedom has got to be
frustrating him. Especially if he considered her his partner and that he got
punished because of her. He would think she sold him out and he’d do anything
to try and get back at her.”
“If he was
going to come back then where did he disappear to until we caught up with him?”
Spike asked.
“He went
away to hide Faith,” Kate answered. “If she was his first kill and he wanted to
be able to admire his handiwork then wouldn’t he take her somewhere where he
could visit her?”
“But
where?” Angel asked.
“His
parent’s house,” Xander answered. “I mean he would be with her all the time.
That is if he hadn’t gotten busted.”
“Too
obvious,” Spike said. “Besides it was thoroughly searched after his arrest.
There wasn’t anything that indicated a grave or a body hidden there.”
“You asked
him where she was, didn’t you?” Kate asked, searching Buffy’s face. “What did
he tell you?”
“That she
likes big houses and she was probably living in one now,” Buffy said. There was
excitement humming in the air as the clues began to fit together like a jigsaw
puzzle. She had no doubt that this group would figure it out.
“Maybe a
massive crypt,”
“Good
idea,” Angel answered. “But I think it would be too public. Eventually someone
would have spotted him there and start asking questions.”
“The
Peterson’s owned a vacation home,” Joyce spoke up, surprising everyone with her
comment. “It was near
“Bloody
hell, I’d forgotten all about that,” Spike swore. “There was a copy of the
warrant in the case file.”
“It was
searched,” Kate said. “But they didn’t find anything according to the file.”
“Was it
before or after Buffy was found?”
“That’s
right,” Spike mused. “If they weren’t looking for her then they might have
overlooked something crucial.”
“Wouldn’t
it be kind of hard to overlook a body?” Xander asked. “I mean she wouldn’t
exactly fit in a bread box.”
“And wouldn’t
a vacation house be too public to hide a body?” Kate asked, looking around.
“Wouldn’t there be people around all the time?”
“It was an
exclusive community,” Joyce answered, leaning forward. “The houses were big,
expensive and far apart.”
“How do you
know this?” Buffy asked.
“During the
lawsuit,” Joyce answered, her eyes filling with tears. “They had to list
everything they owned for the settlement. It was on there.”
“Sounds
like that might be it,” Kate said. “It’s only a couple of hours drive from
here. He could have easily done it.”
“I’ll call
Roberts and see what we need for a search warrant,” Spike said. “We may have
just cracked this case.”
“Yay, for
Mrs. Summers,” Xander said, applauding. “I vote she’s an official part of the
team.”
The others
clapped, adding their own whoops and congratulations. Joyce smiled at Buffy,
mouthing an “I love you” at her daughter. It felt like the start of a new
beginning with her mother being a part of the life Buffy was building here. She
went to give her mother a hug as Spike headed for the phone to call his
Captain. The atmosphere was tingling with excitement that they might have found
the answers that Buffy needed.
to be continued…
Chapter 23
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