Chapter One

Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes as her social worker lead her from the house and then opened the door to the car . Buffy slid onto the rear seat without thought. Her mind was too full of images and the horror of watching her parents die in front of her . The press snapped photo after photo as she was driven away. They turned their attention back to the house as the bodies were bought out and placed in the hearse.

Buffy flinched as Tara, her social worker ,shut the car door. The bright sun made her sore and tired eyes hurt . Buffy pulled her hooded top further over her face and hung her head. Her hands fisted in her lap and she crawled inside herself, hiding from the outside world and all the pain that was associated with it. Her heart had died along with her parents ,leaving Buffy hollow .

Tara pulled away from the curb and gave a brief look back at Buffy . The poor kid had the worst thing happen to her. Background checks on Buffy had shown her to be intelligent, fun, vivacious and outgoing. Her grades were straight A's, she was head cheerleader, had a lot of friends and was the girlfriend of the captain of the football team. Her parents were rich and she had it all. Buffy had the perfect teenagers life.

Her Mum had owned a very exclusive and very famous art gallery and school. When Joyce was not working in the gallery, selling and buying works of art, she was teaching classes of adults to draw and paint. Art consumed Joyce so much that she even had her own studio in the attic of her home. Despite all that though, Joyce was a devoted and loving Mother, who spent quality time with Buffy at every oppotunity . If only her Father had been the same way.

Hank was Joyce's complete opposite. He worked hard as a high powered Lawyer and spent many nights at his office, working late. Or so he said. Joyce wasn't naive, she knew that Hank had secretaries that stayed for after hours ' dictation. ' After years of his affairs, Joyce had become hardened and ignored them for the sake of keeping up appearances and hiding the truth from Buffy.

Buffy thought her parents were happy. They spent weekends together , they vacationed , had the overly sickening Christmases , did everything a normal family did. She had no idea that her parents were so estranged and that her life was going to come crashing down around her.

Two months ago

Buffy was on the phone to Cordelia, her best friend and fellow cheerleader. They were talking about going to the local nightclub with their boyfriends. Hank barged his way into Buffy's room, he looked stressed and highly agitated about something. Buffy looked up and was about to protest until she saw the flush of his face and the sweat that had built up on his brow.

"I got to go Cordy, Dad looks like he's having a heart attack and needs the phone . See you tonight"

Buffy handed Hank the phone

"Can't see why you need mine, can't you use the one in the study or downstairs ? "

"Not that it is any concern of yours but Joyce is using the lounge phone and I need privacy ."

Buffy poked her tongue out at her Fathers back and flopped on her bed. She picked up her cuddly pig and looked forward to the evening out.

Hank made it to his bedroom and made the highly important call.

Two hours later , Buffy was dancing in the Bronze , surrounded by friends , her boyfriend was holding her as they swayed to the music.

Three weeks had passed since the night Hank had walked into Buffy's room and acted strangely. Tonight though, was worse.

Joyce had called to say that a shipment that she had expected had been delayed ,she would be working later than usual and wouldn't be able to make it for movie night. Hank had sworn at Joyce down the phone and had told her that he hated the stupid ritual and wasn't Buffy old enough to go alone . Joyce had screamed back and told him that it wasn't about age ,it was about sharing quality time as a family and making Buffy feel special and not like a child who's parents thought more of working than they did of her. Begrudgingly Hank caved in and agreed to take Buffy to see a film.

He slammed the phone back in it's cradle and yelled up the appeared at the top of the ornate staircase .

"Get your coat, your Mother insists we do this without her and so I've got stuck with taking you . Don't just stand there, hurry up ! "

The car journey was short and done in silence. Hank parked up and got out of the car. He did not look back as he crossed the car park. He heard the door slam and hit the central locking button on the key fob. Buffy ran to catch up and walked beside him. Once they reached the kiosk, Hank didn't bother asking which film she wanted to see , he picked an action movie and walked into the foyer.

He purchased popcorn and large drinks. He got himself some nachos and Buffy a hot dog and then went into the theater and sat waiting for the film to start . Not once did he talk or engage Buffy in any form of interaction.

As the film ended and Hank got up to leave , a man came over and started to talk to Hank in barely audible whispers. Buffy stood beside Hank and watched the two males head talk . Hank nodded and his head shook in reply to the mans questions. Finally the man moved close and grabbed Hank by the shirt collar and snarled at him . Buffy still couldn't hear what was being said but she knew it wasn't good. The man pulled Hank in close so that he could whisper into his ear and watch Buffy at the same time. Buffy drank her diet coke and tall man gave her a smile that made Buffy freeze to the bone. He then spoke loud enough to be heard .

"Cute kid Hank, bet she would work off your debt in no time. Perhaps you should think about that .You got a month, and that's me being generous on account of how much I like you . "

The man backed away from Hank and still held Buffy's gaze "Be seeing you real soon and I would not let me down again or else . "

The theater started to light up .Hank watched the man disappear into the crowd as they filed out through the doors. He glanced back at Buffy and gave her a weak smile.

"How about we go to the diner and grab some pie before we go home ? "

It was almost like having her old Dad back and Buffy nodded, smiling at him with a false hope . They walked to the car and Hank watched the people around him, like he was expecting someone to be there. Nervously, he got in and sped from the car park. He pulled up in the diner car park and cut the engine. Buffy sat awkwardly , waiting to see if her Father would tell her what the man at the theater had wanted and why he threatened them. It never came . It seemed Hank just needed the time to calm his nerves. He stepped out of the car and waited for Buffy.

Once they sat in the booth and their order had been taken, he looked across the table and smiled again. Feeling brave, Buffy decided to break the tension and ask.

"Dad? What was that man talking about and why did he threaten me ? "

Hank shot his eyes up to meet hers. He had tried to think of a plausible excuse for the situation earlier, none came . Buffy wasn't stupid and she knew him well. She would be able to tell if he tried to lie to her.

"I'm working on this high powered case .Pretty nasty one . All of the evidence is circumstantial ,but the guy has previous that matches the crime . He got bail a few days ago on a technicality and he was the guy you saw tonight . "

"Can't you go to the police ? If he's threatening you and me then he's breaking his bail conditions , not to mention the fact that he's tampering with you or whatever they call it"

Hank smiled briefly ,albeit a saddened one.

"I tried to report it before but he had witnesses to say he was at home with friends etc . It didn't hold and now he catches me in public places, places he has a right to be and that are dark or where people wouldn't take notice"

"Is he dangerous? Is he likely to follow through with his threat Dad? Should I be scared ? "

Hank looked at Buffy and saw the fear in her eyes. He took her hand in his as reassurance.

"No sweetheart, I wouldn't put you at risk and I wouldn't let anything happen to you"

Buffy smiled weakly and then went back to drinking her chocolate milkshake. Hank looked out of the window, his thoughts ran a million miles a hour . How could he assure her that she was safe, hell with Angel O'Connor on the loose, nobody was safe.

A/N :- Please review and tell me your views on this is a little different from my usual stories and will be very dark. Like it? Let me know ! Thank You x