I do not own any American Gothic characters, this is a work of fan fiction. This story is a continuation of my previous stories Emotion, Old Friends, Family, Difficult Decisions, Reflection, Spirit, Acceptance, Whole Again, Homecoming, Oh Father, Birthday Surprises, Misguided Feelings, New Year, Picture Perfect, Kinship, Big River and Sunday Morning Coming Down.

It was a quiet early Spring afternoon in Trinity SC, the sun shone high in the sky and the calm breeze rustled the leaves of the trees surrounding the Town Hall. The children of the town were still in school, which meant the parents were out completing their errands in peace before having to deal with their small ones. This was Lucas Bucks favorite time of the working day, as there was a calmness in the air while his residents were preoccupied before the coming storm of the end of school bell.

This part of town did not have many stores, it was home for such businesses like The Trinity Guardian and Edwin's Law Firm. He supposed this would be seen as the business district of the town, for all the professionals that managed to go through college and get a well paid job. He could not stand the upper class professionals of the town and how they looked down their noses at people they believed were of a lesser class; however, they did not cause him much trouble and if they did he always had fun bringing them down a peg or two.

Lucas was sat smugly outside the large Town Hall in his Crown Victoria car, tapping a pen on the dashboard. He was in no rush to complete this particular task and wanted to savor the whole process; therefore, he sat for a few moments longer admiring the beauty and calmness of his town, then got out of the car and opened the back passenger door. 'Come on Billy-boy, justice awaits' he smiled and signaled for the man to get out of his car.

Billy walked up the steps of the large building, he had never really appreciated it's true size until he was this close. He had expected to be taken to a small courthouse for his arraignment; however, Lucas had informed him that all the big cases were done in the courthouse within the Town Hall building and being a big Doctor from out of town, he could look forward to a very public trial.

Lucas smiled and nodded courtly to people as he entered the Town Hall and led his prisoner to the courthouse, this display amused him and he had forgotten how much satisfaction he got from taking this route with stubborn members of the society rather than a more permanent solution. He was taken out of his train of thought when he caught sight of Gail looking very professional in a pin striped short skirt and white blouse, with her hair tied up in a messy bun. She was standing with the other Reporters; however, unlike the other vultures she had no tape recorder or equipment and just stood with her arms crossed shaking her head.

Lucas led his prisoner over to the Reporters and stood him in front of them so his picture could be taken, he left his side for a moment and approached his love who was staring at him in disgust. 'Good afternoon Miss Emory, you're lookin' mighty fine today if I do say so myself' he said smugly.

Gail inhaled deeply and shot him an unimpressed look at his actions. 'This display is unethical and uncalled for...get him out of here Lucas' she ordered, being careful to keep her voice down so the other Reporters could not hear, the last thing she needed was them commenting on her closeness to the Sheriff.

Lucas laughed and put on his best southern gentleman smile. 'This is a trial Darlin', he ain't goin' anywhere and he's my prisoner to do with what I see fit'

Gail stared at him in disdain for a moment, attempting to push down her rage then pushed past him and grabbed her friend by the arm. 'What are you all doing? This man hasn't done anything wrong and hasn't been proven guilty, so if I see anything fabricated or exaggerated in any article I'll have you all on falsification' she warned, then pushed Billy into the courthouse and smiled sweetly at Lucas' look of irritation when he past her to retrieve his prisoner.

Lucas was surprised at Gail's reaction, she would not usually allow people see him rile her up to ensure she had deniability about their relationship. The reaction in front of her colleagues would be the gossip of the town today and he would have to ensure he took full advantage of that. 'Come on Billy-boy, your audience awaits' he whispered in his prisoners ear and walked him to his seat in the courtroom.

Billy looked back at Gail as the courtroom door closed and he was left alone with just the court officials and Lucas. She appeared worried and he had wanted to reassure that everything would be alright; however, he knew better than to assume such a thing with Lucas Buck running the show. This hearing was just to enter his official plea and although he was unsure of what that was at this moment in time, he would behave in a respectable manner and would not give Lucas the satisfaction of seeing him crumble under the pressure.

Selena paced outside the Town Hall with a cigarette in her hand, waiting for the arraignment to be over. She could not believe Lucas had taken it this far and was hoping to catch a glimpse of Billy to let him know she was still here for him. She did not know what Lucas' game was or why he was suddenly going so hard at Billy and she had tried to convince him out of continuing with this action the only way she knew how, but he had still disregarded her efforts as he had done previously.

'That's because your efforts do nothing for him these days' Gail said as she approached from the building and took the cigarette out of Selena's hand.

Selena watched as Gail took a drag of her cigarette and could not believe her eyes. 'Since when does the lovely Miss Emory smoke?'

Gail exhaled the smoke and passed the cigarette back to Selena. 'I've told you before, stop referring to me in that way...you know nothing about me'

'I know Lucas Buck would be disappointed in his new favorite toy if he knew she was stooping down to this level' she said holding the cigarette up.

'Well in that case' Gail laughed defiantly, then took the cigarette from her hand again and had another long drag.

Selena let out a small laugh and shook her head, this woman was a mystery and it was hard to tell which persona she was going to get. She took another cigarette out of the packet in her pocket and lit it for herself, then regarded her nemesis curiously. 'Did Billy arrive safely in there?' she asked concerned.

Gail nodded and exhaled the smoke. 'You mean after Lucas paraded him around like a show dog? Yes he got to his intended destination Selena'

Selena sighed and began to pace again, it was getting harder to hide her stress with this situation and she wanted her boyfriend back desperately. 'What the hell are we supposed to do here?' she snapped.

Gail watched as the woman before her began to unravel, she did not have much respect for Selena; however, she was a firm believer that women should not show weakness around men, especially in this town and she needed to Selena to pull herself together. 'We wait' she answered calmly.

'Wait?...' Selena asked bitterly, '...You've been waiting for over a week and nothing has changed, so what in god's name are we waiting for?'

Gail took another drag of the cigarette and held the smoke in her mouth for a moment, before releasing it slowly. She knew she should not be acting uncharacteristic of her usual prim and proper self; however, this situation was not just stressing Selena and she herself was finding it hard to hold it together with everything that was happening. 'Look, at this moment in time Lucas is holding all the cards, so we can't do anything but wait...We need to find out what his play is here'

'Aww shucks...and here I was thinkin' you two beautiful ladies had better things to do than concern yourselves with me' Lucas said in a smug tone, leaning against the wall to the Town Hall.

Selena stared at Lucas in anger and pushed past Gail to get at him. 'What the hell is going on Lucas? You've taken this too far!' she snapped.

Lucas disregarded Selena and approached Gail, he had sensed she was not herself while he was in the courtroom and decided to check in on her. 'That's a disgusting habit love, it's not befitting of someone like you' he said gripping her arm gently and turning her around to face him.

'Someone like me?' Gail asked sarcastically, unfazed by his sudden appearance.

'It's not you Gail, you're too good to dirty yourself with that'

Gail took a long drag of the cigarette and slowly blew the smoke in Lucas' face, then smiled. 'Don't presume to know what I truly am Sheriff' she said in an indifferent tone and pulled her arm free. She had not expected to see him so soon after he had led Billy to his arraignment and now that he was here in a more private setting away from the other Reporters, all she felt was disdain for him.

Lucas sensed her contempt for him growing but would not react, she had been attempting to act as if everything was fine around him; however, her facade weakened as Billy's time in jail increased. The action he was taking with Billy-boy did not have anything to do with her initially, but it was wearing her down and that was an added bonus. 'I know you...I know you both...' he said glancing at Selena and winking mockingly at her, '...What you two ladies need is some discipline, with Billy-boy outta the way maybe we should come to an arrangement which benefits all parties involved'

Gail gave him a warning look, then walked back towards the building and discarded of the cigarette in a bin.

'Is that a no Miss Emory?' Lucas called after her, wanting to rile her up.

Gail turned around and narrowed her eyes at him. 'Continue on this path Sheriff and I'll be making arrangements without you going forward' she warned and headed inside to see if she could find out what was happening in the arraignment.

Merlyn sat outside the hospital playing with her hands, she had convinced Abe to allow her an extended lunch break and had gotten a taxi to drop her off at the hospital. She did not know what she was doing here and she was nervous, this feeling was unnatural to her and she had hoped it would pass; however, she felt butterflies in her stomach and her nervousness did not appear to be subsiding at all.

Matt came out of the front entrance and smiled when he saw M sat at the bottom of the steps, he had heard whispers that a girl had been sat out front for half an hour and somehow knew it was her. He walked down the steps slowly and quietly bent down close to her. 'To what do we owe this unexpected visit' he whispered in her ear and laughed when she jumped up.

Merlyn had not heard Matt's approach and had been startled by his sudden appearance. 'Hey!...' she laughed, '...I'd expect that kind of behavior from Lucas Buck, not a sensible man like yourself'

Matt laughed then gave her an apologetic look. 'I'm sorry, I couldn't resist...is everything OK? Do you need to see a Doctor?'

Merlyn smiled and gave him a forgiving look. 'Me? Nah, I'm as healthy as a horse'

'Good to hear, so why are you here then?' Matt asked curiously.

Merlyn felt her nervousness become more intense and stared down at her hands, she did not know why she was acting in such a way and cursed herself for not being able to control her emotions. 'I just wanted a change of scenery I guess' she lied.

Matt could sense her nervousness and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He had been spending some time with her recently and had come to enjoy her company, the girl was more open than Gail these days and she made him feel at ease. 'Well I'm honored that you ended up here, rather than in some random place with your boyfriend'

'Earl ain't my boyfriend' she corrected.

'Well someone should tell him that' Matt said nodding towards the end of the hospital car park, where Earl sat on his bike watching them.

Merlyn spotted Earl and shook her head, she had told him to give her some space a few days earlier and was surprised to see him here. The truth was that he had been fun for a while; however, she could see through his motives and was almost certain he was working for Lucas. She had been enjoying spending time with her present company, as he appeared more genuine than anyone she had encountered in Trinity.

Matt sensed the girls discomfort as she stared at the boy on the bike and took her by the arm gently. 'I'll tell you what, why don't we go inside and grab some lunch? The food isn't as good as Loris' home cooking, but it could be worse'

Merlyn turned her focus to Matt and smiled. 'Hmmm, how can I turn down such a tempting offer?' she asked sarcastically and allowed him to lead her up the steps to the hospital entrance.

Earl watched bitterly as his girl followed the Doctor blindly, he felt her pulling away from him and failure in this task was not an option. He did not know why she had suddenly stopped spending time with him after they had been having so much fun; however, he would not allow her to blow him off like this and would have to bide his time in the shadows, until he could come up with a solution to the problem.

-To be continued-