Prison gates by Rizylee
Ch 10: The Big Meetin'
Brit point of View:
"Ooohhh what time is it Jilly?" I can't believe how tired I am. You'd think I'd be more sore than tires but surprisingly, my body doesn't hurt at all; I'm just exhausted. Jill still hasn't answered me, that probly means she's still asleep. I can't blame her though, she took a beating yesterday.
I'm willing to bet Rylee is still asleep too, I swear that kid could sleep through an earthquake, on Christmas, while someone's vacuuming. I wonder if 'psycho chick' is up yet. I don't care how much Rylee wants to trust her, this chick is trouble.
"Come on Jilly, wake up let's go." Jilly's a real light sleeper so it takes hardly nothing to wake her up. Now that she's awake I wanna check on Rylee. I heard her and Faith talking last night and they said some pretty interestin stuff, but then it sounded like Rylee was crying.
Not to mention I had the strangest dream last night; I woke up and sat up sleepily and for no apparent reason I looked over towards Rylee's bed. I knew instantly that I was dreaming because of what I saw. Oh you wanna know what I saw fine; When I looked over Rylee and Faith were wrapped up tight in each other's arms.
I almost freaked out because of what I saw. But first of all Rylee isn't a lesbian, not that there's any thing wrong with that and even if she was, still she isn't the 'cuddly' type. That, or I'm gonna beat that Faith chick into a bloody pulp for touchin her. But that isn't even a possibility because I know the kid too well.
Now I know this has got to be a big deal because Rylee never cries. I've known her about three years and I know her pretty well now but she has only cried in front of me twice. I am very curious, as to my nature, about what they were saying last night because I heard my name mentioned several times.
They were talking kinda weird and kept calling me a potential. Potential what? Don't ask me.
I sit up and look at the time. It doesn't really matter to me what time it is but I still look outa habit I guess. As I continue my gaze around the room my eyes fall on Rylee's bed and I see that it's empty. What the hell? How could they have gotten out of this cell? Breakfast isn't for another hour and a half. That's when all the guards open all the doors to the cells at the same time and release us to the cafeteria to eat. Until they do, a prisoner isn't aloud out of their cell.
If psycho chick laid one hand on her head I swear I'll- hey, hey what's pushing on my arm. Hey, oh it's Jilly; I wonder what's wrong with her. Then I notice where she is looking; at the exact same place that I seem to be unable to take my eyes off, Rylee's bed.
"Where the he- what did that bi- I can't even form a sentence right now I'm so pissed. Brittany you need ta tell me exactly where Rylee is before I start jumpin to conclusions." Shit I think Jilly might start to overreact if I don't do something quick. But I'm having trouble convincing myself that Rylee is okay.
"I don't know where she is, when I woke up I noticed she was missing, then I noticed psycho chick was gone too." I hate to think the worst but if that bitch took Rylee somewhere I'm gonna kill her.
"Coincidence?" Jilly's starting to shake and I'm worried too but then it hits me and I come to my senses.
"Look, there's no way they could have gotten out without the help of the guards. And even if Faith did take Rylee somewhere against her will, where? This is a prison, I don't think psycho chick could take hostages very easily from in here."
"Brit, are you forgetting how freakishly strong Faith is? What if they're not here anymore?" What, I didn't even think of that. Oh my god what if she's right, Faith could have taken her anywhere. And who knows how much of a head start she's got. Oh and don't try to tell me Rylee could have gone without a fight; I know her and there's no way she would leave Jilly and I here, at least without sayin goodbye.
"So how do we find out for sure where they are?" I, I don't know. Ok I have to stay calm, if I freak out then it'll only make things worse. But Jilly's right we need to find out for sure where they are and get Rylee away from Faith.
"Hey! Come here a sec. I gotta ask ya somethin." Jilly is trying to flag down a guard to get some info but I don't know for sure if we can trust them. Not to mention they probly won't help us anyway.
"Shut up in there! You can wait till breakfast to be let outa your cage, filthy criminal." Ok this guard guy, ya not the smartest. Does he not know that Jilly is crazy? I mean not literally but more like…… well yah, she kind of is.
"What the hell did you just say ta me?!? As soon as I get outa here I'm gonna find you and tear your junk off!!!" Ha, I've never seen a guy that big run that fast, so much for being tough. But this still doesn't solve our problem.
"Jilly, you really need ta calm down. If you cause a scene now then you'll never get to help Rylee alright. And you know that kid's gonna need our help, she's always getting into trouble, and this Faith chick isn't helping much.
"So what, we just wait until breakfast?" I can tell she's not gonna settle for the idea but we don't have another choice.
"Yeah, the best thing we can do for her now is to not attract attention to ourselves." She rolls her eyes and sighs heavily. I know she doesn't like the 'sit and wait game' but it's all we can do right now. We still have like forty five minutes until breakfast, so in the mean time I think I'll try to figure out if anyone saw where they went in the most discrete way possible.
((((((((((WAITING))))))))))
Faith point of view:
The guards are leadin us to a separate building. They said we have to go to conference room C. I have a bad feelin this isn't gonna go good. I just know B isn't gonna understand and she's gonna try ta take the kid away from me; then we'll probly argue, then it will break out into a fight, and those never end good with me and B.
The kid is really nervous, I can tell. She hasn't spoken since we left our cell. She keeps lookin around like she's expecting ta get jumped or somethin. I bet she's thinkin about that chick Brit. It always seems like the chick is keepin tabs on the kid or somethin, like she is bein all 'big sister' or whatever. That chick is so damn protective of the kid it's ridiculous.
"Hey, you thinkin about your friend?" She looks up at me and nods a little then looks down at her feet. Somethin's up, I probly should try to see what's up, I mean that's what good guys do right, comfort and help a friend in need. Then again I'm not sure if what we are is 'friends' exactly, I just dunno.
"I forgot ta tell Brit and Jilly I was leavin this mornin, and I'm sure they're gonna be pissed when they wake up." She looks pretty upset about this, man what are her little pals like her bodyguards or what.
"Ya know what don't worry about them, I know you think they'll be worried but they know you're with me so what's the big deal?" she looks back up at me with this 'are you kidding me?' look and I get a little defensive.
"Seriously? That's probly why they're gonna be so ticked at me they don't exactly trust you if you haven't noticed. I'm the youngest of the three of us so those two are sorta always lookin out for me, and I know they don't like me bein around you so there in lies the problem."
Huh. Well screw those two little brats. God why the hell wouldn't they trust me anyway? Whatever I don't care I don't need ta have anything ta do with them once the kid and I get outa here. Well if we get outa here, I guess it all kinda depends on how this meetin goes. God I'm nervous.
We're walkin down this long hallway and it's sorta creepy. We go all the way ta the end and stop in front of a door. A little gold sign on the wall informs me that this is our room, conference room C. Oh boy here we go.
The guards open the doors; two big wooden double doors. The room is pretty big. Right in the center is a long wooden table with chairs all around the edges. There is a lot of space between the table and the suroundin walls, and it makes the room seem bigger than it is.
The whole scoobies gang is here; you remember, Giles, Willow, Xander, Riley, and Buffy but there is an extra face present tonight. One that I haven't seen since back in LA when I went down there and was offered a job to kill him, but I really just wanted him ta put me down caus I thought I was 'evil and bad and dirty' which I probly was but whatever.
This lead to the whole him helping me on the path of redemption, that is until B showed up and tried ta take control. I don't blame her but I don't think I woulda turned myself in if she and I hadn't had that little talk on the roof. I guess I should actually thank her caus without that little conversation I never woulda found the kid.
"Sup Angel, long time no see." He stands up and I can feel the kid inch closer ta me. I think she knows that this is the only guy outa the bunch I'm almost friends with. She relaxes a little and I take that as a good sign. I really hope Angel's here ta help caus I really don't need another enemy right now.
"Faith, it's been a while, how have ya been?" Awe Angel, what a considerate souled vamp. I always kinda had a thing for him. But that was back in the days when I kinda had a thing for anything that walked upright. But that's in the past.
"Well I can't complain. Three square a day, roof over my head, and hey I met a new friend. But I'm guessin ya already knew that." I glance over at B who hasn't stopped glarin at me since we got here. Well this is off to a good start.
"Yeah, Buffy filled me in with all the details but I would actually like ta here your side of it. And yours too." He looks at the kid and she nods ever so slightly.
"Well, shall we?" I gesture towards the table and Angel nods. Xander and Riley are both standin in the corner, I guess B told em if they wanted ta come they had ta keep quiet and stay out of it. Well her little dogs mind good. Ha B just shot me a death glare. Oh yeah this is startin off really great, ha ha oh well.
B is sittin at the far end of the table about three seats from the end. Willow is on her left (our right) and Giles is on her right. We walk over that way, Angel is in the lead. He sits down across from Giles. I skip a chair and sit next ta him and the kid takes the chair I skipped and is the middle of us. I wanted her in between Angel and me but I thought for a sec she might not feel comfortable around Angel.
She sits down and doesn't seem bothered by it so I think she's ok. She is straight across from B and I don't like that very much. This time there's no glass between the two of us and if things get ugly I don't want the kid ta freak out.
Apparently they called in a favor and had all the guards leave the room. Great she could just kill me and nobody would even care or know if she wanted. This makes me a little uneasy. Plus I hate bein boxed in, and I'm getting that feelin right now.
Rylee starts shiftin around and I think she was pickin up my negative vibes. I reach over and squeeze her hand a little. She quickly looks over at me and smiles. But instantly her eyes dart back to B. she has been lookin around the room tryin not ta make it obvious that she has been starin at B since we arrived. She definitely doesn't like her much.
"Ok Rylee to start off I was wondering if you can please tell us how you got arrested?" Angel is bein all concerned and sensitive. It's makin the kid relax, I can tell. She nods and her eyes slowly drift up to his. She looks a little unsure but I don't know why. She couldn't possibly have done anything that bad, could she?
"Well I was accused of assault, destruction of private and public property, under age drinking and possible drug use, and disturbin the piece. I didn't really get the last part but whatever." Huh, well that seems pretty serious. I really am gonna hope it was all false.
"Well maybe you could fill us in with some details?" B sounded pretty annoyed and I so don't need her ta do this right now. I mean seriously, the kid is scared enough with out her pullin the 'tough cop' act. Yah, 'act' everyone knows B's just a big softy. Okay well I guess I have to argue with myself a little on that one. She's only a softy to her close pals, well them and innocent victims. But those of us who have managed to make it on her 'baddies' list, she treats with less 'softyness'.
"Details? Well I suppose………….. actually I don't know if I should." She is lookin at me now. Right into my eyes. She looks worried, like what she's about ta say is gonna hurt my feelins. What did she do that evr involved me? The only time I can ever remember meetin her was that night in the alley. Oh, I betcha that night she got picked up by the cops. Damn so that means she got blamed for all the noise we caused. Jeeze now i feel bad.
"Hey, it's okay you can tell em. If you're hesitatin because you think we might, I dunno, freak or somethin it's okay. I remember and everything's alright." She nods but still looks unsure. Lookin back on that night now, seein all the irony, I can't help but smile. Who woulda ever guessed years after our meetin in the alley I would have to look after her. Small World or what?
"Well that is part of it, but honestly it's been a while and the details are a little fuzzy. Like besides you and the guy with the weird face I don't really remember what the people looked like." I could tell she was lyin. I could see it in her eyes. She keeps lookin from B to Angel and back again. I don't think she recognizes them though. I mean not completely. They have changed a bit since the alley, and it was dark so I bet she wont remember.
"I was just walkin home from a party, goin back ta my foster parents' place and I heard someone scream. I got freaked out and ran. I went down an alley and ran into some kid. I'm gonna take a guess that he was a vampire, but I didn't know that then. So I apologized and turned to leave but that's when I ran into another person. This was Faith, and again I didn't know that at the time." Uh shit. I just realized there might not be a good outcome if B remembers this little story. After they took me outa the alley it didn't end up so well……….. for any of us.
"So I said I was sorry to her and started backing away when the kid grabbed me from behind. Well we struggle a little then I manage ta get away from him. But when I look back over to Faith she gets grabbed from behind by this big guy and his face looked like a vampire too but……" She just sorta trailed off. She's starin straight ahead, she looks confused but mostly she looks afraid.
Suddenly she whips her head to look at Angel. She jumps up and backwards, her chair flips over and out of the way from the force of her jumpin up. She looks light she has just seen a ghost or make that a hundred ghosts. I need ta help her, but how? What do you say in this type a sitch?
"Oh my god! You! You're a vamp! I knew I felt something off when I walked in here! You're a freakin vampire, oh my god!!" She backs away until she is against the wall. This could be very bad. If she's anything like me, which I know she is, then when she feels cornered or trapped things can get real ugly real fast.
She has her hands by her sides, pressed up against the wall, palms flat, and spread wide. Oh ya she's startin ta feel it, like she's being boxed in. Her eyes are dartin all around the room. Settlin at each one of us before landin on Angel. He is on his feet now and he has his mouth open like he's gonna say somethin.
But then she does something none of us expected; she sprints straight at him and about three quarters of the way there she leaps into the air and her foot connects with his chest.
"Oh god, Angel!!" Angel? I mean yah I hope the guy's alright but shouldn't B be a little more concerned about how the potential is? Fine I guess I'll go make sure she's alright. But as I'm snappin back to reality I see that the kid is doin a hell of a lot better than Angel.
She apparently rolled off the kick nicely then jumped on him as he lay on the ground and began layin punches into him. If he wasn't the only on here on our side then I would be on the floor laughin my ass off. But since I notice B makin her way around to assist him then I better keep it together.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!?" What?! This is what good ol' B decides to scream as she lifts Rylee offa Angel and tosses her to the floor. what was she thinkin? Wow she's not happy about this; she's on her feet in an instant with a look of pure rage. It was then that I realize that it's the slayer inside her kickin in. I can feel a rush of what I think is pride risin inside a me.
God I'm really startin ta question Rylee's sanity though. I am in utter shock of what she just did. Ok ok I'll hurry and fill ya in. K, so ya know how I was telling ya about that slayer look in her eyes? Well, while I was telling ya bout that look she, in that millisecond, jumped at B and tackled her to that ground. She was able to land two, no three punches to B's face until B regained her composure and kicked Rylee hard in the abs. Well the kid went flyin across the room and hit the wall hard and crumpled to the ground. Now I don't think B meant ta hit her that hard but still that was too much.
I run over to the kid and help her stand. She looks a little dazed but unfortunately she still looks pissed. She jerks outa my grip and glares at B.
"You both were there that night! It's all your fault I'm in here! You jumped Faith and got into a huge fight and caused the disturbance and I got blamed for it!! All of it!!" She is shakin now. I feel really bad for her I mean she is right- "'Don't you dare feel sorry for me Faith! I can take care of myself. You understand? I'm gonna make them pay for getting me sent here and you aren't gonna stop me."' Hey kid believe me I don't wanna get in your way but I'm gonna seriously advise you to let it go. You don't even have your slayer powers yet.
She glares up at me. She got used to the whole mind connection thing really fast. Woa hey. Damn it! She just took a few quick steps towards B. I know B doesn't wanna hurt her but she isn't gonna sit there while Rylee tries ta wail on her either.
"Listen to me okay. I really do feel bad about you getting blamed for our beef with Faith but you can't expect to beat up on us until you feel better. You must learn to control your powers," Wow, did B just totally go all Yoda or what.
"I don't care what you say, you probly have never even spent one night in jail. I was only seventeen!! Y-you stole three years of my life!! I don't care if you're a freakin super hero or whatever I am so gonna kick your ass!!" Ok time ta step in and play referee.
"Listen kid, I don't wanna seem like I'm gangin up on ya, but B has a point ok. You can't just fight your way through life just because you want revenge. Especially fights you can't win." No way did I just say that? Man, I am growin up, this is a little shockin.
"Why the hell should I listen to you? You were there that night too. I didn't wanna bring this up because I knew it would stir up old feelings. For three long years I have been wishin I could get a hold of the people responsible for me bein here. And now all three of em are in the same room tryin ta convince me that I shouldn't take my long awaited revenge, and that I'm supposedly apart of some higher callin or somethin. I'm sick of all this bull shit!!"
"Well that's just too bad isn't it? You think I asked for all this. You have no idea what I've been through as the slayer. Yeah I bet going to prison is some kinda scary I'll never understand, but you can't blame us for accidentally involving you in our problem. We're sorry alright get over it!"
Wow usually B stays pretty calm for the most part, I'm surprised. I'm so shocked in fact that I'm just standin here, doin nothing as the kid is slowly walkin towards B. She stops about three feet away from her.
SLAPP!!!! Oh my god, Rylee just slapped B. Slapped!! Nobody has ever slapped B, ever. Yeah sure, plenty of vamps and such have punched her but this chick just slapped her. It sounded like it hurt too.
B turned her head at the impact and it's still turned. Her blonde hair is hangin in the way and I can't see her face. Then she starts ta straighten back up and she's turning her head really slow. Then at the last she gives her head a little flip and her hair is cleared outa the way.
Now they're both wearin that 'slayer look of death' and everyone sees it. Then outs nowhere Rylee's head snaps back then she is instanly hunched over in grabbin her stomach. Then B delivers an elbow to her back and she's down. But the first two attacks I could just barely catch B move. That was fast, like really fast. I'm actually pretty impressed.
The kid lets out a groan then a low growl. She did it now, she really awoke the Buffy beast. B takes a step closer and hooks her foot under Rylee's stomach, and quickly flips upward. This causes the kid to flip over onto her back. Her check bone has a huge gash in it.
"Had enough, caus the way you've pissed me off I could do this all day. You need to get something through your thick skull, and fast: you will respect me, and you will learn to follow my orders, understand?" Yikes, this really isn't goin good. But ya'll should see the look on Angel's face. He looks like Buffy just poured cold water over his head. His eyes are wide, mouth hangin open, and his arms are at his side with his hands stretched wide open like he's tryin ta make em look bigger.
While I'm at it, I might as well let ya know what all the other dopes look like, here we go; Willow looks like she's about ta cry, Xander looks really angry but besides at me I can't tell who it would be directed to, Riley is wearin a look of complete confusion and frustration, and Giles is starin at me, just a weird blank stare. I probly look pissed and confused, but mostly pissed caus I haven't done anything about B wailin on the kid yet, I've just bein standin here like an idiot lookin around.
B breaks the silence again. "I asked you a question, and part of the whole you respecting me consists of you answering when I ask you something. So, do you understand or do we need ta go a few more rounds?" That's it, last straw. Sorry but I'm not standin on the sideline anymore. I walk over to the two; Rylee in a heap on the floor, Buffy hoverin above her like a wolf waitin for the kill.
"Gimme your hand kid. Come on it's alright." She looks up at me and relief washes over her frightened features. I guess as mad at the three of us as she was, her and I must still be ok. Which is good caus when ya think about it the alley thing wasn't really my fault. Not that I'm tryin ta blame B and Angel on purpose but it's the truth.
"No, I don't think so. You're not just gonna swoop in here and save her just caus she's bleeding a little. Leave her there Faith-"
"Or what? Huh? I'm not just gonna stand by while you beat respect into the kid. What's wrong with you B?" God what I just described, the part about her beatin respect into Rylee, really reminds me of my mom, and I don't like compairin her to B.
"Don't push it F, there's no glass in the way this time. I've been able to control myself but if you push it I'm gonna cut loose." Cut loose? Is that supposed ta be some intimidatin line or somethin? What a joke, all that did was piss me off. Yup this sound like a typical meetin for B and me.
I think things woulda got even prettier if G-man hadn't stepped in. He always provides the words of wisdom in times like these. But he's changed since I've seen him last. This time the words of wisdom weren't spoken calmly in that James bond accent; this time, they were screamed at us.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!?! You two aught to be ashamed of yourselves!! You're acting like animals and treating this girl like she's some mediator between you just so you can carry out this mindless squabble!!" That was bracin I gotta tell ya. I'm willin ta bet Giles he's never raised his voice at Buffy before. She's got that 'deer caught in headlights' look.
"Now you.." He's calmer now, but directin his words at me. "You, for some reason, feel the need to look after this girl, take her under your wing and such. Well Faith I do respect that you're finally starting to show some initiative. But frankly we're finding it difficult to trust you, as you must imagine. Now Buffy has come down here to ask for your help. But she has let her personal views about you get in the way of her better judgment and it has caused her to say and do things she doesn't mean." He looks down at Rylee and sighs.
"Now Dawn is a very important part of all our lives, not just Buffy's. We really need your help Faith, we really need a slayer. Now I think we can work something out to place this potential in your care as payment for your help." This seems like good news but what about the other kids, there's no way Rylee will leave without her friends.
"I'll do it for free. But I would like to train and take care of Rylee and her friends because I can. Caus I'm a slayer too and it's time I acted like one and did my part." It's all true, every word. I just really hope this all is able to be worked out. I don't know what I'm gonna do if for some reason they say no. Yeah, for 'some reason' try one of the many reason B's probly cookin up in her head right now.