Two Slayers— One Heart (Version 3.0): Part 51
Interlude:
Whitey had been home for twenty minutes, talking over the thing he'd arranged with the principal of the Winston Academy with Xander, Buffy, Sh'rin, Nancy, Vincent and Ballard, while Vivian taught a math class to the girls, when the phone rang. He picked it up, said, "Giles Academy, may I help you?"
"I have a problem," Rose said in his ear. "I'm in a Snyder."
"Crap on a stick," Whitey said, recognizing the Giles-Buffy-Xander-Willow established code word for a supernatural event at school. "How bad?"
"They're closing the school for the day, sending people home," Rose answered. "A girl got killed. And, um, the police are wanting to talk to me. And we have things that need removed from police custody. Corpses. Whitey… no joke, okay?
"I just killed a half a dozen freaking Dungeons and Dragons orcs in my high school!"
"I'm on my way," Whitey said. "I'll bring Willow and… crap, can I get away with more than one?"
"Drop Willow outside, bring Buffy?" Rose suggested. "I'll bet Wil can take care of disposal from wherever."
"Good call," Whitey said. "Be there in fifteen minutes. Tell the part of the truth you can get away with."
"I will," Rose answered. "Don't worry, it's only Mom that I can't lie to— and maybe Dad, now."
"That's a relief," Whitey said. "Leaving now."
He hung up, looked at the others, said, "Rose just called in a Snyder. She had to kill six orcs at school. And she said 'orcs,' specifically Dungeons and Dragons orcs."
"Oh, shit," Buffy said. "You said Willow with you? How about me?"
"Yeah," Whitey said. "You're named on the temporary guardianship papers with me. Willow, we'll need you to get some bodies out of the hands of the police— orc bodies."
"I can destroy them," Willow said. "But I don't want to try teleporting them— that's still a nasty work."
"Good enough," Whitey said. "Xander, you're in charge while I'm gone. Vincent, get close to the girls, just in case this is a coordinated attack. Sh'rin, Ballard, you're on perimeter guard. Nancy, call the Winston Academy, say you heard about a disturbance at BHS, and wanted to check and make sure things were okay there. If there's a problem, be Buffy, give permission for Elaine and Dawn to come home."
Everyone agreed, and Whitey, Willow and Buffy went to the garage, grabbed a sedan and got out of there, making best possible speed for Bloomington High School.
They ended up parking in the visitors lot, and Willow got out, moved casually over to as close to the ambulances that sat in the lot as she could while Whitey and Buffy, armed with the court-stamped temporary guardianship papers giving Whitey primary guardianship of Rose, Elaine, Laurie and Linnea, and Buffy secondary guardianship, started working their way through the forest of cops to get to Rose.
It took several minutes to get inside, and several cops examining the papers, before Whitey and Buffy were ushered into the school's administrative offices, where they heard Rose's raised voice saying, "What part of 'I don't know' do you not understand, Detective? Do I need to put it in words of less than one syllable! Would grunting and shaking my head get that message through to you?"
"Don't get lippy with me, girl!" a man's voice snapped back. "We've got six dead… things… and more than a dozen witnesses who saw you kill them! That's six counts of murder— so maybe you'd better put a damper on your attitude and start talking to me!"
"You also have a dozen witnesses telling you that I fought to defend myself and the people around me, you worthless bag of flesh!" Rose said, her voice rising towards a yell. "And may I point out, detective, that the things I killed were plainly not human beings, and that charging me with murder, defined as the taking of a human life, is going to be a lot of impossible!"
"We need to stop this," Whitey said. "Call that lawyer Giles has been using, get a recommendation for a criminal lawyer from him, please— I'll handle this."
"Girl, you don't seem to realize that you're in trouble," the detective snarled as Whitey went down the hall towards the office the voices were coming from. "But I'm going to make you realize it— Watkins, cuff her!"
"Excuse me," Whitey said, stepping into the office where the shouting was coming from even as Rose leapt to her feet and took the tiger stance in preparation for fending off the approaching cop and his handcuffs. Whitey locked his eyes on the suited man sitting at the desk of the school principal. "Detective, if you try to cuff that girl, your officer is going to need medical attention, and I'm going to slap both your department and you personally with lawsuits that will leave the town in the red for years, and you living in a refrigerator box for the rest of your life."
The uniformed officer froze, the detective stared, and Rose held her stance, muscles quivering with readiness and fear.
"Sit down, Rose," Whitey said quietly. "It's all right. DEFCON five, kiddo."
Rose slowly relaxed out of her combat stance, then sat down, staring with open contempt at the detective.
"Who the hell are you?" the detective snarled.
"I'm Rose's legal guardian, until such time as her mother and stepfather return to the United States," Whitey said, producing the paper that proved his statement, as well as his Illinois driver's license. "Who the hell are you?"
"Detective John Siegel," the detective said, examining the papers and the license with an insulting level of care. He looked up at Whitey, said, "She's under arrest for murder. We're cuffing her. Deal with that."
"Rose, don't resist," Whitey said— and smiled at the detective, a cold, hard smile, much like the one Giles had given to Faith outside of Wolfram and Hart's offices, when he'd told her that he fully expected Wolfram and Hart to kill Jerry Wentworth. "The detective doesn't seem to realize that I'm not just serious about suing— I'm looking forward to it."
"Look forward all you like," the detective said— and glared at the uniformed officer, who hadn't moved to cuff Rose yet. "It's not changing a thing."
Buffy came in then, ignored the cops, smiled at Rose, turned to Whitey and said, "I reached Daniel Burns, the lawyer Mr. Turpin recommended. He's on his way here, and he said that Rose should stay silent— and calm. If they arrest you, don't fight it, it's just them handing us a blank check.
"You okay, honey?"
"Little freaked," Rose allowed. She looked a little more pale than usual, and she was shivering a tiny bit. "The first one of those things… it killed a girl. I didn't know her, but… but it killed her. I killed it, and the others, and… and now this ass-goblin—" She indicated the detective, then shuddered a little more. "Okay, maybe a lot freaked."
"It's okay, honey," Buffy said, and knelt beside her, took her hands. "You saved people. Never mind the ass-goblin, you saved people. You did good."
"Watkins, if you don't cuff that girl in the next ten seconds, I'll have your goddamn badge!" Detective Siegel snarled.
"And if you do cuff her," said a slightly high pitched but very authoritative voice from the doorway, "I will have your badge. And have you up on criminal charges. It's your choice, Officer Watkins."
A man in his fifties stood in the doorway, holding a briefcase. He wore a dark blue suit, a lighter blue shirt under the jacket, and a gray tie. His white hair had been neatly cut, and he wore a small, neat mustache. He wasn't terribly tall, maybe five-eight, but he was in good shape for his age, and fairly crackled with barely suppressed energy.
"You would be Miss Summers," the man said as Buffy stood. "I'm Daniel Burns."
"You sure got here quick," Buffy said, blinking in surprise.
"My office is right across the street," Burns said. He looked around, nodded at Rose, and said, "And you must be Rose. Rose, have you said anything to the detective?"
"He asked what happened, and I told him," Rose said, sounding tired and sad. "He started picking at what I told him, trying to trip me up, get me to say I did something wrong— and all I did was try to save people! I killed those things, sure, but they killed one girl, and tried to kill me! And this prick wants to arrest me for that!"
"I see," Burns said. "Well, I'm guessing that there were witnesses, so that's all right— we'll just deal with this downtown. Cooperate with the officers, Rose— please?"
"Yes, sir," Rose said, and stood, still trembling, but not looking ready to fight.
"And when did detective Siegel advise you of your rights, Rose?" Burns asked as the officer stepped forward with the cuffs.
"He didn't," Rose said.
"Stop right there, officer!" Burns said, his voice suddenly cold and razor sharp. The uniformed officer froze in place— and Siegel went pale. "Detective Siegel, are you going to tell me that you interviewed a young lady you suspect of committing a crime, a juvenile in the eyes of the law, and you didn't explain to her the rights she has under Miranda vs. Arizona? That you didn't offer her the option of having counsel present? Is that what I'm hearing, here?"
"No, I read her rights to her when we sat down," Siegel said, his face twitching. "She said she'd talk to me, and—"
"You lying sack of shit!" Rose cried. "You didn't say anything to me about my rights! You didn't even offer to let me call home! You just started in with 'What did you do,' you never said a word about anything else!"
"She's lying," Siegel said quickly. "I told her her rights, asked if she wanted to call home, and she said—"
"You did no such thing!" a cold, angry voice said from the doorway. "You are lying through your teeth, Detective Siegel."
The others looked around to see a lean, muscular man in his forties, brown hair going thin on top, and an outraged expression on his face standing in the doorway.
"Hi, Mr. Dunlap," Rose said in a small voice.
"Hello, Miss Killian," Dunlap said, his voice no warmer than it had been while talking to the detective. "Counselor Burns, I'm Thomas Dunlap, Assistant Principal. My office is right next door, and the walls are quite thin. I heard every word that was said in here, and Miss Killian is telling the truth. This… person never said a word about rights, never offered her a chance to call home, did, in fact, start hammering her with questions."
"Would you be willing to testify to that in a court of law, Mr. Dunlap?" Burns asked.
"Absolutely," Dunlap said. "Make no mistake, I have issues with Rose Killian— but those issues do not in any way make her less deserving of her rights than any other person. In fact, that she did something that had to be disturbing in order to protect other students has me willing to believe that I might one day be able to overcome those issues.
"Miss Killian… I don't like you. But liking you isn't part of my job. And you earned points in the good column today."
"Thank you, Mr. Dunlap," Rose said. "I'm trying to behave, really I am."
"Since I haven't had to speak to you other than about getting loud in the halls this year, I'm willing to accept that," Dunlap said. "Keep it up for the rest of this year, and I might even start to like you."
"Well," Burns said. "We're done here. Miss Summers, Mr.— Penobscot, isn't it? You two may take Rose and go. If you could come by my office sometime soon, we can discuss the suit you'll want to bring against the Bloomington Police Department— and against Detective Siegel specifically."
"You are not taking that girl out of here!" Siegel snapped, bouncing to his feet. "Watkins, I told you to cuff her!"
"You do it, Detective," Watkins said. "I want no part of this."
"I'll have your badge, you stupid little shit!" Siegel roared.
"Not before I have yours, Detective, I assure you," Burns said calmly. "If someone from your department wishes to speak to Rose about what happened here today, they can call my office, and I'll arrange it with her guardians— a supervised interview, with both myself and her guardians present.
"But under no circumstances will we grant an interview if you are present, Detective Siegel. On that, you may rest assured."
"Rose Killian, you are under arrest!" Siegel snarled. "You have the right to remain silen—"
"That's enough," said yet another voice from the doorway. "Excuse me, sir, I need to get through."
Dunlap stepped aside and in came a heavy-set man in his late fifties or early sixties, with iron-gray hair and a face that looked heavily lined and still somehow friendly.
"Siegel, get out of here," the older man said. "Go home. You're suspended pending investigation. Give me your gun and badge and go home."
"You can't— this brat killed six— six things!" Siegel said. "We don't even know what they are, sir, but they were—"
"They were attacking her," the older man said. "And they had already attacked and killed— without warning or any sort of threat— a fourteen year-old girl.
"Siegel, you're so far out of line that you make me sick. You've lied to an officer of the courts, you've lied to this girl's legal guardians, and you've tried to make her out to be the liar.
"Gun. Badge. Now!"
Without another word, Siegel took his gun and badge and laid them on the desk. He glared at Rose, glared at Thomas Dunlap, looked at Whitey and Daniel Burns as though he wanted to hit them, and pushed his way out of the room.
"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen," the man said, sighing and moving sit on one corner of the desk. "I'm Carter Holman, Chief of Detectives with the Bloomington Police Department. I can assure you that Mr. Siegel will not work for my department for any longer than it takes me to convene an inquiry into his conduct.
"Now… young lady, you look decidedly shaken up. I think you should go home with your guardians, here, and get some rest. And I'd appreciate it if, when you feel up to it, you'd have Counselor Burns contact us to arrange an interview— with both of your guardians and Mr. Burns present."
"I can tell it now, sir," Rose said, letting out a long, shaky sigh. "It… I think it would be easier to tell it now."
"Are you sure?" Holman asked. "It can wait, if you need time."
"I'm sure," Rose said. "It will make it easier to get that rest you were talking about."
"All right, but if you need to take a break, or to stop, say so, and we'll do so," Holman said, standing and sweeping up Siegel's badge and gun, dropping them into a pocket of his jacket. "Mr. Dunlap, is there anyplace around here that might be more comfortable for five— no, six, I'd like you present— six people to sit and talk?"
"We can commandeer the faculty lounge," Dunlap said. "Though it might be better if I were to find Principal Garrett to accompany you— better for Miss Killian, easier for her. She and I… have a history of not getting along."
"No way," Rose said. She stepped around Buffy, stood in front of Thomas Dunlap. "Mr. Dunlap, you don't upset me. Having you there is fine with me. I was a problem for you most of the first two years I went here, and I know it. It wasn't always my fault— but it was enough of the time that I can't say you didn't have a reason to not like me.
"But you came in here and you told my friends and my lawyer that that ass-goblin Siegel was lying. You didn't have to do that. You played fair, Mr. Dunlap— and I want somebody around for this school who plays fair."
Dunlap looked a bit stunned— then smiled a slow, rueful smile, and said, "All right. In that case, Miss Killian, I'd certainly like to hear what happened from the source— instead of the wild rumors that have you tearing off locker doors, using them to beat monsters into submission, then shoving their heads into toilets and giving them swirlies until they drowned."
"Mr. Dunlap… could you maybe call me Rose?" she asked. "I know, we aren't friends, but… you don't do the last name thing with the other kids. Makes me feel… old."
"All right, Rose," Dunlap said. "Come on, folks, the faculty lounge is this way."
They followed Dunlap out of the principal's office and down the hall, Buffy walking with an arm around Rose's waist companionably.
"Please, Rose," Buffy said in a low voice as they walked, "tell me that the rumors of death by swirly are completely untrue."
"They are," Rose said. "But… you know high school."
"Sadly, I do," Buffy said.
They got to the faculty lounge, got settled. Detective Holman did it right. He told Rose that she was not a suspect in a crime, but that, due to there being a death involved, he needed to interview her, and he read her her rights. She consented to the interview, consented to it being recorded, and Whitey and Mr. Burns concurred. Everyone gave their names for the recording, and Rose told her tale.
Wisely, Rose prefaced her story with her credentials.
"Before I start," Rose said, "I think it will be easier for those of you I haven't sparred to accept what I'm going to tell you if you keep this in mind; I'm a ranked kung fu instructor in the Tiger and Leopard School, and I have a blue sash in Hwa Rang Do. Just… keep that in mind. Might make what I tell you easier to believe."
Then she told it, straight through, in a dry, matter of fact voice, her face carefully composed. Her occasional shiver was all that gave away her upset, and drew no comment from anyone.
"Then… then I saw what the orcs had done to that girl, and I got sick and… and I called Whitey at home, and by that time there were cops here and… and here we are."
"All right," Detective Holman said. "Rose, thank you. I see no reason to charge you in these matters, none at all. It isn't my decision in the end… but I do have the ear of the State's Attorney.
"Now… I think you need to get home, get some rest— or possibly some time on the heavy bag."
"I prefer the kick bag," Rose said. "But… right now? No. I just want to lie down."
"You do that," Det. Holman said. "Thank you again, Rose."
"If you need anything further, Detective, go ahead and call us first," Whitey said. "I think that we won't need to have you go through Mr. Burns, just having him present will be enough."
When they went outside, Dunlap followed them to their car. At the car, he said, "Rose… thank you for what you did. You probably saved a lot of lives."
"You're welcome, Mr. Dunlap," Rose said, and managed a ghost of a smile, and got in the back seat, where Willow was already sitting. Buffy got in on Rose's other side, and she and Willow pressed close, holding Rose against her ever-increasing shivers.
Whitey got them home, and Buffy took Rose straight upstairs, put her to bed, and, when Rose started crying very quietly, laid down with her and held her until she fell asleep.
Ten minutes or so after Rose fell asleep, Buffy heard Willow's voice in her head.
Buffy? Willow said telepathically. Whitey sort of needs to talk to you. About this whole mess, and what we should do about it.
I really don't want to leave Rose alone right now, Buffy sent back.
We figured, Willow said mentally. Relief is on its way. And before you see who, be aware— I've read her mind, and without pulling people from school— which we don't want to do, in case this happens elsewhere— this is the best possible comfort for her.
Okay, Buffy replied, wondering who was coming.
The door opened a moment later, and Sh'rin walked in, failing to surprise Buffy at all. Ballard coming in behind Sh'rin, though, did surprise Buffy. But if having him around would comfort Rose, that didn't bother Buffy. She got up carefully, hugged Sh'rin, hugged Ballard, then slipped out of the room and went to talk to Whitey even as they lay down on either side of Rose.
