CHAPTER EIGHT: JEREMIAH
(This chapters a little disturbing, so…my apologies. NC-17 rating just to be safe. Nothing really happens, just an attempt.)
Friday: 11:30pm
19th July 1996
London: Watcher's Council
It was late, cold and raining on the Friday night. The Potentials had been forced to stay inside all day due to the rain outside, and Beth had kept herself busy by writing her weekly letter to Ethan. The letters seemed to get longer and longer each week. They had started at three pages, and now they wrote up to about ten pages weekly, describing their weeks day-by-day. She had finished writing an anecdote about Faith's excitement over learning a new move from Beth and had been about to turn the torch off when her door was opened quickly.
She turned, startled, quickly hiding the letter beneath her pillow, her heart in her throat. If it had been Travers, finding her with a torch as she finished writing, she would have been severely punished for being awake after lights out. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her favourite trainer in the doorway.
"Hey Mr Miller," she greeted.
Jeremiah Miller was twenty-nine and had been working with Potential Slayers for the last two years, teaching them martial arts. When Beth Summers had approached him to learn more, he had agreed reluctantly, but after the first month he was eagerly teaching her all that he could. He found himself going to other instructors to learn more himself so that he could pass it on to Beth.
"Beth," he said quietly. She rolled onto her back and sat up on the bed cross-legged.
She regarded him curiously. He'd never come into her room before.
"What's wrong? Do you wanna reschedule training tomorrow?" she asked.
He walked towards her, not saying a word. Beth suddenly felt her mouth dry up. She didn't like the look in his eyes, and scooted back on the bed, her back on the wall.
"Mr Miller…what are you doing?"
Her voice was quiet, barely more than a whisper.
Jeremiah took another step forward in the small room and sat on the bed. Beth jumped up off the bed and went to race from the room, but he was faster than that. He stood in front of the doorway and kicked the door shut with his foot, never taking an eye off her.
"You're scaring me," she said, meeting his eyes.
He stepped forward, Beth backing up and hitting her back on the wall behind her.
He didn't say a word, just reached out a hand towards her cheek. She turned away from him, but he grabbed her arm to keep her in place.
"Mr Miller, go home," she whispered. "You shouldn't be here."
"I'm allowed to be here Beth," he whispered.
She could smell something on his breath, something she hadn't smelt in a long time. Alcohol. For the first time since she could remember, she had a flash of her father's face, his breath reeking of alcohol.
"You're drunk," she whispered.
Jeremiah smiled. "She's quick too. My little Potential."
She pushed him away from her, Jeremiah stumbling a little. She tried to get past him to the door, but he grabbed her making her shriek girlishly. He put a finger to her lips, silencing her.
"Hush, little Potential. No one has to know about this," he whispered. "It can be our little secret."
Beth felt a tear slip down her cheek, but refused to let herself begin sobbing. She'd never been afraid of Mr Miller before, but he was the only trainer that she wasn't able to beat in the sparring matches. She knew exactly how strong he was, and he was stronger than she was.
He grabbed her by the arms and lifted her off her feet, swinging her around so that her back was to the bed. He threw her onto it, kneeling beside her.
"No!" she yelled, shoving him away from her.
He backhanded her violently, stunning her a little.
"After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me?" he hissed. "I've trained with you for over two years Beth. I've taught you everything I could teach you, and you won't even do this for me."
She struggled against him, tears coursing down her cheeks. They were both startled when the door flew open once again. An angry Faith stood in the doorway, staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of her. Her best and only friend was lying on the bed, fear in her eyes and tears on her face while one of the trainers hovered above her, obviously drunk.
Faith's eyes narrowed.
"Get out," she said coldly.
Jeremiah hesitated. One Potentials word against him, especially Beth Summers' wouldn't have been believed, but against two of the girls, he wouldn't stand a chance. He shook his head and glared at both of them, getting off the bed and stalking past Faith, out into the hallway.
Faith just stared at her friend who stared back for a moment, breathing hard, disbelief in her eyes. Seconds later, Beth began sobbing, and all Faith could do was race to her friend and pull the small girl into her arms, whispering comforting words of assurance and safety until they both drifted asleep, neither one daring to suggest that Faith should leave Beth alone.
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Saturday: 12:30pm
20th July 1996
London: Watcher's Council
The rain continued throughout the day, making Beth's misery even more complete. Faith refused to leave Beth's side, something for which Beth was inordinately grateful for. Beth was skittish the entire day, jumping at the slightest of sounds. The other Potentials noticed it, but Beth played it off with an easy shrug.
Faith was impressed by Beth's resilience to the attack, but knew that at least part of it was a cover for Faith's sake.
Lunch came, and Beth felt nervous at the thought of seeing Ethan. It was absurd, she knew. She just didn't think she could face up to anyone of the male gender for at least a while. The letter was in her pocket, she had finished it that morning, not mentioning the attack, but her handwriting was shaky. She just hoped that Ethan wouldn't notice.
She heard Ethan's signal go off and she stood up shakily. Faith saw her movements.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
Beth looked at her and dug out the letter in her pocket. "Weekly visit."
Faith's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you wanna go alone?"
Beth hesitated and Faith noticed it straight away. Beth sighed in frustration. "I do trust him Faith, but…"
"But you don't wanna be alone with him. It's cool B. I can come with ya if you want me to."
Beth nodded gratefully and Faith stood up. They gave the trainers that were watching them a feeble excuse of having to use the bathroom. Disinterestedly, the trainers waved them off. Beth rolled her eyes. She didn't know why the Council bothered making people watch them on weekends. There was no way out of the Council property for the Potentials unless they were with an authorised Watcher.
They were only allowed out of Council property once a year at Christmas to see the city lights on Christmas Eve. It was one of the most looked-forward-to days of the year. Twice though, for two years straight, Beth had been forbidden to go with the other Potentials as punishment, and it had been one of the harshest things that Beth had been forced to endure, even though it hadn't left her aching for days afterwards.
Beth led Faith down the corridors towards the designated meeting point that they had decided on for rainy and snowy days. Beth swallowed nervously and rounded the corner to find Ethan lounging against the wall casually.
He grinned at her then looked at her companion in confusion. Beth had never taken anyone with her to meet with him before. Before he had even looked in her eyes, he knew that something had happened.
He smiled at her gently, concern on his face. She flashed him a brief grin that didn't quite meet her eyes. He dropped to his knees, making him a little bit shorter than she was.
"Tell me," he whispered quietly.
Faith stood back and watched them, giving a sad smile when she saw Beth crumple and launch herself into Ethan's arms sobbing. Ethan just held her, stroking her back soothingly. She didn't yelp in pain or wince away from him, so he knew that it hadn't been a beating.
He looked at Faith questioningly. She shook her head sadly, telling him that it was bad.
"You're alright Buffy," he whispered. "You're safe here."
Faith looked at them curiously. She'd never heard the name Buffy before, but it somehow suited the tiny blonde Potential.
Buffy sniffled and pulled away from Ethan. She wiped at her eyes and gave him a self-deprecating smile.
"Sorry," she whispered.
He shook his head, telling her it was alright. He stood up and pulled her into a one armed hug, looking towards Beth's friend.
He smiled genuinely at her.
"You must be Faith," he said kindly. "I'd recognise you anywhere."
Faith smiled a little, wondering how he knew her.
"You been narking on me B?" Faith asked.
Buffy smirked a little and leant back into Ethan's embrace.
"Well, you know how it is. Just letting him know that I'm still kicking your ass," she teased.
"Bull!" Faith cried.
Ethan laughed a little at the obvious camaraderie between the two Potentials.
"I think your last letter had two entire pages extolling Faith's virtues," Ethan said. "Slaying abilities not included."
Buffy went a little red when Faith began staring at her. While it was true, she didn't like that Ethan had just blurted that out. She spoke constantly of Faith, the girl that she had become incredibly fond of. She and Faith had a bond that Buffy had never felt with any of the other Potentials before. They were both fighting desperately to keep what little they had left of themselves from the Council.
"Yeah well…what can I say?" Buffy said, embarrassed. "I like ya."
Faith just smiled softly, something that Buffy rarely saw. The other girl usually grinned or smirked, but hardly ever gave genuine smiles. Buffy had seen a few, but none of the other Potentials had ever been graced with a proper smile.
"What else's she been saying 'bout me?" Faith asked with interest.
Buffy shot Ethan a look and he just grinned evilly back at her. She groaned and buried her face in her hands, knowing that Ethan was about to tell Faith what she had written.
"Just that he'd never had a friend like you. She'd never had a best friend before," he said.
Ethan watched as Faith struggled to keep her tears at bay. He knew from Buffy's letter that Faith was a girl with a 'bad girl' attitude, stemmed probably from her lack of proper parental guidance. He also knew that Buffy felt deeply about the older girl, more deeply than she had felt for any of the other Potentials over the years.
Faith swallowed hard and looked at Buffy who was giving her a hesitant smile. Faith stepped forward and pulled the blonde Potential out of Ethan's arms and into a warm embrace. They'd never hugged before, and even though Buffy had spent the better part of the previous evening curled in a sobbing ball in Faith's arms, this was different.
"Same here B," Faith whispered.
Buffy smiled and when the hug broke, she was surprised to see tears in Faith's eyes. There was a moment of awkward silence until Ethan jumped in.
"So…how'd training go this morning, Buffy?" he asked.
Darkness flashed through the young girls eyes, and Faith just shot a glare at Ethan. He quickly remembered that there was something that he still didn't know about what had happened to reduce his fiery Slayer-to-be to tears.
"Buffy, what happened?" he asked again.
She stared at him with teary eyes and finally looked down, unable to handle the complete concern that was written in Ethan's eyes.
"Mr Miller, he…he uh…"
Ethan's eyes darkened, Faith watching with interest. Buffy didn't even have to say anymore than that, and Ethan could already tell what he had done.
"Did he hurt you?" he asked.
Buffy shook her head tearfully. "He tried…he didn't. Faith, she…she stopped him."
Ethan shot Faith a thankful smile that she returned. She was just grateful that she had got there in time. She had heard Buffy's shriek purely by chance on her way to the bathroom. Otherwise, there would have been no chance of Faith hearing her. They were on opposite sides of the hallway with about five other rooms between them, a fact that they hated seeing as they were always in each others rooms after lights out.
"I'll kill him," Ethan said quietly.
"I don't think he's coming back," Faith told him.
He looked at her curiously. "Why do you think that?"
She shrugged. "Just a feeling I guess."
Ethan nodded, but quickly swore to himself that if Jeremiah Miller ever set foot on Council property again, he would kill the bastard without hesitation.
Buffy sighed and looked at Faith. "We'd better get back," she said.
Faith nodded and waited patiently for Buffy and Ethan to say there goodbyes. Buffy handed him her letter, which he took gratefully.
"If he tries anything, you have to tell someone," he said before he let them head back. "One of the trainers."
Buffy nodded obediently. She knew, however, that if Jeremiah tried anything again, the Council would take his word over hers, especially Travers. She felt better though, knowing that Ethan and Faith knew. The two people she trusted more than anything.
Ethan bent down and kissed Buffy's forehead in a fatherly fashion and flashed Faith a smile. "Thank you for taking such good care of her," he said.
"I didn't wanna leave her by herself," she said modestly.
Ethan winked at her. "I didn't just mean today."
Faith smiled and nodded thankfully. With a parting wave over his shoulder, Ethan left, leaving Buffy and Faith to make their way back towards where they had left the other Potentials.
(I know the constant changing of her name 'Beth' to 'Buffy' is annoying, but it makes sense in context. She's Beth when people are thinking that it is her name, and Buffy when she's around Faith and Ethan. Hope it's not too confusing!)