CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: TERMINATED
Tuesday, 16th March 1999
9am London Time
Buffy was pacing the small room that she'd been placed in. She'd never been fond of small spaces, and being closed within four walls was making her edgy. Not to mention the fact that she had about four hours to confess to a crime she didn't commit, or else she'd be killed by the very people that she was meant to trust the most.
She sighed tiredly, wishing that she could get her hands on Faith to strangle the hell out of her and make her confess. In her weeks at Hogwarts she'd nearly forgotten how deeply Faith's betrayal had stung, but now that she was in the hands of the Council, she was remembering it far more.
She checked her watch again. Nine in the morning. She hadn't slept at all during the night, not trusting the Watcher enough. She didn't believe that she would wake up in the morning if she actually succumbed to the temptation of sleep. She had another four hours before her 'twenty-four hours' were up, and still she was drawing a blank as to what to say to the Council. The simple answer would be to just confess to it, but she knew that she was innocent. She didn't want to admit to something that, while it had been an accident, hadn't been her fault.
The door to her room opened with a creak, and Buffy stopped her pacing to face the man who'd entered. It wasn't Travers, nor was it Miss Pryce, her new 'Watcher'. It was a man with gentle green eyes who looked vaguely familiar, though Buffy knew she'd never met him in her entire life.
"Miss Summers?" he asked, his voice quiet and gentle.
She nodded, wondering why he'd even needed to ask.
"The Elders of the Council will see you now," he said.
Buffy breathed in deeply. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She'd thought that she would have several more hours to try and convince the Council that she wasn't a criminal, nor was she a murderer. She hadn't expected to be called before the Council so early. Or with such an empty stomach.
She sighed and went to the door. She was tempted to knock the man out and run for her life, but the way he was looking at her with sympathetic eyes held her back. She sometimes wished she could have been a little more ruthless, but she knew that deep within herself that she could never hurt an innocent person, no matter what. Even if it was to save her own life. She didn't have it in her to do it.
She followed the nameless Watcher through a labyrinth of corridors. They finally came to a large open room with a long table that sat twelve people, both men and women. The man escorting her took a seat at the end of the table, and Buffy stared worriedly at the looks on the Watchers faces. They all looked at her disapprovingly, except for her escort, who was looking exceedingly worried.
Buffy noticed Travers seated towards the opposite end of the table.
"Miss Summers, you stand before the Elders of the Council, accused of the murder of Mr Allan Finch, the Deputy Mayor of Sunnydale, California," a Watcher in the centre of the table said, his voice cold and unforgiving. "Being aware of the fact that your position as Slayer will be forfeit if you do not confess your actions, how do you plead?"
Buffy swallowed hard and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and voiced her answer.
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Tuesday, 16th March 1999
12.15am New York Time
The Slayer felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle, a familiar vampiric presence setting her senses running wild. She felt her body tense in preparation for a fight. She turned, her eyes searching for the vampire, but she could see nothing. She turned her attention back to the Watcher in front of her, but when she heard a slight noise, she turned, her fists raised in an instinctive defensive position.
The tall, dark haired vampire stepped forward, his eyes a deep brown that one could get lost in. The Slayer frowned and looked between the Vampire and the Watcher.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "How did you find me?"
Angel half-smirked and shrugged. "I have my sources."
"You're not supposed to be here," the Watcher said, stepping forward bravely.
Angel turned to look at the Watcher. Without pause, he shifted to game face and watched in amusement as the Watcher jumped back several steps.
"Again I ask, what are you doing here?" the Slayer demanded angrily.
Angel sighed and looked down. The quiet demeanour of the vampire, even though he had never really been all that loud or expressive was worrying the Slayer. While the soulled vampire was incredibly hard to read properly, it was easy enough for anyone to see that something was troubling him. And whatever that something was wasn't good news.
Faith Sebastian could tell that whatever Angel was here for wasn't going to be good. The last six weeks had been torturous for Faith. For the first time in her life she felt real guilt for a lot of her actions. It wasn't just the murder that was weighing on her mind, though that was definitely in the top five list. It was what she'd done to Buffy. One of the few people that Faith had ever thought of as a friend and Faith had betrayed her completely. She'd framed her for the murder of Allan Finch, and had let her sister-Slayer be taken away to England for rehabilitation.
Faith had thought that after it was all said and done, she'd be able to stop thinking about it, but the truth was, it was all that had been on her mind. She remembered telling Buffy that she didn't care about the murder, but that was so far away from the truth. She remembered thinking that her problems would all disappear if Buffy was the one to take the blame for the murder, bt in reality, it had made things worse for Faith's conscience.
"What?" Faith asked again.
Angel looked up at her, his eyes tortured. Faith felt his heart sink. She knew that the only thing that could make the soulled vampire look like that had to do with Buffy. And if he was that upset, it could only mean one thing.
"What? "Faith whispered, her voice barely audible.
"It's Buffy," Angel admitted. "The Council…they…they held a trial, asked her to confess or give up her position as a Slayer."
Faith felt her heart sink. She knew enough about Buffy to know that the original Slayer wouldn't ever confess to being guilty when she hadn't been in the wrong.
"She pleaded guilty, right?" Faith asked.
Angel shook his head. "No."
"But…"
"She's dead Faith. Buffy's dead."
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Faith's last name came about cos of two things. One being the beautiful Guy Sebastian, our Aussie Idol (hurrah! You're my miracle! *lol*) And two, it's my old kitty's name. She got 'sent to the country'. Hehe. *sniffs* Seb lives on in our hearts though. And a big hello to our new kittycat Miss Kitty Fantastico (aka 'Kitty' or 'oi, you stupid cat' or 'Satan junior'.)
So…feedback please? I'm aiming to get up to the 1000 mark after this update. (*grins* unashamedly selfish over here)
Toodles.
K