Disclaimer: Not mine however much I wish they were!

A/N: Hey all. I'm moping again due to the lack of reviews for my other story but I felt guilty about not updating this one so here we are. Hope you like. Love you all!

Chapter 14: The Snyder effect

The smile Spike had been wearing ever since he'd dropped Buffy off at the beginning of her class was slowly starting to fade as he watched students scrambling to get away from the computer science room, Xander at his side. He'd been on cloud nine all the way through his own class, just thinking about a little kiss on the cheek. At fist he'd decided to think nothing of it, he'd been kissed the same way by Willow before after all and it had meant nothing. But with Buffy just that simple sign of affection seemed to mean so much more. He wondered if he were simply over reacting due to his feelings for her, but when he had told Willow and Xander about it they had rolled their eyes and told him to get a clue.

That had given him hope. But now he was getting worried, the last student had just left and there was no sign of Buffy. Spike stepped into the room to make sure, but it was empty save for Miss Calendar gathering papers on her desk. She glanced up when she saw him, a worried frown on her face. She knew what she was about to say was not going to go down well at all. "Buffy's not here Spike." She said quietly, "She was called out of class about fifteen minutes ago."

"Called out by who?" Spike asked, not sure why he suddenly felt very suspicious.

"Principal Snyder called her into his office." Jenny replied, not surprised when she saw Spike's eyes widen momentarily, and then narrow with anger. Without another word he turned on his heel and practically ran in the direction of Snyder's office, Xander trailing confusedly behind having missed the conversation in the room. Jenny had something of an idea why Snyder had wanted to talk to Buffy, and if her suspicion was right…well she hoped Snyder had medical insurance…

Buffy was near tears as the short man, principal Snyder she thought, paced in front of her. She'd been surprised when she'd been called out of class; she'd thought maybe she'd missed a section on one of the seemingly endless amount of forms she'd had to fill out just to get in the school. She'd been even more confused when she'd been led into the principal's office by one of the admin staff who was wearing a suspiciously sympathetic expression. It had only taken one look at the man who looked up from his desk as she walked in to know that she was in trouble for some reason, not that she could think of anything she had done. When he nodded to a chair she took a seat, fiddling with her notebook to avoid looking at him. She'd heard stories about this man from Spike and his friends and she knew they hated him, and right now she felt they had good reason.

She sat there for a good five minutes before he even said a word, and when he did speak it was with a quiet menace. Physically the man was as far from threatening as a person could get – she'd dealt with much worse after all. But there was something in his manner that told her his power came form somewhere else, not a physical strength, but he had the power to make lives difficult, hers and others…and he wanted her to know it.

"Well Miss Orelius…" He began, and Buffy's head instantly snapped up to look upon his smiling face. It wasn't a pleasant, teasing, sexy smirk like Spike's. This was as smile born of menace and self-satisfaction. He shouldn't have known that name! She'd enrolled as Buffy Summers, using Spike's name to get into the school. Nobody here in Sunnydale knew that name since she had told no one. Hearing Snyder say it confirmed her fear that nothing good was going to come of this meeting. "Is something wrong?" Snyder sneered upon seeing her discomfort. Had the man had a soul he would have know he was treading on very dangerous ground, but he saw revenge in front of his eyes and very little else.

Buffy shook her head, trying to act as if he hadn't caused her heart rate to double in panic, but she could see he wasn't buying it. "As you can tell I've been doing my research." Snyder told her almost conversationally. "You see the police of Sunnydale are deeply stupid! It wouldn't occur to them to see it as more than a coincidence that my antique watch goes missing the same day that worthless Summers boy drags you out of the ocean."

Buffy shook her head in confusion. She really had no idea what this man was talking about. She'd never asked Spike why he happened to be at the docks when she needed saving and he had never offered the information, but obviously Snyder knew something she didn't. "I knew you couldn't be from around here. Didn't take me long to find a girl missing your description a few towns over. Your Aunt has been worried sick." When the look of pure fear crossed Buffy's face Snyder knew he had something to hold over her, something that would make her willing to co-operate.

"Now," Snyder said, after giving her enough time for the information he provided to sink in, "I might be convinced to keep this knowledge to myself…if you can do something for me in return. Tell me what Summers was doing down at the docks the night he pulled you out of the water."

Buffy was very worried. How the hell was she supposed to answer that? And what would Snyder do if she said something he didn't like? Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that he shouldn't be threatening her like this but she was too nervous to think about it. He could call Dru and she would loose everything. Spike, her new friends, the home that she had made here. Hands shaking, she opened her notebook and began to write. I don't know why he was there. At least it was the truth!

Snyder however was obviously unimpressed with this response. "Don't cover for him! I know he took my watch! Just tell the truth so I don't have to make a call to your aunt!"

Buffy felt the first tears begin to fall. She honestly didn't know what Snyder was talking about but she didn't doubt his threats. She knew however that even if she did have some kind of evidence that Spike had taken this watch – threatening her for a watch for God's sake! – she wouldn't tell this troll anything about it. He obviously deserved whatever happened to him. No way was she going to speak out against the man who had done nothing but protect and care for her…no matter what he threatened. I don't know anything! She reiterated quickly.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Snyder yelled quite loudly for such a little person, making Buffy flinch back in her seat. Images and sounds flooded her mind and she was powerless to stop them…

"Stupid Girl!" Liam roared as he pulled her from the car. "What did we tell you about stealing food from the cafeteria? You want them to put you in prison? You know what they do to girls like you in prison don't you?" he sneered as the sobs were pulled from Buffy's throat, her aching shoulders heaving with exhaustion.

Buffy shook her head in an emphatic denial but by this time Dru had gotten out of the passenger side door and slapped Buffy painfully across the face. "LIAR!" Dru screamed, heedless of any neighbours who might hear. Buffy knew it wouldn't matter – people had a tendency to turn a blind eye to things they'd rather not know about.

"I…"Buffy began, but was instantly cut off by another, harder slap from Dru.

"Did I say you could speak?" She asked menacingly. Buffy shook her head knowing that she had broken one of Dru's rules – Don't speak unless your told to, do as you are told, don't make eye contact with people who are better than you, don't dare say a word to anyone about what goes on behind closed doors and so on. The last rule was of course left unspoken, but the vague threats had been enough to let Buffy know that trying to get help would have disastrous, not to mention painful consequences. Most of the time Buffy stayed quiet – in theory you couldn't get in trouble for things you hadn't said or done…but then since when did life fit the theory?

She really hadn't stolen the food from the school cafeteria, but she'd had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As she'd been walking through the dining hall after delivering a message to a member of staff in the opposite end of the building the missing cupcakes had been discovered. Since she was in the room at the time she had instantly been blamed. She often wondered what she'd done to make the staff at school so eager to blame her, it didn't occur to her that it was simply easier to blame her than to look for a culprit. She was forever missing school so it was instantly assumed she skipped and was a troublemaker. No body wanted to read more into the situation than surface level.

"Why did you do it?" Liam asked as they entered the house, his voice deceptively calm.

Finally given permission to speak Buffy tried to sound as sincere as possible, despite knowing that she had already been convicted of a crime she didn't commit. No matter what she said it would make no difference, but she had to try. "I didn't." She spoke quietly, almost a whisper.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Liam yelled, not pausing as his first fist flew. As the blows continued to fall his yell permeated Buffy's fog filled mind. "Don't Lie! If you can't speak the truth don't speak at all! You're pathetic! You make us do this! Why can't you be a good girl?" On and on he went, his angry words landing as heavily as his hands, the unpleasant lullaby that lulled her into the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness…

Buffy was sobbing, though it was not Snyder's words that held her in fear. Oh he contributed, reminding her that the life she had started to enjoy and take for granted was all too fragile. It was only a matter of time now before they found her and took her back. She couldn't tell Snyder what he wanted to know and he would punish her for it, as Dru and Liam punished her when she did wrong. And she was wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…

Spike was in a panic as he flew through the secretary's office, ignoring her protests, and strait into Snyder's office. His eyes immediately fell to Buffy who was sobbing, rocking backwards and forwards on her chair, and silently mouthing a single word over and over again. His gaze moved to Snyder who had stopped yelling for her to snap out of it as he realised just who had barged in, his eyes widening with something akin to fear as he saw the rage in the teens eyes. He backed away several steps, putting more space between them. Spike ignored him for now and kneeled down in front of Buffy.

"Buffy, Baby?" He asked quietly, trying to sound reassuring instead of the panic and anger he felt. "Baby what's wrong?" When she didn't even seem to notice him, just looked over his shoulder and continued her silent chanting he gently took her face in his hands and pulled her face to his. "Buffy?" He asked again, but all he was met with was an empty gaze – Buffy wasn't home right now…

Buffy was wrapped up in her memories as the present day continued to play around her. She was oblivious to anything that had happened after Snyder had begun yelling. She didn't see Spike run into the room, she didn't notice him trying to get her attention. She didn't see him lunge at Snyder, demanding to know what he had done to her, only to be held back by a newly arrived Xander. She didn't hear Xander begging Spike not to make things worse. She wasn't even aware when strong arms lifted her up and carried out of the building to be placed in the front seat of Spike's prized Desoto. All she knew were her memories, and the certainty that her pleasant knew life was about to come crashing down around her.

A/N: Tense ne? Yeah I thought so. Sorry it took a while but I was sulking due to the lack of response to my other fic. I'm thinking of letting it go actually – maybe two is my limit…And I know this really doesn't fit here but I felt the need to rant. Forgive me? Well I hope you liked this chapter, please let me know. Love you all!