Murderer Too Young
Chapter 5 – Betrayal
Author's Note: Ok, this part is gonna boil some blood. I made it as long as I could but I plan on having one more part after this one. Maybe two. At any rate, read and review and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own BtVS or AtS. All belongs to the genius that is Joss.
After watching Buffy walk away from his house, from him, Angel did all he could to try not to break something. His life was crumbling right before his eyes and no matter what he tried to do to fix it, it just kept breaking.
Deciding to take a walk, he grabbed his coat and headed off toward downtown Sunnydale. Halfway there, he got an urge and he turned around and headed toward Restfield Cemetery.
Arriving at the grave, he knelt down on the bench that stood near Riley's plot. He didn't know why he was here. But he did know he had to be. Riley's face would stay with him forever, but he thought that by doing this, he'd get some peace for a while.
"Hey," he said to the nice marble headstone. "I know, you're probably wondering why I'm here. And to tell the truth, I have no idea either. But I need to say something to you that I should have just told you in the hallway in between classes instead of picking a fight with you." He paused, looking at the ground.
"I'm sorry. I never wanted you dead. I was just trying to protect her. I didn't want her to be with a rich kid jock. See, I was actually trying to get her too. So I wanted to prove I was better," he continued. "But hey, we both lost. Instead, Spike got her. Yeah, I know. I actually would prefer you, but that's just my opinion."
With that, Angel stood from the bench. He walked away from Riley's gave, and didn't look back.
Angel felt awful. He spent have the night up because he just couldn't sleep. The image of Spike and Buffy together haunted his thoughts the whole night. Not only that, but his talk with Buffy weighed down heavily as well. He didn't know what he would say to her when he saw her at school. Would she avoid him now? He wished things were just easier so he could think for a whole 5 minutes without his head exploding.
When he drove to Buffy's house, he waited at least ten minutes before he realized she wasn't coming. Now he had reason to believe she would try to stay away from him today.
When he got to school, he walked to his locker, pulled out his English book and walked slowly to class. The bell rang and he sat down next to Xander.
"You look like shit," Xander told him when he sat down. Angel just wanted to laugh at that. If Xander only knew why.
"Yeah, rough night," he replied. He glanced at the front of the room where Willow and Buffy were sitting. They were in the middle of a conversation and he noticed that Willow would occasionally glance back at Angel before continuing to listen.
"Hey, is this about Buffy and Spike? Because if it is, you really need to let it not get to you. It's just a thing right now. Buffy will see how Spike really is and in a few days time, that'll be old news," Xander said. Angel looked over at Xander and sighed.
"You think?" he asked. Xander patted his buddy's shoulder.
"For the sake of my sanity, I sure hope so," he replied. Angel was about to say something when Xander frowned.
"What?" Angel asked. Xander pointed behind him.
"Snyder. Wonder what the rodent wants," he said. Angel turned to look over at the Principal. Snyder made eye contact with Angel and seemed to almost smile with glee. Angel didn't like that look.
"O'Connor. My office, now," he said. Xander looked over at Angel and gave him a 'what'd you do?' look. Angel shrugged and gathered his notebook and book. He passed Buffy and Willow and could feel their stares.
When he was in the hallway, he was tackled from behind and pushed into the row of lockers. He grunted in pain and hissed at the sting from the cut he knew was now on his forehead.
"What the?" he asked. He turned his head slightly to see one police officer holding him down while another secured handcuffs around his wrists.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law..." the second police officer said. Angel looked up at Snyder, who looked as though he won the lottery.
"No use struggling," Snyder said. "You're not getting out of this."
Angel was hoisted to his feet and led toward Snyder's office. People stared at him along the way, all wondering what Angel O'Connor could have done to get arrested.
When they entered the office, Angel sat in a chair and watched as the door was closed. Two more officers joined them and Snyder sat down in his seat.
"Do you know why you're here?" he asked Angel. "Even a guess as to why I pulled you out of class and had two officers here handcuff you?"
"Maybe you're making a mistake. I didn't do anything," Angel growled. Snyder laughed.
"No need to lie. We have full proof to what you did. But before we get into you're act of trouble, did you really think you'd get away with it?" A hole formed at the bottom of Angel's stomach but he was determined to look innocent.
"With what?" he said, trying to keep his voice calm. He kept getting the urge to get up and knock that stupid smirk off of Snyder's face. Unlucky for him, using his hands was not an option.
"This morning, I received a visit from an interesting person. He told me quite a tale, one that I didn't believe until he showed me this," Snyder said, placing a sheet of notebook paper in front of Angel.
Angel stopped breathing when he looked at the paper. There, in his writing, was the suicide note. The words he wrote in order to get any type of evidence leading to him out of the picture. But there it was.
And now he knew he was toast.
"Send him in," Snyder said into his desk intercom. The door opened and one of the office ladies led Spike into the office.
Angel took one look at him and nearly lunged.
"You sonuvabitch!" he yelled, trying to break the handcuffs so he could beat Spike to death. "You betrayed me! You set me up!"
Spike took a few steps back and watched as two officers held Angel back and forced him to sit.
"That's enough O'Connor," Snyder said. "Crawford here informed me that he found this exact replica of Riley Finn's "suicide" note in your locker. I've already compared writing and it matched exactly. He also tells me that you stole his knife and used it to wound Finn right before you locked him inside the cafeteria freezer."
Angel was beyond pissed. This was just about the lowest thing anyone had ever done to him. Spike had not only stolen the one thing he has wanted for years, but he now betrayed him and set him up as a murderer.
That's when things started to fall into place. Why else had Spike been so eager in helping him into getting rid of Riley? Spike had this whole thing planned from the start. Injure Riley, lock him into a freezer, have Angel write a rough draft of the note, and then as soon as he got Buffy, turn the game around and have all the evidence point to Angel.
Angel didn't know how he didn't see it from the start. Especially that night. Why didn't he think when Spike told him to write a copy of the note? Who writes a rough draft of a suicide note? Apparently Angel did and now, Spike was using that fact to his advantage.
"Anything you have to say for yourself?" Snyder asked Angel, wide smirk planted right on his rodent face. Angel looked over at Spike and just wished he could make Spike's head explode with his mind.
"No," was all he said. Spike smirked and looked to Snyder.
"What's gonna happen to him?" he asked. Snyder looked giddy at the thought of explaining Angel's fate.
"Prison obviously. He's 18, and now legally old enough to end up there. As far as his record here, expelled. If I know the Governor, and I actually do, he won't be allowed in any school in the state. Tonight though, he'll probably spend the night in jail," he said. "Well, if everything here is taken care of, I have some phone calls to make. Parents first, then the family of Riley is next. They deserve to know who killed their son."
The police officers hoisted Angel up and led him out into the office. Spike decided to tag along, grinning the whole way until they reached the hallway. Once they walked into the hall, Angel groaned to see that most of the school was standing there. Including his friends. Xander, Willow, and Buffy were immediately walking with him.
"Angel? What the hell is going on? Why are the cops here? Why are they taking you?" Xander asked, trying to keep up with the officers that were escorting Angel toward the exit.
"Angel? What happened?" Buffy demanded. "Tell me."
Angel stopped walking and turned to face his friends. "I..." he got out.
"Attention all students. This is your Principal speaking. It is with great sadness to inform all of you that Riley Finn was in fact murdered. His killer was one of our own. Several officers of the Sunnydale PD are now escorting him off campus. Thank you," came the voice of Snyder.
The whole hall became silent. Angel had to close his eyes so he didn't have to look his friends in the eye.
"Please tell me that I just heard a lie?" Xander asked aloud, eyes never leaving Angel. Willow shook her head in denial and slowly backed away from Angel.
"Spare yourself the pain and just don't look at me," Angel mumbled to them. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the pain and betrayal in Buffy's eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said to her. "I'm sorry you have to hear this-"
"Push off now Peaches. Don't you ever look at her again," Spike said to him, coming from behind Buffy and putting his arms around her. "Don't listen to him luv. He's been lying to you."
"Get your filthy hands off her!" Angel growled at him. Spike just held her closer.
"I trusted you. You were my best friend," she managed to say.
All eyes were on him as the police officers walked him out of the hallway and to the police car.
His cell was cold. It was already night and the cold autumn air seeped through from the outside.
He already saw his parents, who glanced at him while they talked with the police chief. When his father tried to ask him why he did it, Angel just sat on the bed and stared at the wall. His mother had cried the whole time. He didn't dare look at them in the eye.
He was too busy thinking of how to get his revenge.
"Angel?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Angel turned to the bars and saw Xander. His friend looked like he found out his puppy died. It really pained Angel to see his best friend looking at him like that, but he completely understood. If roles were switched, he'd a looked at Xander the same way.
"Didn't think I'd ever see you again," Angel said quietly. Xander put his hands in his pockets.
"Not to sound like a grown up scolding a child here, but why'd you do it? I mean, I've known you forever. I never thought you'd do something like this. Hell, I would have thought Willow a killer before you," Xander said.
"I wish things didn't have to go like this," Angel said. "I never wanted you guys to find out like that."
"I know you didn't like the guy. I didn't either. But kill him? Please tell me that you didn't do it and this is all some big, mistake," Xander begged.
Angel stood up for the first time in hours and walked over toward his friend.
"Don't let Spike touch her. If you ever do anything for me again, do this. Don't let Spike anywhere near Buffy. I want you to tell that bastard off and kick his ass for me," he told Xander.
"I know you're mad at Spike for turning you in but-"
"You don't know anything. I promise I will tell you the truth. But first, I need you to do this for me," Angel said coldly. Xander sighed.
"Sure man. I hate the guy probably as much as you do. I'll make sure Buffy isn't within 100 feet from him," he promised. Angel slipped his hand between the bars for Xander to shake. Looking him right in the eyes, Xander took Angel's hand and shook it firmly.
"Thank you," Angel said. Xander nodded once and let go. With a silent goodbye, Xander turned and walked back to the exit door. The guard let him through the door and then he was gone.
Thanks to everyone who has responded to this story thus far. Been a big support system for me. I will get the next part of Desert Tales by Friday. I'm currently in summer school right now and so I'll use the time I do have to finish this one and continue with that one. One last part left. Until next time...
Chapter 5 – Betrayal
Author's Note: Ok, this part is gonna boil some blood. I made it as long as I could but I plan on having one more part after this one. Maybe two. At any rate, read and review and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own BtVS or AtS. All belongs to the genius that is Joss.
After watching Buffy walk away from his house, from him, Angel did all he could to try not to break something. His life was crumbling right before his eyes and no matter what he tried to do to fix it, it just kept breaking.
Deciding to take a walk, he grabbed his coat and headed off toward downtown Sunnydale. Halfway there, he got an urge and he turned around and headed toward Restfield Cemetery.
Arriving at the grave, he knelt down on the bench that stood near Riley's plot. He didn't know why he was here. But he did know he had to be. Riley's face would stay with him forever, but he thought that by doing this, he'd get some peace for a while.
"Hey," he said to the nice marble headstone. "I know, you're probably wondering why I'm here. And to tell the truth, I have no idea either. But I need to say something to you that I should have just told you in the hallway in between classes instead of picking a fight with you." He paused, looking at the ground.
"I'm sorry. I never wanted you dead. I was just trying to protect her. I didn't want her to be with a rich kid jock. See, I was actually trying to get her too. So I wanted to prove I was better," he continued. "But hey, we both lost. Instead, Spike got her. Yeah, I know. I actually would prefer you, but that's just my opinion."
With that, Angel stood from the bench. He walked away from Riley's gave, and didn't look back.
Angel felt awful. He spent have the night up because he just couldn't sleep. The image of Spike and Buffy together haunted his thoughts the whole night. Not only that, but his talk with Buffy weighed down heavily as well. He didn't know what he would say to her when he saw her at school. Would she avoid him now? He wished things were just easier so he could think for a whole 5 minutes without his head exploding.
When he drove to Buffy's house, he waited at least ten minutes before he realized she wasn't coming. Now he had reason to believe she would try to stay away from him today.
When he got to school, he walked to his locker, pulled out his English book and walked slowly to class. The bell rang and he sat down next to Xander.
"You look like shit," Xander told him when he sat down. Angel just wanted to laugh at that. If Xander only knew why.
"Yeah, rough night," he replied. He glanced at the front of the room where Willow and Buffy were sitting. They were in the middle of a conversation and he noticed that Willow would occasionally glance back at Angel before continuing to listen.
"Hey, is this about Buffy and Spike? Because if it is, you really need to let it not get to you. It's just a thing right now. Buffy will see how Spike really is and in a few days time, that'll be old news," Xander said. Angel looked over at Xander and sighed.
"You think?" he asked. Xander patted his buddy's shoulder.
"For the sake of my sanity, I sure hope so," he replied. Angel was about to say something when Xander frowned.
"What?" Angel asked. Xander pointed behind him.
"Snyder. Wonder what the rodent wants," he said. Angel turned to look over at the Principal. Snyder made eye contact with Angel and seemed to almost smile with glee. Angel didn't like that look.
"O'Connor. My office, now," he said. Xander looked over at Angel and gave him a 'what'd you do?' look. Angel shrugged and gathered his notebook and book. He passed Buffy and Willow and could feel their stares.
When he was in the hallway, he was tackled from behind and pushed into the row of lockers. He grunted in pain and hissed at the sting from the cut he knew was now on his forehead.
"What the?" he asked. He turned his head slightly to see one police officer holding him down while another secured handcuffs around his wrists.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law..." the second police officer said. Angel looked up at Snyder, who looked as though he won the lottery.
"No use struggling," Snyder said. "You're not getting out of this."
Angel was hoisted to his feet and led toward Snyder's office. People stared at him along the way, all wondering what Angel O'Connor could have done to get arrested.
When they entered the office, Angel sat in a chair and watched as the door was closed. Two more officers joined them and Snyder sat down in his seat.
"Do you know why you're here?" he asked Angel. "Even a guess as to why I pulled you out of class and had two officers here handcuff you?"
"Maybe you're making a mistake. I didn't do anything," Angel growled. Snyder laughed.
"No need to lie. We have full proof to what you did. But before we get into you're act of trouble, did you really think you'd get away with it?" A hole formed at the bottom of Angel's stomach but he was determined to look innocent.
"With what?" he said, trying to keep his voice calm. He kept getting the urge to get up and knock that stupid smirk off of Snyder's face. Unlucky for him, using his hands was not an option.
"This morning, I received a visit from an interesting person. He told me quite a tale, one that I didn't believe until he showed me this," Snyder said, placing a sheet of notebook paper in front of Angel.
Angel stopped breathing when he looked at the paper. There, in his writing, was the suicide note. The words he wrote in order to get any type of evidence leading to him out of the picture. But there it was.
And now he knew he was toast.
"Send him in," Snyder said into his desk intercom. The door opened and one of the office ladies led Spike into the office.
Angel took one look at him and nearly lunged.
"You sonuvabitch!" he yelled, trying to break the handcuffs so he could beat Spike to death. "You betrayed me! You set me up!"
Spike took a few steps back and watched as two officers held Angel back and forced him to sit.
"That's enough O'Connor," Snyder said. "Crawford here informed me that he found this exact replica of Riley Finn's "suicide" note in your locker. I've already compared writing and it matched exactly. He also tells me that you stole his knife and used it to wound Finn right before you locked him inside the cafeteria freezer."
Angel was beyond pissed. This was just about the lowest thing anyone had ever done to him. Spike had not only stolen the one thing he has wanted for years, but he now betrayed him and set him up as a murderer.
That's when things started to fall into place. Why else had Spike been so eager in helping him into getting rid of Riley? Spike had this whole thing planned from the start. Injure Riley, lock him into a freezer, have Angel write a rough draft of the note, and then as soon as he got Buffy, turn the game around and have all the evidence point to Angel.
Angel didn't know how he didn't see it from the start. Especially that night. Why didn't he think when Spike told him to write a copy of the note? Who writes a rough draft of a suicide note? Apparently Angel did and now, Spike was using that fact to his advantage.
"Anything you have to say for yourself?" Snyder asked Angel, wide smirk planted right on his rodent face. Angel looked over at Spike and just wished he could make Spike's head explode with his mind.
"No," was all he said. Spike smirked and looked to Snyder.
"What's gonna happen to him?" he asked. Snyder looked giddy at the thought of explaining Angel's fate.
"Prison obviously. He's 18, and now legally old enough to end up there. As far as his record here, expelled. If I know the Governor, and I actually do, he won't be allowed in any school in the state. Tonight though, he'll probably spend the night in jail," he said. "Well, if everything here is taken care of, I have some phone calls to make. Parents first, then the family of Riley is next. They deserve to know who killed their son."
The police officers hoisted Angel up and led him out into the office. Spike decided to tag along, grinning the whole way until they reached the hallway. Once they walked into the hall, Angel groaned to see that most of the school was standing there. Including his friends. Xander, Willow, and Buffy were immediately walking with him.
"Angel? What the hell is going on? Why are the cops here? Why are they taking you?" Xander asked, trying to keep up with the officers that were escorting Angel toward the exit.
"Angel? What happened?" Buffy demanded. "Tell me."
Angel stopped walking and turned to face his friends. "I..." he got out.
"Attention all students. This is your Principal speaking. It is with great sadness to inform all of you that Riley Finn was in fact murdered. His killer was one of our own. Several officers of the Sunnydale PD are now escorting him off campus. Thank you," came the voice of Snyder.
The whole hall became silent. Angel had to close his eyes so he didn't have to look his friends in the eye.
"Please tell me that I just heard a lie?" Xander asked aloud, eyes never leaving Angel. Willow shook her head in denial and slowly backed away from Angel.
"Spare yourself the pain and just don't look at me," Angel mumbled to them. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the pain and betrayal in Buffy's eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said to her. "I'm sorry you have to hear this-"
"Push off now Peaches. Don't you ever look at her again," Spike said to him, coming from behind Buffy and putting his arms around her. "Don't listen to him luv. He's been lying to you."
"Get your filthy hands off her!" Angel growled at him. Spike just held her closer.
"I trusted you. You were my best friend," she managed to say.
All eyes were on him as the police officers walked him out of the hallway and to the police car.
His cell was cold. It was already night and the cold autumn air seeped through from the outside.
He already saw his parents, who glanced at him while they talked with the police chief. When his father tried to ask him why he did it, Angel just sat on the bed and stared at the wall. His mother had cried the whole time. He didn't dare look at them in the eye.
He was too busy thinking of how to get his revenge.
"Angel?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Angel turned to the bars and saw Xander. His friend looked like he found out his puppy died. It really pained Angel to see his best friend looking at him like that, but he completely understood. If roles were switched, he'd a looked at Xander the same way.
"Didn't think I'd ever see you again," Angel said quietly. Xander put his hands in his pockets.
"Not to sound like a grown up scolding a child here, but why'd you do it? I mean, I've known you forever. I never thought you'd do something like this. Hell, I would have thought Willow a killer before you," Xander said.
"I wish things didn't have to go like this," Angel said. "I never wanted you guys to find out like that."
"I know you didn't like the guy. I didn't either. But kill him? Please tell me that you didn't do it and this is all some big, mistake," Xander begged.
Angel stood up for the first time in hours and walked over toward his friend.
"Don't let Spike touch her. If you ever do anything for me again, do this. Don't let Spike anywhere near Buffy. I want you to tell that bastard off and kick his ass for me," he told Xander.
"I know you're mad at Spike for turning you in but-"
"You don't know anything. I promise I will tell you the truth. But first, I need you to do this for me," Angel said coldly. Xander sighed.
"Sure man. I hate the guy probably as much as you do. I'll make sure Buffy isn't within 100 feet from him," he promised. Angel slipped his hand between the bars for Xander to shake. Looking him right in the eyes, Xander took Angel's hand and shook it firmly.
"Thank you," Angel said. Xander nodded once and let go. With a silent goodbye, Xander turned and walked back to the exit door. The guard let him through the door and then he was gone.
Thanks to everyone who has responded to this story thus far. Been a big support system for me. I will get the next part of Desert Tales by Friday. I'm currently in summer school right now and so I'll use the time I do have to finish this one and continue with that one. One last part left. Until next time...