AN: Hey.
Wow, thanks for all the great reviews. I just love hearing from you guys. And look, I promised a longer chapter and here it is. Hope you guys enjoy.
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Chapter Four
Willow sat up on the overstuffed couch, nervously playing with the hem of her skirt as she bit down on the inside of her lip. There were a few other people present in the waiting room – an agent or two and some girl named Rona who had not stopped talking on her cell since the redhead had walked in – but the place was mostly empty.
The station's broadcast was being pumped in through unseen speakers, but the volume was so low that it became little more than background noise to the continuous phone rings followed by the receptionist's voice. The young woman popped her gum loudly, like answering the phone was an annoyance she had to deal with that was interrupting her more pressing business: filing her nails with an emery board.
The redhead glanced up at the large clock that was mounted on the wall. It looked like the one that was in all the classrooms back in high school, and was ticking away painfully slow and far too quickly at the same time. Each second that past meant that she was one second closer to being back with her boyfriend. However, each passing second also meant that it was getting closer and closer to her meeting with Buffy.
She was going to see the ex-waitress once they were finished here to discuss the job Willow had told her about. Buffy had been so excited that she had found one that she had failed to ask some of the important questions; 'Who exactly is William Barrett and how do you know him?' being the one that stood out the most. The only two things she had seemed to understand were a) she'd be working as a nanny, which means free room and board and b) she'd get to keep her top on. After that, she couldn't have cared less what Willow was babbling about.
That was Buffy for you. All excitement and nervous energy, up until she realized who she'd be working for, then…
God, Willow hoped there wouldn't be a homicide.
'Now, that's no way to think. Buffy is an adult. She will understand that she should put her disgust and hatred toward Spike aside. He was offering her a job after all. A good job and opportunities like these just didn't come along every day. Surely she won't jeopardize her future in LA because of some stupid little fight.
'Right?
'Oh, God. She's going to die. Buffy is going to kill Spike and then turn on her! Tomorrow's headline is going to read 'Rocker and Stupid Friend Die in Double Homicide.' And Buffy is poor, so she can afford a great lawyer, and she will spend the rest of her life in jail and it will be all Willow's fault because she felt sorry for Spike and his kids will be put into foster care because she got him killed and the band will-.'
A loud tapping caused the redhead to jump, throwing her out of her babbling train of thought. She turned sharply in her seat to the large, plate glass window that looked out onto one of the streets of LA. Buffy stood there, a large smile on her face as she waved to her friend. Before Willow could react, Buffy had disappeared down the street and made for the station's door.
"Hey, Wills," the blonde said in a bubbly tone, a shopping bag swinging at her side.
"Buffy!" The name came out as a strangled cry. Clearing her throat, Willow prayed that her friend hadn't noticed before she continued with a nervous tone. "What are you doing here? I-I though we were going to, you know, meet at the restaurant."
"We were," she confirmed, apparently having not taken notice of the tone. "But I wanted to get a new outfit before I met the boss so he wouldn't think that I'm not classy or something. I mean, he wants me to be a nanny, which means he's got money right? He wouldn't want some slob he pulled off the street looking after his kids. Well, I guess he kind of does, but I want to make a good first impression."
"They're actually his nieces and nephew," Willow heard herself saying, not really paying attention to her friend.
The interview the guys were at would be over in less than five minutes, and she had to get Buffy out of there before then.
She needed to prepare the blonde. She needed to prepare herself. She needed to be somewhere where there would be too many witnesses for Buffy to try anything!
"Really? Why does he have them?"
Willow glanced nervously toward the ceiling where the interview was being played. The guys were still talking with the DJ. Thank God Buffy hadn't noticed…yet.
"They're, um, parents died," the redhead informed her. "Car accident," she added before the blonde could ask.
"Oh, God, I'm sorry to hear that. And here I am so happy about getting a job and those poor kids-."
Willow tuned the blonde out, her hearing focusing in on the conversation above.
"I want to thank you guys for coming in. I know you've had a busy schedule lately and I'm glad you decided to squeeze us into it," the DJ said.
"No prob, Rob," Xander's voice answered, sounding as if he really was having fun.
"Right enjoyed it," Spike added.
Willow's eyes widened as Rob the DJ got the band to do the typical 'What's your favorite station' tag before she turned her attention back to the still babbling Buffy.
"You have to leave. Now!" the redhead blurted, spinning the blonde around and leading her towards the door.
"What?" Buffy asked, stumbling slightly from her friend's push. "Willow?"
After regaining her footing, the blonde turned a heated glare towards her. Normally, this would have caused Willow to worry, but she was even more terrified of what Buffy would do with the sudden introduction of the bane of her existence if the redhead didn't get rid of her now.
In the back of her mind, she was picturing Spike and Oz and the others coming out of the booth, laughing and talking with one another and the DJ. They'd shake hands, then head for the lobby where they had left her earlier. Anya would be trailing along with them, probably telling them what interview or show they had to do next. Then, they would round the front desk, and see her and Buffy and then…
Willow had to think of something fast. So, she blurted the first thing she thought of.
"Your hair!"
Buffy flinched from the outburst before an offended yet hurt look appeared on her face. Reaching up with her free hand, the blonde patted at her head, feeling for any bumps that might have arisen in the ponytail while she tried on outfits earlier.
"What's wrong with it?" Buffy asked, not able to find anything wrong.
"Well, um, it-it, ah…needs to be fixed. Yeah, that's it. You need to, ah, fix it before lunch. Yeah, 'cause, you know, first impression and all."
The redhead had such a large smile on her face that her cheeks literally hurt. It looked almost like she was baring her teeth at Buffy instead of smiling, which caused the blonde to raise an eyebrow at her friend.
"Are you feeling okay, Willow?" she asked cautiously.
"Fine," the waitress squeaked a little too quickly. Clearing her throat, she added, "I just want you to look your best."
Buffy continued to eye her friend. The look clearly said that she knew that Willow wasn't telling her something, but she didn't know what. The only thing the redhead could do was continue to smile, and pray that the blonde couldn't hear her pounding heart. Oh, and that Spike and the others had stopped to sign an autograph or for water or something to keep them away for just a few more minutes…
"O-kay," her friend said, drawing the word out slowly. Turning towards the door, she continued, "I guess I'll see you at the restaurant in a little while, then."
"Yeah," Willow agreed, hurrying forward to hold the door open for her. "Sampson at one-thirty. I'll be there waiting for you."
Buffy was still watching her suspiciously, but headed out into the street. "Alright. Bye, Wills."
"Bye, Buffy," the redhead called cheerily, doing her best to sound normal and failing at it miserably.
When the blonde rounded the corner, she dropped the act and slumped in relief. Buffy probably thought she was on crack or something, but at least she was gone for now. They still had an hour before the LA Massacre occurred.
"Goin' somewhere, Red?"
Willow whipped her head towards the voice and found the group standing beside the receptionist desk, staring at her oddly. Well, the guys were. Anya had her back to them, yacking away on her cell phone.
"Huh? Oh, no! I, ah, just saw a friend of mine is all."
"That the bird you were telling me about?"
Scrunching her nose, Willow looked to Oz. "Bird? What bird? There wasn't any bird."
"He means, was that the girl for the nanny job?" Xander explained, coming to join his new friend. He draped his arm across her shoulders. "You got to forgive Spike. He forgets sometimes that we speak normal English here in the good 'ole US of A. Not that funky Britishese that he likes."
After staring at the guitar player for a moment, the bleached blonde wondered aloud, "That hamster finally fell of the wheel and died, didn't it, Harris?"
"Hey!"
"Um, yeah, that was her," Willow said, glancing over her shoulder to the door as if by saying it, her friend would magically reappear. Swallowing hard, the redhead decided that perhaps she should start to prepare Spike for what was about to come. "There-there's something I should tell you about her, though."
"What? She a rabid fan?" Angel asked smugly, twisting his ever present drumstick in his hand.
"No, she's not a fan," Willow answered carefully, with a touch of guilt. Okay, she would just explain the situation. After all, it's not like Spike hadn't ever worked with someone who hated him before. "Buffy's-."
"Wills, I wanted to ask you, why are you at a…?"
The redhead felt her heart stop upon hearing her best friend's voice. Guess saying her name really was able to summon her.
In what felt like slow motion, she turned to face the blonde who had come back to the radio station. For a split second, Willow thought that perhaps she could just pretend like everything was normal; that her friend's evil rock star from hell was not standing right there. But no matter what Willow did, she knew it wasn't going to make a difference. Buffy's target had been acquired.
"You," the blonde hissed dangerously at the lead singer.
Xander moved away from Willow and towards the wall, his fear of the little blonde girl evident.
Angel stopped twirling the drumstick, his eyes wide as he stared at her.
Even Oz took a step to back out of her way.
The only one who hadn't noticed, of course, was Anya. She was still chatting away on her phone.
Spike tilted his head to the side, considering the young woman who had just wandered off the street and was staring at him like she was about to kill him.
"Do I know you?" he asked innocently.
Willow wouldn't be able to recall years later, for sure, but she would have sworn she heard Buffy growl, and not some little kitten growl either. It was a deep throat, predatory, 'I'm the lion, you're the slow moving water buffalo' kind of growl.
Oh, God. They were about to die.
From the waiting room, Willow heard that Rona girl say into her phone.
"I'm going to have to call you back. Some stupid white boy is about to be murdered in the lobby."
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Spike watched the young woman with a great deal of curiosity. There was something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on. She just looked so damn familiar, especially with that 'I'm about to kill you' look on her face. But, then, he knew a lot of women who bore that same expression whenever they came across him.
"Do you know me?" the angry blonde asked in a disbelieving tone. "Do you know me? Yeah, Spike, I'd say you do. You only ruined my life is all." Upon seeing that her statement did little to jog his memory, she added, "I know this might hurt, but think real hard. About a month back."
The bleached blonde considered her carefully. Blondes, blondes, who does he know that's blonde and from a month ago? What was that groupie girl's name from awhile back? The stupid one that lived up to the whole 'blonde' status…
"Harmony?"
Her eyes narrow a little, as something she said suddenly stuck him.
'You only ruined my life is all.'
"Bloody hell - You're not knocked up are you?"
That caused Anya to blink, the phrase catching her off guard enough to bring her into situation she had blocked out.
"Knocked up? Who's knocked up?" the agent asked as turned around to face the others. Though the statement went unheard, Anya said to the blonde, "Hey, I know you."
"'Cause I've got kids comin' out of my ears as is," Spike continued to ramble, the terrifying thought that he would actually have a genetic link to that bubble brained bint sending chills down his spine.
"Oh, like I would ever let you come near me, you bleached blonde mother-."
"Buffy!" Willow cut her off quickly, trying wedge herself between the two. The angry young woman turned her heated gaze on her friend, who was mentally kicking herself for being dumb enough to put herself in this situation. "Just…calm down, okay?"
Buffy's eyes widened for a moment from surprise that Willow, who knew how much she hated this guy, had actually told her to calm down; then they narrowed again. Something was up.
"Willow," she said carefully.
"You know this psycho, Red?"
The redhead felt her blood stop flowing in her veins.
Oh, so this was what it feels like right before you die.
Preparing herself for the worst, the young waitress watched as her friend's eyes grew to the size of saucers before Buffy exclaimed, "You know him?! You know him and didn't tell me?"
"Well…"
"Willow!"
"Well, I-I didn't meet him until, um…after, and-and you already hated him so much, and, ah, I couldn't exactly tell you cause…well, this, but he's really not that bad and-and you need the job, and I felt bad and, and-."
"Whoa, wait a minute, Red," the nearly forgotten singer said, cutting off her rambling. "Job?"
Nervously, the redhead grinned as she looked from one blonde to another. Their faces mirrored one another with that same 'this better involve a hit man of some sort' expression.
Swallowing hard, the young waitress answered, "Um, Buffy's the bird."
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If someone on the street happened to walk past the large window that looked into the radio station's lobby, they probably would have thought that the people inside were watching some weird tennis match. Every few seconds, as if they had practiced it, the group would collectively turn their heads to look at something, before returning them back to the original position. If the outside observer moved closer and peered inside, they would have seen the two blonds yelling at one another, or at the small redhead girl stuck between them. And, if they were to judge by the trapped girl, they probably would be grateful that the glass was soundproof. At least, mothers of small children would be.
Finally, the young female blonde had enough of whatever was said, turned on her heels, and headed out the door; the redhead following close behind, dragging the bleached blonde with her.
"No!" Buffy exclaimed for what seemed like the hundredth time as she stormed out onto the street.
"Buffy, wait!" Willow yelled, grabbing her friend's wrist to make her stop.
Spinning around to face the redhead, the blonde repeated, "No, Wills. No way. No how. Not going to happen. And nothing you say will change my mind."
"It's work for Spike or starvation."
"Fine. I choose starvation."
"Buffy…"
"Not like I'd hire you anyway," Spike said smugly, wondering exactly why Red had dragged him out there in the first place.
The little blonde turned her attention back to the rock star that had started this whole mess. Besides, she was more interesting in harming him than Willow.
"What's wrong with hiring me?!"
"Besides the fact that you're just a little off balanced?"
Offended, Buffy stammered angrily, "I am not off balanced! I'm Balance Girl! There's a whole lot of balance going on here, mister!"
"Right. I can clearly see that 'cause all stable people go around actin' like lunatics!" he bit sarcastically.
"Well, you obviously haven't been in LA for too long, now have you?" she snapped back. "You stupid bleached moron!"
"Oh, come up with that one all by yourself, love?"
"Bite me, Peroxide Boy."
"Bitch."
"Jerk."
"Harlot."
"No talent!"
"Trollop!"
"Punk rocker wannabe!"
"That's enough!" Willow screamed at the top of her lungs, bringing the two bickering blonde's attention back to the forgotten redhead.
They looked at her with wide eyes, appearing almost like small children who had just realized that their mother was tired of hearing them argue and was now ready to deal out a punishment. And Willow looked more than willing to do just that.
First, she turned to her long time friend.
"Buffy, you can take this good job that I found you, or change your name to Glitter, go work at the Moonlight Lounge downtown, and kiss just about any chance you had at becoming a well respected actress goodbye."
The little blonde swallowed hard at Will's statement. She was right, of course. Most people with checkered pasts didn't really get the good roles since there was too much chance of some sort of scandal.
And starvation really did sound kind of bad now that she thought about it.
Spike was about to protest that he would never hire this insolent little bint no matter what Red said, when Willow cut him off.
"And I have two words for you, mister. Cattle. Prod."
That shut up him.
They stood there in silence for a long moment, staring at the young woman that still stood between him. Both blonds had always known her as this kind hearted, quiet person, yet here she stood, appearing as if she was about ready to tear both of them apart if they said one more word.
Guess it's true what they say. It's always the quiet ones you have to watch out for.
"Now, are you two going to be nice? Or am I going to have to get mad?"
"We'll be good," Buffy assured her. She had never seen the redhead like this before and was rather afraid of what she would do if she and Spike got into it again. "No reason to get all vein-y on us. Right?"
The stupid little chit elbowed him hard in his side, causing Spike to wince in pain. He shot her a dirty look, but quickly went back to innocent school boy before answering, "Right."
Well, Red may have made a point that no one else was even considering taking the job, but he still didn't like the idea of hiring her. She was insolent, ill mannered, and obviously not all together from what he could tell.
Didn't matter much, he supposed. Dawn would have her running out of his life in no time. Guess the girl did come in handy sometimes after all.
Willow eyed them suspiciously, knowing full well that they wouldn't make it another hour before they would be at each others throats again. But they would just have to work it out themselves.
From inside the radio station, the group of onlookers had gathered in the front entrance to watch the rest of the exchange.
"Wow," Xander said once the argument had finally been settled. "Who knew Willow had in her? I through for sure that'd she be turned into Buffy Chow with a side of Spike."
"That's Spike for you. Brings out the worst in every woman," Angel shrugged dryly, going back to twirling the drumstick between his fingers.
"But Willow handled him and that Buffy girl well," Anya put in, nodding her head approvingly. "She'd make a great agent with that kind of attitude."
From the wall he was leaning against, Oz grinned proudly, but never said a word. Willow had taken care of the problem that they were all afraid of; even Anya hadn't wanted to get in the middle of the mess, but his girlfriend had. He couldn't be more proud of her.
And, besides, Willow was pretty hot when she was angry.
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