A/N I know near nothing about court cases, so I’ve been watching reruns of Law and Order for the last couple of well.... at least two hours or so.... And I did a little bit of research; so if anyone actually knows how a court case goes, please hesitate to yell profusely at me.

Thank you mz.sarJe, melluvben, and Slayerchick33 for reviewing!

Disclaimer: Why am I still typing this? Oh yeah, to avoid any court cases of my own....

Summary: Buffy's just a normal girl who's lost her way in the world, but what happens when another lost soul captures her heart, and refuses to give it back?

But It Feels So Right

Buffy looked around the court room, there were people she didn't know staring at her from the jury seats, and people she knew staring at her from behind. Gunn sat next to her, going through the evidence, the hospital 'check-up' report was on the top of his pile.

She cringed as she looked at it, there were pictures of her cuts and bruises on it, they had even wanted pictures of some of her scars, and the fact that she could remember, how she gotten each one of them made her sick.

Swallowing hard, she glanced behind her. Angel sat; next to a couple of cops who were also witnesses, on the isle behind her. He was going to be their best witness, besides Buffy's mother, who had reluctantly come to court, afraid of what was happening. Buffy's father sat at the other table set up for the defense, he was chatting quietly with his lawyer, and Buffy wondered how he could be so calm.

She on the other hand was so nervous, she was sure she was shaking in her chair. Her stomach churned uneasily as she thought of what the case meant. It meant she would have to admit to everyone what had happened, she didn't think she was ready. It had been a couple of weeks since she had first told Angel; she had been terrified of telling him, and she was supposed to be able to tell him anything. But the fact that she knew he was there, comforted her a little bit, and she realized something.

Being here also meant she was going to be free. Free to live normally without her father's constant abuse. She could go about life being normal if they won.

No, not if, when. She had to keep telling herself that they were going to win; that they had the evidence, and there was no way her father could weasel his way out of it. No way he could possibly deny what he did, and get away with it.

"All rise for the Honorable Judge Mathew." Said the bailiff from his standing position in front of the judge's stand.

Everyone stood, and the judge took his seat, surveying the crowd. "You may sit." He said, banging his gavel.

And everyone sat back down, except for Gunn, and all eyes were now on him. He looked up at the judge, and moved from his seat to stand in front of the table. He motioned to the bailiff, and the cop approached him.

"Your Honor, I would like to introduce this case as one of abuse. My client, Ms. Summers," he motioned to Buffy, "Has made the claim that her father, Hank Summers, abused her both physically and mentally since she was a Juvenal."

Gunn grabbed her medical records off of the table, "If I may?" he asked, Judge Mathew nodded, and he handed the bailiff the folder full of papers.

The bailiff placed the folder in front of the judge, and he opened it, looking through the photos, and skimming the reports as Gunn continued to speak.

"As these hospital records show, Ms. Summers here, has been admitted to a medical facility more than a dozen times with serious bruises. Let it be known, that each time she was admitted to a hospital, it was in a different town, and no records were transferred." He said.

The judge glanced at Gunn, and handed the folder to the bailiff, who gave it back to him. Gunn set it on the table before continuing.

"My client has told me she has moved around a lot, her family would leave a town as soon as anyone asked about her limping, or if she had a large bruise. They left without telling anyone, not even the friends she had made in the different towns...."

As Gunn told the jury and judge about how she had described to him about the moving, and the suspicions of the people she knew, Buffy glanced at the jury, all of them seemed to be listening to her lawyer intently, and considering the evidence.

It had already been pretty much proven that her father had hit her, but she wasn't exactly sure how the court system worked. She knew Gunn did though, so she stayed silent for the time being.

Gunn finished his speech, and grabbed some more papers. Buffy knew one of them was a witness list, but she wasn't sure what a couple of the others were. Maybe something to do with reluctant witnesses, who couldn't appear in court, or maybe it was the list of things Buffy had told Gunn she wanted out of this case. She would just have to listen to find out.

"In my hand I hold a list of witnesses, who have either directly dealt with Ms. Summers in their clinics, or have personally seem the beatings take place. Some of the witnesses were unreachable, but a couple or them are present today." Gunn said, glancing to where Angel, three doctors, and about six or so cops sat. "Seeing as my case has been set out, I will rest until the witnesses are called to stand."

The judge nodded, and Gunn sat down, he glanced at Buffy and smiled, she smiled back, but it soon faded when her father's lawyer stood up.

He began to speak, and Buffy couldn't believe the words that came from the man's mouth. Did he know that her father was a lying bastard? Or was he just in this case because he had been forced to?

"My client," He nodded to Hank, "Does not deny he hit his daughter, however, he has stated to me that it hasn't happened as often as Ms. Summers states. He has said that it is true that have moved a lot as well, but that is due to the fact that his job required moving for promotions, and after a hardship there, he was let go and is currently looking for work."

The Judge's facial expression didn't change during the case once, nor did the jury's, and Buffy was wondering if that was a good thing.

Her father's lawyer kept going on about how this case could not be considered abuse, because his daughter was never injured enough, or for some other reason. Buffy wasn't exactly sure, because he was using a lot of overly large words, which she figured were there to make him look like her knew what he was talking about, and also made him seem right.

She was getting angrier every time he said that she had not been abused. And that witness had just witnessed a normal verbal fight that they would at any other household when two people were upset. She gritted her teeth, and took a deep breath, like hell her father hadn't done what she said he'd done, and he was even such a coward that he would lie about it to those who knew different.

A recess was called about a half an hour after Hank's lawyer had begun speaking so that both parties could speak with and go over evidence with their clients. Buffy was reeling after listening to how her father had made that man lie about such things. She knew the recess was going to last a full eighteen hours, and she didn't know whether or not she was relieved to be out that room, or mad that she couldn't prove her father wrong right then and there.

As soon as Buffy had spoken with Gunn, she had gone to find Angel. She saw him sitting outside on a bench, talking with his cousin. As soon as she came over, Spike got up, and walked away. Buffy silently thanked him as Angel looked up at her.

"Hey." She said softly, sitting down next to him.

"How you doing?" he asked, and she frowned slightly.

"I can't believe he's denying it. I mean, there's so much evidence against him, why can't he just let me win, and leave me alone?" she asked, not really expecting her boyfriend to answer, just needed to ask the question.

"I don't know. Some people are like that. He's just mad because he lost his power over you, and that was probably something he didn't want." Angel said, "But Buffy you have to remember, men like your father, they have problems, and you're just going to have to beat him here, and make him realize that."

"I know, that's what Gunn keeps saying, well, about the part where I have to win and stuff. I'm not really sure what that means though."

"It means you wont have to live with your father anymore. He wont be legally allowed to be your legal guardian anymore." Angel said.

"I know, but still, this is just all so.... So weird to me. Like, it's really not happening, but it is...." She said, looking up at him, "And all I want is for it to be over."

She leaned against him, and sighed as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead.

"I know, but just wait, in a couple of days it'll all be over, and you won't ever have to think about it again." He said, and Buffy smiled, it was great to just sit in Angel's arms, especially because he was just so nice to her all the time. He was nice, comforting, and strong for her, and she never even had to ask.

"Thank you Angel." She said.

"For what?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Just for being here, for everything you've done." She said, and he smiled.

"You don't have to thank me Buffy." He told her, but she shook her head, and moved out of his arms.

"Yes I do, and don't think that what you've done doesn't mean anything, or was nothing, because it meant a lot to me, just having you here with me."

He smiled at her, but didn't answer, instead, hugged her close to him again, until they both decided to go home and get some rest.