AN: Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews!
Chapter 26
The sun had already been down an hour by the time Angel turned his car onto the road that lead to his beach house. Though it was better to return to town with Buffy at night, he'd have rather gotten home hours ago. Between their outing yesterday, and everything that had happened today, he was exhausted. He knew Buffy was as well. She'd slept most of the trip back to Sunnydale, but was now awake, silently staring out the car's side window.
Angel couldn't blame Buffy for her morose mood. The meeting with the FBI earlier this morning had gone well, but it had been draining. Angel couldn't help but wish the timing had been better. The trip to Santa Monica yesterday had done so much for her. By the end of the day, she'd been laughing and smiling as if all was right in the world. Then the call from Gunn had come, requesting that they meet with the investigating team.
From that point on, Buffy had become quiet and withdrawn. He hated that her perfect day had been ruined. It couldn't have been helped, though. If Buffy ever wanted to be freed from the chains that kept her existence secret, she needed the FBI's help. She'd gone willing to the meeting, but it was obvious to Angel that she would have rather not been there.
As requested by Buffy, her friends Willow, Spike and Xander had driven up to LA and met them before hand. They'd been more than willing to help in any way they could, and their support had bolstered Buffy's courage. The five of them had had breakfast at the hotel Angel had checked himself and Buffy into for the night and then gone to the FBI's field office in Los Angeles.
The meeting had been, in a word, long. For three hours the investigating team Gunn had gone to questioned Buffy and her friends. Angel was mostly a bystander until his role in the whole thing came into play. The rest of the time, he'd simply offered moral support to Buffy as she'd faced down the stoic men in suits asking her to recount the last seven years of her life.
In order to get as clear a picture as possible, the agents had asked Buffy to start at the very beginning: the day Cameron Walker raped her. Though seven years had passed since that horrible day, it hadn't been easy for Buffy to verbally recall the horrible event. But she'd done it, and then gone on to relay all of the things that had happened afterwards. Between her, Willow, Spike and Xander, they'd given the agents a detailed history of how Buffy had been ostracized, harassed and condemned.
From there, they'd moved on to the murders of Joyce, Dawn, and Owen Giles. Buffy was only able to give meager of details about the deaths of her family members. Until recently, she'd only known what had happened that night. Her friends had conveyed to the agents what had happened afterwards, what was said in town, what they'd believed, and such. All Buffy had been able to add was that she'd lived in the attic of her house, sneaking out occasionally at night, and knowing only that her mother, sister, and brother were dead.
Angel picked up the story from there, relaying about his move to Sunnydale, about seeing a figure on the beach, and about how the people in town had acted when he'd questioned them about the person. He explained hearing about the ghost story, meeting Willow and Spike and hearing about Buffy Giles, and then all that had occurred afterwards, including finding out that Buffy was really alive and being hidden by her father.
Though the ordeal had been tiring and draining for all of them, Angel had to give the agents credit. Not once during the three hour session had they been suspicious or condemning. That's not to say they believed everything at face value, but they had listened with open minds. When questions needed to be asked, they asked and respected the answers. Angel had worried that they would be wary of Buffy or the truth of the situation, but it had seemed to him that the agents were on their side.
There had been quite a debate at the end regarding Buffy, something Angel suspected would happen. Technically, Buffy was wanted for murder, but the FBI saw the flaws in that accusation. They had wanted to keep Buffy in Los Angeles and put her in a safe house until they had more information or were able to resolve the situation somehow. Buffy adamantly refused. The agents hadn't been happy, but they also knew they needed Buffy's cooperation to help their case. In the end, they allowed her to leave, with the added order that she maintain her secret presence and that she be available if needed.
The only thing that had dismayed Angel about the whole meeting was that the FBI had not been able to tell him anything about what they planned to do. He was guessing that was because they didn't know. All he'd been told was that they were still gathering the facts before they put any type of plan into action. His one request to them was that he, Buffy, and her friends be kept updated, especially if the agents thought there was going to be any danger to Buffy, or given their involvement, any of them.
Once the meeting was over they had all gone to lunch at a restaurant Angel was familiar with from his time living in LA. Throughout the meal, Buffy was solemn, seemingly lost in the memories the session with the FBI had brought back to the forefront. After seeing her so happy the day before, Angel hated the frown that now marred her features. Wanting to lighten the mood any way possible, Angel had suggested that they go back to Santa Monica for the afternoon with Willow, Xander and Spike to show them the sights. The idea had brightened Buffy somewhat, so her friends – their friends, he supposed he should call them – had agreed.
The hours they spent wandering the shops and playing in the arcade improved morale to a certain point, but all of them were distracted by their tense situation. Still, they had fun and a smile had returned to Buffy's face, even if it was only a mild one compared to the one from the last time they'd been in Santa Monica. It had also given Buffy a chance to interact with her high school friends in a more normal situation. Angel had enjoyed seeing their camaraderie. He'd never really had anything like that since his school years were spent with tutors while on the road with his archaeologist father.
Eventually, the hour had grown later and sunset drew near. They'd parted ways with Willow, Xander and Spike and climbed in Angel's car to head back to Sunnydale. As much as he would have liked to keep the semi-vacation going, they needed to go back. He needed to return to work tomorrow.
So now they were almost back to his house, back to a place where Buffy had to blend into the shadows and act as if she didn't exist. He glanced over at her to see that she was still staring out the window. It wasn't until that moment Angel realized this was probably the first time in four years she was really getting to see any of Sunnydale. On the way to LA, she'd kept herself hidden in the car, but since it was dark now, they hadn't bothered with that detail though she did have her hat on.
"You okay?" he asked, making sure to keep one eye on the road.
"Yeah." She was silent for a moment, then said, "I wish we could have stayed in Los Angeles."
"I know," he sighed, hating her weary tone. "You'll be able to go back soon, or go anywhere you want to go."
Buffy turned to face Angel, her features mostly hidden in the dark car. "Do you really think so?"
"The FBI believed you, Buffy. They'll be able to get the truth out, and take Wilkins and his cronies down." He hoped that was true.
"But what if they can't? What if the rest of my life will be like this?" The thought of never being free scared Buffy more than she could put into words. She didn't want to have to spend the rest of her years never leaving the house. It was sucking the life out of her.
"I wish there was some kind of promise I could give you, but we just have to believe that the FBI knows what they are doing." It was a weak offer of comfort, but unfortunately, it was the best he could do given the circumstances.
Silence returned to the car, conversation soothing neither of them. Within minutes, Angel turned into his driveway. His mild relief at being back at his house lasted for only few seconds as he soon caught sight of a car in his driveway. He thought he recognized it, but he wasn't sure.
"Someone's here," he stated, though he realized Buffy had already noticed by the tension suddenly radiating off her body.
"It's my Father's car," she said dully.
"Giles?" Though it was dark, Angel could just make out the features of the car he thought he remembered seeing his boss, and Buffy's father, driving. He groaned and gripped the steering wheel tighter. This was the last thing either of them needed at the moment. It looked like they would have to deal with him, though. Angel punched the remote to open the garage door and waited while it slid upwards. "It's probably better if we go in through the garage and let Giles in through the front door. I don't want to take any chances with anybody seeing you."
"Okay," she mumbled, her eyes trained on the figure she could see standing on the front porch watching the car pull into the garage.
They left their packages from shopping in the car, choosing instead to greet Giles first. Together, they walked through the door off the garage that led into a sort of mud room next to the kitchen. Buffy was tempted to ask Angel not to led her father in. Right now, she just didn't know if she had the energy to talk to him. She had to, though. It wouldn't be fair to leave him standing out there.
Tired was a bit of an understatement to describe how she was feeling at the moment. The hours spent in Santa Monica with Angel yesterday had been draining enough, but on top of that, the meeting with the FBI had sapped every last ounce of energy Buffy had. She'd answered each and every one of their questions, told them everything thing she knew, and listened to her friends add their two cents. The whole thing had been almost like a twisted version of 'This Is Your Life, Buffy Giles'. Except there hadn't been any happy memories or reunions with old friends or teachers. All it had been was a reminder that she'd once been normal, she'd once had a life and family, and now she had nothing and was thought dead by all but a few people. No, there was nothing happy about that story.
She'd had a futile, far-fetched hope that the FBI agents would say, okay great, we'll go arrest them all now and you can go about your life. Stupid, Buffy knew, but she'd still hoped. Was it so much to ask that she be able to have a normal life again, or as close to one as someone like her could get? Probably.
Now, she had to speak with her father as well. She hadn't seen him since the night he'd come to Angel's, wanting her to return home; the night he'd realized his belief that Buffy was a murderer was wrong. Angel had talked to him since then, but Buffy had put it off, unable to find words of what she would say to him. Looked like she'd have to make it up as she went along.
Buffy trailed behind Angel as he made his way to the front door. Call her chicken, but she'd take even a few extra seconds to prepare. All too soon, though, he was at the door and unlocking the dead bolt. Before he even had the door all the way open, her father was pushing his way into the house.
"I trusted you to take of my daughter, Angel!" the older man snarled, coming toe-to-toe with Angel. "I specifically told you that she needs to remain hidden!"
"Yes, you did," Angel said as calmly as possible.
"Then please explain why I saw you driving up to the house with her in the car! That does not show me you are keeping her safe!" Giles retorted hotly. He didn't give Angel an opportunity to answer. "I grew worried when you called out from work yesterday, and tried calling but nobody answered the telephone. Then today you were out as well, so I attempted to call again. When there was still no response, I came here. It is a good thing I did. Just where the Hell have you been?"
Angel listened to the angry ramble patiently. He didn't necessarily appreciate being yelled at, but he could certainly understand Giles' rage. The man was simply concerned for his daughter's safety. He'd spent four years protecting her, keeping her existence secret. Regrettably, the only answer Angel had to give was not going to soothe Giles' fears.
Rather than beat around the bush, Angel gave a straight, simple explanation. "We went to Santa Monica yesterday so Buffy could have a chance to do something fun."
"Y-you...you what!" Giles sputtered. "How could you be so stupid? So ignorant?" He paced away, muttering under his breath.
"Daddy, stop," Buffy said quietly, deciding the time had come to stand up for herself when it came to her father.
"Buffy, please be quiet. I am just trying to do what is best for you," Giles replied pleadingly.
"No," Buffy denied. "I won't be quiet. I've been doing that for too long."
"I have told you what will happen if anyone finds out you are alive," her father warned ominously.
"We were careful. Nobody saw us." Buffy's head lowered for several long seconds. She inhaled deeply then raised her eyes again. "I wanted, needed, to do something normal. I've been living like a zombie for seven years. I can't do it anymore."
Giles started to speak, stopped. His jaw clenched as he fought the need to reprimand her for her stupidity. He couldn't, wouldn't, allow anything to happen to her. She was all that he had left in this world. But as he stood there looking at her, he couldn't not notice the healthy glow to her skin that must have come from this trip Angel had taken her on. It was impossible to miss the change in her. For the first time since the night four years earlier when he'd lost his wife and other two children, Buffy really looked alive, not like the shell she had been. Giles was torn. Seeing her looking so well brought joy to his heart, but it was virtually blotted out by his fear that something bad would happen to her.
"I don't like what you did, but I suppose it is a moot point now," Giles voiced, his shoulders slumping.
"Nothing happened. We just did some shopping and visited the pier," Angel added, trying to ease Giles' worries. "We meant to come back last night, but-" He immediately cut off his words, realizing what he was about to reveal. Giles had no idea what they, he, Buffy, and their friends, had decided to do to help Buffy.
"What's going on?" Giles prompted slowly, catching an undercurrent of something. He just wasn't sure what.
Angel looked at Buffy, an apologetic expression on his face. He hadn't meant to bring up the meeting with the FBI. It was fairly easy to assume Giles wouldn't be happy about it. "It's up to you, Buffy," he said to her, letting her know that he trusted her to make the decision herself.
The choice was hers, but Buffy almost wished it wasn't. Her father deserved to know what they'd done, but she wasn't eager to tell him. Given the way he'd acted when he'd found her sneaking into their house after visiting with Angel, he wasn't going to take it well that not only had she met with other people, but that she'd revealed her situation and asked for help. She had to tell him, though.
"Daddy, we should go sit down in the living room," she prefaced the talk. Sitting down would make everything easier. Okay, that was stretch. At least it would give her another minute to prepare.
Eyes narrowed, Giles debated demanding to be told whatever they were hiding right now, but he relented and walked quickly to the room on his right. He didn't sit, though. He was too agitated to sit. Standing would have to do.
"Well?" he cued again.
Neither answered immediately. Angel led Buffy over to the sofa and waited for her to seat herself before sitting as well, leaving a proprietary cushion between them. There wasn't any need to incite Giles anger further by sitting too close to Buffy. Giles was already suspicious enough, and even though there wasn't exactly anything romantic going on between him and Buffy, it was better to err on the side of caution.
Giles cleared his throat, letting them know he was still waiting. Angel was about to begin explaining when Buffy put a hand on his arm. He glanced at her, curious at the gesture.
"Let me," she whispered. "I need to do this. I need to take control of my life again." Buffy waited until Angel gave her a small nod. Releasing a tense breath, her eyes went back to her father, who was standing on the other side of the coffee table, arms cross over his chest.
"We met with a friend of Angel's this morning," she began, then went for the kill. "He's an agent with the FBI."
The explosion came almost instantly. "The FBI!" Giles shouted, stunned and enraged. His accusatory eyes went to Angel. "How could you be so bloody stupid! What in the Hell were you thinking!"
"Giles-"
"You forced her to do this, didn't you?" Giles charged, throwing daggers at Angel with his eyes. "I knew I shouldn't have-"
"Daddy, stop!" Buffy ordered, jumping off the couch. When he didn't listen, she tried again. "Stop!"
The room fell silent, except for Buffy's heavy breathing. She rubbed her arms, feeling chilled by the confrontation. Both Angel and her father and Angel were watching her. It left her with the uncomfortable feeling of being in the spotlight.
Her father was furious with Angel, that was obvious. She needed to get Giles to listen to her, really listen to what she was saying. At the moment, that didn't seem quite possible. So Buffy considered her options. The solution came to her, though she didn't quite like it. Even so, it would also be another step to taking control of her life.
"Angel," Buffy softly said, rotating to look at him. "Could you give me a few minutes to talk to my Dad?"
"Are you sure?" he asked. Angel felt the determination radiating off Buffy. Pride in her suffused him. She had such inner strength. He wondered if she knew it.
"Yeah," she nodded, smiling slightly. "I'll be fine."
"Okay. I'll be in the kitchen in if you need me." Angel stood, but before he could leave, he couldn't stop himself from tossing a warning look in Giles direction. He wouldn't tolerate the older man doing anything to hurt Buffy, even if he was her father.
Buffy waited until Angel had left the room, until she was left alone with her father. What was she supposed to say now? There were so many things she needed to tell him. One thing, though, stood out first and foremost. It needed to be said above all else.
"I didn't kill them." There, she'd said it. "I need you to believe that."
"Buffy...," Giles sighed in resignation. He honestly wasn't quite sure what to believe anymore. He'd had four years to accept the truth, but even so, the knowledge that his daughter had slaughtered their family froze his blood. It wasn't that he wanted to believe it. Who would want to believe such a thing? But he'd been there that night. He'd seen the evidence. There was nothing else for him to believe.
Except now there was. Only a few nights before, Angel had presented him with contradictory evidence. What he'd read changed the situation entirely. Everything in that folder told him Buffy could not have murdered Joyce, Dawn, and Owen. He so desperately wanted to accept that. And at first, he'd believed the information at face value. Later, doubts had arisen.
Knowing that Buffy had killed three members of their family had destroyed him. He couldn't have said he understood what happened, but he knew the reasons why. Buffy had been mentally broken by all she'd suffered. He'd blamed himself for not anticipating her mind completely snapping. So though the events were horrible and tragic, he'd known the reasons. But to think that someone could be so evil as to murder three innocent people, and to frame a fourth? That was beyond his scope of understanding. Still, he'd read Angel's new evidence. It was just hard to reconcile the new information with what he'd seen that terrible night.
"I know you-"
"No. I didn't do it," she repeated her assertion.
"Do you remember what happened that night?" he managed to ask. It was the one question he had never dared to ask her, for fear of what the answer might be. No matter what she told him, or what she'd done, she was his daughter and he would always love her.
"I don't really remember anything," she admitted. "Most of the night is still a blank. We were sitting there watching a movie one minute, and then the next thing I remember is you picking me up in the closet. But I know I didn't do it. I know, in here," she placed a hand over her heart, "That I couldn't have killed them. I loved them."
Oh, how he wished what Buffy was saying was the truth. He'd give anything to know for certain that his beloved daughter hadn't snapped one night and killed. For days, months, even years, he had wallowed in the knowledge of what she'd done. Logic had prescribed that he hate her, condemn her for her crimes. His heart directed otherwise. She was his daughter, a part of him. He'd seen her life torn to pieces after a brutal rape. At times, he even blamed himself for the murders because he hadn't seen that Buffy was hanging by a thread, a loose canon ready to blow at any moment. He'd never fully been able to blame her. Yes, she'd done it, but deep down, it hadn't been her fault. She was a victim. Just like all of them.
"Buffy, I honestly don't know what to believe anymore. The things Angel showed me..."
"I know...I know you don't believe me," Buffy choked back a sob. She desperately wanted her father to accept what she was telling him. She wanted him to believe her words. The information they'd already shown him had placed doubts in his mind. He seemed to have accepted the truth, at first. But she knew now he still wasn't sure. What else could she say to him? An idea occurred. "Wait here, there's something else you should read."
Giles could only watch as his daughter strode out of the room. What more could there be for him to read? Whatever it was, he would do whatever he could to help her try to put all of this behind her. As much as he hated to admit it, she looked so much better than she had before her friends and Angel discovered she wasn't dead. There was life in her again. It gave him hope that maybe she could live her own life again. He would have to get her out of Sunnydale, though, take her somewhere she could begin again where no one would know her or suspect her.
As he contemplated that, Buffy came back to the room with the same folder as before in her hand. She handed it to him and asked him to read the paper on top. Confused, he studied the outside of the folder. What was so damned important? He complied, though, and took a seat in a nearby chair before opening the folder and taking the first sheet in his hand.
This was her last hope. Buffy knew this was the only remaining way her father would accept the truth that she hadn't been responsible for her Mom's, Owen's, and Dawn's deaths. If he didn't believe it...well, she didn't know what she would do then.
She watched her father nervously, and knew the instant the new piece of information sunk in. The blood drained from his face and his mouth dropped open. She knew the feeling. When Gunn had explained about the results of the medical examiner's tox screen, she'd been beyond shocked to learn they had all been drugged that night. She'd felt like the floor had dropped out from under her. Her father was now experiencing the same thing.
Buffy said nothing and waited for him to finish reading the report. She was glad that she and Angel had gotten a copy of the FBI's summary of the ME's findings to keep. Now, her father would know. Now, she hoped, he would finally accept the truth. Truly accept it.
Reaching the bottom on the back of the page, Giles' eyes closed and his head dropped forward. The sheet of paper slipped from his fingers and fluttered to the ground. He'd had his doubts...but now... What had he done?
"Dear God," he gasped, unable to hold the tears in his eyes back. "Dear God, what have I done?"
"Daddy," Buffy cried out and dropped to her knees in front of him.
"Buffy," he sobbed, forcing himself to meet her eyes, despite his guilt and torment. "I thought...I never...I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. I understand why you believed I'd done it," she attempted to soothe him.
"I never questioned, not until Angel first showed me his findings," he snarled, the anger directed solely at himself.
The facts on the page were still trying to settle in his mind. He was still trying to understand. One thing was clear, though. Absolutely clear. There were no doubts this time. Buffy, his daughter, hadn't committed murder. She hadn't killed Joyce, Dawn, and Owen, as he'd always believed. They'd essentially be drugged and executed. In all the passing years, he'd never once considered...
"How could this have happened?" His head snapped up and his eyes darkened. Of course, he knew exactly how it'd happened. The police. Or rather the chief of police. Cameron Walker's, Buffy's rapist's, father. They were the reason this had happened! Them and that bloody bastard Wilkins! He knew that without a doubt as well.
"That son of a bitch," he snapped, rage streaming through his bloodstream.
Her father had reached the same conclusion the rest of them had. Buffy grabbed his hands before he could leap off the chair and do God knew what. The expression on his face told her he would likely seek out Chief Walker and tear him to pieces. She wouldn't exactly mind, but she couldn't let him do it. Those responsible would be punished. The FBI would she to it. She hoped.
"Daddy, wait," she begged. "There's more you need to hear. About the meeting Angel and-."
The ringing of the telephone cut her off. She turned her head towards the living room's entranceway. After the second ring, she heard Angel pick up the phone and say something, hello, she assumed. Being so far away, she could only hear his muffled voice, but something about the tone set her nerves on edge. So she waited.
Only a minute later, the sound of his voice ceased and his footsteps came towards the living room. He appeared a moment later. Buffy knew instantly that something was going on. His face was tense and his worry was obvious.
"Angel? What is it?"
"That was Gunn," he answered, glancing first at Giles, then at Buffy, where his gaze remained. "His team is coming down to Sunnydale tomorrow. They're going to seize evidence from the police station. Including all the information about you."
TBC