Chapter 2: Not Very Motherly

*****Several Hours Earlier*****

Beth Dutton was considered the head bitch at her work. She was a headhunter, a finance guru, a genius at finding vulnerable businesses and gifting them to her boss for a ton of money. It had always been important to her that she make her own way in the world. Although a daughter of a wealthy rancher in Montana, she'd stayed in Utah as soon as she graduated from her university with her degree in finance. Once she earned her MBA, there was no stopping her. Because her mother had died after being thrown from a horse when Beth was not quite a teenager, the loss always lingered. Guilt that her mom's accident occurred because of Beth never left. That meant Beth never felt good enough for anything in her life, especially when it came to her father. Their mother had been her father's entire world. Sometimes, Beth had felt he only saw them when their mother made him look. Horses, and their mother, were the greatest loves her father had. As the only daughter, her father never tried very hard to replace her mother or curb her wilder tendencies. At times, she felt that they reminded her father of their mother, which was why I she was rarely disciplined but indulged in nearly all things.

When she started noticing boys, the only one on her radar had been Rip, the teenage boy her father had taken in. Rip's father had murdered his mother and his brother, and he'd kill the man in self-defense when his father came after him. Rip was haunted and broken, and his pain drew Beth in as soon as she had noticed boys. She practiced flirting on all her father's ranch hands, but it was Rip that she first gave herself to. Finding out their time together resulted in a pregnancy had terrified her. Rip adored her father and loved Yellowstone more than anyone next to her father. Yellowstone was the first place Rip had ever felt safe in. It was his church and sanctuary, his heart, and his home. Beth could never conceive of taking it from him. There was no way Beth wanted to destroy Rip's life, so she did the only thing she could think of at the time. She had her brother, Jaime, the only one around closest to her in age besides Rip, to take her to an abortion clinic. In her mind, the abortion wasn't the end of a life, but it was an act of love. Love for Rip pushed her toward it, and she never regretted her decision.

Of course, thoughts of what might've been hit her when she found out she couldn't have children. It was years before she knew that she had been sterilized during the procedure that terminated her pregnancy. At first, it hadn't mattered since her career was her primary focus. Once she hit thirty, however, the knowledge weighed on her. Every time she went home and saw Rip, she couldn't refrain from pulling him close. He knew her, and loved her, despite who she was. However, she could never feel worthy of his utter devotion and always left him. He never held it against her; his love was as dependable as the mountains they grew up surrounded by. All the best parts of her, he knew and understood just as easily.

When he called her and told her that some teenager girl had showed up claiming to be their child, Beth could only see red.

She could not fathom how anyone even knew such a carefully guarded secret. Nor did she hope to understand what they thought they could get by trying to play out a deception that would soon be disproven. However, she loved few people and was fiercely protective of those she loved. No one was going to hurt her father and Rip. That bitch was going to regret trying to mess with her family.

*****Present Time*****

Beth didn't even look at the girl when she spotted her with her family. Instead, she just attacked. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

Buffy knew the woman charging her was most likely her birth mother, but her instincts took over. When Beth attacked, Buffy ducked, swept her legs out from under her. Before she could make another move, however, her birth father, Rip grabbed her, encasing her arms in a strong band. Of course, she could've broken lose, but that would raise eyebrows.

"Easy, tiger," he said.

"Beth? What were you thinking?" John Dutton said as he reached down to help her up.

"What was she thinking? That's your questions? I'm thinking how did Buffy learn to move like that?" Lee asked, grinning.

"You think this is funny?" Beth said, furious that her brother was laughing. Her rage was denied its target, so she settled for him.

"I think it's hilarious that this tiny teen took you down so easily," Lee said, snickering. "Did we teach you nothing?"

Beth did the one thing she knew would wipe his grin off his face—she kicked him in his balls.

"Beth!" her father yelled.

"You should've let me hit her, Dad," Beth said, her anger palpable. "I know full well the bitch is lying. I did not birth any baby. I was barely pregnant. There was no way that she is mine and Rip's."

"Come with me," John said, grabbing her forearm and pulling her into the house.

Buffy was a bit shocked at the cold fury in her mother's eyes. Only vampires had ever looked at her with such pure loathing. The sight was a bit unsettling, and she couldn't move for a full minute.

"Damn that woman!" Lee said with a groan.

Buffy looked down at her uncle, who was clutching his man parts on the ground. "Can I help you up?" she asked, hoping to help.

"No, I need a minute, or maybe ten," Lee said.

"You should've known not to laugh at her," Rip said, frowning down at him. "She is fierce when riled."

Buffy looked at her father, who still could barely look at her. "I am not working some con," she said. "I don't know what to say except I found the papers from someone I know would not lie. A friend of mine was murdered by my boyfriend's friends, and then he was killed. My mom kicked me out, and I wanted to go to Los Angeles. When I went to say goodbye to Giles, my mentor, I found the papers in his desk. I just thought I'd come here and meet you all. I wasn't looking for money or a handout. My dad is fairly wealthy."

Rip could see that she was sincere, but he knew that Beth couldn't forget a pregnancy and birth. Maybe someone had just lied to this poor girl. He nodded. "It's okay. There is no harm in showing you our ranch and teaching you about horses. It's good to break up our routine sometimes," he said. "Beth is a bit on the contrary side, but she'll calm down."

"You are master of the understatement," Lee said as he finally drew himself to his feet.

"Are you going to be okay?" Buffy asked her uncle.

"I'll live. I wish I could say it's the first time she's done that, but it's not," Lee said. "We've all experienced it, even Rip."

"She does have a temper," he said, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"You're one twisted dude," Lee said, shaking his head. "It's a brave or possibly insane man who would love my sister."

"Your sister is the most amazing woman I have ever known," Rip said.

"She's like the only one you know since you rarely leave the ranch!" Lee pointed out.

Buffy couldn't help but giggle at them.

"That's nice. You should smile. Beth has a bad habit of robbing all the smiles," Lee warned. "However, the DNA test will be in soon, and she'll have to believe you."

"I promise you guys, I'm not lying," Buffy said. "The minds of teenagers can be easily manipulated if someone is a strong hypnotist. In my hometown, a friend of mine nearly got hit by a car when she walked into the road. Someone had hypnotized her into thinking she was blind."

"Let me guess," Lee said, smiling. "You saved her, too."

Buffy nodded. "Well, yes. It's kind of my thing," she admitted.

"Why is that?" Rip asked.

"My town had a lot of very bad elements in it," Buffy said. "I am expert in more than one form of fighting."

"At seventeen? I find that hard to believe," Rip said.

"You know how some people are just good at stuff?" she asked. The two men nodded. "Being good at fighting was my thing after I gave up ice skating and gymnastics."

"You don't look like a fighter," Lee said.

"That's my superpower," Buffy said, giving him a wink. "I'm always underestimated."

"We'll have to introduce you to my baby brother, Kayce," Lee said. "He's a former Navy Seal. I'm sure he knows lots of ways to kill."

"Come on," Rip said. "Let's go to the house."

John had just finished lecturing his daughter, who listened in a cold silence.

Rip came into the room and held out his hand to Beth. "Come on, Beth," he said.

Beth was quick to rise and take his hand. She glared at Buffy when Rip reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry. Things will work out," he said.

The two left without saying more. When they were a football field away from the house, Rip turned toward her. "It's good to see you, Beth," he said.

Beth gave him a warm smile and hugged him, finding strength as she always did in his embrace.

"I missed you," she said as she finally looked up at him.

"That's good," he said, unable to keep a soft smile off his face. She was always his—he just could never hold onto her for long. "I tried not to miss you."

Beth laughed. "I'm sure you did," she said, giving him a knowing look. "What are we going to do about the girl?"

"Nothing," Rip said.

"What? We can't do nothing! She's trying to bamboozle my father!" Beth exclaimed.

Rip shook her head. "No, she's really not. She absolutely believes what she says," he said. "Someone has lied to her. She's a had rough time. There's no harm in letting her ride our horse and eat a few dinners here. Your dad is enjoying her company. You know Kayce doesn't bring Tate around hardly ever."

"Kayce's not had it easy," Beth said.

"I know," Rip said. "Neither has Buffy. The girl had a friend murdered, and then her boyfriend was killed. After getting into a fight with her mother, she was set to run away when she found papers in drawer that had our picture, a map of the ranch, and a letter explaining you'd been hypnotized to forget your pregnancy and her birth."

Beth frowned. "I can't see how anyone could know our secret," she said.

"It wasn't exactly ours, though, was it?" he pointed out. Buffy's appearance was the first inkling he'd had that she'd been pregnant with his baby.

Beth flashed him a guilty look. "I'm sorry, Rip. I just didn't want to destroy your entire life," she said.

"You think giving birth to my child would have destroyed my life?" Rip asked.

"Dad would've killed you," she said. "I couldn't take the ranch from you."

"You underestimate your father and under value his love for you," Rip said. "He might've given me a good beating, but I've survived worse. Once his anger cooled, he would've been happy to welcome your baby. He loves you more than anyone."

Beth had a hard time believing Rip's words, but she didn't argue.

For some reason she never fathomed, Beth never felt worthy of anyone's love.

*****The Next Day*****

Buffy's birth mother would barely look at her, and Buffy was starting to get more than a little pissed. After Rip had talked to her yesterday, Beth was no longer looking murderous. Lee laughingly called Rip the shrew-whisperer. As much as Buffy was growing to adore her uncle, she wished her parents would give her more than a passing glance.

Why was she here again? Oh, yes, that's right. She got expelled, was wanted for murder, and had to kill her boyfriend to stop the world from ending.

"Buffy, Jaime's coming over today," John told her when she showed up around ten. He'd tried to get her to stay the night, but Buffy didn't feel comfortable with Beth in the house. Her uncle drove to pick her up and bring her to the ranch that day.

"Another uncle, right?" she asked.

Beth actually looked at her and said with a strong note of bitterness in her voice, "He would be if you were actually my child, which I know you are not. He's the one who took me to get my abortion."

John looked grim, but he wasn't actually angry with Jaime. No one could ever really say no to Beth—John rarely did.

When Jaime arrived, he gave Buffy a curious glance. They had just gotten back from a ride and were grabbing some lunch.

"Jaime," John said with his typical one word greeting. "Hungry?"

"I can eat," he said, sitting down next to the teenager. "Who is she?"

"This is Buffy Summers, the girl I had you investigate," John said.

Buffy gave him a sharp look but said nothing.

"Why did you have me do that?" Jaime asked, puzzled at both the research asked and the girl's presence at his home.

"She's the girl who claims to be my daughter," Beth answered, holding a wine class. "But we both know that's not possible, right Jaime?"

"What are you talking about?" Jaime asked, frowning.

"My name is Buffy. Ignore her. She's got resting bitch face," Buffy said, tired of the woman's hostility.

Lee chuckled while Rip bit back a grin. John, though, frowned in disapproval. "No need to be rude, Buffy," he said.

"Really? The woman attacked me yesterday, called me a liar, and looks at me like I'm a bug she stepped on," Buffy said.

Jaime cracked a small smile, unused to anyone taking on his sister so willingly or boldly.

Beth actually found the girl's fire amusing and said, "It's okay, Dad. She's right. I deserved it," she said. "However, Jaime has most of my ire anyway," she said, now shooting daggers at him across the table.

"What did I do? I just got here," Jaime said defensively.

"You drove me all those years ago to that abortion clinic, remember?" Beth said. When Jaime's eyes widened and he looked alarmed at her confession, she smirked. "Yes, Rip and Dad both know."

"She begged me to and made me promise not to tell," Jaime said. "I didn't know what to do, but you know it's impossible to refuse her when she's set on something."

"We know," John said.

"What you don't know, Dad, is Jaime didn't take me to just any abortion clinic," Beth said. "This particular one didn't stop at an abortion. Instead, they sterilized me. Cut my tubes without my permission."

All the men looked shocked while Buffy looked a bit sick. Why would the Council do such a thing?

Rip stood to his feet about to grab a hold of Jaime, who stood ready to run.

"How was I to know that? I was just seventeen!" Jaime exclaimed. "It was the only one within driving distance that didn't require a parent's signature."

Rip growled at him, but he didn't attack. Instead, he turned and left the room.

Beth wasn't about to let Jaime get the last word. "As smart as you are, Jaime, I do not believe that you didn't know exactly what they had planned for me," she said. Then she got up and followed after Rip.

"Dad, I didn't know! I swear!" Jaime said.

"The problem is, Jaime, that you should've told me about it," John said. "I could've helped prevent this entire fiasco."

"You know how she is, Dad. She begged and begged. She said that you'd kill Rip for knocking her up, and I didn't want that to happen," Jaime said.

"I would not have hurt Rip," John said. "I'd have knocked him on his ass, but he would've been able to get back up again. You helped rob all of us of a child, Jaime. I don't know how I'm going to forget about that."

Buffy could see the man was really upset and felt bad for him and for Jaime. "It's okay if you don't feel like eating," she said to her grandfather.

"I'm sorry, Buffy," he said, rising. "I'll see you later."

Buffy smiled and nodded. Then she reached for her fried chicken.

"I guess nothing stops you from eating, huh?" Lee said, grinning.

"Nope," Buffy said. "Your chef is amazing! I've not ever tasted chicken like this."

"Well, eat as much as you want since we lost three people already," Lee said.

Jaime watched the teenager with interest. She was cute and waif like, and he could see a slight resemblance to Beth. Not only were their coloring the same, but her hair was also a lot like Beth's at that age. Although she was more petite, her face was very similar. He was confused.

"I think you look a bit like Beth," Jaime said.

"See! I think so, too!" Lee said, grinning. "Sure, she's a shorty, but she clearly has Beth's fire and delicate features."

"Coloring, too," Jaime added.

"I'm sure you probably think this is crazy if you drove her to the clinic," Buffy said. "But the group responsible for kidnapping me didn't mean for me to be adopted out. The guy who took me died in a car wreck when he was his way to the group behind it. The police turned me over to DHS when I was just a few days old. That's why I was adopted to the Summers so quickly after I was born. The group lost track of me until I inadvertently began martial arts training with one of their employees a few years back." There. That made sense without revealing her full truth. It was the only thing that made sense to her.

"So why doesn't Beth know? How could we all not notice she was pregnant?" Jaime asked.

"Hypnosis," Buffy said. "I was a preemie, though, so she might not have looked that pregnant."

"You really believe that someone hypnotized Beth to not remember carrying you for at least eight months? That she doesn't remember the birth?" Jamie asked. "What about me? Why do I remember driving her?"

"You must have driven to the hospital when she went in labor, so they just whammied you, too," Buffy said with a shrug. "When the DNA test proves that I am their child, this impossible scenario will be the only rational explanation. The hospital, though, should have some records. Since things are on a computer, it's a bit harder to erase records. Unless of course, they hacked the place." Of course, that it was magic was the other explanation that she was not planning on using. Buffy also believed that the Watcher Council's man posed as an adoption agent, so her birth records might actually be there. It was the simplest explanation.

"This is a lot to process," Jaime said.

"I understand," Buffy said.

"So do you want to go to a sale tomorrow with us?" Lee asked her.

"Sale? I love shoe stores!" she said, her eyes lighting up.

Lee laughed. "Not that kind of sale," he said. "It's a cattle and horse sale."

"Oh," Buffy said, giving him a look of bemusement. "That might be fun, too. It's definitely something I've never done."

"Then it's settled," Lee said.

"So, Jaime, what do you do?" Buffy asked. "You're not dressed like a cowboy."

"I can cowboy," Jaime said.

"He's a fancy lawyer," Lee said. "He keeps us all out of jail."

"True," Jaime said, smiling.

"My dad is a lawyer," Buffy said. "Boring corporate law."

"I do that, too," Jaime said. "Because Montana isn't as big, lawyers don't have to specialize in one field. Keeps things interesting."

"That's cool," Buffy said.

The day was a bit less interesting as her grandfather never joined her again. At four o'clock, she had Lee take her back to the hotel.

"I think that you should just stay at our ranch," Lee said. "We have plenty of room, and you have to be running out of money by now."

"I paid for a week," Buffy said.

"What will you do when it runs out?" he asked.

"I can get a job. I have ID," Buffy said.

"We can pay you to clean out the stalls," Lee said.

"You want me to shovel horse shit all day?" Buffy said, grimacing. "No way. I'll get a job waiting tables or something!"

"Well, just think about it," Lee said.

"When the DNA test comes back, we can revisit this," Buffy said. She said goodbye and hopped out of the very high truck.

In another day or three, the test would be in. Then they would know.

Would she ever go back to the hellmouth then?

She had no idea.

*****Chapter End*****

Beth Dutton is a hard character to write, so those that watch the show, I hope I nailed her. She's an outrageous character, a nihilist who stated in one episode, "There is no good or evil." She basically only believes in being true to herself and those she loves. Everyone else is fair game. Reviews are great!