I'm... What?
(Buffy's POV)
I wipe my tears away with my sleeve, then I sob into Faith's shoulder. Somehow, I could actually feel her fear as she told me everything she remembered.
"And that's all I remember right now." She says emotionlessly. It's like, as she told that story, she became numb, like if she'd allowed herself to feel it, she'd have died from the emotions. Willow has her arms wrapped around her knees, rocking back and forth as she cries. I hug Faith tighter than ever before. "Buffy... I know it's gonna hurt... but you're gonna need to tell the jury all of that when the time comes. Because I just... I can't say that shit again."
I nod. "I will. I promise, Faith, that'll never happen to you again."
...
The days pass smoothly for a while we process everything. Finally, a week after we got the DNA results saying that it was Mark Hartman's dad who raped and impregnated Faith, we called in a favor with my dad, who, although he's a divorce lawyer, handles other cases as well, and we brought Marcus Hartman up on charges of rape. All we need is to set a court date, present our case, and hopefully, we'll get a conviction.
Faith isn't worried about Marcus trying to pull something. Since the charges have been brought up, he's in the eye of the public even more than ever before. Everyone is watching his every move. It seems that in a small town, something as big and evil as rape happens, even to a juvenile like Faith, and nobody likes it.
But the only thing Faith is worried about... is Mark.
"Hey, Summers! Lehane!" Faith and I both freeze as we hear Mark shout out to us, and we turn to face him.
It's the day after we brought his dad up on charges, and from the look on his face, he's pissed.
"Hey, Mark." I say nervously.
"You accusing my dad of rape, huh?" he asks angrily.
"Yes, we are. And we have proof that he's the one who did it." Faith says confidently, getting up in his face. I'm impressed that she's holding it together this well, in the face of the school.
"Oh yeah? Well just watch yourself, Lehane." he says, then storms away, leaving us dumbfounded. Why didn't he try to pick a fight? I mean, not that I'm complaining, of course. I'll kick butt if necessary, but I generally prefer to avoid fighting. Especially against a big jockstrap, I mean athlete, like Mark.
...
"What do you mean he won't help?!" I ask my mom that afternoon, after school. Faith, Jason, Willow and Xander all came over today, so we could figure out how we want to present our case. Of course, that kind of depended on my lawyer father being willing to take time out of his busy schedule of partying and celebrating the absence of us to go over the evidence.
"I mean just that." She answers angrily. "He says he's too busy working a "very important" divorce case back in Los Angeles to handle a case that would have to be pro bono."
"But this is more important!" I protest.
"And yet again, dad doesn't come through." Dawn sighs. "Shocker."
For once, Mom doesn't scold her for bad mouthing dad. Probably because she's agreeing in her mind. And frankly, so am I.
"Figures." I grumble. "Our homophobic dad refuses to help the lesbian rape victim. Has anyone else noticed that he never takes any cases for gay people?"
Dawn and Mom both nod.
"B, it's okay. We'll figure it out." Faith says, but I can see the hope fading in her eyes. Go figure, our whole prosecution was pretty much centered around actually having a lawyer.
"I'm sure we can find another lawyer, Buffy." Mom says reassuringly.
"Yeah, but none of the good lawyers would handle the case for free, or even really make it affordable." I counter. "I mean, we're going up against one of the most powerful men in Sunnydale. Doesn't that make it, like, some kind of high-risk case or something?"
"We'll figure something out, honey." Mom tries to reassure me, but it's not working.
"Like what? Handle the case ourselves? None of us have law degrees. The only person we know who even really knows all of the laws in California would probably be Jason or Jack, and that's only because they've broken them all. That's not likely to hold up in court."
"We've got bigger problems than that, B." Jason says. "You said that you asked Buffy to tell the jury what you remembered, right?" He asks Faith, and she nods.
"Yeah."
"Well, she can't do that."
"What? Why?" I ask.
"It's called hearsay evidence." He sighs. "It's not allowed in court. They'll just ignore it."
"How d'you know about that?"
"Friend of mine, Andy, was framed for killing some guy named Allan Finch in an alley a while back." Jason explains. "He got off 'cause the prosecution's main bit of evidence was the friend of someone who claimed to have witnessed the shootin' told the jury that the so-called "witness" told him he'd seen Andy stab Finch. Judge called it hearsay evidence and told them to disregard it. They revisited the case last year and go figure, guy claimin' to be a witness was the one who stabbed Finch and tried to pin it on Andy. But my point is, the only way Buffy can tell the jury whatever it was you remembered is if you're not available when we're takin' Hartman to court, and we have proof that your absence is reasonable."
"Damn..." Faith says, burying her face in her arms on the table, and I rub her back, trying to soothe her. "That's fucked up. I... I can't say that shit again. Not in front of a jury. Not in front of anyone."
"Well, we still have the DNA evidence." I say. "Maybe that'll be enough for a conviction."
"Never is." Jason sighs. "DNA can be planted."
"But a baby? How can they disprove that? It has Marcus Hartman's DNA!" I shout.
"It's only half Marcus." Willow says. "The other half is Faith. And DNA isn't an exact science. If he's desperate enough, he could try to pin it on Mark. Because Mark's his son, his DNA would be close enough that he could claim the test was a misread, and that the baby's actually Mark's, not his."
"Would he really try to make Mark take the fall for his actions, though?" I ask incredulously. "I mean, he's his son."
"He's a politician, B." Faith reminds me. "He's a dirty liar who'll do anything to get off."
"Note the double meaning." Xander says humorlessly.
"But there's got to be something we can do! He can't get away with this!"
"I'll take the boys out and look through that alley for a way to prove it was Marcus." Jason said. "We're gonna get this guy, F." He says, patting Faith on the back.
Faith nods, but doesn't look convinced. "Yeah. Sure. It was already unlikely we'd actually win, but now we have no lawyer and the one bit of evidence we have that we can actually use in court might not be enough. But we've got a "can do" attitude, and that's all that matters."
"Come on, F. When's the last time you gave up on somethin'?" Jason says, squeezing her shoulders.
"Never have. But that was before I was fuckin' raped by a member of the city council."
"Well, do what you wanna do, but I'm gonna get the gang together and find a way to convict this guy's pasty ass." He counters, then turns and walks towards the front door. "Thanks for havin' me over, Ms. S." He says over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.
"I need to go, too." Willow says apologetically. "My mom is enforcing a curfew for me since I started dating Xander." She smiles at her boyfriend. "The only reason she's letting me out with you at all is because you're not a band member."
"I'm just amazed she's actually taking any kind of interest at all." Xander fires back. "Come on, I'll walk you home." He chuckles.
Willow nods and grabs her coat, grinning as they say their goodbyes, leaving me, Faith and Mom alone.
"So when do you need to be back home?" I ask Faith.
She looks at me nervously, then glances out the window. "Um... actually... I was wonderin' if I could call the fosters and ask to crash here tonight?"
"It's fine with me." Mom nods in understanding. "Just call your foster mothers first."
Faith nods. "Sure they won't mind, they just don't like it when I assume shit like that with them." She leaves the kitchen to call her foster moms.
"So what are you thinking?"
I look at my mom. "What?"
"What are you thinking? There's some serious thought-having going on in your mind. A mother knows."
I sigh. "What if we can't figure this out? What do we do then?"
Mom nods. "What if Councillor Hartman walks? What if he gets away with it? Or worse, what if we have to drop the case entirely?"
"That's not helping, Mom."
"My point is, those are all "what ifs". Big "what ifs". We'll figure it out if it comes to that."
"But what if we can-"
"Buffy."
I sigh. "I know. Another "what if". But still-"
"No. Ignore the "what ifs", Buffy. We will figure it out if it comes to it." She assures me. "If it comes down to it, I have a .38 in the top drawer of my nightstand that says Marcus Hartman will never touch another girl the way he touched Faith."
I swallow harshly at the implication. Is she really saying-? I stop wondering when I see the look of dead seriousness in her eyes. She is... My mom is suggesting we kill Marcus Hartman?!
"Fosters say I can stay." Faith says as she walks back in. She looks relieved, like she actually didn't think they'd let her.
"Buffy will get you set up in the guest room." My mom says, nodding at me. I nod in agreement, then lead Faith upstairs. "The guest room, Buffy! Not your room!" She calls up the stairs.
...
(Willow's POV)
Xander and I decided to avoid the shortcuts, considering that taking a shortcut is what lead to Faith being... you know... I mean, it's not like anyone would try anything like that with me with Xander right there, right? But still, better safe than sorry, I guess. So, we decided to stay on the sidewalks by the main roads, except for the occasional crosswalk to get to the other side.
But that changed when I felt Xander go rigid beside me, and we stopped moving.
"Keep walking." We hear behind us. "Don't look back. Act like nothing's going on."
We do what the male voice is saying from behind us, and he steers us into a nearby alley. So I was wrong. Someone would try something with Xander there. But then... why is he holding the knife or gun or whatever weapon he's holding to Xander instead of me? If it were me he was threatening, wouldn't he be holding the weapon to me?
Is he going to try and rape Xander?
"Up against the wall." He says, and pushes me and Xander up against the wall of a turn to look at him, then we pale as we realize it's Councillor Hartman, along with three of his friends.
Cue ominous cliffhanger music. So, it's a moderately short chapter this time, but things are going to pick up soon. And the chapter after the next one is set to be the beginning of the trial. Of course, that might actually be two chapters from now. I haven't decided yet. BTW, no, they're not going to rape Xander. One rape victim is enough for this story, though during the trial, I'm going to be bringing in one or two other of Hartman's victims to testify, but that's to be expected.