A quick note on Hank. Yes, I must agree with everyone. He is a right bastard and unfortunately, will be making another appearance later in the story. But that’s all I’m going to say. ;- )
The desert blurred together as the bus sped along the highway to its final destination. Red and pinky-orange streamers fanned across the afternoon sky as the sun began a slow descent into the surrounding mountains.
Buffy stared out the window from her seat and tried to calm herself. The adrenaline was still coursing throughout her body, her hands still shaky and her breathing erratic.
She had arrived at the bus depot with only minutes to spare. A fact that eased her worried mind. The sooner they got on their way the less chance she would have of being caught up to by her father.
But even now that they were well on their way, she couldn’t steady herself. She had been scared before, but now that she had time to really think about what she had done, she was truly terrified.
Hank Summers was a powerful man in Los Angeles. As a partner in the law firm of Wolfram and Hart, he had every connection at his disposal. Law enforcement, politicians, and even some very dangerous, yet influential criminals were all on Wolfram and Hart’s payroll. It wouldn’t take much to track her down.
God, what am I getting myself into, she thought, rubbing cold hands over her bare arms. And not only what she was getting herself into, but what about William? She couldn’t drag him into the mess she had created.
It was then that she made up her mind. She wouldn’t stay in Las Vegas. Instead, she would ask William if she could stay for the night and be on her way. Surely he would consent to one night.
Sighing, she felt herself start to harden. The fear dissipated and she was left with nothing but determination. She could be strong. She had to be.
The bright lights of Las Vegas woke her. She looked down at her watch. It was almost eleven o’clock.
She stretched her arms above her and twisted her shoulders from side to side. The hours sitting stationary in her seat had made her muscles stiff and a little numb. She couldn’t wait to get off the bus so she could have a proper stretch.
As the bus depot came into view, Buffy readied herself to make a quick exit.
“Are you visiting family, dear?”
Buffy snapped her head towards the occupant of the seat next to her, an older lady with an ‘I Love Vegas’ sweatshirt and bright pink fanny pack. “Um, yeah. How did you know that?”
The woman chuckled. “Well, you’re a little young for the more sinful wonders Vegas has to offer.”
Offering a slight smile, Buffy hoped that the lady wouldn’t try and continue the conversation. The less people she interacted with, the better off she would be. She was only sixteen and that made the world a very dangerous place for her to be in.
Not that she was worried about the elderly woman next to her, but she couldn’t afford too many questions. If anyone decided to try and be helpful, she could be in big trouble. Social Services was almost as scary a prospect as going back to her father’s. Neither sounded very appealing.
The bus began to unload and Buffy dashed down the aisle. Her bag was almost the last thing to be loaded so it would be one of the first things to come off. She collected her duffel and wandered towards the main terminal building where she hoped she could find a cab.
Stopping at a bench, she sat down and went into her bag to find her wallet and William’s address. She glanced around, making sure no one was too close to her while she counted her remaining money. Her mother had left her a modest sum after her death, but it had been put into a savings account that she couldn’t draw from until she turned eighteen. All she had now was what she had saved up from birthday cards and well-wishers from the funeral.
At the time, she had been more than a little offended at the idea that people would throw money at her in place of a simple spoken condolence, but now she was glad she hadn’t refused it.
Three hundred sixty-two dollars and some odd cents was all she had to run with. And now she was going to use some of that to grab a cab.
There were cabs sitting out in front of the terminal with shady looking drivers at the helm. Most of them had some pouring out of their open windows and Buffy glanced down the row of them to find one that was a little more non-smoker friendly.
Buffy bent down a little so she could speak to the driver. “Hi, could you give me a ride to 560 Blakely Way?”
“Sure, doll. Get in,” the driver said, switching off his available light and fiddling with the meter.
After Buffy was situated, the cabbie took off in a mad rush almost hitting another taxi.
“Sorry about that,” the cabbie told her with a sheepish grin.
She had heard that taking a cab in Las Vegas was hazardous to her health. The more time she spent in the cab, the truer that became. They dodged pedestrians and other cars, ran red lights, and almost got hit by a semi-truck. All the while, the cabbie didn’t seem to take much notice of all the mayhem he was causing.
They pulled onto a darkened street that was lined with apartment buildings. It didn’t look like the nicest of neighborhoods, but then again, she couldn’t see anything too clearly.
“Well, here you go, sweetheart. That’ll be $36.27.”
Buffy handed him some money and thanked him before the cab sped off into the night.
Making her way up the walk, she pulled the address to double check the apartment number. 6C. She climbed the cement steps and stopped in front of the door.
She took a deep breath, then raised her fist to the door and knocked loudly. She waited a minute or so before knocking again.
Footsteps and voices came from behind the door and Buffy braced herself.
A man with shaggy brown hair answered the door. “Can I help you?”
Uh-oh. Was this the wrong William? Maybe it was his roommate. “I-I’m looking for William Pratt.”
Smiling, the man shook his head. “You’ve got the wrong apartment. He lives across the way there.”
“Oh. Oh, okay. Thank you.” She turned to go to the other door, but was stopped by the man’s voice.
“But he’s not home. He works nights.”
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
The man shrugged. “It’s hard to say. Sometimes he doesn’t come home at all.”
“Oh.”
“Xander! Who’s at the door?” A woman yelled from deep inside the apartment.
“Just someone looking for Spike, An.” Spike?
“Well, tell them they’ve got the wrong apartment and come back to bed! I’m not finished yet!”
“Look, I gotta go,” Xander told her, moving to close his door.
“Hey, do you know where he works?”
“Yeah, he bartends over at The Blue Temple off the strip,” he replied, before disappearing behind the sturdy wood of the door.
There weren’t any cabs around and didn’t have a phone so there was only one thing she could do. She started out towards the brilliant glow of the strip.
Considering what a large city it was, Las Vegas seemed pretty calm. Well, that is until she hit the strip. The sidewalks were packed with people and the traffic was heavy. Everyone seemed to be taking their time moving from casino to casino, but Buffy definitely felt like she couldn’t keep up with the pace.
It had taken her almost an hour to get to the outer edges of the strip, but she made it there in one piece. Now all she had to do was to find the club where William worked and she would be right as rain.
A casino worker in a lobster costume who was handing out free 2 for 1 Buffet coupons was kind enough to give her directions to The Blue Temple and she set off to find it.
The Blue Temple was nestled between two huge casinos, hidden in the dark alleyway separating them. There was a long line of people trying to get inside the plain-looking building and the bouncer was standing stone-faced in front of the entrance.
Buffy walked up the bouncer. “Excuse me. I’m looking for someone. I think he works here.”
The bouncer rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m not letting you in so you might as well turn your cute underage ass right around and go back the way you came.”
“I’m not trying to get in. I’m trying to find someone who works here. William Pratt,” she replied, folding her arms over her chest.
“Don’t know him. Now scram.”
Buffy clenched her jaw. She was tired and sore and all she wanted to do was sleep. It didn’t matter if it was a nice soft bed or a hard floor with a lumpy pillow, she wanted- no, needed sleep. Now!
“Hey, look buddy, I need to find William and I’m not leaving until I’m allowed to speak with him.” There! Take that, stupid bouncer-guy with no neck, she thought smugly.
The bouncer did not look amused. Nor did he look the least bit intimidated by the petite blond girl in front of him. He looked like he was about ready to flick her away with his huge ring-less fingers.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about. There ain’t no William that works here.”
“He does, I swear,” she replied, confident that her information was correct.
The bouncer shrugged. “Look, I can’t let you in and I can’t leave the door. So you can either go home- which is where you should be going, little girl- or you can wait for this William character to get off his shift. It’s your choice.”
It wasn’t really a choice. She wasn’t going to leave after she had just walked miles to get there not that she had anywhere to go anyway. “Fine. I’ll wait.”
“Suit yourself.”
Buffy noticed a wooden crate resting against the dirty brick wall of the alley and decided to settle herself in for the long haul. She had no idea when William’s shift ended, it could be several more hours.
She felt safe enough with the bouncer thirty feet away so she figured she could rest a little. More of a one eye open, one eye shut kind of a deal, but rest nonetheless. She pulled the zip-up hoody she had pulled out of her bag on the walk over tighter around her body and felt the sleep tugging at her consciousness.
Just for a few minutes, she thought before falling right to sleep.
Buffy felt her body being jostled, a large hand grasping her shoulder. Her eyes burst open when she finally shook the grogginess away enough to realize where she was. She moved to push whoever was trying to wake her away, but all she met with was air.
“Hey, its okay. Calm down,” a man’s voice told her.
She tensed but didn’t make any further attempt to shove him away. Her eyes started to focus and she looked up at him.
“Hey, William.”
A/N: Yeah, I know. I’m evil. ^_^