Chapter 7: Pleas
“Officer Miller,” Elizabeth sat down in the seat of her office across from him, “so nice of you to come.”
Officer Graham Miller shifted uncomfortably in his seat, refusing to look at her. “You made me come,” he pointed out matter-of-factly. “And I don’t see why. I’m not any kind of defense witness.”
Elizabeth allowed no emotion to flicker across her face at that. “You were present when my client, Mister Albrook, was arrested, were you not?” she inquired, opening a file folder in front of her and searching through it as if she were anything less than certain on this point.
Graham sighed. “Yeah,” he agreed.
“You and Detective Gates,” Elizabeth pointed her finger to the appropriate lines in the police report. “Just the two of you.”
“Detective Finn, too,” Graham insisted.
“Well, see, that’s not quite true,” she retorted with a smile. “Detective Finn was waiting in line for coffee when the murder went down. He arrived on the scene well after Mister Worth’s death.”
Graham couldn’t argue with that. “Yeah, that’s how it happened,” he agreed.
“So,” Elizabeth went on, “the only witnesses who saw my client put the gun back in his car were Detective Gates and yourself, is that right?”
A momentary shift in Officer Miller’s gaze. “Right,” he agreed after only a second’s hesitation.
Elizabeth picked up on it, though. This was definitely a cop that had been ordered to tow the party line. “So, why don’t you describe for me the events of that night?” She pulled out the police report and pointedly set it down in front of her. “In your own words.”
An exasperated sigh. “You’ve got Detective Gates’ report,” he protested. “I don’t see why you need me to tell you all this again.”
Elizabeth leaned forward on her elbows, exposing a bit of cleavage, and put on her most unassuming smile. “Humor me?” she requested with that sweet innocence that had always gotten her swift and easy cooperation from the police.
Graham was no less immune than the rest of the force. “We saw Albrook go up, then come back down with the gun. He left the gun in his car, and then went back up. Detective Gates and I went up after him, found him over Worth’s body, and we arrested him. Finn showed up then and took over the crime scene. I stayed on guard over Albrook until back up arrived, then I was called down to the station for shift change. That’s all I know.”
Elizabeth nodded and flipped through the pages of her report. “That seems to all check out,” she agreed. “Only. You saw my client put the gun in his car?” she asked, not reproaching in the slightest.
“I did, ma’am,” Graham agreed with a nod.
Elizabeth bit her lip and affected a puzzled expression. “He was wearing gloves when he dropped it off then, wasn’t he?” she concluded.
Graham frowned. “I. Yes, he was,” he concluded.
“That’s what I thought,” she nodded slowly. “Because, see,” she pushed the print photos over to him, “my client’s prints are nowhere near the trigger. And he had no powder marks on his hands. So he must’ve been wearing gloves for the actual shooting, and then taken them off when he dropped the gun off in his car.”
Graham nodded. “That’s right,” he confirmed.
Elizabeth sighed. “So, did he take the gloves back with him, then?” she asked curiously.
Graham frowned at that.
“Well, they weren’t in his car,” she provided sweetly. “So, he must’ve taken them back upstairs with him, right?”
“Right.” Graham agreed hesitantly.
“But, then, they weren’t on him when he was arrested. Where do you suppose he left them in the meantime?” She flashed him her brightest smile.
“Don’t know,” he grumbled sullenly.
“And why do you suppose he removed them in the first place?” She pretended to be thinking out loud. “I mean, he has the common sense to wear them while he shoots Worth, but then takes them off to get his prints on the gun anyway and leaves his weapon out in the car right where the police will find it? Does that make any sense to you?” She batted her eyelashes demurely.
“No,” he muttered reluctantly.
“And.you were watching the apartment building for over four hours prior to my client’s arrival?” she inquired, trying to sound unpresuming.
“Yeah,” Graham agreed, breathing a bit of a sigh of relief now that they were on safer ground again.
“Did you notice a phone booth on the corner of 59th?” she pressed.
“Yeah,” he agreed, “it was right out the window of my car.”
Elizabeth nodded slowly. “Did anyone use that phone while you were watching the victim’s apartment?”
He frowned. “I don’t.” He thought about it for a second. “No, I don’t think so,” he finally concluded.
“That’s interesting,” Elizabeth commented, seemingly to herself.
“What’s interesting?” Graham demanded curiously.
“It’s just that we ran all the LUDs, and it turns out that a call was made from that payphone at exactly 8:21 PM to the offices of Albrook, Harris, and Jenkins. The secretary, a Miss Harmony Kendall, took the call and got a tip to direct my client in the direction of Mister Worth’s apartment. Don’t you find that interesting? That whoever made that call had to have been right there while you were watching?”
Graham shifted uncomfortably. “I wasn’t paid to watch the phone,” he insisted sullenly.
“No, of course not,” Elizabeth assured him lightly. “You couldn’t possibly have known in advance that Mister Albrook would show up, could you?”
“Of course not,” Graham insisted readily.
“So, let’s move on to after you’ve made your arrest,” she continued.
“All right.” Graham was getting distinctly nervous now, as if realizing that this pretty young lawyer was a bit sharper than she at first seemed.
“You and Detective Gates collared my client. Who cuffed him, by the way?”
“Gates did,” he informed her crisply. “I stayed out of range with my weapon pulled in case Albrook tried anything funny.”
“Safety first,” she agreed with a smile. “And Detective Finn showed up then.”
“That’s right.”
“So, who went down to call in the ambulance?” she asked sweetly.
A fidget. “Detective Gates.”
“And he went down alone?”
“That’s right.”
Elizabeth’s lips set in a grim line. Officer Miller was obviously just your run-of-the-mill police officer. He did his job as best he could, and he followed orders. He didn’t seem to be overly bright, or he’d have known that he was exhibiting all the signs of an unpracticed liar. But big interrogations were left to higher-ranking officers, so he’d probably never been given the training in what to avoid. However, the man wasn’t stupid, and he had to know by now that she was on to him.
“Can I speak frankly with you?” she asked bluntly, dropping the false pretenses.
Graham almost looked relieved when she did so, as if he hadn’t been quite certain what to make of her before. “Whatever you want, counselor,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“This cover story – that Detective Gates composed, I suspect? – well, it’s not holding. The cracks are just getting bigger all the time, and IAB’s already investigating the department on the somewhat suspicious evidence in this case. We even figured out that trick about how to get prints on a gun while handcuffing a suspect.” She looked him squarely in the eyes, pausing until she’d caught his gaze before she continued. “I know you want to do what’s right,” she informed him, “but I also know you want to stand by Detective Gates. He’s a good cop, right?”
“The best,” Graham insisted vehemently.
“But you’ve got to think about what’s at stake here,” Elizabeth insisted.
“You think I haven’t?” Graham retorted defensively. “I’ve got a wife and three kids to worry about, a job, a reputation.”
“An innocent man who could very well be put in jail for something he didn’t do,” Elizabeth retorted. “You swore to protect the innocent. And what about my client’s friends and family? Are you really prepared to destroy all of those innocent lives? A-And William has a fiancée, you know, who loves him more than anything in this world and.”
* * *
The night before.
“I’m going to have to meet with Officer Miller tomorrow,” Elizabeth whispered softly against the curve of Spike’s throat.
“Mmm.” he sighed, stroking her hair rhythmically. “Don’t go.”
“Hafta,” she countered with an apologetic smile, venturing to lean in and press her lips to his.
It was a bit odd, being like this, not quite together but definitely in love. Some professionalism was necessary to maintain their composure in the courtroom, and they’d fought to maintain a friendly distance over the past few days just so that they wouldn’t be distracted by the other’s proximity during the trial. At night after they came home, though, they inevitably moved ever closer until they reluctantly had to break their embrace to get some sleep for the next day.
Tonight, though, Elizabeth had an irrational fear that he was slipping between her fingers, and she clung tightly to him in response. The trial had become even more stressful to her now that she stood to lose everything all over again. But she wouldn’t give up these few moments they had together for the world.
“S’pose I can’t go with you, either, without my bail bein’ revoked.” He let out a weary sigh.
“Best not to risk it,” she agreed, fingers finding one flat male nipple through the material in his shirt and flicking her thumb over it teasingly.
A slight gasp escaped his lips, and he squeezed his eyes shut tight, jaw clenching. “You know what that does to me, pet,” he protested in a husky voice.
A sly smile lit up her face. “Yeah,” she agreed mock-innocently, “I do.” Her other hand slipped down to his thigh to trace archaic patterns on his jeans.
“‘Lizabeth.” he began.
“Buffy,” she insisted. “Always Buffy to you.”
“Buffy,” he agreed with another sharp intake of breath, “‘m quite sure you’re violatin’ the bar code of ethics in about a dozen ways right now.”
“How?” she countered with a wistful sigh of her own. “Husbands and wives represent each other all the time. I seriously doubt they put up a wall between them in the meantime.”
“S’pose it’s a bit different than the big bad lawyer seducing her poor defenseless client,” he teased lightly. “Making him pay his legal fees in sexual favors.”
She laughed at that. “Mmm, good idea,” she decided. “Could use a few sexual favors.”
He tisked good-naturedly. “Gonna have to report you, then. Can’t have you sullying my virtue, now can I?”
She gave him a coy smile. “I think I’ve already sullied your virtue,” she countered.
“No arguin’ with that.” He leaned forward to steal another quick kiss. “Still,” he broke off with a reluctant sigh, “‘s not like we’re married.”
She cocked her head to one side, studying him intently and finding him as breathtaking as she had when their eyes had first met back in law school. A deep ache settled through her bones at the thought of her life without this man. Oh, she’d compensated for her loss, true, burying herself deep in her work. But that one piece had always been missing since they’d split apart, and now for the first time she realized just how important he was to her.
“What?” He squirmed slightly under her gaze, almost afraid of the powerful emotions he saw there. God, he loved her, but to see her look at him like that again. He hoped he wasn’t making a fool of himself in thinking that she still-
“Marry me,” she finally concluded.
Wide-eyed silence for a minute. Then, “B-Buffy, you don’t mean.?” he stammered out, sounding more like the shy, unsure William she’d first met.
“Sure, I do,” she agreed, brushing his hair back from his forehead. “Since we never broke up, technically, we should still be engaged, right? So I’m all for making it official again. Marry me,” she repeated her request, brushing her lips across the edge of one cheekbone.
His eyes fluttered shut, and his arms tightened around her before he captured her mouth in a sweet, lingering kiss.
“Is that a ‘yes’?” she demanded pointedly, pulling away breathlessly.
“Could end up goin’ to jail,” he pointed out softly.
“I don’t care. I’ll be married to a convict, then,” she decided.
“But I care,” he countered. “If I go away-“
An angry finger to his lips cut him off. “I’m getting you off,” she insisted. “Don’t you dare think otherwise.”
He sighed. “You know how fickle juries are, luv. Half the time they assume that if you’re arrested, you must be guilty.”
“Then this won’t even go to jury,” she concluded. “I’ll drag the truth out of the good old boy cop system if it kills me.”
“Buffy.”
“Please, William,” she whispered softly. “I just want it back. All of it. I need you.”
A reluctant smile and a gentle kiss. “Consider yourself engaged, my love.”
A bright smile lit up her face, and she curled deeper into his arms. “I love you, too,” she whispered softly against his neck. “Always have, always will. You and only you.”
A hack sounded across the living room.
Spike’s eyes narrowed to where Angel seemed to be so innocently grooming. The cat merely stared back at him through intent, yellow eyes as if daring the human to try to call him on the insightful commentary.
“Thinking maybe we should move this away from prying eyes,” he informed Elizabeth softly.
She blinked up at him at that. “Naughty boy,” she scolded teasingly. “I have to go tomorrow to-“
A very naughty hand found its way between her thighs and stroked the wet spot it found there.
Elizabeth’s words faltered, and she let out a heady moan.
“You were saying?” Spike whispered huskily into her ear.
“You don’t think,” gasp, “we’re moving a little fast?” Elizabeth inquired in response.
“Fast was you proposin’ to me. This.we’ve both been waiting for this for far too long.” he retorted matter-of-factly.
One small hand trailed down the center of his shirt, savoring the feel of the strong muscles beneath. She outlined each of his six abdominal muscles before her thumb hooked lazily in the front of his jeans, halting its descent for the moment. “Too long,” she agreed in a voice deep with desire. Then, she frowned. “And, wait a minute, you proposed to me.” She pulled back slightly to fix him with a scowl.
He gasped in disbelief. “You just proposed to me all of five minutes ago!” he retorted.
“But that was just a follow-up to your proposal to me,” she countered. “Remember, I even made you draw up that affidavit saying that you were the one who proposed so that we could have one moment in our relationship that wasn’t ambiguous?”
“Yeah, back then,” he agreed. “But ‘s a whole different ballgame now, and you, most definitely, proposed this time.”
A little giggle escaped her lips.
“What?” he demanded, mock-offended.
“You’re not going to let this drop, are you?” she inquired.
“Are you?” he retorted.
“Nope,” she assured him, feeling unusually giddy and light-headed. Free. It felt good to just joke around like this, and she hadn’t done it in far too long.
“Then,” he announced, suddenly rising to his feet and causing her to squeal and cling onto him as he lifted her up into his arms, “‘m just gonna have to.persuade you.” An evil leer crept upon his features.
“Maybe I’ll persuade you,” she shot back, feet dangling casually in mid-air as he carried her up the stairs to her bedroom. “Although apparently it’ll be my sheets we’re trashing.” she commented wryly.
“Been staring down the hall at this door for weeks now, wishing I was invited back in,” he retorted, nudging the door open with his hip. He sent a scowl back in the direction of where Angel had followed them up the stairs and slammed the door in the cat’s face.
Angel remained nonplussed by this turn of events. Really, one day that human was going to have to learn that closed doors weren’t a hindrance to him in the slightest. But for now, he’d leave the pair be.
With an ‘oof’, Spike let Elizabeth fall back onto the bed, his own body quickly moving to cover hers. Her hands wrapped deep into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him close as their tongues met and mated. Without even the need for simple words, they began moving together, hands flitting over needy flesh, unsteady and fumbling over buttons and zippers, each overly eager in their pursuits.
“God, I want you so much,” Spike whispered against her hair, hands on her back beneath her blouse and fiddling erratically with the clasp of her bra.
“Want you, too,” she agreed, finally getting his zipper down and cupping his hardness with an almost reverent touch. “I think we’re going to need to.” she began.
He let out a reluctant sigh and sat back up, hobbling on one foot to pull his jeans off. He kicked his boots off as well, sending one of them flying under the bed. A muffled curse-word before he turned his attention to pulling his shirt off.
Elizabeth watched him disrobe through lazy, catlike eyes. He was so beautiful to her, and she’d spent so many nights dreaming about having him with her like this again.
“You gonna help out here, luv?” he teased lightly, watching her watch him with undisguised desire.
“Oh, um, yeah.” She blushed at being caught staring and pulled her blouse off, tossing it in the direction of the armchair. “I just.” Another blush. Nope, talking no good. She turned her full effort to getting out of her skirt and nylons.
Spike lay back on the bed beside her, fully nude, fascinated by her sudden shyness around him. Before she had always taken the lead in their lovemaking, his instructor in the arts of pleasure. Now. Well, he’d just have to show her that she was still that goddess that had first made him into a man.
“You’re so beautiful,” he purred, sidling up against her and pressing a soft kiss to the back of her neck.
Her fingers slipped on the toe of her nylons, and it took her several tries to finally get them off. “You’re the beautiful one,” she insisted, turning slowly in his arms and letting their naked bodies press together for the first time in years. “I.” She was struck speechless by the feel of the powerful muscles beneath her fingertips. A blush. “It’s been a while,” she confessed.
A little growl escaped his throat at her admission. “Time for you to lie back and enjoy the ride,” he breathed sensuously into her ear, twining his fingers with hers and leading her to lie down beside him on the bed.
Elizabeth felt her body relaxing as he began to trail kisses down her throat, along her collarbone, and then down still further. She let out an excited little gasp when his warm mouth first engulfed her breast, feeling the wetness between her legs begin to pool until she practically ached for his touch. “Please, William,” she sighed.
“Ready so soon?” He looked up at her quizzically, scarred eyebrow raised.
“Told you it’s been too long,” she agreed, reaching up with her free hand to cup his cheek.
He nuzzled gently into her touch before his free hand caught hers, guiding both her wrists so that they rested on either side of her head. He locked their hands tightly then as he moved over her, one knee pressing gently between her thighs, asking her to open herself to him.
For one moment, a pang of fear passed through her body. He was so much larger and stronger than her, and he had her effectively trapped. The shy boy she had once known was almost wholly replaced by a confident, sexual man now, and the notion was just a bit intimidating. But then he looked down at her with those same soft, soulful blue eyes that she had first fallen in love with, and the strange sensation passed. A soft smile curling her lips now, she spread her legs for him, allowing him to settle comfortably in the cradle of her hips, her ankles coming up to lock in the small of his back.
“Love you,” he assured her softly, finding her opening with the velvet tip of his cock and lining himself up carefully.
“I know,” she whispered back. “Love you, too.”
Their lips met in a frantic kiss just as, with one smooth roll of his hips, he plunged into her searing depths.
Elizabeth gasped into his mouth as she felt her inner muscles expand to accommodate his girth, stretching her out to her very limits before they contracted once more, squeezing tight around him.
“Fuck,” he whispered against her, eyes shut tight to keep himself from exploding right then. “F-Forgot how good you feel.” In his head, a perpetual mantra was repeating over again: Wet, tight, hot, more! It didn’t take him long to give in and begin long, deep thrusts in and out of her slick passage.
Elizabeth let out a little whimper of need every time he left her body, only to inhale with a strangled gasp when he filled her once more. He wasn’t moving particularly fast, but every stroke was sure, hitting the pleasure spot deep within her. “So.deep!” she managed to cry out amidst her moans of ecstasy.
“You fit me so good,” he murmured in response, voice ragged with the effort of controlling his hips slow motions. “Like I was made off your mold.”
“Yes,” she hissed in agreement, her fingers tightening around his until her grip was almost painful, her hips writhing sensuously up to meet his thrusts.
“You like that?” he whispered seductively against her ear, picking up his pace slightly. He could feel that she was getting close.
“M-More,” she agreed.
“You like this?” He swirled his hips as he entered her this time, picking up the strength of his thrusts as he did so.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. Never, in all her life, had anything ever felt that good. She felt a momentary pang of jealous rage for whatever floozy had showed him that move, but then she banished the thought from her mind. God, she didn’t care about anything else in the world as long as he kept doing that.
“William!” she screamed out on the third rotating pulse.
He felt her body clenching around him, knew that was climax number one, and picked up his pace, ready to give her the big finish now. His balls practically ached in relief as he finally allowed himself to break free of his control and ravish her body.
“God, Buffy,” he gasped against her, stroking deep within her over and over again to accept her silken embrace. “God, I love you so much. My goddess, my first. I want you.always.love you.” Even words failed him as he felt his entire body tighten with impending orgasm.
Elizabeth managed to blink up at him blearily, falling down fast from the pleasure only to be jerked right back up to the peak again. “My love,” she breathed, “my William.”
“Yours,” he whispered back raggedly just as his balls clenched and his seed shot deep into her womb, overcome with ecstasy.
She clutched him to her as she came again, feeling like the two of them were crashing down together at breakneck speed, drowning in a sea of pleasure, and.
Blackness.
“Buffy?” A soft murmur in the dark that made her aware of her existence once more.
“Mmm?” she murmured contentedly. She felt his body shift off of hers, and she held onto him in objection, settling comfortably against his chest as he lay beside her.
“Love you,” he whispered lazily into her hair, feeling an overwhelming weariness take over his limbs.
“Love you,” she agreed, placing one soft kiss on his chest.
Already she could feel his breathing even out with sleep and, before she drifted off as well, the pestering thought stuck in her mind that she hadn’t been on any kind of birth control. The surprising thing was that that realization only caused her lips to curl in a smile as she fell asleep in his arms.
* * *
It wasn’t until the next morning that Elizabeth – still a bit sore-thighed – crept carefully out of bed, slipping free of Spike’s warm embrace and padding softly down the stairs. Angel, who had somehow found his way to the foot of the bed in the middle of the night, followed after, aiding her in her tasks for the day. She put the coffee kettle on and rubbed the sleep lazily out of her eyes, picking up the phone and hitting number six on her speed-dial.
“Rosenberg speaking,” a familiar voice informed her matter-of-factly.
“Hi, Willow,” Elizabeth yawned and pulled out one of the yogurts from her refrigerator.
On the other end, Willow’s eyes narrowed. “You,” she accused, “supposed best friend who a) takes up William’s case, b) according to rumors I heard – secondhand from Amanda at the DA’s, mind you – now has William living in her house, and c) doesn’t even call me to spread the gossip. What could you possibly want?”
Elizabeth laughed at Willow’s mock-sullen manner. “I’m sorry, Wills, really, but it’s been a bit hectic lately what with-“
“You moving your ex back in with you?” Willow suggested.
“Yup,” Elizabeth agreed matter-of-factly, “that.”
“Oh,” Willow sighed, “all right then.” A sly smile lit up her face. “So, did you boink him yet?”
“Willow!” Elizabeth exclaimed, shocked. “I’m his attorney!”
“You did!” Willow squealed out her conclusion excitedly. “As good as you remember?”
Elizabeth’s face flushed a deep red. “I didn’t say.” She let out a weary sigh. “I promise to gossip all about it in a minute,” she changed the subject. “But I actually called you because I need some help.”
Willow’s brow furrowed at that. “How can I help your stud get off?” she asked curiously.
“You’re friends with Faith Vlore, right?” Elizabeth inquired.
“Yeah.”
“I need to borrow a stand-in attorney for the day,” Elizabeth said apologetically. “I’ve got something important to do, and William’s not qualified to stand by himself in court anymore.”
“Sure,” Willow agreed. “Faith’s offices are right down the hall. Hang on, I’ll check.”
Elizabeth heard Willow set down the phone and snacked at her yogurt while she waited for her friend to return from the other law-firm that shared the lease on their building. She was – not surprisingly – finding it difficult to concentrate on such seemingly mundane matters after what she and Spike had shared last night. Fortunately, she’d gotten plenty of training back in law school at working out legal matters while a warm, sexy William waited in her bed. Still, she was grateful that Willow wasn’t more than a minute.
“You’re in luck,” Willow announced brightly. “Faith’s got a clean slate today.”
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. “I would’ve called last night in advance but.” she trailed off.
“Last night?” Willow pressed with a knowing grin.
“Let’s just say that I was busy getting re-engaged,” Elizabeth admitted, a satisfied smile creeping up on her face.
“Seriously?” Willow exclaimed in amazement. “You’re actually going to get married this time?”
“That’s the plan,” Elizabeth agreed, practically beaming. “We’re thinking small civil ceremony, just the two of us.like before.”
“You’re inviting me,” Willow informed her matter-of-factly.
“Okay, fine. But only you,” Elizabeth insisted.
“Kennedy will want to come with,” she pointed out. “And then you can’t leave Giles out, and.”
Elizabeth mentally added the entire staff at Spike’s office as well and grimaced. “Small,” she insisted.
Willow agreed with a reluctant sigh. “So what’s up today that you’re leaving your future husband’s side? I would’ve thought proving he was innocent – which I knew all the time, by the way, despite certain stuffy ADAs that will remain nameless and Faith says seriously need to get laid. by her – would be your top priority.”
Elizabeth managed to work her way through Willow’s typically effusive syntax, got past the start of surprise that Faith was interested in Robin, and found the point. Nervously, she fingered the phone cord between her fingers. “It is,” she assured her friend.
“Then what’s happening today?”
“My last, best chance at proving William’s innocence,” she answered simply.
* * *
The present again.
Elizabeth bit her lip and calmed herself, trying to force the emotion back out of her plea. She knew only too well that Graham was the only person likely to talk that could get these charges dropped early.
The officer merely studied her for a minute, surprised at how attached to her client she seemed. “This would get me kicked off the force,” he finally informed her.
“I know that,” she agreed, composed once more, “but it’s not like your life will be over. There are other possibilities. If my client is convicted.that’s pretty much it for the rest of his life.”
Graham couldn’t argue with that assessment. “You want me to turn on a friend,” he accused.
“I just want you to do what you think is right,” Elizabeth concluded. “Please.”