Summary: Life can be difficult when you are fifteen years old with a baby and few options. Fortunately Buffy Summers is a resourceful girl. Spuffy. All human AU in Four Parts. It's a high school fic with actual high school coming up in Parts Two thru Four. This is a very long saga and will be completed. NOTE : The ratings and warnings I am giving for this story do not represent the entire story - they allow for occasional forays into difficult subjects, but most chapters do not dwell there. It's not a fluffy story, but it is not unrelentingly grim. Like life, it flows among the highs and lows. IMPORTANT: Although Parts One and Two are rated R, beginning in Part Three the story will move into some NC-17 territory. ‘The Song Remains the Same’ consists of Parts One and Two. When we move into Part Three it will start a new posted ‘story’ so that I can reflect the new rating. Also, Parts One and Two are quite long enough on their own. / Winner of 'Judge's Pick' in Round 11 of Spuffy Awards and Winner of Best Fantasy Angst and Best Fantasy Author in Round 12 of the Spuffy Awards
When Buffy arose and came into the kitchen with Katie the following morning, Robin was already seated at the table eating bacon and eggs and reading the paper. She stopped dead in her tracks as he looked up and smiled, "Good morning."
Buffy blushed, averted her eyes and mumbled her 'good morning'. She then sat Katie in her high chair, keeping her own back toward him as much as possible.
"Where's Faith?" Buffy didn't look his way once as she busied herself strapping the baby in.
"Shower," Robin allowed himself an amused grin, then wiped it off his face when he saw Buffy turn his way again. He needn't have worried. She was looking everywhere but at him this morning.
*She's cute when she's embarrassed.* He went back to his paper and tried to keep from smiling at her discomfort.
Buffy mixed cereal and cut a banana for Katie's breakfast, and tried as much as possible not to look anywhere near Robin.
*I may never look him in the eye again as long as I live,* she groaned inwardly. *God! This is so frickin' awkward!.*
When Faith came in a short while later, she noticed they were both quiet but a definite tension was in the air. Robin smiled that 'ate the canary' grin she loved, and she guessed that Buffy must've heard something last night to make her so obviously twitchy today.
Faith just laughed. She found the situation as amusing as Robin did, but for entirely different reasons. Neither Buffy nor Robin had any intention of filling Faith in on last night's details.
"Ooo! Breakfast!" Faith leaned in and gave Robin a quick kiss as she reached over and snagged some bacon from his plate.
He smiled as he swatted at her hand, and went back to the paper while Faith made up a plate for herself.
"Damn." Robin suddenly frowned.
"What?" Faith sat down next to him and leaned over to see what had changed his mood so suddenly.
"Another murdered woman. This one was only eighteen." He shook his head, "The cops need to get on this guy before he finds number seven."
Buffy spun around and held out a hand for the paper, which he gave up to her willingly. She scanned the article in silence, and then passed it back to him. There wasn't anything in there that would clue her in as to whether it was Zack or not. She was frustrated that the police had still not come around to interview him.
She caught Robin's concerned gaze directed her way, and last night was forgotten in this morning's worry.
"They'll catch him," Robin tried to reassure her.
"Yeah." Buffy nodded at him and then got up to fix her own plate.
*But when?*
~~~~~~~
Later that evening
"Who took my 'Crimson Heat' lipstick?!" came a shrill cry from down the bench.
The dressing room was abuzz with activity this evening as the dancers busied themselves getting ready to perform their sets and sell enough private dances to come out ahead when they settled up at the end of the night. The Paradise Club considered its dancers independent contractors, which meant that each girl had to pay a stage fee of thirty dollars each night in order to perform her sets, and cut the club in for forty percent of each private dance they sold. The girls kept their tips and the balance of their private dances after the club's cut, so they needed to make sure they sold enough to do considerably more than break even every night they worked. Since the club routinely overbooked dancers, there was a lot of competition among them for a share of the tips.
And they were dead serious about anyone touching their things. There had been instances when a dancer would 'interfere' with another girl's costume or make-up in order to reduce the competition, and even the allegation of such a thing could result in a serious fight in the dressing room. The question, 'who touched my stuff?' was a red flag warning of danger back stage.
"It's right there, behind the red boa," Connie calmly pointed out. "No one messed with it."
"Well, good!" Leah acknowledged with a frown that it was right there, hiding behind the boa, and that no one had walked off with it. "Don't anybody touch my stuff," she added quietly to everyone and to no one in particular.
The rest of the dressing room appeared to be indifferent to the conversation, but every girl present relaxed inside, and hoped there'd be no further drama tonight.
The dingy, untidy dressing room was narrow and long, with lockers and hanger hooks on one side and a long wide shelf which served as a dressing table along the other side. Lighted mirrors hung above the dressing 'table' top, and old kitchen chairs, covered in vinyl that had been repaired with duct tape over the years, served as seating. It wasn't pretty, but it served it's purpose.
Faith sat at a space at the end of the long dressing table, applying lotion to her entire body in preparation for her evening's work. She was dead tired, completely worn out by the grueling routine of dancing for a living. She thought back to when she'd first started, and how from the outside the dancing didn't look all that hard. But it was hard, and took a lot of strength and stamina to perform several nights a week. She was starting to wear out, and she was still a beginner. Some of these women had been dancing for years.
Her first week had been the hardest, with every muscle aching and the first signs of an irritating condition known to the dancers as 'pole burn'. Wearing platform shoes with six inch heels was it's own agony as well. She'd persevered though, and Robin had been very supportive during those difficult first few weeks. She also had Robin to thank for permitting her to work the eight and ten shifts when she was still pretty new, as those shifts were the most sought after and the best paying. Some of the girls weren't happy about Faith's 'special treatment' but after a few weeks they got over it. At least they seemed to be over it. She hoped they were over it.
She wished she could take a couple of weeks off but she knew she couldn't do that, she needed the money too badly right now. She told herself that she just had to keep at it and get used to the grind, and she'd be alright in the end. This wasn't forever.
"You okay, sugar?" Roxanne was seated next to Faith tonight, and had noticed that the younger girl was looking a little peaked. When she had started noticing that Faith seemed tired from the routine, and noted that Faith's eyes had begun getting that dark sunken look that meant she wasn't getting enough rest, she saw an opportunity.
"Yeah, fine." Faith stood and applied lotion to her bottom.
"You look all worn out." Roxanne observed as she adjusted the full length clingy gown she was starting in tonight.
"I'll be alright, I just need to get more sleep I think." Faith finished with the lotion and began pulling on the plaid skirt for the school girl look she was going for this evening.
"Well, if you need something to get you over, you let me know." Roxanne leaned over and whispered conspiratorially. "I don't know how I'd get through some nights, you know?"
Faith stopped dressing and frowned at Roxanne. "What?" *Too loud.* She lowered her voice as she stepped closer to Roxanne. "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean, darlin'." Roxanne looked Faith straight in the eyes as if she dared her to demur.
Faith started dressing again, donning the white blouse and red tie. She sat down to put on her thigh-high black boots and leaned in toward Roxanne. "How much?"
Roxanne rummaged in her bag for a moment, then handed a tiny little zip baggie to Faith under the table, signaling the price with her fingers.
Faith palmed the baggie, nodded, and mouthed, "After?"
Roxanne nodded her understanding, then got up to dance her rotation. Faith's eyes flicked around the room to be sure no one was watching her, then casually walked into the bathroom and snorted some of the powder. She then returned to her space and began to carefully put on her make-up.
She knew that she was playing with fire here, but she also knew that the work went faster and easier that evening, and it was so much more natural to turn into 'Candy' when she was a little lit. Also, she earned higher tips with the more relaxed, sexier, more amorous dancing routine she attributed to the drug's effects. She decided she'd see about getting more for tomorrow night.
She wasn't stupid. She knew it was dangerous. And she knew that while some people got trapped by drugs, she was strong enough to handle it.
~~~~~~
That afternoon
It was a beautiful June afternoon at the beach and Buffy was in heaven.
She looked fantastic in a new white bikini bought just that week with her housecleaning money, the sun warmed her skin in the most delightfully sensual way, the breeze was exactly perfect, and --
-- she just got hit in the face with a beach ball thrown by a four year old playing three feet away, and narrowly missed spilling a sippee cup of apple juice all over herself.
*sigh*
Buffy and Fred had settled themselves down for a sunny afternoon of relaxing fun with their kids. The 'Seaside Lagoon' was a specially separated area of the beach that was set up just for families with small children, away from the larger beach area, where the teenagers and older kids and nature itself posed more dangers to little ones. They still had to keep careful watch on the children, but it was easier to do there, as it was more tiny-kid friendly.
Unfortunately, that meant there were a lot more tiny kids.
Buffy's patience was wearing thin, and Fred was trying desperately not to laugh at her friend's latest trial with the four year old terror known on the beach only as 'JT'. As in, "JT, honey, try not to smash into the other people", and "JT sweetheart, that was a great throw, now go get it from the nice lady's plate", and "JT darling, I don't think the nice lady wants to lick your ice cream sandwich...oh, isn't that nice, you're a good sharer. Now hand the napkin to the lady so she can clean it up"....
"You would not be convicted by a jury of your peers." A Voice from behind her whispered conspiratorially into her ear.
Startled, Buffy turned her head to her rear left and saw that the Voice belonged to a nearby father of two young boys who had been behaving so perfectly up to that point she had not fully realized that they were playing behind her.
The Voice smiled charmingly. "John Smith," he pointed to his one and three year old boys, "Sammy and Charlie."
"Buffy Summers," she grinned back, "and Katie. And this is my friend Fred Burkle and her son, Stevie." Fred nodded in his direction, but it was obvious that the man's attention was on the younger woman, so she went back to shoveling sand with her son. "Very nice to meet you....John Smith." She placed a special emphasis on the last name.
"Yes, yes, guilty as charged," he laughed. "But I come by the name honestly. My parents either had no imagination or were wickedly evil. I haven't decided which yet."
She laughed along with him, and suddenly the day was much brighter and the trials of JT temporarily forgotten. They talked and engaged in a little innocent flirtation for a while, but soon John Smith packed up his children and left, and Buffy settled back to watch Katie and Stevie build a sand castle together. Well, Stevie built, and Katie patted helpfully while crawling over and smashing the thing down as soon as a wall was in place. Stevie had his mother's patience, however, and endlessly rebuilt the castle as Katie tore it down.
"It's beautiful to watch them together, isn't it?" Fred smiled.
"Yeah, it really is. He's such a good little boy."
"Speaking of good little boys, how was Robin's first sleepover?"
"Not such a little boy."
Fred's jaw dropped as she spun to look at Buffy's knowing smirk. "No, you did not!"
"Hey, I was minding my own business, I didn't ask to see anything, but there he was, and my virgin eyes are seriously traumatized."
"Virgin?"
"Um...well....okay. But still - traumatized."
"Oh my god!" Fred blushed more than Buffy did at that moment, and Buffy could see she was having trouble with the entire visualization, so she threw her a line.
"Anyway, it wasn't a long look or anything, although breakfast this morning was kinda awkward." She lowered her voice in all seriousness then, "But Faith doesn't know and must never know. You are sworn to secrecy here."
Fred crossed her heart with all due gravity.
"So, how is Faith doing, anyway?"
Fred had her doubts about Faith's waitressing job, but didn't know whether or how to broach the subject with her friend. As far as she could tell, Buffy bought the entire story without a second thought. Although she knew it was none of her business what Faith did, and she didn't like the girl any less for her new occupation, she was concerned that Buffy would be upset if she discovered that Faith had been less than truthful about her new job description. Faith was important to Buffy, and she didn't want to see anything harm that relationship or her friend be hurt down the road.
"She's doing great. I didn't think she'd really shine too much in customer service, but she comes home in a really good mood and is making really great tips. I guess the club's customers must really like her. And did I mention the tips are great?"
*Okay, this is the perfect 'in'. Just say something. Better to prepare her for a problem than let it blindside her later.*
"Have you ever thought that maybe," Fred spoke carefully here, "Faith's job might be more than just waitressing?"
Buffy frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, most gentlemen's clubs don't serve a lot of food, just alcohol and some finger foods perhaps, so I was just wondering about her large tips..." *Please don't be upset.*
Buffy sat in silence for a minute, watching Stevie carefully reconstruct another wall Katie had demolished. *Not waitressing...* She turned toward Fred with a hard stare.
"No, that can't be," Buffy shook her head vigorously. "First, Faith wouldn't do that. It's just so...icky. And second, Faith wouldn't lie to me about it even if she was doing it." Buffy was convincing herself as much as she was trying to convince Fred. "No, I don't care what most clubs are like, if Faith says she's waitressing, then she is. Besides, Robin would never ask her to do something like that when he's clearly head over heels about her. What man would do that?" Buffy shook her head again, "No."
Fred could see that the discussion was over now. Buffy wasn't ready to give this any more consideration, and she didn't want to upset her any more today by going on about it.
"I'm sure you're right. You know Faith much better than I do. Forget I said anything."
Buffy smiled. "No, I appreciate you feeling like you could ask the question, after all we are friends. But like you said, I just know Faith better than that." She gave Fred an affectionate shoulder hug. "No problem."
"Good." Fred smiled back and stifled a sigh. *Well, perhaps I at least planted a seed. If it turns out I'm right - and I really think I am - then at least Buffy will have had the thought come up once before it hits her in the face. And it's gonna.*
*Oomph!*
"JT honey, go get your ball from the nice lady..."
After a while they gathered up the children and called it a day, vowing that next time they came, they'd scope out JT's location before they settled on a spot.
~~~~~~~~
First, sorry for the long wait for an update. Lung infection seriously kicking my ass these last two weeks, but I'm feeling better now. Thank you to the folks who e-mailed and reviewed. Second, I realized after I posted this that the middle actually was out of sequence. So I guess I've officially pulled a Joss now. *eg* I have edited this chapter to insert timing cues so that is not so glaring an error. (Hey, at least I didn't make Buffy a sophomore and a senior all in the space of five seconds in the same scene, a la the god who is known as Joss. *g*)