Danny and Buffy sat uncomfortably in the mess hall. Buffy looked over to Danny worried. For the short time she had known him he always seemed like a happy confident guy but seeing this part of him, for the first time, she saw the pain rise slowly to the surface. Buffy dropped her head awkwardly as she stared into her drink.
“You don’t . . . have to tell me if you don’t want.” She said softly
Danny smiled at her briefly.
“It’s okay, I mean, you told me about all your stuff right?”
Danny sighed and collected his thoughts. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he prepared himself to look back.
“It started about two years ago. I was living with mom and dad on the farm back in Kansas. When I wasn’t at school I was helping out. Riley was hardly around he was always away doing army stuff so it was up to the three of us. Anyways one day mom was feeding our cows when she just . . . fell over. We got her to the hospital really quickly and they looked at her.”
“What was wrong?” Buffy asked
“I don’t know, nobody talked to me, I kept asking but nobody would say anything. Even at the funeral nobody talked it’s like they thought I couldn’t handle it.”
Buffy was stunned. She wanted to say something but nothing came out. She felt so bad for Danny and what made it worse was the fact she was lying to him.
“Dad was never the same after that,” Danny continued sadly, “He shut down and hardy said anything. I did extra stuff around the farm to help out but, pretty soon, the bank was talking about taking my home. That’s when my uncle stepped in. sees he’s a lieutenant or a sergeant or something in the army. He was the one who got my brother in and he thought dad couldn’t handle me and wanted to take me away. He said he could make me a good little solder boy like Riley. I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“So you ran?” Buffy asked
Danny nodded as he played with his mug.
“Took the first bus out of town and haven’t gone back since.”
Buffy leaned back stunned.
“Wow,” She replied, “that’s . . . Wow.”
“Tell me about it but, god, my stuff is nothing compared to yours. I mean, you’ve got monsters and vampires and councils after you and they want to kill you. I bet you wouldn’t let anybody you love get hurt.”
Buffy bit her lip and played with her fingers.
“Yeah . . . Nobody,” She replied, “So where’s you’re dad now?”
“Probably still back in Kansas. Hell, I don’t even know if he’s notice I’ve gone.”
“That’s all he talks about.” Riley said from over his shoulder, “every time I visit him he asks me whether or not I’ve seen you.”
“Can it Ri you weren’t there.” Danny snapped
Riley rubbed his forehead.
“How many times do I have to say this Dan I was deployed overseas I didn’t hear about this until two months later and by the time I got back you were gone.”
Danny stood up and faced his brother.
“Where were you posted again Agent?” he snapped
“That’s privileged information and you know it.”
“Translation: I couldn’t be bothered to check in on dad because I was on my ass in some base only caring about the rest of the family.”
“That’s not fair Dan,” Riley replied, “half the places I went I couldn’t get any messages out.”
“Whatever, least now I’ve met somebody who has the respect to treat me like an adult and be honest.”
Danny gestured to Buffy. That’s when Buffy began to feel the guilt settling in. she can’t keep lying to him like this but she didn’t know the right time to tell him. Riley looked at Buffy curiously.
“Who is she anyway? Your girlfriend?”
“Just somebody I’m helping out. Speaking of which I need that statue uncle David has.”
Riley looked at him strangely.
“Why don’t you get it from Uncle Dave yourself he’s in his office.”
“Like I want to see him after everything he did.”
“Why do you want it anyway?”
Danny gave Riley a look.
“I’m sorry Riley that’s privilege information,” Danny replied sarcastically, “you know I can’t tell you.”
Riley was about to reply but a woman, outside the mess hall, caught his attention. She gestured him to join her and Riley complied. Maggie Walsh looked at Danny and Buffy suspiciously.
“Who are those people Agent Finn?”
“That’s just my brother and his friend Ma’am.”
“Get rid of them,” Maggie replied, “I need you on game. The Sunnydale facility will be up and running in a few weeks and I need all my agents distraction free.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Half an hour later Buffy and Danny climbed back into Danny’s car. Buffy looked at the idol of Joxyrmon closely.
“It’s definitely not the best looking statue.” She commented
Danny looked at it curiously.
“I don’t know,” Danny mused, “I think it’s got a bride of Frankenstein quality about it that works for it. Definitely the perfect gift for that distant cousin you don’t like.”
Buffy smiled at him.
“You feel better now?”
“Yeah I’m good,” Danny replied, “just seeing him again brought some stuff back up.”
Buffy leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Danny looked at her curiously.
“What was that for?”
“It’s a thank you,” Buffy replied, “for helping me.”
Danny shrugged.
“You’re a good person Anne. I hate seeing bad things happen to good people.”
They looked each other in the eye and smiled broadly. After a moment they both looked away.
“So what’s next?” Danny asked
Buffy rummaged around in her bag and pulled out the diary. She flicked passed statue they just got to the next item on the list.
“we need to get a book next . . . ‘The tome of Ronshar’.”
“Hmmm. I don’t have a library card.”
“That’s okay Look’s like we’re heading for a law firm.”
Danny read over Buffy’s shoulder.
“Wolfram and Hart . . . sounds friendly enough. Okay let’s go.”
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