The Dark and The Light-Billy

The Past

"Hanna, Hanna, wake up" I rubbed my eyes and sat up to see Spike looking at me frantically in the dark  

"W-what's wrong?" I asked realizing Billy was gone, I must have fallen asleep next to him 

"I don't know where Billy is, something happened and we need to find," Spike told me, I jumped up quickly and put my shoes on 

"Let's go" we raced out of the cellar and onto the streets, we checked different corners where Billy usually was but we couldn't find him. Spike pulled me into the Duck & Quiver to see if he was in there. We walked in and pushed past a bunch of people who were drunk. 

I peered over the crowd to see Billy sitting at a small table drinking beer, Spike and I gave each other a knowing look before walking over to him 

"What are you wasting your money on beer for?" Spike asked 

"Well I needed a drink" Billy responded simply "Cellar's a bit busy at the moment" 

"What?" I asked, I had no idea what he meant by that 

"You don't want to know what your brother is doing," Billy told me and I think I caught on, Spike and I didn't even see anything so maybe Leo and B were done, when he said it so bitterly it made me a little jealous that he still cared about B's relationship with Leo 

"Does this have anything to do with the guy we saw earlier?" Spike asked and Billy looked away "come on mate who was he" we both sat down "was it your dad?"

"You know my dad died in the army" Billy snapped 

"That's what you said"

"Yeah well he did"

"Come on Bill," Spike said, I wasn't really sure what was going on but obviously someone from Billy's past had just shown up 

"It was a guy called Vic Collins," Billy told us "he was the master of the workhouse when I and the girls were there" I frowned and looked at the ground, I had no way of knowing how bad it was in the workhouse, I had always had a privileged life at the palace and I guess I took that for granted 

"So not a nice guy then I take it," Spike said and I elbowed him in the ribs, it wasn't the right time to be making jokes 

"No," Billy scoffed "You know we were young when we were at the workhouse," Billy said talking more to me now than Spike because I really didn't know much about his past "he was a grown man in the prime of his life, I was just a little lad, you know it's funny when you think about it" I don't know how it's funny 

"What did he do?" I asked softly not sure if I really wanted the answer 

"He used to beat me unconscious," Billy said acting as though it was no big deal "one time he beat me so badly I was in the infirmary for three weeks, all I did was go to the toilet without asking permission"

"Jesus Bill" Spike scoffed leaning back in his chair, I didn't know what to do because Billy didn't always seem like the type of person who wanted hugs in public "why did you not tell me none of this?" 

"It's no big deal," Billy said flatly and I rolled my eyes but I didn't say anything "I will say this though, if there is any justice, someone will do him in just when he's wandering home at night when he least expects it"

"Yeah but whoever would do that would get caught," Spike said 

"Revenge isn't right, it almost never ends well" I added on because I knew exactly what Billy was thinking 

"Yeah I get it," Billy said 

"Alright good, get me a pint cheap bastard" Spike concluded because it seemed that Billy didn't want to talk about this anymore and I couldn't blame him. What spike and I weren't expecting was for Billy just to get up and walk out we looked at each other concerned before following 

We walked after Billy down the dark allies turn after turn but we knew who Billy was looking for and we knew he wouldn't stop until he found him soon Billy stopped and watched for a moment before turning around and catching sight of us 

"Where are you going, Bill?" Spike asked 

"Go back to the pub Hanna," Billy said "Spike this has nothing to do with you, let's keep it that way" 

"What about when you get arrested eh?" Spike asked, "Beating an old man, you'll spend the rest of your days in jail what then?" 

"It's easy for you to say" Billy spat enraged "It's easy if you weren't there" Billy rammed into him "don't Spike" 

"You can't change what he did to you"

"He didn't do it to me Spike, all that stuff I told you about, the beatings, breaking my jaw, putting me in the hospital, it wasn't me, it was B" I felt like a horrible person listening to Billy and only thinking about how obvious it was that he loved her "there was nothing I could do to stop it, I wasn't big enough"

"I'm sorry Billy" Spike was saying but Billy slapped his arm and began to push him 

"Billy stop" I cried but he ignored me and pushed Spike to the ground 

"Well I'm big enough now" Billy yelled 

"Billy don't go in the house" I begged he started to walk towards me and I flinched away expecting him to hit me. Billy looked confused and a little hurt 

"Are you scared of me?" he asked, his blue eyes widened 

"N-no" I said softly but to be honest I was, I had never seen Billy so mad, he had just hurt his best friend 

"You are scared" he said and my eyes filled with tears, I didn't want him to feel bad "Kitten" he walked closer wrapping his arms around me 

"Please don't go in" I said again "please" 

"I have to" he started to walk towards the house but I grabbed his arm pulling him back 

"No Billy, you-" I was suddenly thrown to the ground just liked Spike, I yelped in pain and watched Billy round the corner so that he could go beat the guy up.