Drabble - “Payment in Kind”
Payment in Kind
Fandom: Buffy
Spoilers: “Flooded”, Season 6, ep. 4
***
“The hell is this?” Tito blusters.
“What it isn’t,” the suited man explains, “is a negotiation. You think you have that young woman over a barrel. You don’t. You’ll do the job for a fair price.”
Tito scowls. “I’ll decide what’s fair.”
“You won’t,” the man says. “We have our own estimates: how long to repair her plumbing, how much labor. Charge that amount, and we’ll pay you another 50%, privately, to not mention us.”
Tito’s ready to cave (nice profit there, still), but he has to know. “Who are you? And why?”
“Citizens’ committee,” the man replies. “And … gratitude.”