Buffy let her gaze falter for a second and fall to the floor. It was obvious. She should have seen that it was obvious, but she'd wanted to believe that there was some way for her to leave Ambrose out of this. If there was anyone in the world who didn't deserve it, it was him. He wanted to help people, and he was good, genuinely good down to his core. She wasn't even sure she was in the right anymore. Not that she would let Lucius see that sort of doubt. She'd been chosen. She had a job.
And she would protect Ambrose to the death alongside all of it.
Her fist clenched and her eyes narrowed as she slowly looked back up at him. "I said. Don't. Threaten. Him," she hissed, angry at so much more than just the words. Everything was coming to a head for her. Her frustration with herself and her lot in life. Her anger from when he'd hit her in the store. Her fury when he'd threatened Ambrose. And her pain at seeing that she might lose one of the only people who'd really known Buffy and not The Slayer. She lashed out, a sudden and lightning quick movement to punch him square in the jaw with most of her strength.