Laura Curtis - Laura Giles 09

TITLE Laura Giles Part 9/?
AUTHOR Laura Curtis
PAIRING None so far
RATING G
SUMMARY Laura meets Buffy for the first time.
DISCLAIMER Don’t own them, just the ones I make up. Don’t know them. Only
going to have fun with them. I promise to return them unharmed.
< > denotes phone conversation. Italic denotes thought.

May 1999

It had been a boring day at the library. Sunday’s usually were anyway but today had been worst. And the rest of the week would be just as bad. The yearly Watcher’s Retreat was this week and all who could went to it. Even Elizabeth had went this year. That left Laura with nothing more to do than dust. And you can only dust things so many times. She was about to close early and go home when the phone rang.

“Bath W.C.A. Library Laura speaking.” (Author’s note: W.C.A. = Watcher’s Council Auxiliary)

<“Laura? How are you?”>

“Rupert? Better now that I’ve heard your voice. It’s so boring here. Everyone who could went to the Retreat this year, even Elizabeth. How is everything at your end?”

<“Everything here is fine. No apocalypses occurring at the moment. But I, on the other hand have a slight problem.”>

“What’s wrong?”

<“I was wondering if you were doing anything this coming weekend and if not can you get away for a few days?”>

“Sure, that’s no problem. With everyone gone, no one is here to keep the library open for anyway. Why? What do you need? Want me to run somewhere and get a book for you?”

“Let me get this straight. You want me to come all the way to Sunnydale to be what, your sort of date?”

“How else do you want me to put it? And don’t have a fit Rupert. I would love to come and be escorted by you. I am so bored here. I have already dusted the whole library twice now.”

<”Oh thank you Laura. You have just saved me. I’m afraid that they’ll require me to bring a date and you know where my heart is.”>

Smiling Laura said. “Yes I do. Now, when is this Prom and what are you going to wear to it?”

<”Well it is this coming Saturday and it is formal so I’ll be wearing a tuxedo, a black one.”>

“Ok, let me call my travel agent and I’ll call you back when I get my flight information. How soon do you want me in Sunnydale?”

<”As soon as you want to get here. You know I love spending all the time I can with you.”>

“Let’s see. It’s Sunday and I’ll try and get a flight for Tuesday. I want to try and find a dress to wear. If I can’t find anything I like in London then I want to stop in L.A. and see what I can find there. I’ll plan for a week there. Is that ok with you?”

<”That’s fine. I have an idea, if you can’t find a dress in London, come here first and we can go to L.A. together. Hey I bet Buffy and Willow would love to go shopping with you. You have been wanting to meet her. What better way for you two to bond together than over shopping.”>

“That’s an excellent idea. Ok. If I can’t find a dress I like here, then I’ll come straight there and we can shop in L.A. Let me call my travel agent and I will get back to you.”

<”Ok Laura. Talk to you soon. Bye”>

“Ok. Bye.”

Laura hung the phone up and took a moment to think her steps. Then she called her travel agent to get her tickets.

<”W.C. Travels, Tammy Keevan speaking. How can I help you?”> (Authors Note: W.C. = Watcher’s Council. Get the pattern here?)

“Tammy this is Laura Giles.”

<”Laura! Hi! How are you?”>

“I’m doing fine. I need your help. Rupert has asked me to come visit him and I would like to be there by Tuesday evening if possible.”

<”Let me check what we have. How is Rupert?”>

“He’s doing fine. The school he teaches at has a yearly end of school dance for the Juniors and Seniors and he has asked me to come and be there so he doesn’t have to get a date for this function.”

“No I’m not. One good thing out of it is that I will finally get to meet Buffy. And I get to shop in L.A.”

<”You’re kidding. Who is going to pay for this?”>

“Well I agreed to come and help him so I’ll pay for the tickets. But he is going to pay for the dress.”

“Do you have an earlier one? I’d would kind of like to surprise Rupert.”

<“Hmmm. I have a 3 p.m. Monday flight that would get you there about 1 p.m. Tuesday.”>

“That would be fine. I could be waiting at his house when he got home. I still have a key to his place from the last time I visited him. I’ll take it. I’ll tell him the later flight. If he calls you give him the later one.”

<“Ok! I have you booked on the 3 p.m. flight from Heathrow. You’ll arrive at 12:45 p.m. in Sunnydale. Now how are you paying for this? Your Council account?”>

“No, it’s not a Council trip so take it from my other account. Now remember, mums the word. I want to surprise him.”

<“Don’t worry Laura. The rest are at the Retreat and even if they come back I’ll post notes on their phones about the surprise. Have a safe and fun trip. Get me something from L.A. would you? Nothing big, maybe a dragon of some kind.”>

“Ok, one dragon from L.A. Now I need the flight number for the 10 p.m. flight so I can give it to Rupert.”

After she got the phony flight information Laura called Rupert back.

“Hello Rupert? I have the flight information for you.”

<“Let me get a pencil so I can write this down.” After a moment Rupert said,” Ok go ahead.”>

“Ok, I leave Heathrow Airport Monday night at 10 p.m. Continental flight 1234. I arrive in New York at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. I leave New York at 8 a.m. on Delta flight 5678. I arrive L.A. at 2:30 p.m. I leave L.A. at 5:30 p.m. on Delta flight 9098 and arrive in Sunnydale at 6:00 p.m. Got that?” (Author’s note: I don’t know the real flight times. Just guessing)

<“I got it. And I’ll be waiting for you. I‘ll even ask Joyce to fix dinner at her house so you can meet Buffy. I‘ll take you straight there from the airport.”>

“Good now I’ll let you go. I have to get everything together for the trip. I’ll talk to you later Rupert.”

<“See you Tuesday Laura. Bye.”>

“Bye.”

After hanging up from talking to his sister Rupert called Joyce Summers.

“Joyce? This is Rupert Giles.”

<“Hello Rupert. What can I do for you?”>

“I just got off the phone with my sister Laura in England and on Tuesday she is arriving for a visit. She has never met Buffy and I would like for them to meet.”

<“What can I do to help? How about I have you two over for dinner?”>

“That would be nice and if you wouldn’t mind, how about inviting Willow, Oz and Xander as well. Laura has met them and I know she would love to see them again.”

<“Ok now what time is she due in?”>

“She arrives at 6 p.m. So we could be to your house by 6:30. Is that ok?”

<“Yes that’s fine. Is she allergic to anything?”>

“No she isn’t. And she isn’t a picky person when it comes to food. So anything you fix will be fine.”

<“Ok so we’ll see you two Tuesday night for dinner. Bye Rupert.”>

“Goodbye Joyce.”

With all the build-up prior to the Prom, and Angel’s announcement that he was leaving, both forgot to tell Buffy about the dinner on Tuesday night, or about the special guest that was expected.

Tuesday 1:30 p.m.

Laura opens the door to Rupert’s apartment and enters.

“Here at last. What time is it?” Laura looks at the clock on the mantel. “1:30 I have 2 ½ to 3 hours until he gets here. I’ll just take a nap in his bed. Laura takes her suitcases and climbs the stairs to Rupert’s loft. When she get there she sets them down, sets his alarm clock to be up by 3:30 and lays down to sleep.

At 3:30 the alarm goes off and Laura gets up, puts on Rupert’s robe, and heads downstairs to take a quick, refreshing, shower. Before returning upstairs to dress, Laura goes into the kitchen to make tea to welcome Rupert home.

15 minutes later Rupert’s door opens and Buffy enters.

“Rupert? Surprise!” Laura came around from the kitchen and looked straight at a confused Buffy. “Buffy! Hello. How are you? Is Rupert with you?”

Just as Buffy was about to answer her, Rupert walked in. Eyes wide with surprise he walked over to her and hugged her. “My God you’re here. How? When?”

“I caught an earlier flight to surprise you. I missed you so much I couldn‘t wait to get here.”

Buffy turns and slips out the door unnoticed.

“I’m glad you got here early. I can introduce you to Buffy now instead of later.” Rupert turned around to introduce his sister and saw that Buffy had left. “Why did she go?”

“Did she know that I was coming for a visit?”

“I called Sunday and talked to Joyce. I’m sure she told her.”

“But you didn’t say anything to her did you.”

“No. Why should I when I talked to her mother. I’m sure Joyce told her.”

“But you’re not completely sure, are you?”

Shaking his head. “No, I’m not sure she knows.”

Laughing a small laugh. “She may just think that I’m a girlfriend from England here to visit you. So she left so you could have some privacy.”

“Why would she think that?”

“Rupert stop a moment and look. Here I am an unknown woman, in your robe, in your house and you come up and hug the stuffing out of me. What would you think?”

Closing his eyes and shaking his head. “That we are more than meets the eye.”

“Only she is thinking of a different ‘more than meets the eye’ than we are. Don‘t worry, when we go over for dinner tonight you can introduce us then.”

“I just hate to have her thinking the wrong thing about us till then.”

“I know you do. But don’t worry, it will all be straightened out later. Now what time are we due over there?”

“I told Joyce that you would be here at 6 and I could have you to her house by 6:30.”

“Well it’s 4:10 now. We can either head over there now or wait till later and I can get a little bit more of a nap.”

“How about I call her house and see if Joyce is home and if she is then we can go over and help her. Buffy will go to Willow’s for now, to gossip I’m sure.”

“Ok. That sounds fine. Oh, by the way, I found a dress in London so you‘re saved the expense and the trip to L.A.”

Rupert went and called The Summers home. Joyce was home and said to come on over.

When they got to Buffy’s house Rupert was right. Buffy had gone to Willow’s and would come home with Willow for dinner in a hour.

At Willow’s House.

“God, Willow she was beautiful and she looked younger than him.”

“His bath robe? And she was there, waiting for him, to surprise him? How much younger?”

“She looked to be about to be Miss Calendar’s age. And he just went up to her and hugged her. She said that she missed him so much, couldn’t wait to get here.”

Willow smiled and listened to not only what Buffy said but how she said it. She sounded kind of jealous. Willow wondered when Buffy would see what everyone else had seen. That Buffy was in love with Giles. She only hoped that this didn’t hurt them. Buffy and Giles were perfect for each other.

Willow then asked. “What is her name?”

Buffy’s eyes got wide. “I didn’t stay to find out.” Then she continued sadly. “ I left so they could be alone.”

“Hey your mom invited us all over for dinner later. Maybe he’ll bring her over and we can Sherlock Holmes her.”

“What do you mean ‘mom invited us all over for dinner’? Who is us all? Do you think he would bring her over? When did she invite you?”

“Well, all of us means me, Oz, Xander, and Giles. Not sure about Wesley or Cordelia. He might bring her with him. Why would he leave her by herself while he went some where to eat. And your mom invited us yesterday. You were kind of distracted by Angel.”

“Oh. Well, let’s get everyone and head over there to see if mom needs any help.”

Willow had to laugh inside cause Buffy sounded like she was headed to her doom.

So, off they went to get Oz and Xander then headed over to Buffy’s house.

When all of them got to Buffy’s they saw Giles’ car out front. While the others entered the house Buffy stopped Willow outside.

“Oh Willow. What will he say about me leaving without even saying hi to her? I can’t face them.”

Smiling Willow put her arm around her and hugged her. “Don’t worry Buffy. If he asks just tell him that you thought that they would want some privacy so you left. Now lets go and meet this woman.”

Buffy waited a moment to collect herself then followed Willow in. But to her surprise everyone was hugging the woman and smiling at her. Confused, Buffy walked up and started to introduce herself.

But before she could say anything Giles walked up beside her.

“Buffy, I’m sorry about earlier, but I wasn’t expecting her until 6 tonight. She flew in early to surprise me.”

Taking Buffy up to Laura, Giles started the introductions.

“Buffy I would like you to meet Laura Giles, my sister. Laura this is Buffy Summers, my slayer.”

“Your sister? I didn’t even know you had a sister. How come you haven’t told me you had a sister?” Then Buffy’s eyes widened. “She knows I’m the slayer?”

Rupert smiled. “Yes Buffy, she knows you’re the slayer. And as to why I haven’t said anything about Laura” he paused, “ I suppose I have no excuse for not telling you other than the subject has never come up before.”

Then Laura spoke up. “And he has been trying to get rid of me forever. Said I was such a pest while we were growing up.”

“I said no such thing. At least where you could hear me.”

“Oh, you know you were such a spoiled brat by the time I came along.”

Listening to the two act like children had Buffy and the others laughing. Joyce came into the room and said. “Alright children. Enough.”

Laura hung her head. “Sorry, Mrs. Summers.” “Sorry, Joyce.” said Rupert taking his glasses off.

That set Buffy and the others off even harder. Buffy spent the rest of the night getting to know Laura better. She even learned a thing or two about Giles. Much to his embarrassment.

On Saturday night Laura waited with Rupert for Buffy to come to the Prom after she killed the hell hounds. Once Buffy got there Laura was able to convince Rupert to dance a couple of dances with her. The Scoobies were surprised at how good of a dancer he was. All the girls got him to dance with them, but it was the dance with Buffy that he enjoyed the most.

It was a slow dance and it put him in heaven. He only wished that he could have held her like he wanted to.

Buffy was enjoying dancing with Giles as well. After a minute or two she closed her eyes and a sense of calm came over her. Strangely it was a sense of completeness that she had felt with no one else. Once the song was over she hated to leave his arms, but she didn’t think it would look appropriate to dance with him again.

Buffy looked up at Giles and smiled and in a soft voice said “Thanks Giles.”

“You’re very welcome Buffy.”

Across the room Laura was standing with Wesley and watching Rupert and Buffy. When she saw them talking after their dance she smiled.

“What are you smiling at Laura?”

Nodding her head towards the two she said. “Rupert and Buffy. I think maybe that they are starting the bonding.”

“Bonding? What are you talking about?”

“You should read the journals of the best slayers and watchers. I know the Council tries to scoff about the ‘myth’ of the bonding between slayer’s and their watchers but there has been too much evidence to prove the stories are true. Right now I’d say that Rupert and Buffy are starting to bond.”

“I’d better inform the Council of this.”

Laura took Wesley by the hand and led him out of the room. Once they reached outside she turned him around. “No You Will Not! You inform the Council of this and they will try to separate them. That would kill both of them right now. Or one of them will kill someone else. You need to read the journals. The time of bonding is a delicate time. Both of them will be territorial of the other. There are tales of slayers injuring females who got too close to their watchers and vise a versa.”

“I still must inform the Council of this.”

“Wesley, you were never meant to be her watcher. Rupert was always destined to be her watcher, her bonded watcher. Her soul mate. Come to the apartment on Monday once they are in school. I have something to show you. Something the Council itself once tried to hide, a long time ago. Then if after reading it and you still want to contact the Council I’ll let you. But please wait until you have read it. Ok?”

“Alright I’ll wait until I have read what you have to show me. Only if you promise that what you show me is the truth.”

“It is and it is scary to think that one or all of the Council of the that time tried to change an important prophecy.”

“The Council wouldn’t change a prophecy.”

“Just come and read the book. It was found hidden in the Council’s restricted section.”

Wesley showed up as promised and an hour after Laura explained about the finding of the book and him reading it, he was at a loss for words.

“Wesley we all have parts to play in the grand scheme of things. Just continue to play your part. Don’t let Rupert know that I showed this to you. We know the truth.”

“If this is true then a vampire with a soul will be important. Angel will be important.”

“No Angel won’t. It doesn’t speak of Angel.”

“How do you know? He is the only vampire with a soul that I know of.”

“Yes, that we know of. But you’re forgetting the part about the Hidden One. She has met Angel and he isn’t her soul mate. So it’s not Angel.”

“You know the Hidden One? You know that she’s met Angel? Who is she?”

“A Potential is normally given to a Watcher to raise and train.” Wesley nodded in agreement. “But once and a while when a Potential is in danger, special circumstances require that they completely change her identity, they hide her. That is what is meant by Hidden One. There has only been one Hidden One in the last hundred years.”

“You know who she is though? You know that she has met Angel and he is not her soul mate?”

“Yes, Wesley, we know her, you know her.”

His eyes widened. “I know her?”

Laura smiled. “Yes, Wesley, you know her. It’s me.”

At Wesley’s confused look Laura continued. “I was born Aislynn Blunk but when both my parents and Watcher died in supposed accidents in a two month period, the Council didn’t take any chances. The moment I left my house I became Laura Giles. I’ve met Angel in person and he is not my soul mate.”

“Good Lord.” Wesley looked away, thinking.

“Exactly, now I leave tomorrow. I’ll keep playing my part, and you had better as well. Don’t tell them that you know. Ok?”

After a moment Wesley looked back. “Alright, I’ll play my part. I’d best get to the school. In the event that I don’t see you again before you leave, Goodbye Laura.”

“Bye Wesley, and take care.”