TITLE Laura Giles Part 10/?
AUTHOR Laura Curtis
PAIRING None so far
RATING G
SUMMARY Laura gets to Sunnydale just after Buffy‘s funeral, and she helps
Rupert to restore his balance to go on.
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.
Italic denotes thought. (Italic denotes Rupert and Laura’s psychic talk)
Please send feedback
May 2000
Getting into the taxi Laura gives the driver the address. “1630 Rivello Drive.”
Just thinking of all the times since I first met Buffy. Prom week. I came few times during her freshman year at college. Nothing too memorable, just visits to Rupert.
Then the Dracula incident. Lord what a handsome creature he was. I was almost in his thrall when he looked into my mind and saw where my heart was. He laughed, told me to sleep and dream of him. I was almost under I heard him say, ‘he is closer than you think’. I found out later that Spike had come along just as I fell asleep. Dracula told him to take me to my brother.
And the time I came with the Council to evaluate Buffy. I was just along to visit Rupert, and cheer Buffy on when she passed test after test. That they didn’t tell her about. Only to have her figure it out in the end that they needed her. Then to find out that Glory was a God.
Buffy and Dawn’s mother’s funeral. That was a hard time. I remembered my parents and Mitchell’s funeral’s as well as father’s funeral. Rupert had to hold me as I went up to pay my respects to the girls. I don’t do funerals well.
And now hers. What Rupert must be going through. To lose her, his soul mate. I can’t even begin to imagine, I haven’t found him yet.
Just then the taxi pulled up to the house. Going inside Laura was instantly greeted by Willow.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here in time. How’s Dawn?” She looked around and not seeing Rupert asked. “Where’s Rupert?”
“I don’t know, I saw him a little bit ago. Dawn is over there. She‘s taking it hard. Which is understandable.” Willow pointed towards the chair beside the fireplace.
Laura looked back at Willow and nodded her head. Turning towards Dawn, Laura started walking to her. On the way she saw people standing about talking in hushed tones. Xander was sitting on the far end of the couch with Anya and Cordelia was sitting in a chair opposite of them.
As she approached Dawn a noise drew her attention and she turned just in time to see a blond haired man walk into the kitchen. Laura stopped for a moment looking where the man had just disappeared to. Something caught at the back of her mind and just as quick it was gone. She shook her head, turned, and started back towards Dawn.
As she got nearer to Dawn she could see that Dawn had a faraway lost look on her face. Laura knelt down in front of her. “Dawn?”
Dawn turned toward Laura. She looked at Laura, but she really didn’t see her. “Hey Laura.”
Laura took Dawn’s hand. “Hey kiddo. Is there someplace where you and I can go and talk?”
Dawn nodded her head. “Sure. How about up in my room?”
Laura smiled. “That would be fine. Have you seen my brother?”
“Giles? Yea he was here a minute ago.” She looked around. “I don’t see him at the moment though.”
“Hang on a moment. Let me try something.” Laura closed her eyes and tried reaching out to Rupert through the bond they once had. The one small thread was still there. Only Laura hadn’t used it in so long she wasn’t sure she could still do it.
“What are you doing, magic?”
Laura smiled. “Only in a primal way. Rupert and I once had a strong brother/sister bond. All the threads, except one small one, broke. I haven’t reached to him in so long I’m not sure I still can.”
Dawn squeezed Laura’s hand. “You can do it. Just try.”
Laura relaxed and thought of the golden thread her father once described to her. After a moment she ‘saw’ it. Reaching along the thread she felt Rupert. He was so lost and alone that she couldn’t help but reach out to him. (Rupert? Oh Rupert, I’m here.)
She felt him reaching back to her along the thread. (Laura? Laura where are you? You sound so faint.)
( I’m here Rupert. I’m in Sunnydale, at the house, with Dawn. Where are you?)
(I’m… I’m upstairs.)
(Meet me and Dawn in her room?)
(Ok.)
“I found him. He’s upstairs. He’s going to meet us in your room.”
Dawn nodded her head and got up from the chair. She started to follow Laura when Xander spoke up. “Dawn?”
They both turned to him. Laura was the first to speak up. “It’s ok Xander. I have something I want to tell Dawn and it’s kind of private. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Xander nodded his head. “Ok.”
The girls continued on to the hallway and started up the stairs when they heard the back door open. Looking over the railing Dawn saw Spike head out the door.
“Laura I’ll be up in a minute. I want to see where Spike is going.”
“Ok. It’ll give me a minute alone with Rupert.” Laura continued on up the stairs while Dawn headed for the back door.
Once Dawn got there, she opened it and saw Spike sitting on the back steps looking out over the back yard.
Walking up to him she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Hey.”
“Hey. You should be inside.”
“I will in a minute. Giles’ sister just got here and she wants to talk to me.”
“What about?”
“I’m not sure. But she went on upstairs to talk to Giles. I thought I’d give them a minute. Now why are you out here?”
Shaking his head Spike replied. “I’m not sure. All of a sudden I had this feeling that I should get out of the house. I can’t explain it.” Then Spike got up. “I’m gonna take a walk for a little bit. Don’t worry. I’ll be back before the sun comes up. You. Get some rest, ok?”
Dawn nodded her head. “I will. Once everyone leaves I’ll lay down and sleep. I’ll see you later.”
As Dawn turned and headed back into the house. Spike headed out into the night for a long walk.
As Laura got to the top of the stairs she saw Rupert come out of Buffy’s room. She walked up to him and pulled him into a hug.
Rupert, needing the comfort, tightened his arms around her. “Oh God Laura, she’s gone. I’ve lost her.”
Laura rubbed her hand up and down his back. “I know. But remember the prophecy? She will return. I don’t know how or when but she will be back. You can’t tell the others.”
Nodding his head against her he said. “I know. But the waiting is killing me. I want to come home, now. But I can’t. I promised her that I would stay and take care of Dawn.”
Laura pulled back and placed her hand on his cheek. “Yes you need to stay here, for now. If she’s not back in a few months you can come home then. It’s not like you’ll be on the other side of the universe. England is closer than that. A days airplane ride back here.” Looking him in the eyes Laura sensed his turmoil. He needed his balance restored. “Rupert? Will you do something for me, with me.”
“What?”
“Just now when I reached out to you. It was almost like when we were younger and had the bond. I miss having the feel of you with me. It’s been 21 years Rupert. Please, can we reestablish our bond to each other?”
“I would like that Laura. I miss having the feel of you with me. But not right now. Maybe later. When things have settled down. I’m not sure I can do it right now anyway.”
“Willow is a strong Wicca, she could help us. Please Rupert. I can’t lose you completely and I feel as if I’m losing you already.”
Rupert smiled a small smile and nodded his head. “Alright. How about tomorrow?”
Squeezing him tight Laura said. “Ok tomorrow.”
“Laura why were you looking for me anyway?”
She pulled back from him again. “You know how people say at this time that they understand what you are going through? Well I want Dawn to know that I do understand what she is going through. I want to tell her about me, my past. Will you help me tell her?”
Rupert thought for a minute then nodded his head. “Alright, I’ll help you. Let’s go and find her.”
“She’ll be up here in a minute. She went to see why Spike was going out the back door.”
Just then they heard a noise at the top of the stairs. Turning they saw Dawn.
“Ok, I’m here. What did you want to talk about?”
“Can we go into your room? What I’m about to tell you is a family secret and I’d rather the others not hear it.”
Dawn nodded and started to her room. Laura and Rupert followed her.
Once inside her room Dawn sat on the window seat. Laura sat down next to her and Rupert sat in the chair next to them.
Laura took a moment then started speaking. “Now what I’m about to tell you is the truth. Rupert here will confirm what I’m saying to you. You know that at times like this people will tell you that they understand what you are going through but you don’t really know if they do.” Dawn nodded. “Well I do understand and I want you to know how I know. You have to keep this a secret. No one can find out. Ok?”
When Dawn nodded her head Laura continued. And for the next half hour Laura told Dawn her story. When ever she got to a part Dawn didn’t believe she turned to Rupert and he would confirm it.
“So I do understand what you are going through. Loosing my real parents and watcher when I was 8 ½. We lost Father when I was 20. A man we had called, and thought of as an uncle when I was 32.
“Let me get this straight. You really aren’t his sister?”
“Not blood related sister, no. But we had a bond that made us, in a way, closer than real brother and sister.”
“And this bond you broke. Why haven’t you reestablished it?”
Shrugging her shoulders. “We haven’t felt the need to.” Then Laura looked at Rupert. “Until now. We’re going to tomorrow, with Willow’s help.”
“Can I watch or is it something dangerous?”
Rupert spoke up. “No it’s not dangerous. Its really quiet simple. I will say that it is a spell that only works on non related siblings, like Laura and I.” Now we had best be getting back downstairs before someone comes looking for us.”
On the way downstairs Laura stopped, turned to Rupert and asked. “Where are we staying tonight?”
“I’ve been staying here with Dawn, Willow and Tara. You can go to my flat if you want to.”
Laura turned and started back down the stairs thinking. When she reached the bottom she stopped again and turned to Rupert. “No, I think I’ll stay here with you. Now that you’ve agreed to reestablish the bond, I don’t want to be far from you. Plus it is rather late to be going out now.”
Looking out the door windows Rupert realized that it had gotten dark. “Alright. Where would you like to sleep? You can have either Buffy’s room, the spare bedroom or the couch.”
“Dawn has her room, and Willow & Tara have Joyce’s old room. Where are you sleeping?”
“I’ve been staying in the spare bedroom. But you can have it if you want.”
After thinking a moment of where she wanted to sleep, and of Rupert’s back. “I’ll take the couch.”
A look of relief crossed Rupert face for a moment before he answered. “Thank you.”
“Come on. Let’s see what the others have planned for tonight.” Laura took Rupert’s arm and started for the living room. When they came around the door they got a little bit of a shock. There, in the middle of the room was Angel hugging Dawn.
He looked up at the two and nodded his head to them. “Giles. Laura it’s been a while.”
Laura nodded. “The last time I was here for a visit and stopped in L.A. to shop first. How’s the Hyperion?”
“It’s fine.”
Laura looked at everyone else. “Everybody leave in time?” When Xander nodded absently Laura sat on the near end of the couch and rested her head on the back. “God I could use a three day nap.”
Rupert smiled at her. “Still can’t sleep on airplanes?”
Shaking her head no Laura rubbed her hands over her face. Then she opened her eyes and looked at Rupert. “Do we have all that we need for tomorrow? Do we need to go anywhere and get anything?”
“No everything we need is here.” Rupert said.
This got the attention of Willow. “What’s up? What are you doing tomorrow?”
Laura looked at Rupert. (Little girl lost story?) When he nodded his head in ok she turned to Willow and started talking.
“When I was a little girl I lost three important people in my life. I was so lost and unbalanced for a while that Rupert had to restore my balance by doing a sibling bond spell, with fathers help. It bonded us to where we were even closer than most brothers and sisters. Rupert is becoming unbalanced, lost, I want to reestablish that bond.”
“I don’t know much about sibling bonding spells but most bonding spells are permanent. Why would you need to reestablish it?”
A pained expression crossed Rupert’s face. “Shortly after Laura’s 15th birthday I did something that upset her so bad that she felt the only way to punish me was by breaking the bond between us. We’ve just never reestablished it, I hadn‘t forgiven myself, until now.”
Laura got up and hugged him. “Ethan had a bigger part in it than you did. So blaming yourself stops now.”
Xander spoke up this time. “Ethan? As in Ethan Rayne?”
“Yes he.. , he.. , he tried to rape me. That’s the main reason Rupert hates him. That and he knew Randall wouldn’t be strong enough to handle Eyghon, and he said nothing.” At Willow’s Oh Goddess, Laura continued. “It’s ok. My martial arts training helped me focus my rage into something productive. The funny thing is that I saw Ethan recently after his Initiative stay, he’s changed. He’s neutered. He couldn’t seem to apologize enough for what he did to me.”
They all laughed at that.
After a few minutes of silence Laura spoke up again. “Willow with everything that’s happened Rupert feels he can’t do the spell alone. Would you help us do it?”
“I would love to help you.”
Both Giles and Laura said, “Thank you.”
Dawn spoke up. “I’m really tired so I’m gonna head off to bed. Laura, where are you staying? Do you need company getting there?”
“Rupert offered his flat but seeing how after 21 years he has finally agreed to do the bond, I’m staying here tonight. I don’t want to be far from him.”
“Where are you sleeping?”
“Rupert offered the spare room to me, but I’ll stay here on the couch.”
Willow got up and headed for the stairs. “I’ll get you a pillow and blanket.”
Laura got up. “Let me go with you. I need to change into something to sleep in.” She went to the front door, got her suitcase and followed Willow up the stairs.
When they reached the top Willow pointed out the bathroom and Giles’ room then went to the hall closet and got the blanket and pillow.
The rest of the evening was spent in quiet conversations. Of remembrances of now funny happenings. Then it was time for bed. Rupert stayed a few minutes longer than the rest.
“Laura, I don’t know if this will help, but I wanted to thank you for forgiving me for what happened all those years ago.”
Laura smiled. “Rupert, I forgave you a long time ago. You just weren’t ready to forgive yourself until now. Then when Buffy came along, the bond with her should have taken over. Why didn’t you allow the bond to happen?”
“She wasn’t ready to be bonded. Especially to an older man.”
“Rupert, between soul mates, age doesn’t matter.”
“I know. I was just afraid of the emptiness I would feel if we were bonded and I lost her.”
“But then you missed out on the closeness of the bond. Have you ever thought that maybe the whole Angelus thing might not have happened?”
“Yes I have. But then right now I would be dying inside. As it is I am only out of balance.”
“I understand. That is why I want to do the bond spell. You need your balance restored in order to go on until her return. Will you use the same feel of the bond as you did before? Will it be roses again?”
Rupert nodded. “Well I had best be getting to bed.” Getting up Rupert pulled Laura up into a hug. “Thank you. See you in the morning.”
“Night.”
Later. Just before dawn a lone figure walks in the back door. He had walked all over town. Still not sure why he left the house. He was going to go straight to the basement to rest when something pulled at him. Thinking maybe someone was up and needing to talk, he followed the feeling into the living room. What he found wasn’t what, or who, he expected.
On the couch, asleep, was a woman he didn’t know but was drawn to. He want to touch her to see if she was real but something told him that it wasn’t time. So he sat down on the coffee table and watched her sleep.
A half hour later Dawn came down the stairs. In a quiet voice she asked, “Hey, what’s up?”
Without turning from her he answered, “Nothing much.” Then he asked, “Dawn, who is she?”
“That’s Giles’ sister. She came to be with us for a few days. Her and Giles are going to reestablish their brother/sister bond they had when they were younger.”
“Why was their bond broke in the first place?”
“That Ethan Rayne guy tried to hurt her when she was about 15 and because he was on a magic high, Giles almost didn’t save her. So she broke the bond between them. Giles just hadn’t forgiven himself till now.”
In a voice to quiet for Dawn to hear. “I don’t think I could forgive myself if she was hurt either.”
Right then Laura turned over to face away from them, and the spell Spike seemed to be under broke.
“Well, I’d best be off to bed.” Spike got up off the table and headed towards the basement door. “See you later Lil Bit.”
“Sleep well Spike. See you later.”
Suddenly a arm rose from the couch. “Night Spike.”
Spike topped and laughed. “Sorry to wake you.”
Without turning around Laura said. “That’s ok. I’m a light sleeper. When you two leave the room I’ll be back out again. So goodnight.”
“Night.” Then he started back for the basement door. When he got to the door he turned around and took one last look at the girl on the couch. Smiling he shook his head and headed down the stairs closing the door behind him.
Just as the door closed Laura turned around and looked in that direction. After a moment she shook her head, closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
Later that day was spent getting things ready for the spell. While the others set everything up, Willow opened the spell book. While turning the pages she came across an interesting spell. It was a one to bring back someone who had died an unnatural death. Upon seeing that spell, Willow came up with the idea. They could bring Buffy back cause she hadn’t died a natural death. But she had to get the others help. She knew that Giles wouldn’t approve, so she decided they wouldn’t tell him until Buffy was back.
By the time Spike woke up, the spell was done and Laura had gone to stay in Giles’ flat.
For the rest of her stay in Sunnydale, Laura and Spike just never seemed to cross each others paths. He did get glimpses of her and every time she seem to draw him into her spell.