TITLE: A Different Life 2/15
AUTHOR: Rari Coss
E-MAIL ADDRESS: RariCoss1956@yahoo.com
SPOILER WARNING: SEE PT. 1--Major spoilage of many things up
through Wrecked.
DISCLAIMER: It all belongs to Joss, the real king of
the world, the WB, UPN, Fox, Mutant Enemy and anybody
else who feels they own it.
FEEDBACK: Absolutely.
Buffy came to with a start. She closed her eyes and
then she opened them wide. She was on an airplane.
The last thing she recalled she had been in the bar
trying to get drunk and that man had started talking
to her. Buffy tried to remember. He had done
something, he’d…he’d told her to make a wish. Her
heart started to pound as she remembered his eyes.
Who had he been? What had she done? She tried to
remember what she had wished for; the memory seemed so
distant.
Then she remembered. She had wished that she hadn’t
been called, that she hadn’t become a Slayer. For a
minute she was overcome with disappointment. She
still had all her memories of being a Slayer. Of
dying, of being wrenched out of heaven, of watching it
all fall apart.
But then new memories started crowding her brain. And
with the memories came emotions. Excitement for her
new adventure, sadness at leaving her mom and dad, the
thrill of her first overseas trip, a sense of fear
mixed with anticipation as to what might happen over
this next year, who she’d meet, what she’d accomplish.
Buffy sat there, confused as both sets of memories
vied for attention. Both felt so real. She searched
for her purse. Finding it she took out her wallet
looking for her license. Elizabeth Summers. That
hadn’t changed. She noted the address, the LA
address, the one where she used to live before her
parents got divorced. But now she had memories of
them staying together. Of them staying in LA, of her
finishing high school with her friends, of proms, of
dates, and being homecoming queen at Hemery High.
She searched again through her purse and found her
ticket. Opening it she looked for her destination.
She was on her way to London. The needed information
was suddenly in her head. She was doing her senior
year of college abroad, studying in London, at the
University of London. There was a small apartment
already waiting for her, and she started classes in a
little over two weeks.
Buffy could feel the old memories start to fade. Out
of fear she mentally tried to grab hold but they
twisted out of her reach like a dream on awakening.
As they faded out of reach a pair of glowing eyes
seemed to stare back at her but after a minute she
couldn’t remember anything at all. Shaking off a
shiver down her spine she turned off the light above,
curled up in her seat and soon fell asleep.
***
Buffy walked down the steps from her apartment and
grinned. She loved it here. She’d had a week of
classes already, she thought her teachers were great
and she already had made some friends. And she adored
the English accents. Although for some reason she
couldn’t figure out, every now and then it made her
feel so lonely. Not lonely for home, lonely for
someone.
Shaking off her weird nostalgia Buffy grinned again.
Today she was planning on just roaming. No planned
itinerary, no plans of any kind. Just walking and
shopping and eating. Heading off the steps she let
her feet choose her destination. By early afternoon
she found herself standing in front of the British
Museum. Buffy knew she’d be spending a lot of time
here as her major was in history and much of the
material she needed for her senior project was housed
here. She toyed with the idea of going in but stuck
to her original plan of a free day and kept wandering.
A few blocks up she came to a public garden. Getting
out her map she tried to figure out where she was.
After noting the street signs she determined she was
at Russell Square. Entering the garden she found a
park bench to sit on.
At the other end of the park a man was throwing a
Frisbee to two dogs, one golden and one chocolate lab.
She laughed as the dogs did everything they could to
sabotage one another as they raced for the Frisbee.
Suddenly the dogs took after some ducks. The man
yelled. “Ethan, Rayne, come back here.” The dogs
sheepishly came to a halt and after the dark lab
scooped up the Frisbee they went lumbering back to the
man.
Buffy felt strange. The names of the dogs were
jogging something in her memory. Something important.
She gritted her teeth as she followed the tenuous
lead within her brain and then she gasped as all her
old memories came crashing back. They didn’t erase
her new ones, and they didn’t emotionally overwhelm
her. It was more like she had just remembered a movie
she’d seen a thousand times that she’d forgotten all
about until just this moment. And as quickly as they
appeared, they started to fade again.
Buffy stood and started to walk, feeling the need for
movement while she tried to figure out what was going
on. Not paying attention she was knocked to her knees
when one of the dogs ran sideways into her. The man
came running over. “I’m dreadfully sorry. They’re
such complete idiots. Are you all right?” He reached
down a hand to help her up.
When she looked up at him she froze. Enough of the
memories were still there for her to know this man, as
well as she knew herself. “Giles?”
He looked surprised but continued to reach down and
help her up. “Have we met?” He held on to her
tightly as the dogs raced by again. Shaking a finger
at them, he scolded them. “Both of you, sit.
Consider yourself quite disgraced.” He pointed at the
golden lab that had knocked Buffy down. “Especially
you.” As they sat, looking quite forlorn, he turned
back to her and grinned. Sensing their movement he
turned to the dogs again and he put up his finger as
if to warn them off. Disgusted, both dogs flopped
down.
Giles escorted Buffy to the nearest bench. Sitting
down next to her he checked her over for any overt
signs of damage and then apologized again. “I really
am sorry. I didn’t even see you. I’m afraid as much
as I’d like to blame them, I was the one that threw
the Frisbee they were chasing.” He frowned at the
shocked look on her face. “Are you all right? Are
you afraid of dogs?”
Buffy managed to shake her head. She looked at Giles.
He was wearing jeans and a heavy wool sweater with
the sleeves pushed up. His tattoo was still on his
arm but he was making no effort to keep it covered.
He wasn’t wearing his glasses and he looked about ten
years younger than when she last saw him. He didn’t
look so worn, so worried, so desperately sad. His
voice broke into her reverie. “I’m starting to feel a
bit worried. Should I call for some help?”
Buffy reached up a hand and touched the familiar
crinkles at the side of one of his eyes. He still had
them. When she touched him he felt something, felt as
if something important had happened but he didn’t know
what. Feeling as if he already knew the answer he
asked, “Do I know you?” They gazed at one another.
Buffy wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t know her,
not in this life. But she knew him, and she ached for
him. It felt like years since she had seen him
instead of weeks, although even those weeks had been
too long. But even as she stared him the memories
grew fainter. She dropped her eyes finally and shook
her head again. “No, I thought you were…I thought you
were someone else.” She looked at the dogs and
pointed at them. “What are their names?”
He gestured at the golden one first. “That one’s
Ethan and he’s Rayne.” He grinned.
Buffy grinned in response although her eyes were
quizzical. “Did I miss a joke?”
Giles kept grinning. “Well, it’s sort of a private
joke. I get a tremendous pleasure out of yelling that
name out loud and knowing that when I do that dogs
come running.” He laughed. At her blank expression
he laughed again. “Like I said, it’s a private joke.
He doesn’t much care for it either.”
“He?”
“The man I named them after, Ethan Rayne. He wasn’t
amused.” Giles snickered.
“Is he around?”
“Ethan Rayne, you mean?” At her nod he nodded his
head. “Too often. He thrives on making my life
miserable.” Again he grinned. “You’re American?”
Buffy nodded. “From California, Los Angeles.”
“Ah, land of sunshine. You won’t find much of that
here.” He looked up at the sky with a look of
satisfaction. “Every day, something different.” As
the dogs whined Giles stood. “Well, I best let them
finish their run or they’ll drive me crazy all night.”
He looked down at her. “Are you sure you’re fine?
Do you need me to take you home?”
Buffy felt confused. She sensed within her such a
connection to this man, she wanted to throw herself in
his arms and hold him tightly. But he was a stranger
to her and lessons had been too well ingrained in her
about the danger of strangers so despite her longing
to say yes she shook her head. “I’m fine.” She
smiled at him, her eyes sad.
He was strangely reluctant to leave her but the dogs
were whining more and more loudly. Giving her a small
smile he headed back over to the dogs. “Okay, you can
get up. Go fetch.” Pulling back his arm across his
body he threw the Frisbee and the dogs took off madly
after it. He watched them for a minute and then he
turned back around to share a grin with the girl at
their antics but she was gone. Looking around he saw
her at the edge of the park walking away. Feeling a
sense of loss he didn’t understand Giles stood there
until he couldn’t see her anymore.
***
Giles dreamed about her that night. He dreamt that he
was at the edge of a huge scaffolding that went into
the sky as high as he could see and then further yet.
She was standing at the top of it and she jumped off.
He ran to try and catch her but no matter how fast he
ran he couldn’t get there in time. Her body hit a
pile of rubble and he knew she was dead. Walking
slowly towards her, his heart and soul wracked with
unbearable pain he finally reached her. Picking her
up in his arms he cried out at the night.
Giles woke up and found that he had tears on his
cheeks. He lay in bed for a long time, the sadness
swirling around him, until he heard a key in the door.
He smiled as he heard her speak. “Where are my
babies? Where are my puppies?” Giles heard the dogs
barking, their toenails scraping on the linoleum as
their speed prohibited them from making that last
corner as gracefully as they may have liked.
Grinning, he hopped out of bed.
She walked into the bedroom, as the door was still
open, catching him in his pajamas. “Ru, aren’t you
even dressed yet?”
“I overslept. I had the oddest dream.”
“Well go and take your shower and you can tell me all
about it over breakfast.”
“I don’t have time for breakfast, Gwen.” He walked
over to her and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Are you
sure you don’t mind taking them?”
“Are you kidding?” She got down on her knees and the
dogs started to wildly lick her face. “These are the
closest I’ll ever get to nephews out of you.”
Giles rolled his eyes but chose not to respond. This
was a well-worn topic of discussion. He headed into
the bathroom and turned on the tap waiting for the
water to get warm. “Well, I appreciate it. I don’t
know why I arranged for that Egyptian shipment to
arrive today, on a Sunday.”
Gwen moved to sit on the bed. She didn’t know why but
she had always loved to watch him shave. “I do. You
want a chance to play before everyone shows up
tomorrow. This way you get to give your undivided
attention to your new toys and not have to be bothered
by those pesky tourists who insist on the right to see
all your treasures.”
“They do get in one’s way.” He sighed. “My life
would be so much easier if they’d all just go away.”
He put some shaving cream on his face.
“As long as they still make a donation, of course.
They could make a small tithe and then just leave.
That way the museum could still afford your salary.”
He made a face at her. “Once it all gets organized
I’ll have dozens of groups who’ll want to see the
exhibit.” He snorted. “And they’ll all know someone
who knows someone who’ll know one of the trustees who
will insist that I take them through personally on the
offhand chance one of them might part with a
substantial donation. Actually, it’s already started,
I have a group tomorrow.” He shuddered. “I hate it.”
He began to shave.
Gwen grinned. “Well, you shouldn’t be so good at it
then. You know more than the rest of them combined
but you have such a knack for keeping it simple. Of
course they want you.” She wiggled her eyebrows at
him. “Besides, you’re the man in charge and people
with money want to deal with the man in charge.” Gwen
ignored Giles’ scowl. She frowned. There was another
reason her brother liked to see deliveries before
anyone else. “Do you think there’s anything evil in
the shipment? Anything dangerous?”
“No, not really. Although I thought the last one
would be harmless and I found that cursed tablet. If
anyone had read that out loud every person buried
within a 100 mile radius of here would have been
wandering the streets looking for new bodies to take
over.” He blew out a deep breath. It made him
nervous, thinking about what potential disasters were
laying about in museums all over the world, museums
where the Curator wasn’t as intimately acquainted with
the reality of evil as he was.
The dogs began to whine. Gwen cooed at the dogs.
“Yes, auntie’s going to take you for a walk. Yes, she
is.” As Giles shut the door of the bathroom behind
him Gwen got up and headed for the kitchen. Opening
up the back door to the small fenced in garden she let
the dogs out to do their immediate business. She
began puttering about in the kitchen, making tea.
When Giles joined her he found Gwen looking at the
photographs on the refrigerator. She tapped the one
of Olivia. “Why didn’t you marry her? She was
willing, and you seemed quite fond of her.”
Giles snorted. “Now that’s a solid foundation to
start a life long commitment on. She was willing and
I was quite fond of her.” He reached for a couple of
teacups. “No thank you.”
“Why do you keep her picture up? You must still like
her a little.”
“Gwen, we’ve been friends for almost thirty years.
That doesn’t go away just because we’re not together
anymore.”
“You’d have made such beautiful nieces and nephews for
me to dote on.”
Giles snorted again. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“So, what did you think of Stephanie?”
Giles sent an exasperated look towards his sister.
“Would you please stop trying to set me up. I’m
perfectly capable of meeting someone on my own.”
Giles thought of the young blonde woman he’d met
yesterday. The one he’d dreamed of, the one who’d
fallen to her death and broken his heart into a
million pieces.
“No, you see, that’s where you’re wrong. You must
meet a dozen women a day at the museum. I have at
least that many friends who are dying to go out with
you. You’re handsome, single, reasonably well off,
clever, have a great job, have no ex-wives or children
hanging around your neck but you just can’t seem to
find anyone to date.”
“I go out on plenty of dates.”
“Single dates. You go out once and that’s it. And
you know why?”
“I know why you think that happens and I’m sure you’re
going to tell me again.”
“Because you are a hopeless romantic.” Despite Giles’
look she further explained. “No, it’s true. Don’t
give me that look. Despite all your scientific
training, and an IQ that even intimidates me, you
still think that’s there’s that one woman out there,
one woman who’s your soul mate, your other half, and
that somehow, you’ll just know, in this blinding
flash, that she’s the one.”
She checked the tea and began to pour. “But there’s a
flaw in your plan. You’ll never have the opportunity
for any flashes to hit if you won’t hang around long
enough with anyone to give it time to happen.” The
dogs were scratching at the door and she let them in.
As they bounced around her and Giles she spoke to
them, again in a high singsong voice. “No, he’ll
never find her that way, will he. He’s not lucky like
you beautiful babies.”
Giles shook his head and took only a single sip of his
tea. “Thank God I’m not as lucky as them. I’d just
as soon not be fixed.” He laughed. “Well, as much as
I hate to do it, I guess I’ll have to leave you and my
dogs to discuss my love life. I’ve got to go.” He
smiled fondly at her. “Thanks again.”
“You see, you’re not even arguing with me, because you
know I’m right.” She yelled after him as he opened
the front door. “Say hi to the mummies for me.” She
looked at the dogs. “Are you boys hungry? Want some
breakfast?”
Giles noted the time and walked a little faster while
he thought about what his sister had said. He knew
better than to argue. He hardly ever won any fights
with her unless he could pull out the text in question
and show her the facts and this wasn’t that kind of
argument. She was also right.
Gwen had given him several books on the subject.
Books that discussed how he was keeping women at a
distance by creating this mythical soul mate in his
head. Books that discussed how because his mother had
died when he was young that he didn’t want any other
woman to sully his memory of her. Books on how the
ideal woman was right in front of him but he was too
blind to see it. He had obediently read them all and
then thrown them away. He couldn’t help it. He just
felt it in his bones. He was meant to be with
someone. The other half of him. And she was out
there somewhere.
Giles thought of his dream again. He felt another
wave of sadness break over him. He let out a half
laugh and he tried to shake it off as he reached the
back entrance to the museum. After entering his
security code into the keypad the door opened and
pushing all thoughts of dreams and soul mates aside he
headed for the receiving area.
NEXT