Leland
Author: Nitrowugs
Rating: G
Pairings: None
Feedback: Please. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with BtVS. Characters, plots and dialogue are borrowed with no infringement intent whatsoever.
Distribution: Please ask and let me know where it's going.
Written: 03/30/2015
Summary: You never know the impact you will have on someone's life.
A/N: Events in this story happened before and parallel to events in 'The Last Living Slayer'. Includes other characters not from the show.
Part 1
Leland Williamsworth was born in 1909 and he was teased most of his young life because of his name. Children would often ask, "How much is Leland Williamsworth?" Their friends would always answer with something demeaning like, "Not more than two bits." Everyone seemed to find that very funny.
Leland did not.
He determined at a young age that he would show his detractors; he would become very powerful or very wealthy or both. Who would have the last laugh then? As he grew into young adulthood, he learned to be very frugal; he worked hard, he invested wisely and today he and his family were very wealthy indeed. He was now an old man, almost ninety years old, and those who had teased him unmercifully when he was a child, if they were still alive, would be shocked to know exactly how much he was worth today.
Leland did not flaunt his wealth; he lived simply and quietly in the small suburban town of Sunnydale, California. Other than the unusually large number of unexplained deaths and the few odd occurrences that took place in the town every year, Sunnydale was a quiet and peaceful place to live. Surely the police did not expect everyone to believe their explanations of gangs on PCP for what went on here after dark.
Leland was, as always, very observant. He had been even more so since he received a letter from his twin sister, Eliza, eight years after she was, supposedly, kidnapped from their home when they were six years old. He never saw his sister again and he received only the one letter from her. In the letter she explained that she had not been kidnapped, their parents had willingly given her to a couple who came to their home and explained, what they described as, her destiny. According to them, she was destined to save the world and it was their responsibility to train her and prepare her for the day that she would be called to duty.
According to the letter, vampires and other demons were real and she was being trained to be a vampire slayer. She explained that slayers did not live long after they were called and she was one of the trainees in line to be called next. The one thing she asked of her brother was that if he ever encountered a slayer and saw that she needed help, "Help her in whatever way you can, but at no time must you let anyone know what you know about this girl. By revealing her presence, you will be assuring her death." She ended the letter with, "Do not worry about me, Brother. I have been thoroughly trained. I am ready."
Leland saw the small town of Sunnydale grow and develop into the thriving metropolis that it was today. There were, however, two strange things about the town that puzzled him. One: Other than what appeared to him to be demon related activity, there was practically no crime in town, and two: Someone from the same family, with the same name, had been elected mayor since Leland's family moved to Sunnydale.
Part 2
Things started to change the day a mother and daughter moved into the vacant house across the street from Leland's home. They seemed pleasant enough according to his great-granddaughter-in-law, Eloise, when she took a casserole over to welcome the family to the neighborhood. For the first few days, or weeks he didn't remember which it had been, everything seemed normal at the Summers' house. Then, one morning before dawn, when he was up for one of his frequent bathroom breaks, he saw the daughter climb up a tree and into her bedroom window with the ease of a cat-burglar. He had even seen her boyfriend at her bedroom window. What was it with young people today? Didn't they believe in using doors? What was going on?
Leland didn't say anything to his family at first, but he watched. After all, he was very observant. What he discovered was that every night, usually between ten and eleven o'clock, Buffy Summers sneaked out of her bedroom window and disappeared into the night and she didn't return until just before dawn the next morning; sometimes her boyfriend walked her home, sometimes she returned alone.
At first he thought it was just a teenager's prank until he saw her drop a large duffle bag out of the window and then follow it. When she returned the next morning, she appeared to be limping a little and, he wasn't sure but, there appeared to be blood on her clothes. With that his suspicions were confirmed, Buffy Summers was a vampire slayer and her mother didn't know about it. Why else would she sneak out every night and return the next morning without using the front door?
He remembered the letter from his sister that he kept locked away. He had not shown it to a living soul all these years, but now it was time to talk to his family and his sister's letter was the only thing that would prove he wasn't crazy. The next few nights after his talk with his family, his great-grandson, Winston, stayed up and watched the house across the street. Sure enough what Leland had told him was true, but what were they supposed to do about it?
Winston decided to do a little research on the Summers family. He knew that they moved to Sunnydale from Los Angeles; he would start there. He found nothing out of the ordinary about the family until Buffy was a sophomore in high school. All of a sudden her school record took a marked turn for the worse - her grades plummeted, she missed classes a lot and to top it all off, she was expelled for burning down the school's gym. That was when the parents got divorced and Mrs. Summers and her daughter moved to Sunnydale.
Various odd occurrences took place surrounding the Summers family, for example, the deputy mayor of Sunnydale was found murdered and Winston heard rumors at city hall that Buffy might be involved; she was a suspect in the death of another teenager; one of the teachers at the local high school, where Buffy just happened to be a student, was found murdered; the high school was blown up during her graduation ceremony and the mayor disappeared. Leland and his family discussed all events that happened in Sunnydale and they were not surprised to find that Buffy was in some way involved, or at least suspected, in many of them. Still, they did not tell anyone outside the family what they knew, or strongly suspected, about Buffy.
Part 3
Fourteen months after the high school was blown up, a second sister appeared in the Summers household. Since Joyce had not mentioned a second daughter to Eloise, they assumed that the girl was adopted and did not mention it to the family. Five months almost to the day after the second daughter appeared in the Summers house, Buffy found her mother dead on the living room sofa.
"How much more can this young girl take?" Eloise asked during one of their family discussions. "There must be something that we can do to help her."
Leland reminded her that they could not make known the facts that they knew (or greatly suspected) about Buffy.
The summer following Joyce's death Buffy appeared to have changed, and not for the better. Her manner of speaking and the way she acted were so very different from the Buffy they had known; on top of that, it seemed that her friends now accompanied her on her nightly outings.
No one in Leland's household understood what had happened to Buffy that summer, but then, that Fall, she seemed to be herself again.
She took a job at one of the local fast food restaurants, they imagined, to help support all of the people that were now living in the house.
"How can that many people be living in that house?" Eloise wanted to know.
Her family members had no answer for her.
Part 4
Then one night Leland saw Buffy return home carrying a lethal looking weapon. Less than an hour later she came out of the house carrying the weapon and an overnight case and drove off in her mother's jeep. This time she did not come back to the house. For many weeks he continued his vigilant watch for Buffy, but she did not return.
Then, all of a sudden she was back. For some reason that he could not explain, she looked older, wiser, more sure of herself. She was not a kid anymore; she was an adult now. Leland did not know what was going on in the Summers' household, but he had the feeling that something momentous was about to occur, and it centered around Buffy Summers.
No one in his family was surprised when Buffy asked for a meeting with all of the family heads in their city block. She asked them to support her efforts by leaving their homes and not returning until she gave them the all-clear. She provided minimal information for her request, but she assured her neighbors that she would take care of their property and they would find it in a condition that was at least as good as when they left it. All she asked was that they forward their mail, cancel their newspapers or put them on hold and take all of their valuables with them.
Leland was the first to give his approval followed quickly by Winston and Eloise.
"We don't know what you do every night when you leave home, Buffy," the neighbor in the house to the right of Buffy's house told her, "but we do feel much safer since you moved into the neighborhood."
The other neighbors agreed.
"Thank you. I tried not to disturb anyone and to keep the town as safe as I could."
Buffy was very grateful for their support. She then thanked everyone and excused them, but asked certain of the neighbors to stay. She had a special request to make of the neighbors whose houses were immediately next to hers and for the owner of the house directly across the street.
Every two weeks the Summers' neighbors received an e-mail in which they were updated on the progress of Buffy's campaign, but they were given no information on the specifics of what was going on. It was approaching three months when the neighbors received the all-clear to return home. Buffy's campaign had been a success and she had gone beyond her word. Everyone's property was in better condition than when they left it and the three closest neighbors saw no evidence of the people that had lived in their houses while they were away.
Part 5
For the next two months after Leland and his family returned to their home, Buffy and her (once again) boyfriend were in and out of Sunnydale on, as Leland suspected, clean-up missions.
Then one day, out of the blue, Buffy knocked on Leland's front door. Winston answered the door and invited her in. She wanted to speak with him, his wife and Leland (Mr. Leland as she called him). When the four of them were gathered in the living room, they were very surprised to hear what Buffy had to say. She wanted to thank them for their support and "to personally thank Mr. Leland for watching over me all these years."
Surprised, Leland asked, "You knew I was watching you?"
"Not in the very beginning, but after the first few weeks, yes I did. It felt reassuring to know that you were there."
She stood to leave. "I am leaving today, after sundown; I will be away for a while. I don't know how long. I hope I see you all again."
She walked over to Leland and touched him on the shoulder. When she removed her hand, she said, "Thank you." She turned around and was headed for the door when Leland stood up and asked,
"Miss Summers, what are you?"
Buffy looked over her shoulder and replied with a smile, "A friend. And the same as Eliza."
She was out of the door and gone before Leland could ask her how she knew his twin sister.
After Buffy left, Winston asked, "Grandfather, are you all right? What did she do to you?"
Leland answered with a big grin, "I don't know, but I feel better than I have in many years."
Part 6
That was in 2003 and Leland was 94 years old. He didn't see Buffy for many years during which time he enjoyed excellent health for someone who had lived as long as he had.
Buffy returned to Sunnydale in 2015 after all of the evil demons in the world had been eliminated and all of the slayers had been released. One of her first stops was at Leland's house to say goodbye. She knew that he was fading and she had a message for him.
Eloise answered the door. "He waited for you," she told Buffy. "His doctors have long ago given up on him, but he didn't want to go without seeing you, without knowing that you were safe."
Buffy approached his bed and gently touched his hand. Leland opened his eyes and recognized her.
"Safe?" He asked, his voice raspy.
"Yes."
He smiled and closed his eyes, calming himself. When he opened his eyes again, he said, "I prayed for you to be safe."
"Thank you. Your prayers were heard and answered. All evil demons in the world have been eliminated. Tell Eliza I said, "Thanks." She and you saved so many, including me."
"I will," Leland replied and smiled again as he closed his eyes for the last time.
The end