Disclaimer. As per the prologue. If you recognise the characters they belong to someone else, if not they're mine.
Chapter Five.
Paris. Buffy and Dan's pov.
After an aborted attempt to contact Giles, Dan had insisted that he find the hotel and had hailed a taxi to get them there. A text message came through on Buffy's phone from Vi telling her that she and Xander were at the Chateau if needed. Buffy sent a message back saying that everything was Ok and to enjoy their weekend.
On the way she tried to contact Giles again and still had no joy. She called Jenny who said she'd call the chauffeur company to locate him. Then Ed had called, and she'd given him a surreptitious update. Ed related the information about Giles date with Olivia when she told him of Giles' incommunicado, and she wondered if he might have made other arrangements for the day.
Their destination was the five star Hotel Lancaster, just off the Champs Elysees. Dan paid the driver and led Buffy up the steps to the reception.
"Well, what do you think?" He asked.
"I suppose it'll have to do." She said, jokingly.
The first problem they encountered was the concierge. The nervous young chap was obviously on his first solo reception. They had no luggage, and no reservation. Dan asked for the Manager, and he was summoned.
Emile Bertrand, a tall, slim, forty five year old with a receding hairline, appeared from the rear of the hotel wondering who could be causing his newest protégé a problem. The manager of the Lancaster, straightened his jacket and walked calmly across the thick carpet towards the front desk. The two in question were holding hands and had their backs to him. A tall dark haired man in a leather jacket and jeans, and a petite blonde in jeans and what was once a white, now grubby looking roll neck sweater were waiting at the desk.
It was his job to assess situations such as this. The hotel's policy of discretion kept their celebrity clients free from press and media hassle, and the more unsavoury of custom away. As he neared, he noticed the blonde slightly turned her head as though she had sensed his approach, and the weight shifted to the balls of her feet as her hand lightly squeezed that of her partner, letting him know someone was coming.
They both turned their heads at the same time, and Emile's concerns dissipated immediately.
"Monsieur Carter. …. Daniel. It is good to see you again." He said, beaming and holding out his hand. "To what do we owe this honour, are your family here also?"
"Emile. It's good to see you too." Said Dan taking the offered hand and giving it a firm shake. "I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Buffy Summers" He said proudly. "It's just us I'm afraid. We're in need of accommodation and you were the first place I thought of. Can you help?"
Emile held out his hand for Buffy and she took it, expecting him to shake it. Instead he lifted it to his lips and planted a soft kiss on the back. Enchanté, Mademoiselle Summers. Welcome to the Hotel Lancaster."
"Thank you." She said.
"Ah, you are American. West Coast, if I am not mistaken?"
"I am, yeah, California. Good call." She smiled.
"All part of the Lancaster service Mam'selle. I am Emile Bertrand, Manager of this humble establishment."
He released her hand and turned his attention back to Dan. "Now, Daniel, what do you require, your parents usual suite is available if you wish it."
"That would be great, Emile, it's just for a few days if that's Ok." Said Dan.
"Consider it so." Replied Emile. He turned to the surprised young Concierge behind the desk. "Jean Paul. Les clefs pour soixante seise, s'il vous plait. I believe our guests would like to go to their suite."
The wide eyed young man obeyed and Emile escorted them to the lift. Once in the lift and out of earshot, he turned to Daniel.
"I could not help but notice your somewhat dishevelled appearance, is there anything that you need to tell me, to ensure you are not disturbed." He said gesturing to their clothing.
Dan glanced at Buffy. She gave a slight frown indicating that he should not say too much. His eyes flicked back to Emile.
"Not really anything that needs to be acted upon Emile, but if anyone enquires after our whereabouts, we're not here. We have a secure line to receive and make calls if needed. Oh, and by the way, none of my family know where I am either." Said Dan.
"Is it British Police business?" Asked Emile.
"Partly." Said Dan.
"Very well. You are not here, I have not seen you, and the suite is closed for repairs and decoration. I will instruct the staff accordingly. Is there anything else you require? Dry cleaning service perhaps?" He said looking at their clothes.
"That would be great, but we'll also need to go shopping." Said Buffy.
"Are you staying in the area for your shopping?" They nodded. "Then I will make a few calls on your behalf. In your present state I am afraid you will not get past some store security men." He said.
Emile opened the suite doors for them and gave Buffy the 'dix centime tour' as he put it. Ed called back with the number that he'd obtained from Alison just as Emile finished. She left Dan and Emile chatting, whilst she excused herself and took the call.
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Birmingham International Airport.
Royce sat in the long stay car park at Birmingham Airport. His disguise was in place. He had fifteen minutes, just enough time to catch a shuttle bus and check in. No sense in arriving too early, it just made for hanging around. More time to be caught on camera, do something out of his persona's character. There had still only been the general reports on national radio news giving a short account that two officers and a transferring prisoner had been killed in a car accident, no names though, next of kin had to be informed first.
In his opinion, it was that one word that made the British police so predictable. 'Procedure'. In a few hours or so he'd be in Germany, and the police could use all the 'procedures' they wanted. Then he could make contact with the other 'Musketeers'; contact the Contractor, put his name back on the mark, keep anyone else out of the way. One step at a time. Smitt was the original mark. Job done.
Who was the handover? He could picture the face, he had a name, Carter, a bloody copper, the name rang a bell somewhere in the back of his mind. How the hell had he survived? Who was the blonde? That knife throw was exceptional. His guess was US Forces, the accent was American, probably CIA. No way was she ordinary. She was fast, very fast. She was skilled. She'd been trained. She'd killed. He'd seen that much in her eyes. What was the phrase she'd used? She would 'end' him? Definitely a killer then.
He checked his disguise in the mirror. Not bad. He'd easily pass for Ron James. He wiped and stowed the stolen firearm in the glove box. It wasn't needed anymore and he wouldn't get it past security anyway. He alighted from the car; plucked the case from the boot and locked it. Do nothing out of the ordinary. He made his way to the terminal, ditching a paper cup that had contained coffee into the trash as he passed. The cup now contained the car keys. Ron James didn't need them, he wasn't coming back for the car.
He wasn't coming back at all.
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Paris.
Buffy punched the cellphone number into her phone and waited for the other end to ring out.
A young child's voice answered. "Hello, this is Natalie speaking, who's calling please."
Buffy was flummoxed for a second. "Oh … Hi there... I, er, do I have the right number? I'm trying to contact Olivia Harland."
"Yes, she's my mommy, who's calling please." Said Natalie.
"Er, yeah, tell her it's Buffy, Buffy Summers, please." Said Buffy with a strangely confused look on her face.
At that point Buffy had to take the phone away from her ear to avoid any lasting damage. There was a yelled 'MOMMEEEEY TELEPHONE' at the top of the little girls voice and the decorum of the initial contact was lost.
Dan came in at that moment, and he heard it from across the room. Laughing, he said. "Sounds just like Lisa when she answers for Becky."
There was the muffled sounds of conversation at the other end of the phone and Buffy heard Olivia's voice.
"Hello. Buffy, it's Olivia. How are you? Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, all is well in the world. Do you know where Giles is, coz he's turned his phone off and I can't find him?"
"Oh. Well he was with me for dinner last night, he left about eleven. I put him in a Taxi, he was a little dazed though, I think."
"He was drunk!" Exclaimed Buffy.
"Oh. No. " Placated Olivia. "I dropped a bit of a bombshell on him that's all." Came the sheepish response.
"What sort of bombshell?" Asked Buffy. There was a wariness in her voice.
"Er, the sort that tells him that he has a four year old daughter…"
"Oh….. My…… God……" Buffy sat down on the bed, her jaw was open slightly. The phone dropped away from her ear slightly. Dan gently took it from her.
"Everything ok?" He asked.
She nodded slowly, staring into space.
"Hello. Buffy, are you alright?" He heard a voice at the other end say.
Concerned, Dan put the phone to his own ear. "Hello. Is that Olivia? This is Dan Carter. What did you say to Buffy? I think she's in shock."
"Oh, yes you're the policeman, aren't you." Said Olivia.
"Yes, how did you know?" He asked, slightly suspicious.
I know Alison Clewley. I was there when Rupert and Edward got called to the incident the other night. Are you alright?" She asked.
"Oh, I see, right. Yes fine thanks. Can I ask. If you know Giles, do you know 'everything'." He asked, emphasising the last word.
"About the things, the monsters, you mean. Oh yes; I know all about them." She said, quietly.
"That's a relief. So what's happened to Giles that's made Buffy go ga, ga." He asked.
Olivia reiterated the statement for Dan's benefit.
"Ah, right, er, …… congratulations. ….. I think?" He said, slightly taken aback.
Buffy recovered from her initial shock and asked for the phone back. There was a short conversation between the two women; and Dan noted that she actually seemed quite pleased that Giles might have someone in his life, and a ready made family to boot.
Her parting shot to Olivia was the fact that she would have to tease Giles about it incessantly. After she ended the call, the thought struck her that it could easily have been her mom in that situation, after the Band Candy incident. "No.. Don't think those thoughts." She thought, mentally pulling herself together.
"So Giles is a dad…. You look pleased, but disappointed at the same time." He said.
"Oh, yeah I'm pleased that Olivia's back in his life; it's just……." She trailed off.
"Let me guess. You feel like you've lost out to a four year old. Like you've lost your father figure?"
"Maybe." She said.
"I don't think he'll let you miss out. He doesn't seem the sort that'd do that." He said.
"We can't go back yet until we get the all clear from Ed, can we?" She said.
Dan sat next to her on the edge of the bed. "No, but I can think of worse places to be stuck in for a few days on the lam." He said, flopping backwards.
"True. Although, if we're here for a while, I really should get some work done. I still have to write those letters to the parents, and my emails will be horrendous. I need my computer and an internet connection really." She said.
He propped himself up on his elbows. "The hotel has a Wi-Fi connection. What if you get Jenny to send you your things here, by courier or something. Do you handwrite you condolence letters?"
She nodded, giving him a sad look.
"Okay. Do you need headed notepaper?" He asked.
"No, it's more personal if I use plain, I always think." She said
"Then there's no problem, we'll buy some stationery and send the letters from here." He said.
He saw her look grow more sad. "What's wrong?" He asked.
She flopped back down adjacent to him, laid her head on his chest, and let out a huge sigh.
"I never know what to put. It just doesn't seem to flow. There were so many of the girls who didn't come out of Sunnydale and I never really knew them; knew who to tell; never knew half of their names even, Faith was right about that much. I was so focussed on the mission that I didn't take the time to get to know them. I got to know Susie, Kirsty and Shona. It's different."
He stroked her hair. "Yes, of course there's a difference. You're attached. You're grieving. That's the difference. I don't know, maybe you'd gotten de-sensitized in the past having to deal with the losses night in, night out. Now it's different, you've taken the time to find them, teach them, appreciate them. …….maybe even love them."
She looked at him through watery eyes. "How do you know just what to say to make me feel better?"
"It's what I'm here for, remember." He said. "Come on, cheer up. Call Jenny to get your stuff sent over; and try ringing Giles again. Then I'll take you shopping. A little retail therapy; that'll make you feel better."
"You'd go shopping with me?" She asked. "Xander never goes shopping with any of us."
"Can't be any worse than going with my sister or mum. There's the Champs Elysees and we could try Galleries Lafayette. Becky always goes there. It's got all the designer stuff. Should keep you happy for hours."
"What if you get bored?"
Ah. Thought of that too. I've had an idea, but it's a surprise."
"Is it a nice surprise?"
"Yes, I think you'll like it."
"Do I need to buy anything special to wear?"
"Well, no, bu" …….He gave her a grin and wagged a finger at her. "Oh no you don't. If you wheedle it out of me it won't be a surprise; will it."
She pouted at him cheekily. "Gotta give a girl something for trying."
"Oh, I'll give you ten out of ten for effort. I'll just say that something warm and comfortable will be required; ok?"
"Okaay. I trust you." She said sweetly. She bounced off the bed with renewed vigour and dialled Jenny, arranging for her suite to be cleared at the City Inn, and her equipment to be sent over. Giles was her next call. Dan was sure he caught a wicked grin flashing across her face as she dialled the number.
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England. M4 Westbound 09:00 hrs
Alan Tasker loved his job. Chauffer. It had a better ring to it than 'Taxi Driver', not that there was anything wrong with that area of the work, it just wasn't for him. As a general rule you tended to have a better educated and wealthier client as a travelling companion, and got to see more of the countryside. Ok, you got the occasional plonker who thought he was a Mr. Big, and the odd rock star wannabe, but on the whole, some intelligent conversation came with the job. It helped pass the time; and the stock market tips he'd picked up from businessmen over the years had built his savings plan up considerably.
The chap he was chauffeuring for today was what he considered the 'Perfect Gentleman' type. Mr Giles was an intellectual. Brainy beyond the point of Mastermind, but not big headed with it. Their conversation topics when he'd chauffeured for him over the past couple of years had ranged from the politics of the Middle Ages to the economics of the third world, and the basis of modern language.
Today was different. Alan was having trouble getting two words out of him. The chap obviously had a lot on his mind. He didn't think he'd done anything to upset him, so what was wrong. The question was; should he ask?
A bleary eyed Rupert Giles sat in the rear of the Jaguar reading; well staring, at prints of his emails. The events of the previous evening and subsequent night had left him little time for sleep.
"I have a daughter." The words kept repeating in Giles head.
Willow and Dawn's report told him all he needed to know, for the time being at least. Xander and Vi had decided to return to the Chateau to make an assessment of the artefacts and books there, and to see what repairs were required. It also said that they were probably going to……...Oh dear, he didn't wish to know that.
The fact that Buffy and Daniel had 'gone walkabout'; as Dawn had put it, somewhere in Paris was worrying him, slightly. He feared for the Parisians.
"I have a daughter."
The two had barely known each other a week; yet in that short time they had caused more than a little chaos and mayhem in London and the home counties. Paris and the opening of the Grail Portal, as Willow had reported it, had been a self cleansing operation. The First, a.k.a Primatu, was allegedly now entombed in the Deeper Well with the other Old Ones, and Caleb's essence had been removed from his cousin's body and either destroyed or placed in perpetual torment.
"I have a daughter."
The good news was that Xander had regained his lost eye. Daniel, however, had been thrown into the Grail Portal by Caleb and later returned by the Guardian, and Buffy's powers had seemingly culminated in a sort of wilful thinking. He made a mental note to get them to talk about their experiences for the journals.
"I have a daughter."
Being fair to Althenea and Willow, the destruction of Rayne Manor wasn't anyone's fault in particular; more the result of the spirit of Eleanor Rayne, trying to gain physical manifestation ……. And mismanaged electrical maintenance. At least the information contained in the library had been saved; albeit digitally. He would miss the opportunity to actually 'feel' the information. The ability to send information instantaneously to a watcher or slayer in the field was paramount, now that they were diversely spread across the world.
"I have a daughter."
The outcome was that Ethan was without a home, and hadn't anywhere to go. As a regenerated sixteen year old he was out of synchronisation with the modern world, he needed to be coached and counselled. The upside of all this was that his magical prowess was gone. It wasn't coming back. A smile grew on his face as he contemplated Ethan's past antics; and the irony of the fact that Ethan was now the teenager and how he'd have to face life all over again as a normal person. Ha! Payback for the Band Candy incident. Life could become enjoyable watching Ethan squirm with Buffy as his teacher.
"I have a daughter."
Leigh's body was to be returned to the Imperial College as soon as possible, under cover of darkness. Then there would be the problem of the interment, and his accession to the title of Lord Lancaster. Not something he was looking forward to. Very public. He needed to remain private.
"I have a daughter."
A conversation he'd had with David Peterson concerning Professor Langdon, gave him some thoughts as to a role he and Sauniere family might play in the re-connection of the Priory and the council.
"I have a daughter."
The losses were never easy. Three young slayers dead. Three too many. Three empty seats. Three friends lost. Three daughters to bury.
"I have a daughter."
He reached for the files pertaining to the schools LEA certification and began perusing them.
"I cant believe I have a four year old daughter."
"Mr Giles. You alright sir? You look a little out of sorts." Said Alan, glancing in the mirror.
"Hmm." Said Giles, absently.
Alan repeated the question.
"Oh, sorry Alan, quite alright. A little preoccupied, that's all. Thank you for asking." Said Giles.
"There's a service area coming up in about ten minutes. I need a stop, perhaps you should stretch you legs too, sir. Perhaps have a cup of tea. We're ahead of schedule."
"Thank you Alan. Yes, that's probably what I need." Answered Giles
The car phone rang, Alan answered it. Giles wasn't taking any notice, as he stared out of the window at the Oxfordshire countryside flashing past.
"Yes, I'll tell him Miss. Goodbye." Alan cleared the call. "Mr. Giles." He called out.
Giles, vacantly looked in his general direction.
"That was Jenny at your office, sir. She requests that you turn you mobile phone on as Ms. Summers has been trying to reach you for the last hour." Said Alan.
That woke Giles up. "Oh; right. There are two Ms. Summers'. Which one?" He asked.
"I think she said Bunny? I could be wrong though sir, the line was a bit duff." Said Alan.
"Buffy. Her name's Buffy." Said Giles, gently. A smile inching onto his face. He fumbled in his briefcase for his phone and switched it on.
The phone rang a few moments later. He answered it.
"Giles, why didn't you switch your phone on. I had to call Jenny . You didn't tell me you were being chauffeured to Westbury, and why didn't you tell me you had a date with Olivia last night. When I couldn't get hold of you, I called Jenny. Ed called me, he called his wife, and she got Olivia's number for me……. And just when were you gonna tell me that you had a daughter?!"
"Oh, Bloody hell!"
End of Chapter Five.