A young girl, aged around sixteen, stood outside Giles' front door. She was wearing jeans, and a pale blue vest top with "Little Miss Naughty" printed on the front. On the floor beside her was a green rucksack that looked like it was packed as fully as possible. She sat down on the step for a few minutes, seemingly lost in thought, before pulling out a crumpled photograph. She sighed, and put it back in her pocket.
Standing up, she smoothed down her hair, and checked her clothes. She lifted her hand, and knocked loudly on the door. When there was no answer after a few minutes, she tried again, louder this time.
***
"Giles! Can you hear that?" He muffled her last few words with another kiss and she gave an excited squeal before pulling away again. "I'm serious! There's someone at the door!"
"Then let them wait, Cor! We're busy!" He kissed her again, and rolled her over so that she now lay completely on top of him. This led to him yelling out in pain. Cordelia's eyes showed concern, and she turned so that once again she lay flat on the bed. Reaching onto the floor, she grabbed the first thing she could find – Giles' shirt. Quickly pulling it on, she kissed him on his forehead again.
"You rest. I'll be back soon," she whispered, before grinning wickedly. "Don't go anywhere!"
As she slipped out of the door she heard him snort with laughter. "As if I could if I wanted to!"
She reached the front door, desperately hoping Buffy wasn't the one behind it. What she actually saw behind the door was a remarkably pretty young girl with auburn hair and pale blue eyes. Her smooth skin was covered with a scattering of freckles.
"Can I help you?" Cordelia enquired, feeling extremely bare in only Giles' shirt.
"Ummm … I'm not sure." The girl spoke with a strong cockney accent. "I'm looking for Mr Rupert Giles."
"He's upstairs. He's not feeling too well at the moment. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"The girl held out her hand. "My name is Isla Pullman. I'm Mr Giles' daughter."
Cordelia stared at the girl, ignoring the hand. "No … that can't be right … I mean … uh…"
"Could you get him for me? You could tell him Natalya sent me."
Suddenly Giles appeared behind Cordelia wearing his bath robe, and immediately nurse mode kicked back in. "You should be in bed," she scolded gently, but truthfully she was glad he was there. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and action she felt was partly to steady him more than through affection.
"I'll be OK." He kissed her on the top of her head – there was no mistaking the affection in that, and she blushed.
"Dad?" The voice was so quiet he almost missed it, and he was fairly certain he had misheard her. When he looked up into her eyes, there was no mistaking it. This was Natalya's daughter.
"I'm sorry? I … you … how … maybe you should come in …Cordelia I need to sit down." Exhausted from his excursion down the stairs, he needed her help to walk over to the couch. She motioned for Isla to follow her, and the young girl closed the door behind her.
"Would it be alright if I used your toilet? It's a long time since I last stopped."
"Of course." Cordelia showed her where the bathroom was, and as she did so, she looked closely at Isla for the first time. She could immediately see a striking resemblance to Giles. She would recognise those eyes anywhere. She returned to stand behind him, leaning down and whispering in his ear.
"I'll leave you to it. I shouldn't be here."
"No, Cor, please stay. I don't even know this girl, what will I say to her? How do I even know she's telling the truth?"
"She is."
"How can you be sure?"
"She has your eyes." She turned to go up the stairs. "She'll love you as much as I do. Just be yourself. I have to … I need to get out of here." She went into her room and pulled out a pair of jeans. Grabbing her keys she headed out of the door before Giles could stop her. She was barely around the corner, though, before she sank down onto a wall and the tears began to fall.
She wasn't even sure what she had upset her this time, it was beginning to seem like she did nothing but cry. She hadn't thought about it too much before now, but of course Giles had been in other relationships. He wasn't celibate or anything (that much was obvious!), and she knew about Jenny for a start. And she'd had plenty of boyfriends. It was just a shock, seeing this girl that looked so much like Giles turn up on the doorstep. He'd had so much more life than she had – she'd already known that. But Isla was almost the same age as her. It was a little scary, and if she was honest with herself, she was a little jealous. She'd only just got Giles to herself, and someone else had come along wanting to share him.
"Cordelia?" She opened her eyes and saw Willow standing there. "What is it? Is it Giles? It her worse?"
"No, it's nothing like that. I … I probably shouldn't say. He … he mightn't want me to."
"Cordelia, you don't have to tell me, but I'm here if you want to talk."
Cordelia was silent for a moment before replying in a voice Willow could barely hear. "His daughter came."
"What? Whose daughter?"
"Giles'. She turned up on the doorstep about a half hour ago …I left them to it."
"Giles has a daughter?! He didn't say anything!"
"I'm pretty sure he didn't know. In fact, I'm certain he didn't know."
"Wow. So, you're out here because…?"
"I was in the way."
"Cordelia. If I know Giles, and I think I do, he's gonna need you in there."
"Willow, I can't"
"You can. You have to. For him. I know you love him. It's in your eyes when you talk about him. Go back there, and even if you aren't in the room he'll be happy just knowing you're nearby."
"You're right. Jeez Will, when did you get so good with advice?!"
"You've been gone a long time," the redheaded witch replied, wistfully. She started to walk away. "Oh, Cordy?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you wearing one of Giles' shirts?!"
Cordelia grinned sheepishly. "Yeah."
"Go Cordy!" Willow grinned wickedly.