WARNINGS: Just that it's a crossover with small references to BTVS characters (Giles, Xander, and Xander's Mom), and no sex involved <G> altho' there is an inference of m/m sex between Jim and Blair. Also most likely will be an AU, since that seems to be what I write the most of <G>.
Disclaimers: All things from The Sentinel belong
to Pet Fly, Paramount, and the network whose name shall not be uttered.
All things pertaining to Buffy, the Vampire Slayer belong to Josh Whedon
and Mutant Enemy (at least I think that's the name of
the production company.) All things pertaining to M. le Comte de
St. Germaine (Franciscus Racogzy) and his paramour, Madeleine, belong to
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
AUTHOR's NOTE: This story idea has been in my head awhile.
I am glad to finally get it down. I don't know if anyone else
will like it, but I finally got it out, so maybe...just maybe, I'll be
able to work on some of my other stories that I have in progress <G>,
including the next installment of First Meeting. However, if things
go as I hope, this will be the first installment of a story line featuring
Xander, maybe Spike, Jim, Blair, St. Germaine, and others.
I also freely admit that I'm a newbie when it comes to
writing Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Any mistakes are completely my
fault, but I did warn that this was an AU.
Right now, I've got a few ideas percolating away about
a series to be written for BTVS, including, on occasion, Jim and Blair,
but I don't know how far they are going to get.
WEBPAGE: http://otters_den.tripod.com/index.html
E-mail: iceinwin@aol.com
Blair Sandburg leaned back in his chair as he read the
letter from his old friend, Rupert Giles. He had met Giles at the
British Museum on one of his many trips to the British Museum, and they
had
corresponded several times while he'd still been a student
at Rainier. However, he had not heard from him in the last four months.
He reread the letter and then looked at address of the letter enclosed
in the letter to him.
St. Germaine Franciscus
The return address was listed as a Diane Michelle Harris of Sunnydale, CA.
He knew that name Franciscus and where that individual lived. He had known him for years. He also knew that Franciscus would not be happy if he did not forward this letter to him. Franciscus was always so...protective...of his friends.
Making a sudden decision, Blair reached into his desk
and pulled out a fine-pointed dip pen, India ink, and some high quality
parchment writing paper. Then he began to write in a language that
had not been seen in thousands of years...a language he had been taught
by a quiet erudite gentleman who found great enjoyment in a child's curiosity
and desire to learn to read different languages. A language he had
been taught with the proviso that he not reveal its secrets to anyone else
until Franciscus said that he could. A language that had been old
when Rome was young. //Little did I know that I would be one of
the few people on Earth that know how to translate Linear B.// Blair
grinned as he pictured the faces of all the people he knew who would have
a fit if they knew he could read all the pieces of Linear B in existence
(and had at some point in time or another).
St. Germaine FranciscusMy Lord,
I do not know how much you remember me, but my mother, Naomi Sandburg and I, lived with you in Colorado for almost two years starting when I was about 10. You were most kind to a curious child who asked all manner of questions. I am certain that I drove you and Roger quite mad with my questions. Later we met again several times in Israel when you were visiting Miss Madeleine on one of her digs. You also contacted me about a year ago when I was experiencing some unpleasantness regarding an unfinished and unsubmitted dissertation being leaked to the press. Because of the letter I received from you at that time, I feel free to contact you regarding this problem.
Normally I would not be writing to you on a non-business matter, but someone who is apparently a former "close" acquaintance of yours asked me to forward some correspondence to you. In a note to me, the lady in question stated that she had tried your address from her address book, but the letter had been returned. She obtained my name from a mutual friend, Mr. Rupert Giles of Sunnydale, CA. From the information I received in a note from Mr. Giles, it would be best to address any response to the lady in question to me, and I will see that it gets to Mr. Giles, who will see that the lady in question receives it. It appears that her husband is jealous of anyone with whom she corresponds. It has been agreed that I will forward any response unopened to Mr. Giles, who will ensure that your return correspondence is property directed and delivered. As Mr. Giles is apparently a teacher/advisor of her son, he will be able to get any response from me back to her without any problem for the lady.
If you have any questions regarding this epistle, please feel free to contact me at Rainier University where I teach. My address is:
Dr. Blair Sandburg
Department of Anthropology
Hargrove Hall
Rainier University
Cascade, Washington, USASincerely,
Blair Sandburg, BA, MA, Ph. D.
Finishing the letter, Blair leaned back in his chair.
//I hope Mr. Franciscus hasn't changed. I hope. The lady,
according to Rupert, is desperate.//
"What's up, Chief?" Jim leaned over the back of Blair's chair.
"Nothing." Blair quickly folded the letter and put it and another smaller envelope in a stamped envelope and sealed it.
"You about ready to go, Chief?"
"Yeah." He waved the letter at Jim. "Can we mail this while we're out?"
"Sure." Jim looked over the address, noting that the addressee was not someone he knew. "You carrying on a secret correspondence, Chief. Should I be worried?"
"God, no, Jim!" Heading out the door, Blair laughed as he thought what the ever so dignified Franciscus would think if he knew that Blair's lover was wondering if he needed to be jealous. As they got in the elevator. "Jim, St. Germaine Franciscus is a very dignified, middle-aged man who's terribly in love with his long time companion...who also happens to be one of the prettiest archeologists I've ever met...a beautiful lady with long dark brown hair." He grinned over at Jim as he got in the Ford. "Unless, of course, you are referring to his library. In which case, all bets are off. That man has things in his library that I've never seen before in my life. And I envy Madeleine her access to it...and to him. I don't know where he got his education, but St. Germaine Franciscus is the most knowledgeable man about ancient civilizations and history I've ever met. He used to tell me such tales when we lived with him at his tourist lodge in Colorado. Naomi worked there about two years. I think that was the longest time we ever spent in one place when I was growing up. We frequently got snowed in during the winter, and, when that happened, I studied with St. Germaine. He was a fascinating and eloquent teacher."
Jim pulled carefully out into traffic, headed to their local post office. "What's going on with you writing him, Blair. I've never even heard you mention his name, let alone writing to him."
Blair shifted his shoulder holster into a more comfortable position under his jacket. "I hadn't thought about him in years, but he got back in touch with me after the dissertation fiasco to let me know that, if I needed a job or a place to stay, that I knew where he was. And Maddy, his longtime companion, said the same thing. I know that St. Germaine and Naomi had been close at one time." Blair grinned over at Jim as they pulled into the drive through mailboxes at the post office. "In fact, he was the one who explained about the birds and bees...at least as they referred to same sex encounters. Naomi's explanations about Mr. Michaels and Mr. Fernandez just weren't explaining it for me. His did." Blair shrugged.
Jim looked over at him. "What did he say?"
Blair thought for a moment. "Something along the
lines of 'all creatures in the world seek to make contact with their
own kind. Love in any form is not to be rejected. Whether the
object of that
love is male or female is of no consequence. Do
not ever worry about whether the person you love is male or female, but
whether they are a person of honor and good character. I've seen
instances of animals demonstrating both heterosexual and homosexual behavior.
As long as both of you are happy and you hurt no one, do what you please.'
As a rough rule of thumb, it's worked for me." He grinned at Jim again.
"But why are you writing him now?"
"Jim, you're like a dog with a bone." Blair leaned over and quickly kissed Jim on the cheek. "I was asked by an old friend to forward some correspondence to Franciscus from an old friend of HIS, who appears to be having jealous husband problems."
"Here in Cascade? Why doesn't she go to the police?"
"Jim! Jim! JIM! Time out!" Blair held up his hand in a very familiar football sign. "No, not here in Cascade. And I'm not absolutely sure that that's what's happening. This is what I deduced from reading between the lines of Rupert's letter. Rupert is the old friend who asked me to forward HER letter to Franciscus. But, given that that is what it appears to be, I'm taking the chance of forwarding the letter. From the way Rupert was talking, she's trying to do something about getting away from her husband, who sounds like he's physically, mentally, and/or emotionally abusive. And you and I both know that the first step is for the woman and any children to get away and out of any type of abusive relationship."
"Rupert?"
"You remember that tall, dish-water blond, older man we saw at the airport when we were in Los Angeles about six months ago. When we had to go down and pick up that prisoner for extradition?"
Jim pulled up to the mailbox, took the letter from Blair, and put it in the non-metered mail mailbox. "Yeah." Jim drove the big truck out of the drive through and back toward the street.
"That was Rupert Giles. He used to work for the British Museum. Don't know why he left. He became a school librarian down in Sunnydale, CA. Don't know why. He was WAY over qualified for the position. And I'm sure he wasn't crazy about leaving England. But, whatever the reason, he left and moved to Sunnydale, CA. I understand that the school was blown up a couple of years ago, and that he has now opened a magic shop...one that caters to various occultists and practitioners of the older religions...like Wicca." //Which, when you consider that I found out later that the man was a very powerful sorceror, is not that surprising.//
Jim grinned. "You mean he sells things like dragon's liver, dead man's thumbs, mummy dust, that sort of thing?"
Blair pursed his lips carefully, then nodded. "Yep. Sells the candles, paraphenalia, books, herbs, that sort of thing. Seems to be making a good living at it, but...Rupert always has been interested in the occult."
"Chief," Jim sighed as he pulled back into traffic heading
toward a small Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood, "you know the strangest
people."
April 20, 2001