Richard's Big Secret

Summary: When he gets drunk at his bachelor party, Richard confides in Luke the real reason he left the insurance company three years earlier.

Challenge: in honor of Edward Herrmann's passing.

Timeline: story happens in season 5 of GG, but flashbacks to mid-season 2; AU for BtVS.

A/N: Sorry, this was really rushed. I wanted to get this out before midnight, but just couldn't get the words down on paper in time.

Thanks to my betas: unbeta'd.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Gilmore Girls characters belong to WB and Amy Sherman Palladino. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Richard's bachelor party

Luke nursed his drink, wishing again for beer, and wondered how Lorelai ever convinced him into attending this thing. That's right…she asked and he caved. It was amazing that as much as she claimed to not understand this vow renewal (which he honestly didn't get himself), she sure was going through a lot of trouble to make sure it didn't fall apart.

A couple hours passed before Luke realized that despite his nursing, drink number one had died, as had the one following it. This led him to be more verbal than he was used to being. So when he had a quiet moment alone with Richard, he asked the question that had been plaguing him for months, "Can I ask you something, Richard?"

"Go ahead, Luke, my boy!" Richard replied jovially, halfway through his fifth sheet in the wind.

"You were less than a year from celebrating your 40th anniversary...what could be so major to cause a split less than a year from your 40th?" Luke asked.

Richard sighed, then looked around to see if anyone was close enough to eavesdrop. "It was a girl…and fulfilling my family obligations to her," he admitted.

Luke's mind raced with the implications of what he was hearing. Before he could get too far in his imagined tale of adultery and unplanned parentage, Richard went on with his story.

"You understand the duty one has to his family, don't you, Luke?" Without waiting for a response, Richard continued, "Of course you do, and that's what I like about you, Luke. I thought I wouldn't be called upon to follow in my ancestors' footsteps because I was getting too old. But fate had other plans for me.

"A few years ago, when it seemed as if I was about to be pushed out of my job at the insurance company, Buffy arrived in my life to give me purpose again. She had just lost her parents and her Watch- mentor. She needed somebody to guide her in her destiny. Now…I was much too old to do this on my own, but we worked it out. I got an assistant to help with the more physical aspects of our duty, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Oh, that boy was a pretentious twit! It took as much work making him into a decent man as it took to train Buffy to be…what she needed to be.

"She was only 16 when she first got here; almost the same age as Rory. That really put things into perspective for me. Although I knew what Buffy's odds were, I still wanted to do what I could to improve those odds for her." Richard grew wistful for a moment, then said with a smile, "She is…incredible. I'm so proud of her accomplishments. She has eclipsed her predecessors with what she's done in the past three years."

For the next thirty minutes, Richard sung the praises of this Buffy girl, catching himself several times when it appeared he would divulge too much about her occupation. Unfortunately, Luke was coming to the wrong conclusions, and it was confusing the hell out of him. Why would Richard be involved in training a high-end call girl?

"What about your business with Jason Stiles?" Luke asked, needing to focus on something else for the moment.

Too bad that question didn't give him a reprieve. "I needed a cover for how I was spending time away from Emily. Jason wanted to get back at his father – who I wasn't fond of at that time, I confess – so we agreed that the company would have both of our names, but he would be responsible for the majority of the work done there. I would only spend as much time as was necessary to maintain the illusion. Floyd just had to screw everything up with that lawsuit of his. But it all turned out for the best in the end.

"When Buffy found out that our time together was harming my relationship with Emily, she said she was an adult, so was Wesley…for the most part – she was only teasing him – and therefore they didn't need as much supervision anymore. Oh, they've made sure to keep me included – so I don't feel obsolete or useless – but she was right…my marriage is just as important as my work with her."

Luke winced internally at the 'just as important' remark. His marriage wasn't far more important than…whatever he was doing with Buffy?

"So it was Buffy's idea that when I finally got Emily to forgive me for my behavior these past months that I suggest we renew our vows as a sign of my renewed commitment to putting Emily first." Richard stopped talking and appeared as if he was thinking about something profound.

Luke felt extremely awkward, but didn't know how to break the silence without sticking his foot in his mouth. Just when it was growing unbearable, Richard spoke again, "I just wish I could introduce Buffy to Emily and explain everything. But Emily wouldn't approve of what Buffy does and would probably get angry with me for condoning it, much less helping, so it's probably for the best that it isn't allowed in marriages like mine."

He couldn't help himself, really he couldn't. Luke asked the question before he could stop his mouth from forming the words, "Marriages like yours?"

"Marriages outside our group." Richard leaned in and whispered, "Don't tell Emily, but Pennilyn Lott's family was one of ours. She would have understood why I had to take Buffy under my wing because we would have been able to share it. But I don't regret my decision because I love Emily with all my heart."

And strangely enough, Luke believed him.

He looked around and saw that it was only him and Richard left in the club.

Just then Richard's phone rang and he answered it. "It's Wesley," he announced. After a few minutes of listening to Wesley, Richard grew more and more tense. "I'll be there as soon as I can." When he hung up, he asked Luke, "How much have you had to drink tonight?"

"Two of these," Luke answered, holding up his almost full third drink. "But I've been snacking on nuts and pretzels as well, so I'm fine if you need me to drive you somewhere."

"Good, good…I'm in no condition to get behind the wheel of a car right now," Richard replied absently. "Buffy's been hurt and I need to get over there right away to assess things."

"Shouldn't she go to the hospital?" Luke asked.

"Only in the most dire of circumstances. Otherwise uncomfortable questions would arise that we prefer to avoid," Richard answered as he shrugged on his coat.

Wesley and Buffy's apartment

"Who's this?" Buffy asked, seeing Luke come in behind Richard.

"Luke Danes. He's my daughter's boyfriend and probably will be my son-in-law someday, so I had him drive me. He's very trustworthy and believes in family loyalty," Richard said as if that explained the younger man's presence. "Now what seems to be the problem?"

"Are you considering making him your successor for the Gilmore line?" Wesley demanded before too much was said.

All three of them turned and stared at Luke as if they were judging his worthiness.

Worried that he was about to be drawn into some weird prostitution ring, Luke held up his hands and said, "Wait, wait, wait! I love Lorelai and Rory, and wouldn't mind asking Lorelai to be my wife someday, but I can't be a part of this." He explained, waving his hands in front of him. "Even if I could lie to Lorelai about it, I wouldn't want to train call girls."

"Call girls?" Buffy repeated in confusion. "Why does he think I'm a call girl, Richard?" she asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

"I don't know," Richard replied. "Why do you think she's a call girl, Luke?"

"Because the way you talked about training her and wouldn't say what she did and…it isn't sexual?" Luke trailed off, feeling very foolish all of a sudden.

Buffy started snickering, then winced when it aggravated her injuries.

"What happened?" Richard asked again when he saw her pained face.

"She was impaled by a Polgara while we were cleaning out a nest," Wesley recounted. "It was a clean stab, but she lost a bit of blood by the time we got back here."

"Stabbed?!" Luke yelled, but was ignored for the time being.

"Let me see it," Richard ordered. Luke blushed and turned around when Buffy lifted her shirt to show the injury. "Looks like it's healing nicely. How are you feeling? Any dizziness?"

"Only when I try to do cartwheels or flips," she answered glibly.

Richard nodded his approval. "I think you'll be fine here, then. Just make sure to drink plenty of fluids and rest. Don't train tomorrow or patrol tomorrow night."

He stood up, paused for a moment, then said, "I know it's last minute, but I would really like it if the two of you could come to the renewal. Even if Emily doesn't know who you are, it feels like you should be there."

Buffy smiled warmly at him and answered for both of them, "We'd love to, Richard. For now, though, I think Luke needs some answers about what's going on before he freaks out completely and calls the cops."

Lorelai and Rory's home

Next morning…

Luke's mind was a whirlwind as he watched his favorite females in the world rush around their living room. For once it wasn't because of them. Or at least the majority of it wasn't because of them this time.

While he was relieved that Richard wasn't training call girls, the mini-lecture he got about demons and Slayers was enough to make him ask for a few more drinks from his hosts.

It terrified him that there was this hidden world he knew nothing about, but even more than that, he was relieved that Rory was too old to be this Slayer who had to fight the demons. Then he felt bad for thinking that, but Buffy told him it was only natural to have that kind of reaction when you cared about a girl who was close in age to a Slayer. Richard had it all the time, even now.

When he got to the hall and Emily made her usual remarks about him, Richard waited until the women left them alone and then led him to a dressing room where he was able to get his suit pressed. Wesley and Buffy were there, keeping an eye on things…just in case, but staying out of sight so there would be no awkward questions about who they were. They did have the old standby of 'business associate', but wanted to wait until Emily was so distracted that she might not ask right away why she had never heard of Wesley before if he was important enough to invite to the ceremony.

So while he was waiting for Lorelai, Luke got to know them a little better. As it turned out, Buffy was also a freshman at college – UConn, not Yale – and was studying medicine. Wes worked as licensed private investigator when he wasn't doing Watcher things. They felt both professions would give them better insight into their sacred Callings, as well as providing them with a way to help people in non-supernatural ways.

When all hell broke loose with Christopher later, Buffy caught Luke as he was storming out the door. "Just remember that even if Emily doesn't think you belong with Lorelai, Richard trusted you with something he couldn't even share with Emily. Have your fight with Lorelai if you need to – which I'm assuming you do – but keep in mind that he believes in your relationship that much."

A/N: RIP Edward Herrmann! You will be missed!