Fandom: Buffy
Rating: PG
Category: Romance, angst.
Pairing: Jenny/Giles
Spoilers: Through "Chosen."
Feedback: Yes, please. Comment here or email to celli@fanfic101.com
Disclaimer: Buffy and co. belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy; TPTB borrowed with permission from butterflykiki's series. Song quotes, including the one in the summary, are from Diamond Rio's "I Believe."
Summary: "There are more than angels watching over me."

A Jenny Calendar Ficathon story, written for Belinda, who requested Jenny/Giles, songfic, angsty.

Thanks to butterflykiki for the beta.



More than Angels
by Celli Lane

The people who don’t see the most
Say that I believe in ghosts
And if that makes me crazy, then I am

Giles stepped out of his office. "Hello?" He couldn't see anyone at first, and one hand twitched toward the axe under the checkout counter.

Then Jenny stepped into sight. "Hello, Rupert."

"Jenny!" His glasses were off and being polished before he even thought about it. "I...that is...how are you?"

She shrugged. "Can't complain." She looked beautiful. She was wearing a black dress he remembered from one of their less vampire-infested dates, with a red scarf draped around her neck. She looked a little unsure, though, which made sense considering the way they'd left things with each other.

Wait. How had they left things with each other? He rubbed his glasses harder, trying to-- "You're dead," he said suddenly. "And the school was destroyed. Twice."

"Relax, Rupert. I'm not the First." A few of her confident strides brought her in front of him. "Relax," she said again, and her breath was warm on his face as he leaned into her.

He dropped his glasses and grabbed her arms, hard. She winced. "Look, I know--" she started, but he had already swooped in on her mouth.

It was their first kiss, and their last, all over again, full of sharp tastes and demanding tongues and wordless noises he only made with her. When she finally pulled back, she had the same strained look on her face that he could feel on his own. He blinked hard.

"I tried to forget what being with you was like," she said.

"Yes."

"It didn't work."

"No."

He tugged her in closer again, wrapping his arms around her as far as they would go and simply holding her. Her fingers dug hard into his back.

"So," she said into his shoulder, "how've you been?"

"Busy," he said, which made her laugh. "We saved the world, you know."

"Again?"

"Well, you know how Buffy is when she gets bored. And there wasn't much on television..."

When she lifted her head, her eyes were damp, but she was giving him that look he remembered so well. That lopsided grin that said clearly, I'm five steps ahead of you, Mr. Giles, don't pull anything on me.

"I didn't think we'd make it," he said quietly. "And not all of us did."

She reached up and cupped his face in her hands.

"Jenny, I'm so bloody tired of watching you all die."

"I know." She kissed him. "I know."

The library door banged open, and both of them whirled around. The sound of students changing classes was startlingly loud. A thin man with a beard that didn't quite suit him leaned in. "Jenny, I need you."

"Not yet, Minos," she snapped. "You promised--"

"I promised, and I kept my promise. Now I need you. We've got an entire town we're trying to process through upstairs. If I don't get you to handle the girls, I'm going to have to give them over to Dani."

"Oh, no no no. I'm on my way."

Minos, whoever he was, glared at Jenny. She glared right back. "In a *second,*" she said. He left, slamming the door behind him.

She turned back to Giles. "Time to go be a teacher again," she said. "To tell you the truth, I'm kind of looking forward to it."

He reached for her. "Jenny--"

She grabbed his hand and held it. "I know. I just--I have to go, Rupert." She pressed her mouth to their joined hands. He tried to follow her as she walked toward the door, but he couldn't seem to get his feet moving. He jerked himself forward, and--

--woke with a start. It took a few moments to bring himself out of the library and back onto the bus. Buffy was sitting next to him, chewing on one thumbnail and staring out the window.

"Morning, sunshine."

He took a quick look around. No new crises seemed to have broken out while he slept. He realized with mild surprise that he was wearing his glasses. "Where are we?"

"We're in a bus. Headed south on 5," she added when he gave her a speaking look.

"I see."

"You were asleep for a long time. Sweet dreams?" She still wasn't looking at him.

"Perhaps. Buffy, do you believe in--" He broke off, staring at his clenched hands.

"Believe in what?"

In ghosts. In dreams. In forgiveness. In farewells. He looked over at the beautiful girl with the ancient eyes sitting next to him, and swallowed his words. He wasn't the one who needed reassuring. "Nothing," he said.

"That's about what I believe in right now, yeah."

He put an arm around her, and she rested her head carefully on his shoulder. He wanted to say something helpful, but he wasn't sure those words had been invented yet. So he simply waited.

"We lost so many," she said. "We lost the town, but I keep thinking about the girls. I can't tell you how many times I wanted them to go away and stop looking at me like I could take care of them, and now I just want them all back." Her voice was heavy with tears.

"I understand," Giles said. He thought of his dream. "For what it's worth, I believe someone very capable is taking care of them now."

Buffy nearly laughed. "God? Their guardian angels?"

"'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"

"Hm." She was silent for a moment. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Can I tell you a secret, Buffy?" She nodded into his neck. "I've no idea either."

She laughed so loud that most of the rest of the bus turned to stare at them. "Shh!" Andrew said. Xander thwapped him. "Ow!"

Buffy's giggles slowly turned to tears, and she hid her face farther in his shoulder. Giles glared at everyone until they turned away.

"I'm so tired, Giles," she whispered between sobs.

"I know, Buffy." He smoothed her hair. "Everything's going to be fine."

*Until the next Apocalypse,* he could almost hear her thinking. But she allowed him to comfort her. He sat there until she cried herself to sleep, until the sun set beside them, and played every second of his dream over and over in his mind until he was sure he wouldn't forget any of it. If he'd ever believed in anything supernatural in his life, he was going to believe that Jenny was safe and happy and taking care of the girls he could no longer help. Maybe it was crazy, but didn't he deserve a little insanity after the last seven years?

*Good luck, Jenny,* he thought, and just as he drifted back to sleep he could have sworn he felt the air move near his ear, as though someone were laughing at him.

Every now and then soft as breath upon my skin
I feel you come back again...

--end--