Title: Et in Arcadia Ego 6/7
Author: TweedEmpress
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I do not own Giles, Jenny or anyone else – I just wish I did!
Feedback: yes please. I’m needy ;-) I take full responsibility for any mistakes (spelling or otherwise) in this fic.

Notes: A huge thank-you to everyone who has sent feedback - you have all been amazingly supportive and I hope that you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. When I first got this idea, it was a one part story. Now, seven parts and many cold showers later, it is finally finished! As always, your comments are hugely appreciated.

The motion of the carriage, the night air and the comforting warmth of the body she was resting against, were making Jenny increasingly drowsy. They had begun the drive sitting decorously next to each other, but had ended up entwined together. She was, quite happily, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat when she felt his chest shaking and heard a low rumbling.

Jenny raised her head and looked at him through narrowed eyes.

'What?'

Giles returned her gaze with amusement, still chuckling slightly.

'You. "Oh, let's get out of the city," she says. Five minutes later, you're fast asleep.'

'I was not asleep. I was just conserving my energy.'

He flashed a grin at her. 'Well, you can stop conserving. We're here.'

'Huh?' Jenny looked around and realised that the carriage had, indeed, come to a halt next to a large expanse of darkened parkland. 'Oh. That was quick.'

'Mmmm,' Giles responded, handing a bundle of notes to the driver. 'Funny how sleeping will do that for you.'

'I was not asleep!' she reiterated, ignoring his offer of assistance as she descended. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Jenny felt her knees buckling beneath her and was grateful for Giles' steadying hands on her shoulders.

'Okay, maybe I was just dozing slightly,' she admitted. 'That doesn't mean you get to pick on the tired person. Where the hell do you get all the energy from, anyway?'

'That's classified Watcher information.'

Their taxi trundled down the street and Giles glanced after it, concern replacing the amused grin on his face. 'But if you would sooner go back to the hotel, I-I could call the driver.'

Jenny smiled, shaking her head. 'Nah. I'm refreshed after my.nap. Anyway, the fresh air will do me good.'

The park was cool and sweet, the air redolent with the scent of pine, wood and damp earth. The sky was a deep, velvety blue and without the glare of electric lighting, the stars burned with a fierce beauty. Silver-tinged clouds raced across the moon so that the scene was occasionally plunged into darkness, occasionally flooded with moonlight. But at irregular intervals in the dark, they could see flames that spoke of campfires and hear the hum of voices, broken by the odd shout of laughter.

'Seems like we're not the only ones here tonight,' Jenny commented, pulling Giles' jacket closer around her shoulders. A sudden thought struck her. 'Do you think it's safe?'

Giles frowned slightly. 'I think so. I haven't felt any vampiric activity so far tonight, a-and it doesn't sound as though there has been any trouble,' he added, nodding in the general direction of the fires.

'So, we'll just have to take our chances, huh?'

'Indeed. But at least we will be prepared.'

It was Jenny's turn to frown. 'I never really had you down as the Boy Scout type, Rupert. And I think I would have noticed if you had a stake concealed on your person.'

'Try the pockets,' he said tolerantly.

Jenny plunged her hands into the jacket pockets and discovered a stake in one and what felt like a phial in the other. She hazarded a guess that it was holy water.

'Did anyone ever tell you you're paranoid?' she asked.

'I get that reaction from people all the time,' Giles replied, deadpan.

'Smart-ass.'

It had taken only a few moments of walking across the grass for Jenny to bend down and take her shoes off. She stood still for a few moments, wriggling her toes between the damp blades and enjoying the feel of soft dark earth beneath her feet. Giles watched her, admiring the way the moonlight turned her thin, clinging dress a translucent sliver and highlighted the rich darkness of her hair.

'You have no idea how good this feels,' Jenny said. She took in a deep breath of air and stretched out her arms, arching her back, before dropping them back to her sides with a contented sigh, her shoes dangling from one hand. She looked at Giles and found him gazing at her. 'A night like this is too good to waste standing still.'

One of his fleeting, brilliant smiles crossed his face and he held out his hand to her silently.

They roamed through the park, avoiding the occasionally raucous groups who had elected to hold their festivities in the open. Both were still aware of the blanket of magic that enveloped their surroundings - for Jenny, it had become a slight mist that hovered on the edges of her consciousness, more apparent when she didn't concentrate on it. After some time, Jenny noticed that the same, wistful expression she had seen on his face earlier had returned.

'What is it?' she asked softly, slipping her arm through his.

'Wha.I-I, er.' He ducked his head away from her, and even in the semi-dark she could tell that a blush was creeping up his cheeks.

'Tell me,' Jenny urged. 'I don't bite! Well, not much.' She looked at him guiltily and he laughed.

'I think the less said about that, the better,' he replied.

Jenny stopped, standing motionless and silent, waiting for him to speak.

'I-it's really nothing,' he protested and then sighed in defeat. 'I was just remembering when I was a child and I used to go walking in the woods... There was a story I used to read a-and there was this huge tree in it that led to different worlds-'

'The Magic Far-Away Tree,' Jenny interrupted, her eyes luminous. 'I loved that when I was little.'

An expression of relief spread over Giles' face and he relaxed visibly. 'It was the forest that I loved - the trees that could talk to each other. Every time I passed a tree I used to wonder. I was convinced that if I caught one at the right time, or listened hard enough, I would hear them.'

Jenny's eyes were dark pools, their depths unreadable. Her head was tilted to one side and she watched him for a few moments and then slowly turned away at the same time stretching out one hand until her fingers touched the nearest tree.

'He looks friendly,' she remarked, gently stroking the satin-smooth bark. She moved toward it and then wrapped her slender arms around the trunk and pressed her ear against it. Her dark eyes focused on Giles and she smiled.

'Nothing,' she said sadly. 'He might be friendly, but I don't think that he likes me.'

Giles was transfixed, drinking in the sight. In the moonlight, her skin glowed pale silver and her hair was the colour of night. With her arms wound around the curved trunk of the tree, she looked like a wood nymph.

'How can I let her go?' he thought desperately and felt a sudden panic rising in his chest.

Jenny seemed to sense his thoughts: she crossed the distance between them and threw her arms around his neck, his jacket slipping off her shoulders, and kissed him. He had barely responded to her caresses when she pulled away from him.

'Catch me if you can!' she said, eyes sparkling with mischief. She took off, running lightly over the grass. Giles stared after her for a moment and then followed, the momentary anguish banished for a little while longer. He could hear her laughter and her voice echoing through the night air, urging him to catch up with her. When he did, eventually, laughing breathlessly, he scooped her up in his arms, spinning them both around. They came to a dizzy halt, gazing at one another. Jenny stroked the side of his face.

'Getting chilly yet?'

'No. I'm all right, actually.'

'Oh. That's a pity,' she replied, softly.

Giles frowned in confusion and then grasped her meaning.

'Ah. W-well, I'm. Now that you mention it, it is somewhat cooler than I thought.'

*****************************************************

Giles slid the entry card through the slot at the side of his door. It shouldn't have been a difficult task, but the little light obstinately refused to turn from red to green and so, for the moment, they were trapped in the hallway.

'What the bloody hell was wrong with bloody keys?' he wondered, viciously swiping the card again. His concentration wasn't aided by the fact that Jenny was pressed against his back, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist and she was kissing his neck, her breath distractingly warm against his skin. He groaned slightly as she nipped his flesh and nearly dropped the card. Giles took a deep breath, made a valiant effort to pull himself together and passed the card through the slot. There was a click and the door swung open. They stumbled into the room, almost defying the laws of physics in their attempt to occupy the same space at the same time. Giles pressed Jenny against the back of the door, his mouth plundering hers, his hands roaming over her body. Somehow, they manoeuvred across the floor, through the sitting room and into the bedroom, slowly shedding layers of clothes until Jenny felt the bed at the back of her knees and sank down onto it. Giles followed her down, one hand on either side of her. The residual sparks of the connection they had shared earlier flared back into life and Jenny became as aware of every particle in his body as she was her own. She arched her hips toward him when she felt his tip pressing against her and let out a sob of relief when he entered her. Her limbs were wrapped tightly around him, urging him deeper. Giles responded to her, sliding his hands along her legs and then gently raising them so they rested on his shoulders, letting out a deep growl as he penetrated her further. Jenny could barely move in this position - all she could do was let him take her, and pull his head down to hers. Her lips were salty from the tears that were streaming down her cheeks and Giles kissed them away, murmuring her name.

'I love you so much,' she whispered and then gasped as she felt her climax building. It pulsed deep within her from where they were joined and then raced through her, white light blinded her and she heard two voices crying out together. Giles collapsed on top of her, his ragged breath hot against her neck. They lay still until Giles began to move off her.

'Don't,' she said, taking his face between her hands. 'Stay with me.'

Her legs slipped down the sides of his body until she could wrap them loosely around his waist and then cradled his head against her chest.

****

'Do you still sing Maggie May in the shower in the mornings?'

Giles chuckled, propping himself up on one elbow so he could look down at her, one hand idly caressing her breast. 'Occasionally.'

'Any plans on updating your repertoire? Maybe adding.oh, I dunno, a bit of Lenny Kravitz or something?'

'Funny you should mention that. I actually do a very nice rendition of American Woman.'

The slightly altered position had reminded both that they were still joined. Jenny wriggled slightly under her lover, eliciting a groan from him.

'How much time do we have left?' he asked, his eyes darkening.

Jenny smiled back at him. 'Time enough.'

***

In that quiet time between night and dawn, the city was lulled into a momentary rest. The sky had lightened to blue-tinged grey, but the sun had not yet put in an appearance. On the balcony of one of the topmost floors of the building, two figures stood. They hadn't bothered to dress again: they had wrapped their dressing gowns around themselves and emerged into the chilly air, preparing to face the inevitable.

'It's almost time,' Jenny said.

'I know.'

Giles stared at her, devouring her with his eyes.

'I could keep you here,' he grasped her shoulders, his voice rough at the edges. 'There are ways, spells, do you know that? I could keep you with me. Always.'

'I know,' she said softly. 'But you won't.'

'No.' He released her, leaning heavily against the wall behind him. 'No, I.I couldn't do that to you. Damn it.'

Jenny took a step toward him. 'I didn't choose to leave you, Rupert. I don't choose it now. But even though it may not seem like it, I do choose to be with you. I'm always with you, one way or another.' She paused, her eyes searching his face. 'Have you ever heard it said that when you die, someone you loved comes for you?'

He nodded.

'Well, it's true.'

'Who came for you?'

Jenny smiled softly. 'My dad. He died when I was very young. But he came. And I will come for you. I'll wait, and when the time is right, I'll come for you. But until then, I don't want to see you up there.'

Giles sighed. 'Jenny, I have no intention o-of-'

'I don't want you up there!' Her eyes flashed dangerously. 'I know what you're like, you take too many risks.'

'I do not!'

'Yes you do! You always want to save everyone else and you put yourself in danger. And don't you dare try to rationalize getting yourself killed by going out in a blaze of self-sacrificing glory. Buffy needs you too much. And Xander. And Willow - hell, the whole world needs you, whether you know it or not.'

'Do you?' his voice was barely above a whisper.

There was a pause.

'Of course I do. I've waited this long - I can afford to wait a bit longer. But you have to wait, too. And you have to keep doing what you're doing. You can't let it be for nothing.'

Giles took her face in his hands, tracing its contours.

'Jenny. Janna. I have never loved anyone the way that I love you. I never will. Oh, my darling, you mean the world to me!' He sighed, but a faint smile appeared. 'I'll wait. You're worth waiting eternity for.'

She smiled radiantly. 'So are you, my love.'

Jenny leaned into his caress and felt her eyes suddenly fill with tears. 'There was so much I still wanted to say to you!'

He smiled slightly, his eyes warm. 'It will keep, surely? Until he next time.'

'The next time,' Jenny repeated softly. 'The next time, you won't be getting rid of me.'

'That had better be a promise.'

She brushed her lips against his.

'Rupert, I need you to promise me something.'

'What?'

'You have to promise first.'

He sighed, giving her a watered-down version of the famous glare before relenting. 'Very well; I promise.'

Jenny placed both hands on his chest and took a deep breath. 'I need you to live. And I mean really live, no holding back. Enjoy your life and if you find a chance for happiness, take it.'

'Jenny, I-'

'You promised!' she said fiercely.

The greatest happiness he had ever known was standing in front of him, her beautiful dark eyes full of pride and love and passion. She had never run from life - maybe he owed it to her to do the same. Giles wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against his chest and burying his face in her hair.

'I love you, my darling Jenny. I love you.'

Her arms tightened around him, her face turning upwards.

'I love you, too.'

Jenny's lips found his and she gave herself entirely in that kiss. He felt her solid warmth pressed against him and then, suddenly, the warmth of the sun as the first pale rays pierced the steely dawn. Heat penetrated his body, sweeping through, dulling his senses to everything else. And with it came calm, rest and a rich happiness. He stood, feeling it play across the edges of his mind, searching for a resting place. The sun grew steadily brighter, enveloping the solitary figure on the balcony, continuing its relentless invasion of the empty air.

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