Author's Note: References to how this AU's altered Season 2 are made in this chapter, as well as to "More Than Anything" by Dollsome (which, as I said, is the fic that created the AU my fic takes place in). It's not that important, i just thought you might like to be forwarned.
When Buffy, Willow and Xander dropped in on the library the next morning, they found Giles at the study table, surrounded by books, yawning and rubbing his blood-shot eyes.
"God, Giles, didn't you go to sleep at all last night?" Buffy asked.
Giles looked up from the volume he was perusing, "Oh, hello. No, actually, I've been researching."
"There's something to research and you didn't tell us?" Willow said, sincerely disappointed.
"Yeah, Giles. You know we hate to miss out on those all-night research parties," Xander added sarcastically.
Buffy laid down her book bag and perched herself on the edge of the study table. "So, what's the sitch?" she asked. "The last time you pulled a lone all-nighter like this it was about my destiny date with death."
"Don't worry, it's nothing that serious by far," Giles replied, closing his book and pushing it aside. He took off his glasses and cleaned them as he continued, "In fact, it's rather trivial. I-I just had a-a rather, um, unusual dream yesterday while I was at the hospital. I wanted to write it down and figure out what it might mean while it was still fresh in my mind. But unfortunately my analysis hasn't been progressing very well…" He replaced his glasses to see Buffy, Willow and Xander exchanging worried looks.
"You had a dream while Miss Calendar was unconscious?" Buffy asked.
"Yes…"
"What about?"
"Uh, um, well… it-it doesn't really matter. There's no reason it should mean anything at all, really," Giles said, unconvincingly.
"Did it involve Angel?"
Giles was rather taken aback. "Uh, in a manner of speaking… why?"
Willow jumped in to answer Giles's query before Buffy could reply. "Jenny didn't really want us to say. It's probably nothing–"
"But I'm starting to think it might not be," Buffy interrupted. She turned to her Watcher and said seriously, "Giles, last night Miss Calendar told us that while she was unconscious, she dreamed that Angel killed her."
"She didn't want to worry you about it," Willow explained.
Giles stood up and began methodically gathering the books that were scattered over the table as he spoke. "No, I'm glad you told me. It's most unusual… did she tell you the, uh, the details of wh-what happened?"
"Uh, yeah," Buffy answered. "She, um, she said the dream took place during the time Angel lost his soul – the, uh, first time – when she was working on her translation program. It was the night you saved her from Angel, only you weren't there, so… well, she said it was really weird because she said the dream happened in bits and pieces, or something like that. Only she described it better. It would probably be best if you asked her about it."
Lost in thought, Giles just nodded in response.
"So, any ideas about what's going on?" Xander asked.
Having finished stacking the books in neat piles, Giles leaned against the bookcase as he considered. "Well… the fact that Jenny and I dreamed about the same, uh, e-events, and at the same time, seems to indicates that they aren't normal nightmares. But as for what they could mean, I-I haven't the foggiest. I'll call Jenny and broaden my research. You lot had better get to class."
Before anyone turned to go, though, Willow asked, "How is Jenny doing?"
"Quite a bit better. I drove her home from the hospital this morning," Giles answered, stifling a yawn.
Buffy slung her bag over her shoulder again and said, "Tell her to get well soon from us, okay?"
Giles nodded and smiled as the students left to start their day.
Giles understood what Buffy meant by dreaming "in bits and pieces" because he had the same sort of dream. Scenes and events had faded in and out of his mind sporadically, more in order of emotional intensity than chronology: Elated anticipation was suddenly displaced by a flood of horror when he discovered Jenny's body…. Buffy had pulled him out of a burning factory and the grief that had been building up inside him finally overflowed…. Blind with vengeful rage he was bludgeoning Angel as flames spread around them…. He was lying on his sofa, alone in his apartment, consumed by hopeless despair…. He was kneeling, laying flowers on Jenny's grave, battling grief and forcing forgiveness for the girl standing besides him. She was all he had now…. A cautious kind of happy anticipation was growing in his heart as he said goodnight to Jenny and left the school.
Giles had written each of these scenes down, along with the emotions and knowledge that accompanied them. For example, he had known from his first vision that it was Angel that had killed Jenny, even though it was by no means explicit.
The last scene in the sequence was the most puzzling of all. It was different from the others because it took place in the future. Jenny had been dead for five years, yet he was still thinking about her. He was walking through a cemetery and found himself in front of her grave. Then in an instant it was gone. For a split moment he had seen a hideous, wrinkled visage, and then events as they had really occurred that day replayed themselves in Giles's head like a movie.
"Hello, Jenny?" Giles had phoned her to verify the details of her dream. "How are you feeling?"
"A bit groggy, but pretty good, considering. I've mostly been napping today."
"Oh, I hope I'm not disturbing you."
Jenny's voice suddenly turned cold, "Well, yeah, you are. After getting me into this state the least you could do is leave me alone to recover."
"Oh. All right then. Sorry…" Giles said, moving the receiver away from his mouth as if to hang up. His voice sounded disappointed, but a smile was playing about his lips.
"Hey, hey, hey! I didn't say you could hang up!"
"But you want to be left alone," Giles said, and he couldn't help smiling to himself.
"You know very well I don't!" Jenny scolded him, and continued pouting, "You know me too well. I can't trick you anymore."
"And that's bad?"
"Totally! You're sexy when you're flustered."
"Am I?" Giles knew perfectly well that Jenny thought so. He didn't understand why, but he enjoyed hearing it.
"Uh huh. Well, I'll see if I can catch you off-guard on Friday," Jenny teased.
"I'll look forward to it," Giles smiled before becoming serious. "Anyways, Jenny, I wanted to ask you about the dream you had yesterday—"
"What?"
"Buffy and the others told me about it. She thought it was unusual enough to warrant concern—"
"I didn't have a dream yesterday."
"You-you didn't? But they said… you aren't just having me on, are you?"
"No! That would make a pretty lame trick. Maybe the… wait a sec… I do remember something… yeah, I remember telling Buffy, Willow and Xander about a dream yesterday, but… but I can't for the life of me remember what it was about."
"Oh, well, that-that can happen sometimes, with dreams," Giles said, trying to sound offhand.
"I guess it couldn't have been anything too weird?"
"No, I suppose not. It sounded rather curious is all. But I'm sure it's nothing significant."
In fact, Jenny not being able to remember her dream only convinced Giles all the more that it was significant. There likely had been a spell to make Jenny forget. Unfortunately, that cancelled out Giles's previous number one theory that the dreams had been the result of a spell. Why would anybody cast a spell to make them dream something, and then cast another spell to make them forget? It didn't make sense. But if the dreams weren't the products of a spell, what were they? Sitting down at his desk Giles removed his glasses and massaged his temples as he thought it through.
There were three basic sorts of dreams: the regular kind, which could be analyzed psychologically, which Giles had already tried doing, and was unsuccessful. The dream was definitely not symbolic, but literal. Then there was the "out of body experience", which isn't technically a dream, but often happens during sleep. That most certainly didn't apply; even if some sort of time travel was involved, the dream had included all the sensory experiences that required a body. The third kind was the prophecy dream, but that didn't fit either; except for that one segment, the dreams had been not about the future, but about the past, only a past that had never happened. It was as if they were memories of an alternate course of events, of what would have happened if Giles hadn't stayed with Jenny that night, and if he hadn't brought that mace with him. It certainly was lucky that he had.
Was it luck? Leaning back in his chair, Giles realized he had never thought about it before, but now that he did he remembered being quite purposeful in all his actions, putting the mace and crucifix in his briefcase and leaving the library to find Jenny as if he had an appointment. Why? Giles tried to remember the train of thought that had led to his actions, but couldn't. He did remember he had been reading something right before he left. Maybe it had been something he'd read? Perhaps something about Drusilla being precognizant that alerted him to the potential danger of Jenny translating the spell. But he didn't even know about the spell at that time, did he? Jenny had told him about it for the first time that evening. Yet Giles didn't remember being surprised by her news. He had known what was coming…
But that was ridiculous. Giles stood up and began pacing. He should be trying to remember something concrete. Remembering thoughts was rife with potential inaccuracies. What was it he had been reading that night? Giles couldn't think of it, but he did remember putting the books away the next day, having forgotten what he'd wanted with them. While he was re-shelving them he'd had an argument with Buffy. Yes, he remembered that quite clearly, including the section of the stacks they'd been in.
Giles put his glasses back on and nearly ran to the stacks, inexplicably convinced that finding the books he had been reading that day would answer everything. He found the right section and scanned the titles: Conary's Comprehensive Catalogue of Known Alternate Realities and Dimensions, The Creation of Alternate Realities and the Possibility Inter-Reality Travel, Time – the Unexplored Fourth Dimension, A Brief History of Time Travel, A New Topology for Curved Space-Time which Incorporates the Causal, Differential and Conformal Structures…
A chill ran down Giles's spine. So he had known what was coming. Why didn't he know now? What exactly happened? And why? A plethora of new questions presented themselves to Giles, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted them all answered.
THE END
Of Part I
