Disclaimer: I own nothing below except the plot. All characters, locations, and concepts are owned under their respective copyrights.

Spoilers and Timeline: Buffy up to season 2 "Passion"

Only Two

Chapter 1: Discovery and Reaction

"And teacher makes three."

Rupert Giles was having a wonderful day. Well, as wonderful as one could have with the looming threat of three of the most infamous vampires in existence. Especially since one of those vampires had unrestricted access to both his apartment and his Slayer's house. They had been fortunate that Angelus had only used his whimsical side to threaten and torment. There was no telling when that would change. Giles had just been to Buffy's to get the book containing the invitation revocation spell, so he could do the same at his still vulnerable flat. The source of the book was the other reason the day had taken on a new light.

Jenny Calender was estranged from him, due to her deception about her true reason for being in town. She was just using the teaching position at the high school as a cover to keep tabs on the souled vampire Angel. She was to make sure he remained in a state of suffering and guilt, that the curse her people had put on him would stay. She had failed, Angel had lost his soul due to a moment of happiness, and the demon had terrorized the town, Buffy, and her friends ever since he surfaced.

It was only today that Giles and Ms. Calendar had talked and partly reconciled. She had even revealed her feelings for him. They had a relationship before the estrangement and he found her quite engaging. Her affinity with computers and familiarity with magic brought a new and helpful element to the group. So, a wonderful day then.

It was in this state that he approached the door to his apartment. He saw the rose stuck in the door and the door was unlocked. The next minute was a blur as he moved through his apartment taking in the music the that was playing, the candles that were lit, the rose petals strewn about, and the wine bottle and two glasses with the accompanying note. He grabbed the wine and the glasses and made his way upstairs.

The wonderful day he had had began to unravel when he saw what awaited him in his bed. His first thought was that Jenny looked lovely. That was before he took in the details. The motionless body, the glassy-eyed stare, and the unnatural tilt of the head. That was when the horror of the situation became clear in the single thought 'She's dead.'

He barely noticed that he had dropped the glasses and bottle "Jenny?" He hoped in vain for a response that couldn't come. "No...no...no" as if the word itself could restore that which was broken. He moved towards the bed searching for any other signs of how she had died. He saw no telltale neck wounds or blood. 'Thank god for small mercies' He wanted so badly to hold her to him, he knew it would do nothing but to make sure that he was arrested for her murder.

Instead he moved back down the stairs, searching for something that would confirm his suspicions. With the elaborate setup and the staging of the body (He had to force himself hold back the grief for the moment.) he detected the sadistically whimsical and artistic hand of Angelus. Any further doubts he might have had were washed away by the sketch he found. It was an exact recreation of Jenny's lifeless face, in the same position he had just seen it. Giles was filled with wrath that burned white-hot for an instant before it settled to slow burning fury. 'Angelus will pay.' he kept thinking. After he saw to Jenny's body he would mount a one-man assault on the three vampires' lair in an abandoned factory on the edge of town. If all went well, there would be nothing left but dust. If it didn't, well then at least he would go out fighting, if that happened, maybe then his slayer would finally get serious about the threat posed by her former boyfriend.

He was about to call the police about Jenny and begin a plan that would lead to dust and blood, when a memory forced its way to the forefront of his thoughts.

It began with an innocuous question "Rupert Giles, what is a Watcher who loses a Slayer during battle?" The man who had asked the question was Giles' Tactical Action teacher at the Watcher's Academy, they were in a small class. Professor Allen was an elderly gentleman, long past the age where he could be in the field, he had the distinction of only having one Slayer assigned to him for his entire term of service. The situation was made more unique by the length of time this Slayer stayed alive. Where most lasted a few years at best, his had survived for a decade and a half. He had some views about the Slayer that were contrary to the consensus view of the Council. He saw them as singular individuals that could be turned into the Council's greatest weapon against the forces of darkness. Most of the other members viewed the Slayers as little more than cannon fodder, to be called and flung into the fight as quickly as possible.

Giles thought back to his answer which was delivered with a bit of unnecessary cheek and sarcasm "A Watcher who is some serious trouble, sir."

Allen had smiled at this "Quite right, but on a more basic level?"

The younger Giles took another stab "A dead Watcher then."

The professor responded, "Logically, most probably, good, however, in the end a Watcher without a Slayer is simply a human. If I have anything to do with it, a well-trained human, but a human nonetheless. Outclassed in every respect by the demons he or she will engage. The Slayer is different, when at full strength, she is the thing the darkness fears. However if injured or wounded, she becomes less than fully effective. That slayer is more likely to die. Does anyone remember what I said at the start of term about why my Slayer survived so long?"

He looked around the class as another student piped up "You said you valued her life above yours, sir."

Allen looked towards the younger student, with a smaller build than most of his classmates and glasses already adorning his youthful face. "Correct, most of your other teachers will tell you that Slayers come and go, it is the watcher that must survive. That is a bunch of rubbish. My colleagues are wrong, it is the Council that must survive, individual Watcher's are important only for research, aiding the Slayer directly, and increasing the overall knowledge of the council. This will quite possibly be my last term, in light of that I am going to tell you why my Slayer was so long-lived."

He sighed and sat at his desk, as if preparing for a difficult task. "I have taught you general strategy, battle tactics, weaponry, and Slayer capabilities. That is within the scope of my position here. What I am about to tell you is not. Some of you in this class will be assigned to Slayers, I'm sure of it. What few know about me, and what the Council at large will discourage in you, is that I was a magic user. In particular the spell I used rather often. It is a rather simple invocation, it takes from the Slayer and gives to the Watcher. How I used it was in the form of combat healing. I would take her wounds away, and in turn she would wreak beautiful devastation on those who had harmed her. It was only the last, mortal wound I was unable to mend. A word of caution about this, it will take away anything, including death-dealing injuries, but you as the Watcher will suffer the same. It is my only regret that I didn't have the courage to sacrifice my life for my Slayer at the last. It is my hope that one of you, a long time from now, finds the courage to do what I could not."

He removed a personal notebook from his desk. "This is my last personal diary, the incantation is on the first page. You are under no obligation to copy it down, I wish and hope you would, but I know how my peers see me, and if you do not want to be associated with my unique outlook on things, I understand." He was right, his more direct detractors had called him certifiable. Giles did indeed copy the spell. One of only a few to do so. The Watcher's Academy was efficient at turning out traditionalists, Watchers unlike Allen.

The memory receded and Giles had a new plan. One that did not involve a probably suicidal attack on three old and quite powerful demons. He had never tried the spell before, but he figured in this situation he could not make things any worse, Jenny was already dead. Fury and grief had given him courage earlier. Now the same was given by a resolve and peace of one who see's his end and accepts it as necessary. Angelus did not kill at random, he always had a reason. Whatever Jenny had died for, Giles suspected it was important and threatening to the vampire, she might be able to finish what she had started, and his impending exit would galvanize Buffy into helping her. He wrote out a simple and short goodbye to his Slayer and her friends. He hoped they wouldn't hate him for leaving, but he wouldn't be surprised if that did happen.

With a last sigh he ascended the stairs, going back to Jenny's body, unafraid to touch her now. He reflected that when she came back he would likely already be dead. With this in mind he wrote another note, telling Jenny to get somewhere safe, finish the special project she was working on, and finally how much she meant to him. With an admonishment to watch over the children he closed and folded up the note. He left it on the bed. That last bit of duty done. He looked at Jenny, memorizing every detail of her, that even in death captivated him. He cupped her face and kissed her cold brow before placing both hands on her broken neck. The incantation was quick and sharp "Mitte me, Autem!"

There were two muffled cracks, the first was the spell taking effect, as Giles' hands glowed with power. The second was the bone and spinal cord of Jenny's neck resetting. The power that Giles was essentially holding left his hands and acted like an electric shock to Jenny. Her body convulsed once. As her head rested back down, she gasped and her eyes blinked and widened. She screamed for a second.

Her reaction was understandable, the last thing she had seen was Angelus' smiling vampiric face, then there was darkness, and now her first thought was that he had simply knocked her out and meant to take his time in killing her. The room was dim and the face looking down at her was hard to distinguish in her disorientation. After her scream she realized 'Wait, Angel doesn't wear glasses' what she said was "Rupert?"

To say Giles was surprised was an understatement, he was utterly shocked that he was still around to hear her voice, he thought that the price of the spell would be exacted immediately, that by the time Jenny returned he would already be dead and gone. He should have done further research on the spell, but he never seemed to find the time. And the professor wasn't specific about its effects. He put these thought aside to focus on the moment "Yes, it's me Jenny, thank god."

Jenny was relieved and worried, why would her normally stolid partner be invoking the divine over her. "What happened? Where are we? And why are your hands on my neck?"

Giles realized he hadn't moved since he invoked the spell, he sat down on the edge of the bed. With a shudder and while cleaning his glasses he answered "Sorry about that, we're at my apartment, I found you here."

She moved to sit beside him "What do you mean Rupert, the last thing I remember was Angel chasing and catching me at the school, he told me this was where I would get off, then I woke up here. Was I knocked out or what, did you bring me here?"

Giles smoothed some hair away from her face, "No, you were dead, and I revived you. I suspect Angelus wanted to provoke me into doing something incredibly stupid. He tried to get to Buffy's mother tonight but we stopped him from doing any physical damage."

Jenny blinked "I was dead, that's pretty hard to reverse. I didn't know you had that kind of power, are you going to be alright? Doesn't that kind of stuff need a sacrifice?"

Giles considered that for a moment "I didn't expect to be alive after the spell, so, honestly I don't know what's going to happen. I learned of it while was a student, I've just never thought to use it before now. In any case, I think we need to set that aside for now. I want to either make this place safe from Angel or go somewhere that already is, what do you want to do?"

Jenny glanced around "Well, I'm comfortable here, and you have to get rid of the invitation sometime, and with two of us it shouldn't take too long."

She got up and began to walk towards the stairs when Giles stopped her for a moment "Jenny wait, um, Angel left a rather elaborate and romantic prelude for me before I found your body. Know that what you see downstairs was not mine, nor were my intentions as such, but I do care a great deal about you."

Jenny moved back to the bed, kissed him without reservation and laughed "Rupert, you're still a fuddy-duddy, and, you were willing to risk your life for mine. I know how much you care, okay. You don't need to say anything more. Now come on, who knows what that vampire is up to, we better make sure he can't just walk in."

Giles shuddered at the prospect and got up to help with the revocation spell, he winced slightly at a small pain in his back, he thought it might be the transfer spell, but was soon caught up in having a good, if not wonderful process of securing his apartment against the aforementioned undead with a newly alive and ever lively Jenny Calendar. There was still much to do and the threat was still present, but things were looking up.