They all arrived in Giles' home in one piece, but the issue of sleeping arrangements was immediately apparent to the two adults. Neither one should share a bed with Buffy, for obvious reasons, but there was only one sofa which they immediately began to bicker over.

"You're a guest, you take the sofa." Giles insisted. Jenny rolled her eyes.

"I'm also smaller. I'll fit into the recliner better."

"That's not the point!"

"Of course it is!"

Buffy watched them from the doorway, holding a bundle of her bloodied clothes in her arms. She was wearing some of Giles's and felt slightly like a child playing dress up. "Why I don't I take the sofa and you two share the bed?" she suggested tentatively.

"NO." Both adults said at once.

"You have concussion and severe bruising- you're taking the bed." Giles continued with a note of finality in his voice. Buffy shuffled on the spot, looking uncomfortable.

"Here honey, let me take those." Jenny crossed the room to take the clothes, looking at them sceptically. "I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything with the top, but I'll give it a try."

"You don't have to-" Buffy began but Jenny waved her off.

"I want to. Go on up to bed, it's late."

The blonde girl nodded, heading towards the stairs but paused at the bottom. "Thank you." She said quietly. "Both of you."

Giles smiled at her. "You are more than welcome, Buffy. Good night."

"Night."

She vanished upstairs and Jenny went to the kitchen, filling the sink with cold water to soak Buffy's top in. She felt rather than heard Rupert's presence behind her, glancing at him questioningly.

"Scotch?" he offered.

"God, yes please."

The glass was waiting for her when she emerged and she curled next to him on the sofa, smiling at the vision he presented with his sleeves rolled up and his shirt unbuttoned at the collar. "You know," she began softly "with all this going on I only just realised that I haven't apologised yet."

"Apologised? Jenny, you have nothing to apologise for!"

"Yes, I do." She reached out to place her hand over his. "I was very harsh the other day. I know how bad you feel about putting me in danger before and-"

She cut off when the phone rang, both turning to look at it. "I'm willing to bet that's Mrs Summers…" Giles said grimly, leaning over to pick up the phone. When he replaced it straight away, Jenny raised an eyebrow and he shrugged sheepishly.

"Jenny… we've both had quite a day and I find myself tired of dancing around, so unless you have any objections I'm going to kiss you now." Rupert looked at her, quietly enjoying the surprise that flashed across her face before her gaze darkened and her lips curved upwards.

"No objections here." She murmured, and almost instantly found his mouth on hers, soft at first but gradually growing in intensity.

When they both needed breath, they parted and she rested her forehead on his, a smile playing across her lips. "Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"Only if I am." He kissed her again, over and over until she felt dizzy, one hand clutching him closer while the other struggled to keep her glass upright. Finally she tore herself away, breathless and giggling.

"You, Rupert Giles, are a dangerous man." She accused, jabbing a finger at him. He grinned back at her, looking a little out of breath himself as he pulled her in to lie against him as he leant backwards on the cushions.

They remained like that for a while, talking quietly about everything and nothing until Jenny fell silent. Rupert glanced down, smiling when he realised she'd fallen asleep. Carefully, he took her now-empty glass from her and put it on the floor, sliding it backwards so he wouldn't kick it by accident before he reached behind him to click the lamp off, dimming the room a little. And then he shifted to a flatter position and allowed his own eyes to drift closed.

Only to be awoke a little while later by a piercing scream.

"Bloody hell!" he jerked upright, disorientated for a long moment and inadvertently dislodging Jenny in the process. She realised what was happening a split second before he did, however, and bolted for the stairs.

By the time he'd followed her up, she already had a sobbing Buffy in her arms and was murmuring soothingly to her. Giles perched on Buffy's other side, feeling rather helpless in the face of her distress and so could only stroke her hair gently, exchanging a worried look with Jenny.

Buffy pulled away from her at one point, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"You have nothing to apologise for." Giles said adamantly, pushing one of her bandages back before it could get wet.

"I'm not mad, Giles! I'm not." She gasped out. "Please don't let them send me back!"

"Send you back where?"

But Buffy had dissolved in another wave of sobs and didn't hear him. "What if he hurts my mom? He was so strong… he'll kill her if he hits her like me! Oh God…"

"Honey, your mom is fine." Jenny soothed, hoping that was indeed the case. Buffy continued to weep and Giles shifted so the he was embracing her too; after a while, the sobs that racked her body were not quite so violent and Buffy began to calm, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Buffy?" he questioned softly. "Where are you so afraid of being sent back to?"

There was a long silence. "Buffy?"

"… mental institution…" she whispered.

Both adults' jaws dropped.

"When you were in an institution?" Jenny asked, horrified.

"After Merrick died and I blew up the gym." Buffy roughly wiped tears from her face. "I told my parents everything. About Vampires, about slaying, destiny, the whole kit and caboodle. They didn't believe me… who would?" she scoffed bitterly. "They shipped me off to an institution. I wasn't there long but… I'm not mad, Giles, Miss Calendar, I'm not!"

"Of course you're not!" Jenny agreed instantly. Giles nodded.

"You're not going anywhere, Buffy, I promise. We won't let them."

She sniffed a little, still trembling but as neither adult showed any inclination to move she relaxed into them. "Do you two know you've been speaking in plurals all evening?" she asked after a while of silence.

"Hm?"

"You've both been using 'we' instead of 'I'." Buffy tilted her head back to look at Miss Calendar. "Is there something I should know?"

"You already knew we're together." Jenny rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"But you weren't for a while there. Are you back together?"

"What's with the sudden interest in our love lives?" Giles questioned.

"You're good together." Buffy shrugged one shoulder, stifling a yawn. "You smile more when Miss Calendar's around. Even I can see that."

She snuggled deeper into their embrace, eyes drifting closed and not realising the effect she'd had on the two blushing adults above her. Jenny smirked at him, eyes alight as he studiously avoided her gaze.

***BtVS***

Jenny was woken the next morning by an uncomfortable pressure in her abdomen- it didn't take her long to realise that both she and Rupert had fallen asleep with Buffy, and the girl's elbow was now digging into her stomach. Gently, so as not to wake the slumbering teen she moved her arm to a more relaxed position and sat up, peering at the clock and grimacing when she realised she needed to be at work soon.

As quietly as she could she slipped off of the bed, ducking into the bathroom briefly. She emerged and immediately started grinning at the sight the slayer and her watcher made. The blonde was nestled under the covers, using Rupert as a pillow while he lay on top of them, his arm tightly around her and looking for all the world like a protective father. Wincing at every creak of the floorboards, she crept downstairs where she dug around the desk to find paper and a pen, quickly scribbling a note.

Rupert,

I woke in time for work this morning but didn't have the heart to wake either of you. I'll sign you both in sick for today when I get to the office.

I'll see if I can enlist Willow and Xander in collecting some of Buffy's things- call if she wants anything in particular. I'll bring dinner in with me tonight… don't forget to eat in the meantime!

Jenny x

Glancing at the clock, she did the maths in her head- if she drove a little faster than was probably advisable, she had time to go home and jump in the shower before she'd be late to her first lesson. She quickly returned upstairs to put the note on the bedside table and turn Rupert's alarm off before she gathered her bag and crept out of the house to begin her mad dash to school.

Sure enough, she made it into school a little over five minutes before the bell would go off, rapidly making her way into the office and giving a silent thanks when she found it empty. As fast as she could, she began to thumb her way through the messages- there was one from Mrs Summers, requesting that the school contact her to inform her if Buffy was in school today or not. She balled the paper up and hid it in her pocket just as footsteps sounded behind her.

"Cutting it close today, Miss Calendar?" the admin lady nodded towards her bag.

"One of those days." Jenny smiled airily. "I took a phone call for you- Buffy Summers is ill and won't be in today."

"Was it her mother who called?"

Jenny hesitated. "I believe so." She answered evasively. The woman nodded, scribbling a note down before looking up curiously.

"Was there something else?"

"Ah, my original reason for being here. Mr Giles asked me to inform you that he won't be in today either."

"Oh?"

"Food poisoning." Jenny shrugged, looking sympathetic. "He sounded awful on the phone."

The woman smirked. "And he phoned you instead of the office?"

Shoot. She hadn't thought this far ahead. "I think the fever made him delirious- he dialled the wrong number."

"Right…"

The bell rang, and Jenny's head shot up in relief. "Gotta run!"

Her first classes passed in a bit of a haze, but as expected, a panicked Willow and Xander ran up to her after her third class, babbling about Giles and Buffy being missing and the library closed. She soothed them the best she could, assuring them that the pair were fine and hadn't been kidnapped by demons before whispering for them to meet her in the library at lunchtime, shooing them out as her next class began to file in.

When she arrived, having bypassed the closed sign, it was to find the two teens already waiting for her along with Cordelia.

"What gives?" Xander demanded. She quickly explained what had happened the previous night, giving as few details as possible- if Buffy wanted them to know, she would tell them.

"That's horrible!" Willow cried. "Poor Buffy."

"He seemed so nice." Xander looked a little stunned. Cordelia was uncharacteristically silent.

"Listen, do any of you know if you could get into Buffy's room to pack some things for her?" Jenny inquired. They exchanged looks.

"Buffy climbs through the window to sneak in and out." Xander supplied helpfully. Jenny raised an eyebrow.

"Buffy's the slayer."

"An excellent point."

"Ooh, ooh- Angel could!" Willow said excitedly. "Except… oh, it's day. Mrs Summers will be home by the time it's dark."

Cordelia sighed heavily. "Honestly. Can't any of you pick a lock?"

They all stared at her.

"Just me then. We can go now- we have a free next so I'll be back before history." She jumped up, grabbing her bag and walking out.

"Um…" Xander stared after.

"As your teacher, I have no idea what's happening." Jenny said, a little perturbed. "That said, try not to leave anything precious behind. She might not have another chance to get it back."

Willow sighed. "Poor Buffy…" she repeated sadly.

"Are you losers coming or what?!" Cordelia stuck her head back through the doors and within seconds Jenny found herself alone in the library.

"Those kids are something else."