Queen Of Swords
Author: B. Otaku
Summary: More of a Giles/Jenny story, but with *lots* of Willow and W/G 'shipper overtones.
Disclaimer:
I don't own B:tVS. Joss'n'them do. Don't sue. :)
"Queen of Swords" v1.1 or "Fine! Have it your way...."
Rupert Giles cleaned his eyeglasses with a spotless white handkerchief and sighed. Willow had fallen asleep at her computer terminal for the third time this week, and it was beginning to worry him that she spent so much time in the library with him instead of out on the town with her friends. She would make quite the Watcher one day, he thought resignedly. The very idea of this precious, intelligent girl spending her life in an eternal war against the minions of hell because of his influence both appalled and pleased him. He just hoped that she wouldn't ever have to go through the kind of pain that he felt over Jenny...
Jenny had been dead and buried for two months and more, but the pain was still raw, gnawing at his insides and raging through his soul. He had been trying to contact her ghost, to say goodbye, to no avail. Well. Best to wake Willow and send her home before his melancholy brought tears. It would do the girl no good to see him that way.
He crossed the room, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Willow," he said, shaking her gently,"wake up, Willow."
Her eyes opened slowly, one at a time. She sat up quickly, seemingly realizing where she was. Willow turned to look at Giles as he was bending over her.
"You fell asleep again, Willow."
"I -- I did? Willow?" she stammered.
She looked down at herself, at her denim shortall and pink henley shirt. Her hands flew to her head, feeling the french-braided pigtails there, before settling her eyes again on Giles, who had begun looking at her strangely.
Her right arm flew around his neck and, pushing aside the computer keyboard and mousepad with her left hand, she pulled him to a sitting position on the table in front of her even as she stood to face him eye to eye.
"Hello Rupert." She said, and leaned in to brush her lips to his.
Willow's kiss was both passionate and tender at the same time. Rather too experienced, Rupert thought, for a girl of seventeen. Then he realized he was kissing her back. He might even have been able to lose himself in the girl -- had she not been Willow. Finally, his "grown-up" instincts kicked in. He pushed her away and sputtered,
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing, young lady?"
"Nice to see you, too, England. I see you missed me." Willow flopped down on the chair with a thunk and set one foot up on the table on either side of her quarry, effectively trapping him. A satisfied smile spread across her face. Looking down at herself once more, she said, "Now, I wonder how this happened? This certainly wasn't the best choice of bodies, but, well....beggars can't be choosers, I suppose."
Giles confusedly shook his head. "What?"
"Rupert. It's me." she stood up in front of him, placed her palms flat against his chest and smiled Jenny's soft smile.
"J-J-Jenny?" he managed. "Is -- is that you?"
Willow nodded. "Yep."
"How?" Giles croaked.
"I'm not sure. She's been going through my files, and she found my Gathering for the Departed ritual. She did it for me by herself." her eyebrows went up and she turned away. "She's quite powerful, even for one so young.
"Well, her ritual got my attention, so I jumped into her mind and I've been waiting for her to fall asleep near you so I could see you..."
[*Miss Calendar?* Willow asked.
*Yes, Ma'am.*
*Will you warn me when you're going to do that? I've never kissed Giles before, and while it was nice and all* Willow's emotions flashed to Jenny via their odd connection. Embarassment, anxiety that Giles though _she_ had kissed him, mild arousal.
*Willow, you're attracted to him?!* Jenny asked incredulously.
*!!!!* Acute embarrasment. *Kinda.*
Jenny flashed reasurring amusement and a psychic kind of hug at Willow. *It's okay. I won't tell him.*
*!* A mental harrumph. *Better not. Or I'll tell him where you _really_ dangle that earring. Didn't that hurt? I can't believe you said that to him?!*]
"Jenny? Willow?" Rupert's hand cupped her chin, tilting her head up to look into her eyes.
"We're in here." Willow answered.
[*Hey! How did you get to be in charge?* Jenny chuckled.
Raised eyebrows from Willow. *Don't like being on the bottom?*
Jenny answered, *Rather be on top.*]
"We're arguing about who gets to be on top."
Giles blushed."Jenny! Really!"
"Uhm, Giles? I'm not Jenny right now." Willow answered. "She's prodding me to let her take over, though. Hang on." Willow's eyes snapped open, and her posture changed slightly. She smiled up at the confuddled librarian, put her arms around him, and hugged him to her tightly.
[*Willow.*
*Yes?*
*My turn.*
*Right. Sorry.*]
Willow's buried her face further into Giles' chest and murmured, "You haven't been well, Rupert. You're not taking care of yourself."
"There hasn't been time of late." he put his arms around her and closed his eyes. He could almost feel Jenny pressing back against him. She and Willow were built very similarly, he noted. Both slight of frame, very delicate, very soft. He groaned inwardly. Better to remember to whom exactly this lovely body belonged to.
"You could at least eat something healthy." She put her ear over his heart and took a deep breath. "Rupert, I..."
[*You want to WHAT?!* Willow said incredulously.
*Well, um, wouldn't you? I know it's an awful lot to ask for.* Jenny felt sheepish for even thinking about making love to the man. Willow was just a girl and probably still a virgin...
*That's not the point!!* My, she really was annoyed.
*What is the point, then, exactly?* Jenny asked levelly.
*I have a boyfriend. Oz. Remember? The werewolf? And I'm only seventeen, making me underage. And he's, um, not underage. Bad thing. Very bad.* Willows emotions were going haywire. Fear, trust, anger, love, nervousness, even a twinge of amusement.
*You're right.* Jenny thought at the same time as *Who's going to know?*
*Who cares who's going to know!! You're not the one who's going to be NAKED!!* Embarrasment. *And what would happen if the others found out? Hm?*
*They'd believe you if you explained.*
*Sure. And I'm going to sprout wings and fly.*
*Well, you are standing directly over the Hellmouth.*]
"Rupert, I...." Willow sprang away from Giles. "I'm sorry, both of you. I -- I can't do this."
She turned around and ran full throttle out of the library, running over Cordelia in the process. Cordelia had been carrying her textbooks, and a worn-out hot pink binder whose contents were now splayed out on the floor in the wake of Willow's passing.
"What's up with her?"
*******
Xander was sure that had been Willow. Red hair, pink shirt, blue jean suspender thingy. Yep. His Willow, alright, but why was she blowing past the Computer lab at that speed? Wasn't last period her free? And wasn't this last period?
*I guess I'll find out later,* he thought.
*******
Willow ran all the way to the park, to the grove of trees in the center of the park, in the center of which she had performed the Gathering for Miss Calendar.
[*Now we're back to 'Miss Calendar'?*
*Shut up.*]
She dug into the turf beneath the Ash tree with her bare hands. In a few minutes, she unearthed a cedar box.
[*My tools!! Where did you find them?* Jenny asked gleefully.
*Your desk. Bottom drawer, left side. Now shut up.*]
Willow closed her mind to Jenny as she began to work.
*******
It had been half an hour since Jenny had been able to get Willow's attention, and, quite frankly, she was scared. Watching Willow set up a ritual this complex like an old, practiced mage would have sent a shudder up her spine -- had she had one.
The cedar box lay open on the ground in front of the wide, flat tree stump in the center of the grove. Sunlight filtered in through the treetops giving a green-gold glow to the area, even as Willow swung a censer in a circle around the edge of the clearing. Thorugh Willow's eyes, Jenny could see a the makeshift altar: a large square of black velvet covered the stump, four white candles stood at each cardinal direction, and a flat, brass pentacle was in the center. A black-handled dagger was shoved point-first into the ground at the north side of the clearing, a red candle [*For lust?!* Jenny thought.] was at the west side, a pink candle at the east side [*For love...*] and the censer she finally set down at the south.
[*Willow, come on, don't do this!* Jenny whined at her.
*Trust me, will you?* Willow replied. *And don't distract me. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing here.*
*WHAT?!*
*Did you think the altar set-up for the restoration spell was Giles' idea? Now SHUT UP!*]
Willow closed the cedar box and put it in the ring of trees on the edge of the clearing. Squaring her shoulders, she marched back to the altar and lit the white candles. Raising the pentacle in the air, she began to speak:
"Half-asleep, yet half awake, Not dead, yet not alive, _Al'tovar Manetheren!_ _Al'tovar Tel'aran'rhiod!_ She to herself, she to me, Me to myself, me to she...."
*******
"Giles, have you seen Willow?" Xander asked as he entered the library. "Has she been in here?"
"She was, but she left. Like a total blur." Cordelia replied.
Xander peered closely at Giles, who was pointedly not meeting his eyes. And was he blushing? Or did he spill red paint on his neck?
Stifling a snide comment he walked up to the counter and heaved himself up to sit on it. "She ran off?"
"Duh, that's what I said. Giles doesn't know why." Cordelia rolled her eyes at him. "It's the second last day of school, Xander. She has, like, a perfect attendance record and stuff, right? She asked to leave, and he let her."
"I, um, don't know exactly why she ran off, Xander. I'm sure she'll be back shortly, though." Not a lie, exactly. He didn't know why she'd run off. He was fairly sure it had had more to do with him than with Jenny. Really, how else would a seventeen-year-old girl react to being kissed by a man twice her age?
Xander shrugged. "Whatever you say, G-man."
"Don't call me that."
******
The sun had set. Willow was still chanting, but in a mixture of that funky language and English:
"Come the daylight, back to me! Al'monara al'menei! Come the daylight, she to she! Al'monara al'tenrei!"
The girl stopped speaking, and all was still for a few moments.
*******
The silence shattered; the wind howled, tree branches whipped about the grove like slender boomerangs, whirling in circles around a cone of power in the air over Willow's head. She looked up and screamed.
*******
Pain shattered her. Jenny felt herself being pulled, ripped back into the fabric of the waking world. She felt like she was being pulled into a keyhole backwards.
Then the real pain began.
*******
Pain shattered her. Willow felt herself being pulled, ripped out of the fabric of the waking world. She felt like she was being pulled into a keyhole backwards.
Then the real pain began.
*******
Willow was the first to come to. She felt all right, no broken bones, no cramps, no...no feeling. She looked down at herself: Purple spandex top, black vinyl miniskirt, boots, feather boa. She grinned and turned to look around. A sleeping body lay at the east side of the clearing.
The redhead walked over to the body and bent down next to her. "Wake up, Cinderella."
"Wha?" the woman groaned. "What did you do, Willow?"
"Look at yourself." Willow answered.
Jennifer Calendar looked down at herself as she sat up. "I'm stuck in your body. You're not."
"Not quite, Cindy." Willow pointed to the altar. "Go look in the mirror."
She groaned as she stood up. She unconsciously ran a hand through her shoulder-length black hair as she leaned forward and stared into the mirror. She jumped away with a staccato yelp of surprise, then leaned back in and stared. "Willow....it's amazing. How did you do it?"
"It's actually an illusion. You're wearing my body, I just chose to give you your own face. It's an illusion, that's all." She shrugged. "Now, we need to get the clearing cleaned up, and get to the library."
Jenny leaned forward to give Willow a hug. Her arms passed through the girl's body, and she stumbled. "What the heck happened to you? And what is with your outfit?"
"My Halowe'en costume. It's a loooong story."
*******
The trees were rustling in the wind as Jenny finished burying her tools. She got up and dusted herself off, and turned to speak to the ghost behind her. "Now, one more time. I have until daybreak? And what are you going to do?"
Willow nodded. "Daybreak. About six A.M. And I'm going to go home and get some sleep."
"So what happens at daybreak?"
"I get my body back, and you're welcome to hang around in the form I'm wearing now, or to move on, I guess." Willow smiled. "Not bad for my first time, hey?"
Jenny shook her head. "First time as a fairy godmother? You did wonderful."
Willow smiled and turned to leave the clearing.
"Wait." Jenny called to her. She paused midstride. "Thank you, Willow. I'll always be grateful."
Willow turned around, and the beginnings of tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "You're welcome. You're always welcome." She raised a hand and waved."Goodbye, Jenny Calendar."
"Goodbye, Willow Rosenberg. Take care of yourself."
Willow didn't answer. She appeared to be deep in thought about something. She looked up, smiled though tears had begun streaming down her face, and disappeared.
Jenny shook her head. "These kids today. What will they think of next?"
*******
Willow appeared to be embedded in the table directly in front of him. "Hey, Giles." If she were real, he thought, she would have been crying.
He jumped, startled, then shook his head, continuing to lean over a huge leatherbound book and muttering something about ancient Greek and hallucinations.
"Giles!!" she said again. "Come on, it's me."
In a flash, a small paperback appeared in his hand. He threw it at her, and her hands flew in front of her face reflexively. It passed right through her.
"For pete's sake!" Willow rolled her eyes, disappeared, then reappeared sitting on the book under Giles' nose.
"Willow!" He stammered as his head snapped up out of her lap. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Look, I'm going home soon to rest. I just wanted to let you know that when Jenny gets here, she's real and don't try to hurt her 'cause she's wearing my body."
"Excuse me?"
"I cast some kind of soul transference spell. She's got my body, and I'm stuck in last year's Hallowe'en costume. You guys have until daybreak. And I better be dressed when I get there."
"I'll, um, let Jenny know that." he said haltingly. "And we'll be talking about you and your high magick in the morning, young lady. I don't want you trying to handle forces you know nothing about by yourself."
Willow sighed. "Yes, Giles."
"And Willow?" he continued. "If I forget later, Thanks."
"You're wel--"
The door to the library opened and Jenny stepped in. Giles stood, and stared at her. "Jenny." he breathed.
"Hello, Rupert." He ran to her, gathered her up in his arms, and kissed her passionately.
Willow took that as her cue to leave, and winked out of the room.
*******
It was hazy daylight that woke Willow up the following morning. Hazy daylight and warmth. She felt warm, and she was wrapped in a fuzzy electric blanket. Daylight and an electric blanket that snored?
Her eyes snapped open and she peered at her surroundings. Dark wood veneer, gothic candelabras, gauzy curtains, full bookshelves; impeccably cleaned, wire framed glasses and a handkerchef on the nightstand.
The redhead closed her eyes again as she rolled over, praying she was wrong. Praying that she was not in bed -- in bed!! -- with Rupert Giles. Praying that she was not naked. Praying that that was not. His. Hand. She felt panic rising in her throat as she, now facing the source of the snoring, slowly cracked one lid open.
[I hate being right.], she thought. Then Willow said some words that would have made the formerly demon-raising librarian blush.
The alarm clock, perched precariously next to the immaculate eyeglasses, sounded shrilly. Willow reached over and picked it up, heaving it across the room in a rare display of temper even as another string of expletives escaped her lips.
Giles woke as soon as he heard the alarm go off. Unwilling to open his eyes, he reached instead for the source of the noise to shut it off. He heard an abrupt crash and a rather vivid description of several illegal sexual acts delivered in a slightly gravelly sixteen-year-old female's voice.
He groaned inwardly. And hoped she had the presence of mind to get up and get dressed soon. It was taking all of his willpower not to --
"You're awake. I know you are. Nobody could sleep through that alarm." The girl paused and extricated herself from his grasp.
"Willow." he began.
"What?" she said tersely. He could hear her moving around the room, and as soon as he was sure she was covered decently, he opened his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"About what?" She'd tugged on his discarded Oxford shirt, and was standing in front of the windows looking out She seemed embarassed and angry, though he didn't really blame her for either one. She had, after all, had to wake up naked next to a man twice her age, whose hand had been slowly inching up her inner thigh...he grimaced. Best not to think about that.
His bathrobe was laying on the bed where she'd set it down for him. He got up and put it on, and moved to stand behind her at the window overlooking the town. On a clear day, one could see the ocean from his bedroom window. It was clear, the sun shining cheerily and bathing them in crisp rays of light.
He gestured to the stairs. "Let's go downstairs. I'll make tea and we can talk."
Willow Sheilah Rosenberg drew herself up to her full 5'3", turned on her heel, and stalked down the stairs.
*******
"I said that I'm just tired and crabby. Waking up naked next to the schhol librarian after specifically asking not to will do that to a person."
Giles sighed. Hell hath no fury..."I said I was sorry, Willow. What else do you want me to say?"
Willow's eyes flashed green, then blue, then an eerie white before returning to their original color. "I -- I don't know. Okay? I'm sorry Giles..." she took a sip of tea and held the cup in her hands as she looked up at him.
He really looked at her then. He saw some kind of power crackling around her, an aura of green and white light, spaces of black electricity; then the flash was gone. She was then one of his students again. Okay, she was one of his students, naked under his favorite shirt, who was a great kisser and had incredibly soft skin, but still a student. Dammit!
"Where did you learn that spell?"
"Which spell? The transference spell?"
"No, the pull a rabbit out of your hat spell."
She grinned. "That's easy." Reaching behind her back, her eyes flashing white again, she pulled out a bouquet of daisies.
"Willow, stop that. It's not safe here to work even the most minor spells. Why did you think Jenny wasn't practicing? She knew that this is the Hellmouth, and was afraid of the consequences. Don't you know what can happen to an unprotected magician in the middle of a spell?"
The flowers abruptly disappeared. "Eyeghon."
Giles nodded."That's how my friend was killed."
"Oh." A pause. "So now what?"
"Now what what? Oh, listen to me...I've been hanging about Xander too long."
"What do I do with this....power stuff? It won't be going away anytime soon."
"I can help you learn to live with it, use it for good, but there's a possibility that the Order of Taraka or the Black Hand or any one of a number of Shadow organizations will be looking for you. You'll have to be cautious."
"I'll need to be able to defend myself."
"Yes, you will."
"Can you teach me?"
"Of course."
Willow smiled and finished her tea. She got up and walked into the kitchen for another cup, then peered into the refrigerator. "Are you hungry?"
"Ravenous."
"I figured."