It's All in the Mind

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I do not mean to infringe on any copyrights. I am not making any money from this. Any original ideas however are mine.

Distribution: http://mysticmuse.net

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Feedback: Kind comments are always nice.

Pairing: Giles/Jenny

The sound of running came nearer and nearer. I stood behind the vending machine, heart-racing, knowing I had only one shot at getting this right. Jenny flew through the doors, turned right past the vending machines on the way to the outside doors. Before she reached the doors, I whispered "Jenny!" and grabbed her arm as she spun around, pulling her behind the side of the vending machine. Moving quickly before Angelus came through the same double doors Jenny had seconds ago come through, I held up my right hand in front of Jenny and without touching her, moved my palm down from her head to her feet. My palm glowed a green-white color. I quickly turned around and held my palm out in the direction of the corridor on the other side of the vending machine. The green-white light expanded out of my hand and took the form of Jenny. I willed the image to run off down that corridor, to make it look like Jenny had turned around after finding the doors locked, leading Angelus away from us. The image of Jenny set off running down the corridor. I placed my finger to my lips, indicating for the real Jenny to be very quiet and flattened her and myself against the side of the vending machine that couldn't be seen from the corridor Angelus would any moment appear in.

Angelus came through the doors, and to my relief, stalked the vision of Jenny running away down the corridor. I waited until he was out of sight, before taking hold of Jenny's arm and gently propelling her towards the outside doors she had previously been heading for. They were locked. Holding my right palm up once again, I placed it in front of the locked doors and they quietly opened. Taking Jenny by the hand, I led her outside. We ran quickly off the school grounds and out into the street, where my car was waiting. Taking my keys out, I unlocked the car and Jenny and I got in. Flooring the accelerator, I drove us away from the school, in the direction of Giles' apartment.

Jenny was clearly shaken up and rested her head against the seat. Though out of breath from running, she managed a, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Briefly looking at her and seeing her cut head, I asked, "Are you badly hurt?"

"I don't think so." She looked over at me. "Who...who are you?"

"Someone who has seen a glimpse of the future and doesn't want Angelus to kill you. Hence my showing up."

Too exhausted to prod my answer, she asked instead, "Where are we going?"

"To Giles' apartment. I have this horrible feeling that when Angelus finally realizes he's been chasing a vision and not the real Jenny, he'll go over to Rupert's, seeing as it's the only place that hasn't had the uninvite spell performed yet."

"Oh God! Rupert!"

"It'll be okay. We'll get there before Angelus and do the uninvite spell."

Parking as near to Giles' apartment as possible, I grabbed my bag of supplies from under my seat and Jenny and I got out of the car and quickly headed to his home. Upon reaching his door, I let out a sigh of relief at not seeing a red rose. Jenny went to raise her hand to knock on his door. I gently took hold of her wrist, stopping her and shook my head. Indicating for Jenny to stay close behind me, I used my palm again, and undid the door. Cautiously, I entered Giles' apartment, with Jenny closely following.

A quick glance around the room showed no signs of Angelus or Giles. Closing the outside door, I placed his desk chair in front of it, that way we'd hear if anyone tried to come through while we searched the rest of the apartment. Whispering to Jenny, "Let's check upstairs first," I led the way up to Giles' loft bedroom. No one was there and there were no signs of foul-play. Descending the stairs, still keeping Jenny behind me, I took note that the chair was still where I had placed it.

Together we both checked Giles' bathroom. No-one hidden there. Good. "Right, now to do the uninvite spell," I said to Jenny. "I've got everything we need here in my bag. But I don't know all of the actual ritual. Do you?"

Jenny shook her head. "Not off by heart, no."

"Okay, phone Buffy's house. Maybe we can catch Giles there."

Jenny quickly moved to the telephone and dialed Buffy's number. Willow picked up. "Willow, it's Jenny, is Rupert there?"

"Er, no, he just left. Why, is something up?"

Jenny turned to me and said, "He just left." Speaking back into the phone, she tried to reassure Willow, "No, er, nothing's up. Willow just be careful tonight okay. Don't walk home. I gotta go." Putting the phone down, Jenny looked at me, "What do we do now?"

"We keep an eye out for Giles to arrive. And also for Angelus." Seeing the scared look on Jenny's face I quickly added, "Angelus probably won't come here." Going to Rupert's weapons trunk I opened it. "Here, just to be on the safe side, put a cross on. And keep some holy water on you. And this," I handed her a crossbow, "But please don't shoot me in the butt with it." I smiled at her to lighten the atmosphere.

I was already wearing a silver cross, but I picked up a large wooden one from Rupert's trunk and took it to the door. Moving the chair, I peered out of the peephole and seeing no Angelus, I opened the door. I then placed the cross on the floor in front of the door, and taking a piece of chalk out of my pocket, I quickly drew a large white cross on the door. Closing the door, I replaced the chair once again behind it.

Going back to Rupert's trunk, where Jenny was unloaded his weapons, I took hold of a long sword. This will do nicely. And put a stake in each of my pockets, along with some holy water. "Alright, you look out of the window for Giles, but don't get too close to it because Angelus might decide to come in that way. I'll keep a watch on anyone approaching the door." Jenny and I took up our positions and the waiting began.

The silence was disturbing, adding to the already tense atmosphere. Through the darkness I saw something move. A large shape. The figure got nearer and I could make out that it was a man...no...it was Angelus.

"Angelus is here," I desperately tried to keep my voice calm for Jenny's sake.

"Oh God!"

"It's going to be alright. Stay by my side and I won't let anything happen to you, I promise." I indicated for Jenny to come over to me, which she did. Every muscle was tense as we waited to see what Angelus would do.

From the small window beside Giles' door, I watched Angelus reach the door and stop. He'd seen the crosses. I just hoped they would stop him from entering! He snarled. I felt Jenny shaking beside me, and I placed a reassuring hand on her arm. Angelus seemed to be contemplating his options. He swiftly turned around. To my horror I saw Giles coming down the steps. Jenny voiced my thoughts, "Rupert! Oh God! No!"

I made a split second decision. "Stay next to me, no-matter what," I told Jenny, as I shoved the chair out of the way and yanked open the door. "Angelus!" I shouted. He spun around and looked at me. Seeing Jenny behind me, he snarled and said to me, "So it was you. Nice little trick."

"Yeah, I think so. And I've got plenty more of them up my sleeve." While I spoke I was only too aware of the fact that Angelus was positioned in between Giles and I. I needed to think of a way to allow Giles safe passage over to us. But what?

I needed to move fast before Angelus attacked. Okay here goes nothing. With a sweep of my hand, I sent Angelus flying off to the right, clearing a route from the left for Rupert. "Giles, run here now!" I yelled. Giles quickly complied and sprinted over to Jenny and I.

I stepped aside as he squeezed past me, over the threshold. "Both of you, do the uninvite spell," I commanded. "There's stuff in my bag. I'll keep Angelus at bay."

Angelus was back on his feet, and extremely angry. "Oh, we have a witch do we?"

I shook my head. "Nah! It's all in the mind."

He started to approach me. With another swish of my hand, I halted his progress with a large ball of flame. The look on his face was priceless as he saw it zooming towards him. At the last moment, I willed it to circle him, like a lasso of fire, forcing him to stay in one place as it continuously circled his body just a centimeter from touching him. "Ooh, this is fun!" I joked and grinned at him. "Now, as much as I'd like to stay here and play, I've got other stuff to do, so are you gonna clear off and go back to your factory or do I have to persuade you some more? Hmm?"

He glared at me. I pointed in the direction of the steps. "Go."

"The fire?"

"Although I'd really like to see you turn to dust, Angel has some parts to play yet, so I suppose I'm going to have to remove it. Darn!" The fire dissipated. "But don't get any funny ideas. You try to do anything other than go straight back to the factory and stay there, and I'll know and send a nice rain of holy water down on you. Not enough to disintegrate you, but enough to reeeeallly hurt." I smiled sweetly at him.

Taking my threat seriously, Angelus turned and walked off. I called after him, "Don't you know by now that good ALWAYS wins!"

I stayed outside, guarding the doorway, until Giles and Jenny had finished the uninvite spell. Once it was finished, I gave each of them a hug and then vanished back to my own reality.

The End

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