Yester Me: Chapter Nine
The water was inky on this moonless night. Giles swept his arms ahead of him just praying he'd luck into finding her. The tips of his fingers brushed against something and he reached for it. It felt like an arm, at least he hoped it was. He pulled it to him and soon felt Willow against him. He headed for the surface as fast as he could, one arm holding her around the waist. Ripper gasped for air as he surfaced. He swept Willow's wet red locks from her face, tilted her he back against his shoulder and began to swim her in. The sound of a motorboat cut through the still air. 'Ethan,' Giles thought disgustedly. 'How did I ever call that bloody coward my friend?" Ripper reached the pier, lifted Willow over his head and eased her into it. He then grabbed the side and pulled himself up. Giles lay beside her, his wet hair curling around his face. "Willow wake up." He gripped her shoulders, shaking her gently. "No dammit breathe! Willow? Willow?!" He pinched her nose, covered her mouth with his and delivered two breaths of air. He pulled back and shook her a little more. "Willow?!" She coughed and water expelled from her mouth. "Good girl!" Giles hugged her to his chest, stroking her hair. "That's my girl." He reached over and untied her wrists. As he untied her ankles, she slid her arms around him. "Giles? Ethan, he...he..." "Shh," Ripper put his finger to her lips. "He's gone now. He can't hurt you anymore." Her bright eyes scanned his face. Ripper leaned forward and pressed his lips to Willow's, gently at first but then a little more forcefully. He eased her back down, laying half atop her. Willow began to kiss him back. Ripper's hand slid to her breast, squeezed gently and it was at that moment when Rupert Giles became himself again and the Ripper became once more a dark chapter to his past. As the memories flooded back, he became increasingly aware of just where he was and what he was doing: wearing too tight clothes which were soaked to his skin, laying on Willow, kissing and groping her like a randy schoolboy. Giles pulled back from her, eliciting a disappointed sigh from her mouth. "Willow, what's happening?" "Giles?" Willow's face lit up. "Oh good heavens!" Giles quickly dropped his hand from her chest, a pink flush hitting his cheeks. "You're back!" Willow wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Uh yes, s-so it seems." Giles lightly patted her back. "Willow?! Giles?!" Buffy called. Xander and Buffy approached as Giles stood then helped Willow up. "What happened to you guys," Xander asked. "You're soaked." They shrugged in unison. "Don't know. I was fighting with Ethan, next thing I knew, I woke up drenched with Giles giving me...uh, CPR." "And the last thing I recall was going to bed and then I...um, well as Willow said, I found myself here." He noticed Willow's quivering lip. "You're freezing, here." Giles bent down, retrieved his discarded leather jacket and draped it around her shoulders. Willow smiled brightly and slid her arms into the sleeves. Giles picked his boots up and slipped them on over his soggy socks with a scowl. "So, you don't remember anything about being Ripper again and thinking you were 21?" "I did w-what? Oh dear. I hope I...th-that is to say, um. I-I hope I didn't do anything indecorous, um did I?" Willow and Buffy smiled at each other. "Nah," Willow said. "Not at all," Buffy echoed. The girls began to walk ahead. Xander lingered behind, an eyebrow raised in Giles' direction. "Yes," Giles said nervously, "what?" "So what happened to Ethan?" "Oh, he got away. He had a boat docked here for the ritual which unfortunately provided him a more than adequate escape route." "A-HA! And how do you know about the ritual if you don't remember being Ripper for the past day?" "I-I-I, that is to say, w-w-well," Giles sighed. "Are you going to tell them that?" Xander patted Giles' shoulder wearing a broad smile. "Your secret dies with me G-Man." Xander followed the girls. Giles just shook his head. His secret was dependent on Alexander Harris' ability to keep his mouth shut. Rupert Giles hoped silently that some higher power, somewhere, was watching over him kindly but he began to wonder if he wouldn't have been better off with Ethan. ~The End~ Back to Yester Me Index
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