Giles stood unblinking in the doorway. The shattered bottle of wine pooled at his feet but he really didn't notice. He wasn't even focussing on Jenny's lifeless body anymore, just the idea of it being there... of her not being there.
A small voice in his head seemed determined to slap him into action. Ignoring it only made it grow, taking on a life of it's own until it felt like it was actually outside of his body.
"It's not looking good." it said close to his ear.
Giles let out a small, hollow laugh. His eyes were raw and dark, almost primeval.
"It wasn't meant to happen like this." the voice continued, shifting towards the corner of the room. "This wasn't the plan."
"What?" Giles said quietly, slowly, and without thinking snapped his head towards where the voice was coming from. For the first time in twenty minutes his eyes were blinking and his stare was away from Jenny. Instead he found himself face to face with a small, cheap looking man, who held his hands up.
"Whoa" the figure said. "I'm not here to cause trouble." He looked at Jenny's body layed out on the bed for a moment and then continued. "But there are choices to be made."
Giles took deep breaths and Whistler saw a fire grow behind his eyes.
"She's not dead." he added, quickly, suddenly fearful.
Giles blinked near-wildly. Whistler continued. The quicker he could say his piece, he reckoned, the more chance he had of leaving the room with his limbs in tact. "She looks it, but she's not... not yet. It could go either way." He trailed off.
Giles moved slowly towards Jenny and gingerly stretched out his fingers to touch her skin. She felt soft but slightly cold, and her skin was starting to grey.
He couldn't take in what was being said. "Who are you?" he said, still staring at his fingers resting against Jenny's skin.
"I'm a balance." said Whistler quietly. "But believe me, there are more pressing matters than that. We need to get her away."
"We need to get her to a hospital." cut in Giles.
"Not around here we don't. You don't really need me to tell you who did this, do you? And you don't need me to explain that if he finds out he's failed he's unlikely to shrug and forget about it."
"So where?" Giles asked, quietening down again. He could feel the energy being sucked from him as things slowly began to slot into place. He stared again at Jenny's pale skin.
"Far away. She needs time and luck to get through this. My car's out front."
"And what do I do?" Giles asked.
"You wait. You help your slayer, you bury... something... and you..."
Giles crossed the room in two steps and held the smaller man against the wall. "How do I know where she is?"
Whistler's eyes were wide, almost hypnotized by the anger and pain behind Giles' harsh words. "You don't." he stuttered, almost apologetically. "You don't want to hold that kind of information right now. If she makes it through this she will tell you herself."
"Why should I trust you?" he hissed to the face, so close to his own.
Whistler tried to look away, fearing a fist or a push that could throw him across the room. "I told you you'd have choices." He looked at Giles again, and tried to hold his gaze. "It's either this or you let her die."
The two men stared at each other for a time. Eventually Giles loosened his grip and pushed Whistler away. He slowly crossed to the bed and cradled Jenny in his arms. She felt cold, though Giles tried his best to ignore it. He hoped he was making the right decision.
Whistler helped him carry her downstairs and out to a beat up car with spray blackened windows. As he lay her gently on the back seat he whispered, near silently, how he loved her, how she should remember. Then he turned to Whistler and gave the slightest of nods and watched as the car sped away.
When it was no longer visible he slid down the wall and sat, slumped on the steps. Buffy and Willow found him that way hours later, stained with Jenny's blood, his eyes dull and unfocussed. Tear-stained and frantic with worry they asked him what had happened.
"She's gone." he said in a quiet voice. "She's gone and I'm not sure she's ever coming back."