Title: Nightmares
Author: Lostgirl
Pairing: Giles/Xander
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A quick ficlet for the lovely mireille719, because she needs some cheering up.  Completely unbeta'd.
Feedback and Concrit adored: lostgirlslair @ yahoo.com
Disclaimer: All things BtVS and AtS belong to Joss Whedon and various corporate entities.  I am neither.


Giles woke to Xander's soft murmurs.  After so long living on the Hellmouth, and with people expecting his wits to be firmly about him even when they called at two in the bloody morning, even small disturbances woke him anymore.

Xander lay naked in Giles' arms, his back pressed tight against Giles' chest.  He muttered and his hand twitched where it lay over Giles', tightening almost convulsively.  He moved restlessly, not actually going anywhere and yet giving the impression that he would have been, had he not be deeply asleep.  Another nightmare.

Giles leaned closer to his lover, pressing his mouth to Xander's shoulder.  "It's all right, love," he said softly, his lips working their way slowly to Xander's ear.  "Wake up for me."

Xander mumbled and cringed, his body pressing tighter against Giles.  Giles slipped his hand out from under Xander's, rubbing gentle circles on Xander's stomach as he spoke.  "Xander?  You need to wake up for me now.  It's just a nightmare."

Another gasp and Xander turned in Giles' arms, burying his face against Giles' chest.  Giles continued to rub along Xander's back, keeping the motion gentle and soothing.  He bent his head, pressing his mouth brief against Xander's hair.  Ever since he'd come back from Africa, something had been different about Xander.  He'd been through a lot and, though Giles had asked, Xander never told him what the nightmares were about.

Xander whimpered softly against his chest and Giles shook Xander a little, but the man seemed too deeply caught up in his nightmare to wake.  The little whimpers Xander made had Giles chest constricting with worry.  Pulling back a bit, which was something of a feat with Xander clinging to him, Giles slid his hand up his lover's back and neck, burying his fingers in Xander's hair.  He leaned in and kissed Xander's jaw lightly before pressing their mouths together, using his tongue and teeth to tease those lovely lips.

At first there was no response, Xander remained tense against him.  Then, slowly, he began to relax, his death grip loosening.  Giles continued, scraping Xander's lips with his teeth and then soothing them with his tongue.  Giles' reward was a soft murmur of enjoyment and then Xander was kissing him back, his lips parting, his tongue sneaking out to tangle with Giles'.  His grip tightened once again, but it was fueled this time by passion and not fear.

Xander groaned into the kiss and Giles echoed the sound, losing himself for a long moment in the feel of Xander's mouth, Xander's body in his arms.  He'd wanted this for so long that the kisses never failed to captivate him, never failed to pull him and make him forget everything but his attempt to communicate just how much he enjoyed the feel of Xander's mouth against his own.

The kiss ended.  Xander pulled back, finally opening his eyes slowly, a small smile on his face.  "Hi."

"Hello," Giles replied, his fingers slipping out of Xander's hair to once again stroke along Xander's naked back.

Xander glanced over Giles' shoulder, presumably at the alarm clock, and then back to his face.  "Waking me up for sex at four in the morning?  You must have had a really fun dream."

Giles opened his mouth to explain, but caught Xander's expression, the still slightly tense lines of his face, the look in his eyes that begged Giles to drop it and go with this new version of reality.

Giles thought about bringing up the nightmare again anyway, but only for a moment.  He didn't need to know why Xander was having them, not if Xander didn't want to tell him.  All he needed was to be able to help ease the pain and fear he'd seen in Xander, tonight most recently.

"Oh, I did," Giles finally said, letting his hand slip down to brush over Xander's arse, his erection beginning to waken when Xander's hips pushed against him.  Giles leaned in, pressing his lips to Xander's throat, reveling in the moan that drew from his lover.  With his lips pressed against Xander's skin, he worked his way up to Xander's jaw, feeling the slight scratch of stubble.  As his previously soothing gestures turned to passion Giles said, "Why don't I tell you all about it?"