Title: Left and Up, or Straight Ahead?
Author: M. Scott Eiland
Summary: An alternate version of “Passion”, where a fateful choice by Jenny as she flees from the homicidal Angelus has profound effects on the order of things. . .
Disclaimer: These characters are all the property of their owners/creators (not me).
Rating: PG-13. Usual violence, some sensuality, disturbing cruelty at times. Sensitive souls should perhaps retreat to safer climes.
Time Frame: Alternate timeline for “Passion.”
Archiving: Please do. . .but e-mail me at eilandesq@charter.net to let me know. . .I like to know where my stuff ends up. . .and I might want to see what else you have got.

7:20 PM

Jenny ran at full speed down the corridors of Sunnydale High, desperately fleeing the sound of snarls behind her as Angelus stalked her. Occasionally she would hit a door that refused to give, and was forced to either waste precious time forcing it open, or take another route. Both approaches slowed her, and she heard the demon closing distance with her as her heart raced faster and faster.

Damn it, I was so close she thought as she moved along one of the exterior walkways, Angelus no more than seventy feet behind her. I could have talked to Giles. . .Angel could have had his soul back tonight! Jenny was a gentle soul at most times, though her experiences with Buffy, Giles and the Slayerettes had certainly aroused various intense emotions in her; however, all she was feeling right now was anger. Anger that she was going to fail after coming so close. Anger that she was going to miss her long-awaited reunion with the man she had loved desperately for months. And most of all, anger at the harm that the thing that was chasing her had done to all of her closest friends, including the one who was no longer alive so that she could beg his forgiveness. Deep within her mind, she swore a terrible oath to her Gypsy ancestors that, whatever the cost, she would not fail. . .she would restore Angel’s soul and right the wrongs she had contributed to.

She reached the door at the end of the walkway, only to find it jammed shut. She thought she heard Angelus snickering as he rushed towards her. The door popped open and she slammed it in the snarling face of Angelus, allowing her to open up a thirty foot gap before he tore the door open and began closing on her again. She saw a janitor’s cart ahead of her and thrust it into the charging demon’s path, smirking grimly as it sent him tumbling. A split second choice confronted her: left and up, or straight ahead? Her first impulse was to head up the stairs, but an inner instinct warned her not to. She continued straight, fleeing faster at the sound of the enraged Angelus closing on her yet again. He had closed to twenty feet when she saw a full pail of water that a janitor had left on the floor ahead of her. Angelus was only ten feet behind Jenny when she deftly kicked the bucket over, leaving a stretch of slick floor that even a Slayer could not have avoided at the speed Angelus was going. He skidded and plowed full speed into a bank of lockers, stunning him. Jenny continued on, mentally blocking out the outraged bellows of the powerful vampire as he recovered his bearings. Exultation rushed through her entire body, utterly drowning out the fatigue that had been starting to slow her down. She had won! She had beaten the bastard! Giles would be so proud of her. . .tears came to her eyes as she burst out the open side door of the school and ran out into the night.

9:00 PM

Buffy walked into the kitchen, her body language suggesting that she had just gone twelve rounds with a seriously nasty demon. Willow, in spite of the inherent seriousness of the whole thing with Angel. . .no, it wasn’t really him anymore, was it?. . .could not help but feel a little amused that Buffy’s spent condition was due to having had THE TALK with her mother. Willow’s amusement died down when she realized that she had yet to have that talk with her own mother, who would not be thrilled to find out that she was dating a musician. Somewhat creeped out by the line of thought that that idea provoked, Willow decided it was time to be supportive. As Buffy sank into a chair, Willow stood up and walked behind her, rubbing her shoulders to relieve some of the muscle tension she knew would be there. Buffy glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “Thanks Will, but I think I’m beyond the ability of one of your neck rubs to help.” She shook her head ruefully and commented, “The scary thing is, Mom took it better than I thought she would. . .though the details I didn’t share with her might have had something to do with it.”

Willow smiled and sat down facing her best friend. “Giles stopped by. I gave him back the book, and he said he would be heading back to his place.” Willow giggled, causing Buffy to raise an eyebrow at her and forcing her to explain, “I told him what you and your mother were talking about, and he wanted to. . .” , Willow assumed an imitation of Giles’ British accent and continued “. . .intervene on her behalf.” Willow giggled again and explained, “I said, ‘That would be good. . .What would you say?’”

Buffy pictured—accurately—the expression that must have been on Giles’ face at that point and started giggling along with Willow, which lasted about ten seconds before both sobered, wiping their eyes. Buffy smiled wistfully and commented, “At least he wanted to help. . .did he say what he’d be doing, now that we’re done with Angel-repellant duty?”

Willow hesitated, and Buffy had a strong feeling what Willow was going to say. The Slayer frowned as Willow finally responded, “I had the feeling he was going to see Miss Calendar tonight.”

Buffy got up and began to pace around the room, as Willow watched with concern on her face. After a moment, Buffy looked at Willow and commented, “Well, they didn’t waste any time, did they?” Willow noted that her teeth were clenched together as she said it. All right, a voice within her spoke with an intensity that rather shocked her, that’s quite enough!

Buffy was about to start a full-fledged tirade when she noticed that Willow was meeting her gaze with an intensity she could never remember her friend duplicating. She started to open her mouth to ask what was wrong when Willow spoke: “Buffy, sit down and shut up!”

The Slayer would not have been more shocked if Angelus had wandered into the kitchen in a pink tutu and began dancing Swan Lake. Without thinking, she sat down and faced her friend with a hurt, puzzled expression. Willow saw this and realized she had gone overboard: “Buffy, I’m sorry, that was too harsh. But you’re totally out of whack with this whole Angel thing, and you’re taking it out on Giles and Miss Calendar. Xander isn’t going to call you on this, and Giles can’t, so I have to be the bad guy. . .and I’m not good at it. . .all right? “

Realizing that this had to be terribly difficult for her shy friend, Buffy decided that she would at least let Willow make her case. “All right, Sarge, I’m listening. But I don’t see why I should feel happy about Giles deciding that someone who betrayed me. . .betrayed all of us should be the love of his life.”

Willow snorted and retorted, “When exactly did she betray you, Buffy? All right, she was spying on Angel for her people, making sure he was unhappy. But she never actually did anything to mess with you guys, and she did a pretty good job helping us to save the world a few times, if you take the time to think about it.” Willow could see Buffy reviewing the history of their relationship with Miss Calendar mentally before nodding curtly and turning back to listen. Willow continued, “From what she said, her people didn’t share the one piece of information that would have helped. . .and as soon as she found out, she rushed over to try to help. If she hadn’t, I’d be dead right now, and Xander probably would be, too.”

Willow could see Buffy’s face briefly twist in pain as she remembered that night: Willow helplessly in the grip of Angelus, Jenny and Xander helplessly waiting as she pleaded with the soulless demon, only to have him mock her. Willow moved on, seeing that her words were sinking in. “Her mission was to keep that curse in place. . .without it, Angel would have been just another monster for the last hundred years. . .or someone would have had to destroy him.” She gripped her friend’s arm and squeezed, causing Buffy to look at her with eyes that glistened with unshed tears. “Buffy, Angel saved her life more than once. I’m sure she liked him a lot more than Xander ever did,” she asserted, provoking a chuckle from Buffy at the profound truth of that statement. “If she had known, she would have told you, Buffy, I’m sure of it. Do you think she wanted a rampaging monster free of the curse loose in the world?”

Buffy looked up at the ceiling as if to try to summon one last burst of righteous outrage, but Willow could see that the effort was going to be futile. Annoyed, Buffy blew air through her lips, then looked at her friend with an exasperated expression. “All right, now what do I do? I’ve made a mess of things with Giles and Miss Calendar. . .I don’t know how to fix it.”

Willow smiled, feeling that they had accomplished something important. “I think you fixed things with Giles when you gave Miss Calendar the go-ahead to see him again. And as for her, I think she’d be quite willing to accept a heartfelt expression of desire to patch things up between the two of you. . .after all, Xander, Angel and I were willing to let bygones be bygones, even after that dance you had with Xander the first night of school.”

Buffy blushed as she remembered the intense dance she had shared with Xander, and the hurt she had thereby inflicted on Willow and Angel (not to mention the effect on poor Xander). She sighed and capitulated: “Okay, Willow, you win. I’ll go to Miss Calendar tomorrow and throw myself on the mercy of the court.” She leaned forward and hugged her friend: “Thanks.”

Willow hugged back, sensing tension depart from the Slayer as they broke apart. She looked at Buffy and suggested, “Ice cream?”

Buffy nodded and elaborated: “Big scoops.”

9:45 PM

As Giles approached the door of his apartment, he noticed that it was slightly ajar. Carefully, he opened it, ready to defend himself should the intruder be a mundane burglar or something more dangerous. Nothing revealed itself to him, and he looked around the ground floor of the apartment. He immediately saw the ice bucket chilling the bottle of excellent champagne, and a note with a red rose lying atop it. He picked up the rose and inhaled its fragrance before opening the note. In Jenny’s long, flowing handwriting, it read simply: “Come up when you’re ready. J.”

He was damned well ready now. But the restraint bestowed by years of experience allowed him to pour the champagne and place the rose between his teeth before he headed up the stairs. He knew exactly where the bed was, and he expected to see her there, waiting. He was somewhat startled to see the bed empty and was standing there in confusion when he saw movement in the corner of his eye. His mouth opened, causing the rose to tumble to the carpet: it was joined momentarily by the two champagne glasses, which shattered after falling out of his nerveless hands.

Jenny was standing in the corner of the room, almost invisible in the faint light coming from the street. She was wearing some kind of filmy nightgown that was hard to distinguish from her pale, almost translucent skin. Her dark eyes met his and held them for a moment before she emitted a throaty chuckle and commented: “Be hard to drink that now, Rupert.”

He chuckled back and responded, “Yes, and somehow I can’t muster up too much despair regarding that problem.” He walked over to her and stroked her neck: her skin was cool from the breeze coming through the window. “Jenny,” he began, his normally even voice breaking with emotion. She put a finger to his lips and interrupted, “Shh.” She nodded to the bed and commented, “I think we can put off discussion until later, Rupert. I do have some news. . .but I think we’ve waited long enough for this, don’t you?”

Giles was not inclined to argue, and gently lifted her onto the bed, where he quickly divested her of the flimsy nightgown. They kissed, then began various creative methods of stimulating each other while Jenny began gently removing items of his clothing, starting with his coat and shirt. Giles was in a state of complete bliss—he could not ever remember being this happy. So it was that he did not notice that he was rapidly becoming dizzy and weak until he was about to lose consciousness. He tried to call out, to warn Jenny that something was wrong. . .but it was too late, and he tumbled into blackness.

11:45 PM

She watched him as he lay there, the breeze from the window gently ruffling his hair. She had put his shirt back on, as it would be convenient later. How long would it be. . .ah, here we go. She watched as the two small holes in his neck closed up, then as his handsome features distorted, changing to a more demonic vision. She saw his eyes open in confusion, saw his head turn to her and then the recognition in his eyes, then again the confusion.

She decided to fully clarify the matter. Her own visage changed: though her features were rather more delicate than the run of the mill vampire, there was no question what she had become. She reached under the bed and pulled out the cooler she had placed there before Rupert had arrived. She opened it and removed five pints of O+ blood, still in the standard Red Cross containers. She began feeding them to the fledgling vampire, soothing him with, “Eat now, dear. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Midnight

The vampire that had been Rupert Giles finished the last pint of blood and discarded the container. “Thank you, that was just what I needed.” His face changed back to its human appearance, and he looked back at what once had been Jenny Calendar. His current emotion was curiosity, and he decided to indulge it: “How did it happen?”

Her face had also reverted to its non-threatening appearance, and she seemed uncomfortable as she began, as if she still identified with the terror that Jenny had felt. “Angelus found her in the computer lab as she had just finished translating the ritual to restore Angel’s soul. He destroyed the computer and the printout and chased her through the hallways of the school. Amazingly, she managed to evade him and had gotten outside. . .only to run straight into Dru, who captured her. Angelus caught up and was about to break her neck when Dru laughed and said she had a better idea. They took her to the factory and drained her, then fed her Dru’s blood. I arrived not long after.”

He nodded, and commented, “She must have been thoroughly frustrated at having been caught after having been so close to getting away.” He reached for his glasses, not because of any great need but for the sense of familiarity that it gave him. He looked at her and asked, “So their plan was for you to turn Giles and use us to kill the Slayer and her friends?”

She looked back at him and shook her head in disgust. “No, his brilliant plan was for me to break his neck and leave the body on Buffy’s front porch for her to discover. Some master vampire he is. . .willing to waste a perfectly good asset.”

He nodded in agreement and commented, “You know, he never had any idea what was happening to him.” The memories that Giles had passed to him included the soothing sound of Jenny’s voice urging him to drink what the vampire knew to have been the female vampire’s blood: the thought had never occurred to Giles as he died. “He trusted her absolutely, at least as far as anything other than Buffy went.”

He stood up and dressed rapidly, turning back to her when he had finished. “All right, I’m here. What now? Do we go to the great and powerful Angelus and tell him you’ve changed his plan?”

She noted his tone and was pleased. “No, I don’t think so. I seem to have gained a touch of Dru’s precognitive powers from the turning, and I get the feeling we’ll both end up dead if we do that. . .no, I have a better idea. Are you up for it?”

He looked at her and replied, “I’m certainly willing to listen, particularly since if you’d done things his way, I wouldn’t be here.” He beckoned to her, and they went downstairs, settling on the living room sofa.

She cleared her throat, then began, “Our first option, I suppose, would be to go into business for ourselves. Buffy trusts Giles absolutely. . .you could probably easily maneuver her into a position where you could kill her without problems. . .and you’d have the sense not to let her live just to cause her more pain.”

He nodded and commented, “That would be the standard method of operation, I suppose. We are demons, after all. I gather from your tone that you have objections to this plan?”

She smiled, pleased that he was willing to follow her lead. “Buffy’s just too damned lucky. Not only is she very talented by the historical standards of Slayers, she’s managed to accumulate a group of friends with talents that have kept her alive long after she should have been killed. She was killed, and Xander and Angel just happen to find her in time to revive her, with the result that there are now two Slayers loose in the world. No, I’d just as soon come up with a plan that keeps us clear from her indefinitely.”

He nodded and commented, “You’re right, but that is easier said than done. After all, once she finds out what’s happened, we’re going to be on her better-dead list right after Angelus, Spike, and Dru. How do we get her to want to leave us alone?”

She smiled and replied, “By giving Buffy her heart’s desire.”

12:20 AM

Spike maneuvered the wheelchair over to where Dru was standing, staring at the ceiling and humming to herself. Annoyed with that and with the whole turn of events lately, he asked sarcastically, “And where is the lord of the manor tonight?”

The insane vampiress smiled and turned to her lover, purring, “Now Spike, no need to be unpleasant. Angel has gone to see that our present to Buffy is delivered properly.”

Spike snorted and snapped angrily, “Oh, that’s just wonderful, love. Hasn’t that bitch of a Slayer been enough trouble without really pissing her off? Killing two of her friends in one night is not how I would deal with her. . .of course, if it had been me, I would have offed her when I had the chance rather than mucking around with tormenting her.” He looked up at Dru and snarled, “That bastard has been screwing things up for us ever since he came back.”

Dru’s eyes widened, then she chuckled. “Don’t worry, love. My Angel knows what he is doing. Didn’t he bring us my Jenny?”

Spike rolled his eyes up but said nothing. Dru tended to get attached to the fledgling vampires she created, though she was prone to occasional insane fits of violence that would be very unpleasant to those who had previously enjoyed her affections. Still. . .there was something odd about the vampire that had been Jenny Calendar. He had recently recovered the ability to walk, and had regained most of his strength, facts that he had carefully hidden from Angelus and Dru. Unfortunately, the vampire Jenny had spotted him walking around in an area of the factory well away from where Angelus and Dru were. He briefly contemplated killing her, only to see her wink at him and turn away as if she had seen nothing of note. He didn’t have Dru’s prophetic abilities, but he had the feeling that Jenny would be causing grief to Angelus, and very soon. He sat silently, waiting for developments while Dru continued humming and staring at the ceiling.

12:30 AM

Angelus lurked outside the Summers house, still frustrated that he had been thwarted in his attack on Joyce Summers, but gleefully anticipating the pleasant results when Jenny dropped off their present for Buffy. . .he’d love seeing that tweed-covered twit lying dead on Buffy’s porch, and the horrified expressions from Buffy, Willow, and Joyce that would inevitably follow.

The phone rang inside the house, and Buffy went to answer it. She listened for about thirty seconds, then spoke briefly before putting the receiver down and calling out for Willow. They ran upstairs and came down about five minutes later with Buffy’s bag of supplies. Joyce had retired some hours earlier, and they had no problem leaving the house without being noticed. Angelus was tempted to attack, but he knew that he had no particular advantage over Buffy at the moment, and who knew, Willow might be able to help. . . by tossing holy water or something else annoying. He decided to wait. . .sooner or later, Jenny would show with the Brit’s body, and his fun would begin.

12:45 AM

They all met outside Willow’s house: Buffy, Willow, Oz, Xander, Giles, and Jenny. The first four had puzzled expressions, and Giles hastened to elaborate: “We chose this as a meeting place because Willow’s parents aren’t home, and it has recently been made proof against vampiric intrusion. Let’s go inside, and we’ll explain.” The four teenagers went inside, only to see Giles and Jenny waiting patiently outside. Willow called out, “Why are you guys standing on ceremony? Come on in!” Looking embarrassed, they did so, and the group settled down in the living room. Buffy looked at the two and asked impatiently, “So what’s the deal? Spill.”

Giles nodded at Jenny, and she began, “Buffy, I’ve been working for some time on a translation program that would allow us access to the curse that gave Angel his soul back. I found the correct algorithm tonight, and I translated the curse. Unfortunately, Angelus chased me out of the school and destroyed my computer, but I had already saved the translation to floppy disk.” She held up a yellow disk. “This is it.”

Buffy felt a surge of pure joy so intense that she felt dizzy for a moment, and Giles reached out to steady her with a look of concern on his face. She turned to him with a broad smile on her face, and stammered, “Miss Calendar, that’s wonderful. C-c-can we perform the ritual tonight?”

Jenny nodded, and elaborated, “Yes we can. I’ve brought all of the necessary materials, and this place should be safe from any vampires that might want to try to stop us. It should take us an hour or so to set up.”

Buffy nodded and commented, “Good.” She turned to her friends and asked, “Could I have a minute alone with Miss Calendar, please?” Fully understanding, the four other occupants of the room retreated to the kitchen. Buffy turned to the older woman and looked directly into her eyes before saying, “You know, Willow really tore into me tonight about the way I’ve been treating you. . .and I had to admit she was absolutely right. You didn’t betray me. . .and you’ve helped me and Angel more than once before now. I’ve done you a great deal of harm, kept you away from Giles, and there was no good reason for it than you being the most convenient way to deal with my pain. Miss Calendar. . .Jenny, there is no good reason for you to ever forgive me, but if I can ever make it right with you for what I’ve done, and to repay you for what you’re doing for me and Angel, I swear I’ll do it.”

Buffy saw an ambivalent look cross Jenny’s face, then felt relief as the older woman’s expression softened into a smile. “I forgive you, Buffy. As for making things right. . .I’m sure an opportunity will come up. Don’t worry about it.” Jenny called into the kitchen, “All right, everyone. We’ve got a lot to get done in the next hour. Let’s get cracking.”

2:15 AM

Angelus fidgeted restlessly as he continued to wait. Where was that damned Jenny with the dead Watcher? How long could it have taken? And for that matter, why hadn’t Buffy and Willow come back. . .surely she wouldn’t take a normal patrol on a night that had already been so stressful? He snarled to himself, frustrated, and was momentarily so distracted that he didn’t notice the figure approaching him.

“Hello, lover.”

Startled, Angelus whirled. Buffy was standing ten feet from him, dressed for combat. He smirked at her and commenting, “Looking good, darling. Where’s your little friend?”

Buffy locked eyes with the demon, and he could feel the heat behind the gaze. “She’s in a safe place, along with everyone else I care about. You’re never going to kill any of them, you bastard.”

“Really?”, Angelus asked as he continued to smirk and as he thought wait until you hear about your little gypsy friend, “and how do you think you’re going to stop me?” He laughed, and the sound was of pure evil.

Buffy smiled a cold, cold smile and replied, “I’ve come up with a way that works for me.”

It was then that Angelus felt it: an odd sensation that seemed to weaken him and created a desire to flee. He tamped down the urge and looked at Buffy, who continued smiling as she watched the growing discomfort that her opponent was suffering. He felt the sensation was familiar somehow, but it took him a moment to identify it: when he did, his eyes widened and horror surged through his demonic mind. “No.”

Buffy nodded. “Yep. Thought you might remember this.” The tone of her voice changed as she began a mocking sing-song: “My boyfriend’s back, and there’s gonna be trouble. . .” She saw the horrified look on his face and asked mockingly, “Oh no, my voice isn’t that bad, is it?” She laughed at him, with the tone coming frighteningly close to Angelus’ laugh from a moment before. “That’s right, demon boy. Jenny and Giles, with a little help from Willow, are brewing that golden oldie, the restoration of your soul. Doesn’t that just tickle you pink?”

Liar! . .thought Angelus. He started to throw her lie back in her face by bragging about killing Jenny, but another thought intervened. “Why aren’t you back with your friends, then? Why come out here and risk getting killed, when the curse will bring back your beloved Angel?”

Buffy smiled again, and the expression would have terrified any of those who called her friend—it was an expression of utter malice. She walked up to him and kicked him in the groin, dropping him into a groaning heap on the ground. “I can’t kill you; after all, I need your body to give Angel a place to return to. But I can exact a big old heap of justice from you before he gets back.” She kicked the downed vampire in the face, sending him rolling against a tree. “That one was for Theresa. . .I really liked her, you bastard.” As the staggering vampire began to rise to him, she moved up to him and delivered two stunning punches to the solar plexus, causing him to stumble back ten feet. “That one is for that poor shop worker I found with her heart ripped out. What was it. . .a Valentine’s Day present for Dru?” She began delivering an awesome barrage of kicks and punches that culminated with Angelus being knocked flat, bleeding and helpless, onto the sidewalk in front of Buffy’s house. “And those were for all of the people you killed just to make me feel guilty for not saving them, and for the lifelong guilt I’m going to have to carry for their loss. Not to mention the burden that Angel is going to have to carry.”

Angelus, knowing that he was beaten, looked blearily at the cold-faced Slayer standing over him and chuckled, though blood filled his mouth. “What do you know. . .I guess you learned something from me after all.” Infuriated, Buffy moved to strike him again only to pause in astonishment as Angelus’ eyes glowed brightly. The vampire looked confused for a moment, then his eyes focused on the young woman standing over him. His voice cracked as he spoke: “Buffy? What happened? We made love, and I felt strange. . .”

Buffy looked at him for a long moment before dropping to the ground and hugging him tightly. “It’s all right. I’m here. It’ll come back to you in a moment. . .remember, I love you, no matter what he did.”

It took only a moment, then he was sobbing uncontrollably. Buffy just held him as the intense guilt drew out racking sobs from the now-ensouled vampire. Abruptly he stopped and leaped to his feet. “Buffy, did you tell Angelus that Jenny was conducting the curse ritual?”

Buffy nodded, puzzled at the obvious intensity of his reaction to this news. “Yeah, she translated the curse tonight. They’re at Willow’s house. Why—what’s wrong?”

He started running towards Willow’s house, motioning for her to follow. She shouted at him as they ran: “Damn it, Angel. What’s wrong?”

He turned to her and replied, “I’ll tell you along the way. But our friends are in great danger. Jenny isn’t who she appears to be any more.”

2:25 AM

Dru abruptly began wailing, dropping to her hands and knees while looking all around her with a look of despair. Concerned, Spike wheeled up to his distressed lover and soothed, “What’s wrong, Dru? It can’t be that bad.”

Dru looked up at him, and the anguish in her eyes masked the madness that usually ruled there. “My Angel, my Angel. . .he’s lost to me.”

Suppressing a smirk, Spike replied, “What happened? Did the Slayer finally finish him off? I told you that a brassed-off Slayer was not something he wanted to mess with. . .oh well, occupational hazard and all that. What’s for dinner?”

Dru grabbed his arm before he could turn away. “No. . .no. . .it’s worse than that. His nasty old soul has been called back.” Her face turned demonic and she howled in despair, “My Jenny has betrayed me!”

Well, what do you know, thought Spike, that Jenny paid off for me far sooner than I would have thought. A moment’s further thought caused him to feel rather ambivalent about the whole thing, and he shook Dru to get her attention. “Pet, we’ve got a problem, then. Now that Angel has gone soft on us again, he’ll tell Buffy about what we did to her friend the Gypsy, and maybe to her buddy the Watcher. She’ll show up here with the Boy Scout and a lot of energy to burn off. . .we’d best be elsewhere. . .and I think we’d do well to avoid this Slayer until someone knocks her off—she’s just too bloody lucky.”

Dru looked up at him and smiled, “My Spike always knows the right thing to do.” She looked at the wheelchair and whispered, “But that thing will not hasten our departure, love.”

Spike smiled broadly and stood up. “Oh, bugger the chair.” He gave it a solid kick, knocking it against the wall and shattering it. Dru’s eyes widened, then she smiled, “Oh you naughty boy. . .you were playing possum with me. . .I should have known my Spike couldn’t be kept down so long by those nasty Slayers.”

“You got that right, love,” Spike replied, looking as confident as he ever had. Abruptly, he struck Dru, knocking her to the floor and drawing a bead of blood to the corner of her mouth. She looked up at Spike expectantly, seeing that he had assumed his vampiric face. He snarled at her, “If you ever run around on me again, with anyone, I’ll rip your arms off and feed them to dogs. Are we clear, pet?”

Dru licked her lips, visibly savoring the taste of blood, as she got to her feet. “My Spike understands me so well.” She moved to his arm, and Spike reverted to his human face and just stood there, quite contented, for a moment before turning to Dru and calmly ordering, “Get the car ready, love. I’ve got to prepare a welcome for the Slayer and her lapdog.”

2:40 AM

Buffy dashed through the open front door of the Rosenburg house: she could hear Angel stopping at the threshold, helpless to enter until invited by the occupant of the property. She looked around the room. No Jenny. . .Willow was there, there was Oz, Xander was standing by the wall, Cordelia (who had arrived just before Buffy left, bitching about the time of night) was sitting on the couch. . .where was Giles? She didn’t see any bodies, that was good. She took a moment to calm herself, then asked to the room in general: “Where’s Giles?”

There was a long silence, and Buffy had a chance to notice the emotional state of her friends. Willow was quietly sobbing, her head buried in Oz’s shoulder: he looked as if he had just been gut-punched. Xander was staring blindly at a wall: she wasn’t even sure he knew she had come in. Cordelia had an expression of abject shock and horror on her face, but it was the former May Queen who managed to recover sufficiently to answer Buffy’s question: “He’s gone, Buffy. They’re both gone.”

The words made no sense to Buffy at first, and when the true meaning of Cordelia’s words struck home, she felt as if she had been stabbed through the heart. Tears came to her eyes, and she involuntarily whispered, “No.” With a savage effort, she repressed the growing avalanche of despair that threatened to overwhelm her and quietly asked Cordelia, “What happened?”

Tears in her own eyes, Cordelia explained, “Giles and Miss Calendar finished the ceremony, and we were all putting stuff away. I was carrying a dish full of holy water that Willow had poured, and. . .I tripped. Some of the water got on Miss Calendar’s hand, and she screamed. . .then she changed. We turned to Giles, and he had changed too. We all froze. . .but they didn’t try to bite us or anything. They walked to the door, and Miss Calendar looked at us and said, ‘Tell Buffy I’m calling in my favor. Don’t come after us.’ Then they left.” She sank lower into the couch and put her face into her hands.

Oz, looking up at the end of the story, looked at the Slayer and asked, “Did it work?”

Angel, his face a mask of abject misery, moved into clear view in the doorway and replied quietly, “Yes, it did.” He remained where he was, and Buffy was about to ask Willow to invite him in when she heard a hate-filled whisper from behind her: “You bastard.”

Buffy turned, reflexively prepared to chastise Xander for inappropriate timing before realizing that it wasn’t Xander who had spoken. . .it was Willow, who had leapt to her feet and was charging to the startled vampire with pure rage on her face. “Damn you, you killed them both! Monster! Monster!” She flailed away at him, and Angel, who could have restrained her effortlessly, stood there unresisting as she struck him repeatedly, totally out of control.

Buffy was totally frozen. She would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she was feeling more than a few of the emotions that Willow was taking out on Angel. She knew that both Giles and Jenny had been mentor figures to her as well as friends—it wasn’t surprising that she was taking it hardest of all of them. But she could hurt herself in this state, and right now the last thing she could tolerate was another of her friends being hurt. She was considering how to deal with it when someone else intervened.

“Willow, stop it. He didn’t do it.”

Everyone in the room turned to Xander, who had spoken. Willow had a look of utter disbelief as she looked at her oldest friend and snarled, “How can you say that, you of all people? You’ve always hated him, and now you’re defending him, after he killed Giles and Mi—Jenny?” She sank to the ground, crying harder than she had been, and Oz quickly moved over to her, staring daggers at Angel, who seemed confused at the identity of his defender.

Xander walked over to the doorway, looking at Willow with naked concern before turning to Angel with a grim expression on his face. “Look, we’ve had this conversation before. You know I don’t like you. . .I’m sure I never will. Maybe it wasn’t fair before, what with you having saved our lives and all, but the bottom line is—you’re a vampire, and I’m never going to be okay with that, especially after this whole losing your soul and two of our best friends getting murdered thing.” Angel looked away in deep shame, and Xander continued, “But the fact is, when your soul isn’t doing a vanishing act, you’re one of the good guys, as much as I hate to admit it. If you had been in the driver’s seat, this wouldn’t have happened, and while I think Buffy might want to take it to heart as to her future dating practices—“ he turned to his friend and saw her glower briefly before her own shame became visible, “--right now we need you. We just lost two of our team to the bad guys, and things are looking rather grim right now. Maybe after this whole thing is over, I’m going to feel like kicking your ass into a sunlit meadow. But right now, we need you.” He walked up and put his hand on the vampire’s shoulder. “How about it?”

Buffy was shocked. Who was this guy and what had he done with Xander? She walked over to Willow and put her arm around the sobbing redhead. “Willow,” she whispered, “I really need you right now, and we need him.” She moved around so that she could look into Willow’s tear-reddened eyes and asked, “Can we do this?”

With a strength that made Buffy admire her shy friend more than she ever had, Willow got to her feet, wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Angel, who was sadly looking at her. “Angel, please come in.” She turned and went over to the couch where Cordelia was, leaning back with an utterly drained look on her face.

Buffy knew that the only way that she was going to be able to avoid sinking into useless despair was to keep working. She pinched her brow and asked the universe in general, “What were they after? Why did they help to restore Angel’s soul?” She frowned and turned to Angel, “Wait a minute. . .didn’t you tell me that Angelus had told Jenny to break Giles’ neck?”

Angel frowned and replied, “Yes. He wanted to hurt you badly, but leave Jenny in a position to do further harm from a hidden position. Not a great planner, Angelus.” He frowned and continued, “Angelus would have been very angry if he had known she turned Giles without his permission. . .he would have killed her for it. She must have known that.” He turned to Buffy and it hit him suddenly: “They were planning on getting out of town all along! They hoped that you would be too distracted by my return to interfere. . .perhaps they even hoped that you would feel some sense of gratitude, and not follow them.”

Buffy’s face was grim as she replied, “Then they were sadly mistaken. My promise wasn’t made to a demon, it was made to Jenny, and I know she wouldn’t want a vampire with her face causing terror in the world. I certainly know Giles would have felt that way.” She got to her feet and started for the door. “Come on, let’s find them and get it over with.” The anguish that had been with her since she had heard the news threatened to overwhelm her, but she ruthlessly forced it down.

Angel stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Wait. . .I think I have a better idea.” The Slayer looked at her former lover and snapped, “What? Damn it, it’s going to be hard enough to do this without having to agonize over it!”

Angel smiled: the expression was so out of place in the current situation that everyone noticed and stared at the newly re-ensouled vampire. He elaborated, “If Willow will assist, I think we can make the best out of a bad situation here.”

Willow slowly got to her feet and walked up to Angel: she almost sounded like her old self as she replied quietly, “I’ll do whatever it takes to help, Angel.”

He nodded and continued, “Buffy and I will have to find them first, then we can implement the plan. The best thing about it is, there will be a certain measure of justice in the whole thing.”

Buffy was puzzled by the cryptic nature of his final comment. “What, do you mean for the two vampires?”

Angel shook his head and explained laconically: “For Angelus.”

3:20 AM

He finished packing the things that would come in handy on the trip ahead: weapons, holy water in case others of their kind decided to interfere with their flight, and all of the cash that Giles had stashed in the apartment—he had never fully trusted banks. Next to him, he could see that she was carrying the small bag that she had taken from Jenny’s apartment. He shook his head in amusement: who would have thought, a woman who knew how to travel light? He turned to her and said, “Time to go, love.” They walked out of the front door of the apartment, not bothering to close it. As they walked outside, they both saw the flickering light on the horizon: the factory was burning. She chuckled and commented, “It seems that Dru has prophesized the need to leave town abruptly.” They laughed and continued down the sidewalk towards Giles’ car—

“Leaving town so suddenly? You know, you ought to at least pick up your cleaning deposits. . .that can be some serious money.”

The vampires whirled. Buffy and Angel stood twenty feet in front of them: she was the one who had spoken. Her expression was grim, with a touch of smugness that didn’t fit somehow. Angel’s face was visibly pained, but determined. The vampire that had been Jenny Calendar snarled at Buffy, “Damn you! I gave you your lover back! Why can’t you let us leave in peace?”

Buffy, unmoved, replied, “Sorry, not in the job description. Not to mention the people whose bodies you’ve stolen wouldn’t want me to.”

“So what now?” The Giles vampire seemed resigned to his fate: the knowledge contained in the Watcher’s memories surely told him that the two of them had no chance in battle against Buffy and Angel. “What will it be? Staking? Beheading? Leaving us staked out to wait for the sunrise?”

Buffy smiled coldly and replied, “We’ve come up with a plan that works for us.” With that, Buffy and Angel brought out the tranquilizer guns that they had concealed behind their backs and fired simultaneously. The two vampires cried out in shock, then crumpled bonelessly to the sidewalk. Buffy and Angel looked at each other grimly, then picked up the inert bodies and carried them towards the school.

As always, comments are welcome and desired.

4:10 AM

Angel and Buffy entered the library, carrying the unconscious vampires. Willow was intently staring into the screen of the computer, using the mouse skillfully to apparently mark certain passages of the book page on the screen. Oz watched quietly, his hand on her shoulder, occasionally pointing at something on the screen and commenting. Xander and Cordelia were sorting various documents that Willow had evidently printed out. At the entrance of Buffy and Angel, the four turned to the door, with expressions of both concern and hope.

Angel walked over to Willow, prepared for the redhead to still despise his very presence, but she was all business as she reported, “You were right, Angel. The titles you remembered were among those we scanned in last year—here’s what I found.” The mouse clicked a few times, and Angel impatiently read what was on the screen. He smiled at their success, and then a wild hope appeared to transfix his features. Willow saw it, and put her hand on his arm, squeezing softly while looking sadly at him and saying, “I know, I saw the possible implications too, but then I found this.” The mouse clicked again, and Angel’s expression quickly became one of hopelessness. Genuinely saddened, Willow whispered, “I’m sorry, Angel.” Buffy heard the exchange and ran up to them. “What’s the matter?”

He turned to her, and by the time she could see his face, it was once again the determined Angel she had seen for the last hour. “It doesn’t matter now. We have what we need. Willow, finish printing up what we need, and I’ll spend the day in here looking over the procedures. Everyone else can go home and get some rest. There’s enough tranquilizer in them to keep them out for fifteen hours. . .we’ll be ready to go once the sun goes down.”

Willow turned back to the computer, and Angel walked down to the table where Xander and Cordelia had finished assembling the documents, and Angel began to read them, his face blank. Buffy walked over to him and put her hand over his, asking again, “Angel, please tell me what’s wrong.”

He looked at her, and she could see the profound sadness in his eyes. “Buffy, the only way I can live with myself is to get this done. . .right now, everything else is secondary.” He sighed and commented for the benefit of the others in the room, “At least we won’t have to worry about Spike and Dru. The factory is burning to the ground, and their car was gone. . .I think we won’t be seeing them again, at least for a while.” The others in the room visibly relaxed at this news, and Angel raised his voice, “All right, everyone else pack up and take off. I can handle it from here.” Having finished printing the last of the documents, Willow shut off the computer and she and Oz joined the others at the door. Buffy lingered and requested, “You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up.” They headed out, and Buffy turned to Angel again. “Let me stay with you, Angel. You shouldn’t have to do this alone.” Angel shook his head and replied, “Buffy, I have to. It should be perfectly safe: they’re down for the count, and it’s Saturday, so no one will come in looking for anything. You need your sleep. Go.” Without another word, he brusquely turned his back on the woman he had loved for years and resumed studying the documents. Confused and not a little hurt, Buffy turned away and left the library, leaving the room bereft of the living.

8:00 PM (the next evening)

He awakened slowly, and only gradually did he realize that he was not where he last remembered being. He and Jenny had been together in his apartment, and then he had felt dizzy and lost consciousness—what had happened? He opened his eyes and cautiously examined his surroundings. He was lying on a sleeping pad on the floor of the library, with his head resting on a comfortable pillow. He turned to his right and saw that Jenny, still asleep, was in a similar condition, and that they were both fully dressed.

He sat up and immediately spotted Buffy, who had an obvious expression of concern on her face. Nearby, he could see that some kind of ritual circle had been set up, with Willow, Oz, Xander, Cordelia and. . .no, it couldn’t be. He leapt to his feet and began frantically looking around for a stake while shouting, “Buffy! My god, it’s Angelus! Why are you just standing there. . .?”

His Slayer locked eyes with him and calmly replied, “It’s all right, Giles. The prior tenant just got his lease renewed.” It took Giles a moment to translate the Buffyspeak and look over at the vampire, who stood and nodded curtly at him. Giles, disbelieving, turned back to Buffy and asked, “Angel’s back? You managed to perform the curse ceremony? Buffy. . .that’s wonderful. . .but why are Jenny and I here? I don’t understand. . .”

Angel walked up behind Buffy and squeezed his shoulder supportingly as she said again for the second time in two days, “It’ll come to you in a moment, Giles.” Her face was sad as she continued, “I’m sorry, Giles.”

Jenny stirred at this point, and Giles was going to check on her when abruptly a look of abject horror crossed his face, and he almost fell. To his credit, he managed to regain his composure almost instantly and he continued to check on Jenny’s condition. She looked at him in puzzlement, and he swept her up in an embrace without saying a word. After a moment, there was an anguished shriek, and Jenny Calendar began sobbing as if the world had come to an end. She pulled away from him as if his touch burned her. “Get away from me, you bastard!” She leapt to her feet, and was looking around the room when Angel walked up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. Gently he told her, “It’s all right, Jenny. Giles is in there, too, just as you are.”

Realization sank in, and she turned back to the Watcher, who was sitting on the ground looking rather shell-shocked. She sat next to him and held him, whispering, “I’m sorry. . .I didn’t know.” She began crying again, as she wailed, “Oh God, Giles, I killed you! How could you ever bear to look at me again?” Giles was silent, and they held each other for a while before the Watcher’s inherent curiosity got the better of him. He got to his feet, pulling Jenny up with him. He looked at the children who he had advised for more than a year, and there was genuine puzzlement in his voice as he asked, “How in the world did you manage to pull this off? None of you has any experience in magical operations!”

Angel cleared his throat and corrected Giles, “I do, actually. You know Angelus, never one to pass up an angle, particularly if it has pain-causing implications.” He turned to Willow and commented, “I think you might want to have a little talk with Willow, too. Unless I miss my guess, she has a lot of untapped aptitude in this area.” Willow smiled gently at the compliment, and Angel continued, “Her research skills were also indispensable. I remembered seeing two books with titles in the language of Jenny’s people in the library, and I had leafed through them in the past, hoping to find some understanding of my condition. Unfortunately, though I’ve always had a talent for languages, I only understood bits and pieces of it. They had been scanned into the computer last year, and they provided the remaining understanding of the principles behind the spell that we needed to cast it without Jenny’s supervision once we used Jenny’s algorithm on them.”

In spite of the grimness of the situation, Giles could not help but smile at the ingenuity of his friends. “Well, it seems you have done rather well in our absence, although this situation is far from id-“

Abruptly, his face fell, and he turned to Jenny, who seemed to have come to the same realization. She whispered, “The curse. . .this means we can never be together, Rupert.” She looked stricken, and Giles didn’t look much better.

The darker side of Buffy was tempted to say “Welcome to my world,” but that would be inexcusably nasty, and besides it wasn’t true, as Willow hastened to explain as she walked over to the two vampires, her face glowing with excitement. “That’s not true! The books also explained the background behind the spell, and it told us something we should have been able to figure out anyway.” She looked at Jenny and asked, “Didn’t it strike you as strange that your people had gone to the trouble to create a curse specifically for the purpose of tormenting vampires by giving them a soul? How often would the situation arise to use such a curse? The book explained that the spell was originally created to re-ensoul clan warriors that had been transformed into vampires. . .so that they could act as kind of the Gypsy version of Slayers. . .guardians against the depredations of the undead. The intention was that the vampires would remain as part of the clan, subject to the normal limitations of being a vampire. There was no escape clause in the original spell. . .that was created later. The version we cast on you has no limitations. . .you can be together.” Willow smiled, but her joy at having helped her friends save their happiness brought tears to her eyes.

Jenny’s eyes were welling up too, but she managed to whisper, “Willow, that’s wonderful,” before embracing her younger friend. Abruptly, she pulled back and turned to Angel, who was quietly waiting, and exclaimed, “Angel, that means we can cure you completely! You and Buffy can be together. . .” Her voice trailed off, and Buffy tensed as Willow started to explain what Angel had been holding back from her until after the re-ensoulment ceremony had been completed and they were waiting for their friends to awaken: “Once the curse version of the spell has been cast on a vampire, the non-curse version will never work on that same vampire. . .it’s a nasty side-effect that your people put into the curse to avoid a vampire finding the non-limiting version and using it to escape punishment.”

Jenny turned to Angel, feeling overwhelming guilt at the burden her people had put on her friend: “Oh, Angel. . .I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can do. . .?” He looked at her and laughed bitterly. “Do you think that I have the slightest right to blame you for anything?” He turned away from her, unable to face the victim of yet another of Angelus’ crimes.

“All right, that’s enough of that for right now.” Buffy’s voice firmly brought their attention back to more immediate matters, and the newly ensouled vampires listened intently as the Slayer spoke quietly. “Before this night is over, we’re going to have to decide how you want to deal with this, and I’ll support you in however you want it handled. But, first, I have things I want to say to both of you.” She turned to Jenny and said softly, “I thought I had apologized to you before, but it turned out I was pouring out my heart to a demon, so I’m going to say it again, and some more. I was so wrong to do what I did. . .you managed to be my friend even with a lifetime of urging from your people that should have prevented it. You’ve helped us more times than I can easily count, and I repaid you by driving you off and keeping you away from a man who loves you. I was wrong. . .you are my friend. . .you are his friend. . .and I will make things right, even if I have to live a thousand years to do it.” She embraced the Gypsy vampire, and tears were shed before she turned to her mentor, who was gazing at his Slayer with a look of naked pride.

Buffy walked up to Giles and said quietly, “You know, you’re a stuffy, difficult bastard sometimes. I got to think that you didn’t have a clue what it is like to be seventeen with the weight of the world on your shoulders. I was wrong. . .you knew exactly what it was like. . .you threw out the rule book when you met me, and you’ve done more to keep me alive and kicking than anyone in this room, and that’s saying a hell of a lot. I love you, Giles, and I always will.” She walked away, then turned back to Jenny and Giles. “Angel pointed out that you just might not want to go on like this, given how you both feel about vampires in general, and I realized that he was right. . .I’m not sure I could manage, if I was in your place."” She looked at the floor for a moment, gathering her strength, before continuing, tears streaming down her cheeks. “If you don’t want to deal with this, I’ll do whatever you want to. . .end things in whatever way you want it. I’ll. . .stake you. . .I’ll take that nasty broadsword out of the weapons cabinet and do it that way. Or if you want to walk out into the sunlight together, I’ll . . .let you. . .I’ll even watch, if you need someone to bear witness.” Her voice remained even, though the tears continued to flow, “Or if you want to make a go of it, I’ll help you do it. . .we all will.” Overcome by the torrent of emotions, she sank into a nearby chair and began sobbing, with her head buried in her folded arms. Angel stood behind her as if to lend her strength by his presence, and stayed there silently as she continued to sob.

Giles looked at Jenny, and a moment’s silent communion followed before they walked over to the crying young woman who had so influenced their lives. After a moment, she sensed their presence and looked up in expectation. Giles sighed and commented, “Well, Jenny, I suppose you’re going to need a new job. I’ve been in that classroom, and there’s far too much sunlight for comfort.”

As Jenny nodded and contemplated some job offers she had received in the recent past, Buffy leapt to her feet and gave Giles a hug that would have made oxygen an issue if he still needed it: as it was, he accepted the mild discomfort and just held her as the others came up to offered their well wishes. Only Angel held back, and any observer would have noted that, at least for a moment, the aura of melancholy that surrounded him perpetually had eased somewhat.

Epilogue

June 16, 1999: Graduation Day

Buffy sat in her seat, waiting for that evil little troll Snyder to finish his preliminaries so that the guest of honor could be heard from—Mayor Wilkins AKA the about to be nasty demon. Willow was still absent from the seat next to Buffy, but the Slayer was not worried, as Oz’s empty seat suggested that the two of them were busy with a lot of last minute smooching. . .or something rather more involved, if Willow’s behavior in the last few days meant anything.

She looked over in the shadows and saw Giles, Jenny and Angel waiting for the unscheduled eclipse to bring them back into the game. In the last sixteen months, they had all had a lot of adjusting to do. Jenny had quit as the computer teacher, causing the school administration to appoint Willow as the temporary replacement, which had been great for her resume and had completely thrilled her, particularly since Jenny had made a point of telling Willow what a wonderful job she was doing with the students. Jenny had taken a position with a computer company that paid twice what she made as a teacher, and required no face to face contact: she worked during the day at the apartment that she and Giles now shared, and worked with Giles at the library at night. As far as Buffy could tell, she was happy, and Buffy felt as close to her now as she did with almost all of her friends.

Giles had actually had an even easier time adjusting than Jenny had. He kept his job as the librarian and was simply rather careful about avoiding sunshine and daytime meetings. The major trauma that he had to deal with was his rather involved marriage proposal to Jenny, which he had delivered and she had tearfully accepted only last month. If they all made it through this, the wedding (nighttime, of course) would take place in August. Buffy smiled at the thought of their happiness. . .it had all seemed so hopeless that awful night last February.

Willow slipped into the seat beside her with a flushed face and a muttered apology just as the Mayor was to speak. Buffy smiled secretly at her friend’s state as the Mayor began his speech. As the minutes went on, both the Slayer and her best friend came to horrified realizations, Buffy just a moment before Willow:

“My god. . .he’s going to deliver the whole speech.”

“Man, just ascend already.”

“Evil.”

****

The three vampires waited tensely for the mayor to finish and for the sun to disappear as all hell broke loose. They were intent on the figure one hundred yards away and completely failed to notice the young woman walking up to them carrying a stake. They were startled when she spoke.

“That bastard can sure drone on, can’t he?” Faith commented, greeting her mentor and friends as she stared at their target. “I’m glad I won’t have to be dealing with him after today.” They all greeted her, and Giles watched his young charge stare at the Mayor with a calm focus that would have been inconceivable eight months ago when the frightened young Slayer arrived in Sunnydale.

Her very arrival had been something of a surprise. No one had known what would be the full consequences of Kendra’s heroic death at the hands of the Sisterhood of Jhe during the Acathla incident. . .it was bad enough that Buffy had gone into a state of severe depression over the guilt of the one person who could totally understand what her life was like dying in order to save her life. She had continued to operate as the Slayer, but her performance was lackluster, and more than once she would have died had not one or more of her friends intervened. She had refused all help, even from Giles and Angel, until Xander had gone to her house in August. Buffy would not have admitted him, but Joyce—who had been informed of her daughter’s profession in the aftermath of the return of Angel—had admitted him without a word. He had talked to her for long hours, and neither of them had ever revealed what was said. But Buffy’s spirits had visibly improved after that, and she had recovered her full form by the time that Faith came to town with the powerful vampire Kikistos and his dangerous assistant Mr. Trick at her heels.

She hadn’t let them in on that right away, of course. Giles had never met anyone with so many layers of mistrust built up as Faith had, and it had almost gotten her killed as their ignorance almost let Kikistos get his revenge. But Buffy and Faith had slain the ancient demon by excellent teamwork, and Giles had noticed that her guard had begun to drop just a little. He had gone to Joyce and asked her to take Faith in, letting her sleep in the spare room that Joyce had been using for storage: he had assured her that the Council would compensate her for the expense—Joyce had refused the money and welcomed Faith with open arms. Over time, Giles’ patient instruction and the support of Buffy and all of her friends slowly brought Faith out of her defensive shell and diminished her reckless tendencies. . .then the inevitable happened.

Giles had successfully concealed his new vampiric state from the Council for quite some time, with the help of Buffy, but the approach of Buffy’s scheduled Cruciamentum had created a crisis situation with the arrival of a number of representatives of the Watchers’ Council, most notably Quentin Travers, a cold bastard that Giles had come into conflict with before. Giles had decided early on that there was no way in hell that Buffy was going to be subjected to the loss of her powers, much less in the dangerous test that had slain one out of three Slayers exposed to it. He had told Buffy, and once she got over her initial rage at the very concept, they had agreed on a plan to trick the Council. Things had gone perfectly until the vampire Kralick had escaped, turned one Watcher and killed the other. The kidnapping of Buffy’s mother had followed, and Giles was faced with a choice: help Buffy and risk being fired by the Council, or not intervene and possibly forfeit Joyce’s life, and risk Buffy’s. The decision took but a moment, and Giles never regretted it. After again conferring with Buffy, he carefully refrained from interfering directly with Buffy’s confrontation with Kralick, while skillfully destroying the vamped Watcher and rescuing Joyce. Unfortunately, Giles was unable to restrain himself from assuming his game face, and both Travers and Faith had seen it upon arriving on the scene. Upon a full investigation by a Watchers’ Council investigatory committee, Travers was held accountable for the deaths of the two Watchers and fired. Giles almost suffered the same fate, but Buffy’s impassioned testimony, together with the uncontradicted record of his extreme heroism in the fight against evil since his turning, had led to the Council narrowly deciding to retain him. . .with the proviso that he take Wesley Wyndham-Pryce as an assistant. That was annoying enough, but when the hearing was over, he had realized that he had other problems to deal with.

Faith’s discovery that the man she had come to trust so thoroughly in the last few months was actually a vampire was shattering to her, and she had reverted to her old ways of reckless vampire hunting. Buffy had found her, and they had spent long hours talking together, with the older Slayer desperately working to overcome the lifetime of distrust that had been brought back to the surface with the revelation of Giles’ state. Giles had finally broken the stalemate with an act of trust that Buffy remarked had reminded her of the way she and Angel had come to an understanding about his state: he handed her a stake while Buffy and Jenny stood by helplessly and told her to do what she felt best. She had raised the stake, then dropped it and looked intently at him before saying, “I guess I can handle it for now, G.”

Things had improved between them since, and Giles had even convinced Faith to accept tutoring with the goal of Faith passing the GRE. The native intelligence that Giles had perceived there beneath the studied laziness was indeed present, and Faith had passed with flying colors. In recent days, he and Jenny had discussed tentatively the idea of adopting Faith: they would never be able to have children of their own, and both of the young Slayer’s parents were dead. They would put it to the Council as a matter of practicality, but they would know—as would Faith—that different emotions were implicated, though truth be known, Giles already thought of himself as having one daughter.

Giles smiled with pride at his younger charge, then turned to continue watching the would be demon as he continued his seemingly endless speech.

****

The waiting was becoming physically painful, and Buffy pointedly looked up to see if the eclipse had started yet. . .no such luck. Desperately seeking relief, she looked behind her and locked eyes with Xander, who nodded at her and mouthed the words, “Love you”, before turning to Cordelia and making some remark that made her laugh. These days, just looking at him made her feel warm as a summer morning inside. . .how weird was that? She still remembered the shattered look on his face when she had told him two years ago that she just saw him as a friend, and how she had watched in dismay as he turned to Cordelia for affection (though she had to admit that there turned out to be more to the former May Queen than she had ever imagined).

Then the nasty incident with the backfired love spell had happened, and she had been. . .well, if not shocked, impressed with his adamant insistence on resisting her spell-fueled advances on him. Immediately after, she had stood by in shock as he single-handedly prevented the group from dissolving into useless acrimony after the turning of Giles and Jenny. At that point, she had begun to turn an interested eye his way, but he was with Cordelia, and that was that, and that held true even after he had spent long hours with her last summer helping to restore her shattered psyche after the tragic death of Kendra.

But then there had been the unpleasant incident with Spike, who had kidnapped Willow and Xander in hopes of getting her to cast a love spell to reclaim the fickle Dru. Crisis had led to an ignition of the spark that had always been possible between the two old friends, and Oz and Cordelia had walked in at the worst possible moment. Oz had quickly forgiven Willow, but the old insecurities were inflamed in Cordelia, and she had left Xander without a look back. Again, Buffy turned in Xander’s direction but she held back, fearing that his pain would somehow be worsened if she tried and screwed things up.

Then there had been the frantic night where the Sisterhood of Jhe had returned, seeking to end the world this time by reopening the Hellmouth. Xander had almost been killed in the initial confrontation, and the others had agreed with her that there was no good reason to risk his life again against the horribly dangerous demons. He had resented it and gone off on his own, and she was surprised that it was Xander who saved her from a nasty one on one confrontation with one of the Sisters. He had driven her back to her house, and they had talked for a while, her mother being out of town. Inexorably, the conversation had led to matters romantic, and before they knew it, they were in a tight embrace that led to what Xander charmingly called “doing the wacky.” Being pressed for time, they showered and went off to their tasks: Xander foiling the bombing plot of the undead gang of Jack O’Toole, and Buffy, Angel, Giles, Jenny, Willow, and Faith had averted the apocalypse. The next morning, Xander had walked in on the discussion of the sealing of the Hellmouth when Cordelia had walked in and mocked Xander as being irrelevant to the group. Buffy had been about to yell at Cordelia when Xander turned and gave Buffy by far the best kiss she had ever had. . .the secret was out. She had a little fence-mending to do with Willow after that, and she had to look away from Angel for a while, not wanting to see his hurt at her moving on, but she wouldn’t have changed things for the world.

She looked over at Angel and sighed, wondering if he could divine her thoughts. That horrible night last February had doomed their relationship as surely as the continued reign of Angelus would have. . .in spite of their salvaging of the situation, there was too much mutual guilt at the terrible price that Jenny and Giles had paid. She still loved him. . .there had been a couple of incidents that certainly showed that. She had refused to see him after Kendra’s death because she feared that she would be too weak to stay away from him, and that nasty attempt by the First Evil to tempt him to kill her had led to his attempted suicide, thwarted only—in spite of her impassioned please—by an unprecedented miracle of snowfall in Sunnydale. He had handled the matter of her being with Xander with unparalleled grace, and he noted that Xander had become far more accepting of the vampire in recent days, as if they shared an understanding.

She sighed and wondered how everything would settle out. . .but first there was a demon to kill. She met eyes with Faith and nodded. Things would be coming to a head soon.

****

Buffy and Faith fled down the corridor at top speed, the huge serpentine head of the transformed former Mayor of Sunnydale but thirty feet behind them, smashing all in its path. They rapidly approached the library and, according to the carefully rehearsed plan, they touched hands briefly before splitting off down separate corridors heading left and right in front of the library.

The new demon saw the move and smiled inwardly, picturing the joyful task of hunting them down and killing them individually. He was preparing to slow down, perhaps trashing that annoying Giles’ library before chasing down and killing the Slayers when he felt a sharp pain. Given his invulnerability for the last three months, he was preparing to show interest when he realized that he was hurtling out of control. He crashed through the doors of the library and tumbled, coming to rest precisely where the Hellmouth had opened twice. He opened his eyes and painfully managed to shift his position to look the way he came. He saw a vast serpentine body without a head, and two Slayers holding. . .a thin wire. He looked at the scene and said the first thing that came to mind, “Well, gosh,” before losing consciousness forever.

Buffy and Faith watched as the body of the Wilkins demon rapidly reduced to ash. Buffy was relieved, as explaining this would have been a bitch. They had taunted the demon into following them by reminding him of their triumphs against him: the thwarting of the baby sacrifice in the unfortunate band candy incident, Faith’s Slaying of Trick, and the interception of the Books of Ascension. They had both dreamed the night before, and the dream had told them that even as a demon, Wilkins would retain human weaknesses—they used that to their advantage. The two Slayers engaged in an uninhibited scream of triumph before heading into the library to hide the explosives that they had set as a backup, then headed back outside.

They walked out into a mob scene. The students, armed to the teeth, were in the process of driving off and slaying the mob of vampires that Wilkins had engaged for crowd control. Buffy saw that Larry was still on the ground, apparently dead, and sighed sadly. The two Slayers entered the fray with a vengeance, and before long, the rest of the vampires were dead or fleeing. Buffy looked up and shouted, “Giles, Jenny, Angel. . .inside, now! Everyone else, check the casualties for survivors!” For the first time in days, she allowed the tension to leave her body, and she sat down in total exhaustion, Faith giving her a supportive squeeze on the shoulder before heading off to evaluate the situation. She was still there when Xander walked over and sat next to her. “So, what are your thoughts on summer vacation, Buffy?”

She laughed out loud and hugged him tightly. She knew that it wouldn’t be all easy from here on in; after all, they were still on a Hellmouth, and that had never been a good thing. But she rejoiced in her triumph for the moment, and she was eternally grateful that she had the friends that she did to share it with.

The End