Disclaimer: I own nothing below except the plot. All characters, locations, and concepts are owned under their respective copyrights.
Spoilers: Buffy up through season 5, Angel up through Season 2
Timeline: AU post- "Passion", based on the story "The Long Night" by havocthecat on AO3.
Story Setting: Post "The Gift"
Author's note: As with all of my stories, suggestions about future plot developments are welcome and wanted, Reviews are wanted and definitely appreciated
Long Night, The End
Chapter 2: Morning After
Jenny had years to plan this situation. So far, everything had gone well. There were a few hiccups here and there. For a moment she thought Rupert would actually kill her. She still didn't understand why he didn't fight in the end.
Coming back to her current plan, given the large amount of time she had devoted to it. Her desire to keep a low profile would suggest that she have a stash of blood prepared when the vampire that was Giles woke up. However; Jenny had experienced first hand how good fresh human blood could be when compared to the preserved stuff. Her own first kill was still a delightful memory. The woman's blood was so warm, so very invigorating and addictive all at once.
After she had seen to Rupert, she left his apartment and waited near the Bronze. She didn't move until the place closed, and the last customers left, she figured they would the most drunk, and the least missed. She chose a young man, she would have liked to find someone innocent for Rupert to eat. But she was pressed for time, and she didn't want to have Rupert wake up alone. She had to keep an eye on him, to make sure he didn't do something stupid.
She subdued and bound her intended meal and got him back to the apartment. When she returned Rupert had still not moved, nor had his body healed. His transformation was coming along though. Jenny could already tell as much, his scent was changing. Rupert looked so peaceful now. He had many nights of uninterrupted sleep, but there were others where he was assaulted by his dreams. Now that he was dead, she wouldn't have to watch him go through those rough nights anymore.
Jenny knew that she would have to wait, but she still grew worried as the sun started peeking through the curtains. The longer she stayed in Rupert's apartment, the more likely it was that she would be discovered by one of her former students or their friends. She knew Willow had already left for L.A. Of those that were left, Only Xander and Dawn would know her by sight. The rest had probably been told the story of when Angelus had been around. Spike might know, but he wouldn't be showing up today.
The man was bound and gagged in the bathroom, Jenny was still waiting on Rupert. Her worries were magnified when there was a knock on the door. Jenny looked through the peep-hole and saw a dark blonde haired and blue-eyed woman. Jenny searched her memory 'This must be Tara, I've seen her with Willow and at the Magic Box.' She decided there was very little harm in seeing why she was here. It would raise questions if Giles didn't come to the door. Jenny could deal with some of those questions right away. There was some risk. If Tara figured out who Jenny was, and what her presence meant for Giles, then Jenny would have to kill her.
Jenny opened the door, being careful to stay in the shadows. "Hello, can I help you with something?"
"Um, is Mr. Giles here?" Tara was surprised, for as long as she knew Giles, there had never been a woman in his apartment before.
Jenny answered, the question was easily handled "He's sleeping right now, I can tell him you stopped by when he wakes up."
"Willow was worried about him, she wanted me to check on him. My name's Tara, what's yours?" For someone who usually kept to the background, Tara was remarkably perceptive. She had been around enough people to know, this woman and Mr. Giles had sex last night. Her clothes were worn and her hair was disheveled. Tara had seen this with Willow of course, but she had also seen it with Xander, Anya, and Buffy.
Jenny was torn about whether to give her name. She could just lie, and Tara would be none the wiser. But, like last night, her memories got the better of her. Her new name was a source of pride for her, it showed that she was capable of being more than what she was born to be "My name's Jenny. Do you want to come in and wait?" Her demon tried to salvage the situation, if she could lure Tara inside, she could threaten her or kill her. Then Jenny remembered the last time someone had hurt Tara, Glory never had the time to feel what Willow did to her. Jenny suspected that the hell-goddess would have had some nasty side-effect from being reversed brain sucked.
"No, thank you, I just wanted to see if Mr. Giles was alright. Everybody was worried over at Xander's. Since Buffy" she gulped and held back tears at this point "died, he's been kind of cooped up here. Just tell him we were worried about him." Tara had to re-live the last few days with Willow after mentioning Buffy. Willow was strong and confident, but she was also very fragile. Buffy was one of her best friends. Willow had a very hard time in a world without Buffy, the Slayer had seemed to be indestructible. For the five years Willow had known Buffy, she faced every threat and came out on top every time. Willow would sometimes forget that Buffy had actually died, and the grief would hit her all over again.
Jenny had to resist the urge to grab the girl. As Jenny Calendar she wanted to comfort the young woman in her time of grief. As a demon, she saw the grief as a seasoning she rarely got to taste. She hardly ever killed multiple people on the same night. "I'll be sure to tell him that, don't worry about him, he had a good night and he's resting peacefully."
"That's good to hear, thank you for helping him. Can you have him call us later?" Tara allowed for a small smile, she had wondered about Giles since she met him, he seemed so lonely. Everybody else had somebody. She had Willow, Xander had Anya, even Spike and Dawn had a sort of inexplicable friendship.
Jenny smiled in turn "Sure, now run along so I can wake Rupert."
Tara nodded and left after Jenny closed the door. Tara would have to ask Xander about this. Nobody called Giles by his first name. Maybe this Jenny had a history with Giles, if so, Xander might know about her.
Jenny walked back upstairs. Her encounter with Tara had left her a little frazzled. The day would not get any less hectic, when she reached Giles' bedroom, he was no longer a tucked in dead body. He was sitting up and looking around as if he were seeing the room for the first time. Now she would find out what she had created and loosed upon the world. "Giles?"
He turned sharply at the name "I should thank you. This fool would be puttering around this laughable so-called home for years to come if you hadn't come along. Don't call me that name again."
"What should I call you?" Jenny was surprised and pleased with his harsh tone. She didn't kill Giles so he could come back as anything similar to the simpering and weak man she had seen develop over the years.
Giles regarded the woman in front of him, he didn't know what to make of her. In her favor, she had made him. But she didn't kill the girl who had come to the door just now. "That name you used downstairs should suffice for now."
"Rupert?" at his nod she smiled "I've brought something for you, wait right here." and she ran downstairs
Giles wondered why she would want him to stay in the bedroom. In no time she came back with someone in tow. She threw the young man at his feet. Giles grinned "Thanks for the meal"
With Giles being a new vampire, the young man didn't survive for very long. Jenny looked on with approval. Her new companion obviously knew how to feed. "You're welcome."
"So, what now? I expect we won't stay here for very long, especially after the present you just gave me." He gestured to the dead body.
Jenny thought 'I knew I made the right choice in picking him' to Giles she said "Right, come nightfall, we'll leave."
"Seems we have some time to kill, stuck here, what say you to continuing our activities from last night." Giles kept looking at Jenny like he would a human he was about to kill and feed from, only in her case it was far more intense.
Jenny could definitely get on board with that idea. She almost forgot the message she was supposed to give "Wait, Tara wanted me to tell you that everyone is worried about you, and that you should call them."
"Not that it matters anymore. But I'll give them a call before we leave, now come here." Giles was still naked, and Jenny's clothes were easy to remove. Giles reflected that this was a most enjoyable day. He was immortal, he had a good meal, and a beautiful woman to share his bed. The time they shared ended far sooner than they liked.
Tara returned to Xander's. She found the place bustling with activity. Anya was already making breakfast, she just wanted to make something for her and Xander, but Dawn and Spike had pestered her into making something for everyone.
Xander had just came from the bedroom and was slowly drinking coffee. He was still trying to wake up. They had already had a drunken wake for Buffy. This was simply Xander recuperating after a day of work and a long night dealing with too many house guests. Tara came and sat next to him.
"I checked on Giles, there was a woman at his place." Tara's revelation caused everyone to look at her and made Xander spit up his most recent sip of coffee.
Xander sputtered, coughed, and said "So, he hooked up with someone last night?"
"It looked that way, he was still sleeping, and she looked like you and Anya do some mornings." Tara blushed a little, she was hoping Anya wouldn't give a blunt description of how she and Xander looked after a night of sex.
"Wow." Xander was hard to surprise, but this was one of those times. Giles was the last person he pegged to have a fling. Xander could see the older man settling down with someone for the long haul. He couldn't mesh the tweed-suited Watcher with someone who would pick up a girl at the Bronze.
Tara had to agree "I was surprised, has Mr. Giles ever had a girlfriend?"
Xander's mood darkened and Spike walked over, waiting for the right moment to chime in, Xander said "Only two as far as I know, he had a friend from England that showed up when you and everyone else went to college."
"Who was the other one?" Tara could see there was some history that Xander was omitting.
Xander shook his head, it was too early in the morning and he was too sober to talk about that time in his life "Tara, there are some things we don't talk about, Giles other girlfriend falls into that."
Spike interrupted "I don't have a problem telling the story."
Tara turned towards Spike while Xander nearly exploded "Don't even think about it, I'll tell her, I'm the only one here who knew her, sorry Dawnie." He looked at Dawn "I know you have memories of her. But I actually met her and saw them together" He turned and pointed at Spike "And you were evil, you probably helped plan the whole thing!"
Spike backed away, he could take Xander in a fight easily enough. But the whole sunlight thing made that risky with everyone else around "No, that was all Angelus, I told him not to do it. But Dru told him otherwise, he listened to her."
Tara looked back and forth between the two "Okay, so what's this mystery story that's got everyone so riled up?"
Xander calmed down a little bit "Tara, you know how Willow and Dawn don't like to mention Buffy?" she nodded and he pressed on "I had a best friend like that, he died and I never talk about him."
"So, Giles lost someone, what was her name?" Tara was getting it, they barely mentioned anyone who had died before.
Xander sighed and said "Ms. Calendar, though he called her Jenny, she was our computer teacher, helped to save the world a couple of times."
Tara picked up on the name "Huh, that's weird, Jenny was the name that woman gave when I asked her."
"Woah, I wouldn't think that Giles would want to be reminded like that." Xander waved it off as a coincidence, Jenny was a common enough name, and it wasn't like Giles talked about his personal life.
Tara was about to let it drop as well when her original purpose popped up "She seemed to know Mr. Giles really well, used his first name and everything."
"What did she look like?" Xander turned serious very quickly, Giles was quite touchy about his name, and he hated nicknames, it was just easier to stick to Giles.
Tara started rattling off what she saw "She had short, black hair, brown eyes, and you know a day in the sun would do her some good, she seemed to have a good sense of fashion...what's wrong?"
"We might have a real problem here, where was Giles?" Xander had paled, it wasn't unheard of for people to come back to life in this town. More often than not they came back as something else.
Tara wondered why Xander was so worried "She said he was asleep."
Xander stood up and began issuing orders, this surprised evryone "Tara, call Willow, tell her to come back here as soon as possible." He turned to the rest of the room. "Anya, Dawn stay here, don't let Giles in if he comes to the door. Spike I need you to come with me."
"I'd love to, mate, but it's a bit bright out there right now, we might want to wait. If you're saying what I think you're saying, than the watcher is already gone. Besides I promised to keep an eye on the nibblet here." Spike looked fondly at Dawn, this was one promise he wouldn't fail again, everything else could fall apart, as long as he kept her safe, he'd be doing some good and Buffy would be proud of him.
Tara was getting worried, Spike saying that Giles was "gone" did not bode well "What are you guys talking about?"
Xander dealt with Spike first "Fine, I'll go get some supplies from the Magic Box, when you can go outside we'll head over to Giles' place."
He turned to Tara "That woman you met, she's supposed to be dead. She's probably a vampire, and Giles is already dead."
Tara gasped while Anya said "Xander, I'll come with you, I can give you a discount on the supplies, if what you're saying is true, I'm the sole proprietor now. I can't have you stealing from the shop."
Xander smiled at Anya while everyone else reacted to the news and Tara went for the phone. He was glad that some things didn't change.
Xander and Spike would have caught the two vampires. Unfortunately, Jenny knew exactly when she and Rupert could leave his apartment. There was a time lag in going from Xander's to Giles'. Those few minutes would be crucial. Spike and Xander would be one step behind for the night.
This part of her plan, she had it planned down to the last detail. She even found an Auto shop that would outfit her car for daytime travel for vampires. They seemed to get a lot of business from a law firm that had a big presence in Los Angeles.
Jenny had even given Giles a cell phone. She reflected that the man she had turned probably never owned one, and if he did, it was with some hemming and hawing. She insisted he keep his glasses and a small wardrobe for the trip. It was important to keep up his disguise for a while yet. They were nearly out of the town when Jenny turned to Giles said "You should make that call now, wouldn't want to make them worry."
"Alright, but I still think it was a mistake to allow Tara to leave. She's smarter than you'd expect. Well, nothing for it I suppose, excuse me while I make this call." Giles dialed the number to Xander's.
Jenny only half listened as Giles spewed some lies about being fine and rested. She paid more attention when he denied that he was a vampire and that she had turned him. He told whoever was on the other end of the phone that Tara was wrong, it was simply someone else named Jenny who was at his apartment. After he was finished, he wanted to toss the phone out of the window.
"Well, It seems I was right, Tara and the rest figured out what happened. I expect we're being pursued at this very moment." Giles was looking trying to see if they were being deliberately followed.
Jenny laughed "Oh, Rupert, relax. Worst case, they sent Spike to track our scents, by the time he realizes where we're headed, we will be well on our way. And if they don't catch us on the freeway, we'll be in L.A. and there we can hide for a while."
Giles settled then, Jenny was right. She had planned all of this fairly well. "You're incredible, thank you for everything you've done for me." They continued driving north to L.A. as Jenny smiled at the praise and the gratitude.
Willow had received Tara's call. It was almost a relief to be able to leave the Hyperion. Answering Angel's questions about how Buffy died, and why didn't they call him before so he could help in the battle against Glory and her minions was bad enough. Watching Angel, Wesley, and Cordelia grieve each in their own way was worse. She had experienced that and watched everyone else go through it as well. As bad as the situation in Sunnydale seemed to be, with the possibility that Giles was dead and having his body serving as host to a soulless demon, at least she could help do something.
After this situation with Giles was resolved, she planned to revive Buffy, it would be incredibly difficult, but at least she could feel useful again. That was the worst part of dealing with the grief over death, she felt so useless.
If only someone had seen Jenny's car and told Willow. The two vampires and the witch passed each other on the highway, each going opposite directions. As night had fully fallen, neither one knew how close they came to a confrontation.
In Los Angeles, Angel made a decision, he had to get away. He didn't know what he was doing anymore. He came to L.A. to get away from Buffy, and, as it turned out; carry on her fight in another place. Now she was dead, and nobody from Sunnydale had thought to call him. For all of the threats L.A. had, even Wolfram & Hart and their schemes, he thought a hell-goddess trumped all of those. He packed, left a note for his friends (they would understand why he was leaving) and walked off into the night. He would return, after he had sorted out what he intended to do with his existence. He still had the Shanshu out there as a reward for stopping some sort of apocalypse. But even that seemed like a glass half full without Buffy.
While Angel was busy leaving L.A. behind. Jenny and Rupert were equally busy entering the city and determining where they were going to stay. Jenny had researched the demon underground in the city. She found an intriguing club called Caritas, it was rumored that one could learn their destiny from the host of the place. She picked a dive apartment within walking distance of the club. She knew where Angel's group was working, and she wanted to keep her distance. She would take her time, watch them, teach Rupert, and wait for the perfect time to strike. Her years of stalking Giles had taught her patience. She didn't have to wait that long to destroy Angel.