joruns
in
gilesjenny
What Could Have Been - Chapter 13
Disclaimer: Idon't own any of the characters, if I did Jenny never would have been killed. They are owned by Joss Wheldon, etc. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is made, this is just a hobby.
Author's Notes: This is my first attempt at fanfiction or at least the first I've let anyone else read. English isn’t my first language so please excuse possible spelling mistakes.
Summary: This story starts at the episode Passion from season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is my version of how the series would have gone if Drusilla never found out what Jenny was planning.
He'd known it, he'd known it right from the start, did that son of a bitch really think he could just screw him over. That he could just waltz in after decades of being a useless excuse of a vampire and take over his territory, take his place and take his Drusilla. When he got his hands on that filthy traitor there was going to be hell to pay.
Feeling the rage consuming him he let out a furious roar and took out his frustration on the nearest tree, with all his strength he slammed his body against the tree trunk and was rewarded with a loud cracking sound.
His need to unleash his anger temporarily satisfied he closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath. As much as he wanted to be attacking Angelus instead off a tree he knew he needed to keep a level head, confronting Angel would be playing right in to his hands. The smartest thing he could now was to continue playing the charade and wait for the right moment. As long as Angel didn't perceive him as a threat he still had a chance of finding out exactly what he was planning, and how to ruin it.
Still too enraged to go back to the warehouse and keep his emotions in check he decided to put his anger to good use and do a little scheming off his own.
First off he needed to get his wheelchair that he'd stashed in the mist off a few bushes not far away and after that he was off to the place where one was most likely to find gullible and informative vampires this time of night.
They where easy enough to find, the four of them was standing in the middle of the cemetery making enough noise to keep any eventual prey far away. Complete and utter morons, but for this they would be perfect. Two of them he recognized but he'd never bothered to remember their name, the other two where probably new.
It didn't take them long to spot him, the tallest of the vampires moved to greet him while the others huddled behind casting curious glances his way, "Spike."
He didn't bother to return the greeting, he didn’t have the time nor the desire to socialize, what he wanted was some useful information. "Haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?"
"Around."
"Doing what exactly?" he demanded, letting his irritation show in his voice.
"I really don't see how that's any of your business."
Now that he had not been expecting, who the hell did this idiot think he was. "Not my business?! Do I need to remind you that you work for me!"
"What work? Running away from the slayer? You're constantly being beaten by a teenage girl Spike, not much of a leader," the vampire sneered at him. "Besides, you're mental if you think I'm going to take orders from an invalid."
That was it, he was not going to take this crap from some lowlife amateur. In a fit of rage Spike launched from his wheelchair taking the vampire completely by surprise. In one swift move he had him in an iron grasp.
Immediately the other vampires made a move to escape but Spike was quick to perceive their intention, "Hold it right there!"
All three came to a halt, none of them daring to disobey his direct order. Turning his attention back to the vampire in his grasp he spoke in a calm, low voice, "It seems to me as if you and your little friends have been allowed far to much freedom."
"I'm sorry Spike, I didn't mean to-"
"Don't interrupt me. Our little encounter is going to remain a secret for now, no one will hear of what transpires here tonight. Is that clear?"
"Got it, we won't say a word," the vampire promised.
"Good," Spike smiled at him in satisfaction letting go of his hold, then without any warning he grab a hold of him again throwing the unexpecting vampire directly at a sharp branch that pierced straight through his heart leaving left nothing but ash.
With that idiot out of the way Spike turned towards the three remaining vampires who where now looking at him in trepidation, "Now that you've seen exactly how I deal with those who are stupid enough to question me… I trust our future collaboration is going to a smooth ride."
"Y-Yes boss, whatever you say," one of the vampires stammered out.
"Excellent. Now, let's talk business."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Jenny hurriedly made her way through the corridor as the bell rang signaling that her first class of the day was about to start. Ruperts scrap-heap of a car hadn't started this morning and since her car was still at her apartment it had been a small miracle that she made it to school somewhat in time. She had almost reached the safety of her classroom when she heard the principal's shrill voice shout out, "Ms Calendar!"
She came to a halt and took a deep breath before facing him, "Principal Snyder. Is there a problem?"
"The problem is that you're supposed to start teaching your class at 8:30 and it is now 8:32. I do not accept tardiness among my staff Ms Calendar."
"I'm sorry, I was..."
"I care little for you're feeble excuses." He gave her a critical glance over and raised his head superiorly, "I happened to notice the library wasn't opened yet either. That seems to be happening quite a lot lately. I'm assuming that our missing librarian was with you?"
"How so?"
"It hasn't escaped my notice that you two are spending a lot of time together. Why is that exactly?"
"There is hardly anything odd about spending time with a co-worker. Now I better get going, don't want to keep my students waiting."
With that Jenny turned around and headed for her classroom leaving Snyder snarling after her, "That wouldn't be a problem if you where here on time."
Later that afternoon Jenny walked into the library to find Willow seated at the study table with a huge book in front off her, nothing out of the ordinary about that but the fact that the library appeared otherwise empty was an unusual occurrence.
"Where is everybody?"
Before Willow had the chance to respond Giles emerged from the stack off bookshelves answering her question, "I gave Buffy the night off, she's going to do patrol later and Xander was going to find Cordelia-"
"avoid Cordelia," Willow corrected him.
"-and Willow offered to stay and help me research," he went on as if Willow hadn't interrupted him.
"I see. And what exactly are you researching?"
At that question Willow bowed her head and mumbled, "All sort of different things…"
"In other words," Giles declared, "I have no idea what to look for or where to find it. Everything is just all over the place right now, with this mystery amulet and Sue Reynolds murder…"
Jenny gave him a sympathetic smile, "I'm afraid this won't shed a lot of light on the situation but I did a little more digging about George Reynolds, or more accurately his grandfather who he supposedly got the amulet from."
"What did you find?" Giles asked, his interest sparked.
"Donald Reynolds, born 1926 in Chicago, married a Elisabeth Garner in 1949, they had three children together and," she paused for a second to make sure she had their full attention, "he died 1988 in Los Angeles County Jail."
"He was in prison?"
"Turns out Georges grandfather had quite a colorful past, he was arrested several times for pick pocketing and home invasion before he finally was arrested for armed robbery and passed away two years later.
Giles looked at her with something resembling amazement, "You found out all this today?"
She couldn't help but smirk as she teased, "Amazing the information you can find on the internet huh?"
"So what does this mean?" Willow asked.
Giles let out a sigh in frustration, "Well, the bad news is since Georges grandfather was a thief he could have gotten hold of the amulet, from pretty much anywhere," he trailed of for a few seconds his expression turning contemplating, "or anyone. I do wonder…"
"What?" Jenny asked, but Rupert appeared to be too deep in thought to hear her, "Rupert, don't leave us hanging."
That shook him out of his musings, "Oh, sorry. Buffy mentioned that the vampire looking for the amulet said it was his amulet."
Jenny considered that for a moment trying to follow his line of thought, "So you think he used to own it?"
"It's definitely possible."
That got Willow excited, "You mean maybe Donald Reynolds stole it from this vampire, when he wasn't a vampire, and now this vampire is digging up his grandsons grave to get it back."
"S-Something like that, yes."
"But that's good right? That would mean that maybe Spike and Angel aren't after this amulet and maybe it's not something dangerous. Right?" the girl wondered hopefully.
Giles took of his glasses and started cleaning them while thinking over this new theory, "Even so… we have no way to know for sure. And if they indeed are not after this amulet then we have no insight whatsoever to what they might be planning which… probably would be even worse."
Willow let out a quiet "Oh," in disappointment.
"Another dead end huh," Jenny apologized.
Giles gave her a encouraging smile, "I'm afraid so. I really don't know how to proceed without knowing what amulet it is we're dealing with."
Not being one to admit defeat Jenny decided it was time to take a more hands on approach, "In that case we need to determined who bought the amulet."
"But how? It was sold at a garage sale, anyone could have bought it," Giles objected
"Well people don't usually come from out of town to attend a garage sale so most likely it is still somewhere in Sunnydale."
Giles rolled his eyes at her reasoning, "Oh, well that would narrow down the search to a couple of thousands."
"But since the amulet was made in pure silver and gold it would be considered quite valuable, and when you factor in Sue Reynolds apparent expensive taste I'd guess she would have sold it for quite a hefty sum. So we can pretty much rule out everyone who can't afford to spend a small fortune on jewelry."
"Yes…" Giles hesitantly agreed, seeming to start getting on board with her reasoning and inserted, "and an amulet would be something unusual and might appeal to a-a collector of some sort."
"Most probably a women since-"
"You guys…" Willows slightly uncertain voice interrupted them.
"Yes, Willow?"
"I was just thinking… If she sold the amulet in a garage sale isn't it possible it was bought by one of her neighbors? I mean that's who usually attends a garage sale. Plus she lived in a pretty upscale area so most of them would probably be able to afford it."
The girls logical suggestion brought Jenny up short. Damn, she should have thought of that herself. Judging by Ruperts current expression he was thinking something along the same line.
"Y-Yes, that would be a good place to… to start," Giles agreed.
Shaking of her embarrassment, anxious to get to do something useful Jenny declared, "Alright then, I guess we go knock on some doors."
"Right now?" Giles questioned in surprise.
"You have a better plan?"
"No, no I just-"
"Than I say we get to it," she interrupted before he had a chance to come up with any objections.
"Can I come?" Willow asked, her voice pleading.
Giles appeared momentarily thrown by her enquire, "I-I don't know if that would be-"
"Please," the girl begged, "I mean, it was kind of my idea…"
He regarded her in uncertainty for a few seconds before relenting, "Oh, fine."
Jenny couldn't help but smile at the girls subtle manipulation but decided it was best not to comment.
Just then the doors swung open and Cordelia walked in her heels pounding loudly against the floor. "Is Xander here?"
"No, he's not," Jenny answered, and sarcastically added, "and hello to you too."
Cordelia looked at them in puzzlement for a moment before proclaiming, "Oh, good… cause I so don't want to talk to him."
"Yes, well, we where on our way out…" Giles declared, not in the mood to deal with any teenage angst at the moment.
"Where are we going?"
Giles opened his mouth to object to her assumption but stopped himself reckoning it wouldn't make a difference. Instead he turned his attention to Jenny, "Shall we?"
"I'll fill you in on the way," Willow assured the other girl as they made their way out of the library.
Cordelia shrugged her shoulders in indifference, "Okay. It's not going to be anything involving blood or intestines do is it? Because this outfit is new."
Author's Notes: This is my first attempt at fanfiction or at least the first I've let anyone else read. English isn’t my first language so please excuse possible spelling mistakes.
Summary: This story starts at the episode Passion from season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is my version of how the series would have gone if Drusilla never found out what Jenny was planning.
He'd known it, he'd known it right from the start, did that son of a bitch really think he could just screw him over. That he could just waltz in after decades of being a useless excuse of a vampire and take over his territory, take his place and take his Drusilla. When he got his hands on that filthy traitor there was going to be hell to pay.
Feeling the rage consuming him he let out a furious roar and took out his frustration on the nearest tree, with all his strength he slammed his body against the tree trunk and was rewarded with a loud cracking sound.
His need to unleash his anger temporarily satisfied he closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath. As much as he wanted to be attacking Angelus instead off a tree he knew he needed to keep a level head, confronting Angel would be playing right in to his hands. The smartest thing he could now was to continue playing the charade and wait for the right moment. As long as Angel didn't perceive him as a threat he still had a chance of finding out exactly what he was planning, and how to ruin it.
Still too enraged to go back to the warehouse and keep his emotions in check he decided to put his anger to good use and do a little scheming off his own.
First off he needed to get his wheelchair that he'd stashed in the mist off a few bushes not far away and after that he was off to the place where one was most likely to find gullible and informative vampires this time of night.
They where easy enough to find, the four of them was standing in the middle of the cemetery making enough noise to keep any eventual prey far away. Complete and utter morons, but for this they would be perfect. Two of them he recognized but he'd never bothered to remember their name, the other two where probably new.
It didn't take them long to spot him, the tallest of the vampires moved to greet him while the others huddled behind casting curious glances his way, "Spike."
He didn't bother to return the greeting, he didn’t have the time nor the desire to socialize, what he wanted was some useful information. "Haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?"
"Around."
"Doing what exactly?" he demanded, letting his irritation show in his voice.
"I really don't see how that's any of your business."
Now that he had not been expecting, who the hell did this idiot think he was. "Not my business?! Do I need to remind you that you work for me!"
"What work? Running away from the slayer? You're constantly being beaten by a teenage girl Spike, not much of a leader," the vampire sneered at him. "Besides, you're mental if you think I'm going to take orders from an invalid."
That was it, he was not going to take this crap from some lowlife amateur. In a fit of rage Spike launched from his wheelchair taking the vampire completely by surprise. In one swift move he had him in an iron grasp.
Immediately the other vampires made a move to escape but Spike was quick to perceive their intention, "Hold it right there!"
All three came to a halt, none of them daring to disobey his direct order. Turning his attention back to the vampire in his grasp he spoke in a calm, low voice, "It seems to me as if you and your little friends have been allowed far to much freedom."
"I'm sorry Spike, I didn't mean to-"
"Don't interrupt me. Our little encounter is going to remain a secret for now, no one will hear of what transpires here tonight. Is that clear?"
"Got it, we won't say a word," the vampire promised.
"Good," Spike smiled at him in satisfaction letting go of his hold, then without any warning he grab a hold of him again throwing the unexpecting vampire directly at a sharp branch that pierced straight through his heart leaving left nothing but ash.
With that idiot out of the way Spike turned towards the three remaining vampires who where now looking at him in trepidation, "Now that you've seen exactly how I deal with those who are stupid enough to question me… I trust our future collaboration is going to a smooth ride."
"Y-Yes boss, whatever you say," one of the vampires stammered out.
"Excellent. Now, let's talk business."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Jenny hurriedly made her way through the corridor as the bell rang signaling that her first class of the day was about to start. Ruperts scrap-heap of a car hadn't started this morning and since her car was still at her apartment it had been a small miracle that she made it to school somewhat in time. She had almost reached the safety of her classroom when she heard the principal's shrill voice shout out, "Ms Calendar!"
She came to a halt and took a deep breath before facing him, "Principal Snyder. Is there a problem?"
"The problem is that you're supposed to start teaching your class at 8:30 and it is now 8:32. I do not accept tardiness among my staff Ms Calendar."
"I'm sorry, I was..."
"I care little for you're feeble excuses." He gave her a critical glance over and raised his head superiorly, "I happened to notice the library wasn't opened yet either. That seems to be happening quite a lot lately. I'm assuming that our missing librarian was with you?"
"How so?"
"It hasn't escaped my notice that you two are spending a lot of time together. Why is that exactly?"
"There is hardly anything odd about spending time with a co-worker. Now I better get going, don't want to keep my students waiting."
With that Jenny turned around and headed for her classroom leaving Snyder snarling after her, "That wouldn't be a problem if you where here on time."
Later that afternoon Jenny walked into the library to find Willow seated at the study table with a huge book in front off her, nothing out of the ordinary about that but the fact that the library appeared otherwise empty was an unusual occurrence.
"Where is everybody?"
Before Willow had the chance to respond Giles emerged from the stack off bookshelves answering her question, "I gave Buffy the night off, she's going to do patrol later and Xander was going to find Cordelia-"
"avoid Cordelia," Willow corrected him.
"-and Willow offered to stay and help me research," he went on as if Willow hadn't interrupted him.
"I see. And what exactly are you researching?"
At that question Willow bowed her head and mumbled, "All sort of different things…"
"In other words," Giles declared, "I have no idea what to look for or where to find it. Everything is just all over the place right now, with this mystery amulet and Sue Reynolds murder…"
Jenny gave him a sympathetic smile, "I'm afraid this won't shed a lot of light on the situation but I did a little more digging about George Reynolds, or more accurately his grandfather who he supposedly got the amulet from."
"What did you find?" Giles asked, his interest sparked.
"Donald Reynolds, born 1926 in Chicago, married a Elisabeth Garner in 1949, they had three children together and," she paused for a second to make sure she had their full attention, "he died 1988 in Los Angeles County Jail."
"He was in prison?"
"Turns out Georges grandfather had quite a colorful past, he was arrested several times for pick pocketing and home invasion before he finally was arrested for armed robbery and passed away two years later.
Giles looked at her with something resembling amazement, "You found out all this today?"
She couldn't help but smirk as she teased, "Amazing the information you can find on the internet huh?"
"So what does this mean?" Willow asked.
Giles let out a sigh in frustration, "Well, the bad news is since Georges grandfather was a thief he could have gotten hold of the amulet, from pretty much anywhere," he trailed of for a few seconds his expression turning contemplating, "or anyone. I do wonder…"
"What?" Jenny asked, but Rupert appeared to be too deep in thought to hear her, "Rupert, don't leave us hanging."
That shook him out of his musings, "Oh, sorry. Buffy mentioned that the vampire looking for the amulet said it was his amulet."
Jenny considered that for a moment trying to follow his line of thought, "So you think he used to own it?"
"It's definitely possible."
That got Willow excited, "You mean maybe Donald Reynolds stole it from this vampire, when he wasn't a vampire, and now this vampire is digging up his grandsons grave to get it back."
"S-Something like that, yes."
"But that's good right? That would mean that maybe Spike and Angel aren't after this amulet and maybe it's not something dangerous. Right?" the girl wondered hopefully.
Giles took of his glasses and started cleaning them while thinking over this new theory, "Even so… we have no way to know for sure. And if they indeed are not after this amulet then we have no insight whatsoever to what they might be planning which… probably would be even worse."
Willow let out a quiet "Oh," in disappointment.
"Another dead end huh," Jenny apologized.
Giles gave her a encouraging smile, "I'm afraid so. I really don't know how to proceed without knowing what amulet it is we're dealing with."
Not being one to admit defeat Jenny decided it was time to take a more hands on approach, "In that case we need to determined who bought the amulet."
"But how? It was sold at a garage sale, anyone could have bought it," Giles objected
"Well people don't usually come from out of town to attend a garage sale so most likely it is still somewhere in Sunnydale."
Giles rolled his eyes at her reasoning, "Oh, well that would narrow down the search to a couple of thousands."
"But since the amulet was made in pure silver and gold it would be considered quite valuable, and when you factor in Sue Reynolds apparent expensive taste I'd guess she would have sold it for quite a hefty sum. So we can pretty much rule out everyone who can't afford to spend a small fortune on jewelry."
"Yes…" Giles hesitantly agreed, seeming to start getting on board with her reasoning and inserted, "and an amulet would be something unusual and might appeal to a-a collector of some sort."
"Most probably a women since-"
"You guys…" Willows slightly uncertain voice interrupted them.
"Yes, Willow?"
"I was just thinking… If she sold the amulet in a garage sale isn't it possible it was bought by one of her neighbors? I mean that's who usually attends a garage sale. Plus she lived in a pretty upscale area so most of them would probably be able to afford it."
The girls logical suggestion brought Jenny up short. Damn, she should have thought of that herself. Judging by Ruperts current expression he was thinking something along the same line.
"Y-Yes, that would be a good place to… to start," Giles agreed.
Shaking of her embarrassment, anxious to get to do something useful Jenny declared, "Alright then, I guess we go knock on some doors."
"Right now?" Giles questioned in surprise.
"You have a better plan?"
"No, no I just-"
"Than I say we get to it," she interrupted before he had a chance to come up with any objections.
"Can I come?" Willow asked, her voice pleading.
Giles appeared momentarily thrown by her enquire, "I-I don't know if that would be-"
"Please," the girl begged, "I mean, it was kind of my idea…"
He regarded her in uncertainty for a few seconds before relenting, "Oh, fine."
Jenny couldn't help but smile at the girls subtle manipulation but decided it was best not to comment.
Just then the doors swung open and Cordelia walked in her heels pounding loudly against the floor. "Is Xander here?"
"No, he's not," Jenny answered, and sarcastically added, "and hello to you too."
Cordelia looked at them in puzzlement for a moment before proclaiming, "Oh, good… cause I so don't want to talk to him."
"Yes, well, we where on our way out…" Giles declared, not in the mood to deal with any teenage angst at the moment.
"Where are we going?"
Giles opened his mouth to object to her assumption but stopped himself reckoning it wouldn't make a difference. Instead he turned his attention to Jenny, "Shall we?"
"I'll fill you in on the way," Willow assured the other girl as they made their way out of the library.
Cordelia shrugged her shoulders in indifference, "Okay. It's not going to be anything involving blood or intestines do is it? Because this outfit is new."