Lives Lived and Lives Lost

Life #35: vampire slayers, part 2

Life # 35: That time Harry and Tom were vampire slayers, part 2

After they dealt with the Judge with a rocket launcher, which was awesome, if Harry did say so herself, and Xander was amazing for having come up with that genius plan, Harry invited Jenny over to Giles’ apartment for a little chat.

“You’re saying your uncle gave you this ritual?” Harry asked, her hand on Jenny’s throat. She wasn’t pulling any punches, no matter Giles’ quiet objections, because one of her friends had been hurt. For all that Angel had acted like a creepy stalker for a while, after Harry had made it clear she was done with him, Angel had respected her wishes and kept his distance, though still helping them with all the supernatural trouble that always came their way in Sunnydale. So Harry considered him a friend, and now Jenny had made Angel’s soul go poof and turned him into a homicidal maniac overnight.

“My uncle Enyos told me Angel’s soul was in danger because the original curse was deteriorating. He gave me the anchoring ritual, but instead of fixing the issue it caused him to lose his soul,” Jenny said in a tight voice, Harry’s fingers partially blocking her airways.

“So he set you up,” Harry concluded with a sage nod.

“I’m so sorry,” Jenny breathed, eyes wide and pleading. “I was only trying to help, I swear it.”

“I believe you,” Harry said with a sigh, releasing Jenny’s throat. Giles stepped forward at once to check up on her.

“My clan were the ones to initially curse Angelus,” Jenny explained later, after Giles had made them all cups of tea and they were sitting around Giles’ living room. “Throughout the generations we’ve always kept an eye on him, to make sure he kept suffering and for a century he did. But then he changed, started taking part in life again, all because of you, Buffy. I was sent here to make sure he wouldn’t find happiness, that our clan’s vengeance would continue.”

“Let me guess,” Harry said before taking a sip of her tea. “Angel’s life got too comfortable, so your clan decided to do away with him entirely. And to accomplish that they tricked you into disappearing his soul so I would end up staking him.”

“That does make a disturbing amount of sense,” Giles said, giving Jenny a dubious look. “I wish you’d told us about this sooner, Jenny.”

“I didn’t think I had to,” Jenny whispered while looking down at her lap. “I thought I could serve both my clan and help you protect Sunnydale.”

“Well, what’s done is done,” Harry said, not wanting to waste any time on what might have beens. “Your clan cursed Angel with a soul once. Let’s do it again.”

“The ritual was lost, as far as I know,” Jenny said, though she looked interested in Harry’s proposal.

Harry leaned forward, giving Jenny a hard look. “So find it. Do whatever it takes. Angel is a friend and I don’t want to kill him. I will if I have to, but I much prefer to just ram his soul back into him and turn him into a real boy again instead of the demon he is now.”

A few days later, Willow kept shooting Harry questioning looks while they were studying together in Harry’s bedroom. Well, Willow was studying. Harry was going through some Adidas shirts she’d found in the local thrift store that afternoon, photographing them before listing them on eBay.