DARK SECRET: Part Two
by Peter Wadkin
The characters in this story do not belong to me (except Jay), they are owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and WB. I am not making any money by using them(D'OH!).


For authors note see part 1.



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Part Two

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The next morning, Buffy looked much better. They had a hard time convincing Cordeilia that Jay was a vampire, but Oz seemed to take it in his stride. In fact Oz was rarely bothered by anything. *I guess when you become large and furry every full moon it's difficult to find anything else that's weirder,* Buffy thought to herself.

Giles had spent most of the night looking for clues as to what had happened, but so far had come up blank.

"I take it Jay hasn't shown up today?" he asked Buffy. She shook her head.

"No surprises there," Xander added. For once nobody disagreed with him.

"What are you going to do?" Willow asked Buffy gently.

"Wait 'til after school and then go and look for him," she answered.

"Your not going to stake him are you?" Cordeilia asked. She quite liked Jay.

"I don't know," was the only reply.


* * *
It was late when Buffy came to Jay's apartment. She had sneaked into Snyder's office and checked Jay's file. Apparently he had rented a small apartment near the park. She had a hard time convincing the others that she should come alone, but she had won in the end. She was not in a mood to be argued with. Even her mother had not complained as she left, although Buffy hadn't told her about Jay yet.

She tried the door, but it was locked. She thought about knocking, but dismissed the idea quickly; she wasn't in the mood to be polite.

She took a quick look around and then kicked at the door. It opened easily, swinging wildly on its hinges. She walked inside and took a quick look around. It was small, and relatively neat. There was nobody home.

She turned around and walked out again. She walked across the road, towards the park. She reached the entrance and looked around. It was then that she saw him, standing in the middle of the park, looking away from her. She walked over to him. She was unsure what to say. He was a vampire, but he had saved her life. And he had kissed her; boy what a kiss.

*OK Buffy,* she thought, *time to say something witty.*

"Hey," she said. *Great start,* she thought irritably.

He turned to face her. His features were human, but she could see a cold hatred in his eyes. She gave him a puzzled look and waited for him to answer.

"*Hey*," Jay answered in an angry tone. "You destroy my life and you come up to me and say 'hey'."

"Jay, I..." Buffy began, but she was cut off.

"Jaden."

"I'm sorry?," she replied.

"My name is Jaden."

*Jaden,* she thought, *what a beautiful name. It certainly matches his features,* she looked at his eyes, but turned away again, not liking the feelings that were portrayed there.

"I don't understand," was all she could think of to say.

"Your watcher hasn't figured it out yet?" he asked.

Buffy shook her head slowly.

"Very well, I'll explain."


* * *
"Got it!" Giles exclaimed. The others looked up from their own research and stared at Giles expectantly.

"It seems that Jay is one of the ancient ones, or at least one of their race." He said this in a tone of voice that suggested that this should be obvious, but seeing puzzled looks, he elaborated.

"The ancient ones were the first vampires, created by a powerful Archdemon about twelve thousand years ago. They were especially powerful, more so than vampires today; for example they could hypnotise people, were stronger, faster and were not susceptible to sunlight. They were also allowed to keep their souls, which were merged with the demon inside them to make them more powerful."

"So what happened to them?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, what's with the past tense G-man", Xander added.

Giles, in his excitement, didn't register what Xander had called him. Cordeilia did however and promptly hit him on the arm.

"The ancient ones became too powerful," Giles continued. "The demon who created them began to fear them so he cast what is known as Night's Curse on them. This stripped away most of their powers, including their souls, and left them unable to live in the sunlight, therefore removing the threat to their creator. Most noticeably, their eyes turned yellow, blocking their previous hypnotic powers." He paused for a moment as if letting this fact sink in. "Thus was born the modern vampire."

"So how can Jay be one of these ancient ones?" Oz asked.

Giles read a bit more of the passage in front of him before answering.

"Because they had a soul, some of them were able to control the demon inside them and were able to hang on to their humanity. Some of these vampires approached a power of good, equal to that of the demon, and pleaded to be able to keep their souls. In exchange, they agreed not to kill humanity, but protect it from the vampires and anything else that would destroy it. She agreed."

"So these ancient ones are on the home team?" Cordeilia asked.

"So it seems," Giles answered.

"Have you got anything about Jay in your books?" Willow enquired.

"Perhaps, let me have a look."


* * *
"So, you're *twelve thousand* years old?" Buffy asked as Jaden came to the end of his story.

"Four hundred and eleven."

"But, you're a good vampire?"

"I suppose you could call me that," he replied, the anger still noticeable in his voice.

Buffy studied him for a while, unsure what to say next. She was still unsure about the hatred angle, especially after last night. However her curiosity got the better of her.

"So how'd you get the gig?"


* * *
"Ah, here we are." Giles pointed to his book. The Slayerettes were now stood over him expectantly. In the book was a sketch of two people, one was a girl, the other, even without colour, was unmistakably Jay.

"So whose the babe?" Xander asked, ignoring the look he received from his girlfriend.

"She is, was, a slayer. Her name was Elizabeth, and she was engaged to Jay, or perhaps I should say Jaden, his real name. That was when he was mortal."

"When was that?" asked Willow, staring at the picture. "She was very beautiful."

"Yes she was. She was killed fighting a group of vampires almost four hundred years ago - three hundred and ninety to be precise. Jaden was mortally wounded trying to help her. He disappeared and was thought to be dead. He must have been rescued by one of the ancient ones, and made into a vampire."

"How sad," Cordeilia commented.

"The upside is eternal life," Xander pointed out.

"No, I mean that he was brought back to life, but she died, so he'll live forever without the women that he loved the most."

While the others reflected on this for a while, Xander wondered who had given his girlfriend this new emotion.


* * *
Jaden finished his tale in a low voice, a flicker of sadness and love appearing on his face for a moment, before being replaced with the coldness he had for Buffy.

"You can't possibly blame me for that," Buffy said quietly.

"No, not for that, for what followed."

Buffy gave him a blank look.

"I lived in pain for many years, wondering what I could have done differently, hating Sarrian, my sire, for what he had done to me. My kind don't make people into vampires randomly, like others. We carefully select them, before revealing our nature and asking them if they want to join us. Because of this, Sarrian was the last of our race until he created me. He was very guilty about it, having not asked my permission, but he had been lonely, and had wanted to save my life, even if he hadn't managed to save Elizabeth."

He faltered slightly as he spoke her name, making Buffy wonder if she could ever truly get over Angel.

"He became my only family, and now I'm the last of my kind, thanks to you."

"Me?" Buffy asked in a low tone. She had a feeling that she knew where this was going.

"You killed him. He never did anything to you and you took away his life."

Buffy thought back over the chaos that had been the last year of her life. Then she remembered one vampire. While she was in LA, after she had stopped Angel, she had discovered a vampire feeding on a stray dog. Not thinking to ask why it hadn't been feeding on humans, she had attacked. The vampire had made no move to defend itself, but it hadn't died from a stake to the heart, although it had been close to it. She remembered that she had beheaded it, with a long shard of glass she had found nearby.

As the recognition appeared on her face Jaden screamed at her.

"You see, you remember."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," was all she could manage to say.

"That's no excuse. You killed an innocent person just for what he was, not for what he did. Who are you to make such decisions? That's right, your the slayer, with the power of God in your hands."

Buffy was close to tears now, as the truth of what he said hit home. Jaden didn't take pity on her though, but continued to yell.

"I even gave you a chance to prove to me that I was wrong about you. In fact I even ended up liking you and your friends, but the fact remains that you ruined my life and now your going to pay for it." He was irate now and seemed beyond reasoning with.

"So your going to kill me, to get your revenge?"

"No." He seemed to calm down for a few moments. "That would be too easy. I'm going to take away the powers that make you, and anyone who would follow you, a slayer. What happened to me will not happen to others."

Buffy's head swam as she tried to understand the implications of his words. Seeing the look, Jaden continued.

"You would be the *last* slayer!"

"You can do that?" she asked, more than a little afraid.

He didn't show the emotion she would have expected from a vampire with that knowledge; no evil grin or mocking laugh. He simply nodded.

"But that would let the vampires win, they would destroy the world."

"No they wouldn't. I would stop them, and any I choose to help me."

"Don't do this Jay, your not evil."

"No I'm not, but you don't understand. You don't know what it's like to be the last of your kind, what it's like to be like me, a creature of darkness, sworn to protect the light." He was yelling again now.

"Then help me to understand," she yelled back at him. She pulled the shoulder of her top down, and offered her neck to him. "If it means that much to you then do it."

*What am I doing,* she thought quickly. *I'm offering to let a vampire, who claims he can destroy all the slayers forever, make be his eternal soulbud. Now I know I'm going crazy.* She mad no move to pull away however. *This could be my only chance to prove to him that I'm sorry for what happened.* Despite these thoughts she wasn't very convinced.

He looked at her for a moment, then his face began to change. The game face, she had once said to Angel. Now however it didn't seem anything like a game. He approached her slowly, in case it was a trick. When she didn't resist, he took hold of her and lowered his face down to her neck.

Buffy closed her eyes and waited for the feel of his fangs in her flesh, but felt only his lips kiss her neck. She opened her eyes and looked at him, seeing his human face looking back at her, with sadness in his eyes.

"I can't do that to you," was all he said.

"Why?" she answered, hoping that the thankfulness wasn't too obvious in her voice.

"I'd like to think that it's because you agreed to sacrifice your life to understand the pain that I felt, because you had caused it, but..."

"But what?," she asked when he didn't continue.

"But the real reason is that," he paused for a moment to look into her eyes. He reached out a hand and ran his fingers gently along her face. "I love you!"

Buffy stared at him in shock. Seeing the look Jaden nodded.

"I know," he started in a confused tone. "How can I love you with all my heart, yet hate you with a passion I've never experienced before. I look at you and all I want to do is make you suffer for what you've done; then I want to hold you close and never let you go."

He stopped and looked away from her, tears in his eyes. Buffy was unsure what to do. Part of her wanted him to forgive her for what she'd done; to stay with her forever. The other part didn't want to go through the same pain as she had with Angel; wanting him to leave and never return. She knew however that it was already to late. If he left now, she would be hurt inside, knowing that it was her fault again. *Damn,* she thought, *why don't I heal inside at the same speed as I do on the outside!*

Jaden turned back around, this time with love in his eyes.

"You remind me of her."

"Who?" Buffy asked.

"Elizabeth. It's probably because you're a slayer. There's a connection between you and all previous slayers which makes you all similar. Perhaps that's why I love you so much, after only knowing you for such a short time."

Buffy only nodded. She had felt a connection with him as well. Perhaps part of her did remember him, from a far off time, hundreds of years before her birth.

There was still a mixture of emotions on his face. They seemed to change from one to another, as if he was fighting an inner battle, with neither side gaining the upper hand. Could she really love someone who hated her one minute, and loved her back the next? she thought. She looked at him for a short time before reaching her decision. She moved her hand to his face and stroked it lovingly. He didn't draw back, but part of him looked uncomfortable at her touch.

"I think I love you too," she said.


* * *
Buffy sat in her English class and reflected on last night's incident. Willow sat to her left, busy writing down the answer to one of the questions that Buffy hadn't even heard. She had explained to her friend what had happened. How Jay, she still thought of him as that, even if it wasn't his real name, had told her that he loved her, how he had cried and how he had left.

"Where will you go?" she had asked him.

"I don't know," the reply had come.

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Perhaps. I need time to think; to clear my head and my heart."

"I love you," she had whispered to him as he left, tears in her eyes.

"I love you too."


* * *
"Miss Summers is there a problem?" her teacher interrupted her thoughts.

Before she could answer, the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson. The teacher disappeared from view as the rest of the class stood up in front of her. She got up as well, and made from the door before the teacher could notice her again. Once outside she waited for Willow to catch her up, before making her way to the library.

"How are you doing?" Willow asked her friend in an obviously worried tone.

"I'm fine, really Will," Buffy answered. "I'll get over him. I seemed to be getting a lot of practice at getting over men."

They came to the library door and pulled it open. Inside, Giles, Xander and Cordeilia were talking with someone else; someone totally unexpected.

"Jaden," Buffy yelled, running towards him and flinging her arms around him. He drew her close to him and they embraced for long moments until they let go of each other, realising that the others were looking at them. They walked to the other side of the library.

"Jaden, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I can go away if you'd like," he said, but with a smile on his face. She hit him playfully on the arm.

"You don't hate me?"

"Perhaps a little," he answered truthfully, "but not as much as I love you. I realised that destiny smiled on me the day that I discovered a way to remove your powers."

She gave him a puzzled look, and appeared to be about to interrupt, but he cut her off with a glance.

"Let me finish," he said. "I realised that I couldn't do it without meeting you first. It wasn't until last night that I realised that I had never been meant to use the power, but to meet you. To rediscover love, rather than hate."

"I'm glad," she replied.

She moved towards him and their lips met. They stood and kissed for a long time. At the other side of the library, her friends watched and smiled.

"See, this is me being glad," she said when they finally moved apart. He smiled at her. "There is one thing though," she added.

"What's that?"

"What am I going to tell my mom?"


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