Work Text:
There hadn't been time during the mess with the Lesser Key of Solomon, or during her day pass to track down the Sin Eater, but now that she was out of the psych ward for good there was a call Jenny Mills needed to make.
Well-- technically, maybe, there could have been time if she'd stolen a few minutes alone with a phone, and Buffy was going to give her hell when she found out about it. How much time did it really take to dial ten digits, after all? But Jenny wasn't going to apologize. The man that had given her a chance, believed she wasn't crazy, and given her a way to fight back was dead. He'd been murdered, and there was no way she was going to ignore his last wishes.
Besides, Buffy was way the hell away across the country; it wasn't like there was anything she could have done to help at the time.
Now, though? Now was another story. Jenny bit her lip, then dialed the familiar number and lifted her phone to her ear. If she could face down Abbie suddenly deciding she wanted to be her sister again after years of denial without kicking the table over in Little Miss Well-Adjusted's face, she could take whatever the friend she'd abandoned wanted to dish out. Of all the sins Jenny had committed over the years, hypocrisy had never been one of them.
The phone rang, then picked up. There was a brief pause; then a terse, acknowledging, "Jenny."
"Thought that was my line," Jenny quipped. "Hey, girl."
"'Hey, girl'? Two years, and all you have for me is a 'hey, girl'?" The quote marks were almost audible in the scorn of the reply. "I thought we had a deal, Jen. No more funny farms. Ever."
"I know, I know. But it was Corbin, Buffy. He needed me here; what was I supposed to do?"
"Oh, I don't know. Ask me to join you? Not get caught?"
"You think I wanted to get caught?" Jenny snorted. "Or that it would have gone any better with both of us? I know you know better than that. Slay Girl."
Buffy let out a long, tense breath. "Don't call me that."
"Call it like I see it," Jenny shrugged.
Since Buffy had finally snapped out of her delusion that she was a one-woman killing machine living in a world full of demons, she'd hated being reminded of it. But after Jenny had found her, following mentions of the supernatural in Corbin's newspaper clippings, and told her there really was a war for men's souls going on... well, six years of hunter's instincts didn't just fade away, even if the experiences that had taught them to her had all happened inside her own head.
She'd admitted to Jenny once, over a pitcher of beer, that her Slayer alter ego'd had a saving people thing. After knowing her little longer, Jenny had realized that it wasn't just the Slayer; it was a Buffy thing, full stop. But in the real world, Jenny was the one with all the knowledge and experience. That bone-deep instinct that the only safety was being the one in control was the major source of tension in their relationship.
"Look," she sighed, into the frozen silence emanating from the other end of the line. "I didn't call to fight with you. I just wanted to let you know-- my sister signed for me, and I'm out."
"Your sister?" Buffy replied, her tone suspicious. "You always said...."
"I know, I know. It seems she finally ran across something even she couldn't ignore, and now she wants me to help her fight the good fight."
"You're shitting me," Buffy spluttered.
"I know, right?" Jenny chuckled. "No idea how it's going to work... but you know Corbin always wanted us to reconcile, and I guess better late than never. Plus, she's got this hot guy working with her now... a two hundred and, what, sixty year old British guy, if you count the years he spent sleeping."
"Jenny, that's not funny," Buffy replied, her tone flattening with angry disbelief.
"No, I'm serious. His name's not Angel, though, and as far as I know he's still got his soul. He's just... a warrior straight out of the Book of Revelation, singled out for the job by General George Washington himself." She couldn't help another snort. "And my sister's the one he picked for his partner. Go figure."
"Clearly, his taste could use some work," Buffy managed, dryly.
"Clearly," Jenny replied.
"So..." Buffy sighed. "I guess this means you're not coming back anytime soon?"
"Well, with Abbie wanting to play sisters again, and this four horsemen of the apocalypse thing going on...."
"Say what?" Buffy objected. "You didn't mention that part!"
"Didn't I? Yeah, and even better: the one called Death is the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow." Buffy hadn't been very receptive in the conversation so far, not that Jenny really blamed her. But if there was any hope of them putting the whole mess behind them... a good thorny evil problem to solve would be a good first step. That was how they'd worked past their issues enough to become friends in the first place. She'd rather not leave behind one of the few people she trusted in this world, if she could help it.
Any more than she'd really walk away and leave Abbie now. She had missed her sister, despite everything.
"Jenny...." Buffy began, in worried tones.
"So. This is me, asking you to join me now? If, you know. You still want to," Jenny cut her off.
"If I still want to?" Buffy blurted incredulously. "Are you kidding me? When's the next flight?"
Several minutes later, Jenny hung up the phone with a smile. She was really going to have fun introducing Buffy to Crane when she arrived. And as for the rest of it? Time would tell. But at least they'd have that time.