Disclaimer: Next verse, same as the first.

Author's Note: We're nearing the end of Dead Man Walking. This chapter and then two more chapters after it, if everything goes like I'm thinking.

Thanks to Oxnate, my beta. As ever, he's been a great help.

Dead Man Walking

By Alkeni

Chapter 25: The Great Activation

"So, how exactly is this going to work? Is there a spell, or a ritual, or what?" Wesley asked once they were back in 'Command and Control', and the 'war room', as Buffy Summers' house had essentially become. "How exactly does this whole 'activating all the Slayers' thing work?"

Apart from the five who had come back from the temple/pyramid/place, only Willow had joined this particular meeting, around the Summer's dining room table. Along the way, Giles had made the very cogent suggestion to Buffy – quietly – that it perhaps was not a good idea to bring Angel and/or Spike into a position to meet the Guardian just yet. Others who might have been brought into a meeting like this were busy with other things – helping to train the potentials, working on more Napalm, in Fred's case, et cetera, et cetera.

"It is simply a spell. But it is a spell that I do not have the power to cast. Not alone, and certainly not with my advanced age." The Guardian answered. "But there is one at this table that does have the power required." She turned to Willow. "You."

"Wait- me?!" Willow was disbelieving. "Why would you..."

"You cannot deny your power, Willow." The Guardian said softly. She wore a sage expression. "I can feel your power, and it is both real, and great. The power is part of you, and to deny it is to deny part of yourself."

Giles coughed, clearing his throat and drawing attention. He spoke, his tone a little awkward. "I hate to bring up...old wounds, as it were, but you did have the power, last year, to defeat the collective power I borrowed from the Devon Coven. Granted...it was borrowed power, and I didn't have anywhere near the practical skill you did in using that power in direct combat, but still, to defeat that much power, it takes rare power. Then, to add to that display of might and skill, you went on to nearly destroy the world by means of raising the Temple of Proxpersa. As bad as both those things were, in a moral and preservation of the world sense, the very fact that you accomplished them is proof positive of your power."

Willow bit her lip, looking down at the table as Giles brought up her 'exploits' as 'Dark Willow'. It was true that she had accomplished all that...but only because she was so far into the magics, into dark magics, that she had become, in essence, an entirely different person. Sitting where she was right now, she didn't want to be that person again.

It was also true, however, she considered, that she hadn't gotten anywhere near that dark since her return from her 'rehab' with the Devon Coven. Even with the amount of power she'd channeled with the Shadow Puppets, and the portal that came of them, and trying to call Buffy back, she hadn't gone dark. Of course...that was probably a great deal less than the kind of power the Guardian was talking about as well...

But this needs to be done. An army of uber-vampires is right beneath our feet, and this is the best way – probably the only way to stop it...

"Willow..." Buffy started slowly. "You don't have to-"

"I'll do it." Willow interrupted. "I'll cast the spell." She looked at the Guardian."How do I do it?"

The Guardian stood. "Follow me. There is much I have to teach you, in the little time I have left in this world." She turned to Buffy. "Is there a place where I may speak with Willow in private? Where we cannot be overheard by unwanted ears?" She glared at Wesley and Giles as she said this.

"Yes, of course, because there's so much damage we can do from overhearing you." Wesley snapped. "Leaving aside the fact that we're on the same side."

"Slayers and Shadowmen have never been on the same side." The Guardian snapped. Giles seemed about to add in something himself when Buffy interrupted.

"You can all have this argument some other time. When the end of the world isn't potentially imminent!" She turned to the Guardian. "You can take Willow upstairs. Shouldn't be anyone up there at the moment. Pick a room and get on it." The Guardian nodded, and she and Willow departed.

"Don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way, because I'm all for activating all the Slayers – at the very least, it seems to be the best option we have – but shouldn't we think about this a little before we actually do it?" Wesley said slowly.

"If you're for doing it, what's the issue you're trying to bring up, Wes?" Faith asked.

"Well, first of all, all the potentials, once activated, will need some time to train, to get used to their increased strength. Admittedly, we don't have the copious amounts of time we could really use, but we can't just activate them and then go into the Hellmouth, past the Seal, and expect to just fight the massive army of Turok-Han. Even with thirty plus Slayers, that is still thousands of Turok-Han for each girl. No matter how fast they are at killing the creatures, there is a finite limit to how long even the most skilled fighter can be completely surrounded and still live through the fight. Especially against something like a Turok-Han."

"So what, you're saying is that its hopeless?" Giles demanded.

"No. I'm saying we'll need to make a plan. Detailed. With fall-back options and tactical scenarios planned out. The First's resources are not limited to just the Turok-Han. If a couple of hundred Bringers suddenly attack from behind, what then? We need to make a plan, and we need to make it before we see to it that that army of Turok-Han is destroyed."

Giles pursed his lips in thought for a moment, then nodded. "As much as I hate to admit it, Buffy, Wesley has a point. We need to at least have some kind of plan before we make that final move."

Buffy nodded after a few minutes. "Alright. We'll work on that. But we need to get everyone up to speed with what we just found out." She paused a moment. "Besides, I think I need some time to...to really process all this." Then she shrugged. "But hey, Caleb is dead!" She added, her tone almost cheery. Then she sighed. The sigh said all that needed to be said – no further words were required.

Wesley got up, resting his hands on the table for a moment. "Well, if that's all then, I will head over across the street to spread the good news. The gospel according to Buffy, as it were." The former watcher chuckled half-darkly at that.

"Hey, you rose from the dead, just like Jesus." Faith said, fighting back laughter.

"Perhaps we could call the Catholic Church. Get you beatified." Giles said, playing along.

The joke was ruined when Giles was forced to stop and explain what exact the concept of 'beatification' was to Buffy and Faith. As that was going on, Wesley stood, nodded goodbye to the three of them, and left the house. A short walk across the street later, and he was in the living room of the house occupied by the 'Angel Investigations Team'.

Only Lorne, Fred, Lilah and Gunn were in the room when he entered.

"Where are Angel, Conner and Cordelia?" He asked sitting on the couch next to Cordelia.

"Angel and Cordelia went out on patrol together, and I think Conner said something about going to help train the potentials." Lorne answered.

"Probably just wants to look at all the hot teenage girls." Gunn said with a smirk. Fred elbowed him in the ribs slightly. He looked at her. "Hey, I never said I did. Besides, my girls got looks and brains. Why would I want one of those girls." He smiled. Fred smiled back, and Wesley rolled his eyes as Gunn kissed her lightly.

Lorne watched the two with a faint look of amusement on his face, then he turned back to Wesley. "I don't need to hear you sing to know something big has happened."

"Is it that obvious?" Wesley asked dryly.

"Your aura is screaming itself hoarse about it, Wes." Lorne replied. "What happened at that pyramid-temple...place."

Wesley cocked his head and considered a moment. "I guess its hardly surprising that my aura would be making a big deal about it. After all, Caleb is dead. Buffy took his head off with the axe – apparently, it is supposed to be a Scythe."

"He's dead?!" Lilah asked, voice raised with incredulity. "Did you-"

"No." Wesley shook his head. "His quickening...or at least, what had to have been it, merged with the First. I didn't absorb any of it. And frankly, seeing it come out of him, that strikes me as a good thing."

"Well that's a win then, isn't it?" Fred asked slowly. "The First's big invulnerable champion is dead."

"It is a win." Wesley agreed. "But-" He started.

"The First still has got that army of super-vamps." Gunn finished. He leaned in a bit and place his right fist inside a half-curled left hand, somewhat unconscious about the motion. "So what are we going to do about them anyway?"

"Well, that's the other thing we found out at the pyramid. The scythe was made, apparently, by a group of women calling themselves the 'guardians of the Slayer Line' They didn't – don't – like watchers, apparently. One of them is still alive, and she was waiting in the pyramid. For a few thousand years."

"Is she Immortal? Like you and Lilah?" Fred asked.

"Not that I could tell." Wesley said. "I can only presume some ancient and powerful magics are at work. But its what the woman told us that is particularly important." He leaned in a little, not really noticing as he mimicked the earlier motion of Gunn's. "For thousands of years, there has been but one Slayer, fighting alone against the forces of Darkness. Even the twinning of the Slayer Line by Xander Harris left it at two. Far from enough to fight all the demons, vampires and their ilk in the world. But, according to the Guardian, the Scythe, when combined with a powerful spell, can awaken the power of the Slayer essence in every single potential Slayer across the world." He finished, settling back in his chair to stunned silence as the other four processed what he just told them.

Lilah spoke first, a few minutes later. "So...wait...you mean – every potential Slayer gets the full power? Speed, strength, senses, the works? That would be...dozens, hundreds of Slayers, all over the world. That's-"

"A hell of a lot of dead vamps." Gunn interrupted. "Plus Thirty extra slayers right here in Sunnydale. That'll be a big help in dealing with all them super-vamps down in the Hellmouth."

"I did not see that coming..." Lorne said slowly in a soft voice. "So," He asked, "How long until we're up to our ears in amazon warrior women?"

"Not sure. The Guardian is supposed to be teaching the spell to Willow now. But I got the impression there was more than just that spell she wanted to teach Willow, and that she doesn't have much time to do it in. Plus, for that matter, we have no idea how long it will take to gather reagents and prepare the spell, or what else goes into it."

"You said that she's lived for thousands of years. What's the rush for her now?" Fred asked. "I mean, apart from the impending end of the world and all."

"I have no idea." Wesley answered honestly. "I can only assume that whatever magics have extended her life thus far have found themselves fraying, or wearing out, or something along those lines." He shrugged. "But that is neither here nor there. Once the potentials are activated, we can't just send them down into the Hellmouth to face the First's army head on and expect them to last long enough for Spike to use the amulet. They'll need time to get used to their new abilities – speed, strength, endurance, reaction times. And to understand how best to use those abilities in a fight."

"Of course." He added. "We'll also need a plan."

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It was three days later that everything was apparently finally gathered together. To provide a wide-open space for Willow to cast the spell, with all the potentials there as well, Robin Wood, the local principall – and child of the late Slayer, Nikki Wood, interestingly enough, which made Wesley wonder about Spike...

Regardless, Buffy, Faith, Willow, Xander, the Guardian – who was physically aging at an amazingly rapid pace, now reduced to using a walker that had been scavenged from an abandoned house, the magic on the temple having been the cause of her longevity, and now, outside of its protections, time was catching up with her – and the potentials had gone to the gym of the High School. That annoying little fool, Andrew Wells, had gone as well, determined to 'record for posterity' the activation of all the Slayers.

Whatever gets him away from me. Wesley considered. Once that moron had learned that Wesley was an immortal, he'd pressed the former watcher for an interview. Wesley had come rather close to slicing several of his fingers off, but finally the idiot had gotten the idea and left him alone...mostly.

Wesley passed the time testing his skills against Lilah for a while – he had a slight margin of victory in their 15 short fights – 8 victories for him, seven for her – but it was a useful exercise all around, and quite enjoyable. Especially the aftermath.

The arrival of the flamethrowers – a dozen sets – was also a welcome addition.

"How much longer to you suppose the spell is going to take?" Wesley asked, moving a chess piece across the board between himself and Gunn.

"I'd say its finishing up right now." Fred said softly.

"How would you know that?" Lilah said, raising an eyebrow. Fred rolled her eyes a little and pointed to the window, the High School off in the distance. The entire structure was glowing white, bright enough for them to see all the way over here.

"Ah." Lilah said softly. "I see."

Next Time, on Dead Man Walking: The final battle for Sunnydale Begins as the forces of 'good' enter the Hellmouth to take on an army of vampires greater than any they've faced before...