Part 7

The Summers Residence.

Buffy opened the front door ready to leave, and found Giles standing there.

"Buffy."

"Giles." Buffy went to give Giles a hug, but got cut off when three girls she'd never seen, much less invited, walk right into her house.

Buffy just stood there and stared in astonishment at the girl's brashness, then turns to Giles, confused.

"Sorry to barge in. We have a slight apocalypse." Giles said with a sad smile.

"They're all slayers?" asks Dawn. Everyone was scattered around the sitting room.

"Potential slayers." Giles corrects. "Waiting for one to be called. There were many more like them all over the world, but, um, now there's just a handful, and they're all on their way to Sunnydale."

"Ohh, I get it a bit like reserves on the bench" Dawn said with a smile.

"Yes, well, quite." Stuttered Giles running his hand through his rapidly thinning hair, wondering if he would ever understand this generation and did he really want to.

"The others were murdered." Stated Buffy a bit miffed at having her house invaded by strangers.

"Yes, in cold blood. As well as their watchers." Giles sighed, "We always feared that this day would come, when there'd be an attack against not just an individual slayer, but against the whole line." Giles removed his glasses pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Who's doing this? What do they want?" asked Dawn.

"As for whom, we believe it is The First. As to what it wants, simply to erase the slayer line and the Watchers."

"And then Faith, and then me, with all the potentials gone and no way of making another, it's the end. No more Slayer. Ever." Buffy said distantly.

"But we haven't any information on The First," said Willow worriedly.

"That's because it predates any written history, and it rarely shows its true face." Giles said, "The only record I knew of was in the Council Library." Giles got a far away look in his eyes.

"What about the Council? What do they say about this?" Anya asked.

"The council is gone. Obliterated. They were in session, and, uh, there was an explosion," said Giles sadly.

"That means all the Council's records were...were destroyed?" Willow squeaked.

Giles turned to one of the potentials and she passed him a bundle of documents. "This is what's left. It's all I could find on The First. When I learned what was happening, I-I, um, I stole them."

Xander gave Giles a smirk worthy of Spike.

"What do they say about The First?" Buffy asked, she was bored already, planning and debating were never her strong suits. She preferred using her fists.

"Uh, very little." Giles paced around the room cleaning his glasses "It can change form. It only appears in the guise of someone who's passed away. Also it's not corporeal. It can't touch or fight on its own. Its followers are The Bringers. The First is unlike anything we've faced before. I mean, there's evil and then there's the thing that created evil, the source. How to defeat it...I...honestly I don't know. But we have to find a way. If the slayer line is eliminated, then the Hellmouth has no guardian. The balance will be destroyed. I'm afraid it falls to you, Buffy. I mean, we'll do what we can, but you're the only one who has the strength to protect these girls and the world against what's coming."

"No pressure then." Buffy said sarcastically.

"That's it? That's the plan?" One of the potentials jumped up from the sofa "I don't see how one person, even a Slayer, could protect us. I saw what those Bringer guys could do. They tore apart my Watcher. And if this thing is the root of all evil, isn't the Hellmouth its number one vacation spot?"

Exasperated Giles tried to stop Kennedy from running off at the mouth. "Do be quiet."

"No, she's right. We need more muscle. We need Spike and Angel." Said Dawn thoughtfully.

"No way, am I letting that psycho anywhere near me!" Buffy said maliciously.

"Which psycho would that be" Snapped Dawn "I don't care what either Spike or Angel have done in the past they have already offered to help. I say this is the perfect opportunity to accept."

"Um, Excuse me but Spike and Angel? Could some one fill me in?" Asked Giles as he once again removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He needed a drink. It was going to be a very long, long day.

A few hours later Giles had been fully briefed as to what had been going on in his absence. Giles also noticed Buffy's total lack of interest and...well basically a lack of common sense and regard for others. He also noticed the underlying hatred that seemed to flow out from her. Giles phoned Angel and left him a message on his voice mail hoping against all the odds that maybe Spike knew how to retrieve it.

"ENOUGH!!" Angel growled, Spike had dragged him into four clothes shops; two shoe shops, an electrical shop, four music shops and finally a supermarket where his extremely annoying childe and his son were currently debating rather loudly the finer points of donuts.

"I'm sorry," Spike continued totally ignoring Angel's outburst. "But you can't compare a good old fashioned jam donut smothered with sugar with one of those chocolate glazed things Xander seems so fond of."

"Stop, stop, stop." Angel pleaded, "I can't take this any more. Its bad enough you dragged me to the mall, but do I really have to listen to you two jabber on about donuts," Angel threw his arms in the air "Who cares?"

"You're ringing luv." Spike told Angel.

"What?"

"I said your ringing luv." Spike smiled while Connor laughed.

"Oh," Angel dug around in his pocket and pulled his cell phone out and looked at it as if it were going to bite him.

"Well? You gonna answer it?" Before Angel could respond the ringing stopped.

"Nope," Angel said with a smile.

"Give it here." Spike sighed, 'when would the almighty poof move into the twenty-first century?' He held out his hand and Angel passed him the phone. Spike pressed a few buttons and held it to his ear "It's Giles, he wants to see us as soon as possible. Wonder when he got back?"

"Thank god," Angel sighed gratefully. "Right let's go. Sewers?"

"Yep not quite dark enough yet." Spike agreed as they left the shopping cart and headed out.