Later that evening, Buffy gathered the girls together in the living room, along with Robin Faith and Angel. "Okay, tonight's going to be a bit different than patrolling has been in the past," Buffy told them, "Angel can, and will, hurt you. We'll go over the game plan when we're actually at the cemetary. You have to be on your guard at all times, or else. Robin, could you help me with weapons?"

"OOO! Weapons, what type? I haven't been allowed around weapons in ages," Faith said, cracking her knuckles. "Well, except when someone tries to kill me with one."

"Don't let the mad slayer touch the weapons," Buffy whispered to Robin; she was only partially joking.

"Aww, come on, B, 'fraid I'll hurt him?" she asked, punching Angel in the shoulder, lightly.

"No, afraid he'll hurt you."

"So, is this going to be a fair fight?" Angel wanted to know, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Angel, they have to be trained with weapons. Spike, with his chip, wasn't enough. We're lucky you came. Now they can be trained against a real vampire."

Angel liked the compliment, but he pressed, not letting his emotions show, "But what skills do they possess? Slayer accuracy? Self control? Strength?"

"They're just girls, Angel."

"That's what I was afraid of. I'll try not to hurt them, but I've been going against demons for a long time, haven't fought any girls lately."

"Don't worry, they'll be fine. They've been put through boot camp. They can handle anything you dish out," Kennedy said, happy with herself.

"If you say so," Angel said, looking doubtful.

Church of Eternal Life Cemetary.

"Ok, Angel, here's the plan. You go hide, like the evil, dangerous vampire you are. I will send the girls out in groups of two or three. Feel free to do whatever you please, just…act like a vampire," Buffy told him once they had reached the cemetary.

"That shouldn't be too hard, right?" Faith said, mocking Angel.

"Faith, enough. We'll be following the groups. Girls, just don't stake him. In fact…" She opened her bag, and pulled out some stakes. "Use these, they're plastic wood. Won't kill him. Hurt like hell, but not kill him. The test is to see if you get a chance to use them."

"Hey, wait, they get weapons?" Angel asked, in one of his better moods. Just being around Buffy lifted his spirits.

"You are a weapon!" Buffy cried. "Go, hurry up!" He ran off into the bushes. "Now, some back story. Angel, before his soul, Angelus, is over 240 years old, so he must have done something right to stay alive so long. He was the scourge of Europe, and had a very bad rep." She continued on with her tale, mentally counting down to two minutes to give Angel sufficient time. "He was changed in a darkened ally, you could say he was born in shadows, Shadows are his best friends. Now, you two." Buffy pointed to two girls, she couldn't remember their names at the moment, even after so long, being with Angel invigorated her, "You're up first." She tossed them two stakes, and as they started off, she and the rest fell in behind, the slayers first, then the slayers-to-be.

The First Evil watched atop a Masoleum, with Drusilla by her side. Dru was disgusted with Angelus, helping train slayers. But he's done it in the past, she reminded herself. She knew that she wasn't going to miss the big party.

Buffy's house

"Buffy! Buffy! We came up with something for the Beast! And it's simple, we've done it before!" Willow jumped off the couch and ran excitedly to her friend as soon as she came in the door. She had stayed up all day working on it, and though she was exhausted, she thought it just might work. She grabbed her arms and spun her around.

"Woa! Will, what's gotten into you? Have you beeing sniffing the insence again! We told you that that could seriously hurt you, remember?" Buffy joked, her best friend's good mood infecting her own already high mood.

"Oh, real funny! Remember Adam? That spell could work, we'd just need to switch some stuff around. And it wouldn't have to be just you, but Faith, and Angel and Spike, we could get the spell to work with them too, if we try."

"Willow! I told you that it was a long shot, and I didn't want you to tell Buffy unless as a last resort!" Giles came into the room, and he was pissed off.

"Giles, I told her to tell me anything that she came up with. If you're upset, don't be with her, she was following my request."

"Your too strong minded! All of you!" Giles huffed as he went back into the dining room, now the research room.

"Will, how will that work, I'm not on the best terms with the First right now." Some of the girls looked confused, They didn't think that Buffy had ever been on the best terms with The First Evil.

"I know, and Angel and Spike, they're vampires, so she won't come to them, but she might come to Faith, it's is a desperate time, desperate times call for desperate measures, right? As well as, we called the past slayers, all of them. They will come to you. The spell will need some tweaking, and no matter what I do, I don't think the girls can be apart of it. Sorry guys." she addressed the group. "But there are just too many of you, and the spell is already very difficult, I don't know how it will work with four groups, never mind if we did more! We need tarot cards, as well. I have two sets, but I don't have four."

"Work on that! Good job. We had a successful night training, didn't we girls?" They all groaned in respose, some rubbing a shoulder, or another joint. "I told Angel not to go soft on them, they need to be ready," Buffy explained to Willow.

"Ahh."

"Now, off to bed, all of you! Willow, Angel, Faith, come with me. Piper, Pheobe, Paige, Leo, you're welcome, if you want," she offered, noticing that they had changed their clothes. They had gone home to sleep for a few hours. "I don't know how long we'll be. Is Spike or Anya back yet?" she asked.

"Good timing on our part," Spike said, opening the door. Anya came in muttering behind him.

"Stupid demon! I so wish I had my powers! So what if I'm weak now, I wasn't! He was afraid of me! And now he think's I've gone kitteny and soft! Oooo! I'll show him! Let a plague of… ug! Bunnies! Come down upon me if I don't!" She shook in terror at the mention of bunnies. She walked up the stairs and they heard a door slam.

"Well, Hello to you to. Spike, what happened?" Buffy asked.

"Went to one of her friends, and she tried to get him to help, but he wasn't willing. Well, now he is, after I persuaded him. He promised to check around."

"Well, Buffy, all, girls, see you tomorrow." Wood said, leaving. As much as he wanted to see Spike ragged on, he still had a job, unlike the rest of the slayer tag-a-longs.

"Are you sure this guy will help? What if he rats on us? We have to tread carefully."

"He's more afraid of me now then he is of that beast. He'll offer an offering, if ya know what I mean, because he know the penalty if he doesn't. Oh, hey, I let it drop that there are now two slayers."

"SPIKE! That was our secret weapon! Scratch that plan! Girls, why are you still here! GO! Up to bed! Spike, come with me."

"Wh..what about me?" Dawn asked.

"Bed."

"Aww, come on…"

"No, you need sleep. School tomorrow." She saw Dawn resisting. "Now!"

"Fine, fine!" Dawn stomped up to bed.

"So, down to business. Spike, Will found a spell. You know a bit about it. But Faith doesn't, she was either in jail, on the run, or in a coma, I don't remember which, so here's the skinny…" She explained the spell Will had remembered.

"She's talking about altering it, Will, you go ahead, it's your idea."

Willow explained her ideas, and who would be what symbol. "You guys, Spike, Angel, Faith, you need to be on board here. We can't do this without you. Well, we could use Riley, but what would we summon, the first human? It wouldn't work. We can figure something out with you guys."

"I'm in."

"I'm always ready for some demon ass kickin'!"

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Ok, then, let me work on it, and figure out exactly what we're dealing with. I can't promise that I'm certain that this will work. Because I'm not. I'm stronger than I was then, but, I'm not sure if Giles is willing to help. If he's not, that source of information, and well, expertice, is gone, unavailable."

"Don't worry, Will, you just get the spell to work, I'll convince Giles," Buffy stated.

"Well, we don't really have anything else to do, except get the spell to work, I don't need any of you, except the Charmed Ones."

"Ok, then everybody, off to bed, it's been a long day, and we'll all think better after we've had some rest," Buffy ordered. She turned to the charmed ones, "I don't know you well enough to order you around, but I would suggest you get some sleep too, it's been a really long day."

"Bye, Buffy," Xander and Anya called, as they left for their respective apartments. They had lately been staying, but Buffy had to kick them out because there was no more room.

"Buffy…"

"Angel, I'm sorry. I wasn't ordering you around," Buffy said, turning to him, thinking she knew why his tone was such, "You're a guest, a non human who doesn't really need to sleep. You do whatever you want. I don't know when the spell will be done, but we may need you tomorrow, during the day."

"I was going to ask where I'm staying."

"Oh! Um, Spike's staying in the cellar."

"Oh! No! I had to deal with him for plenty of years when he was Angelus! I don't care for him, and I will not share my crib with him!" Spike interupted.

"It's my house, remember? You're lucky your allowed in. We can change that at anytime, ok? While you're here, you take orders from me, and I say be a nice vampire, and SHARE!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Spike mock saluted. "You get the floor! I get the cot!" Spike said to Angel.

"Whatever." He turned to Buffy, "Goodnight." Oh, how he longed to take her into his arms. But he restrained himself, and watched her climb the stairs to her room.

Wednesday Morning

"Good morning girls! Rise and Shine! Dawn, Amanda, school! I know the hellmouth is wacky, but you'll just have to deal," She said, knocking on the bedroom door that held the girls. "Hey, hurry up in there!" she said, banging on the bathroom door, next door to one of the rooms. She wanted to be done before the mad rush of teenaged girls.

"Hold on a minute! Jesus!" Andrew's voice came from within.

"Great, why does he always get there before I do?" Buffy muttered. Willow came down the hall, yawning, with big purple stains under her eyes. "You're lucky you got here before-" Screaming came from the girls room, and five of them came charging out of the door. Dawn, in the lead, was still trying to get her covers off. "They got here."

"Finally!" Buffy said, as she turned and noticed that Andrew was done with the bathroom. Buffy pushed him out of the way, and rushed into the bathroom, closing it in the girls faces. A muffled "HEY!" was heard from the other side. Buffy just smiled. Slayer reflexes came in handy for things other than slaying.

"Ok, Kennedy, you're in charge. Make sure you get in some training as well. Sparring today, maybe. Willow's in charge over you. Any problems, go to her. Spike and Angel are not to be disturbed. Regular rules. Be polite and curtious to our guests. They may choose not to help us, if you're not well behaved. I'll be back at lunch to check in. Be good."

"We already know this," one girl complained.

"I know, but it sometimes pays off to remind you. Dawn, Amanda, come with me. Xander should be here any second…" A car honked outside. "There he is now. Be good."

"Hey Xander!" Dawn said, bouncing into the back seat, scooting over so Amanda could get in.

"Hey, Dawnie! Ready for another fun filled day of learning?"

"Of course not."

"Yeah, me neither. That's why I'm in construction!"

Buffy's day was pretty uneventfull, a few fights, a food fight, a couple kids caught smoking. She checked the seal whenever possible, and met Wood down there on a couple occasions, and it made her feel, well, safer, knowing that he was checking as well, and not so crazy. She went home at lunch, to find the girls in the backyard, fully padded, and beating on each other. She smiled at the sight. She also checked on how Angel and Spike were doing. They were comparing notes on the whole soul business. Her afternoon was even less eventful than her morning. She decided to roam the halls, a past time she reveled in, having not been able to when she was in school. It made her feel important, and powerful.

She got home after school, to find Willow tutoring the girls. She remembered when Ms. Calendar had died, and Willow had taken over for her, she was such a good teacher, besides making sure Buffy and Xander didn't flunk out of school. She saw the smile on Willow's face, and realized that she really enjoyed all those sessions helping her and Xander.

"So, how's the spell coming?" she asked once Willow let the girls take a break.

"Fine. I used this whiteboard to help me organise my thoughts, and I came up with this," she showed Buffy a board, pairing Buffy with Xander, Giles and Willow, Angel with Wood, Cordelia, yet she had no one for Mind. She had paired Spike with Wesley, Leo and Anya, and Faith with Phoebe, Piper and Paige.

"So who are we missing? There's a blank spot!" Buffy said.

"We need another smart person. I was hoping that maybe you knew someone, or Giles or Angel knew someone."

"Ok, I'll check around. There's got to be someone," she squeezed Willow's arm, "Thank you for doing this, we're so close. I can feel it."