Night Falls

Notes: Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming! I'm making up my Slayer history here, as I'm not really up to date on Slayer lore.

Previously:

"Clean slate," Buffy stated. "From now on, clean slate."

"I think I can live with that," Faith said, smiling.

Chapter Fourteen:

Giles lifted his teacup to his lips, parted them, and blew a steady stream of air over the hot liquid. Then he took a sip, smiling at the temperature and taste. Lowering the cup back down onto the coffee table, he picked up the book he had been translating. He had been scouring the Watcher's Diaries that Hailey had rescued, from the now destroyed Council headquarters, for any mention of the First Evil. Thus far, he had not found anything relevant. However, he was currently enmeshed in a volume, written by a Watcher who lived during the high times of the Roman empire, which frequently mentioned something know as the Origin.

Though Giles was not certain that the Origin paralleled the First Evil, the connection was enough that he had spent the majority of the evening wrestling with the Watcher's ancient, obscure Latin and appalling handwriting. The Watcher's name had been Marcus and though his Slayer had only lived for four years, she had faced many powerful demons. However, Marcus interested Giles, not because of his Slayer, but because Marcus seemed to have some special connection to the Powers that Be. The Watcher's Council had deemed him insane shortly after he began training his Slayer because he believed that the Powers were sending him visions of the future. The Council did not believe him and tried to have him killed. His Slayer, however, had stopped them. Shortly after she was killed by a master vampire, the Council succeeded in eliminating Marcus.

Though most of Marcus's prophecies were gibberish, in his last diary, he wrote of a day in which the Slayer line would be broken and three Slayers would walk the earth. "And the Slayers will do battle against the Origin and the world will be rent in chaos and despair," Giles translated aloud.

"That doesn't sound good," a woman said. Giles looked up and smiled wryly.

"I know who you are," Giles said matter-of-factly. "You have nothing to say to me."

"On the contrary, Giles, I have plenty to say," the woman replied smugly. "Although, I imagine you won't listen to most of it. You always did think you knew everything."

Giles sighed and removed his glasses. He cleaned them thoroughly on the front of his white, button up shirt and then slid them back on his face. Susannah Travers was sitting on a chair across the table from him in the dining room of Buffy's house. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning and everyone else was asleep. Giles, however, found that he did his best work when the house was silent. "I know that you're the First Evil. Everything you say is lies and deceit."

"Not everything," the First replied through Susannah's voice. "Quite a collection of books you have there. I still can't believe you risked my daughter's life like that."

"She had everything under control," Giles shot back, mentally admonishing himself for reacting to the First's obvious taunt. "She's not your daughter anyway. She was Susannah's daughter and you are only a demon wearing her face."

"Am I?" The First asked, standing. It slowly began pacing back and forth in front of the windows. "I suppose it's only natural that you would say such a thing," it said. "But you see, I have all of her memories. I know all of her thoughts. I'm inclined to act in the way that she would, if she were really here," the First said. "So does that make me some mindless demon that you can cast aside, or does that make me human in some way?"

"You're not human," Giles replied.

"Oh really?" The First asked and then smiled. "Say that to my face," it said as it morphed into a vision of Jenny Calendar.

Giles looked down at the table, refusing to meet the gaze of his dead lover. "What do you want?" He asked in exasperation.

"I merely wanted to see what the great Rupert Giles was studying," the First said, morphing back into the body of Susannah Travers. "Although, from what I've heard, you're not exactly the Watcher that you used to be."

"What does that mean?" Giles snapped.

"She doesn't need you anymore," the First replied, sitting down again. "I don't see why you stay here. In the end, she'll reject you."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Giles replied angrily.

"Read the prophecies, Giles. Read what Marcus wrote about me, what he wrote about this battle. Just give up now. You can save the world so much pain and torment," the First said. "You aren't going to win."

"We won't give up without a fight," Giles replied determinedly.

"But at what cost?" The First asked. "Is it really worth all of that death?"

"To spare the world the evil of the First, yes, I believe it is," Giles responded.

"I hope you can live with all of that blood on your hands," the First said. "I know that I couldn't."

…………………………

"I just don't get it," Faith said, punching the newly fixed punching bag, which was hanging in the backyard from a structure Xander had designed to support the force of a Slayer's fury. Hailey grimaced and struggled to maintain her grip on the bag.

"You don't need to kill it," Hailey ground between her teeth.

Faith relaxed her stance and threw another punch with less force, but that still knocked Hailey and the bag back several feet. "I mean, when she slept with Angel, he had a soul. He was a good guy."

"Spike had the chip," Hailey pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was all. He didn't have a soul. If someone had yanked that chip from his skull, he would have slaughtered everyone in that house," Faith said, motioning back to Buffy's house. "And yet, she let him violate her."

"You can't always explain attraction," Hailey countered.

"Attraction is one thing," Faith answered, wiping sweat from her forehead. "But boinking the soulless undead is another thing. I know she said that we'd start with a clean slate, and believe me, I'm grateful. I don't deserve that."

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Hailey interrupted. Faith threw another punch at the bag.

"But it's hard to forget some things, you know?" Faith said, ignoring the potential's remark. "I don't understand how she can forgive everyone else so easily but she couldn't forgive me for the longest time."

"Who are you talking about?" Hailey asked as she and Faith switched positions. Hailey threw her arm out; lashing at the bag with all of the strength her injured body afforded her. Faith smiled.

"You must have freaked the shit out of the vampires back home," she said. "That strong after you've been tossed around in an explosion, I kinda can't wait to see what you're like when you're better."

"You didn't answer my question," Hailey said, smiling her gratitude. Faith nodded.

"I'm talking about Willow, Anya, and Spike," she replied. "Willow tried to end the world, almost did it too. Spike tried to rape her because she broke up with him, according to Anya, who just happens to be a vengeance demon. And somehow I was the one that she just couldn't get passed."

"She expected more from you," Hailey replied, punching the bag again.

"What do you mean?" Faith asked, holding the bag still.

"She couldn't forgive you because she always expected more from you than what you gave. She didn't expect anything from Spike, so it wasn't hard to forgive him for his faults. The same applies to Anya. Although," Hailey said, pausing, "I'm not really sure why she forgave Willow so easily."

"They're best friends," Faith replied a bit bitterly. "Everything's cool when you're in the inner circle. But if you're riding the periphery, you gotta be perfect or you're out."

"It's not like that," Hailey said.

"It was back then," Faith countered. Sighing, she shook her head. "I just don't get it."

"Get what?" Hailey asked, confused.

"The Spike thing," Faith replied.

"Sometimes you just need to feel," Hailey replied. "People do stupid things to forget, to feel, to pretend for a second they're really alive when all they see and feel is death."

"Speaking from experience, sheriff?" Faith smirked.

Hailey grinned sadly. "A bit," she replied. "You've been given a third chance, Faith, don't fuck it up because you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous," Faith shot back.

"Oh really? So you're telling me that the thought of Spike fucking Buffy before you doesn't make you so jealous you want to rip his bleeding head off?" Hailey asked, smiling when she saw the look on Faith's face. "You know that I'm right."

"Oh, shut up," Faith growled, though she was not actually angry with the other girl. She enjoyed talking to Hailey. The older girl seemed to have some inherent wisdom that Faith lacked. The backdoor suddenly opened and Buffy poked her head out.

"Guys? Meeting in the living room," she said before disappearing back in the house. Hailey sighed.

"You don't think she's going to give us another speech do you?" She asked wearily.

"I hope not," Faith agreed.

"You really have to talk to her," Hailey said as they walked into the house. "I always feel like jumping into traffic when she's done."

Faith smirked. "I don't think you're the only one," she said.

"The only one what?" Buffy asked when the two stepped into the kitchen.

"Nothing, B. What's the what?" Faith asked, diverting the blonde's attention.

"Willow found something interesting today when she was at the store," Buffy said, leading the two girls into the living room. Faith and Hailey stopped walking once they stepped inside the room, looked at each other, and glanced back at Buffy.

"B…why is there a rather dorky looking guy tied to a chair in the living room?" Faith asked.

"This is Andrew," Buffy said, glancing at her prisoner triumphantly. "He was one of Warren's lackies."

"Warren?" Faith asked.

"The man who shot Tara," Willow explained from her place standing next to Andrew. Andrew was looking at her fearfully and, though Willow was not planning to hurt him, she could not help but glare down at him dangerously.

"That still doesn't answer the why question," Hailey said.

"I ran into him at the store. He was buying massive quantities of blood," Willow explained.

"That's a little unnatural," Faith said.

"I take it we're planning an interrogation?" Hailey asked.

"Would this involve torture by any chance?" Faith asked. "I'm kinda good at that."

"It all depends," Buffy said, pointedly looking over at Andrew. "If he talks, than we can make life very comfortable for him. But if he doesn't, Faith," she said, looking over at her sister Slayer, " you can have all the fun with him that you want."

"Can I interject a thought here?" Andrew said, suddenly piping up.

"What is it?" Buffy demanded impatiently.

"I'm a human being with inherent rights as such…like freedom and all that," Andrew said.

"We're not letting you go, pipsqueak," Faith replied.

"Could you at least loosen the ropes? They're cutting off my circulation," Andrew whined.

"Buffy?" Hailey said, looking over at her. "I don't think he's a threat."

"Leave him," Buffy replied. "I want him to suffer a little."

"But…" Andrew said.

"From now on, don't talk unless we ask you a question, okay?" Faith said, stepping forward menacingly. Andrew gulped and nodded.

"So who were you buying the blood for?" Willow asked.

"No one," Andrew lied.

"Really?" Faith said, rolling her eyes. "So you just happened to want some blood around the house."

"Maybe," Andrew replied.

"Don't fuck with us," Faith said, stepping closer. "I don't have a lot of patience, kid."

"Okay, okay," Andrew said, leaning as far back in his chair as the ropes would allow. "The First wanted me to buy the blood," he said in defeat.

"What for?" Buffy asked inquisitively.

"I can't tell you," Andrew replied.

"Why not?" Hailey asked.

"It'll kill me if I do," Andrew said shakily.

"That's enough for now," Giles said, suddenly entering the room. "Buffy, Faith, I need to talk to the two of you."

"Okay," Buffy said, shrugging her shoulders at Faith's inquiring look as they followed Giles up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

"What's going on, G-man?" Faith asked when he shut the door behind them.

"I need to talk to you about something that I discovered last night," Giles explained. "And I didn't particularly want to discuss it in front of everyone."

"Understood," Buffy said. "So what's up?"

"I found a prophecy in one of the Watcher's Diaries," Giles stated. "It spoke of three Slayers who would fight against something called the Origin unto the destruction of the world, essentially. The Origin, I believe, is the First Evil."

"That's not good," Faith muttered.

"Wait, did you say three Slayers?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, I did," Giles answered.

Faith laughed mirthlessly and kicked at the carpet. "That means that I have to die, doesn't it?" She said.

"I'm afraid so," Giles replied.

"Who do we think the third will be?" Buffy asked.

"Well, we can't be certain," Giles said thoughtfully, "but the Council had high hopes for Kennedy. The Coven seemed to think that she was the most likely to be chosen next."

"So we have to keep an eye on her," Buffy said. "Protect her."

"Can we go back to the part about me dying?" Faith muttered.

"Don't worry about it," Buffy said, touching her arm reassuringly. "It's not that bad. I mean, I've done it twice," she joked. Faith smiled a little and nodded.

"I just thought you should know," Giles said.

"Thanks," Faith replied. "Do we know when this is supposed to happen?"

"No," Giles answered. "But we have many battles facing us. I don't imagine you'll have to wait long."

Faith nodded. "That all?" She asked. Giles nodded and she turned, walking out of the bedroom. Buffy looked after her worriedly before following.

"Faith!" She called down the hallway. Faith stopped walking and waited for Buffy to catch up with her. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Giles just told me that I'm going to die," Faith said. "Not really with the okay right now."

"We don't know that it's going to happen, Faith," Buffy replied. "Prophecies are tricky things. They don't always come true."

"But sometimes they do," Faith said.

"Yeah," Buffy had to agree.

"Look, I get that you're just trying to help, but I need to be alone right now, okay?" Faith said wearily, backing away. Buffy swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, blinking away tears as Faith walked away.

"Is she alright?" Giles asked, stepping out of the room.

"I don't think so," Buffy replied.

"You care a great deal for her, don't you?" Giles asked, studying his Slayer. Buffy smiled a little and nodded.

"I kinda think I'm in love with her," Buffy replied softly. "Believe me, I get how weird that is."

"I don't think it's weird at all," Giles said, watching Faith walk away. "You're both Slayers. No one else could understand what your life is like."

Buffy nodded. "We have this connection."

Giles smiled and wrapped his arm around Buffy's shoulders. "Don't worry about her, Buffy. She's not accustomed to talking about the things that bother her. But she'll come around eventually."

Buffy smiled and wiped the unshed tears from her eyes. "I hope so."