Night Falls

Notes: I just started classes today, so hopefully I will be able to continue updating three times a week, but at the very least, I will update twice a week.

Previously:

Buffy lashed out at the vampire, but it dodged her punch. Grabbing the blonde Slayer by the throat, the vampire lifted her into the air and threw her several yards away She landed at the feet of Faith and Hailey. Buffy picked herself up, dusted herself off, and looked over at the other two girls.

Chapter Sixteen:

"I don't feel so good," Hailey muttered to herself as Faith half dragged her up to Buffy's front door.

"Just keep pressing on it," Faith instructed.

"I think it's stopped bleeding," Buffy said as she opened the door with one hand while she inspected Hailey's wound with the other.

"Are you sure we shouldn't have taken her to the hospital?" Faith asked worriedly.

"No, no, I'm alright," Hailey said, absently waiving away Faith's concern. "I've been bitten by a vampire before…twice. Same vampire, actually. It was a thing. He's a pile of dust now though."

"This wasn't an ordinary vampire," Faith countered.

"It's not like she's going to sprout another head or anything," Buffy said jokingly.

"You never know with these things," Faith argued.

"Wait a second," Hailey interrupted, "is this sprouting another head thing a legitimate concern or was that just an example of something that could potentially happen as a result of a demon bite, but not actually as a result of my demon bite?"

"More of an illustration," Buffy answered.

"Though I wouldn't count it out," Faith said seriously, though the smile tugging at her lips betrayed her words.

"You're just messing with me now, right?" Hailey asked. The two Slayers walked into the house, laughing, as Hailey tailed behind them. "Right? Guys?"

"What happened?" Giles asked, walking out into the foyer from the direction of the kitchen. He had a cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other.

"We got attacked by a vampire," Faith answered.

"It bit me," Hailey said.

"I can see that," Giles responded as patiently as he could. "Please, come in to the living room. Let me take a look at it." The three girls followed Giles into the living room, where he deposited the book and mug on the coffee table, and took a seat next to Hailey on the couch.

"This wasn't just a normal vampire, Giles," Buffy said, taking a seat on the other side of the potential. "This was like an…uber vamp."

"Just come up with that now?" Faith mocked.

"Yes," Buffy said defensively. "But I don't hear you coming up with anything better."

"Really not the point," Hailey muttered.

"Move your hand," Giles said as he leaned forward and wiped some of the blood away from the wound with his handkerchief. Willow walked into the living room at that moment, her face turning from jovial to horrified as she saw the blood covering Giles' handkerchief and the ashen look on Hailey's face.

"Oh goddess, what happened?" Willow asked, rushing to Hailey's side. Buffy rose from the couch, giving the witch her seat, and joined Faith as the dark haired Slayer leaned against the wall.

"Vampire, teeth, ground," Hailey answered. "Pretty much all I remember."

"What was so different about this vampire?" Giles asked. "And can someone get me the first aid kit for god sake, this wound isn't going to bandage itself."

"I'll get it," Willow said, leaping to her feet. She rushed out of the room, on the verge of panic, leaving Hailey behind smiling to herself.

"What're you smiling at, sheriff?" Faith asked, chuckling.

"She really likes me," Hailey said, smiling goofily.

"You've lost a lot of blood," Giles said, turning her face so that she was looking at him instead of Faith, and speaking slowly. "You need to lie down and rest."

"Okay," Hailey replied, shifting her position on the couch so that she was lying down. Willow reappeared moments later carrying the first aid kit.

"It was old, really old," Buffy replied, answering Giles' question. "Ancient, almost. It seriously needed a face lift."

"Well, thank you, Buffy," Giles said, rolling his eyes, "that was terribly helpful."

"Sorry," Buffy said shrugging her shoulders. She thought for a moment, suddenly realizing of whom the vampire had reminded her. "He looked like the Master."

"What?" Giles asked in surprise, as he disinfected Hailey's wound with rubbing alcohol.

"That kinda hurts," Hailey said, sucking in her breath. Willow smiled sympathetically and reached over for her hand, gently rubbing her thumb over Hailey's knuckles. Though the pain was still there, Hailey found herself so intently focusing on Willow's touch that everything else seemed to blur together. The pain, the conversation, the entire room around her melted away, and all she could see was the red haired witch smiling down at her.

"The vampire, it reminded me of the Master," Buffy answered. "And it was strong Giles. I hate to say it, but it kicked my ass."

"It really did," Faith concurred.

"Thanks for the encouragement," Buffy said sarcastically, throwing a glance over at her sister Slayer. Faith just grinned and nodded.

"Anytime, B," she replied.

"This is not good," Giles stated. Hailey looked up at him alarmed.

"What?" She asked, panicked.

"Oh, not you," Giles quickly amended. Hailey breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Giles stuck a bandage on her neck and squeezed her free hand reassuringly. "You'll be quite alright. I dare say you were remarkably lucky. Now, up to bed with you. You need to get some rest," Giles said in a rather fatherly tone.

"Come on," Willow said, helping Hailey to her feet. "I'll help you up the stairs."

"You know, I'm not crippled. I kinda think I can do it," Hailey murmured.

"I know," Willow said with a smile in her voice.

"Uber vamp not a good thing?" Buffy asked once Willow and Hailey had disappeared up the stairs.

"Do I actually need to address that question?" Giles asked impatiently. "This vampire is obviously an ally of the First, if not one of the First's secret weapons. It's apparently new to the scene, so it must have come from somewhere. We need to find out where, what it is, and how we can defeat it."

"And if the First just happens to have an army of these guys waiting for us somewhere," Faith muttered.

"How do we know that it's actually working for the First?" Buffy argued.

"We don't," Giles said. "Not for certain."

"Uh, can I interject something here?" Andrew said suddenly, startling them.

"I really forgot that he was in here," Buffy muttered to herself.

"What is it?" Faith asked.

"This vampire," Andrew said nervously. "I think I know where it came from."

…………………………………….

"Not that I don't appreciate the escort, but I really can do this myself," Hailey said as Willow untied the potential's boots and slipped them off her feet. Hailey was sitting on the edge of Willow's bed, watching the other girl busy herself with her shoestrings.

"I just want to be helpful," Willow said as she placed Hailey's boots next to the bed and stood, nervously wringing her hands. Hailey smiled and tentatively rose to her feet. Grabbing Willow's hands, she gazed deeply into the witch's eyes.

"Thanks," she said appreciatively. "But I can't help but think that you're trying everything that you can to avoid acknowledging that we're alone in your bedroom."

"Are we now?" Willow asked jokingly.

"I know you said that you wanted to take things slowly, and I completely understand that, but how slow were you thinking?" Hailey asked.

"What do you mean?" Willow answered, her voice regaining its anxious edge.

Hailey smiled softly, reaching up with one of her hands to lightly stroke Willow's face. "I just meant, I really want to kiss you right now. But I don't know if that's okay."

"Neither do I," Willow replied honestly.

"I just want you to know that I realize that I can never replace her. I'm not trying too. But I know there's room in your heart for both of us if you'll just let me in," Hailey whispered.

"It's hard," Willow whispered back.

"All good things are," Hailey said. "I'm not going to kiss you because I don't know if you're ready. But I wouldn't object if you wanted to kiss me."

Willow leaned into Hailey's touch, briefly closing her eyes as she let the other girl's words wrap around her. Slowly opening her eyes again, she smiled brilliantly before leaning in, and capturing Hailey's lips with her own. Hailey moaned into the kiss, relishing in the feel of Willow's soft lips dancing with hers. Willow pulled her forward, crushing their lips together as the passion between them mounted. Teasing the other girl's lips open, Willow slipped her tongue inside Hailey's mouth, gasping with pleasure as their tongues met and dueled for dominance. Finally, they broke away, each gasping for air.

"That was amazing," Hailey said after a moment's pause.

"Definitely," Willow replied. "I can see doing that lot more often."

"Yeah?" Hailey asked, wriggling her eyebrows seductively. Willow laughed and urged her back towards the bed.

"But not tonight," she said seriously. "Giles said you should rest and I agree. Blood loss is nothing to play with."

"Those the words of experience?" Hailey asked, lying down on Willow's bed. Hailey had been sleeping in Willow's bed nearly since the day she arrived, after the red haired witch discovered the extent of her injuries from the Watcher's Council headquarters explosion. Willow had been sleeping on the floor, a fact which had been bothering Hailey not only because she wanted to feel the other girl next to her, but also because it could not have been comfortable.

"Maybe," Willow answered.

"Do me a favor?" Hailey asked.

"What?" Willow asked.

"Will you just lay with me tonight? I know you don't sleep well on the floor," Hailey said. Willow thought for a moment, a myriad of emotions flying across her face. Just as Hailey was certain that Willow would say no, the witch smiled and nodded.

"Okay," she replied. "But no funny business," she warned half seriously.

"I promise," Hailey said, grinning as Willow slipped under the covers beside her.

………………………….

"This Seal thing sounds like bad times," Faith said as she walked into Buffy's bedroom, just ahead of the blonde Slayer, who closed the door behind them.

"Can't say it's of the good," Buffy replied.

"So we check it out tomorrow?" Faith asked, turning around to face the other girl.

"In the light of day," Buffy concurred.

"So are you actually going to stay in here tonight or bail again?" Faith asked as she slipped her shoes off and flopped down on the bed.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"Well, ever since that oh-so-bad night when I got totally wasted, and I still don't understand how that happened, I've been sleeping up here, and you've been nowhere to be found," Faith explained.

"I'm not that kind of girl," Buffy said.

"The sleeping kind?" Faith asked in confusion.

"I don't just want to sleep with you, Faith. I barely even really know you," Buffy said.

"You know, I could take that the wrong way and assume that you were calling me that kind of girl, but I'll let it slide for now. I'm not asking you to have sex with me, B," Faith said, laughing at the peculiar look on Buffy's face, "I'm just asking you to sleep in the same room with me. Doesn't even have to be in the same bed. Hell, I'll crash on the floor if you want. But all I know is that if we want whatever we have to go anywhere, we have to start playing the parts."

"This isn't a game, Faith," Buffy replied, taking a cautious seat on the edge of the bed.

"I know," Faith replied, sighing heavily as she sat up. "I didn't mean to say that it was. But I want to have a relationship with you. I've never wanted that before. I think that you want that too. I know that we still have a long way to go. But I'm willing to start walking the road," Faith said softly.

Buffy smiled and looked over at her. Faith could not help but notice how beautiful she was at that moment, her naked emotions playing across her face in a symphony of expression. "I want that too," Buffy replied, taking Faith's hand in her own. "And you're right, if we want this to go anywhere, we need to start taking the steps."

"Exactly," Faith said.

"Tomorrow, after we find this Seal thing, I want to tell the others about us," Buffy said.

"Really?" Faith asked. "Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

"You don't want them to know about us?" Buffy asked, offended.

"It's not that," Faith quickly amended. "It's just that….well, they really kinda hate me, so far as I can tell. I'm not sure they'll be real happy."

"I don't care," Buffy said defiantly. "They can be happy for us or not. It won't change anything. And they don't hate you, Faith. Everyone's grown a lot since you left. I think they realize that the world isn't so black and white anymore."

"No, it's got a whole hell of a lot of shades of gray," Faith agreed.

Buffy squeezed her hand, "Yes, it does. And I want to explore them all with you."