Night Falls

Previously:

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

"In the light of day," Buffy concurred.

Chapter Seventeen:

"So this is your office, huh?" Faith asked, looking around the cubicle in which Buffy worked with a blatant smirk on her face.

"At least I have a job," Buffy shot back as she organized some papers on her desk, shut down her computer, and stood.

"I'm not mocking," Faith said, throwing up her hands defensively. "I'm sure you do good for these kids. I just know that the guidance counselor at my old high school was a bitch."

"Where did you go to high school?" Buffy asked, eager to know more about the woman she had started dating. Even when Faith first arrived in Sunnydale, before their relationship had taken a turn for the worse, the younger girl had never opened up to Buffy about her life before slaying.

"Boston," Faith answered. "You knew that already though."

"Yeah, I knew that," Buffy agreed reluctantly. "But you've never told me anymore than that. Like I said before, Faith, I barely know you. Yet, I feel more connected to you than anyone else."

Faith sighed heavily and looked down at the ground. She knew that she would have to talk to Buffy about her past, but that was a particular relationship hurdle that she was not fond of jumping. Her life in Boston had been nothing but horrifying and humiliating, with a brief reprieve when her Watcher first arrived. But even that good turn had turned sour when Kakistos entered into her life. Faith shuddered unconsciously when she thought of the cloven hoofed demon. He had taken everything away from her in an instant. Often, Faith wondered what her life would have been like if she had killed Kakistos before he ended her Watcher's life. She thought that things would have turned out very differently. Perhaps she would have finished high school, gone to college, and made something of herself. Instead, she had wandered from the path, lost herself in darkness and despair, and ended up in prison for murder.

"What're you thinking about?" Buffy asked, noticing the cloud that had passed over Faith's features.

"Nothing," Faith replied sullenly. "Let's just go." Buffy nodded, though she wanted to press the subject, and followed Faith out into the hallways of Sunnydale High. "Looks a lot different than the old place," Faith commented idly.

"I guess they didn't want history repeating itself," Buffy replied.

"Maybe they should've moved it then," Faith smirked. "Who's that guy?" Faith asked as a black man in a gray suit passed them in the hallway. He smiled politely and nodded at Buffy.

"My boss," Buffy replied. "Robin Wood. He's the principal of the school."

"I don't like him," Faith commented, turning her head to watch him walk down the hallway. He stopped at the corner and turned to look back at the two girls. When his eyes met Faith's, he hurried on.

"Why not?" Buffy asked. "He's harmless."

"Didn't like the way he looked at you," Faith answered distractedly.

"You were jealous," Buffy said, laughing.

"So?" Faith asked, her cheeks reddening from embarrassment. "My girlfriend happens to be hot Slayer. You do realize that practically everyone you pass has some torrid fantasy about you."

"Girlfriend?" Buffy asked hopefully, unable to belief that her ears had not been playing a trick on her. She knew that Faith cared about her, but she often wondered at the extent of Faith's caring.

"If you want to be," Faith quickly added.

"Of course I do," Buffy said earnestly.

"Looks like we're here," Faith commented, directing Buffy's attention to the basement door.

"Do you think that vamp will be down there?" Buffy asked.

"I would count on it," Faith answered. "If this thing is half as important as Andrew seemed to think it was, I'm betting the First is guarding it like there's no tomorrow."

"There might not be," Buffy muttered to herself. Cautiously pulling open the door, she stepped down onto the first stair.

"See anything?" Faith asked, pulling the door closed behind her as she followed the older Slayer.

"Not a thing," Buffy replied. "But my spider senses are bouncing off the walls."

"I feel you on that one," Faith said. Darkness enveloped them and they moved as the Slayers that preceded them had, through their intuition and instincts. Crouching closer to the ground as they walked, their postures spoke of an impending fight and the knowledge of certain death. Buffy had learned that death was her gift. Though she often wrestled with what that statement meant, she was starting to realize that death was not her gift so much as it was her reality. Everything she touched died, whether by her hand or another's. Each time she walked into battle, she knew that it could be her last.

Though Faith shouldered the same burden, she fought without concern over her own life. When the battle began, she lost herself in a flurry of passion – the same passion that had ruled Slayers for thousands of years. Buffy had been a product of training and calculation. Faith, on the other hand, had been a product of violence and pain. Each fought differently, but they fought towards the same goal. "Stop," Faith said suddenly.

"We're almost there," Buffy whispered, looking back at the younger girl. She could see Faith's eyes shining in the dark like the eyes of a lion waiting to jump out from a secret hiding place.

"That vampire's in there," Faith whispered back. "But so is another."

"Not the same type," Buffy said.

"No," Faith replied. "I think it's Spike."

"We have to get him out," Buffy said, moving forward through the darkness.

They continued until they reached a doorway. The door hung ajar, light spilling forth from the room inside. "Stay behind me," Buffy instructed as she knelt in the doorway. She could see the Seal in the center of the room. A wooden wheel of sorts was suspended above it. Buffy could see lines of blood staining the wood. Chains hung off of it, but they were empty. The Seal was closed. Bringers wandered into sight, but they were not armed as Buffy had expected them to be.

"They're not expecting us," Faith murmured. "Do you see Spike?"

"No," Buffy answered. "But I can feel him." Suddenly, Buffy pulled back from the doorway, motioning for Faith to retreat into the darkness.

"What is it?" Faith asked.

"The vampire, he's in there," Buffy replied. "Not that I'm doubting our abilities but…. well, okay, I'm doubting our abilities. I don't think we can take him."

"There's one of him and two of us," Faith argued.

"But we don't know that there's only one of him," Buffy said. "Add in all of the Bringers and we're looking at a battle we're not ready for."

"What about Spike?" Faith asked, sighing. She knew that Buffy would not budge from her opinion.

"He'll have to wait," Buffy replied. "But at least we know that the Seal is here and that the First is protecting it. That's more than we knew before."

"It's still not enough," Faith murmured as she followed Buffy, who was retracing her steps back to the basement door.

Faith was not easily shaken by the forces of darkness, but there was something about the First Evil that terrified her. It seemed to know everything about everyone; things that she did not even know about herself the First Evil had used against her. She was worried that the First would be something that they could not beat. Buffy had gone up against a myriad of enemies, but none so powerful and ancient as the First of all evils. The prophecy that Giles had discovered did little to belay her fears. Even though death would not be the end for her, the prophecy indicated that all would be lost in fighting the First, even if they won. Faith followed Buffy back up the basement stairs and into the light of day. "So what now?" She asked.

"Last night, I said that we'd tell the others about us today," Buffy said, anxiety evident in her voice. "Everyone should be at the house soon."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Faith asked.

"Yes," Buffy said determinedly. "I've lied to them enough recently. They need to know about us."

Faith smiled and pulled Buffy close, wrapping her arms around the blonde Slayer. "You're one of the bravest people I know, B," she said.

"No, I'm not," Buffy said, her voice muffled by Faith's shoulder. "I'm just not the brightest person on earth." Faith laughed and buried her face in Buffy's hair. Breathing in deeply, she smiled. She loved the vanilla scent of Buffy's shampoo. Wrapped in an intimate embrace by the door of the basement of Sunnydale High, neither Slayers noticed as a pair of laughing eyes watched them from only a few yards away.

"I take it this is something you were going to tell me later?" A voice asked. Buffy and Faith broke their embrace and glanced down the hallway, Buffy's face reddening like the afternoon sun.

"Hey, kid," Faith said. Dawn walked up to them, pulling her shoulders back so that she was standing at her full height, and stopped in front of Faith.

"What are your intentions with my sister?" Dawn demanded, noticing with nothing short of elation the wariness that crept into Faith's eyes.

"I'm not messing with her if that's what you mean," Faith answered catiously.

"Good," Dawn said. Then she stepped closer. "Because if you hurt her in any way, I will kill you. I'll do more than kill you. That clear?"

"Crystal," Faith answered. Dawn could be rather imposing when she tried and Faith did not doubt for a moment the validity of her threat.

"Welcome to the family then," Dawn said, smiling widely.

"So you don't have a problem with this?" Buffy asked.

"No," Dawn replied, but her face darkened. "Though, I'm not so sure that Xander and Willow are going to take it as well."

………………………..

Hailey picked up the telephone in the kitchen, closed her eyes for a brief moment, sighed, and dialed the number. Placing the receiver against her ear, she waited as the phone rang. Finally, the person on the other end picked up. "Yeah?" A gruff, just awoken voice answered.

"Trevor?" Hailey asked. "It's Hailey."

"Hails!" Trevor said, his voice instantly brightening. "Just the kick ass, vampire hunting sheriff I've been wanting to talk to. I called your office, but the deputy said that you had mysteriously vanished."

"Place to be, things to do," Hailey replied enigmatically. "Did you finish the latest batch of bullets?"

"That I did," Trevor said proudly. "Got even more for you than you ordered. I'm getting faster."

"I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that," Hailey said with relief. "I need you to send them somewhere else though."

"Where are you at now?" Trevor asked suspiciously. "You know, your deputy told me that you were having some troubles with the law. Some news came over the wire about a prison break in L.A. Man was concerned you might be in trouble."

"I'm not," Hailey said. "At least not from the law. Look, there's some serious vamp action where I'm at now. I'm in Sunnydale, California, and if you know anything about the place" –

"I'll know it's sitting on top of a bloody Hellmouth," Trevor finished. "Give me an address and I'll send them right away. Nothing says 'go to hell' quite like a UV bullet."

"1630 Revello Drive," Hailey replied. "And hurry."

…………………………..

"So what's up, Buff? New evil afoot?" Xander asked from his seat on the sofa.

"You know," Anya said, "if this is just another one of your 'oh so inspirational' talks, I think I'm going to pass. Really not much of a team player, anyway. Besides, they're boring."

"Anya," Willow said, shooting a look over at the ex-vengeance demon.

"Oh, right," Anya replied, "I wasn't supposed to say anything because Buffy thinks her talks really do arouse excitement and energy."

"They don't?" Buffy asked, glancing around the room.

"Not really," Hailey answered, shrugging her apology.

"Why didn't anyone say anything? I'm not trying to depress the troops here, I'm trying to encourage them," Buffy stated.

"Not really the point," Faith muttered over to her.

"Oh, right. Okay, I gathered you all here today not because I wanted to talk about some great evil or anything. I wanted to talk to you about Faith and I," Buffy said.

"I knew it," Xander jumped in. "What did she do this time?"

"I didn't do anything," Faith replied defensively.

"Although, we don't know that for sure," Dawn snickered.

"It's nothing like that, Xan," Buffy said. "Faith and I have sort of…well, where's Giles?" Buffy asked, suddenly realizing that the ex-librarian was missing.

"He left rather unexpectedly this morning," Hailey answered. "The Coven called and told him that they had located several potentials. He went to retrieve them. Apparently, more will be arriving everyday. We're expecting some this evening actually."

"More potentials," Faith said. "Enjoy the hot showers while you can."

"What were you saying, Buffy? Before we switched gears?" Willow asked.

"Right," Buffy said. "Faith and I have…."

"Oh!" Anya said, cutting her off. "You're having sex!"

"No," Faith immediately jumped in. "We're not."

"But you will some day soon. There's more sexual tension between the two of you than anyone I've met," Anya said, wriggling her eyebrows.

"You hooked up with Faith?" Xander asked, his voice tinged with something akin to horror.

"We're dating," Buffy replied. "We haven't hooked up."

"How could you do that, Buffy? She's a murderer," Willow blurted out. Hailey grabbed Willow's hand, diverting her attention.

"To be blunt, baby, so are you," Hailey said, ignoring the hurt that flashed through Willow's eyes. "There's no difference between you and her. If Faith can make Buffy happy, who cares."

"I can't deal with this," Xander said, rising to his feet.

"Xander, wait!" Buffy called as he stormed out of the room.

"Let him go, B," Faith said, grabbing her arm as she attempted to follow him.

"He'll come around," Anya said sympathetically.

"What about you, Will?" Buffy asked, her voice pleading with her best friend to accept her. Willow sighed and stood.

"I can't say that I trust Faith. But Hailey's right, I don't trust myself either. If she makes you happy, than I'm happy for you. But," Willow said, turning to Faith, "if you hurt her…"

"I know," Faith cut in. "You'll kill me. That really seems to be a recurring theme today."