Night Falls

Notes: Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming!

Previously:

Kennedy nodded, for once finding herself in agreement with the sheriff. Gazing around at the frightened faces surrounding her, she set her mouth in a determined grin and said, "Let's go."

Chapter Nineteen:

"I'm worried about Xander," Buffy said as she and Faith walked home from a rather fruitless patrol. They had only slain one vampire, of the normal variety, and had not seen any of the First's minions milling about the town, which was highly unusual.

"He'll come around, B," Faith replied. The chill night air blew down the street, scattering the fallen leaves, and causing Faith to shiver. She smiled a little, remembering the chilly nights in Boston. She used to sit by her apartment window and watch the snow fall down in big, white puffs. It was so peaceful, unlike everything else in her life, that she found it thoroughly fascinating.

"What if he doesn't?" Buffy asked, turning to Faith. "What if he can't forgive me for this and he never comes back? We haven't heard from him in several hours, Faith. What if something happened to him? What if the vampire got him? What if the First got him?"

"You gotta chill out, babe," Faith said as stopped in her tracks and let an exasperated sigh fall from her lips.

"But…"

"No buts," Faith replied. "Xander's fine. He's pissed. But he's fine. If the First had him, we'd know about it because you can be damn sure it'd want to brag."

"Maybe you're right," Buffy grumbled and resumed walking.

"Of course I am," Faith said.

"I don't see what his problem is," Buffy said. "He didn't react this way when he found out I had been sleeping with Spike." Buffy thought for a moment before adding. "Well, he reacted similarly. But he only walked away because we had been out in the middle of the street. And Anya had just slept with him too."

"Boy gets around," Faith commented. "Which I think is the problem here too."

"Spike?" Buffy asked. "What does Spike have to do with me and you?"

"Nothing," Faith said. "But the last time I blew through Sunnydale, I slept with Xander, remember?"

"Yeah," Buffy said, repressing the urge to shudder with disgust. She knew that Xander had always harbored a crush on her, but she had always thought of him as a big brother.

"Look how well that turned out," Faith replied.

"He thinks you're just using me, like Spike, and that once again, I'm too blind to see it," Buffy said, realization dawning on her. "Not only that, but his pride is probably a little wounded."

"He's angry because he's worried about you and it frustrates him that you can never see when you're getting into something bad," Faith said.

"Am I getting into something bad?" Buffy asked, as she entwined her fingers with Faith's. Faith nearly jumped at the contact and looked down at their joined hands. She had never held hands with anyone before.

Smiling goofily, she lifted her eyes to look at Buffy. "No, you're not. In fact I'd go so far as to say that you're getting yourself into something very good."

"Would you now?" Buffy said, smiling.

They were nearing Buffy's house. The thought of a hot meal and warm bed were incredibly enticing to Faith at that moment. She had never had those things on a consistent basis, but now that she did, she knew that she could never go back to living out of a motel and only eating when she had the cash. "Buffy," Faith said, her eyes squinting as she stared into the distance.

"You just used my full name," Buffy noted. "You never do that."

"Now is as good a time as any to start. Why is your front door hanging wide open?" Faith asked. Buffy let her eyes follow Faith's pointing finger. Cold, sick dread clutched at her heart when she saw the front door to her house ripped open and hanging off at an unnatural angle.

"The girls," Buffy gasped as she started running towards the house. Faith was at her heels. They burst through the door and stopped dead in the house. The lights were still on, but neither of them sensed anyone's presence. "You check upstairs, I'll check the basement."

Faith watched as Buffy cautiously crept towards the basement door. Ignoring her own instincts to proceed with caution, she bolted up the stairs and into the first room that she saw. No one, she thought. She made her way down the hallway, checking each room as she went until she came to Hailey and Willow's room. She noted that it was empty, but she noted something else as well. Moving over to Hailey's bag, she saw that the older girl's gun was missing.

"The weapons are missing," Buffy said, appearing in the room behind Faith.

"Shit," Faith said, nearly leaping out of her skin. "Do you have to do that?"

"Sorry," Buffy replied, smiling slyly. "We have to find them. We should split up. You check the school, I'll check downtown."

"Okay," Faith replied. "But don't you think it would be better if we stuck together?" She asked.

"Not really," Buffy said calmly, nearly rolling her eyes. "I'll see you soon." Faith watched as Buffy left the room with a strange feeling rising in her chest. Shrugging her shoulders, she looked back at Hailey's bag and noticed that her hat was still perched on the bed post.

"Wouldn't just leave that behind," Faith muttered.

"Hey, did you find anything?" Buffy asked, nearly bursting into the room.

"No, but you already knew that. I thought you had left already," Faith said, eying her suspiciously.

"Left? Where was I supposed to go?" Buffy asked in confusion.

"You just told that we should split up to look for them. You were going downtown, I was supposed to go to the school," Faith said. "You must really be a blonde," she added under her breath.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Faith. I was just checking the basement. And there's no way we should split up, it's too dangerous," Buffy replied.

Faith suddenly smiled, a very knowing and self-reproachful smile. "Ha ha. Very funny," she said, looking around the empty room. "You're just a riot aren't you?"

Buffy glanced around the room, found it empty, and wondered to whom Faith was speaking. "Faith?" She asked.

Faith sighed and shook her head. "I'm really getting sick of all these mind games."

"I'm not messing with your mind!" Buffy burst in a shout.

"I'm not talking about you!" Faith shouted back. "It was the First again. It keeps coming to me looking like you. It's getting very confusing."

"Oh," Buffy said, immediately regretting raising her voice. "We really should come up with a secret code word."

"Okay, the First wanted us to go downtown and to the school," Faith said, on the verge of something but unable to reach it. "So if it wanted us to go there, than the girls must not be there. So where else would they go?"

"I don't know," Buffy said. "The school seems as likely a hiding place as anywhere else."

"The harbor," Faith suddenly said. "All of those empty buildings. It's perfect."

"I hope you're right," Buffy replied as they left Willow and Hailey's room and started down the hallway. "I don't think they stand much of a chance out there on their own."

…………………………..

"I don't think we stand much of a chance out here," Hailey said as she and the girls huddled into the back room of an abandoned factory. The Bringers and the uber vamp had begun chasing them after they had traveled a considerable distance away from the house. Though they appeared to have lost their pursuers, Hailey was not so sure.

"What would you rather us do?" Kennedy shot back.

"We should have tried to find Buffy and Faith," Dawn said, sitting down on an old packing crate.

"That would have done us a lot of good. We don't even know where they are," Colleen interjected.

"Yeah, we would have been running all over the bleeding town for nothing," Molly said.

"This isn't doing us any good, people," Anya said. "We need to stay quiet."

"How long are we going to wait here?" Andrew whispered harshly. Maria nodded along with him, though Hailey was nearly positive that the Spanish girl had no idea what was going on.

"Did anyone explain any of this to her?" Hailey asked. Colleen laughed nervously.

"I can do that," she said and began whispering to the other girl in Spanish.

"That really is inconvenient," Anya muttered.

"We're going to wait here until the sun comes up," Kennedy said. "The vampire can't survive in the sunlight."

"That's nearly four hours away, Kennedy," Willow said, glancing down at her watch. "What makes you think they won't find us before then?"

"They will if you don't shut up," Anya said.

"If they find us, we'll run again," Kennedy said.

"I thought we came here to stop running," Hailey muttered to herself, referring more to Sunnydale than to the factory that they were currently sitting in. Willow gently placed her hand on Hailey's arm and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Everything's gonna be okay," she whispered. Hailey shivered when she felt the redhead's breath tickling her ear. Lifting her eyes, she saw Kennedy watching them.

"Something you want to say?" Hailey invited, smirking as Kennedy quickly shifted her eyes away.

"Don't antagonize her," Willow scolded, though her words were not heart felt. She did not have the will to be angry with her new girlfriend.

"Does she know?" Hailey asked, looking over at Willow.

"About the prophecy, you mean?" Willow asked. Hailey nodded. "No, she doesn't. Buffy thought it would be better to leave her in the dark."

"Don't want her getting a big head and all that," Hailey agreed. "But what if it's not her?"

"The Coven thinks it will be," Willow returned.

"Has the Coven always been right?" Hailey asked.

"I don't know," Willow replied thoughtfully. "But who else would it be? She's the most advanced."

"I don't think the Powers pick the next Slayer based on their abilities. I think it's rather random," Hailey said. "Just seems to me like Buffy should be training everyone equally and not singling out a specific girl."

"Well, if we ever get out of here, you can tell her yourself," Willow said.

……………………..

Spike knew that the First Evil was watching him, even though he had not opened his eyes in several hours. Whether the First believed that he was sleeping, however, he did not know. Spike was gathering his strength, calling it from every recess and chasm of his mind. The First was right about one thing, Buffy would not be coming any time soon – not because she did not care, but because she could not risk herself, Faith, or any of the Potentials when he was being guarded by an ancient, powerful vampire. A vampire who's not here at the moment, Spike thought to himself with satisfaction. The First believed that its plans were foolproof, but Spike was starting to see the ragged edges within them.

The Bringers and the vampire were gone. The only thing left was the First, but it was incorporeal. The only way that the First could stop him was by words. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, Spike recited. He could feel the handcuffs of the chains digging into his wrists. The smell of blood filled his nostrils and he restrained the urge to growl. Finally, he was ready. Opening his eyes, he lifted his head, and stared at the First Evil. "Finally awake," it commented. "I was beginning to worry."

"No, you weren't," Spike replied. "And if you don't mind, I think I'll be going now." Lunging forward, Spike used all of his strength to pull against the chains that were keeping him to the wall. After several seconds, he felt them begin to break. Finally, he stumbled forward, the chains falling at his sides, still attached to the cuffs at his wrists, but no longer attached to the wall.

"Where do you think you're going?" The First asked through Buffy's voice as Spike walked determinedly towards the exit.

"Anywhere but here, love," Spike replied.

"They don't want you," the First said. "No one wants you anymore."

Spike wheeled around on his heel, his eyes wide with fury as he stared down the First Evil. "You just keep talking and talking and talking, don't you? Well, it's about time you realized something. No one is listening!" Spike yelled. Turning, he walked out of the basement, fleeing up the stairs and into the high school. It was still night outside. Taking a deep breath, he caught the scent of the pack of Bringers and the vampire that had left some hours earlier. Smiling the smile of a man who had broken free from the last thing holding him back, Spike began to follow it.