Night Falls

Note: Thanks for the reviews and your patience. Keep them both coming.

Previously:

"It's okay," Andrew said, resuming walking. "I want to help."

"I know," Hailey replied. "The others do too. Just give them time. You may find that you have more friends than you think."

Chapter Twenty-Four:

"We've been monitoring the cameras we placed around town for a week now," Willow said, nervously standing in front of the group gathered in Buffy's living room with a shaking piece of paper in her hand. Buffy smiled. The sight reminded her of their high schools years together when Willow had not found her confidence yet. Many times Buffy had watched Willow shift to and fro on her feet in front of a bored and unappreciative classroom looking like she would have rather undergone the most painful surgery possible than give a presentation.

Hailey glanced out of the window, knowing that she should have been giving her girlfriend the support she needed to finish her speech, but unable to tear her eyes away from the outside world. She was starting to get restless. She did not know why, but she felt as though something were terribly wrong. Though she enjoyed the time she was able to spend with Willow, she was becoming frustrated with the lack of time they had been spending recently. More girls had arrived and it seemed that everywhere she stepped, a girl had taken up residence.

"And we've actually had some results," Willow continued. Hailey shifted her gaze back to the living room and glanced around. Xander and Anya were sitting unusually close, though she did not have much hope for their relationship. Love conquered many things, but Hailey was not certain that it could conquer such deep pain that still lingered between them. Her eyes shifted to Giles, who was cautiously sipping a hot cup of tea. Buffy and Faith were practically sitting in each other's laps, ignoring the angry and disparaging looks that Xander continually flashed them. Hailey smirked, wondering if Buffy had given into temptation yet, or if she was still keeping Faith at bay. Faith caught her eye and lifted an eyebrow in question, but Hailey simply shook her head.

"While we haven't seen Caleb, we have seen many Bringers," Willow said, confidence starting to fill her voice. Hailey looked at Kennedy, who was watching Willow was still lustful eyes. Hailey repressed a sigh and rolled her eyes. Kennedy knew her place in the proverbial food chain, but that did not stop the younger girl from appreciating what Willow had to offer. However, Hailey knew that if Kennedy kept butting the ceiling she would have to put her in her place.

"What do we know about Caleb?" Colleen interrupted.

"Well," Willow sputtered, losing her place in her speech.

"Nothing, really," Buffy replied for her friend.

"Shouldn't we be doing something about that?" Spike asked from his place in the corner of the room.

"Are you volunteering?" Buffy asked, looking over at him. Everyone followed suit and soon Spike found himself under the heated gaze of a room full of people.

"Do I have a choice?" He asked.

"Not really," Buffy replied. "Spike and Andrew, I want the two of you to research Caleb. Andrew, you're good with computers. Find something. Spike can be your muscle," Buffy instructed.

"Really?" Andrew asked in surprise.

"Someone said you wanted to help," Buffy replied seriously. "But you need to know that I have trust issues. Especially with people who have tried to kill me and my friends, but maybe you deserve a second chance." Faith looked down at the ground, knowing that whether Buffy knew it or not, she was talking about her. Faith also knew that Buffy trusted people much more before she met Faith than after. Sometimes she wondered how much she had screwed up Buffy's life. She would never fully know. Maybe that was why Buffy could not bring herself to become intimate with her because then she really would have to trust Faith.

"Willow? Please continue," Giles prodded, rubbing his temples. When he had become a Watcher, he had not anticipated being one of two Watchers for a house full of potential Slayers. He glanced over at Wesley and saw his partner Watcher giving him a sympathetic smile. Wesley had not been in Sunnydale long enough yet to lose all of his patience.

"Right," Willow said. "Anyway, based on our observations, we believe that we have come up with a plan." Hailey's eyes darted over to Willow. She did not know that Buffy and the others had come up with a plan already. She just knew that they had been watching the cameras carefully. She repressed a shudder. Caleb frightened her, but she did not know why. He was just another monster in a string of monsters. Perhaps it was because he portrayed himself as a preacher. She knew that it was not true, but she had always viewed preachers as holy men, who were untouched by evil. Yet, Caleb was working directly for the First Evil. He had killed many girls, if his encounter with the potential still in the hospital was any indication. If there was a scrap of good left in him, Hailey could not see it.

But then, no one had seen him. Even though they had cameras all over town, they had not spotted anyone who looked like a psychotic preacher. Yet, Caleb had to be in town somewhere. Finding out where was proving to be harder than they thought. "So what's the plan?" Faith asked sarcastically, looking over at Buffy in confusion. Hailey's eyebrows shot up. Faith did not even know about their supposed plan. Buffy shot her a look that was a mix of guilty puppy and a subtle warning not to pursue the argument in front of the girls.

"The Bringers are all that we're seeing," Buffy said. "So we go after them."

"How do we know we'll get anything from them?" Faith asked.

"We're Slayers," Buffy replied. "Violence is our specialty. They can only withstand so much."

Wesley flinched at the notion of torture, which Faith noticed. "Sorry, B, but I think you're on your own with this one," she said.

"What?" Buffy asked, looking over at her in shock. "I need your held here," she stressed.

"Maybe," Faith replied softly. "But I'm not going to torture anyone. I've come a long way from that, B. I don't want to go back."

Buffy mentally slapped herself. "Of course," she said. "I'm sorry. I should have asked you before."

"It's okay," Faith said, smiling casually.

"So that's the plan?" Hailey added. "Find a Bringer and make him talk?"

"Not exactly," Buffy said. "That's only part of it."

"What's the other part?" Kennedy asked eagerly.

"We've noticed that the Bringers are gathering around a central spot," Willow jumped in. "They seem to be flocking to the school."

"Really?" Dawn asked. "The school? And why can't I just stop going again?" She asked, glaring over at Buffy.

"It's important…somehow," Buffy replied weakly.

"Anyway," Willow continued, "we think they might have something there."

"You mean the something that belongs to us?" Hailey asked.

"Exactly," Buffy replied. "A team will go into the school to find out what they're hiding there. The seal isn't it. We've seen that. It's pretty and all, but it's not something you would gather an army around. There has to be something, or someone, else there."

"What do we think it is?" Kennedy asked.

"A potential maybe?" Buffy replied. "Your guess is as good as mine at this point. Caleb said he has something that belongs to us. Something that we want. I don't know what it is, but I'm eager to find out."

"And we have considered the possibility that all of this is just a trap, right?" Xander offered.

"I know," Buffy said. "But if he does have a girl, I can't just leave her there with him."

"Even if he does have one girl, is it really worth endangering a team of girls to rescue her?" Xander asked, knowing he would anger most of the people in the room.

"Before you argue back, Xander's right," Hailey interrupted. "I don't mean to sound callous, but one girl is just one girl. We don't know anything about Caleb."

"We know one thing," Buffy countered. "He's just one man."

"Buffy and I have discussed this at length," Willow said. "We know that it could be a trap. But we also have to start taking the offensive. As they say, the best defense is a good offense."

"And our offense has sucked so far," Buffy added. "It's time we start getting into the game."

"She's right," Kennedy jumped in. "I mean, what else are we training for?"

"Okay, so one team goes into the school to do some surveillance, another team captures a Bringer and tortures him into giving us information about Caleb," Hailey summarized.

"That's the plan," Buffy said, nodding.

"So who's on what team?" Faith asked.

"Faith, Kennedy, Willow, Colleen, Maria, Annabelle, Molly, and Vi are going to the school. We don't want you to engage. We just want you to look around, find out what they have there. The only way I want a fight is if they discover you or if you find a girl," Buffy instructed. "The rest of you will stay here with me. Spike and I will find a Bringer and kidnap him. We'll bring him back here and the questioning will begin. Faith, I want you to lead your team. Kennedy, you're her second in command."

"Cool," Kennedy said to herself.

"Willow, if things get rough, and I hate to ask you this, but I need you to be able to get them out of there if Faith can't," Buffy said.

Willow sighed deeply. "I'll do my best."

"Remember, the First wanted you to give up your magic for a reason," Hailey said softly. "It's afraid of you."

"Not as much as I'm afraid of it," Willow muttered under her breath.

"Is everyone clear on their roles?" Buffy asked. There was a universal nodding of heads. "Good…because we're doing this tonight."