Night Falls

Notes: Again, thanks for all of the reviews. They mean a lot. Also, I get the whole idea that the First Evil is supposed to be invisible and therefore can't be touched, or touch anything. But to be perfectly honest, not having the First Evil touch anything is really freakin' difficult. So forgive me if I screw that up a bit. This note should make more sense later on.

Previously:

Finally Willow spoke, "I can only explain to you what happened; what I felt; and why it occurred. I can't make you forgive me. I can only hope that you will…"

Chapter Thirty-Nine:

Willow paused, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before she continued. Hailey remained silent, watching the witch intently. She could see a myriad of emotions passing across the older girl's face, from sadness to resignation to hope. "I guess I should start at the beginning," Willow resumed. "Almost as soon as Kennedy arrived here, she started pursuing me. She was young, beautiful, and arrogant. I was attracted to her, but I wasn't ready to begin another relationship. The pain of Tara's death was still lingering in my heart. I suppose that it always will, but I could feel it more strongly then. I rebuffed her advances, though I think she knew that I felt something for her as well."

"Then you showed up. You and Kennedy are really quite similar. You both knew what you wanted and went after it. But you understood me in a way that Kennedy couldn't; maybe because you had lost someone as well, but maybe just because you have some wisdom about you that Kennedy will never possess," Willow explained. Her eyes were hazy with remembrance. Hailey waited for her to continue. "When I think back on everything, I realize how incredibly unfair I was to Kennedy. I just dropped her like I had never felt anything for her at all. You captivated me."

"I began my relationship with you and forgot completely about her. But I suppose somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that she was still there, still harboring feelings for me. I guess I thought that she would get over them eventually and move on; but she didn't. I should have known that she would try to make a move on me sometime. Honestly, that's all that happened," Willow said, looking over at Hailey with wet eyes.

Their eyes met and, for a moment, Hailey felt like things between them could return to the way that they had been prior to Willow's indiscretion. "That night, I was furious at Kennedy for hitting you. I thought she was completely out of line. When I saw her standing outside, I knew that I had to talk to her before her feelings got out of control. I went outside and told her what I thought, but she wouldn't hear it. I guess she thought I was coming out to support her. I didn't realize what she was doing until her lips were on mine."

Willow paused for a moment and looked down at her hands shamefully. "I have to admit that I kissed her back," she said softly. Hailey fought the urge to comment, biting her tongue to stay herself from saying something that she knew she would regret. "But my kissing her back was simply a product of surprise, not any feelings for her. Those feelings died the moment I met you, Hails," Willow said tearfully, rising from the bed, and pacing in front of it. "I love you so much and it's killing me to think that this one, stupid mistake could ruin everything that we have. I know that you're angry with me. You have every right to be. I'm not trying to dispute that. But please forgive me," she begged, turning back to the injured Slayer. "I don't want to start over. I don't want to pretend like this never happened. I know that it did and I know that I have to deal with it. But if we can get passed this, I know that we'll be together for a long time."

Silence filled the room – a stifling silence that seemed to permeate every cell in Hailey's body. Willow was standing in the shadows of the room, the moonlight of the night outside failing to reach her face. But Hailey could feel the witch's eyes searching hers, studying her reaction to her words. In Hailey's mind, an emotional roller coaster was spinning around and around. Jealousy told her to be angry and vengeful for Willow's infidelity. It told her to lash out at the red haired girl and hurt her the way in which she had been hurt. But another part of her told her that the words that Willow had spoken were true. She knew that Willow loved her, just like she knew that Willow did not possess any amorous feelings for Kennedy.

"I know you need to think about things," Willow said, moving silently towards the door.

"Will," Hailey replied, stopping the girl in her tracks. "Just give me one night, okay? I'll have an answer for you tomorrow."

"Am I going to like it?" Willow asked, desperately wanting to know what her girlfriend was thinking. Hailey smiled a little. Willow never did like surprises.

"I think you might," she said, watching as a brilliant smile lit up Willow's face for a brief moment.

"Okay," she said, opening the bedroom door. "Goodnight." She closed the door behind her and Hailey could hear her footsteps receding lightly down the hallway, the pain and sadness Willow had been experiencing absent from her movements.

Hailey sighed and looked out of the window. Day had surrendered to a cool, clear night. The moon was shining through the glass, casting pale shadows in the room. Vaguely, Hailey could see stars twinkling in the black. Though the night was calm and beautiful, she could feel evil growing upon her mind. It occurred to her that all of Sunnydale was a guise for evil. Even the moon shimmered mysteriously, protecting those who walked the night. But that sense of evil was growing. It seemed to draw nearer and nearer. She felt a steady panic rise in her heart. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm her frantic mind. She knew that her fears were a byproduct of her kidnapping and the torture inflicted upon her at the hands of Caleb.

She knew that she needed time to heal, but one thought pressed constantly on her mind. She desperately wanted to kill the monster that had caused her such pain. She knew that Caleb was strong, but he relied on tricks and the power of others. Without the First Evil, Caleb would be helpless. Similarly, without his Bringers, he would have to rely on his own strength. He had only been able to capture Hailey by poisoning her. Given a second chance, she knew that she could destroy him. Two other thoughts pressed on her mind as well. When Faith had carried her into the house, which had been miraculously cleared of the other girls, Hailey had seen two, large boxes sitting in the foyer. She knew what rested inside of them and she was anxious to open them.

Secondly, before she had been kidnapped, a glimmer of an idea had surfaced in her mind. It had been the same day that she had discovered Willow kissing Kennedy. She had been training the girls in the backyard and had spoken to Willow about their progress. Though she noted that the girls were more than adept at fighting and defending themselves, they would do little good because they were not Slayers. Hailey knew that magics were very dark and dangerous things; especially the black magics that she assumed would be necessary to realize her idea. No matter how strong and powerful they were, an army of potential Slayers was one thing; but an army of Slayers would be something else entirely.

………………………………….

"I wish we could see her," Colleen said miserably.

"I know," Spike replied wearily.

"I just want to know that she's okay," Colleen continued. "I can't believe they attacked her at the hospital."

"She's alright," Spike reassured the worried Potential. The rest of the girls were upstairs in the living room, most likely carrying on the same conversation that Colleen was virtually having by herself in the basement with Spike. Maria sat next to her, but was silent as usual. Though Spike had wanted peace and quiet, he also understood the girl's need to talk about her concern for Hailey. However, she talked a great deal.

"But how do you know that?" Colleen questioned. "Caleb tortured her. She's got to have some kind of psychological damage as a result of that."

Spike looked down at her in surprise. "Psychological damage, huh, kiddo?" He asked, laughing a little. "When'd you get so smart?"

"I've always been smart," Colleen said moodily. "It's just that no one ever notices."

Spike often forgot that the girls living in the Summers' house had been completely uprooted from their lives in order to seek the protection of the Slayers. He wondered what Colleen's life had been like before the First Evil conceived of its idea to destroy the Slayer line. "Why do you all like her so much better than the others?" Spike asked suddenly. He had noticed that most of the Potentials preferred Hailey to Buffy or Faith, even though the latter girls were more experienced Slayers.

"She's one of us," Colleen said shrugging.

"But she's not anymore," Spike argued back.

Colleen smiled. "Buffy and Faith were never Potentials. They were normal girls who were called to be Slayers. The rest of us, on the other hand," she said, "were taken from our homes, told that we were different, and trained from day one. We never really got the privilege of a normal life. I was taken from my parents when I was five."

"Really?" Spike asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Colleen replied. "I don't even remember my parents. All I remember is training. Hailey is just like us. She was picked at an early age, trained to fight and kill, and grew up constantly monitored and watched by an organization that she probably didn't fully understand. I know that I didn't. I just went along with it because I didn't know any better. The only difference between her and the rest of us is that she graduated to the next level."

"That's one way of putting it," Spike said.

"I know Buffy and Faith don't want us seeing Hailey because they want to try to protect us from what being a Slayer really means," Colleen continued. "But we all know that Caleb really fucked her up."

"You're right," Spike agreed. "Buffy and Faith are just trying to protect you all. They don't want you to lose hope."

"The thing is," Colleen said, "seeing her wouldn't make us lose hope. It would only strengthen our resolve to work harder so that we can stop the First from hurting anyone else."

"You know," Spike said thoughtfully, "when you Potentials first started coming here, I thought all of this was going to end horribly. I thought it was the biggest, bloody mistake bringing a bunch of teenage girls without any powers to Sunnydale to fight the First Evil. But I can see now how wrong I was. You all do have power. Maybe not the same as a Slayer," he added. "But power none the less."

Colleen smiled. "Can you at least give her a message for us?" She asked.

Spike nodded. "What?"

"Just tell her that we've got her back. The only thing we want her worrying about is healing," Colleen explained. Spike smiled.

"I'm sure that'll help her sleep better at night."

"Si," Maria said suddenly. "Become better soon," she added, struggling to find the words to express her thoughts.

"Since when does she speak English?" Spike questioned.

"I've been teaching her," Colleen replied.

Spike laughed. "You guys really are something."

………………………………

The girls had finally settled down. Most of them were drifting off to sleep. Giles and Wesley sat at the dining room table, both nursing migraines produced from having to answer the same questions over and over again by every girl curious about Hailey's condition. "I should probably change her bandages," Wesley commented. He stood, about to walk towards the stairs, when he heard a noise outside. "Did you…"

"Yes," Giles replied, rising to his feet. Moving towards the front door, both men prepared themselves for the worst. "It could just be a Bringer," Giles offered.

"Or it could be a Turok-Han vampire," Wesley countered.

"Or worse, it could be Caleb himself," Giles said as both men noticeably blanched.

"Should we get the Slayers?" Wesley asked.

"No," Giles replied. "For all we know, it could just be a cat."

"We're not that lucky," Wesley mumbled.

"Open the door, I'll be ready to attack," Giles instructed, raising his fists defensively. Wesley nodded and reached for the doorknob.

"Ready?" He asked. Giles nodded.

He yanked open the door, prepared to fight. "Hello?" A girl asked anxiously, standing on the porch. She saw the two men and relaxed. "Sorry to wake you," she added. "But I was told to come here."

"Ah," Giles said, relief evident in his voice. "Another Potential."

"Come in," Wesley said politely. The girl smiled widely and walked into the foyer, eyeing the wooden crates sitting to her left suspiciously before she turned back to the Watchers.

"So," she said conversationally, "this is where the Slayers live?"