Night Falls

Notes: Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming.

Previously:

Wesley 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."

……………….

The Slayers thought that they were untouchable now that Caleb was gone, but little did they know that even as they celebrated their victory, a traitor lingered in their midst. The vineyard could be abandoned; the First no longer required it. Everything that was needed lie in the basement of Sunnydale High School. The First smiled and walked out of the room and up the stairs. As it walked out into the light of day, it murmured, "Eternal night will fall upon this place and all will be brought to ruin."

Chapter Forty-Seven:

"Who is that?" Faith asked, watching the girls prepare for the morning's exercises. "I've never seen her before."

"She's new," Giles replied, following Faith's gaze. "Arrived a couple of days ago."

"What's her name?" Faith questioned. She watched the girl closely. Something about her seemed wrong.

"Lucy, I believe," Giles answered matter-of-factly. "Why?"

"No reason," Faith said, forcefully pulling her gaze away from the girl and looking at Giles.

"So what did all of you want to talk to me about?" Giles asked, sitting down at the island counter in the kitchen.

"The Coven is coming today," Buffy said.

"Really?" Giles asked in surprise. "Who contacted them?"

"I did," Hailey said.

"What for?" Giles asked, surprise turning to suspicion.

"We've all talked," Buffy said. "We want to do a spell to turn the Potentials into Slayers."

Giles sat silently for a moment, looking into each of their faces. "I don't like it."

"Why not?" Faith asked.

"You'll be messing with powers that you shouldn't have any control over," Giles responded firmly.

"The Coven thinks that it'll work," Hailey argued. "They're willing to do it."

"Who are you to change those girls' lives?" Giles countered. "They're Potentials today and tomorrow they're all Slayers? Some of those girls could go on to have normal lives after all of this is done."

"None of those girls are going to have normal lives," Buffy said softly. "Whether we do the spell or no, each of those girls is going to have to live with the knowledge of what really goes on in this world."

"Being a Slayer is a sacred thing," Giles argued. "It's a calling, a duty. It's not for everyone. There's a reason why one girl is picked over another."

"We can't rely on ancient reasons anymore," Willow said, stepping into the argument. "Those may have worked back in the old days, but that was before the First Evil rose up to destroy the very line of Slayers itself. These girls are targets. They need to have all of the advantages that they can."

"You're going to aide in the performance of the spell?" Giles asked warily.

"Yes," Willow said, gulping.

"Such a spell would require powerful magics," Giles noted.

"I'm aware," Willow replied.

"Are you sure that you can handle it?" Giles asked.

"I can handle it," Willow said determinedly.

"I don't suppose that I can talk any of you out of this, now that you've already made up your minds," Giles sighed. "But I don't like it."

"You don't have to do anything," Buffy assured him. "We just wanted to let you know."

Giles nodded and stood, walking out of the kitchen into the backyard. "I think that went well," Faith muttered.

"I didn't expect him to like it," Buffy said. "He hasn't been pleased with much of anything since I stopped relying on him for guidance for everything."

"He just wants to make sure that we don't make any mistakes," Willow defended.

"I know," Buffy said, sighing. "I feel like even though he's here now, a part of him will always be in England, and the rest of him wants to be there too."

"I don't think that's his problem," Faith replied, watching Giles instructing the girls. "The Watcher's Council was destroyed. Even though his relationship with them towards the end was rocky at best, he was still a part of it. He'll always be a part of it. I think he doesn't know where he fits in anymore now that it's all gone."

"When did you get so wise?" Buffy teased.

"I have my moments," Faith joked back.

"The Coven should be here soon," Hailey said. "They're going to want to go over the spell with you," she added to Willow.

Willow nodded. "I'm going to go meditate until they arrive. I'm feelin' the need for some centered calm," she said, smiling.

"When are we going to tell the girls?" Hailey asked. She knew that their decision to perform the spell would alter the girls' lives permanently. Some of them would be angry at having the choice taken from them. Others, like Kennedy, would be happy to be given the opportunity to become a Slayer – an opportunity that they might not have otherwise enjoyed.

"Not yet," Faith said before Buffy could speak.

"I thought we should tell them as soon as possible," Buffy argued.

"No," Faith said, allowing her eyes to linger on Lucy again. "Not until the last possible moment," she added.

"Why not?" Buffy demanded.

"Just trust me on this, okay?" Faith pleaded, shifting her gaze to her lover. "The First knows that we have the Scythe. It knows that Caleb is dead. It doesn't know that we know about the Turok-Hans and it doesn't know about our plan with the spell. I'd like to keep it that way."

"You think one of the girls would tell?" Hailey asked.

"I think if the First got its hands on one of the girls, she wouldn't stand a chance at hiding anything," Faith answered. "Some secrets are better revealed at the very end of things."

"Fine," Buffy relented. "We'll tell them the day we're going to attack the First."

"When will that be?" Hailey inquired.

"Soon," Buffy said. "As soon as the Coven knows that it can do this spell."

……………………..

"No, I don't feel like I'm walking into a trap or anything," Spike muttered under his breath as he slipped through one of the classroom windows of Sunnydale High School. He had volunteered to scope out the school for a way for the Slayers to enter on the night of the battle without being noticed. "At least I hope they're planning on having this party at night," he said to himself. "I can't very well kick ancient vampire ass at noon."

Cautiously opening the classroom door, he entered a darkened hallway. The sun had set shortly before and red rays of light still lingered on the horizon. The Coven had arrived some hours before, a grave group of individuals who seemed more otherworldly than human. They had locked themselves in the living room with Willow from the moment they arrived and had not emerged. The others were beginning to wonder what they were doing in there, but Spike did not particularly care. Magic never held much appeal for him. He almost looked on it as cheating. If a fight could not be won without resorting to magic, than perhaps it should not be won in the first place. However, he wanted the Slayers to defeat the First.

He chuckled at him own thoughts. Not long ago, he had been hell bent on killing Buffy Summers. He had been proud of his accomplishments, killing Slayers, and feeding on the helpless masses for over a hundred years. But since he regained his soul, his views seemed to have changed dramatically. He felt ashamed of his previous actions. Furthermore, he desired to help the Slayers in any way that he could. He and Buffy would never be friends, though he may have wished it, but he, Hailey, and Faith were becoming fast friends. Spike may not have been many things, but he was fiercely loyal to those about whom he cared.

"So you're all hiding in the basement," he muttered. "How do we get to the basement without being obvious?" He knew only one way to access the basement – through a door located in the main hallway. However, that door was most certainly being watched. The Bringers would ambush them if they tried to enter the basement from there. There had to be another way into it. Spike crept up the hallway until he reached an intersection. He looked down the four paths that lie ahead of him and sighed, unsure upon which path to set his feet. The gymnasium was directly ahead of him. The front doors were to his left. The back doors were to his back and the cafeteria was to his right.

Turning to his right, he carefully made his way down the hallway until he reached the cafeteria. There did not appear to be any access for the basement in the cafeteria itself. However, he thought there might be in the kitchen. As the light from the sun disappeared from view altogether, the cafeteria became dark and ominous. Spike felt as though every sound he made echoed loudly off of the walls. He gripped the knob of the door leading to the kitchen and turned it, but found it locked.

"Bloody hell," he murmured. Glancing around, he lifted his booted foot, and swiftly kicked open the door. The sound of it breaking open did in fact echo throughout the room and Spike waited with bated breath, wondering if anyone had heard. After several long moments, when nothing happened, he entered the kitchen. There were no windows in the kitchen and Spike had to rely on his supernatural senses to navigate the dark. Scanning the room, he noticed a door in one of the corners. Moving swiftly over to it, he pulled it open. A staircase descended before him.

"Checkmate," he whispered and silently closed the door again. He had found what appeared to be an entry into the basement that was not being guarded by Bringers. Quickly exiting the cafeteria, he crept back down the hallway until he found the classroom from which he had entered the school. He could feel the Hellmouth tugging at the back of his mind and causing his fingers to tingle. It had always done so. Even though he possessed a soul, the demon in him still lingered buried in the depths of his mind. The Hellmouth was calling to it, but he would ignore it. He had chosen his side.