Night Falls

Notes: Thanks for the reviews.

Previously:

"Lucy isn't Lucy," Faith confirmed. "Lucy is the First. I knew there was something off about you," she added, speaking to the once Potential.

"Well, apparently you were the only one. Not even the great Coven knew that the very essence of evil was lurking within this house," the First said mockingly.

"Get out," Buffy commanded. "You're not welcome here."

"Enjoy your command while you have it, Slayer," the First snarled, before it began to fade rapidly from sight. "By tomorrow night, you'll all be dead."

Chapter Fifty-One:

"Everything is okay," Buffy said, holding up her hand to silence the Potentials.

"The First Evil was living with us!" One of them said emphatically. "We can't fight it. We don't even know when it's walking around with us."

"We can fight it," Buffy replied firmly. "And we will. You just have to have faith that we can do this."

"Have faith?" Another asked, with a sarcastic edge to her voice. "You hid us away in the basement when the Turok-Hans came. But tonight we're going to have to fight them anyway. If you didn't think we were ready last night, how are we going to be ready tonight?"

"We have a plan," Faith answered, stepping in. She could see that Buffy was starting to become overwhelmed.

"We haven't led you astray yet, we won't now," Buffy added.

"What plan?" Colleen asked.

"Should we tell them now?" Buffy asked, looking to Faith for guidance.

"Yeah," Faith nodded. "I think so."

"We hid you in the basement last night because you are all Potentials," Buffy answered. "Tonight…you won't be."

"What does that mean?" Amanda asked.

"We're going to do a spell," Willow replied. "It's going to turn all of you into Slayers."

"So we'll be able to fight," Colleen said, piecing the plan together, and smiling over at Maria.

"Can you even do that?" Another Potential asked. "It's not up to you who becomes Slayers."

"It's unnatural," another said.

"You're taking our choice away!" Another protested.

"You don't have a choice," Hailey said firmly, the strength in her voice silencing the girls. "You never did. Did you really think that when you were training with your Watchers you had a choice about whether you would be the next Slayer? You didn't know if it would happen then, but you do now. You're going to become Slayers…all of you. For too long we've been the subjects of fate, blown about by the whims of the Powers that Be. Not anymore. They didn't give us a way to fight the First, so we're going to make one. This isn't the time for doubts. If you don't want to fight, you'll die."

"We go to battle tonight," Buffy interrupted. "No one got much sleep last night. I suggest that everyone gets some rest while we still can. Not everyone is going to walk out of that school alive come morning. Keep that in mind. If there's something that you've been wanting to do, now's the time."

………………………………..

"You know," Hailey said, closing the bedroom door behind her, "I really gotta say that I can't wait until all of this is done."

"We could all be dead come tonight," Willow replied, moving over to the window. The sun was shining bright outside, lighting the world in a golden hue, but the light seemed false. It reminded her of the day that Tara died. It had been beautiful that day, with the sunlight streaming in the window.

"You're very optimistic today," Hailey quipped. Willow smiled sadly and looked back at her.

"It's true," she countered. "The big battle is tonight. I can't even begin to imagine how many people are going to die. Looking around at everyone, you try to imagine what life would be like without them…like Xander…or Giles."

"I'm sure Xander and Giles are gonna be fine," Hailey assured her, moving over to the witch. She stood next to her, peering out of the window. A soft breeze was blowing.

"Or you," Willow whispered. Hailey looked over at her and smiled.

"I'm not gonna die," Hailey said softly.

"How do you know?" Willow asked.

"I don't know," Hailey answered. "I just feel it."

"I don't want this," Willow said lowly. "All of this death. What's wrong with the world that everything in it is driven by violence and grief?"

"Not everything is," Hailey countered.

"Even if we stop the First Evil from destroying the Slayer line, even if we beat all of our enemies, if won't matter. Evil doesn't just lay in demons. People are the worst of all sometimes, I think," Willow replied.

"We can't stop people," Hailey said thoughtfully. "We can't kill them. It's not our job…it's not my job. My job is just to kill the demons. To kill the evil that doesn't belong here. The rest of it…maybe it does. Maybe that evil belongs here and without it, there would be no good. I don't know. But I do know that I can't worry about the evil people in this world…not until everything else is gone."

Willow sighed and gently cupped Hailey's cheek. "I'm scared," she whispered.

"Me too," Hailey said, stepping forward until her lips were only inches from Willow's.

"I want you," Willow said hoarsely. "I want you so much it feels like a fire burning in my soul." Willow crushed her lips against Hailey's, her tongue begging for entrance into the Slayer's mouth. Hailey moaned as she felt the velvety smoothness of Willow's tongue caressing hers. Slowly, Willow pushed the other girl back until her knees buckled against the bed. Hailey fell onto the blankets and Willow crawled on top of her, eagerly kissing every inch of her exposed flesh. Closing her eyes, Hailey shut out the world.

……………………………………………

"Maybe this is a bad idea," Buffy said, nearly on the verge of hyperventilating as Faith pushed her into their bedroom.

"You have to calm down," Faith whispered harshly.

"I'm going to lead all of those girls to die tonight. How am I supposed to calm down?" Buffy asked anxiously, pacing back and forth in front of the window. The harsh sunlight glared in at her, piercing her eyes. She shrunk from the light, pacing in shadow.

"No one ever said being a leader was easy," Faith said rationally. "People are going to die. You can't stop that. But if we don't destroy the First, just imagine how many more people will suffer."

"I don't know those people," Buffy argued. "I know these girls. I love them. I love my friends. I don't want to see them die."

"Buffy," Faith said emotionally, taking the older girl into her arms. Buffy melted into the embrace, resting her head on Faith's chest. The older Slayer felt small in Faith's arms, diminished, as if the weight of so many trials and battles was finally catching up to her. "Maybe you should rest," she suggested.

"I can't," Buffy shook her head. "I need to make sure that everything is ready."

"It will be," Faith said. "Just lay with me for a few minutes." Buffy looked up into Faith's eyes. Her breath stopped in her throat when she saw the wealth of love shining down at her. The blonde Slayer nodded, allowing Faith to guide her to the bed. They laid down together, Buffy curling up tightly against the younger girl.

"I love you," Buffy whispered.

Faith smiled. "I love you too, B."

…………………………….

"Well? What do you think?" Wesley asked as he poured cups of tea for himself and Giles.

Giles smiled grimly and shook his head as he lowered himself on a seat at the dining room table. "My mind keeps going back to the prophecy," he stated.

"And the Slayers will do battle against the Origin and the world will be rent in chaos and despair," Wesley said aloud. "You think that it's going to come true?"

"I honestly don't know," Giles sighed. "Not all prophecies do. But most have some truth in them."

"Perhaps there is some consequence to this spell that we haven't considered," Wesley said, taking a careful sip of his tea. It burned his tongue, but he relished the taste.

"Perhaps," Giles acknowledged. "I can't help but think that Buffy is walking blindly into something that she cannot understand. There's a reason why the Powers pick girls that they do."

"But this is a time of necessity," Wesley pointed out.

"Tonight very well could be the end of all things," Giles stated.

"If the prophecy is true, then the world is meant to end tonight," Wesley said. "Perhaps we should be reassured by that."

"I wonder what it meant by the 'world' anyway," Giles wondered. "Did it mean the world as a whole, or simply the world of the Slayers, which would make more sense."

"How would that make more sense?" Wesley asked.

"The First could not destroy the entire world in one evening, no matter how powerful it is. Its power isn't in magics. It's in brute strength. The wording of the prophecy leads me to believe that this battle is the end of wherever the battle would take place," Giles said carefully. "Unless the First has a far larger army than we've anticipated," he added

Wesley sighed and cupped his mug in between his hands. The warmth spread throughout his body, but he still felt a dreadful cold in his heart. "Let's hope not."

"Of course, that would be a literal translation," Giles continued. "The prophecy may not be talking about a place at all."

"What do you mean?" Wesley questioned.

"The Slayers will fight the Origin, which we know plainly enough is the First," Giles explained. "Now if the prophecy was talking about the world of the Slayers, as in the line of the Slayers, it would mean something else entirely. By doing this spell, the Slayers will be rendering the line useless, causing it to fall into chaos."

"In which case, it could very well have dire consequences later on," Wesley noted.

"Exactly," Giles nodded. "How would new Slayers be chosen? With so many different girls holding the same title, if two girls were to die, would two new Slayers be chosen? Or would none be chosen until Hailey dies…Hailey who rightfully holds the place in line."

"Unfortunately we don't have time to ponder these questions," Wesley said. "But if we did, I think we'd find that this spell may not have been the best idea."

Giles sighed heavily. "I think we may have found that already."

………………………………

The sun was slowly beginning to sink into the west when everyone gathered on the front lawn. The vampires had taken the box of guns and ammunition that Hailey had been forced to leave at the top of the stairs when she and Kennedy fled the house the night before. Only some of the girls were armed with guns now, instead of all of them. But they each had numerous stakes. The ammunition would run out before the evening did. Everyone looked grim and tired. The culmination of months of training was finally only moments away. Yet, no one seemed happy to be going to war.

"You all know where you're supposed to be," Buffy said slowly. "You all know what you have to do. We've been training for this. Now's the time. I know that you can do it. I have faith in all of you. Like I've said before, everyone isn't going to come back. I don't know who's going to die…maybe I will. I don't know. But I do know that it's been both an honor and a privilege to know and teach all of you," Buffy said, glancing into the faces of the people she loved. Setting her resolve, she said firmly, "Let's go to war."