As to the length that some people have commented on, this is leading towards the end. I've done everything I set out to do at the start, and I've got an ending in sight. Getting there's going to be relatively simple.
Chapter 48 - In Motion
Sunnydale - California
Cassia could feel the build up of energy starting, and she knew that she wasn't far enough away. The Firsts' attack on the Base Camp right as they were getting ready to leave had made most of the people scatter in different directions. Cassia had lost contact with everyone and had been pursued by several demons. She had managed to distract the demons with her magick long enough to elude them, however she was now lost in a town which she barely knew, with no way to get out of it, while the spell they had created was reaching towards detonation, and there was absolutely nothing that she could do to stop it. Frantically, she began to look around for any means of escape: an intact car, a bicycle, or someone else that had scattered after the attack. Cassia ran through the streets, sweat dripping down her face, her heart racing a million miles per hour both because of the physical exertion and the anxiety which now faced her. If only she had stayed at the coven and not decided to help Willow and Giles, she'd be alright now. It was then that she remembered that the Coven had ended up coming to Sunnydale anyway, and both Samantha and Montague had fully supported Willow's idea and had been the main reasons why the plan got off the ground. Cassia knew that Willow and the others would have been able to pull it off, the sheer amount of power required anyway. Cassia could sense enough of Willow to know that she didn't have the mental discipline to construct it, but Samantha and Montague did and they literally made the plan possible. Now both the groups of people which had been an important part of her life would now probably be responsible for her death.
Finally, she had reached the outskirts of the town, but she knew it was too late, and that she wasn't far enough away. She saw a bright flash out the corner of her eye, and knew that this was her time. A number of bright releases of energy were occurring in various places throughout the town, opening dimensional portals to the energy they'd all stored over the last couple of weeks. She closed her eyes, and in moments, she was deafened and blinded by the initial release of energy. Not even a second later, her body had been incinerated and she was no longer.
Cassia shot up out of her sleeping bag on the floor and looked around, sweat absolutely pouring off her. She looked at her hands, then around the room, noticing that she was still in one of the houses of the Summers' Base Camp. Cassia glanced out the window and saw that it was still night time. She got up, but had to steady herself on the coffee table beside her. She looked at her hands again, and saw that they were trembling. She could feel a dark, dark, dark feeling within her stomach, and she knew that her dream had not been an ordinary dream. Cassia barely ever dreamed. It had only happened three times in her life before, but she knew that she had just seen the future; that she had just seen her death.
Summers Base Camp – Sunnydale – California
Willow was now lying down on the couch within Buffy's living room, with Giles, Buffy and Tara all sitting around her trying to pry some answers from her. It had been a couple of hours since she had found herself lying on the asphalt just outside the barrier to the Summers' base camp, and she was now awake between naps. She couldn't remember what had happened, but she knew the plan which she'd set out in her mind. Willow knew that she must have teleported herself to her 'safe place' to recuperate after attacking The First. She knew that she'd come out too early, as her whole body felt drained and she barely had enough energy to keep her legs stiff enough to stand up. Ever since she'd woken up, she could sense an unsettling presence within her, which was very anxious and wouldn't settle down. Something had happened to her within her 'safe spot' as she liked to call it now, and deep down, she knew what it was, but her mind wouldn't go there at right now.
"Why did you try to take on The First?" Giles asked her softly. Willow could hear the underpinned question behind that, and she knew that Giles wanted to know if she had been sane or not. Willow was too exhausted right now to answer, but tried to anyway, knowing that Giles, Buffy and Tara deserved to know why she'd done it.
"I wasn't trying to attack The First," Willow replied, "I was trying to distract it."
"Distract it? Why?" Giles asked, obviously surprised.
"So that I could close the Hellmouth," Willow replied after a couple of breaths. "I had to close it before it could summon more demons and vampires through it." Willow watched as everyone digested the information. Buffy and Tara were surprised, to say the least, however the look on Giles' face was a mixture of pure astonishment and disbelief. She guessed that Giles had the most understanding of what it would take to close the Hellmouth on your own.
"Do you know if you succeeded?" Giles asked. Willow only shook her head in reply.
"I can't really remember too much about the end of the battle," Willow said while shaking her head in reply. She knew that she'd done something bad, but she couldn't remember. Willow guessed that as her strength returned, so would her memory, however she knew that part of her didn't want to remember the end of the battle. She had learned from her 'experience' with Warren that it was sometimes better if you couldn't remember some things.
Basement – Summers Residence – Summers' Base Camp – Sunnydale California
Xander looked down at the vampire chained up in front of them. There wasn't really much that they could do with her anymore, as both he, Wesley and Gunn believed that she'd told them all she knew. Personally, Xander didn't have any dealings with Wolfram and Hart, but from what Wesley and Gunn had told him, they were more involved in this apocalypse than anyone had known about before. It also appeared that they were staying back and manoeuvring Angelus from a distance, so that he wouldn't catch on and turn against them. This presented a serious problem.
"So, what are we going to do about all this?" Xander asked Wesley
"I don't know. We need to deal with the Angelus situation in Los Angeles as well as keep a very strong presence here," Wesley replied.
"There's just not enough man power to go around," Gunn added. Xander thought about the recent influx of people thanks to Willow's spell. "Experienced manpower," Gunn added after Xander guessed that his thoughts were showing on his face.
"We could dust her," Wesley said, referring to Darla. There was silence as all three considered the option.
"We could turn her," Xander suggested. Wesley and Gunn both looked at him like he had just gone a bit crazy. "I mean, we could turn her onto our side and then send her back to LA," Xander said.
".. and have someone inside Wolfram and Hart," Wesley finished. "She could tell us their movements, and Angelus's movements as well."
"Be worthwhile getting that information," Gunn said. "We could just send a small group to LA then to slow down Wolfram and Hart's plans if we knew what they were up to. Wouldn't have to cover the entire city."
"Yes, but how would we turn her to our side?" Wesley asked both of them. There was a brief silence as everyone stopped their thoughts, realising that turning Darla was a major obstacle in the way of their plans. Xander was the first to speak,
"Connor."
Outside the Summers' Base Camp – Sunnydale – California
Faith was escorting a number of demons who had just received their charm hiding them from The First's presence from Samantha and Montague. These three looked like humans, but Faith was guessing that they were vengeance demons.
"So, you're a Vampire Slayer hey?" One of them asked.
"Yeah, that's me," Faith replied. "Your house is just up here. It's still intact, and it's close by," Faith added.
"Which one are you? Buffy or Faith?" another of them asked.
"Faith," Faith simply replied.
"Ooh, that's interesting," the first vengeance demon replied.
"Why?" Faith asked.
"I thought you'd be more badass," it replied.
"Definitely vengeance demons," Faith thought to herself. It had been an unexpected curveball which Anya had thrown at them, returning with a hoarde full of demons which were willing to fight on their side. Faith knew that she'd have to get used to working with some of the demons, but she hoped that they'd come through in the end. This trio which she was escorting now didn't seem like much of a threat, but she knew that some of the demons might turn on them at one point. After all, it would make sense from The First's perspective to plant some demons within this army. Faith knew that she'd have to keep an eye on the demons and make that any demons which were working for The First were caught. Especially the vengeance demons.
Outside the Deeper Well
Inanna had been fighting off the stragglers which had gotten past Neptune, however she hadn't been doing much recently as three more of the resurrected Old Ones had risen. Illyria had run out of bodies to use to resurrect more Old Ones, and Inanna's job was now to recover the almost dead bodies of humans which partially made up The First's army. So far, they had only gotten one through, as the human body was a nimble creation and the resurrected Old Ones guarding the entrance were too powerful. In the heat of the battle, they delivered killing blows without thought, to move onto the next agent of The First attempting to storm the entrance to the Deeper Well. Inanna knew that they had failed their primary objective; to use the body of the Slayer recovered from Sunnydale to resurrect a more powerful Old One who would attempt to take on The First. Their first resurrection had failed, killing the Old One and the mortal body along with it. In the time since the original human bodies had been used for resurrection, they had only obtained one useable human body, but yet hundreds of Old Ones remained, awaiting resurrection. They couldn't possibly use a demon's body, as then the resurrected Old One would be too powerful and try to exterminate the rest of them. Both her and Illyria needed to find a solution before The First's armies broke through into the Deeper Well, or that the army was exterminated.
Beneath Los Angeles - California
The underground tunnel system which had been built by Angelus's followers was now finally paying off. The air force had began bombing sections of the city which it knew were abandoned; the parts that Angelus's followers had been using as their above ground bases. Ever since the beginning of this war, the tunnels had been getting built. While the tunnel network was only small, it covered a large area, allowing Angelus and his followers enough time to get out of harms way before the bombing began. Best of all, the Initiative's troops hadn't found any of the entrances as of yet.