Disclaimers: All the characters (from Buffy and Angel) are property of Joss Whedon, et al. The “creatures” are from the movie “Pitch Black” and are the property of Intrepid Pictures. I’m just borrowing everyone, no infringements intended.
Violence: Um, yup. We’re talking about nasty creatures here so expect some level of butt kicking and blood shed.
Language: A bit here and there, nothing major though.
Leeway: I’m taking some leeway and making up my own facts about these creatures so if you’re a big fan of the movie and I’m incorrect, I’m sorry.
Pairing: W/T, X/A, B/?
Rating: R
Spoilers: Not really, though there’s a very brief mention of “Older and Far Away” and basic reference to the events between W/T from “All The Way” to Current.
Distribution: Sure, just let me know first so I can keep track of where the story is and so I can link back to you.

NO TITLE YET
By AmberBensonFan

As long as man can remember, creatures roamed the night. Their struggle to rule supremely raged through the centuries and millennia, but the forces of good always found a way to combat the uprisings. Even now, in the dawn of a millennium, good kicks ass in the lithe form of the Slayer. Still, germinating beneath the surface is a breed that even some of the most notorious Hellmouth demons fear – and those who don’t – should. They needn’t have their presence trumpeted, like vampires all too often do. Perhaps it is because they only need to feed once every thousand years, but when they do, they gorge themselves for one long year, laying absolute waste to the land, leaving it rotting and desolate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Something is spooking the vamps,” Buffy commented dryly

“What? Like with Adam?” Xander asked.

“See, that’s just it. With Adam, he was drawing everything in. Now, everything’s just gone.” Buffy explained.

“Gone? Like how?” Willow asked, her interest greatly piqued. It’s no secret that when Buffy’s running short on demons to kill, a big evil is usually brewing.

“Like in – moved out, ran away, left town.” Buffy elaborated further.

Willow got up from her seat at the round table at the Magic Box and went to the bookshelves. She pulled out a large tome and dropped it with a loud thud on the table. “Might as well check the calendars Giles left us and see if there are any major prophecies due to come about.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours pass while researching and no prophecies were found that matched their current date since past and no prophecies were to be found to correlate with their current date. “Maybe it’s not a prophecy, per se.” Willow offered. Xander gave her a questioning look, so, with a roll of her eyes, Willow continued her train of thought. “What if it isn’t something that is supposed to happen that was predicted, but something that has happened periodically?”

“Ahhh” Xander let out, as though he understood, but his expression clearly said otherwise. Willow looked to Buffy, hoping someone knew what she was talking about, but the Slayer was already gone, her eyes vacant as she let her mind run over what Willow suggested.

Anya too seemed preoccupied with her thoughts, as she remained uncharacteristically silent, so when she meekly raised her hand and cleared her throat, the rest of the Scoobies were a bit startled. “Um, I think I might know what it is.” Buffy jumped from her seat and pulled up another chair, a lot closer to Anya. Though the ex-demon could play on everyone’s last nerve, the fact was, because of her 1,100 plus years of existence, she knew more about what’s happened and whose behind it than even Giles did. “There was one time that I was called upon by a woman, but D’Hoffryn told me to stay absolutely clear of that entire area. I thought at first he assumed I couldn’t handle things – I was still young, only a bit over a hundred at the time.” The looks she got from her audience broke her train of thought, “Well, in demon years being only a hundred is like being 3 years old here. Anyway, do you want to hear this or not?”

“Only if we get a point sometime soon,” Buffy quipped. Yes, Anya could be very helpful, but she could also get long winded too.

“Fine. Point is, D’Hoffryn was protecting me. I felt bad not helping the girl who called upon me, so I kept an eye over her from a distance and about a month later I realized why D’Hoffryn stopped me from going there. It was useless to cast a vengeance spell for her – or anyone else in that village and the surrounding area. At the end of the month and within three hours the entire village was destroyed. There wasn’t much left – hardly any bodies, or even parts of bodies, could be found, but occasionally the terrified screams of the villagers could be heard come from beneath the surface. As long as the eclipse remained, they hunted, nothing slowing them down except to make a kill. Since villages were so small then, they had to spread out, infesting nearby towns and villages until the entire area was void of any life. Only the random belongings humans collect during their life remained, attesting that there were, in fact, people in the area at one time.”

The Scoobies remained spellbound as Anya wove her nightmare tale, but once it became clear that she was finished, Buffy leaned forward, her body tense. “That was a lovely story, Anya, but what do you mean by ‘they?’ How do we stop them ‘them’?”

“I don’t know what they’re called. They don’t speak or anything, just screech. Man hasn’t given them names because anyone who’s ever seen one was right before they died and the demon world want absolutely nothing to do with them.”

“Why?” Willow questioned.

“Why? Because these things only come out in the dark, which is when just about every other bad ass is out. These things don’t care what they get; it doesn’t matter to them. There’s no point in trying to fight them since they only come out once every thousand years, so the demons pack up and leave town for a year. If there is ever anything to come back to, they return. If not, they move on to the next town.”

“Well, I’m going to fight them,” Buffy declared as she stood to leave.

Anya jumped up and blocked her path. “No, you don’t get it. These things only know two things. Feed and breed. What do you think a thousand years in between feedings does for a population? Not to mention they’ve been around forever, and I mean forever. Granted, they only get one offspring every 50 years, but if you figure only 1,000 had spawn, and those thousand spawned, and then those, and no forth every 50 years...” Anya trailed off, her point made.

Willow didn’t even have to do the math in her head, she knew they were going to end up against an army of things they didn’t know anything about and they were only a handful of young adults. It was going to be a slaughter. “Maybe we should warn everyone, try to get them to leave?”

“What? Tell everyone in Sunnydale these ‘things’ are going to come around sometime soon and wipe the town clean, but we don’t know what they are and when it’ll happen? I know the people living here aren’t completely blind, but there’d be no way to talk everyone into leaving,” Buffy snapped back at Willow. She didn’t mean to, but this situation was quickly turning ugly.

“Not to mention that if they don’t find a food source here when they show up, they’ll just travel to the next town until they find enough people to fill up on.” Anya offered.

Buffy just gave her a look and then turned to Willow, an apology in her eyes. “Will, can you hit the books with Anya and see what you guys can come up with? Find out if there’s anything out there about them. It may be that the Watcher’s council may already know something, no matter how little. Xander, can you begin stocking up everything and anything that can be used a weapon and drop it off at my place?”

“Don’t forget a bunch of infrared goggles,” Anya offered. Buffy and Xander looked at her with questions.

“Well, if you want to stand any better of a chance than the last villagers did, you’ll need them. They only attack at night, they hate the light, but you can’t detect them in the dark, they blend perfectly in with the shadows. Back then there was no such thing as infrared so everyone was slaughtered, but if you can get a hold of those goggles, we’d stand a chance at being able to see them in time.”

Buffy nodded to Xander, giving him her approval to get the gear by whatever means necessary. “Just don’t get caught,” she warned.

Xander left and Willow headed to the books. Buffy was ready to leave as well, but Anya pulled her into the back training room. “What now, Anya?”

“Look, I don’t appreciate the attitude. If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be scratching your heads about this.” Buffy sighed and conceded. With a more accepting expression, she looked into Anya’s eyes, silently telling her to continue. “I know you think I’m not worth much to this group,” Buffy went to interject, but Anya held up a hand to stop her. “I know when I ran away during the ascension you thought I was a coward. And you’ll probably think I’m one now, but I really don’t care. The point is, Xander will fight along side you, but he doesn’t have anything but his heart to offer you. You’re the slayer, Willow’s a witch, and Spike is already dead. But Xander, he’ll fight anyway, because he loves you, but I love him and I don’t want him to fight. He’ll die.”

A tense moment was shared between the two women, Buffy taking in the heartfelt words of the ex-demon. She knew Anya was right. “Take him away, far away. Tie him down and keep him out of this, but under one condition.” Anya looked at the slayer expectantly. “Take Dawn with you.”

Anya nodded and went back to the main room to help Willow. Just as she opened the door Buffy asked, “Can you ask Willow to come in here, please.”

Willow walked into the room and closed the door. Buffy was seated on the couch and the ex-witch joined her, all too reminiscent of her last talk with Giles. “Willow, I don’t want you to argue with me, but I want you to go. Anya and Xander are leaving, though Xander doesn’t know it yet. They’re taking Dawn with them and I want you to go too.”

“And leave you here alone to fight these things?” Willow asked.

“I won’t...” Buffy paused. “I won’t be alone.” She knew Spike would fight with her until the end, however it turned out to be, but she couldn’t let Willow stay and get hurt.

“I’m sorry, Buffy, but this is one thing I can’t do for you. I know I owe you a lot, but I can’t repay it by leaving you. I’m staying.”

“No!” Buffy jumped to her feet and stared down at her friend. “Look, you’re no use to me. You can’t do magic anymore.” Buffy hated the words, but her hope was to piss Willow off enough to make her want to leave.

Willow lowered her head, not only hurt at the implication of Buffy’s words, but by the fact that Buffy had said them and in the manner she said it. With a slow nod, Willow stood and left the shop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Came the pounding at the door incessantly. Tara answered, slightly annoyed at being disturbed from her studies, but knew that if someone was pounding like that it was important. Her mind instantly jumped to Buffy. Was it about Spike? Or is it about Willow? Did she slip up and hurt someone? Did she hurt herself? Her frantic mind left her breathless by the time she threw the door open.

The sight of Willow standing there just as breathless as she was wasn’t what she expected. Without waiting for an invitation Willow barged into Tara’s place and headed straight for the bedroom. Reaching under the bed she pulled out a suitcase, threw it open on the bed, and began tossing clothes and books into the case. Tara came running after Willow, stunned into silence for a moment, but then realization hit her.

“Willow! What are you doing?” Tara rushed over to Willow who refused to stop packing Tara’s things. It was only when Tara grabbed her by the shoulders that Willow snapped her head up to look Tara in the eyes, taking a second to focus on the blue gaze in front of her. “Willow, what’s going on?” Tara asked again, a little more calmly.

“You have to go. You have to pack up and leave as soon as possible and not come back until someone either calls for you or a year has gone by.”

Tara sat on the bed; her body slumped a bit, instantly exhausted. She knew what went bump in the night here in Sunnydale and if it was something so big and bad that it had Willow running scared, it was something pretty major. Willow slowly took a seat next to Tara on the bed, neither saying a word at first. “What’s out there?” Tara asked almost in a whisper.

“We don’t know. Anya witnessed them attack once before and it’s got her more scared that I’ve ever seen anyone and she was a demon at the time. All the demons are running scared. There aren’t any vampires hanging around any more either. Apparently when these things come to town all the bad guys just run, leaving the unsuspecting town to its slaughter. Xander, Anya, and Dawn are leaving. Spike and I are going to stay with Buffy to fight.”

“Then I’m staying too.” Tara stated simply.

“No, you can’t. Buffy doesn’t even want me to stay, but I am. She can’t do this alone.”

“I’m not going to leave here knowing that you’re fighting these things,” Tara’s comments rang so similar to what Willow tried to say to Buffy only an hour earlier.

Willow took a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning to look Tara directly in the eyes. “Look, Tara, despite everything that’s happened between us lately I still love you very much. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I wouldn’t be able to go on. I was barely able to live without you near me, but I kept going because I knew I’d still see you in town or on campus, but if something happened to you, it would kill me too. So please, just leave with Xander and Anya.”

Tara met Willow’s gaze, almost daring her to look away. “Now you listen to me. I love you just as much and I know how much it hurt when I left, because I felt the same way, and I held the same hopes of seeing you around town too. And I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I ran to hide while you fought, especially if something happened to you. Now shut up, unpack my things, and let’s get to the Magic Box to work this out.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No! No! No!” Buffy shouted as she stomped around the room, echoing Xander’s similar rant. The two were practically burning holes in the floor from their agitated pacing.

Willow looked to Buffy while Anya tried to calm Xander. “Xander, you have to go,” Anya pleaded.

“Yes, Xander, I don’t want you here, you’re going with Anya. Besides, I need someone to make sure Dawn’s okay.” Buffy added to Anya’s case.

“And someone needs to make sure that Dawn has family to come back to,” Willow challenged Buffy, drawing her attention back to the red head once again.

“No, Willow, you’re going with them too.”

“I’m sorry, Buffy, but that’s not happening,” Willow countered.

“Exactly, we’re staying,” Xander offered in defense.

“You guys are going if I have to knock you out myself and put you in the car.” Buffy took a step towards Willow to stress her point. She was stunned when Tara jumped in between the two best friends.

“Touch her, Buffy, and you’ll regret it.” Tara knew that Buffy would never hurt her best friend, but she also knew Buffy was desperate and would do whatever she had to in order to protect her friend. Just the same, Tara would do whatever needed to protect the love of her life. The two blondes stared intensely at each other; each waiting for the other to waver, even slightly, but neither side gave an inch. They both knew there was no way to get Willow to leave and as much as Buffy hated to admit it, she could use Willow’s help, she was just a little slower about giving over to defeat than Tara was.

DING! DING! The bell over the shop’s door rang, finally breaking the staring contest between the witch and the slayer. Buffy looked, only to see Cordelia rushing into the shop and in the distance she could see a black van with tinted windows and knew in her gut Angel was in there. As Cordelia held the door open, Angel slide the van’s door to the side and ran into the store, small tendrils of smoke curling up around his body.

“Great, the gang’s all here,” Buffy quipped.

“Not quite,” Cordelia offered. Lorne was next to come into the shop from the van, running not because he feared the light, but because he didn’t want to cause trouble with the townsfolk. Gunn brought up the rear as Cordelia dashed back out to the van and dug around for a moment. When she came back in and closed the shop's door the cooing noise of a baby filled the air around them all. “Now the gang’s all here.

Willow and Tara were the first to rush to Cordelia, offering a quick smile and nod to the new comers, and started baby talking to the infant in Cordelia’s arms. “What’s his name?” Tara asked.

“Connor,” Angel offered over his shoulder, while keeping his eyes locked with Buffy’s.

Lorne and Gunn felt the tension, but Lorne decided to break the ice by strolling over to Xander and extending his hand. “Hi, I’m Lorne.”

Xander took the proffered limb and shook it, “Xander and this is Anya.”

“What are you doing here?” Buffy asked, her voice laced with ice.

“Cordelia had a vision,” was Angel’s vague response, as usual. Buffy tilted her head to the side, addressing Angel with her eyes. She was tired of partial truths and vague answers. “It was hard to make everything out, but the vision told of an infestation coming to your next of the woods and thought you could use some help.”

“Great,” Buffy paces away from the main group, “Just when I’m trying to get rid of everyone more show up.” She turned and settled a cold stare on Angel. “Look, if you’re going to stay, that’s fine, but I don’t want the baby and Cordelia here. She should go with the others.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The arguments of who was staying and who was going raged on throughout the day. Angel aided Buffy in talking Xander into leaving, but no matter how hard he worked he couldn’t get Willow to budge, so he focused his efforts on Cordelia, who was easy considering she hated getting hurt.

Angel finally pulled Tara aside, after hearing of Willow’s recent addiction and recovery. He was hoping she’d be sensible enough for both of them. “Tara, I’m hoping you can talk some sense into Willow. Without her magic anymore she’s in great danger. I don’t want her using just to help out when there’s the option of leaving.”

Tara nodded and walked into the training room, wanting to leave the heavy debates for some quiet time with her own thoughts. She knows how hard Willow has been working on staying “clean” of magick, she was witness to it on Buffy’s recent birthday, but if Willow went into this without using magick she knew what the outcome would be. But if she did use magick, would Willow be able to stay off it after things calmed down again? There was a great possibility that she wouldn’t be able to stay away since this was not going to be a short fight. Things were shaping up to be a long battle that could take many days, weeks, or even months of constant fighting. Using magick that often would surely become too tempting again, but leaving her friends here to fight by themselves was also not an option.

Tara dropped her head in her hands; already a stress headache became to form. There was no real answer to this conundrum. Just then Willow walked in, quietly closing the door behind her, drowning out the raging storm just outside. Her thoughts were strikingly similar to Tara’s and they both knew it was time to talk about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Bye,” Buffy called out to the van pulling away. Cordelia, Anya, Dawn, and Xander had their hands out the windows waving goodbye to their friends. Plenty of supplies stocked up in the back of the van.

Buffy turned back to her home, but stopped and looked up. “What god or beings up there that are listening, please protect my friends through this.” With her quick prayer done, Buffy went inside and closed the door behind her. Her eyes roamed the living room, taking in the sleeping bags on the floor for Angel, Gunn, and Lorne. Willow in her room, Tara opted to stay in Dawn’s room, while Buffy remained in her own room.

Willow came in with some bags in her arms, which Buffy took from her friend, Tara was right behind the red head with even more bags. With no car, now that Angel’s van was with the other half of the gang, they could only do their shopping in small bursts since they had to walk home everything. Angel was handling the expenses of the food and basic supplies while Gunn was on weapons detail. Willow and Tara were researching through every book they could get their hands on to learn every spell that could be useful. Buffy worked out the logistics with Lorne, making security devices, setting up a communications network between all of them, and booby traps.

Before leaving Anya was able to narrow down that these things should be surfacing within two weeks, which didn’t give them a great deal of time to prepare, but by the first week 1630 Revello Drive looked like a military fortress with people constantly coming in and out with boxes and bags and rigging up various devices. Once they even caught the mailman in a booby trap – they haven’t gotten any mail since then.

Spike began to make frequent stops by the Summers' home, offering his beat up car to Willow and Tara for further trips to the stores. He and Buffy began steady workouts and as the days grew shorter so, too, did Buffy’s nerves. Sure she was used to having a full house with Willow, Tara, and Dawn living with her, but with Spike, Angel, Lorne, Gunn, Willow, and Tara all there she was beginning to go crazy, never able to find a moment alone. Not to mention that her ex was in the same house as his archenemy, who was also her latest fling. She was actually beginning to look forward to these things coming to town, because she desperately needed to let off major amounts of tension.

She didn’t have to wait long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two nights later the ground shook and by reflex, everyone went for cover in doorways and under tables, but when they heard that sound, that screeching, they knew the time had come.

Buffy ran towards the living room while Angel made his was to the kitchen, each meeting in the foyer and crashing into each other. Barely taking a second to even acknowledge the collision, Willow and Tara came stumbling down the stairs and the four of them headed into the living room where Lorne, Gunn, and Spike were.

“Gunn, Spike, get the weapons. Willow, Tara, get whatever you need for your spells. Lorne, activate all the electronics.”

Buffy went into full battle commander mode while everyone else split up for their assigned tasks. They’ve all be training for this the past two weeks and now was the time to put everything to the test. Buffy nudged her head to the door and she and Angel slowly opened it as the front yard was suddenly flooded with lights.

Screeching could be heard off in the distance and they could see the black creatures pouring out of recent cracks in the earth, some spilling out onto the ground, others taking to the air like bats. In a matter of ten minutes the entire sky was filled with them and the ground throbbed with movement.

That’s when the screams started as the creatures began their feast and that was when Buffy locked herself back in the house. She was met up by the gang who were all ready. They handed her and Angel their gear which was covered with battery operated lights and included flare guns, walkie talkies, cell phones, and various weapons. Fully decked out, thet headed outside.

The group formed a circle, each person keeping a close eye on the surrounding areas and every time a creature tried to test the limits and see how close the light it could get, one of the new Scoobies would hit them with a blast of a blow torch or fire a gun shot. Each attempt at closing in on the Scoobies was met with the creatures demise, but it did nothing to lessen their numbers as the creatures continued to swarm around and above them. It seemed as though these night-shade devils were sending out some type of signal, almost as though they were saying, “We’ve got some live ones here, fellas,” because more continued to show up.

“What do you suggestion?” Angel called over his shoulder to Buffy.

She studied their situation, knowing it was pointless to continue to stand here in a “face” off with these things. Sure, they were drawing most of their attention, preventing them from attacking other townsfolk, but there was no doubt they would tire of this game and move on to easier kills soon enough. The Scoobies would have to devise a way to put large dents in the population of these demons so they could get out there and help anyone still alive.

“Let’s start blasting!” Buffy yelled out, and without a moments hesitation, the group opened fire with everything their had. Blow torches set fire to large groups, and those groups reared away in anguish – knocking into others and igniting them. Shotguns blew large holes through others, while super soakers would spray them with accelarents like gasoline to help spread the flames to a larger portion of the swarm. Willow and Tara threw balls of fire light at them, just as one left their hand another was generated a second later, allowing them a continual arsonal of the dreaded light.

The screeching was almost deafening as the Scoobies laid into the night demons with all they had, pushing them back and leaving large mounds of corpses, but soon enough the blow torch faded, out of gas, the super soaker dried up, the shot gun low on shells, and Willow and Tara were practically leaning against each other – sitting on the ground – and now their fire lights were coming one every 30 to 60 seconds, their powers quickly draining. It was time to call a retreat and the gang headed back into the home, securing the door. The lights still shone around the house, affording them some basic protection, but as she looked out the reenforced windows, they could the creatures tearing apart their fallen comrades, not caring that they were of the same species, or even the same family group.

Willow and Tara threw themselves on the couch and the others were ready to follow suit, but Buffy continued her commander role. “Not time to relax just yet. We have to restock everything. I don’t want to be caught off guard if these things manage to find a way in here.” Buffy looked to Willow and gave her a slight nod, silently indicating that the two witches should rest.

The night passed slowly, everyone restocking supplies, double checking their securities, and in general sending furtive glances out the window into the night as the screeching and screaming echoed throughout the town.

As dawn rose an eerie calm and silence fell on the town and it was time to go out and see what could be salvaged.

------------------
Joining in the chorus of people pissed at Joss.

Mega Wi(t)ches site:
www.megawitches.net - Will be up shortly
Enlightened Member #243, BHS Member #70, Fragile member #308

"Hey, Giles. Sharp wheels." - Will
"The rest of the car's nice too" - Tara (Real Me)

"Besides, when is there any us two. You two are the two who were the two. I'm the other one." - Will (Yoko Factor)

one thing though you may want to think about how the scoobies knew lorne and gunn and how the LA crew knew Tara. But since they were in a crisis that can be overlooked.

i like Anya standing up for herself, i'm always waiting for it to happen on the show and you did good

Thanks for the input everyone. I really appreciate it and it's an incentive to keep going.

------------------
Joining in the chorus of people pissed at Joss.

Mega Wi(t)ches site:
www.megawitches.net - Will be up shortly
Enlightened Member #243, BHS Member #70, Fragile member #308

"Hey, Giles. Sharp wheels." - Will
"The rest of the car's nice too" - Tara (Real Me)

"Besides, when is there any us two. You two are the two who were the two. I'm the other one." - Will (Yoko Factor)

------------------
Joining in the chorus of people pissed at Joss.

Mega Wi(t)ches site:
www.megawitches.net - FINALLY OPEN
Enlightened Member #243, BHS Member #70, Fragile member #308

"Hey, Giles. Sharp wheels." - Will
"The rest of the car's nice too" - Tara (Real Me)

"Besides, when is there any us two. You two are the two who were the two. I'm the other one." - Will (Yoko Factor)

As dawn rose an eerie calm and silence fell on the town and it was time to go out and see what could be salvaged. One by one, each of them filed out of the house, still carrying weapons, but not nearly as armed as the previous night. They stayed close together as they headed down the street, no words shared, each person lost in their own thoughts.

Dark read, brownish stains covered most of the streets but the victims were no where to be found. As the gang headed towards the center of town, they could see only an occasional person cowering in their homes, tentatively peeking out between the slats from the hastily nailed boards across their windows.

Buffy walked alone, lost in her thoughts, longing for the comfort of Angel next to her. Willow and Tara walked hand-in-hand, not so much as a romantic gesture, but more as a sign of support. Gunn and Lorne brought up the rear, each keeping their eyes wide on the look out for anything that could pose a threat.

Reaching the heart of town they took in all the signs of destruction. Some people shuffled about in a daze, a few took the opportunity to scavenge what they could from the many shops now left abandoned. Buffy went to the sports store where others were gathered. The gang followed suit, expecting to break up the looting, but were momentarily stunned when Buffy ordered, "Gunn, help me collect as many weapons as possible. Girls, check the Magic Box and try to get everything you can from it. Lorne, hit some grocery stores and load up on supplies." As the group split up to once again complete the tasks assigned, Buffy walked to a nearby payphone.

"Angel? We're stocking up; can you or Spike get down here with his car?" Great, thanks." She hung up and went about her own task.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the house the group surveyed what they managed to get their hands on and considering the condition the town was left in, they did pretty well. Piles of weapons were divided into sections for knives, guns, ammo, and arrows. Food was already stacked up in the kitchen and closets, though they were overflowing and some boxes were left stacked in the living room. The girls managed to collect a large sum of goods from the Magic Box, which seemed oddly untouched.

Lorne walked into the living room wearing a 'Kiss the Chef' apron. "Lunch is ready." Everyone filed into the kitchen to find a buffet style set up, though the portions were not grand in order to conserve their resources. Once everyone filled their plates and grabbed drinks, they went back to the living room, taking seats on the couch, chairs, and even the floor.

"We did pretty well today," Gunn stated to no one in particular, hoping to break the silence.

Buffy, who mindlessly ate while staring at the clock over the mantle responded, "We don't know how much longer we can do that for. Between us, the remaining people in town, and damage from these things, this could be our last chance to stock up."

"But don't we already have tons of supplies from before?" Willow piped in.

Buffy just nodded; her mind already onto something else. Again a hush fell over the room as everyone went about eating.

BaRaa! BaRaa! The alarm outside raged, alerting the gang that one of Lorne's traps snared something. Everyone jumped, some spilling food and drink in the process. They rushed to the slats between the boarded up windows and could see a clearly discernable human struggling to break free.

"What d-d-do you think they w-w-want?" Tara questioned.

"Probably just someone looking to see if they could loot the house, expecting it to be empty." Angel offered.

Buffy grabbed a large knife and went outside. As she neared, the features of the trapped person became more visible until Buffy stopped just short of the trap.

"Give me one good reason why I don't just leave you here and let them get you tonight?" Buffy asked dangerously.

"How about two reasons? One - because live bait will just lead them right to your door and they'll expect more. Two - because I'm here to help you, believe me or not."

"I don't need your kind of help," Buffy spat back.

As the trap swayed in the slight breeze, the prisoner got a chance to see Spike and Angel watching from the doorway. "Oh, but you can accept the help of two vampires who you have a very checkered history with, but you can't use the help of a fellow slayer?"

"How are you out of jail?" Buffy asked, ignoring the comment.

"Parole. Time off for good behavior. Look, the word is out about these things, but no one is willing to step in and lend a hand. You need to contain and destroy these things before they spread outside of Sunnydale."

Buffy remained silent, arms crossed in front of her chest, her gaze like stone. While rummaging through the sports store her memories brought her back to the night she and Faith had broken into it. She'd pushed the memory away, but here the slayer was now, in the flesh, and she couldn't just forget her and expect the young woman to disappear as easily as her memory.

"Buffy," Angel called out. She walked to the doorway as Angel could not come to her. "Remember, Buffy. She's changed. We could really use the help too." Angel told her softly, trying to coax the blonde slayer without pushing too hard.

Buffy turned, mumbling to herself, "But is she worth wasting supplies on?" She neared the trap once again and leveled the rouge slayer with a deadly stare. "You try anything or slip just once and I'll feed you to them myself. Understood?"

Faith nodded seriously and Buffy undid the trap and reset it once Faith was out. Buffy stormed past her and into the house. Spiked followed Buffy while Angel waited for Faith. Once everyone was back inside, the door was locked again and Angel offered some food to the dark slayer. As they entered the kitchen Willow and Tara were straightening up, but made a quick exit after eyeing the woman who held Willow hostage not too long ago.

Faith dropped her head with a disappointed sigh. "It'll take time. It's always been one major thing after another here so no one's had a chance to heal from their past with you. Especially when Buffy herself is still getting used to being alive again."

The glass of water Faith was filling slipped from her hands and shattered in the sink. Angel rushed to her side, concern clearly written on his face. "When?" was all Faith could get past the sudden lump in her throat.

"I'm sorry. I thought you knew."

"How would I?"

It was Angel's turn to lower his head. He too had been so busy lately he hadn't visited Faith in a while and when he did get a chance, it was usually short or not the right time to bring up the matter.

"Um, last spring. They brought her back at the end of the summer." When Angel saw Faith watching him in earnest, he knew he had to continue. "There was a hellgod, Glory. She was after the key, which Buffy had. She managed to get it and open a portal to her dimension. But that meant in order to close the portal the key had to die. Buffy found it that her blood too would close it, so she sacrificed herself. No one could live without her and Sunnydale was nearly overrun with demons, so Willow and Tara brought her back. As it turns out, she was in heaven and now must readjust to living in hell on earth."

Faith let the short version of the story sink in. She knew he was purposefully leaving out important bits, like who the key was. Since the monks deemed Faith "out of the picture" and unlikely to return, they didn't bother to alter her memories to include Dawn so Faith pondered the idea around and finally gave up, asking, "What was the key?"

"My sister," Buffy offered from her perch leaning up against the doorframe into the kitchen. Faith turned, surprised not only that Buffy was there, but also by the fact that Buffy offered information to her and by the fact that Buffy had a sister. The blonde slayer must have seen the confused look and decided to explain things to the rouge slayer, though she couldn't exactly figure out why she was even bothering. "Get your food and meet me in the living room. There's time to explain everything before nightfall." And with that, Buffy walked away

~~~~~~~~~~~

MORE TO COME SHORTLY. It's already written, I just have to get it from my laptop to the board.

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Joining in the chorus of people pissed at Joss.

Mega Wi(t)ches site:
www.megawitches.net - FINALLY OPEN
Enlightened Member #243, BHS Member #70, Fragile member #308

"Hey, Giles. Sharp wheels." - Will
"The rest of the car's nice too" - Tara (Real Me)

"Besides, when is there any us two. You two are the two who were the two. I'm the other one." - Will (Yoko Factor)

~~~~~~~~~~

There was time for explanations and then some, filling Faith in on what's been happening since she's been in jail. Joyce dying, Giles leaving, Willow's addiction, Buffy's death and rebirth. But now night drew near and it was time to let the conversations drop and prepare for another battle.

"So what's the plan, B?" Faith asked while loading up on gear and weapons, as were the others.

"Don't get dead," was Buffy's straight-to-the-point response.

"Good plan," Faith volleyed back.

"We need to break away from just standing outside of the house. We need to find where these things are coming from and stop them at the source." Gunn offered.

"D-D-Don't they just break through the g-g-ground wherever they w-w-want to?" Tara asked as she checked Willow over to make sure all the gear were in their proper places.

"Then we have to track them back to their hive, or whatever it is they have. They have to have someplace to go during the day," Gunn answered.

"We'll fend them off tonight and try to spread our range outside of the house area. Faith, can you take Spike, Gunn, and Lorne and make your way into town to see if you can stop these things from taking anymore people?" Faith looked to the guys mentioned and then nodded. "Fine. We'll meet back here at the first sign of light and regroup. We'll rest and then head out during the day and try to track them down."

"Oh, w-w-we could do the d-d-demon locating spell," Tara offered.

"Right," Willow jumped in, excited at the suden change in plans. "And since most of the demons skipped town, it should be fairly easy to figure out where they are."

"Not to mention the sheer amount of these guys should make it easy to find them," Angel offered.

Buffy nodded, a simple gesture, but Willow and Tara new they had done well with their suggestion.

"It's settled then. Faith, take your team and head out now so you're not caught mid-way when these things break through again." Faith and her crew nodded, gathered the last few things needed, allowed Willow to cast a protection spell on them, and left the house. "Angel, Willow, Tara, you're with me. Lets keep these things away from the house. This is our territory and they can't have it."

Buffy's team finished their set up, Willow and Tara casting protection spells on themselves and their two friends, and went outside. The lights were almost blinding, but it was their main source of protection so they'd deal with the discomfort as long as they had to.

Just as the sun ducked behind the distant mountains the screeching began to echo through the town. Stray gunshots could be heard in the distance and then the screams began again. Fools who thought that last nights attack was the last found themselves caught in yet another slaughter. It took just a few moments for the swarm to find their way back to the Summer's home. There was a primal intelligence among them, knowing that this home posed a possible threat to them and that they must take out that threat.

Angel assaulted them with a super soaker filled with gas while Buffy shot flares into the group. Willow and Tara started with their balls of light, but switched to new spells that seemed to make the creatures spontaneously combust. Though their actions were similar to the previous night, the creatures knew better already and were systemtically testing the perimeter, trying to get the lights surrounding the house.

Willow was the first to notice that these things were getting too close for comfort and sat down on the ground. She quickly drew a chalk circle and began to chant. Tara, knowing the words coming from her lover's mouth, warned Buffy and Angel to get back behind the red head. Just as they stepped back far enough, large blue bolds of lightning struck out straight ahead and then laced its way through the large crowd of demons, turning them all into sizzling piles of demon goo.

"All right, way to go, Willow." Angel cheered, turning to the young Wiccan.

Willow's eyes were still black, but she was lying with her head on Tara's legs as the blonde witch gently stroked the red hair flared out along her legs.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"That spell was very strong, it drained her too much," Tara provided.

"Shit. Okay, take her back into the house. Angel, help her please." Angel picked Willow up into his arms and brought her into the house, laying her on the couch. Buffy stayed outside, watching the area for any new comers.

"B, you there? Over." Came Faith's voice crackling over the walkie-talkie in Buffy's belt.

She pulled out the device and held it to her mouth. "I'm here, what's up? Over."

"What the hell was that? We could see the lights all the way over here? Over."

"Willow took out a whole swarm, but she's out of the game for a while. Over."

"Way to go, Red!" Faith said, even though she figured Willow couldn't hear her. "She's not hurt is she? Over."

"No, just drained. What's your situation like there? Over."

"Not too bad, I guess. The light Willow sent out distracted enough of them for us to get in a few good shots. Oh, shit, hang on."

Faith's end crackled and then went silent. Buffy could hear a series of gunshots and see the fire and smoke billowing through the night sky from across the town. Angel came back out of the house and stood by Buffy. "Angel, I'm going to head over to them now, can you stay and help Tara keep things under control while I'm gone?"

Angel thought for a moment. He couldn't let Buffy make her way through town while these things were still out, but he couldn't just leave Willow and Tara lone either. What if these things come back, surely Tara, no matter how much magick she uses, wouldn't be able to fend off these things for long. He was torn, clearly, but knew Buffy would never be able to go on if her friends were hurt. "Sure, I'll stay. Keep in touch on the talkie's."

Buffy nodded and began jogging toward the fight across town. As she neared, she radioed in to Faith to let her know she was close and not to shoot. Then she called back to Angel, letting him know she's there and that she'll probably be out of contact for a little while.

Now, with two slayers fighting side-by-side, the demons were up against a force they didn't want to reckon with. Faith, not known for taking the safe approach, and Buffy, who now really didn't care if she lived or died, charged at the swarm around them, hitting them with everything they had. Spike followed suit, figuring if these things couldn't figure out that they had only two ways to kill him, he could take whatever they dished out. Gunn and Lorne, who were more mortal and had more to lose, stayed back-toback, but fought just as hard.

As the sun began to crest over the mountains the demons shrank away from the light, seemingly being sucked into the holes they came from. The team stoof there, leaning against each other, alive, but battered. Buffy and Faith helped hold each other up as they walked back to the house. Buffy witch decent gashes along her legs and arms, Faith with a nice size slash across her forehead to match some of the ones on her limbs as well. Gunn and Lorne were in similar conditions, though the wounds were not as sever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Angel and Tara helped patch everyone back up, the gang took a short nap, waking after only three hours of rest. Lorne had breakfast waiting for everyone and large pots of coffee were quickly drained. The fights of the past two nights and the general lack of sleep left everyone ravenous. Even Angel and Spike drank from their mugs of blood with fervor.

"So," Faith spoke up with a mouth full of food, "we find these bastards and blow them away, right?"

"Willow, do you feel up to doing that demon locating thingy?" Buffy asked.

Tara watched Willow closely as she nodded that she would be able to do the spell.

"Right, but once we find them, how do we blast them?" Faith asked, trying to make sure as many angles as possible were covered ahead of time.

MORE TO COME - The rest I have to still write so I don't know when the next update will come.

I know I don't have the character's style of speech down, especially the Angel gang since I don't watch the show, but if you can give me feedback on this it would be great. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy.

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Joining in the chorus of people pissed at Joss.

Mega Wi(t)ches site:
www.megawitches.net - FINALLY OPEN
Enlightened Member #243, BHS Member #70, Fragile member #308

"Hey, Giles. Sharp wheels." - Will
"The rest of the car's nice too" - Tara (Real Me)

"Besides, when is there any us two. You two are the two who were the two. I'm the other one." - Will (Yoko Factor)