He glanced at his wife, Bobbi, and she looked up from studying the road map to smile at him briefly before putting her head back down.

They’d left Sunnydale a few hours earlier after filling their people wagon with enough supplies to last them a definite few weeks and joined the others leaving the town, a lot later than most, perhaps, but soon enough to avoid whatever was happening in that town.

They’d been so happy there, of course there were a few strange events in town, like the time the entire high school went up in flames, but that kind of thing happened in every town, didn’t it?

“Dammit,” he whispered, and Bobbi looked over and placed a hand comfortingly on his arm.

“We had to do it, honey.”

“Yeah, Dad, don’t beat yourself up about it. It was like a ghost town, the power’d gone off and everything.”

“I know, I know…” he muttered, then the rage built up inside of him and it exploded.

He rammed a clenched fist onto the steering wheel.

“I swear to God, I renounce any and all ownership of that damned house!!!”

Spike flew through the air after being hit full force by the enormous demon they’d been fighting for the past few minutes. He soared in a giant arc and crashed through the window of a relatively nearby house, completely unaware that the owner, two seconds prior to him entering the house, had denied ownership and allowing him access. He landed safely in the dim interior, again unaware that if he’d hit the barrier a vampire normally does when they try to enter a house uninvited, he’d have bounced away from the house and back into the sunlight, burning him alive.

As it stood, however, he gasped once and then lay still on the kitchen floor.

Faith and Gunn were searching the streets when she looked around strangely. “Haven’t we been here before?”

“Let’s see…broken glass…burn marks…yeah, this is the place we were fightin’ that demon thing before.”

“Right, I knew that.”

Gunn smirked silently and continued walking.

A figure stumbled out onto the road in front of them.

“Is that…?” asked Gunn.

They walked closer to one another. Faith got a clear view of the figure’s face.

“Nah, it’s Spike. Hey, man, you alright?”

He clutched his head delicately. “Just been through a window, you?”

“Had a fight with a Turok-Han.”

“Oh.” He stood, thinking. “Guess you win then.”

Faith smirked and reached out to grab Spike’s arm and steer him in the direction of the house. “Come on, we need to - ”

He pulled away from her before she could touch him. “Hey, delicately-feeling vampire here…can’t just rough me up any time you want to, no sir.”

Faith shrugged. “Fine. We need to get back to the others, there’s somethin’ goin down, but first we have to find Buffy’s sister.”

“Dawn’s missing?” asked Spike.

“Yeah, she went AWOL just before we arrived back, or at least that’s the way we figured it,” said Gunn.

“Great…Buffy’s gonna kill me,” he muttered and lead them down the street, away from the Summers’ house.

Faith rolled her eyes at Gunn and he shrugged back, and they both followed Spike down the street.

He limped slightly on his left leg, but Faith and Gunn didn’t see it due to his duster sweeping along the ground behind him.

Willow lay on the bed, eyes closed. Every once in a while she would flick her eyes from side to side, almost as if she was seeing things without them being there. She would occasionally flinch or whimper in her unconsciousness and every time Kennedy would squeeze her hand a bit harder than she was a second before. Kennedy hadn’t left Willow’s side during the whole ordeal, and she had surprised herself with how much she could care towards another woman.

Suddenly Willow’s eyes flashed open and she let go of Kennedy’s hand, looking straight up.

Her legs swung over the side of the bed and she got up and walked out, the look on her face making Kennedy’s words stick in her throat. She did however follow the witch out onto the landing and into Buffy’s room. She watched Willow place a hand on the Slayer’s forehead and Buffy stir in her sleep, and then Willow walk out of the room, still without looking at anyone or even looking at anything other than straight ahead of her.

Kennedy trailed behind Willow still, saw her walk into the third bedroom, look at the bed and actually scowl, and then Kennedy blinked and Willow was gone. Frantically, she searched the house, but Willow was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, slow up, Spike!”

Spike glanced over his shoulder. “Can’t do that. Need to find the bit.”

Gunn hurried after him. “Can’t you smell her or something, ‘stead of running around randomly?”

“I can smell her, you idiot, d’you think I was just walking for the sake of it?”

Gunn huffed and Faith put an arm on his shoulder. “Fine, you go where you like, we’re goin’ back to the house.”

She turned to go the other way but Spike called after them.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“The house. No point in us even being here if all you’re gonna do is pretend we aren’t.”

“Alright,” admitted Spike. “But you have to come with me.”

“And why’s that?”

“Uh…cause I can smell something else, ‘swell as the bit.”

“Is that so…” After being eyed suspiciously by Faith Spike nodded vigorously.

“Fine. Suit yourself.”

Faith turned back around and Gunn in tow, followed the vampire down the road.

Spike smirked.

Buffy groaned and opened her eyes.

“Uh…where am I…?”

“You’re back at the house,” answered Giles. “We had to bring you back after-”

“-After I wigged out on Angel,” she remembered, and everything else. Riley’s death. Seeing Spike’s empty coat on the road. Losing two people she either loved or has loved in such a short time.

“So I guess I do…” she whispered, almost inaudibly, admitting that the feelings she felt for Spike were indeed love.

“Buffy…we have a situation here.”

“A situation…?”

“Yes…Faith, Gunn, and Willow are all missing.”

“What?”

“Yes…we encountered another wizard on the road shortly after you were incapacitated and it attacked us, and Willow was knocked unconscious. We brought you both back here and earlier Willow woke up and just disappeared.

“Faith and Gunn are…uh…they’re out looking for Dawn.”

“Dawn?” Buffy sat up quickly. “Where is she?”

“Faith and Gunn are looking for her; but they haven’t been back for hours now.”

Buffy tried to get up but a wave of nausea hit her and she sat back down slowly.

“It’s no use you trying to find Dawn, we’d lose our most capable fighter.”

“Angel can handle it,” she said.

“Actually,” started Giles, “That’s part of the situation. Most of the people from Los Angeles are also missing.”

Buffy stared straight ahead, refusing to allow herself to jump to any conclusions.

“Are they…?”

“Oh, yes, yes. They’re fine. The wizard I mentioned spread a fire across the street, separating us. They’re working their way back to the house, but there’s no way of knowing where they are or how long they’ll take to get here.”

“So basically I’m the only one who can take on any bad guys until Angel gets back here…if he ever does.”

“Don’t say that, Buffy…”

“Why not? Everyone else seems to be leaving me…Dad…Angel – twice – Mom, Dawn, Riley – again, twice - Spike, even you, Giles. You left me when I needed you the most, and not a week ago I was thrown out of my own home by the people I love and trust the most. You don’t just get over something like that, Giles. Now friends I haven’t seen for years show up and just leave again – you know now that the possibility occurs to me I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Angel and Willow are waiting with the others in a house down the road for you and everyone else to trail off one by one and leave me here again, all on my own.”

“Buffy!” Giles’ voice cracked across her tirade, stopping her short. “There’s no time for this. You’re absolutely right – I betrayed you. Again.” Memories of her eighteenth birthday flashed across Buffy’s thoughts. “But we have to get past all of that. Yes, Angel and the others have been separated from us. And Riley’s death was a terrible loss for us all – you most of all – but you cannot allow for a moment for any of that to make you falter, because if you do,” He leaned forward intently. “The First will seize the opportunity and destroy us from the inside. Everyone’s morale hangs by a thread and unfair as it is you have to be the one to bring everyone back, because as we learned when we threw you out you are the most capable fighter and everyone respects you, even though it may pain them to admit it. It has to be you, Buffy. Not Angel when he gets back, not me, not Kennedy, Faith, Wesley, Gunn, Willow – it has to be you. And if you can’t find it in you to keep going at this point then I don’t know how else we’ll succeed.”

Buffy stared long and hard at Giles. “Geez, is that what I sound like when I make my speeches?”

Giles’ mouth curled ever so slightly at the corner. “Normally it involves a mention of not everyone going to make it, but I felt a break with tradition was in order.”

Buffy frowned. “Speaking of which…thought any more about my idea I told you all the other day?”

Giles joined her with the frowning. “Yes…and I realised it would have far-reaching ramifications for…for as long as the human race exists. This can’t be done on a whim, but I also believe it epitomises the rather…unique approach you have to being the Chosen One.”

Buffy snorted.

“Seriously though, Buffy…if you do this then it’ll all be on you. Willow will be the one to do it but this will be a part of you for the rest of your life. We have absolutely no guarantee it will even work, and if it doesn’t work properly then there could be cataclysmic consequences. This is the very essence of raw, untamed magic we’re dealing with here and even though it is embedded into a symbol of pure good magic is a very unstable thing. Even if it works, think of the consequences of the girls’ lives you’ll be changing. You’re talking about making every Potential Slayer that exists in the world and will ever exist into a fully activated Slayer. Think of the lives you’ll be changing – the choice you’ll be taking away from every Potential from this point on.”

“What about my choice, Giles?” Buffy shifted into anger. “I didn’t get a choice. I didn’t want to be here. I should be at college right now, taking Psych with Professor Walsh with a teaching assistant called Riley as a boyfriend living with Willow as a roommate. Dawn should be real, not just a collection of memories a group of monks made up. Spike…Spike shouldn’t be burned alive. Angel shouldn’t have to feel eternal remorse for things he had no control over. Cordelia shouldn’t be in a coma. Willow shouldn’t be God-knows where, Wesley shouldn’t have had his throat slit and left for dead by his friends, Giles. NONE of that should have happened, but it did. I’m sick of being the good guy. I’m through with it. You want a morale boost? Screw you, Giles, I shouldn’t have to do this, any of this – I didn’t ask for this, but here I am, and you want me to stop and think about a bunch of girls I’ve never met and worry about taking away the choice that I never had myself? I’ve had it. I’ve said it before, but now I truly know the meaning of so being past the point of caring that I’d do anything to hurt the First. Hurt it like it’s hurt me. Can the First sense evil, Giles? Cause I’d put money on it sensing a good load of it building up in me. Worry about the Potentials? The only Potentials left in the world are probably right beneath our feet cowering in fear at the thought of another demon like the one we’ve just fought coming and getting them this time, instead of one of the other girls. If we don’t do something right now, then it’s going to do it – all it needs is a bit more blood and it’ll have an army of those things. Call it an executive decision, whatever you want – I’m gonna do it, cause I’ve got nothing else and we’re right out of time.”

A silence stretched between the pair as they stared at each other – Buffy glaring and Giles just looking back.

“You’re right. The world isn’t as it should be, but then it wouldn’t be the world we live in. You know what heaven is like, correct? Well unfortunately for us lesser mortals we have to make do with what we have right in front of us. And all I was trying to do was make you aware of the ethical considerations of your decision, but if you’re absolutely certain on your course of action and that it will be an asset and not a drain then you have my support.”

“…A drain…?”

“Hadn’t it occurred to you? You’ve been training the Potentials, and very proficiently, I might add, but once they’re activated they won’t be Potentials any more, they’ll be Slayers. Do you remember what it was like when you were activated? The change in your powers? Your strength and awareness? Well there’ll be thirty more in the same house, and who knows how many more out in the world and there’s no Watcher’s Council anymore, Buffy. They’ll be alone in the world without anyone to give them guidance or control or temper their strength. Do you remember Faith? How easy it was for her to be seduced and to turn away from her destiny? I’ll grant you, it was a long and painful process for her, but my point is that if you take away the fact Faith had people around her who knew her identity and offered her support then how much faster do you think she’d have been turned? How many people would she have killed before someone got lucky and either captured or killed her?”

“Ifs and buts, Giles. I know the point you’re trying to make but you’re talking about eventualities that might not even happen -”

“- Oh, I can guarantee you that it will happen. Somewhere down the line, someone’s power will get out of control and the normal people will suffer as a consequence. Are you familiar with Murphy’s Law? There are several main points to it but the most important in this instance are, ‘If something can go wrong, it will,’ ‘If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway,’ and ‘If there are several possibilities of things going wrong then the one that will cause the most damage will go wrong; and if there is a worst time for something to happen then it will happen then.’ I cannot predict the future, Buffy, but I can try to prepare for every eventuality but there are simply too many things that can go wrong for me to even begin to consider any of them.”

Buffy felt the beginnings of doubt claw at her heart. “…You don’t think we should do it…?”

“I didn’t say that. If you can pull it off you’ll have a formidable force with which to take on the First and despite all of the things I’ve just said the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance – and I believe, if it works, that the ends will indeed justify the means in this instance. I just wanted to make you fully aware of the consequences of your decision.”

“I know the consequences, Giles, but I don’t think we have a choice. Well, we do, but it sure isn’t a great one. Do nothing and die – no, condemn the world to darkness – or do exactly what those guys one million years B.C. did and take away a bunch of innocent girls’ decision away from them. But the way I look at it is, most of the remaining Potentials have already had the decision decided for them by just being here and that in the future it’ll mean that the Slayer won’t have to be alone any more – like I’ve been.”

He studied her face for another moment. “Alright, Buffy. You’ve convinced me. Now it’s time for the hard part.”

Buffy sighed. “Doing it.”

Spike limped down the road, flanked by Faith and Gunn.

“You’re sure she’s close by?”

“Positive. I’ve known the Bit for years and I don’t think there’s many people left in this here town to smell similar to her.”

“Good point.”

“Just through here,” Spike said, pointing into a darkened, abandoned house. Faith exchanged a frown with Gunn and then looked at Spike questioningly.

“She’s been here very recently, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s still inside.”

“After you,” said Faith, and as the vampire opened his mouth to argue, she hefted the weapon she was carrying. “I insist.” She smirked at Spike and he huffed and walked through the door of the house. The pair followed him and their world was plunged into blackness.

Wesley groaned and lifted himself gingerly from the floor of the decimated alleyway. Suddenly a hand clamped onto his back and lifted him into the air. He gasped in surprise but then gave a sigh of relief as he saw who it was who lifted him.

“Willow.”

He frowned as he realised her eyes were blank and distant.

And inky black.

“You need to come with me,” she said, and the alley glowed with a white light.

Wesley gave an apprehensive look at the witch before they all disappeared.

“Spike?” called the Slayer, stumbling about in the darkness. There was no response as she felt wildly for Gunn’s arm.

“He ain’t here no more,” said Gunn as she grabbed his outstretched hand.

“Double crossed?” she asked, and she could have sworn she heard Gunn shrug.

“Dunno. I know I don’t like bein’ here though.”

“Yeah, same here. Screw Spike, let’s get the hell out of here.”

She turned to where she thought the exit was but froze when she heard a low growl emanating from somewhere in the room.

“Now I don’t like the sound of that,” whispered Gunn, but in the darkness it almost sounded like he was shouting. Faith’s heart pounded in her ears. It was one thing to fight something that growled like that but to do it in absolute darkness was another thing entirely.

Suddenly they felt furred bodies brush past them on every side, running out of the house. Faith, for the first time in a very long time, was frozen in place, unsure of what to do, gripping Gunn’s hand.

The house was silent again.

“What the hell was that?” gasped Faith.

“I dunno,” said Gunn shakily, “But I think it’s time we got the hell out of here.”

She nodded and walked forwards when she heard a sound she thought she’d never be grateful to hear.

“Are you two still in here?” It was Spike.

“Spike you son of a bitch, where the hell is the way out?” called Faith.

“Just follow my voice. And,” he added, “I’ve found the Bit.”

Relief flooded Faith’s heart as she followed the sound of the vampire’s voice.

Buffy drew breath to address the Potentials but covered her eyes with her hands instinctively when the room flooded with light and Willow appeared with the missing people.

She ran forward when the Wiccan collapsed onto the ground.

“Will!” she cried in alarm.

Strong arms stopped her from touching the witch.

“No, Buffy, wait,” whispered a British voice in her ear.

Willow began to glow with light and once again disappeared.

“Where is she?” demanded the Slayer, the tables turned as she grabbed the front of Wesley’s coat.

“I doubt she’s far. And she’ll be back,” the Englishman calmly explained.

“She’d better be,” threatened Buffy, and she let him go. He straightened his coat and then looked around.

“Where’s…?” he muttered, but Buffy didn’t hear him.

“What happened?”

He sighed. “We were confronted by the Erus Veneficus again.”

Giles gasped but Buffy was nonplussed. “That wizard guy? What’d he do?”

“He exploded two buildings around us and then knocked us all out one by one.”

“What about you?”

“He…brought a few things to light, then he got what he came for. Buffy…the First…” He stopped, then looked the Slayer in the eye. “We’re in way over our heads here.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“No, you don’t know. You can’t know. The First is indeed the First Evil, we’ve known this much for a long time now. But for a power of complete and utter Evil – and you’ve noticed this before now – it doesn’t have as much power as you’d first think. And there’s a very logical explanation for that, and I think you’re already aware of it but haven’t realised it yet.”

Buffy thought long and hard for a moment, then her eyes snapped back to Wesley’s.

“No.”

“I’m afraid so. It’s manipulated us into accepting blindly what it says, but we should’ve questioned that before now.”

“Is somebody going to fill the rest of us in…?” asked a Potential.

Buffy shook her head. “No. I can’t deal with this right now. It’s too much.” She sat down on the couch.

Wesley looked around the room grimly. “The First…isn’t the First, so to speak. It is the First Evil, but only of this dimension. As with all entities of great power, the First has spread false propaganda, if you will, about its origins and its true power. It is indeed a being of the ultimate evil…but only the evil found in this dimension. It is the most terrible being in existence…in this dimension.”
He turned to Giles. “You recall Glory? She was a Hell God of immense power, but when she was in this dimension her powers were reduced – she was still very powerful but she had her limits. I understand that if the First becomes corporeal it will be limited in power similar to Glory’s while she was here. And it wants to become corporeal so it can rule over this dimension as Glory once did her own. I have been informed that there is a hierarchy of sorts between the dimensions and as much as it might disappoint you this is one of the lesser realities. The First is the purest form of this dimensions evil. But, unfortunately…there are beings more powerful than it in other realities. The first Watchers, in creating the Slayer, also managed to put a hex on the First and for the first time in millennia it has a chance to break the bonds of that curse, regain its former power and reign supreme over this dimension.”

A very long silence weighed the room as everyone absorbed this new information.

Giles looked up. “What about the Erus Veneficus? Where does he fit into all of this? And why didn’t he kill you all?”

Wesley sighed. “I hate to make this entire situation into some kind of cliché but the Erus Veneficus is essentially a secret agent of another dimension operating in our own. He has a completely different agenda from that of the First and has at least some ability of precognition and is shaping events to his own ends. He is an exceptionally powerful entity and there isn’t person in this room who isn’t lucky to be alive after encountering him. There are very few entities capable of destroying him in this dimension and the First is one of them. Willow may last longer than the rest of us in a fight but even her ability with magic wouldn’t have a hope against the Erus Veneficus.”

“So why didn’t he kill you?”

“I don’t know. There must be some kind of advantage in divulging this information to us and sparing our lives because there isn’t a shred of mercy in that being. And he’s operating in this dimension because…he used to exist here, as a human. He ascended to a higher plane many centuries, even millennia ago, and now he’s back for reasons unknown.
“ Fortunately for us, however, as with most things there must be a balance in this dimension – one of the reasons it has survived this long. I’ve learned that the reason the First is so intent on destroying the Slayer line is because once it becomes corporeal the Slayer will become just as powerful as it. Buffy, you and Faith are only on par with some of the demons here because the First has been reduced to spirit form. If it were to return then you would both have half the strength of the First. You are endowed with the purest essence of Evil, but because you fight evil it’s used for good. The Slayer and the First’s destinies are intertwined because you have some of the First in you. It’s power at the moment is manipulative and mental, while yours is the physical power. If it restores its physical power then your power will increase to match it. This rule has also worked against the Erus Veneficus - in order to exist here there must be an equal and opposite force operating against the Erus Veneficus or he couldn’t exist here.”

“The ball of white light,” nodded Giles.

“Yes. That being is an operative of a higher dimension, but one aligned with the power of good. And Willow has gone to commune with it.”

“It?”

“…Her. It’s someone we all know and love very much.”

At that moment the room flooded with light once more and Willow reappeared looking refreshed, and smiling. A figure stood next to her.

“Is this a bad time for me to drop in?” asked Cordelia.

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Hope you enjoyed! Please R/R!