The small army of former slayers, along with Buffy, Faith, Giles, and Willow, landed soundlessly on the roof of the vampires' Tokyo headquarters. Having stolen Army helicopters certainly had advantages.

The team quickly and efficiently dusted the few inept vampires Toru had left as guards before they were able to transform into wolves or mist to avoid the assault of crossbow arrows.

On top of the skyscraper stood an enormous red sphere. The group looked up at it with a mixture of awe and disgust. Willow murmured to the dark slayer who now stood next to her, "Think that's your red lightening?"

Faith looked up at the ominous contraption and released a low whistle. "Nothing gets past you, does it, Red?" She flashed a smile at the witch, still attempting to make amends for the past.

Willow, despite her initial hatred and jealousy toward the dark slayer had been one of the first to come around and welcome the girl back into the group after the fall of Sunnydale. Without her own innocence intact, the redhead could no longer pretend to be better than the younger girl. She too had wandered to the dark side. She too had killed before, although Warren was anything but an innocent.

A loud crash interrupted the group's reverence. Everyone broke away from the red globe and looked toward the location of the noise. A large contingency of Asian vampires crashed through the roof access and was now spilling out onto the roof of the skyscraper.

Some of the vampires quickly transformed into wolves while other retained their natural forms as they moved in close to attack the handicapped slayers.

Buffy's eyes scanned the crowd for two familiar faces – Toru and Satsu. The leader of the vamps shoved his way toward the front of the growling demons, dragging Satsu behind him.

"Willow!" the blonde leader yelled. "Now!"

The redheaded witch mumbled a brief incantation, her eyes flashing with power. With the use of the giant red globe on top of the Tokyo skyscraper, Willow's spell blasted out of its fiery eye, zapping each of the vamped up vampires. Like a magnet seeking out its opposite mate, their special abilities shot into the dusky-rose crystal Buffy held in her hand.

Toru looked momentarily stunned as he looked at the rock in the Slayer's clenched hand.

"You suck my girls, I suck you," the blonde quipped. Her face crumpled into a frown. "That sounded so less dirty in my head."

Buffy dropped the crystal to the ground and crushed it, along with the vampires' special abilities, beneath her stylish but affordable boots.

"I don't need special powers to drink your blood," the vampire snarled at the girl. "I bet you taste sweet, Slayer."

"You're never gonna find out." The elder slayer took her fighting stance, her muscles readying in anticipation of the fight. "Let's go, Slayers," she called, rallying the troops around her. "Kill them all."

The vampire lunged at her, only to find himself easily deflected and falling on the ground.

"Oh, c'mon, Toru. I thought this was gonna be harder," Buffy whined, not letting down her guard. "How does it feel to be a normal vampire again?"

The Asian vampire scrambled to his feet, his face twisted into an animalistic grimace.

"What? No more witty threats? That's disappointing." The blonde continued her verbal attack as she punched the vampire, breaking his nose with her tiny fist.

Toru vainly attempted to land some kicks on the blonde's lithe body, but the blood rushing from his broken nose made it nearly impossible to see. Buffy easily blocked and avoided his weak attack, and finally put the vampire out of his misery. Her wooden stake found his chest and his un-beating heart as Toru's body burst into ashes with a satisfying sound.

With Toru dead, Buffy turned to watch the battle between Faith and Satsu. Rather than lend a helping hand to her sister slayer, she could only sit back and admire both women's speed, grace, and physical beauty.

The Asian slayer was a formidable fighter. Her movements were quick, precise, and technical. Unlike Buffy and Faith, she spared no energies or attentions to witty banter and caustic verbal jabs. And unlike the Chosen Two, she wasn't as adept at improvising. But she did have one thing going for her – in her mind she was fighting for the woman she loved.

But so was Faith. And she would not fail Buffy again.

The two slayers circled each other, looking for weaknesses. Their cautious movements reminded Faith of the many times she and Buffy had sparred with each other years ago in the Sunnydale high school library. They were lifetimes away from that now. She had always held back in those moments, just relishing being so physically close to the blonde, intoxicated by her energy. Now was not the time to hold back, however.

Faith wielded her curved knife like a street fighter in a darkened alley; Satsu held the scythe, spinning it in her talented hands. The old Faith would have taken the offense and struck first, but years of tai chi had honed in her wrecklessness and she now waited patiently and with reserve for the Asian slayer to make the first move.

Faith was not disappointed. Satsu struck hard and quickly, using the scythe as a rapier foil. The brunette blocked the scythe with her smaller weapon, deflecting the blow. She deftly hooked the notched blade of her knife into the slayer scythe and wretched the weapon from Satsu's hands. The scythe fell onto the concrete of the skyscraper's roof with a metallic clang as it slid away from both dark slayers. Satsu, her body now her only weapon, protected herself with bent arms.

Faith felt a cocky victory chant bubbling to her lips, but she swallowed it back. This wasn't over yet.

Thirty-eight.

The two slayers circled each other once again. Faith's fingers clenched the ornate handle of her knife, her knuckles turning white. She knew what she had to do. Just one more kill. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and attacked.

Faith watched in slow motion as the blade of her knife sliced through the air, coming closer and closer to the tender flesh of Satsu's vulnerable throat. With each millisecond, all of Faith's former crimes flashed through her brain: all the petty thefts to help her afford her dump of a motel room in Sunnydale, stealing weapons from the sports shop, killing the Deputy Mayor if only by accident, joining the Mayor's side, strangling Xander, the same knife against Willow's bare throat, killing the volcanologist, fighting Buffy, shooting Angel, torturing Wesley, fucking Riley in Buffy's body, hitting Joyce, and then the faces of each of the thirty-seven slayers she had murdered under the tutelage of Ripper.

Faith stopped the blade before its killing blow reached its target. The sharp edge cut a thin line of red as it lightly pressed against Satsu's skin. The Asian girl's dark eyes flashed with wild fright and surprise. Faith realized she was breathing hard now, struggling to choke back emotions that threatened to break to the surface. She pulled the knife away from Satsu's neck before landing a strong kick to the girl's chest, sending her flying backwards and falling hard on the rooftop.

Satsu's only crime was loving Buffy Summers too much. And for that, Faith was guilty as well.

Faith bent at the waist to pick up the slayer scythe that now lay discarded on the ground. She looked at its blade and marveled at how it gleamed in the moonlight, turning it over in her hands – inspecting it, feeling its power again.

Her head snapped up suddenly as she felt Buffy's eyes on her form. "This is yours," the brunette rasped, her voice raw, as she shoved the scythe into the blonde's hands. "Don't lose it again." Faith's shoulders slumped as she turned to walk out of Buffy's life forever. "I'll be gone in the morning," she tossed over her shoulder.

"Faith…wait…" The words were so quiet, it was only thanks to her slayer abilities that she heard the blonde's plea. Faith stopped her retreat, and turned to face Buffy, the brunette's eyes briefly shining with something that resembled hope.

Satsu scrambled to her feet, shocked to still be alive. She turned toward Buffy for some sign of acknowledgement.

Buffy looked down at the silver and red scythe once again home in her strong, capable hands. The metal felt cool, heavy, and reassuring.

The silence was too much for Satsu. "Buffy…Can't we just start over?" she wailed, her voice wild with desperation. "I…I only wanted to love you!" The tears streamed easily down her golden face.

The elder slayer looked up from her hands and deep into the shimmering eyes of the misguided girl. Her voice came out methodical, flat.

"I don't have time for love, Satsu. There's always a Big Evil planning the end of the world. There always has been and there always will be. You betrayed your calling. You aligned yourself with vampires for your own selfish needs. You put yourself before your sister slayers."

The blonde slayer continued her lecture. "Faith didn't kill you. She couldn't." Buffy's eyes were cold now, without emotion.

"But I can."

With one quick motion – a flip of her wrist – the scythe sliced through the air. Satsu's head rolled a few feet away from her body that crumpled to the ground like a sack of cement. Buffy stood a little straighter and looked down at the severed head. "It's about the mission," she breathed.

"Buffy?" Willow's voice suddenly filled the blonde Slayer's ears. "What do we do now?"

The woman tore her eyes away from Satsu's fallen body. "It's not my decision anymore," she stated quietly.

"But Buffy, you have a decision to make." Willow reached out to comfort her friend, but retreated, changing her mind. "You have the scythe back. Do you want me to restore the Potentials' powers?" Willow questioned her friend.

The elder slayer shook her head. "Don't ask me. Ask Faith."

Everyone gasped a little and swung their eyes toward the startled, dark slayer.

"What? Me? No…No way," she stammered. "This isn't my call. B – you're the leader."

Buffy sighed, suddenly looking exhausted as she looked down at the scythe in her hands again. "I realized something a while ago," she murmured. "I'm not the one who's supposed to lead." She glanced over at her former Watcher who gave her an encouraging nod.

"I should have stepped down a long time ago. I know that now." Buffy looked at the still-stunned woman, her words clear now, stronger. "Faith, the Slayer line runs through you, not me. That was obvious when I went to Heaven and a new slayer wasn't called. You were in prison then, still the protector of the lineage."

She weighed her next words carefully. They felt heavy on her tongue as they came out. "So the decision is yours – you're the Chosen One."

Part III

Faith stood before the door to Buffy's Tokyo bedroom. Even though it was closed, she could sense that Buffy was inside. She was pretty sure that Buffy knew she was standing on the other side as well. Finally, after minutes of debating with herself, the brunette checked her courage and knocked softly on the wooden door.

The silence was deafening. The younger girl's stomach tangled itself into more and more knots as the seconds ticked by with no response from the other side of the door. Finally, just when Faith was about to bolt down the hallway, she heard it.

"Come in, Faith."

The dark girl cautiously opened the door, half expecting that a fist might meet her face upon entry. Faith allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkened room. Her eyes focused on the small form sitting slumped forward on the double bed in the center of the room.

"B…." Faith's voice came out gentle, the tone surprising her. She didn't think of herself as soft these days.

Buffy didn't look up.

Faith cleared her throat and tried her voice again. "Buffy…This isn't why I came to Tokyo." She motioned toward the scythe in her shaky hands, although the blonde girl refused to meet her glance.

Buffy's voice came out tired and small, "Why did you come, Faith?"

The younger girl shrugged noncommittally. "You know, Blondie. To take down Mini-Me. Giles and I didn't want you to get blood on those pristine hands. I came here to do what I do best…well, maybe second best."

Buffy was silent as she picked at the fabric of her comforter.

Faith slipped on her mask as the sexual predator because it was comfortable. Easy. At least it was easier than standing awkwardly before the blonde slayer and pouring out her heart. "Cause you know with you finding the girlie love now, I thought you might wanna take me for a test drive – see if you like the original better than the next generation."

Buffy swallowed hard, blinking back tears.

Faith grew angry at her continued silence. "So tell me, B. Was it worth it?" she burst out before she could bite back the words. "You get one hell of an orgasm and Satsu got what? The privilege of being with the great Buffy Summers?" She clutched the scythe's handle tightly in one fist while clenching her other hand, the knuckles whitening with rage.

The blonde girl looked up suddenly, her eyes spilling hot tears down her face. "You don't think I realize that this is all my fault?" she sobbed bitterly. "That if I hadn't been so selfish all of this could have been avoided?"

Faith snarled, "I don't know, B. You seem to always be oblivious to the most obvious things."

Buffy crumbled, burying her face in her hands as she allowed her body to finally be taken over by the violent sobs that racked her body.

Not thinking, no longer holding herself back, Faith fell to her knees in front of the woman, releasing her grip on the scythe as it landed uselessly, soundlessly next to her.

"C'mon, B." Faith coaxed, her voice a low murmur. She reached out to touch the woman and provide some comfort, but stopped short, as though afraid to be burnt by a fire. "Damn it, Buffy. I'm sorry…my mouth…it just doesn't know when to stop. Please…don't cry. You're killing me."

"How many did you kill?" The words came out quiet – hesitant, gentle, and without accusation.

"What? I – I thought you didn't know about that." Faith's eyes filled with fear. She stood up quickly, wanting to get away from the girl.

"Don't go!" Buffy cried out, still feeling vulnerable. "Don't leave yet." She released a small sigh when she saw the taller woman pause her retreat. "Giles – he...please, Faith. I…I need to know."

The dark girl shrugged, refusing to make eye contact. "I don't know, B. I didn't keep track," she snapped.

Buffy was unconvinced. "Faith," she stated.

Faith looked away, focusing on anything else in the room besides the seated girl. "Thirty….seven," she rasped. "I killed thirty-seven slayers."

Buffy was unaffected. "And how many did you save?" she asked.

Faith looked back to the girl, confused.

"How many girls were able to be rehabilitated because of you?" the blonde clarified.

"I didn't keep track," Faith responded, her voice dull and flat.

"Faith," Buffy tried again.

"No really, B. I didn't keep track. None of that mattered to me." She closed her eyes and shook her head sadly. "It's not about the pluses and minuses. I know that now."

The two fell silent for a few moments, neither woman sure where the conversation should head. Finally Faith sighed, her shoulders slumped forward and resigned.

"They're afraid of me. They don't trust me," she frowned.

Buffy shook her head in response. "It doesn't matter. You're the leader now, Faith. They'll follow or they'll leave." She paused, considering her next words. "Faith. The scythe. I think we can take their powers away. The rogue ones…No one else has to die."

Faith's face flashed anger and betrayal. "Why didn't anyone think of that before…before I had to…"

The blonde girl quickly interrupted, scrambling to her feet before the dark girl could grow angrier. "I don't think it ever occurred to us that the power could be taken away, that the spell could be reversed."

Faith opened her mouth to speak, but remained silent when she felt Buffy's fingertips on her parted lips.

The blonde stood taller, green and hazel eyes staring straight into dark chocolate irises.

"But your power, Faith. That can never be taken away. No one can touch your power."

"I thought you didn't have time for love, B," Faith half-heartedly teased, her voice cracking with emotion. She stepped back nervously, putting space between her and the shorter woman.

The elder girl's stare was unshaken. "Is that what this is, Faith? Love?"

Faith felt her breath quicken, her blood rushing, her pulse pounding so loudly in her ears that she nearly missed Buffy's next question. "Do you remember what you said the first time you held the scythe back in Sunnydale?"

She nodded, thinking back to those few hours she had led the Potentials into battle – and into a trap – while Buffy retrieved the scythe and regained leadership of the group.

"You said it felt like it was yours," Buffy continued, not breaking her eye contact. "Well, what about me, Faith?"

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What about you, B?"

The blonde took a step closer to the younger girl. "Do I feel like I'm yours too?"

"B…Buffy," Faith stammered. She cast her eyes downward and felt the tears build up. "You know I've always loved you," she whispered. The tears came easily now, spilling onto the carpeted floor, leaving a pattern of small stains in their wake.

Faith raised a hand to wipe away the stinging tears and was startled by a sudden pressure against her lips. In her distracted state, the blonde had swooped low and captured the dark girl' mouth with her own. Faith's eyes widened in surprise as the hungry lip-lock was joined by small, strong hands in the small of her back, as Buffy wrapped her thin arms around the brunette's body, pulling her closer.

Once the initial shock wore off, Faith eagerly returned the kiss. There was no hesitation, no tenderness, no gentleness to what they shared. The embrace was like a Slayer – raw, passionate, and unrestrained.

The kiss ended when the two needed to come up for air. Buffy looked away shyly, her breathing heavy and uneven; Faith's face continued to display unabashed shock and bewilderment. She brought her fingertips up to her mouth and brushed them against her lips, still feeling the fire, still tasting the lip-gloss from the elder Slayer's kiss.

"I just wanted to know what it would be like…" Buffy murmured quietly, her cheeks flushed.

"Holy shit, B."

Seeing the blonde quickly shrinking and building up her walls of defense, Faith reached out, cupping her face in her hands. "I'm sorry," the elder slayer stammered. "I know I shouldn't have…." Buffy averted her glaze from the searching eyes of the darker girl.

"Don't hide from me," the brunette commanded, her voice steady and strong.

Buffy looked up finally, meeting Faith's intense gaze and could do nothing as the brunette brought their faces closer and closer, until their lips finally grazed against each other.

The blonde closed her eyes and released a soft sigh as she pressed her lips harder now against Faith's thick, pouting mouth. She gladly accepted the brunette's tongue into her own mouth, moaning now against the tenderness of the embrace. Faith felt the vibrations of Buffy's moan travel from her mouth to her core, flushing her body hot with need.

Not wanting to pause and think about the consequences of their next actions, Buffy allowed Faith to lead her back to her double bed, locked in that deep kiss. The blonde fell back easily onto the bed when she felt the backs of her knees hit the mattress. Her hair framed her delicate features like a halo.

Faith stood for a moment, drinking in Buffy's form before crawling on top of her body, letting her hips rest against the blonde's own jutting hip bones. The younger slayer rested all of her weight on her arms, as if in a frozen push-up.

Dark chocolate eyes stared into green-hazel. After tonight, nothing would be the same.

Buffy could sense that the dark slayer was hesitating. "Do you love me?" she asked softly, reaching up to brush her fingertips over the brunette's troubled features.

"Always," Faith replied.

"Then show me," Buffy urged.

The blonde felt the teardrops begin to fall on her face. She pulled Faith in for a searing kiss as if to help ease her pain. The younger slayer allowed her body to rest fully on the woman beneath her, finally giving in to the feeling of Buffy's form underneath her own. She melted into the kiss, unable to break herself away from the blonde's seemingly enchanted mouth, their clothed bodies shifting as if attempting to mold together as one.

The dark haired slayer had awoken hours before her blonde partner. The combination of yesterday's events and time zones had made it nearly impossible for her to sleep, despite the amazing tranquility that now hummed through her body.

Faith looked down to see Buffy using the brunette's breasts as a pillow, her golden hair mussed and tangled from the previous night's exertions. Faith gently tried to tame the blonde's unruly mane with her fingers, not wanting to wake up the sleeping Slayer.

Despite the dark girl's light touch, the blonde's eyes fluttered open, trying to focus on their surroundings. As if she suddenly remembered where she was, and with whom she was, her lips curled into a small sleepy smile. She looked up to see the brunette girl intensely gazing down on her features.

"Mmmm…morning," Buffy purred. She pulled her naked body up so that she was face to face with the younger slayer and placed a gentle kiss on her pursed lips. Rolling off the brunette's body and onto her back, Buffy stretched from her toes to her outstretched arms.

The blonde glanced back over at Faith, noting her silence. The Boston girl seemed to have a permanent frown on her face, which seemed highly inappropriate to the elder slayer considering what they had just done all night long. Buffy pulled the sheet up to wrap around her exposed chest and turned on her side to look at the younger slayer. Faith lay on her back, looking up at the ceiling in silence.

"See something interesting up there?" Buffy tried, lightly. "Staring contest with the plaster? I hate to say it, but the paint's probably going to win." She reached out and gently brushed her fingertips along the soft, exposed shoulder of the brunette.

Faith grumbled something inaudible, even to slayer hearing. Buffy tried to ignore the girl's mood and snuggle in closer when Faith suddenly sat upright, the sheet falling from her upper torso, exposing miles of toned slayer skin.

"Damn it, B. Why wasn't it me?" Her eyes flashed anger and betrayal as she turned to look at the elder slayer.

The blonde's eyebrows knit themselves together in confusion and she pulled the sheet tighter around her breasts. "Why weren't you what? Huh?"

Faith sighed. She brought her hands up to her face and rested her forehead in her palms. "I wasn't the first one…I wasn't the first girl to…" she trailed off.

The wheels and gears in Buffy's brain churned and turned for a few seconds before the realization of Faith's complaint finally made sense. "Oh!" She sat up suddenly as well.

Faith looked at the other woman through her fingers, unable to resist another peak at the original slayer's upturned breasts. She smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. It's stupid and jealous, I know."

Buffy smiled softly, almost shyly, at the raven-haired girl. She gently took Faith's hands away from her face and inter-laced their fingers. Buffy looked down at their joined hands. "But you were, Faith."

The troubled brunette searched the other girl's face for clarification. "I'm only going to say this once. Because I really don't want to think about…" Buffy paused momentarily. "She and I spent a night together, yes. She and I had sex. But…."

Now it was Buffy's turn to rest her head in her hands. The dark slayer sat back, silent, watching the blonde trying to control her emotions. Buffy finally looked up from her hands, her eyes shining with fresh tears. "I used her," she croaked, her voice thick with emotion. She blinked quickly, allowing her tears to find their own paths down her cheeks. She looked over at the brunette, fearful of her reaction, but she continued, regardless.

"We were attacked. There's this new evil whom we haven't even yet begun to research. He calls himself 'Twilight.' He could have killed us both if he had wanted to; but I guess it wasn't time for that, yet." She paused to sniffle, reigning in her remorse and guilt.

"It was a pretty intense fight…" Faith knew what Buffy was trying to say, but she wanted to hear the blonde admit to it.

"I hadn't been with anyone since Sunnydale imploded….I….fuck it, you're loving this, aren't you?" Buffy chuckled bitterly to herself, wiping the tears from her hazel-green eyes.

The brunette slayer tried not to laugh as well. She knew this was an important admission for Buffy and she didn't want to ruin the moment.

"I was hungry and horny, okay?" The small woman blushed deeply and hid behind her hands again, peaking through her fingers at the other girl.

Buffy sighed and dropped her hands finally. "Before, with Satsu, it was nice, but I knew that it was just a onetime thing. I didn't want a relationship with her. I didn't see a future with her."

Faith exhaled the breath she didn't realize she was holding in. All of this was happening so fast after so much time and their violently negative past.

Buffy turned her body so she could look at the woman sitting in bed with her. "Faith. You're the first…the first girl I've made love with."

The dark slayer felt herself melt completely, surrendering to Buffy's assurances. She leaned into the blonde's body and gently cupped her chin between her thumb and first finger. As much as she wanted to remain guarded, she couldn't hold back her next words. "Is that what this is, Buffy? Love?"

Buffy chewed on her bottom lip and let herself fall deep into the brunette's endless pooling eyes. "It could be," she whispered.

"So here's the situation, kids. I'm the Chosen One, the Slayer line runs through me, blah blah blah – we all heard Buffy's speech." Faith hoped to keep her tone light so she flashed a smile in the direction of the blonde woman who stood far from the seated Scoobies.

After a lot of talking, the two had decided to keep the events of the previous evening and that morning just between the two of them. Buffy insisted she wasn't ashamed of what she had done, but she didn't want to make Faith's transition to leader any harder than it was already going to be. For the group to digest the idea of the two of them together would be too much confusion to an already delicate situation.

Faith stood before the original group – Giles, Xander, Willow, and Buffy – the ones whose approval she had always sought; she now found herself the leader of a potentially devastating army. She paced anxiously, now-and-again glancing at each person in the somberly decorated Tokyo dining room.

"Here's something no one has thought about yet." Faith paused for dramatic effect and took a deep breath. "What happens when I die?"

The group was silent, staring at the leather-clad woman before them, their new leader.

The brunette chuckled deep in her throat and continued. "I know that quite a few of you here always wished that I would die." Faith pointedly looked in the directly of Willow and Xander, causing a deep blush to cover both their cheeks. "Hell, not even I anticipated lasting this long – not how hard and fast I've lived my life – but the bitch is, I'm still alive."

The brunette wet her lips and began again. "So let's say we keep things the way they are, with only B and me having superpowers. I die and the next girl is called. The One in All the World Chosen to Kill the Vampires. Business as usual, right?"

The group looked around the table at each other and nodded.

"But what happens," Faith continued, "if we restore all the Potentials to their full-wattage power – make them Slayers again using the scythe. Well, what happens to the line then when I die? Is one person called? A hundred?"

"Or what about this?" She paused. "No one." The dark girl stopped again, letting the gravity of her words sink in with her audience.

"What happens if I die and the Slayer line dies with me? Suddenly all these girls, all these women, with kick-ass super powers, slaying demons and all other sorts of baddies are reduced to once again being regular girls?"

She looked into everyone's eyes as she breathed the next words. "And without a Slayer, without the One Girl in All the World, the human race becomes just Happy-Meals with Feet."

"Oh, bloody hell." Giles removed his glasses and began to scrub at them furiously with his shirttails.

"So?" Faith sat down at the head of the wooden table and propped up her feet, leaning back in her chair. "What do I do?"

The group sat, stunned, looking at Faith. None of them, not even Giles had paused to really think about the long-term consequences of their actions.

"Willow," Buffy spoke from the shadows of the room for the first time. "You were there. You saw it in that house."

Willow searched her friend's face as she stepped into the light. Buffy looked at her long-time friends. "The death of magic."

The room burst into a fury of conversations until Faith held up her hand for silence.

"So here's how I see it," Faith started again. "We've got two options. One: Business as usual. We thank all the potentials for their months of killing evil and send them back to their respective homes and expect them to carry on normally with their lives. Buffy and I go back to Cleveland and guard over the Hellmouth, averting apocalypses until our number's called and we finally die. A new girl is called, and a new Watcher trains her."

The brunette stood up from her seat suddenly, the energy and anxiety rolling off her body in waves. She rested her hands on the table and leaned forward to look everyone in the eye.

"Or….we give them back their powers….and take out evil hard and fast." A broad smile spread across the dark girl's face, as she continued.

"We go totally gang-busters and take down all the baddies – everywhere—before I get the chance to kick it and possibly take the Slayer line down with me."

She stood, expectantly, before the group, awaiting their reaction to her plan. None of the seated three moved or breathed for a few seconds as the woman's plan sunk in.

Finally, the witch spoke, repeating her best friend's statement, her voice full of wonder: "The death of magic."

+++++

FIN