“Right there with you, B,” Faith said, walking toward Buffy, putting space between her and Spike.  “So what’s the plan?” 

 

“Faith!” Spike called out. 

 

Faith didn’t bother turning around or even acknowledging him.  She knew she had dismissed him, but she didn’t have any other choice.

 

If her mouth would’ve stopped when she wanted it to, she could’ve waited until this entire Master thing was over and then just snuck off in the middle of the night, no confrontation and no one the wiser. 

 

What was she thinking?  Why did she say something now, of all times?  Somewhere along the line, Faith had forgotten who she was.  She didn’t explain herself to men.  She didn’t shack up with them for more than a night either.  The old Faith would’ve left; Spike would’ve realized it was over without some big discussion and he would’ve gone on with his life. 

 

Faith had blown it.

 

She was so caught up in her own thing she hadn’t noticed Buffy staring at her.  “What?”

 

“You’re with me, right?” Buffy asked. 

 

Faith couldn’t get a bead on Buffy's expression.  “Of course.  Why wouldn’t I be?” Faith answered, not expecting a reply. 

 

“I don’t have time for,” Buffy nodded toward Spike, “whatever is going on between you two.  It's not my problem and you’re not going to make it everyone else’s.  No distractions.”

 

Faith crinkled her face in disbelief.  “Who said anything about being distracted?”

 

“Good…” Buffy began.

 

“My girls.”

 

Faith and Buffy spun around simultaneously.  And there they were; at least fifty of the undead-brain-dead coming towards them, with The Master in the lead.

 

“Here we go,” Buffy said. 

 

“Yep,” Faith added

 

Buffy turned and looked at Xander.  “When this starts, stay back.”

 

“I wish I knew where Willow was,” Xander said quietly to Spike.  “Do you think…?"

 

“Wishes are for wankers and nancy boys,” Spike mumbled, as he closed ranks behind Buffy. 

 

“Your girls?”  Faith took a step forward and motioned towards her chest.  “You talking about these girls?  Cause I never figured you for a tit man.”

 

“Enough!  The time has come and frankly, I’m tired of waiting.  You two are going to die, and I will rise once and for all.  That is all there is to it,” The Master said matter-of-factly.  “I have waited long enough and I’m not waiting any longer.  Maybe I will even turn one of you.  That would make things… interesting.” 

 

“From what I hear, B had your minions on the run the last time,” Faith said, remembering what Buffy had told her when they first met.

 

He motioned towards his group of fledglings.  “These are not ordinary vampires.  They are all my vessels.  They are stronger than the others were and they will take you down.  I told you I will not be defeated.” 

 

The group of vampires began moving in.

 

Faith and Buffy simultaneously retrieved their stakes and took their battle stances.  Spike wasn’t far behind in his retrieval.  Xander grabbed a stake of his own and then ducked behind a crevice in the wall.

 

XXXXX

 

Oh man!  Oh man!  Willow thought as she heard the scene unravel. 

 

After Faith and Buffy had gone back for the others, she had gone further up the trail to find somewhere to hide.  She had stumbled across a small cranny off the main path.  Well, if you could call it a cranny.  It was a deep crack in the wall that hid her entire body.  She had made it just in time.  She was no more into the dust-filled nook when The Master and his followers appeared and passed right by her. 

 

Now here she was, literally stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Willow was afraid to come out and reveal her location to any stragglers.  On the other hand, it looked like the entire bunch of hooligans had made their way around the bend, heading towards her friends.

 

She knew she could take them all out.  She knew it.  Willow Rosenberg taking out the Master of All Vampires, leaving none of the fight for the slayers.  But Buffy said she wanted The Master for herself.  Maybe she’d give her the chance?  Or maybe she shouldn’t?  Maybe she should just end it all now before someone got hurt or worse yet, before someone got dead.

 

Willow also knew how powerful she was, in a good way, not the black-veiny-going-to-kill-all-my-friends-and-destroy-the-world kind of way.  She hadn’t tapped into the white power since the last time she was on the hellmouth.  Who would’ve thought all that good could be born so close to a place that was so irrevocably bad?  The scythe had been the source of the power, the goodness.  Could she muster that much good power on her own?  Could she summon what she needed without going back to the darkness that had almost consumed her?

 

What had the coven taught her?  One doesn’t use magic for personal gain.  This was so not personal gain.  What else?  Dark magic comes from a place of pain and hatred.  Was Willow feeling pain and hate at the moment?  No she wasn’t.  A little scared, maybe.  Okay a lot scared, but she wasn’t anywhere near the place she had been then. 

 

This was what her talent was supposed to be used for, to fight, to help out Buffy and the other Slayers, to help avert disasters that seemed to be waiting around every corner, especially when the Hellmouth was involved.

 

Could she actually do this?  Could she actually take matters into her own hands and stop an apocalypse all by herself?  Save them all?  Waltz right into the next cavern, announce her presence, say a few magic words and make all the bad guys disappear?

 

Where was Xander when she needed him?  A little moral support right now would be good.

 

“Here goes nothing,” Willow exclaimed, starting to extract herself from her hiding place.  “Willow, army of one, reporting for duty.” 

 

Willow couldn’t move.  Her foot was stuck.  “Oh!  That’s not good.”

 

XXXXX

 

“Any ideas, B?” Faith asked quietly as they watched the demons approach. 

 

Buffy shook her head.  “There’s too many of them.”  She glanced quickly over her shoulder as they all began backing up towards the main cavern.  “We could retreat totally, but I don’t know where Willow is.  I can’t leave her, Faith.”

 

“I’ll look for her,” Xander said, joining them.  “You keep them busy.  Outside flanking position is mine.  I’ll find her.”

 

“No way, Xander,” Buffy said quickly.

 

“I know where her trail ends.  If I don’t find her right away, I’ll hide like a good boy until it's safe to come back to you guys.”

 

“If you’re gonna do something, you bloody well better do it now,” Spike interrupted. 

 

That’s when Faith realized that the first wave of vamps were almost on them.

 

“Go, Xander,” Buffy said, her gaze steady on him.  “Find her and stay alive.  I won’t be able to deal if anything happens to either one of you.”

 

Xander smiled.  “Thinking the feeling’s mutual, Buff.”  He took off to the right, away from them and the onslaught that was quickly approaching. 

 

Faith noticed a couple of demons going directly after him.  Without thinking, she started running, flipping over the two that were almost on him.  She landed not a foot away.  She turned, stake in her hand, dusting them both.

 

More of the undead came after both Faith and Xander.  The almost well-timed vampire advance was ruined by a bloodlust only a vampire could know. 

 

Spike and Buffy fell into the familiar pattern of attack they had perfected so long ago, each of them staking demons so fast they could barely distinguish anything in the steady stream of dust that was flying. 

 

Faith glanced at them.  They seemed so natural together.  Where one was vulnerable, the other was there, ready to lend a hand.  They never even looked at each other.  It was like some sixth sense had developed in their slaying style.  Faith wondered how long she and Spike would need to be together to develop that type of rhythm.

 

Somewhere in the distance Faith heard The Master shout, “I want the Slayers alive.  The rest do not concern me.” 

 

That was all she needed to hear.  She dusted anything that moved, making sure to keep her eye on Xander the best she could.  Xander, for the record, wasn’t doing too badly himself.

 

Faith wasn’t sure who was the first to fall.  One minute there was a flurry of fighting, dodging, jumping and dusting.  The next she was being pinned to the ground by a group of vampires that had her face in the dirt.  Spike was being held, still standing, but barely.  She cringed when she saw all the damage that had been done to him.  One of his eyes was swollen shut, his upper lip was bleeding and it looked like they had broken one of his arms. 

 

So this is what happens when you’re outnumbered by souped up vamps.

 

As Faith struggled to get away, she glanced to her left and saw that Buffy was also pinned.  She wasn’t looking too good either.  She had a cut above her left eye and a gash on her cheek.  She was sporting the same split in her lip that Spike had.  Faith unconsciously licked her bottom lip and found the same thing; the taste of blood and dust was unmistakable. 

 

But where was Xander?  Faith looked around the best she could and didn’t see him anywhere.

 

“You will never learn,” The Master said. 

 

Faith looked up and saw him approaching Buffy. 

 

“Why do I feel like I keep repeating myself?” he asked, kicking Buffy in the head.  “If you would just do what you’re supposed to, we’d be done by now.  I told you they were my vessels.  You are no match for them.”

 

Faith grimaced when Buffy winced in pain, which lasted briefly before Buffy finally succumbed to it and passed out.

 

“Big tough fuck!” Faith yelled, struggling against her captors, her fury rising up inside her like a volcano ready to erupt.  “You’re so tough when you got a group of assholes following your every order.  Try taking us on yourself and see how long you last.”

 

“I would say it was unfortunate that we never got better acquainted, but I’d be lying,” said The Master, his attention turned to Faith.  He grabbed her up by the hair, ripping some of it out in the process. 

 

Faith was no longer on the ground, face in the dirt.  She was being suspended by her hair, face-to-face with the vampire.  Her arms now free, on autopilot, Faith scrabbled at The Master's birdlike fingers, trying to unravel her hair.  Faith thought she heard Spike yell something, but she couldn’t be sure.  The pain was too intense to focus on much of anything.

 

It changed so suddenly, Faith wasn’t sure what actually had happened, but she was no longer suspended by her hair.  The Master now had her by the neck.  Flashes of Kakistos flooded her mind.  For a moment, she panicked and couldn’t move.  Then she began thrashing again, desperate to get away from him as quickly as possible.

 

“Your time will come, Slayer.  You can count on it.”  And with that, The Master threw Faith roughly across the passageway into the farthest wall.  Her entire body went numb from the pain of the impact and she slid to the floor like a tossed away rag doll. 

 

Hey Xander, there you are, Faith thought as she fell against him.

 

XXXXX

 

Willow crept close enough to see what was happening, and the scene in front of her scared her more than anything had in a very long time.  She swallowed hard, trying not to lose her resolve.

 

She tried tapping into Spike’s head without success.  He was too out of it to acknowledge her.  The others, well, she didn’t even bother.  Telepathy didn’t work on the unconscious... or dead.

 

She didn’t need to strain to hear The Master.

 

“Take the Slayers and prepare them,” he shouted to his minions.  “You two, take the others and dispose of them.  The rest of you, follow me.”  He began walking the opposite way, towards the cavern they had first come in.

 

The Master didn’t know she was here.  For once Willow was glad she'd been overlooked.  She watched as a group of vamps hoisted both Buffy and Faith to their feet, neither one of them gaining consciousness, and dragged them towards the corridor down which The Master had just disappeared.

 

The vamps left behind with Xander and Spike began their task of disposal.  When The Master had spoken those words, a shudder had run through Willow’s body; now it was threatening to happen again. 

 

She was not going to let fear control her.

 

“I wouldn’t do that,” she said nervously, stepping out of the shadows.  “Those are my friends and I get mighty cranky when people try to mess with them.”

 

Xander and Spike forgotten, the two turned their attention to her. 

 

Willow smiled, her confidence slowly growing. 

 

“Life to Death

Death to Life

Ashes in Death

Now in Life.”

 

Before either vamp knew what had hit them, they were no more.

 

Willow ran to Xander, who was beginning to come to. 

 

“Anyone get the license plate of that truck?” he asked, rubbing the back of his head.

 

“Nope,” Willow said, going to her knees.  “But I don’t think it’ll be back.  Are you okay?  Can you stand?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him and helping him to his feet.  “Guess that answered my question.”  She smiled.

 

Xander staggered briefly.  “It's true,” he said, “this does get old.”

 

“Don’t worry about me.  I’m fine, really” Spike said, rising to his feet, unattended.  “I didn’t need to use both my arms anyway.”

 

“Sorry, Spike,” Willow said.  “Vampire and all.  Figured since you weren’t dust, you’d be fine.”  She walked over to him, taking her belt off in the process.  “Here, use this.”

 

“No problem, Red.  Give me a couple weeks.”  Spike moved his broken arm using the belt as a makeshift sling and wincing in the process.  “Scratch that, a couple months and I’ll be good as new.”  Spike glanced around, fear replacing the pained look on his face, his eyes shifting immediately back to Willow.

 

“The Master has them,” she said, answering the unasked question.  “Back in the main cavern.  I don’t know how much time we have.  We need to go now.”  Willow looked at Xander.  “You ready?”

 

“Let’s go,” Xander said and the three of them took off.

 

Willow, Xander and Spike slowed their approach as they got closer.  They had come this far; they didn’t want to take the chance of being caught now.

 

“Stay here,” Spike said as he quietly made his way to the opening of the cave, limping in the process.  Willow watched as he scanned the room quickly and came back to them.  “Big guy’s in his chair.  They fixed the cage; chains this time, both of them are there.”

 

“Are they okay?” Xander asked hopefully.

 

“Looks like it,” Spike said.  “They’re awake anyway.  Look a little beat up, besides that…”

 

Willow knew it was now or never.  Otherwise Spike or Xander would try to come up with something to save Buffy and Faith.  But there already was a plan; a plan that was hers and hers alone.  She needed her resolve face, now more than ever, she just hoped that neither one of them would give her a hard time.  She was on edge enough.  Add that to the fact that she wasn’t quite sure she could pull it off… 

 

“I’ll get them out,” Willow said.

 

Xander and Spike looked at her.  Xander looked shocked.  Spike looked intrigued.

 

“You will?” Spike said.

 

“Yes.  I have it figured out.  I’m going to use a, okay, a really big spell I have been researching, and I think I can pull it off.  If I do, neither one of you will need to do anything.  I actually thought about it awhile ago, before the big,” she indicated over her shoulder, “fight fest, except now I won’t need to worry about you two getting hurt.  You both need to stay here.”  She paused, catching her breath.  “This, come to think of it, works out much better - especially for you, Spike.”

 

“And why is that?” he asked.

 

“Cause if it works the way I think it will, you’d be dusted with the rest of them.”

 

“Will,” Xander began, “Are you sure?  You keep saying you ‘think’ it will work.  What if it doesn’t?”

 

Willow thought for a moment.  Confidence flowed through her.  She could do it; she knew she could do it.  Willow wasn’t sure where the knowledge that she would succeed came from, but she wasn’t going to question it. 

 

“I’m sure.  Stand back and watch,” she said, smiling and heading towards the main cavern.

 

Xander glanced nervously at Spike.

 

“Don’t look at me,” Spike said.  “She’s a bloody super witch.”  Spike turned to watch her.  “And I think she can do it,” he confirmed quietly.

 

XXXXX