Introduction
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| Dirty Girls | Touched |
There’s a traffic jam on Sunnydale’s main street. It’s crowded with cars with luggage and other things strapped to their roofs, or hauling trailers. Half the businesses are closed. Buffy walks against the tide of people leaving town.
“Hey, you.”
Buffy turns toward the voice that came from a red Volkswagen Beetle. It’s being driven by Clem. “Hey.”
Clem looks around at the traffic jam he’s stuck in. “Can you believe this mishegas?”
“Yeah. You’d think these people had never seen an apocalypse before,” says Buffy. “What about you? Just going for a quick spin to 7-11…in Nebraska?”
“It’s getting bad here,” says Clem. “Really bad. Hellmouth acting up again, people feeling it, getting crazier. You can’t swing a cat without hitting some kind of demonic activity. Not that I swing cats, or eat—nope. Heh. Cuttin’ way back. Cholesterol—morals. I mean, morals.”
“Right.” Buffy slowly walks along beside his car as the traffic crawls along the street.
“We’ve seen some bad stuff in this town before but, you know, this time, it’s like it just seems different, more powerful,” says Clem. “I don’t think anyone’s gonna be able to stop it.” He looks quickly up at Buffy. “I mean, I’m sure you’ll do fine. Complete confidence in you. Heh. Uh, if anyone can do it, you can, because you…rock!” He raises his hand with the index finger and pinkie raised. “If you save the world, I’ll come back, we’ll have drinks. When. When, I mean. When you save the world. It’s gonna be great with all the…rocking.” He makes the gesture again. “Maybe… Maybe you should just get out of town this time.”
“Yeah. I probably should,” says Buffy.
“You take care of yourself, okay?” He waves to Buffy as the traffic starts to move a little faster. “Bye.”
Clem’s Volkswagen moves away down the street, leaving Buffy alone, the only person not moving in the throng.
The traffic is nearly as bad in front of the police station. Giles and Willow talk to an officer by the front entrance. The cop hands them a thick folder. Giles thanks him for his help.
“Oh, no, thank you, Inspector,” says the cop. “We don’t get a lot of contact with Interpol, so we’re happy to help you with anything you need. Is there anything else we can help with?”
“No. Thank you,” says Willow. “We’re fine.”
The cop looks confused. “Right… Because—wait… Who are—who are you?”
“I’m with the Inspector,” says Willow.
The cop suddenly seems to remember her. “You’re with the Inspector. Right. Well, we don’t get a lot of contact with Interpol, so—”
Another couple of cops drag a man past them. He’s raving. “A single step! A single step, and it is upon us! It is nigh! From beneath you it—”
“Freakin’ nutcase,” says one of the cops dragging him. They pull him into the station. Willow and Giles can hear the man being hit.
“Ow,” says Willow.
“Uh, people are acting up, getting nuts,” says the cop. “Man, you just let us know if you need help with your guy ’cause we are itching to hand out some justice.”
“He—he doesn’t seem like much of a threat,” says Willow.
The cop looks confused again. “And—and you are?”
“Um, I think it’s time we were catching our flight to, um…Interpol,” says Giles. He and Willow move quickly away.
“Right,” says the cop. “Okay.”
Willow and Giles cross the street. “Good idea,” says Willow. “My control was fading. What’s up with those cops?”
“Oh, same as everyone,” says Giles. “The Hellmouth is active again.”
“Come on,” says Willow. “I want to get back to Xander.”
The two cops come back out of the station. They look at the departing Willow and Giles. “Who was that?” asks one of them.
“Um, I— I don’t know,” says the cop who had given them the folder.
The third cop shows him a piece of paper. “Did you get one of these yet?”
“No. What is that?”
“Fugitive,” says the cop. “Ran to ground right here in our own backyard.”
“Yeah? Sounds like a situation that needs some justice.”
“…and that you should expect to see some bruising when you remove the bandages. Bruising around the…area.” Buffy is standing in Xander’s hospital room, talking uncomfortably, and not getting too close to his bed. “The, uh, bone structure and musculature was hit pretty hard.”
Xander nods. “Okay.” He’s sitting up in his bed, bandages over where his left eye had been. Willow sits on his bed, holding his hand.
“Um, also they said that the—the meds may cause you some stomach discomfort, so we’re gonna have to be careful with your diet,” says Buffy.
“I can’t taste anything right now anyway.” Xander tries a half hearted joke. “I keep waiting for my other senses to improve 50%. Yeah, they should kick in any day now.” Willow smiles weakly.
“Well, we’re looking at a possible release as early as tonight,” says Buffy. “Um, we’re just waiting for your labs to get back, and Dr. Kallet said that should be a couple of hours.”
Xander nods. “That’s great.”
Buffy stands awkwardly for a moment. “Okay. Um, I think we’re all caught up then.” She picks up the folder of information that Willow and Giles got from the police off the bedside table. “Thank you for this,” she tells Willow. “This was, um, really great work.” She starts to leave.
Willow is surprised that Buffy’s going so soon. “Oh. I thought we were gonna… There were gonna be card games.”
“Oh, no, I just— I should really get back,” says Buffy. “I want to get everyone started on this. I think we’re really close to something.”
“It’s okay. It’s gotta be done,” says Xander. “And I might see you tonight, without depth perception, of course, but… still.”
Buffy leaves after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “So, I guess you’re stuck with me then, huh?” asks Willow. “Let’s order some cherry-flavored off-brand gelatin, and then I think we’ll be up for a rousing game of—”
“I might need a parrot,” says Xander.
“Huh?”
“Well, to go with the eye patch, to really complete the look,” says Xander. “I think I still have that costume from Halloween.”
Willow tries to go along with his joke. “Yeah, and don’t underestimate the impact of a peg leg. Maybe the hospital can hook you up with a nice one. Maybe they have a two-body-parts for the price of one kind of deal.”
“Oh, you know what the best part is? No one will ever make me watch Jaws 3-D again,” says Xander.
“Yeah, and, you’ll never have to…” Willow can’t do it. She squeezes Xander’s hand harder as she struggles not to start crying.
“Oh, Willow…” Xander shakes his head. “Please don’t.” He knows he won’t be able to hold himself together if she loses it. They sit together, both trying to hold back their tears.
Anya has a thick pile of note cards in her hands. She’s in Buffy’s basement, telling the Potentials what she’s learned from her sources. “…and so we know that a battle is coming. Ubervamps galore. We also know that the ubervamps are hard to kill…”
Andrew is beside her, taking notes on an easel. “Hard…to…kill,” he mutters as he writes it down.
“…but I have been out talking to some of my old contacts, and they’ve provided some surprising bits of news,” says Anya. “Yay for them!” No one seems to be as thrilled as Anya’s pretending to be.
“Uh…okay.” Anya looks at her note cards. “For example, ubervamps can be staked…right through the heart. Zing—poof. Just like regular vamps.”
Andrew makes note on the easel. He misspells it ‘steak’ and crosses it out and tries again. He draws a picture of an ubervamp, with a red arrow pointing at its chest.
“Um…we didn’t know this,” says Anya. “Of course, these guys have incredibly strong sternums, so it’s a lot like driving a wood stake through solid steel. But you guys are all super-strong, right?”
“Um…no,” says Kennedy.
“Right,” says Anya. “Okay. Um…but still, heart information, still good to know since holy water seems to run off these guys like they’ve been scotch-guarded.1 And, well, sunlight would work, but guess what— they’re not coming out during the daytime.” Andrew flips to a new page, and draws a sun. “Uh, also, beware of their, uh, teeth and the claws they use to shred flesh,” says Anya.
“Okay, you know what?” asks Rona. Her arm is in a sling. “I used to be really afraid of these ubervamp guys. But then the scary preacher blew into town, and now I’m mostly terrified of him.”
“Right, well, um…we’re working on getting info on that guy,” says Anya.
“Why bother?” asks Amanda. “Nothing works. Nothing will.”
Anya shuffles her cards nervously. “Okay… I know you’re all upset…and I, myself, would much rather be sitting at the bedside of my one-eyed ex-fiance than killing time here with you people in this over-crowded and might I add increasingly ripe-smelling basement. And I would be, too, if not for a certain awkward discussion he and I recently had right over there on that cot immediately following some exciting and unexpected breakup sex.”
The girls who were sitting on Spike’s cot all get up off it, and look for somewhere else to sit. Andrew dutifully adds ‘Breakup sex’ to the notes he’s still taking.
“But…I need to give him some space,” says Anya, “so I’m doing what I can do, contributing any way I can… And so will all of you. You still need to know this information. We can’t stop just because something else is trying to kill you, too.”
Faith sits on the kitchen island, eating some chips out of the bag, and looking out the window. Kennedy comes out the basement door behind her. “You got enough to share?”
Faith doesn’t look around at her. “Trade ya for a carton of cigarettes and some soap.” She pauses for a moment. “Sorry. Habit.” She hands the bag to Kennedy as she comes around the island. “Shouldn’t you be down at Hogwarts?”
Kennedy takes a handful of chips. “Probably.” She hands the bag back to Faith and leans against the counter by the sink.
“All right. Playin’ hooky.” Faith smiles. “Score one for the boarding school brat. Anya’s technique’s probably a little different than what you’re used to.”
Amanda has followed Kennedy out of the basement. “Do you think there are gonna be questions about her sex life on the test? ’Cause I really hope I don’t have to study all that.”
Faith laughs. “Yeah. Whenever she starts talking about getting all sweaty with Xander like that I just remind her I had him first. Shuts her right the hell up.”
“Thing is, what’s the point?” asks Kennedy. “Studying demon hot zones and pressure points doesn’t do a hell of a lot of good when preacher man’s out there, ready to finish the job he started.”
“No one’s come up with any info on Caleb yet?” asks Faith.
“No,” says Amanda. “Nothing is working. Not research, not Anya’s contacts.”
“We’re lousy with dead ends around here,” says Kennedy. “Everyone’s feeling pretty pointless. We don’t even have a place to start.”
They hear the front door open. “Hey, who’s here?” calls Buffy.
Dawn comes down the stairs and follows Buffy into the dining room. “Hey, Buffy, how’s Xander?”
Buffy really doesn’t want to talk about it. She lays her jacket across the back of one of the dining room chairs. “He’s…doing really well. He’s ready to come home, I think.”
Faith leads Kennedy and Amanda out of the kitchen. She sees the folder Buffy’s opening on the table. “Whatcha got?”
Buffy is glad to have the distraction. “Info that Giles and Willow were able to pull off the police database. We figured with Caleb’s, you know, overt religiosity thing if we wanna learn more about him, let’s find out where he’s been.” She starts handing out papers from the folder to Faith, Kennedy and Amanda.
Faith looks at the pages Buffy has handed her. “‘Incidents of violence and vandalism connected to California religious institutions in the last ten years.’” She looks at Kennedy. “Looks like this gives us a place to start.”
“Yeah. I figure we start with California,” says Buffy. “We don’t find anything there, we’ll expand the search. But a guy like Caleb didn’t just get in the game. He’s been playing for a while, and I wanna know where. Whatever it takes. You good to help?” she asks Dawn.
“Well, I was gonna do lots and lots of homework, but darn the luck, they went and canceled school, so looks like I got the time.” Dawn takes some of the pages for herself and sits at the table.
Buffy sits down too. “Good.”
“Hey, Buffy…how was Xander’s mood, you know, exactly?” asks Dawn. Buffy is trying to concentrate on the papers she’s got, trying to ignore her sister’s questions. “And did you get a chance to talk to the doctor about the meds? Because it seemed like—”
Faith sees that Buffy really doesn’t want to talk about Xander now. “Hey, Pipsqueak,” she tells Dawn, “why don’t you go get some of the stuff you’ve already gotten from Giles?”
“Or, um, we can talk about this later, maybe,” says Dawn.
Buffy doesn’t even look up at her. “Okay.”
“Yeah.” Dawn gets up from the table. “I’ll be right back.” Faith takes over her seat at the table after she’s gone.
“Try to find anything that looks like Caleb.” Buffy tells the others. “His church, his ring…”
“His ability to render a Slayer useless in just one punch,” says Kennedy. Buffy looks up at her. “I didn’t— That was stupid. I don’t know why I said that.”
“Uh, it’s okay.” Buffy gets up from the table. “Um…you know, I—I have to go to the school to pick up the rest of my stuff.” She grabs her jacket.
Kennedy stands up too. “I really didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine. Really, it’s fine,” says Buffy. “Don’t worry about it. Hey, uh…isn’t Anya doing that thing for you guys today?”
“Yeah. We were,” says Kennedy. “We probably should head down there now.”
“Okay. I’ll be back soon.” Buffy tells them. Kennedy and Amanda move back toward the basement. “See that everyone else gets started on this.” Buffy tells Faith, and heads for the door.
“Yeah.” Faith reaches for the stack of papers that Buffy left, and starts looking through them.
Buffy enters the school. The corridors are empty of students. There are scraps of paper littering the floors. Half the lockers are hanging open. She makes her way to the office.
Buffy sits at her desk. She picks up the photo of her with Xander and Willow that’s sitting on it, taken during happier times, her first year in Sunnydale. She runs her fingers across the picture, and her eyes well with tears.
“Oh, now, look.” Buffy looks up and sees Caleb standing in front of her desk. “Things don’t go exactly your way, so here come the waterworks.” He shakes his head. “Ain’t that just like a woman?”
Caleb smiles down at Buffy. She jumps to her feet. “Get out of here!”
“Now, now, little girl. Manners.” Caleb wanders around the office, looking things over as he talks. “I do imagine that firebrand tongue of yours has inflamed many a man, weak as they are. This here’s a, uh…Public School, ain’t it? Kinda deserted. Only just, I suppose. Folks work so hard keepin’ the Lord out, and look what happens in return. He abandons you. Not that he could do you much good now, anyway—” Caleb sees that Buffy has been inching her hand toward a drawer in the cabinet behind her. “Ah, ah, ah. Wouldn’t do that were I you, Swee’pea. Fightin’ back didn’t do you much good last time, did it?”
Caleb slowly moves toward her. “And how is poor, sweet Xander? Let him know he’s in my prayers, and any time he’s willin’, I’m ready to…” Caleb pokes his thumb at his right eye. “…pt pt pt…finish the job.”
“Go near Xander again, and I will end you,” snarls Buffy.
Caleb throws Buffy’s desk aside effortlessly, and steps toward her. “Mind your manners. I do believe I did warn you once. You’re angry…frustrated, scared.” He stops barely a foot in front of her. “I like that in a girl. You really should relax a little. Look at where you are. History’s gonna look back at you, at me, at this place, and they’re gonna see the glory. Great things are happenin’ now, right here. This school, the seal… It’s all gonna be a part of the great sweepin’ tide of change, and you’re gonna be a part of it. Now, why would you wanna miss that? More importantly, why would you want to get in its way?”
“I guess I’m just ornery.” Buffy punches him with all her strength.
Caleb staggers back a bit, but he stays on his feet. He straightens up, rubbing his jaw, and laughing. “Oh, I knew you’d be a wild one—”
Buffy kicks at Caleb, but he catches her leg, and elbows her in the head. Buffy falls to the floor. She tries to kick his feet out from under him, but he hops away.
Caleb bends down and grabs Buffy by the throat with both hands. He picks her up. Buffy dangles in his arms, trying to break his grip on her. “I’m gonna take such sweet pleasure in taming you.” Caleb throws her through the window.
Buffy sails across the hall, and hits the wall on the other side of it, making a deep dent in it. She falls to the floor in a shower of glass from the window. She doesn’t move.
Caleb comes out the office door. He looks down at Buffy lying on the floor. “I’ll see you soon, Little Lady.” He walks away down the hall.
Dawn brings a file into the kitchen to show Giles what she’s found. “Okay, well, here’s the one that stood out. It’s a mission up north in Gilroy.”
Andrew comes in from the dining room. “Um, Mr. Giles, Faith stole the last meatball-and-mozzarella-flavoured hot pocket out of the freezer even though I had called dibs on it.”
Giles ignores Andrew and looks at the file Dawn has given her. “I don’t see anything.”
“Exactly,” says Dawn. “No vandalism at all.”
“Then why is it in the file?” asks Giles.
“The place was abandoned,” says Dawn. “Um…locals started noticing after a few days that no one was going in or out. Six members of the order lived there, but when the cops showed up: all gone. Unsolved.”
Andrew opens the freezer and pulls out an empty box. “Yup. See, the post-it’s still here.” He points to the post-it on the front of the box. “‘Andrew’s. Please do not eat.’ But the box is empty now.” He shakes it.
Dawn and Giles keep ignoring him. Giles has been looking at the photos included in the file. “Oh.”
“Oh?” asks Dawn. “Oh, good?”
“Not sure. Here…” Giles heads for the living room. Dawn picks up the rest of the file and follows him. The living room is full of Potentials, just sitting around, looking dispirited. Giles gets a magnifying glass out of the desk drawer and starts to examine the photo more closely.
Andrew follows them from the kitchen. “See, it’s not the hot pocket itself—even though it did have that new-and-improved thicker tomato sauce—it’s just the fundamental lack of respect.”
“Shut up. Pay attention.” Giles hands the magnifying glass and photo to Dawn. “Dawn, what do you see?”
Dawn starts to examine the photo. “What am I looking for?”
“On the back wall,” says Giles, “a… knothole.”
Dawn finds the mark Giles means. It’s the same pattern as the brand left by Caleb’s ring. “That’s not a knothole.”
Giles looks up at the girls. “Amanda, would you go down to the basement and get Spike?” Amanda gets up to do as she was told.
“Maybe this’ll help.” Dawn hands the photo and magnifying glass back to Giles. “If this does bring us closer to Caleb.”
Faith comes in. “Sounded like there was news.” Andrew glares at her as she stuffs the last remains of his hot pocket into her mouth.
Spike comes back with Amanda. “What’s up… Rupert?”
Giles takes the photo and glass back from Dawn. “Spike, I have a mission for you.”
Spike isn’t thrilled. “Oh, really? ’Cause, you know, sometimes our missions end up with you trying to kill me. I’m not fond of those.”
“This is bona fide,” says Giles. “With real ramifications. Take a look at this.” He hands Spike the photo and the magnifying glass.
Spike finds the mark. “Looks like our boy’s been here. You want me to go check it out?”
“I need someone who can take care of themselves in case Caleb has…left some souvenirs,” says Giles. Spike gives him a bit of a look, and then goes to get his duster.
“Are we gonna get to the food-stealing issue soon?” asks Andrew.
“Take Andrew,” says Giles.
“What?” ask Andrew and Spike together.
Dawn glares at Andrew. “Well, you are always saying you wanna get out of the house more.”
“Yeah, but—”
“There may be demons…lurking about,” says Giles. “You never know. He’s a demon expert. He can help.”
“Oh, please,” says Spike.
“Well, he can bring his pan flute thing along.” Giles grabs Andrew by the scruff of his neck and propels him toward the door. “Excellent. Off you go.”
Dawn turns to Amanda. “So, see? That’s something, right? We’ll have some news soon.”
“Sure,” says Amanda. “Maybe that’ll get us somewhere.” She does not sound encouraged.
“Maybe,” says Faith. “In the meantime, the troops here gotta sit and stew, feeling crappier by the minute.”
“We should keep them occupied,” Dawn tells Giles.
“Yeah.” Faith smiles. “I know how to keep them occupied.”
It’s party time at the Bronze. There’s a live band playing on stage. Faith dances in the center of a cluster of guys. A bunch of the girls are clustered around one of the pool tables. Dawn and Kennedy are dancing together on another part of the floor.
“What kind of band plays during an apocalypse?” asks Kennedy.
Dawn laughs. “I think this band might actually be one of the signs.”2 They keep dancing.
Buffy comes in the front door. She limps toward the living room. “Hey. Guys, how’s it…” She notices that the living room is empty. “…going?”
Giles is sipping a cup of tea in the dining room. “Buffy.” She turns toward him. He notices her limp. “Are you hurt?”
Buffy limps toward the dining room. “Oh… Caleb came back looking for seconds.”
“My god, is he—”
“Still able to make me see cartoon birdies all around my head?” asks Buffy. “You betcha. The short lack of consciousness was nice. I feel rested.” She sits down at the table, and looks at the folders and notes he has scattered over it. “So…how did those police files work out? Were they helpful?”
“Uh…Uh… Yes.” Giles sits down at the other end of the table and consults his notes. “Very much so, I think. Um…there’s evidence that Caleb may have established a foothold up north.”
“That’s great,” says Buffy. “That’s—”
“I, um… I sent Spike to look into it.” Giles picks up his tea and sips it.
“Spike.” Buffy doesn’t like the sound of that. “Is this a mission from which you intend Spike to return alive?”
“Yes.” Giles puts his tea back down. “I sent Andrew with him.”
“Again I ask the question.”
“Buffy, you weren’t here.” Giles takes off his glasses. “Decisions have to be made in your absence.”
“Yeah, well, those are the ones that have been scaring me,” says Buffy.
“I did what I thought was right.”
“You sent away the one person that’s been watching my back,” says Buffy. “Again.”
“We’re all watching your back,” says Giles.
“Funny, that’s not really what it feels like.”
“Buffy—”
Buffy gets up from the table. “Where did everybody go?”
“What?”
“Faith. The girls,” says Buffy. “Where are they?”
“Um…Faith thought that the girls could do with some time off their studies,” says Giles. “I—I thought… She took them to the Bronze.”
Buffy rolls her eyes, and shakes her head. She goes out the door.
Caleb enters the cellar of the winery. “You know what I figured out tonight? Every high school in this country, from one end to the other, smells exactly alike. Now, why do you suppose that is?”
The First, still looking like Buffy, steps out of the shadows. “And how was our best girl?”
“They always think they should put up a fight,” says Caleb.
“Did you lay the proper groundwork?”
“That I did,” says Caleb. “Reckon she got the message, even if she doesn’t know it yet. So now the big strong Slayer goes back to those girls… She’s just so ready to walk them right into it. And all we have to do is give her that one final gentle…” He reaches out his hand toward the First’s chest. “…nudge.” His hand passes right through her.
“Excellent,” says the First.
A bunch of the Potentials are gathered around the pool tables in the Bronze. Half of them have beers, and the rest of them have something else to drink. Faith returns to the beer she left on a table. She takes a sip from her glass.
Amanda is sitting at the table too. “This is so cool. Buffy would never let us do this.” She looks around the club. “You are so cool.” She pats Faith on the knee. “This woman is so cool!” she tells some strangers walking by.
Faith looks at the drink in Amanda’s hand. “Hey, hey, how old are you?”
“Seventeen,” says Amanda.
Faith takes the drink away from her. “Yeah, we’re gonna get you a real nice 7-Up, okay?” She heads back to the dance floor, sipping on Amanda’s drink.
Faith starts to dance with a guy. He stops dancing when he sees a group of cops coming toward them. Faith turns around to see what’s made him stop. She looks at the cops. “Hey, I was wondering what was taking you boys so long. Where you been?”
“We’re gonna have to ask you to come with us, miss,” says a cop. “Outstanding warrants.”
“Yeah, or we could try this one on instead.” Faith hands him her drink. “How ’bout you guys buy me another drink, and we see where the evening takes us.”
Another couple of cops show up behind Faith. They grab her arms and pin them behind her back. The remaining cops pull their guns.
Dawn sees this going down, and starts toward them. “Hey!”
“What’s going on?” asks Kennedy.
Faith lets the cops drag her toward the door. “It’s cool. I got it. It’s nothin’. Get—” She elbows one of the cops holding her arm away. “Get off me.”
Four of the cops drag Faith out of the Bronze. One remains behind with a shotgun. He stands guard on the door to keep anyone else from going outside.
“I tell you right now…” Faith breaks loose from their hold on her. “…I’m not goin’ back to jail.” She turns back toward the door. She sees the cop who stayed inside pull it closed in front of her.
Faith hears several guns being cocked. “Who said anything about jail?” asks a cop. She turns around and sees that they all have their guns drawn, and aimed at her.
Faith grabs the wrists of two of the cops, and kicks the guns out of the hands of the other two. She quickly disarms the cops she’s holding. She kicks one of them away onto the hood of their patrol car, and punches another cop to the ground. One of the cops still on his feet moves in and punches her. She falls to the ground.
“Stay back,” says the cop guarding the door of the Bronze. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Dawn steps toward him, backed up by a bunch of Potentials. “You can’t keep us in here.”
“It’ll be over before you know it,” says the cop.
The cops have Faith down on the ground. They beat on her with their nightsticks. She kicks the legs out from under one of them, and flips back to her feet. She knocks the others away from her.
“Trust me,” says the cop on the door. “The best thing you can do is wait here.”
“Don’t listen to him. He won’t hurt us.” Dawn turns away. “I’m just gonna go borrow the phone.” She starts to walk away.
The cop pumps a round into the chamber of his shotgun, and fires into the ceiling. Everyone ducks. A lamp comes crashing down and explodes in the middle of the dance floor. “Best thing you can do is wait…here.”
Faith has one of the cops down on the ground. She bashes his head against the asphalt, and punches him over and over. Two of the other cops grab her and pull her off him.
Kennedy steps up to the cop on the door. “You’re gonna have to shoot us all to stop us.”
“It doesn’t really bother me,” says the cop.
“These cops are really getting Hellmouthed,” says Rona.
“Back up!” says the cop.
“No!” says Amanda.
The cop can’t believe these girls aren’t backing down. “What?”
Kennedy grabs the barrel of the shotgun and twists it out of his hands. She hits him in the face with the butt of it. The cop knocks the gun out of Kennedy’s hands, just before Amanda whacks him with a pool cue. Chao-Ahn and Amanda kick him away from the door, and Dawn jumps onto his back.
While Dawn and Chao-Ahn pile on the cop inside the Bronze Kennedy, Amanda, Rona and the others run out the door and join in the fight between Faith and the other cops. The cops are quickly overwhelmed, with two or three girls attacking each of them. Amanda throws one of them into a pile of crates, and Kennedy takes the nightstick away from another and starts to beat him with it.
Faith takes out the last cop standing by bashing his head against the wall. He slumps to the ground.
“Faith!” Buffy comes running toward them. “What are you doing?”
Faith rubs her shoulder. “Just blowing off steam. Well, it started that way. Turned all When Cops Go Evil on us.”
Buffy looks around. “Girls, go home. I need to talk to Faith for a minute.”
Dawn and the others have come out of the Bronze too. “Buffy, we weren’t—”
“Dawn! you, too,” says Buffy. “Go.”
Dawn and the girls all sullenly walk away, their fun evening ruined. Buffy turns back to Faith. “What is this?”
“They needed a break, all right?” says Faith. “They’ve been running themselves into the ground. Things just got out of hand.”
“Taking a break is one thing,” says Buffy. “I get blowing off steam. But they were fighting. And those girls were drunk! What were you thinking?”
“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” says Faith
“What if someone had gotten hurt?”
“They didn’t.”
“Faith, I need to know that these girls are gonna be safe when I’m not around.”
“No one got hurt,” says Faith. “You don’t even know these girls. Maybe you should have a little more confidence in them, let them mess up sometimes, you know, get down and dirty. How the hell else are they gonna learn?”
“Learning from your mistakes is one thing,” says Buffy. “But you don’t throw children into—”
“They’re not children,” says Faith.
“That really isn’t the point.” Buffy turns and starts to walk away.
“Yeah, what about the vineyard?” asks Faith.
Buffy turns around. “What?”
“How safe were they when you dragged them off to meet Caleb?” asks Faith. “How safe was Rona or Amanda or Molly?”
Buffy belts her. Faith falls to the ground. She kneels on the ground, rubbing her cheek. She watches Buffy walk away.
Spike drives his motorcycle down the highway, with Andrew riding behind him. Andrew is wearing the football helmet Spike stole for Dawn.
“You sure you don’t wanna stop and pick up some burgers or something?” shouts Andrew over the engine and wind noise. “You know, road trip food?”
“It’s not a road trip,” says Spike. “It’s a covert operation.”
“Right. Right. Gotcha,” says Andrew. “I—I bet even covert operatives eat curly fries. They’re really good.”
Spike doesn’t say anything for a while. “Not as good as those onion blossom things.”
“Ooh, I love those,” says Andrew.
“Yeah, me, too.”
“It’s an onion…and it’s a flower. I—I don’t understand how such a thing is possible.”
“See, the genius of it is you soak it in ice water for an hour so it holds its shape,” says Spike. “Then you deep-fry it root-side up for about five minutes.”
“Masterful!” says Andrew.
“Yeah,” says Spike. He pauses for a moment. “Tell anyone we had this conversation, I’ll bite you.”
“Right,” says Andrew.
Faith sits on the front porch railing, leaning against the post beside the steps, and smoking a cigarette. She watches Robin Wood come up the walk toward her.
Wood comes up the steps. “The big meeting hasn’t started yet, has it?”
“God, I hope so,” says Faith.
Wood looks at her. “Faith?”
“You must be Principal Wood,” says Faith. “Heard a lot about you.”
“It hasn’t really started yet, has it?” asks Wood. “’Cause I, uh… I hate being late.”
“Troops are still gathering,” says Faith. “I think you’re safe.”
Wood has been giving Faith a good look. “Looks like someone banged you up pretty well.”
“Yeah,” says Faith. “Cops. Mostly.”
“Mostly?”
“Yeah.” Faith points to a large bruise on her cheek. “This one’s from someone who just thinks she’s a cop. It’s my favourite of all my current bruises.”
Wood sits down in one of the chairs on the porch. “So someone who thinks she’s a cop, huh? You gonna have to, like…ice her now or something like that?”
“I’m not gonna kill her. Wanted to, but didn’t,” says Faith. “By the way, bully for me since no one else said it.”
“For what, for not killing Buffy?” asks Wood.
“It’s this new thing I’m tryin’.”
“She told me about you.”
“Believe every word.”
“So what changed?” asks Wood. “I mean… Why didn’t you fight back?”
“Other things matter more,” says Faith
“I think you’re worried about her.”
Faith smiles. “I think you need to brush up on your Buffy and Faith history.”
Wood chuckles. “All right, if you say so. But I read people pretty well. It’s a thing I do.”
Faith looks the way that Wood came from. She gets up off the railing. “You, uh, live around here, right?”
“Uh, no, not exact— Well, it’s the center of town, really,” says Wood.
Faith steps up close to him. “This town, walking anywhere after dark is like an extreme sport. Someone who didn’t know you very well might think you were out lookin’ for a fight or something. Maybe you got bigger issues than what’s wrong with B.” She sees the look Wood is giving her. “I read people, too.”
The front porch is momentarily illuminated by headlights, and Faith hears a car pull to stop. She looks toward the street. “Xander’s home.”
Spike and Andrew cautiously enter the old mission. The corridors are illuminated by candle light.
“No one’s here,” says Andrew. “These kinda places make me feel funny inside.”
“I’ll buy that,” says Spike. “You and me got something else in common after all.” They move carefully down the hall.
A black robed figure bursts from the shadows, and tackles Andrew. Spike grabs him and whips him against the wall, and he falls to the floor. Spike grabs the hood of his robe, and pulls it aside, expecting to see the face of a Bringer, but it’s a man, a priest. Caleb’s mark is branded onto his cheek.
Willow and Anya help Xander through the front door of the house, one of them holding each of his elbows. They take him toward the living room. He sees nearly everyone is there waiting for him, Potentials perched on every surface, except the big comfy chair which as been left open for him. He sees the “WELCOME HOME” sign hung across the wall above the fireplace.
“Oh, god,” says Xander.
“We didn’t have time to do more,” says Kennedy. “You have to pretend there’s a big party here.”
Dawn runs to Xander and hugs him.
“That’s fine,” says Xander. Dawn leads him to the chair, and sits down on its arm beside him. “Parties in this house, I usually end up having to…rebuild something.”
Buffy comes down from upstairs, and stands in the doorway. “Welcome home, Xander. I wanted you to be here for this. I think you’ll be interested in what I found out.”
Willow’s surprised. She hasn’t heard about any new information. “What did you find out?”
“It’s about the cellar,” says Buffy. “Look, I know that night wasn’t fun for any of us… but I figured out some things about that place, and I realize now what we have to do.” Everyone looks at her. “We’re going back in.”
Spike kneels down in front of the priest, and points to his cheek. “Tell me about the mark.”
The priest covers the brand on his cheek with his hand, and cowers away from Spike.
“Hey!” says Spike. “Are you part of Caleb’s faction?”
“No!” The priest pulls his hand away and shakes his head. “No!”
Spike’s voice gentles. “Then tell me what happened.”
“I c-can’t,” says the priest.
Andrew squats down beside Spike. “‘Can’t’ is a four letter word!” His voice goes cold. “I’m Andrew. I’ll be your bad cop this evening. You don’t start singing, my associate here—”
Spike cuts him off. Andrew glares a bit as he stands up. “We’re trying to fight him,” says Spike. “Caleb. We need your help.”
“You can’t fight him,” says the priest. “You can’t stop him. You can only run.”
Andrew squats down again. “‘Run’…is a four letter word— A three letter word.”
“Talk.” Spike stands up and looks down at the priest.
“I’ll do better,” says the priest. “I’ll show you.”
Spike looks at the priest for a moment, and then extends his hand. The priest takes it and Spike pulls him to his feet.
The priest takes a candelabrum off a nearby table, and leads Spike and Andrew down the hall. “One night, some time ago, a man arrived at our doors.”
“And you said, ‘come in, do some damage’?” asks Spike.
“We are—we are a benevolent order,” says the priest, “and, yes, we welcomed him. We offered to feed him, but he had come for something else.” He presses on a statue of a praying woman. A hidden doorway opens. “Behind this, he revealed something even we didn’t know was here. A secret room. He was excited, talking the whole time…destiny, that sort of thing.”
“Yeah. We hear he’s a real smooth talker,” says Spike.
The priest goes to a tapestry hanging on the wall. “He was going on about this ancient inscription.” He pulls down the tapestry, revealing a stone with Greek letters carved in it.
“Neat,” says Andrew.
The priest turns back toward them. “He read it…and he didn’t like what it said. His temper… He was the purest evil I’ve ever seen. He burned his mark upon me, and then I ran, and I hid…and I listened to the others die.” He looks down in shame.
“Running away…saved your life,” says Andrew gently. He looks at Spike, who has taken the candelabrum, and is examining the inscription. “What does it say?”
Spike translates the inscription. “‘It is not for thee. It is for her alone to wield.’”
Everyone is stunned by Buffy’s announcement. “Look, I know what you’re thinking,” she says, “but I had a visit at the school today from Caleb.”
Dawn is worried by that. “Buffy, why didn’t you—”
“I’m fine,” says Buffy. “I mean, it wasn’t fun, but I’m fine. I’m better than fine. I—I figured something out. He kept making all this noise about the school.”
“Is it that seal again?” asks Wood.
“Do we need to try shutting it again?” asks Willow.
“No, that’s just it,” says Buffy. “We’ve spent all this time worrying about the seal and the hellmouth. Why isn’t Caleb guarding them? Why doesn’t he have someone there protecting it? Why is he camped out at the vineyard? The bad guys always go where the power is, so if the seal was so important to Caleb and the First, they would be there right now. They’re protecting the vineyard or something at the vineyard. I say it’s their power, and I say it’s time we go in and take it away from them.”
No one likes the sound of that. They all shift around uncomfortably waiting for someone to raise an objection. It’s Faith who speaks what they’re all thinking. “Or, in the alternative, how ’bout… We don’t? I mean, it’s a neat theory, B, but I’m not going back in that place, not without proof, and neither should you and neither should they.”
“I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy,” says Buffy.
“I think Faith had the floor,” says Wood. Buffy glares at him.
“Maybe it ends okay the way you wanna play it, but maybe it doesn’t,” says Faith. “And right now, I don’t think I want you playin’ the odds.”
“Did you come here to fight?” asks Buffy.
“Listen, we’re fighters, all of us,” says Faith, “but you gotta give me something to fight, something real, not—”
“Windmills,” says Giles.
Buffy turns to him. “There is something there.”
“Maybe. But we can’t be sure of that,” says Giles. “This is a hell of a lot to ask.”
“Too much,” says Wood.
Buffy looks around at everyone. “I—I don’t understand this. For seven years, I’ve kept us safe by doing this— exactly this, making the hard decisions. And now, what— suddenly you’re all acting like you can’t trust me?”
“Didn’t you say to me today you can’t trust us?” asks Giles. “Maybe there’s something there that should be addressed.”
“Is that why you sent Spike away?” asks Buffy. “To ambush me?”
“Oh, come on.”
“You know what?” asks Rona. “I am sick of your deal with this Spike guy. This isn’t about him. This is about you. You’re being reckless.”
“What?”
“You are!” says Rona. “I don’t even know you, and I can tell! You are so obsessed with beating Caleb, you are willing to jump into any plan without thinking.”
“That’s not what I’m doing,” says Buffy.
Kennedy steps toward Buffy. “Well, that’s how it feel to us. People are dying.”
Willow tries to restrain her. “Kennedy…”
Kennedy turns back to Willow. “Why are you always standing up for her?”
“I’m not,” says Willow.
Buffy is stunned. “What do you mean, you’re not?”
Willow has trouble looking Buffy in the eyes. “With everything that’s happened, I— I’m worried about your judgment.”
Buffy looks around the room again. She can see everyone is agreeing with Willow. “Look, I wish this could be a democracy. I really do. Democracies don’t win battles. It’s a hard truth, but there has to be a single voice. You need someone to issue orders and be reckless sometimes and not take your feelings into account. You need someone to lead you.”
“And it’s automatically you,” says Anya. “You really do think you’re better than we are.”
“No, I—”
“But we don’t know. We don’t know if you’re actually better,” says Anya. “I mean, you came into the world with certain advantages, sure. I mean, that’s the legacy. But you didn’t earn it. You didn’t work for it. You’ve never had anybody come up to you and say you deserve these things more than anyone else. They were just handed to you. So that doesn’t make you better than us. It makes you luckier than us.”
“I’ve gotten us this far,” says Buffy.
“But not without a price,” says Xander.
Buffy looks toward him. “Xander—”
“I’m trying to see your point here, Buff,” says Xander, “but I guess it must be a little bit to my left, ’cause I just don’t.”
“Look, I’m willing to talk strategy, okay,” says Buffy. “I’ll hear suggestions on how to break this down, but this is the plan. We have to be together on this or we will fail again.”
“We are clearly demonstrating that we are not together on this!” says Giles.
“Which is why you have to fall in line!” says Buffy. “I’m still in charge here!”
“And why is that, exactly?” asks Rona.
“Because I’m the Slayer.”
“And isn’t Faith a Slayer, too?” asks Rona.
Faith doesn’t like the turn this conversation has just taken. “What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. So not what I meant. I’m not in charge chick. I think B here just needs to…chill out for a little bit, take a siesta or something. But I’m not the one you want.”
“Maybe we need a vote,” says Kennedy. “To see who wants Faith to have a turn in charge.”
“No,” says Buffy.
“No, what?” asks Kennedy.
“No. You don’t get to vote until I’ve had my chance to pal around, you know, get everybody drunk,” says Buffy. “See, I didn’t get this was a popularity contest. I should have equal time to bake them cookies, braid their hair.”
“Learn their names,” says Faith.
Buffy laughs bitterly. “You’re just lovin’ this, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea what I’m feeling,” says Faith.
“Come in here. Take everything that I have,” says Buffy. “You did it before. Did you tell them that? Did you tell them how you used to kill people for fun? Hey, you guys think that’s nifty?”
“Buffy, that’s enough!” says Giles.
“I didn’t come here to take anything away from you,” says Faith, “but I’m not gonna be your little lapdog, either. I came here to beat the other guy, to do right, however it works. I don’t know if I can lead. But the real question is: Can you follow?”
“So we vote,” says Wood
“Wait.” Buffy looks around the room at everyone. Her friends all have trouble meeting her gaze. “Guys— I can’t watch you just throw away everything that— I know I’m right about this. I just need a little— I can’t stay here and watch her lead you into some disaster.”
Dawn slowly stands up from the arm of Xander’s chair. She walks toward her sister. “Then you can’t stay here. Buffy… I love you. You were right. We have to be together on this. You can’t be a part of it.” Buffy is stunned to hear this coming from Dawn too. “So I need you to leave. I’m sorry, but this is my house, too.”
Buffy stands for a moment, looking around the room, looking for some support, but there isn’t any. She turns away. She grabs her jacket and walks out the front door.
“Ding dong, the witch is dead,” says Rona.
“Shut your mouth,” snarls Dawn through gritted teeth.
Buffy pauses on the front porch to pull on her jacket. Faith comes out the door behind her. “Hey. Look, I swear I didn’t want it to go this way.”
“Don’t…” says Buffy. He voice sounds hard, and cold.
“I mean it, I—”
Buffy doesn’t turn around. Tears are running down her cheeks. “Don’t be afraid to lead them… Whether you wanted it or not, their lives are yours. It’s only gonna get harder. Protect them.” She finally looks back at Faith. “Lead them.”
They stand looking at each other for a moment. Faith turns away and goes back into the house. Buffy turns away from the house and steps down off the porch. She walks away into the night.