[Xander tries to adjust to his injuries as Willow tries to comfort him. Seth returns to torment his rattled adversaries. Also, Gwen returns to Los Angeles with a big surprise for Gunn.]
A few seconds after vanishing from Sunnydale, Seth materializes on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. He watches the sun rise over a lush, verdant landscape while standing on a glacier. Warren walks up to him. He pretends to shiver.
WARREN: Don't you want a coat? How bout a shirt? Sorry. I keep forgetting the cold doesn't bother you.
SETH: What do you want? [Warren stands to Seth's left. Seth doesn't bother to look at him]
WARREN: You're not here to see the sights. There should only be six girls left standing by now.
SETH: There were supposed to be eight when I arrived. Whose fault is that?
WARREN: No one's assigning blame.
SETH: I am.
WARREN: This biting the hand that feeds you act got stale a long time ago, Sparky.
SETH: Aren't you supposed to turn my adversaries against themselves? I'm supposed to finish the job. Most of the time, it feels like I'm starting it.
WARREN: There used to be a herd. Hundreds of girls. We've thinned them down to the prize pieces of meat, plump and juicy and ready for you to munch on. If you chewed, that is. Tell me again, what do you do besides killing?
SETH: I think about life.
WARREN: That's a boring way to kill time in between kills. But it should give you plenty of chances to think about the ones you let get away. Those girls were ripe for the picking. Helpless. Defenseless. No one to protect them. Like slaughtering sheep, except sheep don't look nearly as adorable when they're terrified. [Seth glances at Warren. Realizes he's new]
SETH: Were you a girl killer?
WARREN: Women. But I was much more that a mere killer.
SETH: No you weren't. You were a scavenger. Nothing more. I can see it in your face. Hear it in your voice. You don't deserve to look upon me.
WARREN: Okay T-1000. Let's remember who's the boss, and who's the employee. I have power of life and death over you.
SETH: I fear death far less than you fear failure. Without me, you fail.
WARREN: I won't deny a certain you scratch my back, I scratch your back symbiosis. But can we please stick to business?
SETH: Why am I killing defenseless girls?
WARREN: Because they may not always be so defenseless. And what's gotten into you, Sethy? I thought you liked the feeling of holding someone at that moment, that precious instant, when the force of life leaves their body. Isn't that what you feed off of?
SETH: I like it better when they put up a spirited defense. Speaking of touching death, why is there a vampire with the Vampire Slayers?
WARREN: He's confused about his place in the world. Used to be on our side. Then he went both ways. Now he's playing for the other team. It's a whole orientation thing. I won't bore you with the details. I hope he wasn't too much of a challenge for you.
SETH: Not enough challenge. But I expected two opponents. Now I have three opponents. But I still only have two arms. It destroys symmetry.
WARREN: So kill him. Rip his head off. Rub the dust in the Slayers' eyes.
SETH: That would restore balance. Three is an unstable number. One is always opposed by two.
WARREN: You're talking to the man who wrote the book on trios.
SETH: If the Slayers opposed the vampire, he would already be dead. He must be allied with one of them. No sense removing a wedge.
WARREN: A vampire interposed between two Slayers. Not bad. Not bad at all. Sometimes I wish I put crime on the back burner and went straight into making porno. Or, I could have mass-produced those robots. The market for that would have to be huge. Then, when I finally chose to become a crime lord, I would have been a well-capitalized crime lord. This is the problem with an afterlife. You keep second-guessing yourself. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Seth gives Warren a dismissive looks and disappears.
WARREN: Of course he does. He just refuses to bond. No matter how hard I try. And he's never appreciated me. Ungrateful child.
On Friday night, Connor's in his room, watching a dvd of "Minority Report." Something about the concept of saving people by seeing crimes before they happen interested him on the day. Angel comes in to check on his son.
CONNOR: I called Dawn. She's cool with it. And she's not telling Buffy.
ANGEL: That's not why I'm here.
CONNOR: Why are you?
ANGEL: To talk. Check on how you were handling everything. See if you wanted to go patrolling.
CONNOR: Maybe later.
ANGEL: What about training? There's still a lot I need to teach you.
CONNOR: Maybe tomorrow. Okay. Okay?
Angel wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was staring at the television screen. Connor shrugs and ignores his father. After a few seconds, Angel walks out into the hallway, looking dazed. Cordelia passes by him.
CORDY: Is something wrong? Besides, you know, Connor's vision hand-off. Of all the girls in the world . . . do you think he likes her because he knows you'll disapprove?
ANGEL: The guy I beat up. He was just talking to Tom Cruise.
CORDY: You're losing me, Angel.
ANGEL: In the movie Connor's watching.
Cordelia takes a few seconds to think this through.
CORDY: Oh!! You mean Colin Farrell. [by now they're in the lobby with Fred, Lorne, Gunn and Wes]
FRED: What about Colin Farrell?
CORDY: Angel beat him up. I mean Angelus did.
FRED: That was you!
ANGEL: You heard about it?
LORNE: It was E.T. and Access Hollywood. Plus the cover story in US Weekly. Since when did Angelus tee-off against celebrities?
WES: And why didn't you kill him? [Lorne and Fred give him a funny look] Not that I'm saying I wish you had. But it seems strange for Angelus to attack a human and NOT kill him.
ANGEL: Is he all right?
LORNE: Yeah. Just a minor skull fracture. The pr seemed to help him. Boosted his tough guy bonafides. So, in a way, you did the guy a favor by brutally assaulting him. Where did you two meet?
ANGEL: Some fancy party. The guy was getting on my nerves. He was copying me! The hair. The clothes. The accent.
FRED: He's Irish. And you haven't had an accent since, what, the nineteenth century?
GUNN: I bet you killed people for flimsier reasons. So why didn't you kill him?
ANGEL: Because I didn't want to bother. The only reason I hit him was because he was all in-my-face after Britney Spears started coming on to me. I think she was his date. Or, one of his dates. I did kill the other one. I think she was a model. [Lorne, Fred, Gunn and Wes looked rather shocked at the casual namedropping]
FRED: You're making this all up, right?
CORDY: Trust me. He's not.
WES: I'm sorry. But it's obvious you're putting us on. If that really happened, Britney Spears be dead. Angelus surely would have killed her.
GUNN: Or turned her into a vampire.
ANGEL: I had my eyes on the model. I killed her instead.
WES: That's so unlike you. Unlike Angelus, I mean. I figure he would have leapt at the opportunity. After all, she's young, famous -
CORDY: Blonde.
ANGEL: I didn't recognize her.
CORDY: That still doesn't explain away the blonde part.
ANGEL: You're on the hunt, you pick out a victim, you focus on that victim until you've killed them.
GUNN: You get homicidal tunnel vision?
ANGEL: Yes. She was distracting me. He was annoying me. So I brushed her off and knocked him out before going on my way.
WES: When you say she was coming on to you, what precisely does that entail? Was she flirting with you? Giving you friendly glances?
ANGEL: Please. She was all over me.
GUNN: And you could care less?
ANGEL: The accent was a turn-off. Pet peeve of mine. Sure, if I had known who she was, I definitely would've killed her. For the prestige value alone. Angelus would've done the same to that idiot who looked like Spike that she ran off to after I rejected her.
CORDY: Spike does NOT look like Justin Timberlake.
ANGEL: I meant he looked like Spike's son.
CORDY: Now there's a haunting and disturbing image.
ANGEL: If he had one. Which he can't. Unless he's completely hell-bent on copying me in every possible way. Which is exactly what he seems to be up to.
GUNN: And none of 'em have a clue how close they came to dyin'.
ANGEL: No, I probably would've sired those two and sent them to Sunnydale so to meet Buffy and Spike. Angelus's idea of a practical joke.
CORDY: [laughing] The looks on their faces. That would have been priceless. [the others look at her funny] I don't mean I wish that had happened. It's just – you'd understand if you knew them, and didn't have a funny bone paralyzed by serial killer guilt.
WES: In hindsight, I understand completely why Angelus refused to kill Britney and Justin. He was evil, after all.
Angel goes back into Connor's room.
CONNOR: What do you want now?
ANGEL: Nothing. I just wanted to spend time with my son. Is that too much to ask for?
CONNOR: So you wanna see the movie?
ANGEL: No. That's okay. You've already started it. And I don't like jumping in halfway through.
CONNOR: I can go back to the beginning.
ANGEL: You don't have to go to all that trouble.
CONNOR: What trouble?
ANGEL: I'm sure you'd get bored seeing the same stuff over again.
CONNOR: I wasn't that far in. It's no big deal.
ANGEL: Well. If you don't mind.
CONNOR: I take it you want to go hunting after.
ANGEL: Patrolling.
CONNOR: Whatever. [Angel sits down on the edge of the bed, to the right of Connor] You haven't seen this before?
ANGEL: I think it came out when I wasn't on dry land. [Connor feels stupid]
CONNOR: You gonna keep bringing that up?
ANGEL: I was just answering your question.
CONNOR: I've changed.
ANGEL: I know.
CONNOR: Good. So how bout from now on you only get on my case for things I did A.D.?
ANGEL: What?
CONNOR: You know. After Dawn.
Angel groans, lies back on the mattress and looks up at the ceiling. He knows his son is smart enough to realize how mentioning Dawn gets him upset. Angel suspects Connor's doing it on purpose, just to piss daddy off.
Buffy sits next to Willow in the hospital waiting room. Buffy looks down at the floor, saying nothing, not making eye contact. Willow looks straight ahead, occasionally closing her eyes as if about to cry. After getting patched up, Faith sits next to Buffy. She looks downward and to her right, away from Buffy and Willow. It's four in the morning. The waiting room is empty except for them. Every few minutes, a nurse or an intern walks across the hallway behind them. Every twenty minutes or so, a doctor is mentioned over the intercom. Otherwise, it's completely quiet, save for the whirring of the fans in the ventilation shafts. As the minutes and hours go by, the women remain essentially frozen. Words and movement seem so futile at a time like this. At home, Madari, Izora, Ariella and Fadila sit at random places throughout the living room, unable to sleep. Giles sits on the porch, looking out at the dark and empty street. Anya sits to his left, her right hand on his left hand, trying to comfort him. Andrew sits in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee. When Spike drove the four unharmed Potentials home in his windshield-less car, and Willow raced to the hospital in Buffy's car, he knew something major was going on. But no one was talking. Not even Giles when he came came home from the hospital, except a few words to Dawn and Anya. Andrew could tell people had died. But he didn't know how many. All he knew was that seven people, include both Slayers, had not returned home.
In the basement, Dawn was trying to learn what happened from Spike. He sat on his bed, smoking. She figured he'd be the least emotionally scarred, and thus the most likely to give information.
SPIKE: I know you mean well. But can you hold off on the Nancy Drew routine until the morning?
DAWN: I don't want a blow-by-blow. Just tell me what did this, so we can find out what it is and see if it has any weaknesses.
SPIKE: Lucky thirteen. Lucky bloody thirteen.
DAWN: What's that?
SPIKE: Its first words. Buffy killed the Reaper, and there it was.
DAWN: The thirteenth Reaper. That means it came when there were twelve left. This is one time I really hate to be right.
SPIKE: I couldn't stop it. I didn't do a sodding bit of good for anyone. Some bloody good hero I am.
DAWN: What did "It" look like? Uber-vamp? Giant monster?
SPIKE: Bono.
DAWN: What??
SPIKE: Circa Joshua Tree. Except taller. And homicidal.
DAWN: How tall?
SPIKE: About my height.
DAWN: So this super-demon looked like a normal guy? Nothing special?
SPIKE: He teleported out of the basement. That's special in my book.
DAWN: And he was he too fast and strong for Buffy or you to hurt him?
SPIKE: Knife in the neck. Ax in the back. Didn't even faze him.
DAWN: Okay. That's something. A normal-looking guy who teleports and isn't hurt by edged weapons. I'll look in the books, ask Anya if any of this rings a bell.
SPIKE: Something tells me it won't.
DAWN: Why does this guy have you so rattled? Is he really that much tougher than anything you've ever seen?
SPIKE: He came out of nowhere.
DAWN: You said he came out of a Reaper.
SPIKE: Metaphor, pet.
DAWN: Oh. Sorry.
SPIKE: Things had been going well. We were peeling off Reapers here and there. The niblets went to school. It was all so bloody, –
DAWN: Stable?
SPIKE: Right. We got into a safe, comfy routine. Then, in a couple seconds, everything goes to hell. Back to painful, unpredictable reality.
On Saturday morning, Gunn gets out of the shower and walks into his bedroom. He puts on his pants, grabs a shirt and walks into the living room. He sees Gwen. The highlights are gone from her hair. She wears black jeans and a black t-shirt. No gloves.
GUNN: Gwen.
GWEN: Surprised?
GUNN: Sure wasn't expecting you. Would've put some clothes on if I had.
GWEN: [smirks] Then it's a good thing I didn't call ahead. [Gunn puts his t-shirt on] Is Angel back?
GUNN: Yeah. So's Cordy. The old, nice Cordy.
GWEN: I suppose that's possible. In theory.
GUNN: Not that I mind you breaking in, but why didn't you just stop by the hotel?
GWEN: I wanted to show you first. [Gunn raises his eyebrows]
GUNN: Show me what?
GWEN: Do you notice anything different about me?
GUNN: You trying out a new look?
GWEN: It's more than a look. [steps towards Gunn. he moves back] Don't be scared. I won't hurt you. Trust me.
Gwen reaches her right hand out and touches the left side of his head. She keeps her hand there for a few seconds and smiles at Gunn. He stands there, breathless, then puts his left hand on her right hand and slowly pulls it down from his face. She interlaces her fingers with his. Gwen remains quiet as Gunn thinks.
GUNN: Something happened to you in Malta.
GWEN: I lost my power.
GUNN: How? [takes his hand away from hers for the time being] How did you make it stop?
GWEN: There was something in Malta called the Ashk. A long time ago, there was a daughter of some king who had a problem like mine. Her father had some scientists and magicians create this tiny thing which made it stop.
GUNN: So you took it and, viola?
GWEN: I wish. Had to ram the thing through my nose into the base of my brain. [Gunn grimaces] Trust me, it's a lot more painful than it sounds. But a lot less painful than all the times I would be getting hit by lightning if I was still charged-up.
GUNN: So you're, because you got that thing, you're, you're -
GWEN: Done being a freak?
GUNN: Hope not. I know I'm not done.
GWEN: Charles. You're hardly a freak.
GUNN: Gwen, I kill demons for a living.
GWEN: Okay. If you look it that way.
GUNN: So what happens now? What are you going to do with your new life? That's pretty much what you've gotten.
GWEN: It is. Guess I'm done being a thief. That's one thing I can't do. But there are, [looks in his eyes] so many other, [smiles] things, I can do. [Puts her left hand on his heart. It's racing. He pulls her hand away. She looks embarrassed] I'm sorry. God. I feel so stupid.
GUNN: Don't. [puts his right hand on her left shoulder] It's not that I don't, or do, or, what I mean is, this is a huge shock. Surprise. I meant surprise.
GWEN: Right. You see, I've never done these, social, people-to-people things before. All these normal things are totally new to me.
GUNN: I get that. So when did you get back in town?
GWEN: Last night.
GUNN: Now how come I get the honor of being the first to hear your good news?
GWEN: What makes you think you were first?
GUNN: Oh. [looks embarassed]
GWEN: Kidding. [smiles] You're kind of the closest thing I have to a friend. Of all the people I've killed, you've been the coolest about it. You never treated me like a freak. And now I'm not.
GUNN: Thanks. For someone who's new this whole thing, you're damn good at making a guy feel special. I know you've done some pretty serious amateur demon fighting. If you're thinking of going pro, you know where to look for a job.
GWEN: That's sweet – in a violent, life-threatening way. But I have money. Enough to give me the chance to take my time figuring out what I want to do with my life. I'll be around. You know where to find me, if you want to talk, or something.
GUNN: Feel free to break in anytime you want.
GWEN: Or I could call and then walk through the door.
GUNN: If you feel like trying something new. I'm glad you surprised me this time. Cause I get a lot of surprises. But hardly any of them are good.
Gwen hugs Charles. Embracing a warm body is something new for her.
GWEN: I'll try to keep in touch.
Gwen leaves. Gunn stands there and thinks about this new development for a little while.
Around sunrise, Faith left the hospital and walked home. She crashed downstairs, across the basement from Spike. Giles is in the kitchen, having coffee with Anya. Dawn is in the dining room, doing fruitless research.
ANYA: Rupert, I understand your need for guilt. But unkillable monsters are a guiltless phenomenon. There was nothing you could do.
GILES: I could have done more to protect them. I barely even stood in his way.
ANYA: Two Slayers couldn't stand in his way. You fought. You were brave.
GILES: Not brave enough.
ANYA: Oh. I know what this is. Xander suffered worse than you. So which is it: do you wish you were dead, or just badly injured? And how bad of an injury would take away this guilt? Which body part do you wish that demon lopped off?
GILES: Anya, I know you mean well, but this is the wrong time for your endearingly clumsy literalism.
ANYA: No. It's the perfect time. You losing an appendage would not have saved either of those girls. Have you seen Patton?
GILES: [rubs his eyes] Pardon?
ANYA: There's a line where he – or, actually, the actor playing him – says something about how no one wins a war dying for his country. He wins by making the other son of a bitch die for his country. It's the same way with what we do. Dying would not have killed the Big Bad. You being alive will help kill him. And help save the rest of the girls. I know you, Rupert. Usually you're annoyingly intelligent. But when people you love are in trouble, you leave behind all your good sense and do whatever you can to save them. And I'm sure that's what you did tonight. So don't go around wishing you proved your manhood by getting sent to the emergency room, because you've already proved it.
GILES: Thank you, Anya.
ANYA: Great. Now can you please go back to being annoyingly intelligent? That's the side of you we need right now.
GILES: Patton? It didn't know you like war movies.
ANYA: Xander does. [she gets choked up] I saw it with him. [once again, Giles looks guilty] Stop it. I know he doesn't want to start a contest where the men around here vie to see who can suffer most for the cause. Except, perhaps, if the winner of that contest were Spike. Or, maybe Andrew. But definitely not you.
GILES: I just keep replaying it in my mind, wondering if I could have done something different.
ANYA: Rupert, stop replaying last fight. And please start preparing for the next one. Because if you can't rouse yourself, not to mention everyone else, out of this post-traumatic funk, we're all going to die. And then you'd feel even worse about yourself.
Giles takes her right hand in both of his hands.
GILES: You would have made a wonderful wife.
Anya looks alarmed and rips her hand away.
ANYA: You need sleep. You're exhausted, you're grieving, you're vulnerable, and you're not thinking straight.
GILES: I meant for Xander.
ANYA: Oh. Thank you. That's, so much less creepy. But it's still just the post-traumatic insomnia talking, right?
GILES: Hello Dawn.
Anya turns around and sees her.
ANYA: Hi Dawny. Giles is a little out of sorts right now. Please try not to take his professions of love seriously.
DAWN: [looking confused] I just wanted to ask you about our new demon. Giles probably told you what he saw. I already told you what Spike told me he saw. Does it sound like anything you know or heard of?
ANYA: He doesn't sound like a demon. He sounds more like a human who used magical power to render himself temporarily invincible and able to teleport. But obviously that's not the case. He came out of a demon. He's being controlled, as was possibly created, by the First. So I'm thinking synthetic designer demon. Like the Reapers, but much more advanced.
DAWN: So it doesn't ring a bell?
ANYA: Not a clue, Dawny.
DAWN: We have one clue. There's a thin, clear film on Giles's ax. We could scrape it off and do some chemical analysis. But that's more Willow's department, so I should wait until she gets back.
Around 11:30 Saturday morning, about fourteen hours after the fight, Buffy and Willow were allowed in to see Xander. He is lying on his hospital bed. They slowly approach him, looks of dread and remorse on their faces.
XANDER: They said I'll have to wait two or three days to get my hook. Apparently, there's some sort of waiting list.
Buffy and Willow look at the bandages around the end of Xander's left arm. Buffy starts crying. Xander being brave and making jokes only causes her to feel even guiltier. Willow walks over and stands at Xander's left. Buffy stands to his right. She takes his right hand and continues crying. Xander looks pale and glum, though not nearly as broken up as his best friends.
XANDER: Cheer up, Buffy. It's not the end of the world. And for us, that really means something.
BUFFY: I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.
XANDER: It wasn't your fault. I'm the one who chose to jump in the path of a moving sword.
Still crying, Buffy leaves the room. It's too much for her to take.
WILLOW: How are you? I know. Dumb question. But, seeing you here, like this, I just can't . . . I've been here all night, thinking of what I could possibly say that wouldn't be insensitive or overwrought, and all I could think of was, I'm so glad you're alive. Buffy, Giles, they didn't want to talk about what happened to you. At first, I didn't know how bad it was, or wasn't. So I feared the worst. And, in one way, this is the worst, but then it isn't. I don't know. No sleep and much coffee make Willow more rambly than usual. [for the first time since the injury, Xander smiles]
XANDER: I've always liked your ramble.
WILLOW: And I've always liked that you liked it. I just keep thinking back to the little things. Like in Mrs. Smith's class, when you copied off me on all the spelling quizzes. And I let you because, well, I wasn't really the type to say no. Especially to my bestest bud in the whole world. So, then, one time, I missed a couple on purpose. Real obvious. Astronaut with two g's. So the teacher finally caught you.
XANDER: She made me stay after school. Then sent a letter to my parents. I was mad at you.
WILLOW: You wouldn't even speak to me.
XANDER: Until you forged my parents' signatures on the letter. Which, by then, you had gotten surprisingly good at.
WILLOW: Did they ever see a single one of your report cards?
XANDER: Kindergarten. No grades. Just something about how I shared toys and played well with others.
WILLOW: And here we are, sixteen years later, and nothing's changed. And everything's changed. About a thousand times over.
Wesley sits at Angel's desk, doing research. Gunn enters.
GUNN: You know anything about some tiny magical object called the Ashk?
WES: Ashk. Let me think. You wouldn't be referring to the Ashk Az Nishapur, sometimes improperly abbreviated as the Ashkaz, would you?
GUNN: Maybe. Is it really small and able to alter people's powers?
WES: Yes. That's exactly what it's reputed to do. [stands up. walks towards Gunn] Why are you asking me about this?
GUNN: I heard someone had it in town. So what is it? Is it dangerous?
WES: It's a small, tear-shaped charm fashioned out of amber. And, yes, it could be extremely dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.
GUNN: So it's been used in the past?
WES: Yes. I believe it has. [he scans the bookshelves, pulls out a volume and flips through the pages until he finds what he's looking for] Here we go. Created in Khurasan in the tenth century for a Saffarid emir. Plundered by the invading Seljuks during the eleventh century. Taken from them in the early twelfth century by the Assassins. They were unable to harness its power, and gave the Ashk to the Knights of Saint John as a gift when the Crusaders and Assassins formed an alliance before their unsuccessful attempt to seize Damascus in 1147. Though the Knights also proved unable to use the charm, they held onto it, fearful of letting it fall into the hands of the wrong enemy. They took it to Cyprus. Then to Malta, where it disappeared after Napoleon's invasion in 1798. It was last rumored to be Lorraine or Westphalia.
GUNN: Looks like it never left Malta. That's where Gwen found it.
WES: I knew you were hiding something.
GUNN: Once I told you that, I knew you'd be the one asking the questions. So I wanted to get mine answered first.
WES: An item like that could go for millions on the black market.
GUNN: Then she stuck a few mill up her nose. And into her brain.
WES: Why would Gwen want to make herself more powerful?
GUNN: She didn't. Gwen made herself powerless. [Wesley's suspicion turns to shock]
WES: She no longer emits electricity?
GUNN: No. [smirks] Least not in the zapping, shocking sense.
WES: Incredible. The Ashk must be capable of regulating and normalizing her neuro-electric signals. Or it acts as some sort of dampener. Either way, that's quite ironic. The assumption always was that the Ashk gave people powers. What if it was meant to take them away?
GUNN: She said it was made for a king's daughter.
WES: The emir. He had a daughter with Gwen's affliction? No. It could have been something different. But similar. [pauses. looks confused] How did she, er, install the device? Did she just shoved it in? [grimaces]
GUNN: She did say it was mad painful.
WES: It must have been. But I also suppose it was worth it.
GUNN: She seemed happy.
WES: She'll probably have to find a new career, of course.
GUNN: Being a high-priced thief, I'm sure she built up a nice little nest egg.
WES: True. [thinks for a few seconds] Gwen can now touch people. Living people. For the first time in her entire life. And you were the person she chose to reach out to first.
GUNN: It ain't like she's got many other warm-blooded friends.
WES: For your sake, I hope she sees you as more than that.
It's the middle of the afternoon. Everyone is back home, except for Xander, who is still in the hospital, and Willow, who was at her college's chemistry lab trying to analyze the traces of Seth she scraped off of Giles's ax. Molly, Rona, Amanda and Kennedy are back at the house, stitched and bandaged up. Kennedy is resting upstairs with Willow. Dawn is in her room. Buffy is in her room. She's not sure what to say to the Potentials. Buffy isn't used to a war of attrition. Faith is in the basement, playing darts with Spike. He got past the "hot Slayer I never tried to kill" fixation a few days after she got past the "hot vampire with a soul I propositioned but never got a chance to nail" fixation. Of course, she got over that only a few hours after meeting Spike. With the tension gone, Spike doesn't really talk her up that much. Faith likes that. Especially now, when she doesn't feel like talking. Andrew sits in a chair in the living room, watching television with Molly, Rona and Amanda. The other Potentials are in the back of the living room and in the sitting room, reading. Giles and Anya are doing research in the dining room.
Suddenly, Seth destroys the somber silence. He materializes in the middle of the living room. He overturns Andrew's chair, sending him falling forward into the coffee table. Xander's rebuilt it out of maple, so it holds together. Were it not for the spell, Andrew's chin would have slammed into the table and started bleeding. Shaken but uninjured, he stands up and turns around.
ANDREW: Hey! That was rude. Ughh . . . who are you? And why is everyone looking so scared?
SETH: Because they know they're about to die.
Surprised by the sudden entrance of their murderous, unkillable foe, the Potentials panic. Ella, Zora, Madari and Fadila rush into the kitchen and think of fleeing out the back door. Giles rushes into the kitchen and grabs them.
GILES: Stop. He can't hurt you in here.
The girls remember the sanctuary spell. Meanwhile, Buffy hears the commotion and rushes downstairs. So do Dawn, Willow and an injured Kennedy, who's grabbing the laceration on her stomach. Anya followed Giles into the kitchen. They dart into the back of the living room to get a look at Seth. Faith and Spike come upstairs. While Buffy is coming down the stairs, Seth grabs Amanda's jaw with his right hand and tries to snap her neck. He can't. When he took hold of her chin, Molly reached out and grabbed Seth's right arm, trying to pull it away from Amanda. Seth tries to punch her with his left fist. She instinctively flinches, just as Amanda instinctively screamed when Seth tried to kill her. But nothing happens. Seth backs up a step and shakes his head.
SETH: Something is very wrong here. [Andrew stands in front of him and looks Seth in the eyes]
ANDREW: Yes. You are. You don't belong here, scumbag. Get out.
Remembering the spell, Andrew realized this is his one chance to act tough in front of a real super-villain. Seth starts laughing. Buffy steps into the living room.
BUFFY: You heard the . . . (man? boy?) Andrew. Hit the road.
Seth turns around and throws a right hook, which Buffy blocks. Before she can do a counter-move, he throws a quick and sharp left jab which would have slammed into her nose where it not for the spell. By now, Seth knows what's going on. He looks around at all the people looking at him, holds out his arms and chuckles.
SETH: Nice trick. I should have known it wasn't going to be THIS easy. Answer this one fore yourselves: If it wasn't for the magic, how many of you would be dead by now?
Seth gives them a vicious smile and vanishes. Rona pulls back the curtain and looks out the bay window.
RONA: Buffy. We still got company.
Buffy looks out the window to the left of the front door. Everyone crowds around the living room and dining room windows. They see ten Bringers on the front lawn. Buffy and Faith run to the weapons chest. Giles heads them off.
GILES: What do you think you're doing? They can't harm us.
BUFFY: So we're just going to let the First's shock troops camp out in my front yard?
GILES: Can't you see what's going on? They're trying to draw you into an unfair fight.
BUFFY: We can take them.
SPIKE: I can't. Not while the sun's out.
DAWN: Half the Potentials are too hurt to fight.
Buffy looks around. The four healthy Potentials. The two Slayers. Giles, Anya, Dawn and Willow. Plus Andrew.
BUFFY: It's still eleven-on-ten. This is our chance. They think we're aren't ready. That we're too hurt to fight. They're overconfident, and we'll use that against them.
WILLOW: Maybe they're not the only ones who are overconfident. [Buffy glares at Willow. She doesn't like being second-guessed when the enemy is literally at her doorstep]
GILES: If we only had to worry about them, maybe you'd be right. But once you step out that door, I can guarantee that our frustrated new enemy will teleport right back here. [Buffy considers this]
BUFFY: Good point. You're right. It's a trap. I should have seen it. [Buffy goes back to mentally beating herself up]
FAITH: Wait. We leave the house, we're still only twenty feet from safety. Bad Boy returns, me and B can hold him off long enough for the girls to run back inside.
SPIKE: Then what? He gets the chance to kill one of you? [Buffy's getting her confidence back]
BUFFY: He doesn't want to kill us. Last night, he didn't even try to use a weapon on us. He just, well -
SPIKE: Beat the snot out of us?
BUFFY: I was going to say he tried to establish dominance. Prove we couldn't defend the Potentials.
Dawn does a mental head count. She was included among the eleven Buffy wanted to fight. That meant Buffy believed in her. Wait. Buffy must have also included Andrew. That seriously diluted the "honor." She also realized Giles was not going to let any of the Potentials outside, and assumed Buffy's and Faith's pleading was in vain. So Dawn went back upstairs to watch the Reapers from Buffy's bedroom window. As Buffy, Faith and Giles argued over what to do, Zora, Fadila, Ella and Madari got together and whispered to one another. Then they ran downstairs and grabbed three crossbows, plus some arrows. Fadila found an old rag and tied it around the end of one of the arrows. Then she found a can of WD-40 and soaked the rag in it. She picked up Spike's lighter and put it in her pocket. The four of them return to the first floor. Madari grabbed the fire extinguisher. The other three go upstairs to the second floor. No one notices. Izora and Ariella go into Willow's bedroom. Fadila goes into Buffy's.
DAWN: What's going on? [Fadila hands her the lighter]
FADILA: Can you light this for me? [Dawn hated how the Potentials disrespected her. She also suspected Fadila was up to something foolish]
DAWN: You're going to light a wooden arrow. A wooden arrow that's attached to a wooden weapon. And the stick it out the window of a wooden house. Do you see what I'm getting at, Fadila? [two could play at condescending]
FADILA: That's why you're going to light it right before I shoot it. Do it fast, it works.
DAWN: I take it Buffy and Giles don't know about this?
FADILA: Do you always do what Buffy says?
DAWN: Fine. [goes to open the curtains. Fadila stops her]
FADILA: Not yet.
She reaches through the curtains and opens the window while leaving them drawn so the Reapers can't see them. Izora and Ariella do the same in Willow's room. Then Ella pulls the curtains open. Zora leans forward and shoots across the lawn, hitting the Reaper on her far right in his right eye. Zora pulls back, Ella leans forward and hits the Reaper on the far left in his left eye. To their right, peaking out from the curtains in Buffy's room, Fadila sees the Reapers getting hit. That's her signal. She pulls back the curtains and leans forward, aiming at a Reaper in the middle. Dawn lights the rag. Fadila pulls the trigger. The flaming arrow hits a Reaper in his left hip. His jacket catches fire. The people at the downstairs windows start talking to each other. Buffy, Willow Faith and Giles notice the hubbub and rush to the windows.
BUFFY: What the hell?
GILES: Who's doing that?
He looks around, trying to figure out who's missing. Madari quietly stands in the foyer, holding a fire extinguisher and peaking out the window. Buffy and Willow race upstairs and burst into their rooms. Outside, the Reaper with an arrow in his right eye runs into the street and rips off a sewer grate. The one with an arrow in his left eye retreats towards the grate. The flaming Reaper sprints into the street and leaps down into the storm sewer. The other two injured Reapers also jump in. The seven remaining Reapers try to spot the shooters. Ella and Fadila immediately closed the curtains after firing. Confused by the ambush and the frightening injuries sustained by their comrades, the seven remaining Reapers retreat down the road and out of sight. Buffy and Willow enter their rooms just as Ella, Zora, Fadila and Dawn are leaving them. Dawn realizes they're in big trouble.
NEXT: A new Big Bad decides to see just how much he can make Angel suffer.