"But I don't believe that," Parker tells the young woman as he gazes into her eyes. "You always have a choice. With everything you do."
"Not this time, pal," Kelly tells him as she slams his back against the trunk. The girl screams. Parker looks up at the woman holding him down. He's a little frightened, extremely outraged, and just a tiny bit turned on.
"Can I help you?," he meekly asks.
"I think you can." Kelly reaches her left hand into his right front pants pocket, pulls out his car keys and tosses them to the young woman. Then she lets go of Parker.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?," he demands to know.
"My job." Kelly looks at the young woman. "Follow the other cars that are leaving the parking lot. Don't worry, Miss. You're going to be fine."
"That's my car! You can't do that!" Kelly grabs Parker by his left ear and drags him away from the vehicle like a naughty child.
"The Mayor's declared martial law. I can do that. In fact, I can do a whole lot more than that." Parker winces as he rushes to keep up with Kelly and keep her from ripping his ear off. He feels humiliated. And that makes him feel even more furious.
"Stop!!" Kelly does this, and she lets go of his ear. He grabs it with his left hand. It still hurts. But at least she's listening to him. He smiles and tries to work the charm. "I think this is all one big misunderstanding. I don't know what you think you saw, but I was merely offering her a ride. How is that a crime?" He looks over his shoulder and sees her driving away, which upsets him. "Meredith, wait!," he yells. But when Parker tries to run after her, Kelly grabs Parker and holds him back.
"You haven't committed any crimes," Kelly informs Parker. "It's just a precaution. You'll get your keys back when you arrive at your destination in about thirty minutes."
"But until then, you think you need to protect her from me?"
Kelly looks Parker over. "Honestly, I'm positive you could never pose a threat to anyone," she dismissively replies. "But, you do have to leave this town like everyone else. And, seeing as you don't have a car, I suggest you get on the bus."
Parker realizes charm won't do the trick and just decides to get outraged and complain, since it's obvious he can't win. "This is insane! Your reasoning is downright Orwellian. You take my property; manhandle me for no reason. This is like some P.C. police state run amok." Parker looks around. "Take the bus? What bus?"
"The one right behind you," Sam tells him. She grabs Parker from behind and drags him over. Then she slams his back into the side of the bus. (Watching this would so turn Riley on.) Parker has his hands up. He gets a good look at Sam while he catches his breath. He can't figure out why these female soldiers have it in for him.
"Can someone please tell me what I've done to deserve this?"
"You're asking the wrong woman. I'm just following orders," Sam replies with a smile. She throws him into the bus's open door. He grabs his nose in pain. The driver looks down at him.
"You gettin' in or not?," he tersely asks. Parker looks around. The women who manhandled him are gone, as is his car. He walks of the steps and the driver closes the door. Parker looks down the aisle at his fellow passengers. Then he gazes at the floor and shakes his head. It's a bus transporting people from a nearby retirement home. "I can't move until you sit down," the driver informs Parker. He walks down the aisle. The only open seat is next to an elderly woman near the back. She quickly starts talking his ear off about how awful this forced evacuation is.
"Plenty of women for him to pick up on that bus," Sam jokes to Kelly as they walk away. Both of them laugh.
"People are fleeing for their lives, and he uses it as a chance to hit on some undergrad," Kelly replies.
"I'll save you if you let me hit on you," Sam rephrases it.
"Think I came down too hard on him?," Kelly wonders.
"Absolutely not. We have to be safe. Imagine the bad publicity if a young woman claims she was sexually harassed because of our evacuation. The press could twist the facts and say we forced her to ride with that jerk. I know there's only a tiny chance any of that would have happened. But why take that chance?"
"That was my view," Kelly approvingly responds. "Granted, I know better than just about anyone how sexy imminent danger can be. How it can bring two people together. But his pick-up lines were just sooo over-the-top. They could only ever work on women who feared for their lives."
"That's a lot of women in this town. At least from how Ry describes the place," Sam jokes. A few seconds later, Riley and Graham join up with the two women.
"All done?," Kelly asks them.
"Everyone's on their way," Riley replies.
Kelly looks at her watch. "With two minutes to spare."
"Does this mean I can finally get my husband back?," Sam asks Kelly.
"He's all yours."
"That's how I like him," Sam adds with a smile.
"What did I miss?," Riley asks her.
"Nothing much. Just Kel and me manhandling some heel who was trying to use the evac as a chance to pick up girls."
"Too bad we missed that," Graham comments.
"Now when you say manhandled?," Riley asks with a smile.
"Nothing too serious," Sam responds. "No punches. Fact, I think if we hit him, he would've started crying."
"A sleaze AND a wimp," Riley notes. "Graham, did we know anyone like that when we were here?"
"Enough to fill a dorm," he replies. Kelly and Sam never got his name, so Riley and Graham won't be able to find out it was Parker. Which is probably for the best, since learning that Buffy slept with him would lower Sam's and Kelly's opinions of her. "Where to now?," Graham asks Kelly.
"The colonel. He'll give us a neighborhood to scour. Make sure no one's been left behind."
"You really seem to know your way around Sunnydale," Riley observes. "Have you been here before?"
"Just for a couple hours. It was a couple nights after I helped disembowel Angelus. I stopped by to check the place out. Nearly killed Spike before he was able to convince me he had a soul."
"How nearly?," Riley asks. First she beats up Angel. Then Spike. Kelly's stories were just getting better and better.
"Couple hundredths of a second. But he was real cool about it. Guy can be a real gentleman when he wants to."
"Especially when he's hitting on you," Riley replies. "Tough, pretty blonde woman beating him up – that's the guy's number one turn-on."
"I thought it used to be your number one turn-on," Kelly replies with a sly grin. "Buffy met up with us, and we joined Giles in this high-speed car chase with gunfire and explosions. It was really cool. Especially when I helped the Potentials hold the line and make the demons retreat. Then I went back to Buffy's house for a bit. They got a real kick out of the idea that people can make a living fighting demons."
"Car chase? Guns? Things sure have changed since I was here," Riley notes. "And what are Potentials?" They get in their command center vehicle and head off.
"Potential Slayers. Buffy's protecting and training them. She's fighting something called the First Evil. That particular enemy may have something to do with this evacuation."
"It's always something in this town," Riley concludes. "How was Dawn? You know, Buffy's sister? I take it you met her at the house."
"She's good. Has a boyfriend. It seems to be real serious."
"Dawn has a boyfriend?," Riley asks himself. "Who is he?" Now, Kelly's story is about to take a turn that will definitely not be to Riley's liking.
The bunker is divided into two sections. The front one has a living room, dining room, kitchen and two bedrooms. The back one has five bedrooms and two bathrooms. At one end of the front section is a very large kitchen, twenty feet square. The family tradition was that after the town got destroyed they would have to shelter "dozens," so they designed the bunker accordingly. To the left of the kitchen is the dining room, which is twenty feet by ten feet. It had two five foot-wide circular tables, one on each side. To the left of the kitchen is the living room, which is twenty feet long and twenty five feet wide. On the right side of the room is a big-screen television and four couches. Two of the couches are against the wall, one on either side of the door to the dining room. One couch is directly in front of the television, and other is to the left of that couch, opposite the wall. To the left, in the back of the room, is another circular table, with a few chairs on the front left side of the room. To the left of the living room are Buffy's and Faith's bedrooms, each one twenty feet long and ten feet wide. For now, everyone's in the living room, except for Willow and Kennedy, who are in their bedroom in the back half of the bunker. Faith sits in a chair, worrying what will happen when Lindsey tries to come to town later that day. The Potentials, Andrew and Spike are watching the tele. Spike eventually gets frustrated with Andrew's selections and takes the remote from him. Andrew whines to Giles, who's far too busy reading the book of prophecies to care. Giles sits at the table in back with Dawn, Xander and Anya. Buffy stands nearby. It's nine in the morning. They've been there for three hours.
"How does it say everything ends?," Buffy wonders.
"I'm not sure," Giles answers.
"How can you not be sure?," Anya demands. "Just flip to the end. Read the last page."
"It's not that simple. The prophecies aren't in chronological order. To say nothing of the commentary. It's a puzzle."
"We can help you put it together," Dawn suggests.
"You can't read Latin."
"I'm learning. And I can read Spanish, which is what the commentaries are in."
"But there's only one text. Which means it can only be read by one person at a time."
"What have you read so far?," Buffy asks.
"That this town will be destroyed by earth, air, fire and water."
"How typically vague," Anya comments. "Always like a prophecy to hedge all bets."
"I've also read some descriptions of past events. Events that are in the past for us, but had yet to occur when this text was written."
"Nothing more worthless than predictions of old events," Buffy notes.
"Not necessarily," Giles dissents. "I think they are clues about what we will face. And lessons about how we can prevail." Giles scribbles a few more words down. He has several sheets of paper in front of him that summarize the different passages. He hopes this will help him figure out how they should be put together. "This is going to take some time."
"Lucky for you, that's the one thing we have right now," Anya mentions as she looks around the room. "I really feel like stepping out for a while."
"Anya, don't be ridiculous," Giles responds.
"I didn't say outside. Not around here, anyway. I think about two-and-a-half years have gone by in that alternate dimension Spike and Angel turned all topsy-turvy. You know, the one where they worship Buffy?"
"Thanks for reminding me why I forgot about that," a slightly annoyed Buffy replies.
"Anya, this is no time for games," Giles declares.
"Is it time for sitting around and doing nothing? Face it, I have time to kill."
"And you'd rather not do your killing around us?," Dawn jokes.
"I know the spell. I'll be back in an hour or two. You won't even miss me." Anya goes into the dining room and shuts the door. Buffy and Dawn look at each other for a few seconds, wondering who's going to say it.
"She's right about that last part," Buffy finally remarks. Xander knows they've never been close to Anya so he lets it all pass.
Faith walks over to them. "What's this about another dimension?"
Riley and Kelly go house-to-house, making sure they're empty. "Angel has a son!!," Riley shouts. "And he's dating Dawn? I don't even know where to begin feeling shocked."
"It's a big leap," Kelly concedes. "But not as big as first learning that vampires are real. Once you take that leap, just about anything can be credible."
"No. This is bigger. What a hypocrite. He comes to town to beat me up for sleeping with Buffy, and all the while he's going at it with this vampire."
"Seems to have been more of a one-night stand."
"And he abandoned her? When she was pregnant? Even if she's evil, that's low."
"He didn't know. She left town and only came back right before the delivery."
"If this boy came from something evil, what does that say about him?"
"He's good. At least when I met him he was."
"You're telling me that some times he's good, some times he's not? Like father, like son."
"He's human, Riley."
"But with vampire powers. What else did he get from mommy and daddy?"
"Connor's been a sweetheart ever since he hooked up with Dawn. He's saved a lot of people's lives. That one day I was there, he saved Lindsey and Wes and Gunn and Fred. Then I saved him with a blood transfusion. Of course, taking someone else's blood after being partially drained by a vampire did freak him out."
"Graham told me about Gunn and Fred. They sound pretty amazing."
"Yeah. They are."
"Does he look like Angel? Please don't tell me this Connor kid looks like Angel."
"He doesn't. Different hair. Different build. Different face. A more prominent chin, and a far less prominent forehead."
"I still don't get how this kid met Dawn. What was he doing in Sunnydale?
"He left LA when his dad became evil."
"Evil parents. Grew up in a demon world. This boy needs ten years with a good shrink before I'd let get within ten miles of a girl. Who knows what that kind of trauma can do to someone's head?"
"He did some crazy stuff. But that was before Dawn. Willow said that Connor's reverse cursed."
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning that perfect happiness makes him good."
"Perfect . . . " They'd been running in-and-out of buildings throughout the conversation. But this stops Riley cold. "He slept with Dawn! No. Please tell me no."
"Chill, Ry. It's not like you're her father."
"Oh my God. Oh my God. How could this happen? Dawn's only what – sixteen? How could Buffy let that happen? Especially with THIS boy!"
"She was busy fighting the super-evil."
"I don't believe this. Angel just keeps hurting Buffy."
"I'm pretty sure he was just as upset with what happened. It does make things a lot dicier between himself and Buffy."
"It's his fault! If he doesn't sleep with that vampire, the kid never gets born. If he doesn't go evil, the kid never comes to Sunnydale. It's completely his fault."
"Fine. I'll bite. It's Angel's fault this powerful demon fighter exists. And it's Angel's fault that this powerful demon fighter met Dawn, stopped sulking, and decided to finally help people full-time. So go ahead and blame Angel for making the world a better place."
"I thought you didn't like him. You joked about hurting him."
"When he was evil. And I liked it because I was putting Angel in his place. He thinks that just cause he's good-looking, he's irresistible to every woman he wants."
"You think he's handsome?"
"Handsome, but resistible."
"And he wanted you?"
"When he was evil. He denied it after. But, trust me, he did. Every guy needs to be humbled. Some of them on a regular basis. Otherwise, they get too full of themselves."
"Is that why you always ride me so hard?"
"Maybe," Kelly replies with a half-smile.
Riley laughs. Then he gets serious again. "You're just trying to take my mind off of this insanity. He's some superboy. They live apart. It can't work. He's just gonna hurt her. He'll leave her. And that'll leave Dawn feeling horrible."
"You wouldn't say that if you met him. Faith told me that Dawn's got Connor totally whipped. Not literally. And least I don't think so."
"Thanks for that last image. And here I was, thinking you couldn't possibly take me to a worse place mentally."
"It could be worse. Much, much worse. Have I told you about Cordelia?"
Cordy rushes back into the office. "Why, oh why do these Sunnydale people keep messing with my life?"
"What people?," Angel asks.
"Connor, there's a girl named Kit in the lobby. She says you two are friends."
"Kit's here!" Connor tries to stand up but only gets a few steps before putting his right hand on the desk to keep from collapsing. Cordy helps him back into his chair. "Does she know what's going on?"
"The army's kicked everyone out of town. And no, she hasn't heard from Dawn. But, now that she's homeless, she wants to stay here. With her father. Someone told them Angel lived in an empty hotel. And that someone also gave her the address."
"That was wrong?," Connor asks.
"Why would the government drive everyone out of town?," Angel wonders.
"I don't know," Cordy muses. "For their own safety?"
"I need to go speak to this girl's father."
"Angel, no," Cordy cautions.
"I'm not helpless." Angel stands up, takes two steps and falls forward. Lorne and Cordy catch him and put him back in his chair. "Okay, I am helpless. For the time being."
"Want me to wheel you out?," Cordy asks.
"No. I'd rather not let anyone else know I'm helpless. They can stay, of course. We help the homeless."
"We help the helpless."
"Which, in a way, they also are."
Meanwhile, Wes, Gunn and Fred nervously chat with Kit and her father.
"Where's Connor?," Kit wonders.
"Upstairs. Sleeping late," Fred responds. "I'll be sure to tell him you're here when he wakes up."
"What sort of work do you do for Connor's father?," Kit's dad wonders.
"Well, you see, that's a very interesting question," Wesley haltingly responds.
"Nice weapons case." He walks over to it.
"Yes. Angel's a collector of antique weaponry," Wes explains.
"They're only for decoration," Gunn adds.
"They don't look very antique," the father responds. "And a few of them do look a little used." He shrugs and walks away. Cordy comes back out of the office.
"You can stay," she informs them. "I'll take you to your room in a moment. Just as soon as I get the key." She rushes back into the office. "Angel. Where are the keys?," she whispers.
"I think I've figured it out," Kit's father announces. "You three work for the detective agency. And she runs the hotel."
"You're right," Gunn says we a sigh of relief. "You got us figured out all right." He hopes that will do it for the prying questions. Cordy rushes into the area behind the counter, has some trouble unlocking the room behind it, since they've never used it, gets in and grabs a key. She comes out, then realizes she didn't look to check what room number it was. She rushes back in, then comes out to take their new guests upstairs.
"Room 412. Here. I'll help you with your bags."
"That's okay," Kit responds. She looks behind the counter. "That's strange. You don't have any machines for running credit cards. Or a sign-in book. Don't hotels usually have stuff like that?" Kit and her father know more than they're letting on, and they're having fun making Cordy and company feel nervous. While they're waiting for the elevator, Elijah comes in with his mother and stepfather. "Eli!," Kit calls out. She runs over and hugs her boyfriend.
"You beat us here," he notices. "Hey guys," he says to Cordy, Fred, Wes and Gunn. They look at their five new guests. Then they look at each other and worry that this could just be the tip of the iceberg.
Giles gently knocks on Willow's door and politely asks Kennedy if he can speak with Willow alone. Kennedy kisses Willow goodbye and heads to the living room to hang out with the other Potentials. Willow sits on the bed. Giles sits on a chair near a very spare desk.
"Tell me. How ugly is the room?," Willow kids. "What color's the wallpaper?"
"No wallpaper. They're painted white. There's a nice red rug on the floor. It's not bad. I'm sure you'll be able to decide for yourself in no time."
"You got a lead on what's ailing me?"
"I'm not sure. Dawn has an idea. I don't agree with it. But I'd be remiss not to tell you."
"How bad is it? You sound just a little more than a little bit skittish."
"There's a spell which makes the victim blind to the world as they are to their soul."
"That's nuts. I'm not evil. Dawny knows that. Unless she's really into holding grudges for things I said that, let's face it, everyone else was already thinking."
"It can also be used against a witch who is out of touch with her true power center. Even for only an instant."
"You mean the true source of magic? Gaea and everything being connected and all that jazz?"
"It could mean that."
"I did those meditation exercises in England last summer to help me get in touch with my power center. The ones the women from the coven taught me. Could that fix everything?"
"Possibly. Which is why I brought it up. It's certainly worth a try."
"By now, anything is. And I'll be sure to give it one. Once the badness has its big blowout. The earth's not in a very nurturing mood right now."