Harmony tries to make friends with Devlin and the other vampires, joining them for one of their hunts. Then, Andrew and the Slayers arrive, ready to collect Debbie and bring her to Buffy.

Deb and Dev have just learned about the Slayer Army coming for her. She paces nervously in the living room. "Maybe we should run."

"What about school?"

"Just for a few days. They got girls all over the world. They're not gonna waste a lot of time waiting for me."

"What if they set up an office in LA? Or Phoenix? Or Vegas? Or any other city within a day's drive of here? Then they'll have operatives permanently within reach, who can grab you any time they want, without warning. This is our one chance to see them coming, and to teach them a lesson. I'll make sure they'll never hassle you again."

"Without any killing."

"That goes without saying. We can't give them something to avenge."

"But there's twelve. How do we handle twelve of them?"

"By teaching them the importance of home field advantage."

"What about Angel?"

"I'm not sure Buffy's comfortable with letting him hang around so many Slayers," Devlin jokes.

"He's their own home-field advantage. You don't think Angel's been spying on me?"

"The stalker habit can be hard to break. All those centuries of watching pretty young women from the shadows."

"Dev, I'm serious."

"So am I."

"He probably has people from his company keeping tabs on me?" The doorbell rings. Debbie walks over to the door.

"Which would teach them nothing that could help the enemy," Dev argues.

"New face," Debbie whispers. Dev takes a look through the peephole and smiles.

"Don't worry. Just a vampire." He opens the door. Deb goes for her stake, wondering how stupid this vampire must be. "Harmony!" Debbie returns with her stake, which worries Harmony.

"I didn't come to make any trouble," she nervously claims. "I know better than to mess with a Slayer."

"Old friend?," Debbie asks her boyfriend. Then she begins to worry. "Old girlfriend?" He laughs. So does Harmony.

"Actually, I used to date his sire. Which, if you think about it, almost makes me your boyfriend's step-mom."

"Harmony works for Angel. She's his secretary."

"Angel sent you," a scowling Debbie concludes. "How would he like it if we sent you back in a coffee can?" Harmony takes a couple steps back.

"I don't know what you think is going on, but Angel SO did not send me. He doesn't even know I'm here. If he did, I think he'd be mad at me. I just wanna help kill the bad guys."

"We don't kill people," Debbie replies.

"Vampires. Demons. You kill those bad guys. Look, I've been off the human stuff for almost a year. I'm reformed. I think I could fit in really well."

"Excuse us," Deb coldly says before slamming the door in Harmony's face. Dev quickly opens it a crack and peeks his head outside.

"We just need a moment." Debbie yanks him away.

"Why do I always choose to hang around the Slayer-whipped ones?," Harmony sighs. Devlin turns on the stereo so that The Replacements' "I Will Dare" drowns out their conversation.

"A little more blatant than I expected," Debbie observes.

"She's not a spy."

"Like hell she isn't! It's the perfect cover."

"What cover?"

"Exactly! She acts completely unlike a spy. Creates this whole ditzy blonde airhead persona. All to make us underestimate her."

"Darling, I think that's her actual personality."

"That just makes it easier to pull off. She's the C.E.O's secretary at a big company. The girl has to have talent. Plus, she dated Spike! Doesn't he only go for the best?" Devlin mulls over which mistaken assumption to attack first.

"Angel is not Jack Welch. He's not a real corporate mogul. He's merely playing one. Everyone I've talked to confirms that. They've also said there were a lot of secretaries more qualified than Harmony, but she got chosen because Angel knew her. He knows her limitations. If she betrays him, he'll see it from a mile away."

"In other words, she's expendable."

"No. It's tough to find a sycophant you're comfortable with. Believe me, I've tried."

"Then why is she here?"

"Because her boss doesn't respect her. He hired her precisely because he doesn't respect her. People need to feel that they belong to something bigger than themselves. That's probably why she got a day job in the first place. But that didn't do the trick. She can't belong if they don't respect her."

"And now she wants to join our club?," Deb asks with a laugh.

"She doesn't feed. The firm tests their vamps every morning. You fail, you die."

"That makes her think she's like you?"

"She paid the price, but hasn't gotten a reward. That must be very frustrating."

"Poor girl. Boo hoo. Like I care. We don't need her."

"True. But she could prove useful. It would be nice to have an inside source."

"You actually believe she'd sell out the guy who pays her rent?"

"More like she'll let stuff slip without thinking. That's what you do when you're with friends'."

Debbie smiles. "I love the way you think."

"I love the way you everything," he replies with the obliviousness to corniness of someone in love. They kiss for a bit.

"We probably shouldn't keep her waiting."

"Harmony?"

Debbie scoffs. "Cynthia! She's driving."

"Two rising tonight?"

"One in Escondido. One is San Marcos. What are you looking at?"

"A nest in Banning."

"That's like fifty miles away for both of us."

"Vampire sprawl. Live where it's safe, commute to where the bodies are."

"Whatever happened to the dumb ones who squatted in warehouses and killed in their own neighborhood?"

"You slayed most, drove away the rest. Only the smart ones are left."

"I thought you were the only smart one."

"No. Just the smartest." They kiss again and walk out onto the porch. Harmony's anxious to hear what their verdict is. "We're taking out a gang. You're welcome to come along."

"Killing! Goodie! I brought my own stake." She's shows it to prove that she's prepared.

"Thanks." Devlin yanks it out of her right hand and walks to the car. Deb takes shotgun. Harmony thinks Dev's just hazing the new girl, and gets in back. He drives off in his red '65 Mustang convertible.

"Nice car. Not QUITE as nice as the ones they have where I work. I could probably get you one. Or two. Or maybe even four. Angel gives them to Spike like party favors, so I'm sure he wouldn't miss them. Except if it was the Viper." She realizes they're not paying attention, glances over Debbie's shoulder and notices where Dev has his right hand, and that Deb's leaning her head back and starting to quietly moan. The two of them are pretty much pretending Harmony isn't there. Just like at work. Except for the sexual content. Three minutes later, Dev pulls into Cynthia's driveway. They smooch for about ten seconds before she hops up and out without bothering to open the door. Devlin looks back at Harmony.

"How bout you sit up front? It's a long trip. I'm sure you'll appreciate the leg room."

"We aren't the only ones?," she asks, suspecting the answer is no.

"Sid, Paul and Luiz are also coming. They can sit in back." This was what Harmony had hoped to hear. Dev was being nice to her. She steps out, then remembers what Deb and Dev were doing. Good thing Debbie was wearing pants. She gets up front, and they head over to a luxury apartment building to pick up the other vampires. Sidney sits in the middle, with Paul to her right and Luiz to her left.

"How do you guys afford a place like this?," Harmony asks.

"We don't," Luiz replies. They all laugh.

"Dev does," Paul adds.

"You'd be surprised how many people are willing to pay for someone with my skills," Devlin explains, without explaining anything. "Plus, I've made some investments over the years. The Dow was below a thousand when I started out."

"You mean you actually buy stuff?," Harmony asks with scorn. Seems like a wimpy way for a vampire to live.

"Only what I can't easily steal. It's hard to take a house, or a hotel room."

"No it's not. You just kill whoever lives there."

"Which brings the cops around in one, two days tops. That's okay when you're on the road, new town every day. But not when you're nesting."

"There are always crypts, caves, abandoned buildings. I happen to pay rent right now. But that's only because I have a job."

"Do you meet interesting people at Wolfram & Hart?," Sidney asks.

"The people are usually pretty boring. But some of the demons are interesting. Oh, and there was this cyborg one time, which looked just like Wesley's father, but Wes shot him to save Fred, and he didn't know it wasn't really his father until after he shot him."

"Who's Wesley?," Paul asks.

"He's this English guy who works with Angel. Knows a lot about magic and prophecies. Really smart. He used to be a Watcher, but then his Slayer went evil, and he got fired. I think that's what made him so dark and intense. He's in love with Fred."

"Big surprise there," Sidney comments.

"Because he's English?," Paul asks. "That's ignorant."

"Because he's a Watcher," Sidney responds. "That way, they don't have to worry about the Watchers hitting on the Slayers."

"I've met three Watchers," Harmony reports. "And two of them are definitely straight." She's filed Andrew under "ambiguous."

"Fred's a women," Devlin tells his friends. "A very beautiful woman. From what I've seen, that's true of all the women who work with Angel." He smiles flirtatiously at Harmony, who appreciates the compliment. Spike was right about Devlin trying hard to play the charmer.

"What's her job?," Luiz wonders.

"Fred's a scientist," Harmony answers

"So they're both brains," Paul concludes.

"Sounds like an obvious match," Sidney assumes.

"Not to them. Or, not to Fred. Wes always wanted her. But she just saw him as a friend for, like, forever. Until around the time Angel turned into a puppet."

There was something Devlin didn't know. "Someone temporarily controlled his body?"

"No. He was a puppet. About three feet tall. Made of felt. Really adorable. See, there was this tv show . . . "

Harmony goes on to tell them about when Spike was a ghost, when that other vampire tried to frame Harmony and she dusted her on the conference table, when she took Buffy's sister hostage, when she joined that cult and tried to double-cross Angel's friends. She revels at being the center of attention. It's sort of feels like high school again. Sidney, Paul and Luiz are very impressed by the fact that Harmony spent all that time around Buffy, yet Buffy was never able to kill her. Ditto for trying to get Angel's friends killed, and then getting hired by them. Vampires who try to hurt Buffy and Angel rarely live to tell about it. An hour later, as Devlin pulls into town, he briefly explains the current situation.

"Vampires come to Banning for the same reasons that humans do. Lots of space. Plenty of peace and quiet. Yet conveniently-located. Right off the highway. A straight-shot down Interstate Ten into Los Angeles. But I don't think they take it that far, since they would then run the risk of getting caught in Angel's and Spike's cross-hairs. Evidence indicates that they've been feeding around Pasadena and Burbank."

"Can the Joe Friday act," Paul jokes.

"This stuff's important. It's how I located them. So Banning's got the highway. It also has the Southern Pacific, in case you want to hop a freight train. And, to top it all off, an airport."

"Vampires don't fly," Harmony points out. Sid, Paul and Luiz all nod in agreement.

"The hangars," Dev counters. "Spacious. Complete protection from sunlight. And people are very rarely in them."

"How did you find these guys?," Harmony asks. "Did someone tip you off?"

"They did. One of them messed up and killed a local."

"That doesn't mean they live here. They could live in some other town a couple miles away. When I lived in Sunnydale, I didn't always feed there. We are pretty damn mobile." About a mile past the center of town, they enter the airport, which is closed for the night.

"There's always a chance you're right," Devlin concedes. "But I deal in probabilities. And I think this is the most probable place they'd live."

"Which building?," Sidney asks.

"Depends how many vamps," Luiz guesses.

Harmony glances back and sees Sidney's right leg intertwined with Luiz's left leg, her right hand on his right thigh, Paul's right hand on her left thigh, with Paul's head resting on her left shoulder, and her left hand stroking his left cheek. Harmony knows they all have human girlfriends and boyfriends. She's seen them with the humans, and they seemed pretty couple-y. However, the three of them do appear to live together. Either they're all just really friendly, or there's some kinky stuff going on. Harmony's first thought is "Gross!" But her second thought is "Can I get in on this?"

"So how does it work, exactly? You know, with the people you date living with their parents?" The three vampires snicker as Devlin sticks to business looks around for signs of undead life.

"That depends on whether or not the parents are sound sleepers," Sidney responds with a smirk.

"Plus, we can always meet up at Debbie's," Luiz adds.

"Or Theo's," Paul points out. His parents are loaded, and they're often away on business.

"Even when they're not, the place is so huge he's got practically his own wing," Sidney explains. "Half the time, they don't even know when Cynthia's over."

"And then there's our own pad," Luiz mentions.

"Two thousand square feet, three bedrooms, two bathrooms," Devlin notes with pride, since he pays the rent. "What about that one?," he asks regarding a nearby warehouse.

"Maybe," Sidney replies. She points to their left. "What about that!?"

"A train station?," Dev asks dubiously.

"Probably abandoned. Still in great shape. Very cozy," she comments with a coquettish smile. Harmony's starting to wish she could be Sid. They're both young, pretty and blonde. Harmony certainly thinks she's prettier than Sidney. And the girl definitely seems to be enjoying life.

"I'm sure you and Diego would be very happy there," he kids, referring to her human boyfriend.

"Do they know any other cute, single guys?," Harmony asks Sidney.

"You thinking of moving?"

"To the O.C? Please! No offense. I'm just talking about dating. I've had bad luck with vampires. Actually, I've had bad luck with all men since I became a vampire. Things seemed to go way better for me in high school."

"When were you bit?," Sid asks.

"Graduation day. I was running away from the giant snake our town's mayor had turned into when a vampire got me from behind." The vamps aren't buying it. "I'm serious!"

"Cut her some slack," Devlin suggests. "She's from the Hellmouth." He stops the car near the station. "Okay Sid. Let's see if you're right." Everyone gets out.

"Where are your weapons?," Harmony asks.

"You're here to watch," Devlin informs her, causing disappointment. "Watch, and learn."

"I know how to kill a vampire."

"Groups tactics," he responds. "That's what you're learning." Once again, Harmony feels left out. Devlin hears a television on inside. "Good call, Sid." She smiles. Dev takes the front, Sid the back, Luiz the right, and Paul the left, surrounding the building. Devlin kicks open the front door. "Pest control." A male vampire stands up. Dev knocks him down with a right hook. "We had reports of an infestation." A female vampire runs away and leaps through a side window, knocking Paul down. Her man quickly follows. By the time Paul gets up, the couple's escaped the cordon. Paul and Sidney give chase, followed by Devlin and Luiz.

"They're running to another building!," Harmony shouts out. "I think it's a trap!!" She shrugs and runs along after them. The two vampires bang on the door of a hangar and then turn around. Their backs to the wall, they put up their hands.

"End of the line," the guy says. The door opens. Four more male vampires step out. Evidently the ones in the train station were the leader and his girlfriend.

"Am I supposed to be scared?," Devlin asks.

"You're supposed to get your ass kicked." The leader steps forward. He's got four inches and forty pounds on Devlin. Dev dodges a right cross by moving his head to the left, and a left cross by moving his head to the right. He lands three quick left jabs, a right cross, a left hook and a right uppercut, putting the larger vampire on his back. Spike taught him long ago how to handle the big bruisers.

"Let me know how that kicking my ass thing goes," Devlin taunts before heading to his right, where Luiz is being double-teamed. He stakes one vamp in the back. When the other one turns around, Dev knocks him down with a left roundhouse kick. Luiz can easily take things from there. To Luiz's right, the leader's girlfriend tangles with Sidney, taking her to the ground and getting on top. Dev stakes her in the back. Then he helps Sidney up and points to their far left, where Paul is double-teamed. Sid sprints over, leaps through the air and kicks one of the men in the head with a flying right kick.

"Have you been avoiding me, maggot?," the leader asks Devlin. He throws a right hook that Dev ducks under before landing a right foot to the guy's chin. When the vampire tries a right hook kick, Devlin blocks it, punches the leader in his stomach with a right uppercut, lands a left jab-left hook combination to his face, and puts him on his back yet again with a big right uppercut to the chin. Devlin then reaches into his pants, grabs a pistol with his right hand, raises it up and fires into the air. Everyone stops fighting. Luiz, Sidney, and Paul back away from their opponents. They know what's next. Harmony certainly doesn't.

"I thought that would get your attention." Devlin's opponent gets up and laughs.

"Whadya think you're gonna do with that?" The leader's lackeys also laugh.

"I can't kill you with it. But there are fates worse than death." Devlin points and fires, putting a bullet into his forehead and out the other side. The vampire falls down. Devlin aims and fires again, putting another bullet through the vampire's cranium. He struggles to get to his feet, but evidently his motor skills have been somewhat compromised. He tries to speak, but all his friends hear are slurred consonants. "Fates such as living out the rest of your days as a vampire with permanent brain damage." He points his gun in the direction of the other three vampires. He reaches down, picks up some of the gooey yellow stuff on the ground with his left index finger and holds it up for them to see. "You get you brains blown out, it's hard to put them back in." He smiles wickedly, then wipes the finger on the leader's nose, just to show how out of it the guy now is. Devlin walks towards the three vampires, his gun pointed in their direction. "You leave Southern California tonight. You don't come back. You tell all your friends that THIS is what will happen to THEM if they come here," he adds, gesturing towards their fallen leader. "It's a big country. It's a big world. Find yourselves another part of it." He waits for five seconds. "Move along, now." They're still looking at their leader, shocked and appalled. Devlin points and fires, taking off a vampire's left ear. "I said MOVE ALONG!" He fires again. The bullet goes a foot above another vampire's head. He runs off. So does the other uninjured vampire. The injured one reaches down, picks up the severed ear and flees as well.

Sidney, Luiz and Paul slowly clap as they walk over to Devlin. "Nice shooting," Luiz offers.

"You took that ear off from thirty feet away!," Paul enthuses.

"Hitting the ear was easy," Devlin brags. "The trick is to not hit anything else." Harmony makes her way over. She had been impressed by how quickly Devlin completely took over that fight. What he did to that poor vampire absolutely blew her away. But it also frightened her. She had always taken comfort in the idea that bullets could never harm her. Devlin's little trick made her feel, well, mortal. "Was the show worth the long drive out here?," he asks Harmony.

"Sure. Oh yeah. Very, umm, enlightening."

"The sunrise will put him out of his misery," Devlin assures Harmony regarding the vampire with the ventilated skull.

"Would you like to come to a party on Friday night?," Sidney asks.

"A fun human party, or a demon party where we kill everyone?," she asks nervously.

"High school kids. Mostly juniors and seniors. Oh, and there's always something going on Saturday at the colleges." Harmony, who's still thinking about Devlin's gunplay, doesn't look pleased, despite Sidney's offer. "You said you wanted to meet human guys."

"Oh. Of course! Sounds great. I'll give you my number."

When he gets back home, Devlin finds Debbie on a swing at the neighborhood playground. She swings back, fifteen feet in the air, and feels someone grab her from out of nowhere. The two of them fall to the ground. She elbows him in the ribs. "Dumbass. You know better than to sneak up on a Slayer. I could have killed you."

"I know. The risk makes it fun."

"I could use a little less risk these days," Debbie confesses, referring to the imminent arrival of the Slayer Army. Dev puts his left arm over her shoulders. Deb wraps her right arm around his waist. They walk home.

"Ours went according to plan. How bout yours?"

"Both dead. But it was kinda hairy. There were two. Five miles apart. So I'm thinking What if the one in San Marcos rises when I'm at the grave in Escondido?' He gets away."

"This is why I've never been a fan of patrolling in graveyards. It's inefficient. Unless, of course, you live on a Hellmouth, and can get by on sheer volume."

"And you know how much my friends have wanted to fight one on their own. Cynthia and Theo especially."

"Let me guess: you took one grave, the five of them took the other."

"They were totally stoked after."

"Can you blame 'em?"

"No." She laughs. "They each had a different story that made them look like the hero. I figured that the parts they all mentioned really happened. And when I put it together, it's kinda slap stick."

"The vampire's disoriented. Still trying to get his bearings. Hell, he probably hadn't even figured out what he was. I took me a while."

"I think Diego attacked it, but it pushed him away and went for Danielle, who probably screamed, and Melanie pulled on its hair. Then it started flailing wildly at everyone, so they pulled out their crosses."

"Which is great for stopping it from killing you, though it does nothing to help you kill it."

"Not to mention the religious aspect. Theo said he needs to talk to a rabbi who knows about vampires."

"If he wants, I can go to temple with him one night, and we could put on a little demonstration for his rabbi. But Theo knows Stars of David also do the job."

"Yeah, but it's harder to carry a large one of those and hold it out."

"Crosses and holy water have an undeniable utility."

"Anyway, the vampire knocked Diego and Theo down. They each had a small bruise, so it makes sense. Then it grabs Cynthia. Theo tries to rescue her by staking it in the back. He misses. But he climbs on its back, it falls forward on top of Cynthia, and when they all go down, it falls into her stake."

"And Theo ends up on top. A very romantic three-way." She punches him in the stomach with her left fist. "Do they want to make a habit of this?"

"Sadly, yes."

"They were scared."

"I think that's part of the high."

"And they're not yet afraid of losing. They don't see that as a possibility. Which is clearly your fault." She gives him a dirty look. "You make it look so easy."

"It's not vampires they're afraid of right now."

Thursday night, around nine o'clock. Devlin sits at the computer in Debbie's bedroom, using the web to check on the status of an incoming flight. She's on her feet, and very jumpy. "Are you sure she's at the right gate?," Deb asks.

"She was at the right gate when you talked to her thirty minutes ago. Relax. Says here the flight's at least forty five minutes late. They haven't missed anything."

"Slayers are fast. They could give Cynthia the slip."

"They don't know they're being followed." Deb looks down at her phone.

"Got a text message. I think this means she's made contact."

"I'm sure they weren't very hard to spot."

"Now for the hard part."

"The waiting."

"When do I tell the others to move out?," Debbie asks.

"When the enemy's a lot closer."

"What if Theo loses them?"

"Not gonna happen, Devlin guarantees. "Theo's a maniac on the road. Even when he doesn't have motivation."

Andrew and the twelve Slayers walk quickly but calmly from the gate to the exit. They traveled light: backpacks for some of the girls, a briefcase for Andrew, which meant they didn't have to wait for any luggage. They've done this so often it's become routine. They're a well-oiled Slayer-collecting machine. Cynthia follows about forty feet back. The girls climb into a black van sixty feet behind where Theo's parked. Andrew gets in the front passenger seat five seconds before Cynthia. Theo pulls out, cutting two taxis off to stay near the van. He makes sure to follow with a car or two in between, so as not to attract suspicion.

"Are they paternalists, or monopolists?," Theo asks Cynthia as he follows the Slayers out of the airport and onto a southbound highway.

"Who?"

"The ones we're following."

"They're kidnappers."

"Including the kidnapees?," he asks with smartass irony about the dozen Slayers Cynthia saw arrive.

"They've been brainwashed. It's like a cult."

"Which means this Buffy must have ten Rolls-Royces and twenty concubines."

"Female?"

"That would create jealousy amongst the girls she doesn't sleep with," he responds facetiously. "I'm thinking male concubines. I'm also thinking this sounds completely ridiculous, which I why I disagree with you. I think they mean well."

"Then why are you tailing them?," she asks, very peeved by her boyfriend's apparently lack of loyalty to her best friend,

"Well-meaning people can be dangerous. Most girls aren't as strong as Debbie, and don't have friends like you. So they need the whole group thing to keep from going nuts."

"I don't think explaining that to them will make any difference."

"I know. That's why I'm here."

NEXT: Deb and Dev use very novel tactics to take on Andrew and his dozen Slayers. Suffice it to say, Buffy never prepared them for this.