Andrew meets Debbie, and the Slayers meet Devlin. Let's just say their training did not prepare them for this. By the time the battle's over, Deb and Dev make them long for simpler times when all they had to worry about was Caleb.
A half-hour after leaving the airport, Cynthia calls a very nervous Debbie, who picks up before the first ring is even half-finished. "How close are they?"
"They've stopped at an apartment in Lakewood. Looks like they're turning in for the night."
"Are you sure?"
"We've been watching them from across the street for ten minutes. Some lights went on. Then they went off."
Debbie looks at Devlin. "Cynthia says they stopped." She hands it to him.
"Lakewood." He looks at the map. "That's about twenty five miles from here. I think you're right, Cynthia. Bug 'em and head on home. You and Theo did good work." Devlin hangs up.
"They could just be stopping for weapons," Deb worries.
"Fourteen hour flight. Factor in the nine hour time difference. To them, it's already tomorrow morning."
"Exactly. They sleep on the plane. When they land, they're ready to roll."
"This way they have more flexibility. The local handler can spy on you and lead the Slayers right in."
"That's bad." Devlin shrugs.
"Ordinarily, yes. But it gives them confidence. And the more confident they are, the better my plan will work. We've taken away the element of surprise." Devlin laughs. "There's nothing funnier than someone too busy setting up an ambush to realize they're walking right into one."
"Is this where we're supposed to put it?," Theo asks Cynthia.
"Not on the treads. On the inside."
"How the hell are we supposed to that?," he asks, taking her answer too literally.
"THIS inside," she says. "The side without the hub cap," she adds mockingly. The two of them crouch behind the van. In their right hands are tiny electrical devices. In their left hands are bottles of industrial-strength adhesive. They put a drop on the flat, plastic back end of the device, and attach it to the side of the rear tires that faces inward, where they won't get struck or run over. Or even noticed. Then they rush back across the street, start up the car and drive away, taking deep breaths of relief because they didn't get caught.
Back at Debbie's home, Devlin proudly holds up two small receivers, each one about the size of a miniature tape recorder. A red light on top of each of them has turned on. "We are in business."
"I'm not cut out for this spy crap," Theo confesses as he wipes the sweat off his brow.
"What happened? Last night you were Mister Danger, even after we almost got killed."
"Different sort of danger. Vampires don't call the cops on you for trespassing and write down your license plate number."
"A police record could keep you out of Yale."
"Yes."
"So could being dead! Or getting turned into a vampire."
"I'm not sure if they have a policy on that," he jokes.
"You did great," she assures him, putting her left hand on his right thigh. "You kept your cool." Theo stops at a red light, takes her left hand in his right hand, and leans in Cynthia's direction.
"Couldn't have done it without you." She pushes Theo away and laughs when he tries to kiss her.
"Deb warned warned me that this risky stuff gets guys all hot and bothered." The light turns green. Theo pouts and drives on. "You don't need a near-death experience to make me want to kiss you. To most people, that would be a good thing."
Debbie gets out of bed at six-thirty and wakes Devlin up. "Rise and shine."
"I'll rise, but I refuse to shine," he grumbles.
"Get up, Dev. This could be our last morning together."
"I'm still recovering from what could have been our last night together," he says with a big smile. She jabs a pencil into his sternum. He loses the smile. "Ow! A little too kinky for my tastes at this hour." She glares at him. He stands up. "Okay. I'm at your service, love. What do you want?"
"Get dressed." He slouches.
"Apparently we aren't of one opinion regarding last night." She puts her hands on his chest and drives his back into the closet door.
"It was spectacular. If you want it to ever happen again, get dressed and help me stay free." Debbie views Buffy the way Buffy viewed Quentin Travers and the old Council. If Quentin established a policy of bringing all Slayers to London for training, you can imagine how Buffy (and her friends, and Angel, and possibly Giles as well) would have reacted. She heads into the bathroom and turns on the shower.
"You know that I'll die before I let them take you." She opens the door.
"You're no good to me dead." Devlin shakes his head, sits down at Debbie's desk and finishes last night's homework for her.
"I hate it when she's all business."
Forty minutes later, Debbie's ready to walk to school. "Are you sure it's safe?," she asks.
"It's the safest place you can be. As long as you're in public, in a large crowd, they won't touch you."
"Why not? They're my age. They can blend."
"Video cameras in the halls. They fight their way out, they're on the six o'clock news. Media would eat this right up."
"The mall's got security cameras. How bout I go there after school?"
"Bring your friends. They're your last line of defense."
"They couldn't stand up to a single Slayer. Let alone a dozen."
"Witnesses, love. People who can scream for help. Our enemies are by nature covert. You belong here. They don't. THAT is their weakness."
"Is this like that history essay on soft power you helped me with?"
"Hadn't thought of it like that," Devlin responds with a smile. "Good call, Deb." He decides to go with it. "Buffy is a lot like George W. Bush. She has the most power, she's absolutely certain of her moral superiority, she thinks she's been called on to rid the world of evil, so she believes she can do whatever she wants, and anybody who disagrees with her is aiding the forces of evil." This analogy would certainly cause Spike and Angel to heave, at the very least, before calling Devlin a mentally-unbalanced idiot. Ironically, Angel is quite familiar with her new-found aversion to multilateralism.
Debbie picks up two of the four receivers. "One more time."
"The one with the blue tape on back is a motion detector. When their car moves, it starts beeping like an alarm on a watch. Plus the light beeps. The car stops moving, the light stops beeping. The one with the red tape on back is a proximity detector. If the car's within a quarter-mile of you, it will blare as loud as it can."
"In other words, get the Hell outta Dodge."
"We'll already be on alert from the motion detector."
"You won't be with me if they come during the day."
"But I'll know. I have my own set." He holds up the other two receivers.
"Get home. Get inside."
"That's the day plan. They can't besiege us without attracting attention."
"Then why don't I stay home?"
"Because you'll have to leave sometime. Best to do it when the enemy's not around."
"I have to leave? Debbie leaps up and straddles her legs around his waist. Are you sure?"
"At some point, you'll run out of food," he responds with a smirk.
"So would you. And then I'd start to look a little too tasty," she jokes before putting her feet back on the ground and walking towards the door.
"I'd stake myself before I ever hurt you."
"No you wouldn't. Cause I'd stake you first." After what passes for romantic banter in this relationship, Deb gives Dev a long kiss goodbye and heads off for school. He checks the monitors, sits on the couch, turns on the news, puts his laptop on the coffee table and goes to work gathering the kind of news you can't find on television.
Thirteen hours later, and still no word. Dev and his three vampires join Deb and her five human friends at Debbie's house, though they segregate not by life form but by romantic attachment, the four "mixed" couples, plus Theo and Cynthia. Theo being half-black, they could be called mixed as well, if all their friends weren't dating undead people, which puts mere racial differences in an entirely new perspective. It goes without saying that all their parents are unaware of this fact. Donielle's mother and father have qualms about her dating an older guy (Luiz was sired at twenty, though Donielle, who's seventeen, claims he's just shy of nineteen). Melanie's parents don't know about Paul. Diego's mom doesn't quite understand why her boy is spending time with an Anglo college girl. Privately, the kids find these concerns to be hilariously beside-the-point, like the owner of a china shop complaining that the bulls who destroyed his merchandise weren't properly branded. Or like Willow's mom getting nervous because Oz was a guitar player.
"I don't get it," Debbie declares, shaking her head. "Maybe the gear's busted." Cynthia and Theo worry they didn't install the bugs correctly.
"What's their hurry?," Devlin counters. "The later they come, the less they have to worry about crowds. The mall closes soon. Then there's nowhere to hide but our houses."
"We could just go to another town," Melanie points out.
"Or another state," Donielle adds. The other humans nod. Like Debbie, they favor running.
"Sooner or later we'd have to return," Paul tells his girlfriend Melanie.
"Plus, tomorrow's a school day," Diego mentions, which his friends find utterly prosaic. He explains. "We skip, we get suspended. And grounded. Then we're sitting ducks."
"Isolated sitting ducks, who can't help Debbie," Devlin comments. "Okay, I'll make a deal. We're don't hear anything by nine, we move out regardless. Just in case." They go back to silently waiting. Paul heads into the kitchen and returns with a bottle of rum and a shot glass.
"Anybody thirsty?" Dev glares at him. Paul downs the shot. "Nerves."
"Good thinking," Diego responds, pouring and drinking a shot himself. They are just a handful of kids and a couple no-name vampires taking on an enemy of almost unimaginable power who, the last time they were in California, routed the might of Angel and resources of Wolfram & Hart without even throwing a punch. At ten minutes to nine, the motion detectors start beeping. Everyone moves out. The humans in Theo's car head for the closest graveyard. The vampires disappear. Not even Debbie knows precisely where they are. For their own good, it's best if the humans remain ignorant of the vampires' activities. Debbie carries a stake in her right hand. Donielle, Melanie and Diego carry crosses. Theo and Cynthia have switchblades in their pockets.
"What are we supposed to be doing?," Donielle asks.
"Hunting vampires," Deb responds.
"I know what we're supposed to pretend we're doing. But what are we actually doing?"
"You're my human shields."
"This plan just keeps getting better and better," Melanie grouses. Devlin has kept certain elements secret, such as how they will fight off the Slayers if it comes to that. The parts he's told them make it sound pretty lame. Even Debbie only knows half the battle plan. But she trusts Devlin completely.
"They won't be stupid enough to attack civilians," the Slayer argues. "If they try, we have their plate number. We know where they're staying. They'll be in a world of trouble."
"And if they attack YOU?," Diego asks.
"You're my witnesses. The law's on our side."
"Not all of us," Donielle adds, referring to the vampires.
"They're above it," Diego comments with more satisfaction than apprehension. The kids are still embarrassingly naive about what their vampire pals are capable of. The receiver Theo is holding starts to wail.
"They're here," Debbie announces.
"Which way?," Cynthia asks.
"From the highway," Debbie responds as she points westward to the front gate. Cynthia and Theo sprint in that direction. "No! Take that one!," Debbie commands, pointing to a side gate to the north. "You have to sneak up BEHIND them." They change direction.
"Places everybody," Donielle sarcastically suggests, trying to use humor to hold down the butterflies in her stomach. Even Debbie's nerves are jangled. This is the moment they've been fearing. Laguna Hills's version of the Big Bad. If you're Buffy, the irony would be sickening. If you're Devlin, it's delicious.
The van stops a block from the cemetery. The Slayers slowly file out. "We got this all worked out," Andrew whispers to Tabitha as the other Slayers check around for vampire ambushes. "I'm the good cop, you're the bad cop."
"No Andrew. You're good cop number one. I'm good cop number two. Everyone else is the bad cop. Things go well, they take care of the vamps while we talk to Debbie."
"And if things don't go well - "
"We don't hurt her. She's one of us."
"This is a Rogue Slayer we are dealing with, Tabitha."
"We don't assume that. We make her prove it."
"Then, if need be, take her down," Andrew maintains.
"LAST resort."
"It's a thin blue line we walk, Tabitha," Andrew intones as they slowly step towards the cemetery gates.
"And . . . . . action," Diego whispers when Andrew and Tabitha come into view. The four of them turn around, Scooby accouterments in hand. Debbie was expecting the Watcher to be older. And more magisterial. Alan Rickman, perhaps. Andrew is a surprise. And surprises aren't good.
The Slayers had already drove past Debbie's house. They then tried two cemeteries to the south, followed by this one to the north, where a quick drive around the bloc allowed them to spot a car parked on the east side of the graveyard. Arthur, their driver and scout, parks on the west side, so as to better avoid getting noticed. Also, it means Debbie's human and vampire pals have to choose between attacking the Slayers' ride and making their escape. They believe, Like Wesley and Angel initially did, that they are dealing with juvenile delinquents and two-bit punk vampires.
Luckily for the two of them, Debbie sent Cynthia and Theo to the correct side. They sneak up behind the van, its engine still running, which conceals the sounds of their approach. The two of them sit down and lean against the back of the van, catching their breath and hiding in the driver's blind spot.
Andrew stops ten feet in front of Debbie. He looks at her and at her friends, who stand behind and to the left and right of her. "It would appear that you understand what you are," he begins.
"Wish I could say the same for you," she disparagingly responds.
"I'm Tabitha. I'm a - "
"Slayer. Well, either that or this guy's girlfriend." Tabitha smirks at Debbie's dig at Andrew. Since fifteen twenty feet behind him, so he can't see her reaction. "I'm Deb. Good to meet you." Tabitha steps forward. Debbie puts out her right palm. "That's close enough." She's more comfortable with the Slayer keeping at least twenty feet in front of her.
"There's a guy. Blonde hair. Early twenties. He's threatening my friend Debbie. He's armed," Theo says into his cell phone. "That's right. The Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. He chased Debbie in there. There's about ten women with him. I don't know why. But I think they're also armed. I ran away. He said he just wanted her. They came out of a van. I saw the plate. Let me think. It was, it was . . . " He glances two feet to his left. "C,8,J . . . 5, V, 2, 4. That's right. A black van. It was the weirdest, scariest thing. Almost surreal. But he's packing heat. So please hurry." Theo hangs up. "Now what?," he asks Cynthia.
"We wait. And hope Deb can stall them long enough."
"That, and hope whoever's driving this thing doesn't back up."
"You did a real good job of pretending to be scared."
"Pretending?" She takes his left hand in her right hand, kisses it and giggles under her breath at his self-deprecation.
"We are here on behalf of Buffy Summers," Andrew reports. "She wants to train you, as she has trained many others."
"Case you didn't notice, kinda taken care of."
"Who was the strongest vampire you have slayed?"
"I'm supposed to get their names before I dust them?" Her friends laugh.
"It will only get worse. Word of your success will spread, drawing in vampires who were strong enough to kill other Slayers." Debbie bites her lip to keep from laughing, since Andrew's describing Devlin. "As well as demons, with all sorts of special abilities."
"You mean the monsters you behead, and their corpses don't disappear? I've come across a few."
"Buffy was once like you. Cocky, talented, green. She didn't rest on her laurels. She trained. She learned. And that's why she's still alive, more than eight years after being called." That, and getting brought back from the dead on two occasions. It's a classic case of the facts getting in the way of the truth.
"Funny name. Is she the one from Sunnydale?," Deb asks, feigning ignorance.
"You have heard of her."
"I know she lived on the Hellmouth. And I know that I don't."
"Next month, next week, tomorrow night, a vampire who is stronger, older and more experienced than any you have ever faced could come here. One mistake, one misstep, and you are dead. Are you sure you want to face that danger on your own?"
"Does it look like I'm on my own?" Her friends laugh. Perhaps, if Rupert himself was there, he could appreciate the irony, recognize the parallels, and perhaps gain Debbie's trust. Alas, when you're running a worldwide operation, you have to delegate.
"You don't have to be afraid," Tabitha interjects. "Nobody wants to force you to do anything. But this job is so much easier when you have another Slayer watching your back. It takes away a good ninety percent of the risk."
"No closer," Debbie warns as Tabitha once again tries to approach her. "One more step, and I go to work on your Watcher." Tabitha actually has to think for a moment before stopping. Deb appears to be making the mistaken assumption that Tabitha cares deeply about Andrew.
"I just want to talk," Tabitha pleads, trying her best to befriend the new girl.
"I can hear you fine from where you are."
"How did you find out about vampires, Deborah?," Andrew asks.
"It's Debbie. One of them attacked me. Real strong. Funny face. Fangs. Disappeared when I pushed him into a tree. I got roughed up pretty bad, but I lived, thank the Lord, and then I sat down and started figuring stuff out."
"Was it a vampire who taught you the moniker Slayer?" He's beating around the bush regarding her harboring of vampires.
"A few of them called me that. Wouldn't call it teaching."
"You're a self-taught Slayer."
"What are you getting at?," Deb asks suspiciously.
"Hey man. Can't you just leave us alone?," Diego suggests.
"Or, maybe you could help," Debbie improvises. "See that crypt over there? We think a couple have been nesting inside. I broke in this afternoon, and found two mattresses. Plus some blood on the floor. Maybe they've moved on, or maybe they were just hiding in the sewers when I checked the lair out. It has direct sewer access. I'd like to see if they've returned. Wouldn't mind a little backup. You mind?"
Andrew suspects a trap. He believes that once Tabitha and he are inside, she'll hit them over the head and possibly try to lock them in. He's too smart for that. "I think you and your friends can handle two vampyres." Diego chuckles at Andrew's pronunciation. "Tabitha and I can watch. And evaluate."
"See if I rate a passing grade," Debbie quips. "Sunnydale's gone. Where did you come from?" Tabitha is starting to get nervous. She wants to bring in the other girls, but worries about alarming Debbie. Besides, they're busy protecting Andrew and her from a vampire ambush, which is vital, because, while Tabitha could probably take four punk vampires, Andrew would almost certainly get killed in the process.
"Rome."
"Texas?," Deb jokes. "Wait. The one in Italy? Get outta here!"
"That's one helluva recruiting trip," Diego comments.
"We care a great deal about your friend," Andrew tells Diego. "We want to help her, as we have helped other Slayers."
"How bout we go somewhere and talk," Tabitha suggests. "Get some coffee, maybe?"
"Yeah, I'd feel more comfortable with you if we were someplace public," Deb tells Tabitha, communicating her fear and suspicion without sounding threatening. Deb knows it's important to appear helpless, lest the unwelcome visitors slip out of the trap.
"I know what you're thinking," Tabitha relates. "I've been there myself." This was a half-truth, since she fled for her life to Sunnydale more than a year ago, and hence was not recruited in the way Debbie is. "You're scared. You don't know who to trust. Slayers don't hurt each other. We take care of our own."
"Like a sorority," Melanie jokes.
"And you don't even have to rush," Donielle adds. The longer the stalemate lasts, the bolder Debbie's friends become.
"We don't want to take you friend away," Andrew assures them. "Debbie trains with us for a few months, and she'll come back her stronger than ever. Better able to protect herself. Better able to protect you."
"Did Buffy study abroad?," Debbie asks before laughing at her euphemism. Tabitha and Andrew think the kids' cockiness is rooted in ignorance. They feel as if they are in control, and in absolutely no danger.
"Things were very different when there was only one Slayer," Andrew explains.
"How many are there? When did things change?" Andrew's flattered by her curiosity. He thinks he's making progress, and doesn't realize she's stalling.
"As long as there have been vampyres, there have been Slayers." Four police cars slam on the brakes when they reach the west gate of the cemetery. Their sirens had been off so as not to give warning. Tabitha turns around and sees them. Her stomach feels like it just dropped to her ankles. They've cut her off from the van, and from the other Slayers, who scattered in fear. She runs south as four cops enter, eluding them, but leaving Andrew to fend for himself.
"Police!! Freeze! Hands up!" Debbie and friends chuck their stake and crosses behind them and quickly obey.
"Thank God you came," she says, immediately becoming frightened. "He was going to hurt me." Andrew notices Tabitha is gone, and the cops are pointing their guns in his direction. Not to worry. He's not doing anything illegal. Andrew slowly puts his hands up and calmly smiles.
"Officers. I believe what we have here is a false alarm. Or possibly a misunderstanding." He's the adult in this scene. He's travelled the world. Surely he can talk his way past a few suburban Keystone Cops.
"He said he was going to take me out of the country and make me one of them," Deb quickly relates. "And it didn't matter if I didn't wanna. Cause Dana didn't wanna, and they took her from LA last month. I think he's a pimp. Or in porno. There was a girl with him. Her name's Tabitha. I think she made a break for it when you guys came." One of the officers frisks Andrew, and pulls out his shiny silver tranquilizer gun.
"It's not what it looks like." Another officer cuffs Andrew, while the one conducting the search takes his taser.
"You're under arrest for illegal weapons possession."
"What! Officer. Officers. This a big misunderstanding."
"Tasers are illegal for civilians to carry in this state. Sorry you misunderstood that." They drag him away while two other officers head over to take statements from Debbie and her friends.
"There were other girls!," Debbie shouts. "They may have tried to run away. Find them before his partner does!"
"There was another man?"
"Driving a van. I didn't get a good look at him. The windows were tinted."
"A black van?"
"Yeah. Did you see it?"
"We received a report about a black van. Our men are tracking it down." Andrew's jammed into the back of a cop car and driven away. It's all like some horrible nightmare. He tries to stay calm. Buffy had her run-ins with the authorities. But she always emerged unscathed. And Rupert had connections. This was going to be taken care of. The girls were still free. All was not lost.
Yes it was. The Slayers couldn't get to the van without running past the cop cars. And fighting eight gun-toting cops was not in there job description. Certainly not for the five foreign girls, who had fears of being deported back to their homelands, or held indefinitely in some detention center. Though all alone, Arthur keeps his head. He had given the girls maps so that they could find their way to the parking lot of the shopping mall two miles to the south. This was the meeting point in case anything bad happened. He puts his foot on the gas pedal and makes his escape. But Arthur quickly realizes something is wrong. With their switchblades, Theo and Cynthia cut off the sensors, so that the enemy wouldn't know about this little advantage. In the process, Theo made a hole in the inner side of the left rear tire, and Cynthia made one in the right rear tire. Fleeing the cops. With two flats. Not to worry. He should still be able to make it a couple miles.
Once she left the graveyard, Tabitha frantically wrangled the Slayers. They're in a strange place, they may be wanted by the police and there is no sanctuary within easy reach. Not to worry, Tabitha tells them. We head south to the parking lot. Try to keep clear of the roads to avoid cops. Then get in the van and let Arthur drive them north to safety. Her leadership quickly quells the hysteria brought on by the unforeseen shock. Tabitha looks at the map. About a mile south of them, there was a small park, followed by some warehouses. If they made it to the park, they would be safe from the road-bound police in their cars. The girls run south, using all their Slayer speed. One problem: each of the four vampires hid high up in a palm tree, watching the proceedings. The cops were gone, looking for the van. And once the Slayers made a run for it, they jumped down to the ground and followed, practically drooling with anticipation. The Slayers were too busy running and watching for police cars to notice the vampires following their scent from a discreet distance. Fact is, once the police showed up, they forgot all about those loser vampires.
Once the Slayers hit the park, they slow down slightly, while Devlin revs up to top speed, the other three following as best they can. That the escape route went due south surprised him. He had imagined the Slayers bearing south and west, for the country club, where they'd have more than one hundred acres to hide out in until the heat died down and they could slink out of town. That would have been Devlin's dream hunt. The park is only a half-mile long and an eighth of a mile wide. A few softball fields, some trees, a few benches, a couple playgrounds. And all of it not more than 120 yards from people's houses. Not quite as secluded as Devlin wanted. But he could make it work.
"Hey ladies!!!," Devlin calls out when he closes to within one hundred feet of his prey. The twelve Slayers turn around and see four bumpy, fangy vampires. These must be the ones they had been preparing for. Looks like the night won't be a total loss. This is the sort of trouble the girls are prepared for. Each of them brandishes a stake. Devlin smiles and keeps on walking. Sidney trails him on his left. Paul and Luiz follow on Devlin's right. The fact that four vampires are approaching twelve Slayers with such complete confidence should have set off alarm bells. But the girls assume they're just knuckleheads who mistook the fleeing Slayers for helpless, frightened damsels. They pick up their pace, each Slayer about six feet from the girl on either side. The vampires are separated by fifteen feet from one another, which means that two Slayers outflank them on both ends. These girls on the flanks move forward faster than the others, making their line concave, complementing the vampires' convex formation. Devlin keeps his composure, and glances left and right to make sure the other three don't panic. He stares down Tabitha and Naomi, two veterans in the center. Matilda and Dominique, the other two veterans of Buffy's war with the first, are on the far right and far left, respectively.
Devlin stops. The other vampires follow suit. When Tabitha is within thirty feet of him, Dev reaches into the back of his pants and pulls out two Glock semi-automatic pistols equipped with laser sights. He quickly aims and squeezes the trigger, hitting Tabitha and Naomi in the kneecaps. The sound of gunfire and the sight of their leaders falling down stops all the other Slayers cold. Sid, Paul and Luiz each pull out one identically-equip Glock and open fire, aiming all shots below the waist. Fearing for their lives, girls try to run away. But the vampires, guided by those sights, unload a fusillade of accurate fire. Sidney takes down Matilda, plus the girl to her left. Devlin quickly caps the three girls to the right of Tabitha, plus the one to the left of Naomi. Paul handles the next two, and Luiz takes down Dominique, plus the girl to her right. In three seconds, they had unloaded more than forty rounds, nineteen of them hitting a Slayer's leg. Devlin and the others quickly swoop down on the agonized girls, growling, snarling and gloating.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen!," Devlin declares. He points his guns at Dominique's and Naomi's ankles, squeezing the trigger and shattering the bone. They cry out in pain. He does the same to Tabitha and Matilda. The veterans, the leaders, the ones who have the greatest faith in Buffy, need to made an example of. Other girls are moaning. A few try to stand up, which only gets them more lead from the nearest vamp. Sidney baits one, putting her face within a foot of a Slayer's, then pulling it back back when the Slayer lunges for her. "Behave yourself!," Dev commands, pointing the gun in his right hand at Sidney's face. Paul grabs one girl's hair and leans in to bite her neck. "No feeding!! That goes for everyone!," he yells at Luiz, who's blowing kisses to one of the girls. The vampires pout and whine. So much blood. So much Slayer blood. And not a drop to drink. Dev could be a real hardass.
"We ain't gonnna kill 'em," Paul argues.
"What's wrong with a taste?," Luiz asks.
"Because we are better than them. They would kill us if we were down. If we were helpless. But we will not stoop to their level. We obey the Rules of War, one of which is, you do not strike at an enemy who is no longer capable of doing you harm!" The vampires laugh. The Slayers wonder what Hell dimension they've stumbled into, where police help gun-wielding vamps who try to claim the moral high ground. Dev points his pistols at the foreheads of two Slayers, just in case there was any doubt that they were completely within his power. The humiliation was almost as bad as the pain. He points at two more, then two others, going down the line to sure he has the undivided attention of each and every Slayer. "Buffy Summers sent you here TO DIE! But Debbie decided that was unfair. SHE is the Slayer we fear. As for Buffy . . . " Devlin and the other vampires laugh as they back away. Dev swings his pistols like it's the Old West. The vampires melt away into the trees. Sidney pulls out her cell phone. The neighbors must have heard all that gunfire. But there were a few "details" it was important for the police to know.
"Hello! Hello!! Omigod! Omigod! I'm walking past Carver Park and I heard shots! Like a machine gun. Then a black van zoomed right past me and ran a stop sign. I'm so scared. I'm so scared. Please hurry" She hangs up. They laugh and give each other high fives.
"Not bad, Sid," Luiz offers.
"You sounded frightened, but you didn't overdue it," Paul concurs. Sidney jumps up, hugs Devlin and kisses his right cheek. Even as they hurry back to their own meeting point before the cops find them with these smoking guns, Devlin can't resist a chance to bask.
"Savor this moment, my friends. We just made history."
NEXT: The police found out about Andrew's outstanding warrant. Buffy finds out about the disaster, goes ballistic, and blames Angel and Wolfram & Hart. After all, these kids couldn't have pulled off something this big completely on their own. Oh, and the Feds begin to wonder why Rupert is taking all these underage girls away from their families. Buffy, Giles and Andrew could really use some good lawyers right about now.