Gwen meets Buffy. Willow and Cordy fight to the death. Connor gets pummelled by Angelus but tries to stand up to Drusilla. And Faith and Lindsey find themselves in dire straits.
Things are quiet late Saturday morning in the Summers house. Kennedy walks up the stairs to the bedroom she shares with Willow. When she gets to the upstairs hallway, she sees the door to Buffy's bedroom open. She finds this odd, since Buffy is in the kitchen. An unfamiliar woman in skin-tight red clothing walks past her. The woman looks to her left and acknowledges Kennedy.
GWEN: Hey there. You must be one of the trainees.
Kennedy assumes Gwen is an assassin for the First, sent to kill the Potentials.
KENNEDY: [yelling] Buffy!! There's something in the house! It's coming down the stairs!
Gwen looks up at Kennedy. She's a little miffed.
GWEN: Do I look like an "it" to you? That's even worse than freak.
Buffy runs into the living room, opens the weapons chest and grabs a short sword. She enters the foyer just as Gwen has reached the bottom of the stairs. Buffy glares at Gwen.
BUFFY: You made a big mistake coming here.
GWEN: So much for small town hospitality.
Gwen sees the sword in Buffy's right hand. She rips off her left glove. Buffy swings for Gwen's neck. Gwen ducks. She grabs Buffy's right wrist with her gloved right hand. Before Buffy can break free, Gwen puts her left fingers and thumb on the flat sides of the sword. The metal gets red-hot, then peels from the top down like a banana peel. Buffy lets go of the handle to keep her right palm from being badly burnt. The deformed sword falls to the ground. Giles, Andrew, Anya, Dawn, Amanda and Rose, who've been watching from the living room, stand there with their mouths open in stunned silence. Kennedy, who came running down and saw what Gwen did to Buffy's sword, backs up into the living room. Gwen picks up her glove and puts it back on. Buffy stands six feet away, crouching in a fighting stance, her face intense but wary.
GWEN: None of you try to kill me, and I won't try to kill any of you. That sound like a good deal?
Spike comes running up the basement stairs and enters the hallway.
SPIKE: What the bloody hell is going on? Sounded like trouble. [he sees Gwen, stops in his tracks for a second, then smiles.] Gwendolyn!
GWEN: Spike!
Spike rushes towards her and they hug. She laughs as he lifts her off the ground. When her feet are back on the floor, Gwen looks him over.
GWEN: You look the same. Then again, your kind's supposed to do that.
Spike runs his right hand through the front of her hair. Gwen smiles.
SPIKE: You got highlights. That's new.
Xander, who had been shopping, comes in through the back door and walks down the hall. He looks to his right and sees the people in the living room standing there, looking astonished and puzzled.
XANDER: What's with the funny faces? [he turns to his left and sees Gwen] Hummana hummana haaa-hi. [after staring at her for a couple seconds, Xander glances over his right shoulder towards Buffy.] Who's the new girl? [he looks back at Gwen] And why is she touching Spike?
GWEN: You'd rather I touch you?
XANDER: We-ell. I'd uh, umm, ugh . . .
Spike smiles.
SPIKE: I'd like to see that.
GWEN: I thought you one of the good guys now.
Spike has his left arm around Gwen's waist. She has her right arm around his waist. He notices everyone staring at them.
SPIKE: I'd like you to meet Gwen Raiden. She's on our side.
Kennedy walks past Gwen and towards Buffy. She stares at Gwen suspiciously.
KENNEDY: Another good demon?
GWEN: Hey! Enough with the insults. This girl's got a mouth on her.
BUFFY: This is Gwen? The woman you slept with? The one who's electric?
GWEN: The one and only.
Giles walks from the living room into the hallway towards Gwen. He takes off his glasses, cleans them and puts them back on.
GILES: What precisely do you mean by electric?
BUFFY: This.
She picks up the sword, the top half of which has been peeled back in four strips. Giles takes it in his hand and looks closely at it. Andrew thinks he knows what Gwen is. The gloves. The highlights. The powers. His eyes get very big.
ANDREW: You're a super hero!
GWEN: Usually people go with freak.
SPIKE: Usually people don't know a great thing when they see it.
Spike and Gwen flirt a little, then let go of each other. He goes and stands near the others, between the foyer and the living room.
GILES: Am I to understand that you emit electrical energy? Enough to melt steel?
GWEN: Or kill a man. Ergo the gloves.
XANDER: You can kill me with your touch? [smiles] I really go for that in a woman.
ANYA: The sad thing is he's not joking.
SPIKE: What was all that bloody screaming about?
GWEN: Buffy tried to cut my head off.
Spike looks horrified.
SPIKE: Is that how you usually treat house guests?
GWEN: It's okay. Must be a Slayer thing. Faith also tried to kill me when we met. Then I shocked her. After she didn't die, we really hit it off. That's pretty much how I make all my friends.
KENNEDY: Why did you come out of Buffy's room?
BUFFY: You were in my room!
GWEN: Had to go through somebody's window.
SPIKE: Gwendy, there was no reason to break and enter. Why didn't you tell me you were coming?
GWEN: I like to surprise people.
BUFFY: You broke my window?
GWEN: No. I opened it.
BUFFY: It was locked.
GWEN: So?
SPIKE: Gwen makes her living as a cat burglar.
GILES: You're a professional criminal?
GWEN: Its not what you think. I only steal from the obscenely rich for the obscenely rich. I'm guessing from the accent and vintage that you're Buffy's Watcher. John Steed to her Emma Peel?
Giles smiles. He likes the Avengers analogy.
GILES: Minus the bowler hat and weaponized cane, of course.
GWEN: Plus, you're a whole lot better looking.
SPIKE: Emma Peel as a Slayer. Makes me look at Diana Rigg in a whole new light.
GILES: She looked good in any light.
KENNEDY: Giles! I had no idea. Guess I'm not the only one in this room who had a teenage crush on her.
Giles is a little disturbed by the idea that Kennedy and him could have similar tastes in women.
ANDREW: Did your parents send you away to a special academy?
GWEN: Well, yeah.
Andrew looks very excited.
ANDREW: It really exists! So there was a kind old man who taught you to hone your powers and use them for good?
Gwen looks at Andrew like he's a little nuts.
GWEN: It was like a really expensive reform school. They knew not to touch me, and kept me away from people who didn't.
ANYA: But Spike can touch you. And you've obviously touched him. You can't touch people, but you can touch vampires?
GWEN: Actually, I can do a little more than that to them.
Buffy, Giles and Xander cringe.
SPIKE: It's not what you think.
GWEN: I made Spike's heart go thumpety-thump. Literally.
Giles gasps.
GILES: With electricity? That, that's just not possible.
GWEN: I could show you.
Spike backs away from Gwen.
SPIKE: Sorry Gwen. As much as I appreciate the offer, it would be wrong.
GWEN: I was only kidding. I know better than get you throbbing while the kind-of not-really girlfriend's watching. [oblique backhanded reference to omniscient Cordy watching her jump-start Angel's heart.]
ANYA: So you HAVE to sleep with vampires. Not because your super powers make you feel psychologically estranged from mortal men, but because you physically can't have sex with mortals. That's very interesting.
Buffy glares at Anya.
XANDER: But why Spike!? Couldn't you find a better vampire?
Angelus stands in the hallway with Lewis. He bounces a rubber ball off the door of the room Lindsey, Faith and Connor are in. It bounces back across the central hallway in front of the elevator. Angelus repeats this process again and again, trying to get on his enemies' nerves.
LEWIS: How long are we gonna stand here and wait?
ANGELUS: As long as they stay in that room. Remember Lew, when they're in there, they can't do us any harm, and they can't give their friends any help.
CORDY: Don't lie to me, Willow.
Cordelia picks up a chunk of concrete from the balcony Willow dropped on her head. She hurls it at Willow's mouth. Willow staggers backwards. Cordy confidently approaches.
CORDY: Was I everything you expected?
Willow puts out her right hand and tries a spell to push Cordy back across the room. It only knocks her back three feet.
WILLOW: More.
Cordelia smiles.
CORDY: Thanks Will. You're not just saying that so I'll hold back, are you?
Willow shoots energy out from her fingertips, slashing Cordy's left cheek and right shoulder. Cordy looks upset.
CORDY: You got blood stains on my Vera Wang!
Hits Willow in the face with the back of her right hand.
WILLOW: I think red's more your color.
CORDY: Well, I am both a Spring and an Autumn, but — hey! Are you threatening me?
Cordy puts her right hand around Willow's neck and lifts her off the ground. Willow struggles to speak as Cordy chokes her.
WILLOW: I'm giving you one last chance to surrender.
Cordelia laughs and looks up at Willow.
CORDY: Or else what? You'll float a pencil and stick it in my eye?
Willow floats a iron reinforcing rod that supported the destroyed balcony. The rod levitates on the opposite side of the lobby and starts spinning. It comes at Cordy from behind, striking her in the back of the head and the back of the neck. Cordelia lets go of Willow. She reaches her left hand back and grabs the spinning rod.
CORDY: Thanks for the gift.
She swings the rod for Willow's head. Willow grabs it with her right hand. Cordy kicks Willow in the chest with her right foot. Knocking her backwards and onto the curving stairs near the elevators. Willow stands up and has the high ground. Cordy holds the rod with both hands and swings for her knees. Willow leaps up and does a forward somersault over Cordy. Cordy turns and sticks the end of the rod into Willow's lower back before Willow can turn and face her. Willow moves away from Cordy as she turns around. Cordy strikes her in the right knee, then in the face. Willow backs up towards the center of the lobby. Cordy strikes her first in the head, then in the ribs, then three more times in the head. Willow goes down. Cordy turns around and walks away. She puts her hands on each end of the metal rod, bends it into a U, then drops it to the ground.
CORDY: Why do your weapons always turn on you?
WILLOW: Those are toys. I'm the weapon.
CORDY: Wrong.
Cordy walks towards the bruised and bleeding Willow. Willow tries a right punch. Cordy blocks it, grabs Willow with both hands and throws Willow through the desk in front of Lorne, Wes, Gunn and Fred.
CORDY: You're the toy.
Willow stands up amid the debris of the shattered desk. Lorne, Wes, Gunn and Fred now have nothing to hide behind. They stand and anxiously watch. Willow stands in the lobby in front of Angel's office. Cordy stands 12 feet away, in front of the elevators.
CORDY: The question is, how long before your batteries run out?
WILLOW: I'd worry about myself if I were you.
White bolts shoot out of Willow's fingers and hit Cordy for three seconds. She shakes and grimaces in pain. When the bolts stop, Cordy falls to the ground. Willow walks over to her. She puts her right hand on Cordy's chest. Glowing red light emanates from the area Willow's touching, and the light moves up Willow's right arm. After five seconds, Willow takes her hand off of Cordy and stumbles back to the center of the room. She gets on her knees and grabs her head in agony. Cordelia stands up.
CORDY: You thought you could handle my power?
While Willow is down, Cordy kicks her in the face, knocking Willow on her back.
CORDY: The stuff I've got would blow your brains out.
Cordy grabs Willow by her hair, picks her up and throws her through the glass in the front door. She walks up the stairs and grabs Willow's right leg, dragging the rest of her back into the lobby.
WILLOW: Now comes the bad part.
Cordy hits her in the face with three left crosses. When Willow gets up, she tries to leap away from Cordy, who holds Willow by grabbing Willow's right arm with her left hand.
CORDY: You'll fly when I want you to.
Cordy hits Willow in the nose with two right jabs, in the chin with a right uppercut, then tosses her in a high arc across the length of the lobby. Willow crashes through the glass in the opposite set of doors. Cordy saunters down the three steps into the lobby. She glances at Lorne, Wes, Gunn and Fred and gives them a little half-smile. She can tell they're very worried about Willow. Willow limps down the stairs in the lobby. She stands in front of Angel's office, and looks at Angel's friends, who are behind her and to her right. Cordy stands on the opposite side of the lobby.
WILLOW: Don't worry guys. It'll be over real soon.
CORDY: That is what they're worried about. But she's right. You don't have to worry. I'll protect you. So long as you don't try to hurt me.
WILLOW: They won't have to.
The weapons case, which is behind Willow and to her left, opens. The weapons float out and array themselves in a line above and behind Willow. The swords, axes and daggers hang on midair, pointing menacingly at Cordy.
CORDY: All for me? I'm honored.
Willow stares intensely at Cordy, looking very serious. Cordy appears nonchalant. All the weapons to Willow's left fly at Cordy. Cordelia puts her hands down at her side, palms facing outward. Her head tilts slight upwards and her eyes turn completely white.
CORDY: Aegios.
At the last instant, the weapons veer away from Cordy and fall harmlessly behind her. Willow lets fly all the weapons to her right. The same thing happens to the them. Cordy's eyes go back to normal. Willow looks demoralized and exhausted. Cordy smiles at her.
WILLOW: You're right. Your powers too much for me. I'm not strong enough to beat you.
Before leaving the hotel, Willow asked Connor to give her his small double-headed ax. At the start of the fight, when Willow and Cordy were exchanging insults, she placed it inside Angel's office, since the door was open. Now, Willow reaches her left hand back. The ax floats through the open door and into her left hand. Willow quickly throws the ax at Cordy, catching her by surprise. It strikes her in the belly. Cordelia screams and falls to the ground.
WILLOW: But I am smart enough.
Willow stares at the stunned and horrified Cordelia, who is sitting on the ground. The ax slices downward, cutting a foot long slit in her stomach. Her stomach opens, and a baby floats out. Dark Willow smiles as she works her magic. Lorne, Fred, Gunn and Wes are aghast. The baby boy turns and looks at Cordelia, opening its blue eyes. Cordy looks up at it and cries. Willow looks even happier. Cordelia, trembling with grief and anguish, reaches for the child. Before she can touch her baby, Willow flays him. Fred closes her eyes and turns away. Lorne vomits. Cordelia starts screaming and crying. A few seconds later, Willow snaps her fingers. The baby disappears. Cordy lies on her back. Her eyes are wide open, but she's not moving. Willow falls to her knees. She groans in pain as her hair turns back to red. Willow stays there for thirty seconds, gasping for breath and recovering from the ordeal. Angel's friends rush over to Cordelia. She's not responsive, put she has a pulse. Willow stands up.
WILLOW: Whew! Don't ever wanna have to go through that again. Let's get going. Come on guys. Time's a wastin'.
They turn towards Willow, but can't look her in the face. All of them appear to be deeply afraid of her.
FRED: What about Cordy?
WILLOW: She'll be fine.
WES: Not without medical attention. You, —
The front of her blouse is soaked in blood. Wesley pulls the blouse up to look at her stomach. There's no cut.
WES: You, but you cut her.
WILLOW: Magic. I gave her a radical demonectomy. The shock should wear off in a couple hours.
FRED: Not for me it won't.
WILLOW: Are you getting squeamish on me?
FRED: You flayed a child!
WILLOW: Don't believe everything you see. That wasn't a child. It took the form Cordy wanted it to take. Wasn't gonna look like that when it came out her. I don't know what it was, or what it really was going to look like, but I know it was going to be powerful and evil and even harder to kill once it was on its own. I did what I had to. Demon killing isn't pretty. It's not my fault if you couldn't handle the rough stuff. But standing around and gawking isn't going to bring Angel back.
Lorne grabs the bag with Willow's magical supplies. Fred take her crossbow, Gunn his ax and Wesley his sword. The three of them lead the way into the basement. The door to the "citadel" is defended by Tina, Vala and Alanna. They see Angel's three armed friends, with Willow behind them, and decide to flee. After all, the steel door's locked. Willow walks up to the door. Angelus's vampires attack Fred, Gunn and Wes from behind. Willow causes the circular handle on the inside of the door to turn, and the door opens. Willow and Lorne duck inside. Wes, Gunn and Fred quickly follow, shutting the door on the vampires, who make their way to the other side of the citadel, where Ronan, Nat and Hector stand guard.
ALANNA: They fell for it.
RONAN: Boss is probably expecting us.
The six vampires head down into the sub-basement.
The room itself is where Angelus was kept in a cage. After he escaped and expelled Angel's friends from the Hyperion, he built two more cages, and used them to hold human victims. He sealed off all exits, including elevator, stair and sewer access, save for three heavy metal doors which only he could open from the outside. Two of them connected to the hotel, and one connected to the sewers. Anyone can open them from the inside. The sewer access gave Angelus the luxury of being able to hide from his enemies without becoming a prisoner. It was insurance in case Cordy lifted the protection spell and forty-odd soldiers raided the place, or if Faith, Buffy all of Angel's friends and all of Buffy's friends came by to capture him. The idea had been Cecil's, and Angelus did not object. After the sun returned and Faith arrived, Cecil had the cages dismantled and the defenses strengthened. Alanna mentioned the citadel to Spike, and Gwen confirmed the existence of a sealed-off area in the basement when she did her pre-fight reconnaissance. Willow thought she could break in. So did Angelus. In fact, he was counting on it.
Willow set up her supplies as Gunn and Wes checked all possible means of entry to make sure there wasn't a secret way in.
WES: It appears to be secure.
LORNE: If you're wrong, we have enough people to stop them.
GUNN: We ain't stayin'.
WILLOW: You're leaving me alone?
GUNN: Lorne's stayin'. We gotta go fight the vamps. Faith and Connor can't do it alone.
LORNE: You're counting on me to defend Willow?
FRED: Do what you do best. Scream. We'll hear ya.
LORNE: And in the meantime?
FRED: The vampire will be disoriented by the noise. There's too many of them for more of us to stay here and keep watch.
GUNN: So we kill 'em before they get in here. Best defense is a good offense.
WES: You know the plan. Don't go wobbly on us now.
LORNE: Are you questioning my commitment? When have I not stayed till the bitter end? I never go wobbly. Unless I'm hit in the head and knocked unconscious. Here's hoping I sound the alarm before that happens.
WILLOW: Good luck.
FRED: You too.
Fred almost looks at Willow, but is still too uncomfortable around Willow to look her in the eyes. Wes, Gunn and Fred take their weapons and leave. Since Faith, Connor and Lindsey started from the top, these three will start from the bottom.
Willow gives Faith the telepathic head's-up.
FAITH: Time to move.
Connor, Faith and Lindsey leave the room and re-enter the hallway on the fifth floor. Angelus and Lewis stand in front of them. Faith and Connor look to their left and their right for ambushes. They don't see any.
ANGELUS: Don't dawdle. Your friends are waiting. Or, [smiles] maybe it's already too late.
Connor charges at Angelus and kicks him in the chin. Angelus staggers back a few steps into the central hallway.
ANGELUS: That's my boy!
When Connor charges Angelus, Lewis charges Faith to keep her from helping Connor. They exchange right crosses. Lindsey tries to stake Lewis from behind. Lewis reaches his right arm back, grabs Lindsey's left arm and pulls Lindsey in front of him as a shield against Faith. Lewis goes bumpy.
LEWIS: Tell me Slayer, who do you save?
FAITH: Who do you think?
Faith throws a right jab. Lindsey ducks and the punch hits Lewis in the mouth. He lets go of Lindsey. But he's done his job of isolating Connor. The elevator is on the sub-basement level. Angelus has pulled open the elevator doors on the fifth floor. They are ten feet to his right or Connor's left. Angelus hits Connor's face with a left cross. Connor responds with a left hook and a right roundhouse kick, knocking Angelus into the wall 15 feet in front of the open elevator shaft. Connor stands in front of Angelus, his back to the elevator.
ANGELUS: You're always so eager for action.
CONNOR: Someone in this family has to get some.
Connor lands a right cross. Angelus responds with a right jab, knocking Connor back three feet. Angelus laughs.
ANGELUS: That's not the kind of action I was talking about.
He blocks Connor's straight right kick and hits Connor's head with a right hook kick, then a straight left kick to Connor's chest. These blows knock him back six more feet.
ANGELUS: Anyone ever tell you to look before you leap?
Angelus smirks. He blocks Connor's right hook and left cross and knocks Connor three feet back with a left uppercut. Angelus follows this up with a right roundhouse kick that sends Connor into the open elevator shaft. He falls 50 feet before his back slams into the top of the elevator car. Lindsey and Faith can hear the thud, as can Wes, Gunn and Faith six floors below. Lewis retreats towards Angelus.
ANGELUS: Don't you wish you took your old man's advice?
Angelus's voice echoes down the shaft. Faith and Lindsey notice the open door. Angelus turns to his left and notices them. He smiles.
ANGELUS: Would you like to join him?
Lewis leaps at Faith, knocking her to the ground.
ANGELUS: Looks like it's just you and me, counselor.
Lindsey pulls out his water pistol and tries to squirt Angelus in the face. He puts up his right arm to protect himself, and the holy water burns his forearm. Lindsey kicks Angelus in the groin with his left foot. Angelus reaches his left hand out and rips the squirt gun from Lindsey's right hand. He tosses it to the floor and crushes it under his left foot. Lindsey moves behind Angelus so that he's past the elevator. Angelus turns around.
ANGELUS: So that's what you did to Lars. Let's see how tough you are without your secret weapon.
Faith throws Lewis off of her. He hits her with a right roundhouse kick. She responds with a flying right kick and follows this up with a right hook. She runs to her right, into the central hallway, and passes Angelus on his left, between him and the elevator. As she's going by, Faith hits him in the left ear with a right jab, knocking Angelus into the wall to his right. She grabs Lindsey's hand and they open the door to the stairs. They run down a few steps before they notice three more vampires waiting for them on the landing. Angelus and Lewis enter the stairwell and shut the door behind them.
ANGELUS: Guess you won't be joining Connor after all.
Connor groans as he slowly stands up. A few feet above him is the basement level. He climbs up and pries open the door. He sees sheet metal in front of him, part of the barrier sealing off the room WIllow is in. Connor jumps back down onto the roof of the elevator car. He pulls off the trap door and drops down into the car on the sub-basement level. Drusilla is standing there waiting for him.
DRU: Miss me, brother?
Connor stands in the back right corner of the car. Dru is the last person he wants to be trapped in an elevator with after a bruising 50-foot freefall.
DRU: Don't be afraid.
Drusilla puts the nail on her left index finger against Connor's carotid artery. When he tries to move, she digs in her nail a little — just enough to break the skin. but not enough to sever the blood vessel. Connor gets the message and holds still. She stares deeply into his eyes. He doesn't try to close them or look away.
DRU: That's a good boy.
She puts her right hand on his heart.
DRU: Still pounding too much. Relax. You don't have to fear me. You won't have to fear anything. Same with your Blessed Lady of the Locksmiths. Dawn is a funny name for a vampire. It can be such a sad toim, unless you have someone to help you wile away the long, lonely morning hours. You can be with her forever. After tonight, the two of you will never spend a moment apart ever again. Just imagine: every second, of every day, or every year, of every century, you will be by her soid. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Connor wasn't expecting this. He takes a few seconds to recover from Dru's disturbingly seductive fantasy. Then he realizes how to respond. If she's gonna mess with his mind, then he's gonna mess with hers.
CONNOR: You're giving me a choice. I like that.
Drusilla smiles.
CONNOR: Did Angelus give you a choice?
Drusilla stops smiling.
CONNOR: Maybe at the end he did. But he didn't give you a choice when he killed your family. You didn't chose to go insane. Didn't chose to let him take away everything that mattered to you.
Drusilla glares at Connor and starts bending her left index finger, as if preparing to slit his throat.
CONNOR: You wouldn't. I'd be dead before I could drink. You need me. Just like Angelus made you need him. You know what he did was wrong. Even now, deep down, you know that Angelus did a bad thing when he killed all those people you loved. If he really loved you, why didn't he just sire you right away? Why did he make you suffer? Did Darla do that to him? Did you do that to Spike? If Angelus loved you, if he cared about you, why did he take pleasure in hurting you?
Drusilla was certainly not expecting this from Connor, and she is not amused.
DRU: Because I wasn't ready. Neither are you.
Connor reaches his left hand into his pocket and begins to pull out a wooden stake. Dru puts her right hand on Connor's left hand before he can lift the stake all the way out of his pocket.
CONNOR: Relax. I just want to make your pain go away.
Connor gives Dru his smart aleck smile. Dru gets furious. She punches him twice in the stomach with her right fist. She wraps her left hand around his throat and chokes him for a few seconds before bashing his head twice into the metal door. She knocks him down with a left hook to his right cheek. Dru pries the door open and tosses Connor out into the hallway in the sub-basement. He looks up and sees Vala, Alanna and Tina. Dru walks out of the elevator.
DRU: Have fun playing with your big brother.
Drusilla walks away. When Connor tries to get up, Angelus's Sirens start wailing on him.
Lindsey and Faith stand next to each other on the stairs. Three vampires are a few feet below them, and two vampires, including Angelus, are a few feet above them.
ANGELUS: Faith's big brown Bambie eyes look so cute when she's afraid.
LINDSEY: Any suggestions?
FAITH: Stick with me.
LINDSEY: That's a given.
Faith leaps down onto the landing, tackling Tristan and Penn. Lindsey leaps down and elbows Gelo in the mouth. (His name's Angelo, but there can only be one Angel, so Angelus made him change it.) Gelo tosses Lindsey down to the next landing.
ANGELUS: Don't let them get below you!
Gelo shoves Lindsey against the wall. Faith leaps down, grabs Gelo from behind and tosses him down to fourth floor level. Tristan and Penn leap down to Faith's and Lindsey's level. Tristan punches Faith a few times and Penn gets in two body blows against Lindsey. Then both of them turn to their left and leap down and join Gelo at the fourth level. Angelus and Lewis walk down to the first landing, turn left and look down at Faith and Lindsey. Faith looks at Angelus and Lewis, who are above and in front of her, and glances at Tristan, Penn and Gelo, who are below and to the right of her. She stands with Lindsey on a landing that is six feet long and five feet wide. Faith is in the center, with Lindsey standing in the back corner.
ANGELUS: Think you can protect your boy toy from all of us?
Penn leaps up onto the landing and grabs Faith. She pushes him back down. Lewis leaps down and — before she can turn to face him — lands a left hook to the left side of her face. Lindsey steps forward and hits Lewis in the nose with a right jab. Angelus leaps down. While still in mid-air, with his right hand he pushes Lindsey into the wall and with his left fist punches Faith in the face as she turns to help Lindsey. Tristan leaps up and pounds Faith in the back. When Angelus tries to hit her with a right hook, Faith ducks and moves to her left so that she's in the back corner with Lindsey, who is to her left. Lewis leaps down to join Angelus and Tristan and surround their cornered opponents. Angelus is in the center, Lewis on his right, Tristan on his left.
ANGELUS: Call me a romantic, but I love it when a man and woman choose to die together.
FAITH: Not me. I like it better when they choose to kill together.
Lindsey and Faith pull out their stakes. The confined space makes it hard for the vampires to get out of the way. With his right hand, Lindsey stabs for Lewis's heart, which is only two feet away from his own. Lewis brings his arms in and grabs the stake with both hands when the point is brushing against his shirt. Lindsey puts his left hand behind the stake, trying to drive it home. After a few seconds of struggling, Lewis pushes Lindsey's back against the wall and gets the stake four inches away from his heart. He pulls the stake out of Lindsey's hands and it falls to the floor. The space they are fighting in is too confined for Lindsey to bend down and pick it up. Lewis pins Lindsey's shoulders against the wall and leans in to bite the right side of his neck. But just before he can dig in, Lewis's right shoulder touches the small silver cross Lindsey wears around his neck. Lewis growls and backs up two feet. Lindsey hits him in the face with a right cross. Lewis tries a right hook, but LIndsey ducks. Lewis's fist hits an exposed metal pipe. He growls again and hits Lindsey in the ribs with two left hooks, then knocks the wind out of him with a right uppercut to the stomach.
Faith reaches her right hand out to stake Tristan. He grabs her right wrist with his left hand and rams it into the wall. The stake falls to the ground. Faith hits him in the stomach with a left kick. Angelus pounds Faith with two right crosses to the face. Tristan adds a left hook. Faith bends her knees and props her back against the wall to keep from falling down. She blocks Angelus's left uppercut with her left hand and Tristan's right jab with her right hand. Angelus connects with a right hook. Faith responds by hitting Angelus with a left jab. She tries to follow this blow with a right hook, but Tristan grabs her right forearm and Angelus lands a left jab to her right eye and a left hook to her ribcage.
Kelly Campbell walks into the lobby of the Hyperion. She sees the wholesale devastation: the collapse balconies, shattered chandelier, bust walls and broken furniture. She sees the floor strewn with debris.
KELLY: Looks like I came too late.
NEXT: Kelly tries to come to the rescue. Gunn, Wes and Fred duke it out with Angelus's vamps. And Connor discovers it's lonely at the bottom. Plus, more of Gwen with the Scoobies.
