1"What gives you the right to call me that," Devlin asks Gretchen.
"He was my brother." Devlin gasps as he looks her over. The hair, the eyes, the face. It was his sister, all right. All grown up. And dedicated to killing his kind.
"Let's kill 'em already," Kelly shouts impatiently, brandishing the Scythe. They have Rona's and Vi's killers trapped. She doesn't want to squander this golden opportunity.
"Hold on," Robin orders. He has some idea what this moment means to Gretchen. But only some. This would be like if, instead of killing Nikki, Spike turned her into a vampire who then attacked Robin. It other words, it was even worse than his situation.
"Put down your stupid fireman's ax and let's have a real fight," Elektra responds to Kelly. Dev holds her back with his left hand.
"It's you. Oh my God, it's you. I used to wonder what became of you. Gretchen Oden. You changed you name. That's why I couldn't find you."
"You killed mom and dad."
Gretchen remembers that night. She was sitting in the back seat of Jenny 's parents' car. They were driving her home from a seventh grade dance. When they turned onto her street, the first thing she saw that was odd were the flashing red lights in what looked like her driveway. As they got closer, she could make out the police officers. There was a local news truck on the other side of the street. Jenny innocently wonders what's going on. Her mother quiets her firmly. Jenny doesn't understand. She can't recognize a crime scene. The car stops atthe police checkpoint. Gretchen gets out and runs past the officers onto her lawn. She sees the ambulance truck. A detective spots the anxious girl.
"Oh Jesus," he mutters.
"Only to spare them the agony of learning my fate," Devlin tells Gretchen. "You were never supposed to find out. But, well, looks like I'm not the only fighter in this family."
"EX-family," Elektra snaps jealously. "Spike said when the cop told you, you screamed bloody murder. Like a banshee."
"Spike," Wood asks. He looks at Gretchen. Apparently they had even more in common. Gretchen can't believe she had a conversation with the vampire who killed her family.
"You must be Nikki Wood's son," Devlin realizes, eager to switch attention away from himself. He fears his sister will try to kill him, and he'll have to kill her.
"Mummy was right," Elektra gleefully screams.
"Darling Nikki," Dev adds. "Like the Prince song. 'I knew a Slayer named Nikki, I guess you could say she was a sex fiend'," he sings, trying to provoke an attack so he fights Robin instead of Gretchen or the Slayers. Wood resists the provocation, but just barely. "I was sired the very next night. With your mother's blood. She's the one to blame. Your mother kills Spike, I live, the rest of my family lives, Elektra here never turns, Vi and Rona never get killed, Gretchen has a normal life . . . it's a whole different world."
"I think I should go thank her," Elektra tells her brother. "Where's she buried?"
"You monster," Gretchen calls Devlin, trying to separate the vampire from her brother and make him easier to kill. "You raped your own sister."
"Oh no," Devlin shouts indignantly. "She wasn't supposed to be home. Inga, home on a Friday night? And Spike was the one who raped Inga. He tried to sire her. I had to snap her neck to stop him. By the way, where is Spike?" Wood's asking himself the same question. Devlin finds himself welcoming his father's presence for a change, since it would throw the good guys into complete disarray. Or maybe they'd try to kill him instead of Devlin.
Fortunately for Spike, he's busy. The two vampires saw Spike chasing Devlin's car and erroneously thought he was fleeing from them and their awesome power. So they gave chase and tackled the stunned vampire. "Now I know who the two bloody stupidest vampires in the world are," he says as he gets up.
"I'm sure you'd like to hear Spike explain why he chose me. Your mom - that's obvious. But I was a nobody. Just a good son and loving brother with his whole life - "
"Kill them. Kill them both," Gretchen coldly orders
"You're learning so fast," Spike says to Elektra as they walk down Fifth Avenue with Dru and Dev. "One month, and she's like a pro."
"Daddy like my bedroom moves," she says with a smile.
"I wusn't talking about those," he responds with a chuckle. Devlin takes his mother's hand and points up at a man on the twelfth floor of a building. She laughs when he talks about running up there and throwing him out the window.
"Divinely messy. Who'll clean it up?"
"I could have Leks lick his guts up. She'll eat anything."
"Hey!"
"Now, now. You two play nice," Spike cautions. Leks hugs him.
"You always take her side."
"Bollocks."
"You spoil her. You let her get away with murder. Figuratively." Literally, that means nothing to vampires.
"I am a very strict father."
"To me."
"Becuz you never do what you're told." Elektra has taken advantage of Spike's distraction to leap up on a lamp post and swing from it like a gymnast, to the amusement and astonishment of hundreds of passers by.
"This is just what I'm talking about," Dev says, pointing up at his sister. Spike laughs. Dru looks cross. Spike notices this and stops laughing.
"Honey. Get down from there." She keeps swinging. "Daddy says get down." Elektra does a superhuman dismount and sticks the landing.
"I love being a vampire! That's right. You heard me. We're vampires!" She goes bumpy for all to see. Devlin would be mortified if he wasn't already dead. Dru grabs her and the four of them dart onto 52nd Street.
"I can't believe you draw attention to us like that," he whispers. Dru slaps Leks on the wrist.
"Is there something wrong with attention," Spike asks. "In case you haven't noticed, we're ALL about getting the attention of the bloody humans."
"The right kind of attention. For killing. Not showboating."
"This from a boy who hasn't done a decent massacre in over a year!"
"I'm sorry if I like killing the strong, dad. What's so fun about slaughtering the helpless?"
"Everything," an exasperated Spike replies. Elektra rushes off to the east.
"Oh no. Not this again," Devlin gripes. The three of them give chase, but Leks is already faster than any of them.
"Honey!"
"Deary!" Leks runs into them while returning from her journey at 52nd and 2nd.
"I got a score."
"Women," Spike asks.
"Children," Dru queries.
"Cops," Dev wonders.
"All of the above. Except for cops. It's a family."
"How delightful," Dru coos.
"They're right along First."
"Must be lost tourists," Spike comments.
"They're walking to a parking lot on 56th. So we have to hurry."
"How come she always gets decide what we do," Devlin whines as Spike leads their family to this prey. They proceed to a lot along the water where the family's car is. Elektra stalls the father by asking directions while the rest of her family catches up. He tries telling her he's from out of town and therefore unable to help. He gets in with his family and tries to shut the door, but can't. He's confused. Then Dru rips the door clear off. The children in back scream when they see the monsters surrounding them. Spike uses a brick to break the windows. The four of them each take a victim and pull them out of the car. Spike drains the screaming mother, Dru the bewildered father, and Elektra the ten year-old son. Devlin takes the seven year-old daughter in his arms and runs away, carrying her to the nearest police station. When he returns, the family finishes their meal. Elektra's away joyriding in the car. Dru looks at her son angrily.
"Wut's wrong," Spike asks her. "The boy wanted a chase. We all like one."
"He set her free."
"Then where did I get this blood," he asks, pointing to his lips and chin.
"From a vagrant. To hoid your sin."
"Is this true," a concerned Spike asks.
"No." Dru slaps him. "Okay. I let one go. So what?" Spike slugs Devlin, who falls to one knee.
"Bloody failure. I give you the easiest job, and you can't even do that."
"We needed a survivor."
"A survivor is a bloody failure! Why do you let me down again and again? I swear, I've never been so sodding disappointed in my whole life."
"I we killed them all, who'd know?"
"Everyone. Who else kills families in this town?"
"She dies, the pain stops. She lives, the pain goes on forever."
"Nothing goes on forever! Except us." Elektra screams with delight as she drives the car off a pier. "Bloody hell. Go save your sister. Keep her from sinking to the bottom."
"But the water's freezing."
"Save your sister, or sleep on the street, like the urchin you killed," Dru threatens. Devlin realizes he has to get back in his parents' good graces."
"Fine. But think about it. She'll spend her whole life traumatized by tonight. The pain will live on. And so will the memory of us. And our evil."
"Go," Spike orders as the car sinks under the East River.
"Fine. But the pain lives on," he says to his mother before running off and jumping in, knowing the part of her not disappointed with his disobedience understands.
Kelly attacks Elektra, who's been making faces at her. She swings the Scythe. Instead of ducking, Elektra corkscrews to her right, putting her hands and feet on the wall. When Kelly goes for a stake, Leks flips up onto the ceiling and crawls past Kelly and Gretchen, landing behind Gretchen. The Watcher elbows the vampire in the mouth, turns and swings her ax for her neck. Elektra ducks and sweeps out her legs. Kelly runs over and kicks Leks in the chest, knocking her down. The Slayer positions herself between vampire and Watcher.
"Come on," Leks taunts while on her back. "I'm really great in this position." She arcs her back and prepares to vault to her feet, but instead does a few break-dancing spins on her head before suddenly rising to her feet. "But I'm even better on top."
Veronica charges Devlin and tackles him, then goes for the stake. "Impatient. That always works in my favor." He reverses and gets on top, looking over his shoulder at Wood. "This is how my daddy killed your mommy." Wood swings his sword for Devlin's neck. Dev ducks and rolls off the Slayer. They both get up. "Careful. I've killed a Watcher. Though I've also killed two Slayers, so I don't know which one of you should be more afraid," he quips. Veronica attacks again, throwing left and right punches that Devlin blocks. But she lands a right kick to his chin that sends Devlin into the wall. He just laughs, stretches his arms out against the wall and looks to his left. "You doing okay, sis? How 'bout you, Leks?" This angers Elektra, which makes her fight better. Veronica finally attacks. Dev waits to the last instant and spins to his right, landing a right roundhouse punch to her face. She turns and tries a right hook kick that he blocks. Robin comes from behind, forcing Devlin to run away from both of them. Kelly chases him down, at which point Devlin grapples with the Slayer before flipping her to the ground and racing back towards the Slayerless Wood. He stands back-to-back with Gretchen, sword held up, waiting for Devlin just the way he waited for the Turokh-hans during the final battle in Sunnydale. Dev stops just out of range. "Your move." Robin looks past Devlin, who turns and grabs the madly pursuing Veronica. She throws him to the ground, but Dev pulls her down with him, making it impossible for Wood to behead him. She gets on top, but he grabs her wrists. "Can you tell your father over there that he's kind of creeping me out." She breaks free and punches him in the face. "Either he goes, or I make him go." He fends off a few more punches before she lands another one.
Thirty feet away, Leks leans back, dodges left and right, and does a forward flip to avoid the blade of the Scythe. After the flip, she lands a quick left roundhouse kick to Kelly's head. "That ax is so lame." Leks realizes she now has Gretchen behind her, and turns to look at each of them with one eye. "Look. The Axes of Evil," she puns. Once they both move towards her, Leks leaps on the wall, then the ceiling, then the other wall, then the ceiling again, then lands behind Kelly. When the Slayer tries to stab for her heart, Elektra lands a backflip kick to her chin. "What can I say? I'm just faster than you."
"Use your feet," Gretchen beseeches Kelly, knowing she has become too reliant on the Scythe because it always worked in the past.The Slayer takes the advice and tries a right hook kick, followed by a left roundhouse. Leks steps back and blocks both kicks.
"Predictable. No wonder you need that fireman's ax." She calls it that because of its red handle. Kelly lands a leaping straight right kick to Elektra's face. "Rona only had a stake, and where's she now?" This provocation sends Kelly charging at the vampire with the Scythe. Leks steps the the side, grabs the Scythe and pushes the Slayer into the wall. They struggle for the weapon a while before Kelly pushes Leks back. She goes on the attack again, but Elektra runs up the other wall and does a back flip behind the Slayer, who turns and swings. Leks ducks and sweeps Kelly's legs. While the Slayer is down, Leks tries to attack Gretchen, but Kelly grabs her left ankle, bringing her down. While they're both on the ground, Kelly swings for the vampire's neck and narrowly misses, smashing up a good chunk of tile. Both of them get up. "I'm bored. That's a first with a Slayer. Can I just kill you and get this over with?"
Devlin knows that with Spike in hot pursuit, he doesn't have much time. "Tell me dear," he says to Veronica. "Why do you fight?" She tries to kick him in the chest, he grabs her foot and spins her in the air. She quickly gets up, blocks his right hook and lands left and right punches to his face. "Is it to save complete strangers? Or to save people you know and care about?" Veronica, who generally regards talk from a vampire as gibberish, doesn't take the hint. She seeks to capitalize on her recent success. Devlin backs up, blocks two punches and dodges a straight right kick by moving his head to the left. She lands a left hook kick to his ribs and a right uppercut to his stomach. But when she tries a left hook for his face, he takes her wrist with his left hand, grabs her hair with his right and smashes her face-first through the wall until her hears her skull ping against a pipe. Dev hears Robin's sword coming for his neck and ducks in the nick of time, knocking Wood back with a right kick to the sternum. Devlin, always so careful, goes bumpy, growls and leaps through the air. Robin raises his sword above his right shoulder, but Dev is quick enough to grab Wood's hands with his left hand and his neck with his right. He uses his superhuman strength to drive the Principal's back into the wall. Wood is about to break his hands and the sword free, so Dev takes his right hand off Robin's throat and puts it on his left forearm, pulling Robin's arms directly above his head. At the same time, he leans in and bites deeply into the left side of the Principal's neck, pulling back as quickly as he swooped in. Wood sinks to the ground and lets go of the sword. Blood spurts from his neck.
Dazed from the hit, Veronica takes a few seconds to recover, just enough time for Dev to do his damage. Dev turns to face her, fearing an attempted stake. Instead, she lands a leaping right kick that sends him into the wall ten feet to the left of Wood. It is only now that Veronica sees what he has done. "Principal Wood?" He grimaces, puts his left hand to his neck and stoically tries to act like it's no big deal.
"I'm fine Roni. Kill him and I'll be even better." Dev's taken advantage of the respite to walk to the other side of the wall.
"He's not fine, Roni. He's a dead man. And you can't save him. As if you ever could."
"Kill him," Wood whispers, pulling out his cell phone with his right hand.
Meanwhile, Kelly and Elektra go at it furiously. Kelly swings the Scythe in her left hand for Elektra's neck. Leks ducks, but Kelly kicks her in the mouth with her right foot, then adds a left kick to the side of her head. Elektra responds with quick right roundhouse, left hook and straight right kicks, all of which are blocked. "You're getting predictable," Kelly taunts. She lands a right cross, dodges Elektra's left jab and lands another straight right kick. Elektra grabs the Scythe handle with her right hand and reaches for Kelly's throat with her left. Kelly grabs her right arm, and they spin around once before Kelly hurls Elektra into the wall. A sullen Leks, suddenly feeling overmatched, gets up and shuffles counter clockwise, towards Devlin. Kelly stays between the vampire and Gretchen.
"I smell blood," Elektra says with a smile. "A lot of it." Kelly takes advantage of the distraction to attack and land three straight punches and a right roundhouse kick, knocking Elektra down yet again. She can feel the power of the Scythe coarsing through her. At the same time, Veronica takes to the offensive against Devlin. The Slayers work side-by-side, pounding brother and sister. Devlin just keeps his hands in front of his heart to prevent a staking and takes the blows. With the Slayers occupied and successful, Gretchen sees Robin on the ground. His wound is on the other side of his neck, so she doesn't yet realize how much trouble he's in.
"Who's on the phone," she asks right before getting close enough to see the pool of blood to his left. "Oh no."
"Tell them you severed your jugular vein," Devlin yells, blocking Veronica's punches and dodging her kicks. He's impossible to kill when playing all defense, as he is now, having accomplished his goal. "Most vampires go for the caratid," he explains while ducking a right hook and taking a left kick to the stomach. "Blood's got more oxygen." She lands a right uppercut to his chin. "But the jugular's much more deadly." Veronica kicks him in the groin and goes for the stake. Dev winces as he grabs it with both hands. "Careful, little girl," he says as she tries to push it into his chest. "I killed Vi with one of these."
"And then you stuck it up her," Elektra taunts before getting hit in the face by the Scythe's metal shaft. She's decided to stay so close to Kelly that the Slayer can't properly wield the weapon, causing their struggle to devolve into grappling. "No, not that. The other one," she jokes. Kelly swings the blade for her neck. Elektra, seeing an opening, ducks and sweeps Kelly's legs. She turns to her left to face an attacking Gretchen. Elektra grabs the ax handle as the blade approaches her neck and bites the right side of Gretchen's neck. Dev hears his sister cry out in pain as the stake is two inches from his sternum. He head-butts Veronica, runs to his left, grabs Elektra by her hair and pulls her away from Gretchen. "What the fuck," Leks screams. Now both Slayers and a Watcher stand in front of them.
"You're not going to let him die alone, are you," Devlin asks his enemies. Gretchen immediately turns and runs over to Wood. She takes off her shirt and uses it to try and stop the bleeding. But the laceration is two inches long, and difficult to close with what they have available. "Aren't you curious about death," he asks the two Slayers.
"He's coming," Elektra announces, grabbing Dev, who wants to stay to watch his victim die. "We go NOW!" Leks streaks down the hall and out the door before the Slayers can blink. Dev has no choice but to run after her. The Slayers give chase. Devlin pulls out his gun and fires two shots back at them without even turning to look. Both bullets go into Kelly's abdomen, and she falls down. Devlin escapes outside just as Spike is running inside.
As he runs to the door, Spike hears the gunshots. Not good. The first thing Spike notices when he opens the door is the smell of blood. A lot of blood. Even worse. He knows he's too late, and races over the Robin just in time for Spike to be the last thing he sees before closing his eyes. "No. Bloody hell, no." The shirtless Gretchen looks up at Spike with rage in her tear-filled eyes.
"It was the devil's work," she says. Immediately, Spike remembers hearing that more than a quarter-century ago. He recognizes the anguished eyes. He knows who she is.
"No. This isn't bloody happening." Veronica rushes over.
"Kelly's fine. She just needs a . . . Principal Wood?" She sees Gretchen's tears and bursts out crying herself. Spike runs away, dashing past Kelly on his way to his children.
"What the fuck was that," Elektra demands to know as Devlin drives. "The whole point of this was to kill fucking Watchers."
"Draining takes time. That Slayer would have gotten you first."
"It's because she was your sister. I'm your sister, dammit!"
"I can't believe she's doing this. Fighting vampires. With Buffy. Now both my families have turned against me!"
"Spike wanted to kill her back in the day. But you said nooo. And now she comes back to bite us."
"I can use this."
"She's the enemy. We kill the enemy."
"I can find a way to exploit her. I just know it."
"Yeah. Kill her and it pisses Buffy off."
"Gretchen Oden. She changed her name."
"Big deal. So did you."
"In the emails she's powerful. Like, top tier. Above the formal Watchers. She lives in Rome. At the center. With the trainees."
"All more reasons to let me KILL her."
"Rupert Giles doesn't like email, so she writes for him."
"I wonder if he's fucking her," Leks says with a laugh. Dev slaps her with the back of his right hand.
"You do love her! After all this time. And after she tries to kill us! That is so like daddy."
"This is major, Leks. I just found out . . . give me a chance to adjust."
"I was so killing her. By the way, she tastes good for an old bird." Dev pulls his arm back to slap her, but relents. Instead, he licks Wood's blood off his front teeth.
"The principal wasn't so bad," he jokes. "I think tonight was a complete success." Just then, the car shakes as they are rear-ended. "My Mustang!" They get rammed again. Dev speeds up. Leks looks back.
"It's Spike. Daddy doesn't give up."
"No way I'm letting him stop us." Spike tries to pull along side to their left. Dev swerves to cut him off and nearly forces Spike into the far railing. He slows down and gets behind Devlin again as they snake around slower moving cars at over 100. Dev pulls down the window, takes out his gun and fires three shots at Spike's front left tire. He misses, put takes out a headlight. "Take that, father!" Spike gets close enough to bump and nearly spins Dev. "Fuck!"
"Relax," Elektra says.
"Relax? Relax," Dev growls as he negotiates a crowded highway at 120.
"Yes. Relax. It's all taken care of."