1The two vampires cover their bodies with a blanket and cover the blanket with a white sheet to reflect the sun.

"Pull," Devlin says to Eamon, who pulls the cord to open the shades.

"Hey ho let's go," Elektra says. Devlin fires two bullets, shattering the glass. Dev and Leks leap through the shards before they even have the time to fall. The two agents look up in disbelief. The vampires land on two taxi cabs, crushing them. They then leap back up across the street. The agents fire their crossbows at the vampires' backs. (They were the only ones equipped with crossbows for just this eventuality.) Dev fires two more shots in a second story window, and the vampires leap on through the shards once again, shocking the office workers inside.

"What the bloody hell," Robson says when he hears the shots. "I told you hold, he adds, mistakenly thinking his agents are responsible."

The two agents on the twelfth floor burst into the empty room and rush towards what's left of the window. They look down at the damage. While the agents are distracted and have their backs turned to him, Eamon quietly sneaks out the room towards the stairs. Since the door's already open, they don't even hear him.

Once they scamper into the shadows, Dev and Leks try to throw off the blankets, though the arrows in their backs make this impossible. Dev points his two guns, causing everyone to scream. "Everybody stay calm," he yells. "We're not terrorists, we don't have a bomb, we pose no threat. Leave us alone and nobody gets hurt. Thank you. And sorry about the windows. Hope it doesn't come out of your paychecks." Elektra tugs her brother towards the stairs.

"Always looking for the attention. Meanwhile we got two Slayers on our tails."

"Move, move, move," Robson orders in an abrupt about-face. Before he even spoke, Chelsea and Brianne were racing into the street. They leaped up, swung once around on light poles, and hurled themselves into the building, further startling the workers, even though now that hardly seemed possible. The MI5 agents moved to secure sewer access. Eamon, loaded down with baggage, literally walks right past two of them as they rush to reposition themselves and cut off Dev and Leks. He makes an easy escape, just as Devlin had predicted.

Once in the basement, Devlin appears lost and is unable to find sewer access. But Elektra remains calm and rips up a metal grate, revealing an opening to the subterranean avenues below. As they leap down, they can hear the unmistakable sound of Slayers very rapidly coming down the stairs to catch them.

In the darkened sewers, Elektra can hear breathing from two locations. "No," Dev whispers, trying to remind her they are armed with debilitating tasers. Dev hears the faint hum of infrared goggles. The vampires, coming from warm hotel rooms, are about fifteen degrees hotter than the damp sewer, and therefore can be detected. Leks climbs on the ceiling and crawls upside-down away from the breathers. Dev stands still, his guns at his side. He spins the pistols around his fingers, turns his back to the agents and walks towards Elektra. The agents leap at the chance and rush towards taser range. Dev points the guns behind him and shoots the tasers out of their hands. He immediately spins and fires again, hitting each man in the eye. Leks falls from the ceiling and races into one of the pipes. Dev follows.

Chelsea leads the way for Brianne, both of them following the sounds of their prey. But shortly after entering the sub-basement, Chelsea trips over something and falls on her face into a puddle. Brianne looks and realizes it's a body Chelsea tripped over. She takes out her radio to tell Robson. "No time," Chelsea says after getting up. "Wut's done is done." They continue the chase. At the other end, Dev struggles to keep up with Leks.

"Just go," he orders. "I can take care of them myself." Elektra, thinking she knows what this means, smiles and jets off. Dev knows nothing can catch her. As for himself, he has other skills. Dev points his guns and fires four times. The Slayers hit the floor and hear the bullets ricochet off the metal and concrete. "You go no farther," he tells them.

"Bollocks," Brianne yells before rising to her feet. Devlin fires once. The bullet grazes the right side of her skull. She falls down again, unhurt but bloodied.

"Has Buffy told you what I've done to other Slayers' kneecaps? I could leave you here, crippled, for the common pond-scum bloodsuckers to feed off of you. That's not a very dignified way to go. Or, you can tell Paul Robson that you lost our trail, and continue the search anew once Buffy and Faith arrive. Now I'm going to turn around and leave. Anyone who follows learns what it sounds like it feels like to have bullet go through bone." Brianne flips Devlin the bird. He fires a shot between her two outstretched fingers and into her left shoulder. "My father would like you," he says with a grin before running away, leaving the Slayers feeling – for the first time since they got their powers – impotent and humiliated.

The problem with setting up a far-off meeting point away from the authorities is that, if you're fast like Elektra, you have to stand around, alone, waiting for everybody else to make it. After ten minutes, Eamon finally arrived. She grabs him and kisses him. He puts his hands to her face and eagerly kisses her back. "What took you so long," she asks.

"So long? I had to run halfway across town! Oh, bollocks. Why fight? I love you, Leks." He tosses down all the stuff he's carrying, pins her against the wall, and kisses her some more. "You are the most fooking incredible thing ever to happen to me," he adds, kissing her neck. "I'll do anything for you."

"Then leave."

"Wut! The three of us make a great team."

"My brother hates you."

"He needs me."

"In Liverpool. I need you there, too."

"Aren't you coming," he asks, wounded and surprised.

"There are other places I need to be. You can do it on your own. You and the other Islanders. For Britain, and Ireland, and all the stuff that's not attached to Europe."

"So this is goodbye?"

"Not if you kill me a Slayer." She runs her right hand through his hair, puts her left hand on his butt, and kisses him on the lips.

"Ah will. Ah will," he says before kissing her again. "Why are you wearing a cape?"

"What," she looks back and spins around. "Oh, it's just the blanket. Wait a second. What's holding it on? What's holding it on?"

"You've been shot."

"Perfect. My new jacket ruined." She reaches back for the arrow.

"Let me." He slowly pulls it out. Elektra feels the wound suddenly open, then start to close. She looks up at Eamon and kisses him. It's all very romantic, until he gets pistol-whipped fifteen seconds later.

"We have half the government and four Slayers combing this city for our bodies, and this is how you choose to spend your time?"

"I was caught in the moment. Besides, I had to do something while I waited for your slow ass."

"My shit! It's wet!." He pistol-whips Eamon's face again.

"Stop that," Leks orders.

"Hiding behind his woman. If it wasn't for the complete lack of talent, he really might be a part of this family."

"Oh Eamon has talents. Talents that run in our family."

"That's the least of our talents."

"Speak for yourself." Eamon pulls the arrow Devlin didn't even know he had in him out of his back.

"Oww!"

"Guess you both got hit."

"And close to my heart. That's not nice. Glad I killed their two friends." Devlin points a gun to Eamon's forehead.

"That's a nice thank you," he jokes.

"Get thee to Liverpool. Now. Before the Slayers find you and torture you for our whereabouts. Because they will. Mercilessly. I hear flaying's part of their repertoire. You know a vampire can live without his skin. It's just not very pleasant."

"I will find you," Eamon says one last time to Elektra.

"Make me proud."

"I hear after they take off your skin they marinate your insides in holy water." Eamon runs away. "I suppose he's a decent useful idiot."

"You know he can still hear you."

"Does it look like I care," he asks as he picks up his luggage and Elektra takes hers.

"You could use a servant. So could I. Remember when mummy made us some?"

"Yes, I remember. That was around the time I disappointed father. Why time you say? I don't know, there were so many!"

"Save it for the shrink. I can't believe we're stuck in the sewers. This sucks!"

"If you wouldn't have met Eamon, he'd never have led them to our hotel, and we'd be safely asleep in our beds."

"Don't blame him."

"Why not?"

"I thought you liked taking the fight to the enemy and outwitting them? So Eamon did you a favor, gave you another chance to shine."

"I didn't want to shine in London. I wanted to do my dirty work when no one was looking. Now everyone's looking. They have cameras on the streets, you know. They'll find us if we go above-ground. Which, knowing you, you will."

"Don't we need publicity?"

"We already have enough."

"There's never enough! We were on the fucking tele! What other vampires can claim that?"

Buffy and Faith arrive, surprised by the extent of the police presence. They're in for an even worse surprise. "What do you mean they're gone," Buffy yells at Evsey. "I thought you said you'd hold tight?"

"We did. They didn't."

"How the hell did they escape? I thought you had everything - "

"We did. But you can't protect against everything." Faith looks up at the broken hotel window, then at the crushed cab, then at the shattered office window across the street.

"Yes you can."

"B, ya gotta see this." Faith leads the livid Slayer away. Robson talks to the MI5 leader, consoling him about the loss of two men.

"This isn't a time for condolence. It's a time for revenge. We're going to get those buggers," he vows to the Watcher, who catches sight of Chelsea and Brianne. He rushes over, and immediately notices Brianne holding her bloody arm. He talks to then and acts understanding as to why they let the two most dangerous vampires in London get away.

"Like a fucking grasshopper," Faith says to Buffy about the escape.

"What about the sun?"

"I dunno. They found a way." Faith knows a thing or two about escaping from the authorities, and deep, deep down feels a tinge of respect for Dev and Leks, which only leads to revulsion at the thought that she could ever respect Wood's killers. Faith notices Robson with two girls who must be the Slayers. She sees blood in Brianne's hair, which reminds her of when Dev cut her head many years ago. Buffy hustles over to meet them.

"Hi. You've probably heard of me."

"You're Buffy," Chelsea asks.

"Oh," Brianne adds with chilling indifference. They didn't seem very wowed. "Why are you here?"

"To help you kill them."

"We need help," Chelsea asks, looking suspiciously at her Watcher.

"Well, see, the thing is, they've killed Slayers a lot less green than you," Faith casually explains. "Plus, we really hate their vampire guts and wanna see 'em really dead real soon."

"There were others, before them," Evsey explains in his basement hideout. "By the time these two took up the stakes, there were hardly any of us left. Now, I don't know. I keep wondering if I'm the last one." He is in his early thirties, with stubble and a ratty sweater, looking like a grunge version of a younger Rupert Giles. "They took my home. Robbed me of my books."

"What about Mary," Devlin asks of the nineteen year-old student for sired him.

"She fought. I ran. Now she's gone."

"Too bad. I was looking forward to nailing her." Elektra's shocked at Dev's rudeness, especially since this is a bit much even for him. Evsey can tell.

"It's all right," he assures her. "Mary was flagrant in her many infidelities. I suppose I was too forgiving. Then again, I couldn't stand to be alone. Now I have no choice."

"Yes you do," Devlin disagrees. "Go to Liverpool. Join the others in their last stand. Win Britain back from them!"

Evsey chuckles. "You know me, Devlin. Am I a fighter?"

"You'll have to be. Inside every vampire is a fighter. The time has come to let yours burst out. Either that, or you'll perish. Now is the time for all to stand up."

"Your speeches sound like something from the Plutarch I've been reading."

"In the Greek?"

"Translation," he says with a sigh. Devlin shakes his head in disappointment. "It was all I could find to steal from the store."

"Curious chap," Dev says to his sister. "Other vampires take shoppers. He takes the merchandise."

"Sounds like you," she says, boomeranging his gentle jab at Evsey.

"Very well. Quite true."

"Don't you need me for research," Evsey asks.

"After you fight."

"I don't see the point. Why risk it?"

"For your own good, Evsey. I want you to see what this struggle is about. You have to stand and face the enemy. I'm not saying you have to defeat the enemy. Most soldiers never kill in battle. Even the ones who win. But they're there, on the field, under fire. And that's what makes them men."

"Plus, there's strength in numbers," Elektra adds as pragmatic counterpoint. "Or you can just sit here and wait for Buffy to come and cut your dick off."

"She's here?" Evsey's eyes light up with fear. He imagines Buffy as some twenty foot-tall Ishtar-like all-destroying evil goddess.

"Thanks to us. Sorry about that," Devlin responds.

Buffy sends the demon on his belly along the top of the bar. The other demons try to flee, but Faith blocks the door and punches one out. Buffy had convinced Robson to give them the names and addresses of all possible vampire hideouts in the city. Meanwhile, Brianne and Chelsea slept while Robson directed the MI5 and stood ready to tell Buffy if they found anything. Interestingly enough, during this day, Angel and Spike land in London, though their minds are on helping Fred. It would be the last time all the major players would be in the same place at the same time.

"Where are they," Buffy asks.

"All I know is what I see on TV, darling." Buffy slams his head into the bar.

"Don't call me that."

"Why? Heard you've been called better." She punches him to the ground. "What? No love for us full-bloods?" Buffy kicks his teeth in.

"I think she's gonna kill ya and your friends are gonna watch," Faith warns. "Unless you start talking."

"He doesn't know bollocks," the bartender says. "Now let them bloody go and I'll tell you what you bloody need."

"I'm supposed to trust you," Buffy asks. "I got a bad record with your type." Faith takes a drag on her cigarette and walks over. "Why aren't you at the door?"

"Demons know squat. You think they wanna hang around the vamps and get themselves killed?"

"No, we don't. We keep to ourselves and are very law-abiding. Good day," one harmless-looking demon says before skedaddling.

"Now B here, ya know, unlike me, she hasn't sworn off killing people. Especially a low-life like you whose death we could easily blame on a couple of outlaw American vamps."

"Yeah. Wut makes you think they won't come after me."

"You think they're gonna pop their heads up when the likes of us are out looking for them," Buffy asks. He looks wearily at the two Slayers.

"Okay, I know some places." Buffy and Faith leave with their first list of vampire hideouts.

"Since when did I become the good cop," Faith wonders, noticing how Devlin has started to change Buffy.

"So what's the big strategy, bro," Elektra acts as she staggers, exhausted, down another interminable tunnel.

"We get as far away from other vampires as possible and wait for night. You sleep, I'll watch." She lies down, using one of her bags as a pillow.

"You'll watch me sleep? Isn't that a little bit creepy," she jokes.

"No, what's creepy is coming home and finding your sister getting - "

"Shut up."

"By a complete loser."

"He's survived four Slayers."

"Because he's such a loser they don't bother to kill him. Probably missed the junkie hideouts."

"This isn't about drugs."

"Yes it is. It's bad enough you're still getting high when we have Slayers watching our every move. It's another thing to get mixed up with an addict."

"You're a homophobe."

"I'm what?"

"Eamon also does guys, and that bothers you."

"It doesn't bother you?"

"I'm tolerant."

"He used to come on to dad. You know that, right?"

"Eamon told me. He said daddy was uptight, but the old queens had stories about him and Angelus and about Angelus and – "

"It was a different time! Experimenting for a guy back then was like experimenting for a girl nowadays."

"I don't experiment. Not for lack of opportunity."

"Yes, that's all fine and dandy, and completely irrelevant to the point that you're sleeping with a smack whore!"

"Since when was it any of your business who I slept with? All of a sudden you're turning into dad."

"No, because dad would be jealous, and I am not jealous."

"Okay, there's something we agree on," she quickly concedes. "I know what this is about. You need to get laid. You miss that damn Slayer pet."

"Don't mention Debbie."

"I wonder what she's up to now? Who she's doing."

Connor sits in the courtyard reading a book. He saw Debbie go in to the dorm two hours ago, and he's staking it out. Finally, she emerges. He walks over. "What a coincidence. Seeing you here."

"Hi Connor," Debbie says wearily.

"Your hair. It's shorter. And darker. I like it," he lies. Devlin loved her long curls, so Debbie cut them off.

"Thanks."

"You wanna get coffee sometime?"

"Look - "

"I'm sorry. Is it Devlin?"

"We broke up." Suddenly, Connor must fight the urge to leap up in the air and yell out for joy.

"I'm sorry. I mean, no I'm not. I mean, I'm sorry if you're sorry and, if you're hurting, in which case, I'm sorry because of that."

"Thanks. I guess."

"So, d'ya wanna get coffee sometime?"

"Connor, there's some things you don't know about me. I'm not what I seem."

"Who is?"

"I don't go here. I have a friend who goes here, and I sometimes visit her and, strangely, always see you around. I go to Laguna Hills High School. I'm a junior."

"That's okay. Not like it's something to be ashamed of. I'm only a freshman. And, I just wanted to ask you out for coffee."

"Maybe some other time."

"Yeah. Sure. Maybe."

"Bye." She walks away, but looks back. Connor's never felt so exhilarated. The girl of his dreams was free!

Buffy and Faith hit all the vampire lairs they heard about in all the demon bars, and only found two vampires so pathetic they almost weren't worth staking after the fruitless torture sessions. They found Evsey's and Eamon's hideouts, and noted the signs of abrupt flight. By nightfall, Faith was the less discouraged. "You're used to Sunnydale, and London is, like, a hundred times bigger than Sunnydale. How can you expect to find two vampires in one day in a place this big?"

"We'll find them."

"Or they'll find us."

"I think we should hit some of the outlying neighborhoods, see if they've seen anyone who doesn't belong. Robson doesn't think so. He'll thinks they'll try to blend downtown."

"B, you're not listening to me. This girl vamp is a real party girl."

"And a total slut bag. Like you used to be. No offense."

"None taken. We think alike. Probably go to the same places." At then it finally hits Buffy.

While Faith might be right about Elektra, Buffy was definitely on to something with Devlin. He was out in the East End, lurking in the shadows of an Arab and Pakistani neighborhood. A man was escorting two women with their faces and heads covered. Suddenly, he disappears. The women notice. Then one of them disappears. Devlin approaches the one remaining women, who by now is terrified. He tries to speak to her in Arabic, but she doesn't understand. Pity, he thinks. Dev was trying to note to irony that a man had been drawn to her precisely because she was covered. Oh well. Dev rips off the veil, covers her mouth so she doesn't scream, and bites, having his first meal since Cleveland.

It took four clubs, but they finally found Elektra dancing with two guys, just like the old Faith would have been doing. Faith locks on from the front, slowly dancing her way towards the vampire. Their eyes meet. Elektra departs from the boys and gyrates her way towards Faith. When she gets within six feet, Leks reaches her right arm out as if to touch Faith, who eyes the hand wearily. "Such a tease," Leks yells out. Suddenly she does a double backflip away from Faith. It turned out that all the while Buffy was sneaking up behind the vampire and had thrust her arm forward to stake her at the moment Elektra leaped into the air. In fact, she had waited to literally the last instant to make her mistake. Leks lands amidst gasps at her athleticism and pushes her way towards the exit, with the two Slayers close behind. Once she's outside, Elektra turns on the jets and quickly outdistances the Slayers. Faith decides to give up two blocks before Buffy. While she's catching her breath, Faith hears someone behind her.

"I thought you and me could have a go, mano a mano. Something epic. But you had to wuss out and bring the Queen Bee along." Elektra was not only quick enough to outrun both Slayers, but she had time to double back. "What's the matter? Am I too much vampire for you?"

"Thought you'd have company."

"Well I don't. So why don't you send the Queen after my bro and you and me can have a little throw-down?" Of course her brother was the one both Buffy and Faith really wanted, though they wish not to reveal that fact and give Devlin something to brag about.

"What can I say? We're a team, yo."

"Usually I don't team up with people who tried to kill me, but that's just me." While Faith wonders how she knew that, Elektra spins and leaps in the air towards Buffy, who's behind her once again. Buffy jumps too, and they meet fifteen feet off the ground. Leks tries a right kick which Buffy blocks with both arms. But the force of the blow knocks Buffy off-center, and she lands on her ass while Leks lands on her feet. The vampire then takes out one of her throwing stars and turns around, lashing out at Faith who attacked from behind. The blades on the star cut deep into Faith's right forearm. As she grabs the wound, and as Buffy stands up, Elektra takes off. Both Slayers chase, with Buffy in the lead. Elektra toys with her, holding back so Buffy can stay close. After thirty seconds of this she goes into overdrive and vanishes.

"Bitch cut me," Faith says as she catches up to Buffy, grabbing her arm.

"She's good at fleeing," Buffy deprecatingly remarks as she catches her breath. "I'll give her that."

After killing the two women, Devlin quietly climbed up the back of Robson's town house, spending the last several hours of the night patiently lying in wait on the roof, which the Watcher had failed to secure with a guard on account of not wanting to alarm the neighbors. Besides, vampires weren't like Bringers. They couldn't harm you in your own home. As the sun came out, Devlin covered himself with a cape and listened. At half past seven, Robson emerged with two MI 5 agents acting as guards. Buffy and Faith were catching a few winks after a night of fruitless searching for Devlin that did yield three more slayed vampires, some of the city's last. The two native Slayers did their own ineffectual sleuthing, hitting the now-deserted places where vampires once fed. They are getting some rest with Buffy and Faith in an apartment above Robson's office, a mile from his own apartment. Though without Slayers, he feels safe. He has two trained warriors at his side, and, after all, it is a sunny morning. Besides, just to be secure, he was taking a car to work.

Robson steps out onto the porch, and is met by the two agents. Devlin hears the car pull up, the door open and close, and the small talk between the three men. He knows this is his moment. His hands covered with black gloves, he dons a white Greek comedy mask to protect his face, puts the cape over his shoulders and tosses his umbrella up in the air. He then takes hold of his two pistols, now equipped with silencers, and leaps off the roof. While doing a midair flip, he shoots both agents in the head. Robson can't hear the muffled guns over the din of traffic, and first notices something is wrong when he hears both men fall to the ground. The Watcher then hears something land behind him. After having put away the guns before he landed, Devlin reaches his right arm up, catches his falling umbrella, deploys the six inch bayonet, and thrusts, hitting Robson square in the forehead as he turns around. The Watcher never saw what killed him. After he falls, Devlin points the umbrella to the right and shoots the stunned driver in the left temple, the bullet first shattering the glass. This very audible shot attracts what attention Devlin had not already drawn by killing three men on a London street in broad daylight. He knows he must flee fast, and not just because he could burn up. Dev takes the first left and pulls off the first sewer grate, disappearing underground. He leaves the gloves and mask behind as souveniers and makes his way as fast as possible to his sister.

Twenty minutes later, local police wake the four Slayers up by ringing the. They hear the horrible news. Four dead, including Paul Robson. Chelsea and Brianna are stunned. Faith and Buffy are outraged.

"It's daytime. They can't go far," Buffy assures Faith, herself, and the two rookie Slayers. We'll catch him. And the little whore too."

NEXT: How they escape the country and hook up with Jeta.