Chapter 47: Nymphs Just Wanna Have Fun Part 1
April 21, 2003 - Monday
Halliwell Manor
"Aunt Dawn?" Phoebe knocked on her aunt's bedroom door.
"Come in, Phoebe," came Dawn's voice through the door.
Phoebe slowly opened the door and peeked in to make sure that Dawn was decent. When she saw Dawn was sitting at her vanity doing her makeup she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. "Hey, Prue, I got a question," she said as she moved to her aunt's bed and sat down on it.
Dawn blinked, did she just hear Phoebe right? Did Phoebe just called her Prue? "What did you say?" she asked turning to look at Phoebe.
"I called you by your name, Prue," Phoebe told Dawn as she smiled at the brunette young woman. "And the question is, why have you continued to hide who you are? Why haven't you told me and Piper at the very least?"
"Why would you think I'm Prue?" Dawn asked trying to deflect Phoebe away from the truth. "I mean…"
"It's simple, Prue," Phoebe said undeterred by the deflection. "Why you've been remembering things. It surprises me that no one put two and two together before recently."
Dawn sighed. She knew Phoebe was right, that it was only a matter of time before someone put two and two together. "Because, Pheebs. Knowing I was Prue," she told her sister slash niece. She wasn't sure what to actually call Phoebe anymore. "Knowing I was your sister in my previous life. Could hurt you and Piper. Could hurt the Power of Three."
"In what way, Prue?" Phoebe asked looking at Dawn. As she looked at the woman in front of her. She like Dawn wasn't sure anymore what to call the woman in front of her. Was Dawn still her aunt because she was Buffy's sister in this lifetime? Or was Dawn her elder sister once again?
Dawn sighed. "Please, Phoebe. I don't need you calling me Prue. It's already hard enough remembering my past life. Knowing who I was. Unlike Buffy it's not as easy for me. While the memories came back slowly, Buffy knew from the start that she was a melding of both Patty and Buffy. I don't have that, I'm trying to sort out who I am."
"I understand that," Phoebe sighed, she understood where Dawn was coming from. "I don't know what to call you anymore. Your mom's sister, which still makes you my aunt. But you are also my sister, my big sister," she let out a chuckle, "even though you are now younger than I am. But you could have still told us."
"And what happens to the Power of Three if you, Piper and Paige see me as a sister?" Dawn asked. "We both know that the Charmed Ones power is rooted in the bonds of sisterhood. The prophecy speaks of three sisters, it says nothing about a fourth. You could lose your powers, Phoebe, if the three of you saw me as a sister. Now if you will excuse me I need to finish getting ready for the award ceremony. I don't want to accept our award looking like trash."
Hotel Suite
In the penthouse suite the dinner party celebrating Dawn and Phoebe's award as columnists of the year was winding up.
"Congratulations again, Dawn," said a woman as she passed Dawn on her way out.
"Thanks, good night," Dawn called after her. She returned her attention to her purse. "Now where are my car keys!" She walked over to the couch and sat down next to Phoebe. She tipped out the contents of her purse onto the coffee table so she could sort through it easier. "Do you have your keys?" she asked as she rummaged through her things.
"Sorry, Dawn," Phoebe replied. "I left mine at home."
Dawn sighed as Jason walked up to them. "Lose something, Dawn?" he asked.
"Car keys," Dawn answered.
"Well, I've got some cabs waiting to take us home down stairs," he countered.
"It's not just the car keys, it's the house keys," Dawn admitted.
"Buffy and Piper would kill us if we woke Wyatt, Elizabeth and Joyce," Phoebe added.
"Well, why don't you both stay here?" Jason suggested. "I mean it, I got the place for the whole night, somebody ought to use it."
"Phoebe can if she wants," Dawn replied. "But I need to get home. It should be about Joyce's feeding time and I'm about ready to burst."
Phoebe's eyes went wide. "They're that full?"
"Haven't been pumped since this morning," Dawn answered.
Jason coughed as he realized what they were talking about. "Not that I don't find that topic interesting. But you both can. I insist. Columnists of the year. Come on, you both deserve it. Sleep in, have breakfast, get a massage. It's on me." Dawn and Phoebe chuckled. "What?"
"Your just a really nice guy, you know that?" Phoebe asked.
Dawn smiled having finally found her car keys. Then she smiled as she put her stuff into her purse. "Well I still can't," she said. "I'll just have to call so I can get in the house without waking up my precious pum'kin belly and my niece and nephew." She handed Phoebe the car keys. "Why don't you go ahead and take Jason up on his offer. You can then drive the car back in the morning."
"Uh…" Phoebe said hesitantly as she took the car keys from Dawn. She watched as Dawn walked out of the penthouse and sighed. She looked back at Jason. "You are a nice guy," she admitted. "Renting this suite, making sure everyone gets home okay, the speech you made."
"Well, you and Dawn deserve all the awards, not me. All I did was buy the paper," he admitted.
Phoebe smiled. "I'm glad you did."
"Me too."
"Good night, boss," called a woman as she passed them.
"Good night," he called back as the last people left. He stood up. "Well, I, uh, I better get going."
"Yeah," Phoebe agreed.
"Good night," he told her.
"Good night," Phoebe replied as he kissed her quickly on the side of her mouth. They looked at each other and then started kissing passionately. "I'm not sure we should be doing this."
"Yeah, me neither," Jason replied as he fell on the couch causing Phoebe to fall on top of him.
April 22, 2003 - Tuesday
Halliwell Manor
"What is that smell, Piper?" Dawn said wrinkling her nose as she entered the kitchen.
"I'm making an herbal sleep remedy, Prue, for our babies," Piper answered with a glance at Dawn to see if she would get any kind of reaction to the use of her eldest sister's name.
Dawn sighed as she sat down at the kitchen table. She debated trying to deflect Piper from the truth, but if Piper was like Phoebe it wouldn't work. "Not you, too!" she cried dropping her head into her hands.
"What did you expect, Prue," Piper said as she moved to the table and sat down next to Dawn. "To hide who you were for the rest of your life?"
"Yes, actually," Dawn replied with a long drawn out sigh. "There is multiple reasons I had no intention of revealing I was Prue in my previous life. "One of which I am still coming to terms with being your sister in my previous life. You know my sister, while the memories came back to her over time. She knew from the start who she was, a melding of Patty and Buffy. I don't have that, Piper, because of how long it took me compared to Buffy for the memories to come back."
"I wish I could say I understood what you are going through," Piper said as she took Dawn's hands in her own. "But one thing I do know is this. You are still my aunt. Okay?" Dawn nodded. "But here is the thing. You are also my sister. And you know what your death did to me. I am just happy to have you back in my life. Okay?"
"Okay," Dawn said looking Piper in the eyes. "I guess it's my turn isn't it."
"Guess so," Piper replied as she smiled at Dawn. "And since you can't turn to yourself, I'll take on that role for you just as you did for me. If you need to talk. Whether it's aunt to niece or sister to sister, I'm there for you."
Dawn smiled as she gave Piper's hands a squeeze. "Thanks, Piper."
"You're welcome," she hesitated on saying a name and Dawn noticed.
"Dawn, okay," Dawn told Piper who nodded. "It don't matter if I came to think of myself as your sister or your aunt. It's still my name. And you can call me aunt or not if you want. It's okay."
"Okay, Dawn," Piper said as she smiled at Dawn. "You know, two things changed from the future we went to."
"What's that?" Dawn wondered.
"Well the first is your married," Piper said as she smiled. "Remember that trip was just after Andy passed. So as Prue you were single and apparently had stayed single into that future. The second is that you have a daughter when as Prue you didn't."
Dawn laughed. "I guess your right there. Though I think back in that lifetime Prue never pictured herself as gay."
"Well if you remember right when we were facing Paige's past life…" Piper started.
"I would rather not," Dawn admitted. "I hated Lady Julia's wardrobe and hair."
Piper chuckled. "Yeah that spell wasn't kind to you," she said remembering Paige's spell had transformed Dawn's clothes and hair to match that of Lady Julia, Dawn's past life. "But my point is. Each incarnation is never the same. Things change from one life to another as we learn and grow. So just because when you were Prue and you being interested in men, doesn't mean anything about this life."
"Your right of course, Piper," Dawn agreed as she reached over and hugged Piper. "Piper, the other thing that had me holding off telling you is what happens to the Power of Three and yours, Phoebe and Paige's status as Charmed Ones, if you three saw me as a sister."
"If we did," Piper said taking her time to answer. "I would hope that the Power of Three would become the Power of Four. So that you too would become a Charmed One. But don't worry, that is a discussion for later, when you sort out who you are. In a way I hope you are like mom, a melding of Dawn Summers and Prue Halliwell. But that is just my personal wish, because I want my sister back, but I don't want to lose my aunt either." She looked back at the cabinets. "Now, where is the dried dill? I can't find anything around here."
"I think Paige rearranged the cabinets," Dawn said with a sigh. "Between the both of us loving to cook." Piper chuckled. "What?"
"Well as Prue you cooked as a necessity, but you never liked it like I do," Piper reminded with a glance at Dawn. "That's why I hope you are a melding of both Dawn and Prue. That way I can have my sister back, but I don't lose out who you are in this lifetime either. Someone who actually likes doing some of the same things I do."
Dawn smiled. "In a way I hope that's who I am too," she admitted. "Anyways as I was saying Paige rearranged the cabinets. I think she put the herbs we use for both cooking and potions in the center cabinet. Personally I hate the new system."
Piper nodded in agreement as she opened the indicated cabinet. "Yeah, I agree with you there," she said as she picked up the dill. "It worked perfectly well the way it was."
"Yeah," Dawn agreed. "And when I mentioned that to Paige, her argument was that it didn't work for her."
"You know as a family we should all talk to her," Piper said. "You, me, Phoebe and mom. I know Paige has taken on a lot since she quit her job and you and I gave birth. But she shouldn't need to shoulder all the burden by herself. After all I saw what that did to you, well you as Prue."
"Yeah she had it hard didn't she?" Dawn asked as Piper nodded. "Anyways I can agree with you." She watched as Piper took out some measuring cups from a drawer. "It's not fair to her. Between Buffy helping me with Joyce and Leo helping you with Wyatt and Elizabeth. We both have a little more time on our hands. But I don't think that argument will win the argument with Paige. I think she doesn't mind taking the lead."
"Morning," Phoebe said as she came in the back door, carrying her shoes, her purse and her award. "Never mind, don't ask."
"How did it go?" Dawn called after Phoebe as she walked out of the kitchen. "Either that good or that bad." She stood up and followed Piper out of the kitchen.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Phoebe was heading for the stairs when she ran into Buffy and Paige coming down them.
"Hey, somebody's doing the walk of shame," Piper told her sister and mother.
Paige smirked. "Details, details."
"Yeah, Phoebe, details," Dawn agreed.
Phoebe glanced at Buffy with a sigh. "I knew I wasn't going to get away with this one."
"Do you want me to leave?" Buffy asked.
"That's alright, mom," Phoebe replied. "I've slowly been getting used to you being just one of the girls, you know. I don't want to hear about you and dad. But you and Sam I'm all ears."
"Okay," Buffy replied as she smiled at Phoebe. Now if she could just win over Piper and Paige on that front.
"So, spill it, Pheebs," Dawn said. "Did you sleep with Jason?"
"Yes," Phoebe answered.
"Wow. That is bad," Paige remarked as Phoebe glared at her. "Uh, for future employment's sake. Unless, of course, you know, maybe it'll work out and you guys will get married and have kids and you can own half the newspaper."
"Paige," Phoebe groaned.
"Sorry," Paige apologized.
"How did it happen?" Buffy asked.
"It was very fast," Phoebe answered.
"Ooh, downer," Paige said with a sigh.
"Agree with you there," Dawn agreed. "Which kind of reminds me, Buffy. Why did you never warn me about H and H?"
"H and H?" Paige asked confused.
"Hungry and horny," Buffy answered. "It's a term Faith came up with. After slaying, Slayers tend to be hungry and craving sex." She looked at her sister. "And I didn't warn you because I figured Faith would have."
"Anyways," Phoebe said bringing them back to her. "That part wasn't fast, that part was... ooh..." she squealed and smiled.
"So that's good, right?" Piper asked.
"Yes... No," Phoebe replied with a sigh. "I don't know. See, I'm very conflicted about this whole thing," she looked at Dawn, "and you didn't help matters, Prue."
"As I told Piper, please quit calling me Prue, at least till after I decide who I am," Dawn interjected. "So please if you aren't going to call me Aunt Dawn, then just do Dawn, please."
"Okay, Dawn," Phoebe replied as she pulled Dawn into her arms and hugged her. "Anyways It's not just the fact that he's mine and Dawn's boss, it's just I didn't plan on this all happening right now in my life."
"Well, honey, unfortunately, that's when these things usually happen," Buffy admitted.
"Yeah. Can we go back to the whole," Paige said as she squealed, "part?" she asked just as Leo and Sam orbed in. "Talk about orbus interruptus."
"Sorry, guys, but we just got an alert from the Elders," Leo said.
"What do you know about wood nymphs?" Sam added.
"Wood nymphs?" Piper questioned.
"Yeah, you know, frolicking little tree sprites, protectors of the forest, always in the company of a satyr," Paige replied before anyone else could.
"Piper already knew that," Buffy interjected. "Even I could see it was a rhetorical question."
"What about 'em?" Dawn asked looking at the Whitelighters.
"A couple have been spotted in the city by mortals and the Elders were worried about exposure," Leo explained.
"Well, that doesn't make any sense because they don't abandon their forest unless..." Piper started and then it began to dawn on her.
"They're flushed out..." Paige and Buffy said in unison.
"By a demon," Dawn concluded.
"I'll get right on it," Piper and Paige said in unison.
"You look tired, honey," Paige told her eldest sister. "In fact so do you, Aunt Dawn."
"I am," Piper told her baby sister. "I'll also be in the attic." She threw two bottles at Leo for Wyatt and Elizabeth before she headed for the stairs.
"Dawn, when you go in to work, can you grab my laptop?" Phoebe asked looking at the young woman. "I have to finish my half of our article and I don't want to see Jason."
"No," Dawn replied. "I'm not going to be your scapegoat."
"Mom?" Phoebe said turning toward her mother.
"What Dawn said," Buffy said agreeing with her sister.
Phoebe sighed as she looked at Paige. "Paige?"
"I'm sorry, I really can't," Paige replied as she orbed out. "Ask Piper!" she called from the attic.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Piper called back as she rushed up the stairs.
Phoebe sighed as she looked at Sam, who shook his head.
Sunnydale High School
Sunnydale High School was thrashed and trashed. The wreckage of a riot caused by the Seal was everywhere. Painters rolled paint over the graffiti; Tara doubted that the custodian realized that what he was scraping off the window was the residue of the stressed-out student's exploding head.
"Situation still normal," Tara commented to Robin and Faith as they watched through the blinds over his window.
"Or as normal as this school ever sees," Faith added. She had heard enough of the horror stories from Buffy about what went down after she had sided with the Mayor. "Reminds me of a story B told me. Of where some hellhounds had been sent to create havoc at her Senior prom."
"Willow told me about that," Tara added. "Anyways the Swing Choir and the Marching Band have gone back to their normal, healthy, seething resentment."
"Been pretty quiet around here since you shut down that Seal, Faith. You just
may have stopped this thing," Robin said, gazing at the Slayer.
"If B's latest Slayer premonition is to be trusted," Faith said as Robin and Tara raised an eyebrow in question. "She saw an army of Ubervamps. I don't think I stopped The First, it's not going to be that easy."
Robin raised a brow and smiled faintly. "Call that easy?"
"Damn right I do," Faith retorted. "After all B has died twice averting two."
Smiling warmly, he moved toward Faith and Tara and said, "Y'know, you're something else, Faith. I've been watching you when we're out patrolling. You remind me of my . . ." He trailed off.
Tara gazed at him with real sympathy as she remembered her own mother. "Your mother," she finished for him.
"What I remember of her, anyway," he said faintly.
"I know how that is," Faith sighed. "Mine gave me up when I was five years old to keep me away from my father. I think that's why I was never found before I was called as a Slayer."
"Everything's terrible!" Giles cried, sailing into Robin's office. "A full catastrophe!"
"Giles, what's wrong?" Tara asked. She and Faith hadn't even realized that he was back in town.
"Have you seen the new library?" he demanded, in high dudgeon. "There's nothing but computers! There's not a book to be seen. I don't know where to begin. Tara, who do we speak to?"
"That'd be me," Robin said, extending his head.
Giles moved into charming mode and said, "Yes, I'm sorry. Rupert Giles. Tara and Faith's told me you're something of a freelance demon fighter."
"Oh, yes?" Robin asked as he shut the door.
"I'm relieved," Giles continued, aware that he had lacked discretion. "We're running dangerously low on allies."
Faith heard what he was saying between the lines. "So. B's later Slayer premonition was right and I didn't stop it."
"No," Giles informed her. "The seers in the Devon coven are certain The First is continuing to gather its forces." He added gravely, "I'm afraid war is inevitable." A beat, and then: "So we should go to the school board."
"What?" Robin asked, as if he assumed he was missing Giles's point.
"Well, I can have my backup library sent from home in the meantime. It's not much, but—"
"Giles," Tara cut in.
"Knowledge comes from crated bindings and pages, Tara, not ones and zeroes."
"So," Faith said, returning to the topic, "did you bring back any Potentials?"
"Ah, no. Actually my trip was about something else," he told the Slayer. "Regarding Spike. I told you my concerns when you recklessly chose to remove the chip from his head."
Robin stirred. "Wait. Sorry. Chip?"
"Long story," Giles said.
Tara turned to him. "The military put a chip in Spike's brain so he couldn't hurt anyone."
"And that would be the abridged version," Giles said with asperity.
"But he wouldn't hurt anyone, Giles," Faith insisted. "He has a soul now."
"Unless The First triggers him again," Giles argued.
"Triggers the chip?" Robin asked, trying to keep up.
Tara shook her head. "The trigger's a post-hypnotic thing The First put in his head. Made him . . . He was killing again."
"So he has a trigger, a soul, and a chip," Robin summarized.
"Not anymore," Giles said, making it obvious that he was saying it for Faith's benefit.
Faith frowned at him. "It was killing him, Giles."
"The trigger?" Robin asked hopefully.
"The chip. The trigger's not working anymore," Faith interjected.
Robin tried again. "Because the military gave him a soul." Faith just looked at him and he said, "Sorry."
"We don't know that the trigger's inactive," Giles argued. "But what I've brought may help us to disarm it. And ascertain what it is, exactly, that causes Spike's behavior."
"It was that song, G-man," Faith said. "I'm telling you, it was the song he was singing."
"Yes, but he has no memory of it," Giles pointed out. "Is there any part of it that you can remember?"
Faith shook her head. "Something from your neck of the woods, I think."
Robin was intrigued. "This thing you brought. To keep Spike from killing again. How does it work?"
"That will require a bit of magic," Giles said enigmatically.
Bay Mirror Newspaper Offices
Dawn led Phoebe through the main door. As they headed for their office Jason came out of his.
"Phoebe…Dawn," he called out to them.
"Shoot," Phoebe whispered to Dawn who continued into their office. She turned around to face Jason. "Hey."
"I didn't even see you two come in," Jason admitted.
"We just came by to get our laptops, we're both working from home today," Phoebe replied as she turned to head toward her office. "Okay, bye."
"Wait, there's a staff meeting," Jason called after her. "You and Dawn have to stay for that."
Phoebe sighed as she looked at the doorway to hers and Dawn's office and saw Dawn standing there. "Why didn't you remind me?" she asked.
"Sorry I forgot," Dawn snapped. "I have my own stuff to deal with right now, remember? I didn't even want to come in, but you didn't want to come in alone!"
Jason looked at the bickering women before moving closer to Phoebe. "Uh, listen, about last night..." he whispered.
"It was a huge mistake, I agree," Phoebe agreed as she looked back at her boss, "it should have never happened.
"Actually, that was not was I was going to say," he countered.
"No?" Phoebe asked surprised.
Jason smiled. "I thought it was a amazing," he told her. "I think you are amazing."
"Really? See, but that's not the point," Phoebe countered. "The point is you're mine and Dawn's boss and I don't want my professional and personal life to collide."
"Isn't it a little late for that?" Jason asked.
Phoebe shook her head. "No," she replied. "We can stop this right here and now before it gets any worse."
"Before what gets any worse?" he questioned. "Phoebe, we have nothing to be ashamed of. We're two intelligent adults that happen to be attracted to each other. What's so wrong with that?"
"Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Dean," said a reporter as he walked up to them, "but it looks like those Godiva girls popped back again."
Dawn, Phoebe and Jason turned and looked at the TV that hung on the wall. They saw a news report about the nymphs.
Phoebe and Dawn glanced at each other with a grimace. "Oh, no," they stated in unison.
Phoebe slowly backed away from Jason, who asked, "Anybody know who they are?"
"Not yet but everybody wants to know," the reporter answered.
"Then let's be the first to find out," Jason said as Phoebe and Dawn left without being noticed.
"Sorry about in there," Dawn said with a sigh as she closed their office door behind them. "I didn't mean to snap at you."
"It's okay, Dawn," Phoebe said. "I guess having Prue's memories running around in your head, next to your own can be a little trying."
"That's why I need time to sort everything out," Dawn admitted. "Find out who I am."
Halliwell Manor
Buffy watched as Piper scryed and Paige was writing something down on a piece of paper.
"What exactly are you doing over there?" Piper asked her baby sister. "Writing a dissertation?"
Paige shook her head. "No. Actually, since wood nymphs are considered the personification of nature, I am devising a spell using the four elements to try to locate their home."
"That might not work if the nymphs are running loose in the city," Buffy told her daughter.
Paige sighed. "Yeah, but I'm thinking that if we find out where they lived, you know, we can find out what flushed them out and see what demon's after them."
"Hmm that's possible," Buffy admitted as Piper's crystal dropped on a point on the map.
"Wow, talk about your roundabout methods," Piper said, who had already marked five other places on the map.
"No, actually, it's like that cliché thinking outside the box," Paige countered. "It kind of applies here."
"Well, me, I'm just going to stick to good old-fashioned scrying to find him," Piper told her sister.
"It doesn't hurt to have multiple avenues," Buffy said looking at the map. "Especially since it appears to be apocalypse season with the number you have popping up there."
"Yeah. You know I wonder if nymphs have any natural enemies?" Piper said as she walked over to the Book of Shadows and noticed different colored tabs sticking out of the book. "Mom?"
Buffy moved beside her eldest daughter and frowned. "Are we defacing the book now, Paige?" she asked looking at her youngest sister.
Paige sighed. "It's just that I indexed the book to make our searches more efficient."
Piper raised an eyebrow. "You color coded the Book of Shadows?" she asked.
Paige nodded. "Mm-hm! Now you see, demons and warlocks will be under red, angels and beings of light under white, and, you know, wood nymphs because they're spirits of nature, will be under green because green represents..."
"We know what green represents," Buffy interjected. "And I think we need to have a serious talk, young lady."
"What?" Paige said looking at her mother just they heard Wyatt, Elizabeth and Joyce crying from downstairs. "Oh, isn't that babies calling?"
"Nice try," Buffy countered as she glared at her daughter. "Leo and Sam are watching them. You're not going to get rid of us that easy."
Paige sighed. "I'm just trying to take point because your lives and Aunt Dawn's life are so busy now that I thought I would just try to help a little bit."
"We get that," Buffy said. "But what you are doing is actually not helping. Take the new system in the kitchen. Both Piper and Dawn came to me complaining about that. They are used to the way things were. They couldn't find the herbs they needed without having to hunt for them."
"Hello?" Piper said as she answered the ringing telephone.
"We will pick this up later, Paige," Buffy said turning her attention to Piper and the phone.
"Hey, it's me and Dawn, we're stuck at work. We both forgot there was a staff meeting," Phoebe answered from the other end of the phone. "Have you guys seen the news yet?"
Piper shook her head, not that Phoebe could actually see it. "No, we're too busy fighting over the best way to find nymphs."
"Okay, well, stop arguing and turn on the TV because they're all over it," came Dawn's voice, it was obvious to Piper that Dawn and Phoebe were on speakerphone.
"What?" Piper asked. "What do you mean?"
"What are they saying?" Paige asked.
"Nobody knows who they are yet," Phoebe said.
"But believe me, the demon's not the only one looking for him now," Dawn added.
"Where were they last spotted?" Buffy asked, thanks to her Slayer hearing she had no problem hearing Phoebe and Dawn.
"Uh, downtown, City Plaza. Maybe they'll go back there." Phoebe answered.
Buffy moved to Piper's map and her eyes went wide as she saw that City Plaza was one of the places Piper had marked.
"Well, if they do, there's going to be a demon waiting for them," Piper said.
Summers Home, Sunnydale
Muttering to himself, Xander shackled Spike to the basement wall. "Could have put the chains back up a week ago," he muttered, "Oh, no, we have to work on Spike now, of all times . . ."
"What?" Spike demanded.
"Nothing," Xander replied.
Spike spotted Robin standing a bit away from the others and asked him testily, "What you doin' here? You came to see the show?"
"I thought you might need the support," Robin drawled.
"Uh-huh," Spike said, completely unconvinced. He turned to Giles and said, "Right. Let's get this over with. What're you going to do? Some hypnobeam or disarming spell?"
"Not exactly," Giles said. "The First has brainwashed you. There's something in your subconscious that it's using to provoke a violent reaction." He held up a small strange object. "So we have to put this in your brain."
Spike stared in horror at what appeared to be a pebble between Giles's fingers. "Bugger that."
"The Prokaryote stone will move within your mind to reveal the root of the trigger's power," Giles explained. "It can unleash ideas, images, memories. Hopefully, once you understand what's setting you off, you can break its hold on you."
"'Hopefully,'" Faith echoed. "So it might not work."
"The stone's only a catalyst for the process," Giles explained, replacing the stone into a box. "The rest is up to Spike."
"And how d'you expect to get that hunk of rubble into my cranium?" Spike demanded waspishly.
Giles turned to Faith, Tara and Willow. Willow was holding a large, ancient text between the three of them. They took a step forward and Willow said, "Okay. Just hope our pronunciation's in the ballpark."
They began:
"Kun'ati belek sp'sion. Bok'vata im kele'beshus. Ek'vota. Mor'osh boot'ke."
The stone began to slither and stretch into an unappetizingly leechlike creature.
Spike was distressed, to say the least.
"Oh, you have got to be joking," he said loudly. "What now?"
Calmly, Giles explained, "It has to enter your cerebral cortex through the optic nerve."
"Oh, bollocks." Spike stared at the creature. "All the rubbish people keep sticking in my head . . . it's a wonder there's any room for my brain."
"I don't think it takes up that much space, do you?" Giles asked. He lifted the box to Spike's cheek.
The creature undulating out of the box and crawled onto Spike's cheek, then flattened like a worm and eased its way into his eye.
Then Spike cried out in pain and yanked on his chains.
Contact.
Faith hurried to him, sitting beside him as she took his hand, trying to still him as he thrashed in pain. "Listen to me, Spike. You all right?"
Spike was breathing hard; he nodded, obviously not all right. Then he gritted, "How am I supposed to know if this bug ugly's doing its—"
City Plaza
Buffy, Piper and Paige hid behind three columns waiting for the nymphs, followed by the demon, to appear.
"Okay, how much longer before you realize this is not working?" Paige asked.
"Hey, Phoebe and Dawn were the ones who said they were here, not me," Piper reminded her sister.
"No, excuse me," Paige interjected. "You were the one that said a demon was here waiting,"
"And he likely is," Buffy said. "Just because we can't see him doesn't mean he isn't here watching."
The three nymphs appeared at that very moment in the fountain, giggling and splashing around in the water.
"Well, at least it looks like they're having fun," Paige admitted as Buffy and Piper started to move forward. "Hold it. Shouldn't we see if the demon attacks?"
"Oh he's about too," Buffy answered. "Spidey senses going wild."
To prove her point a demon appeared nearby. "Ladies," he said addressing the nymphs. He threw a stream of fire catching one on fire and killing her.
"Wait's over," Piper said as Buffy nodded in agreement. The three of them came out from behind the columns.
"Last chance. Where's the spring?" the demon asked the frightened nymphs.
"Slayer, oh, please, please, help us," said one of the remaining nymphs.
"Piper," Buffy said motioning toward the demon.
Piper nodded as she flicked her wrist trying to blow the demon up. She only managed to blow up his arm from the elbow down. He groaned in pain and fell to the ground.
"Why didn't he blow up?" Paige asked.
"Probably immune," Buffy offered as the nymphs ran over to them. "Let's get them and get out of here."
"Couldn't agree more," Paige said just as the demon threw fire at them. She orbed out with Buffy, Piper and the nymphs: First thing we've agreed on all day.