When Miranda left the pub, a light rain was falling. The moment they'd gotten outside, Miranda had twisted her arm, flinging Terfel in front of her. She wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

"Keep moving, across the water, the empty lot. Move!" she snapped.

Terfel recovered from the unbalancing manoeuver and rushed forward, pressing her against the wall, his body flush with hers. He rolled his hips and she could feel his erection pressing into her hip.

"You know, we could skip the fighting…" he whispered into her ear.

She felt bile rising in her throat. Terfel thought she was weak, afraid and unprepared. He had gotten too close to success the last time. He wouldn't get a second chance. She fisted her hands into his coat and pushed him off her with all her strength. He tumbled backwards, his arms pinwheeling. She saw fear flicker across his face before he sniggered and drew his blade. He started walking backwards towards the small footbridge that led across the water. Miranda pulled her own sword, swinging it back and forth, attempting to loosen her muscles as she followed.

When they reached the small island, the rain was falling harder and Terfel lunged for her with a growl. She dodged him and easily parried the blow he swung at her. Impatient fool… she thought but the move had been swift, catching her slightly off guard. Her parry didn't have much strength behind it. The quick and fast lunge had left Terfel off balance and she circled around him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kiernan watching from a discrete distance behind an abandoned car.

She flicked her gaze to Kiernan for a moment to ensure he was alone and the distraction was enough to allow Terfel to draw first blood. He made a low lateral swing that sliced through her calf, leaving a gash. With a shout of surprise, Miranda staggered backwards, limping. She tested her weight on the leg, the gash wasn't deep and she'd been lucky. Had the swing been an inch higher, it would have hamstrung her.

Terfel circled around her, a viscous grin on his face. Again, displaying his impatience, he surged forward to attack her injured side, swinging his sword. Miranda blocked the blow and brought her elbow into sharp contact with his face. He merely laughed and then managed to land a punch of his own. Miranda felt her mouth fill with blood and she spat on to the ground.

The battle continued, the sound of swords ringing into the night. Miranda was fighting with as much skill as she could, holding nothing back, determined not to give Terfel a second chance at her head. He was good but she was better. She managed to land two blows of her own, one to Terfel's side and another to his sword arm and then luck turned against her. When she slipped on some of the mud forming in the vacant lot, Terfel landed a strong blow to her sword arm, leaving a deep gash that exposed bone and Miranda screamed. While she fumbled to transfer her sword to her other hand, Terfel managed to disarm her and Miranda rolled backwards, crouching into a defensive position.

"Such spirit!" he yelled into the night.

He swung at her again, twice, both times she managed to dodge and feint her way back towards her fallen sword. She dove for the blade and missed, her reach falling short. She pushed herself up onto all fours to crawl towards the sword and her head snapped up at the sound of her name. To her utter horror, she saw two figures running towards Kiernan, Nora with Ianto close on her heels. No…

Suddenly, she felt Terfel's hand close on her ankle and she flipped to defend herself, thrusting aside her concern for Nora. Terfel had planted his sword into the rain softened ground and was dragging her towards him, unarmed. She allowed it. Again? He can't be serious?! It was the same error he had made last time. His face was smug and triumphant. He used a knee to force her legs apart and settled between them. Both of his hands ripped open her blouse and then dove for her belt, yanking her trousers down around her thighs. She couldn't believe his foolishness.

"Fight a little more, it's so much better that way!" he shouted at her as he reach down for his trousers. "When I'm done with you, I'll have to make time for that little tart of yours. Sweet as honey, I bet she is…"

With a cruel smile, Miranda sat up forcefully, head butting him hard in the face. Blood spurted and poured down as his nose shattered. Idiot… His hands flew to his face and he rolled away, screaming and howling.

Miranda stood up and righted her clothing. Wiping the blood from her face, she pulled his sword from the ground and flung it away, not taking her eyes off him. Terfel was on all fours, trying to crawl towards where her own sword had fallen. She delivered a sharp kick into his gut and heard his ribs crack. She delivered several more sharp blows with her boot and then reached down for a handful of his hair, pulling him up into a kneeling position. She grabbed his right wrist and twisted it. Pressing her knee into his side, she yanked sharply, dislocating his shoulder and Terfel let out a shriek of pain. Miranda smiled and bent down for her own sword. Fisting her hand into Terfel's hair again, she pulled his head back, looking him in the eyes. She saw terror and her smile widened.

She let go of his head and gripped her sword tightly, letting the blade sing through the air, arcing down and shouting against the rain, "There can be only one!"

Her sword sliced through Terfel's neck, sending his head rolling away as his body fell forward. The last few beats of his heart causing a pool of blood to form beneath the headless body.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw all three bystanders starting to step towards her.

"Stay back all of you!" she shouted, holding out both her hands in warning. Terfel's body was already glowing and rising from the ground.

The ribbons of lightning danced over the corpse, flying towards Miranda who began to scream. The force of the quickening blew out the windows of the abandoned cars. Sparks rained down from the electrical wires and the sounds of current popping and sputtering filled the air. The stench of ozone was overpowering. They watched Miranda convulse and shake as the bolts of lightning slammed into her. Her eyes were slammed tightly shut as she screamed. As suddenly as it began, the lightning stopped and Miranda fell to her knees, panting heavily, leaning on her sword for support. She tried to stand, but collapsed again.

It was Ianto, not Nora, who ran forward and caught her in his arms, her bloodstained sword clattering to the ground. He heaved her to her feet while she leaned on him heavily, gasping for air. It was nearly a full minute before she'd caught her breath and was able to stand, unaided. Ianto never took his hands off her, wary of her previous unsteadiness.

Nora screamed as black vans descended onto the empty lot. Their doors opened and half a dozen men and women got out, striding towards Terfel's fallen body and head with well practiced precision.

Watchers… Ianto realised.

Kiernan had walked away to join his colleagues. Nora was still standing alone, her eyes wide as she looked from Terfel's body and back to her lover. Miranda gently tugged herself out of Ianto's grasp and started to walk towards Nora. She'd barely taken two steps when Nora started to retreat, taking several hasty steps backwards.

Miranda felt her heart splinter. She held up a calming hand towards Nora and then slowly backed up towards Ianto. Without turning to look at him she said, "Ifan? Could you see Nora safely home please? I… need to speak with Kiernan."

Ianto heard the light quiver in his friend's voice and the lie. He nodded and stepped towards Nora slowly, thankful he didn't receive the same reaction. He led Nora away from the scene.

Swallowing her pain, Miranda walked towards Terfel's fallen sword. After wiping and concealing her own blade, she picked up Terfel's and then headed over to where Kiernan was observing his colleagues load Terfel into a body bag.

"Here, Kiernan," she said softly, handing him the blade. She knew it would end up in the Watcher archives.

"Thanks, Mao-Lin," he said, taking the blade from her. The other Watchers eyed them curiously, the familiar interaction being a highly discouraged behaviour. "I'm sorry… about Nora."

"It was inevitable. I would have lost her sooner or later."

"Then I'm sorry it was sooner," he said, laying a comforting hand on her arm.

"So am I..."