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| Lie to Me | What’s My Line? Part I |
A man walks quickly through the campus of Sunnydale High at night carrying a metal briefcase and looking around furtively. He sees a janitor emptying some trash cans and asks him where he can find Rupert Giles. The janitor points him toward the library. The man rushes away in the direction the janitor pointed.
“You’re welcome!” the janitor calls after him.
As the man approaches the door to the library building he hears a low moaning sound coming from behind him. He looks around but doesn’t see anything. He hears the moan again, and looks some more. This time he sees the source: a woman who looks like she has been dead for some time—except for her glowing green eyes—is walking toward him. The man is shocked. “Diedre?” he asks her.
“Philip,” she says, and continues to approach him. Philip turns away from her. In his haste he drops his briefcase and trips over it. He scrambles back to his feet and runs for the door into the library building. He can’t open it, it’s locked. He pounds on the door and yells for help.
The sound of Philip’s cries for help are drowned out in the library by the sound of some very loud dance music Buffy is using to keep the beat for her calisthenics.
Giles sits at the table with his hands over his ears as he tries to read a book. He has had enough. “Must we have this noise during your calisthenics?” he yells at her over the music.
“It’s not noise!” says Buffy. “It’s music!”
“I know music,” says Giles. “Music had notes. This is noise.”
“I’m aerobicizing!” she tells him. “I must have a beat!”
“Wonderful.” Giles tells himself. “You work on your muscle tone while my brain dribbles out of my ears.”
Philip continues to pound on the door, and call for help. No one hears him. Diedre reaches him, and grabs him by the throat. She starts to choke him.
Buffy finishes her exercises and turns off her stereo. “Ah, very good,” says a greatly relieved Giles. “And the rest is silence.”1
The silence has come too late for Philip. Diedre finishes strangling him and drops his body to the ground. She collapses beside it and dissolves into a puddle of green goo.
Giles awakens from a nightmare involving several people, a demon, and a strange tattoo.
Buffy, Willow and Xander while away the time before classes start with a game of Anywhere But Here. Willow spots Giles walking toward the school and wonders if he ever played Anywhere But Here when he was in school.
“Giles lived for school,” says Xander. “He’s actually still bitter that there were only twelve grades.”
“He probably sat in math class thinking, ‘There should be more math. This could be mathier.’” agrees Buffy. Willow isn’t so sure. She thinks he must have gotten restless as a kid, but neither Buffy, nor Xander believes it.
Buffy notices that Giles seems to be looking for something, so she calls out to him. He spins around and sees her. She is what he was looking for. Something important is happening tonight. Buffy isn’t surprised by that. They all follow him into the school.
“So, what’s on tap tonight that’s so important?” asks Buffy as they walk through the school. “Uprising, prophesied ritual, preordained deathfest?”
“A medical transport is delivering the monthly supply of blood to the hospital,” says Giles.
“Hmm. Vampire meals on wheels,” says Buffy. She stops at her locker and starts to open it. Giles hopes not. He tells Buffy that he will meet her outside the hospital at 8:30, and not to be late. “Have I ever let you down?” she asks.
“Do you want me to answer that, or shall I just glare?”
Jenny Calendar arrives. “Morning, England,” she says to Giles.
“Oh, hello, Miss, um, ah, Jenny,” stammers Giles.
“Feel the passion!” Willow tells Xander quietly.
It wasn’t quite quiet enough “Willow…” says Miss Calendar.
Willow coughs. “Coughing, not speaking.”
Jenny asks Willow if they are still on for tomorrow morning. Willow is helping her with a little catch up tutorial for a couple of students who are falling behind in computer class.
Xander laughs. “Those poor schlubs have to attend school on Saturday!”
“9AM okay with you, Xander?” asks Jenny. His smile disappears.
“Got a bit of schlub on your shoe there,” says Buffy, and closes her locker.
“Well, Cordelia’s going to meet us,” says Jenny.
This is just getting better and better for Xander. “Mix in a little rectal surgery, and it’s my best day ever!”
Jenny suggests to Giles that he walk her to class. The kids watch them go, a twosome of cuteness. “Can’t you just imagine them getting together?” asks Willow, and they all smile. Then they start imagining it, and their smiles fade into looks of revulsion. They quickly turn away and head off in the opposite direction.
Jenny and Giles walk together toward her class. She thanks him for loaning her the Forrester book. She really enjoyed it. Giles is glad. That book had been given to him by his father and it is one of his favourites.
“Yeah, y’know how you have to dog-ear your favourite pages so you can go back to them?” asks Jenny.
“What?” asks Giles, a little alarmed.
“Well, I mean, I practically had to fold back every single page,” says Jenny, “So finally I just, I just started underlining all the pages I really wanted to discuss.”
“Underlined…?” asks Giles, with growing dismay.
“But then, of course, I spilled coffee all over it, I can’t even read it.”
Giles is incredulous. “It’s a first edition!”
“I’m lying, Rupert,” says Jenny. “The book’s fine.” She holds it up and shows it to him. “I just love to see you squirm.”
“Yes, well, I trust I gave good squirm.”
“Did anyone ever tell you you’re kind of a fuddy-duddy?” asks Jenny.
“Nobody ever seems to tell me anything else.”
“Did anyone ever tell you you’re kind of a sexy fuddy-duddy?” she asks.
“Well, no,” he says. “Actually that part usually gets left out. I can’t imagine why.”
“This weekend,” says Jenny.
“Would you like to go out?”
“No, I think I’d like to stay in.”
Jenny leans toward him and gives him a kiss. It doesn’t last long. The bell sounds and the empty corridor quickly fills with students making their way between classes. Giles and Jenny pull away from each other, a little embarrassed. “Uh, this Saturday, then,” says Giles.
“Saturday night,” says Jenny. “I’ll see if I can make you squirm.”
Giles enters the library and discovers that it isn’t empty. There is a black woman, and two uniformed police officers there waiting for him. The woman introduces herself as Detective Winslow. She tells him that she wants him to come with her. Giles asks what it’s about.
“There was a homicide on campus last night,” says Detective Winslow. “The victim had no identification, but he was carrying this slip of paper with your name and address on it.” She shows him the piece of paper in a plastic evidence bag.
Giles is puzzled, but before he can ask about it Cordelia comes into the library. She has to pick up a book for her computer tutorial tomorrow. “There are books on computers?” she asks. “Isn’t the point of computers to replace books?”
Giles tells her that he is a little busy right now, and points out the police officers to her.
“Oh! Great!” says Cordy. “Can you help me with a ticket?” she asks Detective Winslow. “It’s totally bogus. It was a one way street. I was going one way.”
“Cordelia!” says Giles.
“What?” asks Cordy. “Why does everyone always yell my name? I’m not deaf! And I can take a hint. What’s the hint?”
“To come back later,” says Giles.
“Yeah, when you’ve visited decaf land,” says Cordy, and leaves.
Giles asks Detective Winslow where she wants him to go.
Winslow takes Giles to the morgue. An attendant opens the door for the drawer containing Philip’s body and pulls it out.
“Did you have your breakfast?” he asks Giles.
“No,” says Giles.
“That was probably a good idea.” He pulls the sheet away from the body.
Giles recognises him. His name is Philip Henry and they used to be friends, twenty years ago in London. He hasn’t seen him since. Winslow asks if Giles has any idea why Philip was looking for him. Giles says he doesn’t. He sees the symbol from his nightmare tattooed and Philip’s arm, and stares at it.
Winslow notices Giles looking at the tattoo, and asks if he knows what it means. He tells her he has no idea.
Buffy waits beside an ambulance outside the emergency entrance to the Sunnydale Hospital. She checks her watch. “Don’t be late,” she mutters to herself. “Sheesh!” She starts toward a nearby phone booth, but stops when she sees a van pulling up.
The driver gets out of the van and is met by a couple of doctors who come out of the hospital. He opens the back and pulls out a cooler. One of the doctors signs for it, and they take the cooler and start to carry it back toward the hospital.
“All’s well that ends with cute E.R. doctors, I always say.” Buffy tells herself. The driver gets back into the van and drives away, but something is bothering Buffy. “Since when do doctors take deliveries?”
Her suspicions are quickly confirmed. After the van is gone, a car pulls up—a blue convertible with the top down. The doctors put the cooler down in front of the car, and one of them opens it. He pulls out a bag of blood and bites into it.
“Hey!” calls out the vampire driver of the car as he gets out. “No sampling the product!” The vampire who had been masquerading as one of the doctors puts the bag back into the cooler.
Buffy attacks the three vampires. She runs right in among them and gives each one a kick, knocking them all flying. She returns her attention to the first vamp she kicked as it’s recovering and kicks at it again. This time it’s ready, and it grabs her, picks her up and slams her down on the hood of the car. Buffy kicks it in the head and knocks it away.
Buffy springs to her feet and stands on the hood of the car. She pulls a stake from her jacket pocket. A fourth figure runs toward her. She stops herself just before staking him. “Angel!” she says in surprise.
“Look out!” Angel runs across the hood of the car and throws himself on the driver who was just about to attack Buffy from behind.
The other two vampires attack Buffy together, jumping up onto the car hood with her. She knocks one of the off the hood, and punches the second, knocking it off its feet. It lands on his back on the hood.
Buffy jumps down and stakes the vampire on the ground as it’s trying to get back to its feet. She spins around and stakes the second as it comes at her from behind.
Angel gives the vampire he’s fighting a kick in the head. He knocks it spinning right into the driver’s seat of the car. The vampire doesn’t waste its opportunity. It puts the car in gear, and hits the gas. The car takes off with a squeal of rubber.
Buffy goes to check out the cooler. “How’d you know about this?” she asks Angel as she opens it up.
“It’s delivery day,” says Angel. “Everybody knows about this.” He glances into the cooler. “They only ruined one bag.” He kicks the lid closed. Buffy asks if he can see to it that the hospital gets the rest. She gives him a look, and Angel nods. Buffy is worried about Giles. She wants to find out why he didn’t show.
“Maybe he’s late,” says Angel.
“Giles?” asks Buffy. “Who counts tardiness as like the eighth deadly sin?”
Buffy knocks on Giles’ door. He opens his peephole window to see who it is, and when he sees it’s Buffy he opens the door. He is looking somewhat disheveled and unfocused. “Buffy. It’s late. Are you all right?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.”
Giles tells her he’s fine, but rather busy. He will see her at school on Monday, and tries to close the door.
Buffy blocks it. “Giles, did you forget? The hospital, vampires, handy carryout packets of blood?”
Giles remembers, somewhat chagrined, and asks if she’s okay. Buffy tells him she’s fine, but she is wondering what’s wrong with him.
“Nothing,” says Giles. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just in the middle of something extremely important, and I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to say good night now.” He closes his door in her face. Buffy stands looking worried for a few seconds, and then goes.
Giles tries to phone an old friend in London: Diedre Page. He apologises to the person who answers the phone about the time. It is 5AM in London. He tells them that it is very important that the talks with Diedre. He is surprised to learn that Diedre died recently. He offers his condolences and hangs up the phone.
Giles sits for a while in thought and then he picks up and drains the glass of scotch that is sitting on his desk beside a bottle which is about two thirds full. He sets down the glass, and picks up a pen. He crosses Diedre’s name off a list in his notebook. There are two other names above hers which have already been crossed off: Thomas Butcher and Philip Henry. Two names remain on his list: Ethan Rayne, and Rupert Giles.
Giles goes to his wash basin, and rolls up the sleeves of his shirt. He has the same tattoo as Philip Henry on his arm. He splashes some water on his face, and looks at himself in the mirror. “So, you’re back.”
Philip Henry wakes up in the Sunnydale morgue. His eyes are glowing green.
The night attendant at the morgue moves along the row of body drawers, opening each one, and checking it off on the list of bodies on his clipboard. He opens the last drawer, and is surprised to discover that it’s empty. He is even more surprised when Philip attacks him from behind. He throws a sheet over the attendant’s head and throws him into the drawer that Philip had recently occupied.
Miss Calendar leads Xander, Cordy and Willow toward the computer class to start their tutorial. Cordy doesn’t think this is right. School on a Saturday throws off her internal clock. Xander agrees, and what are they going to need computers for in real life anyway? Miss Calendar starts listing the sorts of things that computers are used for.
“You know computers are on the way out,” says Xander. “I think paper’s going to make a big comeback.”
“And the abacus,” says Willow.
“Yeah,” says Xander. “You know, you don’t see enough abaci.”
Miss Calendar lets them into the computer lab, but before she can get started they are surprised by Buffy showing up. Willow thinks that Buffy decided to join them, which is good news for Xander and Cordelia. She can demilitarise the zone between them. That isn’t what Buffy is there for. She wants to talk with Miss Calendar about Giles. She tells her about what happened the night before. She suspects Giles was drinking.
“But…tea, right?” asks Willow.
“Wasn’t tea, Will,” says Buffy.
“Yep, I knew this would happen,” says Xander. “Nobody can be wound as straight and narrow as Giles without a dark side erupting. My Uncle Rory was the stodgiest taxidermist you’ve ever met—by day. By night, it was booze, whores, and fur flying. Were there whores?”
“He was alone,” says Buffy.
“Give it time,” says Xander.
Buffy asks them if they have noticed anything strange about Giles behaviour lately. They all say they haven’t. “Uh, you haven’t seen anything weird?” Buffy asks again.
“No, he seemed perfectly normal yesterday when I saw him talking to the police,” says Cordelia. Everyone stares at her.
“And you waited until now to tell us this because…?” asks Buffy.
“I didn’t think it was important,” says Cordy.
“We understand,” says Xander. “It wasn’t about you.”
Jenny asks what the police were talking to him about. Cordy tells them it was something about a homicide. Buffy decides it’s time to phone Giles.
Buffy goes to use the phone in the library, but she hears something moving back in the stacks. She goes to investigate. Ethan Rayne tries to push over a bookcase on top of her, and make a break for it.
Buffy rolls away from under the bookcase before it can land on her and runs after Ethan. She catches him before he is out of the stacks, grabs him and pulls him around. “I know you! You ran that costume shop.”
“Oh, I’m pleased you remember,” says Ethan and he turns to go again.
Buffy grabs him and spins him around. “You sold me that dress for Halloween, and nearly got us all killed!”
“But you looked great!” says Ethan. Buffy punches him in the jaw. “Ow!” Ethan straightens himself back up. “So now we’re even?”
“I’ll let you know when we’re even,” says Buffy. She wants to know what he is doing there. Ethan tries to evade her questions, until she suggests that she call the cops so they can take him away for breaking and entering, and then she can get back to her fun Saturday.
“Yes, the police,” says Ethan, “Well, they’ll have all those questions, and they’ll really need Rupert to answer them all.”
“You know Giles,” says Buffy.
“We go back,” says Ethan. “Way back. You don’t happen to know where he is, do you?”
Giles is awakened from another nightmare by the ringing of the phone. He has fallen asleep at his desk at home. His scotch bottle is now nearly empty. It’s Buffy on the phone. He doesn’t want to talk to her now. He tells her that unless it’s an emergency, he’ll see her on Monday.
“What’s the Mark of Eyghon?” she asks him. That freezes Giles. He doesn’t say anything. “Giles?” asks Buffy.
“Cat got his tongue?” asks Ethan. He is standing beside her behind the library counter with his shirt sleeve rolled up. He has the same tattoo on his arm.
Buffy tells Giles that she’s in his office with Ethan Rayne. This is not good news to Giles. “He’s there with you? Listen, Buffy, you’re in grave danger while Ethan’s there. I want you to put the phone down and get out of the library as soon as possible.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you give me some answers!” says Buffy. Before Giles can say any more she is interrupted by Philip Henry crashing through the window in Giles’ office. Ethan instantly moves behind Buffy, holding her between himself and Philip.
Philip moves toward them. Buffy kicks Philip out into the main area of the library, and rolls across the counter herself.
Ethan climbs over the counter and heads for the door. Xander is just coming in, followed by Cordy, Jenny and Willow. Buffy tells them not to let him get away.
Xander tries to grab Ethan but he gets pushed aside, and Ethan makes a dash for the door. He gets a knee in the gut from Cordy, and goes down.
Buffy and Philip circle one another warily. Buffy notices the open door to the book cage and moves around so it’s behind her. Philip charges at her. Buffy deflects him toward the door, and gives him a kick propelling him the rest of the way into the cage. She closes the door and locks it.
Willow moves away from the cage door. She isn’t getting close enough to check for a pulse, but the guy looks dead to her.
“Except for the walking and attacking Buffy part,” says Xander.
“He’s dead,” says Ethan. He’s sitting in one of the library chairs with Buffy standing guard on him. “Sorry, Philip. Really am.”
Giles comes running into the library, and asks if everyone is all right. They are. Cordy is pleased that she got to kick a guy, and Xander is happy that the dead guy interrupted their tutorial. “Been meaning to thank you for that,” he tells Philip. Philip growls and throws himself against he cage door. Xander jumps back.
Giles looks at Philip in the cage. “It can’t be!” he says.
“Yes, it can,” say Ethan. “Hello, Ripper.”
Giles turns to face him. “I thought I told you to leave town.”
“You did. I didn’t,” says Ethan as Giles walks toward him. “Shop’s lease is paid ’til the end of the month.”
“Why did he call him Ripper?” Cordy asks Xander quietly.
Giles grabs Ethan by the hair and lifts him from the chair. “You should’ve left when I told you.”
“Oh…” says Cordelia.
Buffy isn’t happy with the way Giles is behaving, but he ignores her. “You put these people in danger,” he tells Ethan. “People I care about.”
“If you cared so much about them, why didn’t you leave town?” asks Ethan. “You’ve been having the dreams, I know. I have. We both know what’s coming.”
Buffy wants to know what they are talking about.
“Tell her, Ripper,” says Ethan.
Before Giles can say anything Philip knocks the door of the book cage open. It hits Jenny, and she falls to the floor. “Jenny!” yells Giles, and runs to her.
Buffy knocks Philip back with a kick. She gives him a couple more kicks, and he collapses. He gets back to his feet and starts to move toward her, then he stops. He goes into convulsions, and falls back to the floor beside Jenny. He dissolves into a puddle of green goo.
“Now there is something you don’t see every day,” says Willow.
“I’m going to be in therapy until I’m 30,” says Cordelia.
Buffy looks around. “Where’s Ethan?” Ethan has used Philip’s distraction to escape. Buffy runs out of the library to try to find him. No one notices when the spreading puddle of goo touches Jenny’s hand and it twitches.
Jenny wakes up, and Giles helps her back to her feet. She is pretty unsteady, and he has to keep supporting her.
“This is what happens when you have school on Saturday,” says Cordelia.
Jenny is still having trouble standing. Giles tells her she can keep leaning on him. She’ll be okay. “Promise?” she asks.
“I promise,” says Giles.
“I believe you,” says Jenny. She holds him close. Her eyes flash green.
Buffy returns from looking for Ethan, but he got away clean. Giles is sitting on the library table beside Jenny, who is in one of the chairs. Buffy asks Giles about what is going on, but he refuses to tell her. It is complicated and it is private.
“I don’t care from private!” says Buffy. “I care from dead guys attacking us. I care from you lost weekending in your apartment!”
“I wasn’t—” says Giles, but gives up on that tack. “I was just trying to find a solution.”
“Giles, share!” demands Buffy. “What is the Mark of Eyghon?”
“This is not your battle!” says Giles. “And as your Watcher, I’m telling you unequivocally to stay out of it!” He tells her that he has to get Jenny home now. He helps Jenny to her feet and supports her as they walk out of the library.
Buffy waits until they are gone before she turns to the others. They have work to do. She tells Willow to start researching the Mark of Eyghon. She asks Xander to start digging through Giles’ personal files to see if he can learn anything there. Xander heads for Giles’ office. Cordelia steps up to Buffy with a big smile on her face, waiting to be handed her assignment.
“What?” asks Buffy.
“What about me?” asks Cordy. “I care about Giles.”
Buffy wasn’t expecting Cordy to volunteer. “Uh, work with Xander.”
That wasn’t the sort of volunteer Cordy had in mind either. “Well, when I say ‘care,’ I mean…”
“Cordelia,” says Buffy.
“Okay, okay!” Cordy follows Xander into the office.
Giles hasn’t taken Jenny to her home. They have gone to his. Jenny tells him she isn’t feeling up to being alone just yet. Giles gives her a glass of scotch and sits beside her on the sofa. He apologises to her for getting her involved in all this.
“So I got involved. That’s what happens when two people…get involved.” She leans toward him.
Giles starts to lean toward her to give her a kiss, but he stops. “I really am going to have to get you home. It’s not— I’m not a very safe person to be around at the moment.”
“Nothing’s safe in this world, Rupert,” says Jenny. “Don’t you know that by now?”
Willow finds the Mark of Eyghon in one of Giles’ books, and shows it to Buffy. “Eyghon, also called the Sleepwalker, can only exist in this reality by possessing an unconscious host.” Willow reads from the book. “Temporary possession imbues the host with a euphoric feeling of power.”
Buffy asks what happens if the possession is non-temporary.
“Unless the proper rituals are observed, the possession is permanent,” Willow reads, “and Eyghon will be born from within the host.”
Cordy doesn’t think that sounds good.
Willow has more for them. “Once called, Eyghon can also take possession of the dead, but it’s demonic energy soon disintegrates the host, and it must jump to the nearest dead or unconscious person to continue living.”
None of this really tells them what Eyghon has to do with Giles though.
“I don’t know about Giles, but ancient sects used to induce possession for bacchanals and orgies,” says Willow.
“Okay! ‘Giles’ and ‘orgies’ in the same sentence,” says Xander. “I could’ve lived without that one.”
“Uh, wait a minute,” says Buffy. “The dead guy’s all puddly now.”
“So the demon’s gone,” says Cordelia. “There was no one dead to jump into. I mean, we’re all not dead, right?”
“No,” says Buffy. “No one dead.”
“But someone unconscious,” says Xander.
Jenny pulls the phone cord out of the wall in Giles’ apartment while Giles is in the kitchen preparing some tea. When he comes back with a cup for each of them he tells her that he should take her home as soon as she is finished with it.
“You could take me home,” says Jenny, “Or you could take advantage of me in my weakened state.”
Buffy gets off the phone with the operator. She didn’t get an answer from Miss Calendar, and Giles’ phone is out of order. She tells the others that she’s going over to Giles’ place.
Giles really doesn’t think that they should be doing this right now. Jenny thinks now is the perfect time for it. She pushes him down into a chair, straddles his lap, and kisses him.
Giles pushes her away. “It’s not right. I would be taking advantage.”
“God, you just don’t change, do you?” asks Jenny.
“What?”
“‘It’s not right.’ ‘It wouldn’t be proper.’ ‘People might get hurt.’ You’re like a woman, Ripper. You cry at every funeral. You never had the strength for me. You don’t deserve me. But guess what? You’ve got me.” Jenny grabs Giles by the hair, and her voice drops a couple of octaves. “Under your skin.”
Jenny pulls Giles out of the chair and swings him around. She kisses him fiercely. When she pulls back her face is beginning to transform. “Was it good for you?” she asks in her new voice and slams his head into his desk, nearly knocking him out. “Aw, you never had the stomach,” says Eyghon. “But that’s okay. ’Cause I’m about to rip it out!” She grabs him by the hair again and tosses him across the room.
Buffy breaks open the door. She kicks Eyghon away from Giles. Eyghon gets back to its feet and starts to come back toward Buffy and Giles. “Back off!” warns Buffy.
Eyghon looks at Buffy and laughs. “Three down, two to go! Be seeing you.” It turns and jumps out through Giles’ window. Buffy goes to check on Giles.
“Oh, Jenny! Oh, god!” he says. Buffy asks him what they should do. Giles can’t answer her. “Oh, god, what have I done?”
“Talk to me!” says Buffy. “Giles, you’re scaring me.”
“I’m sorry,” says Giles.
“Don’t be sorry, be Giles!” says Buffy. “C’mon, we fight monsters. This is what we do. They show up, they scare us, I beat ’em up, and they go away. This isn’t any different!”
“It is different,” says Giles.
“Because you don’t know how to stop it?” asks Buffy.
“Because I created it!”
In the library Xander’s search of Giles’ records has turned up nothing of interest except a twenty year old picture of Giles in a leather jacket holding a guitar.
Giles tells Buffy of how, when he was 21, the tedious grind of his studies of history and demonology at Oxford, and the pressure of his destiny as a Watcher caused him to drop out. He moved to London and fell in with the worst crowd which would have him, one of whom was Ethan Rayne. He and the others practiced petty magic, for fun and profit, and then one day he and Ethan discovered Eyghon. Members of the group would take turns being possessed by Eyghon. It was a tremendous high, until one day Randall lost control, and Eyghon took him whole.
“We tried to exorcise the demon from Randall, but it killed him,” says Giles. “We killed him. We thought we were free of the demon after that. But now he’s back. And one by one he will kill us all.”
“Three down, two to go?” asks Buffy, and Giles nods. “Then it’s going after Ethan. I better beat it there.” She starts to leave.
Giles starts to follow her. “We’d better.”
“I’d better,” says Buffy. “Giles, you’re barely mobile, and speed is of a serious essence here.”
Giles concedes. “I don’t know how to stop it without killing Jenny.”
“I’ve got the guys working on it,” says Buffy. “I’ll try to contain it until we figure something.” She starts to leave again.
“Buffy?” says Giles. “I’m sorry.”
“I know,” says Buffy, and she goes.
Buffy finds Ethan in his costume shop. She tells him that Eyghon is on the way.
“And you came to protect me?” asks Ethan. “I’m touched.”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing personal,” says Buffy. “To protect Giles I have to protect you.”
“How does Ripper inspire such goodness?”
“’Cause he’s Giles,” says Buffy.
“And I’m not,” says Ethan. “Still, lucky me.” Ethan knows that running won’t do him any good. He can’t hide from Eyghon. His tattoo is like a homing beacon. Eyghon will find him wherever he goes. That’s fine with Buffy, she isn’t planning on running. She does expect Ethan to hide until it is over though. This sounds like a good plan to Ethan.
Buffy asks if there is a back entrance to the shop, and Ethan tells her there is a door in the back room. It’s solid, and locked. “We’ll set up there,” says Buffy. “Let’s go.”
“Oh, no, please.” Ethan indicates that Buffy should go first. Buffy starts to head for the back room. When her back is turned to him Ethan picks up a mannequin arm off the counter top and hits her in the back of the head, knocking her out.
“Ladies first,” says Ethan.
Buffy wakes up tied face down on a table in the costume shop. Her hands are tied together beneath the table, and her feet are tied together. Ethan is preparing to tattoo the Mark of Eyghon on her neck.
“You know what?” she tells him. “I’m not real interested in joining your club.”
“Too late. I already voted you in,” says Ethan. “Y’know, I hope you’re not taking this personally, Buffy. I actually kind of like you. It’s just that I like myself a whole lot more. If you think of it karmically, this is really big for your soul. You know, taking my place with the demon, giving so that others may live.”
Buffy struggles to free herself. “I’m going to kill you. Will that blow the whole karma thing?”
Willow, Xander and Cordelia are looking for a way to kill the demon. Cordy looks up from the book she’s reading. “I’ve got the solution right here!” Willow looks toward her expectantly. “To kill a demon cut off its head!” reads Cordy. Willow looks away in disgust.
Xander doesn’t think much of that idea either. Miss Calendar will be the first headless computer teacher in school. “You think anybody’ll notice?”
“Do you know what you need, Xander, besides a year’s supply of acne cream?” asks Cordy. “A brain.”
“That’s it!” Xander stands up and steps toward her. “Twelve years of you and I’m snapping! I don’t care if you’re a girl or not, I’m throwing down! Come on!”
Cordelia stands and walks toward him. “I’ve seen you fight. And don’t think I can’t take you!” She and Xander stand nose to nose.
“Give it your best shot,” says Xander.
Willow jumps to her feet. “Hey!” she yells at them. “We don’t have time for this! Our friends are in trouble! Now, we have to put our heads together and get them out of it! And if you two aren’t with me a hundred and ten percent, then get the hell out of my library!” She points out the door to them.
Cordy and Xander meekly apologise, and Willow calms down. She knows that they have all the information they need to figure this out. They just have to figure out how to put it together.
“Oh, hey!” says Xander. “Why don’t we find another dead body for the demon to jump into!”
“Yes! At the cemetery,” says Cordy.
“Well, that won’t kill the demon,” says Willow, “It’ll only give it a change of scenery.” They have given her an idea though. “Oh! Oh, I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” Willow runs out of the library.
“She’s good!” says Xander, and he and Cordelia follow her out.
Ethan finishes the tattoo on Buffy’s neck. He is quite pleased with his work. Buffy is less so. She thinks what he’s doing is a very bad idea.
Ethan rolls up his sleave. “But it will get Eyghon off my scent.” He reaches for a bottle of sulphuric acid. Buffy starts to struggle harder. She has found a screw sticking out of the bottom of the table and is using it to saw at the ropes binding her.
“No relax,” says Ethan. “I’m finished with you. This is for me.” He removes the stopper from the bottle and pours acid onto the tattoo on his arm. He grimaces in pain.
As Ethan’s tattoo is burned away Giles collapses under an onslaught from a series of visions. Ethan, Eyghon, and the new tattoo on Buffy’s neck. He knows what Ethan has done. He gets back to his feet and runs from his home.
Ethan finishes bandaging his arm. It is time for him to be going. He has waited a little too long. He sees a green glow shining through the window in the front door of his shop. The door swings open and Eyghon steps in.
“It’s your time” it tells Ethan, but something isn’t right. It sniffs at him, but he doesn’t smell right. Its eyes flash, and it looks at Buffy. It pushes Ethan out of the way and steps toward her.
The ropes tying Buffy’s hands together finally part, and she rolls off the table as Eyghon lunges at her. She lands on the floor on the other side of the table, and kicks it, knocking it and Eyghon away.
Buffy unties her feet and gets back to her feet while Eyghon gets out from under the table. Eyghon lifts the table and charges at Buffy with it, pushing her back against the counter.
Giles bursts through the door. “Eyghon!” he calls. “Take me!” Eyghon turns to look at Giles. “Buffy get out of here!”
“No!” yells Buffy and runs to put herself between Giles and Eyghon. Eyghon waves its hand at Buffy, and sends her flying. It grabs Giles and throws him to the floor. Eyghon stands over Giles. “I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.”
Angel runs through the door. He grabs Eyghon and pulls it away from Giles. Angel grabs Eyghon by the throat and starts to strangle it.
Willow, Xander and Cordy have followed Angel into the shop. Willow goes to Giles. Xander and Cordy go to check on Buffy. Giles sees what Angel is doing to Eyghon/Jenny, and starts to move toward them. “He’s killing her!”
Willow holds Giles back. “No, trust me. This is going to work!”
Angel suddenly releases Eyghon, and falls back against the wall. Jenny falls the other way, herself again, free from the demon. Giles kneels beside her, But Jenny is looking at Angel.
Angel’s struggle with Eyghon has moved inside. The demon is trying to possess him. Angel flails against the wall, his face contorting. One second he’s Eyghon, the next a vampire. Sometimes a combination of the two. In the end, Eyghon is cast out of Angel’s body, and disintegrates. Angel collapses to the floor.
Giles helps Jenny to her feet, while Buffy and Willow go to Angel. “You knew that if the demon was in trouble it was going to jump into the nearest dead person.” Buffy says to Willow.
“I put it in danger,” says Angel.
“And it jumped,” says Willow.
Buffy helps Angel to his feet. “I’ve had a demon inside me for a couple hundred years, just waiting or a good fight,” he says.
“Winner and still champion,” says Buffy.
Xander looks around and notices that someone is missing. “Uh, I think that Ethan guy disappeared again.”
“Darn,” says Buffy. “I really wanted to hit him ’til he bled.”
“Well at least it’s over,” says Cordy.
They all look toward Giles and Jenny. He helps Jenny to her feet, and they lean on each other as they leave the shop together.
Buffy meets with Willow and Xander in the school courtyard on Monday. She is upset. She had been saving up her allowance to buy an important pair of shoes, but now she has to spend it all to get the tattoo removed before her mother sees it. She has taken to wearing a scarf around her neck. Xander tells Willow that her plan was brilliant, and Buffy suggests that maybe Willow might have a future as a Watcher.
“Oh, no,” says Willow. “I don’t think I could handle the stress.”
“And the dental plan is crap,” says Xander.
Willow looks across the courtyard and sees Giles. “I don’t see how Giles does it.” The three of them watch Giles enter the school.
“I don’t think he has a choice,” says Buffy.
Giles catches Jenny in the corridor. He had tried calling her on Sunday. She tells him she left the phone off the hook. She needed to sleep. Giles asks if there is anything he can do for her.
“No, I’m fine,” says Jenny. “I mean, I’m not running around, wind in my hair, ‘the hills are alive with the sound of music’ fine, but… I’m coping.”
“I would like to help,” says Giles. “Perhaps we could talk sometime. Um, dinner, or a drink? When you’re feeling stronger.”
“Sure, sometime,” says Jenny. Giles reaches out toward her, but she steps back quickly. “Yeah, sometime.” She tells him that she has to get to class, and leaves.
Buffy has seen the tail end of their conversation. She walks over to Giles and asks if Jenny’s okay.
“Um, the hills are not alive,” he tells her.
Buffy doesn’t get the reference. “I’m sorry to hear that...I think.”
“I don’t think she’ll ever really forgive me,” says Giles. “Maybe she shouldn’t.”
“Maybe you should,” says Buffy. It isn’t going to be that easy. Giles never wanted Buffy to see that side of him. She admits that it was scary. “I’m so used to you being a grownup, and then I find out that you’re a person.”
“Most grownups are,” says Giles. “Some are even shortsighted, foolish people.”
“So, after all this time, we finally find out that we do have something in common,” says Buffy. “Which, apart from being a little weird, is kind of okay. I think we’re supposed to be training right now.”
“Yes. Yes,” says Giles. “Need to concentrate on your flexibility.”
“And you know what?” Buffy holds up a CD. “I have just the perfect music. Go on, say it. You know you want to.”
“It’s not music, it’s just meaningless sounds,” says Giles.
“There. Feel better?” she asks.
“Yes. Thanks,” says Giles. They start down the hall toward the library. Giles holds open the door for Buffy. “Bay City Rollers2. Now, that’s music.”
“I didn’t hear that,” says Buffy.
| Who or What | Where | How |
|---|---|---|
| Philip Henry | Sunnydale High campus | Strangled by Eyghon |
| Faux Doctor Vampire 1 | Outside the Sunnydale Hospital | Staked by Buffy |
| Faux Doctor Vampire 2 | Outside the Sunnydale Hospital | Staked by Buffy |
| Eyghon | Ethan’s costume shop | Killed by Angel |