Introduction
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| Lies My Parents Told Me | Empty Places |
A girl runs through the woods at night. She’s being chased by three black robed Harbingers of the First. She runs out onto a dirt road. She sees an old Ford pickup truck coming toward her. She runs toward it, waving her arms “Help! Stop, stop, please!”
The truck stops and the girl runs around to the passenger side door. “What’s going on?” asks the driver. He’s about thirty, dark hair, and dressed as a preacher.
“Just get me out of here!” says the girl.
“Was someone hurt?” asks the preacher. “What is it?”
The girl opens the door and jumps into the truck. “Drive!”
The preacher starts the truck moving. He looks in the rear view mirror just as the Bringers come out of the woods. “Well, that was, uh…” He looks back over his shoulder at them, and then he looks at the girl. “Are you all right?”
“Thank you,” she says breathlessly. “Thank god you were there.”
“Well, let’s not give him credit for everything,” says the preacher. He smiles at the girl. “No, I’m funnin’ ya. I don’t believe in coincidence. I also don’t believe young girls should be out in the woods late at night. They should be tucked in bed.”
“Wish I was,” says the girl.
The pickup pulls out onto the highway. “I expect you do at that,” says the preacher. “Look, I don’t mean to pry, but those boys, they looked like…” He looks at the girl. “Well, you didn’t happen to fall in with devil worshippers, did you?” The girl just looks out the window. “No, I’m sorry. You, uh— You look like you’ve been traveling a while. I didn’t think that— Is there someplace you’d like me to drop you? You heading someplace?”
“Sunnydale.”
“I’m going there myself,” says the preacher. “I ain’t never been, but I expect we can find a police station or—”
“I just need to get to Revello Drive,” says the girl. “Um, thanks. Father…”
“Call me Caleb. Never was nobody’s daddy.”
“I’m Shannon.”
“Well, Shannon, you feel like telling me why those Freaky Joes were after you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, do you ever think that maybe they were chasing you because you’re a whore?” asks Caleb.
“What?”
“Now, I know what you’re thinking. Crazy preacher man spoutin’ off at the mouth about the Whore of Babylon or some such.” Caleb shakes his head. “That ain’t me. I’m not here to lecture you. I mean, what’s the point?” He pushes in the cigarette lighter on the dashboard of the truck. “My words just curdle in your ears. Wouldn’t take in a thing. Head filled with so much filth that ain’t no room for words of truth. Well, you know what you are, Shannon?” He looks at her. “Dirty.”
“What? I’m not! What—”
“Now, now, now, there’s no blame here,” says Caleb. “You were born dirty, born without a soul. Born with that gaping maw that wants to open up, suck out a man’s marrow. Makes me puke to think too hard on it.”
Shannon reaches for the door handle, but finds that there isn’t one on her side of the truck.
“Yeah, that there door’s problematical,” says Caleb. “Don’t know as I could recommend stepping out at this speed, anyway. You’re like as not to tumble some. Then, of course, there’s my boys back there. Ooh, they hate to miss a mark.”
“Your boys,” says Shannon.
“Well, they ain’t exactly my blue-eyed boys, but they’re hard workers,” says Caleb. “And they don’t truck with Satan. That was just me having fun. Satan is a little man.”
Shannon tries to grab the steering wheel but Caleb pushes her back. “I don’t like backseat drivers.”
The cigarette lighter pops out. Caleb takes it, and presses it against the large ring he’s wearing on his hand.
“Please…” says Shannon. “Don’t hurt me.”
“Oh, now is this the part where you offer to do anything? Because I tried to make it clear to you— you got nothin’ I want to explore.” He presses his heated ring against the side of her neck. Shannon screams as it sears her flesh. “Oh, yeah! That’s it. That’s a cleansing fire. Hallelujah!”
Caleb looks in his mirror again. “Now, if I’m not mistaken, there’s a car a little ways behind us. And I do believe there’s some folks in it going the same place you are. Now, I want you to deliver a message for me. But it’s not for them. It’s for the other one. The one and only, the original, accept-no-substitutes Slayer. Would you tell her something for me?”
“Yes,” whispers Shannon.
“Well, thank you, Shannon.” Caleb smiles, pulls a knife, and plunges it into her gut. He leans over and whispers something in her ear. “Now, let’s see what we can’t do about that door.” He kicks open the passenger side door, and pushes Shannon out onto the road.
Shannon rolls to a stop, face down on the road. The driver of the car that was behind the pickup truck slams on her breaks to avoid hitting her.
Willow jumps out and runs toward the girl on the road. “Are you okay? Can you hear me? Can you talk?” She rolls Shannon over and sees the scratches on her face, She looks up at the other girl who got out of the car. “This girl’s bleeding badly! We have to get her to the hospital!”
“Yep.” Faith looks around. “Guess I’m back in Sunnydale.”
Xander’s apartment is full of sleeping Potentials. “I know it’s hard,” says Xander. He’s lying in his bed, propped up on one elbow, looking at Caridad, who’s sitting on his bed. She’s dressed in only a skimpy blue t-shirt, and boxer shorts.
“I haven’t been able to sleep the last few nights,” says Caridad.
“Hey, listen, it’s gonna be okay,” says Xander softly. “Buffy knows what she’s doing. She’s not gonna send you into battle until she’s sure you’re ready for action.”
“That’s just it, though,” she says. “How will I know I’m ready? For action.”
“You have to trust us.”
“I’m so scared, Xander. And I’m so young.”
“Well, believe it or not, I was younger than you when I started all this,” says Xander.
“There’s just so much I haven’t done,” says Caridad. “So much I need to do. It’s like…I never had a real boyfriend, you know.”
“Yeah?”
Caridad looks down. She runs her fingers along the sheets of the bed. “I’ve never been with a man. I could die tomorrow…and I’ve never been with a man.”
“Well, uh—”
Another Potential pops up beside Caridad. “I’ve never been with a man before, either.”
Xander smiles. “Colleen.”
Colleen looks at Caridad. “I’ve never been with her in front of a man before.”
Caridad looks at Colleen. “I’ve never been with her in front of a man, neither.”
Xander gulps as the two girls start to move closer. “We can’t.”
“We’re so scared,” says Colleen.
“The others might hear us,” says Xander.
“Uh-uh. No, they won’t,” says Colleen.
“They’re okay,” says Caridad. Both girls start to kiss him.
The door to Xander’s bedroom swings open. Out in his apartment half a dozen scantily clad girls are having a pillow fight.
“Xander,” says Rona. “Xander!”
Xander starts awake. “What? Oh, damn it! What’s going on?” He looks up at Rona staring down at him. “I was sleeping.”
“Dominique has the stomach flu, and the toilet bowl is backed up,” says Rona. Three other Potentials are standing in the doorway in their pyjamas, which cover much more of them than any of the girls in Xander’s dream were covered.
“I’ll be right out,” says Xander. He doesn’t move from under his covers. “Got a—a leg cramp.”
Faith and Willow look in through the windows of the emergency room at the team of doctors and nurses working on Shannon. “You sure she’s one of us?” asks Faith. “She don’t look like much now. Not a potential Slayer, I mean.”
“Don’t know,” says Willow. “It seems to fit, though. We’ll know more when she regains consciousness.”
“If she regains consciousness,” says Faith. “Girl’s been gutted like a catfish.”
“Yeah,” says Willow.
Faith looks at Willow. “Something’s killing girls all over the world, trying to end the Slayer line. Thing like that, I figure I might get a heads-up.”
“Faith—”
“Guess it doesn’t really matter. As long as you got the true Slayer intact.”
“You were in prison,” says Willow. “We figured you were safe there.”
“Yeah, that’s prison,” says Faith. “Safe as a kitten.”
“Sorry, I don’t know much about the big house. Was it—I mean, did something happen in there?”
“Someone came at me with a nasty-looking knife.1 Didn’t really know why.” Faith shrugs. “Not till now.”
“Faith, we didn’t—”
“Forget it, it’s cool. I get by.” Faith looks back at the girl in the emergency room. “What are we gonna do about her?”
“Uh, I guess we should find Buffy, tell her what’s going on,” says Willow. “I tried calling home. Dawn says she’s out patrolling.”
“Hmm. Let’s go look for her. Cemetery’s more fun, anyway.” Faith starts to leave.
“Wait!” says Willow. “Somebody should wait here in case she wakes up.”
“Fine. Sit tight,” says Faith. “I’ll be back.” She starts toward the exit.
“W-wait,” says Willow. “Uh…maybe you meeting Buffy alone isn’t the best idea.”
“You told her the sitch, right?” asks Faith. “She knows I’m coming. Probably been up all night hanging streamers.”
“Yeah. But it’s not like you’re study buddies exactly,” says Willow. “And maybe it’d be better if…I eased her into the whole thing.”
“I can’t stay here, Willow,” says Faith. “Spent way too much time in hospitals. We don’t click. Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll all get along just fine.”
A blonde girl runs through the cemetery, being chased by something. She seems to leave her pursuer behind, and stops to catch her breath and look around. Her pursuer grabs her and spins her around. She gets punched to the ground. Her attacker bends down over her. He reaches for her throat.
Something grabs him, and throws him against a stone monument. Spike picks himself up off the ground. He looks at his attacker, wearing his vampire face.
“Whatcha wanna do to her, vamp?” asks Faith. She circles around Spike. “Huh? Something like this?” She punches him.
Spike gets knocked to the ground. He gets back to his feet, and rubs his jaw. He’s switched back to his human face. “Nice punch you got there.” He looks this new girl over as they circle each other. “Let me guess…leather pants, nice right cross, doe-eyes, holier-than-thou glower… You must be Faith.”
“Oh, goody. I’m famous.”
“Told you were coming,” says Spike. “Bit of a misunderstanding here. I’m—”
“Spike,” says Faith. “We’ve met before.”
“We have?” Spike is a little surprised. He thinks he’d remember having seen this girl before. “I don’t think we— Unh!” Faith kicks him in the gut. Spike staggers back, out of range. “Bloody hell! What are you doing? I’m on your side.”
“Yeah? Maybe you haven’t heard. I’ve reformed.” Faith swings a backhanded punch at him.
Spike blocks her. “So have I.” He punches her back. “I reformed way before you did.” Faith attacks him again. “Stop…” Faith hits him again. “…hitting…” Spike hits her back. “…me! We’re on the same side.”
“Please! You think I’m stupid?” asks Faith.
Spike is somewhat nonplused. “Well, yeah.”
“You were attacking that girl.” Faith punches Spike again, and gets blindsided by someone else.
“Sorry, Faith,” says Buffy. “I didn’t realize that was you.”
Faith picks herself up, and rubs her jaw. “It’s all right, B. Luckily, you still punch like you used to.”
Buffy turns to Spike. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” says Spike. “Terrific.”
Faith can’t believe what she’s seeing. “You protecting vampires? Are you the bad Slayer now? Am I the good Slayer now?”
“He’s with me,” says Buffy. “He has a soul.”
“What, he’s like Angel?” asks Faith.
“No!” says Spike.
“Sort of,” says Buffy.
“I’m nothing like Angel,” says Spike.
“He fights on my side.” Buffy looks at Faith again. “Which is more than I can say for some of us.”
“Yeah? Well, if he’s so good, what’s he doing chasing down defenseless—” The woman that Faith was saving attacks her from behind. She’s a vampire.
Buffy points at the vamp. “That’s one of the bad guys.”
“You should make ’em wear signs.” Faith punches the vampire away from her. Spike and Buffy just stand back and watch.
Faith knocks the vamp to the ground. It kicks out at her, and knocks her back toward Buffy and Spike. Faith points to a stake Buffy’s carrying in a holster strapped to her thigh. “May I?” She takes it without waiting for a response. “Thanks.” She plunges the stake into the vampire’s heart.
“Angel’s dull as a table lamp,” says Spike. “And we have very different colouring.”
“Okay. Catching up,” says Faith. “Anything else I gotta know?”
Buffy smiles. “Nice to have you back.”
Faith follows Buffy and Spike into the front foyer of Buffy’s house. “Whoa. Memory lane. Same old house.”
Buffy moves toward the living room. “Yeah, well, every piece of furniture has been destroyed and replaced since you left, so, actually, new house.”
Dawn gets up from the dining room table. “Buffy?” She crosses her arms and looks at Faith.
Buffy turns around. “We have a new houseguest.”
“Hey,” says Faith. “Got a spare bed for a wanted fugitive?”2
Giles is in the dining room with Dawn. He stands and leans back against the table. “Hello, Faith.” He crosses his arms and looks at her.
“Huh,” says Faith. “Guess ‘wanted’ wasn’t really accurate.”
“Does she have to stay here?” Dawn glares at Faith. “Because there’s some nice hotels that welcome tried-to-kill-your-sister types.”3
Faith gives Dawn a look. “Check it out. Brat’s all woman-sized.” Dawn keeps glaring at her.
“Look, I need to get to the hospital,” says Buffy. “Some girl was attacked on her way into town. We think she might be a—”
“We know,” says Dawn. “Willow’s been calling.”
“She’s still there,” says Giles. “She’s gonna call if the girl wakes up.”
“Fine,” says Buffy. She leaves.
“Well, Faith, we better, um, see if we can find someplace to squeeze you in for the night.” Giles moves back toward the kitchen. Dawn glares at Faith for a few more seconds before she follows him.
Faith is left standing in the hallway with Spike.
“Not all that tension was about you,” says Spike. “Giles was part of a plan to kill me. … for Buffy’s own good.”
“Well, that makes me feel better about me.” Faith waves in the direction Giles went. “Worse about Giles.” She shakes her hand toward Spike. “Kind of shaky about you.”
Caleb fills a glass with wine from a spigot in a cask in the basement of a winery. “‘Drink of this, for it is my blood.’” He takes a sip. “You know, I always loved the story of the Last Supper. The body and blood of Christ becoming rich red wine.4 I recall as a boy, though, I couldn’t help but think what would happen if you were at the last supper and you ordered the white? A nice oaky chardonnay or a white zin. Would he make that out of his lymph or some all? Never did bring it up. I suppose there was a reason why I never spent too long in one parish.” He turns toward the shadows. “Just lookin’ for answers. Just lookin’ for the Lord in the wrong damn places… And then you showed me the light.”
The First steps out of the shadows. It’s looking like Buffy today. “Do you think I’m God?”
“I certainly do not,” says Caleb. “I am beyond concepts like that.”
“But you still wear the outfit,” says the First.
“Man can’t turn his back on what he come from.” Caleb gestures toward his preacher’s clothes. “Besides, black is slimming. Everyone knows that.”
“How do you like what I’m wearing?” The First slowly turns around in front of him.
“Just another dirty girl,” says Caleb. “And since you only dress up in dead folk, I’m guessin’ one who’s already been paid her wage.” He smiles.
“Look hard,” says the First. “What do you see?”
Caleb really looks at her. “Strength…” He seems surprised by that. “…and…the loneliness that comes with real strength.”
“Nothing about my pert and bouncy hairdo?” asks the First.
Caleb looks again. “You’re her.”
The First smiles. “The Slayer.”
“At long last…” Caleb reaches out his hand toward her cheek. It passes right through it. “All this time…” He slowly walks around her. “…all the work I’ve done for you… Blowin’ up the Council, organizing the Ray Charles Brigade and stickin’ all them splits. You never showed me.”
“Well, you’ve earned it,” says the First. “And you’ll be meeting her soon. Am I right?”
“Oh, yeah,” says Caleb. “Yeah, she’ll get the message.”
“And what makes you so sure she’ll come?” asks the First.
“Curiosity. Woman’s first sin. I offer her an apple, what can she do but take it?” Caleb raises his glass in a toast to the First. “I’ll see you soon.” He drinks.
We see images of Faith: fighting, flirting, killing vampires. Andrew talks over them.
“Her name alone invokes awe. Faith: a set of principles or beliefs upon which you’re willing to devote your life. The Dark Slayer. A lethal combination of beauty, power, and death.”
Buffy and Faith break into a vampire nest together, ready to kick ass. They fight and slay vampires together in a cemetery.
“For years and years, or to be more accurate, months. Faith fought on the side of good, terrorizing the evil community, but like so many tragic heroes, Faith was seduced by the lure of the Dark Side. She wrapped evil around her like a large evil Mexican serape.”
Faith’s stake plunges into Allan Finch’s heart. She shoots Angel with a poisoned arrow, she threatens Willow with a knife.
“She became a cold-blooded killer. Nobody was immune to her trail of destruction. Not friends, not family… Not even the most pacifist and logical of races…”
Faith battles with a Vulcan in a Star Fleet uniform (original series style) in a cave. The Vulcan reaches out toward her for a neck pinch. Faith grabs his arm, twists it around behind his back, and raises her knife to plunge it into the Vulcan’s chest…
“What the hell are you talking about?” asks Amanda. “I thought Faith killed a volcanologist.” She and half a dozen other Potentials are standing around in the kitchen listening to Andrew’s story.
Andrew releases Rona. He was holding her the way Faith was holding the Vulcan in his story. He puts the wooden spoon he was using as a ‘knife’ down on the kitchen counter, and laughs indulgently. “Silly, silly Amanda. Why would Faith kill a person who studies Vulcans?”
“He studied volcanos,” says Amanda. “He was a professor.”
“Ah…” says Andrew. “…yes. Well, regardless—”
“I thought you weren’t supposed to be doing this any more,” says Molly. “Making up stories.”
“I’m not,” says Andrew. “This is true, except for that…possible…word misunderstanding. There are things you need to know about. Faith has a history not to be taken lightly.” Andrew looks out through the blinds covering the window in the kitchen door. Faith is in the back yard, doing an exercise kata. “She’s a killer. Never forget that. You must stay on guard around Faith at all times. Your very lives may depend on it.”
“There is a girl in the backyard doing gymnastics,” says Chao-Ahn, in Chinese.
Andrew nods sagely, as if he understood what she just said.
Principal Wood sits at his desk, doing paperwork. His face is still bruised and cut from his fight with Spike. Buffy appears at his office door. “You look better.”
“No, I don’t,” says Wood.
“No, you don’t.”
“But I’ll be okay.” Wood looks up at her. “Unless, of course, you start beating up on me now.”
“I won’t,” says Buffy. “Well, I thought about it. I made some doodles. As far as I’m concerned, we’re on even ground. I meant what I said. I don’t have time for your vendetta, but I need you in this fight. I want you on my side.”
“Thanks,” says Wood. “That means a lot.”
“So we’re good?”
“Absolutely,” says Wood. Buffy sighs. “You’re fired.”
“What?” asks Buffy.
“Effective immediately.”
“You’re firing me?” Buffy comes into the office and stands in front of his desk. “I just refrained from kicking your ass!”
“Buffy, there’s nothing here for you,” says Wood. “I mean, people are leaving town, half the kids don’t even bother showing up anymore. You’ve got things to deal with that are much worse than anything here. Look at the big picture.”
“Right.” Buffy sits in a chair in front of his desk. “The big picture, the one with the big war and all the dead little girls.”
“Not dead,” says Wood. “Not dead, not if you get them ready.”
“I don’t want to lead them into war,” says Buffy. “It can’t be the right thing.”
“Most wars aren’t, you know?”
“Some of these girls haven’t even been tested in battle.”
“Then, I guess maybe you should test them,” says Wood.
“Couldn’t I just come to work part-time?” Buffy perks up. “I could make flyers for encounter groups and post them up all over the school.”
“And you’re fired again,” says Wood. “Remember, Buffy… The mission’s what matters.”
Faith walks down into the darkened basement. She looks up the stairs for a moment, hearing the laughter of the girls above her. She sits down on a step, takes a cigarette out of a pack, and lights it up.
“You craving a moment alone in the dank, or can I bum one?” asks Spike.
Faith looks across the basement and sees Spike, without his shirt, lying propped up on his elbow in his cot. She crosses the basement to him. “Well, I guess you can smoke all you want, the big ‘C’ not really an issue.” Spike sits up on his cot, and she hands Spike her cigarette. She sits on a nearby table and lights up another for herself.
Spike takes a drag from the cigarette. “Teeth get yellow. After an eternity, you gotta watch that.”
“Huh.” Faith notices the shackles on the wall above Spike’s bed and half laughs.
Spike looks at what she’s looking at. “Right. It’s not what it looks like.”
Faith holds up her hands. “Hey, to each his own, man. This one guy I ran with, he liked me to dress up like a schoolgirl and take this friggin’ bullwhip, and I’d be like—”
“I got dangerous for a while,” says Spike.
“This before the soul or after?” asks Faith.
“After, but I got over it,” says Spike. “In case you’re feeling all dust-happy again after your long incarceration.”
“Not if you’re all repent-y. Takes the fun out of it.” Faith hears the sound of breaking dishes coming from upstairs. “No more Starbucks for the wannabes, man! They’ve been spazzing for, like, hours!”
“Yeah. It does get a bit much up there.”
“They’re good girls,” says Faith. “Green, is all.”
“So why aren’t you up there…imparting?”
“That’s Buffy’s thing,” says Faith. “Anyway, I just spent a good stretch of time locked away with a mess of female types. Kinda had my fill.”
“Hmm. But you waited until Angel needed your help to bust out of jail.”
“Three squares, a nice weight room, a movie every third Sunday. Could’ve been worse.”
“What movie?” asks Spike.
“Last one was…Glitter.” Faith thinks about that for a bit. “I guess it couldn’t have been worse.”
“You had the power to walk away anytime,” says Spike. “Nothing to stop you.”
“I stopped me,” says Faith. “I got…dangerous for a while.”
“You over it?”
“More or less.” Faith takes off her jacket, and stretches. “I pull for the good guys now.”
“What’s the ‘less’?” asks Spike.
“Usual stuff.”
“Such as?”
“I was thinking about looking up the guy with the bullwhip.” Faith smiles. “Long incarceration.”
“You could do better,” says Spike. “Schoolgirl thing’s old hat.”
“It’s all old hat, man,” says Faith. “Every guy’s got some whack fantasy. Scratch the surface of any granola type dude, naughty nurses and horny cheerleaders. I figure if you can’t beat ’em…”
“Join ’em,” says Spike.
“Just don’t forget who’s on top.”
Spike smiles. “That, I suspect, would be you.”
Faith nods. “You got that right.” They both sit and suck on their cigarettes for a moment. Faith gets up off the table and moves toward him. “I’ve met you before, you know.”
“Yeah, you made a great impression on my chin,” says Spike.
Faith sits on the cot beside Spike. “Not in the graveyard, before that.” Faith runs a hand down along herself. “I was kinda wearing a different body.”
Spike looks Faith up and down. “Pity.”
“You seemed okay with it,” says Faith.
Spike suddenly nods in understanding. “The body swap. With Buffy.”
“She fill you in on that whole deal?” asks Faith.
“She told me it went down,” says Spike. “Failed to mention who was driving her skin around.”
“I may have said a few things.”
“Like you could ride me at a gallop till my knees buckled. Squeeze me till I popped like warm champagne.” Spike smiles. “That’s not the kind of thing a man forgets.”
“Should’ve known it wasn’t blondie behind the wheel,” says Faith. “She’d never throw down like that.”
“Oh, you have been away,” says Spike.
Faith can’t believe what she’s hearing. “Don’t even tell me little Miss Tightly-wound’s been getting her naughty on!”
“Not of late,” says Spike, in resignation.
“Wow,” says Faith. “Everybody’s just full of surprises.” She notices that she and Spike aren’t alone anymore, and looks up. “Hey, B.”
Buffy stands looking down at Faith and Spike sitting together on his cot. She crosses her arms. “It’s nice to see you two getting along so well.”
Faith sits up, putting a little distance between her and Spike. “Yeah, uh, you just know all the cool vampires.”
“Yeah,” says Buffy.
“Hey, aren’t you usually at work about now?” asks Spike.
“I kinda decided to cut back on my hours,” says Buffy.
Dawn calls down from upstairs. “Buffy? Is that you?”
“Down here.” calls Buffy. She looks back at Spike. “Figured I’d be better off focusing on what’s going on around here.”
Dawn is standing at the top of the stairs. “Buffy, Willow just called from the hospital. The girl’s awake.”
Shannon lies in her hospital bed. “He was a minister or something. At least he dressed like one. I thought he was trying to save me…at first.”
“He picked you up on the side of the road?” asks Buffy.
Shannon nods slightly. “The Bringers were chasing me. He said they were his boys. Right before he burned me.” Shannon pulls aside the bandage on her neck, showing Buffy the mark branded there. Buffy steps aside, and Willow takes a digital camera out of her purse. She takes a picture of the brand.
“He wanted to tell you something,” says Shannon. “Before he cut me… He told me to give the Slayer a message.”
“What is it?” asks Buffy.
“He said… ‘I have something of yours.’”
“We’ve got a new player in town,” says Buffy. “Dresses like a preacher, calls himself Caleb. Looks like he’s working for the First.” She looks around at her friends and the Potentials gathered in her living room. “He’s taunting us, calling us out. Says he’s got something of mine. Could be another girl, could be something else. Don’t know. Don’t care. I’m tired of talking. I’m tired of training. He’s got something of mine? Fine. I’m getting it back, and you guys are coming with me.”
A girl, Betty, walks between the casks in the winery cellar. “You’re searching for something, girl,” says Caleb. “What would that be now?”
Betty turns around. “Oh. You. I was looking for you.”
Caleb steps out of the shadows. “That right?”
“I heard you speakin’ tonight,” says Betty. “Preachin’. I felt your words go straight to me.”
“Well, the truth is like a sword, isn’t it, girl?” asks Caleb. “Cuts deep.”
“Yeah.”
Caleb circles around her. “The words I use got a power to them. A power, now. They’re not just words. They’re truth.”
“They brought me here,” says Betty.
“They called you,” says Caleb. “Know why? Because you’re human. You got your urges. A woman’s got hers. A man’s got his. Our whole race can be so damnably weak… And that’s why we seek the strength… the power.” He walks back into the shadows between the casks.
“It’s not wrong to be drawn to the power, is it, Preacher?” Betty follows him into the darkness.
“Oh, no, child. It’s not wrong…”
Betty gasps. Her body falls to the floor, a bloody gash across her stomach.
Caleb steps out of the darkness, holding a clean knife against his cheek. “…just human.”
Betty’s body transforms into Buffy, and the First gets to its feet. “Ahh. Whoo! Most people don’t like visits from their dead, you know.”
“Heathens,” says Caleb. “No appreciation for life’s pleasures. Do it again!”
“I take requests.” The First smiles. “One of those potentials you killed, perhaps?”
“Nah. Save them for later. I’m in more of an old Memory Lane kind of mood.” Caleb waves his knife toward her. “Back before I met you, there was this choir girl in Knoxville I used to give singing lessons to. She even screamed on key. Show me her.”
“All these girls,” says the First. “They followed you willingly. You tricked them.”
“I only told them the truth,” says Caleb. “As for following, well, that seems to be what they do best.”
Buffy has gathered the core Scoobies in her room. “We need to start arming the girls. I want to be ready to move when we find him.”
“We don’t even know where we’re going,” says Willow.
“That’s why I figured we’d do a little recon first.” Buffy looks to Faith. “You up for it?”
“Point me where you want me,” says Faith.
“And you’re certain this is the best course of action?” asks Giles. “You don’t even know what this man has of yours, if he in fact has anything.”
“It could be a girl,” says Buffy. “A Potential trying to get to us!”
“Could be a stapler,” says Giles.
Buffy glares at him. “I’m going in anyway.”
“With the girls?” asks Giles. “Most of whom have yet to be in the field, let alone in a life-or-death situation.”
“Then it’s time we test them!” says Buffy. “I’ll just take the ones that have been here the longest. The rest can stay behind.”
“Could be that’s just what he wants you to do,” says Spike. “The old bait-and-switch.”
“Yeah,” says Willow, “he lures us away and then kills the girls we leave behind.”
“I know,” says Buffy. “That’s why I need you to stay here with them. You’re my most powerful weapon, Will. I know you can keep them safe if anything happens.”
“An unknown man breezes into town, says he has something of yours,” says Xander. “Buffy, this thing’s got ‘trap’ written all over it.”
“He won’t be expecting a full attack, not this soon,” says Buffy. “That’s why we have to move.”
“We know nothing about this man,” says Giles. “We cannot go into battle unprepared. We have to have more time.”
“Giles, we don’t have time…and you’re not going into battle,” says Buffy. “I need you to stay behind with the others, help the girls who still need a teacher.”
A Bringer moves silently through the woods. Buffy and Faith follow it at a distance. “No eyes, but look at him go,” says Faith. “He got sonar or something?”
“Or something, I guess,” says Buffy. “They’re pretty good when they attack.”
“They just roam free around town?” asks Faith.
“Well, normally, they show up out of nowhere and then either stab or get stabbed, and then they run off,” says Buffy. “It’s like this guy wants to be found.”
“Lends weight to the whole ‘it’s a trap’ theory.”
“I am through waiting around for people to attack us.”
“Hey, I’m with you,” says Faith. “Drop me in the hornets’ nest. What the hell?” They keep following the Bringer. “You’ve got a rough sitch here. Trying to turn a bunch of little girls into an army.”
“They’re Potential Slayers just like we were.”
“Right,” says Faith. “Maybe they’ll do as good as us.”
“They’re getting better.”
“I’ll work with ’em. Some of ’em seem real eager,” says Faith. “Fashion disasters, yeah, but they’re ready to fight.”
Buffy stops and looks at Faith. “Why did you come back?”
“Willow said you needed me. Didn’t give it a lot of thought.” Faith looks at Buffy. “Do you— Am I getting you want me to be not here?”
“No. That is not what I meant.” Buffy sighs. “I’m glad that you’re here. It’s good. Thank you.” They start to follow the Bringer again.
“No problem. You know me. All about the good deeds.”
“Willow said you helped out Angel.”
“Yeah,” says Faith. “He says ‘hey.’”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“How is he?” asks Buffy.
“Better,” says Faith. “Had to do this whole magical mindwalk with him.”
Buffy doesn’t like the sound of that. “You were in Angel’s mind?”
“Buffy.” Faith draws Buffy’s attention back to the Bringer they’ve been following. It seems to have arrived at its destination. “What is this place?” The Bringer is entering the winery of an old abandoned vineyard.
“Look,” says Buffy. There are more Bringers entering the building. “There’s more of them.”
“I think we just found our hornets’ nest,” says Faith.
“Let’s get the cavalry,” says Buffy.
Xander has the Potentials who are coming with them to attack the winery gathered in the living room. “Now, remember, we’re looking for killing blows only, people, so, chest and throat if it’s a vampire.” He demonstrates by pointing to Molly’s chest and throat. “Stomach, chest, and face if it’s a Bringer.”
“What if it’s something else?” asks Rona.
“Could happen,” says Xander. “Something otherworldly, and here’s a handy rule: don’t go for the flashy tentacles just because they’re waving them about trying to get attention.” Xander waves his fingers in the air. “Go for the center.” He points to himself. “Brain, heart, eyes. Everything’s got eyes.”
“Except the Bringers,” says Dawn.
“Except the Bringers.”
“I don’t want there to be tentacles,” says Molly. “I’m not good with squishy.”
Kennedy picks up a big sword. “I don’t care if it’s Godzilla. I want to get in this thing.”
“Godzilla is mostly Tokyo-based,” says Andrew, “so he’s probably a no-show.”
“Besides,” says Amanda, “Matthew Broderick can kill Godzilla. How tough is he?”
“Xander!” whines Andrew.
Xander turns to Amanda. “Matthew Broderick did not kill Godzilla. He killed a big, dumb lizard that was not the real Godzilla.”
Rona shakes her head. “You people are even crazier than her!”
Xander turns to her. “Than who?”
“Buffy, man,” says Rona. “Taking us right into the bad guys’ lair?”
“Well, that’s where generally speaking, you’d go to find the bad guy,” says Xander. “And I don’t think you came here to fight plaque.”
“No, I came here for protection,” says Rona.
“Well, you signed on to fight with—”
“Look, I know, but…this plan is trouble,” says Rona. “Buffy doesn’t care how many of us she puts in danger.”
“Let me tell you something about Buffy.” Xander looks around at all the girls. “In fact, you should all listen to this.”
“Uh, we kinda were,” says Kennedy.
“I’ve been through more battles with Buffy than you all can ever imagine,” says Xander. “She’s stopped everything that’s ever come up against her.” Buffy and Faith come quietly through the front door while Xander’s talking. No one notices their arrival. “She’s laid down her life, literally, to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times, and she’s still standing. You’re scared: that’s smart. You have questions: you should, but you doubt her motives, you think Buffy’s all about the kill, and you take the little bus to battle. I’ve seen her heart, and this time, not literally, and I’m telling you right now, she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She’s earned it.”
Everyone is moved by Xander’s speech. A tear runs down Andrew’s cheek. “Damn!” says Faith. She looks at Buffy. “I never knew you were that cool.”
“Well, you always were a little slow,” says Buffy.
“I get that now,” says Faith.
Buffy turns to the group gathered in the living room. “All right, let’s saddle up.”
The group arrives at the winery. Buffy turns to them. “Okay, set up a perimeter. Guard the door. I don’t want anything getting in behind us. My team goes in first to check the place out. You guys are our safety net. This place is a trap, we give the signal, you guys come in guns a-blazing.”
“So what’s the signal?” asks Xander.
“I’m thinking lots and lots of yelling.”
Xander nods. “Got it.”
Buffy looks around at the group that’s coming with her. “Shall we?” She leads Spike, Molly, Kennedy, Rona, and a couple of other Potentials into the winery. Xander, Faith and the rest of the girls wait outside.
Buffy leads her group down into the cellar. “What is this place?” asks Molly.
“Looks like an old vineyard,” says Buffy.
“An evil vineyard, huh?” asks Kennedy.
“Like Falcon Crest,” says Spike.
“Stay alert, you guys,” says Buffy. “The Bringers are here somewhere. We just need to find out where.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” says Spike. Eight Bringers have just appeared out of the shadows.
The Bringers attack. Buffy, Spike and the girls beat them back. Buffy and Spike take them on two at a time while the girls take them one on one.
A Bringer knocks Kennedy off her feet. It raises its knife to stab her, but Molly catches its arms and forces it back. They continue to fight off the Bringers, clearly having the upper hand.
The Bringers melt away into the shadows as suddenly as they appeared. Caleb steps out into the light. “Well, now! You girls are just burnin’ with righteousness, aren’t you? Problem is you think you’re blazing like suns, when really, you’re burning like matchsticks in the face of the darkness. You havin’ fun? Now, I hope my boys haven’t worn you out too much. I need you fit for when I purify you.”
“Save the sermon, padre,” says Buffy. “I heard you have something of mine.”
“Well, I do now.” Caleb looks around at the girls. “You like my little message, did you? You know, I ruined a perfectly good knife on that girl. Got her soiled blood all over the place. I may need to get a new truck. So you’re the Slayer. The Slayer. The strongest, the fastest, the most aflame with that most precious invention of all mankind: the notion of goodness. The Slayer must indeed be powerful.”
Caleb hits Buffy. The blow sends her flying across the cellar and against the wall. She falls to the floor, and doesn’t move. “So…” He looks around at the others. “What else you got?”
Spike vamps out and charges at Caleb. Caleb almost casually brushes him aside. Spike attacks again, and gets thrown against the side of a wine vat. Spike’s head goes right through it, and red wine spills out across the floor.
The Bringers come back, attacking the girls again, only this time they’re the ones who have the upper hand. Kennedy swings her sword at Caleb, and gets swatted aside into a wine rack.
“Kennedy!” Rona tries to go to her.
Caleb grabs Rona’s arm. He twists it around into an arm bar. “Miss, I do believe you have your own problems you should be worried about.” He snaps her arm like a twig. Rona falls to the floor.
Caleb picks up a knife off the floor and tosses it to a Bringer. It raises the knife, and plunges it down at Rona’s chest. An arrow goes through its wrist.
Caleb looks toward the stairs and sees Xander with the bow. “Oh, good! There’s more of ya!”
Xander sees Buffy lying on the floor. “Buffy!” He runs to her.
Faith attacks Caleb, with a knife in each hand. “Well, you’re the other one, aren’t you? The Cain to her Abel,” he says. Faith slashes at him but he dodges the attack. “No offense meant to Cain, of course.” Caleb grabs Faith’s wrists as she attacks again, and knocks the knives from her hands.
Faith punches him. “Never was much for the Good Book!”
Caleb grabs Faith’s arm, and twists it around into an arm bar like he had on Rona. “Oh, it has its moments. Paul has some good stuff, for instance, but overall, I find it a tad complicated.” He slaps her to the floor. “I like to keep things simple.” He kicks Faith against a wine barrel, and shatters it. “Good folk, bad folk…” He grabs a Potential who attacks him by her throat. “Clean folk, dirty folk.” He snaps her neck, and drops the body to the floor.
“No!” cries Molly.
Caleb looks at her. “Yes.”
Buffy is starting to climb back to her feet. She looks around at what’s happening. “Xander. Get them out of here. We have to retreat. Do it.”
Caleb moves toward Molly. She raises her knife, and tries to strike him but he catches her arm. He grabs her by the throat.
The other Potentials are still fighting the Bringers. Amanda gets thrown against the wall. The Bringer attacking her punches her in the face and gut.
Buffy sees Caleb holding Molly by the throat. She starts toward them. She throws a Bringer out of her way.
“What can I say? I work in mysterious ways.” Caleb stabs Molly’s knife into her belly before Buffy can get there. “Also some fairly straightforward ones.” He drops her body to the floor.
Caleb kicks Molly’s body away. Buffy charges at him. This time she knows what she’s up against. She punches and kicks at Caleb, while dodging his counter blows. Her blows knock him back against the wine barrels.
Spike grabs Buffy’s elbow before she can follow up. “We’re all leaving.” He pulls her away.
Xander helps Kennedy to her feet. “Are you okay? Let’s go. Come on.” He waves for the other girls to move toward the stairs. “Let’s go! Come on!”
Caleb grabs Xander by his collar, and pulls him around. “You’re the one who sees everything, aren’t you?” He raises his hand in front of Xander’s face. “Well, let’s see what we can’t do about that.”
Xander screams as Caleb jams his thumb into Xander’s left eye, blood runs down his cheek.
“Xander!” cries Buffy.
Caleb pulls his hand back to gouge out Xander’s other eye. Spike tackles him, and knocks him back. He kicks Caleb off his feet.
Buffy grabs Xander and helps him up the stairs. Spike helps them. Caleb slowly gets to his feet, and smiles as he watches them retreat.
“Now its a simple story. Stop me if you’ve heard it...”
Buffy walks by the beds in the hospital, looking at the injured girls: Rona, Amanda and others. Xander is in the bed at the end, his head and eye wrapped in bandages. Willow is sitting with him, holding his hand. She looks up at Buffy.
“I have found and truly believe that there is nothing so bad it can not be made better with a story. And this one’s got a happy ending. There once was a woman…”
The less badly injured are in her house. Buffy watches as one of the Potentials cleans the cuts on Kennedy’s face. She sees accusation in the faces of the girls who look at her.
“…and she was foul, like all women, for Adam’s rib was dirty just like Adam himself, for what was he, but human. But this woman, she was filled: with darkness, despair, and why? Because she did not know. She could not see.”
Buffy walks alone down Sunnydale’s main street. Her arms wrapped about herself, trying to hold out the cold.
“She didn’t know the good news, the Glory that was coming.” Caleb walks out from between the shadows of the barrels in the winery. The First, still looking like Buffy, watches him. “That’d be you. For the kingdom, the power, and the Glory are yours. Now and forever. You show up, they’ll get in line because they followed her, and all they have to do is take one more step, and I’ll kill them all.”
The First smiles.
“See?” says Caleb. “I told you it had a happy ending.”
| Who or What | Where | How |
|---|---|---|
| Vampire | Cemetery | Staked by Faith |
| Potential Slayer | Winery Cellar | Neck broken by Caleb |
| Molly | Winery Cellar | Stabbed by Caleb |