WickermanTeaser

Story by Chris CookWritten by Faith730 and Chris Cook

Produced and Directed by Chris Cook and CN WintersEdited by DragonWriter17

Sound by CSRArt Direction by Chris Cook

Artists – Chris Cook, David Zahir, Robert Kidman, Sarah, Humaira, CN Winters

(Note: Due to the uniqueness of WaTchers we ask that you use these for your personal use only. Please do not post them to other sites on the web.

Thanks!)

Fade In:Int.Slayer Dorm Hallway – Night

Xander and Vi crept through the doorway of the slayers dorms. The hallway was silent. Vi quickly closed the door behind them and led the way down the hall.

They stopped at the Vi’s door, and she turned to face him with a smile. "I had a really great time, Xander."

"Me too," he replied, returning her smile.

"I’d invite you in," Vi said, looking towards the door. "But…"

"You’re afraid I’m an evil shape-shifting demon trying to impregnate you with my hell spawn."

"That, and my roommate’s probably asleep."

"I don’t think she’d mind," Xander said with a grin.

Vi smiled back, but shook her head. Suddenly, he grabbed his left temple. "I…I’m having a vision."

Vi quickly closed the gap between them and grabbed his shoulder. "Oh god, what is it?"

Xander turned and looked into her eyes. He smiled and said, "In ten seconds, I’m going to kiss you."

Xander’s grin spread to Vi’s face. She pulled a strand of hair away from her face. "Is that so? That’s quite a gift you’ve got there."

He nodded. "Yes, it is. 3…2…1…" He leaned in and kissed her. Vi returned the favor, placing her arms around his neck. They pushed against the door with a soft thud. Without looking, Vi grabbed the doorknob and pushed it open.

They made for the bed without bothering to close the door. The room was completely dark. Vi pulled away from the kiss and clapped her hands together. The lights flicked on. She smiled and reached for her cap.

Xander grabbed her hand. "No, leave it on."

She smiled, and they began kissing again. Xander clapped his hands together sending the room to darkness once more.

"Do you mind?" exclaimed a voice, originating from the other side of the room. The owner of the voice clapped her hands together. The lights flickered on to reveal Vi’s roommate, scantily dressed in a very revealing negligee. She sauntered over and shoved Vi off the side of the bed. "I’m the only one who’s going to be having sex with Xander tonight."

Vi, who was now dressed in her own seductive attire, pushed her roommate away from Xander. "Back off, he’s mine!"

Xander stood up and moved between the two girls. "Ladies please. There’s enough of me to go around." They each backed down, apparently seeing the wisdom in Xander’s words. However, the tentative peace was quickly shattered when Vi’s roommate muttered, "I would have won."

Vi launched herself at her roommate, renewing the brawl. They landed in a pit of mud. Xander shrugged and backed up a few paces to a row of movie-theater style seats. He sat down next to Andrew, who offered him a bag of popcorn. "Try the 3-D glasses," Andrew said, holding out a pair for him.

Xander put on the glasses. "Wow, it really jumps out at you."

The audience yelled in excitement, and a loud muddy slap could be heard. Andrew and Xander ducked as a stream of mud soared above their heads and hit a sign that read, "First three rows: SPLASH ZONE."

Willow strolled down the aisle and took a seat next to Xander. "Hey Xander."

Xander shushed her.

"Xander?"

"Will, I heard you, but I’m kind of busy right now."

"Xander!"

Cut To:Int.Council Kitchen – Same Time

"What?!" Xander said, sitting up abruptly. Willow and Vi looked on as he wiped some drool from his mouth. "I...uh...sorry, I must have fallen asleep."

"Really?" Willow said with an amused smiled. "What were you dreaming about?"

"It...um...you…I don’t remember."

Willow shot Vi a wicked grin. "Whatever you say. Well, I’ll see you two later. Ro’s expecting me." With that, Willow disappeared through the kitchen door.

Vi took a seat next to Xander, and the two of them shared an awkward silence.

Xander finally broke the silence. "So, how have you been?"

"Good," Vi said, avoiding his eye line.

"That’s good," he said, not looking at her either. "I haven’t seen you much in the last few days."

"Yeah, things have been hectic. Ever since Faith got back, she’s been a bit…off."

"Off?"

"I can’t think of any other way to describe it. Kennedy and I have had to step up." She fidgeted in her seat. "Give her time to adjust after what happened."

They shared another moment of silence, before both attempted to speak at the same time.

"I was thinking…"

"Maybe if we…"

Xander suppressed a grin. "Go ahead, what were you saying?"

Vi took a deep breath. "I have feelings for you." Xander smiled. "But, every time it seems like you want to start something with me, you bring up her."

"Alex?"

"Yes. So I need you to make a choice. Do you want to be with her or me?"

Xander blinked at the question. "I…I don’t know."

Vi got up and left without a word.

Xander put his head in his hands. "Wonderful. And the horrible night award goes to…"

Cut To:Int.Faith and Robin’s Suite – Same Time

Faith stared at the ceiling as she listened to Robin’s light snoring. Her eyes were beet red, with large bags exaggerating her already pale face.

Robin let out a soft moan and rolled over onto his stomach. Faith looked over, expressionless, before turning toward the alarm clock on the mantel adjacent to their bed. The clock read 2:47.

Faith slowly rolled onto her side and off the bed. She quickly gathered her clothes and headed out of the bedroom.

Cut To:Int.Locker Room – Moments Later

Faith crept into the locker room and moved to the last row of lockers. She found hers quickly and pulled out a set of wrist wraps. She sat on a nearby bench and slowly wrapped the supports around her wrists.

Once the task was completed, she got up and moved toward the door.

Cut To:Int.Slayer Training Room – Seconds later

Faith entered the main training room, where the pre-dawn patrol shift were doing their warm-up exercises. She walked by without a glance at them. She moved past them like a ghost, heading for the corridor to the weight room.

The room was dark, illuminated only by moonlight seeping in through the large bay windows along the north wall. Faith walked in, leaving the lights off, and moved towards a row of punching bags which were suspended form the ceiling.

Faith wasted no time immediately attacking the nearest bag. She began with several slow jabs, each more forceful than the one before it. The bag jerked violently with each strike as she moved about it, speeding up her pace. Rage overtook her, and she began a series of reverse punches. She increased her pace, striking the bag with almost impossible force, all the while screaming in frustration and anger.

Finally, the chain holding the bag gave way, and it flew across the room, colliding with the east wall. Faith looked on as it fell to the floor with a loud thud. She wiped the sweat from her brow and began to untie the wraps.

Her gaze caught the next punching bag in the row. She looked down at her wrists and quickly retightened the wraps. Once they were secured, she moved to the second bag and continued to let out her aggression.

Across the room Robin stood in the doorway watching her.

Fade out.

End of Teaser

Act OneWith Felicia Day as Vi, Norika Fujiwara as Mia,  and Elijah Wood as Jeff

Guest staring Brad Dourif as Brell, Avril Lavigne as Janet, Victoria Pratt as Francesca, Michele Merkin as Saida and Aria Giovanni as Aria

 Fade In: Int.Council Lobby – Day

"Well, what if we cut out the first part where the captain develops the slipstream engine?" Andrew said, leaning back in his chair. He had a pen in his right hand, a legal pad in his left, and the phone pinned between his ear and shoulder. A frown formed on his happy face. "You’re sure?"

Just then Giles and Willow came through the front door. "That’s not the point, Giles!" Willow said, sounding a bit irritated. "You should have told me."

"Well, first of all, I wasn’t aware they were yours." Giles said, trying to calm her down. "And second, I thought I gave them back to Rowena."

Andrew looked up and put his palm to the receiver. "Hey, do you two mind? This is an important call."

"Is it Robson? I’ve been expecting to hear from him," Giles inquired, doing his best to distance himself from Willow.

"No, it’s my agent."

Willow raised an eyebrow. "Your agent? Since when do you have an agent?"

"Well, he’s more like my prospective agent. I sent him a script to look at, and we’re talking about getting it sent to a studio."

Giles looked a bit perturbed. "Andrew, I don’t think you should be using the Council phones for your personal—"

Andrew held up a hand and shushed him. "Mr. Broden, are you there? Hello?" He sighed and put the phone down. "Darn, he’s the third one to hang up on me."

"Well, I’m sorry to hear that, but you really should keep your calls to Council business," Willow said, chastising him. "I mean, you don’t see us gabbing on about what happened to Jack Bauer last night."

Andrew hung his head a little. "I’m sorry. I’ll try to keep my calls to Council business. But just out of curiosity, what were you two discussing?"

Giles gulped. "Oh, it was nothing all that important. I just seem to have misplaced something of Willow’s."

"I can help you look if you want," Andrew offered.

Willow blushed. "No, that’s not necessary. It’s nothing to worry about."

The two senior watchers moved to the door just as Rowena came in. She had a DVD box set in her hand. "Oh great, I’m glad I ran into you guys. Willow, I have those DVDs you’ve been looking for. I took them from Giles yesterday and forgot to give them to you."

Andrew leaned back and put his feet on the desk. A smile appeared on his face. "Council business, eh?"

Rowena looked confused. "Council business? No, it’s the complete sixth season of Xena."

Andrew’s smile widened. "So you finally came out?"

Giles looked mortified. "Oh, bloody hell! Can we just…drop this discussion, please?"

"Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being a Xenite," Andrew responded.

Within a few seconds, the four of them were immersed in a very audible, completely ridiculous debate regarding the merits of science fiction television.

A few feet away, Brell entered the front door unnoticed. He moved towards them.

"Hello?" Brell ventured. The four continued arguing. "Brell must speak with Red Witch."

Faith descended the stairs. She caught Brell’s eye and walked over to him. Brell looked at her, and she nodded. Faith took in a deep breath and yelled, "Hey!"

The room immediately fell silent.

Brell gave everyone a friendly but awkward wave. "I have news."

Cut To:Int.Coven Room – Moments Later

The group filed into the coven room, which held a large object inside.

"I was sure this thing would take another few hours to settle," Willow muttered, fussing around the polished stone slab in the center of the room.

Most of the balanced mirrors and prisms that had been surrounding it had gone, leaving space for Brell, Giles, Rowena, Andrew, and Faith to stand. The stone, which had been propped up on an easel, was now free-floating a few inches above the floor.

"I was doing the synthesis rituals like you said," Jeff told Willow. "Then three of the mirrors went black, one of the bits of glass caught fire – blue fire – and the easel dismantled itself."

"No kidding?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, screws unscrewed, nails un-nailed." Jeff grinned. "It woulda been pretty cool if it hadn’t scared the hell outta me."

"It is Vor," Brell explained. "They try to talk to us. I thought, find Red Witch."

"Thanks," Willow nodded. "Yeah, they probably want to talk to us, so they did something at their end to try to get our attention. I think this should…" She, and everyone else, jumped back as the stone vibrated and emitted a shrill whine, which faded down to a background hum after a few seconds.

"Do that again," Andrew muttered as he held his ears like everyone else in the room. "I think I can still hear a little out of my left ear."

"Brell," the stone growled.

"I know that voice," Willow said. "That’s the demon who came for you."

"Creed," Brell nodded. "Brell here," he added to the stone.

The polished surface shimmered and colored, patches of light and shade forming that resolved into the image of Creed, standing in front of a red-lit rocky wall.

"He looks almost human," Giles mused quietly.

"Except for the ten foot tall part," Willow said as an aside.

"I see you, Brell," the demon said in a rumbling voice. Brell nodded, and gestured for Giles to step forward.

"Oh, uh…I’m Rupert Giles," he began, "head of the Watchers Council. On behalf of us and the free people and demons of Earth, I’d like to—"

"I am not concerned with you," Creed interrupted him. "Show me the slayer Faith."

"Yo," Faith said, shrugging and approaching the stone.

"Yo," Creed said gruffly, copying her. "I will speak to you. We have spilt blood together."

"Wish I could say I remember," Faith admitted. "Everything after I got to the surface is a bit of a blur."

"No doubt," the demon nodded. "But you fought the hunters they sent after you nonetheless. Bravely. Your…comrades may listen while we talk if you wish."

"Okay," Faith said. "What’s up?"

Creed frowned in confusion for a moment, then his expression cleared, as much as it ever did.

"We have taken a captive," he said. "A bondsman of the Galt water clan. Our enemy uses them as couriers. It killed itself when taken, but our gifted pulled meaning from the remains of its mind as it cooled."

"No kidding," Faith said, eyes wide.

"Our enemy has sent warriors to your world," Creed went on. "Thirty of the night cult at least, and a mage as well. Their portal used the mouth beneath

your fortress and diverged, so they must have arrived within a day’s travel of you. They have made a base and have remained there many nights. This we know."

"If they used the hellmouth here to guide their portal," Willow suggested quietly to Faith, "we can do a spell to locate them. It’d take the whole coven, but I think we’ve got a good shot."

"We can find them," Faith relayed to Creed.

"Good," he nodded. "We know one other thing. This force was sent to your world to test a weapon. What kind we do not know, but it is magic, we are sure, and powerful. This weapon does not work in your world. There are many such, powerful only in the place of their making. Our enemy seeks to perfect their weapon to use against you. Frustrate their plans, and we will both benefit from our enemy’s loss."

"Will do," Faith nodded.

"Be wary, Faith," Creed warned. "The night cult are not like the thanati your kind slay. They will fight fiercely and will not surrender. Ever." With that, the stone was suddenly opaque again.

"Well then," Giles said. "Willow, how long to do the spell you mentioned?"

"Thirty minutes?" she guessed. "Jeff, round everyone up. I’ll get the circle started." He nodded and left the room. "Give me another ten to look some stuff up?" Willow added to Giles.

"Of course," he nodded. "Council room, forty-five minutes then."

Cut To:Int.Council Room – Fifty Minutes Later

"Sorry," Willow said, rushing into the room with an armful of books and maps. "The spell took a while, plus research. I got some good stuff, though!"

"No need to apologize," Giles, sitting at the head of the table, assured her as she sat next to Rowena. Faith, Kennedy, and Mia sat opposite, with Robin, Xander, and Brell further down the table. "Bonnie had nothing to offer, so she won’t be joining us. Willow?"

"Creed was right," Willow said, unfurling a large map of Ohio. "There was a big portal cast through the hellmouth, almost two months ago. Very well hidden. If we’d done this ritual normally and picked this up, I’d have thought

it was just normal background magic. But it’s there, a big portal, at least thirty living beings, and I think a lot more mass besides."

"Mass means raw material," Kennedy said. "Creed said they had made a base – we could be looking at a fortress."

"Whatever it is, they weren’t taking any chances of being found," Willow went on, pointing to a spot on the map. "That’s where they are, roughly – pretty remote, dense forests. Assuming they were careful, there’s no reason to think they couldn’t have stayed there this long without being found."

"Could you discover anything about this weapon?" Giles asked.

"Not from the portal," Willow said with a glum look. "There’s just too much magic flying around. It was all I could do to get an idea of how many living presences there were. What they had with them, who knows? But what Creed told us is almost certainly accurate. Anything to do with magic will behave differently in different dimensions. The Mirror was like that, and most powerful spells need lots of adjustment just to work at all. If this thing the Presidium has is powerful enough, there’s a good chance even with their mages they’re still working on it."

"Nothing in our library suggests the nature of the weapon?" Giles asked.

"Not that we’ve found," Rowena offered. "I’ll check again later, but I’m thinking that’s a dead-end. It could be a spell, or a magical ability tied to a specific demon, or a magical artifact of some kind…the options go on and on."

"Good work regardless," Giles said. "Well, suggestions?"

"Easy," Faith said. "We go in, slay the bad guys, and take their toy away from them."

"It’d be good to get a look at it," Willow commented. "Even if it doesn’t work, it could still give us enough of an idea that we can work on some kind of counter-magic. That way, if the Presidium ever do perfect it, we’ll be able to defend ourselves against it. Or," she added, as a thought struck her, "with some work, maybe a counter-spell could be modified to work on their turf. Creed’s demons have mages, right?" she asked Brell.

"Yes," he nodded, "many mages. Brighid, who leads alongside Creed, is powerful witch, very old and wise."

"What about the Presidium’s mage?" Rowena asked Willow. "If he or she is in charge of this force, we’re not talking about just a foot-soldier. They could

know a lot about the Presidium’s plans and methods, beyond this one weapon. Is it possible to put a binding spell on a mage like that so that we could safely imprison them?"

"I can’t say without knowing what kind of demon it is," Willow said, "but what I sensed during the portal spell didn’t suggest anything hugely powerful. Given that this is a research expedition, the mage is probably more like a scholar than a warrior, so if we can do a clean binding, it’s definitely a possibility."

"The longer we wait, the longer they have to get their magic sword up and running," Faith said. "My vote’s for an attack as soon as we’re ready."

"Given the proper preparations, I agree," Giles said. "Willow?"

"Well, we can’t very well do nothing," she said. "The coven votes yes."

"I’ll lead," Faith said. Robin glanced at her, concerned.

"Are you sure?" Giles asked. "You haven’t had long to recover from your ordeal in Vor."

"I’m a slayer," she replied. "I don’t need long to recover. And no offense, but I kick more ass than the rest of this table combined."

"What do we know about the opposition we’ll be facing?" Giles asked Brell. "This ‘night cult’...do you know anything about them?"

"Many breeds of demon," Brell said. "Do not know which. All kinds, made to serve Presidium. Night cult are the strongest of all, and Presidium magic is put inside them, in their mind. Cannot disobey, cannot surrender. Very dangerous."

"Thirty, huh?" Faith said. She turned to Giles. "Our best shot will be to take them by surprise and do it real quick so they never get a chance to figure out what’s going on. Me, Slick, Mia and her team. Red, you coming to handle the mojo?"

"I think Jeff should come as well," Willow said. "We can’t bring the whole coven, but he’s powerful, and he’s been progressing well."

"I realize he’d be frustrated to be left behind," Giles noted, "but are you sure he’s ready for a task like this?"

"I am." Willow nodded. "He’s strong, and he can defend himself if need be…I know he’s young, but so were we when we patrolled Sunnydale after school. I think it’s time we let him have a chance to test himself. It’s best to do it now, when we’re there to back him up, rather than to try and hold him back forever."

"I’ll come too," Rowena offered. "You’ll need a watcher."

"I’m a watcher!" Willow pointed out. "And it’ll be dangerous…"

"That’s what we’ll be there for," Faith said.

"And I can defend myself," Rowena added to Willow. "I won’t be any more vulnerable out there than you, seeing as you’ll be busy doing a binding spell."

"Okay," Willow allowed with a pout, "but one scratch on you…"

Rowena laughed. "Who was it who won nine bouts to two last time we fenced?" she chuckled. Willow’s pout increased, but was tempered by a hint of a smile.

"It’s settled then," Giles said. "Choose your vehicles and prepare your equipment. I’ll go and tell Becca the bad news."

"Whoa, what bad news?" Willow asked quickly.

"Well, we were planning a couple of days away," he replied. "Not very far, just outside the city on the lakefront, but obviously with all of you being away from the headquarters, and this coinciding with Robin’s trip to Washington D.C. tonight—"

"Coinciding nothing," Willow protested. "You get your wife and go relax, mister."

"Seriously, it’s no biggie," Faith put in. "You’ll still be only a phone call away, Robin too."

"Granted, but the Council does need someone on site, just to attend to daily operations," Giles argued. "Whom do we leave in charge?"

Cut To:Int.

Council Armory – Moments later

"I can’t believe they left me in charge," Vi said as she leaned against the door. Xander smiled, but remained silent as he scurried about collecting weapons. "I have all the power. I can make the slayers run laps!"

"Can’t you do that already?" Xander asked from behind a crate of stakes.

Vi frowned. "Oh yeah." She perked up. "I can make Andrew run laps!" Xander remained silent. She continued, "You call this oatmeal? Give me fifty around the practice field." She waited for him to laugh, but he didn’t. Now desperate she said, "Or those watchers. Always reading. They could use some exercise…" She trailed off. "Xander?" Vi asked. "About the other night. I didn’t mean to…"

"Those watchers can be tricky," Xander said, looking up from his boxes. "I remember a few years ago Buffy tried to get Giles to run in a marathon with her. He agreed, but then got ‘called away’ on Council business."

"Xander…"

"Vi, I…I’m sorry I should have…I want to tell you that…"

Before he could say another word, Rowena popped her head in the room and said, "Xander, we’re nearly ready in the garage. Can you get the equipment loaded as soon as possible?"

Vi stood up. "I should probably go." She walked out, leaving Xander speechless.

Cut To:Int.Kitchen – Moments Later

In the middle of the room, Vi was standing patiently while Kennedy talked.

"…and don’t let her eat too much raw meat, her appetite’s bigger than her stomach, but you can give her a snack every now and then, she likes hot dogs, lots of mustard, no onion. I’ve left enough milk in the fridge to last you, just heat it up before you give it to her, three times a day. Oh, and for a treat, she likes vodka, straight, but no more than a cup." The compact

dragon in her arms poked its head up hopefully. "Not now baby," Kennedy said, "I’m just telling her."

"It, uh, doesn’t get drunk, does it?" Vi asked warily.

"No," Kennedy said, "she just likes it. And remember to take her for walks and let her stretch her wings in the open. The trees down by the lake are a good spot, she can fly around without anyone seeing. Oh, and don’t let her sit too close to the TV. And make sure she’s got her blanket when she goes to sleep, and put her basket where the sun will shine on her in the morning, she likes that. And—"

"Ken," Vi said, "enough! It’ll be fine."

"She," Kennedy said. "She’s a she."

"I thought she was a he?" Vi asked, confused. "How can you tell? I mean, does it—she—have…are there, like, little scales to look under, or what?"

"Of course she’s a she," Kennedy said. "It’s obvious once you spend some time with her. You’ll take good care of her?"

"As if she was my own," Vi promised. Kennedy stared at her warily, then looked down at the creature in her arms.

"You’ll be okay while mommy’s away," she cooed. The dragon craned its neck to nuzzle against her chin, then glanced at Vi, mimicking Kennedy’s earlier cautious expression. "It’s okay baby, she’s all right. Now be good for Vi, okay?" The dragon snorted, then nodded. Kennedy hugged it, then slowly handed it over to Vi, who gingerly held it in her arms like a cat.

"Okay, I gotta get going," Kennedy said. "Gear to pack and all that."

"See you later," Vi said, glancing down at the dragon, which was wriggling slightly.

"Later," Kennedy nodded, giving her a pat on the shoulder as she passed on her way to the door. "Oh, also, don’t hold her like that if she looks hungry."

"Why not?" Vi asked quickly.

"Apparently dragons breastfeed, or close enough that she gets the idea, so she might try to take a nip at you," Kennedy replied, disappearing through the door.

"Uh-huh," Vi said slowly, holding the dragon away from herself a little more. "Um, Ken…how do I know if she’s looking hungry? Ken?" She sighed and looked down at the dragon, which was staring up at her quizzically. It glanced at her chest and stirred.

"Don’t even think about it," Vi warned. The dragon looked up at her again, then snorted and curled up in a ball.

Cut To:Int.Council Vehicle Garage – Twenty Minutes Later

Xander pushed a cartload of wooden crates toward three large vans. Once he was near enough, he began handing them to Mia, who was squatting in the back of the nearest van. Several other Black Ops slayers aided Xander in loading the vans.

Once the cart was empty, Xander nodded to Janet, and she pushed it out of the garage. He slammed the doors for the first two vans and then moved to the third, carrying a weapons case.

Willow stood next to the van with Jeff by her side. They were leaning in, inspecting the contents of the back of the vehicle. Xander approached wordlessly with his head down. He dropped the case in the back, causing Willow and Jeff to jump.

Xander looked up, realizing he had startled them, and said, "Oh sorry, guys, I didn’t see you there."

Willow frowned. "Jeff, could you go see if we have any more Wolvesbane in the storage room?"

Jeff nodded and left the garage, giving Xander a disgruntled eye as he left.

Willow laid down her clipboard and walked to Xander. "Is there something on your mind, Xander?"

Xander leaned against the back of the van. "I think I screwed things up with Vi."

Willow took position beside him on the van’s bumper. "What happened?"

Xander looked down at his shoes. "Last night I kind of told her that I can’t decide between her and Alex."

"You said that to a slayer, and you’re still standing?" Willow exclaimed. "If someone I liked said that to me, I’d kick her in the…"

"Not helping, Will."

"Sorry," she said. "But why would you say that?"

Xander quickly moved off the van. "She caught me off guard. No warning at all. Plus, I was asleep until you two came in. I can’t be expected to think clearly, mere seconds after waking up."

"Have you talked to her at all?"

"Yeah, I tried a little while ago. She came to tell me about being left in charge. The worst part is she didn’t seem mad about what happened. Just…disappointed." Xander lowered his head. "It’s horrible. I’d rather she be mad at me."

Willow frowned. "It’s going to take her some time. But she’ll get over it. I mean I got over you, right? All you can do now is be a good friend and—"

"But see, that’s the thing. I don’t want to be friends with her. I want to be more than friends. I just can’t seem to tell her that."

"Willow!" Giles called from across the garage. He jogged over. "Are you all set?"

Willow nodded. "I’ve got everything I need, enough to do full protective spells on two vans – one for the weapon, one for the mage, assuming we get both. I sent Jeff for some extra Wolvesbane, but other than that, I’m set."

"Weapons are all loaded," Xander added.

"Excellent," Giles said. "Robin!" he yelled, rushing off in the former principal’s direction.

Willow moved towards the van’s driver-side door and got in. "Sure you’re not coming?" she asked Xander.

He bent down to face her. "I think I’m gonna stay here."

"Why? Everything will be fine with Vi in…Oh." Willow smiled as Xander backed away from the van. Xander shut Willow’s door and left the garage

just as Jeff came in carrying a package of Wolvesbane. He trotted over to Willow’s van and secured the bottle in the back. Then he climbed into the van’s back seat.

Faith walked up to Willow’s window and knocked. When Willow lowered it, Faith said, "Change of seating plans, got room for one more?" Willow nodded, and Faith circled the van and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Thanks," Faith said, "Janet and Saida are going over the finer points of computerized sights. Didn’t think I could last till we got to... where are we going?"

"Twin Peaks," Willow answered.

Faith laughed. "Are the Presidium going after Laura Palmer? ’Cause I think they’re too late."

Willow grinned. "Twin Peaks, Ohio. Well, actually a remote area just south of it. A couple of hours from here." Willow put the van in drive and followed the other two vans out the garage door.

Cut To:Ext.Interstate 77 South Bound Lane – Twenty Minutes Later

The Council’s caravan of vehicles motored south toward Twin Peaks. Willow’s van led the pack, followed by two vans driven by Mia and Francesca.

Cut To:Int:Willow’s Van – Same Time

Willow tapped the wheel rhythmically to the beat of the music on the radio while Faith looked forward, seemingly zoned out. In the back Jeff sat behind Willow, watching the scenery pass by.

"Huh," Willow said abruptly.

Faith looked over. "What is it?"

"Jeff, did we pack the lunis root?" Willow asked without looking back.

Jeff pulled his eye from the window. "Yeah, I put it under the essence of toad."

"Damn." Willow sighed.

"Not a fan of toad essence?" Faith asked.

"No, I love toad. Well, actually that’s not true. They look too much like frogs." Willow flinched. "Ick...frogs. Anyway, I can’t shake this feeling that we forgot something."

"Well, I double-checked all of our supplies," Jeff said. "Could it have been something for the slayers?"

"I don’t think so," Willow replied. "Xander was in charge of all the slayers’ weapons." Willow sighed again. "This is going to bother me the whole trip. I’m positive we left something behind."

Cut To:Int.Council Garage – Same Time

Rowena, Kennedy, and Brell stood in the now-empty parking garage.

Kennedy shook her head, "I can’t believe they left us behind."

Fade out.

 

 

End of Act One

Act Two 

Fade In:Int.Council Garage – Second Later

"Well, I guess we’re taking one of the cars," Kennedy said, heading to the key rack. "Think Giles would mind if we borrowed his Aston Martin?"

"Who Aston Martin?" Brell asked.

"Not who. What," Kennedy answered. "It’s the company that makes the car."

Brell nodded.

"Besides, it only has two seats," Rowena reminded Kennedy. She looked at her watch and smiled. "I’ve got another idea. Come on."

"Where?" Kennedy called after her as she sprinted away.

Cut To:Ext.Council Helipad – Day

Kennedy and Rowena approached the Council helicopter on the large stretch of tarmac overlooking the waterfront. Brell stood behind them, looking uneasily at their ride.

"Maybe Brell stay here. In case Council building attacked."

Kennedy stepped behind him. "Sorry, Brell, but we need you with us."

The pilot waved to Rowena, and they all moved towards the helicopter. Kennedy opened the side door and climbed in. She helped Brell up and then reached a hand to Rowena. Once they were all inside, they busied themselves with seatbelts and stowing their gear, while the rotors began to spin.

Brell let out a frightened whimper as the aircraft lifted off the ground and tilted forward, accelerating up and away over the water.

"Statistically," Kennedy yelled to Brell over the noise, "you’re safer in here than traveling in a car."

"But in car, you don’t fall so far to the ground," Brell countered.

"He’s got a point," Rowena replied with a smirk to Kennedy.

"Please be quiet. You’re not helping," Kennedy told her.

Rowena just smiled and patted Brell’s knee. "Don’t worry. Our pilot is one of the best. You’ll be just fine."

Brell gave an uneasy nod as they began to fly through the air.

Cut To:Int.Willow’s Van – One Hour Later

Faith and Jeff sat in silence as Willow fiddled with the radio dial. She rotated the knob desperately searching for a station. The radio answered with an endless stream of static. "Well, looks like that’s it for the radio."

Jeff and Faith remained silent.

Willow watched the road uncomfortably. "So anyone see any good movies lately? Andrew said he liked the Ring 2."

Faith shrugged. "I think I’ve had my fill of fantasy horror for a good long while."

Willow frowned. "Faith, about everything that happened. If you ever want to talk about it..."

"Willow I’m fi—"

"Five by five...right?" Willow said without looking over.

"Actually, I was going to say ‘fine’." Faith grinned ever so slightly.

"Oh." Willow looked a bit embarrassed. There was a moment of silence until Willow said, "Isn’t ‘fine’ the universal response for ‘not fine’?"

Jeff looked up from the back seat but remained silent.

Faith sighed. "All right, I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t think about what happened. But I’m okay. I can handle what happened…and I can handle whatever might happen."

Willow smiled. "Glad to hear it. But if…"

"Yeah, I know. You’re here if I need to talk."

The car was silent for a moment until the radio came to life. Willow turned the dial, clearing up any remaining static and settled in for the rest of the ride.

Cut To:Ext.

Grassy Field – Later

Rowena and Kennedy stood at the door of the now-motionless helicopter. Rowena laid a map of the area on the floor of the helicopter cab. Brell sat several meters away, hugging the ground. Kennedy examined the plans.

"Is it a good idea for us to be at the coordinates of the portal?"

"We’re not," Rowena said, without looking at Kennedy. "The coordinates I gave the pilot were for a location one mile north of the portal. This is where the vans will be meeting up."

"How long till they all get here you think?"

"Shouldn’t be more than an hour." Rowena answered, checking her watch. "In the meantime, without any of the equipment…we have absolutely nothing to do."

"I wouldn’t say that," Kennedy said, snatching the map away from Rowena. "I can use this to scout the area on foot. See what kind of defenses they’ve got out here."

Rowena sneered and grabbed the map back. "I don’t think so. Not this time."

"Why not?" Kennedy said, defensively crossing her arms.

"Because," Rowena said, raising her voice, "We have no way of communicating. All the gear is in the vans." She set the map down on the ground. "Plus, we need the map here."

Brell stood up and walked over to the two women. "Brell need help."

They ignored him.

"You don’t need the map here," Kennedy insisted. "You just don’t want to listen to a suggestion that you didn’t come up with yourself."

Rowena shook her head. "Why can’t you ever listen to anything I say?"

Brell held his stomach. "Brell going…"

"Why do you have to criticize everything I say?" Kennedy countered.

Rowena threw her hands into the air. "You’re just so…so pigheaded."

Brell inched forward. "Please."

"I’m pigheaded?!" Kennedy yelled over Brell’s groans. "Fine, but you know what? I’d rather be pigheaded than a snooty girlfriend stealer! "

"So, now it comes out!" Rowena answered, waving a finger at Kennedy. "For the record, I did not steal Will—"

Before Rowena could finish Brell bent over and throw up all over the map. The two women looked down and cringed before they looked at each other.

Brell sat back and said, "Brell hate flying."

"So much for the map," Kennedy said, walking away.

Fade To:Int.Helicopter – Five Minutes Later

Rowena and Kennedy sat on opposites sides of the still vehicle, in absolute silence. Brell sat on the floor next to the door and looked out longingly.

After several moments, Rowena took in a breath and opened her mouth as if to speak. However, she quickly closed it and turned her gaze away from Kennedy.

Kennedy looked up and said, "What?" Her tone was of mild irritation.

Rowena looked as if she might not answer but finally said, "I think we should work this out."

Kennedy’s look of irritation broadened. "Work what out?" Brell glanced up with a look of mild curiosity.

Rowena fidgeted in her seat. "You know, the complete dislike of one another."

"Right…that."

Rowena checked her watch. "We’re stuck here for another fifty-five minutes, and to be honest I don’t think I can take an awkward silence for that long."

"All right, fine," Kennedy said, crossing her arms. "Where do we start?"

Rowena leaned back in her seat. A look of bewilderment crossed her face. "I don’t know."

Kennedy sighed. "Me either."

"Red Witch," Brell said from his place by the door. Rowena and Kennedy both stared at him in shock. "Brell demon, not blind. Red Witch is reason you not get along." He stood up. "I get fresh air." He hopped out the door and disappeared from view.

Rowena looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with Kennedy. "He’s right you know."

Kennedy nodded. After several seconds she spoke, "When it comes to Willow, I think I suffer from jealous-ex syndrome."

"Kennedy, how can you be jealous? You’ve got Mia."

"I know, but Willow and I…We didn’t have the most pleasant of break ups." She stood up. "I can’t believe I’m even talking about this with you. You were the one that—"

Rowena got up as well. "Look, I did not cause your break up. I wasn’t even looking for a relationship. Neither was Willow at the time. And don’t think you’ve got it so bad – try dealing with jealous-of-ex syndrome."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You think it’s a picnic working in the same place as your girlfriend’s ex? It’s like a constant reminder of what I’m being compared to."

Kennedy scoffed and sat back down. "Willow would never compare you to me. I mean when I was still with her, she would bring up Tara every now and then. But never like that."

"It’s not only that," Rowena confessed. "Willow told me, before she and I got…involved, that the two of you had a…healthy…sexual appetite… I’m not sure I measure up in that area."

"So those ‘ice queen’ comments were dead on?" Kennedy teased.

Rowena paused and took an unsteady breath. "In a manner of speaking, yes. I was raped at the Watchers Academy."

Kennedy’s jaw’s fell. "Oh god, I’m sorry. I…I feel like an ass now."

"Don’t," Rowena told her. "You had no way of knowing but…like I said…I’m not sure if I can be as…creative as you were. And I still envy your time with her…"

"Are you…okay?" Kennedy asked. "I mean, after what happened?"

"I’m getting better – better than I’ve been in years, thanks to Willow. But there’s still so much I don’t know about her. So, yeah, I do envy you in some ways."

"Like how? Nothing sexy here, okay?"

Rowena took the seat next to Kennedy.

"Okay. Let’s see…Oh, about a couple of weeks ago, I was at the lake with Willow. And a frog hops over to us. So I picked it up to show Willow."

"Oh, bad idea," Kennedy said with a laugh.

Rowena nodded and continued, "Suffice it to say, that wasn’t our best outing. But that’s what I mean. There’s stuff I just don’t know."

"Well, I’ve got you beat," Kennedy said cheerfully.

"Let’s hear it," Rowena said, motioning to Kennedy to go on.

"Just after we closed the hellmouth in Sunnydale, we were staying in a motel. This was before we relocated to Cleveland. Well anyway, I was sharing a room with Willow, and I borrowed her toothbrush."

Rowena laughed knowingly. "She didn’t yell, did she?"

"No, she didn’t yell so much as sigh. She looked at the brush in my hand and just…sighed." Kennedy demonstrated for Rowena, who was now grinning. "Actually, she didn’t even say anything. But man, that sigh is a killer. I felt like I had killed her goldfish or something."

"I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds that odd," Rowena said, still laughing. "I mean, what’s the difference between using a toothbrush and kissing someone?"

"Oh, I’ve got a ton more." She took Rowena’s wrist and glanced at the watch. "I don’t think I can fit them all in, but I’ll try. Oh, like the way she eats hamburgers…"

"Around the outside and then the middle?" Rowena asked.

"See?" Kennedy said, slapping Rowena gently against the arm. "You know a lot more than you think you do and…and I can see you make Will happy. Just promise to keep making her happy…okay?"

Kennedy gave the woman a ghost of a smile, and Rowena returned it with a nod.

"I intend to," the watcher agreed softly.

Cut To:Int.Recreation Room – Same Time

Xander strolled into the lounge and spotted Vi by the pool table. She bent down to shoot as he approached. Xander stood behind her and watched as she set up the shot. Vi struck the cue dead on and sent the five ball into the left middle pocket.

"How d’ya like that?" she said challengingly to her opponent.

"Nice shot," Xander called from behind her.

Vi jumped and turned around. "Xander? I thought you were in your workshop."

Behind her, Kennedy’s dragon crouched down on the table and squinted at the cue ball.

"Not much to do. Took a stroll through the offices, ended up here. Robin’s headed off to the airport. He got a call from Riley’s people to move their meeting up a couple of hours."

"Riley?" Vi asked.

"Brigadier-General Finn," Xander clarified.

"Oh, the army guy," Vi nodded. "You know him?"

"Sunnydale," Xander explained. "He dated Buffy for a while. Got mind-controlled by a demon cyborg, had super-soldier drugs tested on him… the usual."

"Oh, okay. You know, I think you kind of outrank me, if you want to take the reins while the others are gone—"

"I’m more of a helper than a leader. Anyway, what happened to ‘let’s make the watchers run laps’?" Xander said with a grin. "That was an impressive power trip."

Vi grinned. "I retract my previous statement."

The dragon reared up and swatted the cue ball with its tail, sending it spinning off three cushions before glancing a red and sinking it neatly.

"God dammit," Vi muttered, seeing the cue ball come to rest in a perfect location for the dragon to make it’s next shot.

"She plays pool?" Xander asked, bemused. "Smart little thing, isn’t she?"

They watched the dragon swat again but in sinking one ball it accidentally sent the cue ball into the pocket too.

"She’s got some kind of instinctive grasp of spatial geometry," Vi complained as she pulled the cue ball from the pocket and looked for a place to set her shot. Not finding one she shook her head in frustration and placed the ball on the table. "It’s probably from flying or something. I’ve lost three games in a row. But not this one!" she warned the dragon, reaching for an X-frame to line up her next shot. The creature hopped onto the edge of the table and managed to look smug.

"While you think that over, there’s something I need to tell you," Xander said.

Vi hesitated for a moment but continued with her shot. She sank the nine ball in the bottom left corner pocket.

Xander leaned down to catch Vi’s eye. "I should have said this last night. I—"

"Vi!" Tracy yelled from the doorway. "We’ve got a crisis."

Xander leaned back as Vi turned to face Tracy. "What is it? Vampires?"

Tracy shook her head. "Someone broke Andrews Kill Bill Volume 2 DVD. He’s on a rampage. He’s threatened to close the kitchen until someone fesses up."

Vi sighed. "Where is he?"

"He’s in the lobby shouting up a storm."

"Okay, I’ll be right there. Tell him I’ll buy him a new one."

Tracy nodded and left the room. Vi turned to Xander. "What were you going to say?"

Xander paused. "I can tell you later. Go appease the nerd."

Vi moved to the door. As she passed through it, she turned to Xander and grinned and motioned to the pool table, where the dragon had sunk two in a row. "You have my permission to finish my game," she told him.

Xander smiled back as Vi exited the doorway. He turned to the table and took aim. His shot ricocheted off the thirteen ball and collided with the eight, knocking it into the right side pocket. "Oops," Xander said.

The dragon made a sound suspiciously like a snort of laughter.

"Don’t gloat," he told the dragon.

Cut To:Int.Willow’s Van – Later

"Okay, we’re coming up on the coordinates now," Willow said. "We’re supposed to meet in a field at the end of this road."

Faith looked ahead. She leaned forward as something caught her gaze. "Hey Willow, I think I know what you forgot to bring."

Willow looked over urgently. "What?"

Faith pointed to something ahead of the car. Jeff leaned forward in the back to see what Faith pointed to.

"Your girlfriends," she replied. "Good news is they don’t look like they’ve killed each other yet."

Willow’s eye’s widened. "Oops."

Cut To:Ext.Grassy Field – Seconds Later

Rowena, Kennedy, and Brell watched as three vans pulled up. Willow exited the lead van.

Kennedy grinned. "What took you guys so long?"

Cut To:Ext.Grassy Field – Moments Later

"Sorry," Mia said as she hugged Kennedy. "I thought you were in Fran’s car, she thought you were in mine…real efficient teamwork, huh?" She grinned sheepishly.

"We’re a classy outfit," Kennedy joked.

"How’d it go?" Mia asked. "I mean, in the helicopter, with her?" She nodded towards Rowena, who was talking with Willow a few yards away.

"Oh, you know, fireworks…" Kennedy brushed it off. "Not so bad. Brell threw up."

"I didn’t know you two argued that much."

"Airsick, smartass," Kennedy whacked Mia on the bottom. "Don’t you have to go change into your slinky-gear?"

Mia nodded. "Soon as the others are done." She grinned at Kennedy. "Want to share a change room?"

Cut To:Ext.Willow’s Van – Same Time

"Well, this is us," Willow said to Faith and Rowena, who looked over her shoulder at a clean map Willow had brought. "The portal site would’ve been roughly here, but if they were doing delicate magic, they’d have moved away from that location before they set up camp; there’d have been some unusual residuals that could mess with their rituals. I’m guessing here," she pointed to an area of forest. "Somewhere. It’s the most remote from any roads, inhabited property, or tourist areas."

"That’s a lot of ground," Rowena said thoughtfully.

"I’ve got Jeff mixing ingredients for a couple of spells I’d like to try," Willow replied. "We might be able to narrow it down a bit, maybe even get a definite fix on their location. Plus, we’ll put a standing spell over the

helicopter. It should make it pretty difficult to see or hear it, from a distance anyway. So long as it keeps reasonably high, it should work."

"So you get us a direction to follow," Faith summarized, "we head that way, the helo goes high and scouts ahead of us, we zero in on whatever it sees. Sounds good to me. That it?"

"That’s it," Willow nodded. Faith headed off to get changed, while Rowena leaned against the van and looked at Willow.

"I was wondering if you’d suggest I stay in the helicopter," she said. "It’d be safer up there, after all."

"Don’t think I wouldn’t love to," Willow admitted. "But safe isn’t always right…I mean, this is what we do for a living. Battle demons." She sighed. "Sometimes it sucks having a calling. You know, right about now, normal people would be wishing they were back in school where they didn’t have to deal with any of this stuff."

"You did have to deal with this stuff in school," Rowena pointed out.

"I know," Willow sighed, "I know."

Cut To:Ext.Grassy Field – Later

Willow and Jeff stood up together, carefully lifting a wooden board between them, keeping it level as they carried it over to the open back of a van.

"Well, that looks like a confirmation to me," Willow said, comparing the scattered drifts of colored sand on the board to the map, which had been marked with a series of circles.

"Two locators and an ethereal topography rite," Jeff nodded. "All point there. Plus, that’s the direction I sensed when I did the prescience chant."

"Yeah, you’re getting good at that," Willow said. Jeff beamed at her praise. "Well, then are we all ready?"

"Ready," Rowena nodded, appearing at her side. Willow looked out across the area of field where their vans were parked, taking in Faith and Kennedy in their leather outfits, Mia and her team in their armor, their weapons – submachine guns, compact one-shot missile launchers, and Francesca’s usual assortment of heavy weapons – and the helicopter with the Council shield emblazoned on the side of it.

"This sure isn’t like high school any more," she mused. "Okay, let’s go."

Cut To:Ext.Forest – Later

The team moved stealthily through the forest. Kennedy went first, scouting ahead, then Janet and Saida out to either side, followed by Francesca, between them and a few paces further back. Mia and Faith walked on either side of Willow, Rowena, Jeff, and Brell, while the remaining two Black Ops slayers followed a short way behind.

"Anything?" Faith asked again, switching her radio earpiece to the helicopter’s frequency.

"Negative," came the reply.

"They should be able to see something," Willow said, frowning. "Unless the camp’s camouflaged. Maybe they built it all under the canopy, somewhere the trees are too thick to see through."

"I should’ve gone up," Jeff muttered. "I could’ve done a ritual from up there, something directional…"

"We need you down here to do the binding," Willow pointed out. Jeff blinked, then nodded.

"Better on ground," Brell said to Jeff. "Trust Brell on this."

"Everyone, look sharp," Faith said into her radio.

"What’s up?" Rowena asked.

"Don’t know," Faith murmured, as the slayers scanned their surroundings. "I just feel—"

Before she could finish, a blur rose from the ground ahead and bowled over Saida, snarling and clawing at her. Janet rushed to help her, but more creatures were emerging, leaping up from shallow burrows, their skin changing color from the dusty brown that had blended in so well with the forest floor to a deep black.

"Ambush!" Faith called, snapping off a shot with her pistol crossbow and drawing a sword with her free hand. "Ken, circle around and back, they’re mainly east of us!"

"Point and rearguard, weapons free, quiet," Mia said quickly. "No big guns, we don’t want to make any more noise than we have to!" There were a pair of muffled shots from behind them, while ahead Janet lifted the first attacker off Saida and threw it to one side, where Francesca killed it with a single silenced shot from her P90.

Mia and Faith took aim, one with a submachine gun and the other with a repeater crossbow, at a group of the creatures sprinting towards them from one side. One by one they fell as the slayers’ shots found their mark, but their charge remained unbroken, the survivors ignoring their fallen comrades. Then the leader of the pack, just a few yards from where Willow and Rowena were aiming their crossbows at it, jerked sideways and toppled over with a bolt in its head.

"Nice work!" Mia said, spotting Kennedy closing on the beasts from the side, felling another. The remaining creatures slowed, confused as to whether their enemy was in front or to their side, and the slayers made short work of them.

"Keep watch. Fran, check Saida," Mia ordered through her radio, before turning to Willow and Faith. "No one sees any more of them," she reported.

"I’m fine," Saida said, getting to her feet. "It just winded me, no harm done."

"Okay," Faith nodded. "Ro? Wildlife run amok?"

"Demons," Brell said.

"Agreed," Rowena said, crouching over the corpse of the nearest creature. "Abyssal stalkers, I’d say. Never seen one in person before." She stood and returned to the group. "They’re not intelligent, except for instinctive pack-hunting behavior."

"So they won’t have told anyone we’re here?" Willow asked, as they set off again, Kennedy sprinting ahead.

"Unless they’ve been altered somehow, and I don’t see any sign of it, so no. Probably the Presidium brought them just to scatter around, to deter visitors. They tend to remain in whatever area they’re put, unless they’re literally starving. I’d say they’ve been doing all right from the local wildlife, so this is probably where they were placed."

"Meaning the Presidium are somewhere around here," Willow concluded.

"Works for me," Faith said. "Wherever they try to kill you, keep going that way – that’s where they don’t want you going, so it must be good. Helo, you see anything? We just got jumped by some critters down here, I’m thinking we’re close."

"Negative sighting," the helicopter pilot replied in Faith’s headset. "I read your beacon, but no visual contact with hostiles. Unbroken forest as far as the eye can see."

"No, we’re close," Jeff insisted. "I’m sure, I recognize this bit of forest."

"How’s that?" Mia asked.

"The spell I did, the prescience one," he explained. "I got an image of this area. This is where we’re going to find it, so this must be where it is."

"At least we know we’re gonna find it eventually," Faith said with a shrug.

"Likely to," Jeff corrected her. "It’s based on probable futures, not certainties. I’m getting better, though, I’m almost certain on this."

"I feel something," Willow interjected. "There’s…darn, it’s subtle…something in the air, from that way." She pointed ahead.

"Hold position," Mia ordered quietly.

"Ken, you see anything up there?" Faith asked, as the slayers came to a halt. "Ken? Mia, try her."

"Ken?" Mia tried her radio, as they moved towards where Janet and Saida had stopped.

"No visual," they said. "She was there one moment, then gone."

"It’s here," Willow said, walking a few paces forward. "Something…like a wall."

"Looks like more forest to me," Faith said, coming to her side. She gestured around with her arm. "Forest behind, forest to the side, forest— Hey!"

"Yikes!" Willow jumped back at the sight of Faith’s arm, missing from the elbow down. Faith jerked her arm back and found it intact. She cautiously extended it again and smiled as it slowly vanished.

"Now that’s a good piece of magic," Willow said in a hushed voice, as Faith waved her arm quickly back and forth, causing ripples to appear in the image of the forest in front of them.

"Hey guys," Kennedy said, appearing out of nothingness just to the left of Faith. "Radio’s dead, and what’s so interesting about Faith waving her arm— Whoa!" she exclaimed as she looked at Faith.

"A camouflage spell," Willow explained.

"A massive one," Jeff added. "No wonder they can’t see anything from above."

"Did I walk through that thing?" Kennedy asked.

"Didn’t you notice?" Faith asked.

"No, I couldn’t tell. It looked like you guys were just standing there staring at nothing. This working now?" she said into her radio.

"Gotcha," Mia replied. "Must be the spell, no signals in or out."

"Three guesses why," Kennedy said. "Come on, you guys have got to see this."

Cut To:Ext.Crater – Moments Later

The slayers, watchers, and Brell crept to the edge of a rough embankment in the forest and stared over it, out across an area completely clear of trees. A huge, shallow crater had been carved out of the forest, almost a mile wide, and within it were dozens of wooden structures, huts and workshops, their tops covered by skins stretched across them. Piles of charred wood and ash smoldered in fire pits, piles of raw meat lay stinking in the sun, and here and there were wells bored into the ground, full of bubbling mud. Dozens of scaly, armored demons patrolled the huge pit, carrying maces and axes.

The scene was dominated, though, by a huge construction at the center of it all. Inside a wide circular trench, filled with steadily burning oil, a colossal scaffold rose up five stories tall, above the distant treetops. Atop it, walking back and forth among dozens of circles formed from stone and wood and

drying, rotting flesh, was a tall, thin creature, barely visible from the edge of the pit.

"Ohh-kaay," Mia said. "How big is this weapon supposed to be, anyway?"

Fade out.

 

End of Act Two

Act ThreeFade In:Ext.Forest – Moments Later

Faith laid out a sheet of paper on the ground and quickly sketched a rough map of the Presidium encampment, as the other slayers and watchers looked on. A short distance away Brell was crouched on the edge of the crater, keeping an eye on the demons within and trying to get his radio earpiece to fit.

"Look right?" Faith asked. The others nodded. "Okay then," she went on. "This is what we’re up against. This," she pointed to a square, "is our boy, up on top of his carpentry castle. Red, what do you guys need to declaw him?"

"Brell, can you zoom in on the leader?" Willow asked through her radio. She and Rowena studied the LCD screen on her palmtop as Brell fiddled with the sniper scope Mia had given him.

"Ugly guy," she noted. "Nothing I’ve seen before."

"I know this one," Rowena interjected. "It’s a Princeps demon. Physically weak—"

"But magically powerful?" Willow guessed.

" ‘Capable’ might be a better word," Rowena replied. "They’re very good at doing magic in a controlled setting, but they’re not recorded as being much

trouble in a direct encounter. Their skill relies on their ability to create circles that are perfectly tuned to them specifically – sort of like amplifiers. Their innate magic is increased tremendously, but it limits their ability to improvise."

"Get him out of his circle and he can’t do anything but flop around like a caught fish?" Faith surmised.

"Very likely." Rowena nodded.

"What do we need to do to mess up his circles?" Mia asked Willow.

"Well, they’re delicate, so...not much. Break the circles, move or destroy the components, anything really. Oh, and if you see anything magic-y involving a model of the area, smash it. I’m guessing it’ll have to do with the camouflage spell. Breaking the spell might help distract him."

"We can do that," Mia said confidently.

"That leaves us to bind him," Willow said, glancing at Jeff. "What do you think? We could risk an iron seizure."

"I’m game," he said.

"Risk why?" Faith asked.

"It’s our best shot at taking him, but it’s short-ranged," Willow explained. "We’d have to be in the crater, probably around about here." She indicated a spot on Faith’s map.

"Then you’ll need protection," Faith decided. "Ken, you and me. Rowena and Brell as well, with the heavy repeater crossbows. What do we know about these guard demons?"

"Not much," Rowena said. "I don’t recognize the species, but according to Brell, they’re part of this night cult. Our weapons should work on them, he says. Some of their weapons are unusually ornate, which means they may have magic attached."

"I wouldn’t be able to sense it either way," Willow added. "The camouflage spell and all those circles on the scaffold are too powerful, they’d drown out anything small and simple."

"Okay," Faith nodded. "Mia, how do you want to handle this?"

"We can take about half the guards before anyone notices," she said thoughtfully. "Their patrols are strong, but predictable and regular. We’ll get them in ones and twos when they’re out of contact with each other, take them down before they get a chance to use their weapons – magical or otherwise. Say, three teams – Saida and I will circle around and come in from the far side, Janet’s team from the flank, Francesca with you from here. We take the easy marks, then keep stalking and sniping as long as we can until someone sounds the alarm. When that happens, we charge, take them by storm. You guys hold back for a few seconds when Janet and I lead our teams in – that’ll put most of the fighting on the opposite side of the scaffold to you."

"We run in, secure a zone, do the spell," Faith concluded. She looked at Willow and Jeff. "You guys need a minute?"

"Thanks," Willow nodded.

Faith, Mia and Kennedy returned to the crater, peering over the edge and whispering comments to each other.

"You’re sure you’re ready for this?" Willow asked.

"Sure I’m sure," Jeff said firmly.

"You realize you’ll be doing most of the work?" Willow persisted. "An iron seizure needs a lot of raw power, and I’m pretty sure I’m not back to that level yet."

"I’ll be fine," Jeff insisted. "I know the spell, I’ve gone over the theory and components plenty of times."

"I’m sure you have," Willow said with a grin, "but this isn’t theory, this is for real."

"I have done it for real," Jeff said hesitantly, "once…on an action figure, granted…but it worked perfectly, first time!"

"You know you shouldn’t be experimenting with battle magic without checking with me and someone there to keep watch," Willow warned.

"I know," Jeff nodded quickly, "but it was just a tiny version of the spell… and it was a while ago, before you were mentoring me."

"Okay, no harm done," Willow agreed. "At least you’ve had some practice. But this guy’s no toy; he’ll fight back. Mia and her team will target his circles, but they’ll have their hands full with the guards, so they may not be able to

break them all immediately. It’s good that you’re confident, but don’t be overconfident. If it gets dangerous, you break the binding, okay?"

"We don’t want to lose this guy," Jeff argued. "You said he’s high-ranking. He could know all kinds of things!"

"We don’t want to lose my best student either," Willow warned. "Realize, Jeff, you can lose a battle but still win the war. I’ll be there to help you. There’re some spells I can do to smooth your casting, and if it looks like it’ll help, I’ll throw a few random spells at the mage to distract him. Don’t make me have to worry about you at the same time. Do the binding, keep your head down, and no heroics," she finished sternly.

"You can trust me," Jeff insisted, meeting her gaze.

Cut To:Int.Slayer Rec Room – Same Time

Xander sat on the large puffy leather couch and flipped through the channels on the big screen TV. He settled on a Kung Fu flick as Vi walked in. She marched to the couch and plopped down with her arms crossed.

On closer inspection Xander noticed numerous traces of what looked like oatmeal sticking to her hair and clothing. He watched her for a moment. "Dare I ask?"

"Andrew," she said quickly as she stared at the TV avoiding eye contact. "He booby-trapped the kitchen to keep the slayers from sneaking food. I’m going to kill that little geek. I just blow dried an hour ago."

Xander surveyed Vi’s head. "I hope you’ve got a good shampoo ’cause that stuff is really caked in there."

"What kind of person rigs a door to drop oatmeal on someone’s head?"

Xander laughed loudly. "Oh, I did that to Willow a few years ago. She was shampooing for a week." He continued laughing until he saw her glare. "Which I’m sure won’t happen in this case."

Vi grabbed her head. "I don’t think my Suave will be able to handle this."

"Suave? Pfft." Xander shook his head negatively. "You should use Herbal Essences. Here feel how silky smooth my hair is." He tilted his head toward her.

Vi petted him several times. "Wow! That is silky smooth."

Xander pulled his head back up. "See the trick is to buy the shampoo and conditioner separate. It costs a little more, but you get more volume in your hair." He smiled but soon realized how un-macho he sounded. "Or so I’ve been told."

Vi laughed. "Nice try. Hey, what was it you were saying before?"

Xander sat up. "Oh. I uh..." He took a deep breath. "I just need to say that—"

A loud siren cut Xander off as it blared through the Council. Both Xander and Vi shot up. "Fire alarm," Xander said.

VI sneered, "Andrew!"

With that she ran out of the room, leaving Xander alone with noise of the siren.

Cut To:Ext.Edge of Crater – Moments Later

Mia lay against the rise, following a pair of demons with her sniper scope as they methodically walked the edge of the crater floor. She took a deep breath as the creatures neared a structure, walking towards the space behind it, between it and the edge of the crater wall.

"Got the inner," she whispered. "Count of three."

"Got the outer," Mia heard Saida respond through her radio, from her position several yards away.

"Three…two…one…" Mia squeezed the trigger at ‘zero’ and watched as her target jerked then slumped to the ground. His partner had no time to react before a tiny spray of black blood leapt from his neck, and he too collapsed with barely a sound.

"Two down," Mia announced. "Four minutes ’til they notice a patrol’s not where it should be."

"Two down here," Francesca radioed in.

"Three," Janet reported via the radio. "Moving on."

Mia touched her earpiece and nodded absently before scrambling quietly down the incline to the crater floor with Saida following her. Glancing warily towards the wooden structures nearer the center, they dashed from their hiding place to wait crouched behind the stone edge of a fire pit, as another pair of demons rounded a corner and headed slowly towards them.

Cut To:Ext.Edge of Crater – Same Time

Janet glanced down at where her two squad-mates were stealthily moving around both sides of some kind of storehouse for rotten meat, closing in on the trio of demons guarding its entrance. As the muffled sounds of their silenced weapons firing reached her, she hefted her long-barreled rifle to her shoulder and snapped off a shot, taking down a demon in the act of dragging an animal carcass towards a pool of steaming mud.

Cut To:Ext.Scaffold – Same Time

The Princeps demon stalked from one circle to another, muttering arcane syllables under its breath. Steam rose from its throat, as if the air was cold in spite of the sunshine, but instead of dissipating the steam formed strange runes hanging in their air, before drifting down into the huge wooden structure beneath it.

Cut To:Ext.Forest – Same Time

"Three minutes," Francesca whispered, taking aim at a lone demon guard gazing steadily – and ineffectively – at the tree line.

"Okay, you remember what you have to do?" Willow whispered to Rowena and Brell, crouched by her side.

"Make circle in oil," Brell said, holding up the jar of oil he held.

"Mark the compass points," Rowena added, tapping each of the items she held in turn: a small piece of wood and a lighter, two vials of powder, and a ceremonial knife. "Earth at north, salt south, the blade east, and light the wood at the west."

"Jeff?" Willow asked.

"I’ll be ready as soon as the circle’s done," he said confidently.

"Stay focused," Willow told him. "He’ll be strong, especially until some of his circles have been broken. Don’t try to overwhelm him all at once, and don’t draw too much power. Just build steadily, let me help control the flow. Remember, things are going to be going wrong on the ground for him really fast. Let him get confused and distracted, then take advantage when he does."

"Yep," Jeff said. "I’m ready."

"I know." Willow smiled.

Cut To:Ext.Crater – Same Time

Mia and Saida took careful aim, from their current position lying behind a slight rise in the ground. Twenty yards away, another pair of demons came into view, staring resolutely ahead of them.

"Ready, steady, go," Mia whispered, pulling her trigger.

Saida’s shot caught her demon in the side of the head, dropping him instantly, but the one Mia had aimed at stubbed his toe on a rock, and was just bending over as her bullet glanced off the thick carapace covering his head.

"Ji—" he yelled, before Mia’s second shot silenced him.

"Fe na? Jis teko?" a voice sounded from a nearby building. Several demons appeared at once in doorways, looking around in confusion.

"God dammit," Mia muttered. "Weapons free, repeat weapons free!" She stood quickly and sprayed the nearest building with gunfire, killing two demons. Saida fired a grenade into another, blasting it to pieces.

Cut To:Ext.Edge of Crater – Same Time

"Go, go, go!" Janet ordered, rushing forward as the fireball from the explosion rose above the tops of the crude wooden buildings. She and her squad quickly established a killing zone, cutting down the wave of demons that charged in ragged order towards them.

He’

Cut To:Ext.Forest – Same Time

"We’re up," Faith said, gripping her crossbow and sword tightly as she scrambled over the edge alongside Francesca. Willow, Rowena, Jeff, and Brell followed, with Kennedy on their flank. They sprinted and slid down to a depression in the ground at the crater’s edge, the slayers glancing about warily.

"Let ’em run," Faith said, spotting several groups of demons emerging from buildings and racing towards the other side of the crater. "Wait…wait…okay, let’s go!"

The group ran forwards, with the three slayers killing any demon who happened to look back with crossbows and gunfire. More explosions were sounding from beyond the scaffold, along with the chatter of gunfire.

"Five more yards!" Willow called.

"They’re gettin’ antsy," Faith warned, as more demons noticed their presence. "Fran, let ’em have it!"

"My pleasure," Francesca said grimly, returning her P90 to her waist and pulling a hulking mini-gun from its harness on her back. With a shrill whine the weapon fired, tearing through the nearest group of demons.

"Here," Willow said loudly, over the noise, "quick, two yards wide, go!"

"Brell do," Brell replied, crouching and letting the oil spill from the jar, tracing a circle with it in the dirt and mud. Rowena quickly laid out the four items at each cardinal point, finally letting the lighter’s flame play over the wood, starting it smoldering. Faith and Kennedy dropped to their knees on either side of the circle, steadying their aim as they fired bolt after bolt into any demons within range.

"Ego advoco ut aminus ut necto hic haec hoc venefic," Jeff recited, quickly sitting in the center of the circle, with Willow kneeling behind him. "Exaudio mei imperium itaque pareo…I feel it working!"

"Find your target," Willow said, doing her best to keep her voice calm. "Fran, the circles!"

"Gotcha," the slayer replied, swinging her cannon up to bear on the top of the scaffold. With careful aim she blasted either side of its top, staying clear of the Princeps demon but shattering the corners of the platform he stood on, sending his intricate ritual components flying.

"Got him," Jeff said. "He’s strong…god, he’s strong…" His eyes changed from their usual blue, slowly clouding and darkening.

"Control it," Willow warned. "Don’t try to use too much at once. You control the magic, it doesn’t control you."

Jeff swallowed and leaned forward, pressing his palms to the ground. He took a deep breath, and his eyes began to lighten again. "Got it," he said in a shaking voice. "I’ve got it…he’s fighting."

On top of the scaffold the demon mage was striding back and forth, scrabbling among the remains of his circles. He reared up and hurled a piece of blackened, dried flesh down at the group on the ground beneath him. Kennedy quickly turned and fired her crossbow, picking the piece of meat out of the air and sending it spinning off to one side. It landed on the roof of a building, crashing through the loose assembly of animal skins, then the whole structure exploded from within.

"Yikes!" Rowena shouted, crouching down as the heat and sound of the blast washed over them.

"Steady," Willow said to Jeff. "I’ll keep him busy." She got to her feet and raised a hand towards the demon standing high above her.

"Encase!" she yelled.

A golden haze formed around the demon, but just as quickly he tore through it with a claw and pointed down at Willow, sending a bolt of darkness flying towards her. The witch gritted her teeth and extended her palm, from which leapt a beam of light, like a searchlight, which caught the dark sphere in mid-air and tore it apart.

"Incandesco!" Willow shouted in reply, making a complicated gesture.

The air around the demon mage rippled in a sudden heat-haze, and he fell into a crouch, shielding his head with one arm while the other thrust upward. The air crackled as a sudden frost formed, and he stood again, staggering slightly. At the same time a burst of gunfire from the opposite side of the scaffold shattered more of the magical paraphernalia around him.

"It’s working," Jeff said. "I’ve almost got him, I’m close!"

The demon reared up as if to attack again, then abruptly whirled around and dropped down between the slats of the scaffold, disappearing from view. Jeff shouted and fell on his side at the same moment.

"Jeff!" Willow exclaimed, crouching to help him.

"I’m okay," he said quickly. "Just a jolt…I lost him, he’s gone!"

"Reconnect," Willow said. "Just take your time, you had him before, just do the same again." Jeff righted himself and concentrated, but shook his head.

"Nothing," he said, frustrated. "The binding’s there, but there’s no target, nothing. It’s like he’s just vanished completely!"

"Return to Vor?" Brell suggested.

"I’d have felt a portal, no," Willow shook her head. "He must have more circles in there, something hiding him from the—"

"Right," Faith said, rising. "Stay here, get ready to bind the thing."

"What’re you going to do?" Rowena asked her.

"He’s got circles, I’m gonna break ’em," she replied. "Ken—"

"I’m coming with you," Kennedy said.

"Stay here," Faith said. "Keep them safe, and that’s an order."

"Faith, wait," Willow interrupted. "I’m not sure that’s a good idea. He could have anything in there."

"You got a better idea?"

"Well at least take me with you. You can’t defend against magic—"

"Uh, guys?" Francesca called.

They all looked up to see the entire scaffold trembling. Pieces of wood began to break off and crash to the ground as it shook more and more violently.

"What the hell?" Kennedy said rhetorically, as the huge structure creaked ominously.

"Get back!" Willow yelled.

"Wait, let me try again!" Jeff insisted.

"Leave the circle," Willow yelled. "Go! Go!"

Grabbing Rowena by the hand and Jeff by the shoulder, Willow ran back towards the edge of the crater, followed by Brell and the slayers.

"I thought this weapon thing was supposed to not work here!" Kennedy yelled as a huge section of scaffold collapsed with a tremendous crash.

"I’d say they worked out the bugs," Rowena suggested as they paused, out of range of the flying debris from the scaffold’s collapse.

"We’d better get it un-working pretty damned fast! What the hell is that?!" Kennedy yelled, as something rose up from within the wooden structure, tearing the top of it to pieces, sending it crashing down on the buildings all around it.

As the rest of the scaffold fell to pieces, a titanic form was revealed. Composed of massive wooden trunks, twisted together with gigantic layers of bark covering it, was a huge, headless body, easily ten stories tall, dwarfing everything around it. Its legs were thicker than the most giant trees, its arms were long and massive, ending in tangles of writhing wooden tendrils, and its torso was a mass of gnarled wood, seemingly impenetrable. Where its heart should have been was a cavity, inside of which was the Princeps demon, its arms and legs sunk into the twisted wood around it. The giant lifted itself to its full, tremendous height, then took a step forward, the end of its leg, covered in thick roots, tearing

out of the ground behind it before slamming down again, making the earth tremble beneath it.

"Lord above," Faith whispered, awestruck as the huge construct towered over them.

Fade out.

End of Act Three

Act FourFade In:Ext.Crater – Same Time

"Good god," Mia swore, staring at the gigantic form towering above the encampment.

"Mia, what the hell do we do?" Janet asked through the radio.

"Uh," Mia shook her head disbelievingly, "uh, status!"

"Demons are down, we’re in the clear," Janet replied.

"Regroup, meet up! Fran, what the hell have you got over there?"

Cut To:Ext.Crater Edge – Same Time

"It’s some kind of machine!" Francesca yelled over the thudding of the construct’s footsteps. "The mage is in it!"

"This very bad," Brell said.

"I can’t get him!" Jeff shouted. "No sense of him at all!"

"Willow, what do we do?" Kennedy asked, readying her crossbow.

"Is there any chance of binding him?" Rowena added.

Willow closed her eyes, with Rowena steadying her as they slowly scrambled back towards the edge of the forest. "Nothing," Willow said. "He’s protected somehow. There’s no way we can bind him while he’s in that thing!"

"Then let’s get him out," Faith said grimly. "Fran, hit the legs. Let’s see it we can bring that baby down!"

Francesca brought her mini-gun to bear on the titan’s legs and opened fire, blasting a hail of splinters from the massive trunks. For a moment, a cloud of dust, thrown out by the impact of the high-velocity shells, obscured all view, then the construct strode on through the haze, undamaged.

Cut To:Ext.Crater – Same Time

"We got nothing!" Faith said through Mia’s radio. "What?…Okay, Mia, Red says hit it with everything!"

"That could kill the target," Mia pointed out, leading her and Janet’s combined teams forward, towards the back of the towering figure.

"Better him than us," Faith replied.

"Okay, you heard her!" Mia called to her squad. "Weapons free!"

"Don’t wait too long. I think it’s mad at Fran," Faith warned, as the construct leant down and smashed a colossal fist of coiled tendrils through a building, tearing it to pieces.

"On our way!" Mia assured her. "Girls, let’s get its attention. Spread out, break out the launchers! Faith, get your team out of there. We’ll take him! Saida, gimme that," she finished, catching Saida’s rifle as the slayer tossed it to her. Holding one weapon in each hand, she dashed forward as her team fanned out.

"How’s this for a tap on the shoulder?" she muttered, kneeling and firing both weapons up at the construct’s massive back, carving two trails of splintered bullet holes in its thick bark armor. The figure paused, then turned slowly around, facing its new attacker. From its chest the Princeps stared furiously down at the tiny slayer beneath it.

"Time on target! Hit him now!" Mia yelled, turning and fleeing the enraged war machine.

The construct took a single crashing step towards her, then paused as missile trails bloomed from the four other slayers arrayed in front of it. It turned away, its bulk shielding the mage within it from the blast as the four missiles smashed into the shoulder of the huge wooden figure, erupting in a colossal fireball and tossing broken chunks of wood everywhere.

Cut To:Ext.Crater Edge – Same Time

Faith stared in awe at the blast, and the rising cloud of fire and smoke that for a moment obscured the titan, and even the sky. She inhaled sharply as the construct loomed out of the smoke, reeling back from the explosion. Then her face fell in horror as it righted itself. Even as she watched, the broken beams and trunks of gnarled wood around its shoulder twisted and knitted back together with each other, and a new skin of rock-like bark formed over the quickly-healing wound.

"You gotta be kidding me!" she shouted in dismay. "What does it take to kill this thing?"

Cut To:Int.Slayer Rec Room – Same Time

Xander tossed a series of darts at the wall. The first two landed nicely in the checkered section of the dartboard. The last nicked the board’s metal ring and spiraled to the floor. He approached the board and grabbed his darts for another round of throws.

Across the room the door shot open and slammed against the wall. Vi strode in and kicked the door closed behind her. Her entire body was soaking wet, resulting in a trail of water on the floor behind her. On her heels, the dragon slunk into the room, looking somewhat dejected as water dripped from its scales.

Xander smiled. "Bucket of water this time?"

Vi grabbed the darts from his hand. "It was the sprinklers." With an angry grunt, she hurled a dart at the wall, landing a bull’s eye. "The slayers staged a commando raid on the kitchen." She launched the second dart. It hit just above the first, still inside the tiny red circle. "They got in, but someone," she glared at the dragon, which had the decency to look sheepish, "managed to set a pile of dish towels on fire in the process." The last dart left her hand and wedge in between the first two, knocking them onto the floor violently.

"Well if you look on the bright side, now you don’t have to take a shower." He grinned tentatively. "You know, you could give Giles a call. I’m sure he’d be happy to shout at Andrew."

"No," Vi said flatly. "I’m in charge, and I’ll deal with it. Even if it costs me my sanity." She gave a forlorn sigh. "If I ever get excited about being put in charge again, I want you to have my head examined," she added as she moved to the bar. She plopped down on one of the stools.

Xander followed and circled around the bar, went to the fridge, and took out two bottles of root beer. He came back around and handed one to Vi. "I think I know how I can cheer you up a little bit."

"How?" she asked as she tried to twist the cap off her soda. Each time she applied force, her wet hand slipped off the cap.

"Well, I recently had an epiphany." Xander saw her struggling with the cap and reached out a hand. "Here, my hands are dry. I’ll get it." She passed him the bottle, and he tried to twist the cap, but couldn’t get it to move. "Man, this thing’s really tight. Uh, where was I?"

"You had an epiphany."

"Right, okay, so I had this epiphany," he continued while pulling harder on the cap, "and I decided that I—" The cap sprang free of the mouth of the bottle, and along with it came a flood of root beer. The beverage erupted from the bottle and covered Xander pants. Xander looked down and said, "Well…that was unexpected."

Vi held back a fit of giggles. Xander put down the bottle and looked around the bar. "Any paper towels around here?"

"Ye…yeah," Vi said, doing her best not to laugh at him. "I’ll go get you some." She quickly crossed the room and passed through the door.

Just then, Andrew entered from the door on the opposite side of the room. "Xander, you didn’t by any chance borrow my Kill Bill Volume 2 DVD because…" He trailed off when he saw Xander’s pants. "You know what? This is probably a bad time. I’ll come back later."

He exited the room quickly. Xander looked down and then at the direction Andrew had gone. "It’s not what you think! I spilled a bottle of root beer!"

Xander sighed in defeat as silence answered him, then looked down at his feet, where the dragon was methodically wiping its wings dry on his trousers.

"Next time, I’m going on the mission," he vowed. "It’s probably safer to be in the great outdoors than trapped in here."

Cut To:Ext.Crater – Same Time

"Fall back!" Mia yelled, sending the Black Ops team scattering among the remains of the Presidium encampment as the colossus thundered towards them. She spotted Faith leading Willow and the others around the edge of the crater and sprinted towards them.

"We’ve got six missiles left!" she called. "Give me good news, please!"

"The structure can’t be destroyed," Willow said quickly. "The mage is channeling all his power into it. It’ll be able to repair itself like that again and again."

"What about the mage himself?" Mia asked. "Can we shoot him out of it?"

"I don’t know," Willow admitted. "He may have some way of defending himself. I just don’t know."

"Girls," Mia said into her mic, "who’s got a clear shot at the guy in the driver’s seat?"

"I’m on it," Janet replied over the radio.

"I’ll run decoy," Saida’s voice came shortly after.

"Fran, covering fire," Mia ordered.

They watched Janet pick her moment, then sprint out of cover a hundred yards away, circling towards the construct. Francesca opened fire again, blasting a trail of damage across its shoulder, but it seemed fixated on the slayers in front of it, and didn’t even acknowledge the new attack. It caught sight of Saida out in the open and steadied itself. Then it rammed its arm down into the ground, punching through the surface with the mass of wooden coils that formed its fist.

"Watch out!" Faith yelled, as the ground crack and shook around the construct’s arm.

A row of eruptions began, one after another stretching out ahead of the wooden titan, earth and stone being tossed ten, twenty yards into the air. Saida took one look behind herself and dodged sideways, barely clearing the path of the eruptions as they raced towards her.

"Janet, careful!" Mia warned, as Janet sprinted towards the massive figure.

The titan tore its fist out of the earth, roots and tendrils retracting leaving a gaping hole in the ground behind it, and aimed a swipe at the tiny slayer nearing it, its huge limb moving with incredible speed. Janet threw herself forward as the enormous trunk swung over her, rolled to her knees, and in one motion, raised and extended the one-shot launcher she was carrying.

"Say cheese," she sneered as she fired.

The missile roared up, directly towards the demon entombed within the chest of the huge magical machine, but at the last instant a tangle of gnarled roots erupted from the wooden skin on either side of it and closed over it, absorbing the missile’s impact and blast.

"This very very bad!" Brell said, as the construct lunged forward, its chest opening again to reveal the unharmed mage within.

"Janet, look out!" Mia yelled.

The young slayer was staring up in shock at the towering figure and reacted too slowly as it swung again at her. The impact of its arm lifted her off the ground and sent her flying through the air to crash down amid the wreckage of a building, where she tumbled and rolled to a halt.

"Janet!" Mia screamed, racing towards where she had fallen.

"Med-evac, med-evac!" Faith yelled into her radio, sprinting after Mia, with Francesca following her. "Slayer down!"

"Negative visual on your location," the helicopter pilot replied over the radio. "I repeat, negative visual, the camouflage spell is still active."

"Jeff, with me," Willow ordered quickly. "Ro, Brell, check the intact buildings, destroy anything that looks magical! Ken, go with them." Kennedy stared after Mia for a second, then sprinted over to join Rowena and Brell. Willow caught Rowena’s hand for a second, stared into her eyes, then dashed off after Faith and Mia, with Jeff on her heels.

Cut To:Ext.Crater – Same Time

Mia was kneeling by Janet’s broken body, trying desperately to revive her. The slayer’s eyes stared sightlessly, blood trickled from her mouth, nose and ears, and her limbs were twisted at unnatural angles.

"Janet," Mia pleaded, "Janet wake up, come on…"

She looked up hopelessly as Faith slid to a halt beside her, crouching down, followed by Willow and Jeff, as Francesca stood by, keeping her mini-gun trained on the huge construct striding towards the other Black Ops slayers.

"She’ll be okay, right?" Mia asked. "Slayer healing? Right?"

"Mia…" Faith said sadly, her fingers on Janet’s pulse point.

Mia turned to Willow. "You can save her, though, right?" she pleaded, as Willow pressed her palms to Janet’s forehead and chest.

"Mia…I’m sorry," Willow said after a pause.

"No, you can save her! You saved that Rayne guy," Mia insisted. "Willow…Jeff, you can—"

"There’s too much damage," Willow said, almost pleading with Mia herself. "There’s no way to heal her, it’s just too much."

"Mia?" Saida’s voice came through the radio. "We’re getting pushed back, what’s going on down there?"

"Mia, they need you," Faith insisted.

"Help me!" Mia pleaded.

"Saida, fall back into the forest," Faith ordered. "Spread out, don’t give it a target."

"We’ve found something," Rowena’s voice came through the radio.

Cut To:Ext.

Council Helicopter Above Forest – Same Time

Swooping in low, the helicopter pilot stared in shock as a mile-wide section of forest rippled and disappeared, revealing the crater and the battle taking place in it.

"Hell’s bells," the pilot whispered, before recovering. "I have visual, coming in to land."

"Negative," Faith’s voice replied over the radio. "Stay clear, that thing’s hostile!"

"Roger that. What’s the status of the slayer down?"

There was a pause before Faith replied. "No chance, she’s gone. Fly high, wait for orders."

Cut To:Ext.Crater Edge – Same Time

"Come on!" Saida yelled to the remaining Black Ops slayers, firing bursts from her rifle to cover their retreat up the crater’s side and into the forest. She stared in confusion as the construct paused, then slowly turned and headed back across the crater, away from them.

"Mia, Faith?" she called. "Is it heading for you?"

Cut To:Ext.Crater – Same Time

"Negative," Faith replied, "it’s not us." She watched as the titan strode across her field of vision, through the remains of its scaffold in the center of the crater, and off towards its other edge.

"The portal!" Willow realized. "It’s heading directly towards the portal!"

"Good riddance," Saida commented over the radio.

"No, bad," Willow said, as Rowena, Brell, and Kennedy joined them, staring sadly at the fallen slayer among them.

"It’s heading home," Rowena guessed.

"It’s working here, on Earth," Willow explained. "The Princeps got the magic right, so now he’s trying to take it back to the Presidium so they can copy it and make all of those things they have work here too!"

"We’re going after it," Saida radioed quickly, before breaking cover and sprinting with her teammates down to the crater floor, following the trail of flattened buildings and huge footprints in the ground that the construct left in its wake.

"Can it get through the trees?" Rowena wondered.

There was a terrific crash as the huge figure strode up out of the crater, reached the edge of the forest, and barged its way through, smashing trees out of the way left and right.

"That’d be a yes," Faith said grimly, picking up Janet’s fallen rifle. "Mia, come on babe, come on! The job’s not done yet!"

"I’m…I’m coming," Mia replied, staggering to her feet.

Cut To:Ext.Forest – Same Time

Saida and the other Black Ops slayers reached the beginning of the path the titan had torn through the forest and checked their weapons.

"What’s the plan, guys?" she asked into her radio.

Cut To:Ext.Crater – Same Time

Faith, Mia, Willow, Jeff, Rowena, Brell, and Francesca were running as fast as they could towards the crater’s edge and the construct, which was now towering from the waist up out of the forest beyond.

"We’ve got no weapons that can damage it," Mia said. "Magic?"

"The Princeps is too strong while it’s in there," Willow replied. "Those spells I did earlier were just fireworks to distract it. I can’t do any real damage to something like that."

"We can relay a call through the helicopter," Rowena suggested. "There’ll be hell to pay in administration later, but we can probably get the Air Force to send some jets to bomb the thing."

"They wouldn’t make it in time," Willow pointed out. "Look how fast it’s going. It’ll be through the portal before anyone can get here."

"I’ve got an idea," Faith said quickly. "Saida, slow it down! Hit it with whatever you’ve got, just distract it so that we can catch up! Helo, bring her down, middle of the crater. Guys, keep that thing busy," she added to Kennedy and Francesca, tossing Janet’s rifle and ammunition pack to Kennedy.

"What are you going to do?" Kennedy shouted after her, as she ran back into the crater.

"Just keep its eyes off the sky!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Cut To:Ext.Forest – Same Time

"Spread and attack," Saida ordered, sprinting behind the construct. She paused for a second, braced her rifle against her hip, and fired a grenade which burst against the titan’s back with an impressive fireball.

"That got your attention, didn’t it?" she grinned, as the towering figure turned towards her. She ran back as its fist thundered into the earth, then dodged as another line of eruptions spread from the impact, blasting boulders and trees about like toys. She sprawled as the ground burst beneath her feet, but she was saved when the construct tore its arm out of the ground and turned, facing the other Black Ops team members who were blasting it with gunfire and their remaining missiles.

Kennedy, Mia, and those following them appeared on the edge of the clearing the construct had made as it turned, and Kennedy immediately raised her rifle and fired a grenade. The explosion blasted a chunk out of the colossus’s knee, but the damaged trunk quickly healed itself.

"Come on," Willow said, grabbing Jeff’s arm. "I’m good for a few more fireworks, what about you?"

"You bet!" he agreed.

"Stay back!" Willow warned Rowena and Brell, as she and Jeff circled around away from them.

The construct took a swipe at Saida, missing her but connecting solidly with a massive tree, which was torn out of the ground and hurled end over end. Willow and Jeff threw themselves down as it passed over their heads, and Willow stared back in horror as it fell towards Rowena. Kennedy grabbed her and shoved her out of the way, nearly being hit herself as she dove for safety.

"Thanks," Rowena coughed, struggling to her feet and staring after the tree, which crashed into the forest behind them, mowing down others as it came to a halt.

"Uh, slayer reflex," Kennedy replied with a shrug.

Willow sighed and then asked, "You two all right?"

Kennedy gave her a thumbs-up sign.

Cut To:Ext.Crater – Same Time

Faith glanced over her shoulder back at the battle taking place in the forest, the colossal figure towering over the trees, twisting and turning amid a hail of bullets, explosions and pyrotechnic magic. Then she turned and sprinted towards the helicopter, which was just touching down. She quickly scrambled into the back and pulled on a headset.

"Take us up!" she ordered.

The pilot nodded and lifted the vehicle off the ground again, rising up above the ruins of the Presidium encampment. Faith took a deep breath, clutching a single grenade from Janet’s rifle in her hand.

Cut To:Ext.Forest – Same Time

Jeff tossed Willow a small gourd from his backpack, which she closed both hands over and then threw. It flew up, as if weightless, straight at the construct’s chest, and at a whispered incantation from Jeff, it burst into a sheet of flame. For a moment the titan was ablaze across its front, but then the fire faltered and died out.

"Uh, try holy water!" Willow shouted in desperation, waving her hand and sending a stream of flickering firefly-lights up towards the Princeps, which ignored them. The construct took an earth-shaking step towards her, but at the same time Mia and Saida opened fire from behind it, and it paused, turned, and slammed an arm into the ground, causing a blast of earth behind them.

"Oh boy," Willow said, wide-eyed, as she heard the helicopter’s engine nearing, "I think I know what she’s got in mind."

Cut To:Ext.Forest – Same Time

Mia pushed Saida clear of the eruptions of earth, then half-leapt half-fell out of the way as one exploded almost beneath her.

"Aim for the legs," Faith’s voice emerged from the radio. "Nothing up high for a minute okay?"

"Why? What are you—?" Mia exclaimed, seeing the helicopter swoop into view, with Faith leaning out of the open side door. "Are you crazy?!" She stared wildly around. "Aim low, aim low!"

Cut To:Ext.Council Helicopter Above Forest – Same Time

"Closer!" Faith yelled above the noise of the rotors. "Right above it!" The helicopter swerved, narrowly missing a fountain of earth as the titan sent another stretch of ground erupting in an effort to kill the slayers scuttling

about its feet. The vehicle leveled out, still a good twenty yards above the construct.

"Put ‘kick ass’ on my tombstone, okay?" Faith shouted and leapt.

Cut To:Ext.Forest – Same Time

"Oh goddess," Willow breathed, watching Faith fall. She gasped in shock as the giant figure turned beneath her, moving away from her.

Cut To:Ext.Above Forest – Same Time

Faith reached out desperately and managed to grasp a protruding coil of wood as she fell past the titan’s back. She slipped almost immediately, but the second’s grasp was enough for her to swing her other arm in and jam it into the mass of twisted branches and gnarled tendrils that made up the magical construct’s body. She screamed in pain as her arm took her weight and a bone snapped, but she managed to cling to the construct’s back and pull her broken arm free of it.

Ignoring the blasts of gunfire and thundering of erupting earth from beneath her, Faith began to climb, slowly pulling herself up the figure’s back and onto the top of its torso. She grimaced in pain, then gave a gleeful grin as she scrambled forward.

"Man, there’s a bitchin’ view up here," she said, moving towards the top of the construct’s chest.

Cut To:Ext.Forest – Same Time

"What in god’s name is she doing?" Kennedy shouted, looking down just long enough to fire a grenade into the titan’s leg before staring again at Faith.

She reached for another grenade from the bandolier strapped around her waist and glanced down as she found the last pocket empty.

"Oh, you’re kidding," she muttered.

Cut To:Ext.Construct – Same Time

Faith clambered down the front of the figure as best she could, using her broken arm to brace herself when it moved and nearly threw her off, gritting her teeth at the pain throughout. Finally, she reached the hollow housing the Princeps demon, and with her free hand, she pulled open the neck of her leather top and pulled the tiny grenade from inside.

"Killer cleavage," she grinned, priming the grenade’s timer. She swung herself down, startling the Princeps as she suddenly appeared in front of it, and jammed the grenade as hard as she could into his mouth. Then she hurled herself back, falling free into the treetops below.

The Princeps exploded, shreds of flesh and bone erupting from the front of his war machine, which staggered back. Then it began to topple slowly forwards, disintegrating as it went, the masses of living wood within it twisting apart, snapping and splintering against themselves. With a titanic crash, the construct fell and smashed against the trees in front of it, crushing them into the ground.

The impact threw everyone nearby off their feet, and it took a moment for them to recover and stand. The watchers and slayers exchanged glances – relief, apprehension, weariness.

"Faith?" Mia said into her radio. "Faith?" She shook her head.

Fade To:Ext.Forest – Moments Later

Willow, Rowena, Jeff, and Brell watched as the slayers clambered over the field of debris, heaving huge chunks of wood up and tossing them aside.

"Not her too," Willow whispered. Rowena hugged her, remaining silent as they watched the slayers search through tearful eyes.

"Here!" Francesca called out.

Everyone rushed to where she was standing, almost waist-deep amid the debris, hauling on a huge half-buried trunk. With the help of the other slayers they lifted it clear, revealing Faith beneath it, face down. Willow scrambled down, checking her pulse and placing a hand against her head at the same time.

"She’s alive," she gasped.

Cut To:Int.Slayer Rec Room – Hours Later

Vi watched as Xander circled the pool table in deep concentration. Both were wearing new clothing, and Vi had done her best to remove the oatmeal from her hair.

Vi lined up her shot and pushed the pool stick forward. It sent the cue ball into a cluster of balls near the bottom left corner pocket. The balls knocked around until the eight ball emerged and rolled slowly into the pocket. "Well that sucks."

"You’re in good company." Xander said taking the eight ball out of the pocket. "I did it myself not long ago. So that’s two all. Next game wins."

Vi took the triangle and placed it on the table. "I don’t think you ever got the chance to tell me about your epiphany."

Xander dropped the eight ball in the triangle and looked at Vi. "You’re right. Every time I try, we keep getting interrupted."

Vi laughed. "Well, you know what they say. Third time’s the charm. Which I guess in your case doesn’t apply."

"I don’t think the fourth time’s going to be the charm either," Xander corrected.

"So...you’re not going to tell me."

Xander shook his head. "I think I have a better idea." He leaned in, but broke off when he spotted Mia standing in the doorway. Her face was solemn.

Cut To:Int.Council Coven Room – Hours Later

Willow entered the coven room to find Jeff, sitting against the wall, reading a large volume she didn’t recognize. "What are you doing?"

Jeff looked up. When he saw who it was, he looked back at his book. "I’m just looking over some stuff on binding spells."

Willow walked over and sat down next to him. "It’s not your fault that the binding spell didn’t work, Jeff."

Jeff sighed and turned the page of his book. "I should have been able to control him."

"And you did. For a while. We didn’t plan on that…giant wooden monster blocking our spell."

"Well, I should have been able to break through it."

"Jeff, listen to me. That spell was created for a spell caster more powerful than you, or even me at the peak of my power." She leaned back and sighed. "No one is to blame for what happened. Only the Presidium."

Jeff looked thoughtfully at her and then back down at his book. "If it’s all the same to you, I’d still like to continue. If there’s nothing I could have done this time…maybe next time there will be. I don’t want to be in that situation again and think, well, maybe if I’d studied harder, worked harder, I could have done something."

Willow nodded and sighed. "All right…let’s see what you’ve got." Jeff nodded and turned a few pages back, but then both of them looked up as the floating slab of deep blue stone, now in a corner of the room, began humming.

Cut To:Int.Slayer Training Room Office – Same Time

Kennedy sat at Faith’s desk in the training room office looking through a manila folder. Rowena walked into the doorway and knocked a few times. Kennedy looked up and waved her in.

"What are you looking at?" Rowena asked as she took a seat in the chair opposite the desk.

"I was just going through Janet’s personnel folder," Kennedy said.

"I thought she joined up with Mia."

"She did." Kennedy closed the folder and put it back on the desk. "But we still kept some records on them. A few of the girls gave addresses or phone numbers for out-of-state relatives. I thought I would check and see if Janet was one of them."

"How is Mia?"

Kennedy frowned. "It’s hitting her pretty hard." They were silent for a moment.

"Kennedy, about earlier. I’m sorry I called you pigheaded." Rowena did her best to avoid eye contact.

Kennedy grinned. "Really?"

Rowena looked up. "I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t believe it was deserved."

Kennedy took a moment to consider Rowena’s words. After several seconds she said, "I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have called you a snooty girlfriend stealer."

Rowena nodded. "Apology accepted. Oh, and the thing I told you about the academy…please don’t say anything. I trust that you’ll keep it to yourself."

"So you trust me now?" Kennedy said with a slight grin.

Rowena smiled. "I always have to be honest, but even more since you saved my life today…so I wanted to apologize."

"Wait, you’re saying that if I hadn’t have saved you from that Princess demon, you wouldn’t have apologized?"

"Absolutely. I would have, just not as soon as now." Rowena teased. "Oh, also it was a Princeps demon, not a Princess demon." Kennedy stared at her with wide eyes. Rowena blushed and added, "Uh…watcher reflex?"

Rowena winked at Kennedy, and the slayer gave a small smile before the watcher left the room.

Cut To:Int.

Infirmary – Same Time

Faith lay in the hospital bed with a cast over her right arm. Robin sat in a chair adjacent to her and was at her side the instant she began to stir.

"Oh man," she whispered hoarsely. "What hit me this time?"

"From what I hear, you hit it," Robin said.

"Aren’t you supposed to be in DC?" Faith asked with a grin.

"It’ll wait," he replied. "I got the first plane back."

"It’s nice to be in demand," Faith said wryly. "What’s the damage, Ace?"

"Your arm, cracked shoulder, some ribs…Doc says the arm is bad, but it’ll heal in time, and all in all it’s a decent-sized miracle you’re in one piece. Faith…Willow and Ro went over what happened. Was that really the only way?"

"We had to take it down," she replied. "So I took it down. That’s what I do."

"You could have gotten yourself killed," Robin pointed out.

"I could get myself killed every time I go on patrol," Faith countered. "I’m a slayer. You know the deal. Risk is part of the life."

"I’m just worried," Robin explained. "You’re not over what happened to you in Vor. You’re having nightmares. You’re edgy…"

"So, what?" Faith asked heatedly. "You think I’m trying to buy it as a way out? I’m not suicidal!"

"I know," Robin assured her quickly. "I know, babe…but, like you said, risk is part of the life. I’m just worried that right now, maybe part of you thinks the risks aren’t that great, compared to what you had to deal with in Vor."

"Is that really what you think?" Faith frowned.

"Am I really that wrong?" Robin asked. Faith looked him squarely in the eye, but didn’t answer immediately.

"I did what I had to do," Faith finally said.

"All right. You got the job done, yes. But is there more to the story here?"

"Such as?" Faith asked sarcastically.

"That you took a big chance just to prove to yourself that you’re back home. I know pain can sometimes be a nice reminder that you’re alive, but it’s also a good way to get yourself killed if it goes wrong."

Faith didn’t answer. The silence stretched on, until it was broken by Robin’s phone ringing. Robin sighed and answered with a short, "Yes…One second."

"Council meeting," he said, putting his hand over the phone. "You want a wheelchair?" he asked.

Faith shook her head. "Just give me a shoulder to lean on."

"You got it," Robin replied, putting an arm carefully around her.

Cut To:Int.Council Room – Moments Later

"You’ve spoken to Creed?" Giles asked Willow, as Faith and Robin, Rowena, Brell, Xander, Mia, Kennedy, Vi, Heli, and Andrew took their seats. The Council coat of arms overlooking the table was covered in a black cloth.

"I spoke to Reteesk," Willow said. "Creed’s still not talking to any of us. Apparently…the news is bad."

"Very bad," Brell clarified.

"What we saw was a Furian Dreadnought," Willow went on. "The Presidium conquered the Fury hell dimension years ago, and since then they’ve been using the dreadnoughts they captured, and building new ones, for their own armies. Up until today, a large force of them were involved in a war they’re waging over a hell dimension called Gehenna."

"Until today?" Robin asked.

"Creed’s people say there are five Presidium armies in Gehenna conquering it, each with their own contingent of dreadnoughts, plus all kinds of other weapons and magic. A few hours ago, all the dreadnoughts were removed from battle. The Presidium mages opened up portals, and every last one of

them vanished from Gehenna. Creed believes they were returned to the Presidium’s strongholds in other dimensions. He put two and two together and contacted us." She looked around the table glumly.

"Reteesk said that the only reason the Presidium would do that would be to modify the dreadnoughts for use here," she went on.

"But we trashed their prototype!" Faith protested. "They can’t do it…can they?"

"Creed and his mages think they are," Willow said. "They must have already had enough information, or the Princeps got a message through the portal, telepathically or something. However they did it, it’s done."

"How soon?" Giles asked grimly.

"Reteesk says they’ve conquered three hell dimensions very close to Earth recently," Willow replied. "I compared dates, and it fits – something about the way they conquer is causing the earthquakes we’ve been having. That’s why they’ve been so strong – the Presidium is getting closer. Gehenna is the last one, and it’s crumbling."

"How many of these dreadnoughts do they have?" Kennedy asked.

Willow looked tired, then squared her shoulders. "In Gehenna, they had around eight hundred," she replied. "No one knows how many they might have held in reserve. Reteesk said they normally accompany ground troops, with other mages, other war machines…"

"We went through all that, just to take out one of them on its own," Mia sighed.

"What are our options?" Giles asked after a silence went around the table.

"We take it to ’em," Faith spoke up. "Forget waiting around here for them to send more monsters like that one to walk all over us. We go where they are, fight them on their ground, on our terms."

"You’re kidding," Rowena protested.

"You mean…go to hell?" Xander asked.

"They’re coming, one way or another," Faith said, leaning awkwardly forward. "I’d rather go down in a battle in hell, than a massacre on Earth." She fixed Giles with a stare. "If we wait, they’re going to give us a fight we can’t win. We’ve got to make one we can win."

All eyes turned to Giles, who sat staring at Faith, thoughtful.

"Giles?" Willow asked quietly.

"We need to start making some calls," he said.

Fade out.

End of Wickerman