2.15 Luck O' The Irish

PeanutGalleryDeaver: "I think I took it apart wrong. Obviously, because it broke."

Raveena: "Well, a den of vampires sounds less scary than dinner."

Raveena: "Is this a microwave dinner? Because something's wrong ..."
Harrison: "That wasn't my cooking, I promise."

Harrison: "No pun intended, but I think I was just fired."

Gabe: "You, uh, seem to be regaining your strength pretty quickly."

Raveena: You and I lead strange lives, or deaths in your case."

PeanutGalleryGabe: "When she got that feeling, she needed Sexual Healing..."
PeanutGalleryRaveena: "Dude, that was way worse than any of my jokes."

Stefan: "Brandon, your horoscope looks bad for the 16th."

Chase: "Deaver, this is NOT the time to go shopping ..."

Raveena: "Roll away! Roll away!"

The only sounds in the hospital room are the blips and beeps of monitors and the occasional flipping of pages as Chase studies for finals while keeping Rachel company. It has been a week since the fight with Lilith, and she still hasn't awakened. Chase looks up as she hears the door open. Jessie pokes her head in with a greeting. She invites Chase to a shindig at her place the following weekend, and tells her to warn Geoff that one of their professors is on a rampage - he is high pissed that Geoff missed the exam yesterday. Chase is completely surprised by the news, and promises to give him the message (along with some hell for it).

* * *

Harrison and Raveena get into the car, and Harrison begins to drive aimlessly. Raveena suggests that they head to her dorm room to clean up and regroup. He's reluctant to go anywhere that the Boyd-Townsends would logically look for him, but agrees to make a brief stop. He turns the car towards campus.

* * *

Books surround Deaver in his favorite haunt - the fifth floor library. The clicking of heels pulls him out of a huge archaic text, and he sees Bethany come in. She smiles, and they chat for a while. She finds what she's looking for and sits down at a nearby table. There's companionable silence as the two continue to work.

* * *

At the hospital, Chase glances up as another person enters Rachel's room. This time it's Gabe. Chase packs up to give Gabe some alone time with Rachel, asks him to let her know if anything changes, and leaves.

Gabe settles down in what looks like a now-familiar routine. He quickly reviews for an exam and then turns back to some magic research. As he's shuffling books, he looks up at the hospital bed, just in time to see Rachel open her eyes. He breaks out in a smile and greets her quietly. She turns her head and looks at him ? with startlingly silver eyes ? and then turns the other direction. When Gabe mentions her eyes and tries to engage her in conversation, Rachel erupts. She lays into him about ignoring her, lying to her, his idiocy in blindly following the suggestions of voices in his head. Especially ones that later try to kill his girlfriend. Gabe really doesn't have much to say for himself. Rachel orders him out of the room, telling him to go find someone she wants to talk to. With a grim expression, Gabe leaves. He tells the nurse at the desk that Rachel is awake, and continues to walk out of the hospital.

* * *

Chase collects her things at the house to leave for an evening lab study. As she's getting ready to go, Geoff gets home from work. He's running late ? again. She takes the opportunity to deliver Jessie's message, and to ask why the heck he missed the exam. Looking stressed, he tells her completely lost track of time - things have been pretty absorbing at work lately. Geoff thinks hard and fast for a minute. Maybe Devon Boyd-Townsend could help smooth things over with the prof - Geoff was at work, after all. A little surprised that he would turn to the one guy in McKennit they're trying to bring down, Chase gives him grief before scooting out the door.

At lab, Chase and her classmates are doing a chemical analysis of a new anxiety reduction drug, a product of Herbal Source, which is an herbal-based pharmaceutical company in McKennit. The drug hasn't been released yet, so they're getting a priority peek. As a change of pace for Herbal Source, this particular product is a synthesis of herbal remedies and traditional chemistry, with the hopes of reducing the undesirable side effects associated with mainstream chemical-based pharmaceuticals. As she's reviewing samples and making notes, Chase comes across something all too familiar - that unidentifiable molecule that appears to be (for lack of a better explanation) magic in chemical form. The gang has dealt with it several times now, but neither she nor Geoff has ever seen it outside of McKennit. And here it is again.

* * *

Raveena drops her melted jacket in a still-smoldering pile on the dorm-room floor. She does the same with Harrison's. They take a seat and talk about what they know, and what to do next. Harrison tells her that all he knows that Devon is planning some sort of big ritual for mid-December, and that Brandon will probably be a casualty. As far as his getting "fired" goes, Harrison assumes that Devon has finally figured out who he is and why he's here. He lets Raveena in on a little more of his history. Malcolm Boyd-Townsend did indeed have him killed, but that isn't why he's looking for revenge. He died trying to protect his wife and young daughter. Both of them had the sight, and therefore would make powerful ritual bargaining chips. One of Boyd-Townsend's top thugs killed them before Harrison could get to them, and he died trying. But now he finds that when he's finally at the point where the realization of his revenge is imminent, he doesn't have the stomach for it. And he isn't sure what to do. Raveena is shocked and sympathetic when she hears the full story. They decide to bring the rest of the gang in on what has happened, and see if they have any suggestions on how to proceed - obviously, Harrison has to go into hiding somewhere. But first they need to get cleaned up. They retreat to the shower. [Yes, they. Cue the boom music.]

* * *

Everyone meets up at Deaver's apartment for a planning session. Harrison and Raveena reveal what happened earlier that evening. And oh yeah, Gabe tells people that Rachel is awake. [He hadn't bothered to do that yet.] And that she has freaky silver eyes. That last part has everyone a little concerned. After some discussion, they plan to hide Harrison in the basement of the Boyd-Townsend manor - they won't think to look for him there, and even if they do, they're unlikely to blow it up. Unsurprisingly, Raveena volunteers to stay with him. There is a lot of speculation about Boyd-Townsend's plans - who will be his new bodyguard, when and where the ritual is to take place, whether Brandon will be involved, whether Devon is still looking for the Illetar. Chase asks Geoff if there is any way to chemically suppress Brandon's abilities, or to siphon them off so that they can't be taken advantage of. He seems a little doubtful, but agrees to look into it. Since they have no concrete information, they make a plan. Gabe will research information on the actual ritual that was performed on Brandon, what variations Devon might be planning to make the effects more permanent, and when and where it is likely to take place. Deaver and Stefan plan to research Lilith further - her strength means she must have been around for a while. Deaver will also make a couple of laser-based bugs to use in Devon and Simone's offices so they can try and glean what info they can about what is going on. Raveena and Harrison are going to head for the manor, and Chase will warn Brandon about what is going on, so that he is on his guard if the Boyd-Townsends contact him. The last part happens sooner than they expected, as Brandon comes home about then. They tell him they're taking steps to confirm or deny the rumor that Devon is going to use him as a central element in a ritual to regain his power, and ask him to be on his guard if the Boyd-Townsends contact him. This brings forth the revelation from Brandon that he and Devon have actually had lunch several times. Small talk mostly, and a discussion of some family history. No, he hasn't mentioned that he's living breathing family history, but he figures Devon has to know. He would really like to find a non-Boyd-Townsend approved version of the family story, but isn't sure where to find it. He appreciates their concern, but since they can't give him a date and they don't have any proof that this is really happening, he doesn't really believe them. They promise to keep him posted on what they find out. Everyone parts ways.

* * *

Gabe researches the Belial ritual, and turns up some really powerful and scary stuff. Judging by the astrological charts, December 16 is definitely the day for this kind of thing. Turns out Brandon was buried directly along one of the ley lines that runs through McKennit, and that is probably where the original ritual took place. The most powerful spots in McKennit for this kind of thing would be underneath the Phillipi bell tower (where two ley lines intersect) or in the sacred grove just outside of town.

* * *

Deaver and Stefan start researching Lilith, looking for vampires of European descent. They turn up absolutely nothing, except for references to the biblical demon, and since the watcher's council knows where she is, it can't be the same creature. Deaver calls the Watcher's Council in England to report in and ask for research help. He tells Giles the whole Lilith story, including Rachel's death and return. When Giles hears that Rachel appears physically changed, he expresses some serious concern - strange things happen when people are called back from the dead, and they should watch her carefully. He'll do some research into Lilith as well and let Deaver know what he discovers.

* * *

[Geoff & Eric scene]

* * *

Everyone reconvenes the next morning to report on what they found out. As Harrison doesn't want to meet anywhere that people might be looking for them, the group hooks up in a clearing in the woods. Gabe tells them what he found out. Deaver easily produced a couple of bugs for them - now all they have to do is plant the things. He also tells them about the utter lack of info on Lilith. Bannon is mentioned as a potential source of info, and the group decides to send Raveena and Chase to talk to him (even Stefan grumpily admits it may help). Geoff mentions that he has some ideas on Brandon, but really, it's a lot easier to imbue something with magic than it is to take it out of something. The "mojo molecule" comes up, and Chase mentions seeing it in the lab drug she was dealing with yesterday. A little further conversation reveals that Geoff actually helped make that particular medication. He looks pretty pleased with himself - he had a lot of fun on that project, although he never saw the final result. Funny that she was assigned that one. City Hall chemists producing pharmaceuticals is news to Chase, and their conversation descends into chem-babble before Raveena politely but firmly shuts them up. The gang starts back towards town with plans to talk to Bannon, plant the listening devices, and continue research on the Belial ritual.

On the way back, a flash of bright light grabs everyone's attention. Over a row of buildings, the gang can see a tall column of light that quickly fades. Running over to investigate, they round the corner to see a lone man in vaguely old-fashioned attire walking down the street away from them. He is some distance away, so Chase calls out to him, asking if everything is ok. He turns to face them, his skin pale. At the sight of his face, Harrison blanches, and starts swearing a blue streak in Gaelic. "You should be dead by now." The man laughs at him as Harrison pulls a knife and strides towards him. The gang tries to hold Harrison back, but he turns to Raveena and spits out, "It's Amory," as he breaks away from them. They move to guard his back. Amory is still smiling as his hands burst into flame. He flings the flames at Harrison's feet, causing a massive ball of fire that catches Raveena, Chase, Harrison, and Stefan. They drop to the snowy ground to extinguish themselves. Deaver starts running for a nearby hardware store, and Gabe cast a spell, pitching a ball of gray goop into Amory's face. Chase takes off running around the side of the action, intending to get at Amory from behind. Gabe's goop blinds him, but he still casts another ball of flame at the group. There is more stop, drop and rolling. Realizing they can't win this one, Raveena yells to everyone to get out. She has to manhandle Harrison to get him to quit advancing - he's acting completely crazy. Gabe casts another spell, this time sending Amory flying backwards down the street. They gang retreats. As soon as they are away from the fight, Harrison crumples. Raveena gently asks him who that was, and what is going on. Harrison looks at her as he says, "He should be dead by now. He's the one who killed me, killed my wife, killed my daughter."

[Fade to black]