2.3 Mostly Dead

Derek: "You are a nice little slayer."
Raveena: "Not really 'little.'"

Cut Scene: Geoff is working an evening shift in the morgue. Harrison rises up off a table and knocks him out. He steals Geoff's lab coat and exits.

Kelly and Rachel have dragged Raveena out for a night of dancing at Lone Star, despite her protests that she needs to patrol. Chase is working the bar, and Brandon sits on a stool at one end, watching her. She waves hello as the girls hit the floor. Over Raveena's shoulder, Kelly sees a very cute boy with curly hair and signals Rachel. The two girls dance Raveena backwards, straight into him. The girls say hi, and then Rachel cuts out almost immediately, claiming she sees Gabe. Kelly excuses herself as well.

With a charming smile, the stranger attempts to start a conversation with Raveena, who staggers through it. He introduces himself as Harrison Grant (with a beautiful Irish brogue) and offers to buy her a drink. She haltingly agrees, and he steers her towards the bar.

After some musical barstools, they end up seated next to Brandon. With a grin and some smack talk aimed at Raveena, Chase serves them their brews of choice. Harrison notices and tries to engage Brandon in conversation, but Brandon is still wigged out and not really up to chatting.

Cut Scene: Devon Boyd-Townsend's office. Eric has a potion. Devon is annoyed that an unnamed person hasn't come back to drink it yet. They watch as a houseboat floats down the river.

Chase: "Suggestions?"
Geoff: "Stake him? He did pick the wrong date for the evening."

Geoff walks into Lone Star and scans around for Chase. He sees her at the bar and sees Harrison there as well. He manages to catch Chase's eye and signal that THAT guy is a vampire. He starts heading towards the bar. Chase hints that Raveena should take Harrison outside to the "parking lot" [latest keyword] to... uh... look at the stars or something.

She offers to go outside with him [neither she nor Chase is particularly convincing], and he agrees. Geoff gets to the bar and explains his run-in with Harrison at the morgue. [He gets all pouty about his head and his coat. Wah.] He tells her that Harrison isn't named Harrison but rather is Tom Green, the "murder victim" from Alabama - the case that he and Richard have been working on.

Raveena: "We could do this the fast way or the hard way."
Harrison: "I prefer both ways."

Outside, Raveena pulls a stake on Harrison. He tells her that yes, he knows she's the slayer and yes, that's why he wanted to meet her. With a resigned sigh, he fights a little. He disengages quickly, telling her he needs to do something. He doesn't have time for this right now. But he looks forward to seeing her again, and he promises her she can kill him later. She lets him leave.

Deaver: "Would you like a beer?"
Derek: "Sherry, if you don't mind."
PeanutGalleryRaveena: "Um, I've got a cherry Coke ?"

Deaver is waiting at his apartment for a visitor. There is suddenly a knock on the door. It is David Greene, a watcher type from England, who has tracked a demon here to McKennit. He is of particular interest to the council. However, this is Deaver's turf, so he called first.

The two discuss the particulars. David tells Deaver that he's after a revenant named Harrison Grant. He was demonized in the 1920s and ended up working for the Watcher's Council as an assassin. He was very good at it. Harrison went on vacation in 1982 and never came back. He has only recently reappeared on the radar. The fact that the Council would consort with demons at all is a sore point for David, and he will be very pleased to get rid of Harrison entirely. For that, though, he needs Deaver's slayer. Deaver picks up his phone.

Raveena: "What's up, doc?"

Raveena returns to the bar, where Geoff and Chase are talking, and tells them what happened. They're a bit annoyed with her for letting Harrison go. About that time, Deaver calls and tells her that they're looking for a demon named Harrison Grant. Surprised and a little guilty, she tells him what happened.

Raveena: Doc? DOC? DOC?!?
Chase: "Goose!"

Greene is a little shocked at Deaver's slayer's lack of judgment. He would like to meet her. Deaver and Greene head for the Lone Star, where they hook up with the group. Rather than discuss demonic visitors at Shannon's bar, the crew heads outside to talk.

Derek: "You do seem to be rather chum-chum with most of the prey in the area."

There is a great deal of discussion about how to deal with revenants, but no one seems to have much concrete information. There's also the problem of Harrison's immediate whereabouts.

Chase points out that they could just wait for Harrison to come to them. He's obviously interested in Raveena, not really in an immediate death kind of way, and will be back to see her again. The gang agrees to this plan and disperses. Deaver, Greene, and Gabe head to the library to see what they can dig up on this particular type of demon.

Cut Scene: Harrison is at Devon Boyd-Townend's office. He drinks the mysterious potion from Eric. He tells Devon that he'll assemble a team and "address the problem."

Deaver: "So, can't he just commit suicide?
Rachel: "Why would he do that?
Raveena: "He could just date ..."

At the library, the guys learn that revenants can only be destroyed by total incineration. They inhabit a corpse and cannot leave the body until it is killed. At that point, they find another host. There are some who view them as angels of vengeance rather than demons, bent on righting wrongs in the world. Interesting, but it's far from unanimous.

Deaver: "You have to kill him with fire, and he has to be completely burned. Can you do that... subtly? At the door?"

Thrilled by this discovery of a way to defeat the demon, Deaver immediately calls Geoff's phone to discuss the potential for getting chemical combustion going as soon as possible. Never mind the fact that it's 4:30 am. Geoff groggily answers the phone, listens with a confused expression, and tells Deaver he can have it tomorrow afternoon, but not now, and hangs up on him.

The next morning (far too early, in their collective opinion), Geoff and Chase are out apartment hunting. As the leasing agent shows them around a decent-looking apartment, Geoff and Chase argue about Brandon - Geoff is putting his foot down and insisting that he is NOT moving in with them, while Chase is arguing that he has nowhere else to go.

The lady showing them around tries hard not to look at them. As they look around, they hear a couple having a violent-sounding screaming match next door. Geoff looks at the leasing agent. "Is it always like that?" She looks at him with a worried smile. "You'll fit right in."

The dorms are finally open, and Raveena and Kelly are getting settled in their new room. Raveena casually tries to explain away the locked cabinet full of weaponry as a bunch of "family things" that she keeps locked up. Kelly looks at her like she's a little insane, but she already knew that, so she doesn't comment.

As they unpack, someone starts throwing stones at the window. Peeking out, Raveena sees that it's Harrison. He calls up to say that he wants to talk to her for a minute, and she agrees to come down.

Derek: "I've got this nice European man-carryall."

On her way out the door, she phones Deaver to let him know that Harrison has turned up again. He and Greene sprint for the campus, bringing a spare bottle of sherry with them [don't leave home without it]. They call Geoff and Chase on the way.

Deciding that screaming neighbors were not the way to go, Geoff and Chase are at another apartment complex. On their way up the stairs behind the perky leasing agent, a girl with a backpack passes them on her way down. She grabs Chase by the arm and whispers in her ear, "Roaches. The size of small kittens. Don't do it." The camera pans over to the next building, where a girl is backing slowly towards the stairs, a can of Raid extended in front of her like a shield.

Harrison: "I had a slight case of death."

Outside the dorm, Raveena and Harrison face off. Sorta. He explains that he works for the Boyd-Townsends and has a mission at hand. He needs to assemble a team to handle it; naturally, her name was first on his list.

Raveena is skeptical, but Harrison explains that the mission involves a group of four vampire baddies with big swords known as the Brotherhood of Shayla. They and their leader (the aforementioned Shayla) have arrived in McKennit, and they all need to be dispatched of quickly. He's learned that they are located down on a houseboat by the docks, but he hasn't pinpointed the location any closer than that. He has some contacts in the area that they can talk to. Just a little friendly slaying... is she interested?

Raveena: "As long as we have an agreement that I'm going to try to kill you later."
Harrison: "You can try and kill me later."
Raveena: "Pinky swear?"

Still suspicious of his motives, Raveena makes him swear that she can try to kill him again later, and then agrees to help - she will contact the others so they have some more manpower.

Raveena: "It feels good, getting something solid like that in your hands and swinging it around."

They go up to Raveena's room to call everyone. Kelly is surprised and giggly to see him, and quickly excuses herself so that they can be alone. Raveena calls Deaver and Greene, who are fast approaching. They tell her they are on their way, as are the others. Getting ready for an evening out, naturally, Raveena opens the locked cabinet and starts gearing up. Harrison knows a thing or two about medieval weaponry and admires her collection.

Gabe: "Harrison Grant sounds more like someone's butler. I thought all demon names ended in 'or' or 'ar'. If I became a demon, I'd change my name."

One by one (well, more like two by two), the group arrives at Raveena's room. Almost all of them are suspicious of Harrison and his motives. But Raveena has promised their services, so service they will (but not before an abortive attempt to do him in with a bottle of sherry). There's some small talk, and Raveena explains the mission to end the Brotherhood.

Raveena: "Would you stop talkin' to the fancy pants and start talkin' to me?"

Harrison points Geoff and Chase to a bar down near the docks where an associate of his, Eddie, usually knows the best housing on the market. Everyone bums weaponry off of Raveena (having left their own at home), and the group sets out for the docks. By the water, they interrupt a vampire rally of some kind, being led by one of the four swordsmen of the Brotherhood of Shayla. They are quickly dispatched after a perfunctory speech by Harrison as to the mercy of the Boyd-Townsends. [So quickly, in fact, that our heroes never actually find out what the rally was about. Oops.]

After the smackdown, one of the vamps makes a run for it. Geoff and Chase follow him into an alley, while the rest of the group goes to check out a disturbance around the corner. They dust the vamp and find themselves outside of Cura's (the bar that Harrison had mentioned to them earlier in the evening). They decide to pop inside, figuring Raveena and the others can handle themselves.

The interior of Cura's is Swank with a capital "S", full of cool blues and vibrant reds. And demons. Lots and lots of demons. There's a handy weapons check at the door, as the bar has a strict (and magically enforced) no-violence policy. Geoff and Chase uneasily comply with the house rules.

Before they can even begin to search for the infamous Eddie, they are scooped up by a swingin' cat with red horns, green skin, and a Technicolor orange zoot suit. Despite their vehement protests, a mortified Geoff and Chase are ushered onto stage and forced to sing karaoke. The rest of the gang walks in during their lovely rendition of "I Will Survive". They're rescued before the end of the number by the same green guy, who corrals them at the bar before their friends can get to them. Geoff and Chase down tequila and share confused glances as the demon, who introduces him as Lorne (the proprietor of Cura's), talks to them.

[insert Lorne here]

He orders them both a (surprisingly tasty) Sea Breeze before pointing out Eddie, then taking his leave.

Eddie (a scaly demon type) asks a few questions and gives the pair an address near the campus area, telling them to check it out tomorrow. They take the opportunity to ask if karaoke is the usual cover charge around here, but Eddie just shrugs and says that Lorne must have thought there was something they needed to know.

They try to pump him for information about Harrison, but with little luck. Eddie finally tells them he's got to go work, and they can no longer avoid their "friends", who swoop down on them mercilessly.

While at the bar, Harrison has worked on some contacts and determined the location of the houseboat that the Brotherhood is using.

The group leaves the bar and decides to swing back into their end of town for Deaver's sunlight box before riding into the final battle.

In truly heroic fashion, the crew hides behind a dumpster to observe their prey. Raveena shoots a few crossbow bolts at them to soften the enemy [read: announce their presence] before closing in. In the center of the houseboat is a beautiful fabric tent, obviously the residence of the legendary Shayla. Deaver ducks inside while everyone else squares off against he remaining swordsmen.

In the tent, Deaver is facing the back of what appears to be an incredibly beautiful woman. He has the sunlight box at the ready. She turns to face him, revealing herself to be the tallest tree in the ugly forest, her face a twisted, ancient visage. But her looks really don't matter at this point, because she's managed to hypnotize Deaver, who stands there, mouth agape, holding his box.

The rest of the group realizes Deaver has disappeared and troops into the tent. They see what's going on, and Greene lunges for the box, triggering it. Raveena and Chase react in time to hide their eyes, but the rest of the group is blinded. The box dusts Shayla (sort of - she doesn't poof in the same way other vampires do), and it's pretty gross. Victory is accompanied by a lot of grumbling and spots in front of our heroes' eyes.

The next day, Geoff and Chase take a chance and go to the address Eddie provided. It's a cute little house, complete with a yard, that's going for the same rate as Geoff's current apartment. The kind-eyed landlady confides to them that she hates to give it up at this price, but that the previous tenants had a sudden death in the family and had to leave with no notice. It doesn't take much thinking for them to agree to take it, and they decide to move in the following week.

PeanutGalleryRaveena: "WAY too much information with the posterior acupuncture."