2.16 Ring of Power

Stefan: "Who's invited?" Chase: "Sorry, you're not cute enough."

Geoff: "I have an appointment to see the weasel's workshop. Who wants to come?"
Raveena: "Is that code for the men's room?"

PeanutGallery: "It becomes a boy's night out at the weasel workshop, where Eric wants to show them his thing because he knows what it does."

Stefan: "Guys, we are wasting our time. I forgot my Captain Crunch decoder ring."

Geoff: "Uh, put demon shit on a plant and weird things happen? No, that's not unexpected."

Gabe: "Did you come to donate poop?"

Raveena: "Well, I figured since you're paying ?"

Chase: "There have been a lot of them in town lately. The Brotherhood of this, The Sisterhood of that ..."

Raveena: "Do you want me to break your leg so you can't go?"

Raveena: "I don't know. He's seen you pregnant ... glances at Shannon ... um, I mean, pregnant with possibility ?"

Gabe: "Hello, ladies. How was your interview with a ... oh, forget it."

Chase is at home picking up while she waits for Geoff to get in before they're due at Deaver's. He's late from work, again. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the lid on one of Geoff's storage boxes of chemistry stuff slam closed suddenly. A breeze ruffles the curtains. The last time Freddy [the ghost] was in Geoff's boxes, he rearranged all the paper clips in his books the day before an exam. Geoff was not a happy boy. Deciding to make sure that he hadn't done too much damage, Chase crosses the room and lifts the lid on the box. The box slams shut again. She tries a second time, and Freddy closes the box on her. Irritated, she tells Freddy off and moves to open the box, keeping a firm hold on the lid. Freddy fights her for a minute and then relents, blowing out of the room in a huff, and moodily shutting off the stereo for good measure. Inside, Chase sees the stuff she expects - the usual mishmash that is Geoff's organizational system - and one thing she doesn't expect - a black velvet jewelry box. Glancing over her shoulder guiltily, Chase gives in to temptation, picks up the little box, and takes a peek. It's unmistakably an engagement ring. With a panicked expression, she quickly puts it away, backs away from the storage box, and sits down hard on the bed in shock.

* * *

On the way to Deaver's apartment, Raveena stops by the library to halfheartedly check for a note - Bannon still has not responded to their request to meet, and they've largely given up any expectation of a response. However, this time, she finds a sealed note in the book. She reads through it as she continues to the powwow. The group is finally going to take a listen to the tapes that Deaver's bug outside Devon's office has recorded. She shows up, and the others quickly gather, sans Geoff and Chase, who are late again. Despite the missing Scoobies, they start digging in. The most intriguing tape they get reveals a conversation between Devon and Simone.

[Devon & Simone]

* * *

[Geoff and Eric @ the lab]

* * *

As the recorded conversation in Devon's office ends, Chase lets herself in to Deaver's apartment, looking a little distracted. The group fills her in on what they've learned from the tapes, and Raveena shares the note from Bannon. In his brief message, Bannon apologizes for the late notice and invites both girls to dine with him at Lafitte's (a fancy French restaurant) that evening. About that time, Geoff shows up, coming straight from the office. Chase avoids meeting his eyes and squirms in her seat. He drops down in the chair next to her and tells the room that he's heading to a meeting at Eric's greenhouse "laboratory." Who wants to come? He probably isn't supposed to bring anyone, but so what? Since the girls have dinner plans with Bannon (which Geoff is not thrilled about), all the guys end up signing on for the botany field trip. He tells the crew about his latest conversation with Eric. Since Eric claims to want to be one of the "good guys," Geoff is pressing the advantage while he has it. The girls need to change and the guys are supposed to be at Eric's in a few minutes, so the gang parts ways.

* * *

Geoff leads the troops to an overgrown corner of the Phillipi herb gardens that doesn't look like it has seen much recent use. There is a dilapidated greenhouse with a light on within. Geoff bangs on the door, and Eric appears. He isn't thrilled at the sight of Geoff's entourage, but he lets the group inside. They follow Eric back to a worktable that is strewn with pages of chemical formulas and an assortment of gardening implements. Gabe immediately gets a magical vibe coming from all around him - everything in this greenhouse radiates mojo. After a lot of question and answer, what they get from a reluctant Eric is this: Eric summons shamans from various demon races and tribes, who come and bless the plants that he is working with. Based on the blessing, each plant is imbued with a different magical property. The blessing is sealed with a rune that is carved on a plaque on the front of the plant's container. All of Eric's molecular drawings and formulas have strange symbols in them, which are Eric's shorthand notations that correspond to specific magical plants. He also maintains a chart with a distinct third set of symbols; a record of [WHAT IS THIS THING]. Once the plans are blessed, Eric propagates them through normal horticultural techniques. However, he uses a specific fertilizer to be sure that they maintain their magical properties through this process. The secret ingredient is demon excrement, which lives in a foul-smelling bag at the back of the greenhouse. When Deaver asks Eric who taught him all of this, he tells Deaver that he learned it all from a book, which he can lend to him if he's interested. Gabe moves towards the shadowy back corner to get a closer look at the fertilizer when he sees a shape move in the shadows. A demon wielding a large hammer emerges into the light. The demon turns to Eric, irate that he has broken the rules of the agreement by inviting outsiders to the greenhouse. Eric tries to calm him down, but is completely unsuccessful. Seeing Stefan with his sword drawn (he's been poking at plants, much to Eric's dismay), he lunges at the Frenchman, swinging his weapon. Stefan cleanly cuts the demon in half with a single easy stroke. Eric is horrified and lays into him - that guy was his shaman, and now he's completely screwed, and the demon's clan will probably never speak to him again. Stefan is blithely unconcerned. He removes the body while Gabe takes the opportunity to ask Eric about his clients. Eric explains that he does a lot of work with Devon and with Herbal Source; he also has a side business that isn't quite as legal but is a lot more lucrative, providing recreational drugs to the Alumni and various other McKennit partiers. Still agitated about the dead demon and the repercussions of its demise, Eric tells the guys that it is time for them to leave. Deciding they've learned all they can (and that they've caused enough trouble), they take off for Lone Star, where they're scheduled to hook up with the ladies.

* * *

Raveena and Chase enter Lafitte's a few minutes late for their meeting with Bannon. Both girls are dressed to impress. The maitre-d, upon getting their names, gestures them to the bar where Bannon is leaning casually against the polished wood, waiting. After hellos, a glass of wine, and a little small talk, the trio is seated at a table in the back. Bannon orders for them all, as there are some old habits he can't quite bring himself to give up. Over a fabulous dinner, the girls cover a wide range of topics, hoping Bannon can shed some light - Lilith was their primary concern, but there are a few other things he might be able to help with as well. He's fairly chatty and seemingly forthcoming. Bannon tells them that Lilith was made here in McKennit about 300 years ago. He is actually her sire, although she became a vampire before the Alumni were established. She left town a couple of centuries ago, and they haven't remained close, although he enjoyed her company greatly. He seems pleased to hear she's back in town. When the girls reveal that they've tangled with Liltih, Bannon clues them in to the source of her strength, which is impressive for a vampire of her relative youth: in life, Lilith was a slayer. Turning a slayer isn't really supposed to happen, but this time it did, and Lilith went slightly insane due to the transition. Bannon has no idea why Lilith would be encouraging Gabe to seek the Illetar, and thinks it would be very out of character for her to be working for an outside party long-term.

As far as the Boyd-Townsends are concerned, Trisha is wreaking havoc among the demon population, frequenting trashy establishments in the warehouse district and leaving chaos in her wake. His relationship with Devon is still strained, and the mayor has cut off all communication with him. The only thing that actually concerns Bannon about Devon's loss of power is the end of the protective spell that was cast on McKennit. The spell was headed up by Brandon's mother, and happened shortly before the ritual involving Brandon took place. She was aided by Bannon himself and by members of both covens (one of the few times they have ever cooperated). The girls hint that they wouldn't mind seeing the spell back in place either, and Bannon tells them he will look into what it would take to perform the ritual again. This line of discussion reveals that Bannon has no interest in seeing Devon come back to power, and the girls reveal what they know about the ritual that is to take place next week. Bannon tells them to watch their backs; Devon has a penchant for involving people who get in his way as spell components, and they certainly qualify.

The Alumni leader is still having issues with insurgent vampires, but he isn't overly concerned about them. Many of his kind don't like what they perceive to be oppressive organization, but his family is quite able to handle the opposition.

Chase takes the opportunity to mention Herbal Source, and Bannon confirms what she had already learned: it is a homegrown operation, run by the Kellers, a relatively nouveau McKennit family (at least by Bannon's standards). Devon Boyd-Townsend is their primary stockholder, and has absolute control over the purse strings. He may not technically run the company, but it is unlikely that they could refuse him anything.

The girls also ask him about Amory, informing him that he is back in town. He implies that Amory is quite likely to be in league with the Boyd-Townsends for some purpose or another, as he has been before - he is probably the culprit where the attacks on Harrison are concerned. He seems amused that Harrison couldn't even get close to Amory during their recent confrontation. When told that Harrison seemed surprised Amory wasn't dead, Bannon tells them that there's no reason he should be - the man is a vampire, after all. Amory was a student at Phillipi, with the unique gift of being a firestarter. When he was turned, he retained those gifts, and is therefore in the unique position of being much more resistant to fire than others of his brethren.

Their questions asked, the girls enjoy some less depressing conversation, the rest of their meal, and the rest of a bottle of wine before heading to Lone Star to meet up with the others.

* * *

At Lone Star, Chase and Raveena join Shannon at the bar. Unable to keep the panic at bay any longer, Chase spills her discovery from this morning to her girlfriends - Geoff bought a ring. Both of them are thrilled for her, before they figure out that she isn't exactly thrilled for herself. She tries to explain to them that she can't marry Geoff, stumbling over her words. It's too much, too fast; yes, they've been living together for a while now, but she's just now managed to get used to that. So the idea of some kind of "long-term" thing (well, longer long-term) has her absolutely freaked. It is just too ? complicated. Besides, girls like her don't get married. They just ? don't. Shannon looks at her sympathetically and a little bit sadly, and tells her that Geoff was probably planning to ask her in Hawaii. She has to do whatever she has to do, but for his sake and hers, she should do it now and not then. Shannon then gets hollered at from further down the bar, and she reminds Chase that she has a place to stay if she needs it before reluctantly excusing herself to see to her customers. About that time, the guys show up. Chase can't even look at Geoff as the group retires to their usual table to discuss the evening's events. After the info dump, the Scoobies part ways. Chase shoots Raveena a deer-in-the-headlights look as the slayer wishes Geoff goodnight with a sympathetic expression.

Geoff and Chase walk home from the bar in silence, flurries of snow all around them. As they get closer to home, she finally stops and turns to face him. She tells him the story of Freddy's interference that morning, and that she found the ring as a result. Geoff looks distressed as he tries to explain to her that she wasn't supposed to find out about it like that. He takes her hands and tells her his entire plan for Hawaii, and the way things were intended to go, the way things should be for them, while she desperately tries to get him to stop talking. Chase tearfully tells him that she can't do this - as much as she loves him, she can't marry him. She attempts to explain her reasons. When she quietly tells him that it won't happen the way he meant it to because she's not going to Hawaii with him, he finally gets the message. Still crying, Chase tells him she should go. Geoff slumps back against a tree, stunned, as he watches her walk away into the silently falling snow.