3.22 The Answer, Part I

Deaver: “This ends. Now.”
Chase: “Great. How do we start?”

London. Deaver packs a bag. It includes the usual tools of a Watcher, along with a crystal, a few blue vials, and some other oddities. Giles watches him pack and asks again if Deaver is sure this is what he wants to do. Deaver nods his assent, and with a firm click, closes his messenger bag.

* * *

At Lone Star, the world is ending, and everyone's looking for that last sweet memory. The beer ran out yesterday, so Nikki is now in charge behind the bar, making her famous sangria out of bottles of red she's taken from the Boyd-Townsend cellar.

Rachel and Stefan are outside, where Stefan is taking a smoke break. Their talk turns to Gabe and how to deal with him. They haven't had any luck so far.

A brave soul asks Rive for a dance, and (it being the end of the world and all) she accepts. Rive misses a step out on the floor when she spots the same guy she saw outside the Boyd-Townsend manor - Anthony, her ex-fiancé. She quickly excuses herself from her dancing partner and makes her way across the bar, shrugging off multiple offers to dance, which all sound like Anthony's voice. She reaches him and puts a hand on his shoulder ... and the man who turns around questioningly isn't Anthony. Rive apologizes, rattled, and glances around. There he is. She pushes her way through the crowd, again hearing his voice echo from several different directions with offers to dance. She approaches her second target ... and again realizes it isn't him. Wheeling around, she sees him, moves, and the same thing happens again. She finally sees him slip out the front door with a wink at her as he leaves.

Rive rushes to the door and steps outside. She runs into Rachel and describes Anthony, asking if she's seen him. Rachel tells her that she did just see a guy leave, but he didn't look anything like Anthony. Nonetheless, he told Rachel he was looking for Rive and asked her to deliver a note. She hands it to Rive, trying to hide her raging curiosity. Rive reads it, crumples it, and throws it on the ground. Spinning around, she notices a couple and follows them back into the bar, convinced the guy is Anthony and the girl is a vampire.

The same thing continues to happen - she hears his voice, sees him around the room, but never reaches him.

Concerned, Rachel grabs the note and Stefan and takes them both inside. They meet up with Brandon, Nathaniel, and a glowing Chase and Geoff at the bar, asking if anyone knows anything about Rive's strange behavior. They don't, so Chase goes to find out. Rive tells her the basics: she and Anthony had a very messy parting. He was hiting on her, she was helpless, something ? happened (this was about three years ago), and she ended up almost killing him with her newfound strength. On the run, she decided to go to school to help others who were facing similar challenges, which is why she showed up in McKennit in the first place. Anthony was loaded, however, so her family was miffed that she walked out on him "unprovoked." And they continue to champion him. And now, she's seeing him here, everywhere, and feels like she's going crazy.

Chase worriedly takes her back to the group where she gives them the (non-detailed) version of the story and they start trying to think of who might want to Rive to think she's bonkers. Unfortunately, she has some very magically powerful enemies. Phone calls are placed - one to Rive's parents, who confirm that they did tell Anthony where she was, and quite a while ago. And one to the paper to make sure Anthony doesn't have any heretofore-unknown McKennit connections.

Brainstorming happens. Rive sees the blond girl whom she was so convinced was a vamp earlier, and true to form, now she isn't. And her date's name is Derek, and he gets an unexpected boost when the blond realizes the chick asking about him is the famous slayer ...

Deciding that a more private location is in order, the group retreats to Geoff's (and Chase's - again) place to make some more calls and form a plan. They decide they have to find out whether Anthony is in town. So they bust out the tried-and-true locator spell. To pull it off, Rive has to supply some kind of personal effect of Anthony's, since Rachel has to cast the spell and doesn't know the guy from Adam. She's got nothing to go on but Rive's description. Rive runs home to her apartment and returns with her old engagement ring. Rachel sets up, casts the spell, and the little glowing green ball goes zinging off. They all follow.

The ball's path is unusually erratic. It zigs into Lone Star, bounces off of a lot of people, then zags back out again. It zips through the forest, with the scoobies in pursuit, and continues straight out over the river. They're at a fairly wide point, and in the middle of the river, there's a small, heavily wooded island.

[Raw notes from here down.]

There is the sagey smell of smoke as they walk ashore. Rive spies a silhouette near a tree, and the gang approaches. They get there, and the figure is gone. They follow the scent of sage in the air. Just then, something grabs at Rive’s feet. She dances away, but no one else sees the grabbing thing, or is affected. Rive hears Anthony’s voice in the wind, murmuring and growing. She can’t tell where it’s coming from, and no one else hears it.

A flick of a lighter, and a cigarette burns anew. It’s Gabe. Unfortunately, he is all too real. Rachel fires a tree to improve the night-vision. As the gang rushes into attack, Gabe ascends into the air. The air is then filled with the sound of crazy maniacal laughter – a woman’s laughter. It seems to be coming from all around the island. Some scoobies manage to get to Gabe a little, just as a saturated Anthony arrives from the other side of the island. He winks at Rive, and dives back into the water. Rive (obviously not sensing the certain trap) goes after him.

Nathaniel uses a nearby tree as a ladder, and bear hugs the airborne Gabe. The island itself seems to become alive, and Stefan begins to sink into the sand. Rachel – full of righteous fury – hurls a magical blob at Gabe, sticking to his eyes. Gabe and Nathaniel twist in the air, but Chase manages to nab one of Gabe’s arms and starts to tie the vamp down. Rachel then grabs a fallen flaming branch from the shuddering and burning island. She sprints toward the half-buried Stefan with a determined look. Stefan, upon seeing his lover approach, somehow knows what to do. Rachel yells a warning to Nathaniel as Stefan braces. Rachel’s bare foot uses Stefan’s body to launch into the air. (Bullet-time here ...) Nathaniel disengages and backflips away from Gabe as Rachel flies toward her vamp ex-lover/savior. The flaming torch plunges into Gabe’s chest as he and Rachel connect face to face in mid-air. They lock eyes for an instant, just enough for Gabe to see the fury in Rachel’s face, and the single tear in her eye.

Dust and flame. And Gabe is no more.

Meanwhile, Rive reaches the far shore. Anthony has made off into the woods (sigh… at least it’s not a cave…). Rive follows him as the gang rallies after her from the island. She reaches a clearing, where Anthony has stopped. Lilith (of course) is there. A brief, sassy conversation that I missed entirely. Anthony goes game face. Rive holds off Lilith long enough to stake the bastard.

As Anthony crumbles to dust, Rive turns to face Lilith. The sounds of the Scooby Gang approaching, Rive moves to engage Lilith. The gang reaches the clearing to see Rive dust Anthony, turn to Lilith, and catch a foot in the chest. Lilith stands and sees the whole group…and begins to back away. Tired of waiting for his just revenge, Stefan breaks into a full sprint after her. She says that she has a party to get to, but she and Stefan have a dance later. She turns and breaks into a full run. Turns out the slayer/vamp is kinda fast… Stefan rears back and hurls a stake at her, yelling, “Save the last dance for ME!” She gets away, again, albeit with a stake in her back for good measure. Stefan screams in rage.

It’s almost dawn, and the gang gets back into the town proper. The wind kicks up, and clouds begin to roll in. A storm is coming. They reach the front of the BT manor just as Nikki is coming out. There is twilight, but the sun should have risen by now. Nikki looks about and says, “Bad cloud.” Missed the quote here from Nikki. Something about “we waited too long, the darkness is coming”.

Chase’s phone rings. It’s Deaver. He’s in town, just outside the barrier nearby. Nikki is overjoyed despite her concern with the magical cloud of darkness.

Deaver is waiting outside the barrier. He’s dressed in oddly comfortable/bohemian clothing. He looks older. Flanking him are two badass-looking girls with impressive weapons. He introduces the group to Buffy and Faith. The slayers give Deaver a sword and a special axe. Unfortunately, he can only get one person through the barrier. He uses the crystal to cut through the barrier. In a fury of sound, he steps through, and the barrier quickly heals itself behind him.

After the hugs and chiding, Deaver explains that he can control the lycanthropy, at least a little. He has also learned more about Bannon and the barrier. Bannon has built his army over a thousand years through spells and coercion. The scoobies have been unknowingly playing the pawn for three years now, helping Bannon make his final moves. The barrier must come down. Now. Deaver plans on becoming very inconvenient to Bannon from here out. His eyes flash yellow, and from the trees, on the other side of the barrier, slayers emerge. Deaver says that every slayer known is now lying in wait just outside the barrier. We get the barrier down, the slayers get in.