2.14 The Not-So-Hard Way

Gabe: "Sorry, I'm new to the whole internet dating thing."

PeanutGalleryRaveena: "Inappropriate chat room behavior!"

PeanutGalleryGabe: "All I know is that I'm a distant third on the totem pole of authority in my house. I'm not sure who's on top, but I know it's a (c/k)at."

Gabe: "You're asking if I've talked to my friends about the voices in my head?"

Raveena: "You know, people might start calling us the 'accent trio.'"

PeanutGalleryChase [re: director's notes]: "I didn't read, I peeked! They're different!"

Gabe: "Aw, come on, Miss Tight Black Dress. Should you be wearing a pink tutu instead?"
Rachel: "Oh Gabe, you're so cute."
Gabe: "Hey, pink is the new black."

Raveena: "He's in a corset!"
Deaver: "Corsets are the new sports coat."

Harrison: "These are a bunch of demons. I'm sure they've seen worse."

Stefan: "Grundy, I'm sorry I cut out your eye. I feel as bad as a German invading my own country."

Stefan: "Grundy, Raveena and I are going to go do it in the men's room."
Raveena: "Harrison, wanna come watch?"

Raveena: "So was that as good for you as it was for me?"
Stefan [sarcastically]: Oh, it was everything I could have hoped for."

Gabe: "I seem to have misplaced my mojo."

Deaver [re: Gabe and the DoH]: "It's like watching a train wreck."

Gabe: "I had a dream last night."
PeanutGalleryDeaver: "Was it a dream or was it a dream come true?"

Raveena: "I call Cheoff."
Director [laughing]: "Wait, you call who??"
Raveena: "Who did I say?

Chase: "Meeting at Deaver's. This just feels ... wrong."

Chase: "Felt kinda like a cow on an electric fence."
Stefan: "Uh ... sorry?"
Chase: "France. Not Colorado, France. Sorry."

Director: "I won't actually let you make a diamond. That would be too profitable." PeanutGalleryRaveena: "STEP TWO!"

Stefan: "This is Gabe's mouth. This is his foot."

Chase: "They can't be summoned 'in the normal way.' And it sounds like Lilith is anything but normal."

Chase: "The voice in your head told you the password. Why doesn't that make me feel better?"

PeanutGalleryStefan: "Danger Gabe Robinson, Danger!"

Lilith: "I will see you there, Angel Gabriel."
Gabe: "I"ll see you there ... Lilith."

Gabe: "Vampires - dark hair, pale skin. Demons - scaly skin, yellow eyes, horns ..."
Stefan [gesturing to self]: "Frenchmen ..."
Deaver [gesturing to Stefan]: "Him ... my ex-girlfriend ..."
Raveena: "My current boyfriend ..."

Chase: "So instead of killing her, you're going out on a date?!?"
Stefan: "Usually it's 'Hellooo, Vampire Hunter. I'm here to kill you.' And they attack. It's very simple."

Stefan: "Why are you talking to my ass?"

Chase is sitting at her desk at the morgue chatting with Rick, who comes downstairs from the land of the living to keep her company every now and then. He tells her that he and Jessie are planning to take a skydiving trip sometime in the spring, when the weather is less crappy. She's more than welcome to come along. They chat a while, and mid-conversation a delivery guy shows up bearing a vase of roses and a card. Surprised, Chase opens the card and reads it, laughing a little at the contents: "I'm bad with words and I hate Hallmark, so I'm sorry there's nothing poetic or moving here. The contents are yours on one condition. Loli, my best friend from Hawaii, is getting married on December 20 and I'd like you to be my date to the wedding. No, the time doesn't interfere with the competition schedule. I love you. Thanks for the best year of my life. -G" Inside the envelope, Chase finds a plane ticket to Hawaii leaving December 17, along with an all access pass to the 2004 Vans Triple Crown surfing competition. A little shocked and touched, she gives Rick a slightly dazed short version of the contents. He's impressed and jokingly begs her to let him date Geoff instead. Banter ensues. Rick muses than since this is for a wedding, she and Geoff must be pretty serious. She admits as much before beginning her usual relationship-definition backpedaling.

* * *

Back at his room, Gabe still sits facing the southeast corner, talking to Lilith. Just then, there is a knock on his door. It's Rachel. The two chat for a moment, Rachel hinting that she's in the mood for a Date, but no feather-falling out the window nonsense. Gabe eventually picks up on his cue and encourages Rachel to get dressed up. When she starts asking questions about HOW dressed up, Gabe takes care of the decision making for her, snapping his fingers and completely changing her attire to something black and slinky, while keeping the requisite combat boots. Another snap of his fingers and Gabe is in a snazzy black suit. He gives Rachel his arm as the two leave the dorm room, telling her that he knows just the place for dinner. When she wants to know where they're headed, he waves away her questions.

It is a beautiful night in the woods outside McKennit, and Gabe leads Rachel to a clearing in between some trees. The soft, flickering glow coming from the clearing turns out to be tapers on a romantic table set for two. Despite the chilly evening, it is comfortably warm at the table. Once they are settled, Gabe gives Rachel a wink as the table rises up into the air, hovering over the treetops with a glorious view of the stars and the twinkling lights of town. Rachel gives a "you're insane" type of giggle as Gabe produces a bottle of champagne in one hand and two glasses in the other with a smile.

Time passes ?

Rachel is good and tipsy, having had most of the champagne herself [it's risky to drink and levitate at the same time, after all]. Gabe asks her if she's in the mood for dancing at Cura's. She happily agrees, but the mischievous grin on his face has her grilling him for hints the whole way back to town.

* * *

On her way out of the hospital after work, Chase bumps into Veena, Harrison, and Stefan. The three have just taken out something icky and bad and are in high spirits. Harrison suggests a trip to Cura's for an evening of frivolity and Veena readily agrees. Stefan is very worried about setting foot back in the bar, but Harrison reassures him that he has enough collateral built up with the bouncer that there won't be any problems getting him in. Still a little worried, Stefan gives in. Chase says she's headed back to the house to find Geoff and clean up, but since she has the night off, they'll meet up with them at Cura's shortly. The group parts ways.

* * *

Gabe and Rachel arrive at Cura's, grabbing drinks and a table for two. Still having fun and looking to impress, Gabe subtly tilts his head towards a hulking demon at a nearby table. As Rachel watches, the demon reaches for his beer, which inexplicably slides away from his hand. She stifles a giggle and halfheartedly tells Gabe that he really shouldn't be so cavalier in his use of magic. He calls her a girl and goads her into retaliating by swapping out his snazzy black suit for a pink tutu. Gabe then decides that he isn't satisfied with Lorne's decorating efforts, adding a mirrored disco ball and some bright spotlights to the dcor. Rachel laughingly tells him that mirror balls are way outmoded, and finally gives in to his invitation to come up with something better, resulting in a full blown laser light show involving rotating patterns and swirling lights. Not to be outdone, Gabe adds a fog machine. The poor kareokeing demon onstage looks more and more confused as the room gets more and more club-like. When Rachel can't stand the heartfelt rendition of "You Light Up My Life" any further, she swaps the music for something more danceable and drags Gabe out onto the floor. Getting into the mood, she changes her dress for something a little more "her" made of sheer cobweb-like fabric and gives Gabe a much more stylish Matrix-style getup. They dance.

About then, the rest of the gang shows up. They slide onto the mostly empty floor to chat with Gabe and Rachel, noticing that they are still changing elements of the room on their whim. Chase accuses them of messing with Lorne's territory, and Gabe turns his attention to her instead, changing out her evening look for a bustier and leather getup vaguely reminiscent of the famous BYOB party last year. For good measure, he puts Geoff in a suit. They both look annoyed and Chase is about to lose her famous temper, so Rachel quickly changes them back and Geoff takes Chase off to dance before she blows.

Stefan is looking around uncomfortably, and is getting some sour looks in return. From the dance floor, Chase spots Grundy under his usual table, looking at Stefan with a terrified expression. She goes over to the table to try to lure him out, and in the end, she goes to get Stefan and make him apologize to the traumatized demon. Stefan stammers out an apology, but Grundy won't be appeased until Veena offers to beat Stefan up for him. Grundy gleefully agrees, and the three of them head for the relative privacy of the men's room, not wanting to disturb the general ambiance. Harrison moves to follow them, but Chase intercepts him and asks if she can talk to him for a minute. They grab two bar stools and two Guinness, and Chase expresses her concern over the medicine Harrison is still taking. She points out that if his last vision hadn't "interfered" when it did, he wouldn't have a McKennit left to protect. Those visions are the real work he's supposed to be doing, and that coupled with the potential physical ramifications of the drugs he's taking makes is pretty obvious that he should quit. Finishing his beer, Harrison politely thanks her for her concern and takes his leave, making no promises.

Stefan, Veena, and Grundy emerge from the bathroom, with Stefan holding his badly bloodied nose. Their appearance is greeted with cheers of approval from the Cura's crowd. With Stefan absolved, the group gets back to enjoying their evening.

* * *

The next morning, a new overnight guest wakes up in Gabe's dorm room. Rachel gives him a slightly embarrassed hello. Gabe tries to put her at ease by conjuring a magical breakfast in bed ? but nothing happens. Confused, he tries again. Still nothing. Seeing his distress, Rachel quietly tells him that he might be burnt out - that is known to happen when a witch throws around a lot of magic all at once. Gabe is appalled at the idea. Rachel gets a look at the clock and excuses herself in a rush, collecting her clothes - she's going to be late to a meeting with Rowan if she doesn't leave now. Gabe dazedly tells her they'll talk later, and she nods, awkwardly excusing herself.

The door closes behind Rachel, leaving Gabe alone with his thoughts. Those thoughts are soon interrupted by the presence of Lilith. Agitated, Gabe asks Lilith what's wrong with him - he can't even summon a flicker of flame to his fingers, something he's been able to do for some time now without really thinking about it. She tries to calm his concerns - magical burnout is not uncommon when a sorcerer has been involved with sustained, heavy magical use. A few days and he'll be back to his old self. Distressed by the thought of facing DAYS without magic, Gabe asks Lilith if anything can be done to speed up the process. She tells him talismans exist that can restore powers more quickly. She mentions the existence of a supposed collection of gemstones that can be fused together to form a powerful magical artifact. Some of the stones are even reputed to be here in McKennit, although she doesn't know where. Gabe tries to change the subject, and Lilith half-jokingly accuses him of holding out on her. Does he know where these stones are? If so, that would be a really fun toy to play with; and it would definitely help him recover quickly. Probably even leave him stronger than he was when he started. Lilith obliquely hints that she might now know where the diamond is. Gabe is tempted to tell her what he knows, but holds back, excusing himself from the conversation. Lilith lets up and recedes into Gabe's subconscious.

Still in need of breakfast, Gabe heads for the cafeteria. He runs into Veena in the hallway. Since he looks pale and peaked, Raveena asks after his health. He explains a little about his lack of powers. Over breakfast, Veena helpfully suggests he try meditation - that always helped the women in her family after they had exhausted themselves using the sight. After food, Raveena invites Gabe to a movie, but he declines in favor of heading straight to the library.

Rereading the materials on the Illetar, Gabe makes his decision - he wants that diamond. How to convince the gang to help him get it? Going with the direct(ish) approach, Gabe intercepts Veena on her way out of the movie. He tells her he has been rethinking things, and has come across some new inside info that makes him think they should really get the diamond out of the possession of the DoH before Tricia Boyd-Townsend gets her mitts on it. Willing to re-open negotiations, Raveena calls the gang. Suddenly and inexplicably concerned about Geoff and Chase's privacy (and penchant for sleeping in), they organize a meeting at Deaver's place.

Collected in Deaver's apartment, everyone (including Rachel) listens as Gabe regales them with the story of his recent "dream". It has him convinced that they need to remove the diamond from the DoH. Rachel awkwardly asks if he had this dream last night, and he nods, focused on his task at hand. The expression on Rachel's face is heartbreaking, and Chase picks up on it, shooting a truly pissed off look at Gabe.

The group agrees to go after the diamond readily enough. They take stock of what they know: the house is more likely to be empty during daylight hours, the last time they trespassed on DoH property there was some kind of witch-o-meter guarding it, and the diamond is in the basement. Brandon happens to be at home, so they all borrow a little mojo from him to get past the muggle-detector. As usual, Gabe also takes a hit, even though he really doesn't need it. Deciding not to waste the daylight, they pile into Chase's car and head for the house.

The DoH meetinghouse is in a small neighborhood that dates from the 1920s, located in the heart of McKennit. The Scoobies saunter around to the back door like they belong there, and find it unlocked. Stepping inside, they enter a large meeting area. Doing a quick scan of the lower floor, they find no sign of a basement door. Strange. Noises overhead - cackling laughter, the scrape of a chair - indicate that they are not alone, and they've got to hurry. Someone is home. Heading back to the meeting room, they start looking for some kind of hidden entrance. It is slow going until Deaver notices a strange architectural feature - there is a discrepancy in the thickness of the wall between the dining room and the meeting area. Rachel approaches the wall and places her hands upon it, concentrating. She feels the door seam, although it is invisible to the eye, and is pretty obviously a spell of some kind. She doesn't have the magical prowess to open it herself, but Gabe does. He places his hands to the seam, concentrates, and the wall gently slides away, revealing a narrow landing with a staircase leading down into the darkness. Suddenly, the once-distant cackling laughter happens right behind them. Turning slowly around the Scoobies are face to face with a black-eyed witch. Her hair is jet-colored and waving in an unseen wind, and she's dressed in black from head to toe. And she's staring at Gabe. The others try to talk to her as they back slowly onto the dark recess behind them, but she's pays them no mind. She approaches Gabe, sniffing him and continuing to cackle insanely. Gabe manages to extricate himself and follows the others behind the wall, which closes quickly between him and the smiling witch.

At the bottom of the stairs, the hallway is pitch black. Chase pulls out her lighter to use as a torch. The hallway is definitely the one they saw in the scrying mirror a few weeks ago. Following the strangely familiar twists and turns, they end up in a dead-end hallway with a single door to their left. Extinguishing their light, they listen at the door. There's no sound, and no light from the room beyond. Gabe tries the door - it's locked. As they start to debate what to do, an unseen voice calls out: "Is someone down here? Who's there?" A light becomes visible, and it is quickly approaching. The voice is one several people in the group recognize - Jade d'Orleans, Gabe's ex-girlfriend and a loyal DoH member. Trapped in the dead-end, she finds them in short order. There's some awkward small talk and Jade teasingly shakes the keys, asking what they're looking for. Introductions are made and saving the world is mentioned. As the conversation is going on in the hallway, there's another one going on in Gabe's head. He and Jade make a mental deal and she agrees to help. Rachel sulks against the back wall with a death-look at Jade as Jade pulls out her keys, unlocks the door, and the crew files inside.

The room is huge, irregularly shaped, and shelves of boxes and unique items line the walls. Working from her memory of the vision, Chase heads straight for the diamond. She opens the box, and sure enough, there it is. Taking the box from the shelf, she hands it to Gabe. Just to be sure, Gabe opens the box - and the diamond isn't there anymore. A little trial and error reveals that it appears to be there when the box is on the shelf. But a hand will pass right through it. The strange behavior clicks in Deaver's mind, and he tells them all that it is most likely a plane-shift spell, designed to protect the items in this room. The items are here, but ? not quite. There is most likely a password that will allow a person access to the items. This triggers another mental conversation between Gabe and Jade. Jade casts out on the witch-net for the password. Bits and pieces are bounced around, when a familiar voice puts it all together and comes up with the answer. Lilith tells Gabe the word is __. Gabe repeats it aloud, and then tries to take the diamond from the box. The cold stone easily lifts out, resting cooly in his hand. When Jade starts asking for more details about what this is for (seeing as how she's betraying her friends' trust and all), Chase plays off of Jade's dislike of Patricia Boyd-Townsend by telling her that it is so she and her unpleasant family can't get it. Somewhat satisfied with the answer, Jade escorts them back to the hidden door at the top of the stairs. The door opens, and the black-eyed woman is still there. She cackles when she sees them and approaches. Jade tiredly waves her off and says her good-byes, planning to tell the DoH that Trisha is responsible for the missing diamond if anyone asks. The group leaves the house the way they came in and heads back to the car.

Diamond in hand, the Scoobies go to the library to make sure it is at least a fit with the geode - closest they can get to determining its authenticity. The two meld together perfectly. Gabe tells them that he knows someone who claims to be able to acquire the rest of the stones - even the ones the gang thinks are safe. When pressed further, Gabe reveals his mental contact with the mysterious Lilith. Most of the gang is a little disturbed by this. Rachel is shocked and very hurt because he hadn't told her about it. She knows a lot about this stuff and could have helped him if he'd just confided in her. Concerned now that there may be those who can listen in on Gabe's thoughts without him knowing, the group asks him to leave the room while they decide what to do with the diamond. Gabe agrees and walks straight out the fifth floor window, floating down to the ground outside. The remaining Scoobies vote to send the diamond with Rachel to Cernnunos Grove for safekeeping. She and Raveena run the errand, taking the stone to Rowan. They give her a pretty minimal explanation - Rowan has never heard of the Illetar - and she agrees to guard it readily enough, a little concerned about this saving-the-world thing. Mission accomplished, the gang parts ways. When he gets back to his dorm room, Gabe contacts Lilith to discuss the remaining stones. She has claimed to be able to summon them, and Gabe wants to know how. Lilith is coy and doesn't reveal much, so Gabe asks to meet her face to face. She is reluctant, but eventually agrees. They plan to meet at Common Grounds. Lilith sets the time as 5:30 pm. Gabe tells her that he will probably have friends with him. He cuts off communication with her and tells the rest of the group about the planned meeting.

The crew is sitting in their usual booth at the local coffeehouse when a stunning blonde with icy blue eyes walks in. She approaches the table. As she walks towards them, Stefan confides quietly that she's a demon. Veena's radar is more limited, but in this case it pings; the lovely Lilith is a vamp. Lilith joins them and introductions and "small talk" ensue which sounds a lot like grilling her as to her origins, affiliations, and motives. When asked how she can summon the stones when all the research has indicated they can't, Lilith points out that they can't be summoned "in the normal way". But there are other options, that are in fact quite easy. As the group has no real task at hand that requires her assistance, Lilith smugly excuses herself, telling Gabe that she'll talk to him soon.

As soon as Lilith is out the door, Stefan asks for Chase's car keys and sets out to follow her, hoping to glean some insight as to her part in the complicated politics of McKennit. Rachel would rather just march outside and punch her out, but she is overruled. The groups heads to Deaver's apartment to wait for word from Stefan to determine their next move.

Lilith pulls up to a large dark building in the warehouse district where there is clearly a party going full throttle. She is admitted by the beefy-looking bouncer. Stefan gets quietly out of the car and approaches the door. The crowd appears to be vampires and their human dates, so it is a mixed bunch. He does a quick scan of the periphery, looking for a way to get in without attracting the notice of the doorman. Finding nothing, he comes back around the front of the building in time to hear a raised voice that sounds a lot like Lilith in heated discussion with the wall of muscle at the door. Stefan barely has time to slip back inside the car before Lilith is bodily ejected from the party. In a huff, she skulks back to her car and revs the engine. Stefan follows her again, this time to another warehouse, quiet and dark. Determined not to lose sight of her this time, Stefan follows her inside. He trails her down some stairs and finds himself in a cushy, dramatically furnished living room. Once inside, Stefan confronts her. Lilith is amused to find him following her and completely ignores him. Each time he tries to get her to turn around and fight him, she just laughs. Deciding his persistence and his yummy French accent are kind of cute, Lilith whimsically invites him to a party with her. Completely dumbfounded and unable to get her to face off against him, Stefan agrees to go. About that time, his phone rings. It is Chase, demanding to know where he is and what is taking him so long. Slightly dazedly, he tells her that he's going to a party with Lilith and hangs up on her enraged response.

* * *

Back at Deaver's apartment, Chase tells the crew what just happened. They decide they need to intercede and pile into Deaver's car to head downtown to the warehouse district ? the most likely spot for icky vampiric nightlife.

* * *

Lilith and Stefan are at a full-on rave, and this one is all vampires. Stefan gets some strange and hungry looks. If anyone stares too long, Lilith glares them down. She pulls him out onto the dance floor, and they gyrate to the pulsing beat. Stefan surreptitiously hits the talk button on his phone in his pocket to call Chase back. He starts chatting Lilith up about where they are, hoping that Chase will get the message. His questioning isn't too convincing and Chase relaying the info on the other end is clearly audible to Lilith's vamp ears, but she shouts the intersection to Stefan's thigh with a sly smile. The dancing continues, and things get a little bump-and-grindy, while Stefan maneuvers the two of them closer to the stairs leading out of the party. Once they're all over each other, Stefan snags his opportunity and tries to unobtrusively get a firm grip on Lilith and break her neck. He gives it a sharp twist, but somehow, she's fine. Just stretches a little and thanks him for the tune-up. Yikes.

* * *

Deaver's car pulls up to a warehouse at the spot Lilith mentioned. Venturing inside, the Scoobies see a bouncer manning the door at the end of the hallway. He asks for a password, which they don't have, and Chase tells him they're looking for Lilith. He says he doesn't know her and makes some snide comment, at which point Raveena quickly stakes him. [Cheaper than cover anyway.] As soon as they open the door, the low thumping of bass becomes the full blast of music. From their high vantage point on the stairs, they immediately spot Stefan and Lilith near the fringes of the crowd. Chase cuts in on the dancing, and Veena tells Lilith with a firm smile that they are taking a walk. Lilith cheerfully assents, and runs up the stairs. Following her quickly out into the parking lot, the gang moves to attack. Rachel gleefully winds up and throws the first punch. She connects with Lilith's face, but Lilith also gets a firm grip on her. "Oh, you must be the girlfriend. How cute." Lilith goes game face and clamps down on Rachel's neck, making her gasp. Quickly Veena, Harrison and Stefan close in to try to get Lilith off of Rachel. Veena gets a firm grip on the vampire's shiny blonde hair and snaps her head back. Lilith jerks and releases Rachel, who crumples to the ground. Chase immediately runs over to her, calling for Geoff's help. They do what they can, but it isn't much. There isn't really any bleeding to stop. Rachel's been sucked dry and there's no pulse to be found. When Gabe sees Rachel fall, his eyes black out. He turns to Lilith, who just laughs at him. She's taking some hard hits, but doesn't seem fazed. Gabe says to her softly, "You shouldn't have hurt the girl." He launches a blast of fire that hits her full in the chest. As it dissipates, she says a mocking farewell and throws something on the ground that instantly envelops her in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke clears, Lilith is gone.

Geoff and Chase get Rachel to Deaver's car, while Stefan goes to collect Chase's car from Lilith's pad. Chase is driving like it's the Indy 500, but unfortunately, it isn't likely to matter how quickly they get to the hospital. In the back with Rachel, Gabe is staring at her in shock, mumbling that he can't heal. Chase snaps and tells him he'd damn well better try something if he wants her to survive, because she's beyond medical help. As the camera cuts to the outside of the car racing down the road, there is a clear, bright light from the rear window that reaches out into the dark winter night.

* * *

In a room at McKennit General, Rachel is lying pale in a hospital bed, surrounded by her exhausted friends. There's the steady sound of a heart monitor in the background. She's alive.

* * *

[Jen - final cut scene in office.]