The Young the Brave and the Beautiful
Chapter Six
HARTFORD. STREET. NIGHT. Buffy, Rory, Paris and Faith race down to the streets of the burning subdivision. All around them is fire, screams of torment, scorched corpses, and burning, living skeletons.
RORY: Oh, God. Where to first?
BUFFY: Over here!
To their left Buffy hears screams coming from a two story Tudor. They race over to the front door. Buffy kicks it in. Flames shoot out.
BUFFY: There’s no way in.
FAITH: Stand back!
Faith dives through the wall of flames and lands in the living room. There’s smoke and fire everywhere. Through the dense smoke and flame she can see a woman cowering in the corner in fear. Beside her are slumped her two young daughters, age five and six. Faith races over to them.
WOMAN: Help us please!
FAITH: It’s going to be okay.
WOMAN: My daughters. Please, help them.
The two girls look to be unconscious, overcome by smoke. Faith heaves them over her shoulders.
FAITH: Stay here. I’ll come back and get you.
Faith starts for the front door.
FAITH: Buffy!
Buffy comes diving through the smoke and fire.
FAITH: Get her!
Buffy sees the woman over in the corner and makes a beeline for her. Faith works her way outside and places the two girls on the lawn.
Rory slaps both girls on the cheek. One comes around, but the other remains unconscious.
RORY: Oh, God. This one isn’t breathing!
PARIS: Starting CPR.
Rory and Paris begin CPR on the girl. Meanwhile, inside the burning house, Buffy reaches the woman.
WOMAN: My babies!
BUFFY: Your daughters are fine.
Buffy picks the woman up in her arms.
BUFFY: Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Okay?
The woman does as she is told. Buffy starts for the front door. Just as they reach it – CRASH! – the front part of the roof caves in, burying them!
FAITH: Buffy!
Rory and Paris continue with the CPR as Faith rushes over to the mound of burning rubble that the front façade has become. Faith kicks down what’s left of the front door threshold. Behind it is a pile of burning rubble from the cave-in. Faith starts furiously clawing her way through it. After a few desperate seconds, she finds Buffy and the woman buried underneath, both unconscious. She grabs both of them by the leg and drags them outside to the lawn.
Meanwhile, Rory and Paris continue with the CPR.
PARIS: Hey, she’s breathing!
RORY: Thank God.
Finished with CPR on the girl, Rory rushes over to Faith.
RORY: How can I help?
Faith shakes Buffy violently.
FAITH: Buffy!… Buffy!…
Buffy regains consciousness. She sits up. Faith hugs her.
FAITH: Had me going there for a while, B. Thought I had lost you.
Rory shakes the woman. She too regains consciousness. She crawls on the grass over to her daughters, tears flooding her eyes.
WOMAN: My babies…
She hugs them fiercely.
WOMAN: What happened here?
FAITH: Just calm down, ma’am. The police will be here soon.
The woman stares at Faith.
FAITH: Thank you for saving our lives.
Just then - BOOM! - what’s left of the house explodes in a tremendous explosion. The explosion knocks the women to the ground. The girls look up and see Kirk standing down the street. He has just fired a thunderbolt at them and missed, hitting the house.
RORY: Oh, God. It’s Kirk!
Rory whips out a machine pistol and opens fire on Kirk. She hits him repeatedly but the bullets do little damage.
BUFFY: Let me try.
Buffy takes out the 40mm grenade launcher and pops in a grenade. She fires. She scores a direct hit. Kirk is knocked a good thirty feet back through the air. He lies smoldering on the ground. After a few seconds, he hops to his feet, apparently undamaged.
KIRK: Whoa, what a rush!
An ear-splitting crackle rends the air as Kirk fires a thunderbolt at Buffy. Buffy dives to the grass, and the thunderbolt sails past her, but hits Faith square on her left shoulder. Faith is knocked hard to the ground.
BUFFY: Faith!
The girls run up to Faith.
FAITH: I’m okay.
BUFFY: You’re bleeding.
They help her to her feet.
RORY: That bastard! Isn’t it bad enough he killed Lane!
BUFFY: I don’t think he’s going to be satisfied until we’re all dead. Let’s go.
Kirk fires another thunderbolt. It goes wide of the mark, and explodes on the front lawn of the adjoining house.
BUFFY: This way.
They run through the alley separating the two houses, then hop over the backyard fence into the backyard of another house. They race out into the street.
FAITH: Over here.
Faith runs up to a parked Chevy four-door Impala. She knocks in the front driver’s side window, gets in, and lets the others in. Paris hops up front, with Rory and Buffy in the rear.
BUFFY: Can you start this thing?
FAITH: Yeah.
Faith hotwire starts it. She floors the accelerator just as Kirk appears down the street. He fires still another thunderbolt at them. It narrowly misses the speeding Impala, and strikes a parked car. The car explodes in flames.
Faith makes a hard right turn at the corner and hightails it out of there.
Kirk looks down the street and sees that fire and police have started to arrive. A police cruiser slams to a halt in front of him.
OFFICER: Hey, buddy, you okay there?
Kirk reaches in and snaps the officer’s neck, killing him instantly. He pulls the body out through the window and tosses it aside. Kirk gets into the cruiser and takes off after the girls.
HIGHWAY. SPEEDING CARS. NIGHT. The girls speed down the highway, heading towards downtown Hartford. Kirk is not far behind them, gaining fast.
BUFFY: He’s right behind us! Step on it!
FAITH: I am steppin’ on it.
Faith floors the accelerator. But Kirk out-accelerates her, and pulls along the driver’s side. Rory whips out her machine pistol and open fires. The passenger side windows of the cruiser are blown out. Kirk responds by slamming into the Impala. Faith screams in agony as the impact aggravates her shoulder wound.
Faith counters by slamming hard into Kirk. Kirk loses control. He does a 360 degree spin out, and barely is able to stay on the road. It takes him awhile, but he is finally able to regain control. He's about 500 yards behind the girls. Angered, he charges up fast and catches them. All the while the cruiser is taking a phalanx of hits from Rory with her machine pistol, and now Buffy with her sidearm.
Kirk rams the cruiser into the Impala’s driver’s door. Faith screams in pain.
PARIS: Faith, let me drive.
FAITH: No. I’m okay.
Kirk rams them again. And again. Faith almost loses control of the car.
PARIS: Let me drive, Faith!
RORY: Paris is a good driver. Good enough to race cars. Let her drive, Faith.
FAITH: No, damn it!
Kirk rams them yet again. The driver’s door is crumpled in a good eight inches. Faith can barely maintain control of the car. Kirk can smell blood.
BUFFY: Faith, you’re injured. Let Paris drive.
Paris doesn’t wait for a response. She forces her way over to the driver’s seat. Faith reluctantly lets her have the wheel, and slides over to the passenger’s seat.
PARIS: Everybody hang on!
Paris floors it, and the Impala takes off. She quickly hits 100 mph. Kirk falls behind at first, but quickly catches up. He rams them from behind. Buffy knocks out the rear windshield, and then open fires on Kirk, plastering his front windshield with bullets. Kirk knocks out what’s left of the front windshield with his fist. He then fires a thunderbolt at the Impala. But Paris sees it coming. She veers hard to her left to avoid it, into the opposite lane of the narrow two lane highway, right into the path of a speeding tractor trailer truck. The thunderbolt misses them and slams up the highway and explodes harmlessly. But the tractor trailer is less than two hundred yards away and closing fast for a certain fatal head on collision!
BUFFY: Paris!
Paris swings the car further to her left, onto the gravelly roadside. It takes all of Paris’ skill to maintain control of the car as the truck speeds by, missing them by inches.
Once the tractor trailer is past, Paris swings to her right, back onto the road. Kirk comes up fast and pulls along side them on the driver’s side. He points his right hand at them, ready to fire a thunderbolt, at point blank range. But just as he fires, Paris rams into the cruiser, throwing Kirk off balance. The thunderbolt goes wide of the mark, and sails into the woods adjacent to the highway, and explodes.
Paris really floors it this time, and brings the car up to 120 mph, leaving Kirk far behind. Kirk starts to close fast. When he closes to within one hundred yards, Paris suddenly slams on the brakes. She then does a 180 degree skid, and slams into Kirk’s front driver’s side with the Impala’s front driver’s side. The impact sends the police cruiser flying off the road. Kirk fights desperately to maintain control, but to no avail. The cruiser careens along the roadside for a couple hundred yards or so, then Kirk loses it totally. The cruiser does a roll over, and tumbles end over end into the woods and explodes.
Paris grimaces with satisfaction as she sees the fireball rise in the air in her rearview mirror. She hightails it out of there, and they escape.
HIGHWAY. CAR. NIGHT. FIVE MINUTES LATER. Paris speeds down the highway. Buffy casts a wary eye out through the broken glass of the back window.
BUFFY: Nobody behind us. All clear.
Paris eases the car down to 70 mph. Across from her, Faith nurses her wounded shoulder.
FAITH: Damn, Paris. Where did you learn to drive like that? That was some move. You think you could teach it to me?
PARIS: Yeah, sure. You think you could teach me how to hotwire a car?
FAITH: Yeah, sure.
BUFFY: That oughta be easy. Just one of the many tricks you picked up in the joint. Right Faith?
Faith stares at Buffy cold as ice.
RORY: You were in prison Faith?
FAITH: Ah… Yeah.
PARIS: Don’t tell me. You just had to mug that little old lady, right?. Really needed that lunch money. Huh?
FAITH: Man, I tell ya, you don’t mince words, do you Paris? I really like that. Maybe me and you should get together sometime.
Rory and Buffy both clear their throats at the same time – LOUDLY.
FAITH: Don’t worry, Ror. Paris is safe… Hey, you know, when all of this is over, maybe the four of us can get together, you know, party, have some fun.
BUFFY: If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, I think I speak for the entire civilized world when I say, ewwwwww.
FAITH: You have to forgive Buffy. She’s like this really uptight suburban chick, you know? But we get her sloshed with a little Tequila, add in some Johnny Walker, and she’ll loosen right up.
BUFFY: Faith, why don’t you tell them about your time in the Big House?
FAITH: Ouch, B. Touché…
RORY: So why were you in prison, Faith?
FAITH: It’s a long story… I don’t like to talk about it.
BUFFY: I wonder why?
FAITH: Let’s just say I know how it feels to think that you’re all powerful, that you can do anything, not accountable to anyone… We can’t let Kirk win.
RORY: He’s not going to win. We’ll find a way to defeat him. Somehow.
The girls continue to speed down the dark highway.
ABANDONED WAREHOUSE. NIGHT. A HALF HOUR LATER. Paris pulls up to an abandoned warehouse. The warehouse lies on the outskirts of north Hartford. Paris parks the car then shuts it off.
PARIS: We should be safe here. At least for now.
FAITH: Why here?
PARIS: It’s a good ways off the highway… I don’t know, something just told me we’d be safe here, that’s all… My father use to own this building. That was a long time ago. He would lease it out. Eventually, he sold it to a bakery. I used to go past here on my way to school. It would always smell so good. Anyway, last year the bakery went belly up… After we escaped from Kirk, I just got hungry, and thought of this place. What was that you said –
FAITH: Slaying makes you hungry and horny.
Paris bursts out into laughter.
PARIS: I guess it does.
Paris gets out the car and walks around to the passenger side rear door. She hops in the back with Rory and Buffy. She starts feeling Rory up. Buffy FREAKS OUT.
BUFFY: Oh, God. You two aren’t going to like do it, are you?
Paris laughs again. She starts to unbutton Rory’s blouse.
BUFFY: I guess you are.
Buffy gets out and starts walking towards the decrepit entrance of the building. Faith joins her. Buffy forces the door open, and they enter.
INSIDE WAREHOUSE. NIGHT. The warehouse is cold, cavernous, empty and dark. Buffy and Faith sit down against the near wall.
FAITH: They don’t bother you, do they Buf?
BUFFY: Why would they bother me? I mean, Willow and Kennedy don’t bother me. Willow and Tara never bothered me… Nah, they don’t bother me at all.
FAITH: Well, I think they’re different.
BUFFY: How are they different?
FAITH: Because they’re married. And happy. The thought of two women being together like that, in a permanent, long-lasting, legally binding relationship, might make some people nervous.
BUFFY: Not me.
FAITH: Uh, huh.
The sarcasm in Faith’s voice hits home. Buffy’s face flares with anger. She rips off part of her blouse. She uses it as a tourniquet, tying it around Faith’s shoulder wound.
BUFFY: You’re still bleeding. Let’s see if this’ll stop it.
FAITH: Ouch. Not so tight.
Buffy’s face softens a bit. She loosens up the tourniquet.
BUFFY: Is that better?
FAITH: Yeah. You have a good touch, B.
As Buffy adjusts the tourniquet, she is only inches away from Faith’s face. Faith parts her lips ever so slightly, and her eyes become dreamy, as if to signal to Buffy that she is ready to receive her. But Buffy doesn’t take the bait.
BUFFY: Thanks for saving my life. I can’t think of anything worse than being burned alive.
FAITH: Hey, you know me, B. I’d do anything for you.
BUFFY: Like that time you tried to kill me?
FAITH: Hey, nothing says love like a dagger through the heart. Right?
BUFFY: Uhh…
FAITH: Uhh…
BUFFY: Well that was an awkward moment.
FAITH: Look, Buf, in the cave you wanted to tell me something.
Buffy rises. She reaches in her pants pocket and feels the engagement ring. But she doesn’t take the ring out. She just keeps her hand in her pocket.
She walks over to one of the windows. Staring out, she can see Rory and Paris going at it pretty good in the car.
INSIDE CAR. NIGHT. Paris and Rory consummate their lovemaking. They are both covered with sweat.
PARIS: Damn that was good.
RORY: Yeah it was.
They both start to button themselves up.
PARIS: You know, Rory, I’m not Kirk.
RORY: Uhh… Paris, some really uncomfortable images are flashing through my mind right now.
Paris bursts out laughing.
PARIS: No… I mean, I’m not like Kirk and the Templars. Yes, I am sort of an elitist –
RORY: Sort of?
PARIS: Okay. I am an elitist. I admit it. But I don’t believe in denying people the opportunity to succeed in life. Of course, I do believe if given the opportunity, some people through their natural lack of ability would fail, however I don’t believe in denying people the opportunity to succeed or fail. I’m not Kirk.
RORY: I know. Kirk and the people he represent have run the world for so long they think they’re entitled to it. But those days are gone, long gone. And they’re not coming back, not if I have anything to say about it.
Rory straps the backpack containing the Grail to her back, her face steeled with determination.
PARIS: I want to talk to you about, you know, what happened…
RORY: I know what you’re going to say.
PARIS: How could you know what I’m going to say?
RORY: Because I know you… You’re going to say, you’ve been thinking about why you were brought back to life. And you’ve decided to convert to Christianity.
PARIS: That’s scary! How could you know I was going to say that!
RORY: Because I know you. You think it was some kind of message from God.
PARIS: Well, considering how Christ drank out of the Grail at the Last Supper and everything, yeah.
RORY: There was no message, Paris. It was a gift. Leave it at that... You know, when I thought I had lost you, I almost did something really incredibly stupid –
PARIS: What?
RORY: It doesn’t matter now… The thing is, I think God knew that I could never be happy protecting the Grail without you in my life, and that’s why he gave you back to me – so I could fulfill my destiny as guardian of this most precious and holy object. But I think God also wanted me to learn that I can’t let my emotions, even my love for you, get in the way of fulfilling my sacred duty. And I have learned.
Paris reflects on what Rory has said. She nods her head in agreement. They kiss.
INSIDE WAREHOUSE. NIGHT. Buffy continues to stand at the window. She can see Rory and Paris kissing in the car. Faith rises and walks up to her.
FAITH: Those two can hardly keep their hands off each another. Man, they are really in love.
BUFFY: Yeah.
FAITH: Must be nice to have someone like that in your life. Know what I mean?
BUFFY: Yeah. I can’t imagine it at this time in my life. But yeah, it would be nice.
Faith’s face hardens.
FAITH: Buffy, why did you have to bring up the fact that I was in prison?
BUFFY: You are in fact a convicted murderer, are you not?
FAITH: So that’s the way it’s gonna be. Huh B?
Faith turns her back on Buffy. Buffy realizes she’s really hurt Faith.
BUFFY: Look, Faith, I’m sorry –
FAITH: Buffy, sometimes I just want to… strangle you.
BUFFY: I see prison didn’t exactly curb those violent tendencies of yours. Did it?
Faith grabs Buffy and slams her up hard against the wall. Buffy looks like she is ready to punch Faith in the mouth. But she doesn’t, restraining herself.
Faith’s mood shifts, from anger to… lust. She presses her body up against Buffy’s body, her breasts up against Buffy’s breasts, her leg between Buffy’s legs. Their lips almost touch. Buffy starts to melt.
FAITH: Hey.
BUFFY: Hey.
FAITH: Hey.
BUFFY: Hey.
Both women look like they’re ready to give in to their passion. But at the last second Faith takes a step back. She laughs softly.
FAITH: See Buf, it’s not that I’m ashamed of having served time. As a matter of fact, being in prison was the best damned thing that ever happen to me. I found myself in prison. It’s just that I come out here, nobody knows what I’ve done, it’s kinda like a fresh start, you know? I mean, I would have told Rory and Paris eventually, after we really got to know each other. I just didn’t want them to know now. That’s all.
BUFFY: You’re right. I shouldn’t have said anything. My bad. Me being a bitch. I apologize.
FAITH: I accept your apology.
Buffy sighs.
FAITH: It’s just that I’d really like the four of us to be friends.
BUFFY: I understand.
FAITH: I really like Rory and Paris.
BUFFY: So do I… That Paris is something. Isn’t she?
FAITH: Yeah… And someday, I’d like, maybe, possibly, to have what they have. That kind of a relationship.
Buffy puts her hand on Faith’s arm. They stare into each other’s eyes.
BUFFY: About that. There are so many things I want to say to you, Faith.
FAITH: Just say them, B.
BUFFY: Part of me is afraid, because it will change everything between us.
FAITH: I’m ready for change.
Buffy takes out the engagement ring and clutches it in her fist with her right hand. With her left hand she holds Faith’s hand.
BUFFY: Faith –
Suddenly, it starts raining fire outside.
FAITH: What the…
BUFFY: Ah, not again!
Buffy tucks the engagement ring back in her pocket. Faith reaches for it. Buffy blocks her hand.
FAITH: What have you got there?
BUFFY: Nothing… We better get outside.
They rush outside.
WAREHOUSE. NIGHT. Rory and Paris have exited the car and join Faith and Buffy outside the warehouse.
PARIS: I don’t want to scare anybody, but that’s fire raining down from the sky. If locusts start appearing, I’m outta here.
RORY: It’s coming from the south. Look.
They all look to the south. Much of the southern part of Hartford appears to be on fire.
BUFFY: It’s Kirk… What’s the population of a city like this?
PARIS: One hundred twenty-four thousand at the last census.
BUFFY: Jesus. Think how many innocent people he’s killing.
PARIS: He’s burning my city to the ground. My city!
RORY: This is insane. He’s a monster. A Hitler.
PARIS: Let’s go.
They pile into the car and take off.
INSIDE CAR. NIGHT. Paris tears out of the drive of the warehouse and races down the street.
RORY: How far do you think Kirk is prepared to go? I mean –
BUFFY: Pretty far. We’ve dealt with some mean big bads before, but I think Kirk is the worst.
PARIS: I know Kirk – the mentality. I’ve seen it in some of the businessmen my father deals with. Thankfully none of them have Kirk’s power. I think Kirk is prepared to kill millions, even billions, to get the Grail back. He believes the Templars have some kind of divine mission to rule the world, and he doesn’t care how many people he has to kill to fulfill that mission.
RORY: All this talk of millions and potentially billions of people dying is freaking me out! Let’s just –
Paris suddenly slams to a halt in front of a parked car.
PARIS: C’mon. We need a new car. This one is shot.
They exit the beat up Impala and force their way into the parked car, a four door Lexus sedan. Paris is behind the wheel and Faith sits next to her. Faith reaches over and hotwire starts it as Paris eyes her intensely. The ignition catches, and Paris takes off with the roar of screeching tires.
PARIS: So that’s how you do it.
FAITH: Yep. That’s how you hotwire start a car.
PARIS: That’s good to know. Never know when we might be in a tight spot and need a car pronto. I mean, now that Rory is a slayer, I have a feeling we’re going to be in a lot of tight spots from now on. Get my drift?
FAITH: Been there and done it… Hey, you never did tell me. How did you learn to drive like that?
PARIS: Bjorn Johansen.
FAITH: What?
PARIS: Not what. Who. He’s a retired Formula Three race car driver. My father hired him to teach me how to drive.
Faith laughs out loud.
FAITH: Yeah, right… You’re serious. Your father could afford to hire a race car driver to teach you how to drive?
BUFFY: Oh, your best bud Paris didn’t give you the low down? Rory and Paris are loaded. They’re like America’s gilded youth.
FAITH: Oh, yeah? So you two got money?
PARIS: We’re not exactly starving in the streets. Let’s put it that way.
FAITH: I guess it figures. I mean, when you said your father owned that warehouse, I was saying to myself, hmm, it takes some serious green to own a property like this, you know?… So you and Rory got bank. That makes things even more interesting.
Faith reaches over and places her hand on Paris’ thigh and rubs it. She gives Paris a provocative look. Paris’ eyes do a major league BUG OUT.
They continue to race down the darkened streets as fire rains down from the skies.
They reach the outskirts of the city.
RORY: There’s Kirk!
Kirk stands in the middle of the highway. He has the highway blocked off with a stolen Ford SUV. He is firing energy ball after energy ball into south Hartford. He spots the girls. He gets in the SUV and takes off after them.
Paris does a 180 and takes off, heading north. Kirk closes in fast.
BUFFY: Better step on it!
PARIS: I know how we can defeat Kirk.
BUFFY: What?
PARIS: I know how we can defeat Kirk. It just came to me.
BUFFY: How?
PARIS: The advanced Alcator C-Mod Tomahawk at MIT. That would do it.
RORY: You’re right!
BUFFY: The advanced Alc -- What?
PARIS: The Alcator C-Mod Tomahawk. It’s an experimental fusion reactor –
FAITH: Fusion reactor? What’s that?
Paris gives Faith THE LOOK.
FAITH: Hey, I’m a high school dropout, okay? But I did get my GED while I was in prison.
PARIS: Rory!
RORY: Calm down, Paris. I’ll explain it. Nuclear fusion is a technology in which atoms of hydrogen are fused together. The byproduct is energy.
FAITH: Fused. Hydrogen. Energy. Got it.
PARIS: Temperatures inside the reactor reach millions of degrees Kelvin. That would do it.
BUFFY: So you two go to MIT?
PARIS: I must be in a forgiving mood because I’ll forget you ever said that.
RORY: Actually me and Paris are going to Yale in the fall.
BUFFY: Well how do you know all this?
PARIS: Let’s just say fusion energy is an area of interest of mine. Right Rory.
RORY: Right.
Rory reaches up to the front seat and kisses her wife.
FAITH: Okay. So how far is this reactor from here?
PARIS: It’s at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. About a hundred miles from here. Buckle up!
They do. Paris floors it. The Lexus takes off like a rocket. Soon they are at 130 mph. They leave Kirk far behind.
HIGHWAY. CAR. NIGHT. FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER. Paris tears down the highway at 150 mph. They have now crossed the state line into Massachusetts.
FAITH: You look wigged out back there Buf. You okay?
BUFFY: Fine. Just does she have to drive so fast?
PARIS: Hey, major apocalypse here. Do guys want to defeat Kirk or not?
BUFFY: Yeah. Yeah.
PARIS: Okay then.
Paris exits the 84 and takes the 90 heading East for Cambridge. Faith looks out the window. To the southwest, the sky is aglow as the fires of Hartford burning light up the horizon. She grimaces.
FAITH: Damn, it’s getting worse… (to Paris): You know, I’m not dumb. I just never got a chance to finish school, that’s all.
PARIS: I never said you were dumb. I have nothing against you getting your GED in prison. I’m sure Sing Sing produced many a potential Rhodes Scholar.
FAITH: What?
PARIS: Let me put it this way: There’s nothing wrong with a person wanting to improve themselves. I admire you for that.
FAITH: Well thank you. I’ve done some things I regret. But every day I try to make myself a better person. You know?
PARIS: I believe that… Look, I’m not someone to mince words –
FAITH: Clearly.
PARIS: I’ll just say it – I like you Faith.
FAITH: I like you too Paris.
PARIS: I look at you, and I can tell, you’ve lived a hard life. Right?
FAITH: Yes I have.
PARIS: There’s a lot of pain there and loneliness. I sympathize. My life hasn’t been all cake and jam either.
FAITH: Thank you for sharing that.
PARIS: Good. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, can I ask you something?
FAITH: Sure.
PARIS: Could you stop staring at my boobs?
FAITH: I was not staring at your boobs!
PARIS: You’ve been staring at my boobs since we first met… Look, Buf. Whatever it is you’re going to do regarding Faith, I would suggest you do it real quick, because you’ve got a majorly hornied-up chick over here, and she’s freaking me out.
Buffy squirms uncomfortably in her seat.
RORY (in a low voice; to Buffy): So did you ask her?
BUFFY: I was getting ready to when fire starting raining down. Seems like every time I try something happens.
RORY: Three times will be the charm. You’ll see. Do you think she’ll say yes?
Buffy smiles.
RORY: See, I told you.
Both women start giggling.
FAITH: Hey, what are you two up to back there?
BUFFY: Nuttin’.
FAITH: Uh, huh.
RORY (in a low voice; to Buffy): You pop the question. We swing up to Vermont. It’s only an hour drive from here. You two get hitched in that civil union. You can take your honeymoon in Niagara Falls. Maybe me and Paris can join you. We never got a chance to take a honeymoon, so it’ll be perfect. And like Faith was talking about, you know, we could swing a little. Me and you, and Faith and Paris.
BUFFY: Oh, God.
Rory brushes up against Buffy, flirting.
PARIS: Hey Buf, you’re not trying to seduce my wife now, are you?
BUFFY: Hey, she came on to me… Nah, we was just talking about what Faith was talking about, you know, the four of us um, swinging together. I’m not saying yes, but I’m not saying no either. Maybe.
FAITH: I knew you’d come around. See, there’s a lot you don’t know about Buffy. Outside, she’s like this repressed suburban chick. But inside, she’s got a real taste for the wild life. Oh, let me tell you about her love life –
BUFFY: I don’t think they want to hear about that –
FAITH: Of course they do B. See, first there was this vampire –
PARIS and RORY (simultaneously): Vampire!
FAITH: Oh, yeah. I told you Buffy’s got a taste for the wild life, didn’t I? Well, anyway, there was this vampire named Angel…
MIT. PLASMA SCIENCE AND RESEARCH FACILITY. NIGHT. A HALF HOUR LATER. Paris screeches to a halt in front of the research facility building. The girls hop out the car.
PARIS: The reactor is inside.
Buffy kicks in the reinforced steel door of the facility, and they make their way in. They walk quickly down a dimly lit corridor.
PARIS: It’s not going to be long before Kirk arrives. We’ve got to hurry.
BUFFY: Where are we headed?
PARIS: Upstairs to the control room.
They walk up a flight of stairs, then down a short corridor to the control room. Rory knocks in the door. They enter.
The control room sits a couple of stories above the giant donut-shaped Tomahawk fusion reactor. They stare at it through the glass partition.
FAITH: Is that it?
PARIS: Yeah.
BUFFY: So what’s next?
PARIS: We power it up.
Paris walks over to the control panel. She starts the power-on sequence.
BUFFY: There are like a gazillion switches. You know what you’re doing?
PARIS: Rory!
RORY: Yes, Paris knows what she’s doing. As a matter of fact, she has her own fusion laboratory in our basement. She’s very capable.
BUFFY: Don’t get your nose all in a snit. No offense… (to Rory): Kinda high strung, isn’t she?
FAITH: Yeah. But I bet she’s a dynamo in bed. Hey, Ror?
PARIS: I heard that!
Paris continues the power-on sequence. Suddenly, the entire building shakes.
BUFFY: Oh, God. It must be Kirk.
RORY: Hurry, Paris!
PARIS: I’m hurrying.
Faith and Buffy stand lookout as Paris picks up the tempo. She flips one switch after the next, in an odd sort of symphony.
RORY: Hurry, Paris. Hurry.
PARIS: I’m working as fast as I can… Finished!
All kinds of warning lights start flashing around the reactor, and the reactor itself starts to emit a low hum. Paris stares at the digital POWER OUTPUT readout on the control panel.
PARIS: Power output is at 15%. It’s going to take a few minutes before it reaches full power. Let’s go.
They exit out a second door into the vast chamber containing the reactor. They race down the stairs to the chamber floor. Paris runs up to the reactor, with the others behind her.
PARIS: Okay, you’re going to have to knock a hole in the reactor.
BUFFY: Why?
PARIS: There’s no time to explain. Just do it.
Faith taps on the reactor wall with her finger.
FAITH: I don’t know Buf. This casing is solid metal.
PARIS: The three of you together should be able to do it –
RORY: There’s Kirk!
Kirk walks into the control room.
PARIS: Now!
The three slayers rear back their fists –
BUFFY: And one. Two. Three!
They slam their fists into the wall of the reactor. They punch a large hole in the wall. Metal flies everywhere. When the smoke clears they can see the plasma stream through the hole.
PARIS: Good. None of the plasma is escaping. The magnetic containment field held. Let’s go.
They walk hurriedly to the other side of the reactor as Kirk exits the control room and starts down the stairs.
BUFFY: Okay, so it gets like a million degrees inside there. Right?
PARIS: The peak temperature is over one hundred million degrees Kelvin.
BUFFY: Kelvin, is that like Fahrenheit?
PARIS: Rory!
BUFFY: Okay, I’ll look it up when I get home. Sheesh.
Kirk reaches the bottom of the stairs. The girls take up positions on the far side of the reactor.
BUFFY: Here he comes.
Buffy opens fire with her sidearm and Rory her machine pistol. The bullets strike Kirk but do no damage. Faith whips out a sawed-off shot gun and open fires. She scores direct hits to Kirk’s chest. Kirk staggers a bit. Buffy pulls out the grenade launcher and fires a 40mm grenade at him. The grenade strikes Kirk in the chest and explodes. He is knocked back up against the wall. It takes him a couple seconds to gather himself. He then rises and fires a thunderbolt at the girls. All four girls hit the deck as the thunderbolt sails over them, strikes the wall, and explodes.
Faith rises from the floor and continues to blast away with her shotgun. Kirk responds by firing a thunderbolt at her. She tries to dive out of the way, but the thunderbolt strikes her on the left side of her chest. She is knocked to the floor. She writhes in pain. The flesh on the left side of her chest is severely burned. She tries to get up, but he fires another thunderbolt at her, this time striking her on the right thigh. She collapses hard to the floor. She screams in pain.
BUFFY: Faith!
Meanwhile, Paris rises and circles around the reactor and comes up behind Kirk. She whips out her sword and rams Kirk through the heart from behind, catching him by surprise.
Kirk staggers for just a second. He then grabs the blade of the sword and pulls it out. He heals instantly. He turns and punches Paris hard in the face. She goes flying through the air and crashes up against the wall.
RORY: Paris!
Rory jumps to her feet and walks towards Kirk, unloading with her machine pistol. She runs out of bullets. She tosses the machine pistol aside and takes out her sidearm and continues firing. All to no avail.
Kirk, realizing Rory has the Grail, rushes her. But Buffy comes up and dives between them. She knocks Kirk to the floor. He rises. She kicks him in the chest, sending him tumbling over. Kirk hops to his feet and responds by punching her hard in the face. He then grabs her and twirls her around and sends her flying through the air. She crashes hard to the floor. She lies there, dazed.
Rory, meanwhile, has gotten past Kirk and rushes up to Paris.
RORY: Paris! Paris! Are you okay?
Paris is barely conscious. Rory looks up and sees Kirk walking menacingly toward her. She realizes she has her back to the wall with nowhere to go. He reaches her. He grabs her by the throat, choking her.
Rory grabs his arm, but even with her slayer strength, is unable to break his stranglehold.
KIRK: Just give me the damn Grail!
Kirk slaps her hard across the face. He then tosses her a good twenty feet through the air. She crashes into the metal stairs leading up to the control room. She is knocked instantly unconscious.
Kirk walks over to her. He rips off the backpack. He opens it and takes out the Holy Grail. He holds it up in triumph.
KIRK: For five hundred years I’ve searched for you. Now, at long last, you are mine again.
FAITH: Not quite.
Kirk turns and sees that Faith, summoning all her strength, has managed to rise to her feet. She staggers over to Paris’ sword and picks it up.
Kirk places the Grail in a pouch inside his tunic.
KIRK: Mano a Mano. Hey?
He whips out his sword.
KIRK: It’ll be a pleasure to tear your heart out. Or what’s left of it.
Kirk rushes forward and sends his sword crashing down on her. She is able to block it with her sword. He strikes her blow after blow, but she fights a defensive battle, and is somehow able to block them.
She gradually backpedals towards the reactor. She makes it to the hole in the reactor wall. She sees the plasma stream. Once she reaches it she takes the offensive, sending several hard blows against him. But Kirk blocks them easily. Kirk returns her blows with a single devastating blow. Faith blocks it, but the blow has such force that her sword shatters in her hand and splits in two. Faith tosses the useless stump aside in disgust. She realizes she’s screwed.
Kirk grabs her by the neck and holds her only inches from the plasma stream and certain death. He taunts her with his sword.
KIRK: You are all pathetic. You didn’t really think you could stand against me, did you? No one has ever stood against the Knights Templar.
FAITH: No one except for Lionhearted. Right?
The mere mention of Lionhearted’s name sent a wave of rage coursing through Kirk. He was so blinded by it he didn’t notice Faith’s right hand reaching down to a knife she had secured to her right ankle. She pulls the knife from its sheath and – WHAM - plunges the knife into Kirk’s right thigh, twisting it for good measure.
For just a fraction of a second Kirk felt pain – real pain. Only a fraction. But it was long enough. Faith shifts her weight, dropping towards the floor, then tosses Kirk headfirst towards the plasma stream. At the same time she managed to wrench the Grail from the pouch in his tunic.
With a loud, ungodly cry, Kirk slams into the plasma stream. He never stands a chance. In an instant he is vaporized, his molecules vanishing into nothingness.
Faith slumps against the reactor wall. Tears form in her eyes. She can hardly believe it: Kirk was dead. She staggers over and picks up the empty backpack. She holds the Grail in front of her, a look of grim satisfaction on her face. She places the Grail into the backpack and zips it up.
Rory regains consciousness. She rises and walks over to Paris. She helps Paris up and they walk over to Faith. Buffy recovers and walks up.
BUFFY: You did it, Faith. You did it. He’s dead.
FAITH: No. We all did it.
The four women embrace, scarcely able to hold back the tears.
Buffy steps back and pours over Faith’s wounds.
BUFFY: Faith, you’re hurt.
FAITH: Well, I guess it’s a good thing we slayers heal fast.
Overcome with emotion, the four women embrace once more.
RORY: I just wish Lane could be here. I miss her so much.
Rory breaks down, grieving for Lane. Buffy takes Rory in her arms, comforting her.
BUFFY: You may not believe this, but I know how you feel. I lost my mom. It was like an emptiness that would never go away. But time helps. It gets better. You’ll see.
Buffy wipes the tears from her eyes.
BUFFY: It’s like Babette said, every person has their time. Every person. It was Lane’s time. That’s why we have to make the most of every moment we have.
Buffy turns to Faith.
BUFFY: I love you Faith. I’ve always loved you. I’ve loved you since the first moment I laid eyes on you in the Bronze.
FAITH: I know.
Buffy takes out the engagement ring.
BUFFY: Will you marry me?
FAITH: Yes.
Buffy slips the ring on Faith’s ring finger. They kiss. Their first kiss.
BUFFY: We can head up to Vermont for the civil union. Then the four of us can honeymoon in Niagara Falls like we talked about.
They kiss once more.
Faith turns to Rory.
FAITH: Lionhearted said I would accomplish great things. I believe this belongs to you.
Faith hands the backpack containing the Grail to Rory. Rory takes the Grail out. She stares at it for a long time. Her eyes flicker, as if reflecting a spark of awareness. She looks up at Paris. She then walks over to the hole in the reactor. Without warning, and without saying a word, she tosses the Grail into the plasma stream. It vaporizes instantly.
BUFFY: Oh my God! Rory! Why the hell did you do that! Do you know what you’ve done!
Faith walks over, her voice oddly calm.
FAITH: You destroyed the Holy Grail. Why?
RORY: It’s all so clear now. For five hundred years we slayers have kept the Grail safe. We did so by no one knowing that we possessed it. But once Kirk and the Templars discovered our secret, they made it impossible for us to protect it. Yes, we defeated Kirk, but others would come after him.
Rory turns to Paris.
RORY: I was wrong. I thought God gave you back to me as a gift. But this isn’t about me, it’s about you. It’s always been about you. When the spirit of the Grail raised you from the dead, it became you. You, Paris, are the Holy Grail.
The three women are stunned speechless.
Paris, instinctively, walks up to Faith. She touches her. At her touch all Faith’s wounds are healed.
BUFFY: Oh my God.
PARIS: You don’t have to be afraid. I’m still the same. I will prove it to you.
Paris leans forward and kisses Faith, her tongue probing Faith’s mouth.
Buffy, in turn, reaches over and caresses Rory’s face. Rory’s face is etched with the pain of Lane’s loss, but Buffy’s touch seems to ease it. Buffy kisses her. A long, moving kiss.
Rory glances one last time at the plasma stream, at the nothingness both Kirk and the Grail have become. She turns to Buffy. Buffy’s eyes are locked on Rory’s lips. Rory manages a faint smile. They both lean forward and their lips meet, kissing once more.
Buffy wraps her arm around Rory’s waist. Paris locks arms with Faith.
RORY: Let’s go.
They leave.
The End.