(Conclusion)
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It is at the back of Giles's library where some shelves have been moved to make way for a computer and appurtances.
The screen on the monitor is huge. Oz stands looking at the silver-purple screen and he seems fascinated with it. He goes up and sticks his arm into it, and his arm disappears. He pulls it back out. He sticks it in again, pulls it back out. Giles and Buffy look on, as do Cordelia and Xander.
Xander: I'm here for you, man. But if you want me there (indicating the screen) for you, I'd just like to point out Giles is the only one who's used to the weather in there.
Giles raises his eyebrow.
Oz: No thanks, Xander. (raising his voice slightly) People, Xander asked me 20 times if he could come. I said no--I still feel the only way I can do this is alone. Here (he says pointing to an object on a table) is my cellphone, in case you need it. I tried it and I tried walkie-talkies inside the Mirror World and they don't work. Some kind of dampening field.
Cordelia (hating her own silence): Oz, are you really certain you're done with your hairball thing?
Oz: Yes, I'm sure. Time, now, to go try and find Willow.
Cordelia: Okay. (smirking) You say you can smell your way to her?
Oz (turning to Cordy, he has a very serious look on his face. She is taken aback.): Cordy, could I talk to you alone? In the hall?
Everyone looks at each other.
Cordelia: Sure, Oz.
Cut to Oz and Cordelia in the hall.
They walk toward the stairs.
Oz: I'm not certain how to broach this subject, Cordy?
Cordelia: Cut your hair.
Oz: No, that's not it.
Cordelia: Your hair color? (He shakes his head) Your fingernail polish?
Oz: No, not that either. (pause) You understand, Cordy, that I have this heightened sense of smell, right?
Cordelia (chuckling): Yeah, and you say you can actually smell Willow? That's amazing. I alway thought Willow was the very personification of cleanliness.
Oz: That's just it, Cordy. It has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with cleanliness or the lack thereof. Willow is next to godliness in that respect. No, it has everything to do with pheromones. Pheromones are sexual attractants that the human body produces in the form of a scent, like a natural perfume. You see, at her age Willow continuously produces a veritable bouquet of this scent--it follows her around like an invisible cloud--and it's really a subliminal message to all virile males who whiff it, and the message is, "Hey, I'm here and I'm fertile. Come get me."
Cordelia: Really? Yeah, okay, I remember reading in "Mademoiselle" that they're putting those pheromones thingies into some perfumes.
Oz: Right. And some girls at school wear them and sometimes the smell drives me crazy, and not in a good way, believe me.
Cordelia (nervous laugh): So, I guess then, that I produce natural pheromones also. I do, right? Smell? Good, I mean? Oz? Answer?
Oz: You're the champ. (She gives him a frightened look.) Sorry, Cordy, you ARE. In fact, you are such an engine of pheromone production that, when you're at your max, probably when you're ovulating, virtually every male in this county is physically affected by you. (Cordelia looks faint and leans against the stair railing for support) I've never explained this to Xander, and I won't--it's not fair--but he doesn't really stand a chance if you ever really decided to claim him. Some days it's all THAT I can do to hold MYSELF back from nibbling on your ears. (she smiles awkwardly) The way you pump out the pheromones, you are absolutely without a doubt the most sexually-attracting, fertile, nubile girl I ever expect to encounter. Ever. Needless to say, I, however, was never going to tell you this.
Cordelia (half-way unbelieving): And you ARE telling me this because . . .
Oz: I want to go in and get Will and bring her back out--it must be like a prison for her, there, trapped in this mirror world. I think we're about two miles from where she entered. I don't know what I may encounter in there, but I believe I can locate her. It would help me if I didn't have to worry about finding my way back.
Cordelia: And your want me to dangle my hot bod on this end, so you can smell your way back?
Oz: Precisely.
Cordelia: How much of me? Can I just stick like my arm in?
Oz: Sorry. All of you. It will greatly increase our chances.
Cordelia: Ewww. How gross. And Buffy won't do?
Oz: Buffy is very feminine, but her pheromones are like soft, background, elevator Muzak compared to the ear-splitting blast of your heavy metal boombox.
Cordelia sighs heavily. Her reaction is odd. She turns away and hides a tear which she quickly wipes away. She turns back.
Cordelia: Okay, Oz. Somedays I feel almost helpless, a slave to my insistent, screaming hormones. But, since you have known my secret and kept it so well, I'll help you. You can use my big boombox. It's kind of nice, really, that someone else, if even for a moment, understands what I've been going through, how much I struggle with my emotions.
Oz: Yes, I HAVE known and I've cut you a lot of slack.
Cordelia: I've wondered about that. Okay, deal, Oz. My old boombox is not doing me much good, anyway, just driving ME crazy.
Oz: Cordy, did I ever tell you how far you've come in the last year and how much I've come to respect you?
Cordelia: No, go ahead.
Cut to the Library where Oz, equipped with battery-powered beacons and with an oxygen tank slung over his back enters the silvery-purple screen of the computer.
Buffy, Giles and Xander look on.
Cordelia approaches. Oz's head comes back out.
Oz (artificially loudly): Okay, Cordy, reapply that perfume for me every half-hour. (whispering to her) Forget the perfume, you animal. (she smiles at him.)
Buffy: Cordy, I don't know how long this will take, why don't you go to the little girl's room now.
Cordelia: Oh, yeah, good idea.
Oz disappears.
Cut to the mirror realm filled with banks of clouds that move gently with an unseen wind.
Oz shifts his paraphernalia around on his body so it is more comfortable. Then, he holds his head up and inhales. He shines the light ahead of him and starts off in that direction.
Cut back to where the Scooby Gang is gathered around the Computer monitor.
A feminine hand comes from inside the computer and rests lightly on the inside of the frame. An air-raid like siren goes off in the distance. The gang looks at each other and the clock and shrugs. It is nine o'clock.
Cut to Oz moving through the dense fog.
Cut back to the Library.
Another picture of the clock. It is 9:15. There is a distant sound of car horns blaring and being honked. Then there is a crash. Giles cracks a window and looks out. As far as the eye can see cars fill the street and they are not moving. Angry drivers shake their fists at each other.
Giles retracts his head and hurries out into the hall. Jonathan is there all alone sitting on the stairs.
Giles (to Jonathan): What's the matter? What's happening?
Jonathan: Haven't you heard? There's an atomic bomb somewhere in this general area. Armed to go off at midnight. No one knows where it is and all the roads are jammed with people trying to get away. You can't get very far on foot in two hours and you may actually move closer to the bomb. They don't know where to go.
Giles (floored, he sits down beside Jonathan): What are you doing here, Jonathan?
Jonathan: I don't know. My parents are out of town. I guess I just always feel safe in school.
Cut to Spike, dressed for action in one of his leather outfits, driving his car.
He is trapped on a street and he leaves the road and drives though someone's yard and through their fence.
Spike (to himself): I'll bloody well find their stupid bomb for them. I just need my handy-dandy bomb detector.
He approaches a field and takes off through it.
Cut to Spike arriving across from a stylish condo.
He gets out.
Cut to Spike knocking on the door.
Druscilla opens it carrying Miss Edith.
Spike: Nice place I'm paying for. Come along, Love. We've got work to do.
Druscilla: Time to find your little bomb, eh?
Spike: Looks like it, Pet.
Druscilla: Maybe we can run away somewhere.
Spike: Not my style, Precious. They don't know where it is. Maybe if we locate it, they can shut it off.
Later, Spike, with Druscilla in the front seat acting like a pointer, is driving through fields and people's yards in the dark.
Spike gets on the cell phone.
Spike (on the phone, as the car bounces): Mr. Giles, I don't know how much good it'll do, but Dru and I are going to find your bomb. Perhaps if and when we do, you can find something to do with this information.
Cut to the Library
Cordy has her head outside the screen. She looks terrified.
Cordy: AN ATOMIC WHAT!!!
Cut to inside the mirror world.
Oz suddenly straightens and gets a worried look on his face. He increases his pace.
Oz: Rut-Ro (pronounced like Ut-oh but a Soupy Sales White Fang reference.)
Cut to another spot inside the mirror world.
A light approaches and a sleeping Willow stirs. Oz arrives and shines the light in her eyes.
Oz (shaking her shoulder): Will, Will. Awaken, Sleeping Princess. It is I, your Prince.
Willow (eyes closed): I'm up, Mom. I'll be right down.
Oz shakes her again. Her eyes open. Oz shines the light on himself. Willow smiles and then thinks a bit and then looks around herself.
Willow: Oh, Oz, you're wonderful. How did you ever find me? I thought I would die in here.
Oz: Never underestimate us little guys. We hang on to our women. Can you get up? We've got to hurry. Something has happened.
Willow scrambles to her feet. She seems about to faint and Oz catches her.
Willow: I think I'll be all right. Give me a sec.
Oz: Try to move. We need to . . .
Oz stops and is suddenly alert.
Willow: What's the matter?
Oz: There are others in here with us. Now that I quit concentrating on you, I can pick them up. They're right over . . . (he leads her through the fog. Suddenly he disappears).
Willow: Oz, where are you?
Oz: Down here. I tripped over someone.
Willow shuffles her feet forward and kicks something. She bends down and there's just enough light from Oz's beacons to see a young girl. Suddenly, right in front of Willow, people rise eerily in the mist.
Oz: We've got a bunch of people here. There should be, let's see, maybe six if Giles was right about the Entry of Seven spell.
Oz approaches Willow again. He pecks her on the lips.
Oz: I'd love a hug, but we've got to move. A serious problem has come up--don't ask me how I know. Help me move these people along with us. I think they're in shock. We have to hurry.
Willow: Okay, we should all link hands. Oz, how are you finding our way out of here?
Oz: I'll explain later, Will. Right now I need to concentrate. Let's keep them moving. (raising his voice) Call out, anyone, if you get separated. Let's link hands. Okay, hold still. (He goes down the line counting.) Okay, seven counting you, Will. Let's go.
He goes to the head of the line and sets off in a direction.
Cut to the reception area of the Boeing Plant.
Spike is sitting on a couch . Druscilla is lying with her upper body in his lap. He leans down and hugs her and kisses her on the forehead.
Druscilla: Spike, will you love me forever?
Spike: Forever, Pet.
Druscilla: I've really been lucky to have had you.
Spike: I know, Pet. I've no doubt been a treasure.
Druscilla (smiling): Sing to me, Honeyfangs.
Spike (to himself, but loud enough for Dru to hear): Why does everyone want me to sing? (out loud) Okay, Poopsie, why not?
Spike (singing one bar):
I started a joke, and started the whole world
crying.
Oh, I couldn't see that the joke was on me.
Druscilla : Will you hold me tight, Spike, and rock me to sleep?
Spike: Sure, Pet, wait here while I go get the rock.
Druscilla (smiling): What will happen to us, Spike, when the bomb goes off?
Spike: I don't know about you, Pet, but I will go on loving you.
Druscilla: That's sweet. Can I do anything for you? How about one for the road?
Spike: It may yet come to that, but Dru, my lovely, you could promise me that in the future you'll lay off the little tykes. It's your only less-than-perfect feature.
Druscilla (looking at her watch): Okay, I promise.
Cut back to the Library.
Xander, Buffy, and Giles pace around the room. Cordy's hand can be seen resting lightly on the cabinet of the computer monitor. It is tapping; suddenly the hand seems frantic.
Cordelia (sticking her head outside the monitor): Ah, guys? (looking embarrassed) I've got to go potty.
Cut to a scene of Buffy inside the mirror world standing on a library three-step.
She applies a spray of perfume to her arm, and then she smiles and spritzes some in her cleavage.
Cut back to the mirror world>
Oz stops. The others run right up into him.
Willow: What's wrong, Oz?
Oz: I lost my homing signal, my beacon.
Willow: Nothing?
Oz: Nothing. There are so many other scents in here, and now I'm confused. Well, let's hope it's only temporary. I'll just try to keep us headed straight.
Cut to the hallway of the school just outside the door to the Girls' Room
Cordelia nonchalantly comes out the door, and then she suddenly stops and looks around for a hiding place, but it is too late. Heading in her direction are Principal Snyder and a man and woman.
Snyder: Oh, good. There she is. I'll be right back, Chase. Give me a minute.
Snyder turns and leaves.
The Man: Okay, Cordelia. We have a helicopter outside and we're getting you out of here.
Cordelia: Oh, thanks, Dad, but no thanks. I have something really important to do.
Mr. Chase: Important, huh? Really? Is this like your normal activity that you seem to think is so important--hanging around somewhere shaking you fanny so a boy notices you.
Cordelia (thinking): Oh? No, what I had in mind was totally different than that. (she looks confused) I think. No, actuallly that's pretty-much what I was going to be doing. Anyway, it's a LITTLE more complicated.
Mrs. Chase: Well, if you don't want to come with us, dear, how about, at least, walking us outside?
Cordelia: Sure, Mom. So, how did your dinner party turn out?
Cut to inside the mirror world
Oz leads his merry band, but he has a very concerned expression on his face and he no longer bothers to sniff.
Cut back to inside the library.
Angel comes through the door of the library and encounters Giles and Xander.
Angel: Shouldn't you guys be outa here with the bomb and all? I already checked on Joyce and found out that she, lucky girl, took the junket to Vegas. R & R after her ordeal. What's going on here?
Giles, and Xander look up and say say "Hey."
Xander (in his best Ricky Ricardo accent): Angel. Let me 'splain it all to you.
Cut to outside the school
As Cordelia follows her parents out the front door, she is immediately grabbed and held by an immense, good-looking man in a pilot's uniform.
Cordelia: What? Oh (looking up at the man) Scott, under other circumstances, I might actualy enjoy this. Please, let me go.
Cordelia's Mother: Cordelia, you're coming along with us and that's the final word on the matter.
Cordelia strugges, but the man is so large, he actually lifts her off the ground and carries her toward the helicopter.
Cut back to the Library
Angel goes up to the computer monitor and touches Buffy's hand.
She pokes her head through the monitor and, seeing Angel, immediately smiles.
Buffy: Hey! (He smiles back) (Then she screws up her face.) Hey, where is Cordy?
Giles: Oh, I'm sure she'll be right back.
Cut back to Oz leading his group. He stops and looks around uncertain.
Willow comes up and hugs him.
Willow: Don't worry so much. Now that I have you with me, we'll be okay.
Oz: Sorry, Will, we're lost. I've never felt so helpless. I don't have any point of reference. We might be going around in circles. Oh, well, might as well keep moving. How are the others?
Willow: Quiet. (pensively) You know, Oz, I just wanted to say, for the record, that you're a hottie, you da bomb, and you rock.
Oz: Thanks, Will. But I don't feel so wonderful.
As he leads them away, another presence follows them.
Suddenly, they come to an area where the mist seems to thin. There is a kind of a light ahead. After Oz takes another few steps, he stops and puts his arms up to block others from reaching his position. Ahead of him, is a night full of stars and planets and constellations. He seems to be on a ledge at the edge of the universe, where there is only cosmic space ahead of him. He looks down to see what the ground is like where he is standing, and after he sees that the ground seems to be clear plastic with stars visible beneath him, he is frozen with fright.
Oz: Hey, Will, we're in trouble. We need to back up. Straight back. And I don't know how solid the ground is here.
Willow is also dumbfounded at the sight.
Willow: Well, we're standing on something. Okay, Oz, let's inch backward.
They slide their feet backwards until they are once again fully enveloped by the mist and then Oz, trembling, collapses to the ground.
Cut back to outside the school.
The helicopter is running. Cordelia is physically placed in the front seat of the helicopter and buckled in.
Scott (turning to Cordelia's father as he enters the rear): Sir, if you just hold onto this (he indicates the buckle of Cordelia's seat belt) she will not be able to get free.
Mr. Chase: Good man, Scott. I've got a fabulous bonus waiting for you for your part in this little excursion.
The large man smiles. Snyder comes up to the helicopter with a briefcase and climbs into a far rear seat behind the Chases.
Snyder: Thanks again.
Cordelia: But, Dad, I've really got something very important to do. Really.
Mr. Chase: Yeah, like what? I think all the stores are closed. You don't know what important is. Important is being safe at a time like this.
Scott comes around and climbs into the pilot's seat. Cordelia looks at the instrument panel and notices the keys in the ignition. She leans forward and grabs them, twists them free and throws them out Scott's door before he can close it. The helicopter is rendered silent. Without power, the blade begins to slow to a stop. Scott leaves to retrieve the keys. Mr. Chase is livid and in his fury, he lets go of the buckle long enough for Cordelia to break free, and she gets her door open and steps out.
Mr. Chase: Scott, get hold of her again.
Snyder: Miss Chase, come back in here.
Scott, ducking down, begins to move around the helicopter, angling to trap Cordelia, but she circles it also keeping opposite him. She's good at this. Scott gets frustrated very quickly and he stops, and Cordelia takes off running toward the school.
Cordelia's Mom: Young lady, if you don't get back in here, you can forget that leather jacket we saw yesterday at the Cinnamon Barn.
Cordelia stops in mid-flight, her brain having been temporarily short-circuited. She turns.
Cordelia: Mom, get on the clue train. Sorry, I DO have important things to do sometimes. And, anyway, tomorrow that jacket'll probably be radioactive.
Cordelia's Father: So will you.
Cordelia runs back toward the school.
Cut back to the library. Angel and Buffy and Giles are talking. A feminine hand rests lightly on the inside of the computer terminal.
Angel: And Spike is actually WITH the bomb?
Buffy: Dru found it.
Angel: Yeah, I guess she could. And he's at the aircraft plant?
Giles: Yes, we alerted the police and now that they know where it's at they can get people out of the area, but I get the impression they can't disarm it because they think it's booby-trapped.
Angel: Too bad Spike doesn't know anything about computers.
Buffy (intrigued): And you do?
Angel (smiling): A little. I bought one and I started taking night classes.
Buffy is stunned. She looks at him strangely.
Buffy: And here all along I thought you were just another pretty face.
Angel smiles.
Giles: Very commendable, I'm sure. But why did you just say that? About Spike and computers? He DOES know something about computers thanks to Willow and Oz.
Cut to the mirror world.
Oz sits next to Willow and has his arm around her. He leans forward for a kiss. They kiss.
Willow: Oh, that was nice. See, this place can be okay. You know, I don't think we can grow older here. I've been here, what, a few days? almost a week? And my fingernails have not grown at all. (Her voice trails off.) And there won't be a full moon here. So, it'll be okay.
Oz is dozing off. Suddenly, though, he looks alert and then he smiles. He rises and looks down at himself and smiles again.
Oz: Let's do this back in Sunnydale, Will. My beacon has returned. I hope you don't mind if I nibble on Cordelia's ears when we get back.
Willow looks puzzled but smiles.
Cut to the aircraft factory.
Spike's cellular phone rings.
Split screen with the Library
Spike (on the phone): Ground zero.
Buffy: Spike, this is Buffy. How are you?
Spike: Oh, you know, just as Spiky as ever. Maintaining my Spikiness. For the next half-hour, at least. How's 'bout you, Sweetums?
Buffy: Spike, this is important. We have an idea and need to know something. We need to know how thick the bomb is at its fattest spot?
Spike: It's about the size of a large male human body, I'd say. Why?
Buffy: We need to know exactly. We also need for you to determine the size of the screen on the largest computer monitor you can find. Please report back quickly. A matter of life and . . . undeath.
Spike: Okay. Roger, Wilco.
Giles to Buffy: Have him check their engineering department. They sometimes have larger monitors for CADCAM drawings. (Angel whispers into Giles's ear) And see if he can find one with Microsoft Office on it; he needs PowerPoint.
Bufffy: Spike, did you hear all that?
Spike: Yes, largest monitor, engineering department, PowerPoint.
Buffy: As quickly as possible.
Spike: Okay. I'll call you right back. (He gets up and Druscilla falls on the floor) Oops, sorry, Pet, but I think I have something important to do. I'll be right back.
He gets up and goes to the elevator. A signboard says that the Engineering Department is on the third floor. He pushes the button, gets in, and the elevator goes up.
Cut to Spike exiting the elevator.
A giant working office, now devoid of people, spreads out ahead of him. He runs up the aisle between many desks that have computers on them, but he heads towards the cubicles along the far wall that contain larger monitors. He goes up to one and turns it on. It loads Windows and then puts icons on the screen. Microsoft Office is one of them. He rummages through a desk and pulls out a ruler and measures the screen, having to put his finger on the screen and move the ruler.
Spike (to himself): Blimey. Twenty-one.
He puts the ruler in his pocket and bolts again for the elevator, goes down to the ground floor, and runs out past Druscilla.
Spike: Be back in a sec, Love.
He goes out the front door and heads for the parking lot. The truck housing the bomb is sitting all alone off to the side. He goes into the cab and opens the glove compartment and finds a flashlight. Then he runs around to the rear and clambers up into the back. He runs inside to the box in question and, suddenly going vamp-browed and growling, he rips the wooden crating off from around the bomb. The bomb is long and thin like a torpedo. He totally uncovers it and examines it. There are fins on the back, but the fattest spot is in the round center. There is a green blanket wrapped around the back and he removes it, examines it curiously, and then discards it. He takes off his jacket and pushes a sleeve under the bomb (the crating suspends it up off the floor) and he bends the sleeve around and pulls it tight and he pulls out a key and scrapes the leather at the point on the arm where the bottom of the sleeve touches. Then he measures the length of the sleeve using his ruler.
Spike unvamps, pulls out the cell phone and pushes a button and waits.
Split screen with the Library
Giles: Hello.
Spike: The screen is twenty-one inches and has PowerPoint; (looking down to where it says "Good night, Detroit" on the side) Little Detroit here is fifty-seven and three-eightth inches around the outside at its widest spot.
Giles: Can't you tell me the actual width? It's crucial.
Spike: I could estimate it, but somewhere in your blasted library, Mr. Librarian, you've got a math formula that will let you blood-well figure it out. You're a swot; act like it. And you're going to have to start acting more erudite in front of these Americans, Mr. Giles, or we Brits are bloody-well going to disown you.
Giles: Complaint duly noted. Okay, wait. (to Buffy) Bring me that dictionary and a calculator. (She hands it to him.) Okay, circumference is 2 pi r. Pi is . . .
Spike: Three point one four one five nine. And 2 r is two times the radius, and two times the radius is the diameter which is the thing you're looking for. So, just divide the 57.375 by 3.14159 and what do we get? (in his best schoolmarm voice) Rupert?
Giles (working the calculator): 18.26. (to himself) It might fit.
Xander (comes into the frame and whispers to Giles): Cordy's parents have finally flown the coop. (Giles nods)
Spike: Okay, are you going to let me in on your little secret? What might fit?
Angel whispers to Giles.
Giles: Spike, go back in the office and find a computer with a modem. Get moving and I'll explain it to you on the way.
Cut to Spike at a computer. He pulls a disk out of the machine.
Giles (on the phone, his voice is seething): Okay, okay, it's a deal. You have my word. Now, that downloaded file is your background color. I hope it will work. How heavy is that bomb? I hope you can you manage it? You only have twenty minutes. I'll let you go. Good luck.
Cut to the Library as Giles hangs up. Giles sits down heavily on a chair and puts his head down in his folded arms. Xander, Buffy and Angel look on.
Giles: God, I hope I don't live to regret that. All that. If those kids are not back in (he looks at the clock) eighteen minutes, and our friend Spike is as resourceful as I believe he can be, I don't know what will happen. I may have just sacrificed our two friends for around five hundred thousand southern Californians. From all I've seen, I'm not terribly convinced I've made the right decision. I want Cordelia out of there a full minute before midnight; no sense letting her remain in harm's way.
Cut to Spike back at the computer terminal
Spike hangs up. He looks one way, then the other. He seems indecisive.
Spike (banging his fist on the desk): I'll never get that bomb in here. (He stops and considers.) Wait, if Mohammed can't go to the mountain, I need to bring the mountain to Mohammed. I hope, I hope. But the power? How will I get the power to it? There's no extension cord long enough. May have to move the truck. Got to keep trying. This is an amazing world--I'd hate to lose it.
He runs across the room and gets back into the elevator.
Cut back to the mirror world
Oz leads his people through the dense mist.
Oz (turning his head toward Willow): The scent is strong once again. We got way off track but we're okay now. We'll get there.
Willow: Can you tell how long?
Oz: Not long. Maybe a half-hour. Certainly no longer than an hour.
Willow: It'll be good to see Giles again. And maybe we can go back to work for Mr. Bonham.
Willow stumbles over something and then Oz lifts up and steadies her and they continue forward. The entire line of people files past. The camera descends to the ground where a serpent-like creature rises up, then slithers after the processional.
Cut back to the offices of the aircraft plant
Getting out at the third floor, he looks around frantically. Then he see a door off to the side that says Janitor. He opens the door and sees a large cardboard garbage barrel on a wheeled cart. He pulls the barrel off the cart, tosses it aside and runs up the aisle, pushing the cart. He arrives at the office with the 21 inch computer screen and disconnects everything but the screen and the keyboard and mouse. He goes down on the floor to unplug it and sees a UPS between the computer and the wall.
Spike: Yes!!! (He raises up in elation and hits his head) Ouch!
He unplugs the computer at the wall and a droning beep begins sounding. He loads the parts on the cart and checks his pocket for the disk, and then he pushes the cart toward the elevator. The elevator is not there and doesn't come immediately and he seethes. Finally it comes and Dru gets out.
Druscilla: Spike, what are you . . .
Spike (pushing the cart into the elevator and then pulling Druscilla in behind him, he hits a button): Can't talk, LovePet, I only have fifteen minutes to save your lovely arse. Come along if you wish, but please stay out of my way for the next little bit. If we must vaporize I want to go out fighting for us.
Cut back to the mirror world
As Oz leads the procession, raising his head every so often and inhaling, it proceeds forward.
Cut to a scene showing two of the children's linked hands as they walk.
Between two of the children another child walks up and separates two linked hands and links his hands between the other two and joins the walking group.
Cut back to the offices
The elevator hits the ground floor. The droning tone of the emergency power unit continues to sound. Spike pushes the cart out of the elevator and toward a handicapped sign which, it turns out, is a ramp out of the building. Druscilla follows.
He reaches the parking lot and pushes the cart toward the truck.
He checks his watch on the way. Druscilla continues to follow.
Spike: Damn it all to hell. Ten minutes to go. Well, let's hope those Rooskies were drunk on vodka when they put together this timer.
Spike reaches the back of the truck and turns the computer on. It begins booting up and he jumps into the back of the truck. He vamps his brow and grabs hold of the bomb in its crating and pulls and tugs at it. It is hardly budging. Dru scrambles up into the back of the truck and together they rock it back and forth and they begin sliding it toward the edge of the truck. Spike jumps off the back and goes to the computer and using his sleeve as a mouse pad, he clicks on the PowerPoint icon. He inserts the floppy disk into the drive and clicks on a few selections. He looks at it funny and then quickly inserts his fist into the screen and watches it disappears inside. He almost smiles.
He looks at his watch and his face vamps all by itself. He runs over to to the edge of the truck and pulls and tugs at the bottom of the crate and it comes forward; he pulls it some more and Druscilla gets behind and pushes until it teeters on the edge of the back of the truck. He looks around confused trying to figure out how next to proceed.
Cut back to the mirror world
Oz increases the pace.
Oz (over his shoulder): Her scent is very strong. Maybe another fifteen minutes.
Cut to the back of the truck.
Spike is vamp-browed and livid. Finally in frustration he pulls off his leather jacket. He hooks the back around the back of the bomb and evens out the sleeves. He picks up the computer monitor and slides it forward over the front of the bomb and he grabs both sleeves and tugs.
Spike: Push, Dru, push. I missed my calling. I would have made a terrific Lamaze coach.
Cut back to the Library
Giles is biting his hand and he looks up at the clock again. The dial has gone past 11:58. He jumps up. Giles: Okay, we can't wait! Get her the bloody hell out of there.
Buffy approaches the monitor and taps Cordelia's hand. Cordelia's head appears through the screen.
Buffy: Sorry, Cordy, but Giles just pulled the plug. Come on out.
Cordelia: But Oz needs me here.
Buffy: Oz and Willow may not make it back, and Giles is having Spike push the bomb into the area behind you. If it goes off in there, you may get your fanny scorched.
Cordelia: Oh? OH?
Giles: Please, Cordelia. I want you safe.
Cordelia: Sure, Giles. Whatever you say. Maybe I can just dangle my arm in for a while.
Cut back to the truck. Druscilla pushes and Spike pulls on the sleeves of his jacket with his left hand and he angles the monitor so it continues to capture the bomb as it moves forward. But, suddenly the bomb tips over the edge of the back of the truck and begins to slide forward. Spike lets go of the sleeves and grabs the monitor with both arms and tries to keep it straight, but the bomb continues to angle away and Spike moves with it and, while trying to keep the bomb falling into the monitor, HE falls to the ground jarring the monitor and it blinks briefly and stays on, but it has the rear fin of the bomb sticking out of it, slanted off to the side.
Cut back to the Library
Cordelia begins to climb out and Buffy and Xander grab her arms.
Cordelia: Oooh! I've just been goosed. I think they're right behind me.
Giles (frantically, looking at the clock): Get them out! Get them out!
Cordelia is fully out and a child is handed out to Buffy, then another to Xander, then another to Angel.
Giles: Where did THEY come from? Get them out, get them out quickly. Where is Willow?
Cut back to the truck
Spike moves forward quickly and reaches into the monitor to free the tail of the bomb that is hung up on the edge of the monitor; his exertions cause him to appear vamp-browed and he screams, "Bloody Something or Other" as he finally frees the bomb but by then he has his two arms and most of his head into the monitor and is still withdrawing himself as the bomb finally goes off. The piercing brightness of the light can be seen on the screen and Spike recoils from the blast and the glass of the monitor shatters and he is blown up and backward forty feet from that spot and lands on the asphalt of the parking lot.
Cut back to the Library
Willow comes through the monitor and Xander hugs her. Oz's hand reaches forward and he starts through and then senses something behind him and he literally springs forward with werewolvian instincts landing on Willow and Xander and even knocking Buffy to the ground. Behind him the monitor immediately flashes white, shatters and then goes black.
Cut to the basement of the school
In a dark room marked "Emergency Shelter" Jonathan looks at the glowing dial of his watch and crawls out from under a table. He looks all around him and he goes over and turns on the lights. When they work, he smiles. The sound of sirens going off in the distance (an all-clear) reaches his ears and further relaxes his face. He smiles with relief. He goes to the exit and turns the lights back out before going out the door. As he goes to take a step out into the hall, however, something warns him to hesitate, and he stops as something large slithers past him, making a hissing noise as it travels. He is frightened, and he steps back in and closes the door. He listens further. After a few minutes, he opens the door and looks out again in the direction that the hissing thing headed. There is nothing there and so he opens the door and bolts in the opposite direction.
Cut back to the truck
Spike lies on the ground. His head and arms are glowing and then the glow diminishes and disappears but his upper body is so badly singed that it is just a blackened amorphous mass. Viewing this from the back of the truck, Druscilla is horrified and just manages to stare, seemingly without being able to move.
Finally she shrieks and scrambles down off the back of the truck and runs toward him.
Heard in the background is Spike's voice singing:
"Till I finally died, and started the whole world living."
Druscilla: Spike, Spike. Don't leave me.
Druscilla runs over to his body and goes to scoop him up but then hesitates, not knowing where or how or what to grab onto so it won't be painful for him.
Finally she stoops down and puts her hand on his leg.
Dru: Spike, Spike, can you hear me?
Spike raises a foot briefly off the ground.
Dru (crying): Oh, God. Let him get better. Let him be my handsome boy once again.
Cut to Giles and Buffy and Angel getting into Joyce's SUV and, with Giles driving, heading off and away.
Cut to scenes of Giles encountering all kinds of traffic and leaving the road and traveling across country.
Cut to a scene of the SUV driving across the grass and arriving in the parking lot of the aircraft plant.
The car stops and Buffy gets out and runs toward Druscilla who is sitting on the ground next to Spike's body. Giles and Angel follow behind, Giles with a geiger counter.
Buffy approaches Druscilla and draws a stake.
Druscilla is sobbing, crying but she reluctantly gets to her feet to defend herself. Buffy glances down at Spike whose head is a blackened mass; he somehow must be able to see her, however, as he cries out in unintelligible anguish. Buffy looks down at him sadly. He becomes agitated and despite obvious pain, he manages to raise an arm and point at her.
Giles (running up, with Angel): Buffy, no. Stop!
Buffy looks up questioningly at Giles. He does not look her in the eye but instead looks down at Spike and shakes his head. He waves the Geiger counter over him. It barely clicks.
Giles (somberly): I'm afraid I made a Faustian bargain with our friend, here, but it certainly looks as though he's gotten the worst of the deal. I agreed to forgive Druscilla for all her past transgressions, including the killing of Kendra, if he could prevent an atomic blast from happening here (he motions.)
Buffy frowns.
Giles (continues, explaining): Okay, I had to rationalize my decision. Kendra was a trained sanctioned Slayer at her full power. She and Dru fought to the death with all the weapons at their disposal. It WAS a fair fight as fights go. This is a war, and that was a battle and this (motioning around him) was a battle, and I've agreed with Spike to grant her anmesty for all our past battles. She starts anew. You don't have to like it; you just have to try to accept it. I hope you can.
Buffy: I see.
Buffy quickly grows self-conscious and puts the stake away, and Spike who was squirming in pain calms down once again. Angel kneels at Spike's side and looks at him.
Buffy (examining her own feelings about this revelation): Well, I . . .
Druscilla suddenly erupts into a fit of helpless sobbing, and Buffy, not knowing WHAT to do, moves forward and . . . hugs her.
Druscilla: He loves me. (Buffy pats her on the back.)
Buffy: Yes, yes he does.
Druscilla (to everyone): I made him, you know?
Angel: Yes, I remember.
THIS SONG PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND TILL THE END OF THIS EPISODE:
Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying by Gerry and the Pacemakers. (Microsoft? Try the HyperText.) (Netscape? Try the Symbol)