Act 4
Fade In:
Int.
Russia – Temple Chamber – Continuous
Rowena’s body lay motionless on the ground as Chris stepped up to the small platform in front of the book’s pedestal. Unseen by him, however, Rowena’s lips were moving slightly.
Chris re-holstered his gun and crept closer to the book. He closed his hands on either side and began to smile.
“Payday,” he muttered, as he began to lift the book from its place.
Rowena rose up to her knees, the crimson stains on her jacket beginning to fade away. She quickly turned her head to see Chris holding the book.
Chris continued to smile, but it was replaced by a look of concern when he began to shake involuntarily. The book fell from his grip to the pedestal again, and he took several steps back. Although he no longer had the book, he continued to shake.
Rowena watched from behind as Chris burst into flames. She jumped back as he stumbled from the platform to the floor. continuing to burn. He tried to roll to put out the flames, but they only grew brighter in intensity. Rowena shielded her mouth and nose with the crook of her elbow. She watched until Chris was nothing more than a smoking skeleton of his former self.
From nowhere, the guardian appeared in the room.
“Obviously he wasn’t worthy,” she said to a still shocked Rowena.
“You don’t say?” Rowena replied. “Maybe it has something to do with the fact the bastard shot me,” she said, moving to her feet.
“Perhaps,” the guardian replied dryly.
Rowena took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. She looked at the pedestal and then the guardian, then back at the pedestal again. She turned once more to the woman.
“Now when you say love…” Rowena said, “are we talking romantic love or friendship love? I want to get the rules straight before I become the next human campfire marshmallow.”
The guardian tried to look sober, but after a moment began to grin. “Haven’t you risked your life already?” she asked. “What’s one more risk?”
“Life and death apparently,” Rowena said, motioning to Chris’s body. “I’ll be the first one to admit I don’t have much of a life, but I would like to keep what little I have.”
“Very well,” she replied. “The answer is yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?” Rowena asked. “Yes romantic or yes friendship?”
“Yes.”
Rowena rolled her eyes. “Who’s on first,” she grumbled, then again spoke louder. “Look, I’m asking –”
“I know what you’re asking,” the guardian replied. “And I’ve given my answer. It’s up to you to do the rest.”
“Fine,” Rowena said, with a sense of finality. With this, she stepped onto the platform. She moved slowly to the pedestal and took a deep breath before closing her eyes and picking up the book. As she stood there, she opened one eye first, then the other. Quickly, she left the platform and took her backpack from her back.
“Now,” the guardian said, “was that so hard?” Rowena gave her an incredulous look, which made the woman grin once again. Without replying, Rowena put the book inside the backpack. “Take the stairs.” The guardian motioned to another door leading out of the room. “They lead to the roof. There you’ll find a pentagram I created for you. Step inside the inner circle, and you’ll avoid the guards.” Rowena hesitated, looking from the door to the white-haired woman. “You have the book for a reason, young lady,” the guardian went on. “Use it well and guard it wisely.”
Rowena nodded. “I will,” she replied.
Flash To:
Ext.
Crashed Plane – Morning
“So what happened after you got to the pentagram?” Kennedy asked.
“I ended up in Berlin,” Rowena said.
“How?” Kennedy asked.
“Hell if I know,” Rowena replied. “But I was out of Russia, so I wasn’t complaining.”
Kennedy looked confused. “I’m missing something,” she said. “The bringers that went after watchers and potentials came after you, right?”
“Yes,” Rowena said.
“Then who attacked you on the train, if Chris didn’t have the location himself?”
“I don’t know,” Rowena said, “but I’ve always assumed it was other parties after the book – an agent of the First who knew of its location, perhaps. Maybe it was someone within the Council who wanted to stop me. Honestly, I can’t say, but my suspicion levels were raised, obviously. I had the book, yes, but I couldn’t trust Tyrell to know I had it. I didn’t know if Tyrell was really clueless about who he hired to help me or if he was in cahoots with the First. Since Travers didn’t know about Chris’s hiring, I figured I’d take the book to him, but I said nothing to anyone about having it – not even Travers. I wanted to feel him out before I handed it over. I found out about Ipek from Travers and planned to meet privately with him the day I returned…but it never happened.”
Flash To:
Ext.
Street Near Old Watchers Council – Day
London 2002
Rowena looked out the taxi window as she neared her destination. She barely blinked her hazel eyes, which showed circles from nearly no sleep. In her arms she clutched a satchel, one that looked larger than it really was simply because she herself was a bit petite.
The stately neighborhood was encased in red brick and ivy-clung walls. Nearly a third of the buildings in the area had domes, and almost all looked as if they’d first gone up during Victoria’s reign. The area looked respectable, trustworthy, even a little royal. The few protective gargoyles that could be seen were lions or angels. No demons or fantastical beasts seemed to be allowed.
Silently, she slid out of the cab. Then she paid her fare.
“Keep the change,” she told the driver.
His eyes lit up. “Thank you! You have a wonderful day, Miss.”
The tip was generous, if not lavish. Waiting until he was well out of sight, she turned and made her way on foot, the satchel handle held tightly in her grip.
At last, she turned a corner and stopped. It stood half a block away, a five-story building that looked as if it might house a small university or a medium-sized law firm. The gate surrounding the structure looked antique, although in sturdy condition.
On the gate was a large coat of arms, freshly painted. The shield showed a sleeping lion, and above it three ravens. Below that was a scroll bearing words in Latin:
PER EXPEDIA, VICTUS!
“From Knowledge, Victory,” she said softly, translating the words out loud.
Clutching the satchel handle even more tightly, she took one step forward and froze.
Cannon fire, or what sounded like it, suddenly echoed off all the surrounding buildings. Her ears popped. With the huge noise came a bright orange light, followed by hot wind. Glass shattered in every direction and rained down, along with concrete, brick, timbers, and ash. Instinctively, Rowena clutched the satchel and ran.
Debris pelted her body as she raced for cover. Spotting the cargo bay of a nearby building, she dove inside, narrowly avoiding a huge chunk of concrete as it crashed to earth. The leap and the debris impact knocked her to the ground. Workers inside helped her to her feet, dusting her off and checking her for injuries.
“What the bloody hell was that? You okay, luv?” one asked.
Rowena didn’t respond. She looked back out to see that the object that nearly crushed her wasn’t concrete at all. It was a piece of burning wood, part of a very large, very sturdy bookcase.
Next came the sound of agonizing and fearful screams. Slowly she walked to the edge of the bay. She felt her eyes grow wet and she clutched the handle of her satchel once more.
She heard someone yelling, but her ears still rang, making it difficult to hear the muffled voices. Regardless, she didn’t react, but kept staring at the burning wreck of what had once been a building of size and grandeur.
A rugged-looking man appeared and began to tug at her arm. “Come on, then! We gotta get clear! Miss? Miss?” Rowena just had a blank stare.
Flash To:
Ext.
Crashed Plane – Morning
“The First blew up the Council,” Kennedy remarked.
“Yeah,” Rowena answered. “James and a few others weren’t in the building that day. When he contacted me about the Opus, I told him I hadn’t gotten it. I couldn’t trust him.”
“So you kept the book,” Kennedy answered.
“No,” Rowena answered, at which Kennedy raised a surprised eyebrow. “I gave it to the one person I knew I could trust and who had the power to protect it.”
Cut To:
Int.
Althenea’s Quarters – Day
Devon, England
2002
Althenea opened her door and her jaw immediately dropped. Almost as quickly, she began to cry and stepped out into the hallway to pull Rowena into her arms.
“My Goddess, I thought you were dead,” she whispered through her tears as she continued to hold the watcher.
“I need to get inside,” Rowena replied, unflinching.
“Of course, come in,” Althenea said, pulling her inside and closing the door behind them. She wiped her eyes. “How long have you been in England?”
“I just got back today,” she replied quickly. “I assume you heard about the Council explosion.”
“I did,” Althenea replied solemnly.
“I…I need your help.”
“Anything,” Althenea told her.
Rowena reached inside her satchel and pulled out a large book. “Here it is.”
“The Opus?” Althenea said. She examined the cover, her hands running over it. “You did it,” she said proudly.
“But the Council doesn’t know I have it. I told them I failed when I called in. I don’t want them to know I have it.”
“Ro?” Althenea asked, more out of concern than confusion. Rowena, however, didn’t seem to be listening as she went on.
“And, in truth, I’m hoping I’m not the one who keeps it.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Althenea said after a pause.
“I don’t know who’s left, but I know there’s only one person in this entire Council I trust anymore…that’s you. You’ve got the skills and-and the power to keep this safe. Whatever is inside this book, people were willing to kill and die for it – even the people they sent after it. It needs to be somewhere that it can be protected. I know your coven can keep this book hidden and out of the wrong hands.”
“I will,” Althenea said firmly. For a long moment, neither woman said anything.
“So…was Ipek’s service nice?” Rowena asked.
Althenea recognized the look of guilt on Rowena’s face.
“It’s not your fault, Ro. If you had been there when it happened, you would have died, too. We all know why you couldn’t come back, and Ipek knew you loved her. That’s what matters, not a memorial service. But perhaps with this,” she said, holding up the book, “we can save other girls. She would have wanted that.”
Rowena’s stony demeanor suddenly dropped, and she began to cry hard. Althenea set the book down for a moment and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Flash To:
Ext.
Crashed Plane – Morning
“Wow,” Kennedy muttered. “I know I ride you about stuff but damn…I had no idea everything you went through.” There was a moment of silence, and then Kennedy turned to Rowena. “Wait a minute. I remember Willow called Al to get a spell to make us all slayers. Al said there might be a special book she recently got that might have some clues. It was the Opus, wasn’t it?” Rowena nodded, and Kennedy continued. “So if you hadn’t gotten the book…”
“…you wouldn’t be a slayer right now,” Rowena replied.
“And the First’s army would have taken over,” Kennedy finished. Rowena nodded again. “Thank you,” Kennedy said sincerely.
“It’s pretty remarkable,” Rowena said.
“I’d say.”
Rowena smiled briefly before beginning to speak again. “Well, yeah, not getting burned alive, but what’s remarkable is how one choice, a single decision, can set events in motion that can change millions, even billions of lives. If I had walked away, too afraid that I’d burn up, the world would be a much different place today.”
“And that’s why this new book is so important,” Kennedy said.
Rowena nodded. “Yes, if we fail to get this book, who knows what might happen next. We could be losing precious information, and not just CliffsNotes on vamp research,” she said with a slight smirk.
“Well, I’m feeling better now,” Kennedy remarked with a grin. “How ’bout we go get that book?” She held out her hand to the watcher.
Rowena smiled as she took it.
Cut To:
Ext.
Russia – Tree Line Near Temple – Day
Kennedy and Rowena were still holding hands as they began to materialize just inside the tree line near the temple. Kennedy grinned and looked around in amazement. “Huh. Look at that. I got us here,” she said.
Rowena let go of Kennedy’s hands and took a step forward, but stayed within the protection of the trees. She cocked her head curiously.
“What’s wrong?” Kennedy whispered.
“No guards,” she replied. “There are no guards here. Why?”
“Lunch hour?” Kennedy teased.
Rowena’s face shifted from wonder to concern. She watched as two men from Jordon’s team dragged the body of a man around the far corner. “How in the hell…?” she said under her breath. Rowena turned to Kennedy. “Wait here,” she told her. “Jordon’s teams are already inside somehow.”
“Oh no,” Kennedy said, grabbing her arm. “If you go, I go.”
“Ah ha!” Rowena exclaimed in a hushed voice. “Told you. You couldn’t go more than a few days without challenging me, could you?”
“You don’t know what you’re walking into,” Kennedy said. as she watched the two men take position by the door. “Having a little slayer muscle won’t hurt.” Rowena just sighed and looked at the slayer. “I know what I signed on for here,” Kennedy continued. “We gotta get that book, together. And unlike Chris, I’m not gonna bang you and then stab you in the back…well, technically he shot you in the front, but you know what I mean.”
Rowena grinned at the comment and nodded, “Come on. Concentrate and repeat after me…Latito.” Rowena closed her eyes, and as she spoke the words, she vanished in front of Kennedy. The slayer’s arm seemed to be jerked up and pulled forward.
“Uh, latito,” Kennedy said, closing her eyes. Then she disappeared, as well.
Cut To:
Ext.
Russia – Temple Entrance – Moments Later
The sound of crunching footsteps and impressions of feet in the snow made the two guards look curiously at each other. Before either could raise their guns, their heads shot back, as if punched square in the face. Both men stumbled back toward the stone wall with a thud.
The guard on the right tried to raise his weapon, but doubled over as if he had been kneed in the stomach or groin. The guard on the left, however, had a materialized Rowena by the coat jacket. He delivered a powerful punch to her cheekbone that sent her to the ground. As he cocked his weapon, his head was suddenly slammed against the stone wall. He slowly slid to the snow, unconscious. Off to the other side sat his also-unconscious partner.
Kennedy materialized in front of Rowena with her hand extended. “What happened to you?” Kennedy asked.
“I think I broke my hand on that guy’s jaw. When that happened, I kinda lost my concentration on being invisible. And can I just say, owwww.” Rowena clutched her hand, a pained grimace on her face.
“Come on,” Kennedy said, pulling her to her feet. “Lemme see.” She motioned to Rowena’s hand. Kennedy took it, then said, “Hey,” looking over Rowena’s shoulder.
“What?” the watcher asked, craning her neck to look
Kennedy grinned and pulled on Rowena’s fingers until they made a popping noise. Rowena looked like she wanted to cry out, but remained as silent as possible.
“Not broken,” Kennedy told her, “just out of joint. You’re all fixed. Now let’s go, ’cause those guys might not be out long.”
Kennedy stepped inside as Rowena expanded and contracted her fingers in a rolling motion.
Cut To:
Int.
Russia – Temple Entrance – Moments Later
“Where to?” Kennedy asked.
Rowena put a finger over her own lips, then produced a map and looked at it for a long moment. In the silence, a host of men could be heard talking in an area to their right.
“They’re in the wrong spot,” she whispered to Kenned. “This way,” she said with a nod.
Kennedy nodded silently and followed along.
Cut To:
Int.
Russia – Temple Chamber – Moments Later
“Gee,” Kennedy said softly. “A platform and a book on a pedestal. But no Guardian here to tell us the rules. Now what?”
Rowena began to grin. “No Guardians, but they did leave an instruction manual,” she said, pointing to the far wall directly in front of them. She read silently for a minute and began to smile. “Too bad Faith’s not here,” she remarked. “She’d just love the irony.”
“Irony of what, exactly?” Kennedy asked.
From the hallway outside, Jordon and his men saw the two women talking inside the room. Rowena’s lips were moving, and Kennedy began to grin. He cocked his weapon loudly.
Kennedy and Rowena both stopped whispering and turned to see Jordon taking aim on them.
“Son of a bitch,” Rowena sighed. She turned back to Kennedy. “Follow my lead,” she whispered. Kennedy nodded.
“That’s the problem with women,” Jordon began, as he and his four men walked inside. “Too much talk and not enough action. You should have just gotten the book and left. But noooo, you had to talk about it.”
“Look, Jordon,” Rowena told him. “I can’t get that book. You can’t get that book. The writing’s on the wall. And that’s not a figure of speech.” She pointed to the text above the pedestal as she spoke. “It’s really on the wall.”
She began to make her way around him and motioned for Kennedy to follow her.
“Stop ’em,” Jordon told his men. “They must have it.”
“I don’t have it, Jordon. It’s sitting up there. Look,” Rowena told him.
“You replaced it with a fake, then,” he reasoned. He then looked to his men, “Search ’em.”
The men began to pat the two women down . One took Rowena’s gun from her shoulder holster.
“Nothing but this,” the man told Jordon as he presented Rowena’s gun to him.
“Jordon, there’s only a certain kind of person who can get that book.” Rowena began to walk again. “Oh, and P.S., don’t try or you’ll be dead. See ya.”
“Greg,” Jordon motioned to one of the men. “Get up there.”
“Don’t!” Rowena shouted, making the man stop for a moment. “Don’t touch that book!”
Brushing her off, Greg proceeded across the platform and picked up the book.
“You might not want to watch this,” Rowena said to Kennedy, her voice loud enough that the men could all hear.
At first, Greg didn’t move as he held on to the Codex.
“Great work! Now let’s go,” Jordon told him. Still, the man didn’t move. “Greg?” Jordon called out. He watched as Greg dropped the book back on the pedestal and stumbled backward a few steps.
“This is not going to be pretty,” Rowena said out loud to no one in particular.
Greg held his hands up and watched them turning a shade of gray. The group continued to watch as the gray began to sweep up his arms and over other areas of his body.
“I can’t move!” Greg screamed. “Somebody help me! I can’t move.”
Two of Jordon’s men raced up to the platform, but Greg was now completely gray. They each grabbed an arm, trying to lower it, but each one broke off in their hands. In their horror, they dropped the man’s limbs to the floor. As the arms crashed to the platform, they broke apart into chunks of cement. Realizing what had happened, the men jumped off the platform and started to inspect each other while frantically trying to brush off their hands.
“Not what I was expecting, but I did warn him,” Rowena said dryly as she turned to walk away.
“What’s it say?” Jordon asked her.
“And what’s in it for me?” Rowena harrumphed.
Jordon raised his gun. “You get to live, maybe.”
“Kill the one person in the room who can read the text, Jordon?” she asked. “That’s using your noggin’.”
Jordon shifted his aim to Kennedy and fired a shot into her shoulder. Kennedy groaned and stumbled backward, but Rowena caught her before she could fall.
“Next time it’s between her eyes,” he told Rowena. “Now talk.”
Kennedy clutched her shoulder. “Don’t do it,” she told Rowena.
Jordon cocked his gun again.
“Fine,” Rowena answered.
“Damn it, Ro,” Kennedy shouted, still clutching her bad arm.
“I’m waiting,” Jordon told her.
Rowena looked at the remaining dark-haired, dark-skinned men in the room. “From what I can make out, only someone of Roman descent can take the book from the pedestal. No one here is Roman, so that means we all turn to stone if we try. Happy now?”
Jordon began to smile. “Hey Tony? Looks like you’re up,” he said, not taking his eyes off of Rowena.
Tony didn’t look very convinced. “Jordon, man. Are we sure about this, because…?”
“I’m sure,” Jordon replied. “Rowena knows her stuff and if she’s lying…she’s dying. She knows I’ll kill her, along with her little bleeding friend…or should I say lover? Rumor has it that since no man alive wants you, you decided to switch sides.”
Rowena began to grin. “Nah, Jordon. You just turned me sooo much off men that I had no choice but to become a lesbian.”
The other man behind Jordon snickered, but quickly shut up when Jordon shot him a dirty look. Jordon began to grin and took a step toward Rowena. “Well, just so you know, I lied. I’m still gonna kill you both.” He aimed his gun again, but Rowena took Kennedy’s hand and said, “Declino!”
A blue barrier shot up, protecting them both.
“Now!” Rowena yelled.
Kennedy took off into a run, breaking out of the force field around Rowena and activating her own. As Jordon tried to swing around to fire at the slayer, Rowena stepped in front of him, using her protective shield to deflect the bullets. One wayward bullet ricocheted into Tony and felled him where he stood on the platform.
Kennedy dove in one leap toward the pedestal, snatching the book up from its holding place. She landed and went into a roll coming up behind a column. She scurried back with the book in hand.
Jordon, who was distracted by Kennedy’s movements, didn’t see where Rowena had slipped away to, but she was no longer in his line of sight.
Kennedy looked over to the column that was even with hers and saw Rowena hiding. Both of their protective force fields were now gone. Kennedy motioned like she was going to throw the book to Rowena.
Rowena forcefully shook her head.
Kennedy nodded just as hard and mouthed, “Go home.”
Rowena pointed to Kennedy and then herself before locking her fingers. “Together,” Rowena mouthed back.
Rowena took a deep breath and began to run toward Kennedy. Jordon saw her take off and fired two shots, one of them sending Rowena to the ground, clutching her leg.
Kennedy threw the book out to Rowena and yelled, “Go home!” as she began to run toward her. The book landed just shy of Rowena’s grasp.
“Not without you!” Rowena yelled back as she tried to crawl to the book.
Jordon fired a shot into Kennedy’s torso that knocked her to the floor. Then he put a bullet into Rowena’s chest. As he bent down to pick up the book, Kennedy tried to make a saving dive, but Jordon kicked the book away and jumped over the two women. He picked up the book and turned to the last of his men still standing.
“Finish it,” he ordered. He looked down at the two women. “Ladies, it’s been fun.”
Kennedy moved to her feet, clutching the wound in her side. She tried to tackle Jordon, but he vanished, causing Kennedy to hit the floor hard. Kennedy rolled over to find herself face to face with the final man, who was pointing a gun in her face. Her eyes blinked slowly as she tried to remain conscious. He cocked his weapon, and then a shot rang out, making Kennedy flinch before falling back against the floor.
The man bobbled for a moment and then fell to the ground. Behind him, the prone Rowena dropped her weapon to the ground. “Thank god for .22s and ankle holsters,” she said as she began to crawl toward Kennedy.
“Ken?” She moved closer and took Kennedy’s wrist. “Ken, you’ve got to use the healing magic. Ken? Can you hear me?” Getting no response, Rowena put her hands over Kennedy’s heart and began to chant. Slowly, a yellow light flowed over Kennedy, and she began to open her eyes.
“Am I dead?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Rowena answered. “You’re…you’re gonna have to use your-your magic on me or I’ll-I’ll bleed to death,” Rowena said, struggling to get the words out. “My lungs are filling with blood,” she added before starting to cough.
Kennedy moved swiftly to her knees and cradled Rowena in her arms. “I don’t know if I can do this. I –”
“Pray…Iaso, bring-bring forth your healing powers to-to my hands a-and lay your gifts upon all wounds wi-within this body.”
Kennedy looked truly frightened. “I-I…”
“Iaso,” Rowena said before coughing.
“Iaso bring forth your healing power to my hands and lay your-your gifts on all wounds within this body,” Kennedy said quickly, stumbling a bit on the words. Suddenly, a very intense yellow light flashed up and down Rowena’s body, and the watcher shot up to a sitting position.
“Damn,” Rowena said. “That was…wow.” She seemed truly shocked.
“I didn’t give you a happy, did I? Because that would just be –”
“No,” Rowena chuckled. “You’ve got a lot of power, Kennedy. If you ever decide to tap into it…look out demon world.”
They both grew quiet for a moment, until Kennedy finally spoke.
“You should have gone home,” she began. “I used my teleportation to get us here, but you could’ve have gotten out. You’d have the book now.”
“I’d rather go home with you than with any book,” Rowena told her.
“I would have been okay,” Kennedy answered.
“No, they would have killed you, but even if they hadn’t, you might not have been able to pull off the spell to heal yourself and you would have bled to death. So I got you, and Jordon got the book…for now,” Rowena said with a grin.
“Dog with a bone?” Kennedy teased.
“You know it,” Rowena said, moving to her feet and helping Kennedy up.
“Roman descent, huh?” Kennedy said as they walked along.
“Roman, Romany…” Rowena shrugged and grinned. “So I left out a vowel when it came to the translation? My mistake, right?”
“You knew he was going to kill us anyway, huh?”
“If nothing else, I know Jordon,” she replied. “Not a man of his word. It was enough to buy us time to get you up there. I just didn’t plan on the presto zappo he pulled. There’re only two people in the world powerful enough to lend that kind of magic. One’s my girlfriend, and the other’s my best friend.”
They walked for a moment. “You’re wrong,” Kennedy replied. “There might be three.”
Rowena looked at Kennedy, waiting for an explanation.
Cut To:
Int.
Office – Same Time
Jordon materialized in an office, inside a pentagram, holding the book. James turned to see his son and gave a brilliant smile.
“My boy!” he proclaimed. “Excellent work!”
“Excellent indeed,” another voice called from the other side of the room, making them look over. “Now for my compensation,” Ethan said, rising from his chair. “You got what you wanted, now I get what I want…as we agreed, of course.” James Tyrell walked over to a desk and handed over a suitcase to Ethan. “I trust it’s all here?” Ethan asked.
“One thing you never do is shortchange a warlock,” James said with a smile. “It’s all there, I assure you,” he added, before offering his hand.
“Well, gentlemen,” Ethan said with a slight nod. “A pleasure doing business with you.”
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Coven Room – Moments Later
Holding hands, Rowena and Kennedy materialized inside the pentagram in the center of Willow’s vacant Coven Room.
“What time is it?” Kennedy asked. “Hell, what day is it?”
Rowena grinned. “Judging by how dark it is, I’d say very early morning…as for the day…someday.”
Cut To:
Ext.
Willow and Rowena’s Apartment – Moments Later
Rowena pulled a note off the door.
“Ken,” she said to the departing slayer. “Come here.” She waved her over.
Kennedy walked back, and Rowena showed her the note as she opened the door. Kennedy followed the watcher inside. Both women began to smile as they looked into the living room.
Marsha the dragon slept at Kadin’s feet, while Willow and Kadin sat on the sofa next to each other. Both women were asleep, their heads resting on one another as an infomercial played on the television.
Rowena grinned mischievously at Kennedy for a short moment.
“Hey, lady!” Rowena said in a loud voice, making Willow’s and Kadin’s eyes shoot open. “You wanna get off my girlfriend?” she asked sternly. She could only keep the facade up for a moment, however, before starting to smile.
Both women charged off the sofa and grabbed their lovers, both asking questions in rapid succession at the same time so that all it sounded like was a blur of noise. From the ground, Marsha began to paw at Kennedy’s leg.
“I better get my girls home,” Kennedy told Rowena. She smiled at Kadin and took her by the hand, escorting her from the room. On the way, she whistled for Marsha, who promptly followed. She stopped shy of the door and turned around. “Hey Ro?” Rowena turned around, and Kennedy walked back over. “Thanks,” she said sincerely. She paused awkwardly for a moment and then pulled Rowena into a hug.
Rowena grinned and returned the hug. “Thank you. And like I said, I made the right choice.”
Kennedy smiled as she broke away. Then she walked over to Kadin, took her by the hand once more, and left the room, locking and closing it behind them.
Willow looked on in awe at Kennedy’s unexpected display of affection. “What the hell happened out there?” she asked.
“We can talk about it tomorrow. Right now, I just want to go to bed.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Willow said automatically. “I’m sure you’re exhausted a-and –”
“I didn’t say anything about sleep,” Rowena said slyly. She walked backward toward the bedroom, holding both of Willow’s hands in hers.
Fade to Black
Special Guest Starring:
Peter Woodward as Jordon Tyrell and Robin Sachs as Ethan Rayne
End of Unspoken
Next on Watchers…
Faith’s past catches up with her, and it’s hard to tell whether it will be a help or hindrance when her son, Norman, shows up on the Council’s doorstep.
