Act 3


 

 

Cut To:

Int.

Watchers Council – Grace’s Office – Moments Later

Grace sat at her desk, on a new white leather chair, with Liz’s tablet on the desk. Liz stood on one side and Rowena on the other.

“Look here,” Liz said as she pointed to the screen and pressed play.

They watched as Zorgy said, “‘Cause, when it comes right down to it, your biggest slayer won’t stop my army.

“If you blinked you might’ve missed it, but did you see it?” Liz asked.

“See what?” Grace asked.

“She says ‘your biggest slayer won’t stop my army’. When she says that, she isn’t looking at them anymore. She nodded just a little bit over their shoulder. Now, she was in Cellblock H and, I checked, that cell is facing–”

“Liz! The point!” Grace barked.

“She’s getting there,” Rowena said defensively, and then motioned for Liz to continue.

“Thank you,” she told her mentor. “The point is, she looked over their shoulders in the direction of the Slayer Memorial…where the biggest slayer is.” She saw Grace’s blank expression. “The statue…that stands over the closed Hellmouth.”

“Yes. Closed, Liz. As in not open,” Grace told her.

“I thought that, too,” Liz agreed. “But I’ve watched the other tapes. I remembered Gwen’s first chat with the Council. Zorgy needed a freelancer. Maybe she wanted to catch the attention of the Council by talking to Gwen.”

“That seems to be the consensus,” Grace said.

“On the other hand,” Liz offered, “if Gwen was receptive to Zorgy’s offer, I think Zorgy legitimately wanted her services, since Gwen, y’know, makes lightning with her body. And since Zorgy studied us all, she’d know Gwen and Ethan Rayne broke ties with the Council years ago. We all know that Zorgy has access to all the mojo she could ever want. So I’m thinking, what if Zorgy combines electricity with her mages’ mojo and then she…”

“Forces it open,” Grace finished.

Liz and Rowena both nodded.

“That would make sense,” Grace agreed. “Closed or not, it still could be the biggest and easiest route.”

“But I’m sure she has a contingency,” Liz replied. “She’s not dumb. She’d know that if Gwen said no thanks, she’d need a backup. What that backup might entail exactly, well, I don’t know. But the tapes have been interesting.”

“Glad you like it,” Grace told her. “I want you to watch the others. See if you spot something else.”

“All of them?” Rowena asked, with a bit of hesitation.

“I plan to look at some parts closer,” Liz remarked. “I fast-forwarded to the interviews, but I’ve watched them all once already.”

“You have?” Grace and Rowena both said in surprise.

Liz nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t been able to sleep much, and…Oh, don’t worry,” she said, looking at Rowena. “I won’t gossip with anyone, including my friends who happen to be your children…and Nikki.” Rowena groaned in response. “Point is, personal matters can’t get in the way of us saving the world, right? Now that I say that out loud, that’s a good reminder for everyone here. Let’s not take things so personally.” She made a circular motion with her hand toward all of them. “Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Grace said before looking at Rowena. “How confident are you in her theory?” she asked with a nod toward Liz.

“Percentage? Eighty percent? We don’t have the when and how of Zorgy’s attack worked out yet, but I think we’ve got the where nailed down to a four block radius. Hence the eighty percent.”

Grace took a breath. “If I request to shut down and clear the city and we’re wrong about the location…” Grace trailed off and groaned. “I see why you gave up this job,” she told Rowena, who gave her a slight grin.

“Are you asking our opinion here?” the blonde watcher said softly.

Grace nodded at her friend. “I am. Should I evacuate the city?”

Rowena didn’t answer. Instead, she looked over at Liz and asked, “What would you do if you were in that chair?”

Liz seemed taken aback. “Me? But I’m not in that chair,” she said, holding up her hands.

“Someday you might be,” Rowena told her. “What would you do?”

Liz looked back and forth between both women. When they both just looked at her, she cleared her throat.

“Well, it seems like this is gonna be bad. Real bad. So, I’d rather clear the city and inconvenience people, businesses and whatnot than not say anything.”

“Why?” Rowena asked immediately.

“If there’s no warning, we might end up watching half the city die and/or burn, not necessarily in that order.”

“If we issue a warning,” Grace asked, “do you think people will listen?”

“Oh, hell no,” Liz laughed, then began to look serious when no one else joined in. “Sorry,” she added meekly. “I just mean, people don’t listen to suggestions and if the pandemic taught us anything, a quarter of them can’t even follow the simplest orders, like putting cloth over their face. Look what happened to Buffy’s old assistant Joan! Her ‘go-one-go-all‘ Q bullsh….stuff. Anyway… humans are gonna human, is my point.”

“So what do you think’s the answer?” Rowena asked her. 

Liz thought about the question for a few seconds, rather than answering automatically. Finally, she said, “People will die if they’re in this city when the battle comes. We can order them to leave, and most will. But that quarter of them…You can’t save people who knowingly put themselves in harm’s way. We just…we can’t save everyone. And that’s sad.”

“It is,” Grace and Rowena both said in understanding.

There was a brief pause between the three of them. Grace began to nod her head. “Do me a favor?” she asked Rowena, who just raised an eyebrow. “Tell your wife.” Then she wagged a finger at Liz. “Even with totem-induced insanity, good call on Giles’s advancement.”

Grace pushed a button next to her phone, “Carolyn, get ahold of Shannon for me, please?””

Yes, ma’am,” her voice said over the speaker.

Grace turned to Rowena. “Do you agree with Ms. Giles’s assessment?”

“I do,” Rowena said assuredly.

Grace looked between the two women on the other side of the desk. “Me three,” she agreed.

Carolyn’s voice came over the crackling speaker. “Ms. Matthewson on line one,” she announced.

Grace pressed the button and said, “Hey, Shannon. I want to make a request that we clear the city – mandatory evacuation.”

Do you know something I don’t yet?

“Liz uncovered info that leads us to believe Zorgy is coming to Cleveland via the Hellmouth at the Slayer Memorial. I’m with her and Ro right now. I want to keep this under wraps and although we’re short one tie-breaking vote, since there’s no current Coven–”

Get everyone out,” Shannon said, cutting her off. “No third vote needed. When are you announcing?

“Keep it between the four of us for right now,” Grace said, “No family, no friends…no one. Just us for now, okay? If it leaks, I’ll know it was someone here. If that happens, I will be cranky. And curse or no curse, you wouldn’t like me when I’m cranky.”

“Her secret is, she’s always cranky,” Liz said quietly to Rowena, who rolled her eyes.

Understood,” Shannon replied. “Do we have Zorgy’s ETA?

“Not yet,” Grace replied. “But I’ll let you know when I learn more. There’s a few individuals I need to see before I notify the city.”

Playing favorites?” Shannon teased.

“No,” Grace replied with a growing smile. “A friend told me I need to inspire, so that comes first.”

Cut To:

Int.

Cleveland Clinic – Hallway – Day

Willow was pacing when she saw Tamara walking toward her. She moved toward her, closing the distance.

“Are you ready for today?” Tamara asked as she began to look through her attaché.

Willow didn’t answer at first. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something. Umm…” Willow stumbled with what she wanted to say. “Can I tell you something classified?”

“Absolutely. We’re friends, right?” Tamara replied as she continued to look through her leather-bound case.

“W-we are. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. I value your friendship a-and I feel like I may have…There were these totems, see? A-and they made everyone a little wonky and not themselves, and I worry I might have said or done things that might have been mistaken as…romantic in nature. The truth is, I love my wife.”

“I love your wife too. I think she’s great.”

“Dr. Goldman!” a woman shouted from the far end of the hallway. Both women turned toward the sound. The new arrival moved with speed and purpose coming toward them. Following behind her was a man walking with a young child.

“Hey!” Tamara greeted her warmly.

The woman closed the distance, her arm outstretched with note cards. “I know I’m just an assistant, but a word of advice? If you put this on your device like a normal scientist, you wouldn’t need these.”

“There’re my speech notes!” Tamara kissed the woman and pulled her into a tight hug.

The woman didn’t flinch or seem unprepared for the gesture. A small grin graced her lips instead. From behind them, the man holding the hand of the child got closer.

“You guys made it!” Tamara said excitedly as she kissed the man and then bent down to kiss the young girl.

“Of course! This is a big deal,” he said.

Immediately, Tamara turned to Willow and apologized, “I’m sorry. This is my husband, Kevin, and our daughter, Amelia. This is Willow from the Watchers Council.”

“Yeah, about that…” Willow mumbled, unheard. Kevin reached out his hand, saying, “It’s so great to meet you! Tamara talks about you all the time.”

“She does?” Willow asked. She turned to Tamara, who blushed.

“Of course!” he continued. “She respects you immensely, and with good cause. You two are the reason why we’re all standing here today with the big news. It won’t get rid of all the speciesists out there, but it’ll go a long way in making things better. I don’t know why humans make so much trouble sometimes.”

“They fear what they don’t know or understand,” Tamara offered.

“I suppose,” he replied. “It feels like when people ask us, ‘why do you care about gay people? Aren’t you straight?’ Yeah, but we’re also human.”

“Right?” Tamara agreed. “Just because we’re straight doesn’t mean we need to be assholes to people who aren’t. Same with the folks from other dimensions. In fact, during our trials,” Tamara said, pointing to Willow, “I got to know her friend Brell, who is one of the nicest folks I’ve ever met. Actually, we should have him and his family over some day.”

Willow smiled at the mention of Brell’s name, but then a look of realization came over her. “You’re a nice person,” she told Tamara, who smiled. “I mean, you’re just a touchy-feely, affectionate person, and you’re not really…attracted to me, are you?”

Tamara considered the question. “No, I am attracted to you,” she replied.

Amelia started to sing, “Momma and Willow, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-.”

“Okay,” Kevin chuckled, gently admonishing his daughter. “It’s not nice to tease.”

“I’m confused,” Willow said.

“It’s not the k-i-s-s-i-n-g kind of attraction,” Tamara clarified as she patted her daughter’s shoulder. “But yes, I’m very attracted to you, and Rowena too. The attraction…it’s intellectual. It’s like-mindedness – we see the world the same way. And I’ll be honest, I was hoping we’d still touch base now and then. Like maybe have lunch once a month, or once a season, if that’s all you could do. I’m sure you have lots of people who want your time. And I understand if my desire is only one sided.”

Willow smiled and shook her head in slight embarrassment. “Stop. I’d love to have you for dinner. I mean…over for dinner. A-and Kevin and Amelia are welcome, too.” Willow turned to Amelia and said, “Our daughter Sophie can be a jokester, too, so you ladies might get along.”

Tamara and her family all smiled.

“That would be nice,” Tamara agreed. “But I’m sorry we got off track. You were going to say something when they came in.” She motioned to the trio behind her.

Willow hesitated. “Can we talk privately for a moment?” she said softly.

“Say no more,” Kevin said. He squeezed Tamara’s arm and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Knock ’em dead, ladies,” he told them before he, Amelia and the assistant left Willow and Tamara alone.

“What’s wrong?” Tamara asked.

Willow took a deep breath. “I think my being here will be a distraction from your work. I…I left the Watchers Council.” Tamara’s eyes went wide for a moment, but then she put her surprise aside. “I’m just worried the press will care more about that than what you’ve accomplished here.”

“We,” Tamara corrected. “It’s what we’ve accomplished. You deserve your place out there, too.”

“I don’t want to be a distraction.”

“Personally, I want you with me out there. We started this odyssey in January and to be here now in May is nothing short of miraculous. Don’t let the press take that from you. I’m asking…as a friend.”

Willow smiled.

Cut To:

Int.

Cleveland Clinic – Briefing Room – Moments Later

Dr. Goldman stood in front of a lectern with “Cleveland Clinic” emblazoned on the front of it.  Behind her were seated several other women and men, including Willow.

“Hello and welcome, everyone,” she began. “This is the first press conference regarding the vaccine for Demonic Origin Pulmonary Syndrome. My name is Dr. Tamara Goldman, of Case Western Reserve University, and I welcome you to the Cleveland Clinic. Simultaneous translation today is provided in the six official human languages of Arabic, Chinese, French, English, Spanish and Russian, plus Portuguese and Hindi. Trans-dimensional languages include Brell, Mok’tagar, Frytel, Skrad, Agatho, and Shirellian.

First and foremost, to my left, we must thank Willow Rosenberg-Allister, who has worked tirelessly with me for many weeks that turned into months to find a solution to the virus threat at hand. To her left, we have Dr. Maria Aylward, the Technical Lead on Pandemic Alert and Response Coordination. On my right is Dr. Bruce Gaspar, Director for Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness. Then, we have Dr. Roger Ryan of the Cleveland Clinic Vaccine Project, Director of the Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals Department.

At the dawn of a new year, in many countries, COVID-19 was on the decline among humans, while DOPS was on the rise in three demon species – Brell, Mok’tagar and Skrad. We felt we had to answer the call to help demon migrants with this virus, but also humanity, should the strain jump species. At present, the count is now fifteen demon species that are affected. However, we have promising news.

We’re pleased to announce a new life-saving antiviral has successfully completed first trials with all fifteen species and is now opening up to expansion. Working locally with the Cleveland Clinic, and the WHO internationally, we’ve improved access to the antiviral named ‘Dotaska.’ We have it scheduled for distribution from United States and UK manufacturers. This is the first generic version of the antiviral to get WHO approval and should lead to increased production and access, particularly in lower and middle-income countries. This roll out will begin May Thirty-First in major US cities and will then become available in the rest of the Americas starting June Fifteenth. Distribution to other world areas will depend on the success of this first roll out, but we are hoping by the end of summer we’ll be in Europe, with Asia coming next. With that said, we now open the floor to questions.”

Several reporters held up their hands, and Tamara pointed to one of them.

“This question is for Willow Rosenberg-Allister. Are the rumors true that you’re no longer with the Watchers Council?”

Willow looked up at Tamara, who wore a look of apology, then turned back to the gathered media.

“I should have specified,” Tamara said. “Myself and our panelists will be happy to answer only questions based on this life-changing vaccine.”

Another reporter held up their hand and, after getting a nod from Tamara, asked, “This is for Ms. Rosenberg-Allister. Do you plan to take a job with the University where you created this life-changing vaccine if you’re no longer with the Watchers Council?”

Willow grinned and looked at Tamara. She motioned Tamara toward her and when she was nearby, she whispered,  “I didn’t want to hijack your conference.”

“Are you okay with answering them?” Tamara whispered back. “If not, there’s no shame in walking out if they won’t leave you alone.”

“I don’t want to steal your thunder here. This vaccine is a big deal,” Willow replied.

Tamara put a hand on Willow’s shoulder. “I just care about the work. Not the glory. I think if you answer a few questions, they’ll move on. But only if you want.”

Willow nodded and then rose from her chair, switching places with Tamara.

“First, it’s touching to know how many people care about my employment status,” Willow began with a tongue-in-cheek grin, which elicited a chuckle or two. “Second, I wanted to be here to support Dr. Goldman and the work we’ve done. Really guys, this woman has done so much to bring a sense of peace between the demon species and humans a-and that’s why we’re here. Now, with that said, I’d like to stay to support my colleague, but I won’t stay if my presence is going to take away from this accomplishment.  So here’s the deal:  I-I’ll answer only three personal questions. Question one: Am I with the Council? No.” As a chatter began, Willow raised her voice. “Question two: Am I taking a university job? I haven’t been offered one. So, what’s the third and final question…?”

The news reporters all leapt up and began shouting questions at once.

Willow looked down at Tamara, who seemed amused by the insanity of it all. After a few moments, Willow began to shout over the wall of sound coming at all of them on the stage. “Talk among yourselves and then pick the one you like most! You’ve got sixty seconds, starting now.”

The room seemed to all talk at once. Willow looked back at Tamara with a grin and shrugged. “Day in the life,” she muttered.

Cut To:

Int.

Amazon Warehouse – Day

Robin and a team of slayers, led by Charlotte, walked through the open garage bay of a large warehouse. Tall shelves lined with packages filled half the building. Both workers and wheeled robots bustled along each aisle. In other areas, workers pulled packages off of conveyor belts and sorted them into different bins. They were immediately met by an out-of-breath, balding, middle-aged man wearing a corporate logo polo shirt and a badge proclaiming his name to be “Kyle.”

“I’m sorry, I just got word from security that you had arrived,” Kyle puffed, hands on knees. He straightened and looked around at the group. “Wow, you’ve got a whole team of slayers, huh?”

“We aren’t sure what we’re dealing with,” Robin told him. “Better safe than sorry.”

“I-I’m still not sure how we can help,” Kyle said. “There are no vampires here. A few demons, but they all have their green cards.”

Cut To:

Int.

Amazon Warehouse – Minutes Later

Robin and Charlotte walked down an aisle between tall shelves alongside Kyle, the rest of the team of slayers trailing behind.

“Cursing customer items!” the warehouse rep was exclaiming. “I can’t imagine that anyone here would do that.”

“Well, we’re still going to need to talk to your workers individually,” Robin said. The group rounded a corner into a small employee break area lined with lockers. The only furniture was one water cooler. A few employees sat at a small table nearby, checking their phones. “Can you think of anyone who might have a grudge against the company?”

“No one!” Kyle insisted. “All of our team members are important parts of the Amazon family.”

Maybe it’s because you make them piss in bottles,” Charlotte signed at him.

“What’d she say?” Kyle asked.

Robin refrained from translating. “How about anyone whose resume when you hired them might have indicated some magical expertise? Anything to narrow it down would be great.”

“I can pull those documents from our system,” Kyle replied. “Hey, is there any way you can meet with the team members when they’re not on the clock? They have quotas for the time that they’re logged in, and only corporate has the power to change the–”

Suddenly, one of the employees sitting at the table, a younger man with greasy black hair that fell in his eyes, shot up from his seat and took off running into the warehouse. Robin and Charlotte exchanged a look, then first she and then the other slayers took off running after the man.

“Brian, what’re you doing!” Kyle called. “You’ve gotta clock back in if you’re gonna go back out on the floor, or else you won’t get credit for any scans…Brian?!”

On the warehouse floor, the young man glanced back over his shoulder to see a sprinting Charlotte gaining on him, almost a blur. As he fled down an aisle, he pulled at one of the bin-shaped rolling robots, leaving it sideways and blocking the aisle. The machine beeped indignantly at this, and began alternately trying to inch forward and back, discovering its path to be blocked each time.

At a dead sprint, Charlotte grabbed the top edge of the robot and used it to pull herself up and over. She launched herself up into the air, performing a full somersault before landing on her feet and keeping right on going.

Brian started grabbing various packages off the shelves and throwing them behind him without looking. Those that were actually on target, Charlotte batted away, only slowing down slightly to do so. When he reached the end of the aisle, he found another slayer exiting a couple of rows down. He slipped momentarily as he turned away from her, putting one hand down, and kept going. She sighed and took off again after him, almost bowling over Charlotte as she emerged from her own aisle.

They continued to follow him through the warehouse, weaving around workers, carts and more robots. Finally, he turned down an aisle only to find that it stopped in a dead end. Charlotte, the girl who had almost run into her, and a few more slayers all quickly arrived, blocking his escape. Desperately, he grabbed the nearest unboxed item he could get his hands on and brandished it like a club.

Charlotte, her face unimpressed, made a few quick signs. “That’s an ironing board,” the girl next to her translated.

“Wait, okay!” the young man called out. “Just wait. I…I had to, okay? You know she’s gonna kill all of you, right? All of everyone! You have no shot at stopping her, you know that?” He sobbed, the ironing board dipping in his grasp. “I-I have a little girl, okay? This is the only way she would ever have a life. I had to. I had to.”

“A lot of people had that choice to make,” the slayer translated from Charlotte’s signs. “You’re not special. Now, please come with us. You have nowhere to go.”

Brian hesitated, looking around at the slayers, breathing hard, for a long moment.

It was then that a blue-green portal swooshed into existence about five feet to his right. Both the slayers and their quarry stared at it for about two seconds. Krog’s beefy hand, then shoulder, then horned head emerged from the portal. He reached out and grabbed Brian by the scruff of his company-issued orange hi-vis vest, then pulled. With a yelp, the young mage was yanked through the portal, dropping the ironing board to the floor with a clatter as he disappeared.

Charlotte and two other slayers ran forward. One pulled out a crossbow and fired into the portal. It swooshed closed as quickly as it had opened. The bolt embedded itself uselessly into a cardboard box just behind where the portal had been a third of a second earlier.

Charlotte stumbled to a stop, clenching and unclenching her fists twice. Then she picked up the ironing board and, with a wordless yell, threw it. It flew far over the heads of the gathered slayers and sailed far into the warehouse, where several seconds later a distant crash could be heard.

Cut To:

Int.

Guild of Independent Slayers – Tiffany Stewart’s Office – Day

Public Square and the bustle of Downtown Cleveland spread out below Tiffany Stewart’s window. The Guild President herself sat behind her desk, her back to the window, listening impassively as Grace continued to speak.

“…So for a low monthly subscription fee, any slayer, whether employed by the Council or not, can have the accumulated knowledge of centuries of watchers right there in their pocket. We know better than anyone, knowledge is power, and in the tradition of Buffy Summers, our goal is to give that power to as many women as possible. What we’re hoping is to partner with the Guild to market…”

Tiffany held up a hand, and Grace trailed off.

“I’m going to stop you right there, Grace, because I’d like to ask you something. Is that okay?”

“Shoot,” Grace replied.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” Tiffany said flatly.

Grace blinked once then said, “I’m not sure I–”

Tiffany pressed on. “When your assistant told mine you would be willing to come over here for this meeting, I thought, sure, I’ll give it a shot, must be something you want pretty bad. But this…it’s not enough you want every one of our members to join up, now you want to start charging them?”

“It’s not like that. We have to cover the development and maintenance costs,” Grace argued. “We’re taking a loss on this, because it’s the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do?!?” Tiffany almost growled. She took several deep breaths, leaning back in her chair, and ran a hand over her mouth. “Chairwoman, I don’t think you understand what your position is right now.”

Grace pursed her lips then said, “The way I see it, I’m trying to put the power of the Council into the hands of your Guild slayers to keep them safer. So maybe you can enlighten me regarding my position?”

Tiffany sat her reclining office chair upright, looking Grace in the eyes. “You cut a deal with Tess Muller, who is personally responsible for the deaths of more than a dozen slayers, many of them lancers. You’re protecting the woman who is currently number one on pretty much every slayer’s most wanted list.”

“Tess Muller gave us invaluable information regarding a global threat, which is the other reason I’m here today,” Grace argued. She saw the skeptical look on the president’s face, and when she spoke again, she abandoned the professional Chairwoman talking points to address her one-on-one. “Tiffany, I’m being honest with you right now. The whole bloody world is in danger. I made the least bad choice. A lot of days, that’s my whole job description. Making least bad choices.”

Tiffany stood up from her chair and for a moment, her back was turned to Grace, looking out the window. Then she said, “Grace, you had lots of less bad choices. You could have brought Muller in, interrogated her. You could have used your frankly mind-boggling level of resources and connections to find out what you needed to know some other way. You could have done lots of things, but you didn’t. Because to you, the slayers are always those other people that make things inconvenient when they don’t listen.”

Grace’s jaw set, and she shook her head. “You are so off-base.”

“I don’t think I am!” Tiffany shot back. She looked down at Grace, then sat back down and pulled her chair toward her desk. She clasped her hands and leaned toward the other woman. “You’ve asked me before how a Lead Slayer at the Council ended up President of the Guild of Independent Slayers. Well, like everything in life, that’s complicated, but…my watcher, Eric, he was a good man. He had a wife, two adorable daughters who I still keep in touch with. He was…my mentor, and my trainer. There were all these media stories about vampire attacks in Chicago that fall. Probably not too many more than normal, but it was an election year, and the press…We moved in on this nest, and I had it completely under control, but then he was there. He said that he’d been ordered to be there in case there were any clues regarding missing persons. As if I couldn’t have found clues. As if…”

Tiffany blinked a few times and spun her chair around again to look out the window. “I didn’t even know about the missing people. I found out afterward that the whole operation was just one cog in some bigger machine.”

“He died doing his duty,” Grace offered quietly.

“He died for nothing,” Tiffany spat. “He died because the Council didn’t trust me.”

Grace let out a long breath and looked away out the window. Her eyes focused on the spire of the Terminal Tower rising across the Square. Sunbeams just peeking through the cloud cover bounced brightly off its limestone facade. She pointed over Tiffany’s shoulder.

“If you look closely, it’s a different color. The Tower, I mean. Right there at the top. You know why?”

Tiffany shook her head slightly at this non sequitur, but she looked where Grace pointed. “I heard it was because Willow Rosenberg blew the top off while fighting a bad guy, and they had to use a different kind of stone to rebuild it. Is that right?”

Grace nodded. “Yep. The child that was saved that day turns eighteen this week and is now a junior watcher. You know how I know? I was there that day. I had to dive out of the way of multiple chunks of that building.”

Tiffany looked at her. “And seriously, why did you need to be there? What did you contribute?”

The Chairwoman cocked her head to consider this for a moment. “I was…watching, mostly. Y’know, Tiffany…you might not like what I did to find out, but I’m being serious, really bad things are coming. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

The two women’s eyes met for a long moment, and then Tiffany said, “Sounds like it was a really bad time to piss off all the slayers, then.”

Grace closed her eyes.

Cut To:

Int.

Watchers Council – Grace’s Office – Afternoon

Grace was standing in her office, leaning on a cane and looking at a piece of paper, when there was a light knock on the door. She looked over to see Willow standing in the doorway.

Willow pitched her thumb behind herself. “If you’ve changed your mind since Buffy’s message, I can call Robin and have him throw me out,” she offered.

A ghost of a smile came to Grace’s lips. “That won’t be necessary,” she said and then waved her inside.

Willow did as she was instructed, then closed the door behind her after she entered.

“How’d the meeting with Tiffany go?” she asked.

“It went,” Grace sighed. “While I’d love to have her Guild on board here, and I’m hopeful it could happen, she’s not the one I need most.” She rested the piece of paper on the desk and took a deep breath. “Faith suggested I beg, grovel and plead for your return. She said that you can, well, hold a grudge.”

Willow grinned. “As far as I know, you didn’t try to kill Buffy and everyone in my senior class with a giant snake you see as a father figure…Well, I’ve been gone for a couple days, so that hasn’t happened, has it?”

Grace smiled, too. “No.”

“Good,” Willow said, “Even in spite of all that, I do get along well with Faith now, but yes, it took time. Since Faith and I got there, I’m sure you and I will, too. Plus, you don’t have snake-daddy issues like Faith did.”

“No, just mother issues,” Grace sighed. She paused. “I don’t want to be a mom now.” Willow said nothing, at first. Her face revealed nothing. “Did Rowena tell you…about me?”

“She mentioned you’re…sad, but she didn’t get into specifics.”

“I’m assuming Jeff didn’t say anything?”

Willow paused in thought. “Yes and no.” Grace raised an eyebrow at this answer as Willow continued. “He said you think you did something that you didn’t do. But he didn’t say what the something was. Is that what we’re talking about?”

Grace just nodded. “Jeff is a seer. Not just into the lives of others, but also into his own. He knows he’s going to have a daughter, Mercy, and…I took that away from him, because I’m not ready to be a mom. Not yet. Maybe never.”

Willow nodded sympathetically. “I get it. I do. When we learned Ro was pregnant, I wasn’t ready.”

“What did you do?” Grace asked.

“Freaked silently. Then I talked with my single friends. Talked with friends who are parents. Saved the city. Oh, a-and saved Liz from falling from the Terminal Tower. So after all that, I decided, yeah, I could do this motherhood thing.”

“So you didn’t want kids?”

“No, not that soon. I wasn’t on Team ‘Yay! Let’s have a baby!’ I was worried, and then we found out it wasn’t just one, but two somebodies, I freaked even more. So that whole ‘not feeling up to the task’ thing is completely normal.”

“I think that’s it,” Grace told her. “I don’t want to hurt my daughter in the ways that my mom hurt me, and I know we’re good now, her and me, but I don’t know if I can avoid that, ’cause what if it’s ingrained, you know?”

“Advice you didn’t ask for says talk to Dr. Millenti about your concerns,” Willow offered. “But really, in the end, you don’t know if you’ll fail or you’ll succeed in anything in life, including motherhood. So should that stop you from doing it? I say no. It’s like the situation with Casey. I did everything I could do – medically, magically – but I didn’t succeed. Still, I’m not disappointed that I tried. I’m just disappointed by the outcome. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for letting her down. For letting you down.”

Grace began to tear up and cleared her throat. 

Cut To:

Int.

Living Room – Months Ago

“If I learned anything after this…it’s that Rowena Allister is one lucky woman. Damn.”

Casey, wearing a silky dressing gown, brought a cigarette to her mouth, her lips parting ever so slightly as she stared ahead with her good eye.

“No,” Grace interrupted dryly, snatching the cigarette from her.

Casey blinked and kept her gaze in the distance, pretending not to notice Grace walking to the trash can opposite them. Instead, she reached up, lifted up her eyepatch, reached in and produced another cigarette.

The trash can lid flicked up under the toe of Grace’s shoe, and she discarded the cigarette. Turning back, she immediately rolled her eyes to the ceiling and balled her fists at the sight of Casey with a lit cigarette in her mouth. Under her breath, she growled.

After a long drag, and equally long exhale, Casey said, simply, “Blimey.”

“Yeah, blimey,” Grace fell into the armchair across from Casey.

“I mean, there ain’t much I ain’t done, you know?”

“Oh, I know. You have told me. In great detail.”

“And I like a bit of ‘how’s your father’…”

“More than a bit…”

“… but…”

“Blimey?”

“Blimey,” she took another drag. On exhaling, Casey moved her eye to meet Grace’s, “But I ain’t ever done that before with a bird. Never. Not even thought about it…well, not seriously.”

“And how do you, you know, feel?” Grace arched a brow and leaned forward, her hands softly clasping her knees.

“I feel like I’ve been missing out on eighteen-odd years’ worth, is how I feel.” Casey cocked her head to the side, the back of her left hand propping up her right elbow, “Christ, I should have been bi, you know? Doubled my dating pool.” The end of the cigarette flared.

“I don’t really think it’s a choice…”

“Luv, you should try it, seriously. Mind blowing. All right, you’ve got Jeff, but maybe for his birthday you could treat him to a threesome.”

Jaw set, Grace closed her eyes, made an “o” with her mouth and shook her head. “Right, okay, yeah, no, what you just had was medicinal lesbian magic sex.”

“It certainly bloody was.” Casey took another deep draw, her lips curling into a slight smile.

“And you feel?” Casey opened her mouth to speak, but Grace caught her before she could. “Yeah, I get it, you loved it, but in yourself, medically, how do you feel?” Grace rattled off in one.

A wide grin appeared on her face. “I feel good. Certainly weren’t on the bucket list, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, well, maybe the bucket list can go in the bin now along with that cigarette, huh?”

Casey gave her a sarcastic smile and dropped the cigarette in her glass of water. “You heard what Will said, it may not be immediate. Or at all. It’s not going to be like Xander’s eye popping back into existence the moment he came.”

“Yeah, okay.” Grace grimaced.

“Oh, I asked her to sex me a new one as well, by the way, but it was one or the other so beggars, choosers and all that, but I guess we’ll find out tomorrow at the hospital, won’t we?”

With a sharp intake of breath, Grace sat back in the armchair, visibly swallowing, “Yeah…yeah I guess we will.”

“And hey, if it doesn’t work, maybe I’ll have to have a ride on Jeff’s broomstick, instead.”

“Jesus, woman!”

Casey’s grin was interrupted when she cleared her throat, her face a little flushed. As the cough petered out, a silence descended on the room.

“I did the tongue thing, she loved it.”

“My God.”

Cut To:

Int.

Watchers Council – Grace’s Office – Present Day

Willow began to tear up more and more the longer she looked at Grace. “Oh Goddess. I see it now a-and I’m so sorry, Grace,” she told her.

Tears began to form in Grace’s eyes, too. “Sorry for what? You–”

“I didn’t notice your grief since she’s passed,” Willow told her, compassion showing through in her voice. “I should have recognized it, because I’ve been there.”

“I don’t know if anyone feels this way.”

“I’ve walked through that world – the one where life keeps going for everyone around you but you feel…stuck. The smallest of things, like a doorknob or a toothpick, will bring back a memory of them. And you feel that loss all over again like it just happened, no matter how long it’s been.”

Grace only nodded.

Willow continued, “Then you feel guilty for thinking of moving on, even if you know that’s what you need to feel better. And that’s the conflict, isn’t it? Will you forget about them? Will you tarnish their memory, somehow? And that’s scary, huh? She’s gone, you know that, but you still don’t want to lose her. So you hold on to the pain because it’s the only way you can still feel connected to her.”

Grace buried her face into a tissue and wept openly, her shoulders rising and falling as she cried almost silently.

“I can promise you’ll keep the memories, and you’ll make new ones with new friends and that’s okay. Letting go of the grief doesn’t mean forgetting. And I promise, should we avert this latest disaster, there will be a day when you won’t feel that weight of loss and guilt.”

“Promise?” Grace said and then blew her nose.

Willow didn’t wait for an invitation. She pulled Grace into an embrace and held her tight. “Promise,” she whispered.

Grace returned the hug and held on tighter. “I’m glad you’re back,” she confessed softly.

Willow waited until Grace let go and only then did she pull away. She gave a sad grin and said, “Yeahhhh, about that. I’m not coming back.”

Fade Out

 

 

End of Act Three

Go Back Next Act