" I killed people." " I've not forgotten." "When you brought me here, I thought it was to kill me." "Instead, you go all Dumbledore on me." "I don't wanna go back home just so I can screw up again." " What exactly are you afraid of?" " What if I go all veiny and homicidal again?" " What if..." " They won't take you back?" "Did you turn this nice lady's ex into a giant worm monster?" "You wish it, I dish it." " It's what you wanted." " What happened?" "Why does a man do what he mustn't?" "For her." "Your soul." "You got your soul back." "I'll call you when I get there." "OK?" "They said they'd meet us." "Oh, look, they're there." " Hi!" " Hi, honey." " How are you doing?" " Good." " And how's it going with you two?" " Hi, Dad." " Go on!" " Hey!" " See what you did?" " Stop acting up!" " You think she'll get the sign?" " Get the sign?" "I don't think she's gonna see the sign." "Why is it so pale?" "I used yellow crayon." "It was a thing from when I talked to Willow on the bluff." " I hope she gets it." " Oh, tell us again what you said." "Well, I was talking from my heart and I knew Evil Willow wasn't really ready to..." " You were kidding." " A little bit." "We've heard the crayon speech." "But it is great, of course." "I saved the world with talking from my mouth." "My mouth saved the world!" "Uh-huh." "I'm getting nervous." " Are you nervous?" " Yeah." "It's gonna be weird seeing her." "What do you say to someone in this situation?" "I'm gonna say "Hi, Willow."" "Come on." "You're saying it's not gonna be the least bit strange?" "We saw her kill someone." "She was about to kill Dawn." "Giles wouldn't let her leave unless she completed that whatever recovery course." "Right." " Right?" " She kinda didn't finish." "She didn't finish?" "She didn't finish being not evil?" "He said it's important that she come back early, she's doing well and not to worry." " Guys, I just noticed something." " What?" "Everyone's off the plane, so where's Willow?" "I'll call you when I get there." "OK?" "They said they'd meet us." "Oh, look, they're there." " Hi!" " Hi, honey." " How are you doing?" " Good." " And how's it going with you two?" " Hi, Dad." " Go on." " Hey!" " See what you did?" " Stop acting up!" "Welcome home, me." "All alone." "Are you frightened to be all alone?" "Hey, is somebody there?" "The wind talks when you're alone." "You'd better clear out, whoever you are." "Aargh!" "Buffy?" "Hello?" "Tara?" "Dawn?" "Did I hear the door?" "They absolutely put her on the plane in London." "So, she got off in Chicago when they stopped?" "She could've caught a flight anywhere from there." "Maybe she doubled back." "Got off the plane in London after Giles left." "Well, if she's doing that - ducking Giles - then, she's evil, right?" "I've avoided Giles tons of times." "Just meant I was lazy, not evil." "I hope you're right, because defeating Lazy Willow - probably less hard." "We should check the messages." "See if she tried to reach us here." "Good idea." " What was that?" " Upstairs." "Willow, is that you?" "Definitely not up there." "She didn't leave a message?" "I checked with Giles again." "He hasn't heard from her." " Is he throwing a tasteful British wiggins?" " Oh, with extra wig." "He's blaming himself pretty hard." "Like he should've known she wasn't ready." "I kept telling him it wasn't his fault." "Maybe she couldn't face us." "Like she didn't think we were ready to forgive her." "I get that." "So Giles is blaming Giles, and we're blaming us." "Is anyone gonna blame Willow?" "Oh, don't give me shock face." "Will anyone around here ever start asking for help when they need it?" "If Willow flipped out, it's her bad." "We can only be here for her so much if she won't be, you know, here." "Hello." "I'm calling for Giles." "A Mr Giles?" "Right." "Council meeting all day." "No, no, I know he can't be reached there." "Thanks, bye." "Anya!" "Anya, don't!" "Don't run away." "What are you doing here?" "I thought you were with Giles studying how to not kill people." " I just got back." " As in you're all better or, just got back to bring about a fiery apocalypse of death?" "Neither, but I have been studying." "Working real hard, and I'm gonna be fine." "Oh." "Good." "Cos I remember the last time you said that." "I've spent a lot of time since then cleaning the debris out of my ex-livelihood." "Stuff like that." "Yeah, I wanna help any way I can with that." "I feel really responsible." "You feel really responsible?" "You are really responsible!" "I know I hurt you and... and everyone." "I'm sorry." "You should know vengeance demons don't ruth with the "sorry."" "We prefer "Oh, God, please stop hitting me with my own rib bones."" "Go on." "Say whatever you want." "Rib bones and so forth." "I deserve it." "Then you won't mind?" " Well, then, that's no fun." " Sorry." "So, where is everyone these days?" "Well, I'm back in my own apartment." "And, of course, vengeance takes me all over the world." "I was in Brazil yesterday." "They love their soccer." "And the others?" "Dawn and..." "Xander?" "Buffy?" " You haven't seen them?" " Not so much." "Huh." "I guess they're still mad at you." "They've been a little temperamental lately, just between you and me." " We had this little mix-up a few days ago..." " That sounds great." "So..." "Where do you think they'd be?" "At the new high school, probably." "Everyone's all about the high school." "Buffy's got some job there helping junior deviants," "Spike's insane in the basement, Xander's there doing construction..." "Wait, Spike's what in the whatment?" "Insane." "Base." "Xander does construction." "He likes to start early, so he's probably there by now." "Xander?" "Xander, are you down there?" "No skin." "Tough to look at." "And yet my eyes refuse to look away." "Stupid eyes." "I found it first thing this morning." "I gave my crew the day off, and I called you right away." "I gotta get a job where I don't get called right away for this stuff." "Yeah, I know exactly what you're thinking." "Maybe Willow is back." "Out!" "This is my place." "You need permission to be here." "You need a special slip with a stamp." "Spike." "My God..." "You go off, you try to wall up the bad parts, put your heart back in where it fell out." "You call yourself finished, but you're not." "You're worse than ever, you are." "You went away." "You've been gone since..." "Yeah, I needed to go." "But I'm back now." "And I found..." " There's a body." " Tragedy." "Is there blood?" "Yeah." "And I can't find Buffy or Xander or Dawn and... there's this thing killing people." "The victim was skinned." "What could do that?" "You did it once." "I heard about it." "Anything other... other than me?" "Look at you... glowing." "What's a word means "glowing"?" "Gotta rhyme." " Spike?" " Oh... no!" "I should hide." "Hide from you." "Hide my face." "You know what I did." "What you did?" "You didn't do anything." "Did you?" "Everyone's talking to me." "No one's talking to each other." "Spike, please try to listen to me." "Someone isn't here." "Button, button." "Who's got the button?" "My money's on the witch." "We can't use the blueprints to find our way around down here." "It's like the walls move or something." "  Out!" "This is my place." " I think I hear him." "You need a special slip with a stamp." "..and put your heart back in where it fell out." "You call yourself finished, but you're not." "Worse off than ever, you are." "Spike." "Spike!" "You went away." " You've been gone since..." " The church." "You scared me a little." "I didn't..." " I didn't know what to think." " We're here for a reason." "Tragedy." "Is there blood?" "He knows." "He must have seen the body." " You did it once." "I heard about it." " Spike, we need to know who did this." "Look at you... glowing." "What's a word means "glowing"?" "It's gotta rhyme." "Spike, please." "I..." "I should hide." "Hide from you." "Hide my face." "You know what I did." " Boy, he's extra useful today." " This isn't the time." "Everyone's talking to me." "No one's talking to each other." "Might as well go." "Someone isn't here." "Button, button." "Who's got the button?" "My money's on the witch." "Red's a bad girl." "He's talking about Willow." "And that means something because he's chock-full-of-sanity." " Maybe he saw her." " They think you did it." "The Slayer and her boy." "They think you took the skin." "Is there something here?" "Something that killed?" "Her boy?" "I'm her boy?" "I have to go." "There are things here without permission." "I have to check their slips." "Make sure they have authorisation." " I need help." " I don't have any money." "I don't want money." "Come in." "Enjoy my personal space." " I found a dead body near the high school." " Yes, that can happen." "Something horrible killed a boy." "Took his skin right off." " Was it you?" " No!" "With the skin thing, they're definitely gonna think it was you." "Buffy is, anyway." "Yeah." "Maybe she already does, I don't know." "I just..." "I have to find whatever did this." "I just..." "I need to do something right." "Oh, and so they'll think it wasn't you, right?" "That has to be part of it." "Maybe you're thinking you kill this thing, they don't have to know about it." " Won't suspect you, even for a minute." " No, I don't..." " When did you get all insightful?" " I'm surprisingly sensitive." "So, will you help me?" "Is it difficult or time-consuming?" " This isn't gonna get all sexy, is it?" " I'd be shocked." " OK, do you have your powder?" " Oh, I ate that." "I have it." "OK, we scatter it over the map, and where there's a demon, a little light appears." "Oh, pretty!" " Will it hurt the carpet?" " No." "OK, scatter." "Oh!" "Hey, look!" "That's me." "Hello!" " What's that huge clump?" " It's the high school." " It's all Hellmouthy underneath." " Things have been stirring there lately." " Is it getting brighter?" " Smoke!" "Uh!" "OK." "Remember our talk about the carpet?" "Hey, this could be it." "It's strong, it's near the body... and it's all by itself." "Hiding in the woods or maybe a cave." "There are a couple good caves around there." "I don't know." "Sounds pretty thin to me." "Well, if you teleport over there real quick like a bunn..." " Real quick and see if I'm right." " No, sorry." "You damaged my carpet." "Anya, you're a vengeance demon." "Just teleport." "Well, as it turns out, teleporting isn't a right, it's a privilege." "I withdrew a vengeance spell last week, and this is my punishment." "I can only teleport for official business." "I have to file a flight plan and everything." "Oh." "I'm sorry." "That must be hard." "Yeah, it bites a pretty big one." "And the vengeance itself, it's..." "It's not as fulfilling as I remember." "Really?" "Cos I got the impression that you enjoyed, you know, inflicting." "Well, causing pain sounds really cool, I know, but... it turns out it's really upsetting." "Didn't use to be, but now it is." "Is it like you're scared of losing that feeling again?" "And then having it be OK to hurt people?" "And then you're not in charge of the power any more because it's in charge of you?" "Wow, that was... really over-dramatically stated, but, yeah, that's it." "I get it." "Believe me." "I'm sorry, Willow." " I wish it were better for you." " You too." "It did get a little sexy, didn't it?" " I have to find this monster." " Willow?" "lsn't there another spell?" "You're trying to find Buffy and Xander." "Couldn't we use a spell to do that?" "I did." "I tried, and something went kaflooey, and it didn't work." " What did it say?" " It said they don't exist." "OK, I looked up demons that skin their victims and demons that flay their victims cos, same thing." "There's a ton of prospects." "Anything else gone?" " Eyeballs, toenails or viscera?" "That's guts." " She knows about viscera." "Makes you proud." " Just skin." " OK, I'll work on that." " What's up?" " I need to do something." " I just..." "I have this feeling in my gut..." " In your viscera." "..that we know exactly who did this." "And this work that we're doing is just a way to convince ourselves that Willow's OK." "Guys!" "I got a good one." "A demon called "Gnarl." He's a parasite with these nasty long fingernails." "He secretes something through them which paralyses his victims." "He then cuts strips of their skin while they're still alive." "It takes hours." "We didn't find any strips of skin." "Which, by the way, gghh!" "You wouldn't." "He eats them." "That's why he's a parasite." "It's like his natural food." "Dawn, you're new at this, and I get why you're proud, but I'm not exactly sure why this demon is any more likely than any of the others." "You never said pool of blood." " There was no pool, just splatters." " Then this is your guy." "He laps up the blood." "You could say it's, like, his natural beverage." " You're terrifying." " Now if we just knew how to find this thing." " We can ask questions at Willy's Place." " Or, we could be smart." " Sorry, Xander." " What?" "Whoever did this had to get blood on them, which means they left a trail." " Minute traces of blood." " And we have a way to track it." "We have a..." "Oh." "I get it." "What?" "How?" "What's goin' on?" "William's a good boy." "Carries her water, carries her sin." "Supposed to get easier." "Supposed to help to help, but it doesn't." "Still so heavy." "We should've put a leash on him." "Yes, let's tie ourselves to the crazy vampire." " You really think it's gonna work?" " It's pretty easy." "Spike follows the exciting smell of blood, and we follow the fairly ripe smell of Spike." "It's smell-ementary." "Also, I'm sure there's tons of stuff like this." "Procedures we can use that don't involve magic spells." "Just good, solid detective work." "And we can develop a database of tooth impressions and demon-skin samples" " and I could wear high heels more often." " That was so close to being empowered." "Everybody loves a slender ankle." "That's it." "End of the line." "Everyone off." "Keep your ticket, you'll need that." " There's a rock cliff." " Give him a break, Buffy." "Maybe it's a vicious skin-eating rock cliff." "There's a cave in it." "Look." "I'm insane." "What's his excuse?" "All alone." "Dark and dank." " I was hoping it'd be dark and dank." " Shh!" "Do you hear that?" "No, I don't." "But now I do." " Something's moving in here." " Guess we're in the right place." "Look at the shorn lamb." "See how it trembles." "Is it the cold wind?" "Or is it that the flock is nowhere to be seen?" "Poor little lamb all alone." " You guys hear that, right?" " Yep." "It's echoing." "It sounds close, but I don't think..." "Dawn!" " Are you OK?" " I guess so." " Poison paralyses." " Dawn." "OK, we need to get her out of here." "We'll deal with him later." "Seal him in." "What's going on?" "Who's there?" "No!" "Stop!" "No way out now." "No way out." "Protect me, Goddess." "In thy name, I supplicate myself." "Take the powers from my enemy, and lay him lower than the lowest field." "Gnarl loves spells." "He keeps them as pets." "They love him." "And they leave him alone." "You may be immune to magic, but I've got more than that." " You wanna fight?" " Your friends left you here." "No one comes to save you" "They wanted me to have you." "The computer." "That thing Dawn was reading might have an antidote for the paralysis." " Buffy?" " What?" " I'm really sorry." " Oh, it's OK." " It had paralysing fingernails." " Just like you said, so good on you." "Did they leave you as a gifty for me?" "Are you a tasty little gifty?" " Stop it." " Or did they just throw you away?" "Were they here?" "Were my friends really here?" "I heard something." "They were here." "Here they were." "And there they went." "Gone, all gone, what a pretty song" "They sealed you in with me." "I love a gifty." "Can't wait to unwrap it." "Oh!" " OK, watch the head." " I've got ya." " Watch my head." " Sofa." " Face up!" "Face up!" " She's right." "Face up is better." "I'm gonna check the computer." "Find that page." "See if there's an antidote." "It'll be all right." "We'll get you fixed up." " You'll be doing limbo in no time." " Yeah, as a pole." " No, not as a pole." "I promise." " Oh!" "Got it." "It says the paralysis is permanent." "No." "Oh, wait." "My bad." ""Permanent until the creature dies." Sorry." "I guess we have to go back." "We can't leave her here." "What if she vomits?" " I won't vomit." " Do you think she'll vomit?" " Stop talking about vomit." " I'll call Anya." "She can watch her." "Right, she'll love being called for vomit watch." "Stop talking about vomit!" "Gnarl makes a pretty picture." "It's easy when you know how." "It's easy when everyone helps." "They helped me." "Too bad there's no one to help you." "  I bet she's dying." " She's not dying." "She's just paralysed." " Paralysed how?" " Paralysed how?" " In the not moving way." " Well, there's lots of different ways." "Did you try this?" " Hey!" " Hey!" " Oh!" "You're poseable." " She's poseable?" "It's a common variety." "Watch this." "Huh!" "Neat as you please." " Hardly a need to undo her." "" " Mm." "Where'd you get the nuts?" " Brazil." "No need to thank me, by the way, for sitting with her." "I'm feeling very benevolent today." "Helping Willow." "Helping you." "Might even call it even for that worm thing last week." "Yeah, I don't think we could call..." "Wait, you saw Willow?" "She's looking for you, by the way." "Decided you might be out in some cave." " Sounded pretty tenuous." " Cave?" "Anya, listen." "This is really important." "Did Willow go to that cave?" "Last time I saw her, that's where she was headed." " Shall I make her salute?" "That'd be cute." " She could be there right now." " Willow could be trapped with the Gnarl." " It's not "the Gnarl", just "Gnarl"." "It'd be tragic if you were being silly with your paralysed sister while Willow was dying." " Anya, you know about this creature?" " Uh-huh." "Sure." "You're coming with us." "Mmm?" "They wouldn't leave." "They'll return." "They don't want you." "Lock you in, nice white skin" "And if they do return, where will they find you?" "Inside me, you'll already be." " Anya, you gotta keep up!" " Out of shape." "Been teleporting for months." "Hurry!" "No, no, no..." " What's going on?" "Where's Willow?" " She's right here." " Can't you see her?" "She's hurt." " What?" "Where?" " There's nothing here." " Your hand's going through her." " What's going on?" " I don't know." " I'm starting to get why we haven't seen her." " Cos we haven't seen her." "I think whatever's causing this invisible thing is separate from the skin-eating monster." "Behind you!" "Close one." "Remember what I said." "Get him in the eyes." "Willow, I'm here." " Wow, you're really hurt." " What's going on?" "Buffy's fighting the demon over there, see." "If they get too close, I'm gonna have to run." " I don't see." " But they're here." "Buffy and Xander." "Someone came?" "They didn't leave me?" "No, they didn't leave you." "They can't see you." "They're here." "They're here." "I'm not alone." "Good." "You're doing really good." "Eew." "Eew." "Thumbs?" "I can't believe you did that." "Oh." "Buffy killed the demon." "It was gross." "I can..." "I can move." "Oh!" "Oh!" "Willow?" "Are you here?" "Where is she?" "Is she alive?" "She's right here." "OK, stand back." "You're getting your feet in her." "Willow?" "She's hurt really bad, you guys." "I'm gonna go get help." "I think she's sort of... here-ish." "Willow?" "We can't exactly see you, but we're really glad that you're back." "I don't know how badly you're hurt, but..." "What's happening?" "I couldn't find you guys." "I looked everywhere." "And the demon said that you left me..." "Oh!" "There you are." "There you are!" " Don't go away." " We're not going away." "Oh, God." "It's gonna be OK, Will." "You're gonna be OK." "I know." "You're here." "Buffy." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to interrupt." "That's all I had left in me anyway." "I didn't realise meditating was such hard work." "I'm healing." "Growing new skin." "Wow." "That's magic, right?" "When most people meditate, they don't get extra skin, right?" "Cos Clem should, like, cut back." "It's magic." "I'm drawing power from the earth to heal myself." "We're on the second floor." "You know, Giles says everything's part of the earth." "This bed." "The air." "Us." "Explains why my fingernails get dirty even when I don't do anything." " Plus you stuck your thumbs in a demon." " True." " You're wiped out." "I should go." " No." "Please stay." "I missed you so much when I couldn't find you." "We missed you too." "I missed you." "Dawn's working on what caused the no-see-ums, but so far..." "I did it." " You did a spell?" " I didn't mean to." "I..." "I just remember thinking I wasn't ready to see you guys yet." "I was afraid we wouldn't, you know, connect." "So you made it happen just by thinking it?" "Guess I have a ways to go before I master my powers, huh?" "It's OK." "As long as you're all right." "It's nice to be forgiven." "Too bad I need so much of it." "I have a confession to make." "I thought it might be you." "With the flaying." "I know." "I wanna be the kind of person that wouldn't think that." "Xander never thought it." "He did a little." "Heck, I did a little." "Xander has the luxury of not saying it, but you're the Slayer." "You have to say stuff like that." "It's OK." "It's OK too, if you still don't think I can recover from this magic stuff, because honestly, I'm not that sure about it either." "I thought you were too tired." "It hurts too much not to try." "I'm sorry." "It just takes so much strength." "I don't have that much." "I got so much strength, I'm givin' it away." "Are you sure?" "Will it help?" "Much." "Good."