'Touched' Story Code '7ABB20' by Rebecca Rand Kirshner

In the Summer’s house, the Potentials and the Scooby Gang argue about what to do next; Faith steps in and tells them all to go to bed, stating that they will talk about it in the morning. But then the power goes out, leading them to believe that they are under attack, until Faith looks out of the window and sees that it has happened all over town. Buffy breaks into an apparently abandoned house, but is greeted by a man wielding a shotgun; she easily disarms him, and he runs away. Andrew and Spike are still at the church; it is almost daybreak, and Andrew is getting on Spike’s nerves; the vampire is worried about Buffy. At the house, Faith decides that they should kidnap a Bringer and interrogate him. Meanwhile, somewhere underneath the vineyard, the First and Caleb discuss Buffy while their servants excavate the rock walls around them. Later that evening, Kennedy walks alone down a street; a Bringer attacks her, but Giles, Faith and a few Potentials jump out and capture him. Back at the Summer’s house, Giles notes that the Bringer has no tongue; Dawn recalls an old Turkish spell she read about, used to communicate with the dead, which might work for them. Spike and Andrew arrive home, but when Willow tells Spike that Buffy has gone the vampire tells them that they are ungrateful; Faith tells him to shut up, and they both begin to fight. Realising that Faith does not know where Buffy is, Spike walks out the house; using his vampire senses, he is able to track Buffy’s scent. Willow performs the Turkish spell, which seems not to have worked - until they realise that the Bringer is talking though Andrew. He tells them that ‘they’ follow Caleb, and are trying to kill all of the girls to end the line of the Slayer; he informs them that Caleb and the Bringers are watching them and their efforts, but are unconcerned, as they have an armoury of weapons, and know they will die. The Bringer then says something about dirt, and talks about killing them all. Giles loses his temper and slits the Bringer’s throat. Spike finds Buffy in the house, and tries to get her to go home and regain her place as leader; he tells her that he found information proving she was right about the vineyard, but Buffy tells him it no longer matters anymore. Meanwhile, Faith and Giles attempt to discover the location of the armoury, planning to find it in the morning; they believe it to be in the sewers outside of town. Faith is alone in her room when she turns around and finds the First standing in front of her in the guise of the Mayor. She knows what it really is, but the demon informs her it that has the memories of the Mayor, and warns that Buffy might come back and destroy her if she is not careful. Spike tells Buffy that the house is a mess without her, and confesses to hitting Faith; Buffy replies that she does not feel connected to anyone, that she pushes people away. Spike reminds her of their previous relationship, but Buffy states that he only wanted her as she was unattainable. Spike gets angry and tells her that in over a hundred years of living, the only thing he is sure of is his love for her. Buffy crawls into bed to sleep and asks Spike to stay - surprising him by asking him to lie in bed next to her, as she just wants him to hold her. The First disappears just as Principal Wood comes in to talk to Faith; when she tells him about the demon’s visit, Wood reveals that it visited him in the form of his mother. Faith then takes things in a different direction, and kisses him passionately. Willow returns to her room, but instead of finding it full of sleeping Potentials, she discovers Kennedy lying on the bed waiting for her. As they kiss, Willow confesses to being afraid of losing control, in case ‘bad Willow’ resurfaces; Kennedy reassures her that she will not let that happen. Meanwhile, Xander and Anya share a tub of ice-cream in the kitchen. While Spike tenderly holds Buffy, Faith and Wood have wild sex, Willow and Kennedy make love, and Anya and Xander give into their feelings once more, and have sex on the kitchen floor. Elsewhere, the First talks about how Caleb has its strength inside of him, and how it is using him to feel things. The next morning, Andrew tells Faith about the plaque they found; Faith sends Dawn, Willow, Xander and Anya to check in on Buffy, while she leads a team of Potentials to find the Bringer’s arsenal. Spike wakes up alone to find a note from Buffy on the pillow next to him. At the vineyard, the First voices its concern that Buffy will discover what they have found - just as Buffy walks down the stairs and demands to know what Caleb has of hers. She then goads the preacher into attacking her. But Buffy has a strategy: this time she works solely on defence, and is able to avoid all of Caleb’s blows, managing to hit him as well. In the sewers, Faith and the girls find the Bringers’ lair, but the Bringers defending the arsenal immediately attack them. In the vineyard, Buffy sees a trapdoor and dives straight through it. The Potentials and Faith defeat the Bringers and then discover hundreds of stockpiled weapons; Faith then leads the girls through a door. Meanwhile, Buffy discovers what Caleb and the First have found, what it is that belongs to her: a large, gleaming scythe embedded in the rock. In the sewers, Faith finds a huge metal trunk. But when she opens it, she finds a bomb, primed to explode - with only eight seconds on the countdown to go…

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), James Marsters (Spike), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn), Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles), Eliza Dushku (Faith), Nathan Fillion (Caleb), Tom Lenk (Andrew), Iyari Limon (Kennedy), Sarah Hagan (Amanda), Harry Groener (Mayor Richard Wilkins III), D.B. Woodside (Principal Robin Wood)
Directed by David Solomon

TX (US): 6th May 2003

Notes:
*Featuring Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya, Dawn, Giles and Faith

*Working title: 'Unlock the Power'