Chapter Twelve

We find out just what Spike has been up to since the shadow demon/Erus Veneficus encounter on the street. He wakes up and retrives his duster from outside the house, wondering why Angel has been wearing it. He sets off to rejoin Buffy when the Erus Veneficus appears and tells him if he goes near Buffy he'll kill her, but if he stays away she'll remain unharmed. He refers to the purpose of the amulet from LA - that an ensouled entity either stands against evil or accelerates its flow into the world. He says Angel would stand against it, that he would accelerate it, but that Spike remains an enigma either way. He hopes that by blackmailing Spike he can steer the outcome of the Apocalypse by making him choose between Buffy or the world - and Spike would inevitably choose Buffy.
Cordy arrives after the Erus leaves and tells Spike that she's just beaten him in a fight. He expresses his frustration of never being good enough - he has a soul now after all, yet people still treat him like a soulless monster.

We see how Cordy retrieved Connor, and that it was her who restored his memories.

Then, we jump further ahead to just after Spike places Dawn in a convenient place for Faith and Gunn to find - he couldn't take her back as it would involve contact with Buffy. Dawn tells Spike in her sleep that the Erus Veneficus has the scythe, so he goes to retrieve it. Cordy tells him it's a great idea but that he'll need to make a stop first.
Spike arrives at the chamber, and asks if their deal is still on - but realises the Erus thinks he is the First. He tries to ferret out some details of their arrangement but is told to leave. He does so, smiling as the spell he set up works, rendering the Erus Veneficus incapable of hacking into the scythe.

We jump ahead again, this time to Cordy as she feels annoyance due to the unexpected move the Erus made after the spell was cast - coming to get Willow so she can hack into the scythe instead.

We come to the present - Wes is surrounded by Turok-Han, and the First as Lilah taunts him on his latest failure. Suddenly a fire truck pulls into the school and kills all the Turok-Han by a jet of holy water. Spike climbs out of the truck along with his new acquaintance, Father Greg Duncan. They take the various vehicles - Robin's car, the school bus and the fire truck - and go to leave; but Wes spots a wall of shadow approaching them.