7.16

Episode 7.16

"Trust"

written by: A. Jean Clayton a.k.a. silver

June 24th, 2002

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Buffy stumbled across Grant finding a dead woman in the park. Voiceover of Buffy telling Giles that Grant didn�t tell her the dead woman was a cop, whom he must have known. Cut to Grant telling Buffy he can�t tell her anything, then cut to Buffy and Grant in the squad car. She tells him she can�t trust him, but �Remember when you said things in Sunnydale were a little �off�?�, she asks, �You�re not wrong.� Angel came to Sunnydale to warn Buffy of an impending ritual that Cordelia saw in a vision, which would allegedly bring a great evil into the world. Some men in cloaks went to the magic shop to retrieve the box that Buffy had brought there for safekeeping from the docks. Anya walked in on them and was killed after Willow used a transference spell to shift the fetus into her own womb. The Scooby Gang was unable to stop the ritual, which was completed in the basement of the Sunnydale P.D. Station. The Commissioner greeted the entity that emerged as �Master�. Xander, Willow and Tara hunted a demon before finding out it was harmless; Xander killed it anyway in a rage. Shot of Willow finding Xander�s bloody shirt, while Dawn voiceovers, wondering if someone should talk to Xander. Xander went amok at Willy�s Place, and attacked Buffy when she tried to talk to him. Spike knocked him out. Final parting shot of Xander chained to the wall in Spike�s old crypt.

* * *

Grant and Buffy are on patrol in the squad car. As is becoming all too familiar, the vibe between them is strained due to the lack of trust between them. There�s no small talk at all as Grant drives, and Buffy practically pounces on the radio when dispatch calls a code through. Grant flicks on the siren as they take off to investigate a report of an armed robbery. The car squeals up to a convenience store, and Grant and Buffy get out. Glancing at her, Grant reminds Buffy to keep her hand on her weapon; she can�t always go in expecting to be able to physically restrain a suspect, particularly if they�re armed. Buffy does so, and they step up to the door, which suddenly shatters in an explosion of glass. Grant whips his gun out and charges in high, while Buffy takes the low. Grant orders the suspect to freeze, and the man swings his gun toward Grant. Buffy kicks the weapon out of his hand, and Grant muscles the guy to the floor and restrains him. He almost smiles up at Buffy and says see, they can make a good team. Buffy half-smiles back, and turns to the clerk for a statement.

Just then, the perpetrator breaks free of Grant and reaches for another weapon. He pulls out a knife and flings it at Buffy�s back. Grant starts to shout a warning, but Buffy has already turned and absorbs the impact of the knife by catching it in a spin and slinging it back at the perpetrator, on instinct. It buries itself in the man�s arm, and he offers no further resistance as Grant takes him down again. Buffy snaps out that she thought he had the guy cuffed? Grant says the cuffs must not have been tight enough, but Buffy looks like she doesn�t believe him. She starts to walk out. Grant asks her where she�s going, and she responds that they�ve got an hour coming to them in between these double shifts they have to work, so she�s going to take her hour. She�ll meet up with him later. She leaves, and Grant remains kneeling on the floor next to the perp, looking angry.

Opening Credits.

Pan across the cemetery to Spike�s old crypt. Inside, Xander is still chained to the wall. Spike leans against the opposite wall, keeping an eye on him until Buffy comes in. She tries talking to Xander, but he likens his situation to when Angel and Buffy tried to do an intervention on Faith in the same fashion. He implies that they failed with her, and that her turn to darkness was Buffy�s fault. Buffy is dismayed, but tries not to show it. �Faith killed people,� she says instead, �Have you?� Do you consider demons people? Xander asks. Buffy is stunned at the implication, and asks if that�s supposed to make it all right. Xander cracks a chilling smile and says he knows he should be pretending to be as shocked and worried as she is, but he just can�t seem to muster up the give-a-damn. Disturbed, and frustrated that she can�t reach him, she tells him that Anya wouldn�t want him to do this to himself. Xander goes cold and tells her to never say his dead wife�s name in front of him again.

Outside, Spike lights up a cigarette. Buffy worries that this isn�t the best way to help Xander. She�s afraid they�re overreacting. Spike reminds her that when he knocked Xander out, he�d been assaulting Buffy with a broken bottle. She remembers, and she�s almost certain that Xander killed that demon, but she wonders if chaining him up is the best way to deal with it. Spike takes a drag and says there�s something happening to Xander�he can sense it. There�s something happening to the whole town, seems like. Buffy asks him what he means, and he turns to her. �Can�t you feel it?�

Segue to the basement room at the police department. The entity that was summoned is still there, but it�s much larger and more evil looking than it�s first incarnation. The eyes are heavy-lidded, and it appears to be sleeping. The Commissioner stands before it in the familiar symbol on the floor, apparently communing with the entity. �Yes,� he says after a moment. �I know. We will succeed this time.�

Just then the door opens, and a lieutenant enters. He indicates with a nod that he needs to speak with the Commissioner, who rises, and they retreat to the corner of the room to speak in hushed tones as the creature continues to glow sedately. The lieutenant says their man wasn�t able to kill the slayer, and the first crack of emotion shows through the Commissioner�s schooled features when he snarls in anger. He says this has gone on long enough�up until now they�ve kept her close, where they could more keenly observe her activities, but the time for waiting and watching was past. Somehow she has evaded all previous attempts on her life, so they�ll have to throw something bigger at her. He reminds the lieutenant that the slayer is the one person on earth they can�t afford to be still breathing when the time comes. The lieutenant asks what he should do. �Finish it,� the Commissioner answers. �Whatever it takes.�

�What about Grant?� the lieutenant asks. �I�ll take care of him,� the Commissioner replies ambiguously.

Back at the Summers house, Buffy has come to discuss the Xander situation. She can�t stay long, because she�s got to get back for the second part of her double, but she fills the gang in on how she thinks Xander did kill the demon, and how he attacked her. Tara asks where Xander is now, and Buffy reveals that he�s chained to the wall of Spike�s old crypt, for the time being. Rather than getting the supportive collaboration she was expecting, Willow and Dawn react indignantly. Willow goes off on her, saying how she almost got through to him when they went for the ultrasound. He�s going through a lot right now, and what he needs are his friends, not to be chained up like some kind of animal. Buffy reminds her of Xander�s sudden violent tendencies, and Willow counters that it was only a demon.

�Thanks, Red,� Spike drawls from the door. Buffy says the demon was innocent. And for that matter, it�s not just a demon Xander�s guilty of wailing on. �He came at me, Will. And it was serious.� Willow doesn�t listen, and demands to be taken to Xander. She�s convinced she can get through to him.

Cut to a bridge over the stream that feeds into the ocean. The lieutenant stands down on the bank, reading a summoning spell from a book. The camera pans down over the churning water as he finishes, and there are sudden shapes surfacing briefly in the darkness. With a splash, two eel-like demons burst out of the water and land on the shore. They�re dark gray and slippery, gleaming in the moonlight. They speak to each other in gargled-sounding speech as two more jump out of the water behind them, and they all assemble before the lieutenant, who smiles.

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Buffy walks into Grant�s office to meet up for their second shift, and finds the detective writing what looks like might be the report on their call earlier. But as he notices Buffy, he stands and puts the paper in his pocket. He starts to ask her where she�s been, but then holds his tongue. The tension is still thick between them. They prepare to head out, but are interrupted by the Commissioner before leaving the office. He tells Buffy to go ahead, and she looks to Grant, hesitant. He asks the Commissioner if he�s really thinking of sending Buffy out on her own already, and the Commish says Grant is fully aware of the accelerated learning process of Sunnydale cops. There�s an undercurrent of threat in his words, and Grant backs down. Buffy looks suspicious at the behavior of both men, and uncertainly leaves to go on patrol alone. She doesn�t go far, however, and hovers outside the office door for a moment. Grant is left with the Commissioner, and he looks uneasy. He walks across the room to stand by the tiny window and says it�s too early for Buffy to patrol alone. Way too early. He turns and looks back at the Commissioner and asks if he doesn�t think that�ll look suspicious? In the hallway, Buffy hears.

Cut to the cemetery, where Spike is leading Willow and Tara to the crypt. He says this whole idea Willow�s got of getting through to Xander is flawed. There�s something wrong with him, and no amount of talking is going to fix it. Obviously distressed that her childhood friend is in chains, and sure that he�ll listen to her, Willow ignores Spike. They go in and Xander�s still chained to the wall. He looks up at their entrance, and Willow goes to him. Angered all over, she tells Spike to unchain him. Spike lights up a cigarette and says look, he brought them there, but she�s not his keeper, and he doesn�t think it�s a good idea to let the boy be out and about. Willow coldly says it�s not his decision, and Spike looks at her with a glint in his eye, asking who put her in charge? Tara looks between them both worriedly, and says maybe they should all just calm down?

At the station, Grant quickly strides out and down the stairs. At the bottom, he takes out his weapon and ominously loads it with a fresh clip.

Out on patrol, Buffy receives a call from dispatch to check out a reported breaking and entering. She acknowledges and flips her lights on. Cut to the squad car pulling onto a one-way street. Inside, Buffy puts the car in park and gets out, looking wary. She begins to approach the house at the address dispatch gave her, and has to visibly remind herself to keep her hand on her gun. Going up onto the porch, she tries the front door but it�s locked. Quietly she rounds the house and enters the back yard. The quiet gurgle of the stream is behind her as she approaches the back door. She tries the knob and it�s unlocked. Easing it open, Buffy steps inside with a squish. She looks down to see that the floor is saturated with water, just as one of the demons from the stream earlier slithers out of the shadows and grabs her, sending volts of electricity arcing violently through her body.

Commercials.

The eel-like demon continues to fry Buffy until it finally releases her and she falls to the floor, gasping. Another demon joins the first, and they advance upon her. Buffy scoots back from them slowly, unable to get up and fight them. She fumbles for her gun, but can�t free it from her holster. She manages to flip over to her stomach and starts to try and crawl away, but stops abruptly, looking up, when she nearly crawls right into a pair of legs. It�s Grant, and he�s standing over her holding his gun.

Buffy throws a hand up as if to deflect the shot she�s sure is coming at her, but Grant sees movement behind Buffy and � in a swift, smooth move - fires over her, hitting one of the demons. It screeches and slithers forward, but Grant empties his clip into it and it falls bleeding to the floor, dead or unconscious�its fellow having fled through the back door. Grant hauls Buffy up by an arm and asks if she�s okay. Buffy wrenches free of him, and says she * so * is not. She wants to know who the hell he is, and what he�s doing. Why does he seem to be in thick with the Commissioner, and why the hell did he let her come out there alone to get fried, only to come and save her?

Grant says he can�t explain, but Buffy says he�d better, and the threat this time is clear. Grant shoots back that she hasn�t been straight with him either, not since day one. Buffy looks at the demon on the floor, then back to Grant, and says he�s just earned himself the chance to be trusted. �You show me yours, and I�ll show you mine.�

Back at the old crypt, Willow and Spike continue to argue despite Tara�s attempts to keep things peaceful. Xander watches the byplay avidly, looking as if he�s taking a weird glee in the disagreement. Spike crossly says that Willow has no idea what Xander is capable of, and Xander finally speaks up. He reminds Willow of how long they�ve been friends. The things they�ve been through together. They can get through this too, he says. �For God�s sake Will,� he finishes, �you know me.�

Willow tells Spike one more time to free Xander, but when he refuses, she uses magic to release his shackles. The first thing he does is punch Spike. Willow and Tara surge forward to separate them, and Willow looks as if she�s already regretting her decision. She asks Xander if he thinks this is a good way to show them how nonviolent he is, and he counters by asking her what she thought he�d do? Spike put him in chains, he was entitled to punch him. Willow says they should get back to the house, because Dawn is still there all alone, and with the way things have been in Sunnydale recently�well, they should get back.

Grant unlocks the door to his apartment and Buffy follows him in. He flips on a light, and Buffy says the breaking and entering call was a set up. Those demons were waiting for her. She says it�s just like the robbery call earlier; that guy was waiting for them. She asks Grant if someone at the police department is trying to kill her. Grant takes a deep breath and confirms it. Buffy looks straight at him and asks if he�s part of it. Grant says he can explain everything. Buffy tells him to start with the dead cop, and he tells her the woman�s name was Miranda Jacobs; they�d been partners in New Mexico. Miranda had graduated to the rank of detective ahead of him, and transferred to Sunnydale. A year or so later she�d contacted him, needing his help. She�d said that there was something seriously wrong in Sunnydale�nothing was what it seemed to be, and she suspected the whole department of being corrupt. Only problem was, she couldn�t dig any deeper than she already had from the outside�she needed a man on the inside. So Grant had come to Sunnydale to unofficially go undercover and seek out the truth.

He�d started working secretly with Miranda again, and learned that she�d discovered evidence of police involvement with cults and magicks. She had amassed circumstantial evidence that Captain Penderghast and many officers belonging to the precinct were involved in said activities, and it may even have led up through the chain of command to the Commissioner.

�And he thinks you�re one of his,� Buffy follows. Grant says yes. He�d been admitted to the inner circle of cops, trying to find out what they were up to. But someone is on to them now, he thinks. Someone must have found out about the investigation, because now Miranda is dead, and Grant doesn�t know how much whoever killed her knows. They may know about him now, too. �And this is why I didn�t want to involve you,� he finishes. �If they think you�re part of this, you may be next.�

Buffy says she�s already on the hit list�all of the attempts on her life recently can�t be coincidence. She then looks at Grant oddly. When he asks her why she�s looking at him, she reveals that she thought he really was working for the bad guys. There was so much about him that was suspicious. The burn on his hand, the cloak in his closet, taking the pendant from the crime scene. �Burn on my�cloak? When were you in my closet?� Fixating on the last part, Grant forgets about the cloak and eagerly explains that when he saw the pendant on the dead witch, he recognized the symbol on it. He goes to the sofa and starts rooting under the covers, and Buffy gets a vaguely guilty look on her face as he goes on to say that part of the evidence Miranda had amassed included illustrations of the very same symbol, and contained text about how important that symbol would be to a dark ritual.

As he�s speaking, he continues to search under the cushions. �She recorded everything in a notebook�, he says, �which I took from her apartment after she was murdered. Where the hell is it?� On the last, he tosses all of the cushions off the couch, and finds the notebook gone. He pales and starts to worry that �they� have already targeted him, but Buffy quickly jumps in and confesses to taking the notebook the last time she was in his apartment. When he glares at her, she defends herself, saying she thought he was a bad guy. �And also?� she glares back at him, �People who go rooting around my house when they think I�m not there really shouldn�t throw glass�throw stones in�well you shouldn�t complain.� Grant asks how she knew he�d done anything of the sort, and Buffy walks to the door, opens it, and looks back. �That would be a part of my story,� she says, �which I�ll fill you in on while we head over to my place.�

�What�s at your place?� Grant asks. �The notebook,� Buffy says, �and maybe some answers.�

Commercials.

At the Summers place, Willow, Tara and Xander enter; Tara calls out to Dawn, who comes running down the stairs. �Did you get him?� Xander offers her a weak smile to show that he�s okay, but is more than content to fade into the background as everyone goes into the living room. Close up on Xander as the voices around him seem to fade away, and we hear a squishing sound, and slithering. Xander�s eyes dart toward the kitchen, and there�s a beat as he realizes something�s inside the house. He holds it to himself for a moment, as his eyes go next to the front door, clearly thinking about just leaving. He actually gets to his feet, following the impulse, before he stops and looks back at Willow. Everyone stops talking and looks at him. Willow asks if he�s okay, but he looks uncertain. �Willow,� he starts, �I think we should��

Suddenly there�s a shriek from the kitchen and everyone jumps up just as the front door crashes open. A demon slithers in and is quickly joined by another from the kitchen. Dawn screams.

Cut to Buffy and Grant in the car, and Buffy has just finished telling Grant about being the slayer. �And you think this is why the Commissioner is trying to kill you,� he asks, �because you�re this mystical whoosit?� His tone implies that he�s having trouble with the whole idea of Buffy being this great big demon hunter type. �Look Makale,� Buffy replies, �you�ve seen demons. And you�ve seen my reflexes in fights. Is this really that much harder to believe?� Grant acknowledges the fact, though he says he thought he was crazy when he saw the creatures down on the dock, and in the football field. He says he guesses it all makes sense now. He brightens. �And hey, though. If you know about all this stuff, then you can probably help me find some information on this ritual involving the symbol. Miranda was pretty convinced that it couldn�t be allowed to happen.� Buffy tells him it�s too late�the ritual�s already been completed; she was unable to stop it. Her head hangs as she goes on to say a friend was killed the same night in connection with it. Grant remembers Anya�s death, and wants to know what they brought into this world. Buffy says they don�t know yet. But maybe now that Grant�s on their side, they can find out. She goes on to say that someone must have conjured up those demons to take her out. Just then Grant swings the car into Buffy�s driveway and the headlights flash across the crashed-in door and another creature on the lawn. �You mean like that demon?� he asks, throwing the car in park.

They emerge from the car shooting, and their combined fire takes the demon down. From inside they can hear Dawn shrieking, and they barge in: Grant taking high, Buffy taking low. The two remaining demons are attacking in the living room. One of them sends a jolt of electricity through Tara, and Dawn whacks it with a lamp. It falls to the floor and rolls away, making itself the perfect target. Buffy and Grant drill it with gunfire. Across the room, the final demon goes for Willow but Xander steps in its way. It fries him, and he seems to absorb the charge, screaming. Something snaps in him, and he grabs the demon back, heightening the electric contact. The demon is caught off guard and falls back when he pushes. Backed up against the wall, the demon has nowhere to go when Xander begins to pummel it with his fists. The electricity arcing into him seems to have no effect against his rage, and the demon is beaten to death. Xander stands over it, panting, until a hand drops on his shoulder. He whirls and shoves Buffy up against the wall, his fist raised. She makes no move to stop him, though Grant takes an instinctive step forward, and Willow calls Xander�s name. �Am I next?� Buffy asks. Xander just stares at her for a moment before turning and walking out of the house.

Commercials.

The next day, Buffy and Willow climb the steps to Xander�s apartment, and Buffy has finished telling her about Grant and how he�s going to find out as much as he can for them. They�re all going to have to work together on this, to figure out what the police are up to. Willow says the notebook should help; Miranda collected a lot of good information, even if she didn�t know what it all meant.

As they near Xander�s door, Willow stops Buffy and apologizes to her for not believing in her when it came to something being wrong with Xander. She says Buffy was right. Buffy says she understands that Willow just didn�t want to believe their friend could really have done those horrible things�Bufy just hopes it�s not too late. She opens the door to the apartment but it�s empty�completely empty.

End Credits.

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