‘Jeremy’s’ eyes struggle to adjust, as the trunk of the car boot is opened. Lightning crackles around a woman he doesn’t recognise, a red head, who tells him that this bit is the part that may hurt.

Spike and Drusilla stand next to Willow as she begins and ends the spell to remove the demon from Jeremy’s body. A few yards away, a snake stirs by the side of the road. It looks up – and suddenly speaks!

“I don’t understand,” it tries to say, no longer having the appropriate senses to figure out what’s going on. It’s middle is flattened, obviously by a vehicle. The tyre mark is a giveaway. The red head crouches down by the serpent, as he realises he has no hands! He starts to panic. Willow tells him it’s okay. She’s sorry that she’s had to do this, but there was nothing else here to transfer him into, and, well… the only thing they had was roadkill. She tells him that he still has his mental powers. Telepathic dead snake? If it’ll sell anywhere it’ll be Vegas, right? Positive thinking? The demon tells her to go to Hell. Twice.

On the plus side, Jeremy is now himself again, apart from the suit. He asks Spike what happened and his friend fills him in: Jeremy figured it would be something like that, considering their friendship. Next time, he tells Spike, we’ll just get coffee. Jeremy gets up and, although Spike is happy he’s okay, he tells him that he’s going home and out of dodge. Jeremy hesitates, asking if Illyria is about, but when he discovers that she’s not – and that Spike only has limited back-up – he’s quick to change his mind. He’s coming. Spike’s friends need help.

Willow is happy for the human company. She tells Spike that she’s a bit weakened by the last spell, but they need to get moving. They need help. And they are not, she says twice, bringing her. Spike looks at her and says he’ll take care of Drusilla, who’s wandered off, singing away on the side of the road. He calls her over. “Drusilla,” he orders, “you stick close. You do what I say. Anything you do to anyone on our side, I’ll do to you ten-fold. That was not innuendo.” Drusilla agrees to behave herself. She smiles.

Spike asks her why she’s happy. She pulls the dead snake from around her neck. She met a friend, and then he shouted at her, so she killed him. Spike smacks his forehead in alarm. Oops.

At the burned out offices of Wolfram & Hart Vegas, the board have been summoned for an emergency meeting. They’re being called out by their superior: this office was supposed to be slower, building up it’s power so it could make connections with Las Vegas, intimidate others. And now, five minutes later, due to the recklessness of the board, the place is barely standing. And to make it worse, they were defeated by their inside hire! And then Spike’s ‘sidekick’ torched the place! That’s a beatdown from the sidekick of a sidekick!

The woman raises herself from her seat, full of power. It’s Lilah Morgan, long-term foe of Angel Investigations, and still serving her undead-contract with Wolfram & Hart. The board are told unequivocally: they are to report to her office, one by one, to determine their usefulness to the firm. “Here’s where you say, ‘Yes, Ms. Morgan.’”

In John’s lair, he’s telling his prisoners that the murder he’s just committed, that of the lawyer from Wolfram & Hart, didn’t make him feel anything. It was horrible, gut-wrenching, and he absolutely felt nothing, not even his heart missing a beat. Like a third party was having all the fun. He’s asked Betta George to place his lair’s location in Spike’s head. He’s had enough of waiting.

Beck is still as mouthy as ever: John puts a blade to her throat. He’s surprised that she’s not afraid of him and asks why. She says that she’s been through a lot, and every time, no matter how bad it looked, Spike came to her rescue, beat the bad guys and left them dead in his wake. And the fact that John doesn’t know it, makes him stupid. And that’s why she’s calm. This riles him up – he’s not going to wait for Spike to come through the door, he’s going to kill the annoying Firestarter now.

Suddenly, a green glow begins to emanate from the floor, which starts bulging. George apologises for the ‘mistake’ – he must have told Spike to come in the ‘surprise’ way. With Jeremy, Drusilla and Spike, levitated by Willow, now ready to engage, the fight is on!

Willow is weaker than she’d like and Spike orders Jeremy to her side to watch her. He tells Drusilla to protect them like she would protect him. She agrees, and charges after the bad guys. John tries to approach her, but Spike gets in his way: “Up and left you, huh? Mate, I’ve been there.”

John roars that Spike won’t take anything else from him, and launches himself in Spike’s direction, katana swinging. As Spike kicks him away, he suddenly remembers things from his recent past and wonders what is happening.