Three months ago, in a dark alley way somewhere. A vampire has his victim in his grasp, teeth bared, closing in on the neck of his unfortunate meal. Suddenly, the human grabs the vampire’s head, ripping his teeth away from his throat. He’s wearing shades, even in the dead of night, but he’s now making no effort to hide what he’s doing.

Severin holds onto the vampire and asks where Alessandra is. His hands start to glow and Severin warns the vampire that if he doesn’t tell him, his fangs are going to disappear for good, but it’s too late. The vamp is gone, and only a human corpse remains. A voice comes out from the side of the alleyway. A person, draped in shadow, tells him that he’s blaming the wrong person for Clare’s death. He isn’t looking for a vampire. He needs to find the Vampire Slayer. Severin grins at his new acquaintance as they step forward. His new ally tells him that her name is Buffy Summers.

In the present day, Severin, eyes and hands glowing with his green exorcism power, has launched himself at Buffy, who, for once, has been completely caught unaware. Severin easily over powers her, wrestling her to the deck, remembering what his ally told him about the blonde girl below him.

“I want you to destroy everything that makes her who she is. Her power. Her freedom. And the nauseating idea that she’s doing good.”

Buffy lands with a squelch on a pile of corpses. As she starts to her feet, she asks Severin when he became the big bad, but Severin tells her, matter of factly, that he is not the bad guy. She is.

He tells her that her destruction of the Seed is responsible for all of this: he wouldn’t have to do any of this if the magic was still around. “You don’t deserve the power you have,” he spits at her, “So I’m gonna take it.” Buffy questions if he can do that, to which he tells her that the whole time they were together, he was just charging up. His intentions are simple: they will find Buffy Summers dead amongst the vamps and they will blame her for everything.

At the police precinct, a sudden call makes Dowling jump slightly. An anonymous tip has come in: Buffy Summers was spotted at the docklands and has killed hundreds. Cheung races to her feet, shouting orders at officers around her to move out.

At the same moment, Spike and Eldre Koh go as fast as they can back to the mainland from Alcatraz. Spike thinks they should have taken the ‘sodding ferry’. Koh apologises, stating that his kind don’t tend to mix well with humans. Spike tells him that vampires don’t mix with water just as much. He’s desperately trying to get ahold of Buffy or one of the gang, but he has no signal. Koh’s frantic rowing to move faster is not helping.

Koh turns to Spike and asks him why he, as a creature of the night, cares so much for the Slayer. Spike tells him that he and Buffy go way back. The demon looks at Spike, a glint in his eye: so you know each other? Spike doesn’t think that’s any of his business, but Koh tells him he was simply curious; in his culture, mating with humans is not permitted. Spike tells him that, despite what he may think, he’s not about to tell the whole long-story because they don’t have time. It’s not a drama. They’re friends. That is it.

Koh tells him that he can tell that Spike wants more from the Slayer, but Spike tells him, somewhat forlornly that it doesn’t matter: what the Slayer needs right now is normality. And he is certainly not that.

As they approach the shore, they see the docklands. Koh asks what the flashing lights surrounding the warehouse are. Police vehicles. Spike tells him that the lights are the reason Buffy isn’t picking up his messages.

On the dock, Cheung is yelling orders. She’s not taking any chances, not now she knows exactly what a Slayer is capable of. Dowling is convinced that all of their actions are wrong and asks for time to talk to Buffy. Cheung, reluctantly, tells him he’s got as long as it takes for the SWAT team she’s ordered to arrive.

Inside the warehouse, Severin is barely being held back by Buffy. She hears the commotion outside and warns Severin that they have company. He seems unconcerned. With an evil, devilish look in his eerie green eyes, he tells her that he had better hurry then: after all, the authorities don’t even know he exists. He throws Buffy into a nearby wall, and she hits it with a sickening thud. “You think this hurts now,” Severin asks her. “Imagine how strong I’ll be after I take your mojo?” He reaches his hands for Buffy’s face, his crackling hands reflected in her eyes.

He smiles, lowering them closer to Buffy, delighted in the idea of the power of a Vampire Slayer. As he’s about to make contact however, he realises that something’s different. He feels a stinging in his side, an unusual feeling that’s new to him.

He looks down, clearly in shock, green energy still buzzing all around him. Buffy has stabbed her stake straight into Severin’s side. “How do you like that Slayer mojo?” Buffy asks him with anger.

Severin, after he takes a moment to get over his initial shock, pulls the stake from his stomach and laughs at her. “You think a toothpick will stop me?” Buffy launches herself at him before he can fully prepare for an attack. She figures that he can’t use his powers unless he’s fully charged up with energy: she intends to hit him until his powers go snap, crackle and pop.

As she tackles him to the floor, neither of them realising the damage to the building around them, they both react to a snapping sound which sends them falling straight through the damaged floor.

They fall onto some small docks below the warehouse and Buffy gets up, hearing a sound behind her: more vampires, or zompires, she guesses. Severin grins at her: he made sure he wouldn’t run out of juice…

Around San Francisco, residents are watching the live news coming from the docklands. The news presenter details that the law have surrounded the fugitive, a Buffy Summers. Xander, watching from his couch, sighs. “What a refreshing change of pace. Buffy didn’t take our advice and try to work it out with the police.” Dawn starts to call Willow, as Xander begins counting how much bail money they’re going to need.

Tumble can’t remember Anaheed’s name as he’s too distracted by their roommate on the television. Anaheed, however, tells him to forget about the television and come to her. When he follows her voice, Tumble finds Anaheed in Buffy’s room, her Slayer weaponry and paraphernalia on the bed.

Entering the warehouse from behind, Robert Dowling pulls out his firearm and calls Buffy’s name. He looks around at the corpses in horror.

Underneath the detective’s feet, Buffy is battling as many of the zompires as she can, barely fending them off. She figures that Severin can’t use his powers on her if she’s dead. He tells her that she’s right, and he instantly starts draining the vamps around him, his glow getting brighter and brighter. Buffy gulps. Severin now warns her that she’s never going to be able to stop him.

Upstairs, Dowling continues through the warehouse, wading through the corpses. He’s interrupted by a voice. Shining his torch up towards the sound, he sees Spike, who tells him that Buffy will not appreciate the gun being pointed at her. In fact, he’s not overly fond of it either. Koh also appears from the shadows, asking where Buffy is as Dowling, startled again, nearly drops his torch as he turns around. Spike tells Dowling to go back outside and tell his coppers that they will handle this from here if the human wants to live. Dowling doesn’t need telling twice and runs for the exit. A crash below gets Spike’s attention and he races to get to the Slayer.

Underneath, Severin uses his growing strength to throw Buffy through a wooden beam holding the dock up. Severin finally makes contact with Buffy’s forehead, the energy working it’s way through his skin and into her system. He continues to drain Buffy, reeling in the ecstasy he’s feeling, paying no attention to Spike and Koh as they drop from the floor above. He easily swats the pair of them aside with an energy blast, not even taking his hands from Buffy, now grabbing her by the throat. He grabs hold of Spike as he strikes, beginning the draining process on the vampire as well.

Buffy, weak, bags starting to make her eye sockets look dead, looks at Spike. He’s fading quickly, his skin now paler than usual, his vampire features melting inwards. A stray tear leaves the side of one eye.

Severin cackles. “In two seconds, this one’ll be a corpse and all of your power…” He stops.

The gunshots echo for a while after they hit their target, the hollow warehouse going silent straight after. Severin looks down at the four bullet wounds in his chest and glances up, looking at Dowling, who’s still in position, his gun smoking. Buffy, gathering her strength back, looks down at Severin, his energy leaking from his wounds like water through a sieve. Reaching down to help Spike, Buffy sarcastically wishes Severin luck in healing his wounds.

Outside, sitting by an ambulance and wrapped in a warm blanket, Dowling approaches Buffy. They’ll clean up the mess, and she won’t get a public apology or a parade or some such, but she is off the hook. She saved Spike’s life, he tells her. She thanks him, telling him that this is the only time she’ll ever be grateful for a gun.

A short distance away, Koh tells Spike that he faced death for Buffy and that the Slayer will want to talk to him. Spike tells him again that what Buffy needs is normal. Before Koh can interject, Spike has run into the nearest alley out of sight.

Dowling asks Buffy if she wants a ride home, but Willow stands behind him, smile on her face. “I got this,” she insists. Dowling nods and asks Buffy to call him when she’s rested and ready: he has lots of questions for her. As he walks away, Buffy asks Willow what she’s doing there and Willow tells her that Spike text a group alert about Severin the Siphon. She wanted to be here to be a shoulder to cry on, just in case she lost her powers. Buffy tells her that she’s still a Slayer. She wonders if that means her lift home is rescinded.

Willow stops at the car door. “Buffy, I was never mad because you had power and I didn’t.” Buffy nods: she knows it’s because she destroyed the Seed without thinking about the fall out. “If it’s any consolation, the fallout just tried to turn me into his own personal Duracell,” she mentions. Willow tells Buffy that she is glad she has her powers: she wouldn’t want her to know how much it hurts to lose a part of herself. Buffy looks at her and smiles: she promises that no matter what, they will find a way to figure this out.

In the hospital, Severin is in a bad way. He’s weak, pale and bruised, hooked up to machines. His ally comes to visit him and he reaches out in comfort. He explains that he got shot and that he needs a charge to heal. His ally backs away from him, telling him to not touch.

Simone Dofler stands over the bed, annoyed with him for blowing his mission, so she’s not accepting his apology. He failed. He didn’t leave Buffy powerless, she says.

“So now, I’m going to need all of my power to kill her.”