Staring at a blank wall in a blank apartment, Faith Lehane wears a blank expression. She holds a photo in her hands, sighs, and pins it to the wall — the only thing on display. It’s a picture of her and Rupert Giles.

She smiles at it, then glances around the empty space. Unopened moving boxes are stacked at her feet. “Well,” she says to herself. A new beginning. She’s more nervous than she’ll admit, even to herself.

Through the nearest window, she spots a coffee shop on the corner. A few storefronts down, a used furniture store.

Less than ten minutes later, Faith enters the shop, buys an old bed for her room, and heads to the coffee shop. A tall, polite green demon greets her — bow tie at his neck, sharp tux on his slim frame. She asks for coffee. He nods.

Faith sits as he brings it over. Blowing on the steaming cup, she looks up and notices a familiar face watching her from another table. She grins. Detective Brandt. He raises his coffee cup in acknowledgement.

Slowly, Brandt approaches and grins. Faith asks if he’s here to save her from peace and quiet. He claims coincidence. She doesn’t buy it. She suspects he’s looking for Angel — and since Angel’s in California, she’s the next best option.

Brandt doesn’t deny it. She tells him it’s her week off. He counters that owing a police officer a favour wouldn’t be the worst thing. She smiles. She invites him up to her apartment.

Less than ten minutes later, Brandt grunts as he pivots the large bed up the stairs. This was not what he had in mind. Faith jokes that she doesn’t need help with a police matter — she just wants to sleep. Her landlady, Mrs Gunderson, an eye demon with a pupil for a head, pauses on the landing.

Inside, Brandt notes how sparse the flat is. Faith tells him to give her a break — it’s a work in progress. She tells him where Angel is. Brandt smiles. “It occurs to me,” he says, “a Slayer’s just as good as Angel when push comes to shove.”

Elsewhere in London stands the private boarding school of St. Cuthbert’s. In the halls, students clamber noisily to their next lessons. A girl named Mary, with short red hair, tries to talk to a boy from her class, but is ignored and taunted by her peers. As they leave her upset, a blonde popular girl named Annabelle asks why she doesn’t stand up for herself. She calls Mary weak for not taking what she wants. They offer to show her how to be strong. Mary makes her excuses and heads to class nervously. Annabelle isn’t concerned — Mary will come to her when she’s desperate enough.

On the busy streets of London, Fred Burkle joins Faith. With Angel away, Fred wants help investigating the prep-school kids Angelus killed in his dreams. Faith, having heard about Archaeus, is happy to help — if only to keep Fred safe. Besides, she’s done her own research. She suspects a link between Brandt’s problems and Angel’s. Fred wonders why they’re in this neighbourhood. Faith explains: Brandt needs help with a death. They’re outside a bar called Bronze Age — a student hangout. Her plan starts here.

Inside, Faith tells Fred that the body of a young girl was found here — in a coffee shop mostly populated by students from St. Cuthbert’s. Two young men approach their table and try flirting with Fred. When she declines, one says he’ll be around if she changes her mind. Faith giggles. Fred is appalled — she’s old enough to be their mother. She excuses herself and heads to the bathroom.

Freshening her lip gloss in the mirror, Fred is stunned when the young man appears in the doorway of the ladies’ room. She shakes her head and tries to walk past him, but he grabs her wrist. Fred spins, ready to give him a piece of her mind — and comes face to face with a vampire.

He takes her by surprise, spinning her around and moving his teeth toward her neck. Fred struggles. The vampire glances into the mirror — sees Faith’s reflection just in time. He swings around and hits her in the face.

Faith recovers quickly and overwhelms him. She tells him she would’ve smelt him if his bad cologne hadn’t gotten in the way. Fred distracts him as he lunges for the Slayer. He swings to take her out — but this time, he’s not quick enough. Faith rises from the floor where he thought her done for. Fred hits him across the head. Faith stakes him. Dust bounces off the tiles with a shriek.

Outside in the alleyway, Faith calls Brandt. He gives her directions to meet him at a bar he knows. At the same time, in the school, Mary is pursued by Annabelle and her followers. She hides in the stacks of the library.

Inside a local eatery, Brandt tells Faith and Fred he was investigating another body when they called. It could be the work of the St. Cuthbert’s vampire — but another vamp is more likely. He’d hoped it was just one. Now he’s worried it’s more. Fred remembers the uniformed vamp who once attacked the Fairweather sisters. “Angel told me about that. Some prep-school kid named Parnell.”

Brandt says St. Cuthbert’s is definitely connected. But what he really needs is someone inside the school. Someone undercover. Someone with a little experience regarding Slaying.

Faith’s eyes twinkle across the table.

A few days later, school is in session. As a group of girls await their PE teacher, a new voice calls them to attention: “Listen up! Coach Merriweather is off for the week. I’m your substitute.”

The girls look unimpressed. Faith stands there — ball under her arm, gym shorts, knee-high sports socks, whistle around her neck. “I’m Miss Lehane.” She throws the ball to the nearest girl. “Okay,” she says. “Let’s keep this simple. Serve it up. Let’s get a game going.”

One of the girls viciously throws the ball straight at Mary, who’s nervously waiting on her own. The bully turns to Faith, grinning. That deserves a point, she jokes. Faith orders them to run laps instead. She demands to see the bully and Mary after practice — in her office.

After the lesson, Faith tells the girls that whatever their issues are, they’re to leave it out of her classes for the week. “Put it aside for an hour a day for the next week, okay? Because I don’t want to deal with it.” She sends the bully from the room, wanting to talk to Mary alone. She tries to get info out of her, but Mary, terrified of the repercussions, keeps quiet. She insists there’s nothing wrong and leaves in a hurry.

Faith watches her go, concerned.

An hour later, the school corridors are empty. Faith walks alone, remembering her less-than-stellar experience with high schools. A sudden scream echoes from just outside the girls’ locker room.

She races inside, desperate to be quick enough.

Inside, Mary is crouched over her bully’s body. Blood spurts from the vampire wound in her neck. Mary is devastated, in tears, looking up at Faith in disbelief.

“I just found her like this. I swear it,” Mary cries nervously.