After Buffy has left, everyone begins speaking their mind, which pretty much leads to a very disorganized meeting where no one has control and everyone is speaking all at once. Faith finally gets her say in; she tells them that they're all stressed and they need a bit of rest before they start making major plans. Suddenly all the lights go out, which means that the people from the power company got out of Sunnydale. Outside, Buffy walks down the streets of Sunnydale as families begin to pack up and move out of the town, deserting their homes. Buffy crashes in on a home and is a bit surprised to find a man inside, she kicks him out, despite his surprise. Meanwhile, Spike and Andrew are still at the convent, waiting for the sun to set so that they can ride back to Sunnydale with the news they've learned.

    The next night, Faith has gotten everyone together and they start with what they do know about the situation. Faith figures that the Bringers are their weakest link, they could capture one and get it to talk. Suddenly Kennedy speaks up but Faith silences her which only makes her angry. Faith tells them that it's her job now to set them inline because she's their leader and their job is to follow her, not the other way around. At the vineyard, the Bringers are cutting through a massive block of rock while The First tells Caleb that if Buffy gets her hands on this, then it's going to be all over for them. In an alley somewhere, Kennedy walks alone when suddenly a Bringer jumps her from behind, however it's part of their plan and they manage to capture one of them while fending off the two other Bringers. Unfortunately after bringing it home, they discover that the Bringer has no tongue and therefore can't talk to them. Dawn brings up a spell she read about that allows for people that can't speak to actually communicate through magic. Just then, Spike and Andrew return which is when Spike finds out that Buffy is no longer a part of the household which Willow tries to explain nicely if not awkwardly. However Spike gets angry, accusing them of betraying Buffy despite all the times she's saved their lives. Faith steps in to shut him up but they only end up fighting physically back and forth until Spike walks out of the house. As soon as he steps outside he takes a big whiff of the air and picks up on Buffy's scent. Everyone goes downstairs and tries the spell, it works and Andrew becomes the vessel through which the Bringer speaks. He tells them that they are at one with the Evil, to bring about the war and build weaponry beneath the dirt. Giles suddenly gets angry at the Bringer and slices it's neck open, killing it and also shocking Andrew out of his possession.

    Meanwhile, Spike locates Buffy in the abandoned house. He tries to console her, but all she wants him to do is leave. Spike then pushes on saying that she was right, Caleb is trying to hide something from her. Back at the Summers' home, Faith and Giles set up a plan to fight the Bringers. As Giles heads downstairs, the First suddenly appears to Faith in the guise of the Mayor. She knows immediately who it is but she's still forced to listen to him as he taunts at her; saying that Buffy never cared about her and that she'll always see her as a killer. He warns her to beware of Buffy because if she's not careful she'll destroy her. Back at the deserted home, Spike tries to raise Buffy's spirits but she's still depressed by the fact that every time she talks someone gets killed. She realizes she cut herself off from them because being the Slayer made her different, but it's her own fault that she stayed that way. Spike then takes the floor and tells her that the one thing he's ever been sure of in his life was her. He tells her he loves her because of who she is and what she does. He's seen the best and the worst of her and he loves her for it; she's one hell of a woman. With that, he's about to head out, but Buffy asks him to stay the night, beside her, holding her. Meanwhile the Mayor keeps pushing at Faith, when suddenly Wood walks in on Faith, scaring her. She acts defensively at first, but then tells him what just happened. They bond over their experiences with the First, realizing that no one wants to be alone. Faith and Wood then begin to kiss, looking for some sort of comfort in each other. Willow walks into her room to find only Kennedy in her bedroom; she got rid of all the other potential so that they could be alone. But just as they begin kissing, Willow turns away, she's afraid that if she and Kennedy continue with their foreplay she'll lose control and go evil but Kennedy promises to hold her down because Willow is safe with her. As Willow and Kennedy go horizontal, Anya and Xander are downstairs gripping about the noises they're hearing coming from upstairs. It seems the whole household is getting some action; Anya and Xander are going at it on the kitchen floor while Wood and Faith are in a bed upstairs as well as Kennedy and Willow, and Spike continues to hold Buffy in an abandoned house somewhere. The First Evil finally understands them, it wants to be able to touch, to feel the evil that it can produce.

    The next day Andrew is lecturing to the group about what they learned at the convent, however, Faith veto's his decision to join the group in the fight. Buffy awakes the next day and leaves Spike sleeping on the bed as she gets up and goes out. He wakes up later on to find a note left on the pillow. Meanwhile Buffy arrives at the vineyard prepared to fight for what she wants. Buffy challenges Caleb to lay a hand on her, if he can that is. She races around the round quickly as Caleb tries desperately to get his hands on her. Meanwhile Faith has taken the potentials to the place where they believe the Bringer's weapons are being kept. They discover the weapons, but they can't figure out why they were abandoned like that. Which is when Bringers jump down and begin attacking the girls. Caleb continues to chase Buffy around the room, but he's not closer to getting his hands on her. As Caleb gets angry, he knocks over a crate that reveals a trapdoor. Buffy lunges under his legs and slides through the trap door into the room below. She discovers a red and silver sword-like weapon cemented into stone. After Faith and the potentials have disposed of the Bringers, they discover a box, which, much to their complete shock, contains a bomb that only has 5 seconds left on it before it detonates.