Doomed

Buffy and Riley finally talk. Riley doesn't want to admit who he is, but Buffy was able to guess exactly what he is. Riley is amazed by her talents and abilities, but when she confesses that she's the Slayer, he doesn't know what that is. An earthquake hits and although it is mild, memories of the last earthquake in Sunnydale frightens Buffy.

Xander bosses Spike around, and out of anger, Spike tries to hit him with a large wrench, but is stopped by the sharp pain in his head. Willow checks in with Buffy and informs her of the aftershock party that is taking place in one of the dorm buildings that lost power. Buffy goes to Giles, fearing that the world is going to come to an end, but he dismisses her ideas thinking that the earthquake was just a normal southern California occurrence.

At the party, Willow sees Percy, whom she tutored in high school. The girl he is with, Laurie has a problem with Willow talking to Percy and suggests that they go somewhere else. A guy is mixing drinks in one of the dorm rooms and when he turns around, a large demon slits his throat. Later, Willow overhears a conversation between Percy and Laurie where Percy talks bad about Willow to impress his girl. Depressed, Willow goes into one of the dorm rooms to lie on a bed, but when the lights come back on, she finds herself next to the body that was mutilated by the demon.

Xander finds Spike wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts because he shrunk his own clothes. Willow fills everyone in about the body she found, and about Percy talking bad about her. After she shows everyone the symbol carved into the student's chest, Giles says it is definitely the end of the world again. Buffy hunts down this demon, and finds it at a mausoleum where it's collecting the bones of a small child. She fights with the demon, but it escapes and she runs into Riley.

He tries to talk to her, to convince her to give a relationship between them a chance, but because of all the pain in her past, and the problems she knows it would cause, she tells him no. Research leads them to find that the demon needs the blood of a man, the bones of a child and the Word of Valios. Riley talks to his team and sends them out to find and kill the demon. Fed up with his pathetic life, Spike tries to kill himself by falling on a stake, but Willow and Xander walk in, making him miss the stake. They bring him along to save the world.

Giles discovers that the Word of Valios is actually a talisman that he has in his possession. The demons however have already made their way into his apartment and beat him up badly before taking the talisman. The gang find Giles and then head off to the high school after he informs them that the ritual is to open the Hellmouth. Cautiously walking down the halls, the gang makes it to the library where three demons are performing the ritual. A fight breaks out, and then one of the demons jumps into the Hellmouth, revealing that they're the sacrifice for the ritual.

Another demon attacks Spike, and after several hits, he finally hits back. There's no pain in his head, and he realizes he can hurt demons. After wailing on this demon, he throws it into the Hellmouth. While the rest of the gang escape the soon-to-be-falling building, Riley shows up to help Buffy fight. The third demon makes it's way into the Hellmouth and Buffy goes in after it. Thanks to a cable and hook Riley attached to her belt, Buffy is pulled out of the hellmouth along with the third demon. The world is saved again.

Afterwards, Riley tries to keep up his secret identity, but Buffy's friends pretty much know who he is by his clothes. The next day, Buffy goes to Riley's dorm, where he says how upset he is at himself for allowing her and her friends to find out about him. Telling him that everything will be okay, she kisses him. Spike tries to convince Willow and Xander to go out and kill something, but they are reluctant and slightly frightened by his overly-excited attitude.