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- Back - Episode 150: " A Book By Its Cover " - Season 8, Episode 6: The Powers That Be #Disclaimer# I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel the Series". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television, WB and UPN Television Networks. ~~~~~~~~~~ Prologue ~~~~~~~~~~ XANDER VOICEOVER: Previously, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer DAWN: If you think you can give her back to me and then take her away again? No! That's worse than if you'd never brought her back. You can't mess with people's lives this way! CUT TO: JOYCE: Buffy? Buffy! Buffy, fight it. You're too good to give in, you can beat this thing. I know you're afraid. I know the world feels like a hard place sometimes, but you've got people who love you. You've got a world of strength in your heart. Believe in yourself.
XANDER: There are other options. BUFFY: I've considered them. XANDER: When? Just now? Took you all of ten seconds to decide to kill one of your best friends? CUT TO: CALEB: You're the one who sees everything, aren't you? Well, let's see what we can't do about that. CALEB plunges his thumb into XANDER's left eye, gouging it out. XANDER screams CUT TO: SUNNYDALE HIGH
ANYA's BODY lies unseen underneath the rubble as DAWN pulls XANDER to the door CUT TO: WOOD [to FAITH] So relax, Slayer. Your shift's over. CUT TO: CLAUDIA: No sir. We . . . they . . . haven’t discovered what caused it. (pause) That’s all for now. I’ll call you back if I get the chance. CUT TO INT. Warehouse. SIR THOMAS: Until we meet again -- SIR THOMAS turns to catch a glimpse of the sword just before it SEVERS his neck SARA smiles SIR THOMAS dusts XANDER: Well I guess HE wont be the Big Bad this year. CUT TO: OZ picking up a phone pick up the phone, MUFFLED ENGLISH MALE VOICE: I didn’t think you sent that text message,
now what about the box?
INT. GYM TWO FENCERS in mid-match. FEMALE FENCER: Good . . . good . . . less choppy . . . less force . . . Better . . . stay with me . . . through the shifts . . . Ah, ah, not where there's no opening . . . CLAUDIA's voice comes through the mask. Her fencing partner is graceful. Their foils clash as they flow across the floor. CLAUDIA parries a thrust that nearly strikes home. CLAUDIA: Excellent! Wonderful! FENCER TWO whips off her fencing mask. DAWN shakes out her hair, and smiles. DAWN: Really? You mean it? CLAUDIA removes her mask. CLAUDIA: You've come along nicely. (beat) But save the hair toss for matches with the men. It puts them off wonderfully. DAWN: [frowns] That sounds sexist. CLAUDIA: Doesn't it just? DAWN and CLAUDIA laugh, and sit on the bench. CLAUDIA: You use your body well. But you're still hesitant. (beat) You seem to be second-guessing yourself. DAWN: I shouldn't? CLAUDIA: Try to let your body and mind move together, not ahead of each other or behind. [her eyebrow twitches] Like my other favourite sport. DAWN: [twists mouth in ironic smile] Now you sound like Faith. 'Slaying is sex, sex is slaying.' CLAUDIA reaches into the bag below the bench, pulls out a bottle of water, takes a sip. CLAUDIA: I wouldn't advise anyone to take it literally. DAWN: She'd say it in a lot skankier way. Sounds better when you say it. CLAUDIA: One of the benefits of being English. One can say the smuttiest thing and everyone thinks "She's so reserved and sophisticated." DAWN: [energetic] Ooh, teach me the accent while we're fencing! CLAUDIA: Want to take a talk on the wild side? DAWN: Like [goes into Lou Reed back-up chorus mode] Do-do-doo-do-doo-doo-do-do CLAUDIA [takes up the song]: Dawnie came from Rome and Sunny D -- DAWN and CLAUDIA laugh, complicit. DAWN: That was great! How come you don't do that normally? CLAUDIA smoothes down her hair, takes another drink, putting barriers back up. CLAUDIA: Do what? DAWN: Kick back. Get giddy. CLAUDIA: Someone spiked my water, perhaps? DAWN: Oh c'mon. I've seen it before. Serious people -- vamps even -- scoobing out. CLAUDIA: In Rome, do as the Romans? DAWN: [sighing nostalgically] Yeah . . . Rome. CLAUDIA: Oh dear. I know THAT sigh. You've got the fever, haven't you? The Eternal City strikes again. DAWN: Yeah. Not just Rome . . . everything. Going over to England to see Giles. Back to Paris. Over to Madrid. (beat) It's strange . . . Being back but NOT being back. CLAUDIA: Starting afresh in a new city . . . it isn't simple. DAWN: It's SO good -- being with Willow, and Xander, and Giles again. But . . . Do people always get talky after fencing? CLAUDIA reaches down, pulls out another water. CLAUDIA: I refer you back to the sex parallel. DAWN: Thanks. [sips] There are these new friends, but . . . we don't know each other. And they're . . . eager, gung-ho, and they think I'm . . . But they seem really young. And . . . American? CLAUDIA: You said 'They think I'm' . . . What do they think you are? DAWN:They're all INTO something that's all new to them. They're excited . . . scared . . . they try to be cool. They are. But . . . then they leave, and I wind up in my room, sitting with Xander or Willow, looking out the window at the park, and I just know: I'm a fake. CLAUDIA: Never a good feeling, Hardly uncommon, though. DAWN: I guess not. (beat) Things have been so crazy. Suddenly it's skyscrapers and subways, another amazing city . . . And . . . and all these people . . . and I can't ask my . . . DAWN falls silent. CLAUDIA: Your sister? DAWN shakes her head. DAWN: Can't ask my mom. DAWN and CLAUDIA both sip their water, CLAUDIA keeping her eyes on DAWN. DAWN: [continuing] I was just a kid when she died. All the things that she shared with Buffy . . . I don't get to share them. She didn't see me . . . grow up. All the things Buffy could ask her . . . I'm sorry. Just weird teen stuff, just ignore me -- CLAUDIA: [firmly]: Not at all. I -- The GYM DOOR bursts out with a BANG and in run a group of younger girls in sweats. KENNEDY enters behind. KENNEDY: OK, now -- [catching sight of DAWN and CLAUDIA] Claudia! There you are! Hmm. Coincidence. CLAUDIA: [standing] Coincidence? KENNEDY signals to someone outside the door. KENNEDY: A doctor? Says he's a friend of yours. A BALD PALE MAN [DR. EXETER] in vest and jacket, grim intense eyes, carrying a small portfolio case, enters. BALD MAN: Claudia! How delightful. Beware tutors bearing gifts. CLAUDIA stands for a moment, stunned, looking at KENNEDY and DAWN for a moment before breaking into a smile. CLAUDIA: Giles! KENNEDY: WOLF HOWL OPENING CREDITS Starring. Special Guest Star:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09-01-2004, 09:30 PM #2 Join Date: Jan 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT I Scene I INT. GILES’S OFFICE LATER SAME DAY DR. EXETER is seated with his portfolio case open, XANDER and WILLOW. WILLOW and DR. EXETER are engaged in an animated conversation. WILLOW: . . . and you were actually able to compare three copies? DR. EXETER: You can imagine my astonishment. I could hardly keep my hands steady as I turned the pages. You see, I never supposed I'd see one, and to be called in to evaluate the respective merits of three? WILLOW: Shaky hands? I'd faint. Dead away. BUFFY [to XANDER]: Has Willow ever been that excited talking to someone with a Y chromosome? XANDER: It could be a match made in geekdom. We'll find a way to break it gently to Kennedy. BUFFY: Maybe it's the name and the tweed. She used to go gaga over our Giles. XANDER and BUFFY look silently at each other with a simultaneous “ew” shudder.
WILLOW: Well . . . I am teaching here at the school . . . but I have always wanted to -- APARTMENT DOOR opens. GILES enters. GILES: Buffy, I'm terribly sorry, delayed by some stupid squabble between the madwoman who runs our cafeteria and the super -- [noticing DR. EXETER] Are you -- [to CLAUDIA] Is he -- ? CLAUDIA: This is my tutor, Dr. Giles Exeter. GILES [shaking hands]: Rupert Giles. DR. EXETER: A pleasure. GILES: A moment of English embarrassment. Strangled giggle from DAWN. DR. EXETER: Call me Ex -- Second glitch. DR. EXETER: Shall we improvise, uhm, Rupert? SHOTS OF XANDER, BUFFY, WILLOW, DAWN are all biting their tongues. GILES and EXETER look at the Scoobs. GILES: Feel free to ignore them, [emphasizing for Scoobies] GILES. I’ve tried endlessly to inculcate some respect. [at BUFFY, archly] But a Sisyphean labour, plainly. XANDER: Careful who you're calling sissysiphian . . . [to WILLOW] Help me here Will? WILLOW [shakes her head no]: Guy who rolls the rock up the hill in Hades. It always rolls back down. Hells are sucky like that. XANDER [to DR. EXETER] Will's a great tutor. I was just her worst tutoree. BUFFY [to GILES] We're a rock you're rolling uphill in Hell? Remind me to find a new principal. GILES [to EXETER, ignoring BUFFY]: It's a pleasure to have you here. EXETER: I've heard so much from Claudia about you all. Still . . . I'd be a dreadful liar if I pretended this was a social visit. And . . . well, it's a bit awkward. We've been deceiving you. CLAUDIA: Giles! (beat) EXETER: It's all right, Claudia. We owe them the truth. (beat) This goes back a few years . . . and it pertains to the Watchers' Council. DEAD silence for a moment. BUFFY: My favorite subject. Her Majesty's Secret Psychos. And here I am swordless. GILES [rprovingly]: Buffy. BUFFY [to EXETER]: I thought you were all blown up. Can't have everything. GILES [angrily] Buffy! BUFFY folds her arms. She looks coldly at CLAUDIA, who looks to the floor. EXETER: Oh, I was never a Council member, Ms. Summers. Nor was Claudia. BUFFY: [icy] And the but is? EXETER: I did have a friend who Rupert -- Mr. Giles -- may recall. Geoffrey Morgan. GILES [sitting] Oh. EXETER: Geoffrey WAS a member of the Council. Twenty years ago, he was their chief archivist. Some talent for mystical arts, but he was eminently gifted as a scholar. GILES: [distantly] Yes, he was. EXETER: We lost touch after University, more or less, though we met up for the odd pint over the years. I always assumed it was his family life that kept him so busy. He had a daughter . . . BUFFY: [interrupting] Can we skip the DVD behind-the-scenes extra and get to the feature film here? EXETER: [smiles] I’ll limit myself to the bare bones, shall I? BUFFY nods. EXETER: While working in the archive, Geoffrey began to see the difference between the Council's official versions, and what the Slayers had reported . . . and how some ex-Watchers turned dissident after their Slayers died and had to be…removed. His distaste with the council grew. BUFFY: And there I thought I was the only one. But (beat) Wait, slayers reporting… you mean SLAYER diaries? (beat) Giles, why didn't you ever tell me about this? GILES: All we knew -- all I was told on becoming your Watcher -- was that a certain portion of the Watchers' diaries were lost. . . that Geoffrey Morgan had been responsible for removing them. But Slayer diaries were never mentioned. BUFFY: Well now they’re mentioned. EXETER: It's twenty years since Geoffrey called me out of the blue and told me everything. He'd prided himself on his professionalism, when matters surrounding the Chosen One took on a more personal cast for him. Signs during his wife's pregnancy suggested that their daughter . . . could be a potential Slayer. He showed me where he'd secreted the volumes and documents, and went underground, changing his name. To Gorman. GILES: Claudia's father was -- EXETER [nodding]: Yes. XANDER: Well. Cut off my nose and call me Sneezy. EXETER cocks an eyebrow at CLAUDIA. CLAUDIA: I said they were colorful. BUFFY [to CLAUDIA]: You could've come to us with this before. You know we need all the help we can get but didn't --
WILLOW: Sometimes people need time, Buffy, before they can . . . trust other people with secrets. BUFFY: It's diff . . . I mean, she --
BUFFY: There's a shorter word for that. "Spying." EXETER: I won't contest the point. Claudia was not at all comfortable with the idea. But a lifetime spent in the academic world makes one reluctant to disclose private information too readily. BUFFY: Tell you what -- I'll drop it in The-British-Are-Incomprehensible-Aliens file if you tell me where the archive is. EXETER: It's in Manhattan. Geoffrey gave me a name, and how to get in touch with him, and I transferred the material. Forgive the deception. But this information is so powerful . . . Suppose some unscrupulous person were to use his knowledge of Slayers and the Council for some dangerous, some deadly purpose? CUT TO: ACT I scene ii INT. PARKING GARAGE NIGHT A LARGE DEMON with TWO MOUTHS where the eyes should be, a HORN where the MOUTH should be, etc., staggers back against the wall. AN AXE flies towards its neck. The DEMON darts under as the AXE clangs uselessly off the wall. The DEMON grabs it, and two SLAYERS leap on him before he can swing it. FOUR OTHER DEMONS leap into the fight, pulling the SLAYERS off and hurl them against the WALL. The TWO SLAYERS back up towards the ELEVATOR. The DEMON swings the axe casually, both mouths laughing. One is MARIE, the French slayer we saw with ETHAN in “Metamorphoses”. The other is a petite mousy-haired girl. MARIE: C'est degoulas, ça! DEMON WITH AXE: This is America, Slayer, tell your friend we speak Qfirghin here! MOUSY SLAYER [defiant but unpersuasive]: Till we shut your mouths for you! DEMON WITH AXE [to co-DEMONS]: None of these knock-off Slayers have it down. We all hated that Sunnydale bitch, but at least she could deliver a FRIGGING PUNCH-LINE! AXE-DEMON hefts the AXE above his head. The ELEVATOR LIGHT BLINKS and the BELL rings. FOUR SLAYERS jump out. WHIRLS, KICKS, etc. THE SIX SLAYERS look satisfied at the DEMON bodies. ETHAN steps out of the ELEVATOR, looks impressed. ETHAN: Beautiful, ladies! Expertly done. Another lot of hellish vermin finished off. Well -- I'd say we're done the rehearsals. We have a much more serious task ahead of us. Are you all prepared? CUT TO: Act I scene iii CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL CORRIDOR CLAUDIA and EXETER are alone. CLAUDIA looks both ways down the corridor and speaks in a low ironic, but genuinely angry, voice. CLAUDIA: I'm to play the tragic orphan then, Giles? [roughly] What a bunch of arse! EXETER: Bunch of arse? Really Claudia, that may be very colourful, but it’s out of character. You mean my well-structured cover story?
EXETER [returning the irony]: Have you married without informing me? CLAUDIA: You could have told me you were coming. Maybe even warned me you were going to tart me up as a Victorian heroine. CLAUDIA and EXETER stroll along the corridor. EXETER: "Sentimental and romantic" were the words describing them -- YOUR words, Gorman. Also this Slayer and her Watcher are notoriously hostile toward the Council. I pruned my tale for the audience. I've given you armor-plating, my dear. CLAUDIA: I don’t know what your game is, Giles. EXETER: Well, if I’ve confused you, they certainly won’t be piecing matters together, will they now? CLAUDIA: I've called them sentimental, Giles, but foolish they aren't. They ARE resourceful. What if they find out why you’re here. And why I’m….what if they blow your fancy cover story. EXETER: Are you sure it was ONLY a story? CLAUDIA [taken aback]: You what? EXETER: Think, Gorman -- or were you sleeping through all your tutorials, all your subsequent training? What do you do when the Cretan tells you that all Cretans are liars, eh? CLAUDIA [defensive]: This isn't a tutorial, Giles, and it’s not my [slight grimace] subsequent training. EXETER: Oh? Then what is it? CLAUDIA: This is real. EXETER: Ah. "Real." CLAUDIA: Yes. Real. Without the sarcastic undertones. (beat) So, tell me, what is the real story? The truth, I mean. CLAUDIA’s expression has a pleading note here, EXETER has put her off her balance. EXETER: Nothing could matter less for our purposes. (beat) As you say, this isn’t training. We HAVE to stabilize this situation. The Slayer is far less reliable than even the College guessed. The whole incident with the Tibetan artifact -- she's utterly unpredictable. CLAUDIA: She is that. EXETER: We have to mislead them, Claudia, for their own good. For everyone's good. CLAUDIA: [hesitant] I . . . know. But . . . EXETER: They can't be left in charge of such powerful forces. (beat) Claudia. I'm not a con artist. I'd spin you a much more persuasive tale if I were. ACT I scene iv
About five rows of girls are sitting in front of a stage, where ETHAN
is standing. Some are holding weapons. MARIE is in the front row, holding
an axe over her knees. The MOUSY SLAYER is sitting beside her. ETHAN clears
his throat, shyly. JANIE: Thank you sir ETHAN nods, appreciatively. ETHAN: I won’t witter on. You all know what you’re doing. We make our small side trip, pick up our package. Then onto the main stage and the real target. Remember: “divide and conquer”. Pick off the outlaying flanks, and the army falls. Collect your gear. We leave in (consults his watch) precisely twenty minutes. The SLAYERS move briskly outside, emptying the room, till ETHAN remains alone. ETHAN [reflectively, happily]: Ah, Rupert . . . I understand you so much better now. Thank heaven for little girls. BREAK ACT I -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09-01-2004, 09:34 PM #3 Join Date: Jan 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT II scene i EXT. BOOKSHOP WILLOW: "Established 1934"? -- I'm guessing that date's no coincidence. EXETER: Manny has a . . . considerable history in evading unpleasant encounters with those who would like to burn him and his volumes together. BUFFY [wryly, mock frowning]: Manny? You know, the last time I had to deal with a Manny, it didn't go very well. WILLOW [to EXETER]: There aren't any hellmouth-sized bookworms in his books, are there? EXETER: The only danger within is to those who enter with ill intentions. EXETER opens the door, and BUFFY, WILLOW, GILES, CLAUDIA, Act II scene ii INT. BOOKSHOP XANDER [to EXETER]: Funny, but I always think these places should have "Abandon All Hope You Who Research Here" posted in the window. WILLOW: Like you hated sitting around a table piled with forbidden texts making puns in Klingon and helping to figure out how to save the world. XANDER: It's just been awhile since I've smelled that smell -- you know, all the parchment and leather . . . like the Magic Box (beat) But, hey, maybe there'll be copies of those books about the ancient wiccan fertility rites. DAWN: You mean the ones that Anya handed over to Willow to hide 'cause she was tired of you looking at them on the sly? XANDER: What? BUFFY: What?? Will? WILLOW: For safekeeping. (beat) I never actually looked at them. BUFFY, GILES, and XANDER look at WILLOW with 'oh really?' wide-eyes. WILLOW [defensive]: Except for pruriest, uh, purest, pure research motives. XANDER: So Giles -- new Giles -- where're the goodies? DAWN [calling out]: Hel-LO? Anyone here? STERN [O.S.]: Yah? Hah? Who's that? Zat you, Ex? Hey? EXETER [concilatory voice]: Yes, Manny, it's me. STERN bustles around the corner, wearing a shining patched burgundy vest over a jet black shirt smudged with dust and cradling a large book in front of him. STERN: These your friends, Ex? The witch and the warlock and the Slayers? [to DAWN] You a Slayer, young lady? DAWN [taken aback at STERN's directness]: N-no. STERN: Yah. No, you wouldn't be. Copperhead's the witch, obviously. Nice Jewish girl -- good, let the goyische blondes do the stakework, hey? [nudges WILLOW, winks at the BUFFY and CLAUDIA] SlayERS, plural . . . Who'd'a thought, who'd'a thought, hah? [shakes his head] STERN hands the thick volume to XANDER. STERN: Here, kid, hold this a sec, wouldya? You the warlock? XANDER: Just the half-sighted handyman. And part-time research hack. STERN [skeptically]: Not the warlock? How come -- maybe it's just the seeing I'm seeing, hah? Never mind. [wipes his hand on cloth, points at GILES] The Magic Man, that's you, hah? GILES: Non-practicing. Mostly. STERN: Miss it, doncha. Don't answer. So, hail hail the gang's all here, sneak a peek and make a deal. EXETER: You said if there was ever a chance to be rid of the archive, Manny -- STERN: Yah, that's what I SAID. But a jew sorcerer, what's to trust? [eyeing WILLOW] That's what they called everyone, you know, even ones who never so much as summoned a dybbuk or cast a curse. Not just talking about goosesteppers now, but going way way back. Even over here, y'know. "Jew sorcerer"? Well, who'm I to deny it? But "mage" sounds better, whaddya think? STERN looks directly at WILLOW. WILLOW: H-how old . . . ? STERN: Yahhh, not all that old. Let's see. Been . . . four, no, five hundred years? Ex, you're the scholar, what year was it I was hiding Spinny's skinny butt? EXETER: Now you're name-dropping. WILLOW: Spinny -- Spinoza? STERN: Yah, he'd've been fine if he'd listened to me, practiced the craft, but no, he's all high-minded and logic and -- EXETER: Manny. STERN: Hah? EXETER: Business? STERN: Pfeh, business. They want to know what I've seen, who I've known, right? The nazis, did they really practice black arts? XANDER: Well, I'd be kind of -- GILES: Actually, we'd be quite intrigued. But first things first. STERN [wagging his finger at GILES]: Smooth-tongued Watcher boy. All playing-fields-of-Eton and Marquess of Queensberry rules when the lights are on, but turn 'em off and . . . You know why the Almighty gave the English an empire the sun never set on, kids? 'Cause he couldn't trust 'em in the dark. SCOOBS are all half-charmed, half-dazed at STERN's patter. XANDER: You letting him get away with that, Giles . . .Gileses? GILES and EXETER, poker-faced, look at XANDER. STERN: Fine. We'll get this show on the road. So -- STERN gestures and the door mists over, the patches and smudges on his vest and shirt disappear, and he straightens a bit, assumes a more serious manner. STERN: [continuing] Ms. Rosenberg, Mr. Giles, go with Dr. Exeter to the archive -- the room over there. Yes. And Mr. Harris, Ms. Gorman, Ms. Summers [to BUFFY] -- and [to DAWN, with a faint smile ] Miss Summers, please. BUFFY: Wait a minute, I thought we'd look at the archive together, Giles. (beat as EXETER and GILES look at her questioningly) That's to my Giles. STERN: The seal's keyed to my presence or to Ex -- Dr. Exeter's. One of us opens it, two others can come with us. BUFFY: And meanwhile, the rest of us? STERN: There's more to see in the back of the shop. My collection. DAWN [brightening]: Many many books? BUFFY: And . . . this personal collection . . . what's the catch? XANDER: Buff, do you have to be so suspicious? STERN: I need to know I'm not handing all this material over to the wrong people. You have to prove yourself. XANDER: See, no -- what?! BUFFY: The Watcher's Council tried to test me too. What makes you different from them? STERN: Funny -- I could ask you that. But I don't have to ask. You're going to show me. BUFFY: How? STERN: Come through this passage. XANDER: How about details first? STERN: I don't have the details. All I do is provide a setting. The test . . . you'll find out what that's about when you're in it. BUFFY: Yes, after we've walked up the blind alley on blind faith. STERN: Fine. No pressure. You've gone this far without a peek in the archive, you can probably go a lot longer. EXETER: Now wait, Manny -- GILES: You might have announced these conditions beforehand. If you didn't trust us -- STERN: If I didn't trust you, I'd've zapped Ex's memory of the store's location and you'd've never found me. This old dog's seen too many tricks. BUFFY: OK. I'll take the test. Dawn, Xander and Claudia, you stay out right here. STERN: No-can-do, I'm afraid. Two pairs of two. It's how things are in my place. DAWN [helpfully]: Like Camelot. [singing] "That's how con-di-tions are". (beat) Just a thought. BUFFY: I don't want you put in danger, Dawn. STERN: None of you will be in any danger. (beat) OK, then trust Red here. WILLOW: Me? STERN speaks words in ancient Hebrew. From WILLOW's POV we see his form shimmer, waver, and morph into a TREE WITH TEN BRIGHT BLUE BALLS ARRANGED IN TRIADS ONE ABOVE THE OTHER, as a WAVERING VOICE CHANTS to MYSTICAL MUSIC fading into hearing: the event is occuring between STERN and WILLOW. The CHANT reaches a pitch, the TREE morphs back to STERN. WILLOW blinks, gazes at STERN. She's perplexed. BUFFY: Will? Willow? WILL? WILLOW [distant]: Wha . . . ? Oh. Buffy. XANDER: What was that -- WILLOW: He's . . . he's OK. There's no intent to do harm here. GILES: Are you -- WILLOW [firmly, to GILES]: Let's give that archive the once-over. (beat) It's OK Buffy. I swear. BELIEVE me. BUFFY keeps her eyes on WILLOW. WILLOW returns her gaze, firm, assuring. BUFFY: OK. I go first. Dawn and Xander, you stay behind me but in front of Claudia. STERN walks through the DARK RED CURTAINED ARCH. BUFFY follows. XANDER holds his hand out to DAWN to grasp. XANDER: I believe Willow, Dawn. And I think we're OK sandwiched between Slayers even if. And if I'm wrong on both counts, there's not much I can do. Still -- DAWN [with a light smile]: You can be my last hope. XANDER: In a very Luke-to-Leia sort of way. XANDER and DAWN walk hand-in-hand through the CURTAIN. CLAUDIA glances back at EXETER. WILLOW and GILES have their backs to her. EXETER gives her a sharp 'go on' look. She brushes through the CURTAIN. CLAUDIA [to herself]: Why couldn't they be addicted to silent films . . .
We see bookshelves stretching up into an uncertain darkness, mists and shadows, patches of starlight as they look up. But the light on their faces is like golden lamplight, not electric. STERN pays no attention as he enters, but as BUFFY, DAWN-XANDER, and CLAUDIA enter, all are suddenly caught by the vision. STERN gestures towards the stacks -- conventional stacks, very tightly drawn together leaving only narrow paths. STERN: The Stern Collection. DAWN [gaping]: This is a lot more than many. STERN: "Of the books and the making of books there is no end." For every tale, a thousand versions of that tale and a thousand interpretations for each version of the tale, yes? XANDER: Willow . . . Willow should be the one to see this. BUFFY starts to wander forward into the stacks. XANDER: Hey, Buff, hold up a bit! XANDER rushes forward into the same range where Buffy has gone. ACT II scene iv XANDER's POV: BUFFY a dozen yards ahead. TREE BRANCHES are poking out through the shelves. MIXED LIGHTS through FOG ahead of BUFFY. XANDER: Buffy, hang on -- I need to get Dawn -- XANDER turns to look back, but the bookstacks have vanished, and shadowy forms of tres and houses are struggling to manifest through the mist. XANDER runs towards BUFFY. BUFFY: Xan . . . Xander. XANDER: Buffy -- I'm sorry, I meant to stay with Dawn. BUFFY is shaking her head, like just waking. BUFFY: She's . . . she's with Claudia. And she's capable. Dawn can . . . Dawn will be all right. XANDER: Buff . . . ? Buffy? Where are we going? BUFFY: Did you feel it -- like your stomach dropping -- when . . . Never mind. (beat) I guess we're going this way . . . BUFFY points towards a light, indistinct. A bulky squarish shadow starts to become more definite. The crunch of leaves underfoot. BUFFY: Towards -- EVERYTHING settles into form. The back of 1630 REVELLO. XANDER [quavery high XANDER-voice]: Stomach dropping now though. ACT II scene v WILLOW and GILES are seated at two mahogany tables, side by side. They’re reading, hungrily, and each table is groaning with books and manuscripts. Both Scoobies look like kids in a candy store. GILES is studying a yellowing manuscript. He turns to WILLOW, beaming. GILES: This slayer diary is a blinder! Girl from 16th century England.
Listen: “Today I met a man named Christopher at an inn. He is reputed
a great playwright but was a churl and wished me to bed with him. On parting
from the inn a band of hellspawn took him. I could not save him &
dyeing he pressed a manuscript into my hand and said “give this
to the theatre”. It seemeth nought but a play & I am a-wondering
what manner of creature could value such a trifle, an idle tale for idle
folk, that he should spend his final breath thus. WILLOW: (horrified) No! (distracted by a passage in her book) Oooh, and this! It’s a Slayer from Iceland. Not too long before Buffy -- there’s her photo. GILES gets up to look over WILLOW’s shoulder. GILES: What’s it say? WILLOW: Gee, Giles, I haven't brushed up my Icelandic recently. Maybe you'd like a crack at it? GILES: I’m sure I can puzzle it out. GILES: Yes. This is . . . this is the Slayer called after Nikki Wood was . . . (GILES reads, turns the page) Trolls . . . (turns another page) Trolls . . . (turns another) Trolls . . . Ah look! . . . no, wait . . . trolls. A different species. WILLOW: There's something to be said for Sunnydale demon-diversity after all. GILES: Ah, except . . . No, this can't be right. My Icelandic's hopeless. WILLOW: Why? GILES: There's a passage . . . an insertion, a note of some type . . . from her Watcher. The "Gullet of the Regions of the Damned" . . . WILLOW: Gullet? Like 'down the hatch'? Like . . . ? GILES: It's a different locution. But she died "shutting the throat of Hell" according to this. WILLOW: Hell's got an awful lot of organs. Mouth, throat . . . you never hear about 'the stomach of Hell" or "the colon of Hell" or -- GILES: I do beg you to halt the anatomic trek before the final descent. WILLOW: Sorry. (beat) But . . . I thought there were only the couple of Hellmouths? GILES: Perhaps. Perhaps not. CUT TO: ACT II scene vi REVERSE OF 1630 Revello BUFFY [firmly]: It's a test. Just that. BUFFY and XANDER walk to the porch steps. XANDER: So . . . what do we do? Knock and say 'Trick or treat'? BUFFY [intense, thoughtful]: The lights are on. All along the street too. (beat) We should go in. XANDER: Not to poop on the homecoming Buff . . . but wasn't this the last known address of Ultimate Evil? BUFFY: The line at the bathroom every morning wasn't fun, but I wouldn't call the Potentials ULTIMATE evil. XANDER: Ha not-ha. BUFFY: We’ve been drawn here for something, Xander. To, to find out, or, or face something. We're not going to find it by peeping in the windows. XANDER: Unless we're supposed to stay out without being told. You know, like a slasher-movie test, can the heroes show common sense and NOT go into the deserted house? BUFFY: Willow and Andrew will be glad to know how bravely you guarded the lawn furniture. XANDER: You're going in with or without me. BUFFY: If we need weapons, they're in there, not out here. BUFFY walks up to the door, opens it. BUFFY and XANDER walk into the KITCHEN. ACT II scene vii XANDER: Should we worry about making noise? I mean, it IS your house. Maybe. BUFFY cautiously leads into the dining room, the living room. XANDER: Lights are on. Nobody's home. (beat) Maybe you're right about needing weapons. Even though Will said Mojo-Manny was kosher. BUFFY: Plan B should always have sharp points or shiny edges. BUFFY and XANDER enter the HALLWAY ACT II scene viii A WOMAN'S VOICE sounds from the living room behind them VOICE: You're right. BUFFY and XANDER turn to see: TARA in black leather jacket, holding a double-bladed axe. TARA: I couldn't agree more. XANDER [weakly, questioningly]: T . . . Tara?? BUFFY: Tara -- put away the axe. XANDER [to BUFFY]: Is she -- DarkTara, Buff? I don't see any veins. TARA: What? Xander -- Buffy -- what are you doing here? I thought you were out on the other side of town. (beat) But -- wait a minute. BUFFY: Tara -- you're . . . what are you doing here? TARA: You're Buffy. But you're NOT. (beat: taking in XANDER) And you're Xander. But -- TARA shifts the AXE to her right hand, and lowers it. She approaches XANDER and BUFFY. TARA: D-don't be alarmed -- I just need to -- TARA holds up her left hand, and whispers unheard words. BUFFY: Tara. It's . . . good to see you again. XANDER: It's GREAT to see you again. XANDER steps towards TARA and tries to embrace her. He goes THROUGH her instead. TARA: Sorry, Xander -- you . . . you guys are a bit . . . on a different frequency here. Out of phase. XANDER: Buffy can open the door but I can't hug you? That sucks. BUFFY: Out of phase? TARA: It's -- we're -- we're in the same time, but something has shifted you two from . . . I guess a parallel timeline. XANDER: So, this is....now? (beat) Stating the obvious is my special power. BUFFY: So . . . we're in an alternate world? A Sunnydale that wasn't de -- XANDER: Don't Buff, you'll change the whole future if -!! (beat) Wait. That's Star Trek talking. PARALLEL timeline, right? TARA nods. BUFFY: So it's 2004 and Sunnydale . . . Sunnydale's still HERE in this . . . here? TARA: Where would it go? No, don't say -- that has to be a long story. (beat) So why are you here? This is some serious ancient magic working to get you here. BUFFY: It's . . . we're after something valuable which was stolen from the Council. We have to -- prove something to the guy guarding it. We were just in his place in this huge library . . . then here. How that's supposed to prove any-- The front door OPENS, and OTHER-BUFFY and GILES come in, laughing. OTHER-XANDER and ANYA come in followed by JOYCE and ANGEL. OTHER BUFFY has a younger style than our BUFFY. She has a bit more flesh on her. BUFFY : Mom!! XANDER: An! OTHER GILES [obviously not hearing BUFFY or XANDER]: Oh, Tara, we thought you'd be in the study upstairs. TARA: I thought I heard a noise. Just a cat fight outside the window. BUFFY [to TARA]: They can't hear or see --? TARA shakes her head. ANGEL: That's cats as in, non-familiar, non-demon-morphing feline variety, right? OTHER BUFFY: Ooo, my honey got the heebie-jeebies? ANGEL: What, I like dogs, is that a crime? OTHER BUFFY: Hmmm Puppy, let's have a look at those nice unfangy teeth. OTHER BUFFY and ANGEL embrace and kiss. XANDER [to BUFFY]: A very alternate timeline. BUFFY [to XANDER]: He looks thinner. He -- BUFFY does a double take. Her eyes widen. XANDER: Buff? Buffy? TARA: Buffy? OTHER BUFFY: Tara? XANDER: What is it, Buff? BUFFY turns, looks at the floor. BUFFY: It's Angel. XANDER: Ye-e-es, that is Angel. BUFFY [quietly]: You can't see can you? XANDER: Despite the glass eye, Buff -- BUFFY: Xander -- he's HUMAN. XANDER: Oh. (beat: then very large). OH. BUFFY: . . . And that means . . . XANDER: It's just different, Buff, for this us -- this them here . . . (beat) If this is an English test, I'm doomed. BUFFY: Don't you SEE? Everything's -- TARA [to BUFFY]: Everything's what? JOYCE: Is there something there, Tara? TARA: J-just a surprise messenger from Will, Mrs. Summers. I'll just -- go with it into the kitchen. TARA turns, BUFFY and XANDER enter. ACT II scene ix TARA: So what is it? BUFFY: Tara -- before we came here -- Dawn was in that library with us. She didn't follow us -- I need to know where she is. TARA: I could do a locator spell. This Dawn -- is she a Scooby? XANDER: You know, Dawn, ex-magical key, Spike called her Little Bit -- TARA: In your world Spike's with a vamp called Dawn? BUFFY: You've . . . never heard of her? Never seen her? TARA: No, is she . . . dangerous? BUFFY: Dangerous -- my sist . . . ? (beat) Dawn never -- arrived. That's why -- that's why you're alive. And Anya. XANDER: What about your mom? And Angel being human? BUFFY: Don't you GET it, Xander? THIS is the way our lives were MEANT to go . . . before Dawn. The way the world was SUPPOSED to be. (beat) We're the alternate reality. FREEZE on XANDER
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09-01-2004, 09:37 PM #4 Join Date: Jan 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT III scene i
XANDER [angry, sarcastic]: That solves a lot -- it really really does! All the wear and tear. You'n'me'n'Dawn - oh the whole nerd herd, Spike getting souled and going out all hero -- it's because we're a spinoff! BUFFY holds her head between her palms. BUFFY: I * am * real. My life is real. Dawn is REAL. BUFFY looks at XANDER. XANDER: Just real -- with an asterisk, "does not apply in some dimensions." TARA: Xander -- Buffy -- you said -- you s-s-said something about a test. XANDER: It's a test all right. "Do you really exist?" BZZZ! Thank you for playing, and no, Johnny, there's NO consolation gift -- BUFFY [flustered]: Stop it Xander! I don't want to hear -- I've got to THINK -- XANDER: Think? Buffy, you just said it -- the people in there . . . that's how we were. That's what we should've been . . . and . . . (very bitterly) We're not. TARA: W-wait, you sh-shouldn't jump to con- BUFFY: I can't -- HOW did Angel get to be human? TARA: I never kn-knew him when he wasn't. They don't talk about it. (beat) How do you live with him if -- you don't, do you? BUFFY: Angel went -- along a different path. TARA: So who in your world is -- No. That's not important. You told me -- Dawn: your sister. She's important to you. XANDER [to himself]: Weird -- take out Dawn, and . . . things get better. BUFFY [sharply]: What?? XANDER: Nothing Buff. Thinking out loud. BUFFY: Help me find her, Tara. TARA: We'll go to the gallery. BUFFY and XANDER look blank. TARA: Your mom's gallery. (beat, as TARA registers another difference) Our books are there.
ACT III scene ii INT. STERN's LIBRARY DAWN and CLAUDIA, in the stacks. SIMILAR FX, as they slowly and uncertainly walk along. DAWN: I . . . I thought this is where Xander and Buffy went in. CLAUDIA: It was where they went IN. I don't hear them. DAWN: Buffy can sense things sometimes -- it's not like Spidersense or anything, but it works sometimes. Maybe try to -- sense her? CLAUDIA [shakes her head]: You're suggesting I -- use the Force? DAWN: Huh? (beat) Oh. Uhm -- CLAUDIA: Sorry, I wanted to hear how it sounded coming from me. No -- I'm used to all the physical improvements of being a Slayer . . . but all these ridiculous, mystical things, like 'sensing' and dreams . . .? DAWN: No one knows how it works, if it's mystical or -- well, it's not like there's been a lot of Slayers to make lab rats out of. Though there was that creepy wacko doctor that Riley and his Initiative buds used to work for -- she'd probably be up for it. CLAUDIA: Lab rats? Creepy doctor? DAWN: Long story. Like everything. But Willow and Giles came up mystic stuff that beat them. (beat) Nothing on the Slaydar? CLAUDIA closes her eyes momentarily. CLAUDIA: Not a pip nor blip. DAWN: I guess we should go back to the -- DAWN looks back. CLAUDIA: It looks like that option is closed for the moment. DAWN [wearily shaking her head]: I HATE it when this happens. Gggrrr!!!! DAWN pushes ahead along the path. CLAUDIA: You should really let me take point, Dawn. DAWN: Oh. Yeah. No sword. (beat) But Willow said we'd be OK. DAWN moves against the shelves and jumps involuntarily. DAWN: Ack! Oh. (beat) Branches. No myth-monster jumping out of the pages. CLAUDIA: I'd rather play it safe. I feel a bit responsible for your being here . . . and I'd like to return you intact to your sister. DAWN: She can get kind of bitca-y about my safety. For good reasons, really. CLAUDIA: I'm sure Willow is wholly trustworthy. DAWN: Now she is. I mean, after the Slayer spell. That really cleared out any of the . . . Off topic. (beat) So how come you're still on the fence? CLAUDIA [sudden, sharp]: What? DAWN: You know -- about 'mystic' things. You're up to the eyeballs in them. Literally sometimes. You're a Slayer . . . but you sound like you don't believe it. Or half of you believes and half doesn't. BREEZE stirs CLAUDIA's hair. CLAUDIA: That's what I sound like to you? The SHELVES begin shimmering, morphing into a solid corridor. ACT III scene iii INT. DARK CORRIDOR - A HOUSE DAWN: Yes. But here we are. (beat) Wherever here is. CLAUDIA: This feels -- CLAUDIA looks down the corridor, sees a tree framed by moonlight. CLAUDIA: This looks -- A DOOR opens along the corridor, and a THIRTEEN YEAR-OLD GIRL in an ankle-length nightgown runs out into the corridor, carrying a small NOTEBOOK. GIRL [calling excitedly]: Mum! Mum! Guess what?! CLAUDIA [quietly]: Dawn, I think we should leave. DAWN: OK by me. Show me an exit. CLAUDIA and DAWN scan the corridor. The GIRL'S DOOR has vanished. THE GIRL runs by them as if they aren't there and opens the only other door on the corridor. CLAUDIA moves towards the door as DAWN follows. A WOMAN steps through the door. MOTHER: Claudia, quiet, darling. Come in. DAWN: 'Claudia'? CLAUDIA gives DAWN an uneasy look, confirming the guess. YOUNG CLAUDIA and MOTHER go into the BEDROOM. CLAUDIA and DAWN enter, staying by the threshhold. CLAUDIA: I finished. FINALLY. MOTHER: We need to get another computer for this house. YOUNG CLAUDIA: I don't need one. I can do it all on my own. The writing and the drawing. Computers are a waste of time. DAWN [to CLAUDIA]: Ha, you and Giles. CLAUDIA: Ssh. DAWN: They can't hear us. THIS is 'mystical stuff'. MOTHER: Or if I could persuade your father to let you have access more than once a month. YOUNG CLAUDIA: But the paper feels so smooth. And I like getting the colors on my hands. YOUNG CLAUDIA opens the book. Her MOTHER runs her hand over the page. MOTHER [reading]: "Book Sixteen. THE DUCHESS AND THE DEAD." MOTHER hugs YOUNG CLAUDIA. MOTHER: You've such an imagination, Claudia. YOUNG CLAUDIA: It's the dreams. They aren't so bad when I make them into stories. MOTHER: Yes. You're of the age when . . . we start to learn the difference . . . between realities and dreams. YOUNG CLAUDIA: Are some dreams . . . can you dream things before they happen? Or things that happened but you couldn't know them? MOTHER [guarded]: Some people think so. YOUNG CLAUDIA: Do you? MOTHER: You read me your story. YOUNG CLAUDIA: "It was hard for her to recall that he was part demon. His words were low, his eyes were deep . . . " CUT TO: ACT III scene iv INT. JOYCE'S ART GALLERY - SCULPTURES of various ASIAN DIVINITIES, DRAGONS, WALL-HANGINGS, etc. showing in indirect light. The RESEARCH AREA is SCREENED OFF by PAINTED SCREENS of PEACOCKS, WARRIORS, SORCERERS etc. XANDER: Sunnydale. Research. Who says you can't go home again? BUFFY: Only for a visit. And not exactly home. XANDER: No. Not really. Oh, maybe we can get back to New York by magic singing? You know, [XANDER starts, horribly off-key] "New York, New York it's a helluva town" -- BUFFY: Good idea. Sing and they'll THROW us out of this timeline. XANDER [Italian accent, stereotypical]: 'Who wantsa these leetle feesh, they donta belonga here-a, oof, no-one-wants-to-eat-a.' TARA brings a couple more volumes to the table. TARA: We have a lot of information to go on. The space you described is pretty specific. You said that this Manny talked about 'dybbuks' and fleeing the Nazis. BUFFY: Oh, and what was that, about the "thousand stories, a thousand thousand versions" or something. TARA: It's an old teaching -- an offshoot from the Kabballah -- different letters form different worlds. One combination gives you one world, and a different combination gives you a different world. BUFFY: Are you saying we're like -- Scrabble? XANDER: Or Skrabballah. Some people get all the consonants and can't write diddly and other people always hit triple-word-score. Guess which we are Buff? BUFFY [testy]: Will you just -- XANDER [forceful]: "Will I" -- will I what, Buff? BUFFY: Just read. TARA puts her head down, reading in earnest, listening but not intruding. XANDER: I'm right. You KNOW I'm right. You don't want to talk about it. BUFFY slams her volume shut. BUFFY: All right. Yes. You're right. This is a great world. You've got Anya, you've got your sight, Mom's alive, Spike's evil. (beat, to TARA) Spike IS evil here, I got that, right? TARA nods nervously, not looking up. BUFFY: And Tara's here. This Buffy probably didn't even die. Or go through -- all the things I have. I DON'T CARE, Xander. (beat) You shouldn't either. BUFFY opens the book again. XANDER reaches over, and SHUTS IT. XANDER: That's just it, Buffy: I DO. Nobody -- not even Willow, maybe not even Dawn -- knows what you had to go through. I didn't always know at the time. Is it any easier now, with bright lights big city, and riding herd on hundreds of Slayers? It's like we don't even know who we are any more -- or who we were. Shouldn't we . . . aren't you curious . . . there's a whole life here that we . . . didn't get. We only got a taste . . . Is that - - fair? CLOSE on BUFFY's face, stony, keeping her eyes away from XANDER. XANDER: Wouldn't you . . . don't you want to just SEE what their life, YOUR life, is like here? Don't you . . . miss REAL home, Sunnydale? Maybe . . . maybe that's why we're here -- to find out what we've missed. BUFFY [hesitantly]: I didn't . . . don't miss it. XANDER: Not your mom? Not Angel? BUFFY: They're gone. They're in the PAST, Xander . . . not part of the future. XANDER: But that's not true here. BUFFY: I said -- I don't care. XANDER: Don't -- or won't, Buff? It's only curiosity -- it's not like we can move in here. TARA [idly, turning pages]: Technically though that's . . . XANDER: 'Technically' --? fill-in-the-blank-please. TARA: Well . . . not that anyone would want to . . . but . . . you could. BUFFY and XANDER freeze. CUT TO: ACT III scene v INT. BOOKSOHP ARCHIVE ROOM WILLOW and GILES still at the table sorting through papers. WILLOW: These should be on the Times bestsellers list. Dark haunts of celebrities . . . interdimensional drugs . . . demon sex changes . . . and not just in your file either, Giles. GILES looks deeply uncomfortable. GILES: A file on . . . on me? WILLOW: I meant, if there is one. Maybe! (beat) But that would be a bad, bad thing. (beat) Oh! Look! GILES leans over the table. WILLOW: Maggie Walsh's grad school grades and progress . . . Giles this is years before the Initiative . . . GILES: May I take a closer look? WILLOW hands the file to GILES. WILLOW: Knock yourself out. GILES: That should be preferable to gazing on Professor Walsh's countenance again. WILLOW: Want to see what dirt the Council had on her before she was making with the Big Bad? GILES: Naturally. (beat) My interest is solely in understanding the source of the Council's interest. WILLOW: No gloating involved. GILES: I intend only to think ill of the dead, not speak it. (beat) Unhinged harpy though she may have been. WILLOW: Preaching to the choir here. (leafing through pages in a box) It looks like Mr. Gorman -- GILES: [absently]: Morgan, his real name, remember? -- WILLOW: -- must've had a real mess to clean up, even just trying to get the papers from the same years together . . . 1971. Hmmm . . . hey, here you are! Not a file, just notes . . . "R. Giles, irreg resid since depart Ox . . . " Sleepin' on floors, Giles? GILES: Couches, mainly. WILLOW [suggestively]: All by your lonesome? GILES: As far as we were concerned it was still the sixties. WILLOW: Doesn't answer my question. GILES: As much as it's going to be answered. Haven't you anything substantive? WILLOW: How 'bout a music review? A band called - - ewww -- THAT's what you called your BAND? Gi-I-les -- someone should've washed your minds out with soap. GILES reddens. GILES: We thought we were rebels. WILLOW: 'Front Man F. Jackson, Guitarist R. Giles, Bassist E. Raine ' . . . sounds like homecoming week. "Friday last at the' [WILLOW's voice rises in amused disbelief] NECROTIC OYSTER?? GILES: It was a club. WILLOW: " -- the manic sonic quartet tagged unforgettably as " -- GILES: Please, I'm quite familiar with the name, I'd prefer not to hear it once more. WILLOW: That's two of us. "The lyrics of Frank Jackson are --" Wait, isn't that the name of Hugo's dad?? GILES: Yes. WILLOW: He's not in the shot. GILES: No? Hm. WILLOW: Ethan is. GILES: Ethan fancied himself the next Keith Richards. (beat) Actually, he fancied himself, full stop. WILLOW: "The erotic energy sizzling between lead quitar and bass player was " -- GILES [cutting her off]: -- was quite a lot of RUBBISH like all underground journalism in ANY era, shall we do some SERIOUS work here, Willow? WILLOW: O-kay by me. (beat) Sizzler. CUT TO: ACT III scene vi THE ART GALLERY CLOSE On BUFFY who has her eyes lowered, looking at a fixed spot on the table in front of her. CAMERA stays fixed on her until she speaks. TARA's and XANDER's voices isolated, as if they're cut off from BUFFY and she from them. XANDER V.O.: We could -- technically? TARA V.O : I-if it was an emergency -- if your timeline was destroyed. Or . . . say a witch here invited you . . . or . . . XANDER VO: But . . . we're here. THEY'RE here. Your Buffy and your Xander. Wouldn't we . . . explode? TARA VO: It's not like that. When you . . . merge into a timeline where you already exist . . . you'd be entering your self. When you did, you wouldn't disturb anything. XANDER VO: Yeah, but we'd . . . we wouldn't really be alive. Would we? TARA VO: Well -- you wouldn't exist in the place you left . . . but you wouldn't die here. Let's say it happened, and you had to stay here -- it would be like . . . like waking up. Maybe you'd have memories from your other history, but they'd be like dreams. XANDER V.O.: But . . . you'd have to want to. You'd have to decide that it's want you wanted. It couldn't happen, an accident -- you can't just slide out of one and into the other. TARA VO: M-maybe someone could shove you from one to the other . . . but we're trying to get you back to your own timeline, so you really shouldn't worry about how you could get stuck here. XANDER V.O: I wouldn't call it "being stuck" being here. Everyone seems healthy . . . and whole . . . and happy. BUFFY looks up. ACT III scene vii BUFFY: So this is the test. Temptation. XANDER: Giving us everything we ever wanted. And all we have to do is stay. BUFFY: But it isn't my test, Xander. It's yours. XANDER: Doesn't it have to be BOTH -- he said things go in pairs. BUFFY: I'm not tempted. You are. XANDER: That's -- that's silly Buff, how could . . . how could I be tempted? You know -- how I feel about Dawn. BUFFY: I do. But you let her go in the shop to run after me. XANDER: Because -- she was safe -- I didn't mean . . . I'd never let her -- BUFFY: You said you know how hard it's been for me? I know . . . I know you want things back. Especially me. You wish I could be the way . . . the way this Buffy is. XANDER: You can't -- can't really mean that. BUFFY[quietly]: I know I'm not your hero anymore, Xander. When I needed a protector for Dawn, I didn't ask you. When you brought me back . . . you try to overlook or forget who I went to. . . but you can't forgive it. (beat) That was ME, Xander, not someone else. You'll . . . never accept it. I had to. (beat) You can have a real world that's . . . better for you. XANDER: Better for lots of people. BUFFY: Not for me. XANDER: What's wrong with it? What's wrong with wanting it? BUFFY: You DO want it. XANDER: Yeah! OK. I DO, I really do. You think I'd just check out because I can't handle the tough spots? BUFFY: You haven't even said her name, Xander. XANDER: Whaddya mean, I haven't said her name? I keep saying it. BUFFY [shaking her head]: Anya . You haven't said "Anya". You say, "Gee, Buffy, look, there's your mom, and there's Angel, isn't it great to be with Tara". You could . . . hardly look at her at the house. (beat) If you want to stay -- I understand. It'd be hard . . . it would be all right. XANDER: [swallowing]: Buffy . . . how could I . . . TARA: He can't, Buffy. Neither of you can . . . unless the other does. You came into this stream linked together. You have to leave together. BUFFY: Or . . . stay together. TARA: Unless . . . something happened to one of you here. BUFFY: If one of us died. TARA: Yes. BUFFY: That does it. (BUFFY shoves the thick volume from the table to the floor) I'm officially sick of this test. BUFFY stands up. BUFFY: I'm tired of being in this little maze. I smell a very big rat somewhere that's stuck us in it. Tara -- can you make a path . . . to my sister? TARA: I . . . I can use the image in your mind. And she's left a trace that'll be like yours. Yes. BUFFY: I wish -- I wish you could've known Dawn . . . how special you are to each other in our world. TARA: Thanks. She -- she sounds great. BUFFY: She is. And she's impossible. (beat) But any world without her is hell to me. And if anyone's messing with her . . . they'll wish they were in hell. XANDER: Wait -- Buffy, wait -- BUFFY: "Wait"? Wait for WHAT, Xander? XANDER: Can't we . . . slow down . . . discuss . . . These are powerful magicks. We can't decide just like that -- we have to really choose -- BUFFY: Choice? This isn't a CHOICE. This is BAIT, Xander. It would be a choice if I could go and you could stay, but it's not that way. I meant what I said. I don't want it. Not even for a moment. XANDER [bitter]: What would Buffy do? What she always does -- chooses for her friends. BUFFY: And what would YOU do, Xander? XANDER: I'd do the same thing, Buffy. Only I wouldn't walk all over you to do it. BUFFY: You could afford not to. I can't. CUT TO: ACT III scene viii INT. BEDROOM GORMAN HOUSE 1996 CLAUDIA'S MOTHER: . . . to go to bed. Aren't you sleepy, all that work, all that reading? YOUNG CLAUDIA: Yes . . . Can . . . can I sleep here tonight? MOTHER: Darling . . . you know you can't. YOUNG CLAUDIA: Why doesn't Dad just stay downstairs anyway? MOTHER: That's not fair, Claudia. YOUNG CLAUDIA: He doesn't care -- he doesn't -- The VOICES fade as the LIGHT DARKENS like the light darkening in a theatre as the film comes on and YOUNG CLAUDIA and her MOTHER fade. DAWN: You were a good writer. CLAUDIA: My mother loved my stories. She never knew where they came from. DAWN: It sounded to me like . . . she knew SOMEthing. You - - don't have a sister, do you? CLAUDIA: I'm an only child. DAWN: Because . . . Buffy told me, you know? About being the Slayer. She said it had to be a secret, that Mom could never know. But Mom . . . she'd ask me things . . . and I thought she knew before Buffy told her. (beat) But maybe people only half-know things. CLAUDIA: I doubt . . . I doubt she'd -- The DOOR flies open and SLAMS against the wall abruptly. YOUNG CLAUDIA runs into the room. YOUNG CLAUDIA [hysterically]: Dad! Dad! Wake up! Dad get UP! Get UP!! YC runs to the bed, starts shaking the sleeping form. YOUNG CLAUDIA: It's REAL, Dad, it's really REAL, I've got to stop it, Dad! CLAUDIA'S FATHER [sluggishly]: Wha'th' . . . Where're . . . 'S four in the morning, girl, what's WRONG with you?? YOUNG CLAUDIA: It's the lady, father, the one, she's DEAD!! She's got to save us but she's DEAD! FATHER: Oh . . . jus' the dreams then. Go back, Dee. Go back to bed. YOUNG CLAUDIA: It was REAL!! There's no one now -- there's no time -- I can't stop the monster, father, he's going to drown the world in blood! FATHER: Hey! CLAUDIA'S FATHER grips her shoulders. FATHER: You're hysterical -- it's a dream! YOUNG CLAUDIA: I SAW her, Dad, it was the beautiful girl, and she was dressed in white! She was so brave, and sad -- an evil child took her hand, took her down to HELL, Dad, and she didn't want to GO, there was a monster, a devil, with a horrid twisted face and he drank her blood, Dad, she's GONE -- FATHER: NO, Dee, it's lies! It's a dream, just your MIND, don't you see -- YOUNG CLAUDIA tears loose. YOUNG CLAUDIA [screaming]: You don't care!! You just want to go back to SLEEP!! Mother would LISTEN, but you just WON'T! FATHER [helplessly]: Dee -- you can't -- she may come back -- YOUNG CLAUDIA: No! She'll never come back because you made her go! And you won't HELP me -- I've got to DO something!! We're -- FATHER: Snap out of it, Dee! CLAUDIA'S FATHER rises from the bed, slaps her. SHARP, but not violently. YOUNG CLAUDIA stops screaming. She stands completely still. THEN SHE DELIVERS a staggering blow. CLAUDIA'S FATHER is thrown back against the headboard onto the bed. YOUNG CLAUDIA [venomous, cold]: You don’t care. FATHER [weakly]: Dee -- it'll be . . . there'll be someone . . . YOUNG CLAUDIA [stone cold]: LET the world end, then. BREAK ACT III 09-01-2004, 09:40 PM #5 Join Date: Jan 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT IV INT. GORMAN HOUSE 1996 CLAUDIA and DAWN in the room as the shadows overtake the screen. The HOUSE slowly vanishes around them. CLAUDIA: I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to have seen that. DAWN: Was . . . was your dad OK? CLAUDIA: I didn't injure him. I was only thirteen. Even with potential Slayer strength . . . it was just a surge. DAWN: You saw . . . Buffy . . . your dream. CLAUDIA: I buried all this, Dawn. Even when I became a Slayer, even when Giles -- Dr. Exeter -- explained it to me. Well, my father never told me a thing. Then Mr Giles fetched me from London. And there she was, meeting us at the airport. The lady in white. DAWN: You saw her. When it happened. CLAUDIA: It was terrifying. She was so . . . resigned. I felt I was supposed to do something but I couldn't. I KNEW the world was ending. I felt it slipping . . . A LIGHT SLOWLY BEGINS to PULSE through the shadows and mist whirling around them. CLAUDIA: What is that? DAWN: Over there. It's coming from there. DAWN and CLAUDIA walk towards the light, DAWN first. The MISTS begin clearing. CLAUDIA: Dawn -- DAWN's back still toward CLAUDIA. A METALLIC WEB begins to bend and waver and stiffen into shape. CLAUDIA: I hate to be alarmist . . . is there anything BENEATH us? DAWN [distantly]: What? CLAUDIA: We're walking . . . but I don't see -- The IMAGE materializes. DAWN and CLAUDIA are standing in mid-air directly next to THE TOWER FROM "THE GIFT". CLAUDIA: Don't see -- CLAUDIA sees DAWN standing a few yards from GIFT-DAWN tied to the walkway jutting out from the tower. DAWN turns around, slowly. DAWN: Uhm . . . Claudia? that's the least of our worries now. CUT TO: ACT IV scene ii INT. ARCHIVE ROOM WILLOW and GILES, both sitting on the floor among papers and boxes, both looking frazzled and happy as if they've had sex, but of course, they've just been in research heaven. WILLOW: Wow. GILES: Indeed. WILLOW: For someone who was on the lamb, Giles's friend really packed a lot in a hurry. GILES: He must have taken bit by bit, for personal study, and then realized he'd gone too far. He may simply have been curious at first. And then taken fright. WILLOW: Yeah, but . . . Isn't it kind of . . . like lots of duggery, but no skull? GILES: I'm so exhausted that that glimmers tantalizingly on the edge of comprehension. WILLOW: There's just SO much here. But . . . I'm probably sleepy-psycho . . . But wasn't it . . . easy to find stuff that was interesting . . . Stuff about Maggie, about you, GILES: It's not unheard of to have files enchanted to be more responsive. WILLOW: Think I got that in Wicca One-W, Giles. GILES: Oh. Yes. I suppose it's the trip through the Time Tunnel. (beat) Which is even dated for me. WILLOW: Good, I'd hate to have to sound all cranky and rude by mentioning it. ACT IV scene iii CLAUDIA: What's the problem? DAWN: Close your eyes -- visualize someplace -- any place -- not this one. We HAVE to get to -- anywhere else. CLAUDIA: What are you and your sister talking about? WHEN is this? DAWN: It's where -- where she left me. CLAUDIA: But she came back, so I don't see -- From CLAUDIA's POV, BUFFY and OTHER-DAWN stop, and their faces flood with light as the PORTAL opens. The sounds of CRACKLING ENERGY and WIND, the dragon's CRY drown out the voices -- DAWN and CLAUDIA are too far off. CLAUDIA: Why can't we hear them? Dawn? Dawn! DAWN is speechless watching herself and BUFFY from the outside. DAWN [to herself]: Why --- why do I have to be here? Somebody tell me . . . MALE VOICE: You want to know? Really? DAWN turns. STERN is there. STERN: You've wanted this chance, haven't you? DAWN: Ch-chance? STERN: The chance to come back and do what you know you should've done to begin with. DAWN [pleading]: No. Buffy -- she said -- it was her time. She wanted me -- to go on for her. She told me she did. STERN: And did you? After your sister died -- how did you do when she was gone? CLAUDIA: Dawn -- Buffy DIED here? DAWN [to CLAUDIA]: My blood started this. It should've been my blood to stop it. My death. Buffy -- she's -- This is just a vision, it's a glamour! STERN [gently]: No. This is your opportunity, Dawn. The monks trapped you in a little girl's body. Was that right, to do that to you, to change the world that way? DAWN: They -- were trying to save me. From -- STERN: Yes, yes, everyone has a tale that covers their tracks. Did you ever MEET any of the monks who made your memories yourself? That took a LOT of power, Dawn, to make EVERY SECOND of your memories and change everybody else's to suit. You think that kind of power comes from GOOD places? DAWN [defensively]: It did!! It had to!! STERN: Really? They give you a mom, a sister -- and then they just let them die? Pretty nasty if you want my opinion. DAWN: I don't! You don't know me!! You don't know anything! STERN: True. But I know people who know people. . . warlocks who know witches . . . and demons who know demons. The world can't twist and tear like it has wiithout an old mage like me working overtime to find out who's been playing tricks. A LOT of people, Dawn, have gotten hurt who shouldn't've been hurt. Even your friend here. DAWN: Claudia -- ? STERN: Y'see, if you don't GET to be a Slayer, then you kind of . . . forget all the dark things you see in dreams. You get a normal life. All the girls at this new place, now -- they won't ever get one. CLAUDIA: Dawn -- don't listen to him! STERN: And, just think how out of kilter the world is now -- I mean, whew, all those Potentials killed by the First, then your whole town just wham, like that, gone, then chasing down all these Slayers, trying to find them before anything nastier finds 'em -- DAWN: It's not my fault! STERN: 'Course it wasn't your fault. You didn't ask for any of this -- you were just a kid -- but now? I'm giving you your chance to make this all OK. It took a lot of magic to get you here -- but all it takes is you to say yes, and you can be THIS Dawn again . . . Step into this stream . . . Only this time you can jump BEFORE your sister does. DAWN: What would happen . . . to . . . the world? STERN: What about you? DAWN: What . . . would happen to me? STERN: Maybe you'd find out what you really are. What you were supposed to be. Maybe you'd be free. (beat) I do know that the world would untwist. Just like a tangled phone cord when you hold it up and let the receiver spin around and around . . . the world would go right again. DAWN: Why are you doing this? You fooled Willow! You're -- you're working with the First!! STERN: First schmirst! I want 'im stuck back in his bottle! Your witch friend with the cosmic chutzpah's the one who ripped across dimensions and let him out, juggling the basics of all existence just to get your sis back from the dead, no disrespect intended. DAWN: If I -- if I jump, if I change it -- Buffy lives -- and -- STERN: Things get balanced again. DAWN: "Balanced." CLAUDIA: Dawn, he's -- he's lying! He has to be! DAWN: He's -- he's not. It's all true. CLAUDIA: Maybe it IS -- but he's wrong anyway! DAWN: He isn't. You don't know yet how . . . how much a Slayer loses. (beat) And everyone they love . . . loses too. You think it's all OK for a little while -- and then it all gets taken away. People you trust . . . turn on you. People you depend on . . . they crumble . . . It'll happen to Sara, and to non-Slayers -- to Mick and Bobbie -- it'll happen to you. CLAUDIA: That's just LIFE -- people, people do what they HAVE to do,
we feel our way, we, we don't always tell the truth, we try to fight for
something, to protect -- innocents, to help -- people whose lives we .
. . lives we become responsible for -- DAWN [calmly]: I can do this. I can. I -- ACT IV scene iv A SLOW GLOW appears and BUFFY and XANDER appear in an lightly glowing ARCH, TARA behind XANDER. BUFFY: Dawn! CLAUDIA: Buffy, quick, you have to stop your -- STERN raises his hand and CLAUDIA is knocked back, skids along toward where OTHER-DAWN and BUFFY stand FROZEN. CLAUDIA crawls towards them -- and as she does, they start into motion. CLOSE ON CLAUDIA as GIFT-BUFFY V.O. begins: Dawn -- listen to me -- listen. I love you. I will ALWAYS love you. But -- this is the work I have to do. CLAUDIA listens, her eyes widening. CUT TO: BUFFY [to STERN]: No harm?!? I'm going to -- BUFFY moves towards STERN. STERN makes a motion with his hands, halting BUFFY. STERN: This is for your own good, Ms. Summers. TRUST me. DAWN: It is Buffy. I -- I'm going to make it all right. BUFFY: Dawn, what --? DAWN: I'm going to change it all back. BUFFY: Dawn, don't -- As DAWN begins to speak, a quiet, unobtrusive reprise of THE GIFT music fades in, not with piano but lightly with woodwinds. DAWN [firmly]: No Buffy. You can't decide this. I let you jump. It wasn't your job, it was mine. I've learned that. You asked me to be brave for you, now . . . now I WILL. I won't get the chance to do this again -- so -- I . . . BUFFY [weakly, eyes glistening]: Dawn -- please -- DAWN [to BUFFY]: We're -- we're made of each other, Buffy. Forever. STERN: You really want to do this? DAWN: I'm ready. STERN: OK. There are a few words -- you need to repeat them. DAWN: I will. STERN: "In the crossing of the ways of time" -- DAWN: "In the crossing of the ways of time" -- STERN: "Of my free will I step through the walls" -- DAWN: "Of my free will I --" DAWN halts. She sees the GLOWING ARCH which TARA still holds open. TARA looks at DAWN and then at BUFFY, saying nothing. Understanding and sadness in her expression as DAWN gazes back. The ARCH and TARA fade, with DAWN's eyes still locked on TARA. DAWN [distantly]: I -- DAWN's expression hardens. Then it widens A SLOW, TIGHT-LIPPED SMILE. DAWN [to STERN, with bitter laughter]: You almost had me. STERN [taken aback]: What? DAWN [slow anger, that grows]: I don't care if you're not working for the First. This was WRONG. And you -- I don't know how fooled Willow -- STERN: I didn't -- DAWN: Just - shut - UP!! I'm not changing it -- ANY of it. I don't know why you did all this or who you work for, but it didn't work. It's over. Stop the spell now. Take us back. DAWN crosses her arms. The PORTAL ENERGY FLARES off screen: THE GIFT scene has played out off screen and a soft grey light comes. STERN: Well. Them's the magic words. STERN clasps his hands, bows to DAWN, and vanishes. BUFFY moves to DAWN and they embrace. XANDER walks to CLAUDIA, and helps her to her feet. BUFFY: Dawnie -- Dawn -- XANDER: Dawn -- I thought -- I'm -- BUFFY [cutting XANDER off]: Claudia -- are you OK? CLAUDIA: Shaken . . . and numbed. XANDER [flatly]: Me too. BUFFY: Dawn -- how could you even think of -- of doing -- DAWN: You stopped me, Buffy, back then, when it happened. I froze when you . . . decided to go in my place. (beat) You were wrong. BUFFY [gasping]: Wrong? DAWN: Yes. You . . . you were NEEDED, Buffy. I wasn't. XANDER: Dawn, how can you -- DAWN: But it doesn't matter that you were wrong. I blamed both of us for that . . . for so so long. So long that I even forgot I was doing it. (beat) I'm sorry. I'm SORRY, Buffy -- I'm . . . I'm sorry -- DAWN shudders and her calm manner cracks. She chokes her tears back and buries her head in BUFFY's shoulder, shaking wordlessly. BUFFY shuts her eyes. DAWN and BUFFY remain nearly motionless holding onto each other.
ACT IV scene v THE TOWER dissippates into the front room of the bookshop. The DOOR of the archive room flies open, WILLOW and GILES emerge. WILLOW: Buffy! Dawnie! You won't BELIEVE what stuff's in the -- GILES: Buffy? Xander -- what's wrong? XANDER [bitterly]: Our little test -- multiple choice from hell. GILES: Buffy -- Dawn? BUFFY gently disengages DAWN. BUFFY: Giles . . . call the school, will you? I want some extra girlpower to clear the archive out of here ASAP. And those diaries better be worth it. EXETER emerges from an adjacent room. EXETER: Claudia! Ms. Summers. All went well? (beat) No, I can see it didn't. CLAUDIA: Where's Stern, Giles? He tried to play us. EXETER [darkly]: "Play" you? How the -- STERN pushes through the curtain over the passage. STERN: Complaints? I hear complaints? EXETER leaps at STERN and presses him against the wall. STERN: Hey, careful of the vest! Dry-cleaning is -- EXETER [evenly, darkly]: What the hell's this I hear about playing silly buggers with the Slayers, Manny? STERN: Temper, Ex, temper -- gotta keep your blood pressure down, right? EXETER: I'd be more worried about my own circulation right now if I were you -- WHAT went on? STERN: Nothing that they weren't thinking about. Nothing they didn't want to know. BUFFY [coolly]: He's not lying. Exactly. I don't care -- as long as I get what we came to get. EXETER: Claudia? CLAUDIA [hesitantly]: It's all right, Giles. Let him be. EXETER: Not my first choice, Gorman. But -- EXETER releases STERN. BUFFY: Are you OK Willow? Giles? Anything go wrong in there? GILES: Nothing. You shouldn't be concerned after -- whatever you've just been through. WILLOW [to DAWN]: Dawn? You're pretty quiet. DAWN looks at WILLOW: a very empathetic glance. DAWN: I -- I have to get some air. DAWN exits hurriedly. XANDER: I second that emotion. XANDER exits. WILLOW looks after him a moment, and then follows. BUFFY: Claudia, Will, Giles -- I'd like to have a moment or two with our host. EXETER: Ms. Summers, I'm wholly to -- BUFFY abruptly puts her hand up. BUFFY: Can you take other Giles out with you, Giles? GILES lays his hand on EXETER's forearm and nods towards the door. GILES and EXETER leave, followed by CLAUDIA. ACT IV scene vi BUFFY: Mr. Stern -- STERN: Ah, Buffy, call me Manny. BUFFY: Manny. Pretty awesome magicks. I'm impressed. STERN: You know what they say, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice." I've had my share of it. BUFFY: As one professional to another, me too. I've got a professional suggestion, if you don't mind. STERN: What's to mind? You've earned the archive. BUFFY: We can always use mystical help in my line of work. Normally, I'd ask if you were interested in lending a hand at the school. STERN: Well, I have to say I prefer my own little corner of the world. BUFFY: Good. Because I don't want any help from you. I'm suggesting that you find a little corner in another city. On another coastline. Another dimension would be even safer. STERN: Ah. I see. BUFFY: No you don't. BUFFY moves close up in STERN's face. BUFFY [almost a whisper]: You tried to kill my sister. The last one to try that was a god. A very, very dead one. STERN looks into BUFFY's eyes. She doesn't blink. STERN: The city's not what it used to be anyway. BUFFY turns on her heel and EXITS.
INT. SHABBY COFFEE SHOP CLAUDIA and EXETER seated at a two-person booth in the corner. CLAUDIA is pulled into her corner, EXETER trying to be conversational. EXETER: . . . but then, dealing with the unexpected was part of your training. Mine as well. Claudia? Have you been listening? CLAUDIA: Giles . . . please. Now of all times --- I'd rather we sit. Isn't that possible? EXETER: I need to know what you're thinking, Claudia. CLAUDIA: I've no idea what I'm thinking. EXETER: Obviously you're not happy with my role in this. CLAUDIA: I don't understand. We work with our partners to gather the Slayers into one place to train them, and then suddenly we try to UNMAKE them? EXETER: As I said -- stability has become of utmost importance. The College decided that an attempt to restore the status quo was our best option, and that extra-Collegiate consultation would . . . muddy the issue. Stern offered us a short route to that option. Perhaps demonstrating the truth of 'short cuts make long delays'? CLAUDIA: "Status quo". Frankly, Giles . . . what I do think is the College know sweet eff-all -- as we say here -- about what they're doing. EXETER: Hm. Will you put that in your report? CLAUDIA [wearily]: No. EXETER: What DID happen to you in that shop? CLAUDIA: Ask your sorcerer acquaintance. EXETER: Manny? Oh . . . he'll never tell. CLAUDIA: Not even if you tell him to put it in his report? EXETER: His report?? Manny doesn't report to the College, Gorman. This was contract work. He agreed to do as we asked. CLAUDIA: So what does he get out of it? EXETER [shrugs]: Magister Stern has been subject of many a debate, Claudia. CLAUDIA: I'd subject him to something a hell of a lot worse than a debate. EXETER: You didn't like him? CLAUDIA raises her cup to her lips, expressionless. EXETER: I do wonder what your colleagues are thinking though . . . DISSOLVE TO: INT. SUBWAY CAR, nearly empty The PIANO NOTES of EVANESCENCE's "My Immortal" begin. CLOSE ON XANDER holding onto a pole, an emptied expression, haunted. I'm so tired of being here CAMERA pans along the floor following XANDER's gaze up to BUFFY and DAWN,
seated, DAWN leaning her head peacefully on BUFFY's shoulder. BUFFY has
her eyes half-closed, not seeing XANDER. GILES sits near, but not close,
notebook on his knee, jotting notes.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears WILLOW looks up at XANDER, who closes his eyes and rests his head against the pole You used to captivate me and we see the IMAGE of ANYA's face from earlier in the ep with OTHER XANDER fading into XANDER's face These wounds won't seem to heal XANDER looks down and WILLOW is gazing with eyes of concern and empathy, her hand now around his on the pole The CAMERA backs away down the car to the slow rocking of the subway car, BUFFY and DAWN in their world, GILES still writing, XANDER and WILLOW clutching the pole, the song fading as the SOUND OF WHEELS ON THE RAILS GROWS AND DROWNS IT OUT DISSOLVE TO: EXT. DOWN the street from FRONT OF SCOOBY BUILDING BUFFY and DAWN and GILES walking in front, WILLOW and XANDER trailing behind GILES: I'm not sure, Buffy. He seemed to put a good deal of work into appearing ambiguous. With all that power at his disposal, it should've been an easy matter to compel Dawn. . . if his true motive was to change the timeline and eliminate your death. BUFFY: "True motive". Everybody's got a true motive -- then the motive behind the true motive, and the one behind that. GILES: It was an ordeal, Buffy. But Dawn carried the day. BUFFY: Wasn't there someone who said "Another win like that and we're dead"? GILES: It's not a pyrrhic victory, Buffy. There was no loss of life, and we have tangible gain. WILLOW: Minus intangible losses. BUFFY: Plus cross-time hangover. I didn't even get to party. DAWN nods towards a woman lying on the ground, glass shattered in a pool next to her. DAWN: Somebody did. And didn't make it home. DAWN walks forward, kneels down. The WOMAN's face is covered by tangled wet hair. DAWN: Even sleeping in her own . . . Buffy . . . this is blood in her hair. DAWN stands up unsteadily. BUFFY pulls her back instinctively and kneels in her place. BUFFY turns the BLACK-JACKETED WOMAN on her back. CLOSE-UP on BUFFY's face as she smooths out the woman's hair. BUFFY's eyes widen in SHOCK CUT TO: Her face heavily scarred and bruised, her jacket and top torn, fists a mass of blood as we recognize FAITH BLACK OUT (Roll Cedits) |