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- Back - Episode 158: " Hello Dolly " - Season 8, Episode 14: Written by: Ferdy and the Writing Team #Disclaimer# We do not own the characters in this story, nor do we 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. ~~~~~~~~~~ Opener ~~~~~~~~~~ INT BUFFY’S BEDROOM, SUMMERS’ APARTMENT, NIGHT EXT: UNKNOWN CEMETERY, NIGHT. There’s a movement off to her left. A noise of rustling leaves and a figure darts through the cemetery. BUFFY instinctively moves into battle stance, then catches herself. BUFFY: [rolling eyes] Thank you – cemeteries – work-related dreaming … [stares down at stake, mutters] And you are not what I was holding. The figure darts back through the cemetery, ragged black clothes billowing behind it, a thinly disguised Dementor. It squares up to BUFFY several yards away and pauses for effect. BUFFY: ’Kay – now wannabe – thingy. DAWN strolls past, rolling her eyes. DAWN: Dementor – we saw the movie together in Rome? BUFFY: [pouting] In Italian, no subtitles – you read the book, and then there was much, "It’s yours when I finish." And then there was much re-reading. DAWN tosses her hair back, very jaunty. DAWN: Two reads. But big book and then my wrists got carpal meta–thesaurus. BUFFY: … too many long words? Oh [the Dementor makes its move on BUFFY with cinematic speed] Wh–what, what? – for crying out … [She loses her balance and falls onto her butt, very annoyed]. When she looks up, KENNEDY is standing where DAWN was, distraught but relieved to see BUFFY is safe. KENNEDY says something that sounds almost, but nothing like, Italian. BUFFY: [shaking her head] We’re just not speaking the same language. KENNEDY chews at her bottom lip, eyes sparking with attitude – and suddenly sprawls awkwardly on the ground, from a groundswipe by FAITH behind her. FAITH: [panting] Bad Slayer – written all over her, wanna watch your back, B. They both look down, WILLOW is lying, relaxed, next to KENNEDY, supporting herself on one hand, tracing words on KENNEDY’s back, reciting some incantation. She falters, forgetting the words, expression breaking up. WILLOW: Sorry … sorry. FAITH’s head jerks around suddenly as SPIKE appears, jeans, bare feet, pulling his t-shirt down over his head. BUFFY: Spike! SPIKE turns and staring deep into BUFFY’s eyes, holds a marshmallow up and pops it into his mouth, closing his lips over it slowly. SPIKE: We need more marshmallows, luv. BUFFY: [reproving smile] Gross, much, Spike? SPIKE: Like marshmallows. Gonna be long, pet? BUFFY: [sighing deeply] Waiting for this – something – to get significant. SPIKE is suddenly beside her, his hand on her bare midriff, picking up a marshmallow. He smiles as BUFFY reaches up under his t-shirt, grabs her hand. SPIKE: [shaking his head] Uh uh, no dunkin’. Aren’t we significant? BUFFY: No, we’re doing naughtyness on the kitchen island – with marshmallows. [frowns slightly] But that was Sunnydale. Which is not there now. Is that significant? SPIKE: [getting up and walking slowly away] You think they’re gone – all the marshmallows? BUFFY: [passionately] No! [catching herself, shaking her head] … no significance with the marshmallows. They’re just – world of shrimp, cheese on the head … no significance. Go stock up for later, ’kay? SPIKE walks away, one hand raised in acknowledgement. BUFFY: Spike…. SPIKE turns. BUFFY: You’ll – come back to what we were doing? SPIKE: [lifting an eyebrow and smiling deeply] Wouldn’t miss it for all the moggies in China, luv. BUFFY looks at FAITH, suddenly crouched down beside her. FAITH: They’re all ready, B. BUFFY: [quietly] Now we get with significance. CUT TO: EXT. SHADOW VALLEY VINEYARDS, NIGHT FAITH: Like B said, they're protecting the vineyard or something at the vineyard. I say it's their power, and I say it's time we go in and take it away from them. XANDER nods vehemently. GILES crosses his arms purposefully. BUFFY: Hey, when did they hand my dialogue over? FAITH: I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. BUFFY: [eyes widening] That’s my line. Don’t I say that? Isn’t that what I say? FAITH: [holding up their linked hands] Scratch the smart dialogue, B – I’m with you. We’re all with ya – where you are we follow, yeah? BUFFY: [grinning nervously, looks around] I—I don't understand this. I learnt – aloneness is sometimes good. Going in alone was right. Taking you all in there was – I shouldn’t have led you into it. KENNEDY: In war people die. WILLOW: [walking up to KENNEDY] Kennedy … Buffy may not see it like that…. KENNEDY: [turns and snaps at Willow] You mean you can’t see it like that! FAITH: [casually] It’s coming. KENNEDY: Thank god, action. They all turn towards the outer limits of the linked spiral. In the darkness cries ring out in the distance, something blue flashes among the trees. The Slayers look in that direction and the cries, sharp and quickly cut off, come closer, provoking excited chatter and some giggling. BUFFY: [sharply] Will – what’s happening? WILLOW: He’s set it off; they’re all…. There is a sudden, bright flare on the outskirts of the trees. Blue, like a thermal lance – the same blue as the grid from BUFFY’s vision. BUFFY: What’s happening to them! Everyone is looking in the same direction now, where the last Slayer, a vague indistinct figure at the very end of the spiral, becomes a network of flaring blue lines…. WILLOW: [grinning] Going "pouf!" The next Slayer in line is already a network of sparking blue…. WOLF HOWL, BUFFY’S THEME PLAYS Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Anne Summers Special Guest Stars: With: 05-01-2006, 07:03 AM #2 Join Date: Jun 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT I INT BUFFY’S BEDROOM, SUMMERS’ APARTMENT, NIGHT [FLASHBACK] MANGA SPIKE is half cartoon, half solid – strong contrasts bring out the cheekbones, shadowing under the eyebrows and lips. Even standing still he flickers, a two-dimensional anime against the darkness, the face almost androgynous, designer gaberdine duster open to markings on the bare chest, bloodily iconic. SPIKE: Tell me, poncy cartoon – why should I be afraid of you? MANGA SPIKE mimics SPIKE’s head tilt and smirk. MANGA SPIKE: I’m you. SPIKE’s jaw clenches in a deeper smirk. For a moment his eyes flicker. SPIKE: You’re a bad photocopy, mate. Empty. MANGA SPIKE: "You can make me feel … I’m gonna make you feel it." Something new flickers in SPIKE’s eyes. Fear. He looks down. Like the hole in the Deeper Well, the chasm seems to go on for ever – the faint, hissing sound does not come from a beach the other side of the world, but from the voices of SPIKE’s past, the victims of his unsouled self, moving and whispering. MANGA SPIKE stands beside a motionless SPIKE. MANGA SPIKE: Your hole. SPIKE lifts his head and nods, once, slowly. MANGA SPIKE: What you did… The light reflects on SPIKE’s still face. MANGA SPIKE: … made this. The sound of the voices washes distantly up to them. CLOSE on SPIKE’s face. SPIKE: Can’t … give them … With shocking suddenness, MANGA SPIKE’s arm locks across his chest from behind, jerking SPIKE backward and then forward on to the rail, his left arm pinned behind him. The contact is changing the MANGA, less anime, more human … CLOSE on MANGA SPIKE’s face, the sketchy contrast disappearing, detailed and solid against SPIKE’s neck. MANGA SPIKE: Shall I … send them your regrets? Send them you. SPIKE is suddenly motionless. SPIKE: Off yourself, yeah? – what there is of you, comic strip … MANGA SPIKE dips his face towards SPIKE’s neck. MANGA SPIKE: [whisper] Think I want this? It’s not the blood – no, mummy, not the blood … He moves his arm, clutching at the top-left hand corner of SPIKE’s chest, the words coming freely with his contact with the original. MANGA SPIKE: I need you. [quietly against SPIKE’s neck] You’ll fill me – so soddin’ empty. Those buggers have the bloody carcase … CLOSE on SPIKE’s face, fixed in an intense rictus. He knows he is fighting against something with his own strength. MANGA SPIKE: … I get your bloody soul. His grip tightens. MANGA SPIKE: [whispering] Then I go to her … "Please, don’t do this." But yeah – finish what you couldn’t, kill the love. Nothing of you in her – we are complete. No soul, no love, no split – just darkness. You’ll like our darkness … [FADE to BLACK] INT BUFFY’S BEDROOM, SUMMERS’ APARTMENT, DAWN SPIKE stares desperately at BUFFY. She is tossing slightly, disturbed by the Slayer dream. He tries to catch her hand, but she pulls it away. INT. ANGEL’S APARTMENT, SUNNYDALE BUFFY: [grim and quiet] Time to wake up. We’ve done significant; I don’t need…. The room is quiet except for the sound of the rain. BUFFY pulls the covers up around her. BUFFY: I’m not moving from this bed, not moving…. CLOSE on doorway. Nothing seems to be happening. BUFFY: … not going out to find him. [closes eyes] It’s done – and past. BUFFY opens her eyes. 1ST DREAM SPIKE is standing silhouetted in the open doorway, rainwater dripping from his hair on to the soaked leather duster. CLOSE on his face, tilted downwards, eyes narrow, smiling quietly. 1ST DREAM SPIKE: Re-run, luv. SPIKE: [O.S.] No! BUFFY turns. In a pool of lamplight, 2ND DREAM SPIKE is sitting back in an armchair, face and upper half of his body in darkness. 1ST DREAM SPIKE: [ignoring him] You’re inconvenient, mate. He steps forward. The lamplight catches the rain on his face and black, empty eyes. 1ST DREAM SPIKE: Expecting Angelus, precious? I’m worse than that artsy-farty wanker ever was, darlin’, trust me. Angel kept leavin’ [smiling] … and I keep coming back. But you know, what’s come back this time isn’t … very nice, Buffy. BUFFY throws back the covers and and stands facing him, fists curling. The eyes move over her face, down and up again, staring into BUFFY’s eyes. 1ST DREAM SPIKE: This time I’m gonna finish what he [jerking head back at the dark figure in the armchair behind him] couldn’t. 2ND DREAM SPIKE: Don’t… CLOSE on 2ND DREAM SPIKE. He leans forward into the lamplight. BUFFY turns towards him, eyes wide and helpless. 2ND DREAM SPIKE: [roughly] Can’t help, Buffy … No use like this…. PAN down from his shocked face, eyes clenching shut, to his arms resting loosely on his knees. Where the hands should be, there are bloody stumps … 1ST DREAM SPIKE locks his arm around BUFFY’s shoulders from behind. He leans forward, mouth close to her cheek, the other hand moving down to grip her waist. 1ST DREAM SPIKE: Came back white, didn’t it? White – and useless. His hand moves further down, out of shot. 2ND DREAM SPIKE: [eyes open, fixed on BUFFY] No – Buffy, no…. 1ST DREAM SPIKE: Your call, slayer. You can dust me any time, both know that. What’s it gonna be, pet, white n’ useless [his chin jerks against her cheek] or me? Still part of you, luv, remember the darkness? You want it, oh yeah – no soul, no split, let yourself go … BUFFY stands in his grip, unmoving, eyes closing. 2ND DREAM SPIKE: Don’t – Buffy…. 1ST DREAM SPIKE: Let’s face it, pet, you are really, really bent. [FADE to BLACK] INT. BUFFY’S BEDROOM, SUMMERS’ APARTMENT, EARLY MORNING BUFFY’s eyes snap open, breathing deeply, covered in a light sweat. PAN into CLOSE UP of BUFFY’s frightened and shocked eyes. Light is beginning to show between half-open curtains, a washed-out version of California’s bright mornings, smoggy mist. BUFFY turns to SPIKE and their gazes lock unwillingly, faces blurred in the half-light. SPIKE: Buffy … Buffy, luv, what is it? BUFFY rolls over, avoiding his eyes, and switches the bedside lamp on, half-turning back, eyes averted. BUFFY: [roughly] A dream – It was – a dream. SPIKE’s face tenses. He leans back against the headboard. BUFFY draws the covers up, staring ahead. Their expressions are mirror-mask – identical wide, painful stares. SPIKE: [reaching out and taking BUFFY’s bare shoulder in a comforting clasp] Did it have footwear? BUFFY grips his hand and leans back against SPIKE. BUFFY: Not so much with the footwear – there was … average footwear but – significance. [fast] Not all significant. Some wasn’t – it wasn’t significant…. Still staring ahead, SPIKE circles one arm completely around BUFFY’s shoulders. BUFFY tenses, then leans back, pulling his hand away to fiddle with it. Their bodies are carefully relaxed while the eyes tell a completely different story. SPIKE: Slayer dream…? BUFFY: Ghosts … old ghosts. Doesn’t matter, they’re – gone. SPIKE: Buffy…. BUFFY: Mostly pre-apocalyptic, the significant bits were – significant. [flickering glance upward] You were in it. [stares down at the hand she’s holding] Your hands – were cut off. Above BUFFY’s head, SPIKE’s eyes narrow, expression grim. He draws his hand away and runs fingertips along BUFFY’s collarbone. SPIKE: Still attached, luv. Dreams do the wacky … Buffy? BUFFY: [firmly] That night – before the hellmouth, why were you drowning in footwear? SPIKE: Pre-apocalypic dreams gen’rally mainline footwear, it’s a thing. [Pause] You were chuckin’ them at me, luv – some suburban mall somewhere, bloody daylight – up to my neck in fourteen stone of Prada an’ you still couldn’t find a pair that fitted. BUFFY: Hey, weird – because next day … and oh, oh – reject pile issues? SPIKE: [quietly] More like, drownin’ in Buffy-foot-smellin’ leather. BUFFY: … and we thought he’d come back all pure and changed. [beat] You have changed, Spike … SPIKE suddenly lifts BUFFY away and lunges out of bed. BUFFY: … Spike…? SPIKE stands still in the middle of the room, then raises his head and goes to the window. He twitches the curtains closed and remains staring at them. SPIKE: … Almost morning. Health and safety issues. BUFFY gets out of bed. CLOSE on their bare backs. SPIKE: [still not turning around] Tha’s better. BUFFY goes up to SPIKE and turns him around, putting her hands on both sides of his face. BUFFY: Do you want to drown? In the muted light from the closed curtains, SPIKE’s face shows a struggle SPIKE: In you? Yeah, but … BUFFY takes SPIKE’s shoulders and pushes him steadily back towards the wall. SPIKE: … ask me where I’ve been. I’ve turned up here, Buffy, no pass, no entry ticket … now is the time you should ask me the questions. P’haps – I should answer…. BUFFY: Spike, you’ve never been away – for me. I don’t want … need the words … [pushes him back against the wall hard. He winces as his head connects] No where you’ve been. No – where do we go from here… SPIKE’s mouth clenches, the look in his eyes shows control breaking up. BUFFY: You’re here. The ghosts – no ghosts, we haven’t got room for your past and my past [bracing one hand against the wall behind SPIKE’s head] Spike – we just do now, we’re now … SPIKE shudders, letting the last vestige of control go. He reaches down,
hoists BUFFY up. She puts the other hand against the wall, arching back
as SPIKE lowers his head…. EXT. ROOFTOP SCOOBY CENTRAL, EARLY MORNING FAITH is perched on one of the roof vents, arms wrapped protectively around herself, staring straight ahead at the empty coop. Early morning light is struggling through a smoggy mist, traffic sounds coming up from the street below. CLOSE up on FAITH’s face, eyes. SHOT follows the direction of her gaze. [FLASHBACK] FAITH clenches her eyes tight and slams her hands against the top of the vent. She hears a noise and looks up. GILES is standing staring at her, blinking with the added myopia of the newly awake, dressed in an old sweater and baggy pants, hair uncombed. GILES: Faith? Ah … trouble sleeping? FAITH: [stretching her neck upwards] Old stuff coming back…. GILES: [taking off his glasses and frowning at them] Spike. Yes. He has that effect, the most shocking thing being – whatever’s been – happening to him, he doesn’t seem to have changed at all from the last time we saw him. He rams the glasses back on his nose. FAITH: Yeah, but not so much Spike…. GILES: You need – we both need, because – Ethan is ultimately my responsibility – to see an end to this, Faith. He comes forward and sits beside FAITH. GILES: [Watcher-firm] Today we find Ethan, Faith. By the end of today, it’ll all be different [sigh] … except for Spike. CUT TO: XANDER’S BATHROOM Mirror – XANDER’s bent head. Sound of water swirling away. XANDER raises his head, eyepatch in place and stares at his reflection. His face slips into deep uncertainty. XANDER: [to himself] Welcome back, Spike. In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is … the seeing-eye Scooby. Eye, as in singular and wah hey – we can see you clear as day [nodding at his reflection, mouth lifting] but as for the rest? The one-eyed man is so, so not all-seeing. [SLAM of DOOR O.S.] DAWN: Xander? Xander, we need you in our apartment! XANDER: [letting out a deep breath] Be with you, Dawnie. CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE SUMMERS’ APARTMENT DAWN and XANDER come into SHOT around the corner. XANDER is carrying his toolbox. XANDER: How did it happen? DAWN: [tossing her hair back] Loose fixings – dimensional instability … we’re still rounding up the suspects…. XANDER knocks smartly on the door. It opens on BUFFY, smiling lopsidedly. SPIKE, just behind her, stares grimly at the ground. XANDER: Morning, Buffy – Spike. Who you gonna call when your wall gets – a hole? A hole that does not dispense cash… BUFFY: Thank you, Xander, it’s – it’s…. XANDER comes to a complete halt in the middle of the room and flaps his arm around in front of his face. XANDER: Ah. No. Don’t tell me it’s in the bedroom. DAWN: [gleefully] It is so in Buffy’s bedroom. BUFFY, SPIKE and XANDER follow DAWN in a solemn procession into BUFFY’s bedroom. There is a gaping hole just above shoulder height in one of the walls. XANDER drops his toolbox very loudly on the floor, followed by a silence. BUFFY: [avoiding everyone’s eyes] Those little termitey … bugs… XANDER: [quietly] Just tell me it wasn’t you, Buffy. BUFFY opens her mouth but SPIKE steps forward. SPIKE: It was me … [slouching past XANDER and putting his fist over the hole, getting into the part] jus’ reacted to a – bug – saw a little nasty on the wall, and…. XANDER: [grimly] Way too much detail, Spike. BUFFY: Well … I think we have a, a scooby meeting to arrange. ’Kay, one scooby meeting … we’ll – leave you to it, Xander. She turns towards the door and they begin to troop out. BUFFY: Those bloody bugs. SPIKE: Bloody bugs. INT. SCOOBY CENTRAL, MORNING BUFFY is standing with her arms folded, SPIKE beside her, surrounded by OZ, GILES, FAITH, HUGO and CLAUDIA. Muted hammering noises. BUFFY: … bloody termitey bugs. SPIKE: Been banging on all bloody night. GILES: [eyebrows raised] No doubt. PAN across HUGO, regarding SPIKE with professional interest, to CLOSE on OZ. SHOT goes into very, very slow SLO-MO. OZ registers a flicker of curiosity with a hint of a raised eyebrow, which SPIKE returns with a casual nod of recognition. OUT of SLO-MO. The door opens, letting in ANDREW and PATRICK and a blast of hammering noises. ANDREW: [closing the door behind them] That is so disturbing. Has the banging been going on all night? [off their looks] I mean, for myself, I’d find it would keep me up. HUGO: It probably kept some of us up all night, indeed. SHOT widens to show SPIKE staring at HUGO. CLAUDIA: It’s Spike, isn’t it? SPIKE’s gaze shifts to CLAUDIA. CLAUDIA: Only I did a paper – Vestigial Religious Conditioning in the Unsouled. SPIKE: [smiling nicely] Not a thesis? HUGO: I did a thesis. Well, a module … [off SPIKE’s look] a discretionary module. SPIKE puts hands on hips, eyes narrowing. ANDREW: Oh, Spike? You’ve got a sort of – a fan club. Or an urban myth, you are iconic among the creatives, the cognoscenti and [glancing at PATRICK] … well, we saw a graffiti of you. It was on a wall above this – art gallery. SPIKE: [beat] Like to take a look at that. ANDREW: We’ll take you sometime, Spike. The door opens on XANDER. SPIKE: Now would be fine. BUFFY looks at SPIKE in surprise. SPIKE: Back before your meeting ends. Their gazes lock. BUFFY smiles lopsidedly. SPIKE jerks his head at ANDREW and PATRICK and they file out. CLAUDIA: [under her breath] What happened to getting a room? DAWN smiles. XANDER: Not a room – a lead-lined concrete bunker many, many parsecs from this carpenter’s toolbox. WILLOW enters the room, talking quietly to KENNEDY. WILLOW: No, it’s not that…that’s not what I meant, I just… [looks up to see the others waiting for them, she looks back at KENNEDY]. Look, we’ll talk about this later, okay? KENNEDY: [looking uncomfortable] Sure. WILLOW: Hi guys, sorry we’re late. WILLOW and KENNEDY take a seat around the table. XANDER: So what's goin’ on Buff? Why are we making with the Avengers Assembly? BUFFY: Not exactly sure, but I had a dream last night, of the … partly significant kind. GILES: It occurs to me, Buffy that – significance could be attributed to whether the other slayers experience it? It may have been a dream – have any of the others experienced anything? GILES turns to Faith. FAITH: Sorry, G, I'm not big with the vision thing – I mostly stick to hitting things. GILES: Yes, quite so – er, what did you see, Buffy? BUFFY: Like I said, not really sure. The usual, cemeteries, a … dominator, or something. But that was all just the prologue. We were outside the Vineyard [looks up at Xander] This time everyone thought going to get the scythe was the right thing – I was the one with the cautions. Then there was line-dancing – a kind of line up of all the slayers holding hands. BUFFY pauses, looking round. GILES: Where were you in the, er, conga line? BUFFY: In the middle, the middle of a spiral – well, a scrunched-up line. There was something, in the trees. Then the potentials started to … [pauses cautiously] Pouf! It was the grid – the same grid I saw in the other vision. [her gaze flicks from side to side, retracing the memory]. Blue light and then they were gone, one by one. GILES: Did you see where it came from? This grid. BUFFY: No, one minute there was nothing and then … spluttering like a cartoony fuse with the big bang at the end. [her expression fixes] Only it was devouring the slayer line … and then "to be continued" because I lost the signal. Sorry. GILES: The Slayer Line imagery certainly sounds significant. Perhaps some peace and quiet might help you, ah – regain the signal. Recent distractions – XANDER: Hole-in-the-wall type of distraction. BUFFY: [firmly] Spike coming back broke a dream, a nightmare for me, and he broke the fluffy for all of us. GILES’ hand moves towards his glasses, he opens his mouth to speak. WILLOW: [quickly] If – if we need the "continued" part of "to be continued,". I've been reading up on slayer visions lately and the magic that binds them to the slayer sometimes leaves a trace behind. I should be able to pick up the threads of the vision and follow it through to The End? GILES: Really? Fascinating – would that be in the verbatim accounts from the 11th and 12th centuries, usually accredited to – WILLOW: Well, I was looking there, but of all places, you’ll never believe this, but … DAWN: The question is – is there any risk to Buffy doing this? WILLOW: It's perfectly safe, Dawnie. It just reads the remains of the energies that created the dream and then I can reassemble the vision – or as much as is re-assemblable. And then Buffy lets me wander around her brain [mouth quirking] and we get the next episode. GILES: Well then, I suggest we make this the next course of action for us to pursue. Buffy? BUFFY: [smiling at WILLOW] It's a been a while since you took a stroll in my head, haveta tidy up in there. GILES: Right then, Willow, if you would make the preparations? WILLOW: It’s done … as in, it will be done, when I start. HUGO: Question? [the others turn to him] Is it possible Buffy’s vision is a counterfeit? That we’re still under whatever glamor Dru and Ethan and the other player started last night? XANDER: Stranger things have happened. Usually to us. GILES: [thoughtfully] The timing is suspicious. DAWN: Some sort of after-effect of grim fairy tales? [Group silence] XANDER: [putting hand up warningly] Speaking as the man who fills holes in walls, can we just – ah – deal with what is dealable? BUFFY: Yup. If we’re dreaming this, let’s make it memorable. Will, while you’re on the trail of part two of the vision, what do we think the Big Bads are doing this morning? Where do we find them? DAWN: Probably holed up in some manky hotel room with that "after the party" thing going for them. You know – morning after the party before? XANDER: Except this was post-attempted carnage, I’m going for that scenario. INT. ANONYMOUS HOTEL SUITE, EARLY MORNING DRU is prowling around the hotel suite in all her finery, tightly wound, pulling her hair free of pins and slipping out of her shoes. Heavy curtains shut the daylight out completely. EDGE reclining on a comfy armchair, very satisfied. ETHAN relaxed but picking up tensions. DRU: [stretching face upwards] Can’t – can’t see the sky. EDGE: Okay, Princess, daddy knows what he’s doing. DRU circles the coffee table, an ornate mock replica of a sea chest, coffin-like. DRU: No more kisses for daddy, daddy’s kisses took the sky away and – all – She kneels, hissing, in front of the low table and abruptly sweeps her arm across it, scattering magazines, vase, small ornaments. ETHAN sits up, nervily. DRU climbs on top of the table/coffin and lays flat, arms folded across her breast. DRU: Daddy, give me the sky back. Daddy. Daddy give me the sky … EDGE: You shall have the sky, Princess – and more. Daddy’s gonna give you the sun. DRU: [midway on the sanity curve] We freckle, get … brown spots and the edges go all crispy – black ‘n crispy – join the dots and it goes cold and – black and [calmly] we blows away. EDGE: Are we doubting daddy, my sweet madness, sweet indeed you were, spinning around in that pretty frock. [claps hands] Wanna go play with your dolly? DRU: [quietly] Not working properly, he isn’t – tried to find out how his insides worked, never been right. [loudly and clearly] You made him wrong, daddy. EDGE: Beddy-byes then, tired little girlie, eh? DRU: He was there tonight, the real one. Think I want him back… [Beat] DRU: … tired of dollies with their twisty arms and look at me with his black glass eyes an’… EDGE has uncoiled like a spring, crouched down on DRU’s eye level. EDGE: He was there? In your head, pet? DRU: [turning away] Not in my head. Smells sweet, sweet William, smelled him. He’s in me. ETHAN: He must have managed to get back – somehow? EDGE: He can’t get back. Reaction shot DRU and ETHAN. Not what EDGE says, it’s the way he said it. ETHAN’s deep-rooted death wish ignores the signal. ETHAN: The exception that proves the rule perhaps… EDGE leaps up, grips ETHAN on both sides of his head, Smith with Morpheus, and begins to press, pushing his thumbs into ETHAN’s temples. EDGE: [quiet, clear] Right. Recap, pay attention to me everyone. Where I sent him – before rules, before exceptions, before morals or karma or the first chord. Welcome to the House of Fun. Promised you [glancing behind him at DRU, ETHAN’s face is contorted] he’d be safe. Sent him to the place before the problems started, his or anybody’s, but it should have done his head in. [releasing ETHAN] Know what I mean? ETHAN: I’m … sorry… EDGE: You people say sorry for existing. Whaddya think you worshipped all those years, chuck? On my gig there are no rules. Where are the bloody rules – that’s the bloody point. You don’t know where you are … then you don’t know who you are … then you don’t know if you bloody exist. He couldn’t come out of that … unless… Turns to DRU, who has half-raised herself from her impromptu tomb and is staring at him narrowly, close to sanity. EDGE: … any idea why your ex got spat out of the primeval void, pet? DRU: [petulantly] He’s annoying. EDGE: Grit in the machine? That’s interesting except you can’t be the grit when there’s no machine to bugger up! For cryin’ out … He gets up and throws himself back into the recliner. EDGE: Your dolly’s a copy right? Let’s see what the comic strip can tell us. DRU: [muttering] Not working properly. EDGE: [closing his eyes] Get your dolly, Princess. CUT TO: ETHAN sitting tensely on the edge of the couch. EDGE is relaxed, the white leads of an iPod in his ears, tapping contentedly on the arms of his chair. MANGA SPIKE comes into the room. He walks slowly and carefully, the dark designer gaberdine buttoned up to the neck, face unmarked. DRU trails in after him and goes straight to sit on EDGE’s lap. EDGE: [taking leads out of his ears] Doesn’t look too bad, Princess. DRU: [stroking EDGE’s face] It’s gone all wonky, daddy – he’s not always there. EDGE: [circular motion at the side of his head] Couple of notes short of the full chord, eh? MANGA: Who are you callin’ sodding stupid? EDGE: [eyes sparking into good humour] His vocabulary is improving in leaps and bounds, eh, mummy? Show me the disappearing act, sonny. MANGA SPIKE tilts his head downwards and smiles, unmoving. DRU: Do what your father says, or there’ll be tears before bedtime… MANGA SPIKE’s gaze flickers to DRU and he turns slowly. Up to two-thirds of the way around, he looks solid, then his appearance morphs into cartoon, and his dimensions shift , like paper seen side on. From the other’s POV he apparently disappears at one point. By the time he is facing them, he is solid again. EDGE: [cuddling DRU, all good humour] Chuffin’ ada, we made that, mummy – useful or what? MANGA SPIKE: You royally buggered me up, you two. EDGE: Parent’s prerogative, son – it’s what daddies do. So what goes on in the peroxide cranium of the master copy? MANGA SPIKE: Doesn’t think with his head – you want to dust him? EDGE: [cosying up to DRU] We can see where the brains in the family have gone, eh, mummy? Up for it, sonny? MANGA SPIKE: I [beat] can’t. EDGE: You can. MANGA SPIKE: Off myself if that happened. He makes me … complete. EDGE: [sighing] Yes, yes, set that to music and it’ll wipe the charts. Gold stars for the sentiment, son, but… MANGA SPIKE: If I absorb him, I am complete – original and copy. EDGE: You get to be the full monty, eh? DRU: Don’t like him absorbing … nasty and … tried it with mummy… EDGE: [mock anger] We’ll have to speak about that later, sonny, we don’t – absorb – mummy. But your original, go for it, make it so … He waves his hand good-humouredly. EDGE: … go and find yourself, okay – with our blessing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 05-01-2006, 07:08 AM #3 Join Date: Jun 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXT. UNDERNEATH DESERTED HIGH LINE, MORNING Superficially overlaid with the remains of the "god, this place is so urban" makeshift art gallery, the shadowy concrete is still very – urban. SPIKE, ANDREW and PATRICK approach slowly, ANDREW is deep in unwilling conversation with SPIKE who is playing swingy-duster badass vampire to the hilt, glancing narrowly at the breaking light beyond the arches. PATRICK follows, an even-more unwilling six feet behind them. ANDREW: [plaintive] So, we’ve got a deal. SPIKE: [rolling eyes] No, no deal – we have a – agreement, very specific, about you comin’ to collect the poor bloody twig… ANDREW: Dana… SPIKE: … from Wolfram and Hart. Specifically you didn’t see me. It’s a given, very specific, all the details covered – in detail. SPIKE tilts his head at ANDREW who sighs deeply and nods. SPIKE moves away, glancing at PATRICK as he hurries up to walk with ANDREW. SPIKE: Jus’ needed a word with your lady. PATRICK, inscrutable, starts walking very close to ANDREW PATRICK: [whispering] I thought he’d be taller. SPIKE: … high-fidelity hearin’ over here. ANDREW puts a hand on PATRICK’s arm, but PATRICK stares at SPIKE narrowly. SPIKE’s glance flickers from one to the other. PATRICK: I know, my younger sister was into Annie Rice and – Andy came to my rescue when I was attacked by a vamp… SPIKE turns his head away for a moment, trying out for evil smirk of the week, and then comes towards them, crossing his arms over his chest. SPIKE: [gazing at PATRICK] Perfectly understandable. If I wasn’t on the bottled stuff … sometimes it wasn’t the buzz of eatin’ people y’know, but [eyes narrowing to bright slits] the biting – and the sucking … [frowning slightly] Was there – penetration? PATRICK’s naturally narrow gaze hardens. PATRICK: It didn’t bite. SPIKE: [smiling procatively at ANDREW] We went all the way, of course. PATRICK: He bit you? ANDREW: [angry] It hurt … it wasn’t so fun, it really hurt – a lot, I had the band-aid on for weeks … PATRICK puts a hand out to ANDREW’s neck protectively, staring straight into SPIKE’s sudden look of surprise. He says something fast and quiet in Chinese. SPIKE: Chinese – not my thing. PATRICK: Don’t bite my boyfriend. SPIKE stares thoughtfully at him for a moment, then nods. He moves away suddenly towards a pillar a hundred yards ahead. ANDREW and PATRICK follow slowly, holding each other tightly. ANDREW: … "my boyfriend." PATRICK: … don’t know how to say, "best thing between my legs since I started playing the cello…" ANDREW: "Don’t bite my boyfriend," in Chinese. PATRICK is beginning to look a bit white around the mouth. PATRICK: I didn’t say that, I don’t know much Chinese beyond "gorram." ANDREW: I love you more than you can possibly know … what did you say? PATRICK: "If your grandmother was alive she would beat you with this spatula." ANDREW: Your mom? PATRICK nods: ANDREW: [understandingly] Was it – when you came out? PATRICK: No, I hadn’t tidied my room for six weeks … What’s he looking at? ANDREW: Never mind Spike… SPIKE stares down at something behind the pillar. As they turn to watch, he looks up, jerking his head at them. Slumped behind the pillar is a body – almost. Youngish, too stylishly dressed for the chilly morning in clothes that were okay in the clubs last night. He looks dead, except for the eyes, trying to focus on SPIKE hunkered down in front of him. ANDREW: [turning his head] That’s – awful. PATRICK: He’s … still alive? SPIKE: I’m more alive than this. SPIKE pushes himself up abruptly. The man’s eyes are still trying to focus on where he was. SPIKE stares, his own face turning into a mask of non-expression. SPIKE: Where’s the cartoon, then? PATRICK and ANDREW look from him to the YOUNG MAN slumped against the pillar, a bit shocked. ANDREW: [confused, pointing up above their head] Up there, but… SPIKE isn’t listening. He’s staring at a movement to his left. Following his line of sight, they see the CAT, a classic siamese with cream-colored fur, stalking slowly across the concrete. They watch in silence as it circles the YOUNG MAN, yowling soundlessly and coming to a surprising halt in front of SPIKE. The two pairs of identical blue eyes stare at each other. SPIKE suddenly turns on his heel, the CAT following. SPIKE: [roughly] Time to go, we need to get back … Buffy… ANDREW: That’s a nice cat – Spike, does it know you? SPIKE: [over his shoulder] Yeah, know the soddin’ moggy. C’mon, we’re leaving… PATRICK: What? What about him? SPIKE turns, throwing a glance at them, and strides back to the near-body against the pillar. SPIKE: Carry on – but don’ go out of sight. ANDREW and PATRICK leave SPIKE hunched over the MAN. PATRICK: Has he got a cell? ANDREW: Spike, no … I think there are billing issues. PATRICK: What? ANDREW: I think … they don’t know where to send the bill. And … Spike doesn’t pay it. PATRICK: How’s he going to ring 911? ANDREW comes to a stop. He turns, SPIKE is coming up to them, shoulders hunched, the CAT padding sedately alongside his biker’s boots. ANDREW: [gruffly] He’s not going to ring 911. They walk on in silence. INT. END OF SCOOBY MEETING, MORNING BUFFY, DAWN, XANDER, WILLOW, KENNEDY, OZ, GILES, FAITH and HUGO are dispersing into pairs and groups. The door opens and SPIKE, PATRICK and ANDREW enter. Everyone stops and looks at SPIKE, whose gaze goes straight to BUFFY. Her face starts going super-smoothy – she coughs sternly. BUFFY: Did you – how was the mural thingy? ANDREW: We found a dead body… PATRICK: [clearly] It wasn’t dead when we found it. CAMERA pans around the watching faces. Their gaze drops at exactly the same moment. PAN shows CAT winding its way around SPIKE’s boots. XANDER: Hey, Spike, your snacks are following you around. SPIKE: [still locked in orbit around planet Buffy] Moggy’s not a snack, right? The group converge on the CAT, leaving SPIKE standing, ignored, in the middle. On BUFFY’s face an insane smile builds and finally breaks. SPIKE, head tilted, basks. From below comes the sound of murmured endearments. CLAUDIA: [O.S.] What a boootiful pussy we are, then. SPIKE smiles at BUFFY SPIKE: [quietly] We really are. CLOSE on ANDREW, straightening up. ANDREW: It’s like a – Spike’s familiar. A furry familiar. CLOSE on SPIKE, unimpressed. INT. STAIRWAY, SCOOBY BUILDING, DAY The stairway is empty, until the fire door slams open and first SPIKE, then XANDER emerge. XANDER is four steps down before he realises SPIKE is still standing at the top of the stairwell. XANDER: [twisting around and staring up at SPIKE] So – what is this, Demolition Man? SPIKE reluctantly slouches down to XANDER’s level, stands frowning at the stairs beneath them. XANDER: You and Buffy have been back together for less than twelve hours, and the person you most want to be with at this time is – myself. To be recklessly candid with you, Spike, there is disquiet. I would go so far, Spike, as to say… SPIKE flicks a narrow glance at him, and plunges both hands into the duster’s pockets. SPIKE: [growling] Ever found your way to the pause button? XANDER shakes his head, and grinning broadly, sets off back up the stairs. SPIKE puts out an arm to block his way, not looking at XANDER. XANDER: [turning back] We stay here – or you want to go for a walk? SPIKE: Yeah, get the circulation moving. XANDER: … or jogging – you and me, running brothers – SPIKE: Then bloody frizzling and I get up your nose, reason why being I am sodding free-floating dust in the… XANDER: You interest me strangely, Spike. SPIKE smirks, fishing cigarettes and zippo out of the duster’s pockets. SPIKE: [lighting up with a flourish] Been about seven minutes, time you said it, mate. XANDER: How much I hate you? SPIKE: Yeah. There is a silence, which lengthens. SPIKE’s smirk fades awkwardly and they both stare at the ground. SPIKE throws the newly-lit cigarette down and grinds it thoroughly into the stair tread. He sits down, resting his hands loosely between his knees. SPIKE: [frowns] Jus’ realised – haven’t had a sniff of her since arrivin’ – not even on you. After a moment, XANDER sits down beside SPIKE. XANDER: Anya – didn’t make it out of the hellmouth. I–I wasn’t with her. SPIKE stares ahead. SPIKE: Can’t be with them all the time. XANDER: Andrew – she died, he got away. SPIKE: Give or take, Anyanka clocked up over a thousand years – smart lady. She decides to stand and take what’s comin’, it’s her call. Another silence. SPIKE starts fishing in his pockets. XANDER: [clearing his throat] So the last last stand – Angel? Buffy says the visioney puts him "here but not here." SPIKE: [growling between the cigarette in his mouth] Stupid wanker … XANDER: … "gone but not gone" – then we moved out of the realm of hard factual evidence into the scarily philosophical, so the carpenter had to drop out … SPIKE: [mutters] "I kind of want to slay the dragon." [normal volume] Got himself stuck in some place with no exit signs [flicks lighter at the cigarette] and nobody’s got a buggering idea where the hero of the soddin’ oppressed is now. He tilts his head up, holding the cigarette loosely between his fingers, hands clasped irritably on his knees. XANDER: You got out. SPIKE: Keep coming back, [Beat, then quietly] when I’m not staying away. XANDER: You were at Wolfram and Hart with Angel. SPIKE drops the second cigarette on to the floor and sends it the same way as the first. SPIKE: My corporate period. Personal trainer to the Blue Meanie, hellhole in the basement, suburban holdin’ dimension … XANDER: Desperate Housewives? SPIKE: Run of the mill ’burbs. Buggering demon tearing hearts out of the employees’ chest cavities, little kids totin’ heavy weaponry… XANDER: You were what – locked there, some mojo? SPIKE: [staring straight ahead] No. XANDER shrugs and drops his gaze. SPIKE: [roughly] My choice. XANDER: I stayed away from my wedding. My choice. SPIKE stands abruptly, runs a hand over his face, sits down again. SPIKE: Here’s the thing. Something like me running around, something bad, bad as it gets… XANDER: Spikeangelus? SPIKE: [gritted teeth] Not a sodding Angelus – nothing like. XANDER: A doppelgänger? SPIKE: No NO, not a – Copy of me, running around. Looks like me, got the dialogue – it’s gonna try and get to. Buffy. XANDER: So strike me down for a stupid person, Spike, but how about a text message, "The next Spike you see – stake it. A Wellwisher." And then stay away? SPIKE: Goin’ up in flames – no guarantee I don’t tear your throat out. [Beat.] Never got the hang of texting. All the short cuts and that. SPIKE gets up, strides down to the next landing taking the steps three at a time, and comes back up again, very slowly. SPIKE: This bloody cartoon – if it gets to Buffy – I’m here to stop it. While I’m out there, findin’ myself, need you to watch it – see it doesn’t reach her, right? XANDER: … so how do I know it’s not you, Spike? SPIKE stops, brow furrowing. SPIKE: Because … [lip curls in a deep sniff. Beat] … it doesn’t smell like me. He sits down next to XANDER: XANDER: Wha– cigarette smoke, peroxide …? SPIKE puts his arm around XANDER’s shoulders. XANDER pulls away. SPIKE puts his left hand on XANDER’s neck and pulls him forward, staring into his eyes. SPIKE: … unique smell of Spike, Harris. He pulls the neck of the t-shirt down and pushes XANDER’s face roughly into the base of his throat. XANDER struggles desperately – SPIKE’s grip on his neck tightens firmly. XANDER: … Shpike! … shtake you … evil, bufurded … Above XANDER’s struggling head, Spike’s award winning Best Smirk Ever starts fading SPIKE: [almost too low to hear] Don’t know – this thing might be me. Not rulin’ out the possibility, Harris – XANDER quietens, unnoticed, against SPIKE’s neck. SPIKE: If I off it, and we’re connected – if I go down with it – relyin’ on you to tell Buffy it was one of the usual nasties – mustn’t know … [loudly] Bugger. SPIKE lets XANDER go abruptly and releases a long, unnecessary sigh. XANDER looks up, beyond SPIKE’s shoulder. DAWN is standing, late entry for Smirk of the Week, in the doorway at the top of the stairs. XANDER: Oh, god, no – Spike smell … smell of Spike – Dawn, I wasn’t … DAWN: It’s fine, Xander. SPIKE stands up. SPIKE: Where’s Buffy, little bit? DAWN: [grinning broadly] In the apartment SPIKE bounds up the staircase and disappears. ACT II INT. CORRIDOR, TOP OF STAIRWAY XANDER and DAWN emerge from the stairway. DAWN: S’okay, Xander, I’m not so different from the Dawnie from your Urban Nightmare on Whatever Street – knowing about the knowing, if you know what I mean. XANDER: Dawn, it was not what it looked like. And – why has everyone taken up smirking? DAWN: Sorry, re-arranging the body language. XANDER: After the Spike experience, I want to rearrange all but all sensory inputs by stuffing them up my right nostril, where there is no feeling, tasting, hearing – most of all, no smelling… DAWN: Isn’t that what nostrils are for? XANDER: Trust me when I say that – however fleeting Spike’s visits to the Gender Specific Zone – I live there. All the time, a very local person, not quite on Main Street because of our familiarity with the Demon Quarter, but … Spike is a native of Planet Generic … and I don’t think we want to discuss Spike and sex, Dawnie. We both know … XANDER’s sentence comes awkwardly to a halt. He knocks on the nearest wall. XANDER: … and already Spike is punching holes in walls. When he turns around again, DAWN is looking very directly at him. DAWN: I think, I think we didn’t see it but the building often came in for some damage – but they don’t damage each other. XANDER runs one hand over his face. XANDER: Not now, maybe but … DAWN: It’s not like they’ve ever been normal, normal as in making out in the front seat of his car – so that’s not always normal, sometimes he turns out to be – but it’s gonna get rough when they’re together. They don’t know whether the other one’s going to jump into a vortex, or – go up in flames, and then they turn up all … [stares madly] and – why am I back here, and insaneness in the school basement. It gets pretty intense, but the building comes off worst. XANDER: [looking away] Not always, Dawnie. DAWN: You mean Spike tried to rape Buffy? XANDER meets DAWN’s gaze again. DAWN: [slowly] Buffy wouldn’t be back with Spike if she thought he could do that again. He changed – Buffy said the Spike that could do that has gone. XANDER: Dawn, would you do something for me? DAWN: Sure. XANDER: Say what you’ve just said – to Spike … DAWN: [eyes widening] What – about the rough sex? XANDER: About the Spike that could do that not coming back – there’s something you might need to hear from him. DAWN: Even back before the soul, Spike was the one I felt safe with. I know he did stuff to girls my age – I wasn’t stupid, I had the knowing thing going on there. But I was always safe with Spike. And now, it’s just buildings. [beat] … and I think Buffy made the hole. It’s about the right height if they were… XANDER: Stop. No more with the words… DAWN: After all that time, and then Spike’s back, smelling potently of Spike … you know, Xander. XANDER: Enough, Dawnie. DAWN: The thing that worries me is – they’re both so happy. XANDER: So what, they’re – doomed? [Pause] DAWN: But the hole in the wall’s a good sign – like, collateral damage only this time. XANDER: [shaking head] More like unlimited work for the professional builder. DAWN: As in the whole apartment block collapses, but Buffy and Spike survive. XANDER broad smile hangs on in there just long enough for DAWN to turn away. He walks on beside her, looking suddenly adrift and worried. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE SUMMERS’ APARTMENT XANDER and DAWN approach down the corridor, turn in at the door and enter. CAMERA follows them in. BUFFY and SPIKE are standing close together, SPIKE’s has one arm around BUFFY’s waist. The drapes are drawn. BUFFY: Dawn, d’you mind if Spike and me have the place to ourselves? DAWN: Coolio. XANDER points to the workbox on the floor near BUFFY’s bedroom and follows DAWN out. XANDER: [O.S.] Leaving it there, Buff, it’ll save bringing it back later. INT. LIVING ROOM, SUMMERS’ APARTMENT, MORNING SPIKE and BUFFY are sprawled side by side on the sofa, SPIKE has his arm thrown over the back of it, and legs stretched out in front of him. BUFFY is resting her head just below his shoulder, flopped sideways, her legs about to knock over a coffee table. SPIKE: Didn’t think you meant this, luv. BUFFY: [smiling] Don’t you want to watch TV with me? Know we kinda missed doing this before. SPIKE: [putting his lips against BUFFY’s hair] Want it more than anythin’. BUFFY: We could watch ... SPIKE: [quietly] Doesn’t matter. BUFFY: Charmed repeats? SPIKE: [lifting head] Dunno. Buffy – aren’t there things you need to be doin’? BUFFY: More important than Charmed repeats? SPIKE: Can’t believe this – [BUFFY twists around to look up at his face] Sittin’ watching some telly with you. Real. Solid ... BUFFY: I’m so solid crew. You’re solid ... SPIKE: You’re solid for sure – mind the table. [BUFFY curls her legs up under her, putting an arm over SPIKE’s midriff] but – was a ghost for a while there, and now I’m thinking maybe that didn’t entirely go away. BUFFY: I thought ghosts felt ghostier ... [kneading SPIKE’s midriff. He drops his head and begins moving his lips across her cheek] We’re watching TV ... SPIKE: [moving his hand up to caress BUFFY’s cheek] Yeah, blank screen. [BUFFY’s hand moves down, O.S.] Not gonna find the remote down there ... BUFFY presses her lips into SPIKE’s hand. BUFFY: Depends what I what to turn on ... [bringing her hand back to SPIKE’s midriff] If you were a ghost, Willow could probably do a spell. SPIKE: Do you think I could be a ghost? BUFFY: I thought you thought you were one. I’m confused. SPIKE: Me too. BUFFY: Maybe you’re a doppelgänger. SPIKE lifts his head away. SPIKE: Been seeing other versions? BUFFY: [lying back against his chest, perfectly relaxed] No, thank god. I don’t think I could cope with more than one of you. SPIKE: Yes. [slowly] Buffy ... BUFFY waits, staring at the blank screen. SPIKE: Sure there aren’t … things needin’ doin’? BUFFY: Can’t I just – be with you? SPIKE: [after a pause] I still don’t have the slightest buggerin’ idea what I am, why one place spits me out but the world wants me back ... BUFFY: The Buffy-shaped part really does, Spike. SPIKE: ... after everything I’ve done. But, Buffy, you know what you are. BUFFY: Do I? All I know is – I’m tired, Spike. I’m tired to death. SPIKE: Tired? BUFFY: Of doing this. I’ve been killing things since before I knew about kissing things, and now I’m teaching the others to kill things. Because it’s my duty, my responsibility. [Looks away from Spike] I’m so sick of killing and teaching and duty… And I’m so glad that you’re here and then I think that it’s just going to add up to more killing and duty … Because everything – good or bad – does. SPIKE: [gently] Slayer isn’t a job description, luv. ’S what you are. BUFFY: [faint smile] This isn’t still about doing a slayer is it? SPIKE: More about loving one, really. BUFFY: But you’ve got so many to choose from. SPIKE: They’re all blow-ins. You’re the real thing. BUFFY: [Gazing at SPIKE’S knees] What if I stopped? Being a slayer, being the real thing. You’d still love me? SPIKE: I love you, Buffy [BUFFY leans back against him] That means I love a slayer. It’s what you are. BUFFY: I just want to – be with you, sit watching TV ... SPIKE: Are we going to be doin’ that any time soon? BUFFY: ... not ever again have another knock at the door, to go and decide, lead, fight … so tired, Spike. This is what I want. To be with you. To always be this happy. SPIKE is silent. BUFFY: We’re so happy*... I’m scared. That this is going to end. SPIKE: [quietly] I know. BUFFY: I love you. There is a long silence. Instinctively BUFFY looks directly up into SPIKE’s face. His eyes are full of tears. BUFFY looks ahead at the blank screen. BUFFY: [struggling to speak] We don’t have to watch Charmed. No sound from SPIKE. BUFFY: ... if you don’t want to. INT. WILLOW AND KENNEDY’S APARTMENT, DAY WILLOW goes to the centre of a sand-marked circle and lights the candles within. She tilts her head up at KENNEDY, standing with arms folded, watching. WILLOW: Would you do something for me – get Dawn and Xander from Xander’s and Giles and Buffy – she’s with Spike in her apartment. Then we can start the spell. KENNEDY nods and moves towards the door. KENNEDY: [over shoulder] We’re a select group. WILLOW: Would you … [KENNEDY turns] it’s – it’s just the others I need because they’re connected to Buffy. KENNEDY stares. KENNEDY: I’m a slayer – isn’t that a connection to Buffy? WILLOW: [smiling lopsidedly] Close connections. Are you okay? KENNEDY: [beat] OK. She turns and goes out, her face fixed and expressionless. CUT TO: WILLOW releases the blinds on the windows with a clatter. Three shadowy figures standing just outside the circle – DAWN, XANDER and GILES – come into focus. They turn as the door opens and BUFFY and SPIKE come in, outlined against the lighted corridor. BUFFY closes the door firmly, walking into the room. SPIKE stays leaning against the doorjamb, arms folded. GILES: Grateful though I am to be one of the – er – happy few [SPIKE lifts his head] Willow, is anyone except yourself and Buffy necessary for this? XANDER: Another Mind, Hand, Heart, together we are more powerful – is that it, Will? DAWN: … with Blood – that’s me? WILLOW: It’s more to do with connectedness – you’re all close to Buffy – I need big mystic booster on Buffy’s signal to get beyond To Be Continued in her dream. GILES: Am I really essential, Willow? [off glances of surprise] Buffy, I really need to be helping Faith locate the present whereabouts of our immediate problem, Dru and Ethan and your, er, Voice. BUFFY: [beat] Sure, Giles. Will – ’kay with that? WILLOW nods. GILES walks towards the door, SPIKE detaches himself from the door jamb, and, as GILES opens the door, makes to follow him out. BUFFY: [turning] Spike? SPIKE: Be around, luv – back when you’ve finished the mojo. BUFFY: We need you in the spell. GILES frowns, then goes out. The others look surprised. BUFFY: You want the people I’m connected to, Will? Spike … WILLOW: … um, er … everyone sit down and – Spike, have you done this before? SPIKE: Juiced up some mojo? Yeah, people ask me all the time. Seriously, now – they think I got the mojo welly. SPIKE cheerfully sits down cross-legged between XANDER and DAWN. XANDER: Do you want us holding hands, Will? [dark glance at SPIKE] Because I’m sitting between Buffy and Dawn if we are. DAWN: Adult much? It’s magicks, Xander, not buddying up for schoolyard baseball. XANDER: Perhaps I don’t want to be connected up to Bleach Boy’s juice here. WILLOW: [going to the centre of the circle and sitting down, cross-legged] Quiet – you put your hands into the circle in front of you. Buffy, you go in front of me, Xander, one side, Dawn the other side. Spike … DAWN: [settling herself between BUFFY and SPIKE] So what’s Spike, if Xander’s the heart and I’m the blood? BUFFY: Spike was focusey – in the hellmouth. With the amulet, he was the channel. WILLOW: It was more a build up of power and Spike … er, Spike was the means of – ejaculation. DAWN: [expression breaking up] Spike’s a mystic penis. XANDER: I am so definitely not holding his hand. WILLOW: Everybody quiet now. Buffy, keep your eyes on mine – the rest of you close your eyes. The room goes quiet. BUFFY fixes her gaze on WILLOW. WILLOW puts her hand between them, palm flat. WILLOW: Let our minds share… WILLOW’s eyes close. WILLOW: … connect. Let the power flow and focus. WILLOW’s look of authority grows … then her mouths quirks. The focus slips, she takes a deep breath and composes herself, staring into BUFFY’s eyes. Time passes tensely. BUFFY: What? What is it? WILLOW half snorts, half giggles. WILLOW: We’re going to have to lose Spike. Your thoughts keep straying, Buffy, I’m getting – marshmallows? He’s distracting you. BUFFY pouts but SPIKE shrugs, moving to his feet immediately. SPIKE: Yeah, heard that before – five minutes into a mojo an’ somebody says [sarky high-pitched] "Spike’s too distracting." [shrugs.] CLOSE on WILLOW, smiling. CUT TO: Candlelight on their faces, SHOT pans around DAWN, XANDER and rests on WILLOW, then BUFFY. EXT. WOODS OUTSIDE SHADOW VALLEY VINEYARDS The mixture of laughter and screams in the darkness, broken by flashes of fusing blue electricity, is as before. WILLOW is frowning. BUFFY: Before any more go "pouf," Will – show me why they’re going pouf? WILLOW: [shrugging] Okay. CUT TO: A spot deep in the woods, the end of the Slayer spiral is XANDER’s unlikely middle-aged Slayer, DEBBIE, holding hands with a dozen of the new Slayers from the school, including SARA and ANNA. SARA: [whispering] Sheeet – is she one of us? In the tight clothing? ANNA: Wonderwoman in a condom? Huh. Buffy did not think through the consequences of the Slayer Spell there. DEBBIE: Excuse me – enhanced hearing … oh, pardon, do I know you, sonny? CLOSE on DEBBIE facing EDGE. EDGE: Come on, not so much with the "sonny" young lady, [DEBBIE smirks] you’re as young as the man you feel, as they say. DEBBIE titters, smoothing the lycra over a lumpy bosom. A baby wails thinly. EDGE: Dru, no need for that – served their purpose, princess. CUT TO: DRU standing next to ETHAN, crooning to a baby wrapped in a shawl in her arms. She looks up and under, teeth showing warningly. DRU: [gazing back into the baby’s face, whispering] Daddy spoils our fun, he does. Spoils all our babies, gives us kisses that mess and mess [her voice rises, sharp and strident] MESS with mummy’s head … She looks up at EDGE, smiling broadly, and throws the baby casually to ETHAN. A whimper, quickly cut off. DRU: [frowning, the smile disappearing] Takes my babies, won’t let me have my dollies. EDGE: There’s always your bad dolly. DRU: Bad dolly doesn’t work without my real dolly. Need the real one, the one that went into the fire. Smelt him, the smoke on him, he went black … then he went white. EDGE: Watch daddy light the blue touchpaper, princess. Welcome to the House of Fun, ladies and – ladies. He smiles winningly at the SLAYERS and advances on DEBBIE. EDGE: Like a comfy armful meself – the older woman [tilts head, grinning] know what I mean, madam? DEBBIE smirks. EDGE leans forward bashfully and.… Grabs DEBBIE by the back of the head and kisses her, a determined snog on the lips. DEBBIE emerges, half laughing – and fuses into an outline of blue lines, before disappearing. The Slayer next to her looks, horrified, at her own arm, the lines creeping up to her shoulder. She screams – fuses into the flickering blue network of encroaching lines as it moves on to the next Slayer. ANNA: Oh, merde wit’ bells. SARA: Anna, let go! No! ANNA: [calmly] C’nest pas possible We are connected. CUT TO: At the centre of the spiral, BUFFY watches the line of fusing electric blue engulf the Slayers. She turns to FAITH, wrenching at their handhold. BUFFY: Let go – Faith, let go. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 05-01-2006, 07:10 AM #4 Join Date: Jun 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CUT TO: INT. WILLOW AND KENNEDY’S APARTMENT, DAY BUFFY is gazing into WILLOW’s eyes, slowly becoming aware of DAWN and XANDER staring at both of them. BUFFY: Why? WILLOW: [catching her breath] You’re at the centre, Buffy – they reach you through the Slayers. The babies, just power, powering them up to … XANDER: We’ve got a fix on "them?" BUFFY: Dru – and Ethan. But mostly – the Voice. XANDER: He’s a major player? BUFFY: [slowly] I think he’s major. As in Dru and Ethan are minions. XANDER: That’s major [beat] So, do we know what Drain Man is planning, his M.O.? BUFFY: He lights the blue touch paper. And the Slayers – the grid again – are eaten up… WILLOW: Buffy, the Slayers are connected. There’s nothing you can do about that. BUFFY: It was eating them up to get to me. There’s got to be something that disconnects them. There has to be a way. WILLOW: Buffy, the Slayer spell harnessed a – brought out something that just is. I can’t – you don’t magick away something like that. XANDER: [smiling grimly] No messing. WILLOW: [breathlessly] We messed – we took nature and, and reconstructed. We start tweaking – and, Buffy, it’ll just … XANDER: Something blows back at the main grid. We understand Will. BUFFY: I’m not suggesting we mess with the Slayer Spell. [her voice drops] There has to be something I can do. But Giles is right, our immediate priority is to find Dru and Ethan. XANDER: … and Drain Man. BUFFY squares her shoulders. BUFFY: Let’s go. XANDER and DAWN turn towards the door. BUFFY: … only – just need a word with Will. DAWN: [disappearing out of the door] I was a good Blood – pity about the Mystic P–. WILLOW: [smiling] The coven would love Spike – they’d set him as an entrance test for the neophytey newbies and write articles … excuse the soppy, Buffy, but happy with seeing you happy. BUFFY: The bad dolly – WILLOW: Dru taunted you with it before. What was it this time, she needs the "real one" to make the bad dolly work? BUFFY: He – it, the bad dolly – appeared in Buffyvisions Part One. Spike was there too. WILLOW: But – but Dru needs Spike for, for … whatever she’s made, this "bad dolly" Spike – to work. Unless Spike is the Bad Dolly [off BUFFY’s look] Just joking, Buffy – he wouldn’t have a cool pussycat hanging around if he was a horribly perverted clone of the Spike we know. BUFFY: We are talking oriental felines with the "cool pussycat" hanging around aren’t we? WILLOW: See, you’re starting to talk all naughty–suggestive. BUFFY: [sighing] And Spike would know if Dru made a – dolly – out of him. WILLOW: Naturally. What with opening him up to take the rib out and all that "from dust thou art…" BUFFY: [shivers] … or cutting off both hands. But I can’t let him anywhere near Dru now. WILLOW: Oh, if Dru tries to use him to make her bad dolly work … see my serious face appear. BUFFY: Spike must never know about this. In the dream … he couldn’t do anything. The bad dolly made a move on me and … Spike was helpless. WILLOW: Not smiling, Buffy. BUFFY: The worst bit was – She pauses, turns to WILLOW. BUFFY: … the worst bit was, the bad dolly said – I was bent, that … I’d always want the darkness in Spike. I don’t think it meant [beat] porny fantasies about marshmallows. WILLOW: Buffy, horrible clones in dreams always say disturbing things [BUFFY smiles faintly] about the person we’ve got our happy on with. Hey, long-term resident of planet paranoid, here. Trust the wicca wisdom. BUFFY: It’s not like Spike’s come back with a robe and birkenstocks. WILLOW smiles, then rubs her temples. BUFFY: Too much filling in the gaps in my below-quality Slayer visioning? WILLOW: [smiles at BUFFY]. Headaches and nose bleeds a thing of the past – this is just tired and wanting to lie down with my favorite person in a pile of smoochy cushions. BUFFY: [rolls eyes] You said Spike was a distraction in the spell – have you any idea of what he’s doing to my sense of mission, Will? The door opens and KENNEDY enters, nods awkwardly at BUFFY and goes straight into the bedroom. BUFFY: Will, when you’ve had some [smiling] smoochy cushion time – would you try a locator spell on Dru and Ethan? WILLOW: [rolling eyes] They’re got the Big Bad’s version of invisibility cloaks, but sure, Buffy. CUT TO: INT. WILLOW AND KENNEDY’S BEDROOM KENNEDY sorts through various clothing, pulling out her mobile from the jacket she was wearing. PAN IN on mobile. There is "MESSAGE: RILEY" flashing on the screen. WILLOW enters the room. KENNEDY quickly places the phone back in her pocket. WILLOW: Hey. KENNEDY: [startled] Hi. WILLOW dumps books on the bed and flops down next to them. KENNEDY: You okay? How did it go? WILLOW: Yeah, it was interesting. Got ourselves some old friends [beat] and some new ones! KENNEDY sits down next to her on the bed. KENNEDY: Well, we’ll deal. WILLOW: Ken, there’s something you should know. The slayers [beat] there seems to be some sort of connection between you all, something that the new Big Bad is using. KENNEDY: [looks down at her hands] Huh. Nothing seems to be my own. WILLOW: [looks confused] What? KENNEDY: [looks directly at WILLOW] Will, I need to tell you something [beat]. I went to The Initiative. WILLOW: What? Why? Ken … I … KENNEDY: They wanted the Scythe, they seemed to think they could use it to control us. WILLOW: Use you? Why did you take it to them? Why would you? Ken? You didn’t … you didn’t let them take it? KENNEDY: NO! As soon as I realised … I saw, Will … they have Slayers there. They’re trapped. I didn’t know what to do. WILLOW: So, that’s where you were? The other day … the day of the ball? KENNEDY: Yes. WILLOW: [angry] Why didn't you tell me? KENNEDY: I wanted to do this myself, I had to do this myself. I had to be sure. WILLOW: So, you chose to keep me out of the loopy, cause you needed to back up your own slayer cred? Tell me Ken, 'cos from where I'm standing it looks like you didn't want me with you. KENNEDY: Do I have to want to be with you in everything? WILLOW: That's not what I meant. Look, it's not like I couldn't have helped! KENNEDY: Maybe I don't need help? WILLOW: I didn't say you did, but, you did something important and I didn't know about it! You could have been killed and I wouldn't have known a damn thing! I thought … I thought we were a team. KENNEDY: No, Will. You guys are a team, you, Buffy, Xander, Giles. I'm just, I'm just … the girl who keeps you grounded. You only let me in so far, Will, I just needed to do this on my own. WILLOW: That's not all you do … WILLOW reaches for Kennedy's face, but KENNEDY pulls away. WILLOW'S hand falls back to her lap. KENNEDY: [looking at the ground] Maybe … maybe I just need a little space? WILLOW: Space? Isn't it us having space that led to this? KENNEDY: Well, I can't reach you beyond a certain point Will, the magic, I can't share it with you … I'm not [beat] … I'm not her. WILLOW: [lowers her head, pain etched across her brow]. That's not [beat], that's not what I want from you. KENNEDY: Maybe that's why you need to let someone in, Will? That understanding? WILLOW: No, I [beat]…I don't need that. I don’t need anyone to get close to me like that. It's not something that I want to share [beat]…anymore. KENNEDY looks up at WILLOW who is struggling to talk. KENNEDY stands up and walks towards the door. KENNEDY: But I need to be that close to you Will, without it we're just not…[slightly exasperated]…we're just not together. KENNEDY opens the door slowly and leaves the room. INT. SCOOBY CENTRAL BASEMENT The CAT is looking bored and inscrutable on a packing case. O.S. SPIKE’s voice singing a "Queen" classic with passionate intensity. I want to ride my – PAN around to the other side of a gleaming Harley-Davidson "Screamin’ Eagle" V-Rod parked among the utilitarian contents of the basement. SPIKE is crouched down, tinkering with the exhaust housing. … I say "bite" SPIKE’s voice rises to a shout. … I don’t believe in Peter Pan Oh, buggerin’… SPIKE jumps upright as GILES comes through a basement door. SPIKE: [striding out in front of the Harley] What the bleedin’ hell is it with you people? Crypt, basement – wherever I go, crash of hinges and you can bet your last heartbeat, it’s another Scoobie. He swings around and goes back to the Harley. SPIKE: What can I do for you, Rupert? GILES: Well, there is something you may be able to help with, Spike, but perhaps [pushes glasses firmly into place] perhaps I was drawn by a regressive urge to hear Queen. SPIKE disappears behind the Harley. GILES: I wouldn’t have you down as a big Queen fan, Spike. SPIKE: [muffled] Other way around [his head appears, nods] Freddie was a big fan of yours truly. Listen to "Another One Bites the Dust" sometime – classic ditty of a woman scorned. GILES: [removes glasses] I think listening to Queen for pleasure has just disappeared forever. SPIKE: You’ll appreciate … [metallic clang and grunt] I feel much the same about you standin’ there yammering. GILES: [nodding at the CAT] I have to say, the, er – moggy – is a whole new stage in what, for want of a better term Spike, we’ll have to call your development? SPIKE: Got its uses. GILES: The imagination boggles. SPIKE: Canary. Early warnin’ on a nasty I had a little trouble with recently. GILES: Ah, yes, now you tell me, I can see it is, indeed, a – canary. SPIKE doesn’t react. GILES: Perhaps I was curious to hear what your motives were for staying down in the hellmouth, Spike … [SPIKE appears and walks around to the front of the Harley] but I know you’re not one for self-reflection. SPIKE: [looking up] Had a reflection – just a while back. For half a minute. [frowns] … thought I was more scarey. GILES: Did it not tell you anything about yourself, Spike? Rephrasing that, do you have … I hesitate to use this word in context, but do you have a mission now? SPIKE turns away from the Harley and comes and stands in front of GILES – too close. SPIKE: Still haven’t the slightest buggerin’ idea what I’m here for, Rupert. GILES stares into SPIKE’s face, a foot from his own. GILES: You’re an anomaly, Spike. Never more so than now – an undead who burns to save the world, you’ve come back from the bottom of the hellmouth and a fight with the PTBs. Don’t you think you should wonder … SPIKE: I think – that’s my business. Rupert. GILES: And what this means for Buffy… SPIKE: I think you stop there, Rupert. GILES mouth thins, he steps back and pushes his glasses back on. SPIKE strolls back to the Harley. SPIKE: Gotta say this but you don’t [stares at the Harley, frowning] smell right. GILES: I appreciate you may have issues with me, Spike… SPIKE: Not that. [rocks his hand, back to GILES] Somethin’ – out of sync. SPIKE crouches down, staring intently at the wheel housings. SPIKE: Dodgy fuel feed? These poncy designer bikes… GILES: [taking a deep breath] What I came down to ask… SPIKE: ’Bout bloody time too. GILES: … is whether you’ve had any contact with Dru? CLOSE on SPIKE. His gaze narrows and opens again. GILES: We think she’s teamed up with Ethan, and – something else. SPIKE: [back to GILES] No. GILES: Well, then. I’d better be off. SPIKE: Tha’s right, leave the cellar cockroaches to it. GILES breathes with deep restraint, rolls his eyes and disappears up the basement stairs. SPIKE pushes himself up abruptly and stares after GILES. SPIKE: [frowning] … doesn’t smell quite right. [shrugs] Bloody wanker. INT. WILLOW AND KEN’S APARTMENT WILLOW is sitting, crosslegged, the remains of a locator spell in front of her, staring at nothing. The door opens and BUFFY comes in. BUFFY: How did it go? WILLOW: [wrenching her attention back] They – sorry, Buffy, they’re not showing. BUFFY: Invisibility cloaks on again … [beat] Sorry – you look all magicked out. WILLOW shakes her head, tries to smile. BUFFY: I’ve got to get out while it’s daylight and a reason for Spike not to come along. It’s – secrets are a hurting thing to have around. WILLOW: [looking up] The ones that aren’t so secret – not too good. BUFFY: What is it? WILLOW: I think it’s time to say, "keep focusey, Buffy, this can wait." BUFFY: Are you sure? WILLOW nods, not smiling. CUT TO: SPIKE is crouched on his heels in front of the CAT, tickling its chin gently – he lifts his head, looks over his shoulder, and jumps quickly to his feet. After a moment, FAITH comes down the basement steps and stops in the doorway. The CAT saunters back to the wall and springs onto the packing case. SPIKE: Come to cadge another ciggie? FAITH: [cutting motion with one hand] Damn no – mess with the hero of the hellmouth? SPIKE smiles. FAITH: [mouth twitching] Still expectin’ you to be wearin’ a white robe and stuff. SPIKE: Jus’ call me Liz, like last time we met. FAITH: Didn’t expect you to stay and burn up, go all missioney on us. SPIKE: Neither did I. Call me Liz if you want to. FAITH walks around the Harley slowly. FAITH: Nice bike – gen’rally I went with the leathers and left the hardware … [SPIKE shakes his head] but they got a pull of their own. You find it gives you time off? SPIKE: Find it gets me from one place to another. Time off? FAITH: [straightening up, facing SPIKE, one hand still on the handlebars] From being good? [off SPIKE’s disbelief] All the press releases say so. I mean, y’don’t look it – still with the duster an’ all. SPIKE: [staring at the hem of his coat] It’s like the duster – takes time to get used to wearin’ it. – didn’t fit for a long while – still mostly seems … [flicks a glance upwards] like somebody else’s. FAITH: Yeah, well – it was, if we move off talkin’ metaphorically here. SPIKE: He told you? FAITH: About his mother being the second Slayer you killed? Yeah, he said there were – issues – but you rubbed along okay. Didn’t say much about that. SPIKE: Met his mum recently, or thought I did. FAITH: [shakes her head] Your unlife, full of interest recently then. SPIKE: [beat] Where is he? FAITH: [staring at the Harley] We had some time together, and it was good. Then – SPIKE waits, head tilted downwards. FAITH: Then – some piece of evil crap strung him up, played with him awhile and killed him – for bein’ one of the good guys. SPIKE pauses, following her gaze to the Harley. SPIKE: [slowly] It happens to the good guys a lot. FAITH: [forcing her head up] Ethan. I came down lookin’ for Giles – we’re goin’ after him. She turns towards the door. FAITH: [over her shoulder] There’s a couple of other baddies, but my business is Ethan. SPIKE: Faith? FAITH turns back, folding her arms across her chest. SPIKE: [lower lip jutting] Nothing gives any of us a lifetime pass to bein’ – good. Only as good, or bad, as the last gig. If you do what you feel like doin’ it means he’s dead, but your last gig gets the red card…. FAITH jerks her head back, closing her eyes. SPIKE Well, soddin’ stupid system … but, yeah, Giles was down here. ’Bout ten minutes ago, you’ll catch him. FAITH opens her eyes, staring back at SPIKE, then nods and turns back to the door. FAITH: When did you get so insightful, Liz? SPIKE: [shrugging] Always have been. Just not about…. There is the sound of footsteps, and HUGO appears. SPIKE: … myself. HUGO: [ignoring SPIKE] Faith, they’re getting ready to go. FAITH immediately starts towards the basement steps. SPIKE: Who’s they? HUGO: Giles, me, Faith, Buffy and…. SPIKE swings past him and after FAITH. CUT TO: Corridor at top of basement stairs. FAITH emerges first, then SPIKE and finally HUGO who catches up with SPIKE who is striding fast, face intent and fixed. HUGO: Don’t take this the wrong way, but – don’t think you’re on the list for this fixture. SPIKE: Don’t remember askin’ you – mate. HUGO: I’ve been meaning to ask you – what’s it like for a souled undead to go up in a pillar of flame? SPIKE: [not looking at him] It was a year before I started smokin’ again. INT. SCOOBY BUILDING, STUDY KENNEDY enters. Closing the door quietly she leans back up against it. PAN IN on her tight face. KENNEDY flips open her cell and presses the call button. KENNEDY: Is it done? RILEY: You got my message? KENNEDY: Yes, but is it done? RILEY: Done. Over [beat] for now. Back to normal ops for the time being. Kennedy, they thought they were doing the right thing. KENNEDY: Don’t we all [beat]. Willow knows, I suggest you don’t contact us again. RILEY: [pauses] Understood. KENNEDY: If I hear even one thing about new covert missions I’ll … RILEY: It’s understood, Kennedy. [Another pause] Take care out there – all of you? KENNEDY: I can’t do anything for the Slayers in your cells, but – the ones here, I’ll do my best. KENNEDY flips the phone shut and breathes out. She looks straight ahead. KENNEDY: [quietly] Always doing my best… KENNEDY closes her eyes and rests her head back against the door. INT. STAIRWAY, SCOOBY BUILDING, AFTERNOON GILES, OZ, CLAUDIA, weaponed up, are grouped on the stairs, BUFFY is nearest the door, where XANDER and DAWN are standing, watching the others leave. BUFFY: Faith? GILES: Hugo’s picking her up. BUFFY: We need to go while it’s still light…. FAITH and HUGO appear with weapons. BUFFY: Faith? FAITH: [face and voice colorless] Five by five, B. BUFFY: Right, we – Spike? PAN up from BUFFY to SPIKE standing in the doorway. XANDER glances from one to the other warily. SPIKE: [on deep, unnecessary breaths] Comin’ with you, love. SPIKE and BUFFY lock gazes, aware of the others watching. BUFFY: It’s the – dusty part of the day, Spike. SPIKE: [roughly] So I keep in the shadows. BUFFY: [mouth twisting] Trust me, Spike, I’ll be all right. ’Kay? [Pause.] SPIKE’s mouth clenches. Beat. He nods. BUFFY holds the gaze a moment longer then turns and starts down the stairs. The others follow. SPIKE: Hey! You gonna take Xander? BUFFY: Sure. Xander, you wanna get something pointy and follow on? BUFFY turns and leads the way down the stairs. SPIKE nods at XANDER, eyes narrowing. XANDER: [muttering] I’ll bring the toolkit also … in case
some walls need fixing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday, 04:30 AM #5 Join Date: Jun 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT III INT. SCOOBY CENTRAL BASEMENT PAN UP from wheels of Harley and SPIKE’s biker boot resting on the concrete to SPIKE, astride the Harley facing basement doors open to a narrow exit ramp. SPIKE is wearing heavy leather gauntlets, duster pulled close up to the chin with a dark scarf. A helmet with a strongly tinted visor rests in front of him. A faint yowling noise. SPIKE leans down O.S., comes up with the CAT in one hand. SPIKE: Yeah, need you along, moggy. He unbuttons the duster, tucks the CAT in, leaving its head outside, and buttons up again. He puts the helmet on, kicks away the side support and opens the throttle with serious attitude. The gut-wrenching roar of a Harley-Davidson fills the enclosed space, and the bike leaps forward. EXT. MANHATTAN STREET, AFTERNOON XANDER, OZ, FAITH, HUGO, GILES and CLAUDIA are a sober group around BUFFY in the subdued February light. The Manhattan shoppers move and jostle around them. BUFFY: I’m thinking we split up. XANDER: Yes, we get away from the training academy stroke nerdy convention vibe [off GILES’ raised eyebrows] … original Trek cast, the one with the whales – Spock in a frock? BUFFY: It’s been a while since you came out with the adults, isn’t it? XANDER: Already I think I miss Andrew. BUFFY: That’s okay, you’re channelling Andrew. XANDER: Excuse me, I’m very over-excited. BUFFY: This is why we don’t bring Andrew. I’m thinking – you, Oz, Claudia and me go below ground. We’ll focus on Drain Man, who played us so successfully last night... XANDER stares at BUFFY, slight frown replacing the grin. BUFFY: … while Faith, Giles and Hugo stay above ground in case Dru, and – Ethan [glances at FAITH, whose fixed expression doesn’t change] are holed up post-party somewhere more cozy. GILES: Are we expecting them to split up? BUFFY: [slowly] No, but Drain Man seems to have the edge – the others’ll go where he goes, and we cover more ground in two groups. First to find them, lets the others know. ’Kay? AERIAL shot – XANDER, OZ and CLAUDIA follow BUFFY into a side street, GILES leads the others to the kerb of the sidewalk, where afternoon traffic is pushing along steadily. CUT TO: GILES hailing passing yellow cabs. One eventually stops, GILES peers in and steps back, wrongfooting HUGO who is about to get into the cab, and waves the cab away. With a colorful gesture, the cabdriver revs up and drives off. HUGO: Giles, what the sod d’you think you’re doing? FAITH: Hey, need a cab here – the drivers don’t have to look like Matthew Fox. GILES: Ah, that one! GILES catches sight of a cab in the second lane and gestures, shaking his head urgently at a cab coming in front of it. The cab draws up and they pile in. DEMON CABDRIVER: [keeping his face away from them] Where ya wanna go to, people? GILES: You don’t know us, but we know a Slayer. And you’re going to tell us where we’re going. Drive off. INT. UNDERGROUND DRAIN The drain is massive, with basic lighting along the roof. Clearly the trickle of fetid water along the bottom isn’t expected to rise very high. BUFFY: Mostly the Voice was in the sewers – we’re assuming he got as pissed as me with the wading through smelly gunk, when he got a body – and a nose. OZ: Not surprised he appeared as a red mist. Most things do down here. CLAUDIA: You see smells as colors? As a wolfie? OZ: Sewers are pretty much a bad seventies acid trip. XANDER: Now that explains why Spike spent so much time in them. Buffy, why didn’t we bring –? BUFFY: [shortly] We’ll go that way. XANDER: [gazing at drain stretching out ahead] As the options are so endless. INT. YELLOW DEMON CAB GILES: [leaning close to the back of the driver’s head] Yes, very – colorful, but you’ve missed my point, which is we are not on a spot of – um – retail therapy in the Big Apple. Two men – using the term loosely and Drusilla – yes, that Drusilla – probably picked up by one of your colleagues last night from The Westin Hotel, Times Square. Your sort of customer. Now ours. Our friend the little blonde slayer wants to find them. [He bats the demon’s head forward casually] Now get on to the – whatever it is you use. [looking around at the others] Who said New York cabdrivers aren’t friendly and quite extraordinarily helpful. The CABDRIVER leans towards the two-way radio. ANONYMOUS HOTEL SUITE, AFTERNOON DRU, ETHAN, EDGE, MANGA SPIKE are gathered in the suite, a couple of lamps switched on. DRU is walking around and around MANGA SPIKE with increasing frustration. DRU: Dolly’s all empty inside. Plastic and clockwork, not like my William, fizzin’n’bursting away inside, like bangers. Used to be words inside my boy’s head, little pretty words like callipygous glimmering there, jewels shinin’ in his brain, against the nice an’ grey an’ squiggling. EDGE: [distracted] Both the same on the outside, princess – pretty dollies? DRU: Nothin’ to touch on the outside of this one, it’s all fuzzy. EDGE: The other one’s trouble – all those white bits. DRU: White bits like maggots, stick in the teeth. But full of nice surprises, like finding – jewels. ETHAN: He got stuck in the teeth of chaos. EDGE: [smirking] Chaos has teeth. Just doesn’t have a mouth. ETHAN: [to MANGA] What have you got to say for yourself, then? MANGA: Sod off. Waiting for her to come out. Where she goes, he goes. He’s in her. EDGE: [laughs] I don’t think you’re going to get anything out of him. DRU prowls round MANGA again, stopping suddenly in a disturbing moment of sanity. DRU: Didn’t I say? Empty, no jewels, no … [lips curling] I’m bored, Daddy, bored with dollies, can’t we find the one with jewels, Daddy? My sweet William, see him from the outside, inside, this way n’that – always different, sweet, shiny William. EDGE: Soon, princess. [to the MANGA] You can’t do anything can you? You’re nothing but claws. ETHAN: We’d do better with a cat. EDGE: There’s nothing wrong with teeth and claws. [watches ETHAN] Teeth and claws would stay in chaos; they’d be at home there. [to ETHAN] You wouldn’t be at home there. ETHAN: [slowly] Maybe not. EDGE: [knowing grin] You’re a mouse. Chaos would chew you, claw and digest, spit you out like a fur ball. Unless you fought – think you’d fight, me old mucker? ETHAN: He couldn’t fight it! EDGE: Did he even need to? [to DRU] You don’t want your William. He’s not yours anymore. DRU: Always mine. EDGE: Never going to be your pet again, princess. He’s got "bolshie" stamped on his bloody arse [mouth twists] Chaos speaks to chaos and your ex is – exactly what he says on the tin. No wonder your dolly hasn’t got enough stones for a bitty gnat … The MANGA gazes at EDGE with eyes black with non-expression. EDGE: … chaos finds the threads an’ unravels them, chases the mice around the wheel until they fall over with their paws in the air. Not enough chaos in your bloody ex to get hold of. ETHAN: Chaos can swallow anything – anyone – whole. EDGE: [smiling gently] You really are telling me more about chaos than I need to know. EDGE gazes back at the MANGA. EDGE: Chaos couldn’t absorb him, but this could – juiced up enough. He glances at ETHAN and back to the MANGA and then turns and throws himself back into the armchair. EDGE: [nodding at ETHAN] Might as well keep it all in the family, sonny. DRU smiles and cuddles up to EDGE. MANGA snarls, moving towards ETHAN predatorily. There’s no need for ETHAN to ask ‘what are you doing?’ but something in him still resists; he stands up, backing away, making for the door, barking his shins on the furniture as he goes. DRU: Sweet William would’ve told him a story first. EDGE: Don’t worry; we’ll give Ethan a treat too. He picks an iPod off the arm of the chair and begins calling up tracks, putting one bud into his ear and leaving the other free. MANGA grabs Ethan by one shoulder, easily dragging him up so only his toes are on the ground, and he’s a little above MANGA’s eye level. Then MANGA leans forward, mouth open, towards the top left-hand corner of ETHAN’s chest. DRU watches with deep fascination. MANGA nuzzles at the junction of ETHAN’s collarbone, draining without biting or blood. He brings one hand up, splayed, near his mouth, supporting ETHAN’s slumping body with his other arm. DRU claps her hands delightedly. EDGE: Leave some on the plate, sonny. MANGA lingers for a moment, his head against ETHAN’s chest, then jerks away and lets go. ETHAN falls down the wall until only his shoulders are upright. EDGE: Not a very dignified position, old boy. But then, I suppose you’re not. ETHAN: Am I …? EDGE pushes DRU away, gets up and walks over to ETHAN.tucks the white buds from his iPod into Ethan’s ears. EDGE: A redundant wanker? Surely, but here’s my last little present. A thank you for all you’ve done. DRU and MANGA are waiting by the door, DRU sniffing interestedly at the MANGA’s mouth. EDGE hits PLAY [S/TRACK comes up with Madness, "Welcome to the House of Fun"] Good morning miss EDGE, DRU and MANGA exit, leaving ETHAN’s head lolling against his shoulders as he slips even lower down the wall. I'm a big boy now EXT. MANHATTAN ALLEY, ENTRANCE TO DRAIN [S/TRACK continues Madness track OVER] … Box of balloons The light is fading and the Harley that roars into the alley already has lights on. SPIKE is manoeuvring one handed, the other holding the visor of the helmet up an inch. He brings the bike to a wrenching halt near the drain cover, dismounts impatiently and leaving the engine running, strides to the cover and hunkers down. He raises the visor, head tilted to catch scents, makes to lift the cover, then unbuttons the duster and lifts the cat out. The cat makes a circuit of the drain cover, then stares into SPIKE’s face, yowling soundlessly and makes towards the alley entrance. SPIKE follows, scoops the CAT up, buttons it back in the duster and straddles the Harley. He turns in a tight circle and the bike roars back down the alley, tail lights flashing on the uneven ground. INT. YELLOW DEMON CAB GILES, FAITH and HUGO are jolted by the freaked driving of the DEMON CABDRIVER. HUGO: You’d think he wanted to get us there and out of his cab. GILES: I wouldn’t put his chances at much after the community find out he’s given us the address. FAITH: [putting one hand on the cab roof and pushing hard] If these wheels were movin’ much slower... A particularly fast corner sends them all into one corner of the cab. GILES looks at FAITH in concern. GILES: [reasonably] They’ll be there for another hour – good grief. [rights himself after another jolt]. Yes, Dru’s choice of company may change but coming out in daylight, that she can never do. GROUND FLOOR, ANONYMOUS HOTEL EDGE and DRU are standing in the reception area. EDGE has his hands over DRU’s eyes from behind. He’s very frisky, full of it. DRU is skittish and giggling. EDGE: Didja see that, mummy? That’s our boy – Beano was never like that, perverted streak of pretty nastiness that he is. Pity, princess, I enjoyed a comic. Off he goes, comes back a real … bundle of old trouble. DRU: Dolly smelled – funny, all ethereal like, with essence … [dragging out the ess’s]. My baby’s different, but still goes out under wraps [pouting] We crinkle in the sun – EDGE: So last year’s fashion, my madness. He presses his hands more firmly over Dru’s eyes and starts a little weaving dance step. DRU resists for a moment then goes with him, gracefully sinuous. EDGE: Celebrity dancefloor – and ooooh – mummy, I think you’ve won a prize... He’s brought DRU to the open door of the hotel. He whirls her around. DRU: [gasping, very excitable] Faster, daddy, faster – EDGE watches the door narrowly, bringing DRU around in a sweeping motion with her back to it. EDGE: Anything, mummy – give you the moon, the stars... He manoeuvres DRU in tiny shifts of movement to the door... ... and twirls her quickly out onto the street. The late afternoon light falls on Dru’s white, undead skin. The smell of open air reaches her nostrils. She halts suddenly, mid-giggle. EDGE: [solemn] … and mummy – I give you the sun. Well, it’s not sunny but – EDGE removes his hands and comes around, facing her. DRU’s eyes cling to him like the only hold in a rock face. She begins to tremor. EDGE: Dull with occasional sunny intervals. [narrowly] Not that it would bother you if it did. Sun. EDGE stops. DRU is smiling nicely, like a small child. DRU: Hold me. EDGE grips her arms, awkwardly. DRU: They laughed at me. EDGE: Who did? DRU: In the street. They laughed and pointed [her gaze is still moored on EDGE]. How strange I was. [laughs low in her throat] Even stranger now. She turns her head very, very slowly and looks at the passersby. EDGE holds her harder. DRU is tremoring violently, about to blow. EDGE: Mummy, listen, mummy … [DRU’s eyes are strange with sanity] These people. They’re your new dollies. The real thing, now mummy can mess with their heads. [encouragingly, as to a child] Like to try, come on, daddy show you? EDGE turns DRU to face the passersby, and speaks gently. EDGE: Be in them, pet, feel the little brains, sparkin’ away like fireworks. DRU goes still, half-closing her eyes. When she opens them again the fear has gone, replaced by something new, powerful and dangerous. DRU: [quiet as a sigh] Oh, dollies. Feel the sparks... EDGE: [cheerily] Now mess with them, mummy. DRU stretches her neck out and up. Unnoticed by the other passersby a man comes to a halt. DRU shivers, and paces slowly towards him, followed by EDGE, hugely entertained. The MAN’s face is empty and his eyes are full of … chaos. DRU laughs, her eyes back to normal. DRU: Go back to your box, dolly. EDGE: [pulling DRU to him and cuddling her] Nice daddy, eh? DRU pulls away and walks ahead of him, stretching like a cat. DRU: Watch out dollies – mummy’s messin’. EXT. UNDERNEATH THE HIGH LINE In the gloom of late afternoon, SPIKE walks slowly between the pillars. He is approaching the foot of one of the metal access ladders. The CAT is streaking around it in a figure of eight without a sound. SPIKE reaches the bottom of the ladder and pauses. CUT TO: ground level shot of SPIKE’s bikers’ boots as he puts one foot on the ladder and climbs slowly. CUT TO: EXT. HIGH LINE, LATE AFTERNOON SPIKE reaches the top of the ladder and looks over to the wall, full of the shadows of the disappearing day. MANGA SPIKE is standing, arms folded across its chest, waiting for him. EXT. STREET OUTSIDE ANONYMOUS HOTEL A yellow cab swerves to a halt at the kerb and HUGO, GILES and FAITH tumble out. FAITH sprints straight to the door and into the hotel, closely followed HUGO. GILES turns back, puts one hand on the driver’s door. GILES: So, how much do we – The cab revs up and away with a squeal of tires and a speed that throws GILES’ hand off the door. GILES: [shrugging] As you prefer … INT. ANONYMOUS NARROW CORRIDOR [S/TRACK:] Welcome to the house of fun Standing outside one of the doors, GILES and FAITH exchange looks. FAITH takes three paces back and, with barely restrained violence, takes a running kick at the door. It falls back with a splintering crash and GILES, followed by FAITH and HUGO enter. CUT TO: INT. ANONYMOUS HOTEL ROOM S/TRACK fades to a distant murmur of sound. ETHAN is slumped against the wall by the door frame, white iPod buds still in ears. GILES opens curtains. Then he goes to ETHAN, takes the iPod buds out of his ears, holds one up and listens to it himself before switching it off. FAITH follows GILES in and stares at ETHAN. GILES: Welcome to the house of fun, indeed. I take it you didn’t do this to yourself? ETHAN: The dolly … did it. [horror comes into his eyes] They watched ... bloody watched ... GILES: [crouching down in front of him, removing glasses] One of Dru’s dollies? Demon dolls, ventriloquist dummies? What load of old Hammer horror amateurism are you referring to, Ethan? ETHAN: Pro job – made from Spike. He and Dru made it from Spike. GILES: Spike? GILES gets to his feet abruptly. ETHAN: Got some lingering affection for you, old chum … GILES: Hugo, let Buffy know there’s something with Spike’s face on the loose, some "dolly" [HUGO reaches for his cell phone] – and then get outside, see if you can pick up a trail on Dru and … the unspecified third in this trio. HUGO: Service lift at the end of the corridor – probably underground access in the basement. [glances at GILES and FAITH] I’m probably less – involved, noticed it coming in. HUGO goes out quickly. GILES crouches down again, a crease between his eyes. GILES: We go back a long way, a long, dark way, but a … long way, Ethan. FAITH steps forward. GILES puts a hand up, stopping her, his eyes on ETHAN. ETHAN: No regrets, but – tell you, Rupert, the Dolly, not just a vamp, it …. GILES: [quietly] This is painful, to see what turning to the darkness has done to you. ETHAN: Not blood, drained – me – facing it, on the way out, me old mucker. GILES stands up, pushes his glasses back on. FAITH looks at him, her face twists with relief. GILES: [turning to go] Good. ETHAN: [horrified] Stay – stay, I’ve had it, I’ll tell you – the dolly is a catspaw, you need to know – about the other one. GILES: We’re not playing your games any longer. ETHAN: No, for – it’s worse, worse than ... back in the day we worshipped this, but it is worse than unholy, Rupert … Rupert, please … GILES’ head drops, apparently touched. GILES: I don’t think so. [lifts head and smiles faintly but politely] Sorry. ETHAN’s eyes turn to FAITH. ETHAN: [chuckles] What I did to your lover – you want to stay, you really, really want to watch this. FAITH: [without expression] Want me to stay? I could make every minute agony. ETHAN: [sighing] Boring but … you’re on, darlin’. [Pause] FAITH: Yeah, make me feel a whole heap better, makin’ a freakin’ mess of you [stares at the slumped figure] downside being you probably die before I finish … [off the look in ETHAN’s eyes] don’t have to draw you a map. GILES: [softly] I’d leave you to it, Faith, but … FAITH: But. Wood never – the guy never saw the Bad Slayer GILES: So, don’t let it come back for him. FAITH stares at ETHAN a moment longer, then turns, hands shaking. FAITH: I stay a beat longer and this gig is goin’ to be the worse one yet … I gotta go – now. Like something on wires, the trademark swagger completely absent, FAITH turns and leaves the room. GILES watches her with obvious compassion. ETHAN: You’ll stay … watch me … GILES slowly takes off his glasses and squints directly at ETHAN. GILES: Can’t see a damn thing without these. ETHAN: Rupert … GILES reaches for the iPod and replaces the white buds in ETHAN’s ears. [ETHAN’s POV] GILES’ lips move soundlessly. Jerky, PAN SHOT of GILES leaving the room, blurring. [S/TRACK:] N-n-n-n-n-n-no no miss Welcome to the house of fun PAN SHOT slows gradually, finally stops, unmoving, on a view of the door. Static from S/TRACK. EXT. HIGH LINE The light is disappearing from the sky. SPIKE hoists himself easily from the ladder onto the derelict tracks of the High Line. SPIKE: Most of the good dialogue, already been covered for this situation. ‘We happy few, we band of ...’ [his mouth twists] Just you and me. He takes a few paces to one side, keeping well within the shadow. MANGA matches his move. MANGA: No. You and – you. Welcome to your fear, Spike, Meet the worst you are capable of. SPIKE: Comic strip stuff – anyone ever tell you, you move like a poncy wanker? MANGA comes closer, dropping the iconic anime poses for SPIKE’s flexible slouch. The eyes lighten, showing flickers of almost unnatural blue. SPIKE goes silent. MANGA: Oh, catch yourself mate. So, what you wanna do – have a few beers, place I found down the road does a bleedin’ classic flowerin’ onion – watch some telly? SPIKE absorbs the MANGA’s stance, the dolly is full of it, the face his own down to the half-smirk and head slightly downtilted – the left hand loosely held against the duster, beginning to twitch. Without another word he closes the gap between them to a couple of yards. MANGA: Wanna yammer on a bit, mate? It’s hard to be a civilized man/Sometimes I wonder just what I am … SPIKE takes a flying kick at the MANGA from a standing start. The fight is brutal, the S/TRACK empty except for SPIKE’s grunting
effort and the thud of hits going home. With simple violence and no style
at all, SPIKE and the MANGA punch and kick within the confines of the
shadows. The MANGA loses the look of SPIKE, reverting to dead black eyes
and the face of something far worse than an animal, pushing SPIKE steadily
back to the edge of the High Line … -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday, 04:33 AM #6 Join Date: Jun 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT IV CUT TO: INT. UNDERGROUND DRAIN CLAUDIA: Are we bloody sure this isn’t a sewer? BUFFY: Trust me, it’s a – [cellphone goes off] Hugo. XANDER: It’s a Hugo? BUFFY: Quiet – I … Echoing splashes from CLAUDIA and OZ, turning back to BUFFY. BUFFY: [under her breath] Oh god, no – I mean, yes, try and track them … CLAUDIA: What is it? BUFFY: Ethan’s dead – almost. Hugo’s trying to track Dru and Drain Man – XANDER: [quietly] And, what’s the real shipping news? BUFFY: Xander, I just said – [halting] There’s something with Spike’s face on it, a bad … BUFFY stares at XANDER, understanding flooding in. BUFFY: You know about the bad dolly. XANDER: Spike told me. EXT. HIGH LINE, LATE AFTERNOON The brutal violence continues. They fight in exactly the same way. SPIKE, although more marked, has kept pace with his juiced-up dolly. MANGA: First, I finish you – It comes at SPIKE with one, two kicks, too fast for SPIKE to block. SPIKE falls back, the MANGA moves in and punches, two-handed, driving blows to the body. SPIKE’s audible grunts of pain rise on the S/TRACK. He goes down. PAN SHOT at ground level of the MANGA’s boots as it strides forward, reaches down and grasps SPIKE, still struggling helplessly, by the throat. MANGA: ... then go to her – CLOSE on MANGA’s face coming down, lips drawn back – he is thrown back. SHOT pulls back as SPIKE scrambles upright, throwing one punch after another at the MANGA’s face until the MANGA is backed against its graffiti on the wall. SPIKE: [gasping] Bloody. Soddin’ – comic – strip. He reaches down, fast, pulling a stake out of the side of his left boot and jerks his head, clearing blood away and fixes his eyes on the MANGA’s black nothingness. MANGA: If I’m you, this means we go for good – Staring straight at the MANGA, SPIKE drives the stake cleanly into the chest. CUT TO: INT. UNDERGROUND DRAIN BUFFY: Spike knows ... XANDER: Wanted to protect you, Buff – destroy it before – BUFFY: Spike’ll go out – as soon as it’s dark. She whirls around. CLAUDIA and OZ are standing, watching her and XANDER. BUFFY: This is a dead end – Hugo said the trail went out of the hotel, not underground. Claudia, go with Xander to help Hugo pick up the trail. Oz, we have to check the Scooby building for a – bad Spike clone. [struggles for control] Must stop Spike from leaving ... CUT TO: EXT. HIGH LINE CLOSE on SPIKE’s hand clenched on the stake, driven into the ground. Around the stake a faint echo of the MANGA fades away ... PAN TO: graffiti on wall, lines glowing, live, in the dusk, and back to SPIKE hunched, shaking slightly, on his knees above the spot where he staked the MANGA. PAN TO: MANGA’s biker’s boots approaching SPIKE. Too late, SPIKE looks up, the MANGA kicks at his head, hurling him flat on his back. He makes a useless movement as the MANGA strides forward, grips him by the lapels of the duster and drags SPIKE to the edge of the High Line. MANGA: Been here before – a job to do, and we aren’t there to do it because – SPIKE’s eyelids flutter as the MANGA leans over him. MANGA: – we’re too busy falling off things. The MANGA throws SPIKE off the edge. PAN SHOT over its shoulder shows SPIKE sprawled on the ground underneath. CUT TO: SPIKE, unmoving, facing upward. MANGA comes into shot, grips SPIKE by the shoulders and drags him over to a pillar. SPIKE makes slight movements as he is hoisted half upright. The MANGA crouches down in front of him. Pause. MANGA puts out a hand and almost gently, wipes a trickle of blood off SPIKE’s cheek. SPIKE opens his eyes. MANGA: You are useless. SPIKE: [with difficulty] Sod ... The MANGA puts its hand just below SPIKE’s collarbone and leans forward – and stops. MANGA: No. It’s no fun if they do not … cry. Is it? SPIKE stares up at his own face and shudders. MANGA: [easily] I want you to know what I’ve done to the bitch before you go. Wait here. It backhands SPIKE and straightens up. Pauses and crouches down again. CLOSE on SPIKE’s unconscious face, heavily marked. CUT TO: MANGA’s face, eyes blue, face bruised and bleeding in an exact replica of SPIKE’s, even down to the smeared blood on one cheekbone. MANGA rises smoothly upright and moves away with a familiar loping swagger. Behind him a gleam of peroxide hair and a small cream-colored shape circling nearby in the growing darkness indicate SPIKE and the CAT. INT. ENTRANCE, SCOOBY BUILDING, EVENING BUFFY and OZ come through the doors and BUFFY crosses to the elevator, pressing hard on the call button. They wait in silence for a moment until the doors open. BUFFY presses the "Hold" button. BUFFY: I’ll go up. Would you check the basement, and the rest of the building for ... [beat] for Spike. OZ nods. BUFFY: [awkwardly] If you find Spike, will you know it’s Spike? OZ looks directly at BUFFY. Her expression crumples slightly. OZ: [calmly] Yeah, it’s a smell thing. I’ll know the real one. BUFFY keeps her finger on the button. BUFFY: [muttered] Cue some kind of joke. OZ: Don’t tend to joke about things that aren’t funny. BUFFY releases her finger and goes into the elevator. BUFFY: Thanks, Oz. CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE WILLOW AND KEN’S APARTMENT BUFFY runs along the corridor and comes up to the door, knocking loudly. BUFFY: Willow! It’s me, Buffy. The door opens. WILLOW appears, set-faced. WILLOW: Buffy – [off BUFFY’s expression] What –? BUFFY: Is Dawn – DAWN: [appearing behind WILLOW] Here, all present. BUFFY: Thank god. Will, Dawn – stay here, don’t let anyone in until I say. WILLOW: Who’re we not letting in – Dru, Ethan – who, Buffy? BUFFY is losing control over her expression again. BUFFY: Spike. WILLOW: Oh, Buffy ... the bad dolly isn’t a dream? BUFFY: [turning away abruptly] Anyone looking like Spike. CUT TO: INT. SUMMER’S APARTMENT BUFFY pushes the front door open. The lamps are burning in the living room. BUFFY: Spike! Spike? She goes into the living room, which is empty, SHOT moves with her to the bedroom, in darkness. BUFFY flicks the lightswitch. Empty. She crosses to the kitchen, pushes the door to DAWN’s room open and moves on to the bathroom. The light is on. Her steps slow, then quicken. SHOT follows BUFFY into the bathroom. SPIKE is leaning over the basin, wiping some of the blood from his battered face with a towel. He looks up. BUFFY: Spike, oh my god – what happened? SPIKE: [lowering his head] Buffy – got to tell you something. BUFFY goes up to SPIKE and pulls him gently to face her. BUFFY: [staring into his eyes] Spike ... what, what did this? She moves away and rummages in the bathroom unit opposite the basin, picking among the contents. SPIKE: [half-smile] I did – or – somethin’ looking like me. [BUFFY straightens up] Think it’s time I told you ... about the bad dolly. SPIKE turns, not looking directly at BUFFY and stares at the ground. BUFFY: I dreamed – the bad dolly was in my dream. SPIKE: [looking up, face still downturned] Yeah. Somewhere – somehow, my [hesitates] darkness got split off and – out there now, as bad as it can be –. BUFFY: [eyes wide, staring at him] Spike, you overcame the monster, you proved you’re stronger. SPIKE: [shaking his head, almost snarling] Full o’ white bits – I know now, luv, the darkness was ... the strongest part of me. Without it, I’m weak. BUFFY shakes her head, coming forward. BUFFY: You’re not weak. SPIKE raises his head and stares at BUFFY in the bright flourescent lighting. SPIKE: Are you sure, luv? [turns to the mirror and looks into it, empty of reflection] Empty – without the darkness, what am I? Need my darkness ... SPIKE’s eyes plead with BUFFY. SPIKE: ... to match your’s, luv. BUFFY stares. SPIKE comes forward. SPIKE: I’ll prove it to you – it’s what we are, Buffy [his face is desperate] my darkness, we both need it. He grips BUFFY by the side of the head and pushes her against the wall. BUFFY thrusts at his chest, her other arm trapped behind her, holding something. BUFFY: No – no darkness – SPIKE lowers his head to hers ... ... raises it to look at his chest. BUFFY is holding a stake to his heart. BUFFY: Every slayer has them – lots of them. And you’re not Spike. SPIKE: [beat] How can you be sure? BUFFY: Spike has been part of me for longer than a – thing – like you could ever imagine. Even after the hellmouth ... he’s been in me. You’re not Spike, you could never be him. The eyes of the MANGA morph in front of BUFFY’s eyes to empty blackness, the bruises and cuts fading. It stares back, smoothly expressionless. SPIKE: Too late, luv. BUFFY: [pressing on the stake] What have you done to him? SPIKE: [shrugs] On his way out, up on the High Line. [staring down at the stake] Never do it, luv, part of me is him – BUFFY: Nothing of you is Spike. She plunges the stake in – and the MANGA shifts into a single, wavering dimension, a flat and unsubstantial overlay. BUFFY looks up at the mirror, the bloody graffiti, sketchy but recognisable – and turns and runs out of the bathroom. EXT. UNDERNEATH HIGH LINE MANGA stands among the concrete pillars, streetlighting catching its face and looks around. SPIKE is nowhere to be seen. The MANGA looks upward, and smiles … EXT. HIGH LINE, NIGHT MANGA pulls itself up over the ladder and walks up to the wall. SPIKE has tried to reach higher ground. He’s got as far as the MANGA’s graffiti and is lying against the base. His eyes flicker open as the MANGA approaches. MANGA: Ready to cry? It reaches down and wrenches SPIKE upright, leaning his head forward. MANGA: Can you smell her? [pleasantly] Scream if you want to. She did. SPIKE’s sweeping kick, completely unexpected, catches MANGA off balance. It picks itself up and stands over SPIKE, impersonally noting that was SPIKE’s last shot. MANGA pulls SPIKE up again, pushes him against the wall and presses hard on the top left-hand corner of SPIKE’s chest. MANGA: It’s no fun if they don’t cry. [gently] Cry – it’s a birth, remakin’ you in my image ... SPIKE’s POV: MANGA’s face, eyes black, moving closer. Soundlessly, the face – his own – shifts to one side. Screen begins to go to BLACK … BUFFY: Spike! BUFFY is running across from the ladder. The MANGA stops, but keeps the draining grip on SPIKE. SPIKE: [rough, without volume] Buffy – it didn’t – BUFFY: I knew it wasn’t you, Spike. SPIKE: Too strong, too bloody strong – BUFFY: [loud with desperation] It’s not YOU, Spike! SPIKE looks up into the MANGA’s face. Its hand fixes on his chest again. SPIKE: You’re not me … bollockin’ figment. The MANGA presses down harder, starting to drain him. SPIKE: [almost soundlessly] Get. Out. Of. My … Face. MANGA screams, high and thin. MANGA: I am you! On SPIKE’s violently marked face a smirk appears. SPIKE: No, nothin’ bloody like. The MANGA’s scream spreads around them, stretching and dragging. It becomes a layer on the air, pulling out of shape, anime and unsubstantial, crying at its own destruction, and finally dies in the darkness with one last, distorted sound. SPIKE lies back, wrecked and smirking on the ground. BUFFY’s hand comes into FRAME above him. He gazes at her hand. BUFFY: My turn, Spike. SPIKE grips her hand and she pulls him up. The CAT’s eyes appear in front of them, shining, as it strolls up to the graffiti on the wall. It sniffs, cautiously, yawns in a bored way at SPIKE and BUFFY and then stalks away into the night, tail held high. SPIKE: Bloody pussies – always walk away from me with their tails in the air. BUFFY: Not all of them. I’m staying. [SPIKE turns and smiles at her] Now we know who you are. SPIKE: Or leastways, who we’re not. Back view as BUFFY and SPIKE move off slowly, SPIKE leaning heavily on BUFFY. SPIKE: Was it a – smell thing? BUFFY: Me knowing it wasn’t you? No. SPIKE: What was it? BUFFY: A love thing. SPIKE: [pause] So, you and me ... anythin’ in terms of a plan? BUFFY: Not so’s you’d notice. SPIKE: [deeply contented] Same as usual, then. BUFFY: Yup. INT. WILLOW AND KEN’S APARTMENT, NIGHT WILLOW: So that’s the plan? BUFFY: Whatever we’re facing this time, I’m the prize in the middle. I don’t want the other slayers eaten up by something trying to reach me. WILLOW: But, Buffy, why should you be the mousey? BUFFY: [staring ahead] "Not a job description ..." It’s what I am. Just the same old same old. We’re sending them off to Cleveland, set the School up there, so’s the big bad comes out in the open – WILLOW: Hey, Cleveland, much cheaper than New York. BUFFY: Spike’s gonna help with the funding [off WILLOW’s look] Long, story, accumulated interest, friends in Wolfram and Hart’s accounts division, sad stories of tax evasion, don’t ask. WILLOW: Things coming out in the open, they ... usually involve [lamely] hurting. BUFFY: [gazing worriedly into WILLOW’s face] I know it was painful for you, Will, finding out about Ken and the Scythe. WILLOW: I’m dealing, Buffy. Who needs evil clone draining the life out of you, when – really, it was a – a humdrum old dolly [tearing up] – seeing the other person isn’t, isn’t who you thought they were? INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE WILLOW AND KEN’S APARTMENT KENNEDY is leaning back against the wall, eyes closed. OZ enters the hallway and sees KENNEDY; he stops a little way from her. OZ: Oh, sorry. OZ turns to leave. KENNEDY: God damn it! OZ turns back to her, brows knit ever so slightly. OZ: Everything okay? KENNEDY doesn't answer right away, struggling internally for control, staring at floor. Makes mistake of looking up into his eyes, full of genuine concern, and her frustration spills over, the words bursting out. KENNEDY: I just wish I could make her understand! OZ hesitates. OZ: Seems like this is a bad time – KENNEDY: Not good with extended emotional drama [she breathes out]. Just [beat] trying to make sense of it all, ya know? OZ: Yeah, life can be tricky to work out. KENNEDY: I mean, this is it. I’m a slayer. I have all this strength [beat], but I can’t stop or change things. It’s….it’s so damn frustrating [she hits the door behind her with her fist]. OZ doesn’t flinch, leaning against the wall opposite, hands stuffed in pockets, listening quietly. KENNEDY (cont): I knew I'd have no say. You know – that destiny on a roll of the dice thing. Out of my control…[she looks to her side]. There's a note of bitterness in her voice now. OZ lifts an eyebrow slightly, encouraging her to go on, to get it all off her chest. KENNEDY: But I knew what I was doing. Why can’t she see that? How’s it fair that everyone else in her life gets to make their own calls? Again, that slight lift of an eyebrow from OZ, but this time with a hint of amusement at her petulant tone mingled in with the deep sympathy. OZ: A lot of things in life aren't fair. KENNEDY looks directly at OZ, almost a challenge, then her face softens a little. KENNEDY: Hey [she smiles], can you tell I’m used to getting my way? Oz smiles back. No words needed there. KENNEDY: Its just…Willow, you know? OZ: Yeah. I know. KENNEDY starts a little, thrown off balance, as though only just realising who she's speaking to. KENNEDY: God, I'm so – I completely spaced that you two had a thing…. OZ looks at her. OZ: I kinda like to think it was more than just a 'thing'. KENNEDY: That's so – I mean, don't take this personally, but you're kinda the wrong gender. Completely the wrong gender. OZ smiles again, at ease. Any issues he had about Willow's sexuality are long gone. OZ: A little weird for me too. Only – from the other direction. Accepting that point, KEN relaxes a little more. She comes across and leans against the wall next to him. Comfortable silence for a moment. KENNEDY: Y'know, when I was a kid I'd always get sent up to my room if I acted out. I hated it – used to always end up climbing out of the window or something. OZ: Confinement issues, huh? KENNEDY glances at him. KENNEDY: I guess you'd know a bit about that yourself. OZ: Maybe a thing or two. Not quite the same. KENNEDY: Always hated being cooped up like that. Wanted to do my own thing, be my own person, ya know? OZ: Being your own person – now that can depend on knowing who your own person is. KENNEDY eyes him, interested and curious now. KENNEDY: That was sorta why you left, right? Brief pause while Oz takes in the implications of this question, thinks about how best to answer. OZ: I had some stuff to work out. [glances at her with a little half-smile] Confinement issues. [beat] Turns out so did Will. I guess it worked out for the best all round. KEN's turn to just nod silently in response. OZ: What we want and what we need – not always the same thing. [beat] The hard part can be figuring out which is which. KEN: Very cryptic, Mr Zen OZ laughs very softly. OZ: Thanks. I try. INT. WILLOW AND KEN’S APARTMENT, NIGHT BUFFY: Another dolly. But at least we know what's going on. We've found all the dollies. WILLOW: No more pantomime villains hiding behind the scenery. EXT. STREET OUTSIDE SCOOBY BUILDING Two passersby seen from behind come under a streetlamp. CIRCLE around to the front. It's EDGE and DRU. They both grin. EDGE: [chuckling, pantomime-villain style] We're BEHIND yoooooooou!
CLOSING CREDIT
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