7.13

Episode 7.13

"Stuck"

written by: A. Jean Clayton a.k.a. silver

May 12th, 2002

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Buffy stumbled across Grant kneeling next to a dead woman�s body. Voiceover of Buffy accusing Grant of hiding something from her. Anya was killed in the Magic Box, but held on long enough for Willow to use a spell to save the unborn baby by transferring it to her own womb. Xander was heartbroken and lost after losing Anya, and partially blamed Buffy for putting Anya in mortal peril by bringing to the shop a box that her killers wanted badly enough to kill for. Spike complained to Buffy that she did something to him; changed him somehow, and he didn�t know if he could ever go back to being what he was.

* * *

We open down in a hallway beneath the police station. The Commissioner walks past a door just as a detective exits, shutting the door behind him. Pausing, the Commissioner asks for an update, and the detective reports that �it� is growing already. The Commissioner smiles and says it won�t be long, now.

Cut to a doctor�s office. In an examining room, a doctor smiles and says it won�t be long now, and confirms that Willow is six months along and doing fine. The camera pans back and we see Tara standing next to Willow, who is seated. Tara looks vaguely uncomfortable, and doesn�t meet Willow�s eyes when she looks up at her tentatively. The doctor doesn�t notice anything wrong, however, and makes an appointment with Willow for an ultrasound the next day.

Cut to Xander�s apartment. The camera pans around, showing how empty and silent it is. Suddenly the phone rings, and the shot finally rounds a chair to reveal Xander sitting there, unmoving. As the phone starts to ring for the fourth time, he finally moves to answer it. It�s Willow, and we hear her telling him about the ultrasound the next day, asking if he can be there? Xander says he will, but his voice is flat. She hangs up, but Xander doesn�t move. The dial tone is replaced after a few moments with the harsh �off the hook� sound, but Xander just sits there.

Opening Credits.

Montage of images: a church in the mist�a cave opening in a hillside�screams and fire and dust. Buffy is standing in a forest looking disoriented. She notices the opening and starts toward the cave, which glows red from deep within. There are more screams in the distance, and there are quick cuts to something running through the trees. Buffy is distracted until she notices an old Hispanic woman standing next to the entrance to the cave. The woman says nothing, but gestures that Buffy should go inside. Buffy starats to, but there�s another assault of quick images and sounds: Someone getting run through with a sword falls heavily to the ground�Buffy runs through the trees�a baby cries shrilly in the distance even as an unbearably loud inhuman voice shrieks with rage. Buffy sees a shape running through the trees. A tentacle�a flash of a flowing skirt, or cloak. Something large coming toward her. A voice crying out one word, over and over, but Buffy can�t make it out. Then sudden silence. Buffy turns around and around, trying to watch all possible fronts from which she might be attacked. She hears a sound and whips around to face the enemy�only to find Angel, smiling. She starts to smile back, but he immediately disappears, along with the forest and the cave. Buffy whirls around again to find Willow standing there in the darkness next to her, looking somewhat startled. Buffy suddenly wakes up in her room.

Later, down in the kitchen, Willow enters to find Buffy making breakfast for the two of them. Buffy says she had a feeling that Willow would be showing up. Willow sits. �So it was real?� she asks. Buffy says not so much. It was a dream�but not just a dream. Willow realizes it was one of Buffy�s potentially prophetic visions, and comments on how weird and �not making with the sense� it was. �Welcome to my world,� Buffy replies.

She then asks how Willow got into her dream in the first place, but the witch is uncertain. She apologizes for intruding, but says the pregnancy has been playing havoc with her powers, and this must be some kind of weird side effect. Buffy sighs, and says as long as she doesn�t have her trying to marry Spike again, she�ll deal with it. She then changes the subject, asking how the doctor�s appointment went.

As they�re talking, Buffy takes the garbage out through the back door and places it in a can. They stand in the doorway a moment as Willow says that everything looks good; she, Tara and Xander are going for the ultrasound today. She looks a little nervous about it, and Buffy picks up on it, asking her if everything�s okay. Willow says things have just been�a little weird between her and Tara since the transference spell. Now there�s this * thing * between them, and they haven�t really talked about it, yet. Buffy says they�ll be okay�they were meant for each other. They go back inside and shut the door, and a moment later a white cat jumps up onto the railing on the porch and starts sniffing at the garbage can. The shot cuts to back inside the kitchen. �Speaking of which,� Willow says� She wonders why, after all this time, Angel was in Buffy�s dream. Buffy hesitates, clearly debating whether or not to tell Willow about her interaction with the Angel in the other possible timeline, but finally says instead that it�s just because he�d come back to Sunnydale when trying to prevent the ritual, and now he�s on her mind again. Willow is sympathetic, but says nothing has changed; they still can�t be together. Buffy almost smiles, says �Actually��, and clues her in on the Shanshu Prophecy. Willow is amazed, and says that�s great. Buffy tries to keep herself from getting too excited, though. She tells Willow that she feels bad about being hopeful, when Xander has just lost everything. She worries that Xander is slipping.

Cut to Xander at the apartment, preparing to leave for the appointment. He heads toward the door, but stops suddenly; looks back toward the phone. He appears to struggle with himself a bit before he finally gives in and goes over to the table with the phone and answering machine on it. He reaches down and his fingers hover over the playback button for a moment as he grimaces, clearly trying to summon up the willpower to just leave, not listen to the message. He loses the battle with himself, however, and presses the button. We hear an old message from Anya that�s been left on the machine. Her voice says she�s running late, but she�ll be home soon. She says she loves him, and then hangs up. When the message ends, he plays it again.

We cut to the pack porch of the Summers House. The lid to the can Buffy placed the garbage in is slightly off now, and the cat noses at it from the railing. Suddenly a shadow falls over the porch, and the cat looks up, startled, hissing. It starts to jump down onto the lid, but never makes it; it vanishes in mid-leap. The something that startled it shuffles menacingly onto the back porch, and we can see it�s a large, gray-skinned demon with coarse hair. It sniffs the air and then growls, retreating. The camera closes in on where the cat disappeared, and we can hear a mournful, echoing meow as if from a far off distance. The sound fades away, covered up by a sudden, insane shriek from the creature.

Commercials.

Willow, Tara and Xander are at the ultra sound. All are obviously uncomfortable, but the jovial doctor doesn�t notice, too wrapped up in his work. Until, that is, he finds out that yesterday was Willow�s first visit, and wants to know why. Willow haltingly tries to come up with excuses, including saying that she�s not exactly the original mom�she�s a surrogate. The doctor looks confused until Tara quickly ends the painful diatribe by saying that Willow just moved there; surely her medical records will catch up. Willow looks gratefully at Tara, Xander remains silent. The doctor lubes up Willow�s abdomen with jelly and turns out the light. They all look at the form of the baby, but while Willow smiles, Xander swallows and looks upset. He finally turns and leaves the room. Willow and Tara share a look.

Summers House. Buffy is at the sink washing dishes when Spike flings himself through the back door, protected from the sun by a blanket worn around him. He shakes the smoke off, and Buffy asks him what�s up. He asks her if he can�t just drop by to chitchat, and Buffy looks skeptical. Changing the subject, he asks how Dawn�s doing, and Buffy replies that she hardly ever even sees her anymore; she spends all her time with Josh. Spike scowls and says he doesn�t like the boy, and Buffy smiles, saying he wouldn�t like any boy Dawn brought home. Spike agrees. He hesitates, and Buffy furrows her brow, intuition telling her that Spike came to talk to her for a reason. She starts to ask him about it again, but gets interrupted by Dawn and Josh walking in. Buffy frowns. �Shouldn�t you two be at school?� Dawn explains that there�s a pep rally at which some heavy student politics are going to be taking place, and they need to pick up some supplies for Josh�s campaign. Buffy starts to make a snide remark about Dawn�s constant hanging out with Josh, but before the words even finish leaving her mouth the door crashes in again�only this time it�s the creature. It roars at them, and Buffy immediately flings the dish she was holding at it, shattering it against the thing�s skull. She�s quick on Spike�s heels when he goes to charge it, but they both suddenly slam, hard, up against an invisible barrier and fall backward to the floor. The creature starts forward toward their fallen figures, and Josh yells. Dawn unthinkingly pushes him back, but he rebounds from an invisible wall, too. The creature suddenly stops, looking confused. It sniffs the air and can�t seem to find them. Buffy springs to her feet like a jack-in-the-box, but finds that she still can�t get to the creature to fight it; she�s blocked somehow. Finally, the creature screams and � after making a short shambles of the kitchen � leaves. Buffy, Spike and Dawn all look at Josh.

In the hallway outside the examination room, Willow finds Xander sitting on a bench against the wall with his eyes shut. She gently asks him if he�s okay, and he opens his eyes, saying that it just got to be too much back there. Willow sits next to him, and he looks like he�s finally going to talk about it. �I just feel like I can�t snap out of it,� he says. �Like I�m gonna break, any day now.� Willow says he won�t. He can get through this, and even though Anya�s gone, he still has people here who love him and need him. Xander looks both touched and pained, but before he can respond they hear a commotion from the examining room. They run in to find the creature from outside Buffy�s house tearing the lab apart. Tara is pressed back against the wall, keeping a forcefield between herself and the creature, as it screams and tries to get at her. It suddenly seems to sense Willow and Xander, however, and whirls around to face them. It charges Willow, but Xander tackles it before it can get to her. Knocking him aside, the creature screeches again and exits through the window from whence it came.

Tara releases the forcefield and rushes forward to help Willow help Xander up. After ascertaining that everyone�s okay, Willow asks where the doctor is. Tara says she was talking to him one minute, and he disappeared the next. Before she could even move, the creature had crashed in and started ransacking the place. Then, when Willow and Xander came in, it seemed to zero in on Willow. Willow says �We�d better tell Buffy.�

Commercials.

Back from commercial, Spike has finished exploring their invisible prison and declares it a perfect sphere. Some kind of bubble forcefield. Buffy wonders if the creature did this to them, and Spike replies that the creature�s appearance and their sudden imprisonment can�t be coincidence. Buffy tends to agree. Josh is sitting on the floor with Dawn, their backs up against the invisible wall. He�s kind of in shock, confused. Bubble forcefields? Creature? What�s going on here? And the like. Dawn tries to keep on track � while simultaneously avoiding the question � by saying they have to get out of there, or they�ll completely miss the pep rally. �Pep rally?!� Buffy exclaims, pointing to her uniform, �Hello? I have a job I�m late for already!� They quickly get into an argument over Dawn thinking that Buffy thinks her stuff is unimportant, but Spike quickly gets annoyed with it. �Oh please! We�re trapped in a supernatural bubble, and you�re worried about being late? Has it occurred to any of you that we might be trapped in here for a good long while?� Shots of everyone�s faces as they realize it could be hours�days, or longer.

Just then, they hear a noise, which turns out to be Willow, Xander and Tara, entering through the front door, looking for Buffy. They call out to her, and Buffy bangs against the side of the bubble, calling out to them. �We�re here! In the kitchen!� Willow and Xander enter the kitchen�but not in response to Buffy or Dawn�s calls. In fact, they don�t seem to hear them at all, and look around, searching. No matter what the foursome inside the bubble forcefield do to attract attention, Willow and Xander don�t seem to see or hear them. Finally Buffy gives up, defeated for the moment. �They can�t hear us,� she says. �See us either,� Spike agrees. A moment later Tara joins them, having checked upstairs and not found Buffy, either. They suddenly see the broken dish shards on the floor, and Xander thinks the creature must have already been here. Willow frets, but suddenly remembers that Buffy should be at work, and says it could have happened after she left.

She dials the station and asks for Buffy. She gets connected to Grant, however, who mistakenly thinks it�s Buffy on the line. He asks where the hell she is, and why she�s late? Willow�s face falls, as she realizes this means Buffy�s not there, either. She recovers quickly, telling Grant that Buffy can�t make it in today and is going to have to take a sick day, but Grant is suspicious after he hangs up with her. Back in the kitchen, Tara remembers how the doctor disappeared right before the creature smashed in, and wonders if it is somehow shooting people into an alternate plane, or something. They all head off to the Magic Box to do some research on the creature, and Tara�s theory. There�s silence for a moment, and then Buffy and Dawn start arguing again. Spike rolls his eyes and wonders aloud if he could knock himself unconscious by ramming his head into the forcefield wall.

Commercials.

At the Magic Box, Willow and Tara have had minimal luck in finding information on the creature. Xander pretty much just sits there distantly, obviously a bit pained at being there. In the void, Willow and Tara kind of bond over the research a bit when they find a magical way to track the demon, bridging a small gap between them. They smile shyly.

Back in the bubble, everyone has begun to get on each other�s nerves. Josh is close to snapping, not able to deal with what he doesn�t understand. He throws himself against the wall a few times before Buffy and Spike pull him away and make him sit. Dawn goes to him and puts an arm around him, trying to get him to calm down. Buffy starts to frown at the level of intimacy that implies, but is then quickly distracted by a small square package she sees on the floor. She bends over to pick it up; it�s a condom. Flaring, she whirls on Spike and asks him what the hell he�s bringing prophylactics into her house for. He merely arches an eyebrow at her as she continues to rant that she has a kid sister in that house, and why is he bringing sex stuff there, and�.why does he even need one anyway? On the last, she finally realizes that Spike really doesn�t, and turns slowly to look at Dawn�who is still seated next to Josh on the floor. They both look up at her, caught.

At the Magic Box, Willow and Tara sit across from each other on the floor, holding hands. They perform the locating spell together, which Willow explains is a variation of the spell she used in the haunted house Freshman year, and a little lavender ball of light forms above them, hovering there indecisively. Willow tells it they need to find the creature. Tara wonders if they should split up to cover more area, and Xander says he doesn�t want Willow out alone. He tells Willow and Tara to search together; he�ll search on his own. The ball seems to understand and splits into two identical spheres, each of which begins to search for the creature. Willow and Tara go one way, Xander goes the other.

Back in the kitchen, it�s pandemonium. Buffy�s yelling at Dawn, Dawn�s yelling back at Buffy, and Josh is half-trying to defend Dawn, while at the same time trying to hide from Spike�s sinister glare. Dawn finally gets Buffy to stop screaming, but she�s not done being angry at Dawn by a long shot. She asks her how she could be so stupid to be sleeping with someone at sixteen. Dawn defends herself by saying that Buffy was only seventeen, and only that by a day. �Besides, if you want to get technical,� she adds, �I�m actually a lot older than that. By thousands of years.� Buffy is practically foaming at the mouth by this point. �If you want to get really technical,� she hotly replies, �you�re a toddler. And I can legally ground you for the next year and a half.�

�What?� Josh looks confused. Spike growls at him, however, and he shuts up quickly. Dawn continues the argument. �Can we not bring up the Key thing? Just this once? Look, I just want to have some kind of normal life. You, of all people, should be able to understand that!� Buffy says she does understand, and she wants a normal life for Dawn, too. But the normal life she had in mind didn�t include five kids, a trailer, and a direct line to the domestic violence department. �Hey!� Dawn replies, indignant. �Hey!� Josh says also, realizing he�s just been potentially insulted. Kind of. Obliquely. Dawn asks Buffy how stupid she thinks she is? She�s not going to end up like that. �Stupid enough to be having sex at sixteen!� Buffy answers.

Before Dawn can reply to that, they all hear the front door opening again. They start shouting for help again, even knowing it probably won�t do them any good. Buffy falls silent first, however, when after a few moments Grant makes his way into the kitchen, looking around. He can�t see or hear the gang in the bubble either, and continues to poke around. Something about his stealthy movements puts Buffy on alert, and she watches him closely, wondering what he�s up to. He rifles through some papers on the counter, and listens to the messages on the machine, but apparently doesn�t find what he was looking for, and leaves. Close up on Buffy�s face as she contemplates his suspicious behavior.

Cut to Xander, following his glowing lavender sphere through an alley, headed back toward his apartment. He�s really just walking along, lost in thought, when the ball stops in midair and starts to glow. Xander notices, and goes on the alert just in time to meet the creature�s rush. It knocks him down, but Xander jumps up to fight it again. He takes several bad hits before it runs off again, leaving Xander bloodied in the alley.

Commercials.

In the alley, Xander pulls himself to his feet and grabs the walkie talkie at his waist. Speaking into it, he informs Willow and Tara of the brief scuffle between him and the beast. He confirms that he�s okay, and then asks where they are. Turns out they�re not far from his apartment, and he advises them to stop in and grab some weapons, because this creature�s only shown violence toward them so far. Willow agrees and ends the transmission. We cut to her and Tara, following their own ball. Tara holds up her hands and cups it, bringing the glowing sphere down to hold against her as they walk up the steps to Xander�s apartment. Inside, Willow starts to gather up some weapons. Tara, still holding the ball by the door, looks around at the emptiness and reflects that it must be awful for Xander to live here alone after�what happened. She looks down when Willow looks up sharply, still feeling guilty for not having been able to save Anya. Tara sees it, and goes to Willow, telling her there was nothing more she could have done. Willow�s not so sure, but reflects bitterly that even what she did wasn�t * all * good, because it�s created a rift between them. Tara at first starts to deny it, but then admits that things have been kind of�off. Willow asks why, and Tara says she�s just not sure what her role is, now. It�s not just going to be her and Willow anymore, now it�ll be her and Willow and Anya�s baby, and Xander. And with everything that�s been going on because of the transference spell, she�s not sure she has room in Willow�s life anymore. Willow says that�s * so * not true. She wouldn�t have been able to get through any of this if it weren�t for Tara. She�s her foundation; she�s part of her. She knows this baby thing is weird, and it�ll no doubt get weirder, but she believes they can get through anything together. Fears assuaged, Tara smiles, and they kiss gently.

Back in the bubble, Grant has left and the foursome are sitting as far away from each other as they can get�the confined space not allowing them to get away from each other. To break the silence, Buffy finally turns to Spike and asks him why it was, exactly, that he�d come there that morning? Spike doesn�t meet her eyes and tries to change the subject, but she presses it, and he finally tells her that he�s been thinking of leaving. Buffy is floored. So is Dawn. �Leaving Sunnydale?�, she asks. Spike confirms it, and Dawn asks why. What did they do? Spike softens, saying it wasn�t anything she or anyone did�he�s just beginning to wonder why he�s still here? Dawn can take care of herself, and Buffy appears to have everything under control. He�s not needed to look out for them or help out any more, and he�s not even sure that�s what he should�ve been doing in the first place. Basically, he�s been thinking about going off in the world to find his purpose. Buffy looks kind of hurt, but covers it well by accusing him of just wanting to go be evil again. Responding to her venom, Spike says if he really wanted to, what was preventing him from being evil * here*? Buffy has no answer for that, and Spike turns the question back on himself. This is what he wants to know. Why he is the way he is now. Did Buffy really somehow change him? What is he capable of, now? He doesn�t think he can find out the answers to these questions while still in Sunnydale, because his affection for the people there are clouding his mind. Buffy is still playing the �I�m hurt, but I�m not sure why� game, and doesn�t respond.

Back at Xander�s, Willow and Tara prepare to leave with their new arsenal. Tara lets go of the sphere and Willow instructs it to take them to the source of the disturbances. It hovers there for a moment, and then glides to Willow, stopping before her, glowing. She reaches up and taps it away from her, and gives it the same instructions, more slowly. The ball spins for a second, and then returns to Willow. Willow blinks. Tara looks at Willow in dawning comprehension, saying that those aren�t the exact instructions they gave the spheres back at the Magic Box. Then, they�d asked it to lead them to the creature, assuming that it was behind the disappearances. But now, when they ask it to lead them to the source, it indicates that Willow is the source. Willow realizes it must be one of those wonky pregnancy side effects. What wonky pregnancy side effects, Tara asks. Willow, realizing she never told Tara about them, fills her in, and Tara excitedly says her mom used to talk about weird things that happened when she was pregnant with her, until she figured out the spell to block the effects. A spell which, by the way, she happens to know. Back down on the street, Xander is still following his glowing sphere. It leads him into a blind alley, and he pauses for a moment to pick up a steal pipe lying amid the debris in the alley. He follows again, and when it starts to glow brighter he readies himself. Just as before, the creature jumps out at him, knocking him aside in an effort to flee the alley. Xander resolutely attacks it this time, however, preventing it from escaping. With no other option, the creature squares off to fight him.

Back in the bubble, Buffy � still aggravated at everything she�s learned this day - tries yet again to force against the invisible field. Dawn tells her to stop before she hurts herself. Willow, Xander and Tara are on it; they�ll get them out. Buffy says she�s not in the habit of just sitting back and letting other people save her. She shoots a look at Spike that seems to say good thing, too, because one of the people I�d have trusted to do so is going to be leaving anyway, and continues pushing at the wall.

In Xander�s apartment, Tara says a few simple phrases in another language. At the Summers house, Buffy � who was still pushing at the forcefield � falls through and lands on the floor. At the doctor�s office, the examining doctor suddenly appears on the floor. Cut to Buffy�s back porch, where the white cat finally finishes its leap to the garbage can lid. It meows and takes off. �Think that did it?� Willow asks? Tara says everything should be back to normal now. Quick cut back to the Summers house, where Buffy, Dawn and Spike realize that nothing will ever be the same again. Struck, Tara suddenly looks at Willow and asks what the creature has been doing, if not causing the disappearances? Quick cut to the alley, where Xander is still fighting the creature. It knocks him down, injuring him, but he jumps up, back into the fight again. Willow thinks, and says it must be attracted to the disturbances she�s been unknowingly creating. That�s why it must�ve gone to Buffy�s house; that�s why it followed them to the doctor�s office. Cut back to the alley, where Xander finally gains the advantage and begins mercilessly beating the creature until it falls to the ground, knocked out.

Suddenly realizing that the creature may be totally innocent of doing any wrong whatsoever, Willow picks up the walkie talkie. We cut to Xander on last time as he stands over the unconscious body of the creature, still holding the bloodied steel pipe. He hears Willow�s voice from the speaker telling him that * she * was the cause of the disappearances, not the creature. As far as she knows, it hasn�t done anything more than defend itself. Xander stares blankly down at the creature, then looks at the pipe in his hands. No emotion shows on his face at all as he stands there for a moment, immobile. Suddenly he looks back at the creature and, snarling, brings the pipe down on its head.

End Credits.

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