Disclaimer: See Prologue.
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Part Six
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ACT 3, Scene 1, INT. The hallway at Sunnydale High. The next morning.
Cordelia looms over Xander who is cowering by his locker. She is in the midst of a screaming tirade. Other students, rushing by in the hallway to class quickly glance at the two. Some turn away, embarrassed by the scene, others snicker and laugh.
CORDELIA
(yelling)
You stinking two timing little horn dog!
XANDER
(lowering his voice)
Geez, Cordie, everybody's looking.
CORDELIA
Let em look! What the hell do you care! My reputation's ruined, and you didn't have one to ruin anyway!
Cordelia slams the locker door on Xander's hand.
XANDER
Ow!
Willow, heading for her locker, enters the hallway and spots Cordelia and Xander fighting. She stops, petrified and presses herself against the wall, praying Cordelia won't see her. She eavesdrops on the shouting.
CORDELIA
And the worst thing! You couldn't do it with someone with a little *status* around here! I could see myself humiliated for maybe Penny Arlington! Or, Hell, even Buffy! But Nooo! You had to trash me in front of the whole school for that wierdo Willow!
XANDER
(rubbing his hand)
Hey! Willow and I have been friends for years.
Willow hangs her head sadly as she hears Xander try to defend her.
CORDELIA
That's the damn problem, you twerp! A seventeen year old guy and a girl can't be friends! It's hormonally impossible!
Both Xander and Willow take in what Cordelia has just said. Xander just hangs his head and doesn't argue back. The smallest tear runs down Willow's face as she hugs her book bag close to her chest.
CORDELIA (cont'd)
You just tell me one thing, weasel boy! How long have you been cheating with that little red haired witch behind my back!?
XANDER
Come on, Cordie! We only kissed! It's not like we went to bed or anything.
CORDELIA
(sarcastically)
Only kissed... ? *Only* kissed?
(holding her fist up in front of his face)
Well you see this?! This is *only* a fist and if you dare even look in my direction ever again, kissing is about the fartherest you'll ever be able to go with a girl for the rest of your life!
Cordelia shoves Xander against his locker with a SLAM. She storms up the hallway in Willow's direction. Willow sees her coming and presses herself harder against the wall. As Cordelia passes by, she gives Willow an icy glare. Willow catches her eyes for a moment and then looks down. Cordelia stops at her locker further up the hallway.
With a deep sigh, Willow shuffles over to her locker. As she undoes the combination lock and opens the metal door, she crinckles her nose up in disgust. A stench wafts out of the locker. Gingerly, Willow reaches in and pulls out a notebook that has been wet down with an oily substance. She holds it out at arm's length.
WILLOW
Eeeww!
Up the hallway, Cordelia has been watching Willow out of the corner of her eye. After seeing Willow's reaction, Cordelia smirks to herself, shuts her locker and marches away to class.
Willow shuts her locker and tosses the cod liver oil soaked notebook into a hallway trash can. She starts walking up the hallway past Xander. She looks straight ahead, hoping he won't raise his head and see her.
As she does, Xander sighs and glances into the hallway. His eyes pick out Willow's bright red hair immediately. He runs into the center of the hallway, intercepting her. She looks up, afraid, at him.
XANDER
Hey Will! We gotta talk. We gotta figure out how to put this all back together. You and Oz. Me and Cordie. How about we brainstorm second period study hall?
WILLOW
(looking down, avoiding Xander's gaze)
I can't, Xander. I can't see you or talk to you ever again.
XANDER
What?
WILLOW
You heard what Cordelia said. We can't be friends, not like we used to be. She's right. You know, a guy and a girl as friends, it doesn't work.
Xander stares at her, not believing what he is hearing.
XANDER
Willow, you and me go back since we were kids!
WILLOW
And that's why I can't see you! All I know is I want Oz back! He's the only thing that means anything to me now!
Willow turns away from Xander and walks off down the hallway. Deeply hurt, Xander calls after her.
XANDER
Yeah, but who's gonna bring you salamanders?!
Willow doesn't turn back to look at him. She disappears among the crowds of students. Xander shuffles back over to his locker.
XANDER
(to himself)
Strike two.
A moment later, Buffy walks down the hall. Her step is purposeful, the look on her face stern and set. She quickly glances from side to side at the students congregating in groups to gossip or wandering into class. As she passes Xander, he looks up at her, relieved finally to find what he hopes is a friendly face.
XANDER
Buff!
Buffy ignores Xander walking quickly down the hall past him. She turns a corner in the hallway and is gone. Xander looks down and mutters to himself as he shuts his locker.
XANDER (cont'd)
Geez, has this whole place gone nuts?
CUT TO INT. Sunnydale High, the hallway lounge area. At the same time.
Buffy rounds the corner in the hall and sees Scott seated by himself in a sofa in the lounge. He has his notebook open and is busy writing. She stops before he can see her, sighs as if she were facing a difficult task, then walks towards him.
BUFFY
(as she approaches Scott)
Hey, Scott.
Scott looks up at her. Buffy gasps in shock. There is a large bruise on one side of his face and the hint of a black eye on the other.
BUFFY
(sitting down beside him)
Oh my God! Are you all right?
SCOTT
(grinning inspite of himself)
Slayer's first rule. Stay alive.
Buffy reaches over to touch his injury. Scott winces as her fingers gently run down the side of his face.
BUFFY
(angrily, under her breath)
Rayne did this, didn't he!
Scott nods.
BUFFY (cont'd)
I should have been there. That's it! Game's over, this guy is dead meat!
SCOTT
(firmly)
Buffy... don't go to him. Please.
Buffy looks at Scott, puzzled by his reaction. She wonders whether Scott can sense what she has in mind. They gaze at each other for a moment.
BUFFY
(trying to break the tension)
Listen, you better put some ice on that.
SCOTT
Yeah, you're right. I'll go get a pack out of the locker room. Watch my stuff, will ya?
Scott gets up from the sofa and heads off down the hall. Buffy watches him leave. She then looks down at the spot where he was sitting next to her on the sofa. There, Scott's notebook sits open. The page is blank with the exception of two stanzas of an incomplete poem. Buffy reaches over, picks up the notebook and quiety reads the poem to herself.
As Buffy continues to stare at the page, she sighs, and the stern look on her face dissolves into one of sadness. Suddenly she looks up and Scott is standing over her. He holds an ice pack to his face. He doesn't sit at first but stares down at her as she cradles his notebook. Embarrassed, Buffy closes the notebook and sets it aside.
BUFFY
I'm... I'm sorry, Scott. I didn't mean to be nosey.
SCOTT
(sitting down next to her and setting the ice pack aside)
Don't worry about it.
BUFFY
(self consciously)
Did you write that poem?
SCOTT
(not taking his eyes off her)
Yeah.
BUFFY
It's about me, isn't it.
Scott just nods.
BUFFY
Could you read it to me? I'd like to hear it.
SCOTT
It's not finished.
BUFFY
So,... that's okay.
Scott opens the notebook and reads. He speaks the words clearly and firmly with only the slightest hesitation between clauses.
SCOTT
"When I see her running,
her spirit blazing through
the midnight of my soul,
As her green eyes scatter
the darkness all 'round her,
Beating back the despair
I know inside is ours,
It's then when I'm with her
I'm no longer afraid.
She's shown me in my heart,
newly sprung from its prison,
that the walls 'round the Kingdom
of Death were my making,
and the descent to Avernus
in my mind's eye only."
BUFFY
(pause)
It's about last night, isn't it? Tell me what it means... to you?
SCOTT
Just that, whatever happens to me, being with you has opened my eyes. So it's all been worth it.
BUFFY
(quietly)
Scott,... what's Avernus?
SCOTT
The ancient Roman gateway to Hell. It's a Hellmouth.
Neither speak for a moment. Scott then looks directly in her eyes. For the first time Buffy senses their piercing blue.
SCOTT
(firmly to her)
Buffy... listen to me. Don't take the manuscript to Ethan Rayne.
BUFFY
(shocked that he has guessed what she had in mind)
What?
SCOTT
Please... it's my fate to go back... not yours. Besides... Angel wouldn't want it that way... you know that.
BUFFY
(with quiet strength but fear in her voice)
What I have to do, I'm going to do. I have to confront Ethan. And you have to trust me. Only this one last secret between us, okay? I'm going to talk to Giles first. But I want you to ditch outta hear for the day, disappear for your own safety. Then meet me tonight at the coffee shop at ten o'clock. Not a minute earlier. You got it?
SCOTT
Got it.
BUFFY
Where's Rayne hiding?
SCOTT
In the storage rooms behind the old closed up Stephens' Market on Broad Street.
What's the plan?
BUFFY
I can't tell you. I have to do this alone, but I promise that after tonight you'll be free and Ethan Rayne'll never bother you again.
SCOTT
Friend to a friend?
BUFFY
Yeah, friend to a friend.
Scott gets up to go. Down at the corner of the hallway, Faith walks into view. She spots Buffy and Scott together.
SCOTT
Okay, I'll see you tonight then.
Scott turns to walk away. A look of regret crosses Buffy's face for lying to Scott. Impulsively, she jumps up off the lounge sofa and grabs Scott's arm. As she did the night before, she turns him to face her and kisses him. This time it is passionate. Both wrap their arms around each other, oblivious to the snickers and grins of passing students.
After a few moments, Buffy tips her head back from Scott. Scott, with one arm still wrapped around Buffy, rubs the other hand against his bruised jaw.
SCOTT
(quietly but smiling)
Ow... that hurt... It was wonderful, but it hurt.
Buffy's eyes water up. At the same time, in spite of herself, she starts to grin at Scott's remark. Trying not to break out crying and laughing at the same time, Buffy quickly pulls herself out of Scott's embrace and runs away from him down the hallway to the Library.
BUFFY
(calling out over her shoulder)
Goodbye, Scott.
Scott doesn't reply. He stands alone by the sofa for a moment. He is confused whether to follow after her or obey her instructions and skip out of school. He reaches into his shirt and wraps his hand around the scarab stone hanging from the leather thong.
SCOTT
(whispered)
. . . please... which path?...
Scott senses nothing from the stone. He lets it fall back against his chest.
SCOTT
(whispered)
... then I'll have to trust you, Buffy...
Scott grabs his notebook off the sofa, turns and walks quickly off down a different hallway than Buffy. Observing the entire action, Faith frowns and shakes her head.
FAITH
(under her breath to herself)
Something's wrong here. Something's bad wrong.
ACT 3, Scene 2. INT. The library. Day, the same time.
Although sunlight is pouring in through the upper windows, the library is dark. None of the lights have been turned on. The sole exception is the desk lamp in Giles' office which has been lit all night. In his office behind the desk, Giles is still asleep in a chair. He is more unkempt than usual and sports a morning stubble.
The door to the library swings quietly open, and Buffy enters hesitantly. She almost tip toes into the room.
BUFFY
(softly)
Giles? Are you here?
The reply is silence. She spots the light from his office and approaches the partially open door. She walks in.
BUFFY
(quietly)
Giles?
He doesn't stir. As Buffy comes near his desk, she sees the Necropolis Text lying on the floor. She bends down, picks it up and quietly unrolls it. She stares at the curled manuscript for only a moment, then rolls it back up again and slides it under her arm.
As she looks at Giles sleeping peacefully, Buffy struggles to hold her emotions in check.
BUFFY (cont'd)
(very softly)
I guess it's best we do this quick. Long good byes really suck.
Buffy reaches into her pocket and pulls out the sealed envelope with the letter she wrote the previous night. She lays it on his desk amidst his chaotic piles of papers. As she turns to leave, she stops and steps back close to Giles' chair. Raising her fingers to her lips, she kisses them and ever so gently so as not to wake her sleeping Watcher, touches the same fingers to his stubbly cheek just to the side of his gold rimmed glasses. She can't control her emotions any longer.
BUFFY (cont'd)
(quietly beginning to sob)
Goodbye, Giles... I'm so sorry... please forgive me.
Before her sobbing can wake Giles, Buffy turns and runs out of his office towards the library door.
CUT TO INT. The hallway outside the library. At the same time.
Suspicious, Faith has been following Buffy down the hallway. She is stopped outside the library and about to peer in the darkened windows when the doors fly open and Buffy bursts out running directly into Faith's arms. Her eyes are red and her cheeks wet with tears.
FAITH
(caught by surprise)
'B!' What the hell is wrong with you?
Buffy doesn't answer. She only stares at Faith for a moment, pulls herself away from her fellow Slayer and runs down the hallway, disappearing around a corner leading to the front door. Astonished, Faith watches her go. Worried that something has happened, Faith holds open one of the library doors. Across the darkened room she can see Giles, visible through the open door in his office, sound asleep behind his desk.
FAITH (cont'd)
(shaking her head)
What gives here?
CUT TO INT. The school gymnasium. Day, first period.
The boys' gym class is doing warm-ups. About forty students, including Xander and Oz are running laps around the gym. Every now and then, one will speed up and pass the other or slow down and fall behind. Each gives the other a puzzled glare as they pass.
CUT TO INT. First period chemistry class. Day, at the same time.
Willow, in lab apron and safety goggles, is seated at her lab table. In front of her is a beaker filled with clear liquid over a bunsen burner. She gazes sadly at her experiment, watching the liquid in the beaker slowly but inexorably come to a boil.
CUT TO INT. First period English class. Day, at the same time.
Cordelia sits in the middle of her senior English class. Open on the desk in front of her is a copy of Dickens' "Great Expectations." She slowly turns the pages with the eraser head of her pencil, her mind wandering and paying no attention to the teacher lecturing in the front of the class.
CUT TO INT. Giles' office in the library. Day, at the same time.
Giles remains asleep behind his desk. The rest of the library is still in darkness. Only his desk lamp sheds any light in the room.
CUT TO EXT. The roadway leading out to the old mansion. Day, at the same time.
Buffy, seen from a distance, is walking alone down the two lane road. Far up ahead, looming out of the trees, like a silent leering demon, is the second floor tower of the old mansion. She doesn't look up at it but only stares straight ahead as she turns in the long path leading up to the mansion's front door.
ACT 3, Scene 3. INT. The library. Day, second period.
The lights are still out in the library. As the second period BELL RINGS, Willow pokes her head in the door and looks around.
WILLOW
Giles?
She reaches up to the wall switch by the door and turns on the overhead florescent lights. The sudden glare of light is jarring and Willow squints for a moment. She then spots Giles asleep in his office. Shaking her head with amusement, she parades into his office.
WILLOW (cont'd)
(poking Giles)
Hey. Sleeping man. Wake up.
Giles jumps in his chair.
GILES
Oh!... my goodness... Willow?... oh dear, what time is it?
WILLOW
Time you got cleaned up! Lucky Snyder didn't catch you again or you'd be fired... and canned, too. And then what would we all do?
GILES
(sitting up and collecting himself)
I must have dozed off working last night.
WILLOW
You got anything else for me to translate?
GILES
(confused, looking around his desk)
Uhh, I don't know. Give me a few minutes if you would.
WILLOW
Okay, I'll be out in the stacks.
Willow walks out of Giles' office and sits down at one of the library tables. Books are piled up on the table top so she casually begins thumbing through the ones nearest her. But after a moment she stops, stares ahead silently and finally sighs.
In the meantime, Giles flounders through the papers on his desk. He looks around amidst the documents from the Furtwangler estate and realizes the Necropolis Text is no longer among them. He searches around his chair and on the floor under his desk. As he stands back up he rubs his chin and has a puzzled look on his face.
GILES
(muttering)
Where could that thing have gone?
Suddenly he spots Buffy's envelope in the middle of the chaos on his desk. He immediately recognizes it as something totally out of place. Frowning, Giles reaches down and picks up the envelope. He studies it for a moment, pulls a letter opener out of his desk drawer and slits the envelope open. Drawing the letter out, Giles reads, all the while a look of panic building on his face.
BUFFY'S VOICE
"Dear Giles,
I know I don't write too good so I'm making this short and sweet. I've taken that manuscript you got at the auction, and I'm going to use it to bring back Angel. I'll have to exchange my soul for his. I know you wouldn't do it, so I'm taking it to Ethan Rayne. He knows how to use it. Please don't freak."
Giles begins to tremble as he reads.
BUFFY'S VOICE (cont'd)
"I know you've always stood by me and protected me. I couldn't have asked for a better Watcher. You've been sort of like a Dad and a Guardian Angel all at the same time. Please don't think I'm doing what I have to do because of anything you did or didn't do. None of this is your fault. I love you and always will."
"But sometimes there are things that are even more important than 'sacred duties' and all that stuff, things like love and friendship and making things right that are wrong because of what I did."
"I do need you to do some stuff for me, though. Mr. Pointie's in my locker. Could you give him to Faith. Oh, also my gold cross, I left it there, too. That's for Willow. Tell my Mom and everybody I flipped out and ran away again."
"And this is real important. There's a guy I've been hanging out with. His name is Scott. He's a real good friend and knows all about the Slaying thing. He'll be at this coffee shop downtown on Main Street tonight at 10:00 o'clock. Go there. You can't miss him. He's got brown hair and these real intense blue eyes. He's the only one I want you to tell what's happened. He'll take you to Ethan Rayne so you can get back that Necriplis thing (sorry I can't spell it) I'm using for the soul exchange. Burn it. It's real bad news. Ethan wants to use it to open the demon dimension. And while you're there, beat the shit out of Rayne for me, too, okay? You know how to handle him."
"And this is the most important thing. Could you keep watch over Scott for me. Rayne's out to get him. Scott's real different, not like he seems. He sees things like Willow does but even more than her, and I think he was actually imprisoned in the demon dimension by Ethan. I'm sure he can still see into it as well. Who knows maybe I could have visiting hours (ha ha.)"
"He doesn't have anybody and needs someone to watch out for him real bad. I think Faith likes him, so maybe you could do a little match making there. I really want him to be happy cause I don't think he ever has been. Wow, I said this was going to be short. I guess I better end it here or I'll cry and start thinking again. And then I wouldn't be able to do what I have to do."
"Giles, you're the most important person in the world to me. I know you would do the same thing I am, if it were me or Ms. Calendar you could save. And if it were you instead of Angel, I would do the same thing for you, but a thousand times."
"Love
Buffy"
Giles puts Buffy's letter down. He is still shaking and his face drained of all its color. He slowly takes his glasses off and drops them on the desk in front of him.
GILES
(whispered in agony)
Oh... dear... God!... Buffy... no...
Giles suddenly begins searching wildly among the documents and books on his desk for the black notebook he took out of the locked cabinet during the night. Not finding it, he realizes he must have put it away again before he fell asleep. Giles reaches the cabinet and begins fumbling with his keys. He finds the one he wants, unlocks the cabinet and opens it up.
As he looks inside for the notebook, his eyes suddenly fall on the dusty Scotch bottle. He hesitates for a moment, then pushes the bottle aside as he reaches for the notebook. He then closes the cabinet, locks it and runs out into the library.
GILES
Willow! Where's Buffy?!
WILLOW
(sensing Giles' panic)
I don't know. I haven't seen her this morning.
GILES
It is imperative that we find her now! Get Faith and Xander and everybody together and search every place you can think of where she might be hiding!
WILLOW
Giles,... there's a problem.
GILES
(looking at her exasperated)
What! Particularly!
WILLOW
(meekly)
Well, last night... there was this big blowup. Oz isn't talking to me anymore. And I'm not talking to Xander. Oz and Xander hate each other and nobody wants to talk to Cordelia cause she's angry and Faith...
GILES
(with exaggerated sarcasm)
Well you're all going to have to stuff your petty little problems in your lockers! Buffy is in serious trouble! (shaking the letter at her) I am holding here the equivalent of a suicide note from her! She must be found now!
Willow's eyes widen as she hears Giles' description.
GILES (cont'd)
She's taken the Luxor Necropolis Text and is going to use it to trade her soul for the return of Angel.
WILLOW
Can she do that?
GILES
I don't know, but she's going to Ethan Rayne with it! And she mentions in her letter some one named Scott. Who is this person?
WILLOW
Just a guy she's been seeing.
GILES
We must find him! He could hold the key to all of this! I don't think she can use the spells until after the moon rises so we only have until early this eveing.
WILLOW
Got it!
GILES
And if you do find Buffy, don't let her out of your sight!
Willow jumps up from the desk and runs out of the library. Giles stands still for a moment, breathing heavily. He then returns to his office, grabs his glasses and, with the black notebook in hand, follows Willow.
CUT TO INT. The hallway outside the library. Day. At the same time.
Faith is approaching the library door. She sees Willow running off around the corner at the end of the hallway
FAITH
(to herself)
What the hell is going on around here?
Suddenly Giles barges out of the library and runs directly into her.
FAITH (cont'd)
Slow down big guy! Why's everybody bailing out of the library? Snyder open the Hellmouth or something?
GILES
(urgently)
Faith! Where's Buffy? Have you seen her?
FAITH
Yeah, earlier this morning. With Scott.
GILES
Scott you say? She was with Scott?
FAITH
Yeah. What's up?
GILES
We have to find her immediately! She's going to try to exchange her soul to bring back Angel!
FAITH
What!? Aw man, I thought she had that Angel thing under control! Damn!... Course that would explain a lot.
GILES
Explain what?
FAITH
I caught her kissing Scott this morning like they missed the last lifeboat on the Titanic, but only she knew the ship was sinking. Then she blew outta here crying her eyes out. I figured you took away her cross bow privileges.
GILES
I want you to search the cemetery and all of her patrol routes! I'm fairly certain she won't be able to do anything until moon rise after dark when most restoration and soul spells become effective. What happened to Scott?
FAITH
He split too, but not with her. I have no idea where he hangs out. You got somebody on the old mansion?
GILES
Willow will send Xander and Oz out there.
Faith laughs.
GILES (cont'd)
What's so funny!?
FAITH
(smirking)
Oh, ... nothing,... nothing.
GILES
Well! Don't just stand there looking at me like a cabbage! Start searching!
FAITH
(holding up her hands)
All right! I'm on it! I'm on it!
Faith runs off down the hallway. Giles watches her disappear around the corner. He then stands puzzled for a moment, looks up at the ceiling with eyes closed and mutters.
GILES
(whispered)
Please... something... someone... show me the way to her...
CUT TO INT. The study hall. A few moments later.
About thirty students are sitting at desks in study hall. Far to one side is Oz and up near the front door is Xander. Every once in a while he casts a glance over his shoulder at Oz. Every time he looks, Oz is glaring back at him. Suddenly Willow bursts in and stops in front of Xander's desk. The whole room stares up at her.
WILLOW
Xander! I need your help. Both you and Oz!
XANDER
(to Willow)
Oh, hello. Do I know you? You must be new here. You remind me of someone I used to know, but she won't talk to me anymore.
WILLOW
Xander!
XANDER
Maybe you've met her. She's got red hair.
As Xander talks, he glances back at the rest of the study hall and smirks. Willow loses her temper, reaches out and grabs Xander by the ear, pulling him up out of his desk.
XANDER (cont'd)
Ow! Ow! Ow! Will, no, stop it!
As she drags Xander towards the door, she looks back at Oz, points at him and thumbs at the hallway.
WILLOW
(to Oz)
And You! The Hallway! Now!
Oz sheepishly jumps up and follows her and Xander.
XANDER
(as she drags him into the hallway)
Ow! Ow! Ow!
CUT TO INT. The hallway outside of study hall.
Willow hauls Xander out into the hall with Oz right behind. She lets go of his ear.
XANDER
(rubbing his ear)
Hey! What'd you do that for?! That hurt!
WILLOW
Shut up! Buffy's in big trouble! Giles says we gotta find her now!
OZ
What happened?
WILLOW
She got a hold of an Egyptian manuscript Giles bought. She's gonna use one of its spells to trade her soul for Angel's tonight.
XANDER
Angel!? She's gonna kill herself for Angel?! Ohh Shit!
WILLOW
Oz, you gotta cruise the downtown looking for her. I know it's a long shot but we gotta check everything.
Oz doesn't answer. He looks down at the floor and hesitates.
WILLOW
(sharply to Oz)
Hey! You got a problem with this? Cause if you do, spit it out right now!
Oz reflects for a moment then looks up at Willow and smiles slightly.
OZ
No, it's cool. Last night's on hold. Big stuff has a funny way of doing that.
WILLOW
(smiling back at him)
Yeah, it does. Thanks.
OZ
(turning to leave)
Hey, I'm outta here.
He runs off towards the front hall entrance way and out to the parking lot.
WILLOW
(turning to Xander)
Xander, you gotta go out to the old mansion to see if she's hiding there.... and you also have to talk to Cordelia. She's gotta check out the mall. I'm going to Buffy's house and a bunch of other places.
Xander looks at Willow with panic spreading across his face.
XANDER
You want me to talk to the She Demon from the Planet Zorkon?
WILLOW
(smiling as she turns to leave)
Just put your phaser on stun. I have faith in you. It's for Buffy.
Willow runs down the hallway to the front door leaving Xander alone.
XANDER
(heaving a big sigh)
Yeah, I know.
Xander holds his finger up in front of him in the shape of a pistol and takes aim down the empty hallway.
XANDER
Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap!
Suddenly, Cordelia, who is heading for the gym, appears right behind him.
CORDELIA
What are you doing you moron?
Xander almost leaps with surprise.
XANDER
Holy Geez! It's you!
CORDELIA
You were expecting someone else? A Borg or Willow perhaps?
XANDER
Not now, Cordie! You gotta drive me out to the old mansion. Buffy's in trouble. We have to find her!
CORDELIA
Buffy's always in trouble. Anyway why should I care? I'm not a weirdo anymore.
XANDER
Besides the fact that Giles thinks Buffy'll probably be dead by tonight if we don't find her, you *are* still a weirdo whether you're going out with me or not. I mean, once you've done the Hellmouth Swing Dance, it's pretty hard to boogie to anything else.
Cordelia huffs and turns to storm away from Xander. He grabs her by the arm.
XANDER (cont'd)
Cordie. Last night we both promised to pretend the last two weeks never happened. I'm willing to keep that promise if you are... just for a few hours... not for me but for Buffy.
CORDELIA
(sighing with resignation)
Oh all right, . . . but it's only pretend! And just until we find her!
XANDER
(glancing up and down the hallway)
Let's get outta here before Snyder catches us! We can cruise the mall first. What's her favorite thing?
CORDELIA
Shoes! Definitely shoes!
XANDER
We got a plan! Shoe stores! Let's go girl!
They run down the hallway together towards the front door.
CUT TO EXT. Overhead shot of the Sunnydale High parking lot. Moments later.
Oz's van pulls out of a parking place and drives towards the lot exit. At the same time Giles runs out the front door, followed by Willow. They both head for his beat up Citroen and climb in. As Giles starts the car, the engine CLATTERS and a puff of blue smoke pops out of the exhaust pipe. Giles quickly maneuvers the car out of his parking space and races out the exit into the street.
A few moments later, Cordelia and Xander run out the front door, down the steps and over to her red convertible in the parking lot.
XANDER
(as they climb in the car)
Hey, hot babe Wierdo!
CORDELIA
(aggravated)
What!?
XANDER
(sincerely)
"Welcome back to the fight!"
Cordelia burns rubber as her car peals out of the school parking lot.
CUT TO INT. The central hall of the old mansion. Day
Buffy slowly walks in and stands before the fireplace. The red rose she left the night before is still lying in the center of the floor. It is now wilted with several petals dropped off onto the stone tiles.
BUFFY
(as if Angel were with her in the room)
I guess, this is as good a place to wait as any.
She sits down on the hearthstone.
CUT TO EXT. The front of Buffy's house. That afternoon.
Giles is waiting in his car, idling at the curb. Willow is talking to Joyce Summers at the front door. Joyce shakes her head and goes back inside, closing the door. Willow returns to the car.
WILLOW
(to Giles as she climbs in)
Nothing. She hasn't seen her since she left for school.
GILES
Blast!
Giles pulls the Citroen away and drives down the street.
CUT TO EXT. A street downtown. Late afternoon.
Shadows are now beginning to spread across the concrete. Oz is still cruising looking for Buffy. He cranes his neck over the steering wheel as he drives and hangs his head out the window scanning the buildings and sidewalks at each intersection.
CUT TO EXT. The road leading out to the old mansion. Almost dusk.
Cordelia's convertible flies up the road and turns into the driveway leading to the mansion. The back seat is almost completely filled with shopping bags.
XANDER
(over the sound of the engine)
Geez, Cordie, it's almost night! We were supposed to *look* for Buffy at the mall, not *buy* the whole mall!
CUT TO INT. The central hall of the old mansion. Dusk.
Buffy is sitting on the hearth in front of the fireplace. She hears Cordelia's car pull up in front of the mansion. She gets up and quietly slips behind one of the columns. From her hiding place she sees Xander poke his head in through the main door.
XANDER
Yoo hoo? Anybody here? Room Service.
Cordelia pushes him past the doorway.
CORDELIA
Go on, you wus!
Cordelia and Xander slowly walk into the central hall. They both stop by the fireplace hearth in the fading daylight and stare around at the stone walls and vaulted ceiling.
CORDELIA (cont'd)
(yelling out)
Hey! Buffy! You here?
XANDER
(trying to hush Cordelia)
Geez, Cordie! Shut up!
CORDELIA
How we supposed to know if she's here or not?
XANDER
(sarcastically)
She's hiding!
CORDELIA
(slapping him)
Hey, don't be so mean! We're supposed to be pretending!
Cordelia looks around at the shadows, now rapidly spreading across structures in the hall.
CORDELIA (cont'd)
So this is where it happened. Her killing Angel.
XANDER
Yeah, I didn't actually see it but...
CORDELIA
(interrupting, getting nervous)
Well, no one's here now.
Xander spies the wilted red rose lying in the middle of the floor.
XANDER
(walking over to the rose)
But someone was.
Xander bends down and picks up the rose. Several more wilted petals fall off and drop back to the floor.
XANDER (cont'd)
From the looks of this, I don't think she's been here for awhile.
Xander stares at the rose for a long time. Finally Cordelia, who is becoming more afraid with the approach of dark, calls to him.
CORDELIA
Xander? Let's get outta here.
XANDER
(speaking out loud but not to Cordelia)
I don't get it. You've been dead for two hundred years, and still all you can do is hurt people.
Buffy, hiding behind the column, listens sadly as Xander's words echo off the stones in the central hall.
XANDER (cont'd)
It doesn't matter who you are, good Angel, bad Angel. You damn near destroyed Giles... and now you *have* destroyed Buffy. (to Cordelia) She walked by me in the hall this morning. Wouldn't look at me, like she didn't even know who I was.
CORDELIA
What's so unusual about that? I'm doing the same thing, you pig!
XANDER
No, you're not. You scream at me. You insult me. You punch me out... but you see me. She didn't. I don't think she can see anyone anymore.
Xander looks back at the rose and speaks as if he were talking to Angel.
XANDER
You may be finally dead and in Hell where you belong,... but you bastard, you still won't let her go. You got her mind so twisted around... 'cause of you, she'll never live her life the way it was meant to be. She'll never have fun, laugh, fly around in her own car... get drunk and throw up, meet new people. And you're never going to let her heal and learn to love somebody again, are you. ... You don't love Buffy. You wouldn't do what you're doing if you did.
There is a long pause. Finally Xander speaks again, dropping the rose to the floor as he does.
XANDER (cont'd)
(quietly but with deep anger)
That's why I hate you.
Xander walks back to Cordelia.
XANDER (cont'd)
(to Cordelia)
Let's get outta here. The Buffy I know isn't here.
Xander and Cordelia leave. Alone in the darkness, Buffy leans against the column, the pain of what Xander has said all across her face.
CUT TO INT. Giles's office in the Library. Early evening.
The windows looking outside from the library are all dark with the fallen night. Giles is seated behind his desk. He is bowed forward, his elbows resting on the desktop and his head in his hands. Faith and Willow are standing in front of him. There is a long silence. Finally Willow speaks.
WILLOW
Giles?
Giles looks up at them. His face is red, his eyes bloodshot.
WILLOW (cont'd)
What are we gonna do?
GILES
I'm afraid there's nothing left to do. I'll keep searching the manuscripts here for some clue how to stop this thing. Then I guess I'll meet with Scott at the coffee shop. You both might as well do what you always do.
FAITH
(trying to be optimistic)
Hey, I'll go on her patrol. Maybe she'll turn up there.
WILLOW
Yeah, I'll stop by the Bronze. Who knows.
Faith and Willow stare at Giles, expecting him to come up with some solution or new plan of action. Giles just looks back at them, a blank expression on his face.
GILES
(faintly)
Good.
WILLOW
You'll let us know what happens?
GILES
Yes.
Faith and Willow wait for something more, but Giles is silent. Finally they turn and leave the library. Giles begins fussing with the Furtwangler manuscripts on his desk once more.
GILES
(to himself)
There must be something here. The old man wouldn't have kept all these together if they didn't have some special purpose.
CUT TO INT. The central hall of the old mansion. Night at the same time.
Buffy is seated in the dark on the hearth. She gazes at her watch, sighs and gets to her feet.
BUFFY
(quietly)
It's time, Ethan.
She leaves the mansion by the main entrance.
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