Potential
(Cemetery – Night)
(Rona and Vi are walking through the cemetery nervously, holding stakes, being as quiet as they can be. Something behind them steps on a branch and makes a cracking sound, and the girls turn to look. It's Spike—in vampire visage. He punches Rona to the ground. Vi tries to stake him, but Spike catches her hand and grabs her, and twists her arm behind her back. He puts his arm around her throat, growls and goes to bite her neck. Vi screams. Spike stops before biting her, looks up, and lets his vamp face fade away. Vi squeaks with fright. Still holding her, he looks up, and talks to people in front of him.)
Spike: OK, these two are dead. Why?
Rona: (stands, dusts herself off, to Spike) 'Cause the black chick always gets it first?
Vi: (to Spike) Ow!
Buffy: What was that, Rona?
Rona: I'm dead because he's a vampire. I don't have slayer strength, slayer speed—i-it wasn't a fair fight.
Spike: (still holding his arm to her neck) Vi, do you think I care about a fair fight?
Vi: (tentatively) No, no sir. You don't play by the rules, and I have learned a valuable lesson of some sort. (Spike twists her arm behind her back.) Ow!
Buffy: OK, Spike. (he lets Vi go; she walks up to Molly and Kennedy who are standing near Buffy) You're right. You don't have slayer strength. But that doesn't mean that you're not strong. You have inherent abilities that others do not have.
Molly: (taking notes on a pad) Not like you do.
Buffy: No, not yet, but it's there. You have the potential. You have strength, speed, instinct. You just have to learn to trust yourself. Rona, what did your instincts tell you to do just then?
Rona: (half-heartedly) Block his attack, keep him off balance, gain the advantage...?
Buffy: No, they didn't.
Rona: (frankly) They told me to run.
Buffy: Vi?
Vi: (rubbing her wrist) They told me to run. They're still sort of telling me to run.
Buffy: Don't fight on his terms. Your gut's telling them to run, run. OK? Regain the higher ground. Make the fight your own. Spike, what did your instincts tell you to do just then?
Spike: Hunt. Kill.
Buffy: (walks out in front of the girls) Come at me, (Spike raises his eyebrows and smiles a little.) full speed. (to slayers-in-training) He needs to kill to live. That tells you everything you need to know. (Spike growls and lunges at Buffy. She ducks, and he ends up lunging face-first into a headstone. He falls to the ground, lying flat on his back, and Buffy straddles him, holding one hand to his throat and pointing a stake above his heart with the other. She turns to the SIT’s.) Instinct. Understand his, but trust yours. You were chosen for a reason. (Spike groans softly, to Spike) Are you OK? (lets go of his throat)
Spike: I'm... fine. (tries to sit up) Couple of ribs ain't quite set right since— I'm fine.
Buffy: Lemme see. (lifts up his shirt a little to inspect his ribs)
Spike: No, it's just—
Buffy: (sweetly, concerned) Spike. (touches his skin)
Spike: (reaches for her hand, holds it) I'm gonna be OK.
Rona: That's hot.
Molly: (still taking notes) So, we're supposed to, like, make out with them or something?
Vi: (still rubbing her wrist and holding a stake) Careful, Buffy. Just when you think it's part of the lesson, he'll (gestures to her hurt wrist) hurt your arm.
Buffy: (stands, offers her hand to Spike, helps him stand) Molly, Kennedy, let's go. You're up. Next lesson.
(Summers Residence – Basement – Day)
(Buffy, carrying a battle-axe, is pacing back and forth disapprovingly in front of the girls while they chatter. Rona and Kennedy are talking, and Molly and Vi are talking. Dawn's sitting on the stairs, watching them through the stair rail.)
Rona: No way. One armed pushups are bull.
Kennedy: I can do 'em. I can do the kinda way you clap between.
Rona: I'm more of a chin up kinda girl. I can do chin-ups 'til the cows come home.
Vi: You're saying demon, and I don't mean to ... Oh, bananas! Imagine yourself covered in human viscera.... (Molly and Vi giggle and squeal as they continue talking.)
(Buffy stops pacing and hurls the battle-axe at the bull's-eye target hung on the wall. The axe point lands in the center, a perfect bull's-eye. Everyone stops talking and looks at her, a little frightened. She glares at them sternly.)
Buffy: You're all gonna die. But you knew that already. (paces in front of them) 'Cause that's the cool reward for being human. Big dessert at the end of the meal. Don't kid yourselves, you guys. This whole thing is all about death. (stands still) You think you're different 'cause you might be the next slayer? Death is what a slayer breathes, what a slayer dreams about when she sleeps. Death is what a slayer lives. My death could make you the next slayer. (walks back to retrieve her axe from the target) Oh, goody. Rapt attention. I love that so much. (pulls out the axe) Now, where was I? Ah. (sets down the axe, walks back to the front) If we go with what Anya's resources are telling us, then The First is in remission for a while, which we think means advantage us.
Rona: Well, what does that mean? About The First?
Buffy: (crosses her arms) As best we can tell, he—or precisely "it"—was putting a lot of stock in that UberVamp thing, the Chaka Khan.
Dawn: (from the stairs) Turok-Han?
Buffy: (doesn't acknowledge Dawn, pacing) So when I kicked its ass, the whole Firsty circus decided to back off for a while. Good news? Means we probably don't have to worry about it pulling Spike's strings for a while. (stands still) Here's the half-empty. Time away means time to regroup. And part of that regrouping is coming back stronger than ever. The odds are against us. Time is against us. And some of us will die in this battle. Decide now that it's not going to be you. (walks closer to the girls) I know you're all tired, far away from home, anxious. But you're all special. Most people in this world have no idea why they're here or what they want to do. You do. You have a mission, a reason for being here. You're not here by chance. You're here because you are the chosen ones. (turns, walks upstairs, commenting on the way) Dawn, you better hurry up and eat something so you're not late for school.
(Sunnydale High – Buffy’s Office)
(Buffy's sitting at her desk, talking on the telephone in her cubicle.)
Buffy: Xander, I know. I'm sorry—If you're gonna take a shower at my house, lock the door. Of course they're curious. (a student walks up to her cubicle, Buffy gestures and mouths "oh, come in") Hey, I gotta go. Uh, has Giles checked in yet? (Amanda sits in a chair across from Buffy.) I thought he was picking up that Chao-Ahn girl in Shanghai yesterday. OK, well, uh, let me know if he does. Bye. (hangs up, sighs) Amanda, right? I'm all yours.
Amanda: Do people ever think you're weird?
Buffy: Um, (flutters eyelashes, shrugs) I guess. Sure, in a charming, endearing, loveable... Yeah.
Amanda: I feel like people think I'm weird, and so they pick on me. But I might be—weird.
Buffy: (chuckles) Amanda, why do you think that you're weird?
Amanda: One of the boys who picks on me, I kind of—See, if a guy picks on you, is it weird to think he's cute?
Buffy: (grins uncomfortably, leans back in her chair) Oh.. (sighs)
Amanda: It's just, the last few times I've seen him, I've wanted to, you know, pick on him....extra. More.
Buffy: (stifles a laugh) Uh-huh.
Amanda: The thing is, I can't tell. My mom says when a guy teases you, it means he likes you.
Buffy: (nods) Sometimes that's true.
Amanda: Is it weird? We're mean to each other, and we like each other.
Buffy: Well, it depends. Sometimes that's how people relate. Being mean to each other. Even mortal enemies— (increasingly emphatic) Then with the— And that leads to no good, absolutely no good. And much confusion. A-and then it's over. Absolutely, seriously, definitely over. And that's confusing too. The over part. Which it is. Over! (catches herself, calms a bit) So, maybe.
(Amanda looks somewhat confused. Buffy smiles.)
(Summers Residence – Living Room – Night)
(Buffy comes home through the front door only to find Vi and Rona in a loud discussion with Xander. Andrew's also in the room. Xander appears to be chastising the girls and gesturing emphatically to the destruction that surrounds him. The cushions and chairs are on the floor, furniture is broken—even the pictures on the walls are crooked.)
Xander: ...there might be an appropriate place to do that, like maybe outside.
Andrew: (yelling) Why do we always have to yell?
Buffy: (crosses her arms and scowls) I was only gone a couple of hours.
Willow: (walks in from the dining room) Buffy?
Buffy: (cocks her head and smirks at the arguers) Oh, look everybody. It's Willow. Perhaps with a blunt weapon of some sort.
Willow: Buffy, we just got news. (turns back to the dining room, Buffy follows)
(Dining Room)
(Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Anya are gathered around the dining room table. Andrew is standing behind Xander, and Dawn is leaning on a door jamb.)
Buffy: And she's sure?
Willow: Positive. Althenea said the seers located another potential slayer here in Sunnydale. Someone that already lives here.
Buffy: (sighs) Oh, God...
Anya: All these girls flocking to town, and this one's already here and under our noses?
Xander: Wait, the seers couldn't find out her name or, like, her address or anything? Am I getting the definition of seer wrong?
Buffy: I was gonna take the girls out tonight, a little show and tell, but maybe now I shouldn't.
Andrew: They were so excited. (softly) You're gonna break their little hearts.
Buffy: This town is lousy with Bringers. I don't want to risk that they find this new girl first.
Willow: No, you should go. I can do a spell to find her tonight. I just have to get together a few ingredients. But you-you shouldn't skip your training, it's too important.
Buffy: (looks at Willow) You think you can handle it?
Xander: No problemo.
Dawn: (fidgets in the doorway) Yeah, and you guys have more important things to do.
Buffy: (doesn't acknowledge Dawn) OK, I'll take 'em.
Andrew: (pumps his fist) Yes!
Buffy: Andrew, (shakes head) you're not going.
(Andrew grunts softly as his expression deflates into a pout.)
(Kitchen)
(Molly, Vi, and Rona are going through the pile weapons that are laid out on the island countertop.)
Molly: (picks up a crossbow) Ooh, crossbow! Got to love it. (points it around the kitchen) Feels like I'm storming a castle.
Rona: You do a lot of that, do you?
Molly: I might, I had a beauty like this. (Dawn walks into the kitchen, Molly points the crossbow at her.) Halt!
Dawn: OK, see, that's why we don't point the weapons in the kitchen.
Vi: It's not loaded.
Dawn: That's always the lead quote under the headline "Household Crossbow Accident Claims Teen".
Vi: Oh, a mace! (picks up a mace)
Dawn: (rolls her eyes) Yeah, that's better.
Rona: (picks up a stake) Gotta go with the stake. It's classic. I like the feel of wood in my hand.
Kennedy: (walks into the kitchen) Lost me there. (sees the pile of weapons) Hey, we gearing up already?
Dawn: Oh, right. You guys are going on your little group patrol.
Vi: More than that, it's an outing.
Kennedy: (picks up a dagger, smiling) I'm thinking tonight we might actually get to kill things.
Dawn: I-I've killed things sometimes.
(Buffy walks into the kitchen, followed by Andrew.)
Andrew: (whining) I'm not begging.
Buffy: You're like a small dog dancing for Snausages.
Andrew: You don't want me coming along 'cause you think I'm evil.
Vi: He doesn't seem evil, exactly.
Buffy: (crosses her arms) He's not evil, but when he gets close to it, he picks up its flavor like a mushroom or something.
Andrew: But I'm reformed. I'm like Vegeta on Dragonball Z. I used to be a pure Sayan, and now I fight for the side of Goku.
Buffy: (shakes her head) Still not coming.
Andrew: (whining) It's not fair. Spike just killed people, and he gets to go.
Buffy: Spike didn't have free will and you did.
Andrew: (sighs) I hate my free will.
Spike: (enters the kitchen) This is where you're all hiding. You ready to go, or what? (the girls greet him)
Buffy: Let's go, girls. Grab your weapons.
(Rona, Vi, Kennedy and Molly each grab a weapon and follow Buffy and Spike out of the house.)
Rona: All right. Let's do it. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to kick some serious....
Andrew: (to Dawn) You wanna play Dragonball Z? (Dawn just glares at him)
(Living Room)
(Willow, Dawn, and Andrew are gathered around the coffee table, taking inventory of Willow's spell ingredients.)
Willow: OK, I got my tumbleweed, my eggs...got my chrysalises—chrysali? My butterfly transformer pods. Hey, wh-where's my snakeskin?
Andrew: (holding the snakeskin as if it were a live snake and hissing) At your ssssservice, Miss Rosenberg, ssssir. (Willow stares disapprovingly, Andrew hands the skin to her.) Can you imagine if every once in a while, people just wriggled out of their skin and left it behind them like—like on the sidewalk. Talk about embarrassing.
Dawn: (to Willow) Hey, do you think this girl, this potential, goes to Sunnydale?
Willow: Hmm. Well, I guess probably, huh? I mean, she's got to be about that age.
Dawn: Could be anybody. Could be that glamazon in gym class, what's her name? Oh, my lab partner, Margot, the freak. Boy, I hope not, because she totally fainted right in the middle of our fetal pig dissection. Somehow I just don't think she's cut out for the slayage biz.
Andrew: (pained) Killing pigs is just so wrong. (nods knowingly) And also hard. (Dawn looks at him funny.)
Willow: Well, we'll know soon enough who the next potential is. Somebody's life is about to change.
Dawn: How long will it take? Will we find out who it is right away?
Willow: Pretty much. The spell will conjure up this brilliant light, a-and the light will find the potential and it'll illuminate her with a glowing aura.
Andrew: Cool.
Willow: I've enchanted this map (gestures to a map on the coffee table) so we can track her basic location. We'll have to hot-foot it, but I'm betting we find her tonight.
Dawn: You know, if it is Margot, she's so gonna faint.
(Time Lapse)
(Willow is sitting in front of the lit fireplace. She's got a mortar and pestle on the hearth and her ingredients are laid out. Dawn, Anya and Xander are also in the room. As she recites the spell, Willow throws each item she mentions into the fire.)
Willow: To light the aura of the new, skin of snake and chrysalis too.
To indicate the fresh reborn, tumbleweed and rosebush thorn.
An egg that means the life to come.
Take this, oh spirit, and my spell is done.
(As Willow finishes the spell recitation, an orange haze emanates from the fireplace. Everyone in the room wrinkles up their noses and starts coughing.)
Xander: Oh, good God, what is that smell?
Anya: (covering her nose with her hand) I'm fairly sure that's the smell of a hardboiled egg being thrown into a fire.
Xander: Uh-huh.
Willow: (covering her mouth and nose with her hand) The smell will lead us to the potential.
Xander: Or some poor soul who ate too many chimichangas.
Willow: She'll also be lit with a brilliant aura.
(The orange haze from the fire has gathered in the center of the room, making a mass of glowing light. Willow, Anya, Dawn and Xander are standing in a circle almost, and the light is moving around in the middle of their circle.)
Dawn: Is it supposed to be shimmying all over like that?
Willow: I don't know. I don't think so.
Anya: So you messed up the spell again. At least it smells, you know, other-worldly. (Willow looks at her, hurt. Anya realizes this and changes the subject, pointing to the light.) Oh, look, pretty.
Willow: I suck. I'm sorry, you guys, I— Maybe we could figure something out on the computer?
Dawn: Good call. I'm gonna open the door and let this place air out. (waves at the air in front of her as she walks to the front door)
Xander: (walks up to Willow, puts his arm around her) Don't worry, Will. It's really no big.
Willow: I just—I was sure that it was gonna work. (Suddenly, the mass of light congeals and forms into a solid beam and heads straight for Dawn.) Dawn! (The light hits Dawn with such a force that it picks her up and pins her to the door. The light goes straight into her, then she drops to the ground, her chest still glowing orange. Somewhat disoriented, Dawn looks at Willow, Xander, and Anya with wide eyes.) I think it worked.
Xander: (goes to her side) Dawn!
Willow: (Willow and Anya step forward) Dawn, are you OK?
Dawn: (stands, walks into the living room, the others follow) Maybe y-you did it wrong? Was it a-ambiguous in any way? Did you maybe say potential sailors? 'Cause I-I do like the water.
Willow: I did it right.
Xander: (staring at her) Wow, she—you're a potential. You could be the next slayer.
Dawn: (eyes growing wider) Whoa. (goes to sit on the sofa)
Anya: (kneels in front of her) Wow, it's like one second you were this klutzy teenager with fake memories and a history of kleptomania, and then—then suddenly you're a hero, a hero with a much abbreviated lifespan.
Xander: This is huge. We have to think about this.
Dawn: I-I can't think about this. (stands, paces) It doesn't fit in my head.
Willow: A slayer. Makes sense, I guess. Remember that thing about they share the same blood or whatever?
Anya: (shrugs) Yeah, I never got that.
Dawn: She has to die. (sits on a chair) I mean, if I was ever the slayer, it would mean she died.
Anya: Well, it's a lot like being the Pope in that way, except you don't have to be some old Catholic.
Willow: I've got to call Buffy. She's gonna be so excited. (goes to the phone)
Xander: (blocks her) No, we can't. She didn't bring a cell phone.
Dawn: Well, sure, 'cause all the important people are with her.
Xander: (points to Dawn) You are important now.
Dawn: (stands) Wh-wha-what happens now?
Anya: Well, you could start by maybe sitting still for a sec.
Dawn: (paces) I-I cant. I-I need to know what happens to my life.
Willow: Well, I guess Buffy trains you.
Dawn: Right, I train with the potentials—other potentials. Learn to do the stuff they're learning.
Anya: Right, we also have to protect you from the, uh, eyeless guys, the ones with the sharp, sharp knives.
Dawn: Bringers.
Willow: It's OK, we'll protect you.
Dawn: (worried) What if they saw the spell?
Xander: Saw the spell? Dawn, they can't see flashcards. Big ones.
Dawn: (getting upset) We did a big orange powerful spell. What if they sensed it? What if they're on their way?
Andrew: (enters the room) Are we gonna replace the microwave? 'Cause I was thinking some Orville Redenbacher with fresh butter flavor— What's going on?
Anya: Dawn's gonna be a slayer.
Andrew: Holy crap! (Xander gives him a look) Excuse me. Plucked from an ordinary life, handed a destiny—
Xander: (points at Andrew) Say Skywalker, and I smack ya.
Andrew: Does Buffy know?
Xander: She didn't take her phone.
Andrew: Incommunicado.
Willow: Well, we'll tell her soon as she gets back.
Dawn: Let's not.
Willow: What? Dawn, she has to know.
Dawn: I-I know, just not right away. Guys, when mom appeared to me, she said—
Willow: Dawnie...
Dawn: No, please. She said something about Buffy, and I'm thinking... I'm just not so sure Buffy will be happy for me.
Willow: Of course she will.
Dawn: Will she? I mean, I'm not even sure I'm happy for me. Everything's different for me now.
Anya: That's because you're a part of something larger. Like being swallowed. By something larger.
Dawn: (stands) This-this is too much for my head again. (runs upstairs) I can't. I—I need to be—
Xander: Nice job with the "getting swallowed" analogy.
Anya: Well, it is a mixed bag, you know. If she gets to be the slayer, then her life is short and brutal. And if she doesn't, then it smells of unfulfilled potential. My swallowed analogy looks pretty sweet right now, doesn't it?
Willow: It's not like that. It's like, she's part of this huge power. I know what that feels like. It feels wonderful.
Andrew: Yes, Willow so captured it. It's like—well, it's almost like this metaphor for womanhood, isn't it? The sort of flowering that happens when a girl realizes that she's part of a fertile heritage stretching back to Eve, and—
Xander: (covers his face with his hands, then gestures to Andrew) I'll pay you to talk about Star Wars again.
Anya: This isn't about womany power. This is about the fact that Dawn just might have bought herself an early death.
Willow: We don't know that.
Xander: Right, all we know is that everything just changed.
(Dawn’s Room)
(From the door to her room, Dawn listens to the others argue downstairs.)
Willow: (os) Someone should go find Buffy. I still think she needs to know.
Xander: (os) Hey, Will, what if she doesn't like it?
Willow: (os) Are you worried about what Dawn said? About the ghost? Xander, we don't even know if that really was Joyce. And we don't know what she meant about Buffy.
(Living Room)
Xander: I'm not talking about that. I mean, what do you think Buffy's going to do with this information? Jump up and down? Teach Dawn the secret handshake? She know what this means.
Anya: Short, brutal life. Sharp, sharp knives. I covered this.
Xander: Right. You think Buffy really wants that for Dawn? And besides, Dawn doesn't want us telling her yet.
(Dawn’s Room)
(Dawn walks to her mirror and stares while listening to the others talk downstairs.)
Willow: (os) Dawn's freaking out. Her input—not worth that much right now.
Anya: (os) She's a child. Of course she can't handle this.
Xander: (os) Hey, something out there says she can handle this and a hell of a lot more. Something out there chose her.
Dawn: I'm chosen.
Willow: (os) Sure, she can handle it. Is that why she's hiding out in her room right now?
Xander: (os) She's just getting used to it. Let it happen. She doesn't have to rush.
(Living Room)
Anya: He's right. We shouldn't rush her. Rushing's only gonna get her killed.
(Dawn’s Room)
(Dawn opens her bedroom window and climbs out.)
(Demon Bar)
(Buffy and Spike lead the slayers-in-training into the demon bar. The place is dimly lit, filled with disgusting-looking patrons that could never be mistaken for humans. As Buffy and crew walk in, some of the patrons turn to look at them as the young girls gawk at what they see.)
Rona: (laughs) This is a bar.
Kennedy: (grinning widely) Best damn field trip I ever took.
Molly: Look, they're all—
Vi: (incredulous) They're demons! It's a demon bar. It's like a gay bar, only with demons.
(One of the patrons at the bar stands and greets Spike. In appearance, this demon is reminiscent of a walrus with smaller teeth and long droopy warts dangling from its face.)
Demon: Spike! Long time. Nice of you to bring snacks.
Spike: Touch them, and lose your privates.
Vi: I didn't like him.
Spike: Nice job of blending in, girls.
Rona: We're a bunch of 15 year olds in a demon bar. How much blending did you think we were gonna do?
Buffy: Look, it's ok. Usually you come to a place like this, you wanna be seen. You wanna scare someone, or make contact—-
Molly: (eagerly) Or have a strong drink?
Buffy: Not usually that.
Kennedy: You don't drink?
Buffy: Sure I do. I mean, no. That would be wrong.
Vi: Do they card?
Buffy: Nope, go ahead. (the girls walk up to the bar) Down all the yak urine shots or pigs blood spritzers you like. (Spike smirks.)
Vi: Gross.
(The girls back away from the bar.)
Spike: Got that right. Prices they charge, you could get human blood straight from the body. (Molly stares at him) Vampire...
Buffy: Look, if I come here, it's 'cause I gotta wring some information out of something large, scary, drunk, with a room full of friends who don't care much for the slayer. Remember that. Not a being in here wouldn't be glad to rip your throat out.
Clem: (walks up to Buffy while she's talking to the girls) Buffy? Girl, how ya been?
Buffy: (taken aback) Clem! (gets a good look at him) You look great, so toned. (they hug)
Kennedy: (under her breath, to Rona) He's ripping out her throat right now.
Clem: (to Buffy) Oh, my God! It is so good to see you! I saw this great show on the History Channel the other night that I knew you would love, and then something went all flooey with my TiVo.
Buffy: You know what? Can I talk to you for a second over here?
(Buffy and Clem step away from the group, and Buffy whispers something in Clem's ear.)
Kennedy: (under her breath, to Rona) You think she dated him too?
(Buffy and Clem rejoin the group.)
Buffy: OK, everyone. (to Clem) These are the girls.
Clem: Howdy. So, you girls are gonna deal with demons, huh? Just lemme tell you this.
(Clem leans in as if to whisper something to them, and the girls crowd around, following suit and leaning in. Then Clem does something with his face that makes the girls scream and jump back with fright. From behind, it looks as though his ears spin, and snakes jump out of his face.)
Vi: I could use a shot of that yak urine right about now.
(Residential Street)
(Dawn's walking down the street alone, arms crossed and looking at the ground. Then she hears someone approaching down the sidewalk. She looks up. It's Amanda walking toward her.)
Dawn: Hey.
Amanda: Hey, Dawn. Whatcha doing?
Dawn: (shrugs) Uh, just walking. You?
Amanda: Um, yeah, just walking too. K, well, have a good walk. I guess I'll see you Monday morning?
Dawn: Yeah.
(They walk past each other, still going in opposite directions, then Amanda turns to Dawn.)
Amanda: You all right?
Dawn: Sure. Just walking, you know? (looks closely at Amanda's face) A-are you all right? (points to her own forehead) You've got a thing.
(Amanda touches her head where there's a bloody gash above her eye, she laughs nervously.)
Amanda: I guess I— I had a bit of a— It's been a bizarre night.
Dawn: What happened? Who did that to you?
Amanda: (biting her nails) Uh, nobody...exactly. I don't think you'd exactly believe me.
Dawn: Try me.
Amanda: I-I was at school late because of, you know, Swing Choir, and I tore my sweater, you know, the striped ones we wear. So I went to Home Sciences to sew it up.
Dawn: Uh-huh.
Amanda: And by the time I was finished, the place was empty, so it was all echoy and lonely. And then there was this guy—or thing. And it was—it scratched me, and I kinda dodged it, and it kinda hit its head.
Dawn: What kind of thing?
Amanda: I don't know. It was messed up. In the face. 'Round here abouts. (runs her finger between her brows, and down the bridge of her nose)
Dawn: And when it scratched at you, did it—was it scratching with its teeth?
Amanda: Is it real? Was it really a vampire? I bet you think I'm crazy.
Dawn: I—I believe you.
Amanda: Well, cool. The thing is, after it hit its head, I kinda freaked out. I trapped it in a room, and it's still there, and now I don't know what to do.
Dawn: It's OK. This is totally dealable. Don't worry.
Amanda: Well, I was thinking of getting your sister.
Dawn: You know something about my sister?
Amanda: Well, I've heard people talking. A lot of 'em think she's some kind of high-functioning schizophrenic. But I also heard that maybe—like, maybe she could help with this kind of thing. Do you think we should go get her?
Dawn: She's out. I'll take this one.
(Sunnydale High – Classroom)
(Dawn and Amanda climb into the school through classroom window. Dawn pulls a muscle as she climbs over the window ledge.)
Dawn: (yelps, rubs her back) Whew. I think I strained something. Maybe something I'll need later in life. Uh…
Amanda: Come on. The vampire's upstairs. Are you spooked out?
Dawn: No. I'm all right. I-I can do this. It's mostly instinct. I think.
(As they walk out, the window slams shut, scaring Dawn. She jumps and squeals, but when she turns to see what it was, she is able to collect her cool. Dawn and Amanda walk out into the hall.)
Amanda: So, if he scratched me with a tooth, am I—I'm not gonna turn into one, am I?
Dawn: (shakes her head) Uh, only if he slashed open one of his own veins and led you to drink deep of his blood.
Amanda: Nope.
Dawn: Good. You're lucky he didn't hurt you way more than that.
Amanda: Right. He can do that. (stops walking, turns to Dawn) So, I was thinking... we don't have to kill the vampire, do we?
Dawn: What?
Amanda: Just suppose he got out and was maybe like encouraged toward the gym while the marching band was playing because the way they look down on the Swing Choir. It might be, you know, funny. (Dawn stares in disbelief, Amanda chuckles.) I'm just saying.
(Hallway)
(Dawn and Amanda walk up to a classroom door, and they both stop and stand in front of it.)
Dawn: Well, he didn't break down the door, anyway.
Amanda: Yeah. Can they do that?
Dawn: They're very strong and, although they feel pain, they don't hold back because of it.
Amanda: Guess you're some kind of monster expert too?
Dawn: Let's just say it runs in the family. (Takes a deep breath and then tries the doorknob; it's unlocked, and the door swings open.) I thought you said it was locked. (peers into the classroom)
(Classroom)
Amanda: It was. It was here.
Dawn: (walks into the room) Amanda, it got out.
(Widen the shot to show Dawn and Amanda near the doorway and a growling vampire suspending himself between two air ducts near the ceiling. Dawn and Amanda are standing just inside the classroom door, looking around the room.)
Amanda: Where'd it go?
Dawn: I dunno. But we have to get out of here.
(Right as Dawn reaches to close the door, the vampire drops from the ceiling and rushes her. They struggle over the door as she tries to shut him inside the room. Ultimately, they wrestle the door off its hinges, and Dawn and Amanda run away screaming.)
(Hallway)
(Dawn and Amanda run down the hall, away from the vampire. They go down the stairs and head for an exit door, but it's locked. They turn to try a different route, but the vampire has already caught up to them, blocking them from escaping. Dawn looks around, and spots the fire extinguisher. She runs up to it, breaks the glass cabinet with her elbow, and reaches in for the extinguisher canister.)
Amanda: What are you doing?
Dawn: (fussing with the extinguisher mechanism) I can't remember, does it have to be upside down or right side up to work? Which is it?
(The vampire approaches before Dawn can figure out how to work the fire extinguisher, so she hoists up the huge metal canister and swings it at the vampire's head, knocking him down. He gets up, and Dawn hits him again, throwing the canister at him where he fell. Dawn and Amanda run down the hall away from him and head back upstairs.)
(Cemetery – Crypt)
(Holding up a flashlight and looking around, Buffy and Spike lead the slayers-in-training inside a crypt.)
Buffy: A vampire is an animal. Sometimes they run in packs, sometimes alone. Who can tell us where we are?
Rona: It's a nest.
Buffy: How can you tell? (hands flashlight to Spike)
Kennedy: Only a vamp could live like this.
Spike: Some, yeah. As a group, we're not known for our tasteful decor, but in all fairness to the race, (looks around) this place is seriously lacking in style.
Buffy: Thank you, Spike.
Spike: I'm merely saying...
Buffy: He has a point. Vampires can live anywhere. Any way they want. Taste, fashions, living conditions—they can vary. The animal inside, always the same. (Spike looks at Buffy and frowns.)
Molly: (to Spike) Where'd you live?
Spike: What, you mean before? (Molly nods) A crypt actually, but nicer. A bit more—I don't know if posh is the right word, but it was more like—
Buffy: Comfy.
Kennedy: Excuse me? When did you find it comfy?
Buffy: Moving on. (the girls try not to laugh) You want to stay alive, you have to spot and identify a nest on site. Look around, all of you. Look for signs that just last night maybe a dozen, two dozen vampires were right where we're standing. Go ahead.
(The girls reluctantly break up and start looking around the crypt.)
Spike: (to Buffy) Work, work, work. This little excursion was just in danger of being interesting.
Buffy: You know what, Spike— (looks over to see the girls have gathered around, inspecting something on the floor) Interesting is not a problem.
Rona: Buffy, I think we found something.
Molly: (stares with her mouth open, then) It's a body.
Buffy: (walks over, kneels to take a look, pulls on its shoulder, then lets it go) It's not a body. It's leftovers.
(The body starts to move, then growls as it looks back over its shoulder at Buffy. It's a vampire now.)
(Sunnydale High – Hallway)
(Dawn and Amanda are running down the hallway at top speed. Dawn finds a classroom, and opens the door.)
Dawn: In here!
(Classroom)
(Dawn goes into the room, followed by Amanda, then shuts the door.)
Dawn: Help! We need to barricade this! (Amanda grabs a lab chair, but Dawn shakes her off) Too small.
(Dawn goes for the 4' wide by 6' tall filing cabinet, and starts pulling it toward the door. Amanda goes to help push.)
Amanda: Too big.
(They finally get the filing pushed up to the door, and with their backs against it, they sink to the floor.)
Dawn: Stay down.
Amanda: Think we're safe?
(Just as the words cross her lips, the vampire starts trying to break into the classroom. He growls at the door, opening it a little and pushing it against the filing cabinet.)
(Cemetery – Crypt)
(Buffy, stake in hand, is having a face-off with the vampire while the girls watch from behind her.)
Buffy: No one's safe. Not here, not ever. See this guy?
Kennedy: B-but he was dead a minute ago.
Buffy: That was a minute ago. Now... (punches him in the face)
Vampire: (angrily) Hey!
Buffy: ... he's the enemy.
(The vampire lunges at Buffy from across the room.)
(Sunnydale High – Classroom)
(Still sitting on the floor with their backs to the filing cabinet, and frightened, Dawn and Amanda try to hold the cabinet against the door to keep the vampire out.)
Dawn: Amanda?
Amanda: Yes.
Dawn: Listen.
Amanda: I'm listening
Dawn: We're gonna get out of this. Both of us. Alive. (squeals in fright as the vampire tries to get in) Alive! You believe me?
Amanda: I believe you.
Dawn: Good. 'Cause I got a plan.
(Cemetery – Crypt)
(The vampire Buffy's fighting rolls across the floor. Buffy walks slowly after him, still with stake in hand, talking to the girls.)
Buffy: You can't think too much. Reacting's better. Could be the difference between staying alive and that other thing.
(Buffy punches the vampire and drops the stake on the floor. They fight hand-to-hand. Kennedy wants to come to Buffy's aid and join the fight, but Spike holds her back.)
(Sunnydale High – Classroom)
(Still sitting on the floor with their backs to the filing cabinet, and frightened, Dawn and Amanda try to hold the cabinet against the door to keep the vampire out.)
Dawn: OK, this plan of mine, I'm not guaranteeing it'll work.
Amanda: Better than mine about him eating the Marching Band. Besides, your plan'll work.
Dawn: In case you haven't noticed, I don't know what I'm doing here.
Amanda: You're getting it done.
(The vampire finally breaks through the glass on the door, sending a shower of shards onto the girls below. They get up and go away from the door as the vampire knocks over the cabinet and enters the classroom.)
(Cemetery – Crypt)
(Buffy continues to fight the vampire in hand-to-hand combat. Buffy punches the vampire and he lands on his back on a stone sarcophagus. He tries to kick Buffy, but she grabs his foot and punches him in the face. Then she pushes his leg, flipping him over and off the sarcophagus.)
Buffy: The question is never “what do you think,” it’s always “what do you know?” You gotta know it. If you don’t, if you make one mistake…
(Sunnydale High – Classroom)
Buffy: (vo) …it takes just one vampire to kill you. So you've got to know you can take him. Know your environment. Know what's around you, and know how to use it. In the hands of a slayer, everything is a potential weapon. If you know how to see it. When you're fighting, you have to know yourself, your brain, your body. Know how to stay calm, centered. Every move is important, every blow's got to be part of your plan 'cause you make that one mistake, and it's over. You're not the slayer.
(The vampire is stalking Dawn between the chemistry lab desks. She backs up as he approaches, and ducks between the desks. Amanda is cowering quietly in a corner. Dawn grabs a lab chair and pushes it toward the vampire, who is undeterred. Dawn grabs an empty flask and throws it at the vampire; it breaks on his head. She throws another empty flask, but he keeps coming. Then she finds another flask with something in it, and throws it at him; it breaks on his chest and now there's smoke coming from his body. As he flinches inspect himself, Dawn runs to the front of the classroom where she grabs the flagpole with the California state.)
(Cemetery – Crypt)
Buffy: You're not a potential. You're dead. What do you know? Right now, the only thing you know for sure is you got me.
(Buffy grabs her stake from the floor as the vampire leaps toward her, kicking at her face. She ducks, then defends against his fists as he comes at her. Finally, Buffy grabs him by his shoulders and throws him to the back of the crypt as she stands near the doorway. Buffy drops the stake and walks out of the crypt. She and Spike close the doors, shutting the slayers-in-training inside with the vampire. The vampire walks menacingly toward the girls, and their faces are full of fright.)
(Summers Residence – Upstairs Hallway)
(Willow knocks on Dawn's door. Xander and Anya are standing behind her.)
Willow: Come on, sweetie, open up.
Anya: Want me to kick down the door?
Xander: Anya.
Anya: (laughing) What? It'd be funny. Besides, she's been sulking in there forever. (Xander tries the doorknob, which is unlocked.) Oh.
(Willow, Anya, and Xander walk into Dawn's room.)
(Dawn’s Room)
(Willow, Anya, and Xander look around the room, but Dawn's not there.)
Anya: Crap. (notices the open window) Double crap.
Xander: Gone. We got to find her before the Bringers do.
Willow: I can do a locator spell, but we gotta hurry. And find Buffy.
(Xander, Willow, and Anya leave the room.)
(Sunnydale High – Classroom)
(The vampire is attacking Dawn, pinning her down to the floor as she struggles underneath him.)
Dawn: (screaming) Help! Amanda, help me!
Amanda: (frozen still in the corner where she hid) I can't!
Dawn: (the vampire's mouth is nearly on Dawn's neck now) Amanda! (Just then, Bringers burst in through the classroom's exterior windows. The vampire sits back to see what's going on, and Dawn uses her feet to push him away from her. The bringers walk past Dawn and go straight for Amanda.) No! You don't want her! (The Bringers hoist Amanda up by the arms, Dawn's voice softens as her expression melts.) You want me...
(Amanda's face is one of sheer horror as two Bringers have her by the arms and a third comes at her with a knife. Dawn stands and lights a gas jet on one of the tables nearest the Bringers, causing a brief explosion and knocking them down.)
Dawn: (picks up the jagged broken flagpole) Amanda!
(Amanda runs away from the Bringers toward Dawn. The girls quickly run out of the room into the hallway.)
(Hallway)
(Amanda and Dawn are running down the hallway. Dawn's still carrying the flagpole shard. They stop running when they get to the top of the stairs.)
Amanda: (out of breath) What were those?
Dawn: Amanda, listen to me. Remember when you said I was special? Well, I'm not. But the thing is, you are. This is your battle, Amanda.
Amanda: (shaking her head) No, I can't.
Dawn: You can! You've got to. Look, I've got your back, but this is something you have to do. It's something you were born to do. (Bringers have found them and are approaching from the other end of the hall; Dawn hands Amanda the flagpole.) Here, this belongs to you.
(Amanda reluctantly takes the flagpole fragment from Dawn. From the bottom of the stairs, Xander sees Dawn and Amanda talking. He climbs halfway up the stairs and calls below him.)
Xander: Buffy, up here.
(Buffy and Spike follow Xander up the stairs toward Dawn and Amanda. As the Bringers come toward Amanda, she uses the flagpole as a staff, knocking them down and defending herself quite well. Dawn manages to stay out of the way and avoid the crossfire. As Amanda knocks the Bringers down, Buffy and Spike go after them on the stairs.)
Buffy: (stabs a Bringer with his own knife, then to Spike) Here! (hands the knife to Spike)
(Spike stabs another Bringer with the knife Buffy gave him. The vampire that attacked Dawn and Amanda in the classroom is there now too, fighting Amanda. She defends herself admirably with the flagpole before ultimately pinning the vampire against the wall and staking him with it. Buffy walks upstairs to the last Bringer that's still alive and breaks his neck. Amanda turns to her, confused and perturbed.)
Amanda: (to Buffy) OK. One minute I'm in Swing Choir, and the next— What the hell's going on? You tell me to come to you with problems. Turns out, a vampire attacked me. Problem. So I go to your house, and when I get there, this orange cloud hits me.
Dawn: (to Xander) She was at the doorway.
Amanda: And I don't know if you're into the drugs, but that's not my deal, all right. That cloud hit me, and I got a little dizzy and discombobulated.
Dawn: It was Willow's spell. She's the potential slayer.
(Summers Residence – Living Room – Day)
(Rona, Amanda, and Kennedy are sitting on the couch, talking with Molly, who's on a chair, and Vi who is kneeling on the floor, near the coffee table; together they form a circle.)
Rona: I'm sure the vampire thought we were like, what, four helpless girls. And then Vi—Vi actually yells, "We're just four helpless girls."
Vi: That was part of my plan. (Kennedy rolls her eyes playfully at Vi)
Rona: When it all started going down, it was like we knew what we were doing. For real.
Molly: (to Rona) Yeah, like when you dodged that first attack, and then cracked him across the jaw.
Rona: Aw, no, no, no, no, no. (to Molly) See, I wouldn't have been able to do that if you hadn't've pulled his legs out.
Vi: I hurt his arm. (nods proudly) Yep. And an arm can be as lethal as a mouth.
Molly: (to Kennedy) When you staked him, seriously, the rush was like—
Kennedy: (to Amanda) So you took one out solo?
Molly: Yeah, what was that like?
Amanda: I don't know. I mean, when I saw the vampire, vamp—
Kennedy: Vampire's good too.
Amanda: Cool. Yeah, when that vampire attacked me, I felt this kind of charge, you know?
(Dawn's standing on the periphery of the room, watching them talk. Her arms are crossed and she's pouting a little.)
Kennedy: (os) Like you realize in one instant that your whole life is different.
Amanda: (os) Exactly. It's that rush you're talking about.
Buffy: (walks up to Dawn from the kitchen, followed by Xander) Hey. (Dawn turns to face her, puts on a happy face) You OK?
Dawn: (nods) Yeah, I was thinking of hitting the books. Do some research on The First. It's in retreat mode right now, but you're still gonna need to know how to fight it.
Buffy: (nods) Great. Sounds good. (to the slayers-in-training) Hey, you guys, wanna head downstairs? Get our newest arrival up to speed?
(The girls all stand and follow Buffy out of the room. As each slayer-in-training passes by Dawn, they don't look at her, don't acknowledge her at all, until Amanda walks by. Amanda pauses for a second and looks at Dawn, smiles, and then continues to follow the other girls. After the girls have gone, Dawn sits down at the desk, opens a book and starts to read it. Then she notices that Xander hasn't left the room but is standing behind her, watching her.)
Dawn: (looking over her shoulder, to Xander) What's up?
Xander: (walks into the room) Aw, I'm just thinking about the girls. It's a harsh gig, being a potential. Just being picked out of a crowd, danger, destiny, (grins) plus if you act now, death.
Dawn: They can handle it.
Xander: Yeah. (sits in a chair in front of the desk) They're special, no doubt. The amazing thing is, not one of them will ever know, not even Buffy.
Dawn: Know what?
Xander: How much harder it is for the rest of us.
Dawn: No way. They've got—
Xander: Seven years, Dawn. Working with the slayer. Seeing my friends get more and more powerful. A witch. A demon. Hell, I could fit Oz in my shaving kit, but come a full moon, he had a wolfy mojo not to be messed with. Powerful. All of them. And I'm the guy who fixes the windows.
Dawn: Well, you had that sexy army training for a while, and—and the windows really did need fixing.
Xander: I saw what you did last night.
Dawn: Yeah, I— (shakes her head embarrassed) I guess I kinda lost my head when I thought I was the slayer.
Xander: You thought you were all special. Miss Sunnydale 2003. And the minute you found out you weren't, you handed the crown to Amanda without a moment's pause. You gave her your power.
Dawn: (shrugs) The power wasn't mine.
Xander: They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary. (kisses her forehead, stands to walk out of the room)
Dawn: (tears welling in her eyes, calls after him) Maybe that's your power.
Xander: (pauses at the door) What?
Dawn: Seeing. Knowing.
Xander: Maybe it is. Maybe I should get a cape.
Dawn: Cape is good.
Xander: Yeah. (leaves the room)
(Dawn gathers herself together, never letting a tear drop. She breathes deeply, then goes back to work on the books at her desk.)
Season Seven Guide