Episode 15 - Sacrifice
ACT TWO
INT. MAGIC BOX - DAY
ANGLE : GILES
on the phone, listening to the receiver. He looks very
weary and concerned.
GILES
(speaking into the phone)
Are you sure? Tonight?
Giles listens to the response. Giles takes a beat. He
removes his glasses and rubs his eyes, looking very
demoralised. He thinks for a moment with his eyes
closed, his hand pinching the top of his nose. He then
puts his glasses back on and straightens up.
GILES
(into phone)
Okay. Listen carefully. Go pick up
Tara and Willow and drive them over
to Buffy's. I want all of you to be
there when we get back.
(a beat for response)
No, I'll tell them. And Xander? Be
careful.
Giles hangs up the phone. He turns and walks over to
Buffy who is standing in front of the table, arms
folded.
BUFFY
That was Xander? What's going on?
GILES
Harmony called the house.
BUFFY
Harm? Now? God, I knew it was a bad
idea to give her a mobile. That
girl's gonna run up some kinda
bill.. like pelican big.
Buffy catches Giles' very serious face.
BUFFY
What? Is it bad?
GILES
It's Solomon.
The word hangs in the air for a moment. Buffy looks at
Giles, reading his face.
BUFFY
Tara.
GILES
We'll have to talk to her.
A door-bell rings off-screen. Christopher and Mr
Sandring enter through the front door.
MR SANDRING
We've managed to confirm that
there's a flight arriving at the
Sunnydale airport from Chicago
tonight at eight. The amulet will be
on that flight.. with a courier.
BUFFY
A courier? Do we know who he.. she..
it is?
MR SANDRING
That particular fact, I'm afraid,
still eludes us. But here..
Mr Sandring hands over a piece of paper to Buffy.
MR SANDRING
Flight number, time of arrival,
airline.. everything you need to
know.
Buffy glances over the piece of paper.
BUFFY
(raising eyebrows)
Evil flies economy.
(back to Sandring)
So, what's the plan?
MR SANDRING
Plan?
BUFFY
Yeah, you know, plan.. noun.. a
scheme of action or procedure. Would
be really useful right about now.
MR SANDRING
I would have thought that was
obvious. You get the amulet.
Buffy and Giles share a look.
BUFFY
(back to Sandring)
That's a plan?
MR SANDRING
What are you suggesting?
BUFFY
Well, I think we'd better go barging
in there with a little more than
some blind pep rally enthusiasm. You
know? Gimme your A.. gimme your M..
gimme your U - oh forget it, that
joke's too long. I'm just saying
that if this amulet is as important
as you say it is, I don't think
they'll be meeting it with just a
chaffeur and a bunch of roses.
MR SANDRING
You're the slayer Ms Summers.
BUFFY
You don't understand. These guys are
super-tough. We've hardly hurt them
at all. I mean, I've managed to get
some biting quips in but I hardly
think that counts.
MR SANDRING
You're the slayer Ms Summers.
BUFFY
O..kay. I figure you're trying to
make some kinda point here.
MR SANDRING
The point is, you are the slayer. It
is your duty, and ours, to safeguard
the lives of those we protect. At
whatever costs. Now, you work for
the Council and we have instructed
you to get the amulet tonight. You
will do so without question.
BUFFY
(angry)
I know the speech okay. You don't
have to repeat it to me like I'm..
MR SANDRING
(a sudden thought)
You're scared.
BUFFY
What?
MR SANDRING
(with disgust)
You're scared. I knew it.
GILES
(stern)
Mr Sandring.
Mr Sandring ignores Giles and stands over Buffy,
looking down on her and staring her down.
MR SANDRING
I see it in your eyes Ms Summers..
fear. You're drowning in it.
Buffy stares back angrily. Not backing down.
MR SANDRING
(without turning away from
Buffy)
What do you think of our mighty
slayer now Christopher? Do you think
she's worth the effort?
Buffy turns to look at Christopher. Christopher looks
down. Buffy turns back to Mr Sandring as he continues.
MR SANDRING
What do you want? The Council to
hold your hand and coddle you?
You're playing in a world of adults
now Ms Summers. Grow up.
BUFFY
(angry)
You know what I want? I want out.
CHRISTOPHER
Buffy.
BUFFY
No. I've paid my dues. Why am I the
only one with the responsibility of
fighting demons? Why am I the one
that has to live with the guilt of
putting my friends, my family in
danger? When will all this be over?
Will I be fighting demons till I'm
what? Thirty? Thirty-five? Give me a
number here!
Buffy suddenly gets it.
BUFFY
Till I'm dead.. and the new slayer
is called.
(a resigned chuckle to
herself)
Quite a deal.
CHRISTOPHER
Buffy.
Buffy twirls around angrily to Christopher.
BUFFY
No! I don't want this to be my life.
It can't all be about blood.. and
death.
MR SANDRING
You are the slayer. You have the
power to vanquish evil, protect the
innocent. It is a gift.
Buffy turns around to face Mr Sandring. She approaches
him slowly.
BUFFY
Gift? Tell me about this gift. Tell
me how I should feel when I'm
patrolling the cemetery and all I
see are the names of people I
recognise, people I care about and
love, whom I couldn't save. This
isn't a gift. It's a curse, and
it'll only be lifted once I'm dead.
Buffy storms past Mr Sandring, heading for the exit.
She looks up briefly at Christopher and gives him an
angry glare as she passes him. She exits.
MR SANDRING
Well..
GILES
She's right. We can't go in there
without a plan.
MR SANDRING
There's no time for such luxuries.
The plane will be arriving in less
than two hours.
GILES
Then we don't go.
MR SANDRING
I beg your pardon?
GILES
We don't go. We'll let the General
have his amulet. Until the day of
the ritual, it's just a worthless
piece of stone. We have time to plan
this out.
MR SANDRING
Is there something wrong with the
acoustics in this room? Because I'm
fairly sure I've mentioned that you
have been ordered to take the amulet
tonight! We are not taking any
risks.
GILES
And I'm not about to risk her life
by sending her in there unprepared,
against such ridiculous odds.
Mr Sandring thinks for a beat, then looks at
Christopher, then back to Giles.
MR SANDRING
There is another way.. If she kills
the General.
ANGLE : GILES
reaction shot
MR SANDRING
He is the only one who can perform
the ritual. Without the General,
there can be no army.
GILES
But how? He is protected at all
times by his five followers. Even if
she gets close enough to the
General, there'd be no one watching
her back.
MR SANDRING
She only has to kill the General.
Giles stares at Mr Sandring for a beat.. a realisation
dawning upon him.
GILES
You expect her to be killed.
MR SANDRING
Not necessarily. There is every
reason to believe that she can do
this. Your slayer has proven to be
resourceful, strong and smart, on
more than one occasion. She has
lived longer than most other
slayers. She may yet surprise us
all.
GILES
And if she doesn't?
MR SANDRING
There will always be more slayers.
Another will be called.
GILES
(barely contained anger)
Leave.. Leave this town and go back
to where you came from..
(looks to Christopher)
both of you. I'm not letting either
of you come near her again.
MR SANDRING
Mr Giles..
GILES
(louder)
I said leave!
MR SANDRING
If the ritual is performed and the
army is raised, an army of slayers
could not stop them. They will roam
the land and burn everything before
them. The world will be dead.
Giles has no answer to this. Mr Sandring and
Christopher begin to leave. Giles and Christopher
share a look before Christopher exits, following
Sandring.
ANGLE : GILES
with a lot to think about.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE MAGIC BOX - DAY
Late afternoon, almost evening. Christopher and Mr
Sandring exit.
MR SANDRING
She's never going too work out.
Don't you see?
Christopher looks at Mr Sandring but doesn't answer.
He looks back to the ground.
MR SANDRING
It isn't too late to change things
you know. You still have the poison.
With that, Mr Sandring walks away, leaving Christopher
standing outside the shop. He looks towards the
horizon off in the distance.
REVERSE ANGLE : SKY
Sunset.
INT. SUNNYDALE AIRPORT - DAY
MATCH CUT :
Sunset, through a glass window pane.
The camera rotates around to show a blonde girl around
Buffy's age (ballpark resemblance) looking out the
window at the sunset.
She spins around and walks away from us as we WIDEN to
reveal that we are unmistakeably in an airport. A
white marble floor, people walking around carrying
luggage, dressed flight crews walking in and out of
shot, monitors hung from walls. In the background, we
hear a pleasant female voice announcing arrivals and
departures from a PA system.
ANGLE : BLONDE GIRL
as she walks up to her father, who is standing
underneath one of the monitors, studying it. The two
share a quick conversation before both walking off,
away from the camera. We hold on the shot when
suddenly, a man walks into the foreground, looking up
at the monitor. A pale, stern-looking man wearing a
black coat.
REVERSE ANGLE : THE MONITOR
We start at the top of the screen which shows
"Arrivals" and the current time, "6:07pm". We slowly
go down the list of arrivals, showing various flights
have already landed. We end at the last line which
shows a flight arriving from Chicago, "Gate 14 - Due
: 8:00pm".
EXT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - NIGHT
to establish.
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE/LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
ANGLE : GILES AND TARA
from someone's POV, talking in whispers in semi-
darkness in a hallway.
ANGLE : WILLOW
looking over her shoulder from the couch at Tara and
Giles, looking a little concerned.
We WIDEN to reveal the rest of the gang gathered in
the living room. Everyone sitting except for Buffy,
who stands at the window, looking out into the night.
DAWN
The amulet's arriving tonight?
BUFFY
(turning to face the gang)
Uh huh. And I'm guessing it's coming
with an entourage. Add to that the
very real possibility that they're
gonna be met by a full vampy
greeting party and we've got
ourselves an airport that's gonna be
rockin' with the evil.
ANYA
Well, that's one party we're not
going to crash.
(then worried)
Are we?
BUFFY
Don't worry. You guys aren't going
anywhere near there. I know math
wasn't exactly my speciality at
school but even I can work out the
odds here. I don't plan to bet on
any long shots.
XANDER
Good call.
ANYA
(relieved; happy and
nodding)
Yes. It was very thoughtful of you.
BUFFY
But let's not kid ourselves. One of
these days, we're gonna have to get
that amulet. We can't let the
General perform the ritual.
ANYA
Well, let's cross that particular
rickety, condemned bridge to hell
when we get there.
Giles and Tara enter the room, both looking very
solemn. They remain standing side by side. Willow
looks at Tara who looks slightly distressed.
XANDER
So, what now? Oh! I know. We can use
the time not fighting the General to
fight the General in a.. non-fighty
way.
(off looks)
Research.
DAWN
Yeah. We can totally cover that.
XANDER
I'm sure we can dig something up..
(realising bad choice of
words)
preferably not a bunch of sleeping
blood-thirsty vampires but, you
know, something to stop Prince
Charming from waking the Sleeping
Beauties here.
ANYA
I'm thinking more of a love bite
than a kiss.
XANDER
We can grab some books, all head
over to our place and have ourselves
a research party. Granted, it's not
as exciting as donating to the blood
drive at the airport but..
(then suddenly remembering
something, looking to Tara
and Giles)
Oh, wait.. we can't tonight.
DAWN
Why not?
GILES
There are other.. priorities.
Willow really senses something wrong now. She looks at
Tara gravely.
WILLOW
What's going on?
Tara looks back at Willow but can't get the words out.
GILES
It's Solomon. Harmony overhead his
plans for tonight. It seems he
hasn't given up.
Everyone in the room become silent, all knowing what
this means. Willow looks especially distraught.
TARA
(struggling with the
words)
Mr Giles and I talked. We thought it
might be best to, you know, with all
that's going on.. that.. that I
should..
WILLOW
That you should what?
Tara takes a deep breath, then looks at Willow.
TARA
(quietly)
Leave? I'm leaving town.
ANGLE : WILLOW
reaction shot. A little stunned.
Dawn looks around the room at the solemn faces, then
to Buffy and then finally to Tara.
DAWN
You're leaving us? When?
TARA
Tonight. I just have to pack up some
stuff.
Willow turns away from Tara and slumps down in her
chair, a lot on her mind.
DAWN
(standing up and coming up
to Tara)
You're going now? But why?
GILES
We thought it perhaps best that Tara
leaves town now, before Solomon can
make his move. We agreed that we
shouldn't take any risks. She'll be
somewhere where Solomon can't find
her.
DAWN
(pleadingly)
Giles.
TARA
No Dawnie. It was my decision. It'll
just be for a while, just until this
whole thing with the General is
over. I'll be back. You'll see.
A few glances to Willow from the assembled Scoobs.
Willow remains frozen in position, staring off into
space. A long, uncomfortable beat in the room.
ANYA
Maybe we should have some kind of
sending off party? We could have
balloons..
(quieter as she notices a
few looks at her as she
looks around the room)
cake?.. Some dancing monkeys?
(retreating into herself)
Sorry. Just filling in the
uncomfortable silence.
TARA
(smiling kindly)
That's okay.
DAWN
No. We're family right? We should
all stick together, no matter what.
Tara looks at Dawn, and then looks at Willow
searchingly. Willow remains quiet, not looking at
Tara.
BUFFY
(to Tara)
Maybe you don't have to leave. I
mean, you'll be safe here. We're
won't let anything happen to you.
XANDER
Yeah, if that oversized over-bite
thinks he can come here and mess
with one of us..
TARA
That's just it. If everyone's
worried about keeping me safe, it'll
take time away from what you should
really be focusing on. I mean, the
General, the amulet.. that's like
big end of the world stuff. Besides,
I don't want any of you risking your
lives to protect me. If anything
happened to any of you because of
me..
Tara stops short finishing her sentence, not being
able even to contemplate the thought. She looks away.
She takes a beat to recompose herself, then looking
back up.
TARA
I just couldn't.
DAWN
But Tara..
TARA
(with half a smile, trying
to cover the pain)
Please, this is hard enough. This is
the right thing to do. And it's not
like I'll be gone gone. I'll just
be.. gone. If you guys need me for
anything, you know, help with the
research stuff, you can still reach
me by phone.
DAWN
But, we need you here. It only works
if you're here.
WILLOW
No.. She should leave.
All eyes turn to Willow. Willow slowly gets up, almost
in a daze, and walks over to face Tara.
WILLOW
(pained)
You should leave.
The two hold their gaze for a beat, before Willow
turns and walks away.
TARA
Will.
ANGLE : BUFFY
watching all this.
Tara follows Willow out the room. The rest of the gang
slowly get up and follow them out. Buffy lingers in
the room a little longer. She looks down at her watch.
ANGLE : WATCH
which reads 7:02 pm
From the watch, we TILT up and WIDEN to reveal that we
are now in..
INT. SUNNYDALE AIRPORT/ARRIVAL GATES - NIGHT
as we see the blonde girl looking up from her watch.
She sees something and smiles.
We see her rushing over to join a crowd of people
welcoming passengers just departing from a flight
which has just landed. The girl hurries over to join
her father in greeting a woman carrying a small bag,
presumably the mother. They hug, kiss and smile.
We DOLLY back as we focus on the family of three as
they walk side by side back down the airport hallway,
towards the camera. We hear a single blast of a
trumpet off-screen. The girl turns to look to her
left, just in front of her.
We stop the DOLLY and PAN right to follow the girl as
she walks past the camera. We stop the PAN and let her
exit off-screen. We are left with a shot of a high-
school band, dressed up in their band uniforms,
getting their instruments out preparing to play. A
conductor is busily trying to control proceedings. Two
band members hold up a banner which reads "Sunnydale
welcomes delegates from Turin"
We PAN back over to the left to the other side of the
hallway where we see people seated at an arrival gate.
We focus on a young looking man with a mohawk haircut
and with a lecherous grin on his face as he looks down
the hallway at something.
REVERSE ANGLE : THE GIRL WITH HER FAMILY
from the back, as she steps onto a moving platform
with her parents.
ANGLE : MOHAWK GUY
as he continues to smile. Suddenly, someone whacks him
over his head with a rolled up magazine. He growls and
looks up.
REVERSE ANGLE : MAN IN BLACK COAT
as he angrily points up to something off-screen and
walks away.
The mohawk guy folds his arms, slumps back in his seat
and looks back up.. not happy.
REVERSE ANGLE : ARRIVAL GATE 14
An attendant at a counter and a digital board behind
her which reads "Arrival Gate 14 : Chicago - 8pm"
INT. CHRISTOPHER'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Darkness. We hear someone fiddling with the lock on a
door. We hear a click and the door slowly opens. Light
comes streaming in from the hallway and we see a black
silhouetted figure slowly creep into the room and
close the door. The lights suddenly come on in the
room. We see Giles in the middle of the room.
CHRISTOPHER (O.S.)
Hello Rupert.
Giles doesn't bother to turn around. He just stops.
GILES
Christopher.
ANGLE : CHRISTOPHER
sitting casually on a chair in the corner of the room,
his hand still up by the light switch. He drops his
hand.
CHRISTOPHER
You know, that's the thing about
vampires. They wait till they're
invited before they come in. I know
they don't really have a choice but
it's at least the appearance of
manners.
Christopher gets up and walks past Giles, headed for
his desk.
CHRISTOPHER
I wondered how long it would take
you to come sniffing around here.
Got to say, though. It looks like
it's been a while since you've done
anything like this. Thought that
lock would never get opened.
Christopher pours himself a glass of Scotch and sits
down on his desk.
GILES
Why did they send you here
Christopher? What were you supposed
to do?
CHRISTOPHER
Four words. Observe, evaluate,
report and amend.
GILES
It's Buffy isn't it? She's the
reason why you're here. Why Mr
Sandring is here. It was never about
evaluating me.
CHRISTOPHER
(holding out the bottle of
Scotch)
Drink?
Giles shakes his head, declining.
GILES
The Council wants to change her, to
mould her into something they can
manage, that they can control. To
strip her off her humanity and turn
her into a weapon.
Christopher just stares at Giles, sipping his Scotch.
GILES
And what now? Now that you see that
she can't be changed? What would
they have you do? Tell me
Christopher, is there a fifth word?
What comes after 'amend'?
CHRISTOPHER
(coldly)
We've already passed that point
Rupert. Shame you weren't there to
see it.
Giles takes a beat to abosrb this. He looks mortified.
GILES
I don't know you anymore.
CHRISTOPHER
No Rupert, you never knew me. This
is who I am. This is what I do.
Giles walks closer to the table, looks down at the
drawer.
GILES
What's in the drawer?
CHRISTOPHER
Is that why you came sneaking around
here to do? Trying to pry into the
truth about the Council?
GILES
No.. the truth about you.
Christopher takes a beat. He smiles.
CHRISTOPHER
Certain things are best left hidden
in a drawer old chum.. in the dark
where it belongs. That's what
drawers are for after all. To keep
things locked away and hidden.. so
you can't see it.. so you can't see
the truth about yourself.
(looks away from Giles,
almost talking to himself
now)
You see, the truth weakens you..
makes you a lesser person. It makes
you question who you are.
That's something I can't afford in
this line of work.
(a beat, then quietly)
But.. it's also in a drawer because
you'll always know where it is, if
you ever need it.
Christopher looks back up to Giles. He reaches into
his trouser pocket.
CHRISTOPHER
You want to know the truth about me
Rupert?
Christopher takes a small key out of his pocket and
places it on the desk.
CHRISTOPHER
Be my guest.
Giles stares at the key, then back to Christopher. He
slowly approaches the table, reaches out to take the
key. He stops.
GILES
No.. I don't want to know.
Christopher looks at Giles quizzically.
GILES
I realise there's very little left
of the friendship we once had. But I
want that small part of it that's
still alive to remain that way..
even if it is a lie.
Christopher, taken aback, can do nothing but stare at
Giles.
GILES
Just leave Christopher. We can take
care of the General by ourselves. We
always have.
Giles turns and begins to leave.
CHRISTOPHER
Can I say one last thing?
Giles stops and turns around.
CHRISTOPHER
You don't have the balls for this
job Rupert. It's just not in you.
This thing we do? Eventually, it'll
grab you and ask the tough
questions. What will you do? How far
will you go?.. Go home Rupert,
before you have to answer.
GILES
We've already passed that point
Christopher. Shame you weren't there
to see it.
Giles turns and leaves.
A montage follows. Cue music overlay
EXT. A PARK - NIGHT
A wide shot. In the center of the frame, from behind,
we see a lone figure sitting on a park bench, slouched
over. The park is fairly busy as all around the
figure, people are walking by and chatting, paying
little attention to the solitary figure on the bench.
We begin to slowly DOLLY in on the figure, whom we now
recognise as a blonde girl, as she gets larger and
larger in frame. People continue to walk past on the
sidewalk in front of her as well as behind her (thus
walking in front of the camera's frame and temporarily
blocking her out). We stop the DOLLY and hold on a
static shot of the lone, still figure, looking down at
something.
As another person walks by in front of the camera from
left to right and blocks out the shot, we cut to..
ANGLE : BUFFY
as we change shots as a person walks out of camera
shot (from l to r) revealing Buffy, who we now clearly
see from the front, sitting on the park bench, looking
at something in her hands.
REVERSE ANGLE : A CROSS
as Buffy stares at the cross around her neck.
CLOSE ON : BUFFY
as she looks up, oblivious to the people around her.
She looks to be deep in thought.
We slowly PAN (from l to r) away from Buffy and PAN
into darkness. We continue to PAN as we cut to..
INT. WILLOW AND TARA'S DORM/HALLWAY - NIGHT
as we PAN across a hallway to see Willow by herself,
leaning against a wall and looking fairly
disconsolate, staring off into space.
We continue the PAN as we cross a wall and into..
INT. WILLOW AND TARA'S ROOM - NIGHT
as we continue to PAN as we see Xander, standing by
the door, quietly looking at someone in the center of
the room. We PAN over to the center of the room and we
finally hold the shot on Tara who is packing a bag.
Tara heads over to a cupboard, passing Xander on the
way. They exchange brief smiles. She reaches the
cupboard and sees something.
REVERSE ANGLE : PICTURES OF WILLOW AND TARA
arranged on top of the cupboard.
Tara looks at them for a beat, then reaches out and
takes one. She looks down at the picture in her hands,
then takes it over to her bag and places it in it. She
returns to the bureau, and opens a drawer. She reaches
in.
ANGLE ON : HAND IN A DRAWER
as a hand reaches into a drawer filled with assorted
bits of weaponry. The hand takes out a couple of
stakes and a bottle of holy water.
We TILT up to see we are now in..
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE/BUFFY'S ROOM - NIGHT
as Buffy takes the stakes and the bottle and places
them in her coat.
She takes one last look around her room before
switching off the lights and exiting her room.
End montage.
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE/DAWN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Buffy walks in to see Dawn, lying belly down on her
bed, ostensibly reading a book. She is clearly unhappy
and preoccupied with other thoughts.
BUFFY
You okay?
DAWN
(passive aggressive)
Sure. I can't think of anything that
might have made me upset tonight.
Buffy walks over to the bed.
BUFFY
Shove over.
Dawn grudgingly wriggles over to her left to make room
for Buffy to sit next to her. Buffy sits.
Buffy takes a beat to compose her thoughts, thinking
things through. Dawn watches her from the corner of
her eyes. She gets up from her lying position and sits
cross-legged, facing Buffy, as if expecting something.
BUFFY
(noticing)
What.
DAWN
You've got speech face. I'm just
adopting the officially sanctioned
speech-receiving posture.
BUFFY
Speech face? Is there like a cream
for that?
DAWN
(waiting)
Well?
BUFFY
Gimme a second okay? There's like
all this pressure now.
Dawn rolls her eyes and begins to move back into a
lying position.
BUFFY
Stop! Resume positions.
Dawn does so.
BUFFY
You know, sometimes, when a person
leaves, it's not because they don't
care about the people they're
leaving behind. Sometimes, it's
because they care.. because they
love them so much, that they have to
leave, you know, if it means that
the people they love are safe. Do
you understand?
DAWN
No. I mean, how could it make sense,
if they're leaving the people they
love behind?
BUFFY
It's complicated.
DAWN
(whatever)
Sure.
BUFFY
Listen, I know it'll be hard for a
while, missing Tara and all. But
she'll still be around, you know?
Even if you can't see her. If you
love someone and that person loves
you back, you carry that person
inside you, all the time. That's
something you keep for yourself and
nothing can take that away from you.
Promise me you'll always remember
that Dawn.
Dawn stares at Buffy for a beat.
DAWN
I promise.
Buffy smiles and pulls Dawn in for a hug.. a very
tight hug. Buffy hugs Dawn for a beat.
DAWN
(her face over Buffy's
shoulder)
Um.. Buffy? Not to ruin this
Hallmark moment but.. everything's
starting to turn dark.
Buffy immediately releases Dawn, who takes a deep
breath.
BUFFY
Sorry.
Dawn smiles, then notices Buffy's coat.
DAWN
Going somewhere? Is Tara leaving
already?
BUFFY
No, I just have to do one last sweep
before we head out.
Buffy gets up from bed and starts to head for the
door.
DAWN
Buffy?
BUFFY
(turning around)
Yeah?
DAWN
You think it's true? About carrying
someone inside you, even if they're
gone?
BUFFY
(comforting smile)
Trust me. It'll be like she never
left.
Buffy exits.
INT. SUNNYDALE AIRPORT/MAIN TERMINAL - NIGHT
ANGLE ON : A CLOCK
A large digital clock on a wall which reads "7:32pm".
We hold on this for a beat until it ticks over to
"7:33pm".
We then PULL out to reveal the clock is high up on a
wall. We PAN right to some escalators, walled in on
both sides.
We see the blonde girl and her family coming down an
escalator to the main terminal. Alongside, we also see
another escalator going up. The blonde girl and her
family reach the floor of the main terminal.
ANGLE : THE FAMILY
from behind, as they walk away from the camera, into
the center of the main terminal. It is busy with
people. We TILT up to see a giant overhanging banner
which reads "Benvenuto! Sunnydale welcomes delegates
from Turin". We TILT back down to see that the family
is much further down the terminal now and much smaller
in our screens. Suddenly, in the foreground, we see
Flix enter into frame from the left, occupying much of
the frame. She takes a look down the terminal, then
off in front of her to the right of screen.
We PAN over to the right to see what she is looking
at. A crowd of people chatting. They disperse to
reveal Trix, standing and smiling back at Flix.
We prelap : a knocking on a door.
INT. CHRISTOPHER'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
ANGLE ON : A DOOR
As Christopher walks up to it and opens it to reveal
Buffy, wearing her coat. The two look at each other,
then Buffy walks in as Christopher closes the door, as
if unconsciously communicating.
Christopher takes a look at Buffy's outfit.. very
slayery.
BUFFY
(noticing)
I'm going.
Christopher takes a beat to absorb this new
development.
CHRISTOPHER
Why? Why change your mind?
BUFFY
Because it's me. It's always been
me. Because I can't do this to them
anymore.
CHRISTOPHER
Them?
Buffy nods. She turns slowly and starts walking
towards the far window as she speaks.
BUFFY
Will was wrong.. when she said she's
the reason Tara's in danger..
Because it's me.
She reaches the window, pulls open the drapes and
looks out at the night.
REVERSE ANGLE : THE TOWN OUT THE WINDOW
Dark. We see some street lights and a few houses with
their lights still on.
BUFFY
While the world sleeps, I get to
live in their nightmares.. and I'm
pulling everyone I love in here with
me.
CHRISTOPHER
I really don't think you're forcing
anyone..
BUFFY
(spins around to face
Christopher)
No. This isn't their fight. You were
right. The prophecy's right. She
alone will face the vampires..
(quieter, eyes down)
she alone.
Buffy thinks for a beat, letting that last phrase
settle in her mind.
BUFFY
(looking back up to
Christopher)
Only I can't do it. Don't you see?
As long as I'm breathing, as long as
I'm alive, I need them in my world.
Buffy walks up to Christopher, more slayery and
authoritative.
BUFFY
(in a firmer tone)
So either way, this ends tonight. If
I get the amulet or if I kill the
General, I want out. I think I've
earned enough brownie points with
the Council to demand that. I don't
care how you work it, just work it.
CHRISTOPHER
And if you fail tonight?
BUFFY
Then, I'll be dead.. and they'll be
free. Will, Xander, Tara, Anya.
Giles.. and Dawn. They won't be tied
to this place anymore.
Christopher nods slightly. Buffy walks by him and
heads for the door. Christopher turns to face her.
CHRISTOPHER
Why tell me?
BUFFY
(turning around)
Because I needed to tell someone..
because you're the only one who
won't stop me.
ANGLE : CHRISTOPHER
reaction shot - kinda hits him hard.
BUFFY
This is my last confession to you.
There will be no more.
Christopher looks at Buffy for a beat, then goes to a
corner of the room to grab some weapons and to grab
his coat.
BUFFY
What are you doing?
Christopher walks towards Buffy, all business.
CHRISTOPHER
Don't you remember? Where the slayer
goes, I go.
Christopher walks past Buffy and off the screen. Buffy
turns to watch him go for a beat, then follows him
off-screen.
BLACKOUT
END OF ACT TWO
CONTINUE TO ACT THREE