Episode 7.3 "Sunrise"
Written by: Finn Mac Cool
Xander's apartment has been converted into a makeshift camp out. Dawn and Willow occupy the two bedrooms. The living room has two empty sleeping bags and Giles dozing on the couch. Buffy and Xander are the only ones up. They're eating ice cream while looking through apartment ads for Buffy. They talk about how, with the insurance money, Buffy and Dawn can get a swank, pre-furnished apartment. The conversation shifts to Dawn going to the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High tomorrow.
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Xander: You know, you'd think building a high school on top of a portal into Hell would violate some sort of health code.
~
Buffy thinks her younger sister will handle it fine.
In one of the bedrooms, Dawn is listening to rock music through her headphones while she sleeps. Suddenly, we're in her dreams. Dawn's wandering the halls of Sunnydale High. Everything is empty, quiet, and creepy. Down the hallway, Dawn spots a little girl, no more than six. Dawn waves sheepishly. The girl says Big Brother is getting mad. Then, the girl is ignited like a bonfire. Her screams echo through the empty school. Dawn opens her mouth to scream as well-
And then she rolls out of bed and hits the floor, hard.
The next day, Dawn and Buffy stand in front of Sunnydale High. Buffy is worrying compulsively about Dawn's school supplies. Dawn assures her she's fine. Before she can leave, though, Buffy motions for a hug. Dawn looks around to make sure no one's looking, and then quickly hugs her big sis. She then hurries towards the school doors.
Inside, the crowds are big enough to lose a truck in. We see Dawn search around hopelessly for her locker, and, by the time she reaches it, the bell for class rings and almost everybody is gone. Sighing, Dawn starts looking around for her first class while checking her schedule. She bumps right into another girl about her own age.
After apologizing, Dawn asks if she knows the way to Room 1-215. The girl says she's on her way there right now. Dawn thanks the girl and says that her name is Dawn. The girl introduces herself as Diane.
Back at Xander's apartment, Buffy saunters in. She says she got Dawn to school and asks Xander if he can take her apartment shopping today. Xander says he can't. He has to get the work, and then lend his car to Willow so she can go see Giles at the museum; it's part of her rehabilitation. At that moment, Willow walks out of the bedroom, her eyes squinted and her clothes put on sloppily.
There's an awkward silence between Will and her friends as Xander hurries her out the door. Buffy asks how she's supposed to get to all the apartments without a car. But, by the time she says it, Xander and Willow are out the door. Buffy looks around at the empty apartment and sighs, unable to think of anything to do.
At an all too familiar crypt, Spike is desperately trying to sleep. He's lying on an uncovered mattress with a bottle of booze firmly clenched in one hand. He looks pretty pathetic. He's interrupted, though, by Buffy as she walks pushes open the crypt door. Spike springs to his feet and glares at her intently. The Slayer is carrying a duffle bag with her that she sets on the floor.
Buffy makes an idle comment about Spike being back, but he only grunts. She gets down to business and says she hasn't told the others that he's back. If he promises to stay out of her way, they can pretend she never found out. Spike mumbles "Deal". Buffy can't think of anything else to say, so she picks up the duffle bag and throws it at him. Spike catches it and, cautiously, opens it. Inside is his leather coat, the one he left at Buffy's house.
~
Buffy: You're lucky. It's about the only thing that survived the fire.
Spike: This thing always survives. It always keeps coming back.
~
Buffy having nothing more to say leaves the crypt silently. Spike looks at his coat for a moment, and then angrily throws it onto the bed. Howling with frustration, he slams a fist into the floor, slightly cracking it. He just kneels there, quietly sobbing, after that, his coat forgotten.
Dawn is obviously bored out of her mind. Her English teacher is explaining exactly how much homework they'll have this year. Dawn's at the point of nodding off, when there is a sudden shriek from behind her. Everyone turns their eyes that way to see Diane waving her arm in the air as it begins to burn. There is more screaming and Diane is rushed to the nurse's office by several students, including Dawn.
At the Sunnydale Museum, Giles is telling a mover where to put certain crates of artifacts. It seems to be just them right now, no visitors. Then Willow walks in, not looking much more awake than she was at the apartment. Giles steps away from his job to say hello to Willow. They start to talk, primarily how Willow is holding up in her magic free life. Willow's comments are lackluster and monosyllabic.
Their conversation is interrupted, however, by stern, middle-aged women in a business suit. She cuts off Giles and introduces herself to Willow as Hannah Mills, the Watcher in charge of her rehabilitation. Willow isn't able to muster a very enthusiastic greeting. Miss Mills seems to mentally note that, and says that Willow should report directly to her from now on. She then walks off. Willow remarks that Miss Mills seems nice. Giles says no, she doesn't. Willow agrees.
In a dark room, Willow and Giles are being monitored by security cameras. Two men in dark suits watch them closely. One takes careful notes of everything they say.
Back in the main part of the museum, Giles leads Willow to a back storeroom. It is filled with museum records, some artifacts, and quite a few arcane books. The Council is allowing them to use these books, provided Willow acts as a pseudo-librarian for them. He reassures her that none of them are magical.
Suddenly, the sound of a Mexican hat dance can be heard. Giles quickly pulls out his cell phone and flips it open. It turns out Dawn is calling from a school pay phone during the break between classes. Dawn explains about Diane catching on fire in class and is worried it might be another pyro-demon. Giles says that he'll look into it, but doubts it's the same type of demon. After saying goodbye to Dawn, Giles tells Willow they've got some research to do.
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Willow (still groggy): Oh, research, yay. Let's hit them books.
~
Buffy is lying on Xander's couch. She seems to have been there for a while, and looks pretty bored. She hums "Going Through the Motions" to herself. In mid hum, Dawn comes through the door. Buffy leaps up and hugs Dawn strongly. She asks several "how's your day" questions in the space of a couple seconds, somewhat overwhelming Dawn. Buffy explains she's just been a little bored with hanging around the apartment all day.
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Dawn: You know, Buffy, you really should get a job, or a boyfriend, or a flock of cats. This is just sad.
~
Dawn then tells Buffy about the weird fire and that Willow and Giles are working on it. Buffy's taken back a little that Dawn didn't tell her first, but says she'll run right over to the museum.
Back at the museum's storage room, Willow and Giles are browsing through the books on hand. The door to the main museum opens and Hannah Mills stands there. With a sneer on her face, she announces that their friends have arrived. Buffy and Xander walk in and Miss Mills leaves without looking back. Xander makes a crack about the new Watcher and then asks if this fire thing was important enough for him to be dragged away from work. Giles says they aren't sure how serious it is. It could be a semi-ordinary case of spontaneous combustion, a witch's spell, a pyromaniac demon, or a variety of other things.
Sighing, Xander and Buffy sink down into the research books, too. Suddenly, Willow asks how Dawn is. There is a brief silence, then Buffy says she's back at the apartment, kinda worn out from school.
And Dawn walks into the music-filled Bronze bursting with energy. She's changed into slightly more "party girl" clothes and is followed by Janice. The two are talking about their first day at the new school. Janis asks if she heard about the girl who caught on fire. Dawn proudly says she saw it happen to some girl named Diane. Then, she realizes Diane is sitting over at the bar-counter, one arm covered in bandages. The two girls walk over to her and make themselves known.
Dawn introduces Janice, and the three of them get to talking. When Janis asked what was up with the fire, Diane says it must have just been one of those freaky things. After a bit of boy checking and chatting, Diane says that she just has to go to the bathroom for a second. She walks off and turns towards the bathrooms - and then walks out of the Bronze.
In the back alley, Diane looks around cautiously. Suddenly, a hand is set on her shoulder! She spins around but sees it's only an overweight man in a business suit. He asks what she's doing out here at night. Diane replies that she was just getting a bit hungry. And then - she vamps out. Before the man can scream, the vampire Diane lunges at his throat and sinks in her fangs.
Back in the Bronze, Dawn and Janis are talking over at the counter and watching cute guys when Diane walks back in from the alley. They ask what took her so long. Diane just smiles and ignores the question.
When Dawn walks back into Xander's apartment, humming a song to herself, she finds Buffy watching the door intently. Buffy demands to know where she was. Dawn says she was at the Bronze, it was no big deal. Buffy says Dawn should have told her before she left.
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Dawn: What about all that stuff you spouted a couple months ago about not protecting me from the world anymore?
Buffy: Well, I'm still your big sister. Besides that may have been all the Apocalypse talking.
~
Then Dawn mentions that Buffy should be glad because she ran into Diane. Buffy is stunned for a moment, then asks what happened. Dawn says Diane doesn't have a clue why she caught on fire, and nothing like this had happened to her before.
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Buffy: Fine. That's good to know. Now let's go to bed before someone else
catches on fire.
~
In the basement of a nondescript suburban home, a young boy who looks to be in his late teens is working furiously amongst various lab equipment. Bottles full of strange liquids litter the shelves; rodents running around in small testing cages twitter and squeal; and the sound of a door slamming breaks the otherwise silent room. The young man looks up in surprise, and sees Diane striding into the basement, cradling her arm. She reveals her burnt arm angrily.
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Diane: "Shawn, look at what happened today. The potion started to wear off a little too early."
Shawn: "I …I checked it twice! Maybe it was too diluted…"
Diane: "Well, maybe you oughta raise the SPF level, 'cause honey my kind are bit more susceptible to the rays than yours."
~
Shawn slowly backs away, clearly afraid. Diane comforts him with a loving touch, and whispers to him that everything will be all right. As long as he keeps making the sunlight potion for her, they can have a normal life. Live out their dreams. But Shawn reminds her that he's still a human. He's going to grow old, and eventually die. But Diane will remain exactly the same. This infuriates her. She vamps out, and looks as if she might kill her boyfriend. But then she stops, realizes what she's doing, and the vampiric countenance fades away. She smiles seductively, and leans in for a kiss. With an uncertain look on his face, Shawn closes his eyes and kisses her back.
Back at Scooby Central/Xander's place, everyone is up and fixing their own breakfast while the newsman blathers on a bit. Most are eating sparsely, except for Dawn's eccentric combination of cereals. In the midst of kidding Dawn about her breakfast, Buffy is interrupted by Giles. He turns up the news and the Gang gets an update. Turns out there was a murder at the Bronze. Mr. Tribune, the club's owner, was killed by a mysterious "neck wound".
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Xander: A murder in Sunnydale. How very odd.
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Giles suggests that Buffy might want to look into Mr. Tribune's death, and she says she'll do it right after she takes Dawn to school.
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Dawn: No way you're ditching me like that. There's forty-five minutes before first bell. I can come and look at it with you.
Buffy: Dawn, I don't think a murder scene is the best place to visit before school starts.
Dawn: Half the classrooms in my school are murder scenes!
~
Dawn convinces Buffy to take her when she examines the Bronze, and Xander says he'll drive them both. Giles says that if anyone needs to find them, they'll be working at the museum, still researching Diane's immolation.
Back at Diane's home, Shawn is in the kitchenette area upstairs. He's in his boxers and T-shirt and is preparing some Lucky Charms. The news is on and is showing a picture of Mr. Tribune, the guy Diane killed last night. As Shawn stares at the screen, Diane walks up, out of the basement, still a little groggy. She sneaks up behind Shawn and nibbles on his ear, but her boyfriend doesn't seem turned on. Instead he asks Diane to look at the TV and if that's the man she killed last night. Shawn is worried the attention might get them caught.
Diane won't hear any of this and pushes past Shawn to get at the fridge, where she takes out a packet of chilled plasma and takes a taste. She reminds Shawn to get her potion for today ready, since she'll have to leave soon. Shawn, knowing when he's beat, skulks down into the basement while Diane has a blood pick-me-up in the kitchen.
In the basement, Shawn goes to his collection of test tubes with various colored chemicals. He takes a hypodermic syringe out of a drawer and begins to fill it with carefully measured amounts of the other chemicals. Just as he's about to pour in a greenish liquid, he stops. He looks back up the stairs and sees Diane sipping some blood, paying him no attention. With a look of strange conviction, he goes back to his chemicals and, taking a deep breath first, pours all of the green solution into the syringe.
Back up in the main part of the house, Shawn is hands Diane the chemical filled syringe. She thanks him quickly and injects it into her arm. Both lovers wince; Diane from slight pain, Shawn's reasons unknown. Diane walks over to the shaded window and tentatively lifts it. No harm occurs when the sunlight strikes her hand. She smiles and briefly says her goodbye to Shawn before walking at the door. The instant Diane is gone, Shawn collapses into a chair, breathing deeply.
At the Bronze, a window is pushed open from the outside and Buffy slips in with Xander and Dawn. The three Scoobies find the club deserted and barren. Xander asks what will happen to the Bronze. Buffy says it will probably be abandoned. Few people are looking to buy a building where the last owner was killed, especially in their town.
Dawn asks what they're looking for. As Buffy examines the bar she says that whatever killed Mr. Tribune might have left evidence. Slash marks, demonic slime, or shed scales if they're lucky. But then Dawn remembers something from the previous night: Diane didn't go to the bathroom, she went out the back exit.
Dawn explains to Buffy and Xander about Diane from last night. Combined with catching on fire in class, they concede that she's looking pretty suspicious. Buffy says she'll check out Diane's house, see if there's anything supernatural afoot. Dawn asks if she can come, but Buffy says Xander's got to take her to school.
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Dawn: I just wanna...y'know...help. With the evil fighting and stuff.
Buffy: Dawnie, you've helped out plenty so far. But if it makes you happy, you can check out Diane in person for me, see what she's all about. I can't exactly tromp around campus without looking like a weirdo reminiscing about my glory days at the old stomping grounds.
Xander: Stomping grounds?
Buffy: Well, there was an awful lot of stomping...
Dawn: Great. I'll do it. I'm a girl on a mission. C'mon Xander.
~
Xander leaves to take Dawn to Sunnydale High, while Buffy says she'll look for Diane in the school directory and see if she can find her address.
Shawn is pacing around the kitchen of his and Diane's house, a virtually untouched sandwich on the counter. He looks very worried and glances at the telephone constantly. He practically jumps out of his skin when the doorbell rings. Recovering what little cool he has, Shawn walks to the door and swings it open.
Buffy is standing there, looking all innocent. Buffy introduces herself and says she met Diane at the Bronze one night and asks if she's home. Shawn says Diane left for school. Buffy is persistent though. She asks if he lives here with Diane. When Shawn suspiciously says yes, Buffy says she'd really like to meet Diane's famous boyfriend. Before Shawn can protest, Buffy marches on in.
Buffy pokes around a little, looking for anything suspicious, and Shawn isn't sure what to do with her. However, when Buffy reaches for the fridge, Shawn closes it on her, saying she can't look in there. Buffy ignores him once again and opens it. It has several bags of blood in it. Shawn's busted. Buffy whips around and doesn't give Shawn a chance to explain. She presses her cross necklace against his skin to see if it burns. Shawn hurriedly explains that he's a human, but Diane isn't, and about how he's been fixing a potion regularly for Diane that stops sunlight from killing her, so that she can live a semi-normal existence.
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Buffy: What'd she do? Offer you immortality? Decades of sexual pleasures? Trust me, it's all talk.
~
Buffy hauls Shawn out of the house and she leads him towards Sunnydale High, telling him that she's going to take him with her to go after Diane. She's with her sister, and there's no way she's going to leave Dawn in trouble. At the school, bells ring throughout the halls and students file out of their classes. As Diane leaves English, Dawn walks closely behind her, looking not the least bit subtle. After a moment, Diane whirls around, surprising Dawn. Diane asks what's up, and Dawn, after a moment of uncertainty, says she just wanted to know how Diane was doing with the burns. Diane says she's great; she heals quickly.
The two begin chatting about how boring their English teacher is as they walk down the hall. They reach Dawn's locker, and she opens her it to toss in some books. Dawn breaks off mid-sentence, however, when she looks at the little mirror in her locker. Diane doesn't show up on it. Dawn closes her locker a little too quickly. Before she can stammer out an explanation, Diane whispers that they need to talk in private and leads the nervous Dawn outside.
Buffy and Shawn are walking fast along Sunnydale's sidewalks. As they walk, Shawn keeps pleading for Buffy to just let him go. When he tries to make a break for it, she lands a punch in his gut. She pulls him along them until Sunnydale High comes in sight. Buffy says they are going to find his girlfriend and make sure she doesn't kill anyone again, and she doesn't trust Shawn to be alone.
Still being dragged by Diane, Dawn is pulled to the side of the school building, out of site of crowds. Diane presses her against the wall and demands to know what's up. Dawn says nothing, but Diane keeps asking again and again, louder and louder. Eventually Dawn just cracks and yells "You're a vampire!" Diane falls silent for a moment, then starts to explain to Dawn.
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Diane: I'm not just some bloodsucking creature of the night, okay? I mean, I don't want a lot. Some friends, a good education, a home outside of an abandoned factory or a crypt. You know, a normal life. I didn't ask for this to happen to me! I didn't ask to have to hide from daylight, to be exiled from humanity. All I want is to wake up in the morning, go to class, chat with a few friends, and go home to my boyfriend. I don't want to lose that. (She looks at Dawn, her face resolved) I can't lose that.
~
Diane's hands fly towards Dawn's neck and begin to strangle the teenager. Diane's face becomes demonic again, growling like an animal. But, before she can finish the deed, Diane is knocked aside. Buffy appears, having kicked the vampire off Dawn.
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Buffy: You know, I don't usually get to do this during the day. (She then punches Diane in the face) But I can improvise.
~
Before Buffy can strike another blow, Diane runs off around the side of the school. The Slayer follows in hot pursuit. Diane runs around the building and reaches the area of congregating students. Several people scream as the vamp-faced Diane runs into the crowds followed by Buffy. A fight ensues between the two. Even though Buffy's stronger, Diane weaves behind scared bystanders, forcing the "protect-the-innocent" Slayer to not do so well.
Standing just outside the fray is Shawn, looking scared to be there, but scared to leave, as well. The choice to run is taken away when Diane pushes a jock into Buffy and runs for Shawn. She grabs onto his arms, clearly scared, and asks him to help her fight Buffy. Shawn can only gape, because, right before his eyes, Diane's hair is starting to smoke. The vampire clutches at her hair as flames start to spread through it. She shakes Shawn and demands to know what's happening.
The flames begin to spread over them both. Shawn continues to scream, "I'm not a monster!" over and over, until his words are drowned out and become a hideous scream.
Buffy, Dawn, and a lot of Sunnydale High's student body watch as the fires of sun ignite the two lovers, consuming them. No one says a word. They just watch the flames.
Later that evening, the Bronze is as empty as it was when the Scoobies checked it out last. However, this time, Buffy and Xander enter through the door, strangely left unlocked. Buffy is filling Xander in on the last bits of their adventure. She's saying the whole "friend is a vampire" thing shook Dawn up a little. Xander nods sagely, then Buffy asks why he brought her here. Looking around the abandoned club, Xander starts to explain. He suggests they pool their money together and buy the Bronze for themselves.
Buffy is in shock for a moment, and then leaps at Xander like a puma. She hugs him so tight that we hear a very painful cracking sound. Xander reminds her she's dealing with a mere mortal here, and she backs off from the super-strong hug. Still she's bursting with enthusiasm as the two friends plan their future.