Connor takes Dawn vampire hunting. When Buffy finds out, Connor will be in deep, deep trouble.
Dawn is in her bedroom, talking on the phone.
KIT: You going to the party?
DAWN: No. I have plans. With Connor.
KIT: Really!? Way to go Dawny. What sort of plans does he have in mind? (demon fighting, of course.)
DAWN: You know. Hanging out. Talking.
KIT: Why don't you bring him?
DAWN: I don't think he likes crowds.
KIT: Or he wants to be alone with you.
DAWN: Kit, come one. It's not like that. This isn't a date. He's not my boyfriend. Not even close.
KIT: Bet you wish he was.
DAWN: So. Doesn't mean I want to push things too far, wig him out. I don't even know if he likes me that way.
KIT: He asked you out. On a Friday night. Need I say more?
DAWN: With Connor, yes. In case you haven't noticed, he's not like other guys. He's more than a little odd.
KIT: That's not always a bad thing. Just don't bring any green kryptonite in your purse, and I'm sure everything will go great.
Spike is asleep in his crypt. He hears the television. Connor's entered, and he's surfing through the channels.
SPIKE: Bugger all. Can't a man rest in peace in his own bloody crypt? Just because you don't need an invitation doesn't mean you can barge in any time you bloody well please.
CONNOR: At least you don't sleep in a coffin. Do vampires really do that?
SPIKE: Only the sorriest of the lot.
CONNOR: And that doesn't include you?
SPIKE Keep that up, and I'll give you something to go crying home to mommy about.
It would be delightful if that could actually happen. Darla wasn't very fond of Spike to begin with.
CONNOR: Just saying. You live in a tomb. You're halfway there.
SPIKES: Helps to have your ear to the ground in this town. Live in some post-modern nightmare mansion on the hill, and maybe you arrive a little late when the next big bad starts snacking on the locals. You must have come here for a better reason than to slag my flat.
Connor pauses. He doesn't know what slag means, and flat seems out of place in that context.
CONNOR: I dunno. Thought we could train.
SPIKE: So you're a masochist. Sounds like you need to find yourself a sadist. Currently, that's not my cup-a-tea.
Connor had the best sadist Spike ever knew in Angelus. Which is one of the reasons Connor skipped town. Connor peruses Spike's things.
CONNOR: Got anything good to read? "Either/Or"? Either or what?
SPIKE: That's Kierkegaard. Great sense of humor. Wrote a whole book celebrating a guy who tried to kill his son.
Connor puts the book back. He decides he doesn't like Kierkegaard. Holtz told Connor lots of Bible stories, but specifically avoided the one where God tells Abraham to murder his miracle child Isaac. Thought that might be too traumatic for miracle child Connor.
CONNOR: "Beyond Good and Evil." Sounds like it's about vampires.
SPIKE: That's what plenty of bloodsuckers like to think. Too bad the sad sack who wrote it didn't know about our kind. Probably woulda wanted to join up. Sure beats dying of syphilis.
Connor doesn't know that's what Darla was dying from. Of course Spike wasn't even referring to her.
CONNOR: Need something to pass the time. Forgot how boring daytime can be.
He takes the book and heads back home to read it.
SPIKE: That is the last boy who should be reading Nietzsche. Talk about creating a monster.
Spike shrugs and goes back to sleep.
Next: Angelus visits Our Lady of the Angels. Plus, Buffy gets her first excuse to kick Connor's ass.
Angelus enters the Our Lady of the Angels cathedral, which is about three miles from the Hyperion. The massive box-like concrete and alabaster structure is 95 feet tall and 330 feet long, and has no windows. Unlike most cathedrals, the altar and the entrance are on the same side. The entrance leads to a hallway which runs the length of the building. Angelus walks down this hallway. To his right is the nave. When he gets to the other end, he makes a right and enters the rear of the nave. 300 feet in front of him is a giant concrete crucifix.
ANGELUS: Angel used to like to come here during the daytime. The alabaster filtered out enough of the sunlight so it wouldn't burn him. I've always had a certain affinity for the Church. "Take this blood and drink it. This is my blood, the blood of a new and everlasting life." Same thing I always told my disciples. Have to admit, I am pleasantly surprised by your choice of venue. Didn't know you had a taste for modern architecture. Or a sense of humor. After all, you are the Lady of Angelus.
CORDY: The one and only.
She comes up from behind and puts her right hand down the front of his trousers. Then she moves in front of him.
CORDY: Is that a demon-killing dagger in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
ANGELUS: See for yourself.
Cordy reaches back in, "searches around" for about five seconds, pulls out the dagger, and puts it in Angelus's right hand.
CORDY: Make me proud.
Angelus disappears into the hallway which runs parallel to the nave. Cordy walks towards the altar. The Beast drops through the ceiling and lands right in front of the altar. Cordy groans.
CORDY: Just once, couldn't you use the door?
BEAST: You wish for me to defile this sacred space.
CORDY: You're going to offer a sacrifice. To me. As a token of your infinite gratitude. But first, I want to give you a small token of my gratitude for everything you've done for me.
Cordy reaches up, grabs the Beast's head, pulls it down towards hers, and kisses him on the lips. Angelus walked back towards the entrance, which is next to the altar. It is this feature which makes this particular church ideal for an ambush. While the Beast is kissing Cordy, Angelus turns left and dashes over to the altar. He stabs the Beast in the back with a knife made from his own skin. An orange light appears around the wound. The Beast's body begins the disintegrate. Cordy keeps kissing him. She sucks the energy from inside him into herself. This keeps the sun from reappearing. After about 15 seconds, the Beast is nothing but rubble on the altar, and Cordy has absorbed all his energy.
CORDY: Wow. That was some kiss. Bet you could do better.
Cordy grabs Angelus and kisses him in the passionate, slightly gross way that evil beings tend to kiss one another. Then she throws him on the altar, on top of the Beast's remains. She gets on top, straddles him and rips open his shirt.
ANGELUS: Now this is my kind of fun.
CORDY: If only Connor were here to watch.
ANGELUS: Tied up on that cross. Looking down at us. Now that would be priceless.
CORDY: After the baby is born. Then I'm all yours.
Cordy gets up and walks away. Angelus lies there for a minute. He doesn't like to get worked up for nothing. But he knows where to go for a little action.
Dawn is walking down Main Street with Connor.
DAWN: Where do you wanna go tonight?
CONNOR: I dunno. Maybe the Bronze.
DAWN: You think there'd be vampires there?
CONNOR: If I were a vampire in this town, that's the first place I'd go.
DAWN: So what do you do when you're not killing demons?
CONNOR: Talk to people. Read stuff. See movies. I like seeing them indoors. That way the helicopters can't get you.
DAWN: Helicopters!?
CONNOR: First movie I ever saw, they came down and tried to kidnap me. After that I didn't like seeing movies outside.
DAWN: That must have been traumatic.
CONNOR: Wasn't so bad. We fought them off. Just humans. Evil humans, I guess.
DAWN: Evil people without any special powers. I've heard those existed.
CONNOR: Thing is, vampires also like going to movies in the daytime. All that darkness. All those victims they can ambush. So sometimes I go there to relax from demon fighting and end up fighting more demons.
DAWN: You'll find that happens a lot in this town.
Five vampires, three males and two females, crouch down on the roof of a two-story building along Main Street, about half a block in front of Connor and Dawn.
JERRY: You sure that's him?
LAWRENCE: That's the boy who thinks he's the Slayer.
RALPH: He thinks he's a chick?
LAWRENCE: No, dumbass. He fights vampires for no good reason. Just like the real Slayer. Except he gets his ass kicked. Saw it myself on the Santa Monica boardwalk.
JERRY: Why aren't we in LA?
LAWRENCE: Too crowded. Place has been sucked dry. Always best to quit a scene before it gets stale.
DENISE: Kelly, I don't know what you were thinking when you said he wasn't hot.
KELLY: I like my men to look like, well, men.
DENISE: He looks man enough for me to sire.
RALPH: That's what Marissa thought. Remember what happened to her?
LAWRENCE: I remember when she turned you down. You're probably still jealous of Slayer Boy.
JERRY: Wouldn't mind a piece of that girl he's with now.
RALPH: I second that.
LAWRENCE: Don't get greedy. Stick to the plan, and they'll be plenty to go around for everyone.
The five of them go bumpy. Lawrence growls. Connor hears this and runs towards the sound. The vampires are on a building at the corner. Connor crosses the street and climbs up the side of the building. Lawrence, Ralph and Jerry run away, jumping from roof to roof. Denise and Kelly were hiding off to the side. Connor does not see them. They leap down to the street and go after Dawn, who is all alone. They cut her off from Main Street, forcing her to retreat down a narrow alley. Dawn knows she's trapped, and decides to stay put and hold them off until Connor returns. She expects him to be back any second. Denise approaches on Dawn's left, Kelly on Dawn's right. Dawn grips a cross in her left hand. She shoves it in Denise's face, and then immediately hits Kelly in the face with a right kick. Denise leaps at Dawn and kicks the cross out of her left hand. She punches Dawn in the face. Kelly kicks her in the stomach. Dawn retreats a few steps, still trying to hold them off and wait for Connor. Kelly and Denise circle round their prey and growl softly. Dawn tries her best to keep an eye on both of them.
Connor chases the three male vampires for 150 feet before tackling Ralph. Connor quickly gets up, blocks Jerry's kick and punches him in the face. Ralph stands up, and Lawrence gives him a little nod. Ralph runs away towards Dawn. Connor turns to see where Ralph is going. Lawrence kicks Connor in the chin and punches him in the nose. Jerry also runs towards Dawn. Connor begins to suspect that he is being played. With Connor unsure about where to go, Lawrence knocks him down with a right spin kick. Then he kicks Connor twice in the ribs while he's down and runs over to join the rest of his gang. He figures that by now the girl should be finished off, leaving Connor to face five vampires alone.
Denise grabs Dawn's arms from behind. Kelly punches Dawn in the mouth. Dawn has seen Buffy in this predicament enough times to know how to get out of it. She kicks Kelly in the face. Then she hits Denise in the nose with the back of her head. For some reason, the vampires never expect this. Dawn turns around and tries to hit Denise with a right hook. Denise moves back out of the way. Kelly sweeps Dawn's legs out from under her. Denise puts her left foot on Dawn's throat. Dawn grabs her ankle put can't pull the foot off her windpipe. Ralph leaps down onto the sidewalk.
RALPH: Mind if I finish her off?
DENISE: Be my guest. You take the girl, I'll take the boy.
Denise lifts her foot off Dawn's throat. Dawn gasps for air now that she is no longer being choked to death. She sees Ralph approaching. She lies still until he's close enough for her to kick him in the groin with her right foot. Then she gets up and grabs her cross. Jerry charges her. It's not until he grabs her that he realizes she's holding a cross which he has practically thrown himself into. He screams and retreats with a very badly burned chest.
KELLY: Men are such idiots.
She kicks Dawn in the nose. Denise kicks Dawn in the spine. Dawn is knocked face first into a far wall. Kelly charges at her from Dawn's right. Dawn can see this out of the corner of her right eye. She pulls a stake out of her pocket with her right hand, keeps facing the wall, waits until Kelly is close enough, then stakes her. Dawn turns around.
DAWN: You girls don't seem to be very bright either.
Denise hits Dawn with a left hook. Dawn puts up both of her arms to protect her face. Denise lands three punches to the body and then throws Dawn to the ground. Lawrence arrives.
LAWRENCE: Why is she still alive!?
DENISE: She's mine. Don't sweat it.
LAWRENCE: Trust me. I won't. [Lawrence looks up] I have other things to worry about.
Connor leaps down from 20 feet up. Lawrence was expecting this. He grabs Connor in midair and hurls him into the far wall.
LAWRENCE: You didn't think I was finished with you?
CONNOR: No. You're just finished.
He grabs his stake in his right hand and tosses it end-over-end at Lawrence. Lawrence puts both his hands in front of his heart. The stake bounces off of them and falls to the ground.
LAWRENCE: Do you think all vampires are as stupid as you are?
Connor tries to punch Lawrence, who blocks it. Lawrence tries a right cross, but Connor ducks. They get their arms tied up, and Lawrence pushes Connor back into the wall. When Lawrence approaches, Connor kicks him in the head. Then he moves out and knocks down Jerry with a flying right spin kick. As Dawn tries to get to her feet, Kelly picks her up and tosses her into the near wall. Dawn gets up. At least with her back to the wall they can't attack her from behind. Kelly moves in for the kill. Dawn kicks her in the stomach. Dawn then tries a right hook, which Kelly blocks. She hits Dawn with a right hook to her mouth. She squeezes Dawn's jaw with her left hand and looks at Dawn, who's scared and hurt and bleeding and crying. Thinking that Lawrence and Jerry are keeping Connor busy, Ralph turns around and moves towards Dawn.
RALPH: Hey Kelly! Can I have a piece?
Kelly glances at Ralph. Connor runs up and stakes Ralph from behind. Kelly lets go of Dawn and turns to fight Connor. Dawn pulls out her stake and is about to stake Kelly in the back when Connor grabs her and tosses her into the far wall. He looks at Dawn and smiles. He saved her life. What he doesn't realized is he was the one who put Dawn's life in danger in the first place. Dawn tries to catch her breath and regain her composure. She had never been ganged up on like that before. No one had ever allowed her to be ganged up on like that before.
KELLY: You're pretty good with the rough stuff. I'm beginning to see what Marissa saw in you.
DAWN: Who's Marissa!?
Lawrence hits Connor on the face with a right hook.
LAWRENCE: I'm surrounded by idiots!!
Connor tries a right hook. Lawrence blocks it and kicks Connor in the ribs. Lawrence lifts his right foot off the ground and begins to rotate clockwise. Remembering what Spike said about reading your opponent, Connor sweeps Lawrence's left leg out from under him before Lawrence can land the right spin kick. Lawrence falls on his back. Jerry tries to ambush Connor from his left. Dawn sees this. Runs at Jerry from his right side. She takes her stake in her left hand and stakes Jerry in the back. Jerry turns to dust. Kelly runs at Dawn. Dawn retreats away from Kelly, but also away from Connor.
KELLY: Should have killed you when I had the chance.
DAWN: Should have found cooler boy vamps to hang around. Should have fought back and kept from getting killed in the first place. I'm sure you have a lot of regrets.
While Lawrence is on his back, he shoots his legs up, wraps them around Connor's neck, and pulls him down to the ground. Lawrence gets up and tries to kick Connor while he's on his knees. Connor moves his head out of the way and stands up. He looks to his right and sees Kelly pursuing Dawn. Lawrence glances to his left and also sees this.
LAWRENCE: You have to ask yourself: do I try to save the girl, or do I try to save myself? It's a tough choice.
CONNOR: What's your answer?
Lawrence throws a kick. Connor backpedals out of the way. Lawrence charges at Connor. Connor runs up the far wall, does a back flip, and lands behind Lawrence. Lawrence turns and ducks just in time to avoid Connor's kick.
CONNOR: I see you're doing neither.
Connor thought Dawn was fine. He assumed Lawrence was asking himself if he should run away and let Kelly die, or try to save her. Lawrence throws a kick. Connor blocks it and punches Lawrence twice in the face. Lawrence responds with a left jab. Connor hits Lawrence with a left roundhouse kick. He's getting tired of just trading blows with this vamp.
Dawn's trying to buy time, and also trying to find something she can use as a weapon. She picks up a small rock and puts it in her right pocket. Dawn runs onto a parked car's hood, and from there onto its roof, so that she stood about five feet above Kelly, who was to her left. By now, Dawn is 100 feet from Connor.
KELLY: You think you're safe up there?
DAWN: I'd like to see you try to get me down.
Kelly laughs and leaps onto the car's roof. Dawn leaps forward, over the car's hood and towards Connor. She sprints off in his direction. Kelly follows. Dawn pulls the rock out of her pocket, turns around, and hits Kelly in the forehead. Kelly goes down for a moment, allowing Dawn to return to where Connor is.
Connor circles to Lawrence's right, looking an opening. Lawrence is between Connor and Dawn. When Lawrence attacks, Connor evades him, and maneuvers so that he's between Dawn and Lawrence. Dawn turns to fight Kelly, while Connor faces the other way. Lawrence thinks the back-to-back fighting formation is intentional. He moves to Connor's left and tries to get in between Dawn and Connor. Connor moves out and attacks him, which surprises Lawrence, since this leaves Dawn exposed. Connor kicks and punches Lawrence in the head. Lawrence grabs Connor and tosses him into the far wall. Now Lawrence is between Dawn and Connor.
Dawn sees Kelly in front of her and Lawrence to her right. Deciding it's best to fight the person who has his back turned to you, she kicks Lawrence from behind. Connor knocks Lawrence down with a leaping right kick. Kelly runs over to help Lawrence. Connor turns to his right, sees her approaching, and stakes Kelly. He turns round and kicks Lawrence in the chin when he tries to get up. Then Connor leaps on top of Lawrence and stakes him.
LAWRENCE: Damn bitch set me up.
He turns to dust. Connor smiles.
CONNOR: That was a good one.
Dawn hits Connor in the shoulder. She looks furious. Connor looks confused.
CONNOR: What was that for?
Dawn slaps his face with her right hand.
DAWN: What were you thinking? You nearly got me killed!
CONNOR: They're dead. We're not. What's the problem?
DAWN: The problem was you fell right into their trap.
CONNOR: I killed them.
DAWN: You left me all alone. You don't split up when you're outnumbered. Especially when you're the one with all the power. While you chased them, I got double-teamed.
CONNOR: I only saw four.
DAWN: I killed the other one before you got here.
CONNOR: That's why I left you. I knew you could handle yourself.
DAWN: I got lucky. Connor, you never split up when you don't know how many of them are out there. You really must be new at this not to know that. How long have you been killing vampires?
CONNOR: Nine months.
DAWN: That should have been long enough.
CONNOR: I usually fight alone. I'm not used to working with others. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you hurt. You fought good.
DAWN: You weren't so bad yourself.
Connor holds Dawn's hand. He gives her his wide-eyed, pouting lips look. Like almost any girl her age, Dawn finds it impossible to resist. She smiles.
DAWN: I forgive you. Just don't let it happen again.
They walk off hand-in-hand.
CONNOR: What do we do now?
DAWN: I think that's enough vampires for one night. I should get home. She likes me to be in before she takes the Potentials out. Who's Marissa?
CONNOR: Vampire I killed. She came on to me before I staked her.
DAWN: And that's ALL that happened between you two.
CONNOR: Of course it is! What kind of human being gets turned on by soulless vampires?
Angelus stands outside Gwen's thick metal door. He's feeling lucky this evening. He looks all brooding and serious, with the furrowed brow and clenched jaw of a tortured but indefatigable champion. She sees him on the monitor, and turns on the speaker.
GWEN: Angel! I'll be right there.
He already has his invitation, but he couldn't break down her solid steel door, and if he came in through the ceiling she might get suspicious. The door slides open, and Angelus sees Gwen. She's wearing a crimson bathrobe. Her hair is wet and straighter than usual.
ANGELUS: Dig the new look.
GWEN: Sorry. I just got out of the bathtub.
Angelus enters. Huge rooms. High ceilings. No windows. He could get used to this.
ANGELUS: I thought you were going to skip town after the sun disappeared.
GWEN: I'm a cat burglar. We work at night. The long eclipse has been very good for business.
ANGELUS: You don't worry about getting attacked?
GWEN: Not when I can fight them off.
ANGELUS: I almost forgot how good you were at handling yourself in a fight.
GWEN: Just as long as Rocky Red doesn't cross my path.
ANGELUS: That's why I came here.
GWEN: Is he after me?
ANGELUS: Gwen, he's dead. I killed him.
Gwen gasps.
GWEN: How? He was so, you know, indestructible. And powerful.
ANGELUS: And stupid. [pulls out the dagger] This is what did him in. A knife made from his own flesh. Stuck him from behind. Always better to outsmart your enemies.
GWEN: You better not be making this up so that you can, you know –
ANGELUS: Impress you? It's the truth.
GWEN: I know. You're a lousy liar. Part of the whole noble superhero package, I guess. How did you get the knife? And why would he make a weapon out of his own body?
ANGELUS: It was an offering. To his master. Gwen, you need to sit down.
She does. Angelus sits on the couch opposite her.
GWEN: What's the bad news?
ANGELUS: The Beast's master was Cordelia.
GWEN: Oh God. That must have been –
ANGELUS: Devastating.
GWEN: I imagine it was. Always had a bad feeling about her.
ANGELUS: She's the one who let him in here. The one who shut off your security system. She's the one who tried to convince me I needed to lose my soul to fight it. Fortunately, that was easier said than done. When people curse you, they make it very hard for you to be uncursed. We finally found this shaman. But before he could extract it, we found Cordy out. She left. Haven't seen her since. But when she left the hotel, she left behind this dagger. I thought it was worth a shot.
GWEN: So if it's "hey ho, the Beast is dead," why is the sun still gone?
ANGELUS: Because Cordy's still around. Honestly, part of me doesn't want to find her, because I don't know if I could do what needs to be done. Deep down, I still love her.
Angelus loves talking about Cordy the way Buffy talked about Angelus. He's laughing so hard inside it's difficult to keep a straight face.
GWEN: If you don't mind, I'm going to go slip into something a little less comfortable. Be back in a minute. And I'm sorry it had to end this way. I know how you felt about her.
ANGELUS: I have bad luck with women. You might say I'm cursed.
GWEN: As you once told me, get over it. Leave your self-pity at the door.
Gwen walks into another room. Angelus leans back and smiles.
Dawn runs in through the front door and tries to race upstairs. Buffy grabs her when she gets to the foot of the stairs.
BUFFY: So how was the party?
DAWN: Okay.
BUFFY: Why won't you look me in the eyes when you say that?
Dawn's trying to keep Buffy from seeing her face. She realizes she'll have to switch tactics. She looks at Buffy. Her lip and nose are bleeding.
BUFFY: Omigod. What happened to you?
DAWN: There was a vampire. Attacked me when I left. I took care of it. It's no big deal.
BUFFY: Then why do you act like you have something to hide?
Buffy grabs Dawn's knapsack. She opens it up and sees several crosses and stakes. She throws it to the floor.
DAWN: He-heh. Always be prepared, right?
BUFFY: I'm beginning to understand why it's so hard to find Connor at night. Have you seen Connor?
DAWN: Yep. At school today. He stopped by around lunch. Talked to Principal Wood.
BUFFY: Wednesday night. You didn't go to Kit's house, did you?
DAWN: Of course I did. Just ask her.
BUFFY: The best friend always covers.
DAWN: Are you going somewhere with this?
BUFFY: You snuck out! To go slaying. With a boy!
DAWN: Nothing you haven't done.
BUFFY: That was different. I had to.
DAWN: It was your sacred duty to sneak out to see boys? Sorry, I mean men. Sorry, I mean –
BUFFY: Go to your room. NOW!
Buffy tries to control her rage. Not because of Dawny's cheap shots, but because Connor endangered her sister's life, and Dawn doesn't see the problem with this. She stands there and thinks for a few seconds.
BUFFY: Amanda? Amanda!?
AMANDA: Yes?
BUFFY: Last night. You were out with Connor, right?
AMANDA: We didn't fight any vampires. I swear. [Buffy keeps glaring at her.] We did kill a couple demons, however. But he played it very safe.
Buffy keeps staring at her. Finally, she goes up to talk to Dawn.
BUFFY: Have you lost your mind!?
DAWN: I thought you wanted me to learn how to fight?
BUFFY: So which is it? Are you trying to impress a boy, or are you jealous of the Potentials.
DAWN: Why should I be jealous? Connor says I fight better than most of them.
BUFFY: Is he really worth getting killed for?
DAWN: You don't get it.
BUFFY: Oh, I think I do.
DAWN: No you don't! I wasn't fighting for Connor. I was fighting for myself.
Connor enters through the back door. Andrew, as usual, is in the kitchen.
ANDREW: Connor! This isn't a very good time. Buffy is not happy, and if she sees you –
Connor, as usual, doesn't pay attention to Andrew. He grabs a slice of pizza and heads into the living room.
ANDREW: He never says thank you! I made that pie from scratch!
Molly, Amanda, Rona and Vi are happy to see Connor. Kennedy, the one Potential who is not a Connor worshipper, is upstairs with Willow. Connor sits down on the couch. Molly is on his right, Rona is on his left. Amanda and Vi sit on the chairs facing the couch.
MOLLY: How come you haven't taken US slaying?
RONA: We're the ones who are actually Slayers. Slayers-in-Training, I mean.
CONNOR: I can't get you girls out of the house without Buffy tagging along. Dawn, Amanda, they go to school, have friends and stuff outside this house. You three are like her prisoners or something. I would like to see what you could do. Each of you. On your own. You're always fighting together when I see you hunting with Buffy. Any of you taken on a vampire by yourself, without someone there to bail you out?
VI: We don't have Slayer Power.
CONNOR: Doesn't stop Dawn. Sometimes she takes on two at the same time. You should be as good as her, right? You're training all the time.
MOLLY: Dawn fought two?
RONA: By herself?
CONNOR: You're surprised because she's not a Slayer. You shouldn't be. I know plenty of girls who weren't Slayers who fought vampires. Take that back. Every girl I've ever known has fought vampires. Not a Slayer in the bunch. Buffy's holding you back.
Giles enters the kitchen through to back door.
GILES: I hope I haven't kept Buffy waiting. I was at Robin's house, and we lost track of time. It is absolutely fascinating to converse with the child of a Slayer. I feel quite privileged. There hasn't been a confirmed Slayer offspring in more than a century.
ANDREW: We have a problem.
GILES: Really? I hope it's nothing serious.
ANDREW: It's about to get deadly serious. Think of Connor as cesium, and Buffy as water. You do NOT want to be around when they come into contact.
DAWN: You think you'll be around to protect me forever?
BUFFY: Let me get this straight. In order to learn how to defend yourself so you'll be safe, you go out of your way to risk your life. That's insane!
DAWN: You wouldn't understand. You couldn't.
BUFFY: No boy, especially not THAT BOY, is worth senselessly dying for. [adult vampires, of course, are an entirely different matter.]
DAWN: How many times do I have to tell you it's not about Connor?
BUFFY: Until I believe you. Which will be never.
DAWN: How many times have I nearly died? How many times has something tried to kill me? How many times have I waited to be rescued? Poor helpless Dawny. If my life's going to be in danger, I might as well choose the time and place. I might as well defend myself. That way, I have control. When have I ever had that?
BUFFY: Dawn, you're beginning to scare me.
DAWN: You used to be scared FOR me. Now you're scared OF me. I call that progress. When you saw me fighting that vampire last summer, you laughed at me. You're not laughing now.
BUFFY: This isn't you talking. It's that Connor bastard.
DAWN: You still can't take me seriously. I don't care. I proved something to myself. You wanna pretend I'm still 14? That's your problem.
BUFFY: If you felt left out, why didn't you tell me?
DAWN: Left out of what? Those pointless aerobics classes Kennedy leads every afternoon?
BUFFY: I love you Dawn. More than anything in this world.
DAWN: And I shouldn't feel threatened because you don't love the Potentials. That's why your speeches to them always suck. When you love someone, you speak with passion. With them, you phone it in.
BUFFY: What do you mean I phone it in? You're changing the subject. I'm sorry I didn't take you on more patrols. I'm sorry I tried to limit the number of life-threatening sibling bonding experiences. You want to go on patrol with the other girls?
DAWN: They'd just slow me down.
Buffy walks out of Dawn's room. She is furious. Usually Dawn's cries for help take the form of introverted self-pity, not extroverted aggression. Buffy walks down the stairs. When she gets into the hallway, she sees Connor sitting in the living room, surrounded by the smiling, fawning Potentials. He walked right into the lion's den, and Buffy was going to take a big bite out of him. She walks into the living room and grabs Connor's right ear. She walks away, pulling him along by the ear.
BUFFY: Connor. We need to have talk.
Buffy drags him through the kitchen. Connor realizes if he doesn't keep up she'll tear some of his cartilage. Or perhaps she'll tear the whole ear off. Buffy opens the back door and throws Connor outside. She tosses him hard enough so that he falls down the stairs and off the deck. Buffy follows and slams the door behind her.
ANDREW: Ka-boom. Giles, if I were you, I'd move my car out to the street before Buffy picks it up and drops it on Connor.
GILES: You're being hyperbolic.
BUFFY: You son of a bitch.
CONNOR: Actually, my mom was a –
Buffy slaps his face with her right hand, hitting him exactly where Dawn did, only much, much harder.
BUFFY: How dare you put my sister in harm's way for your own sick amusement. You don't care about her. You don't care about anyone but yourself. So listen up. If anything happened to her, you would be dead by now.
CONNOR: You love her. You care about her.
BUFFY: More than you could possibly imagine.
CONNOR: That must be why I never see the two of you together.
Now Connor had crossed the line. He all but accused Buffy of being a delinquent guardian. If there was one thing Buffy could not abide, it was this. All Buffy could conclude was that Connor was asking for it. He nearly gets Dawn killed. Then he comes into her house, flirts with her Slayers-in-Training, and questions Buffy's attachment to the only family she has. The kid sure had balls. And Buffy was ready to shove them down his throat.
Buffy clocks Connor with a left hook. He goes down. Connor had never been hit by a Slayer before. And it hurt for more than he had expected. The fact that he was completely unprepared for the blow made it even more painful than it otherwise would have been.
BUFFY: No use trying to reach you with words. Get up. GET UP!!!
Connor looks at her. He's scared. Mostly because he can't comprehend Buffy's motives. She's not a demon, so it's not in her nature to kill. Connor thought he was being nice to her sister.
CONNOR: What's the problem? I don't understand why you're mad.
Buffy kicks him hard in the side of his head when he tries to stand up.
BUFFY: Don't play dumb. Sorry, I forgot. You are dumb. But not this dumb. Get up! I thought you were tough. Guess you're all talk.
Connor stands up. Buffy leaps in the air and kicks him in the chin. He goes down again.
BUFFY: You stay the hell away from my sister. [all she needs now is an ax]
Connor gets up again.
CONNOR: Is that what Dawn wants?
Buffy throws a right jab. Connor backs out of the way. He tries a right kick, which she blocks. He goes in and throws a left hook, which she also blocks. Buffy grabs his head, knees him in the ribs, and tosses him to the ground. Willow and Kennedy hear the noise. Willow looks out the window.
KENNEDY: Sounds like a fight.
WILLOW: It is.
KENNEDY: Who's Buffy fighting? Vampire? Bringer?
WILLOW: Looks like Connor.
Kennedy and Willow are confused. They run downstairs to the kitchen, where Andrew and Giles are.
GILES: She has every right to be mad at him.
ANDREW: Does that mean she has the right to maim him?
GILES: Buffy would never do any such thing.
Connor rises to his feet and smiles. He walks towards her.
CONNOR: Complete sentences. Try working on them, Buffy. I didn't come here to fight you. I came here to fight with you. And you attacked me. Have I ever attacked you?
Connor is beginning to understand how Angel felt when Connor ambushed daddy on the beach for a crime he didn't commit. At least Buffy doesn't appear to be holding a taser.
BUFFY: Get out of my house. Get off my property. Get out of my town. I can't work with people who don't take my job seriously. Everything's a joke to you, Connor. [Buffy misreads Connor as badly as she misreads him] I protect the people around me, make their lives safe. You put the people around you at risk, make their lives more dangerous. They don't need that. I don't need that. Go have your fun somewhere else.
CONNOR: You're just jealous.
BUFFY: What!!?
CONNOR: How many demons did you kill this week? How many of your trainees did you save from those Bringers? How many vampires did you stake? How many did you dust in town, where they attack people? I've made your life a whole lot easier, and you can't stand it.
BUFFY: Do you WANT me to kill you?
CONNOR: That's a stupid question.
Buffy hits him again in the face.
Willow's poking her head out the back door.
WILLOW: GIles, I hate to say it, but Andrew may be right. You should out here before Buffy does something she's going to regret.
GILES: You mean like striking him?
WILLOW: She's already done that. Many times. Now she's threatening to kill him.
Giles steps out onto the back porch.
BUFFY: You nearly get my sister killed! Then you come to my house and insult me. Tell me I'm a bad sister. Tell me I'm a bad Slayer. Where the hell do you get off saying ANYTHING about my life!? You don't know the first thing about me.
CONNOR: I know you're possessive. That you're not much for sharing.
Buffy punches Connor hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. She grabs him by his hair and tosses him towards the tree in back. She's never done that before. To anyone. She's surprised she didn't pull out tufts of his hair by the roots.
BUFFY: How many times do I have to hit you to beat that arrogant smirk off your face!?
Giles decides the time has come for him to play daddy and break it up. He walks towards his Slayer.
GILES: Buffy, I know you're completely in the right. Connor has been reckless and irresponsible, and he desperately needs to see the error of his ways. But I don't think you're the person to do that. Let me try to reason with the young man. Save your strength for the vampires.
BUFFY: At least I can keep the vampires out of my house.
GILES: Please. Go inside. Take Willow with you. I'll handle this.
Buffy walks back inside, still boiling with rage. Willow knows Giles is right. She is all too aware of how much damage extremely powerful people can do when they're extremely angry.
GILES: I'm sorry about that, Connor. Dawn is Buffy's only family. She would give her life to protect her sister. Surely you can understand that. What would you do if someone endangered your family? Come to think of it, you haven't said word one about your family. Where are you from, Connor?
CONNOR: I'm from Utah.
GILES: And your family? Did you have any brothers or sisters?
CONNOR: No.
GILES: I was also an only child. Surely you must have had parents?
CONNOR: My mother died giving birth to me.
GILES: I'm sorry to hear that.
CONNOR: I was raised by my father.
GILES: Must have been tough raising you all alone. What was your father's name?
CONNOR: Holtz.
GILES: My father was named Rupert. LIke myself. Kind of a family tradition. He was a Watcher. Like myself. Also kind of a family tradition. What was your father's occupation?
CONNOR: He was a demon fighter.
GILES: Very interesting. I assume he taught you how to fight demons?
CONNOR: Yeah.
GILES: Is he still alive?
CONNOR: He died last year. Killed by a vampire. I've been on my own since then. With him gone, I no longer had a home. Tried to find a new one. Thought this town was a good fit.
GILES: I'm sorry about your father. To be all alone at such a young age is enormously difficult. Buffy can understand that if you reach out to her. She has a wonderful heart, and the noblest spirit I have ever encountered. But she is very protective of the people she loves and cares about. And rightly so. Try working with her, rather than going around her back. She won't admit it, but right now she could use your help. You're an orphan. And there's no better place for an orphan – especially one with your abilities – than this house. Everyone one here is an orphan of sorts. So go home, get a good night's rest, and I promise that tomorrow Buffy will welcome you back. If not with open arms, then at least without clenched fists.
Connor leaves. He wonders why some of Giles's compassion has not rubbed off on Buffy. He's not used to real empathy, the kind that comes from people who are not trying to manipulate you. Therefore he's suspicious of Giles's motives. Especially his eagerness to learn about Connor's family. But he appeared to buy the lies and half-truths. So Connor doesn't worry.
Up next: Angelus and Gwen go at it. Plus, Spike tries to play champion at the Bronze when a super-demon interrupts a Frank Black show.