Dawn and Connor are in the great hall on the first floor of Connor's/Angelus's house.
DAWN: Nice place. Did it come like this?
CONNOR: The couch was here. I added the tv and stereo.
DAWN: Where'd you get those?
CONNOR: Vampires. Some of them have stuff. Sometimes after I kill them I take it. That's how I learned to do it in LA.
DAWN: What was your place like there?
They sit down on the couch, Connor to Dawn's right. He puts his left arm around her shoulders, and his right hand holds her right hand.
CONNOR: Think the others called it a loft. One room. Big. Tall. High up off the ground. Wasn't very safe. Things could attack whenever they wanted.
DAWN: Like the Beast?
CONNOR: He came near the end. I was all alone. I tried to fight, but he just threw me around. Was Glory like him?
DAWN: I think she was a lot smaller. And human looking. But really strong and hard to hurt and impossible to kill, like the Beast.
CONNOR: How did you kill it?
DAWN: It's complicated. I didn't see how it happened.
CONNOR: How do you tell the difference between the fake memories and the real ones?
DAWN: It used to be I couldn't. They all seem real. I know when I was "sent," or born, created. But in my mind I can't tell the difference between the stuff that happened before and the stuff than happened after. After a while, I figured out how to do that. It wasn't real until I was scared. Until I was always aware that things out there were trying to hurt me. For a long time, my life wasn't like that at all. I knew Buffy was the Slayer, but it didn't effect me. My life wasn't in danger. Once or twice, but that was all. Now I know that part wasn't real, because real life could never be that safe.
CONNOR: I never had that problem. Guess it's not a problem, being safe. But I had powers. When I was really little, I didn't. But back then I didn't understand what was happening. Holtz always told me it was a game, an adventure. When I got strong enough to help out, he told me it was dangerous, that the game was over. I didn't think so. I was maybe 8 or 9 when I first learned it was serious, because that's when I first got hurt. Everyone tells me how horrible that place was, but it wasn't. Not to me. It was tough and hard and dirty and tiring. But it was simple. Protect my father. Kill and eat. Don't get killed. It's not like I knew about beds or tv or cream-fill chocolate cupcakes.
DAWN: You didn't know what you were missing.
CONNOR: Right.
DAWN: I saw you looking at books at school. How did you learn to read?
CONNOR: Holtz taught me. He always said one day I would go back. Wrote letters in the sand when I was really little. Then he used the purple blood of some scavenger creature we always killed to write words on big stones. Then on strips of bark. Told me stories from books he had read. Wrote out sentences. Made me practice copying them. I never liked it. Always wanted to get back to hunting.
DAWN: So hunting was like recess, or playtime for you?
CONNOR: It was fun. Most of the time. I liked to set traps. Drive things off cliffs. Or digs holes and cover them up with sticks and dirt. Make something big chase after me. Watch it get stuck.
DAWN: Like a practical joke? Something to make you laugh.
CONNOR: I would laugh. Holtz would tell me to be serious, since if I was careless for just a minute I could get myself killed. He didn't laugh. Maybe a few times when I was small. Rest of the time he was always serious. Like my dad.
DAWN: You mean Angel?
CONNOR: Yeah. They both talked a lot about responsibility.
DAWN: And didn't they both fight evil? They both risked their lives to help others. I'm guessing they both wanted you to follow in their footsteps?
CONNOR: Pretty much. With Holtz, in Quor Toth, it wasn't bad, cause there were no other people around. When we got back here, then I felt the pressure. I wanted to make him proud. I was all he had. He loved me, and I loved him, but I was never really family. He always reminded I was different, special. He said he could never understand what was going on inside me because it wasn't going on inside him. Angel did. But he was bigger, stronger, more experienced than me. I wanted to be like him, be better than him, and kill him, sometimes all at once. When I wanted to kill him, I felt bad cause I couldn't. When I wanted him to be proud of me, I felt shame cause I disappointed him. I was always disappointing him. Made me scared to love him.
DAWN: Because then you felt what you thought he felt and you realized you made him suffer. And that hurt inside.
CONNOR: It did. So then I just stayed mad it him.
DAWN: That hurt less.
CONNOR: Never did me any good.
DAWN: Why did you stay mad?
CONNOR: Everyone I knew in this world were his people. I was living in his world. Never felt like I had my own life.
DAWN: I know the feeling.
CONNOR: You had it rougher than me.
DAWN: Call me crazy, but I seriously doubt that.
CONNOR: You were created to be hunted. But they didn't give you the power to defend yourself. I can't imagine anything worse.
DAWN: I'm not completely helpless.
CONNOR: I know. [he grins] You're tough. You fight good. You kill things that are stronger than you. I put you in some really tough spots, but you never ran. You held your ground. I like that. I really like that. It's so . . . –
DAWN: Brave?
CONNOR: Hot.
Connor moves in and kisses Dawn. After 20 seconds, she pulls back.
DAWN: Connor, there's something on my mind, and I just need to get it out in the open and tell you.
CONNOR: Go ahead. You can tell me anything.
DAWN: Before I always felt afraid, back when I know it wasn't real even though it the memories feel real, there were two times I was very scared. One was when you father went bad and he attacked me. Grabbed me from behind in front of Buffy and her friends. Threatened to bite me. Xander came at him with a cross and he let go, and Buffy rushed him and he ran away. I knew him before he became bad, and when he became good again, so I don't remember him as an evil person. But when he stopped being bad I didn't ever really trust him again, because I could never be sure he wasn't evil again. The other time, the first time I was really scared, involved your mother Darla. She bit my mother. I came downstairs when I heard mom scream. Darla knocked my head into the table and I passed out. When I woke up, Buffy had left to take mom to the hospital. I was alone for a minute. Then Angel came in and checked to see that I was okay. Then he left. My mom was fine, by the way. Just a little blood loss. And it wasn't real. The part with my mother might be real, but the part with me wasn't. It was just bothering me. I'm sorry. Do you have any feelings about your mom?
CONNOR: I came from her. She's always been a part of me. I used to see her in dreams sometimes. When I was little and confused and scared, she would come and talk to me, and then I wasn't scared anymore. She was always kind and loving and, I guess, everything a mother should be. I love her. I know she did bad stuff, but if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here.
DAWN: That's a big plus in my book. A huge, huge, plus. Now that I think about it, I almost feel like thanking her.
Dawn puts her left hand on Connor's face. She runs her thumb across his lips. She slowly moves her head in. Connor smiles, tilts his head and kisses her.
GUNN: So what's he done to our old place?
LORNE: The decorating is an absolute nightmare. Never seen so many velvet drapes in my entire life. You would hardly recognize the hotel. However, remember that ballroom we found in the basement that time Fred was fighting off those trans-dimensional water-suckers? It's operational, and it's fabulous! I'm thinking of opening up shop there once we get Angel back.
WES: I don't think that's what Charles meant.
GWEN: It's packed to the gills with vamps. Maybe 200 at the parties, 100 of whom seem to be live-ins. But they're not fighters. Just guests. My guess is they came for the safety, so once we make things dangerous they'll run. Sub-basement has the ballroom. Along with the first-floor lobby, that's where they gather. He turned the basement into a citadel. Limited access. It has cages with about 30 live humans.
WES: Fresh blood reserves.
GWEN: Right. Plus the area's sealed off except for two thick metal doors. And the vents in the ceilings, which is how I got in. Angelus forgot about those. Place is designed to withstand a siege. Barrier falls, the enemy come in the building, he can hide there with his fighters, wait us out.
GUNN: Those sure ain't the actions of a confident guy.
WES: He's a careful, calculating adversary.
FRED: Try paranoid. What about the tunnels? Even if we surrounded him, even if we broke in, he could still come and go as he pleased.
WES: I think he's learned from past mistakes. His demise last time was brought about by extreme carelessness and inattention to detail. And we're better prepared and more numerous than his enemies were back then.
GWEN: Not very often the sequel's better than the original. Can I go now?
There's a pause. No one is sure who has the authority to act as leader and make that decision.
GUNN: Sure. Thanks for helping.
LORNE: And sweetie, it was great to finally see you in action. As cat burglars go, you're definitely a tiger.
WES: I'll, I mean, we'll call if anything happens.
FRED: Angelus is back home. I think that's where the rest of us should be going.
GUNN: Is he afraid of us? I mean, now that we got a Slayer.
FRED: Ever since we busted into his place, he's been shy.
WES: He'll try to attack us separately. Be careful. We know he has a gang of vampires working for him. Just because he's in for the night doesn't mean they are.
Having returned to LA, Angelus's sirens walk down the Sunset Strip.
ALANNA: That Spike sure was cute. Too bad he has a soul.
TINA: I thought he was gross-looking. The hair was cheesy.
VALA: I'd give him a roll in the hay. Guy seems like he has passion.
ALANNA: Did you see him with Angelus? Talk about sparks.
VALA: You saw sparks? Well I saw fire.
TINA: I saw envy. Big, hot fiery envy. Who wouldn't be envious of Angelus?
ALANNA: Had they been fighting before we got there?
VALA: Something hit Angelus. Don't think it was that Slayer. She seemed spooked by him. I can't believe he loved that little Buffy poodle.
TINA: He had a soul. He wasn't in control. Those things make vampires insane.
ALANNA: Is Buffy doing Spike, now that Angel's gone? Lucky girl. She so doesn't deserve them.
TINA: It's sad when some of our kind prefer the living. Even sadder when the living prefer our kind. It's unnatural. Even if he is as hot as Angelus.
VALA: Girl's spent so much time round vamps she thinks she's one of us.
TINA: Too bad he didn't let us rip her to shreds when we had her surrounded.
ALANNA: You think we coulda done it without casualties?
TINA: Sure, some of the men woulda bit the dust, but they're fodder to begin with. We woulda made it out. So would Angelus.
ALANNA: And with that Slayer out of the way, I could take Spike with me, chain him to my bed and turn him into my sex slave. Then we could get some magician to rip out his pesky soul. Then he'd be ours forever. I'd love to watch him take apart our Faith Slayer. He's done it before. And you know what they say about man's who just drunk Slayer blood.
TINA: You really want this punk.
VALA: Getting bored with Angelus? Guess that means more of him for me and Tina. [Ironically, Alanna is Angelus's favorite.]
ALANNA: You both know it's impossible to get bored with Angelus. But if he shares us, we should be able to share his friends. Plus, you know things would be more interesting as a fivesome.
TINA: You two can work on bleach boy. Then I can have exquisite Angelus all to myself.
ALANNA: Look at that menu.
Points at 8 young men and women leaving a club.
VALA: You girls up for a massacre?
TINA: When aren't we?
Dawn's sitting in Connor's lap. His arms are wrapped around her waist. He kisses her neck and has on his "happy puppy" look.
DAWN: I was just wondering about something.
CONNOR: What?
DAWN: When did you first kiss a girl?
CONNOR: My first night in this dimension.
DAWN: You didn't waste any time.
CONNOR: It was my only kiss for a long time. I saved her from these bad people. She took me to where she lived. Gave me regular clothes. I came here wearing animal skins.
DAWN: Doesn't sound like a bad look for you. You still have them?
CONNOR: Ditched em that night. She also gave me some food. First time I had ever tasted anything sweet. Didn't even know what to call it. We talked a little, and she kissed me. But just for a couple seconds. Then she went into the bathroom and put some medicine in her arm and it killed her.
DAWN: You don't put medicine in your arm. Oh. She was a junkie. Probably a runaway. Did she mention her parents?
CONNOR: Said they were bad. She lived by herself.
DAWN: You went straight from Quor Toth to skid row. No wonder you didn't like this world. Only saw the bad parts.
CONNOR: Not anymore.
Dawn smiles, turns her head back and kisses Connor. She's noticed he can be very good at saying the right thing.
CONNOR: What about you? What was your first kiss like?
Dawn takes a deep breath. She worries Connor might not like the details.
DAWN: It was nice. But then I realized he was a vampire, and I staked him. [Connor is a little startled.] I didn't know that when I kissed him. I swear. And once I knew, I stopped.
CONNOR: I guess it's really hard to find the right person.
Dawn turns around, puts her arms around Connor and kisses him.
FAITH: You never told me why you joined that law firm. Was it the power?
LINDSEY: Mostly. I really was a naive country boy who didn't quite know what I was getting myself into. I knew these people weren't saints. Everyone always talks about evil corporate law firms. Didn't know the one I'd joined literally was evil. But that's not an excuse. Because it didn't bother me. I was happy to hurt people, to do what I was told. Even started coming up with some good evil schemes of my own. And when I first thought of leaving, it wasn't because of conscience. Mostly it was because I was afraid I wouldn't make partner, so I wanted to go someplace where I would. Turns out I did make partner. But that was after Darla, after I figured out I was wasting my life.
FAITH: You're really showy about not making excuses. Like you're flaunting responsibility.
LINDSEY: Because I don't seek forgiveness. I believe in deathbed conversions, not earning redemption. For me it's never been about evening the score. Can't change the past, can't bring the people who died because of me back to life.
FAITH: What's done is done? That's it for you? You just forget?
LINDSEY: Never. But I don't wallow in it and let guilt run my life. Wallowing in your sins doesn't make you a better person. It just makes you self-absorbed.
Indirect dig at brooding Angel. Lindsey's attempting to differentiate himself from his enemy/rival/role model.
FAITH: The clean slate approach. Sounds like the easy way out.
LINDSEY: It is. I do good. But I don't exactly sacrifice.
FAITH: I noticed. The penthouse suite. The leer jet. The chopper.
LINDSEY: I do what makes me happy. And being here, helping out, makes me feel better than playing golf or lounging poolside at some resort. Why do you help out? You're free. The people you used to work for don't seem to want to around. Why risk your life?
FAITH: It's what I'm good at. Plus I owe Angel. And yeah, helping people does feel good.
LINDSEY: Makes you feel important.
FAITH: Damn. You're even more jaded than me.
LINDSEY: Actually, I like to think I'm something of a dreamer. But I also believe in self-interest. If you know the difference between good and evil, doing good makes you happy.
FAITH: Also, I don't know what else to do with my life.
LINDSEY: Slayers have no future. Each one a doomed tragedy. How romantic. Stuff of poetry. How did it make you feel to learn about your destiny?
FAITH: Made me feel stoked. I never expected to live a long and happy life. Didn't have any plans. Or prospects. But I had super powers. It was incredible. Then my Watcher took me over to the Mount Auburn Cemetery and I discovered this big new world with funny-looking guys I was supposed to kill. I loved the danger, the violence, being better than everyone. Kicking ass and saving people's lives was a wicked good gig.
LINDSEY: When did things change?
FAITH: This master vampire killed my Watcher. I felt bad for not protecting her. It's supposed to be the other way around. Slayers die, Watchers live with the guilt. That's when I headed out to Sunnydale. Then I accidentally killed this guy, and after that being good wasn't an option. The good guys wanted to lock me up. But, like you, I didn't mind having blood on my hands. Got to like killing people on purpose.
LINDSEY: The only blood I ever had on my hands was my own. I just gave the orders. Other people carried them out. Probably why I can be so detached about my past. What changed you back? I know it wasn't prison, since you wanted to be good by the time I met you.
FAITH: I started to want to feel connected to people, to be in the world. Didn't feel good to be alone. That's why I went to Angel. He understood. And by then he was the only one who'd give me a chance.
LINDSEY: But when you came back to town, Angel was gone and you were alone again. What were you planning to do?
FAITH: I thought maybe Wes was still around. I wasn't sure he'd want to see me, considering what I did to him. But I thought maybe he'd want to give me another chance. I bombed as a Slayer, he tanked as a Watcher, so I thought we both wanted a chance to get it right. Turned out to be easier than I thought, since we both changed a lot. If he was like this the first time round things coulda gone a lot different.
LINDSEY: Glad I could play middle man and bring you two together.
FAITH: Don't try fake modesty. You've done a lot more than that. And I don't mean the room and board. [uncomfortable pause] Look at the time. I better get some sleep. Nice talking to someone I don't gotta make no apologies to.
Connor and Dawn are lying on the couch kissing. Connor's on top. He hears someone approaching.
CONNOR: Stay here.
He grabs his shirt off the floor and walks to the door. Buffy enters the house and walks into the great room before Connor has a chance to put it on. Seeing him there half-naked only fuels her anger. She doesn't look on the bright side: at least he still has his pants on. Buffy has her dignity, and she's going to handle this in a civilized manner. Also, she knows that while beating Connor into unconsciousness will keep him away from Dawn that night, in the long term it will only backfire.
BUFFY: Dawn, I want to speak with you out in the courtyard.
Dawn stands up. She is a little confused, since she has yet to be given the grand tour. On top of everything else, Buffy wishes that at the very least Connor had not brought Dawn to THAT particular house, with all the history its four walls held for Buffy. (At least Connor wasn't shirtless and doing Tai-Chi with Dawn. The sight of that probably would have driven Buffy to a nervous breakdown.)
CONNOR: It's in back.
Connor does not know that Angel lived in this house for part of the time he was in Sunnydale. Therefore he can't fully realize how difficult this moment is for Buffy. Dawn doesn't know either, since she never visited Angel there.
BUFFY: Connor sit down.
Connor sits on the couch. He's a little scared of Buffy, and after what happened at the Bronze he knows Buffy can't take Dawn away from him.
BUFFY: Stay.
She turns on the stereo. It starts playing the Sex Pistols' "Holiday in the Sun." This surprises Buffy. But she doesn't know it's the Pistols, or that Spike's a huge fan. They never talked music. She turns up the volume and walks out into the courtyard with Dawn, closing the door behind her. Buffy does all these things to keep Connor and his super ears from hearing their conversation.
DAWN: Are we gonna do this all over again?
BUFFY: You're being awfully flip about what you're getting yourself into.
DAWN: You don't know what you're talking about. You don't understand what we have.
BUFFY: What you have? You just met him!
DAWN: I found someone who makes me happier than I've ever felt. Why does that make you mad?
BUFFY: I'm not mad. Just concerned. Do you know about Connor's history? Cordelia? Anya?
DAWN: I do. We've done a lot of talking. Connor's "history" makes him less experienced than ANY of your boyfriends.
BUFFY: This isn't about me.
DAWN: You're afraid I'm going to make the same mistake you did? That's impossible.
BUFFY: No. I'm afraid you'll make an even bigger mistake.
DAWN: I don't need you to protect me from someone who cares about me, someone who makes me happy, someone I make happy.
BUFFY: I hope you're right. But don't do things based on hopes. I love you. All I want is for you to be safe and happy. Please remember that.
Buffy leaves by leaping over the back wall. She doesn't want to walk by Connor again. Dawn goes back inside. She turns off the stereo. Connor sees her and smiles.
CONNOR: You're staying?
Dawn sits down to Connor's left.
DAWN: I told you I belong with you.
On the way home, Buffy crosses paths with Spike.
SPIKE: Things are quiet at your place. Everyone's asleep but Rupert, Xander and Anya. They're just wallowing in their own shock. I was heading home. No dice with Dawny?
BUFFY: She's fallen for him. Wild horses couldn't drag her away.
SPIKE: It's not like you think. Odds are Dawn's the one who wears the pants.
BUFFY: Right now she's wearing a mini-skirt.
SPIKE: Isn't this cute. You're turning into her father.
BUFFY: In case you didn't notice, I turned into her mother a while back.
SPIKE: Sorry. Forgot that Xander was playing daddy.
BUFFY: Xander is not the – that's nuts.
SPIKE: How bad does he want to put a shotgun in Connor's face and tell im to keep his hands off Dawny?
BUFFY: He did talk about threatening Connor with deadly violence to make him leave town.
SPIKE: See wut ah mean?
BUFFY: I don't know whether that's supposed to be funny or scary, and I don't want to try to figure out which. Anyway Spike, thanks.
SPIKE: For what?
BUFFY: For proving me wrong.
SPIKE: About what?
BUFFY: For making me trust you.
SPIKE: My pleasure. Just remember to keep Dawn's tryst in perspective. The Hellmouth, end-of-the-world, eternal triumph of evil perspective.
Connor and Dawn are lying on the couch. Connor's on top. Things are getting kinda hot and heavy. Connor kisses Dawn's neck as he puts his right hand up her skirt and his left hand up her shirt.
DAWN: Okay. Down boy. Connor, can you stop for a second?
He takes his hands off her.
CONNOR: What's wrong?
DAWN: Nothing. I mean, this is great. You and me, this is incredible. But I'm kind of, you know, new to this, and I just don't know if I'm ready.
CONNOR: You wanna leave?
DAWN: No. I want to be here with you. I love being here with you.
CONNOR: You just don't wanna sleep with me?
DAWN: I'm fine with sleeping with you.
CONNOR: You just don't wanna have sex. I understand.
DAWN: You do? [she's not aware that he slept with Cordy several times before they actually did it.]
CONNOR: Yeah. It's okay. Just as long as we're together. I don't want to be alone. And right now, you're the only person I want to be with.
Meanwhile, in Buffy's kitchen.
XANDER: How did Faith get paroled after three years? Isn't that a bit early for murderers?
GILES: The First was teleporting demons into the prison to kill Faith. She killed them all without much trouble. But the repeated demon infiltrations made her presence a risk to the other inmates.
ANYA: So the First freed Faith?
GILES: Unintentionally.
XANDER: Why unintentionally? She's safer in prison than she is on the streets? And they want to kill her.
GILES: Yes, but in prison she could do them no harm. No they have two Slayers to contend with.
ANYA: Does that mean she's coming here?
GILES: The understanding I reached with Wesley was that once Angel's soul has been restored she leaves Los Angeles and returns to Sunnydale.
XANDER: Connor AND Faith. I'm sure Buffy will love working with those two.
GILES: Connor will already have returned to Los Angeles.
Buffy enters.
BUFFY: She's not coming back.
ANYA: Who?
BUFFY: Dawn.
XANDER: Ever?!!
BUFFY: Tonight.
XANDER: Whew. That's a relief. No it's not! She's spending the night with - ! You LET her spend the night with him!?
BUFFY: I tried everything short of violence.
ANYA: But violence is what you're best at.
XANDER: And it's the only thing Connor understands.
GILES: Please try to put things in perspective. Last night, the world almost ended. We're trying to prevent the eternal destruction of the Slayer line. We can't worry about developments which are merely unsettling at a time when we are contending with events that could be catastrophic.
BUFFY: You're right.
GILES: Thank you.
BUFFY: And that's exactly what Spike said.
She walks into the hallway and goes up the stairs. Giles follows her.
GILES: Is that some sort of joke?
BUFFY: I was trying to offer you a compliment.
GILES: And it came out like a bloody awful insult. You can call me a lot of things. In fact, you can say anything derogatory about me that you wish. But don't EVER compare me to Spike.
Back in the kitchen.
XANDER: I always knew Spike would become more like Giles.
ANYA: Then why did Buffy sleep with him? I mean, if he was becoming more like Giles, you would expect her to become less attracted to him.
XANDER: Just when I thought I had done enough cringing for one night.
[Next: Cordy betrays and Angelus, does her old friends a favor, and deals Willow a painful blow. Also, Connor starts talking to FE Darla. Wonder what she'll want him to do.]