[Angelus breaks free of Cordy's control. Cecil (Angelus's vampire helper from Seattle) tells a story about Spike's and Dru's connections to some local rock stars. Connor asks Spike about Darla. And then Connor finds Darla waiting for him at his house.]
Angelus is sleeping in bed. Tina lies to his left, Alanna lies to his right, and Vala lies on top of him, resting her head on his chest. The window is to his right, and the shades and curtains are open. His right arm stretches out across Alanna's body. The sun's rays enter through the open window and set the back of Angelus's right hand on fire. This causes him to wake up. He sees the light.
ANGELUS: What the hell!!
He grabs Alanna – who is closest to the window – and tosses her to the ground on the left side of the bed before she can be burned. He wraps the blanket around Vala and Tina and pushes them to the floor near Alanna. The three vampires cower in terror and confusion under the blanket. Angelus gets out of bed and stands against the rear wall, just out of direct sunlight. He moves along the wall towards the window, making sure to keep the sensitive parts of his naked body out of harm's way. When he gets close, he reaches out and pulls down the shade. Then he draws the curtains shut.
ANGELUS: It's okay. You're safe. You can come out now.
His three consorts peek out from beneath the blanket. When they notice the sunlight is no longer coming into the room, they let go of the blanket, stand up and get on their silk robes. Angelus falls to the ground and clutches his scorched right hand.
ANGELUS: Why is this happening?
Dawn wakes up, rolls over and sees Connor's face. She kisses him softly on the lips, and he opens his eyes. Connor kisses her back.
CONNOR: Is it morning already?
DAWN: The sun seems to think so. And so does my watch. I gotta get ready for school. [she gets out of bed] Where's the bathroom?
CONNOR: Down the hall on your left.
Connor lies down again. Dawn turns on the faucet in the bathroom's sink. She splashes her face and notices there's no mirror in the room, which she finds odd. Then she fiddles with the taps and discovers something even odder. She runs back into Connor's bedroom.
DAWN: You don't have any hot water.
CONNOR: I know.
DAWN: This isn't a problem?
CONNOR: No.
DAWN: Okay, for you, that makes sense. You lived 17 years without hot running water. I'm not as used to roughing it. I'm gonna go home. I had a great time, Connor.
Connor gets out of bed and puts on a shirt. They walk downstairs.
CONNOR: Me too. Thanks for . . . everything.
DAWN: I'll see you after school?
CONNOR: Okay.
DAWN: Cool. [they're at the front door] I guess this means we're like boyfriend and girlfriend now.
CONNOR: I thought we were more than just friends.
He smirks. They put their arms around each other and kiss. Dawn eventually summons the will to pull herself away and walk home. Well, walking and skipping. She's quite giddy. Connor heads upstairs, scarfs down a half dozen or so of the pastries he took from a vending machine, then showers. Buffy's already awake. She didn't sleep too well. From the kitchen, where she's drinking coffee, Buffy hears Dawn open the front door. She heads into the hallway to greet her bright-eyed and happy-looking younger sister.
DAWN: See. I'm back. Anything happen while I was gone?
BUFFY: I don't know. You tell me.
DAWN: Oh. This is the part where you want details.
BUFFY: [gets a sour look on her face] No details. Please, no details. Just tell me –
DAWN: We didn't. Is that what you wanted to know?
Dawn goes upstairs. Buffy feels slightly relieved. She won't feel completely at ease until Connor has left town.
Gunn is awoken by the noise outside. He opens the shade, and can't believe his eyes. At first he thinks he's dreaming. People on the street are making noise. The darkness has ended. Car horns are honking. It's like when the Lakers win the title, without the looting or rioting. There was more than enough of that when the sun was gone. Wesley and Fred also wake up to this most unexpected of shocks. All of them get dressed and race down to the hotel. Lindsey and Faith are also happy, but they've only experienced a few days of darkness. For Wes, Gunn, Fred and Lorne, it's been weeks. Their jubilation is far greater. They rush over to their new headquarters at the hotel. Lorne, of course, enters singing.
LORNE: "Oh what a beautiful morning. Oh what a beautiful day. I've got a wonderful feeling . . . "
It isn't until they have met up that someone asks the obvious question.
WES: What brought the sun back?
FRED: The Beast blotted out the sun. Does this mean he's dead?
GUNN: We haven't seen him in almost a week.
LORNE: But if he's dead, who killed him? I know we didn't.
FRED: Angelus? They do have a history.
WES: It's entirely counterintuitive.
LORNE: Why would he end the darkness? He's a vampire?
GUNN: And how could he kill the Beast? He's not strong enough. He said so himself.
LINDSEY: Better yet, how could he do it last night? Unless this demon went into the Hyperion after Angelus came home.
LORNE: The barrier allows Angelus to hurt other demons, but they can't hurt him. Big Red might not have known. It would be the perfect setup.
GWEN: He woulda left a trail. [the others turn to see Gwen, who's just entered.] Busted walls. Big hole in the roof. I went by there this morning. Not a scratch on the building. And the lobby was spotless. And empty. Now that it's morning in Los Angeles, vamps probably don't feel like partying too much.
FAITH: As usual, I have no idea what any of you are talking about. Never met this Beast, and from what I hear, lucky me. And that makes me wonder why. You say Cordy controls this demon, and Cordy protects Angelus. Why wouldn't she send the demon to kill me? Is there a better way to protect your vampire than to kill a Slayer?
WES: That's a very good point.
LINDSEY: Maybe he was already dead.
GWEN: Maybe he's not dead. If killing him wouldn't bring back the sun, why should we assume he's dead? With the sun gone, there were so many demons in town he wasn't necessary. She could be saving him for when she needs him.
GUNN: Only if she's careless. Cordy likes to knock out people who can help us before we get a chance to meet them. The Ra-Tet was 80% mincemeat when we found out they were in danger. The Priestesses were cut up days before we learned they existed. Why let Faith find us?
WES: Unless she didn't expect Faith. Her arrival was entirely unrelated to events in Los Angeles.
LORNE: People, remember that we didn't expect Faith either. But we found her before Cordy did. The way demon gossip spreads, and with all those vampires running scared from the awesome slay-o-matic, I'm sure Angelus knew about Faith before we did.
FAITH: The Bringers also knew about me. I wasn't here 5 minutes before they jumped me. Either Cordy's way off her game or her favorite hitman wasn't around.
FRED: Let's assume the Beast is dead.
LORNE: I welcome that assumption. "Hey ho, the Beast is dead."
FRED: Let's assume his death had nothing to do with the sun coming back. Why is it back?
FAITH: Cordelia wanted to work on her tan? The Cordy I knew woulda done it.
WES: Or she wanted to lure Connor back.
LINDSEY: Let's dissect the hows and whys later on. Right now, Angelus is on the move.
GWEN: In the daytime?
GUNN: He's using the tunnels.
LINDSEY: And he's coming our way.
WES: That's not like him. Unless he wanted to surprise us when we least expected it.
LINDSEY: But he's not coming to us. He's going somewhere else in the neighborhood. Looks like he's settling in about a half-mile from here. I'll see if I can pinpoint the building. Now isn't that cute? He's right there.
Lindsey points out the window to a 20 story residential tower which is easily visible from the tower they are in.
FRED: Could he be spying on us?
LINDSEY: Windows are tinted. He couldn't see in.
WES: Do we know where Cordelia is living?
FRED: We checked her old apartment, so we know she's not there.
GUNN: You think Cordy's living near us, and Angelus is payin' her a visit? Does that bug give elevation?
LINDSEY: It can. I haven't utilized that option yet. I'll give it a try. [types some stuff into the computer] Here we are. Angelus is going up. Way up. Looks like he's gone to the top.
GWEN: She seems like the type who wouldn't settle for anything less than the penthouse suite.
WES: Are we saying Cordelia has been operating right under our noses?
GUNN: I think we're saying we've been operating right under hers.
Angelus gets out of the elevator and enters Cordy's apartment. It covers the entire top floor. The owners left town when the chaos started. Cordy moved in and redecorated. Cordy reclines on a bed covered in rose petals at the back of a large room. A quartet of four-foot tall demons who look like cute little blonde dwarves put freshly cut flowers in vases around the room, bring Cordy food and drink, and wait on her hand and foot. When she sees Angelus, she flips her right wrist, and the servants quickly disappear into other rooms.
ANGELUS: Eloi butlers. Very cute.
He looks nervously at the floor-to-ceiling windows which surround the room on three sides.
CORDY: The glass darkens when it gets bright out. You're safe here, my darling.
Angelus charges right up to Cordy.
ANGELUS: Why aren't I safe everywhere in town? Why is the sun back!?
CORDY: I blocked out the sun for you. When you left town, that triggered the end of the spell.
ANGELUS: You wanted me to leave town. Was it all a trick?
CORDY: Of course, the death of the Beast should also have ended the spell. I prevented that from happening as a favor to you. And I would have done you another favor if you had done what I wanted and killed the Slayer. I don't see Buffy's head. That's why you see the sun.
ANGELUS: You set me up!
CORDY: You failed. Was she too tough for you?
ANGELUS: Connor didn't want to help.
CORDY: Can't you kill her yourself?
ANGELUS: Definitely. But I couldn't get her alone. There were unforeseen complications.
CORDY: Her friends!? Please don't tell me Willow and Xander stopped you.
ANGELUS: Why didn't you tell me Spike had a soul?
Cordelia giggles for about 15 seconds.
CORDY: Spike has a soul? Like you did? [more giggling] I'm sorry. Looks like you've become a trendsetter. How did this happen?
ANGELUS: You should know. It happened last summer, when you were all-seeing.
CORDY: Then it didn't happen in Sunnydale.
ANGELUS: So what?
CORDY: So, I couldn't see everything at once. I could see any one thing I wanted at any one time. And why would I want to look for Spike? Why would I even want to look AT Spike? He's gross. And the Billy Idol thing is so two decades ago.
ANGELUS: Who's Billy Idol?
CORDY: Forget it. Spike wasn't in Sunnydale when I was looking down at it. He could have come back after you returned from the deep. Because once you were back, I watched NOTHING but you. So Spike was there. Who cares? You can take Spike.
ANGELUS: I can take Buffy, I can take Connor, I can take Spike. Separately. I couldn't work on Buffy with Spike standing behind me, ready to pounce when I wasn't looking.
CORDY: You mean Spike would protect Buffy? Are they a couple? He is a vampire with a soul. She can't have you, so she settles for second best. I feel so sorry for her.
ANGELUS: She spread for him before he had a soul.
CORDY: Girl must be desperate if she's hitting em up when they're soulless. I always suspected Buffy was a closet freak.
ANGELUS: She broke up with him. He got a soul to impress her. But she's with some other guy. And he still fights for her. What a sap.
CORDY: Who's the other guy?
ANGELUS: You'll love this part. Buffy's dating a black guy. He's a demon fighter. Shaved head. Goatee.
CORDY: Buffy's dating a Gunn clone!?
ANGELUS: He's got a better body. And his mother was a Slayer.
CORDY: That's kinky.
ANGELUS: And she was killed by Spike.
CORDY: Even kinkier. Did he know Spike boned Buffy?
ANGELUS: Nope. He didn't even know that I boned Buffy. It was great. They're finished. He thinks Buffy's a dirty, dirty girl.
CORDY: Can you blame him?
ANGELUS: I told the guy to come here and look up Fred. He's just her type. Never killed another human being. Brains AND brawn. He's the new high school principal. And Buffy works for him. He hired her as a guidance counselor.
CORDY: She hasn't even finished college. Why would he do that? [Angelus smirks and raises an eyebrow] He gave her a job so he could get in her pants! And now that he knows who's been there before, she is so fired. How did Buffy take the news about Connor?
ANGELUS: Stunned doesn't begin to describe her reaction. You should have seen her face when I told her he was my son. Connor didn't take the news about me and Buffy very well either. Especially considering how mommy and Buffy didn't get along.
CORDY: Connor has feelings about Darla?
ANGELUS: I think he's got a real Oedipal Complex. Sees Buffy as a homewrecker. My guess is he'll kill her for us.
CORDY: He does that, he's getting a BIG reward from me.
ANGELUS: What was the point of bringing back the sun, other than to prove how much of a bitch you can be. You're helping the enemy.
CORDY: I'm focusing their attention on you. Recess is over, Angelus. Time to show the world how great you are. Get to work. Make Angel's friends curse the day he ever met him.
Angelus walks away from Cordy and paces back and forth.
ANGELUS: I'm starting to wonder about our relationship. Maybe we should stop seeing each other. I think I'll find a woman, or several women, who can appreciate me. It's time you learned that you are nothing without me, Cordelia.
CORDY: And what are you without me?
She holds up the jar containing his soul.
ANGELUS: Idle threat. Like I said, you're nothing without me.
Angelus leaves.
As Dawn walks to school, Connor appears out of nowhere. He's wearing black slacks and a blue button-down shirt that looks new. Back in LA, he killed two vamps who were looting a store. Afterwards, Connor helped himself to some of the threads he liked.
DAWN: Miss me already?
CONNOR: Didn't you miss me? [he takes her left hand in his right hand]
DAWN: Of course. [gives him a little kiss as they walk]
CONNOR: Is school something you have to go to? You can't miss it today?
DAWN: And spend the day with you? As much as I'd LUV that, it would just give Buffy a reason to keep me away from you. Make her think you're a bad influence on me. Anyway, I played enough hooky last year and the year before that. I'm trying to put my juvenile delinquency phase behind me. You're still seeing me after school, right?
CONNOR: Of course. And then we could do something tonight.
DAWN: You're not talking about more vampire killing?
CONNOR: Think I'll take tonight off. We can meet at the Bronze. Say, nine?
DAWN: That would be great. And it's nice to know you're learning how to tell time. With numbers, not just the sun and moon and stars.
CONNOR: Time seems more important. Especially the time I spend it with you.
DAWN: You know something? For a guy who doesn't say much, you're really good with words. Almost too good. You don't talk like this with other girls, do you?
CONNOR: Not anymore.
While Angelus is gone and the vampires are still cowering in their rooms with their shades drawn, Oscar walks into Cecil's office.
OSCAR: Remember when I sold Cisco and AOL and Amazon in March of 2000.
CECIL: I dimly recall your incessant bragging about it.
OSCAR: I pride myself on being able to get out before the bubble bursts.
CECIL: And you think our bubble is bursting.
OSCAR: Not ours. Angelus's. The reason we came here has disappeared.
CECIL: One of the reasons. We still have Angelus.
OSCAR: As great as he is, with the sun back the scene's over.
CECIL: So you want to bail ASAP.
OSCAR: Don't you? We came in as a team. We should leave as a team. Divvy up the proceeds. I get two-thirds. You get one-third.
CECIL: Sixty-Forty.
OSCAR: And I get the Mustang.
CECIL: Deal. But we don't leave today. He'll be expecting that. He senses we're no longer loyal, we're dust. For now we stay. Show we believe in him. Then we bail when doesn't expect it and isn't in a position to stop us.
OSCAR: How long do you plan on maintaining the charade?
CECIL: Two days tops.
OSCAR: I can do that. Especially considering how big the take will be.
CECIL: That mean my idea for a protection racket bore fruit?
OSCAR: More than I ever could have imagined. Every bar and club I approached was desperate for safety. They paid big bucks for me to keep the vampires away. Then came the best part. I used half the money I got from the club pay the local vampires to stay away. Then I got those same vampires to pay me so I would allow them to feed in here. I got back everything I gave them. Free bribery.
CECIL: Selling grazing rights. That was the one part I couldn't pull off back home. We didn't have a vampire oasis like the Hyperion. Hell, no one does.
OSCAR: Speaking of home, are you heading back to Seattle?
CECIL: Maybe Vancouver first. Some place that's cloudy and Slayer-free. How bout you? Back to the Bay area and the old lady? Why didn't Janie come down here with you?
OSCAR: You know how she feels about this city. For her, San Francisco in the sun is better than Los Angeles in the dark.
CECIL: I should drop by to see you guys this summer.
OSCAR: She'd like that. By the way, did you hear Spike has a soul? Bummer.
CECIL: You're telling me. He was the coolest. I remember that Pearl Jam-Nirvana-Chili Peppers show we went to at Key Arena back in 91.
OSCAR: It was January 92. Janie and I were there with you guys. Brilliant show. And all the kiddies we could eat. Great times. Too bad only Spike and Drusilla could get backstage. Did Dru really get in a fight with Courtney Love?
CECIL: She did. Spike sired a zine writer who was there. We were together for a few years. She told me all about it.
OSCAR: Veronica was sired by Spike? I never knew that.
CECIL: Courtney and Dru: two alpha women who are both extremely aggressive and a little nuts. Well, Dru is more than a little nuts. They got to bickering. Courtney was on the verge of slugging Dru when Spike pulled her away. Said Kurt and Courtney weren't like Sid and Nancy cause they had talent. Dru was mad that Spike kept her from killing Courtney. Spike, of course, would have none of it because he was trying to suck up to Kurt.
OSCAR: Now there's a conversation I would have liked to hear.
CECIL: Veronica said that at first Kurt thought Spike was a colossal joke, the Billy Idol look and all. Spike was very hurt.
OSCAR: Bad poets tend to be intimidated by great ones.
CECIL: Exactly. But Spike played on his history, talked about seeing the Raincoats in '79, following the Sex Pistols across the U.S. in '78, catching Patti Smith at CBGBs way back in '75. Convinced Kurt he was cool. Which for Spike meant a lot. You know how insecure he can be around people he admires.
OSCAR: What did Dru do to pass the time?
CECIL: She pouted for a few minutes about not getting to kill Courtney. But then Anthony Keidis hit on her. She had her fun. Let's just say Dru was too kinky even for him. Then before he sired Veronica, Spike went off with one of the women from L7.
OSCAR: Ouch. He really does like it rough. Which must be why he got stuck on this Buffy girl.
CECIL: It's the dark side of the Slayer obsession. If he fails to kill her, he can't get her out of his head.
OSCAR: I don't think Spike has a Slayer obsession per se. Before that concert, I mentioned there was a Slayer working out of Oakland. Suggested he come back with me and make the area safe again. Spike wasn't interested.
CECIL: Obviously he doesn't feel the need to kill every Slayer. But once he sets his sights on one, she consumes him. If he can't kill her, he's stuck with her.
ANYA: You think Buffy's going to be fired today?
XANDER: He wouldn't. Robin's a decent guy.
WILLOW: And he doesn't have cause.
ANYA: She slept with the demon who killed her boss's mother.
XANDER: And what does that have to do with job performance?
ANYA: Buffy was dating her boss. Would firing her be sexual harassment? I think it would. You fire someone for the same reason you broke up with them, it looks suspicious.
WILLOW: When did our lives become all Jerry Springer?
ANYA: A little over a year ago. You haven't noticed?
Buffy nervously enters Principal Wood's office.
BUFFY: I'm sorry I hurt you.
WOOD: Wouldn't be fair for me to blame you for something you did before we even met. I think last night was shocking for both of us. Let's move on and never talk about it again.
BUFFY: Pretend it didn't happen? That's your solution?
WOOD: I'm not mad at you. I just don't understand you. And I don't want to. I came to Sunnydale to help you fight evil, not to date you. I think we should both get back to work.
At the far end of the commons, Dawn and Connor sit on one side of the table and Kit sits on the other. Elijah stands near the soda machine at the near end of the commons, glancing occasionally at Kit.
DAWN: Hey Kit. I think that guy's checking you out.
Kit looks over at Elijah. He turns his head, pretends he's not paying attention.
KIT: That's Elijah. We met last night at the Bronze. He seems . . . interesting.
DAWN: Restraining order interesting or you wanna get to know him better interesting?
KIT: The second one. I'll be right back.
DAWN: Take your time. Don't worry about us.
ELIJAH: Hi Kit.
KIT: Hey Elijah.
ELIJAH: Did you have fun last night?
KIT: Might have had more fun if you danced with me. Why didn't you? Usually when I guy comes on to you, he doesn't reject you five minutes later.
ELIJAH: I Wasn't rejecting you. I thought things were going good and I didn't wanna press my luck, risk looking stupid. You want to do something together sometime? There's a band at the Bronze on Wednesday, and if you didn't have any plans –
KIT: I might. Have plans. But if I do, I can always change them.
ELIJAH: That's great. I'll talk to you later. See ya.
Elijah walks away happy. Kit leaves the commons, as do Dawn and Connor and everybody else. They have to go to homeroom. Dawn and Connor cross paths with Amanda and PRESTON, who are also holding hands.
AMANDA: Dawn!? You and Connor?
DAWN: Yeah. We're kind of very together.
Amanda is surprised. Like the other Potentials, she thinks Dawn's too normal to draw Connor's interest. But now that she has PRESTON, she's not jealous.
CONNOR: Hi Amanda. [looks at PRESTON] Have we met?
PRESTON: More than once. So you're going out with Dawn?
Preston didn't think Connor was a one-woman guy.
CONNOR: She makes me happy. [looks at Amanda] Is he the guy you saved the other night?
Amanda's a bit nervous. She doesn't want to make Preston seem like a helpless wimp just because he's dating the girl who saved his life.
AMANDA: I like to think we saved each other. [decides to change the subject] You have a game tomorrow night, don't you?
PRESTON: Yeah. A home game. You coming?
AMANDA: Of course.
They go their way, Dawn and Connor go the the other way.
DAWN: When did she save Preston?
Connor whispers the story in her ear. Dawn laughs. Connor doesn't realize that he's brought two couples together (Amanda-Preston, Lacey-Edgar) by making the men jealous of him. He seems to have become something of an unwitting Cupid at Sunnydale High.
DAWN: She just kissed him, right there in front of everyone? That is so adorable! Amanda always wondered what she had to do to get his attention. Thank God for slaying. I have to go. Thanks for walking me to school.
CONNOR: Thanks for . . . walking me home last night. [smirks]
She kisses him. He kisses her back. Connor puts his arms around her waist, Dawn puts her arms around his shoulders, and they kiss for a little while longer. Kit's getting her books from her locker.
Dawn pulls her head back, takes a deep breath, sighs.
DAWN: I kinda hafta go now.
Connor quickly kisses her again and then walks down the hall. Dawn sighs again and watches him walk away. Kit comes up to her. Dawn turns to talk to Kit as they walk to homeroom.
DAWN: So when did you and Elijah hook up?
KIT: Forget about us. When did you and Connor get so serious? I didn't even know you were an item, let alone making puppy love googly eyes at one another.
DAWN: It was last night. We did a lot of talking.
KIT: I saw you and Connor at the Bronze doing a lot of something else.
DAWN: Well, there was also the . . . not talking part. I can't explain. We just clicked perfectly. I couldn't believe how great things were going. I feel so lucky. Connor is absolutely amazing.
KIT: Are we talking about more than looks?
DAWN: Yeah. Everything about his is unbelievable. [she's right. Kit wouldn't believe Connor's story if Dawn told it to her.] Sweet and kind and passionate and understanding. And the looks aren't bad. Okay, they're also amazing.
KIT: He does have the face of an angel.
DAWN: No. His is better.
Connor barges into Spike's crypt. He wakes up, startled and ready for a fight. He grabs an ax.
CONNOR: I'm not here to fight.
SPIKE: Then you won't mind if I hold onto this until I believe you. Don't touch anything wooden.
CONNOR: I don't want to kill you anymore.
SPIKE: You understand why I don't trust you. I have no problem with people who want to kill me, as long as they're up front about it. I do have a problem with treachery. You father never did, in case you're interested. If you hate Angelus so much, why are you taking after him?
Connor gets mad. But he decides to let it pass.
CONNOR: I'm not here to talk about my dad. I want to talk to you about my mom.
SPIKE: Darla.
Spike puts down the ax. He realizes Connor is too curious to kill.
CONNOR: You knew her.
SPIKE: For twenty years. Can't say I know her well, though. Truth be told, the woman couldn't stand me. Thought I was rude and boorish and uncivilized. Always getting the gang in trouble. Lets just say I wasn't her type. Doesn't mean I didn't like her. I admired your mum. As vampires go, she was a great lady. A true class act. Graceful and elegant and beautiful. She had a way of gliding across a room, while I had a knack for stomping across a room. We did have one thing in common. We could love.
CONNOR: You can't love without a soul.
SPIKE: It's hard. But not impossible. Lots a vampires THINK they can love. Most of em can't. They'll love someone when that person is around and useful to them. Once he isn't, she forgets about him. It's opportunistic love, which isn't the real thing. [he talking about Dru.] Real love isn't just about pleasure. It's about suffering, loving someone when they can't do you any good, when they don't even want to be around you. Your mum and I were the only vampires I know of who could love like that. Darla loved Angelus. And Angel. She tried to stay with him even after he got his soul. And she never stopped loving him. You'd think a century would be enough time to get over a bloke. With your mother it wasn't. Even when it brought her nothing but loneliness and pain, even when there was no chance he'd want her back, your mum loved your dad. And I'm sure she loved you. Sacrificing herself so someone she loved could live, – that's certainly something the Darla I knew would have done. And she's the only vampire I know who could have. Guess that makes you lucky she's your mum.
CONNOR: I know she loved me. I didn't know she loved my dad. Thanks.
SPIKE: You're welcome. By the way, how are things with Dawn?
He's trying to make sure Connor's intentions are not as ignoble as Buffy fears.
CONNOR: Great. She's great. Never met anyone like her. She makes me very happy. I think she's the reason I came here.
SPIKE: That's sweet. Except for the fate part, which is always bollocks. You care about Dawn?
CONNOR: Of course. More than anyone in the world.
This isn't necessarily saying much, because right now Connor doesn't care about his dad, or his dad's friends, or Buffy and any of her friends.
SPIKE: You sound sincere enough. Now please sod off and let me get back to sleep.
CONNOR: It was nice to hear someone else say good stuff about my mother.
SPIKE: It's nothing. I've always had a soft spot for strong women.
Connor walks home. He's very happy. His world is looking up. When he enters his house, he is startled to see someone standing in the great hall.
CONNOR: Mom!?
[Next: While FE Darla turns Connor into an agent of the First, Elijah goes into the school basement for a smoke and meets FE Spike, as well as some other dead people.]