"That's right, big boy." "Come and get it." "I got him!" "Go!" "Anytime now!" "He's getting away!" "And... ow." "That really never works." " Are you guys all right?" " First of all, what was with the acrobatics?" "How did that happen?" "Wasn't Andy Hoelich on the gymnastics team?" "That's right, he was." "Cheater!" "OK, and the second problem I'm having..." " "Come and get it, big boy"?" " Well, the Slayer always says a pun or a witty play on words, and I think it throws the vampires off." "It makes 'em frightened because I'm wise cracking." "OK, I didn't have a chance to work on that one, but you try it every time." "If I may suggest, "This time it's personal"." "I mean, there's a reason why it's a classic." "I've always been amazed with how Buffy fought, but... in a way I feel we took her punning for granted." "Xander, Past Tense Rule." "Oh, sorry, I just meant we in the past took it for granted and, um... we won't when she gets back." "Do you think Buffy knows school's starting tomorrow?" "Tomorrow." "Right." "Big day." "Oh, I'm gonna be busy a lot." "But only till three, and that's when you usually get up." "I can't wait to see Cordelia." "I can't believe I can't wait to see Cordelia." "I wonder what our first homework assignment's gonna be." "Hey, you're excited over Cordelia, OK?" "We've all got issues." "I guess we should pack it in." "Yeah." "Wouldn't it be great if Buffy just showed up tomorrow?" "Like nothing happened?" " She can't just show up." "She got kicked out." " Well, yeah, I know." "I just wish..." "I wish we knew where she was." " How did you find me here?" " If I was blind, I would see you." " Stay with me." " For ever." "That's the whole point." "I'll never leave." "Not even if you kill me." " Anything else?" " That'll do us, Peaches." "Pay at the counter." "Sure you don't want me to work it off for ya?" " You guys ready?" " Yeah." "I think we're good." "Um..." "Anne." " What'll you have?" " Well, OK..." "What can we get with... this?" " Um..." " Can we get cake?" "Don't be stupid." "We gotta eat healthy." "We can't have cake." " Can we get pie?" " We've got a peach pie." " I can't guarantee there's a peach in it." " We shouldn't have blown all our money." "Come on!" "It was worth it." "Hey... check this out." "It's nice." "It's nice and, uh... permanent." "Yeah." "For ever." "I mean, that's the whole point." " Hey, do I know you?" " I don't think so." " Really?" "Where are you from?" " I'll get your pie." "I'm not feeling great." "Can you cover for me?" "Sure." "OK." " So, no joy at the cemetery?" " No, he got away." "We still have some glitches in the system, like... vampires getting away." "But I think we're improving." "For God's sake, be careful." "I appreciate your efforts to keep the vampire population down until Buffy returns, but..." "Well, if anything should happen to you and... you should be killed, I'd take it somewhat amiss." " You'd be cranky?" " Entirely." "We try not to get killed." "That's part of our whole mission statement." " "Don't get killed."" " Good." "I think you're gonna love that one." " Hi!" " Hey, Willow." " How was your summer?" " I can't believe you brought that up." "Las Palmas was the nightmare resort." "They order you around and make you have organised "fun", and I use sarcastic quote marks." "Plus the fact there are cockroaches in Mexico big enough to own property." "It was all about dread." "How was your summer?" " Oh, it was OK." " Is Xander around?" " Well, uh, yeah." "Somewhere." " Good." "Great." "I haven't seen him yet." " Do I look OK?" " Oh, yeah!" " How's my hair?" " It's good!" "He didn't meet anybody over the summer, did he?" "No!" "Who's he gonna meet in Sunnydale, but monsters and stuff?" "But then again he's always been attracted to monsters." " How's my hair?" " Still good." " Hi!" " Maybe he's forgotten me." "Well, I'll just have to make him remember." "See ya!" "You came to visit me." "You came with books?" "Are they books for me?" " Well, actually, they're kind of for me." " I don't get it." "It's sort of a funny story." "You remember when I didn't graduate?" "Well, you had a lot of incompletes, but that's what summer school was for." "Yeah." "Well, you remember when I didn't go?" "Whoa!" "Slow down, people." "Summer is over." "Be sombre." "But you never said anything." "How am I supposed to react to this alarming news?" "Well, I was pretty much banking on you finding it cute." "Well, traditionally, you know, repeating a grade isn't exactly a turn-on." "And you're practically a genius." "You're Mr Test Scores." "It's all a little weird." " So the cute thing is out?" " Have you guys seen Cordelia?" "Yeah." "She's around here somewhere." "I don't wanna come on too geeky, but, uh..." "OK, I'm psyched." "There'll be some heat, if you know what I mean." "So you might wanna duck and cover." "And I'm starting to be geeky." "OK, bye." " How's my...?" " Your hair is fine." "Cool." "This is our year, I'm telling you." "Best football season ever." "I'm so in shape, I'm a rock." "It's all about egg whites." "If we can focus, keep discipline, and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, Sunnydale is gonna rule!" "I'm trying to get to cute, really." "But I'm still sorta stuck on strange." "Well, I'd be willing to bargain down to eccentric, with an option on cool." " Hey!" " Hey." " Good summer?" " It was all right." "Cool!" "Yeah." " Well, I'll see ya." " Yeah." "Whatever." "Hey, how are you?" "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "I'm no one." "I'm no one." "I'm no one." "Yes?" "Thank you." "Thank you." "I have a lead." "A friend in Oakland has a sketchy report of a... a young girl fending off a group of vampires about a week ago." "There's a plane out in about an hour." "And what makes this different from the last nine leads?" "I believe there's a meal on this flight." "I don't mean to poop the party here, it's just, you get your hopes up and then it's just a big fat raspberry, and I feel bad." "But it's good that you're looking, though." "You shouldn't give up." " Oh, yeah." "Definitely." " Yes, one must try." "I should go." "You don't think maybe he'll find her?" "I think he'll find her when she wants to be found." "Anne?" "Anne?" "Buffy?" "Don't be mad." "I won't turn you in or nothing." "I guess you don't recognise me." "Lily?" "I mean from before." "I was calling myself Chanterelle then." "I used to..." "Well, I was in this cult that worshiped vampires." "So lame, I know." "Yeah..." "I, uh, I remember." "You kinda saved us." "I never thanked you or anything." "Did you tell anyone who I was?" "Oh, no!" "Not even Rickie." "I mean, I was so surprised to see you here, waiting tables." "But I wouldn't tell." "I know how it is when you gotta get lost." "Do you, uh, do you live nearby?" "Well, there's a couple of places." "Uh, they're abandoned, and a lot of people stay there." "So how come you came up with Anne?" " It's my middle name." " Lily's from a song." "Rickie picked it." "I'm always changing anyway." "Chanterelle was part of my exotic phase." "It's nice." "It's a mushroom." "It is?" "That's really embarrassing." "Um, well, it's an exotic mushroom, if that's any comfort." "Before that, I was following this loser preacher and calling myself Sister Sunshine." "What do they call you at home?" " I like Lily." " It's cool for now." "Hey, do you have any money?" "I didn't mean that like..." "Well, I just mean..." "I know this guy." "He's gonna have this kinda rave thing in his basement." "We could go." "I mean, I could show you if you had..." "Cos I'm broke." "I don't think so." "I just kinda..." " I wanna be alone." " I didn't mean to bug you." "No, I didn't mean that, it's just..." "A lot of people like that, it's too much." "I do have the money, though, so you and Rickie go, and maybe I could..." "No." "It's OK." "Forget about it." "Just..." "That's not very polite." "Are you OK?" "I'm no one." "Are you OK?" "Jeez, I didn't see you." " Maybe you shouldn't move." " You should lie down." " Somebody call an ambulance!" " I'm OK, I just..." "I need to go." " Where are you running to?" " Sorry." "Maybe I should ask..." "where are you running from?" "You're pretty new around here." " You've got the look, though." " The look?" "Like you had to grow up way too fast." " What's your name?" " Anne." "Hey, um..." "I'm Ken." "Here, go ahead, take one of these." "Don't be shy about stopping by." "You're not starving, but... we're not just interested in feeding the body." "You might find something you're missing." "I'm all right." "Then why are you here?" "This is not a good place for a kid to be." "You get old fast here." "The thing that drains the life out of them is despair." "I mean, kids come here, and they got nothing to go home to, and... this ends up being the last stop for a lot of them." "Shouldn't have to be that way." "# Ooo-ooo-oooh" "# On my way to freedom" "# I ask myself" "# Why did I come again?" "# To find my" "# Own way to freedom" "# And the change" "# Is gonna come" " # I'm gonna find my way - # Find my way" "# Find my way back to freedom" " # I'm gonna find my way - # Find my way" "# Find my way" "# Find my way back to freedom" "Boy, I'm glad we showed up for Depressing Night." " I wonder what she's doing right now." " Oh, I know what she's doin'." "Gabbing to friends about her passionate affair with Pedro the cabana boy, laughing about me, thinking how she still might have feelings about me." " Oh, it's possible you're talking about Buffy." " It's possible." "The Bronze just never seems the same without her." " And the slaying isn't getting any easier." " I don't know." " I think we're getting a rhythm down." " We're losing half the vamps." "Yeah, but... rhythmically." "We just need to work on our timing, I think." " I know what we need." " A vampire slayer?" "Next best thing." "Bait." " Hello." " Hello." "May I?" "Of course." "Come on in." "I've just come back from Oakland." "A friend of mine called with a lead." "Stories about someone fighting vampires." "It didn't pan out, I'm afraid." " No Buffy." " No vampires." "Bunch of school kids in heavy mascara listening to extremely silly music." "Well, thank you for going." "I can hardly, uh..." "I can hardly leave the house." "I'm just afraid she'll call and she'll need my help." "Buffy is the most capable child I've ever known." "I mean, she may be confused, unhappy, but I honestly believe she's in no danger." "I just wish I could talk to her." "The last thing we did was fight." "Joyce, you mustn't blame yourself for her leaving." "I don't." "I blame you." "You've been this huge influence on her, guiding her." "You had this whole relationship with her behind my back." "I feel like you've taken her away from me." "I didn't make Buffy who she is." "And who exactly is she?" "Buff... um, Anne?" "Can I talk to you?" " Look, this isn't a good time." "Can it wait?" " Rickie's gone." "I haven't seen him for more than a day." "He's never left for that long." "I think something's... happened." "Maybe something's happened." "Did you call the police?" "Rickie skipped out on his parole." "They would just cause more trouble." "I don't know." "Did you ask around?" "Can you help me?" "I can't." "But that's who you are and stuff, right?" "I mean, you help people, you know..." "I can't get into this." "I'm sorry, Lily." " You know how to do stuff." " I don't." "Not any more." "But..." "I don't know what to do." "We gave blood lots of times cos you get a few bucks." " And they have cookies!" " You're a fan of the sugar rush." " It's nice." " Hi." "Are you donating blood?" " We're looking for a friend." " Rickie T?" "We come in sometimes." "Rickie, sure." "He's not here." "Do you know if he's been in in the last day or so?" "Let me check the sheet." "This'll probably go faster if we split up." "Can I come with you?" "OK, where did I lose you on the whole splitting-up thing?" "Sorry." "I was thinking we could check out some of your hang-outs and," "I guess, meet later at my place." " OK." " Sorry, guys." " He hasn't been here." " Thanks." " I'll tell him you were looking." " Great." "Rickie?" "Did you find Rickie?" "I thought of..." "He likes to go to this movie house." "You can get in around the back..." "Lily..." "I think he's dead." "But... he takes care of me." "I'm sorry." "We're gonna get a place." "His cousin can get him a job at the car wash." "Lily, there's... there's something else." "The person that I found..." " was old." "He looked about 8O." " Well, that's not Rickie!" "I'm sure it was." "I don't know how, but... it was like something drained the life out of him." " Do you mean like a vampire?" " No." "A vampire couldn't accelerate the ageing process." "Maybe it was something in his blood." "When was the last time You guys gave blood together?" "I don't understand." "Maybe it's not Rickie, OK?" " You're gonna have to deal with this." " He didn't do anything wrong!" " Why would this happen to him?" " That's not the point." "Things happen all the time." "You can't just close your eyes and hope they'll go away." "Is it cos of you?" "What?" "You know about monsters and stuff." "You could've brought this with you." "I didn't bring anything with me." "And I didn't ask you to come to me with your problems." "I just wanted to be left alone." "If you can't deal, then don't lay it off on me!" "Are you OK?" "Hey, it's OK." "Maybe I can help." "You can't." "Look, I know you all think I'm a big square handing out leaflets about hope." "But hope is a real thing, just like despair." "And hope can fill up a part of you that's missing." "But Rickie is..." "Rickie?" "Say, are you Lily?" "Right!" "He was talking about you." " You've seen Rickie?" " Oh, sure!" "Rickie's with us now." "She said he was dead." "Well, someone sure handed you a tall tale." "Rickie's no more dead than I am." "Why don't you come to Family Home?" "We'll get you taken care of." "Candidate for what?" "What are you doing?" "Breaking into your office and going through your private files." "Candidate for what?" "I'm calling the police." "You've got a bunch of candidates here." "I wonder if any are missing, like Rickie." " Gosh, I bet they are." " You're getting yourself in a lot of trouble." "I don't want any trouble." "I just wanna be alone and quiet in a room with a... chair and a fireplace and a tea cosy." "I don't even know what a tea cosy is, but I want one." "Instead, I keep getting trouble, which I am more than willing to share." " What are you doing with these kids?" " Nothing." "I just..." "I give him the names of the healthy ones." "Give them to who?" "Well, don't you look nice?" "I guess." "You don't wanna wear your own outfit to the cleansing." "It'll get soaked." "A cleansing is like a baptism?" "Right?" " Not quite the same." "Will I see Rickie after?" "Of course." "He's waiting for you." "He's very excited." "Why do I have to be bait?" "I'm always bait." "Why can't Willow be bait?" " He's already seen Willow." "And could you complain louder so that all the vampires leave?" "I think this is a good spot." "Is everybody packing'?" "Let's do it." "I'm doing this for Buffy's sake." "This has nothing to do with you." " Yeah, like I needed that cleared up." " Go away." "This is my hiding spot." " Where do I hide?" " You don't hide." "You're bait." " Go act baity." " What's the plan?" " The vampire attacks you." " Then what?" "The vampire kills you." "We watch, we rejoice." " Everything's a joke with you." " No, just our relationship." " What relationship?" " Oh, I forgot." "We wanna bury that piece of the past, don't we?" "We come to this station to wash away the past." "Go ahead." "Kneel." "We let the water... run over the sin, and the pain, and the uncertainty." "It looks kinda... dirty." "You know, I just..." "I woke up, and I looked in the mirror, and I thought:" "hey, what's with all the sin?" "I need to change." "I'm..." "I'm dirty." "I'm bad with the... sex and the envy and that loud music us kids listen to nowadays." "Oh, I just suck at undercover." "Where's Ken?" " This is a private moment." "If you could..." " How do you make 'em old?" " Do you feed on youth?" "What's the deal?" " Do you really wanna know?" "What's going on?" "Lily!" "Oh, my God!" "My face!" "Ow!" "My face!" "Do you have any idea how hard it is to glue that thing on?" "!" "Guards!" "Welcome to my world." "I hope you like it." "You're never leaving." "Let me ask you:" "how long did it take you to forget me?" "Were you taxiing down the runway, or in the cab?" "Oh, yeah, Mr Faithful!" "You probably met up with some hot little Inca mummy girl." "Yeah!" "I heard about her." "Help!" "Xander!" "Lily?" "I always knew I would come here sooner or later." " I knew I belonged here." " Where?" " Hell." " This isn't Hell." "Isn't it?" "What is Hell but the total absence of hope?" "The substance, the tactile proof of despair." "You're right, Lily." "This is where you've been heading all your life." "Just like Rickie." " Rickie?" " He forgot you." "Well, it took him a long time." "He remembered your name years after he'd forgotten his own." " But, in the end..." " Years?" "But..." "Oh!" "Interesting thing:" "time moves more quickly here than in your reality." "A hundred long years will pass here." "On Earth, it's just a day." "So you just work us till we're too old and spit us back out." "That's the plan." "You see, Lily, you'll die of old age before anyone wonders where you went." "Not that anyone will." "That's why we chose you." " You didn't choose me." " No." "But..." "I know you," "Anne." "So afraid." "So pathetically determined to run away from whatever it is you used to be." "To disappear." "Congratulations." "You got your wish." "You work and you live." "That is all." "You do not complain or laugh or do anything besides work." "Whatever you thought, whatever you were, does not matter." "You are no one now." "You mean nothing." " Who are you?" " Aaron." "Who are you?" "No one." " Who are you?" " No one." "Who are you?" "I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." "And you are?" "Anyone who's not having fun here, follow me." "There's no way we can get back up there without meeting new people." "OK." "Lily, when those guards leave, and they will leave," "I want you to take these people and get them up there, OK?" " Fast and quiet." " You're leaving me?" "But..." "Lily..." "You can handle this." "Cos I say so." "We've gone public." "OK, get them out." "Go!" "Quiet!" " I'm sorry I said this was your fault." " Lily, this can wait." " Well, in case we die..." " Go!" "After her!" "Come on, come on, everybody go!" "Run!" "Humans don't fight back." "Humans don't fight back!" "That's how this works!" "Get down there!" "One of you fights and you all die!" "That... was not... permitted." "Yeah, but it was fun." "You've got guts." "I think I'd like to slice you open and play with them." "Let everyone know!" "This... is the price of rebellion!" "They'll be coming." "OK, this works... the abs and the glutes." "I'm gonna feel this for a week!" "You've ruined..." " You..." " Hey, Ken," "Wanna see my impression of Gandhi?" " Gandhi?" " Well, you know, if he was really pissed off." "What do we do about...?" "Let me give you the tour." "This concludes our tour." "It's really nice." "All the rent's paid up for the next three weeks." "I spoke to Mitch at the diner." "He said you can start on Thursday." "He's, uh... he's kind of... repulsive, but, uh..." "he won't give you a hard time." "I'll call and check up on you." "I'm not... great at taking care of myself." "Gets easier." "Takes practice." "Hey..." "Can I be Anne?"