PROLOGUE:

In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.

The Sunnydale cemetery at night. The camera fades in on Andrew Hoelich's gravestone and slowly pans down to the ground in front of it. A bouquet of fresh flowers is there. A hand comes out of the freshly filled grave and claws for solid ground. Slowly Andrew pulls himself out of his grave, now a newly made vampire. He growls when his head clears the earth, and continues to climb out on his stomach. He crawls along the ground, pulling out his legs as the camera pulls back, and stops when he sees a pair of wide-spread legs  standing before him. He looks up to see who it is.

Willow:  That's right, Big Boy.

Cut to Willow.

Willow:  (smiles mischievously) Come and get it.

Andrew suddenly hops to his feet and roars at her. Taken aback by this, Willow takes a few quick steps backward. The vampire takes two steps toward her. Xander grabs him by the collar of his suit and pulls him back away from Willow. Andrew loses his balance in the process.

Xander:  I got him! Go!

Oz jumps out from behind a bush and starts to run toward them, but then hesitates a moment to get a stake from his jacket pocket.

Xander:  Any time now...

Andrew has regained his balance, and using Xander's grip to stabilize himself, kicks up with both legs and does a double pike snapping kick to Oz's face. Oz stumbles backward and falls. Without pausing, Andrew leaps up again and does a back tuck over Xander's head. Xander tries to rush him, but Andrew uses his momentum to deflect him into Willow. They both go crashing to the ground. Willow moans, but quickly sits up to watch Andrew run away.

Willow:  He's getting away! And... ow.

Oz scrambles to his feet and picks up his stake. He watches the demon running and holds his stake by the tip, preparing to throw it like a knife. Andrew leaps over a rock and continues running. Oz throws the stake. It whistles through the air as it flies end over end, and hits the rock, bouncing off of it with a loud thunk and flying wild.

Oz:  (shaking his head) That really never works.

Willow and Xander get up, and Oz turns to them.

Oz:  Are you guys all right?

Xander:  First of all, what was with the acrobatics? How did that happen?

Oz:  (looking in the direction that Andrew went) Wasn't Andy Hoelich on the gymnastics team?

Xander:  (gestures with his arm) That's right, he was! (shouting after Andrew) Cheater!

Oz gives Xander a brief look and then stares into the distance again looking for Andrew.

Xander:  (to Willow) Okay, and the, uh, second problem I'm having... 'Come and get it, Big Boy'?

Willow:  Well... (stammering) W-well, the Slayer always says a pun or-or a witty play on words, and I think it throws the vampires off, and, and it makes them *frightened* because I'm wisecracking. Okay, I didn't really have a chance to work on that one, but *you* try it every time.

Oz:  Uh, if I may suggest: 'This time it's personal.' I mean, there's a reason why it's a classic.

Xander:  (steps away) I've always been amazed with how Buffy fought, but... (picks up his bag) in a way, I feel like we took her punning for granted. (steps back)

Willow:  (gives Xander a scolding look) Xander, past tense rule.

Xander:  Oh, sorry. I just meant we in the past took it for granted and,

uh... we won't when she gets back.

Willow:  Do you think Buffy knows school's starting tomorrow?

Oz:  Tomorrow. (Willow looks at him) Right. Big day.

Willow:  (goes to Oz) Oh, I'm gonna be busy a lot. But, but only till 3:00, and that's when you usually get up.

Xander:  I can't wait to see Cordelia. (pauses) I can't believe I can't wait to see Cordelia.

Willow:  (smiling) I wonder what our first homework assignment's gonna be.

Xander puts his hands on his hips and gives her a look.

Willow:  Hey, you're excited over Cordelia, okay? We've all got issues.

Oz:  I guess we should pack it in.

Xander:  Yeah.

They all start to walk away from Andrew's grave.

Willow:  Wouldn't it be great if Buffy just showed up tomorrow? Like nothing happened?

Xander:  She can't just show up, she got kicked out.

Willow:  Well, yeah, I-I know. I just wish... I wish we knew where she was.

Cut to a Los Angeles beach. A wave crashes on the sand. In the far distance a pier stretches out into the water. Buffy steps into view, walking barefoot across the sand. She stops and looks out over the ocean. She closes her eyes and raises her head to just feel the sun on her face and listen to the waves come in. The camera pans down from her face to her waist. A pair of hands reach around her and clasp in front, and she covers them with hers. The camera pans back up to her face. She looks back at Angel leaning his head over her shoulder. She reaches up with her hand and brushes it against his cheek.

Buffy:  How did you find me here?

Angel:  If I was blind, I would see you.

She lowers her hand to take his again at her waist and closes her eyes. She embraces his arms tightly to her.

Buffy:  Stay with me.

Angel:  Forever. That's the whole point. I'll never leave. (whispering into her ear) Not even if you kill me.

Buffy's expression turns from contented to dismayed.

Cut to Buffy's tiny apartment in a run-down downtown Los Angeles neighborhood. She wakes from her dream and looks around sadly. Slowly she gets up and goes over to the window overlooking the street below. The camera pans away from the window, past the sidewalk and into the street. A police siren gets louder as it nears, and an instant later an LAPD squad car races across the intersection at the end of the block against the red light.

Opening credits roll. Buffy's theme plays.

Behind the counter at a small, sleazy diner known as Helen's Kitchen. The cook puts two burgers with fries up on the pick-up counter. A waitress walks past the counter to hang an order on the spinner. Buffy walks behind her to pick up the two burgers. She has her hair in two short braids to keep it out of the way. Her expression emotes a combination of sadness and boredom. She takes the two plates, walks them over to a nearby table and sets them down in front of two roughneck types. They both eye her lecherously. Buffy takes out her order pad.

Buffy:  Anything else?

Roughneck:  That'll do us, Peaches.

She tears off their bill and puts it on the table.

Buffy:  Pay at the counter.

Roughneck:  Sure you don't want me to work it off for you?

The other roughneck laughs at that. Buffy walks away, and as she goes he reaches out with his hand and slaps her on the behind. Buffy stops in her tracks. The two men just chuckle. She turns her head slightly, but thinks better of doing anything about it. She walks up to another table where a young couple is sitting. They are too into each other to notice Buffy.

Buffy:  You guys ready?

Rickie:  (still looking at his girl) Yeah. I think we're good. Um... (looks at Buffy's name tag) 'Anne'.

Buffy glances at them briefly, then looks down at her pad to take their order.

Buffy:  What'll you have?

Rickie reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of change.

Rickie:  Well, okay... What can we get with this?

He dumps the change onto the table. It's mostly pennies, a few nickels and dimes, no quarters.

Buffy:  Um...

Lily:  (to Rickie) Can we get cake?

Rickie:  (to Lily) Don't be stupid. We gotta eat healthy. We can't have cake. (to Buffy) Can we get pie?

Buffy:  We've got a peach pie. (writes the order) I can't guarantee there's a peach in it.

Lily:  (to Rickie) We shouldn't have blown all our money.

Rickie:  (to Lily) Come on, it was worth it.

Lily smiles. Rickie looks up at Buffy as the two of them hold out their forearms.

Rickie:  Hey, check this out.

Buffy looks at their arms as they hold them out together and sees they each have a tattoo of half of a heart with a ribbon across it. On their respective halves of the ribbon they have the other's name tattooed.

Buffy:  It's nice. It's nice and, uh, permanent. (smiles weakly)

Rickie:  (looking at Lily) Yeah, forever. (puts his arm around Lily) I mean, that's the whole point.

Lily looks at him and smiles. Buffy looks down sadly. A moment later she looks up at Lily, and there's a spark of recognition in her face. Lily looks up at Buffy and thinks she also recognizes her.

Lily:  Hey, do I know you?

Buffy:  (looks away) I don't think so.

Lily:  (looks harder) Really? Where're you from?

Buffy:  (avoids the issue) I'll get your pie.

Lily watches as Buffy goes to the cash register. Rickie distracts her, and they are in their own little world again. At the register Buffy puts down the order. The other waitress looks at her.

Buffy:   I'm not feeling great. (unties her apron) Do you think you can cover for me?

Waitress:  Sure. (looks at the order) Okay.

Buffy gives Rickie and Lily one last look and goes out of the diner.

Cut to the Sunnydale High School library. Students are busy looking for books they will need during the semester. Willow and Giles walk out of the stacks on the mezzanine level. Willow has several books in her arms.

Giles:  So, no joy at the cemetery?

They come down the stairs.

Willow:  No, he got away. We still have some glitches in the system, like... vampires getting away. But I think we're improving. (smiles)

They split up as Giles heads through the door to go behind the check-out counter.

Giles:  For God's sake be careful. (they meet at the counter) I mean, uh, I appreciate your efforts to keep the vampire population down until Buffy returns, but, uh... Well, if anything should happen to you and... you should be killed, I should take it somewhat amiss.

Giles scans Willow's books to check them out.

Willow:  You'd be cranky?

Giles:  Entirely.

Willow:  Well, we try not to get killed. (the phone in Giles' office rings) That's part of our whole mission statement. 'Don't get killed.'

She takes the books and stacks them together again.

Giles:  Good. (taps on one of her books) I think you're going to love that one. (goes to get the phone)

Willow picks the books up and starts out of the library. Before she can take more than a few steps, Cordelia comes up to her.

Willow:  Hi!

Cordelia:  Hey, Willow. (puts her bag on the counter)

Willow:  How was your summer?

Cordelia:  Oh, I can't believe you brought that up. Las Palmas was the nightmare resort. They order you around and make you have organized (makes quotes with her fingers) 'fun', and I used sarcastic quote marks. (takes her bag and starts out) Plus the fact there are cockroaches in Mexico big enough to own property. It was all about dread. How was your summer?

Willow:  Oh, it was okay.

They walk through the library doors and into the hall.

Cordelia:  Is Xander around?

Willow:  Well, uh, yeah. Somewhere.

They stop in the hall.

Cordelia:  Good. Great. I haven't seen him yet. (pulls her hair behind her ears) Do I look okay?

Willow:  Oh, yeah! (nods and smiles)

Cordelia:  (worried) How's my hair?

Willow:  Uh, it's good! (smiles)

Cordelia:  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. (worried) How's my hair?

Willow:  Still good.

She turns to leave and sees Oz.

Willow:  (smiles hugely) Hi!

Cordelia grabs her arm and turns her around to look at her.

Cordelia:  Maybe he's forgotten me. (lets go) Well, I'll just have to make him remember. (smiles) See ya. (walks off)

Willow:  (turns back to Oz) You came to visit me. (sees his books) You came with books? Are they books for me?

Oz:  Well, actually, they're kind of for me.

Willow:  I don't get it.

Oz:  Well, it's sort of a funny story. (they walk) You remember when I didn't graduate?

Willow:  Well, I know you had a lot of incompletes, but that's what summer school was for.

Oz:  Yeah. Well, you remember when I didn't go?

Two students run past them, and the camera follows them down the hall

past a teacher.

Teacher:  Whoa. Slow down, people. (they stop running) Summer is over. Be somber.

Willow and Oz walk by as the teacher goes back into his classroom.

Willow:  But you never said anything. How am I supposed to react to this rather alarming news?

Oz:  Well, actually, I was pretty much banking on you finding it cute.

Willow:  Well, traditionally, you know, repeating a grade isn't exactly a turn-on. (they stop by the lounge) A-and you're practically a genius. You're Mr. Test Scores. I-it's all a little weird.

Oz:  So the cute thing is out?

Xander rushes up to them.

Xander:  Have you guys seen Cordelia?

Willow:  Yeah. She's around here somewhere.

Xander:  I don't want to come on too geeky, but, uh, okay, I'm psyched! (flashes a big grin) There's gonna be some heat, if you know what I mean. So you guys might want to duck and cover. (Willow sighs) And I'm starting to be geeky. (grins again) Okay, bye. (he goes, but comes right back) How's my...

Willow:  (interrupts) Your hair is fine.

Xander:  (big grin) Cool. (darts away)

Larry and another jock walk behind Willow and Oz, and the camera follows them into the lounge.

Larry:  This is our year, I'm telling you. Best football season ever. I'm so in shape, I'm a rock. (they stop by the vending machines) It's all about egg whites. If we can focus, keep discipline, and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, Sunnydale is gonna *rule*!

Willow and Oz walk into the lounge on the other side of the tables.

Willow:  I'm trying to get to cute, really. But I'm still sorta stuck on 'strange'.

Oz:  Well, I'd be willing to bargain down to 'eccentric' with an option on 'cool'.

They walk past the raised area where the couches are. Behind them Xander and Cordelia finally meet. The camera closes in on them.

Xander:  Hey!

Cordelia:  Hey.

Xander:  Good summer?

Cordelia:  It was all right.

Xander:  Cool!

Cordelia:  (sounding disappointed) Yeah.

Xander:  Well, I'll see ya.

Cordelia:  Yeah, whatever.

He turns and goes down the steps. Cordelia walks the other way toward the hall.

Cut to Buffy's apartment. She's sitting calmly on the edge of her bed in her nightshirt, holding a can of Spaghetti-O's in her lap. The camera pans up from the can to her face. She just stares blankly into the room, breathing calmly.

Cut to the street in front of Helen's Kitchen. Buffy walks along the street. A homeless man is sitting on the curb. Ken, the local shelter operator, approaches the man and crouches down beside him, holding out one of his leaflets.

Ken:  Hey, how are you? Can I talk to you for a moment? I have something you might be interested in.

Buffy continues walking and passes a store with a recessed entryway. A homeless woman is cowering there.

Homeless woman:  I'm no one.

Buffy looks at the woman.

Homeless woman:  I'm no one.

Buffy looks away and hides her face from the woman by pulling her hair behind her ear. Her expression becomes very sad.

Homeless woman:  I'm no one.

Cut to the library. Giles is on the phone in his office.

Giles:  Yes? Thank you, thank you.

He hangs up, puts the phone down, grabs his coat and quickly comes out of the office.

Giles:  I have a lead.

Willow and Xander look up from doing their homework at the table.

Giles:  A friend in Oakland has a-a-a sketchy report of a... (grabs his overcoat) young girl fending off a group of vampires... (grabs his bag) about a week ago. (looks at his watch) There's a plane out in about an hour.

Willow and Xander exchange a look.

Xander:  And what makes this different from the last nine leads?

Giles:  Well, there's a meal on this flight.

Xander:  Look, I don't mean to poop the party here, it's just, you get your hopes all up, and then it's just a big fat raspberry, and I feel bad.

Willow:  But it's good that you're looking, though. You shouldn't give up.

Xander:  Oh, yeah. Definitely.

Giles:  Yes, one must try. Well, I-I-I should go. (rushes out)

Willow:  You don't think maybe he'll find her?

Xander:  I think he'll find her when she wants to be found.

They go back to doing their homework.

Cut to a street in L.A. at night. Buffy slowly walks along to her apartment. Behind her Lily follows her.

Lily:  Anne?

Buffy doesn't respond.

Lily:  (louder) Anne?

Still no response from Buffy.

Lily:  Buffy?

Buffy stops in her tracks. Lily catches up.

Lily:  Don't be mad. I won't turn you in or nothing. I guess you don't recognize me.

Buffy:  (thinks for a moment) Lily?

Lily:  I mean from before. I was calling myself Chantarelle then. I used to... (sighs) Well, I was in this cult that worshipped vampires. So

lame, I know.

Buffy:  Yeah... I, uh, I remember.

Lily:  But... you kinda saved us. I never thanked you or anything.

Buffy:  Did you tell anyone who I was?

Lily:  Oh, no! Not-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.

They start to walk again.

Buffy:  Do you, uh, do you live nearby?

Lily:  Well, there's a couple of places. Uh, they're abandoned, and a lot of people stay there. (pauses) So how come you came up with Anne?

Buffy:  It's my middle name.

Lily:  Lily's from a song. Rickie picked it. I'm always changing anyway. Chantarelle was part of my exotic phase.

Buffy:  It's nice. It's a mushroom.

Lily:  It is? That's really embarrassing.

Buffy:  Um, well, i-it's an exotic mushroom, if that's any comfort.

Lily:  Well, before that, I was following this loser preacher and calling myself Sister Sunshine.

Buffy:  What do they call you at home?

Lily looks away and doesn't respond.

Buffy:  I like Lily.

Lily:  It's cool for now. Hey, do you have any money?

They stop, and Buffy gives her a surprised look.

Lily:  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... 'Cause I'm broke.

Buffy:  I-I don't think so. I just kind of... I want to be alone.

Lily:  I didn't mean to bug you.

Buffy:  No! I-I didn't, I didn't mean that, it's just... Well, a-a lot of people like that, it's, it's too much.

Lily crosses her arms and looks very disappointed. Buffy looks down and starts to dig through her purse.

Buffy:  I-I do have the money, though, so, why don't you and Rickie go, and then maybe I could meet you some other time...

Lily raises her hands and waves off the offer.

Lily:  No. It's okay, it's okay. Forget about it. Just...

A homeless man rudely pushes his way between them. The two girls both stare after him.

Lily:  That's not very polite.

The man turns around and looks blankly back at them.

Buffy:  Are you okay?

Homeless man:  I'm no one.

He turns back around and walks into the traffic on the street. Buffy's eyes widen with concern. The man stops in the middle of a lane in front of an oncoming pickup truck and faces it, arms stretched wide. Buffy drops her bag and rushes into the street. The pickup driver honks his horn and slams on the brakes. The truck starts to skid. Buffy pushes the man out of the way in time to save him, but not in time to avoid getting hit herself. She gets hit hard in the legs by the bumper. Her body snaps down hard onto the hood of the truck and she slides into the windshield. She bounces back and slides off of the hood as the truck screeches to a halt. She hits the pavement, flips over backward and rolls to a stop in the middle of the street.

The street. The driver quickly gets out of the pickup cab and runs over to Buffy lying in the street, but Lily reaches her first. Buffy is on her hands and knees trying to get up. People from all around come rushing into the street.

Lily:  Are you okay?

Driver:  Jeez, I didn't see you.

He takes her by the arms and helps her up.

Lily:  Oh... Maybe, maybe you shouldn't move.

Driver:  Maybe you should lie down.

Buffy looks around nervously at all of the people gathering.

Buffy:  No, I'm fine.

Driver:  Somebody call an ambulance!

Buffy holds up her hands to fend of everyone's help.

Buffy:  No! I'm okay, I just... I need to go.

She runs off, apparently not the least bit hurt.

Cut to further down the street. Buffy is walking at a brisk pace as she goes around a corner. There she bumps into Ken and knocks all of his leaflets onto the sidewalk.

Ken:  Whoa! (sees his leaflets) Oh...

They both crouch down to pick up the papers.

Ken:  Where are you running to?

Buffy:  Sorry.

Ken:  Maybe I should ask, where are you running from?

They've finished gathering up his leaflets and stand back up. Ken takes a good look at Buffy.

Ken:  You're pretty new around here. Uh, you've got the 'look', though.

Buffy:  The 'look'?

Ken:  Like you had to grow up way too fast. What's your name?

Buffy:  Anne. (pushes past him to go)

Ken:  Hey, um, I'm Ken. Here, go ahead, take one of these.

He holds out a leaflet, and Buffy looks at it. It reads "Come home to Family Home", and has a drawing of a house and a silhouette of a man reaching out to hug a child.

Ken:  Don't be shy about stopping by. I mean, I guess you're not starving, but... we're not just interested in feeding the body. You might find something you're missing.

Buffy:  (looks up at him) I'm alright.

Ken:  (gives her a look of disbelief) Then why are you here? (Buffy looks away) This is not a good place for a kid to be. You get old fast here. (Buffy looks up at him knowingly) 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.

(Buffy looks down the street) Shouldn't have to be that way.

"Back to Freedom" by Bellylove starts playing as several shots of homeless people are shown.

Lyrics:  Ooo-ooo-ooo / On my way to freedom

A woman alone in the street, a boy and girl huddling together on the curb, a young boy begging from a businessman who rejects him as he walks by, a woman with a dirty face looking into the camera.

Lyrics:  I ask myself

Cut to the Bronze. Bellylove is on stage performing their ballad.

Lyrics:  Why did I come again? / To find my own way to freedom

The camera pans from above down to the singer, then over to the guitar player.

Lyrics:  And the change is gonna come / I'm gonna find my way / Find my way / Find my way back to freedom

The camera pans around behind the singer, showing the people in the club. It's not a busy night. Xander is lounging on a couch off to the side. Willow is sitting in the loveseat set at a right angle to the couch.

Lyrics:  I'm gonna find my way / Find my way / Find my way / Find my way back to freedom

The camera cuts closer to Xander and Willow.

Xander:  Boy, I'm glad we showed up for 'Depressing Night'.

Willow:  I wonder what she's doing right now.

Xander:  Oh, I know what she's doin'. Gabbing to all of her friends about her passionate affair with Pedro the Cabana Boy, laughing about me, thinking how she still might have feelings about me.

He glances over at Willow and sees her sadly raise her eyebrows at him.

Xander:  Oh, it's possible you were talking about Buffy.

Willow:  It's possible. The Bronze just never seems the same without her.

Oz arrives, hands Xander a drink and sits down next to Willow.

Xander:  Yeah, and the slaying isn't getting any easier, either.

Oz:  I don't know. I think we're kinda getting a rhythm down.

Xander:  We're losing half the vamps.

Oz:  Yeah, but... rhythmically.

Willow:  We just need to work on our timing, I think.

Xander:  (looks up) No, I know what we need.

Oz:  A Vampire Slayer?

Xander:  Next best thing.

Willow follows his gaze and sees Cordelia coming into the Bronze with a few friends.

Lyrics:  Ooo-ooo / My own way to freedom

Xander:  Bait.

Cut to the Summers house. Cut inside. Joyce is writing out a few bills. She hears a knocking at the door, and looks up. She goes over to the door and answers it. She is surprised at who she sees standing there.

Joyce:  Uh, hello.

Giles:  Hello. Um, may I... (gestures inside)

Joyce:  Oh, uh, of course. (waves him in) Come on in.

Giles:  Thank you. (slowly walks into the living room) I've, uh, just come back from Oakland. A friend of mine called with a lead. Stories about someone fighting vampires. (takes off his glasses) It, uh, didn't pan out, I'm afraid. (starts to clean them)

Joyce:  (sighs) No Buffy.

Giles:  No vampires. Bunch of school kids in heavy mascara listening to extremely silly music.

Joyce:  Well, thank you for going. (steps into the living room and crosses her arms) I can hardly, uh... (exhales and smiles weakly) I can hardly leave the house. I'm just afraid she'll call and she'll need my help.

Giles:  (puts his glasses back on) 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.

Joyce:  (lowers her arms) I just wish I could talk to her. The last

thing we did was fight. (fidgets with her hands)

Giles:  Joyce, you mustn't blame yourself for her leaving.

Joyce:  (nods) I don't. (takes a breath) I blame you. (exhales)

Giles is taken aback.

Joyce:  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.

Giles is speechless for a moment while he considers his answer.

Giles:  I didn't make Buffy who she is.

Joyce:  And who exactly is she?

Giles just looks at her.

Cut to Helen's Kitchen. Buffy is filling the sugar dispensers at the counter. Lily comes in and walks up to her.

Lily:  Buff... um, Anne? Can I talk to you?

Buffy glances up at her, but doesn't stop her work.

Buffy:  Look, this really isn't a good time. Can it wait?

Lily:  Rickie's gone. I haven't seen him for more than a day. I... he's never left for that long. I think something's... happened. Maybe something's happened.

Buffy:  Well, did you call the police?

Lily:  (sighs) Rickie skipped out on his parole. Uh, they would just cause more trouble.

Buffy:  (exhales) I don't know, did you, did you ask around?

Lily:  Can you help me?

Buffy:  Uh, I-I can't. (walks away)

Lily:  (follows) But... but that's who you are and stuff, right? I mean, you help people, and, you know...

Buffy:  I can't get into this. I'm sorry, Lily.

Lily:  You, you know how to do stuff.

Buffy:  I don't. (exhales) Not anymore.

Lily:  But... (whining) I don't know what to do.

Cut to the blood bank. Lily and Buffy come in.

Lily:  We gave blood lots of times 'cause you get a few bucks. And they have cookies!

Buffy:  You're a fan of the sugar rush?

Lily:  (smiles) It's nice.

Nurse:  Hi. Are you here to donate blood?

Buffy:  Uh, we're looking for a friend.

Lily:  Rickie T.? We come in sometimes.

Nurse:  Rickie, sure. Uh, he's not here.

Buffy:  Well, do you know if he's been in the last day or so?

Nurse:  Well, let me check the sheet.

Man:  (off camera) Ow!

Buffy looks squeamish as she looks over and sees him being stuck with a needle.

Buffy:  This'll probably go faster if we split up.

Lily:  (nods in agreement) Can I come with you?

Buffy:  Okay, where did I lose you on the whole splitting up thing?

Lily:  (smiles) Oh. Sorry.

Buffy:  I was thinking we could check out some of your hangouts and, um, I guess, meet later at my place.

Lily:  Okay.

Nurse:  Sorry, guys. He hasn't been here.

Buffy:  Thanks.

Nurse:  I'll tell him you were looking.

Buffy:  Great.

They leave the blood bank. The nurse loses her friendly demeanor as she watches them go. She swallows and begins to look around nervously.

Cut to a street at night. Cut to an abandoned building. A homeless man stirs from his sleep as he hears Buffy come in, but goes back to sleep when he sees it's not the cops. Buffy makes her way through the building, being careful not to step on anyone. Some of them watch her as she goes by. She walks slowly along a dark hall and turns a corner. She is startled by a man with his arms full walking the other way behind her. She continues along and soon notices an old man lying on the floor, dead. Next to his head is an empty bottle of drain cleaner, an apparent suicide. Buffy kneels next to him and feels for a pulse. Nothing. She puts his arm down and sees that there's a tattoo of half a heart on his forearm with a banner across the heart and the name Lily tattooed on it. Buffy looks at the old man, confused.

Buffy:  Rickie?

Buffy's apartment. Lily is there waiting for her to return. She finds Buffy's stuffed duck and picks it up to stroke it. Buffy opens the door, comes in and closes it behind her. Lily puts the duck down and steps closer to Buffy.

Lily:  Did you find Rickie? I thought of... Well, he likes to go to this movie house, you can get in around the back...

Buffy:  (interrupting) Lily... I think he's dead.

Lily:  (very sad and lost) But... he takes care of me.

Buffy:  I'm sorry.

Lily:  We're gonna get a place. His cousin can get him a job at the car wash.

Buffy:  Lily, there's... (exhales) there's something else. (sits on the bed) The, the person that I found... was old. He-he looked about eighty.

Lily:  Well, that's not Rickie!

Buffy:  I'm sure it was. I, I don't know how, but... it was like something drained the life out of him.

Lily:  Do you mean like a vampire?

Buffy:  No. A vampire couldn't accelerate the aging process. Maybe it was something in his blood. (has a thought) When was the last time you guys gave blood together?

Lily:  I don't understand. Maybe it's not Rickie, okay?

Buffy:  (stands up) Lily, this is something you're just gonna have to deal with.

Lily:  (flustered) But he didn't do anything wrong! Why would this happen to him?

Buffy:  That's *not* the point. (Lily calms a bit) These things happen all the time. You can't just... close your eyes and hope that they're gonna go away.

Lily:  Is it 'cause of you?

Buffy:  (confused) What?

Lily:  You know about monsters and stuff. You could have brought this with you.

Buffy:  (very annoyed) I didn't bring anything with me. And I didn't ask for 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!

Lily can't take it. She holds up her hands to deny what she's hearing and walks out of the apartment. Buffy sighs, regretting raising her voice to Lily.

Cut to the street. Lily stops walking and leans against the iron gates pulled across a storefront. Ken comes up behind her.

Ken:  Are you okay?

Lily shakes her head, barely able to keep from crying.

Ken:  Hey, it's okay. Maybe I can help.

Lily:  (sniffles) You can't. (breathes deeply)

Ken:  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.

Lily:  But Rickie is...

Ken:  Rickie? Say, are you Lily? (smiles) Right! He was talking about you.

Lily:  (faces him) You've seen Rickie?

Ken:  Oh, sure! Rickie's with us now.

Lily:  She said he was dead.

Ken:  Well, someone's 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.

Lily considers for a moment. Ken smiles at her, and she nods in agreement. He takes her by the arm and leads her away.

Cut to the blood bank. A shadow appears on the other side of the frosted glass of the door. The camera pans down to the doorknob being jiggled. Suddenly it gets ripped out of the door. Cut to a filing cabinet. Buffy is looking through it to find Rickie's records. She grabs it and a few others, closes the cabinet and takes the folders over to a desk. She turns on a lamp and begins to go through them. First she pulls out Rickie's and opens it. She scans his latest donation form. It looks normal, except for the word "candidate" in the comments box.

Buffy:  Candidate for what?

Behind her the nurse quietly walks in. Buffy opens another record and sees "candidate" again.

Nurse:  What are you doing?

Buffy:  Breaking into your office and going through your private files. (looks at another file) Candidate for what?

Nurse:  I'm calling the police.

She steps toward Buffy to get to the phone. Buffy reaches over to the phone and yanks it off of the wall. It falls to the desk with its wires torn.

Buffy:  Now, you've got a whole bunch of candidates here. I wonder if any of them are missing like Rickie. (faces the nurse) Gosh, I bet they are.

Nurse:  You're getting yourself in a lot of trouble.

Buffy:  I don't want any trouble. I just want to be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one. Instead, I keep getting trouble, which I am more than willing to share. (the nurse looks at her nervously) What are you doing with these kids?

Nurse:  Nothing. I just... I give him the names of the healthy ones.

Buffy:  Give them to who?

Cut to Family Home. Ken looks at Lily, who is wearing only a simple long tunic.

Ken:  Well, don't you look nice?

Lily:  I guess.

Ken:  Well, you don't want to wear your own outfit to the cleansing. It'll get soaked.

Lily:  A cleansing is like a baptism? Right?

Ken:  Not quite the same.

Indicates the way. She follows him.

Lily:  Will I see Rickie after?

Ken:  Oh, of course. He's waiting for you. He's very excited.

Cut to the Sunnydale cemetery. Xander, Cordelia, Willow and Oz walk along a pathway. Oz is twirling a stake.

Cordelia:  Why do I have to be bait? I'm always bait. Why can't Willow be bait?

Xander:  He's already seen Willow. And could you complain louder so that all the vampires leave?

Oz:  I think this is a good spot.

They all stop and look around.

Oz:  Is everybody packin'?

Willow and Xander each pull out a stake. Willow also has a cross.

Oz:  Let's do it.

Willow, Oz and Xander split up and look for places to hide, leaving Cordelia alone out in the open. Cordelia is not liking this, and she quickly makes tracks after Xander.

Cordelia:  I'm doing this for Buffy's sake. This has nothing to do with you.

Xander:  Yeah, like I needed that cleared up. (finds a hiding place) Go away. This is my hiding spot.

Cordelia:  Where do I hide?

Xander:  You don't hide. You're bait. Go act baity.

Cordelia:  What's the plan?

Xander:  The vampire attacks you.

Cordelia:  And then what?

Xander:  The vampire kills you. We watch, we rejoice.

Willow overhears from her hiding place and sighs.

Cordelia:  Everything's a joke with you.

Xander:  No, just our relationship.

Cordelia:  What relationship?

Willow looks down at her stake, contemplating using it on them. Andrew appears behind her and smiles evilly.

Xander:  Oh, that's right, I forgot. We actually want to bury that piece of the past, don't we?

Andrew begins to sneak up on Willow.

Cut to Family Home. The camera shows a small rectangular pool of what looks like black tar, and pans up from it to Ken and Lily walking into the room.

Ken:  We come to this station to wash away the past. Go ahead, kneel.

He indicates the edge of the pool, and Lily kneels down. Ken squats next to her.

Ken:  We let the water run over the sin and the pain and the uncertainty.

Lily:  It looks kinda... dirty.

Ken:  (smiles) Yeah.

Cut to the front door of Family Home. A man comes up to the door where another man is already listening to Buffy talk.

Buffy:  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, I'm bad with the... sex and the envy and that, that loud music us kids listen to nowadays. W... (sees that the guy isn't buying it) Oh, I just suck at undercover. Where's Ken?

The man tries to slam the door closed, but she kicks it open and it slams into his face instead. She marches in.

Cut to Ken and Lily. She reaches down to the black water in the pool. For a moment she hesitates, but then puts her hand in. The liquid is thick and pitch-black, and her hand disappears in it. Buffy swings open the door, banging it loudly into the wall. Ken looks at her and stands up.

Ken:  This is a private moment. If you could just...

Buffy:  How do you make 'em old, Ken? Do you feed on youth? What's the deal?

Ken:  Do you really wanna know?

Lily:  (looks back) What's going on?

Buffy is surprised to see Lily there. Suddenly something grabs Lily. She screams as she is pulled into the pool and disappears into the black slime. Buffy runs to help, but Ken grabs her and chokes her with his arm around her neck. Buffy grabs his arm and tries to snap her body back to make him release her, but instead they just both fall into the pool as well.

Cut to a dimly lit passageway. Buffy and Ken fall out of a black pool in the ceiling. Buffy briefly looks up at the pool, then looks around to see where she is. She sees Lily leaning against the wall holding her head.

Buffy:  Lily...

She rolls over onto her hands and knees and quickly crawls over to Lily. Ken is faring worse, apparently hurt in the fall.

Lily:  (in pain) Oh...

Buffy looks up at the pool in the ceiling. The waves from her fall through it are beginning to dissipate.

Ken:  Oh, my face!

Buffy looks over at Ken.

Ken:  Ow! My face!

He turns toward them and begins to pull it and his hair off.

Ken:  Do you have any idea how hard it is to glue that thing on?!