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INT. GILES APARTMENT / EXT. COURTYARD - DAY
THERE'S A KNOCK AT GILES' DOOR
TRACKING WITH a severely hung-over GILES wearing his
robe as he moves to answer the door to the courtyard. He rolls a couple
of ice cubes inside a damp wash rag with which he dabs his brow, temples,
the back of his neck.
GILES
(agitated)
Yes, yes… all right. Heard you the first time.
He opens the door.
REVERSE ANGLE to see it's WILLOW with TARA. Willow appears
particularly uncomfortable, not really looking at Giles.
WILLOW
Hey.
GILES
Hello. Sorry about the robe…
getting a bit of a late start.
WILLOW
Right.
TARA
Hope you're feeling all right, Mr. Giles.
GILES
(covering manfully)
Oh, quite well. Probably have
a bit of a brisk jog later…
He can't maintain the pose any longer, lets it drop.
GILES
(weakly)
Did you want something?
WILLOW
I forgot my laptop and the disks.
(off his blank look)
The encrypted disks Spike stole
from the Initiative? I still need to
decode them.
GILES
Of course. Come in.
They enter.
GILES
Were you planning on… working here?
(wincing a little)
Typing and… talking… because
that would be fine.
WILLOW
No, that's okay.
Giles registers her coolness as she crosses to her laptop,
leaving him and Tara standing together. They regard each other awkwardly
for a few beats.
GILES
Can I offer you something?
Some breakfast?
TARA
We already had some… Lunch.
GILES
Yes, lunch. Which comes after breakfast.
TARA
(not unkindly)
Usually.
Mercifully, Willow returns, disks in hand.
WILLOW
Got 'em.
More awkwardness. Then Willow addresses Giles -
WILLOW
So… See you.
GILES
Right. Good luck with that.
WILLOW
Okay… Bye.
TARA
Bye.
Willow takes Tara's hand and they leave. Giles watches
for a moment, then goes inside and shuts the door.
INT. TARA'S DORM ROOM - DAY
Willow's in deep concentration as she works at the computer.
Tara comes over with a cup of tea which she places on the table next
to her. Then Tara kneads Willow's shoulders trying to help her relax.
TARA
Maybe you should rest. Clear your head…
WILLOW
Can't. Not now. I think I'm onto
something. I've been assuming the
ciphertext was encrypted with an
asymmetric algorithm. Then it hit me:
a hexagonic key-pattern. It's -
(off her look)
I'm scaring you now, huh?
TARA
A little. In a good way. It's like
a different kind of magic.
Willow offers her a smile, doesn't see -
THE MONITOR, where letters and numbers on screen decrypt
themselves revealing blocks of text.
TARA
Hey! Look - you did it…
Willow turns back to the computer, confused.
WILLOW
I didn't. I haven't even
finished putting in the new code.
TARA
Well something's doing it.
WILLOW
It must be programmed to
self-decrypt at a certain point.
(irked)
That's so annoying. It's like
someone blurting out the
answer to a riddle just when you -
Willow catches Tara's bemused expression.
WILLOW
I mean - yippie! - we have the information.
Tara's reading the screen now. Her face clouds, concerned…
TARA
I don't know if "yippie"'s the
right response either. Read that -
THE PHONE RINGS, startling them. Tara answers it.
TARA
(into phone)
Hello? Um, yeah, she's right -
(reconsidering)
I mean let me check.
(to Willow)
It's Buffy.
She holds the receiver out to Willow.
EXT. QUAD - DAY
HIGH ANGLE as we see Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles
all warily approach each other from four separate directions.
BUFFY
(to Xander)
Where's Anya?
XANDER
Oddly, Anya opted not to join
us despite all the fun we had
at our last meeting.
WILLOW
And I don't think Tara felt welcome.
BUFFY
Why? Because of the things we said?
(off Will's hurt nod)
Will - who told you we were
talking behind your back. Specifically?
WILLOW
I - well -
(a little sheepish)
Spike - specifically. But -
BUFFY
(to Xander)
And who told you we thought
you'd be better off joining the army?
XANDER
(embarrassed)
That's not… exactly what he said.
Now Buffy looks to a blustering Giles.
GILES
You know, Spike can be quite
convincing when he -- I'm very stupid.
BUFFY
He played us. He wanted us to
fight. To split us up.
A beat as this sinks in. Then -
BUFFY
That's where it all came from.
The stuff we said the other night.
GILES
Of course. Piffle. Let's move on.
XANDER
I'm moving.
WILLOW
Me too.
BUFFY
Good. Great.
But there is no joy in their reconciliation. It's clear
from the uneasy silence here and the tension throughout this scene that
there's still a lot of hurt between them.
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT - DAY
CLOSE ON BUFFY AND WILLOW
Who are both wearing HARNESSES as, side by side, they
RAPPEL their way down the side of the elevator shaft. Buffy notices
that Willow looks a little frightened. A beat, then -
BUFFY
How you doing?
WILLOW
Super. What was I thinking,
using stairs all this time?
BUFFY
Okay. Good.
(a beat/then)
Will…
WILLOW
Really, Buffy, it's not as scary
as I thought.
BUFFY
No. I was going to say… I'm
sorry. I hate that things have been
so strained between all of us.
Willow takes this in. Then -
WILLOW
It's not your fault. Spike stirred up trouble.
BUFFY
But - I think trouble was stir
up-able. I think we've all sort
of drifted apart this year…
(off her silence)
Don't you?
WILLOW
(it's hard to admit)
Maybe a little. But, you know, first
year of college. Hard to keep the
high school gang together.
BUFFY
But I want it together. I miss you,
and Xander - and Giles.
(then)
And it is my fault. I've been a bad friend.
I got so caught up in my own stuff.
WILLOW
You're the slayer, Buffy. Your stuff is
pretty crucial.
BUFFY
I mean Riley. And - Riley, mostly.
Both of the girls are growing more emotional now.
WILLOW
I wasn't exactly Ms. Available either.
I kept secrets. I hid things from everyone.
BUFFY
That's not your fault. I mean, you were
going through something huge -
WILLOW
I wanted to tell you. But I was so scared…
BUFFY
You can tell me anything, Willow.
I love you. You're my best friend.
WILLOW
Me too. I love you too.
They try to rappel closer to one another, hug. But it
doesn't go very well. Instead they wait until they land on top of the
elevator - and practically fall into each other's arms.
BUFFY
Let's promise to never not talk again -
WILLOW
I promise. I promise…
Now XANDER, who was following close behind them, lands
on the elevator. Before he knows what hit him, Buffy and Willow are
all over him with the hugs and kisses.
BUFFY
Xander!
WILLOW
Xander! Wonderful Xander!
Xander reacts with confusion - then, with mounting anxiety.
BUFFY
Xander - you know we love you, right?
WILLOW
We do. Totally.
XANDER
Oh god. We're gonna die, aren't we?
WILLOW
No - we just missed you.
The girls squeeze him even more tightly. Xander, sandwiched
between his two hugging friends, finally goes with it and grins goofily…
Looks up at the descending Giles.
XANDER
(calling up)
Giles, hurry up! You definitely want
to get down here for this.
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