INT. GILES' CAR - DAY

ON DAWN, pointing out the window.

DAWN
Hey, there's Willow and Tara!

GILES
Oo, they haven't seen my new car.

INT. SUNNYDALE STREET - DAY

ON WILLOW and TARA on the sidewalk as GILES' car pulls up next to them. As the others get out…

WILLOW
Wow. Sharp wheels, Giles.

TARA
The rest of the car's nice, too.

GILES
Thank you. Handles like a dream.

BUFFY
(to Willow)
Where you two headed?

WILLOW
Magic shop. Had some charms on back order.

DAWN comes over.

DAWN
Willow, hi!

WILLOW
(hugging her)
Hey, Miss Dawny. How's my favorite chess
partner? Still leading with your knight?

DAWN nods shyly.

INT. DAWN'S BEDROOM - THAT MORNING

Dawn, writing away.

DAWN (V.O.)
Willow's the awesomest person. She's the
only one I know who likes school as much as me.

INT. SUNNYDALE STREET - CONTINUOUS (DAY)

Dawn watches as Willow crosses to Buffy and Giles.

TARA
Hey, Dawn.

Dawn smiles warmly.

DAWN (V.O.)
Even her friends are cool. Like Tara.

INT. DAWN'S BEDROOM - THAT MORNING

DAWN (V.O.)
She and Willow are both witches. They
do spells and stuff which is so much
cooler than slaying. I told mom one time
I wish they'd teach me some of the things
they do together, and she got really quiet
and made me go upstairs. I guess her
generation isn't cool with witchcraft.

EXT. SUNNYDALE STREET - CONTINUOUS (DAY)

DAWN (V.O.)
I guess her generation isn't cool with witchcraft.

NEW ANGLE - ON BUFFY, talking with Willow, as they walk. Giles and the others behind them.

BUFFY
Giles and I figured out a schedule around
school. A block of time every day to just
focus on my new Slayer training.

WILLOW
(gasp)
That's a work ethic! Buffy, you're
developing a work ethic!

BUFFY
Do they make an ointment for that?

WILLOW
People gotta respect a solid work ethic.
(then)
Look at you. Motivated Buffy, eager to
soak up learning… You and I are going
to have so much fun this semester.

BUFFY
Yeah… that reminds me. With the whole
training schedule, I kinda had to drop a class…

WILLOW
That's understandable. Your slayer studies
are way more important.

BUFFY
So I won't be taking Drama with you.

WILLOW
(stung)
What?! You have to. You promised!

BUFFY
I know, Will, but Giles was saying-

WILLOW
The hell with Giles!

GILES
I can hear you, Willow

WILLOW
(ignoring him)
Drama's just Tuesday and Thursday
afternoons. You can blow off training Tuesday
and Thursday afternoons, can't you?

BUFFY
What happened to "people gotta respect a work ethic?"

WILLOW
Other people. Not me. There's a whole
best friend loophole.

They arrive at the store.

TARA
Shop's kinda dark. Maybe it's closed.

GILES
That's odd.

Giles opens the door and they enter.

INT. MAGIC SHOP - CONTINUOUS (DAY)

Inside, they freeze in the doorway.

BUFFY
Think "odd" just got upped to "bad."

THEIR POV - PANNING, we see the shop has been ransacked. Books and other items pulled from the shelves. A GLASS CASE has been smashed.

They move inside among the debris, looking around.

GILES
Hello? Is anyone here?

TARA
(calling out)
Mr. Bogarty!

Giles and Buffy look at her.

TARA
(explains)
The owner.
(others still looking)
I'm in here a lot.

ON WILLOW, wandering near the counter.

WILLOW
Maybe this happened really late in
the night when no one was-whoa!

She suddenly trips and falls to the floor. Tara moves to her.

BUFFY
Will?

WILLOW
I'm fine. Just tripped over…

HER POV - A DEAD BODY, though she doesn't see its face.

WILLOW
Mr. Bogarty.

Willow scrambles away as Tara helps her up.

BUFFY and GILES move in to take a look.

THEIR POV - THE GHOSTLY PALE BODY'S FACE and NECK are covered in PAIRS of PUNCTURE WOUNDS. If his hands or wrists can be seen… there are numerous such wounds on them as well.

ON DAWN, whose view of the corpse is blocked by the others.

DAWN
What is it? Is-Is he okay?

Buffy turns to her.

BUFFY
It's nothing you need to see, Dawn.
Go wait outside.

DAWN
I don't wanna wait outside.
What happened to-

BUFFY
Dawn!

Buffy takes her by the arm and physically escorts her out.

DAWN
Ow, that hurts…

EXT. OUTSIDE THE MAGIC SHOP - DAY

Buffy and Dawn exit the shop.

DAWN
You're hurting me. I'm telling.

BUFFY
(releasing her)
I don't have time for this. Just do like
I say and wait here.

Buffy re-enters the shop. Dawn paces, steamed. She tries to peek in the window.

HER POV - THROUGH GLASS - Buffy and the others by the counter, looking down, presumably at the unseen body.

EXT. OUTSIDE THE MAGIC SHOP - DAY

ANGLE ON THE FRONT DOOR as TARA comes out, looking around.

TARA
(calling)
Dawn?

REVERSE ANGLE - Dawn is nowhere in sight. And for that matter, neither is the Lunatic. Just some random traffic.

TRACKING with her, TARA moves down the walk and finds…

DAWN, sitting on the ground on the other side of the truck, leaning up against its wheels. She's unnerved, shaking…

TARA
Dawn… Are you okay?

Dawn looks up at her.

DAWN
Is- Is that guy dead in there?

TARA
Yeah.

Tara sits down next to her. Dawn is quiet, taking it in.

TARA
They're gonna be a little while longer,
doing the detective thing. Best non-Scoobies
like you and me stay out of their way.

Dawn nods. They sit in silence for a beat, then…

TARA
Do you wanna thumb-wrestle?

DAWN
Okay.

They commence, still a little somber.

INT. WILLOW'S DORM ROOM - EARLY EVENING

TARA
Poor Dawn...

Willow is setting up her new single dorm room.
Tara is helping, emptying a couple of moving boxes.

TARA
She was pretty shaken up.

WILLOW
Well, sure. Bloody death and stuff.
(comforting smile)
She'll be okay.

Tara nods. Willow senses there's more.

WILLOW
What?

TARA
It's just... I think... It's tough
for her. Not being able to...
allowed to... you know, help.

WILLOW
Help?

TARA
Out. You. You guys. The slayer circle.

WILLOW
Oh, well, Buffy really doesn't-- And
I think Dawn's a little young to--

TARA
I know. You're right. It's just
hard. The outsider feeling.

Willow eyes her a moment.

WILLOW
Tara. You're not an outsider.

TARA
Well, yah. Kinda am.

WILLOW
(adamant)
No. No, you're not.

TARA
Willow, it's okay. We're talking about Dawn--

WILLOW
(protective turn)
Is someone making you feel
uncomfortable? Is it Xander?
It's Xander, isn't it?

TARA
Xander's a sweetie.

WILLOW
It's Giles. It's 'cause he's British
and doesn't understand about stuff.

Willow's working up a head of steam. Tara cannot but smile at it.

TARA
It's no one.

She picks up a box, places it on the bed as she speaks, turning her back to Willow.

TARA
You guys all just have this really
tight bond. It's hard to break into
that. I'm not even sure I want to.

Willow comes up behind Tara and wraps her arms around her.

WILLOW
I'm sure.

Tara molds back into Willow, putting her arms over Willow's.

WILLOW
You're completely one of the gang
now. Everyone accepts that. You're
one of the good guys.

Inexplicably self-conscious at that, Tara's eyes drift to the floor, then away. Willow doesn't notice. Tara starts pulling stuff out of the box, breaking the embrace.

WILLOW
Maybe I can talk to the others and we
can do something. You know, a kind
of scoobie initiation--
(then)
Oo, maybe we can all wear some
special ring that identifies us as members--

TARA
(interrupting, again amused)
I don't think so. But maybe
something like that would be nice for
Dawn. I do worry about her sometimes.

WILLOW
You don't have to. She's got big
sister Buffy happily looking out for her.