BUFFY: Dawn! You better get going, Xander's here!

DAWN: Here.

BUFFY: Okay, you have everything you need?

DAWN: (interrupting) Yep.

BUFFY: And after school, you-

DAWN: Yeah yeah. Let's go, Xander.

BUFFY: You will come straight home.

DAWN: Sure. Maybe we can find some time for you to get me into another car accident.

(opens the door, to reveal middle-aged dumpy lady)

MS. KROGER: Oh, good morning. You must be Dawn.

BUFFY: Can I help you?

MS. KROGER: I'm Doris Kroger, from Social Services. We had an appointment?

BUFFY: Oh, for Wednesday.

MS. KROGER: This is Wednesday.

BUFFY: Right! Well ... Dawn, you better... And, and Xander, you'll drive safely?

XANDER: Yes ma'am.

MS. KROGER: Little bit on the tardy side, isn't she?

BUFFY: Yeah, well, uh, it's been one of those mornings, you know. Hey, come on in. Sorry about the mess, you know, doing a little house-cleaning.

(Spike slouched in an armchair, the picture of deadbeat boyfriend)

SPIKE: So, we gonna chat this out, or what?

BUFFY: Uh ... now's really not a-a good time. Um, I have company.

SPIKE: No worries. I'll wait.

MS. KROGER: Um, Miss Summers, if you and your boyfriend would like to-

BUFFY: He is NOT- Not my, my boyfriend, he's, um, just ... a... Spike ... this nice woman is, uh, (meaningfully) from Social Services?

SPIKE: Oh, right! (gets up) Uh ... hey! Buffy's a great mom. She takes good care of her little sis. Like, um, when Dawn was hanging out too much in my crypt, Buffy put a right stop to it.

MS. KROGER: I'm sorry, did you say-

BUFFY: Crib! (fake laugh) He said crib. You know kids today and their buggin' street slang. Uh, Spike, didn't you have to go now, you know, because of that thing?

SPIKE: Uh, thing, yeah. Uh, my blanket. (scowl-off, then exit)

MS. KROGER: He sleeps here?

BUFFY: What? No! No. Oh, uh, the, the, the blanket. That's, um, uh, it's a security thing, you know. He ... has issues. Nope, just me and Dawn living here.

WILLOW: (OS) Buffy, I'm not feeling hot, so uh, I'm gonna take a quick nap, okay?

BUFFY: (calling) Okay, Will! That's Willow. She, uh, she kind of lives here too, actually.

MS. KROGER: Oh, so you live with another woman.

BUFFY: Oh! Oh, it's not a, a gay thing, you know, I mean, well... ...she's gay, but, but we don't ... gay. Not that there's anything - Oh! Wrong with... (Ms Kroger finds a baggie of herbs) You know, I know what that looks like, but I, I swear, it's not ... what it looks like. It's *magic* weed. It's not mine.

MS. KROGER: I think I've seen enough.

BUFFY: No, a-actually, I really don't think that you have. It's just ... i-it's been kind of, kind of a, a bad time.

MS. KROGER: It's been a bad time now for a while, hasn't it, Ms. Summers? Your sister's grades have fallen sharply in the last year, due in large part to her frequent absences and lateness.

BUFFY: But there-there are good reasons.

MS. KROGER: Oh, I'm sure there are. But my interest is in Dawn's welfare. And the stability of her home life, something I'm just not convinced that an unemployed young woman like yourself can provide.

BUFFY: I can. I, I do!

MS. KROGER: Well, we'll just have to see about that then, won't we? Oh, and I'm, uh, going to recommend immediate probation in my report.

BUFFY: What does that mean?

MS. KROGER: It means that I'll be monitoring you very closely, Ms. Summers. And if I don't see that things are improving, well, I'll be forced to recommend that you be stripped of your sister's guardianship.

BUFFY: You can't do that.

MS. KROGER: I do what is in Dawn's best interest ... as should you. Have a nice day.

written by: David Fury; transcribed by Joan the English Chick (pisces@englishchick.com). edited down by me. . Full transcript at:
http://www.buffy-vs-angel.com/buffy_tran_111.shtml