(Summer's house. Dawn sits upstairs clutching her diaries, while Joyce and Buffy sit on the couch downstairs, talking)

JOYCE: We can't just let her sit up there all alone.

BUFFY: She needs time. We can't force her to be all right with this.

JOYCE: That's your answer? Just ... leave her alone and hope that everything works itself out?

BUFFY: No, but if I were her, I'd want a little bit of time right now. I wouldn't want my mother and my sister coming at me from all sides.

JOYCE: Her school called today. She was suspended.

(We see Dawn on the stairway above, listening.)

JOYCE: She yelled at a teacher. The things she said, Buffy, I mean she never used language like that

BUFFY: She probably feels like she can say or do anything right now. She's not real. We're not her family, we don't even know what she is.

(Dawn retreats back upstairs, crying and angry, tears her room and her diaries to shreds. Backdownstairs, the conversation continues.)

JOYCE: How can you talk about Dawn as if she's a thing?

BUFFY: I'm not! I'm just ... saying that's probably how she feels.

JOYCE: Well, then we have to show her that it isn't true. She needs to know that she's still a part of this family and that we love her.

BUFFY: It's not that simple! We're not gonna be able to fix this with a hug and a kiss and a bowl of soup! Dawn needs to know where she came from, she needs real answers.

JOYCE: What she needs is her sister, Buffy, not the Slayer.

BUFFY: The Slayer is the only thing standing between Dawn ... and this god from the bitch dimension that wants to shove her in some kind of lock and give her a good twirl. Mom, I need to be out there, doing my job-

(A shrill beeping noise begins. They both jump up.)

BUFFY: Oh my god, Glory. It's Willow's spell.

(she runs toward stairs)

JOYCE: (following) Wait. It's not Glory.

(Dawn's room)

BUFFY: Damn it.

(We see the wastebasket on fire. Buffy grabs a blanket from the bed and tosses it over the flames to put them out. )

BUFFY: Dawn!

JOYCE: Buffy.

BUFFY: No. No, she could have burned the house down.

JOYCE: Buffy ... she's gone.

(Buffy looks in the direction Joyce is looking. Shot of the open window. The alarm continues beeping. Blackout. )

• Buffy & Dawn
• Buffy & her mom
• Dawn as the Key

written by: Steven S. DeKnight; Transcribed by Joan the English Chick (pisces@englishchick.com).. Full transcript at:
http://www.studiesinwords.de/91bloodties.html