RILEY: That's a lot of weapons for somebody you weren't sweating twenty minutes ago.

BUFFY: Well, that was before Dawn gave Harmony a backstage pass to kill us all in our sleep.

XANDER: Buff, I left word with Willow. She'll come do a return engagement of her uninvitation spell. She probably still has the stuff from last week. And bang, boom, you're back in the Fortress of Solitude. All better.

BUFFY: No. Not all better. I mean, it's not like Dawn hasn't grown up in this house knowing all the rules.

(Cut to the hallway where we see Dawn listening in.)

BUFFY: (OS) Especially the biggie! Numero one-oh. "Do not invite bloodsucking dead people into our house." I mean, please. I would never have Harmony over even when she was alive.

XANDER: People slip, Buffy. Your mom did. She invited in the mas- (Catches himself) Dracula. In for coffee.

BUFFY: Well, that was different. I mean, she ... He would ... She was lonely, and, and, and she didn't know he was a vampire. *The* vampire. Meanwhile, Dawn knew exactly what Harmony was and she rolled out the welcome mat for her.

RILEY: (OS) She's just a kid.

BUFFY: You know, will everybody please stop saying that? I was just a kid when I met my first vampire, but somehow, I still managed to remember the rules.

RILEY: You had to. It was your job.

BUFFY: (full on rant mode) No. No, it was common sense. But nobody expects even that much from Dawn, do they? No, she has to be protected and coddled from the big bad world, well you know what? We are doing nothing but turning her into a little idiot who is going to get us all killed.

(Dawn leaves at this point, and does hear the rest. Buffy calms, and we see her anger is in large part worry.)

BUFFY: (heartfelt) She just has to be more careful. Now, I can't be there to protect her 24 hours a day. I-I just can't.

• Buffy & Dawn

written by: David Fury; transcribed by Joan the English Chick (pisces@englishchick.com). Full transcript at:
http://www.studiesinwords.de/80realme.html