Episode 13 - The Waiting Room
ACT TWO
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - JOYCE'S ROOM - DAY (DAY TWO)
As we see Buffy slowly stir awake. She gets up from
Joyce's bed and walks over to..
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - DAWN'S ROOM - DAY
where she nudges Dawn.
BUFFY
Come on Dawn, get up. It's..
Buffy leans over to look at the bedside clock. It
reads 12.00am.
BUFFY
time to get you a new clock.
Dawn stirs, all mumbly and kicky. Buffy gets off the
bed and heads out the door and exits. Dawn gets up,
takes a look at the clock and collapses back into bed.
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE/UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - DAY
as Buffy yawns in her PJs. She walks, half asleep,
towards the stairs and starts to head downstairs. She
reaches the bottom of the stairs and promptly bumps
into a table.
BUFFY
Ouch! Stupid, pointy table.
She stops. Taking a second look at the unfamiliar
coffee table. She looks up at the room around her.
We PAN out to reveal we are now in
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
as Buffy continues to silently stare wide-eyed at the
room. She takes a look back up the stairs, then takes
a few steps into the centre of the room.
BUFFY
Giles?
Nobody in the room. Nobody answers. Buffy heads for
the front door. She opens it and looks out to see..
Willow and Tara's dorm room, with Willow and Tara
asleep in bed.
BUFFY
(to herself)
There is a fifth dimension beyond
that which is known to man. It is a
dimension as vast as space and as
timeless as infinity..
INT. WILLOW AND TARA'S DORM - DAY
Willow wakes up and turns to Buffy.
WILLOW
Buffy? What are you doing here? Did
something happen?
BUFFY
You could say that.
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
We hear a door opening behind Buffy. Buffy turns to
see.
ANGLE : XANDER
emerging from a second door in Giles' apartment. He is
in his red, silky PJ trousers and nothing more. His
hair is standing weirdly off-kilter and he looks a
morning mess. Zombie-like, he wanders into Giles'
kitchen, opens the fridge and grabs himself a cup of
something. He takes a sip.
ANGLE : BUFFY
with Willow and Tara now joining her at her side. All
are staring at Xander, waiting for the coin to drop.
ANGLE : XANDER
as he puts the cup back in the fridge, stretches and
yawns, then wearily heads back out the kitchen. He
takes a look around the apartment. He takes a look at
Buffy, Willow and Tara standing and looking at him.
XANDER
Heh! Funny dream.
He scratches himself, then goes back from whence he
came and closes the door.
ANGLE : BUFFY, WILLOW AND TARA.
looking at each other, confused.
ANGLE : THE DOOR
as Xander suddenly bursts through it and into Giles'
apartment, suddenly realising. He looks wildly around
the room.
XANDER
Oh God!
(then spotting Willow,
Tara and Buffy)
Oh God!
(then realising his state
of undress and quickly
trying to cover himself
up)
Oh God!
He rushes back into his room.
BUFFY
Okay, this is weird, even by
Sunnydale standards.
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/GILES' ROOM UPSTAIRS - DAY
Where we see Giles at the table, waking up from his
slumber. He takes a beat to regain his bearings and
takes a look at his watch. 10:15 am.
He gets up wearily from his chair and heads over to a
phone. He dials and waits, still rubbing his eyes.
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
ANGLE ON : THE RINGING PHONE
in an empty kitchen.
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY
An empty living room, the phone ringing in the
background.
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - JOYCE'S ROOM - DAY
An empty bedroom. We can also see from the open
doorway that Dawn's room is also empty. The ringing
downstairs echoes throughout the empty house.
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/GILES' ROOM UPSTAIRS - DAY
Giles listens for a beat, then hangs up.
GILES
Where is that girl?
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY
Where we see the gang assembled, all still in their
PJs, most sitting down on stools and chairs. Xander,
Anya and Willow sitting on chairs while, opposite
them, Tara and Dawn sit next to each other on stools
against the kitchen counter. Buffy stands between
them.
XANDER
(panicy)
This has to be a dream. This has to
be a dream.. right? An, wake me up!
Anya slaps Xander across the face.
XANDER
Oww!! You know, a pinch is
traditional.
ANYA
Oh.
Anya pinches Xander on the arm.
XANDER
Ouch!
ANYA
You're awake.
XANDER
You know, I think the slap pretty
much covered that.
DAWN
(worried)
What's going on? I mean, what
happened to the rest of the world?
Buffy looks like she's about to answer but she
hesitates.. watching Dawn and Tara.
TARA
(to Dawn, comfortingly)
Don't worry Dawnie. I'm sure it's
still out there waiting for us.
We're just a little lost, that's
all. But hey! We're the Scooby gang.
We've scraped out of far worst
situations than this. Right guys?
WILLOW
Totally. Lost in a strange carbon
copy world? Pfft. It's beneath us.
Dawn smiles a little, looking a little more at ease.
Buffy allows herself a small smile, realising how
close Dawn and Tara have become.
XANDER
Okay, I wanna hear theories and
resolutions.. preferably the latter.
WILLOW
Oh! Maybe this is like one of those
strange alternate dimensions, like
that alternate Sunnydale High at our
reunion?
ANYA
(to Xander)
Great. Are we going to get to meet
more of your homicidal ex-
girlfriends?
XANDER
Hey! Show a little compassion. I
mean, I think I got the male
population beat on tough break-ups.
DAWN
So, how did you guys get out of
that, exactly?
ANYA
Tara. But she's sitting right there
next to you so we're pretty much
screwed.
XANDER
Oh! Giles! Giles can be Tara.. so to
speak.
BUFFY
But how do we contact him? I mean,
we don't even know where we are. God
knows where he could be.
At that moment, Giles comes walking down the stairs,
looking a little dishevelled. He is looking down and
reading a book in his hands. The Scoobs turn to see
Giles and then look at each other for a silent beat.
They then collectively rush forward towards Giles,
calling out to him.
XANDER
Giles! Man, am I glad to see you.
ANYA
You have to get us out of here! I
want my living room back!
Giles seemingly ignores everybody, nose in the book.
BUFFY
Giles? Giles!
Giles looks up from his book and takes a look around.
ANGLE : GILES' LIVING ROOM
from Giles' POV. Completely empty, completely silent.
Giles goes back to reading his book.
Back to the Scoobs and a cacophony of sound as the
Scoobs try to get Giles' attention.
WILLOW
Giles!
ANYA
Giles!.. Rupert!.. You with the
book!
No answer.
ANYA
My God. He's gone deaf.. and blind.
WILLOW
Maybe you could go sell him a shoe.
DAWN
(to Buffy)
Why can't he see us?
Buffy doesn't have an answer. Xander steps in front of
Giles, trying to block his way as Giles steps towards
the kitchen.
XANDER
Giles. It's us! You can see us
right? Come on! Make with the
observy!
Giles walks straight through Xander.
XANDER
YeGads!
Giles heads past the kitchen and out the open door on
the left hand side of Giles' apartment. Buffy follows
but Giles dissapears as soon as he steps past the
doorway. Buffy peers in but can only see Xander's
bedroom.
XANDER
(collapsing to his knees,
real panicy)
Oh God! I'm a ghost! I'm dead! No! I
can't be. I'm still so young. I
mean, there's still so much I wanted
to do.
BUFFY
Xander.
XANDER
I wanted to learn how to fly a
plane.. you know, with a steering
yoke, not just with a mouse. I
wanted to complete my collection of
original Star Trek trading cards. I
was only missing Uhura.. and Spock..
and Chekov.. and..
BUFFY
Xander! You're not dead.. not just
yet.
Xander gets back to his feet and everyone settles back
into place, gathering around Buffy.
BUFFY
Everybody just calm down. This isn't
the time to panic.
ANYA
Well, actually, it's the perfect
time to panic. We're all walking
ghosts, stuck in some lost dimension
with no seeming way out and by the
way, did anyone bring a bathroom
with them?
BUFFY
Okay, but panicking isn't gonna help
anyone here. Will, Tara? You still
got access to something that can
explain all this?
TARA
We still have some magic books in
our room.. I mean, that thing over
there that looks exactly like our
room.
WILLOW
Plus, still got my laptop.
BUFFY
Good. Get on it. This thing is
obviously part of some magical
mayhem tour and I'm guessing with
our new friend Eddie in town? Not a
coincidence.
Willow and Tara nod.
BUFFY
Everyone else, just stay calm. We're
just gonna have to wait this thing
out. On the bright side, I think
we're safe here. No skeletons or
demons and what nots from the past
to pay us a visit. We'll just have
to hang tight until we find a way
back. Trust me, everything will be
okay.
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - DAWN'S ROOM - DAY
ANGLE : THE (NOW) BLUE GEMSTONE
on a table as it begins to pulsate from blue to
purple. The entire room trembles for a beat, knocking
a picture of Dawn, Buffy and Joyce over. It falls to
the floor. The vibrations stop. All is again quiet.
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
CLOSE ON : GILES
as he sits on a couch, reading something. We PAN out
to reveal he is reading a paper and sipping on some
tea. We stay on this uneventful scene for a beat.
ANGLE : BUFFY, XANDER, ANYA AND DAWN
sitting opposite Giles, just gawking at him. They have
all now changed from their PJs. Anya has a notepad on
her lap. Fear has apparently been replaced by slight
boredom.
ANGLE : GILES
as he takes another sip of his tea.
ANYA
My God. I never realised how dull
his life truly was until now.
BUFFY
I'm sure he'll pep up, you know,
after his..
(counting in her head)
fourth cup of tea.
ANYA
We really ought to find him a friend
his own age he can go play with..
and I don't just mean the sex.
XANDER
(nodding to Dawn)
An.
DAWN
It's okay. I do know about, you
know, the birds and the bees.
BUFFY
(accusing)
How do you know?
ANYA
Maybe it was the perpetual boink-
fest that was you and Riley.
XANDER
An.
ANYA
What? I can't say the R word now?
Like the A word?
XANDER
What say we stay clear of the whole
alphabet soup.
We see Xander is looking fairly twitchy. Beads of
sweat forming at his brow.
BUFFY
(noticing)
Xander, you okay?
ANYA
(placing a comforting hand
on his arm)
Oh poor baby! Are the walls closing
in again?
(to Buffy)
He's a little claustraphobic. It's
been a bad day for phobias for him.
BUFFY
(to Xander)
Just take a few deep breaths.
There's nothing to be worried about.
DAWN
Actually, there've been studies, you
know, where they've stuck groups of
monkeys in confined spaces and
they've like become all weird and
aggressive. Major cabin fever.
(off Buffy's look)
Well, it's true!
BUFFY
Okay, before we start flinging
faeces at each other, let's all try
to remember that we're going to get
out of this. We should all just
think about something else,
something normal.
ANYA
Way ahead of you. I've come up with
a few more ideas about how to
attract customers, get some exposure
for the store?
BUFFY
Umm.. Okay?
ANYA
You know, with this whole slayer
deal with you saving lives? I'm
thinking that we could use that to
advertise the store.
BUFFY
I'm afraid to ask.
ANYA
With every person you save, you give
them one of these.
Anya hands a card over to Buffy.
BUFFY
(reading the card)
Been having a bad day? Come over to
the Magic Box and banish those
demons forever.
ANYA
Of course, that's just a mock-up. On
the real thing, there'd be, you
know, a logo, the address.., a
little picture of me.. the usual
stuff. I have more.
(giving a card to Dawn)
Here, you read one.
DAWN
(reading from card)
Just seen a three-headed ogre? Well,
you ain't seen nothing yet. The
Magic Box.
ANYA
(handing a card to Xander)
This last one is a little out there,
but I think it gets to the point.
XANDER
(reading the card, flatly)
You owe us.
ANYA
(to Buffy)
You have to strike when the iron's
hot.. you know, when gratitude can
be converted to something tangible
and worthwhile.. preferably
currency. I'm also thinking Magic
Box t-shirts, you know, for when you
patrol.
Buffy, Xander and Dawn sit silently, holding on to
their cards.
We see Giles stir. Buffy, Xander, Dawn and Anya turn
to look, as if at a zoo. He puts down the paper, and
leans back on the couch for a second, thinking things
through. He gets up from the couch and heads to a
corner of the living room.
DAWN
Ooh. Movement.
We see Giles heading for a guitar plonked in the
corner.
XANDER
Oh God. Not the guitar. Please,
anything but that.
Giles picks up the guitar, brings it back with him to
the couch, plucks a few warm-up strings and then
starts to sing. Some smooth, mellow 60s hit.
XANDER
(aghast)
Will this horror not end?
BUFFY
(smiling, to Dawn)
Why don't you go back there and see
how those two are coming along.
DAWN
But I wanna stay here.
BUFFY
I'm sure Tara and Willow would love
some help with the researchy stuff.
Dawn seems unsure.
BUFFY
Go on.
Dawn heads off towards the front door.
INT. WILLOW AND TARA'S DORM - DAY
Where we see Willow on the desk with her laptop and
Tara sitting on the floor, going through some books.
Tara looks nervously up at Willow, is about to say
something, then retreats. After a beat, she looks up
again.
TARA
So, you okay?
WILLOW
(looking up from the
laptop, turning to Tara)
Huh?
TARA
I mean.. Anya told me you were
browsing through a magic book, at
the store?
WILLOW
(annoyed)
God, what is with her?
TARA
She's just worried.. like I am.
WILLOW
Worried?
TARA
Will, I thought we agreed we'd go
through this together.
WILLOW
But, I'm just reviewing some of our
basic spells, you know, stuff we
already know.
Tara shrugs her shoulders and turns back to her book.
WILLOW
(swivelling in her chair,
turning fully towards
Tara)
No, what is it? Look, I'm sorry
about what happened.. you have no
idea how much.
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
We see Dawn just arrive outside Willow and Tara's
room. She stops short when she hears the conversation
within. She quickly scoots out of view, but continues
to listen in.
INT. WILLOW AND TARA'S DORM - DAY
Willow and Tara oblivious to Dawn's presence.
WILLOW
But I'm okay now, see? Dark magic?
Strictly off-limits. I promise.
TARA
It's not just that.
WILLOW
Then what? Tell me.
INT. GILES' APARTMENT/LIVING ROOM - DAY
Dawn, feeling uncomfortable, walks away from the door
and heads upstairs.
INT. WILLOW AND TARA'S DORM - DAY
TARA
Wouldn't you rather, I don't know,
read a book, or mess with the
laptop? Do something else in your
spare time?
WILLOW
(not getting it)
What is it?
TARA
Nothing.
Tara looks down at her book, then gets up, resolved.
She stands over Willow who remains seated in her
chair.
TARA
I'm worried. The way you see magic?
How you treat it?
WILLOW
How do I treat magic?
TARA
You treat it like a tool, like a
short-cut. An easy answer to
everything. Magic can't be used to
solve every problem, and it
shouldn't. It's dangerous Will.
You'll always be looking for some
stronger, more powerful spell to fix
things.
WILLOW
So what? You're saying we're not
supposed to use magic to protect
people? To save them?
TARA
Of course not. But, you can't be
reckless about it. Trying spells you
know are dangerous, that are too
powerful?
(takes a deep breath, then
sitting down on the bed
facing Willow)
Getting through life. It can be
hard, I know. But you can't solve it
all by using magic. You get through
it because you're strong, stronger
than anything it can throw at you. I
mean, if you can't see that..
The two stare at each other for a beat. The moment is
interrupted when the room starts to shake, like a tiny
earthquake. Books fall off from shelves as the two
immediately reach for each other, supporting each
other. The tremor stops.
WILLOW
What the heck was that?
We PAN over from Willow to the gemstone on the bureau.
We see it pulsating from blue to purple.
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE - DAWN'S ROOM - DAY
We see Dawn sit down sadly on her bed. She looks down
at her feet for a beat. She notices the picture on the
floor. She bends over and picks it up and places it
back on the table. She takes a close look at the
picture.
ANGLE : PICTURE
of Dawn, Buffy and Joyce in happier times. From Dawn's
POV, we see her looking at Joyce, then to Buffy. The
picture begins to shake.
A startled Dawn, still sitting on her bed, takes a
look at the room around her as it begins to shake
furiously. Things are falling over all over the place.
For the first time, Dawn notices the gemstone on the
table. It is pulsating from purple to black to purple
to black.
The shaking stops. All is quiet for a beat as Dawn
looks breathlessly around her.
ANGLE ON : THE GEMSTONE
which is now a solid black. Suddenly, a bright blue
flash fills the entire room, emanating from the
gemstone.
ANGLE : DAWN
as she covers her eyes. The light dissipates. Dawn
slowly opens her eyes, looking down at the floor.
REVERSE ANGLE:
from Dawn's POV, we see a pair of demony feet. We
slowly TILT up to reveal more and more of the
impressive physique of a scaly, demon warrior. It
carries a spear in one hand. We TILT up to its face,
revealing a lizard-like face. It turns to look at
Dawn.
ANGLE : DAWN
looking up at the demon, her face filled with fear.
BLACKOUT
END OF ACT TWO
CONTINUE TO ACT THREE