ASTA Episode 1.09 "That Thing We Do"

[shred]

TEASER

~HOSPITAL~

When Asta entered Andrew’s room, he was standing beside his bed, packing the last of his stuff. His back was towards her and she could see that his left shoulder was in a sling.

ASTA: Hey.

Andrew turned to greet her.

ANDREW: Hey.

His head had a strip of bandage around it and his left eye was not as swollen as before. He looked much better than when Asta had found him in the cemetery a few days ago.

Asta came up to her Watcher and gingerly sat on the bed beside him.

ASTA: You all set?

ANDREW: Pretty much. I was wondering whether I should take the toothbrush.

Asta rolled her eyes.

ASTA: Please don’t. It’s a hospital not a motel.

Andrew smiled.

ANDREW: I’m just kidding.

He placed the last of his clothing in the duffle bag on the bed and zipped it up. He dropped the bag to the ground and sat down beside his Slayer.

ASTA: So we’ve got a list of demons that might be responsible for my dreams and visions. We are going to start researching them as soon as we get home.

ANDREW: What about the guy who kidnapped me?

ASTA: No leads on that yet but we’ll find him.

ANDREW: Ok.

ASTA: Are you ready to go back home?

ANDREW: I think so. I have this sudden urge to watch Lord of the Rings.

ASTA: I have never watched that movie.

Andrew looked at her incredulously.

ANDREW: Never?

ASTA: Never.

ANDREW: Not even once?

ASTA: Not even once.

ANDREW: Which rock have you been living under?

ASTA: It just never appealed to me.

ANDREW: Are you trying to kill me?!

ASTA: I –

ANDREW: Never say that Lord of the Rings doesn’t appeal because it does!

ASTA: Well, it doesn’t to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~HOUSE~

Andrew and Asta were seated side by side, comfortably, on the couch in the living room. Between them was a huge bowl of popcorn and there were soda cans on the table in front of them. Their feet were propped up and both of them were engrossed with the television in front of them.

ASTA: I don’t get it. Why give the ring to Frodo?

ANDREW: Because Frodo is the hero.

ASTA: Oh. (pause) Frodo’s cute though.


CUT TO BLACK

OPENING CREDITS ROLL

THEME SONG “Club Foot” by Kasabian


Starring:
Jewel Staite as Asta Dawson
Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Cillian Murphy as Oliver Pike
Ashley Scott as Tabitha Pike

Guest Starring:
Tyron Leitso as David Boone

Created by Irene Issac with Beck Schwarz
Based on the hit television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

END OF CREDITS

[shred]

ACT 1

The gang was in the living room. Pike was stretched out on the floor with his sister seated next to him; Asta was curled up on the couch with Xander beside her and Andrew was pacing around the living room with a book in his good hand. Everyone else had a book with them as well and around them many more books took up any space that was available.

They all looked worn out.

ASTA: It’s been four hours and so far we’ve only covered the first three demons on the list. I don’t think we’ll cover the whole list anytime soon. Do you see the amount of history one demon has?

PIKE: There is a lot of history.

ASTA: Yes and we have over 50 demons to cover!

TABITHA: I guess we could narrow the list down.

XANDER: We could but we don’t really have much to go on so it’s hard to narrow the list down.

PIKE: Andrew mentioned that his kidnapper was human. So assuming that this human is also responsible for Asta’s visions and dreams, we can put aside the demons on the list and just concentrate on the humans.

ASTA: But we don’t know that this human is full human. He could be a…

TABITHA: Shapeshifter? Witch? Demons with humanlike appearance?

ASTA: Yeah…those

PIKE: We’ll expand our search to all of these then.

XANDER: And we also don’t know that this guy is working alone. He could be working for a demon that’s responsible for the visions but this dude is doing all the dirty work like kidnapping.

PIKE: Well, I guess we can include that in our search but that would just bring us back to square one.

XANDER: How about we just concentrate on the humans and shapeshifters and witches and demons with humanlike appearances that are on the list first? If we can’t find anything, we’ll move on to the demons.

TABITHA: Certainly better than going through the list from top to bottom. And…

She reached over to the table in the front of her and picked up a piece of paper.

TABITHA: It cuts the workload in half. There are only about 20 humans and shapeshifters and whatnot on the list.

XANDER: Andrew, what do you think?

Everyone turned towards Andrew. He did not look as if he heard them as he didn’t respond. He was busy struggling to turn the page.

XANDER: Andrew, need help with that?

Andrew looked up and blinked blankly at them.

ANDREW: I’m fine.

They watched as Andrew brought the book up to his face and used his chin to turn the page. He grinned at them when he accomplished it.

ANDREW: See?

TABITHA: That’s very…innovative of you.

ANDREW: What were you guys saying?

XANDER: We were thinking of just concentrating our research on the humans and shape shifters on the list.

ANDREW: Sounds good to me.

PIKE: Alright, back to staring at old musty books!

And they did just that.

They poured over every book they had and when they could not find information in the books, they surfed through the internet, hoping to find something useful in their search. Once in awhile, they would pause for a stretch or for some food before returning back to their books.

This went on for more than a couple of hours before, finally, Asta hit a possible jackpot.

ASTA: Guys, I think I found something.

The four of them straightened.

TABITHA: What did you find?

ASTA: A shapeshifter named Sha. The things that he does, the characteristics that he has…he could be our guy.

PIKE: What does the book say about him?

ASTA: He’s a shapeshifter, who can only change into a male. And guess what he does for fun?

As Asta spoke, Xander went to the laptop which was on the table in front of him and started typing.

XANDER: Ice Hockey?

ASTA: We wish. He loves torturing and driving people mad with his dreams – nightmares really.

TABITHA: Sounds like our guy.

ANDREW: How do we find him?

Asta continued scanning the text.

ASTA: Doesn’t say but it does mention something about a talisman…

XANDER: Talisman of Sha it is called – appropriately enough.

Xander pointed to the screen of the laptop.

XANDER: I have it right here on this website.

TABITHA: What does the talisman do?

XANDER: It binds Sha to it. It’s kinda like Sha’s jail cell. A few hundred years ago, Sha was causing havoc and this black smith made a talisman that trapped Sha in it. He can only be released if the talisman was used.

PIKE: Ok, so if this Sha is the guy responsible for Asta’s visions and Andrew’s kidnapping then that means that Sha has been released right?

ASTA: Yup. Sha was released fifty years ago by accident. Some archeologist found it, meddled with it and set Sha loose. He was never put back into the talisman again.

ANDREW: Where is the talisman now?

XANDER: There’s a map here that showed the last time the talisman was seen. And there’s also an address. (pause) Hmm…weird.

Tabitha went over to where Xander was and looked over his shoulder.

TABITHA: What’s weird?

XANDER: Well, the address doesn’t correspond with the map. The address says that the talisman is in the Hades Valley museum but the map doesn’t.

TABITHA: The map is pretty old. It’s a map of Hades Valley in 1920.

XANDER: I matched it with a current map of Hades Valley and…

TABITHA: The talisman is under Willows cemetery.

PIKE: Wait. So is the talisman in Hades Valley museum or under Willows cemetery?

ASTA: Both. There are two talismans.

Asta handed the book she was reading to Pike. She pointed to one of the text.

PIKE: It says here that the black smith who first made the talisman also made another one – a fake – so as to make it harder for Sha to be released.

ANDREW: We have to get both talismans then.

PIKE: Sounds simple enough.

ASTA: I’ll look for the talisman under the cemetery.

XANDER: I’ll go with.

PIKE: Guess I’m taking the one in the museum.

TABITHA: But the museum has been closed for renovations ever since it got trashed by that vampire gang. All the stuff in there was moved to one of the offices in town. You need to go there to search for it.

PIKE: To town it is. Who’s going to join me?

TABITHA: I would but I already have plans.

PIKE: You do? Like what?

ASTA: It doesn’t matter. Andrew can go with you.

PIKE: But Andrew’s handicapped!

ASTA: Doesn’t mean he can’t search – you know, with his eyes – for something.

TABITHA: Ollie, take Andrew with you. Once I’m done with my stuff, I’ll join you guys later. Alright?

PIKE: You sure? Cause I can wait for you to do whatever you need to do and then search for the talisman.

Andrew scowled at Pike.

ANDREW: Hey, I’m standing right here! I can hear what you’re saying.

Pike barely glanced over at Andrew.

TABITHA: Don’t worry. Take Andrew. I don’t know how long it will take anyway and this is important.

XANDER: Ok, before Andrew starts literally shooting daggers at Pike, how about we go get that talisman?

The five of them got up and went their separate ways.

############################################
~CEMETERY~
~later~

Lightning flashed across the sky before the rumble of thunder was heard. Xander looked up at the sky as he and Asta trudged through Willows Cemetery. They were both carrying shovels over their shoulders and had flashlights in their hands.

XANDER: We have to do this fast if we want to beat the rain. It looks like it’s going to be heavy.

ASTA: That’s why I’m here. Slayer speed to the rescue.

The two of them followed the trail that led them to the middle of the cemetery. Once there, Xander pulled out a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and unfolded it. On the paper were a name and a drawing. The drawing consisted of a circle with a square in it. And in the square were markings that looked foreign.

Xander handed the paper to Asta.

XANDER: According to Tabitha and her map reading abilities, the talisman is buried under Murdock’s tombstone. This is what the talisman looks like.

He pointed to a hand drawn picture in the paper.

ASTA: Pretty.

XANDER: But unlike all pretty things, they don’t do such pretty stuff.

ASTA: Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Why would anyone make an evil thing pretty. It just encourages people’s curiosity.

Xander sighed and shook his head.

XANDER: Stupid humans.

Xander took a quick look at the piece of paper in Asta’s hands before nodding to his right.

XANDER: Over here.

Asta followed Xander as he weaved through the tombstones and stopped in front of an old tombstone. Asta read out the engravings.

ASTA: Lewis Murdock. 1881 to 1912. Beloved father and husband. Rest in peace.

XANDER: Well, sorry, Murdock, but not at the moment.

Xander set his flashlight down and took his shovel off his shoulder.

XANDER: Let’s dig.

############################################
~TOWN~
~later~

Pike pulled his car to a stop next to a twelve story building. A signboard which read “Holden’s Office and Storage” stood just in front of the entrance. He peered out of the side window and studied the place.

PIKE: Ok, we are going to do this quick. We’ll go in, head straight to the elevators, go to the seventh level where the talisman is, get the talisman and get out. Got it Andrew?

ANDREW: Yup.

PIKE: Ok. And just so you know, if we were to be in a situation where I have to risk my neck to save your life, I just might not.

Andrew frowned at the man beside him.

ANDREW: Might not what?

PIKE: Might not risk my neck for your life.

With that, Pike opened the door on his side and climbed out of the door. Andrew stared after him.

ANDRW: You’re joking right? Right?!

Andrew scrambled out of the car and hurried after Pike.

ANDREW: You will rescue me!

PIKE: Depends on how dangerous the situation is.

The two men stalked toward the building. Lights were still on in the lobby and in certain parts of the building. The reception area was empty and a security guard sat near the door, dozing off.

Overhead, thunder rumbled. Pike glanced up at the sky, which was an ugly shade of grey.

PIKE: A storm’s coming.

ANDREW: Good thing we’re indoors then.

A second thunder was heard and jolted the security guard awake. Pike faced Andrew.

PIKE: Act like you belong.

As Pike and Andrew entered the building, Pike turned to the guard and nodded at him without a word. Andrew turned to the guard.

ANDREW: Evening. We forgot some stuff in our office and so we are going to get –

Pike grabbed Andrew’s arm and pulled him away from the guard as fast as he could.

PIKE: Shut up, Andrew.

The guard stared at the two of them blankly in response. They quickly made their way towards the elevator. Pike jabbed the button to open the door and pushed Andrew in. He tossed the guard a quick wave before stepping in, the door whooshing closed behind him.

Pike scowled at the Watcher.

PIKE: Why did you do that for?

ANDREW: You told me to act like I belong.

PIKE: So you had to open your mouth and give us away?

ANDREW: (meekly) Sorry.

Pike pressed the button with the number seven on it. The elevator jerked slightly before riding up. The two men were silent as they rode up.

############################################
~BAR NONE~

When Tabitha neared David’s bar, it was already starting to drizzle. She turned the collar of her coat up, ducked her head and quickly made the rest of the way to the bar.

There was a closed sign on the front door of the bar but that did not stop Tabitha from pushing the door open. Fortunately for her, the door was not locked. She stepped out of the rain and into the safe confines of Bar None.

The place was empty except for a lone waitress at one of the booths and the place did not look as trashed as it was when she was here the last time. In fact, the place looked normal – like werewolves did not tear up the place just a week ago. Tabitha looked around for a moment, hoping to catch sight of David.

David’s head popped up from behind the bar counter. He did not seem to notice Tabitha as he faced his back to her and was looking through the alcohol bottles on the shelf.

Tabitha made her way towards the bar counter. Once there, she slid onto one of the stools, placed her hands on the counter and leaned forward.

David had a bottle of whiskey in his hand and was jotting down some notes on his clipboard in front of him.

TABITHA: You didn’t call.

The sound of Tabitha voice startled the bar owner, causing him to jump slightly. The bottle slipped from David’s hand and crashed to the floor. David sighed in frustration.

TABITHA: Oh my goodness, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you.

David barely looked at Tabitha as he crouched down and started picking up the broken glass. Tabitha slipped off the stool and went around the counter.

TABITHA: Let me help you.

She knelt down across from David and started helping him to clear up the area.

DAVID: You shouldn’t be here.

TABITHA: I’m sorry. I just needed to talk to you.

DAVID: Phone.

TABITHA: What?

DAVID: There’s the phone. You could have always called.

TABITHA: But you would never pick up. I called you so many times the past week. I either get your machine or one of your waitresses saying you were busy.

DAVID: I was. I had a lot of cleaning up to do.

David stood up with a handful of broken glass and strode towards a black garbage bag at the front door. He dumped the glass in there and went back behind the counter.

TABITHA: I know. But this is important.

David took the glass Tabitha picked up and threw them away in the garbage bag.

DAVID: So is my bar.

He grabbed a mop, which was leaning against one of the tables, and went behind the counter again. He started mopping up the spilled alcohol.

TABITHA: David…

DAVID: Can this wait, Tabby? I’m a little busy –

TABITHA: You didn’t call.

David stopped his mopping and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked at her.

TABITHA: You said you would call but you didn’t. It’s been a week.

DAVID: Maybe I didn’t want to call. I need a bit of time.

TABITHA: What about me? Have you ever thought how this is killing me – not knowing where we are?

David’s gaze grew cold.

DAVID: Maybe that’s why I didn’t call.

[shred]

ACT 2

~CEMETERY~

Xander wiped the sweat and rain off his forehead with the back of his hand. The slight drizzle was getting heavier and it did not look like the rain was going to stop anytime soon. He shone his flashlight into the hole where Asta was busy digging.

XANDER: Are we close?

Asta looked up at Xander, panting slightly. Dirt was smeared on her forehead and cheek and her hair was a mess of wet tangles.

ASTA: I can’t tell. You sure we got the right grave?

Xander crouched down at the edge of the pit. He swept the beam of light around the area, surveying the place.

XANDER: It can’t be anywhere else. Tabitha said it’s under Murdock’s tombstone and this is the only Murdock’s tomb in this cemetery.

ASTA: Maybe we are in the wrong cemetery?

XANDER: No. Tabitha was sure it’s this one.

Asta swept her hand down her face, wiping rain away from her eyes.

ASTA: Can it be anywhere else? Like maybe under his coffin.

XANDER: Maybe. We’ll dig a few more feet. If we can’t find anything, we’ll try digging his grave. But we better hurry – this rain doesn’t look like it’s going to let up.

Asta nodded.

XANDER: You have been digging for long enough. Get out of there and I’ll have a go.

Asta threw her shovel out of the hole and boosted herself out of it. Once she was out, Xander placed his torch on the ground and jumped inside. Asta handed him his shovel.

Xander started digging.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~TOWN~
~office~

The elevator jerked to a stop. Pike stepped up to the door and waited for it to open. As soon as it did, the two of them wasted no time as they hurried out of the elevator and down the hallway. Taking out a piece of paper from his pocket, Pike unfolded it. On it was a hand drawn map and a rough sketch of the talisman. Pike followed the directions on it.

After a few twists and turns, they came to the end of the hallway. There was a set of double doors in front of them and sitting next to the doors was a security guard. He had a magazine in one hand and a paper cup in the other.

Pike pulled Andrew closed and whispered to him.

PIKE: Just play along with me.

The guard lowered the magazine when he spotted Andrew and Pike drawing near.

GUARD: Can I help you boys?

PIKE: We are from the museum. We are part time curators there. My boss asked me to come down to check on some of the artifacts. One of the silent alarms went off and he was worried. So he asked us to check to see whether anything’s missing.

GUARD: I didn’t hear any alarm.

PIKE: It’s a silent alarm.

GUARD: Still, we would have known about it.

Andrew stepped forward.

ANDREW: I don’t think you would have. We placed some of these alarms on certain artifacts without this company’s knowledge. We have a few valuable things in there that we cannot afford to go missing.

GUARD: Look, I don’t think anything happened to the stuff in there. No one stepped into the room. I was here the whole time.

PIKE: So you’re the only one here. No one else?

GUARD: No, just me.

ANDREW: Maybe you were the one who triggered the alarm.

GUARD: What? Of course not.

ANDREW: You expect us to believe that a security guard whose pay is probably the same amount of someone working in a burger joint wouldn’t go in there and try to steal some valuable stuff? How stupid do you think we are?

GUARD: You can think what you want. I didn’t take anything.

ANDREW: Prove it.

The guard scowled at them before getting to his feet. Taking out a card from his breast pocket, he turned to a keypad that was on the wall and swiped his card in its slot. He punched in a few numbers and an audible click was heard. The guard opened the door.

GUARD: Have a look.

The room was big. Probably as big as three normal sized rooms combined. There were boxes and metal cabinets lining the walls and paintings wrapped up in bubble wrap stacked up on one another.

PIKE: We won’t take long. We were told that the alarm on a talisman went off. All we need to do is look for that talisman.

GUARD: Talisman huh? Well, all small items are kept locked in the metal cabinet over by the window.

ANDREW: You have the key for it?

GUARD: I do.

The guard reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. The three of them – with the guard in front – went towards the cabinet. The guard went through the set of keys one by one before finding the one that he was looking for. He unlocked the cabinet and pulled the top drawer open.

GUARD: It’s all yours.

PIKE: Thanks.

Pike moved to the open drawer and went through the contents in it. Not finding what he was searching for, Pike shut the drawer and went to the second one. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Andrew talking to the guard with the guard’s back to Pike.

Pike went back to his search. When the second drawer did not produce anything, Pike went on to the third drawer. Inside the drawer were labeled, cream coloured folders. Pike searched through the folders until he found what he was looking.

PIKE: Bingo.

Pike took out the folder and nestled inside was the Talisman of Sha. He slipped it into his pocket as discreetly as he could and replaced the folder back into the drawer. He closed it and faced Andrew and the guard.

PIKE: It’s here.

The guard smirked at Pike.

GUARD: Told you I didn’t take it.

ANDREW: I appreciate your honestly. (to Pike) Let’s get back and tell our boss that it was a false alarm.

The two made their way towards the exit with the guard trailing behind them.

PIKE: Thank you for your help. I’ll make sure your boss hears about the wonderful work you’re doing.

The guard grinned as he closed and locked the door. Pike and Andrew didn’t wait for a moment as they walked away from the guard and towards the elevator. Thankfully the elevator was waiting for them. The two men entered and pressed the button to bring them down to the first floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~BAR NONE~

Tabitha sat at one of the booths with a glass of soda in front of her. She swirled the ice cubes in her glass with her straw and she stared out into space. Someone came up beside her – it was one of the waitresses that worked in the restaurant.

WAITRESS: You should go.

TABITHA: Can’t.

WAITRESS: There’s no in point waiting for him. He won’t come out.

TABITHA: He will.

WAITRESS: Maybe but I don’t think he would talk to you. He told you to leave. That kinda says that he doesn’t want to talk to you right?

TABITHA: I’m not leaving until he talks to me and he knows that.

WAITRESS: You might be here quite a while though. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

TABITHA: Ok.

WAITRESS: Well, if you need anything, just let me know. I’ll charge it to David.

Tabitha smiled.

TABITHA: Thanks but I’ll be fine.

WAITRESS: Ok.

TABITHA: By the way, is he still in his office?

WAITRESS: Yeah, I think he is. I didn’t see him leave.

With one last smile, the waitress left her table and went back to her work. Tabitha took a sip of her soda and cast a glance towards the back of the restaurant. Pushing the glass away, Tabitha slid out of the booth and made her way towards the back.

Tabitha stood at the door of David’s office and knocked on it a couple of times.

DAVID: Busy!

TABITHA: How long are you going to be in there? You can’t avoid me forever.

DAVID: You’re still here?

TABITHA: I told you – I won’t leave till we’ve talked.

There was silence on the other side of the door. A minute later, the door swung open, catching Tabitha by surprise. David stood before her with his hands on his hips. He scowled down at her.

DAVID: You’re really stubborn you know that.

Tabitha grinned at him as she brushed past him and entered the office.

TABITHA: Of course.

DAVID: Look, we’ll talk ok but after I’ve said what I need to say, will you leave?

TABITHA: It depends on what you say. Do I have permission for rebuttal?

DAVID: I was hoping that we could keep it to a one way communication. I don’t think I can deal with ‘us’ right now. The bar is reopening tomorrow and I need to sort a lot of things out before then.

TABITHA: We can talk after you’ve sorted things out. We can grab some dinner somewhere or maybe come over to my place…

DAVID: Tabby, this is what I’m talking about. I’m not ready for that yet. There’s a lot of stuff between us and I think we need to clear it before I come over or go to dinner with you.

TABITHA: It’s harmless, David. We are just going to talk. I’m not asking you to propose to me – I just want to talk. Don’t you want to?

DAVID: I do –

TABITHA: Then why the hesitation?

DAVID: I…

TABITHA: Look, I just want to know – are you breaking up with me?

Without warning, the whole place plunged into darkness.

TABITHA: Great! This is just perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ELEVATOR~

Andrew and Pike rode in the elevator in silence. Pike was studying the talisman that he took out from his pocket. It looked exactly like the drawing on the piece of paper that he had but more shiny.

PIKE: How do you trap a demon in a thing like this?

ANDREW: Magick. You can do nearly everything with magick really – all you need is the right spell and sometimes the right symbol.

PIKE: Just to think that a whole demon can be stuffed in here. It’s amazing.

ANDREW: And dangerous too. Sometimes the demon is too big of the talisman or for the spell and it would just explode, releasing magickal energy that could be even more dangerous than a nuclear bomb.

Pike raised his eyebrows at the Watcher.

PIKE: You’re kidding right?

ANDREW: Nope.

PIKE: Have you seen it happen?

ANDREW: No. But then again, I never tried stuffing a demon in a round metal object before. I’ll let you know when I do.

Andrew reached over and pressed the button of the elevator.

ANDREW: This thing it taking so long. I hope we are not stuck.

Pike glanced up at the display, which showed which floor they were in. It read “5”. Then it changed to “4”.

PIKE: We are moving so I don’t think we are stuck.

Pike was about to press the button again when the whole elevator shook violently. The shake was so strong that it threw the two men all over the elevator. The lights then went out, throwing them into total darkness.

Silence.

Then the sound of groaning was heard.

PIKE: Andrew, are you ok?

ANDREW: Yeah…I think so. I just hit my arm.

Pike slowly climbed to his feet.

PIKE: Ok that’s good. (pause) I mean, it’s good that you’re ok and not hurt bad.

ANDREW: I’ll live. What happened?

PIKE: I don’t know. I think the elevator stopped. And I can hardly see a thing.

As if by his command, a dim light came form the corner of the elevator, lighting up Andrew’s face.

ANDREW: Light from my cell phone.

PIKE: Is it working?

ANDREW: Still is but there’s no signal.

Pike cried out in frustration.

PIKE: Perfect! Just perfect! This is the last thing that we need.

ANDREW: I’m sure someone will come and get us.

The elevator shook violently and for the second time in a space of five minutes, Pike and Andrew were thrown around again.

############################################
~CEMETERY~

It was now Asta’s turn to dig. The rain was coming down in sheets now, soaking Asta and Xander to the bone.

XANDER: I think we should head back. We are not going to find anything in this rain.

ASTA: Give me a few more minutes, I think I hit something.

XANDER: What is it?

Wiping sweat and rain from her brow, she continued to dig.

XANDER: Anything?

ASTA: There’s some –

However, Asta got cut off when the ground below her gave way and she fell through.

XANDER: Asta!

Getting onto his hands and knees, Xander peered into the hole, hoping to catch sight of the Slayer.

XANDER: Asta? Are you alright?

He grabbed his flashlight, which was put aside on the ground, and switched it on. He shone the beam at the hole but even with the help of the light, he could not see anything.

XANDER: Asta? Say something!

Xander inched forward. The rain was coming down heavier now and it made the ground underneath his hands and knees slick with mud and rainwater. Xander slipped and slid as he moved a few inches forward.

XANDER: Asta?

The waterlogged ground was crumbling beneath his weight now. Then without warning, the ground gave way. Before Xander could grab onto anything that would help him from going under, Xander plummeted down into the hole that Asta had fallen through.

It felt like forever as Xander tumbled head over heels into the gaping hole. He could hear a roar behind him and Xander could not make out whether the roar was from the rain or something else.

Xander hit his shoulder against something hard and he opened his mouth to cry out in pain. However, mud and rain water rushed into his mouth, cutting off his cry. Something hit him again in the shoulder and he rolled before coming to a stop.

He could still hear the roar. Then it stopped a few minutes later. Xander lay still for a minute, breathing hard. However, breathing became difficult when he started to inhale dirt. He rolled to his side and started coughing. He wiped mud away from his eyes and face before sitting up.

There were no light in the place he was in. He could hardly see his hands in front of him.

XANDER: Asta?!

Squinting, Xander swept his gaze around the place. A dull gleam caught his eye. He moved forward slowly towards the gleam. Xander hissed when pain shot through his arm. He touched his arm. His shirt was torn at the shoulder. He felt something sticky underneath his shirt. .

XANDER: (softly) Blood.

Trying not to move his shoulder as much, he moved towards the metallic object that caught his eye. Under rock and mud, was his flashlight. He grabbed it and switched it on. The torch flickered for a moment before coming to life.

Using the torch, Xander stood up and searched for Asta.

XANDER: Asta?

It looked like he was in an underground cave. There was nothing much to see. All around him was rock, stone, sand and mud. The cave went on for quite a distance. As Xander walked on, he kept calling for Asta. All he heard was the sound of dripping water and his footsteps against the sandy ground.

XANDER: Asta?

He foot caught on something and he stumbled. Turning, he flashed his torch to the part of the ground where he tripped. Xander’s eyes widen at what he saw.

Jutting out from a pile of dirt and rock was a human hand.

[shred]

ACT 3

~BAR NONE~

Tabitha followed David out of the office and into the restaurant/bar area. The whole place was in darkness.

DAVID: What’s going on?

The waitress that Tabitha was talking to earlier came up to them.

WAITRESS: The power went out.

DAVID: What happened?

WAITRESS: It’s the storm. It knocked the power out everywhere. The whole street is in darkness.

David shook his head in frustration.

DAVID: I don’t have time for this. (to the waitress) Get me a flashlight – I’ll take a look at the fuse box.

The waitress nodded and went away.

TABITHA: Do you want me to help you with anything?

DAVID: Can you get the lights back on?

TABITHA: Erm…no but I’m good at holding a flashlight. I can do that while you mess around with the fuse box.

David chuckled, which made Tabitha smile.

DAVID: Yeah sure. You can hold the flashlight.

TABITHA: Great!

David turned and was about to walked away when Tabitha touched his arm. He looked at her quizzically.

TABITHA: It’s nice to see you laughing again, David.

DAVID: Yeah, it’s been awhile…I missed laughing.

He turned and strode away from her. Tabitha watched him sadly.

TABITHA: (softly) I missed it too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ELEVATOR~

PIKE: Andrew! Wake up.

Pike slapped Andrew across the face again and this time he got a response. Andrew jolted upright as his arms flew everywhere.

ANDREW: Stop hitting me, Tucker!

Pike slapped him again to calm him down.

PIKE: Andrew! Get a grip.

Andrew’s eyes fluttered open and blinked at Pike.

ANDREW: You’re not Tucker.

Pike rolled his eyes as he stood up.

PIKE: Get your cell phone and try calling for help.

Andrew pushed himself up against one of the walls of the elevator, took out his cell phone and started dialing. Pike was at the other end of the elevator where the buttons were. He was studying the pad, looking for something that could make the elevator start moving again.

ANDREW: Nothing. Still no signal.

PIKE: Keep trying.

Pike ran his fingers around the pad. When he did not find anything, he moved up. His fingers brushed against a panel. Using his fingernails, Pike pried the panel open. However, he could not. After a few tries of failing to open the panel, Pike gave up. He looked over at Andrew.

PIKE: Do you have something flat? Like a penknife or a card?

ANDREW: I got my driver’s license.

PIKE: That will do. Hand it to me.

Andrew reached into the back pocket of his pants and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and slipped out his driver’s license. He handed it to Pike.

Pike took Andrew’s driver’s license and jammed it into the edge of the panel. He jiggled the card and at the same time pushed it even further inside. Once the card was nearly half way inside, Pike pulled on the card – using it as leverage to force the panel open.

ANDREW: Don’t break it!

PIKE: I’ll try not to…

Pike gave one last tug and the panel pried open. Inside was a phone.

PIKE: Now we are talking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~CEMETERY~

XANDER: Asta!

Xander ran to the hand and dropped to his knees. He grabbed the lifeless hand and felt for a pulse. He started to panic when he did not feel one. He dropped the flashlight to the ground and started to push away the mud with his fingers. Little by little, more of the hand was seen. Then the arm, the shoulder and then the top of Asta’s head.

Digging frantically, Xander finally managed to clear away enough mud and stone to uncover Asta’s torso. Xander slipped his hands under Asta’s arms and started to pull her out of the rubble with all his might. Inch by inch, he pulled Asta out until her whole body was free.

Xander laid Asta flat on the ground and searched for her pulse one more time. This time he found it and he let out a breath, feeling relieved. He lightly tapped her cheek.

XANDER: Asta? Asta?

Asta started to stir. A moment later, her eyes fluttered opened

ASTA: Xander?

XANDER: The one and only. Are you hurt?

Asta groaned in reply.

XANDER: I take that as a yes?

ASTA: No…no, I’m fine. I just have this splitting headache.

XANDER: I think it’s because of the all that dirt falling on your head.

Asta struggled to sit up. Xander held her shoulder’s and helped her upright.

ASTA: Where are we?

XANDER: I don’t know. Some sort of a cave I think.

ASTA: A cave? Tabitha said there weren’t any caves in Hades Valley.

XANDER: Not one that she could see anyway. This was under Murdock’s grave.

Asta looked around her surroundings.

ASTA: Is there a way out of here? Or are we trapped?

XANDER: I don’t know. I haven’t taken a closer look at this place. I was looking for you.

Asta slowly got to her feet.

ASTA: How did we get here anyway?

XANDER: My guess is that we dug too far. The rain made the soil even looser and it couldn’t take our weight and we fell in. And that caused a mini landslide, burying us in here.

ASTA: I was holding my shovel when I went in. We could use it to dig our way out.

XANDER: I don’t think that’s wise – not now anyway. We need to wait till the rain stops before we can dig or we will be experiencing another landslide.

ASTA: We can’t wait that long. I mean, we could run out of air and…and what about food? We could starve to death here.

XANDER: I don’t think it will take that long. You hear that sound of dripping water? Once that stops we will know that the rain has stopped.

ASTA: Ok, so what now?

XANDER: We wait I guess.

ASTA: And the talisman?

XANDER: No sign of it yet.

ASTA: Let’s find that and then find a way to get out of here.

Asta nodded to the end of the cave.

ASTA: Let’s see what’s at the end of this cave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~BAR NONE~

Tabitha was bored. She had been standing beside David at the fuse box – which was downstairs where the alcohol cage was – holding a flashlight while he looked to see whether he could mend the whole blackout problem. It has been nearly an hour now and David had not come close to fixing the glitch.

David moved away from the box, setting aside the screwdriver. Tabitha looked at him, hopeful.

DAVID: There’s nothing wrong with the fuse box. Everything looks normal in here. It’s the main power line that’s the problem.

TABITHA: Can you fix it?

David raised an eyebrow at Tabitha.

DAVID: The main power line? Sure. Just get me access to the town’s power and I’m sure I can do something to fix it.

Tabitha smiled, embarrassed, her face growing hot.

TABITHA: Oh.

DAVID: There’s nothing we can do now. We just have to wait for the storm to stop and hope that the town’s officials are able to get the power back up. In the meantime, we’ll stay here.

TABITHA: Stay here?

DAVID: Yeah. Did you see how heavy the rain is outside? There’s no way you can go home. No one is leaving this place until the storm has stopped.

Tabitha put the flashlight away and followed David back to his office.

TABITHA: You know this gives us the perfect time to talk.

David looked at her, chuckling.

DAVID: You are not going to give up that easily are you?

TABITHA: Not a chance in hell.

David moved behind his desk and sat down. Tabitha sat down across from him.

DAVID: Ok, fine. Let’s talk. Let’s get this over and done with.

David sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. Tabitha placed her hand on the desk and laced her fingers together.

TABITHA: Ok…I think I should explain with more details about what happened a week ago.

DAVID: Wait. Let me start first.

TABITHA: Ok. Sure…

David avoided her gaze and cleared his throat.

DAVID: I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately and I realized that we can’t keep secrets from each other in order for this relationship to work. We have to be honest and not run when presented with the truth. We have to accept it and move on. If we love each other, we should accept each other as we are – secrets and all.

David stopped and took in a deep breath.

DAVID: That’s all I have to say.

Tabitha smirked.

TABITHA: Are you trying to convince me or yourself?

DAVID: (smiled) Largely myself.

Tabitha looked down at her hands. She took in a deep breath and let it out.

TABITHA: So you want to know my secret huh?

DAVID: Yes. No. I mean…I don’t want to know it because I want to know it. I want to know because I think we should be honest with each other.

Tabitha stood up and started pacing the length of the office. She ran her hand through her short hair.

TABITHA: I really don’t know how to start, David.

DAVID: Funny. Seeing how you were so adamant in having this talk.

TABITHA: I guess I didn’t think it was going to be this hard.

DAVID: Just tell me, Tabby. I won’t run.

Tabitha paused her pacing and looked at David intently.

TABITHA: You won’t?

DAVID: I won’t. I want to be with you.

TABITHA: Then why does it matter if you know my secret or not?

DAVID: Because…because I want all of you – your secrets, your fears, your strengths, your weakness. I want every piece of you just like you have every inch of me. I don’t think I can be satisfied if I don’t have that from you.

TABITHA: Why? I’m not this perfect girl, you know. I’m not this person who makes your world ok or makes you happy every second of the day. I lie, I cheat, I betray. I will make you sad. And having all of me would make you see what an imperfect girl I am.

DAVID: Maybe it’s time for me to have a reality check. Maybe I need to see that you’re not this perfect girl so that I can love you even more.

Tabitha turned away from David, facing her back towards him.

TABITHA: No. It doesn’t work that way.

David cocked his head at Tabitha.

DAVID: You were never going to tell me what happened, were you? You came here to feed me another lie.

TABITHA: I…

She looked over her shoulder.

TABITHA: Don’t you trust me?

DAVID: I don’t know, Tabby. I really don’t know.

Tabitha nodded.

TABITHA: Then I think we really have a problem.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ELEVATOR~

Pike slammed the phone against the keypad in frustration.

ANDREW: It’s not working?

PIKE: It’s dead. I think the power went out in the whole building.

Pike kicked the door of the elevator.

PIKE: Stupid, stupid building.

ANDREW: Why don’t we just wait till the elevator starts working again? The guard is still up at the seventh level so I’m sure he’ll notice that the elevator isn’t working. Besides, we got the talisman so it’s not like we are in the hurry to be anywhere.

PIKE: Sha is still out there.

ANDREW: But we are in here. If he’s targeting us, we can’t be in safer place than in a stuck elevator.

Pike flopped down onto the floor beside Andrew.

PIKE: You’re right.

The two men grew silent. Andrew started fiddling with this cell phone.

PIKE: You were pretty smart back there.

ANDREW: What?

PIKE: How you tricked the guard? That was pretty smart.

Andrew shrugged, looking not a least bit modest.

ANDREW: I try.

PIKE: You know I never really…apologized for saying that you’re a bad Watcher.

ANDREW: No, you didn’t.

PIKE: Well, I’m sorry – I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know you that well so it wasn’t my place to say whether you’re bad at your job or not.

Andrew smiled at Pike.

ANDREW: Thanks.

PIKE: And I’m sorry again.

ANDREW: For what?

PIKE: For being such a jerk just now. I know you’re trying to help…and you did – I’m not saying that you didn’t. I just shouldn’t have snapped at you every time you said something.

ANDREW: It’s ok. I’m used to it.

PIKE: It’s not that I don’t like you – I do. It just that sometimes –

ANDREW: You wished you had someone more capable than me with you.

Pike laughed softly.

PIKE: Yeah…Ever since the whole kidnapping thing, I just don’t know whether you will be safe when we do these kinds of things. I would feel so much better if you just stayed in the house, you know – cause you’re safe there.

ANDREW: So what you’re trying to say is that you not wanting me to come get the talisman with you is your way of saying that you are concerned about me.

Pike blinked, realizing that was exactly it.

PIKE: I guess you’re right. (pause) Huh. I didn’t know I was that complex.

Andrew set his cell phone aside.

ANDREW: Why do you do this?

PIKE: Do what?

ANDREW: This thing that you do with Tabitha – the killing of vampires, demons. Why do you do it?

PIKE: It was Buffy’s fault. She got me sucked into this when she burned down the school gym.

ANDREW: But why continue to do this when you could have turned your back and pretended that it never happened?

PIKE: I guess I was far too curious for my own good. I was always searching for answers, the truth. I guess me fighting vampires is my way of searching for truth.

ANDREW: Truth to what?

PIKE: Good and evil, forces of darkness, what goes bump in the night and what bumps back. The world of monsters and vampires and hellmouths is a world I had never been in and I just wanted to know more about it.

Andrew looked thoughtful.

ANDREW: Wow. That’s deep. You are complex.

Pike grinned.

PIKE: I try.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~CAVE~

XANDER: Have I ever told you that I don’t like caves?

ASTA: No, you haven’t.

XANDER: Well, I never told anyone either because I just realized how much I don’t like caves. They are all dark and wet and…evil.

ASTA: No one likes an evil cave. But not all caves are evil. There are some that…aren’t.

XANDER: Yeah? Name me one cave you been to that isn’t evil.

ASTA: Well, there’s this cave back in New York where it’s filled with pillows.

Xander looked at Asta, his eyebrows raised skeptically.

XANDER: Pillows?

ASTA: Ok, I think I dreamt that one.

Xander did not reply. He grabbed Asta’s arm and stopped her from moving forward. He shone his torch at the wall before them. The wall prevented them from continuing forward. They had come to the end of the cave.

Asta frowned at the wall. There were carvings on it.

XANDER: Doesn’t it look familiar?

ASTA: It does.

Xander took out the piece of paper from earlier and handed it to Asta.

XANDER: Same markings as the talisman.

ASTA: The talisman must be here then.

She handed the paper back to Xander and took his flashlight. She went forward, using the light from the torch to study the wall and the drawings.

ASTA: I don’t see a place where the talisman could be.

Xander joined her and examined the wall. He spotted something suspicious.

XANDER: This square. It looks like it can be moved. See the edges?

ASTA: Yeah.

She handed the flashlight to Xander and placed both her hands in the middle of the square. She gave a push and the whole section moved inward. She gave another push but it wouldn’t budge any more.

ASTA: It’s stuck.

Xander came up to her and placed his own hands on the square.

XANDER: On three.

ASTA: Three!

The two of them pushed that section of the wall with all their strength. The section slid inward. Then the whole cave started to tremble, throwing Asta and Xander to the ground.

As quickly as the tremble had begun, it stopped a second later.

Asta and Xander exchanged quick glances before climbing to their feet.

XANDER: See anything round and shiny?

Asta went to the wall, her eyes fixed on something.

There was a hidden compartment underneath the square section of the wall. Pushing that section back exposed the compartment. In the compartment was a round metallic object. A square was craved in it and in the square was familiar foreign markings that Asta had seen on the paper that they had.

ASTA: I think I found it.

[shred]

ACT 4

~BAR NONE~

Tabitha and David were sitting on the floor, side by side, leaning against the door of David’s office. They held a bottle of beer in their hands. David took a sip of his beer.

DAVID: How did we get here?

TABITHA: I’m going to say the blackout and our sudden urge for alcohol.

DAVID: That’s not what I meant.

TABITHA: I know.

DAVID: During the whole time we were going out, I never thought we would reach this place. I thought we would be together forever – as corny as it sounds.

TABITHA: It doesn’t sound corny…

DAVID: But it’s stupid to think that way. It’s naive.

TABITHA: You’re not the only one.

Tabitha took a swig from her bottle. She made a face as the alcohol burned her throat.

TABITHA: But you were right. What you said about secrets? You were right. We can’t do this if we have secrets.

DAVID: But?

TABITHA: But the reason why I’m not telling you the truth about what happened is not because I don’t want to. It’s because I can’t. I want us to be right again and I will tell you my fears and my feelings but not what happened last week.

Tabitha looked down at the bottle in her hands.

TABITHA: I will tell you one day but not now. Now until I’m sure about what I’m doing. Not until I’m ready. You just have to be patient.

Tabitha looked at David intently.

TABITHA: Can you handle that? Can you wait for me to be ready?

David tilted his head so that he was looking into her eyes. His forehead furrowed a little as he thought over her request.

TABITHA: I don’t want us to end and I know you don’t either.

DAVID: No…no, I don’t.

TABITHA: So?

He gave her a small smile. He reached out and took her hand into his. David gave her hand a squeeze.

DAVID: I’ll be waiting.

Tabitha let out a breath of relief. She leaned forward and gave David a quick kiss on the lips.

TABITHA: Thank you.

David lifted his bottle and Tabitha clinked her bottle against his. They both took a swig of their drink.

TABITHA: And as part of the new and improved me, I’ll tell you all the things that you don’t know.

DAVID: (chuckled) Ok. Let’s hear it.

TABITHA: Ok. Let’s see. I actually didn’t finish college. I dropped out because I couldn’t support myself and Pike so I took a job at a pet store. Everyone didn’t know. They thought that I worked part time while I studied.

DAVID: Why didn’t you tell anyone?

Tabitha shrugged.

TABITHA: Maybe I didn’t want them to know that I was struggling. I was Oliver’s elder sister. The elder sibling shouldn’t be the one struggling. It’s always the youngest. Oliver should be the one dropping out of school and doing drugs and going to jail while I nagged about how he’s wasting his life and tell him that he could be as successful as me if he tried hard enough. And also, my parents were waiting for me to fail so that they could swoop in and take over.

DAVID: You have never told me much about your parents.

TABITHA: Cause there’s nothing you should know. They are evil. They came by a couple of weeks ago. And you know why I didn’t tell you or invite you to meet them over dinner? Because you and Oliver are the only good things in my life and I don’t want them to come near it.

DAVID: Why not?

TABITHA: Because they are evil! They are like Midas but…but instead of turning everything they touch into gold, they turn every good thing into bad, evil things…and they turn those things against me.

DAVID: (smiled) Glad I didn’t meet them then. I don’t want to go against you.

TABITHA: (grinned) Neither do I.

Tabitha fell silent as she took a few more sips of her beer. David leaned sideways and nudged shoulders with hers.

DAVID: Well, don’t stop there – carry on.

Tabitha scowled at him.

TABITHA: You’re enjoying this are you?

DAVID: Yes. But this is good for you. It’s good to let it all out instead of keeping it all in.

TABITHA: Ok…let’s see. Oh! Remember the first time we met?

DAVID: How can I forget? I got into a fight with your brother.

TABITHA: That’s right, you did. Your usual, run of the mill bar fight.

DAVID: Yup. And you came in to stop it. You took my side.

TABITHA: Well, it wasn’t your fault. Oliver was being, well, Oliver and you were the innocent bystander, who was clueless as to what was going on.

DAVID: Good times.

TABITHA: So, anyway, I broke up the fight and I took you over to the bar to look at the cut that you got on your forehead.

DAVID: That’s right.

TABITHA: And the whole time I was patching you up, I keeping thinking how bright your blood was.

David looked at her incredulously.

DAVID: What?

TABITHA: Yes! I started thinking about what makes blood red and why do some people have brighter blood than others.

DAVID: And here I thought you were thinking about how good looking I was and hoping that I would ask you out.

TABITHA: That’s why I was surprised when you did ask me out.

DAVID: It was kinda obvious. I could see the horrified expression on your face when I asked you to dinner in return for patching me up. You know, I still have that scar from that fight.

TABITHA: A scar? You got a scar from that?

David nodded.

DAVID: Right here.

He pushed back his hair and Tabitha could see a small, light pink scar just below the hairline. She reached out and touched it.

TABITHA: Why didn’t you tell me?

DAVID: It’s just a scar – no big deal.

TABITHA: Still. You should have told me.

Tabitha took her hand away from his temple.

DAVID: You know what? I think we’ve had enough talk.

TABITHA: What do you have in mind instead?

David grinned. Tabitha returned his smile and leaned forward for a kiss. They dropped their bottles to the floor and did not care as they rolled away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ELEVATOR~

Pike and Andrew were now sitting across from each other having a game of thumb war. After a few more seconds of wrestling, Andrew pinned Pike’s thumb and he grinned triumphantly.

ANDREW: That’s three games in a row, Pike. Admit it – you suck at this.

Pike rolled his eyes instead of responding. He shifted so that he was propped up against the wall of the elevator. Andrew stood up and started to stretch.

PIKE: Can I ask you something?

ANDREW: Shoot.

PIKE: Why did you become a Watcher?

Andrew blinked at Pike, looking surprised. He did not expect Pike’s question.

ADNREW: Because it was the right thing to do.

PIKE: What do you mean ‘the right thing to do’?

ANDREW: Before I met Xander and Buffy, I wasn’t exactly the model citizen of Sunnydale.

PIKE: I wasn’t the model citizen of Hades Valley either.

ANDREW: Were you part of an evil group that tried to kill Buffy at every chance you got?

PIKE: No…

ANDREW: Did you kill your best friend?

PIKE: No!

ANDREW: Then I win.

PIKE: So, you becoming a Watcher…

Andrew nodded solemnly.

ANDREW: Is me atoning for my sins.

PIKE: But why a Watcher? You could always be like me – killing demons on your own time.

ANDREW: I could but I’m not good at the whole fighting thing. I’m good with books, research and demonology. Fighting is not my thing so I couldn’t do what you do.

PIKE: Do you enjoy it?

ANDREW: I do. It makes me feel happier about myself. Before this, I hated all the things I did – I hated myself for it. But not anymore.

Pike nodded, looking thoughtful.

ANDREW: Why all these questions anyway?

PIKE: I’m just curious…and getting to know you a bit better. I don’t think we would have this conversation if we were back home.

Andrew sat back down beside Pike.

ANDREW: That’s true. It’s nice to know more about the people you’re fighting the good fight with.

PIKE: So does being a Watcher make what you did more…forgivable?

Andrew looked thoughtful.

ANDREW: No. Nothing will ever make what I did forgivable. But…it’s good to know that I tried.

Pike leaned his head against the wall of the elevator. He chuckled softly.

PIKE: Never would I have thought I’d be stuck in an elevator with you.

Andrew grinned.

ANDREW: Neither did I.

PIKE: But for what it’s worth, I don’t think I would have brought Tabitha along if I knew we were going to be here.

ANDREW: Why not?

PIKE: Cause Tabitha’s my sister and I only can stand her for a few hours.

Andrew laughed.

ANDREW: I have a brother so I know what you mean.

PIKE: You have a brother? Was he…

ANDREW: Evil? Yeah. He let loose a bunch of hellhounds during his high school prom. I think it’s because of him I went down the path of darkness. (pause) I hate him.

PIKE: Well, at least you’ve changed. Got to give you credit for that. This thing I do is now something you do.

ANDREW: (smiled) Imagine that.

The two went silent. A minute later, Andrew started humming.

PIKE: What are you humming?

ANDREW: “That thing you do.” What you said reminded me of that song.

Andrew started singing.

ANDREW: You, doin' that thing you do. Breaking my heart into a million pieces, like you always do.

Pike joined in.

PIKE: And you, don't mean to be cruel. You never even knew about the heartache. I've been goin' through.

ANDREW & PIKE: Well, I try and try to forget you girl but it's just so hard to do. Every time you do that thing you do!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~CAVE~

Asta reached into the compartment which was carved out from the wall and took out the talisman that was in it.

ASTA: Wow.

XANDER: It is really shiny.

Asta flipped the talisman around and studied it.

ASTA: Do you know how this works?

XANDER: What do you mean?

ASTA: How do we put Sha back into this?

XANDER: No, I don’t. We didn’t really read into that.

ASTA: Ok. So whatever we do, we try not to chant any spells or say anything magick like.

XANDER: Gotcha. Good thing I’m bad at those.

ASTA: Let’s go and see whether the rain has stopped.

The two of them walked back to the place where they started from. When they got back, Xander went to the place they dropped from – which was covered with dirt and rock – and glanced up. Water kept dripping from a small hole.

XANDER: It’s still raining.

ASTA: Guess we are going to be here for awhile.

XANDER: Yeah. Better get comfortable.

Asta looked around at where they were and once she found a safe spot, she flopped down. She patted the spot next to her.

ASTA: Get comfortable.

Xander smiled and took the young Slayer’s offer, sitting down beside her. Asta flipped the talisman in her hand over and over, absentmindedly studying it.

ASTA: What a day huh?

XANDER: It’s what we do.

ASTA: It’s what I do.

Xander winked at her.

XANDER: Doesn’t mean I can’t join in the fun.

Asta faced the other man and looked at him seriously.

ASTA: Can I ask you a question?

XANDER: Does it have anything to do with slaying cause I might not be the best person to ask.

ASTA: No, nothing like that.

XANDER: Ok, shoot.

ASTA: Have you ever thought about…quitting?

XANDER: Quitting this thing that we do?

ASTA: Yeah. I mean, I have thought about quitting nearly everyday. So I’m sure you thought about it some of the time. What about after your eye injury?

XANDER: Well, there were doubts…

ASTA: But?

XANDER: But I never thought about quitting.

ASTA: Even after…

XANDER: Even after.

ASTA: Wow. That’s so decent of you.

XANDER: Well, I try.

ASTA: I don’t think I would be as dedicated as you are.

XANDER: It’s still early, Asta. It’s perfectly alright to have doubts and thoughts about quitting. Buffy was the same. Just give it time and you’ll find out that being a Slayer is your gift to the world. Just like helping a Slayer is my gift to the world.

Asta looked at Xander in admiration.

ASTA: You are amazing, Xander Harris, you know that?

XANDER: You’re not bad yourself.

The two of them shared a smile. A moment later, Xander looked away, clearing his throat uncomfortably. He shifted to get more comfortable but that movement made his shoulder throb in pain. Xander winced; scrunching up his forehead in pain. He touched his shoulder and pulled his hand away. Blood coated his fingers.

Asta frowned.

ASTA: You ok?

XANDER: I’m fine.

Asta caught sight of the blood on his fingers. She sat up straight.

ASTA: Liar! You’re bleeding!

XANDER: It’s nothing.

Asta scrambled to his side and took a look at his wound with her flashlight. She handed him the talisman so she could take a closer look at his injury.

ASTA: It looks quite bad. We need to put pressure on it so you won’t bleed to death.

XANDER: I’m fine – really.

ASTA: You are now but if you leave it unattended, you’ll get infected and then you won’t be fine.

Asta took the hem of Xander’s shirt and tore it.

XANDER: Hey! That’s my good shirt.

ASTA: Really? You don’t look good in it though.

XANDER: I don’t?

Asta smiled at Xander.

ASTA: No. Blue’s more your colour not green.

Asta took the strip of ripped shirt and tied it around Xander’s shoulder.

XANDER: Ow!

ASTA: Sorry.

She tightened it some more.

XANDER: OW!

Asta shot his a cheeky smile.

ASTA: I’m really sorry.

XANDER: So not!

Asta leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. She pulled away a little and cocked her head.

ASTA: Feel better?

Xander swallowed nervously, keenly aware of how close she was.

XANDER: Erm…yeah…much better.

Before Asta could say anything else, Xander turned away from her, a light pulling his attention away. The talisman in his hand was glowing.

XANDER: What the…

Xander dropped the talisman to the ground and the two of them got to their feet.

ASTA: Is it supposed to be doing that?

XANDER: I –

The talisman shot a beam of light straight up, lighting up the whole cave. Then a naked, human man materialized before them.

XANDER: Oook. This is not good.

CUT TO BLACK

END CREDITS

Written by
Irene Issac

Story Editor
Beck Schwarz

Special Thanks To
Everyone and anyone who helped in making this episode a success

A BECK TO SHREDS production. © 2007 Irene Issac

[shred]

Feedback, reviews, comments and suggestions are to be left in my feedback thread (www.kacks.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=asta&action=display&thread=1168911962).

Thanks for reading.