Chapter Four
TRAILER. NIGHT.
Lane screeches to a halt in front of the trailer. The trailer is
located in an isolated wooded area outside of Hartford. Lane, Buffy,
Faith and Rory hop out the jeep. The grievously wounded Paris is
sprawled in back.
- FAITH
- I'll grab her arms. Buffy, you grab her feet.
- BUFFY
- Gotcha.
They carry Paris inside the trailer.
INSIDE TRAILER. NIGHT.
Waiting for them is Babette and Morey.
- RORY
- Oh, my God... Babette, you're a Guardian?
- BABETTE
- Yes, Sweetie... What happened to Paris?
- LANE
- Kirk.
- BABETTE
- Ah, jeez... Please, lay her down on the sofa... Gently now...
Buffy and Faith lay Paris on the sofa. Paris reels there in pain.
Babette turns sternly to Lane.
- BABETTE
- The Grail. Have you got it?
- LANE
- Yes, I've got it.
- BABETTE
- Let me see it... Let me see it!
Lane takes the Grail out of her backpack. Babette snatches it from
her and kisses it.
- BABETTE
- Thank God.
She hands it to Lane, who places it back into her backpack. Sobbing,
Rory kneels beside Paris.
- RORY
- Please, Paris... Please... Stay with us...
- LANE
- She's going to be OK. Babette will know what to do.
- BABETTE
- I'm going to need some bandages and a blanket.
- LANE
- Got it.
Lane gets some bandages and a blanket from the closet and hands them
to Babette. Babette pulls up a chair next to the sofa and sits in it.
- BABETTE
- (to Rory)
- Sweetie, I know this is a tough time right now, but I'm going to need
some room to work. OK?
- RORY
- OK... Please help her.
- BABETTE
- I will.
Rory steps back from the sofa. Babette starts bandaging Paris' chest
wound. Paris is now unconscious and looks pale. Babette checks Paris'
pulse. The color flushes right from Babette's face. She starts CPR on
Paris, pounding furiously on Paris' chest.
- BABETTE
- Damn it... C'mon, Paris. Breathe... C'mon...
- RORY
- What's wrong?
Babette is silent. She continues with the CPR. After several
minutes, she stops.
- RORY
- What is it? Paris is going to okay, isn't she?
- BABETTE
- I'm sorry...
- LANE
- Oh, God...
- RORY
- No.
- BABETTE
- Sweetie...
- RORY
- No! No!
- BABETTE
- I'm sorry, Rory.
- RORY
- No!
- BABETTE
- She's gone... Paris is dead.
It takes a second for Babette's words to sink in. Rory looks like
she is in shock. They all look like they are in shock.
- LANE
- Are you sure?... I mean...
- BABETTE
- Yes, I'm sure.
Babette reaches down and closes Paris' eyes. Rory breaks down.
- RORY
- No... No... No... Paris can't be dead... No!
Rory throws herself across Paris' body, crying uncontrollably.
- BABETTE
- Sweetie... I'm sorry... We all know how much you loved Paris.
- FAITH
- Damn. I knew it. I knew we should have taken her to a hospital.
- BABETTE
- No. You did the right thing coming here. Think how many innocent people
would have been put at risk if you had gone to the hospital... It was...
It was Paris' time... It was her time.
- RORY
- Please, Paris... Please... Talk to me... Say something!...
Babette walks up to Lane.
- BABETTE
- She needs time to grieve... C'mon, let's go outside. Let's give her
time to be alone with the body.
They all step outside, except Buffy. She hesitates at the doorway,
then turns and walks over to Rory.
- BUFFY
- Look, I know we don't know each other all that well, and I don't
pretend to know what you're feeling right now, but I can tell you that I
have died before. As a matter of fact, like I was saying back in the
cave, I've died twice. And I can tell you, that Paris is in a better
place now - Paradise. And there is no pain there and no suffering -
- RORY
- No, you could never understand... A person like you... Your whole life
has been nothing but death and pain and suffering. I can see it in your
eyes. I could see it the second I laid eyes on you... When I held Paris
in my arms, it was Paradise... And now she's gone... You did it. You and
Faith. If you had never come to Stars Hollow, none of this would have
happened... Get out. Get out! Get out! Get out!
Anguished, Buffy steps outside. Rory cradles Paris' lifeless body in
her arms. Through the torrent of tears:
- RORY
- Paris, what did you think you were accomplishing by saving my life? How
did you think I could live without you? You didn't save my life, you
destroyed it. Destroyed it! Because without you, my life is nothing...
Don't you know loving you was the one noble thing I ever did?... This
world is so crazy, so fucked up. But what we had together was pure and
beautiful... And now it's gone. And my heart is broken. And I don't know
how to live with this pain. And I can't...
Rory unsheathes her sword.
- RORY
- Don't you see, Paris, you've left me no choice but to join you? I swore
the day we got married that we would always be together. And here, now,
I keep that vow.
Rory presses the sword against her chest and prepares to ram herself
through. But just then, she hears the trailer door swing open. She
quickly sheathes the sword. Babette and the rest of them walk into the
trailer.
- BABETTE
- Rory...
- RORY
- I'm... OK... I'll be OK.
- BABETTE
- Um, Rory... Look -
- FAITH
- Look, we talked it over, and we don't mean to be insensitive, but we
really can't stay here. It's only a matter of time before Kirk finds
this place.
- LANE
- She's right.
- RORY
- I agree. You all can leave.
- LANE
- And what are you going to do?
- RORY
- I'll stay here with Paris.
- LANE
- Umm....
- BABETTE
- Umm...
- RORY
- Look, I'm not a Guardian anymore. I quit. I'm through. Haven't I lost
enough as it is?... I curse the day I ever met any of you and you
dragged me and Paris into your pathetic, ghoulish little lives. And I
curse the Grail, and He who supposedly drank out of it, and I curse this
whole fuckin' world while I'm at it.
Rory kneels next to the body and hugs it fiercely. Suddenly, Lane's
backpack starts to shake violently.
- BUFFY
- What the...
Lane opens the backpack and takes out the Grail. It is shaking so
violently she can barely hold it. Finally, she is forced to let go. But
the Grail doesn't fall to the floor. Instead, it floats there in midair.
A sphere of light emanates from the Grail. The sphere floats over to
the sofa. Rory falls over backward trying to get out of the way.
The sphere hovers over Paris' body, then envelops it.
- RORY
- Oh my God.
The sphere gives off a piercing bright light. Then just as quickly,
the sphere disappears. The Grail itself floats through the air and lands
on the table at the center of the trailer.
They all look on, confused, not sure what exactly has happened.
Suddenly, Paris opens her eyes! She sits up on the sofa. She takes in
the sparse surroundings of the trailer with a cynical eye. She stares at
Babette and Morey.
- PARIS
- Well, if it isn't Ma and Pa Kettle. Don't tell me. This is your summer
home... Well, what are you all staring at? What's a person got to
do to get something to eat around here? I'm staving.
They all burst out into laughter. Rory rushes up and embraces Paris,
overcome with joy.
- FAITH
- I guess maybe it wasn't her time after all.
HIGHWAY. NIGHT.
Kirk stands just off from the highway, where Rory
had parked her jeep earlier when they first went to the cave looking for
Lane. He sees the tire tracks of Rory's jeep leaving the roadside back
onto the highway, heading north towards Hartford. He converts himself
into a whirlwind and - WHOOSH! - races north down the highway at
breakneck speed.
INSIDE TRAILER. NIGHT.
They all sit around the table, preparing to
have dinner. Off to one side Buffy is on the phone with Willow back in
LA.
- BUFFY
- ...That's right Willow. We need a cloaking spell. Like right now. We
got a really mean big bad bearing down on us.
- WILLOW
- Roger that. I just need your location, precise as possible please.
- BUFFY
- (to Babette)
- Hey, were are we?
- BABETTE
- Twelve miles south of Hartford.
- BUFFY
- (to Willow)
- Got that?
- WILLOW
- Twelve miles south of Hartford, Connecticut. Got it...
- (chanting)
- Let Faith and Buffy, And all their comrades bidden, While in the humble
abode they dwell, In a cloaking mist be hidden.
- BUFFY
- Hold on. Let me go outside and see if it worked.
Buffy runs outside, and sees that the trailer and surrounding area
has indeed vanished from view. She rushes back inside.
- BUFFY
- Fab job Willow.
- WILLOW
- You should be safe for now. Can't say how long it will hold though,
because of the distances involved.
- BUFFY
- Understand. Thanks a mil.
Buffy hangs up. Lane takes a peak outside and then steps back
inside.
- BUFFY
- Sabrina isn't so bad having around after all, hey?
- LANE
- I guess not.
Babette finishes warming up some pork and beans on a Bunsen burner,
and places it on the table. She also has some rolls, Spam and canned
peaches.
- BABETTE
- I know this isn't much. But it's all we have.
- BUFFY
- Hey, this is like a feast compared to what it's like at dinner time
around our house. Right Faith?
- FAITH
- You got that right.
- BUFFY
- Let's just say cash flow is not exactly what it could be... You okay
there, Paris?
- PARIS
- How could I not be? I've been given a second chance at life.
Paris kisses Rory on the cheek.
- BUFFY
- The first time I died, I wasn't really dead long enough to remember
much. But the second time I died, I was in Paradise, and it was cool.
- PARIS
- Well, every time I look in Rory's eyes, it's like Paradise for me.
- BABETTE
- Okay, everybody. Let's eat.
They start eating.
- RORY
- I have a question. Babette, now you're a Guardian too. Right?
- BABETTE
- Yes. I've been a Guardian since I was your age. Actually younger... The
history of the Guardians, boy, that's a long story. See, when
Lionhearted captured the Grail, she of course kept it with her at all
times. She couldn't risk it being captured or destroyed.
- BUFFY
- Wait a minute. She kept it with her? Wasn't that kinda dangerous? I
mean, I would have buried it somewhere where nobody could find it.
- BABETTE
- For you or me it might have been dangerous, but for Lionhearted, are
you kidding? She was probably the greatest warrior that has ever lived.
I mean, good grief, she defeated the Templars to capture it. She was
invincible.
- Anyway, she discovered guarding the Grail, and performing her
slaying duties, at the same time, was virtually impossible. So she
convinced a sorcerer she knew by the name of Jocasta, who was enormously
powerful, to cast a spell on her that would leave her dead just long
enough so that the next slayer would be called up. Once the slayer was
called, Jocasta then revived Lionhearted.
- The new slayer knew nothing about what had happened. She just went
about her slaying duties. Lionhearted, freed from having to slay,
devoted herself solely to protecting the Grail. And that's how the
slayer line split off, with us Guardians only concerned with protecting
the Grail.
- The way it works is, if a Guardian dies, the next slayer is a
Guardian. If a regular slayer dies, then the next slayer is a regular
slayer. Lionhearted, working with Jocasta, was able to ensure this.
- Now, as time passed, it was realized having one Guardian was not
enough. The potential for a corrupt slayer who could sell or destroy the
Grail was too great -
- BUFFY
- Hey, I know how that works.
Faith rolls her eyes contemptuously.
- BABETTE
- Especially since the Council of Watchers knew nothing about the Grail,
and any new Guardian would not have a Watcher to guide her. Lionhearted
herself had trouble with the law - boy, did she ever - when she was
young, so the Guardians who came after her knew the temptation was
there. A Guardian by the name of Marissa, a Brit, who was very wise, got
another sorcerer to cast a spell so that the next Guardian in line
would be activated, even while she, Marissa, was still alive. Not unlike
the spell that Willow cast that activated all the Potentials. And
that's how it came to be that there are always two Guardians at all
times. The two Guardians act as a check against each other, to ensure
the safety of the Grail.
- It's a system that has worked perfectly. We've never lost possession
of the Grail in five hundred years.
Babette finishes up.
- BUFFY
- I'm thirsty.
Suddenly, the Grail fills with wine.
- BUFFY
- Whoa.
- FAITH
- Are we suppose to drink from this? I mean, can we?
- BABETTE
- Sure. Why not? If it was good enough for Christ, it's good enough for
us.
They each take turns sipping the wine from the Grail.
- BUFFY
- Wow. This feels all Last Suppery.
- LANE
- Yeah.
- BUFFY
- OK, Babette, I have a question. Now, Lionhearted defeated all these
Templar Knights and captured the Grail. Right?
- BABETTE
- Right.
- BUFFY
- But we're vampire slayers. We kill vampires. We don't kill people. Even
evil people like the Templars. I mean, how could Lionhearted do that?
- BABETTE
- Well, why don't you ask her yourself?
- BUFFY
- Uh, because she's been dead like five hundred years.
Babette rises and walks over to a chest. She opens it and takes out
a book. She walks back to the table and places the book down in front of
Buffy.
- BUFFY
- A Book of Slayers. I have one of those too.
- BABETTE
- This book is very unlike your book. It has all the Guardians in it, who
of course would not be in your book. But this book is also a magical
book. All you have to do is touch the portrait of any slayer in here,
and that slayer will appear before you. Of course, this only works if
you are a slayer yourself.
- FAITH
- You mean they come back alive?
- BABETTE
- Not alive. But the essence of what they were. But it only lasts for a
short while.
Babette turns to the page containing Lionhearted's portrait.
- BUFFY
- Wow. She's beautiful. Looks kinda on the wild side though.
- BABETTE
- Here. Touch it.
Buffy does so. Suddenly, a cloud of dust forms in the room. It
swirls about. After a few tense seconds, a form emerges from the cloud.
It is Lionhearted.
She is short and slender, with the hard facial features of a French
peasant girl. Dark complexioned, dark haired, she has fierce eyes and a
stern countenance. She is like a force of nature, wild and untamed and
untamable. She is wearing mailed armor. She carries a sword in each
hand, and twirls them expertly about.
- LANE
- Oh, my God. You're... You're Lionhearted. Capturer of the Holy Grail.
- LIONHEARTED
- Yes.
- LANE
- I'm -
- LIONHEARTED
- I know who you are. I know who you all are...
- (to Buffy)
- So you want to know why I, a vampire slayer, killed mortal men to
capture the Holy Grail? Is this why you disturbed me from my eternal
rest?
- BUFFY
- Yes.
- LIONHEARTED
- Very well, I will answer your question... At one time, I was a lot like
your Faith -
- BUFFY
- Uh, "my Faith"?
- LIONHEARTED
- Please, do not interrupt me... Yes, your Faith. You see, not long after
I was called, I fell in with a group of ne'er do wells and thieves. I
used my powers to enrich them and me. One day, we robbed a farmer. We
then drove his family out of the farmhouse, and set fire to it. Just for
fun.
- What we didn't know, and what the farmer tried to tell us but we
were too drunk to listen to or care, is that he had a orphanage in the
back of his home that he ran. He did so out of the goodness of his
heart. When the house burned down, twenty-two orphans, mostly young
children, some of them babies, were killed.
- LANE
- Wait a minute. You burned down an orphanage?
- LIONHEARTED
- Yes. I did not learn of the tragedy until several days later when I
found out the authorities had placed a bounty on my head and the reasons
thereof. I took refuge in a convent. I asked myself, what am I doing?
This is not me. I am Alexis - Alexandrine. Which means "Defender of
mankind." I repented and turned my life over to God. I also once again
devoted myself to my slaying duties. But always in the back of my mind I
burned with a desire to truly atone for what I had done.
- Over the years I had learned that the Knights Templar were in
possession of the Sangreal. I thought that if I could capture it, that
would make up for my earlier crimes. And so I engaged the Templars in
battle. For two days and nights I fought them without rest. On the
morning of the third day, I surveyed the battlefield. It was as still
and silent as a spring mist. All the Templars were dead. I had defeated
them. I captured the Grail.
- Not long after this, the Lord Christ came to me in a vision. He said
that as long as we slayers possessed the Grail, He would bestow mankind
with the blessings of freedom and prosperity. This is known as the
Covenant of the Grail.
- About a year after this, Columbus made his historic voyage and
discovered the New World. This, of course, changed everything. The
Renaissance came into full flowering. Then came the Enlightenment.
Later, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, the founding of
the American state, the rise of modern civilization, and the freeing of
the common man from serfdom
- Everything you see here, your entire civilization, none of this
would be possible if it were not for me. What Sir Lancelot could not do.
What Sir Galahad could not do. What a thousand other noble knights
could not do. I did it. I captured the Grail.
- BUFFY
- Yes. But still -
- LIONHEARTED
- Yes. The Templars were men. But there is always that one exception. And
this was it. To show you how just and righteous was my achieving of the
Grail, imagine a world in which the Grail was recaptured by the
Templars.
- FAITH
- What would happen?
- LIONHEARTED
- It would mean that the Covenant that God established with the slayers
would be broken. It would mean the end of your modern civilization, the
end of the freedom enjoyed by the common man, and a new Dark Age.
- You see, I lived in a world in which the very powerful lorded like
gods over the poor and needy. A world in which the common man was little
more than a slave of the rich. I was determined to smash that world to
pieces... I don't want to sound immodest, but me achieving the Grail
was perhaps the greatest single achievement of man. I, a sixteen year
old girl, changed the course of human history. But if Kirk were to
recapture the Grail, all that would be undone. You must not let that
happen... He nears.
- LANE
- Wait a minute. You mean Kirk is near here?
- LIONHEARTED
- Yes. And closing fast.
HIGHWAY. NIGHT.
Kirk approaches a dirt road leading off the highway. He sees the
tire tracks from Rory's jeep winding up the dirt road. Kirk exits the
highway and takes the dirt road to the wooded area containing the
trailer. But since the whole area is cloaked, Kirk doesn't see anything
out of the ordinary. He fumes in anger at his ill luck, and circles back
to the highway and continues north.
INSIDE TRAILER. NIGHT.
Lionhearted continues to speak.
- LIONHEARTED
- Your cloaking spell has worked for now. But Kirk won't be fooled for
long. Your time grows short.
Lionhearted walks over to Faith. She places her hands on Faith's
shoulders.
- LIONHEARTED
- We are kindred souls, you and me. You have done things you regret, I
know. But like me, you will atone for your mistakes. Remember this
Sometimes for those whom much is expected, much has to be given. Let
the desire to do good works burn like an unquenchable fire inside of
you. I tell you, Faith, you will accomplish great things, beyond your
imagination.
Lionhearted faces all of them.
- LIONHEARTED
- I want you to understand what has happened here. When you drank from
the Sangreal, you did not drink wine, but the blood of the Lamb, which
cleanses and purifies. Some of you will not survive your encounter with
Kirk, who is the source of all evil. But through the blood of the Lamb,
you shall taste the just fruits of all true servants of God, and drink
from the everlasting Spring. May God bless all of you.
Lionhearted walks up to Buffy.
- LIONHEARTED
- You are an old fuddy duddy. There is very little joy in you. You do not
know how blessed you are. If I would have had someone like Faith by my
side, even with all that I accomplished, there is no telling how much
more I would have achieved. Learn to embrace life, rejoice in it. I know
you have lived a hard life. But you do not know what true hardship is. I
lived in a world where men were bought and sold like cattle. Where the
vast majority of men and women lived lives of unspeakable misery, then
died penniless and destitute, with only vails of tears to comfort them.
- Being a slayer is a gift from God. It is not a curse. It is a sacred
honor. Do not wear it as a burden, but rather as a beautiful robe that
God Himself wove for you.
Lionhearted moves right up against Buffy.
- LIONHEARTED
- Is there some place we can go to be alone?
- BUFFY
- Alone?
- BABETTE
- There's a wood shed out back.
- BUFFY
- Uh... Why?
- LIONHEARTED
- Every great enterprise begins with a good roll in the hay.
Buffy's eyes do a major league BUG OUT.
- BUFFY
- Ah no... Ah no!
- LIONHEARTED
- Oh yes. Oh yes.
Buffy resists, but Lionhearted is far stronger than her. She heaves
Buffy on top of her shoulders, and carries her outside to the wood shed.
Buffy finally, after all these years, succumbs to her desires, and
allows Lionhearted to take her pleasure.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER.
Buffy walks into the trailer. She's disheveled. Her hair is a mess,
and her blouse open, exposing her bra. Faith walks right up to her.
- FAITH
- You OK?
- BUFFY
- I'm fine.
- FAITH
- I bet you are... Where's Lionhearted?
- BUFFY
- Gone. Back to the dust from which she came.
- FAITH
- Oh... So you all set for the big bad?
- BUFFY
- Ready and rarin' to go.
The jealously in Faith's eyes is obvious. But there is also a
glimmer of hope, she realizing if Buffy finally faced up to her
lesbianism with Lionhearted, then it was only a matter of time before
she, Faith, tasted of Buffy's glorious forbidden fruits.
Lane puts the Grail in her backpack and they start for the door.
- RORY
- Aren't you coming with us, Babette?
- BABETTE
- No.
- PARIS
- Won't you be in danger? I mean -
- BABETTE
- Me and Morey will be safe here. It's the Grail that Kirk wants.
Besides, I may be getting up there in years, but I am still a Guardian.
I wield a pretty mean sword. I can take care of myself. It's you girls I
fear for. I will pray for all of you.
The girls exit the trailer. They pile in the jeep and take off,
heading down the dark highway, towards the great unknown.