WWDD: S2E8 “THE DARK AGE”

Mom’s at Spanish class again, which means Buffy’s babysitting—and Dawn’s first night in the Sunnydale High library! She watches Buffy aerobicize, mimicking her own kicks like maybe her Halloween slayer powers will kick back in if she tries hard enough. Between moves, she darts to the shelves, peppering Giles with “What’s this one about?” until he finally storms off into his office muttering about “newfangled nonsense.” He’s just so… old.

At school the next day, her missing journal obsession boils over. Dawn tears through her locker, the lost and found, even corners Kirstie in the bathroom to accuse her of stealing it. Of course Kirstie denies it—they’re sworn enemies. Still, she comes home empty-handed again. Relief only comes when Buffy casually mentions meeting Giles at the hospital about a blood theft. Totally normal slayer goodbye. One more night Dawn doesn’t have to confess her missing pages.

The next evening, Joyce is out with the gallery’s computer guy (again!)— so Dawn winds up back in the library. When Ethan Rayne shows up and chaos explodes, Buffy shoves her into Giles’s office and orders her to stay put. Dawn fiddles with a shiny orange orb on his desk, ear pressed to the door, until Buffy comes back just long enough to pawn her off on Willow and Xander.

When Willow comes up with her genius plan, the Scoobies tell Dawn they’ll be right back and dash off to rescue Jenny. Awaiting their return, Dawn comes to an important realization—she has the library to herself! She sprints through the stacks, thumbing random books, until she trips over the phone cord and yanks it straight out of the wall—oops. Finally settling down to do homework, she flips open her notebook and a folded scrap of paper slips out: "Your secrets are safe with me." Dawn’s chest tightens. Who knows? Who wrote it? Her panic only breaks when Buffy returns… sporting a brand-new tattoo. Dawn’s eyes widen. She is definitely telling Mom.