Loyalty

Wesley: "Previously on Angel:"

Holtz is riding hell for leather through the English countryside in 1764.

Angel: "Holtz, we took a lot from you, that's true."

Holtz finds his dead wife.

Angel stands in the rain holding Connor with Holtz aiming a crossbow at them.

Sahjhan: "Now's your chance! Do it! Finish it while you still can. You can't just let him walk away! Not after what you swore to me!"

Holtz to Justine: "I want you to go out and find others like you. People who have suffered as we have."

Angel give Cordy a roll of money: "Don't come in for a couple of weeks. Take Groo some place nice. You'd like that."

Angel to Wes: "What about my son?"

Wes: "He has a role to play. - I've located commentaries on the Nyazian text, the prophecies concerning your son."

Wes stares down at his notepad: 'The Father will kill The Son.'

Gunn and Fred walk into Wes' office to find him asleep at his desk.

Gunn: "You got to admire the loyalty. All night here, hitting the books. Logging serious alone-time, delving into the secret mysteries of... - Man, Wesley needs a life."

Fred: "I wonder if he found anything new about Connor."

Fred reaches for the papers on Wes' desk.

Wes: "Don't touch that."

Wes' jerks awake and straightens his glasses.

Wes: "They're just in a specific order. I'll be lost... (blinks up at Fred and Gunn) What time is it?"

Angel: "Time for Wesley to wakey-wakey! Isn't that right Connor?"

Angel comes in carrying Connor.

Wes gathers his papers together: "I must have lost track of the time. I meant to, ah - go home."

Angel: "Road to hell, right?"

Gunn: "So, Wes, you find any answers in all these stuffy books of yours?"

Angel: "He already knows the answer. He's just looking for the question."

Wes: "So, have we heard anything from Cordelia recently?"

Angel: "Do you wanna see Connor do something cool? (Angel morphs into vamp face) I'm teaching him how to die!"

Wes: "Don't!"

Angel buries his fangs in the side of Connor's neck as the baby begins to cry.

Wes looks down at his hands, palms down on the open book in front of him. Blood is seeping out from under them, coating the pages.

Gunn and Fred smile at Wes.

Gunn: "Tick-tock, Wes. (Gunn's voice suddenly gets deep and strange sounding) Running out of time. (Echoing) Running out of time."

Wes looks over as Angel straightens up, blood smearing his vamp face, then lifts his hands off the book and stares at his bloody palms.

Wes' head come up from the open book he was sleeping on and he glances around the office.

Angel walks in, carrying Connor.

Angel: "Morning, Wes. You been here all night?"

Wes just stares up at Angel.

Intro

A baby is crying.

1.Woman: "You'd think something was killing him."

The camera pulls back to show us two women, each holding a baby sitting in a doctor's waiting room.

1.Woman: "All night long, the screaming and crying."

2.Woman: "Colic is the worst."

1.Woman: "I hold him. I walk him. Nothing seems to work."

Angel: "Have you tried the vacuum?"

The woman looks over where Angel is waiting with Connor, a slightly disheveled looking Wes sitting beside him.

Angel: "Sometimes the white noise from a motor will put a colicky baby right to sleep."

1.Woman: "You know, I've read about that. The problem is my older one - I can't run the vacuum while he's sleeping."

Angel: "You could try taping it. The sound. Just leaving playing by the crib kind of low."

1.Woman: "I should have thought of that! (Smiles at Angel) Mr. Dad to the rescue!"

Nurse: "Misses Ferguson?"

1.Woman gets up to follow the nurse: "Oh, excuse me."

Angel aside to Wes: "Mr. Dad! Check me out! I'm Mr. Dad. (Sees the way Wes looks at Connor) You okay, Wes?"

Wes: "Well, just a bit tired, is all."

Angel: "Probably good you got out of the office. We haven't seen you for the last couple of days. You've been all holed up with all those (quietly) prophecies and books."

Wes: "Yes, I've been working on a - particularly difficult translation."

Angel: "Is it about Connor? Anything we have to worry about?"

Nurse: "Mr. Angel?"

Angel gets up: "We're up, kiddo. (Sees Wes get up) You're coming in?"

Wes: "Just in case you forget to ask anything. Always better to have an extra pair of ears, right?"

The Doctor is examining Connor as Angel hovers over him.

Angel: "It's like a - like a soft gurgle or a wheeze. It might be a wheeze. I heard it last night when I was feeding him. You hear it?"

Doctor: "All I hear is a normal, healthy little heart."

Angel: "You-you don't understand. I-I got like really good hearing. I mean *really* good hearing."

Doctor: "Well, most first time parents do. You said this wheeze or gurgle happened while you were feeding him?"

Angel: "Is that bad? What is it?"

Doctor: "In my professional opinion - it's called digestion."

Angel: "Oh."

Wes: "Doctor. During your exam you didn't notice anything - abnormal about him, did you?"

Angel: "Wes! What kind of question is that? (To Doctor) Did you?"

Doctor: "No. Your son is just fine."

Angel: "So - when will we get the results form the blood test?"

Doctor: "In about a week. It's just precaution, really."

Angel: "But he's okay. Connor's healthy?"

Doctor: "As healthy as a human being can possibly be."

Angel to Connor: "Did you hear that? (Shakes the doctors hand) Thank you."

Doctor: "No problem."

Wes walks to the door and opens it.

Angel grinning: "Thanks."

Wes: "Angel? (Angel looks over to Wes) You can let go of the doctor now."

Angel: "Oh. Right."

Angel stops shaking the doctor's hand and gathers up Connor.

Angel: "Come on, kiddo. (To Doctor) Thanks."

Doctor: "Take care."

Angel, carrying Connor, and Wes walk out. The doctor looks down at his hand.

Doctor: "And they bitch about *my* cold hands."

The Doctor lays the chart down next to a tube of blood labeled 'Angel, Connor' and leaves the room.

The other woman from the waiting room comes in carrying her baby. She takes the tube of Connor's blood and replaces it with another one, looking exactly the same. The door opens and the nurse comes in.

Nurse: "There you are! Did you get turned around? You're supposed to be over in exam three."

2.Woman: "Oh. My mistake."

Follows the nurse out.

Outside shot of the Hyperion during the day.

Gunn: "I wanna know how he does it. No last name, no bank account. How are you ordering stuff off the web?"

Angel is getting a dagger from the weapons cabinet to open the box sitting next to Gunn on the reception counter. Wes is busy translating. Fred is holding Connor.

Fred: "It's not that hard, really. All you have to do is hack into the shipping database, find someone who is ordering what you want, then substitute your information. (Sees Gunn and Angel looking at her) Except that would just be high-tech robbery."

Angel: "I memorized Cordelia's credit card numbers."

Fred: "Oh. Low-tech robbery."

Angel pulls two miniature hockey sticks out of the box and holds them up.

Gunn: "Some kind of boomerang vamp stake?"

Angel hands one to Gunn: "No! They're itty-bitty hockey sticks!"

Angel demonstrates, then pulls a small jersey out of the box and holds it up. It says' Connor 03' on the back.

Angel: "Check this out! How *cute* is this? Huh? Seriously."

Gunn: "Seriously, I think you got way too much time on your hands."

Fred: "Come on. You think it's adorable."

Gunn: "Well, yeah, but at least I'm manly enough to deny it."

Angel: "Okay, okay. I admit things have been a little slow since Cordelia and the Groosalug went on vacation."

Angel takes the puck out of the box and tosses it to Gunn.

Gunn: "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually jonesing for a throw-down with something mean and nasty."

Angel is taking a drink from a glass of blood, sitting on the counter.

Fred: "Cordelia hasn't called once with a vision. Do they even have phones there?"

Gunn drops the puck on the floor and tires out the small hockey stick.

Angel: "Maybe they're not near a phone. Come on, it's a vacation! They're not gonna waste it all on a dark hotel room - you know, together, where the food's delivered and there is no reason to go outside. You know, hockey is a great sport."

Gunn: "You realize this is the whitest sport known to man?"

Angel: "True. But the games are indoors, and they usually play at night.

Gunn: "Got you."

Angel: "I know it's a little bit too early to be thinking about stuff like this, but I -I can't wait to watch him, you know, grow up. (Takes another sip of blood) For him to lose his first tooth. (Gunn straightens up and watches Angel with a slight smile) Learn how to ride a bike. Ha."

Wes un-hunches from his book as Angel's voice drifts into his office.

Angel: "I want to help him pick out a tux for his senior prom. I just can't wait to see who he's gonna to be. I know it's mushy, but it's just... He makes me so happy."

Gunn bats the puck past Angel and throws up his arms.

Gunn: "He shoots, he scores! Ha!"

Angel: "Well, sure. Of course, with no defender."

Angel picks up the other stick.

Gunn: "Ha. Bring it on."

Angel: "I think Connor? He's gonna be center, you know?"

Gunn: "What you got?"

Angel: "Control of the puck."

Angel takes the puck around Gunn.

Angel: "Yeah. Ditching the left wing."

Gunn: "Come on."

Angel: "Taking it all the way to the crease..."

Angel shoots. The puck flies and shatters the glass of the door leading out into the garden court.

Wes looks up at the sound of the breaking glass.

Angel, holding up his hockey stick: "Yeah, you know, these - this isn't regulation size."

Aubrey: "Excuse me. Is this Angel Investigations?"

They turn to see a woman with short, dark hair standing in the lobby.

Aubrey: "I need your help."

Fred is putting Connor into the bassinet.

Aubrey: "Last Monday night, my son Timothy snuck out of the house. He loved to go to the pier. He loved the lights of the Ferris wheel there. (Angel looks down at Connor) So I went after him. I searched the pier, the arcade - nothing. So - I sat up all night and waited for him to come home."

Angel: "When did he return home? Right before dawn?"

Aubrey: "Yeah. But his face was... There was something wrong with his face - and - he was so angry. He was calling me names, and pounding on the door, and screaming at me to let him in. - It scared me. I was afraid of my own son. - Then he just - went up in flames."

Everyone is quiet for a moment.

Wes: "If you'd let him in - he would have killed you."

Aubrey: "At least he'd still be alive."

Gunn: "No. What came to your door that wasn't your son. It looked like your son, but it wasn't him."

Aubrey: "Maybe I could have found a way to turn him back."

Angel: "When somebody becomes a vampire there is no turning back. (Wes looks over at Angel) No matter how much you want to believe there is some part of him you can save, all that's left is an evil thing."

Wes looks down at his hands, then back at Aubrey.

Wes: "You say your son went to the pier that night? (Aubrey nods) Gunn, why don't you do a little recon while it's still light out."

Gunn: "I can just gear up and take care of it."

Wes: "No. If there is a nest at the pier, we go as a group. Strictly reconnaissance."

Gunn: "Okay. Fred and I will check it out."

Aubrey: "If I could have found that thing myself, I would have killed it with my bare hands. - It made me afraid of my own little boy. (Angel looks down at Connor) I don't understand any of this. I don't know what to do."

Smash cut to Aubrey reporting to a group of people ranged around a seated Holtz.

Aubrey: "Wesley Wyndham-Pryce heads the staff at Angel Investigations. Doles out assignments, specializes in reference and research."

Aubrey moves from a picture of Wes to one of Fred.

Aubrey: "This woman nicknamed Fred appears to be the resident science expert. It's unclear whether she is a fighter. Finally, Charles Gunn: big, very strong, could be a formidable opponent. Though he seems to be a bit impulsive. We may be able to use that in the future."

Holtz gets up: "Good work, Aubrey."

Aubrey smiles: "Thanks, boss."

Break

We get an outside shot of an older mansion by day. In a darkened room, two men with quarterstaffs fight against a chained vampire.

Justine sits to one side, looking at the pictures of Angel, Wes, Gunn, and Fred pinned up on a board.

Justine: "I don't understand. How can these people work for a vampire."

Holtz: "I once made a pact with a demon."

Justine: "So you could get to Angelus. So you could kill a vampire."

Holtz: "I'm sure they believe their reasons are good, how ever misguided. Things aren't always black and white, Justine, good and evil."

Justine: "What about Angelus?"

Holtz: "He is evil."

Justine sees the vampire attacking the two men as the anchor of its chains come loose. While Holtz sits back and watches, Justine jumps up and engages the freed vamp. After a short fight, she manages to knock it to the floor. She turns to take a sword from a stand and rams it through the vampire's torso, pinning it to the floor.

Justine: "Chains would be good now."

Some men chain the vampire back up. Justine pulls the sword free, steps back, and looks at Holtz.

Holtz: "I knew you were meant for this. (Turns back to the papers on the table) We need to get moving. Events are happening even quicker than I could have hoped."

Sahjhan: "Thank god. I was starting to get bored."

Holtz turns as Sahjhan materializes out of a shivering air behind him. Justine swings the sword around to decapitate Sahjhan, but it just goes right through him.

Sahjhan: "You know, my barber has the same problem with his scissors - hence the bad haircut. (Justine looks from Sahjhan to Holtz) Love the whole chained, un-dead look you got going on. Really sets off your fern."

Holtz: "You can stand down, Justine. It's only Sahjhan."

Sahjhan: "*Only* Sahjhan? See that's the trouble with you, Holtz. If you'd only done what you... (Looks at Justine) Can we have a little privacy here?"

Justine looks to Holtz.

Holtz: "No."

Sahjhan: "Fine. You owe me a dead vampire."

Holtz: "Yes. Well, how shall I put this? What are you going to do about it? - Nothing. That's what you'll do. That's all you *can* do - or else you wouldn't have brought me here in the first place. (Holtz turns back to the table) You've done your part, Sahjhan. Now let me do mine."

Sahjhan: "What *is* your part? Recruiting a bunch of paramilitary moonie freaks, who run around playing Candid Camera with Angel's buddies? That's crap. Admit it. You're a coward - and I bet Caroline would agree. You remember her, don't you? Your dead wife? Mother of your dead kids? How'd they die? Who swore revenge? - Any of this ringing a bell?"

Holtz after a beat: "Get out."

Sahjhan: "Or what? You can't kill me."

Holtz turns to face Sahjhan: "But I *can* trap your dimensional essence in a Resikhian Urn. Wonderful devices the urns. They last a lifetime. That is, if you live forever."

Sahjhan: "This isn't over, Holtz"

Sahjhan shivers back out of existence.

Wes: "I know it's dangerous. I don't care. - You're a wizard."

Wes is on the phone at his desk looking down on "The Father will kill The Son" on his notepad.

Wes: "Because it's the right thing to do. - Then because I'm paying you an obscene amount of money. Just do it, and call me back."

Wes hangs up the phone.

Fred bounces in the door, smiling.

Fred: "Hey. Wes?"

Wes: "What is it?"

Fred's smile melts away: "I'm sorry. You're busy. I'll come back."

Wes, more quietly: "What can I do for you?"

Fred: "Nothing. Uhm, - I just wanted to compliment you, that's all. You were really there for that woman, Aubrey, who lost her kid at the pier."

Wes shuffles a bit, and gives her a small smile: "Thank you."

Fred: "And working so hard, staring at all those books. And as a book-starer myself I know how crazy making that can be. You should get out of here for a while. Go for a walk. You deserve it."

Wes looks away. A big grin spreads over Fred's face.

Fred: "I was thinking: maybe you could call Aubrey. (Wes looks at her) She is real attractive and her paperwork says she's single. She probably needs a friend."

Wes, looking down: "Fred - we're not here to date. - We're here to do a job. (Fred's grin disappears) Now why don't you go to the pier and do your job."

Fred looks at Wes for a moment then turns and quietly walks out of his office.

Lilah is on the phone in her office.

Lilah: "Is everything alright? Are they taking care of you? - No, mom, this *is* Lilah. You called Lilah. Do you need anything? Do you need money? - No - mom, I can't come over. I'm in Los Angeles. You know that. - Don't cry. Mom, please, stop it."

Lilah looks up as the air in front of her desk shivers and Sahjhan appears.

Lilah: "I'm gonna have to call you back."

Lilah hangs up the phone.

Lilah: "You don't have an appointment."

Sahjhan: "That's it? No 'wow, how did he do that?' No screaming in terror? You twenty first century types are so jaded."

Lilah: "You're Sahjhan, aren't you? I may be jaded, but I do my homework. And there's a girl downstairs, she's got records on everything that ever happened. (Sits back) My company rocks."

Sahjhan: "Yes. I'm familiar with your firm - in this and other dimensions."

Lilah: "Great. Let's shorthand. You're a time-shifter. You recruited Holtz in the eighteenth's century, put him on ice for a couple hundred years, so he could pop up and stake Angel when he's least expecting it. And considering that I have yet to put on my boogie-shoes and dance on Angel's pile of dust, I'm imagining that Holtz isn't working fast enough for you. Which leads me to believe, you think my firm can expedite the process."

Sahjhan: "More or less."

Lilah: "I hate to disappoint you, but Wolfram and Hart's official policy is to let Angel live until he becomes useful. (Lilah is scribbling on the notepad on her desk) I'm sworn to obey that policy."

Lilah holds up the notepad so Sahjhan sees that she has 'count me in' written on it.

Lilah: "Is there some other way I can help you?"

Sahjhan looks around the office and clears his throat, then leans in a little closer.

Sahjhan: "I have a plan. But for it to work, I require a very rare and valuable ingredient. Getting it will be difficult, if not impossible. - I need the blood of Angel's son."

Lilah: "Got it."

Sahjhan: "Got it? What do you mean 'got it?' How'd you get it?"

Lilah: "I swiped it from his doctor's office. I don't know what good it'll do you though. Boys in the lab looked it over, said it was utterly run-of-the-mill. Completely normal."

Sahjhan: "That's because they're looking for the wrong thing."

The camera pans across sunny LA, then zooms in on the pier.

Fred: "So I'm looking for anything suspicious. Like small dark places where somebody could get grabbed, or any blacked out cars or vans, or pale, bumpy people with sharp teeth."

Gunn: "I don't think we got to worry about seeing any actual vamps, Fred. The sun's still kinda up in the sky."

Fred: "Even so, as professionals shouldn't we always be aware of our surroundings?"

Gunn grins: "Hey, ring toss! You want me be all macho and win you a prize?"

Fred: "Charles..."

Gunn: "Alright. You can be the macho one."

Gunn takes a hold of Fred's arm and pulls her over to the booth.

Gunn: "Oh! Look at that stuffed little bunny up there! Think you could win it for me?"

Fred: "This is so wrong."

Gunn: "You're right. I don't want the bunny."

Fred: "We're supposed to be working."

Gunn: "No, we're supposed to be doing some bogus, half-assed recon. That's different then working."

Fred: "Still. It's our job."

Gunn: "Actually, this was my job. Wes never said to bring you along. Probably wanted me out and about so he could chat up my girl."

Fred: "Wesley wouldn't do that. - I'm your girl?"

Gunn smiles at her.

Fred: "Wes knows about us and you knew he knew and you didn't let me know?"

Gunn: "Come on. You know he was interested in you. And now he knows we're seeing each other, so what?"

Fred: "So, he's our boss, and I don't think he likes the idea of us dating while we're working together."

Gunn: "He said something to you, didn't he?"

Fred just looks at him and Gunn lets out a sigh.

Gunn: "Well, you-you-you got my back, right? You stood up to him and said we're two adults and what we do with our personal lives is none of his business, right?"

Fred nods: "You bet I, uh - didn't. Charles, I like you and I wanna keep liking you."

Gunn takes a step closer: "Then do!"

Fred: "Maybe when we're out like this we should - we should just work."

Gunn: "No. Can't do it that way. Maybe I'm greedy, but I want it all: the great girl *and* the great job. I don't care what Wesley says, but I'm not giving up either without a fight. (Crouches down so his face is level with Fred's) How about you?"

Fred shakes her head, her face breaking into a big grin.

Gunn: "Good. (He leans down and gives her a kiss) Now, how about we go looking for some vampires?"

Fred smiles up at him. Gunn wraps an arm around her shoulders and the two of them walk off.

Angel is crouched in front of Connor's bassinet, holding a stuffed animal with a rattle inside, playing with Connor.

Angel: "Look at what's coming at you. Woosh!"

Wes walks up behind him: "I have to leave the office for a moment."

Angel: "Wes, what's going on?"

Angel picks up the glass of blood sitting on Wes' desk and takes a sip.

Angel: "You've been on edge for days. Talk to me."

Wes: "I just wanna make sure everything's okay."

Angel: "You mean with Connor."

Wes nods.

Angel turns back to cooing at Connor: "You didn't mean to give Uncle Wesley such a headache now, did you?"

Wes: "I won't be long."

Angel, still smiling at Connor: "Give us a smile. (Connor smiles) Yeah!"

Wes turns to leave.

Angel: "Hey, Wes."

Wes turns back, and their eyes meet.

Angel: "Thanks. You're a good friend."

Wes leaves as Angel goes back to playing with Connor.

Angel: "Here's the monkey. Yay-yay-yay!"

Fred and Gunn walk through the dark and deserted pier.

Fred: "We should be getting back."

Gunn: "Hang on. - I'm getting a tingle."

Fred: "Ah - I thought we were gonna try to keep that out of the workplace."

Gunn: "Not that kinda tingle."

Fred, looking around: "Oh. - I don't see anything suspicious - except for that guy trying to break into that building over there."

Gunn: "Carousel closed hours ago."

Gunn and Fred enter the dark building housing the carousel. Fred spots a figure climbing the middle column of the carousel.

Fred: "Is that a vampire?"

Gunn pulls out a stake: "One way to find out."

Fred: "Charles, what are you doing?"

Gunn: "My job. I didn't spend all day walking the pier just to go home and file a report with Wesley. Let's finish this now."

Fred: "We're not supposed be doing this."

The carousel begins to turn silently (no music). A door in the middle column opens and a growling vampire steps out between the turning figures. Behind Gunn and Fred another vampire drops from the ceiling, and a third comes up from the other side. Gunn and Fred exchange a look.

Break

Justine and another man are watching it all from an opening up in one wall of the building. Justine is also recording it all on a video camera.

Gunn: "When I say go, run!"

Gunn engages two of the vampires, tricking the third to take down one of his own fellow vampires by ducking out from under his attack.

Gunn to Fred: "Get out of here!"

Fred: "But..."

Gunn: "Go!"

Fred runs out, and Gunn turns back to the fight.

Man: "They're gonna kill him."

Justine: "Maybe."

One of the vampires has Gunn down on the ground. Gunn hits it across the chin, then catapults it off over his head. It flies into the wooden railing surrounding the carousel, breaking it. Gunn picks up his dropped stake and runs after it, plunging the stake home. But even as the first vampire turns to dust, another one throws him across the room. Gunn's stake skitters across the floor as he loses his grip on it. As the man watches, Gunn picks himself back up to resume the fight. After a few blows the vampire grabs him by the throat and lifts Gunn clear off the ground.

Man: "Shouldn't we do some..."

Justine: "No. That's no why we're here."

Fred comes back in just as the second vampire comes up behind Gunn.

Fred: "Behind you!"

Fred tosses Gunn one of the broken spokes of the wooden railing and tosses it to Gunn, while picking up another for herself. Gunn catches it and stakes the vampire coming up behind him, while Fred dusts the one holding him.

Justine: "Well, what do you know?"

Justine and the man leave.

Gunn, gasping: "Fred - why are you still here?"

Fred: "I got your back! - Well, actually I got his back."

Fred smiles at Gunn.

Gunn: "Thanks."

Gunn pulls Fred close and kisses her, then wraps her into a tight hug. They just stand there holding each other as the carousel turns silently beside them.

Wes is walking through some bushes looking down at an electronic compass.

Wes: "Thirty four degrees twelve minutes north. One eighteen, twenty one, West."

The compass lets out a soft chime.

Wes: "This (looks up from it) - must be it."

Wes is standing in front of a giant hamburger face with arms and legs and an 'order here' speaker for a nose, outside of a fast food place. Wes takes quick look around. The lights in the place go out and two guys walk out.

Wes: "You're supposed to be a statue. I guess you are (Wes throws a look at the two guys as they start to laugh) sort of."

The two guys walk off and Wes pulls out a small leather bag.

Wes: "If this doesn't work, I'm gonna kill that wizard."

Wes sprinkles the powder in the bag over the hamburger statue, then holds his hand up, palms out, in front of him.

Wes: "Mange sec Loa, alegba, accept this offering - and open the gates of truth."

A red light flashes and the hamburger comes to life, growing bigger in front of Wes' eyes. Its eyes begin to glow red.

Loa: "How dare you call on the Loa?!"

Wes: "I-I - I come in supplication, oh great one, begging for answers to questions only your power can reveal."

Loa: "You have answers, human. You search now, only for the question."

Wes: "Is it true? Will Angel really kill his son as it says in the prophecies?"

Loa: "That the vampire will devour his child is certain. The dark question *you* harbor is only 'when.'"

Wes: "No. - The dark question I harbor is 'how do I stop it?'"

Loa: "It can not *be* stopped."

Wes: "It has to be stopped! (The Loa growls) There must be a way..."

Red lighting flashes from the Loa's eyes into Wesley, knocking him to the ground.

Loa: "Your insolence is displeasing."

Wes picking himself back up: "You try chatting with a cranky hamburger."

Loa: "You risk your life, human, calling on the Loa. Perhaps what you really seek is death. The pain in your heart begs for it."

Wes: "Then do it and be done. Nothing else will stop me."

Loa: "Simple mortal, your pain is just beginning. Betrayal and agony lie in wait, and time - is running out, yet still you ignore the question."

Wes: "Alright then, when? When will this happen?"

Loa: "The first portent will shake the earth. The second will burn the air. The last will turn the sky to blood."

Wes: "An earthquake? That's the first portent? We live California!"

Loa: "Earthquake, fire, blood. Be heedful of the signs, human, and trouble the Loa no more."

With that the hamburger shrinks down in size and turns back into a lifeless statue.

Lilah is sitting at a bar.

Lilah: "I need a drink. Scotch, thirty-year-old, two ice cubes."

Bartender: "Certainly."

A guy sits down in the chair beside her and Lilah smiles at him.

Lilah: "Not on your best day. Bye."

The guy gets back up and moves further down the bar, sitting down next to another girl.

The bartender hands Lilah her drink and she takes a sip. Sahjhan drops down into the chair next to Lilah.

Sahjhan: "Sorry I'm late. Kind of ironic, my being a time-shifter and all."

Lilah: "It's on."

Sahjhan: "It's on?"

Lilah: "Our plan? The *Angel* plan? On. I outsourced the labor, buried the cost. We shouldn't have any problems with the firm. Good seeing you."

Lilah finishes her drink and gets up.

Sahjhan: "Okay, but lets skip the small talk and get right down to business. I just time skipped a hundred thirty-three years for this meeting. Would a little conversation kill you?"

Lilah smiles: "Right. Because we're on a date? The only reason I met you here was so we could talk freely."

Sahjhan: "So, lets talk freely. Would it impress you if I told you I invented daylight savings time?"

Lilah: "Why do you want Angel dead? That's the only thing I couldn't find in the archives."

Sahjhan: "Boy. All work and no play. (Turns away from her) I have my reasons."

Lilah: "Hmm."

Sahjhan: "How about you? Died in the wool company gal? Why risk it all to kill Angel?"

Lilah: "We have our history."

Sahjhan: "Well - same here."

Lilah: "Are you afraid of him?"

Sahjhan: "Nah!"

Lilah: "Then what are you afraid of? - You may be insubstantial but - I can still smell the fear."

Sahjhan: "Wow. Where does the time go? (Gets up) So, when does this plan go into effect?"

Lilah: "It's already started."

Hyperion day, Wes is sitting in a chair by Cordy's desk, staring at Connor in his bassinet. He looks up when someone knocks on the counter and sees Aubrey standing there.

Aubrey: "Hi. Sorry to interrupt your staring. You looked really into it."

Wes, getting up: "Aubrey. I didn't hear you come in. - Please."

Wes indicates his office and Aubrey walks over to meet him in there. She takes his hand and shakes it.

Aubrey: "I got your message that everything was taken care of. I - can't tell you how grateful I am to you. (Hands him a check) It might have been to late for Timothy, but - at least those monster will never get a chance to take someone else's son."

Wes walks around his desk: "Monsters. - I don't recall mentioning that there were more than one."

Aubrey: "Well, you did say before that there could be a nest."

Wes: "Oh. (Puts the check into a desk drawer) Well, thanks for the check. We'll mail you the receipt."

Aubrey: "Look, I know it's none of my business, but - are you okay? I mean, no offense, but you look a little rough around the edges."

Wes: "I'm not sleeping very well."

Aubrey: "Would you like to go out? Maybe get a cup of coffee or something?"

Wes: "You mean - with you?"

Aubrey: "To be perfectly honest with you - I could use a friend right now. Ever since my son was... - It gets lonely."

Wes: "You're good. - I like the - 'lonely' thing."

Aubrey: "Wh-what?"

Angel: "Yeah, lonely. That was a nice touch."

Aubrey spins around to see Angel standing behind her. Her hand dives into her purse and comes out with a stake. Angel catches her upraised arm and sends her stumbling to the side, making her drop the stake, then follows her, wrapping one hand around Aubrey's throat.

Angel to Wes: "Moves more like a fighter than a victim, wouldn't you say?"

Wes: "Yes, I would."

Angel: "You set up my friends. Let them walk right into an ambush. They could have been killed."

Aubrey: "But they weren't. Your friends are still alive. My little boy isn't."

Angel lets go of her and takes a step back.

Angel: "I'm sorry about your son."

Wes: "Is that how Holtz found you? Because of what happened to your son?"

Aubrey just looks from Wes to Angel.

Angel: "You're right to protect him. Holtz is one of the good guys. He has every right to hate me. And if he ever - comes close to one of my people ever again, or tries to touch a hair on my son's head - I'll kill him - and anyone who gets in the way. You might wanna mention that."

Aubrey takes on last look at Angel and runs out.

Angel turns to look at Wesley. The book on Wes' desk starts to rattle as the whole hotel begins to shake from a minor earthquake.

Angel's hurries out of Wes' office, but by the time he gets to Connor, everything is stable again.

Angel: "Hey. (Picks Connor up) Good boy. That's my little guy. Your first earthquake, huh?"

The video recording Justine made earlier is playing on a TV screen.

Fred: "Behind you!"

Holtz pauses it as Fred tosses the wooden spike to Gunn.

Holtz: "This tiny girl, outsized, outmatched, outnumbered - and she survived. (Turns to his group) Why? - Because she was willing not to. She was prepared to die for the cause rather than abandon her comrade. We, too, must be willing to die - but more so. Study this carefully. You'll be fighting these two very soon. (Hears footsteps) Perhaps sooner than I expected."

Holtz, together with everyone else, turns to look at Aubrey.

Holtz: "They found you out."

Aubrey: "I am sorry."

Holtz: "It's not important. Of course I am rather annoyed you allowed yourself to be followed."

Wes: "Don't blame her."

Aubrey and the others spin around to see Wesley standing in the doorway behind them.

Wes: "I would have found you eventually."

Break

One of Holtz followers draws a knife and stalks closer to Wes.

Follower: "Maybe we should cut out his tongue - send a message to Angelus."

Wes: "Maybe."

Wes hauls back and hits the man, dropping him to the ground. Holtz raises a hand to stop others from attacking Wes.

Wes: "Or perhaps you could lie on the floor and gag for a while. (Glances around at the rest of the group) I didn't come here to fight. I'm not your enemy. - But then I've noticed you do have trouble making that distinction. You're fighting the wrong man."

Holtz: "Angelus."

Wes: "No. Angel. He's not Angelus anymore. He's a good man."

Holtz: "He's not even a man."

Wes: "Nevertheless - he has a soul now."

Holtz: "Yes. That he might know the pain that he has inflicted on his countless victims. A brilliant curse, I must admit. Gypsies *do* have a knack for creative vengeance. Where they fail, however is in the execution of justice. And that I will have."

Wes: "If it's a sacrifice you require, take me. Angel's no more responsible for the crimes of Angelus than I am."

Holtz: "Really?"

Wes: "Yes."

Holtz: "And was it your hands that held down my beloved Caroline as she was violated and murdered? That wrapped themselves around my son's neck and snapped it like kindling? Where yours hands that clutched at my daughter as she was turned into a creature damned for all eternity? - Angelus is in his nature. The beast will re-emerge. You've seen it. You know it. And that is why you are here. - You're afraid he's going to kill the child. - (Wes looks from Holtz to Aubrey) - And you're right."

Wes: "Your infiltration was more successful than I'd realized."

Holtz: "I don't need prophecies to tell me what is plain. So long as the child remains with the demon, it's not safe."

Wes sticks his hands into his pockets: "Well, I must have misunderstood. - Here I thought it was a simple blood vendetta, when - what you *really* want is to protect Angel's son."

Holtz: "You don't believe me."

Wes: "Hmm. Not sure really. Could be the low scary voice that's giving me trouble."

Holtz' followers look from Wes to Holtz.

Holtz: "It's time to make a decision, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce. My army is strong and will only increase in number. Fight against us - and this war will become a bloodbath."

Wes: "This isn't war. It's revenge."

Justine: "What's wrong with revenge? It's all some of us have left."

Wes: "Look. I can't know what it's been like for any of you."

Holtz: "You might soon enough."

Wes just looks at Holtz.

Holtz: "When I put my son's body into the ground, I had to open the coffin, just to know that he really was in there. You also may discover - that a child's coffin, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce - it weighs nothing."

Wes stands there, not saying a word.

Fred and Gunn are sitting in the diner.

Fred: "You barely touched your food. (Gunn looks up at her) You feeling okay?"

Gunn: "Yeah. Yeah. (Gunn puts down his fork) Look. I've been thinking a lot about yesterday. I'm not really mad at Wes."

Fred: "You were right though, right? I should have stood up to him."

Gunn: "But I understand his position. He's the boss and we got to respect that. His job is to keep things tight and - that's a lot of pressure."

Fred: "You aren't changing your mind, are you? - I mean, about - the wanting it all? - As long as we're not smooching on the job, or, you know, being sucked underground by a plant demon. (Gunn laughs a little) I say, why not go for it?"

Gunn: "What if we can't manage it all? The job, the romance... Emotions are tricky. They can cloud our judgement, you know, like at the carousel last night. What if it doesn't work?"

Fred quietly: "So we're back to that? - What if Wesley makes us choose?"

Gunn sits back and sighs.

Gunn: "I've been fighting vamps and demons since I was a kid. That sense of doing good - of waking up in the morning and making the world safer - better... I've always had that."

Fred looks down. A slow smile spreads across Gunn's face as he looks at her.

Gunn: "But I never had a Fred before."

Fred slowly raises her head and looks at him. Gunn leans forward.

Gunn: "If we have to - I choose you. - I came on too strong, didn't I?"

Fred looks at him, starts to smile.

Fred: "No. - You came on just right."

Gunn steals a fry off Fred's plate.

Gunn: "Look. Lets try not to worry too much. Wesley is a good man."

We see Wes walk down the upstairs hallway in the Hyperion.

Gunn voice over: "He'll do the right thing. He always does."

Wes stops in front of Angel's door.

Angel is carrying Connor to his crib as he hears a knock on the door.

Angel: "Come on in."

Angel lays a fussy Connor down into the crib.

Angel: "It's okay. Shh. I'll get you some food. You're hungry, aren't you? (To Wes as he walks over to the kitchenette) Have a nice walk? (Lights the gas stove) How're you doing? - Really?"

Wes after a beat: "I've had better days."

Angel sets a bottle into a pot of water on the stove.

Angel: "I know the feeling. (Turns to look at Wes) I figured it out."

Angel goes to sit in a chair beside his bed and starts to fold Connor's laundry as Wes stares at him.

Angel: "How I really knew about Aubrey. - All that pain, that rage... the only way she could deal was to join Holtz, take her revenge. - You know how I knew that?"

Wes walks over to him.

Wes: "Because you would have done the same."

Wes sits down on the edge of the bed.

Angel: "It scares me. - You know? - If anything like that ever happened to Connor, I don't know what I'd... (Angel looks down at the laundry he's holding) I love my son."

Wes: "Love can be a terrible thing."

Angel: "I used to think that. I thought love was - something that swallowed you whole, ripped you up inside, but, you know, what I feel for Connor, even that fear... - Wes, it's - it's not terrible. (Sighs and looks down) It's beautiful."

Wes looks at Angel. Looks down and begins to laugh quietly. Looks back up at Angel, grinning.

Angel smiles back: "What's so funny?"

Angel gets up and goes to check on the bottle.

Wes: "Life. Life is funny. Listening to stupid people talking to hamburgers is funny. Worrying about things that will never... - It's all so incredibly funny and - and beautiful."

Angel is drying off the bottle as a second, harder earthquake hits. Pots and pans fall out of the cupboards.

Lilah is looking around her shaking office a smile on her face.

Justine is standing in Holtz mansion, legs braced against the shaking. Holtz turns and looks at her.

The lit stove in Angel's suite topples over. A huge column of flame shoots out, throwing Angel across the room. A burning beam drops from the ceiling between Wes and Angel.

Holtz tackles Justine out of the way of a shelf as it come crashing down. Justine looks up into Holtz face as he is lying on top of her.

Angel runs to Connor's crib and gathers his son up in the sky-colored blanket he is lying on.

Angel: "Come on, kid."

Angel, holding Connor, jumps over the burning girder and heads for the door.

Looking over, Angel sees that Wes is just standing there, staring into the flames.

Angel: "Wesley, get out!"

Angel grabs a hold of Wes and tosses him out into the hallway before hurrying after him. Angel, bleeding from a cut on his forehead, looks back into his apartment as another chunk of ceiling crashes down where Wes had been standing.

Wes, coughing, sits up against the wall.

Angel to Connor: "It's okay. It's okay. It's alright."

Wesley looks at the blood from Angel's head wound dripping down onto Connor's blanket. A light blue blanket with fluffy white clouds on it.

Wes: "Earthquake. Fire. Blood."

Angel, breathing hard: "I thought we were gonna be trapped in there, huh? (Looks down at the bloodied blanket, then smiles at Wes) At least I would have had something to snack on."

Off of the look on Wes' face.

THE END