A New World

TEASER Angel: "Previously on Angel:"

Lorne: "They've been feeding you your own son's blood so you'd get the taste of it and want more."

Holtz: "Angelus is in his nature. The beast *will* re-emerge."

Lorne: "Wesley's taking the baby away - for good."

Justine slits Wes' throat.

Holtz to Connor: "Hello, son. Your name is Steven Franklin Thomas and I'm your father."

Lilah: "Give us the kid, Captain Holtz."

Holtz: "Anyone tries to take him, he dies."

Sahjhan: "The world you're looking into is the Quor-toth, the darkest of the dark worlds."

Holtz jumps through the rip with baby Connor.

Justine: "Daniel!"

Lorne: "There are no portals to Quor-toth. To punch through to Quor-toth would require dark, dark magics. The kind of power it takes centuries to build. Please do not do this thing."

Lilah dribbles her blood into the center of the Pentagram.

AI leans over the hole in the ballroom floor and stares at the pool full of the glowing ghost-shrimp/slugs.

Cordy: "You know there is almost always some cosmic price to using primordial powers."

One of the slugs crawls into Fred.

Angel: "What are you fleeing from?"

Fred: "The destroyer. It's coming after you - Angel."

The air above the pentagram crackles with static lightning and an ugly, horned monster drops through, followed almost immediately by a teenaged boy. The boy slices the demon's head off in one smooth motion and its decapitated body falls out of frame. Angel stands immobile, staring as the boy aims a three-chambered, wrist-mounted stake-launcher at him.

Connor: "Hi, dad."

In slow motion, we see Gunn run for the weapons cabinet. Groo moves to the side to get a clear shot at Connor, swinging his ax. Angel turns towards them, holding out a hand.

Angel: "Wait!"

Connor launches two stakes at Angel in quick succession as Angel turns back to face him.

Angel: "No!"

Angel turns as the stakes travel through the air, aimed at his heart. The first one almost lodges in his shoulder, but he turns with it and bats the second one aside. Even as the stakes fly towards Angel, Groo's ax flies through the air at Connor, who deflects the ax, mirroring Angel's motion.

Back in real time, both Angel and Conner straighten back up and resume their former positions staring at each other, Connor with the stake-launcher once again aimed at Angel, as the last of the stakes clatters to the floor.

Connor: "Interesting."

TEASER END INTRO

Angel: "My god. - It's you. - Connor."

Connor launches three more stakes at Angel, who ducks and rolls to avoid them.

Cordy: "Angel!"

Cordy tosses her sword, and Angel catches it out of the air as he rolls back to his feet. Connor tosses the stake launcher aside and swipes at Angel with the blade in his left hand. Angel parries the blow on his sword.

Connor does a one-handed cartwheel, then flips up, kicking both Gunn and Groo in the chest in quick succession before landing on his feet in front of the counter.

Cordy has positioned herself in front of Lorne and Fred, holding another sword in a guard position.

Angel: "Will you just stop for..."

Connor spins back to swipe at Angel. Angel spins so that for a moment the two of them are standing back to back, parrying the blade in Connor's left with the sword in his right.

Angel: "Can't we just talk about this?"

Connor elbows Angel in the back, dropping him face first on the floor, grabs a hold of one of Angel's ankles and sends him sliding across the floor between his own spread legs. As he slides, Angel turns onto his back and catches the down swing of Connor's blade on his sword.

Angel: "Wait!"

Angel kicks both feet up into Connor's face, sending him flying into a backward flip. Connor lands flat on his back, but does a quick kip-up back to his feet.

Gunn and Groo are also back on their feet, and together with Angel from a triangle around Connor as they all shift positions.

Angel: "Okay. Everybody just calm down."

Groo swipes at Connor and gets knocked back into the stairs. Connor turns and parries the swing Gunn aims at him then spins out of it into a punch at Angel, back around to punch at Gunn. He keeps spinning and kicking and punching at his three opponents in turn in rapid succession.

Gunn: "Angel, if Peter Pan here doesn't stop..."

Connor jump-kicks Gunn hard in the chest, then moves in for the killing blow. Before he can complete it, Angel hits him on the back of the head with the pommel of his sword, knocking him away from Gunn.

Angel drops the sword, and straddles Connor, hitting him with a hard right-cross, then forcing the blade strapped to Connor's left wrist closer and closer to his own throat.

The tip of the blade starts to dig into Connor's throat. Suddenly Angel's eyes widen. He rips the blade from Connor's arm and tosses it behind him, then slowly backs off, staring at his son. Cordy, still standing guard in front of Lorne and Fred, watches as Angel slowly offers his hand to help Connor up. But Connor only squirms back a little, then jumps to his feet and runs up the steps and out of the front doors of the Hyperion.

Angel runs after him.

Connor comes running out of the doors into the courtyard of the Hyperion. He runs from the shadows by the doors out into the bright sunshine.

Angel: "No!"

Angel starts to backpedal even as Gunn and Groo reach out to pull him back before he runs out into the sunlight himself.

Angel: "Connor!"

Gunn: "You're gonna fry out here, man! Come on."

Angel watches Connor run out of the gates.

Gunn: "We'll go."

Gunn and Groo take off after Connor. Angel stands in the shadows by the door staring after them as Cordy comes running out.

Connor has run out into the middle of the busy street and cars are honking, and swerving in an effort to avoid hitting him. Gunn and Groo stop at the side of the road, blocked from following by the erratic traffic. Connor has made it to the center of the street and stands on the center line, staring back at Groo and Gunn as cars pass between them, honking. A bus passes behind Connor and he takes off running, then scales up the back of it.

Groo and Gunn watch him disappear down the street, crouched on top of the bus.

Angel in the lead, everyone files back into the hotel.

Angel: "Okay, anyone get the number of that bus?"

Gunn: "Seventeen. I'll call, see where it ends up."

Fred: "Let me check online. It'll be faster."

Cordy: "That was it. That was it, Angel."

Angel, pulling on his coat: "No. No, it isn't. I'm gonna go find him."

Cordy: "I mean the fight you just had. That was the vision I warned you about yesterday."

Angel: "You never mentioned Connor!"

Cordy: "Because I only saw you."

Gunn: "Angel? I hate to bring that up, but are we sure this was Connor? Just 'cause he said 'hi, dad'?"

Angel: "That was him."

Gunn: "Couple of weeks ago he was wearing diapers. Now he's a teenager?"

Cordy: "Tell me we don't live in a soap opera."

Lorne: "Yeah, well, personally I'm less worried about the 'how he grew up' than the 'why he came back.'"

Angel: "He came back because he could. He found a way to escape that place."

Lorne: "Yeah, well, that's a possibility. Here is another: you sure he said 'hi, dad' and not 'you're dead'?"

Angel: "He's angry and afraid. As soon as I get a chance to talk to him... Fred?"

Fred: "Seventeen goes all the way downtown. Ends up at Union Station."

Angel: "Okay. Look, I'm going underground. Somebody hit the surface streets."

Angel runs off towards the basement.

Gunn: "We got it, man."

Groo: "We will not fail - man."

Gunn turns to look at Groo.

Cordy: "Let's split up. (Turns to Fred and Lorne) You guys start at the end of the line work your way backward..."

Cordy trails off as the air above the Pentagram starts to crackle and hiss again.

Cordy: "Okay. That can't be good."

Fred: "I'm guessing the dimensional rift from Quor-toth must still be open?"

Lorne: "Yeah. So, what-what's say we close it up before anything else slithers, skitters or slides out of there."

Gunn: "Amen to that."

Groo: "Princess, perhaps your newfound powers can seal it shut."

Cordy after a beat: "Can't hurt to try."

She steps into the middle of the Pentagram and lifts her hands to point at the air above her.

Cordy: "I command you: Close!"

The air continues to crackle and Cordy turns away.

Cordy: "Okay. I got nothing."

Fred: "Actually - we do know somebody who might be able to..."

Gunn: "No. I already went to Wes's. Can't - do that again."

Lorne: "Well - I-I might know a guy, who knows another guy."

Groo: "Is it dangerous? Gunn and I can protect you."

Lorne: "Well, no. It's not dangerous, it's just awkward. This guy is all hands. I mean, *all* hands, like fifty of them. Anybody fluid in sign language?"

Cordy: "You know, we can't all walk out of here when we have a cosmic crack hanging over us."

Groo: "Then I will stay (picks up a sword) and guard the hotel."

Cordy: "I'm with him. (To Gunn and Fred) You two hit the streets. Lorne..."

Lorne: "Already gone."

Everyone heads out as Cordy gets herself a sword to join Groo on his watch.

Fred: "You went to Wesley for me. He's the one who told you how to save me."

Gunn: "Yeah. He made it clear. That's a door none of us is ever going to be knocking on again."

There is a knock on a door. The door is opened by Wesley.

Lilah: "I would have called, but I figured you'd only tell me to go to hell, so, I thought I'd just take a shot and drop by. - Aren't you going to invite you in?"

Wes: "No."

Lilah: "Okay."

Lilah pushed past Wes and walks into his apartment. Lilah looks around as Wes checks the hallway to see if Lilah brought anyone before turning back to watch her without closing the door.

Lilah: "Huh. Not what I expected. You know, bunch of flowers and 'get well' cards, maybe a couple of those balloons with the smiley faces on them?"

Wes just looks at Lilah.

Lilah: "Wow. I guess when she slit your throat she nicked your sense of humor."

Wes: "Not at all. I find you being here extremely funny."

Lilah: "And how is that?"

Wes: "Because you're going to offer me a job."

Lilah turns away with a slight smile and picks up a statue.

Lilah: "It's a shame, really, what happened. You dedicate your life to a cause, and the very people you try to help turn their backs on you."

Wes: "Yes. Tragic. Now get the hell out."

Lilah: "Man of your talents, scholar, man of intellect..."

Wes: "Deep inside knowledge of Angel Investigations."

Lilah: "Did I mention that Wolfram and Hart has the finest library of mystical, occult, and supernatural reference material in the world? Full medical, dental, 401(k) package."

Wes: "Not interested."

Lilah: "Hey, it was worth a shot. - Anyway, here is something to help pass the time in the unemployment line."

Lilah pulls a gift-wrapped book out of her purse and hands it to Wesley. Wes unwraps it and reads the title on the spine.

Wes: "Dante's Divine Comedy."

Lilah: "Actually it's just part one, the inferno. It's not a first edition, more like the fifteen hundreds, but it's in the original Tuscan. Have you read it?"

Wes closes the book and tosses it on a table.

Wes: "Several times."

Lilah: "Then you know it's a guided tour of the underworld, the nine levels of hell."

Wes: "Yes. Descending, concentric rings based on severity of the sin."

Lilah: "You know, I always forget - the very bottom of hell, in the ninth circle, the devil is frozen in ice, right? He got three heads, three mouths and those mouths are reserved for the worst sinners. Now, I can't remember - who is in the center mouth? Wh-what was his name? The one person in all of human history deemed the greatest sinner? Who is it?"

Wes after a beat: "Judas Iscariot."

Lilah: "Right. The worst spot in hell is reserved for those who betray."

Lilah walks past Wes towards the door, but stops and leans in close for a moment.

Lilah: "So, don't pretend you're too good to work for us."

Lilah leaves closing the door behind her.

Connor is crouching on the roof of the bus, staring at the traffic and buildings as the bus drives down the road. He spots a big video screen, then stares down at a fire engine with its sirens blaring. As they pass another intersection he jumps off the bus.

Angel is walking along the sewer tunnels, cell phone in hand.

Angel: "Did you find him?"

Gunn: "No. Looks like we just missed him though. He's leaving a trail."

Angel: "What? Did he hurt somebody?"

Gunn: "No, nothing like that. I mean gawkers. Folk's not used to seeing a kid in animal skins riding on top of a bus - not south of St. Monica Boulevard, anyway."

Fred: "Two more Robin Hood reports."

Gunn: "You hear that? He's still headed downtown."

Angel: "Where are you?"

Gunn: "Ah, just east of Union."

Angel: "He won't head all the way into town."

Gunn: "You don't think?"

Angel: "Too many people. He'll jump off, head for some place less populated."

Gunn checks his watch: "Well, you want us to turn around, come and get you?"

Angel: "No. Still a few more hours till sunset. Just keep following the trail. The minute it goes cold, let me know."

Gunn: "And if it doesn't go cold? I mean, if we find him first."

Angel: "He's my son. He's my son, and he's alive. He's gonna stay alive."

Gunn: "Right. Anything else we can do for you?"

Angel: "Yeah. Make the sun go down."

Angel closes his cell phone and moves on.

Connor has made his way down beside an overpass, he hears a girls' voice.

Sunny: " Come on, Tyke, look. Look. This stuff is good. It's worth something. Come on."

Connor looks down into a dried up aqueduct and spots Sunny stumbling back a few steps, talking to someone he can't see. Sunny: "Hey, why are you being such a jerk? I need - I need it now. Tyke, come on!"

We hear a man's voice arguing back.

Connor drops over the side of the railing of the road bridging the aqueduct.

Sunny is holding up three CD's for Tyke's inspection.

Sunny: "Brand new, never opened. They got to be worth half a gram, huh?"

Tyke takes the CDs and looks at them.

Tyke: "They suck."

Sunny taking them back: "They rock! Look! It's like every hit in the eighties! Plus - plus, this girl is hot."

Connor slowly makes his way closer to the man and girl standing by a derelict car under the overpass.

Tyke: "Get out of here, Sunny. You're embarrassing yourself."

Sunny: "Hey, they're worth at least a quarter. Please!"

Tyke: "Alright. Okay."

Tyke takes the three CDs and tosses them like Frisbees one by one.

Tyke: "Bye! Bye! Bye."

Sunny: "You jerk!"

She starts to flail at him and Tyke stops her by grabbing a hold of her body and hair.

Tyke: "You know what? *That* you get to work off!"

Sunny: "Let go! Don't."

Tyke is in the process of sticking Sunny into the back seat of the derelict car when he notices Connor coming towards them.

Tyke: "Walk away!"

When Connor doesn't react, Tyke tosses Sunny into the backseat and turns to face Connor.

Tyke: "An entire suit made of Chamois. That's different. 'What are you wearing to the Oscars?' 'My Chamois suit.' - What's all this?"

Tyke indicates the string of bones and teeth that Connor is wearing slung across his chest.

Connor: "Things I killed."

Tyke laughs and whistles. Three thugs file out from under the overpass and arrange themselves behind Connor.

Tyke: "Uh, aren't you all scary. Chamois and teeth! (Gives an exaggerated shudder) Wanna know what else is scary?"

One of the guys behind Connor hits him over the head with a crowbar, even as Connor starts to turn to face him and Connor drops to the ground, not moving.

Tyke: "Me."

Break

Tyke crouches down beside Connor and rips off the necklace of hunting trophies, taking a closer look at it.

Tyke: "Just get rid of him."

Tyke walks to the car, taking off his jacket and dropping it and Connor's necklace on the trunk of the car. One of his goons raises his crowbar to finish Connor off, but Connor's eyes pop open. Connor turns enough that the crowbar hits the concrete instead of his head, grabs a hold of it and kicks the guy wielding it in the stomach.

Tyke turns and watches as Connor jumps up and easily holds his own against the three goons. Tyke pulls out a handgun and aims it at Connor, but even as he pulls the trigger, Sunny slams the car door into this back.

Sunny: "No!"

Tyke's aim goes wild and he shoots one of his own guys instead of Connor. Kicking the car door shut, Tyke aims the gun at Sunny next, but Connor kicks it out of his hand before he can pull the trigger.

Connor and Tyke fight. Connor ends it by jumping on the car, grabbing a hold of Tyke and slamming him down hard on his back on the car roof. Pulling a blade from the sheath on his leg he throws it at one of the goon's, burying it in the guys forearm.

As Connor goes to retrieve his knife. Sunny jumps out of the car and looks through Tyke's jacket lying on the trunk. She finds a roll of money and a bag of drugs. Looking up she sees that Connor is about to slit Tyke's throat.

Sunny: "Don't! Are you crazy? The police are probably on their way. Come on. We got to go."

Connor lets himself be pulled away, grabbing his string of trophies, then stops, turns back and slices off Tyke's left ear. Tyke screams as Connor holds up the ear to Sunny.

Connor: "So he won't forget me."

Groo is still standing guard, watching the crackling rift, sword at the ready, but Cordy is now sitting on the steps instead.

Cordy: "Isn't your neck stiff? You've been standing exactly like that all day."

Groo: "Pylean warriors are trained for such endurance. I once happened upon a herd of Bur-beasts and as you know, engorged Bur-beasts will couple with anything that moves. I was forced to stand perfectly still for eleven days and nights."

Cordy: "So, you were never..."

Groo smiles, still not taking his eyes off the rift: "No. That honor was yours, princess."

Cordy, getting up: "I don't know. Angel does all that 'ninja statue, don't move a muscle or you're dead' stuff, too. Me, I wouldn't last ten minutes. Of course, heels? Not helping."

Groo: "Yes. I'm sure Angel has regaled you with his many exploits."

Cordy: "Oh, he's tried alright. But I get so bored with all that 'days of yore' crap. (Groo glances at her) Ah - I mean - they're nothing like your thrilling tales of adventure! Not that you need adventurous tales to impress me. I'm impressed by you just being you."

Groo: "But the way you constantly speak of Angel."

Cordy: "Is because these last weeks have been so hard for him. (Comes to stand in front of Groo) He needs me. And you do, too."

Cordy pushes Groo's sword hand down and leans in to kiss him, but after only a moment Groo pulls back.

Groo: "Princess, I should be watching for creatures from the other dimension."

Cordy: "You're the only creature from another dimension I'm interested in."

This time it is Groo that leans in to kiss Cordy.

Goo: "I was worried that your affection for the Groosalug had waned."

They kiss again - only to be knocked apart to land flat on their backs as thunder and lighting cracks from the rift above them.

Three police cars surround the derelict car in the aqueduct. Gunn is talking to one of the officers, then makes his way out from under the yellow tape to meet up with Fred.

Fred: "A couple of shopkeepers saw Conner jump off the bus right up the road from here."

They walk a little ways to where Angel is standing in the shadows.

Angel: "He was here. I can smell him."

Gunn: "Cops say it was a drug thing gone wrong. Some guy got killed. It wasn't our boy. They caught one of the badies. I.d.ed a local as the shooter."

Fred: "So, he was here but not part of..."

Gunn: "Oh, he was part of it, lot of mayhem. (To Angel) Including the guy's ear sliced off as a trophy."

Fred makes a face: "Uh!"

Angel: "He was raised in a hell dimension, okay?"

Gunn: "So, how do you wanna play this?"

Angel: "Well, it'll be dark soon. You two head back to the hotel."

Fred: "Shouldn't we all keep looking?"

Angel: "I have a better chance finding him by myself. I don't wanna scare him. He's all alone in a strange world."

We get a shot of the sun setting, then different flashes from around LA.

Sunny: "So, that was really cool today. So, where did you learn to fight all bad-ass like that?"

Connor: "In Quor-toth."

Sunny: "Quor-toth? That's in Mexico, right?"

She walks up to one of the doors of an abandoned motel and opens it only to reveal a guy about to light a drug pipe.

Sunny: "Oh. Sorry."

Sunny closes the door and moves over to the steps leading up to the second floor.

Sunny: "Lots of folks squat here. Most are cool, but... If a fat guy, wearing furry slippers asks you to play 'teddy bear in the hole' just tell him to get lost. - So, ah - what did you do for kicks in Quor-toth?"

Connor: "Kicks?"

Sunny: "You know, like fun. Parties, movies, the mall? How do you spend your time?"

Connor: "I hunt."

Sunny: "Big surprise."

Sunny opens another door, and after taking a careful peek, enters.

Connor looks around the dark motel room as Sunny lights a couple of candles.

Sunny: "Home, sweet home."

Connor: "This is - this is home."

Sunny: "Tonight it is. - You're welcome to crash here, too."

Sunny pulls a bag of drugs out of Tyke's jacket and stuffs it in her pants pocket as Connor picks up a bra lying on a dresser.

Sunny: "Hmm, I don't think it's your size. People squat here and they leave stuff. (Picks up a shirt and pants lying on the sofa) So, uhm, how do you feel about losing the whole - 'dead animal' thing?"

Connor looks down at his clothes. Sunny walks over and tosses some clothes at him.

Sunny: "I mean, not that I'm against eating a cheeseburger."

Sunny turns back to the sofa table and pulls a beefstick out of a bag as Connor starts to strip behind her.

Sunny: "We have all food groups. Meat (pulls out a bag of candy bars) and chocolate. So, you really were going to kill Tyke."

Connor: "He was hurting you."

Sunny: "Well, it's good you didn't."

Connor: "Why?"

Sunny, biting into a candybar, looks over her shoulder and sees that Connor is butt naked.

Sunny turning away after a beat: "Ahem, because it's wrong?"

Connor starts to pull on the jeans she gave him.

Sunny: "I mean - I know Tyke's a bastard, but the cops are even worse. (Taking another bite of the candy bar) God, I love these. Have you ever had one?"

Connor, in the process of pulling on the shirt, shakes his head.

Sunny: "Well, then get on down here, cowboy."

Connor crouches down across from Sunny and takes a bite of her offered candy bar.

Sunny: "Isn't it the best?"

Looking through the stuff on the table, Sunny picks up an applesauce cup and opens it, then opens a bag of chips. Connor picks up a burnt looking spoon.

Connor: "I know this. A tool for eating."

Connor is about the start on the applesauce with it, but Sunny takes the spoon away from him.

Sunny: "Ah, uhm, no. Uhm - that isn't for - food."

Connor starts to eat straight out of the cup, wearing a small frown. Sunny holds up a packet of white powder.

Sunny: "It's for this. I get it from Tyke. - It's - medicine."

Connor: "You're sick?"

Sunny: "No. It's - it's not that kind of medicine. - It helps me sometimes when I'm - sad."

Connor: "You're sad?"

After a beat Sunny shakes her head.

Sunny: "No. Hm-mm."

Offers him a bite of her moon pie. Connor takes a bite and smiles at her. Sunny smiles back at him.

Fred, voice over: "Connor is new to this world, alone, probably scared."

Gunn: "Yeah, he looked scared, kicking my ass."

Fred: "You're right, we should have gone with Angel."

Fred and Gunn walk into the Hyperion.

Gunn: "Yeah, especially now that we know what Connor is capable - of..."

Gunn trails off as he spots Cordy and Groo lying on the lobby floor, unconscious.

Sunny: "Hmm, food, cash, a place to crash. I've had worse days. How about you? (Connor looks away, not answering) So, what's your deal? (Connor looks at her) Why did you come to LA?"

Connor: "To find my father."

Sunny: "Really? Heh. I came here to get away from mine. - Parents should have to take like a test or something, before they can have kids. And if they're - drunks, or idiots, or evil - they should be sterilized."

Connor: "If they're evil they should be killed."

Sunny considers that for a moment in silence then lets out a sigh.

Sunny: "You don't say much but - I like what you say."

Connor looks at Sunny and after a moment she leans in to kiss him. At first he pulls back, then leans closer and they kiss. After a moment Sunny pulls back with a smile.

Sunny: "Ah, I - ah, I'll be right back."

Wesley looks up from typing on his laptop and over at the book Lilah gave him, lying on the coffee table beside the computer. He picks it up and opens it to a woodcut of the devil eating Judas. Wes looks at it for a moment, then snaps the book shut.

The camera pans down to show Connor asleep where Sunny left him leaning against the sofa. A fire engine honks, and Connor snaps awake, pulling out two daggers in the same motion. The sirens fade as Connor stands up and looks around.

Connor: "Sunny?"

There is no answer and Connor slowly makes his way across the room. He hears some wood creaking and spins to look behind him.

Connor: "Sunny?"

When there is no answer he continues on, and pushes open the door to the bathroom, revealing Sunny slumped against the side of the bathtub. There is a tourniquet around her upper arm and a syringe still sticking out of her forearm.

Connor crouches down beside her, briefly touching her shoulder.

Connor quietly: "Sunny?"

He reaches down and picks up the packet of 'medicine' Sunny showed him earlier, then stands up. Connor turns around to find Angel standing in the door behind him.

Angel: "Connor."

Break

Angel sees Sunny slumped against the bathtub and grabs a hold on Connor's arm, pushing his sleeve up.

Angel: "She didn't shoot any of this crap in you, did she?"

Connor pulls free: "No."

Angel holds up his hands in a placating gesture: "Okay. I'm sorry. I just... (Angel glances at Sunny) We'll take care of this, okay? Together."

Connor shakes his head: "Too late. - Too late."

Connor walks past Angel back into the main motel room.

Angel: "Connor. - I'm sorry about... - Was she you're friend? Connor. Just talk to me."

Angel trails after Connor and watches him pick up Tyke's jacket and sniff at it.

Angel: "Well, you know, I figure you have to be feeling like you traded in one hell dimension for another right about now, but if you just let me... What are you doing? (Takes the jacket away from Connor) What is that?"

Connor: "Give that back!"

Angel sniffs the jacket.

Angel: "Why? Who're you tracking?"

Connor makes a grab for the jacket, but Angel stops him. A quick search of the pockets brings out another packet of drugs.

Angel: "Right. I get it. You're going after they guy that gave her the junk."

Connor: "His medicine killed her."

Angel: "And you're going to do what about it?"

Connor: "Punish."

Angel: "You mean, kill."

Connor makes another stab at the jacket, and again Angel stops him.

Angel: "Slow down."

Conner attacks Angel, but Angel takes a hold of him and pushes him up against the wall.

Angel: "Listen to me!"

Connor slams Angel up against the wall in turn.

Connor: "No!"

Angel sighs as Connor lets go of him and goes to retrieve the jacket. Angel takes a hold of his son, and again pushes him up against the wall.

Angel: "You *will* listen."

Connor hauls back and clocks Angel across the face.

Angel pushes Connor's face into the wall.

Angel: "I'm not gonna let you walk out that door and get into any more trouble. - Hear me?"

Connor: "Fine."

Angel lets go of him and takes a step back. After a moment Connor spins around and attacks Angel again, only to get tossed on the floor.

Angel lets out a sigh: "I'm sorry. You just don't understand how this world works."

Connor: "I understand. Sunny was nice. Now she's dead."

Angel: "Connor..."

Connor: "Stop calling me that! (Glares up at Angel) My name is Steven."

Angel just looks at Connor.

Cordy and Groo are sitting on the settee in the lobby. Cordy is holding an icepack to her head.

Gunn: "And then what?"

Cordy: "And then what nothing. Standing, talking, boom - knocked on our butts."

Gunn: "You think something else came out of there?"

Cordy: "Hello? Face down. Knocked out?"

Fred: "I found a picture of that beast Connor killed. And uhm, it says that these things usually have a mate."

Gunn takes a look at the book Fred hands him, then closes it as the rift above the Pentagram lets out another crackle.

Cordy: "Where is Lorne? He should have been back with that expert hours ago."

Gunn: "Well, he said it was complicated."

Fred: "There is that other expert."

Cordy: "You know someone else who can... - Oh. I don't think Angel's gonna go for that."

Groo: "Yes. We must always consider Angel. Angel is our leader. We must obey his wishes."

Cordy looks over at Groo.

Fred: "So - We're just supposed to sit here with a fissure from a hell dimension in the middle of the lobby when we know someone who can help us?"

Fred looks from a silent Cordy to and equally silent Gunn.

Fred: "I don't think so. I'm calling him."

Gunn: "Fred. No, you're not."

Just then the door opens and Lorne, wearing a hat and trench coat walks in with a blue-haired lady, wrapped into a black cloak.

Cordy: "Lorne!"

Lorne: "Uh, sorry it took so long, kids. Mistress Meerna is a *very* difficult woman to find."

Lorne looks around for his companion, who is no longer beside him. Cordy turns as we hear footsteps. It's Meerna coming walking down the stairs from the first floor.

Lorne: "There, you see what I mean? It's been like that all day! One of the nasty side effects of specializing in dimensional magic. What I wouldn't do for a lasso and some crazy glue."

Angel: "Steven."

Connor pulls on Tyke's leather jacket, never taking his eyes off Angel.

Angel: "Okay. - Steven. - It's a good name. - Not Irish, but... - Look - I know we haven't gotten off to a great start here, but if we can just - take a minute. - That'd be good. - Please, just..."

Connor is glancing past Angel to the door.

Angel: "Don't run away from me, alright? I lost you once already. - There's just - there's just so much I wanna know, so much I need to know. - Okay?"

Connor just stands there.

Angel: "You been okay? I mean - what was it like there? - Did you have any friends? - Okay, I mean, not friends. (Sighs) It's not like you were at summer camp. I mean, you were stuck in a - hell dimension. - Connor - I'm so sorry. I tried to get you back. I did. I tried to come after you. I would have done anything. I just... I just... I couldn't find a way in."

Connor: "I found a way out."

Angel: "Yeah. - You did. - You sure did. - I should've - I should've tried harder. I - I shouldn't 've quit. But you're back. And-and - and that's what's important, you know? You-you came back to me. I wanna know everything, son. I wanna know everything. Everything about you, you know, what your life's been like? You - must have a million questions."

Connor: "No."

Angel: "No?"

Connor steps closer to Angel: "My father told me everything."

Angel after a beat: "Your father. - Holtz isn't your father. He's..."

Connor hits Angel across the face, hard.

Connor: "You don't get to say that name! You don't even get to think it!"

Angel straightens back up and just looks at Connor.

Connor: "I know - everything. He told me all about you. That you're a - a *thing* that kills and drinks blood. You're a vampire."

Angel: "What do you know about vampires?"

Connor: "Decapitation, stake in the heart, daylight, fire - did I forget anything? - You have a second face. A face for killing. - Show it to me. I wanna see it."

When Angel just stands there looking at him, Connor starts punching Angel in the chest.

Connor: "Come on, show me! Show me the face you used to kill my father's family. Show me! Come on! Show me!"

Connor aims his next punch at Angel's face, but Angel catches his fist and holds it still.

Angel, quietly: "Looks like this, son."

Angel morphs into his vamp face and Connor pulls his fist free and stumbles a couple of steps back.

Connor: "That's what you are."

Angel: "It's part of what I am. (Morphs back into his human face) A part I hope you will be able to accept one day."

Connor: "You'd have to kill me first."

Tyke: "Well, that's a plan."

Angel turns around to see Tyke follow by a couple of his goons entering the motel room. Tyke pulls out a gun.

Tyke: "But I've got a better one."

Break

Tyke: "Chamois man."

Connor tries to get to Tyke, but Angel holds him back.

Angel: "No, no, no. Don't."

Tyke, touching the bandage on the left side of his head: "Where's Sunny?"

Angel: "Would that be the dead girl in the bathroom?"

Tyke motions for one of his guys to check the bathroom.

Tyke to Angel: "Who are you?"

Angel: "I'm his father."

Connor: "No, you're not."

Angel: "Let me handle this? (To Tyke) Let's find a way to work this out. Talk through it. (To Connor) Which is a thing we do here. (To Tyke) There's no need for violence."

Tyke slugs Angel across the chin with the butt of his gun.

Tyke: "I'm sorry. Did you say 'no need for violence?' You may wanna speak up, you see (points at his bandaged ear and screams) I don't hear so good any more!"

Goon comes back: "Sunny's dead in the can. O.D."

Tyke to Angel: "You know, I begged her to get help. Oh, well. One down, one to go."

Angel: "We can make this right."

Tyke: "You can give me a new ear?"

Angel: "Well - maybe you can wear a hat."

Tyke: "Maybe I can blow your head off. (To Connor) That's my coat and I want it back. And whatever's not in Sunny's body better be in those pockets."

Angel: "Son, give him the coat."

Connor to Tyke: "You killed her."

Tyke nods, but before he can say anything a third goon enters.

Goon: "Tyke, cops, man, they're looking for you. They're everywhere."

Tyke looks at Angel, how raises his eyebrows at him.

Everyone is watching Meerna as she kneels on the floor of the Hyperion's lobby, examining the area above the pentagram

Meerna: "I hope this pentagram wasn't some dark attempt to close the fissure."

Gunn: "Ah, no, that was a dark attempt to open one. (Meerna turns to glance at Gunn) Different one. - Long story."

Fred: "So, you think you can close it, then?"

Meerna: "Oh, I'm sure. That's not the worry."

Fred: "You have worry?"

Meerna: "How did it open in the first place? There are no portals to Quor-toth, and for good reason. It's not a place anyone should ever go."

Fred: "I... If there aren't any portal's, what is it?"

Meerna: "A tear in reality. Big cosmic no-no."

Fred steps back and Meerna goes back to feeling the air in front of her.

Meerna: "Something punched its way through. Something I really don't wanna meet."

Cordy lets out a shriek startling Gunn and Groo, as Meerna suddenly says "Excuse me" and walks out from behind them.

Meerna: "Sorry."

Lorne walks up to her, carrying a metal bowl.

Lorne: "Here you go. Just the way you asked."

Meerna pulls out a pair of safety glasses and puts them on.

Lorne: "Should we leave, or get behind something?"

Meerna: "Nah. It's pretty routine. (Flips up the hood of her cape) Just sometimes I get a little 'schmutz' in my eye."

Meerna takes the bowl from Lorne with a sigh and moving one hand above it in a circular motion begins to chant quietly.

Meerna: "Forras. A ka ul do. In tempor lyta."

She takes some of the powder-like contents of the bowl and tosses them into the air. A purple, glowing mist forms. The rift crackles, then everything gets sucked to a center point and disappears from view. Meerna puts down her hood and takes off the glasses while turning to the others.

Meerna: "It's closed."

Cordy: "Can you tell if anything else came through it?"

Meerna hands the bowl back to Lorne.

Meerna: "Not sure. And I'm not sticking around to find out. Bye."

With that she walks away.

Police with flashlights are moving around the outside of the motel. One of the cops is talking to another squatter.

Tyke is aiming his gun at Angel.

Angel to Tyke: "Dead body in the river. Another one in the bathroom. This just doesn't bode well for you, does it? (Angel turns to look at Connor) Well, you see, son, violence just always ends up bad..."

With that Angel starts to attack the Tyke and the goons, with Connor quickly joining in.

Connor: "Hey!"

Connor hits Tyke on his bandaged ear and he falls to his knees with a suppressed scream.

Police, carrying guns with flashlights mounted to them are closing in on Sunny's motel room.

Angel, dropping the last of the goons turns to his son.

Angel: "Connor, we got to get out..."

The trails off as he sees that Tyke is holding Connor like a shield in front of him.

Tyke: "*I* got to get out of here."

Angel: "Don't. Use me. I'm bigger. I'll make a better shield."

While Tyke hesitates, the cops start to punch at the door. Tyke spins to shoot. Angel grabs a hold of Connor and pulls him down on the floor with him as bullets begin to fly. One of the goons is shot and falls, but Tyke and the remaining goons keep shooting. Angel looks up at the light shining in through the many holes riddling the walls by now. Another goon is hit and goes down.

A stray bullet shatters the glass in the window opposite the door.

Angel to Connor: "Out that window! Go! Out the window!"

Connor gets up and runs towards the window.

Angel: "Stay down! Stay down!"

The door is kicked open and a cop comes in, spinning to aim his shotgun at Connor's back. Angel jumps up and takes the bullet full in the back. The cop loads the next bullet into the chamber but has to take cover as Tyke starts to shoot at him. Connor, crouched on the window sill, stares at Angel lying on the floor.

Angel raises his head and looks at Connor.

Angel: "Go!"

Angel pushes himself up and launches himself at Connor, sending both of them tumbling out through the window, while the firefight continues behind them.

Angel is running hunched around his middle down a deserted street, Connor following close behind.

Connor: "Do you need to stop?"

Angel: "I'm okay."

A police car with lights and sirens going turns into their street and Angel pulls Connor between two parked cars.

Angel: "Behind here."

The police car passes and Angel lets out a groan as he tries to straighten up.

Angel: "Maybe I do need a second."

Angel leans on the hood of the parked van.

Connor: "What you did..."

Angel: "Are you hurt?"

Connor shakes his head.

Angel: "You know, if you want, you can come back to the hotel."

Connor stares at Angel for a moment then his eyes look every where but at Angel.

Angel: "No pressure or anything."

Connor starts to move past Angel.

Connor: "No, uh..."

Angel: "But if you, you know, if you need a place to stay."

Connor turns to look back at Angel: "I have to go."

Angel: "You're not alone. - You know that, right?"

Connor: "Yeah. I know."

With that Connor turns and runs off, leaving Angel standing by the van, looking after him. After a long beat Angel slowly, carefully moves off.

Connor is running down a narrow alleyway. He slows and straightens as he comes up to a dark opening. After a moment a figure steps out of the darkness.

Holtz: "Hello, son."

Connor: "Hi, dad."

BLACK OUT.