After spotting Darla walking around LA, Angel becomes convinced that his sire is alive. Wes and Cordy think that he's imagining things, but Angel is determined to find Darla and discover what she's up to. Little does he know that Darla is working with Wolfram and Hart. Angel tracks her down, and quickly falls into their trap.
[PREVIOUSLY_ON] Kate from "TSILA": "I'm glad we're not playing friends anymore." Shot of Angel morphing into vamp face from "Somnambulist." Angel from "TSILA": "I didn't kill your father (shot of Kate crying as she sees the bits marks on her father's body, from "The Prodigal") and I'm sick and tired of you blaming me for everything you can't handle." From "TSILA" Holland to Lindsey: "Senior partners were very impressed with your sacrifice. (shot of Angel severing Lindsey's hand to save the scroll) We'll even the score with him." From Judgement Darla: "He killed me." Lindsey: "He's taken from both of us. So when you feel ready (shot of Darla crawling all over Angel in his dream) we start thinking about giving a little back." From "FI" Angel: "Why are you so good to me after everything I did to you." Darla: "Because you and I are one." Shot of Angel sleeping. Wesley is behind the counter with a big, old book in front of him. Cordelia is looking at some papers. Angel comes in and plops down on the sofa. Wesley: "We made you some tea." Angel: "Great." Cordy: "It's on the table right there in front of you." Angel: "Table seems far." Cordy: "Ahhh, you must be all worn out from sleeping for the last three days. (To Wesley) It's like living with the world's oldest teenager - he can't be having a growth spurt at two hundred and forty-eight, could he?" Angel: "Two hundred and forty-seven." Cordy to Wesley: "According to my figures, if we are frugal and garner some paying clientele soon, we're financially sound through last Wednesday." Wesley: "What? Where's it all going?" Cordy: "Well, there's the fixed costs - the mortgage on the giant hotel, my salary - there's lots of other..." Wesley: "What about my salary? That's fixed, too." Cordy: "What if - every time you identified the demon in one of your big old books, we gave you ten bucks - or a chicken pot pie." Wesley: "Oh wait, I have another idea. - No! Get a vision." Cordy: "It's not like you just hit me in the head and WHAM it happens." Wesley: "What if (lifts up his book) we test that theory with one of my big old books?" Angel: "Children, quit bickering. Something will turn up. - Something always does." Suddenly, Cordy is hit with a vision. Angel leaps to his feet, catching her. Angel: "Like that." We get a blurry shot of a bunch of robed guys fighting with fists and weapons. A green, slimy monster seemingly growing out of a wall. Wesley is looking through some old books laid out on Angel's desk, while Cordy is pacing with Angel hovering over her. Angel: "Are you all right? You're sure you don't want to sit down?" Cordy rubs her head: "If I sit I throw up in my head." Wesley points to a picture in his books: "Did it look like this?" Cordy: "No, more mushy and more moldy - It was growing right out of the wall!" Angel plops back down on the couch: "Maybe I'll just..." Cordy: "Mush monster's not going anywhere, it's the place we've got to find - its disciples are human, they're killing each other. I think the fight is over how to worship it." Angel: "This is why personally I rarely go to church. (Wesley and Cordy ignore him) I thought it was funny." Darla: "So did I." Suddenly Darla is sitting on Angel's lap, nuzzling and kissing him, while Wesley and Cordy go on with their research as if she wasn't there. Darla: "God I miss you..." Wesley: "Well, what did the place look like?" Angel jumping up with a shout (there is no Darla), making Cordy and Wes turn to look at him Angel: "Ah. Didn't doze off - here I am - where were we?" Wesley: "Trying to ascertain the location in Cordelia's vision." Angel pacing: "Ascertaining, here we go." Cordy: "You're so weird lately. - It felt sacred - in a twisted demonic kind of way, it's-it's underground, like in a tank or something... full of pillars." Angel: "Like a water tank." Cordy: "Could be." Angel: "Saint Bridget's, in Fremont. A convent, built on native burial grounds. The land's cursed, they had eight murders in two years before the whole place burned to the ground - which is nothing compared to what happened at Our Lady of Lochenbee... (They give him a look) I have a thing for convents. Anyway the state bought Saint Bridget's and dug a water tank there. We're gonna need some muscle. Call Gunn, he's on the payroll now." Wesley: "Right - but not in a fixed way like me. He's more an outside contractor - do you think we can really afford..." Angel: "Wesley." Wesley reaches for phone: "Calling Gunn." Night. Angel, Gunn, Cordy and Wesley are coming down a long stairway into a huge cavernous chamber full of long slender pillars. They stop at the bottom looking over where people in black robes are fighting others wearing red in front of the slimy thing from Cordy's vision, spanning the space between two pillars. Gunn: "You are not paying me enough for this. - My uncle Theo always said never buy a dull plow and never get in the middle of a religious war." Cordy: "You really have an Uncle Theo?" Gunn: "No, but it's still good advice." Angel to Wesley: "So, what do you think, a thrall demon?" Wesley: "Yeah." Angel: "So kill the Big Ugly, it un-thralls the groupies and they stop killin' each other." Wesley: "Absolutely. Yes. That's the theory. Thrall demons can be tricky." Cordy: "Well, at least they're killing each other and not..." Just then the slimy demon spots them. Turfog: "Intruders!" Both black and red robes turn from fighting each other to stare at Angel's group. Cordy: "...us." The thrall demons groupies charge them, screaming. A big fight ensues. Angel gets knocked down from behind by one of the red robes. He rolls back up and starts waling on the guy (much like Faith did on that vamp in FHT), oblivious to everything else. Gunn: "Angel, I'll try to get fat head - watch my back. (Nothing from Angel) Or just keep beatin' on that big guy." Cordy runs up ax raised to clobber Turfog, but is hauled back by one of the disciples. Wesley hits the guy holding Cordy over the head, freeing her. Gunn makes his way through the fight and sinks his homemade ax into Turfog's head and all the fighting stops - except for Angel still waling on the guy laying on the floor. Wesley: "Angel, it's over. (Pulls him off) Stop!" Wesley walks back over to the others as Angel looks down at his victim and wipes a hand across his forehead. Night. Angel's group and the now peaceful disciples are coming out of a little building housing the head of the stairs. Gunn to Angel: "So this whole teamwork deal, that's a thing of the past now?" Angel: "Job got done. (Angel tosses his car keys to Cordy) Take the car, I need to..." He heads off as the others stand and watch. Wesley: "He's just - he hasn't been sleeping well lately." Cordy: "He's off his game." Gunn: "Since when is it a game?" Angel walks down the promenade at night. There is a juggler, clowns making balloon animals, street vendors, musicians, lots of passers-by. Suddenly Angel looks up and sees a blonde in a striking red dress. We flash to a shot from Angel's recent dream, as Angel recognizes her as Darla. Intro. Angelus is walking down a street filled with people in regency clothing and horse-drawn carriages. He's about to pass the mouth of an alley when he stops and turns down into it. He holds out his hand, and a woman takes it and lets him help her up. Angelus: "I thought we were meeting in the Square." Darla: "I ran into Lord Nichols - horrid little man. (She looks over at a body with bite marks on his neck lying on the ground) He was propositioning a streetwalker and dickering over the price - can you imagine? I told him I'd do him for nothing." Angelus: "You're very charitable." Darla delicately dabbing at her mouth with a handkerchief: "I so loathe cheap royalty." He leans in, half-kisses half-licks her mouth. Angelus: "They all taste the same to me." Darla: "Mmmmmm - my boy does have the touch." Angelus: "Darla." Darla: "Yes?" Angelus: "Why'd you kill the streetwalker?" Next to the man lies a dead woman. Darla: "Oh - I just liked her. - Guess what's next?" Darla and Angelus exit the alley and walk along the street. Angelus: "What is it?" Darla: "Surprise. You have to guess." Angelus scans the street. Finally spots a family with three young daughters coming out of a building. Angelus: "The three daughters - all virgins." Darla: "Close." Angelus: "The one in the middle has something delicate and unique... Did you find me a Saint?" Darla: "Better than that - she has the sight." The girl in the middle turns. It's Drusilla. She looks straight into Angelus' eyes. Angelus: "Visions. She sees the future. (Angelus, Darla clinging to his arm, starts walking towards Dru) She is pure innocence, yet she sees what's coming, she knows what I'm going to do to her. I'll really have to come up to snuff for this one." Dru turns away from them and herds her sisters away. Darla puts a hand on Angelus chest to stop him from following further. Darla: "Down boy, let the plum ripen." Angelus: "You always come up something new." Darla: "Keeps me young." Back on the promenade present day Darla is passing between two clowns making balloon animals and a guy dress up like a giant hot dog. Angel tries to catch up to her, but a group of people blocks his view of her for a moment and after they pass, Darla is nowhere to be seen, no matter how hard Angel looks around. Hotel lobby day. Harold Jeakins is sitting on the couch across from Cordy and Wesley, nervously playing with one of Angel's business cards. Harold: "I really need some help. They say he handles things - you know, unusual things. I'd like to see him right away." Cordy: "And he wants to see you - just as soon as he returns from an important case. Why don't I take a preliminary report and give you a list of convenient payment plans." Wesley hands Harold a list. Harold: "Well, it's my wife, Claire, she's really a lovely..." Wesley: "Go on, it's all right." Harold: "She gets abducted by aliens, on a regular basis." Wesley: "Aliens." Cordy: "From outer space?" Harold: " It's more common than people realize - one minute she's there and the next - she always comes back in a day or so." Wesley: "What is it you'd like us to do, Mr. Jeakins?" Harold: "I trust Claire - but I found this receipt from the Franklin Hotel (produces receipt) weekend before last when she was supposed to be in - the Trifid Nebula!" Cordy takes the receipt, looks at Wesley. Cordy: "I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this." Behind them Angel comes up from the basement looking as if he'd been out walking all night. Harold: "I mean if it's not aliens... (sees Angel) Is that?" Wesley nods. Cordy: "Mr. Jeakins, say hello to your new best friend." Harold gets up: "Do you think my wife's cheating on me?" Angel keeps walking towards his office: "Probably." Cordy: "Oh, he-he really likes you, he's jumping right in." Harold: "He's taking the...? He didn't seem that..." Wesley walks Harold towards door; Cordy heads to Angel's office. Wesley: "Oh he's eccentric, all the great are. Sherlock Holmes, Phillip Marlowe..." Harold: "Those are fictional characters." Wesley: "Right you are! Which gives Angel rather a leg up when you come to think it." Wesley walks out with Harold. Cordy to Angel as she sits down to enter information into the computer: "That's a terrific way to treat our customers - especially since we so many of them." Angel moves up behind her. Cordy: "See his file? (Angel leans down as if to get a better look at the screen but instead starts smelling Cordy's hair) He has Visa, MasterCard and a problem - he's our target audience. But if you want to be rude, I guess it's your shop - Angel? (Angel is touching her hair) What are you...? What are you... personal bubble. (she jumps off her chair and heads away from Angel) Personal bubble!" Wesley comes back in at this moment. Wesley rolling up his sleeves: "I need to speak to you, man to man. Cordelia, you may not want to be here for this. - Was it something I did?" Cordy: "He was feeling my hair." Wesley: "What?" Angel: "I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to - I-I've been so out of it - lately, because of her. - I saw her - here in town. Last night." Cordy: "Oh no, not again. Look, I like Buffy as much as the next..." Angel: "Not Buffy, Darla." Wesley: "Darla, the vampire? Your sire?" Angel: "I've been dreaming about her like crazy. And the dreams have been so - I thought I was losing my (laughs) my mind. But she's back, she's alive." Wesley: "What you're saying is impossible. You staked her to dust three half years ago." Angel: "I know that. I also know it was her." Wesley: "Vampires don't come back from the dead." Angel: "I did. And I saw her. I'm not crazy!" Wesley: "Where?" Angel: "Right between the clowns the big, talking hot dog. (They just look at him) Walking on the promenade." Wesley: "You said yourself you've been dreams. Maybe it's guilt over killing your sire..." Cordy: "Right, guilt. Who loves guilt like you love guilt? You know what you need? You need to go to work. We just got an exciting new case: could be aliens could be adultery. It's a corker!" Angel, not really listening: "Maybe I'm dreaming about her because she's here..." Wesley: "And maybe you think she's here because you're dreaming about her." Darla stands by the desk in Lindsey's darkened office as he watches her. Darla "He's falling apart." Lindsey: "That's wonderful. Unhinging a man with all his particular and weaknesses takes a lot of work." Darla: "I created a lot of those strengths and weaknesses. I think I have a pretty good handle on them." Lindsey: "We're counting on that. You've given us more information on Angel than we had when he first got here. Nobody knows him (drops a manila envelope on his desk) better than you do. - Especially the side we're interested in." Darla steps closer to him: "So, what is the plan exactly? - I tease him to death?" Lindsey: "We don't want him dead. We want him dark. And there is no better way to a man's dark side than to awaken his - nastier urges, is there?" Darla looks at Lindsey's artificial hand: "He did that to you. What's it feel like?" Lindsey: "Doesn't feel like anything." Darla motions towards his hand: "Can I?" She reaches out and strokes his fake hand. Darla: "It's very smooth. - You don't feel anything." Lindsey: "Not in my hand. (Darla smiles and takes a step back from him) How is it - seeing him again?" Darla turns away from him: "It's strange." Lindsey: "He betrayed you." Darla playing with the scales on a statue of Justice: " Everyone betrays you, that's not what eats you in the long winter's night..." Lindsey: "Yeah? What does?" Darla: "Missed opportunities. - He got a soul and it sickened me.- All that power wasted on a whiny mopey do-gooder. God, I could eat his eyeballs." Lindsey: " Our plans for Angel are a little more long term than that - but if you can't help yourself, then, by all means, be my guest." Darla: "You're fun for a human." Lindsey picks up the manila envelope: "I have a particular interest in this guy - a lot of people do. Kate sits behind a desk as a detective approaches it carrying a manila envelope. Police scanner: "...four-thirteen in progress at the corner of Yucca and Ivar - unit six is responding..." Kate: "Jack, what brings you to Siberia?" Jack: "Hello Kate." Kate: "You been sick?" Jack: "No." Kate: "Busy then - too busy to pick up a phone and say hi?" Jack: "Ah." Kate: "We were friends. - I thought you were different." Jack: "Hey, I went to bat for you - I stuck my neck out when they decided to move you out of downtown. But you don't like mainstream work, you've got the scanner (points to scanner) going day and night, chasing the bizarre and grotesque, what, did you think they'd promote you? (Drops the envelope on her desk) A - friend of a friend thought you might want this." She opens the envelope. Inside is a picture of the Hyperion Hotel and a new business card of Angel's, with new address and phone number on it. Also a note that reads: He's moved. Kate: "Thanks." Jack: "Stay out of trouble." Cordy, wearing a skimpy yellow waitress uniform picks up some empty glasses from a table at an up-scale hotel. Walks past a blonde and a guy wearing the uniform of a repairman. Man: "You sure about this, right in the middle of the day?" Cordy slides some napkins with a tiny microphone hidden between them along the top of the bar so it is aimed at them. Claire: "Marty, the aliens abduct me when the mood hits and the mood hit pretty hard this morning right about the time Harold left for work." Man: "No kiddin', yeah?" Angel hidden behind a planter is listening to Claire via an earwig: "Of course if you're not in the mood..." Man: "No, no, I'm in the mood, (Wesley sitting reading a newspaper lifts a tiny camera to his eye and snaps a picture of the couple) I'm deep in the mood. I'm going to abduct you right now and conduct my own probe. (Claire laughs) - It's just I still got a lota repairs..." Angel looks down at the small tape recorder in his hand. Claire: "Well, I hope nothing important is broken." Man: "No, no. It all works." Claire getting up from the bar: "So lets go upstairs." Angel shakes his head and comes out from behind the planter and heads to intercept them. As he passes by Wesley (snapping more pictures) he pulls the camera out of his hand. Angel: "Claire, hold on." Claire stops, startled: "Do I - know you?" Cordy comes to stand behind Wesley staring at Angel. Angel: "I've been listening. I'm over here behind some plant with this machine (takes the earwig out) recording you two, while my associates here (gestures towards them. Cordy waves at them, while Wesley retreats behind his newspaper.) been tailing you around all day taking pictures. I don't like doing this. It's crass. Your husband knows. Go home. Tell him the truth. Work it out or - leave. I don't care. But this..." He throws the camera at them and the guy catches it. After a short look at each other he and Claire leave in opposite directions. Angel moves off, Cordy and Wes fall into step with him. Cordy: " What was that? We had a paying client." Angel: "Not everything is worth getting paid for." Cordy: "Easy to say when you don't need food to survive." Angel slaps his recording equipment against Wesley's chest as he spots Darla, getting up from a chair across the lobby of the hotel. Angel: "That's her." He steps in front of her as she walks out while looking through her purse and she bumps into him. Darla: "Oh, I'm sorry..." Angel: "I guess you didn't take that whole "dusk to dusk" thing to heart, huh? (Grabs her wallet and flips it open to reveal several credit cards stuck in its pockets) What are you trying to do - pass as human?" Darla grabs the wallet and stuffs it into her purse: "Excuse me." Angel: "I know your voice, Darla. I can smell you." Cordy: "Uh-oh." Darla: "I don't know what you're talking about. Now just leave me alone?" She tries to pass him but he grabs a hold of her arm. Angel: "I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play, but you're not gonna win." Wesley: "Angel, I really think..." Hotel security guy: " Is everything all right?" Darla: "No. This man, he's trying to - my name is DeEtta Kramer. My husband is outside right now getting our car right now. I don't know anyone named Darla." Angel: "I know it's you. And I know you're not going out into that sun anytime soon." The security guard tries to pull Angel away, but Angel throws him off. Darla runs screaming away from him. Darla: "Stephen! Stephen!" Wesley puts a hand on Angel's arm: "Angel..." Angel shakes off his hand, never taking his eyes of Darla as she runs towards the sunny patch in front of the doors. A guy comes running and catches her in his arms. Stephen: "Are you okay?" Darla nods, looking back towards Angel, who stares at Darla standing there, unaffected by the sun shining in on her. Angel, Cordy and Wesley enter the Hyperion's hotel lobby. Cordy: "That was really fun, the humiliation, running from the hotel security staff - and the nifty little outfit, which seemed to tell so many conventioneers "pet me, I'm a whore." Angel moves to hotel desk, rifling through a big phone book. Wesley: "It wasn't pleasant but at there's a silver lining." Cordy: "What silver lining?" Wesley: "The woman walked into direct sunlight - obviously she's not a vampire, obviously Angel - made a mistake." Cordy: "Ya' think?" Wesley: "We'll just put our heads and help him come to grips with this thing. (to Angel) You're among friends, we're not going to condemn you." Cordy: "Right. (to Angel) You're crazy, you need professional help." Angel: "It was Darla. She's back - and she's human now - but I know her scent." Wesley: "Angel - you can't just - sniff a person and know..." Angel leans ever so slightly closer to Wes, inhales. Angel: "You had s*x last night, with a bleached blonde." Wesley: "Good Lord, how'd you...?" Cordy: "That's unbelievable. (to Wesley) I didn't think you ever had s*x." Angel closes the phone book: "She's not in the book." Cordy: "Who, Darla?" Angel: "DeEtta Kramer, the person she's pretending to be. Run a title deed search, see if you can find an address for a DeEtta and Stephen Kramer. I'm gonna try some other avenues." Cordy: "Okaay." Angel on his way out turns back: "Wesley, you got any money? I'll need a few bucks for the cover charge." Wesley: "Cover charge - you're going to..." Angel: "Do whatever it takes." We see Angel at the Karaoke bar singing "Everybody have fun tonight - everybody Wang Chung-fun tonight, everybody Wang Chung tonight, everybody have fun tonight, everybody..." A demon, sitting in the audience looks at the blonde beside him and shakes his head. The host, carrying a drink, slowly walks over to a table and sits down - never taking his eyes off Angel. Angel abruptly hits the off button. Angel into mike: "I'm very sorry." He steps from the stage and makes a beeline to where the Host is sitting. Angel: "Tell me about Darla." Host: "Woah. Give me a sec. You are sending out some family-sized vibes. My fillings are still humming. (Holds his glass up, still never taking his eyes off Angel) Hey, Rico! Top off my sea-breeze, earn my everlasting devotion, huh? - I saw lots of things. You are at a crucial junction, big guy." Angel: "So talk." Host: "So, no." Angel: "What do you mean 'no.' You won't tell me anything?" Host: "I tell you you're headed into trouble with a capital 'troub.' Let her go, bro. That way lies badness." Angel: "What do you care? You got murderous demons in here. You give them free advice, but you won't help me." Host: "Hey, I set people on their paths, okay? And this is way off your path, sweetie. Go home." Angel leaning in closer: "Tell me where Darla is." Host: "I *know* you're not gonna start anything in here. You're a good boy. (Gets up) Have a drink before you go. It's on me." The telephone rings at the Hyperion and Cordy goes to answer it. Cordy: " Angel Investigations, we solve big problems for small prices." Angel: "It's me. Did you get an address?" Cordy to Wes: "It's him. (into phone) Angel, Wesley and I think you really need to..." Angel: "Cordelia, address, now." Cordy: "DeEtta and Stephen Kramer own a home at fourteen oh nine Galloway in Studio City." Angel: "Got it." He hangs up the phone and sees a horned demon sitting at the bar looking at him. Angel: "What are you looking at?" Demon quickly turns back to his drink. Cordy: "He hung up." Wesley opening a drawer: "You *really* stood up to him. (mimics Cordy) "Next time I talk to him, I won't weenie out like you, Wesley." Cordy: "Don't start with me - and if sound like that, shoot me." Wesley removes a large pistol from the drawer. Cordy: "She joked!" Wesley: "It's not for you. It's a tranquilizer gun." Cordy: "You mean if Angel really does go off his rocker like he's done before? - You think that'll do it?" Wesley: "I better call Gunn." Cordy pushes the phone over towards him and he picks up the receiver. Night. We see a nice little suburban home. Angel walks closer to it looking at its lit windows. Sees Darla come in and give Stephen a kiss, then they both walk into the next room. Inside the dinning room Stephen holds Darla's chair for her. Darla: " Thank you." Stephen: "Of course, sweetheart. (smiles, sits) Was that too much? I mean we're supposed to be married, would I still be holding your chair for you if we were married?" Darla: "That was fine. Now just eat." Angel walks around to where he can watch them having dinner through another window. Stephen: "When I was at the actor's studio we always struggled to find truth in the moment. -Truthfully I don't think I'd be holding your chair -- mmm, this linguini smells so, you know, true. (The camera pans to show a security guard, hidden (from the windows) in the shadows, earwig his ear.) I'm just gonna mime eating it, gotta watch the figure. (Glances around) So is he, you know, watching us right now?" Darla: "Just nod and smile pleasantly, Stephen." Stephen: "What'd this guy do to you anyway? You're going to an awful lot of trouble to teach him a lesson - not that I mind, work is work, last year I was this puppet theatre of the absurd believe me..." Darla's hand slips out of sight beneath the table cloth in the general region of his crotch. Stephen: "Ow-oh!" Darla: "If you don't shut up I'm going to kill you." Stephen: "Okay." Darla: "Okay." Stephen: "Okay." Darla brushes her hair back and we see that she has an earwig in her ear as well. Darla: "Lindsey, can you hear me?" Lindsey in his office turns the volume up on his speakerphone. Lindsey: "I can hear you. How's the linguini?" Darla: "He's here. I can feel him." Angel watches the tableau - Darla's still looking the happy housewife. Lindsey: "We know. - I need a few more minutes to set things in motion." Darla: "Hurry up." Stephen: "Who're you talking to? (she looks at him) I'm shutting up." In the hotel lobby Gunn stares at tranquilizer gun and chains. Wesley: "This is all just precautionary. When push comes to shove, Angel's our - we trust him." Gunn picks up the pistol: "I see." Cordy: "It's not like he turns evil every time he gets this cranky." Gunn: "He turns evil?" Wesley: "Well, there are forces that can make Angel revert to Angelus, the vampire he was before he got a soul." Gunn: "And as evil, blood-suck vampires go, how would you rate Angelus?" Wesley: "Historically as bad as they come. Especially when he was with his sire, Darla." Cordy: "We're researching her now to see if maybe she has some kind of resurrection powers. Maybe she was a vampire cat with nine lives or something." Gunn: "So he and Darla together, bad combo." Wesley: "They rampaged through half the known world - until Angel got his soul." Cordy: "Imagine Bonnie and Clyde if they'd had a hundred and fifty years to get it right." Gunn: "So he thinks his party girl is back. - If he gets up to his old tricks, how bad can it get?" The camera pans form the a colored glass window with picture of a saint past some candles sitting in wall sconces to Angelus sitting on the edge of a table staring at something. Darla enters the room behind him. Angelus without turning: "Hello love." Darla wraps her arms around his shoulders: "We made quite a mess out there. Blood and habits everywhere." Angelus: "Convents - they're just a great big cookie jar." They kiss. Dru: "Black sky. It wants a little wormy me." Angelus and Darla break apart and look over at a sobbing Dru. Dru: "No. No. Make it stop!" Darla: "What is she doing here? I thought you killed her." Angelus: "No. Just her family." He pushes Darla down on the floor and rolls on top of her. Dru scooting back towards the wall: "Eyes like arrows - like-like needles." Angelus looks over at her: "This one's special. I have big plans for her." He leans down to kiss Darla. Dru watching them: "Snake in the woodshed. Snake in the woodshed. Snake in the woodshed! Snake in the woodshed!" Darla rolls them over so she's now on top. Darla: "So are we going to kill her during, or after?" Angelus sits up, startling her: "Neither. We turn her into one of us. - Killing is so merciful at the end, isn't it? The pain has ended." Darla: "But to make her one of us? She's a lunatic." Angelus: "Eternal torment. (Grabs a hold of Darla's arms and rolls them so he is back on top with her under him on the floor) Am I learning?" Angelus starts to kiss Darla while Dru first laughs then cries. Angel watches as Darla and Stephen carry dinner dishes out of his line of view. Darla passes the security guard standing hidden from the dining room in the kitchen and drops her plate in the trash. Darla: "Lindsey, I'm waiting." Lindsey: "You're on. Have fun." Darla picks up a phone, dials 911. Operator: "This is 911, what is your emergency?" Darla: "My name is DeEtta Kramer, I at fourteen oh nine Galloway - there's a man outside. I told to go away - oh my god, he's breaking in, he's going to kill us - Help me! HELP ME!" Stephen: "Whoah, whoah, whoah, what was that? I didn't sign up for..." Darla ignores him, turns to her guard. Darla: "Do it. And make it look real." Stephen: "That was illegal." Darla's guard morphs into a vamp. Stephen stumbles back with a scream. The guard back hands Darla - hard. Angel hears dishes crashing, Stephen screaming, sounds of a terrible assault and Darla's voice yelling: "Help me! Somebody help me! Let him go - please - OH GOD!" The front door of the house bursts open, Angel comes flying in. Darla is huddled over Stephen, crying, a big bruise on her cheek. Darla: "Somebody help me!" She sees Angel and scrambles back against the wall. Darla: "Don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me!" Angel looks at Stephen with blood on his throat, very dead. Lindsey listens to Darla on his speaker phone: "Why did you... he was my husband...!" Lindsey: "Woman should have her own series." Angel stares at Darla and Stephen's body as we hear sirens outside. Darla: "No, please don't hurt me!" Two cops run in with their guns drawn aiming them at Angel. Darla throws herself back on top of Stephen, sobbing: "What did you do - WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Darla is still sobbing. Cop to Angel: "Turn and face the wall, (Angel turns around his, hands up where they can see them) drop to your knees. Do it!" Angel to Darla: "You'll pay for this." Suddenly Angel takes off. Both cops fire. He takes a couple of hits, jumps straight up and through an attic access door in the ceiling. Cop: "He's in the attic - stay with him." More cops come in. Darla is still wailing over Stephen's body. Cop to the newcomers: "Seal the house, I want SWAT, NOW!" Officer: "Got it!" Cop: "He's on the roof!" Suddenly a dark shape falls past a side window. Cop: "There he is!" The run outside in pursuit and Darla looks up with a slight smile on her face. [SCENE_BREAK] Kate walks beside Darla outside of the house. We can hear sirens going Darla: "I don't understand. They shot him... how'd he get away?" Kate: "Adrenaline. They chased him for sixteen blocks. - Don't worry, he's long gone, he can't hurt you now. - One of my officers told me you recognized this man, that his name was Angel..." Darla: "That-that's what he called himself. He-he started following me a few weeks ago. He-he said he helped the helpless. I told him I didn't need any help. He-he kept calling me - Darla. - He-he said he knew me - or this Darla - from a long time ago. Today we were having lunch at the Franklin Hotel and he showed up again. He came here. I told him to j-just stay out - that I was calling the police, but he j-just broke in! And - this is gonna sound crazy, but there is something wrong with his face. And he-he-he was - was biting..." Kate: "It is not crazy. And I want you to know: I will find him and he will pay for what he did." Darla looks at Kate through tearful eyes. Darla: "Thank you, Detective." Kate takes a few steps to the cops nearby. Kate: "I want you to get in touch with Security at the Franklin Hotel (In the foreground a hand swoops down from above, clamps over Darla's mouth. An arm wraps around her waist and she is lifted straight up into the tree above) see if they have any tape on the incident with Mrs. Kramer there today. And I want you to make sure that the coroner treads lightly in there. I want this scene preserved." Gunn is pacing while Cordy and Wesley are researching. Cordy to Gunn: "You alright?" Gunn: "Yeah. I'm just adjusting to the idea that this good guy vampire I work for can go bad.'" Wesley: "It takes a little time. We've all been through it." Cordy: "99% of the time he's good. And he's done a lot for us." Gunn: "There's nothing I respect more than loyalty." Wesley: "That's good to hear." Gunn: "But if the bad Angel walks through that door I will kill him in two seconds flat." Just then the door bursts open. Gunn pulls out a stake, but it is a swat team and Kate, and Gunn sticks his stake into his back pocket. Kate: "Where is he?" Cordy: "He's not here." Kate to cops: "Basement, attic, every room. He's extremely dangerous, bullets won't necessarily do the trick. Everyone's on channel two, you see him, you call me." Several cops run up both sides of the stairs. A couple head into the garden, a couple head for the cellar stairs. Wesley: "I don't suppose you have a warrant to go along with this little search?" Kate: "Seeing as how he just murdered Stephen Kramer - and kidnapped his wife, I think I've got probable cause." Cordy: "He wouldn't... Angel could never do a thing like..." Wesley: "He's not the type of person who'd..." Kate: "In fact he's not a person at all, is he? - You guys want to help yourselves out here - or go down with the boss?" Cordy and Wesley's only reaction is to fold their arms up in front of them. Kate: "So be it. (Looks at Gunn) New player?" Cordy: "He's a friend." Kate: "What's your friend's name?" Gunn: "Charles Gunn." Kate: "Let's see some I.D., Charles." He hands her his drivers' license. Kate: "Got any priors?" Gunn: "I forget." Kate holds the license up: "Montgomery, run the sheet." Wesley: "Listen, whatever you think Angel did, I'm sure there's a..." Kate: "Who's Darla?" Angel manhandles Darla down the long stairwell and a good ways into the giant empty water tank. Angel: " So you're what Wolfram and Hart brought back in that box. And they brought you back as a human - they think I won't kill one. - You want to know what I think? - I think - they don't know me that well." Darla tries to make a run for it, but Angel cuts her off and she stops. Angel: "You feel what this place was before they excavated it? The convent - you remember how much I like convents." She looks at him, makes the sign of the cross. Angel laughs: " Come on Darla, you and I are too old to play games. - I need to talk to the real you." He morphs into vamp face and charges her, pushes her up against a pillar. Angel: "It's been a long time since I said this to anyone (He rips her jacket off her shoulder and bares her neck) but you can scream all you want." Angel lowers his mouth to her bared shoulder and scrapes his teeth up along her neck, scratching it. As he begins to nuzzle her neck Darla begins to smile. Darla breathing hard: "Oh. Oh - I'm not gonna scream." She turns her face against his neck. He pulls back and kisses her and she responds. After a moment they break apart and Darla smiles at him. Darla: "There's my boy." She puts a hand around his neck and they kiss again, harder. In the hotel lobby Wesley sits with a book while Kate comes in with Gunn's rap sheet. Kate: "Hey, looky here. Disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, G.T.A. assault - (looks at him) you've lead a rich full life, haven't you Charles?" Gunn: "I get around." Cordy: "Hey, I know this guy, he helps people. I bet this stuff you're dredging up all happened a long time ago, didn't it." Kate: "Some of it when he was a minor." Cordy: "Uh-huh." Kate: "And some of it in the last two weeks." Cordy: "Oh." Kate: "Word to the wise, Charles, hanging out with these two and their creature-of-the-night boss won't be good for the resume." Gunn: "I can see you're looking out for me, detective." Cordy: "Okay, okay, lets not get off track here. We want to find Angel as much as you do." Kate: "No you don't. You want to protect him even though he's lost it: he stalked that woman because he thought she was this Darla from his past; she begged him to stay out and he knocked down the door and killed her husband. I've read about him, too, I know he is and I know he hasn't changed." Gunn: "No he hasn't, he's still a vampire." Cordy: "Gunn - not helping." Gunn: "So, how'd he get in the house? She invite him in?" Kate: "Of course she didn't invite..." Cordy: "The only way Angel could get in that house uninvited is if the real owners were dead. It's what he was saying all along; she isn't DeEtta Kramer!" Kate: "You're grasping at straws." Wesley: "Are we? (He shows his book to Kate) This is a daguerreotype of Darla, taken over a hundred years ago. That woman who said she was DeEtta Kramer - look familiar?" The picture is Darla, wearing period clothing. Back to Darla and Angel, still in vamp, face kissing. After a moment, Angel pulls her off. Angel: "That's enough." He walks away and she follows him. Darla: "I pretty familiar with the international sign for enough, and you've got a ways to go!" She pushes him up against a pillar, nuzzling close. Angel grabs a hold of her arm and holds her away from him. Darla: "You're hurting me. - I like it." Angel flings her away, takes a deep breath and morphs back into his human face. He pushes off the pillar and confronts her. Angel: "What's the play, Darla? - What kind of game are you running?" Darla: "Just having a little fun. I've been out of commission to long. You know how that feels." Angel: "Wolfram and Hart didn't bring you back for fun. The Dreams, the frame job - what's the big plan, huh? Get me so screwed up I go bad again?" Darla: "Kind of trite, I know. What do you expect? They're only human." Angel smiles at her: "You better embrace that mediocrity, honey. You're talking about your own kind now." Darla walks towards him with a smile: "But I'm still me. (Presses herself up against him) And I remember everything, Angel. Everything we did. Everything we can do." Angel smiles at her and runs a hand though her hair: "Yeah. But the bitch is (gets serious and pushes her away with one finger) you have a soul now. (Darla backs up a few steps, smile gone) Pretty soon those memories are gonna start eating away at you. (Angel walks past her) No matter how hard you try - you won't be able to escape the truth of what you were. Believe me, I know." Darla walks up to him and wraps herself around him. Darla: "But you can escape. You can escape it all. Remember what it was like to get lost, huh? Every thought a million miles away, every part of you being alive! All you have to do is let me give you one little moment of happiness." Angel: "You took me places, showed me things, huh? You blew the top off my head. But you never made me happy." Darla backs away from him: "But that - that cheerleader did? We were together 150 years! We shared everything. You're saying - never?" Angel: "You couldn't understand." Darla: "I understand alright. (Walks away from him) Guy gets taste of something fresh and he thinks he's touching god." Angel: "It wasn't about..." Darla: "Oh, you bet your ass it was! There was a time, in the early years, when you would have said I was the definition of bliss! - Buffy wasn't happiness. - She was just new!" Angel starts to laugh: "You know - you are getting awfully bent over this, Darla. (Slowly walks towards her) I couldn't feel that with you, because I didn't have a soul. - But then I got a second chance - just like you have." Darla: "What a poster child for soulfulness you are. (Walks up and presses herself against him) This is no life Angel! Before you got neutered you weren't just any vampire, you were a legend! Nobody could keep up with you - not even me. You don't learn that kind of darkness. It's innate. It was in you before we ever met. - You said you can smell me? Well, I can smell you, too. My boy is still in there and he wants out!" Angel stands immobile, not looking at her. At the Hyperion hotel the cops come down the stairs into the lobby. Cop to Kate: "He's nowhere to be found." Kate: " Leave some officers on the perimeter in case he shows. (The cops file out. To Cordy and co.) I'll be sure and mention your cooperation in the report." Cordy: "Hey, we did more than cooperate, we solved the damn case. Find out who did away with the owners of that house, you'll find your killer." Kate: "You don't get it, do you?" Gunn: "What, the fact that Angel's innocent?" Kate: "The fact that while you're fighting your big battles of good and evil the innocent are the ones who get caught in the crossfire. Those are the ones I care about, like that man tonight, like the real owners of that house if what you say is true. And those are the ones I chalk up to your boss." Wesley: "You can't blame Angel for - he's trying to do what's right!" Kate: "That's right, he's good, I keep forgetting. I'm sorry, and why'd he kidnap that woman again?" No one says anything and Kate leaves. Angel's car, top down is parked in front of the little building housing the head of the stairs down into the water tank. The sun is shining. Inside the sun is shining down through the open door onto the stairs leading down. Angel and Darla are standing in the shadows between the pillars, facing in different directions. Both look close to exhausted. Angel: "You're gonna feel it, you know. - What you did - that man you got killed." Darla: "Please! He was an actor." Angel walks closer to her: "I'm serious." Darla: "Yeah, like a heart attack (turns to look at him) and just about as much fun." Angel: "Darla, you hurt anyone else and I'll kill you." Darla: "Will you? Isn't that against your cub-scout code?" Angel: "I'll make and exception." Darla steps close to him with a smile: "You're gonna miss those dreams, honey. You should have heard those things you said in your sleep. Nasty things, Angel. Things like..." Angel's hand shoots out and he grabs her by the throat: "Stop!" Darla pulls out a cross and presses it against his chest: "No, you stop!" We can hear the cross burn into Angel's chest, but he refuses to budge. Darla: "See? No matter how good a boy you are - God doesn't want you!" Angel lets go of her and throws himself back away form her cross. They look at each other breathing hard. Darla: "But I still do." After a moment she drops the cross and hurries into the sun and up the stairs. Angel makes no move to stop her. Darla turns around on the stairs: "What? No good-by kiss?" Slowly climbs up the remaining steps, safe in the sunlight. Angel watches her leave. Night, the Hyperion hotel. Angel is sitting in a chair in his dimly lit room, staring straight ahead. There is a knock on the door. Angel looks towards the door. Cordy's voice: "It's us." After a beat, Angel gets up and opens the door. Cordy, hands hidden behind her back, and Wes, hands buried in his pockets are standing there. Cordy: "We didn't see you all day, we were just wondering if everything was, you know, copacetic." Angel: "I didn't go bad, Cordelia." Cordy: "I was never worried about that, boss. (She pushes something into Wesley's hands) Of course Mr. Fussy Pants here always imagines the worst." Wesley lifts up his hand revealing the tranquilizer pistol: "What? I didn't... I never..." Angel: "Is there anything else?" Cordy: "Nope. Can't think of a thing." Angel is about to close the door when Wesley speaks up: "Angel - be careful." Angel: "What do you mean?" Wesley: "Well, it's just -with Darla back, in league with Wolfram and Hart there are a lot of forces arrayed against you. - There's going to be trouble." Angel laughs: "Yeah. There's gonna be a lot of trouble - and I say bring it on."
Dear Boy