When Fred writes a physics paper, she's invited to her old college as a guest lecturer. Angel, Gunn and Wes show up to support her as she speaks in front of all her former professors. But when a portal opens up over Fred's head, it becomes clear that something supernatural is happening to her... Again.
Fred: "Previously on Angel:" Woman: "Fred disappeared five years ago. They never found her." Wes: "Cordy has been sucked into the portal. She is in the Host's dimension." Fred: "They use you as a slave." Fred: "Handsome man. Saved me from the monsters." Cordy: "So - we know each other?" Angel: "Yeah. Really well." Fred: "Not to sound all movie of the week, but I think you might have some kind of amnesia." Angel: "I think there is a way we might be able to sort this out. Pick a song." Fred: "So Lorne can read you." Gunn: "You sing. He sees your future." Cordy sings: "Because the greatest love of all..." Lorne: "Great! Enough!" Angel: "What did you see?" Lorne: "Go away!" Angel: "If it's that bad, I need to know!" Lorne: "It's that bad. Evil's coming, Angel, and - it's planning on staying." Lilah on phone: "You're sure that it's her? Put an extraction team together." Wes: "Wolfram and Hart are planning to extract Cordelia, and I doubt your boy will be able to stop them." Angel and Co stop W&H commando team from taking Cordy. Angel: "We should probably get you back home." Cordy: "Actually - I'd like to stay here - with Connor." Fred: "Oh my god!" Angel: "Lorne?" Fred: "Is he alive?" Angel: "Who did this?" Lorne: "W.. - W.." Angel: "Wolfram and Hart?" Gunn: "But why?" Angel: "They must have known Lorne read her. They weren't after Cordy. They were after what Lorne saw when she sang." Wes: "You played me." Lilah: "Free will. Look it up." Wes: "Lilah." Lilah: "You're the one who decided to take what you overheard and give it to the good'n'plenty's." Angel: "How much did they get?" Lorne: "All of it." LA, night. A woman's screams ring through the dark halls of the Hyperion hotel. Fred whoops again and throws herself into Gunn's arms in their hotel room. Gunn: "Ah! That's my girl! (Gunn puts her down) Alright. Hand this thing over. Let me check it out." Fred hands him a magazine. Fred: "Page nineteen. It's not a big article. Not like it's featured or anything." Gunn: "Got it. "Supersymmetry..." Fred: "...and P-dimensional subspace" by Winifred Burkle. - You don't have to read it." Gunn: "Of course I'm gonna read it. Right now." Gunn sits down on the bed. Fred sits down next to him. Gunn: "In multi-dimensional superstring theory - uh - distance scales inverted by T-duality apply to heter..." Fred starts to climb into Gunn's lap and kiss him. Gunn: "...heterotic theories. The pictures are..." They drop back onto the bed and Gunn tosses the magazine aside. Gunn: "Nice." They start to roll around on the bed, kissing. Lorne: "Ah, give it to me, sweetness. Right there." Lorne is reclining in bed, band-aid covering the hole in his head. Angel sets a food tray down on the bed. Angel: "Here you go. How's your head?" Lorne: "Smashing. Listen. I know I've been a wee bit jumpy the last couple of days, but - did I hear a scream?" Angel: "Oh, it's just Fred. I think it's a Texas thing." Lorne eats a little of the soup, then sets the tray aside. Lorne: "Well, it's all too much Sturm and Drang for my appetite. Cordelia shacking up with your hell-spawn - no offence - and the hole between my horns." Angel: "And you're probably a little on edge because of the whole 'slouching towards Bethlehem' thing." Lorne: "No." Angel: "No? That's good, because..." Lorne: "Sorry. I jumped ahead. That 'no' was the one that comes after you asking me to read Cordy again." Angel: "I wasn't - going to ask you that immediately. I was gonna build up to it subtly." Lorne: "I appreciate that, sugar pie, really, but - the answer is no. I'm not a champion. I'm just a regular, old Karaoke-singing empath demon." Angel: "You saw something. If we knew what it was..." Lorne: "Wolfram and Hart would come after me again. And maybe they wouldn't stop with a little gray matter." Angel, turns away: "I'm listening." Lorne: "Hey, death just doesn't look good on me. I wish I could tell you what was coming and when, but..." Angel is standing by the open door to the hall. Lorne: "When you say 'listening' you don't mean to me. You heard something, didn't you?" Angel: "It's probably just Fred." Lorne fumbles a small ax out from under the blanket covering him. Angel walks out into the hall. Lorne echoing after him: "I got your back." Angel hears sounds of someone moving around and tracks them down to the room they put Cordy's things into. He slowly opens the door and sees someone rummaging through a box of Cordy's things. Angel lunges and throws the person up against the wall. It's Connor. Angel: "Oh. Hi. (Lets go of Connor) Sorry." Connor pulls his shirt straight: "I'm used to it." Connor picks up one of the boxes and sets it on a table. Angel: "The front door is always open, Connor. You don't have to sneak in." Connor putting things into the box: "Cordy wanted some of her stuff." Angel: "How - is she doing? Cordy. Anything coming back to her?" Connor: "Nothing about you." Angel: "Is she alone right now? Because..." Connor: "She's safe! I can take care of Cordelia. - Can I go?" Angel: "Sure. Sorry." Connor moves past Angel, carrying the box. Angel: "Wait! You should take her fuzzy slippers. (Puts them into Connor's box.) Her feet get cold." Connor: "I know. She always stealing the covers." Intro Hyperion, day. Angel slowly walks down the steps into the lobby, hands stuck in his pockets. Passes Gunn's feet protruding from the settee. Gunn: "You don't wanna go in there." Angel looks over towards the window into the office and sees Fred talking animatedly to Lorne. Gunn: "The girl kept me up all night. She is un-stoppable." Angel: "More than I need to know." Fred spots Angel and comes rushing out of the office. Fred: "Did Charles tell you?" Angel: "He-he didn't describe it." Fred: "I've been asked to present my article at the physics institute! P-dimensional subspace has always been a fascinating area, but I had no idea there would be so much interest. Can I practice my speech for you? I think Lorne's a little conked." Fred hurries back into the office. Lorne takes another sip of his drink: "Oh, yeah. We're back." Gunn to Angel: "That - all night. (A small smile spreads over Gunn's face) Well, mostly that." Angel: "I didn't know Fred was getting back into physics." Gunn: "Yeah. I don't think she wanted anyone to know. Think she was afraid she lost the knack." Angel: "Hmm. She seems over that." They follow Fred into the office. Angel takes a seat next to Lorne, while Gunn leans against the wall behind them. Fred: "It's nothing big, really. Just a little breakthrough in quantum particles. Emphasis on little. Probably be disproven in no time. It's just - I used to dream I'd discover some revolutionary concept, and - oh, it's silly." Angel: "Doesn't sound silly." Fred: "I-I guess I just wanted all those people I looked up to - I wanted them to see me, too. And then I got sucked into Pylea, and, well, when you're a cow-slave you don't want anyone to see you at all." Gunn: "Everybody will be watching you now." Fred stares at Gunn, eyes wide. She sucks in a deep breath and looks down at her cue cards. Fred: "I've got to practice. - You-you'll be there?" Gunn: "Cheering you on. Right?" Lorne makes a face. Angel is looking at the desk in front of him (lost in thought?) Gunn looks at both of their backs, while Fred looks from Angel to Lorne, shifting on her feet. Lorne: "Ah, the little nipper dropped in for a midnight visit last night." Fred: "Connor was here?" Gunn: "I hope you don't wanna kiss and make up, because that..." Angel: "He picked up some of Cordelia's things." Fred sits down on the edge of the desk. Fred: "She's just trying to put the pieces back together. It'll work out and it'll all be for the best." Angel looks at her. Fred: "It will! Five years of unendurable torture and mental anguish aside, if I hadn't been sucked through that portal I never would have figured out my string compactification theory." Gunn: "Exactly. 'cause, you know, strings need - to compactify." Angel and Lorne look from Gunn to Fred, who is pressing her lips together (in an effort to keep a straight face?) Wes is sitting in front of his sofa table reading a magazine when there is a knock on his door. The knock comes again before he pulls his eyes away from the article. He checks his watch as he gets up to answer the door. Lilah is standing there holding a box tied with a bow. Lilah: "Surprise." Wes: "A bribe. How thoughtful." Lilah hands him the box and walks past him, taking off her jacket. Wes: "No, it can't be a bribe. Must be a setup." Lilah, smiling at him: "Can't it just be - a gift?" Wes just looks at her. Lilah: "Open it." Wes sets it down on the table and opens it, while Lilah watches him closely, still smiling. Wes pulls out the full helmet of a medieval armor. Lilah: "We seem to be butting heads lately. Now you'll have the advantage." Wes examines the helmet. Wes: "This must have cost a fortune." Lilah's smile widens and she steps closer to Wes. Lilah: "Yes." The takes the helmet out of Wes' hands, puts it back in the box, then runs her hands up Wes' chest. Lilah: "It'll take you - hours - to thank me properly." Lilah kisses him softly. Wes kisses back. Lilah: "Fortunately I've taken the afternoon off." Lilah reaches for the buttons of his shirt, but Wes captures her hands and holds them still. Wes: "I have to leave actually." Lilah stares at him as he moves away from her and grabs his jacket off a hook by the door. On the way out Wes turns back to her. Wes: "But thank you, Lilah, for the gift." Lilah watches him leave, then lets out a sigh, shaking her head slightly. Picks up the paper that covered the helmet and sees the magazine - open on 'Super Symmetry and P-Dimensional Subspace' by Winifred Burkle. The camera pans past a picture of Fred and Gunn dressed up for the ballet pinned up on a wall. Over a picture of Cordy and Wes with a little paper labeled 'me & Wes' to a picture of a couple labeled 'my parents.' To Cordy in the process of pinning up a picture of her and Lorne smiling into the camera. Cordy surveys her handiwork. Cordy: "There. Almost done." She walks over to the bed and looks through the box Connor brought over from the Hyperion. Cordy: "Connor?" Connor: "Yeah?" Cordy: "How come there is no picture of Angel?" Connor walks into the room, hair wet, and in the process of pulling on a shirt. Connor: "Ah - I didn't see any." Cordy: "Hmm. Well, it's okay. You got all the other important stuff." She smiles as she lifts up one foot to show she is wearing her fuzzy slippers. She pulls a piece of sheer fabric out of the box and uses it to cover a round table in the room. Cordy: "Apparently I'm a nester, because this place is starting to look not entirely un-home-y." Connor watches her, then pulls on, and laces his shoes. Cordy looks around and lets out a sigh. Connor: "What?" Cordy: "Nothing. (Shrugs) Except... (Sits down on the bed) Well, I thought I'd feel different. I mean, I have my pictures and slippers and super luscious peau the soie blouse, but... (sighs) Why does it still feel like something is missing?" Connor looks around, sees a hand ax lying on a dresser. He picks it up and hands it to Cordy. Connor: "How does that feel?" Cordy: "Uh - woodsy." Connor shrugs: "Maybe you miss the action, the thrill of the kill. You know you used to be a demon hunter. (Cordy gives him a look) It's true. You're just out of practice. It'll come back fast, though. I can train you." Connor moves away. Cordy calling after him: "What should I wear?!" LA, night. Gunn straightens Fred's cue cards and hands them back to her as they both ride up an escalator at the institute. Fred: "Thank you." They get off the escalator and move through a crowd of academics. Fred: "At least I remembered the uniform." Gunn: "All these people here to see you?" Fred: "I'm just a minor speaker. Oh, god!" Fred walks over to the list of speakers. Fred: "I'm between Ed Witten and Brian Greene?" Fred stares back at Gunn and Angel, who just look at each other, then back at her. Fred: "Think Nomar Garciaparra and Sammy Sosa." Gunn whistles. Angel: "Fred's skipped the minors and went straight to the show." Fred: "This can't be right. Somebody must have made a mistake!" Gunn: "Listen up - all this stuff about particles and - stuff - it's gonna blow them away. Nothing to worry about." Fred: "Well - what if my theory is wrong? (Spots someone) Professor Seidel?" Seidel: "Winifred! (Turns to a blonde) Laurie, I'll meet you back at the lab. (Laurie leaves) There you are. It's been, what? Two years, or so." Fred, smiling: "Yeah. Heavy on the 'or so.' Wow. It is great to see you. (Her smile fades) Are you - gonna be in there?" Seidel: "I'm introducing you. I had to arm wrestle the chair of the department for the honor." Fred: "Oh." Seidel: "Winifred, you have done some great work. You don't have anything to worry about." Gunn clears his throat loudly. Fred: "Oh, ah, these are my friends: Charles and Angel." Gunn and the professor shake hands. Gunn: "Hey." Angel and the professor shake. Angel: "Hello." Fred: "I was gonna be a history major, and then I took Professor Seidel's physics class, and, well..." Seidel: "Winifred is a natural. By the end of the first semester she was taking on w.i.m.p.s." Gunn: "You should see her now! Killer left hook." Fred: "Wimps are weakly interactive massive particles." Gunn: "Oh, yeah, ah, just kidding." Seidel: "Do you remember that Higgs Scalars tutorial? I still remember your take on spontaneous symmetry breaking." Angel to Gunn: "You know, it's, ah, filling up. I'm gonna go find and save some seats." Seidel to Fred: "Why don't you stop by the office. I'd love to talk about your article." Fred: "Is - tomorrow too soon?" Seidel: "Tomorrow is perfect. I have some questions about how Kaluza-Klein models fit with your theory." Gunn watches as the professor move away from him deep in conversation. Fred: "Oh, okay, because string regularization kind of vital to what I'm proposing..." Angel puts his jacket over the back of one of the seats in the front row of the far from completely filled auditorium. A guy wearing a comic book T-shirt bumps into his arm with the backpack he is carrying as he makes for a seat in the row behind Angel. Guy: "Oh, sorry about that." Angel glances around the room as he sits down and spots Wes taking a seat in the back. The Professor and Fred come down an aisle, trailed by Gunn. Seidel stops by a guy in a suit. Seidel: "Oh, Doctor Shepherd, I want you to meet one of my best students, Winifred Burkle." Fred: "Hi." Gunn looks at the group for a moment then moves down the rows to where Angel is sitting. Shepherd: "Oh course. I read your article. Intriguing. Nice to meet you." Seidel ushers Fred on down the aisle. Gunn hands Angel his jacket as he sits down in the chair was reserving with it. Gunn: "Listen, man, I'm gonna need simultaneous translating on this thing. You know, like the president with the Russians, but just give me the highlights." Angel: "No problem. Of course, I have no idea what she's talking about." Gunn: "Will you tell Fred that? If she thinks we're both stupid, I won't stand out as much." The lights dim as the professor walks up to the podium, trailed by Fred. Seidel: "There have been many recent insights into string theory, but few have so elegantly tied together the disparate threads as the one you will hear tonight. As a student Winifred Burkle showed outstanding intellectual rigor." We get a shot of Gunn smiling as he watches the stage. Then of Wes with a soft smile on his face a well. Seidel: "Her work continues to exemplify the highest standard of academic excellence." Lilah walks into the back lecture hall. Angel turns his head and sees her looking around. Seidel: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce Winifred Burkle." Polite applause as Fred steps up to the podium. Fred: "Thank you professor." Fred puts on her glasses, clears her throat and looks at her cue cards. Fred: "This one just says 'open with joke.' But - I forgot to think of one. But it's possible that my theory will take care of that." Polite chuckles. Fred: "There are, uhm, there are several competing dimensional theories, and while each provides insights, physicists have long searched for a unifying theory." Lilah spots Wes, his eyes riveted on the stage. Fred: "One that can account for both the behavior of the smallest subatomic particles, and the largest forces of nature. If space time can undergo massive rearrangement of its structure, which I believe it can, tearing and reconnecting according to a predetermined disposition..." Angel watches as Lilah pulls out her cell phone and makes a call as she leaves the lecture hall. Fred: "...then T-duality would allow for the compactification of extra space dimensions. Consider the non-perturbative properties of superstring theory. In D-Branes, especially as it applies to Dirichlet boundry conditions with dual open strings that are t-transformed, this..." People begin to notice a disturbance forming in the above Fred. Fred: "...in turn leads to the conclusion that strings can only end in P-dimensional dynamical..." Fred notices the commotion spreading through the hall and looks to see what everyone is looking at. A bundle of long, snake-like tentacles, each ending in a tooth-filled beak suddenly reaches out of the hole in the air and take a hold of Fred, while Seidel quickly ducks away. Gunn and Angel jump out of their seats and head for the stage as Wes also gets up from his seat at the back of the hall. Gunn: "Fred! No!" Break Fred is screaming as the tentacles wrapped around her try to pull her up into the hole. Gunn is holding on to Fred's legs. Angel is stabbing at the monster with the microphone stand. Gunn: "Hang on baby. I got you!" Wes moves through the fleeing masses towards the stage. The guy in the comic book shirt that was sitting behind Angel and Gunn is snapping pictures of the monster with a small camera, a big smile on his face. Gunn: "Hang on!" One tentacle wraps around Angel's neck and lifts him off the floor. The teen is still snapping pictures. Angel: "Yeah. Vampire, strangling. Not gonna happen." Angel reaches down into his boot and pulls out a knife. He cuts through the tentacle that holds him. As he drops free, the monster lets out a scream and draws back, letting go of Fred. Fred and Gunn fall to the floor, Gunn holding her tightly. Wes, dagger in hand, stops as the hole closes behind the monster. Gunn: "It's over, baby. You're fine." Lilah drives down through the parking garage in a silver Mercedes convertible. Suddenly the top is ripped away. Lilah stops and hesitantly sticks her head out through the hole. Angel: "That's cool. The top just comes right off." Lilah drops back down into her seat, then gets out of the car. Lilah: "Hey, if this is about the jolly green demon, I could have had him killed, but do I hear a thank you?" Angel: "Before we get to that, how about you tell me why a portal happened to open up over Fred's head right after you slithered out of the auditorium?" Lilah smiling a little: "Tragedy struck Gidget? Really? Did she go to that place in the big Texas sky?" Angel: "Gunn and I took care of it. Of course if we hadn't been there, I'm sure your good friend Wesley would have stepped right in." Lilah: "Come on. If I were gonna kill the twig, would I do it in a room full of people and then make a conspicuous getaway so I looked extra suspicious?" Angel: "Add video tape, sounds like vintage Wolfram and Hart. (Lilah just shrugs) Except this time somebody else deserves the credit." Lilah: "You're quick." Lilah ducks back into her car. Angel just as quickly sticks his head in before she can close the door. Angel: "About Lorne, there's going to be a conversation." Lilah: "You know, Angel, coming from you, idle threats are so - well - idle." Angel sticks one hand down through the hole in the car's roof and wiggles his fingers in front of Lilah's face. Angel: "Do you remember when I ripped your car in half?" Lilah starting the car: "Yeah. Hulk smash." Lilah peels out of there, tires screeching. Angel lets her go. Hyperion, night. Gunn rolls over in bed and wakes up when the spot beside him is empty. Gunn sits up: "Fred?" Fred is squatting in a corner, writing on the wall, and muttering to herself. Fred: "P versus NP, where NP is nondeterministic polynominal time. This is NP. Lost time. Time spent." Gunn comes up behind her: "I never liked the paint in here. Hey, lets - lets redo the place, really make it ours." Fred turns away from the wall holding her throat with one hand. Fred: "I was just - I couldn't sleep." Gunn takes a hold of her hand and softly pulls it away from her throat. Gunn: "Fred, demons, portals - that happens. Doesn't mean that you're going back to Pylea." Fred: "Every time I close my eyes I see it. Like it's happening all over again." Gunn: "I know, baby." Fred walks past him her hand going back up to her neck. Fred: "Five years of hiding in caves and scrounging for food, wearing that collar. You don't know! You couldn't." Gunn: "You're never going back to that place. You're safe now." Fred: "I was safe in the library until I opened that book and read those words, and then wham! I was hurling through dimensions." Gunn: "Come back to bed. Alright? It'll all look different in the morning." Fred: "Morning? As in tomorrow, which as of now is today, which means..." Gunn slowly back towards the bed softly pulling Fred along with him. Gunn: "You're gonna talk to your professor friend just like you planned 'cause nothing has changed." Fred: "It has! He was there! He saw the... - He probably thinks..." Gunn: "That you're incredibly brilliant. Just like I do." Fred climbs back onto the bed: "He can't see me. Not like this." Gunn climbs in beside her: "There is nothing wrong with you. Like this or any other way." Fred: "Yeah, to you, maybe." Gunn: "Look. Go. Okay? Forget about all this and talk about strings and whimps and whatever. Angel and I will take care of all the demony portal stuff. No problem." Gunn kisses her bare shoulder then snuggles up to hold her. Hyperion day, Gunn comes down the stairs to find Angel standing in front of row after row of chairs set up in the hotel lobby. Gunn: "Great. My girl is not the only one redecorating." Angel points at a chair: "You were there." Gunn sits down: "Okay. - What are we doing? Playing musical chairs?" Angel looks past Gunn and suddenly the lobby with its chairs morphs into the lecture hall and the people sitting around and behind Gunn. Dimly we can hear Fred lecture from the podium on the stage. Angel pointing: "Nerdy guy. - Older nerdy guy. - Girl in black there." All the people except for the ones Angel just named wink out of their seats. Gunn: "Okay. Catching on - sorta. How come you never pulled out this parlor trick before?" Angel: "It's not an automatic reflex. It just kicked in when I saw Lilah." We see Lilah making her phone call. Gunn: "Hold up. Lilah was there? Not a huge leap thinking she opened the portal." Angel is concentrating on Lilah. Sees her looking over at Wes. Angel: "She was just stalking Wesley." Gunn: "Wesley? He came to see..." Angel looks to where the nerdy, comic book shirt, guy is sitting. Angel: "He was waiting." Gunn: "Wesley?" Angel: "Guy in the second row, center seat. The guy wearing a tan T-shirt that said 'Thwack!'" Angel turns towards the stage behind him where the tentacles reach out of the portal, then back to the teen. Angel: "He had a camera." Gunn gets up out of the chairs. The lobby back to its actual appearance. Gunn: "I think I know where to find him." Angel: "Whoa, whoa. Ho, ho! Hang on. Daylight. I need a coat." Gunn: "Well, get on it. Because when my girls not happy..." Gunn screaming into the teens face: "...I'm not happy!" Gunn slams the guy up against a stand of comic books. Teen to Angel: "Is he gonna hurt me?" Gunn: "Think Daredevil one eighty one. I'm Bullseye, you're Electra. One wins one dies. Get what I'm saying?" Teen: "Yeah. But we're kind of crushing the Dark Horses." Gunn pulls him away from the comic book stand and lets go of him. Gunn: "You were taking pictures of my girlfriend. Why?" Teen: "Because the ceiling was like ripping apart!" Angel: "Why were you there? You always hang with the physicist crowd?" Teen: "I wanted to see if it was true, if she was really one of them. You know, one of the students who disappeared." Gunn: "One of?" Fred and the Professor are walking through a door into a lab at the university. Fred: "Pylea was a hell dimension, actually. Not as bad as Quor-toth, but - if Angel and Gunn and the rest of them hadn't rescued me, I'd probably be dead by now." Seidel: "Winifred, I'm a theoretical physicist, completely open to the idea of other dimensions, but - you're naming them." Fred: "I know. It took me a while to believe it, too, and - I was there." The blonde that was with the professor when Fred first spotted him at the lecture hall is standing over one of the machines. Seidel: "You know Laurie Drummond, don't you?" Fred: "You were the TA for high energy physics." Laurie: "I still am. Not all of us are geniuses." Seidel: "I'd be lost without Laurie." Laurie: "Welcome back." Fred smiles at her then follows the professor into this office. Seidel closes the door then walks over to a filing cabinet. Seidel: "I've been holding on to something for you." Fred looks at the sheaf of paper he hands her. Fred: "Oh. The last test I took before... - A minus?" Seidel: "Well, I would have given another student an A plus, but with you - I had to use a different standard." Fred: "Now he tells me." Seidel sits down on the edge of his desk: "I'd love another crack at it. Teaching you. You have a gift that shouldn't be wasted." Fred: "It - it's been so long. I mean, writing the article was great, but - I've another life now." Seidel: "Sounds like a life you stumbled into, not one you chose." Fred: "I guess it kind of chose me." Seidel: "Now, I don't know - what I saw yesterday. There are studies about subconscious suggestion, mass hysteria. But I know what I see right now." Fred: "You do?" Seidel: "A very talented young woman, who deserves to live in the world she was meant for." The teen comes out through a bead curtain back into the main store where Gunn is waiting by the counter while Angel is reading a comic book. Teen: "You guys know how it is. Like you hear things from the friend of a friend's room mate. You don't know if they really happen." Gunn: "Like the story about the girl, the cat and the peanut butter." Angel: "That one's true. (Gunn looks at him) Long story." Teen: "Yeah, like, you're Angel, right? There are whole forums on you in chat rooms, man! Who knew you actually, like, existed?!" Gunn: "The disappearances?" Teen: "Ah, supposedly there were three before your girlfriend and one since." Angel: "What do you know?" Teen: "Just rumors. They're all science types, like these weren't your everyday kidnappings. Hey, maybe I can help you guys. Be your Intern." Gunn: "We're full up on interns. But the decoder ring's in the mail." Gunn starts to leave and Angel follows him. Angel: "They talk about me in the chatty rooms?" Fred is flipping through her test paper. Seidel pulls out a book from the shelf behind his desk. Seidel: "You really should read 'Quantum Cryptography'." Laurie opens the door to the office. Laurie: "Professor Seidel the oscillator's tweaked again." Seidel: "I'll have a look. (To Fred) Would you write down your numbers for me? I don't wanna lose track of you for another six years." Fred laughs as the Professor roots through the stuff on his desk. Seidel: "You laugh. I do have a system." Seidel walks out of the office. Fred goes around his desk to write something down on the paper the professor pulled out for her. Fred walks over to take a look at the titles on the bookshelf. Fred: "'Plasma and Fluid Turbulence' in with Nutrino books? That's just - wrong." Fred pulls the book out and flips it open. Inside there are archaic looking symbols and charts. She flips a couple of pages and comes across an illustration of what looks a lot like the monster reaching down through the hole in the lecture hall. She hears Seidel's voice coming from outside. Seidel: "I'll meet you back there. I have some..." Fred quickly puts the book back on the shelf and turns around as the professor walks back into the office. Gunn is pacing behind Angel, who is looking stuff up on the computer. Gunn: "I don't like this, man. I got a bad feeling." Angel turns and looks at him. Gunn: "What? Angel: "Here. The thing all the students had in common." Gunn: "Oliver Seidel. As in the guy she's with right now." Gunn turns to hurry out the office and almost runs into Fred standing just inside the door. Gunn: "Fred. Thank god. Look, there is something we got to tell you. The portal..." Fred: "It was professor Seidel." Gunn: "Yeah." Fred: "And he's done it before." Angel: "That's right. There are others." Fred: "No. To me. He's the son of a bitch that sent me to Pylea." Gunn: "What?" Angel: "We're gonna get this guy." Gunn: "Count on it. He's gonna pay." Fred: "No. He's gonna die." Break [SCENE_BREAK] Gunn: "What do you mean, die?" Fred: "I don't know yet - but it's going to be about pain." Fred opens the weapons cabinet. Fred: "The halberd could work." Fred picks it up and makes stabbing motions with it as she turns back to Gunn and Angel, who back up a little. Fred: "Acting like I'm all addlebrained talking about other dimensions. Pylea, never heard of it. Right! How about a flail whipping? Would that take a nice long time?" Angel: "Hours if you do it right. (Fred picks a flail form the cabinet and whirls it around) Not that you should do it (Angel steps up and carefully takes the flail away from her) at all. - Ever." Fred: "He's a killer. And he's just sitting there smiling, telling me I'm so gifted and how he wants to teach me. Oh, there is going to be a lesson, all right." Gunn: "Alright, Fred, lets calm down." Fred: "I idolized him and he sent me to hell. Me and god knows how many others who didn't make it back, so -so sure! I'll calm down - when he's dead!" Gunn: "Fred, a few years ago I would have done in the guy myself. But this? It isn't what we do." Gunn tries to take the halberd away from Fred but she pulls out of his reach. Fred: "We kill monsters every day." Gunn: "We help people. Fred, if you do this, the demons you'll be living with won't be the horned, fangy kind, they'll be the kind you can't get rid of." Fred: "You're wrong." Angel: "He's right. Whatever you do now, is nothing compared to how it'll be afterward." Gunn: "What you're talking about goes against everything you believe in, everything *we* believe in. Fred, you idolized him, but don't let him be defining what you are now." Gunn holds out a hand. Gunn: "Can I have the ax?" After a moment Fred lets him have the ax. Fred: "I'm sorry, Charles. I guess I kind of lost it." Gunn: "You want a drink? I could make you some cocoa." Fred: "No. Thanks. I'm just - gonna go lay down - for a few days." Gunn watches Fred walk up the stairs, then turns to face Angel. Gunn: "So what are we gonna do to this guy?" Angel: "No idea. But let's do it fast." Gunn: "We got to get to him before Fred changes her mind. 'cause vengeance? It can get ugly." Wes walks over to the table in his apartment, opening a couple of beer bottles. Wes: "Vengeance - sounds good." Fred: "Angel and Gunn want me to be all sweetness and light. Cute little Fred, she'll turn the other cheek like a good girl. (Fred takes a bottle from Wes and sits down on the sofa) I mean, they saw what professor Seidel is capable of! He opened that portal right in front of them." Wes sits down across from her: "They dealt with it handily enough." Fred: "You were there?" Wes: "I read your article, saw you'd be speaking. Was an excellent piece. Although I'm not sure I understand how Pauli repulsion is so readily reversed. - Layman's opinion." Fred: "You've been keeping track of me." Wes: "Yes. - Well, about this professor Seidel, what did you have in mind?" Fred: "Beyond pain, I'm not really sure. That's why I came to you." Wes sets his bottle down and leans forward. Wes: "Fred, you do know that everything Angel and Gunn told you is true. Vengeance will have a price - and once you've acted you can't go back. You'll have to live with your actions forever." Fred: "He's a serial killer." Wes gets up: "Alright then. (Walks over to his books) I'm sure we'll find - an appropriate solution." Fred comes to look over Wes shoulder as he flips through the pages. Wes gives her a quick glance. Wes: "Ah, here is something interesting. Once practiced in ancient Egypt." Fred: "Is that his tongue?" Cell phone chirps and Fred pulls it out. She flips it open to see some strange looking symbols on the display screen. A wind starts to whip her hair around and Fred looks up to see that a portal is opening right in front of her and Wes. Wes grabs a hold of Fred, letting go of his book, which is sucked into the portal, then throws both of them over the back of his sofa. Their roll blends into Connor and Cordy rolling on the ground, Cordy ending up on top. Cordy: "Thanks." Connor: "Anytime." There is a growling sound and Cordy rolls off Connor. Connor catches the boot of the vampire stomping down on him and throws the vamp back onto the ground. Getting to his feet, Connor pulls Cordy up as well, then turns to confront the vampire. The vampire slashes at Connor, but Connor jumps straight up, clinging to some pipes along the ceiling for a moment before dropping back down and trying to stake the vamp. Cordy: "Can I help?" The vampire bats Connor to the side. Cordy: "Uh, that hurt." Cordy moves in with her hand ax. When the vampire knocks it out of her hand she kicks the vamps weapon out of his hand, and dusts him in one smooth motion. Cordy looks from her stake to the dust cloud. Cordy: "I did that. I did that. Oh! I did that!" She turns around and throws herself at Connor, who catches her in a big hug. Cordy laughs as he twirls her around, then leans in to plant a quick kiss on Connor's mouth. Then a second one, which turns into something longer. After a moment Cordy pulls back, looking at Connor and putting one hand up next to her mouth. Hyperion, night, Angel and Gunn are in Fred's empty room. Gunn: "And I'm asking her if she wants cocoa. Stupid!" Angel: "She's gonna kill him." Gunn: "If he doesn't kill her first. You know where she went." Angel: "Look, I'm faster on my own." Gunn: "Go. I'll meet you there." Angel: "She'll be okay." Angel jumps out the window. Fred, sitting in the passenger seat while Wes is driving, fits an arrow into a crossbow. Wes: "You remember everything we went over?" Fred: "I do. And I'm gonna give him exactly what he deserves. Thanks to you." Wes looks at her then away. Fred: "What?" Wes: "I was just thinking, uhm - not that I don't get his point, but I'm surprised Gunn's not here. No matter what the consequences." Fred: "Charles doesn't have it in him. It's part of what I love about him." Wes: "You can still back out - if you think Gunn's right." Fred: "It's not about what's right. - Pull over there." Wes does. Wes: "I'd ask to tag along." Fred: "But you know what the answer would be." Wes watches as she gets out of the car. The professor is in his office taking papers out of his filing cabinet and putting them into a cardboard box. He hears the door open and turns to see Angel walk in. Angel: "Going somewhere?" Seidel backing around his desk: "No. No. I..." Angel tosses the desk between them to the side. Angel: "I hear Pelican Bay's nice this time of year and I'm sure the inmates will just love your lectures." Seidel pulls a book from the shelf. Seidel: "Get out of here." Angel: "See, I can't do that. Fred's a friend of mine, and that little sabbatical you had planned for her? Not nice." Seidel: "You don't have any evidence on me, you can't..." Angel: "Oh, but I can. And when I'm done I'm guessing there's gonna be a full confession..." The professor opens the book and begins to read from it: "Barathrum copeo lacero. Increpito immanis barathrum copeo lacero." Angel: "Great." A portal forms next to the professor and an ugly gray demon steps out of it to attack Angel while Seidel runs out of the office and straight into the butt of Fred's crossbow. Fred reverses the crossbow and aims it at Seidel trying to pick himself up off the floor. Fred: "You know what they say about payback? Well, I'm the bitch." Break In Connor's lair Cordy is putting her clothes away. Connor walks up and puts his arms around her from behind. Connor: "How about some more training? Then tomorrow we can..." Cordy: "Ah, Connor... (She steps out of his arms and turns to face him) We need to talk." Connor: "Okay." Cordy: "Okay." They walk over to the bed. Cordy: "Sit down." Connor does and Cordy sits down next to him, letting out a sigh. Cordy: "About what happened - earlier. The - non CPR mouth to mouth." Connor: "When you kissed me." Cordy: "Right. - I shouldn't have." Connor: "But..." Cordy: "Connor. I don't know who I am, much less where I belong or who with. And there is a picture over there when you were a baby and it's only eight months old. There is a lot I need to figure out. - I'm sorry." Connor sighs. Cordy: "So, I'm gonna..." Connor gets up: "You're going back to him, aren't you?" Cordy gets up: "I just need some time to think. Okay?" Connor watches her walk out, then turns and hits the wall with his fist. The gray demon flies into the bookshelves behind the professor's desk. Angel grabs the phone off the desk and hits the demon with it repeatedly. Angel straightens up and picks some crud off his jacket as he turns to leave the office. Angel: "Oh man..." The gray demon grabs a hold of Angel's ankle and topples him to the floor. Angel looks back: "What the..." The demon tosses Angel against a wall. The professor sits up and looks at Fred. Fred: "Stay right there." Seidel slowly gets up: "Winifred. Fred. Please. Let's talk about this." Fred: "Talk? Sure, let's talk. Because you gave *me* the chance to... - oh, wait, no you didn't. Oh, well. No talking." Seidel: "Fred, I know you. You're not capable of hurting anyone.' Fred: "You don't know me. Not anymore. Five years of pain and suffering in a hell dimension will make a girl capable of a lot of things." Angel is standing in the office, the demon's head held in one hand. He looks from it to the rest of the body, which is once again beginning to stir. Angel: "Come on! I'm *holding* your head!" The demon stands up, a new head popping up between its shoulders, and attacks Angel again. Fred still has her crossbow aimed at the professor. Fred: "Kind of funny thinking threatened you were by me back when I was a grad student. That's why you sent me and the others away, isn't it? You couldn't handle the competition." Seidel: "Fred..." Fred: "And that's why Laurie is still around. She's not smart enough to overshadow you, is she? Not like me. I'm special. Special on a Pylean platter with a side of you-make-me-sick!" Seidel: "Why don't you just let me..." Fred: "Go? Well, since you asked so nicely. Sure. I've even practiced a good-bye speech. Klyv mat chyvma klyvma chyt." A portal opens in the floor between them. The professor holds onto the lab table behind him to keep from being sucked in. Gunn walks into the lab. Gunn: "Fred! No!" Fred: "Go away, Charles! You asked me not to kill him and I'm not. - Not exactly." Gunn: "Sure you are. No way he can survive that." Gunn takes the crossbow away from Fred. Gunn: "Fred, don't let him do this to you." Fred: "How dare you? You don't know. You don't know what it was like!" Gunn looks at the growing portal. Seidel: "Please help me!" Gunn: "I promise, we'll stop him. We'll find some other way." Seidel: "Fred! Winifred, please! Help me!" Fred: "You see? He'll never stop! He'll do it again!" Gunn: "If you kill him, I'm gonna lose you." Seidel: "Help me! Help me!" Gunn runs over and pulls Seidel away just as the table is sucked into the portal in the floor. Fred: "Charles, no!" Gunn looks at Fred. He takes a hold of Seidel's head, breaks his neck then lets the body drop into the portal, which closes behind it. Fred and Gunn face each other across the spot where the portal was only moments ago. Angel walks out of the office. Angel: "What happened to the professor?" Gunn, never taking his eyes of Fred: "It's taken care of." Fred looks down at the floor between them. Hyperion, night, Angel walks into the lobby followed by Fred and Gunn. Angel: "Sucked into his own portal. Wish I could have seen his face." Gunn heads for the stairs: "Yeah. I'm gonna..." Fred following Gunn: "Good night." Angel watches them walk up the stairs. Angel, quietly: "Good night." Angel turns and see Cordy standing just inside the garden court door. Cordy: "Hi." Angel: "Cordelia." Cordy points over her shoulder with her thumb. Cordy: "Can we...?" Cordy walks out into the garden court and sits down on the dry fountain. Angel trails after and sits down next to her. Cordy raises a hand to the wound on the side of Angel's head, but Angel shies away from her touch. Cordy: "You should have somebody look at that." Angel: "It'll be okay. Run-in with a Voynok demon. Turns out they have nine lives." Cordy: "Like a cat?" Angel chuckles: "Only less stand off-ish." Cordy after a beat: "We were friends. - I know that. - Not just from the pictures, but... - And I know that's why you lied before - to protect me. - Well, I - I staked a vamp today." Angel: "Connor took you..." Cordy: "And what I realized is - whoever I was before - I'm still her. She didn't need protecting, and neither do I. - So no more lies?" Angel: "No more lies." Cordy: "Good. Because - there is something I need to know. - Were we in love?"
Supersymmetry