Forgiving
(Wesley’s Apartment)
(Fred stands in front of Wesley’s answering machine and pushes the button.)
Wesley: (voice on machine) You've reached Wesley Wyndam-Price. I'm sorry I'm not in. And the beep.
Fred: (on machine) Wesley. Wesley, it's Fred. Please if you're there, pick up. Please...
(Fred pushes the button again and the message replays. Gunn walks in from the bedroom and stands there for a moment watching her.)
Gunn: Uh, Fred...?
Fred: (turns to him) It doesn't make sense... he wouldn't take Angel's child.
Gunn: He did.
Fred: It's Wesley. Why would he do it?
Gunn: We find him, we can ask him.
Fred: If Angel finds him before we do...
Gunn: He'll kill him. And we won't be able to ask him.
Fred: I should stay here, in case he comes back. And you better get to Angel before he...
Gunn: Wesley's not coming back. (off her look) No toothbrush, no razor, no Mossberg twelve gauge he kept in the closet.
(Fred gets upset at that and begins opening drawers, and checking the trash can.)
Fred: He wouldn't betray us... he wouldn't... (Gunn watches her search.) And he wouldn't leave without saying something to me... not unless he had a hell of a big urgent reason.
(She turns a big empty trash can upside down.)
Gunn: I don't think you're gonna find it in there.
Fred: Where are his diaries? He kept a lot of diaries.
Gunn: Well they're not here and they weren't at the office -- where we should be gettin' back to -- get a heads up on Angel.
(Fred puts trash can down.)
(Outside)
(Gunn and Fred exit the building and walk towards Gunn’s truck.)
Fred: We gotta find his diaries.
Gunn: We gotta find him. (Fred pops open her cell phone, punches in number.) I think if he was answerin' his cell phone, he woulda' the first forty times you called.
Fred: (upset) You tellin' me to quit tryin'? (off his look) Sorry.
Gunn: Don't be. And keep tryin'.
(They get in the truck.)
Fred: (to cell phone) C'mon Wesley, give us something.
(The truck pulls away. We can faintly hear the sound of a phone ringing. We pan over into the park and a cell phone lies on the ground. It reads ‘Fred’. Pan a little further and we see Wesley laying on the ground. We can’t tell if he’s alive or dead. Finally the phone stops ringing.)
(Holtz’s Lair)
(A vampire is shackled to the wall by a couple of Holtz’s followers. The Vamp struggles and strains until a follower clocks it across the head, knocking it out. The shot widens and we see that there are two vamps in shackles and three humans there. Justine enters, bruised and limping. Still reeling from Holtz's betrayal. She sees the Vamps.)
Justine: What are they doing here?
Follower: So we can continue training.
(Justine nods, then pulls a stake from under her jacket and dusts both vamps. Fast and brutal. She turns, faces the group.)
Justine: No more training. No more practice. From here out, everything's real.
(She starts to walk away.)
Follower: Where's Captain Holtz?
(Justine stands with her back to them, weighing what to say. The pain of the night visible on her face. She turns to them. Praises Holtz rather than admit his treachery.)
Justine: He escaped with the vampire's child. (beat) As he and I had planned. The Captain asked me to pass on his praise; he wanted me to say that you fought valiantly and with honor.
Follower: Where are they? (off her look) The Captain and the --
Justine: Gone. For good.
(Beat. As she makes a decision.)
Follower: What are we supposed to --
Justine: And he's charged us to finish the work he started. (a beat) We're going to kill Angelus.
(Hyperion)
(Gunn, Fred and Lorne. Lorne has relayed the bad news about Connor's abduction by Holtz.)
Fred: I don't believe it...
Lorne: It's true.
(Fred shakes her head. Won't accept this.)
Fred: No. It can't be. The baby's not gone.
Lorne: I'm sorry, sweetie. But he is.
Fred: Not like that. (then) Not a portal.
(They see the fear in her eyes, Gunn takes a step toward her... she takes a step back.)
Gunn: Fred...
Fred: There's pulling and there's noise and there's nothing to hold on to... nothing at all...
Gunn: (gently) Baby...
(She looks at him, lost.)
Fred: He must've been so scared.
(Gunn has no words of comfort for that. He reaches out, puts his arms around her. She lets him.)
Gunn: I know. (He turns to Lorne, getting pissed but containing it. Frustration.) This is making less and less sense -- you expect us to believe that Wesley -- (points back toward office) --that Wesley -- just walked right up to Holtz and handed over Connor?
Lorne: They'd been meeting secretly. I read that much before Wesley attacked me.
Gunn: Then you read him wrong.
Lorne: (just a joyless fact) He was not taking Connor for a stroll, Charles. When he left here with that child -- he wasn't planning on coming back. Ever.
(A beat. The finality of that.)
Fred: (just a breath) God. (then, simply) Why?
Angel: (entering) I don't care why. (He is oddly calm, focused, pulled together from the fugue state in which we last saw him. He's carrying a sketchpad that we may or may not notice at the moment.) All I care about now is getting my son back. Then I'll deal with those responsible. They'll all pay. (then) Including Wesley. (Fred and Gunn share a worried glance. Angel turns to Lorne.) The Quor-toth dimension. Ever hear of it?
Lorne: No.
Angel: That's where the portal led. That's where my son is now. Quor-toth. Find out everything you can about it.
Lorne: (nods) Yes.
(He glances at Fred and Gunn, then moves off.)
Gunn: We're goin' there, aren't we?
Angel: I am.
(Angel starts moving toward reception/the office. Fred and Gunn share a look, follow.)
Fred: You're not going alone.
Gunn: Right. We're with you all the way.
(They enter the office.)
Angel: (moving toward desk) Good.
Gunn: It's just...
(Gunn trails off. Angel stops, looks at them.)
Angel: What?
Gunn: Well... Don't we need to open one of those portals first?
Angel: (simply) Yes.
Gunn: Right. But the last time we had to do that... I mean... well it wasn't any of us that knew how. The guy who figured it out... (finally) Angel, how are we gonna do this without...
Angel: (as he sits into Wesley's chair) We don't need him.
Fred: We don't?
Angel: No. We're going to find the sonofabitch who opened this portal in the first place. (He sets out the sketchpad, open to a drawing of Sahjhan. Fred picks it up and she and Gunn look at it.)His name's Sahjhan. He's some kind of interdimensional demon. And he's been behind all this since the beginning....
(Wolfram & Hart)
Linwood: So -- Sahjhan.
(Lilah at her desk and computer glances up at him, dressed in a nice tux, maybe a scarf. Seems friendly enough.)
Lilah: Linwood.
Linwood: Granok demon. Not much of a handshake, what with being incorporeal and all. You didn't mention that you'd met. And with Angel, apparently. All behind my back.
(He moves to her little bar, pours himself a Scotch.)
Lilah: It wasn't behind your back. Everything's right here in my report. Which I was making sure would be on your desk first thing in the morning.
Linwood: Very considerate of you. That Angel, sure keeps us hopping, doesn't he? Having babies, meeting with you in bars.
Lilah: Like I said, sir -- all right here in the report.
Linwood: Like cancer.
Lilah: What is?
Linwood: Life. (beat) My beautiful wife and I raised two and a half million tonight in the fight against cervical cancer. Tomorrow, I'll stall F.D.A. approval of Parsonal, a very promising treatment for it. Unfortunately one of our clients has a competing drug -- not nearly as good but... they're our clients. We're in a war you can never win, Lilah, full of sticky moral quandaries. The side you choose should always be mine. (Finishes his drink. Looks at glass.) It is better aged in an oak sherry cask. You have good taste.
Lilah: Thank you. And if it's any consolation, sir, I did have a gun to my head tonight.
Linwood: I know. I'm very sorry that happened. So Sahjhan opened a door to the Quor-toth and in went Holtz and baby?
Lilah: That's the long and short of it.
Linwood: And I know you made every effort to preserve that baby for us.
Lilah: (friendly reminder) Gun at my head.
Linwood: (nods) Still, big win for Holtz.
Lilah: If you call jumping into a cesspool hell dimension a win.
Linwood: Well certainly not for us. Drink?
Lilah: I'm fine. (He pours one anyway.) Really.
Linwood: I admire initiative, you wouldn't be where you are without it. So you had some meetings with Angel and a pock-marked demon. And me, out of the loop. (He sets drink near her.) It's not like I'm going to get my feelings all bruised and yank your mother out of that very expensive clinic you had her in. (Lilah glances at a picture of her mother.) Don't worry. She's safe as a baby. Well, not the baby you lost, 'cause that one's gone to hell forever... you might want to keep me updated in the future. I look forward to that report. (heads for door) Don't stay up too late.
(He goes. Lilah sits there reeling, pissed. She takes drink he left, downs it.)
(Hyperion)
(Gunn, Fred and Angel are in research mode. Books and files strewn about. Fred is at the computer, Gunn is going through file folders, and Angel is flipping through books.)
Fred: I'm not finding anything on the name "Sahjhan." Are you sure that's what you heard?
Angel: I'm sure. Maybe you're not spelling it right.
Fred: I've tried every permutation. In English, anyway. Could be it's a nick-name. Which would probably be cross- referenced in "Phisto's Dictionary Of Demons and Dimensional Spirits" --
Angel: Okay --
Fred: But it's in Ga-shundi. And I don't read Ga-shundi.
Angel: (to Gunn) What about the files?
Gunn: They're in English... Cordelia's filing system isn't.
(Angel moves to Gunn.)
Angel: I know she was keeping some kind of list of time/space shifting entities.
Gunn: Okay. So's that under "time" "space" "shifting" or "entities?"
Angel: Let's check all of it.
(Angel starts digging into files along with Gunn.)
Fred: It's Monday. What time is it in Mexico?
(She reaches for the phone -- and Angel is suddenly there, grabs the receiver from her.)
Angel: (accusatory) What are you doing?
Fred: (startled) Calling Cordelia?
Angel: Why?
Fred: Why?
(Gunn tentatively stands among the strewn files.)
Angel: We're not going to ruin Cordelia's holiday.
(That sounded slightly insane. Angel puts the receiver back into the cradle.)
Fred: (venturing) Angel... Don't you think she'd want us to call? Shouldn't we tell her what happened? Maybe she could help...
Angel: No.
(The madness and panic and grief that's been lurking just under the surface has crept a bit into Angel's voice. He stares at Fred. She stares back.)
Fred: Angel...
Angel: She'll be back soon... and when she does she'll... she'll have presents. For Connor. (choking just a
little) And he's gonna be here so she can give them to him. Okay?
(Tears are running down Fred's cheeks now. She nods.)
Fred: Okay.
(A beat. Angel might realize how that all sounded. A very uncomfortable strained silence in the room. Just every-so-slightly wide-eyed he looks to the mess around him.)
Angel: I'm sorry...
Fred: No.
Angel: This isn't working. Look, just... forget all this. I gotta go.
(He turns and walks off leaving Fred and Gunn standing there.)
Fred: Did he just tell us to forget all this?
Gunn: Yeah. He did.
Fred: You don't suppose he's decided to skip right to the "dealing with those responsible part," do you?
Gunn: (considers that) I think we need to find Wesley.
Fred: Yeah...
(Park)
(In the park across from Wesley’s building a bum pushes an overflowing shopping car along the sidewalk toward the park, looking for cans and bottles. He digs through a trash can, pulls a couple of bottles. Then sees something more interesting. A few feet away, laying on the ground, is Wesley’s cell phone. The bum walks over to the phone and picks it up and looks around. On the ground, some distance away, is Wesley’s prone figure. The bum moves over to Wesley and looks down at him. It’s hard to tell if he’s dead or alive. The bum shakes him gently.)
Bum: Bro', you alive? (Wesley's eyes open. That's about all he can move. But he's alive.) You need help. Can you talk? (Wesley can barely breathe.) Muggers, bastards. They leave you any I.D.? (He digs around in Wesley's pockets, finally comes up with a wallet. Opens it. Inside is hundreds of dollars.) Wasn't no muggin'. (He looks around, puts wallet in his own pocket, gets behind Wesley, lifts him up under the arms.) You need help. (He drags Wesley deeper into the park, dumps him behind some bushes. As Bum looks around. Coast is clear. Bum is lone figure in the large frame.) You need help...
(Bum hurries off.)
(Hyperion)
(Lorne pushes open the front door to see Angel at the weapons cabinet, contemplative. Lorne stands there, the bad news written on his face. He takes a deep breath, then crosses the lobby, stops next to Angel. A moment.)
Lorne: I talked to a couple different sources, like you asked -- (Angel turns and enters the reception area, searching Cordelia's desk. Lorne follows, stands there a beat.) Angel, the news isn't good. (Angel picks up one of those staple removers, clicks it open and shut a few times, puts it in his pocket.) This Quor-toth dimension is... (beat) Everyone I spoke to is afraid of it -- and these are not easily- rattled people. But that's... that's not all. (Angel picks up a spindle with phone messages stuck on it. He strips off the paper, hefts the spindle.) The portal you saw opened -- it wasn't a portal. Because there are no portals to Quor-toth. The only way in is to rip right through the fabric of reality.
(Angel turns, carrying the spindle, heads up the stairs. Lorne takes a small beat, then follows.)
(Hallway)
(Angel moves down the hall, Lorne at his heels, midspeech.)
Lorne: This isn't a matter of finding an interdimensional hotspot, or conjuring an opening with a simple
incantation. To punch through to Quor-toth would require dark, dark magicks, the kinda power it takes centuries to build. (They arrive in front of Angel's door. Angel's about to enter, but Lorne puts a hand on his arm.) Angel. I know this isn't easy for you, but you have to hear it. (beat) Even if you somehow managed to get in, finding Connor would be like looking for a needle in a haystack the size of China.
(A beat, as Angel seems to be considering this.)
Angel: Needles. I shoulda thought of that.
(He pushes open the door, enters, Lorne behind him.)
(Angel’s Room)
Lorne: We just don't have the resources to conjure up that much dark power --
(Lorne stops, agog. Looking at something o.s. Reveal Linwood, trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. He's already been smacked around a little.)
Angel: Oh, I think we do.
Lorne: Angel... who is that?
Linwood: Linwood Murrow. Division president of Special Projects for Wolfram and Hart. And you are?
Lorne: (eyeing Angel) Deeply troubled.
Linwood: (nodding) You and Angel have a lot in common. Abducting an employee of Wolfram and Hart... then again, he might be too troubled to consider the consequences. (to Angel) Once the firm finds out what you've done --
Angel: They'd kill you before they'd kill me.
(Linwood deflates, knows it's true. He's got zero leverage. Angel moves to the kitchenette, rifles through the silverware drawer. Lorne moves to him.)
Lorne: (speaking low) Angel, this isn't some slimy demon you've got trussed up here -- he's a human. (looks at Linwood) Marginally, but still... this isn't gonna bring Connor back.
(Angel plucks out a gleaming steak knife.)
Angel: (darkly) He'd better hope it does.
(He heads back to the end table, Lorne behind him.)
Lorne: Do you even know what you're doing?
Linwood: At last count the charges were kidnapping, assault and battery, attempted murder --
(THUNK! Linwood is interrupted by Angel plonking down the end table in front of him. Arrayed on it are several items, including the box cutter, the staple remover, the spindle, the steak knife, a Bar-B-Q fork, and a few razor blades. Linwood looks at the accoutrements, pales. Looks up at Angel, fear behind his eyes for the first time.)
Linwood: -- none of which I intend to press. In fact, don't let's "press" anything, shall we? You want to find
your son? I can guarantee you the full force and faith of Wolfram and Hart will be at your disposal.
(Under this, Angel has picked up the spindle, and he moves it very,very close to Linwood's right eye.)
Angel: (slowly) Who is Sahjhan, and how do I get my hands on him?
(A long beat. Linwood's "charming smile" comes out as a pathetic, frightened grimace.)
Linwood: If you'll just hit "3" on my speed dial – (Angel pauses a moment, but Linwood nods toward his jacket.) My cell phone.
(Angel reaches in, pulls it out of Linwood's jacket, punches "3", holds it up to Linwood's face. A beat, then.)
Linwood: Lilah? Linwood. I'm sending over a client, and I want you to listen very carefully, because I have explicit instructions on how to deal with him. (He looks up at Angel, then away.) Give him anything he wants.
(Holtz’s Lair)
(A wooden stake is being whittled to a point. Reveal Justine in a chair, hunting knife in hand, sharpening the stake. Three other stakes (two already sharpened) are laid out on the table. She's alone, lost in thought. The place is kind of a pig sty. Some overflowing trash cans, etc. Gunn and Fred enter.)
Gunn: You should get a yard dog or something 'cause anybody could just walk in here off the street.
(Justine glances up at them. Keeps whittling.)
Justine: Getting in isn't the hard part.
(Gunn and Fred move closer.)
Gunn: Really? That what happened to Wes? -- You and Holtz lured him in, then made sure he couldn't get out?
(If Wesley's name triggers anything in Justine, she hides it.)
Justine: He's a big boy. He knew what he was doing.
Fred: So where is he now?
(Justine doesn't look up.)
Justine: Why should I care?
(Gunn steps close.)
Gunn: 'Cause I'm tellin' you to.
(Justine looks up. Smiles a little. Nothing she'd like more right now than a fight. Fred steps between them.)
Fred: Great, let's have more violence, it's such a help! We lost a child, you lost Holtz, isn't that enough already?
Justine: No.
Fred: So kill everybody, that'll make you happy? (Justine gives her the dead-eyed look.) Oh. There is no happy for you. (She looks around the place.) Y'all livin' here together, sharin' everything -- except takin' out the trash, I guess -- I imagine losin' Holtz was like losin' a father... (studies Justine) ...or worse. (Beat.) The trash! (to Gunn) I'll explain that later.
Justine: I think it's time for you to go.
Gunn: We're not going anywhere until you tell us what happened to Wes.
Justine: Well... you're half right. (Pan out to see that 4 other followers have come into the attic, armed, and ready for a fight.) About the not goin' part.
(Justine gives a nod and two followers attack Gunn. One immediately goes flying. Justine shoves Fred and Fred tumbles over a table or chair, getting hurt. A second and third follower grab Gunn, one of them putting a knife to his throat.)
Fred: (on floor) No!
(Flash Cut - Justine cutting Wes's throat in previous episode.)
Justine: (to her guys) Wait! (beat) Just get the hell out of here.
(The followers back away. Fred is on her feet, not waiting for a second chance. She pulls Gunn, who trades a shove with one of the followers who was holding him, out of the attic. Hold Justine, pissed but shook.)
(Wolfram & Hart)
(Angel and Lilah walk down a hall. He's grim. She's impressed and a little scared.)
Lilah: Kidnapping Linwood, you're really steppin' up to it. And the white room... I mean, they don't just talk about it. (takes a breath) God, the white room. I was here three years before I even heard of it. (curious) Did he tell you what was in it?
Angel: Answers. (They arrive at an elevator.) Up or down?
Lilah: Up. (Angel presses the button and the elevator arrives. They enter. A beat and the doors close.) He tell you how to... get there? (Angel pulls out a piece of paper, follows instructions written on it. He punches quite a long series of numbers into the control panel.) There was this guy in litigation went to the white room in September. He's in an asylum now... (Angel finishes punching in the sequence. Followed by hitting the emergency stop button. A blank white button materializes, centered above the others.) Wow. (re: instructions) I should probably hold onto --
(Angel puts the instructions back in his pocket, and punches the white button. It lights up. And nothing happens. Lilah and Angel wait. Then the elevator suddenly radiates into a blinding whiteness that swallows them up.)
(White Room)
(Emerge from the whiteness, though it continues to surround them. They step forward and exit frame. We see a huge empty warehouse-sized space. It's completely white (this is not a shapeless void, but a giant room that is white.)
Girl: (os) Hello... (Angel and Lilah are startled, spin around. There is a little girl right behind them. She's maybe nine-years-old, wearing a party dress and Mary Janes. She's sitting knees together, hands in lap, in a child-sized Windsor chair. Angel and Lilah stare at this little girl who hadn't been there a second before. Her complete normality is creepy.) Angel. Lilah. (She looks from Angel to Lilah. Sees Lilah's bright red fingernail polish.) Your fingernails are pretty. I love red. (to Angel) You have a taste for red too. And
revenge. I know, it's so much more fun than forgiveness. So, what's up?
Angel: A demon named Sahjhan has taken my son.
Girl: Ahhhh, does he want his little baby back?
(Angel starts to take a step towards her. Lilah puts her hand on his arm.)
Lilah: Oh god, don't.
Girl: Baby's gone. You want Sahjhan. He's a Granok, nowadays you can walk right through 'em, but in the past they were something else...
(The Past)
(A demon who looks like Sahjhan (but is not) raises a sword, slashes at a man. He bends down and lifts a severed head off the ground. Dead soldiers abound.)
Girl: (vo) They were all about torture and death.
(White Room)
Girl: (to Angel) You can relate. Well, they caused a lot of trouble. Don't get me wrong, I like trouble -- but I hate chaos. So we changed 'em.
Angel: You made them immaterial.
Girl: Smart boy.
(The Past)
(Same place. Same guy. Raises his sword. Charging enemy soldier runs right through him. Shocking them both.)
(White Room)
Girl: Now they watch. And they can no longer touch.
Angel: How do you capture them?
Girl: Well, there's your special urn...
(The Past)
(A Sahjhan-like demon (no longer in battle gear, but in a robe) walks right through it. And sees three priests and one Resikhian urn. A stream of liquid floats up and out of the urn, swirls around the Granok. And sucks him right back into the run.)
(White Room)
Girl: But you don't want his essence in a jar. You want someone you can sink your teeth into.
(Angel glares at her. She turns to Lilah.)
Lilah: That's a yes.
Girl: You know these things always come with a price. (beat; re: Lilah) Kill her. (Lilah's blood suddenly runs cold. She can't breathe. Angel grabs Lilah. The little girl laughs as only a little girl can.) That's good for now. I can see why they respect you. (Angel lets go of Lilah.) Now, your demon made flesh. Big
ritual, it's all here. (She holds out her hand. A folded piece of paper on it. As Angel reaches for paper it's suddenly in his hand.) Can't wait to see how it turns out. You have a web site?
(Angel and Lilah are again engulfed in white. And then everything goes white.)
(Wesley’s Apartment Building– Alley)
(Gunn and Fred stand in front of a large trash dumpster.)
Fred: Okay, throw me away.
Gunn: You want me to put you in the trash.
Fred: Either he took the diaries with him or he tossed 'em. We're lucky we got here while it's still full.
Gunn: (re: smell) Yeah.
(He bends, puts his hands together; she steps on them; he hoists her up and over the lip of the bin. She disappears from sight rummaging around.)
Fred: (os) Ugh... aw god, somebody ate that...?
Gunn: Any luck?
(Beat, more struggle and groaning, then Fred appears over the lip, a bag of Wes's trash in hand, the diaries and his notes prominent. Looking dirty.)
Fred: Yes. (He looks at her for a beat.) Well help me out.
Gunn: So you don't wanna just look at 'em in there.
(Off her look, Gunn takes a big breath, holds it, and lifts her out.)
(Wesley’s Apartment)
(A little later. Fred has Wesley's diaries and notes spread out everywhere. She and Gunn are going through them. She mostly with the diaries and he mostly with the notes.)
Gunn: You gettin' anywhere?
Fred: Well, he was meticulous and --
Gunn: Fred. (she looks up) Let's not say "was" until we know for sure...
Fred: No. Right. "Is". He is meticulous, he kept separate diaries for all the major players, Darla, Connor, Angel... and he's frightened.
Gunn: What's he frightened of?
Fred: Not sure yet, pending doom sort of thing in the later entries, some big prophecy he's trying to repudiate... he says here, "it can't be coming, it can't be true".
..
Gunn: That's doomy.
Fred: So I guess we're looking for that prophecy, I don't know where it's gonna...
Gunn: I do.
(Gunn has come across the crumpled note that ended episode 14. He shows her the note. She reads it.)
Fred: "The father will kill the son..."
Gunn: Wes thought Angel...
Fred: Was going to kill Connor…(She pages through the texts, her excitement mounting.) YES, that's the prophecy. Wesley couldn't accept it, he kept trying to disprove it... but the texts and commentaries, everywhere he turned, kept bringing him back to the same place. (elated) This is great. I told you he had a reason for taking Connor.
Gunn: Yeah.
Fred: Wesley did the right thing, the only thing he could under the circumstances. We gotta find Angel and tell him right away.
Gunn: (sarcastic) And he'll forgive Wesley for taking his son and giving him to his mortal enemy.
Fred: Well... maybe begin to forgive -- what else could Wes do? (re: diary) ...it's right here. "I have to save
them both." He had to save Connor from Angel and Angel from doing something unspeakable...
Gunn: Maybe.
Fred: "Maybe"? What would you have done in his place?
Gunn: I'd have come to us first.
Fred: (beat) I don't think we should mention that part when we explain it to Angel. And I think once he knows the truth, he'll come around. He's angry, he's hurting, but he's not crazy.
(Hyperion)
(Angel rises into a tight-ish frame, his hair a little mussed, a few black smudges on his cheeks. He seems intense, focused on the floor o.s. Lorne enters frame. He, too, looks down, then back at Angel.)
Lorne: Angel, please -- do not do this thing. We'll find some other way.
Lilah: There is no other way.
(As she says it, we reveal Lilah leaning against the reception desk, holding the spell instructions in her hand. Lorne looks at her.)
Lorne: I think not speaking would be a really good look for you.
Angel: (hasn't heard a word Lorne has said, to Lilah) How's that?
Lilah: Looks about right.
(Widen to reveal a large pentagram on the lobby floor. Linwood is near the steps still tied to a chair.)
Angel: (to Lilah) What's next?
Lorne: What's next is we stop and reconsider this. Angel, you're messing with primordial powers of darkness here.
Angel: (to Lilah) Next?
(Before she can answer, Lorne moves right in front of Angel, gets in his face, makes him look at him.)
Lorne: Is this really how you wanna get Connor back?
(Angel hits Lorne with a look, but speaks to Lilah.)
Angel: What's. Next.
Lilah: (looking up from instructions) Human blood.
(Angel looks over at her. She gets the message. She turns to the counter where all manner of mojo items have been set out, more candles, roots and herbs, small jars of powder, and a large ceremonial Knife. She picks it up... then turns to Linwood. We play the look between them. He's still her boss. Lilah half-smiles. Beat. Continues eye-contact with Linwood. Holds up her left hand. Holds up the knife. Then draws the blade down her palm, never breaking eye contact with Linwood. Lorne sees that there's no talking sense to anyone here. Backs away to a corner, bracing himself, as... Lilah moves to the pentagram, squeezes her fist over the center, dripping blood onto the pentagram. Angel faces the giant pentagram.)
Angel: Corpus Granok Sahjhan Demonicus.
(The lights flash. Beams of light shoot out from the candles, converge in the center of the pentagram. A form takes shape, a translucent sphere of light. It grows to a couple of feet in diameter. Angel steps back, reaches for a big-ass battle-axe. Prepares himself for the thing that will appear before him. Everyone squints from the brightness. Suddenly it bursts like a bubble, releasing a shock wave of wind and light that nearly knocks everyone over. Then silence. Angel looks into the center of the pentagram. No Sahjhan.)
Angel: Where is he? (He sets his jaw. Turns toward Linwood.) Where is he?
(City Street)
(A light industrial neighborhood. A couple of cars drive past. A sudden spherical burst of light and Sahjhan materializes in the middle of the street. His reaction tells us that he sure wasn't expecting to. He looks around.)
Sahjhan: What the...?
(He tries to get his bearings. Hears a horn. Turns around and sees a truck bearing down on him. The truck runs him over, and hits a station wagon coming the other direction. Horrified at what happened the trucker sits with his hands deadlocked on the wheel. He sees a family in the station wagon. After a beat, his truck starts to shake. As it starts to tip, then flips on its side. Sahjhan stands into frame, between the truck and the station wagon. Only a small cut on his forehead. If anything, he's exhilarated by his predicament.)
Sahjhan: Now that's more like it.
(Hyperion)
(Angel drags Linwood, still tied to the chair, back up the steps. Angel's face betrays no emotion. He has nothing left. Lorne stands at the foot of the stairs, agonizing. Linwood glares at Lilah.)
Linwood: Lilah. Do something.
(Calmly she takes out her cell phone, turns away and dials.)
Lorne: Angel, killing this creep isn't gonna solve anything. Please, trust me: you don't wanna do this.
Angel: That's where you're wrong.
Linwood: We had a deal, Angel. I gave you everything you asked -- what more do you want from me?
Angel: I want my son back.
(Linwood starts to panic, knows he can't do that. Looks to Lilah, who's still turned away on the phone.)
Linwood: Lilah --
Lilah: (os) Hey! Whoa! Flag on the play! (They all turn to see Lilah on her cell.) The firm's tech team just registered a sever bio-plasmic disturbance on Taber and National, same time as the spell.
Angel: Sahjhan?
Lilah: Whatever it was flipped a two-ton truck like a Tonka toy.
(Angel releases Linwoods chair and it falls to the foot of the stairs. Lilah goes to help him as Angel strides past the lawyers, heads to the front door as, Gunn and Fred run into the hotel. For a moment, they're taken aback by the chaos, the giant pentagram, but as Angel moves to pass them, Fred steps in his way.)
Fred: We need to talk.
Angel: Not now. (He moves to sidestep her, but she moves with him. A warning.)Fred --
Fred: There's something you need to know before you-- (He sidesteps again, quicker this time, heads for the door. He makes it within a few feet of the stairs, when Fred calls out.) "The father will kill the son"!
(Angel stops, his back to them. Beat. He turns. Waiting. Fred and Gunn both start to move toward him.) There was a prophecy in the Nyazian scrolls. Wesley checked the translations, the commentaries, he even went to mystic oracles but he couldn't disprove it.
Gunn: They'd already fed you Connor's blood, bro. You said it yourself, he smelled like food.
Fred: Wesley was trying to protect Connor.
Gunn: He was trying to protect you. (They're close to Angel now. Soothing, calming voices.) Same as we're doin' right now.
(A beat, as Angel looks at them. Then he turns again, and Fred runs past him to the stairs, gets in front of him.)
Fred: Angel, the prophecy --
Angel: It's a lie. I'd never hurt Connor.
Fred: (softly) How can you know that for sure?
Angel: I'd never hurt someone I care about. (beat) Now move.
(His look tells her he's about one step away from breaking that rule. Chagrined, but knowing she can't stop him, she steps aside as Angel exits.)
Fred: We have to go after him.
Gunn: We can't. (off her look) He lays a finger on you, I'll have to kill him myself. (Suddenly a groan makes them look over to Linwood, now freed from his bonds. Lorne approaches Fred and Gunn.) What’re they doin' here?
Lorne: Wolfram & Hart. There was kidnapping and a spell, dark magick -- it's bad, kids.
Lilah: Let's get you outta here, okay?
Linwood: Don't touch me. (brushes her hands off, humiliated) He's gonna pay for this.
Lorne: Really bad.
(Outside Hotel)
(Angel strides down the front walk, lost in thought; confused and pissed off. He rounds the corner to the street and a stake pierces his shoulder. He looks up and sees Justine up high with a crossbow as she fires another stake. Angel rolls out of the way as it whizzes by. He yanks the stake out as four followers attack him at once. Angel's moves are clean and efficient, landing devastating blows, putting them all down and out in a matter of seconds. As he turns to go, he gets hit in the face by Justine.)
Justine: Don't run off now. The fun's just startin'.
(Angel doesn't have time for this. As Justine lunges with a stake, Angel deftly disarms her and slams her hard against a wall. He puts the bloody point of the stake from his shoulder at her throat -- which freaks Justine out for reasons only we know. He speaks menacingly, deliberately.)
Angel: I'm not your boyfriend. Find somebody else to smack you around.
(He grabs her jacket and hurls her down. She lands hard on her back, her head bouncing off the ground. Immediately she lifts her hands, sure there's another attack coming, but when she looks up she sees Angels’ departing back. An array of emotions play across her face, then she gets up and runs off as Gunn and Fred exit the hotel.)
Fred: It does matter. It has to matter.
Gunn: Fred, he's not thinkin' about-- (stops, sees the followers) What the hell?
(Fred spots Justine running for a car, yanking open the door.)
Fred: Justine. She's leaving her people --
Gunn: -- in Wesley's car.
(A look between them. Then they run after her.)
(Accident Scene)
(People and ambulances have gathered at the site. Two people on stretchers are put in the back of the ambulance. The driver of the truck is slumped on the curb. He’s got several bruises.)
Truck Driver: It's all my fault. I tried to stop --
(Two black shoes appear next to him, then Angel crouches down into frame. Truck Driver looks up at him, plaintive.)
Angel: (as gently as he can) Hey, hey. What's your name?
Truck Driver: Al Stokely. It's not even my truck...
Angel: Al? Why don't you tell me what happened here?
Truck Driver: I hit... oh God, I hit a guy, a man -- he wasn't there and then he just... was... those poor people...
Angel: The man you hit -- where is he?
(The Truck Driver looks at Angel, miserable.)
Truck Driver: I don't know. (serious) There's no way he coulda gotten up. (looking at scene) I don't wanna go to jail.
Angel: You didn't do anything wrong.
Truck Driver: (staring at the ambulance) I hurt those people. It's all my fault.
(Angel looks at him, knows exactly whose fault this is. Beat.)
Angel: No. No it isn't.
(He moves over to the accident scene, leaving Al on the curb. As He reaches the wreckage, he moves to the front of the truck, looks at the grille. Angel runs his fingers through the blood, then looks up and to the east. His face set and determined.)
(Sahjhan’s Lair)
(Justine is alone in the chamber. This is the place where it all began for her. She circles the table, looking a little lost. Finally she pops down into a chair, just staring into space. After a long beat, we hear the goran of the iron door behind her opening up. She turns and sees Fred and Gunn come in.)
Gunn: Where's Wes?
Justine: (in her own world) He's not comin' back.
Gunn: What?
Justine: It was all lies. Every bit of it. All he wanted was that kid. To punish Angel. He never cared about anything else.
Gunn: I'm talkin' about Wesley. His car's parked up top here, you obviously took it from him, where is he?
(Justine looks away. Gunn steps close. Fred follows.)
Fred: We just wanna hear his side.
Justine: His side. (beat) His side's kinda funny: he sacrificed everything he believed in to save that kid.
Gunn: By helping Holtz take him to hell? I'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth.
Justine: (simply) Your friend's innocent.
Fred: Is he alive? (Justine looks up at her.) Where is he? Will you please just tell us?
Justine: Heaven... Hell... (beat) I slit his throat.
(Gunn holds her gaze. And suddenly, Bam! Fred slaps her hard across the face. Justine instinctively swings back at Fred. Gunn catches the punch, throws her tumbling over the chair. Justine rolls, comes back at Gunn. She swings, connects. Punches again. Gunn slams her to the ground.)
Gunn: Stay down.
Justine: Um, no.
(She lunges at Gunn. He counters, she connects -- he comes right back and punches her hard in the face. She crumples to the ground. Fred moves over to stand next to Gunn, and stares down at Justine. Justine pulls her hair out of her face. She stares up at them.)
Justine: (simply) I trusted the wrong man.
(Gunn steps over, grabs Justine by her jacket, jerks her to her feet.)
Gunn: You're takin' us to him. And he better be alive.
Sahjhan: You call that a fight? (They look toward the gate. Sahjhan stands blocking the exit.) Let me show you how we used to do it... So, my home, uninvited guests, this can't end well.
(This is the first time Gunn and Fred have seen Sahjhan other than Angel's drawing. Justine's met him once.)
Gunn: This is the guy, right?
(Fred nods. Sahjhan recognizes Justine.)
Sahjhan: Hi honey, I remember you. One of Holtz's groupies. You tried to cut off my head. (He backhands Justine hard, sends her flying. She crashes into a wall by the entrance, crumples. He then turns to Gunn and Fred.) Can't tell you how much I missed doing that. (He stalks toward them. Fred fumbles in her pocket. Pulls out her cell phone. Across the chamber, Justine slowly comes to. Gunn and Fred back up, step around behind the table. Fred's trying to dial the phone.) I also missed gravity, friction and smashing things to pieces. (He grabs a chair, shatters it on the table, holding onto a big thick club-like leg. Fred fumbles the phone. It falls. Gunn's ready to protect Fred.) Let's start with your skulls.
(Angel steps into the chamber.)
Angel: Or yours.
(Sahjhan turns. Watches Angel stride toward him, past crumpled Justine. Justine takes her chance and bolts out the door. Angel stops just in front of Sahjhan.)
Sahjhan: Angel. I'm guessing I have you to thank for the whole mortal coil thing.
Angel: Yeah. Tell you what, take me to the Quor-toth world, help me find my son -- we'll call it even.
Sahjhan: Really? You and me, buddy cop summer release? We iron out our wacky differences and bond? Don't think so.
Angel: You're takin' me there.
Sahjhan: Couldn't even if I wanted to.
Angel: You're lying.
Sahjhan: No, that, 'm telling the truth about. Whole universe could go kaplooie. Bad for me, bad for America.
Fred: So what are you lyin' about?
Sahjhan: Oh, well. I don't like to brag but... read any good prophecies lately?
Gunn: You wrote the prophecies.
Sahjhan: More a re-write.
Fred: "The father will kill the son."
Sahjhan: Yeah. I fitted back and forth in time, changed the one that threatened me, polished some others. (beat) Flitted in a manly way. Just so we're clear. (to Angel) You're not really my enemy. You're in my home and I'm gonna kick your ass but you were never really the point.
Angel: (getting it) It was Connor.
Sahjhan: Boy, can't put one over on you, can you? Oh wait, already did. It's pretty freaky the first time you see your name in a true prophecy, all carved in blood on an official scroll. (to Angel) "The one sired by the vampire with a soul shall grow to manhood and kill Sahjhan." Me.
Fred: So you planted false prophecies. That Angel would kill his son... and Wesley believed them.
Sahjhan: Thank God he had some spine. Holtz was useless. (to Angel) Wanted to raise your kid as his own. I'm living' with a knife over my heart for eleven hundred years and he's into petty revenge. If he'd just killed the thing while it was still in its mother we coulda avoided all of this --
(It's like a switch is flipped in Angel. He erupts, goes vamp, and charges Sahjhan. Sahjhan is ready, counters Angel, swings the chair leg, catches Angel across the neck. Gunn rushes Sahjhan, takes a swing. Connects. Buys Angel a moment to recover. Sahjhan grabs Gunn, throws him crashing across the table. Angel and Sahjhan trade blows as -- Fred picks up one of the braziers, hurls the hot coals in Sahjhan's face. He howls in pain, glares at her.)
Sahjhan: Do I look like I need more skin problems?
(Sahjhan punches Fred, but it's deflected as Angel hits him hard from the side. Fred goes flying. Angel throws punches, kicks him. Sahjhan catches Angel's leg. Launches him across the chamber. Gunn gets up, tries to grab Sahjhan, but gets kicked in the head. Gunn goes down. Angel staggers to his feet. He's hurting. And from here on out, it's not so much a fight as a beating. Angel just keeps coming and coming and Sahjhan keeps bashing him, finally smashes him onto the table, rag dolls him across the room. Angel doesn't get up. Sahjhan steps over to the busted chair, grabs a stake-sized piece, turns back to Angel. Towers over him. Over by the door Justine rushes in carrying something we can’t quite see. Sahjhan hears her enter. Looks. Turns back to Angel. Fred crawls to Gunn on the floor.)
Fred: (re: Sahjhan and Angel) He's gonna...
(Angel lies barely conscious. Realizes he can't save himself. Watches Sahjhan raise the stake above him.)
Sahjhan: I hadda put your boy down. Pity, kid had a big future. I mean big. Well we all gotta go sometime.
(We now see that Justine is carrying a Resikhian urn. A duplicate of the one in the Flashbacks. She opens it. A stream of liquid floats up and out, streams over to Sahjhan, swirls around him.)
Sahjhan: No, no... don't do that! (He tries to finish staking Angel but the liquid covers him, the stake falls to the ground and Sahjhan is sucked back into the urn.) Oh fuh…
(Justine replaces its lid. Gunn and Fred move to Angel. Both men are beat up. They all struggle to their feet. Angel looks over at Justine, the urn in her hands.)
Justine: Holtz left it.
Angel: (simply) Thanks.
(Justine sets urn down. She's emotionally and physically exhausted.)
Fred: (to Justine) What about Wesley?
Justine: The park next to his place... that's where I... left him.
(Park)
(Angel, Gunn and Fred in the park. Angel's back in the shrubs where we saw the Bum drag Wesley. Gunn's up by the sidewalk. Fred's crossing toward Angel.)
Fred: Maybe she was lying.
Angel: No. He was here.
Fred: How can you-- (Angel looks at her. She remembers his ability.)--right, the blood.
(Gunn steps over to them.)
Gunn: We should get going. Sun's coming up.
(Angel stares into the distance, wrestling with the emotions of the last few days. His eyes are troubled and sad.)
Angel: He can't be dead…
Fred: We'll keep looking. Lorne's been calling hospitals all night.
(Gunn glances toward the east. Sees the sky turning yellow.)
Gunn: Need to get your indoors, man. (beat) We'll find him.
(Hyperion)
(Angel stands in the darkened office staring at Wesley's desk. Some of Wesley's things in evidence. Lorne enters, watches Angel's back for a beat.)
Lorne: I, uh, cleaned the Pentagram as best I could. The dried blood... well, it's starting to be a look out there.
Angel: Thanks.
Lorne: You know me, like to keep busy. I'd crochet a new pillar if I could afford the yarn.
Angel: It's not right.
Lorne: Figure of speech. I'm aware you can't crochet a pillar. (beat) And I'm aware that's not what you're talking about.
Angel: All I could think of was getting my hands on Sahjhan; Fred and Gunn tried to keep me from...
Lorne: Going too far?
Angel: I nearly got them killed.
Lorne: Yeah you did. Glad it didn't work out that way.
(Beat. Angel picks up something that belonged to Wesley.)
Angel: You think Wes is...?
Lorne: I don't know. I hope for the best. (beat) Angel, there's a bigger picture here. And in that bigger picture there's a glass.
Angel: If the words "glass is half full" are about to come out of your mouth, don't.
Lorne: No, this is more a "glass half full of spiked blood." If Sahjhan and that lady lawyer had pulled off their feeding plan you'd have Connor's blood on your hands.
(Angel looks at him for a beat.)
Angel: Don't I anyway?
Lorne: No. You think there was something more you could have done? You did everything you could with the knowledge you had... (the real point) ...just like Wesley. (Angel holds his gaze.) Maybe the way to start forgiving yourself is by starting to forgive him. (Beat. The phone rings. Rings again. Lorne reaches over. Picks it up.) Angel Investiga-- hey, Fred. They did. And --? (listens) Okay, where? (scribbles something
on paper) He's right here. I'll tell him. Thanks.
(Lorne hangs up. Angel already knows.)
Angel: They found Wesley...
Lorne: Yeah. At St. Patricia's. He's in pretty bad shape. But he's alive. (beat) Maybe you should pay him a visit.
(Lorne holds out the paper. Off Angel, staring at the hospital address, not ready to take it yet.)
(Hospital)
(Gunn and Fred stand outside Wesley's room as Angel strides down the hall toward them. He's feeling a lot of different emotions. Steps next to Gunn and Fred.)
Gunn: It's good you came, man.
(Angel glances toward Wesley’s closed door.)
Angel: He ask for me?
Gunn: Naw, he can't speak yet. Trachea's all messed up. Lost a lot of blood. It's just good you came.
Fred: He's not completely out of the woods yet. You being here can only help.
(Again, Angel looks to the door.)
Angel: Can I see him?
Fred: I'm sure he'd like that.
(Gunn and Fred hang back as Angel steps into the room.)
(Wesley’s Room)
(Wesley is in bed. Eyes closed. If monitors weren't displaying his active vitals it'd be easy to believe he was dead. His savaged throat and neck have been bandaged. There are tubes and IV's hooked into his arm. Angel crosses the room, steps over next to him. Wesley senses someone’s presence and slowly opens his eyes. He sees that it’s Angel. He’s not afraid.)
Angel: Hey, Wes... (He takes a moment, stares down.) I just... I want you to know I understand why you did it. I know about the prophecies and I know how hard it must have been for you to... do what you did. (Wesley stares silently up at him.) You thought I was going to turn evil and kill my son. I didn't turn into
Angelus. It's important to me that you know that. This isn't Angelus talking to you, it's me, Angel. You
know that, right? (A beat. Wesley seems to.) Good. (Angel picks up a pillow.) That's good.
(Angel moves in close, almost lovingly. It looks like Angel is going to prop the pillow behind Wesley to make him more comfortable. That's not what he's doing. He instead covers Wesley' face with the pillow. Smothering him. Wesley begins to struggle.)
(Corridor)
(Gunn and Fred sit waiting for Angel. Gunn takes Fred's hand, squeezes it. Both feeling a little hopeful for the first time in a long time. Suddenly several nurses rush down the hall and into Wesley’s room. A doctor follows close behind. Fred and Gunn exchange a look and then follow them into the room.)
(Wesley’s Room)
(They are shocked to find Angel smothering Wesley.)
Fred: Angel! (Monitors are going haywire. Pulse spiking. Oxygen dropping. Gunn and the two big male nurses try to pull Angel off Wesley.) STOP IT!
(Gunn and the others finally manage to pull Angel off of Wesley.)
Angel: You took my son. YOU TOOK MY SON! (Male nurse goes flying. Angel is back on Wesley in a flash. A different nurse comes tearing in; again they get Angel dragging towards the door.) I'll never forgive you, never... I'LL KILL YOU!!
(Gunn and the Orderlies drag Angel out of the room. Fred is screaming and crying. We hear terrible commotion outside and Angel screaming.)
Angel: (os) You're a dead man. YOU HEAR ME!! DEAD!
(Wesley lays there, a broken man with no friends, alone.)
Season Three Guide