To Shanshu in LA
(Angel Investigations – Angel’s Office – Night)
(Wesley is researching while Angel is reading a book and Cordelia is reading the paper.)
Wesley: Shanshu. - Shanshu. Or maybe it's shushan.
Cordelia: Are you still trying to figure out that word? What's taking so long?
Wesley: Gee, I don't know, Cordelia. The prophecies of Aberjian were only written over the last 4000 years, in a dozen different languages, some of which aren't even human! Why don't we just get a phalangoid demon in here, suck the brain out of my skull. (Tosses his pencil down.) Maybe that would speed things up.
Cordelia: He sure gets testy when he's translating.
Wesley: This word is pivotal to what it prophesies about the vampire with a soul.
Cordelia: Well, hurry up and figure out what it says about Angel, because - I wanna know what it says about me. If there is torrid romance in my future - massive wealth? If I have to I'll settle for enviable fame.
Wesley: This is an ancient sacred text, not a magic eight ball.
Cordelia: Nobody gets my humor.
Angel: I thought it was funny.
Cordelia: (smiles) Hmm.
(Hallway)
(The camera pans by a sign out in the entrance to Angel's building. A figure wearing a hooded cape moves past.)
(Angel’s Office)
Cordelia: Hey guys? Remember born-again lawyer-boy who wanted out of Wolfram & Hart so bad?
Angel: Lindsey?
Cordelia: They just promoted him - junior partner.
Wesley: After all you did for him - he sells his soul for thirty pieces of silver.
Cordelia: Actually he sold it for a six-figure salary and a full benefits package.
Wesley: It's disappointing. He had an opportunity to change.
Angel: (goes back to reading his book) He didn't take it. (He freezes then looks up.)
Wesley: What?
Angel: A little late for visitors.
(Angel gets up and goes out into the outer office. Cordelia and Wesley follow. Angel walks up to the hooded figure from behind and taps it on the back with his battle ax and it cowers down letting out a scream.)
Angel: Mr. Nabbit?
Cordelia: David?
David: Par- pardon my throat.
Angel: I'm sorry I didn't mean to...
David: Ah, that was awesome. Can we do it again?
Wesley: Are you - do you need help?
David: Me? No. I just popped by to hang. I blew off my board of directors because tonight it's my turn to be dungeon master. What do you think of my cape?
Cordelia: Shiny.
David: You guys wanna hang? (Looks past Angel into the office.) Oh, wow. Wow, wow. (Enters the office and gives a whistle.) This is where it all happens. The helpless - in agony - they have no one to turn to so they - come here to you. Drink that coffee - sit on this couch (sits down) - unspeakable fiends from hell hot on their heels. (Everyone looks at him silently.) Ah, what did I do? Spun off my digital pager network, made a few more million. (Everyone just stares.) Alright, several. Big whoop! What does that mean?
Cordelia: No more shopping at the Penny Saver?
David: It's just you guys, - your lives are so meaningful - so exciting. You fight demons! At any moment one could walk right through that very door! (Everyone looks over at the door then they turn back to look at him.) You guys seen any cool demons lately?
(Woods)
(Two monks are chanting and they stand near a white circle between some trees.)
Chanting: This hallowed ground is made ready. His time is at hand. As it is written he of pure darkness shall come into the light.
(The ground trembles, the circle flames up high. Through the flames we see a face, covered down to its mouth by a bronze-colored mask and framed by the hood of a cloak. He steps from the circle and walks past the two monks to where Lindsey, Lilah and Holland are waiting in front of their office building.)
Holland: Welcome to Wolfram & Hart. I hope you had a pleasant journey?
(The demon walks past them without a word and the three lawyers follow.)
(Angel Investigations)
(Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley silently regard David.)
David: You guys - ah, - never know what's going to happen around here that’s... (Gets up abruptly and walks out.) Okay. Nice to see you again.
Angel: You too.
Cordelia: It was fun.
Wesley: Drop by again.
David: We'll hang soon.
Wesley: (after a beat) I know what it means.
Cordelia: A very wealthy man with just - no life at all?
Wesley: No. The word in the scroll. (He goes into Angel's office and the others follow.)
Cordelia: That shoe shine thing?
Wesley: Shanshu. (Angel sits down and resumes reading his book.) If it isn't Aegean but instead descends from the ancient Majar's then it's root is proto-hugaric. In which case it would mean...
Cordelia: What?
Wesley: Death.
Cordelia: But you said it was all about the vampire with the soul. (Wesley looks at her then they both look at Angel, who is reading his book as if he hadn't even heard Wesley.) Angel is going to die?
Angel: (glances up) Oh. Anything else?
Cordelia: He certainly took that well. Is this that opportune time to talk about my raise?
Wesley: It's probably years off - ah, after the coming battles.
Cordelia: My raise?
Wesley: Apocalyptic prophecies aren't exactly a science. And-and I could be way off the mark, so - no reason to be concerned.
Angel: (never looking up from his book) Hmm.
Wesley: So it's good you're not concerned. Not - even remotely concerned.
(Angel glances from Wesley to Cordelia then jumps up to catch her as she has a vision of a blurry lady being attacked.)
Cordelia: Pain - killer.
Wesley: Painful killer-demon.
Cordelia: Painkiller!
Wesley: Oh.
Cordelia: A woman, judging by the plastic bag on her head I'm guessing homeless, versus a slime demon.
Angel: Where?
Cordelia: I smelled something awful - that would be the slime demon - Yuck! - who lives behind a waste treatment plant in Elscando.
Angel: (turns to leave) Got it!
Wesley: Do you need help?
Angel: Stay here and take care of her. (leaves)
Cordelia: Enough with the scratch-and-sniff visions!
(Wesley hands her some pain pills.)
Wesley: Here.
Cordelia: Ah, thanks. If I ever meet these Powers That Be - I'm gonna punch then in the nose! (Wesley tries to suppress a smile.) Do you think they have a nose?
(Wolfram & Hart)
Voca: You lost the scroll of Aberjian?
Holland: The scroll was stolen from our vault.
Voca: The raising can not be performed without the scroll.
Lilah: We understand.
Lindsey: It was my mistake. I'll rectify it.
Voca: You will do nothing. I will retrieve the scroll myself. Who stole it?
Holland: Angel.
Voca: Angel! I am summoned for the raising - the very thing that was to bring this creature down to us -tear him from the Powers That Be - and he - has the scroll.
Lilah: We're not unaware of the irony.
Voca: He is in the possession of the scroll. His connection to the Powers That Be is complete.
Lilah: He hasn't had time to make a full study of the text.
Voca: No, and he won't. All avenues to the Powers shall be cut off from him and the scroll returned to us.
Lindsey: What can we do to help?
Voca: You can leave it to me.
(Voca and the two monks leave the room.)
Holland: Well - end of discussion?
(Alley)
(Two police officers watch as a police car drives up with lights and siren going. Kate Lockley gets out of the car.)
1.Officer: Told you she'd show. She listens to the nut-calls on our scanner.
2.Officer: Are you sure she doesn’t pick up the radio waves on her brain chip?
(Kate steps up to them.)
1.Officer: Detective. According to the report there was a lot of, quote, otherworldly howling and wailing.
2.Officer: The call said something about something slimy dragging a homeless woman away.
Kate: I heard the call. Stay here.
1.Officer: Don't you want some backup, detective?
2.Officer: Or a Ouija board?
(Kate gives them a look but proceeds into the alley without a word. She hears a woman moaning and a man talking, and puts her hand on her gun. Angel and the homeless woman come around a corner.)
Woman: See what they do? You turn your back and they come for you.
Angel: You're safe now.
Woman: Yeah, you killed him. Sliced him up real good. (Kate takes her hand off her gun and fold her arms in front of her as they come up to her.) He saved me from one of their spies. And by the way - I don't appreciate the dental association watching me like that.
(She walks past Kate and keeps on going while Angel stops.)
Angel: Hi.
Kate: What was it?
Angel: It's okay. It won't hurt anyone else.
Kate: What was it?
Angel: Slime demon.
Kate: Gee, this town has everything, doesn't it? Demons, fiends, vampires...
Angel: Look, I know this hasn't been easy for you. It's okay most people can't handle what's really out here, Kate. Maybe you should think about...
Kate: (laughs) Sorry. It's just someone who's not even a person lecturing me on 'most people,' it's kind of funny. I can handle it fine. And I don't care about most people and what they think of me. What I do care about it ridding this city of your kind.
Angel: My kind.
Kate: Your kind. The kind that killed my father? Did you think I would just forget about that? I don't forget anything.
(Kate turns and walks back the way she came. Angel looks after her for a moment then turns and leaves as well.)
(Angel Investigations – Day)
(Wesley is sitting in front of Angel's desk in the office and closes the book in front of him.)
Wesley: Death. (He gets up and walks into the outer office to sit down across from Cordelia.) Every source says it's death.
Cordelia: Well, it's just a prophecy. It's not like it came from on high.
Wesley: That's what a prophecy is, Cordelia.
Cordelia: Alright. Yeah, but Angel faces death all the time - just like a normal guy faces waffles and French-fries. It's something he faces every day like - lunch. Are you hungry?
(She gets up to get a doughnut.)
Wesley: The fact that his death is prophesied - which isn't good news - doesn't concern me nearly as much as the way he took that news.
Cordelia: What? He didn't scream like a girl as some of us would have? (Sits back down) Angel's cool.
Wesley: Angel's cut off. Death doesn't bother him because - there is nothing in life he wants! It's our desires that make us human.
Cordelia: (while eating her doughnut) Angel is kind of human. He's got a soul. (Gets another doughnut.)
Wesley: He's got a soul - but he's not a part of the world. (Gets up) He-he can never be part of the world.
Cordelia: Because he doesn't want stuff? That's ridiculous. (Wesley takes her doughnut away from her) Hey! I want that!
Wesley: What connects us to life?
Cordelia: Right now? I'm going with doughnuts.
Wesley: What connects us to life is the simple truth that we are part of it. We live, we grow, we change. - But Angel...
Cordelia: Can't do any of those things. Well, what are you saying - that Angel has nothing to look forward to? That he going to go on forever, in the world, but always cut off from it?
Wesley: Yes.
Cordelia: Well, that sucks! We've got to do something. We've got to help him.
Wesley: I'm not sure we can.
Cordelia: What is your deal? You go around boring everyone with your musty scrolls and then you say there is nothing we can do?
Wesley: He is what he is.
Cordelia: He's Angel. He's good. And he helps the helpless and now - he's one of them. Well, he's gonna have to start wanting things from life, whether he wants to or not!
(Angel comes up the elevator and Cordelia and Wesley go into his office to greet him.)
Angel: Morning.
Cordelia: Morning. Want some coffee?
Angel: No, thanks.
Cordelia: How about a doughnut? Chocolate...
Angel: (looking through a book) No.
Cordelia: Creamy fillings?
(Angel laughs a little as he looks at her.)
Angel: No. I don't want anything. (Cordelia makes a sound and looks at Wesley.) Am I supposed to know what this is about?
Wesley: We - were just discussing how - you don't - want that many things.
Cordelia: You're cut off. But don't worry, I'm gonna help you with that.
Angel: Oh. Good.
Cordelia: We'll start small. Keep it simple. How would you like a puppy? (Angel just looks at her) Right. A Ficus? They're low maintenance. Ant farm?
Wesley: I have to go.
Angel: Where are you going?
Wesley: Rare book shops. I need references to translate the - prophecy. Probably not a good idea to take the scroll with me.
Angel: No. I'll lock it up downstairs in the weapons cabinet.
Wesley: Angel - I hope I'm wrong about all this but - it might be a good time to consult the Oracles.
Angel: I don't need to see the Oracles about this.
Wesley: Well, think about it. (leaves)
Cordelia: Oracles. Get out of the house. Could be fun.
(Angel turns and goes back down the elevator.)
(The Gateway For Lost Souls)
(The Oracles stand before Voca.)
Woman: How dare you enter this sacred space.
Man: Who do you think you are?
Woman: We do not appreciate being summoned by a lower being.
Man: Who knows no better than to come here on a whim.
Voca: I'm not here on a whim.
Woman: We do not council your kind. The powers of darkness are not allowed to cross this threshold. How did you get it?
Voca: The old order passes away and the new order's come. He that was first shall now be last and he that was dead shall now arise.
Woman: Yes, and he that is trespassing shall now depart.
(Voca puts a hand behind his back.)
Man: We shall speak no more.
(A battle scythe grows in Voca's hand.)
Voca: Yes - I know.
(Outside Market)
(Cordelia is walking through an open market. Picks up a set of paints.)
Woman: Do you paint?
Cordelia: Oh, no. I was just looking for something for a friend. I thought maybe if he had a hobby... - He's a little detached from things.
Woman: Well, they say art is the best therapy for that.
Cordelia: Really?
Woman: Sure, they use it in mental institutions all the time. You get the patients drawing and working with clay - helps them to get back in touch.
Cordelia: Well, he is not crazy or anything. He's - just different?
Woman: Depressed.
Cordelia: Well, he wears a lot of black. How much are these pastels?
Woman: Oh, these are on special. You get the entire set, the large one, and some drawing paper and little...
(Her voice fades as the camera moves away into the crowd - to show Voca walking by himself. We pan back to Cordelia and the woman hands her two big bags full of art supplies.)
Woman: I think you have everything he'll need and then some. You made my day. Thanks.
Cordelia: You're welcome.
Woman: You must be really good friends.
Cordelia: (smiles) Yeah. Thank you.
Woman: Take care.
Cordelia: Bye.
(As Cordelia walks away Voca passes her from behind his hand brushing lightly against hers. Cordelia looks around but doesn't see anything. She starts to walk on when she get hit by a short vision. She pulls out her cell phone, but before she can dial out she gets hit by another stronger vision. This one doesn't end, and she falls to the ground screaming. The art lady comes over and crouches down beside her and screams for someone to dial 911.)
(Angel Investigations – Night)
(Voca walks into Angel Investigations.)
(Angel’s Apartment)
(Angel walking down the steps to his apartment, studying the scroll. He rolls it up and locks it into the weapons cabinet. Senses something and turns back to the cabinet when the phone rings.)
Angel: Hello? Yeah, what happened to her? I'm her employer. This is her only family in town. What happened? I'm on my way.
(Hangs up the phone and hurries out, snagging his coat on the way. Voca walks in, breaks open the weapons cabinet, takes the scroll, puts something in its place, and closes it again.)
(Hospital)
(Angel runs down a hospital corridor. Stops at the nurse's station.)
Angel: I'm looking for Cordelia Chase.
Nurse: She is ah, the doctor is with her. If you'll just have a seat over there... (Angel hears Cordelia scream and hurries on.) Wait! You have to let the doctor handle this!
(Cordelia’s Room)
(Cordelia is convulsing on a bed.)
Doctor: Try another five mil of Ativan. (Angel comes in the room.) Hey, you can't be in here.
Angel: What happened?
Doctor: Are you family?
Angel: Yes!
Doctor: They brought her in a few hours ago. I'm not sure what happened. (We get a flash of Cordelia’s visions.) Does she have a history of mental illness?
Angel: No.
Doctor: Does she use drugs?
Angel: No.
Doctor: Well, she is having a psychotic episode. We've done a CAT scan. There is no organic damage that we can see, but we can't seem to sedate her.
Angel: Cordelia, can you hear me? Cordelia! (More vision flashes) Cordelia!
Doctor: We're trying a number of different drug therapies. Do you know if she has any allergies?
Angel: I don't think so. Drugs won't help her.
Doctor: Well, something better. I need to inform you, if we don't find a way to stop it...
(Angel looks from the convulsing Cordelia to the doctor and back.)
(Angel Investigations)
(Wesley walks into the office carrying books.)
(Angel’s Apartment)
(Wesley comes down the stairs and sees the broken lock on the weapons cabinet. He puts the books down and opens it slowly, then starts to back away.)
(Outside Angel Investigations)
(Angel pulls up across the street and gets out of his car. When he is halfway across, a fiery blast coming form the lower story lifts him into the air. He lands in a heap on the road while flames engulf the building and car alarms start blaring all along the street.)
(Angel’s Apartment)
(Angel uses a different entrance to get into his burning apartment.)
Angel: Wesley! Wesley! Wesley! Wes! Wes! (He sees Wesley laying on the stairs leading up. He checks for a pulse.) Wes. Wesley.
(He slings Wesley over his shoulder and heads out.)
(Outside)
(Fire engines and police are in front of the building. Wesley, wearing an oxygen mask is being wheeled over to an ambulance with Angel walking beside him. He watches as they load him up, the starts for his car.)
Kate: Never a dull moment with you around, is there.
Angel: I have to go.
Kate: Who the hell do you think you are? You are a major witness to a major crime scene. You are not going anywhere.
Angel: You want to try and stop me, Kate?
Kate: I'm glad we are not playing friends anymore. And I'm real sick and tired of your attitude. There is a thing called the law!
Angel: (angry) This isn't about the law, this is about a little thing - called life. Now I'm sorry about your father. But I didn't kill your father. And I'm sick and tired of you blaming me - for everything you can't handle! You want to be enemies? Try me.
(Angel hurries past her to his car while she looks after him.)
(Hospital)
(A nurse is trying to restart a patient's heart with electro-shock.)
Nurse: Clear! Okay, I got him back.
(The camera pans over to another bed and an unconscious and battered Wesley. His heart monitor is beeping regularly. The camera pans to show Angel standing beside his bed watching him. After a moment Angel turns and the camera shows him walking into another wing.)
(Cordelia’s Room)
(Cordelia is sedated, so she is no longer convulsing, but she still has permanent visions. Angel takes hold of her left hand and leans on the bed.)
Angel: Cordelia - I'm gonna fix this. Promise. I'm gonna get you back. I need you back.
(He looks as he lets go of her hand and notices a black symbol on the back of it.)
(Gateway For Lost Souls)
(Angel holds a piece of paper with the symbol on it as he does the spell to get to the Oracles.)
Angel: I come before the Oracles for guidance and direction. I beseech access to the knowing ones.
(The doorway opens with a blinding flash of light. Angel stumbles into the chamber of the Oracles, blinking his eyes and sees the Oracles lying on the floor, dead, Voca's bloody scythe still buried in the woman's body. A ghostly image of the woman appears beside him.)
Woman: It's unfortunate. Things are unraveling. The dark ones broach our temples now.
Angel: Can you help me?
Woman: I can't stay long. I've been dead a while. So far I don't like it.
Angel: My friend who gets the visions...
Woman: Is in trouble. It's his mark, the one who did this.
Angel: Who? Who did this?
Woman: Voca. A warrior of the underworld. He wants you weak. So he opened her mind to all the ones who cry out in pain and need. She doesn't have long either.
Angel: How can I stop it?
Woman: The sacred scroll of Aberjian is now in Voca's possession. The scroll is what you need.
Angel: (as she fades) Wait.
Woman: Find the scroll. The words of Anatole, only they can remove the mark and save your friend.
Angel: Tell me where to find him. I'll repay him for what he did here.
Woman: He is here for the raising.
Angel: The raising?
Woman: "Like so many of them he hides behind man's law. Stop him. (She fades.)
Angel: I will.
(Angel grabs the scythe and leaves.)
(Milano’s Italian Kitchen – Outside – Night)
(Gunn and some of his gang are loading boxes of leftovers into the back of their truck.)
Gunn: This is good. A lot of hungry people are going to appreciate this. You are doing god's work here. If god was a busboy he'd look just like you Jesus. Toss it up, brother. Alright! (We hear car tires screeching.) Yo, yo, heads up! (He and his gang scramble for their weapons. Angel's convertible come to a screeching stop.) Put them down. I know this fool. (Jumps off the truck and walks to meet Angel.) That was entertaining. What you got under that hood.
Angel: I need your help.
Gunn: Yeah, well, I figured you didn't roar in here to ask me after my health. It's pretty good, by the way. - You getting enough iron? You look a little pale. Okay, it's traditional in the human world to humor people who've done favors for you in the past.
Angel: You’re about to do me another one.
Gunn: (grins) Yeah, well, if it's tossing a vampire in with them lawyers, I'm in. Because that was my idea of a good time.
Angel: My people, they are in the hospital. St. Matthews. One's in ICU, one's in the neuro-psychiatric Unit. They need protection while I hunt down the guy who put them there.
Gunn: (serious) He's gonna come after them himself or is he gonna send someone?
Angel: However he comes, he's not gonna get them. These people mean a lot to me.
Gunn: I'm getting that.
(Crypt)
(Five vampires are chained to a box sitting in the middle of a five pointed star inside a circle laid into the floor. The two monks enter followed by Voca.)
Monks: We have prepared a holy place in the darkness and anointed it with oil. We have taken of the blood of the living and gathered together the living dead.
Voca: As it was written they shall prepare the way and the very gate of hell shall open. That which is above shall tremble (earth trembles) for that which is below shall arise. And the world shall know the beast - and the beast shall know the world.
(Wolfram & Hart)
(A group of lawyers are walking down the steps outside.)
Lilah: Aren't we going to be late?
Holland: You never want to be on time for a ritual, the chanting, the blood rites, they go on forever.
(We see Angel peek out from behind a pillar as Lindsey motions to two guys standing in front of a moving van.)
Lindsey: You guys follow us.
Holland: (to Lindsey) I know you covered all the bases here.
Lindsey: Yes, sir.
Holland: Senior partners are keeping a close watch on us. We don't wanna let them down.
Lindsey: We won't.
(Holland gets into the Limo. Lilah turns to Lindsey before getting in herself.)
Lilah: (to Lindsey) Remember when Robert Price let the senior partners down and they made him eat his liver? I don't know what made me think of that.
(After a moment Lindsey follows the other two into the back of the limo. Angel watches them drive off, followed by the movers. He gets into his car and trails them.)
(Crypt)
(Voca is doing the ritual walking slowly form one point of the star to the next.)
Voca: Five are without breath.
Monks: Yet they live.
Voca: Five are without time.
Monks: Yet they live.
(The party from Wolfram and Hart enters the crypt.)
Voca: Five are without soul.
Monks: Yet they live.
Holland: They haven't even gotten to the Latin yet.
Voca: Five are without sun.
Monks: Yet they live.
(Voca looks up, then lays the scroll down on top of the crate and walks to face some steps leading down into the crypt.)
Lilah: What is it?
Holland: I don't know.
(Voca produces another scythe. A moment later Angel burst through the door at the top of the stairs and the two of them get into a battle of the scythes.)
Holland: Lindsey?
(Lindsey watches the fight between Voca and Angel for a moment then steps forward and picks up the scroll.)
Lindsey: Five are dead. (Pause, but the monks do nothing.) Say it!
Monks: Yet they live.
(Lindsey begins to read from the scroll in Latin.)
Holland: (to Lilah) Get the movers in here.
Lilah: Yes Sir.
(As Lindsey finishes reading from the scroll the five vampires turn to dust and bones as the earth shakes and a whirlwind begins to spin around the box. The whirlwind sucks the vampire dust and bones into the box, then a ring of light explodes outward throwing Lindsey, who is standing inside the inlaid circle surrounding the box, against the wall. He lands in an unconscious heap on the floor. Angel and Voca are fighting on as if nothing had happened. The movers rush in.)
Holland: Get it out of here.
(The movers push the box out. Holland throws a quick glance at the unmoving Lindsey then follows the others out of the crypt. Angel and Voca are still fighting. Lindsey slowly comes to. He still has the scroll.
Angel finally gets the scythe away from Voca and pins him up against the wall. He knocks the mask of Voca's face to reveal a maggot filled hole where his nose should be.)
Angel: Nice.
(Angel drives the blade of the scythe into Voca's chest, killing him. Behind him Lindsey has made it to his feet and grabs a hold of post topped by a cross and brandishes it in Angel's direction. Angel slowly walks towards him, bloody scythe held loosely in his right hand.)
Angel: Lindsey, give me the scroll.
Lindsey: That's not gonna happen. It belongs to us.
Angel: Us. You put your faith in Wolfram and Hart.
Lindsey: You said I had to make a choice.
Angel: And you did.
Lindsey: Yeah. I had a crisis - and I want to thank you for your help with that - but I see things more clearly now.
Angel: You don't see anything. You don't know what faith is.
Lindsey: (holds up the scroll) I see that what happened here tonight was foretold - that doesn't bode well for you. I see that you are either the one with the power - or you're powerless.
Angel: Uh-huh. You see what I'm gonna do to you if you don't give me that scroll?
Lindsey: You need the words of Anatole to cure your friend. She's your connection to the Powers That Be. And since it is foretold that we sever all your connections (holds the scroll into the flames burning in the urn beside him) well...
(Angel throws the scythe, cutting off Lindsey's hand at the wrist. Lindsey drops the cross and screams as he drops to the ground. He is cradling his bleeding stump against his chest, as Angel goes to retrieve the scroll from the floor beside him.)
Angel: Don't believe everything you're foretold.
(Lindsey tries to suppress his screams as Angel walks out.)
(Hospital)
(Cordelia lies in the hospital bed. Wesley is sitting in a wheelchair beside it with Angel leaning over her bed on the other side.)
Wesley: (reading) And if the beast shalt find thee, and touch thee, thou shalt be wounded in they soul - and thou shalt know madness. The beast shalt attack and cripple thee and thou shalt know neither friend nor family. But thou shalt undo the beast. Thou shalt find the sacred words of Anatole and thou shalt be restored. Three times shalt thou say these words: unbind - unbind - unbind.
(Cut to the nurses walking down the corridor. A white flash comes from Cordelia's room and she hurries towards it. Cordelia blinks her eyes. Angel looks down at her hand. The mark is gone. Cordelia looks up at Angel and he smiles at her.)
Angel: Hey.
Cordelia: Angel?
Angel: Welcome back.
(Cordelia looks over at Wesley.)
Nurse: I'll get Dr. Evans. (leaves)
Cordelia: (looks back at Angel) I saw them all. There is so much pain. We have to help them.
Angel: We will. (Strokes her cheek.) We will.
(Cut to a shot of Angel's hand gripping hers tightly.)
(Cordelia’s Apartment – Day)
(Cordelia is in the kitchen fixing a sandwich. Goes to the fridge. Pan to Wesley sitting at the living room table, the scroll and books spread out around him. Angel is sitting on a chest against the wall.)
Wesley: Here is something.
Angel: What is it?
Wesley: The beast of Amalfi, a razor toothed six-eyed harbinger of death. No, wait, that's due to arise in 2003 in Reseda.
Angel: I would have guessed Tarzana.
(Cordelia set the sandwich and a glass of milk on the table in front of Wesley.)
Wesley: Better cross-reference that. (Cordelia goes back into the kitchen and gets a plastic cup filled with blood.) I'm sorry, I don't know what they raised in that box. I'll keep looking.
Cordelia: You've been looking for two days. You need to relax and charge the brain cells. (Hands him the plate with the sandwich.) Here. Eat.
(Wesley accepts it and looks over at Angel. Cordelia hands Angel the cup of blood.)
Cordelia: You too. (Angel looks up at her.) Don't be embarrassed. We're family.
(Angel accepts the cup. Cordelia notices Wesley staring at her.)
Cordelia: What?
Wesley: It's just I... - I'm not used to...
Angel: He is not used to the new you.
Cordelia: I know what's out there now. We have a lot of evil to fight, a lot of people to help. I just hope skin and bones here and figure out what those lawyers raised *sometime* before the prophecy kicks in and - you croak. That was the old me, wasn't it?
Angel: I like them both.
Wesley: (looking at his books) Ah - oops. I may have made a tiny mistake. (Angel sets the cup of blood down and gets up.) The word Shanshu that I said meant you were going to die? Actually I think it means that you are going to live.
Cordelia: Okay, as tiny mistakes go - that's not one!
Wesley: Shanshu has roots in so many different languages. The most ancient source is the Proto-Bantu and they consider life and death the same thing, part of a cycle, only a thing that's not alive never dies. It's- it's saying - that you get to live until you die. It's saying - it's saying you become human.
Cordelia: That's the prophecy?
Wesley: Ah, the vampire with a soul, once he fulfills his destiny, will Shanshu. Become human. It's his reward.
Cordelia: Wow. Angel a human.
Angel: That'll be nice.
Cordelia: Wait. What's that thing about him having to fulfill his destiny first?
Wesley: Well, it's saying that it won't happen tomorrow or the next day. He has to survive the coming darkness, the apocalyptic battles, a few plagues, and some - uh, several, - not that many - fiends that will be unleashed.
Angel: So don't break out the champagne just yet.
Cordelia: Yeah, break out the champagne, Pinocchio. This is a big deal!
Angel: I guess it is.
Cordelia: Typical. I hook up with the only person in history who ever came to LA to get older.
(Wolfram & Hart)
(Lilah, Holland and Lindsey are entering the vault where the box from the ritual is stored. Lindsey's right arm is in a sling.)
Holland: The senior partners were very impressed with your sacrifice. (Lindsey looks at him.) Trust me, we'll even the score with them.
Lindsey: Yes, we will.
Holland: Beginning with what's in that box.
(Lilah leans to look in through the bars running along the top of the box.)
Lilah: We are all very pleased you're here. I know it's a bit confusing - but it's going to be better soon - a lot better, (Camera pans to show a naked woman crouched in one corner of the box.) Darla.
Season One Guide