Title: Human Touch
Summary: Angel starts wondering what his curse is really about, while an old friend seems to be willing to join his team. Written as a script for an 'A N G E L' episode.
Author: Monica
Disclaimer: These characters remain the copyrighted property of their owners/creators, it's just that they are SO good that I cannot help imagining them in new situations...
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: welcome!
Distribution: can I control it? I doubt it. So please just remember who wrote it.
Time frame: These events might take place 3 months after the end of A-Season 2 and BTVS-Season 5.
Spoilers: References to many events in the first two seasons of "Angel" and the fifth season of "BTVS"
Dedication: To Viv, of course, my writing partner, who followed this right from the first embryonic stage and encouraged me with her advice.
HUMAN TOUCH
Intro
Angel's suite at the Hyperion. The camera pans from the sitting room towards the bedroom, from where dampened sounds come. Angel, immediately recognizable thanks to the tattoo, is making love with a woman whose face cannot be seen. The woman's voice whispers "Angel". Finally the woman's face is shown: it is Kate. Cut on Angel's face, who opens his eyes, is in bed alone and has an amazed and confused expression on his face.
Cut to the Hyperion's hall. Angel and Wesley are sitting on the sofas, Wesley is speaking. Angel is deep in thought and is not listening, so Wesley attracts his attention.
Wesley: "Angel, is something bothering you?"
Angel: "I was just thinking... that pure happiness thing..."
Wesley: "Yes?"
Angel: "Do you think it has to do with the sex or with the person?"
Wesley is clearly stunned by the blunt question.
Angel continues with a half painful, half hesitant expression. "I mean... How does this curse work, exactly? When I turned, was it because it was Buffy or because... I mean... you know what I mean..."
Some seconds elapse before Wesley recovers from his amazement and answers: "WELL, I must admit I've given the matter some thought myself. And Angel, I hate to invade your privacy, but... from your question I must assume that Buffy is the only woman you slept with after having been given back your soul?"
Angel: "Well, yes.. apart from Darla...". Wesley gives him a questioning and worried look, and Angel quickly goes on to explain. "There was a time, right after my soul was restored, when I was quite confused about what was happening to me, what I was.... But I don't think this counts, I mean, with Darla being a vampire herself".
Wesley: "Of course. Well, pure happiness is something which is rarely achieved, and I very much doubt the term would be used as a synonym for the... sex act, no-matter how satisfactory it might be."
Wesley makes a pause, and Angel gives him an eager look, as if to encourage him to go on. "In other words, what I mean is that of course making love with Buffy was the act unleashing all the... unfortunate events that followed, but it must have been because you were doing it with ... her, because you loved her and wanted her so much. That gave you the feeling of pure happiness."
Now, none of the two is meeting the other one's eyes.
After a few seconds of silence, Angel finally speaks: "So what you are saying is that I could... make love to a woman without anything world-threatening happening?"
Opening credits
Part I
Same location as before, resuming where we left before the opening credits.
Wesley: "Are you asking me for any specific reason?"
Angel: "It just sort of came to my mind... I think it would be good for me to know."
Wesley: "Oh. Well, I'm quite convinced you could. Though of course, given the... gravity of the possible consequences, I guess I had better carry out some more research before giving you a final answer, and I think it would be better if you..." Wesley gives him an expressive look and makes a gesture with his hand.
Angel suddenly loses his embarrassed attitude and assumes a more casual tone. "Sure. Just let me know what you find out."
Wesley imitates him and stands up. "Well, I guess I could do with some research right away".
Angel: "Thanks."
Wesley leaves the hall to go back to his office while Angel remains where he is with a pensive look on his face.
Cut to a street in LA.
The police is investigating a crime scene. Two cops, one wearing a uniform and one in plain clothes, are walking into an alley towards a corpse lying on the pavement, covered with a sheet.
Cop to sergeant: "A witness said he saw her come out of that gym round the corner, she was probably walking towards her car, which is parked over there. One of the gym's instructors confirmed she had just left one of his classes. The witness saw from a distance two figures ambush her and drag her into the alley. He shouted for help and ran here with another guy from the gym, but they arrived too late. She was already dead."
The two men have now reached the body and the one in plain clothes lifts the sheet and observes it. "What about these marks on her face and arms? What are they? They look like burns, as if someone had touched her with something very hot." He moves around and, by doing so, sees Kate standing close, among a small group of people.
Sergeant: "Kate! Hello! What are you doing here?"
Kate, coming closer: "Obviously not my job, since I don't have one any more. I go to this gym, I actually happened to be there tonight, I knew the girl." While she says so, she takes the chance to take a quick look at the body.
Sergeant: "Look, Kate. It's not that I couldn't use your help right now, you know that if it were for me... but I really cannot let any civilian approach a crime scene, you should know that better than anyone else."
Kate: "Sure, Dan. I leave you to your work. Night". She turns and leaves.
Sergeant, raising his voice, while Kate is walking away: "And stop by sometimes."
Kate waves her hand without turning: "Sure!", then to herself: "Idiots! They don't know what they are dealing with."
Images of shift from night to day.
Next morning at the Hyperion. Angel is coming down the stairs, Cordelia comes in with some shopping bags.
Cordelia: "Well, this is what I call a good start of the day, when you don't have to rush to the office to save the world from some grave danger and you can stop and do some nice shopping." Although the words belong to the usual, carefree Cordelia, something in her tone makes us feel that she is not so relaxed as she is pretending to be.
Angel looks at her and walks across the hall towards the coffee machine. He doesn't have the time to say anything, because she quickly resumes: "And look at Wes. Deeply immersed in his books as I haven't seen him for a long time. What is it? Is he investigating some new demon species?"
Angel: "No, old... matters."
Cordelia puts down her handbag and starts to sort out the things on her desk, but she does not take off her sunglasses. She switches her PC on and sits down.
Angel: "Want any coffee?". He turns towards her and notices that she is sitting in front of the monitor with her sunglasses still on.
Cordelia: "No, thanks. I've had some on my way here."
Angel: "Hey! I'm the one who has problems standing the sunlight, remember?"
Cordelia ignores him, continuing to hit nervously on her keyboard.
Angel does not give up: "Cordelia! I'm talking to you! Anything's wrong?"
Cordelia: "No, nothing's wrong!"
Angel: "Then why do you keep your sunglasses on? This room is dim..."
Cordelia, with a slightly exasperated tone: "Look, don't you have to go downstairs training, patrol the sewers or... brood about something? The last thing I need this morning is a vampire-workmate not-breathing down my neck!"
Angel: "What's wrong with you? Still suffering from those headaches?" Now his tone is worried. He steps closer and we can see from his expression that another possibility has just crossed his mind. "Let me see.."
Cordelia tries to turn her face away from him, but Angel won't let her and delicately removes her glasses. Cordy has a bruised cheekbone. Angel touches it lightly.
Angel: "What's this?"
Cordelia: "It's nothing."
Angel gives her a meaningful look.
Cordelia: "OK. Look, he didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident!" Increasingly nervous, Cordelia stands up to get some papers from the shelves behind her desk.
Angel: "He? Who's he? Were you on a date last night? Did some guy hurt you?" Angel is beginning to work himself up.
Cordelia: "No, no. I was at home."
Angel: "So who's he?" Angel's face lights up. "Dennis? Dennis did this to you? Has he gone nuts? Enough with you sharing the house with that ghost! It's about time Dennis found himself a new place." He steps away from her and towards his desk, behind which there is a shelf full of old books.
Cordelia: "It was nothing, it was an accident.."
Angel: "We will have your house cleansed from that ghost!"
Cordelia: "Angel, everything is under control, it's not necessary..."
Angel is not listening to her and rummaging through the books: "I just need to find that spell and we can do it right away..."
Cordelia: "Angel, stop! Listen to me! ANGEL!"
Angel stops, turns around and stares at her.
Cordelia: "You won't do anything! It is MY house, MY ghost, MY life! Moreover..."
Angel tries to interrupt her. "Cordelia..."
Cordelia: "...don't you realize that, apart from you guys, Dennis is... the only company I've got? He's the one who waits for me when I get home. He... takes care of me. And you... you should stop meddling with my life as if you had a right to." After having said this, Cordelia grabs her handbag from her desk and leaves.
Angel stands there, stunned.
Cut to LA street. Kate gets out of her car, enters a cafeteria and through the shop-window we see her meet a man who gives her a big envelope.
Part II
Hyperion. Angel and Wesley are reading, the former at his desk, the latter in his office. Wesley stands up and goes to Angel.
Wesley:: "You know that thing you asked me last night?"
Angel: "Yeah."
Wesley:: "Well, I'm sorry I didn't think of looking in that book before, but I've only had it since last week, and we've had so much going on since then..."
Angel:: "Wesley, you don't have to excuse yourself. It's not as if the matter were top priority for us."
Wesley: "Still, I think you have every right to know. And I'm glad I am in a position to confirm that my... assumptions were correct. I looked in this new - well, as a matter of fact it is very old - book of magic and curses I was so lucky to come across at an old books' store, it actually occurs to me it might have been the very source the gypsies used when they cursed you. In the book, the effects of the curse are explained as follows". He opens the book he has been holding in his hands and reads: "It's in Latin. 'His restored soul shall give him constant pain and torment and the memories of what he did shall haunt him forever. His shall be a life of hate for himself, dejection and solitude. But should he experience one moment of pure happiness, should he find one fellow being who can make him forget his pain and hate for himself by fully loving and accepting him, his soul shall be again suppressed within his body and he shall become again the monster he once was' ."
Angel looks dejected and says softly: "That was Buffy."
Still looking and pointing at the lines, Wesley adds: "It's clear that the focus is on the person here, and by saying 'one' instead of 'a' I think it definitely refers to a...", Wesley looks up from the book and at Angel, sees his distressed expression. "... soul mate. I'm... sorry if this was painful to hear for you."
Angel imperceptibly straightens. "No. I asked you. I wanted to know."
Cordelia comes back in. Seeing them talking with a book in their hands, she assumes they are discussing the Dennis issue.
Cordelia: "Angel? What did I just tell you?"
Angel turns towards her and looks confused. Wesley looks at her: "What do you mean Cordelia? We were just discussing a pending issue."
Cordelia, hands on her hips and aggressive look: "I see I didn't make myself clear this morning. I want to hear no more about this!" While she speaks she gets so heated that she removes her glasses without noticing.
Wesley turns to Angel with an astonished look, then he quickly looks back at her: "What happened to your cheek?"
Break.
Same setting as before.
Kate comes in, interrupting the heated conversation between Angel, Wesley and Cordelia.
Kate: "Hi. Am I interrupting something?
Angel: "Hi, Kate. No, come in. How are you?"
Kate: "Fine, I'm fine. Angel, can I have a word with you?"
Angel: "Sure."
Aware of her suicide attempt and of Angel's rescue, Cordy and Wesley withdraw - though Cordy seems quite annoyed by the interruption - thinking that Kate probably wants to discuss personal matters.
Angel: "A cup of coffee?"
Kate: "Thanks."
Angel takes a cup of coffee for each of them and the two go out on the porch. It is now afternoon. During their conversation, every now and then the camera shows the hall behind them, and we get glimpses of Cordelia observing them.
Cut to the porch. Kate is sipping her coffee. She notices that Angel is staring at her.
Kate: "What?" Angel looks at her questioningly.
Kate: "Why are you looking at me that way?"
Angel, with a timid smile: "What do you mean?"
Kate: "You are looking at me as if you saw me for the first time, as if I were different."
Angel: "Really? Pretty sharp for a..."
Kate: "..former cop?"
Angel: "...thirty-year old woman."
Kate: "I'm not thirty."
Angel raises his hand in a I-admit-my-mistake gesture. "Sorry."
Kate: "I'm 31. What is the big deal? Are you much older? You never told me how old you are..."
While Kate speaks earnestly and appears quite tense, Angel is visibly amusing himself, but he forces himself to maintain a serious expression. "So you came here to discuss my age".
Kate: "No, of course not. Angel, our relationship has been sort of... I mean, we've had our ups and downs. But you saved my life... a couple of times, and I'll always be grateful for that. Moreover, you're the only person I know that can deal with certain matters. Now, I know very well that I'm not a cop anymore, this is not a non-accepting-to-be-fired thing."
Angel, looking confused. "OK. What kind of "thing" is it, then?"
Kate: "Right. I used to be more to the point. Last night a young woman attended a workout class with me, and when she went out of the gym she was killed, brutally assassinated, in an alley nearby. I have a strong hunch that the police will be blind to some of the evidences, as I used to be before..."
Angel: "...before you realized that there's more to this city than you thought?"
Kate looks at him in the eyes. "...before I met someone who taught me to look at them."
Angel is somewhat put off by Kate's admission, but he quickly hides his feelings behind a professional tone. "What do you know about the crime?"
Kate: "I had a chance to catch a glimpse of the body, it had strange marks.. like burning marks, on the face and forearms. And then...", Kate takes a big envelope out of her handbag and gives it to Angel, "there's this."
Angel takes it and extracts a file from it, containing some pictures and a police report.
Kate: "I still have some friends at the district, not many... Of course the coroner's report is not yet in there."
Angel looks at the pictures and sheets of paper in silence.
Kate: "Do you think you could take a look at this case? And of course I can help you, I want to help, in any way I can."
Angel: "I'll show the pictures to Wesley to see if he has any ideas about the burns, and as soon as it gets dark, I'll go there."
Kate: "I can come with you."
Angel: "It's not necessary. Let me take a look first, I'll let you know if I find anything. You should go home and rest, Kate. You look pale."
Kate: "Do I? Well, I'll go if you promise to keep me informed." Angel nods.
Kate stands up: "Thanks for your help, and for the coffee." She gives him what looks like a very short hug. It's very quick, but Cordelia from within does not miss it.
Kate turns and leaves. Angel looks up at the darkening sky with a half-smile.
Break
Images of Kate going to the counselor, Angel on the crime scene, Wesley immersed in his books, Cordelia entering her lonely apartment with her shopping bags, Kate jogging in a park, Angel following some traces and entering an abandoned warehouse not far from the alley where he finds strange shreds of skin, Cordelia filling her bathtub, Kate coming home after the jogging and looking at herself in the mirror, with a slightly dazed expression, Angel walking alone on the streets at night, then entering the Hyperion and going towards Wesley's office.
Part III
Images of Kate's father's murder flash in. Kate is dreaming: the events are slightly different from what has really happened, because she was not present and she is imagining it. But most importantly, the final part of the scene is different: when she gets there and falls on her knees next to her father's body in despair, she does not drive Angel away, he kneels down next to her, hugs her and she bursts into tears in his arms. Kate wakes up because someone is knocking at the door. It takes her a moment to remember where she is, she gets up, grabs a dressing gown and goes to open the door. It's Angel.
Angel: "Hi." He looks at her and immediately asks: "Are you OK? You don't look OK."
Kate cannot believe that the man she was desperately clinging to in her dream is standing right there in front of her. "I'm fine. I just had this dream..."
Angel: "Dream? Me too."
Kate: "A bad dream?"
Angel: "No, actually it was quite pleasant..." Kate is instinctively curious. Hers is the boldness and spontaneity of a person who has just woken up and is still filled with the dream's sensations.
Kate: "Was I in it?"
Angel looks slightly embarrassed. "Yeah." They are still standing at the door.
Kate: "And it was good."
Angel: "It felt good."
Acting on impulse, Kate gives him a light kiss on the lips. She looks him in the eyes and says hesitantly, "I just wanted to know how this felt." Angel stares at her and says nothing. "Hhmm, it felt good.", she adds, and she kisses him a second time. This time Angel slowly starts to kiss her back. While they kiss, Kate whispers against his lips "Wouldn't you like to come in?"
Break
Kate's apartment. Angel and Kate are kissing in the middle of her living room. Angel breaks the kiss.
Angel: "Look, I don't know why I came here. No, that's not true. I know it. I said to myself I was coming here to tell you what I discovered about the girl who was killed - but the truth is it was this dream I had." Kate gradually puts some distance between them.
Kate: "And you must have thought I was behaving in a strange way, which I am. It must be the pills I take to sleep." When she sees Angel's worried and questioning look, she adds: "Light, very light, herbal pills."
Angel: "There is nothing strange in you, Kate..." Kate tries to interrupt him, but Angel does not let her.
Angel: "but there is something strange in me. I guess it's time you learned a few things about my past..."
Cut to Cordelia's house. Cordelia is standing in front of her bathroom's mirror in her bathrobe. "Now it's Kate's turn! First it was Buffy, then Darla, and now it's Kate! Will I always be the last woman in his life? And, Dennis, I warn you, the next time you hit me with a door because I'm speaking of Angel, I kick you out of this house! Huah! Hugging and almost kissing right in front of us! Tomorrow I'll wake up and find that they are dating!"
Kate's flat.
Kate: "Wow! That's a truly amazing story. And I thought you had surprised me enough when I found out what.. who you really are! So what you are saying is that you can't..."
Angel: "It's not that I can't, but I must be very careful. And that's the reason why I usually try to... keep my distance."
Kate: "Well, people do that for all sorts of funny reasons, you know?"
Angel looks at her. "Yeah, I guess they do."
Kate looks at him, still uneasy, then she steps away from him and goes back to a slightly more formal tone: "So what did you find out?"
Angel stares at her questioningly, so she adds. "About the girl."
Angel: "I found a few pieces of skin - not human skin," he adds with an uncomfortable expression, "something resembling reptiles' skin, when they change and lose it. I showed it to Wesley, he thinks he has identified the species of demon it belongs to. These demons drain liquids from the human body, hence the burns, after which they can change their skin. Wes is still working on it but they seem to need particular surroundings to live, so we hope we will be able to spot them and go there in force tomorrow night."
Kate: "I'm coming with you". Angel gives her a doubtful look.
Kate: "Look, it's not that I've become totally useless just because I don't have a badge any more!"
Angel: "OK. I will call you tomorrow." Then he turns to leave. When he has reached the door, he turns his head towards her, who is still standing at the center of the room: "Night, Kate. Sleep well."
He goes away.
Kate: "Good night, Angel."
Break.
Fighting scene next day: Angel, Gunn, Wesley and Cordy are fighting against some ugly demons in what looks like a deserted building site. A car arrives at high speed and screeches to a halt on the street running alongside the building site. Kate gets out of it, takes out her gun and hurriedly enters the building site through an opening in the fence surrounding it. Speaking more to herself than to the others, who are engaged in the fighting, she says: "Next time, remember I could do with some more notice!" She looks at Angel fighting against a demon for a few seconds, Cordelia and Wesley are facing another one with a shovel and a wooden plank. When she sees Gunn apparently overwhelmed by a third demon, Kate takes aim and shoots at the monster, who is hit on the shoulder. Gunn jumps away just in time to avoid the spurt of white liquid gushing out of the wound.
Cordy, shouting: "What are you trying to do? Kill us?"
Angel, while fighting: "Kate! Don't fire at them! Their blood is highly corrosive! Don't let it touch you!"
Kate, bitterly, to herself: "And how would I know?"
She runs to the wounded demon and hits him on the head with her gun's butt, then picks up a stone. Together with Gunn, they attack the demon with stones. Kate: "So how do we kill them?"
Gunn, while hitting the demon hard on his back with an iron bar he has just picked up: "We break their fucking spine!". The others soon get the better of the remaining two demons as well. After a moment of silence, Cordy turns towards Kate, speaking with an aggressive tone: "That wasn't exactly my idea of backup! You could have badly hurt Gunn!".
Kate: "Well, I suppose I wouldn't have fired if someone had bothered to tell me!"
Cordy, with a softer but even sharper tone: "If you don't know how to deal with this stuff, my advice is that you leave it to us!".
Angel: "Girls! We really don't need this. Cordelia, I called Kate, I should have told her. My mistake."
Cordelia gives him a quick look, then she turns and leaves, followed by Gunn and Wesley, who looks quite beaten up. Angel, who was further away from Kate than the others, walks towards her to reach the exit.
Kate, with a sarcastic tone and expression: "And she's supposed to be the expert? She's just a spoilt child."
Angel gives her a harsh look. "Believe me, she's not." He walks past her and leaves the building site through the same opening Kate has used to come in. Kate remains where she is, while the camera pans up and shows the building site and the street from above.
Summarizing sequence of quick images.
Cut to Angel's apartment later that night. Angel is standing in front of the window and looking out into the night. The door his half-open, Kate appears on the threshold.
Angel, slightly turning his head towards her: "Kate."
Kate: "Yeah, that's my name."
Angel: "I hoped you would come."
Kate: "Did you?" While she speaks, she slowly walks into the room, coming to stop right in front of him, who has turned towards her. "What for? To have another chance to stress what your friend has already stated so clearly? To tell me that I'm not one of you? That this is no game for me?"
Angel: "This isn't a game!"
Kate: "It's never been! And who knows it better than I do. But whether it's humans or demons, and whatever it is, I can play it!"
Angel, with a slightly higher and sharper tone: "By coming in and starting to fire as if you were in Lethal Weapon? That's not my idea of an expert player!"
Kate slaps him across the face.
Angel, between his teeth: "You're playing with fire, Kate."
Kate looks at him for a few seconds. "I've always loved playing with fire!" And she kisses him impetuously, clinging to his neck.
After a short while, Angel frees himself from the kiss, stares at her for a few seconds, then kisses her back, with the same eagerness. Angel presses her body to his, but after a while he interrupts the kiss and, with his forehead touching hers and his arms still around her, whispers: "You're not afraid of me?" Kate is caressing his neck and ear: "How could I be?" Her hands go down to his waist and start to remove his sweatshirt. Angel kisses her again and, still clinging to one another, they start to take off their clothes and move in the direction of the bedroom.
Fade.
Angel is awake in his bed, with a thoughtful expression; Kate is giving her back to him, pretending to sleep, but her eyes are open.
Fade
Part IV
Images of the moon turning into sun.
Kate is getting dressed in Angel's bedroom. Angel appears at the door separating the bedroom from the sitting room, fully dressed.
Angel: "Want any coffee? There will be some downstairs."
Kate: "No, thanks. I have to go. Angel... "
She turns towards him. Angel's face is quite inexpressive.
Kate looks away and starts to rummage through her handbag, but she goes on talking. "I feel like an idiot. You must think I'm an idiot. All that scene last night ..."
Angel: "I know."
Kate immediately turns her head towards him with an inquiring expression.
Angel: "It's just your way to get around the curse, isn't it? Last night we were both tense for the fighting, and I was angry because I had put your life at risk, along with that of the others. So I guess you took me by surprise. But tonight I figured it out..."
Kate: "I don't follow you..."
Angel: "Rage is just a way to avoid intimacy, Kate."
Kate: "Angel, I'm not sure I knew what I was doing. I was angry with you, and humiliated, and lonely, and then suddenly I just wanted to feel you as close as possible, I wanted to have you." As she says so, Kate's expression shows all her fragility, but she soon recovers her usual controlled tone. "And I guess I can thank my therapist for telling you this." She moves to leave the room but Angel stops her by grasping her arm. He makes her turn and look at him.
Angel: "You don't need to do this to yourself, Kate. It's OK, I felt lonely, too." He lifts her chin and kisses her lightly on the lips, and Kate timidly kisses him back. Then she leaves.
Hyperion's hall. Kate comes down the stairs and does not see Wesley who, from his office, sees her cross the hall and go out.
A few moments after she has left, Cordelia comes in and immediately goes to Wesley, who is now standing at the door of his office.
Cordelia: "Hey, wasn't it Kate that left just now?"
Wesley: "Cordelia! So early this morning! Trouble sleeping?"
Cordelia: "Wesley? What's going on here?"
Wesley: "Nothing, Cordelia. I really don't think you should get so excited..."
Cordelia: "I shouldn't... ?!?"
Wesley: "...and shout so loudly!" Wesley, giving a quick look in the direction of the stairs leading to Angel's apartment, grabs her arm and pushes her towards the exit. "Cordelia, I think we should go and get some doughnuts..."
Cordelia follows him, but she will not be quiet: "Didn't we leave her at the site where she nearly got Gunn killed last night? And now I find she spent the night in Angel's bedroom? Practicing her fighting routine, no doubt!"
Break
Cut to street. Wesley and Cordelia are walking along the sidewalk, Wesley has a paper bag in his hand.
Cordelia: "So you are saying that you investigated this matter, keeping it all secret between yourselves, and you came to the conclusion that we got it all wrong? That Mr I-must-sleep-all-alone can become Mr I'll-start-dating-and-try-to-catch-up-hundred-years-of-eunuch-life?"
Wesley: "Well, I wouldn't put it that way, but I guess if you want to put it that way, yes, that is the conclusion we came to. The danger for Angel is falling in love, not having...ehm.. sexual intercourse".
Cordelia: "Intercourse. I was wondering whether anybody was still using that expression..."
Wesley: "But what is happening with Dennis, Cordelia? Has he really behaved violently to you?"
Cordelia: "What is this? A way to side-track me from the Angel-can-have-sex issue?"
Wesley, with an offended tone. "No, it isn't. It's genuine worry. I think Angel is right..."
Cordelia: "Hey, Wes, don't start lecturing me! One is enough!"
Wesley: "But what happened? And why?"
Cordelia: "Well, you know Dennis has always been jealous, he is so caring. And I guess this time I must have said something - you know, I have this nice habit of speaking in the mirror while I make up in the morning - that led him to believe that I'm in love with him."
Wesley: "With Dennis? Then why should he beat you?"
Cordelia, who at this stage is following her thoughts and almost not paying attention to Wesley anymore: "Not with him! With Angel!"
She suddenly stops when she realizes what she has just let slip.
Wesley looks at her with a "I think I'm starting to understand" expression on his face.
Wesley: "Do you love him, Cordelia?"
Cordelia: "Sure I do! Like a friend, a dear friend, like a brother....
Wes continues to stare at her and Cordy understands that he is not buying it.
Cordelia: "...but just because I don't allow myself to feel more."
Break
The next day, in the evening. Angel knocks on Kate's door.
When she opens it, Angel, who appears ill-at-ease, says: "Hi. We need to talk."
Kate opens the door wide and lets him in.
Kate: "Anything to drink?"
Angel stares at her and it takes him a moment to realize that she has asked him something: "No, thanks." He looks at her. "Are you OK, Kate?"
Kate, with a timid smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Angel: "Good. I... I've come here tonight to tell you... last night, it was very nice..."
Kate turns her head and, although she says nothing, her expression clearly says "I knew it".
Angel: "No, wait! Damn! I'm not good at this. I can't believe I have said what I've just said ..."
Kate: "Look, you don't have to be so embarrassed because of me. I'm a grown-up girl, I understand".
Angel: "It's not you, Kate, it's me. I've never gone through this, I don't know how to... It's complicated."
Kate: "Hey, you think I don't know it? You sure don't believe that the creature-of-the-night thing has slipped my mind, do you?"
Angel: "It's not just that. And it's not just the curse. I ... I spent the whole summer grieving over the death of a person who meant a lot to me, who meant everything, because everything I am now, I owe it to her."
Kate: "I'm sorry."
Angel: "I'm not even sure that this thing... with you... it could be just an attempt to..."
Kate: "Angel, you don't have to explain me anything."
Angel: "But I want to. The bond that linked us was so strong that it went beyond death a couple of times. And I live beyond death, so why should I perceive it as an end? What I'm trying to say is that, in a way, I still feel she is here with me. And when.. I'm... with... you, a part of me feels that I'm betraying her."
Kate looks at the floor.
Angel raises his arm to touch her cheek. "I don't want you to get hurt."
Kate gets closer to him and they hug. Then she moves towards the window to look at the night lights outside, and he joins her while she talks.
Kate: "We are two lonely and desperate souls, Angel. I don't think what we make is love. We just try to find a warm haven from our cold despair. And this is what I need now. Nothing more."
Angel: "I don't know if I can do it, or how long I can do it."
Kate: "I'm not asking you anything, Angel. You've already given me so much. You not only saved my life. You gave me a life."
They look together at the skyline of the city in the night.
END OF EPISODE
1
Summary: Angel starts wondering what his curse is really about, while an old friend seems to be willing to join his team. Written as a script for an 'A N G E L' episode.
Author: Monica
Disclaimer: These characters remain the copyrighted property of their owners/creators, it's just that they are SO good that I cannot help imagining them in new situations...
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: welcome!
Distribution: can I control it? I doubt it. So please just remember who wrote it.
Time frame: These events might take place 3 months after the end of A-Season 2 and BTVS-Season 5.
Spoilers: References to many events in the first two seasons of "Angel" and the fifth season of "BTVS"
Dedication: To Viv, of course, my writing partner, who followed this right from the first embryonic stage and encouraged me with her advice.
HUMAN TOUCH
Intro
Angel's suite at the Hyperion. The camera pans from the sitting room towards the bedroom, from where dampened sounds come. Angel, immediately recognizable thanks to the tattoo, is making love with a woman whose face cannot be seen. The woman's voice whispers "Angel". Finally the woman's face is shown: it is Kate. Cut on Angel's face, who opens his eyes, is in bed alone and has an amazed and confused expression on his face.
Cut to the Hyperion's hall. Angel and Wesley are sitting on the sofas, Wesley is speaking. Angel is deep in thought and is not listening, so Wesley attracts his attention.
Wesley: "Angel, is something bothering you?"
Angel: "I was just thinking... that pure happiness thing..."
Wesley: "Yes?"
Angel: "Do you think it has to do with the sex or with the person?"
Wesley is clearly stunned by the blunt question.
Angel continues with a half painful, half hesitant expression. "I mean... How does this curse work, exactly? When I turned, was it because it was Buffy or because... I mean... you know what I mean..."
Some seconds elapse before Wesley recovers from his amazement and answers: "WELL, I must admit I've given the matter some thought myself. And Angel, I hate to invade your privacy, but... from your question I must assume that Buffy is the only woman you slept with after having been given back your soul?"
Angel: "Well, yes.. apart from Darla...". Wesley gives him a questioning and worried look, and Angel quickly goes on to explain. "There was a time, right after my soul was restored, when I was quite confused about what was happening to me, what I was.... But I don't think this counts, I mean, with Darla being a vampire herself".
Wesley: "Of course. Well, pure happiness is something which is rarely achieved, and I very much doubt the term would be used as a synonym for the... sex act, no-matter how satisfactory it might be."
Wesley makes a pause, and Angel gives him an eager look, as if to encourage him to go on. "In other words, what I mean is that of course making love with Buffy was the act unleashing all the... unfortunate events that followed, but it must have been because you were doing it with ... her, because you loved her and wanted her so much. That gave you the feeling of pure happiness."
Now, none of the two is meeting the other one's eyes.
After a few seconds of silence, Angel finally speaks: "So what you are saying is that I could... make love to a woman without anything world-threatening happening?"
Opening credits
Part I
Same location as before, resuming where we left before the opening credits.
Wesley: "Are you asking me for any specific reason?"
Angel: "It just sort of came to my mind... I think it would be good for me to know."
Wesley: "Oh. Well, I'm quite convinced you could. Though of course, given the... gravity of the possible consequences, I guess I had better carry out some more research before giving you a final answer, and I think it would be better if you..." Wesley gives him an expressive look and makes a gesture with his hand.
Angel suddenly loses his embarrassed attitude and assumes a more casual tone. "Sure. Just let me know what you find out."
Wesley imitates him and stands up. "Well, I guess I could do with some research right away".
Angel: "Thanks."
Wesley leaves the hall to go back to his office while Angel remains where he is with a pensive look on his face.
Cut to a street in LA.
The police is investigating a crime scene. Two cops, one wearing a uniform and one in plain clothes, are walking into an alley towards a corpse lying on the pavement, covered with a sheet.
Cop to sergeant: "A witness said he saw her come out of that gym round the corner, she was probably walking towards her car, which is parked over there. One of the gym's instructors confirmed she had just left one of his classes. The witness saw from a distance two figures ambush her and drag her into the alley. He shouted for help and ran here with another guy from the gym, but they arrived too late. She was already dead."
The two men have now reached the body and the one in plain clothes lifts the sheet and observes it. "What about these marks on her face and arms? What are they? They look like burns, as if someone had touched her with something very hot." He moves around and, by doing so, sees Kate standing close, among a small group of people.
Sergeant: "Kate! Hello! What are you doing here?"
Kate, coming closer: "Obviously not my job, since I don't have one any more. I go to this gym, I actually happened to be there tonight, I knew the girl." While she says so, she takes the chance to take a quick look at the body.
Sergeant: "Look, Kate. It's not that I couldn't use your help right now, you know that if it were for me... but I really cannot let any civilian approach a crime scene, you should know that better than anyone else."
Kate: "Sure, Dan. I leave you to your work. Night". She turns and leaves.
Sergeant, raising his voice, while Kate is walking away: "And stop by sometimes."
Kate waves her hand without turning: "Sure!", then to herself: "Idiots! They don't know what they are dealing with."
Images of shift from night to day.
Next morning at the Hyperion. Angel is coming down the stairs, Cordelia comes in with some shopping bags.
Cordelia: "Well, this is what I call a good start of the day, when you don't have to rush to the office to save the world from some grave danger and you can stop and do some nice shopping." Although the words belong to the usual, carefree Cordelia, something in her tone makes us feel that she is not so relaxed as she is pretending to be.
Angel looks at her and walks across the hall towards the coffee machine. He doesn't have the time to say anything, because she quickly resumes: "And look at Wes. Deeply immersed in his books as I haven't seen him for a long time. What is it? Is he investigating some new demon species?"
Angel: "No, old... matters."
Cordelia puts down her handbag and starts to sort out the things on her desk, but she does not take off her sunglasses. She switches her PC on and sits down.
Angel: "Want any coffee?". He turns towards her and notices that she is sitting in front of the monitor with her sunglasses still on.
Cordelia: "No, thanks. I've had some on my way here."
Angel: "Hey! I'm the one who has problems standing the sunlight, remember?"
Cordelia ignores him, continuing to hit nervously on her keyboard.
Angel does not give up: "Cordelia! I'm talking to you! Anything's wrong?"
Cordelia: "No, nothing's wrong!"
Angel: "Then why do you keep your sunglasses on? This room is dim..."
Cordelia, with a slightly exasperated tone: "Look, don't you have to go downstairs training, patrol the sewers or... brood about something? The last thing I need this morning is a vampire-workmate not-breathing down my neck!"
Angel: "What's wrong with you? Still suffering from those headaches?" Now his tone is worried. He steps closer and we can see from his expression that another possibility has just crossed his mind. "Let me see.."
Cordelia tries to turn her face away from him, but Angel won't let her and delicately removes her glasses. Cordy has a bruised cheekbone. Angel touches it lightly.
Angel: "What's this?"
Cordelia: "It's nothing."
Angel gives her a meaningful look.
Cordelia: "OK. Look, he didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident!" Increasingly nervous, Cordelia stands up to get some papers from the shelves behind her desk.
Angel: "He? Who's he? Were you on a date last night? Did some guy hurt you?" Angel is beginning to work himself up.
Cordelia: "No, no. I was at home."
Angel: "So who's he?" Angel's face lights up. "Dennis? Dennis did this to you? Has he gone nuts? Enough with you sharing the house with that ghost! It's about time Dennis found himself a new place." He steps away from her and towards his desk, behind which there is a shelf full of old books.
Cordelia: "It was nothing, it was an accident.."
Angel: "We will have your house cleansed from that ghost!"
Cordelia: "Angel, everything is under control, it's not necessary..."
Angel is not listening to her and rummaging through the books: "I just need to find that spell and we can do it right away..."
Cordelia: "Angel, stop! Listen to me! ANGEL!"
Angel stops, turns around and stares at her.
Cordelia: "You won't do anything! It is MY house, MY ghost, MY life! Moreover..."
Angel tries to interrupt her. "Cordelia..."
Cordelia: "...don't you realize that, apart from you guys, Dennis is... the only company I've got? He's the one who waits for me when I get home. He... takes care of me. And you... you should stop meddling with my life as if you had a right to." After having said this, Cordelia grabs her handbag from her desk and leaves.
Angel stands there, stunned.
Cut to LA street. Kate gets out of her car, enters a cafeteria and through the shop-window we see her meet a man who gives her a big envelope.
Part II
Hyperion. Angel and Wesley are reading, the former at his desk, the latter in his office. Wesley stands up and goes to Angel.
Wesley:: "You know that thing you asked me last night?"
Angel: "Yeah."
Wesley:: "Well, I'm sorry I didn't think of looking in that book before, but I've only had it since last week, and we've had so much going on since then..."
Angel:: "Wesley, you don't have to excuse yourself. It's not as if the matter were top priority for us."
Wesley: "Still, I think you have every right to know. And I'm glad I am in a position to confirm that my... assumptions were correct. I looked in this new - well, as a matter of fact it is very old - book of magic and curses I was so lucky to come across at an old books' store, it actually occurs to me it might have been the very source the gypsies used when they cursed you. In the book, the effects of the curse are explained as follows". He opens the book he has been holding in his hands and reads: "It's in Latin. 'His restored soul shall give him constant pain and torment and the memories of what he did shall haunt him forever. His shall be a life of hate for himself, dejection and solitude. But should he experience one moment of pure happiness, should he find one fellow being who can make him forget his pain and hate for himself by fully loving and accepting him, his soul shall be again suppressed within his body and he shall become again the monster he once was' ."
Angel looks dejected and says softly: "That was Buffy."
Still looking and pointing at the lines, Wesley adds: "It's clear that the focus is on the person here, and by saying 'one' instead of 'a' I think it definitely refers to a...", Wesley looks up from the book and at Angel, sees his distressed expression. "... soul mate. I'm... sorry if this was painful to hear for you."
Angel imperceptibly straightens. "No. I asked you. I wanted to know."
Cordelia comes back in. Seeing them talking with a book in their hands, she assumes they are discussing the Dennis issue.
Cordelia: "Angel? What did I just tell you?"
Angel turns towards her and looks confused. Wesley looks at her: "What do you mean Cordelia? We were just discussing a pending issue."
Cordelia, hands on her hips and aggressive look: "I see I didn't make myself clear this morning. I want to hear no more about this!" While she speaks she gets so heated that she removes her glasses without noticing.
Wesley turns to Angel with an astonished look, then he quickly looks back at her: "What happened to your cheek?"
Break.
Same setting as before.
Kate comes in, interrupting the heated conversation between Angel, Wesley and Cordelia.
Kate: "Hi. Am I interrupting something?
Angel: "Hi, Kate. No, come in. How are you?"
Kate: "Fine, I'm fine. Angel, can I have a word with you?"
Angel: "Sure."
Aware of her suicide attempt and of Angel's rescue, Cordy and Wesley withdraw - though Cordy seems quite annoyed by the interruption - thinking that Kate probably wants to discuss personal matters.
Angel: "A cup of coffee?"
Kate: "Thanks."
Angel takes a cup of coffee for each of them and the two go out on the porch. It is now afternoon. During their conversation, every now and then the camera shows the hall behind them, and we get glimpses of Cordelia observing them.
Cut to the porch. Kate is sipping her coffee. She notices that Angel is staring at her.
Kate: "What?" Angel looks at her questioningly.
Kate: "Why are you looking at me that way?"
Angel, with a timid smile: "What do you mean?"
Kate: "You are looking at me as if you saw me for the first time, as if I were different."
Angel: "Really? Pretty sharp for a..."
Kate: "..former cop?"
Angel: "...thirty-year old woman."
Kate: "I'm not thirty."
Angel raises his hand in a I-admit-my-mistake gesture. "Sorry."
Kate: "I'm 31. What is the big deal? Are you much older? You never told me how old you are..."
While Kate speaks earnestly and appears quite tense, Angel is visibly amusing himself, but he forces himself to maintain a serious expression. "So you came here to discuss my age".
Kate: "No, of course not. Angel, our relationship has been sort of... I mean, we've had our ups and downs. But you saved my life... a couple of times, and I'll always be grateful for that. Moreover, you're the only person I know that can deal with certain matters. Now, I know very well that I'm not a cop anymore, this is not a non-accepting-to-be-fired thing."
Angel, looking confused. "OK. What kind of "thing" is it, then?"
Kate: "Right. I used to be more to the point. Last night a young woman attended a workout class with me, and when she went out of the gym she was killed, brutally assassinated, in an alley nearby. I have a strong hunch that the police will be blind to some of the evidences, as I used to be before..."
Angel: "...before you realized that there's more to this city than you thought?"
Kate looks at him in the eyes. "...before I met someone who taught me to look at them."
Angel is somewhat put off by Kate's admission, but he quickly hides his feelings behind a professional tone. "What do you know about the crime?"
Kate: "I had a chance to catch a glimpse of the body, it had strange marks.. like burning marks, on the face and forearms. And then...", Kate takes a big envelope out of her handbag and gives it to Angel, "there's this."
Angel takes it and extracts a file from it, containing some pictures and a police report.
Kate: "I still have some friends at the district, not many... Of course the coroner's report is not yet in there."
Angel looks at the pictures and sheets of paper in silence.
Kate: "Do you think you could take a look at this case? And of course I can help you, I want to help, in any way I can."
Angel: "I'll show the pictures to Wesley to see if he has any ideas about the burns, and as soon as it gets dark, I'll go there."
Kate: "I can come with you."
Angel: "It's not necessary. Let me take a look first, I'll let you know if I find anything. You should go home and rest, Kate. You look pale."
Kate: "Do I? Well, I'll go if you promise to keep me informed." Angel nods.
Kate stands up: "Thanks for your help, and for the coffee." She gives him what looks like a very short hug. It's very quick, but Cordelia from within does not miss it.
Kate turns and leaves. Angel looks up at the darkening sky with a half-smile.
Break
Images of Kate going to the counselor, Angel on the crime scene, Wesley immersed in his books, Cordelia entering her lonely apartment with her shopping bags, Kate jogging in a park, Angel following some traces and entering an abandoned warehouse not far from the alley where he finds strange shreds of skin, Cordelia filling her bathtub, Kate coming home after the jogging and looking at herself in the mirror, with a slightly dazed expression, Angel walking alone on the streets at night, then entering the Hyperion and going towards Wesley's office.
Part III
Images of Kate's father's murder flash in. Kate is dreaming: the events are slightly different from what has really happened, because she was not present and she is imagining it. But most importantly, the final part of the scene is different: when she gets there and falls on her knees next to her father's body in despair, she does not drive Angel away, he kneels down next to her, hugs her and she bursts into tears in his arms. Kate wakes up because someone is knocking at the door. It takes her a moment to remember where she is, she gets up, grabs a dressing gown and goes to open the door. It's Angel.
Angel: "Hi." He looks at her and immediately asks: "Are you OK? You don't look OK."
Kate cannot believe that the man she was desperately clinging to in her dream is standing right there in front of her. "I'm fine. I just had this dream..."
Angel: "Dream? Me too."
Kate: "A bad dream?"
Angel: "No, actually it was quite pleasant..." Kate is instinctively curious. Hers is the boldness and spontaneity of a person who has just woken up and is still filled with the dream's sensations.
Kate: "Was I in it?"
Angel looks slightly embarrassed. "Yeah." They are still standing at the door.
Kate: "And it was good."
Angel: "It felt good."
Acting on impulse, Kate gives him a light kiss on the lips. She looks him in the eyes and says hesitantly, "I just wanted to know how this felt." Angel stares at her and says nothing. "Hhmm, it felt good.", she adds, and she kisses him a second time. This time Angel slowly starts to kiss her back. While they kiss, Kate whispers against his lips "Wouldn't you like to come in?"
Break
Kate's apartment. Angel and Kate are kissing in the middle of her living room. Angel breaks the kiss.
Angel: "Look, I don't know why I came here. No, that's not true. I know it. I said to myself I was coming here to tell you what I discovered about the girl who was killed - but the truth is it was this dream I had." Kate gradually puts some distance between them.
Kate: "And you must have thought I was behaving in a strange way, which I am. It must be the pills I take to sleep." When she sees Angel's worried and questioning look, she adds: "Light, very light, herbal pills."
Angel: "There is nothing strange in you, Kate..." Kate tries to interrupt him, but Angel does not let her.
Angel: "but there is something strange in me. I guess it's time you learned a few things about my past..."
Cut to Cordelia's house. Cordelia is standing in front of her bathroom's mirror in her bathrobe. "Now it's Kate's turn! First it was Buffy, then Darla, and now it's Kate! Will I always be the last woman in his life? And, Dennis, I warn you, the next time you hit me with a door because I'm speaking of Angel, I kick you out of this house! Huah! Hugging and almost kissing right in front of us! Tomorrow I'll wake up and find that they are dating!"
Kate's flat.
Kate: "Wow! That's a truly amazing story. And I thought you had surprised me enough when I found out what.. who you really are! So what you are saying is that you can't..."
Angel: "It's not that I can't, but I must be very careful. And that's the reason why I usually try to... keep my distance."
Kate: "Well, people do that for all sorts of funny reasons, you know?"
Angel looks at her. "Yeah, I guess they do."
Kate looks at him, still uneasy, then she steps away from him and goes back to a slightly more formal tone: "So what did you find out?"
Angel stares at her questioningly, so she adds. "About the girl."
Angel: "I found a few pieces of skin - not human skin," he adds with an uncomfortable expression, "something resembling reptiles' skin, when they change and lose it. I showed it to Wesley, he thinks he has identified the species of demon it belongs to. These demons drain liquids from the human body, hence the burns, after which they can change their skin. Wes is still working on it but they seem to need particular surroundings to live, so we hope we will be able to spot them and go there in force tomorrow night."
Kate: "I'm coming with you". Angel gives her a doubtful look.
Kate: "Look, it's not that I've become totally useless just because I don't have a badge any more!"
Angel: "OK. I will call you tomorrow." Then he turns to leave. When he has reached the door, he turns his head towards her, who is still standing at the center of the room: "Night, Kate. Sleep well."
He goes away.
Kate: "Good night, Angel."
Break.
Fighting scene next day: Angel, Gunn, Wesley and Cordy are fighting against some ugly demons in what looks like a deserted building site. A car arrives at high speed and screeches to a halt on the street running alongside the building site. Kate gets out of it, takes out her gun and hurriedly enters the building site through an opening in the fence surrounding it. Speaking more to herself than to the others, who are engaged in the fighting, she says: "Next time, remember I could do with some more notice!" She looks at Angel fighting against a demon for a few seconds, Cordelia and Wesley are facing another one with a shovel and a wooden plank. When she sees Gunn apparently overwhelmed by a third demon, Kate takes aim and shoots at the monster, who is hit on the shoulder. Gunn jumps away just in time to avoid the spurt of white liquid gushing out of the wound.
Cordy, shouting: "What are you trying to do? Kill us?"
Angel, while fighting: "Kate! Don't fire at them! Their blood is highly corrosive! Don't let it touch you!"
Kate, bitterly, to herself: "And how would I know?"
She runs to the wounded demon and hits him on the head with her gun's butt, then picks up a stone. Together with Gunn, they attack the demon with stones. Kate: "So how do we kill them?"
Gunn, while hitting the demon hard on his back with an iron bar he has just picked up: "We break their fucking spine!". The others soon get the better of the remaining two demons as well. After a moment of silence, Cordy turns towards Kate, speaking with an aggressive tone: "That wasn't exactly my idea of backup! You could have badly hurt Gunn!".
Kate: "Well, I suppose I wouldn't have fired if someone had bothered to tell me!"
Cordy, with a softer but even sharper tone: "If you don't know how to deal with this stuff, my advice is that you leave it to us!".
Angel: "Girls! We really don't need this. Cordelia, I called Kate, I should have told her. My mistake."
Cordelia gives him a quick look, then she turns and leaves, followed by Gunn and Wesley, who looks quite beaten up. Angel, who was further away from Kate than the others, walks towards her to reach the exit.
Kate, with a sarcastic tone and expression: "And she's supposed to be the expert? She's just a spoilt child."
Angel gives her a harsh look. "Believe me, she's not." He walks past her and leaves the building site through the same opening Kate has used to come in. Kate remains where she is, while the camera pans up and shows the building site and the street from above.
Summarizing sequence of quick images.
Cut to Angel's apartment later that night. Angel is standing in front of the window and looking out into the night. The door his half-open, Kate appears on the threshold.
Angel, slightly turning his head towards her: "Kate."
Kate: "Yeah, that's my name."
Angel: "I hoped you would come."
Kate: "Did you?" While she speaks, she slowly walks into the room, coming to stop right in front of him, who has turned towards her. "What for? To have another chance to stress what your friend has already stated so clearly? To tell me that I'm not one of you? That this is no game for me?"
Angel: "This isn't a game!"
Kate: "It's never been! And who knows it better than I do. But whether it's humans or demons, and whatever it is, I can play it!"
Angel, with a slightly higher and sharper tone: "By coming in and starting to fire as if you were in Lethal Weapon? That's not my idea of an expert player!"
Kate slaps him across the face.
Angel, between his teeth: "You're playing with fire, Kate."
Kate looks at him for a few seconds. "I've always loved playing with fire!" And she kisses him impetuously, clinging to his neck.
After a short while, Angel frees himself from the kiss, stares at her for a few seconds, then kisses her back, with the same eagerness. Angel presses her body to his, but after a while he interrupts the kiss and, with his forehead touching hers and his arms still around her, whispers: "You're not afraid of me?" Kate is caressing his neck and ear: "How could I be?" Her hands go down to his waist and start to remove his sweatshirt. Angel kisses her again and, still clinging to one another, they start to take off their clothes and move in the direction of the bedroom.
Fade.
Angel is awake in his bed, with a thoughtful expression; Kate is giving her back to him, pretending to sleep, but her eyes are open.
Fade
Part IV
Images of the moon turning into sun.
Kate is getting dressed in Angel's bedroom. Angel appears at the door separating the bedroom from the sitting room, fully dressed.
Angel: "Want any coffee? There will be some downstairs."
Kate: "No, thanks. I have to go. Angel... "
She turns towards him. Angel's face is quite inexpressive.
Kate looks away and starts to rummage through her handbag, but she goes on talking. "I feel like an idiot. You must think I'm an idiot. All that scene last night ..."
Angel: "I know."
Kate immediately turns her head towards him with an inquiring expression.
Angel: "It's just your way to get around the curse, isn't it? Last night we were both tense for the fighting, and I was angry because I had put your life at risk, along with that of the others. So I guess you took me by surprise. But tonight I figured it out..."
Kate: "I don't follow you..."
Angel: "Rage is just a way to avoid intimacy, Kate."
Kate: "Angel, I'm not sure I knew what I was doing. I was angry with you, and humiliated, and lonely, and then suddenly I just wanted to feel you as close as possible, I wanted to have you." As she says so, Kate's expression shows all her fragility, but she soon recovers her usual controlled tone. "And I guess I can thank my therapist for telling you this." She moves to leave the room but Angel stops her by grasping her arm. He makes her turn and look at him.
Angel: "You don't need to do this to yourself, Kate. It's OK, I felt lonely, too." He lifts her chin and kisses her lightly on the lips, and Kate timidly kisses him back. Then she leaves.
Hyperion's hall. Kate comes down the stairs and does not see Wesley who, from his office, sees her cross the hall and go out.
A few moments after she has left, Cordelia comes in and immediately goes to Wesley, who is now standing at the door of his office.
Cordelia: "Hey, wasn't it Kate that left just now?"
Wesley: "Cordelia! So early this morning! Trouble sleeping?"
Cordelia: "Wesley? What's going on here?"
Wesley: "Nothing, Cordelia. I really don't think you should get so excited..."
Cordelia: "I shouldn't... ?!?"
Wesley: "...and shout so loudly!" Wesley, giving a quick look in the direction of the stairs leading to Angel's apartment, grabs her arm and pushes her towards the exit. "Cordelia, I think we should go and get some doughnuts..."
Cordelia follows him, but she will not be quiet: "Didn't we leave her at the site where she nearly got Gunn killed last night? And now I find she spent the night in Angel's bedroom? Practicing her fighting routine, no doubt!"
Break
Cut to street. Wesley and Cordelia are walking along the sidewalk, Wesley has a paper bag in his hand.
Cordelia: "So you are saying that you investigated this matter, keeping it all secret between yourselves, and you came to the conclusion that we got it all wrong? That Mr I-must-sleep-all-alone can become Mr I'll-start-dating-and-try-to-catch-up-hundred-years-of-eunuch-life?"
Wesley: "Well, I wouldn't put it that way, but I guess if you want to put it that way, yes, that is the conclusion we came to. The danger for Angel is falling in love, not having...ehm.. sexual intercourse".
Cordelia: "Intercourse. I was wondering whether anybody was still using that expression..."
Wesley: "But what is happening with Dennis, Cordelia? Has he really behaved violently to you?"
Cordelia: "What is this? A way to side-track me from the Angel-can-have-sex issue?"
Wesley, with an offended tone. "No, it isn't. It's genuine worry. I think Angel is right..."
Cordelia: "Hey, Wes, don't start lecturing me! One is enough!"
Wesley: "But what happened? And why?"
Cordelia: "Well, you know Dennis has always been jealous, he is so caring. And I guess this time I must have said something - you know, I have this nice habit of speaking in the mirror while I make up in the morning - that led him to believe that I'm in love with him."
Wesley: "With Dennis? Then why should he beat you?"
Cordelia, who at this stage is following her thoughts and almost not paying attention to Wesley anymore: "Not with him! With Angel!"
She suddenly stops when she realizes what she has just let slip.
Wesley looks at her with a "I think I'm starting to understand" expression on his face.
Wesley: "Do you love him, Cordelia?"
Cordelia: "Sure I do! Like a friend, a dear friend, like a brother....
Wes continues to stare at her and Cordy understands that he is not buying it.
Cordelia: "...but just because I don't allow myself to feel more."
Break
The next day, in the evening. Angel knocks on Kate's door.
When she opens it, Angel, who appears ill-at-ease, says: "Hi. We need to talk."
Kate opens the door wide and lets him in.
Kate: "Anything to drink?"
Angel stares at her and it takes him a moment to realize that she has asked him something: "No, thanks." He looks at her. "Are you OK, Kate?"
Kate, with a timid smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Angel: "Good. I... I've come here tonight to tell you... last night, it was very nice..."
Kate turns her head and, although she says nothing, her expression clearly says "I knew it".
Angel: "No, wait! Damn! I'm not good at this. I can't believe I have said what I've just said ..."
Kate: "Look, you don't have to be so embarrassed because of me. I'm a grown-up girl, I understand".
Angel: "It's not you, Kate, it's me. I've never gone through this, I don't know how to... It's complicated."
Kate: "Hey, you think I don't know it? You sure don't believe that the creature-of-the-night thing has slipped my mind, do you?"
Angel: "It's not just that. And it's not just the curse. I ... I spent the whole summer grieving over the death of a person who meant a lot to me, who meant everything, because everything I am now, I owe it to her."
Kate: "I'm sorry."
Angel: "I'm not even sure that this thing... with you... it could be just an attempt to..."
Kate: "Angel, you don't have to explain me anything."
Angel: "But I want to. The bond that linked us was so strong that it went beyond death a couple of times. And I live beyond death, so why should I perceive it as an end? What I'm trying to say is that, in a way, I still feel she is here with me. And when.. I'm... with... you, a part of me feels that I'm betraying her."
Kate looks at the floor.
Angel raises his arm to touch her cheek. "I don't want you to get hurt."
Kate gets closer to him and they hug. Then she moves towards the window to look at the night lights outside, and he joins her while she talks.
Kate: "We are two lonely and desperate souls, Angel. I don't think what we make is love. We just try to find a warm haven from our cold despair. And this is what I need now. Nothing more."
Angel: "I don't know if I can do it, or how long I can do it."
Kate: "I'm not asking you anything, Angel. You've already given me so much. You not only saved my life. You gave me a life."
They look together at the skyline of the city in the night.
END OF EPISODE
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