ACT THREE

July, 1776

EXT. CLEARING - NIGHT

Anya (or, Anyanka, at this point) is listening to a WOMAN talk about her husband. All around them, merry celebration is going around; men, women and children alike are shouting, laughter is heard, etc, etc.

WOMAN
He loves this damn country more than he loves me.

ANYANKA
Uh-huh.

WOMAN
All he does anymore is fight wars and rage about Britain and how stupid it is. I have needs, too. I just wish…

ANYANKA
Uh-huh?

WOMAN
…that he would ask me how my day was, just once.

ANYANKA
Well, that's no fun.

WOMAN
All he does is talk about what he did. "I'm going to battle next week. Hey, remember that time I went to battle a while ago?"
(sighing)
Daniel always paid ample attention to me. I miss him.

ANYANKA
Ooh, do you wish he'd come back?

WOMAN
He's dead, dear.

ANYANKA
(feigning surprise)
Oh. I'm… sorry.

WOMAN
Me too. I mean, I love George, but sometimes I just wish he'd…

ANYANKA
Uh-huh?

WOMAN
…forget about stupid America.

ANYANKA
You're just full of really boring wishes, aren't you?

WOMAN
So what if we're a country now? He'll expect a feast every day from now until death do us part. Hmph. I wish… his teeth would turn to wood so he couldn't reasonably eat a feast anym—

ANYANKA
Done.

But before the future Lady Washington can catch a glimpse of the vengeance demon's face, Anyanka feels a hand tug at her arm. Taken by surprise, she stumbles into the wood and gets pushed against a tree by a MAN in formal wear.

MAN
What are you doing?

ANYANKA
My job. Now beat it. I think I was getting somewhere with…

Anyanka turns to glance at the woman, who, looking bewildered, begins to walk away. She would shortly forget about the encounter altogether until she spotted her husband some hours later.

ANYANKA (cont'd)
Damnit. Now look what you've done. She was promising. That whole teeth turning into wood thing sounded painful…

MAN
You are aware of what happened only a few eves ago, aren't you?

ANYANKA
Sure. Some declaration or something was signed, now this is a country rather than a colony, blah, blah, blah, so what? Who are you, anyway?

MAN
I'm an associate with Wolfram and Hart, with whom I'm sure you're familiar.

ANYANKA
Oh, yeah. An evil prophecy cult, right? Constantly planning for the apocalypse centuries in the future… don't know why you're bothering to plan for it now…

WOLFRAM AND HART GUY
Well, since you're familiar with our operation, perhaps you understand that we have to have everything happen in a quite precise manner. You were interfering with the order of events. We had to stop you.

ANYANKA
If you think you can stop me from being a vengeance demon, you've got another thing coming, pal. I don't care who you are or what you control, but I'll perform vengeance on whomever I choose, so…

WOLFRAM AND HART GUY
We don't care about your duties in general, madam. Just that one gentleman needs to be left more or less alone. He was one of the key players in making this land a nation, and he's going to be one of the key players in the development of the country. We need the United States of America to turn out in just a certain way, and any more variables in our plan could send the universe spinning quite impressively out of control. And we wouldn't want that.

ANYANKA
Why not? Sounds like a picnic to me.

WOLFRAM AND HART GUY
Because if the universe explodes, you explode too. And even a vengeance demon can't live through that.

ANYANKA
…I see your point. So, what do you want from me? I'll leave that guy alone if that's what you're getting at.

The man reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a scroll of sorts.

WOLFRAM AND HART GUY
I'm here to make a deal with you. Yes, it includes leaving Commander Washington alone, but it also includes your helping us to sway battles a certain way. Cause some English to die in a freak ship explosion in their way over to America, for example.

ANYANKA
Why should I help you? What's in it for me?

WOLFRAM AND HART GUY
It's not what's in it for you, it's what doesn't do you in. In signing this contract, you assure us that you're going to do exactly as we ask you to, because if you don't… well, regardless of whether or not the Universe explodes, we'll make sure you've properly gone kablooey.

ANYANKA
I'm sorry… am I being threatened? Are you actually stupid enough to threaten a vengeance demon?

WOLFRAM AND HART GUY
We're not threatening you, miss. In return for doing us these favours, we'll ensure your non-explosion and make sure you'll meet no other demise. In the event of your unlikely death on this plain, you'll be transported to another one, where your immortality will stay in tact.

Anyanka stands and considers this for a moment. The man waits patiently, smiling intelligently but very annoyingly and holding out the contract and a fountain pen for her to sign the contract.

ANYANKA
So basically… I cause the death of some few extra people, and you give me an extra life if I ever die?

WOLFRAM AND HART GUY
In short, yes.

ANYANKA
But if I don't follow through… you explode me. Forever.

WOLFRAM AND HART GUY
That's correct.

Anyanka grudgingly takes the pen and signs where the man points. He takes both the pen and paper and places them back inside his jacket, still wearing that annoying smile.

WOLFRAM AND HART GUY (cont'd)
A pleasure, madam. One of our associates will contact you with a time and a place soon.

He walks off deeper into the woods. Anyanka remains motionless, realizing that there was probably more to that contract than what met the eye, ignorant of the celebrations going on behind her. On this shot, we cut to the

Present

INT. ANGEL'S OFFICE

Angel sits in a chair behind his desk, staring out the window absently. Pan out to

INT. LOBBY

We see Wesley, Gunn and Anya peering in the window at Angel hesitantly.

GUNN
He just… threw them out the door?

ANYA
Two at a time, by their belts. Then he closed the doors without a word and sat down, exactly in that position. He hasn't moved a muscle since.

WESLEY
And you tried talking to him?

ANYA
I've been yelling at him fervently through this window for the past ten minutes, complete with exaggerated gesticulations.
(angrily)
I don't know what he's so upset about. Junior Partner is a huge step to the top. If he really wants to make a difference, this should be exciting for him. He should be rampant with proclamations such as, "hurray!" or, "what a sizable step in the right direction!" I didn't expect him to stomp not-so-furiously from the room, throw the cleaning crew out on their asses and then brood.

GUNN
You'd be surprised what he can manage to brood about.

ANYA
He has a case to handle, you know. Those invisible people are causing more trouble than they're worth. He doesn't have time to sit there and think. He has to go kill things! Isn't that what vampires are supposed to do?

Anya pauses, expecting a response, exhaling exasperatedly at the vampire through the window when she didn't get one and stomps off, arms crossed. Gunn watches her go, but his eyes fall instead on Wesley, who seems to just be staring at a point in the carpet.

GUNN
Admiring the pattern, or just wondering what kind of synthetic fabric it's made out of?

Wesley doesn't respond. He simply stares. Gunn frowns in concern, since the last time Wesley was this bad was when Fred died. Suddenly he made the connection and joined Wesley in staring at the spot in the carpet.

GUNN
Alexa.

WESLEY
(snapping to attention)
What about her?

GUNN
She seemed pretty upset after Angel left like that.

WESLEY
She shouldn't withhold information like that.

GUNN
But still. I feel kinda sorry for her, you know? It's not her fault that Angel made Junior Partner. She just happened to be the only one to know about it. Maybe she didn't even make the connection until that point.

WESLEY
She looked guilty the entire time. I was…

GUNN
Watching her?

WESLEY
(bowing his head)
The resemblance is so striking.

GUNNIt's not her, Wes.

WESLEY
Don't you think I know that? I know she's gone. I know there's no chance of her coming back. I know that her soul was destroyed by that… that thing

GUNN
Whoa, we're back to calling Illyria "that thing" now? Whatever happened to I-know-I'll-teach-her-about-humanity-so-she-can-stay-on-this-plain-of-existence Wesley?

WESLEY
…but it's like she's here. It's like a part of her survived. All my certainties and uncertainties are being brought into question by this… one inkling of a prospect. It's stupid of me to let myself question anything, but she spoke like Fred when we first met. It's like she was making the effort to sound like her, to let me know she was somehow… all right. She doesn't sound like that anymore. She sounds secretive and suspicious, but for a minute or two… she sounded just like Fred.
(A beat)
Angel could use some speaking to. Why don't I do that.

GUNN
You sure? Probably smells like evisceration in there.

WESLEY
You should find Anya and get more on the case. I'm sure we'll be out shortly.

Wesley brushes past Gunn and steels himself to go in.

INT. ANGEL'S OFFICE

Wesley slowly exhales through his mouth. He forces back the temptation to gag and keeps his nostrils firmly plugged.

WESLEY (cont'd)
Anya isn't wrong, you know.

He guessed correctly that Angel could and did hear every bit of the conversation they'd had in the hallway.

ANGEL
Do you remember the speech I gave during that glamour?

WESLEY
I'm not likely to forget it.

ANGEL
You may as well. Turns out all of it was a big pile of BS anyway.

WESLEY
How could that possibly be? We achieved our goal—

ANGEL
That's exactly what we didn't do. The entire purpose of the exercise was to show the Senior Partners that they didn't own us. Yeah, we killed every member of the Black Thorn… on that plain. I'm willing to bet they're still alive and kicking here, and that I'm a prominent member, judging by my recent promotion.

WESLEY
We fought hard. For one fleeting moment, we had control.

ANGEL
No, we didn't. We thought we had control. But it turns out the entire thing was prophesized the entire time. We were played. The Senior Partners do own us, and in bringing us here to live out our lives again, they've proven it. There's nothing more we can do. We've lost. And in my big plot to bring about a change, I've made myself an even bigger player in the coming apocalypse rather than a smaller one.

WESLEY
Angel…

ANGEL
In pulling that stunt, I may have actually caused the end of the world, and in asking you to help me… you and Gunn and everyone else… I've made you a part of it. There isn't a word for how completely I failed. I actually succeeded in the wrong direction.

WESLEY
Angel.

ANGEL
You know, in most law firms, I'd have to be a lawyer to make partner, but here? Nah. I just have to be extremely evil. I was fooling myself, all these years having a soul… I was never good. I can never be good. I'm still a vampire, and whether it's voluntary or not…

WESLEY
Angel.

ANGEL
What?

Angel finally turns around in his chair to face Wesley and…

ANGEL (cont'd)
Connor?

His son smiles grimly against the smell of dying flesh still hanging in the elevator shaft.

CONNOR
Hey, dad.

Angel's face remains completely blank. Wesley can see that he's torn between joy and even more hatred at himself; he'd gotten his son killed by his actions, and now somehow he, too, was condemned to a lifetime at Wolfram and Hart. Angel blinked hard and picked a folder off the desk, handing it to Wesley.

ANGEL
Can you handle the case on your own?

WESLEY
Of course.

ANGEL
Good. Go do that. Keep me posted. Connor, sit down.

Wesley can't leave the room quickly enough. We follow him as he leaves the room and hears Connor:

CONNOR (O.C.)
Can we…find another place to have a conversation, like maybe somewhere non-evisceratey?

Cut to

INT. WESLEY'S OFFICE

Gunn and Anya are still pouring over the newspapers in search of any clues. They both immediately recoil when Wesley walks in.

GUNN
So how'd the talk with Angel go?

WESLEY
We're on our own here. Angel's busy being furious with himself… in the process, I think he actually convinced me to be furious with him, too. I think I'd like to keep things close for the moment, so let's just have us and Alexa work on this case right now.

GUNN
Uh… Wes, I don't mean to ruin the plan here, but if you're looking to keep things close, I think we should keep Alexa out of this one. We still don't know where her loyalties lie.

ANYA
Hello. Let's not forget about me. You don't know where my loyalties lie, either. I could be setting you up for a fall, for all you know. Maybe this is a trap. Maybe I'm just trying to get you killed. Ever think about that, huh?

Wesley straightened and smiled at Anya. She couldn't help but take a step back, and not just because he exerted evisceration fumes.

WESLEY
Since you've met us here, all you've said is that you're the new liason to the Senior Partners. Everyone just assumed that you worked for Angel. But since that doesn't seem to be true, you have to work for someone here. Since you came to us, I can only assume that you work for either Gunn or I. Therefore, I know exactly where your loyalties lie: with us. If this is a trap, you're going to be punished in many different senses, and I doubt either you or the Senior Partners would risk that at this point in the game. Now, I suggest you go and fetch Alexa from her lab. Tell her we're not angry, we'd just like her help with the case.

ANYA
Fine. But don't expect me to ask you "how high" every time you tell me to jump. Just because I work for you, doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. And you should really take a shower. You smell like intestines.

WESLEY
(wincing at his own smell)
Right then. As soon as we go over the case, I'll shower, and you and Alexa hypothesize when and where they'll show up next.
(A beat)
I hope you don't mind me giving orders, Charles. You have just as much authority to do so as I do, maybe more.

GUNN
I'm no leader, Wes. Sometime, if both you and Angel are out of commission, I'll be the first to step up and command, but it seems like a lot of pressure to me. At the same time, anything you tell me to do is subject to my free will; if I don't think it's right, I won't do it. Fair?

WESLEY
Fair. And well-said.

GUNN
Yeah. Sometimes the upgrade…

He stops. Wesley also stops. They both stare at their feet for a minute. Finally Gunn opens the folder and leans over it. Wesley does the same. Both their attentions are drawn away, however, when Connor flies through the hallway and lands hard on the ground.

INT. HALLWAY

Angel leaps after him and slams him against the wall.

ANGEL
I expect you to do as I ask.

Connor pushes Angel off him and punches him in the face.

CONNOR
Okay, one: I've known you for maybe two years of my entire life, and that was in a different reality. Two: I'm nineteen. I've never listened to you; why should I start now? Three: I wasn't just going to leave you to die. I followed you, so what? I figured you could use the help.

ANGEL
You had a future. You had a family. You were going to Stanford. You threw that all away because of me, and I'm the reason you're here in the first place. You should have listened.

CONNOR
Maybe I should have, but I don't regret what I did.

ANGEL
I do.

Angel delivers two consecutive blows in Connor's direction, both of which he blocks easily. Angel growls and vamps out. He flips himself over Connor's head and kicks him in the back onto the ground, pinning him there with his knees.

CONNOR
Jesus, what's your problem?

ANGEL
I'm sorry, Connor. I'm the cause of all of this.

Wesley realizes exactly what Angel intends to do and swears under his breath, pulling a knife from within his coat and dashing out into the hall.

ANGEL (cont'd)
I really do love you, Connor.

He pulls Connor to his feet, turns him around, and breaks his neck.

END OF ACT THREE