Disclaimer: I do not own Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
Chapter 30- Are You Now or Have You Ever Been
As the Scooby Gang was about to start the recording, their future selves arrived.
"We were waiting for you", Buffy told them.
"Yeah, we got a little held up", Summers said.
Rosenberg and Maclay then did a spell, conjuring another couch identical to the one the Scooby Gang was on.
"So that's gonna stay there then?" Xander asked.
"Yeah buddy, it's gonna stay, since we'll be watching more of these from now on", Harris told him and he nodded.
"You can start it now", Dawn said to them as the future Scooby Gang to their place on the couch too, with Harris on the left, then Rosenberg, then Maclay, then Dawn and then Summers finally.
"Let's start", Buffy said as she started the recording.
In Cordelia's apartment, Wesley looked at a photo of a 1920's hotel building called the Hyperion Hotel, which was abandoned, and Angel said it had 68 rooms and vacancies, telling him it was west of here in what used to be the heart of Hollywood, and had been empty for a long time. Cordelia arrived with 2 cups and a tall glass, setting them down on the table as Wesley said it'd have been empty for years. Cordelia gave the two what they needed, as Wesley wondered if its current condition was more than due to just tourist trade drying up.
"Angel seems awfully quiet about this", Dawnster noted.
"He has more history with the place than he's letting on", Rosenberg told her.
"Hyperion Hotel, isn't that their base now?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, it was their base for a long time", Maclay nodded.
Angel looked at the blood in the glass, saying it was coagulating, but Cordelia said she'd put cinnamon in it while Angel asked the two to look into Hyperion Hotel's history, who owned it now and why they were letting it stay empty. There was no client though, and he walked off, putting on his jacket as Cordelia said he was being cryptic but Angel told them to focus on homicides and other unsolved cases from beginning till now, Wesley realizing Angel believed whatever had made this place its home had done so for quite some time. Angel walked off, saying probably right to the end as Cordelia and Wesley looked at each other while Angel walked out the door.
"So, what happened with him and the place?" Willow asked.
"You're about to find out", Summers told her.
It blended to a flashback. Two old style cars drove down the street in front of the hotel as color slowly faded back into everything. A bellhop opened the door of the hotel - people walked through the lobby – at the hotel's desk the manager was sorting through some envelopes while a bellhop leaned on the counter beside him. The manager told the bellhop some tasks, though giving someone a bill gave him the heebie-jeebies due to not liking the guy, and wanted to deliver an eviction notice instead. The manager was unmoved though as the bellhop said there was nothing in the person's eyes, making the manager laugh as the bellhop reluctantly left.
"Now who would that be?" Xander wondered.
"I think I know", Buffy smirked.
The elevator arrived and opened on the second floor. The bellhop just stared down the dingy hallway until the door was about to close on him. He put his hand between the doors, then took a deep breath and holding the platter out in front of him slowly marched down the hall to 217. Taking another deep breath, he knocked on the door ever so softly. On hearing a slight noise inside, he kept the tray down and headed back to the elevator, getting inside and repeatedly pushed on its buttons. The door of 217 opened and the bellhop glanced around the closing doors as he saw a hand pick up the bill. The man had a pair of dark slacks and a red shirt hanging open over a white T-shirt. It was Angel, with his hair slicked to the side. He walked back inside and shut the door.
"Angel", Tara muttered.
"So, he wasn't a weird homeless hobo all the time before meeting Buffy?" Xander asked randomly.
"How do you think he survived this far then?" Dawn asked him, and he sighed, realizing he was being stupid.
"But how did he go from this to that?" Buffy asked.
"You will see in time", Summers told her grimly.
The outside of the abandoned hotel was seen during the present day, then the deserted lobby inside.
"Isn't this the place he had found in the previous recording?" Giles asked and now all recognized it.
"It is", Rosenberg told him.
"So that's how he knew it", Buffy muttered.
Angel came out of the basement, looking around here and there. It blended to the past, showing people watching something on an old style TV. A guy ran after a young blonde storming across the lobby but she waved him off, going past Angel who picked up a newspaper while passing a table and glanced through it while walking across the lobby in the other direction. The bellhop told him he had no messages but was ignored. The manager gave another bellhop something to do and then told a family of blacks the sign was wrong and that they had no vacancies, offending them.
"Racism", Buffy muttered, everyone a little angry, even though they knew it was the norm at the time, but it wasn't easy to watch still.
"It has to be like, one of the top 3 most useless ideas ever", Willow said to everyone.
"No kidding, at least it has been toned by a lot now", Summers told them all. "Fortunately."
"If Gunn existed back in that time period, then his rant at Wolfram and Hart would be completely true", Tara said.
"No kidding", Xander agreed.
Angel stepped into the elevator with the newspaper and a brown bag, and stepped out while a man in a suit stood in the hallway. Angel walked past and took out his keys as a door further down opened and 2 men stepped out, both laughing. Angel looked at them and it was clear from their body language that they were lovers, but on seeing him nearby, they turned formal and shook hands as one walked off while the other looked at Angel and went back inside, while Angel went to his room.
"Man, I hate the 50s", Rosenberg muttered.
"Well, it was a hard time for everyone", Maclay said.
"Yeah, the second World War was still fresh", Willow agreed. "And there was racism and homophobia."
"Good thing we don't live in that time period", Tara said.
"Angel did though", Dawnster muttered.
Angel dropped his keys and newspaper onto a table and took a bottle of blood out of the brown bag and set it beside them, going to fill the ice-bucket out in the hallway. He saw a salesman standing in the hallway, talking to someone hidden around a corner. Angel filled his bucket and looked down the hall to see a guy banging on a door, when he looked back the Salesman was gone. Angel walked past the man, still standing in front of the closed door and entered his room. Locking the door, he stuck the bottled blood into the bucket. Sensing another presence in the room with him, he put the lid on the bucket before turning around. A dark-haired young lady wearing a light floral dress stepped out of the bathroom. She tried to pass herself off as the maid but Angel wasn't fooled.
"Is she a thief?" Dawnster asked.
"If she is, she chose the wrong room", Giles told her.
"Just watch", Dawn said.
Angel said he had nothing to steal, as she said she wasn't trying to. Angel wasn't interested in her explanation and started dragging her out by the arm but she was hiding from someone. They noticed the lock turning so Angel pushed her to the wall for her to behind the door when it opened, and he opened it to see the guy who was banging on the door kneeling on the floor with a lock-pick. He knew the woman was in here and wanted to come in, but Angel denied and told him he wouldn't come in. Eventually, the guy pulled aside his jacket to reveal a gun in a holster, so Angel let him step in before slamming the door on his face, staggering him back, and as he tried to take out the gun, Angel grabbed his arm, twisting it, and holding his ear, dragged him to the elevator, throwing him inside where the bellhop was standing with the luggage. "He's going down", Angel said as the bellhop pushed the down button without a word.
"That was fun", Xander said. "Nice way to deal with an intruder."
"So people are after this woman?" Buffy asked. "What did she do?"
"You're about to find out soon", Maclay said.
The woman was awed and introduced herself as Judy but an uninterested Angel walked into his room, closing the door, and it came back to present day as Angel looked at that door. Wesley and Cordelia were researching the place, noting it had shut down on December 16 th , 1979, and that it was a historical landmark now, and had no buyers either. Cordelia then told Wesley that Angel hadn't told them the point to all of this, and Wesley eventually agreed.
"Why does the place have no buyers?" Dawnster asked.
"You're gonna find that out too", Rosenberg told her.
Cordelia then showed Wesley a photo of Angel in the hotel in 1952, and quipped that Vamps didn't photograph well, but Wesley then pointed out Angel had a personal connection to the place, and that he was ashamed to tell them of it.
"So he did something that had him ashamed", Buffy noted. "How bad was it?"
"Really bad", Summers said. "And really human too."
In 1952, Angel lit a cigarette as a jaunty song played in the next room, while the salesman from earlier turned down the volume, and then lay his hand on a table, picking and inspecting a gun. Angel poured himself a glass of blood while the salesman sat on the edge of his bed, pressing the pillow up against his head's side. Angel was about to take a drink from his glass when he heard a gunshot from the room, while the record got stuck, but Angel after the slightest hesitation drunk the blood, no apparent emotion on his face.
The past people were disturbed.
"The guy….killed himself?" Dawnster asked as the future people nodded. "Why?"
"It's complicated", Dawn said.
"Why didn't Angel do anything?" Xander asked.
"Right now, he was trying to keep a low profile, minimum contact with anyone of the positive or negative kind", Harris explained to him.
"Still", Xander started.
"You're not him, you won't understand", Tara said to Xander and he sighed.
Angel walked down the hallway in present day while in the 1952, the bellhop and manager did too in the other direction, knowing about the suicide now and entered the room, finding the salesman lying by the bed. The manager was incredulous as this was the 3 rd suicide in 3 months, and asked why they couldn't do it in their own homes.
"3 suicides in 3 months", Buffy said, now starting to put the pieces together. "All here."
"Something is causing them, right?" Willow asked. "Or someone."
"Yeah, and we'll be seeing 'em later", Rosenberg told them.
The bellhop looked at the body, saying the guy seemed depressed. He talked more when the manager heard demonic whispering as someone growled. "Three in three months. They'll shut you down." The manager agreed, telling the bellhop they weren't calling the cops or carpet cleaners or they'd be shut down, so they'll store the dead man in the meat locker.
"So that's the thing making people act a certain way", Giles noted, trying to figure out what it was.
"They aren't even going to report this", Buffy said, shocked.
"They're affected by the Demonic presence", Dawn told her.
Later, a screenwriter, an actor and a writer were talking about the suicide, the actor thinking it was terrible but the writer said outside parties shouldn't be involved. An old man was sitting as the demonic voice taunted him about his safety.
"This thing really has everyone wrapped around its finger", Dawnster said.
"Yeah, and this place is creepy because of it", Buffy agreed.
At an observatory, Judy walked to where Angel was standing, smoking, and he tried to ignore her as she said the world was ending in the show they were watching, Angel dryly saying it was exciting. They talked about the salesman, Angel commenting the wallpaper could have driven him to do this, as Judy said she hated it here but it was nicer than some places, and Angel said it was a place. Judy then thanked him for helping her back then, though he didn't have to, and he looked at her for the first time, telling her she'd miss the world's end, before turning back, and she finally left while saying she'd see him around.
"She's kind of weird", Xander commented.
"Isn't Angel too?" Harris asked and he nodded, conceding.
Black and white picture of the bellhop being arrested were shown as Wesley said he'd been arrested for murdering and storing the body of a salesman in a meat locker in 1952, when Angel was in the hotel, and he'd been executed in 1954. Cordelia wondered who'd died because Angel had screwed up 50 years ago, calling it a puzzle dryly.
"But didn't the guy commit suicide?" Dawnster asked.
"Once they stored the body in a meat locker, they signed an arrest warrant", Tara pointed out.
Back in 1952, the old man joined the screenwriter, actor and writer, the four agreeing this was too perfect for a suicide and considered it a locked door mystery. Angel walked up the stairs behind them, walking to his room when he noticed Judy who called him to her room, and he stepped in, closing the door behind him as she said the salesman had been murdered so there'd be police and questions, and said she'd told him just in case, while assuring it didn't mean he had something to hide. Angel said everyone here had something to hide.
"Including her", Buffy said about Judy.
She said she owed him due to what he'd done for her before, and then tried to light her cigarette, failing and then gave up when it broke while she said to Angel it'd look bad if they left now. Angel said he knew the guy from before was a PI, not her boyfriend, while flicking his lighter for her as she lit her cigarette on it. Judy said he probably worked for the City Trust Bank of Salina, Kansas, where she was a teller, pulling a satchel from under her bed and revealing rolled bank notes inside, 1000 marked on each note.
"So wait, she stole money from where she worked and ran off?" Willow asked in surprise. "Wow, didn't expect that!"
"Yeah, she seemed a little off but innocent still", Tara agreed.
"She did something because she was desperate and didn't think rationally", Maclay explained to them.
"We can just let Judy herself take it from here", Summers said.
Judy said she hadn't spent any of it or even touched it, and Angel asked why she'd stolen it, to which she said she was angry. She'd lover her job and a guy whom she was going to marry but then the bank had found out about her and fired her, and he'd broken it off on finding out too, so she'd stolen and ran off, and made Angel ask why they'd fired her, to which she said her mother had been colored, and so she was mixed race who'd been passing for white, her blood was tainted. Angel stepped closer with a slight smile, saying it was just blood.
"So they fired her because she was mixed", Buffy said with a sigh. "You're right Willow, racism is among the top 3 useless ideas ever made."
"If she was a good worker who liked what she did, why fire her over skin color, which isn't even visible by the way?" Tara agreed.
"People weren't rational back in the day, you know?" Rosenberg said.
"Are they still?" Giles asked.
"More in some respects, less in others", Summers shrugged.
Judy said she wasn't one thing or the other, she was nothing, and Angel said he knew what that was like. Judy sank in her chair, saying she was a thief, as Angel said fear made people do stupid things, referring to her employers who'd fired her, and Judy found herself trapped. Angel said she wasn't, and walked over to the bag, assuring the cops would never find it because he'd help her, and lead her out of the room.
"I knew he'd help her", Buffy said with a proud smile, no one noticing the grim looks of the future people.
"Yeah, but the Demon seems pretty next level to me", Willow told Buffy.
"Angel battles them all the time", Dawnster smirked.
In present day, Wesley and Cordelia had found a picture of Judy and info on her too, but there was no death date, she'd been presumed dead after checking into the Hyperion in 1952 when federal authorities were tracking her over stealing from the bank.
"She died?" Tara asked, everyone shocked now.
"It just says presumed dead", Xander told her.
"Just watch", Dawn said.
Angel lead Judy down the basement in 1952, assuring her there'd be no cops, and hid the bags on top of some big round pipes running along the ceiling while Judy ranted that going to prison was like being buried alive. Angel heard the demonic whispering and told Judy to go back, since there was something in the place making everyone act crazy. Judy said if she put the money on the bank's doorstep and they found out that she didn't spend it, they could forgive her, while Angel looked at her.
"Would that work?" Dawnster asked.
"Honestly, can't tell", Maclay shook her head.
In present day, Angel was down the basement. He pulled over a chair, stepped on it and pulled an extremely dusty moneybag down from the where he'd hidden it in 1952. All the money was still in it, untouched. Suddenly he heard the same whispering start that he'd heard in the past.
"So the money is still here, as is the Demon", Buffy said, the mystery only deepening for all of the past people.
"Guess she is dead then", Xander sighed.
"Poor her", Willow muttered.
Wesley had figured out there was a pattern of a force affecting everyone at the Hyperion, and Cordelia arrived, saying it was a Thesulac aka paranoia Demon that whispered to the victims and fed on their innate insecurities. Wesley was dumbfounded that she knew only for her to reveal the cordless, saying Angel wanted to talk as Wesley took it from her.
"Right, a Thesulac!" Giles finally remembered the name. "I could not remember the name is all."
"So it's what they said?" Buffy asked.
"Yes, this Thesulac is feeding on everyone's insecurities at the Hyperion", Giles said to them all. "And has been for a long time."
Cordelia had a big grin as Angel told Wesley the Thesulac had claimed this place even before it had been built, and as electric sparks flew, said it was still here. There were more sparks as the lights came on and told the two to come down to the Hyperion with Gunn so they could force it to become corporeal and kill it. Wesley said he'd research the raising ritual but Angel had already done that.
"When did he do that?" Dawnster asked in surprise.
"1952", Summers shrugged.
In 1952, downtown Hollywood, a bookstore owner called Denver was watching a radio program with a laugh track, when Angel arrived, wanting info on Demons, and Denver tossed him a book, which Angel dropped as it burnt his hands. It was the Holy Bible! Angel stared at Denver in his Vamp face as Denver pulled out a cross and wooden stake and hurried through the apparently empty bookstore to the open door.
"How did he know Angel was a Vampire?" Xander asked in surprise.
"The guy has a reputation among the Demon community", Harris told him. "It ain't built on love and support."
"Well, guess Angel can't count on him for help", Buffy sighed.
"Just watch", Rosenberg smirked.
Denver was ranting in the night and passers-by watched as Angel grabbed him in a neck lock from behind, knowing of his reputation, and then said he hadn't opened a vein in ages but would if Denver kept this up, then asked him for the books, letting him go.
"So, he can then", Buffy said lamely.
"The guy is actually pretty reasonable about his worldview", Summers said to Buffy. "More than most of us are."
"Really?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah", Maclay nodded.
"Damn! So it's just us who need to grow up", Buffy sighed.
The hotel manager was reading LA Times as the bellhop arrived, saying he'd made the salesman fit since he wasn't originally. The actress, actor, writer and old man were arguing now, accusing each other of murder while Judy sat in her room with a book, then heard whispers and closed it as the Demonic voice said. "They know about you. They'll turn you in." Judy got up. "You'll go to prison. How long do you think someone like you would last in prison?" Judy closed the window and there were no more words but the whispering continued.
"The Thesulac is getting worse", Giles noted grimly. "And since it is still around, it would be very hard to take down."
Angel and Denver were in the backroom with books, as Angel asked how to kill the Thesulac but Denver said they could only run from it, but then said it had to be made corporeal with an incantation and an orb of Ramjarin which he could let Angel have for cheap, but Angel said he wanted it for free, so Denver agreed, while adding sacred herbs and divining powder to hurt it. He also pulled out a fighting ax for Angel, and he told Denver to pack it all. Denver didn't get that a Vampire wanted to slay a Thesulac to protect humans, and Angel didn't either.
"He's the one and only Vampire with a soul", Buffy smiled. "Or was at that point at least."
"To be honest, two isn't a huge number either", Dawn said to her.
"So Angel and Spike are the unique Vampires", Willow noted. "Like Judy due to her skin color back in the day, sadly, they don't belong anywhere either."
"I think they do", Tara said. "With the good guys."
"Yup", Maclay agreed with a nod.
In the hotel, the manager and bellhop had joined the argument as well at this point but then the PI Angel had thrown out arrived, holding up his badge, and then a picture of Judy, saying he was looking for her.
"Now she's in trouble", Xander muttered as all paled.
Angel then walked into the hotel with his ax and bag while in present day Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn arrived. Later, Cordelia sprinkled powder on a landing of steps leading up as Wesley read an incantation and asked Gunn for the orb, but Gunn wanted a 'please' so Wesley said it while asking him to be careful, but Gunn tossed it to him instead. Angel told them to ignore what the Thesulac was saying but Cordelia said the two had been like this in the car.
Everyone chuckled now as Giles said. "For some reason, I am not surprised."
Wesley held up the glowing orb, continuing the incantation as the air above the landing shivered and bulged. In 1952, Angel stepped out of the elevator and saw many angry people clustered around Judy, all angrily calling her out as Angel passed two guys leaning against the hallway walls. He then dropped the ax and bag, walking faster as the commotion escalated. Judy then said. "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!" She saw Angel and broke free of their grip, tears streaming down her face as she took a couple of running steps towards him. "It was him!" Angel stopped dead. "Look in his room! Go ahead, look! He's got blood! He's a monster!" Everybody fell silent, staring at Angel.
The past people fell silent too, horrified, and even feeling angry on Angel's behalf. Yes, even Giles and Xander.
"How could she….he tried to help her and she does this?" Dawnster said angrily, while the rest just didn't comment.
The bellhop now had Angel's bag while the PI had his ax, and they came behind him, the PI knocking Angel down with the ax as the people now jumped on Angel, hitting and screaming, while Judy watched with tears. Angel didn't fight back, just looked at Judy whose form blurred before his eyes as they continued beating him. Then, they dragged him out above the back of the lobby, pushing him up against the railing. The bellhop hurried halfway down the steps to get a better view, slapping the bannister and telling everyone to string him up. Somebody threw a rope over a rafter and slipped the noose at one end of it around Angel's neck while the other was being tied to the railing, with the whole crowd screaming encouragement. Angel looked over at Judy, who was still sobbing as the others yelled and screamed for his death. They set him on top of the railing. The PI and the old man pushed Angel of the banister and he dropped until he hits the end of the rope. Judy let out a scream while the mob cheered and the bellhop laughed.
The scene was just disturbing to everyone, but anything involving mob justice usually was, especially since Angel hadn't even done anything.
Then they suddenly fell silent, staring, while Judy sobbed. The crowd then melted away while Angel was swinging, and the manager finally came to his senses. Judy walked off, sobbing, while the bellhop still couldn't figure anything out and ran off too.
"He tried to help and they all just….." Buffy trailed off.
"The Thesulac brought it all out of them", Maclay pointed out.
"Still…" Buffy said.
"Never said they weren't at fault either", Maclay told her.
"And Judy, she just betrayed him!" Xander snapped.
"Yeah, she did", Harris nodded. "And there is no justification for what she did either, other than the Thesulac bringing out her fear and encouraging her to do it."
As soon as he was gone Angel's eyes snapped open. He took a hold of the rope above his head and pulled himself up, pulling the noose from around his neck and dropped down to the lobby floor, catching himself on his hands. As he straightened up the air on the stairs began to shiver and bulge and the Thesulac became corporeal. He was an ugly gray faced demon in a long hooded cape with tentacles sticking out from under it like a fringe.
"So this is what a Thesulac looks like", Giles noted, never having seen one in person before.
"This thing is responsible for the whole mess", Buffy snarled angrily.
"Why didn't Angel end him back then?" Dawnster asked.
"Just look", Dawn said.
The Thesulac said. "Well, I don't know about you", he laughed, "but I'm stuffed! God I love people! - Don't' you?" He laughed again, "they feed me their worst and I kind of serve it right back to them, and the fear and prejudice turns to certainty and hate, and I take another bite and mmm-mmm-mmm!" More laughing. "What a beautiful, beautiful dance!" He moved down from the landing towards Angel. "Oh, you got your feelings hurt, didn't you? See now what happens when you stick your neck out for them? They throw a rope around it!" Angel started to walk towards the door. "And you thought you'd made a friend. News flash! You had! Angel stopped but didn't turn around. "That's what made her the yummiest morsel of all." He laughed. "You reached her, buddy! Restored her faith in people. Without you she would have been just another appetizer. But you plumped her up good! Now, she's a meal that's gonna last me a lifetime!" He laughed then drifted closer towards Angel's back. "Hey, you know what? There is an entire hotel here just full of tortured souls that could really use your help. - What do you say?" There was indistinct whispering, then nothing but the sound of the demons tentacles whipping back and forth as it waited for Angel's answer. Angel without turning around, now crushed and embittered said. "Take them all." The demon began to laugh and repeated Angel's 'take them all,' while Angel walked out the front of the hotel.
Now the past people were even more horrified. The people betraying Angel they could see coming, but Angel doing this, they hadn't.
"He just left the Demon there to feast on people?" Buffy said, now shocked, not having expected him to do that.
"But he has a soul now!" Dawnster said. "He is supposed to be good!"
"Don't you have a soul?" Summers asked her.
"Yeah, what does that have to do with this?" Dawnster asked.
"If say, you were in his place, would you want to help those people after what they did to you?" Willow asked Dawnster, and now she had no answer.
"I'll be honest, I wouldn't", Xander muttered.
"Having a soul made him human, not an actual angel", Tara said.
"Yep, he thinks, feels and behaves like a real human being", Summers agreed. "And this was a human reaction."
"Horrible, but human", Rosenberg agreed.
"Still, never thought this would happen", Xander said.
"Me neither", Buffy sighed, still not able to wrap her head around this.
"Well, he was alive for a long time before we knew him", Giles said.
"Yeah, stuff changes a lot during years you know", Harris said.
"Like how he went from this to homeless", Dawn added.
"Did his own guilt from this made him go that way?" Buffy asked out of curiosity.
"No, but there is a lot of guilt to go around in his case, for a lot of stuff", Maclay said sadly, and everyone felt bad for Angel, due to how much he had gone through since getting a soul, including a lot of stuff they'd never even seen.
The Thesulac manifested in present day, now taunting the gang as he said he detected more tasty morsels, especially Wesley. Angel told him he should have gotten out, but the Thesulac said he'd room service for 50 years, the paranoia being like fine wine. Gunn aimed his crossbow and pinned one of Thesulac's tentacles to the banister of the stairs. The Thesulac wrapped one of his other tentacles around Gunn's hand holding the crossbow and tossed him against the wall. Gunn dropped to the floor and looked back up at the demon. Cordelia and Wesley ran in different directions and while the demon was distracted and Angel jumped into a forward roll, grabbing a hold of one of the demon's other tentacles. Angel rolled back to his feet with it in his grip. "The kitchen is closed." He shoved the end of the tentacle against the exposed wires in the fuse box. There was an explosion of sparks and blue electricity runs up the tentacle and wrapped around the demon. All four of them stood and stared as the Thesulac hung in the air, screaming after which there was an explosion of white light and the Thesulac was gone.
"It's gone", Dawnster sighed in relief. "The thing that caused all this mess, finally."
"Guess it's a good thing people don't give in to paranoia then", Buffy muttered.
"If more people did, incidents like this would happen daily", Rosenberg said to her.
"No one wants that", Giles muttered.
Wesley was surprised the Thesulac considered him so paranoid while Angel headed up the stairs to Judy's old room, where she was sitting on a chair, now withered and old.
"She's still alive!" Willow said.
"But didn't the place shut down?" Xander asked.
"She still didn't leave", Harris said.
"Why?" Buffy asked.
Tara realized why. "Guilt."
Angel called out. "Judy." Judy said. "I don't hear them anymore. - Are they gone?" Angel came to stand in front of her. "Yeah." He got down on one knee in front of her and slowly reached for her hand, Judy smiling at him: "It's you." Angel smiled back at her ever so slightly. "Yeah, Judy. It's me." Judy reached up to touch his face. "You look the same." Angel said. "I'm not." Judy was filled with guilt. "They killed you - because of me. Angel shook his head at her. "I killed you." Angel shook his head. "No. No. No." Judy explained. "He kept them from the door. He told me I'd be safe. - Am I safe?" Angel assured. "You're safe." Judy asked. "Can I go out now?" Angel said. "Yeah. You can go out." Judy gave him a big smile and started to get up from her chair. Angel helped her up. "Let me help you." Judy was helped by Angel to her bed. "I just - I need to take a little rest first. Just a little rest." Angel said. "Easy." He lowered her onto the bed, Judy holding on to his hands: "I'm so sorry I killed you. Can you forgive me?" Angel looked down at her. "Of course." Judy felt a burden leaving her. "I'm just going to rest. Just for a minute - and then - I'm going to go out." Judy closed her eyes and died.
After this, the past people couldn't really bring themselves to stay angry at Judy anymore, and the scene was touching, to say the least.
"He forgave her", Xander muttered, wondering if he could do it.
"So, he fed on her for all those 50 years?" Buffy asked and Summers nodded, everyone feeling horrible for her. She may have betrayed Angel out of self-preservation, but she did not deserve that.
"Poor woman", Willow sighed sadly.
"At least she died peacefully", Tara pointed out. "And was relieved of her guilt."
"Yeah, that was good", Dawnster said with a smile.
"Humanity is so complicated, isn't it?" Rosenberg asked.
"Complicated might be an understatement", Giles said truthfully.
Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn sat at the bottom of stairs, waiting for Angel as Wesley was still incredulous at being called paranoid, and then Angel arrived, Cordelia looking forward to leaving the place, but Angel said. "We're moving in." Cordelia now said. "I mean, a few throw pillows what's not to love?" Wesley moved to Angel. "Angel, surely you more than anyone must appreciate, how for the better part of the last century this place has been host not only to a malevolent demonic presence, but the very worst faces of humanity! - This is a house of evil." Angel looked around the hotel. "Not anymore." Wesley took a look around himself then leaned in closer to Angel. "Angel - you don't - find me - especially paranoid, do you?" Angel said. "Not especially." Wesley was relieved. "Oh, thank god! - I was worried." The screen went black.
"So that's how they made this place their base", Buffy said. "Never knew the story behind this place."
"Now I'm wondering if knowing it was a better idea", Willow muttered.
"Why did the Thesulac said Wesley was paranoid?" Dawnster asked.
"The paranoia is strong in him, you'll see later", Summers said cryptically.
"Hungry?" Maclay asked.
"After that? Who wouldn't be?" Xander asked.
"Well then, let's go and eat, then we can discuss whatever you want", Summers said as they nodded, the intensity of this recording still fresh in their minds, and left the room.
So next up is a break.
Man I loved this episode. This, along with 'Dear Boy', 'Darla', 'The Trial', 'Reunion', 'Redefinition', 'Reprise', 'Epiphany' and 'Disharmony' were the best episodes of this Season for sure IMO, loved those.
Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed and see you all next time with the break chapter, and then 'First Impressions'. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!