Summary- Angel loses his soul due to the contract with Wolfram and Hart. Lilah warns Wesley, and he, Fred and Knox escape from Angelus. Gunn has been possessed by the panther in the White Room. Robin Wood is offered a job at Barrington High, near Sunnydale, and the others decide that a new Watcher's Council is needed. Oz is sent to deal with Gunn. They decide that Lindsey may know how to destroy the contracts, and resolve to contact him. Drusilla visits Angelus, and he rejects her. A military group appears, and Buffy blackmails their general into meeting her. Angry and lonely Drusilla finds Connor and takes him to the warlock who originally altered his memories. Spike appears out of a portal intended to produce a Tarok-Han as a human, but exhibits superhuman strength in escaping from the disappointed cultists. The warlock requires an object from Connor's old life, and Drusilla goes to the Hyperion to get it. Buffy meets the general, who tells her that they are trying to create supersoldiers to fight Suvolte Demons (As You Were), who are becoming inexplicably smarter. Riley Finn is dead, and his wife Sam has gone on a vengeance mission against them. She says that someone may be controlling them, and takes him back to Willow. AI follow Drusilla, and try and fail to prevent her from restoring Connor. He runs away, and Drusilla follows him and tells him how Angelus abandoned her. They find themselves in harmony. Spike's reaction to his resurrection is to get very drunk, and is picked up by a Wolfram and Hart lawyer, and taken to see Angelus. Giles comes to LA to ask Wesley to be part of the new Council. He refuses, but tells him what has happened with Angelus and Drusilla. Drusilla has restored Connor's memories, but not their memories of him. Giles calls the new Watcher's Council, and is told that Buffy and Willow have gone to Belize in a helicopter with weapons, spell ingredients and the troll hammer. Lindsey arrives in LA. Connor and Drusilla launch an attack against Wolfram and Hart. Drusilla senses and rescues Spike, and Connor and Angelus fight. He nearly kills Angelus, but in the end Drusilla saves him by throwing Angelus out of the window. He takes his contract and one other thing, after having a conversation with the First. Angelus has the Order of Taraka sent after them both, and tells them to find Sahjhan. Lindsey tells them that the contracts are spells in physical form but he does not know exactly how to destroy them, and decides to call Gwen to retrieve them. Angelus finds and releases Sahjhan, then convinces him to try to kill Connor. Wesley and Fred go to collect Cordelia from hospital, but find that she has been taken by the thing Drusilla awoke (Connor). Gwen arrives and agrees to help them, and removes LISA. Angelus is contacted by the Order f Taraka, and he tells them to kill all his enemies, not just Dru and Connor, then leaves in a helicopter. In Belize, Buffy, Willow and Sam arrive at the lair of the creature controlling the Suvoltes, where it is sending them away by plane. Willow is telepathically attacked by the creature, and Buffy and Sam attack at once. Professor Walsh intends to find Buffy and Willow's power sources, and tap them. A person called the Master appears in Barrington. Buffy encounters Angelus in Belize. They fight, and he saves the Suvolte controller and flies away. Willow's magic doesn't seem to work on him. A Tarakan assassin attacks the Hyperion, killing the Slayer Giles brought. Spike appears at the Hyperion. Buffy calls and informs them about Angelus, saying she is returning home. Spike tells them that he has a place where they will be safer from the Tarakans, Drusilla's lair, and they agree to join him. Gunn, completely possessed, warns Angelus that he had better strike soon or he will be replaced. The Master attends the school Halloween party, and tries to kidnap Dawn. The student she is with, Jared, turns out to be a demonic servant of his, and prevents Amanda from interfering while he fights Faith. He beats and hospitalises her, but Buffy arrives back and he runs. At the Watcher's Headquarters a warlock attacks and steals the Scythe. Willow says she isn't sure she can beat him, and can't find him. Amanda suggests that he was trying to kidnap Dawn in an attempt to draw Buffy into one-on-one combat. Buffy orders that Dawn be guarded. Wood discovers that the press in Barrington aren't as gullible as those in Sunnydale. Jared claims that they can't kill him, because he appears human. Spike delivers AI and associates to Drusilla, then leaves to see Buffy. The Master tries to make Xander accept Anya's death, and says that when the time comes he will be on his side. Sahjhan leaves to kill Connor. Buffy meets the Master in a demon bar, who offers to fight to avoid their conflict killing lots of Slayers. They fight and she defeats him easily. It turns out to have been Jared, magically disguised, making sure she isn't at the Council building. The Master sets his warlock to attack the Watcher's Council. He fights Willow, and when she appears to be beating him, kills Kennedy, and uses some of her blood to power him. Her eyes turn black and she beats him easily. She tries to kill him, but he manages to push her hand into Kennedy's blood, changing her hair and eyes to black and red. He reveals he works for Wolfram and Hart before she drains his power, kills him and is sucked through a portal. Dawn, with Xander and three Slayers escape through the sewers. They are intercepted by the real Master, who kidnaps Dawn and leaves the others unconscious. He tells Jared to go home, and Dawn that they were never after Buffy, it was her, because she is the Key. He starts to bleed her. A black ops group including Matthew Walsh contacts AI. The Master uses the Scythe, which is left on the ground afterwards, and Dawn's blood in a ritual to bring in a being from another world, leaving her to be rescued. As a result of this she gains the ability to see into other dimensions. The Master is Connor, and the ritual was to awaken Cordelia. Sahjhan comes to Buffy claiming to have been sent by the PTB, and offering to help her fight The Master. Willow talks to the demon which brought her through, which sends her to LA to try and cause chaos. Cordelia appears not to remember anything after Jasmine's conception. Sahjhan tells them the Master will try and leave town, and sends them to guard public transport. Willow attacks the Suvolte controller, causing it to lose control and creating enough chaos for Gwen to reach the contracts room. She takes the Angel file, but is distracted by the First for long enough for Angelus to get to her. She manages to escape with the file. Professor Walsh kidnaps the exhausted Willow in their flight. Angel says that Lindsey knows how to destroy the contracts, though he claims not to. Angel's contract is not in the file, it's empty apart from Jasmine's. They decide that it's too risky to experiment on her contract. Spike arrives in Barrington with Tarakan assassins after him, and he and Buffy continue their relationship (Sorry Shahid). Willow escapes quite easily by controlling Professor Walsh. Cordelia cows some vampires who are sceptical about her usefulness with demonic powers, but isn't ready to travel. Xander talks to Rona about her disobedience, and Buffy offers him a job as a Watcher. Willow returns without Professor Walsh. Spike forces a demon to tell him where Connor is, and he and the Slayers force them out. They manage to escape most of them, but Spike finds Connor and reveals he knows who he is before he escapes, also inadvertently informing Cordelia of his actions since his arrival, who remains with him regardless. Lindsey convinces Gwen to stay after having her confidence shaken by the First, and they embark on a relationship.
Drusilla's Lair- Day
Willow: So, uh. Back.
Oz: Back. You wanted to talk to me?
Willow: No, no. Just wanted to say hi.
Oz: Hi.
Willow: Hi! So uh,
Oz: Fine. You?
Willow: Great! Well, not great, what with the going evil and all that.
Oz: Hm. But you're-
Willow: Yeah. Pretty much. And the-
Oz: Better. So, uh, is there-
Willow: No.
Oz: Of course…
Willow: Yeah.
Oz: You're-
Willow: And you've-
Oz: Sorta. And then-
Willow: Exactly!
Oz: Yeah. So-
Willow: Yeah.
Oz: The whole-
Willow: Of course,-
Oz: You-
Willow: Yeah. Though… No. I mean the whole idea-
Oz: Silly.
Willow: Yeah. Not a good time.
Oz: Time?
Willow: I don't mean. I mean. Oh who cares.
(His eyebrows raise by about a whole two centimetres)
Oz: (Cautiously) You'd still?
Willow: Yeah. I mean if you don't still.
Oz: I still.
Willow: Oh. So we both still.
(They look around for a moment, then she raises her hand and the doors slam shut and lock)
Motel Room-Day
(There's a knock at the door, and Cordelia goes to open it with a knife held behind her back. She gazes flatly at the man standing there)
Cordelia: Oh, great, a pimp. That's just what I need to round off my week.
Man: Name's Whistler.
Cordelia: If I moved in pimp circles, maybe that would mean something.
Whistler: I'm really not a pimp.
Cordelia: You just dress like one and hang around cheap motels?
Whistler: I'm a demon. I was sent by the Powers That Be.
(Her expression clears and she smiles, relieved)
Cordelia: You were? Oh thank God. Come in. (He comes inside.) Oh shut the door will you?
(He turns and she grabs her mace and hits him on the back with it, knocking him to his knees. She holds the knife against his throat.)
Cordelia: Where do you people get off? So far, I have been given brain-crippling visions, demonised, ascended, amnesiaised, impregnated, possessed and put in a damn coma, and you think you can just stroll back her and expect me to go along with whatever you're going to inflict on me next?
Whistler: We're here to offer you-
Cordelia: I don't want anything you have to offer. What I want is an explanation.
Whistler: That's what we're offering.
Cordelia: Oh. Good. Explain.
Whistler: It's a little hard to talk with this knife at my throat.
Cordelia: Yeah, but on the other hand, you'll find it even harder to talk if you haven't got a throat anymore. Talk.
Whistler: Fine. It starts with Ang- actually, no. What you're interested in starts with Connor.
Cordelia: I know. Years of manipulation, Connor's birth, everything all to bring forth Jasmine. I read the transcript Files and Records wrote.
Whistler: Problem is, old Skip was lyin'.
Cordelia: What about? Jasmine wasn't a Higher Power?
Whistler: Bout as far off as you can get there.
Cordelia: What's that meant to mean?
Whistler: Don't suppose you heard about what Jasmine said before your little Greek tragedy smashed her skull in, so I'll bring you up to speed.. She said the other Powers never really cared, not like her. You wanna know what the scary thing is? She was tellin' the truth. See, all the stuff Jasmine did was fully approved.
Cordelia: The Powers, they agreed with what she did?
Whistler: Yep. Mind you, they weren't exactly keen to play a part themselves, but they helped one or two things along.
Cordelia: What things?
Whistler: I'll start at the beginning.
Cordelia: Doesn't it begin thousands of years ago?
Whistler: You mean because of the Nyazian scrolls? Nah.
Cordelia: They predicted Connor's birth.
Whistler: True, but the thing about people like Skip, they like to brag. Fact of the matter is, Jasmine was a lot more of an opportunist than he made out. She didn't do a thing until shortly after he was born.
Cordelia: What did she-. When I became a half-demon.
Whistler: In one. The original plan was to let you lie there 'til your brains blew out. She saw a way she could come to earth in him.
Cordelia: How?
Whistler: I'm getting to it. So she made you, and that was meant to be about it for a few years. Then something happened to speed up her plans.
Cordelia: When he was sent to Quor'Toth and came back grown up.
Whistler: Yep. So she altered his destiny through you.
Cordelia: How-. Oh my God.
Flashback to-
(Cordelia's eyes begin to glow with an intense white light. The light spreads, moves up her arm and into Connor, dissolving the blade of his knife and leaving him holding just the handle)
Cordelia: Let it go, honey. Just let it go. You don't need that. You don't need any of that.
Back to present
Cordelia: I thought I was helping him.
Whistler: You did. In the short term. But he had enough power in him that it could be harnessed, twisted into something else. Don't know if you ever noticed this, but he was never quite up to the same form as before you zapped him.
Cordelia: So what, she made me a demon and included in all the weird powers I got this destiny warp thing?
Whistler: One time deal only. Then she decided that the age difference was small enough for you to be the vessel for her herself and ascended you for a few changes to be made.
Cordelia: And when I came back she was dormant inside me. Until, until she was conceived.
Whistler: Hence the rain of fire.
Cordelia: Huh?
Whistler: You had to be powerful enough to be able to survive her being inside you, and to let her work through you, so she wouldn't be powerless here. Before she managed to twist your words, even a bit of downright compulsion, and she controlled your visions so you'd be there for the Beast's arrival. But the rain of fire was more than just an attention getter. It was a sacrifice of bodies and souls that gave her the power to control you. That was what the others helped her with. Broke the Beast's banishment and gave it the eye of fire.
Cordelia: And now?
Whistler: Now that Jasmine's dead, things are going back to normal. His original destiny, and power, has reasserted itself.
Cordelia: I don't think he's going to try and destroy the world.
Whistler: Doesn't say that he's going to. He's just involved in it.
Cordelia: And Angel. If we can bring him back-
Whistler: Not likely. Things changed a long time ago, just no one realised.
Cordelia: When?
Whistler: You remember Skip telling you the Powers couldn't really get their heads around love? Which by the way, should probably of tipped you off early that they weren't to be trusted. It's happened before.
Cordelia: Who with?
Whistler: Everyone's favourite brooding vampire and the Slayer who just can't seem to stay dead. Changed destiny.
Cordelia: In what way?
Whistler: Angelus returned, and woke up Acathla. He was meant to fight with the Slayer, not against. But he fought her, and the vampire they should've been fighting against was on her side.
Cordelia: Spike.
Whistler: Yeah. As it was, Buffy and Spike fought Angelus and Drusilla. He took on part of Angel's destiny there and then. Then Angel came back, and for a while we thought it didn't matter, but he left again. Not a good move for the keeping of Shanshu. Spike returned, and the Initiative put a chip in his head. Kinda funny, how the three things that can sometimes change destiny are knowing it's going to happen, love, and not believing in destiny at all. That was the next step, because from then on, Spike did a lot of the same things that Angel was doing in LA. Not for the same reasons, but he did them. And then he got a soul a soul of his own. We really realised something had gone wrong at that point. He took Angel's place in the Apocalypse, wore the amulet that Angel was meant to wear, coincidentally messing up Wolfram and Hart's plans to ensure the First's triumph by returning Angelus halfway through the fight. They effectively swapped destinies.
Cordelia: What's Spike's destiny?
Whistler: He was going to be brought back from Hell to be Wolfram and Hart's champion in the Apocalypse. Frankly I think they're happier with Angelus.
Cordelia: But Connor's meant to be the son of the vampire with a soul, and he's Angel's son.
Whistler: The reversal hadn't finished. Spike didn't even have a soul back then.
Cordelia: So, Spike's another vampire with a soul?
Whistler: No, he's human.
Cordelia: Then surely he hasn't got anything to do with this.
(For a moment Whistler's normally cheerful expression goes haunted)
Whistler: The Powers That Be aren't the sort to give up on a perfectly good tool before they have to.
Cordelia: So the apocalypse with the First was the Shanshu apocalypse, but not Wolfram and Hart's.
Whistler: Yep.
Cordelia: But they were going to help it happen.
Whistler: Hm. Well thing is, people overuse the word "apocalypse". The First would've just turned the world into it's slaves,-
Cordelia: Like Jasmine.
Whistler: But in a very different way. While when Jasmine was in control humanity would've been united against them, with the First there we would all of been easy pickings for Wolfram and Hart.
Cordelia: Okay, so the question isn't why were they helping it, but why was it helping them.
Whistler: Basically because the First and Wolfram and Hart are one. It's one of the Senior Partners.
(She removes the knife from his neck and stands back. He turns around.)
Cordelia: Can I ask a question? I'm starting to get the idea that the Powers care a lot less about protecting humans than they do about fighting demons. So why did they send you?
Whistler: They've had a change of heart.
Cordelia: Oh, right. Would I be right in thinking that a Powers That Be change of heart is pretty much the same thing as a Wolfram and Hart change of policy?
Whistler: They're…nearly identical.
Cordelia: The explanation was to try and convince me that they're being honest with us now. So I'd help them.
Whistler: Yes.
Cordelia: You don't have to manipulate us. We've always fought for you.
Whistler: I know. They don't.
Cordelia: What do you want me to do?
Whistler: Well, firstly…
(Her eyes widen and she lifts a couple of inches off the ground.)
Whistler: Control's getting better.
Cordelia: Oh crap.
Whistler: My cars just outside. You can't miss it, it's the incredibly battered one with the windows painted black. Here're the keys.
