Devlin and Debbie follow Angel at a leisurely distance, with Spike sitting in the back seat. "You comfy back there?," Dev asks with a grin.

"More comfortable that I'd be in a car with people who don't trust me."

"How do you know that's not the case?," Debbie inquires.

"He said people," Devlin notes. "As in more than one."

"And yet you trust Angel?," Spike asks.

"He never hurt anyone I care about." Spike has to spend a few seconds thinking this through. Is she talking about Devlin? But he wouldn't be there with her if it hadn't been for Spike. He's stumped. Buffy had plenty of grievances against Darla and Drusilla, but making Angel and Spike weren't two of them.

"Do you know what he thinks of you?"

"That I'm a confused, wayward girl in need of guidance and mentoring."

"Okay, you do know. It doesn't bother you that he's so bloody condescending?"

"He means well. And he doesn't want anything from me."

"Bollocks."

"You agree that he's hot for her?," Devlin asks Spike. "How could he not. Look at her." Dev puts his right arm around her shoulders. She takes his right hand in her right hand and smiles uncomfortably, appreciative of the compliment but disturbed by his false insinuations about Angel.

"Deb's not his type."

"She's a Slayer."

"She's not a blonde."

"So that really is his thing. Talk about shallow," Devlin snipes.

"Angel gets his rocks off rescuing people. That's why he's interested in you, Deb. He needs to change you life so he can feel better about his own. But your life doesn't need changing. At least not the kind Angel has in mind." Devlin appreciates what he incorrectly interprets as Spike's endorsement of their love.

"As long as he doesn't wanna kill or kidnap me, I'm cool with Angel."

"What about me?," Spike asks. "I don't fancy doing any of those things to you."

"Someone's desperate to be loved," Debbie jokes.

"Spike's just feeling left out," Dev explains, quickly kissing Deb on the lips and taking her left hand in his right. "All those years when you were with Dru, and I was the third wheel. Now you know how I felt." Deb puts his right hand on her left thigh.

"Don't bring me into your little family drama," Debbie tells Devlin. She thinks what bothers Spike is that Angel and Wesley have girlfriends, while he's still uncoupled. "I know what you're going through," Deb says to Spike.

"Somehow, I doubt that."

"No joke. Last year, my best friend Cynthia went steady with Theo, and I was the odd girl out for six months. Until Devlin showed up." He puts his hand on her stomach. She smiles and leans back.

"Spike's not looking for a girl," Dev tells her. "If he was, he wouldn't be slumming around these parts. He'd be in Rome." Spike hits the back of Dev's head rest with a split-second left jab so hard that it sends Dev's nose into the steering wheel, causing him to nearly lose control of the vehicle. Debbie snarls and reaches her left hand back to grab Spike by the neck. He calmy intercepts her left hand with his right, entangling his fingers with hers and bending the joints back just enough to hurt the Slayer.

"I think you'll find it much more fun to put your hands on the other vampire in this car." He lets go, having restored his dignity by reminding the kiddies who they're messing with. She whimpers. Dev puts his right hand to her left cheek.

"Let it go, baby. Old Spike's not to be trifled with." He runs his hand down her left arm, gently takes hold of her injured hand, massages the joints, and puts her left pinkie in his mouth. She smiles and coos. Spike senses a strange and unhealthy William-and-Dru dynamic at work, with Devlin firing Debbie up so he can then cool her down, protecting her from danger and inspiring her with his outlandish deeds.

"Are we there yet?," Debbie asks, somewhat bored after more than two-and-a-half hours of driving. "We've been circling this lake for, like, twenty minutes."

"I guess the Oz and Nina haven't smelled any of their kin," Spike infers.

"I wonder what PETA's stance on this would be?," Devlin muses. "They're definitely against holding animals in captivity. But are werewolves animals or people? I'm not sure if they have a position on turning people into pets."

"I think they'd be against it," Deb offers, going along with his conceit. "You think we should report this guy?"

"Who knows? If Oz had gone to them first, maybe the werewolves would be free by now."

"But they wouldn't be human."

"Good point. How would they view the issue of turning animals into people?" Angel puts on the brakes.

"Finally!," Debbie exclaims. It's well past midnight, and she didn't get much sleep the previous night. The three of them get out. Wesley stops his bike, and he and Fred put their feet on the ground. Angel, Nina and Oz are joined by Gunn, who thought this would be a nice break from legal work. The nine of them converge. Nina and Oz try to sniff out the enemy while Wes, Gunn and Fred load their rifles and pistols.

"They're all around us," Oz reports. Everyone looks for hiding spots. There are a few bushes: an embankment at the edge of the lake, a large rock and a long, thin tin shack. Otherwise, this is flat, open low desert. The nighttime views are murky but vast, making the individual feel small. It's very quiet, creating the sense of being very alone in a vast wilderness. Combine that with the knowledge that some unseen enemy may be hunting you, and the ambience is quite unnerving. More than anything, you want to do something.

"Let me go out alone," Debbie whispers to Angel. "I can draw them out."

"No," he quickly replies.

"I won't use you as bait," Devlin adds, explaining Angel's point for him, which both vampires find odd.

"They aren't be stupid enough to attack all of us at once," she argues.

"Maybe if Oz and Nina went out," Dev suggests. "He might try to capture them and reveal himself."

"No one is being used as bait," Angel maintains, angered but not surprised by the distinction Dev draws between Debbie and Nina. "Quiet," Angel says. "Nobody move." The three vampires perk their ears up. Devlin recognizes the sound of a bolt-action rifle being cocked. Angel and Spike look in the direction of the shack, 150 yards away. Devlin takes out his pistol and fires two shots at the apex of the roof. Ezra, who's lying on the opposite side of the roof while balancing his gun on the apex, has to pull back, as both shots strike the roof within a foot of his rifle.

"Everybody get down," Wesley says. Gunn, Fred and Debbie already had. While Oz and Nina crouch, and Angel stands in front of Nina, protecting her with his body, Devlin sprints for the shooter.

"And he calls me impulsive," Spike grouses before running after the boy to provide backup.

"They better hope he doesn't have a crossbow," Fred comments. Just then, a wolf rushes up the embankment forty feet to her left and attacks. Wesley points his rifle, but the wolf swats it away before he can shoot. Angel comes to their aid, knocking the wolf down with a left cross and right hook. Meanwhile, a wolf comes out of the brush fifty yards to Nina's right, attacking her and Oz. Gunn gets off a shot, but it's travelling very fast on all fours, and he misses. Debbie steps in front of them, a mace in her right hand.

"I'm the one you want. Come and get me." The wolf leaps at Debbie, who calmy holds her ground and swats him between the eyes. He gets on his hind legs and swings his right paw for her head. She swerves her head back to avoid the blow. Up in the vanguard, Devlin is caught by surprise when a werewolf emerges from the shack only fifteen feet from him. He gets run over. Spike, who's thirty feet behind, tries to catch the wolf and wrestle him down, but the quick animal eludes his grasp. Now there is nothing between this wolf and Nina and Oz.

"That thing you do," Nina says to Oz. "Where you change when it's not the fool moon. Can you do that for self-defense?"

"Never tried. Rather not find out." He takes her hand and runs away, past Debbie and past Angel, in order to buy time. As they look on, Wes picks up his rifle, Fred aims her pistol, and they each put a dart in the wolf Angel is fighting. Using his rifle as a club, Gunn assists Debbie in holding back the second wolf. As Wes and Fred reload, Angel turns to protect Nina from the third wolf. He goes bumpy and growls. The wolf stands on its hind legs and growls back. Wesley aims his rifle at the stationary target. But just before he can pull the trigger, Spike leaps on the wolf's back and wrestles it to the ground.

"You bloody idiot!," Wes calls out. The wolf Debbie's fighting stands on its legs to tower over her. She hits it in the head with a leaping right kick. The wolf falls on his back. When he rolls over, Gunn hits the front left leg before it can make a charge on all fours. Debbie pummels the hapless beast with a mace to the right ear. The animal whimpers, turns and gallops away. Wes turns to his right, notices this positive development, and hits the wolf in the back from sixty feet. It slows down, but stays up. Gunn aims and puts a dart in its backside. It rolls over, unconscious. Deb pats Charles on the left shoulder.

"Good work."

"Yeah. You too." Deb raises her right hand. They high-five.

"Is Spike trying to pin that wolf?," Debbie asks. "And where's Dev?"

Devlin had made it his mission to catch Ezra. The wolf attack was a perfect screen for a getaway. Moreover, he wasn't sure how good the "Good Guys" were at battling humans, since killing them might run afoul of their moral code. He found Ezra on top of the thirty foot-high roof. The sides of the building were twenty feet – too high for a single leap. And the metal siding was impossible to get a grip on and climb up. The nature of the structure made him safe from vampires. And the high-powered rifle he carried made him safe from humans. His plan was to make an all-out assault too risky to attempt. The do-gooders would take his wolves, thereby achieving victory. But he could escape to round up more. The shallow slope of the roof made it impossible for Devlin to shoot Ezra from up close. But a retreat would leave Devlin vulnerable to a head shot. So, he goes inside. The lights are off in the eighty foot-long, thirty foot-wide shed. It's mostly empty. Inside the sheet metal is a wooden frame. Devlin considers torching the place to flush Ezra out. There's no way to get to the roof from inside. (Ezra used a ladder propped up against the outside. Using that ladder would open the climber to point-blank fire.) To win, he'd have to try something Ezra did not anticipate.

Devlin exits out the far side of the shed and runs back to the cars in a clockwise arc, using shrubs, cacti, rocks and small hillocks as cover. Also, to aim at Dev, Ezra would have to turn his back on everyone else. After quite a tussle, the wolf throws Spike off of him. Angel kicks the wolf in the head before it can get up, and the animal retreats before suddenly turning and leaping at Angel before the others can aim to get a good shot. Spike joins in the defense, grabbing the wolf's right arm as Angel grabs its left. Their combined efforts throw the wolf ten feet back. As it lies prone, Fred puts a dart in its stomach. It slowly but surely goes to sleep. The gang catches their breath. Suddenly, Angel hears his car start. Devlin's behind the wheel. (Assuming a wolf wasn't going to steal it, Angel had left the keys in the ignition.)

"My car!"

"Spike! Get in!! Everyone else: get back!!!," Dev calls out as he revs the engine.

"This should be fun," Spike responds as he leaps over the back seat and into the front passenger seat. Dev takes off.

"What the hell is that boy doin'?," Gunn asks.

"He's ruining my transmission. Does that kid even know how to drive a manual?" A bullet hits the ground two feet to the left of Angel.

"You heard Dev," Debbie reminds them. "Get back!"

She grabs Oz and runs towards Devlin's car and crouches behind it as more shots ring out. Wesley takes Fred by the arm and races towards the embankment, hiding on the reverse slope where they are safe from fire. Gunn and Angel hit the deck right where they are standing. But Angel quickly spots Nina and runs towards her, taking a bullet in the left calf. Another bullet hits the rear driver's side door of Devlin's Mustang. For his part, Devlin quickly shifts into second, then third gear, and bears down on the side of the shed. Driving at the gunfire: this was a plan Spike could get behind. The zooming car distracted Ezra, preventing him from hitting Wes or Fred as they made their way to safety. His first shot at Dev hits the front left tire. The second takes out the front left headlight. The third hits the front window, partially shattering it before passing only inches from Devlin's right ear. Angel hears the shots, and fears for the safety of his vehicle.

"Why couldn't he take his own car?," Angel asks angrily, knowing the reason is that Dev is evil and, therefore, inconsiderate. Driving into the shed at an angle, Devlin busts through one side and out the other, stripping metal and shattering wooden frame. The roof buckles and collapses. Ezra falls ten feet before letting go of his rifle and grabbing onto what's left of a wooden support, landing with both feet on the ground. Devlin quickly drives round the shed, turns on the headlight and bears down on Ezra from behind. In front of him, Wesley charges on his motorcycle, with Angel and the others following on foot. He runs to his left, where rocks and hills make a motorized pursuit difficult. Devlin slams on his breaks and Spike jumps out. He quickly closes with Ezra, leaps through the air and tackles him to the ground. After slowing down to negotiate the rough terrain, Wesley stops his bike fifteen feet from the target and gets out. Spike has him in an armlock from behind.

"Looks like I caught myself a desert rat," Spike says. Ezra grabs a cross in his back pocket and puts it to the back of Spike's hand. He grimaces and lets go. Ezra uses the crucifix to force Spike to back away and join the others.

"There should be rule against things like this," Devlin complains. "Doesn't Jesus get offended when evil guys use his symbol to protect themselves?"

Ezra's slightly shorter than Spike and a little more wiry. He's in his late forties, with short black hair graying at the temples. He wears black boots, khaki pants and an olive t-shirt, his tanned, ruddy face and the scar on his neck illustrating the rough desperado life he's led. Ezra remains calm. He's been in tougher jams. "So the Los Angeles office of Wolfram & Hart has sent me a welcoming committee. Not a big surprise. Your Chicago, Miami and Mexico City offices have already shown great interest in my work."

"Then maybe you should have stayed on their turf," Angel responds.

"Who the Hell are you working for?," Debbie asks.

"Who am I not working for is the better question."

She walks up the him. "Well, who sent you to kill me?" Devlin takes her left arm and slowly pulls her back.

"Some vamps in Vegas. A few from Phoenix also chipped in. I can give you names and addresses. Now that I've failed, their deaths are in the interests of both of us."

"In whose interests were you coming after me?," Oz asks.

Ezra looks at Oz and grins. "The marketplace. It demands. I supply. You can't fight capitalism."

"But we can do an awful lot to you," Angel threatens. Ezra brushes it off.

"Three of your offices want me alive. One wants me dead. Who do you think your superiors will side with?"

"Doesn't matter if you're already dead," Gunn answers. "And for someone as unimportant as you, we'll only get a slap on the wrist."

"Is she the reason?," Ezra asks Angel, pointing at Nina. "Relax. She was never in my sights. Her breed is too hard to tame. Then again, you might already know that," he adds with a smirk.

"You really think you can negotiate your way out of this?," Wesley inquires.

"No," he replies with a smile. Ezra has a Tec-9 stuck under the back of his pants. Spike hadn't bothered to frisk him. His right hand's been resting on his right hip. Now, he moves his hand back a couple inches without attracting suspicion, grabs the gun and aims for Oz's heart. But Devlin grabs his gun and fires, hitting Ezra's weapon as he pulls the trigger. The barrel is knocked to the side, Ezra's shot misses, and the gun flies out of his hand to the ground. Wesley also took out his pistol, but was a fraction of a second slower than Devlin on the draw. They both point their weapons at Ezra's head. He smiles and puts up his hands. "Okay, okay. You got me. But I'm worth more to you alive than dead."

"True," Angel responds. Dev and Wes aim and fire simultaneously, Devlin hitting his right shin, and Wesley his left. He goes down. They look at each other.

"Two peas in pod," Dev says to Wes. "No wonder Fred likes me." Wesley's disturbed by the momentary mind meld. Independently, they had thought of and decided to do the same action at exactly the same moment.

"That should keep 'im from goin' anywhere," Fred notes. They hear a vehicle approaching. It's a Wolfram & Hart ambulance truck. Angel told them to be ready for the werewolves. Fred, Wes and Gunn run over to the truck. Debbie slowly walks up to Ezra. "I always say a soul doesn't make people good." Then she kicks him in the teeth with her right foot, walks back to Devlin and hugs him. She can't help but appreciate the irony that it was soulless Devlin who made tracking down and catching Ezra possible. Angel and friends would rather not dwell on that fact. Especially Oz, whose life had just been saved by the soulless vampire.

"Count you blessings, pal," Devlin says to Ezra as he grabs his hair. "At least I'm not the one who'll be holding you hostage." By now, Angel, Nina and Oz have joined the others around the werewolves. Devlin drags Ezra towards them.

"So what's your deal?," Ezra whispers to Dev. "You wanna make sure you're the one who kills her?" Dev drops him, grabs Ezra's right hand, and breaks his pinky. Ezra cries out in pain. Angel looks back worrisomely. He doesn't want Dev mutilating the captive before they get a chance to find out his client list and what he gave the werewolves to keep them permanently wolfy. But Devlin quickly grabs Ezra's left arm and resumes dragging. "Were you the vampire in Sierra Leone? Yeah, you look like the guy in the pictures."

"Were you one of my head hunters?"

"No. I was laundering diamonds for the rebels."

"How much did Ferdi Sankoh put on my head?"

"Five grand."

"That's all!"

"It's a poor country. Not a bad bounty for a child killer."

"Those children were remorseless killers. Worse than demons. At least they kill for a reason."

"You're not like Angel. Or even Spike. No, you're a lot more like me."

"With one big difference. You're the one getting dragged. And I'm the one doing the dragging." Dev stops when he gets to Angel. "He's your responsibility now. Oh, and by the way, you're welcome." Angel turns away. He could never bring himself to say "Thank you" to Devlin. Doctor Colliers looks over the bodies.

"What is he doing here?," Angel asks. "Who's watching Stan?"

"The nurses," Randall replies. "He's heavily sedated. The man can hardly stand up, let alone escape." Randy counts the darts. He takes one out to read the markings that indicate dosage. "A double dosage should have been enough." He shakes his head.

"Somethin' wrong?," Fred asks.

"They've gained weight. They've filled out. Like a similarly-sized animal would. Which means they've been wolves a lot longer than poor Stan. And the longer it's been, the slimmer the chances of making it back."

"We can't leave 'em like this," Deb pleads.

"That's a death sentence of another sort." He's handed a needle. "This works directly on the brain. It's their best shot." He chuckles at his pun, then sticks the needle in the back of a wolf's neck. He's handed other needles, and does the same to two more wolves. Then Randy steps back, folds his arms and watches. Everyone's worried. Oz holds Nina's hand. Over the course of a minute, three wolves become three men. But none of them move. The medics take the paddles to chests of two of them, trying to jump start the heart. But Randy kneels down over one of them and puts his hand out to shoo the medic away. He places his ear close to the man's mouth. "This one's breathing. Barely. But breathing." They put him on a stretcher. He looks over the other men. "These two are done for," he dismissively declares before walking away to deal with the surviving werewolf. The other people on the scene think the doctor is being grossly premature. Fred, – his boss – runs up to him.

"What the hell kind of a doctor are you?"

"One who knows which patients can be saved."

"You didn't even examine them."

"Winifred, when you have done this as long as I have, you learn to recognize the moment when life leaves a body. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to do everything I can to keep our one surviving patient alive." He enters the back of the truck and checks out the man's vitals. Wesley walks over and stands behind Fred, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Our latest villain just told Angel that the two men who did not make it had been wolves for more than six months. There was no humanity left inside them."

"So then, we killed them."

"They would have been dead within months. And what they were living was no life."

"Ah guess. We probably woulda had to put 'em in cages."

"At least Ezra will finally find out what that is like."

Angel drags their prisoner to the medical truck. "Hey doc. I think you might want to take a look. He's got two open wounds, and I'd hate to have him succumb to infection."

"Of course. Strap him down," he tells his two assistants. "Now Mister Angel, how cooperative has our enemy been?"

"He's a weasel. Weasels love to sing. They think it'll win them something."

"Has he revealed the chemical composition of the drug he gave these werewolves?"

"We haven't gotten to that."

"I think I might be of assistance. This miscreant needs me to heal his wounds. And I shall. The only question is, does he want me to use anesthesia." Randy smiles as he looks at the strapped-down, helpless Ezra. Angel leaves. One glimpse of the mad scientist living inside this genial old country doctor was enough.