Phoebe was standing at the front door saying goodbye to Clay. Piper, Angel, Andy and Prue were watching them. "You know you don't have to leave" Phoebe said. Clay looked over at everybody watching them. "Yea I think I should" Clay said leaning in and giving Phoebe a kiss. "I'll call you" Phoebe said as Clay left the manor. Phoebe closed the door and turned around to everybody. "I hope you guys liked the show" Phoebe said. "Phoebe we are so sorry" Prue said. Andy nodded. "Yea we had no idea…" he started to say but was cut off by Phoebe. "What? That it was my room that you guys barged into. I had more privacy when I lived in New York, a tiny island crawling with 8 million people" Phoebe said. "Yea and at least one of them was a thief" Angel said. Phoebe turned to him. "I'm sorry. Excuse me" she said. "Me and Angel got this from the museum I used to work at. Apparently that urn was supposed to be shipped to that museum" Prue explained handing Phoebe the file.
"Clay didn't buy it at some outdoor Bazar Phoebe. He stole it" Angel explained. "This can't be right" Phoebe said. "It looks right Pheebs" Piper said. "That would make sense why he wanted Prue to sell it so badly" Andy said. "Clay lied to us and he's still doing it" Prue said. Phoebe shook her head. "There's got to be some sort of explanation" she said. Angel shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know Phoebe. Maybe he's just a thief" Angel said. Phoebe looked at Angel shocked. "I can't believe you. You of all people should want to give him a second chance considering your past. Plus I changed" Phoebe said turning to Prue. "Do you remember what you thought about me before I walked back through that door" Phoebe asked. "That's different" Prue said. "How is that different" Phoebe asked. "Your my sister" Prue said. "I got a soul and wanted to repent for everything I did as Angelus. It doesn't look like Clay wants to stop lying" Angel said.
"There's got to be some mistake" Phoebe said looking back down at the files in her hand. "It gets worse" Prue said. Andy sighed. "Of course it does" he said. Everyone turned and looked at him. He held up his hands. "Sorry" he said. Prue turned back to Phoebe. "If the background information is accurate there's a curse attached to the urn" Prue explained. Phoebe looked over at Piper who sighed. "Anyone who steals it ends up dead. A victim of the guardian who protects it and she feeds off their greed" Angel said. "OK well even if that's true, Clay could have never known about it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought it here" Phoebe said. Prue just stared at Phoebe not believing what she was hearing. "Are you sure Pheebs? You wouldn't be the first Halliwell to misjudge a guy" Piper said. "No it's not about judging. It's about knowing and I know Clay" Phoebe said. "Phoebe come on. Just look at what Clay has done" Andy said.
"He put my job in jeopardy. He lied to me. Phoebe he lied to you" Prue said. "You don't know that" Phoebe said. Prue sighed and shook her head in disbelief. "Look I am not saying that he's perfect. OK and even if he is foolish enough to risk his own life, he would never risk mine" Pheobe said. Prue just stood there not sure what to say. Phoebe walked upstairs while Prue, Piper, Andy and Angel all stood there worried. "Well I for one don't trust Clay no matter what Phoebe says" Andy said. Prue nodded. "I agree but we may have another problem on our hands" she said. "The curse. It's going to go after Clay" Angel said. "Which means we have to protect him from the curse" Piper said. "We don't even know if this whole curse thing is real" Prue said. Andy nodded. "There's really nothing we can do now. We just have to wait and see if the guardian goes after him" he said. "I'll watch after him tonight. See if anything happens" Angel said. They needed to protect Clay from this curse even if this was his fault.
The next morning, Andy was called to a hotel. When he walked in to the room where the crime happened. He found a man dead on a bed with a bite of some kind on his neck. The coroner was checking the man's body. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this is a scorpion sting" the coroner said to Andy. "A scorpion sting in San Francisco" Andy said checking the body himself. "I know but that's what it looks like" the coroner said. "Any chance he was killed somewhere else and then moved here" Andy asked. The coroner shook his head. "No. The lividity is consistent with where he was found" the coroner explained. "Well I'd buy this place had roaches I'm not so sure about scorpions" Andy said. "Anything else" Andy asked. "Found someone's business card in his pocket" the coroner said looking at the business card. "Buckland's auction house…" the coroner started to read but Andy interrupted him. "Ah-ah-ah. Let me guess. Prue Halliwell" Andy said.
"Yea how'd you know" the coroner asked. Andy took the card from him and quickly thought of a lie. "They just had an auction. He must have been one of the buyers" Andy lied. He started to walk away putting Prue's card in his inside coat pocket. "Let me know when you get the report back on that sting and do me a favor. Let's keep Prue's name out of this. I don't want people hounding my fiancé about this for no reason" Andy said. The coroner looked at Andy for a second unsure. Then he nodded his head. Andy smiled at him. "Thanks" he said walking out of the room. He bumped into someone in the hallway. "Excuse me" he said. Andy stopped when he saw who he bumped into. "Clay" he said surprised. "Andy" Clay said just as surprised. "What are you doing here" Clay asked. "Murder investigation" Andy answered. Clay's eyes went wide. "Who was murdered" he asked. "Someone named Palmer Kellog" Andy asked. "Palmer" Clay said under his breath. "I have to go" Palmer said leaving.
Andy arrived at Bucklands and walked to Prue's office. He saw her looking at the urn. "Hey" he said walking in. Prue smiled at her fiancé and gave him a quick kiss. "Andy hi. What are you doing here" Prue asked. "I think we might have a problem. A magical kind of problem" Andy said. He looked at the urn and saw a scorpion on it. "A scorpion? I knew it" Andy said. Prue looked at the urn confused. "What are you talking about" she asked. "A young man died last night of a scorpion sting. Palmer Kellog. You know him" Andy asked. "I don't believe I do" Prue said. Andy pulled out Prue's business card. "Well he obviously knew you. We found your card on his body" he said holding it up for Prue to see. Prue looked worried. "Don't worry I told the coroner not to mention your name" Andy said. Prue nodded. "We did just have an auction. I met a lot of people" Prue said. Andy nodded. "That's what I told the coroner" Andy said. He walked over to the door and shut it.
"I think it was the curse" Andy said. "Why do you say that" Prue asked. "I bumped into Clay as I was leaving the hotel room and he seemed to know the guy. I think he might have been with Clay when he stole the urn" Andy said. "So that must mean Clay is next" Prue said. Andy nodded. "I have to stop by Angel investigations anyway so I'll ask them if they can keep an eye on Clay" Andy said. Prue smiled at him and kissed him again. "So are you nervous for tomorrow" Andy asked. Prue walked back to her desk. "A little bit. I'm just hoping nothing goes wrong and we have to call off the wedding" Prue said. Andy shook his head. "That's not going to happen. We are going to figure out this curse thing today and we are going to have the perfect wedding tomorrow" he said. Prue sighed. "I hope you're right. I don't want anything, supernatural or other to ruin the wedding" she said. Andy smiled at her. "Nothing's going to happen" Andy said. Prue smiled at him and then he left the office.
Over at Angel investigations, Angel was looking through his books and Cordelia was looking on the computer for anything about this curse. Cordelia walked into Angel's office. "There's nothing anywhere about this curse. Maybe it's not real" she said. Angel shrugged his shoulders and closed the book he was reading. "Maybe you're right. I followed Clay all night last night and nothing happened. Surely something g would have happened by now" Angel said. Cordelia nodded. She looked over at Angel's desk and saw a check on it. "What's this" she asked going to pick it up. Angel looked up and tried to grab it but Cordelia got it before he could. "That's nothing" Angel said nervously. "Really because it looks like a check from my father for $500,000" Cordelia said as Angel took the check from her. He ripped it in half. "I forgot that was there" he said. Cordelia looked at him expectantly. Angel sighed. "Fine. I'll tell you but you have to promise you won't do anything rash" he said.
Cordelia nodded. "Your father came here yesterday and offered me money to leave you. I told him I don't want his money and he left the check on my desk and I completely forgot about it" Angel explained. Cordelia just stood there for a moment silent. She shook her head and looked at Angel. "Why didn't you tell me" she asked. "I don't want to get between you and your parents and I didn't think it was important because I refused his offer" Angel said. Cordelia walked up to Angel and put her arms around his neck. "No amount of money could make me leave you" Angel said. Cordelia smiled at him. "I appreciate that but I wish you would have told me" she said. Angel nodded. "You're right. I should have told you. I'm sorry I didn't" Angel said. They kissed each other. "Hello anyone here" someone called from the main office. Angel and Cordelia stopped kissing and walked outside into the main office. They saw Andy standing there.
"Andy how can we help you" Angel asked. "Well that curse we were talking about last night. I think it's real" he said. "Did something happen to Clay" Cordelia asked. "Another man. Palmer Kellog. He died from a scorpion bite. I think he was with Clay when he stole the urn. Clay seemed to have known him when I bumped into him" Andy explained. "That probably means Clay is it's next target" Angel said. Angel grabbed his coat and put it on. "I'm going to ask around and see if I can find out anything about this curse and how to break it. Maybe a demon knows something" Angel said. He gave Cordelia a quick kiss. "I'm going to head to quake" she said. Angel walked off downstairs. "Hey Cordelia I need a favor" Andy said. "Of course" she said. "I need you to check this thing out" Andy said pulling the looking glass out of his coat pocket. "Someone sent it to me on Christmas and I don't know who did it or what it is but I was wondering if you guys could figure it out" he said. "We'll see what we can do" she said.
At quake, Shelley walked behind the bar as Doug was putting glasses on the shelf. They looked at each other and he dropped the glasses. He looked over at Piper. Piper sighed frustrated. "Um I'll go get the broom" Doug said. "Good idea" Piper said. Cordelia and Phoebe walked up to Piper. They sat down on either side of her. "I see you reversed the spell" Phoebe said. "Yea and I've been given until tomorrow to fire him" Piper said. "What about Doyle" Cordelia asked. Piper pointed over to the corner where Doyle was trying to hit on women. They shook their heads and laughed walking away. Doyle sat there looking sad. "Maybe Prue was right about Doug and Shelley. Maybe they just don't belong together" Phoebe said. "OK I've had it. I'm going to be single for the rest of my life" Doyle said sitting down next to Cordelia. "Join the club. Seems like that's the theme of the day" Phoebe said. "Oh I'm sorry Clay turned out to be an ass" Doyle said.
"Thank you. He totally used me. He just used me to get to Prue" Phoebe said. "Well Clay's douche" Doyle said. "I'm sorry" Piper said. Cordelia smiled at her. "Yea me too" Cordelia said. Phoebe smiled at Cordelia then looked over at Piper. "Thanks for not saying I told you so" Phoebe said. Piper smiled sadly at Phoebe. "I think we were all hoping Clay would turn out to be a good guy" Doyle said. "Why didn't I see it coming? What am I a sucker for punishment" Phoebe asked. "No. You see the good in people and that's never wrong" Piper said. "Yea. Hey besides the wrong guys are usually the most interesting" Cordelia said. Piper and Phoebe nodded. "The last time I checked you have a pretty good guy" Doyle said. Cordelia nodded. "Now but if you look at Angel's past and the fact that if he loses his soul he becomes a crazy psycho vampire that kills everyone, some people would look at him as being one of the wrong guys" Cordelia said. Doyle nodded. "True" he said.
"The problem with the wrong guys is that you get your hopes up and let your guard down and they reveal their true selves" Piper said. Cordelia nodded. "So true. I was in a situation like that before in high school. My boyfriend I was with for two years tried to rape me" Cordelia said. Piper and Phoebe both gasped. "Really" Phoebe asked. "Yea luckily Angel stopped him before he could" Cordelia said. "Lucky Angel was there" Doyle said. Piper nodded. "Look at Doug. Great guy, kind of boring on the surface, easy to overlook but maybe in the long run we're better off with his type" she said. "Maybe in the way long run" Phoebe said. Piper smiled at her. "I think I'm still looking for adventure" Phoebe said. "Then you risk paying the price" Piper said. They heard a crash coming from the back and they all turned toward where it came from. "I got it" Doug said appearing with a broom and dustpan in hand. "Maybe it's a price worth paying" Piper said. "Yea I just don't know anymore. Thanks for the ear" Phoebe said.
That night, Angel and Doyle were in the office. Angel was sitting at his desk and Doyle was sitting in a chair on the other side of the desk. "No one knows anything about this curse" Angel said. Doyle nodded. "It would make sense considering the urn was from Egypt and the people who would know about this curse are all dead" he said. "How are we supposed to protect Clay when we don't even know what we're protecting him from or how to fight it" Angel asked. Doyle shrugged his shoulders. He looked around. "Where's Cordelia" he asked. "She got a acting job and is going to be out of town tonight" Angel answered. "Back to the curse, we got to figure out what kills these people maybe then we can figure out how to stop it" Angel said. "Yea well I think…" Doyle started to say but then screamed and held his head. Angel went over to Doyle. "What did you see" he asked. "Clay being attacked in Prue's office" Doyle said. "I'm going to head to Buckland's you stay here and warn the sisters" Angel said leaving.
Over at the manor, the doorbell rang. Andy answered the door and saw Clay standing on the other side. "Andy. Where's Phoebe" Clay asked. "Upstairs" Andy said. "OK well can I come in and see her" Clay asked. "No she doesn't want to see you" Andy answered. "Look I may have lied about buying the urn but I swear I didn't know it was cursed" Clay said. "Did you just admit to me that you stole the urn? You are aware I can arrest you right" Andy asked. "Well that's why I'm here. I want to make things right. I want to turn myself into you" Clay said. "What" Andy asked shocked. "I mean it Andy. Honest. It's the only way I can make up for what I did" he said. "Clay" they heard someone call. Both Andy and Clay looked by the stairs and saw Phoebe coming over. "Clay was just telling me he wanted to turn himself in" Andy said. "How do we know this isn't just another one of your scams" Phoebe asked. "Well I guess you guys don't but I don't want to take shortcuts anymore" Clay said.
"I want you to arrest me and you can bring in the urn and I'll admit to everything" Clay said to Andy. "There's no way Prue's just gonna give it to me. Not without your guys help" Clay said. Phoebe shook her head. "I need your guy's help" Clay said. Andy and Phoebe just stared at him. "It's the last favor I'll ever ask. I promise" Clay said. Andy looked over at Phoebe. "What do you think Phoebe? It's your call" he said. Clay looked over at Phoebe expectantly. Phoebe thought about it for a moment. She wanted to believe him but she just didn't anymore. "I don't think so" she said. "Please" Clay asked grabbing Phoebe's arm. Phoebe had a premonition. She saw a snake in Prue's office, it was rising up getting ready to attack Clay. Phoebe came out of the vision. Andy looked over at Phoebe. "Phoebe are you Ok" he asked. She looked at him seriously. "The curse" Phoebe said. Andy knew what she meant. "What" Clay asked as Andy grabbed his leather jacket and put it on. "Let's go" Phoebe said.
At Bucklands, Phoebe Andy and Clay ran into Prue's office. Prue looked over at them and noticed Clay with them. "Phoebe, Andy what is he doing here" Prue asked looking at Clay. "Save it till later. I have seen the future and it's not bright" Phoebe said. Just then Angel ran in. "Angel what are you doing here" Prue asked. "We have a problem" he said noticing Clay was standing there. Phoebe looked at Prue. "Good you didn't give the urn to the police" she said. "Yea no I thought that it might get you in trouble" Prue said. "Well we need to keep the urn here" Andy said. Prue looked at him shocked. "Why" she asked. "Well you know that little legend we talked about…" Phoebe started to say but then the guardian of the urn appeared in front of them. They all looked over at her. "I think it's true" Phoebe finished. "What the hell is that" Clay asked. The guardian of the urn looked over at Clay and smiled. "Clay" Phoebe said standing in front of him.
"Get him out of here" Angel said. "Go" Phoebe called pushing Clay out of the room. She closed the door and walked over to Prue. Once the door was closed Prue squinted her eyes. It barely affected the guardian. The guardian let out a little laugh. "I don't want to harm you. I came for the thief" she said to the four people in the room. "Who are you" Prue asked. "I'm the guardian of the urn. You cannot destroy me" the guardian said. Angel walked up to her. "Oh yea you wanna bet" he said. He punched her hard in face. She didn't even flinch. Angel looked at her shocked. Prue squinted her eyes again and it moved the guardian back a little bit. The guardian looked up at them and sighed. "Guys I think we should run" Andy said. The four of them ran out of the office. The guardian watched them. "So now there are more who will die" she said as she disappeared back into the urn.