"Sense & Sensitivity"

Based on the Angel Episode Written by Tim Minear

Author's note: If you're wondering where Buffy and the Slayerettes are, they've got the week off. See, the episode "Wild at Heart" aired in this spot, and I actually was adapting it for use here (although it would have been very different), but, late in the process, I realized the episode aired nowhere near a full moon. In fact, it aired two nights after a new moon. So I excised the material and will save the story for later. Kate, Cordelia, her brooding ex-boyfriend, and their drunken Irish friend get the spotlight this time.

The following story is copyright © 2023 by Mark Moore.


In downtown L.A., late at night, Kate was chasing a guy dressed in a black leather jacket and carrying a duffel bag. He made it to a parked car. As he opened the driver-side door, she kicked him in the back from behind and slammed him against the open door. He fell on the ground.

Kate stood over him. "Gosh, Spivey, sorry. I guess I just have trouble expressing myself verbally. I've been struggling with that."

He tried to get up, and she kicked him again.

"You stood me up. You were going to come to the station and answer a few questions for me, remember?"

"I forgot?"

Kate grabbed him and slammed him down on the trunk of the car. "Not something a girl likes to hear. I think we'll just skip the informal invitation and do the more formal thing." She cuffed him. "You have the right to remain silent...but I wouldn't recommend it."


Later, in an interrogation room at the police station, Kate was questioning Spivey. "Look at the pictures."

"I looked at the pictures."

"What's in the pictures?"

"Me and Little Tony Papazian. I don't know where he is. Look, how long are we going to do this?"

"So you haven't seen him since the day this picture was taken?"

Spivey sniffed and looked away.

"The day County Supervisor Caffrey...was found murdered?"

"I heard it was a suicide."

"Supervisor Caffrey shot himself-"

"It happens-"

"-in the back of his head? He wrapped himself in plastic, and he locked himself into the back of his car?" Kate finished.

"He'd been depressed."

"Where is Little Tony?"

"Burbank, Stockholm, the Planet Mongol. I have no idea where he is! I'm losing patience with this shit."

"I'm not. I'm just getting started. I had a big breakfast. I could do this all day."

Spivey got up. "Fine, you want to play all day? Play with yourself! You charge me or get me gone, because I'm telling you nothing."

"Look at the pictures."

"Bite me."

Kate grabbed him by the throat and slammed him up against the wall. "Where is he?"

The guys from the other room charged in and pulled Kate off him. Spivey held his throat, coughing, while Kate walked out of the room.


Kate put her hands on a banister. Detective Alex Harlan leaned against it, beside her.

"Sorry."

"Yeah, well, we should have gotten you out of there hours ago."

"He's not gonna talk."

"Then Little Tony is good as gone. We can't find him, and I don't know anyone who can."


In the sewers, Cordelia and Doyle ran up to Angel, who was defending himself against some snake-like appendages with mouths at their ends that kept attacking him from above with a piece of pipe.

"It's about time."

Doyle pulled a sword out of the bag that he was carrying and tossed it to Angel. "Not a lot of enchanted swordsmiths open at this time of night."

Angel sliced off one of the tentacles reaching for him, then sliced into the belly of the thing, visible through a hole in the ceiling above him. Some clear green liquid splattered down.

"Make sure you cut up all the limbs and both of its heads this time. Remember to bury the parts separately." Angel tossed the sword back to Doyle as he started to walk off. "I don't want this thing coming back to life again."

"That's it?" Cordelia asked, incredulous.

"I'm gonna go clean out the nest. I'll see you back at the office."

Cordelia watched him walk around a corner. "Okay, am I wrong in thinking that a 'Please' and 'Thank you' is generally considered good form when requesting a dismemberment?"

"I think he appreciates us...in his own...unappreciative way."

Cordelia got a knife out of the bag. "You want to know what I think? I think he uses his tortured-creature-of-the-night status as a license to be rude and insensitive!" She began to slice up the monster. "Sure, he is polite to the helpless and the downtrodden, but he ignores the people that are the closest to him. The people that matter the most, you know? Can you say clueless?"


Cordelia and Doyle walked into the office of Angel Investigations as the sun was rising, tired and covered with green gunk.

"Do you think that tentacle spew comes out with dry cleaning?" Cordelia asked Doyle.

Angel came out of his office, looking down at some papers that he was carrying. "Ah, good, you're back. Cordelia, you need to-"

"No! Cordelia yelled.

Angel looked at her.

"I don't care what horrible thing is about to happen." Cordelia sat down at her desk and started flipping through a magazine. "Asteroids are hurtling towards Earth. Unspeakable evil is rising in the San Fernando Valley. Jar Jar is getting his own talk show. Whatever. I don't want to hear about it. Not until you ask us how it went."

"Call your mother back. She phoned saying she'd like to speak with you. And what are you talking about?" Angel asked her.

"You do remember leaving us in the sewer with a giant calamari?" Cordelia asked him.

"Yeah, and you're both here. So I assume it went okay, right?"

"Yeah, it went okay. Of course, it went okay, okay? That's not the point."

"So there is a point."

"Being that it is possible to brood and show a little interest in the feeling of others."

Angel shook his head and looked questioningly over at Doyle.

"Well, she thinks that you're insensitive, and not to bring up the irony, but consider the source."

Angel looked at Cordelia. "So I'm a little reserved; that doesn't mean I don't care."

"Well, spend a little time listening to how the living interact."

Kate burst into the office.

Angel looked at her. "Kate."

"Angel. Got a minute?"

"Sure."

They headed towards his office.

"Coffee?"

"I'm fine."

Cordelia watched the door close behind them. "Mr. and Mrs. Spock need to mind meld now."


In his office, Angel was looking at some photographs.

"His name is Tony Papazian, street name: Little Tony; he's a bad guy. We already got an indictment against him for the murder of a county supervisor. Just one problem: we don't know where to send the subpoena."

"You can't find him."

"He's still in the city, we're pretty sure. But all my sources are dry."

"Want me to look into it?"

"I'll pay you for whatever you can get."

"I already owe you favors; you don't need to-"

"This isn't a favor. It's a job. That's how we do it." Kate handed him a piece of paper. "This number is my direct line."

Angel took it. "All right."

"Time is a factor. Tony is looking to skip town."

"Got it."

"Find him, you call me. Nothing above nor beyond. You cannot be involved in this."

"You don't want to get a reputation for going outside the department."

"I don't want to get a reputation for getting you killed."


Later, Cordelia was looking through files, and Doyle was searching on the computer.

"Anything?" Angel asked.

"Plenty on Papazian - known acquaintances, hangouts - but you've got to figure the cops've already been over all of this."

"Yeah, but we haven't." Angel looked at Cordelia awkwardly. "Cordelia, I wanted to, you know, thank you so much for...going through those coroner reports. Because I can imagine how not fun it is to read about, you know, coroner stuff."

Cordelia didn't look up. "Lame."

"What've you got?" Angel asked her.

"The weebies. This guy clearly has anger management issues. You've got victims and victim parts washing up all over the Southern California coast."

Angel picked up a file. "Long Beach, San Pedro, Carlsbad." He looked at Doyle. "Pull up the tidal flow charts for the last ten months. Match them to the dates of these murders."

"Tides? What, you think this guy has some primary dumping ground? Maybe all these victims originate from the same spot?" Doyle asked.

"Somewhere Little Tony feels safe."


That night, at the police station, Kate was sitting at her desk. An older, white-haired man in uniform walked in.

Kate noticed him. "Dad."

"Katie."

"I saw you. Were you planning on saying hi?"

"I figured you're working."

Kate nodded.

He pulled out a manila folder. "I'm not here very long, anyway, just dropping off some pension forms up in Records. If you think you got a lot of red tape on the job, wait 'til you retire."

"Harlan says they're throwing you a send-off at the Blue Bar."

"Just some guys trying to give me a hard time. Not a big deal."

"Well, he said I should say something, you know, just a few words to mark the occasion, seeing as you're my father."

"That'll be fine. Don't go to any trouble."

"It's no trouble, really."

"Detective, you got a call on 329."

Kate looked at the officer. "Thanks." She looked at her father. "I guess I better..."

He walked away. "Yeah."

Kate looked after him for a moment, then picked up the phone and answered the call. "Lockley."

"8843 Hyperion Way, right off Pier 39. San Pedro."

"You found him, you're sure?" Kate asked.

"Max Salvage Depot. Northwest side. He's got some muscle on hand."

"I'm on my way. Just get out of there." Kate hung up the phone.


Kate and a bunch of officers drove to the location. Tony was running but was stopped by a bunch of police cars with their sirens blaring.

Kate stepped out of a car and aimed her gun at Tony. "Hi, Tony."


Later, Tony was sitting, cuffed, in the back of a police car. Kate was with Angel, who was wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and a white hat.

"Which part of 'Just get out of there' gave you the trouble?" Kate asked him.

"I had to do something. I mean...he was getting away."

Kate was angry. "So you decided to dress like a road flare and put my ass and yours on the line."

Angel took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know what to say.

"Look, just go. I'll figure out something to say to my lieutenant."


Later, at the police station, Kate and Tony were sitting in the interrogation room.

"I want my phone call."

"You've got to cancel your suit in Yerevan? You think you can still get your deposit back?"

"You've - You've been running after me for a long time, haven't you, sweetheart? If I'd known how bad you wanted me, I might have let you catch me a little sooner."

"If I'd known how badly you needed the exercise, I might have let you run a little longer."


Later, Kate and her supervisor, Lieutenant Jimmy Grantham, were meeting with Tony and his lawyer, Lee Mercer.

Mercer pushed some papers toward Grantham. "And here is your copy of the court documents requesting the transfer of our client out of this precinct."

"What for?"

"For his own safety."

"Aww, is he afraid to stay with us?" Kate looked at Tony. "You need a night light?"

"You got a pretty mouth, Katie. Hate to see it get broken."

"Mr. Papazian is under tremendous stress due to the abuse suffered at the hands of your officers and an as-yet-unnamed assailant we believe was in league with Detective Lockley at the time of the arrest."

Kate looked at Mercer. "I wouldn't know about that, sir."

Tony looked at her. "I saw you talking to him."

"Yeah, was that before or after you murdered Supervisor Caffrey, you fat piece of shit?" Kate asked him.

Grantham looked at her. "That's enough." He looked at Mercer. "All of Mr. Papazian's rights will be duly respected."

"Mr. Papazian is a very important client at Wolfram & Hart. Any further violations of his rights, and there will be serious repercussions."

"And what, exactly, the hell does that mean?" Kate asked him.

"It means that we will open this case to the court of public opinion. It means that we'll shine light into the darkest corners of this precinct and give the people a clear view of the brutality and callousness of this police force that will make Mark Fuhrman look like Gentle Ben."

Tony smiled. "Everybody should have a lawyer like this one."


Cordelia was sitting at her desk in the outer office. She smiled at Angel. "So how nice is it to finally have a simple 'find the crime lord' case? Over and done with."

Angel poured himself some coffee. "Yeah."

Cordelia got up, concerned. "Wait, you've got pensive face."

Angel leaned against the wall. "I've always got pensive face."

"Well, pensiver face."

"I'm not so sure this thing is so over and done with, that's all. There is something about Little Tony."

"What something?"

Angel took a sip. "Hmm, just a feeling I got."

"Ah-hmm!"

"What?"

"Nothing. I just find it endlessly fascinating how your feelings are so attuned when it comes to boring old evil, but you have yet to make any mention about these new shoes." Cordelia pointed down at her orange sandals.

"Look, Cordelia. Women's shoes..." Angel paused. "Men..."

The door opened, and Doyle came in.

"...they just don't-"

"Great shoes! New?" Doyle asked Cordelia. He looked at Angel. "So you were right, Papazian is planning something."

Cordelia hit Angel on the arm and walked away.

"What did you hear?" Angel asked Doyle.

"That Papazian is planning something."

"That's it?"

"Johnny Red says, quote: 'Papazian is planning something.'"

Angel nodded. "I thought he might be planning something."

"See, you were right."

Cordelia looked from one to the other and shook her head.


At the Blue Bar, Kate was being greeted by several off-duty officers as she walked up to the bar.

"Home run, Lockley."

"Way to go!"

"Nice work, Lockley."

The bartender set an open bottle of beer in front of her, and Kate reached for some money.

"No, no, your dad paid for the drink."

Kate took her drink and sat down at her dad's table.

"Tony Papazian, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, congratulations."

"Thanks."

He lifted his glass. "Here is hoping the bust doesn't fall apart before you finish filing the paperwork. Damn lawyers, huh?"

"Yeah." Kate saw Harlan coming up to their table. "Harlan."

Harlan dropped a piece of paper in front of Kate. "You see this?"

Kate looked at it. "Sensitivity training?"

"Everyone's got to take it. Word is it's because of what you did to Papazian."

"What I did? Oh, somebody is going to answer for this."

"Think they'll make us hug?" Harlan asked.

Kate handed the page back to him. "I'm not hugging you, sweat boy."

Her dad rolled his eyes. "Glad I'm getting out. In my day, we didn't need any damn sensitivity."


The next day, the sensitivity training session was being held at the police station. Allen Lloyd, the leader, was standing in front of the seated participants.

"I'm guessing not too many of you want to be here right now." Allen raised his hand. "Quick show of hands, who actually wants to be here?"

No one raised their hand.

Allen sat down on the edge of his desk. "Well, I'm not gonna waste your time. What I'm going to do is give you some tools to help you experience the whole range of human emotions. Learning that won't just make you better people; it will help you defuse volatile situations in the field; it'll allow you to manage some of your aggression, so you won't feel so tired all the time. In short, it'll make you better cops. One of the tools we use is this." He held up a gnarly stick. "It's called a talking stick." He held up a hand as some of the cops snickered. "I know, it sounds silly. But it works - if you give it a chance. It's our contract with each other. Whoever holds this has the right to express himself or herself completely, without judgment, within the confines of this room." He held out the stick. "Heath?"

Heath crossed his arms and sighed. "I don't think so."

"Go ahead, give it a try."

Heath took the stick.

"Now, why don't you start by telling us something about your family? How you grew up. Any siblings?"

"Six brothers."

"And what was that like?"

"I learned to hit back pretty quick."

That got some laughter from around the room.

"Your brothers went kind of hard on you, huh? Where were your parents?"

"It was just my mom. She did the best she could."

"So you had to get tough, right out of the gate. Shut down your emotions? It's okay! You have our permission to be honest. Is there something that you always wanted to say to your mother...but never could?"

"'Will you marry me?'" Kate guessed.

The others laughed softly.

Allen picked up the stick and offered it to Kate. "Kate, you'd like to share something? We'd like to hear it."

"No, I don't, really."

"Afraid?"

Kate took the stick with a slight laugh.

"Genuine emotion makes you uncomfortable. That's okay. Your inappropriate sarcasm masks anger. And you know what anger is, Kate? It's just fear. Fear of being hurt. Fear of loss. You've been hurt, haven't you, Kate? And you're afraid of being hurt again. Who're you afraid is gonna hurt you?"


Later, Kate was walking near her desk. Angel came in.

Kate saw him. "Angel."

"We need to talk."

"I know. I want to apologize for last night."

"You don't need to do that."

"That's not what my sensitivity trainer says. Well, that's pretty goofball, right? Still, thanks for what you did."

"You're welcome."

"Listen, what are you doing tomorrow night, around eightish? My father is having this retirement party thing with a bunch of his old cop buddies. I'm supposed to say a few words. It would be nice if there was at least one person there who wasn't, you know, armed. It'd be a favor."

"Sure."

"Okay, that was easy. I'm relieved." Kate noticed his expression. "Something wrong?"

"Kate, I think you may be in real danger."

"Okay, the relief part is done."

"I've heard some things. I don't know the specifics yet, but I think that Papazian's taking a contract out on you."

"Wow."

"I'm going to stay on this-"

"He's really acting out, isn't he?"

"Well, yeah! He wants you dead."

"Oh, I get that. I'm just saying that he must be in some kind of pain to strike out at others in that way."

"Are you okay?" Angel asked her.

"Oh, God, listen to me. Suddenly I'm Dr. Laura. Next thing you know, I'll be talking about processing and my inner child. I'm sure I'll be back to my usual level of cynicism in no time."

Angel just looked at her.


Kate and Angel walked into the retirement party at the Blue Bar. The place was crawling with cops. There was a cake and a "Happy Retirement Trevor" banner.

Kate picked up a glass of Champagne. "Boy, I'm scared...and excited. And consumed with dread. And glad you're here."

"I doubt even one of Little Tony's hired guns would try something in a room full of cops."

"What? Oh, that death threat hanging overhead. No, I meant speaking in public."

"Well, what's that old saw about picturing your public in their underwear?"

Kate looked at him. "Way ahead of you." She walked over to her father and kissed him on the cheek. "Happy retirement, Daddy."

Trevor gestured at Angel. "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is Angel. He's a friend. Angel, this is my father."

Angel shook her father's hand. "Hello, Mr. Lockley. Congratulations."

"For what? All I did was live this long and not get shot."

"Why do you do that?" Kate asked him.

"Do what?"

Kate shook her head. "Pretend important things don't matter?"

"So, Angel, how long you been seeing Katie?"

"We're, um, we're pretty new friends."

"Well, good to see her out with a man. I was starting to wonder if she didn't lean into another direction altogether."

Kate rolled her eyes and gulped down her Champagne.

"All right, everyone, before we cut the cake, the other Officer Lockley, the good-looking one, would like to say a few words. Kate?" Grantham invited.

The others applauded while Kate set down her glass and went to stand at one end of the room.

"Hello, everybody. Welcome to the end of an era. Now, the old man would like us to believe that he couldn't care less about all this attention and free booze."

That got some laughter.

"But I know him better than that. He put a lot of years in on the job, and he made a difference in a lot of lives."

There were scattered cheers. Her dad sat down.

"And now it's over. That's a huge deal, no matter what he says. In fact, I'm not really sure if he knows what he's going to do with himself. He forgot how to be anything but a cop a long time ago. And maybe...maybe that's why I became a cop, too. After Mom died, you stopped, you know? It was like you couldn't stand the sight of me. Her face, her eyes looking up at you. But big girls don't cry, right? You said gone's gone, and there is no use wallowing. Worms and dirt and nothing...forever. Not one word about a better place. You couldn't even tell a scared little girl a beautiful lie." Kate started sobbing. "God, I wanted to drink with you. I wanted you to laugh with me just once the way you laughed with Jimmy here - or Frank." She played with her purse. "My best friend, Joanne, her mom was soft, and she smelled like macaroni and cheese, and she'd pick me up on her lap, and she would rock me. She said that she wanted to keep me to herself. She said that I was good and sweet. Everybody said I was. Do you realize that you've never told me that I'm pretty? Not once in my life?"

Harlan nodded. "Keep going, Katie."

"Well, I can't anymore, Dad. I can't campaign for the office of your beloved daughter. You closed your heart after Mom left us, and that's it." Kate kept sobbing.

Harlan smiled. "That was so damn brave."

"Are you kidding me?" Grantham asked. "Her old man's party wasn't the forum."

"She can't worry about protecting him."

Kate and Angel looked around at the officers talking to each other.

"Let it out, Dale. I always knew your mother was controlling."

"I'm passive-aggressive?"

"I'm hearing a lot of denial."

Grantham looked at Harlan. "She abused the process. I'm going to tell her."

"With that breakthrough? You're completely blocked."

"Your need for catharsis is not the issue here."

Harlan grabbed him. "I'll give you catharsis!" He slammed Grantham on a table and started to beat him.

Angel pulled Harlan off, and Trevor led Grantham out. The other cops were arguing, crying or fighting.

"Keep it together, will you, Jimmy?" Trevor asked. "Take him down to his precinct; let him sleep it off with the drunks. Do the same with the others."

Angel led Kate out. "Let's do likewise."


Cordelia walked into the office. "All right, I'm here. What's the big emergency? These middle-of-the-night hours are really eating into my potential social life." She walked into the back office. Why I ever thought it was a nifty idea to work for a vam-" She saw Kate lolling on a chair. "-triloquist. Hi!"

"Hi."

Cordelia looked at Doyle in confusion. Doyle shook his head.

Angel handed Kate a cup. "Here, drink this."

Kate looked up at Angel. "You have the most intense eyes. I see such an old soul."

Doyle nodded. "He gets that a lot, you know."

"I thought that enigmatic thing was just an act to get women. The truth is...you don't have an insincere bone in your body, do you?" Kate asked Angel.

"Kate, I need you to tell me about the sensitivity training. Who's running it?"

"You wanna go? It's pretty wonderful." Kate put a hand on her chest. "It gets you where you live."

"I need to know his name."

Kate shook her head. "We all need...so much."

Cordelia looked at Doyle. "What's her deal? Too much..." She made a drinking motion with her thumb pointing at her mouth.

"Thumb-sucking?"

"Alcohol! Dummy."

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not the one that needs to brush up on their finger pantomime." Doyle sighed. "It's something to do with the training she had at work."

Kate gave the notice about the sensitivity training to Angel, then got up and walked over to Cordelia and Doyle, smiling. "Someone's got a crush."

"What?" Doyle asked.

Kate looked at Cordelia. "It's right there, how he feels about you. And you don't know what to do about it."

"Please!" Cordelia exclaimed. "We just joke around."

"Where is the truth? Where is the truth? He is hiding behind Mr. Humor. I mean...look at...look at Doyle. Really look at him. What do you see?" Kate asked.

"A bad double poly blend?"

"That's defense, Cordelia. Maybe you should open your heart to a new possibility!" Kate told her.

Doyle smiled and tried hugging Cordelia. "Hey, you know, she's starting to make some sense."

"Angel!" Cordelia yelled desperately.

Angel came back. "I've got his address. 322 Fletcher."

Kate looked at him. "What are your secrets, Angel? What aren't you telling me?"

Cordelia sighed. "I'm so glad I came down to watch Late Night with creepy cop lady."

Angel looked at her. "You came down here to stay with her while I find this guy. Don't let her out of your sight."


Later, Kate was rocking on a chair, hugging her knees.

"Can we get you some coffee or Valium...or both?" Cordelia offered.

"He walked out on me. He just walked out."

"Oh, he'll be back."

"Not Angel, my father."

"Oh."

Kate got up and grabbed her purse. "I have to find him."

Doyle walked over to her. "Maybe you should just hold off on that for the time being. Angel said to wait right here."

"I hear what you're saying, but I have to go find my daddy now."

"Detective Lockley, you're not exactly yourself at the moment. Why don't we all just-"

"Help each other!" Kate finished.

"Right, by staying here together!" Doyle suggested.

"Yeah, we could do that, but, you see, I have this-"

"Personal problem that you're going to share until dawn?" Cordelia guessed.

Kate pulled her gun out of her purse and waved it around. "Gun, and I don't want to come off as insensitive, but, if either of you tries to stop me, I'm gonna have to blow you the fuck away, because I got to go find my daddy."

Cordelia and Doyle let her go.


Kate ran into the police station, which was in utter chaos.

"Dad? Daddy!" Kate called.


Cordelia and Doyle had followed Kate to the police station. Angel ran up to the entrance of the police station.

Cordelia looked at him. "Oh, boy."

Angel looked at them. "What are you two doing-"

"It's Kate; we followed her here."

Cordelia nodded. "She's totally lost it. She looked like she's ready to do some damage."

"And it's not just her by the looks of things."

"The whole place is going nuts! This is so not good."

Angel smiled at them. "Okay, I think someone needs a hug."

"Huh?" Cordelia and Doyle asked.

Angel pulled them both into a hug. Cordelia and Doyle pushed Angel off them.

"Hey! What's your damage?" Cordelia asked Angel.

"I think he's just found Mr. Sensitivity."

Angel put a hand on his heart. "He was right in here all the time, just waiting to come out. Gosh, what our folks do to us, huh?"


Kate was on the phone. "Please, Daddy, if you're there, pick up. We need to talk."


Cordelia looked at Angel. "He put the whammy on you! You stink with whammy!"

Doyle nodded. "She's right."

Angel smiled and nodded. "Talking stick, it's cursed all right."

Cordelia looked at Doyle. "There's a stick that talks?"

"Cordelia, do you have any idea just how precious you are?" Angel asked her, looking deep into her eyes.

Cordelia smiled. "Really?"

Doyle shook his head. "All right, let's talk just about this stick."

"He uses it as a talisman. Anyone that touches the stick becomes infected. He admitted it to me after I..." Angel looked away from them and swallowed. "...threatened him with violence."

Cordelia looked at Doyle. "What's his trip?"

Angel looked at them. "Wolfram & Hart, the firm, hired this guy to neutralize the police, so Little Tony could make his escape. It'll wear off."

"Soon?" Cordelia asked.

"So there was never any contract on Detective Lockley?" Doyle asked.

"No, Little Tony was planning all along just to kill her himself. Poor guy."

"'Poor guy'?" Cordelia asked in disbelief.

"Well, he's got issues."

"Angel, man, you've got to snap out of this!" Doyle told him.

"Right now. It's time for you to get all vampy." Cordelia held up her hands like claws and made a face. "Grr! Kate needs you."

Angel shook his head. "I don't want to. You both withdraw when I go vamp. I feel you judge me."

"We won't judge you." Cordelia looked at Doyle. "Will we?" She looked at Angel. "Give it a try."

Angel shook his head. "Closeness is too important to me right now."

Doyle rolled his eyes. "Angel, man, Kate is in there."

Cordelia nodded. "Along with killer guy."

Doyle walked up to the door and tried it. It was locked.

A cop looked through the door. "We're closed."

"You're the police! You can't close."

"Why not? Haven't we done enough? It's always 'find this, rescue that' with you people. Well, see how you like it!" The cop pulled down the blind hard and ripped it off.


Kate was leaning on top of her desk.

Harlan walked up to her. "It hurts, doesn't it? When people don't listen to you? When they reject you?"

Kate looked up at him. "You know?"

"I ought to. For two years, I've been saying to you with everything I have: 'Love me, Kate. Need me the way I need you.' But you never notice, never return my desire. You just sit at that desk, next to mine, smelling the way you do...taunting me."

Kate sighed. "I'm not taunting you. I'm gay."

A gunshot sounded.


The gang walked over to outside an empty police office.

Cordelia looked at the guys. "We need a rock."

Angel shook his head. "I can't say that I'm comfortable with all this."

"Don't argue; this is the only way in."

"Here, this one should do it." Doyle threw a rock.

The rock hit the wall.

"Aim for the window!" Cordelia told him.

Doyle picked up the rock. "I was."

"Give me that!" Cordelia grabbed the rock and threw it through the window.

"Nice arm!" Doyle complimented.

Cordelia looked at Angel. "Angel, now it's your turn, come on!"

Angel pushed in the bars. Cordelia, Doyle, and Angel climbed in through the window.

"Come on! Let's go!" Cordelia told them.

Angel pointed at the broken window. "Wow. That's vandalism."

Doyle looked at him. "Ah, we'll take care of it later."

"We should leave a note."

"Would you come on?" Cordelia asked, annoyed.

"What's the magic word?" Angel asked her.

"Urgh!" Cordelia grunted in frustration.

"No, I don't think 'urgh' is the magic word, if one would call it a word. And even then, it's certainly not a magic one."

"We don't have time for this!" Cordelia told him.

"There is always time to be considerate of others, Cordelia."

Cordelia huffed. "Oh, please!"

"See? That wasn't so hard now, was it?"


Tony walked into the main area of the police station and over to Kate, holding a shotgun. Two guys were with him.

"Thought you finally put it over on me, huh? Thought you were smarter than Little Tony. Well, nobody beats me, baby. Not even a stone bitch like you."

Kate stood up. "I am not a bitch! I'm just protected."

"No one protecting you now."

"Hey!" Angel called.

He walked in slowly with Cordelia and Doyle behind him.

"I'm feeling some serious negative energy in this room."

"Go on. Take care of him!" Cordelia urged.

Tony smiled at Angel. "Oh, I've been wanting to see you again."

Kate looked at Tony. "I'm sure he'd say the same thing, but that gun really makes you come off as hostile."

Angel nodded. "That and the body language. It's so closed."

Kate nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

Doyle looked at Angel. "Angel, man, fight, don't talk."

Cordelia shook her head. "We are so dead."

Angel patted a chair in front of Tony. "Now, why don't we all sit down together and process this?"

Tony smiled. "Seems that sensitivity training I paid for really took, huh, nancy boy?"

Angel picked up the chair and smashed it in Tony's face, knocking the guy beside him down as well.

Kate shot the third guy with her gun. "How do you think that makes me feel?"

Cordelia stepped on the second guy's gun as he tried to pick himself back up, and Doyle kicked him in the face and picked up the gun himself.

"Okay, now I'm feeling unheard." Angel started to beat up on Tony. "You know, Anthony, you could be a rainbow and not a..." He hit him over the head and dropped him. "...'painbow'."

Kate stared at him in awe.

"I mean...it really is all up to you."

Kate shook her head. "You."

Angel turned towards her and smiled. "No, you."

Kate opened her arms to him. "Come here."

He did. They hugged.

"Ugh, anyone for vomit?" Cordelia asked.

Kate and Angel separated and looked at Tony laying on the floor.

Angel shook his head with a sigh. "It's so sad, isn't it?"

Kate shook her head. "Some people just really need to live in the problem."


The next day, Angel came to visit Kate at the precinct.

"How do you feel?" Angel asked.

"Pretty foolish, you?"

"I'm all right."

"Internal Affairs is investigating the Blue Bar. They think someone there spiked the punch. Seems like everybody there went a little crazy. I know I did with my dad."

"Well, maybe it helped."

"Did I...Did I say anything to you?"

"I'm a little fuzzy myself."

"Good." Kate paused. "Well, I should get back to work."

"Yeah, me, too." Angel walked off slowly.

Kate stood there, unsure, for a moment, then saw her dad walking up to her. "Hi."

"Katie. Got your messages on my machine."

"Yeah, that was kind of a bizarre night. I-"

"Katie...don't...don't say anything. You make an idiot out of yourself, embarrass me in front of the guys. You don't bring that up ever again. As far as I'm concerned...it didn't happen."

Kate watched as her dad turned and walked out. She slowly sat down at her desk.