"Doomed"

Based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode "Doomed" Written by Marti Noxon and David Fury and Jane Espenson and the Angel Episode "Somnambulist" Written by Tim Minear

The following story is copyright © 2023 by Mark Moore.

Kate drove up to a crime scene in a police car. She got out and walked over to an officer. "Where?"

The officer pointed. "Over there, detective."

Kate walked over and bent down to look at the victim. It was a young man. There were bite marks on his neck, and a cross had been scratched on his left cheek.

Kate sighed. "It's the same guy. This makes three. He's just getting started."

Cordelia was sitting behind her desk in the office of Angel Investigations. "I believe in Los Angeles. It's the city of dreams, a mystical oasis, built from a dessert." She got up and played with the blinds. "But even sunny, blond L.A. has its trashy, dark roots, and you've learned that the hard way, haven't you?" She walked around her desk and leaned over an empty chair. "You've taken your problem to the police; they can't help you, so you've come to us."

The office door opened, and Wesley walked in, carrying a newspaper and some letters in his hand. "I think it's about to speak."

Cordelia straightened up. "Nobody likes a smartass rogue demon hunter. What do you want, Wesley?"

"Just thought I'd pop 'round, so we might compare battle plans from our respective fronts."

"Oh, I thought you worked alone?"

"Well, even a solitary soldier, such as myself, recognizes that a free exchange of intelligence benefits the common struggle." Wesley paused. "Also, I brought in your mail and newspaper."

Cordelia took them and sat in her chair. "Oh, thanks. So what have you got?"

"Got?"

"You wanted to compare skinnies on the current 'evil happenings'."

"Yes. Skinnies. Precisely." Wesley paused. "Uh, right, well...everything seems quiet."

"Okay. Well, thanks for stopping by."

Wesley sat down across from Cordelia. "And you? How go things on your end of the good fight?"

"I've been giving the hard sell to an empty chair. What do you think?"

"Quiet all around, then."

Cordelia looked at the paper and mail that he brought in.

"Well, I'll keep myself available. The situation can only escalate. We made a most effective team, I felt. Vanquishing that empathy demon in such short order."

"Yeah, well, nobody gauged out my eyes, so I'm happy."

"Yes, most effective. Your cryptic visions, Angel's brawn, my highly developed powers of deduction rounding out-"

Cordelia handed the mail back to him. "This isn't our mail."

"Sorry?"

Cordelia pointed to one of the letters. "See here? The dentist office - next door."

Wesley took the bundle. "Oh, I see. I didn't...realize..."

"Something wrong? You stopped yammering."

Wesley took a deep breath and got up. "I, uh, I suppose I should return these items to their proper owner."

Wesley left just as Angel came out of the elevator, slamming the grate open, and walked into the office.

"Who were you talking to?" Angel asked Cordelia.

Cordelia frowned at him. "Nobody. And Wesley. Um, so you remember that license plate we got on that runaway case?"

Angel poured himself some coffee. "I remember you were going to follow up on it."

"No go. The DMV is totally stalker-phobic. And wow! You look half-dead."

Angel looked at her.

"Which, for someone who's completely dead, would be...kind of neat?"

Angel walked over to her desk and held out a hand. "License plate, Cordelia."

Cordelia handed him the paper. "Uh, right. I thought maybe you could have police woman run it for us on the Q.T.?"

"Kate."

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, for a guy who's two-hundred-plus, you're not usually with the bags." Cordelia pointed at her eyes.

Angel walked towards the door. "I'll do this now."

Cordelia stared after him. "Hey-"

Angel looked back, irritated. "Look, I'm fine, Cordelia. All right?"

"All right."

Angel walked out the door and right into a patch of sunlight. He jerked back, hissing with pain, and turned back into the office. "I'll take the tunnels."

"If you call Sandy and ask really, really nicely-"

"Don't you have something to do?"

"Yeah." Cordelia got up, walked over, and shut the office door.

Kate walked into the police station on West 12th Street with Angel following her.

"You know I'm not supposed to release that kind of information to a civilian, Angel."

"I know."

"If it was anyone else-"

"I appreciate it, Kate."

Kate sat down at her desk. "I know you do. So I don't mind. I'll run it myself, have it for you by morning."

"No rush. Late afternoon, evening will be fine, actually."

"To be honest, I won't mind getting my head out of this case. Even for a minute."

"Tough one?"

Kate looked down at a picture of an older man. "The first victim, Reggie Sparks, volunteered as a crossing guard."

She pulled over another photo as Angel walked around to look over her shoulder.

"Jimmy Markem, he just started the tenth grade, and Jeremy Halpren, 25, worked as a waiter." Kate looked up at Angel. "And do you know what they all have in common? What he did to them. That's all."

"That's not all. They have you."

An officer walked over and handed a folder to Kate. "Here are the crime scene photos you wanted."

"Thanks." Kate opened the folder to look at the photos. "Look, why don't you stop by tomorrow? By then, I'll have invaded a citizen's right to privacy for you, and you can-" She looked up at Angel, who was staring at the photos. "Yeah, it's pretty grim, isn't it? I've spent the last forty-eight hours putting together a suspect profile, and believe me: being inside this guy's head hasn't been a whole lot of fun. The tabloids are calling him 'the pope'. Probably thinks he's doing God's work."

Angel continued staring. "No. Just the opposite. This is about mocking God." He saw her looking at him. "That's my guess."

"Detective?" an officer asked Kate. "They're ready for you now."

Kate looked at him. "Yeah, okay. Looks like it's show..." She looked back at Angel and saw he was halfway out of the office already. "...time."

Soon, Kate was giving a briefing. "Our suspect will be a white male. To the observer, he will not seem a monster. His victims put up little or no struggle, so it's likely that he is charming, attractive, but, at his core, he is a loner. Possibly a dual personality, who, once the crime has been committed, retains no memory of the act. He will not view his victims as subhuman, rather it's himself that he views as something other than human, more than human, a superior species. Stalking his prey, getting to know them. It's unlikely that he'll be married, though he may have recently come off a long-term relationship that ended badly. We look for a precipitating event in cases such as this, and a painful breakup is always at the top of the list. Prior to failing, this relationship may have marked an inactive period in our suspect's life. He would have regarded it as a lifeline, his salvation, but, once ended, it resulted in his recidivism. What is not in question is his experience. He's been doing this for a very long time, and he will do it again."

Buffy was sitting at her desk, studying. Suddenly, the whole room began to shake. Buffy hurriedly stood up, ran over, and stood in the door frame of her open closet until the earth stopped shaking.

Buffy walked out into the room, spooked.

Buffy was getting ready to leave the dorm room just as Tara walked in.

"Hey! I was in the library during the quake. Almost got buried under a bunch of books." Tara kissed Buffy on the lips. "You okay?"

"Yeah. A couple of broken knick-knacks but no biggies. I blame Y2K, even if it's a bit late."

"Well, Porter dorm is completely blacked out. So naturally they are dealing with the crisis the only way they know how: 'Aftershock Party'."

"Ah, this from the dorm that brought us the 'Somebody Sneezed' party and the 'Day That Ends in Y' party."

"You wanna come?"

"Will there be beer?" Buffy asked her.

Tara smiled. "Yeah, why? Buffy want beer?"

Buffy grinned. "You know it! You go on ahead, and I'll catch up with you there. I'm on my way for a little Jenny one-on-one."

"Anything wrong?"

"I don't know."

Jenny was sitting at her desk.

Buffy was pacing in front of it. "Something horrible is going to happen, Jenny."

"It was an earthquake, Buffy, a not-uncommon occurrence in Southern California. No reason to think it was anything more."

Buffy nodded. "Oh, I so have a reason. A damn good reason. The last time we had an earthquake, I died."

"Yeah, I know that, and I completely understand your anxiety."

"Oh, good. Because I'd hate for my little untimely horrible death concern to be ambiguous."

"But unless evidence suggests otherwise, I think that we can assume that it's shifting landmasses and not a portent of some imminent doom." Jenny brought up a map of Sunnydale on her laptop. "Now, in the meantime, I've got a few theories about our mysterious commando friends."

Buffy walked behind the desk and looked. "Oh, really?"

"Now, based on the locations of our various sightings and...Spike's reluctant description of their underground installation-"

"What if the quake was a sign? Uh, a bad omen, and we just ignore it? There is going to be a lot of red faces when the world comes to an end."

Jenny sighed. "Buffy, if the quake heralds some such catastrophe, I'm sure there will be other signs to follow, which will afford us plenty of time to avert it. Now, I believe that the commando installation is either very close to or directly underneath the school. Now, if that is the case, I'm convinced that one or more of them may be in our very midst."

Buffy nodded. "You're right."

Jenny looked at her in surprise.

"I encountered one of them, unmasked, last month, during the time when the Gentlemen stole our voices. He helped me out."

"Who is he?" Jenny asked.

"I agreed to keep that a secret...for now. I think he's okay. But it's basically as we thought."

Jenny nodded.

"Plague!" Buffy blurted.

"What?"

"What if the end of the world is coming in the form of a plague? Then too many people may be infected by the time we actually-"

"Buffy! Chill!" Jenny told her. "I'll look into it, okay?! Now, please go to your party and get wasted!"

Buffy stared at her for a moment and then smiled. "Okay!" She turned and happily skipped out of the room.

Tara was standing in the middle of the party at Porter dorm, feeling lost and lonely and bored. She sipped beer from a red Solo cup. "Buffy, where are you?"

Suddenly, she heard a woman scream. She walked over to a room and looked inside. A guy with a sliced throat was laying on the bed. A young woman with long brown hair was standing near the bed, panting with fear.

The dead guy was being wheeled away in a body bag as Buffy walked in.

Tara was sitting on a couch with the woman. She saw Buffy. "Buffy! Over here."

Buffy went to sit next to her with a sigh. "Wow. I wasn't sure where the party was, and then I saw the flashing lights and the ambulance, and I was like 'Right, of course!'"

"I'm so glad you're here."

"What happened?"

"This poor girl found him – this guy on the bed with her."

"God. Are you okay?" Buffy asked the woman.

She shook her head.

"What's your name?" Buffy asked her.

"Laurie Horne."

"Laurie, have you talked to the police yet."

"Yeah, but Tara told me to wait for you."

"Vampire?" Buffy asked her.

Laurie shook her head. "There was so much blood, and there – there was a symbol."

"Symbol?" Buffy asked.

Tara gave Buffy a sketch that she'd made on a napkin. "It was carved into his chest, like a big creepy eye."

Buffy stared at the symbol and found it faintly familiar.

"Ooh, and something else. He, the dead guy, was - was propped up, like whatever killed him wanted to drain the blood out of him. So I'm thinking the whatever took a bunch of the guy's blood with it."

"I've seen this somewhere before; I just can't remember where! I mean it's like-"

"It's the end of the world."

Buffy looked up and saw Jenny. "Again?"

"It's, uh, the earthquake, that symbol, yeah."

Buffy stared at her. "I told you. I-I said end of the world, and you're like 'Poo-poo, Southern California, poo-poo!'"

"Sor-ry!" Jenny exclaimed, annoyed.

"So what do we do?" Tara asked.

Buffy stood up. "I stop it." She looked over at Laurie. "This must be a really weird night for you."

"It definitely sets the record for weirdness."

Buffy looked at Jenny. "Jenny, could you...?"

Jenny nodded. Tara stood up, and Jenny went and sat next to Laurie.

Buffy found the same symbol on the side of a crypt in the cemetery. "I wonder where I've seen this before? Where else? The place I spend most of my waking hours, memorizing shit on the sides of mausoleums, big freaky cereal boxes of death."

There was a noise of stone scraping. Buffy walked into the crypt to investigate. A green demon was picking up the bones of a child's skeleton and putting them into a burlap sack.

"Door was open."

The demon turned and roared at her. She shot it in the shoulder with the crossbow, then threw the crossbow at it. It batted the crossbow aside and came at her. The two of them started fighting; after a while, the fight moved outside.

The demon picked Buffy up and slammed her down on top of a grave marker. Buffy lay on the ground, groaning, for a moment, but, when a shadow fell over her, she flipped back to her feet, turned, and hauled back with a hard right punch at Riley, who just managed to block it.

"Wow, that flippy thing you did-"

Buffy looked around. "Where did it go?"

"I saw it take off towards the woods."

"And you didn't follow it?"

"No weapons, no backup; you don't go after a demon that size by yourself."

"I do."

Riley pulled out a handheld radio. "Yeah, well, I'm no Slayer." He pressed a button. "Base One, this is Lilac One."

"Lilac?" Buffy asked.

Riley held up a hand to quiet her. "Confirmed sighting of an unidentified Sub-T. Mobilize patrol team for debriefing at 0800 hours."

"Copy that."

Buffy smiled. "Very commando-ry...Lilac notwithstanding."

Riley laughed, putting his radio away.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked him.

"Looking for you, she who hangs out in cemeteries."

Buffy frowned and turned away. "I have to get the demon."

"Don't sweat it. We'll bag it."

Buffy turned back to face him. "It's not that simple."

"Yeah, but...I really think-"

"Riley, there is too much risk." Buffy backed up a step. "Pain,...death,...apocalypse. None of it fun. Do you know what a Hellmouth is? Do you have a fancy term for it? Because I went to high school on it...for over two years." She shook her head. "This is a job to you."

"It's not just a job."

"It's an adventure, great. One that could get you killed."

"I understood the risk when I joined."

Buffy stared at him for a moment, then she turned and walked away.

Buffy, Tara, Jenny, and Giles were researching at Giles' apartment.

Giles tapped a page in his book. "A Vahrall demon."

Tara looked over at his book and made a face. "Eew!"

Jenny looked at the picture. "I second that revulsion."

Giles nodded. "Yes. 'Slick like gold and gird in moonlight, father of portents and brother to blight'."

Buffy looked over his shoulder. "'Limbs with talons, eyes like knives, bane to the blameless, thief of lives'. This thing isn't digging up the bones of a child for fun."

"Bones of a child. I saw that!" Tara pulled a book over to her and flipped pages. "An ancient ritual – uses the blood of a man, the bones of a child, and...something called the Word of Valios? I-It's all part of the sacrifice – the sacrifice of three."

Buffy looked at her. "Let me guess: ends the world."

"Well, yeah. I-It's not big with the details, though. It doesn't say how the world ends or what the ritual entails, exactly."

"The sacrifice of three. Three people are going to die?" Jenny guessed.

Buffy looked at her. "No, they won't. Because claw boy is not getting all of his ingredients. We have to find that third one, the Word of Valios, keep him from getting it."

"If he doesn't already have it. I mean...who knows where he's been?" Tara pointed out.

"I'll check the magic shop, see if they've heard of a book called The Word of Valios. Tara, you check the public library." Buffy put on her coat. "Jenny, Giles, how about the book archives at the museum?"

Giles stood up. "I'll get some weapons."

Buffy looked at them. "You guys, this thing takes wicked very seriously. Be careful. I couldn't stand anybody getting hurt."

Jenny stood up. "Oh, who's gonna look after Spike?"

Giles sighed. "Bloody hell."

"We can't leave him here. We'll have to take him with us to the museum."

Buffy shrugged. "Or you could kill him."

Giles gave her a look. "Buffy-"

Spike walked into the room from the bathroom. "What's that?"

Buffy smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, nothing, duckfucker."

Giles sighed. "Spike, we're going to the museum. Come along."

"Oh, you go on. I won't do anything. Promise."

"And I believe you, of course."

Jenny looked at Spike. "Look on the bright side. If we don't find what we're looking for, we face an apocalypse."

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

Buffy was walking down a street. She saw Riley slowly walking down the street, looking at a little handheld device, and waited for him to get to her.

"Buffy."

"Is this really the time for Castlevania?" Buffy asked him.

Riley frowned, confused. "What?"

Buffy looked at the thing in his hand.

"Oh. It, uh, takes trace readings of creatures' pheromones."

"And?"

"And it's either mating season for this thing, or it's moving all over town."

"I need to go. Big bad needs to be squished." Buffy started walking.

Riley fell in beside her. "Right. I'm on it, too."

"You're stupid."

Riley looked at her.

"I mean..." Buffy sighed. "I don't mean that." She reconsidered. "No, I think maybe I do."

"You have this twisted way of looking at things, this doom and gloom mentality. You keep thinking like that, and things will probably turn out just the way you expect."

Buffy started to walk past him. "You know, there is nothing more dangerous than a Psych grad student."

Riley followed and stepped in front of her: "Buffy, where is the bad here?"

Buffy sighed and rubbed her neck.

"I mean you're a hunter, and so am I!"

"Yeah, but you're an amateur, and I come from a long line of Slayers that don't live past twenty-five."

"Which is exactly the attitude I'm talking about. Look, I know the risks of what we do. I also know it's more rewarding than any other job on the planet - and fun."

"Fun?" Buffy asked in disbelief.

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't take your work seriously."

"That I should just turn my frown upside down? Is that it?"

"No. Well, yes, actually."

Buffy stared at him for a moment. "You have no idea what the fuck you're talking about. You barely know me." She walked past him.

Riley caught up to her. "I know that it's not just a job thing. There's something else. Something bad. But mostly I think you want to stay down in that dark place..."

Buffy stopped to look at him.

Riley stepped in front of her. "...because maybe it's safer down there."

"You are so out of line."

"No, see, I don't think so."

"It's my business. So why don't you just leave me the fuck alone?" Buffy demanded.

Riley looked at her for a moment. "Fair enough." After another moment, he walked past her.

Buffy closed her eyes for a moment, then walked on herself.

Jenny, Giles, and Spike walked out the front entrance of the Historical Museum of Sunnydale.

Giles sighed. "Great. No Word of Valios."

Jenny sighed. "Not even a syllable of Valios."

"Which means I'm one step closer to melting in a sea of molten hellfire, yeah?" Spike asked them.

Jenny and Giles rolled their eyes.

Later, back at his apartment, Giles was looking through a book at his desk. He found a picture of the Word of Valios, which turned out to be a fifteenth-century talisman. Jenny was sitting on the couch, searching online on her laptop.

"Oh – as usual – dear."

Jenny looked at him. "What?"

Giles stood up and went to dig through his chest. He pulled out a box filled with necklaces and talismans and pulled out the Word of Valios.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and three Vahrall demons ran in and attacked him. Jenny stood up and ran to get a weapon from the closet.

Returning quickly with an ax, she was still too late. The demons were gone, and Giles had been knocked unconscious.

Buffy and Tara walked into Giles' apartment. Giles, looking beat up, was sitting on the couch.

"What happened?" Buffy asked him.

"It's my fault. I should have known."

"Giles..."

"The Word of Valios...is the name of a talisman...not a book. I blame myself entirely. I had it here."

Jenny brought some ice wrapped into a dish towel from the kitchen.

Giles took it and pressed it against his head. "Oh, thank you. I bought it at a sorcerer's estate sale. I really only glanced at it once. I thought it was a knockoff."

Buffy sighed. "Well, they have it. And they probably have their sacrifices by now, too."

"They're on their way to perform the sacrifice now."

"On their way where? You found out what the ritual is for?" Buffy asked him.

"The Hellmouth. They are going to open the Hellmouth. The one in the library."

Buffy looked at all of them. "Looks like we're going back to high school."

Buffy, Tara, Jenny, Giles, and Spike walked up to the ruins of Sunnydale High and entered the dilapidated building.

Buffy looked at the others. "Be careful, you guys, the place doesn't look too stable."

Spike smiled. "Fine by me. Hope we all go under."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Why is he even here? It's not like he can fight!"

Giles looked at her. "I don't trust him to leave him alone."

"Fine. Whatever. Just keep him out of the way. I do not have time for this shit." Buffy sighed. "Okay, when we get to the library, keep a lookout for victims they're keeping alive for the sacrifice. Getting them out is the first priority."

Tara nodded. "Will do."

Buffy took a deep breath. "Okay...you guys ready?"

Jenny nodded. "Let's rock and roll."

Spike rolled his eyes. "'Let's rock and roll.'"

They walked down a burnt-up and tattered hallway.

Tara stepped on something squishy. She looked down and moved her foot. "Eew!"

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Mayor meat. Extra crispy."

They walked on.

Giles nodded. "I think we're near the library."

Soon, they entered what used to be the library. There was a big hole where the floor used to be. They heard a growling chanting going on. Three Vahrall demons were standing around a fissure in the floor.

Tara looked around, then at Buffy. "I don't see any sacrifice people."

"They must be around here somewhere. The ritual is not finished. And it's not gonna be." Buffy jumped down into the hole and attacked the three demons.

One of them dropped the bottle with the blood.

Jenny hurried over to pick it up before any of the demons could get it. "The blood! Get the talisman. They can't do the ritual."

Buffy kept wailing on the three demons.

Tara darted in and pulled the sack with the bones out of one of the demons' hands. "I've got the bones!" She tossed them to Jenny. "Here!"

Jenny tossed them right back to her as she was attacked by one of the Vahrall. The demon kept beating her in the stomach, but Jenny kicked him in the balls, incapacitating him. Tara noticed Spike, who was sitting by the edge of the hole, watching the fight.

"Spike!" Tara tossed the bag of bones to Spike.

Spike caught the bones and saw one of the Vahrall coming for him. "Right, perfect."

Buffy was fighting one demon, Jenny another, and the last was beating up on Spike. Giles went to assist Jenny, but he was easily tossed aside. The one fighting Jenny got a hold of the bottle of blood, turned, and jumped into the Hellmouth. The earth began to shake.

"The demons! They are the sacrifice!" Jenny yelled.

Spike finally had enough of getting beaten on. He hauled back, screamed, and hit the demon with all of his might, then put his hand to his head. "No pain!" He hit the demon again. "I can hurt a demon!" He started to make up for all of the violence that he'd missed out on, having a great time.

The demon finally dropped.

"That's right, I'm back, and I'm a bloody animal! Yeah!" Spike picked up the Vahrall, not noticing that it has just gathered up the sack of bones, and lifted it high above his head.

"No!" Jenny yelled.

"Spike, not in the hole!" Tara yelled.

Spike threw the Vahrall into the Hellmouth, and another, bigger tremor shook the earth.

"What? I was helping!" Spike told them.

"Get out of here! The building is going to come down!" Buffy yelled.

A beam hit Spike on the back of his head, dropping him to the ground. Jenny ran over and helped him up. She and Tara helped Spike out of the hole as Buffy continued to beat up on the last Vahrall demon. She even picked up a piece of wood and staked it at one point - but to little effect. As the Vahrall hauled back to hit Buffy, its arm was grabbed from behind by Riley, who pulled it around and started to beat up on it.

Buffy was still on the floor. "Don't let it jump into the Hellmouth!"

The Vahrall grabbed Riley and threw him across the room. Riley got right back up, only to get dropped by a hard kick to his stomach. Buffy was back up and wailing on the demon. Riley got back up, and they beat up on it in tandem for a moment before Buffy kicked it across the room. A beam dropped on Riley, and, while Buffy was distracted, the Vahrall picked up the talisman and slid headfirst into the Hellmouth.

Buffy looked at Riley. "I'm going in."

Riley hooked a cable to her belt. "You're coming back out."

Buffy ran and dove into the Hellmouth. She fell for a while, grabbed the demon with her left hand, and then stopped. She started being pulled back up while the earth was shaking again. Buffy's arm hooked over the edge of the hole, and Riley hurried forward and helped her climb out of the hole. Buffy was holding onto the demon with her left hand, and Riley helped her to pull it out of the Hellmouth. The Vahrall demon slumped down, dead, and the earth stopped shaking.

Buffy and Riley walked up to where Tara, Jenny, Giles, and Spike were waiting for them in the hallway.

"Well, hey! Tara and Ms. Calendar, right? Jeez, what are the chances, huh?" Riley looked at Buffy for help.

Buffy just folded her arms and looked down.

Riley looked at them. "Yeah, I was just passing by when I thought I heard people inside."

Tara folded her arms over her chest. "Passing by in your G.I. Joe outfit?"

Riley looked down at himself.

Buffy suppressed a smile. "No offense, but you do look wicked conspicuous."

"I do? But it's...paintball! Yeah, I was playing paintball. And then the aftershocks-"

"So you're one of the commando guys, huh?" Jenny asked, folding her arms as well.

Riley laughed. "Oh, no, no, no, no. Commando? No, I mean..." He noticed Spike. "Don't I know you?"

"Me?" Spike affected a bad Texan accent. "No. No, sir. I'm just an old pal of Giles's here."

"Oh. That's nice."

Buffy walked out of the school, and the others followed.

Jenny looked at Tara. "It's kinda weird being back, isn't it?"

Tara looked at the burnt-out hallway. "Yeah. Everything seems so small - and more charred and ruiny."

Later, Jenny and Giles were watching Party of Five on TV in his apartment. Spike walked up to stand right in front of the screen, and the two of them swayed to one side in an effort to see around him.

"What's this? Sitting around, watching the telly, while there's evil still afoot." Spike turned the TV off. "That's not very industrious of you." He rubbed his hands together. "I say we go out there and kick a little demon ass!"

Jenny and Giles stared at him.

"What, can't go without your Buffy, is that it? Too chicken? Let's find her! She is the Chosen One, after all. Come on! Vampires! Grrr! Nasty! Let's annihilate them. For justice...and for...the safety of puppies...and Christmas, right? Let's fight that evil! Let's kill something! Oh, come on!"

Cordelia was getting ready to leave the office for the night. She opened the door, and Wesley was just outside. They both gasped.

"Jesus, Wesley! Hover much?" Cordelia asked.

Wesley came in and closed the door. "Where is he? Where is Angel?"

"Not here." Cordelia saw the stake in Wesley's hand. "What is that?"

"Just what it looks like."

"Kind of rude coming into a vampire's place of business with one of those things, don't you think? Could be misinterpreted?" Cordelia suggested, an undercurrent of anger in her voice.

Wesley put down his bag and pulled out a newspaper clipping. "You recall, earlier this morning, that mix-up with the dentist's mail and newspaper?" He showed her the clipping. "That's when I saw this."

Cordelia looked at it. "Oh, my God! You cut up Dr. Folger's newspaper? You're going to get us kicked out of this building."

"What? No, Cordelia, the clipping!"

Cordelia took it. "'Third Body Found in Alley'. So? Not exactly front-page news."

"Actually, that is the front page, but, still, note the modus operandi? The mutilation of the corpse with a religious icon?"

"I'm against it?" Cordelia guessed.

Wesley sighed and took the clipping back. "I think you better sit down."

Cordelia went to sit on the couch with a big sigh.

Wesley pulled a folder out of his bag. "While executing my duties as Watcher in Sunnydale, I did extensive research. Specifically on Angel, given his uncomfortable proximity to the Slayer's inner circle."

Cordelia smiled. "He looked pretty comfortable to me. In fact, I can guarantee it."

Wesley showed her the folder. "When I saw this story today, it rang chillingly familiar. So I reacquainted myself with certain facts, confirming, I'm sorry to say, my grim suspicions. In the late 1700s, it was Angelus' custom to 'sign' his victims by carving a Christian cross into their left cheek."

Cordelia flipped through the folder.

"He liked to let people know he'd been there."

Cordelia handed the folder back to him, angry. "Okay, you get to leave now. You're not gonna come in here and accuse Angel like this."

"Cordelia-"

Cordelia got up and got in his face. "No! I don't fucking care how many files you have on all the horrible shit he did back in the powdered-wig days! He is good now. And he's my...friend. And nothing you or anyone else can say will make me turn on a friend!"

"Cordelia."

Wesley spun around and saw Angel standing there.

"He's right."

Cordelia looked at Wesley. "You'll stake him, and I'll cut his head off."

Angel walked forward.

Wesley threatened him with a cross. "Come no closer!"

Angel turned his head away from the cross. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Oh, is that what you told Mr. 'Third Body Found in Alley'?" Cordelia asked him.

"Why should we believe a word you say?" Wesley asked him.

Angel laughed, grabbed Wesley's arm, and spun him around to grab him by the neck. "Because this is how fast I could take you if I wanted to."

"All right. We're listening."

Angel pushed him away. "I have no memory of doing any of these things."

Cordelia folded her arms over her chest. "Not exactly the confidence-inspiring denial I was looking for."

Angel went to sit on the edge of the desk. "I've been having dreams."

"Dreams?" Wesley asked.

"Killing dreams. Always the same." Angel swallowed. "I-I stalk them, toy with them, mark them while they are still alive. And before they can die from their fear, I feed on them."

Cordelia took this in. "Okay. So you've been having nightmares; it doesn't mean you-"

"They're not nightmares. I've enjoyed them."

"Oh."

"And you fear that these may be more than just dreams, that you are acting them out in some sort of hypnogogic state."

"Hypnowhatic?" Cordelia asked Wesley.

"Sleepwalking."

"Vampires can't sleepwalk. He'd take one step out of the front door, and his PJs would burst into flame!"

"Unless it was happening in the pre-dawn hours...which is when all these murders took place."

Angel looked at them. "There is only one way to be sure."

Cordelia and Wesley shackled Angel to his bed.

Wesley looked at Cordelia. "You've got to make it tight."

Cordelia huffed. "Like I need instructions from you. My glamorous L.A. life: I get to make the coffee and chain the boss to the bed. I've got to join a union."

Angel groaned. "Cordelia, I think that's tight enough."

Cordelia pulled on the chain one more time. "And if it turns out that we're back on the liquid lunch, better safe than cocktails!"

Angel sighed.

Wesley stepped back. "Well, all we can do now is wait."

Cordelia sighed. "Yeah. And no offense, Angel, but maybe you are committing those horrible crimes just in your dreams, but, even so, I don't want to stick around for your nocturnal commissions."

"I understand."

"Okay. Well, pleasant...uh, I mean...sleep tight."

"That's pretty much a given."

The next morning, Cordelia walked in, carrying a newspaper. "Wakie, wakie!"

Wesley got up from a chair at the foot of Angel's bed. "We made it."

"Great news, sports fans, there has been another killing." Cordelia paused and reconsidered. "Well, maybe not so great news for the, you know, dead person, but at least now we know that Mr. 'I'm So Tortured' didn't do it."

Wesley bent down to undo Angel's shackles.

"Yes, I did."

Angel went to sit down on a chair. "I taught him well."

Cordelia nodded. "A real Psycho-Wan Kenobi."

Wesley nodded. "Two-hundred years' practice. I imagine he has it down by now."

"No lie. Gallagher's changed his act more often than this dude has in the last two centuries. Why do you think he's still doing the same old shtick?" Cordelia asked.

"Well, I mean it's a classic, isn't it?" Wesley smiled. "Every time he smashes that watermelon with a sledgehammer, I just..."

Cordelia and Angel looked at him.

Angel sighed. "I don't know why."

"You don't suppose it's his way of trying to draw you out? That he knows you're here?" Wesley asked him. "That might explain the dreams."

"No. I used to have a connection with those I sired. It just means he's close, that's all."

Cordelia forced a smile. "Neat. We can't find him, and the cops stand absolutely zero chance of stopping him."

Angel got up to leave. "Kate."

"What are you doing?" Wesley asked.

"She doesn't know what she's dealing with, what she's up against."

"And you're not going to tell her. Think about it. You can't walk into a police precinct with intimate knowledge about these murders and claim a two-hundred-year-old Puritan is responsible. You'd be locked up faster than Lady Hamilton's virtue!" Wesley looked over at Cordelia. "My apologies."

"That's okay. I-I don't know what that meant."

"She's a good cop. She has resources we don't. Eventually, she will find him."

Cordelia stared at Angel. "Bad for her, then."

Angel paused. "Or good for us."

Kate saw Angel walking into the police station, playing with a piece of paper in his hands.

"Hey. I have the info on your license plate."

Angel swallowed and looked around.

"Angel, are you okay? Not that the 'brooding man of mystery' thing isn't working for you. I mean it is. A lot."

"Can we talk somewhere in private?"

"Sure, of course." Kate led him into the briefing room. "What is it?"

"Uh..." Angel closed the door and went to look at the crime photos pinned on a cork board. "How's the investigation?"

"It's nowhere." Kate pulled out her necklace and played with the cross on it. "Some of your more inconsiderate serial killers often fail to leave us any clues."

Angel stared at the pictures.

"Angel?"

Angel looked from picture to picture. "He's reliving it."

"What's going on?"

Angel turned around and saw the cross held between her fingers. "It's complicated."

"So make it simple."

"Kate, do you trust me?"

"You know I do."

Angel unfolded the paper in his hands and pinned the drawing of a face to the cork board. "Trust me when I tell you...this is the man you're looking for."

Kate was surprised. "Where did you get that? How could you possibly-"

"Do you trust me?"

"I don't understand. Are you protecting a source?"

Angel just looked at her.

"Yes, I trust you."

"His next victim will be a white male, adolescent. He'll take him off the streets in a low-rent neighborhood, probably near a bar or liquor store, and he'll kill him just like he did these others - unless you use every resource this department has to make sure he is not successful this time."

Later, Kate was briefing her officers with the help of a city map. "So let's set up patrols here and here. Anything matching the profile gets reported."

That night, Kate was driving on patrol.

"All units. Backup requested at 3336 Channel Avenue. Use caution. Multiple homicide suspect believed to be on the location."

Kate headed there. She parked her car and got out. Uniformed officers were on the scene, which was a warehouse.

Kate walked over to one of the officers. "Fill me in."

"Search teams are on their way now. He went in through there. We've sealed the exits. The place is big, but we'll find him."

Kate saw a teenage boy being wheeled away on a stretcher, shaken but alive. It disturbed her.

Kate pulled her gun. "I'm going in." She walked into the warehouse.

Kate slowly walked up some stairs and entered a big room. She heard footsteps and aimed her gun at a man, who resembled Angel's drawing, that was coming down some wooden steps.

"Don't move! Do not move; I will fire!" Kate threatened.

He kept walking, and she shot him three times in the chest. He fell to land motionless at the bottom of the stairs. Kate slowly walked over to him, her gun trained on his chest, and reached down one hand to check for a pulse. When she didn't find one, she holstered her gun and took out her radio to report in.

He reached up and grabbed her by the front of her shirt. "Ouch." He threw her across the room.

She tried to pick herself up as he slowly sauntered towards her. Suddenly, a figure dropped through the floor above to land between them in a cloud of dust. Angel briefly looked to make sure Kate was all right, then turned to face the man.

"Angelus?" The man laughed. "Angelus!" He clapped him on the arms. "My God! It's been a lifetime!"

"At least."

"We were to meet in Italy, remember?"

"I remember."

He smiled. "Well, I waited."

Kate crawled towards her radio.

"Hell, I waited until the nineteenth century. What happened?"

"Got held up in Romania."

"Romania. What's in Romania?"

"Gypsies."

Kate pressed a button on the radio. "Request assistance. Full tactical units. Second floor, southwest corner."

He clapped Angel on the shoulder and motioned towards Kate. "Hmm. Join me for a drink."

"That's not why I'm here."

"Request assistance, suspect sighted..."

"Yeah, why are you here?"

Angel bared his fangs as Kate stared in disbelief.

"To kill you."

They fought. Kate scooted back against the wall while they threw each other around, watching speechless.

Angel threw him through a plaster wall and turned to Kate. "Go, Kate! Get out of here!"

She hesitated.

"Kate, go!"

The man came shooting back through the hole and tackled Angel. Both rolled quickly back to their feet.

"You know its name? Angelus, what happened to you?"

Angel swung at him, but he ducked, grabbed Angel's arm, and twisted it behind his back.

"People change."

"We're not people!"

He threw Angel into Kate, who had her gun aimed at them. By the time that Angel got back up, he had disappeared. Kate stared up at Angel.

"Lockley. Lockley, where are you?"

Later, there were officers combing the warehouse.

Kate stared at Angel. "I shot him three times. I know I did. And he got up."

Angel stepped towards her.

Kate pulled her gun and aimed it point-blank at his chest. "If I pull this trigger, are you going to get up, too?"

Angel just looked at her.

"What are you?"

"You already know the answer, Kate."

She slowly put her gun down.

Angel walked past her. "Details have been left out of the press reports. Something you held back. Isn't that right?"

"What do you know about it?"

"Puncture wounds. The victims have all been drained of their blood, haven't they?"

"And should I trust you more or less, because you happen to know that?"

"You're not going to stop him, Kate, not like this."

"What do you mean?"

"It's going to take direct sunlight, decapitation, or a stake through the heart."

Kate turned away. "You're telling me children's stories."

"I'm telling you the truth."

Kate spun back to face him. "No. I don't believe you."

"I know you don't. Even after what you saw, you won't let yourself, which is why you'll lose."

"I've heard enough."

Angel closed his fist around the cross dangling from her necklace, and she gasped at the sound of his flesh sizzling.

"No, you haven't heard a word, and you won't. Not now, not yet."

She looked down at the smoke rising from his fist and started smelling his burning flesh.

"Because there are some things in this world you're just not ready to face."

Angel let go of her cross, turned, and walked off, and she stared after him.

The next day, Kate was sitting in the briefing room, staring at the picture on the wall.

An officer brought in some old records. "Here is everything with that MO dating back as far as I could find. So...you think this guy is a copycat and a history buff?"

"Something like that."

The officer left the room, closing the door behind him. Kate looked at some old newspaper headlines. One of them read "Vampire Killer Strikes Again in Garment District".

Cordelia got up from behind her desk. "So...you've discovered the seamy underbelly of the candy-coated America, have you? Well, you've come to the right place! Here at Angel Investigations, we won't judge, but we will charge. Now, if you only tell me how you heard of us."

"From the police, actually."

Cordelia stared at the man in the chair. "Really?"

"Yeah. The detective I spoke with was very enthusiastic." He got up from his chair. "For the truly human touch, she said, I should come to you."

"Oh, good." Cordelia frowned as she saw the dark overcoat hanging over the back of his chair. "Is it cold out there?"

"I'm trying to remember her name. What...What was it?" He raised his hand. "She is about yea tall, attractive, natural blonde?"

"Oh, yeah, Kate! Detective Lockley."

"Lockley. Yes, that's it."

"Yeah, she and Angel are totally tight."

"So she is more than just a professional relationship, then. He cares for her."

"Oh, yeah. More than he knows. But that's our Angel, dour, sure, but not afraid to get personally involved in his work, and you're totally pumping me for information, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

Cordelia frowned. "Oh, shit. You're him. The guy. Apt Pupil boy."

"You realize you'll never make it to the exit before I-"

Cordelia pulled up the blinds, and he had to dodge away from the direct sunlight streaming in.

"Go up like a match?" Cordelia finished for him.

Angel walked in and saw him, but he was separated from him by the swath of sun shining in through the window.

"Well." He laughed. "Look who's back from his Up with People meeting."

Angel did not look away from him. "Give me a stake."

Cordelia left to get a stake.

"What? You don't drink, so now no one gets to?" he asked Angel.

"I don't expect you to understand."

"Oh, I...I understand. I was a Puritan, remember?"

"It's gotta end."

"Why? Because you say so? And how does that work, exactly? You just wake up one morning and decide 'Okay, now, I'm good!'" He laughed. "No, Angelus, it doesn't end. It never, ever ends. It just goes on and on."

Cordelia returned with a stake. "That's not the only thing that goes on and on." She handed the stake to Angel. "Here, kill him."

"I'm sorry for what I did to you, Penn, for what I turned you into."

"First-class killer? An artist? A bold re-interpreter of the form?"

"Try cheesy hack. Look at you. You've been getting back at your father for over two-hundred years. It's pathetic and cliched. Probably got a killer shrine on your wall, huh? News clippings, magazine articles, maybe a few candles? Oh, you are so prosaic."

Penn slowly retreated towards the door when it opened.

Wesley walked in, not seeing Penn. "Nothing on the streets about a new vampire in town."

Cordelia tried to warn him, but Penn had already grabbed Wesley from behind. Angel stepped forward but was again stopped by the sunlight streaming in through the window.

"Which is maybe because he's here - and has me by the throat."

"Let him go!" Angel yelled.

"You're right, Angelus, my work was getting stale. I appreciate the critique. So look for something new, innovative, something shockingly original. Just think of the worst possible thing you can imagine, and I'll see you there." Penn threw Wesley at Angel, grabbed his coat, covered his head with it, and ran out.

That night, Kate was at home, sitting at the kitchen table, taking notes while reading through books that she got from a bookstore called Ancient Eye. There was a knock on the door. Kate got up, walked over, and unlocked and opened the door. Angel was standing outside.

"Hi. Can I come in?"

"Oh, that's right. You have to be invited in, don't you?"

"You've been doing your homework."

"Want to quiz me? I'm just full of fun facts. For instance, I learned that your friend has been in L.A. before; did you know that? Yeah, at least twice. Once in 1929 and again in 1963. Oh, and there is something in Boston in 1908. I think he was there, too."

"So you believe me?"

"Yes, I believe you."

"Good, because he is planning something-"

"Angelus. Isn't that what he called you? Angelus? I looked it up. It's all right there. The demon with the face of an angel. A particularly brutal bastard by all accounts. Oh, and, no, you can't come in."

"I can't make up for the past, Kate; I know that."

"No, you can't. In fact, all of this - what's happening now - is really because of you. You made him, didn't you?"

"Let me help end it, please?"

"Please. Now, there is a word I imagine you heard quite a lot in your time. Please? No? Don't? Thanks for the offer, but I don't need your help. I know what to do. Drive a stake right through the son of a bitch's heart. And when that happens, I suggest you don't be there. Because the next time we meet, I'll do the same to you." Kate slammed the door in his face.

The next day, in the office, Cordelia was looking stuff up on the computer. "Ha, here it is! Los Angeles Globe, 1929. 'The Regent Gardens Hotel manager said that the suspect seemed like a quiet, normal type. The search is ongoing.' No kidding. What are we looking for, exactly?" she asked Angel.

"I don't know yet."

Wesley was reading an old newspaper book. "In 1963, the police tracked the killer to a residential hotel called the Clover Wood Apartments. By the time they made their move, he'd already fled." He showed them the picture in the paper. "They never caught him."

Cordelia looked from the picture on the computer to the picture in the book. "It's the same place. New name and a facelift. Not the first time that's happened in this town."

Angel paused for a moment. "Huh, good old, predictable Penn."

Kate was giving a briefing to the other officers in the briefing room at the precinct. "All right, listen up." She held up a copy of Angel's drawing of Penn. "You've all received one of these in your briefing packets. This is the man that we're looking for." She held up two pictures of Angel taken by the precinct's security cameras. "And this man is how we're going to find him. He's the way to our killer. His name is Angel, and he's a local private detective. We have reason to believe that our suspect will make an attempt to contact Angel, possibly as his next target."

"So we are going to stake out Angel's place? How many men do you want?" another detective asked her.

"Lots. We'll be working in rotating teams-"

"This is a terrible likeness of me."

Kate stared in shock as Penn walked into the room.

"Uh, the mouth, it's all wrong!"

Two detectives jumped him.

"No!" Kate yelled.

Penn threw the two men across the room. Kate scrambled to get a stake out of her purse while Penn swept through the room easily, taking out two cops on his way towards Kate. Kate's stake dropped, useless, on the floor as he grabbed her and left the room, using her as a shield.

Penn dragged Kate through the sewer tunnels.

"What are you going to do?" Kate asked him.

"Well, first, I thought I'd stop everything and tell you my plan." Penn threw her against a wall. "Or, better yet, why don't I just show you?" He sauntered up to her, grabbed her by the neck, and sniffed her cheek. "Ah, smell that fear." He laughed. "Makes the blood sweeter. You know who taught me that?"

"I'm not afraid to die."

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you. But when I'm finished, Angel will."

"Bus full of school children, Penn? You really thought I was gonna fall for that?" Angel asked.

Kate reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a glass bottle as Penn's attention was on Angel.

"Well, you could have."

"Nah, too original."

Kate splashed some holy water into Penn's face. He screamed and threw her to the side. The left side of his face was a mass of angry red burns.

"Well, you were right about one thing, Angelus. The last two-hundred years has been about me sticking it to my father. But I've come to realize something: it's you!" Penn jumped up and kicked Angel in the stomach. "You made me!" He kicked him in the face, then double-fisted him a couple of times. "You taught me!"

Angel dropped to the floor.

Penn jumped on his back. "You approved of me in ways my mortal father never did! You are my real father, Angelus."

Angel got up, holding Penn up above his head. "Fine!" He slammed him into the ground. "You're grounded."

They fought on while Kate looked around for a weapon to use. She picked up a broken board, but Penn kicked it out of her hand, then hit her in the face. Before he could do more, Angel pulled him off Kate. They continued fighting while Kate reclaimed her piece of wood. Penn walked up one wall with Angel holding him from behind, flipped over Angel's head, and landed behind him, holding him in a double nelson.

"You forget your own lessons, old teacher: never give up the advantage, remember?"

Angel looked at Kate, standing in front of them with a long piece of wood in her hands.

"Living among them has made you weak!"

Angel kept looking at Kate, not even trying to break free.

"It sickens me to think that there was a time where you would have done whatever was necessary."

Kate rammed the piece of wood through Angel's stomach and up into Penn's heart. Angel gasped in pain while Penn died.

Angel gasped and stared at the half of the board still sticking out of his stomach. "You missed."

"No. I didn't." Kate grabbed the board and pulled it back out.

Penn's corpse fell to the ground. Angel collapsed, cradling his stomach and gasping from the pain. Kate sunk down to the floor, a few feet away from him.

That evening, Cordelia walked onto the roof of their building, wearing a wool poncho. Angel was sitting there, looking out over the lights of the city.

Cordelia walked up to him and leaned on the embrasure next to him. "If you're wondering why this vein on my temple is doing the cha-cha, it's because I just had one of those bone-crunching, mind-splitting vision headaches."

Angel looked at her, then back away.

Cordelia handed him a piece of paper. "New job."

Angel took it. "I was just thinking about how much this place is like where I grew up."

Cordelia looked out on the city. "Right. Yeah. I could see that, except for the cars and the buildings and the, you know, everything else."

"It's not so different. People moving through their lives. I wonder if anything ever really changes."

"Sure, it does. They do." Cordelia looked over at him. "You have. They were just dreams, Angel. They weren't even your dreams. They didn't mean anything."

"But I enjoyed it."

"It'd probably be okay if you never mentioned that part ever again."

"It's still in me, Cordelia."

"Sure, it's in you. We all have something. But it's not the only thing that's in you. You're not him, Angel. Not anymore. The name I got in my vision, the message didn't come for Angelus; it came for you. Angel. And you have to trust that whoever that the Powers That Be...be...are...is..." Cordelia shook her head. "Anyway, they know the difference."

"Yeah."

"People really do change."

"Yes, they do." Angel got off the embrasure and stood next to Cordelia, looking her in the eyes. "And sometimes they change back. If the day ever comes that I-"

"Oh, I'll kill you dead!" Cordelia promised without hesitation.

Angel blinked. "Thanks."

Cordelia turned to go. "What are friends for?"