01x13 - She

[bunniefuu]

Cordy: “I am not giving up this apartment.”

Angel: “It’s haunted.”

Cordelia: “It’s rent controlled!”

Cordelia: “I have a roommate, but it’s cool I never see him. – Phantom Dennis, put that back!”

Cordelia: “Are you working with Angel?”

Wesley: “I’m a roue demon hunter, now.”

Cordelia: “What’s a rogue demon?”

Cordelia is having a party at her place. There are a lot of people there, including Wesley, who is dancing by himself.

Cordy: “Hi, Diego, - Laura.”

Diego hands her a bag of ice: “Let the consumption of cold things begin.”

Cordy: “Excellent. Now, are you going to behave yourself?”

Diego: “Have you ever seen me at a party?”

Cordy walks up to Angel: “Hi! Are you having fun?”

Angel: “Sure. - This is, ah...”

Cordy: “Your idea of hell?”

Angel: “Actually in hell you tend to know a lot of the people. – No, I-I’m having a great time.”

Cordy putting some of the ice into a bowl on the table Angel is leaning against: “Yeah? Can I get you some blood or anything?”

Angel: “I’m good.”

Cordy: “Okay. – Steve Paymer came, can you believe it? - David Paymer’s brother, - Steve? (Angel just looks at her. Cordy thrust the half-empty bag of ice at him and walks off) Steve!”

Angel sees Wesley overbalance doing one of his dance moves and fall. Wesley picks himself back up and dances over to Angel. He grabs some of the ice out of the bowl on the table.

Wesley: “I need to cool off. (Puts the ice on his forehead) Cordelia certainly knows how to throw a do. (Point to an entrée in his hand) These Mini-Reubens - with a little sauerkraut and a little swiss inside, - what mad genius brought these into the world? (Eats one) Mmm. What say a couple of brooding demon hunters start chatting up some of the fillies?”

Girls walks up to them: “Hey. (Wesley chokes on his Reuben and starts coughing) Nice sweater. Hand knit?”

Wesley: “Certainly not by me.”

Girl: “I didn’t mean – I mean it’s a great sweater.”

Wesley: “Oh, well, I-I’ll pass that on then – to the person who knit it. – I-I mean, I would, if I knew who did – but I don’t. - So I won’t pass it on to anyone, will I?”

Girl: “Oh.” Walks away.

Cordy: “Diego, pants on!”

Laura to Angel: “So with my Masters degree in Fine Arts, I was able to launch my very own business – selling sandwiches downtown from a little cart.”

Angel: “Huh.”

Laura: “Yeah. I-I do see a lot of stuff on the job. – So I tell myself that I’m honing my eye.”

Angel smiling: “Makes sense.”

A different song comes on and Laura sets down her drink.

Laura starting to make dance moves and wearing a big smile: “Oh, I *love* this. (Angel looks around) Would you - like to dance?”

Camera zooms in on Angel’s eye. Flash to white, then to Angel doing some exaggerated wild dancing and making faces while Laura is staring at him with her mouth hanging open. Flash back to white and to Angel’s face.

Angel: “I don’t dance.”

Laura walks off with a shrug and Angel goes into Cordy’s kitchen, which is empty and leans back against the doorframe. The chair by the table moves out by itself.

Angel sits down: “Hi Dennis. - How are you doing? (A can of beer floats out of the bowl of ice on the kitchen table) Hmm, still dead? (Can pops open and slides into Angel’s hand. He picks it up and takes a drink) I know the feeling.”

Cut to a guy picking an open can of beer out of a box filled with ice and taking a drink. He looks at a coffin-like box. The label on the side says Danger – Hazardous material – Do not open. He finishes his beer as he walks out of the cooler through some strip of plastic. As he smashes the empty can he hears a strange noise coming from the direction of the cooler. It’s coming from the coffin-like box. He picks up a crow bar and opens it. There is steam and light coming from it as he looks down into it.

Guy: “Holy God.”

Intro

Cut to Angel’s office the next morning.

Cordy to Angel: “Hi.”

Angel steps out of the elevator: “Good morning. Is there coffee?”

Cordy: “They’re still in bean form. I - thought I ordered the ground. (Hands him a silver coffee bag) Maybe you could crush the beans with your vampire strength? Just mush the bag. (Angel looks from the bag to Cordy then back at the bag in his hands) Mush it.”

Angel puts the bag down with a slight grimace: “Really, ah, fun party last night.

Cordy: “I’m so glad you came. You know how parties are. You’re always worried that no one is going to suck the energy out of the room like a giant black hole of boring despair. But there you where - in the clinch!”

Angel: “I didn’t... – Boring?”

Cordy: “You used to be a person! Did you never party? Did people not gather in olden times?”

Angel: “I talked to people. - Laura.”

Cordy: “Laura thought you hated her. I had to tell her you were challenged.”

Angel: “I don’t hate her. I-I got to modes with people: bite and avoid. Hard to shift. Plus, I can’t get to close. I mean, with women...”

Cordy: “You can be nice. I mean, it’s not like Laura is going to throw you down on the living room floor and tear off all of your... - Well, actually, Laura...”

Angel: “I’ll try harder. - Still, I mean, the quiet, reserved – thing, don’t you think it makes me kind of – I don’t know, cool?”

Cordy points at Wesley as he walks into the office: “He was cooler.”

Wesley: “Good morning.”

Angel sits down on the couch with a sigh: “Now I’m depressed.”

Wesley: “I feel rather chipper myself. *That* was quite a soiree last night.”

Cordy: “Glad someone enjoyed it.”

Angel: “I enjoyed it!”

Wesley: “A gala event. In particular the tiny Reubens and the shrimp puffs. Don’t supposed there is any leftovers laying about? Any - abandoned shrimp puffs?”

Angel gets up: “You’re broke, aren’t you?”

Wesley: “Angel, - a man’s finances are his own business.”

Angel: “You want a job?”

Wesley: “Oh, yes, please!”

Angel: “Look, I don’t have much, but as long as you make yourself useful around here, you’re entitled to a cut.”

Wesley: “I-I don’t know what to say.”

Cordy: “Well, this is great! Now we’re really... (To Angel) Do I have to take a pay-cut? (Angel shakes his head and Cordy turns back to Wesley) a team!”

Wesley tires to hug Angel, but he wards him off with a slight grimace.

Wesley: “You won’t be disappointed. (Turns away and looks down) There is, ah, something in my eye.”

Angel pulls the handkerchief out of Wesley’s front pocket and hands it to him.

Cordy: “Oh, don’t go getting all sappy. (To Angel) Hold me.”

Angel to Cordy: “Look, why don’t we just...”

Cordy: “No! Hold me!”

Angel barely catches her as she gets hit by a vision. Flash to the guy and the box from earlier. He screams, his face starts to blister and his eyeballs explode.

Cordy: “Gross! Oh, - *eww* is all. Ugh!”

Wesley: “What did you see?”

Cordy: “I don’t just see, I feel, okay? Thank you Doyle.”

Angel: “Is someone in trouble?”

Wesley gets a pad and pencil: “I’m, ah, I’m at the ready.”

Cordy: “You’re going to the ice factory - on Fifth, downtown.”

Angel: “What are we looking for?”

Cordy: “A corpse.”

Wesley looking at a map: “I don’t think there is access through the tunnels.”

Angel: “I’m driving then.”

Wesley: “I’m coming with you. I intend to earn my keep. Oh, and in terms of this keep, by the by...”

Angel: “There is no dental.”

Wesley: “Right, well, I’ll floss.”

Angel: “Lets go.”

Cordy holding a glass full of ice to her head: “Hey, be careful. The guy was burnt to death in an ice factory. The thing that did that could still be there.”

Angel: “You didn’t get a look at it?”

Cordy shakes her head: “All I felt was his fear – then the exploding eyeballs. Did I mention that I hate this gig?”

Angel: “We’ll be in touch.”

Wesley opens the door for Angel: “After you, sir.”

Wesley drives Angel’s car up past the Southwestern Bag Company and pulls into the shadow in front of the ice factory.

Wesley: “Here we are. Jerico Ice Factory. (Angel gets out of the passenger side) Boss, why don’t I...”

Angel: “Stay put.”

Wesley: “Uhm, stay here and wait for you.”

Angel walks in and crouches down next to the burnt body. He pulls out the guy’s wallet and finds a business card for Peter Wilkers – Private Security. He keeps the card and puts the wallet back.

Angel walks into the cooler and sees the open box. It is half full of ice.

Cut to Wesley standing next to the car fiddling with the a* in his hand.

Cut to Angel in the cooler. Angel turns around as someone runs past on the other side of the plastic strips hanging in the doorway. Angel slowly walks out.

Cut to guy with a ridge of small spines running up the middle of his forehead reaching for a crowbar.

Angel putting one foot on the bar: “Captain Inferno I presume? (The demon straightens up and Angel steps on the piece of the crow bar sticking out over the edge of the box to flip it into his hand, and pushes it up against the other guys chest) Close enough. I don’t do well near an open flame. (Notices a rip in the guys sleeve and pushes it open using the crowbar to reveal burnt skin) Only – you didn’t burn him, did you? (Moves the crowbar back against the guy’s chest) Who are you? - - I’m not a big talker. I usually let others carry the conversation. I am pretty good at putting *these* (Motions with the crowbar) through heads though.”

Guy: “I am called Tay. I’m not from your dimension.”

Angel: “Sort of guessing that.”

Tay: “I was sent by my people to stop it. That is my cause here.”

Angel: “Stop what?”

Tay: “The bringer of chaos.”

Angel: “What is it? Demon?”

Tay: “More than a mere demon. It is a vessel of pure rage. It has almost destroyed my world and now it is lose in yours.”

After a moment Angel lowers the crowbar: “How can I k*ll it?”

Tay: “You won’t be able to. It’s stronger than one man. (Edges away from Angel) If you and your people wish to live – stay away.”

Cut to Angel handing Wesley a finished drawing of Tay’s face back at his office.

Angel: “He said his name was Tay. Seemed pretty shook up. Said this thing brings chaos and destruction to his world.”

Wesley: “Tay. Hmm. Could be a Kovitch demon from the Caucasus.”

Angel: “He’s not from our dimension.”

Wesley: “Ah, they must come to ours via portals.”

Cordy: “Portals? There are portals now? When did they put in portals? - Don’t we have enough on our hands without burning monster fiends coming here?”

Wesley to Angel: “We’ll figure out who he is, where he comes from, - boss, - you can count on it.”

Cordy looks at Wesley: “Wesley, stop kissing butt. It’s not like we get overtime. (Angel looks at her) Oh, but I’ll get right on it.”

Angel: “I also want to know if there have been any other...”

Cordy: “Killings by incineration lately? - See? On it.”

Wesley to Angel: “Uh, where are you headed?”

Angel: “Victim’s office. He’s in private security. I’d like to know who hired him.”

Cordy: “Okay.”

Cut to Angel pulling up in front of a big brick building. He tries a door with 635 above it, but it is locked. He walks around to the side of the building, pulls out to grappling hooks, sh**t them up over the edge of the building and walks up the side of the wall with their help. Jumps onto a metal ladder beside an open window and scales it up to the roof.

Cut to Angel walking into Peter Wilkers office (205). In a locked drawer he finds a shipping order from Jerico Ice stuck in an envelope with a bunch of twenties. He puts the money back but keeps the invoice. He looks up as he hears a noise. The next moment he’s flying across the room, smoke rising from a singed arm. We get a glimpse of a woman with a black tattoo crossing her left eye.

Jhiera: “What are you doing here?”

Angel: “I could ask you the same question.”

Jhiera: “Working for *them*, is that it? How much do they pay you to hunt us?”

Angel straightens up: “I work for myself and I’m here because I’m looking for his k*ller. Hard to forget, huh? (Puts a hand on the back of the chair next to him) Burnt alive. Know anyone who does that kind of thing?”

Jhiera charges him and he picks up the chair to hold her off. She ducks underneath it and hits him in the chest, sending him crashing through the door.

Telephone rings.

Jhiera pulls out a cell phone: “Yes. Where? How soon?”

Closes the phone and leaves.

Cut to her walking up to a car parked beside the building. As she drives off we see Angel drop down from the building behind the car.

Cut to Angel tailing her in his car. He takes out a cell phone and dials. Hears ‘We’re sorry, your call did not go through as dialed, please hang up and dial again.’ Tries again. The low battery alarm goes off. He fumbles a cable out of the glove box and plugs the phone into the cigarette lighter with it. Almost runs into another car as he makes a last minute right to follow Jhiera.

Cut to the phone ringing at the office.

Cordy to phone: “Angel Investigations. We help the hopeless.”

Angel: “I hate the cell phone that you gave me. Any luck?”

Cordy: “We’re stymied on the demon guy, *but* we did find four similar killings in the last 11 months. All guys, all b*rned from the inside out. Did you find it?”

Angel: “Yeah. It’s not an ‘it’ it’s a ‘she.’”

Cordy: “A chick that burns? Are you okay? (Connection is breaking up) Did sh- care- ”

Angel: “Did she care about me?”

Cordy: “Did she ‘Carrie’ you! Carrie, the movie, you know?”

Angel: “I can’t hear you. Hello? Cord- “

Cordy sighs: “You must be going through a canyon.”

Angel: “Cordelia, can you hear me?”

Cordy: “I can hear you now. Are you back?”

Angel: “Yeah, I can hear you. You know, these things were definitely cooked up by a bored warlock. I want you two to keep trying to find that demon Tay. He knows a lot more than he is telling. I think she is here on some kind of mission. I think he may be the key to all this.”

Wesley makes a circular motion in front of his face to Cordy.

Cordy to phone: “What - what does she look like?”

Angel: “Ah, two raised ridges running down either cheek, violet eyes, uhm, she seemed intelligent. She was very – attractive, - for a demon.”

Cordy: “A hottie, huh? I guess she’s that all right. What with the sizzle.”

Angel braking up again: “Sizzler?”

Cordy: “The sizzle factor? - Angel?”

Angel: “I can’t hear you. (Cordy is really breaking up now) Cordelia?”

He closes the cell phone and throws it in the back seat.

Jhiera parks her car and walks up to what looks like a museum. Angel tails her.

Jhiera walks up to a security guard inside: “Excuse me sir, I need your help.”

Officer: “What is it?”

Jhiera: “There is a man following me. I’m afraid he may want to hurt me.”

Officer looks around: “What man, where is he?”

Jhiera points Angel out to him: “There in the black coat.”

Officer walks after Angel talking into the com-link strapped to his shoulder: “We have a code three in the front gallery.”

Com-link: “Roger.”

Angel takes off his coat as he parallels Jhiera through the crowd. Three security men step out of a door almost running into Jhiera as she walks towards it.

Officer: “Excuse ma’am.”

Angel sees the three officers almost on top of him and points at a picture hanging on the wall next to him and starts to play tour guide to the people standing in front of it.

Angel: “And this brings us to Monet’s incomparable ‘La Music Aux Tuileries.’ First exhibited in 1863...”

Cut to Jhiera walking down a dimly lit corridor. She walks into a room with Art Restoration marked on the door and looks up at a row of windows.

Angel pointing at the painting while watching the security guards searching for him: “On the left one spies the painter himself. In the middle distance is the French poet and critic Baudelaire, a friend of the artist. Now, Baudelaire – interesting fellow. In his poem ‘Le Vampire’ he wrote: ‘Thou who abruptly as a Kn*fe didst come into my heart.’ - He, ah, strongly believed that evil forces surrounded mankind. And some even speculated that the poem was about a real vampire. (Laughs) Oh and, ah, Baudelaire was actually a little taller and a lot drunker than he is depicted here."

He sees the officers moving off and walks off towards the door Jhiera went through as the people in front of the painting applaud him.

Cut to the office. Cordy is asleep on her desk. Open books are stacked everywhere.

Wesley looking at a book: “Aha!”

Cordy jerks awake: “That better be an ‘Aha!’ of triumph. I was dreaming there was a going out of business sale at Neimans!”

Wesley: “I think I’ve located them. The Vigories of Oden Tal.”

Cordy: “The what of whatee?”

Wesley: “Of Oden Tal. The men are called Vigories. They have four distinct ridges on their foreheads, are said to be fierce warriors, and their women live enslaved to them.”

Cordy hits him on the arm: “Way to go, Wes! Angel said this Tay guy could be the key. Any way to find them here in town?”

Wesley scans the page: “Ah, it says that the men are herbivores. They eat a thick stew made from rotting plants and flowers, and they need to consume half their body weight a day.”

Cordy: “Whoa. - So, we’re looking like – for the biggest compost heap in LA?”

Cut to Jhiera standing with her hand held out in front of her. She puts her hands on her hips and turns around as the door opens.

Jhiera: “You. How? A human would have been unconscious for hours.”

Angel: “I’ll answer your questions if you’ll answer mine.”

Jhiera steps closer: “You’re a - vampire.”

Angel: “Among other things. Who’s Tay? What does he want?”

Jhiera: “I don’t have time for this.”

Angel: “If you didn’t k*ll the guy in the ice company, who did? Somebody like you?”

Jhiera: “Why do you think I would speak to you and not hurt you?”

Angel: “Gotta risk it. Call me old-fashioned, but I can’t allow tourists to go around torching locals.”

Jhiera looks back at the row of windows then back at Angel: “Leave – now! I’m warning you.”

Angel: “Why? What’s going to happen?”

A circular distortion form in the air in front of one of the windows. A bright white light emanates from it. Angel and Jhiera go over to look up at it. Jhiera once again holds out her hands in front of her. The naked body of a girl falls out of the portal.

Jhiera crouched over the girl to Angel: “Stay back! (To girl) We must go.”

Angel pulls a wall-hanging down and throws it over the naked girl as Jhiera helps her up.

Angel: “What are you running from?”

Jhiera: “It is not your concern. You’re not one of us.”

The door opens and Tay steps in accompanied by more of his kind.

Angel: “No, but I think I’ll stick around anyway.”

Tay: “It’s right. This is not your concern. The traitor it and the other are ours. If you know what’s good for you, you won’t...”

Angel kicks him in the face: “Do that?”

Tay and two other guys hurry Gi out the back door while she screams for help. But Jhiera and Angel are busy fighting the rest of them. They finish just in time to see a car pull away through the open back door.

Angel: “They got her. What’ll happen to her?”

Jhiera: “She will be unmade.”

Cut to Tay’s g*ons dragging the screaming girl through a flour warehouse.

Gi: “No! - Please, please! - You don’t have to do this to me!”

Tay: “Watch its hands.”

Gi: “No! No! I’ll be good. I’ll be good, I’ll promise! You don’t have to do this to me.”

Tay: “Why does it speak when no one listens.”

Cut to them leading her into a backroom of the warehouse.

Tay: “It has been recovered.”

Gi: “No. No. Please. Please! No. Let me go!”

One of the others hands Tay a pair of strange looking pliers.

Tay getting ready to clip off the ridges protruding along her neck and upper back: “It will now be restored.”

Gi: “You bastards. No!”

Tay: “You’ll feel *so* much better after this.”

Tay clips off the first ridge and Gi screams.

Cut to the outside of Angel’s office in daylight. Cut to Jhiera taking her coat off and looking around Angel’s apartment.

Angel: “You should dress that. (Motions at the cut on her upper left arm) Your wound.”

Jhiera: “Why are you doing this. I thought vampires were K*llers.”

Angel: “They are. I was cursed by gypsies.”

Jhiera: “Cursed to help people?”

Angel: “Yeah. - Gypsies they have a strange sense of - humor. (He lays a napkin and some bandages on the chair between them and takes a step back. She takes one of the bandages and applies it to her wound) Want to tell me what’s going on?”

Jhiera: “The girl is a runaway. I was trying to help her escape from our homeland. If you hadn’t distract...”

Angel walks past her: “If I hadn’t helped you, you’d both be with them right now.”

Jhiera: “Perhaps.”

Angel: “Why was the girl running away?

Jhiera: “She was going to be unmade.”

Angel: “They were going to k*ll her?”

Jhiera: “In a fashion. You wouldn’t understand.”

Angel slowly steps closer to her: “Try me.”

Jhiera: “In Oden Tal – what you call personality – our passions – those impulses - sit in an area of the body we call the Ko.”

She puts her hands up on her shoulders, takes a step closer and turns around to show him the ridges on her upper back and neck. Angel leans in closer.

Angel: “And your pursuers they want to take this from you?”

Jhiera turns back around to face him: “From the women, yes. When the females come of age, Ko controls our physical and sexual power. – It even signals when we are (Looks down) aroused and have met desirable mates. But when it’s removed...”

Angel: “You’re more easily controlled.”

Jhiera looks up at him, then circles him slowly: “We marry who they command, - serve without questioning. - We leave behind dreaming.”

Angel: “But you escaped.”

Jhiera: “I was the first. I am Jhiera. - Jhiera of Oden Tal. My family rules the dimension.”

Angel: “I’m guessing the royal family isn’t loving the - portal-jumping, refugee-saving duties you’ve assigned yourself.”

Jhiera: “They tell people I’m dead. But the women know. - Here we have a name. We have a chance to become, but it is difficult. When the Ko first matures the girls can’t manage it – our physical energy. We come to your world in a fever.”

Angel: “That’s why – the ice.”

Jhiera: “Yes. When I first arrived – alone – I thought I would die from the heat - under my skin. (Jhiera is standing very close in front of Angel and as the camera pans around we see that her ridges are glowing a fiery red. She is breathing hard. They start to pivot around each other) And your people – the men? Some respond to the Ko involuntarily. They tried to force themselves – it wasn’t safe for me – until I found the frozen water. (Jhiera sits down on the chair. Angel licks his lips and looks down) As long as I could stay cool... The worst of it passed in a few months time. (Looks up at Angel) then I started to learn to control my power.”

Angel: “Like last night, when you b*rned me.”

Jhiera gets up to stand in front of him again: “I *intended* to hurt you. I thought you were my enemy.”

Angel: “What about the guard? Who b*rned him?”

Jhiera: “He tried to touch one of my girls. It was his own fault.”

Angel: “From what you’re saying he probably didn’t mean to hurt her.”

Jhiera: “And the girl couldn’t help k*lling him! It was an accident.”

Angel: “What about the other four guys who d*ed the same way in the last year? Your girls k*ll them, too?”

Jhiera backs away from him: “How do you know about this? Have you been...”

Angel: “No, I haven’t been following you. But you incinerate a few guys someone is going to start asking questions. I understand what you’re trying to do; and I’ll help you if I can. But you can’t go around hurting men in my world.”

Jhiera: “I am the daughter to a King, sir. A king who promised happiness and a better life for everyone. I didn’t denounce him and escape for my good alone. I did it to see his promise come true for all the women of Oden Tal. If a few have to die to protect my people...”

Angel steps towards her: “They are *my* people who are dying; and it’s *my* promise to protect them.”

Jhiera: “Then tell them to stay out of my way.”

Jhiera starts to walk out but Angel cuts her off.

Angel: “Wait.”

Jhiera holds her left hand inches away from his chest. It is glowing a fiery red. She is breathing hard. Leans her head against him for a moment then moves back, lowers her hand, and straightens up.

Jhiera: “And you, too. I don’t need your help.” She leaves Angel standing there and walks out.

Cut to Wesley and Cordy in the California Flower Mart.

Cordy whispers: “I’m not sure about coming out here all by ourselves. Maybe we should have waited for Angel.”

Wesley whispers: “Cordelia, now that I am officially in Angel’s employ, I feel it’s doubly important to show initiative and drive. We can’t just dally about... (Points at some roses) Look! Nancy’s Petticoat. Oh. They’re quite rare. They were named for Nancy Mitford, the author. (Sniffs the roses) Because of her love for... (Sees Cordy’s look) Right. Shoving off.”

Cordy: “I wonder how we find were they keep the compost.”

Wesley: “I’d say we follow our noses.”

Cordy: “Wait!”

Cut to them sneaking into the dimly lit back room of the Flower Mart.

Cordy whispers: “Wait. Okay, now I’m sure we shouldn’t have come here. It smells like flower poop!”

They hear Tay speak and duck behind some barrels.

Tay: “The portal will open soon, and only for a short while. When the proper coordinates align we must move to the entry point immediately. (Camera pans over a cement wall to show Tay, two other Vigories, and Gi.) You will escort it there, ensure its quick return (Wesley climbs up to peek over the wall) and rejoin us. We have a lot of work to do in this dimension. (Camera shows Gi’s back and the open wounds where the spine ridges used to be) It can go home now. (To Gi) Would it like that? Would it like to go home?”

Gi: “It is *happy* to go – as soon as you say.”

Tay steps closer to her: “And don’t you feel better now?”

Gi nods slowly. One Vigory leads Gi away and Cordy pulls frantically on Wesley’s shirt to make him get down behind the barrels.

Vigory to Tay: “We’ve recovered two this month. We should...”

Tay: “It means nothing! This won’t stop until we find Jhiera.”

Cut to the Palm Ridge Spa outside of the city. Cut to a guy contemplating a Japanese sand garden. Jhiera walks in.

Guy: “Jhiera. Excellent. Just when I need the artistic eye of a goddess.”

Jhiera: “Where are the girls?”

Guy: “And na maz de to you too. They are right were you left them. (Jhiera walks off) Are you okay? You look spun.”

Cut to Jhiera walking into a room with several scantily girls laying on steaming beds of ice.

Jhiera: “How are they doing?”

Guy: “They’re chilling. - The little sisters are fine. Rem-ing. - Tell me what’s up.”

Jhiera: “They took the girl I went to meet.”

Guy: “Man, that’s lame!”

Jhiera: “They will find us before too long. We have to go from here, as soon as possible.”

Guy: “The girls aren’t ready. They need serious isolation and temperature adjustment before they mellow out enough to deal with the world.”

Jhiera: “Then I’ll move them some place else.”

Guy: “My shaman has a place in the dessert. He never could turn away scantily clad women in distress - from any dimension. - You know, I wish you would let me work on your mirth chakra.”

Jhiera: “If he’s as trustworthy as you are, we’ll go to him.”

Guy: “He’s good people.”

Jhiera: “Then call him. If he accepts us we’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

The guy nods and Jhiera picks up some ice and rubs it against her throat and neck.

Cut to Wesley and Cordy cowering behind the barrels by the cement wall in the Flower Mart. We can hear the Vigories talking.

Vigory: “This food source will only keep us supplied for a few more days. At that point we must relocate.”

Wesley holding a cell phone to his ear whispers to Cordy: “Still no answer.”

Cordy whispers: “I bet he forgot to turn that thing on again! You’d think a guy that knows how to use an ancient Scythian short bow could figure out how to use a cell phone! (Sighs) So, what now?”

Wesley: “I suppose we head back and try to find Angel.”

Cordy: “Okay. Lead the way - *low* and *slow*.”

Wesley nods and heads off but Cordy pulls him back as one of the Vigories walks in.

Cordy: “No, hide. Hide. Hide.”

Vigory to Tay: “Sir! I believe we’ve found them.”

Tay: “Where?”

Vigory: “A worker at an ice plant tells me he recently started shipping two tons of ice a week (Hands Tay a paper) to this address.”

Tay: “Gather the men. They need to be prepared to capture the princess and cut them all quickly.”

Cut to Cordy and Wesley running down the stairs into Angel’s apartment. Angel is just wearing his pants and toweling off his hair.

Cordy: “What are you doing? We nearly got b*rned from the inside out and you’re here getting all April fresh?”

Angel: “Hello?”

Wesley: “I believe she is especially agitated because we *tried* to call you in the midst of a situation.”

Angel looks off to the side: “I had to take a shower. (Wesley and Cordy look at each other) What’s up?”

Cordy: “What’s up is that those creepy demons said that they found what they were looking for, and they seemed *very* interested in cutting someone they called the princess, which I can only imagine is not a happy thing!”

Angel pulling on a sweater: “Well, you’d be right on that one. We gotta find her first.”

Cordy: “The demon guy said something about a lot of ice being delivered somewhere. No one said where.”

Angel: “Ice.”

Cordy: “Yeah.”

Angel pulls a paper out of his coat hanging on a hat stand: “Shipping order. We’ve got an address. We’re heading out.”

Wesley: “That’s it? They seemed... There were quite a few of them. Perhaps we need a plan.”

Angel: “Here is the plan: we go in, I start hitting people hard in the face – see where it takes us.”

They head out.

Night. Angel pulls the convertible up in front of the Spa, with Wesley in the backseat.

Angel to Wesley: “Ah, you wait here. I want a warning when the demons show.”

Wesley: “All right.”

He tries to jump out over the passenger side door, but his foot gets caught and he tumbles out rather inelegantly.

Cordy: “Wesley!”

Wesley pops right back up and slaps the side of the car with a grimace.

Cut to the interior of the spa.

Guy walks up to Angel: “Welcome, bro.”

Angel: “I need to see Jhiera. Now!”

Guy: “I’m sorry, no Jhiera here, but I already see I can help *you*. First lets talk about the clothes vibe.”

Angel grabs him by the lapels: “She’s in trouble. There are men coming for her.”

Guy: “And which dimension are you from, brother?”

Angel: “You don’t want to know.”

The guy motions with his head; and Angel walks off.

Cut to the room with the iced girls.

Jhiera to Angel: “What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear...”

Angel: “They’re coming.”

Jhiera: “I know all about it. We’re leaving in the morning.”

Angel: “Not soon enough.”

Jhiera: “What are you talking about?”

Angel: “They’re on their way. They’ll be here...”

Cordy running into the room followed by Wesley: “Now. That would be now.”

Angel to Wesley: “Help get the girls out. (To the spa guy) You go back out front. Stall them as long as you can. (Guy nods and leaves. Angel to Jhiera) I’m gonna help you whether you like it or not.”

Wesley helps one of the girls out of the tub of ice and leads her out.

Wesley: “Oh my. You are a... Allow me to introduce myself.”

Cordy kicks him in the back from behind: “Wesley...”

Cut to the spa guy held up in Tay’s hand by his lapels.

Guy: “How about a red clay massage. We have hands that heal, brother.”

Tay hits him and the guy drops to the floor unconscious. The six Vigories move on into the dark and empty tub room. Suddenly Angel swings down from the ceiling kicking two of them in the face. He and Jhiera fight the six Vigories. Jhiera using her fire-hands to send them flying, Angel using his fists and feet.

Wesley as he is about to close the top on one of the girls laying down in a box with ice: “That outfit – it quite becomes you, you know.”

Cordy: “Wesley, get a grip! They’re not going to be able to hold them off all day.”

Wesley closes the lid and helps another girl into the next one.

Wesley breathing a bit fast: “My, what a grip. Very - healthy. Surprisingly firm myself under the jacket. Have a feel.”

Cordy: “You are pathetic! And about to get your eyeballs fried!”

Cordy gets the girl to lay down and gets ready to close the lid.

Wesley: “I know, but – ah -just one kiss good-bye?”

Cut to Angel and Jhiera fighting the Vigories. Wesley and Cordy run in and join the fray, but are quickly taken hostage. Angel sees them being held and quits fighting.

Tay: “Jhiera and the runaways are ours.”

Angel: “No they’re not.”

Tay: “Give them back or the humans die.”

Angel looks over at Jhiera.

Jhiera to Tay: “Then they die.”

Everyone looks after her as she walks out. Cordy and Wesley elbow the Vigories holding them into the stomach and the fight resumes. It is over quickly since most of the Vigories run out to follow Jhiera.

Cut to Jhiera walking up to the truck with the girls loaded on the back. A Vigory grabs her, restraining her hands.

Tay pliers in hand: “Hold it. - Hold it still. - Time to go home.”

Jhiera can’t get free and Tay is about to close the pliers on the top ridge when Angel wraps his arm around his neck and pulls him off Jhiera.

Angel to the Vigory holding Jhiera: “Unless you want to see your leader dead, you let her go. (The Vigory lets Jhiera go and she stares at Angel) Go. GO!”

Jhiera gets in the truck and drives off. Angel waits until she is well under way then pushes Tay towards the other Vigory.

Angel: “I don’t want you bringing your w*r here again.”

Tay to Angel: “I have no choice! If this enemy persists our whole society crumbles.”

Angel: “And if it persists on *my* turf you’re going to have another enemy!”

Tay: “You don’t understand our ways, human.”

Angel: “No, I don’t. (Morphs into vamp face) And I’m not human. - Now, if I were you, I’d grab the next portal out of here. Got it?”

Day. Angel’s office. Angel picks up the bag of coffee beans looking around, then tries to crush the beans. The bag bursts open, spilling beans all over the floor, just as the door opens and Wesley and Cordy walk in.

Angel: “Watch out...”

Wesley: “Angel...” Wesley slips on the beans, landing on his butt.

Angel: “Sorry. I-I had a little...”

Cordy to Angel: “Mushing didn’t work out so great, huh?”

Wesley from the floor: “Not to worry. My fault I’m sure, really. (Starts sweeping up the beans in his hands) Cagey little brutes, aren’t they? I’ll wash them if you’d like. Individually. They’ll be just as good as new. Better.”

Angel lays a hand on Wesley’s arm: “Wesley. Stop.”

Cordy to Wesley: “Wow. Groveling isn’t just a way of life for you, it’s an art.”

Wesley to Cordy: “I do not grovel. (To Angel) Please don’t fire me. What happened yesterday was an anomaly. I’m very *rarely* taken hostage.”

Angel: “That’s good to know. And you’re not fired.”

Wesley: “I’m not?”

Angel: “No. It wasn’t your fault. (Claps Wesley on the shoulder) And you know what? You handled yourself *very* well.”

Wesley: “Well, that’s... I can’t tell you... (Takes a breath) I am your faithful servant, Angel.”

Cordy to Angel: “Like I said, an art. (Jhiera walks in) Oh! Look who’s here. (To Jhiera) Can I get you something? Kn*fe to our throat so you can run away?”

There is a moment’s silence then Cordy walks off.

Angel to Jhiera: “Come on in.”

She walks into the back office and Angel closes the door behind her.

Jhiera: “The girls are safe – outside the city.”

Angel: “I’m glad. But you nearly got Cordelia and Wesley k*lled.”

Jhiera: “I had no choice.”

Angel: “Yes, you did. If you vowed to protect the innocent it shouldn’t matter which dimension they’re from.”

Jhiera sighs and turns away: “An easy sentiment when your people are free.”

Angel: “I’m not saying you shouldn’t fight. Just know that I will be there to stop you – if you cross the line.”

Jhiera walks up close to him: “I don’t need an extra conscience. I’ll do what I think is right.”

Angel: “And I’ll do the same.”

Jhiera after a b*at: “Fine. I think we understand each other then. (They stare at each other for a moment then Jhiera looks down) I have to go.”

As she walks out Angel sees that the ridges visible above her jacket are glowing a bright, fiery red.

During the end credits we get a reprise of Wesley and Angel dancing at Cordy’s party.