GUNN: Wow. Really like what you've done with the place.

LORNE: Yes, this is homey.

ANGEL: (inspecting the grate) So, it's secure?

GOLDEN: It's held so far.

ANGEL: (doubtful) Uh-huh.

FRED: Held against what?

GOLDEN: Don't know exactly. Never have gotten a clean shot. But it's not like anything I've ever seen.

GUNN: Golden's brother used to soldier in my crew back in the old days. Then he broke off, went solo.

GOLDEN: Yeah, Tommy was running our unit when the sun went out. Stayed topside as long as we could, tried to hold some ground, but there were too many of 'em. We go out every day and check the traps, but I don't think we've caught anything today...

MATTHEW: (to Angel who's inspecting the grates) They're your crew, aren't they? You're the leader. I'm Matthew.

GUNN: (to Golden) You guys really know how to live.

MATTHEW: It's ok. All the other ways in are grated off. We checked.

ANGEL: Well, now I'm checkin'.

FRED: (looking at Matthew) He's so young.

GOLDEN: We found him in a pile-up on La Brea. Vamps laid tire traps on the road, havin' themselves a car-wreck picnic. He watched them murder his parents. They were comin' after him when we showed up.

ANGEL: (looks at his bloody knuckles) Matthew, you got any water in this place?

MATTHEW: Yep. We tapped a clean water pipe right over here.

HOLLY: (to Fred and Lorne) Anyway, I knew about this place. I used to crash up here nights when the missions were full.

GOLDEN: So we hit a supermarket that hadn't burnt down yet and got some supplies and went under. Been down here ever since. About 2 weeks and some change.

LORNE: No offense, but, uh, 2 weeks down here and I'd be ready to move back in with my mother.

GOLDEN: Yeah, well, we were holdin' our own. Occasional baddie lookin' for a place to sleep, nothin' we couldn't handle. Till that thing out there moved into our territory. It's been pickin' us off ever since.

HOLLY: Got Tommy almost a week ago. He was out resetting the traps.

MATTHEW: (to Angel, washing his hands) Whose blood is that?

ANGEL: Somebody I knew. (flashes back to images of Angel punching Connor) Somebody who tried to do bad stuff to my friends.

FRED: (to Holly and Golden) I can't believe you stayed down here.

HOLLY: Worse up there, ain't it? The world is ending. What does it matter where we go?

GOLDEN: Besides, whatever that evil son-of-a-bitch is, it killed our people, killed my brother. We're gonna kill him right back.

FRED: It's weird, really, us running into you like this. I mean, we—we're professional monster killers. Or we were.

ANGEL: Are, Fred. We are.

(Angel picks up a sword)

GOLDEN: Hey, that belonged to Tommy.

ANGEL: Well, now it belongs to me. Let's go get professional on this evil son-of-a-bitch's ass.

(he walks out)

GUNN: Heard that.

• Angel's Mission

written by: Ben Edlund; Original transcript by CariCranberry. Edited and formatted for this site by me. . Full transcript at:
http://www.buffyworld.com/angel/season4/transcripts/86_tran.php