SKIP: You ever have the vague sensation that maybe you left the oven on? Or that you're supposed to call someone back, you just forgot who it was? More to the point, have you ever felt that way about your acting career?

CORDELIA: (snorts) I don't have an acting career.

SKIP: Which sort of brings me to my next point.

(Skip points to TV screens, suddenly showing party from 'City of'.)

CORDELIA: Hey! I remember that night.

SKIP: You'd been in LA a few months, things had been kinda lean, and who should you run into?

(Tv screens show Cordelia and Angel meeting.)

SKIP: Your entire life changed that night. In ways you couldn't imagine. Indescribably painful ways, I think you'll agree. Now, what if the play ran a little different? (The screen rewinds) You're on the sideline over here, (A white x appears on the lower right corner of the screen) talking to a couple wanna-be moguls. Angel is down field here. (A circle appears around Angel's head in the back of the screen) Instead of cutting through the middle to meet Angel, (two white intersecting lines appear on the screen) what if you'd been forced to counter? What if *this* guy, (a circle appears around another Man in the crowd) who happens to be a very powerful talent agent, flanks you, (A white line connects the circled agent to the X denoting Cordelia's position) drew you off sides? (A white line leads from the X in the right lower corner of the screen over to the left corner and another X) What would happen then?

CORDELIA: I'd, ah, score a touchdown?

SKIP: Metaphorically speaking, heck, yeah! Inside every living thing there is a connection to the Powers That Be. Call it instinct, intuition. Deep down we all know our purpose in this world.

CORDELIA: Are you saying that, I was meant to be an actress?

SKIP: No. I'm saying you were meant to be an incredibly famous and wealthy actress. And the Powers That Be can make that happen.

CORDELIA: They can do that? They can turn back time?

SKIP: They don't go for that - much. Think of it as 'writing over history.' From this moment on you could live the life you always wanted. No monsters, no visions, no dying. Well, not for a long time, anyway.

CORDELIA: But no Angel.

SKIP: Cordelia, I want you to listen to me. If you go back inside your body, you *won't* wake up. You will lie there, unable to move, unable to speak: until the next vision hits you and then you will die.

CORDELIA: But that's not fair. How's Angel gonna know to save that girl if I don't tell him where she is? He needs me.

SKIP: (after a beat) Let's go in here.

(Skip pulls her through a mall wall - to where Angel is arguing with the Conduit.)

VOICES: Its pleas are pointless. Her path is chosen. We will not interfere.

ANGEL: The visions are too much. She's not strong enough to handle them.

VOICES: Obstinate. It speaks and does not listen.

ANGEL: (yelling) No, you're not listening! Cordelia's not a champion. She's a rich girl from Sunnydale who likes to play superhero. She doesn't have what it takes to do this! Don't the Powers get that? Stop whispering and listen to me, damn it! She's weak.

CORDELIA: Skip. Get me out of here. Now!

(Skip and Cordelia melt away.)

ANGEL: You're killing her. She's unconscious, and she's alone. Who knows if she's in pain?

VOICES: It is angry. It is afraid.

ANGEL: (after a beat) I'm more afraid of her dying than she is. What is that?

• Cordelia & Angel
• Cordelia's visions & championhood

written by: Mere Smith; Originally transcribed by anonymous. Edited, formatted and checked against source for this site by Ann. . Full transcript at:
http://www.buffyworld.com/angel/season3/transcripts/55_tran.shtml