(Lorne digs bullets out of Spike's back)

SPIKE: Ouch! Take it easy, green jeans!

LORNE: Yes. 'Fraid I don't have Fredikin's gentle touch.

SPIKE: Just get on with it.

(Lindsey and Eve are sitting side-by-side on the couch; Lindsey's leaning on Eve's shoulder. He looks up when Angel walks in after changing clothes.)

LINDSEY: Oh, look. It's the hero of the hour.

ANGEL: I'm not your hero. I'm your warden.

LINDSEY: It's all how you look at the glass.

ANGEL: I thought a few months of torture at the hands of the senior partners would have dug a little deeper.

LINDSEY: Just scratched the surface. Turns out they can only undo you as far as you think you deserve to be undone. I wonder how Gunn's gonna make out.

ANGEL: The senior partners want to know everything you know about them. About the apocalypse, about their plans for me.

SPIKE: And for me. The guy with the pen said, welcome to the team. Must've meant something.

LINDSEY: You know what I know. Look around. The world's a cesspool... full of selfish and greedy beasts. We live, we die. (to Eve) Even you, babe.

EVE: (hurt) Lindsey, don't.

LINDSEY: You still happy to see me?

ANGEL: Yeah, hell's on earth. Holland Manners tried to sell me that line 3 years ago.

LINDSEY: Did you ever prove him wrong?

ANGEL: All how you look at the glass. You know, Lindsey, we can philosophize all night. Hell...(chuckles) We could do it forever, huh? I don't need to eat, sleep, drink. How about you?

LINDSEY: (grins) That's what I like to see... the Angel of yore. Takes no prisoners, suffers no fools. How 'bout this? It's here. It's been here all along. Underneath. You're just too damn stupid to see it.

ANGEL: See what?

LINDSEY: The apocalypse, man. You're soaking in it.

SPIKE: I've seen an apocalypse or two in my time. I'd know I one was under my nose.

LINDSEY: Not an apocalypse. The apocalypse. What'd you think, a gong was gonna sound? Time to jump on your horses and fight the big fight? Starting pistol went off a long time ago, boys. You're playing for the bad guys. Every day you sit behind your desk and you learn a little more how to accept the world the way it is. Well, here's the rub... heroes don't do that. Heroes don't accept the world the way it is. They fight it.

ANGEL: You're saying everything we do... it's a distraction... to keep us busy from looking under the surface.

LINDSEY: Ding! We have a winner! The world keeps sliding towards entropy and degradation, and what do you do? You sit in your big chair, and you sign your checks, just like the senior partners planned. The war's here, Angel. And you're already 2 soldiers down.

• Angel & Lindsey
• Wolfram & Hart

written by: Elizabeth Craft & Sarah Fain; Original transcript by CariCranberry. Edited & formatted by me.. Full transcript at:
http://www.buffyworld.com/angel/season5/transcripts/5x17_tran.php