(Walking into his office, Angel is ambushed by the rest of the gang)

SPIKE: You might wanna stay down.

ANGEL: Or what? Careful. You don't wanna get yourselves hurt.

GUNN: We know what you've been doing. Giving up the baby to the Fell Brethren, working for Senator Bitch, trying to take out Drogyn to cover up what you did to Fred. And for what? To get in bed with the Circle of the Black Thorn?

ANGEL: So you figured it out.

LORNE: Yeah, a little singing from a jailbird we know... and loathe.

ANGEL: Lindsey? And you believed him.

SPIKE: Doesn't have a reason to lie.

ANGEL: Doesn't need one.

WESLEY: Unlike you?

ANGEL: What I do here is my business. You don't like how I conduct it, you can leave... before I kill you.

WESLEY: Kill us? Hard to believe we're having trouble trusting you.

ANGEL: Just telling it like it is.

WESLEY: (cocks his shotgun) Then we have a problem.

ANGEL: I guess we do.

(Angel grabs the shotgun barrel and a fight ensues; a few seconds later, Angel's got Lorne hostage)

ANGEL: Are we done?

WESLEY: Let him go.

ANGEL: You don't give the orders. Lorne, pull this thing out of me.

(Lorne reaches for the arrow sticking out of Angel's shoulder)

ANGEL: Easy. Not in a great mood.

(Lorne pulls out the arrow)

ANGEL: Good. Now, let's finish this.

(he pulls a crystal out of his pocket, holds it out in front of him)

ANGEL: Involvere.

(the crystal glows and sends a force throughout the entire room. he lets go of Lorne)

ANGEL: All right, we have 6 minutes.

SPIKE: 'Til what?

ANGEL: The glamour collapses. As far as anyone outside this room is concerned, we're still at each other's throats.

WESLEY: Aren't we?

ANGEL: Look, we don't have a lot of time here, so I'm gonna have to make this short. Everything you think you know, everything you've heard, is a lie.

GUNN: Why should we believe you?

ANGEL: Because I'm the one who told it. (to Wes) Read any good books lately?

WESLEY: You sent us the message?

ANGEL: And the assassin to kill Drogyn.

SPIKE: So that part was true.

ANGEL: I knew Drogyn could handle himself. I told the assassin just enough to lead Drogyn to think I played a part in resurrecting Illyria. I figured he'd come here looking for allies against me.

WESLEY: Why would you want us to believe you killed Fred?

ANGEL: Because they needed to believe it.

GUNN: The Black Thorn.

ANGEL: They needed to believe my own people didn't trust me anymore. They needed to believe a person as good and as pure as Drogyn considered me an enemy. It was the only way to gain their confidence.

LORNE: Oh, so this whole evil Angel thing has been a big scamola. Hmm. I smell Oscar.

SPIKE: When did this all start?

ANGEL: 2 months ago. With a kiss.

(Flashback to Cordelia's good-bye kiss. )

ANGEL: Though it didn't hit me till later that night.

(flahsback's of Angel's vision, black thorn, apocalpyse, etc)

WESLEY: Cordelia gave you her visions?

ANGEL: One-shot deal. She put me on the path, showed me where the real powers are. But I couldn't see who they were. Then, when Fred died, I wasn't gonna let that be another random horrible event in another random horrible world. So I decided to use it, to make her death matter. And it worked. I'm in. I've seen the faces of evil. I know who the real powers in the apocalypse are.

GUNN: So, all that power tilts the scales crap...?

ANGEL: It's true. We're in a machine. That machine's gonna be here long after our bodies are dust. But the senior partners will always exist in one form or another because mankind is weak.

LORNE: Uh, do you want me to point my crossbow at him, 'cause I think he's gonna start talking about ants again.

ANGEL: We are weak. The powerful control everything... except our will to choose. Look, Lindsey's a pathetic halfwit, but he was right about one thing. Heroes don't accept the way the world is. The senior partners may be eternal, but we can make their existence painful.

WESLEY: You wanna take them on.

ANGEL: We're in a machine. The Black Thorn runs it. We can bring their gears to a grinding halt, even if it's just for a moment.

SPIKE: About time we got our hands dirty.

ANGEL: This isn't a keep-fightin'-the-good-fight kind of deal. Let's be clear. I'm talking about killing every... single...member... of the Black Thorn. We don't walk away from that.

LORNE: Do we crawl away, at least?

ANGEL: We do this, the senior partners will rain their full wrath. They'll make an example of us. I'm talking full-on hell, not the basic fire-and-brimstone kind we're used to.

GUNN: We know the drill.

ANGEL: No, you don't. 10-to-1, we're gone when the smoke clears. They will do everything in their power to destroy us. So...I need you to be sure. Power endures. We can't bring down the senior partners, but for one bright, shining moment, we can show them that they don't own us. You need to decide for yourselves if that's worth dying for. I can't order you to do this. I can't do it without you. So we'll vote. As a team. Think about what I'm asking you to do, think about what I'm asking you to give.

SPIKE: Kill 'em all... burn the house down while we're still in it.

ANGEL: Something like that.

(everyone considers)

SPIKE: Huh. (raises his hand) I'm in.

WESLEY: I'm in.

(As the camera zooms out slowly, show Gunn and finally Lorne raise their hands. Continue zooming out past the glamour, to show what those on the outside looking in would see)

SPIKE: Drop it!

WESLEY: Angel, you don't want it to go like this!

ANGEL: You're not the boss around here.

GUNN: Lorne, you all right?

LORNE: Wes, help...

SPIKE: Angel, we got 3 people here. Drop it!

(Continue zooming out to show that Marcus Hamilton is standing outside Angel's office, watching them through the window. Fade to black.)

• Angel's Mission

written by: David Fury; Original transcript by CariCranberry. Edited & formatted by me.. Full transcript at:
http://www.buffyworld.com/angel/season5/transcripts/5x21_tran.php