"Release"
Written by: Steven DeKnight, Sarah Fain & Elizabeth Craft
Directed by: James A Contner
Wesley guides a badly wounded Faith into his apartment and while he wants to clean her up and care for her wounds, she bypasses his worrying in favor of a shower. In the shower, a frustrated Faith takes out her aggressions on the tile wall, smashing it to bits. Meanwhile, Angelus brags to a group of other vampires at a bar over glasses of blood. A horned demon named Frances mistakes Angelus for Angel, and nearly gets his throat ripped out for it, but a deep voice speaks to Angelus, interrupting the violent plans. The voice hints at it's location, but when Angelus can't find the source anywhere, he gets angry and shouts his refusal to follow orders or the master's plans.
The source of the voice, Cordelia at the hotel, speaks into a small red glowing rock until Connor interrupts her and breaks her concentration. He offers her a blanket and a more comfortable pillow as they talk about her feeling of weakness and the latest on Faith and the Beast. The two talk about their baby and Cordelia stresses that they don't need to tell anyone else about the fast-growing life growing inside of her. Downstairs, Gunn gives Lorne and Fred tranquilizer guns for their protection against any potential attack by Angelus. Connor comes downstairs and informs the gang that Cordelia's resting and doesn't want any visitors. At Wesley's, Faith emerges from the bathroom, ready to return to the search for Angelus, but Wesley has to question her mentality and whether she's really up for the challenge.
Fred looks for a book in the office, but she receives a surprise visit from Angelus. He's prepared for the sanctuary spell with a special charm and corners her against a wall as he asks for information on the Beast's Master. She doesn't offer him any info, so he steals the books and paperwork the gang has and prepares to leave. Fred notices though that the charm is fake and turns the tables on Angelus, firing the tranquilizer gun at him. The first hits a wall, the second hits Lorne and the third is blocked by the book in Angelus's hands as he flies to the second floor. Connor tries to attack Angelus, but the sanctuary spell prevents the assault and sends Connor flying to the lobby floor. Out in the courtyard, Faith and Wesley arrive and run straight into Angelus. He and Faith fight, but Angelus grabs Wesley in a chokehold and while Angelus teases her, she hesitates to make a move for fear of losing Wesley. Gunn shows up with more tranquilizer guns, freeing Wesley and scaring Angelus off.
Connor rushes to check on Cordy in light of Angelus's recent appearance and Cordelia barely manages to contain her anger at the fact that Angelus was snooping where she didn't want him to be. Gunn and Fred talk about what happened and Gunn expresses his happiness she ended up okay, despite the fact that they lost Lilah's book and other paperwork from Wolfram and Hart. Wesley grabs a shotgun and hand Faith a tranquilizer gun, announcing that they may need to debilitate the vampire with bullets before knocking him out. Outside, Faith tells Wesley about her plan, but after she was unable to risk his life when dealing with Angelus, Wesley wonders if she's capable of being as dark as she needs to be in order to have the upper hand.
Elsewhere in town, Angelus tries to force a bookshop owner, Reg, to help him decipher the texts he stole. Reg can't help and Angelus takes it out on the man with violence. In the midst of the assault, the Master's deep voice shouts loudly in Angelus's head. Angelus isn't keen on cooperating or loosing his hearing, but the voice persuades him by threatening to restore Angel's soul and make it so permanent, Angelus will never be free again. At the hotel, Cordelia smiles at the container of Angel's soul in her hands as he agrees to behave. Fred mopes about her failure to shoot Angelus and Gunn tries to boost her confidence. Switching the subject, she tries to convince him that she made a mistake with Wesley and she wants to be back with Gunn, but after a kiss, Gunn isn't quite sure how to respond to her desires.
Faith slams Frances's face into the bar as she and Wesley try to force him to give them information about Angelus. Eventually the demon talks and sends Faith and Wesley to the back room, where Angelus was seen last. In the back room, Faith finds a human woman bitten by vamps and high on drugs. The woman's junky vampire friends attack her and Wesley and are promptly disposed of. Meanwhile, Connor checks himself out in the bathroom mirror, looking for any signs of being a demon. Cordy catches him and after realizing he tried to attack Angelus in the hotel, and changes the subject to how great a father Connor's going to be, then directs him to go downstairs to get an update on the Fang Gang's progress.
Faith hits the drugged woman in attempts to get information on Angelus, but the woman doesn't want to talk. Faith backs down, but Wesley steps up and slams a knife into the woman's shoulder. She screams in pain, but it motivates her to be honest and give Wesley enough information to conclude that the Beast's master has been contacting Angelus. Faith yells at Wesley for his act of human brutality, but he knew it was necessary and she wasn't able to do it. Wesley raises the topic of the torture she inflicted on him the last time they met and goads her with insults and truth she wants to deny until she reacts violently. He lets her know that's the kind of attitude she needs in order to deal with Angelus, but she doesn't want to take a chance killing Angel.
Lorne finally wakes up and after seeing the fake charm Angelus used on Fred, he gives the gang a new lead: the demon that most likely sold it to Angelus in the first place. After being called by Fred, Faith and Wesley arrive at an empty building that's under construction where the demon lead, Maury works. However, the two find Maury dead and Angelus waiting for them after the Master instructed him to be there. Faith and Wesley fire shots at Angelus but they all miss and Wesley is ultimately thrown over the balcony to the construction materials below, losing his gun to Angelus. Faith is forced to run and dodge bullets as Angelus fires at her, sending her tumbling down stairs to the first floor again. Angelus questions her previous desires to die and threatens her with the gun, but doesn't want to kill her like that.
They fight, but Faith takes the brunt of the violence while Angelus enjoys the process of hurting her both physically and mentally. After he taunts her with more words, she surprises him by pulling out a knife and stabbing him with it. More blows are exchanged and Faith repeatedly slashes Angelus with the blade until he flies away to scaffolding above. They end up chasing each other around on the scaffolding then continue the battle on the ground, Angelus still taunting Faith with accusations of the type of person she is. She denies that she's anything like him and Angel retorts that she will be as he grabs her and sinks his fangs into her neck.
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