"Orpheus"
Written by: Mere Smith
Directed by: Terrence O'Hara
After drinking from Faith, Angelus pulls away in shock as she flashes back to earlier in the fight when she shot herself with a drug stolen from the club. Angelus falls unconscious and as Wesley wakes up, Faith announces her success before collapsing herself. Gunn drags Angelus's unconscious body tied with rope into the lobby. The gang rushes into action, pulling out a tranquilizer gun and metal restraints for Angelus while Wesley brings in a barely alive Faith inside. Gunn and Connor shackle Angelus securely in the basement cage while Lorne and Fred help Wesley make Faith comfortable in one of the bedrooms. Fred uncovers the bite mark on Faith's neck while downstairs Connor smells fresh blood on Angelus, both accurately concluding what happened.
Knowing the damage caused by the drug Faith took and the serious threat to her life, Lorne yells at Wesley for allowing Faith to drug herself and purposely get bit by Angelus. Connor updates Cordelia on Faith and Angelus's statuses Suddenly, Cordelia brutally shoves Connor into a wall in response to his constant talk about Faith. He's shocked and she explains that she and the baby are special and aren't subject to the anti-violence spell, then tries to cover her behavior by blaming it on the pregnancy and crazy hormones. She sends Connor to get an update on Faith's condition.
Lorne explains that the drug Faith took is called Orpheus, an enchanted drug that takes psychedelic drugs to a whole new level. In New York, 1902, a souled-Angel walks through a crowd of travelers until he unknowingly walks right through a non-corporeal Angelus. Faith finds herself in the same situation as Angelus, as a witness to Angel's past. The present versions of Angelus and Faith talk about their presence in Angelus's dream, both realizing that Faith's there because she's dying and they both are stuck along for the ride. In the 1920's, Angelus and Faith watch as a past-Angel rescues a small puppy from an oncoming car and Angelus is infuriated at being subjected to the memory again. Faith realizes with glee that they're experiencing Angel's good deeds of the past.
Connor shouts at Fred and Wesley about the need for killing Angelus, but before the others can really argue, Willow from Sunnydale appears at the door suggesting that she's a better alternative. Willow meets with a cold reception from Connor, a shocked Wesley and a happy Fred. It's revealed that Fred called Willow for help since she's the only one to ever successfully restore Angel's soul. Willow wants to see Cordelia again and Connor reluctantly takes her upstairs at Wesley's prompting. Connor leaves the girls to talk alone and they catch up on their activities since they last communicated. Cordy and Willow talk about the difficulties associated with ensouling Angelus while Cordelia secretly reaches for a large knife under her pillow and tries to get Willow close enough to strike. All the talking gets Willow thinking and she realizes if they break the jar, they can avoid all the complications and free the soul. Willow rushes out of the room in time to avoid the knife thrown at her, which hits the door instead.
Lorne sings to Faith's comatose body as she experiences another one of Angel's flashbacks. Angelus watches as a hippie Angelus walks into a diner and selects "Mandy" on the jukebox. Angelus complains to Faith about the pain of watching and feeling Angel's self-induced misery with his soul. A man barges into the diner and asks for money, but when the cashier doesn't react quickly enough, he's shot and the shooter runs away. In the present, at the hotel, Cordelia makes an attempt to communicate with Angelus's unconscious body and force him to wake-up, but he's unresponsive to her efforts. Willow works magic down in the lobby and talks to Wesley about breaking the jar to free Angel's soul. Wesley confesses to Willow about his travel to the dark side, but Willow's previous trip into pure darkness overshadows Wesley's.
Again in the flashback, the cashier dies from the gunshot wound and Angel struggles with the choice of whether to walk away or feed from the man, then turns the lock on the door. As Angel feeds from the guy in the diner, the bite marks on dream-Faith's neck begins to bleed and she realizes Angel could have saved the cashier. Angelus watches on as Angel suffers with the guilt of feeding, enjoying Faith's pain as well. Lorne watches over Faith with Connor as she slowly struggles to hold onto life. Wesley arrives and Connor tries to reassure him that he didn't make the wrong choice.
Fred walks around the lobby with a candle and ringing a bell, preparing for Willow's spell. Before Willow can begin, Willow is tossed across the lobby by the Beast master as it's deep voice screams in her head a warning to stay away from Angel's soul. Willow struggles with it for a moment, then her magic overpowers the Master's and shatters the stone in Cordy's hand that allowed her to shout in Willow's head. Empowered by the challenge, Willow grabs a marble she's using for the spell and begins. Cordelia makes another attempt to stop her, but it only makes Willow draw on more powerful magic's to counteract the interruptions.
Dream-Faith finds herself in a dirty alley with Angelus again, who taunts her with dirty comments and threats that he can't be stopped or harnessed. They watch as past-Angel chases after a rat and feeds from it, but in a twist, past-Angel turns and addresses the twosome. Now playing a different game, Angelus is able to knock Faith aside and the two Angel's face-off and begin to exchange blows. Meanwhile, Willow works her magic to locate the jar with Angel's soul and shatter it but Cordelia works counter-magic from the bedroom to prevent Willow's success. Willow's locator finds the jar with the soul, but Cordelia prevents it from shattering the jar until her concentration is broken by Connor trying to enter the bedroom and the locator frees Angel's soul from the jar.
In the dream, Angel talks to Faith and tries to convince her that life's worth living and she has to wake up. Connor finally breaks into Cordy's barricaded bedroom and she convinces him that Willow's magic is evil and opens up a threat to their unborn child. She tells him he has to kill Angelus or else their family won't be safe and she'll make it possible for him to kill Angelus. In the lobby, Willow and Fred speak the words to gather Angel's soul into the Orb of Thesula so he can be ensouled again. Again in the dream, past-Angel continues to coach Faith into recovery, then is knocked around again by Angelus in the alley. Faith recovers and rises to her feet long enough to distract Angelus, then she disappears.
At the hotel, Connor barges into the basement, knocks Gunn out and heads for Angelus. Willow completes the restoration spell, pulling Angelus and Angel into one body, while Faith wakes up and rushes downstairs to the basement in time to stop Connor from staking Angel. She begins to seriously beat up Connor until Angel wakes up and stops the fight. Later, Faith and Angel talk out in the courtyard about how they're both feeling and the fact that Faith's going to Sunnydale to help out. Inside the hotel, Faith says her good-byes to Gunn and Wesley. Fred and Willow emerge from the office and Fred gives Willow a useful book then rambles enthusiastically on about ancient books and languages. Willow and Angel hug and say good-bye, then Willow and Faith leave for Sunnydale. Angel starts to talk to the gang about all of their struggles so far, but he's interrupted as a very-pregnant Cordelia comes downstairs and shocks the gang with the serious trouble they still have to deal with.
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