After a knock on the door, then a rattling of the door handle, a convent door is kicked open. Angel, Wes, Fred and Gunn enter. The room is lit only by a few candles and the flashlights Gunn and Wes are carrying. Fred's attention is focused on equipment she's reading, reporting whoever they're tracking has been there, she's reading signatures.

Wes says her name quietly, in an attempt to get her to look in the room rather than at her equipment.

She continues reciting her readings, "hair follicles, enzymes and something ... blood ... but it's not his, it's --" She looks up and sees the bloodied bodies of five nuns lying on the floor.

Gunn wonders why "Greenway" would do this, he was only dealing with a racketeering charge. Gunn had assured him they could get him probation, as long as he ceased operations.

Angel answers sarcastically, "Because he's a Wolfram & Hart client. Our client. Oh, and he's evil. What are the odds?"

Fred asks what they do now.

Angel reckons he finds Greenway and kills "every inch of him."

Wes informs him he won't find Greenway. He looks at the bodies, "Five holy women. This wasn't random, it's ritual." He tells Angel that Greenway has "jumped dimensions", he also practices black magicks. He's escaped into one of an infinite number of universes.

Angel looks to Fred for some help. She admits her equipment can't track things in other dimensions, if it were possible it would take months or years.

Angel is fed up, "That's it."

Fred hopefully offers perhaps she could cut the time down to weeks if she pushes it.

Angel says he can't do it anymore as he heads for the door.

Gunn asks what it is Angel can't do.

He answers, "Any of this. Living with it. Running Wolfram & Hart." As everyone looks at him, he announces, "I quit" and leaves.

Flashes of runic tattoos and Angel grimacing in pain as, in a hospital bed across town, Cordelia Chase snaps awake.

---

The gang is gathered in Angel's office where he tells them there's nothing to talk about, he's resigning.

Lorne figures that's a topic ripe with discussion possibilities.

Wes concedes what happened the night before was "a terrible setback --"

Angel cuts him off, "Setback, Wes? Status quo. Evil wins because instead of just wiping it out, we negotiate with it. Or worse, for it."

Fred offers they're doing their best.

Angel knows that, "It's not that you guys aren't doing your jobs, it's that we shouldn't be doing these jobs in the first place." He pauses a moment then adds, "Or I shouldn't."

Gunn wonders if Angel has considered what the reaction of the Senior Partners would be if they tried to walk away.

Fred asks if he's saying they're "trapped" there.

Gunn reckons they knew what they were getting into when they accepted the offer. They shouldn't pretend they thought it was a "lease with an option to buy."

Angel pointedly asks if Gunn really believes the Partners won't let them go or if it's more that Gunn doesn't want to leave.

Gunn admits he doesn't, he believes they're doing good things, they made the right decision.

Angel is skeptical, "And I'm sure that legal brain upgrade they gave you has got nothing to do with it." ("Conviction")

Gunn points out everybody got something out of the deal.

The phone rings, Angel answers it and responds to what he's told, "What?"

Wes asks what's up.

Angel tells him, "It's Cordelia."

---

Angel and Wes enter Cordy's hospital room where they see a woman's body lying on the bed, partially concealed by a privacy curtain which is pulled closed far enough to shield her upper body from view.

Angel asks, "Cordelia?"

Cordy enters from the opposite side of the room, looks at the body in the bed, "Yeah, that chick's in rough shape. You'd think they'd give Miss One-Foot-In-The-Grave a private room." She pulls the privacy curtain closed to conceal the body entirely. She asks if they couldn't have put her someplace that "smelled a little less like ammonia soaked death?"

Angel hugs her and says her name. He breaks the embrace, Wes takes his turn. He's impressed that she looks so good, "You look ... I wanna say, really hot, but --."

Cordy agrees with that, "Oh, yes you do. I'm a vision of hotliness. And how weird is that? Mystical comas. You know, if you can stand the horror of a higher power hijacking your body so that it can give birth to itself? I really recommend 'em!"

Angel is surprised, "You remember?"

She says she remembers everything, until she slipped into the coma, "Maternal instincts aside? I hope you kicked its ass for me."

Neither Wes or Angel says anything.

Cordy asks if everyone is okay.

They both stammer for answers. Angel changes the subject, suggesting they get her out of there.

She's all for that as she notes her hospital gown, hoping they brought her some clothes.

Angel starts to admit they didn't.

Wes offers they can go shopping.

Cordy is thrilled with that, she's not ready to go back to the hotel yet. She walks out as Angel looks at Wes, "Not a problem."

---

The elevator doors open at W&H. Angel and Wes step off, Cordy remains in the elevator. Angel tells her it's okay.

She reluctantly steps into the upper floor lobby.

Angel cheerfully notes it's just an office going about its day, "Nothing scary jumping out at you. Just regular people going about --"

Cordy gasps as she finds herself face to face with Sebassis' demon slave ("Life of the Party").

As one of Sebassis' minions leads the slave by his leash up the stairs, one of the employees notes he found him hiding in one of the copiers, living on toner fluid.

An uncomfortable Angel asks Cordy if she'd like to see his office.

She nervously agrees.

---

Lorne, Gunn and Fred are waiting in Angel's office when he arrives with Wes and Cordy. She exchanges greetings, gives them each a hug then asks where Connor is.

Gunn asks, "Who?"

Cordy is confused, "What do you mean, who? Connor, isn't he --?" She looks over at Angel, "Angel, where's your so--?"

Her question is interrupted by a squealing Harmony who rushes into the office and embraces her. She says she can't believe Cordy is there.

An uneasy Cordy can't either as she looks at Angel, recalling the last time she saw Harm, she [Harm] tried to kill her.

Angel stammers for an explanation, finally saying it, Harm is his secretary.

Cordy notes sarcastically, "Things just keep getting better and better."

Harmony is happy to have Cordy back, "You and me together again! So, how was the coma?"

Angel reckons Cordy has had enough to deal with for one day. He suggests everybody get back to work. They all leave the office.

Angel tells Cordy he knows there's a lot to take in and catch up on, but he assures her things at W&H are working out.

She's skeptical, "Really?"

Angel attempts to convince her, but doesn't sound all that certain himself, "Yeah, with these resources? There's nothing we can't do, no one we can't save."

Cordy notes, "Except maybe yourself." She tells him she had a vision, sent by The Powers, it's what woke her.

Angel asks what she saw.

She answers, she saw Angel in trouble and strange symbols on a wall and on flesh. She saw a tattoo and -- She tells Angel there's a woman behind him.

He asks if there was a woman in her vision.

She answers, "No, lunkhead. Right now. Behind you."

Angel turns to see Eve standing in the office, having just exited the private elevator. She notes he wasn't in the penthouse, she didn't think he'd "mind my using the private elevator."

Angel says he minds her "breathing" and tells her to get out.

Eve is in no hurry to leave. She says she's there to convey the Partners concern over his letting a client escape to another dimension, "Dead nuns we can deal with but the firm's out $10 million in bail costs." She wonders if that's any way to run a business as she looks at Cordy then asks Angel who she is.

Cordy introduces herself.

Eve starts to do likewise but Cordy cuts her off, "I didn't ask." She moves over to stand next to Angel.

Eve snipes, "Oh yeah, Angel talked a lot about you ... at first."

Angel says he told security not to let her in the building.

Eve points out she's the liaison with the Senior Partners, "Do you honestly think you have any control over my comings and goings?" She takes a seat on the couch, "Well, maybe not my goings but you did have a way with my comings at the Halloween party." ("Life of the Party")

Cordy is repulsed by that visual, "So, you two are groin buddies? And I thought Darla was rock bottom."

An uncomfortable Angel tries to explain, it just happened once, Lorne told them to, it was a mystical thing.

Eve gets up, offering to discuss business later, she'll let Angel and Cordy catch up.

Angel follows her out, "And I'll let you walk out of here with your head still attached to your body."

Outside the office, Angel directs Harm to see to it security keeps watch on Eve while she's in the building.

Cordy notes that's the kind of person Angel does business with now. She wonders if he realizes what's happening, he's made a deal with the devil.

Just as Angel suggests she's being a bit melodramatic, a satanic looking demon with horns, pointed ears, a goatee and a tail walks up and shakes Angel's hand. He tells Angel everything is taken care of and confirms their appointment for racquetball on Thursday then leaves. (The cast credits identify this character as "Izzy", though his name is not used on screen).

Cordy turns her back and strides back into the office.

Angel follows, "What did I do?"

---

Spike is in his apartment, playing a video game, talking to the "gorilla throwing barrels" on screen. He notes Lindsey's arrival without looking in his direction, "Really should knock on a bloke's door. Especially one that's got no qualms about killing trespassers."

Lindsey smiles, wondering if that's any way for Spike to talk to his "benefactor." He takes a seat on the couch next to Spike, saying he's a bit concerned about him, he hasn't been out on the streets lately.

Spike notes in case Lindsey is running behind on the news, he got his hands cut off by the "deranged Slayer you sent me after." ("Damage")

Lindsey offers an apology for that but notices, thanks to W&H, they were reattached just fine and Spike is sitting around playing video games.

Spike says he's rehabbing, working on restoring his motor skills. He gets up and heads for the fridge, saying Lindsey has no idea what that feels like.

Lindsey chuckles, telling Spike he actually does know. He got his hand cut off a few years ago in the line of duty, he can feel Spike's pain. ("To Shanshu in L.A.")

Spike mutters, "Well, half of it anyway." He pulls a beer from the fridge and pops the top off.

As he takes a seat back on the couch, Lindsey reminds him he has a job to do, "The Powers That Be are counting on their champion, so are all the other helpless people --"

Spike cuts him off, telling "Doyle" he doesn't need the pep talk. He'd already planned to go out, he's just waiting on "Doyle" to get a vision to tell him when and where.

Lindsey smiles, glad to hear it. His cell phone rings.

Lindsey gets off the couch and takes a few steps away from it before taking the call. It's Eve, telling him they have a problem.

Lindsey asks if it can wait.

She tells him it can't, Cordelia is awake and she's talking about a vision she had, "steering Angel right toward you."

Spike yells at the "stupid plumber" in the video game he's playing, gets off the couch and shakes the television as he continues shouting.

Lindsey watches a moment, then tells Eve it appears they have a change of plans.

---

Angel steps off the private elevator and enters his penthouse. He hears Doyle's voice as he finds Cordy, sitting on the bed watching the video of the commercial Doyle was making for Angel Investigations just before his death. ("Hero")

Cordy watches, a sad smile on her face, as she listens to herself talking Doyle through his lines on the video. She notices Angel standing in the doorway and pauses the video. She apologizes, she'd been snooping and found the tape.

Angel tells her it's okay as he walks into the bedroom and asks if she couldn't sleep.

Cordy says she's had enough sleep for one lifetime.

Angel glances at the frozen image of Doyle flickering on the television screen as he sits next to Cordy on the bed. He looks away from the screen, admitting it's been a long time since he watched it.

Cordy is still looking at the image of Doyle, "First soldier down."

Angel looks back up at the screen briefly, "Yeah", then casts his eyes downward.

Cordy continues reminiscing, "He pissed me off so righteously going out like that. But he knew, knew what he had to do. Didn't compromise. Used his last breath to make sure you'd keep fighting. I get that now."

Angel tells her there were reasons he agreed to take over W&H, reasons she doesn't understand.

Cordy thinks she gets it as she walks out into the living room and Angel follows, "I understand just fine. They seduced you with all their fancy facilities, manpower. They threw a whole bunch of money at you, plied you with all these expensive toys and penthouses with spectacular views and --"

She takes a moment to appreciate the lovely view, then returns to her rant, "What was I saying?"

Angel reminds her, "I've been seduced."

She continues, "That's right, pal. They've dazzled you with shiny objects and beautiful things and there is no reason you could give me for --"

Angel tells her, "Connor."

She asks where he is and starts to ask why Gunn asked who he was.

Angel quietly tells her, "They don't remember him."

Cordy looks surprised but says nothing.

Angel continues, "It's part of my agreement to take this job. The Senior Partners altered reality. They gave Connor a life, a real family, a childhood. Something I could never give him. He's got no memories of us and nobody remembers him. Except me, and you. And Eve, for some reason."

Cordelia isn't happy to hear it, "So, not only did you strike a deal with your worst enemy to give up your son, you let them rape the memories of your friends who trust you."

Angel is unapologetic, "He was about to kill you, and himself. He was so torn up, I didn't have any other way to stop him, any way to help him. Connor's happy now." He insists they're doing fine at W&H, they've done good work.

Cordy isn't convinced, "Don't give me that 'everything's fine here' company line. I'm not buying it. Neither are you and neither are The Powers That Be." She wonders why Angel thinks they gave her the vision that woke her. She reckons they know he's off track and they want her to help get him back on it.

Angel tells her she's wrong about The Powers, they're not on his side anymore.

Cordy doesn't understand.

Angel tells her it seems "Spike is their new champion."

Cordy asks, "Spike who?"

Angel answers, "Spike. He's got a soul now and he saved the world. And he's out there on the streets, you know, helping the ... the helpless."

Cordy is still trying to digest that news, "Okay. Spike's a hero and you're CEO of Hell, Incorporated. What freakin bizarro world did I wake up in?"

Angel quietly says he's sorry as he sits on the couch and puts his hand to his face.

Cordy figured he'd be lost without her but this isn't what she expected.

He tells her he is lost without her.

She reckons he just forgot who he is.

He asks her to remind him.

She declines, telling him he has to do that for himself. She offers to tell him who he was, "A guy who always fought his hardest for what was right, even when he couldn't remember why. Even when he was miserable which was, let's face it, a not small portion of the time. He did right and that gave him something. A light, a glimmer. And that's the guy I fell in l--"

Angel looks up at her, she stops herself. She takes a seat across from him, "That, um ... The guy I knew. I see him around here, then maybe I'll start believing."

Angel tells her to let him know if she does.

She asks if he ever thinks about what if they'd met up that night, "and had a chance to --" ("Tomorrow")

He answers her, "All the time."

Cordy reckons they missed their moment.

Angel thinks maybe they were intended to, offering sadly, "Maybe people like us just don't get to ... have that."

Cordy says there are no people like them.

---

A half dressed Eve and Lindsey are reclining on a chaise on the patio at Lindsey's place. She asks if he's not concerned.

He isn't, he reckons the fact Cordelia is awake means The Powers are taking an interest. That's higher stakes and that likes him just fine.

Eve notes the house always wins.

Lindsey ponders the question of which house they're in, "The Senior Partners gave that Eurotrash vampire everything I've worked for. I couldn't let that slide." He notes the Partners never suspected him, perhaps they're getting too old.

Eve reckons it all comes back to Angel for Lindsey, "He's still the center of your universe."

Lindsey denies that, telling her she holds that position. They kiss.

---

Cordy and Wes are working in Wesley's office at W&H, looking for information on the symbols Cordy saw in her vision. She wonders if he recalls her saying they should skip his research department and look for the information themselves like they used to do by cracking the books.

He remembers.

She thinks that may have been a stupid idea and wonders why he listened to her.

Wes admits he missed it, the two of them going over the books, "Kicking it old school, as they say." He realizes how that sounds, "And I never will again."

Cordy smiles. After a moment she gets up from her seat behind the desk, struggling for words to express herself regarding her actions while under the influence of the "higher power". She notes nobody is talking about the things she did.

Wes assures her they all understand it wasn't her.

Cordy wonders, "Do you?"

Wes tells her she didn't kill Lilah. ("Calvary")

Cordy understands that but she offers a heartfelt apology anyway, "I just wanted to tell you that before --" She notices an open book lying on the desk. She recognizes the illustrations, they're the same symbols she saw in her vision. She shows the book to Wes.

Wes recognizes what she's pointing out, they're "protection runes", providing a concealment spell of some sort. He reads from the book, "Clouds before the all-seeing eyes."

Cordy notes she didn't miss the "cryptic poetry."

Wes explains the symbols prevent the bearer from being remotely viewed by "higher powers, seers, mystics or, transposed to today, any means of modern surveillance."

Cordy realizes somebody wants to stay hidden.

---

Lindsey walks down a hallway at W&H, opens a locked maintenance door by using a cardkey and steps inside.

He descends some stairs and pauses when he reaches the bottom, confronted with the security system's maze of green laser beams. He casually walks through them without triggering the alarm. He looks up at the security camera and waves.

The security monitor shows the room is empty.

Lindsey approaches a demon in a lab coat and stabs him in the back, killing him. He cuts a quartz like crystal from the demon's neck and kicks the body out of the way.

---

Cordy is walking down the hall at W&H, finding herself lost. She turns and sees Spike approaching, "Spike! Heard you weren't evil anymore, which kinda makes the hair silly."

Spike morphs into game face.

Cordy adds nervously, "Or, nice." She screams as Spike grabs her, shoves her against the wall and bites her.

Spike pulls back just before Angel grabs him and throws him across the hall. Fight ensues. Spike gets Angel in a headlock, "You took me on and lost, remember old man?" ("Destiny")

Angel remembers as he works loose, picks Spike up and slams him onto the floor, "Yeah, touch Cordelia again and get ready for a very last rematch."

Spike gets to his feet, defensive, "She's evil you gourmless tit!"

Cordy is offended, "Excuse me! Who bit whom?"

Angel is still stuck on that last comment, "Did you call me a tit?"

Cordy says she thought Spike had a soul.

Spike thought she didn't.

Cordy says she does.

Spike insists he does as well.

Cordy reckons hers is obviously better.

Spike starts to say something as he moves toward Cordy but Angel intercepts him and slams him against the wall, "I see fangs? I'm gonna play dentist."

Cordy asks incredulously, "And you call this guy the big hero?"

Spike looks at Angel, "You called me a hero?"

Angel answers, "I didn't know you were eating people."

Spike headbutts him, causing Angel to lose his grip. As they both reel from the impact, Spike says it was a "taste test." He had to know if what he was told by his source was true. He looks at Cordy, "And, actually, well, you don't taste evil. Demons are more astringent, with a sort of a .. oakie really --"

Angel impatiently asks about this "source".

Spike tells him he's got a guy who has an in with "The Powers that whatsit", he gets visions.

Cordy and Angel glance at each other. Angel asks about the visions.

Spike says he was told by this person that Cordy had been taken over by some"Big Bad", there to destroy everyone.

Angel informs Spike the thing that possessed Cordy is long dead.

Spike reckons "Tattoo Boy" got it wrong this time.

Cordy asks what kind of tattoos.

Spike tells her they're symbols of some sort.

Angel asks if this guy has a name.

Spike tells him it's Doyle.

Eve is watching from the other end of the hallway, as she chats with Lindsey on her cell phone. She tells him Spike didn't kill Cordy, she's still alive. She nervously notes they're talking, "a lot."

Lindsey says it was a long shot anyway. He tells her he's almost there, she needs to get out of the building immediately.

She snaps her phone shut, turns and looks up to see Angel and Cordy standing in front of her.

Angel asks if they can have a chat.

Eve offers this isn't really a good time.

Cordy grabs her by the ear and pulls her toward Angel's office, "Let's go, Lilah Jr."

---

Everyone is gathered in Angel's office. He tells Eve they have a problem.

She's sure he will, once the Senior Partners find out how he's treated her.

Angel recaps what's gone before, "A couple of weeks ago a man approached Spike, told him that The Powers That Be have some missions for him." He glances at Spike, "Spike, brain trust that he is, went along with it."

Spike offers a weak protest, "Hey!"

Angel continues, "He's the one who told Spike to save me from the parasite you put on me in the first place."

Eve stands up, not interested in rehashing those accusations again.

Cordy gets into her face, assuring her if she gets out of the chair again, she'll feed Eve her shoes. She takes a moment to admire Eve's taste in footwear.

As Eve sits back down, Angel notes it appears Eve is working with the guy who approached Spike.

Eve denies any knowledge of what's going on, insisting Angel can't keep her there, she has to go.

Angel isn't finished with her, "But the thing that really, really pissed me off is that this guy seems to be going by the name of Doyle."

Eve insists that's not familiar to her.

Cordy steps up, assuring Eve it is familiar to her and she demands to know who has the nerve to use that name.

Angel offers Eve one chance to tell him where the guy is.

Harmony opens the door.

Angel tells her not now.

She's okay with that but just wants to know if she gets the rest of the day off too.

He asks what she's talking about.

She tells him everyone is gone, the building cleared out a short time ago.

Angel asks Eve what's happening.

---

In the basement, Lindsey stands on a platform, in front of a large console, flips a switch which lights the room and powers up the machinery. He takes the crystal from his pocket and inserts it into an open cylinder in the console.

The top of the cylinder closes, it slides downward, into the console. A digital timer begins a countdown. Lindsey throws another switch. Mist vents from a large circular shape on the floor as locks retract from it.

Lindsey smiles, "Wakey, wakey."

---

Gunn returns to Angel's office informing him a "Code 7" message went out on the network right before the building emptied.

Angel asks Eve what a Code 7 is.

She claims not to know.

Cordy reckons this isn't getting them anywhere. She looks at Angel, "Torture her."

Angel and Eve both ask, "What?"

Cordy figures they heard her. The building has been cleared out, they don't have much time, "Have at it."

Angel says he can't do that.

Cordy scoffs.

Fred offers Angel is right, "If we sink to their level --"

Her comment is interrupted by Harmony making a flying tackle on Eve, slamming her down onto the desk.

Angel shouts her name.

She looks at him, "Is this okay? I mean, I am evil, technically. I don't mind torturing her for the team."

Angel agrees.

Harm punches Eve a couple of times.

Eve admits it's a fail-safe.

Harm punches her again.

Angel points out Eve is talking.

Harm is disappointed, "She is? Already? Well, that sucks." She releases Eve.

Eve tells Angel the situation, "The Senior Partners were never certain they could keep you under their thumb, so they created a fail-safe, housed it in the sub-levels of the building."

Fred asks just what the "fail-safe" is.

Eve claims not to know, only that "it's huge and alive." She looks at Angel, "And specifically designed to destroy you."

Angel asks how to stop it.

Eve says it can only be shut down from within the chamber itself.

Fred wants to know who activated it.

Gunn notes Eve was with them when the building cleared.

Wes adds it had to be someone else, someone with the ability to slip past security.

Lorne reckons it's the "magically tattooed faux Doyle."

Angel asks if Spike knows anything else about this guy.

Spike says he's average build and height, "dressed like an urban cowboy, got his hand chopped off once."

Angel, Wes and Cordy all realize it's Lindsey.

Fred asks who that is.

Angel directs Gunn to lock the building down, make sure Lindsey can't get out and don't trust the security systems, Lindsey won't show up because of the tattoos. Gunn departs.

Wes offers there might be a fix for that concealing tattoos problem, he'll need some assistance.

Lorne offers to help. They leave the office.

Fred asks Angel who Lindsey is.

Cordy tells her he's a lawyer, "Wolfram & Hart's former golden boy until he ran off to go find himself."

Angel reckons he should have stayed lost. He directs Harm to keep watch on Eve, "She moves? Eat her."

Harm likes the sound of that, "Really? Thanks!"

Fred doesn't want Angel going down to the sub-level alone.

He notes the fail-safe is intended for him, he won't risk anyone he cares about.

Spike offers to accompany him.

Angel quickly agrees, "Okay." As Angel and Spike head for the door, Angel tells the others to be ready to evacuate. If whatever it is gets past him, get out of the building.

Cordy retrieves a sword from the wall.

Angel tries to discourage her from coming along but she's determined, "I know my rights and I want to see a lawyer."

---

Angel, Spike and Cordy arrive at the base of the sub-level staircase, faced with the maze of glowing green laser beams. Spike wonders what that's about.

Angel offers to check it out as he steps into the beams. Alarms blare, lights flash, several zombies step out ready for battle. Fight ensues. Angel realizes they're wasting time.

Spike tells him to go ahead, he'll deal with the zombies. Angel and Cordy depart as Spike taunts the guards, "Come on, lads. No need to be gentle. We're all dead men here."

Lindsey steps away from the console and heads down the platform steps. A large circular chamber containing the "fail-safe" has risen up from under the floor. As he passes he taps on it, "Bye-bye Angel."

As he heads for the exit, he finds himself face to face with Cordy and Angel.

Angel greets him, "Hello, Lindsey."

Lindsey smiles, "And the hero arrives, right on schedule." He looks at Cordy, "And with a date."

Cordy responds, "Yeah, dinner and a show. And you're both."

Angel steps toward a cocky Lindsey, "Is this the part where I get all weak in the knees? Promise I'll never to do it again?"

Angel tells him it's too late for that, "Doyle."

Lindsey says there's always time for redemption, he wonders if that isn't Angel's thing.

Angel reminds him he had his chance, "I guess some people, they just never change." He strikes out at Lindsey who grabs his arm mid-punch and effortlessly tosses him across the room.

In response to Angel's observation, Lindsey notes, "I did."

Angel looks up at him from the floor, surprised.

Lindsey wonders if Angel is going to stay on the floor.

Angel directs Cordy to get out.

Lindsey disagrees with that. He extends his hand toward the metal door, bringing it slamming to a close. He doesn't reckon this is going to take too long. He pulls out his knife as he walks toward Angel.

Cordy tosses Angel the sword she's carrying. He catches it as he gets to his feet.

A confident Lindsey looks at the small blade he's carrying, "Oh. Well, it's not the size that matters, big guy." He extends his arm to his side, a flash of light travels along the blade as it transforms into a sword, "It's how you use it."

Angel says, "Shut it down."

Lindsey would like to hear a "please."

Angel informs him he wasn't speaking to Lindsey.

Cordy suddenly gets it as she assures him she's on it and rushes up the platform, to the console.

Angel tells Lindsey he never should have returned.

Lindsey says he missed him. Sword fight ensues.

Cordy works at the console, trying to figure out how to shut it down. She presses a button, gets a shock and realizes that's not the right one.

Angel and Lindsey continue their fight. Lindsey does a backflip, ending up on the top of the chamber containing the fail-safe. Lindsey notes the skill was something he picked up in Nepal.

Angel is unimpressed, "They sell that crap at the airport." He leaps up onto the chamber to confront Lindsey. Sword fight continues.

Lindsey is enjoying it, figuring this fight to Angel's death was reason enough for him to come back.

Angel recalls seeing Lindsey's tough act before, the first time they met. ("City of") Fight continues. They face off again as Angel recalls Lindsey back then, telling him Angel couldn't touch his client.

Lindsey recalls Angel shoved the client out a window.

It's a fond memory for Angel, "Good times."

Lindsey says it was a "defining moment." Mist vents from the top of the chamber as Lindsey smiles, "Kinda like this one."

The room shakes as Cordy looks at the chamber and notices the shadow of a big beastie moving inside, "Oh, crap."

---

In Wesley's office, he gets things prepared for the ritual along with Lorne, Gunn and Fred. Gunn thinks he'd be more useful fighting with Angel.

Wes reads from a scroll, he needs blood from an "unclean." He looks at Lorne, "a demon."

Lorne asks nervously, "You sure that thing said arterial blood?"

Wes offers an apology.

Lorne isn't keen on this, "Why don't they ever need the urine of an unclean? I've got plenty of unclean urine."

Gunn pulls out a knife.

Lorne looks at it then down at himself, "Look, uh, I think I'm making some right now."

---

Lindsey and Angel are still battling in the sub-level. Angel stabs him through the shoulder with his sword then notices the wound immediately heals, "That must have stung."

Lindsey smiles, conceding it hurt worse than when Angel chopped his hand off.

Battle continues. Lindsey kicks the sword out of Angel's hand, sending it flying into the air. Angel somersaults backward up to a ledge above the main floor. Lindsey leaps up in pursuit. Angel catches the falling sword as Lindsey arrives. Fight continues.

Lindsey manages to wrest the sword from Angel's grasp, then runs him through the chest with his blade. He kicks him off the ledge to the top of the chamber below.

Lindsey jumps down and taunts Angel who is lying on his side, gasping, still impaled by the sword, "Who is this? Who is this? I came to fight the vampire with a soul!"

He removes his shirt and throws it at Angel, "Guess you shouldn't have sold it, huh?"

He stalks around Angel, "Look at you. From champion to pathetic, corporate puppet in just a few months. You used to have fire in your heart. Now all you got in there is that big, honkin' sword. How's that feel, champ?"

Angel reckons it could be worse, as he pulls the sword out of his body and gets to his feet, "If it had been made out of wood, you dumbass." Fight continues.

Angel headbutts Lindsey, setting him back on his feet.

Cordy continues futzing with the console. She finally manages to hit the right switch, releasing the cylinder containing the crystal. She removes the crystal and smiles, "Like that was so hard."

Lindsey shouts, "No!" The chamber containing the fail-safe starts to sink back into the floor.

Angel and Lindsey continue fighting as Angel has the upper hand. He tells Lindsey the tattoos, the new tricks he learned, none of it matters. He continues putting a beat down on Lindsey, "Doesn't matter what you try. [Punch] Doesn't matter where I am or how badass you think you've become. [Punch] Cause you know what? [He grabs Lindsey by the throat and pulls him to his feet] I'm Angel. [He throws Lindsey off the top of the chamber to the floor below] I beat the bad guys."

A bloodied Lindsey chuckles.

Cordy steps up beside Angel and asks if he's okay.

He says he's been worse.

Lindsey asks if Angel thinks he has it in him to kill him.

Angel doesn't reckon he'll have to.

Cordy notes Lindsey's tattoos are starting to lift off his body as Wes recites the incantation in his office.

Lindsey watches the tats lift from his skin and dissolve in midair, "Damn."

As a bright light begins to flash above Lindsey, Angel notes, "I think the Senior Partners would like a word."

A portal opens above Lindsey as he looks at Angel, "You don't think they're angry, do you?"

Lindsey is sucked up into the portal which closes and disappears.

---

Everyone is gathered in the upper floor lobby as Eve gets on the elevator. Angel suggests she start thinking strategy.

She was thinking more of revenge.

Angel asks what she thinks the Senior Partners are thinking.

Eve pouts as the elevator doors slide shut.

Lorne notes he could use a drink, he gave up a lot of blood for the spell.

Harm laments she didn't get any, "I kept begging Eve to run but --"

Spike says he's been "prancing around, thinking I had a destiny. I'd love to drown my embarrassment in a few pints."

Fred suggests they all go out together and get a drink, they haven't done that in -- She realizes they've never done that.

Gunn says he's in.

Wes agrees it sounds like a good idea, unless Angel is busy packing.

Angel thinks a drink sounds good, he'll go fetch his coat.

The elevator doors open. As the others get on, Cordy tells them to go ahead, she and Angel will catch up. She adds a compliment for Wes, "You still work the best mojo in town."

Lorne notes he's the one who bled and Wes gets the props. The doors slide shut.

Cordy enters Angel's office and asks if he feels good.

He admits he does, but he feels bad about that. He doesn't feel he deserves -- admitting, "All I did was beat up a tiny Texan. It's not like I helped anyone."

Cordy assures him he did.

He asks who.

Cordy muses, "Boy, I really do fall for the dumb ones. You know how you're always trying to save, oh, every single person in the world? Did it ever occur to you, you were one of them?"

Angel admits it didn't.

Cordy tells him he made the list and he needed some help.

Angel says she was the one who helped him. He notes Lindsey's wasted effort in trying to make him doubt himself, "I know it's not even close to over but I do feel I can do this. Wolfram & Hart. Whatever's coming. I feel like we can beat it."

Cordy says she always knew it, she just needed him to know it too.

He asks about her earlier comments about his making a deal with the devil.

She says that was all true but in the end, he'll win. She wishes she could be there to see it.

Angel asks what she means.

She says she can't stay, "This isn't me anymore. You can say good-bye to the gang for me, explain everything once you understand."

Angel says he never will, he needs her there.

She asks him not to make it difficult, she's on a different road and this is her exit, "The Powers That Be owed me one and I didn't waste it. I got my guy back on track."

He tries to argue.

She touches the side of his face and says they take what they can get and make the best of it. She tells him she'll be seeing him and starts to walk out. She stops, "Oh, what the hell. One for the road?" She walks back to him and pulls him into a kiss.

The phone rings. Cordy breaks the kiss.

Angel tells her he doesn't have to get that.

She tells him, "That, you have to get."

He walks over to the desk, his back to Cordy.

She smiles as she says, "Oh, and you're welcome."

Angel picks up the phone, "Hello? Yes, I know, she's -- But that's impossible, she's standing right --"

He slowly lowers the phone from his ear as he turns to see Cordy is gone, he's alone in the office. He goes back to the call, his voice choked with emotion, "I'm sorry. Yeah ... When did she die? ... Did she, um ... She never did wake up? ... I see."

He hangs up the phone, his eyes misty, and looks toward where Cordy was standing as he quietly offers, "Thank you."

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