"Why We Fight"
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S5/EPISODE 13
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Written by: Drew
Goddard & Steven S.
DeKnight |
Original Air Date: February 11, 2004 |
[
A couple of notes on this episode. In the casting script, the roles
of Commander Petrie and Mr. Fury are clearly defined as such. The
dialog for each character matches what was spoken on screen. In the
actual episode, the characters' names are never mentioned and since
both actors are credited at the beginning of the show, rather than
the end credits where the roles are included, there is nothing on
screen that indicates the character names. I've gone with the script
because it helps keep things clear in reading the scene.
If you're interested in the origin of the title of this episode, you'll find information here, "Why We Fight" ]
Atlantic Ocean, 1943
A captured German U-boat cruises below the ocean's surface. Onboard, chaos reigns as men run frantically, shouting orders, trying to escape something. As the men clear the corridor, one of them, Lawson, hears a scream from behind. He stops, looks back and calls out for the captain.
Lawson rushes back toward whatever is attacking as the captain's bleeding body is tossed toward him. He grabs the man and tries dragging him to safety as he calls to the others to give him some help.
As Lawson and another crewman struggle to pull the captain out of harm's way, something grabs his lower body and jerks him away from them.
The captain screams, a crunch is heard, the stunned faces of both Lawson and the crewman are splattered with blood. They manage to get out of the corridor and lock the door shut behind them.
Present, Angel's conference room at W&H
Gunn apprises the others of the results of a search mounted by the ops team, Eve seems to have disappeared.
Angel isn't disappointed to hear that.
Wes reminds him she was swearing vengeance when last they saw her, "That usually doesn't go well for us."
Gunn notes the Partners don't suffer betrayal lightly.
Lorne figures Eve was probably sucked up for a meeting shortly after Lindsey met the same fate. ("You're Welcome").
Angel wonders if there's been any news on Lindsey.
Gunn answers there isn't, "But going off of company precedent, right about now, Lindsey should be boiling in his own filth."
Angel wants to know for sure.
Gunn notes, "The white room is empty, our liaison to the Senior Partners has vanished, it's hard getting information anymore." He offers perhaps they can arrange for a new liaison "through a ... a ... protocol ..."
The others look at him expectantly.
He apologizes, citing exhaustion as the reason he can't think, trying to cover. He confidently assures Angel they have options, he'll get on it.
Angel suggests they wait until the morning, "Eve's vanished. Let's end on a high note." He gets up from the conference table.
Lorne notes they're getting out of the office on a Friday night before midnight, "Careful, gang. We might get to have social lives."
As Wes rises he tells Lorne to speak for himself, he still has five or six hours of "spell detailing" to get done.
Gunn adds he has briefings to go through.
Fred says she has to redo an experiment, "Knox really dropped the ball on that one."
Wes is quick to agree, "Yes, he is unreliable. Good point."
As they head out of the office, Angel asks if they should at least meet back at his office in a few hours to discuss work some more.
Wes agrees, they leave the office and enter the upper floor lobby. Fred wonders what they did with their lives before they started working at W&H.
Wes answers, "I seem to recall lots and lots of Jenga."
Lorne bids them farewell, he's off to a party at the Skybar, insisting it's a business related function.
Gunn suggests to Wes, if he's going to be detailing spells, perhaps they could "go over the portal incantations from last Monday's Mithroc retreat."
Wes declines, citing an already full schedule of work for the night.
Everyone goes their separate ways, clearing the lobby.
A set of elevator doors slide open at W&H. Lawson, looking just as he did in 1943, steps out. He looks around and smiles.
Fred enters her lab where she finds Lawson looking over some papers. He greets her pleasantly, saying he was just trying to understand some of the equations, "I used to have a bit of a head for numbers. It's funny how you lose part of your mind when you stop using it."
Fred eyes him suspiciously. She nervously asks if there's anything she can help him with.
He puts the papers down, reassuring her, addressing her by name, "Miss Burkle." Lawson says he just wanted to talk.
Fred asks how he knew her name.
Lawson casually picks up a small item from one of the tables, examines it and asks if Fred likes working there.
She doesn't know what to say.
As he sets down the item he was examining and walks around the lab, he continues, "Do you enjoy what you do? Do you find yourself waking up in the morning, eager to start your day?"
Fred tries to stall as she moves cautiously toward the exit, "Uh ... I don't know. I .. I mean .. I guess I had my doubts at first but lately I've been feeling like we're --"
Lawson cuts her off, asking her not to run, "I'd have to stop you."
Fred asks what he wants.
As Lawson approaches her, he tells her he came to see her boss, "Angel and I are old acquaintances. I was friends with him back in the day, back when he was in his patriotic phase."
Fred's expression is a mix of confusion and fear.
New York City, 1943
Angel is sitting in his grimy, sparsely appointed apartment, listening to some music. The door is suddenly kicked open as a couple of men enter.
Angel gets to his feet, one of the men hits him in the head with a wooden club that's been sharpened to a point on one end. Angel is knocked to the floor but gets up quickly. He notices the other man is armed with a crossbow and has it pointed at his chest. He stands, motionless.
Commander Petrie, a brash, middle aged man dressed in navy tans, enters the room, ordering everyone to be calm. He's followed in by a civilian man dressed in a suit. Petrie notes to Angel he was specifically referring to him with his "calm down" order. He wants his own men to stay frosty, just in case Angel isn't in the mood to listen. Petrie tells Angel to sit down, which he does. Someone turns off the music.
Petrie takes a seat opposite Angel, asking if he's ever considered "joining the war effort."
Angel answers no.
Petrie thinks that's too bad, they can use all the "able bodied men we can get."
Angel notes he's not a man, but he reckons they already know that as he looks at the crossbow and the club sharpened into a stake at one end.
Petrie thinks everybody needs to do their part. The German U-boats are superior to anything the allies have and are kicking serious ass in the Atlantic. Until now, they haven't had anything to counter that threat. He continues, telling Angel a German sub prototype was captured a couple of days earlier.
Angel, not sure what this has to do with him, mutters an insincere, "That's .. great news."
Petrie agrees it is but something went wrong when the crew was bringing it back, "Late last night we received fragments of a distress call. Something was on that ship. Have you ever heard dying men screaming for their lives, Angel?"
Mr. Fury, the man in the suit, standing in the back of the room, speaks up, "Course he has."
Petrie continues, the sub is stuck in hostile waters, it's needed to win the war, "It's down too deep to send divers. Pressure, cold'd kill a man."
Fury steps forward, noting those won't be problems for Angel, "You've been on our radar for some time now, Angelus."
Angel corrects him, "Name's Angel."
Fury scoffs, "Oh. Right. You have a soul now. I represent a relatively new agency, Demon Research Initiative? And we think that you might be the solution to our little problem."
Angel stands, telling Fury he's not interested. The guy with the club punches him in the gut with it, setting Angel back into the chair.
Fury isn't interested in Angel's opinion, "We figure we strap enough weight to you, you will sink, regardless of your interests."
Petrie adds they need the sub, "And we want you to deal with ..." He glances briefly at Fury, "What's on it."
Fury says intelligence investigated the sub's cargo manifest.
Petrie opens a briefcase and removes a folder from it. He tosses the papers on to Angel's lap, "We think we know what attacked our boys."
Angel sighs, opens the folder and looks at the contents. He looks back up at Petrie.
Flashback, the sub
In the crew quarters, Lawson checks his sidearm then asks a nervous Hodge how he's doing.
Hodge, who's sitting on a bunk, answers he's doing okay, but his tone says otherwise.
Lawson reminds him to stay steady, he has to stay sharp if they're going to get out of this. He glances at a German prisoner, Heinreich, as he crosses the quarters and joins a couple of other crewmen, Tyler and Spinelli. Lawson suggests they determine their next move.
Tyler points out they can't control the sub from where they're at and if the bulkheads don't cave, they only have maybe a couple days of air left.
Spinelli looks toward the doorway, "That's assuming they don't figure out how to get through that hatch."
Tyler asks Lawson what "those things" were.
Spinelli figures the German prisoner probably knows. He approaches, grabs Heinreich and demands to know what they were carrying onboard.
Heinreich answers in German, he doesn't understand.
A man is heard screaming in agony somewhere on the boat. Hodge recognizes the man's voice, "It's Lewis."
Lawson tells him to be quiet. The others listen briefly as the screaming continues. Lawson has heard enough and heads for the door.
Spinelli steps in front of him, blocking the way.
Lawson orders him to step aside.
Spinelli says the men are dead, there's nothing they can do to help them now.
Lawson is willing to go alone as he shoves Spinelli aside.
Spinelli pulls his sidearm out of its holster and points it at Lawson, warning him they all die if Lawson opens the door.
Lawson calmly orders him to get the gun out his face.
A loud clanging is heard on the outside of the hull. They realize the sound is leading to the torpedo room. As they head there, Lawson orders Heinreich be brought along.
The men enter the torpedo room, weapons drawn, and look around as the clanging and banging sounds continue. Tyler notes whatever it is, it's in the torpedo tubes.
Spinelli wonders what they're dealing with.
Hodge suggests, "It could be another one of them."
Spinelli suggests flushing the tubes.
The clanging takes on a pattern. The men listen briefly. Lawson recognizes it, it's SOS in Morse code. He orders the number one torpedo tube opened.
As the men stand back, weapons aimed at the tube, Spinelli opens it. A stream of water drains from it, revealing a wet Angel cramped inside.
Present, W&H
Wes enters his office where he discovers Fred, gagged and bound to a chair. She looks at Lawson who is concealed behind the door, trying to communicate that to Wes with her eyes.
He gets it, but not soon enough as Lawson steps out and punches him, knocking him out.
Flashback, the sub's torpedo room
Angel has extricated himself from the torpedo tube. Lawson wants to know how a man gets 400 feet underwater without a dive suit.
Angel asks which of the men pointing guns at him is Captain Franklin.
Lawson says the captain is dead.
Angel asks who's in charge.
After a moment, Lawson answers, he reckons that would be him.
Angel says he's supposed to issue an order then recites some codespeak.
Lawson requests verification, Angel provides it. The men all lower their sidearms as Lawson responds, "Yes, Sir."
Angel asks if someone would remove the weighted manacles and heavy chains binding his ankles.
Flashback continues, the sub's torpedo room
Hodge and Spinelli are walking away from Angel and Lawson, packing the chains that had weighed Angel down. Hodge is impressed, he thinks Angel is "some kind of super-soldier, like Steve Rogers or Captain America."
An annoyed Spinelli notes, "Steve Rogers is Captain America, you eightball."
Hodge is surprised to hear it, "What?"
Lawson tells Angel they're all that's left, "An ensign, a helmsman, a handful of petty officers." He doesn't reckon that's much, "not against them."
Angel asks his name.
Lawson gives it, "Sam Lawson."
Angel tells him to keep everyone in the room and lock it down tightly as he heads for the door.
Lawson offers his sidearm to Angel, he's seen what they're fighting.
Angel tells him to keep it, Lawson might need it, assuring him he knows what he's dealing with. He steps out into the corridor, telling Lawson not to open the door for anyone but him.
Lawson agrees as he locks the door shut.
Angel walks slowly down the corridor until he reaches a hatchway. He opens it slowly. A pre-peroxide Spike (sporting black hair), wearing a brown leather S.S. jacket with swastika armband, sticks his head out and notes dryly, "Angelus. They'll let anyone in here."
Angel looks over Spike's attire, "You're a Nazi."
Spike asks, "What?"
Angel indicates Spike's coat.
Spike clarifies, "Oh. No, I just ate one. They got you too, eh?"
Angel nods, looking a bit nervous.
Spike advises him the S.S. are sneaky, "Don't ever go to a 'Free Virgin Blood' party. Turns out, it's probably a trap."
Angel isn't quite believing what he's hearing, "You were captured at a 'Free Virgin Blood' party?"
Spike answers, "I know. Who'd have thought? One minute I'm asking a fella why all the virgins look like Goebbels, the next minute I'm stuck in a box on this cursed ship."
Angel follows as Spike leads down the corridor. Spike feels better knowing Angelus got caught as well. He's not surprised, he reckons it makes sense, "From our company it looks like they're rounding up the baddest of the bad." He stops outside of a closed door.
Angel notes Spike will have to introduce him.
Spike agrees, "But I gotta warn you .. uh .. they're a bit stiff." He opens the door and leads Angel inside.
There are two vampires waiting. One, a tall, beefy Russian that Spike introduces as Nostroyev.
Spike introduces the other, the Prince of Lies, a smallish, Nosferatu type vampire; hunched, bald, with pointed ears, bushy eyebrows, long fingernails and who speaks with a bargain basement Lugosi accent.
Spike then introduces them to "Angelus. The Angelus."
The Prince bows his head slightly in greeting.
Nostroyev isn't as impressed, "Angelus. Used to be quite a terror back in the day. Haven't heard much of you lately though."
Angel snipes coldly, "Haven't heard much of you, ever."
Nostroyev doesn't take that well, "Nostroyev! Scourge of Siberia! And Butcher of Alexander Palace."
Angel indicates he's still not familiar, "Sorry."
Nostroyev gets angrier, "I was Rasputin's lover!"
Angel turns to look at Spike who offers, "Uh, look, I broke these two out just shortly after I got free. Didn't know you were back there, would've come for you as well." He looks at the others, conceding they kind of had their hands full with the sailors.
The Prince laughs, a wheezing, creepy, sickly sound. Spike and Angel look at him. The laughing fades.
Angel asks if there's anyone still alive.
Spike answers there isn't, they just finished the last of 'em. He asks if Angel left them anything in back.
Angel admits there are a couple of men in the torpedo room.
Spike is anxious to make a meal as he heads for the door.
Angel stops him, telling him they aren't killing any more humans, "Well, not right now."
Spike wants to know why not.
Angel answers, "Because, in case you haven't noticed, Spike, we're trapped at the bottom of the ocean."
Spike doesn't get the point.
The Prince looks around nervously, "We're underwater?"
Angel and Spike glance at him briefly, then return to their conversation. Angel tells Spike, "Unless you know how to operate one of these things, we're gonna need their help."
Spike rolls his eyes, he doesn't figure it could be all that difficult. He flips a switch. An alarm blares.
The Prince hisses and covers his ears.
Angel reaches out and shuts the alarm off.
Nostroyev offers a compromise, they'll leave one alive to run the boat and eat the others. He picks up a fire ax and heads for the door.
Angel stands in front of him, putting his hand to Nostroyev's chest, "No."
Spike looks at Nostroyev, "Uh, yeah. Probably should warn you, he likes to pretend he's the boss."
Nostroyev is undaunted, "You may have made a name for yourself muscling around weaker vampires --"
Spike takes exception to that, "Hang on!"
Nostroyev ignores Spike's protestation, "But I am Nostroyev, I will tear you open and play 'Coachmen, spare your horses' on the lute of your entrails." He demands Angel step aside.
Angel complies.
As Nostroyev starts to walk past, Angel punches him in the stomach, grabs the ax away from Nostroyev, breaks the handle and stakes the Russian vampire with it. He tells the others they don't kill the humans until they get to land. He asks if that's understood.
The Prince says nothing.
Spike sarcastically offers a salute, "Heil Hitler."
Present, Angel's penthouse
Angel is sitting on the couch, writing on papers spread over the coffee table in front of him.
Lawson greets him, "Hiya, Chief."
Angel looks up at him.
Lawson hopes Angel remembers him, "Spend time in a tube, you should know your crew like the back of your hand."
Angel says his name, "Lawson."
Lawson is touched he remembers. As he walks into the room, he wonders if Angel is going to ask how he got in.
Angel isn't, "You'd be amazed how many people break into this building on a regular basis."
Lawson is disappointed, "But I had a whole bit planned about how I was always good with technology, and you of all people, should know that?"
Angel says he's sorry but "This place might as well be a bus station."
Lawson looks around the penthouse, noting it appears Angel is doing well, "It's a far cry from all those years you spent in the gutters, eating rats."
Angel offers an insincere, "You've been following my life. I'm touched."
Lawson claims he just checked in every decade or so. He was quite surprised to discover "Mr. vermin-eater himself" was fighting evil and running W&H. He wonders if Angel would like to explain that, he doesn't see those two things being a particularly compatible fit.
Angel casually notes it's complicated.
Lawson takes a seat opposite him, "I find that's true about most things these days. I don't mean to sound like an old man but ... We used to live in simpler times, didn't we? Never thought I'd miss being on that sub. Things made a kind of sense. 'Keep your head down, watch each other's backs....'"
Flashback, the sub
Lawson's words from the present melt into Angel's words from the past as he leads the surviving men down a corridor to the control room, ".. watch each other's backs and stay alert. Follow our lead. We'll get out of this, all right?" Spike and the Prince are already in the control room when the men enter.
Lawson notes the bodies laying about.
Angel introduces Lawson to Spike and the Prince, telling Lawson to put them to use if he needs them. Spike salutes.
Lawson orders Spinelli to take the German prisoner to the galley, then do a full systems check, starting with the batteries, he wants power as quickly as possible. He gives him five minutes to get the job done. Spinelli leaves with Heinreich
Lawson directs the helmsman, O'Shea, to take his place at the console. He tells Tyler he'll have to handle both "bow and plane" for now.
One of the men notes, with concern, if they need to surface, they won't be able to outmaneuver the Germans on batteries alone.
Lawson assures him he'll get to work on the engines once they're underway. For now, he just wants to get moving.
Spike asks where the captain sits.
Lawson points to a chair.
Spike takes a seat and asks who brings the captain his drink.
Lawson ignores the question, directing Hodge to look after communications. He has to shout Hodge's name to get his attention which is fixed on the corpses in the control room.
Hodge follows his orders, taking a seat at the communications console.
The Prince steps up, asking what he should do.
Angel tells him to take a seat as he maneuvers him to a chair next to Hodge.
The Prince looks at the controls, "This bathysphere is perplexing." He looks over at Hodge, smiles and hisses.
A nervous Hodge turns his attention to the communications panel and his headset.
The Prince picks up a headset and examines it curiously.
Lawson stares at one of the corpses on the control room floor.
Angel suggests they get the bodies out of there.
Lawson nods in agreement.
Flashback continues, the sub
Angel and Lawson finish moving the bodies to the crew quarters. Lawson realizes there's a lot going on he doesn't understand, "But those monsters butchered my crew ... Apparently they're in the S.S."
As Angel covers one of the bodies, he clarifies, "Spike's not in the S.S., he just likes wearing the jacket."
Lawson doesn't understand why they're working with him, or keeping him alive.
Angel assures him he has Spike under control.
Lawson angrily points out Spike killed his captain.
Angel notes they might be able to use them, they don't have much of a crew left.
Lawson doesn't think Spike and the Prince will be needed.
Angel points out they're extra hands.
Lawson isn't convinced, "They're monsters, and I don't know why we -- "
Angel firmly tells Lawson he doesn't need to know why. Their orders are to bring the boat in. He asks resignedly, "Isn't that the point? Following orders?"
As Lawson covers another body, he notes there is a difference between orders and purpose, "I didn't sign on 'cause I needed directions." He admits he made fun of people in the service when he was a kid, figured they couldn't tie their shoes without someone telling them to do it. But he's seen what's happening in the world, "Evil's spreading, Sir, and it's not just over there. It was on my ship, it killed my crew." He admits he's been scared since signing on for this mission, but he can handle that, he can even handle dying, as long as he knows it's for a greater purpose.
Angel tells him they have a job to do and it's a job that will help them win the war. He doesn't need Lawson to understand all the details, just know they're fighting on the same side, "I need you to trust that I'm gonna get us all through this, safe and sound."
Present, Angel's penthouse
Lawson, who is now standing, picks up from Angel's comment in the flashback, "Safe and sound. Guess now's not the time to argue semantics, is it?" He wonders if Angel cared about any of it; the mission, the ship, the crew, or if he was just in it to "save your own ass?"
Angel asks what he wants.
Lawson says he wants the same thing he always has, "to understand."
Angel asks exactly what he wants to understand as he casually puts his foot up on the side of the coffee table.
Lawson moves closer, "Why we do what we do. How you manage to always --"
Angel kicks the coffee table into Lawson's legs, knocking him to the floor. He breaks an end table and retrieves a sharp piece of wood from the remains. He holds the improvised stake, poised over Lawson's heart.
Lawson wonders if he's sure he wants to do that.
Angel recalls telling Lawson the last time he saw him, if he ever saw Lawson again, he'd kill him.
Lawson doesn't doubt that, but he suggests Angel ask himself if he would have come there without a plan, knowing that?
Angel tosses the wood aside and asks what Lawson has done.
Lawson leads Angel off of the private elevator, into his office. Fred, Gunn and Wes are lined up, each standing precariously on chairs, gagged, their hands bound behind their backs, their necks ensnared in wire nooses.
Lawson echoes Angel's words back to him, "Now, I don't need you to understand every detail, but I do need you to trust that I'm going to get us all through this, safe and sound."
Angel moves toward Lawson who warns him off, "That's double-ought wire wrapped around your crew's necks. Take a fella's head clean off with just a little tug. Best not go roughhousing, something might get knocked over.
Angel tells him this isn't the way to get what he wants from him, whatever that might be.
Lawson says he's already getting it, "The worry in your eyes. Fear of what might happen next." He turns and walks in front of Wes, Gunn and Fred, "Which is right on the mark 'cause I've got a funny feeling there's gonna be some blood spilled tonight." He turns back toward Angel and smiles, "For old times sake."
Flashback, the sub's control room
Lawson pats Spinelli on the back then moves to Tyler, asking if that's any better.
Tyler says it is, a bit, "stern planes are still dragging."
Lawson notes, "Let's hope we don't have to control down in a hurry." He asks if Tyler needs help with the "bow plane."
Tyler looks at his St. Christopher's medal, hanging over the control, "Chris has got it."
Lawson moves over to Hodge, asking if he's picked up anything on the radio.
Angel enters, perusing a manual, as Spike follows.
Spike wants to know when he gets a turn as he reaches out and flips a switch up and down.
Angel answers, "In about, never."
Spike is disappointed, "I'm playing nice with the anchovies, like you asked." He wants at least a turn at the wheel.
An annoyed Angel responds, "Pipe down. I'm trying to work."
Spike snidely asks if "pipe down" is official sailor talk, "Well, ahoy matey, you can just swab my deck." He offers a caustic salute.
An exasperated Angel says his name.
Spike tells him he wants to be called "Captain", "I mean, hell, I did eat him."
Hodge jumps to his feet.
Lawson puts his hand on Hodge's shoulder, silently urging him back into his seat.
Angel gets in Spike's face, "Check the torpedoes before I stuff you in a tube and send you for a swim, Captain." He grabs Spike by the coat and shoves him toward the doorway. Spike exits.
Lawson asks if they're going to have a problem.
Angel assures him Spike will do what Angel tells him to do.
Lawson asks, "'Cause you know each other, from before, right?"
Angel asks if there's something on his mind.
Lawson answers, he just wants to be sure the boat gets to its destination. That, and his crew, are all that matter to him.
Angel's expression softens as he asks how the crew is holding up.
Lawson says they all knew this mission could be a one-way ticket. They're good men. They'll follow orders or they'll answer to him.
Angel is glad to hear it, "Everybody keeps their cool, we might just make it out of this."
A loud scream pierces the quiet of the ship.
Flashback continues, the sub's galley
Angel and Lawson enter the galley to find the Prince beating on Heinreich. Angel asks what he's doing.
The Prince, who is holding a sheaf of papers in one hand, rants, "You think I don't know?!? I am as ancient as the darkness itself!"
Angel tries to calm things, "Yeah, you're real old. We know. Just calm down."
He moves toward the Prince who continues to rant, "They dare conceive such violations on my temple!" He addresses Heinreich as he stalks toward him, "The Prince of Lies is not a slab of meat to be set upon by insignificant maggots!"
Angel approaches from behind, puts his hand on the Prince's shoulder and suggests he "Put a sock in it."
The Prince backhands Angel, sending him flying across the galley.
Lawson pulls his sidearm and shoots the Prince twice. The Prince ignores it as he knocks the gun away and punches Lawson. He turns his attention back to Heinreich who is cowering against the wall.
Heinreich pleads with the Prince as he is grabbed by the throat.
The Prince isn't interested in listening, "I will suck the brain from your skull and digest your thoughts like a sour pudding."
The Prince is dust as Angel stakes him in the back.
Heinreich offers his thanks.
Angel punches him. He asks Lawson if he's okay.
Hodge and another crewman are standing at the doorway, having just witnessed the show. Hodge wonders how a guy just explodes like that.
Lawson orders the men back to their stations. They depart.
Lawson retrieves his sidearm, noting the question was a valid one.
Angel wonders if he really needs an answer.
Lawson figures it might help.
Angel answers matter-of-factly, "Vampire."
Lawson takes that in briefly, "Yeah, I take it back, doesn't help." He wonders what riled up the Prince.
Spike reckons he has an idea. He's arrived and his holding the papers the Prince was upset about. He holds the papers out toward Angel and Lawson, "Anybody here read Nazi?"
Flashback continues, the sub's galley
Spike slams the papers down in front of Heinreich, expecting answers.
Angel doesn't figure they have time for this.
Spike reckons they should hurry things then as he morphs into game face and looks at Heinreich, "Before I get peckish."
Heinreich responds in German. Spike doesn't understand it.
Lawson offers a translation, "He says you're an idiot."
Angel notes with a bit of surprise, Lawson knows German.
Lawson admits he knows enough to get by.
Spike reckons that works, "I'll menace, you talk." He glares at Heinreich and growls.
Lawson asks about the papers.
Heinreich provides an answer.
Lawson tells the others it's research.
Spike asks what sort of research.
Lawson translates the question and gets an answer.
Spike may not understand German, but he does understand the German form of 'vampire' when it crosses Heinreich's lips. He asks what about them.
Lawson picks up the papers, "I don't know, it's technical. Something about stimulation and control. They've been experimenting on them .. cutting into their brains."
Spike figures that's what upset the Prince.
Lawson continues, "They're trying to create an army out of things like you." He looks at Spike.
Spike looks back at Angel, "Yeah, explains why they nicked us. Cream of the crop. Wanna build an army of vampire slaves, you start at the top, with the generals."
Lawson tosses the papers down in front of Heinreich, "Only you and your Fuhrer could come up with something this sick."
Heinreich laughs, says something and looks at Angel.
Angel responds angrily in German.
Spike is perplexed, "Am I the only one who don't speak Kraut?"
Lawson asks if Angel knew about this.
He answers it was part of the mission.
Spike wants to know what mission. He thinks he gets it as he looks at Angel, "You're playing both sides against each other."
Angel starts to say something.
Spike interrupts, "No, I respect that. But if the Yanks are after this stuff too, I'm eatin' the lot of them." He makes a move toward Lawson who pulls his gun.
Angel stops Spike, reminding him they need them. He doesn't plan on getting trapped on the bottom of the ocean.
Spike doesn't intend to let the U.S. government experiment on him.
Lawson denies they'd do such a thing, "You don't win a war by doing whatever it takes. You win by doing what's right."
Spike is unconvinced, "Yeah? Let me know how that works out for you, Popeye."
Angel angrily tells Lawson none of this matters, Lawson's people will get the ship and the men left alive on it, that's it. He picks up the papers, slams them into Spike's chest and tells him to torch them.
As Heinreich shouts "No!", Spike happily obliges, singing a chorus of "God Save the King" as the papers burn.
Spike's singing is interrupted by the sound of explosions outside the sub.
Angel asks what that is.
As the explosions increase in intensity, rocking the boat, Lawson answers Angel's question. They're depth charges.
Flashback continues, sub's control room
Angel and Lawson arrive in the control room. Lawson asks Hodge for a report.
Hodge says he's picked up four destroyers on the surface.
Spinelli dejectedly notes they wouldn't be a match for one in the condition the boat is in.
Lawson barks orders, take the sub down, fast dive, sixty meters. He directs Spinelli to take over the bow plane control.
Angel asks what he can do.
Lawson suggests he "hang on."
All is silent except the pinging of the sonar picking up the charges.
Spike reckons it's over, "Krauts are shooting blanks."
A charge detonates, rocking the sub, sending electrical sparks flying. The lights go out, the emergency lighting comes on. Lawson asks for a report. He's told the propulsion motor is out, they're dead in the water.
Angel tells Lawson to get the motor running.
Lawson isn't sure he can do it.
Angel suggests he get sure, quickly.
Lawson heads for the engine room.
Another explosion goes off. Water rushes in. One of the crew shouts, the other compartment needs to be sealed off immediately.
Angel offers, "We're on it."
Spike wants to know who's "we". He doesn't have to wait for an answer as Angel grabs him and drags him along.
Lawson enters the engine room. An explosion sends a shower of sparks across the area. Lawson prepares to get to work.
As Spike and Angel move down the corridor, they come upon a crewman working frantically on a pipe with a wrench, trying to stem the rush of water flowing from it. He says it's no use, the threads are stripped.
Angel reaches up with one hand and crushes the pipe, sealing it.
Spike looks around and notices Heinreich is missing.
In the engine room, Lawson is searching for a screwdriver. He looks through the tools on the floor, but doesn't find it. He wonders where it's at as he stands.
Heinreich gives him the screwdriver, straight into the gut. He drives it in a few times for good measure.
Lawson manages to grab something and bash Heinreich's head in with it then sinks to the floor.
Present, W&H
Lawson notes it's strange what goes through a man's mind when his life is in the balance, "Always figured it'd be the special moments you freeze in time. Your mom, singing you to sleep at night. Sneaking into the movies with your best friend. The way your girl's hair shimmers in the sun. But the truth is, the only thing that goes through your head is wow, this really sucks. And then you're gone."
Flashback, the sub's engine room
Angel rushes in and helps Lawson to his feet. Lawson says they're dead unless they get propulsion back.
Angel asks him to tell him what to do.
Lawson is fading, "I'm the only one .. I'm the only one .." He coughs up blood. "I'm not going to let anymore die. I can fix it." He gasps for breath, coughs and slides back down to the floor.
Angel quietly says, "I know you can." He morphs into game face, jerks Lawson's head aside and slams his fangs into his neck. He slashes open the inside of his wrist on something nearby and forces it into Lawson's mouth.
Lawson drinks, hesitantly at first, then grabs Angel's arm and drinks deeply.
Flashback continues, the sub's control room
Spike and Angel are standing in the control room. The remaining crew are passed out or on the verge. Spike casually notes the air is almost gone, "Your new boy better get the engines running before the fish start flopping."
Angel is sure Lawson will do what needs to be done.
Spike looks at Hodge, noting he looks like he's finished, "Be a blessing to put him out of his misery."
The lights come on as the engines power up.
Angel tells Spike to get the crew up, they need to get to the surface. He leaves.
Spike is disappointed as he assists the crew, "Your lucky day, isn't it?"
Angel finds Lawson in the engine room. Lawson reminds him he said he could do it.
Angel tells him it was a good job.
Lawson thanks him, "You, too." He looks up, realizing they're surfacing.
Angel confirms that.
Lawson wonders if that's smart with German surface ships still in the area.
Angel says they have no choice, the air is gone, the crew won't survive if they don't vent.
That thought doesn't bother Lawson, "They swore to give their lives for their country, just like me. Besides, I'm hungry."
Angel reminds him they're still his men.
Lawson counters, "But they're not the mission are they?" He morphs into game face and takes a punch at Angel.
Angel grabs his arm and twists it behind him, restraining him, "You're new at this. I'm not. Let's take a walk."
Flashback continues, the sub
The sub is resting on the surface. Spike comes down the ladder after opening the hatch to the outside. Angel brings Lawson up to the base of the ladder.
Lawson eyes the crew, "They look smaller."
Angel tells him, "Eight hours to sunrise, twenty miles from land."
Lawson looks at him, "I just might make it." He heads up the ladder.
Angel stops him, "I'm sorry for what happened, but if I ever see you again? I'm gonna have to kill ya."
Lawson departs with, "Aye aye, Chief. Take good care of her. She's a good boat." He ascends the ladder.
Spike is amused, "Bloody brilliant. Turn the poor sod to save the ship then make him dash for dry land before Mr. Sunshine torches him a new one." He smiles, "You're still a dick."
Angel responds, "Yeah, I am" as he looks at Spike then upward toward the hatch, and waits.
Spike's amusement fades when he realizes Lawson isn't the only vampire going for a swim, "Bollocks." He ascends the ladder.
Present, W&H
Lawson hopes the government at least tortured Angel.
Angel says he didn't give them the chance. He jumped ship before it got to shore, off the coast of Maine. He went underground until the war was over.
Lawson reckons that sounds like the actions of a typical coward.
Angel says wars are won and lost by men.
Lawson wonders if Angel means like him [Lawson]. He sarcastically adds that doesn't really apply to him anymore.
Angel tells him he never wanted to do that to Lawson.
Lawson isn't interested in the sympathy. He knows the technology the government got from the sub was invaluable in the war effort and maybe it was a fair trade, "One person damned to make the world safe for future generations." He notes Gunn, Wes and Fred, "Except these guys."
Angel tells him killing them won't change anything.
Lawson knows it will hurt Angel, maybe that's enough.
Angel assures him it never is.
Lawson reckons maybe he's found his mission after all these years.
Angel asks, "Being an evil son of a bitch not keeping you busy?"
Lawson notes everybody needs a reason to live, "Even if we're already dead. Mom, apple pie, the Stars and Stripes, that was good enough for me. Until I met you. Then I had this whole creature of the night thing going for me. The joy of destruction and death, and I embraced it. I did all the terrible things a monster does ... murdered women and children, tortured fathers and husbands, just to hear 'em scream. And through it all, I felt nothing. Sixty years of blood drying in my throat like ashes. So what do you think? Is it me, Chief? Or does everyone you sired feel this way?"
Angel tells him he's the only one he ever turned, after he got a soul.
Lawson asks, "Do I have one too?"
Angel's expression softens as he answers quietly, "I don't think it works that way, son."
Lawson considers that a moment, nods, "Didn't think so." Fight ensues.
Angel tosses Lawson across the room. Lawson gets back to his feet, "You gave me just enough, didn't you? Enough of your soul to keep me trapped between who I was and who I should be. I'm nothin' because of you."
He charges Angel who throws him through the office hall window.
Angel follows him out into the hall as Lawson retrieves a sharp piece of the broken wooden window frame. Angel asks if he really wants it to end like this.
Lawson answers, "Sounds like a plan."
Lawson tries to stake Angel.
Angel grabs his arm and stops him, slowly turning the stake toward Lawson.
Lawson looks up at him, "Come on, Chief. Give me a mission."
Angel slams his other hand onto the base of the stake, ramming it home, dusting Lawson.
Angel is sitting on the arm of a chair, alone in his office, staring out the window. Spike walks up to the doorway, "Really ought to do something about security. They'll let anybody in here, won't they?"
Angel doesn't turn away from the window, doesn't say anything.
Spike walks in, telling him Fred filled him in on what happened, "So, sailor boy finally came back for a yo-ho-ho, did he?" He steps up beside Angel and joins him in looking out the window.
Angel mutters, "Finally came back."
Spike notes it took him long enough, "I know revenge is best served cold and all, but his must have been frozen solid."
Angel doesn't think that's why Lawson returned.
Spike asks what he was looking for then.
Angel answers, "A reason."
If you're interested in the origin of the title of this episode, you'll find information here, "Why We Fight" ]
Atlantic Ocean, 1943
A captured German U-boat cruises below the ocean's surface. Onboard, chaos reigns as men run frantically, shouting orders, trying to escape something. As the men clear the corridor, one of them, Lawson, hears a scream from behind. He stops, looks back and calls out for the captain.
Lawson rushes back toward whatever is attacking as the captain's bleeding body is tossed toward him. He grabs the man and tries dragging him to safety as he calls to the others to give him some help.
As Lawson and another crewman struggle to pull the captain out of harm's way, something grabs his lower body and jerks him away from them.
The captain screams, a crunch is heard, the stunned faces of both Lawson and the crewman are splattered with blood. They manage to get out of the corridor and lock the door shut behind them.
Present, Angel's conference room at W&H
Gunn apprises the others of the results of a search mounted by the ops team, Eve seems to have disappeared.
Angel isn't disappointed to hear that.
Wes reminds him she was swearing vengeance when last they saw her, "That usually doesn't go well for us."
Gunn notes the Partners don't suffer betrayal lightly.
Lorne figures Eve was probably sucked up for a meeting shortly after Lindsey met the same fate. ("You're Welcome").
Angel wonders if there's been any news on Lindsey.
Gunn answers there isn't, "But going off of company precedent, right about now, Lindsey should be boiling in his own filth."
Angel wants to know for sure.
Gunn notes, "The white room is empty, our liaison to the Senior Partners has vanished, it's hard getting information anymore." He offers perhaps they can arrange for a new liaison "through a ... a ... protocol ..."
The others look at him expectantly.
He apologizes, citing exhaustion as the reason he can't think, trying to cover. He confidently assures Angel they have options, he'll get on it.
Angel suggests they wait until the morning, "Eve's vanished. Let's end on a high note." He gets up from the conference table.
Lorne notes they're getting out of the office on a Friday night before midnight, "Careful, gang. We might get to have social lives."
As Wes rises he tells Lorne to speak for himself, he still has five or six hours of "spell detailing" to get done.
Gunn adds he has briefings to go through.
Fred says she has to redo an experiment, "Knox really dropped the ball on that one."
Wes is quick to agree, "Yes, he is unreliable. Good point."
As they head out of the office, Angel asks if they should at least meet back at his office in a few hours to discuss work some more.
Wes agrees, they leave the office and enter the upper floor lobby. Fred wonders what they did with their lives before they started working at W&H.
Wes answers, "I seem to recall lots and lots of Jenga."
Lorne bids them farewell, he's off to a party at the Skybar, insisting it's a business related function.
Gunn suggests to Wes, if he's going to be detailing spells, perhaps they could "go over the portal incantations from last Monday's Mithroc retreat."
Wes declines, citing an already full schedule of work for the night.
Everyone goes their separate ways, clearing the lobby.
A set of elevator doors slide open at W&H. Lawson, looking just as he did in 1943, steps out. He looks around and smiles.
Fred enters her lab where she finds Lawson looking over some papers. He greets her pleasantly, saying he was just trying to understand some of the equations, "I used to have a bit of a head for numbers. It's funny how you lose part of your mind when you stop using it."
Fred eyes him suspiciously. She nervously asks if there's anything she can help him with.
He puts the papers down, reassuring her, addressing her by name, "Miss Burkle." Lawson says he just wanted to talk.
Fred asks how he knew her name.
Lawson casually picks up a small item from one of the tables, examines it and asks if Fred likes working there.
She doesn't know what to say.
As he sets down the item he was examining and walks around the lab, he continues, "Do you enjoy what you do? Do you find yourself waking up in the morning, eager to start your day?"
Fred tries to stall as she moves cautiously toward the exit, "Uh ... I don't know. I .. I mean .. I guess I had my doubts at first but lately I've been feeling like we're --"
Lawson cuts her off, asking her not to run, "I'd have to stop you."
Fred asks what he wants.
As Lawson approaches her, he tells her he came to see her boss, "Angel and I are old acquaintances. I was friends with him back in the day, back when he was in his patriotic phase."
Fred's expression is a mix of confusion and fear.
New York City, 1943
Angel is sitting in his grimy, sparsely appointed apartment, listening to some music. The door is suddenly kicked open as a couple of men enter.
Angel gets to his feet, one of the men hits him in the head with a wooden club that's been sharpened to a point on one end. Angel is knocked to the floor but gets up quickly. He notices the other man is armed with a crossbow and has it pointed at his chest. He stands, motionless.
Commander Petrie, a brash, middle aged man dressed in navy tans, enters the room, ordering everyone to be calm. He's followed in by a civilian man dressed in a suit. Petrie notes to Angel he was specifically referring to him with his "calm down" order. He wants his own men to stay frosty, just in case Angel isn't in the mood to listen. Petrie tells Angel to sit down, which he does. Someone turns off the music.
Petrie takes a seat opposite Angel, asking if he's ever considered "joining the war effort."
Angel answers no.
Petrie thinks that's too bad, they can use all the "able bodied men we can get."
Angel notes he's not a man, but he reckons they already know that as he looks at the crossbow and the club sharpened into a stake at one end.
Petrie thinks everybody needs to do their part. The German U-boats are superior to anything the allies have and are kicking serious ass in the Atlantic. Until now, they haven't had anything to counter that threat. He continues, telling Angel a German sub prototype was captured a couple of days earlier.
Angel, not sure what this has to do with him, mutters an insincere, "That's .. great news."
Petrie agrees it is but something went wrong when the crew was bringing it back, "Late last night we received fragments of a distress call. Something was on that ship. Have you ever heard dying men screaming for their lives, Angel?"
Mr. Fury, the man in the suit, standing in the back of the room, speaks up, "Course he has."
Petrie continues, the sub is stuck in hostile waters, it's needed to win the war, "It's down too deep to send divers. Pressure, cold'd kill a man."
Fury steps forward, noting those won't be problems for Angel, "You've been on our radar for some time now, Angelus."
Angel corrects him, "Name's Angel."
Fury scoffs, "Oh. Right. You have a soul now. I represent a relatively new agency, Demon Research Initiative? And we think that you might be the solution to our little problem."
Angel stands, telling Fury he's not interested. The guy with the club punches him in the gut with it, setting Angel back into the chair.
Fury isn't interested in Angel's opinion, "We figure we strap enough weight to you, you will sink, regardless of your interests."
Petrie adds they need the sub, "And we want you to deal with ..." He glances briefly at Fury, "What's on it."
Fury says intelligence investigated the sub's cargo manifest.
Petrie opens a briefcase and removes a folder from it. He tosses the papers on to Angel's lap, "We think we know what attacked our boys."
Angel sighs, opens the folder and looks at the contents. He looks back up at Petrie.
Flashback, the sub
In the crew quarters, Lawson checks his sidearm then asks a nervous Hodge how he's doing.
Hodge, who's sitting on a bunk, answers he's doing okay, but his tone says otherwise.
Lawson reminds him to stay steady, he has to stay sharp if they're going to get out of this. He glances at a German prisoner, Heinreich, as he crosses the quarters and joins a couple of other crewmen, Tyler and Spinelli. Lawson suggests they determine their next move.
Tyler points out they can't control the sub from where they're at and if the bulkheads don't cave, they only have maybe a couple days of air left.
Spinelli looks toward the doorway, "That's assuming they don't figure out how to get through that hatch."
Tyler asks Lawson what "those things" were.
Spinelli figures the German prisoner probably knows. He approaches, grabs Heinreich and demands to know what they were carrying onboard.
Heinreich answers in German, he doesn't understand.
A man is heard screaming in agony somewhere on the boat. Hodge recognizes the man's voice, "It's Lewis."
Lawson tells him to be quiet. The others listen briefly as the screaming continues. Lawson has heard enough and heads for the door.
Spinelli steps in front of him, blocking the way.
Lawson orders him to step aside.
Spinelli says the men are dead, there's nothing they can do to help them now.
Lawson is willing to go alone as he shoves Spinelli aside.
Spinelli pulls his sidearm out of its holster and points it at Lawson, warning him they all die if Lawson opens the door.
Lawson calmly orders him to get the gun out his face.
A loud clanging is heard on the outside of the hull. They realize the sound is leading to the torpedo room. As they head there, Lawson orders Heinreich be brought along.
The men enter the torpedo room, weapons drawn, and look around as the clanging and banging sounds continue. Tyler notes whatever it is, it's in the torpedo tubes.
Spinelli wonders what they're dealing with.
Hodge suggests, "It could be another one of them."
Spinelli suggests flushing the tubes.
The clanging takes on a pattern. The men listen briefly. Lawson recognizes it, it's SOS in Morse code. He orders the number one torpedo tube opened.
As the men stand back, weapons aimed at the tube, Spinelli opens it. A stream of water drains from it, revealing a wet Angel cramped inside.
Present, W&H
Wes enters his office where he discovers Fred, gagged and bound to a chair. She looks at Lawson who is concealed behind the door, trying to communicate that to Wes with her eyes.
He gets it, but not soon enough as Lawson steps out and punches him, knocking him out.
Flashback, the sub's torpedo room
Angel has extricated himself from the torpedo tube. Lawson wants to know how a man gets 400 feet underwater without a dive suit.
Angel asks which of the men pointing guns at him is Captain Franklin.
Lawson says the captain is dead.
Angel asks who's in charge.
After a moment, Lawson answers, he reckons that would be him.
Angel says he's supposed to issue an order then recites some codespeak.
Lawson requests verification, Angel provides it. The men all lower their sidearms as Lawson responds, "Yes, Sir."
Angel asks if someone would remove the weighted manacles and heavy chains binding his ankles.
Flashback continues, the sub's torpedo room
Hodge and Spinelli are walking away from Angel and Lawson, packing the chains that had weighed Angel down. Hodge is impressed, he thinks Angel is "some kind of super-soldier, like Steve Rogers or Captain America."
An annoyed Spinelli notes, "Steve Rogers is Captain America, you eightball."
Hodge is surprised to hear it, "What?"
Lawson tells Angel they're all that's left, "An ensign, a helmsman, a handful of petty officers." He doesn't reckon that's much, "not against them."
Angel asks his name.
Lawson gives it, "Sam Lawson."
Angel tells him to keep everyone in the room and lock it down tightly as he heads for the door.
Lawson offers his sidearm to Angel, he's seen what they're fighting.
Angel tells him to keep it, Lawson might need it, assuring him he knows what he's dealing with. He steps out into the corridor, telling Lawson not to open the door for anyone but him.
Lawson agrees as he locks the door shut.
Angel walks slowly down the corridor until he reaches a hatchway. He opens it slowly. A pre-peroxide Spike (sporting black hair), wearing a brown leather S.S. jacket with swastika armband, sticks his head out and notes dryly, "Angelus. They'll let anyone in here."
Angel looks over Spike's attire, "You're a Nazi."
Spike asks, "What?"
Angel indicates Spike's coat.
Spike clarifies, "Oh. No, I just ate one. They got you too, eh?"
Angel nods, looking a bit nervous.
Spike advises him the S.S. are sneaky, "Don't ever go to a 'Free Virgin Blood' party. Turns out, it's probably a trap."
Angel isn't quite believing what he's hearing, "You were captured at a 'Free Virgin Blood' party?"
Spike answers, "I know. Who'd have thought? One minute I'm asking a fella why all the virgins look like Goebbels, the next minute I'm stuck in a box on this cursed ship."
Angel follows as Spike leads down the corridor. Spike feels better knowing Angelus got caught as well. He's not surprised, he reckons it makes sense, "From our company it looks like they're rounding up the baddest of the bad." He stops outside of a closed door.
Angel notes Spike will have to introduce him.
Spike agrees, "But I gotta warn you .. uh .. they're a bit stiff." He opens the door and leads Angel inside.
There are two vampires waiting. One, a tall, beefy Russian that Spike introduces as Nostroyev.
Spike introduces the other, the Prince of Lies, a smallish, Nosferatu type vampire; hunched, bald, with pointed ears, bushy eyebrows, long fingernails and who speaks with a bargain basement Lugosi accent.
Spike then introduces them to "Angelus. The Angelus."
The Prince bows his head slightly in greeting.
Nostroyev isn't as impressed, "Angelus. Used to be quite a terror back in the day. Haven't heard much of you lately though."
Angel snipes coldly, "Haven't heard much of you, ever."
Nostroyev doesn't take that well, "Nostroyev! Scourge of Siberia! And Butcher of Alexander Palace."
Angel indicates he's still not familiar, "Sorry."
Nostroyev gets angrier, "I was Rasputin's lover!"
Angel turns to look at Spike who offers, "Uh, look, I broke these two out just shortly after I got free. Didn't know you were back there, would've come for you as well." He looks at the others, conceding they kind of had their hands full with the sailors.
The Prince laughs, a wheezing, creepy, sickly sound. Spike and Angel look at him. The laughing fades.
Angel asks if there's anyone still alive.
Spike answers there isn't, they just finished the last of 'em. He asks if Angel left them anything in back.
Angel admits there are a couple of men in the torpedo room.
Spike is anxious to make a meal as he heads for the door.
Angel stops him, telling him they aren't killing any more humans, "Well, not right now."
Spike wants to know why not.
Angel answers, "Because, in case you haven't noticed, Spike, we're trapped at the bottom of the ocean."
Spike doesn't get the point.
The Prince looks around nervously, "We're underwater?"
Angel and Spike glance at him briefly, then return to their conversation. Angel tells Spike, "Unless you know how to operate one of these things, we're gonna need their help."
Spike rolls his eyes, he doesn't figure it could be all that difficult. He flips a switch. An alarm blares.
The Prince hisses and covers his ears.
Angel reaches out and shuts the alarm off.
Nostroyev offers a compromise, they'll leave one alive to run the boat and eat the others. He picks up a fire ax and heads for the door.
Angel stands in front of him, putting his hand to Nostroyev's chest, "No."
Spike looks at Nostroyev, "Uh, yeah. Probably should warn you, he likes to pretend he's the boss."
Nostroyev is undaunted, "You may have made a name for yourself muscling around weaker vampires --"
Spike takes exception to that, "Hang on!"
Nostroyev ignores Spike's protestation, "But I am Nostroyev, I will tear you open and play 'Coachmen, spare your horses' on the lute of your entrails." He demands Angel step aside.
Angel complies.
As Nostroyev starts to walk past, Angel punches him in the stomach, grabs the ax away from Nostroyev, breaks the handle and stakes the Russian vampire with it. He tells the others they don't kill the humans until they get to land. He asks if that's understood.
The Prince says nothing.
Spike sarcastically offers a salute, "Heil Hitler."
Present, Angel's penthouse
Angel is sitting on the couch, writing on papers spread over the coffee table in front of him.
Lawson greets him, "Hiya, Chief."
Angel looks up at him.
Lawson hopes Angel remembers him, "Spend time in a tube, you should know your crew like the back of your hand."
Angel says his name, "Lawson."
Lawson is touched he remembers. As he walks into the room, he wonders if Angel is going to ask how he got in.
Angel isn't, "You'd be amazed how many people break into this building on a regular basis."
Lawson is disappointed, "But I had a whole bit planned about how I was always good with technology, and you of all people, should know that?"
Angel says he's sorry but "This place might as well be a bus station."
Lawson looks around the penthouse, noting it appears Angel is doing well, "It's a far cry from all those years you spent in the gutters, eating rats."
Angel offers an insincere, "You've been following my life. I'm touched."
Lawson claims he just checked in every decade or so. He was quite surprised to discover "Mr. vermin-eater himself" was fighting evil and running W&H. He wonders if Angel would like to explain that, he doesn't see those two things being a particularly compatible fit.
Angel casually notes it's complicated.
Lawson takes a seat opposite him, "I find that's true about most things these days. I don't mean to sound like an old man but ... We used to live in simpler times, didn't we? Never thought I'd miss being on that sub. Things made a kind of sense. 'Keep your head down, watch each other's backs....'"
Flashback, the sub
Lawson's words from the present melt into Angel's words from the past as he leads the surviving men down a corridor to the control room, ".. watch each other's backs and stay alert. Follow our lead. We'll get out of this, all right?" Spike and the Prince are already in the control room when the men enter.
Lawson notes the bodies laying about.
Angel introduces Lawson to Spike and the Prince, telling Lawson to put them to use if he needs them. Spike salutes.
Lawson orders Spinelli to take the German prisoner to the galley, then do a full systems check, starting with the batteries, he wants power as quickly as possible. He gives him five minutes to get the job done. Spinelli leaves with Heinreich
Lawson directs the helmsman, O'Shea, to take his place at the console. He tells Tyler he'll have to handle both "bow and plane" for now.
One of the men notes, with concern, if they need to surface, they won't be able to outmaneuver the Germans on batteries alone.
Lawson assures him he'll get to work on the engines once they're underway. For now, he just wants to get moving.
Spike asks where the captain sits.
Lawson points to a chair.
Spike takes a seat and asks who brings the captain his drink.
Lawson ignores the question, directing Hodge to look after communications. He has to shout Hodge's name to get his attention which is fixed on the corpses in the control room.
Hodge follows his orders, taking a seat at the communications console.
The Prince steps up, asking what he should do.
Angel tells him to take a seat as he maneuvers him to a chair next to Hodge.
The Prince looks at the controls, "This bathysphere is perplexing." He looks over at Hodge, smiles and hisses.
A nervous Hodge turns his attention to the communications panel and his headset.
The Prince picks up a headset and examines it curiously.
Lawson stares at one of the corpses on the control room floor.
Angel suggests they get the bodies out of there.
Lawson nods in agreement.
Flashback continues, the sub
Angel and Lawson finish moving the bodies to the crew quarters. Lawson realizes there's a lot going on he doesn't understand, "But those monsters butchered my crew ... Apparently they're in the S.S."
As Angel covers one of the bodies, he clarifies, "Spike's not in the S.S., he just likes wearing the jacket."
Lawson doesn't understand why they're working with him, or keeping him alive.
Angel assures him he has Spike under control.
Lawson angrily points out Spike killed his captain.
Angel notes they might be able to use them, they don't have much of a crew left.
Lawson doesn't think Spike and the Prince will be needed.
Angel points out they're extra hands.
Lawson isn't convinced, "They're monsters, and I don't know why we -- "
Angel firmly tells Lawson he doesn't need to know why. Their orders are to bring the boat in. He asks resignedly, "Isn't that the point? Following orders?"
As Lawson covers another body, he notes there is a difference between orders and purpose, "I didn't sign on 'cause I needed directions." He admits he made fun of people in the service when he was a kid, figured they couldn't tie their shoes without someone telling them to do it. But he's seen what's happening in the world, "Evil's spreading, Sir, and it's not just over there. It was on my ship, it killed my crew." He admits he's been scared since signing on for this mission, but he can handle that, he can even handle dying, as long as he knows it's for a greater purpose.
Angel tells him they have a job to do and it's a job that will help them win the war. He doesn't need Lawson to understand all the details, just know they're fighting on the same side, "I need you to trust that I'm gonna get us all through this, safe and sound."
Present, Angel's penthouse
Lawson, who is now standing, picks up from Angel's comment in the flashback, "Safe and sound. Guess now's not the time to argue semantics, is it?" He wonders if Angel cared about any of it; the mission, the ship, the crew, or if he was just in it to "save your own ass?"
Angel asks what he wants.
Lawson says he wants the same thing he always has, "to understand."
Angel asks exactly what he wants to understand as he casually puts his foot up on the side of the coffee table.
Lawson moves closer, "Why we do what we do. How you manage to always --"
Angel kicks the coffee table into Lawson's legs, knocking him to the floor. He breaks an end table and retrieves a sharp piece of wood from the remains. He holds the improvised stake, poised over Lawson's heart.
Lawson wonders if he's sure he wants to do that.
Angel recalls telling Lawson the last time he saw him, if he ever saw Lawson again, he'd kill him.
Lawson doesn't doubt that, but he suggests Angel ask himself if he would have come there without a plan, knowing that?
Angel tosses the wood aside and asks what Lawson has done.
Lawson leads Angel off of the private elevator, into his office. Fred, Gunn and Wes are lined up, each standing precariously on chairs, gagged, their hands bound behind their backs, their necks ensnared in wire nooses.
Lawson echoes Angel's words back to him, "Now, I don't need you to understand every detail, but I do need you to trust that I'm going to get us all through this, safe and sound."
Angel moves toward Lawson who warns him off, "That's double-ought wire wrapped around your crew's necks. Take a fella's head clean off with just a little tug. Best not go roughhousing, something might get knocked over.
Angel tells him this isn't the way to get what he wants from him, whatever that might be.
Lawson says he's already getting it, "The worry in your eyes. Fear of what might happen next." He turns and walks in front of Wes, Gunn and Fred, "Which is right on the mark 'cause I've got a funny feeling there's gonna be some blood spilled tonight." He turns back toward Angel and smiles, "For old times sake."
Flashback, the sub's control room
Lawson pats Spinelli on the back then moves to Tyler, asking if that's any better.
Tyler says it is, a bit, "stern planes are still dragging."
Lawson notes, "Let's hope we don't have to control down in a hurry." He asks if Tyler needs help with the "bow plane."
Tyler looks at his St. Christopher's medal, hanging over the control, "Chris has got it."
Lawson moves over to Hodge, asking if he's picked up anything on the radio.
Angel enters, perusing a manual, as Spike follows.
Spike wants to know when he gets a turn as he reaches out and flips a switch up and down.
Angel answers, "In about, never."
Spike is disappointed, "I'm playing nice with the anchovies, like you asked." He wants at least a turn at the wheel.
An annoyed Angel responds, "Pipe down. I'm trying to work."
Spike snidely asks if "pipe down" is official sailor talk, "Well, ahoy matey, you can just swab my deck." He offers a caustic salute.
An exasperated Angel says his name.
Spike tells him he wants to be called "Captain", "I mean, hell, I did eat him."
Hodge jumps to his feet.
Lawson puts his hand on Hodge's shoulder, silently urging him back into his seat.
Angel gets in Spike's face, "Check the torpedoes before I stuff you in a tube and send you for a swim, Captain." He grabs Spike by the coat and shoves him toward the doorway. Spike exits.
Lawson asks if they're going to have a problem.
Angel assures him Spike will do what Angel tells him to do.
Lawson asks, "'Cause you know each other, from before, right?"
Angel asks if there's something on his mind.
Lawson answers, he just wants to be sure the boat gets to its destination. That, and his crew, are all that matter to him.
Angel's expression softens as he asks how the crew is holding up.
Lawson says they all knew this mission could be a one-way ticket. They're good men. They'll follow orders or they'll answer to him.
Angel is glad to hear it, "Everybody keeps their cool, we might just make it out of this."
A loud scream pierces the quiet of the ship.
Flashback continues, the sub's galley
Angel and Lawson enter the galley to find the Prince beating on Heinreich. Angel asks what he's doing.
The Prince, who is holding a sheaf of papers in one hand, rants, "You think I don't know?!? I am as ancient as the darkness itself!"
Angel tries to calm things, "Yeah, you're real old. We know. Just calm down."
He moves toward the Prince who continues to rant, "They dare conceive such violations on my temple!" He addresses Heinreich as he stalks toward him, "The Prince of Lies is not a slab of meat to be set upon by insignificant maggots!"
Angel approaches from behind, puts his hand on the Prince's shoulder and suggests he "Put a sock in it."
The Prince backhands Angel, sending him flying across the galley.
Lawson pulls his sidearm and shoots the Prince twice. The Prince ignores it as he knocks the gun away and punches Lawson. He turns his attention back to Heinreich who is cowering against the wall.
Heinreich pleads with the Prince as he is grabbed by the throat.
The Prince isn't interested in listening, "I will suck the brain from your skull and digest your thoughts like a sour pudding."
The Prince is dust as Angel stakes him in the back.
Heinreich offers his thanks.
Angel punches him. He asks Lawson if he's okay.
Hodge and another crewman are standing at the doorway, having just witnessed the show. Hodge wonders how a guy just explodes like that.
Lawson orders the men back to their stations. They depart.
Lawson retrieves his sidearm, noting the question was a valid one.
Angel wonders if he really needs an answer.
Lawson figures it might help.
Angel answers matter-of-factly, "Vampire."
Lawson takes that in briefly, "Yeah, I take it back, doesn't help." He wonders what riled up the Prince.
Spike reckons he has an idea. He's arrived and his holding the papers the Prince was upset about. He holds the papers out toward Angel and Lawson, "Anybody here read Nazi?"
Flashback continues, the sub's galley
Spike slams the papers down in front of Heinreich, expecting answers.
Angel doesn't figure they have time for this.
Spike reckons they should hurry things then as he morphs into game face and looks at Heinreich, "Before I get peckish."
Heinreich responds in German. Spike doesn't understand it.
Lawson offers a translation, "He says you're an idiot."
Angel notes with a bit of surprise, Lawson knows German.
Lawson admits he knows enough to get by.
Spike reckons that works, "I'll menace, you talk." He glares at Heinreich and growls.
Lawson asks about the papers.
Heinreich provides an answer.
Lawson tells the others it's research.
Spike asks what sort of research.
Lawson translates the question and gets an answer.
Spike may not understand German, but he does understand the German form of 'vampire' when it crosses Heinreich's lips. He asks what about them.
Lawson picks up the papers, "I don't know, it's technical. Something about stimulation and control. They've been experimenting on them .. cutting into their brains."
Spike figures that's what upset the Prince.
Lawson continues, "They're trying to create an army out of things like you." He looks at Spike.
Spike looks back at Angel, "Yeah, explains why they nicked us. Cream of the crop. Wanna build an army of vampire slaves, you start at the top, with the generals."
Lawson tosses the papers down in front of Heinreich, "Only you and your Fuhrer could come up with something this sick."
Heinreich laughs, says something and looks at Angel.
Angel responds angrily in German.
Spike is perplexed, "Am I the only one who don't speak Kraut?"
Lawson asks if Angel knew about this.
He answers it was part of the mission.
Spike wants to know what mission. He thinks he gets it as he looks at Angel, "You're playing both sides against each other."
Angel starts to say something.
Spike interrupts, "No, I respect that. But if the Yanks are after this stuff too, I'm eatin' the lot of them." He makes a move toward Lawson who pulls his gun.
Angel stops Spike, reminding him they need them. He doesn't plan on getting trapped on the bottom of the ocean.
Spike doesn't intend to let the U.S. government experiment on him.
Lawson denies they'd do such a thing, "You don't win a war by doing whatever it takes. You win by doing what's right."
Spike is unconvinced, "Yeah? Let me know how that works out for you, Popeye."
Angel angrily tells Lawson none of this matters, Lawson's people will get the ship and the men left alive on it, that's it. He picks up the papers, slams them into Spike's chest and tells him to torch them.
As Heinreich shouts "No!", Spike happily obliges, singing a chorus of "God Save the King" as the papers burn.
Spike's singing is interrupted by the sound of explosions outside the sub.
Angel asks what that is.
As the explosions increase in intensity, rocking the boat, Lawson answers Angel's question. They're depth charges.
Flashback continues, sub's control room
Angel and Lawson arrive in the control room. Lawson asks Hodge for a report.
Hodge says he's picked up four destroyers on the surface.
Spinelli dejectedly notes they wouldn't be a match for one in the condition the boat is in.
Lawson barks orders, take the sub down, fast dive, sixty meters. He directs Spinelli to take over the bow plane control.
Angel asks what he can do.
Lawson suggests he "hang on."
All is silent except the pinging of the sonar picking up the charges.
Spike reckons it's over, "Krauts are shooting blanks."
A charge detonates, rocking the sub, sending electrical sparks flying. The lights go out, the emergency lighting comes on. Lawson asks for a report. He's told the propulsion motor is out, they're dead in the water.
Angel tells Lawson to get the motor running.
Lawson isn't sure he can do it.
Angel suggests he get sure, quickly.
Lawson heads for the engine room.
Another explosion goes off. Water rushes in. One of the crew shouts, the other compartment needs to be sealed off immediately.
Angel offers, "We're on it."
Spike wants to know who's "we". He doesn't have to wait for an answer as Angel grabs him and drags him along.
Lawson enters the engine room. An explosion sends a shower of sparks across the area. Lawson prepares to get to work.
As Spike and Angel move down the corridor, they come upon a crewman working frantically on a pipe with a wrench, trying to stem the rush of water flowing from it. He says it's no use, the threads are stripped.
Angel reaches up with one hand and crushes the pipe, sealing it.
Spike looks around and notices Heinreich is missing.
In the engine room, Lawson is searching for a screwdriver. He looks through the tools on the floor, but doesn't find it. He wonders where it's at as he stands.
Heinreich gives him the screwdriver, straight into the gut. He drives it in a few times for good measure.
Lawson manages to grab something and bash Heinreich's head in with it then sinks to the floor.
Present, W&H
Lawson notes it's strange what goes through a man's mind when his life is in the balance, "Always figured it'd be the special moments you freeze in time. Your mom, singing you to sleep at night. Sneaking into the movies with your best friend. The way your girl's hair shimmers in the sun. But the truth is, the only thing that goes through your head is wow, this really sucks. And then you're gone."
Flashback, the sub's engine room
Angel rushes in and helps Lawson to his feet. Lawson says they're dead unless they get propulsion back.
Angel asks him to tell him what to do.
Lawson is fading, "I'm the only one .. I'm the only one .." He coughs up blood. "I'm not going to let anymore die. I can fix it." He gasps for breath, coughs and slides back down to the floor.
Angel quietly says, "I know you can." He morphs into game face, jerks Lawson's head aside and slams his fangs into his neck. He slashes open the inside of his wrist on something nearby and forces it into Lawson's mouth.
Lawson drinks, hesitantly at first, then grabs Angel's arm and drinks deeply.
Flashback continues, the sub's control room
Spike and Angel are standing in the control room. The remaining crew are passed out or on the verge. Spike casually notes the air is almost gone, "Your new boy better get the engines running before the fish start flopping."
Angel is sure Lawson will do what needs to be done.
Spike looks at Hodge, noting he looks like he's finished, "Be a blessing to put him out of his misery."
The lights come on as the engines power up.
Angel tells Spike to get the crew up, they need to get to the surface. He leaves.
Spike is disappointed as he assists the crew, "Your lucky day, isn't it?"
Angel finds Lawson in the engine room. Lawson reminds him he said he could do it.
Angel tells him it was a good job.
Lawson thanks him, "You, too." He looks up, realizing they're surfacing.
Angel confirms that.
Lawson wonders if that's smart with German surface ships still in the area.
Angel says they have no choice, the air is gone, the crew won't survive if they don't vent.
That thought doesn't bother Lawson, "They swore to give their lives for their country, just like me. Besides, I'm hungry."
Angel reminds him they're still his men.
Lawson counters, "But they're not the mission are they?" He morphs into game face and takes a punch at Angel.
Angel grabs his arm and twists it behind him, restraining him, "You're new at this. I'm not. Let's take a walk."
Flashback continues, the sub
The sub is resting on the surface. Spike comes down the ladder after opening the hatch to the outside. Angel brings Lawson up to the base of the ladder.
Lawson eyes the crew, "They look smaller."
Angel tells him, "Eight hours to sunrise, twenty miles from land."
Lawson looks at him, "I just might make it." He heads up the ladder.
Angel stops him, "I'm sorry for what happened, but if I ever see you again? I'm gonna have to kill ya."
Lawson departs with, "Aye aye, Chief. Take good care of her. She's a good boat." He ascends the ladder.
Spike is amused, "Bloody brilliant. Turn the poor sod to save the ship then make him dash for dry land before Mr. Sunshine torches him a new one." He smiles, "You're still a dick."
Angel responds, "Yeah, I am" as he looks at Spike then upward toward the hatch, and waits.
Spike's amusement fades when he realizes Lawson isn't the only vampire going for a swim, "Bollocks." He ascends the ladder.
Present, W&H
Lawson hopes the government at least tortured Angel.
Angel says he didn't give them the chance. He jumped ship before it got to shore, off the coast of Maine. He went underground until the war was over.
Lawson reckons that sounds like the actions of a typical coward.
Angel says wars are won and lost by men.
Lawson wonders if Angel means like him [Lawson]. He sarcastically adds that doesn't really apply to him anymore.
Angel tells him he never wanted to do that to Lawson.
Lawson isn't interested in the sympathy. He knows the technology the government got from the sub was invaluable in the war effort and maybe it was a fair trade, "One person damned to make the world safe for future generations." He notes Gunn, Wes and Fred, "Except these guys."
Angel tells him killing them won't change anything.
Lawson knows it will hurt Angel, maybe that's enough.
Angel assures him it never is.
Lawson reckons maybe he's found his mission after all these years.
Angel asks, "Being an evil son of a bitch not keeping you busy?"
Lawson notes everybody needs a reason to live, "Even if we're already dead. Mom, apple pie, the Stars and Stripes, that was good enough for me. Until I met you. Then I had this whole creature of the night thing going for me. The joy of destruction and death, and I embraced it. I did all the terrible things a monster does ... murdered women and children, tortured fathers and husbands, just to hear 'em scream. And through it all, I felt nothing. Sixty years of blood drying in my throat like ashes. So what do you think? Is it me, Chief? Or does everyone you sired feel this way?"
Angel tells him he's the only one he ever turned, after he got a soul.
Lawson asks, "Do I have one too?"
Angel's expression softens as he answers quietly, "I don't think it works that way, son."
Lawson considers that a moment, nods, "Didn't think so." Fight ensues.
Angel tosses Lawson across the room. Lawson gets back to his feet, "You gave me just enough, didn't you? Enough of your soul to keep me trapped between who I was and who I should be. I'm nothin' because of you."
He charges Angel who throws him through the office hall window.
Angel follows him out into the hall as Lawson retrieves a sharp piece of the broken wooden window frame. Angel asks if he really wants it to end like this.
Lawson answers, "Sounds like a plan."
Lawson tries to stake Angel.
Angel grabs his arm and stops him, slowly turning the stake toward Lawson.
Lawson looks up at him, "Come on, Chief. Give me a mission."
Angel slams his other hand onto the base of the stake, ramming it home, dusting Lawson.
Angel is sitting on the arm of a chair, alone in his office, staring out the window. Spike walks up to the doorway, "Really ought to do something about security. They'll let anybody in here, won't they?"
Angel doesn't turn away from the window, doesn't say anything.
Spike walks in, telling him Fred filled him in on what happened, "So, sailor boy finally came back for a yo-ho-ho, did he?" He steps up beside Angel and joins him in looking out the window.
Angel mutters, "Finally came back."
Spike notes it took him long enough, "I know revenge is best served cold and all, but his must have been frozen solid."
Angel doesn't think that's why Lawson returned.
Spike asks what he was looking for then.
Angel answers, "A reason."
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