Darla ventures through the tunnels to the Master’s Lair, with the Master is Collin, the true Anointed One. The Master bemoans the fact that another of his subjects has been slain; it is time that they took steps to be rid of the Slayer. Darla offers to do it for him, but the Master decides to send The Three.
Out on the streets of Sunnydale, three mean looking gang members hang out on a street corner, they spot three other’s approach and get ready for trouble, but as the others draw nearer, the gang members run for their lives. The others walk on, they are vampires, more mean looking then normal and all dressed in medieval warrior outfits.
Buffy and Willow are in the Bronze, Buffy is distracted, lost in thought, Willow guesses rightly that she is thinking about the mysterious and handsome, mystery guy, Angel. As Xander comes up to them and notices Buffy’s distraction too, she decides to leave, not wanting to bring them down. As she does, Angel watches her from the balcony, she seems to sense him, looks up, but he’s no longer there.
Out on the street, Buffy stops, thinking she is being followed, she looks around, sees nothing and moves off again. Still she senses something, she stops again, telling who ever it is to show themselves. One of the mean-looking vamps steps out, she lifts her stake, ready to fight, but she is grabbed by the other two from behind, making her drop her stake. She tries to fight, but they are too strong, two have her pinned, while the third moves in for the kill.
As the vampire is about to take a bite, he is grabbed from behind, as he turns someone punches him full on in the face, hard. It’s Angel. Seizing the opportunity, Buffy gets herself free of the other two and begins to fight. After a while, the two of them manage to take the three down, beat, but not dusted and they run, the vamps close behind them. Clutching a wound to his side, Angel follows Buffy as she runs to her house, she invites him in and they make it inside just in time.
Buffy is bandaging Angel’s wound when she hears here mum coming home, rushing to the front door, she drags her mother inside and tries to get rid of her with the offer of a cup of tea in bed. Joyce has her suspicions at this strange behaviour which are confirmed when Angel appears from the kitchen. Buffy introduces them, telling Joyce that Angel is a college student who has been helping her with history. Joyce pointedly remarks that it is a little late for studying and heads off to bed. Downstairs, Buffy makes a loud show of seeing Angel off, and then the two of them head up to her bedroom.
Buffy offers the wounded Angel her bed, but he chivalrously declines, taking the floor instead. As she gets ready for bed, she asks some probing questions which he mainly avoids, letting her make up her own answers.
The next day Buffy, Willow and Xander gather in the library where Giles is up to his usual research. Xander is horrified that Angel stayed over at Buffy’s, Willow is excited and Giles just wants to get to business. He has identified the vampires that attacked Buffy the night before as the Three, a group of proud and strong vampires. But the immediate danger is over as, having failed, the Three will now offer their lives to the Master.
Over in the Master’s lair, The Three are doing just that, the Master allows Darla the fun of staking them.
In the library Giles and Buffy are training. Buffy shows a great deal of interest in a cross bow, but Giles insists she master’s fencing first, which will take hours of training. Weighing the jousting pole, it takes Buffy a moment or two to get the hand of it, and then she takes Giles out. He gladly moves on to the crossbow.
That night Buffy brings Angel, who has been hiding in her room all day, a rather plateless dinner. He tells her that he can’t be around her, that he is older than her and that nothing can ever happen between them, he should go, as he speaks, he makes no move to go, in fact the two move closer together. Then they are kissing, deeply and passionately, until he swiftly pulls himself free, turning his face to the window. Concerned, Buffy asks him what’s wrong, he turns to face her, his face that of a vampire, as she backs off screaming he dives out of her window, rolling off the roof onto the ground and he’s gone.
The next morning before school, Buffy tells the others what happened last night, confused about why Angel, being a vampire and all, was nice to her and didn’t try to kill her. Not really hiding his pleasure at the turn of events very well, Xander becomes the voice of reason. Telling Buffy, Angel’s a vampire, she’s a slayer, there’s only one thing that she can do, I mean it’s not like she’s in love with him. Xander is shocked to find that her look says she just might be.
Angel returns to his apartment to find Darla there waiting for him, it’s obvious they have a past and Darla taunts him with it and with Buffy. She tells him that he should tell Buffy about the curse, maybe she’ll understand, but if she doesn’t Darla will be waiting for him.
Meanwhile, in the library, Giles has been doing some research. He has found mention in the Watcher’s diaries of one Angelus, the one with the angelic face, a vampire of some 240 years who wreaked havoc in Europe until about 80 years ago when he arrived in America, shunned other vamps and there are no records of him hunting. Not that that means that he hasn’t, just that there’s no record of it.
Meanwhile in the Master’s lair, Darla has a plan to bring Angel back to them and get rid of the Slayer at the same time.
That night Buffy and Willow study in the library, well, talk about Angel and Xander under the pretence of studying. Unbeknown to them, Darla, is quietly watching them, getting the info she needs, she quietly sneaks out again.
Joyce is at home doing her paperwork when there is a knock at the door. She opens it to Darla, who tells her she has come to help Buffy study. Joyce is slightly puzzled but invites her in anyway. Offering Darla something to eat, Joyce walks into the kitchen and looks in the fridge, Darla follows her, morphing into vamp mode. Outside Angel walks up to the front door, hesitating, he thinks about knocking, changes his mind and is walking away when he hears the scream. Racing around to the back of the house, he bursts in to find Darla enjoying a drink at Joyce’s expense. Looking up, Darla offers the semi-conscious Joyce to Angel. He refuses with longing in his eyes. Darla throws Joyce into his arms, despite his efforts Angel morphs into vamp mode and Darla leaves him struggling to control his urge to drink, just as Buffy arrives home to find her mother in Angel’s arms.
Throwing Angel out, literally, Buffy checks her mom is still alive and calls 911 as Xander and Willow arrive.
At the hospital our three friends are comforting a bandaged, but OK, Joyce when Giles arrives. All Joyce tells them that all Joyce can remember is Buffy’s friend coming round and then she thinks she must have slipped and cut herself. Leaving Joyce to recuperate, they take the conversation out into the corridor. Feeling guilty about not killing Angel straight away, because she had feelings for him, Buffy sets off to do just that, taking in the library on the way to pick up her new toy, the crossbow. Giles, Willow and Xander stay behind with Joyce.
Meanwhile, Angel is trying to brood on events in his apartment but Darla is taunting him again, telling him how Buffy is going to hunt him down, and that all he needs to do is accept who he is, instead of moping in his apartment. Finally Angel snaps and slams her up against the wall, pinning her hands, she seems to like it.
At the hospital, Giles and Joyce are talking about Buffy; Joyce is concerned that Buffy seems to be struggling with history, despite studying with Willow and Darla. Alerted by a name he does not know, Giles confirms that Darla is the friend that came round that night, he makes his excuses and rejoins Xander and Willow in the hall.
Meanwhile Buffy is on patrol near the closed Bronze when she hears glass breaking above her. She heads upwards. Finding the broken window she climbs in, looking cautiously around her in the dark, crossbow aimed. She heads slowly down the stairs, sensing him but unable to see him. She calls out, telling him she knows that he is there and what he is, he replies, and she spins towards the sound of his voice, but it comes again from the other side, she spins again, and suddenly he charges her, in full vamp face. Aiming the crossbow she fires, but he’s fast and vaulting from the pool table, disappears into the darkness of the balcony. Reloading she keeps her eyes upwards, searching for him in the darkness, he drops on her from behind, knocking the crossbow out of her hand, they trade blows and she gets in a good hit in his wounded side, Angel bends over him pain, giving her the chance to grab her crossbow, she aims as he rises, looking at her, his facing morphing back into human form.
They face each other, she has her finger firmly on the trigger of the crossbow, he looks at her, moving the crossbow, she fires, deliberately missing. Standing she demands to know why he attacked her mother, he counters that he killed his family and their friends, and basically everyone he met for a hundred years until he made a mistake and fed on a gypsy girl. Her family, not being too happy at this, cursed him by restoring his soul, his conscience, which he has to live with eternally. He tells her that since that day, he has not fed on a living human. He tells her that he didn’t bite her mother, but he wanted to, and he wanted to kill her tonight. placing her crossbow down, Buffy offers him her neck, he refuses. “not as easy as it looks” she offers, he smiles, until they hear “sure it is” and Darla enters, hands clasped behind her back
She walks slowly towards Buffy and Angel, hands still behind her back, she tells Buffy not only that she and Angel were an item for several generations, but that she made him, and she still loves him. Buffy, inching slowly towards where her crossbow lies on the floor, Buffy doesn’t react until Darla tells Angel that he has given up a life with her because he loves Buffy. Reaching her crossbow, Buffy stomps on it, sending it flying in the air, she catches it and aims, unfazed, Darla reveals what she was hiding behind her back. Two revolvers which she fires, Buffy dives safely out of harms way, but Angel takes a bullet that sends him flying back. Darla continues to fire in Buffy’s direction, still missing, but getting closer.
From her hiding place Buffy manages to fire the crossbow, which hits Darla squarely in the chest, but misses the heart. Meanwhile, outside, Giles and co hear the gunfire and make it in to the Bronze through the broken window. Seeing the situation below, Willow shouts down to Buffy to distract Darla, Darla takes the bait and fires in their direction giving Buffy the chance to come out of hiding, and send the pool table (which Darla is standing on) flying. Darla lands on her back and fires constantly at Buffy who leaps over the counter for cover as glass shatters.
As Darla gets up and advances on Buffy, up on the balcony Giles finds another form of distraction, the light mixing board, as he plays with buttons and lights come on, Darla, still advancing on Buffy, doesn’t notice Angel getting up behind her. Finding one of Buffy’s spent arrows, he stakes Darla in the back, turning she looks at him, surprised, and says him name before turning to dust.
As Giles turns off the lights again, Buffy and Angel share a moment just looking at each other, until he steps backwards into the dark and is gone.
In his lair the Master shares his grief over the loss of his favourite, Darla, especially to Angel, with Collin by smashing the place up. Collin comforts him by telling the Master that he will bring him the slayer.
Buffy, Willow and Xander are in the Bronze when they spot Angel standing some distance away, Buffy goes to meet him as Xander turns his back, not wanting to watch. The two flirt obviously with each other as they agree that they can’t see each other again, and nothing can ever come of their relationship, neither of them leaves and soon they are kissing, deeply and passionately. When they break away, Angel looks pained and Buffy returns to her friends. Angel stands a moment, his chest smoking where the cross he gave her has burned a mark into it.
Cider 10/08/04