NOTE : At this time, it appears AtS is the only Fox internationally syndicated feed that hasn’t been converted to digital. I have no idea why that is, or how long it will last, so the preview availability will be a week to week thing. There’s no way to know when the conversion will be made. If you have any questions regarding the preview posting, please read the FAQ page before emailing me. This is a fully detailed episode preview. If you’re looking for a review, you don’t need to read further. That’s not what you’ll find here. (For those interested in the new credits order it is thus ; David, James, J., Amy, Andy "and" Alexis.) A young blonde woman is approached in an alley by a vampire. She screams for help. Angel arrives, jumping across the rooftops. He drops into the alley and attacks the vamp. Fight ensues. Angel dusts him. The woman asks what happened. Angel suggests she go home. She asks who he is. He tells her it doesn’t matter. Suddenly, several vehicles arrive. A guy dressed in black ops gear introduces himself to Angel, he’s Hauser, head of the special ops team. Hauser walks away as another man, dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase, approaches Angel. He directs a woman who walks past him to "get the forms from her." He tells Angel they’d prefer Angel didn’t leave the scene of a rescue until they had a chance to "control the scene." He concedes it’s up to Angel, of course, but — Angel wants to know how they found him. The guy says by the "tracking monitor" in his lapel, a real time saver. A female attorney for Wolfram & Hart is going through forms with the blonde woman, explaining what they are. The forms verify the woman was rescued by Angel, "the CEO of Wolfram & Hart" and another page is to indemnify W&H. Angel looks on, confused. Lawyer guy suggests they get a photo of Angel with the young woman. He pushes Angel toward her, noting the vampire Angel had dusted was an employee of a W&H client. He figures it was an honest mistake. Since it’s Angel’s first week, not a big deal. As Angel stands next to the woman, squinting from the flash of the camera as another W&H employee shoots pictures, the woman asks incredulously if he owns a law firm. Angel answers, "No. I mean ... sort of. Well, just lately." The female lawyer presents papers to the young woman, telling her she needs her to initial one of the forms "concerning your immortal soul." The woman takes the papers, not knowing what’s going on. She asks Angel sharply if he did this for publicity. Angel defensively responds, "No !" then adds with a bit less certainty, "I help the helpless" as he looks around at the mass of W&H employees moving around them. Lawyer guy asks if Angel wants him to bring the car around for him or anything else, "Mocha ? Latte ? Decaf ?" Angel just looks at him with a ’deer in the headlights’ kind of expression. In an elementary school, children are moving through the halls, headed for class. A young boy calls after another, Matt, to wait up. They discuss comic books as they continue walking down the hall and into the classroom. As they enter, the teacher hands Matthew a paper and tells him they can discuss it after class. At Wolfram & Hart, an employee pushes a mail cart past the elevator. A medium sized manilla envelope with black lettering lays on top of the pile. The elevator doors open, revealing Fred, carrying a box of her things. The elevator opens in both the front and back. Fred is confused. She turns when she hears Wes call her name from outside of the door behind her and exits, noting she always gets "turned around." Fred looks around the lobby, awed by the place. Wes offers to help her with the box she’s carrying. She doesn’t acknowledge the offer as she continues marveling at the surroundings. Wes admits it takes some getting used to. Fred cheerfully asks if he’s seen her lab, saying it’s huge and she’s in charge. As they start walking down the hall, she admits she doesn’t understand a lot of what goes on there, noting the large machine that makes strange noises. She has no idea what it does. Wes admits he’s still wondering, "Why on earth are we here ?" Fred does the exposition in answering, "What, because we’re crusaders against evil and now the law firm that represents most of the evil in the world has given us its LA branch to run however we want probably in an attempt to corrupt, divide, or destroy us and we all said yes, in like, three minutes ?" Wes notes her run-on sentences have gotten less pointless. Fred notes that was sweet, and a little condescending. Wes asks again if he can help her with the box she’s carrying. Knox comes bounding down the stairs into the lobby, greeting "Miss Burkle." Fred introduces Wes to Knox and reminds him she told him to call her Fred. He promises he’ll try and offers to help her with the box. Fred smiles and thanks him as she places the box into his arms. Wes asks Knox how long he’s been, "uh, evil ?" Knox says he just mixed the potions and now that he’s working for Fred, he reckons he’ll probably be saving the world on a weekly basis. Wes responds curtly, "Good for you" as he takes a drink from his coffee mug. Knox asks Fred if she knows how to find her office from there. Fred asks shyly, "Why ? Did somebody eat my bread crumbs ?" Knox laughs and tells her it’s not that difficult, he’ll show her the way. Fred thanks "Knoxy" for his assistance. As Knox and a giddy Fred head up the stairs, Fred turns and gives Wes a "See ya !" Knox adds it was nice meeting Wes. As Wes watches them go, a basketball gets tossed into his stomach as Gunn shouts, "Think fast !". Wes manages to catch it with one hand while keeping hold of his coffee mug in the other. Gunn notes Wes needs to think faster in that place as he looks around the lobby. Wes concedes cricket is more his style as he hands the ball back to Gunn. Gunn says he’s made up his mind and asks how Fred is doing. Wes answers, "I’m sure Knoxy will take wonderful care of her." He wonders if Gunn thinks it’s somewhat "unseemly adding y’s to the ends of people’s names." Gunn wonders if that means he has to start calling Wes "Westle" ? Wes asks what it was Gunn made up his mind about. Gunn pulls him by the arm over to an office. He says he decided on the one on the left, it makes him feel a bit less out of place. As he and Wes enter the office, he points out it also has a great mountain view. He says he’s lived in LA all of his life and only now he finds out there are mountains. He figures somebody should have mentioned it. Wes notes the office is nice. Gunn says Wesley’s is nice as well and asks if Wes is okay with it as they leave Gunn’s office and walk down the hall. Gunn offers to switch if Wes has a problem with the "Kung Pao or whatever." Wes corrects him, "Feng Shui." Gunn asks what that means. Wes answers, "That people will believe anything." As they stand at the doorway to Wesley’s office, he concedes in W&H, Feng Shui probably has actual significance. "I’ll align my furniture the wrong way and suddenly catch fire or turn into a pudding." Gunn wonders if Wes is having second thoughts about making the decision to work there. Wes wonders if Gunn isn’t. Gunn doesn’t reckon he really fits, conceding Wes at least has the "mystical creds" to be there while he just "hits stuff." As they stand in the doorway of Wesley’s office, looking outward at the interior of W&H, Gunn says it will take time to turn W&H around and use it to do good. He reckons it will be a long while before any of them feel comfortable there. Lorne is walking down the hall on the other side of the lobby, a cell phone to his ear, an assistant at his side carries a book of carpet swatches. Lorne is happily pitching a project to a client on the phone, telling them it’s what they’ve been waiting for, "It’s Joanie loves Chachi meets The Sorrow and the Pity. It’s Joanie loves Pity !" Lorne takes a second away from the phone to note the swatch he’s being shown. "Yeah, that’ll be great because I want our clients to become dizzy and vomit." He suggests the guy keep trying. He goes back to the phone and tells his client they’re a cinch for the role, the producer is a W&H client. As Lorne and his assistant walk on down the hall they pass an elevator. The elevator door opens and Angel looks around briefly, having the same problem Fred did with doors opening both in front of, and behind, him. He realizes he wants the back door and exits into the lobby where he’s greeted by Gunn and Wes. Gunn asks if Angel is lost. Angel admits he is, in more ways than one. He looks around the lobby and asks if they heard what happened to him last night. Gunn asks if he "got lucky ?" Angel tells him about the tracer and the employees showing up while he was doing his "help the helpless" routine. As they walk together, Wes tells him they’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again. Angel says they’re going to shake things up. He’ll show them how he intends to run things starting with, "everything goes." He flings open the doors to his office and sees a young woman sitting on the edge of his desk, her legs crossed. Angel finishes his thought, "Starting with that." The woman greets Angel, Wes and Gunn. Angel notes he was pretty certain that office was his. She assures him it won’t happen again, she just wanted to, "see your face." Angel observes she likes to make an entrance. She wonders if he always opens both doors when he enters a room. Angel doesn’t say anything. The woman goes on, saying she doesn’t need to make an entrance, just an impression. She’s the liaison with the firm. She introduces herself as Eve. She adds, "Just so we get the whole irony thing out of the way" as she picks up an apple and tosses it to Angel. He one hand catches it, looks at it and asks who she answers to. Eve answers the Senior Partners. She suggests if Angel is thinking he can use her to get to them, and she knows he’s thinking that, he can forget it. She works for them, she doesn’t do lunch with them. Wes notes it’s a powerful position for a "young woman." Eve asks, "How exactly can you be sure I’m either of those things ?" She smiles and offers to explain how things work. Angel says he thought he was in charge. Eve informs him he is, of the LA branch of a "multi-dimensional corporation." She reminds him it’s a business, they have a bottom line. Angel could take the client list and start "hacking away from the top down", conceding a lot of their clients are demons and most are evil but things are always more complicated than they seem. She points out if Angel closes the place down, he won’t have it anymore. Evil will just move next door. She’s willing to explain the catch so they don’t have to wonder about it. "In order to keep this business running, you have to keep this business running. And that means keeping your clients, most of them anyway, happy." Gunn reckons she means they have to let the clients get away with things. Eve points out they were getting away with things while Angel and crew were sitting in the hotel waiting for the calls to come in. She says they’re on the inside now. They can stop the worst of it, perhaps find new solutions for old problems. She wonders if anybody isn’t excited about the challenge. She figures it’s a weird kind of fun, an organization of evil turning a pivotal operation over to its enemies. She walks up to Angel who glares at her and asks him, "You’re not scared, are you ?" Angel puts the apple to his mouth and takes a bite out of it. Eve directs them to their client files and suggests they may want to start going through them. Angel, Fred, Lorne, Gunn and Wes are in Angel’s office later that night, going through the files. Fred reclines in a chair, noting she’s lost her appetite, a first for her. Lorne picks up a sheet of paper, glances at it and notes something he finds interesting. "Apparently, Old Joe Kennedy tried to get out of his deal with the firm." Angel reckons that explains a lot. Lorne mentions "George, Sr., he read the fine print." He notes W&H seems to own a piece of everybody. Angel looks over the mass of files filling the office and wonders where to begin to make things right. Gunn reads from a file he’s perusing, telling Angel about a Corbin Fries, on trial for smuggling Asian girls into the country for prostitution and cheap labor. He’s been charged with other crimes, but he was never convicted. Wes quietly notes he’s one of their human clients. Gunn goes on reading from the file, the current trial isn’t going all that well. Angel reckons that’s at least good news. Gunn closes the file folder and puts it down, noting he can’t tell one pile from another. Angel says he’ll have his secretary go through the files in the morning. He looks around and asks, "Do I have a secretary ?" Wes figures they’ll find him someone who can tolerate working for the side of good. Gunn adds his impression is that a lot of the employees are opportunists, going with whatever side has the power at any given time. Fred says they’ll have to check all the employees, make sure there are no evil doers plotting against them. Wes sighs, noting he was worried about the clients. Angel tells them they’re doing the right thing, then looks around and asks, "Right ?" Nobody answers. Lorne breaks the silence, suggesting they pick things up the next day, he’s exhausted. Angel tells them to go and get some rest. Fred asks what he’s going to do. He says he’ll work for awhile as he sits down behind his desk and picks up a sheet of paper. Gunn walks into his office where he finds Eve, sitting on the couch. She reckons it was easier when he was fighting vampires ; just him, his truck and his crew dusting vamps. Gunn wonders if this is going to be an ongoing thing, her being a fixture in various offices. He wonders if she doesn’t have an office of her own. She stands up and tells him she was wondering if he was ready to take the next step. Gunn figures the alternative is going back to living on the streets, eating from trash bins and watching his friends die. Eve wants to confirm he’s not backing out. Gunn assures her she doesn’t know him or she wouldn’t ask the question. Eve says she understands why Gunn was chosen by the Senior Partners. She hands him a business card, tells him to "Have fun" and walks out. She turns back briefly and says he’ll "feel like a new man." Wes, who had been standing just outside the doorway, asks, "What did she mean ?" Gunn says the business card is for a tailor, "Guess I’m not dressed for success." The next morning, Angel is still at his desk going through papers and mail. He picks up the manilla envelope seen earlier laying on top of the mail cart. It’s now on top of his desk. He looks at the hand printed address : "Angel, c/o Wolfram & Hart, 1127 Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA" then sets the envelope aside without opening it. He pushes a button on his speaker phone and asks if he can get "a cup of coffee or something ?" He’s met with voicemail, a male voice announcing cheerfully, "You have reached ritual sacrifice. For Goats, press one or say ’goats’". Angel pushes a button and cuts off the voicemail. He pushes another button and says, "Hello ?" He gets a woman on the other end of the line who says, "This is Angel’s office, how can I help you ?" Angel pauses a moment, then says, "This is Angel." The woman responds, "No, this is his new assistant." Angel answers, "No, this is Angel." The woman asks, "Are you sure ?" Angel scoffs and mutters, "Less and less." He asks if he can get some coffee or blood or something. The woman agrees to bring it. Angel presses a button on the phone to disconnect and gets voicemail guy again, "To sacrifice a pet or loved one, press the pound key." Angel quickly hits another button, cutting off the call. The phone rings. Angel presses the right button and greets the caller. Wes asks if he can come to see Angel, they might have a situation to deal with. Angel agrees to see him. As he’s on the phone with Wes, his assistant brings in a cup of blood and sits it on his desk. She stands on the other side of the desk while he finishes his phone call. Angel takes a drink of the blood and looks up to see his new assistant. With a look of surprise, he notices it’s Harmony. Harmony happily greets her new boss. Angel asks if she’s his new secretary. She corrects him, she’s his assistant. Angel asks why he shouldn’t kill her. Harmony is willing to go with secretary if he prefers that. Angel stands up and asks if she’s been working at W&H. She admits she has. He asks why. She answers, "Well, duh ! I’m a single, undead gal trying to make it in the big city. I have to start somewhere." She points out W&H are evil, they don’t judge people. They also have the necro-tinted glass so she can enjoy the sun without burning up and a great dental plan, "Who needs dental more than us ?" As Angel walks around to the front of the desk, Harmony starts to suggest before he threatens to fire her — He reminds her he threatened to kill her. She offers she’s strong and quick, she sucks up really well and she’s a great typist. Angel continues stalking toward her as she continues backing away. She points out they keep the same hours, "Creatures of the night, unite ?" She retrieves the mug of blood from his desk and hands it to him, asking him how he likes it. Angel takes the cup, "Tell me that’s not —" Harmony assures him it’s pig’s blood, she’s off the human stuff. That’s not an issue anymore. Angel admits the blood tastes — Harmony knows it’s good. She says the extra ingredient is "otter." Angel just looks at her. Wes knocks and enters Angel’s office. He needs to talk about one of their cases, it’s becoming a problem. Wes greets Harmony who greets him in return. Angel asks if Wes knew about Harmony. Harmony tells him it was Wes who chose her from the steno pool to be Angel’s assistant. Angel asks why. Wes figured a familiar face would be a good thing in that place. Angel answers, "You turned evil a lot faster than I thought you would." Harmony is sure she and Angel will get along great and tells him so. Harmony figures Cordy will "lose it" when she finds out Harmony is working there. Wes and Angel exchange a quiet look. Angel sits down. Harmony wants to know if Angel is going to tell her she works for him now. She knows Cordy was angry with her for trying to kill them when they saw her last ("Disharmony"). Wes thought Harmony knew about the situation with Cordelia. Angel quietly tells her "Cordy’s sick. She’s in a coma." Harmony says she didn’t know. She asks what happened, if Cordelia will be all right. Angel admits they don’t know. Harmony, upset, says Cordy was her best friend, her role model. She switches mood on a dime and smiles, telling Angel she really thinks Angel shouldn’t fire her, pointing out Wes agrees with her. Wes asks Harmony to ask the men in his office to join them. She agrees and leaves. Wes tells Angel they’ll find a way to help Cordy if there is one. Angel asks about the case. Wes hands him a file folder, telling him it’s about Corbin Fries. He’s about to be convicted and is facing 20 years in prison for kidnapping and pimping. Angel tells Wes he read the file.Wes concedes he thinks Fries deserves to be "eaten by weasels" but he’s threatening something if they don’t help him. Harmony escorts Corbin Fries and another man into Angel’s office. Angel greets him. Wes says he’s been filling Angel in on Fries’ case. The man accompanying Fries introduces himself to Angel, Desmond Keel, as he shakes Angel’s hand. Wes notes he works for W&H. Harmony asks if anyone wants coffee. Fries sits on the couch and grouses they should all chat and have tea, as if he has time to waste. He informs them his head is on the block tomorrow, and he’s not happy about it. He notes his lawyer got his law degree from "dog training school" and the prosecutors have everything they need. Harmony giggles at the "dog training school" crack, then catches herself and stops. Angel notes the prosecutors have what they need because Fries is guilty. Fries doesn’t deny that, and wonders why Angel is changing the subject. The point, for him, is when Holland Manners ran W&H, this case would never have made it to trial. Fries goes on, reminding them he brings a lot of money into the firm and he doesn’t do it to be convicted. He demands they get him out of the mess. Angel notes he doesn’t really have much incentive to do that. Fries sneers. He doesn’t care about the new regime at W&H. He knows who Angel is and he doesn’t care about that either. He says they’re his lawyers and if they don’t get him out of this, they’ll regret it. Desmond says they’re out of options, they can’t have anyone killed. Off a look from both Angel and Wes, Desmond adds, "not that we would". He says the jury is tamper proof, and he means that literally. He suspects one of the District Attorney’s shamans has conjured a mystical shield around the jury to protect them. Wes notes the only option seems to be to win on the merits of the case. Desmond offers they have their top attorneys working on it. Fries stands and angrily claims they haven’t done anything. He has no intention of being made an example of. He starts to make a threat, "Either you get me off tomorrow — " Angel suggests he calm down. Fries gets in his face and finishes his threat, either they get him off or he drops the bomb. Wes wonders what that means. Fries says if the prosecution gets its conviction, it’s "Bye-bye California." He says the only ones left standing will be those "that are already dead." Harmony breathes a heavy sigh of relief, happy to hear that. Off Angel’s look, she changes her mind, she’s offended by his plans, "I mean ... hey !" Wolfram & Hart employees are gathered in a conference room as Lorne sits at the head of the table and calls on them one by one. Each employee steps up and sings a few notes. Fred and Knox are setting things up in her office. He asks if Lorne can read minds. She says he can, sort of, but only when someone sings. He can get a feel for their aura. She reckons it’s one way to root out the truly evil working there. She doesn’t figure that includes Knox. He offers to go sing for Lorne. He wants Fred to feel confident running the lab. Fred doesn’t reckon that will ever happen. She hangs a Dixie Chicks poster on the wall of the office. She concedes she’s not much for running things, more the "running away from things" type. Knox doesn’t believe that. The phone rings. Fred answers, stumbling for the right greeting for her department and position. Fred, Angel, Lorne and Wes are in Angel’s office. Fred asks about the "blowing everybody up" comment. Angel says they don’t know what it’s about. Wes notes they nearly found out. Angel asks if he’s not permitted to hit people now. Wes answers, "Not people capable of genocide." Angel figures those are just the kind of people he should be able to hit. Lorne suggests they come back to the topic at hand. He asks where they’re at. Wes says they need to find out about the bomb and discover a way to disarm it in case the jury comes back with a guilty verdict. He thinks the bomb may have some mystical element to it. Angel recalls Fries saying something about the "magic word". Wes reckons that fits into his department, he’ll check it out. He adds they don’t think it’s a literal explosive device, he doesn’t see Fries as the type willing to sacrifice his own life. Wes figures it could be magical. Fred offers the possibility it’s a biological weapon of some sort. Angel points out whatever it is, could have come from W&H. He notes Desmond Keel claims to have no knowledge of what it is and Angel believes him. Fred asks why. Angel says Keel is scared. Lorne notes there’s a lot of that going around. Wes directs Fred to check the lab records, determine if W&H are involved in viruses. He tells Lorne to go to the courtroom and keep them appraised how the case is going. Wes leaves. Harmony comes in with the news she’s paged Gunn three times, but can’t get an answer. Lorne wants to know what Harmony is doing there. Harmony says it’s a long story. Angel doesn’t want her to get into it. She gives him a slip of paper, telling him she got "Spanky’s address." Lorne asks who that is. Angel answers, a mystic whose name came up a few times in Fries’ files. Angel plans to check it out. Fred wonders if he can reach the place through the sewer. Angel answers, "Not this time." Angel enters the parking garage, where a fleet of vehicles awaits his perusal. He takes a moment to appreciate the selection, torn as to which to choose. Hauser enters, along with a couple of his men, dressed for work. Angel remembers meeting him earlier. Hauser says they heard "there’s a floater you wanted brought in." Angel wonders just how he happened to hear that. Hauser answers it’s his job. He asks if Angel wants them to bring the guy in. Angel prefers to handle it himself. Hauser informs him his unit generally handles the "wet work." Angel is sure he meant field work. Hauser accepts the correction. Angel tells him he’ll handle it as he heads for one of the cars. Angel arrives at Spanky’s apartment and knocks. A tall, slim middle-aged guy in a tank top opens the door. He wonders what Angel wants. Angel says he’s from W&H, he’s there about a job. Spanky invites him in. He puts on a robe and offers Angel a drink. Angel declines. Angel notices a selection of whips, paddles, cat-o’-nine-tails and other such items hanging on the wall. He asks why the guy is called "Spanky." Spanky says he’s a big "Our Gang" fan. Angel figured as much. Spanky wants to be upfront with Angel, saying everybody has the right to do their thing, but he doesn’t spank men. He adds he’s not judging, "Men have fine, firm asses." He says if Angel has been to the website, he’s seen how Spanky takes care of his but he figured when Angel mentioned W&H, he meant he was there about a mystical job. Angel tells him he’s there about the job Spanky did for Corbin Fries. Spanky isn’t willing to talk, he doesn’t discuss jobs he’s done or his clients. Angel icily notes he’s going to tell Angel now, or soon. Spanky admits he built a mystical vessel for Fries. Anything can be stored in it. Angel asks, "Like a bomb ?" Spanky acknowledges that’s possible, as are "a curse, a golden retriever, anything." Whatever is inside, the vessel holds it until the magic word dissolves it, releasing its contents. As Angel starts to ask where Spanky placed the vessel, the guy grabs him and puts him in a choke hold. He explains he’s putting pressure on Angel’s windpipe. He’ll pass out and then Corbin Fries can decide what to do with him. Angel notes he doesn’t use his windpipe as he grabs Spanky’s arm and twists it behind him. He holds him in that position. Spanky realizes he’s a vampire. Angel says there’s something else the guy should know as he grabs one of the wooden paddles from the wall and slams Spanky with it, sending him flying across the room. Angel informs him,"I have no problem spanking men." Gunn is seated in a waiting room, perusing an old magazine. A doctor in medical whites comes out and calls him by name as he reads it off of a chart. He notes the magazines are a bit old. Gunn reckons he shouldn’t keep people waiting for five hours. He gets up and follows the guy inside an examining room of sorts that looks more like a torture room. A nurse is waiting inside. The doctor asks Gunn if he’s nervous. Gunn figures he passed nervous a bit ago as he looks at the equipment in the room. As the doctor steps up to a console full of various colored lights, he notes he’d heard Gunn was in the white room. Gunn says that’s between him and the cat. He asks if they’re going to get on with it. The guy smiles and tells him to take off his shirt. In Fred’s office, Fred and Knox are going through a pile of papers spread all over the floor. Knox notes one of the sheets of paper, telling Fred they did do some work for Fries on "illegal pesticides, rodent killers." Someone named Lopez did the work. He gets up and takes a seat at the computer. Fred asks if he was a lab tech. Knox calls up some information on the computer and notes Lopez was fired. He looks a bit more closely and realizes, he wasn’t fired, he was set on fire. Fred wonders if it was because he was working with Fries. Knox figures it might have been for "working under the table." Knox calls up more information that links to a cult, "The Black Tomorrow." Fred comes over and looks at the computer screen. Knox thinks Fred was right. These cult guys specialized in gases and viruses. Fred backs away, thinking W&H built these things. Knox denies that, telling her they’ve contained more plagues than they designed. Not everything there is about destruction. Fred tells Knox they have to determine what Lopez had access to — She’s interrupted by the phone ringing. Fred answers the phone. It’s Angel, still in Spanky’s apartment, Spanky is on the floor, unconscious. She tells him Fries may be playing with a virus, "spread by touch or maybe even airborne." Angel reckons that’s the bomb. Fred agrees that’s probably right. She asks if Angel found out where the bomb was stored. There is no immediate answer. Fred says Angel’s name, not sure he’s still on the line. He answers quietly, anger seething just under the surface, yes he knows where it’s stored. In the elementary school classroom, the teacher calls to Matthew Fries who’s chatting with a classmate. She asks if he wants to spend the class in the corner. He goes back to his studying. The steady sound of his heartbeat is heard. Gunn is in the chair in the examining room, hooked up to different machines, not having a lot of fun. The doctor hands him a cup to drink from, warning Gunn not to guzzle it. Gunn is sweating and breathing hard. The doctor asks him if he wants to stop. Gunn asks if they’re done. The doctor answers not quite. Gunn wants to get on with it. In the darkened lobby of W&H, Fred tells Wes they’ve isolated some viral strains Fries could have had access to. Wes asks if there’s an antidote. Fred hasn’t found anything, she figures it died with the tech who made the virus. Wes notes Fries must be immune, there has to be an antidote. Fred admits they aren’t even sure which strain they’re dealing with. She’s doing her best. Wes admits he’s not having any better luck. He can’t disable the trigger if he doesn’t know the magic word, short of killing Fries — Fred says that could trigger it, they don’t know. Wes understands that. He reckons they need to keep researching. Fred looks toward Angel’s closed office door and wonders if he’ll be okay. Wes notes he seems to be taking this case personally. Fred figures it’s the place, it gets to people. She heads up the lobby steps as Wes heads back to his office. Angel is brooding in his office. Eve asks if he had a rough day. After a moment, Angel tells her Fries put a lethal virus inside of his own son. His anger evident, barely under control. Eve realizes that hits a bit close to home for Angel. He gives her an unsettled look. She admits she knows about Connor, that Angel gave him up to save him and he did. Connor is happy and well adjusted, now that he has no memories of Angel and the rest of the world, including Angel’s closest friends, never heard of Connor. Angel tells her that’s not a name "I want to see passing through your lips." She wonders what he would like seeing pass through her lips. She walks past him. He tells her, "Newsflash ! You’re not cute when I’m angry." Eve wonders how he intends to handle things. Angel says he’ll isolate the kid if he has to, to keep the virus from spreading. Eve tells him he won’t last a week if every case hits him this hard. Angel lets her know he doesn’t want her coming into his office unless he sends for her and he doesn’t want to hear another word out of her unless she decides to help. He crosses the office to his desk. Eve wonders how he knows she isn’t helping. In the lab, gruesome pictures of the results of various viral infections are spread about. Knox sits at a microscope and tells Fred they’re probably dealing with a retrovirus, spread by touch. He has an idea what strain it comes from. Fred asks if he’s sure. Knox reckons he can be after a few more tests. She asks if he’s doing those tests. He promises to get someone on it. Fred wants someone working on it immediately. She wonders if W&H created the virus, if they have an antidote, if they have an antidote department. She wonders if they do anything "besides pretending you’re running an evil Radio Shack ?" She tells the lab technicians she understands they’re all tired, but she wants them to know, within a few hours, a virus is going to be unleashed in the city that will kill every person in it. She adds, "When blood starts streaming out of our noses, eye sockets and fingernails, I’ll have the intense satisfaction of knowing that I’m dying with the only people in the world that actually deserve it !" She demands they focus on the problem and leaves the lab, retreating to her office. In the courtroom, Fries attorney is objecting to something, saying he’s offended. The judge isn’t receptive to the objection, wondering if it’s just the sound of voices speaking that offends him. Lorne is sitting in the back of the courtroom wearing a suit, hat, sunglasses and gloves. He gets up and steps out into the hall where he places a call on his cell phone. Lorne tells Angel he’s suggesting they get Fries’ son into isolation as soon as possible. Angel asks how long they have. Lorne says Desmond Keel is trying to draw things out, but the judge is losing patience and the jury is looking at Fries, "like he’s O.J." Angel asks if Lorne thinks Fries will utter the magic word. Lorne is sure he will, before the jury ever renders a verdict. Angel thanks him and says he’ll get to the school. He directs Lorne to stay at the courthouse. In a special ops equipped van at W&H, Hauser and members of his team are eavesdropping on the conversation between Angel and Lorne via a wiretap. After the conversation ends, Hauser tells his men they’ll show the new boss how to contain a threat. One of the men asks, "Terminate the kid ?" Hauser says they’re dealing with a Level One contagion. They’re to take out the kid, the class and anyone within 50 yards. He doesn’t want any survivors or witnesses. The men arm themselves with assault rifles. In Angel’s office, Wes tells him Fred has the lab on track to creating an antidote but it could take several days. He says it’s the same with removing the mystical container. It would help if they could get the trial suspended. Angel picks up his coat, noting that isn’t going to happen. He has to get to the school. Harmony comes in. Angel tells her whatever it is, it can wait. He tells Wes to go to the courthouse, he’ll let him know when he’s isolated Matthew. Harmony doesn’t think it can wait. She tells him the special operations team has already left for the school. They called for the "cleaners" to meet them there. She says the girls in the office told her cleaners means it’s a big job, "lots of bodies." Angel asks how long ago they left. Harm tells him it’s been about ten minutes. Wes doesn’t figure there’s any way Angel can beat them to the school. Angel says he has to try. Harmony says, "Boss ?" Both Angel and Wes turn and answer at the same time, "What ?" The special ops van heads for the school as the trial continues in the courtroom. Wes arrives and takes a seat in the back alongside Lorne. He asks how it’s going. Fries looks back over his shoulder from the front of the courtroom and glares at Wes. Wes reckons that’s his answer. Lorne asks what the plan is, he hopes Wes has one. Wes opens his jacket, revealing a handgun in a shoulder holster. The special ops team van pulls up in front of the school. The team spills out of the van and storms the building, wearing gas masks and weapons at the ready. They open the classroom door, toss in some gas canisters and enter. They find the classroom empty, except for Angel who is sitting at one of the student desks, relaxing with his feet up. He smiles and informs them he just discovered a helicopter came along with the other perks at W&H. Hauser asks where the boy is. Angel tells him they just missed him as he fans the smoke away from his face. Hauser says the kid remains a threat, so he figures Angel has him isolated nearby. Angel notes sarcastically he understands why they made Hauser the leader. He wonders if it’s necessary for him to tell them they’re all fired. Hauser removes his gas mask, chuckles and tells him it doesn’t work that way. Angel asks him to show him the traditional way of doing things. Hauser orders his men to fire. They all start shooting at Angel who dives for cover. When the firing stops, they don’t see Angel. One of the ops guys pulls a knife and walks over to the table Angel had dived under. From his position on the floor, Angel kicks the guy in the face, knocking him out. Another special ops guy attacks. Angel morphs into vamp face as fight ensues. In the courtroom, the judge is preparing to hear final summations. Gunn, dressed in an expensive suit and carrying a briefcase, enters the courtroom and requests a moment to confer. The judge isn’t pleased to see yet another defense attorney. Gunn whispers into Desmond Keeler’s ear. Keeler tells the judge he’d like to cede the floor to his colleague, Charles Gunn. Gunn moves for a mistrial. The judge thinks he’s kidding. Gunn indicates her comments are prejudicial. The judge demands to know his grounds for asking for a mistrial. Gunn asks that the judge recuse herself. She warns him he’s skating on thin ice. Gunn questions her objectivity as he hands her a file folder. She opens it, looks back at him and asks what he’s doing with her tax records. Gunn points out she has stock in a company which is owned by another company and that company is owned by a consortium which includes Corbin Fries. The judge wonders if Gunn is implying she knew about this connection. Gunn notes he found it and he’s only been on the case six hours. The judge warns him her patience is wearing thin. Gunn cites precedent to back his position. He points out the trial has put a strain on his client’s holdings, causing the import business the judge has a stake in to size down, making her holdings actually a controlling share. He says he’d prefer not to reveal what else he discovered in front of the jury. The judge tells him she’ll see him in her chambers. Gunn smiles. Fries smiles as he looks back at Wes and Lorne. Back at the school, Angel is finishing up the fight with the special ops team. Finally, the only two standing are Hauser and Angel. Hauser has his assault rifle pointed at Angel. Angel morphs out of game face and notes Hauser is aware the gun won’t kill him. Hauser knows that, but he also knows it will hurt, and that’s always fun. Angel tells him he’s starting to suspect Hauser isn’t part of the solution. Hauser wonders if Angel really thought he could come into W&H and change things. He calls him a "pathetic, little fairy." Angel responds, "I’m not little." Hauser sees him as meaningless, irrelevant to the great institution that is W&H. He says he’s something Angel isn’t, he’s pure. He believes in evil. He points out Angel and his friends are conflicted and confused, he isn’t. He figures this is why Angel will lose, because they possess the most powerful thing in the world, "Conviction." Angel coldly tells him there’s one thing more powerful than conviction. "Just one. Mercy." He kicks the rifle up under Hauser’s chin where it goes off, blowing his brains onto the wall and sending brain matter raining onto the floor. One of the ops guys stays on the floor and nervously asks what happened to mercy. Angel tells him, "You’ve just seen the last of it" as he walks out. In Angel’s office, Eve explains to the others that Gunn had his intellect enhanced with a comprehensive knowledge of the law. Wes and Fred aren’t happy he went ahead with this without telling anyone. Gunn assures them he’s still Gunn. They didn’t make him evil, they just gave him legal knowledge and "a messload of Gilbert and Sullivan." Eve says it’s standard, great for elocution. Angel wonders how Gunn can know they didn’t do anything else to him. Gunn says he knows because he "saw the man in the white room, he does a lot of scary things but lying ain’t one of ’em." Eve says they needed a lawyer and Gunn had the most untapped potential. His degrees may be forgeries, but he has the knowledge. She reminds Angel Gunn did save the day, and he did it without resorting to violence. She asks how Angel did. He doesn’t answer. Eve and Gunn smile at each other. Eve thinks they’ll make things work. She walks out, with a slightly exaggerated swing to her hips. Lorne notes saving the day meant getting the guy off who was willing to sacrifice his own son and having that son returned to him. Wes says he and Fred have enough time to disable the charm, the boy won’t be in any danger. Gunn adds Fries will have to back off on the illegal activities until the matter comes to trial again and he intends to drag that out as long as possible. Fred wonders if this will be their daily lives now, fighting their own employees and clients. She asks if they’re going to do any good. Angel tells her they will change things. They came there because it’s a powerful weapon, they’ll figure out how to use it. Wes adds, "Or kill ourselves with it." Angel figures the Senior Partners will show their hand sooner or later and they’ll know why they were brought there. He picks up the manilla envelope from his desk and tells the others they’ll do things their way, one thing at a time. He tears the envelope open. The amulet he’d left with Buffy in Sunnydale last spring falls to the floor and starts to glow. A light shoots from it. Everyone steps back as a swirl of wind and ashes takes human form, then complete with flesh as Spike appears in Angel’s office, screaming. Wes looks at him and in a surprised tone, says "Spike". Angel says, in an edgy tone, "Spike." Harmony peers in from outside of the office and in a perky tone says, "Blondie Bear ?" |
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