Angel

Royal London Hotel, England, 1880

Dru and William enter the hotel suite, laughing. He grabs at her, tries to kiss her. Dru notes, "You’ve been a starved one, haven’t you, my sweet Willy?" as she moves away from him.

William follows, figuring he’s got her to feast on now. He asks if the suite is her home.

She answers as she looks across the room to the couch where there are two corpses, a man and woman, propped up in a sitting position next to each other. "Their home. Ambassador to ... something, and his plump, lovely wife. Till their spirits flew away on fairy wings. When Angelus took them for dinner."

William asks who Angelus is as he turns and sees a figure standing in the shadows.

Dru tells Angelus to look at what she made, "It’s called Willy."

William corrects her, "William."

Dru asks where Darla is, she wants to show her William.

Angelus steps into the room, telling Dru he and Darla had an argument, the Master sent for her. He reckons Dru knows Darla, "the Master’s pet."

Dru is sorry to hear that.

Angelus tells her not to worry about it as he touches a bruise on his cheek, he and Darla always make up, "after a little tit for tat." He doesn’t think that should spoil their fun.

Angelus moves closer to William and looks him over, musing that Dru chose to turn him rather than just feed off of him, "Another rooster in the hen house."

Dru wonders if he’s angry with her.

As Angelus grabs William’s arm and pulls it into a small stream of sunlight coming through the window, he asks, "Do you have any idea what it’s like having nothing but women as traveling companions, night in and night out?"

William pulls his smoking arm out of Angelus’ grasp. He warns Angelus not to touch him again.

Angelus continues, he likes the ladies but lately he’s been wondering, "What it’d be like, to share the slaughter of innocents with another man." As he’s speaking, he extends his own arm into the shaft of sunlight and holds it there as it smokes, savoring the pain. He slowly pulls his hand back out of the sunlight and asks if William thinks that makes him some kind of deviant.

William, anxious to prove he’s equal to the task, extends his own arm into the sunlight and holds it there.

Angelus laughs, he reckons he and William are going to be good friends.

---

Present, W&H

Angel comes down the stairs into the lobby, Spike at his heels. He tells Spike to get away from him.

Spike would like to do that, but until he’s able to, he’d like Angel to give him what he wants and make them both happy. He passes through a pillar in the lobby as he follows.

Angel stops at Harmony’s desk and tells Spike he isn’t getting an office.

Spike is irritated, pointing out everybody else has a place to go but he’s stuck, "I gotta nest in somebody else’s roost."

Angel takes some mail from Harmony, turns toward Spike and informs him he doesn’t work there, he haunts the place and annoys Angel, that’s it. Angel heads toward his office.

Spike calls after him, asking if he could at least have Wesley’s office since he’s gone.

Angel tells him Wes isn’t gone, he’s just on a leave of absence. He enters his office and closes the door.

Spike shouts after him, "Yeah, right, boo-hoo. Thought he killed his bloody father. Try staking your mother when she’s coming on to you!"

Harmony looks on and mutters, "Well, that explains a lot."

Spike starts to walk away.

Harm calls after him.

He starts to explain his remarks, "Look, that was a long time ago, she wasn’t herself."

Harm holds up a small box and tells Spike he has mail. The package is addressed to him, in care of W&H.

Spike wonders who’d be sending mail to a ghost.

Harm notes it doesn’t say, but it seems to be kind of heavy.

Spike holds up his hands, reminding her it’s a bit tough opening mail being a ghost and all.

Harm asks if he wants her to open it for him.

He doesn’t argue.

She sets the box on the desk and opens it. A quick, bright flash of light comes from inside the box, like a camera flash. Spike looks at the box, "Well, that was a slap and a tickle."

Harmony looks inside, noting the box is empty. The phone starts ringing. She picks it up and pulls it quickly away from her ear when she’s greeted with a loud, electronic screeching sound.

Spike heads for Angel’s office, telling Harm he’ll be telling Angel, "what a miserable bastard —" He tries to walk through the closed door but walks into it instead, getting knocked to the floor. He notices that hurt as he checks his bleeding nose.

Angel opens the office door and looks down at Spike on the floor. Spike realizes something has changed.

Spike gets to his feet as the phones all over the office ring off the hooks. He reaches out and touches Angel’s chest, repeatedly, realizing he can feel.

Angel slaps his hand away, telling him to stop touching.

Spike licks a bit of the blood running from his nose, realizing excitedly he can taste too. He grabs Angel’s mug of blood out of his hand and guzzles it down, "Mmmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm. Oh, God. It’s bloody ambrosia. Is this otter?"

Gunn walks up and asks what’s going on.

Spike hugs him, "I’m back, Charlie boy! That’s what’s going."

Gunn realizes Spike is corporeal. He asks Angel when and how it happened.

Angel doesn’t know.

Spike reckons it had something to do with the package he received.

Angel asks who he got a package from.

Spike doesn’t know and he doesn’t care, "But if you find out, give him a bloody kiss on the mouth for me."

As Harmony comes across the lobby to join them, Angel asks what’s going on with the phones. Spike gives her the randy eye as she approaches.

Harm doesn’t know what’s up with the phones, noting there isn’t anybody on the other end of the line, just screeching. She says her computer is acting up now as well.

Spike grabs her and kisses her on the mouth. She shoves him away, telling him to "Get off!"

Spike mutters, "That’s the idea." He tells Angel he needs to borrow Harmony for awhile.

Angel says no.

Spike notes he wasn’t asking for permission. He grabs her by the arm and starts to lead her away.

Harm pulls away from him, "You think just ’cause you’re all solid now that I’m gonna go —"

Spike tells her the skirt she’s wearing is very pretty as he gives her a coy smile. They look at each other briefly then Harm turns to Angel and tells him she’s taking a long lunch. She and Spike depart.

---

London, 1880

Angelus and William are riding in a carriage, laughing. They’re accompanied by a young woman in a wedding dress, bleeding from bite marks on her neck. William is impressed with the carnage they apparently wrought on a wedding party, "And then, when you leapt up right in the middle of the ceremony, grabbed the priest’s head and squeezed it till it popped like —"

Angelus likens it to a rotten melon as he grabs the young bride sitting next to him, her expression a vacant stare, and pulls her closer.

William goes on, "Yes! Eyeballs dangling from the sockets and you, shouting, ’Frankly father, thine eyes offend me.’" He laughs raucously as he recalls Angelus beating the groom to death with his own arm. "I mean, honestly, you’re a bloody killing marvel!"

Angelus offers him a drink from the bride.

William declines, saying she’s Angelus’ spoils.

Angelus says he’s had his fill and offers her again.

William declines again, thinking he might go find Dru, "She’s prowling for street urchins in the East End." He thinks it would make her happy if he joined her.

Angelus notes "our Drusilla" is special.

William says she’s more than that, "She brought me into this world, where I was meant to be. It’s like, she’s my destiny."

Angelus agrees she’s sweet, "a bit dotty and brain-addled but —"

William notes fondly, she still has a bit of child in her.

Angelus offers, "Perhaps two or three by now." He directs the driver to stop the carriage then tells William to go, have fun, just be home before sunrise.

---

Present, W&H

Spike leads Harmony down the hall. As they walk past an open office door, he notices an employee inside. He directs the guy to get out. He starts to tell Spike he doesn’t take orders from a ghost as Spike grabs him by the arm, drags him to the door and shoves him out into the hall. He shuts the door.

The guy knocks repeatedly on the door and is told to"Piss off!" by Spike.

He moves on down the hall to the copier where he sees an employee he knows, Jerry. Jerry is futzing with the copier. The guy tells him Jerry won’t believe it, he was just thrown out of his own office by that "ghost pal of Mr. Goodfang —"

Jerry turns to face the guy revealing his eyes are blood red and bleeding. Jerry mutters, "Toner" then complains nobody ever replaces it as he beats the guy with a fire extinguisher.

Angel is walking down the hall into the lobby with another employee, directing him to shut down all the phones and computers until they can determine if they have a bug in the system and who put it there. The guy leaves as Angel joins Gunn.

Gunn wonders if Angel thinks they’re under attack of some kind.

Angel doesn’t know what to think.

Fred comes down the stairs and joins them.

Angel already knows what she’s going to say, the lab computers are screwed up.

Fred says that’s just part of it, the needles on their atmospheric gauges spiked and blew out some of the equipment.

Angel notes it sounds like a power surge of some sort, the same type of thing that’s affecting everything else.

Fred thought at first that might be it but now she thinks it could be something else.

As they walk into Angel’s office, he picks up the mug from his desk and starts to drink from it. He realizes Spike drank it all and calls for Harmony.

Gunn reminds him she’s off on a "nooner with Blondie Bear."

Fred asks what it is Harmony is doing.

Gunn starts to explain "nooner."

She cuts him off, she knows what that is, but she noticed Gunn had said Harmony was with Spike?

Angel tells her Spike is corporeal again.

Gunn says he got something in the mail and suddenly he’s solid again.

Fred wants to know why somebody didn’t call her.

Angel takes a seat behind the desk and tells her they kind of had their hands full with the office systems going on the fritz. He suddenly realizes the office equipment problems coincided with Spike becoming corporeal and can’t believe it took him this long to make that connection.

Gunn wonders if Angel thinks whatever was responsible for Spike becoming corporeal is also somehow affecting the building.

Fred believes the events are connected, perhaps whatever caused Spike to become corporeal caused some sort of ripple effect on the surroundings. She offers that it could be the start of something bigger, if the gauge readings in her lab were correct.

Eve enters the office, saying the universe has been tossed into "catastrophic turmoil."

Gunn figures she knows what’s happened.

She claims to know only what she’s been told, the corporate seers alerted her to the situation.

Angel asks just what that situation is.

Eve says they have a problem, it has to do with the Shanshu prophecy. She wonders if they’ve heard of it.

Angel mutters, "Oh God. That again." He tells Eve he’s familiar with it, so?

Eve does the prophecy exposition, it talks about a vampire with a soul who will play a pivotal role in the apocalypse, for good or evil, it’s not clear. She takes a seat on the front edge of Angel’s desk.

Fred thought the prophecy was about Angel becoming human again after —

Eve tells her that’s just the end of it, and it doesn’t specifically indicate Angel by name.

Gunn wonders if Eve thinks it’s about Spike since he’s back now.

Eve says she doesn’t think anything, all she knows is that Spike’s existence is disrupting the order of things.

Angel has no argument with that.

Gunn notes it doesn’t make sense, pointing out there were two souled vampires before Spike got fried in the Hellmouth. He wants to know why it’s happening now.

Eve points out it’s about the "champion" thing, "Spike gave his life to save the world, that gives him the cred." It wasn’t an issue when he died and became a ghost, now that he’s back, it becomes an issue.

Gunn heads out of the office.

Angel asks where he’s going.

Gunn answers he’s going to check on something.

Fred accuses Eve of knowing all along this would happen, noting she knew Fred was working on finding a way of bringing Spike back but never mentioned any of this.

Eve claims she would have said something if she’d known, "My universe too, you know." She asks how Fred managed to bring Spike back.

Angel and Fred look at each other.

Eve had assumed they were the ones responsible.

Angel tells her Spike got something in the mail.

Eve notes that’s just like the amulet’s return.

Angel says, accusingly, they never figured out who sent it as he glares at Eve.

Fred looks at Eve and wonders if perhaps it was the Senior Partners.

Eve doesn’t like the implication, claiming she only knows —

Angel finishes that thought, "What you’re told." He notes she said the seers told her what was happening at the firm was a "harbinger", he wonders of what?

Eve answers it’s something worse, and very dangerous.

Angel wonders what she means by that.

---

Spike and Harmony are in the vacated office, having a shag on the desk. She calls out his name. He tells her not to talk, "Don’t spoil the moment." Spike is on top of her, with his head over her shoulder, so doesn’t notice her eyes are red and bleeding. Harmony morphs into vamp face and sinks her teeth into his neck.

Spike shouts and pulls away from her, jumping to his feet. He asks what’s gotten into her then notices her eyes.

She yells at him, telling him, "I’m not yours!"

Spike agrees with that, trying to calm the situation.

Harmony continues raging, "Using me .. making me think ... feel ... like yours!"

Spike tries to reason with her but she’s not interested, "You! You don’t want me! You want your slayer whore!" She threatens to kill him as she rushes toward him.

Spike punches her in the face, knocking her back over the top of the desk, onto the floor and out.

---

By the copier, the body of the guy who was beaten with the fire extinguisher is covered with a sheet as Jerry is strapped to a gurney and tranquilized. He’s removed from the area as Lorne sits in the corner, holding a cloth to his bleeding head.

Lorne tells Angel and Eve he was passing by when he saw Jerry beating the other guy. Before he had a chance to do anything, Jerry hit him in the head.

A security guy approaches, reporting they’ve had two more attacks and one fatality.

Angel directs him to seal off the building until they know what they’re dealing with.

The security guy orders the lockdown on his radio and departs.

Lorne gets to his feet, wondering if Angel minds if he puts an ice pack on his head while barricaded in his office.

Angel tells him it’s Lorne’s decision to make. He asks Lorne to stop by the lab first and tell Fred he needs to know the minute she figures out what’s causing this.

Angel heads down the hallway, Eve follows. She reckons Angel knows the cause.

Angel denies that.

She figures it’s about Angel and Spike.

Spike comes out of the office into the hall. He tells Angel, "I don’t know what you put in the water coolers around here but your secretary just started crying blood and tried to rip me a few new ones."

Angel asks about Harm.

Spike says he had to knock her out, it was for the best, he’s sure Angel understands.

Angel responds, "Oh yeah, you’re a real hero."

Eve notes that’s the problem.

Spike asks what that’s about.

Angel says she has a theory.

Eve insists it’s a fact, "There’s only supposed to be one candidate for the vampire with a soul hero part in the big show. Two of you and the wheel of destiny starts to spin off its axis. That’s why everything and everyone is going mad."

Spike asks if she’s blaming this on them.

Angel snipes, "No, she’s blaming it on you."

Eve reckons perhaps the "town" isn’t big enough for both of them.

That’s fine with Spike. He heads down the hall saying he’ll go to Europe.

Eve clarifies, saying by "town" she meant this "entire plane of existence." As Spike stops at the elevator, she informs him he won’t solve the imbalance by leaving, it might even make things worse.

A shaken Gunn exits the elevator, asking that they not make it worse. He sits down and says he just went to the white room to see what the cat had to say.

Angel asks what happened.

Gunn answers, both the cat and the white room are gone, "The elevator just opened up into a howling abyss .. You ever heard a howling abyss? Terrible sound."

Eve notes the cat being gone means the conduit is gone, they’re alone in dealing with this, no contact with the Senior Partners, "Just us and a big, gaping tear in the balance of the universe."

Angel asks Spike to stay, then adds a grudging "Please". He says Europe will still be there after they figure things out.

Gunn adds, "Maybe."

Angel concedes, "Probably."

Spike wonders how Angel figures they can fix this.

Eve thinks if there’s a way they can figure out which of the souled vampires the prophecy is about, maybe —

Angel says he just read it, there was nothing specific in it.

Spike notes it’s odd Angel saying he’d just read it when he’d recently told Spike he didn’t believe in it.

Angel doesn’t want to get into this right now.

Gunn offers no offense to Angel, but they need someone who is an expert on the prophecy.

Angel notes Wes isn’t there.

Eve says Wesley’s department still is, perhaps someone there can —

Angel doesn’t know what they can do, reminding Eve he read it.

---

Angel, Spike, Eve and Gunn are in Rutherford Sirk’s office ("Home"). He tells Angel he didn’t read the prophecy, he read a translation. He likens it to the difference between reading the King James version of the bible and reading the original Aramaic or Hebrew. He points out the historical context, subtlety of usage, the flavor of the original gets lost. He scoffs at Angel, noting he might as well have read "a 12 year olds book report on the subject."

Gunn is missing Wesley.

Angel tells Sirk he’s made his point then asks if there’s anything in the prophecy that can help them with what’s happening.

Spike asks, "Yeah, what’s it say about me?"

Angel shoots him an annoyed glance.

Sirk looks over the text, he’s found a newly translated passage that may be relevant, "The root of the tree will split in two and each then will seek nourishment from the buried river."

Spike reckons it sounds like gardening advice.

Sirk notes it’s a metaphor. He hopes he doesn’t have to explain metaphor to them.

Angel suggests he get back to the text.

Sirk continues reading, "Storm unleashed. The balance will falter until the vampire with a soul drinks from the ’Cup of Perpetual Torment’."

Angel scoffs, "More metaphor."

Sirk tells him it’s not metaphor, that’s real.

Eve reckons that means there’s a literal cup.

Spike notes, "Perpetual Torment? Just know that’s not gonna taste very good."

Sirk continues reading from the text, "He will have the weight of worlds upon him, binding his limbs, grinding his bones to meal until he saves creation .. or destroys it."

Spike asks what’s in it for him.

Sirk says the vampire will have his past cleansed.

Angel knows the rest of it, "And live again in mortal form."

Spike snipes he’s sure Angel knows that part.

Gunn wonders, if Angel drinks from the cup do their phones and computers start working again and their employees stop trying to kill each other?

Spike asks where it says Angel is the one supposed to drink, where does it say it’s about Angel at all?

Angel wonders if Spike really believes it’s about him.

Spike doesn’t see why not.

Eve tells them they need to focus on the problem, they don’t want to be wrong about this.

Sirk claims there is no wrong, the one that is to drink from the cup is predestined, that can’t be changed. Whoever drinks from the cup was intended to drink from it. He figures the universe should realign itself once it’s confirmed which souled vampire is central to the prophecy.

Gunn asks if the prophecy says where the cup is located.

Sirk looks over the text, "It does offer some details, yes. Housed in the hidden city of Petra ... Disappears during the Crusades. Surfaces again at the Vatican. Vanishes in the third year of the Inquisition then ... yes .. interesting."

Angel asks what.

Sirk says the cup is in Nevada.

Gunn is incredulous.

Sirk says it’s in Death Valley, specifically, "The earth will thrash and mark the appearance of the cup at the columns."

Angel thinks that sounds vaguely familiar.

Sirk continues, "And the desert will swallow house and cup whole and —" He notes the rest can only be loosely translated, "And the fat lady will sing no more."

Angel realizes it’s about opera.

Eve asks about that.

Angel explains the "Columns" was an opera house in Death Valley, buried in an earthquake in ’38. He notes it’s only a few hours away, he can get there and back before —

Gunn reminds him they’re in the midst of a serious crisis, he’s not sure going after some "mystical cup" is a good idea.

Angel doesn’t see he has a choice, if the cup is there, he’ll have to accept the the prophecy is real and hope it stops the bizarre goings on. Angel stands and tells Gunn he’s in charge, directing him to keep the building under quarantine until he — He looks around and notices Spike is missing.

---

Spike is driving the red Viper down the highway, rocking to the stereo. The cell phone rings. He turns off the stereo and answers it.

Angel is on the other end of the line, saying Spike took his Viper.

Spike notes it’s his Viper now, "possession being 9/10’s." He figured Angel should know that considering he runs a law firm.

Angel is following in another car. He tells Spike it’s not a game, people are dying.

Spike says one of them will stop it and, "Hey! What do ya know? I vote for me."

Angel tells him there’s no voting, it’s a prophecy and it’s not about Spike.

Spike thinks it’s sad Angel still can’t accept it, "All these years believing you’re the signified monkey only to find out you’re just a big hunk of nobody cares."

Angel wishes Spike had remained a ghost.

Spike counters, "But I didn’t, did I? Burned up saving the world and now I’m back for real. Wonder why that is. Oh. Wait. ’Cause I’m the one, you git!"

Angel starts to tell him he doesn’t have time for this but Spike cuts him off, mimicking static into the phone. He claims he can’t hear Angel, he’s losing the signal. He hangs up the phone.

---

In his office, Gunn tells someone via a radio he knows she’s a vampire, he gives instructions to "shoot her up with some elephant tranqs and put her in some kind of restraints." The response he gets is a garbled bunch of gibberish that’s unintelligible. Gunn answers whatever, just get it done. He signs off.

Eve strolls in, casually noting something always seems to be going on; "ghost fights, id monsters, killer cyborgs." She says it’s a wonder they get any work done with all the "hijinks".

Gunn points out it’s strange, she always seems to be around for those "hijinks".

Eve claims she’s "just lucky."

Gunn wonders what else she is, besides lucky.

Eve asks if she’s supposed to know what he’s talking about.

Gunn says, "Playing like you’re just a fresh young thing from Santa Cruz who somehow winds up connected to the Senior Partners of evil incorporated."

Eve notes she never said she was from Santa Cruz, just that she went to school there. She points out, speaking of connected, he’s the one that communicates with the cat in the white room, she figures that makes him a lot more connected to that place than she’ll ever be.

As they’re speaking, an employee can be seen outside of the hall window, approaching with a fire ax. He’s tackled to the floor by another employee before either Eve or Gunn notices.

Eve says as far as the Senior Partners are concerned, she’s just a messenger.

Gunn isn’t buying it.

---

Angel arrives at the opera house and goes inside. Spike steps onto the landing above, and behind, him. "Here we are, then. Two vampire heroes competeing to wet our whistles with a drink of light, refreshing torment."

Angel wonders if Spike really thinks he’s a hero.

Spike reminds him he saved the world.

Angel points out he did it "once". He suggests Spike talk to him about it when he’s done it a couple more times.

Spike says he’s done talking, he’s got a prophecy to fulfill. He walks off. Angel follows up the steps after him.

---

London, 1880

William walks in on Angelus shagging a woman he presumes is the bride from the wedding massacre. He smiles, noting it appears Angelus hadn’t quite had his fill of her after all. His face drops when he sees the woman lying on her back on the bed is Dru. She tells him the children didn’t come out to play. She sits up, asking if William missed her.

Angelus answers mockingly, "Sure he did Dru. After all, you are his destiny."

Dru thinks that’s sweet.

Angelus laughs as William looks on, devastated.

---

Angel arrives at the opera house. He sees a golden goblet sitting on a pedestal in the center of the room, lit by a soft spotlight. He leaps over the railing and approaches it.

Spike drops down behind him and walks up to stand next to him. He notes he’d expected the cup to be "a little less goldeny, what with the eternal torment and all."

Angel asks what they should do now.

Spike sighs, then punches Angel in the face, knocking him to the floor. He answers, "What do ya think?"

As Spike stalks toward Angel, Angel tells him they don’t have time for this.

Spike suggests he not worry about it, he won’t last that long.

Angel gets to his feet and punches Spike, willing to do it Spike’s way. Fight ensues as they exchange punches. Spike tosses Angel who lands on some opera props, his hand sizzles as it rests on a large cross. Angel pulls his hand away, flipping the cross across the room.

Spike laughs, "Look at you, thinking you’re the big savior, fighting for truth, justice and soccer moms. But you still can’t lay flesh on a cross without smelling like bacon, can you?"

Angel notes Spike’s no different.

Spike claims he is, and Angel knows it, "You had a soul forced on you as a curse. Make you suffer for all the horrible things you’d done. But me ... I fought for my soul, went through the demon trials, almost did me in a dozen times over but I kept fighting ’cause I knew it was the right thing to do." He leaps toward Angel and adds, "It’s my destiny."

Angel caustically notes, "Really? Heard it was just to get into a girl’s pants."

Spike kicks up a metal bar from the floor and catches it, then takes a swing at Angel. Angel leaps over him, somersaulting forward, down onto the floor near the cup. As Angel approaches the cup, Spike flies toward him, wielding the metal bar. Angel retrieves one of his own as he uses it to deflect the blow.

---

In the lab at W&H, Harmony is restrained on a gurney. Gunn notes they’ve had six more cases of the rage thing.

Eve asks if Fred has any idea what the trigger is.

Fred admits she has no clue. The victims don’t have anything in common. She can’t find any pattern. She figures it could affect any of them.

Gunn asks coldly why Fred is answering Eve’s questions, "We don’t trust this bitch, she’ll kill us all." He raises his head, revealing his bleeding eyes. He grabs Eve and slams her against a cabinet, choking her. He demands to know what she is. As Eve gasps for air, Gunn smiles, noting she has to breathe, that’s good to know.

As Fred approaches with a tranquilizer injection, Gunn punches her in the face, knocking her to the floor. Gunn turns his attention back to Eve, yelling, "You liar! You think we don’t know that you’re behind this? That you been playing us? What are you, huh? Show me! What are you, a monster? Show me!"

Fred comes up behind Gunn and hits him over the head with something, knocking him out.

---

At the opera house, Angel and Spike are still going at each other, fighting, using the metal bars as weapons. Angel knocks Spike to the floor. Spike taunts, "You used to hit a lot harder, gramps."

Angel disagrees, noting it’s just that Spike’s head has gotten thicker.

Spike gets back to his feet, the battle continues as they fight their way up a ramp. Angel punches Spike, knocking him off of the ramp to the floor below. He approaches and prepares to hit Spike with the bar but Spike blocks the blow. Spike tells Angel he won’t win this time and the fight continues. Spike manages to knock the bar out of Angel’s hands and punches him, sending him crashing through a railing to a lower floor.

Angel lies on his back on the floor, coughing up blood. As Spike comes down the stairs toward Angel, he notes the prophecy says nobody knows which side the vampire with a soul will be on, but Angel has already chosen a side, Wolfram and Hart. He stabs toward Angel with the bar.

Angel grabs the end of it, stopping its progression. He tells Spike it’s more complicated than that. Angel flips to his feet, managing to disarm Spike in the process and tosses the bar aside. He taunts him, "You always were a bit simple ... Willy."

---

London, 1880

William demands Angelus not touch Dru.

Angelus pins him to the wall, noting it’s a bit late for that and he doesn’t like it when William raises his voice to him.

Dru rambles, "William, don’t play such a sad tune. Give us a kiss, then."

William asks Angelus why, he knew Dru was his.

Angelus asks, "Did I?"

William knows he did as he knocks Angelus’ hand off of him and punches him.

As he rushes him, Angelus knocks him to the floor and offers to explain things. He grabs William by the front of his shirt and pulls him to his feet. He pushes him across the room, onto the couch. He shoves the woman’s corpse to the floor and takes a seat beside William. "You’re new and a little dim, so let me explain to you how things are now. There’s no belonging or deserving anymore. You can take what you want, have what you want, but nothing is yours." He looks toward Dru and adds, "Not even her."

William tells Angelus he’s wrong, he and Dru are "forever."

Dru asks, "Are we?"

Angelus notes he’s still the poet, "aren’t we, Willy?"

William corrects him, "William."

Angelus notes he should find a new name for himself, William just "doesn’t strike the right note of terror."

Angelus gets up and moves across the room to stand behind Dru. He wraps his arms around her waist, "Tell you what, William. If you want her, come and take her."

Dru reaches her arms out toward William who rushes Angelus.

---

Present, opera house

As Angel reaches for the cup, Spike knocks him away from it. He tells Angel, "Come on, hero, tell me more." He continues as he punctuates each point with another punch, "Teach me what it means." [punch] "And I’ll tell you why you can’t stand the bloody sight of me." [punch]

Angel punches him back, suggesting Spike tell it to his therapist.

Spike hits him a couple more times, knocking Angel to his knees, "Cause every time you look at me .." [punch] "See all the dirty little things I’ve done ..." [punch] "All the lives I’ve taken .." [punch] "Because of you! Drusilla sired me..." [punch] "But you .. you made me a monster." He hits Angel again and walks away from him.

Angel tells him, "I didn’t make you, Spike. I just opened up the door and let the real you out." He gets to his feet and is slammed with the large cross Spike has retrieved to use as a weapon. Angel goes flying through the air and lands hard across the room, on the opposite side of the pedestal containing the cup.

Spike informs him, "You never knew the real me", as the cross sizzles in his hands. He tosses it aside and continues as he strides toward Angel, "You were too busy trying to see your own reflection ... praying there was someone as disgusting as you in the world so you could stand to live with yourself. Take a long look, hero. I’m nothing like you."

Angel gets that, "No, you’re less. That’s why Buffy never really loved you. Because you weren’t me."

Spike grabs Angel and pulls him to his feet, "Guess that means she was thinking about you, all those times I was puttin’ it to her." Angel grabs Spike’s wrists and forces his hands loose from their grasp on him then punches Spike in the face.

Fight continues as they go back and forth, beating on each other. Spike tries to impale Angel with a piece of wood. Angel puts his arm up to block the blow and gets the wood embedded in it. He pulls it out and morphs into vamp face, figuring it’s time to finish this. Spike morphs into game face as well as the battle goes on.

---

In Fred’s office, she offers Eve a glass of water as Eve recovers from Gunn’s attack. Fred tells her she’ll be fine, but her throat will be sore for awhile.

Eve tells Fred there’s no need for her to pretend she cares.

Fred doesn’t understand what she means.

Eve knows what they all think of her.

Fred reminds her Gunn was under the effects of the rage thing when he told Eve they thought she was behind everything.

Eve puts the glass down, gets up from the chair and heads for the door.

Fred calls after her.

Eve pauses at the doorway, tells Fred "I’m not the bad guy" then leaves.

---

At the opera house, Spike and Angel continue their fight. Spike gets the advantage as Angel lies on his back on the floor. Spike raises a large, sharp piece of wood over Angel and drives it into his shoulder. Angel morphs back into his human face.

Spike morphs out of game face as well as he notes, "Probably should have dusted you, but honestly? I don’t want to hear her bitch about it." He walks over to the cup as Angel pulls the stake out of his shoulder and calls for Spike to wait. As Spike picks up the cup, Angel tells him, "That’s not a prize you’re holding. It’s not a trophy. It’s a burden." As he gets to his feet, he continues, "It’s a cross. One you’re going to have to bear till it burns you to ashes. Believe me. I know."

Spike sets the cup back on the pedestal and takes a few steps toward Angel.

Angel suggests he ask himself, "Is this really the destiny that was meant for you? Do you even really want it? Or is it just that you want to take something away from me?"

Spike admits cockily, "Bit of both" as he grabs the cup.

Angel calls to him and moves toward him but stops when he sees he can’t get to Spike in time as he drinks from the cup.

Spike drops the cup to the floor as Angel looks on, "It’s ... Mountain Dew." Angel looks at the cup on the floor then back to Spike as they both realize they’ve been had.

---

A battered and bruised Angel walks into the lab at W&H. A concerned Fred asks what happened.

Angel answers, "I fell down some stairs ... big stairs." Angel sees Gunn strapped to a gurney in the lab.

Fred tells him they’ve tried everything, "magical, mystical", nothing works.

Angel asks if it’s still going on.

Fred says it’s getting worse then asks about the cup.

Angel tells her it was a fake, someone set them up.

Fred wonders who.

Angel thinks perhaps Sirk knows something since he was the one who sent them there.

An equally bruised Spike comes in and says Sirk is gone, he cleaned out his office and disappeared.

Fred notes Spike’s condition matches Angel’s and realizes the bruising had nothing to do with stairs.

Angel notes Sirk is gone, the cup was a fake, but the rage madness is real. What are they going to do about it?

Gunn suggests they start by untying him.

Harmony wakes up in the lab and finds herself also strapped to a gurney. She wonders if she’s in trouble. Fred frees Gunn while Angel frees Harm.

Gunn asks what happened.

---

In the conference room of Angel’s office, Eve claims the Senior Partners intervened. They’d been working on the problem all along. She says they managed to "temporarily" stabilize things.

Angel notes the "temporary" mention. He wonders how long it will last and asks about Sirk and the cup hoax.

Eve claims the Partners don’t know anything about it, they’re as angry about it as Angel.

Angel doubts that’s true.

Eve tells him not to worry, Sirk can’t hide forever. They’ll find him and discover who put him up to it.

She gets up and excuses herself, saying she’s going home to ice her neck.

Gunn gets up and walks over to her. He starts to offer an apology for what happened.

She tells him not to concern himself with it, he has other things to worry about, "That whole Shanshu thing is still unresolved. Still two vampires with souls. Guess that’s a question for another day." She leaves.

Gunn mutters if there are more days like today, there won’t be another day.

Spike gets up and invites Gunn to join him for a drink.

Gunn declines, noting the after effects of the rage affliction, "My head feels like it’s gonna split open and toss my toys and candy all over the floor."

Spike notes Gunn is way ahead of him then as he leaves.

As Gunn puts his hand to his head, Angel suggests maybe he should have Fred check him out.

Gunn declines then asks Angel how he’s doing.

Angel doesn’t know. He says Spike beat him.

Gunn reckons it looks like Spike got as good as he gave.

Angel tells him no, Spike beat him to the cup.

Gunn asks if he means, "The fake cup? The make-believe fairy tale cup? So what?"

Angel tells him Spike won the fight, for the first time. It doesn’t matter if the cup was real or not, Spike was stronger, he wanted it more.

Gunn tells him it doesn’t mean anything.

Angel wonders what if it does? "What if it means that .. I’m not the one?"

---

Eve arrives at an apartment. She walks into the bedroom where runes decorate the walls. She begins undressing as she speaks to someone already there. "You know, funny thing about throwing the universe out of whack? Not as fun as it sounds. On the plus side, they totally fell for the Cup of Torment thing, just like you thought they would. And our Mr. Sirk pulled off his vanishing act without a hitch, right under the Senior Partner’s noses. And you might be happy to know ... Team Angel was on red alert. Could be they think the Partners just fired a warning shot across their bow. Oh, and by the way, Spike didn’t kill Angel but they did beat each other to bloody pulps."

She slides into bed next to a waiting Lindsey McDonald who is now sporting runic tattoos on his chest and upper arms. He puts his arm around her, kisses her forehead then muses, "Well, it’s a start."

[Christian Kane is not listed in the credits, nor is the character addressed by name in that final scene. The fact CK is reprising the role of Lindsey is, at this point, an assumption on my part.]