Not Fade Away

[The missing act breaks (1 and 4) have been added -- sorry about that, folks! I was typing too fast this morning, obviously]

We begin with a "Previously" which recaps the last scene in Power Play -- Angel plans to kill every member of the Circle of the Black Thorn, which will bring down the Senior Partners' wrath, and he needs everyone's help, if they want to give it, because it's a suicide mission.

TEASER

Everyone's hand is in the air, Angel raises his. "So, we're agreed?" "Yeah," says Spike, "We're one big happy Manson family." Angel explains that they have to take them out one by one, because there's no way they could go up against the entire Circle at once. Gunn suggests bringing Illyria in, but Angel doesn't trust her. Lorne says not to worry about that, she was happy enough to babysit Drogyn for them -- wait, she was with Drogyn? Drogyn who Angel just had to kill to prove his loyalty to the Circle of the Black Thorn? But before he can get another word out, Angel suddenly punches Spike in the face.

Offscreen, we hear Hamilton, "Sorry, didn't know you were in conference." "Just making a closing statement," says Angel, in complete control. He "finishes" by telling Wes that Illyria is his responsibility, and make sure she doesn't get twitchy. He dismisses them. Hamilton tells Angel that he has a problem, no, not with his employees, with his new friends. And no, it can't wait.

ACT ONE

The gang arrives at Spike's place to find it a wreck, Illyria on the floor in a heap, and the Crash Bandicoot music still playing from the TV. Illyria doesn't look alive. Gunn suggests checking her pulse, then pauses, "Is she supposed to have a pulse?" She revives, weakly, and is able to tell them that Hamilton took Drogyn. Lorne starts getting paranoid again, asking how can they still trust Angel, how can they now know what's next? Gunn says they don't have to trust Angel, they just have to be confident the Circle does.

Meanwhile, in the Circle's headquarters, a dark spoooooky opening ritual is going on. When it finishes, the Archduke begins to frankly tell Angel that his people are a problem, that Angel needs to control them better, especially Wes, who they percieve as a threat. ("He seems....talented. And intriguingly unstable.") But, continues the Archduke, that's really not the problem. Vail cries out -- the Pee Pee Demon is tangled in his tubes again. Angel grabs the Pee Pee Demon and shoves him at the Duke. Anyway, continues the Duke, the problem is this, pulling out a parchment scroll. "That's the Shanshu Prophecy," says Angel. "The original," says the Duke. What the Circle needs him to do is sign away, in blood, any chance that Angel will ever earn his humanity. (Which, editorially, is all very well and compelling, but if we've learned anything from this show, isn't it that that sort of thing never works? The Father Will Kill The Son, anyone? The son of the vampire with a soul will kill Sahjhan? But anyway.) Angel says that it doesn't bother him in the least, he has no desire to be human anyway. Izzy slams a pen down on the table, through Angel's hand, and Angel signs.

Back at his office, Angel is talking to Harmony. Seemingly out of nowhere, he asks her if she ever misses being human, having only been turned 5 years ago and all. She thinks about it and says, not really...though the way her heart beat when she kissed a really hot boy for the first time was pretty cool. Angel says he can't remember what being human was like at all, it was just too long ago. (Really? Even IWRY?) At this point, Harmony gets a clue and says she knows something's going down, and she wants to be a part of it. Angel gives her the task of distracting Hamilton while he goes and does "One last thing I don't want to."

In a W&H conference room, Lindsey tells Angel, "You have to be joking." "I'm not known for my jokes," says Angel, "Mostly I think that's 'cause people don't get me." Angel then goes on to say that it's not about Lindsey trusting Angel, it's about the Wolf, Ram and Hart (the firm's Earthly name appears to be a thing of the past), "the ones we've been fighting against forever." Lindsey tells Angel he can't beat them, and Angel says they're not there to be beaten, they're there to be fought. Hoping nobody remembers BtVS S7, Angel says "Maybe the Senior Partners are what evil really is. Intangible. Incorporeal. In us. And maybe fighting them is what makes human beings so remarkably strong." Lindsey starts to argue that this fight isn't about the kind of strength that humans have to resist the evil within them, it's about fighting incredibly powerful demons hand-to-hand. But Angel can't stop thinking about how once, this world belonged to demons, and now, it doesn't. He asks Lindsey to spare him the Hell on Earth speech, he knows how much sway demons hold in this world. Hell, he's "the greatest mass murderer you ever met." "And I've never given you props for that," replies Lindsey. Anyway, Angel says, it's mostly that Lindsey's strong, and Angel wants him on his side. He also wants Lindsey to take over the firm for him when they're done taking it apart, if they win. "Suppose you come up snake eyes?" asks Lindsey. "You'll talk your way out of it," says Angel, "Tell 'em I forced you to help me. Tell 'em I made my scary face." "Believe it or not," says Lindsey, "I was actually asking about you. You don't care about being squished like a bitty bug?" "You haven't heard a word I've said," says Angel, "From like, years back." "You get speechy, I breeze out. I get the cliff nots: honor humanity, absolute good." But here's the twist, he's in. Angel asks why. Lindsey says that all anyone ever talks about is Angel's soul, but nobody ever mentions the fact "that what you really are is a vampire with huge brass testes!" This is a HUGE fight, and Lindsey's not going to be left out of it. So he's on the team. "I want you, Lindsey," says Angel. "...I'm thinking about rephrasing that." "I'd be more comfortable," replies Lindsey.

Back at Spike's apartment, Wes is still nursing Illyria. He tells Gunn that he needs supplies from home, and Lorne asks what they'll do if Hamilton shows up again. "Hamilton did this?" asks Angel, stepping in. He gets the whole story, and Gunn asks what's going to happen if the Circle needs any more proof of his loyalty. Angel says that's not going to happen, because "we're killing them all tonight."

ACT TWO

In Spike's apartment, Angel tells them all to take the day doing whatever they want, because it will probably be their last day alive. Cut to a montage of...

Lorne, in front of a microphone, sings his heart out at a karaoke bar.

Angel, in a coffee shop, sits and waits. He looks up, says "Hi," and we pull back to reveal Connor, who sits down across from him.

In a pub, Spike slams an empty shot glass onto the counter. The bartender warns him that it can get pretty ugly in there, but Spike says that's what he's looking for. "Your funeral," says the bartender. "Well," says Spike, "I never did have a proper one."

Outside the shelter, Anne is loading furniture and boxes into a truck. Gunn walks up, makes small talk, and asks her what she'd be doing if she knew none of it mattered, if she knew that everything was controlled by forces more powerful and uncaring than human beings can concieve, and it will never, ever, ever get any better. "I'd get this truck packed before the new stuff gets here," she says. "You wanna give me a hand?" Gunn does.

In Spike's apartment, Wes is tending to Illyria. "I do not understand," she says. Well, this will help you heal faster, he explains, if you really do intend to help us in this fight. "I will fight," she says, "I have been broken and humiliated and I will return in kind every blow, every sting. I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces." "You're a very inspirational person, have I mentioned that?" says Wes. But seriously, says Illyria, Angel told you to do whatever you wanted today, and here you are with me, why? "Didn't I go off and have one last perfect day? Smell the flowers, or skydive, or have a go with Mistress Spanksalot or whatever the hell one's supposed to do in these situations?" "Mistress who?" "There is no perfect day for me, Illyria. There is no sunset, or painting, or finely aged scotch that's going to sum up my life and make tonight any...there's nothing I want." Illyria says he wants to be with Fred, and he agrees, yes, if he could, that's how he'd be spending his last day. Illyria offers to be Fred for him, but he says no, one of the first things he learned at the Watcher's Academy was to separate truth and illusion, and so he'll live with the truth, however miserable it may be. Illyria looks at him and says "You are... not an inspirational person like me." No, says Wes, I guess I'm not. They look at each other.

Spike, now sufficiently drunk, is onstage at the same pub, with a microphone. The sign on the wall says "McTarnan's Poetry Slam." Spike slams. "Midnight descends in raven-colour'd clothes / But soft -- behold! -- a sunlight beam / cutting a swath of glimmering gleam / My heart expands -- 'tis grown a bulge in't / Inspired by your beauty...effulgent." There is a pause, and then wild applause breaks out, with stomping and cheering and whistling. "That was brave!" someone yells from the back. "Thank you!" says Spike, "That was for Cecily! All right, this next one is called The Wanton Folly of Me Mum...."

Angel and Connor are still in the coffee shop, talking. Angel's been telling him about Nina, and Connor asks if it's the wolf thing, "There's some full moon love, am I right? Fur flying..." "There's no fur!" says Angel, "I would never...fur..." "So," says Connor, "Vampires really don't understand the concept of 'jokes.'" Angel is slightly miffed. "I understand jokes," he says, "I was at the first taping of The Carol Burnett Show." Changing the subject, Connor says "I know you're my father." This catches Angel off-guard. "You got your memories back," he says. Connor nods. "They're mixed in there with the new ones. It's more like a...bad dream I had, I guess. A really strange, violent...at times, inappropriately erotic dream." Angel says he must have so many questions, but Connor cuts him off, saying he doesn't want to make a thing. "I get what you did. You know, I'm grateful and that's as far as I wanna take it. Okay?" Okay. (YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Sorry, Connor fangirl moment. But isn't he just the best ever? I. Love. Him. So. Much. But I digress.) Angel asks Connor what he's working on, and Connor says he's putting together his resume so he can apply for internships over the summer. Angel offers to help, and Connor asks if he's ever written a resume, ever. No, says Angel, "But I have very nice handwriting." "You girl," scoffs Connor. "Hey," says Angel as we slowly pull back on the tableau of father and son, "Good penmanship used to be a sign of masculinity." "When," asks Connor, "Like, in the eighteenth century?" "The latter half," says Angel.

In a W&H office, Eve and Lindsey are making out. Eve seems distracted, and Lindsey asks what's on her mind. "Angel," she says. "There simply could not be a worse answer than that," says Lindsey. No really, says Eve, you know what I mean. "I do," says Lindsey. "It's nice to know you're one of the few things in my life Angel never did get his mitts on." "Yeah, it's nice," says Eve, quickly, "But we should really talk about his plan." Blah blah Eve is worried, Lindsey isn't, but Eve is going to stay away from the fight. Good, good, thinks the audience, keep her far, far offscreen.

The perfect day is over. We're back in Spike's apartment, the entire gang gathered for Angel's Last Big Speech. "This may come out a little pretentious," he begins, "But one of you will betray me." Spike's hand shoots up. Angel continues, giving each of them their assignments. Wesley will take Vail, since he's the sorcerer of the bunch, and already suspects that Wes will try to make a play for Angel's position, which will get him inside Vail's house. Illyria will be taking out Izzy and three other members, who dine together almost every night. "I'll make trophies of their spines," she says. Gunn will take out Senator Brucker and her vampire guards. Gunn is glad, he misses the old vamp-killing days. Spike, before Angel can say anything to him, says "First off, I'm not wearing any amulets. No bracelets, broaches, beads, pendants, pins, or rings." Angel says that's fine, all he'll need is a rattle. His assignment is to rescue the baby, and kill all of the Fell Brethren. Angel will be taking the Archduke of Sebassis for himself. Lorne's assignment is just to back up Lindsey. Lorne isn't happy at all. He doesn't trust Lindsey, and doesn't want to be a part of this. But Angel says that Lindsey is on their team now.

Meanwhile, in Harmony's bedroom, she's sipping blood from a glass as she cuddles with Hamilton. "Anyway," she says, "About Angel's secret plan..."

ACT THREE

Angel has finished explaining the plan -- they won't be coming back to the offices at all. Whoever survives will meet in the alley behind the Hyperion when it's over. Lorne says he'll do this one last thing, but he won't be at the Hyperion. He's out, leaving, and they shouldn't try to look for him. Illyria tells Gunn "Try not to die. You are not unpleasant to my eyes." Gunn returns the compliment, shakes her hand, and heads out the door. Wes and Angel look at each other and have a moment. Wes leaves, followed by Illyria. Left alone with Angel, Spike asks him what he thinks about the Shanshu thing -- could this be the big moment when one of them becomes a real boy? "Who are you kidding?" says Angel, "We're not gonna make it through." Spike takes that in, nods, and says, "Well...long as it's not you."

Vail is eating dinner in his mansion. Across the table, Wesley is explaining why he came to Vail, while slowly casting a spell under the table. A ball of light begins to form...

In the sanctuary of the Fell Brethren, we hear a baby crying, and a line of Brethren walking down a corridor. The last one in the line looks around -- it's Spike.

Angel, heading for the elevator, tells Harmony one last time to keep Hamilton busy, which she's happy to do. Angel stops at the Wall O' Weaponry and picks up a big sword ("intricately carved, oddly shaped, not your everyday sword" -- well, at least they didn't call it a scythe). He turns around to see Hamilton standing there. They speak, then fight. Hamilton throws Angel through the glass window and into the lobby. "Oh my God!" shrieks Harmony, "He's not my boyfriend! I mean I certainly didn't betray you!" Angel tells her to drop the act, he always knew she'd turn on him, it's what she does. Harmony says she might have been able to be more loyal if he'd had any confidence in her. Angel says no, it's because she has no soul. "I would if you had confidence in me," she says. Angel tells her get out of the building, she's fired. She asks if she can at least have a letter of reccomendation and he says yes, it's already in her desk. She wishes both Angel and Hamilton good luck, and scampers off. The fight resumes, complete with manly banter.

ACT FOUR

The banter turns to taunting as Hamilton is obviously winning this fight. "Did you really think you could kill the Archduke Sebassis?" he asks. "No," says Angel, "I think I already did." We flash to Sebassis in the bathtub, a glass off blue blood on the side. He takes a sip, shudders, and dies just in time to see the Pee Pee Demon dead in the corner, frothing at the mouth. We quickly flash back to earlier, at the Circle meeting, and this time, see Angel stab the Pee Pee Demon with a spiked ring as he shoves him towards Sebassis. Back to the present moment, Angel says to Hamilton," I figured *you* were the one I needed to be alone with." "So I could kill you?" asks Hamilton. "Well," says Angel, "I thought the fight would be going a little better."

In the Fell Brethren sanctuary, Spike lifts the baby out of its bassinet. He is quickly surrounded by angry Brethren, who he plunges into battle with, still holding the baby. (Please please please let this look less stupid than the fighting-with-baby did in Dad.)

Wesley continues to talk as the ball of light is still forming under the table. He hurls the ball at Vail, who is thrown against the wall. Vail starts to laugh, rips his tubes out, stands, and says "You don't know who you're dealing with, do you, boy? I mean, really. I crap better magic than this." He flicks his fingers, and Wes goes flying.

In a demon bar, two figures crash through the door. Lindsey strides in casually, sword at his hips. He starts swinging...

Izzy and three human members of the Circle are getting into a black Towncar. The headlights go on, illuminating Illyria, standing in front of the car, waiting for them.

Angel and Hamilton continue to fight. The lobby has at this point been nearly destroyed -- walls coming down, Harm's desk split in two, etc. "You know, the blue chick hit a lot harder," says Hamilton. Hamilton then asks why Angel keeps fighting, since he's signed away his Shanshu. "The people who don't care about anything will never understand the people who do," says Angel. "Yeah," says Hamilton, "But we won't care!" A fist connect with Hamilton's jaw, sending him crashing back into Angel's office. "Care about THAT, Dress-for-Less?" says Connor. (YAY! CONNOR!) Angel asks Connor what the hell he's doing here. "Come on," Connor says, "You drop by for a cup of coffee and the world's NOT ending? Please." (Editorial note, remember when Willow tore Angel a new one about Buffy, all those years back? "Two hundred years old and you don't have time for coffee?" she said. And now he does have time for coffee! With Connor! </fangirl> Wait, that tag doesn't close.)

Izzy's Towncar is in pieces. There are body parts and body fluids everywhere. Illyria walks away.

Senator Brucker is in her office, on the phone. Far behind her, we see Gunn approaching, taking out vampire guards as he goes. As he gets closer, we get some old-school Gunn vamp-killing action. Oh, yeah.

At W&H, in a shot that could easily be cut if they needed the time, Eve paces, nervously.

At the demon bar, Lorne is gingerly walking over body parts towards the bar as Lindsey washes his hands in the sink. Lorne compliments Lindsey on his swordsmanship, and Lindsey thanks Lorne for his help. "Couldn't have done it without the high note in Macarthur Park." Lindsey wonders how the rest of the team is doing, and then muses on how odd it is to be saying "team." He kind of likes the feeling. (Awwwwwwwww...) Lorne says he's leaving, it's not his line of work anymore, and it isn't Lindsey's either. Lindsey asks why Lorne still doesn't trust him, and offers to sing for him. "I've heard you sing," says Lorne, as he pulls out a pistol and shoots Lindsey in the chest. Lindsey staggers back, shocked. "You're not part of the solution, Lindsey," says Lorne, "You never will be." Lindsey is furious. "YOU killed me? You don't kill me! Angel kills me! A flunky! I'm not some...Angel kills me...Angel..." And with Angel's name the last word on his lips, he dies. Lorne drops the gun and walks out.

At Vail's, Wes isn't in good shape. Through the pain, he says "Then I'll just have to do this the old fashioned way..." and his wrist-knife thingy slides out, and he stabs at Vail. But Vail's not there anymore -- he's already on the other side of the room, holding a large curved dagger. "I suppose we will," says Vail, and he slams the blade into Wes' stomach. With his last bit of strength, Wes summons one more energy ball, and explodes it, sending Vail flying. Vail goes down, and doesn't get up. Wes clutches his stomach, blood flowing through his fingers, as Illyria enters. "I killed all of mine," she says, "And I was..." "Concerned?" Wesley finishes for her. "I think so," she says, "But I can't help. You'll be dead within minutes." Wes knows. Illyria touches his face and asks, "Would you like me to lie to you now?" Wes smiles. "Yes," he says. "Thank you, yes." Another hand touches Wes' face, this time, it's Fred's. "Hello there," he says. "Wesley..my Wesley..." she says. "I've missed you," he says. She kisses him, softly, kisses his forehead, and whispers, "It's gonna be okay...it won't hurt much longer. And then you'll be where I am...we'll be together." She is beginning to cry, looking at him. "I love you," he says. "I love you...shhh...my love...oh, my love...." She lays him down. He his dead.

Vail is standing behind her. "How very touching his meaningless death was," he says. "But this fight was never for mortals. Take your best shot, little girl." Fred stands up, slowly, eyes narrowed. She pulls her first back, and (in extreme slow-motion), she changes back to Illyria as the punch lands on Vail's face. She hits him so hard his head explodes.

[That scene? Makes me cry just reading it.]

Meanwhile, Hamilton is still winning, even against both Angel and Connor. He smacks Connor across the room, taking him out of the fight. "Let me say this as clearly as I can," Hamilton says, "You. Can. Not. Beat. Me. I'm part of them. The Wolf, Ram, and Hart. Their strength flows through my veins. My blood is filled with their ancient power." Angel freezes, suddenly calm. "Can you pick out the one word there you probably shouldn't have said?" He goes into gameface and lunges at Hamilton, sinking his fangs into his neck. Hamilton can't throw him off until Angel is finished drinking. He stands up, in human face again, and says "Wow. You really are full of it." (You know the moment in The Princess Bride where Inigo and The Man In Black have finally both switched to their right hands? This is that moment.) The battle is now met. Hamilton continues to taunt, saying "You don't think you're gonna win this, do you? You don't have a chance. We are legion. We are forever." Angel pummels him, dropping Hamilton to his knees, and says, in-between blows (er -- punches), "Then I guess...foever...just...got..A HELL..OF A LOT...SHORTER!" He cracks him one last good one in the jaw, and then snaps Hamilton's neck. "Is he dead?" asks Connor. Yes, says Angel, he's dead. The building starts to shake, and Connor knows that's not good. "Wolfram and Hart," says Angel. "Looks like they're taking the gloves off." He tells Connor to go home, this is his fight. Connor starts to argue, but as he tries to step forward, he doubles over with pain. "You have to go home now," says Angel. "They'll destroy you," says Connor. "As long as you're okay," says Angel, "they can't."

(YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!)

Connor leaves.

Angel is walking through the crumbling W&H building. He encounters Eve, who asks what's going on, and where the hell is Lindsey? "He's not coming for you," says Angel. "It's time to go." They leave.

Angel is the first to arrive in the alley. Spike is right behind him, now baby-free. Gunn walks up next, just barely alive. He's not surprised that Spike and Angel survived their fights, but he himself is obviously in really, really bad shape. Illyria drops into frame (from a rooftop), and says "Wesley is dead." As Spike, Angel, and Gunn take this in, she continues, "I am feeling grief for him. I don't seem to be able to control it. I wish to do more violence."

A thunderclap, and the sound of marching. Various other spooky scary sounds indicate that the SP's are as pissed off as Angel thought they would be. They all look up to see the monster army marching towards them in the sky, including (yes) a dragon circling. "Okay," says Gunn, "you take the 30,000 on the left..." "You are fading," says Illyria, "You'll last ten minutes." "Let's make 'em memorable," says Gunn.

"In terms of a plan?" asks Spike.

"We fight," says Angel.

"Bit more specific?"

"Well, personally...I kinda wanna slay the dragon."

There is a tremendous roar as the horde of horribles charge.

Close on Angel, sword in hand.

"Let's go to work."

Something comes into frame, and he swings the sword down, teeth gritted, the battle engaged.

END OF SERIES



x-posted to angel_spoilers