[Darla and Drusilla are coming out of a demon bar.]
I didn't like that barkeeper. Hmm, can't get his eyes off my fingers. [She licks her fingers.]
That was the last one. It's nearly midnight now. We should get to the factory.
My little bird is anxious.
Yeah, well, recruiting a legion of demons is stressful, Dru.
He won't leave, you know.
We could have a thousand soldiers and still he'll come, galloping, galloping, still he'll come.
Why is everybody trying to make this about Angel?! I mean, for God's sake, can't a woman wreak a little havoc without there being a man involved?
You miss him, like a heartbeat.
I don't miss my heartbeat, Dru. It was a symptom of a disease I've since been cured off. You know, in a perfect world, Angel would be here right now, helping me burn this city to the ground. This is his job I'm doing. But where is he? Probably flogging himself in a church somewhere.
Ooh, flogging! Eew, churches.
In a perfect world we'd be slaughtering the innocent. Laughing as we rain destruction on this whole miserable town.
Fire. Conflagration. In a perfect world there'd be nothing left here but ashes.
[laughing] And pain. So much suffering. [Begins to sway] The flames are lovely. They dance, and the fire licks like a cat. And the screams, oh, it's like star music.
That's nice, Dru. Now hurry up. We can't be late.
Ten little soldiers, all in a line. A shot rings out... [slaps her hands together to make the sound of a shot] ...down to nine.
Ten? I'd be happy if we could find three who can hack it.
[Darla slides the door open and they walk in to see the floor littered with demon corpses and severed limbs and a pile of dust between them.]
Dead already? Bad soldiers!
[Darla looks around and sees Angel leaning against the hood of a dusty car, smoking a cigarette.]
[with a slight smile] I should have known.
[shakes her head] A shadow.
[Drusilla lifts her hand as if she is trying to wipe away a cobweb in front of her face, never taking her eyes off Angel.]
Why so far away, my love? Why don't you come over here and... stake me? [No reaction from Angel] Angel? [Angel, looking pretty beat up, continues to smoke his cigarette.] Angelus?
[Angel throws down his cigarette butt. It ignites a trail of gasoline. Darla and Drusilla look down at the flames, see them racing towards them in slow motion, and ignite the puddle of gasoline they're standing in. They scream as they begin to burn. Angel turns around to pick up his bag of weapons, revealing a can of gasoline sitting on the hood behind him, and walks out without looking back. Darla picks up a sledgehammer, leaning next to the door, runs outside and knocks the top of a fire hydrant off. She and Dru stand under the spray of water, letting it extinguish the flames, then sink down to sit on the edge of the sidewalk under it, with Darla holding Dru.]
I'm burning. Make it stop, please.
Shh. Shh. That wasn't Angel.
He's gone. He's all gone. Oh, it hurts! It hurts!
Darla, help me. Help me, please! Please. Please.
Killed a dozen demons, lit up Darla and Drusilla like a Christmas tree.
What is your point Lilah?
Little grimmer than usual, don't you think?
Holland's vision lives on.
Screw his vision. Anybody's going down in here, it's gonna be you.
HHunt
[To Lilah and Lindsey] Sit down. I suppose you know why you're here. The Senior Partners have decided that this should be a time of grief and reflection. We will never be able to replace Holland Manners. He was a man of extraordinary talents. The bottom line is this leaves us with an opening in our roster. We need an executive vice-president of Special Projects. Mr. McDonald, your conduct with this firm had proved spotty at best. You've stolen files, co-operated with our enemy, disobeyed orders time and again. Mrs. Morgan...when you drove away the telekinetic Bethany Chaulk, you lost for us a powerful potential assassin. Not to mention the fact that both of you have been extremely negligent about informing us of visits form certain ladies who, lest we forget, ate the majority of our contracts department. The truth is that neither one of you are particularly qualified to run the special projects division. As for your relationship to one another: your competition has been vicious, destructive and...healthy. We think you keep each other on your toes. Which is why we have decided to appoint you both as joint acting co-vice-presidents until such time as we see fit to...narrow it down. Congratulations. This is a big step. The Senior Partners will be watching you.
One thing you can say about Angel: at least he's consistent! It's always some little blonde driving him over the edge! [sighs] What are we supposed to do now?
I think I'll grab a burrito before I head home. [Wesley and Cordelia stare at him.] What?
No, no, by all means, if you're hungry.
Hey, this was just a side gig for me, all right? The extra cash was nice while it lasted but - [shrugs] Angel wants to go all commando? No skin off my nose.
Well my nose skin is angry. And hurt. And ...
[Cordelia nods.]
[Angel pays Lilah a visit in her car.]
Lilah. I just had to drop by and congratulate you on your big promotion. Co-vice president of the special projects. Wow. That's super. You deserve it. Yeah. That and.. so much more.
But you know what the real special part is? To think that maybe in a small way I helped make it happen for you. Makes me feel all good inside.
How-how do you expect us to succeed when you handcuff us with these idiotic rules protecting Angel?
[Lilah casually edges a couple of steps away from Lindsey.]
NNathan
I'm sorry. Did you say something?
Angel is an obstacle to everything that we do. Give me one good reason why we can't just kill him!
[Nathan steps up close to Lindsey.]
NNathan
Because Angel is a major player.
NNathan
In the apocalypse.
NNathan
The prophecies all agree that when the final battle is waged, he plays a key role.
NNathan
Which side he's on is the gray area, and we're gonna continue making it as gray as possible.
NNathan
Until then, his growing obsession with the two of you, the increasing possibility that to scratch that itch, he'll go so far as to kill you... Well, that could actually play in the firm's favor.
[Lilah stares at him with a frown.]
NNathan
It would be a sign that Angel is on the path to joining our team. And as hard as it is to lose good attorneys, well the truth is - you are both expendable.
[Smiles at them, then turns dead serious.]
[Angel is roused from bed by someone belting out "The Star-Spangled Banner".]
Is there a reason you're here?
the Host : There is. What's today, Thursday? Tomorrow night the world's gonna end. Thought you might wanna know.
[Wesley, Cordelia, and Gunn are huddled miserably in their derelict new office.]
[entering with a basket] Hey, Wow! This place is great. I brought champagne. You guys must be so excited... [takes in their looks] in that really dry, suicidal way.
[kisses her] Sorry, sweetheart. You just caught us in a moment of ... well ...
How do you avoid reality?
Money. It cures everything but boredom. [holds up basket] And food cures boredom, so there you go. Imported chips and packets of cheese.
We'll enjoy them huddled around our pathetic candles.
We'll make pathetic nachos.
You guys are really down.
Yeah. And don't try to tell us there's no way to go but up, 'cause the truth is, there's always more down.
[Lorne was telling Angel what he saw in the future of Gene Rainey, the physicist, when Gene was singing.]
Lorne : The most remarkable thing about him was that there was absolutely nothing remarkable about him at all.
Lorne : It's like a song, now I can hold a note for a long time, actually I can hold a note forever. But eventually that's just noise. It's the change we're listening for. The note coming after and the one after that, that's what makes it music.
