Offspring

 

Rome 1771

Some rats scurry along an underground sewer tunnel. Angelus runs by. He looks behind him and sees a group of monks carrying torches coming his way. Turns a corner, only to see other torch carrying groups of monks down a couple other branches.

Angelus comes up on a sewer grate. He pulls the center grating loose, steps through, then wedges it back in place behind him. As he turns, he stumbles, tumbles down the slanting tunnel, crashes through another grate and lands on the floor of some underground chamber lit by torches. He is surrounded by monks with crossbows aimed at him. A pair of double doors swing open behind him, letting in bright sunlight. Angelus throws himself to the ground out of the direct light surrounded by a thin cloud of smoke. A rider brings his horse to a stop just inside the doors and dismounts. One of the monks leads the horse away as the rider makes his way over to a red robbed priest, while Angelus is picks himself up from the floor.

Holtz: "Mille grazie, Monsignore. Sono nel vostro debito."
("Thank you, Monsignor. I am in your debt.")
Monsignor :"No, this animal murdered your family. (Points at Angelus) Hold the beast!"
Chains wrap around Angelus upper arms and chest.

Holtz steps closer to Angelus: "Monsignor Rivalli, performed the ceremony when Caroline and I were wed. You remember Caroline?"

Angelus :"Pretty lass. Hearty screamer."

He begins to torture Angelus for the death of his family adn the torture Holtz has felt since his family's death. We see the sun rise and set while hearing Angelus' screams in the background. The monsignor is walking cross the room, reading a book. Holtz is sitting on a bench, drinking from a cup. We hear some monks recite in the background and Angelus gasping in pain. Angelus is beginning to weaken, when Darla arrives with several vamps in tow. They make short work of the monks, but leave Holtz alive. A wagon arrives, Angelus and Darla jump on it and hide in the back underneath a blanket. They drive off, leaving Holtz with another failed attempt to capture them.

Angelus: "Shouldn't we be killing Holtz?"
Darla: "I know, but it's just so much fun ruining his life. He's like family now."

Los Angeles 2001. We see Darla getting off of a city bus. The bus driver is ready to drive away from the stop, when he hears moaning in the bus. He turns around to see all of the passengers bleeding from the neck.

He calls for help.

Intro


The Hyperion – basement

We see Cordy decorating the basement with fake flowers , putting them in vases. Angel walks in and sees the flowers scattered around the room. Angel asks what it is for; she says it is all dark and lifeless down there, she thought she would brighten it up a little for him.

Cordy : You can't exactly go out and enjoy the sunny fields of nature, but that doesn't mean we can't bring a little bloom into your darkness."

He is touched by the gesture. They begin practicing their combat moves.

Cordy : Can we do it? (Takes on a stance) Hi-yeah!"

Angel chuckling: "Okay. Last time we were working on not pulling your punches and your kicks. Right? Don't worry about me. (Cordy hits him and he deflects the punch with his arm) That's good. (Cordy swipes at him again) Good! Where is your weight? (Angel looks down) Balls of your feet?" Cordy swings and hits him across the face full force.

Cordy asks him if he is Okay he says she can’t hurt him he is a vampire. Then Angel turns away from her and makes a face, gingerly feeling his nose. Cordy tells him he is off game, because of the prophecy. She thinks he thinks the end is coming. Angel turns back to face her: "The end is not coming. Someone is always uncovering some ancient scroll, and they're always saying the same thing: that something terrible is coming.

Camera sweeps over some big houses, surrounded by big gardens on a sunny plateau with some mountains in the background. Pans past some old oil paintings and statuary to show Wes and Gunn breaking into an old man’s house to retrieve the missing pieces of the lost Nyazian scroll. Wesley has all his high-tech housebreaking tools, butt Gunn just walks in, seems the doors aren’t locked. Wes puts away his tools and moves over to follow Gunn inside, then hurries back to detach the suction cup from the window and stow it in his bag while Gunn waits for him inside. Wes hurries in and motions for Gunn to close the patio door.

They open the doors into an adjacent room, they see the old man’s collection, which includes several preserved demon body parts. Gunn looking around: "Some guys collect old cars, some guys collect..." Wes walks over to a bottle sitting on a pedestal, pulls out the stopper and takes a sniff before closing it again. Wes: "Alright. If you were the priceless remnants of the lost Nyazian Scroll, where would you be?" Gunn: "If I was priceless - I'd be in the vault." Wes: "The vault? Your snitch never said anything about a vault!"

Gunn: "I got a bad feeling about this."
Wes: "We figure something out. It's just a - vault."
Gunn: "Actually my bad feeling is more about the man standing behind you with the large revolver."
Wes turns to see a guy standing in the door aiming a gun at them.
Man: "Move and I'll kill you.

The man edges into the room and reaches for the telephone with one hand while still aiming the gun at them with the other. He is about to call the police when Wesley asks him how he will explain his stash of GHB Wes walks over to the bottle on the pedestal “ You know, Rohypnol, the date rape drug." Wes says it will look similar enough underneath a microscope. The man slowly puts the receiver back down. Gunn picks up four red glass balls out of a bowl on another stand. He juggles them and breaks one, he will continue till the man agrees to give them what they want.


Back at the basement

Fred comes down. Cordy and Angel are still in training session.

Cordy: "Ow. That doesn't feel right."
Angel: "Just relax. You have to bend."
Cordy: "I don't bend there. - Okay. Now that's downright unnatural."

Cordy spins and kicks up against Angel's chest. Angel catches her, one arm around her leg another around her waist to keep her from falling. They finish their work out.

Cordy: "Yeah, well, we could do more of it, but then I'd have to ice every bone in my body. See you."
Cordy walks towards the stairs, one hand pressed against the small of her back.

Cordy: "Hey, Fred."
Fred: "Hey! - Kye-rumption."

Angel asks her what she said, Fred answers Kye-rumption and explains it is a Pylean word meaning when two great heroes meet on the field of battle and recognize their mutual fate. It's also a kind of grog made out of the ox dung but that’s archaic. Fred talks about how obvious it is to see Angel loves Cordy, while Cordy exits to the lobby. Angel seems a bit shocked by this revelation and denies it. Wesley joins them and asks Fred if she is willing to help in translating the prophecy of the scroll. There are some complex equations he needs her to work out. Fred starts up the stairs.

Wes looks around: "Who gave you all the flowers?"
Angel: "Nobody."

Back at the office

Gunn is throwing darts at a board in the office at the Hyperion. Wes is sitting at the desk, writing. Fred is sitting beside him, working on the laptop. Cordy is at her own desk. Gunn asks Fred how she is doing , she begins to tell about preliminary calculations, and she asks why Wesley is being so careful about translating the scroll. Angel walks into the lobby, he sees Cordy sitting at her desk and stops before anyone notices he's there.

Wes explains he made a previously mistake regarding the word “shanshu”.
Wes: "Then I found out it also meant to live. It meant to die and to live."
Fred: "So - which is it?"
Wes: "Both. In his case it meant that some day the vampire in him might die, but the human in him might live."
Angel is standing at a corner in the lobby, listening.
Fred: "That he would be like a normal man?"

Angel slowly lifts his head and looks at Cordy working at her desk. Fred goes back to typing on the laptop. Fred initially calculates the evil the prophecy calls for arrived in LA in March of last year, which she know is not correct. Angel walks into the reception area and sits down.

Cordy: "Hey."
Angel: "Hey."
Cordy after a while: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Angel: "Ah, no reason."

After a moment Cordy gets up and walks past Angel to pour a cup of coffee.
Cordy: "Okay. It's getting creepy now."
Angel tries to express his feelings for Cordy, and he learns that she loves him but as a friend, just like Wesley, Gunn and Fred do.
Fred, Wes and Gunn chorus: "We love you Angel."
Cordy: "They were all saying it earlier. Just in case this prophecy comes true and we all die. - You're not gonna wanna hug, are you?"
Angel clears his throat and sits back shaking his head: "No."
Then we hear a voice
Darla: "If you ask me, they're for knocking you up and leaving you high and dry."
Angel spins around to see a very pregnant Darla standing on the top landing leading down into the lobby from outside.

Darla: "Hello, lover. Long time no see."

We see a very pregnant Darla in the lobby. Cordy learns that Angel lied about doing the THING with Darla. Cordy feels betrayed. Darla wants Angel to find out how they were able to conceive this baby. Angel asks Wesley to look it up in some of his books, which Wes immediately does, and quickly finds the answer.

Wes: "Oh, here it is."
Darla straightens up in her seat and Angel walks over to Wes.
Wes: "It says 'I have absolutely no idea what's going on.' (Closes the book) We should talk to the host."


At the Caritas

Lorne: "Oh, this is all wrong."

The camera pulls back and we see that he is looking at two people holding up a modern painting. Lorne has finally begun the rebuilding of his club. The Muses are there, placing a protection spell that prevents demons and humans from fighting.

Angel: "Lorne! You here? - You got to help me. We got (looks back at the others filing in behind him) kind of a situation on our hands."
Muses: "Mmm, Angel."
Cordy: "And here we have three more of Angel's chippies. You girls are on the pill I hope."
Muses: "Mmm."

Angel smiles and waves at them then walks over to lean in close to Lorne. He asks what the muses are doing here , Lorne says they are working on a protection spell. He sees Darla and asked what happened here and Cordy says Angel boned her. They lie down Darla in a back room, and Cordy sits with her in sympathy. Cordy is really concerned with Darla. She will stay with her and Lorne leaves the room. Meanwhile the others are discussion the prophecy.

Angel: "I don't accept this. These stupid prophecies, you can always interpret them a hundred ways from Sunday. How do we even know your calculations are correct?"
Wes: "You know the first prophecy that said that the vampire with a soul would be pivotal in the battle between good and evil?"
Gunn: "That Shanshu one?"
Wes: "Maybe it's not you. Maybe your child is a pivotal figure. Maybe your destiny is simply to help bring to the world."
Angel after a beat: "Or to stop it."
Fred: "Can I say something about destiny?- Screw destiny! If this evil thing comes we'll fight it, and we'll keep fighting it until we whoop it. 'cause destiny is just another word for inevitable and nothing's inevitable as long as you stand up, look it in the eye, and say 'your evitable!' - Well, you- you catch my drift."
Lorne: "Wow. I like her so much!"
Angel: "I wanna see these prophecies myself, and your calculations, Fred, and anything else we got on this."
Fred: "Why don't I go back to the hotel and get everything?"
Wes: "Good idea. We put our heads together and figure out a way to fight this thing."
Fred leaves and Angel turns to Lorne.

Angel asks how she is doing. Lorne thinks he asks about Darla, Angel tells him he is worried about Cordy.

Back at the room

Cordy and Darla are talking , Darla tells her she is getting hungry. Cordy wants to leave the room but Darla stops her in a morphed face.

Darla: "I'm hungry all the time. It's weird."
Cordy: "Sure. You're eating for two now. It's only natural."
Darla: "No, what's weird is - no matter how much I feed - I can't seem to get full."
Cordy punches Darla hard across the face. Follows it up with a second punch, then pulls out a cross to ward Darla off.
Cordy: "Pregnant or not, you're *going* to keep your distance."

Darla bats the cross aside, grabs Cordy and throws her across the room against a table. Then she clamps a hand over Cordy's mouth to prevent her from screaming and sinks her teeth into the side of Cordy's neck. As Darla bites her, Cordy gets hit by a vision. Darla backs away from her for a moment while we see flashes of some arcade, then lunges back in - only to get pulled back away by Angel.

Angel: "Get away from her!"
Angel picks Cordy up and carries over to the bed.
Angel: "You're gonna be alright. You're gonna be alright."
Cordy holding the side of her neck: "Ouch!"
Angel presses a cloth over the neck wound.
Angel: "Cordy, you're gonna be all right. I'll kill her for this."
Cordy panting: "You're gonna have to find her first."

Angel looks around. Darla is gone.

Out in the club the others are just picking themselves back up, when Angel comes out, carrying Cordy in his arms. Angel takes Cordy back to the Hyperion. Night, Cordy is lying on a bed with Angel sitting beside her. Angel asks her is she is feeling any better, Cordy says he doesn’t have to stay with her. Angel says he will put Gunn in charge of guarding her. Angel gets up and backs away from the bed as Cordy's eyes drift closed.

Angel quietly to Gunn: "You see Darla anywhere in range..."
Gunn: "I'll take care of it."

Angel turns to go.

Cordy sits up: "Wait! - When she bit me I had a vision. I almost forgot."
Angel comes back and sits back down on the edge of the bed.

Cordy tells she thinks where Darla might be. We see Angel going for the weapon cabinet. Wes tells him he doesn’t have to face this alone. Angel turns away and hurries out. A busy arcade, there are kids and noise everywhere. A little blond boy stands in the middle of the confusion, looking around. He is crying and asking for his mommy. Darla arrives at the place Cordy saw in her vision. She sees the little boy and takes him by the hand.


Back at the Hyperion

Cordy is sleeping on the bed, dreaming of Darla biting her and getting the vision. She jerks awake with a gasp. Gunn comes over and sits down on the edge of the bed. Cordy tells him she needs to talk to Wes. Cordy is pacing in Wes' office.

Cordy: "It was a dream, but - it was more like a vision."
Wes: "About what?"
Cordy: "About what's inside Darla. (Sits down) This Tro-clan thing - the prophecies say that it will be born - or it will arise?"

They try to contact Angel with his pager but the pager is going off in the office.

Back at the arcade

Darla takes the little boy into a secluded area, and is about to bite him, when the boy starts screaming. Angel runs across some of the arcade games and tackles Darla against the wall and slams the stake in his hand towards her heart. Darla puts up a hand to ward it off the stake pierces her hand until it comes out on the other side. The boy runs away screaming, straight into his mother's arms out in the crowd. Darla tosses Angel out from the deserted section. The mother's eyes widen as Angel lands on top of some tables, over turning them. People in the crowd see Darla follow him out, still wearing her vampface and turn to run away, screaming. Darla pulls the stake out of her right palm and lets it drop as she walks towards Angel.

Darla: "You *so* want to play the good guy, don't you? Yeah. You're the good guy who did *this* to me."
Hauls back and knocks Angel across the face, slamming him against one of the games.
Darla: "You may have the face, but you don't know the hunger! It pounds! You can't make it go away! You can't stop it!"
Angel: "I'll stop it!"
He hauls back and hits Darla. The two of them fight. In the end Angel manages to grab Darla by the throat and push her up against the wall.
Darla: "How could you put this in me? I *hate* you!"
Darla hits him again, but Angel refuses to let go of her throat.
He is about to stake her, when he hears the baby’s heart beat. He can’t kill her and his baby, so he withdraws. They both let their human faces show, and Angel holds Darla.

Back at the Hyperion

Angel helps Darla to lay back down on a bed and hands her a mug.
Angel: "Here, drink this."
Darla takes a gulp then makes face.
Darla: "Pig's blood?"
Darla throws the pug against the wall, shattering it and splashing the wall with blood. Angel tells her they are in this together and he will help her. She asks about Cordy and if she wants to come up and visit and laughs evilish. Angel walks up to Gunn, standing in the door holding a loaded crossbow.

Angel: "She goes near Cordy, or Fred..."
Gunn lifting the bow: "I know."
Angel: "Don't underestimate her. The woman is stronger than all of us right now."

Angel walks down into the lobby and sees Cordy and Wes leaning over an open book on the reception counter together. Wesley believes that the prophecy may not refer to Angel as the vampire with a soul, but instead, his child, which could have a heartbeat and a soul. Meanwhile Fred redoes her calculations and says the evil has just arrived in LA. A busy section of LA, night, people are walking past, talking. The camera sinks through the ground down into a round chamber, lit by fires in the alcoves along the wall. The ceiling is supported by a circle of pillars. A stone statue and two bowls holding more flames are set up, forming an equal triangle inside the circle of pillars. A demon walks in and stops in front of the statue. He is performing a ritual ; the room begins to shake and blue lighting flashes. The eyes of the statue suddenly turn into two open, human looking eyes. The statue cracks then crumbles to the ground in a cloud of dust.

We see a figure.

Sahjhan: "Welcome to the twenty first century. (Crouches down and puts a hand on the back of the figure) Angelus is here. You'll see him soon. - You haven't used your muscles in a very long time. It will be a while before you're strong enough to..."

The figure suddenly straightens up. It's Holtz.

Holtz: "Just tell me where he is."
 
Rating and Comments: Ratings : Very nice eps with lots of surprises – a start to some following angst and violent ones. I personally loved the opening scene (but that must be my ANGELUS obsession) – It is also the start of the growing friendship between Cordy and Angel , tho she isn’t quite pleased with him lying to her. Angel’s past will finally follow him and he will have to pay his debts.
Rating: 8/10 a very good ep, and it is always a pleasure to see Julie Benz.
Written By: Staff Writer - Setje

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