Previously on Angel:
Standard wrap up of the last couple eps, ending with Angel opening an envelope, the amulet dropping onto the floor, and Spike materializing out of the whirling glittery-smoky tornado.

Flashback to Sunnydale, and Spike's final moments, telling Buffy to go, then laughing as the cavern collapses and he incinerates.

Spike is staggering in Angel's office, disoriented. He looks around, noting Wes, Fred, Lorne, Gunn... Harmony barges in and demands to know what he's doing. Wes tries to get Harm to calm down; Gunn is stunned that this is "the" Spike; Fred wants to know who he is, and Wes obliges, running down a brief list of "William the Bloody’s" sins before Angel interrupts.

Spike whirls to face Angel. Angel states that Spike is dead, which leads Harmony off on a tangent ("Well, yeah, who here isn't? Except for her, and him, and-" looking at Lorne in confusion- "what're you again?"). Spike, seeing his arch-nemesis, vamps out and lunges at Angel- and goes right through him. Spike ends up standing in the middle of a desk, much to everyone's surprise- especially his own.

Opening credits.

Spike is still looking down at himself sticking out of the desk. He wonders what's happened to him, and Harmony theorizes he's a ghost, which Spike heatedly denies. As Harmony continues to chirp and shrill, he cautiously steps out of the desk. Gunn wonders where he came from, and Wes picks up the amulet. Angel mentions Buffy, and Spike immediately wants to know if she's okay and where she is. He wants to talk to her, and thus begins the verbal sparring and literal circling of Angel and Spike. Harmony suddenly realizes what Spike is referring to and has an emotional gross-out moment over the thought of Spike and the Slayer together, beating a hasty exit.

Spike, watching her go, muses he must be in Hell. Lorne assures him it's just L.A., "but a lot of people make that mistake." As Wes explains the situation to Fred and Gunn, Angel simply crosses his arms and glares at Spike. When Gunn wonders if he's like Angel, Angel dismisses the thought. Spike agrees that he’s nothing like Angel, then demands to know where he is, who the others are, and what the bloody hell is happening.

Cut to the lab; Spike is standing with his arms wrapped around himself while Fred takes readings on some sort of tricorder-looking device. Lorne is musing over the script possibilities of the Spike/Buffy/Angel triangle, which earns him a sour look from Wes. Lorne stammers to a halt.

Spike wonders who Fred is, and she tells him. He muses over Wolfram & Hart, thinking it was a law firm, and that they represent the worst evil in the universe. Angel tells him it did, but now he's in charge. Spike scoffs at that statement. Fred has finished her scanning, and Spike was right- he's not a ghost, but Fred isn't sure what he is.

Whatever he is, Wes muses, he's tied to the amulet. Angel wonders how the amulet got to Wolfram & Hart, and Fred theorizes it was the Powers That Be. Spike goes off about who gave them the right, can't a man just die in peace without someone deciding to have some more fun? You'd think that he'd deserve a rest after saving the world... He continues to rant, suddenly blurring and fading; Fred brings it to his attention just as he winks out.

The gang converge on his last position, Fred trying to take a reading. Spike's last words suddenly sink in and she asks what he meant. Angel suddenly looks very uncomfortable and stammers out the Buffy did most of the work; well, Spike helped, but...

Spike winks back in, spinning around as the gang stares at him. He seems confused as to what just happened, and immediately blames it on Angel, saying Angel should have been the one to use the amulet. Angel retorts that it wasn't his choice, and Spike bites back that it bloody well wasn't *his*, and just because he has a soul...

Fred steps forward with a confused "Excuse me?" Wes jumps in, and again, Angel looks SUPREMELY uncomfortable. "It didn't seem worth mentioning." Gunn snips that there seems to be a lot of that. Spike is gleeful at Angel's discomfiture, basically rubbing his nose in the fact that Angel isn't the ONLY vampire with a soul in the world. Angel glowers and snipes that Spike is not in the world either, calling him "Casper".

As Angel stalks out, Spike seems frustrated for a minute, then follows him with a smile. In the hallway Angel passes a man pushing the mail cart, wearing a luchadore's mask; as he turns to watch him go by, Spike walks through the wall and accuses Angel of running away again. Angel turns and continues on his way, passing Harmony, who attempts to remind him of a meeting he has scheduled; preoccupied, Angel brushes her off as Spike continues to snipe. They trade barbs, Spike making some astute observations about Angel and his position at Wolfram & Hart as a Groxlar beast comes out of the elevator.

Spike brings it to Angel's attention, and Angel immediately goes on the defensive. They fight; at one point Spike attempts to punch the beast but his hand passes right through it. ("Oh, brilliant.") Angel finally dispatches the Beast and demands to know how it got past security; Harmony steps in and tells him that the Beast *WAS* his appointment. Spike finds this incredibly amusing. Angel is incredulous that he'd be meeting with it; Groxlar beasts eat BABIES. Harmony corrects him ("Just their heads!") and that the meeting was to open negotiations. Angel wants to know negotiations for WHAT? Gunn coasts in, saying it was to get them to stop eating baby heads. Angel suddenly realizes the gravity of what he's done. "Oh, so... this is bad."

Gunn assures him its not, that the Groxlars respect someone who takes a strong opening position. Gunn mentions that its not only HUMAN law Wolfram & Hart gave him; its DEMON law as well. He would have briefed Angel on the Groxlar, but he was... sidetracked.

Spike is still standing where Angel left him, giving Gunn and Angel his best "Who, me?" expression.

Gunn continues, saying he's been implementing the reforms and has fired over 40 employees, some of whom are very upset. He and Angel walk off, leaving Harmony and Spike standing by the elevators. Harmony starts yammering, apologizing for her earlier reaction, and if Spike wants to talk... Spike silently walks away, ignoring her. Harmony snarks after him, calling him a "slayer loving freak", and goes back to her desk.

Gunn and Angel are in Gunn's office, and Gunn shows Angel a voodoo doll in Gunn's likeness that someone was trying to sneak out of the firm. Spike wanders in, muttering at the building's size. He's still got his arms wrapped around himself and is looking rather disturbed at the recent turn of events. When Angel grumbles that he's in a meeting, Spike apologies. "Oh, I'm sorry- didn't care." Gunn mentions there are going to be some rough spots, and Angel insists they'll just have to ride out the ripples as one of the former employees comes strolling into the office purposefully.

Turns out his name is Novak, and he's a lawyer from the newly-disbanded internment acquisitions division (grave robbing). He expresses concerns over the loss of revenue, and that they're under contract to a Magnus Hainesly, one of their oldest clients, who will be MOST displeased if they stop delivering. Angel approaches Novak, saying that it's his job to inform Mr. Hainesly that Wolfram & Hart is under new management and out of the grave robbing business. Novak looks very uncomfortable with this. Angel dismisses him, and Novak reluctantly goes on his way, pausing as Spike tells him he doesn't have to take that from Angel. Angel tells Spike to stay out of it, he doesn't work here; Spike cheerfully agrees, wondering if this is what Angel does now, delegate the dirty work to spineless low level flunkies? "No offense." Novak wanders off, obviously confused, as Spike goes on. Angel tells him to get lost, and Spike happily complies, telling Angel to get stuffed.

Cut to evening, Angel's office. He's brooding as Wes takes a few steps inside, changes his mind, and starts back out as Angel wonders aloud if Spike is really gone. Wes comes back in as Angel muses that it could have been him, was supposed to be him.... Wes wonders if Angel is feeling guilty, and Angel dismisses that idea with a half-hearted laugh. As he sits, he begins to muse about the amulet, and what the Senior Partners are up to. He and Wes theorize briefly (dissent among the Partners; another, unknown player in the game perhaps; or maybe they got exactly what they wanted after all).

Angel says "Spike." Wes begins to say "He may be the one they..." and Angel cuts him off, demanding to know what he's doing here. Wes suddenly realizes Angel is talking *TO* Spike and not *ABOUT* him and turns around as the ghostly vampire struts in complaining about how he can't leave L.A. Wes confirms his suspicion that since the amulet belongs to Wolfram & Hart, it's bound to the offices, and since Spike is bound to *it*...

Spike snarks at Wesley about not being anyone's property, then turns on Angel, accusing him of loving the situation. Angel sarcastically remarks that having Spike haunt him till the end of time is a dream come true. Spike makes a face as Harmony knocks on the door, saying the lawyer he sent (Novak) to dump the client (Magnus Hainesly) is back. Angel says to send him in; Harmony looks apprehensive, then motions two security guards in. They carry in three buckets- one of which has a familiar yellow tie covered in gore hanging from the edge. Angel and Wesley peer into the buckets, and Spike dryly observes that "Old buckets here was right- you guys are doing a bang-up job."

Angel strides out to Harmony's desk looking for Novak's contact list and next of kin, imploring Harmony- who is on the phone- to be discrete. She seems clueless for a moment, then gets it. "You mean not tell anyone about bucket-o-lawyer." Angel, frustrated, disconnects her call and hisses for the contact list as Gunn comes striding around the corner with the file on Magnus Hainesly. Turns out he's VERY rich, VERY connected, and VERY powerful- a necromancer, which explains the bodies that Wolfram & Hart have been providing him, but not what he's doing with them. Angel re-enters his office to find Spike reclining in his chair. He demands Spike move, and Spike blandly replies "Make me."

Gunn wonders what's in the buckets, and Spike tells him. Angel states that its a message from Hainesly and that he's going to reply to it personally. Wes insists he has armed and trained personnel that can help; Angel replies that he's not going to chance Hainesly turning someone else into chowder and that they cramp his style. Wes observes that Angel's style won't work well against a necromancer, and that they should probably avoid an "eye-for-an-eye" escalation.

Angel, who has been trying to figure out how to use his personal elevator, steps inside as the doors open by themselves. "Not going for his eyes, Wes." Gunn states that he knows what to go for, and how to hurt Hainesly. Angel stops the doors from closing and looks grimly intrigued.

Cut to Angel stepping out of the elevator into the underground garage. He passes most of the cars, heading for the black Viper. He opens the door to find Spike already inside, musing about how Angel is so predictable. Angel tells him to get out; Spike refuses, saying the idea of haunting Angel until the end of time is starting to appeal to him, that he could drive Angel completely bonkers and Angel couldn't do a thing about it...

Angel slams the door, goes to the next car (silver camaro? I think?), slides in- and Spike is already there. "Fancy a road trip? You and me, together again. Where are we off to?"

Angel, realizing he's lost this round, growls "To see the wizard-" and off they go.

Cut to interior of a very large, old-world style mansion, complete with butler asking if they have an appointment. Spike interjects that Hainesly sent them an invitation. Angel rolls his eyes and squares up with the butler. "We're..." he casts a frustrated look over his shoulder at Spike and corrects himself- "I'm from Wolfram & Hart." The butler is clearly unimpressed. Spike blandly adds, "I'm his date."

Angel rolls his eyes again, his patience clearly taxed to the limit. The butler insists Mr. Hainesly is with a customer and does not suffer interruption lightly; Angel grumbles that he's not concerned about his suffering and insists he be interrupted. The butler merely shrugs it off with an as-you-wish and asks Angel and Spike to wait.

Spike makes some snide remarks about Angel dropping by for tea, and Angel insists he's trying to avoid a body count. Spike looks ahead and says not to worry; looks like Hainesly keeps one on hand. They enter a bizarre showroom, peopled with... people. Dead people. Posed like mannequins and dressed to the nines.

Cut to a dark chamber, a dead young woman laid on an altar/table in the middle of a massive pentagram. Hainesly is at work, humming and waving his hand/fingers over her as the demon behind him rambles on about his choice in vessels. As the demon continues, Hainesly thrusts his hand into her torso, which takes the demon aback; Hainesly then extends his arm toward the demon and sort of dissolves/sucks him into his body. The particles go up one arm and down the other, into the woman, as the butler comes in and announces that two more men from Wolfram & Hart have arrived. Hainesly, nonplussed, stops for a moment and says to kill them, then continues his work. The butler nods and says very well and leaves, closing the door behind him.

Angel and Spike are still wandering through the showroom. Spike observes that the people here don't mind what Hainesly does to them, they're dead- and Angel growls that *he* minds. The butler comes in with a pair of cleavers, saying he's supposed to send them back to Wolfram & Hart- in a manner of speaking. As he begins some sort of weird martial-arts thing, Spike grins at Angel. "Looks like its buckets for you."

Calmly, Angel reaches behind him, taking a spoon out of a teacup held by one of the grotesque mannequins (the one who blinked- oops). He flings it at the butler and it buries itself in his bald head. Spike is incredulous. "A *spoon*? That's just..." The butler drops the cleavers, yanks the spoon from his forehead, looks stunned, then angry. Spike is impressed. "Well! Okay, that's more..."

The butler takes a step- and collapses, dead. Spike is disappointed. Angel angrily requests that even though Spike can't help him, could he please NOT root for the other team? Spike retorts that he'll root for whoever has half a chance of taking Angel down a notch, and Angel demands to know what his problem is. Spike says his problem is Angel, that he's got it too good, he's king of the castle, with all the cars and power, and here Spike has saved the world, thrown himself on the proverbial hand-grenade for love, honor, and all the right reasons and what does he get? "Bloody well toasted and ghosted is what I get, isn't it? It isn't fair..."

Angel is incredulous and demands to know what’s fair about him spending a hundred years trying to come to terms with infinite remorse while Spike spent THREE WEEKS moaning in a basement, and then was FINE. Spike is staring at Angel with a perplexed look on his face and wonders if he's getting blurry, or is it just... He winks out. Angel spends a moment in wordless, incoherent frustration, then heads upstairs.

He kicks in the door as Magnus is washing his hands. He didn't realize it was Angel himself that had come to call. The young woman on the table gets up and tries to duck out; Angel catches her by the arm and she spins to face him with the eyes of the dissolved demon. Without hesitation Angel punches her/him/it out and demands to know how much Hainesly charges to install the average demon in a human body. Hainesly cheerfully tells him the average demon can't afford it. Angel starts to tell Magnus that he's cut off his supply, but Hainesly reaches out with a twisting motion and Angel is suddenly in great pain, dangling powerlessly above the ground. Hainesly is a necromancer- power over the dead. And since Angel is, after all, DEAD….

Spike blinks in and Magnus laughs at Angel bringing a ghost for backup. Spike denies that he's backup and tells Magnus to do what he wants. Magnus threatens to dust Angel, then releases him, saying the Senior Partners wouldn't overlook such an insult; they have plans for Angel.

Angel says he has his own plans and phones Gunn, freezing all Magnus' bank accounts, assets, etc. Hainesly protests, saying he can't do that, it's not legal, that he'll sue them to Hell- Angel turns and walks away, telling him good luck- they're his lawyers. Spike is full of biting sarcasm about Angel's methods on the way out, and in the middle of mocking him blinks out. Angel murmurs "Thank God" and keeps going.

Spike reappears in Hainesly's lab, obviously confused. Hainesly sympathizes with Spike's situation ("not here, not there, just stuck in the middle") and offers Spike a deal- a corporeal body, for a favor. Spike enthusiastically volunteers to hurt Angel, telling Hainesly he's come to the right ghost.

Cut to Angel's office, Gunn and Angel discussing what they've done to Hainesly. Wes and Fred come in, and Angel wants them to explain to him how to rid them of Spike. Wes has discovered there's not much on the amulet and/or how to release Spike- in the conventional sense. Angel wants to know about the UNconventional sense.

Spike saunters into the lobby and heads towards Angel's office, only to be interrupted by Harmony prattling on about how he hasn't changed, even with a soul. She makes a malapropism (“I guess a leopard can’t change it’s stripes”) and Spike corrects her (“Spots, you dink; leopards have SPOTS”), and watches in amazement as she huffs off. Shaking his head, he continues toward the office, pausing outside as he hears the gang discussing their options.

Fred is reluctant, saying it doesn't seem right to wipe out Spike completely. Wes agrees, but points out that leaving him the way he is, trapped between two realms, isn't exactly right either. Apparently, the magic protecting the amulet doesn't work on hallowed ground- like a church or a cemetery. Once there, they should be able to destroy the amulet fairly easily, with a sharp blow. Gunn asks what Angel thinks of the plan, and Angel sits back in his chair, obviously troubled and deep in thought. He says he wants to sleep on it.

The gang get up to leave, Fred lying the amulet on Angel's desk; outside the office Spike moves off and out of sight. Angel gets up, picks up the amulet, and heads upstairs. In his apartment he seems melancholy as he prepares for bed. As he turns out the light and crawls into bed he hears Spike. Frustrated, he sits up as Spike muses over Angel's position- literally and figuratively. Angel declares Spike can haunt him all he likes during business hours but the apartment is off limits; Spike tells him to relax, he didn't come to fight. He lets Angel know he heard the discussion, and that Hainesly tried to make a deal with him if Spike betrayed Angel. Angel asks what his reply was and Spike gets upset, mad that Angel has to ask that, that Angel hasn't noticed he doesn't play for that side anymore. Confident in his assessment of Spike, Angel asks what Spike wants from him, and Spike admits that he can't live like he is, useless, nothing- that he wants it to end.

Cut to Angel and Spike walking through a cemetery. They stop at a sturdy monument, and Angel takes out the amulet, placing it on top. Angel asks if he's sure; Spike assures him it is. Angel picks up an urn, and Spike remarks about how it feels right that its Angel doing him in, being his grandsire and all. Angel looks vaguely troubled at this, as though he'd forgotten about that, and doesn't particularly like remembering it. Angel says goodbye to Spike, raises the urn, and hits himself in the head with it. Spike observes that he missed. Looking surprised, Angel does it again, then slowly rises into the air.

Hainesly gloats from a few feet away for a moment, before tossing Angel against a crypt. Spike accuses Hainesly of waiting too long, and Hainesly assures him he wouldn't let anything happen to Spike. Spike snips that Hainesly had better hold up his end of the plan, that he won't be used; Hainesly assures Spike that he *will* be used, but in the end he'll get his reward, just as he asked. He turns to regard Angel, unconscious on the ground.

Angel awakes in Hainesly's lab, on the table/altar. Hainesly tells Angel his plan- he's going to put Spike in Angel's body so he can unfreeze Hainesly's assets and reinstate the internment acquisitions department. When Spike's done that, Hainesly's going to give him back his own body. Spike continues, telling Angel that when he moves in, Angel will cease to be, and he- Spike- will have everything and everyone he deserves. He muses about possibly having a "go" with Fred, and Angel tells him to shut up. Hainesly cheerfully admits he's never installed someone in a conscious dead body before; it's probably going to be very painful. He begins his humming and hand-waving, thrusting his hand into Angel's belly. Angel's obviously in pain. Hainesly extends his other arm and Spike dissolves into particles, just like the other demon. The particles move up Hainesly's arm, and start moving down the other- and stop. His humming strained now, Hainesly demands to know what he's doing; Angel implores Spike ("Do... you... mind?") and a struggling, protesting Hainesly pulls his hand from Angel's stomach.

Angel does a cool spinning maneuver and flips over Hainesly and onto his feet. Hainesly regains control briefly and tosses Angel across the room; Spike manages to take over and Angel is able to advance and attack Hainesly, throwing a few punches and pushing him across the room and into the altar/table. Hainesly falls to the floor, then gets up and starts throwing punches. Angel tarries, gets puts back, grabs a silver platter and throws it at Hainesly, neatly decapitating him.

As the head falls, Spike's disappointed face takes it's place. "Oh, bollocks." The body falls, leaving Spike standing in it's place; Angel is incredulous. Spike smugly reveals that Hainesly's been dead since he hit the table; the last few punches were him. Angel is speechless, and Spike glories in his cleverness with a cocky smirk.

Back at Wolfram & Hart, Angel is telling Wesley how their trap fell into place. He stops at Harmony's desk and she hands him a file folder and a coffee mug while Wes advises that it might be prudent for Spike to share his plans with the rest of them. Angel admits that sharing is not something Spike does well, to which Harmony responds with another wistful malapropism- "Preaching to the horses' mouth-" earning her befuddled glances.

Fred is walking into the empty lab, heading toward her office. As she turns around after putting down her purse she notices Spike skulking in the corner with a start. She nervously asks if she can help him. He states that she's the smart one, and she defers to Wesley's occult knowledge, but Spike's having none of it- she's the scientific brain, the one who figures out the hows and wherefores. She's still unsure of what he wants, until Spike confides in her that he's slipping, like the ground is falling away beneath him and he's getting pulled in. He knows what's down there, and it's not where heroes go- it's full of fire and torment, and he's terrified. Fred is still uneasy as he turns around and fixes her with a troubled, pleading expression.

"Help me."

End credits.