starring
David Boreanaz
J. August Richards
Amy Acker
and
James Marsters
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INT. A UTILITY TUNNEL - AFTERNOON ANGLE ON - A manhole cover, as seen from below--tiny dots of light in a circular pattern with darkness all around. The cover suddenly shifts open and sunlight BEAMS DOWN over a floor-to-ceiling ladder. Down the ladder comes LORNE, followed by GUNN. ...And after that, there's a few miles of tunnel we'll have to walk. Wish there was another way down there, but there's not. Gunn replaces the manhole cover as Lorne reaches the bottom of the ladder. He walks over to a METAL GRATE on the floor and kneels down. Gunn stoops down beside him. Help me get this up. They use their combined strength to wrench up the grate. Gunn peers inside the access channel - It's only a few feet deep, but covered in rust and VERY NARROW. Did I mention I was claustrophobic? LORNE The Madowk live in the deepest sewer tunnels, below the subway lines and the utility tunnels. Gunn unlatches a CELL PHONE from his belt and switches it off. Where? In China? LORNE (peering at the phone) Does that thing work? GUNN (relatching the phone) Reception's bad depending on sources of interference. But the satellite network is still functional. Lorne sits down and lowers his feet into the hole. He steps down a short ladder, then jumps. We hear him land. Gunn follows. INT. DEEPER UTILITY TUNNEL - AFTERNOON Dim artificial lights show a long corridor lined with insulated wires. Lorne and Gunn start walking. Just a warning, once we get down there. There's something of a stench. The Madowk have a strong sense of honor, but I can't say the same about their sense of smell. GUNN (shrugging) Been in more than one sewer these last few months. LORNE They'll appreciate a human willing to get himself dirty. They don't go up to the surface unless they have to. Especially these days, with the Army locking up every demon they see. GUNN If I can make the Madowk see that not all humans want to lock them up or kill them, they'll make a good start to the non-aggression pact. Let the other peaceful clans know I got game. LORNE Well, remember what I said. Just make sure you don't do anything to break their trust. They'll coexist peacefully with anyone who doesn't mess with them, but if you start trouble.... GUNN "Then I'll get trouble." Yeah, I heard you. I'm not Wolfram and Hart, and I'm not Angel. But I am serious about doing something to end all this death. LONG SHOT of Gunn and Lorne receding into the tunnel. You're a great man of our time. INT. PAUL SOUTAR'S BASEMENT - AFTERNOON CLOSE-UP ON THE ORLON WINDOW. In it we see ANGEL HOLDING CONNOR BY THE COLLAR with one hand, and GRIPPING A KNIFE HELD HIGH with the other. Paul sets the Window back on the table. The image inside fades into yellow swirls. PULL BACK to Michael, who rubs his fingertips over his forehead. His eyes are wide. He looks deeply troubled. You're right. I don't like this at all. (he starts to pace) Magic...true magic, shouldn't require this sort of sacrifice. It goes against everything I was ever taught. PAUL I know it's...disturbing. But we wanted to find a nexus, and that's it. I've worked with the Window for five months now, running candidate moments over again and again, making all the standard supplications to Mnemosyne, and even adding a few I made up myself. Nothing else works. His voice softens. The truth is, Michael, your friends--this boy's father and his colleagues--it was their actions that led to all this. They took on the Circle of the Black Thorn. (he holds out his hands) And witness the results. Michael stops pacing. He shakes his head. Well, if that's true, they were trying to do the right thing. Angel's told me all about the Circle of the Black Thorn. How powerful they were. The evil they perpetuated. PAUL You're right, they were powerful. And you unplug that kind of power and the city goes dark. The machinery of the world comes to a grinding halt. (beat) But I can't help thinking that there are more effective ways to stop a group like the Circle of the Black Thorn than just killing them outright. Ways that aren't going to send civilization back to the Dark Ages in a span of months. MICHAEL (gesturing at the Orlon Window) But you're telling me I have to kill an innocent young man! A confused and tormented young man, but still innocent! PAUL (picking up the Window) No, I'm not. The frozen image of Angel and Connor returns. This moment here? It's a ritual death-cut--a mystical death. And it accomplished two things. It invoked a reality shift and a memory restructuring on, well... (he chuckles) ...an impressive scale. And it sealed a contract between Angel and the Senior Partners. In the Window, more images flash by - Connor on a rooftop, hitting a man; the Fang Gang exploring the Wolfram and Hart facilities; Angel arguing with Lilah. It freezes on Connor in a sporting goods store, a tear running down his cheek. The boy is prevented from taking his own life and is given a new one from the moment of the ritual-cut on, and all memory of his old life is altered in the minds of everyone who knew him, except his father. And Angel and his colleagues are handed the reins of the L.A. branch of Wolfram and Hart. (he pauses) Change that moment, and the contract is null and void. CLOSE-UP on the Window - The images start up again--Connor standing in the sporting goods store; Angel yanking the wires off Connor's hostages. Connor turns away and runs across the room out of the frame. We see Angel stand and turn. His eyes widen in horror. CUT TO - Paul and Michael. Angel and his small band of heroes go on as they always did, fighting the Senior Partners like David and Goliath. MICHAEL And the boy kills himself. PAUL Yes. Michael gazes at the Orlon Window pensively, then shakes his head. No. I still can't do it. It's still allowing an innocent person to die as a side-effect of my actions. PAUL And by his own choice. Michael, it's only one life, held up against the lives of thousands. MICHAEL (staring up at him) Yes, and it means putting a friend through the pain of losing a child. I know that pain personally. His expression grows solemn. He crosses his arms and turns away. And besides. Before I could do the Nexus spell, I would have to remove a protection spell I put on that young man myself. At his father's request. Breaking a sacred oath. (he pivots around) No. I won't do it. Not even for the greater good. Michael turns and stalks out of the room, leaving Paul gazing after him grimly. EXT. LOEWS STATE THEATER - DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - AFTERNOON - ESTABLISHING Like the rest of the buildings on the street, the art-deco theater is a burnt-out husk with shattered windows. No one has bothered to board them up. PAN UP to the ROOF. Standing, overlooking the street, are four young women, Vampire Slayers all, their hair licked by the light breeze. CLOSE-UP on FAITH, gazing out expressionlessly at the destruction. Then, PANNING ACROSS - next to her is RONA, frowning, arms crossed, shaking her head; then the small blonde Susan, staring down sadly; and finally, the tall, well-built Princess, her worried expression on Susan. EXT. A COMMERCIAL STREET - L.A. - AFTERNOON CLOSE ANGLE ON - A tan FORD TAURUS, passing down the street. Michael is behind the wheel, his face a tense and troubled mask. His POV, looking through the window - a NEIGHBORHOOD struggling back to normalcy. People are out on the sidewalk. A woman enters a Walgreen's with boarded-up windows. Beside the Walgreen's is the burnt and looted husk of what was once a Kawasaki dealer. And beside that is a hair salon with a battered "Closed" sign in the blinded window. A man armed with a rifle is standing outside. ANGLE ON - Michael, gazing at it pensively. FADE TO - A COMMERCIAL STREET IN LOS ANGELES - DAY - ESTABLISHING (FLASHBACK) SUPER LEGEND: 1985 WIDE SHOT - a different neighborhood, looking down the street through a HAZE. We see a bookstore, an In-and-Out Burger, an electronics store, and the frontage of UNIQUE ANTIQUES as it existed twenty years ago. The haze clears, revealing a SUNNY, VIBRANT COMMERCIAL DISTRICT with passing traffic, parked cars, and window-shopping pedestrians. INT. UNIQUE ANTIQUES RETAIL AREA - DAY The inside is even more cluttered than Michael now keeps it. Shelves and tables are stacked with vintage household trinkets, toys, and books. In the back are several rows of furniture. LONG ANGLE ON one of the aisles - A BOY OF FIVE with a shock of dark hair runs towards us, grinning. The china and crystal vases on the tables beside him tinkle in his wake. He shoots around a corner. I can't watch Danny tonight. MICHAEL'S VOICE Well, neither can I! ANGLE on - an early-thirty-something Michael with more hair and less padding around the middle, standing in the furniture section with a pretty young woman. Mei, I have to go. The ritual begins at sundown. If we can trace the magic, we at least have a chance of finding Trent this time. MEI (slight Chinese accent) You've had all sorts of "chances" for five years now, Michael! What makes you think this time will succeed any more than the rest? (she sets her hands on her hips) My classes are just as important as your work. Michael scoffs and gapes at her, flabbergasted. We hear feet thudding across the carpet. Michael turns. Danny! Walk. CUT TO - Danny, who slows at the sound of his father's voice. His toe catches on the carpet, and he falls, hitting his head on a brass andiron. The boy sobs, crouched on the floor on all fours. A HAND enters the frame. Danny looks up and takes it. PULL BACK to a WIDE SHOT as a younger version of Paul Soutar helps Danny up. He brushes back the boy's hair with his fingers. CLOSE-UP on - a small bloody gash on the boy's forehead. You listen to your dad and be careful. He pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabs at the boy's forehead. Mei and Michael appear, walking quickly. Michael kneels down beside his son. (standing) No worries. He just got himself a little scratch. Mei reaches down and takes Danny's hand. I'll clean him up. She walks her whimpering son out of the frame. Michael stands, looking exasperated. He waits until she is gone, then - She doesn't understand. Paul pockets the handkerchief and crosses his arms. I think she understands just fine. You have a destiny, and she hates that. MICAHEL (with a dismissive sigh) What I have is a job to do. An important one. I have to find Trent. Paul gives him a knowing smile. I think Mei would say about now--"Why is that your job? There's no prophecy about that." Michael shakes his head slowly. Damned prophecies. My mother and her visions. (he holds out his hands) It's all so vague. What does it mean, anyway--I will "save scores of innocents from a world in peril"? What innocents? Where? When? And whatever happened to free will? He looks at Paul with grim determination. Those children Trent murdered were innocents. And the children he will murder. Screw prophecy and destiny. I know what my fate is. To kill Nicholas Trent. CLOSE-UP on Michael's resolute expression. It SLOWLY DISSOLVES INTO - Contemporary Michael's troubled brood. INT. MICHAEL'S CAR - AFTERNOON (PRESENT) Michael turns the steering wheel. EXT. COMMERCIAL STREET - AFTERNOON WIDE SHOT of Michael's Taurus starting up a RESIDENTIAL STREET of single-family houses. It is mostly abandoned--overgrown grass and weeds, broken windows, battered-down doors. All except for a house in the middle of the block. There are several MILITARY HUMVEES, POLICE CARS, and an AMBULANCE parked out in front. INT. MICHAEL'S CAR - AFTERNOON Through the window, we see the flashing red light of the ambulance. An Army Sergeant in the street throws up a hand, signaling Michael to stop. Michael steps on the brakes. He gazes reflexively over at the house. A group of soldiers are dragging several bullet-battered DEMON CORPSES across the lawn. Behind them, a paramedic wheels a gurney down the front walk. A sheet has been pulled over the body on it. A HIGH-PITCHED SCREECH and a DEEP, PLAINTIVE WAIL cut the air. A woman exits the house and lunges after the gurney, sobbing. No! She grabs at the sheet. It slides off the gurney and flutters to the ground, revealing the battered, blood-stained body of a YOUNG CHILD. A police officer comes over and pulls the woman away. She struggles against him. No, no! The paramedic quickly replaces the sheet. CLOSE-UP on Michael, staring at the scene, his face a mix of sympathy and revulsion. As we HOLD on that image, we hear - PAUL SOUTAR (faint v.o.) Michael, it's only one life, held up against the lives of thousands. CUT TO - INT. MICHAEL'S OFFICE - AFTERNOON Michael stalks into his office, throwing his car keys on the desk. He walks over to his large wooden chest on the floor, pulls it out, kneels, and throws open the lid. CLOSE-UP, his POV - jars filled with powders and liquids, bundles of dried herbs; loose, glittering talismans. BLACK OUT. |