Eternity

Plot

Wesley and Angel have been forced to witness Cordelia's theatrical debut. She’s not very good. On the way home from the theatre, they come across celebrities exiting a movie premiere.

As Angel watches, Rebecca Lowell, a famous television actress, is almost run over by a speeding car. Angel rushes forward and shoves her out of the way, saving her life. Rebecca thanks Angel for saving her life. The media shows up and Angel vanishes. A thoroughly starstruck Cordelia gives Rebecca their card in case she ever needs anything.

Rebecca shows up at Angel's office. She's intrigued by the fact that Angel has never heard of her or seen a single episode of her TV series. She asks Angel for some help with a stalker that she seems to have acquired. Angel has already been investigating the car that tried to run her down the previous evening. However, he refuses to take her case. Wesley deduces that Angel likes Rebecca and is afraid of getting too close. Cordelia is upset that her chance at knowing a celebrity has been ruined by Angel's "intimacy issues". Instead, Angel watches her from a distance.

When a masked man bursts into her home and attacks her, Angel rushes in to save the day. In the aftermath, Angel and Rebecca glance up at her wall length mirror and she realizes he has no reflection. Once the police and Rebecca's entourage have left the scene, she heads upstairs to talk to the still lurking Angel. She's figured out that he's a vampire and she's not afraid. Angel is stunned by her lack of fear. He agrees to stay the night.

The next morning, Wesley informs Cordelia that Angel called and they've taken the case. Cordelia realizes that if he spent the night at Rebecca's, he may have slept with her and lost his soul. She heads over there to check on them and Angel tells her that he told Rebecca the truth. Rebecca meets with Oliver, her agent, and is told her career is floundering now that her series is off the air. She asks Angel to attend a movie premiere as her bodyguard.

At the premiere they go in the front door of the theatre and immediately head out the back alley. An assassin shoots at them. Angel leaps for the gunman and knocks him out. As the police are going over the scene, Oliver shows up. Rebecca tells him she knows that he's behind the stalker. He was a stuntman that Oliver used to represent. Oliver set the whole thing up as a publicity stunt. Oliver tells her that she lost the job she had been campaigning for because she was felt to be too mature. Oliver tells her that reality is no one stays young forever. Rebecca glances over at Angel with a speculative gleam. Angel informs Wesley that the assassin last night was using blanks. He's not sure what to tell Rebecca. Rebecca, meanwhile, takes Cordelia shopping and pumps her for information on Angel.

Later that night, Rebecca shows up at Angel's apartment with a bottle of champagne she bought as a thank you gift for Angel. Angel tells her about the stalker not being real. She reveals what Oliver had done and that she lost the part. She and Angel drink the champagne. She spills some “accidentally” on Angel and while he is out of the room, she slips a powder into Angel's glass. Angel comes back and finishes his drink. Cordelia calls Wesley, very concerned as she realizes that Rebecca was trying to find out how to become a vampire.

Angel now seems drunk. Rebecca is trying to seduce him. She tries to convince him to turn her into a vampire. Angel gets violently angry and he grabs Rebecca dragging her over to the refrigerator. He pulls out a bag of blood so that she can taste what eternity feels like. He shrinks back in horror at his actions. Something is wrong with him. He asks her what she's done. He realizes that she must have put something in her drink. She tells him it was just a little happy pill to relax him, to lower his defenses. Angel bites her and pulls away.

Angelus has taken over. He's thrilled to be released and torments Rebecca. She fights back and escapes in the elevator, when she enters the office she finds Cordelia and Wesley. As she explains what happened, the lights go out. Angelus has cut the power and phone lines. Wesley tries to reason with Angelus, explaining that this is all a temporary condition due to the effects of the drug. Angelus merely laughs, telling Wesley how inferior he is and he flings Wesley across the room. He then turns on Cordelia mocking her acting abilities. Cordelia takes Angelus on brandishing a glass she claims holds holy water. Angelus isn’t entirely convinced. Cordelia continues her bluff, managing to distract him with a detailed account of how she's planned for this day. Wesley leaps forward knocking Angelus down the elevator shaft.

Angel awakes the next morning chained to the bed. Things are very tense between the three of them. Wesley and Cordelia agree to forget what was said. It was after all the drugs talking, not Angel. Angel is grateful for their understanding. They do, however, leave him chained to the bed. Just in case.