Quickening

Plot

The story begins with a flashback to York, England in 1764. Holtz had tracked Angelus and Darla to a house in which they are supposedly trapped. In reality, they are actually at Holtz’s house, killing his wife and two children. Holtz finds a note left by the two vampires in the setup house and realizes that it was a trick. He heads back to his own house and finds his family dead.

Back in the present day, Darla is sleeping in one of the hotel beds. Angel comes in and puts his hand on her belly. She slowly wakes up and assumes he is thinking of killing it.

Present day Holtz is watching TV screens and catching up on all that has happened in the last 200 or so years. The demon that brought him back helps to bring Holtz up to speed. Holtz is ready to go kill Angel and Darla, but the demon dude tell him these things have to be done right, and that Holtz’s and the vampire’s fates are intertwined. The demon also explains to Holtz that there are many dimensions where time behaves differently and that he is able to navigate them; that is how he didn’t age.

At the hotel, Angel and Darla discuss the last time she was there. The whole gang comes in to announce they’ve had a breakthrough in translating the scrolls. The Tro-clon doesn’t refer to a person or persons; it’s a confluence of events. They still haven’t figured out what exactly is inside of Darla, though. Darla points out that whatever it is, something is protecting it and won’t let her get rid of it. When it is suggested that they kill it after it is born, Angel protests. He asks everyone to help him protect it. Cordy agrees, but only after giving Darla a good punch in the face. Darla hollers and starts having contractions.

Over at Wolfram & Hart, Lilah is signing something in blood when the creepy mail guy, named Cyril, shows her a video of Angel and her getting hot and heavy. She thinks it’s blackmail, but he lets her know that factions are being formed and Gavin is against her. She goes to the basement and finds Gavin viewing surveillance video and audio from bugs in Angel Investigations. They bicker for a bit, until she notices that it is Darla who has returned pregnant. She immediately calls some guy named Linwood.

At the hotel, Darla is in a chair having contractions. Wesley tells her she is in labor. Fred suggests going to a hospital.

Back at Wolfram & Hart, Linwood (I’m assuming) tells Lilah and Gavin that heads will roll if the senior partners find out. They are gathering all the psychics together to find out what went wrong. Cyril is eavesdropping. He goes into a back room and makes a phone call to some Master Tarfal and tells him that what he’s foreseen came to pass.

There’s another flashback to York, this time nine years later than before. Holtz is sitting in his house, being all mopey. The demon that is now with him the future shows up. He offers Holtz the chance to confront Angelus and Darla 200 years in the future. The only thing he has to do is promise to show them no mercy when the time comes.

The gang makes it to a teaching hospital with Darla. When they get there, the contractions have stopped. Wesley explains she may have been suffering from Braxton Hicks syndrome and having false contractions. Fred and Gunn bring in an ultrasound machine.

Back underground, the demon guy tells Holtz to be patient. He then morphs his face into a human’s visage.

Over at Wolfram & Hart, Linwood is berating a psychic for not predicting Darla’s pregnancy. He has the psychic killed. Lilah says that no one can figure out how she got pregnant, but she has found out there is some missing scroll that predicts a vampire birth. Linwood says that they need to find the baby and dissect it. He also lets them know that if the partners are looking for someone to blame, he’s going to blame Lilah. As Gavin smirks, she calls up some goony sword-wielding guy.

At the hospital, Wesley starts the ultrasound. He finds out that the baby looks like a human boy. Suddenly, vampires surround them. The leader of the vampires says, “Behold, the miracle child.”

The demon guy and Holtz go out on the streets. They arrive at some seedy demon gym, where the demon reveals his name to be Sahjhan, and they recruit some minions.

The leader of the vampire group tells Angel that they are there to protect the miracle child. The sword guy that Lilah called drops in and the vampires all rush to kill him. The leader tells Angel that their potentate Ul-Thar had them vow to protect the special child. He then says they are going to kill the humans in order to nourish Darla and the unborn baby.

In the meantime, Gavin is planning a huge raid on the hotel. Lilah has called in Dr. Fetvanovich, the leading paranormal obstetrician, in order to dissect the baby and Darla.

In the hospital, Fred grabs Darla and threatens to stab the “miracle child” if they vampires come after them. She whispers to Darla, “They don’t know the knife won’t hurt the baby,” and Darla responds, “They do now. Vampires have great hearing.” A fight ensues and Angel stakes the leader as the gang escapes.

At the hotel, the Wolfram & Hart swat team break in and set up, along with the doctor.

The gang is in the car, planning where to go. Darla seems emotional, and Angel guesses it was due to seeing the baby on the monitor. She denies it. Wesley reminds them that they really should go back to the hotel and get the scroll. Angel agrees to a quick stop.

Holtz shows up at the hotel, looking for Angel. Lilah, Gavin, and Linwood are watching from their surveillance monitors. Linwood orders Holtz dead over the radio, and a fight breaks out as the monitors go blank. Linwood can’t get any response on the radio, either.

Angel leaves the rest of the gang in the car a block away from the hotel so he can go get the scroll. In the hotel, he finds a bunch of dead people, including the doctor. Holtz steps out from the shadows and tells Angel he’s been looking for him.

Back at the car, Darla’s water breaks and she goes into labor.