Soulless

Plot

There is a crime wave in the city. Connor is battling vampires from Tucson who have come to town because of the darkness. He destroys a bunch of them, but lots more appear. Wesley is putting the receptacle with Angel's soul in it into the hotel safe. Cordelia says they've done the right thing. Wesley says they all know Angelus' history and that he will be focussed on only one thing - getting free so he can slaughter them. Cordelia says they are Angel's link to humanity and Angelus will hate them for that. Wesley says to watch the monitor when he goes down and pay attention to everything Angelus does. That he will try to play on their emotions. He admits a lifetime of training has not prepared him. He says Angelus is smarter than him and more focussed. In the basement, we see Angelus singing Teddy Bears' Picnic. Ominously.

Wesley goes down to confront Angelus. Wesley seems to be buttering him up. Angelus tries to get to him by talking about the atrocities he committed - killing the gypsy girl, newborn babies, nuns. Wesley says they could start there. Angelus says he knows Wesley really wants to know about the beast. But when Wesley asks, he's evasive. He won't even explain why Angel wouldn't remember. He mocks Angel's dream fantasy, comparing it to Raiders of the Lost Ark. He says everyone has an agenda and describes Wesley's agenda: to find out how to destroy the beast and be a hero. He says he's doing it for Fred, to get her to love him. Then he starts talking crudely about Fred and Gunn having sex. Wesley glances toward the camera broadcasting this to the monitor the others are watching. Cut to the others watching. Fred says you can't believe anything Angelus says. Gunn says what about the true things. Cordelia says he distorts everything and lies with the truth. Gunn calms down. Wesley congratulates Angelus on finding a weakness and exploiting it. He asks if they can move on. Angelus says all the digging he's been doing on the beast is in the wrong place. But he won't say where to look. Wesley tries to confirm Angelus and the beast were adversaries. Angelus says it's hard for him to keep track. Wesley says if they were, then by killing him he'd be doing Angelus a favour. Angelus says Wesley may have a new haircut and clothes and have hit the gym, but he's still a loser. He has no leverage. Wesley says he'll kill him, Angelus laughs. He says he'll return his soul. Angelus says that just means he loses. Angelus starts listing Wesley's failures: letting Lilah get Lorne's brain, Faith, kidnapping Connor. He talks about the bond between father and son.

Wesley tries to get back to Cordelia's vision of Angelus and the beast. Angelus starts talking crudely about Cordelia and complains about her personality, her yapping. He mocks her conversations with Angel. Upstairs, Lorne tries to console Cordelia. She says she's ok. Angel says kidnapping Connor is probably better than having sex with him like Cordelia did. Fred thinks that's ridiculous since it would be like sleeping with your son. Then they realize it's the truth. Angelus starts yelling that he wants a drink. A beat up Connor walks in. Everyone is staring strangely at him. Wesley comes up saying Angelus wants blood. Fred says she'll get it and Gunn goes with her.

Fred and Gunn (with a crossbow) go downstairs. Angelus calls them Othello and Desdemona, then says Desdemona wasn't in love with the other guy. Angelus starts working them. He talks about them having sex, about Wesley being Gunn's boss, about hearing them at night in their room. He says he hears the things she says and touches himself. Gunn points out Angel can't get any. Fred calls him a pig. Gunn tells him to step back. Fred puts a glass of blood on a cart and wheels the cart to the cage. Angelus steps forward and takes the glass. He kicks the cart knocking Fred forward and grabs her through the bars saying 'Might get some now'. Gunn drops the crossbow and rushes to her, trying to pry Angelus' hands from her neck. Wesley appears and shoots Angelus with a tranquiliser dart. Angelus drops. Fred says it's her fault. Wesley says Angelus is unpredictable and Gunn should not have dropped his weapon. Fred clings to Gunn and tells him she's glad he's there.

Cordelia brings Connor a shirt, a black one of Angel's. He wants to go back out, but she says no. He says he doesn't like the way everyone looks at him, like they still think he's connected to the beast. She says the looks were about what Angelus said about their night together. He's fine with everyone knowing. She says not to go out again, he says if she doesn't want to be with him that's fine, but not to tell him what to do.

Wesley is in the office trying to do research. Fred comes in. She thanks him for what he did. She looks to see if Gunn is nearby and Wesley looks as well and says he's not. She says Gunn heard what Angelus said about Wesley and Fred. She says his feelings are sweet and there's nothing wrong with it. He says there is and he kisses her. She pulls away, flustered. Gunn comes in asking why no one is watching the monitor. He's immediately suspicious. Fred tries to calm him and get him out of the room, but he confronts Wesley and they start arguing ignoring Fred. Gunn complains to Fred that she always goes to Wesley for help. He warns Wesley to stay away from her. Downstairs, Angelus comes to and says 'that was fast'. Fred pushes Gunn out of the room. The argument gets louder. The others come down, but they can't calm the two men. Gunn says nobody wants Wesley there. Wesley says Gunn can't give Fred what she needs.They start fighting. Fred tries to intervene and is knocked down by Gunn. Everyone is shocked. Cordelia sees Connor going down to Angelus on the monitor.

Angelus tries to work Connor. He calls him son. Connor recalls what Angel told him about Angelus in Awakening. Angelus talks about Cordelia. He reminds Connor that Holtz killed himself. But Connor is untouched. Then he starts talking about Darla, saying she staked herself because she couldn't stand the thought of Connor inside her and preferred to be dead. Then he says Holtz killed himself because he couldn't stand Connor. Connor gets angry, says Holtz was a good man (first calling him his father). That all he wanted was for Angelus to get the punishment he deserved. Angelus starts saying now Connor is in love, but that Cordelia is pretty much the closest thing he has to a mother and he's basically committing incest. Connor recounts what Angel told him in Awakening. But he says he didn't believe it. He says Angel is just something Angelus is forced to wear and Angelus is his real father. Angelus sees the challenge in Connor and eggs him on to fight. But Connor resists. Angelus continues egging him on but before it comes to blows Cordelia walks in and tells Connor to leave. At first he won't, but when she says please he goes upstairs as Angelus calls him "mama's boy".

Cordelia turns off the camera so the others can't see her and Angelus. She tells him she'll deal for information about the beast. She offers herself. He doesn't believe her, but she says as a champion sometimes a sacrifice is called for. She says to look in her eyes and see she isn't lying. The gang can't understand why Angelus is suddenly cooperative. Connor asks what she did, she won't say. Wesley says he needs to know, but she says he doesn't.

Angelus is talking to Wesley. He says the time was 1789, Wesley says that must have been in Prussia. He says he was taking a shortcut to Vienna. There were troops about and he found a massacre. He followed the trail to the beast. It had staged the massacre. It knew of Angelus and wanted to meet him. The beast feared the Svea priestesses who were working to banish him. The beast couldn't touch them, but Angelus could. He offered a deal. Angelus declined. Before the beast could destroy him, the priestesses banished him. The gang start looking up the Svear. They find some information, it's a little vague yet it seems to match what Angelus said. Gunn finds the Svear in the phone book and they head out to get them.

Wesley, Connor, and Cordelia have gone to the Svear. They knock, but no one answers. The door is unlocked and they enter. They see family photos. Then they discover the bodies. The entire family has been slaughtered. They wonder how the beast got there ahead of them and whether it is spying on them or Angelus was able to contact it. But Wesley realizes the family have been dead for days. Angelus had nothing to do with it. He finds a banishment incantation. Connor sees a calendar with a date marked 'Daddy's birthday'. He runs outside and vomits. Cordelia follows. She tells him death is different when it's humans, not demons or vampires. He says that's not it and starts to talk about the family. A vampire attacks. Wesley pulls up in the car and they hop in as more vampire start coming. They drive off.

The others are watching the monitor where they see Angelus singing Teddy Bears' Picnic. Lorne isn't getting anything useful from reading him. He does say that in his mind Angelus isn't in a cage. The others return and explain what happened. Gunn says the last ditch plan to turn Angel into Angelus is a bust. Cordelia says it's time to bring back Angel. Connor walks away. Cordelia goes down to Angelus. She tells him that since his information didn't help stop the beast, she doesn't have to fulfill her part of the bargain. She says they are putting his soul back. That he's a disease Angel can't wait to get rid of. Upstairs, Wesley opens the safe. She goes upstairs to find the receptacle and the soul gone.