Players

Plot

Everyone is shocked at Cordelia's mystical pregnancy. Lorne walks in and is particularly shocked since he had no clue. Gunn notes it has only been a couple of weeks since they released Angelus and she looks 8 months. Wesley points out last time she got pregnant it only took a day. Gunn says Angel will have a grandspawn. Connor gets angry and says they are making jokes because they don't like him. He leaves. Cordelia says she can feel the life growing within her and sense its goodness. She turns away from them and we see an unnatural squirming by the baby. She says they'll see.

Gwen meets a man by a fountain. He's nervous. She gives him money, he gives her a packet of blueprints and stuff. He then comes on to her, but she's struck by lightning and he runs away. At the hotel, the gang (sans Cordelia, Connor, and Angel) are discussing the mystical pregnancy and what the offspring of two quasi demon beings would be. Angel comes in and reveals he could hear all they said. He says he's been thinking about what happened. He says Angelus did not kill Lilah and tells Wesley he's sorry for his loss. He tells Lorne to hit his contacts and find out what he can about the beast master, Wesley and Fred to research the mystical birth, and Gunn to sit tight in case they need muscle. He says he'll go through everything the beast master said to Angelus and all that he can remember and try to piece it together. Gwen shows up. She says a girl is in trouble and she needs someone suave who can handle himself in a tight spot. She says she wants Gunn.

Cordelia finds Connor and tells him he can't let what they said bother him. He says what she said didn't make sense. That she was wrong about Willow opening a gateway to evil, wrong about having to kill Angelus. She says the important thing is he was there to help her. She says now she knows she can trust him completely. She says before their baby comes, she might ask him to do some things for them. She wants him to remember there is always a reason. He says he will.

Gunn is at Gwen's, looking at a small jade animal she says is a souvenir from her last trip. She asks about his travels and he talks about the wounds he's received fighting demons around the region. Gwen says she worked for a company, undermining another company's bid on a big contract. The losing company kidnapped the daughter of the man who hired her. The girl's name is Lisa, she was kidnapped by a guy called Morimoto who will kill her if the company who hired her doesn't give up the contract. Gwen wants to set things straight and needs Gunn to help her. Gunn is actually really happy to be able to do good that doesn't involve anything supernatural. She reveals they will get in by going to a party that's being hosted there. The dressed up duo go through some tight security at the party - scanners and metal detectors. They pass, but when Gwen hands in her invitation she's told the electronic signature has been altered. She explains she was struck by lightning, but they don't buy that. She's going to use her powers, but Gunn stops her and approaches Morimoto saying hello in Japanese. He reveals that's all the Japanese he knows. He says they met at the zoo benefit. He asks him to accept a gift and holds out a box. Morimoto takes it, it's the jade animal. Morimoto is impressed. He invites them in and they get past the guards.

Fred and Wesley are researching demon births. Fred says she's grossed out by the idea of Connor and Cordelia together. Wesley says they were both lost and lonely. She says no matter how lonely she was she wouldn't. He says things happen. He says when you are alienated from the people who care about you you start to look other places. Fred realizes he means Lilah. He says they were on opposite sides but in the same war. Fred says he hated Lilah. There is a silence. He says it's not always about holding hands. There's a long silence.

At the party, Gunn reveals he learnt about Japanese culture from samurai movies. She reveals she stole back the jade. The little girl shows up, flanked by bodyguards. Gwen says she'll get a closer look and tells Gunn to keep an eye on Morimoto. At the hotel, Cordelia visits Angel. He says killing Manny, stealing his soul, killing Lilah were not the beast's style. They were done by his master. Cordelia says she's his master. She's his all powerful master and she takes all these risks. Angel says the master is insane enough to do it. He says it's deluded and demented. He talks about the cheesy voice it used to talk to him and says he doesn't even think it has a plan but is just making things up as it goes along. He says they'll get it. He says the beast master will slip up sooner or later.

Gunn is mingling, but Gwen gets him and says they are going to kill Lisa that night. She says she wants him to grab the girl while she makes a disturbance. She knocks over a table, Gunn grabs the girl, Gwen tells a security guard Gunn has grabbed the girl. Gunn runs into another room with the girl. He's attacked by some men, but easily beats them up. When he goes to get the girl, she reveals this is her home and she is Morimoto's daughter.

Gunn finds Gwen breaking into the safe. He realizes she needed him because the scanners would have realized Angel was dead. She says even if she did set him up, he's having a great time. She reveals LISA is an acronym for a black ops device Morimoto's company designed. It regulates heartbeat and body temperature. He asks who she is stealing it for and she says a thief doesn't ask. He's going to leave, but agrees to stay when she tells him he can keep the suit.

Fred and Wesley are hovering over Angel. Cordelia enters. Angel is trying to recreate a passage from the book Angelus was looking at when the beast master spoke to him. As Wesley translates, we see Cordelia about to knock over coffee on the text. But it's just nonsense and she stops. Angel says he'll try again. Gwen breaks into the safe and gets LISA. But Morimoto and his guards arrive. At the hotel, Angel fails again in recreating the text. Lorne enters and has no news about the baby or the beast master, but he got a spell to clear up his empathic powers. He has to do it by himself and alone, but come morning he will be able to read Cordelia.

Morimoto's guards have guns. Gunn wants to hand over LISA. Gwen refuses. She uses her power on the men and seems stuck herself. Gunn knocks her over, cutting off the electrical charge. Morimoto and his men are knocked unconscious. Gunn realizes Gwen is stealing the device for herself. He realizes she thinks it will fix her. Elsewhere, Lorne begins the ceremony. We see Cordelia secretly watching with a knife in her hand. Gwen and Gunn are at her home. She says Gunn is more than muscle and asks why he stays if that's all the others see in him. He says he's a fighter, born and raised. He asks her if she loves being a thief. She says she's a freak. She says LISA might let her hold hands. Gunn puts the device on her. He touches her and nothing happens. It worked. Gunn realizes, because of her power, she's never had sex. She thanks him for turning her off. He thanks her for the most fun he's had and kisses her before finishing the sentence. She tells him the device might fail. He says she already killed him once. If it happens again, she knows where his battery is.

Lorne is continuing with the spell. Cordelia goes to attack him. The lights come on and we see Angel, Wesley, and Fred there. Lorne asks if Cordelia has been bad and reveals he's been holding a magic 8 ball, not some mystic item. It says definitely.