Angel: After the Fall #5

Plot

Wes is in the white room, telling himself that everything is under control. A voice (the Senior Partners, I assume) asks whether that is really so – well, they should find out. Through a kind of rift Wes is shown the destroyed W&H building. He knew nothing about it and wonders what happened. That is exactly where they wanted Angel, and the fact that he is not there is proof enough that nothing is under control.

So on top of everything else Wes is now also responsible for W&H’s property? Well, he did not know that, but now that he knows, he promises to look after the rubble.

The voice does not find that funny at all and orders Wes to be quiet – and to make sure he is, they simply make his mouth disappear. And now let them recap: Wes’s job as minder does not include supporting Angel in his undertaking – only, he has already done that, hasn’t he? So Angel’s blood will be on Wes’s hands, and that disappoints the Senior Partners, because they wanted it on theirs!

Silverlake:

Lorne is in a café with the two women he had sent to Angel and Wes. Everything was going so well – well, apart from where they are. Lorne mixes himself a drink and says that Wes told him, or hinted, that Angel is going to die. And Wes knows more than anyone else. Angel is always behind, but he is never out of the game.

And then Wesley simply vanished and left Lorne like this: totally confused. Because he does not know whether they told Wes to say that. Has he switched sides or not? Lorne would need an evaluation form – and besides, he is sure to have a terrible hangover tomorrow…

Poor Wes – no, damn it, it should be poor Wes, poor Angel and poor everyone, Lorne states. He thought Fred was the victim, but in the end, all things considered, she even won, because she is in heaven.

The women remind Lorne that Fred is not there with her beloved, and without him it is not heaven. Lorne thinks about it, then looks at the redhead of the two. They chatter a lot, but every now and then there are very true words in it. Then he says they should get to work.

Downtown L.A.:

Angel is getting ready for the big day. He really should have familiarised himself with Groo’s weapons, but he cannot face the champions with stubble, or on top of dying he will have to answer annoying questions too.

Angel reflects that he has got pretty good at shaving over the past months; cutting hair is harder, anyway.

Angel goes to the dragon, which is sitting in the rubble of the W&H building. He has no idea who could have done this, and maybe it is a coincidence – after all, in hell buildings collapse every day and others grow mouths. Only, Angel does not believe in coincidence. Be that as it may, under all the rubble now lie all his means of healing, which he could use today of all days to get through. But at least the object that keeps up his vampire façade is intact – it would only be destroyed along with him, since it is inside him – but better not to think about that or ask, Angel thinks.

By now he has climbed onto his dragon and is flying over the city.

Beverly Hills:

Spike’s ladies have slipped into their combat suits and wait, armed, in the garden.

Spike and Illyria are in a kind of armoury. Spike explains what the ladies expect: that he takes care of the big, bad Angel, and then they go after the other lords and take control.

Sounds like an acceptable plan to Illyria.

Of course. To her. She is round the bend, after all, says Spike – nothing personal. Only, as the last sane man in hell, he says “no bloody way”!

Illyria does not think they will be talked out of it and glances towards the garden. Spike looks there too. It would be so much easier if he could just tell himself he is turning against those who want to do harm…

But Spike knows Illyria is not well (and he calls her “love”), and he has no idea what to do for her. So they have to sneak out of here and try something new. Spike does not know yet where they will go, only that everything will be okay – only he knows it is never that simple.

Santa Monica:

Connor too is watching events with Gwen. They watch the humans streaming to the place where the fight is to take place – the lords have released their slaves so they can watch the spectacle.

Gwen says they are idiots – what do they expect? As soon as the lords are done with Angel, it is their turn. Then Gwen realises that sounded harsh. But Connor knows she is right.

And whatever comes their way, they are prepared – for example with a huge weapon.

Connor says Angel did not drop by last night. The last time the end of the world loomed, a bit of father-son bonding mattered to him, so… he thinks he will win, Gwen adds. That would be one possibility; the other is that he is in a suicidal mood, says Connor. Gwen puts her hand on Connor’s arm and says he really is Angel’s son; they could go there and…

Connor sees to the alignment of the weapon. His father would not want that. And whyever he wants to do this, Angel wants to do it alone.

At the site of the fight:

The lords have gathered; they hover above the humans, who are being guarded below on what looks like a stretch of park.

The lords like that so many humans are there; it raises the fun factor if they “happen” to become victims.

Gunn stands on a roof with his team. This will be a slaughter, one of them notes. Gunn is not interested in such odds, because he has learned that they mean nothing at all.

They have done their part and Gunn does not want to interfere, but if the lords start killing humans, he will take care of it. And how many of those they rescue do they get as a snack, one of the vampires asks…

Burge jumps down from the lords’ viewing area. Everyone should listen, he demands. He explains the rules: all slaves will report back to their lords later, and nobody stands in the way of Angel’s death – getting caught in the crossfire and eaten by hungry lords is okay, though. Burge grabs a human and flies with him high above the arena. Anyone who does not comply dies. And if anyone spoils their fun, this happens – with that he drops the man.

Gunn is about to step in, but Angel comes flying in on his dragon, catches the man and sets him down.

Angel lands and repeats the agreement in the direction of the lords: if he dies, everything goes on as before; if he wins, everyone will be set free.

There he is, Burge says loudly so that everyone can hear, the one vampire responsible for all of them landing straight in hell.

Meanwhile the dragon is tied up.

That gets right to the point, but Angel is glad he brings it up and that everyone knows – he had nightmares about it (not about the demons and monsters and the life-and-death fight, but about having to speak in front of all these people).

Gunn listens from the roof.

Angel explains that a while ago he made mistakes. Big ones. He wanted to make things better and instead made everything worse. For his friends. For all of them. But now he is here. Again. And wants to try to make up for it – again, too… And could they perhaps start the fight; that would be great.

Those were pretty clumsy last words, says one of the champions before they attack Angel together.

Meanwhile Angel realises something: although he is surrounded by so many people, he is alone. That is why he is inattentive for a moment and the female Skip hits him. The taste of blood in his mouth makes Angel nostalgic, but it also brings him back to the fight. He draws a sword with a flaming blade and beats back one of the champions.

When the T. rex comes towards him he asks it whether it is by any chance an innocent victim of W&H (like his dragon) – it isn’t, but Angel wanted to make sure. And besides, he calls himself to order: stop thinking.

The lords meanwhile wonder whom the T. rex actually belongs to; who sends a beast like that into a fight against a vampire? Then a glaring light forms in the street – cars are flung aside and the humans run out of the way. The lords wonder what is happening.

Angel has noticed none of this, because he is losing the fight as all the champions attack him together. They are distracted by what is happening, and now Angel notices too what is going on, and he knows what it means.

In the white room:

Wes is being tormented by the Senior Partners – torture may be medieval, but it serves its purpose, he is told. They ask him whether he has learned his lesson. Wes only replies that they make him wear this tie every day, and they call these little torments torture?

Well, he is not the only option. A few spells and they have Lindsey or Eve back.

Only, they will not achieve what they want with them, will they, Wes asks. At best Angel ignores them, and at worst they will end up helping him too. So they should damn well stop wasting everyone’s time and send Wes back so he can do his job. Oh, he is doing it already, the Senior Partners tell him. Right on schedule. And now they are sending him back so he can play his intended role.

Silverlake:

Wes reappears. The two ladies are taken with him. He apologises, but he would like to know where Lorne is. He does not have much time, and even if Lorne wanted to stay out of it, this may be the only chance.

He goes into the café where the little demon floats with its far-seeing orb – the fight can be seen in it.

Wes talks to it, wants it to find his friends, because he has to tell them something, whatever has happened… and they have to meet now. The little demon ignores him, and Wes asks the two ladies once more where Lorne is. That is what they have been trying to tell him all along: right in front of him (that is, in the orb) – Lorne has left his refuge and rallied the troops…

At the site of the fight:

Angel is still busy with the T. rex when the others rush to his aid.

Groo is told right away to free the dragon. Connor wonders whether that would not be cheating. Sure, technically it is – so is the others stepping in.

Gwen and Nina, who are by now keeping the T. rex busy as well, just say that cheating in hell would be so wrong; the devil might even have to throw them out for it!

Spike joins in too. The banter gets on his nerves. Should they fight more instead, they ask him. He doesn’t care, just stop the chatter.

While they all fight the champions together, Angel reflects that this has surprised him. It was his fight and he never wanted to ask anyone for help, but as it turns out, he doesn’t have to.

Burge jumps down to Lorne and asks him what he is doing. Well, he is a lord and he is sending a champion, Lorne explains while straightening his tie – namely himself. And he can simply turn into a whole crowd of people: angry Brits and, um, electro girls. Burge snaps at him that he is lying. Oh, is he? He comes from another dimension; the laws are just different there, and Burge’s bird brain cannot possibly understand them, says Lorne. And anyway, they can go into that later, after the fight.

On the roof Gunn and his people are still watching. One asks him whether he wants to step in, but Gunn actually finds the vantage point quite good. Apart from that everything is going great – the team is reunited; that was step one. And in part two it gets unpleasant.

Below, Groo has undone the dragon’s chains – he comments on this to Angel. Then he tells the dragon that, in return for freeing it, it should take care of the dinosaur (because he would so love to see that). And the dragon does him the favour.

Angel has one of the champions in a hold and tells Connor in passing that he did not even want him nearby.

Well, he can thank Lorne for that. He “fluttered in” to Santa Monica and gave a rousing, if slightly tipsy, speech – and what Connor understood of it was very convincing.

Then Angel asks Spike why he is here. Lorne came to him first, Spike makes clear. He talked and talked, along the lines of, no matter what has happened and no matter where we are, if we don’t look out for each other nothing makes sense… Spike thinks Lorne even sang, but since he was not quite at his best, the rhythm made no sense. But anyway: Lorne was right and he is a champion and he… er… well, anyway, Angel owes him now. More than before, Spike corrects himself.

And? What does he want, Angel asks him as they fight the champions side by side.

Um… that would be a long list. But half of it has been ticked off since he teamed up with Spider and co. But right now, at this moment… he needs help with her, and Spike points at a huge brown mass in front of them that belongs to the champions.

Oh, that is a she, Angel asks in surprise.

Spike only gets it a moment later and explains that he does not mean that stuff, but her. Illyria comes leaping out of the mass.

Spike explains that he is here because of her, because she needs help. And Angel is good at that; pathetic and predictable as it is, it is exactly what Illyria needs. So, is he in?

Spike knows him, Angel thinks, and he should be grateful to him. But he cannot bring himself to say more than “I suppose”.

Wes appears between the two of them. He cannot believe what is happening when he sees the fight, while Spike and Angel are surprised to see him. Angel asks him whether he is okay. Spike puts his arm right through Wes and does not think that is the right question. He asks Angel whether he knew Wes was back and in the same breath states that in this bloody world nobody can stay dead! He speculates a little whether Wes’s “condition” was caused by an amulet, but it doesn’t matter, he then notes. He tells Wes he has to get out of here.

But what does he…, Wesley begins, then notices Illyria. She calls to Spike to find the head of this quivering lump so she can tear it off as a warning.

Illyria sees Wes. “You,” she says.

Spike would never have brought Illyria here if he had known Wes was back.

Something is happening to Illyria that she does not understand. Everyone looks at her.

The next moment Fred is standing in front of them, and she discovers Wesley…

To be continued…