1 INT. HOSPITAL PSYCHIATRIC WARD - NIGHT

A male doctor walks down the gated hallways jingling his keys.

NURSE'S VOICE (V.O.)

(over the public address system) Any psychiatric nurse, please pick up extension 4-3-2. Any psychiatric nurse, please pick up extension 4-3-2.

He unlocks the door, walks through, and shuts it behind him. As he passes by the nurse's station, she addresses him.

NURSE

Hey, doc? Running low on diazepam...again.

DOCTOR

Call Jacobson over at county and see if they can spare any.

(points at her clipboard)

Give me one.

NURSE

(looks over her crossword puzzle on her clipboard)

OK...um... "in a mellifluous manner." 7 letters, ends in a "Y."

DOCTOR

(thinks)

Give me another one.

NURSE 2

(runs down the hallway)

Dr. Rabinaw!

(the doctor starts unlocking the gate at the end of her hallway)

It's Phillip.

Cut to:

2 INT. PATIENT'S ROOM IN PSYCHIATRIC WARD - NIGHT

Dr. Rabinaw rushes to the side of a skinny boy who has collapsed on the ground wearing a hospital gown.

DOCTOR RABINAW

(examining the boy)

What happened?

NURSE 2

(standing at the doorway, clutching her clipboard)

I—I don't know. He started convulsing right after he took his meds.

DOCTOR RABINAW

How much lithium did you give him?

NURSE 2

Li—no, he gets thorazine.

(looks at her clipboard)

DOCTOR RABINAW

Thorazine?! He's manic-depressive. He doesn't need a sedative.

NURSE 2

I'm sorry. I must have gotten them mixed up.

DOCTOR RABINAW

(stands, grabs her clipboard)

Who didn't get their thorazine? Oh, God.

A powerful banging can be heard from down the hall.

Cut to:

3 INT. HALLWAY AT PSYCHIATRIC WARD - NIGHT

Dr. Rabinaw rushes back past the nurse's station, calling one of the male nurses for assistance.

DOCTOR RABINAW

Peterson!

The powerful banging continues as Dr. Rabinaw unlocks yet another hallway gate. He and Peterson walk through, cautiously approaching a closed door at the end of the hall. Suddenly, the banging stops. Dr. Rabinaw sighs in relief, but just then, the patient in the room at the end of the hall violently pushes the door off its hinges. The patient stands in the doorway—her hair and hospital gown disheveled—glaring menacingly at the doctor. Slowly, she walks out of the room toward the doctor.

DOCTOR RABINAW

(talking softly, backing up)

It's all right, Dana. It's me, Dr. Rabinaw. Remember? Just take it easy. I want you to listen to me. You're very sick...

(backs out of the gate)

and we just...

(Peterson closes the gate, locking Dana inside)

want to make you better. OK?

(continues backing away from the girl, holding his hands forward, palms down, in a calming gesture)

Dana stops at the gate and stares at the doctor. Her glance goes to the doctor's hand, where she sees a hypodermic syringe prepared for her. She grabs the gate, pulling it off its hinges and throwing it down the hallway with a loud clanging. She charges at Peterson, who tries to fend her off with a club. She punches and kicks him, knocking him down. Another male nurse grabs her from behind, but she kicks the wall, sending them both back into the opposite wall, knocking her loose of the guard's grip. She grabs one of the nurses and shoves his head through the glass window of the storage closet door, smashing the glass. She looks around, frenzied, and notices a bone saw in one of the boxes in the storage closet. She takes the bone saw and looks closely at it. Another male nurse comes up behind her and hits her in the head with a club, but it doesn't affect her. She turns on him instantly with a primal groan, slashing his throat with the blade of the bone saw. The man collapses to the ground.

DOCTOR RABINAW

(backing away)

Oh no. Oh!

(runs out of the area)

The nurse whose throat Dana slit is groaning on the floor in front of her. She bends over him and starts sawing on his throat until the gurgling subsides. When she stands, she pulls her bloody hands away from her face revealing that she's marked her face with blood in the form of tribal stripes—one down each cheek under the eyes, and one down her nose and chin. She stands tall and looks around the hallway.

Fade to black.

Opening credits.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ACT I:

4 INT. HALLWAYS AT WOLFRAM & HART - NIGHT

Gunn's walking down the hallway talking on his cell phone just as Fred steps out of another woman's office.

GUNN

(on his cell phone)

Yes, I know, but he wouldn't have pled nolo contendere if he'd known about the exculpatory evidence being withheld by the prosecutor. Look, look, set up a meeting with Judge Braedon. Closed chambers. Screw the D.A. He's the one trying to pull a fast one. Let him read about it in the paper.

(hangs up)

FRED

(chuckles, walks with Gunn down the hall)

You sure that's a good idea—playing chicken with the district attorney of a major metropolitan city?

GUNN

Just a little professional rivalry. You want ugly, see us go at it on a golf course.

FRED

You play golf? Since—what?

They walk toward the lobby.

GUNN

All part of the mojo the big boys installed. 1/2 the cases that cross our desk are settled out on the links before they ever make it to trial.

FRED

9 holes instead of a jury of your peers. Just what the founding fathers had in mind.

GUNN

Well, sometimes you gotta work the system before it works you.

FRED

That our new motto?

GUNN

Look, I know our move to Wolfram & Hart hasn't been all flowers and candy, but we've been able to do some serious good while we're here. Lives saved, disasters averted, with all our fingers and souls still attached. End of the day, I'm thinking we made the right choice.

Cut to:

5 INT. ANGEL'S OFFICE - NIGHT

Angel's at his desk talking to Wesley and Lorne.

ANGEL

Maybe we made a mistake coming here.

Fred and Gunn walk into Angel's office.

GUNN

What's going on?

LORNE

Oh, parasite Eve, right on out the door.

GUNN

You're firing her?

ANGEL

Well, that's one option.

WESLEY

A generous one, considering she tried to kill you.

GUNN

OK, first, the parasite she allegedly sicked on you wasn't meant to be fatal.

FRED

No, just send you into a permanent hallucinogenic coma.

ANGEL

And what's with the "alleged"? You don't believe I know it was her?

GUNN

It's not about what I believe. It's about the evidence.

WESLEY

This isn't a courtroom, Gunn. Things work with a bit more immediacy in the real world.

GUNN

She's liaison to the senior partners. You don't get to be that without serious juice. Move against her without solid proof and it could end in a long, bloody fight.

ANGEL

(sighs)

OK, fine. I think I liked you better when you just wanted to hit people.

GUNN

Rational thought—it's an acquired taste.

LORNE

Wait a minute. So, we're not going to snap Twiggy into little sticks?

ANGEL

Gunn's right. We can't risk it. Yet.

GUNN

We'll restrict her access, keep a closer eye on what she's up to. Play her like she's been playing us.

HARMONY

(walks in with a sense of urgency)

Boss, we just got a tip some looney's hatched from the bin.

ANGEL

A who did a what?

HARMONY

A girl over in the nuthouse went all Cuckoo's Nest, hacked up a couple of guards and went over the wall.

ANGEL

Really not our department, Harmony.

WESLEY

Notify the authorities. Make sure they're on it.

HARMONY

OK, but they better bring a priest. Looks like this chick's gone all kinds of exorcist.

ANGEL

Wait a minute. She's possessed?

HARMONY

Duh! Didn't I say that?

WESLEY

I'll get a team together.

ANGEL

No. Wait. I don't want to go storming in with troops until we know what we got here. I've seen a few of these possession cases. They have to be handled very carefully. Real finesse job.

Cut to:

6 INT. PSYCHIATRIC WARD - NIGHT

The elevator bell dings, and both elevators open simultaneously, revealing Spike in one and Angel in the other. They step off the elevators at the same time, both wearing long black coats—Spike in his leather duster, and Angel in a longish suit jacket.

SPIKE

(turns to see Angel standing beside him)

Oh.

(chuckles)

Well, fancy this.

(Angel walks away as Spike talks)

Bitty slug I saved you from scramble your brains after all? Come to check yourself in?

(walks down the same hall as Angel)

ANGEL

What are you doing here, Spike?

SPIKE

Didn't get the memo? Hero of the people now.

ANGEL

Oh, then go and annoy them.

SPIKE

When I'm done. Heard one of the simples went for a stroll.

ANGEL

And I'll get her back without your help.

SPIKE

Goody for you, 'cause, uh, not offering it.

ANGEL

Look, shouldn't you be out in the streets, you know, protecting the city from people like you?

They walk past the gate that Dana destroyed.

SPIKE

Go where I'm needed.

ANGEL

Well, which isn't here.

They walk up to the nurse's station.

NURSE

(sees Angel and Spike, walks up to them)

Gentlemen, may I help you?

DOCTOR RABINAW

(walks out from his office)

Can I help you?

SPIKE

Other way around, doc. I'm—

ANGEL

Here to get your patient back.

(hands his card to the doctor)

Angel. Wolfram & Hart.

DOCTOR RABINAW

A lawyer? I already told the police everything I know.

ANGEL

Well, let's go over it again, just in case you left out any details.

SPIKE

What he said. But with a bit more of a threat at the end.

Cut to:

7 INT. DANA'S ROOM AT PSYCHIATRIC WARD - NIGHT

Angel's looking over drawings Dana has in her room. They're bright, vibrant, and terribly disturbed. One picture shows a wolf-like monster growling. Another shows a cave-woman on her knees before a huge fiery monster. Spike looks around and sees the walls are covered with such drawings of monsters.

DOCTOR RABINAW

She was a special case. Her family was murdered in their home when she was 10. Whoever did it took Dana... and tortured her for months. She was found one day naked and bleeding, wandering the streets. Barely functional, nearly catatonic ever since.

SPIKE

(looks around at her drawings)

Looks like she snapped out of it.

DOCTOR RABINAW

Several months ago her condition changed. Increasing levels of agitation accompanied by explosive outbursts of inhuman strength.

SPIKE

(nods)

Right. Demon possession.

DOCTOR RABINAW

That's ridiculous.

ANGEL

You're not helping, Spike.

SPIKE

No, I'm doing. You can hang out for the show-and-tell-me-nothing. I got a demon needs repossessing.

(grabs a drawing off the wall)

Ta.

(walks out of the room)

ANGEL

Sorry. He's... is pathological idiot an actual condition?

DOCTOR RABINAW

May I suggest that you stop your friend? If he finds Dana, he's gonna end up dead like the others.

ANGEL

Yeah, but he'll just end up comin' back.

(the doctor exits)

(sighs, looks around)

What isn't he tellin' me?

NURSE

(standing in the doorway)

Rabinaw videoed all his sessions with her.

ANGEL

Show me.

Cut to:

8 INT. SUPERMARKET - NIGHT

Dana, still in her hospital gown, is standing in the middle of a grocery aisle eating food from boxes on the shelves. A stock boy walks by and notices her.

STOCK BOY

(walks toward her calmly)

Um... Uhhh... hey, you gonna... pay for those? 'Scuse me. Uh, miss, you can't just eat those like that. You gotta... take 'em up to the register and pay for 'em first. Hey. Uh, come on.

(touches her on the shoulder)

Knock it off, will—

(Dana grabs the hand he touched her with, twisting it until the bones in his arm break)

(the boy screams painfully, dropping to his knees)

Aah! Aah!

(continues to cry out in pain)

Dana grabs her bone saw off the shelf and walks down the aisle while the boy's painful cries continue. She goes to another section of the store where clothing is sold. She puts down the bone saw to put on a pair of jeans. She reaches to grab a black t-shirt and stares at it for a moment.

8a INT. UNKNOWN ROOM

FLASHBACK: A man in a black shirt walks by as a young girl sobs behind bars. Flashes of woodshop tools on a workbench. The man grabs a saw, holding it in his hand as he stands over a sobbing young girl.

Cut to:

As Dana stares at the shirt, a security guard has found her. He stands at the end of the aisle, pointing his gun at her.

SECURITY GUARD

(cocking his gun)

All right, now. You just stay right like that. I don't want to have to hurt you.

Dana turns her head slowly, glaring at the guard defiantly.

Dana walks out of the supermarket wearing her new outfit: black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a dark plaid flannel overshirt. Her face is still streaked with blood, and she's still carrying her bone saw. She stops outside, looking around.

Cut to:

9 INT. VIDEO ROOM AT PSYCHIATRIC WARD - NIGHT

In the presence of the nurse, Angel watches video-tapes of Dana's therapy sessions. A wild, frenzied Dana is restrained in a straight-jacket. She's thrashing, speaking in a foreign language, breathing hard.

NURSE

And that's with the thorazine.

ANGEL

(looks at a stack of tapes)

These tapes are all of her?

NURSE

Most of them, yeah. Rabinaw's planning on writing a book on her. That's why he doesn't want anybody to know about these. Putz.

ANGEL

You were the one that called Wolfram & Hart? My cousin's a paralegal there, told me about the big shake-up, lots of positions opening.

ANGEL

Uh-huh.

NURSE

So I thought, hey, maybe if I tipped you on this, I could get my foot in the door.

ANGEL

(still watching the tapes)

Oh. Wait.

(rewinds the tape)

Angel watches a segment of tape where Dana is growling and speaking in a foreign language.

NURSE

They're pretty much all like that. Bunch of monkey gibberish.

Dana breathes hard, speaks a foreign language.

ANGEL

It's Romanian.

NURSE

Oh. You...you understand what she's sayin'?

ANGEL

Yeah. I do.

Cut to:

10 EXT. SUPERMARKET - NIGHT

Police arrive at the scene of Dana's supermarket attacks. Several patrol cars are out front, and witnesses are pacing outside the store. Paramedics are taking her victims away on stretchers. Spike walks around the scene outside, stopping to dip his finger in a substance on the pavement. He smells his fingertips, then walks away from the scene.

Cut to:

11 INT. WESLEY'S OFFICE - NIGHT

The telephone rings in Wesley's office. He's sitting at his desk reading from a thick old book when he answers it on speaker-phone.

WESLEY

Wyndam-Pryce.

ANGEL

(on the car phone) Wes, it's me. Check with our police informants. Get her last known sighting. I need a technical assault team on the ground in 5 minutes. Non-lethal ordinance.

WESLEY

Do you think that's wise? I've been brushing up on demonic possessions—

Cut to:

11a INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Dana is walking around a dark room in a deserted warehouse.

ANGEL (V.O.)

That's not what's happening. Look, there were drawings of demons in her room. Hundreds of them. Some with a little girl in them. I thought it was Dana, but they're all different. It's not her.

Cut to:

WESLEY

Are you sure? Multiple personality manifestations are often associated with cases of possession.

ANGEL

Look, it's not just the drawings. I saw a tape of her. She was speakin' a half-dozen languages. One of 'em was Romanian.

Cut to:

11a INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Dana is looking out of the windows toward the city lights outside when Spike walks up behind her.

SPIKE

Likin' the view, are we?

(sighs)

What say we have a nice, quiet chat... about mistreating little girls... demon to demon.

(changes into his vampire face)

Cut to:

ANGEL

She was yelling about being chosen. She's not a demon, Wes. She's a vampire slayer.

Cut to:

11a INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Dana turns to face Spike, seeing him transform into a vampire, and grins sadistically.

Fade to black.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ACT II:

12 INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Resume. Dana gladly readies for a face-off against vampire Spike.

SPIKE

What are you grinnin' at?

DANA

(attacks Spike, swinging her bone saw at him)

Aaaieahh! Mmhh!

SPIKE

(avoids her blows, stands back mocking her)

Oh, yeah. Look at the big, bad demon hidin' inside the helpless little girl.

(kicks her bone saw away, kicks her into a pile of debris)

Why don't you come on out of there, and let's have a proper go, mate?

(Dana pushes herself out from the debris, picking up a splintered fragment of wood as she stands)

Or you could do that.

Dana tries repeatedly to stake Spike with the wood fragment, grunting loudly with each forceful thrust. Spike ducks and manages to avoid the blows. He rolls out of the way, but she punches him in the head as he stands. She pins him against a post and tries to stake him again, but he catches her hands before she plunges the stake into his chest.

DANA

(growling in Chinese)

SPIKE

(cocks his head, grins)

Sorry, luv. I don't speak Chinese.

(punches Dana in the face, kicks her away)

Dana and Spike continue to fight until she tosses him through the huge window.

Cut to:

13 EXT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Spike lands face-down on the pavement outside the warehouse right as Angel drives up in his car. Angel stops the car and gets out as Spike slowly stands up.

ANGEL

What happened?

SPIKE

Oh, I just thought I'd see what it was like to bounce off the pavement. Pretty much what I expected.

ANGEL

Stay out of it. Tactical's on the way.

SPIKE

Oh, right. Sure, she'll hang around till they show up.

ANGEL

(angrily, in his face)

You should've waited.

SPIKE

Hey, keep your knickers on. Least now I know what we're dealin' with. It's a Chinese demon. Maybe a water dragon or one of those elemental thingies.

(Angel sighs, rolls his eyes, and walks away)

What?!

Cut to:

14 INT. LOBBY OF WOLFRAM & HART - NIGHT

The elevator bell dings, and Angel and Spike walk off it into the lobby.

SPIKE

A psychotic vampire slayer.

ANGEL

How many times you gonna keep sayin' that?

SPIKE

Just tryin' to wrap my lobes around it. A psycho slayer.

ANGEL

And you let her get away.

SPIKE

At least I was tryin' to stop her.

ANGEL

Oh, how'd that work out?

SPIKE

At least I know the game, now, don't I? I killed 2 slayers with my own hands. Think I can handle one that's gone daft in the melon.

ANGEL

You're not handling anything, Spike. OK? Wes contacted Rupert Giles. He's sendin' his top guy to retrieve her.

Cut to:

15 INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - NIGHT

Angel and Spike walk into the conference room where Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Lorne are waiting.

WESLEY

Angel. We were just about to—

An additional person is waiting in the conference room. He turns around in his chair to reveal that he's Andrew. Andrew's hair is slightly longer and he's wearing a suit and tie and holding a pipe.

ANDREW

Spike?

(puts down his pipe)

SPIKE

(realizing who it is)

Oh, for the love of—

ANDREW

(stands)

Spike?

(runs toward Spike, touching his shoulders)

It's you. It's really you!

(hugs Spike, sobbing)

My therapist thought I was holding onto false hope, but... I knew you'd come back.

(sniffles, releases Spike from the hug to look him in the eyes)

You're like... you're like Gandalf the White, resurrected from the pit of the Balrog,

(touches his palms to Spike's face)

more beautiful than ever.

(hugs Spike tightly around the neck)

Ohh... he's alive, Frodo.

(sobbing)

He's alive.

ANGEL

(smirking)

You two know each other?

(Spike launches a glance at Angel)

ANDREW

(steps back from Spike, sniffles, straightens his lapels)

Uh, yeah. Um... We—we saved the world together. I mean, Buffy helped, but... it was mostly us.

(clears his throat)

Uh, so what happened? Last I heard, you went all pillar of fire down in the hellmouth.

ANGEL

Could we save memory lane till after we contain this psychotic superpowered killing machine?

(walks around the table, takes a seat beside Wesley)

WESLEY

(standing)

We were just about to bring everyone up to speed on slayer mythology.

ANDREW

I'll take it from here, Pryce. Best they hear it from an expert.

SPIKE

Oh, right. Let the top man have a go.

WESLEY

(stifling a scoff, pauses, then sits)

Please... enlighten us.

ANDREW

Gather around and attend to a most unusual tale... a tale I like to call... The Slayer of the Vampyrs.

(rests his chin on his hands, pauses for thought, then clears throat)

(walking around the table)

Eons ago,

(looks at Gunn)

on the dark continent, 3 wise elders decided to fight evil with a taste of its own sinistro.

(touches Fred's shoulders)

They took a young girl, and they imbued her with the power of a demon.

(crooks his forefingers above Fred's head, forming makeshift horns)

Thusly, the first Slayer of the Vampyrs was born. But alas, the existence of a slayer is often brutal and short-lived. And the "primitive," as she was called, boasted no exception. But... the elders had foreseen this inevitability and...and devised a way for her power to live on.

FRED

In every generation, one is chosen.

ANDREW

Yes, attractive, slender woman.

(Fred rolls her eyes)

There are many potentials, as we experts call them.

WESLEY

Hundreds...maybe thousands per generation.

ANDREW

Each of them experiencing vivid dreams... some say nightmares... of the heroics of past slayers. But only one can be chosen.

ANGEL

That's, um...really great, but we...actually know all that.

ANDREW

You think you know, my good man. You think you know.

(lights his pipe, smokes it, coughs)

LORNE

Uh, wait. So if there's only one slayer, what is little miss whack-your-head-off doing scampering around?

SPIKE

Little Sunnydale surprise.

ANDREW

(sits)

6 months ago, Buffy, Vampyr Slayer extraordinaire, had her lesbian witch make with the beaucoup de magie. One light show later...

ANGEL

All the potentials become slayers.

WESLEY

An army of slayers. Brilliant stratagem. But with the watchers council destroyed, how will these new slayers receive their necessary—

ANDREW

Mr. Giles and a few key Sunnydale alum have been tracking down the recently chosen...

(reaches down to grab his brow-bag lunch; it's labeled with the British "Union Jack" flag and written under it is "ANDREW WC")

uh, guiding them, training them...

(takes a Zip-Loc baggie of goldfish crackers out of the bag and starts to eat them)

giving them the full X-Men, minus the crappy third act. But this Dana girl—she's an anomaly that no one could have foreseen—tortured, traumatized... driven insane by Yoda knows who.

ANGEL

And then the dreams of demons and superpowers she's always had suddenly become real.

WESLEY

The dreams of slayers are usually just that—dreams. But Dana's mental instability may be making them seem more real.

ANDREW

My hypothesis exactly, Pryce.

(takes a small red notebook out of his breast pocket)

I see Mr. Giles may have been wrong about you.

(nods, writes in his notebook)

SPIKE

Explains why that skirt was yappin' at me in Chinese. Must've thought she was the slayer I took out back in the Boxer Rebellion.

ANGEL

You mean the slayer you murdered.

SPIKE

Well, I didn't have a soul back then, did I?

ANGEL

Right, 'cause having one now is making such a difference.

SPIKE

You corporates go ahead with your talky-talk. Anybody needs me, I'll be out doin' his job.

(walks out of the room)

Cut to:

16 INT. LOBBY OF WOLFRAM & HART - NIGHT

Spike walked out of the conference room, and Angel follows.

ANGEL

Spike? You think this is a joke?

SPIKE

Only if you're the punch line.

ANGEL

Look, we're the last 2 people that should be confronting her. She's a slayer. She has every reason to hate us, and she's unstable. In her mind, there probably aren't any good Vampyrs.

(realizes he mispronounced it like Andrew, then pronounces it correctly)

Vampires. She exists for one reason—to destroy creatures like us.

SPIKE

Dance of death. Eternal struggle. Right. Got it.

(nods, turns to walk away)

ANGEL

You will...when she's staking you in the heart.

SPIKE

(stops, turns to Angel)

What do you want me to do? Go all boo-hoo 'cause she got tortured and driven out of her gourd? Not like we haven't done worse back in the day.

ANGEL

Yeah, and it's somethin' I'm still payin' for.

SPIKE

And you should let it go, mate. It's startin' to make you look old.

(turns away, walks toward the elevator)

Andrew is standing in the office door, sipping from a juice-box, watching Angel and Spike talk.

Cut to:

17 EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

Dana's walking around the docks carrying her bone saw. She stops and has flashbacks of a dark room. A man has stored something in a old air vent. He removes the grill and takes out a box as a young Dana cries and screams in terror. Her memories visibly upset her. As she stands looking hurt and upset, a man approaches her.

MAN

Hey, you OK? You hurt? Miss? You need some help?

Dana turns to look at him.

Cut to:

18 INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - NIGHT

Angel and the gang are still going over plans in the conference room.

ANGEL

M-maybe Spike was right. Maybe we should just get out there and find her.

FRED

(at the laptop computer)

Then what? Kill her? What's happening isn't her fault.

GUNN

(reading files)

She is non compos mentis. Not that it'll matter when she's staking you in the pump.

ANGEL

All right, look, we know that she's been sighted at these locations since her escape. Tactical's doin' a non-engagement sweep, but they'll have to cover over at least 60 blocks.

FRED

That'll take days if we're lucky.

ANGEL

We have to narrow it down. Witnesses say it was like she was looking for something. We have to figure out what.

LORNE

Why not start at the source?

WESLEY

The asylum?

LORNE

No. Where this started for her. She was abducted from home. Right?

ANGEL

That was over 15 years ago.

LORNE

Houses have long memories, Angel cakes. You just gotta know how to get 'em to talk.

ANGEL

(sighs)

All right. Fine. Set it up. But let's get Andrew in on this, see if he knows... anything.

FRED

Um, I don't think he's here.

ANGEL

What? Where'd he go?

Cut to:

19 EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

Spike is walking down the alley by the docks when he stops and looks to his side.

SPIKE

Right. We can play cat and mouse all night.

(pulls Andrew by the lapels out from behind the fence)

Or I could wedgie you unconscious and be done with it.

(lets him go)

ANDREW

Bravo. I see your senses seem to be as well-honed as your Viggo Mortensen pectorals.

SPIKE

(walks away)

What are you doin' out here, Andrew?

ANDREW

(follows Spike)

This is where the action is, bro. On the mean streets. Can you dig it?

SPIKE

Go back to Wolfram & Hart. Don't have time for games.

ANDREW

That's good, 'cause Andy ain't playin'.

(opens his overcoat to reveal several guns in the lining)

You're not the only one who's changed. Mr. Giles has been training me. I'm faster, stronger, and 82% more manly than the last time we—

(trips over something and falls to the ground)

Andrew looks over to see that he tripped over the man that tried to help Dana. The man's throat has been slit. Andrew screams (like a girl).

Cut to:

20 INT. DANA'S HOUSE - NIGHT

A realtor woman guides Angel, Lorne, and a psychic through the middle-sized suburban house.

REALTOR

Hardwood floors. Central air. Original wainscoting throughout. She's a real charmer from top to bottom.

PSYCHIC

(walks around touching the walls and rails)

The walls scream with the blood of the innocent.

REALTOR

I'll be in the car if you have any questions. And remember—it's a seller's market.

ANGEL

You sure this guy's reliable?

LORNE

Oh, yeah. Vernon's top drawer. He does all Tom Arnold's readings.

ANGEL

What are you pickin' up?

PSYCHIC

(sighs heavily)

Fear.

(flashback of the mother during the attack)

Anguish.

(flashback of the father falling to the ground)

Pain.

(flashback of the attacker approaching the baby's crib)

He needed them to suffer.

(walks into the girl's room)

ANGEL

Who?

PSYCHIC

(looking at the empty floor)

She doesn't know him.

(flashback of a little girl hiding under her bed as a man approaches)

She tries to be still... invisible... but he senses her.

The man lifts up the mattresses, revealing a young Dana crouching underneath the bed. Dana screams.

PSYCHIC

She's gone.

ANGEL

Where? Where did he take her?

PSYCHIC

(inhales and exhales deeply; whispers)

Dark. The floor is cold. The air is thick with...

(inhales)

Dust...

(inhales)

And the smell... sickly sweet, like... molasses.

(gasps)

A basement.

Cut to:

21 INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT

As the psychic describes the place, Dana finds it again. Dana walks down steps into the basement.

PSYCHIC (V.O.)

That's where her pain lives.

Dana looks around. She recognizes this place. She finds the air vent and removes the grill. She takes the tools and box out of it. She holds the box as she stands. Slowly she looks inside the box, revealing it's contents are numerous hypodermic syringes.

Dana flashes back to her previous captivity. She sees the man take a syringe out of the box. He holds it up and squeezes the plunger, squirting some of the blue liquid out of the needle.

CAPTOR

Let's try the blue one this time.

Young Dana breathes fearfully as her captor kneels before her. Close in on his face—it's Spike.

Fade to black.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ACT III:

22 EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

Andrew and Spike walk down the alleys by the docks.

ANDREW

Well, mostly, I talk to Rupert. But we all check in. Xander's in Africa. He sent me an mbuna fish. And Willow and Kennedy are in brazil. They're based in Sao Paulo, but, um, every time I talk to them, they're in Rio.

Spike sniffs the air.

ANDREW

(inhales deeply, exhales quickly)

What's it smell like? Blood, I mean?

SPIKE

Oh...metallic, sorta. You ever taste a penny?

ANDREW

No. Wait... no.

SPIKE

Smells like that.

(Andrew spots a penny on the ground and picks it up; they continue walking)

So, uh...you heard from Buffy lately?

ANDREW

Yeah. Of course, uh...she's in Rome. Dawn's in school there. Italian school.

SPIKE

Well. Rome, eh? Never pegged her for the expatriate show.

ANDREW

Yeah. She was rounding slayers up in Europe, decided she liked it there, I guess. You think that, um...

(puts the penny in his mouth)

uhh. Uhh. Uhh.

(disgusted, he spits the penny out; it falls to the ground)

Think she needed a break from California. Wait a minute. She doesn't know you're alive, does she?

SPIKE

I don't think so. I mean... I don't know. Does she?

ANDREW

No. N-no. She can't. I mean... I—I would've heard about it. We would've had a conference call.

(Spike sighs)

Why haven't you told her?

SPIKE

"Hello, Buffy. It's Spike. I didn't burn up like you thought. How are things?"

ANDREW

Uh...do you want me to tell her? 'Cause I—I'm really good with those...uh, delicate personal—

SPIKE

No. Don't tell her. I'll take care of it.

ANDREW

Got it. You're a loner... playin' it cucumber, as in "cool as a..."

SPIKE

Just keep your mouth shut.

Pan up to show that Dana is watching them walk by from a nearby rooftop.

ANDREW

No problem, brother. You're a troubled hero. Creature of the night. El creatro del noche.

SPIKE

Please stop.

ANDREW

Living by his own rules. Unafraid of anything or anyone...

Cut to:

23 INT. LOBBY OF WOLFRAM & HART - NIGHT

Angel and Lorne walk of the elevator together.

GUNN

Hey. How'd it go?

ANGEL

I want to find the guy who killed Dana's family. His name, his past, his whereabouts. Everything.

GUNN

Police never caught him.

ANGEL

Yeah, well, we're not the police. Search her files. Talk to her contacts. Raise the dead, if you have to. Just...find him.

(Gunn walks away)

Lorne, I want to know where he took her after he abducted her. The psychic narrowed it down to a basement that smells like molasses. Look, we can do better. Start crackin' the whip.

LORNE

You got it, chief.

(walks away)

Danny! We're gonna need a whip!

Angel and Wesley walk into an office.

Cut to:

24 EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

Spike's walking briskly down the alley as Andrew tries to keep up.

ANDREW

And—and so I say, "well, the two of us disagree with you, hombre." And—and he's all... "The two of you?" And I say, "Yeah. Me and my electric net." Then—

(Spike stops walking)

What's wrong?

SPIKE

Blood. Smells different. Stronger.

ANDREW

Like nickels?

Spike runs around the corner following the scent. Andrew runs after him. They're in an alley where 55-gallon drums are stored.

ANDREW

Dead end.

SPIKE

(sees a bloody streak on the alley wall)

It's her blood.

Dana appears in the alley, and she punches Andrew in the head, knocking him out. She and Spike fight. Spike punches her into a drum. She stands up and punches and kicks him. He smashes her head into another drum. She elbows him in the stomach. Spike swings her by the arm across the alley into a stack of drums. As they continue to fight, Andrew gets up and pulls a gun out of his jacket. When Dana knocks Spike down, Andrew aims the gun at Dana and shoots, making a zooming noise instead of a bang (indicating it is probably a tranquilizer gun). Dana dodges the dart. Andrew pauses to reload, but Dana kicks him in the face, knocking him down again. She runs past him and out of the alley. Spike gets to his feet and runs after her.

Cut to:

25 INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT

Spike's running after Dana, but stops short as he passes a doorway. He turns to look in and decides to follow the hallway. After descending the stairs at the end of the hall, he finds himself in the basement where Dana was tortured as a child. Dana's standing there.

SPIKE

All right, pet. No getting away. Got your scent locked in now. Could track you for miles.

DANA

No escaping.

SPIKE

That's right. No escaping.

(walks toward her cautiously)

Now, all the same... don't wanna have to hurt you.

DANA

Doesn't hurt if you hold still.

SPIKE

(exhales, baffled)

Right.

DANA

Heart...and head. Have to get home. Doesn't hurt if you hold still.

SPIKE

(chuckles)

You're a real sack of hammers, aren't you? Hey...don't worry. I used to date a girl who wasn't all there.

DANA

Heart...and head. Stab the heart, cut off the head. Only way to be sure.

SPIKE

That's slayer talk, isn't it?

DANA

Keep cutting till you see dust.

SPIKE

Right. Let me explain. You got visions. Right? Vampire slayer memories kickin' around in your head. Which is tough... 'cause it sounds like you're past midnight on the crazy clock anyway.

DANA

(cowering)

Please don't. I have to get home to my son... to my Robin.

SPIKE

Robin? Oh. Hey, you're talkin' about Nikki, the slayer I offed back in—

(Dana looks up at him)

Uh, yeah. You probably don't want to think about that, pet.

DANA

(with an accusational tone)

William the Bloody.

SPIKE

No. No. No. That's not gonna lead anywhere good. You want to focus on what's real.

DANA

Head and heart. Don't be scared.

SPIKE

Now, we're gonna—

Dana kicks him, knocking him to the ground. She bends over him quickly, plunging the needle into his neck. Spike grunts in pain as she squeezes the plunger. He punches her, knocking her off of him. He tries to get to his feet, but is clearly disoriented and weakened.

SPIKE

You little minx.

(breathing erratically)

What did you do to me?

DANA

Yellows make you weak. Not weak anymore.

(punches Spike repeatedly)

SPIKE

Ohh! Ouahh!

(falls to the ground)

All right. Now you've made me mad.

DANA

Don't cry. They can't hear you.

Dana pulls Spike's leather jacket off of him, rolling him onto the ground. She grabs him by the arm, dragging his body across the room.

Dana flashes back to when she was young and her captor, Spike, carried her across the room in his arms.

Dana deposits the unconscious Spike at the base of some pipes.

Dana flashes back to Spike chaining her to those very same pipes.

YOUNG DANA

No!

Stop!

DANA

(chaining Spike to the pipes)

Daddy's gone. He can't hear you.

(walks away)

SPIKE

(slurring)

Goin' down...luv. One way or...hmm.

DANA

(comes back to Spike holding the box of syringes)

Piece by piece.

(prepares a syringe)

Yellow makes you weak. Brown makes you sleepy.

(injects Spike)

SPIKE

(inhales)

Oh...no...

(starts to pass out)

DANA

Can't hurt me anymore.

SPIKE

You crazy little... I never—

(can't hold his head up)

DANA

Shh! Hold still. Count backwards. 10... 9... 8... 7...

Dana's face gets increasingly blurry until it all gone black.

Fade to black.

26 INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - NIGHT

Gunn points to a wall-mounted map of the city.

GUNN

Tactical found the body here—Fourth and Camden.

ANGEL

(looks at the map)

Oh, great. She's staying in the area. Let's get aerial surveillance up, thermal imaging. Have them go block to bloc, 5-mile radius.

GUNN

What exactly are they looking for? I mean, this is an industrial area. Most of the buildings have a basement of some sort.

ANGEL

Lorne, any luck with the psychics on this place?

LORNE

No. Nothin' new. It's still cold, creepy, and smells like molasses.

WESLEY

What about...

(chuckles)

I almost said the words "molasses factory" out loud.

FRED

(gets an idea, stands)

Whiskey.

LORNE

Oh, God bless you, kitten. I was just about to suggest the same thing.

FRED

No. I mean, when you're cookin' up whiskey, it makes the whole room smell like molasses.

ANGEL

Look for a distillery. Get maps from 10 years ago. Maybe it's—

FRED

(notices Andrew walk into the room)

Andrew.

ANDREW

(his face is beaten and bloody)

We were attacked. I think she got him. I think she got Spike.

Cut to:

27 INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT

A groggy Spike fades into consciousness. He looks around, his vision still blurry, his speech still slurred.

DANA

Piece...by piece.

SPIKE

(slurred)

What'd you do...

DANA

Shh! Stay quiet. I'll let you go.

SPIKE

(breathes heavily)

You're homicidal. What did you do... to me?

DANA

(holding the bone saw)

Losing all your pieces. Not weak.

(with disturbed breathing, she glares at Spike)

Can't touch me anymore.

Spike lifts his bandaged arms, revealing that his hands have been removed at mid-forearm.

Fade to black.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ACT IV:

28 INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT

Resume. A drugged and barely coherent Spike has just learned that his hands are missing. Dana paces in front of him.

SPIKE

(softly)

Oh, God. Can't feel ...mmy...

DANA

(punches Spike in the face)

No!

(emotionally)

No more daddy... no more mommy... no more hands.

(tearfully)

Can't touch me ever again.

SPIKE

I never touched you.

DANA

(punches Spike)

Shh!

SPIKE

Stop. Stop. You got it wrong. Your brain's all jumbled. I never hurt you. It wasn't me. I've done my share of bad, but you're not one of 'em. It's someone else.

Dana stares at Spike. She flashes back to her captor carrying her across the room. The captor looks like Spike at first, but she flashes another memory... and it's someone else. A brown-haired, heavier man.

SPIKE

You've got me confused with another man.

Dana flashes back to her captor chaining her to the pipes. At first, it's Spike... but then it's the darker man chaining her.

YOUNG DANA

Let me go!

Let me go!

Uhh!

SPIKE

Visions...are mixing... with your real memories. All right? Got 'em stuffed in your head. Other slayers, other places. New York... China...

DANA

(speaking Chinese)

SPIKE

Yeah. That's what you're remembering—other slayers.

DANA

You killed her.

SPIKE

(sadly)

Yes. But—

DANA

You killed them both.

SPIKE

(whispering)

That and worse. But I was never here.

DANA

(punches Spike repeatedly in the face)

Doesn't matter! Head and heart. Keep cutting till you see dust.

(wields her bone saw as she kneels over Spike)

Someone picks up Dana and throws her across the room. It's Angel. Dana gets to her feet, and Angel tries to reason with her.

ANGEL

Dana...look, I'm here to help you. The man who tried to hurt you? His name is Walter Kindel. He tried to rob a liquor store 5 years ago, and the police shot him. He—he's dead, Dana.

(slowly approaching Dana)

DANA

(breathing shakily)

Hold still.

ANGEL

He can't hurt you anymore.

DANA

Can't hurt me. Not weak anymore.

ANGEL

That's right.

DANA

Strong. Slayer.

Dana charges Angel, kicking him in the chest. They fight in hand-to-hand combat, and Dana kicks Angel across the room. They continue to trade punches and kicks, knocking over the little furniture that remained in the room. Finally, Angel grabs her around the neck from behind and turns her to face the door.

ANGEL

Now!

Tranquilizer darts hit Dana in the chest with a thud three times. Dana passes out and collapses to the ground. Wesley goes to Angel's side, and they stand over Dana.

GUARDS

We got her. Move in.

Wesley stands over Dana with his tranquilizer gun at the ready in case she comes to. Angel looks around and spots Spike's arms on a nearby workbench.

ANGEL

Get the med team down here. Now!

Spike sighs in relief.

Cut to:

29 EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

Fred's on the cell phone as the paramedics wheel Spike on a gurney into the ambulance.

FRED

(on her cell phone)

Get it prepped. Put surgical on standby. We'll be there in 10 minutes. Oh, for God's sake! Tell the shaman no cadavers.

(sighs, glances at the medical transport cooler)

We've got his hands.

(gets in the ambulance with Spike)

Angel and Wesley escort Dana's gurney out of the basement along with a group of armed guards.

ANGEL

Chain her into the van. I want armed guards ridin' with her in the back.

ANDREW

That's all right, boys. I'll take it from here.

ANGEL

What?

ANDREW

Totally 'preciate your help on this one, big guy. Never could've found her without you, but you got enough problems of your own to worry about.

ANGEL

Get outta the way, Andrew.

ANDREW

(steps in Angel's path)

She's a slayer. That means she's ours.

ANGEL

Yeah. Sorry. Not how it works.

(to the guards) Load her up. Don't hesitate to tranq her if she so much as—

ANDREW

(stands right up in Angel's face)

No. I don't think you... heard me, Angel.

(a group of young women walks out from the shadows to back up Andrew)

Think we're just gonna let you take her back to your evil stronghold? Well, as they say in Mexico... No. We're not...gonna... let you.

ANGEL

She's psychotic, and I'm not turning her over...to you.

ANDREW

You don't have a choice. Check the view screen, Uhura. I got 12 Vampyr Slayers behind me, and not one of them has ever dated you. She's coming with us one way or another.

ANGEL

You're way outta your league. I'll just clear this with Buffy.

ANDREW

Where do you think my orders came from? News flash—nobody in our camp trusts you anymore. Nobody. You work for Wolfram & Hart. Don't fool yourself... we're not on the same side. Thank you for your help... but, uh...we got it.

(gestures to the girls to get Dana)

Andrew and the girls walk away with Dana's gurney.

WESLEY

So that's it? You're just gonna let him take her?

ANGEL

She's one of theirs. They can handle it. Besides... you heard the man. We got enough problems of our own to worry about.

Cut to:

30 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT

His arms bandaged but now reattached, Spike's sitting in a hospital bed, wearing a white hospital gown. Angel walks up to the doorway.

SPIKE

Come to tap-dance on the patient, have we, doc? I'd give you the finger, but apparently I won't have the motor skills till the drugs wear off.

ANGEL

(walks in)

A lot of pain?

SPIKE

More than I'd like. But not as much as you would. Just what I deserve.

ANGEL

(sighs)

I didn't say that.

SPIKE

No. I did. The lass thought I killed her family. And I'm supposed to what, complain 'cause hers wasn't one of the hundreds of families I did kill? I'm not sayin' you're right... 'cause, uh... I'm physically incapable of saying that. But, uh... for a demon... I never did think that much about the nature of evil. No. Just threw myself in. Thought it was a party. I liked the rush. I liked the crunch. Never did look back at the victims.

ANGEL

I couldn't take my eyes off them. I was only in it for the evil. It was everything to me. It was art. The destruction of a human being. I would've considered Dana a masterpiece.

SPIKE

What happens to her?

ANGEL

I don't know. Um, Andrew and the slayers took her. Didn't trust us to help her.

SPIKE

Andrew double-crossed us? That's a good move.

(chuckles)

Hope for the little ponce yet. Though the tingling in my forearms tells me she's too far gone to help. She's...one of us now. She's a monster.

ANGEL

She's an innocent victim.

SPIKE

So were we... once upon a time.

ANGEL

Once upon a time.