“I’ve heard about this. Never saw it for myself.”

“It’s not good, is it?”

“No Connor. It’s pretty damn bad.”

Angel, Faith and Connor are looking to the skies. Above them, her hair blackening, her eyes obsidian and the Scythe, now black instead of red, crackling with power in her hands, is Willow Rosenberg. She’s panicking, the dark magicks of Quor’toth surrounding her, infecting her, slowly coming to the fore.

Willow floats herself down to her concerned friends. “I was wrong. This place, its evil… it is affecting me,” she says to them. “Forget what I said. I have to get out of here. We can try again later. I’ll be ready next time. I just can’t be like this!” She cannot stop the energies surging around her. Faith yells at the demons around them: “Clear a path to the rift! Let her go back to Earth!”

The leader of the canine pack orders his clan out of the way, apologising to Connor for their lack of speed and intelligence. He tells Connor to punish them if he feels it’s warranted: Connor denies that anyone is getting killed – he just needs them to move!

Angel looks over at Connor and Faith, a severely worried look on his face. “If Willow’s not here, who protects us from that?” He points over to the horizon, where the demon known as Quor’toth is approaching, somehow looking even more threatening than before. As it rages across the hellscape, it keeps on depositing black bile from it’s massive jaw, huge wings propelling it through the air. “Suck out your souls,” it bellows, as it heads towards them.

Willow turns to Angel, terrified. She can’t fight the demon right now, she begs. Angel promises that everything will be okay, but Willow protests. “You don’t know me like this. It’s never okay!” She struggles in front of him, but Angel holds her by her arms, bringing her straight into his eyeline. “Willow, it will be. I promise you. I need you to trust me. I know that’s hard, after Twilight… after everthing, but please Willow.” He looks at her, a plea in his eyes. “Can you trust me?”

Willow brings her face closer to his, her eyes devoid of any colour, veins stretching across her pale skin. “I… I… yes,” she says quietly, so only Angel can hear her. “But I don’t trust me,” she says in regret.

Angel pulls her closer. “Let me worry about that,” he tells her, “We need to get everyone through. Maybe a minute. Willow, can you handle Quor’toth?” He looks at her. Something has changed in Willow’s stance: Angel’s words have pushed her forward. She gets up, now more energised. Her tone is mocking, almost cruel.

Power surges from the Scythe and into her hands. “Can I handle an Old One? The embodiment of the most hellish of all Hell dimensions?” She laughs out loud. “Here’s a better question, Angel.” She floats herself up so that she’s high above them, directly facing the towering advancing form of the Old One. “Can it handle me?”

Without warning a massive charge of energy comes from Willow. Quor’toth roars in defiance, “Hate, kill, erase,” and fires it’s own blast of black at Willow. As the two blasts coalesce in the centre of the valley, there is the deafening sound of gasping air and rumbling earth around them. Faith has noticed and tells Angel that Willow seems to be enjoying this too much. She’s not sure on their next move: Do they leave Willow here to fight the demon? She doubts Willow couldn’t follow them, all powered up.

Angel tells her that they’re not leaving Willow behind. They just need another minute. He orders Connor to lead the civilians through the rift. As Connor prepares to jump through the tear with his followers however, he’s stopped by a shield of energy, orange and black in colour – it’s preventing access to the portal. Willow sneers from the sky. “Uh-uh. Change of plans.” Her hair is now purple. “I’m calling the shots now, she smiles, creepy grin across her lips.

She talks to herself in the sky, as if justifying her own actions to herself. “What was I afraid of? The power here runs deep. And hot. I can do anything.” With no effort whatsoever, she telekinetically removes a chunk of rock from the cliff face and moves it towards the advancing creature.

“Quor’toth needs a new God, one with a little more vision,” she says, dropping the huge chunk of rock on Quor’toth. “And talent,” she finishes, as the rock falls. The demon doesn’t move from where it’s fallen.

“I like it here,” Dark Willow grins. She turns to her friends below her. “A girl could build a future in this place. Rich veins of power, plenty of worshippers and room for growth. With the Scythe I can open a tear to pretty much anywhere.” She grins to herself. “Oh, the places I’ll go.”

She lifts Connor telekinetically towards her. “Maybe I don’t have to kill you, Connor. You’re made for this place.” She’s still grinning as she tells him “You’d be a fine minion… and your little dogs too,” she jokes. “But your dad, he’d never understand. I’m going to have to…” she turns for a moment, and looks around. She’s been too busy with Connor, she’s lost sight of Angel. “Where is the old big bad wannabe?” she asks aloud.

Faith and Angel are crouched behind a jagged rock, listening to Dark Willow’s every word. Faith is beyond concerned now. “What if the rules are different? What if you lose control?” Angel looks at her, not mixing his words. “Then we’re all dead,” he tells her. He asks if she’s ready and she nods, lifting him up as much as she can and giving him a leg up as Angel leaps into the sky towards Dark Willow.

Mid leap, as he approaches Willow, Angel takes his chance. He morphs into his vampire form and manages to grab her from behind. He sinks his fangs into her neck, and Dark Willow screams!

“Bastard!” she yells, unable to move as energy crackles around them. “I’ll burn you to ash! I’ll…” her voice starts to trail off, her power ebbing as Angel takes more and more from her. “Hey, y’know, that feels kinda nice,” Willow says in her delirium, her hair fading slowly back to red. She falls unconscious in the vampire’s arms as he falls to the ground.

Connor and Faith race to their side when they land, Connor praising that they got to Willow in time. Faith says to Angel that he can let Willow go, but then she catches his eyes.

The vampire still continues to feed from Willow. Connor calls him. “Dad?” But the look in his father’s eyes is enough for Faith. Under her breath, moving her blade before she even knew she had to, Faith prepares. Connor looks at her and tells her not to hurt him, but Faith pushes him back.

Angel, trying to hold back Angelus, tells him to listen to Faith. He can’t change back to human form, the desire for the blood too much. The hunger is simply too strong. He turns to Faith, desperation in his face, trying with difficulty to keep his soul where it belongs. “Faith, do it quickly. Connor, I’m sorry. This is how it has to be.” Angel prepares for Faith’s next blow and braces: This was always the plan. If things went wrong. For Faith to stop him.

As he reaches his hand out to Connor one last time, Angel is surprised when Willow grabs his wrist. Her hair is red again. “No,” she orders him, “You said it would be okay. I trusted you. Make it okay, Angel.”

Angel looks at her. There are no more words between them. Just a look of love, courage and faith. Angel closes his eyes and, with some effort, restores his human face, his soul in place and the threat of Angelus once again sealed away. Willow is also back to normal. She looks at Angel and he looks back. They share a massive, reaffirming, hug of gratitude.

Once they’re done, Willow chuckles. “That was your plan? Get all bitey?” Angel knew it was risky, but he had to do it. She doesn’t mind: sometimes there are no good options and he did what he had to do. He tells her that that’s what he always does, but she tells him to stop. “You helped me a lot today, Angel, but it doesn’t undo what happened. We’re not going back to how it was before. Ever. But, even if I can’t forgive you, I can’t hate you either.”

Angel says he wouldn’t blame her if she did, but for what it’s worth, he’s glad she doesn’t. She smiles briefly and uses her magic to open a rift. She tells Connor’s followers that this tear will take them to where their friends are, so they can begin new lives in peace. Excitedly, the pack prepare their goodbyes, offering their fairest number to Connor as a bride, but he says he’s spoken for. The canine looks confused. Who will lead them? Connor approaches him and says that it’s their home – his is elsewhere. “Just, you know, be good to each other. Do unto others as you’d have then do unto you and, uh…. the Force will be with you, always.”

The canine looks at him. “The wisdom of the Destroyer, we shall never forget.” As they leave, Connor turns to Faith and says that he’s the worst leader ever, but she tells him not to be too hard on himself. She turns to Willow – “So, I guess you’re going with them?”

Willow confirms that that’s her plan. “You were amazing, Faith. You are amazing. Out of all of us, you’ve grown the most.”

Faith fist pumps with her and smiles. “I kind of rigged the game by setting the bar real low, but thanks.” Connor gives Willow a warm hug. “And you,” she says, “you are an incredible guy. Thanks for backing me up. Thanks for noticing what’s going on in the world and proving I’m not just crazy. Thanks.” She lets him go, looks him straight in his eyes. “Be happy, Connor. No one deserves it more.”

Willow finally turns to Angel. “So, Angel. You got me off Earth, put me in a position to restore magic. A deal’s a deal.”

She holds out the Scythe, now back to it’s original red colour. “You’re wearing the Tooth of Ammut, right? The soul magnet? The Scythe’s got mystic wards, protection against its energy being drained, but I can shut them off. If there’s any part of Giles in the Scythe, it’s all yours.”

As soon as Angel touches the Scythe, bright green energy flows straight from the weapon and into Angel’s chest. The severity of the moment causes Willow to jump in surprise. “I’d never actually seen… I think I actually felt him…”

Faith asks Angel if he’s okay, helping him up from the ground. “You felt Giles?” she asks Willow. “This is like, legit?” she asks. Willow nods. “He’s trying something big, like I am. Be for him what he was for me.” She puts her hand on Faith’s arm. “But Faith, don’t lose sight of…”

They’re interrupted by the ground beneath them rumbling and moving. They look in horror as Quor’toth, injured but still large and powerful, roars his way free to the surface from where Willow buried him. Willow tells them to run.

As Angel, Connor and Faith leap through one tear, Willow leaps through another…

In Los Angeles, specifically the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel, the blue tear suddenly crackles. Charles Gunn, who’s been standing guard, picks up his rifle and makes sure it’s loaded. “Damn, my coffee’s not even cold.” As the trio return to their home dimension, Charles is stunned: things either went really good or really bad for them to be home this quickly. Faith looks up at the tear as it vanishes for good. “Actually Gunn, the way our lives have been going, that pretty much qualifies as five by five.”

Later, Gunn asks if the rift closing means Willow is okay. Angel confirms that’s she’s on her way.

Somewhere, in an unknown dimension, Willow floats through green vegetation, the sun shining in the sky. Her journey into this new realm is about to begin in earnest. She smiles, Scythe by her side.

In LA, Angel apologises to Connor for putting him through all this. His son reminds him that it was his choice. He asks his father to stop avoiding him and Angel admits that he was afraid that he would screw Connor’s life up simply by being in it. But he now knows that Connor is too strong for that to happen. “Any time you need me Connor, or just want to talk, I’m a phone call away. Or a plane trip, if you want to come visit.” He looks at his son. “And I hope you will.”

Connor sounds disappointed when he realises that Faith and Angel are heading straight back to London, but understands now what they have to do. “Yes,” Angel smiles at him. “And I’ve got to get back to it.” He puts his arm around Connor’s shoulder. “Next week,” he smiles.

After their chat, Faith takes Angel to one side and tells him that was a risk: almost letting Angelus out, dealing with Dark Willow. Angel says he couldn’t let her put Earth at risk, so he made a choice. He was betting on the pleasure centres involved in a vampire bite calming her down. “If it hadn’t worked, I would have had to kill her. If I’d lost control, I knew you’d kill me. She knew it too. She told you to be for me what I was to her.”

Faith shrugs. She says she’s sick of the responsibility, but Angel tells her that she won’t have to wait much longer. “The rest of Giles’ soul is all in one place. I just have to find it.”

Faith looks at him, in slight shock. “I’m almost there, Faith,” Angel smiles. “It’s almost over.”

In Slayer Headquarters on the other side of London, Nadira comes racing in to find one of their number, Marianne, dead. Another of their number, Patsy, is in hospital: they were attacked, Daphne says, by Drusilla.

Nadira punches a wall in protest, determined to find her. Daphne says that no one knows where Drusilla has fled to. She got away in the confusion. A mention of Angel’s presence there gets Nadira’s attention: “Angel was there? He is here?” She theorises that of course Angel would come to London to help his progeny. “One more Slayer’s blood on his hands. I swear to you, Daphne, I’ll get him…”

Daphne has tears in her eyes. She says that Angel wasn’t alone. Nadira doesn’t care: she’ll kill them all. Daphne’s next words stun her: “Nadira, he was fighting, back to back, with Faith.”