On the floor of Rory’s bar, the Nitobe Warrior known as Eldre Koh considers his next actions carefully, the vampire who hit him still standing over him. Angel looks down, hopeful at him, speaks calmly. “How about it, Koh? Do you have control of yourself, or do we need to go another round?”

Koh wipes his mouth and looks over his shoulder at Angel. He bows his head, his eyes closed. His voice is soft and Angel can hear sadness in it’s every beat. “I am in control.” As he takes Angel’s hand to get up off the floor, his voice goes even quieter. “I am also… ashamed.”

Angel notes the tone, recognising it himself. He makes a joke, determined to salvage his evening. “It’s just that I hate to hear Rory whine whenever his place gets busted up. And something tells me I wouldn’t have enjoyed continuing that fight.”

Without any emotion, Koh looks at him and, without changing his face, simply tells the vampire: “No. You would not have.” Angel makes an uneasy smile.

Picking up a damaged chair, Koh explains. “The Nitobe are a fighting race, and the Yataro the most elite among them. But we are also supposed to be disciplined. Allowing myself to wallow in self-pity is unforgivable.”

“Look, we’ve only just met, but I know a little something about beating yourself up. You recognised what you were doing and stopped. Even if it took a punch in the face.” Angel wonders as he looks at the demon – he sees himself in there, how he was when he first left Sunnydale.

“You’re right. Dwelling on my weakness is almost as bad as the weakness itself. Yet it is difficult to not be discouraged. Illyria has the answers I need. I searched high and low for the Old One and finally found her. And yet trapped inside of your friend, she might as well be a million miles away.”

Angel gestures at him before looking him right in the eyes. “Koh, you might not want to hear this, but have you thought about just letting it go? You obviously have skills. They could probably be put to better use.”

“Your friend Nadira suggested as much. But without my honour, I am nothing.”

The demon looks sullen now, once again looking away from Angel. But the vampire is nothing if not persistent. “Answer me this, Koh. What if you can somehow ask Illyria your questions, and she tells you what you want to know, and you do finally get your revenge? Then what? What will you do when you don’t have revenge guiding you anymore?”

The demon says nothing.

“You don’t have to figure this out by yourself.”

But Eldre Koh, warrior of the Nitobe, is already halfway through the door, seeking his answers elsewhere. He doesn’t look back at Angel as he goes. “I will think on your words, Angel. But there is no future for me until my heart knows peace.”

As Koh leaves, Rory appears behind Angel, concern in his voice. “He’s a powder keg, that one. Come on, Angel. You’re not going to let him bust up the place again, are you?”

Angel smiles. “Forget it, Rory. It’s Magic Town.”

The next morning, at the townhouse of the Fairweather sisters, Lavinia and Sophie are livid.

“Darling, really, we’ve been over this. I mean, if you can’t take pride on your own appearance, at least think of others.”

Sophie raises her hands above her head, dramatic as usual. “Yes. The problem is definitely spreading.”

The two sisters are not talking about each other, for once. They both turn to Faith and Fred, both nursing large coffee mugs and both looking exhausted and in lounge wear. The sisters look them up and down. Faith turns to Fred, whispers quietly. “Definitely getting my own place.” Fred nudges her without looking at her. “Take me with you.”

At the breakfast table, Faith has yet another coffee poured by Lavinia, who’s also bringing more fresh toast. The Slayer yawns. “I’m still getting over jet-lag.”

Fred doesn’t move, still staring at the coffee. “Really? I’m still getting over returning from the dead and having an ancient Old One struggle to take control of my body.”

“It’s not a contest, ladies,” Lavinia smiles at them.

Fred takes a deep breath, props her head up on her hand and sighs. “I’m sorry. Too many restless dreams last night with two of us rolling around in my head.”

Looking at Fred, Faith has a suggestion. “Listen, Fred, normally in a situation like this, Giles would be consulting the dusty old books and trying to find a hocus-pocus style solution to your dilemma. Frankly, I wish he was here. But maybe it’s time for the alternate approach.”

Fred looks confused. “What do you mean?”

“The people I work for at Zane are in Magic Town specifically to study people who’ve turned into… well, not people. I mean, look, I get you might not be keen on the lab-rat thing, but they might be able to help.”

Fred looks at her. An idea begins to form in Fred Burkle’s mind.

Hours later, at the newly opened labs of Zane Pharmaceuticals. Angel has come here, with Faith and Fred. Angel and Faith watch as Fred sits on a chair. Doctors hover around them, preparing their tests as Reese Zane coordinates. Angel has reservations. “I’m not sure about this, Faith.”

“Reese Zane wants to help. It can’t hurt to let her come at the problem from a science angle. Maybe the answer to magic isn’t more magic for once.”

Angel turns to Fred. He knows that ultimately, it’s her choice. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Fred.”

“We’ve got to try something,” Fred says quietly, resigned.

Within moments, Reese Zane calls them from the chamber, ready to start. “Faith, you and Angel come out of there now. We’re ready to start.”

In an observation booth, separated from Fred by a pane of glass, Reese turns to Angel and explains what they’re doing. “I’m not really sure we can accomplish anything here, but we can at least take some readings. Nothing more, since it’s not clear what we might unleash.”

Angel tells everyone in the room how he feels. “I’m not crazy about this. Fred’s been through a lot.”

One of the doctor’s turns to Angel, appreciation on his face. “I have similar concerns. As a physician, my first priority is the safety of the patient. Trust me, my finger will be hovering over the panic button the entire time, should something go awry.”

But Reese interrupts. “But the fact is, we’re simply not doing anything dangerous. Think of it as a CAT scan on steroids. If there’s anything physical going on with her, we’ll see it.”

“It’s her call. Let’s get on with it,” Angel says, but Reese can tell he doesn’t trust them. Another doctor, Dr. Ellis, tries to reassure Angel.

“As the lead Zane researcher here in Magic Town, I can’t tell you how exciting it is to examine a specimen like this. We’re very keen to explore the physical toll a body undergoes during a magical transformation. As you can imagine, it’s not a field that’s been wildly studied before.

Angel turns, annoyed at the doctor. “Dr. Ellis, how about we think of Fred as a person and not a specimen.”

Faith speaks quietly in his ear. “Easy champ. It’s just egghead talk.”

From inside the chamber, over the intercom, Fred’s voice comes through, loud and clear. “It’s okay, Angel. I get what they’re doing. When I was Head Science Geek at Wolfram & Hart, the first step was always information gathering. Can’t form a hypothesis without data, right?”

Elsewhere, Parker and Tricia are discussing plans. He wants to take her to Bristol, to meet his mum, but Tricia is apprehensive, worried about the reaction to her outside of Magic Town.

Parker tells her that she has nothing to worry about: since she’s beautiful, everyone supposed to stare. Tricia smiles, moves in for a kiss, but as their lips meet, Tricia realises they’re not alone. She parts from Parker, and both jump in fright when they see Koh, right next to them. He apologises to the lovers immediately.

“Forgive me. I was not trying to spy. But it seemed an inopportune moment to intrude.”

Less then ten minutes later, Tricia knocks on Nadira’s back room door. The guru sits there, cross-legged and eyes closed, and doesn’t turn at the knock. Somehow she knows. “Please show Eldre Koh in, Tricia. Tell him he’s welcome here,” Nadira says, without moving an inch.

As Koh walks in, he sees her position on the floor and apologises. “I’m disturbing you.”

“No. Sit if you like,” Nadira tells him. She doesn’t open her eyes, or turn.

Sitting in a position identical to the guru, Koh asks her what she’s doing. “You are meditating? The Nitobe do a similar thing after a battle, to clear the mind and let the blood cool. It’s what I should have done instead of taking to strong drink and making an ass of myself.”

Still with her eyes closed, but with a smile on her face, Nadira explains. “It’s sort of like meditating. I’m opening myself to whatever might come. Visions. Insight. Whispers from the Magic. Or sometimes nothing at all. If it’s a slow night, then I’m just grateful for a moment of peace.”

Koh looks down at the ground, that shame still in his voice from earlier. “Peace. I’ve forgotten the meaning of the word.” He pauses slightly, taking the words in. Then he looks up at her. “There was something you said before. About walking the path of vengeance.”

“Yes.” But Nadira isn’t looking or talking to him.

“Will you tell me?”

Now Nadira’s eyes open and look at him, as if noticing him in the room for the first time. She gestures to him, smiling. “The details aren’t important. It’s enough to say that I was in a place where I think you are now, Koh. I know you think your honour is at stake, that your code is the only thing you have left.”

“There’s no other way to see it,” the warrior speaks, sadly.

Nadira looks at him now. “There’s every other way to see it.”

She sighs. She knows she’ll have to say more. She opens her mouth to speak and, slowly, begins to talk, softly. “There’s an old saying that revenge is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die. Revenge took almost everything I had. It seemed so big, like it was the only thing that existed: like revenge was the world.”

She tells him of her time in hospital, following the battle with Whistler. “But revenge shrinks your world and makes you smaller with it. It wasn’t until I connected with a larger consciousness that I realised the world was bigger. That I could be bigger. That there was more.”

She remembers the magic waking her up, guiding her elsewhere. “When I thought I was going to die, I let go of everything. And instead of dying, I was reborn.”

She looks at him now, her story finished. She smiles and gestures at the room around her. “Koh, you think vengeance is all you have left, and if you let go of it, you’ll have nothing. But what you have to gain is the whole rest of your life.”

At the Zane lab, Fred, still in the chamber, speaks over the intercom. “I feel warm.”

The doctor nods even though Fred can’t see him. Talks back through the speaker so she can hear. “That’s to be expected. We’re hitting her with a full spectrum of waves, including a low dose of radiation. But don’t worry. It’s no more powerful than an x-ray.”

“Great,” is all Angel has to say.

“This is interesting. We’re getting a reading on a primary set of brain waves. But there is also a subset of brain waves, almost like a shadow. This reading supports the notion of two entities trapped in a single mind. Fascinating.”

As the doctor finishes, excitement in his voice, Angel is surprised. “The machine can show that?” Faith elbows him playfully. “See? Science is our friend.”

Dr. Ellis, busy staring at the screens, mentions that a higher frequency bombarded at Fred may help. It’s a version of white noise, which should suppress one of the brain engrams in Fred’s head and bring out the other personality. Reese Zane is unsure, telling him, with an order, but gently: “Let’s not be hasty, Ellis.”

Doctor Ellis nods, and starts his process slowly, but within seconds, Fred has a reaction, calling through the intercom. “Guys, I’m not thinking this is a good idea. Angel?”

That’s enough for the vampire, who insists the procedure is halted. “Okay. Enough. Shut it down.”

Doctor Ellis points at his display, begging for time. “No, look. The barrier wave is affecting the shadow brain wave. I think we can…”

“No, it’s stressing her. And that’s when…”

And Fred then screams!

“ANGEL!”

In Nadira’s back room, Eldre Koh is explaining his past and his feelings to the guru, finding it surprisingly easy to talk to her. “For so long, I’ve allowed myself to feel only a burning need for revenge. To think of hatred as righteous wrath. To pretend retribution was the same as justice. I have been deceiving myself.”

“But why?” Nadira asks.

“Because, I’m afraid. Afraid that if I let go of hatred and vengeance, then grief and pain will come flooding in. Afraid that the eyes of my dead wife and daughters will haunt me in the night. I have been a coward.”

Nadira comes close to him, placing her hand, the green markings shining, on his shoulder. “It’s never too late, Koh. You can’t ignore grief. You can only get through it in its own time. And then maybe…”

And then Nadira screams. Koh calls her name as she falls backwards.

In the lab, a blue energy is overloading the systems, causing lights to dim and sending doctors scrambling, covering their eyes from the light, shining from the chamber.

Angel yells at the doctors to shut the machine down, but there’s an issue with the system. Fred screams at the top of her voice, seizing in the chair.

Elsewhere, Nadira screams at the same time. As Koh cradles the guru in his arms, he looks down at her concerned. “Nadira! What is it? What’s happened?”

Breathlessly, Nadira looks up at him. “The Magic. It’s afraid. Of her.”

In the lab, the chamber glass explodes with a loud bang, sending Angel, Faith and the others flying backward, shielding their eyes.

As the light clears, Angel immediately recognises the form in front of him. As she sees him, Illyria declares herself loudly to the entire room. “Illyria the Merciless has returned. And I will not be contained.“

And with that, she simply punches a massive hole in the wall. She walks, calmly, outside, her eyes blue, her skin crackling with power. “I sense a presence. A powerful presence.“

Inside, as Angel helps Faith to her feet, he can’t help teasing. “Are we still loving science?”

“Oh, shut up,” Faith snaps at him.

“Full alert. Now.” Reese’s has got up, grabbed a phone, connecting with security.

Outside on the streets of London, Illyria looks about herself, taking in her surroundings. “Finally. Free. To think I was being imprisoned, held back by that bleating little…“

Angel’s voice attracts her attention. “I hate to interrupt you when you’re talking to yourself, but maybe you should talk to us instead. Specifically, I’d like to talk to Fred. I know she’s in there somewhere.”

“The little girl is gone. Only the God remains.“

“I know that’s not true. Fred, I know you can hear me. You’ve got to fight to come back. You can do it. Because you’re strong. Come back to us. Come back to the people who care about you. Fight for it. I know you have it in you.”

For a second, it looks like he may be getting through to her. Illyria looks at him for a moment, her face calming. “Angel. I just want you to know.” And then her face turns, her head tilts and a grin appears across her lips. “You’re wrong.“

She swats Angel aside with her hand, sending him flying to one side. “This body is stronger. I no longer need tolerate you.“

As Angel hits a parked car hard, Faith races into action, but struggles to even land a blow.

Illyria is not amused and backhands the Slayer. “Insect.“

Reese Zane has her security detail with her now, and orders them to engage. They fire their weapons at the Old One, but she just shrugs off the bullets and places her hand on another car behind her. “Enough. You’re just wasting my time.“

The car’s bonnet crumbles like paper in Illyria’s hands and she launches it straight into the air, right at the Zane guards. They scatter just in time to avoid being crushed.

Faith is up now, smarting, but eager to continue. She yells at Illyria, unimpressed.

“Okay, you may be a God. But Slayers don’t really do the obey thing.” Faith launches herself from the ground, into the air, determined to take the enemy out from above.

Illyria grabs Faith by the throat however, without blinking. She stares Faith in her eyes, squeezing slowly. “Gods to not tolerate disobedience. Not even from Slayers.“

However, Faith and Illyria both fall next, as an unseen opponent knocks Illyria off her feet, sending the Slayer sprawling. As Faith hits the ground, she recognises the deep tones of the Nitobe, Eldre Koh.

“We fought side by side in the Deeper Well, Old One.” Koh snarls. “Why do you choose this path?” he asks Illyria. She turns to him, unimpressed and angry.

“You lay hands on me? And now you question me? How appropriate you could come to die at my hands, Eldre Koh.“

And then her next words hang there, as Koh stares at her in shock.

“Just as your family did.“