NARRATOR: Previously on Angel:
CORDELIA: Fred disappeared five years ago. They never found her.
WESLEY: Cordy's been sucked into the portal.
FRED: They use you as a slave.
Handsome man...
... saved me from the monsters.
So we know each other?
Yeah. Really well.
FRED: Not to sound all movie-of-the-week...
...but I think you might have some kind of amnesia.
I think there's a way we might be able to sort this out. Pick a song.
- So Lorne can read you. - You sing, he sees your future.
[SINGING "THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL"]
Great! Enough.
- What did you see? LORNE: Go away.
If it's that bad, I need to know.
It's that bad.
Evil's coming, Angel, and it's planning on staying.
You're sure that it's her? Put an extraction team together.
WESLEY: Wolfram and Hart are planning to extract Cordelia.
And I doubt your boy will be able to stop them.
We should probably get you back home.
Actually, I'd like to stay here...
...with Connor.
FRED: Oh, my God. ANGEL: Lorne?
FRED: Is he alive? - Who did this?
- Wolfram and Hart. - But why?
They must know Lorne read her.
They were after what Lorne saw when she sang.
- You played me. - Freewill. Look it up.
- Lilah... - You're the one who decided to take...
...what you overheard to the good and plentys.
- How much did they get? - All of it.
[WOMAN SCREAMING]
That's my girl!
- All right, let me check it out. - Page 19. It's not a big article.
- Not like it's featured or anything. - Got it. "Super Symmetry...
- and P-Dimensional Subspace, by Winifred Burkle."
You don't have to read it.
Of course I'm gonna read it, right now.
"In multidimensional superstring theory...
...distance scales inverted by T-duality...
...apply to heterotic theories."
The pictures are nice.
Give it to me, sweetness. Right there.
ANGEL: Here you go.
- How's your head? - Smashing.
Listen, I know I've been a bit jumpy the last couple of days...
...but did I hear a scream? - It's just Fred. I think it's a Texas thing.
Well, it's all too much Sturm und Drang for my appetite.
Cordelia shacking up with your hellspawn. No offense.
- And the hole between my horns. - And you're probably a little on edge...
...because of the whole, "slouching toward Bethlehem" thing.
No.
- No? That's good because... - Sorry, I jumped ahead.
That "no" was the one that comes after you asking me to read Cordy again.
I wasn't gonna ask you that immediately. I was gonna build up to it subtly.
I appreciate that, sugar pie, really. But the answer's no.
I'm not a champion, I'm just a regular old karaoke-singing empath demon.
You saw something. If we knew what it was...
Yeah, Wolfram and Hart would come after me again.
And maybe they wouldn't stop with a little gray matter.
ANGEL: I'm listening.
Hey, death just doesn't look good on me.
I wish I could tell you what was coming and when, but...
When you say listening, you don't mean to me.
You heard something, didn't you?
It's probably just Fred.
LORNE: I got your back.
[RUSTLING]
[GRUNTS]
Oh, hi.
Sorry.
I'm used to it.
Front door is always open, Connor. You don't have to sneak in.
Cordy wanted some of her stuff.
How's she doing, Cordy? Anything coming back to her?
Nothing about you.
- Is she alone right now? Because... - She's safe. I can take care of Cordelia.
Can I go?
Sure. Sorry.
Wait.
You should take her fuzzy slippers.
- Her feet get cold. - I know.
She's always stealing the covers.
Super Symmetry
CHARLES: You don't wanna go in there.
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Girl kept me up all night. She is unstoppable.
More than I need to know.
Did Charles tell you?
He didn't describe it.
I've been asked to present my article at the Physics Institute.
P-Dimensional subspace has always been a fascinating area...
...but I had no idea there'd be so much interest.
Can I practice my speech for you?
I think Lorne's a little conked. Okay.
Oh, yay. We're back.
That, all night. Well, mostly that.
I didn't know Fred was back into physics.
I don't think she wanted anyone to know.
- Think she was afraid she lost the knack. - She seems over that.
It's nothing big, really. Just a little breakthrough in quantum particles.
Emphasis on little.
Probably be disproven in no time.
It's just, I used to dream I'd discover some revolutionary concept and...
- Oh, it's silly. - Doesn't sound silly.
I guess I just wanted all those people I looked up to...
...I wanted them to see me too.
And then I got sucked into Pylea and, well...
...when you're a cow-slave, you don't want anyone to see you at all.
Everybody will be watching you now.
I gotta practice.
You'll be there?
Cheering you on. Right?
The little nipper dropped in for a midnight visit last night.
- Connor was here? - Hope he didn't wanna kiss and make...
He picked up some of Cordelia's things.
She's just trying to put the pieces back together.
It'll work out, and it'll all be for the best.
It will!
Five years of unendurable torture aside, if I hadn't been sucked through a portal...
...I wouldn't have figured out my string compactification theory.
Exactly. Because, you know, strings need...
...to compactify.
[KNOCKING]
- Surprise. - Oh, look. A bribe. How thoughtful.
No, it can't be a bribe. Must be a setup.
Can't it just be a gift?
Open it.
We seem to be butting heads lately. Now you'll have the advantage.
- This must have cost a fortune. - Yes.
It'll take you hours to thank me properly.
Fortunately...
...I've taken the afternoon off.
I have to leave, actually.
But thank you, Lilah...
...for the gift.
There.
Almost done.
- Connor? - Yeah?
How come there's no picture of Angel?
Uh...
Didn't see any.
Oh. Well, it's okay. You got all the other important stuff.
Apparently, I'm a nester...
...because this place is starting to look not entirely unhomey.
- What? - Nothing.
Except...
...well, I thought I'd feel different.
I mean, I have my pictures and slippers and superluscious peau de soie blouse...
...but why does it still feel like something's missing?
- How does that feel? - Uh, woodsy.
Maybe you miss the action. The thrill of the kill.
You know, you used to be a demon hunter.
It's true. You're just out of practice.
It'll come back fast, though.
I can train you.
What should I wear?
Thank you.
At least I remember the uniform.
- All these people here to see you? - I'm just a minor speaker.
Oh, God!
I'm between Ed Witten and Brian Greene?
Think Nomar Garciaparra and Sammy Sosa.
Fred skipped the minors and went straight to the show.
Somebody must've made a mistake.
Listen up. All that stuff about particles and stuff, it's gonna blow them away.
- Nothing to worry about. - Well, what if my theory's wrong?
- Professor Seidel! - Winifred.
Laurie, I'll meet you back at the lab.
There you are. It's been, what, two years or so.
Yeah, heavy on the or so. Wow, it is great to see you.
Are you gonna be in there?
I'm introducing you.
I had to arm-wrestle the chair of the department for the honor.
Oh.
Winifred, you have done some great work.
You don't have anything to worry about.
- Ahem. - Oh.
These are my friends Charles and Angel.
Hey.
I was gonna be a history major, then I took Professor Seidel's physics class...
...and, well... - Winifred's a natural.
By the end of the first semester, she was taking on WIMPs.
You should see her now. Killer left hook.
WIMPs are Weakly Interactive Massive Particles.
Oh, yeah. Just kidding.
Do you remember that Higgs Scalars tutorial?
I still remember your take on spontaneous symmetry breaking.
You know, it's filling up. I'm gonna go save some seats.
Why don't you stop by the office. I'd love to talk about your article.
- Is tomorrow too soon? - Tomorrow's perfect.
I have some questions about how Kaluza-Klein models fit with your theory.
Oh, okay. Because string regularization is kind of vital to what I'm proposing.
Sorry about that.
Oh, Dr. Shepard...
...I want you to meet one of my best students, Winifred Burkle.
Of course. I read your article. Intriguing. Nice to meet you.
Listen, man, I'm gonna need simultaneous translating on this thing.
- But just give me the highlights. - No problem.
Of course, I have no idea what she's talking about.
Will you tell Fred? She thinks we're both stupid, I won't stand out as much.
There have been many recent insights into string theory.
But few have so elegantly tied together the disparate threads...
...as the one you will hear tonight.
As a student, Winifred Burkle showed outstanding intellectual rigor.
Her work continues to exemplify...
...the highest standard of academic excellence.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce Winifred Burkle.
[AUDIENCE CLAPPING]
Thank you, professor.
This one just says, "open with joke."
But I forgot to think of one.
Of course, it's possible my theory will take care of that.
[AUDIENCE LAUGHING]
There are...
There are several competing dimensional theories.
And while each provides insights, physicists...
...have long searched for a unifying theory.
One that can account for the behavior of the smallest subatomic particles...
...and the largest forces of nature.
If space-time can undergo massive rearrangement of its structure...
...which I believe it can, tearing and re-connecting...
...according to a predetermined disposition, then T-duality...
...would allow for the compactification of extra space dimensions.
Consider the non-perturbative properties of superstring theory...
...in D-branes, especially as applied to Dirichlet boundary conditions...
...with dual open strings that are T-transformed.
This leads to the conclusion that strings...
...can only end in P-dimensional... - Oh, my God!
[DEMON SCREECHING]
CHARLES: Fred! No!
[SCREAMING]
CHARLES: Fred!
[DEMON GROWLING]
CHARLES: Hang on, baby. I got you!
Hang on!
ANGEL: Yeah...
...vampire, strangling not gonna happen.
[DEMON GROANING]
It's over, baby. You're fine.
That's cool. The top just comes right off.
Hey, if this is about the Jolly Green Demon, I could've had him killed.
- But do I hear a thank you? - Before we get to that...
...how about you tell me why a portal happened to open over Fred...
...right after you slithered out? - Tragedy struck Gidget? Really?
Did she go to that place in the big Texas sky?
Gunn and I took care of it. But if we hadn't been there...
...I'm sure your good friend Wesley would've stepped right in.
Come on. If I were gonna kill the twig...
...would I do it in a room full of people...
...and then make a conspicuous getaway so I looked extra suspicious?
Add videotape, sounds like vintage Wolfram and Hart.
Except somebody else deserves the credit.
You're quick.
About Lorne, there's gonna be a conversation.
You know, Angel, coming from you...
...idle threats are so, well, idle.
You remember when I ripped your car in half?
Yeah, yeah. Hulk smash.
[TIRES SQUEALING]
[FRED MURMURING]
CHARLES: Fred?
FRED: P versus NP...
...where NP is non-deterministic polynomial time.
Versus NP...
...plus time...
- Time spent. - Never liked the paint in here.
Yeah, let's redo the place, really make it ours.
I was just... I couldn't sleep.
Fred. Demons, portals, that happens.
Doesn't mean you're going back to Pylea.
Every time I close my eyes, I see it.
Like it's happening all over again.
I know, baby.
Five years of hiding in caves and scrounging for food, wearing that collar.
- You don't know! You couldn't. - You're never going back to that place.
- You're safe now. - I was safe in the library...
...until I opened that book and read those words.
- Then I hurtled through dimensions. - Come back to bed, all right?
- It'll all look different in the morning. - Morning? As in tomorrow.
Which as of now is today, which means...
You're gonna talk to your professor because nothing has changed.
It has. He was there. He saw the...
- He probably thinks... - That you're brilliant, just like I do.
He can't see me, not like this.
There's nothing wrong with you, like this or any other way.
- To you, maybe. - Look.
Go, okay?
Forget about all this, and talk about strings and WIMPs and whatever.
Angel and I'll take care of all the demony portal stuff. No problem.
Great. Our girl's not the only one redecorating.
You were there.
Okay.
What are we doing, playing musical chairs?
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Nerdy guy.
Older nerdy guy.
Girl in black there.
Okay, catching on, sort of.
How come you never pulled this parlor trick before?
It's not an automatic reflex, just kicked in when I saw Lilah.
Hold up. Lilah was there?
Not a huge leap thinking she opened the portal.
- She was just stalking Wesley. - Wesley? He came to see...?
- He was waiting. - Wesley?
Guy in the second row, center seat.
A guy wearing a tan T-shirt that said, "Thwak."
[DEMON SCREECHING]
He had a camera.
- I think I know where to find him. - Whoa, whoa. Hang on.
Daylight. I need a coat.
Well, get on it. Because when my girl's not happy...
I'm not happy!
Is he gonna hurt me?
Think Daredevil 181. I'm Bullseye, you're Elektra.
One wins, one dies. Get what I'm saying?
Yeah, but we're kind of crushing the Dark Horses.
You were taking pictures of my girlfriend. Why?
The ceiling was ripping apart.
Why were you there?
I wanted to see if it was true. If she was really one of them.
You know, one of the students who disappeared.
One of?
Pylea was a hell dimension, actually. Not as bad as Quor-toth...
...but if Angel and Gunn and the rest hadn't rescued me...
...I'd probably be dead by now.
Winifred, I'm a theoretical physicist...
...completely open to the idea of other dimensions, but...
...your naming them...
I know. It took me a while to believe it too, and I was there.
You know Laurie Drummond, don't you?
You were the TA for High Energy Physics.
I still am. Not all of us are geniuses.
I'd be lost without Laurie.
Welcome back.
I've been holding on to something for you.
The last test I took before...
A-minus?
Well, I would have given another student an A-plus...
...but with you, I had to use a different standard.
Now he tells me.
I'd love another crack at it. Teaching you.
You have a gift. It shouldn't be wasted.
It's been so long. I mean, writing the article was great...
...but I have another life now.
Sounds like a life you stumbled into, not one you chose.
I guess it kind of chose me.
You know, I don't know what I saw yesterday.
There are studies about subconscious suggestion, mass hysteria.
But I know what I see right now.
You do?
A talented young woman who deserves to live in the world she was meant for.
You guys know how it is.
You hear things, but you don't know if they really happened.
Like the one about the girl, the cat and the peanut butter.
That one's true. Long story.
Yeah, like, you're Angel, right?
There are whole forums on you in chat rooms, man.
But who knew you actually, like, existed?
The disappearances?
Supposedly there were three before your girlfriend and one since.
- What do you know? - Just rumors.
They were all science types. These weren't everyday kidnappings.
Hey, maybe I could help you guys. Be your intern.
We're full up on interns, but the decoder ring's in the mail.
They talk about me in the chatty rooms?
You really should read Quantum Cryptography.
Professor Seidel, the oscillator's tweaked again.
I'll have a look.
Would you write down your numbers for me?
I don't wanna lose track of you for another six years.
You laugh. I do have a system.
Plasma and Fluid Turbulence in with neutrino books?
That's just wrong.
SEIDEL: I'll meet you back at 4:00. I have some pressing...
I don't like this, man. I got a bad feeling. What?
Here. The thing all those students had in common.
Oliver Seidel.
As in, the guy she's with right now.
Fred, there's something we gotta tell you. The portal...
It was Professor Seidel.
Yeah.
And he's done it before.
- That's right. There are others. FRED: No.
To me.
He's the son of a bitch that sent me to Pylea.
What?
- We're gonna get this guy. - Count on it. He's gonna pay.
No.
He's gonna die.
What do you mean, die?
I don't know yet. But it's gonna be about pain.
The halberd could work.
Acting like I'm all addle-brained, talking about other dimensions.
"Pylea? Never heard of it." Right.
How about a flail-whipping? Would that take long?
Hours, if you do it right. Not that you should do it at all.
Ever.
He's a killer, and he's just sitting there, smiling...
...telling me I'm so gifted and how he wants to teach me.
- Oh, there's gonna be a lesson, all right. - All right, Fred, let's calm down.
I idolized him, and he sent me to hell.
Me and God knows how many others who didn't make it back.
So sure, I'll calm down. When he's dead.
A few years ago I would've done in the guy myself.
But this? It isn't what we do.
- We kill monsters every day. - We help people.
Fred, if you do this, the demons you'll be living with...
...won't be the horned kind. They'll be the kind you can't get rid of.
- You're wrong. - He's right.
Whatever you do now, it's nothing compared to how it'd be afterward.
CHARLES: What you're saying goes against everything you believe.
Everything we believe in. Fred, you idolized him...
...but don't let him be defining what you are now.
Can I have the ax?
I'm sorry, Charles.
- I guess I kind of lost it. - You want a drink?
I can make you some cocoa.
No, thanks. I'm just...
...gonna go lay down for a few days.
So, what are we gonna do to this guy?
No idea.
But let's do it fast.
We gotta get to him before Fred changes her mind because vengeance...
...it can get ugly.
Vengeance? Sounds good.
Angel and Gunn want me to be all sweetness and light.
Cute little Fred, she'll turn the other cheek like a good girl.
I mean, they saw what Professor Seidel is capable of.
He opened that portal right in front of them.
You dealt with it handily enough.
You were there?
I read your article, saw you'd be speaking.
It was an excellent piece.
Although I'm not sure I understand how Pauli repulsion is so readily reversed.
Layman's opinion.
You've been keeping track of me.
Yes.
Well, about this Professor Seidel. What did you have in mind?
Beyond pain, I'm not really sure. That's why I came to you.
Fred...
...you do know everything Angel and Gunn told you is true.
Vengeance will have a price.
And once you've acted, you can't go back.
You have to live with your actions forever.
He's a serial killer.
All right, then.
I'm sure we'll find...
...an appropriate solution.
Oh, here's something interesting. Once practiced in ancient Egypt.
Is that his tongue?
[CELL PHONE RINGS]
[GASPS]
[GRUNTS]
- Thanks. - Anytime.
[GROWLING]
Can I help?
Ooh, that hurts!
I did that. I did it.
I did it!
And I'm asking if she wants cocoa. Stupid!
She's gonna kill him.
If he doesn't kill her first. You know where she went.
- Look, I'm faster on my own. - Go. I'll meet you there.
She'll be okay.
- Remember everything we went over? - I do.
And I'm going to give him exactly what he deserves. Thanks to you.
What?
I was just thinking.
Not that I don't get his point...
...but I'm surprised Gunn's not here.
No matter what the consequences.
Charles doesn't have it in him.
It's part of what I love about him.
You can still back out if you think Gunn's right.
It's not about what's right.
Pull over there.
I'd ask to tag along...
But you know what the answer would be.
- Going somewhere? - No. No, I...
I hear Pelican Bay's nice this time of year. The inmates will love your lectures.
- Get out of here. - See, I can't do that.
Fred's a friend of mine.
And that little sabbatical you had planned for her? Not nice.
You don't have evidence. You can't...
Oh, but I can. And when I'm done, I'm guessing there's gonna be a full...
[CHANTS]
Great.
[GROWLS]
[GRUNTS]
You know what they say about payback?
Well, I'm the bitch.
How about some more training?
- Then tomorrow we can... - Connor.
We need to talk.
- Okay. - Okay.
Sit down.
[SIGHS]
About what happened earlier...
The non-CPR mouth-to-mouth.
When you kissed me.
Right.
I shouldn't have.
- But... - Connor.
I don't know who I am...
...much less where I belong or who with.
There's a picture over there when you were a baby, it's only eight months old.
There's a lot I need to figure out.
I'm sorry.
- So I'm gonna... - You're going back to him.
Aren't you?
I just need some time to think, okay?
Oh, man.
What the...?
Stay right there.
Winifred.
Fred, please...
...let's talk about this. - Talk?
Sure, let's talk. Because you gave me the chance to...
Oh, wait. No, you didn't.
- Oh, well, no talking. - Fred, I know you.
You're not capable of hurting anyone.
You don't know me. Not anymore.
Five years of pain in a hell dimension will make a girl capable of a lot of things.
Come on. I'm holding your head.
[ROARS]
It's funny thinking how threatened you were by me when I was a grad student.
That's why you sent me and the others away.
You couldn't handle the competition.
- Fred. - And that's why Laurie's still around.
She's not smart enough to overshadow you, is she?
Not like me. I'm special.
Special on a Pylean platter with a side of you-make-me-sick!
- Why don't you just let me... - Go?
Well, since you asked so nicely, sure.
I've even practiced a goodbye speech.
[CHANTS]
- Fred, no! - Go away, Charles!
You asked me not to kill him, and I'm not.
- Not exactly. CHARLES: Sure you are.
No way he can survive that!
Fred, don't let him do this to you!
How dare you? You don't know! You don't know what it was like!
Please help me!
I promise we'll stop him. We'll find some other way.
Fred! Winifred, please, help me!
Don't you see? He'll never stop. He'll do it again!
If you kill him, I'm gonna lose you.
Help me! Help me!
Charles, no!
[CRACKING]
What happened to the professor?
It's taken care of.
Sucked into his own portal.
Wish I could have seen his face.
Yeah. I'm gonna...
FRED: Good night.
[FOOTSTEPS]
Hi.
Cordelia.
Can we...?
- You should have someone look at that. - It'll be okay.
Run-in with a Voynok demon. Turns out they have nine lives.
- Like a cat? - Only less standoffish.
We were friends.
I know that.
Not just from the pictures, but...
And I know that's why you lied before. To protect me.
Well, l... I staked a vamp today.
- Connor took you...? - And what I realized is...
...whoever I was before...
...I'm still her.
She didn't need protecting, and neither do I.
So no more lies.
No more lies.
Good.
Because there's something I need to know.
Were we in love?
Subtitles by SDI Media Group
[ENGLISH SDH]