" Previously on Angel:" " Go find others like you." "I'm not your boyfriend." "Find somebody else to smack you around." "Wesley's taking the baby away, for good." "I'm your father." "What you're looking into is the Quor-toth, darkest of the dark worlds." "To punch through to Quor-toth would require dark magics." "There's always some cosmic price to using primordial powers." " Hi, Dad." " Connor?" " My name is Steven." " Listen to me." "A couple weeks ago, he was in diapers." "Now he's a teenager?" "No!" "I lost you once already, but you're back." " You're not alone." " I know." "We just sit here with a fissure from the hell dimension in the lobby?" " It's closed." " Did anything else come in?" "Hi, Dad." " Still no answer on his cell phone." " If only he knew how to use it." "Maybe we should head back out, try to pick up the trail." " A wise plan." "I'll assist with tracking." " No." "But if something is looking for Connor..." " ...and if Angel did find him" " He did." " Angel." " Oh, my God." " You're hurt." " I'm okay." " You found him?" " Yeah." "And?" "And we talked." "Looks like he talks with his hands." "He didn't do this to me." "Not most of it, anyway." "So that kid really was Connor?" "Steven." "His name's Steven now." "He's still my son." " So where is he?" " I'm not sure." "But he knows where I am." "He'll be fine." " Actually, he might not be." " What do you mean?" "Something may have escaped from Quor-toth before we closed the portal." "Lorne's dimensional-magic expert was picking up bad vibes." " Nobody saw anything else come out?" " Well, not exactly." " If my son was the last thing through...." " Right." "What if it was some vengeance-y else thing that's after Connor?" "He survived Quor-toth this long." "He can take care of himself." "So he survived an unspeakable hell dimension." "Who hasn't?" "You can't just leave him alone in Los Angeles." "He's gotta come back on his own." "He will, just as soon as he realizes what he needs." "And what's that?" "A father." "A room." "I need a room for me and my father." "I found food in a big metal box outside." "Dad?" "Good boy." "You got it." "Now, let's have a look at the date." "Days." "We've been gone only days." "I don't like this place." "So many people...." "It's not like home." "Quor-toth was never our home." "It was our prison." "I should've known that one day you'd find a way out." "Cracks were there already." "I just made the sluks show me." "Frightened rats, forced to flee to daylight." "My boy's smart." " You shouldn't have followed me here." " How could I not?" "I would have come back to you after I killed him." "I'm sorry I couldn't." "Of course you couldn't." "It's not in you." " I've killed lots." " Only when you had to." "Only to survive." "And that's not the real reason why you worked so hard to get here." " You wanted to see him." " No." "There's no shame in it." "I knew this day would come." "That's why I've never lied to you." "I have always told you the truth about what your parents were..." " ...how you and I came to be together." " God gave me to you." "Yes." "God delivered you to me that I might keep you safe and lavish upon you the love I could never give my first children." " Because he took them from you." " Right." "I wish I had killed him." "If you had, then you wouldn't be the boy I'd raised, or the man I know you'll be." "There's more to learn, Steven." " And I want to." " Good." "Then you must go to him." " What?" " Walk in his world." "Learn all you can." "Discover what of him is in you, that you might fight against it." "But be on your guard." "Remember what I've taught you." "The devil will show you bright things." "Many colors." "I had to get it enchanted." "Cedrian crystals don't come that way." " Will it work?" " It should." "Cedrian crystals contain millennia of stored mystical energy." "And it's about the size of a D battery." " That's gorgeous." " And priceless." "Though in this instance, priceless meaning "without price." As in free." "A six-horned Lach-nie Hag owed me a favor." " Don't ask." " I meant that." " Standard issue Geiger counter." " We picked it up at a yard sale." "Shiny." " What's its purpose?" " To see what came through the portal." "Anything from Quor-toth should've left a kind of para-plasmic radioactivity." "Of course, I'm assuming that everything in nature seeks a relaxed or stable state." "I know I do." "Hey." " So how is he?" " Still being all mature." " Really?" "Where?" " Upstairs." "I'm gonna go talk to him." "So I guess Fred's working on a way to determine if anything else came out of the portal." "That's good." "So maybe if we're very lucky, later today we'll be able to kill something." " You'd like that, wouldn't you?" " Sure." "Well, I just wanted to check in, let you know I was on the clock and tell you that you're doing the right thing." "What if he doesn't come back?" "Hey, something troubling you, bubby?" " Indeed." "I am confused." " About what?" "Angel." "His inaction puzzles me." "When Connor was taken from him..." " ...he moved heaven and Tarkna." " He sure did." "Hence our weekly scrubbing of the lobby floor." "Now that his son is here, he does nothing." "Sometimes nothing is the best something." "If a thing's meant to be, sometimes it's best not to force it." "If a thing is meant to be, then how can it be forced?" " I guess it can't." " And if a thing is not meant to be?" "Well, then it really can't." "Just 'cause someone hops a dimension is no guarantee things will work out." "Well, aren't you just sneaky with the subtext." "It is a beautiful day." "If my princess asks tell her I have gone for a walk." "If she asks." "He feels further away from me now than when he was first taken." "All that time, I don't think I ever really believed that I lost him." "Not really." "Then he shows up again, and I knew I had." " It's only temporary." " Yeah." "Everything's temporary." "There's just so much I thought we'd be able to do together before he...." " Grew up?" " Hated me." "Angel, he doesn't hate you." "He doesn't even know you." "But he will." "He's gonna come back, Angel." " How do you know?" " Because he has to." "Because he's family." "Getting a good, strong reading here." "Should we be wearing lead?" "'Cause I actually have something." "This is where the portal was so it makes sense that I'd be getting a reading here." "Mark that." "Okay, looks like something might have come in here, or here." "Wait a minute." "Wow." "Something here is pretty hot." "Angel's son." "Hi!" "I didn't mean to click at you." " Hey." " Hey." "I thought I'd come by, like you said." "Glad you did." "Everyone, this is Steven." "Steven, this is Fred, that's Gunn, Cordelia, and that's Lorne." "Hello, young man." "So are we about done here?" " I think we've covered everything." " Maybe we could take this outside." "We'll do a perimeter search, then recalibrate for wider areas." "That'd be a good idea." "It was very nice to meet you, Steven." "Yeah, I have a thing." "I'll just be sure to hold all your calls." "You just" " You guys take your time." " Thanks." "So...." "You hungry?" "What do you have?" " We can go out." " What?" "Where?" " Cordy?" " It's a bar!" "Vampires!" "A gang of them!" "Angel, can you hear me?" "I can see her." "A woman." "Angel!" "She's all alone." "She doesn't see them." " Angel, you have to hurry!" " Slow down." "There's a woman at a bar." "Vampires are after her." " You have to help her." " So much for holding my calls." " Sorry." " Listen..." " ..." "I have to go out for a while." " It's okay." " It's kind of my job." " Yeah, whatever." "It could be kind of dangerous." "There's killing and violence." "You wanna come?" "See you got my invitation." "Lilah." "Obviously." "I thought the "come alone" was a particularly ironic touch." "I mean, how else would you come?" "Don't rush off." "Just look over there." "I went through a lot of trouble to arrange this show for you." "Goodbye." "Leave now, and you'll miss her big death scene." "Wouldn't you like to see the bitch that slit your throat and left you to die..." " ...get a little of her own back?" " What's going on?" "Some source, can't imagine who tipped her off that this place would be filthy with vampires." "Which, as it turns out, is true." "Right." "Because that same source tipped off the vampires that she'd be here." "She has been pissing off a lot of un-dead Americans." "And you thought I'd enjoy a box seat for her slaughter?" "Well, yeah." " You don't know a thing about me." " Probably not." "Like, will he go straight to his car, or will he stop to warn her first?" "He has to think about it." "That's good." "That's all I really needed to know." "You can go." " A test, Lilah?" " Don't look so grim." "I needed to know if I was wasting my time." "To prove we're friends, I'll pull her out before anything lethal happens." "So you don't have to torture yourself as to whether you did the right thing." "I don't think that will be necessary." "You wanted to kill a vampire." "This might be your chance." " Make sure you go straight for" " The heart." "My father taught me." "Yeah, I'm sure he did." "There are innocent people here." "Don't nail anyone until they show their game face." " Will it look like yours did?" " Yeah." "So why do you do it?" "Do what?" "Why kill them if they're like you?" " They're not like me, Connor." " I'm not Connor." " Another?" " Stay there." " No, I'm done." " You're not wrong." " She thinks she's a slayer." " She'll learn different." "Nice!" "Take the one on the" "Well, yeah, that makes the most sense." "Who's the boy wonder?" " He moves just like" " His father." "Go!" "Get out of here!" "Go!" "Now tell me you're not interested." "They don't need to breathe or make any sound." "You gotta be careful." "You know, you were good in there." "I mean, normally I'd take you to a ball game or a museum or something." "It's just good to know that you can handle yourself in a fight." "It's good to know you can do that too." "Whoa." "Father." "He was everything that you said." "He tried to deceive me by saving people, but it didn't work." " I've seen his true face." " And I've seen yours." "The kid was born for it," "The way he anticipated...." "I'm telling you, it's in his blood." "You don't say." "It was like we had never been apart." "He felt it too." "I know he did." "You should've seen us." "I did." "What do you mean, you did?" "After you left, I went back into my vision." "You went back in?" "Don't ask me how." "I don't know if it's a part of my new semi-demon-ness or if they just let me go back in." "But I was there." "I saw the whole thing." "You and your son together." "It was beautiful." " Stop saying that," " It's true, son." " You're wrong." " I'm not wrong." "Anyone who saw you together would realize it's where you're meant to be." " At his side." " No!" "Your need for him drove you across the dimensions." " I don't need him!" " Go back to him, Steven." "Why are you doing this?" "Why?" "God gave me to you." "Yes." "It was God's plan for us to be together." "Nothing will ever persuade me otherwise." "But now it's time for me to give you back." " He's a demon." " You're the bastard son of two demons." " Then I'm a demon." " You're not." "God help me, I don't know what you are but I am not the one to give you answers." "And there are answers." "Go and find them out." "Except for the hotel, the strongest emissions are coming from this vicinity." "Now what?" "Do we go door to door and ask if anyone's seen any bogies?" "I'm not sure." "I don't even know if we should be looking above ground." "You told me not to be deceived, but you've let yourself be deceived." "If I could stop this, I would, son." "But we were brought here by forces beyond our control." "You're wrong." "Hey." "Check it out." "We've been following Angel's son's emissions the whole time." "There's a sentence I don't ever need to hear again." "But it's good, right?" "No big scary came out of the portal." "How about a short scary?" "Hey, kiddo." "Didn't see you." "Looking for your dad?" "Come on, he's upstairs." "I'll show you the room." " This way." " I'm not going with you, demon." "I'll tell you what." "Since you were raised in a hell dimension by a psychopath and since I know something about that, we'll let that slide." " I'll fetch your pop for you." " Filthy demon." "Actually, that's "Uncle Filthy Demon" to you." "A week ago, I was changing your diapers, you little pr" "Hey." "What's the problem?" "Steven?" "Steven." "You haven't been in this world very long and I imagine things are pretty Wild West-y where you're from but Lorne's a good guy." "Honestly." " It's a demon." " Right, true." "He is." "But demon doesn't always mean evil in this dimension." "I mean, look at me." "Well, I'm part demon." "Yeah." "By choice." "I did it to help people, and so that the back of my head wouldn't explode" "Cordy!" "Let it go, honey." "Just let it go." "You don't need that." "You don't need any of that." "That's right." "Just let it go, baby." "It's okay, sweetie." "That's right." "It's okay." "I know." "It's okay." "How do you feel?" "Okay." "Drained, but okay." "Well, you got some serious mojo going on, girl." "The deal you struck with The Powers, they gave you the full package." "All the extras." "That kid was toxic when he came here tonight." "Heavy on the "ick."" " What actually happened out there?" " In my professional opinion?" "Miss Demon-y Britches gave that child some kind of soul colonic." " Flushed him out." " Flushed what out?" "It was that place." "Quor-toth." "It crept into every part of him." "He was sick with it." " Fred's readings" " He nearly broke the needle." "My guess?" "She wouldn't even get so much as a click off of him now." "Thank you." "Thank you for doing this for him." "I know what it was like for him there." "The darkness and confusion." "He thought it was where he belonged." "Hey, pal." "How you doing?" "I tried to kill your friend." "Yeah, well, you know, she's used to it." "I think I should go." "Look why don't you just stay here." "I know it doesn't feel like it yet but this could be home for you." "I don't have a home." "That's not true." "You just don't remember, that's all." "Your home is here." "This is where you're supposed to be, son." "You speak as though you're my father." " Well" " He said the same thing." "He said we came back for a reason." "Did he?" "Daniel." "I told him you two were gonna take him out." " And he's good with that?" " Yeah, he seems to be." "Where do you want us to take him?" "Someplace where this world isn't as ugly as he thinks it is." " How long you need?" " Couple of hours." " What if he asks where you're at?" " Don't tell him." "Wait, we have to do that thing." " What thing?" " That thing we do." "Where I say, "Do you know what you're doing?" "Please think about this."" "Then you ignore me and rush into trouble." "Right." "That thing." " We done?" " Please think about this." "Don't go." " I have to." " I know, but don't." "I won't kill him, though he deserves it." "I don't care if you kill him." "He stole Connor's childhood, so kill him." "But don't lie to your son." "He's been here, like, a day." "Way to build the trust." "I'm not lying to him." "You're distracting him while you confront the man he thinks of as his father." "I'm his father." "Before you, there was nothing," "I was dead." "They had taken my sister." "They had taken a part of me." "You gave me a reason again." "Even if it was all lies." "Not all." "I still think I'd do anything for you." "I'd have followed you into hell if you would've let me." "Thank God you didn't." "I can't believe you survived it." "How did you?" " My hate kept us alive." " Hate gets a bad rap." "It can keep you going sometimes when nothing else will." "Yes." "I found that I had to stay alive that I might pass on my legacy of hate." "But something happened in that place." "Something changed." "Amidst the most unspeakable ugliness the hate turned into love." "Love for a son." "Hate's not enough." "I found that love is far more powerful." "Now there's just one thing I need you to do for me and then I can finally be done with vengeance." "What is it?" "The ocean." "Pacific." "Ocean." "My father taught me about oceans." "He never said it was so...." "Big?" "Empty." "It's not." "It's just all under the surface." "A whole other world, actually." "Everything's so different here." "I know how you feel." "I got lost once, like you." "When I came back, nothing seemed real." "Like I was seeing everything from the bottom of the ocean." "I don't remember being lost." "Steven?" "Yo!" "Maybe we should just give him a minute." " I wish Angel was here." " Yeah." "His kid's seeing the ocean for the first time, he's missing it." "That's not what I meant." "I just feel sort of creepy." " Keeping him distracted while Angel" " Confronts the kidnapper?" "Well, if you're gonna put it like that...." " What do you think he'll do?" " I don't know." "I know what I'd do, but Angel will deal with Holtz in his own way." "Uh-oh." "No way." "He couldn't have heard us." "He did." "Angel." "Oh, my God, do you know how happy this makes me?" "I asked you not to go, and you didn't go." "I am so glad to see you." "Hi." "I can't recall would you require an invitation for a place like this?" "Public accommodation." " No." " No." "You'd think I'd remember something like that." "It seemed important once." "Details begin to escape me." "You stole my son." "I kept your son alive." "You murdered mine." "I was different then." "Yes." "So was I." "You feel remorse." "You feel remorse, yet you can't express it." "You want me to say I'm sorry?" "How can I?" "It wouldn't mean a thing." "It would mean a little." "Not much, but it would be something." "Then I'm sorry." "For whatever little it might mean." "It's all I've got." "Not all." "You had a son." "So there it is." "I thought by depriving you of that son it would allow me some measure of justice." "I was wrong." "Taking Connor from me was never justice." " It was vengeance." " Or maybe vengeance is what I do now:" " Give back what I took." " What?" "I'm an old man now." "I have nothing to offer the boy." "You can give him what I can't:" "his purpose." "But every time you look upon his face, every time he calls you "Father" you'll be reminded of that which you took and can never give back." "And if that is vengeance, I find I have no taste for it." "All I ask is that you give him this." "It's not sealed." "I expect you'll examine it." "You should." "Why are you doing this?" "I thought I made that plain." "I love my son." "And it's the only way I know to ensure he'll go on loving me." "He won't accept this at first." "He'll try to find me." "He never will." "Dearest Steven, This is a most difficult letter for me to write," "You mean more to me than anything in this world or any other," "But your best interests must come first  which is why by the time you receive this, I will be gone," "I hope one day you will be able to forgive an old man 's weakness  which compels him to say these things in a letter," "But to attempt a goodbye in your presence would be impossible for me," "I fear I would never let you go, and I must let you go," "I know that if I didn 't you would only end up hating me and that I could not bear," "Don't make me do it." "I can't." "We already know you can." "You promised." "You said you'd do anything for me." "Come on, Justine." "I'm not asking you to follow me into hell." "Just help send me there." "Your destiny lies with Angel, I know that now," "You will have a better life with him," "I'm comforted by that certainty and in the knowledge that with him  you'll discover your true purpose and come to know who it is you are meant to be," "Steven." "Connor." "Dad!" "Dad?" "My only prayer is that I have prepared you well enough for whatever lies ahead," "I trust I have, Be brave, lovingly, your father," "Angelus."