aired on: December 14, 1999

written by: David Fury and Jeannine Renshaw

directed by: James A. Contner

Angel returns to the oracles, to ask for Doyle's return. He knows they can turn back time, like they did to turn him back to a vampire. But this time, they're not so willing to cooperate. He pleads with them, saying Doyle was his sole contact to The Powers That Be, and without his visions, he's fighting blind. The oracles assure Angel that, "All will soon be made clear. For every door that closes, another opens. And for every one that opens. . ."

Back at the office, Angel and Cordelia are still trying to deal with Doyle's loss. When Cordelia heads out the door for a commercial audition, however, a spiky-headed demon rushes in, looking for Angel. His name is Barney, he's heard that Angel helps the helpless, and he needs help. He's being chased by someone, or something, that he thinks wants to kill him. Angel asks why; Barney says that he's an empathic demon, and admits that maybe somewhere along the line he used his empathic powers to cheat a little bit at gambling.

While Cordelia's auditioning for the commercial, she's suddenly hit with a splitting headache - and a vision. When she returns to the office, the first thing she does is kiss Angel. She's figured out that Doyle passed along his power to receive visions with his parting kiss, but she doesn't want it, and she's trying to pass it along to Angel. But it doesn't work. Neither of them feels anything from the kiss. When Barney comes in the room, Cordelia kisses him, too, but that doesn't work, either. Angel decides to check out Barney's apartment for clues. As he opens the door, he's greeted by the man who's been chasing Barney. It's Angel's old pal Wesley, and he's armed with a crossbow. He no longer works for the Watcher's Council, so now he's a rogue demon hunter, working on his own, and he's chasing down a particularly nasty demon now.

Angel's confused; if it's Barney that Wesley's after, Barney hardly seems dangerous. But Wesley says that this demon he's chasing has left a trail of corpses, human and demon, all mutilated. Each of the victims possessed some unique power; whatever the physical source of their power, it was ripped, gouged or torn from their corpses - this demon is collecting powers. Just as Wesley is explaining what it looks like, and that it's secreting some sort of yellow viscous fluid, some of that fluid drops on his shoulder - and the demon drops from the ceiling. Angel and Wesley battle it, and when Wesley picks up his crossbow, he shoots the demon, and it jumps out the window.

Back at Angel's, Barney's talking with Cordelia, not looking at all like the demon that jumped Angel and Wesley at his apartment. Then Angel and Wesley arrive, and explain that Barney isn't the demon Wesley's looking for - the demon he's looking for is looking for Barney. This demon is a Kungai demon; Angel heads to Koreatown to see if he can find it. When he does, it's lying in a Korean spa, dying.

Barney, meanwhile, is chatting up Cordelia, who's been left behind at Angel's. She explains to Barney about the visions and accompanying headaches that Doyle left her with. While she's making some coffee for them both, Barney calls a buddy of his on his cell phone. "Hank, it's me," he says. "Of course I got the Kungai horn - in a safe place. But listen," he adds, turning to look at Cordelia, "I think I just found something even better."

As Barney turns not-so-friendly on Cordelia, Angel, and Wesley, who's joined him, listen as the dying Kungai demon tries to speak to them. It says someone has stolen his horn, and that more will die. That someone is a demon, a heart reader. Angel realizes he means an empath demon - and that he means Barney.

Angel and Wesley head back to check on Cordelia, but Barney's already taken her away, and he has her bound and gagged. Piecing clues together, Angel and Wesley realize where Barney has taken her - and that he's going to try to sell her, and her powers, at a demon auction. There, a lawyer from Wolfram & Hart offers the highest bid. But she wants Cordelia with her eyes extracted.

As Barney's about to tear out Cordelia's eyes, Angel and Wesley bust in. Angel does battle with some demons, but it's Cordelia, set free by Wesley, who drives the lethal stake into Barney's back to save the day.