aired on: May 2, 2000

written by: Tim Minear andn Joss Whedon

directed by: Michael Lange

Angel has brought Faith, battered and bruised, back to his place to rest after their fight. As he turns to put away her things, she imagines killing him - but says nothing. The next morning, at the office, a bruised Cordelia, and a bruised Wesley, recap the events of the previous night. Wesley isn't happy that Faith is lying in bed unbound and ungagged. He knows there is evil in her, and tells Angel that if he sets Faith free, she'll kill again. Back downstairs, Angel tells Faith that he understands what she's going through, and he wants to help.

Meanwhile, at the law offices of Wolfram & Hart, Lindsey finds out that Faith is at Angel's, and hasn't killed him. Lindsey's not happy about Faith making them look like fools; they hire a demon to kill her.

Back at Angel's, a rested Faith is packing up to go, and having murderous flashbacks. Angel says she can leave, but that doesn't mean she'll be free. He asks her where she'll go. "Back out in that darkness? . . . You thought that you could just touch it, that you'd be okay. Five by five, right Faith? But it swallowed you whole. So tell me - how'd you like it?"

At that, she turns and slaps him. "Help me?" she asks timidly. Angel says he will. Wesley has gone to a pub to drown his sorrows and throw darts. There, he's visited by three old friends - Watchers. They tell him the Council is willing to reinstate him, and return him to his position as Watcher - if he will bring them Faith. She is evil, they say, and must be stopped. The Council wants Faith alive, they say; they want to transport her back to England for rehabilitation. They give Wesley a syringe filled with a powerful sedative to do the job. But before Wesley agrees, he has a condition - he must have their word that no harm will come to Angel. The Watchers agree.

At Angel's, he and Faith talk about what she must do to set herself free. She can't stand the pain she's feeling, but Angel says she needs to deal with it - it's the pain she's caused, coming back to her. Then Faith realizes that she has to make things right with Buffy, too - and lets slip that Buffy has a new boyfriend. Later, as Faith is watching TV, she sees her face on the screen - the police (and Kate in particular) are looking for her. But they're not the only ones. The Wolfram & Hart assassin is crawling along Angel's ceiling, preparing to strike. It jumps down, and after a brief fight, Faith slays it.

And then Buffy appears. She's doesn't like what she sees, and when Angel tells her that Faith is trying to change, Buffy won't believe it. She wants Faith in jail. Angel sends Faith upstairs, but Buffy doesn't even want to let Faith out of sight. When Angel steps in between them, Buffy hits him, and he hits her back. Faith finally goes upstairs, so Angel and Buffy can talk.

Upstairs, a scared Faith tries to listen in when Wesley walks through the door. As Buffy plunges the verbal daggers into Angel, Wesley walks downstairs with Faith. He hasn't injected her; he explains that the Council's operations team is on the way, and they'll expect to find Angel gone, and Faith drugged. As Angel, Wesley and Buffy devise a plan of escape, Faith slips away.

At Wolfram & Hart, the lawyers can't believe their second assassin was killed. Lindsey suggests they stop trying to play outside the law, and bring this to their turf. So he heads to the police station, where he tries to get Kate to help, but she's not a Wolfram & Hart fan. Lindsey suggests they have a common enemy, and shows her a photo of Angel. He then tells Kate that the woman she's looking for - Faith - is with Angel.

Back at Angel's, Buffy chases Faith up onto the roof of the building. They argue about the past, and the future, until one of the Council operatives arrives and starts shooting. A second busts in on Wesley and Angel, a gun in one hand and a crossbow in the other.

On the roof, Buffy and Faith try to run to another building when a helicopter rises up, with the third operative, who begins shooting as well. While Wesley handles the first attacker (throwing the syringe into his neck like a dart), Angel rushes to the roof. Leaping from the roof onto the helicopter, he grabs the Council operative and tosses him to the roof. When the helicopter lands, Angel finds the police waiting for him on the ground. Kate asks him where Faith is; he doesn't answer. She has him arrested.

Wesley and Buffy race to the police station. When they arrive, Faith is already there, ready to make a confession.

Afterward, Buffy and Angel argue. Buffy says she came because Angel was in danger; Angel says she came because she was looking for Faith and wanted vengeance. Buffy insists she has a right to it. Angel's reply: "Not in my city." Buffy then tells Angel that she has someone in her life now that she loves. It's not what they had; it's new - new because she trusts him, and she knows him. Now it's Angel's turn to be angry. He's glad she moved on, but he can't, and it cuts him up inside every time he sees her. "You don't know me anymore," he snarls, "so don't come down here with your great new life and expect me to do things your way. Go home."

"See?" Buffy says as she walks away. "Faith wins again." But Faith is locked in a jail cell. Peace is not an easy thing to find, but at least now she has a chance.