ANGEL

Chapter Nine parting gifts

Angel goes to the Oracles to ask for Doyles life back, but they will not help him, even when he protests that Doyle, aside from being his friend, was also his only link to the powers that be. Cryptically, the Oracles tell Angel that when one door closes, another door opens, before imperiously waving him out of their realm. Meanwhile, in the real world, an unprepossessing demon runs frantically down an alley in broad daylight, trying to evade the pursuit of a mysterious, black-clad motorcycle rider. At angel investigations, cordilia despondently seeks something tangible to keep in memory of Doyle. Angel tries to be understanding, but Cordy shies away from further discussion of her feelings, until her watch beeps a reminder that she is scheduled for an audition. When she opens the door to leave, the demon being chased by the motorcyclist is just coming in to ask Angel for help. Sending Cordelia on her way, Angel tries to ascertain whether he can help this demon, whose name is Barney, as well as whether he wants to. Proclaiming himself an empath demon, Barney admits he uses his ability to read people's emotions to get the edge at cards, or at the fights. Angel bluntly identifies Barney as a cheat and wonders whether the guy on the motorcycle might have good reason to be after him. Barney protests that, even though he's not perfect, he's not "evil" and can't imagine why this guy has tracked him across state after state. At her audition, Cordelia breaks down sobbing in the middle of her reading and then, when the three producers generously give her another try, suffers her first vision.

The man on the motorcycle continues to track the demon he's after, dismounting to examine more closely a viscous yellow fluid he finds on the corner of a building. Returning from her audition, Cordelia silently zeros in on an alert but essentially unprepared Angel, and kisses him thoroughly. Realizing that Doyle's kiss was the mechanism for passing his visions to her, Cordelia embarks on a kissing spree to rid herself of his unwanted "gift," unaware or uncaring that if she succeeds she'll foist the visions off on a truly hapless soul. After Cordelia amazes Angel and disgusts herself by kissing even (amazed) Barney, Angel leaves the empath demon under her care, with instructions to also try to sketch what she saw in her vision. As he checks out Barney's decidedly low-rent motel room, Angel is ambushed by the motorcycle man, revealed in the flickering light of the dark corridor to be armed with a crossbow. After shoving Angel further into the room and leveling his crossbow at the vampire's chest, wesly whyndam pryce moves far enough into the light to be recognized. Little surprised and certainly unthreatened, Angel effortlessly disarms Wesley, learning that the former watcher quit the council and now considers himself a rogue demon hunter. As Angel and Wesley compare notes on their overlapping cases, an enormous demon, oozing viscous yellow fluid, drops on them with a roar. Slinging Wesley against the wall with ease, the demon lands a few good ones on Angel, until Wesley shoots it with the crossbow he retrieves from the floor. To their surprise, the demon screams and crashes out the second story window to run away, limping and moaning, as fast as possible down the empty street.

Meanwhile, at Angel's apartment, Cordelia tries to sketch the "ugly, gray, blobby thing" she saw in her vision. At loose ends, Barney attempts to engage Cordelia in conversation by offering sympathy for her grief, and immediately finds himself the target of her anger and suspicion. When Barney assures her he didn't mean to intrude, it is Cordelia who apologizes for her rudeness and, to make amends, opens up a little about Doyle. Just then, Angel comes downstairs, bringing the black-clad motorcycle rider with him. Barney runs and hides and Angel follows to reassure his timid client. Checking to see that Angel is out of sight, Cordelia slides into silent stalker mode, accosts Wesley, and kisses him. Not dumbfounded for long, Wesley pulls his old sunnydale friend (whom he recognized immediately) into a tight clinch and (unlike Angel) kisses her back. Cordelia's focus is so intent that she only recognizes Wesley after exclaiming with disgust and disappointment that the visions are still with her. As Angel and Barney reenter the room, Wesley snaps back on task and disappears in the direction of Angel's library, only to reappear moments later having identified their opponent as a Kungai, a demon of Asian origin. The "rogue demon hunter" claims that continuing to track the Kungai is his job, or their job, if Angel insists, but Angel, still raw from losing his partner, orders Wesley to stay behind. Bribing the belligerent desk clerk (who seems to recognize Angel) to let him in back at the Lotus Spa (featuring Korean mineral baths), Angel finds the Kungai demon, but it is dying because the Tak horn on its forehead has been, literally, ripped off. Angel speaks Korean, apparently, but can't understand what the Kungai so urgently wants him to know. Back at Angel's apartment, Cordelia continues to sketch the object from her vision and, apparently feeling more herself, begins to complain about Doyle's "gift." With surprising insight, Barney gently chastens Cordelia, guessing that Doyle must have honored her with both his trust and his most valuable possession. While Cordelia makes coffee, Barney makes a call to his associate, Hank, and, dropping the timid, sensitive act, reveals that it is he who stole the horn from the Kungai demon. But, Barney tells Hank, he now has a line on something even more interesting—Cordelia's clairvoyant powers.