|
While Ethan continues to pour over the mystic tomes in the basement library looking for healing magic,
Jalen is teaching Dana some martial arts moves. During the training Jalen senses something unusual and decides to
enter the Shadow Realms. From there he notices that he is not the only being traveling through the shadows and he
decides to follow the other shadow beings.
Dana waits a few minutes to see if Jalen will return and when he doesn't
she assumes that the training class is over. Passing by the library she notices Ethan picking himself up off the floor.
A quick glance around tells her that Ethan has been casting a spell, which he confirms, showing Dana the healing
magic he was trying to use on himself. She chastises him briefly before the conversation turns to Jalen and the
amount of time their ninja has been spending walking through shadows. After momentarily wondering if they should
plan an intervention for Jalen the duo decide to do some research on the Circle of the Black Thorn, namely by going
to have a talk with the only person they know with first-hand experience on the subject.
In the Shadow Realms, Jalen realizes he is tracking a group of Shadow Walker ninjas. They do not
seem to notice him so when they exit the Shadow Realms Jalen exits as well, choosing a nearby room as his egress point.
Jalen finds himself in the bedroom an expensive-looking apartment overlooking downtown Los Angeles. Hearing someone in
the shower, Jalen takes the opportunity to go through the contents of a purse he finds on a dresser. As Jalen is about
to read the tenant's name from a driver's license he is distracted when he senses the ninjas in the other room
re-entering the Shadow Realms. Moments later he realizes that the sound from the shower has stopped and he turns
to face the apartment's occupant, none other than Wolfram & Hart lawyer Alexandra Morreli dressed in nothing but
a towel. Before Alexandra can recover her composure Jalen leaps under the bed and escapes via the Shadow Realms.
Elsewhere in the city, Patrick has been hitting the usual demon haunts to see if anything unusual is
going on, something that might give a clue as to what the Circle of the Black Thorn might be up to. The demons know little,
but as is common when something big is on the horizon they are getting worried. Across town, Dana and Ethan arrive at
the safehouse where their friends have been hiding. Lauren's sister Emma answers the door, ecstatic to see a new face,
especially Ethan's. Dana cuts the small talk short and takes Ethan to go talk to Lorne. They ask him what he can tell
them about the Circle of the Black Thorn and Lorne fills the two in on the how the Circle is made up of the Senior Partners'
direct representatives on Earth. The Circle's job is to further the Partners' plans on Earth, moving the machinery
of the Apocalypse forward according to the demonic powers' timetable. If a new Circle of the Black Thorn has been
formed then Lorne can only assume that means the Senior Partners are getting directly involved with Earthly affairs again.
During the conversation Ethan's phone rings as Alexandra is calling to demand to know why Jalen was in her bedroom. Ethan
says he doesn't know why, but does tell Alexandra that the last he'd heard Jalen was following something through the
Shadow Realms. After a moment's silence Alexandra tells Ethan she'll have to call him back and abruptly hangs up.
When Patrick gets back to the house he is worried when he finds that no one seems to be home. He quickly
searches the place and is surprised by Jalen, who emerges from the shadows in the basement having just returned from
his visit to Alexandra's apartment. Patrick calls Dana to see where she and Ethan are and suggests the pair get back to the house so they
can compare notes. Just as Dana hangs up Ethan's phone rings again. The caller is Alexandra again and she asks if Ethan can
come to give her a lift since she doesn't want to use her own car. Ethan agrees and she tells him to meet her at a
night club downtown. As Ethan and Dana leave to head back to the house he tells her that he has to make a stop along the
way but won't tell her where or why.
As he and Dana near the downtown nightclub Ethan spots smoke and flames coming from what he thinks is
Alexandra's apartment building. At the nightclub Alexandra is waiting and she tells Ethan that it looks like Wolfram
& Hart tried to kill her, she suspects because she helped Ethan escape from the W & H building a few days earlier.
Against Dana's better judgment she lets Ethan bring Alexandra back to house with them, and as expected Patrick and Jalen are
less than thrilled as well. The group, however, decide to take advantage of the opportunity to question a moderately
cooperative Wolfram & Hart employee and proceed to ask Alexandra to tell them what she knows about the Circle of
the Black Thorn. It turns out she doesn't know very many details, mainly because it is her rival, Travis McCauley, who
has been working with the Circle and, more accurately, the Senior Partners' representative, the Count. When the group
asks what she knows about the Count, Alexandra reveals that he is none other than the legendary immortal alchemist/sorcerer
Count St. Germain.
Instead of waiting for the Circle to make their next move, the group decides to take the battle to the
enemy. With information from Alexandra, the team comes up with a daring plan to kidnap Travis McCauley from within the
Wolfram & Hart offices. Disguised as W & H building paramedics (with uniforms stolen by Jalen and a pair of security
access cards obtained by Jalen and Ethan on separate occasions) Ethan and Patrick infiltrate the office tower. Meanwhile
Jalen takes Dana with him through the Shadow Realms onto Travis' floor of the building. While Dana keeps watch pretending
to be a new secretary on the floor Jalen spikes Travis' coffee with a concoction brewed up by Ethan. When the lawyer collapses
in his office his assistant calls for help, and a pair of "medics" arrive swiftly on the scene to take Travis
to the building's medical facilities. Once they have the unconscious Travis in the elevator, Ethan and Patrick throw a
third uniform on him and top the disguise off with a minor enchanted item cooked up by Dana, one that briefly changes
Travis' features. Quickly exiting the building with their captive Ethan and Patrick get Travis into the waiting SUV, driven
by none other than Alexandra. In the meantime Jalen has retrieved Dana and the two enter the SUV through the Shadow Realms.
With their captive beginning to stir, the group debates bringing him back to the house. Finally Dana offers
an alternative location and directs Alexandra to take them to UCLA. The group, dragging the semi-conscious Travis, follow Dana
through a maze of little used maintenance tunnels before reaching a room with a heavy metal door. Inside the room are a set of
chains and the inside of the door is covered in dents and scratches. It takes a moment for the others to realize that this
was where Dana must have locked herself up on the nights of the full moon, before they learned her secret. Patrick and Ethan
chain up Travis just as he regains consciousness and prepare to interrogate him.
|
