Written By: David Greenwalt
Directed By: Vern Gilum

Cast: David Boreanaz as Angel, Charisma Carpenter, as Cordelia Chase, Glenn Quinn as Doyle.

Guest Stars: Elisabeth Rohm, as Detective Kate Lockley, Tushka Bergen, as Melissa Burns, Andy Umberger, as Doctor Ronald Meltzer.

At Angel Investigations, Cordelia is in her office going through the bills while Doyle sits beside her desk and shuffles a deck of cards. She’s stressed because there isn’t enough money coming in to pay them and says that it’s a business and it needs to be run like one. She thinks they should start charging people and Doyle agrees, but he says Angel hates to bring up the finances with the clients because he likes playing the hero. “Walking off into the dark. His long coat flowing behind him in a mysterious and attractive way.” Cordelia asks him if this is a private moment and tells he she can leave so he can be alone, but Doyle says he isn’t attracted to him. He’s just saying that Angel projects a certain kind of image and asking for money just isn’t part of it. They decide to talk to Angel about it as soon as he has his coffee. Angel comes in, goes over and gets a cup of coffee, but he gags when he tastes it because it’s so terrible. Cordelia informs him that it tastes so bad because it’s last weeks coffee. Doyle and Cordelia tell Angel they’re proud of him for the work he’s done over the last few weeks, but he guesses what they’re up to and immediately tells them he’s not comfortable asking people for money. Cordelia thinks he should just get over it and Doyle sort of agrees, but then he’s hit with a vision. When it’s over, he tells them he saw a woman, Melissa Burns, and gives them the name of the place where she works. Cordelia looks up the business and gives the address to Angel. He grabs his coat and says it looks like he’s going to work. He walks toward the elevator, coat flowing behind him, and Doyle tells Cordelia he might be a little attracted after all.

In an office building in downtown LA, a man and woman are hurriedly trying to correct their boss’s birthday cake because the baker misspelled her name in the icing. The boss walks in and the duo tell her they’ve decided she should go by another name from now on because it suits her better. A group of flowers arrive and everyone assumes they are for the boss, but they’re actually for Melissa. She opens the card and becomes a bit distressed. She grabs her purse and heads to the bathroom, where she takes some pills. She looks around the bathroom and then heads out to the parking garage. Angel steps out of the shadows and startles her, but she walking to her car. He gives her a card and introduces himself, saying he thinks she might be in need of his services. She says she couldn’t afford it, but he tells her it isn’t about the money. He says he helps people sometimes when the police can’t, but she doesn’t believe anyone would do that out of the goodness of their heart. Angel tells her to call the number on the card if she needs anything as she drives away.

Back at the office, Angel tells Cordelia that Melissa may be more comfortable talking to her. Cordelia says when she hires them she get involved. Doyle thinks she’s right, but Angel doesn’t think so. He thinks they should get involved right away – it isn’t about the money. Doyle agrees and says it’s about doing what’s best about the people he’s helped. He feels people get attached to a mysterious stranger who’s helped them when they need it, but if he’s a man who’s getting paid for a job, they can feel like they’ve paid their debt and be more independent when they move on. Cordelia tells Doyle he’s a lot smarter than he looks. “Of course, you look like a retard, “ she says.

Meanwhile, Melissa is busy trying to get money out of an ATM machine, but it keeps telling her the PIN number isn’t valid. A man walks up behind her and tells her it won’t work because he changed the number. She asks him what he’s doing there, but he ignores her. She says he has to stop doing this, but he tells her he’s just looking after her. He asks her if she’s losing weight and says it may be the tranquilizers. He asks her how many tranquilizers she took in the bathroom at work that day and she asks him how he knew about it, but he doesn’t answer. She asks him why he can’t just leave her alone, but he wonders how two people in love can just leave each other alone. She’s astounded because they only had one date, but he tells her he takes commitment seriously. He continues to talk, but his beeper interrupts him and he has to leave. He hands her the money and leans down to kiss her, but she moves and avoids him. He glares down at her, says he’ll see her tonight and walks away down the sidewalk. The phone rings at AI and Cordelia tells Angel she’s coming in.

Sitting in the office, Melissa tells Angel, Cordelia and Doyle about her problem with Ronald, the guy from the sidewalk. It seems Ronald is an eye surgeon and he operated on Melissa’s eyes about seven months ago. After the surgery, he asked her out and they met for a drink. Then he started calling and showing up at her apartment and work, saying they had something special and that they should get married. She told him she wasn’t interested, but it just kept getting worse. She says it may sound stupid, but she can feel him watching her all the time. It’s like he’s everywhere and she isn’t sure she can take much more of it. Angel says they’ll help her and he has Doyle take her home.

At home, Melissa is getting ready for bed while Ronald sits in his office having a drink. He reaches up to rub his eyes and when he moves his hand, one of his eyes are missing. Back at Melissa’s, a single eye hovers in the air, watching her undress.

The next day, Angel heads down to the police station to fill Kate in on what’s happening with Melissa and Ronald and find out if she has any information that may help him. Kate tells him that Melissa did file a report with them, but Ronald’s lawyers, Wolfram & Hart, got him off the hook and filed a restraining order against Melissa. Kate agrees to put a uniform officer at her building for a day or two. She asks how his client is holding up and Angel tells her she’s scared. Kate recommends he help her get mad so she can fight him. She says this guy could go to jail tomorrow and he could still kill her in her dreams every night. He took her power away and the only one who can get it back is Melissa.

Meanwhile, Doyle is at the office with Melissa. She tells him he doesn’t have to stay all day, but he says protecting her is his vow. She says she feels better having them on the case. Doyle looks down at her desk and sees a picture of her bungee jumping. Doyle doesn’t think she looks like much of a thrill seeker, but Melissa says she used to do a lot of things before. Doyle tells her not to worry because when Angel’s finished with Ronald, he guarantees she’ll be ready to jump off a bridge again.

Later that afternoon, Angel pays a visit to the doctor’s office. He snoops around the office and manages to slip a book into his pocket before the doctor comes in the room. The doctor is upset because no one is suppose to be there without an important, but Angel tells him he doesn’t have time for an appointment – his wife needs help now. The doctor says what Angel wants him to do is dangerous and he could lose his license. He tells Angel he can’t help him, but Angel says he’ll pay him whatever it takes. Angel, who identified himself as Mr. Jensen, tells him to think about it and then leaves.

In the meantime, Cordelia is down at the hospital asking questions about Ronald. Pretending to be a journalist, she tells the woman she’s interviewing that to be honest, her article may not be a nice one because she doesn’t like the way he treats women. The woman confidentially tells her that he isn’t generous, he doesn’t share his techniques and a lot of what he claims to have been done is pretty radical. Cordelia heads back to the office and fills Angel in on all she found out. He’s doing research on the book he saw in Ronald’s office and finds out that the author had a nervous breakdown after he conducted a retreat type thing that Ronald attended. Angel decides to send the author an email and he agrees to meet with Angel.

At the author’s apartment, he questions Angel about how he can help with the doctor’s obsession over a woman. Angel says he just wants to understand the doctor more. He tells Angel he introduced the doctor to psychic surgeons, people who could shut down their systems for days at a time, but he eclipsed them all. Until Ronald, his studies had all been based on hearsay and theories, but Ronald exploded all that and that’s when he stopped teaching. Angel assumes it’s because he stopped believing, but he tells Angel it was because he started believing.

That night, Ronald is lurking outside Melissa’s apartment. He’s staring intently at the building through the fence while Melissa is upstairs asleep in her bed. A police car pulls up behind Ronald and the policeman gets out and tells Ronald to put his hands up. Ronald says he was just out for a walk, but the policeman points a gun at him and tells him to put his hands up again. Ronald raises his arms, but his hands are missing. The officer apologies to him and starts to leave, but he hears a scream from inside the building and heads inside. It’s Melissa and she’s woken up to find Ronald’s hands under the covers with her. The officer tries to help her, but the hands go around his neck and choke him. Melissa freaks out and goes outside, where she runs into Angel. She tries to tell him about Ronald’s hands, but Angel already knows what he can do. She begs him not to leave her alone and he holds her and tells her he won’t let him near her again. Ronald is watching from the shadows, but he leaves when his hands come back. Then Kate and some other officers, as well as Doyle, arrive on the scene. Doyle takes care of Melissa while Angel talks to Kate. She doesn’t understand how the doctor could get in there without being detected, but they were able to get prints and she’ll bring him down if there’s a match. Angel goes over to talk to Doyle and he tells him the only way to stop the doctor is to keep his body parts apart long enough for them to detiriorate. Until they can do it, their job is to protect Melissa.

Back at Angel’s, Doyle is busy sealing up any possible holes the doctor’s body parts can fit through. Melissa tells Angel she can’t believe what she saw and that he must think she’s crazy. He says this is one of those things he takes care of when the police can’t. He’s going to take care of Ronald while she stays with Doyle and Cordelia. She tells them she’s tired of being afraid and Angel says she doesn’t have to be afraid. She’s survived a living hell all these months and she’s still standing while Ronald is coming apart. He says Ronald is the weak one – she is strong. Cordelia and Angel head back upstairs to the office and Angel tries to find a place where he can get steel boxes so late at night. Then a call comes in – it’s Ronald and he wants Angel to meet him at his office.

At his office, Ronald sits patiently behind his desk and waits for Angel. Angel finally comes in carrying a metal box. Ronald tells him he didn’t have to bring small bills, but Angel says he didn’t bring any money at all. Ronald tells him he didn’t think he would because he knows he isn’t who he said he was. He pulls out an injector and launches a dart at Angel, which hits him in the neck. Ronald tells him he’ll feel a slight sinking sensation – that’s his heart slowing down as the drug takes effect. Eventually it will stop all together. He then goes on a tirade about how Angel had the audacity to think he could take Melissa from him and how no one could break the bond between them. Angel, who is now lying on the floor, can barely understand what the doctor is saying, but the doctor just keeps talking and then decides to leave.

In Angel’s apartment, Doyle is still plugging holes while Cordelia watches over a sleeping Melissa. She says she doesn’t see the point in dating anymore. Doyle says it’s because people need people and then goes to check things out again. As Cordelia talks, Ronald’s hands begin pushing their way through the duct tape to get into the apartment. Cordelia and Doyle hear a noise so they each get a weapon and start looking around the apartment for signs of trouble. While one of the hands try and enter through a vent in the floor, the other one unlocks the door and the doctor comes walking in, putting his eye back in place as he does. Cordelia and Doyle are busy trying to stop the hand from coming in through the vent, but it opens and pulls Doyle inside as the doctor grabs Cordelia from behind and locks her in a closet. Melissa finally wakes up and sees one of his hands scattering across the floor to reconnect with his body. Melissa asks him what he is and he says he’s more than meets the eye, but she never bothered to find that out. He corners her and holds a scalpel to her neck, but Melissa tells him that Angel was right – he is weak. The doctor wonders how he would’ve been able to kill Angel if he was so weak, but the door opens behind him and Angel comes walking in the room. The doctor says he can’t be alive and the two of them start fighting. The doctor starts unleashing different body parts on Angel, which he destroys one by one before he finally kills him.

The next morning, Cordelia and Doyle are in the office. She’s making recycled coffee and he’s just sort of hanging out. Angel walks in and hands Cordelia a folder and she asks him if the doctor can ever put himself back together. Angel says no – he’s in twelve steel boxes buried in twenty cubic feet of concrete in LA’s newest subway stop. Doyle thinks that’ll really bring in the tourists. The door opens and Melissa walks in carrying a plant. She hands it to Angel, who says he hopes it doesn’t need light, but she assures him it will be fine in there. Cordelia asks her if she’d like to have coffee, but she tells her no – she has places to go and people to see – thanks to them. Cordelia and Doyle start clearing their throats and shuffling around in the background. Angel picks up on their meaning and uncomfortably mentions the bill to Melissa. “Of course,” she says, “that’s the other reason I came.” She pulls out a check and starts to give it to Angel, but Cordelia comes over and snatches it away. Angel tells Melissa he didn’t do it for the money. She says he earned it. She shakes his hand and tells him she hopes she never sees him again. Angel says he hopes she doesn’t either and wishes her good luck. Once she leaves, Doyle tells Angel that didn’t go so badly and Cordelia feels he can save the damsel and still make decent money. Cordelia and Doyle decide to head down to the bank, but Angel tells them he’ll just stay there and not burst into flames. Doyle says that’s right – he’s a night deposit kind of guy. As Cordelia and Doyle head out the door, she tells him he should have a vision because they need more of these. He tells her he can’t perform on demand. Once their gone, Angel heads back into his office, sits the plant down on his desk and walks away.

DVD Guide

Chapter 1: Charity Starts At The Office
Chapter 2: Main Titles
Chapter 3: Lady in Distress
Chapter 4: Dr. Stalker
Chapter 5: Evil Eye
Chapter 6: LA’s Finest
Chapter 7: Medical Break-In
Chapter 8: Jerk In Sight
Chapter 9: Mental Matters
Chapter 10: Hands on Killer
Chapter 11: Angelic Reaction
Chapter 12: Frightened to Pieces
Chapter 13: Surgery and Entering
Chapter 14: Check That
Chapter 15: End Credits