A security guard, Henderson, approaches a locked gate, opens it and enters the property the fence is protecting. He walks between buildings, searching the area with his flashlight. A clanging noise gets his attention. As he walks down some steps, he makes a call on his radio, reporting the "south side basement door" open, and says he's going inside. As he prepares to open the door, he's startled by someone opening it from the inside. Henderson recognizes the guy, Carlos.

An equally surprised Carlos explains his presence, he had to unclog a septic pipe.

The guard thanks him for that as he steps aside and Carlos exits. Henderson picks up his radio and reports his findings, "Mystery solved, found a crazed plumber."

A figure leaps out of the shadows. Henderson calls for it to stop. He runs up the steps and is met with a punch to the face when he reaches the top. He's knocked to the ground. As he shouts, he is viciously attacked by the shadowy figure.

---

At Wolfram and Hart, the mask wearing mailroom employee (who has been seen in the background in several episodes this season) is hunched over his mail cart, shuffling it down the hallway, seemingly finding the physical effort a bit difficult. His mask is red, white and blue with a large white '5' on the front of it. He enters the lobby, pushes the cart up to the receptionist's desk, accepts a piece of outgoing mail from her and moves on.

As he rounds the corner, heading down another hallway, Lorne bounds up the steps and asks for some advice, "Sexy soccer mama or brainy beauty?". He has a couple of cards and doesn't know which one to send. He explains the reason for his dilemma. "You're an aging sexpot, celebrating a decade of turning 29, you've got two little rugrats that aren't that little, a husband that thinks the extras trailer is a buffet table and gravity ain't doing you any favors, so 'Happy birthday sexy mama' or --"

Lorne notices Fred approaching. He decides to ask for her advice since "You're sorta like a woman."

Fred let's him know that's no compliment.

Lorne notes he meant closer than the mailroom guy. He begins to sum up his quandary again.

Fred tells him she overheard. She suggests not sending any card, don't mention the birthday, just send flowers "because she's special and perfect and eternally blah-di-blah."

Lorne thinks that's a perfect solution.

Fred drops a piece of mail on the cart and exits. Lorne shouts a couple of compliments after her and leaves in the opposite direction as mailroom guy continues pushing his cart down the hall.

---

Angel is sitting at the conference table in his office, signing papers. He pauses a moment in signing and asks Gunn, who is sitting next to him, if it's blood.

Gunn confirms it is, but assures him it's okay, it's Angel's.

Angel goes back to signing, wondering why that's okay.

Gunn explains "demon law requires blood signatures on all documents" as he lays another sheet of paper in front of Angel. Gunn tells him his signature finishes the paperwork, then Gunn can go into court with it and do his thing.

Angel finishes signing.

Gunn takes back the last document and tells Angel what he's just accomplished, "As CEO and president of Wofram & Hart, you've just bankrupted a company that dumps raw demon waste into Santa Monica bay, banished a clan of pyro-warlocks into a hell dimension, and started a foster care program for kids whose parents have been killed by vampires." Gunn reckons that's pretty good for a day's work.

Angel agrees, but not convincingly.

Gunn knows doing the legal thing isn't as "heroic" to Angel as doing the rescuing in person, but for Gunn, "I love what I do." It's the first time in his life he's anxious to get to work every day. He notes Angel has always had his "special powers", now he has his own.

Spike arrives, "Isn't that special?" He notes they all have "special powers", he wonders if anyone wants to trade with him. He's willing to trade walking through walls and picking up mugs (he picks a cup up from the table to demonstrate) in exchange for, "I don't know, how about me not being dead?"

Angel offers, "How about you not being here?"

Spike smiles, "If wishes were horses."

Angel gets up from the conference table, turning his back to Spike and Gunn. Gunn asks if he's okay.

Angel says he's fine, noting Gunn said it, not bad for a day's work. Again, he doesn't sound very convincing.

Gunn knows Angel isn't happy working there, considering the bureaucracy and the fact a lot of their employees want them dead but he points out in-house attacks are down for the month and they've accomplished more there in one month than they did with Angel Investigations in a year.

Angel knows that, he's just feeling a bit "disconnected."

A mocking Spike can't believe what he's hearing, pointing out Angel is living the high life; clothes, cars, "My old tumble fetching you tasty snacks and what's your gripe? I feel disconnected." Spike suggests Angel trade places with him for awhile; no touch, no taste, no sense of smell. He figures there isn't anything worse than that.

Spike notes the mailroom guy, Number Five, enter the office and concedes maybe there is one thing worse.

Gunn tells Angel he understands about the disconnect, admitting that though he loves the legal stuff, he also likes to get into the fight, he misses getting his "hands dirty."

Wes enters and hands a file to Angel, noting Gunn should be interested in this, three people found dead in east L.A. with their hearts cut out, all within the past couple of hours.

Number Five looks toward Wes briefly, then goes back to collecting mail.

Wes says the cops are investigating, but he thinks it's more likely demonic in origin.

Gunn thinks they should look into it.

Number Five shuffles out of the office. Gunn shouts after him, noting he missed a piece of outgoing mail.

Angel takes the envelope and follows Number Five out into the hall. He calls to him but Five doesn't stop. Angel walks up to him and grabs him by the arm in an attempt to get his attention.

Five picks Angel up and throws him through the hall window, into the office, then pushes his cart on down the hall.

From the other side of the smashed window, Angel complains, "I really hate this place."

---

Wes and Gunn rush into the office where Angel is still on the floor. Wes asks what happened.

Angel tells him the "mail guy threw me."

Spike laughs, "Number Five? He did this? Isn't he, like, 100 years old?"

Angel gets to his feet, noting it's a bit hard to tell with the mask.

Gunn picks up the phone, reports Angel was attacked and orders a lockdown. He reports the attacker was Number Five.

Wes asks Angel why Five attacked him.

Angel doesn't know, he just tried to give him mail.

Gunn says security is on it, they'll find him.

Angel doesn't want a big deal made of it, thinking maybe he just startled the guy or something.

Gunn isn't willing to risk it, pointing out Angel has enemies everywhere within the firm.

Fred enters the office. Spike, having way too much fun, asks her if she heard, "Angel attacked the old mail guy!" as he points toward Angel who responds with a frustrated, "What?"

Fred is upset by that, concerned Angel may have hurt Number Five.

Angel tries to point out Five attacked him.

Wes thinks it's important they find him.

Spike agrees with that, he'd like to buy him a drink.

Gunn takes a call on his cell and reports security found Number Five, he's been escorted off the premises. Gunn looks to confirm that Angel wants Five fired.

Angel isn't sure about that.

Wes thinks it's a good idea.

Angel says he's fine, he'd prefer to get back to the business of the dead bodies Wes had mentioned.

Lorne comes in, noting the shattered glass littering the floor, obviously what he'd heard was true.

Spike adds, "Yeah, it was amazing! Angel went right off on the mail guy."

Lorne reckons it must have been quite a smackdown.

Angel defends himself, "There was no smacking."

Lorne has heard otherwise, word is Angel sucker punched the old mail guy. Lorne assures him he's got his P.R. spin machine on it, "Once the word spreads that you beat up an innocent old man, the truly terrible will think twice before going toe-to-toe with our Avenging Angel."

Spike nods vigorously in agreement, "The geriatric community will be soiling their nappies when they hear you're on the case." He gives Angel an enthusiastic thumbs up as he adds, "Bravo!"

Angel informs the others he didn't beat anybody up, he'd like to focus on "Wes's bodies."

Fred asks what that's about.

Gunn tells her about the three dead bodies.

A woman enters and hands Wes a folder. He adds there are now four, another body was just discovered in a church, "after an All Souls' mass."

Angel asks about that.

Wes says it's prayers for the departed.

Spike figures Angel should understand that, "being departed and all."

Wes says it was a special service, "the Mexican Day of the Dead."

---

It's evening, Angel is driving a classic convertible down the street with Spike sitting in the passenger seat up front, Gunn and Wes seated in back. Gunn wants to know why Spike is there.

Spike offers, "Not much choice really, is there? Can't drink, smoke, diddle my willy." He doesn't have a lot of options other than watching them play "Agatha Christie."

Wes wonders just how Spike ended up in the front seat.

Spike answers, he called "shotgun".

Wes looks down at the shotgun he's carrying, noting he'd thought they were doing a weapons check.

Gunn raises the ax he's armed with, figuring they might just need the weapons if they end up facing "some Mexican Day of the Dead, heart-suckin' monster."

Wes checks a map and starts to tell Angel the location of the church they're looking for in relation to where they're at. He's interrupted by Angel bringing the car to a sudden, screeching turn and stop. Angel gets out of the car and rushes off, leaving Spike, Gunn and Wes behind.

Spike notes Angel "Always was a bit of a Drama Queen."

Spike, Wes and Gunn find Angel standing in an alley, near a corpse. Gunn wonders how Angel knew something had happened, did he hear a scream?

Angel doesn't answer, just turns and walks a short distance away.

Spike answers the question, Angel smelled the blood, "Nothing grabs a vamp's attention like the ruby red."

Wes shines his flashlight on the corpse, noting the large, bloody hole in the man's chest.

Gunn observes they always seem to end up in a "stanky hole" in the middle of the night.

Wes calls to Angel, telling him the corpse's heart is missing, it appears to have been crudely cut out and judging by the splatter patterns, it was still beating at the time.

Angel says the blood is fresh, this happened very recently.

Wes reckons that means whatever is responsible may still be near by.

Gunn wonders how close.

Spike notes, about ten or eleven feet.

The others turn to see a large demon standing behind them. Fight ensues.

The demon punches Angel aside, sending him flying through the air several feet. Wes cocks the shotgun and fires several times into the demon, having no effect. The demon punches him, sending him flying through the air.

Gunn attacks, hacking at the demon's back with his ax. As it attacks Gunn, Spike tries to pick something up to fight with but can't manage to do so. He gives up, realizing he's useless. Gunn gets tossed aside.

Angel gets up and heads toward the demon who shoves a dumpster into him, knocking him down. When Angel gets back to his feet, he finds the demon has disappeared.

---

In the lab, Fred is examining the blade of Gunn's ax. He notes they attacked it with everything they had, but nothing stopped it, all they have of it is what's on the ax blade. He thought she could do some tests on it.

Fred ponders the tests she can run.

Gunn has no idea what she's talking about. He asks her to contact him when she finds something and leaves.

As Fred begins her work, Spike arrives. She tells him if he's interested in knowing what the demon is made of, it's going to take some time.

Spike doesn't care about that, he's just trying to put some space between himself and "General grumpy pants."

Fred smiles, noting Angel gets that way sometimes, it' s not easy being a "champion". She reckons Spike understands that.

He isn't sure he does.

Fred notes Spike saved the world, sacrificed himself, closed a hellmouth.

Spike admits he didn't really do anything, just stood there and "let the fire come, nothing real heroic in that."

Fred reminds him he saved her life ("Hell Bound").

Spike answers, "Well, when you say it like that ..."

Fred smiles and goes back to work.

---

Wes is in his office, working with his staff on identifying the demon. He picks up one of the mystical books and says, "Xiaochimayan Codex". As he opens the book, the blank pages fill in with various symbols.

Angel comes in and asks how things are going.

Wes answers, based on the demon's appearance and weaponry, he's focusing his team on researching "pre-Hispanic texts, specifically Meso-American." Wes notes they haven't figured it out yet, but he's confident they will.

Angel is sure they will, noting "You'll find it, then we'll figure out a way to stop it, then ... then I'll stop it ... 'cause that's what we do."

Wes looks up from the book.

Angel says he'll be in his office and walks out.

Wes returns his attention to the book and begins making notes. He notices Spike's arrival without looking up, saying he wasn't aware Spike could read "Cuauhtitlan pictograms."

Spike admits he can't then asks if the book is one on prophecies.

Wes explains it's a source book, each one is tied to a different subject in the W&H archives. The one he's looking at is tied to the material on historical narratives. He points to another book in the office, noting it's the one tied to prophecies.

Spike moves over to the prophecy book, saying that could be used to look up "that sans shoes thingamabob." He tells Wes what he's talking about, the prophecy that says "Angel gets to be a real boy again".

Wes tells him it's the Shanshu prophecy and it's more complicated than Spike makes it sound.

Spike fishes for details, "Complicated?"

Wes answers, "It tells of an epic, apocalyptic battle and a vampire with a soul who plays a major role in that battle. And there's the suggestion that the vampire will get to live again."

Spike wonders if "heroically closing a hellmouth that was about to destroy the world" could qualify as the prophesied "apocalyptic battle."

Wes notes the battle isn't specifically identified.

Spike wonders if the text is specific about the identity of the vampire with a soul referenced in it.

Wes admits it could be "any vampire with a soul ... one that isn't a ghost."

Spike scoffs at that, saying it's nonsense, nothing but a fable "designed to get vampires to play nice."

Wes dismissively notes that's Spike's opinion.

Spike informs him it's Angel's as well, he's the one who said it, he doesn't believe in the Shanshu thing.

Wesley's assistant, who's been working at her laptop, calls to him. As he walks over to her to view what she's discovered, Spike touches his fingertips to the prophecy book. Wes tells his assistant to print out what she's come up with as Spike looks back toward Wes, then back to the book.

---

Wes brings the printout to Angel's office and hands it to him. Spike is also hanging around the office. Wes tells Angel the demon is Aztec, known as "Tezcatcatl". They don't know much about it yet, the codex is missing some key pictograms. They do know it's been there before, 50 years earlier, to the day.

Angel notes it's the Day of the Dead.

Wes isn't sure yet that isn't coincidence. He'll have a better idea once they figure out why it's in L.A., what it wants. He notes W&H has a brief record on its last appearance. It rose in the same place, east L.A., and killed over a dozen people before it was finally defeated.

Angel asks about the defeat.

Wes tells him it was beaten by five heroes, brothers, "champions of that time."

Angel asks if they destroyed the demon.

Wes says they did, but they paid a high price, four of the five brothers were killed by it.

Spike notes the brothers either didn't finish the demon or it's discovered a way to return from wherever they sent it. He wishes Angel luck in dealing with it.

Angel ponders things a moment, recalling Wes mentioned one of the brothers had survived the battle. He asks if he's still alive.

Wes answers he is.

Angel figures that's good, he'll find the guy and talk to him, certain he'll want to help. He asks if they have a number for the guy.

Wes tells him they do.

---

Angel walks up to an apartment door and knocks. Number Five opens the door. They both stare at each other.

Angel finally greets Five with a chipper, "Hi!"

Five grabs him by the coat and pulls him inside the apartment, slamming him against the wall.

Angel would like him to stop doing that.

Five reckons he wasn't clear enough in their last conversation.

Angel grabs him and reverses their positions, pinning Five against the wall. He points out there was no conversation, Five just threw him through a window.

Five says he heard Angel's conversation, he knew Angel was going to pull him into the quest for the Aztec demon.

Angel replies he wasn't, he was just going to give him some mail.

Five thinks on that a moment, "Oh. Sorry."

Angel informs him he's pulling him into the hunt now as he tosses him across the room.

As Five gets to his feet, Angel tells him he needs his assistance, noting he and his brothers defeated this demon before, he wants to know how.

Five says he's retired from that life, in case Angel hadn't noticed.

Angel tells him the mask doesn't hide his past.

Five says it reminds him "only a fool would want to be a champion."

Angel wonders if Five thinks of his brothers as fools.

Five answers that by punching Angel hard in the face, with a warning not to disrespect the memory of his brothers. He says his brothers were honorable men, "Luchadores, Mexican wrestlers, the greatest that ever lived." They were known together as "Los Hermanos Numeros."

Angel considers that, "The number brothers?" He notices a small, black and white, framed photo of the five brothers on a Day of the Dead altar in the apartment. He picks it up and looks it over.

Five takes the picture from him and places it back on the altar. He tells Angel times were different then, that time has passed.

Flashback to the five brothers in the wrestling ring, participating in a match taking on five other masked opponents.

In voice-over, Five tells Angel they were warriors in the ring, heroes worshipped by children, desired by women and men wanted to be them as the view shifts to the crowd cheering the brothers on in the ring.

Five continues, in all the years they fought they "never lost, never quit, never compromised." He adds not all of their battles were in the ring as a man in the crowd raises a shotgun and aims it toward the brothers. Two of the brothers flip a third into the crowd, toward the man.

Back in Five's apartment, he's seated in a chair with Angel seated across from him, as he continues his tale. He tells Angel he needs to understand, they weren't just wrestlers, they protected their own people, Mexicans and Chicanos, because no one else cared. He and his brothers were always connected, and when they had to, "came together as a fist." They fought gangsters, monsters, vampires, they were heroes "helping the helpless."

Angel says he knows a bit about that.

Five goes on, adding wistfully, the brothers were inseparable, spending every waking hour together.

Flashback to the brothers in a bar, some playing cards, one lifting a barbell and another having a drink as Five continues his present day narration.

As women flirt with some of the brothers, Five says they were never jealous, they never fought with each other. He recalls that time as the happiest of his life.

Angel asks if they always wore their masks.

Five notes Angel is missing the point, they had to be constantly vigilant, prepared to do battle on a moment's notice.

In the flashback, the phone rings at the bar, Five answers it and hangs up. He summons his brothers telling them "The devil has built a robot!" They all rush out of the bar together.

Five wonders if Angel has heard about their victory over "the devil's robot."

Angel's sorry, he hasn't.

A dejected Five notes, "Nobody remembers the good stuff." He gets up out of his chair and walks across the room.

Angel asks him to tell him about the demon.

Five wonders what there is to say about the demon that killed those who mattered the most to him.

Angel reckons he can start with how he killed it.

Five claims he can't remember.

Angel wonders if it's that he doesn't remember or doesn't care.

Five says he tried to continue after his brothers died, tried to help people, but after awhile nobody called anymore, the people went away.

Flashback to Five sitting in a bar as he continues his story in voice-over. He says a man walked in, saying his company could use someone with his abilities. A young man walks into the bar and hands Five a W&H business card that introduces him as "Holland Manners, Legal Associate " and the firm he works for, W&H.

Five tells Angel he needed a job, W&H needed some "muscle". He knew W&H represented everything his brothers had fought against but he didn't care, nothing mattered after he buried his brothers "behind San Gregorio."

He looks over at the Day of the Dead altar set up on the small table, noting he prepares the altar for them on this day every year, but they never come to visit him. He believes it's because he isn't worthy but doesn't think that matters anymore, not after this year. He quietly says he should have died with his brothers. He touches a small, gold, etched medallion laying on the altar.

Angel stands and a bit caustically says Five got stuck with the hard part, the "carrying on part". He reckons it's no wonder his brothers won't come to visit because Five has quit. He wonders just when Five stopped caring.

Five tells him it wasn't difficult and offers to show Angel.

---

Angel and Five are in a small venue, watching a match taking place in a wrestling ring. Five masked midget wrestlers, dressed as the brothers, take on a taller guy representing the demon.

Five notes this is how his brothers and their good deeds are remembered, "They sacrificed their lives as heroes and it's played out as a farce." His tone is bitter, tinged with sadness. He wonders if it's too much to ask that the people remember their past, honor those who have died.

As he's speaking, the wrestler playing the demon raises one of the midget wrestlers over his head and tosses him out of the ring. The crowd cheers.

Five says his brothers are dead and the demon is back to kill again. He wonders why they even bothered, what difference their efforts made.

As Angel watches the goings on in the ring, he tells Five they made a difference in the lives they saved. He says no one asks them to do what they do, they do it because they can, they know how. They do it whether or not they're remembered for it, "In spite of the fact there's no shiny reward at the end of the day, other than the work itself. I think some part of you still knows that, still believes in being a hero."

He looks beside himself to where Five was standing and notices he's gone, "Then again, maybe not."

---

Wes is sitting behind the desk in his office, noting he'd forgotten Aztec culture was so violent.

Gunn, reading a file, says their own is pretty violent.

Wes points out they don't usually eat their victims.

Gunn puts down the file he's looking at as he asks if Wes has the file on the woman that was murdered after the All Souls' Mass.

Wes gets up and walks over to the table, pulls a file from a pile of file folders and notes something puzzling. The demon passed by twenty other people to get to her. He hands the file to Gunn.

Gunn reckons they need to figure out the demon's modus operendi so Angel can figure out its next move.

Wes wonders if Angel seems okay to Gunn.

Gunn thinks he's still adjusting to corporate life, "a bit of a disconnect."

Wes notes the use of that particular word.

Gunn says it's the word Angel used but he's still doing the "hero thing." Gunn comes to a realization with that comment. He asks if Wes had said the homeless man who was killed in the alley was a veteran.

Wes confirms that, a Gulf War vet.

Gunn remembers the man had also been awarded the Bronze Star. He notes the woman killed in the church worked with gangs, one of the other victims was a fireman.

Wes says he'd saved his crew in a fire and realizes the thread that ties the victims together.

Gunn says the demon is "taking the hearts of heroes."

---

Angel exits the building where the wrestling was taking place. He looks around and notices a city bus pass by. He sees Five is sitting in it. Angel mutters, "So much for my stirring speech."

He turns and finds himself face to face with the Azetec Warrior. The demon punches him, then picks him up and slams him down onto the hood of a car.

The demon draws a sword and plunges it through Angel's body, staking him to the hood. It prepares to cut out Angel's heart, but hesitates.

Suddenly, it pulls the sword out of Angel's body and disappears.

---

Angel steps off the elevator at W&H, Wes and Gunn following. Angel notes their opinion the Aztec Warrior is feeding on the hearts of heroes. He finds it an interesting theory, and can understand why their research might support it but points out "Your theory kind of fell apart in the field."

Wes knows Angel has been through a lot and he's not trying to --

Angel interrupts him, "The reason why I know this Aztec demon is not eating the hearts of heroes is ... " adding quietly, "he didn't take mine." As they walk down the hall and into Angel's office, he asks, "Am I honestly supposed to believe that it had no problem sticking a sword in my stomach but then decided, 'Oh, wait! His heart's not heroic enough!' I don't think so."

Wes understands Angel is feeling rejected but he thinks, "It wants the hearts for sustenance. It wants it for the meat, not the metaphor."

Angel wonders what Wes is getting at.

Gunn thinks he has it figured out, "As meat goes, your heart's a dried up chunk of gnarly-ass beef jerky."

Angel notes he still dies if a piece of wood gets stuck in it, so there must be something there. He winces in pain from his earlier encounter with the demon.

Wes would like to get back to figuring out how to kill the demon, not why it didn't kill Angel.

Gunn asks if Five gave any details, before leaving on the bus, of how he and his brothers killed the demon.

A distracted Angel asks Wes if he ever heard the devil built a robot.

Wes is familiar with it and answers in a quiet, almost reverent tone, "El Diablo Robotico."

Gunn shoots Wes a puzzled look.

Wes wonders why Angel is asking.

Angel says nobody ever tells him anything then takes a seat behind his desk.

Gunn looks at his watch then says he's going to check with his staff in contracts.

Wes thinks working on the Aztec Warrior thing should be their priority.

Gunn assures him he's working on it. If the demon got to return after 50 years, perhaps it made a deal with something. If there was a deal, there might be a contract. He leaves.

Wes takes a seat opposite Angel at the desk, referring to the comment Gunn made about his heart being dried up, he doesn't think that's the problem.

Angel realizes Wes does believe he sees a problem.

Wes thinks it's the work.

Angel agrees, "Oh yeah, the 18 hour days, the constant slaying of evil, and the being shish kebabbed to a Chevy --"

Wes notes he didn't say Angel wasn't working, he's saying Angel's heart isn't in it.

Angel admits he's been feeling a bit --

Wes knows, "disconnected", he's heard.

As Angel gets up and walks across the office to pick up a file folder, Wes follows, saying "I think it's more serious than that. You blame your melancholy on your new position but I don't think it's about the type of work, I think it's because you've lost hope that the work has meaning."

Angel holds up the file folder and absently thumbs through it, noting it has meaning, they save people's lives.

Wes presses, saying he wasn't talking about other people, he's talking about Angel. He adds, "Spike says you no longer believe in the Shanshu prophecy."

Angel turns to face Wes, sighs and concedes he doesn't, "The prophecies are nonsense. You know that."

Wes stares at him blankly.

Angel continues, "Oh, come on Wes. After everything we've seen the past couple of years?"

Wes continues to look at Angel, clueless about what he's referring to.

Angel adds, "The father will kill the son?" ("Couplet")

Wes asks what he's talking about.

Angel drops it, pointing out they're getting the job done. As long as he keeps doing what he's doing it doesn't make any difference whether or not he believes in Shanshu or any other prophecy.

Wes disagrees, saying it matters a great deal. Hope is the only thing that will keep Angel going, the one thing that will keep him from ending up like Number Five.

The discussion is interrupted by the phone ringing. Angel answers it, takes a message and hangs up. He tells Wes it was Fred, she's come up with something.

Angel walks out of the office leaving Wes behind, looking concerned.

---

Angel and Wes have joined Fred and Spike in the lab. Angel reacts to what Fred has told him. The demon eats the hearts of heroes and their blood keeps it alive.

Fred says it's more than that, the blood "acts like a kind of supercharged rocket fuel, makes it .. you know --"

Wes knows, it's nearly invulnerable.

Spike reckons he could kill it, if he weren't hampered by the being a ghost thing. He points out everything has a weakness.

Angel wonders if Spike thinks he just happens to know what that weakness is.

Spike reckons it's the heart.

Fred looks at the display on her monitor and asks incredulously if Spike sees that in the science.

He says he sees it in the "poetry", noting "We're dealing with a mythic creature here, a kill-or-be-killed kind of creature. If I was gonna kill something that was tring to take my heart, I'd try to bloody well take its heart first."

Gunn comes in and says Spike is right. That would stop it for awhile. The demon has a "get out of jail free card" in its contract.

Fred asks about the contract.

Gunn says it's a "figure of speech", noting curses, hexes, any "shady supernatural deal", W&H has records on it. He lays the document he's brought on the table as he tells what he's discovered. Tezcatcatl was one of the Aztecs' strongest warriors. He created a talisman that would harness the power of their Sun God and make him extremely powerful. But he was discovered and sentenced to die "on the Aztec version of Day of the Dead."

Wes realizes the Warrior made a mystical bargain.

Gunn describes it, "He had their shaman put a curse on him to return from the dead every 50 years, been doing it for centuries. Usually that'd be a bad thing, but in his case, it brings him back so he can keep searching for the talisman."

Fred wonders if there's any information on what happened to the talisman.

Gunn answers, it had been given to a hero who was charged with protecting it.

Angel notes the talisman gets passed down through the generations, so every time the demon comes back, it seeks it.

Spike reckons if it's found, the demon gains the power of the Sun God and "You sods become a series of hearty snacks."

Wes asks if there's an illustration of the talisman.

Gunn says there isn't, he describes what little he knows of its appearance.

Angel recognizes the description as the medallion he'd seen on the Day of the Dead altar in Number Five's apartment. Without saying anything, he turns and walks out of the lab.

Spike points after him, "Oh! See? Drama Queen."

---

Angel knocks on the door of Five's apartment. When there's no response, he walks in and finds it vacant, the Day of the Dead altar has been removed from the table.

Number Five is in the cemetery, where he has reconstructed his altar of offerings on the common headstone marking the grave of his brothers. He dangles the talisman above a candle flame and summons the demon.

As Five waits for the demon's arrival, he pours himself some coffee from a thermos.

Angel shows up, telling him it won't work. He figures Five wants the demon to come and kill him so he can join his brothers but he doesn't think the demon will come.

Five is sure it will, he summoned it.

Angel concedes maybe the demon will show up but it won't kill either of them. He lays his hand over his heart as he notes, "Missing the secret ingredient." Angel directs Five to give him the talisman and he'll leave him to his misery.

Five claims he doesn't have it then casually takes a sip of his coffee.

Angel topples items off of the altar but doesn't find what he's looking for. He asks Five where it is.

Five thinks Angel is a strange guy.

Angel points out, "I'm not the one in a mask, standing in the cemetery in the middle of the night."

As Five makes a toasting gesture toward Angel with his thermos cup, he says, "No, but you will be."

Angel sees the Aztec Warrior approaching. He grabs Five, telling him it's fine with him if Five wants the demon to kill him but Angel isn't going to let it get the talisman. Angel searches him, trying to find it. He demands Five give him the talisman.

Five tells Angel if he stops the demon, it will be back in 50 years, nothing is changed. He says Angel was right about the demon not killing him because he's not a hero, he had to make the demon want to kill him, to fool it into thinking he was worthy. To do that, he swallowed the talisman. If the warrior wants it, he'll have to cut it out of Number Five.

Number Five throws Angel through the air, sending him crashing into an iron picket fence surrounding one of the graves. Five strides toward the demon, challenging it, saying the talisman is in his stomach. He wonders if the demon remembers, he was the one who destroyed it before.

Angel gets to his feet as Five continues goading the demon into a fight. He punches the demon who punches him back, sending Five flying, crashing into a large headstone. Five gets back to his feet and returns to taunting the demon as it approaches.

Angel pulls one of the iron pickets from the fence. As the demon drives its sword toward Five, who makes no attempt to defend himself, Angel blocks it with the picket. As he shoves Five backward, knocking him down, Angel tells him he won't make it that easy for him. Fight ensues as he goes after the demon, alternately beating on it with the iron picket and using it to block the blows of the sword as the demon tries to connect.

The demon manages to get the advantage, knocking Angel to the ground, but before it can do anymore damage, Five rejoins the fray. The demon runs its sword through Five's stomach.

Angel rushes the demon and continues the fight as Five stumbles back, his hands bloody from clutching the wound. He slumps against the headstone that marks the grave of his brothers, smearing it with blood from his hand as he tries to steady himself.

The demon backhands Angel and sends him through the air, landing hard on the ground.

A hand bursts up through the ground next to Angel, startling him and causing him to jump to his feet. As Angel looks on, Five's four brothers, attired in their masks and the suits they were buried in, claw their way out of their grave.

The brothers line up next to each other, take a moment to stretch and then rush to the iron fence, each retrieving pickets to use as weapons. As Angel watches the brothers rush toward the demon, one of them urges him to join them in the fight. He picks up a picket and follows.

Fight ensues as the brothers take on the demon. Angel stays back, watching the brothers battle. The demon manages to knock the brothers to the ground. Angel attacks it.

As he exchanges blows with it, he notices the brothers setting up. Two of them hurl a third toward the demon. The brother somersaults through the air and lands on the demon's shoulders. Angel points out they're trying to kill it, not pin it.

The brother drops down over the demon's head, keeping his legs wrapped around its neck, flipping it and bringing it to the ground. The other brothers rush in and pin the demon to the ground with the iron pickets.

Angel concedes, "Okay, pinning works." He runs a picket through the demon's heart. The demon dissolves into dust.

Angel sees Five on the ground, his back resting against a headstone, and rushes to his side. As he kneels beside him, Five says his brothers returned.

Angel tells him it's because he's worthy, he's proven that.

Five isn't so sure, noting the demon still didn't want his heart.

Angel says it didn't want his either.

Five replies, "Of course not, amigo. Who would want that dried-up walnut of a dead thing?" Five coughs and mutters, "Coffee."

A perplexed Angel asks if he wants coffee?

A dying Five answers, "Estupido! The talisman, it's in ... "

Angel realizes what he's saying, gets up and retrieves the thermos. He brings it back over to Five and pours the talisman out of it, onto the ground.

Five says maybe he's not a hero, but he's not a fool.

The four brothers walk up near Five, standing in a line, shoulder to shoulder. Angel looks from the brothers back to Five, and sees Five has died.

Angel pauses a moment, then picks up the talisman and stands. He watches as, together, the brothers pick Five up and place him into the arms of one. They walk over to their grave, stand next to each other in front of the headstone and fade out, disappearing as Angel looks on.

---

In his office at W&H, Angel hands the talisman to Wes and tells him to put it someplace safe.

Wes quietly asks if Angel is okay, he knows he's been feeling --

Angel assures him he's fine, he got the job done, that's what important. He says it's been a long day. He looks over at Gunn, Fred and Spike who are all sitting on the couch and tells them he'll see them in the morning. As he heads out of the office, Fred asks if Five jumped in and helped at the end.

Angel pauses, keeping his back to her and answers, "He died a hero."

Everyone leaves the office.

Angel walks through the darkened lobby, into Wesley's office. He picks up a book, walks across the office and sits down. He raises the book to his lips and says, "Shanshu prophecy, English translation." He opens the book as the text fills in the blank pages.

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