To Imzadi: Come on, it wouldn't have been any fun if he knew straight away! A/N: In the first episode of Buffy, Giles told her that a Slayer should be able to sense when a vampire is near. Although they never mentioned it again, I'm going to use that principle.

Chapter 7: Hiding in the open

There was screaming coming from the basement of a condemned apartment building. A teenage girl was being dragged by her hair into the centre of a circle of snarling demons. All of them were identical to each other; over 6ft tall, grey skin, stocky arms and legs, a pair of horns and yellow eyes.

As she was held down by two others, the leader covered her in animal blood and held a knife up high as he communicated with his brothers. The girl shut her tear-filled eyes tightly and prayed; sure that she was going to die.

Suddenly her hair was yanked backward and then she was freed. All of the monsters were yelling in their guttural language and running about. Some of them headed toward the stairs, where a group of armed people were coming down. The rest were trying to escape down a narrow passage that led back up to ground level. She looked back and saw that the one about to stab her had a double-bladed axe embedded in his chest.

She sat up and crawled over to a nearby table and took cover beneath it. She watched as the crew of Angel Investigations went about saving her life: Cordelia, Gunn, Wesley and Angel.

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Three of the demons took the back way out and emerged in a night-time alley. There they were confronted by Lindsey, who had a broadsword in one hand, a small axe in the other and a pitiless look on his face. This time the three of them decided to face the lone human rather than flee, and roared as they advanced.

Lindsey sidestepped the first and buried the axe into the base of its spine. It was too deep to pull out quickly so he let it fall with the beast as he stepped forward to kick the second in the chest and take a swipe at the third. His sword missed as the demon ducked but the second staggered backward a few steps from the kick. The one he'd missed tried to swipe at Lindsey with its clawed hand and he ducked underneath it and while he was behind it he chopped its head off.

The final demon realised how dangerous Lindsey was and tried to run, but Lindsey simply threw the sword so that it buried deep into the demon's back. As it groaned and struggled on the ground in its death throes Lindsey twisted the sword out and stabbed it again in the heart to permanently silence it.

He went about retrieving and cleaning his weapons as he listened to how the fighting was progressing indoors. No humans were screaming so he figured that they were doing okay. Then he thought he heard the sound of footsteps coming toward him.

"Who's there?" he asked.

Eve stepped under the streetlight so she could be seen. "It's just me. Were you having fun?"

Lindsey was silent for a moment, obviously not sure of what to say. Then he smiled. "You're back."

"Obviously," Eve replied with a smile. She looked toward the old building. "Sounds like a party in there," she commented.

"What are you doing here?" Lindsey asked.

"I came to check on you guys; see how you're doing. Why, aren't you happy to see me?"

"I wouldn't say that," he replied. "You probably want to know how Eve is doing, right?"

Eve nodded, her expression controlled and blank.

"I'm not sure where she is right now. A couple of weeks ago I went to see an empath who warned me she was up to something. She and my firm hired someone to make Cordelia's visions hurt her even more, but when we confronted them Eve went into hiding. She's dangerous, Erica, and you were right; she did meet up with powerful allies. The next time we catch up to her, you'll either have to take her back with you or we're going to have to kill her."

Eve sighed as though thinking about her decision. "Well, while I'm here I'll see what I can do about her. But tell me more about how you're getting along with Angel and his little gang. What have they been up to?"

Lindsey glanced around the alley at the demon bodies. "Let me clean this up a little and then I'll take you somewhere we can talk."

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"Hey," Gunn said, as they all came out of the building and walked to the car. He was looking down the street where Lindsey had parked his orange truck. "Isn't that the crazy chick he made us rescue one time?"

The others followed his gaze. "Yeah, I guess so," Cordelia answered him. "So?"

"Nothing really, it's just that he said she wouldn't be coming back."

Cordelia shrugged. Angel popped the trunk of his car so they could pile weapons in the back. Heaven knew what would happen if they ever got pulled over and searched by a cop. Wesley helped the girl into the back seat. She was shaken up but physically fine.

"He said she was from a different dimension," Wesley commented, "so if she's here then perhaps something is up. Something important." He looked back at Angel. "Maybe you should call him and ask him if there's inter-dimensional work to be done."

"Or it could just be a social call," Cordelia suggested as though it were obvious, as she sat beside the girl. "Then it's none of our business."

"Remind me;" Angel said, as he started the car, "why do we keep inviting him to these fights even though he won't take orders and rarely even reports back to the office."

"Cos he kicks a lotta demon ass," Gunn said as they pulled away from the curb.

"And because you like to know what he's up to." Wesley added.

"You hate that he's almost as strong as you," Cordelia put in.

"But I've got a lot more experience," Angel defended himself. "He knows better than to really take me on."

"Existing for two hundred years will do that." Wesley said. "Besides, he occasionally does the inviting himself, when he discovers demon activity. We should really accept by now that he's on our side, however rebellious he may be."

"Whatever," Angel said, "I'm still going to call him, and make him tell me what's up."

"In the morning," Cordelia cautioned.

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Lindsey took Eve to an all-night diner to discuss the happenings of Angel Investigations and Wolfram and Hart. She was a little surprised when he then drove her to the hotel where Angel was based.

"You can stay here tonight," he told her.

"Don't you have a place of your own?" she asked.

"Yeah, but it'd be a little awkward if you came there, you know I'd have to ask all of my other girlfriends to leave…"

Eve hit him lightly on the arm. "Be serious."

Lindsey chuckled. "No, I've got a friend staying over at the moment. A guy-friend; I promise. You can meet him tomorrow, but he's a little paranoid, so I have to be back tonight and let him know you're coming."

"Why's he paranoid?" Eve asked.

"Someone tried to kill him."

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Darla was walking the streets with a dreamlike expression on her face. She was waiting for the sun to come up; to prove that she wasn't an ordinary vampire anymore. She wandered back to the docks and looked down at the water, moving to where she could easily reach out and touch it. She pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and re-read what she was supposed to do.

She knelt, concentrated, and dipped her fingers in. She was murmuring something under her breath. The water around her hand trembled a little. She grinned and opened her eyes.

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A few men from Wolfram and Hart had been left to watch Erica. She wasn't allowed water, so they gave her juicy fruit like oranges and apples so she wouldn't get too thirsty. Other than that they left her alone.

After a while the pain in her hands simply became a distraction in the background. It never intensified or lessened, so she was able to ignore it. Erica pulled off her jacket, though she couldn't help staining it as she did so, and folded it up like a pillow. Eventually she drifted off to sleep, despite the discomfort. She had one more idea; one more hope.

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Lindsey opened the door of his apartment to see Lorne on the couch watching TV. "Nice day, pumpkin?" the demon joked.

"Interesting," Lindsey replied, while going to a large wooden chest and putting his weapons inside. "Remember that girl I told you about? Erica?"

"The one that got you to quit Wolfram and Hart."

"She's back," Lindsey said as he went to get a beer from the fridge.

"You sound less than thrilled," Lorne said.

Lindsey shook his head. "Confused. You read auras, right?"

"Mmm, hmm," Lorne nodded.

"I used to be able to sense hers. I couldn't tonight. It's bothering me."

"Well, bring her to see me in the morning. It's probably nothing but unresolved issues coming between you, so my advice is to get some sleep, and things will get clearer."

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All the barriers were down. He entered the dream world easily. "You here?" he called out. He felt someone answer. Someone came up behind him and as he turned he was hugged by Erica. She looked tired, and even a little blurred around the edges.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I'm here in your realm," she told him.

"I know, I saw you a while ago. We talked." Lindsey shook his head, wondering if she could be joking.

"No we didn't. I'm trapped. I think your old firm brought me here. I've been in a pit since I got here and there's some ritual going on." She said, showing him the blood on her hands.

Lindsey took her hands in his and looked at her wounds. "Then who was I talking to?"

"I don't know, but someone is trying to trick you. What did you tell them?"

"A bunch of stuff about how Angel's business operates nowadays. Nothing that the firm couldn't guess on their own, though." He let go and looked at her face. "Where are you? I'll get you out."

"I don't know. Some warehouse. I thought I heard water nearby. I'm being guarded, but not by many. I'm not sure if they're human. There was a woman here earlier too, but I don't think she was human. A blonde vampire I think."

"Anything else?" Lindsey asked.

"Yeah," Erica half-closed her eyes and they were standing in the pit together. "That's the symbol down there," she looked down at their feet. They were standing on several circles all linked together like a jumbled up chain and in each circle was one of two symbols.

Lindsey knelt down and pointed to one. "I recognise that one. It's used to siphon energy from someone."

"You told me you destroyed all the books you found with anything about me in it," Erica said.

"I'm cut off from the firm now, and they've still got their own resources. Who knows what they've found since I've left – or who they found that knew something. I'll ask Wesley about the rest of the symbol when I wake up. Show me the woman."

Erica looked up at the edge of the pit and showed him what she'd seen.

"It's Darla," he told her. "She's the vampire that made Angel."

"I read about her from the Watcher's Diaries," Erica said. "Angel killed her after he got his soul."

"We brought her back from hell." Lindsey explained. Erica silently looked down at his new hand. "She's ambitious; she used to be the favourite of the vampire king who made her."

"And if she drinks my blood? Takes my energy?" Erica asked.

"This could get really bad. All I took was some strength and speed. But it looks like they're trying to take more than that."

"The Blood of the Ancients," Erica said quietly. She met his eyes again. "You need to get back and warn everyone. If she figures out which portals to open and how to do it she could have a demon army in your dimension very soon. And you need to figure out who this impostor is."

"I think I know," Lindsey said. "She went missing a while ago, but what better way to hide from us than right under our noses."

"Eve," Erica said, her expression hardening. "Is she where you are now?"

"No," Lindsey answered. "I left her with Angel at the hotel. I've got a demon ally hiding at my place that Eve tried to have killed. I figured he'd be wary if I brought someone home unexpectedly and wanted a chance to give him warning."

"Wherever she is, she'll be causing trouble and learning as many secrets as she can," Erica said. "You need to get back and watch her, and warn the others. Go."

"Will you be okay?" Lindsey asked.

"If they were treating me that badly, do you think I'd be able to sleep?" Erica asked, trying to smile. "You can only help me once you wake up, now go!"

She shut him out, locking the barriers back in place, but she stayed where she was for a moment. "It is my will to be healed," she whispered, and looked at her hands. Nothing. It was worth a try. She slipped into a normal dream so that she could rest.

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