Chapter 7
Angel's Office
Tru and Faith have been talking in the past half hour about family, school, work, mistakes, boyfriends, and the mysterious world of the supernatural. The tone and volume of their voices have varied from sad and low to mad and loud. Unaware of Wesley peeking in on them every few minutes through the Plexiglas side wall of the meeting room next to Angel's office, they continue to surprise and tease each other with every revelation.
"Wait a minute," Tru interrupts her sister, "how the hell did you know about Jack?"
"Same way I know about a lot of stuff. Harrison told me."
"Harrison told you!"
"Yeah! And before you ask, yes, I have been in touch with Harry all this time… well, except the time I was in the state penitentiary."
"What else did Harrison tell you about Jack?"
"That he's a hottie… and that you both have an unspoken love for each other!"
"WHAT?" Tru shouts. "Over my dead body!" She says with an embarrassed, confused expression, mixed with unconvincing defensive denial. But Faith is too familiar with her sister's reactions to be fooled by that.
"You sure do know how to pick'em, don't you! High school quarter-back who ditched you for your best friend… college professor who cheated on you… promising med student turned soulless freak, after you decided to play God and save him from his timely death! If you ask me, Jack sounds like the least crazy choice of the bunch."
Tru looks at her with an open mouth, feeling her head spinning from the shock of hearing her long lost sister throwing all these facts right in her face. She realizes it's all true, but is insulted to be judged by the one person whom she always counted on for security and support, but has failed her and ran away to pursue a life on edge, unsuccessfully!
Faith continues. "And don't think I didn't notice the way you were looking at Angel. Hate to rain on your parade sis, but he's cursed, literally, so that's definitely a dead end."
"Look who's talking!" Tru fires back. "The only boyfriends you ever had lasted no longer than two hours. And now you're head over heels with a bleached-hair vampire with a fetish for kink, and whose idea of courtship is insulting you beyond comprehension!"
"How dare you?" Faith shouts. "Spike is the most disgusting wickedly certified delusional badass I've ever met!"
"Sounds exactly like your type!" Tru says provokingly.
Meeting Room
Wesley slowly closes the Plexiglas door and whispers to everyone else in the meeting room that Faith and Tru are having a "rather interesting reunion conversation. No bloodshed so far!"
Angel is silent and seemingly in seriously deep thought, while Lorne and Spike are having an argument.
"I'm telling you, Adam and Eve's son, Cain, was the first vampire in history!" Lorne says confidently. "That's how he killed his brother. And once he was reprimanded by his parents, he bit them and turned them into vampires too in retaliation."
"Adam and Eve were not vampires, you moron!" Spike tells him. "You know, for someone who is fighting bad programming, you sure do watch way too much television."
"Actually, that is what we were taught in schools of Pialiya." Lorne justifies.
"Hmmmm, earthly schools are not that different." Spike comments.
Harmony finds their conversation very interesting. She decides to add her own 2 cents. "I heard that Adam and Eve were Chinese." She says.
"If Adam and Eve where Chinese they would've eaten the snake instead of that apple, and we'd all still be in Paradise." Spike mocks and drinks the last of his beer.
Harmony gasps. "You careless racist pig!"
Angel focuses his attention back on what's happening around him and stands up suddenly. "Do you people have no shame? Faith's life is at stake and you're discussing pigs and apples?"
"Had you been listening, you would've known that we were discussing the origin of vampires, you punce." Spike says.
"This is Faith's fate." Angel yells at him.
"Does my face look bovvered?" Spike asks Angel challengingly. "I couldn't care less."
"That's because he's a careless pig." Harmony insists.
"How could you be so unconcerned with what we're dealing with here?" Wesley asks Spike. Angel looks at him agreeably. "We would all appreciate it if you show a little more respect to Faith."
"Only if she returns the favor." Spike says.
"Angel's right." Lorne says. "We should be researching and finding more relevant information, not arguing over genealogy."
Gunn walks into the meeting room hurriedly to tell everyone about his new finding. "A very reliable source just told me that Vanator has been working at TOX Broadcasting Network."
Angel looks at Lorne. "Why am I not surprised?"
Angel's obvious doubt and implied accusation is starting to put Lorne at unease. "Well, you heard Mr. Tox himself say that most of his executives are vampires. And now that we own the network, there should be no problem, right?" He says.
"Wrong! Cuz we have no control until tomorrow morning, and Faith's date with Vanator is tonight. In one hour to be exact." Angel replies.
Lorne looks at his watch and declares: "Oh my! It's 5:00 PM already."
"Yup… only one hour left till Faith says goodbye to the world and the world says hello to doomsday." Spike says; his legs up on the table. Angel looks at him with a clearly angry frown and a clenched jaw. "With all due respect!" Spike continues teasingly.
"Thanks for the reminder Spike, but I meant it's time for all those live shows to start airing on TOX." Lorne clarifies. "Harmony, sweet pie, could you please turn on the TV? I'm a little anxious to see how they're going to shoot live episodes."
Harmony rolls her eyes but does as she's told.
Angel takes away the remote control from Harmony and turns the TV off again. "Have you not heard a word I said? This poisonous box of deceiving, corrupting, brain-washing machine has been the focal point of most people's living rooms for decades. Why is it in my meeting room, and why the hell do you think it's a good idea to be watching TV shows when you should be in your office, working on solving a case?" He scolds Lorne.
"Wait! Turn it back on!" Wesley asks unexpectedly.
"Oh no… not you too!" Angel says disappointedly.
"Angel, please! I think I saw something."
Angel turns it back on. Wesley approaches the screen and takes a good look. "What show is this?" He asks.
"That's 'Vampire Diaries'." Lorne answers. "Nice-looking cast, but a bit boring if you ask me. I lost interest somewhere in the middle of season Two."
Wesley then surprises everyone by running into Angel's office where Tru and Faith are; interrupting their conversation.
"I need both of you to come with me and take a look at the show that's on TV right now, tell me if you recognize anybody." He tells them. They look at each other with raised eyebrows, then walk into the meeting room to watch the show. Wesley follows them after picking up the old book from Angel's office. Neither one of them recognizes any of the cast. But Wesley opens the book and shows Lorne one of the portraits.
"Look familiar?"
Lorne looks at the portrait then back at the screen and understands what Wesley is trying to show him. "Of course!" Lorne says. "I knew I recognized those family names you mentioned. They're all from this show!" Everyone looks at him, confused. "This guy in the photo is Damon Salvatore. He looks so much like the actor who plays him, by the way. Amazing what Hollywood can do!"
"He's hot!" Faith comments admiringly, staring into the TV screen.
"And the guy next to him is his brother Stefan. Wow! Look at that! The resemblance is just… amazing!"
"That's because they're not actors. They're the exact same guys." Wesley concludes. "So now we know that the Salvatore brothers are the vampires. What about the others?" Wesley asks.
"Well, according to the show, the Bennets are witches, and the Lockwoods are werewolves." Lorne answers.
"What about the last family name? Petrova?" Angel asks.
"I'm not sure… like I said I lost interest and haven't seen any episode for quite some time now." Lorne says.
Tru approaches Lorne and Wesley to see the photos in the book. "So what does all this mean?" She asks.
"It means that the show is not only based on a true story, but is actually a continuation to that story. It's not acting. It's all real! And viewers are watching actual vampires killing innocents every week, and thinking it's all just fiction!" Wesley declares.
"So, this Vanator guy is one of those dudes on TV?" Gunn asks.
"Most likely." Wesley replies.
"Lorne, what else can you tell me about those two brothers?" Angel asks.
"Well, they're from Mystic Falls, Virginia. Stefan is the good brother. Actually he's a bit like you, doesn't feed on human blood. His brother, however, is…. Well, let's just say he cannot be trusted." Lorne replies. "They also have the ability to compel people, control their will. Just by staring into their victims' eyes and whispering to them, they can hypnotize and control their memories and actions. They also wear rings that allow them to be out in the sun without burning."
"The ring of Amara?" Angel asks with great surprise. "That's not possible… As far as I know there was only one, and I destroyed it."
"No. The ring of Amara makes a vampire 'unkillable' in any way whatsoever, and the one you had was the only one ever created." Lorne tells him. "The rings those guys wear are different. They only protect them from sunlight. They were especially made for them by one of the Bennet witches, which means they're only talismans and their magic can easily be reversed."
"Any weakness points I should know about?" Angels questions.
"As a matter of fact, they do have a weakness to a certain plant… I forgot the name of it, but it's kind of like their kryptonite." Lorne recalls.
"Vervain." Angel says. "All vampires are sensitive to it."
"Way to go champ! You've just revealed yet another secret that could get us killed." Spike says, seemingly annoyed.
"Now, that's interesting! I didn't know she could act. She's always been a terrible liar." Harmony cuts in as she takes another bite of popcorn from a big bowl on the table in front of her while watching the show. But as usual, no one pays her any serious attention.
"So, this Damon guy, or Vanator, actually is killable?" Angel asks.
"Yes. This 'Hunter' can be hunted down and killed. And time is running out, so you better hurry." Wesley assures.
Tru looks at her watch. "Time is running out. It's 5:30 already."
"Don't worry. As long as Faith stays right here, she's safe." Angel assures her. "Spike and I are heading to the studio set where they're shooting this episode and we're going to put an end to this once and for all."
Tru suddenly realizes that Faith is not in the room. She looks around her, and so does Angel, Wesley, Lorne and Gunn, but she seems to have disappeared. "FAITH!" tru shouts.
Harmony, who's standing right next to Tru, puts her hands over her ears and yells: "Oww! Don't scream so loud. I have really good hearing you know. I could easily go deaf! Besides it won't do you much good, she won't hear you."
Angel grabs Harmony from the throat. "What are you talking about? Where's Faith?"
Harmony struggles to breathe and to escape from his grip, until she remembers that she's a vampire and she doesn't breathe anyway. "Am I the only one watching the series finale? She's on TV!"
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 8…
Author's Notes:
I thought it would serve my story to add a third show/fandom to this crossover fic, and so I added 'Vampire Diaries'. You don't have to be a fan of the show to understand what's happening in this story. I will try to make things clear enough.
Also I would like to make it clear that any views or opinions of characters in this or any other story that I write do not necessarily reflect my own personal views and opinions. It's all just fiction.
Thank you for reading, and make sure you stay tuned for the next chapter.
