"She sounded nice on the phone," Fred offered. "Her name is Aria
MacDonald. She asked about our business because I answered the phone
'Angel Investigations' and I told her about this program I'm working on
that detects and calibrates fluxes in the space/time continuum - so we
know when a dimensional portal opens, but I didn't tell her that part -
and she had this really good idea about initializing...." Fred caught
the familiar uncomprehending looks on her friends faces. She was
pretty sure Aria MacDonald wouldn't look like that when she talked
about physics. "Well, it was a real good idea."

"I'm sure it was. Now I can't wait to meet her." Cordelia started to
smile, but it turned into a grimace as she remembered the unpleasant
and heartbreaking task that lay ahead of her. "We have to tell Connor
about Willow. I know he never met her, but she was still a part of his
life. And I'm going to call Xander and ask him to come to L. A. I
can't tell him about Willow over the phone."

The sight of Willow hunched over in the lobby waiting for him, her
tear-stained face and sad eyes staring at the hotel's door, flashed in
Angel's mind. She had traveled from Sunnydale to tell him of Buffy's
death in person. She had held him all night and well into the next
day. She would want Xander to have that same comfort. They needed to
grieve together. All of them. "You better invite Buffy, Spike, and
Anya as well. We'll tell them all together."

To be continued....