'The Powers that Be brought me back twelve years ago.'
They were sitting in Angel's office in what used to be the foyer of the Hyperion Hotel. She had left him alone for a few moments to dress and collect his thoughts. But now she was ready to get straight to the point of her visit.
He wasn't sure what to think at this stage. Of course, it was possible that this was Kathy. That she had been returned to earth by the Powers. Stranger things had happened. He had witnessed most of them. Wolfram and Hart had been able to raise Darla from the depths of hell after he had killed her. It was not such a leap of faith to believe that Kathy could have been raised in a similar way.
'Are you still with me?' Her voice broke through the haze of his thoughts.
'Sorry. Go on.' He focused on her. She looked so like his sister. In fact, she looked just like he imagined Kathy would have looked, had he allowed her to grow up to be 24 years old.
'I was raised by my Grandmother. Well, that's what I called her. She prepared me for my mission. For what I was brought back to do.
'She was a wise woman. A witch. The first night I came to live with her, I had a dream. I was with a young man. My brother. He swung me in his arms, very high, but I was safe. He wouldn't let anything happen to me. He called me sweet Kathy.
'Then our Father came and began to yell at him. Told him to stop playing with me and attend to his work. I began to cry, and my brother turned and said, "No tears, sweet Kathy. We'll be together again." '
'When I woke the next morning, I told my Grandmother about the dream and asked what it had meant. She told me it was my past. That I should remember all my dreams because they were sent to guide me. To prepare me for my path.
'I had other dreams as well. Nightmares. About a vicious vampire named Angelus and all the terrible things he did for over a century,' she looked Angel steadily in the eye. 'I remember them all.'
'Why did they bring you back?' The prospect of anyone having full knowledge of his past deeds was more than he wanted to think about right now. He didn't want anyone to know, least of all this woman who claimed to be his little sister. A painful stab of guilt went through him as he realised that those dark days were closer to him now than they had been in a long time.
'To help you. To come to you now when things are the blackest. To stop Darla from bringing you into the darkness.'
Angel recoiled at Darla's name. Paranoia rolled over him.
'Is this some kind of trick? Did Cordelia or Wesley send you?' He rose to his feet, agitated. 'What, they think sending someone to impersonate my sister is going to stop me from going after Darla?'
He was being ridiculous, and part of him knew it. He had never talked about his sister to anyone, not in depth. It had always been too painful. All anyone knew was that he had killed her, along with the rest of his family. But that didn't matter now. His paranoia blinded him to the truth.
'Angel, you know they didn't send me. You need to listen to me. You're playing right into Wolfram and Harts' hands.' Kathy's voice be-lied her real feelings. She knew Angel could kill her in a spilt second if he chose to. He had done it before. But she didn't believe he would. Things had not gone that far. Yet.
'Get out!' Angel couldn't take anymore. He walked away from her as his temper rose to the surface. He couldn't take one more person telling him to give up going after Darla and Wolfram and Hart.
Kathy could see she wouldn't win here. Not right now. She had known that her job wouldn't be an easy one when the Powers finally allowed her to have contact with Angel. She knew that he now walked a fine line between good and evil. Part of her job was to keep him from going over the edge. She certainly didn't want to be the one to give him the final push. It was time to pull back and regroup. Allow Angel to cool down before trying again.
'Fine. I'm leaving,' she said, rising to her feet and picking up her jacket. 'I'll come back and see you when you've calmed down.'
She turned on her heel and walked away.
At the new headquarters of Angel Investigations things were slow. Cordelia hadn't had a vision in days.
Wesley sat studying one of his many ancient volumes, gathering knowledge about demons they may or may not have to face in the future.
Cordelia in turn was reading a copy of Cosmo, gathering inspiration about outfits she may or may not be able to buy, depending on whether business picked up or not.
The front door opened and Cordelia sprang up to meet the dark haired, brown eyed woman she hoped would be their next client.
'Welcome to Angel Investigations! We help the hopeless! What can we do for you?' she said, a little too enthusiastically, judging by the raised eyebrow she received in return.
'A lot. I hope,' Kathy replied, smiling lightly. 'I'm Kathy Fitzgerald and I have a vampire problem.'
Wesley stood at this.
'Please do come in. Have a seat.' He gestured towards a sofa they had for clients. 'Make yourself comfortable.'
'Can I get you some coffee?' Cordelia asked. 'Or tea?'
Kathy barely suppressed her amusement at their eagerness. She guessed that things had been slow since Angel fired them.
She sat down and said, 'Nothing, thank you.'
Wesley sat near her, and Cordelia perched on the edge of her desk, notebook and pen in her hand.
'Do I detect an accent Miss Fitzgerald? You're from Ireland?' Wesley inquired.
'That's right.'
'And you're having vampire trouble?' Cordelia continued the interview.
Kathy nodded.
'Is that vampire singular, or are we talking a whole bunch?'
'Well, a few are involved, but the biggest problem is with just one.'
'What can you tell us about him?' Wesley wanted to know.
'Well, he's dark and brooding. Lives alone.'
'Excellent. No nest to deal with. Do you know where?'
'Downtown. The Hyperion Hotel.'
Wesley and Cordelia froze in place. Angel. She was talking about their former boss, and friend. Had he finally gone over the edge and began to kill?
Cordelia finally found her voice. 'What is the problem you're having with him? Exactly.'
Kathy looked the brunette in the eye. 'Same as you. His obsession with Darla.'
Kathy spent a long time going over her mission with the pair. They were sceptical, and she didn't blame them. But she made it clear that their goals were the same. Bringing Angel out of his obsession.
'So, Wolfram and Hart want Angel to obsess over Darla to distract him? I knew it!' Cordelia declared.
'That's part of it. But Darla was brought back for a much more sinister reason. In order to go after her, Angel has to get closer to the dark side. And the closer he gets...'
'The closer he gets to Angelus,' Wesley continued.
'Exactly.'
'They're trying to turn Angel back into Angelus? Why?' The thought terrified Cordelia. She had barely lived through it the last time.
'That I'm still hazy on. The Powers haven't told me everything. All I know is that it has something to do with a senior partner at Wolfram and Hart and its plans.'
'It? What exactly is 'it'?' Cordelia wanted to know.
Kathy hesitated. She didn't want to panic either of them, but in order to complete their mission, they needed all the facts.
She took a deep breath and said, 'The Senior Partner is The First.'
Wesley looked extremely worried. Cordelia looked confused.
'The who now?'
Wesley got straight to work researching The First, while Cordelia collected all the information they had on the law firm. It wasn't much.
'Everything we've got is pretty much what's public record,' Cordelia was explaining to Kathy. 'All their above-board stuff. Apart from that, we only have what Angel managed to steal. The prophesies of Abergion. A few files. Names of a few clients, most of which either Angel or Wolfram and Hart themselves have killed by now. Nothing at all about the partners.'
'Keep looking. We need to know what they're planning. I'm going to go see if I can reason with Angel.' Kathy got up and headed for the door.
'In case you haven't noticed, he's not being real reasonable these days. One thing though.'
Kathy turned to face Cordelia, who got up and moved towards her.
'How do we know that we can trust you? I mean, no offence or anything, but we know exactly squat about you.'
'Good point.'
With that she turned again and left the office.
'Right.' Cordelia almost ran to her computer. She knew she couldn't continue to work with this woman until she knew a little more about her.
She logged on and started searching.
'What are you doing?' Wesley came to look over her shoulder. She was in AOL doing a people search. Working for Angel had given her a lot of practice doing this very job.
'Let's see if little Miss Ireland is who she says she is.'
Angel had been pacing since Kathy left. He couldn't get her face out of his mind. She reminded him of his sister so much.
But she couldn't be. He couldn't allow himself to believe it, no matter how much he wanted to.
It was a trick. If Wesley and Cordelia didn't send her, then Wolfram and Hart must have. They were trying to distract him from Darla, so he wouldn't be able to guess her next move.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice Kathy watching him until she spoke.
'Have you calmed down yet?'
He spun around and faced her. 'I thought I asked you to leave.'
'And I told you I'd be back. Can we talk?'
She sounded so sincere, so like his sister. His resolve began to waver.
'Five minutes.'
'That's all I need.' She came further into the foyer and sat her jacket on the counter.
'I know you don't want to believe me, but the Powers sent me to help you. And top of the agenda is to stop Wolfram and Hart getting their hands on Angelus.'
'They aren't going to!' he began angrily.
Kathy's cool eyes stopped him from going on. She spoke firmly. 'If I only get five minutes, then you get to shut up and listen.'
Angel was silent. He leaned against the counter and gestured for her to continue.
'Like I said, I have to make sure they don't get Angelus. The Powers believe, and I agree with them, that Darla was brought back for the sole purpose of turning you.'
'And I told you, that isn't going to happen. I'm not going to lose my soul in her.'
'You think that's the only way you can lose your soul? Sex? Not by a long shot,' Kathy replied, shaking her head at his stubbornness. 'You're already losing it. Little by little. The longer you go down this path, the closer you get to the edge, the greater the risk that you'll fall over it. That is, if you aren't pushed. They have something up their sleeves. I don't know what yet. But you need help if you're going to stop it.'
What she was saying made sense. Angel could touch the darkness from where he was right now. He was reminded of something he had said to Faith a few years before, when he was trying to pull her back from the dark side. He had told her that she thought that she could just touch the darkness, that she'd be okay. But it had swallowed her whole.
He knew it could do the same to him.
'Why are they trying to turn me? Specifically?'
'You've read the scroll of Abergion, right? You figure quite heavily in the coming Apocalypse. My guess is that Wolfram and Hart have other prophesies that give more details of your role. They probably want Angelus on their side. Darla is probably their best shot, since they failed the last time.'
'The last time?' Angel asked, confused.
'When you returned from Hell. When you were weak. It tried to turn you, but you fought it. Well, Buffy did.'
The mention of his former lover's name stung him, but far less than the revelation that the law firm had been meddling in his life a lot longer than he thought.
"Wolfram and Hart sent the First after me?"
"No. Wolfram and Hart is the First,' Kathy told him. 'Specifically, the First is their Senior Partner. Now do you realise why it's so important you don't go after them on your own?"