"Eve?" Lorne choked. "What in my sweet mother's name are you doing here? I thought you were dead."
"And I heard you wimped out," Eve replied with a smirk.
Lorne hung his head in shame. He couldn't try to deny it to himself anymore. He had been weak and afraid, and he had left his friends to die. He looked up suddenly at Eve.
"Do you know…are they…is Angel-"
"Still alive? I don't know. But I do know that Lindsey is…" Eve found it difficult to say the words. Dead. Lindsey was dead. A tear threatened to escape its confines. She hadn't cried since the day Charles Gunn had tried to kill her, the day she discovered what they all really thought of her. The day she locked herself in Lindsey's bathroom and wept for hours. Eve shook her head slightly. "Note to self, must not cry like a baby in front of green demon…"
Lorne was startled at this revelation. Eve didn't know that he had been the one to shoot Lindsey. Of course she didn't. But if she found out…
"Ah huh, so, what brings you to Las Vegas? Fame, fortune, perhaps a contract with my record label? 'Cause I could certainly organise something for a beautiful voice like yours-"
"Shut up."
Lorne was somewhat taken aback. He laughed uncomfortably. "Uh…excuse me?"
"I know what you think of me. Don't pretend everything's candy and flowers. It's obvious you know something about Lindsey's death, and you're trying to hide it. Now tell me sweetie, or I'll choke you with your own tongue."
Eve's threats were nothing but bravado. She knew that, and she was sure that Lorne did too. But she had to try. The only thing that kept Eve going was grief and the thought of revenge.
Lorne closed his eyes, fruitlessly trying to evade his inner turmoil. Deep down, he had known it would come to this. This was the moment he dreamt about at night, tossing and turning in his bed. "Why can't I not be weak anymore?" he screamed silently. "Why can't I be a man and face the music? Lorne bit his tongue hard, trying to mirror the pain he felt in his demon soul. "Because you're not a man," his traitor mind whispered. "You're a deserter and a coward, and you can never be anything else. Besides, they couldn't still be alive. Why not?"
He finally managed to speak. "Angel. Angel killed Lindsey." The words were so quiet they were barely a whisper, but still Eve heard them. Lorne's voice echoed inside her skull as her mind numbly processed this information. The blood slowly drained from her face, and she sank to her knees.
Her words were edged with a touch of steel. "Get out."
Lorne got out. As he closed the door behind him, he shuddered to think at what he had just done. Just another guilty, dirty deed to add to his list. "If Angel's not already dead," he thought, "he soon will be."