Angel:
I just woke up in a bed, my neck bound in gauze. Nobody's come in yet, so I'm still trying to understand what happened. I'd been bitten by a multitude of vampires. Then I heard crossbows going off, axes swinging, and all the vampires were gone. And who was my saviour? Well, that's the part I'm trying to figure out. It looked like Buffy, who, of course, has been dead for centuries. It's possible she was somehow brought back from the dead. Again. But that's unlikely, especially after such a long time. And that means it could only have been Eve, Matt's little sister, and I've never even seen her stand up for herself. I can't imagine for a minute that it was her.
The door opens, and Edward leans in.
"Oh, you're awake."
"Yeah, I can tellby the pain." He walks in, shutting the door behind him. "What happened? How did I get back here?"
"We really don't know. Nobody knew anything about it until Eve pulled us all into the storefront and there you were, bleeding from the neck and unconscious. So we brought you in here and treated your wound. Don't suppose you can tell us anything?" What should I tell him?
"No, nothing I remember makes any sense. I guess Spike brought me back. Where is he?"
"Never showed up. We think he probably didn't make it." Damn. I wanted to talk to him. "Did you get the information?"
"Yeah," I say, using all my strength to point at the clothes strewn over the chair. "In the jacket pocket." Edward quickly checks, and pulls out the documents.
"Great. This is a big help."
"You're not going to like it," I warn as he leafs through the pages. When he gets to what he's looking for, the smile drops.
"Oh."
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Edward:
Well, I suppose the mission was a success. We've lost an ally – a very important ally – in Spike, but we've got the information. So I've gathered the group together, even Angel, who is still covered in bandages, to tell them what we've got. The room seems emptier than usual – Jackie's dead, Matt's grief-stricken and Eve's disappeared somewhere. Still, there are enough people to warrant a briefing.
"I have good news and bad news," I tell them. "Good news is: Angel got us the information telling us where the meeting is taking place." There's some muted cheers and some applause. "Bad news, however, is that it's taking place in Barnett, Clarke and Nicholls headquarters." All applause stops abruptly, and the cheering is replaced by worried murmuring.
"What's the problem?" someone asks. "Angel got in and out."
"Yeah, but look at him."
"And what about Spike? He was the one in the open." In a matter of minutes, the entire meeting devolves into chaos.
After a few long minutes of shouting, the cacophony dies down. Then Matt appears at the door to the back rooms. My God, he looks terrible – his hair is a mess and there are bags under his eyes. Everyone looks up at him, expecting some great motivational speech.
"Has anyone seen Eve?" he asks instead. I shake my head.
"Not for a while, sorry." He strokes his unshaven chin.
"There's something going on with that girl." Angel sits forward in his chair, eyes narrowed.
"What kind of something?" he asks.
"I caught her packing weapons earlier – took my best axe – and now she's just disappeared." Angel slowly pushes himself to his feet.
"Edward," he says, without even looking in my direction. "Carry on with the meeting, will you?" I'm slightly confused, but of course have no reason to doubt him.
"Uhh… sure." Angel walks out, pulling a curious Matt behind him. Nobody has understood what just happened, but I've got my orders.
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Matt:
Angel's hiding something from me. Well, he's probably hiding a lot of things, but right now I only care about one. He knows something about my sister – and that's something I'm not willing to take on faith.
"Hey, wait a second," I demand, pulling my arm away and staggering to a halt. "What's going on?" Angel stops, head down.
"I'm not entirely sure," he tells me, which isn't as comforting as I thought it'd be.
"Why don't you get sure?"
"I think – this is going to sound crazy – but I think Eve was the one that got me out of BC&N."
"What? That's crazy!"
"I know! Why do you think I didn't mention it earlier? I don't remember much, but I remember being pinned down by vampires. Then someone saved me, dusted every last one of them. And there was Buffy." Okay, something here doesn't add up.
"Buffy? The vampire Slayer? So why do you think Eve was there?"
"Because Buffy's dead, and Eve looks exactly like her. What, did you think I was chasing her earlier because I'd lost it?" The thought had crossed my mind.
"Eve looks exactly like Buffy? Why didn't Spike ever say anything?"
"It would have given the wrong impression. What would you have done if he told you that your sister looked exactly like someone he'd had sex with?"
"When you put it that way…" Angel turns away again.
"Come on, I want to get to the bottom of this."
After searching in and around the headquarters for quite a while, we eventually find Eve in one of the weapon storage rooms. She's facing away from us, as if looking for something, though what it is I cannot fathom. The lights are out inside, but as we open the door the light from the hallway floods in, projecting our silhouettes onto the back wall. I just watch as Angel steps into the room.
"Eve?" She doesn't move. "Are you okay?" He's standing right behind her and still she hasn't moved. Then she turns to face him; I can see lights shining on her tears. She raises a hand and strokes his face, her mouth opening and shutting as if she's trying to speak but no words will come out. Then
"A… Angel…" I can't believe it. In almost twenty years she hasn't uttered a word. Why now to this virtual stranger?
"Buffy?" She shuts her tear-filled eyes.
"I remember…" Her voice, at first raspy, is now smoother, more beautiful. Since childhood I've wondered what her voice would sound like, and now I know. "Since before I can remember I've seen… visions. Horrific murders, vampires, all manner of demons… They were just flashes at first, so horrible that I couldn't stand them, and then they started weaving themselves together. I knew who I was… and I wasn't Eve. And, terrible as the blood and killing was, it was nothing compared to what came next…" My God, what had my sister had to endure? "Next I saw you." What? What did he do? "You have no idea what it's like, being so young yet remembering giving yourself to a man and have a demon in his skin torment you until you are forced to send him to hell. When he comes back for you, you think, just for a moment, that it's going to be okay, but then he leaves again and he doesn't want you. Years later he comes back, but it's not him, it's the demon again, and the worst thing about it is the thought that someone gave him a moment of happiness and it wasn't me!" The tears dripping down her cheeks become a torrent, and she collapses into Angel's arms. I think Angel is as dumbstruck as I am right now. Eve… Buffy… and Angel sink to their knees, and I hold onto the door post for support. "Compared to that," she continues softly, "this life was nothing but a dream."
None of us can handle this piece of information being out in the open. All we can do is sit and stare.