Disclaimer: I do not own Angel or Highlander, they are owned by their collective companies and I'm making no money off of this
The truck came to a hault after approaching the destination that Linsdey had in mind. While there was still a hatred that burned inside of him, that wasn't the most dominant thing in his mind at the moment. There's a child like feeling inside of him, one of innocence, of love. It makes even the most ordinary and mundane things seem new. That's the effect that she's had on his life. The's sky's a different shade of blue when she's around, the world isn't filled with evil and darkness. She makes into something entirely different, something beautiful. Pulling the keys from the ignition, he quietly slips out of the truck and heads for the apartment they share. He can already envision her smiling face, the look that she has reserved only for him. He never knew love before he met Eve, she taught him more than he could have imagined. Seeing her again will make all of this worth it, seeing her can make him forget about Angel. Forget about everything besides the life that they have together. She gave up her immortality to be with him, it was the most anyone had ever done with Lindsey. Remaining quiet, he pushes the door open. The apartment is silent. Deathly silent. It's not a welcomed noise.
"Eve?" His voice calls out into the darkness, as one hand reaches out to find the light switch. His voice is met with nothing in return, only the silence that had already consumed the room. "Baby?" Still nothing. Calmly, he walks throughout the apartment, searching each room for a sign of her. Everything points to the fact that no-one has been there since he left earlier in the morning. This wasn't the plan, what they had agreed to. But still, it wasn't anything to to worry about, there's another place that she could be. Something could have come up, things could have went on a different path of action.
Something in his mind is warning him that things aren't how he would like them to be, but that can easily be ignored. The trip back to the truth ahd thereafter is a quiet one, his face shows nothing but a neutral expression, as if he were simply going to purchase groceries or something trivial like that. At this moment he could be planning the ways that he's going to get Angel back, all the different new and inventive techniques he could use to turn a vampire to dust. Or hunting down the lackey that shot him, Lorne. Those would be rational thoughts, given the circustmances. Most would even understand why he had them, but for the time being, it's not the case. She hasn't left his mind, not yet. She's always there, she's a part of everything that he does. There's no doubt in his mind that this is going to be the girl that he marries, that they'll share a life together outside of all this chaos. The lawyer that wanted to move up the ranks of Wolfram and Hart is gone. That person has been dead for a few years. This is Lindsey McDonald, the man who had finally found what he wanted.
There's always defining moments in our lives, where a moment of clarity is granted to us. We have the choice to go forward or turn back, to choose one thing or another. Do we witness unspeakable events, or do we turn back and never disocver the truth of what happened? There's always a moment. To live in ignorance of the horrible things that happen, or to take them head on. Lindsey could have spotted the smoke from miles away, but he wouldn't have known where it was coming from. It's not such a strange sight in Los Angeles, not something he hasn't seen before. To the regular citizens, they would take it for what it was and leave it at that. But that wasn't an option that was given to Lindsey McDonald. With each mile passed, the smoke drew closer, larger in size. This wasn't a coincidence, though part of his heart was already pleading that it was. As Wolfram and Hart came into view, something inside of felt as if it was going to burst. There wasn't a Wolfram and Hart. Not anymore. There was smoke, fire, dust, debris...everything that had once been magnificent about the building had fallen to the ground. It had collapsed..been destroyed, down to the very foundation.
She's wasn't in there...God...she wasn't in there. The voice inside his mind was nothing more than a plea, a desperate one at that. They had to have gotten Eve away from the building, they couldn't just leave her there to die...could they? What if she had been waiting for me? Panic seized him, a fear greater than he had ever known was building inside of him. His mind was in a frenzy, heart pounding furiously in his chest, adrenaline pumping throughout his body. He violently puts the truck into gear and jumps out the door, legs carrying him at a dead sprint. The smoke and dust in the air cloud his vision, but it's not enough to stop him. There isn't any going back from here, the truth has to be discovered, more than anything else. Quickly, he moves into what's left of the building. Her name is a cry from his lip, over and over again. He's throwing debris to the side, trying to find any indication that she had been here. Is there a point to it? A building that was this large..is it even possible? No matter the odds, he has to try. He has to do this for her. She wouldn't have been anywhere else. She loved him, she wouldn't have gone off without leaving some kind of note. Maybe she is with Angel. The thought fills his heart with a new hope. But as we know, hope can be shattered as easily as it can be created.
There. Underneath a pile of stones and building remains, a hand is visable. A soft, delicate hand. One that his lips had kissed before. His heart wants to deny the truth, that he couldn't indentify her from that. He drops down onto his knees beside it, it takes every ounce of will power that he contains to force his arms into action. Shaking hands pull away all that covers what's underneath. Everything is more visable now, and it can never be taken back or forgotten. Her face is smeared with black streaks, a long with blood. The sight makes everything stop for him. In one instance, his heart is shattered. No matter how many attempts, the pieces will never fit back into place again. Tears are freely streaming down his cheek, his body is racked with his sobs. A new kind of pain coarses through his body, one that no physical pain can ever compare to. It touches his very soul, and it feels as if it's being torn apart. True love is a rare thing, but when taken in such a way...words can't begin to describe the feeling. He cradles her broken body in his arms, heart broken blue eyes looking at the face that he woke up to every morning. There are no last words, she stopped breathing before he ever got there. No long good-byes. No closure. Only death. The finality could be enough to kill him, if he could in fact die. Never again will that bright light shine in his life...nothing can be the same. His arms clutch her tightly to his body, he doesn't have the strength to let her go. It's true...love never knows it's own depths until the hour of seperation. And they've been seperated forever. His eyes hold a tragic love for her, his fingers lightly stroke her hair. More than anything, he wished he could have given her comfort in her last minutes on earth. That she wouldn't have died alone.
This will lead him on a path that will be covered in blood. This tragedy was the defining moment for Lindsey McDonald.