Chapter 2: Getting Settled
"What did I tell you, kid?" Frank said, wiping his brow. The two of them stood in the front yard surveyed their work with pride. The trashy old house now looked like new. In fact, it looked better than new. "Not bad if I do say so myself."
"I can't believe we did all this in one day." Lindsey said, setting down his tools.
"Amazin' how much energy you get when you're dead." Frank said, walking over to the limo. He went into the car and came out with a couple of cold bottles of beer. "Don't know about you, but I'm parched. Let's drink to your new house."
"You guys are allowed to drink on the job?" Lindsey asked, taking the beer from his caseworker.
"Ah, alcohol doesn't affect angels like it does humans." Frank said, as he and Lindsey clinked bottles. "It don't have the same kick on a guy who spent most of his existence in Paradise."
"Then why drink it?" Lindsey asked, after taking a swig.
"May not get a buzz, but I still like the taste." Frank said, chugging his brew.
"Boy, you guys got good stuff here." Lindsey said examining his drink. "It's even better than the stuff they had in Germany."
"I'm surprised you had time to sample their beer with the Senior Partners' minions after you." Frank said. "But that's where you got the mystic tattoos, right?"
"How'd you know that?" Lindsey asked, surprised.
"I read it in your file." Frank explained. "Boy, kid, you could've made a mint sellin' the movie rights to that story of what happened after you left Wolfram & Hart."
"Yeah, it was a hell of a time." Lindsey laughed, remembering all the trouble he'd gotten into after he left Wolfram & Hart. "Like that agent that attacked me on the airplane."
"Yeah, and the other people on the plane helped you take him down cause they thought he was a terrorist!" Frank laughed along with the former lawyer.
"Yeah! Or that time I was in that Laundromat and locked those three imps in a dryer. I remember how funny it looked when they kept falling all over each other!" Lindsey said, he and Frank laughing like old friends.
"Or how about when you were in Japan and you killed those Yakuza vampires by impalin' them on that rickshaw!" Frank said, giving Lindsey a slap on the back.
"Hi there." Lindsey and Frank looked up at the sound of the chipper voice. They saw a smiling blonde woman carrying a fruit basket. "Welcome to the neighborhood!"
"Anya!" Frank said happily. The old angel stood up and embraced the girl. "How you doin'? We haven't talked in weeks!"
"Oh fine, but my charge is so difficult!" Anya said, rolling her eyes. "For starters, she throws all her hard earned money away on gambling! Why would someone throw away money on something as insane as lottery tickets?"
"Beats me, Anya." Frank said. "Care for a brew?"
"No thanks. I was just stopping by to welcome the new guy." Anya said turning towards Lindsey. "Welcome to the afterlife. I hope your death wasn't too painful."
"Uh… thanks." Lindsey said, shaking Anya's hand. 'This girl is weird.' He thought. "So, uh, you been here long?"
"Oh, just about a year." Anya said. "I was stabbed by a Harbinger of the First Evil during a desperate battle to save the world. How about you?"
"Uh…" Lindsey thought for a moment. He didn't exactly want to admit that he was shot by a demon in a yellow suit. "I died while fighting the Sahrvin demon clan."
"The Sahrvin?!" Anya shrieked. "They're like the third most powerful demon clan on the planet! Are you retarded or something?"
"Oh, real nice." Lindsey said, getting annoyed with this girl. "I was trying to help make a difference in the world by taking out the Circle of the Black Thorn."
Anya just stared at him like he had just said he jumped out of a plane without a parachute. "You tried… to take out… the Circle of the Black Thorn? So you are retarded."
"Boy, this girl doesn't mince words, does she?" Lindsey asked Frank, not knowing how to react to Anya.
"That's the thing I like about her." Frank said, smiling.
"Thanks Frank." Anya said, giving the old angel a quick hug. "Well, I gotta get back, my charge is planning a trip to Atlantic City. It's going to be a long night."
"See ya later, Ahn." Frank said as Anya walked away. "Don't be a stranger!"
"Weird girl." Lindsey said, smiling at the visitor's bluntness.
"Yeah, she's different. She used to be a demon, you know." Frank said offhandedly.
"She was?" Lindsey asked, surprised.
"Yep, for a thousand years, she was Anyanka, vengeance demon extraordinaire." Frank said, gathering up the empty bottles.
"And she died fighting the First, how did that happen?" Lindsey asked perplexed.
"Long story, kid." Frank said dumping the beer bottles into a garbage can. "Still, you'll probably see more of her, so she'll fill you in."
"Well, what store should we go to?" Lindsey asked.
Frank looked at him oddly. "Store?"
"Yeah, for furniture." Lindsey said, motioning to the house.
"Oh, right! That's taken care off." Frank said, waving his hand.
"It is?" Lindsey asked.
"Yep, go look inside." Frank said, pointing his thumb at the house.
"Um, OK." Lindsey said uncertainly. The former lawyer walked up the steps to the door and pulled it open. To his surprise, the house was completely furnished. There were oak tables and chairs, velvet couches and recliners, and a king sized bed. "Whoa."
"Do you like it?" Frank asked. Lindsey hadn't even noticed his caseworker had entered the room.
"Uh, yeah. It's great!" Lindsey said, looking around. "But, uh, what about clothes? Where do I get those?"
"Go check your closet." Frank said, nodding towards the stairs.
"You're kidding." Lindsey said, beginning his ascent. He went to the closet in his bedroom and found it stocked with t-shirts, suits, sweaters, wife beaters, and jackets. He looked over at the dresser and opened a drawer. It was full of shorts, pants, jeans, dress pants, ad an assortment of underwear.
"Hope I got your taste in clothes right." Frank said as he walked into the bedroom.
"Oh you got it down right." Lindsey said happily.
"Oh, and I got you a little somethin'. It's over on the chair." Frank said pointing to a long package on a chair that Lindsey was sure wasn't there a minute ago.
"How do you do that?" Lindsey asked.
"Eh, just a trick. I like to freak out the new guys." Frank said smiling.
Lindsey walked over to the chair and picked up the package. He turned and set it on the bed and opened it. Lindsey's eyes bugged out. It was a guitar. "Oh cool!"
"I thought you might like a new one since you smashed the old one on that Fekhis demon's head." Frank shrugged.
"Well, thanks man." Lindsey said, holding the guitar and strumming a little. "Man, this rocks!"
"Glad you like it, kid." Frank said smiling.
Lindsey suddenly stopped playing and looked at Frank suspiciously. "Wait a minute. Is this really Hell? Are you giving me stuff I want so I'll get bored and go insane?"
"No!" Frank said laughing. "Though, that was a good episode of The Twilight Zone."
"Yeah, it was. I remember me an Eve were watching a Twilight Zone marathon one night and…" Lindsey started to say, but stopped as he realized he'd forgotten about… "EVE! Oh shit!"
"What?" Frank asked.
"Eve! She's still there!" Lindsey cried, jumping to his feet. He started pacing, realization of the danger his lover was in. "Oh my God, she doesn't know I'm dead! If they take out the rest of the Circle she'll be caught in the first attack! I gotta do something! I gotta…"
"Lindsey!" Frank yelled, grabbing the man's shoulders. "Calm down!"
"I can't calm down!" Lindsey screamed, shaking Frank's hand off him. "Eve is about to be caught in the crossfire of the worst fight since World War 2!"
"OK! OK. I'll call the office and get some info on her." Frank said, pulling out his cell phone.
"OK," Lindsey said, catching his breath. "Call and find out what's going on."
"On it." Frank said, dialing the office number. "Pick up. Pick up! James, it's Frank… Yeah, hi. Listen, I need some information… I need the status of a girl named Eve in Los Angeles. No, even better, just give me a full report on what's goin' on in LA right now… Yeah, Eve… No last name, she's one of the Wolf, Ram and Hart's creations… All right, I'll wait. He put me on hold… I wish they'd change the music on this… Hi, James, what's the what? …Uh huh… uh huh… WHAT?! …Are… Are you serious?! …How did…? Oh man! … Sheesh, what a mess! OK, well how about this girl Eve? …What? … Oh… I see… I see… Well, call around; see if she's checked in anywhere… OK, bye."
"What's going on?" Lindsey asked, becoming very tense from listening to Frank's phone call.
"Sit down kid. And I think you're gonna need another one of these." Frank said, handing Lindsey another beer. Lindsey took it and sat down on the front steps and listened. Frank turned around and looked at Lindsey. He was quiet for a few moments, as if trying to find the right words. Finally, he took a deep breath, looked Lindsey in the eye and said, "The Senior Partners' wrath was unleashed. Angel told Eve that you weren't comin' back, and that it was time to go. Trouble is, the poor kid didn't have anywhere to go. With you dead and the Senior Partners out for blood, she did the only thing she could think of. She took one of the guns Angel had hidden in the office, and…"
"She shot herself." Lindsey finished the sentence.
"I'm sorry, kid." Frank said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"But… But it's OK, right?" Lindsey asked, his voice full of desperate hope. "Maybe she'll come here."
"Hope so, kid. There are a lot of places a person can end up when they die." Frank said, patting his shoulder. "And some of them are less nice than others."
To Be Continued
Author's note: Sorry it's taken so long to update. With all the other stories I'm working on, it's hard to give them all the attention they deserve.