Eve walked through the streets looking around in disbelief. She thought about what happened last night, and now today it seemed like nothing ever occurred.

"Why am I doing this?" she said to herself as she held the ancient texts close to her chest.

She hated Angel for taking Lindsey away from her. She hated Wolfram and Hart for everything else. She would just give him these books then leave forever. Maui always sounded nice to her. Anywhere but here. She searched around for the hotel Angel mentioned. The streets suddenly became darker, emptier.

Must be getting close.

There across the street from where she stood was the Grand Hotel. Looking up, Eve noticed some windows broken and what looked like singed bricks.

Singed?

She slowly neared the front of the building and peeked through the glass doors to see if there was anyone inside. The fact that this may be a trap entered her mind once or twice. If they could do it to Lindsey, what's to stop them from taking her out was well. Still, she had no idea what happened to him. Angel made it clear Lindsey wasn't coming back, but she never found out why. Her heart told her he was dead for sure.

Through the glass she spotted a few girls sitting on the sofas in the reception area. There was a man talking on a phone at the front desk. A guy with messy blondish hair sat on the stairs talking to a red headed girl. The sight didn't seem threatening, so she entered the building. The man at the desk hung up the phone and turned to her.

"Hello. Eve, I presume?" Giles greeted.

Giles eyed the books she was holding. Two of them, ancient indeed. She clutched them tighter to her chest, almost seeming as if she didn't want to part with them. Eve just nodded to him.

Giles extended his hands towards the books she held. "I'm Giles, may I have a look?"

Eve looked down at the books and as if coming out of a trance. "Oh, yes, sorry, here they are." she said, handing them over to Giles. She now noticed everyone staring at her.

"Where's Angel?" she asked.

Willow stood up and approached Eve and Giles. Andrew followed her. Willow smiled at Eve, although she wasn't sure why.

"He's upstairs. I think he needed some sleep. We had a hell of a night," Willow told her. Andrew squinted at Eve as if he knew more about her than she thought. Eve stared back at him, confused.

"So, does anyone want to tell him I'm here?" Eve asked.

Giles and Willow looked at one another then back to Andrew. He backed away.

"Why me? What if he's... grumpy?" Andrew protested.

Giles placed the books down on the desk and adjusted his glasses. "I'll get him. Willow, look through these texts, see if you can start translating," Giles told her.

Andrew sighed with relief then joined Willow.

Eve stood alone in the lobby. Looking around she walked to a sofa and sat. She was tired. She stayed up all night in a seedy motel on the other side of town. She obeyed Angel when he told her to leave Wolfram and Hart. She grabbed a few things and hopped in a taxi. Now here she was, back in the thick of it. Why? She still hadn't answered that one in her head.

Angel stirred in bed, dreaming. He woke to a knock on the door. Wearily rising out of bed he shouted, "Be right there!"

Giles stood outside Angel's room, waiting. He heard footsteps nearing him. Angel opened it to find Giles standing there. "Angel, sorry to wake you. It seems your guest has arrived with the texts we've been waiting for," Giles informed him.

Angel looked back at his bed then walked back to grab his shirt. He slipped it on and nodded to Giles.

"Let's go," he told him.

Angel and Giles exited the elevator to find Willow and Andrew intensely reading the texts. Angel spotted Eve sitting on the sofa near them. She turned to him and rose. Angel really didn't have much to say to her. He was grateful she brought him the information he needed, but guilt swept over him thinking about Lindsey. Had to do it, he told himself.

Eve approached him. She looked haggard. "Angel. What happened here last night?" she asked him.

Angel looked away from her. He wasn't in the mood to relive last night's events with her. "Well, big battle. Senior partners. Not much more to say."

"Angel, if this were the senior partners, we'd all be dead. This was something else," she told him.

Angel looked down at her, annoyed. "Eve, trust me, I don't want to get into this right now." He turned from her and walked towards Willow and Andrew. Giles stood over Willow reading over her shoulder. Eve followed him.

Willow had her laptop next to her, trying to translate some of the phrases. "It all seems to be the Proto-Bantu. It won't be hard to translate, but some of these words are very ambiguous. Like for one, Shanshu could mean.."

"Live or die," Angel interrupted her. Willow looked at him surprised.

"Well, yea. So you know most of it?" Willow asked him.

"Wesley translated some of it. But these texts were supposedly left out of the final cut," Angel told her. The sound of Wesley's name brought a wave of sadness through the group. Well, except for Eve. What did she care?

Willow glanced back down at the pages. "It's going to take me a while to find anything useful," she told him.

"Take your time, Wil," Angel told her, then moved towards the entrance of the hotel. The sun was down now. He sighed at the sight of the night sky approaching. Twenty-four hours ago he was in a completely different state of mind. Twenty-four hours ago he thought they were all going to die.

Buffy sat in Spike's arms in front of him, his arms and legs wrapped around her. They faced the ocean. The sky was darkening and the colors were amazing. Spike kissed the back of her head, squeezing her tightly. She held his arms tighter.

"So, what now?" she asked. The sounds of the ocean were so soothing. She could have stayed there all night with him, but she knew that they should head back soon.

Spike sighed. "Don't know, pet. Just thought we could enjoy some time away from..."

He was interrupted by the sounds of someone screaming in the distance. Buffy jerked up, hearing it too. They both jumped to their feet.

"So, you just had to ask, huh?" he joked.

Buffy smiled at him and looked at up the sky. "It wouldn't have been a Spike and Buffy date without fighting, now would it?" she teased.

He laughed as they turned towards the sounds. It was a female scream. That they knew. The beach was empty, they tried to see though the darkness. There wasn't much light to work with. The screams grew louder and more coherent. They were close.

"No, please. Stop. Let me go," the girl screamed. Five vampires closed in on her. Two of them grabbed her arms, one arm each as the others hungrily licked their lips. Buffy and Spike came up from behind.

Dumb vampires. They broke up her serenity time. Now they were going to pay.

"Okay, which one of you wants to blend with the sand first?" They looked at Buffy. Spike stood behind her, ready. Two vamps jumped her. She ducked and they knocked into Spike.

"Bloody hell!"

"Sorry," Buffy yelled, wincing.

Spike struggled with the two vamps, then grabbed each of their heads and slammed them into each other , both falling back in opposite directions. Spike brushed his hands off, ready for more. He ran over to the vamps holding the girl.

Buffy searched for a weapon. With her back turned, another vamp jumped on her back. She fell down to the ground with the vamp on top of her. She threw him off and crawled in the sand towards a piece of driftwood she found laying there. The vamp jumped in front of her and slammed it's foot into her hand. Buffy yelled out in pain, then grabbed his leg with her free hand and pulled him down. He fell to his back. Buffy bounced up and reached for the driftwood. Just before she could grab it, the vamp tripped her by grabbing her legs. She kicked him in the face. He grabbed his nose in pain.

"Bitch!"

Buffy turned to him and smirked. She looked over at Spike who was fighting off the vamps that were once holding the girl. The girl was a few feet away, watching them with wide eyes. Spike had one of the vamps in a head lock. The other one came up behind him and slammed his fists into Spike's back. Spike let go of the one vamp and fell to the ground in pain. The two vamps closed in on him. He smiled at them, which confused them. Spike bounced to his feet and brushed himself off.

"Right, time to get dirty now, boys," Spike teased. The vamps jumped at him, Spike ducked, throwing his arms above him, catching the vamps in mid air. He threw them towards the ocean. They collapsed into the sand. Spike neared them and reached down, picking them both up but he collars of their shirts.

"Time for a swim," he said.

The other two vamps came to, rose to their feet, then ran over to Spike. As Spike lifted the wet vamps to throw them into the ocean, he was slammed in the back of the head. The pain caused him to release the other vamps. Spike turned to see two fiends smiling at him. Before he could react, they both grabbed him and threw him into a breaking wave. He disappeared in to the dark water.

Buffy looked on in horror. "Spike," she shouted.

Finally able to grab the driftwood, she plunged it into the vamp she was fighting and it dusted. She ran over to the other four vamps, looking victorious for getting rid of Spike. Buffy smirked at them. She grabbed one, the closest to her, and drove the driftwood into it's chest. As it dusted, the other three came at her full force. She ducked their punches. One grabbed her and threw her to the ground. As it leaned over her, she kicked it's stomach and leaped back up to her feet. She grabbed the vamp and tossed him into the others. The impact caused them all the fall into the oncoming wave. Buffy looked behind them and smiled.

"Spike, catch!" Buffy threw him the driftwood. Spike caught it and came in close behind the clumsy vamps who were trying to keep their balance against the strong current.

"One," Spike said as he dusted one of the vamps. "Two," he said dusting the other. "And Three," dusting the final one.

Buffy smiled at him. "That's my guy," she told him as they made their way out of the ocean.

Spike smirked. "Your guy?"

"You know what I mean, don't get all... analytical about it!" Buffy said as she shook the sand out of her hair.

"Analytical? Oh big words now?" Spike teased.

"Shut up, Spike. I just saved your a..."

"Uh-hum" The girl interrupted.

Buffy quickly turned her attention onto the scared girl. "Sorry, are you okay?" Buffy asked her, shooting a look at Spike.

"I think I'm okay. But, what were those things?" the girl asked.

"Nothing to worry about. You really should be somewhere more... populated," Buffy told her.

"I came here to take pictures of the sunset. I didn't know..." She held her arms tight, shivering.

"Did you drive here?" Buffy asked.

The girl nodded.

"Okay, then I suggest you get back into your car and drive yourself home. Can you do that?" Buffy demanded.

The frightened girl shook her head 'yes' and ran up the dunes to her car.

Buffy and Spike headed back to the motorcycle. Before they hopped on, Spike leaned in to her and grabbed her waist.

"So what should my analytical mind be thinking about us?" Spike asked her.

"Why do you always do this? Can't we just... be?

Spike turned away, a little annoyed. Buffy felt bad, knowing how she always seemed to shoot him down. She wanted things to be different. He wasn't the annoying stalking vampire anymore. She had to change that way of thinking.

"Sorry Spike. I didn't mean... I don't know, okay? You were with me, then you weren't, you were a vampire, now you're not. Let's head back and we can talk later? Okay?"

Spike nodded as he pressed his lips together. He wanted to retort but kept his mouth shut. They hopped back on to the bike and sped off.

Angel paced the lobby. He wondered where Spike and Buffy were. Spike did say he'd be here. At that thought, he felt eyes on him. Eve.

"Eve, do you have anything else, cus I think we're done here. You can go," Angel told her.

Giles glanced up at Angel, shocked. "Angel, If I may, Eve worked for Wolfram and Hart, are you sure she'd be safe on her own?"

Angel frowned at Eve. He couldn't care less what happened to her. "She's a traitor, Giles. She doesn't deserve our protection," Angel snapped.

Eve eyed Angel, expressionless. " He's right. I worked against them. With Lindsey. I'll go." She turned to leave. Willow looked up from her books to Giles.

"We can't just let her... It's not our way, Giles," Willow begged.

Giles nodded and followed Eve."Eve, wait. What ever history you have with Angel, we can't allow you to be in harm's way. Stay until we know more about..."

"There's not much more to know. The Senior Partners aren't done with you all yet. It would be in my best interest to be far, far away from here. Now if you'll excuse me," Eve said.

Eve turned to leave. As she neared the glass doors, Spike and Buffy walked through. Spike smiled at Eve.

"Eve, off so soon? We didn't even get a chance to catch up," Spike teased.

Eve looked at him, strangely. She moved closer to him. He leaned his head back, not knowing what she was doing.

"Wow, Spike. This is why Angel wanted these texts so bad. You fulfilled the prophecy after all. I always knew it would have been you," she sneered. She turned back to Angel, then slipped past Spike and Buffy.

"What was that all about?" Buffy asked.

"Just some thorn in our side." Spike kept his gaze on Angel.

Buffy made her way over to Willow to try to help her with the translations. She wasn't much of a translating history buff but she wanted to feel useful. Spike strolled over to Angel and sat next to him. They were alone. The lounge was quiet. No piano, thankfully.

"Well, she brought the texts, Spike. Maybe we can get some answers for you," Angel told him.

"Thanks for doing this. You don't have to..." Spike said, feeling a hint of guilt.

"Spike. This may come as a shock to you, but I do care about what happens to you." Angel kept his gaze straight.

Spike looked at him, uneasy. "Uh, thanks?" He wasn't sure where Angel was taking this. Angel hated him. Or so he thought.

"Look, I know you and I have had our share of... pure hatred for one another, but things are different now. Although the thought of you fulfilling this prophecy and being with Buffy makes me want to rip your head off..." He smiled.

Spike chuckled and looked down at his feet. He and Angel did have a rough history. But Spike does recall times where they would just sit and talk, reflecting. There were times, a very few, when they got along like brothers.

"Do you remember the time when Old Man Geoffrey held us prisoner in his basement?" Spike asked him.

"Ha, yea, he was trying to make us join his vampire cult, as if we weren't already turned. What a tool" Angel smiled at the memory.

"And as I recall, you freed the puppies he was going to eat. You had your soul then, I didn't know it at the time so I was really confused as to why you wanted to save his puppies!" Spike laughed.

Buffy rose from the chair and approached Angel and Spike. Seeing them laughing together and getting along filled her with happiness. "Hey you two," she said

Spike and Angel looked up at her noticing the sand in her hair.

"Woa, Buffy. What happened?" Angel asked her.

"We fell into some vamp action down in Malibu. No big," she told him. "It's time for a shower, that's for sure."

Spike nodded and rose. "Yea, hear that."

Angel sat alone. He wasn't sure what was happening. Why they were all still alive, even. He heard footsteps behind him. Dawn popped out in front of him. He couldn't believe how much she'd grown, in his fake memories of her that is. She sat next to him and smiled.

"Do you think we'll find out more about that prophecy thingy?" she asked him.

"I don't know, Dawn. Maybe. Maybe not." Angel seemed far away. He remembered Wesley's remarks on the prophecy.

"Shanshu has roots in so many different languages. The most ancient source is the Proto-Bantu and they consider life and death the same thing, part of a cycle, only a thing that's not alive never dies. It's saying that you get to live until you die. It's saying , it's saying you become human."

Outside, Eve tried to find a cab. She wanted to be as far away from Angel as possible. She heard music up ahead. She hoped it was a taxi. Instead it was a old turquoise mustang convertible. She barely made out that the driver was... green? Lorne. He sped up to the hotel front and slammed the brakes. "Don't stop 'til you get enough" blasting from the speakers.

He exited the car and turned to Eve. "Well, if it isn't the love child of the Senior Partners!"

Eve rolled her eyes. Lorne shut the car door and advanced over to her. She held her ground. "No use running to the Garden of Eden, Eve. I'm sure Mommy and Daddy would like to have a word with you,"

"It's not me you should be worried about," she informed him. He turned from her to the hotel, following her gaze. "You should be worried about them." She pointed.

Lorne frowned. "Okay, run along then," Lorne turned and approached the hotel. He paused when he reached the door. Everyone inside looked over his direction.

Willow's eyes lit up. "Lorne!"

Angel and Dawn stopped talking to take a look towards the lobby. There stood Lorne. Green as ever, but an expression on his face that seemed stressed. Angel smiled and walked over to him.

"Lorne, you're here," and hugged him.

Lorne, shocked by the affection, gave in and hugged him back.

"Yea, I'm back Angelcakes. Sorry I missed out on all the blood and carnage. Red just wouldn't have gone with my shoes." Lorne chuckled. "I gotta ask though," pulling away, "Why was Eve here?"

Angel looked back outside. He saw Eve in the distance.

"She brought some ancient texts from Wolfram and Hart... about the Shanshu." Angel informed him.

"And she suddenly became trustworthy because..," Lorne asked, feeling uneasy.

"No trust involved here, Lorne. These texts were locked in a vault. Lindsey was hiding them from us. They're missing pieces to the prophecy." Angel eyed Willow.

"Oh. Okay. But why the renewed interest?" Lorne asked.

Angel looked back at him. "Spike. He's... human."

"So, he fulfilled it? Not you?"

"I..., it's a long story, we're just trying to find out more. Spike is human, but he still has super human strength," Angel said.

Lorne sighed. "We can have Spike... sing for me..."

"That may be a good idea." Angel told him.

"So you pulled it off. I mean, you guys did it. Here I thought, deadsville for sure." Lorne joked.

Angel turned to him. "And you call in the troops."

Lorne smiled, nervously. "Uh yea, well, about that..."

"It's okay, Lorne. It all worked out."

Angel and Lorne headed back to Giles and the gang. Faith and Robin had joined them, looking on at Willow. Andrew jotted down words Willow announced to him. He looked down at his pad and frowned.

"Hey guys..," Andrew said. Everyone looked at him. "Uh, this isn't good," Andrew cracked. Giles looked on, waving his hand for Andrew to continue.

"A man he will become and a life he will create. Four moons, he will die once more" Andrew stammered.