Diamonds & Coal
It was late at night when Eve strolled into the lab, confident and poised, as if she owned the lab and everyone in it. "You do know we pay assistants insanely well to write down numbers," Eve said. Teasing maybe, Fred wasn't sure.
"I wanted the results before tomorrow," Fred explained. But her mind was no longer on the experiment. It was on her sudden, uninvited visitor.
Eve hoisted herself up on one of the lab tables. She crossed her legs, looking like an ad for pantyhose. "But that's one of the perks of being boss, Sweetie." She placed one hand behind her and leaned back, all she needed was a cigarette and Eve would be perfect film noir. "You get to take three hour lunches," Eve went on, Fred barely listening to her, too consumed in her own thoughts. "And have lab monkeys to record data."
"I'm used to doing things on my own," Fred continued with the observation. Trying her best not to look at Eve, surely the girl knows she is not wanted here. But Eve was either oblivious or just didn't care. She simply sat and quietly hummed to herself, daydreaming of some far off expensive, magical place. She had all night to wait, for whatever she was waiting for.
And it was grating on Fred's nerves. She could never work with someone looking over her shoulder or whatever it was Eve was trying to do. Quickly writing down the last, Fred said she was finished.
Eve smiled, "Good." She jumped down from the table, landing securely on her high heels. "Let's go for coffee."
Fred wanted to say she had plans, she was busy, but obviously she wasn't. No one stays late on menial tasks if they have plans. Fred nodded, unable to think of a polite way out. "Okay."
It became a game with Fred after the first visit. What did Eve want? Because people like her don't stop by to chat and invite you to coffee if they don't have something planned. And Eve most definitely had plans for Fred, she could sense it. Either having her working on a secret project, or spying on Angel, or getting her Grandma's snicker doodle recipe. Eve wanted something.
The visits became regular and they'd begun to relax around each other. They never talked about work over their lattes. It was always something else. Mostly girly stuff like clothes or movies or the Ellen DeGeneres show. Fred wondered if that is what Eve wanted. A girl friend. Someone to gush over new spring shoes with. And Fred didn't have any girl friends either. Lorne was the closest she had and he was too busy these days to watch QVC with her.
Could the evil mysterious girl have something so ordinary planned as to make a friend? Evil people need friends too.
One night instead of coffee it was cocktails. They went to a nice bar, a quiet and subdued place with ferns. They were quietly chatting away when Fred realized Eve's hand was resting casually on her arm. And had been there for a while. As she thought back, Eve was very touchy. A light brush of shoulders while walking, the slight touch of finger tips when passing salt. Nothing obvious, but it was there.
Eve must of saw Fred was putting it together. Otherwise it was a rather odd time to reach over and kiss her. "I was wondering how long I had to keep flirting," Eve said, toying with the stirrer in her martini.
Thinking back, watching Ellen was a dead give away.
Their tryst was private. The vampires of course knew by smell, but never said anything. Except Angel keeps expecting Fred to have insider information about the senior partners, which she simply doesn't have. They don't talk about work. Eve might ask her what project Fred is working on, but it's only a half-hearted attempt to appear interested in her lover's life.
They had an easy relationship, with little conflict or arguments. They went about their lives and came together when they wanted. It was casual, nice and comforting. Something Fred never thought she would have. All of her relationships have been amusement rides. Either constantly up and down or spinning out of control. With Eve, it was like a Ferris wheel. Going around and around slowly, but never stopping and always seeing something new.
It seemed odd to Fred that she could relax when she was around Eve. She didn't need to pretend to be happy all the time the way she felt she had to be with her boyfriends. With Eve she could be moody and bitchy and tired and it was okay. She might even get a massage. Fred wonders if it's because Eve is a woman and Fred knows she would understand because Eve has her bitchy and tired moods too.
Who knew that Eve would be one of the greatest things that had ever happened to her? Maybe she should visit Wesley's department and see how much Fate has control in her life.
Fred knew her standard briefing with Angel wasn't going to be standard. He had a hard edge to him today. Quiet and beyond broody, a deadly quiet. She sat down and he tossed a file folder in front of her. "What is this?" his voice was very low.
She picked it up and started flipping through the pages. "What is this?" she asked, clearly confused.
"Security got wind of some something suspicious happening in the lab. They staked it out for a while. That's what they found," it was all Angel could do to keep civil. "Did you know about it?"
"God no! You think I'd let my people work on a new strain of the small pox virus?" She felt hollow inside when she looked over the report. Her People. Her Lab. She thought she knew everything that went on there. And to have this slip in under the door was sickening. How could they without her knowledge? "Who was it?"
"Jack Baxtor." Fred's innocence didn't seem to ease Angel, he still had a bitterness to him.
"Baxtor? Baxtor is just a lab assistant. He doesn't even have a Ph.D. How could he? Or why would he?" Fred sighed, none of this was making sense.
"We think he was working for someone," Angel swiveled his chair and stared out the windows.
"You think?" Fred snapped. "Why don't you ask him?"
"We would, but most of his brains are in the backseat of his car. Someone shot him in the parking garage."
"Oh God," she covered her mouth and felt faintly nauseous. "I hate this place."
"So do I."
Fred didn't know what to do after she left Angel's office. She didn't want to go down to the lab. To the place she thought she knew so well. She didn't even want to be in the building. Leaving, she walked down the block to the coffee shop Eve and her always go to.
When she entered, Fred was surprised to find Eve sitting at a table next to the door. "I thought you would come here," she said standing and giving Fred a hug. "You are not used to this."
Fred pulled back, "Used to this? Used to my colleagues mutating the most deadly virus behind my back? Used to them being murdered while sitting in their Dodge Neon?"
Eve took Fred's shaking hands in hers and they sat at the little table. "This is a horrible business we're in, Sweetie," she whispered, trying to be soothing.
"And that is supposed to make everything better?"
"No, it just is." Eve squeezed her hand, "If I could make it better I would. But what's done is done and turning-back-time spells never go as planned."
Fred smiled briefly, but it didn't cure the sickening feeling in her stomach. "How could they do that? It was my lab. I was there more than anyone. How could they work on this big project right under my nose?"
Eve let go of her hand to take a sip from her cappuccino. "From what I understood of the report, they didn't get that far. Just preliminaries, no harm done." She soothed back a lock of hair that fell into Fred's eyes, "Its okay, they'll catch the bad guys."
Fred looked down at the green tile floor. "But that doesn't make the woozies go away," she whispered.
They went back to Eve's place, even though Fred liked her home better. Everything in Eve's apartment seemed false. Nothing seemed real, from the pictures on the mantel to the French vanilla ice cream in the refrigerator.
This is who Eve was supposed to be. White walls, beige furniture and dried flowers on her never used dining room table. Fred wanted to see mail lying forgotten on the table, a few houseplants struggling to survive. Rocky Road ice cream instead of vanilla, not because she liked it better, but it showed more personality. This was not a home but a stage, a place where the character Eve delivers an elegant soliloquy ending the first act.
She knew so little about Eve and wanted to learn more from her home, but it provided little clues. Fred was discovering she didn't know as much as she thought about the people around her.
She stared at the neatly framed snap-shots sitting above Eve's fireplace. "Is this you?" Fred asked, already knowing the answer. The photo was of an average white suburban family sitting on their immaculately green lawn. A ten year old girl with freckles sat in the middle with a golden retriever lying in front of them.
Eve poked her head out of the kitchen to see which one Fred was looking at. "Yeah, that's me, my mom and dad." She went back into the kitchen but shouted, "The dog's name is King."
Fred lightly touched the picture. "Our dog was a mutt named Snagglepuppy," she whispered.
Eve came out of the kitchen carrying two highball glasses. "Here," she handed a White Russian to Fred.
"Am I to drink my troubles away?" Fred asked looking down at the glass.
Eve flopped down on her couch, "You're suppose to drink away your pain. Drinking away your troubles just leaves you with a headache and unable to find your left shoe."
Fred sat down next to Eve and placed her untouched drink on the glass coffee table. She wanted to pour out all her worries to Eve. Confess every little thing weighing down her soul. But she couldn't, because she really didn't know Eve. Everyone was a stranger to Fred.
"C'mon, Sugar," Eve placed her hand on Fred's shoulder. "Don't be competing with your boss for the brooding award." She pulled Fred back against her and held her.
Fred spends a lot of time in her bedroom, still not used to having a living room. She never had a living room of her own before. From university dorms, to the cave in Pylea, to her room in the Hyperion, she never had more than one room and she's still not sure what to do. For the time being, it's storage for all of her books.
She sat on her bed with the report Angel gave her spread out over the quilt her grandma made. She was studying it, looking for all the clues she never saw. Was she so wrapped up in making Spike corporeal that she was blind?
The security report was very thorough and Baxtor was very sloppy. He used his own clearance to enter the lab at nights. He recorded all of his findings onto the system server under his own login. It was as if he wasn't concerned about being caught. Or he wanted to be caught.
What if he was trying to get caught so he could expose those he worked for? Baxtor was a smart man and he must have known the type of people he was working for. Maybe he thought a vampire with a soul would be more lenient than humans who had none.
But it didn't make sense. If Baxtor wanted to be caught, then why didn't she run into him one night at the lab? Fred was known to keep irregular hours. Always working late, except for the occasional times Eve came to her.
A cold feeling washed over her heart. Getting up, she got her PDA and started checking dates. The nights Baxtor was working verses the nights she spent with Eve. She didn't record them down, but she could always tell. Because whatever she had planned work wise was always rescheduled for the next day.
Nearly all the dates matched. There where a few here and there so chance could very well factor in. But Fred knew at Wolfram and Hart, nothing was left to chance.
Eve woke a few hours before dawn with her head pounding. Trying to remember what she drank last night, she realized the pounding was coming from the door. Grumbling, she grabbed her robe on the way, still struggling to put it on as she looked through the peephole. "Fred?" she said as she opened the door. "It's fucking 3am. Not all of us are vampires."
Fred pushed past her and stood in middle of the living room. "I know what you've done," Fred said coldly, staring at Eve with dispassionate eyes. How could she be so dumb? Of course Eve was just using her. Just offer poor love-starved Fred an ounce of attention and she'll follow you to the ends of the earth. Easier than stealing candy from a baby.
Sighing, Eve tied the sash to her robe closed. It was a soft pink satin. A costume for the character. "Do you want coffee?" she asked.
"I want answers."
Eve waved her hand in the air, "Fine." She sat wearily down on the sofa. "Tell me what Angel is accusing me of this time and I'll deny it. It's much the same speech you've heard before. Perhaps a little slurred from not being awake yet."
"I know Baxtor was working for you." Fred remained standing and strong. "You were the one who hired him to work on the small pox virus."
With a slight smile, Eve tipped her head up, "Oh? Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe you don't even know." Fred started pacing, "As you always say, you're just the middle man, working for the senior partners. I wouldn't put it past them to do something like this."
Eve tilted her head and rested it on the cushioned back. "So you don't think the senior partners have their own laboratories to do their evil scientist experiments in so they have to use yours?"
Fred faltered, "It could be an attempt to bring me down, us down."
She closed her eyes and completely relaxed. "A bomb could do the same thing, Sweetie. Would Wolfram & Hart give you the LA branch if they planned on destroying it? All of you keep on forgetting it was a gift."
"So are wool sweaters," Fred's voice was so soft, Eve opened her eyes and stared at her. "They look all warm and cozy from the outside," Fred continued. "But in the inside, it's hot and scratchy."
Eve laughed and reached out her hand which Fred took and sat down next to her, cuddling close. "Oh my poor Honey," Eve crooned, combing her fingers through Fred's hair. "Leave the sleuthing to Nancy Drew, hmm?"
"I..." Fred stumbled, "It made sense at home. All the times Baxtor was in the lab was while we where together."
"And you never thought it was because he was always watching, waiting for us to leave?" Eve wrapped her arms around Fred and held her tight.
"Or someone could be his look out. Alert him when we left."
"Hey. What did I say about the sleuthing?"
Fred giggled, "I did work for a private detective agency."
Eve smiled against Fred's hair. "And only one of you had an actually private investigator's license." She kissed the back of Fred's head. "Don't get worked up over this stuff, Sugar. I'm sure your brooding hero will vanquish the villain. You're just the nerdy, but cute scientist who provides him with tripped out cars and exploding cuff links."
Fred arrived late to work the next day after spending the night with Eve. She didn't even have a chance to put down her briefcase when Johnson rushed in and told her Angel was looking for her.
He was in his office, staring at some point on the wall only he could see, a spot far away from the toils of everyday life. "We found out who Baxtor was working for." He ducked his head a little, knowing this was going to be hard to tell her, "It was Knox."
Fred laughed. "Knox? That's absurd."
"He was working for a terrorist group," he continued. "They paid him nearly a million dollars."
She sobered up. "I can't believe he would do that. Not Knox. He's...he's not evil."
"No, just greedy." Angel pulled out a slip of paper protected in a plastic sheath. "This is his confession-slash-resignation. He explains it all in there."
Fred's attention was pulled away from the paper, "He's not here?"
Angel shook his head. "No. I have people looking for him. He's slipped into the underground and it's going to be hard to find him. Lots of high school chemistry labs to hide in."
Eve sat outside the coffee shop, talking into her cell phone between sips. It was a nice sunny day, but a little too cold to be spending it on the beach. "Yeah it's all taken care of," she said casually, sipping as she listened to the voice on the other end. "Yeah, she suspected something, but it was easy to persuade her." She took another sip. "No, there's nothing to worry about. Like I said, Sweetie, everything is taken care of."