Marcie awakes

The last thing the woman named Marcie Ross remembered was a naked future Rose frantically pulling her away from a mysterious metal cylinder that fell out of a blue glowing hole in the church ceiling. Then the cylinder exploded and everything went black.

The next thing she knew, someone was shaking her shoulder and muttering, "Wake up, Cordelia. Please wake up."

Marcie opened her eyes expecting to see a naked future Rose only to see...

"Empress," Marcie said. "No, wait, you aren't the Empress. Now I remember. You're Drusilla the young version."

The woman known as Drusilla just stared at Marcie and asked, "The young version?"

"I'm sorry," said Marcie. "I must still be groggy from the explosion. What happened, anyway?"

"Your friend Rose said that a demonic artifact came down from Heaven and smited the two evil ones who had been planning to kill us."

"Wait," said Marcie. "She really said that?"

"Well, she might have phrased it a little differently but that's what she basically said," said Drusilla.

"Whatever," said Marcie. "I'm glad to see that you at least survived. My employer would have had my head if I had let you die."

"Your employer?" asked Drusilla. "So you are in fact a servant."

"Actually I'm a bodyguard," said Marcie. "Trained by the American government to do things I'd rather not talk about, then recruited by the Empr -- er -- my current employer to safeguard you and your family."

"Oh, really?" asked Drusilla. "Just exactly who is this person who cares so much for the safety of me and my family?"

"She would prefer to be anonymous," said Marcie.

"So it's a she," said Drusilla.

"Yes," said Marcie, silently cursing herself for giving away that little bit of information.

Just then future Rose came back into the church, only this time she was dressed in her original outfit.

She took one look at Marcie and said, "Oh, good, Marc -- er -- Cordelia. You're awake."

"And you're dressed again," said Marcie.

Marcie turned toward Drusilla and asked, "Your doing?"

"Of course," said Drusilla. "I didn't want my guardian angel to keep running around in the garb of Eve. She'd catch her ****."

"She's not an angel," said Marcie. "Any more than I am."

"Oh, have you not heard the story, Agent Ross, about the people who have entertained angels unawares?" asked Drusilla.

"So you heard that part," said Marcie. "I can explain."

"No need to, Agent Ross," said Drusilla. "It's naturally makes sense that a being like you would travel under a false identity."

"I just told you that I'm not an angel," said Marcie.

"Actions speak louder than words, Agent Ross," said Drusilla.

Marcie just sighed and turned back to future Rose. "So what happened to Angelus?"

"He was killed in the explosion," said future Rose. "But don't worry. I staked what was left of him just to make sure."

"When did you do that?" asked Marcie.

"When I put out the fire," said future Rose.

"What fire?" asked Marcie.

"The one started by the explosion," said future Rose.

Marcie glanced over at the spot where Angelus had been and saw that there was indeed signs of a major fire as well signs of a major explosion. However, she saw no sign of Missy. That worried her.

"Er, you did remember to deal with Missy too, right?" asked Marcie.

"Of course," said future Rose. "I staked her just like I did Angelus."

"She isn't a vampire, Rose," said Marcie. "She's a --"

"I know," said future Rose. "She's the Two-Hearted Witch That Never Dies. At least that's what Princess said. But don't worry. I scattered her remains really good. I have no intention of letting that woman regenerate. I even took her magic wand just in case."

"Magic wand?" asked Marcie.

"Okay, laser screwdriver," said future Marcie. "When I was traveling with Amy and Tara, they kept calling it that so I got into the habit of calling it that too even though I knew better."

"Wait a minute," said Marcie. "Who are Amy and Tara?"

"Don't you think we need to be heading back to my home, Agent Ross?" asked Drusilla. "I promised my mother and my uncle that I'd catch up with them as soon as I could and by now, I'm sure they're quite worried about me."

"Oh, of course," said Marcie. "How foolish of me to forget. Let's get out of here."

The three of them slowly walked out of the side door of the church and noticed that it was already dark.

Of course it's dark, thought Marcie. That's why Angelus showed up, remember?

They had only taken just a few steps outside when a voice cried out, "You fools! What have you done now?"