A thick swampy miasma hung over the riverside where Gabrielle walked. It would have been sick smelling to a mortal, and should have been even sicker, but she tuned it out. There were more important things to think about than the smell of rotting corpses and toxic waste coming from the sludgy river that once must have been clean. 40 years ago it was cleaner. But then 40 years ago everything was cleaner. 40 years ago there weren't problems. No one came unexpectedly back from the dead. Her thoughts were briefly shaken when Edge appeared by her side, apparently freshly fed. He grabbed her hand and quickly brought his head down for a kiss before they started onto a heavily lighted and frequented street. She didn't need to ask how he found her here. He just had.

"You shouldn’t think about this so much you know." He told her seriously as they continued to walk amidst the crowd.

"What else am I supposed to think about?" Gabrielle responded, moving closer to him. Despite the warmth of the night, there was a definite chill in the air and it went right through the skin.

"Well…" He started sheepishly, "You can always think about me."

"Come on…. I'm with you every second of the day, why would I want to think about you too?" She returned playfully, looking up with a sly smile.

"You're getting bitchy in your old age."

"Old!? You fucker. You're older than me, remember?"

"Not by much…a few years, that’s all. Its not like it’s a huge age difference that hangs over our lives like a black cloud or anything." She laughed softly and shook her head.

"Sometimes, you can be so poetic."

"So what am I the rest of the time?"

"Hmm…an anal bastard?"

"Your sexual deviance has nothing to do with this…"

"That’s hardly sexual deviance." She scoffed, "And what does it matter anyway? If I'm gonna be with the same person my whole existence, then I might as well make it interesting." Edge stopped walking as they came to an unoccupied and lowly lit brick wall. Even in the dark, she could see his mock pout.

"So I'm not interesting?" Gabrielle rolled her eyes and draped her arms around his neck.

"Not only are you not interesting, you're also extremely unattractive, I can't stand waking up with you, you've never given me that warm gushy feeling, and most importantly, you can never make me want to jump you with a simple look. Never." She finished, planting a small kiss on his nose.

"Awww, I love you too baby." As she started unwrapping her arms from his neck, Edge enfolded her in his. "No way you're getting away after that." She looked up at him sceptically.

"So we're just gonna stand here like this?"

"Nuh-uh." He replied, backing her up against the wall, leaning down and letting his mouth hover teasingly close to hers. "I'm gonna make this interesting."

"Make what interesting?" She asked while trying to urge his head down further. Edge just chuckled deeply, finally capturing her mouth with his, but only for a short second.

"Our innocent little night on the town…Its gonna end up not so innocent."

"And you're, what? Going to fuck me in the middle of the street?"

"We're hidden." He told her quietly, bending his head to lightly nip at her neck. Gabrielle heard footsteps in the alley beside them though. Someone had to be near, probably enjoying the show the couple was about to give.

"Wait, Edge, there's someone - "

"And? You're telling me of all the things you get off on, this isn't one of them?" She shook her head, starting to answer before being cut off by a familiar voice.

"Though, one must admit it takes street busking to a whole new level." The voice made her close her eyes, overwhelmed with emotions she hadn't thought about, and had no desire to. When she opened them, Kael had taken Edge's place without her knowing in some surreal turn of reality, and Edge was no where in her range of sight. The freakish twist rendered her speechless as Kael brought his lips to hers, but in the distance, maybe the back of her mind, she could hear someone calling to her, stunning her out of an alternate reality.

"Gabrielle? Helloo?" Christian called her from across the table, noticing the blank look that had taken over. She jerked to life, shaking her head and blinking, then setting her eyes back on Christian. "Nice to have you joining us on this plane of existence." Gabrielle weakly forced a smile, wrapping her cold hands around her still warm mug of black coffee. "You just went all dazed there…something happen?"

"No!" She answered back a little to quickly, blocking her thoughts from him as the memory played over again in her mind. She could still feel Kael's body pressing her against the rough bricks, could hear his single line of speech in the accent that had the ability to stir her in a way that nothing else could. Realising she had gone vacant again, she addressed Christian. "I think I want to go to the bar now…" He looked at her with concern. It was only 3 in the afternoon, and they hadn't gone to the same bar they'd always gone to for years. But as it had been for too many years, he could rarely say no to Gabrielle. Though she barely knew her own motivation, something told her a chance encounter had been prophesised.