Lindsey´s Angels 13

***Warning References to Child Sex***

Febuary 29, 2005

Various places,

3.25 am

Wesley

We´re in deep trouble and it´s only going to get worse. Things are coming to a head finally between Angel and the much despised Wolfram and Hart. Truly a group of people that make Angelus look like an advertisement for Mother Teresa´s Nanny Graduate of the Week.

The most disgusting thing of all is to find out that we are all just pawns in some sick plan that they are slowly unravelling. None of us are too sure of what is going to happen but knowing the law firm, it´s going to be catastrophic. Angel is almost beside himself again with stress, I did something really silly tonight and I´m hoping that it´s not going to rebound. I slipped him a few sleeping tablets tonight in a glass of bourbon, the foul taste of the liquid hiding any trace of the drug. He hates bourbon, says that it reminds him of fly spray, it apparently has the same smell. To get him to drink it, I told him that I wanted to get fucked by a redneck and that smelling bourbon on him would bring a little more reality.

He just slammed it down with only minor whinging and then proceeded to chat me up with the worst Southern accent I have ever heard. I had to keep kissing him to hide my laughter until he fell asleep. Only drugged him so I could have a restful sleep myself, I´m sick of him tossing and turning. It´s all he´s done for the past week and a half. Even if he feels that he doesn´t need sleep, I do. I could just move into another room for a few nights but that would just make him worse and more than likely snarly at everybody. Something that no one deserves, especially at a time like this.

We are all on edge about how Todd´s death is going to affect the future. Was he supposed to have a child somewhere down the line, one that may have joined the good fight? Graham is trying not to let the boy´s death affect him but how can you just brush aside something like that? I´m to blame for that really. I couldn´t help but shout at him, completely ignoring the fact that he had done the best thing for the poor lad. Even after Angel told me that Todd was going to die, I still blamed Graham for murdering the boy. Surprisingly, it was Spike that made me see sense. Took me aside and calmly told me that I was a wanker and that maybe Todd´s death was meant to be. Told me that maybe it was Christopher that was meant to have children one day and not Todd. He likened the boy to a dog, said that if you knew an animal was going to die and was suffering, you would put it down to save it more pain in the end. Graham was just doing the same.

It stunned me that William the Bloody could put things into such perspective. Of course, less than two seconds after I had been nearly floored with such wisdom, I learnt that I was nothing more than a limp wristed fag and since his Sire was getting blown everyday, Spike didn´t see why I couldn´t blow him as well. Needless to say, the bonding moment was shot to smithereens. That was this morning and I still have to apologise to Graham for being so callous. As soon as I do that then maybe Joyce will start to talk to me again. The only one who will, apart from Angel, is Christopher.

Apparently I´m an uncle now to the small boy/man. Doyle and Cordelia are now Mum and Dad to him, something that he is delighted in. I only wish that the title came under better circumstances. The first night that Christopher came back, he had a nightmare so he climbed into Cordelia and Doyle´s bed. Snuggled down in–between them and everything was fine until Doyle sneezed and spiked out. He then broke their hearts, he said it was ok for Francis to have sex with him because the half demon was nice and Christopher liked him. It was almost a repeat of Xander, how the boy was so used to being abused, he really didn´t understand that there were other ways to live.

It had taken until the early hours of the morning for both Cordelia and Doyle to make Christopher understand that no one in the hotel was going to have sex with him. At first, they told him it was because everybody was his friend and friends didn´t do that. Both Cordelia and Francis were ill after the small boy had told them that his workmates at Sanity were his friends and they had sex with him. Although they hadn´t wanted to ask, they hadn´t been able to help themselves and they ended up learning that Xander had indeed had sex with him.

Doyle had then told Christopher that all the men in the hotel were actually his Uncles and that uncles didn´t have sex with their nephews. The small boy had cried because he wanted to call Doyle Dad, something that Cordelia and Doyle had readily agreed to. Upon learning what the small boy had told his new parents, everyone including Spike had been horrified. We´re now more than ever concerned about Xander and the other boys´ mental health. I wouldn´t be surprised if having to do such dreadful things has pushed them all into a hole that they can´t climb out of again. I only hope that Randall suffers for what he has managed to do to so many lives.

It had really come as little surprise to learn of Wolfram and Hart´s involvement with the club, Sanity. They had organized the whole thing apparently including the auction. Angel and the two ex–soldiers had cheerfully beaten the information out of Todd and Christopher´s original buyer. The Exeth demon had gifted the boys to the pack of Amnruth´s after they had performed a few tasks on the other demon´s behalf. We now know that Lindsey McDonald is Randall´s main contact at the law firm.

After managing to find another boy, Leo, and having a talk to his buyer, we have been able to put numerous pieces together. We now know that Wolfram and Hart are behind everything that has befallen us. They organized the kidnappings a second time around and helped Randall set up Sanity. Tomas is a Warlock in the firm´s employment, the reason why Angel´s demon contacts have been reluctant to talk with him. Apparently, they had been threatened with ending up in some sort of flotation tank in which the man keeps his spare body parts for his work. He is also the same man who had possession of Spike for so long. With that in mind, we are very sure that it is the law firm that is giving us the phone orders, after all, they would have had access to Spike in order to blackmail us. We also suspect that there is a tie between Wolfram and Hart and the ´Soul of Blood´, what exactly, we´re not too sure.

We still don´t quite know what the ´Soul of Blood´ is but we do know that it is to go into Spike unless there is a way to curse him forever from being able to host a soul. Joyce and I managed to cast enough spells and chant some incantations to learn that Spike was indeed born without a permanent soul of his own. It´s quite sad actually, my theory is that he suffered dizzy spells all his human life because he had numerous souls flitting in and out of him over the years. The dizziness occurring as his body tried to adjust to each one. Certainly, when we tried to call forth just his in order to talk to it, we got flooded by too many to actually count. Unfortunately, they were unable to help us any with the ´Soul of Blood´.

Angel, Riley, Graham, Spike and myself are working on a way to get to both Lindsey McDonald and Randall Hargraves. We need to find Sanity´s boys faster, something that I´m sure Randall can help us with. Also, we need to find out more about this ´Soul of Blood´ and what is so bad about it, apart from its name that is. I just wish we could talk more with Leo but the poor boy is deep into denial that there are demons. How he has actually convinced himself of such a thing is beyond me but we do know he wasn´t born on the Hellmouth, which indicates there is more than just the one kidnapping ring operating around the state. I´m sure that both men can help us get into contact with the organizers of the operations.

We´re not naive enough to expect that we can totally wipe out the slavery rings but if we manage to wipe out a few, it´s a big step. I have to admit that I´m scared. Wolfram and Hart are no lightweights in the field of making mischief, instead they seem to have invented it. They are completely ruthless in whatever they do. We have managed to stop them a few times over the years, which is why they split us up and had Angel running all around town for them. In all reality, why we are still alive is another question. I know that if I were in their position, I would have had all of us disposed of at the first opportunity.

And that most certainly is a thought that scares me the most. What possible plans do they have for all of us? If they have managed to unsettle us so much in the past, then they won´t hesitate to do it again. Because we don´t know exactly what we are dealing with, we are particularly vulnerable. I´m not the only one scared. We all are. We´re scared but we´re also angry.

Spike

I´m scared. Yep, me. William the Bloody, murderer, rapist and part of the Scourge of Europe. Disabled Will. The body bag of spare gibbies.

Won´t tell Peaches and the rest of them though. None of their business really. But I am. I don´t want a soul especially one with a poncy dumbfuck name like the ´Soul of Blood´. I think that the Watcher knows I´m scared, he watched me real close at the meeting in the library this afternoon. When I went to give him the usual finger, he just looked at me and gave me this little half smile and such a quick nod, I really didn´t think I saw it at first. Didn´t end up giving him the finger, just sort of nodded back.

Wolfram and Hart.

Big building full of pricks that has even my poofter Sire quaking in his boots. That was what really tipped me off that things were heading up shit creek. Definitely no paddle in the near future. Pretty sure it´s a barbed wire canoe as well. Nothing scares Hairboy. Well, nothing up until now. As long as the Angel of Painfulness has been in L.A., the law firm has been a thorn in his side. Used to laugh at some of the things he would rant and rave about at the ´Find Xander´ meetings. His voice would go all high, like a teenage girl who just discovered she has tits.

Not laughing anymore.

I´m certainly not finding anything funny about being born without a permanent soul. Woos reckons that´s why I was so sick as a kid. I was apparently like a lightening rod, sucking souls into me like a black hole. One comes in, makes me dizzy until I was used to it, it then gets shoved out again by the next one, I get dizzy until I get used to it and so on.

When those filthy gypo´s cursed Angelus with a soul, they could only put his back into him because that was the only that would fit into his body. Even if they had tried to give him another person´s soul, it wouldn´t have worked because it wasn´t designed to fit in his body. With mediums it´s a bit different, they can channel other peoples souls, host them for a bit in their bodies but only until their permanent soul pushes it out again. Wes reckons some people are born with this ability naturally, others can learn it if they have a strong enough mind to suppress their own souls to allow another to come into them or some such rot.

I´m scared because Wes thinks that anybody´s soul can fit my body. If the soul resides long enough in my body, it will eventually influence how I act and think. It would be able to stay as long as it liked because I don´t have anything already in me to tell it to piss off again. Worse if the soul was bound to me from ever leaving. Like Angel´s soul.

I won´t be me anymore. I´ll be whoever the soul is. I could be the old man selling newspapers on the corner of 42nd street or some twat from Australia who choked to death on a sausage roll.

I could even be Drusilla or at least that´s the general theory.

And it´s one that should be tested out because Dru is the only one who can make real sense of this twaddle. First thing in the morning, I´m gonna have a word to the Bobbsey Twins of magic and see what they can do. We need an inside word on this.

I just hope that they can get rid of her again. Don´t get me wrong, I adore my Wicked Plum but I don´t want her in me forever. I don´t look good in velvet empire style dresses and that´s a theory that´s been tested.

Most of all, I´m scared because if Angel and the others can´t stop Wolfram and Hart, then I´m gonna get staked. The firm needs me if they want to dabble around with souls and unless there is another person in the world without a soul of their own then they´re gonna come looking for me any day now.

Ironic that they had me under their noses all that time.

In the end though, me getting staked is gonna be the easiest solution for them all.

Xander

He promised me that he would find me.

And he hasn´t.

I was so sure that he was going to come walking through the doors of Sanity on auction night. He was going to be flanked by Wesley, Angel, Riley, Doyle and the other one, Graham. Together, they were going to fight their way through all the demons, axes and swords sweeping from side to side as they made their way towards me. All the demons who were bidding at the auction were going to drop to their knees in fear of Angel and Spike; beg their forgiveness.

They were going to deliver justice to Randall for being the monster that he is. I was so sure that I was going to see Angel smash Adam into the ground before delivering the killing blow. Angel was going to have to do it because Spike can´t hurt humans. Spike was the one who was going to find clothing for me and wait until I got dressed while the others did the same for the rest of my workmates.

Spike was going to let me hold his hand in the car back to the Hyperion. We were going to have cake the next day in celebration of us all being free and the wicked witch being dead. I was going to stay safe with Spike forever, he was going to look after me and he wasn´t going to let anyone hurt me again. Christopher was going to live with Doyle and Cordelia and everyone else got to go home to their families or the Christian Hostel. I was so sure that it was going to happen.

Spike promised he would find me.

He did, he really did promise.

Spike wouldn´t lie to me.

He was going to kiss me when he saw me again. I was going to see Mrs. Neal three times a week and go to the library with Wesley twice a week. Cordelia was going to talk with me each night after dinner and Christopher was going to watch TV with me.

He is going to find me, I know that but it´s hard not to cry.

I know because that´s what I´m doing now.

I´m crying because Spike promised.

March 4, 2005

St.Martins Cigar Bar – Men only.

11.21 am

"Join me in a cup of tea?" enquired a crisp English voice. At the other man´s nod, Joyce gestured at a passing waiter, indicating for him to approach the table. Looking down for a brief second, the older woman idly brushed at a non–existent speck of dirt on her charcoal grey slacks. As the waiter finished crossing the small distance to the table, the witch ordered a pot of Earl Grey tea to be brought to the white linen clad table. Once the waiter had smiled his approval at the order, she turned her attention back to the man sitting opposite her.

"Well Jerome, lets you and I discuss a little business while we wait for our refreshments...you know, I´ve never been here before and I must say I´m definitely thinking of coming again" drawled Joyce with an almost careless glance around the cigar smoke filled room. Heart beating almost out of her chest, she let her eyes skim over the two laughing men only three tables away. Momentarily reassured by their presence, she casually rested a large forearm across a well muscled thigh as she crossed her legs. Almost instantly, she found she had to suppress the desire to ask if it was the correct etiquette for a man to cross his legs in the presence of fellow men. However, as she wasn´t told to reverse the action, Joyce gave Jerome a slight smile as he extolled the virtues of relaxing every few weeks in the men´s only cigar bar.

"Mmmm, yes you´re quite right. Completely lovely...Now business?"

"Yes of course. What exactly is your client looking for?"

Taking in the silver–haired gentleman opposite her, Joyce wondered just how someone, a human himself, could cause so much misery to members of his own species. As she let Wesley´s voice flow through her, the older woman wished once again that she hadn´t been put in her current position. Conducting a business deal with Randall Hargraves or as he was now calling himself, Jerome Sheridan, was not something she had ever wanted to do. The only thing consoling her was the knowledge that if she managed to pull it off without any hiccups, she would be able to lead the L.A. team to the man´s current pit of depravity.

"That´s the thing, he´s actually not too sure. He does know that he wants one from the Hellmouth, easier to adapt, right? Yes, thought so."

Her head nodding as Randall explained that he had just got his first batch of stock, Joyce had to concentrate on resisting the temptation to attack the smooth–tongued man. With that thought in mind, the woman realised that she was in fact the appropriate choice to meet face to face with Randall – anyone else would have given into the urge. Conversation broken temporarily as the waiter arrived with the tea, Joyce was slightly awed to see how large her hands were as she attempted to grasp the delicate teacup handle without snapping it off. As Angel´s soft voice vibrated inside of her right ear, thanks to the latest issue army satellite communications device, the witch took a sip of the fragrant brew as instructed, Wesley staying silent for the moment.

"Mmmm lovely. Please, continue....You were saying that you can make their looks to order..How?" gently asked the crisp accent as Joyce furrowed her brows in compliance to the brunette vampire´s instructions. Thank God they had practised this sort of thing before the actual meeting. Joyce hated to think what would have happened if she had had to face Randall without being allowed to get used to the glamour and various communication devices. For the previous two days, Joyce had been officially male, looking like a cross between Giles and Wesley. Your average tweed wearing upper class Englishman.

In an effort to save its own skin, Leo´s buyer had offered to organise a meeting with the former brothel owner, an offer that was immediately accepted. Angel had been all set to meet with the older human until they had realised that Randall would recognise him, Wolfram and Hart no doubt showing the pimp who had freed the whores in the first place. Glamouring Angel had been the next option but in a weird twist, it had been discovered that the magic didn´t cling too well to essentially dead flesh, the new image tending to dissolve after a few minutes. It had then been time for plan C – Someone else. Doyle, Wesley and Spike were immediately out of the question, as were Riley and Graham as the two ex–soldiers proved unable to act their way out of a paper bag.

That had essentially left Cordelia and Joyce. With Randall expecting to meet with another male, the choice had been narrowed to Joyce. It had been decided to use the voice talent to everybody´s advantage. So, for the next two days, Joyce had been given a crash course on how to act like a male, once the glamour had been applied. She had then had to get used to the tiny ear piece and Angel´s voice instructing her what to do whilst she projected Wesley´s voice.

The ear–piece wasn´t the only piece of electronics the two ex–soldiers had managed to pick up through one of their new contacts. Joyce also had a small microphone taped to her chest which transmitted straight to Wesley, Riley and Graham´s ear pieces. Angel and Wesley were keeping an eye on her via a link to the small camera placed in the briefcase that Riley had carried in with him, courtesy of David Nabbit´s laptop computer skills in a hotel room opposite the club. The only real protection she had though, was an equally glamoured Riley and Graham pretending to relax and soak up the atmosphere only a few tables away. The whole point to the exercise was to get Randall to agree to both Joyce and her ´client´ going to view what was available, a rush deal.

As she was instructed to take another sip of the Earl Grey, Joyce smiled and nodded again as Randall told her about some of the permanent changes he could arrange. Stomach churning at the thought, she threw the first spanner in the older man´s plans for her ´client´.

"Ahhh. That´s a slight problem. My...client...is extremely sensitive to any vibes that glamour projects. Yes, I know...rather unfortunate. Quite allergic to them, actually his whole..family..is. So, he would be after something quite natural if possible."

"Right..Right. Well then, that makes it a little more difficult. What I have at the moment is two white and blond, two tanned and dark with the other white and light brown. All natural, not going to change them until the deal´s made." admitted Jerome, smiling at his customer. After a brief hesitation, the former brothel owner told Joyce that both herself and her client could come and choose from the available stock providing she paid a deposit, nodding in satisfaction when the answer was a suggestion of half the usual sale rate. If her client failed to find his current stock to his liking, then the deposit would ensure that the customer would have the first choice from the next batch.

Another few minutes discussion about the money arrangements and the older woman was quite amazed that the whoremonger didn´t want the deposit in cash, preferring to do things over the internet. At Angel´s instructions, she pretended to think it over for a moment before giving Randall a wide grin and nod.

"Fantastic, you can just give the account details to my lawyer when you arrive. He´ll take everything from there... Just out of curiosity, what type of client is he?"

"Yomlm. One thing though, because he´s so allergic to the enhancements, I do need to ask that you shut everything down from the time he arrives till the time he goes....You will be compensated for any incidents occurring due to this." came Joyce´s immediate reply.

Three tables down, Riley and Graham gestured and nodded at each other, simulating conversation even as they listened to Joyce and Randall´s transaction. Neither of them were happy for the older woman to be so close to the action but there wasn´t any other option other than just clubbing the older man over the head and then beating the information out of him once he regained consciousness. Something that everyone really wanted to do but with so many lives at risk, they couldn´t take that option. As the two men continued to listen, they shot each other a small cold smile as the former brothel owner indicated that Lindsey McDonald would be at the meeting in three nights time.

It was going to make everything so much easier. Two birds with one stone.

Same time

Hyperion Hotel,

Stepping out of the lift and turning to her left, Cordelia walked towards Leo´s room, a plate of sandwiches held in one hand while her other grasped a glass of protein enriched milkshake. With a wide smile plastered to her face, the brunette woman took a deep breath to prepare herself for trying to have a talk to the Asian youth. Plate and glass balanced in one hand, she rapped twice on the doorframe, waiting to be acknowledged.

"Who is it? Who..who´s there? You..you´re there, why? Why are you there? What´s that? You´re one of *them* aren´t you?" came the rapid fire questioning, the dark haired male angling his head wildly in an effort to see if anyone was behind her as he sat on his bed. Once established that she was alone, he leaned back against the wall again, turning his unblinking gaze upon her face while he idly picked at the hem of his pale blue shirt.

"Hi Leo, good to see you...I´ve got some sandwiches here. There´s cheese and pickled onions, peanut butter and jelly and there´s also some honey and banana. I wasn´t sure what you´d like...How are you today?" said Cordelia gently. The plate was placed on top of the dresser, just next to the milkshake. Standing beside the doorway, the brunette woman stood passively as the slim youth continued to stare at her.

"Do I look hungry? Am I? Why are you feeding me? You´re just going to keep me forever and let me starve to death...You´re a thing..like the *others*."

"Honey...if we planned on starving you, we wouldn´t feed you. Please eat, you´ll get sick if you don´t. Leo...I´m human, just like you. Just like Christopher and Robin and Wesley..like your Mom and Dad..You can go home to them soon ok?"

"LIAR! You lie..Everyone lies! I know what you are..I *know* where I am...as soon as I eat, I´m gonna be sleepy and I don´t want to be sleepy. You´re gonna hurt me."

"Leo..we are *not* going to hurt you. Remember, Angel, Riley and Graham came and got you off the demon an...."

"LIARLIARLIARLIAR! Yes, you are. There are no such things as demons...only *those*. I know you put stuff in those sandwiches and you´re going to make me sleepy and I don´t want to be."

"Yes, you´re right. These sandwiches are going to make you tired and then you´ll go to sleep. Tell you what, I´ll just take these away ok?" asked Cordelia with a serious face, unable to smile even as it looked like the reverse psychology was going to work again. As she made a move to pick up the plate of sandwiches, Leo´s brow furrowed, the youth telling her that she was lying again and that she really wanted him to starve to death. Head nodding at the accusations, Cordelia worked up a sad smile as the slim male got up from his bed and walked over to the dresser.

Watching Leo sniff at a sandwich before taking a tiny bite, the brunette woman´s smile got a little bigger as the youth started to convince himself that he was being poisoned. Every time that Leo opened his mouth to say something, no–one was sure what was going to come out. The dark haired male was currently convinced that there were no such things as demons and that he was being held prisoner by creatures that wore human skins. Creatures that were either going to starve him to death or poison him. How Leo could believe in ´creatures´ but not demons was worrying to say the least.

Cordelia turned and left the youth to his mutterings, secure in the knowledge that even if most of the sandwiches were left uneaten, Leo would have at least finished a glass full of one of Wesley´s special protein drinks. As she glanced down at her watch, she realised that it was almost time for Robin´s former owner to come for a visit, a large smile gracing her face as she felt her heart skip a beat. It was nothing short of a miracle that Robin had been bought by such a kindly demon. Leo´s former owner had led Angel and the others to the Trunth demon only three day´s ago. The three men had burst into the demons apartment, weapons at the ready, all gung–ho and anxious to deliver justice to the obviously evil demon and rush the victimised youth to safety.

What they hadn´t counted on was, Robin leaping in front of the slender white and grey mottled creature in order to protect it. The two males had clutched at each other, screaming wildly, terrified by the weapon wielding intruders. Both Robin and W´nth trying to calm each other down in between telling the vampire and two ex–soldiers not to hurt the other. Finally, Riley and Graham had managed to separate them amidst tears and wailing from them being torn apart, the youth fainting under the stress. It had been the demons quiet pleading for them not to hurt Robin that had made the three men re–evaluate the situation, thinking that there might just be more than what it looked like.

So, they had waited for Robin to regain consciousness while the lightly furred demon had done its best to tell the men about his relationship with the youth. Angel, Riley and Graham had been staggered to find out that the two had been more or less involved in a romantic nature since the demon had discovered Sanity only a few day´s after it had first opened. W´nth had admitted that it had been a case of love at first sight for him, Robin taking longer to feel the same. The demon had told the trio of how he had asked to buy Robin everyday with Randall always refusing, therefore leaping onto the opportunity when it presented itself.

Robin had confirmed everything once he had come around, begging the three men not to hurt the demon. After more discussion and tears, the youth had agreed to come back to the Hyperion for his own safety but only if W´nth could visit daily. Once back at the hotel, Robin had told them everything. About how he had been ´encouraged´ to leave the house, the re–training process and the events leading to the auction.

Head shaken, Cordelia walked down the second floor corridor until she reached Robin´s room, knocking lightly at the door.

"Come in..Is he here yet?"

"Hey Robin and no, he isn´t yet but he won´t be too far away. Wow, you look good...Dressing to impress, hmmmm?" grinned the brunette woman. With a glance, she took in the light camel slacks and dark grey knitted pullover, noting that the youth blushed at her words. The very idea that Robin could find love after all he had been through, especially with a demon, was something that was giving hope to everyone regarding the boy´s future.

"I want to look nice for him. He..He´s good to me." came the soft reply, Robin smiling shyly as the blush deepened. Ducking his head as he giggled slightly, the blond sat on his bed and reached for his shoes and socks.

"You don´t have to stay with him just because he´s good to you...I mean you can go home, back to your parents. I´m sure that you two are always going to be friends?"

"No. I can´t go home. Not again. If I get taken again, its going to kill my parents and sister. You haven´t called them yet have you?" asked Robin, suddenly anxious. "Even if I don´t get taken, the never knowing if and when is just going to drive them to an early grave. It´s better if they think I´m dead."

"You can´t be serious? I know that you´re not loopy like Leo but that is just stupid...I´m *sorry* but it is."

"If I´m dead, they can go on with their lives. They can weep over a photo each birthday, Christmas and Thanksgiving. They can tell my nieces and nephews all about me an....I´m finally happy and I have someone who loves me. He´s ugly and furry and he´s spotty. He has really bad breath in the morning, especially after he´s eaten anything with pesto sauce the night before...and he never closes the shower door so the bathroom floods each time and he always forgets to replace the bin liner bu.."

"But, just because you think you owe him for being nice to you doesn´t mean you should deny your family from ever seeing you again. What about if you have children, how can you deny your children their grandparents?" asked Cordelia, arms crossed over her chest as she looked at the youth with compassion. She knew that Wesley, Angel and even Joyce had been down this track with Robin before but it didn´t hurt to try it again. Everyone wanted to be sure that Robin was only staying with the demon out of love and not obligation but from what they had seen, love was definitely a major factor in the relationship.

"Please..as I was saying, I´m happy because he loves me. He told me that the first time he hired me and he didn´t lay one finger on me. Not the first time, not the second time and he didn´t touch me the third time either. He waited for me to touch him and it took a while. There..there was a hi..hire that hurt me so badly and all Adam did was yell at me and I was hurting because both my arms and my right leg were broken. W´nth wanted to hire me straight afterwards but Adam said he couldn´t until after I was better." whispered Robin, his gaze focused on the wall just behind Cordelia. Fingers playing nervously with his shoelaces, the youth continued.

"He stood up to Adam but when that didn´t work, he bribed one of the Keepers to sneak him through to my sleeping cubicle for a few hours. He cried....he sat on the floor next to my mattress and cried. I was in so much pain but all I could think was that I was happy to see him. *He* made me happy. How do I tell my Mom and Dad that I´m gay? Better yet, in love with a demon? What do I tell them when they ask why I´m not getting any older?" demanded the youth in soft voice, barely above a whisper, a few tears falling from his bright blue eyes. "I feel like you´re all trying to break us up and that´s not fair...What I have with W´nth might not last for ever but...I want to see where it goes. Please, I want the chance to do it."

"Oh Robin...I..I´m sorry, we´re not trying to break you up. I just so don´t want you to make a mistake. You really do love him, don´t you?" softly enquired the brunette, wiping a tear away from her own eyes.

"Yes." stated Robin, rising from the bed now that his laces where tied tightly. Face wiped free from the tears, he sniffled into a tissue while offering the box from his bedside table to Cordelia.

Hands smoothing down the front of his pale slacks, he asked the woman if he was presentable, earning himself rolled eyes and a snort from the older human.

"Yes..Of course. Come on, he´s probably already down in the kitchen and having a stress attack because you´re not down there yet...I wonder how he went today?" mused the brunette as Robin tried not to show how much he wanted to run down the stairs. God, if all had gone well with W´nth, Xander should be back in the Hyperion the next day. The demon had met with a few of his friends who knew which demons had brought some of the other boys, Scott, Aiden and Ashley, the last two being sold together.

W´nth wasn´t too sure where the rest of the boys were but had been horribly distressed when he had learnt about Todd´s death, vowing to help Angel get the others back, something that had helped the demon become somewhat accepted. Surprisingly, it hadn´t been that hard to do. The lightly furred male was one of the nicest people that Cordelia had ever known. Still, with that in mind, she had asked everyone to keep an eye on Christopher whenever the demon was visiting the hotel as she wasn´t too sure what would happen if they were left alone together and she really didn´t want to find out either.

Smiling to herself again, the brunette woman felt the excitement well up again at the thought of Xander returning to the Hyperion. She knew that everyone else was excited as well. Christopher had been asking when the younger man would be back every waking minute that he wasn´t occupied with reading to the twins. Angel and Spike however, had acted weirdly upon learning that Xander would be back at the hotel in only a few days. Spike had growled, snapped and snarled at everyone who tried to tell him it wasn´t a good idea for him to help collect Xander from his buyer. The blond demon had steadily worked himself into what could only be termed as a fit of hysterics, vampire style.

After yelling and insulting everyone hadn´t worked, Spike had vamped out and started making odd little whine/growl noises that rattled right in the back of his throat, looking directly at Angel. The two vampires had stared at each other for a good minute, Angel being silent while the smaller demon continued to make the thick watery sounds. In a move almost too quick to register, Angel had suddenly been only a few inches away from his Childe, standing in front of him also in full game–face. Cordelia still didn´t really believe what had happened next. Angel had spoken to the younger male in a firm voice, full of command. He had said only two words. ´Childe´ and ´No´, and without one bit of argument, Spike had dropped his head and nodded, the whining noises stopping instantly.

Cordelia knew she hadn´t been the only one staring at the vampires, and she also knew that she wasn´t the only one wondering just how Angel had made Spike obey him without beating him into the ground.

Tomas´ Inner Workroom

Same time

"Well, thank goodness that´s all done!" exclaimed the bone–weary Warlock. Arms lifted from his sides, he flexed his fingers while rotating his wrists to alleviate the muscle soreness. Something that he felt in every fibre of his body. Shoulders also rotated a few times, he winced as he heard the bones creak and groan before finally feeling a crack between his shoulder blades when he hugged his arms to his chest in a tight grip.

"Ahhhhhh...sooooo goooood. Bloody tired though."

Neck cricked from side to side a few times, the dark–haired male awkwardly rose from his knees to his feet, swaying a little as the blood rushed to his head. His legs made themselves the centre of attention as pins and needles scurried their way from his buttocks to the very tips of his toes. Lip bitten in an effort not to start squealing from the unpleasant experience, Tomas stiffly walked around the blood drenched room, feet squelching in the soggy wet carpet.

He was thankful that most of the hard work was over now. All the souls that Wolfram and Hart wanted were now stored in their transitional vessels, a place that they would stay before being combined into one soul and transferred into the appropriate host.

"Soul of Blood....yep.." snorted the Warlock, smug in the knowledge that there was no way for the law firm to keep an eye on him, not with all the cloaking magic at work. He still had no idea of why the senior partners wanted to dabble in something so stupid but then again, as long as he got paid, then Tomas really didn´t care. Who cared how many psychos and insane genius´ were crammed into one body? Taking a long slow look around the small room, Tomas was once again astounded at how much blood had been used in the rituals. Almost a pint for each soul had been splashed around the room, coating the floor, ceiling and walls, not to mention his own entire body.

The blood that had called forth all the required souls had brought the darkest aspects of the personalities to full fruition, binding them to the forefront of the soul while all the more ´human´ qualities had been suppressed to the point of being non–existent. Whoever was going to host the ´soul´, was going to be certifiably insane once the body adjusted properly. With the type of personality mix of the souls that had been cast into their temporary homes, Tomas wouldn´t be surprised if the host broke free within a year and managed to destroy most of America single handedly. Of course, Tomas would be hopefully closer to finding his brother and returning them both to England before jumping to a much safer dimension.

With a sigh, Tomas knew that he would have to rest for at least another week or two for him to be strong enough to start the search for the one born without a soul. The pins and needles finally beginning to diminish a little, the Warlock took a look around the deep crimson room, wondering how long it would take April to finish cleaning the blood from the walls and ceiling. Bare foot raised, he grimaced slightly as the thick liquid dripped from his small toes. He needed a shower and then a long soak in a bath with some camomile oil to help him relax and the carpet certainly needed replacing.

A groan as he glanced at the fifty two various statues and bowls that currently hosted the souls and Tomas caught himself thinking about how long it was going to take him to actually pinpoint the correct host. He would have to cast the spell world wide first and then each day, he would have to tweak it in order to narrow the spell down. It had to be done very gently so as not to tear the spell apart or even let it develop a minute rip, he would have to have patience. He only hoped that the senior partners would continue to be so willing to give him space and time.

They were not ´people´ that he wanted to get impatient.

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