Lindsey´s Angels 15
March 8, 2005
10.23 a.m.
Hyperion Hotel
"Everything ready?" asked a grim faced Angel.
"Not a problem, we´re ready right now actually." answered Wesley icily, gesturing at Joyce.
"Sure that the room´s secure?"
"For God´s sake Angel, do stop harping on about it," snapped Wesley irritably. Both he and Joyce had worked on securing the training room for two solid days after Joyce´s first meeting with Randall. They had strengthened the wards that prevented anyone bar Joyce and Wesley performing magic in the room. In addition to that, Wesley had implemented a spell that would make the room untraceable to any magic user, Joyce and himself not included. Even though the two magic users had done all they could to make the room secure, there was still the possibility that someone could tear down the wards and spells encircling the room provided the witch or warlock was strong enough.
It was a possibility that continued to play on everyone´s nerves, Angel´s most of all. The vampire was paranoid that either Randall or Lindsey would slip through their fingers again.
The gag that had been forced between Lindsey´s teeth prevented him from screaming at Angel to just get it over with. He had waited long enough. Once the car had stopped, both he and Randall had been hauled none too gently through the Hyperion´s front doors. There had been people standing around the huge lobby. Lindsey had recognised each and every one of them. Of course he had, he had fucked them all over once, if not twice. Angel had led him through the middle of everyone, Lindsey feeling the ice–cold finger of fear tracing along his spine.
He had done a double take when he fully took in just who was included in the group of people. The half demon that Tomas was having such trouble finding and Miss Chase who should still have been trapped in a winter wonderland on the other side of the earth. He had known that Doyle was back at the Hyperion but seeing him again in the flesh was another matter entirely. As Angel had dragged him passed the eerily quiet gathering, Cordelia had started to screech about how angry she was and how Lindsey was going to get what was coming to him, the whole room erupting into similar threats and promises. With an ear splitting snarl, she had told her blind fiancee just where to aim his fist. The resulting black eye that Lindsey had copped was still throbbing with a vengeance.
Both he and a still unconscious Randall had been taken up to the top floor and into a cool, sterile room. There, they had been tied to the chairs that were waiting for them and left with only the presence of Riley. The smaller soldier, Graham, had taken over for his friend sometime during the early morning. All night, Lindsey had gone over the numerous possible fates that were in store for him, each one worse than the previous. Now, after being left in the chilly room for hours on end, Lindsey desperately wanted to go to the bathroom. Just a small thing he wanted to experience once again before he left the mortal world.
Snapping back to the present, Lindsey gulped nervously as Angel, Wesley and Joyce started to walk towards him. As the trio approached, Lindsey tried to slow down his breathing in an attempt to appear calm and unaffected. A futile attempt as he saw Angel smirk at him. With a muffled curse, Lindsey realised that no matter how he might appear outwardly, the vampire would have no problem detecting just how scared he truly was. "You know Wes, I think Mr McDonald is feeling a little nervous about the ´talk´ we´re about to have with him."
"But Angel, it´s just a friendly little chat. Nothing to be petrified over. I mean, really, what does he think we´re going to do? Beat him? Torture him? Scoop his eyes out?"
"Stop it you two. Angel, Wesley, let´s just get on with it. I don´t want to anywhere near him if it´s possible," whispered Joyce, her eyes misting over as she looked down at man in front of her. This was the man who was responsible for her daughter´s untimely death. She had known that Buffy would have a shorter than normal lifespan and that was cruel, but to have it taken with such violence was unforgivable. She wanted to be gone from the room as soon as possible. It wasn´t that she didn´t want to see Angel and Wesley ´question´ Lindsey, it was that she was unsure of what she would do to the lawyer if she remained in the room for much longer.
"Mr McDonald, Lindsey. Lindsey, I can call you that can´t I? Oh good. I just have to tell you something," said Joyce, her tears breaking free. She unconsciously wiped the tears from her cheeks as she continued. "I hate you. I hate your firm, I hate what you stand for but most of all...I hate *you*. You are the one that murdered my daughter. The men who terrorised us in The Magic Box may have done the actual work but *you* are the one who pulled the trigger, and even though I´m supposed to be the forgiving type... you won´t ever get my forgiveness. I can´t. I hate you and I *know* that you will suffer for all that you have done."
"Joyce?"
"Don´t, Angel. Just, just don´t. I want this over and done with now."
Wide eyed, Lindsey felt his heart rate accelerate as he watched Joyce and Wesley start chanting, all the while they traced patterns in the air in front of them. He didn´t want to watch. Lindsey knew that this was the beginning of the end for him and he was pretty sure that he wouldn´t be leaving the room alive. He didn´t want to watch the two magic users but he couldn´t help his morbid fascination, the dance of their fingers was really quite beautiful in an odd way. The thing which captured his attention was the way Joyce was speaking with the same voice of the Englishman whom he had only met the previous evening.
As the full implications hit him, Lindsey couldn´t help but snigger through his gag. It was just too funny. As he listened to Wesley´s strangled mutterings, Lindsey wondered at the workings of the PTB. They were slippery, no doubt about it. If there was a way to do something, they did it or got someone to do it for them and if there wasn´t, then they invented one. An unexpected moan from Randall drew his attention away from the magic casters. Turning his head to the man beside him, Lindsey noted the dried blood decorating Randall´s head and shirt.
No one had even bothered to clean Randall up or even check if he was all right after being smacked across the head by... well, it looked like Joyce actually. As Randall continued to whimper and moan as he came to, Lindsey emitted his own groan as he realised that Joyce and Wesley had finished their spell casting for the time being. With batedbreath, the nervous man waited for something to happen. Was he going to burst into flames? Was he going to be transported to another reality?
Joyce shook her hands, trying to warm them up a little as she contemplated giving the lawyer another black eye to match the one Doyle had already given him.
"Joyce, can you go and get the others? Thanks." asked Angel as he cracked his knuckles, the joints popping loudly. It was such a tacky thing to do but Angel felt a grim satisfaction of seeing Lindsey flinch at the sound.
With a curt nod, Joyce strode out of the chilly room and down the corridor towards Xander´s room. Joyce wanted to ensure that he hadn´t accidentally caught sight of Randall as both the lawyer and brothel owner had been taken to the fourth floor training room. As she got closer to the last room to her left, she heard low guttural noises coming from within the room.
Steeling herself and taking a deep breath, Joyce stepped slowly into the room and felt her tears well up again as she took in the scene before her. Not saying a word, she watched as Spike sat upon the bed behind Xander, the vampire holding a thrashing and grunting Xander as gently but firmly as possible.
"Is he... asleep?" Joyce asked softly when Spike took a moment to acknowledge her presence. Unable to help herself, she sniffled a little as Spike smoothed his hand over Xander´s unruly hair, his fingers twisting the dark locks gently as Xander´s jerking slowed down.
"Yeah. Out like a light. Boy won´t be awake for while," whispered Spike just as softly only to grunt in surprise as one of Xander´s elbows caught him in the side. He hesitated for a few moments before releasing his hold on the sleeping boy´s wrists. As he let go, Xander rolled onto his side, curling into a tight ball, the harsh grunting becoming softer until Xander´s breathing indicated that he was once again in the grips of a deep sleep.
Spike missed the warmth of Xander´s body against his chest almost immediately and wondered just how many times he would have to place himself in between Xander and the wall in the months to come. Sighing, he checked that his charge was truly asleep before gently moving off the soft bed. Clothes pulled straight again, Spike made his way over to Joyce.
"Is he always like that? So... troubled?"
"The grunting´s new, he´s never done that before. What´s happening with those fucking cunts you got stashed in the practice room?" snarled Spike, his gameface flickering swiftly across his features as he felt months of resentment and anger reach new heights. To have both the lawyer and the pimp under the same roof as him and not being allowed to join in on the questioning was something that he was feeling more and more bitter about as each minute went by.
Spike acknowledged that the reason for not being seen by either men was a good one and one that he heartily agreed with. No one was going to give either Randall or Lindsey the slightest hint that Spike was in the same hotel as them. If by some remote chance that one of them managed to escape; then it would be disaster all round if Wolfram and Hart both knew who and where the soulless one was.
The reasoning did nothing to change the fact that Spike wanted to be present in the room, wanted to goad his Sire and each of the other men into physically attacking the two captives. Getting them to do what he was unable to. A soft touch on his shoulder and he turned his attention back to the woman standing beside him.
"On second thoughts, don´t bloody well tell me. If I´m not *allowed* to join in on the fun then I don´t want to fucking know about it," snarled Spike, his hands clenching in rage. With all nerves tingling from the unfairness of it all, the blond wondered just how much his Sire would complain if Spike punched a hole in the wall opposite him. Spike could feel his canines start to elongate at the thought of destroying something. Running his tongue over the sharp tip of one of his fangs, he made the decision to venture down to the gym while Xander was still asleep. Maybe he could take his frustrations out on a helpless rowing machine, shape it into some modern art.
A low rumble sounded through the hotel hallway, startling both Spike and Joyce. With a glance at Joyce, the blond mock–growled at the smiling woman even as he patted at his noisy stomach.
"Had breakfast?"
"Nah. Went down to get some before the Whelp fell asleep again but that prick Leo has smashed the microwave. Didn´t fancy a cold brekkie. The cow´s gone to buy a new one"
"I honestly don´t know what we are going to do with him? Is it me or is he getting worse with each day that goes by?"
"Who the fuck gives a shit? Not our bloody problem. Ship him to the closest loony bin for all I care." retorted Spike, his sneer growing into a wide smile as Joyce sighed at his attitude.
"What on earth am I going to do with *you*?" said Joyce with a laugh. Her spirits lifting a little at the vampire´s trademark acidity, she gave one last sniffle before she steered Spike from the bedroom doorway and towards the stairs.
12.01 p.m.
"We need a bigger car...maybe one of those mini–vans?" stated Cordelia to her fiance. Sitting on top of her old desk, she watched as Doyle entertained a giggling Aiesha. She smiled softly as the toddler squealed with delight, Aiesha clutching at Doyle´s much larger hands as he pretended to grab at her nose, the Irishman only missing the mark every now and again.
"Hello? Hey...Mr ´I´ve got your nose´...are you listening to me?"
"Of course Princess."
"Yeah...then what did I just say? Hmmmm?"
"Ahhhhh.... you were saying something about changing this one´s diaper. Thanks beautiful, you´re just too good to me."
"Well that´s for sure and I was saying we need a bigger car...actually a mini–van. Maybe Angel can trade in his car for a good deal on a new one?" huffed the woman as she hefted the heavy toddler off Doyle´s lap and into her arms. With a sniff at the girl´s bottom, she knew without a doubt that it was time for a new diaper.
"Oh yeah...can just see it now. Angel and Co. to the rescue in the trusty kiddie taming mini–van. It´s gonna do wonders for his reputation, the evil will be dying of laughter," snickered Doyle, listening as Cordelia rummaged around in the bottom of the ever present baby bag. A soft poofing sound reached his ears only seconds before he smelt the baby powder scent the office side of the hotel lobby.
"We could always get him one of those ´Baby on board´ stickers for it. Hang on, evil will still be laughing won´t it?" said Cordelia, laughing along with Doyle. Plastic tabs on each side of the new diaper fastened firmly, she pulled up Aiesha´s leggings and handed the clean toddler back to Doyle.
"Not likely, evil will be staking itself rather than suffer the embarrassment of being offed by a vampire who has ´Sesame Street´s Greatest Hits´ blaring from his ride´s stereo."
"God, I can´t believe that show is *still* going. You know, they´ve actually given the Count a girlfriend now?"
"Cordy...I was jokin´. No such thing as the ´Street´s Greatest Hits´."
"Well duh! Would be good for when our own are old enough to listen to it though," said Cordelia, a large grin plastered across her face as she teased him. After waiting for Doyle to pick up on the words, she realised that her attempt at being subtle was taking a serious nosedive. Stupid idea really, she had never been subtle so it wasn´t as if she should continue trying something that obviously wasn´t working. Taking a deep breath, Cordelia forged ahead, "I´m pregnant."
Her words freezing him in shock, Doyle sat with a squirming Aiesha on his lap. At the little girl´s howl of protest, he quickly lowered her to the floor before leaning back heavily in his chair. Turning his face towards where he had last heard Cordelia´s voice, he tried to think of something to say but all he could think was that he was going to be a father. Not a favoured Uncle or someone who had gotten the job of raising twins by default, but a Daddy to a child all of his own. A slow smile trekked across his face as let the news sink in.
"Cordy... Princess. I, I... Holy Shit... I´m gonna be a Da!"
"Got that right Mister. I´m late by almost a month now and I´m *never* late. Like clockwork," agreed Cordelia, happily nodding her head.
"It´s not stress is it? I heard that too much stress can make a woman a bit... you know, funny? Face it; you got stress. We all got stress at the moment, what with those two up on the top floor," said Doyle, suddenly anxious about how he would cope with an infant in his life. The smile on his face dropped away only to be replaced by a look of sadness as he thought of how he would never be able to see if his child had inherited his green eyes or Cordelia´s Hollywood style smile. In twenty years time, would he even remember what the colour green looked like? With that thought, he couldn´t help but reach a hand up to touch hesitantly at the thick scarring that marred his face.
"What? No way are you dragging *those two* pricks into this conversation. I refuse to think about them until Angel and the others are done with them, and I´m telling you right now that with all the home tests I bought, I´m probably the major shareholder in the company," Cordelia snapped, her own smile disappearing as she felt her heart wrench at the sad look upon her fiancee´s face. A flicker of anger flared up in her as she watched Doyle´s fingers lightly trace over the scarred areas of where his eyes used to be.
She knew that it was going to take a lot longer for the scarred Irishman to be comfortable with how he looked to his friends, let alone outsiders. A grimace settled upon Cordelia´s face as she remembered how upsetting it had been to watch as Doyle had flinched whenever Aiesha and Gonturan had managed to touch his face when they played with him.
True, he didn´t do it much now but the fact remained that he would start to jerk away before forcing himself to relax when she touched his face. It was something that they hadn´t yet talked about. Breaking the silence that had settled over the lobby office, Cordelia ventured to ask a question.
"You´re worried about what the baby will think of your face aren´t you?"
"Of course I bloody well am! Look at me? I´m a fucking freak. I´ll give the kid nightmares not to bloody well mention all the stirring it´s gonna get when I turn up at parent–teacher nights."
"Don´t you give me your self pitying crap and if other parents point fingers at you, they can deal with me and anyway, that sort of thing is years away. We can deal with all that later. We don´t have to now"
"What the fuck do I have to offer a kid? I sit behind a bloody desk every day, answering phones? In between doing that and typing out useless bits of shit just to relieve the boredom, I spend the rest of my time rolling on the friggin´ floor with a blinding headache. Yeah, fucking great ´father´ material," snapped the half–demon, his fears obliterating any joy he was feeling about becoming a father. Steeling himself mentally, he waited for what was sure to be a vicious backlash from the younger woman, only to be surprised when there was none forthcoming. After what seemed like a lengthy silence, Doyle couldn´t keep quiet much longer.
"Cordy?"
"Are the twins scared of your face? Is Christopher? Are any of us? What you look like won´t matter to our child. I´m not going to let you throw in the towel over something like that, you haven´t yet so you sure as hell aren´t going to use *that* as an excuse to do it."
"I´m not giving up... throwing in the fucking towel or doin´ whatever. Cordy, this is so not the right time for a baby or for you to be pregnant. If, if something happens... I *can´t* protect you... help you?"
"Yeah, ´if´. That´s an appropriate word, ´if´," snorted Cordelia as she tried not to let Doyle´s concerns start to worry her. Slowly, she walked over towards the desk that he was still sitting at. Cordelia pushed numerous bills out of her way before sitting down on top of it.
"Fuck! I couldn´t even help you before. Even with me eyes, you know?" said Doyle, his words tapering off to a whisper as he let Cordelia remove his hands from his face. With a sigh, he joined his fingers with her slightly longer ones and felt his fears lessen as he took comfort in Cordelia´s close presence.
"No one could have helped before. *God.* I know it... Joyce knows it. Everyone including you knows it. It happened and there´s nothing we can do about that apart from beating the crap out of the guys who did it when we find them."
"I know. I know," he murmured as Cordelia slid from the desk top onto his lap. Shifting in his seat so that they were both comfortable, Doyle asked where Aiesha was, his solemn statement lifting into a soft smile when he was told that the toddler had ventured towards the kitchen and Spike.
"What´s a bet her every second word will start with ´F´ in another five minutes?"
"Pfffft! Not as if she isn´t going to learn it from school when she´s older anyway? This way, our girls are going to be the stars of the school. Setting the trend with each step."
Both Doyle and Cordelia felt the tension between them drift away with their laughter over Spike´s influence when it came to the twins. As they felt themselves relax into each other, a comfortable silence drifted down upon the lobby office, the two of them making the most of a few quiet minutes together. The time drifted by slowly, only interrupted now and again by muffled shrieks of laughter coming from the direction of the kitchen. With each laugh, the engaged couple couldn´t help but giggle a little themselves, both wondering just how Spike was entertaining the toddler.
"Hey Princess, we better get the kid back before Spike encourages her to seek out the dark side."
"Yeah right and let´s look at how well a career in evil has worked out for that bleached idiot shall we? Please, he´s more harmless than a geriatric hamster."
"Remember what happened the last time Ginny was left alone with him for more tha... Ahhhhhh... Jesus!"
Clutching both hands tightly to the sides of his head, Doyle barely registered the fact that Cordelia had leapt from his lap and was now awkwardly rubbing his shoulders. His face scrunched into a tight grimace as wave after wave of agony flowed around his mind; Doyle tried to makes sense of what his latest vision was showing him.
"White walls.... Ugh... Bed, one bed... Someone in the room... Holy fuck this hurts... Ummmmm, nothing but white... It´s so *bright* like all the lights are on... Ooooohhh... It´s a guy, never seen him before... What the fuck?"
"What? What do you mean ´what the fuck´?" demanded Cordelia, rubbing the back of Doyle´s neck in attempt to stop the usual after vision stiffness from taking a secure hold. With long firm strokes, she ran her fingers up and down his nape, only just touching on his shoulders.
"This is too fucking weird!"
"God Doyle, just tell me?"
"It´s raining. It´s raining *in* the desert. Thunder, lightening and rain, the whole show but nothing is getting wet. Its like it´s not real. It´s not right. Cordy?"
"Yeah?"
"The white room. It´s raining in there as well but everything looks bone dry. Everything but that guy, he´s soaking wet."
Wolfram and Hart
Secure Room 5
Clearance level – Alpha Prime
2.57 p.m.
Soon.
Only days to go.
Everything was prepared and the only thing left to do was to wait until the locating spell had finalised a destination point for the numerous souls that had been procured.
They were feeling odd, unusual. There was an emotion flowing through their bodies, one that had been felt only on a mere handful of times previously, each of the Original Senior Partners were at a loss as to how to describe just which emotion it was they were currently experiencing.
A dull roar echoed through the pitch black chamber as the ´youngest´ of them, instead of being able to identify the emotion, it allowed itself to grow frustrated at its confusion. As the booming sound echoed around the otherwise empty room, the ´eldest´ Original Senior Partner merely sneered and curled one of its many lips into a gesture of superiority, a gesture that was unknowingly copied by it´s favourite companion.
"Yes, I know. It must be so exciting to see your many years of waiting finally coming to a close," beamed Holland as he rubbed his hands together in an effort to hide how they were shaking. Standing to the one side of the huge room, Wolfram and Hart´s public face wanted nothing more than to seek comfort and reassurance in the arms of his wife. As much as he appreciated just how much the Originals had done for both his personal life and career, nothing would ever make just a single second in their presence palatable. Gone were the times in which he had been bedridden for days after just five minutes in their presence, shaking and delirious from the shock of being exposed to the Originals´ odour. Now, Zachary Holland was well used to the after effects of a visit to the top floors of Wolfram and Hart but try as he might, he could never get comfortable being in their presence.
In all the years he had served them, he had never once seen them. Smelt them, touched them, tasted them but never seen them.
That particular gift was reserved for the one who would host the ´Soul of Blood´. Someone whom each hour was a step closer to being identified.
A solid crash to his left signalled that it was time for Holland to take a step forward and as he did, Holland wondered just what he would have to do this time. As the bile rose in the back of his throat, he reminded himself to start getting Lindsey McDonald prepared for his first meeting with the Original Senior Partners. Arms open wide, Holland felt his shoe brush against something soft on the ground in front of him. His shudder hidden as best as possible, he felt a flash of compassion for Lilah Morgan. Too bad she hadn´t continued to show the same promise she had when she had first been hired. Another step forward, Holland promptly forgot about what was left of the woman as he opened his mouth and tilted his head back, waiting for the inevitable.
Its huge head raised from its comfortable position on the wool carpet, the ´middle aged´ Original Partner ran the human´s words through its mind a few more times. Excited. It knew that it had felt such an emotion before. Was this what it was feeling? It had been hundreds of years since it had been able to identify such simple things like a single emotion.
Excitement.
The word rolled off its tongue in an uncomplicated pattern, the snarl smothering the cries of ecstasy from the lone human. It liked the word. It would keep the identity of the emotion to itself, ignoring the glances of the other two Originals as its scent mellowed from confused to calm.
Not long now.
Just a few more days and then all three would be free from having to mingle with the ´insects´ that had overrun what had once been such a promising plane of existence.
