Road to Recovery 7
Everything was going so well.
All according to plan, when things were going to stuff up, Lindsey really didn´t want to know or be around if Holland hit the roof.
But so far, so good.
Fingering the list of people that were holed up in the Sunnydale store, the lawyer smiled as he thought of the numerous bonuses he would recieve if it all panned out. He shook his head when he caught himself feeling torn between getting a silver BMW or a one of the new edition Land Rovers in racing green. Stupid really, the BMW would always win out in the end.
"Everything all right Mr. Mc Donald?"
"Yeah, fine. Everything ready to rock and roll?"
As the army green clad man nodded, Lindsey couldn´t help the broad smile that appeared on his face. Hands rubbed together, he knew it was only going to be a matter of minutes before the shit hit the fan. Total payback for his hand and the numerous other humiliations Angel had put him through over the years. His hand was no longer a problem thanks to the firms warlock, Tomas. How he had managed to find the lawyer another hand so like his real one, Lindsey had no idea but he wasn´t going to complain about the small tattoo on the inside of the wrist.
Little over 3 weeks ago, Lindsey had woken up from an intense dream that him shaking and shivering in a cold sweat. One that had seen him go through the whole experience of having another hand grafted onto his stump, he hadn´t felt any pain but he had been awake through the whole ordeal. It wasn´t until he had run the fingers of his hand through his hair that he had realised just what had happened. It had still been a habit to try and finger his hair with the hand that had been cut off, normally he was able to stop himself just before he raised his arm too much. Unfortunately some mornings, he was just too tired to realise what he was doing, resulting in him rubbing his stump through his hair. Quite a horrible sensation. Three weeks ago, the dream had proved real. He had his hand back and he had found Tomas sitting in the kitchen, drinking Lindsey´s expensive imported coffee from Africa. A few spluttered questions directed at the warlock and Tomas had ignored them all to instead tell Lindsey the price for the new hand.
Only seconds later, Lindsey had agreed to the price. Afterall, he didn´t give a shit about the vampire. What Tomas did to the demon once it had been delivered into the dark haired mans living quarters was his own business. The one point they had agreed on was that the vampire was to be exterminated if it proved to be too much trouble.
Too much trouble?
Snorting to himself, Lindsey knew he could count on the demon being a right pain in the arse. He felt slightly sorry for the vampire, Tomas was one creepy arse man. He wasn´t even the firms original choice of warlock but Tomas was proving to be most useful and if the man wanted a reward for all his good service then Lindsey knew his boss Holland would approve of one. Their original choice had been caught by some top secret military operation called the Iniative. Ethan Rayne hadn´t been seen or heard of since the day he had been caught, the firm´s head honchos had been most unpleasant in dealing with the two lawyers who had been entrusted to get Rayne to work for Wolfram and Hart.
Caroline Finzern had saved herself from being terminated by informing Holland that Ethan had a younger brother. Tomas was a fully fledged worshiper of the dark arts. The firm had known this but had decided to go with the older Rayne who had been a follower of the Lords of Chaos, someone whom the senior partners had deemed more accessable and easier to control than the younger one. Caroline had ulitmately gotten Tomas to work for Wolfram and Hart, a coup on her part. She had enjoyed the bonuses until she had disappeared only a few day´s later.
Lindsey shuddered as he tried not to think of the numerous rumours that abounded about Tomas. Since the day the warlock had started, there had been a quite revolting rumour floating around the upper floors that Tomas used numerous body parts for his incantations. Body parts taken from a living human host. Another prevalent rumour was that Caroline had never come back from a meeting with Tomas. If that was true, Lindsey thought her partner had gotten off with the better deal. All Gerald Winter had received as punishment for his part in the failure to procure Ethan Rayne had been two bullets in his right temple.
Snapping back to reality, the lawyer felt himself get hard as he thought of just how much tonights actions were going to piss off Angel. A few shifts in an attempt to hide his raging hard on, Lindsey gave the go ahead for the action to start. He was seated on a creaky double bed in a rundown motel just on the outskirts of Sunnydale. Only two miles from the one the L.A. team was staying at. Never had he been so close yet so far away and it was frustrating the man. In the room next to him was Tomas, recovering from the extertions of aquiring one of Randall´s possessions. Randall had been made to stay in L.A. while his stolen items were being recovered. The two that had returned to Sunnydale had been easy to recover, Tomas just implanting a suggestion for them to go outside and wait. The same thing they had done for the one staying at the Christian Hostel, five hours past L.A. in the opposite direction.
All boys had gone outside quietly and had proved no trouble for the hired soldiers to collect. The boys were now on their way to the new holding cells along with the child whore. Tomas had had to pull out all the stops with the last one. It seemed that the older watcher had enhanced the buildings immunity to outside magic until it was nearly impossible to penetrate. It had taken the warlock from the time the wake started at quarter to 7 until around half past 11 to break down the barriers. Tomas had admitted that it had been easier to do now that the person who built them was deceased.
Once the barriers were down, Tomas had ´told´ the child that he was tired and to find somewhere quiet to go to sleep. In only a few minutes, the small boy had been curled up alseep behind one of the bookshelves in the far end of the shop. Only then had Tomas displayed just how powerful he really was. The warlock had slowly deconstructed the boys molacules into a barely seen dust cloud. The cloud had floated along the wooden floor and underneath the back door, into the nearby park. A few minutes later, the boy had been standing by himself looking very confused as to what had just happened. The whole effort had knocked the warlock unconcious for a good ten minutes.
Tomas had informed the lawyer that he wasn´t able to do it again for at least 48 hours and by then it would be too late. That had ultimately led to what was about to happen. Seeing the group of hired goons strap on the extra clips for their handguns, Lindsey felt a knot start to clench deep down in his stomach. If anything went wrong, he was sure that his next meeting with Tomas wouldn´t be going too well. Tomas might be still young and only with the firm for just under six years but he had one of the most fearsome reputations already.
With a nod at the leader, he watched as the ex–navy SEAL soldiers pull down their balaclavas and run through the plan once again. A glance at the list still in his hand, Lindsey smiled as he read who was going where.
"Hold still. Xander, please just calm down."
"Spikehomes.s.spikehom.mespik.k.kehomes.s.s.pike."
In between the breathy pants, Xander was reciting his personal mantra, not realising he was elevating the stress levels of everyone surrounding him. Riley and Graham had beaten all speed records in getting the trackers from their hiding place in the cast iron bed frame of Graham´s bed and back to the shop again. While the two former soldiers were trying to implant the tracker, the brunette boy was making things more difficult by shaking continually. The distressing mantra was occasionally overridden by the various snarls and growls by the game faced blonde being held back by Buffy and Angel.
"There! Done, it´s alright Xander. We´ll find you *anywhere*."
"S..s.s.pikehomespikeh.h.h.omespikeh.h..h.....Spike?"
On the count of three, Buffy and Angel let go of the vampire they had wrestled onto the ground and kept there while riding out his struggling. Tara shoved out of the way, Spike grabbed at both his head and the shivering male, dragging him back into the training room all the while snapping and lunging at anyone who looked at them.
"No–one will be a.a.able to tell t.that there w.was a cut. It´s a.all healed up now."
Thanking Riley and Graham, Buffy ran a hand through her hair as she also thanked the blonde witch for the healing spell cast over the spot in Xander´s chest. They had chosen that spot after asking Xander where he had previously been hit the least. Silence and a few quiet swears had echoed around the room when the brunette had stuttered out a reply of that he had been hit everywhere and that different demons had their own favourite spots. The implant had originally been destined to go in either Xander´s upper arm or just inside his groin, the crying boy stunning everyone by telling them that it would most likely get damaged in a few hours if placed in such spots, leading to the youth telling the room that he had been punched and hit by various demons on an almost daily basis.
"I can´t believe that Xander would say that it wasn´t always bad."
Sniffled a watery–eyed Buffy to a breastfeeding Anya. Swapping Aiesha to the other nipple, Anya replied that humans always tried to make the best out of any situation and that Xander had always displayed a natural talent for it. No matter how bad the situation was, Xander had always come up with some witty quip or another reasoning for it to be worse. Just something he had probably done on each day while at Eternal stated the ex–demon to a staring blonde Slayer. Upon being asked how she became so smart, the woman replied that she was currently reading books on how the mind worked in order for when her own girls started to grow up. With a nod, Buffy could see why it was more appropriate for the ex–demon than most people. Anya and tact had so far never met and would never probably be in the same time zone let alone universe. Something that would prove to be embarrassing for the twins in later life.
Angel continued to pace up and down beside Cordelia who was on the phone to Father Ortize at the Christian Hostel. The would be actress was trying to establish just when Jason had been found missing after managing to convince the good Father to talk to her. Angel had originally tried to talk to the sleepy man but had been hung up upon twice after growling and calling the Christian priests a bunch of dickheaded wankers for not keeping an eye on the youth. Cordelia had quickly rung back after giving Angel a piece of her mind and a few slaps across his broad upper arm, slaps that had actually managed to penetrate the thick leather duster although Angel had winced more at the brunette woman´s tone of voice than the pain that had managed to connect through the leather.
Walking back through the curtain barrier to the kitchenette, Doyle wiped his hands on his trousers as Joyce passed him by. To keep out of the way, they had both done the dishes as slowly as possible, the stale sandwiches thrown in the bin as were the numerous odd looking items that Anya had claimed to be appetisers. Just because Graham had eaten some and was still alive, didn´t mean that anyone else was going to. Both passing by Wesley and Willow, they over heard the two arguing if Spike´s chip should be turned off if possible. Wesley arguing that the vampire would just start slaughtering again while the red head was trying to convince the ex–watcher that the vampire could offer Xander very little protection against humans and so far that it was humans that were causing the problems. Needless to say, they were both at stalemate. Each knew that they had valid points.
Doyle wondered where Gunn was, only to start smirking at the muttered curses and gasping coming from where one twin was currently being changed. Although he desperately wanted children with Cordelia, the half demon was still trying to cope with the whirlwind that was Christopher. He considered the man/boy to be good training experience for when his own brood started to emerge. The Irishman wanted only two children and had been aghast when Cordelia had considered four to be the appropriate amount. Doyle had thought that he might have been lucky for his princess to consider one, four had been a totally unexpected amount.
The two ex–soldiers decided to leave the vampire and the boy alone for the time being, just waiting outside the doorway while listening to the soft growling and muted sobs from within the training room. It hadn´t been a nice experience for Xander. There hadn´t been anything to numb the site where the chip had to be placed, Tara having to cast a spell that would freeze the tissue surrounding the brunettes right pectoral muscle, just under the nipple. Graham had just sliced into the cold tissue and flesh with a scalpel found in the first aid box under the kitchenette sink. The cut held open by Riley, the deep in concentration Graham had pushed and twisted the chip underneath the pectoral muscle as far as it would go. The tiny tracker finally resting in the hollow between two ribs, with the thicker muscle lying over the top in protection. Graham had just about sliced off the boys nipple when Xander had started in with the mantra, the former soldier had grown angrier at the people who were reducing the boy into such a terrified state of mind.
Due to the site being frozen, there had been little blood leakage, making the job a lot easier while trying to cope with the boys shaking. Tara had just finished with the healing spell when pushed out of the way by an over anxious vampire. She had felt a moment of sadness when the blonde had grabbed at his head after pushing her. The shove might have startled her but it hadn´t really hurt her at all.
Tara went to sit with Wesley and her girlfriend. The two still arguing magic users had wandered over to Buffy and Anya, each trying to gather supporters to their different sides. Buffy was just starting to look like she was being won over by Willow, something that was amusing to Tara. Anya was listening intently to a madly gesturing Wesley.
"Well, then just call me back on the number I gave you if anyone comes up with any other ideas, ok? Thanks again Father, we really appreciate it and once again, I´m so sorry about my employer´s idiot mouth. Don´t worry, Father, I *will* be talking to him about it. Bye!"
Phone placed down, Cordelia arched a delicate eyebrow in Angel´s direction that promised more than just a talking to. Managing to hide a gulp, Angel instead scowled at Wesley who was now poking his finger at a red faced Willow. Not of the good really, like totally. With a pinch to his own arm, the older vampire told himself that now was not the time to start speaking like he had graduated from Sunnydale High.
SMASH!!!
Everyone froze as the stores large front window shattered into numerous shards, both Buffy and Tara sinking down to the ground at the same time, their blood spraying through the shop as their heads exploded. Only seconds later, the screams started from inside the main shop and the training room. Amid the screams, Angel, Riley and Graham were bellowing for everyone to stay where they were as the shop played host to dancing red beams. Years of practice of being placed in danger kicked in for everyone, the horrified humans and demons battling with the effort to stay where they were while trying not to go and help their fallen comrades.
Silence descended upon the Magic Boxes main room as the red beams stilled upon seven different people. Angel, Willow, Gunn, Riley, Cordelia and Wesley all had a red dot lazily tracing over their faces. The only sound was Xander´s screaming coming from the training room, backed up by the almost deafening snarling by Spike. Slowly it became clear what was happening as four black clad figures came through the shattered front window, glass crunching underneath the army boots. Three had two hand held laser sighted guns equipped with silencers each, while the fourth was holding a much larger automatic rifle. Hearing the back door being opened, no one was surprised when four other figures joined the rest in holding guns at the Scooby and L.A. teams.
"Everybody kneel with hands on heads."
It was then that everybody started to tell the balaclava wearing men that they wouldn´t get away with what they were doing and that they would be hunted down and tortured like the sick fucks they were. The one who seemed in charge smiled slightly as he pointed at Anya and then Gunn, giving them the number Two each.
"Silence. Kneel with hands on heads."
Everybody was startled when in almost a second, the two former soldiers were in the requested position. With tears running down his face, Riley choked as he told everybody to do the same. The rest of the bewildered and angry group did the same, all the while trying to ignore the continual screaming from behind them.
"Put the children on the ground, two steps in front of you. Don´t worry, nothing will happen to them, we have no interest in them. You will then kneel with hands upon your heads."
Crying, Anya complied with the request. Gontuaran placed next to her sister, Aiesha, by her father. Gunn glared at each soldier in turn, not quite daring to say the vile words he wanted to. With a glance at his wife, he felt himself grow cold as the red beams were pointed at both him and Anya again.
"Ms. Rosenberg, please come forward. Keep your mouth closed and hands on your head."
Hesitantly, Willow got up and shakily walked over to the leader of the men. She couldn´t believe that Tara was dead. She had to be dead, Willow had little bits of grey stuff all over her orange long sleeved t–shirt. Maybe it was mostly Buffy´s brains and not Tara´s?
"You..you murdered Tara!"
"TWO."
In an instant, two quiet snaps rang out in the shop. One ex–demon and one former street kid were removed from the land of the living, their girls totally oblivious to the fact that they were now orphans. Horrified, the kneeling people held in their protests as Riley and Joyce were named number Three each. Unbelieving tears ran down everyone´s faces, Angel´s included. The screaming from the training room was quickly muffled, Spike´s Own growling lowering to a level that only Angel could hear. His Childe might be a barely controllable demon at times but this was where the Twilight Instructions were really kicking in. Xander had to be protected at all times and if getting the boy to be quiet was what helped do that, then Spike was going to make sure that no one heard the boy´s screams.
"Better. Ms. Chase, get up and come forward. You will keep your mouth closed and your hands on your head."
Cordelia got up from her knees, fearing that at any moment she would be on the floor in a dead faint. She had seen demons and people killed over the years but never before had she seen it done with such coldness. For once, she managed not to say anything and slowly crossed the floor after looking at a bug eyed Doyle, a slight shake of her head warned him not to say or do anything.
"Ms. Chase, Ms. Rosenberg. Take a child each and go outside. Walk into the middle of the street and wait. Don´t move or say anything once you are outside or the number Four will be handed out."
Tears choked back by both women, they quickly gathered a gurgling girl each in shaky arms and walked through the front door held open for them by one of the soldiers. Only a minute later, five vans pulled up out side the shop, stopping directly in front of the two women and children.
"Mr Doyle, please get up and come forward. You will keep your mouth closed and your hands on your head."
Francis Doyle could feel the shock just starting to settle in and after a glance at his employer, he could see that Angel wasn´t far behind him. As he was told to go out side, he saw Willow collapse boneless onto the street after being jabbed at by the driver of one of the vans, Cordelia now holding both girls. Upper arm grabbed by another black clad man, he didn´t protest his being shoved into the back of one as he watched Cordelia led to a separate van to his. His last glance before the van door was locked, was of Willow being lifted and thrown into the back of a van, a man getting in the back with her.
"Mr William the Bloody. Please bring Scott out here. Keep your mouth closed and hands on your head."
The moments ticked by as they waited for Spike and Xander to make an appearance. After a minute, the leader of the black clad men sighed and with a nod, he indicated for two men to go and collect the males holed up in the back room. Angel sensed that this would probably be the only opportunity he would have to make a move. With two of the men occupied with Spike and Xander, the vampire started to slowly get to his knees as he saw that no one was looking in his direction. A glance at Wesley and he saw that the former watcher had also calculated the odds. The frightened human was trying to summon up the will to attempt a spell casting, his fingers making slight movements as his lips barely moved to whispered words.
Just as Angel managed to be almost standing, he found himself staring down the barrel of the automatic rifle.
"You know that was the wrong thing to do, don´t you. NO! Do not answer that. We are almost done here so I don´t see the need for more bloodshed."
Angel stayed silent as he glared game faced at the smirking male. Only seconds later, the vampire was rolling on the floor as both his kneecaps were shattered by shots from the rifle. God, he was hurting more than he had in years. It was taking all his efforts not to scream out loud, worried about the number Four being allocated. He was sure that either Wes or Spike were going to be allotted as a number Four, nevertheless, quiet groans of pain radiated from him.
A thump on the floor signalled Joyce´s faint over not being shot for Angels stupidity. Graham and Riley stayed where they were, jumping slightly at the gut wrenching screams from Xander as he was led out by one of the gunmen. What really made their stomachs turn was the way Spike was dragged from the back room. From the large rip through the black jumper attiring the man handling the vampire, it looked like the vampire had actually managed to attack the threat to Xander.
The blonde vampire´s body was twitching and jumping around on the floor as if he was being shocked continually by a taser. Blood was dripping from the pale nose and with a massive jerk of the body, Riley saw that there was blood leaking from both ears as well. Spikes eyes had rolled back into his head, only the whites showed as the body shook and rolled around on the floor.
"Vans."
At that word, one of the men continued to lead Xander toward the two vans parked out side, the other three having already driven off after being loaded with their intended goods. The urine soaked youth was followed by two of the gunmen dragging the vampire. The remnants of the Scooby Gang and L.A. Team watched in shock as they were placed in separate vans.
"You. I said silence."
Wesley was terrified at being caught out trying to mutter an incantation. It hadn´t been going too well anyway, his voice needed to be louder to get any real effect, he knew that but had been unable to stop himself from trying. Coming to an abrupt halt, he stared as the leader of the black clad men came towards him. Told to close his eyes and open his mouth, he found himself frozen until Joyce had three red dots dancing over her face. In an instant, he complied thinking he was going to get a mouthful of pepper spray or something for daring to break the silence.
Grimacing as a few gloved fingers grasped onto his tongue, Wesley felt a quick burn as his tongue was yanked out of his mouth and held tight. Only a moment later, he was trying to scream as best as he could without a tongue. Angel was snarling and yelling threats at the remaining black clad men as they went on to remove the former soldiers trigger fingers. Groans and swearing filled the Magic Box as the two men were allowed to try and stem the blood streaming from their stumps.
"Angel. You will return to L.A. with what´s left of these people and wait for further orders. You all have four days to pack your things and return to the hotel and that includes the Slayers mother. You will heed what the person who contacts you says. Consequences will be grim if you don´t."
With that, Angel was told he could now make a move towards his stricken lover, he stuffed Wesley´s shirt as much as possible into the bleeding mans mouth, ignoring the agony rolling through his own destroyed knees each time he moved. The former watcher´s hands scrabbling at his mouth in a desperate act to try and make the pain go away. Graham and Riley sat and watched as the last of the gunmen split into two groups and were driven away from the shop in the remaining two vans.
Everything had happened in less than twenty minutes, so quick and yet so devastating.
A check that Joyce was alright, Graham could faintly hear an ambulance coming in their direction. If it got there fast enough, then Wesley might be able to be saved if both he and Riley managed to convince Angel to let go of his boyfriend. With a rapidly blood soaked shirt wrapped around his right hand, Graham found his gaze focused on Wes´ tongue lying on the floor, his stomach churning, while Riley had crawled over to Buffy and was cradling the dead girl in his arms. Dimly, all were aware of the arrival of sunshine outside.
What the hell were they going to say the police?
Continue onto the next in the series: Lindsey´s Angel´s
