Best Laid Plans, a Lindsey story by Glacis. Rated NC17, no copyright
infringement intended.
Apocalypse. Well, that
explained a lot.
Lindsey'd always known, in
the back of his mind, that he was expendable. So it didn't come as much of a
shock when Mr. Hart, senior partner and heavy dabbler in some of the stranger
Moon Magick, informed him of the fact to his face. He felt Lila flinch beside
him.
She'd always had delusions of grandeur and a mistaken belief in her own
longevity.
Lindsey was different. He didn't believe he would be sacrificed to the
greater good, because he didn't believe in a greater good. He knew damned well
he could be sacrificed to win. Winning was, after all, the only thing that
counted. He'd known that since he was four years old. The risks had simply
grown.
So had the rewards.
In the hours after Hart and Lila left, the shadows grew long outside his
office window. Not that he noticed. He was so used to living in the shadows it
felt like night even in broad daylight. Perhaps that was why he hadn't minded
when he thought Darla was going to kill him. Not because he thought she might
love him.
He wasn't that stupid.
But because it hadn't felt right. He'd thought he was going to die, but something was unfinished,
something important, and so when he regained consciousness he hadn't been as
surprised as he expected. Pleased, yes. A little relieved, no
doubting that. But not particularly surprised.
Whatever was waiting in the wings was big, and it wasn't finished with
him quite yet.
Lindsey stared into the deceptive halo created by the lights below and
around him, leaning his forehead against the cool pane and letting his gaze
rove over the nightscape of
Sounded like bad advertising copy. Even to himself.
Plans chased themselves in loops through his mind, tying his thoughts
into Gordian knots and leaving him trussed in the tangle of illogic that
planning around Angel always produced. Lindsey had a sharp mind, and a devious
one. Angel had more practice, and if his recent actions were any gauge, just as
few scruples. Lindsey winced internally at the mental image he'd gotten when
he'd read the report of the latest rampage. Killing a dozen bloodthirsty demons
was one thing.
Deliberately torching both his sire and his childe was something
altogether different.
Something very like Angelus. Completely unlike Angel. Yet the vampire
hadn't gone on a rampage. Hadn't sought vengeance. Appeared to be making complicated, solitary plans, and executing
them with clear-eyed precision, while still nominally in the service of the
Light. That was the hallmark of Angel's soul, not Angelus' cunning.
All of which led Lindsey precisely where he'd started. With no good idea
at all to ensure that Angel stayed in the shadows until the final showdown,
then came through when it counted. For the Firm. Against the Light.
Gusting out a sigh, then drawing squiggles in the resulting fog on the
glass with the tip of his finger, he broke the problem down, peeling away
superfluous layers. At the heart of the struggle was the final goal. Angel had
to be brought to Wolfram and Hart's side. Or at the least,
drawn away from the Powers that Be. Now that the Oracles were dead and
the current Messenger wasn't a conduit to the Powers, merely an instrument of Them, there was a small communication gap in the
infrastructure of Angel's organization.
He could work with that.
Running Angel's history through his mind, before and after the advent of
his soul, both times, Lindsey manipulated facts like pieces of a giant jigsaw
puzzle until a pattern began to emerge. Angel's soul was a hardy one. It had
survived a trip to hell, losing every vampiric love
he'd had and walking away from the only human love he'd admitted. Angelus'
demon was a wily one. It was chained by the soul but not defeated by it, or
Angel would never have been able to wreak the havoc he recently had on Darla
and Dru. It was also insatiable. Debauchery and
bloodlust barely held in check by the thin thread of Light binding it in place.
He could work with that, too.
Lindsey smiled, no humor but a great deal of
appreciation in it. Angel couldn't be bribed into falling off the righteous
path. He couldn't be forced into it without it backfiring on everyone around
him. Lindsey's mind replayed the recent debacle of a fund-raiser which should
have netted his Firm two million dollars and instead left them in the red and
his own credibility in jeopardy. Angel couldn't even be tricked into it,
although Lindsey had a sneaking suspicion Lila was hard at work trying to find
a trick that would work.
Angel had proven he could be tempted into it. Seduced
into it.
Examining that thought from every angle, a seasoned eye probing a
multifaceted gem for any fatal flaw, Lindsey felt his smile broaden into a
grin. With proper planning and careful execution, sprinkled with a few
Oscar-worthy performances, he could pull this off. He knew he could. And when
he did, Angel would be precisely where the senior partners wanted him to be.
Lindsey would be on top. Lila would be dead.
Life would be good.
Turning his back on the glow of
The first opportunity to put his plan in motion was crucial, and he
spent a lot of time and effort to ensure that it would go exactly as planned. A
nest of Iounier demons was sacrificed to the cause,
not that they or anyone other than Lindsey himself knew they were a sacrifice.
As far as they knew, they were acting on orders, and only Lindsey knew they'd
never collect their pay. Frugal as well as efficient.
As far as the bait knew, he was meeting a cute girl behind a bar to continue
their conversation and maybe bang up against the wall. As far as Cordelia Chase knew, her vision was true, and the gang was
saving an innocent.
While they were playing White Knights in
It paid to have spies. Lindsey's intelligence network was a thing of
wonder.
The Grolek demons Dru
had been feeding bits of scalp and fleshy bones to snarled
in unison at Angel's intrusion. He took out the first two relatively easily,
but the third one had a stake. It also had orders from Lindsey. It ignored Dru's high-pitched demands to leave her sire alone, exactly
as it was supposed to do, and back-handed her hard enough to break her neck,
shutting her up for a little while. Taking her out of the
action.
Lindsey's cue.
Angel twisted in place, knocking the Grolek to
its knees before it could stake Dru, also as ordered.
Two more Grolek came out of the shadows. The timing
was impeccable.
Caught in a three-pronged attack, protecting his childe from the stake,
unable to allow another to kill her as he was unable to kill her himself, Angel left a hole in his defense. It nearly caused
a hole in himself. Regardless of the extra training
he'd no doubt been doing, as Lindsey'd never seen him
move so quickly and surely, the odds were simply too high. The third and fourth
Grolek were down when the fifth put his stake
directly where Angel's heart should have been.
Lindsey stopped it with a single gunshot that shattered its hand an
instant before the stake could impact its target. Angel took advantage of the Grolek's distraction by ripping out its throat, ending the
howl it gave before it could fully escape.
Hunched over Dru's slowly-healing body, Grolek esophagus in one hand and spike dripping gore in the
other, Angel stared silently at Lindsey. Lindsey stared back. Then he turned
and walked away. Without saying a word.
First objective met. The plan was in motion.
He allowed fifteen days to pass before he moved again. Patience would
win him this race, if nothing else could. Well, patience and imagination. And
sheer balls.
The second time Lindsey put Angel in danger was a reverse sting. He set
himself up as bait. Carefully leaked the time and place of a gathering of Pelter demons, at the bequest of Wolfram and Hart, in a
place Angel was sure to overhear it. His planning was meticulous and his
performance was stellar.
Pitching his voice to carry to the edge of the shadows where he knew
Angel was lurking, Lindsey schooled his expression to impassivity and stepped
up on a handy crate. With the streetlight in the alley shining down on him he
felt a moment of vulnerability and let it fill him. He had to sell this. Had to
make damned sure Angel bought it. Patience was all well and good, but he didn't
know how much time he had left and he needed to get this plan in motion.
"The target is a detective with the LAPD," he lied smoothly.
The Pelter gang perked up. They liked bashing cops.
Bright orange eyes gleamed up at him. "She's getting too close, and she
needs to be shut down before she gets any closer. Her name's Lockley."
As if reading from a script, Angel picked up his cue beautifully and
stepped menacingly from the shadows to flank the pack of demons. "I don't
think so, Lindsey," he growled softly.
Lindsey let his eyes widen then narrow, allowing a sneer to pull his
lips into a grimace. "Get the hell out of here, Angel, this isn't your
fight!"
Responding like a well-trained Rottweiler,
Angel snapped, "It is now!" and swung into battle. Lindsey jumped off
the crate an instant before it was crushed to splinters. Ducking behind three
struggling bodies and weaving through the crowd, he hesitated, bouncing very
lightly on the balls of his feet, waiting for the right moment to intervene.
For once, luck was on his side, and his demons did precisely what was expected
of them. They almost all died.
Almost.
The second to last Pelter standing whipped a
mace from the side of his jacket and flung it directly at the back of Angel's
head. Lindsey timed it perfectly, launching himself at Angel and rolling him
over and out of the way of the deadly blade. They landed, Angel sprawled flat
on his back and Lindsey draped over him like an octopus, just as the final Pelter threw his knife at the place where Angel had been
standing. The mace that should have decapitated Angel hit the knife-throwing Pelter with a dull thud, splitting him open like ripe
fruit, and the knife he threw impacted the mace-throwing Pelter
in the center of the throat, drowning him in his own blood with the next breath
he tried to take.
Perfect.
Breathing shallowly through his mouth, in part from the adrenaline rush
and in part to keep from gagging on the stench of Pelter
gore, Lindsey buried his face against Angel's chest for a minute and let himself shake. The best lies were those which held a kernel
of truth, and the kernel that would sell this to Angel was Lindsey's own
reaction. So for once he let himself ride the wave of emotion and didn't try to
stifle it completely.
Besides, it gave Angel a moment to reflect on what had just happened.
He'd just had his ass saved from death at the hands of Wolfram and Hart demonic
soldiers ... by Lindsey McDonald. Again. After several
moments of waiting and trembling Lindsey finally heard Angel clear his throat.
"Why did you save my life?" The obvious
question. Of course. It was Angel, after all.
Lindsey managed not to smirk.
"'Cause I'm hot for you, what'd you think?" He managed to
sound like a smart ass while thinking the steamiest thoughts he could, trusting
Angel to smell the arousal on him, no doubt mixed with sweat, fear, maybe even
some of that stinky mortal terror he'd described before. Not waiting for an
answer, Lindsey pushed himself up off Angel.
Who sat up, stared at him like he'd just grown three heads, then shook himself like an oversized dog coming in from the
rain. Lindsey allowed himself to blush. Then he left with well-calculated
embarrassed haste. He could feel Angel watching him all the way around the
corner. Down the street, into his car. He even felt
those curious eyes on him as he let himself into his new apartment.
He didn't allow himself to smile until he could bury it in his pillow
where his invisible onlooker couldn't see it. The plan was well and truly
underway. He didn't want to blow it now.
The next eleven days were busy. In his new position he didn't appear in
front of a jury any longer, but keeping up with Lila was easily as stressful as
a full caseload had ever been. Now that she realized, as he did, that the only
chance she had of survival was to hitch her wagon to Angel's star, Lindsey had
his hands full keeping her schemes from interfering with his. In addition, he
was hitting the books harder than he'd done since he was cramming for the Bar.
Every plan needed a little insurance. He knew he'd have to find a way to bind
Angel to him even if seduction fizzled. So he looked to the Dark Arts for any
option he could find to lead Angel away from the Light.
Magick wasn't Lindsey's strength, but he could sling a potent spell when
the need arose. Hopefully it wouldn't explode in his face the way the last
major spell had. He couldn't afford to lose too many more body parts. When he
combined what he knew of Angel's history with what he found in the Books of
Shadows, what he discovered was fascinating. The original curse had been
relatively hurried and generally non-specific. Angel found happiness, Angel
lost his soul, Angelus came roaring back.
The spell the
In simpler terms, he couldn't give his heart into the keeping of another
without sacrificing his soul. Lindsey stared down at the flowing script,
tapping the yellowed page with his fingertip. If Angel hadn't been in love with
Buffy ... but he had been, and that had been the end of it. There had been one
instance where he'd been drugged by a client too foolish with lust to realize
what she'd been doing, and Angelus had been allowed a short romp before his
posse chained him to the bed until he sobered up. Unfortunately, that lapse had
nothing to do with a soul in jeopardy and everything to do with rampant loss of
inhibitions. Otherwise the Firm would simply put an LSD drip on Angel's blood
supply and he'd be theirs for the taking.
For a bare instant the thought captured him, then
he regretfully shrugged it off. The problem with a drug-freed Angelus was the
same problem he'd have with a love-freed Angelus. Eventually he'd sober up, and
it was still Angelus.
Which led to the major drawback of his primary
plan, the underlying reason for his desire for insurance, and the pressing need
for Magickal binding. Lindsey didn't trust Angelus not to rip his throat out, drink him dead,
then roar off into the darkness leaving Wolfram and
Hart on its own for the Apocalypse. The only way Lindsey was going to
make it through this alive was to ensure that keeping Lindsey alive was what
Angel wanted. If sex wasn't enough to do it, then spells would have to be.
Bright eyes stared through the barrier between the planes of existence,
studying the intent posture of the lawyer as the mortal sought the best way to
build an unbreakable trap. This wasn't the thing, simply wasn't the thing at
all. They'd have to do something about this. The eyes closed, thick dark lashes
fanning against porcelain pale cheeks, then sweeping
up again as Light traveled through the watcher, bathing the watched, unseen.
This one had depths to him. Could be useful. Could be dangerous. While he'd be a grand ally he posed too
great a threat to the Warrior to be allowed to continue on his present course.
Not without some changes, at the very least. Damned shame, it'd be, to let all
his scheming go to waste, but then, if he'd persist in pissin'
in the wind, he was bound to get wet.
If the mortal wouldn't exist in the service of the Powers that Be, then
he wouldn't exist a'tall.
Steps would have to be taken.
A flash of Light, a rolling of those bright eyes, a fervent wish for a
bottle that was never heeded, and the Servant of the Powers that Be got down to
business.
The third attack Lindsey deflected against Angel came as a surprise to
both of them. He should have known immediately that was a bad sign, but at the
time he was too busy wondering what the hell was going on to realize how deeply
awry the best laid plans of lawyers and wizards could go. Not to mention how
quickly.
One moment he was walking through the parking garage headed for his
Benz. The next moment Angel was prowling toward him like a hungry jungle cat
stalking raw meat. The third moment a human male he vaguely recognized as an
occasional Magickal contractor for the firm -- Ethan
somebody -- was throwing a glowing ball of blue fire at Angel.
Lindsey was moving to intercept before his mind could remind his body
that getting between targeted Magick and the intended target was a supremely
stupid thing to do. He had no idea why he flung his body between Angel and the
threat. Subliminal adherence to his plan, perhaps, or habit,
by this time. Maybe even instinct, although as usual lately his
instincts were severely fucked up when it came to Angel.
The ball of fire hit him like a sheet of lightning. Dimly, he heard a
scream, and thought it must be coming from himself, although he couldn't tell.
All he could hear was crackling as his skin was enveloped in electricity, and
his world collapsed into a single, drawn-out implosion of energy.
Eternity finally ended and, with it, the pain. He took a shaky breath
and looked up, only then realizing three things. One, he wasn't in the parking
garage any longer. Two, he was curled up in a very small ball with his arms
over his head, peeking up through them like a frightened child. Three, he wasn't
alone.
There was a dark-haired, irritated-looking man staring down at him. He
was wearing a blue patterned shirt so bright it was practically neon, a
cardigan in a clashing orange plaid, and scruffy brown trousers. He looked like
a refugee from a Sixties thrift shop.
He was glowing.
His skin was very pale, making his eyes seem
even brighter than they naturally were, and Lindsey got the impression they'd
been pretty bright to begin with. He had a half-smile on his face that didn't
reach those pissed-off eyes, and a careful slouch in his posture that wasn't
matched by the intent stare he was giving Lindsey.
Slowly, with no idea what the hell was going on, Lindsey uncurled and
sat up. Then he stood, dusting off his slacks with shaking hands. He started to
challenge his apparent kidnapper, then froze.
Looked down at his hands against the dark gray wool
of his slacks.
Both hands.
Neither of them plastic.
"What the fuck is going on?" He couldn't look away from his
right hand long enough to address his captor.
"Now, that's the sixty four thousand dollar question, innit?"
The Irish brogue tickled Lindsey's ear. He finally ripped his gaze away
from his miraculous new hand and looked at the glowing man. He had to squint.
The light made his eyes hurt.
"Ye've got a choice, now. Make the right
one and ye get to keep yer life, such as it is. We'll
even toss in a nice new mitt there fer ya." The
man nodded at Lindsey's hand and it twitched, making Lindsey jump slightly.
"What are the options?" Ever the negotiator, Lindsey kept his
voice even and his expression cool, masking the apprehension that was making
his stomach crawl up into his throat.
"Well, on the one hand, such as it is," the man winked at him,
and Lindsey blinked, not sure how to take bad puns in his current situation.
The man sighed sadly at his lack of response and continued. "Ye've got the choice to do yer
damnedest to make sure Angel stays on the side o' the angels. You do that, and
ye get ta keep yer hand,
and ye get ta keep yer
life, and I make bloody sure ye don't get shopped by the mind-snoops."
"And if I don't?" Playing cool disinterest for all he was
worth, Lindsey sorted frantically through his mind trying to remember from his
research who would have the power to shield his
thoughts from the Firm's mind readers. He was still trying to puzzle it out
when pure fire struck him, melting his eyes in their sockets, fusing his joints
together, turning his tongue to slag in his mouth even as he tried to give
voice to his agony.
"That'd be the second option," the man said whimsically.
"Hell. Pure an' unadulterated." Lindsey
barely heard him through the screams shredding his brain.
Another eternity later, so much worse than the first, and he was lying,
crying helplessly, at the glowing man's feet. "Take the first," he
managed to whisper through the strained muscles of his throat. The torture
finally ended and he quite happily passed out cold.
Angel didn't believe it.
He'd come to the garage to waylay McDonald and beat out of him precisely
what kind of mind game he was playing this time. It was all too pat, too
staged, too obvious to believe. No way was the lawyer out to save Angel. Not
unless it ended up benefiting Lindsey McDonald. It was up to Angel to find out
how. Even if he had to throttle the man senseless to find
out. In fact, preferably if he had to throttle him. Lindsey
looked good when he was all stretched out and fussing. Smelled
good, too.
As usual when it came to not-so-born-again-boy, nothing worked out the
way Angel expected.
He stared at Lindsey as the man threw himself with abandon directly into
the line of fire of a shadowy figure muttering Latin in the corner. Angel
sniffed instinctively, catching a whiff of Magick and something that reminded
him, oddly, of Rupert Giles. Then the spell hit Lindsey and dropped him like a
sack of potatoes. The wizard and would-be attacker yelped, "Bugger
it!" then turned tail and ran as if his heels were on fire. Angel ignored
him.
Lindsey was much more interesting to watch.
Crouching down over the twitching body, Angel watched intently as
sizzling blue fire danced over the surface of his skin. Muscles twitched
randomly and violently. Arms and legs spasmed, his
spine arched, his mouth opened although no sound escaped. He looked like he was
having an incredible orgasm or dying slowly. For Angelus, it had often been
difficult to tell the difference, and his inner demon growled in approval,
enjoying the show. Angel fought to ignore him, too.
With a muffled howl, Lindsey suddenly snapped into a fetal position, and
Angel winced despite himself. There was a broken
stream of muttering coming from the ball of human rolling around at his feet,
but try as he might Angel couldn't make out any distinct words. The tone was
clear enough.
So was the smell. Pain, terror, astonishment.
Then as suddenly as the seizure began, it ended. He heard, quite clearly,
"I'll take the first." Lindsey's eyes flickered open, staring
sightlessly at Angel through his protectively crossed forearms, then drifted
shut again as he slid gracefully into a full faint.
"Well," Angel said thoughtfully, pushing at the sprawled body
with his toe, watching Lindsey's chest rise and fall, "hell."
Unsure what else to do with him, not willing to let the man go until
he'd gotten the clarification he'd come for, Angel scooped Lindsey up and
draped him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Trying to ignore the warmth
of the body against his chest, shoulder and back, he wrapped his arm around
Lindsey's thighs and hauled him over to his car. Once there, he dumped him with
little care into the back seat and headed through the late-night LA streets
back to his hotel lair. He stopped at four red lights on the way, idled next to
a police car, was propositioned by a working girl and nearly picked up by a man
in a Jag.
Nobody noticed the body in the back seat.
Lindsey would not have been pleased at the lack of attention. Angel'd be sure to tell him all about it. As soon as he
woke up. As soon as they had a few things worked out between them.
As soon as he finished throttling him.
The thought cheered Angel up all the way home. He hoisted Lindsey back
over his shoulder and carted him into the lobby, then for no reason he could
articulate, up the stairs to his room. Angelus was rattling his chains, but
Angel wasn't listening.
At least, that's what he told himself.
By the time Lindsey finally came around a half hour later, Angel wasn't
quite so sure about that. The instinct for violence was fighting the instinct
for patience, and the need to know was nearly outweighed by the need to thrash.
The first words out of Lindsey's mouth could tip the scales either way. Knowing
how easily Lindsey irritated him, Angel had a hunch he was going to end up
beating the snot out of Lindsey, then asking him questions. He perched
on the edge of the bed where he'd tossed his burden and leaned over,
deliberately looming as menacingly as possible.
As usual, Lindsey didn't do what he expected.
Instead of using his words as a weapon, Lindsey used his tongue. His
eyes opened, his arms reached out, and Angel barely had time enough to wonder
where the hell the second hand had come from when Lindsey's mouth attached
itself to his and attempted to suck out his lungs through his lips. The stray
thought struck him that it was a good thing vampires didn't need to breathe,
then Lindsey broke off the attack.
It had been too ravenous to call it a kiss.
"Hand?" Angel asked, trying to stretch his jaw back into working order. Lindsey
shrugged. Reached out with that brand-new human-appearing hand and had it down
Angel's pants before he could finish the question. The rest of what Angel
intended to say disappeared in a flash of lust.
"Perk," Lindsey muttered against his mouth, then that tongue
was back, and Angel couldn't have stopped the onslaught if he'd tried.
Not that he was trying. It had been a long time since anyone had
touched him with quite this combination of need and expertise. Even longer since it had been a mortal. The combination of
strength, speed and body heat bowled him over. By the time his brain caught up
with the action his body was half-stripped and totally turned on.
Angelus approved mightily.
Unable to fight the battle on two fronts, Angel slid instinctively into
the protective mode he'd perfected since being cursed with a soul and did
everything he could to keep Angelus from taking over, tearing Lindsey's throat
out, drinking him dry then raping his corpse. He was sure Lindsey would thank
him. Eventually.
When Lindsey got done mauling him.
It was the only description that fit. Lindsey's hands, both the original
one and the new one, ripped at his clothes until the fine silk and wool were
shredded and shed. His mouth wouldn't leave Angel's skin and everywhere it
touched fire followed. Angel hadn't been so warm in so long he couldn't
remember. Buffy had been a gentle warmth, lost in the
moment of having. Since then he'd been afraid to wander too close to the fire.
The only other time he'd had her, he'd been the only one to keep the memories,
and now they felt more like a dream than any version of reality. But even then,
her warmth had been a comforting blanket.
Lindsey was an inferno.
He'd barely wrestled Angelus into wailing, frustrated submission when
Lindsey, having managed to get himself naked while never quite letting go of
Angel, crouched over Angel's supine body and sat down on the erection Angel
hadn't been paying attention to in all the confusion. Angel's scream startled
both of them. Lindsey paused mid-sink, then planted
both hands on Angel's chest and worked himself down onto Angel with the skill
of a high-class harlot and the patience of Job.
The scream died to a gurgle. An appreciative one.
Lindsey was quite a sight, all straining muscles and sweat-shiny skin, fingers
kneading his chest like a cat. In heat. Thighs slipped
against the outside of Angel's hips and the fine hair rubbing against him was
just erotic enough not to tickle, not quite hard enough to satisfy. Angelus was
clamoring madly under Angel's skin, demanding more, demanding blood, demanding
climax. Demanding any kind of death he could get, little or total. Angel
growled, feeling his features shift into game face as Lindsey ground himself as
far onto Angel's flesh as he could get.
Inferno? Make that volcano.
Then Angel was moving, and Angelus was appeased, and Lindsey was moaning
deep in his throat. His head fell back and Angel stared at the length of his
throat, bared, sweat running down the tendons, shining in the light from the
lamp. Tempting him. Angelus howled.
Control stretched to the breaking point, Angel had no choice. He sat up
and caught Lindsey's writhing torso in his arms, burying his face in the curve
of Lindsey's throat, licking up rivulets of sweat, sliding the tip of a single
fang into the pulse throbbing wildly out of control alongside Lindsey's
windpipe. The single spurt of blood wasn't nearly enough to satiate him, but it
triggered his climax, and he arched helplessly up into Lindsey's heat.
Those hands were around his back now, one cradling the nape of his neck,
pushing his face insistently against the tiny puncture wound as if the madman
was encouraging Angel to drink. Encouraging Angelus to
emerge. Encouraging his own death.
Begging for it.
Begging for something, anyway, as the second hand dragged itself down
his spine, clawing at his skin, and Lindsey bucked against him. Angel could
feel the blood-hot salt-smelling fluid scald his chest, drip down against his
belly, as Lindsey came. He could taste it in the blood tricking over his
tongue.
Addictive.
Hating himself, hating Lindsey, hating the warmth surrounding him for
highlighting the ice within, Angel fought with every ounce of strength his soul
had ever given him. Gradually, as Lindsey panted against him, Angel's face
smoothed out until his human visage was all that could be seen.
Flames still burned in his yellow eyes.
But, for the moment, the danger was past. He forced himself to pull his
arms away from Lindsey's back, place his scarcely-shaking hands under Lindsey's
arms and hoist the exhausted mortal off his lap. Throwing him back against the
bed linens with little regard for his comfort or Angel's own need to hang on,
he glared down at Lindsey.
The bastard looked too damned happy with himself.
"Get out of here," Angel growled. He'd get his answers later.
At least, he'd ask the questions. No doubt Lindsey'd
lie. "If that was supposed to be my moment of bliss, you need some
practice. That sucked." Angel's turn to lie.
"No," Lindsey told him with a calmness Angel could smell was
feigned. "That was for me. I deserved something from the deal."
Barely wincing, Lindsey rolled off the far side of the bed and reached for what
was left of his clothes, dressing with an economy of motion a seasoned whore
would envy. Before Angel could ask him what deal he was talking about, Lindsey
threw him completely off balance by shooting him the sweetest smile he'd ever
seen on the man. "The sucking comes later."
He was out of the room and clattering down the stairs before Angel could
gather his wits from the mental image those words painted. Angel told himself
it was just as well. There were too many question to
ask, and he didn't have enough brain cells left unfried
to ask any of them. Especially when the only question he could cogently form
was 'When?'
Eventually he walked into the lobby and stared around, feeling a bit at
a loss. He spotted a small white rectangle of cardboard sitting next to the
telephone and stalked over to it. Lindsey's business card, only this time his
home number was scrawled across it in bold black ink. Not allowing himself time
to think, Angel picked up the telephone and punched in the numbers. Lindsey answered
on the first ring.
"Yes?" He sounded sleepy. No wonder, really. He should be
exhausted.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Angel asked
incredulously. It didn't have quite the threat behind it he'd been aiming for,
and that irritated him even more.
Lindsey didn't even pause before firing back, "That's what I'm
trying to avoid!" then hanging up abruptly.
The dial tone was loud in Angel's ear. He pulled the receiver away and
stared at it grumpily before banging it down on the rest. Damned
mortal. There had to be some twisted logic somewhere in all this.
Lindsey never did anything unless he stood to gain by it. Angel spent some time
staring into space again, but couldn't figure out what the payoff could
possibly be. He licked his lips, then shuddered at the
flavor of sex, blood and sweat.
Sulkily, he wandered into the kitchen, grabbed a bag of A positive, wandered back into the lobby and slouched on the
couch. Staring into the darkness, he washed the taste of Lindsey off his
tongue. He didn't want to go to bed. Not until he'd changed the sheets. Maybe
burned them. His thoughts chased themselves in circles trying to figure out
what Lindsey was up to. When he did doze off with the rising sun, he had no
idea he had a smile on his face.
He didn't feel the phantom touch of long slender fingers on his brow, or
the sad look in bright eyes staring down at him as he slept. The Powers that Be
would get Their wish. Angel might even enjoy it.
Their Servant didn't even pretend to be happy about it.
Morning came too damned early, and it took a good half hour in the
hottest shower he could stand before Lindsey felt reasonably human again. The
wound from Angel's fang on his throat was at an angle and of a size he could
explain it away as a razor nick, but the new hand and the awkward gait might
draw comment. His mind chewed over cover stories all the way to the Firm.
For once, the traffic worked to his advantage. By the time he walked in
the door, he had a workable scenario. It was a damned good thing. Mr. Hart was
waiting for him in his office. Lindsey barely managed not to jump a foot
straight up in the air when he unlocked the door and Hart spoke from the shadow
of the door directly behind him.
"Good morning, Lindsey."
He swallowed. "Yes, sir. I mean, good
morning." He ran a hand nervously through his hair. His
right hand. Hart's eyes sharpened further until they felt like a
surgeon's knife going straight through Lindsey's wrist.
"I see you've made some changes." His nose twitched.
Lindsey reminded himself that he'd taken a very long shower that morning
and there was no way on Earth the man could smell sex or Angel. He
smiled weakly. "I've been practicing." Then his mouth kept moving
although he had absolutely no idea where the words were coming from. "The
hand was a gift from a grateful client."
Hart stared at him, then walked over to the door and ushered in a mind
reader. The bald woman with the large, dark eyes walked over to him with the
steady tread of an executioner. Lindsey couldn't tear his eyes from her.
"Tell me about this client," Hart purred.
Lindsey's mouth opened and more words came out. Giving up control for
the moment, curious to see how it would all play out and if the Powers that Be
would keep Their promise or if he'd be dead in the
next five minutes, Lindsey listened to himself speak.
"She was Voujun, a soul-eater I've had
working for the Firm on a free-lance project out in Castellammare.
Got in a jam with the locals and I got her out of it. She called in a favor
from a Fresla demon and gave me my heart's
desire." To his ear, the words had a distinct Irish brogue, but Hart
didn't appear to notice a difference from his usual soft drawl. He waved his
hand in the air, once. Hart ignored the motion to stare at his face.
As did the telepath. There was the usual tickle at the base of his skull as she probed, but
there was another sensation, unique in his experience, at the same time. It
felt almost as if a veil had been drawn across his thoughts, invisible to the
mental eye but impermeable to the mental touch. Thoughts that weren't his own,
memories he'd never experienced that matched the words coming from his mouth,
danced across the fabric of the veil. Lindsey could practically see the mind
reader watching the images, caught up in the play, never reaching beneath the
surface to the truth.
Dark eyes withdrew from him, then snapped back,
but the veil was firmly in place. She looked over at Hart and nodded once. He
nodded back, a silent dismissal. Lindsey stared after her until the door
closed, then took the breath he had forgotten to take while she was reading the
thoughts in his mind that weren't his.
His door opened and Lila stepped in. He glared at her. Before he could
get his mouth open to ask her what the hell she wanted, Hart floored him again.
"Why did you have sex with Angel?"
His mouth fell open. This time, no words came out. Lila, equally
startled, squeaked. He glared at her again, then closed his mouth and licked
his lips, trying to work up enough spit to be able to speak without squeaking
himself.
"We know, of course," Hart continued smoothly. "We know
everything you do. But not necessarily why." The pause that followed made
it abundantly clear he soon would. Lindsey swallowed.
"I'm doing my utmost to ensure that Wolfram and Hart's best interests are
protected," he finally forced out. Lila started to squeak again and he
spoke a little louder, a little faster, drowning out whatever she might have
tried to say. "Angel has proven to be uniquely impervious to direct
assault and incredibly difficult to fool. He can't be bribed, so I'm seducing
him."
Hart stared at him. Lindsey spread his hands and shrugged. "It's
not perfect bliss, but it might be a chink in his armor. If I can get him to
care enough about me not to kill me, it may be the advantage we need when it
comes down to the wire and he has to choose."
Lila managed to interject, "I would have thought I'd be more his
type." She sounded offended. Lindsey didn't know if it was because Angel
hadn't tried it on with her or that she hadn't thought of the plan first. He
smirked at her.
"Should have done your homework. Or moved a little faster." Too late, his
tone mocked. She glared daggers at him. His smirk widened.
Hart took a step toward him, breaking up the silent pissing contest.
"It's worth the attempt. Keep us informed of your progress." With
that de facto approval, he turned on his heel and headed for the door. Pausing
with his hand on the handle, he added gently, "Don't do anything too
stupid, Lindsey." For a moment, he sounded uncannily like
Lila was still standing to the side of his office staring at Lindsey. He
leaned a hip against the edge of his desk, careful of the lingering soreness in
his butt, and returned her basilisk impression with interest. She opened her
mouth three times to say something before she finally gave up, a confused look
on her face, and stomped elegantly out of his office, muttering to herself. He
couldn't hear all of it, but he caught enough to know she was fuming that she
hadn't known Angel swung both ways. He shook his head. The vampire was two and
a half centuries old. There was very little Angel hadn't done. Surely she
should have known that.
Shrugging off the threat from that quarter for the moment, Lindsey
walked around his desk and settled himself gingerly in the leather chair,
grateful for the thick seat cushion. He stared at the highly polished surface
of the desk for a long time, tracing abstract forms on it with his new fingers,
thinking about veils, and sex, and plans, and players, and ventures into
hostile territory without road maps. He'd been devious all his life, but he'd
never been a double agent before, and he'd never played such an important game
with terminal stakes before.
On the other hand, he'd always been out for himself first. He grinned.
The playing field had metamorphosed into a whole new universe, the plan had
shifted until it was unrecognizable, but it was still his game. He was going to
win. Whatever he had to do.
The more things changed, the more they remained the same.
end