| Have a Little Faith Part 1 | |
He did not want to go. Just the thought of being in the same room with that monster turned his regular anxiety into a full-fledged panic attack. He was beginning to regret even being assigned this case, but Holland said this one would make him the star of the firm and impress some of their biggest clients as well as the senior partners. Lindsey wanted to do well. He never wanted to see the poverty he had experienced while growing up. He could not fail in this case. That's what he kept telling himself. He had to do well no matter what.
Holland had assigned Lee, Lindsey and Lilah as his official representation. They had to keep him out of trouble and allow him to hunt. This really meant that whatever he wanted, within reason, they had to get.
It was what happened the night before that
made him hesitant, not that he wasn't hesitant before.
Their first meeting had been so frightening
that Lindsey could not suppress getting the shakes that
lasted an hour after he went home.
But the night before, it was different.
The three of them had taken him out to hunt. It was just
supposed to be some homeless, quick meal,
no trace. They had to stay nearby to make sure he stayed out of trouble.
If he did not come back after the time allotted, they had to search for
him and it was often that he did not come back in time. It was Lindsey's
turn to find him.
He found finishing up on a young homeless boy. The monster boasted how he tormented the child for a half-hour until he finally killed him. Lindsey thought he was just feeding. He had seen dead bodies before, but this was just a little kid. The kid's dead eyes and look of torment found their way into his nightmares that night. His eyes showed it was not a pretty death. He could not deal with the loss of children. Children were innocent-- they should be left alone.
They were meeting with him tonight. Holland would be there. They needed to discuss an assassination and a spell. Lindsey, Lilah and Lee would be there exactly at eight. He would come whenever he wanted; though usually it was not too long after the time they asked. They never bothered him about his schedule. He could kill all three of them easily.
Surprisingly enough, he was on time today.
He could hear his condescending voice from the hallway.
Lindsey stood outside the door of the conference
room for a few moments. He could hear talking and
laughing. He recognized Lilah's laugh.
He seemed to like Lilah the most; he ignored Lee and despised
Lindsey. They were all afraid of him,
but Lilah showed the least amount of fear. She was able to joke
around with him. That was probably
the reason he liked her so much.
Lindsey listened to their conversation just for a moment.
"Just a little bit of neck," he said.
Lilah giggled like a schoolgirl on crack,
then responded: "I'm saving my neck for that certain
special someone."
"How do you know that's not me?"
Lilah did her schoolgirl giggle again. He laughed with her.
He sighed, then opened the door.
"Lindsey!" Angelus cried out. Lindsey did not like the fact that he was so happy to see him.
A month ago, the firm had learned about a vampire Angelus, a particularly nasty one had been killed by the vampire slayer Buffy Summers in May. He had not been killed merely sent to hell. The firm had many connections to Hell and to the first. Angelus was to come back to earth and work with Wolfram and Hart. So, with the assistance of the Scroll of Aberjian and a demon named Vocah, they had bought Angelus back from Hell. Seven months had passed on Earth for him, but it had been hundreds of years in Hell.
Lindsey worked with all kinds of vampires and demons, but Angelus was different from all of them. He gave him the creeps. Most of the vampires he met did not care about their victims or some had a preference, but Angelus just liked to kill. And he didn't just kill to get blood; he killed to have fun. Lindsey could only think of that mutilated boy. Even another of Lindsey's clients Russell Winters who liked young women was never that vicious. Lindsey wanted to tell Holland that Angelus was unpredictable and dangerous, but he was afraid it would be seen as disloyalty. However, as he remembered the dead child, he was starting to not care about disloyalty or escaping poverty. He was starting to think about his own soul and the horrible things he had done in the past.
"Angelus," he said, calmly. Lee was
in the corner, trying to be cool, but obviously scared out of his
mind. For the first time, Lindsey
agreed with Lee. Angelus scared him half to death. What was
even
scarier is that Angelus with his heightened
senses knew they were all scared of him.
Ever since he started working with Angelus, he wore a huge cross, and kept holy water and a stake in his jacket side pocket. He had worked with vampires before, but this was the first time he was afraid one would kill him.
"Doesn't Lilah have a beautiful neck?"
Lindsey nodded. "Yes, but its time to get down to business."
"Oh god, Lindsey, you're so serious.
Every time I want to have a little fun, it's always let's get to
work."
"Well, we have work to do," he said.
Angelus sighed.
"We have not yet found Drusilla, we have however found William. He did not seem very cooperative," Lindsey explained.
"Spike wouldn't be, but feel free to stake him, if you don't mind. That little bastard."
"What?"
"Spike helped Buffy send me to hell. I would love to send him there, her too."
"Oh good, you're all here," said a voice from the door. Holland had entered undetected.
"Holland!" Angelus said. Angelus loved
Holland, probably because Holland seemed to lack a soul.
Lindsey called Holland by his first name
in his thoughts, but he never had the nerve in public. It
was always Mr. Manners or Sir.
"Good to see you, Angelus," Holland said and smiled, then shook his hand. "Lindsey, Lee, Lilah. Is our guest being treated accordingly?"
"Yes," Lilah said and smiled. "The very best service. Isn't that right Angelus?"
Angelus smiled. Lindsey hated seeing him smile. Angelus was the same whether he was in a good mood or bad.
"For the most part, I would like a little
taste of Lilah's blood and I would like to kill
Lindsey, but I guess I shouldn't damage
my attorneys."
Lindsey did not say anything because every week for the last month, Angelus has said he wanted to kill him.
"That's always good. Remember your lawyers want what's best for you. You have better targets to focus on."
"I am hungry."
"Well, we can get you a snack later. Let's get down to business."
"And what about getting me Buffy? I want to kill that bitch for what she did to me. Do you know what seven months in hell is like?"
"We'll get her in due time," he explained. "You do a little for us, you get access to our vast resources. Next time you meet Buffy, you want to be completely prepared? Correct?"
Angelus just smiled again. "I hope
you have plenty of chainsaws."
"You seem bothered?" Holland asked Lindsey after the others had left. "Is Angelus unnerving you with his threats to kill you. He won't."
Lindsey shook his head. "Yesterday, he did a kill- It was sickening. It was a child."
"Is this too intense for you?"
"A little, yeah," he admitted. "I know we are using Angel for the greater good. I am appreciative to the firm for all they've done for me. It's just that I hate seeing his work. I rather not. We're lawyers, not babysitters."
Holland patted him on the back in a friendly
way. Holland always seemed fatherly to him. "It's true, Angelus is
a bit intense, but just think of him as an animal. Don't let him
smell your fear. He's
been with us for one month and he hasn't
killed a single member of the staff. He's not going to kill
you. A lot of people have invested
in Angelus. We need you to make sure his needs are taken care off."
Lindsey looked down. It was not what he said. Holland still thought Lindsey did not like Angelus out of fear of his own life not because he butchered a child.
"It's been a month, hasn't it?" Holland did not wait for a response. "That's quite a lot of dealing so closely with him. I noticed you've been putting in the hours. Russell Winters said he's never adored a human like you. I think that perhaps you may need a vacation, a few days off to get away from Angelus."
"I couldn't-"
"I'm telling you, you should. You are a hard worker Lindsey and you have what it takes to make it here. Now, I know you like to drive up the coast and have only managed to do it three times since you moved to LA. Why don't you do that?" Holland smiled. "Angelus will still be here when you get back."
"Are you sure?"
Holland nodded. "A break from Angelus
will do you good. It would do everyone good, but then we all can't
go on vacation."
When he just came out to California to go to college, he saved an entire year to make a trip from Southern California to Northern California. It was a breath taking driving, filled with mountains and the ocean. He vowed that when he got a job, he would do it several times a year. However then Wolfram and Hart came along and Lindsey found he had no time to do anything. The vow he made was broken and he only made his drive once more.
He was glad that it was Holland that suggested both the vacation and the drive. He did not want them to feel suspicious. Lindsey had been feeling weird since Angelus arrived. Suddenly things that he normally overlooked in his job started to make him upset. When he first started working for them, he would try to explain his actions by telling himself that everyone needs a lawyer no matter how despicable. It kept him going all these years, until he saw what Angelus did. All he could think about now was the vacant dead eyes of that child he killed-- the look of terror on his face. It reminded Lindsey of his own traumatic childhood. He had used it as an excuse to turned a blind eye, but now he was starting to realize something.
He could not use his past as an excuse.
Angelus had to be stopped.
He was not sure if he should do what he was thinking about doing. It would be the end of his career at Wolfram and Hart and would most likely the end of his life. If he was lucky the firm would terminate him, if he was unlucky Angelus would.
However he had to do it. He could not stand the guilt of looking into the eyes of another dead child.
He searched his car for tracers found none. He could not believe they trusted him, but he was glad about that now. However he had never done or thought anything like this-the mind readers would have picked it up.
He drove his car, a 1998 Lexus, just as if
he was taking his trip. However, he made a slight
detour. When he reached the exit that
would lead to the town of Sunnydale, he got off.