Have a little Faith  Part 2

They had learned a lot about Sunnydale at Wolfram and Hart.  It was the center of all things supernatural. There was a Hellmouth located in the area and many had tried to open it unsuccessfully.  Mostly due to Buffy Summers, the vampire slayer.  She had successfully defeated all who had tried.

Her file said she was a senior at Sunnydale High School, had come here three years ago from Los Angeles and had not yet decided on where she was going for college.  Even though she would be graduating in four months.  She had two best friends, both the same age, Willow Rosenberg and Alexander Harris.  Her watcher was named Rupert Giles, her mother was named Joyce and her father who barely saw her was named Hank.  Wolfram and Hart had a small file on her before Angelus was brought into the fold, mostly because she had not interfered greatly with their plans.

Angelus hated her because she spoiled his plan to have Earth sucked into hell.  Lindsey already liked her for that.

It was night when he got there.  He checked into a nice hotel and paid cash and gave a fake name.  No one seemed the wiser.

He still had his cross on, and the stake and holy water in his jacket pocket.  He was still afraid,
despite Angelus being hundreds of miles away.

He was not sure where to look for Buffy.  They knew her address, but also that she lived with her mother who might be very suspicious that a lawyer would be looking for her.  He had no clue if her mother even knew her true identity.

He did however know the address of her watcher, Rupert Giles.
 

Giles find himself looking over her picture again.  In a month it would have been a year since her
death.  He found himself glad that Buffy took care of Angelus.  He knew it must have been difficult for her, killing someone she once loved, but Giles was glad. Jenny's murderer was gone and he could never hurt another person.  She looked happy in the picture.  It had been taken before all the business of Angelus or Eyghon had torn them apart.

There was a knock on the door.  Giles glanced over Jenny's picture once more before putting it back into the draw.  It was probably Willow or Xander. Faith and Buffy never knocked.  They never knew he looked at her picture almost every day.

When he opened the door, he came face to face with a man he had never seen before.  The man was about a few inches shorter than Giles, had chestnut brown hair and soft blue eyes.  He wore an expensive suit and had a briefcase.

"Rupert Giles?" he said and his voice had a twang of a mid-western accent.  Giles was guessing Texas or Oklahoma.

Giles nodded.

"My name is Lindsey McDonald, I have some information for you?  May I come in?"

Giles noticed Lindsey had put his foot over the threshold of the door, indicating he was not a
vampire, but Giles was still suspicious.

"What do you want?" he asked.  "I don't allow strangers in my home."

"I understand that," Lindsey looked around, when he saw no one was there, he continued.  "But I think you need to hear what I have to say-it's about a vampire named Angelus."
 

Giles knew the girls had a good night when they came in laughing.

"You were great B," Faith commented.  "Dusted him in five second flat."

Neither of them said anything more because they noticed Giles on the couch with Lindsey.

"Hey Giles, who's your friend?" Faith asked.  "He's cute."

Lindsey did not respond.  Faith did not say anything more because she did not like the serious look on
Lindsey's face.

"Buffy, Faith, this is Mr. Lindsey McDonald.  He had some information for us," Giles paused.  "Buffy I think you need to sit down for this."

"I don't like that Buffy, you're in trouble tone," she commented.  She did not recognize Lindsey but knew that whoever he was, he had bought bad news.

"Hi," Lindsey said, shyly.

Buffy sat down on the couch; Faith sat at the edge.

"Umm-" Lindsey said a little nervous.  "I work for a law firm called Wolfram and Hart."

"Don't know anything about them," Buffy interrupted.

"We're based in LA.  We kind of well, the legal representation for well-evil.  We have many clients
who are demons and vampires--"

"Evil?" Buffy asked with a little anger and sarcasm in her voice.  "And you're here in Sunnydale hoping that we can lead you to new clients?"

"Buffy," Giles said, "please, let Mr. McDonald speak. I assure you what has to say is dire."

"I'm getting out of it or well going to try.  I have to now that I've seen you.  I've kind of let things
slip by working for them.  Burying my head in the sand.  You have to understand? I grew up in
poverty- It's very difficult to resist the money they were offering--"

"Spare me the sob story on why you are helping evil," she said, "and get to the point."

"There is a scroll called Aberjian.  It has prophecies and spells like none anyone has ever seen.
Unfortunately it's written in several different languages, it's hard to completely translate."

"It was supposedly lost," Giles explained.

"Wolfram and Hart have it. In the scroll is a spell that only one demon in existence can do.  There's a ritual in it called the Raising. If you sacrifice five vampires and say the right words, you can get one
back."

"And Wolfram and Hart raised some vamp?" Faith asked.

"They raised Angelus, didn't they?" Buffy asked and looked down for a moment, only to keep her desire from punching Lindsey in the face to a minimum.

Lindsey nodded.  "Angelus is such evil, I could not bury my head in the sand anymore They are supposed to come back human, but Angelus came back as a vampire, which I don't understand."

"Possibly because Angelus was sent to hell still alive."

"I guess so--" Lindsey said.

"And you helped bring him back into the world?" Buffy asked Lindsey.  Her rage was growing.  She could remember Jenny being killed, Willow in the hospital, Giles being tortured, finding Kendra's dead body on the floor of the library and her having to kill the man she loved more than anything.  The heartbreak of killing him.  How could this man stand by and allow him to be returned from the dead?

Lindsey nodded again.  "I was present when he was raised.  I read the file before him.  I knew this was an evil son of a bitch.  I just didn't realize how evil-perhaps I didn't want to."

"Then perhaps you should put your head back in the sand," she said, sharply.

"Buffy-" Giles started, but for the first time, the look on Buffy's face made him stop.

"I didn't know-I mean, I did.  I just wanted to please them, to do well--"

"What?  You read the file.  You said you dealt with other things.  You know what Angelus was.  Why
suddenly now with him?  Was he a little too intense for you?  Making waves in your perfect little evil
world."

"You don't understand," Lindsey said, a little upset. He did not understand himself.  Here he was trying to help her and all she wanted to do was chastise him. "Did you grow up in poverty?"

"Don't use that as an excuse," she said, sharply.

"Hey, lay off," Faith suddenly said.  "He's here, he's telling us all this.  He's trying."
Buffy shot Faith a look, Giles knew he had to intervene before a shouting match occurred.

"Buffy, Mr. McDonald has done this out of considerably great risk."

"More like suicide," Lindsey said.

"What?" Buffy asked, her anger started to lessen.

"I wish I could put my head back in the sand.  I wish they would not notice. If I go back, they'll know and kill me.  If I don't go back, they'll learn then kill me.  Angelus will kill me for just talking to you. Either way I'm a dead man.  I just needed to stop Angelus.  I know you can because you've done it before."

"They won't know if you don't tell them," Faith said. She seemed a little more sympathetic.  After all this man would probably be killed if they find out what he did.  And she understood what it was like to live in poverty.  Sometimes it was tempting to do things that may not be noble.

Lindsey chuckled.  "They have mind readers.  They'll know as soon as I walk in the door.  I'm as good as dead, but it's worth it to stop Angelus.  I'm willing to lose my life to end his cruelty."

"We should do something for him," Faith said. "Giles, there's got to be a spell to protect him or something."

"I'll look into it," he replied.

"I'm not sure I want to go back," Lindsey replied. "I'm more scared of Angelus than being killed.  But if there is a way to get me back into Wolfram and Hart without being detected, I could help you stop him." He looked down.  "I feel like I have too.  I've done a lot of bad things."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Giles asked. "You've seen first hand how cruel Angelus could be. He could leave you alive and go after people you care about."

"Up until yesterday, I only cared about myself." Lindsey paused and took a deep breath.      "Angelus murdered some poor homeless little boy, couldn't have been more than 7.  It was just too horrible to look at.  After seeing him, it was like I couldn't look at myself in the mirror.  I hated looking at myself while helping that murderer.  He didn't just suck the blood of the boy, he toyed with him, then mutilated him."

"Maybe you should stay here for a few days, relax before you have to return," Buffy said and seemed to be less angry at him now that she knew how much he had risked his life.  She could also sense his guilt, his pain and his attempt at remorse.  She knew she had jumped the handle but for a moment all she could think about was killing Angelus again.

"I don't know if I can pull it off," he admitted.  "Ever since I met Angelus, I've been questioning everything I do with Wolfram and Hart.  I have this client-he's a vampire, likes to prey on young actresses.  I don't think I can go back and pretend like everything is okay with what he does."

"Angelus is a brutal murderer," Giles brought up. "Everything else you deal with is small potatoes."

"I would really appreciate you doing this for us," Buffy said.  "We have to get Angelus." She paused for a second.  "You said you wanted to make up for all the wrong you did.  Stopping Angelus will help.  I'll do anything in my power to keep you safe. Once Angelus is defeated, we'll do what we can to get you out of Wolfram and Hart.  Giles, maybe the watchers can help him some how."

"I'll call them when it's morning in London," he replied.

"In the meantime, I need some food," Faith commented. "I'm starved."

"I'm heading home, mom is still under watchful death," Buffy commented.  "You think after seven months, she'd stop being pissed off."

"I'm heading to a diner," Faith said, "anyone want to join me?"

"I'm kind of hungry," Lindsey said, quietly.

"Giles?"

"No, I think I'll turn in."

Buffy smiled at Lindsey, "Thanks for doing this. It's the right thing to do."

Lindsey did not respond.  He was sure that even with spell and their help, he still was going to be dead, once he went back to LA.
 

Continue to Part 3

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