Rating: Erm. . . not sure of the net version but definitely at least a twelve/fifteen in the cinema.
Feedback: God yes! A little help here people.
Disclaimer: Not mine and sadly never will be.
Synopsis: Lindsey’s actually starting to feel sorry for Angel, Cordelia’s showing just what skills you absorb after eighteen years on a hellmouth and Wes and Gunn are losing the plot. All in all another fun night in the city of Angel.
Dedication: Jen, the hardest working and most detailed beta in the world ever! (and yes I know the grammars not right!) Ina, Mel and Angel S. for the feedback.
Lockdown Part 6.
Wesley and Gunn sat side-by-side in Gunn’s truck and stared up at the offices of Wolfram and Hart. Wesley frowned and reached behind the seats and pulled out a large black carryall.
“As we don’t know what’s in there, I think we should just take the most versatile and transportable weaponry. Stakes, a short handled axe or sword each and some holy water.”
He paused for a moment and then pulled out two short black objects
“What are these?”
Gunn glanced down
“Tazers. Flick the switch and jab ‘em in anywhere and you get a serious advantage over the guy twitching on the floor.”
Wesley raised his eyebrows and cautiously handed one over to his friend
“Good lord. Are they legal?”
Gunn gave a mirthless grin
“Are the swords?”
The Englishman cleared his throat and hoped it was dark enough to hide his blush
“Fair point. Do you have your crucifix?”
Gunn touched his chest under his vest
“Never leave home without it.”
“Then we’re ready. We have about three and a half hours until the sun rises and the everyday world awakens.”
Gunn flicked an amused look over his shoulder as he jumped down from the van
“Got it, Shakespeare. Any thoughts on getting in there?”
Wesley joined his friend at the front of the truck and rested his axe on his shoulder as he contemplated the glass tower before him
“Actually I do.”
Cordelia swiped her hand across her face and grimaced at the blood and general ick that came away. She raised her head from Lindsey’s shoulder and took a deep shuddering breath
“Sorry.”
Lindsey braced her as she climbed shakily to her feet and then followed her up, watching her carefully
“It’s ok.”
Cordelia spared one last glance at the man on the floor and then looked around for her weapons bag. She spotted it over by the wall and retrieved it slinging it over her torso. When she finally met Lindsey’s eyes, he was amazed to see her chocolate ones were awash with embarrassment and shame
“Lindsey when this is over and we get out of here could we do each other a favour and never mention this night again? And I mean ever.”
The lawyer nodded in heartfelt agreement
“Really not an issue, believe me. The sooner I get out of here and forget this nightmare ever happened the better.”
Cordelia gave a wan smile and gestured to the tunnel the werewolf had run from
“Well, we’d better get moving.”
She lifted the bottom of her t-shirt and took a sniff, wincing as the smells of various body fluids mugged her nasal senses
“We also need to find someway of cleaning up and toning the smell of blood and carnage down or when we do get out of here and into the offices we may as well just hand ourselves over to the nearest bad guy.”
Lindsey glanced down at his three hundred dollar shirt and nine hundred dollar pants and winced at the brown crust that was forming over them from the werewolf’s blood.
“Good point.”
He crossed the floor carefully and followed Cordelia from the room. As he stepped into the tunnel he glanced back one more time. He shuddered briefly and then making sure Cordelia wasn’t either watching him or was near enough to hear him, performed an action that he had stopped at the age of thirteen. He touched his forehead, sternum, and both sides of his chest in a lightening fast genuflection and whispered
“Rest in Peace.”
Gunn shook his head and ducked under the swing of the vampire before him and, with a casual jab, staked the snarling demon and strode without pausing through the subsequent explosion of ash. When Wesley said he had a plan he had expected…well, an actual plan for a kick off. Instead he had watched in astonishment as the Englishman had strode up to the side access door to the building and proceeded to smash the glass from it and then climb through the jagged hole. He had followed, aware his jaw was flapping in the breeze and making him look like a slightly hipper version of Forrest Gump, and then had groaned as Wesley stood in the middle of the lobby and yelled at the top of his voice
“Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?”
“Wes! What the hell are you doing?”
Wesley waved a hand impatiently behind him for silence and then shouted again
“Hello? Anyone?”
He beamed as two scowling Latino vampires emerged from behind the security desk apparently still dressed in the gang colours they had died in
“Ah good. Hello, I wonder if you could help me? I’m looking for a girl about so high and with hair down to here.”
He gave a small good-natured chuckle
“Although it has been some hours since I last saw her and she has been changing it rather a lot of late so it could be somewhat shorter now.”
The two vampires exchanged confused looks and then turned back to the Englishman with identical snarls. Wesley remained unperturbed and raised an eyebrow
“Gentlemen I assure you that you do not want to tangle with us. We’ve come for the girl and once we have her we’ll leave you in peace. Now where is she?”
His voice hardened perceptively at the end of the short speech and he glared at the two before him in impatience. The vampires’ eyes slipped from Wesley to the still shocked Gunn behind him and then obviously reached the conclusion simultaneously that the two humans posed a negligible threat against the prospect of an easy kill and a quick snack and struck. Gunn heard Wesley give an impatient huff of breath before he moved to one side and slammed his stake home through one of the demons back. Gunn himself leaned back from the creature leaping for his throat and side stepped to turn and face his opponent as the demon spun round and shot out a fist. The young man ducked and pivoted again and then when the vamp threw another punch, slipped his stake up and punctured the creature’s heart. Ash swirled around him as he marched towards Wesley with a murderous look in his eyes
“Have you lost your mind? What the hell are you doin’?”
Wesley brushed some stray remains of vampire from the rather nice shirt Vanessa had bought him and answered calmly
“Getting us closer to Cordelia.”
“By announcing to every demon here that we’ve arrived to get her? And I thought walking real quick was a bad plan. Jesus, Wesley!”
Wesley shrugged and glanced around the spacious and expensively furnished lobby
“We got in, did we not? Now all we have to do is find her.”
Gunn eyed his friend with amazement and not a little trepidation
“And how are you plannin’ on doin’ that, exactly? Yelling very loudly on every floor until she answers?”
Wesley grinned and headed for the stairs
“Something like that, yes.”
Cordelia stamped along the dark tunnel and tried very hard not to think about what she was treading in as she went. She was still squirming with shame inside about falling apart so comprehensively on Lindsey and cursing all the gods she knew of, and some she had met, for the absolutely unforgivable faux pas in allowing her come to Wolfram and Hart that night.
I mean, what did I think I was gonna do? Find some kind of lucky charm to erase all memories of Darla from Angst Boy’s head? Please. The one night I pick to go all Batgirl and the legions of hell have a one night only Jones for McDonald’s ass. What are the odds?
She scowled deeper and stamped down particularly hard with her next step, only to curse when she felt something cold and wet splash up her already ruined pants leg. She was so gonna kick someone’s ass for this.
Lindsey followed her silently wrapped in his own thoughts. When he had joined Wolfram and Hart he knew he would be dealing with things slightly out of the ordinary but never in his wildest nightmares did he think five years down the line he would be running around his own offices in the dead of night with one of his worst enemies dodging demon death squads. He shuddered as he remembered the people back in that chamber and the horror on their faces.
How could he not know that was happening right under his nose? He thought of the ideals he had started out with and the choices he had made along the way that had slowly corrupted them and tried to see where he had turned into a person that let terrible things happen to innocent people in the name of power. His eyes rested on Cordelia’s back for a moment and he remembered her anguish as she had slaughtered the werewolf and before he realised what he was doing it he spoke in a low voice
“How do you do this?”
Cordelia glanced back over her shoulder and grimaced as she felt her boot fill up with something cold and slimy when she placed her foot without watching the floor
“What?”
Lindsey squirmed at the revolted look she gave him
“How do you do this night after night without going mad?”
Cordelia stopped walking and turned and faced him in the dim light squinting to see his face clearly and said simply
“Who else is going to?”
Lindsey frowned and gestured vaguely
“You could have anything. You’re young, beautiful and talented, you could have what ever you wanted and you’ve chosen to run around with a vampire and kill things that most people don’t even believe really exist. Why?”
Cordelia shrugged
“It’s a job. It’s got good hours and I’m pretty much my own boss.”
Lindsey slammed his hand into the wall in frustration and yelled
“Don’t blow this off like it’s nothing! You could die at any time and you just killed someone who had been slaughtering people for God knows how long and you did it with tears in your eyes and your heart breaking. Don’t make this ordinary.”
Cordelia opened her mouth to reply and then shut it at the confusion and anger on his face. She thought for a few moments and then said slowly
“It is ordinary, for me at least. I’ve grown up doing this and this is all I really know.”
She looked away and then met his eyes again
“That’s a lie. This is all I’ve ever done that mattered a damn. All through school I was Cordelia Chase, Queen Bitch. I got all the guys and I had all the money and power and then someone came along and changed that.”
Lindsey stayed silent as she smiled and said quietly
“I met a girl out to save the world and that was prepared to die doing it. She had nothing in her sad little life but a mission and a good line in comebacks and then she hooked up with the biggest losers in the high school and they suddenly had a thing, a purpose. They went out night after night and fought evil and kept our town, and the world, that much safer. I got dragged into their little fight once or twice and before I knew it I was there along with them, bitching all the way of course, but I was there. I got to be me for the first time. You have no idea how scary it is to look inside yourself and know there’s so much more than what anyone will let themselves see.”
She laughed lightly
“I stayed when the world was going to end and I stayed when we were a Slayer down and fighting the big bads ourselves. I even stayed when the boy I used as my excuse for helping humiliated me in front of the whole town, because I had a mission. No one ever really saw what we did and what we sacrificed, but I knew.”
Lindsey stared at her as her shoulders went stiff with pride
“You left. You could have gotten out and stayed away and had a normal life.”
Cordelia shrugged
“Could have done but I didn’t. I came to LA because my parents needed money and I thought it would be easy to make some making movies.”
She laughed
“Well, we all know how well that worked out. Then I see soul boy again and I get another choice. I get to matter and I get to help. I phoned my parents not long after my friend Doyle died and told them what I wanted and they disowned me. Flat out.”
Lindsey blinked
“You told them about Angel and what you do?”
She shrugged again
“They grew up in Sunnydale, they knew the score. I told them everything and they told me if I continued with what I did not to ever contact them again. They didn’t have a daughter. So I made my choice. Lindsey, what I do isn’t what I want, not really, let’s face who in their right mind would choose this? But it is something that not everyone can do and when you have something special inside you that can deal with what we do then you have to use it.”
Lindsey felt his mouth drop open at her impassioned speech and then he closed it with a snap as she continued seriously
“So, I’ve explained how I do what I do and how I can sleep at night, what’s your deal? How are you gonna sleep tonight knowing that I was here fighting to save your ass from the things you’re normally siccing on other people?”
She let her eyes rove over his face and said seriously
“Have a think about that the next time you’re screamin’ and a wailin’ under the next monster that wants a taste of you. And remember how it feels.”
She turned on her heel and walked off without another word leaving him staring after her. He glanced back down the tunnel as though seeing the bodies again and then turned and followed her silently into the dark.
Wesley and Gunn were ten floors up and shamelessly eavesdropping on a loud angry voice through a partially open wooden door.
“What do you mean you can’t find them? How hard can it be to track two girls and a man in a locked building?”
Another voice spoke hesitantly
“They aren’t just any girls, sir. Slayers aren’t strictly human and if the man is under their protection it will be difficult to find them and take him.”
Wesley’s eyebrows shot up and he mouthed at Gunn
Slayers?
“They are children drunk on their own power and they’ve been lucky. What do the telepaths say?”
There was a long uneasy pause and then
“They were found downstairs a few moments ago. They’re dead.”
Gunn looked at Wesley, grinning sheepishly. Wesley grinned back at him and pointed to his sword
Whoops!
“What? All of them?”
“Well, we weren’t sure with one of them but when we tried to move him his head fell off so, yes, I’m afraid so.”
An angry wordless roar came from the room and Gunn shook his head in mock sympathy and then couldn’t help a quick snigger at the unknown man’s fury. There was a short scream that indicated the demise of the unfortunate minion and then the voice came again, this time slightly calmer.
“Listen all of you. I don’t care what you have to do but find me the Slayers and that damn lawyer. Blow that fucking panel off its frame if you have to but get into that area and get me those damn humans.”
Another voice spoke shaking perceptibly
“Sir, they have help. There are at least two other hostiles here that are aiding them.”
“I don’t care if they have the entire fucking military backing them up! Find them and kill them.”
There was another long pause
“Slowly.”
The two humans outside the door scrambled back as the voice came closer and just made it to a nearby maintenance closet when the door swung fully open. Wesley didn’t dare push open the door to get a look at their adversary and so instead stood with his friend in the dark listening to the footsteps fade away. He started as Gunn whispered
“Well, at least we know she’s still alive.”
“Yes, but for how long? And Buffy’s here? How can that be?”
Gunn eased the door open and stepped slowly out glancing around to make sure the coast was clear
“Don’t know, don’t care. I’m just happy Cordy’s got someone other than us to back her up and keep her alive.”
Wesley followed his friend down the corridor
“Well, from the sounds of it she’s not doing too badly on that front herself.”
Gunn stuck his head around a corner and then waved Wesley on saying grimly
“Let’s find her and make sure it stays that way.”
Author: Karen
Rating: Erm. . . not sure of the net version but definitely at least a twelve/fifteen in the cinema.
Feedback: God yes! A little help here people.
Disclaimer: Not mine and sadly never will be.
Synopsis: Lindsey and Cordelia are trapped in the tunnels beneath Wolfram and Hart fighting, and slaying, all manner of creatures. Gunn and Wesley are hot on their trail and not the least bit happy about it.
Dedication: Jen, the hardest working and most detailed beta in the world ever! (and yes I know the grammars not right!) Ina, Mel and Angel S. for the feedback.
Part 7.
“Again with the stench!”
Cordelia placed her hand over her nose and mouth and glared accusingly into the darkness before her, resolutely ignoring the sudden racing of her heart at the thought of what might lay in it. Lindsey copied her actions and closed his eyes, desperately afraid to follow her and find out what was causing the hideous smell.
Cordy renewed her grip on her blood stained axe and with a quick glance back at Lindsey, moved quickly forward to encounter their next foe. When they entered the next chamber they were both momentarily frozen and then Cordelia said
“A spa? They have a spa down here?”
She looked at Lindsey in confusion and quipped
“It really is a whole different world for you people, isn’t it?”
Lindsey looking just as confused as the girl beside him glanced around the small, steamy chamber.
Rugged, rocky walls, check. Eldritch glow, check. Terrible and offensive smell, check. Vicious, bloodthirsty demon just dying to rip our throats out? Nah, not so much.
They moved forward slowly and peered over the lip of the small bubbling pool. Sure enough, under the surface there ran a ledge of stone worn smooth by countless generations of Wolfram and Hart asses. They both pulled back and stared at each other again and then Cordelia sniffed and pulled a face as she instantly regretted it
“Just so we’re clear, I am not getting in there with you. Yes, we need to wash the blood off. No, we do not need to bathe in the blood of rotten eggs to do it.”
Lindsey grinned
“It’s a hot spa. Sulphur water. You’ve never heard of hot springs?”
Cordelia eyed him condescendingly
“Well, Mr Ivy League, we sure don’t have nothin’ like this back home. We just go on down and play in the stream with Billy Bob an’ the pigs when Ma tells us.”
She rolled her expressive eyes and snapped
“Lindsey, I’m from Sunnydale, not Hazzard County. And until quite recently my parents were very rich. Of course I know what a hot spring is! I’ve visited several, but the fact of the matter is that I am not getting in a bath that will make me smell worse when I get out than when I got in.”
Lindsey nodded and allowed his eyes to roam over her lush figure pointedly
“Pity.”
Cordelia scowled at him
“You know when I threatened to start cutting bits off you earlier? I could still do that.”
Lindsey grinned widely and held up his hands, backing away in mock fear
“Hey, take it easy. Just joking.”
Cordelia turned away but not before he caught a glimpse of the involuntary smile on her face. She walked slowly around the chamber running her hands over the wall and finally placed her hands on her hips, frowning
“I don’t get it. We’re in the middle of an LA law firm, there’s no way there’s room for a network of creepy ass tunnels and stuff, and yet I‘m still standing in one that looks older than all the vampires I know combined. How?”
Lindsey looked around him and shrugged with disinterest
“Probably someone just found a spell to connect some unused closet space with another dimension and decided to utilise the area.”
Cordelia’s mouth fell open
“Can you do that?”
Lindsey nodded as he eyed the chamber disparagingly
“Sure. Of course most people tend to pick the sunnier dimensions with willing supplies of chicks and booze but, yeah, of course you can do it.”
Cordelia also looked around her but her gaze was assessing and calculating
Ok, so it’s a little ragged, but, hey, fixer upper! And the space! Just think of all the shoes and jackets I could fit in here!
Lindsey caught the speculative look and grinned. He could almost see the wheels turning in her mind and the floor to ceiling shelves and rails. She was so adorably transparent at times.
Whoa! Where’d that come from? Not adorable, she cut off your ear and butchered several other beings. Not in any sense of the world is this girl adorable.
He abruptly left his train of thought as a loud bang echoed down the corridor behind them. They both covered their faces as a billowing cloud of dust flew in and swirled around them, blinding their eyes and making them choke. Cordelia was the first to recover; her reflex time honed over the years thanks to close proximity to Buffy and then Angel. She waved a hand in front of her face and groaned as the faint echoes of enraged howls and shouts forced their way past the white noise in her ears
“Let’s go. Your buddies have moved past stealth hunting and into the realms of we worship at the King of ‘Stupid and Pointless attacks’ feet.”
Lindsey frowned in confusion at her remark as she grabbed his hand and dragged him past the low pool to the opening in the rock opposite. Cordelia rolled her eyes picking up speed
“Otherwise known as Angel.”
She risked a glance back over her shoulder and flashed him a mocking grin
“Although, look who I’m talking to! You probably got a few worshippers yourself, dontcha?”
Lindsey scowled and picked up his pace to match hers
“Hey! Some of my plans were masterpieces.”
“Sure they were, hon. Which one are we thinking of? The plan to kill me? Got your hand cut off. The plan to use Darla and Druscilla to turn Angel? Got you snacked on. The plan to capture me tonight and no doubt torture me till I cracked? Ended up saving your ass. Yeah, you’re a regular Bonaparte all right.”
Lindsey scowled again and to his deep and eternal shame could think of nothing else to come back with other than a muttered
“Shut up!”
Cordelia sniggered and kept running trying to ignore the shouts that drew closer behind them and the possibility she was leading them into a dead end.
Wesley and Gunn poked their heads into the jagged hole in the wall and looked solemnly at the floor where a lot of footprints were smeared into the dust.
“Damn, a lot of things went through here in a hurry!”
Wesley shrugged and gingerly stepped through the gap motioning Gunn to follow him
“Yes, well, we’d better hope that Cordelia is hurrying that little bit quicker. I can’t believe they blew up a wall to get to her.”
Gunn ducked his head, cursing under his breath at the low ceilings, and took a cursory look over his shoulder making sure they weren’t being followed before following his friend into the gloom
“She’ll be ok. If they’re desperate enough to blow up a damn wall then she must be really pissin’ all over them.”
Wesley coughed as a bit if stray dust found it’s way into his throat
“Quite. However, if they really have thrown caution so comprehensively to the winds then she is in considerably more danger than before and may find herself in great difficulty before much longer.”
Gunn rolled his eyes
“You know there’s only so many words to go around, English. Try an’ save some for the rest of us.”
Wesley blushed in the gloom and hung his head slightly before he recognised the tone of affectionate teasing in the other man’s words. He glanced back at his friend and Gunn flashed a bright smile and Wesley felt his own mouth curve in response
“Sorry. When I get worried I forget myself and tend to babble a little.”
Gunn squeezed his shoulder in strong grip
“Chill, English, I’m just kidding. What the hell is that smell?”
Wesley frowned and placed his hand over his nose and attempted to swallow his heart as it jumped into his throat
“Oh dear.”
Cordelia ran as fast as she dared in the dimly lit tunnel and concentrated on regulating her breathing as much as she could. All she could hear was the pounding of their feet and of her own heart as she searched desperately for a bolthole to hide and re-group. The howls behind them were louder now and she knew that they had possibly only a few moments before they were overrun. She gasped as the ground abruptly fell away beneath her feet and then she rolled end over end down a steep stone ramp coming to a painful and breathless halt on the rough, wet stone floor. She yelped as Lindsey landed on top of her and then yelped again as he grabbed her shoulder and dragged her up and along the floor towards a dark, wooden door in the corner.
They threw themselves against it and it burst open sending them once more to their knees with their own momentum and then Lindsey spun to slam the door shut and gratefully throw the thick steel bolt on the back of the door. Cordelia pushed to her feet and, seeing the broad wooden beam against the side of the door, snatched it up and dropped it into place just as the first body slammed into the door on the other side. The door shuddered but held under the assault and both humans sagged in momentary relief only to give simultaneous screams as a voice said behind them
“Can I help you?”
They spun round crashing together in their haste and stared with wide eyes at the small, wizened woman holding a candle in one hand and the front of her nightdress together in the other. Cordelia rolled her eyes as her heart started to beat again and turned to Lindsey
“Could you people be any weirder? What’s next? A dragon sleeping on the big pile of gold and a virgin sacrifice?”
Lindsey smirked as his own heart began to slow
“Well, it’s not like you need to worry is it?”
Cordelia’s eyes narrowed and she took a menacing step towards him but before she could do any more the little woman said
“Are those people bothering you, dears? Give me a minute.”
She closed her eyes and began to chant under her breath and then suddenly the angry howls were replaced with agonised screaming and then a very tense silence. Cordelia backed up to beside Lindsey and fished inside her bag for a crucifix and some holy water. She shoved them at the lawyer and gripped her axe again muttering
“My life is just never normal.”
She raised her voice and said firmly
“Ok, Ma Walton, one move towards us and I’ll fry your crinkly butt like you wouldn’t believe.”
The woman smiled gently and pushed a buttery lock of faded hair from her eyes and placed the candle on a low wooden table
“Don’t worry, my dear. You have nothing to fear from me. Please come in and sit down.”
Cordelia cocked her head to the side and allowed her eyes to drift around the spacious stone chamber taking in the wide low bed, scattered easy chairs and thick colourful tapestries hanging on the wall
“No offence, but I don’t think so. When a person living in the bowels of Evil Lawyer city tells me to trust them it’s not really an offer of a lifetime deal. You know what I mean?”
She flashed a smile and said quickly
“Although not knocking the whole killing of our enemies thing. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.”
The woman laughed quietly and said with a twinkle
“Oh I like you. The last Seer I met was all officious piety and martyrdom, an absolute bore of a girl. You’ve got a bit of personality.”
Cordelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion
“Did you eat her? Torture, maim or kill her in any way?”
“Certainly not! Although I can’t say I wasn’t tempted at times.”
Cordelia lowered her arm slowly
“I’m sorry, I can’t trust in just your word.”
She sounded genuinely regretful and the woman smiled approvingly in response
“Good girl, brains as well as courage. Not something you see that much of nowadays.”
She turned slightly so her body obscured her hands from Lindsey’s view
“Will this convince you?”
Lindsey saw Cordelia glance down and her eyes widen and then she reached out and laid her hand on the woman’s arm. He could have sworn he saw a brief glow before she pulled her hand away and dipped her head in an apologetic and respectful bow
“Sorry. You never know who’s who in this biz.”
The woman stood on her tip toes and brushed her lips over Cordelia’s bowed forehead and bowed in response and then grinned
“Ain’t that the truth. You hungry?”
Cordelia’s head came up quicker than a quick thing and she breathed
“God, yes!”
The woman tucked her hand through Cordelia’s arm and led her over to the nearest chair completely disregarding the young lawyer saying comfortably
“Have a seat and I’ll fix you something. I’m Wanda, by the way.”
Cordelia sank into the deep blue cushions with a grateful sigh
“Cordelia Chase.”
She tipped her head back and nearly groaned with pleasure as the soft material caressed her skin and hair. One languid hand rose and waved vaguely in Lindsey’s direction
“Lindsey McDonald. Part-time lawyer, full-time pain in my ass.”
The woman, Wanda, turned to face the bewildered young man and said doubtfully
“Lindsey? Isn’t that a girl’s name?”
Gunn and Wesley stamped down the tunnel in horrified silence, each trying to suppress the images of the dead bodies they had left behind them. Gunn swallowed again as he saw the little baby and its mother and increased his grip on his axe until his muscles sang with strain. He stopped as Wesley held up his hand and then sniffed as yet another unpleasant odour assaulted his nostrils
“Aww, man. Now what?”
Wesley shushed him and walked slowly forward until he passed through the narrow entranceway. He turned a confused face back to Gunn as the other man waited in the tunnel
“We appear to have found the villain’s evil spa.”
Cordelia sighed in satisfaction as she drained the last of the sweet fresh water from her wooden cup and placed it on the table beside her. She rubbed the head of the large dog that watched her adoringly from her knee and looked up at Wanda as the woman stirred a large pot over the fire
“So what’s your deal? How come you ended up here?”
The woman tasted something from her ladle and smacked her lips together in satisfaction
“About another fifteen minutes. Do you want some more bread?”
Both Cordelia and Lindsey waved away another portion of the delicious homemade bread and watched as the older woman lowered herself into a chair next to the fire. She rubbed her hands in the glow for a moment and then smiled at them
“I live here. Have done for about fifty years. I used to work the down end of the market for the Powers, you know, watching over lost children, guiding restless spirits to their otherworldly reward and then one day I got a message from a Seer. Told me a major new power was due to arise and I was the only one in all the world…yadda, yadda, yadda.”
She drew the cloth of the dark red robe she now wore more closely around herself and smiled grimly
“So, I come trotting over to Wolfram and Hart all ready to smite the unworthy and I kick some demon butt and in all the commotion I come down here and I find some people. For the most part people from Evil Inc upstairs but some were innocents and as such I couldn’t leave them here. I stayed and fought to free them and then one day I found the door to this room and then the entrance to the world this space belonged to. Desperate beings who were being overrun and abused by the evil creatures of this organisation and that needed a saviour. Before I knew it over a decade had passed and this place became my home.”
Cordelia whistled softly in admiration
“You’ve been here ever since, fightin’ the fight?”
Wanda smiled and her shoulders squared as she sat in the chair
“Yup, being as big a pain in the ass as I can manage to the boys upstairs. Of course it’s not without it’s problems. Once they realised I had no intention of leaving no matter what they threw at me, and they had some stinkers of plans let me tell you, they attacked my family and took my son from me.”
Cordelia frowned
“Your son? I thought you lived here alone.”
Wanda laughed and smoothed a hand over her hair
“Hell, no! I was quite the looker in my day, lovey, there was never any way I was spending my nights in a cold bed. No, I married the head of the resistance about five years in and had me a family. Three boys, two girls and eleven grandchildren we had and I never regretted a minute of it.”
Her face darkened and for a moment tears shimmered in her eyes
“A new guy took over upstairs about twelve years ago and once he found out about me he didn’t rest until he found some way of stopping me. He managed to capture my eldest son seven years ago. My husband had just passed on and I was feeling a little lost, otherwise it would never have happened. He took my son and had him cursed to remain in his beast form and erected a barrier confining me to this dimension. The tunnel you came from is the limit of where I can go and he imprisoned my son on the other side.”
Cordelia’s hand froze in the dog’s fur as the cold realisation washed over her. Wanda continued with tears streaming unnoticed down her cheeks
“He kept my son as a beast and used him as an executioner for his enemies. I saw him sometimes, hunting down some poor person and savaging them as they begged for mercy and I would try to call him to me but he was too far-gone. He never heard me.”
She dipped her head and in the silence Cordelia and Lindsey exchanged horrified glances. Lindsey reached out to Cordelia and gripped her shaking hand as he cleared his throat
“I think there’s something you should know.”
End of part 7.
Title: Lockdown
Author: Karen
Rating: Erm. . . not sure of the net version but definitely at least a twelve/fifteen in the cinema.
Feedback: God yes! A little help here people.
Disclaimer: Not mine and sadly never will be.
Pairing: Cordelia/Lindsey
Timeline: Season two, directly after Angel fires the gang.
A/N: Well, it’s been a while so I think first of all apologies are in order. I have to ‘fess up to getting horrendously distracted by other fics and stuff and this one has been left to linger horribly in the dusty depths of my PC. I actually had ‘Lock 8’ already written a few weeks ago and then I got a virus and my PC ate it. Obviously v. dispirited after that and just couldn’t re-write it until now. So sorry about the huge gap between posts.
Second, a little reminder is probably needed. So, the story so far…….Cordelia has gone to the offices of Wolfram and Hart to look for something to aid her in getting rid of Darla and bringing Angel back into the fold. She’s run into Lindsey and bested him in a fight, then suffered a horrible vision telling her that Linds is in trouble and the offices are swarming with demons looking to kill him. Much fun and games later they find themselves trapped in a hidden cave network within the offices and stumble across a secret execution chamber where untold numbers of people have met a gory end. Cordelia successfully baits and defeats the creature, a werewolf, who then turns back into his human form and begs her to kill him before he can heal and slaughter more innocents. She does as the man asks and then is forced to turn to Lindsey for comfort. The demons chasing them finally find a way into them and the pair run, only to stumble through a door and into a forgotten warrior of the PTB. The woman deals with the immediate threat of the demons and then invites the two to rest a while. Whilst they re-charge and grab some food the woman tells them of her life and the sad fate of her eldest son who was snatched from her and forced to remain in his beast form by a powerful curse. He has been separated from her for many years but she still catches glimpses of him from time to time as he hunts down and kills his victims in the tunnels and caverns around her home. Cordelia and Lindsey realise they have killed her son. Meanwhile Gunn and Wes are in hot pursuit of the other two and are fighting their way through the offices determined to find Cordelia and bring her to safety. Oh, and the bad guys think Cordelia’s a Slayer. Don’t ask, it’s like this whole big thing.
Ok ::rubs hands together:: that about covers it I think. Enjoy!
Dedication: First and foremost to Jen. She’s my beta and she’s been terrific over all the stopping and starting on this fic and I can’t thank her enough. Jen, you ROCK. The rest of my girls Mel, Ina, Ianthe and Wicca. All are fabulous and I’m very grateful for all the support and laughs they’ve given me this summer. Naked Chocolate Spike for all! Except Jen, she gets Naked Chocolate Lindsey ‘cos she beta’d the damn thing.
Part 8.
Gunn stared at the tortured shades on the wall and then the crisp piles of meat smoking on the floor
“Cordelia’s got GAME.”
Wesley nudged the nearest pile of remains with his shoe
“What do you think they are?”
The younger man sniggered
“Damn sorry they ever followed Cordy down this tunnel.”
He caught Wesley’s exasperated glare and shrugged carelessly
“Who the hell cares what they were? I’m just glad it’s them and not Cordy.”
Wesley sighed and watched as a deep fried horn rolled down the side of a charcoaled mess and crumbled into ash on the floor
“Agreed. We should move on, they can’t be that far ahead of us.”
Gunn gave a last admiring look at the sad, smoking remains on the floor and followed his partner from the small chamber
“You think she pulled the old booze-soaked-cloth trick on them?”
“Only if she used napalm, Charles.”
The sound of their footsteps faded away and slowly a door melted back into existence on the wall they had been paying such close attention to scant moments before.
Cordy jumped as the door to the small bathroom opened and Lindsey stuck his head in
“You ok?”
“Hello? Having a naked moment here, knocking would be good.”
Lindsey ignored the caustic tone of voice and slipped inside the room, shutting the door behind him. He caught her arm as she turned from him, pulling the soft towel she wore more tightly around her
“Cordelia, quit being such a hard-ass and look at me.”
She met his eyes furiously and tried to pull her arm from his grasp, his grip tightened and she spat angrily
“Let go of me.”
Lindsey stared searchingly at her red-rimmed eyes and drawn face and for the first time in a long time felt the stirring of concern for another living being. He loosened his hold and raised his other hand to her face, ignoring her instinctive flinch and hiss of warning
“You look tired.”
Cordy rolled her eyes and hitched the towel up another inch as it began to slip
“Ya think? Gee, I wonder why that could be? Will you let me go?”
Lindsey tilted his head to one side and looked at her appraisingly, smiling curiously
“Is this how you used to be with Angel? All brave and true and then hiding in the bathroom to cry yourself sick where no-one can see?”
Cordelia snorted contemptuously and side-stepped the question
“I have not thrown up.”
This time
She tossed her head and her damp hair slapped against her naked back
“I happen to have a little something called a spine. You should look into getting one, they’re a great investment.”
Lindsey smiled at the kiss-my-ass tone and said neutrally
“I’m sure they come in very handy when you have to tell someone you’ve just slaughtered their firstborn.”
She sucked in a breath as though she’d taken a direct hit to the stomach and the colour left her face. Lindsey nodded to himself and pushed her unceremoniously to a small stool behind her
“Thought so. Sit.”
Cordelia stared at the young man as he filled a wooden cup from a pail, blinking back yet more tears, whispering huskily
“You bastard.”
Lindsey nodded agreeably
“Yup. Drink this.”
He cupped the back of her neck and held the cup to her lips nodding in approval as she took a reluctant sip
“Have some more.”
Cordelia glared at him and tried to work up the energy to shove him away. Lindsey narrowed his eyes at her and flexed his fingers in warning
“Have. Some. More.”
She weighed up her options and, deciding it wasn’t worth the effort involved, took another few shallow sips of the cool water. Lindsey gave her a small smile and placed the cup on the floor, moving to slide down the wall and rest his exhausted body. A silence grew between them as they both became lost in thought. Finally, after some minutes, Cordelia spoke
“She thanked me.”
Lindsey flicked a quick glance at her but her eyes remained glued to the floor
“She did.”
Cordelia’s face crumpled slightly as she whispered in disbelief
“She actually thanked me for killing her son.”
Lindsey weighed up his options quickly and quickly discarded sympathy. The last thing he needed for Cordelia to dissolve in a pool of self-condemnation and pity when they still had to fight their way to freedom. He purposely made his tone careless
“What did you expect her to do? Cleave your head from your shoulders and feed your body to her family?”
Cordelia’s head snapped up and her mouth fell open in shock at the callous words. Lindsey looked back at her coolly and continued
“You call yourself a warrior but you haven’t got what it takes, not when it counts.”
“How can you say that?”
Lindsey waved a hand through the air
“Look at you. Preaching to me all night about how tough your life is and how hard the never-ending fight is on you and the first time you make a tough call you cave. You have no idea how to live with the decisions you make and move on.”
Cordelia’s eyes flashed and her shoulder’s straightened
“You sonofabitch!”
Lindsey hid a grin of triumph as she began to vibrate with outrage and re-newed energy
“Get over yourself, Chase. Life doesn’t always revolve around you, you know. You killed tonight to save a soul and end suffering, it’s not about your pain.”
His voice softened and he cocked his head to the side watching as her mouth open and shut in bewildered anger
“You did what you had to and that woman out there knows it. She’s grateful there was enough of her son left to make the choice at the end and she’s grateful you were there to help him. Let it go.”
Cordelia shook her head and tried to force her vocal chords to unfreeze. She shook from reaction and anger at his words and was even more astounded to realise he was right
<My night is now complete. Evil-devil spawn’s now telling me how be a warrior for the good guys. Can my life get any weirder?>
Lindsey gave her another cocky grin and climbed to his feet
“Now shift your ass and get some clothes on. Other people need to use the facilities you know.”
Cordelia blinked as he opened the door and said abruptly
“Lindsey!”
He turned and raised an enquiring eyebrow
“Thanks.”
His face flushed with suprised pleasure and he gave a quick nod before exiting the room. Cordy shook her head and took a deep breath
<Do like the man says, Chase. Get some clothes on!>
She stood up and then froze in horror as she looked down at herself and the towel barely stretching from the tops of her nipples to the tops of her thighs
<Oh god! I had that conversation wearing a hanky. It’s official, god hates me>
Gunn and Wes edged warily down the damp tunnel towards the glow of light at the end
“Hey English?”
Wesley jumped slightly at the soft whisper and then hissed back
“Yes?”
“You think we’ll find her in time?”
Wesley swallowed at the suppressed fear and worry in the deliberately casual tone and took a moment to make sure his reply came in a steady and confident tone
“Yes, we will find her in time. She will be whole and she will be healthy and she will be alive. We won’t allow anything else to be the case.”
Gunn closed his eyes briefly and then gave a sheepish grin at the back of Wes’ head
“Just checkin’”
Cordelia perched on the edge of a chair as she watched Wanda move around the room, gathering together things for the meal they’d agreed to have before they left
“Do you hate me?”
The older woman took a deep breath and turned to face the now clothed Cordelia. She let her eyes drift over the loose white shirt and tight leather pants she had found for the girl and then rested them on the white face
“Yes, a part of me does, but not for the reason you think.”
She walked slowly over to Cordelia and sat on a stool next to her, taking her hands in her own
“I hate that you had the strength to do what I could never do. The barrier only stopped us from crossing over to each other; it never stopped other objects going through. I could have waited until he appeared and ended it with an arrow at anytime but I never had the courage. You saved my son from himself and I failed him, for that I can’t forgive you or myself. It took a lot of character to do what you did and I hate you for having something in you that I didn’t.”
She squeezed Cordy’s hand gently and gave her a smile as the girl met her eyes
“But now I know it’s over and his human soul has gone to its just reward and for that I’m in your debt.”
Cordy gave a tremulous smile and Wanda gave her arm a brisk pat
“Now, go call your young man and let’s eat, you need to get moving.”
Cordelia’s brows snapped together
“He is not my young anything!”
Wanda threw a mischievous grin over her shoulder as she began to ladle stew into smooth, wooden bowls
“Uh-huh. Whatever you say.”
Cordelia leapt to her feet and looked horrified
“Whoa, there Cupid. SO not happening with Evil Incorporated and me. He’s tried to kill me one too many times for anything groiny to happen. Ever.”
Wanda shrugged and poured deep, red wine into crystal goblets
“Everyone makes mistakes.”
“He tried to KILL me.”
“And I’m sure he’s very sorry.”
Cordelia blinked at the soothing tone and then span around with a shriek as Lindsey’s voice came from directly behind her
“Who’s sorry for what?”
Wes pushed open the door before him and peered, blinking into the bright light of an office. He edged out and looked around and then motioned for Gunn to join him
“I think it’s clear.”
Gunn followed him out and they both froze as a voice said behind them
“Think again.”
They turned and watched in amazement as three demons melted out of the solid wall behind them. Wesley nodded wearily as Gunn muttered under his breath “Uh-oh.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
End Part 8.