Title: Turns the Sky to Gold
Author: faithwinchester
Pairing: none as of yet
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: through at least In My Time of Dying for SPN, and all of Angel
Summary: After 'Not Fade Away' the PTBs give Lindsey a chance to help some of their champions in a different dimension: the Winchesters.
Prologue
Lindsey couldn't help a burst of surprise when he opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was being fatally shot by Lorne of all people right before the final battle was supposed to really begin. He'd been expecting an assassination attempt since he fully realized that there was no way that Angel was going to trust him, and honestly he would have been disappointed if there hadn't been something.
He hated that the final betrayal had come from Lorne, though. He didn't blame the green-skinned demon, but he did hate Angel for practically forcing Lorne to do it. Lindsey had gone into battle fully expecting to die, but he had been certain that death would come from Angel's hand. Sometimes, he really hated being wrong.
Of course, he had also expected to wake up in one of Wolfram and Hart's pet hell dimensions, and while he had no idea where he was, he was fairly certain that it wasn't any of the firm's hells. It looked like a waiting room: white walls, white floor, a few fairly comfortable looking white chairs and a single white door on the far side of the room. Boring, certainly, but quite a step up from spending more quality time with the Wrath.
He had just gotten himself comfortably situated in one of the chairs when the door opened to reveal a smirking Cordelia Chase. He let his head fall back, slumping slightly in his seat.
"Oh, wonderful. Maybe I am in hell after all."
Cordelia just snorted, dropping gracefully into the chair next to him. "Trust me, Lindsey. If you were in hell, there wouldn't be any maybe about it. You fulfilled your end of the bargain, and the Powers fulfilled theirs. Your soul no longer belongs to Wolfram and Hart."
Well, that was certainly a relief. At least he wouldn't have to worry about waking up in the Central Office anytime soon, or at all unless he did something monumentally stupid again. "So, darlin', why am I here instead of the afterlife, or wherever I was heading?"
"Lindsey, this is where you were heading. Your soul is sort of in limbo right now, so the Powers have decided to give you the chance to make up for all the evil things you did before you joined the good guys because you had no real choice." She smirked, flipping her hair back over her shoulder. "You've proven to have some talent at kicking wayward Champions in the ass, so the Powers want you to do the same thing for a few of their Champions in the dimension next door."
Lindsey sighed, running a hand over his face. "Just tell me that none of them have hair gel issues or a tendency to choke people they don't like."
Cordelia laughed, head tossed back and eyes sparkling. "No, they're not like Angel, I promise. The younger one does have a sad tendency to brood sometimes, but you can break him of that before he gets to Angel proportions."
"All right, sign me up. So, whose asses am I going to be kicking into shape for the Powers this time?"
Cordelia waved her hand, and an image appeared in mid-air of three men: one of them older, the other two younger and all three with a family resemblance. "Meet the Winchesters. The father is John, who got into hunting when a demon killed his wife. The sons are Dean and Sam, and they grew up with the whole hunting thing. The same demon that killed their mother just recently killed Sam's girlfriend."
Lindsey leaned forward, frowning. "What sort of demon was it? And why did it target the Winchesters if they weren't hunting before the mother died?"
Cordelia just shook her head. "I don't know, and right now it's not important. You're not supposed to do anything about the demon. It's all tied up in the Winchesters' destiny. You're strictly there for support and Winchester ass kicking. Not demon vanquishing."
"Suits me. So, how am I supposed to prove to a group of suspicious demon hunters that I'm one of the good guys, anyway? I can't do much ass kicking if they shoot me."
"Simple." Cordelia grinned at him, sending a shiver down Lindsey's spine. "Sam has visions, and you get a starring role in one. That should get your foot in the door, but the rest will be up to you."
He sighed, dropping his head forward and running a hand through his hair. "Just perfect. It sounds like Angel all over again, no matter what you say. Are you sure this isn't hell?"
Cordelia's laughter didn't make him feel any better about his new situation. "I didn't say it was going to be easy, lawyer boy. Nothing good ever is. But the Powers have confidence in your ability to at least make them tolerate you without getting yourself shot." Her smile turned smug. "Besides, you're getting a gift to help make yourself more useful."
His heart sank to somewhere in the vicinity of his stomach at that. "A gift? What sort of gift, and will it eventually make my head explode?"
"Nope, it's nothing like that. Though if you overuse it, you could theoretically manage to kill yourself, so you should watch out for that." Her eyes sparkled and her smug smile evolved into a blinding grin. "You, Lindsey McDonald, are now a sympathetic healer. Since you're going to be dealing with Winchesters the Powers decided that would be the most useful gift they could give you."
Lindsey sighed. "And they figured that my little vacation with the Wrath would make me better able to withstand the pain whenever I healed someone. Lovely."
Cordelia sighed, reaching out to pat his knee. "Lindsey, it may not feel like it right now, but the Powers chose you because you were the right person for the job. This isn't a punishment. It's a chance to help people, to make a difference. Isn't that what you wanted?"
He nodded almost without thought. Once he had decided that he was getting on the good guy bandwagon that was it, full speed ahead. Even though he had known full well that joining up with Angel would end with him dead, he'd done it anyway because for once he wanted to do the right thing. And for the short period of time before he'd wound up dead, it had been a nice feeling.
"All right. So, how do I do this anyway?"
Cordelia just smiled at him, got up out of her chair and leaned in until she was almost speaking directly into his ear. "How else?" Then she winked at him and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss. "Be good, Lindsey."
And an instant later, everything went dark.
