TITLE:COVETED.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of the BTVS or Angel worlds, just the
character of Rhiana, Nick, Serena, Max, Alex, ect. And the story idea. If
anyone would like to use this idea just ask.
PAIRING: Dawn/Connor Angel/Cordy (Maybe Connor/Rhiana later)
RATING: G-R for now
SPOILERS: basically the pre story goes like this: After Buffy died in
season 5 Dawn was sent to live with her father in LA. There she met up
with Angel and the gang helping them, there was no big problems with
Connor, he didn't sink Angel nor did Cordy become a higher being. Angel
and Cordy are together, Buffy is still dead, not sure if I'm going to
bring her back. Willow joined the LA team. Lindsey never left W&H. So
season 4 Angel is totally AU.
DISTRIBUTION: if you want just ask so I know where it is.
FEEDBACK: please.
Seattle: 6 months earlier….
The two men silently opened the door to the large house and crept in.
They were dressed entirely in black with balaclava's covering their
faces.
"Do you have you're silencer on?" One of the men asked, stopping in the
foyer.
"Yeah, and the drug is in my pocket." The second guy responded.
"Good, lets get this over with." The first guy said.
They walked quietly up the huge sweeping staircase to the second floor
they turned right and headed down the hall and stopped at the third
door.
"We do the parents first, then get the girl."
"Right." They opened the door, but the room was empty.
"Where are they?" The first one asked.
"I thought I heard a TV on when we came in." The second one said
turning and creeping back down the stairs, they stopped and listened, and
from the left side they heard talking. Together they walked down the hall
following the noise.
The men looked at each other and nodded, together they pushed open the
double doors with they're guns out.
"Sit down and don't make a sound." The first one said. The second guy
pointed his gun at the man, the first at the woman.
"Mom? Have you seen…" The blonde girl stopped short at the sight of the
guns being pointed at her parents. Their heads shot over to see a
beautiful blonde haired girl of fifteen or sixteen years old.
"Don't scream or we will shoot you." The first man said. "Get in here
and sit in that corner." He said pointing at the spot with the gun.
"Do what he says honey please." Her father said, without a sound she
walked over to the corner and sat down bringing her knees up to hr chest
and wrapping her arms around them.
The two gunmen looked at each other again then shot the man and woman.
The blonde just looked at her dead parents in shock her eyes wide with
fear. One of the guys walked over towards her and she tried to crawl
away. He grabbed her by her long hair and she screamed at the sudden pain
in her head.
"Shut up and stay still." He snapped at her, he pulled her to her feet
and in an attempt to keep her balance she ripped off his mask.
"Alex…?" the second guy said in surprise.
"It changes nothing Max." Alex snapped at his partner. Alex pulled out
his cell phone and pushed the girl into Max's arms where he tried to
administer the drug to knock her out, she fought as hard as she could and
Max dropped the syringe, when it hit the hard wood floors the thin
glass shattered.
"Sir, we have acquired the subject, but we've been compromised, the
price just went up." Alex said into the phone.
"If you want her you'll pay us another hundred thousand." He said
shortly and snapped the phone shut.
"Go get the body bags Max, time to clean this mess up." Alex said.
"But, the girl, the drug is gone." Max said pointing to the floor where
a puddle of glass and liquid lay.
"Lock her in the van, handcuff her to something." Alex said handing Max
a pair of cuffs.
Los Angeles: 4 months after Seattle…
"Come on, hurry your ass up." Alex said harshly to his partner. He
turned and saw him walking up behind him struggling to carry the body bag
over his shoulder.
"Are you sure we should leave her here? It's so remote, what if she
never gets found?" Max asked dumping the bag on the floor.
Alex opened the body bag revealing the unconscious young girl, he
roughly pulled her out of the big bag and shackled her wrists to the wall of
the huge lighthouse. He turned to glare at his partner.
"That was the whole idea. She can't ever be found alive, she can
testify against us. And if they won't pay, then they don't get her. We gave
them four months, time's up." He snapped and left the lighthouse
"But Alex, people are going to notice her missing." The second guy
tried again. "It's bad enough we killed her folks, why do we have to kill
her? Why can't we just give her over?"
"She saw us Max, she saw our faces, if she gets out alive we're as good
as dead ourselves. Who would you rather? Her or us?" Alex asked, Max
remained silent and Alex smirked in the dim light.
"What I thought. Lets go."
They left a bottle of water and some power bars then left the
lighthouse putting a new padlock on the door. They got into their black SUV.
Without a backwards glance they left the remote beach and drove back to
Los Angeles.
Back at the lighthouse, the young girl woke up, she was all alone, in
the dark, The chains around her wrists reached the floor and she was
able to reach the food and water, but she still 40 minutes away from
civilization.
With no hope of being found.
She started to mumble to herself, the same thing over and over again…
her name.
After two days she stopped talking. Eventually she forgot how to talk.
She even forgot her own name.
Los Angeles: 12 months later…
The senior class of East Valley High was having their annual end of
school bonfire party on the beach. This year it was on a beach 40 minutes
out of the city, called Crescent Beach, so they could be as loud as
they wanted. Last year the party was ended at 2 am because the neighbors
called the LAPD, so the student council decided on a new venue.
It was close to 4 am and most of the seniors were asleep except for a
two couples looking for some privacy.
"How about the lighthouse?" one of the guys suggested.
"Yeah, there's probably plenty of rooms for us to choose." One of the
girls agreed.
"But there's a padlock on it, Rachel and I checked it out before."
Another girl said.
"No problem Lizzy, I have a crowbar in my car." Lizzy's boyfriend said
and jogged over to his car. A minute later he returned and with help
from his friend they broke it off.
"Coming?" He asked his friends and walked in. Rachel turned on a
flashlight and swept it around the room.
"Oh my god! There's a girl there!" she screamed holding the flashlight
beam on the girl who was slumped against the wall.
Her long blonde hair was limp and dirty, her body was so thin her bones
were sticking out. She was shackled to the wall. Her eyes were open and
the teens couldn't tell if she was dead or alive.
"Luke go check if she's alive." Lizzy said to her boyfriend. He took a
step towards her and she flinched away.
"Well, she's alive. What do we do?" Luke asked his friends.
"Um… call the cops? I mean she's been like, kidnapped right?" Rachel
asked looking at her boyfriend.
"Yeah, I guess." He replied and pulled out his cell phone and dialed
911.
"We're having a party out at the lighthouse. We found a girl locked up
in there." He told the operator.
"My name is Jack Walker." The operator spoke again.
"Luke James, Elizabeth Saunders and Rachel Reese are at the lighthouse
with me, on the beach is the entire senior class from East Valley
High."
"I don't know, we just found her. She's been tied to the wall, I think
she's been here for a while…" he stopped talking for a minute.
"…Well she's really thin and she flinched away when I went to check on
her." He said.
"Okay, we'll wait here." He said and hung up the phone.
"Is someone coming?" Rachel asked looking between Jack and the girl.
"Yes, the operator asked us to stay here until the cops and the
ambulance come. Luke get your crowbar and help me try to get her free." Jack
said. Lizzy and Rachel moved to the door to keep a lookout for the cops.
Cordelia Chase looked up at the doors to the Hyperion hotel when she
heard the doors open. Connor and Dawn walked in holding hands and being
all lovey.
"What happened to the all night party?" Cordelia asked the pair as the
walked into the foyer.
Connor and Dawn looked at Cordelia and slumped down onto one of the
sofa's.
"We're only juniors so we got kicked out." Conner said not at all
happy.
"Yeah, it was like, even though we had an invitation it still didn't
count for anything. They were absolute–" Dawn began.
"Hold that thought-" Cordelia said then her eyes glazed over as another
vision hit her. It was the girl at the lighthouse.
"Oh, that poor little girl." Cordelia sobbed, more for the girl than
any pain she had.
"Cordy?" Angel asked coming down the stairs, he saw his lover crying
and rushed down the rest to comfort her.
"What's wrong honey?" Angel asked pulling her into his arms and hugging
her. His gaze shifted to Connor and Dawn, who just shrugged at him.
"A girl, in the lighthouse at Crescent Beach. There's a girl locked up
in there. Angel you have to save her. She's so scared." Cordelia said
breaking out into more sobs.
"Okay. Connor, come with me, Dawn can you stay with Cordy? As soon as
we have anything I'll call." Angel said he stopped at the weapons
cabinet and chose a set of short swords, handing one to Connor.
"We'll be back soon." Angel said and swept out the door, Connor in tow.
Dawn turned to Cordelia. "Do you want anything Cordy? Coffee? Vodka?"
Dawn asked walking into the small kitchenette.
Cordy followed her in and sat at the table.
"You know what? A vodka and orange juice would be fantastic." Cordy
sighed. A moment later it was sitting in front of her. Dawn took a seat
across from her and put the cordless phone on the table.
And they waited.
Back at the lighthouse Angel and Connor arrived. There were police cars
everywhere and an ambulance. Two officers were questioning four teens;
Angel listened for a moment and learned that they were the teens that
found the girl. He looked around and saw a familiar blonde head.
"Kate!" he yelled out to her and strode over to the blonde detective.
She turned at the sound of her name.
"Angel, what are you doing here?" Kate asked pleasantly enough, but it
was obvious to the vampire that she was still weary around him.
"Vision. Cordy said there's a girl locked up in the lighthouse." Angel
said quietly.
"That's right." Kate said tightly.
"Any idea who she is?" Angel asked walking forward a step to see the
girl, no more than sixteen being rolled out on a gurney to the ambulance.
The poor girl was so scared, she was thrashing about on the bed, her
hands and feet were strapped down.
The paramedics were trying to administer a shot, obviously a sedative,
but she wouldn't stop moving.
Connor stepped up to the gurney and stood next to her head where she
could see him. With his right hand he held onto one of hers and with his
left he gently brushed the hair off of her face.
Her movements stilled but she eyed Connor wearily who was speaking
softly to her.
"It's alright now, these people just want to help you." Angel heard him
say quietly.
Kate, who had also been watching the girl looked stunned by her
response to Connor, spoke up.
"No we have no clue. For now she'll be Jane Doe and we'll run her
picture through the National Missing Persons Database."
"Well if you need any help…" Angel trailed off then went to join his
son. Connor was looking on sadly as they loaded the now sleeping teen
into the ambulance, he looked up to his father.
"Why would someone hurt her?" he asked. Connor was still new to this
world and had trouble understanding people's motives.
"I don't know, but we'll do all we can to help her." Angel said guiding
Connor over to the car.
"Do they know who she is?" he asked settling into the passenger seat.
"No. For now they're calling her Jane Doe. We should get back to Cordy
and Dawn." Angel said driving off back to the hotel, Connor silently
promising Jane Doe to find the people or demons who hurt her.
Jane woke up in a dark room, all alone.
She thought that maybe she'd dreamed the rescue and the boy who was so
nice to her.
She always dreamed of being rescued the boy was a new feature to her.
The she notice that even though she was still tied up she was laying on
a bed.
She wriggled around trying to get free, she heard footsteps and voices
outside. The door to her room opened and someone stepped in and turned
on the lights.
The bright light hurt her eyes after being in the dark for so long. She
scrunched her eyes shut and screamed, renewing her efforts to get free.
"Hey, it's okay Jane." The voice was familiar to her. The boy from the
ambulance. Slowly she opened her eyes the room was dark again and the
boy was standing next to the bed. She looked at him fearfully, still
trying to get free.
Connor smiled down at Jane. "Hi, remember me?" he asked gently. He
slowly raised his hands and undid the straps from her wrist. Then he walked
down to the foot of the bed and undid her feet.
She watched him quietly.
Not moving a muscle.
He walked around to her other side and undid her wrist. As soon as she
was free she flew into his arms and buried her face in his chest.
"Hey don't you forget who your girlfriend is." Dawn said from the
shadows. Jane stiffened in his arms.
"Don't worry Dawnie." Connor whispered. He pulled back a bit to see
Jane's face, while she was asleep she had been cleaned up and Connor could
see just how pretty she was. He guessed her to be fifteen or sixteen
years old, her blonde hair fell in loose curls to her waist, her blue
eyes were wide and full of fear with a little bit of trust for Connor. The
nurses had dressed her in a hospital issue night gown that showed just
how small and frail she really was.
"I'm Connor. That's Dawn." He said inclining his head in Dawn's
direction.
"Hi." Dawn said quietly. "Connor I gotta go. I promised my dad I'd be
home on time today." Dawn said.
"Okay, I Love you. Call me later." Connor replied. He lifted Jane back
onto the bed and continued to hold her hand, which she grasped tightly.
The door edged open, Jane looked at it fearfully. Connor winced as she
griped his hand tighter.
"Dad, don't turn on the lights. They hurt her eyes." Connor said
stilling the hand running up the wall. Angel walked into the room followed by
Cordelia and closed the door behind them.
Cordelia walked up to Jane with a smile, but she inched away until she
was flush against Connor her eyes wide and untrusting of the brunette
woman. Cordelia's smile fell and she stopped.
"It's okay honey, we're here to help you. Can you tell us who you are?"
Cordelia asked keeping her voice low.
Jane looked at her confused, she turned to face Connor and he realized
that she had never said anything. She either couldn't or she just
didn't speak.
"Cordy, she doesn't speak." Connor said.
"Oh, the poor little thing, to have been traumatized so badly that she
can't even talk anymore. How are we supposed to find out who she is?"
she asked looking at Angel, he just shrugged.
"Oh my god, Alex you better come and see this!" Max yelled from the
living room. There on the TV screen was a picture of a girl, and not just
any girl. The girl they had left for dead two months ago in the
lighthouse on Crescent Beach. Alex walked into the room still cleaning his
gun.
"What the hell do you want?" Alex snapped looking at Max who just
pointed to the TV.
"Is she alive or dead?" he asked sharply.
"I dunno." Max said, the TV was on mute.
"Well turn it up dumb ass." Alex yelled. Max hit the volume and the
voice of a police spokesman came on.
"… was found last night being held captive in the lighthouse out on
Crescent Beach. We don't know her identity yet as she is refusing to
speak. We urge anyone who knows this young girl to contact the LAPD."
"How is it she was found alive? It's been two months. Shouldn't she be
dead?" Max asked Alex he just stood there filling the clip of his gun
with ammunition.
"Get ready, we're going to finish this the way we should have six
months ago." Alex said sharply and strode out of the room. Max just sat
there surprised that she had lived this long.
He stood up and got his own gun from the coffee table. He checked the
clip, snapped a new bullet into the chamber. But he couldn't decide if
he wanted to use it on himself or on Alex. With a sigh of defeat he
uncocked the gun and slipped the safety on.
Alex came out with his leather jacket on and car keys in hand talking
on his cell phone.
"Yes sir, I know… it wasn't something we thought we would see. I'm
sorry sir. Yes we're on our way to fix it now… We'll bring her to you,
at the agreed price…plus and extra fifty thou, thank you sir."
"Lets go." He said snapping the cell phone shut and striding out the
door, Max behind him.
Jane was sleeping again, and she wasn't so afraid anymore. Connor had
promised he would stay with her while she slept to watch over her, but
to do that he needed to stay awake.
Connor walked down the hall to the coffee machine next to the nurse's
station, while he was waiting for the security guard to get his drink
Connor took the opportunity to study the layout of the floor. Two
orderlies in green scrubs and lab coats walked by him from the lifts and
stopped at the desk, looking over the room assignment charts.
Connor walked forward up to the machine and started feeding it two
fifty in quarters, then his cup started to fill with the black liquid.
"Oh, Mr. O'Neill, how's Jane tonight?" the nurse running the desk asked
upon seeing him when she returned to her post. The orderlies were gone.
"She's sleeping, I just snuck out for a coffee." Connor answered adding
sugar to his drink.
"Well if you ever want anymore, just come into the canteen back here.
There's always coffee on and it's free." The nurse offered him smiling
softly.
"Thanks-" Connor said smiling back, anything else he wanted to say was
cut off by a frightened scream. Connor's head shot up to look down the
hall.
"That was Jane!" he said dropping his drink and running down the hall
to her room.
"Time to go sweetheart." A voice said from inside her room. Connor
heard a click then another scream from Jane.
That sprung him into action.
There was someone standing on the other side of the door so Connor
grasped the handle and slammed the door open hitting the guy on the head.
Hard. He fell to the floor unconscious.
Out of the corner of his eye Connor saw the nurse and the security guy
were behind him. He pushed the door open and saw the other man; he was
one of the orderlies. He stood on the other side of the room with the
bed between him and Connor. He held Jane tightly in his arms as a shield
and had a gun pointed at her head.
Connor held his hands out to show that he was unarmed.
"Who are you?" He asked the guy never taking his eyes of Jane who was
crying.
"Never you mind boy. We just come to finish some business, after I kill
you we'll be on our way, this one had an engagement that cant be
missed." He said.
"Why do you want to kill me?" Connor asked hoping that one of the two
behind him had called the cops.
"Nothing personal against you. But you've seen my face. Technically
this one wasn't meant to be found alive. And now it's delivery day." He
said jiggling Jane causing her to let out a small scream of fright.
"Why now? Why didn't you deliver her before you put her in the
lighthouse?" Connor asked hoping to keep him occupied until the cops arrived.
"Well, the big guy wasn't gonna pay the extra we asked for, when she
saw our faces. So we kept her for a few months to give them a chance to
change their minds, but no dice, so we dumped her, plus she could put me
and my buddy there away for a long time." He said.
"But why the lighthouse? Why didn't you just shoot her?"
"My boss said she couldn't be killed by conventional weapons, it would
have to be starvation or something like that. You did know she ain't
human didn't ya?" he asked Connor, who looked skeptical.
"Yes she is, look can't you just leave her?" Connor asked trying the
scared kid routine.
"Why do you care so much? You sweet on her?" the guy sneered pressing
the gun harder against Jane's temple, she whimpered and looked
pleadingly at Connor.
"No, it's nothing like that. I have a girlfriend. She trusts me a
little, I want to help her." Connor answered.
"Sure you do." he replied sarcastically.
"Who is she anyway, where is her family?" Connor asked.
"Parents are dead. Doesn't matter who she is, she'll be dead too soon.
Probably." He said laughing and shaking Jane's small body.
"She saw you kill them? Is that why you want to take her? Connor asked
understanding now.
"Somethin like that, and now you die, but it's like I said; nothin
personal." He said removing the gun from Jane's head and pointed it at
Connor.
The gun went off and Connor felt a searing pain in his shoulder he fell
down and passed out, which the gunman mistook for his death.
"Anyone out there get out of the way, we are coming out and we will
shoot anyone who gets in the way." The gunman said, his companion stood
also rubbing his head.
"Little shit." He muttered kicking Connor in the ribs. He retrieved his
gun and loaded the chamber. He stepped out first gun raised, the nurse
and the security guard stood flat against the wall with their hands up.
"Come on, we gotta deliver this package." They sauntered off down the
hall and got into the lift.
As soon as they were out of site the nurse rushed into the room where
Connor was laying in am ever growing pool of blood.
"Bill, help me lift him onto the bed!" the nurse yelled out to the
guard. He rushed into the room and effortlessly lifted Connor onto the
gurney.
"Keep this pressed tightly to the wound, I'm going to call a surgeon."
"Sure thing Tracy." Bill said holding the bandage on the wound.
Jane looked out the window of the black SUV as they drove through the
streets, she had no idea where she was, but she didn't think it was
Seattle.
The car slowed at the entrance to a huge sky scraper, the sign out the
front said it was the Los Angeles office of Wolfram and Heart,
Attorneys at Law.
'Los Angeles, California? Why would they bring me here? And why a law
firm?' Jane wondered in her head.
"Welcome home kid." The guy driving said, Jane looked at him
questioningly, but she didn't say anything.
"Well, here she is McDonald, now where's my money?" Alex asked shoving
the girl into the large office. Lindsey McDonald turned from the window
and saw Alex pushing her into a chair in front of his desk.
"Of course Alex, Keller, why don't you give Max and Alex their money."
Lindsey called out to the hall, a big guy dressed in black come into
the office and produced a gun, before Alex or Max could pull their own
weapons Keller pulled the trigger twice.
The girl sitting in front of Lindsey's desk screamed and made a run for
it. She dodged past Keller and raced out of the room.
"What the hell is going on?" a female voice asked opening the door to
her office. She stepped out and saw a young girl running right towards
her. A moment later Lilah Morgan found she had her arms full of a
sobbing, hysterical 15 year old girl.
Lilah felt something click between her and the girl, and she hugged her
back making soothing sounds. Lindsey came out of his office followed by
Keller to see Lilah Morgan hugging the girl. He smirked at the sight
then cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Well isn't this nice? Hand her over Lilah, she's my project." Lindsey
said gesturing to Keller to get her.
Keller strode up to them and ripped the girl out of Lilah's arms.
"Who is she?" Lilah asked watching the thug carry her into Lindsey's
office and close the door.
"Not your concern Li. She's special." Lindsey said and turned to go
back into his office. Lilah watched him with a frown on her face then she
looked into her own office as it hit her.
"She's mine. Rhiana." Lilah whispered. Lindsey stopped and twisted
sharply to face his colleague.
"What did you call her?" he asked trying to keep the suspicion and
accusation out of his tone.
"Nothing, I was thinking of another case." Lilah said and went into her
office closing and locking the door behind her. She walked over to her
desk and picked up the phone hitting 4 on her speed dial.
"Hello Serena." Lilah said with a satisfied smile on her face.
"Put on Nicholas… No it can't wait. No he can't call me back." Lilah
said her voice getting sharper.
"Serena, if you don't get him right now I am going to fill in the
higher power around here of your previous transgressions." Lilah threatened
in a sugary sweet tone.
"Thank you." She said at last tapping her foot as she waited for
Nicholas to pick up.
"Li, threatening my staff doesn't help your standing around here, even
if you are my lover." A smooth voice said.
"We haven't been for some time Nick. But speaking of that my firm has
Rhiana. McDonald is in charge of her." she said getting straight to it.
"Rhiana? Is she still human?" Nicholas asked.
"I don't know, I only held her for a second. She's so beautiful Nick,
she looks like you." Lilah said softly as she pictured her beautiful
daughter in her mind.
"It's too early. She's only 15 years old, there's another seven years
before she was to join us, at least. Lilah, you have to find out if
she's human or if she's crossed. If she has you need to bring her to me."
Nicholas said.
"I can't get her away by myself. The Senior Partners have given her to
McDonald. Nick you're going to have to come to LA and help me." Lilah
said pacing around the office.
"Okay, from now on call me on my cell, the number is 555-91562. I'll be
there tomorrow night." Nicholas said. "I still love you Li." He said
and disconnected. Lilah scowled down at the buzzing receiver.
"That'd be right." Lilah snapped dropping the handle back onto the
cradle. She picked up her jacket from the back of her chair and pulled in
on, then she placed the laptop computer into its carry case and left the
office.
Connor woke up slowly squinting against the harsh light in his eyes. He
moaned at the pain that exploded in his head when he finally opened
them. At his bedside was his father, Cordy and Dawn.
"Jane. Where is she?" Connor asked struggling to sit up. Angel gently
pushed his son back down and held him there.
"They took her Connor, but the hospital cameras got them and Kate is
looking for them. We'll find her." Angel said.
They all looked up when the door opened and a doctor walked in.
"Connor, good you're awake. How do you feel?" he asked peeling back the
bandage on his shoulder to look at the wound.
"Fine. What happened?" Connor asked bending his head to look for
himself.
"You were shot, and quite lucky to be alive." The doctor said pulling
away the bandage to reveal the stitches. The wound was healed though;
there was no mark except for the stitches still there.
"Remarkable." The doctor breathed.
Connor looked at his shoulder and shrugged. "I guess I heal fast." He
said with a small smile. "So can I go?" he asked.
"Uh, sure." The doctor said removing the stitches.
Connor sat up and pulled on a t shirt before jumping off the bed. He
followed Angel, Cordelia and the doctor out of the room and up to the
front desk to be released.
Lilah Morgan pulled out her cell phone and hit a number in her speed
dial. She tapped her foot impatiently as the line rang several times
before it was answered.
"About time." She snapped.
"I see you still haven't learned the art of patience." The voice on the
other end of the line said with a chuckle.
"Not now Nick. We have to get Rhiana out of there." Lilah said
softening her tone some.
"Will you leave now too?" Nick asked.
"I can't. I have to make sure that the senior partners don't find out
about our kind." Lilah said. She's been undercover for more than 8 years
making sure her daughter would be safe.
"Lilah, it's time for you to leave and help me look after our daughter
when we get her back. We need help and none of mine are available, do
you know anyone who can help us who won't put your position in
jeopardy?" Nick asked. Lilah thought for a second.
"Maybe, let me talk to them before you come in. we haven't gotten along
in the past year so it might take some convincing." Lilah said.
"Then how do you know these people will help?" Nick asked concerned.
"Well for one they hate W&H as much as we do and for another it's their
job to help the helpless, and that's what Rhiana is. She's the link
that will get them to help us." Lilah said sounding more confidant than
she felt.
"Keep me posted. Love you." Nick said.
"Me too." Lilah said and disconnected the line. She sighed and brushed
her hair back.
"Time to seek out the enemy." She muttered to herself.
"So where are we on our cases?" Angel asked opening the door to his
office and walking out into the main room where Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn,
Fred, Dawn, Connor and Willow were looking through books and computers.
"All closed in a satisfactory manner." Wesley said. Angel nodded.
"Good, then now I want you all to look into the girl from the light
house. Kate faxed over photos from when they first found her and I have
some stills from the hospital security cameras. I wanna know who she is,
where she's from and what she is." Angel said. Dawn and Willow nodded
and went into looking on their computers.
"What she is? I thought she was human?" Wes asked.
"So did we. But those guys that took her said she wasn't. Now that I
think back on it I did get a weird vibe from her, I just though I could
sense her fear." Connor said having had the most contact with her.
"Perhaps I can help?" a female voice interrupted. All heads in the room
twisted to take in the new arrival.
"Lilah, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Angel asked wearily, watching
her every move as she moved further into the lobby.
"This is going to sound real rich coming form me but I need your help."
Lilah said addressing Angel only.
"You were right. With what can I possibly help you with?" Angel asked.
Lilah was silent for a moment watching Connor and Dawn.
"Children. They mean the world to you when you have them and even more
when you don't. Wolfram & Hart have my daughter."
"Excuse me?" Angel asked speechless.
"I gave her up as a baby to distant relatives of my mothers. She's
special, different. Like her father and I. The Senior Partners don't know
she's mine. I need to keep it that way." Lilah said.
"Why?" Angel asked. Working out in his heads the pros and cons to
helping Lilah Morgan.
"Because I am undercover making sure that my secret isn't discovered,
and the rest of my kind put at risk. There's a possibility that my
daughter has changed and if she has then she needs to go to her father for
protection."
"And what are you? What is your kind?" Angel asked finding his voice.
"I am an Illari." Lilah said proudly.
"They are gone, they were wiped long before I was even turned." Angel
said.
"That is what we wanted the supernatural world to believe. For our
safety, it is hard to kill us but some knew how and took great pleasure in
doing so. So we went into hiding." Lilah said.
"What is an Illari?" Willow spoke up. She kept looking down at her
screen and clicking on the mouse pad.
"We are a race of vampires. It is born in us and at a certain age we
have our first death where the human part of us dies and we wake up
vampires. We are pure in blood and nothing like the demons that you fight.
We can go out in the sun, things that afflicts vampires like Angel have
no effect on us. My heart still beats and only because my kind has been
wiped out to the world did Angel not know I wasn't human." Lilah said.
"So how do more of these Illari get born?" Willow asked typing away.
"Even as vampires we can have children, I am over 400 years old and I
only had Rhiana 15 years ago. My lover and Rhiana's father is even
older, he rules over every Illari in this country. If Wolfram & Hart find
out about Rhiana then all those years of secrecy will have been for
nothing and it will be open season on us. Again." Lilah said.
"So you are a spy making sure that they don't find out?" Angel asked.
Lilah nodded. "How long?" he asked.
"8 years. Nick wants me to leave when we get Rhiana. I want to its time
for me to take care of my daughter. Will you help me?" Lilah implored.
"Yes. But only for the child." Angel said. Lilah nodded understanding
that there was still a lot between them. She pulled a card out of her
bag and held it out to him.
"That is my cell number. Its secure." She said. It was Angel's turn to
nod.
"Come by tomorrow with the child's father, I assume he will be helping
you?" Angel asked.
"Yes. He's on his way now from New York." Lilah affirmed.
"Okay, I need you to find out where they are keeping her in the
building and what the bodyguard count is." Angel said. Lilah nodded and left.
"Okay, looks like we have a case. Will I need the blueprints to the
building. All access from everywhere. Especially underground entrances."
Angel said starting to form a plan.
"Wes, I need anything and everything you can find on the Illari. Dawn
can you help him looking it up on the net and crossing it with the
books. I wanna know all their weaknesses and strengths." Wes and Dawn nodded
and moved off together into what passed for a library in the hotel.
"Cordy and Fred, I need you two to find out about the child's family,
the one she was taken from, any alias she may have had and who the other
parents were."
"Connor, Spike and Gunn, I want you guys sharpening your skills on all
weapons. We have to assume she will be guarded by the worst demons
Wolfram & Hart have, and that could be anything."
Angel then turned and went into his office he picked up the phone and
looked at I for a long time before dialing a number from memory. After 4
rings it was answered.
"I need a big favor, it's kind of illegal."
"You know it is or else I wouldn't call."
"Please…..thanks Kate."
PART 2:
"Angel, I seriously think you are crazy. How can you expect me to do
that?" Kate asked the vampire standing in front of her cold fireplace,
while she paced the length of her living room.
"Kate, I told you on the phone, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."
Angel replied watching her.
"I just want to know why you want me to free a convicted murderer. I'm
not even sure I can, she in there dong 25 to life. She's not eligible
for parole for 16 years Angel." Kate said. She stopped at the door to
her small kitchen and went in.
"It's to help an innocent, the girl from the lighthouse." Angel said.
Kate raced out of the kitchen a surprised look on her face.
"What? Where is she Angel?" Kate asked. She was having on hell of a
time cracking that case, made even harder when the girl was kidnapped
again from the hospital. There was a lot of public interest in that child,
and more than a few nut cases claiming to be the child's family.
"Wolfram and Hart have her, she's not entirely human and her mother
came to me for help." Angel said slowly, waiting for Kate to explode.
"How did her 'mother' know where she was? Where has she been while the
girl was missing." Kate asked slowly, barely holding onto her anger.
"Her mother works for W&H and is an undercover spy for her kind. Making
sure that they stay a myth. She hasn't raised Rhiana, because she was
going in to spy she and her mother found a foster family for her who
they could trust. A cousin I think she said." Angel said evasively, he
didn't want to give too much away without securing Faith's release from
prison.
"Rhiana?" Kate asked. Angel nodded.
"That's her name, my team is working out where she came from and if
that was her name while she was with the other family."
"Okay Angel, who is her mother?" Kate asked, she had a history with
Wolfram and Hart, and she wanted to know who she as 'helping'.
"Kate, I can't just reveal that. I need something from you first."
Angel said, willing to use this to get what he wanted.
"Angel I just said I might not be able to." Kate said exasperated.
"I need her Kate. I am trying to save Rhiana from Wolfram and Hart and
who knows what demons they have on the payroll. I need a slayer to even
things up a bit. 2 vampires and 2 humans aren't enough." Angel said.
"The best I can give you right now is I'll see what I can do, you might
have to break her out. I don't recommend nor am I giving you my
blessing. She killed people Angel, don't be surprised when the parole board
say no." Kate said going back into the kitchen.
"What makes you think she's help you anyway? Didn't she try to kill-"
Kate looked around her empty living room looking for the vampire even
though she knew he was gone.
"Damn vampire." She muttered and picked up the phone hitting a key on
her speed dial.
"Yeah, it's Lockley. I need a prisoner looked at for parole. Faith
James."
"Ok Angel, there's not much on the Illari, I looked in the oldest books I could find, one of them was over 400 years. It said that the Illari was extinct, as did all the others. They definitely liked keeping their continued existence secret. The big question is how did Wolfram and Heart find out they were still out there?" Willow said. Angel had pulled them all together to share what they had found out so far.
"It was the same for the computer search Angel, I found one reference that said they were a myth." Dawn piped from her perch on the tall foyer desk.
"Maybe we should go straight to the source. Wait for Lilah to come back with Rhiana's dad. Who better to fill in the blanks than the leader?" Fred asked.
Angel looked around at his tired crew; they had been searching for day's non-stop with almost nothing to show for it. "That's a good idea. You guys take the rest of the day off, take some time for yourselves." Angel said. Everyone looked up at him.
"Are you sure?" Willow asked already packing away her things.
"Yeah. You guys have done a lot of work