Author's Note: I'm sitting in the Arizona airport waiting for my flight to Hawaii to arrive, and decided to go ahead and post this since I won't be working on it for the next week and a half. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Special thanks to all of my reviewers and silent stalkers, keep 'em coming.

Rated T for suggestive adult content, language, and violence.

Disclaimer: If I owned Angel, Lindsey would have nice long hair. ^_^



He woke up slowly, trying to re-enter reality as easy as possible. He brought his left hand to his face while his eyes were still closed and ran it through his wild hair before rubbing his eyes. Only then did he open them. With sight came the image of his messy room and the memories of the night before. His clothes were strewn haphazardly around the room, and the pretty red dress sat pooled on the floor near the end of his bed. Lindsey groaned as he sat up, sore in places that he had forgotten he had. The cool silk sheets felt great on his bare skin, and he looked around his room for a pair of briefs to slide on. He rose up his right arm into his view and noticed that his plastic hand was not attached. He frowned and searched the room again, but didn't see his hand, nor did he remember taking it off last night. He rolled over in his bed and opened the drawer that normally held his faux hand. Sure enough it was there, nestled neatly in its place. He passed on putting it back on and instead got out of bed, wandering naked over to his other set of drawers, where he grabbed a fresh pair of briefs and pulled them on. He glanced at the clock to check the time. It was a Sunday and he wasn't required to go into work unless he was called. It was a little before eight, a good time to wake up on the weekends. Lindsey crossed the room and reached in his closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and pulling them on with a little effort. They hung long on his hips, the elastic band of his underwear peeking out from the denim. The lawyer turned toward his bathroom when he heard the shower turn on and mentally groaned. Sylvia must still be there.

He walked past his wall mirror and froze, taking a step back until he could see himself. He had a small red welt on his neck, low enough that his collar would cover it up if he didn't crane his neck too much. He turned around and stared at hi back, which had long fingernail marks scratching down his back. No wonder he was sore. He thought back to the night before again and a sideways grin fell on his face. The woman was wild, he'd give her that. Those long hours were the most fun he'd had in…he couldn't even remember when. He ran his fingers gently across the scratches before averting his attention to finding a shirt. He was just pulling a black t-shirt over his head when two slender arms wrapped themselves around his body, stopping the shirt from going onto his body. He stiffened as he felt Sylvia press her body into his back, and from what he was feeling, she was only wearing his towel. He let the shirt drop to the floor and brought his fingers up to cover her arms. She giggled into his back and placed kisses where the night before she was creating red lines. "You weren't half bad yourself, you know."

He snorted at her words and turned in her arms, his eyebrow raising. "half bad? Want me to recall your exact words?"

She laughed and let go of him in order to hold up his towel. It was wrapped around her otherwise naked body, stopping several inches short of her knees. Her long bleach blonde hair lay limp and wet on her head. She wasn't wearing any make up, and looked different than when she was fully dressed and made up. In a way she looked almost beautiful. Lindsey shook the thought out of his mind, watching as a smile slowly grew on her lips, almost as if she had read his thoughts. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, cowboy."

He ignored her comment and went to walk past her, intent on getting in the shower himself. He stopped, though, remembering the words that Angel had spoken to him last night. Then he did a half turn, watching as she picked up her dress. "Are you gonna answer me now?"

Sylvia stood up from her lowered position and flung the dress onto his bed halfheartedly. "You sure you want to know?"

Lindsey narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms on his bare chest. "Stop procrastinating."

"You lawyers and your 'hunt for the truth.' I swear." She relented, however, and plopped down on Lindsey's bed, crossing her legs and smirking as she watched his eyes follow the edge of the towel as it inched up higher on her thigh. She stared at him, trying to figure out the best way to explain what she was to the man in front of her. "I'm a ShapeShifter."

Lindsey stared at her for a moment as if she had grown another head. His face went from shock to surprise, then anger as he remembered the little bit of information he knew about ShapeShifters. "Stop screwin' around! Shifters were all killed hundreds of years ago."

Sylvia, looking very bored, slowly stood up from the bed, making a show of standing up straight. Lindsey went to say something, but she held up her finger to silence him. Then, she placed her hand on her hip, and changed.

It wasn't like anything that Lindsey would have thought. There was no melding of the skin, no odd deformities as the shift took place. Sylvia was standing there with an annoyed look on her face one second. Then, he blinked, and he was staring at an exact replica of him, clad only in a towel.

"How do I look?" Sylvia asked, only her voice sounded just like he did. She allowed the towel to drop down to her waist, and she did a little twirl. Her right hand was missing, the small scars and twisted flesh on the end of her arm was identical to his, even her back sported the scratches she had inflicted herself not even twelve hours ago. Lindsey swallowed, not believing what he was seeing.

She smiled one of his dazzling smiles and closed the gap between them. Lindsey didn't move as she put his hand in his chest and slowly let it fall downward.

"Believe me now?" She whispered in his voice as she brought his head closer. Then, as he stared into his eyes, they flashed purple, and the spell was broken. He pushed her away roughly, falling backwards, his only saving grace being the wall.

She laughed and shifted back in the Sylvia that he had met, quickly pulling the towel up around her chest. Lindsey frowned and shook his head, trying make sense of everything he had seen in front of him. "So…are you a man or a woman?"

"Your real question should be "what did I just have sex with?'" She rolled her eyes as she picked up her bra from the other night and dropped the towel on the ground before proceeding to get dressed. "Don't worry, I'm either a straight woman or a gay guy…I find human men more attractive."

She looked him up and down. "Though, I can hardly turn down a sexy female."

Lindsey choked, his face growing pale. He glanced at the clock and did some mental calculations. Nathan left the office around noon on Sunday's, and if he hurried Lindsey could talk to his boss and read up on the material that Wolfram and Hart had on ShapeShifters. Sylvia was right, he did want to know what he had gotten in bed with. He had to learn brief history on all species of demon and non-demon races as part of his education for law school when he was invited to join Wolfram and Hart. They had spent only several minutes on the mystical race, learning only that they were a mistake made by the Powers, and didn't have a soul. However, Lindsey could have sworn he heard a heart beat coming from her body last night, and that scared him. "I got to go into work."

"It's Sunday."

"I got a case to work on." Lindsey lied, the false words slipping easily off his tongue. Since when had he become so accustomed to lying without thinking about it?

Sylvia stared at him and cocked her head, moments later frowning. "I don't care who you tell about me, Lindsey, as long as you're prepared to live with the consequences."

Lindsey shuttered. Did she just read his mind? "Fine."

He grabbed a t-shirt and stormed out of the room, stopping by the kitchen to grab some pain pills before going to his car. He had an emergency suit in his trunk, and didn't want to spend any more time in a room with a creature he knew nothing about. Lindsey felt more than saw Sylvia enter the room as he stuffed the pills in his pockets. He wanted to take some just in case his headache came back.

"Those pills wont help, not with that headache, anyway. "

He pretended that he didn't hear her, but placed the pills back on the counter on his way out. The dull pounding started as soon as he pulled his car out of the garage, and grew steadily worse as he drove away from the apartment complex. He turned on the road that would lead him to Wolfram and Hart, toward all of the answers he would ever need about the strange creature in his apartment.

--Wolfram and Hart--

"Here's the file you were looking for, Mr. McDonald."

Lindsey didn't bother giving a smile, taking the folder from the woman with only a gruff noise to say his thanks. The woman's never ending smile didn't drop an inch as she watched his retreating.

The lawyer paid close attention to where he was walking, hiding the tab on the folder from view of any wandering eyes as he made his way to his office. It was a Sunday morning and only those unfortunate enough to have extra work were milling about in the office. Half way to his safe haven Lindsey shifted the file to under his right arm in order to free his left hand to massage his temple. His headache was worse than it had ever been, and the pounding was starting to affect his vision. Every once in a while his eyesight would blur and he would stumble. Finally, the lawyer made it to his office, where he locked the door and hurriedly sat down in his chair before opening the file, pouring over its contents. The folder was slim, showing off how little information the law firm actually knew about ShapeShifters. However, on those pages was more information than Lindsey knew himself, and that was a start.

He read eagerly, his headache forgotten for the moment. He learned of the soul sharing, and the histories of the creatures. He learned how to get them to show their true form, and how the best way to kill them is. Much more information was in the file, but every line he read gave him new questions to ask. Soon, however, his quest for knowledge was overcome by the now-blinding pain he was experiencing. Unable to take it anymore, Lindsey took out his phone and hastily took pictures of the information on the pages before closing the file and putting it in his out pile. A attendant would come in before Monday morning and take care of that ever-growing stack so their would be plenty of room for more to take their place in the upcoming week. Lindsey then stood up and buttoned the front of his jacket with his single hand before exiting his office. He turned and went to leave when he came face to face with the last person he wanted to see. Lilah Morgan.

"What are you going here?" She asked, skepticism in her voice as she stared at her competitor. Lindsey sighed, not having the patience to deal with the woman at the moment.

"Jack off Lilah, I wasn't plotting on destroying your reputation, if that's what your worried about. You're doing a good enough job of that without my help." He leaned against the wall as a particularly strong wave hit his head.

Lilah raised her eyebrow. "You look a bit pale, Lindsey. Pressure getting to you?"

"What the hell are you talking about." His words almost slurred together, he was having trouble talking. His vision was starting to fail, and the little that he could see was spinning. He felt like he was about to faint.

Lilah continued on, oblivious to the man's suffering. "The division review. They moved it to tomorrow."

Lindsey, even in his state, managed a smirk. That's the only reason the woman would come to work on a Sunday, to try to get some advantage over him before the division review. He could care less about the damn thing. There would be a body bag carried out of Wolfram and Hart the next day, and it would contain one of them. Which one, Lindsey didn't really care. He opened his mouth to make some snide comment, but he never got the chance. The world went black as he crumpled to the floor, the pain in his head so strong that his body wouldn't stay conscious.

He woke up almost half an hour later. He was lying out on the couch in Nathan Reeds office that was designed specifically for clients. A Wolfram and Hart doctor was packing up his things and giving an oral report to Nathan, who was sitting at his desk, signing off on some document or another. Lilah was sitting tight lipped and cross legged in another chair further away from the couch, an almost hopeful look on her face. Lindsey groaned and fluttered his eyes as he regained conscious, trying to take in the scene in front of him. He moved to sit up, using his elbows for support. "What happened?"

"You fainted, Lindsey." Nathan said, releasing the doctor and standing up, crossing his arms. "There's something you weren't telling us."

Lilah smiled a triumphant grin. "I caught him popping pain pills the other day with enough dosage to numb a horse."

Nathan raised his eyebrow and paced toward the couch. "Is this true?"

Lindsey sighed, rubbing his face with his good hand. He sat up all the way and swung his legs over the couch so that he was sitting upright. He leaned back and closed his eyes, awaiting the return of his headache. However, it was only a dull throb, barely prominent in the back of his skull. Glad to have even a few seconds of rest, he hesitated in opening his eyes. "Sir, I'd like to discuss this privately."

He shot Lilah a distrusting look, one she returned all too soon. Nathan stared at the young lawyer for a few moments before turning to the only female in the room. "Lilah."

She nodded and mumbled a yes sir before disappearing into the hallway, no doubt trying to find a way to get ears in the room.

"Well?" Nathan asked stubbornly, not budging until he heard a detailed answer from Lindsey. That said lawyer decided to get right to the point. "I found a ShapeShifter."

Nathan's face turned angry. "Don't mess with me, young man!"

Lindsey sighed, letting out a small chuckle. "That's almost exactly what I told her. You met her last night, sir, at the fundraiser."

Nathan frowned and returned to his chair. "Start from the beginning, and don't you even think about leaving any detail out."

So Lindsey recounted his story.

--Lindsey McDonald--

It had taken Lindsey almost two hours to explain everything to his boss, including the information he learned from the file, with Nathan had immediately asked to see. The man finally believing Lindsey's story, he asked for him to bring the woman into the office the next morning so they could discuss 'business opportunities' for the both of them. It would benefit the both of them, Nathan had said. Her putting her abilities to good, paying work, while Lindsey would be spared the horrible headaches at work. Then they parted ways, and Lindsey found himself once again on his way back to his flat. Part of him hoped that the Shifter was still at his apartment, the other half wishing it was all some nightmare put together by the Powers, screwing with him.

But he knew as soon as he grew near his door and the hint of the headache disappeared, that it wasn't a dream, and Sylvia was still in his apartment. He opened the door and entered his place, finding a strange man sitting in his couch, casually flipping through the channels. The man was wearing his clothes, which hung a little loosely on his small frame. The man, when he stood up, was almost six foot tall, with crazy brown hair and a look of adventure in his eyes. He gave a smirk and turned off the television as Lindsey approached.

"Sorry, all I had was that dress from last night, so decided to take a more objective approach." The body smirked and twirled. When it finished twirling, the man was gone, in his place the Sylvia that Lindsey knew. His clothes hung off of her frame even more, and he had to grasp the edges of the pants to keep them from falling off. "I can go shopping tomorrow."

"Can't, you have a meeting with Wolfram and Hart." Lindsey stated, throwing off his jacket coat. He briefly wondered if it was a bad thing to already be used to Sylvia's shifting.

The woman smiled and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her body close to his. "I warned you."

He mumbled a response and went to pull away. She stopped him with a searing kiss, rendering his helpless. Lindsey dutifully returned the kiss, his eyes drifting shut. He felt a subtle change and opened his eyes, staring into those of another man. He let out a growl of surprise and backed up, his eyes wild. "Damn it, don't do that!"

The mirror image of himself laughed before again returning to Sylvia. "You have no idea how much fun that is."

She waltzed into his kitchen, casually raiding his cupboards until she found a cereal box, which she opened and plunged her hand into. Lindsey watched all this with narrowed eyes. "So, you've moved in?"

She nodded. "Kinda have too, unless you want to live with those headaches."

He unconsciously rubbed his forehead, and then pointed toward the couch. "You'll sleep there."

She pouted and took another mouthful of cereal. "You're pissed about something. And really tired of someone."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I read about that too. How you feel the same feelings that your host does."

She snorted and sat the cereal down, ignoring his words. "You seem tense. Is it the review tomorrow?" She approached him, giving him a real kiss this time, no games behind it. She snaked her arms around him, and smiled inwardly as he did the same. "You have nothing to worry about."

Then she led him into the bedroom, claiming it would help relieve his tension.

--Lilah Morgan--

It was ten minutes to midnight, and Lilah Morgan was unable to go to sleep. She had tossed and turned in her bed for over two hours before she accepted that she wasn't going to get any sleep on her possible last night of her life. This in mind, she got out of her bed and pulled on a thin robe before walking into the living room/bar of her small apartment and unscrewed herself a bottle of the finest wine money could buy. She had poured herself a glass and had taken a few sips before she decided that the alcohol wasn't going to help. So had replaced the bottle and put the half-drank glass in her chrome sink, where it would stay unwashed for some time. The young lawyer ended up sitting in a couch made for two, flicking through the television channels and pausing only long enough to catch short glimpses of un-named shows. She was about to give up and go to bed when a knock came from her door.

Wondering who would bother to call on her at such an odd time, Lilah turned off the television and wrapped her robe tightly around her. She hesitantly approached the door, pausing to look through the peephole to see who it was. The face she was confronted with was not a strange one, but it was unexpected. She unlocked all the bolts on her door and opened it just wide enough to permit her guest. "Lindsey?"

The other lawyer was leaning against the doorframe to help support his body. His hair was bedraggled and eyes had large, black circles, which spoke of nights without sleep. His eyes were bloodshot red, whether it was another side affect of no sleep or an immense intake of alcohol Lilah wasn't sure. He was still wearing the clothes from when she saw him at work, only now they didn't look so sharp. His shirt was half-tucked in and was sporting wrinkles like it was the new black. The buttons were done up crooked, causing his collar to be off center.

Lilah opened her mouth to spout off some wise-ass comment, when Lindsey stumbled into her apartment, forcefully attaching his lips to hers. She stumbled backwards from the weight of him, her eyes widening from the bruising kiss. She finally was able to push him off of her and proceeded to wipe her mouth with her arm, the taste of whiskey and bourbon creating a sour taste from mixing with the wine she had previously sipped. "Are you drunk?"

"Why?" Lindsey scoffed, almost tripping over his own feet. He managed to right himself and place his arms on his hips, staring Lilah up and down. "You think I'd have to be drunk to kiss you?"

Lilah wanted to reply, but she couldn't. Something didn't seem right. Why would Lindsey be doing this to her? What was his end game? Normally she was the one playing the mind games. She hugged herself tighter, trying not to focus on his colorful taste, which was still wreaking havoc on the inside of her mouth. "Why are you here, Lindsey?"

The man rolled his eyes, as if the answer was so obvious that he couldn't understand why she didn't see it. "One of us is gonna be carried off in a body bag tomorrow, sweetheart, so I figured, what the hell."

He tried to close the distance between them, but she stopped him. "You're talking about the division review? That's what this is about?"

He shook his head, like a mother watching her child do something wrong. Lindsey spread his arms out wide, pointing to himself with his one mobile hand. "What, you don't want me? I see the way you look at me, Lilah! Why don't you just accept it!"

He started to laugh, and that sound chilled the woman to the bone. She had never heard Lindsey talk like this, he was the one that always kept his head, the roles should be reversed. But his laugh sent shivers down Lilah's spine, and suddenly she found herself wishing that she had her mini pistol within reach.

"I mean, look at him! Look. At. Him. What's not to want? I would have screwed him, regardless out of the outcome." Lindsey became more dramatic with his movements, using his hands and arms to act out a story that Lilah wasn't following. Why had he started talking in third person? She started to back away, wondering how fast she would have to run to get out of her apartment without being stopped. She had seen Lindsey battle vampires and demons before; he was stronger than he looked.

"Wow, where you going? I'm not done yet." He said angrily, causing Lilah to freeze in her tracks. "I just need another minute, promise."

He cleared his throat and waited to make sure that Lilah wouldn't try to leave. Satisfied that he had her attention, he continued. "He hates you, you know. Despises you. Almost as much as that Angel fellow, but that comes later."

He waved off the vampire as if he was a pesky fly. "Tonight it's about you."

Another step closer, and Lilah took another step back. She had begun to sweat and her hands were shaking. Whoever it was in her apartment, it wasn't Lindsey, at least, the one she worked with. "What are you?"

Yet again that menacing laugh echoed through Lilah's apartment. "I'm obligated to give him what he truly wants, you know Lilah. His souls deepest darkest desires. That's what I am."

Lindsey's eyes flashed purple, then, in a blink of an eye, Lilah was no longer staring at her partner. No, she was looking directly into the face of Sylvia, her eyes burning a deep purple. "You know what Lindsey's deepest desire is, Lilah?"

Scared beyond speech, Lilah was only able to shake her head. Sylvia smiled and paused, taking a deep breath in before once again using her eyes to drill through the other woman's. "To kill you."

Lilah opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She blinked, and then Angel was standing there in front of her. The vampire with the purple eyes hissed then pounced, greedily sinking his fangs into Lilah's soft skin. He felt her lifeblood start to drain out of her body, and he hungrily lapped it up, watching as the fire in Lilah's eyes grow dim. She struggled at first, but slowly lost her energy and will to live. The purple-eyed Angel stood there, holding Lilah's body long after it had turned cold, sucking until the last drop of blood was drained from her system. Then, he let her body fall to the floor with an unceremonious thud. The vampire licked his lips as his purple eyes faded back to their normal color. Sylvia shifted back to her blonde-haired form and took one last glance at her latest victim. She gave a happy smile, like a weight had finally lifted off of her shoulders. A small burp made it's way up her throat and out her lips, filling Sylvia's mouth with the taste of blood. She made a face and brought her hand to her mouth. "I'm gonna be sick."

--Nathan Reed--

Lindsey McDonald stood at the entranceway to Lilah Morgan's apartment, still as a statue, and as grey as one. His hands were dug deep in his pockets as he leaned against the doorway. Her body was still lying in the foyer, her cold, pale face staring lifeless up at the ceiling. The preliminary findings stated that Lilah had been attacked by a very hungry vampire and sucked dry. Wolfram and Hart was accepting that cause of death and had already written it down in a file that was being sealed as he stood there, staring at her body. However, Lindsey knew better. He knew that Lilah was too much of a paranoid to allow any stranger into her apartment without first knowing their species, gender, and motivation for being at her doorstep. The time of death had been clocked at precisely 12:01 in the morning, an odd time for a murder. The Wolfram and Hart forensics team were finishing up with their investigations and draped a tarp over Lilah's body, shielding her from any further eyes. Lindsey turned his head and closed his eyes, trying to fight back the images he had just seen, along with a dull headache. It had gotten much worse the night before, but since that morning it had maintained a dull throb, no matter how far away he was from Sylvia. He asked her about it, but she just shrugged and muttered how the Powers That Be enjoyed screwing with humans. That was when he had gotten the call from Nathan, demanding that he drive over to Lilah's apartment immediately.

Speaking of the boss, Lindsey heard footsteps coming toward him and opened his eyes just in time to see Nathan Reed approach him, his face sporting that never-changing monotone stare. "What do you think Lindsey?"

The man shrugged. "I wouldn't know sir, I'm a lawyer not a cop."

Nathan frowned. "Did you see Lilah's wounds on her neck?"

Lindsey nodded, his heart skipping a beat as he recalled the picture. Yes, he saw the two small puncture marks right overtop of her jugular, just the right size for two fangs. There had been no other injuries, and the obvious conclusion had been jumped too. "Yes sir, vampire marks."

Nathan nodded. "That's right. Add that to the five reports from people stating that they saw a tall, brooding man with a black flowing coat and a overhanging forehead, and what does your instinct tell you?"

"Angel." Lindsey said, the vampires name coming out in a whisper. Nathan nodded. "But," Lindsey continued, grabbing his boss' attention. "Angel has had plenty of opportunities to kill Lilah before, why now?"

"What are you getting at, Lindsey?" Nathan asked, now intrigued by his young employee's line of thought.

"He was being framed, sir." The lawyer stated calmly. "By someone who wants Lilah dead and Angel at fault."

Nathan stared at Lindsey until the young lawyer realized that he just described himself, to a greater degree. However, Reed didn't say anything about the resemblance. He just nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Well, congratulations, Mr. McDonald. You just got promoted to Vice President of Special Projects. You're pay raise will be reflected in your next check, and you will inherit all of Lilah's clients."

Nathan turned to leave, stopping as something else came to mind. He half turned and glanced toward Lindsey's plastic hand. "Oh, and Lindsey?"

"Yes sir?"

"I made an appointment for you later today, right after our meeting with your ShapeShifter friend. I cleared your schedule for you."


Yay! Murder! Hehe. Sorry to any of my readers that are Lilah fans, but the woman had to go. I dreamed about that death scene, so I hope it was satisfactory. A little foreshadowing there at the end, nothing the wonder boy lawyer can't handle, especially now that he has his trusty sidekick ShifterPsychoWoman. Hehe. Don't blame me; blame 1 and half hours of sleep and Grande Café Mocha.