Pt. 10
~ooAIoo~
The sun had just slipped beyond the horizon as Kate hesitated outside the hotel door. It had been a little over three weeks since the doctor had reluctantly released Lindsey, and he and Angel had taken up residence in the hotel. In that time, she had talked sporadically with Angel. That the ex-lawyer had agreed to stay at the hotel had been a surprise, given his history with its owner. According to Spike and Lorne, it had taken some convincing but the man had nowhere else to go.
That was another strange fact of her life now - her friendship (of sorts) with more demons. If anyone had told her in the past that some of her closest friends would be demons, she would've locked them up or taken them to the psych ward. She found it beneficial in her new line of work to keep the communication lines open to the demon world...and as Angel had told her, not all demons were evil. In fact, Spike and Lorne were her most dependable sources of information at the present time since Angel had yet to dive back into the "helping" business. She held out hope that he would, but as time continued to pass, doubt crept in.
Spike and Lorne no longer resided in the hotel. Lorne had moved back to Caritas while Spike had moved into his former basement apartment but still spent an inordinate amount of time at the hotel, claiming ownership of the 'telly'. She smiled as she recalled Angel's scowl as he recounted that part. The few times she had dropped by the hotel, she had never seen Lindsey and she sometimes wondered if he was actually living there at all but whenever she broached the subject, Angel had redirected the conversation.
Kate shook those thoughts away. Lindsey McDonald wasn't her problem to handle. Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, she pushed the door open and entered the hotel. There were only a few lights on and the lobby was bathed in shadows. Walking further into the room, she glanced around. Everything was neat and tidy...and quiet. Disturbingly quiet, in fact. She jumped slightly at the sound of a door slamming shut on the floor above. A moment later she heard footsteps coming closer, along with mumbled words and the clinking of glass. Finally Angel appeared at the top of the stairs, carrying an assortment of what appeared to be bottles.
She smiled, eyes crinkling, as Angel startled at seeing her; one of the bottles slipping from his fingers and rolling down the stairs, coming to rest at Kate's feet. She bent down, picking up the bottle. Looking up at Angel, eyebrows raised, she smirked. "Big party? Guess I missed my invitation."
"Humphf." Angel walked down the stairs, balancing the remaining bottles in his arms. He juggled them around slightly to free up his hand and took the liquor bottle from Kate. She followed him to the back door, waiting as he went to the dumpster in the alley behind the hotel, dumping the bottles in unceremoniously with a loud shattering sound as they hit the bottom of the bin. It was a quick trip and soon they were back within the hotel, settled on the leather couch.
"So...should I ask?"
Angel shrugged. "Lindsey."
Kate cocked her head, waiting for more detail.
Reluctantly Angel offered it. "Self-medication."
Kate sat back a little more into the couch. "He's drinking." At Angel's snort, she added, "A lot."
The vampire nodded. "Too much," he mumbled, mostly to himself.
"Have you tried talking to him?" She wasn't sure where her concern was coming from. She and Lindsey had been on opposite sides of pretty much every situation.
"Yeah, I've talked and talked." Angel got up and started to pace the room. "Spike's talked. Lorne's talked. Hell, we even called in Faith to try. Nothing."
Kate frowned. "Faith? As in Faith Lehane? Isn't she in jail?"
Angel stopped pacing, throwing a quick glance her direction. Resuming his pacing, Angel cleared his throat. "She...that's...It's a long story. The point is, he won't listen to any of us."
Not sure she wanted to drop the 'Faith' discussion but realizing that was a question for another time, Kate replied, "Maybe it's you who's not listening. Seems to me those bottles are saying a lot."
"We can only offer our help. We can't force him to take it. You know that, Kate."
"Is that what you're offering? Help...or judgement?"
Kate watched as Angel spun around to face her, eyes narrowed, lips pursed. She had hit a nerve but was saved from any biting remarks by the ringing phone.
"Hello."
Kate winced inwardly, feeling sorry for the unsuspecting recipient of Angel's anger. She felt guilty for pushing the vampire to that point. Watching discreetly, she saw Angel's shoulders slump as he continued to listen to the voice on the other side of the line.
"No, sorry. I'll take care of it."
Pause to listen.
"No, don't do that. I'll cover it-"
Pause.
"I said I'd take care of it."
Pause.
"Great. Give me twenty minutes." Angel slammed the phone down, glaring as if it was the cause of his anger.
Kate cleared her throat. "Problem?"
"You could say that."
The clipped reply was all the indication Kate needed that their visit was over. "I'll see myself out."
Angel didn't acknowledge her as he stalked from the room and heading to the basement.
"Well, good-bye then," Kate said to the empty room.
~ooAIoo~
"You will not throw up in my car, got it?" growled Angel, clenching the steering wheel tightly. There was a mumbled reply and Angel took a quick glance at his passenger huddled against the other door. Shaking his head, he sighed. "You're a mess, Lindsey." There wasn't a response but Angel could tell the man had heard him as his shoulders tensed and the slight increase in his heart rate. "Can't leave you alone for a minute. You're lucky it was Bernie's place you ended up in and that he called me and not the cops. Course now I owe him and he's going to collect on it, you can be sure of that. And it won't be any small thing either-" Angel heard something from his passenger. "What? You got something to say? Speak up."
Lindsey turned from the door, face pale and sweaty. "Pull over...now."
The urgency in the voice had Angel steering the car quickly to the curb. He had barely put the car in park as Lindsey pushed open the door and tumbled out. Angel could hear the man wretching as he swung his own door open and made his way around the vehicle. Shaking his head, he crouched down beside Lindsey, holding him up so he wouldn't fall face first into the mess he was creating, all the while telling himself it was only to keep the mess out of his car and not any actual concern for the man.
After what seemed an eternity to Angel, the dry-heaving started. Taking care to avoid the mess, Angel moved them both to the back end of the car. A few more minutes of useless heaving, and Lindsey collapsed to the ground.
"This isn't the ideal place for a nap, Lindsey." There wasn't a response from the crumpled form. "You owe me," grumbled Angel as he picked the man up and deposited him into the back seat. "Let's go home." Turning back onto the road, Angel glanced into the rearview mirror, his anger leaving as he watched Lindsey curl tightly against the seat. "What am I going to do with you?" His whispered voice lost in the night breeze as the car raced home.
~ooAIoo~
Lindsey's head pounded and his mouth...well he didn't even want to think about that. He debated on opening his eyes but it seemed like too much work, until he heard a throat clearing. Rolling slowly over, realizing for the first time he was in a bed and not some alley as had been happening more and more frequently, he forced his eyes to open. The blurry image seated in the chair next to him wasn't recognizeable except by the dark clothing...Angel. Wasn't that just great. Another lecture was coming. Groaning, Lindsey attempted to roll back over but a hand on his shoulder prevented that. He tensed, unsure of what to expect. The mug of coffee held just under his nose wasn't even considered as a possibility.
He tried several time to grasp the cup but his vision was still blurry and after the third try, a cold hand gripped his searching one and guided it to the cup. His other hand came up to steady the cup - unsuccessfully - but even with his shaking, he managed a sip. The coffee was hot and helped to soothe his aching body. He took another large sip and leaned back against the headboard, savoring the taste.
At the sound of movement, Lindsey opened his eyes, seeing Angel just at the doorway. The vampire turned back. "Finish that and get dressed. We need to talk."
He didn't have the energy to fight with Angel this morning...or whatever time it was...so he simply nodded and the vampire left. Closing his eyes once more, he took another sip of the coffee, enjoying this moment of calm before the storm. He had no doubts this 'talk' would end up like all the others - Angel talked and he was forced to listen. In this the vampire was right...some people...or in this case, some vampires never changed.
~ooAIoo~