AUTHOR: Rebecca Parker
EMAIL: NumfarGal@aol.com
RATING: R
SUMMARY: Buffy's with Lindsey to get Faith out of prison, and Angel just found out.
PAIRING: B/L
FEEDBACK: I do the dance of joy upon receipt of feedback.
DISCLAIMER: Joss and Mutant Enemy own all.
DISTRIBUTION: At my site, Our Own Destiny, and all the usual suspects. Anyone else, please ask first.
DEDICATION: To Moe and all who feedbacked. Thank you.
Gunn had been off on his own for a while, and he thought that was best. His allegiance to Angel Investigations had been wavering for months, and if he hadn't have left when he did, he was sure he would have never come back.
He arrived at the Hyperion for the first time in nearly three months, and as soon as he walked through the door, he could tell something was different. He walked into the lobby, smelling eggs and bacon coming from the kitchen.
"Y'all didn't have to cook me a welcome home breakfast," Gunn said, pushing the door to the kitchen open and stopping short when he saw a strange brunette sitting at the table, pushing forkfuls of food into her mouth. "Uh. Hi?" he asked, looking around.
Faith put down her fork and finished chewing as she looked him over. She figured this was the Gunn that Cordelia had given her the lowdown on, but neither of them thought he would ever come back. "You Gunn?" Faith asked, wiping her hands on her pants and standing up.
"That's me," Gunn said, nodding. "Who are you?"
"I'm Faith," she said, crossing her arms. "You probably heard of me- the psycho bitch slayer who tried to kill everyone?" Faith raised her eyebrows as a look of recognition crossed Gunn's features. "Yeah, I figured."
Gunn's body tensed up as he looked around the room and saw no one else there. "Where is everyone? What's going on?"
"Ah," Faith said, nodding. "I know what you're thinking. I sliced and diced, right? Staked and swept up Angel?"
"You tellin' me you didn't?" Gunn asked, crossing his own arms as he stood opposite Faith, trying to figure out what was going on. Despite knowing what his instincts should be telling him, they were fairly dormant at the moment.
"Nah," Faith said. "That got old. I got busted out of prison by Wolfram & Hart for reasons unknown. Angel's putting me up while I readjust to freedom and sanity."
"Yeah, he's cool like that," Gunn said. "So where is everyone?"
"Oh, Wesley went to go get some new old book," Faith said, shrugging. "And Cordelia's up chatting with Angel. He had one hell of a night."
"What happened?" Gunn asked, sitting down in the seat across from the one Faith had returned to.
"You know Buffy?"
"Not personally, no. But I got the basic information. Big love, big loss, big drama, big bore? That pretty much cover it?" Gunn asked, grabbing a piece of bacon from Faith's plate and popping it into his mouth.
"Pretty much," Faith said, smirking. "Well, seems B's in town, shacking up with Lindsey McDonald. Angel found out and-" Faith stopped, shrugging. "Let's just say he handled it badly."
"How much damage?" Gunn asked, crossing his arms.
"Let's just say the bloom is off of Bloomingdales," she answered.
"Man," Gunn said, laughing. "Vamp sure has problems controlling his emotions."
"Yeah well," Faith said, grabbing her plate and bringing it over to the sink. "Can't say I blame him. I wanted to smash things when I saw them together."
"Yeah? You got a thing for Buffy too?" Gunn asked, grinning as he got up and moved over to her.
Faith laughed. "Me and B? Yeah. That would work until we got in a fight over who was the butch." She shrugged. "Just made me want to hit something seeing her fucking with Angel's mind like that."
Faith held her breath in, turning away from Gunn for a moment. She was already so tired of playing this game, and she knew it was only the beginning. "Anyway," she said, turning back. "I'm gonna go see what's goin' on with the two of them. Wanna come with?"
"Nah," Gunn said, shaking his head. "I'll wait around for Wes. Think I should work my way back to the group through him."
"Yeah well, I doubt they're gonna turn you down. Hell, they got the psycho slayer working with them now, remember? Not like they're being exactly picky."
Gunn smiled. "I guess. Nice meeting you Faith."
"Yeah," Faith said, moving past him. "See ya later."
+++++
"OK," Cordelia said, handing Angel the cordless. "Call him."
Angel took the phone and held it for a moment. "Are you sure I won't just come across as a jealous boyfriend? I mean, calling to check up on her?"
"You have a point." Cordelia sighed. "OK. Give me the phone. I'll call. Been a long time since I've talked to Giles anyway."
"OK," Angel said, handing the phone back and pacing the room as Cordelia began to dial.
"God, you're like a nervous nelly!" Cordelia said, exasperated. "No one's picking up."
"Try the Magic Box," Angel suggested. "That's where he works now."
"Oh right," Cordelia said, hanging up the phone. "What's the number?"
"I don't know," Angel said. "Try calling information."
Cordelia sighed as she walked away from Angel, dialing 411. Angel turned towards the door, and was surprised to see Faith standing there. "Faith," Angel said, "Good morning."
"Morning," Faith answered, walking into the room. "So what's going on?"
"We're calling Giles," he said, crossing his arms across his chest. "Maybe he knows what's going on."
"You know what's going on," Faith said, sighing. "You just want to know why. And you think Giles is going to be able to tell you what Buffy's thinking?"
"I don't know," Angel said. "Probably not. But he has to know something about what's going on."
"Yeah, I guess." Faith shrugged. They both turned back to Cordelia, who was walking towards them, the phone still pressed to her ear.
"Do you know Anya is working there too?"
"Anya?" Angel asked. "Who's she?"
"Former vengeance demon. Supposedly granted a wish of mine that made Willow and Xander vampires and got everyone, including myself and you," she said, pointing to Angel, "killed. And in a big way."
"Hey. At least you weren't killed in the little way then," Faith said, smiling.
"Oh. I think I met her when I went to Sunnydale last Thanksgiving. She's Xander's girlfriend," Angel said. "That's Anyanka?"
"Well, not anymore. Just Anya now. Anyway, she's working at the- Hello?" Cordelia said into the phone. "Xander? Is Giles there?"
Cordelia paced the room as she talked. "England? What's he doing there?"
Angel leaned against the wall, watching Cordelia.
"But I don't get it. Why did she do that?" She looked to Angel, her eyes growing wide. "Wow. And you guys didn't try to stop her?"
"Sounds like there's a back story," Faith said, leaning next to Angel.
"Sounds like," Angel agreed.
"OK. She's here, you know? She's shacking up with a notorious baddy.... No. Not a demon- a lawyer," Cordelia said, grinning. "Yeah, I don't know what's worse either."
"Funny," Faith said. "Kinda insulting to the vamps tho."
"Alright," Cordelia said. "Let me talk with Angel and we'll call you back." She sighed. "It was nice talking to you again, Xander. And Anya?" she said, laughing. "Nice choice." She smiled. "See ya."
Cordelia hung up the phone and turned to Angel and Faith. The smile faded. "Well," she said, sighing. "Do I have a story to tell."
+++++
Lindsey could hardly concentrate on the pile of work in front of him. He would pick up his pen, or the phone- but his mind wasn't functioning correctly. All he could think about was last night.
He had loved the look on Angel's face when he saw him and Buffy together. In that one moment, it was almost worth it to get his hand cut off. If you asked Lindsey, Angel had all this coming to him.
But Buffy did not, and although he hardly knew the Slayer, he couldn't help but feel guilty as he remembered her breaking down in front of him.
He sighed as he threw a file across his desk. She was a pawn. He knew that. He remembered that- he had to. If he lost track of that, he was in trouble. He couldn't let himself feel anything for her.
"Getting a lot of work done, I see," a voice said from the doorway.
Lindsey looked up. "Holland," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Just going over the next phase of the plan in my head."
"The next phase is going to need a little tweaking," Holland said, walking into Lindsey's office and closing the door. "Seems there's been a bit of an unplanned circumstance."
Lindsey sighed. This couldn't be good if it meant Holland Manners was visiting Lindsey's office when he should be out golfing with demons and warlocks. "Such as?"
"Detective Kate Lockley," Holland said, sitting in the chair across from Lindsey. "An old thorn in our side. Seems she wants to get Angel almost as much as we do. She's been sniffing around like a bloodhound. Even stopped by your apartment about an hour ago."
"Is that so?" Lindsey said, sitting up. "Did she talk to her?"
"Oh yes," Holland said, smiling. "Your slayer held up quite well. Kind of a fiery one, isn't she?"
"I guess," Lindsey said.
"Yes, well she seems to be doing much better after last night's little drama. Really Lindsey, I thought a man like yourself would have taken advantage of last night's little opportunity."
Lindsey shifted uncomfortably in his seat as realization set in. "You have my apartment bugged?"
"Of course," Holland said, smiling. "We have to know what's going on at all times. Quite a set of lungs on that one, huh? I'm surprised you can get an 'Oh God' in edgewise."
Lindsey had to bite his tongue. It wasn't his place to say anything to Holland, as much as he wanted to. "So what do we do about Kate?"
"Well, we'll come up with a solution soon enough. For now, just let Buffy know to do exactly what she did today if Kate should attempt to speak to her again."
"And what exactly did she do?" Lindsey asked, curious.
"She outbitched her," Holland said, grinning. "Really, I wasn't sure it could be done. I'm impressed." He stood up, walking to the door. "And Lindsey?" Holland said, turning back. "Try and get some work done today."
Holland walked out of the office, closing the door behind him. As he walked down the corridor, he couldn't help but smile. He just loved seeing Lindsey squirm.
To Be Continued....
