Author: Karen
Title: Lockdown
Timeline: Directly after Angel fires the Batpack in Season 2.
Disclaimer: Sadly not mine but willing to submit a reasonable offer for
the use of Lindsey and the boys at the Hypernion.
Feedback: Much appreciated as it's my first fic to be submitted for
general consumption and I'm nervous!
Dedication: To Chrissy for being so nice and helping out a complete
stranger and to Sunny(?) for her encouraging comments and giving me my
first ever feedback.
Rating: Have no idea as I am new to this but around a film 12/15 at the mo
and progressing to an 18 later. (God and Cordy and Lindsey willing)
Archive: If you want it all you have to do is ask!
Written in response to a challenge on the fan page to have Lindsey and one of the white hats trapped in Wolfram and Hart for the night.
Part 1.
Cordelia froze as the overhead lights flicked on and spun round in a quick movement to face the doorway.
'Oh crap.'
She closed her eyes, counted to three and opened them again. Nope, no good. Lindsey McDonald was still standing blocking her way with a big ole shit-eating grin on his face and a pair of handcuffs dangling from his raised hand. She backed up a few graceful steps and flicked her eyes around the room searching for inspiration. Nothing. She sighed deeply. Could she say screwed?
Lindsey's grin stretched and he followed her into the room and deftly kicked and locked the door behind him, Cordy's eyes widened and she moved to put the large wooden desk between the lawyer and herself. Breaking into Wolfram and Hart's offices had seemed like such a good idea earlier that evening.
Gunn and Wes had left her at their new offices with strict instructions not to move until they got back from killing whatever the thing was that her latest mind numbing vision had shown her. The demon or whatever had been big, ugly and had smelled really bad so she hadn't made too much protest when they had strode heroically out into the night although she had to admit the pair of them bickering over who got to use the big axe this time probably didn't help their bad ass personas any. Two hours went by and the boys hadn't bothered to return and slowly Cordy had begun to sink into a funk. Oh hell, who was she kidding? She started to brood a la Angel and the more she thought about the situation the more she became convinced that the solution lay in Evil Lawyer Mecca.
She didn't dwell on the personal issues they all had with Angel. She was after all a professional and Angel could go ram his perfect, gel covered head up his tortured ass for all she cared. The prospect of evil Angel, syphilis crazed Darla, plain old crazed Druscilla and the legions of hell that the evil lawyers had at their command were her problem, being a warrior of the light and all. She was willing to stake her life on their being some kind of information lying around at the offices that the white hats might be able to use. The more she thought about it the more she became convinced that she was right and the more she convinced herself the stronger the feeling became that she had to go right now. Kinda like when the mall had a blue cross 75% off everything day and she still had a good six hours of the workday ahead of her.
Breaking in was easy she'd stood enough times as Angel's lookout that she made it through the sewers and up through the traps in the basement and on to the main stairwell in under twenty minutes and then it was just a matter of going up. She checked every floor she came too methodically keeping an eye out for the more obvious security measures, cameras, telepaths, vampires, and magical symbols lying around for no apparent reason and then on the twenty-first floor she found it. A huge double door with the words 'Lindsey McDonald' on a bright shiny plaque right next to it.
Cordy had nearly whooped out loud before she remembered she was meant to be stealthy cat-burglar girl and instead contented herself with skipping through the door and sticking her tongue out at the nameplate as she went past. In thirty minutes she had gone through every draw and cupboard in the place and had kept half an ear open for the sound of approaching footsteps but she had gradually become so engrossed in what she had found that all thoughts of covering her ass had fled. And now she was trapped in a locked office with one of the people she hated most in the world and he was smiling. And tutting. Don't forget the incredibly annoying and patronising tutting. She scowled as he raised his good hand and wagged a finger at her. Oh yeah, she was so gonna stuff that down his throat before this was over.
'Ms Chase, this is unexpected.'
Cordelia snorted, the man had definitely watched one too many Bond films she half expected a fluffy white cat to be jumping into his arms. Or he'd grow one of those long mustaches that all the villains on Bravo seemed to have just so they could twirl them, she smirked as he raised one eyebrow in a move so Acme School of Villainy it was truly ridiculous; any minute now he'd be telling her he liked a girl with spirit and leering down her top. She kept the desk between them and drew herself up to her full height
'Bite me'.
He looked disappointed for a moment and then his face settled into the carefully neutral expression she knew and would love rip off his skull. With her teeth.
'I don't have to tell you how much trouble you're in. Breaking and entering, unlawful damage..'
Cordelia interrupted with her patented Queen C sneer
'Assault and Battery.'
She folded her arms and looked down her nose adding icily
'Pending.'
He grinned back at her and for a brief second she caught a glimpse of the wholesome farm boy he might have been once and then the evil lawyer face came down again.
'Actually I was going for murder one, why restrict yourself?'
Cordelia placed her hands on her slim hips, tapped her foot and continued to look supremely unimpressed
'Sweetie I have been threatened and tortured by the very best and trust me when I say you aren't even in the top twenty when it comes to idle threats.'
She flicked her newly cut and streaked hair from her face and continued with contempt 'Hell, I scare me more than you do.'
Her gaze raked over him from head to foot and she sniffed with disdain
'And if you don't mind me saying so for the money you sold out for you'd think that you might make a little bit more effort with your wardrobe, that suit is so last year it's not funny. I know dead guys with more taste than you.'
She casually rested one hip one the corner of the desk and began to swing her foot
'Considering Angel has spent over half his time on this planet a completely guilt ridden manic depressive you really might want to take that advice on board.'
She grinned as she watched his face cloud in confusion at her surprisingly upbeat attitude to getting caught deep behind enemy lines and leaned forward just enough to allow a small amount of cleavage to show as her typically low cut top gaped open. His eyes widened fractionally and his breathing sped up just a tad. Oh yeah, she still had it.
'Now we both know that you aren't going to do anything to me or set me up to take the fall for whatever unfortunate mistake you guys have made this time cos' Angel will come down on you so fast you won't even see him coming.'
She leaned forward a little bit more and wondered briefly if she should write this conversation down for him to go over later the way his eyes were focused on her chest she doubted he was even aware she was speaking. This was even easier than persuading Wes and Gunn they really did want to watch 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' again for the fourth night in a row and she didn't even have her uplift bra on! She watched as he dragged his tongue over suddenly dry lips and then tried to focus on her face again. Cordy sighed and took pity on the guy and leaned back so the tantalising cleft between her breasts was removed from his line of sight and after that he seemed to find it much easier to collect his thoughts.
Lindsey drew in another ragged breath and managed to drag his mind forcibly out of the gutter and focus on the matter in hand. Cordelia Chase dropped into his lap like a gift from the gods.well considering whom he worked for that wasn't very likely but it was definitely a lucky break. He focused determinedly on her face and worked up a fairly convincing sneer
'I have it on good authority that you're on your own. Angel cut you loose without a second thought and walked away, what makes you think that he'll give a damn now?'
He felt a glow of satisfaction at the shocked look on her face and then realised it wasn't pain at his cruel words but genuine surprise and then she did the unexpected and laughed. Long, loud completely genuine laughter and she showed no signs of stopping, he scowled and waited for her to finish and eventually the very unladylike snorts and guffaws slowed to hiccups and then faint intermittent giggles.
Cordelia wiped her eyes and shook her head and then Lindsey stared as she eyed him with something almost like pity
'Lindsey in all the time you've worked for this company are you telling me you never took Vampire 101? It doesn't matter whether Angel can't stand the sight of me and never wants to see me again for the rest of his un- life, which, by the way, is going to be incredibly short unless he stops with this Darla crap pretty soon because I'll stake his ass myself. In his head and in all the other undead people's heads I belong to him.'
She stood and swayed across the room to stand in front of the lawyer and briefly enjoyed being able to look into someone's eyes rather than up their nose thanks to the incredibly tall men she did hang around with
'He claimed me as his when I first hooked up with him after that Russell Winters guy. It's not about friends or family any more, if you lay one finger on me you've messed with his possession and vampires do not deal well with that.'
She grinned and flicked his nose with one perfectly manicured nail
'Think of me as a mint condition, first edition White Album and you'll get some idea of how pissed he'll be if you break me.'
She stepped back and tipped her head to one side to look at him considering
'Of course you've actually made things a whole lot worse by driving him completely round the twist. Last time you saw him he fed you and all your little evil lawyer friends to his insane ex-honeys, imagine what he'll do if you break his album and don't give it back.'
She sighed dramatically
' I've met Angelus and believe me; he is not a laugh a minute guy. The things that guy can do with a puppy and some fish.do you have any pets Lindsey?'
Cordelia cocked her head innocently to one side and ended her sentence on a perky note even Willow would be proud of. She smiled as Lindsey blinked down at her and she realised he was in fact two or three inches above her in height which was kinda nice, just right in fact. She shook her self mentally, focus Cordy we don't care how cute the evil lawyer is the key word here is evil. Although he does have the prettiest blue eyes. She blinked and took another step back and watched him suck in some deep breaths and felt the need for some serious respiratory aid herself. Lindsey McDonald was not cute he tried to kill her and her friends on a semi-regular, almost recreational, basis this was so not a man she could get jiggy with.
Lindsey for his part was wondering if the seer had some other gifts from The Powers that his sources had failed to inform him of. What were those things called that ensnared men? Suckas.something. Demons he knew they were demons, whatever you do, do not focus on Cordelia Chase sucking anything. That was not a good place to go if you needed to concentrate on being arch-villain guy. Which he did. Gifts like having a direct link to The Powers in his grip did not come along every day and he needed to focus on that rather than the vessel it came in. Succubus that was it! She was obviously a Succubus.
Cordy watched in fascination as the young man stumbled back a few paces and began eyeing her warily she suppressed a triumphant grin and sent a brief prayer of thanks to Angel for the whole claiming thing. The big, anguished, self-centred, hair shirt wearing weenie.
At the time she had been less than impressed when he'd told her what he had done. Just arrived in L.A. and about to embark on a glittering career as star of the stage and screen and glamorous consort to whatever young actor was this week's next big thing the absolute last thing she needed was to be tied down to a two hundred and change year old vamp with personality issues and a face like a permanent rainstorm. Then Doyle had died and she'd become pregnant and then Wolfram and Hart had tried to kill her and then it was. nice. Belonging to someone like that. Someone who would come after her no matter what it took and whoever he had to go through, she'd never had that before and it was nice to finally feel like someone's family and to be loved just because she was herself and couldn't be used for anything. She blinked back tears as she thought of Angel when he had fired them all and the Angel that had taken a frightened displaced ex-May queen under his wing and given her a family. The big doofus.
Lindsey felt something clutch at his heart as he watched the sudden tears fill her eyes and made a move towards her before it clicked he was meant to be torturing the girl for information not comforting as she struggled for composure. Her eyes flicked up at his movement and in a move so fast he could have sworn he imagined it she wiped her eyes, ran practised fingers through her hair and pasted the 'come bite me' smile on her face again. She moved back against the desk and cocked her head to one side waiting for him to make the next move. Right then he would. Right. As soon as he figured out what it would be. Damned if the little bitch's grin hadn't widened knowingly as he stood undecided before her. She shrugged and said sympathetically
'I get that a lot.'
Lindsey shook off his body's spontaneous reaction to the flash of perfect white teeth and said
'Excuse me?'
Cordelia smiled again and hitched up so she sat on the desk with both legs swinging looking for the entire world like a six-year old at her father's office.
'Gunn calls it the 'kill me or kiss me dilemma''
She frowned in sudden thought and then fixed her brown eyes on him again
'Actually he calls it the 'screw me or beat me bloody dilemma' but I like my phrasing better.' Lindsey shook his head slightly to clear it and stared back in confusion as Cordelia sighed
'Look I'll make it real simple for you. I look good. I dress to look good. What you see is something that I spent a lot of years getting just right so I have the advantage over men.'
She inclined her head
'Men like you. Now you see a girl in front of you that you find attractive.'
She held up a hand to stall his instinctive denial and added hurriedly
'Nothing wrong with that it's the way it is, the way its meant to be. The thing is you can't see past that to who, or what, I am. To you I'm Angel's sidekick, the mouthy secretary with the chest.'
She slid off the desk slowly and helplessly Lindsey followed the line of her body as it slid bonelessly forward and glided across the room towards him. Cordelia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had just laid it out for him that her moves were as calculated as they come and still the big idiot fell for it. She kicked out suddenly and took his legs out from under him. In one swift controlled move she followed him down flipped him over and used his own handcuffs to secure his hands behind his back, another quick tug and he lay on the floor staring up at her as she rose above him and placed her hands on her hips to say flatly
'It never occurred to you to think that's a girl who grew up on a hell mouth, has been fighting assorted creatures of the night for the last four and a half years and has had an active role in saving the world at least three times that she knows of.'
She sniffed and walked away to listen at the door feeling his incredulous gaze on her, satisfied that they were in no danger of being discovered she paced around the office again continuing her search and saying in an even tone
'Or that Angel, Gunn and Wes can't be there every second of the day to protect me so maybe, just maybe, there's a reason that girl is still alive other than her men folk are really good at riding to her rescue.'
She sank to her haunches in front of him and half-smiled
'Did you really think the visions were the only reason they kept me around?'
Lindsey stared up wordlessly as she patted him on the head and with great relish mimicked his own sorrowful tutting from just a few short minutes before
'Lindsey, Lindsey, Lindsey how little you know.'
She came to her feet again and moved back to his desk and continued to speak as she glanced through the files that she had abandoned when he had entered. 'Now the way I see it you are totally at my mercy so we can go through the whole pointless, and might I say boring, ritual of me threatening you and you being all heroic and martyr like or we can cut to the chase and you can give me any helpful information you might have on Darla and any other evil schemes you got abrewin'. What do you say?'
The bright friendly smile she tossed him was so completely at odds with her hard tone that Lindsey was unsure for a moment that he had heard her correctly and then he watched as she drew a very long, sharp knife from behind her back and slammed it point first into his antique, incredibly expensive, desk. He pushed himself into a sitting position and opened his mouth
'You don't have the guts.'
Cordelia grabbed the knife handle and pulled and then was around the desk and in front of him so fast that he didn't have time to draw a breath.
He did however find time to give a startled yelp as her hand slashed out and very deliberately cut his earlobe, Cordy leant in so her nose was an inch from his own and hissed
'You tried to kill me; you tried to kill my friends. When that didn't work you raised one of the most evil creatures that ever lived from the dead and used her to torment a person I care a lot about. Every day that thing is alive more innocent's die. Every day Angel isn't with us feeling the connection to his humanity more people die. You, just by sitting here having this stupid pissing contest with me, are condemning more people to a terrifying and needless death and you think I don't have the guts to do what needs to be done?'
The knife slammed down between Lindsey's legs just grazing the cloth covering his groin and quivered as it stood point first in the carpet she ignored his panicked scream and grabbed a fistful of his hair yanking so he met her eyes
'Think again Perry Mason. Tell me what I need to know, now, and I'll let you go. Don't and I forget I'm a lady and start remembering all the things I read about Angelus and Darla and spent a lot of money in therapy trying to forget.'
She shoved his head away and flashed another blinding grin
' 'K?'
Lindsey could not believe how swiftly the tables had turned on him and just how dangerous this girl, woman, was. All the information he had on her indicated she was nothing more than a wannabe actress with delusions of grandeur. He knew about her father's fall from grace and how she had taken herself out of her hometown before the fire at her graduation had time to cool down and headed for L.A. without looking back. He knew about the few abortive relationships she had had in the time she had been in town, he even knew that she shared an apartment with a restless spirit but he had never known just how strong she had made herself with her experiences. The girl before him was just twenty but had the poise and confidence of a woman twice her age and the steady stare from those deep brown eyes had him hastily re-evaluating his opinion on just who was the most dangerous of Angel's supporters. Those eyes promised pain and retribution in unheard of quantities and she would do it all without flinching he had no doubt. The chance to save innocents and bury Darla would not be passed up by Cordelia Chase because he had a pesky case of humanititis. He flinched as she gripped the knife by its handle and pulled it free once again then stood, she reached down and pulled him to his feet with a grunt of effort and pushed him into the deep, blood coloured sofa that ran along one wall.
'Spill stumpy or I start by cutting off something a lot more important than your hand.'
Her gaze rested pointedly for a moment at groin level and then fixed with deadly intent on terrified blue eyes, Cordy raised one eyebrow and waited.
She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. The minute the knife flashed to his ear she knew she had made a big mistake and when the bottom of his earlobe flew across the room she very nearly tossed her cookies in his lap. The blood streaming from his ear was threatening the well being of her stomach again and the white terrified look on his face when she slammed the knife between his legs cut deep into her soul. She had to stop herself glancing over her shoulder almost expecting The Powers or their representatives standing behind her shaking their heads in disapproval. She was counting on a few especially vicious visions, at least, as punishment for the whole crazed Druscilla impersonation. She tightened her grip on the knife as she felt her knees begin to weaken and made herself focus on the piece of skin between his eyes and not on the bright red fountain that sprayed from his ear. Jesus it wasn't possible to bleed to death from a nick to the ear was it? Oh she was so going to hell.
Lindsey watched as her grip on the knife tightened until her knuckles turned white, her eyes fixed with malevolent intent between his eyes and he could almost see her review the torture procedures she had at her disposal. He watched as she licked her lip in an unconscious gesture of hunger and she swayed as she fought against the urge to kill him. Oh god after all the things he had seen and done he was going to die in his own office at the hand of a mere human girl.
Cordy spoke calmly to herself in the privacy of her own head
'For god's sake its not like he doesn't have another earlobe I didn't lop off his other hand did I? And you have seen blood before, lots of it. Just because this wasn't done in the heat of battle and he's helpless and you know him doesn't mean this wasn't in the name of Light. Don't look at his ear! Don't look at his ear!'
Buzzing sounded loudly in her own ears and she felt herself sway as she focused unwillingly on his still bleeding ear
'Stay away from the ear Cordy. Just don't look.'
A thought rose unbidden in her head
'God he's gonna think every time he runs into one of us and we want information its company policy to amputate first and ask questions later. Must send in-house memo: When encountering Lindsey McDonald it is imperative that Angel Investigations operatives only remove body parts that come as a pair, on no account remove anything vital or in the singular. Let's leave the man a spare people.'
She giggled slightly hysterically as the image of a severely imbalanced Lindsey entered her head stomping round in a circle on one leg and a crutch waving a stumpy arm in the air directing legions of hell every which way and cursing Angel as he went.
Lindsey winced at the unhinged giggle that escaped Cordelia's lips as she stared at him. He was reminded unpleasantly of Druscilla and the psycho slayer Faith at the sound and he found himself shivering as he mentally reviewed their case histories. The girl seemed to be going into a trance as she stared at him and her eyes were glazed with what appeared to be bloodlust, she couldn't take her eyes off his ear for more than a second!
'Any minute now I'm gonna start yakking and I'm not going to be able to stop'
thought Cordelia
'Demon blood I can handle. Any of the guys bleeding I can deal and patch 'em up. Lindsey goddamn McDonald has a little accident and its like I'm seeing my first vamp victim all over again. Jeez, pathetic much?'
She ignored the voice in her head that whispered that she was finding it hard to deal because she had intentionally hurt a helpless human and paid some attention to the voice that yelled slightly hysterically that she didn't even know how to go about torturing someone. Pretty soon the lawyer was going to realise he had been sitting unmolested for a good five minutes and then realise she was holding it together by the barest thread and then she had a problem. A major problem. Even ignoring the smell of blood that was getting more cloying as the tense seconds went by.
I'm going to hurl!
Oh no, her mistake. What she was actually going to do was fall bone- jarringly to the floor and clutch her head in her hands as it threatened to explode under the force of her second freight train vision of the night. Cordy writhed on the floor as she sank under the immense pressure of the images flooding her mind. Flashing images of Lindsey and herself rampaged through her mind with searing intensity. In a dark tunnel, the smell of blood and decay, the sound of pursuers, Lindsey's terrified face as he went down beneath a dark, unidentifiable form, her own body flying to smash into a roughly carved stone wall and finally a starkly vivid picture of them surrounded by vampires closing in from every direction and Lindsey clutching to his chest a battered brown briefcase. Abruptly the vision left and the pain left behind coupled with the scent of Lindsey's blood had her abruptly rolling to vomit helplessly onto the hundred dollar a square foot carpet. She brought up everything she had and then dry heaved for a few seconds before coming to her knees and dragging a shaking hand across her mouth. Her head felt ten times too heavy for her body and the aftermath of the pain ran insidiously from the top of her skull in crashing rivers down to the base of her neck and it was hard to form a coherent thought. She took several deep breaths and then staggered to her feet, swayed for a moment and then turned to face Lindsey.
He stared at Cordelia and then the mess on his carpet and then back to Cordelia she waited until her lungs felt capable of supplying oxygen and then spoke in a low rasp
'We need to get out of here. Where are the keys for the cuffs?'
He opened his mouth but seemed incapable of speech, Cordelia shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear away the fog that always seemed to cloud her mind after a visit from The Powers and tried again
'Lindsey we're in danger and we need to move now. Where the hell are the keys?'
She took a few unsteady steps towards him and that was enough to upset her precarious motor system and she fell in an ungainly heap at his feet. The small, almost inaudible
' Crap.'
seemed to jolt Lindsey from his stricken silence and he leaned forward to stare at the top of her head
What the hell was that about?'
Cordelia lifted her head grimacing in pain as she did so
'That was the Powers telling me in their usual subtle, and incredibly helpful, way that we are in mortal danger. Again.'
She braced her hands on his knees and dragged herself to her feet again and then hooked a hand under his arm and dragged him up to face her
'Where are the keys?'
Lindsey gave a small grin
'Three floors down in the corner conference room.'
Cordy cursed fluently and impressively for a few brief moments and then spun him to stare at the cuffs binding him. She thought for a few seconds and then spun him back again
'If I take off your hand is there any way you can squeeze your wrist out?'
His eyebrows went up for a second at the casual way she spoke of his disfigurement and then he remembered that this was the girl that not ten minutes before had drawn his blood and had coldly informed him that his manhood was going to be the next thing to go. To her taking off artificial limbs would be as unimportant in the scheme of things as sneezing. Although, come to think of it, she hadn't actually specified that it was his false hand she wanted to remove. Lindsey stepped away from her hurriedly and eyed her with a sudden terrifying suspicion and then thought of her face as she had lashed out with her knife and backed away a few steps more.
Cordy stared at the lawyer as he stumbled away from her with a look of revulsion on his face and, despite herself, felt a faint pang of rejection deep inside. Her forthright way with words had gotten her into trouble all her life and the last few years had honed her skills for cutting right to the heart of the matter in communicating with other people. It was hard trying for small talk when you spent most of your waking hours fighting for your life and covered in the insides of otherworldly species and so she learned to budget her words with ruthless precision that she never quite managed to apply to her cash flow. She reached out a hand and saw the young lawyer wince in response
'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so callous but we need to get you out of those cuffs.'
She took a breath
'We're going to have to fight our way out of here and I can take care of myself but I won't be able to protect you as well.'
She watched as he frowned at her and then abruptly tensed his arms and tested the give of the cuffs, he shook his head
'No good. The skin is caught up I can't turn my wrists.'
He watched as conflicting emotions streaked across the young girl's face and a small part of him was stunned that the savage of a few moments ago would offer him more compassion in a couple of seconds than he had ever received from his supposed friends and co-workers over his lost appendage. He cocked his head to the side and realised with amazement that he also felt the tiniest bit guilty for his reaction to her offer to help him out of the handcuffs then he felt the drying blood crack on the side of his neck with his head's movement and the guilt was abruptly swallowed in white hot fury. What the hell was he thinking? The bitch cut him and had threatened to Bobitt him in his own offices; she deserved every bit of pain that came her way!
Cordelia's eyes fell on her knife that still lay on the floor and she gave a small triumphant exclamation, that thing wouldn't do the job but the sturdy little throwing axe in the antique display case by the window would. She crossed quickly to the cabinet and flung it open. Perfect! She grabbed the two-foot long axe and it felt pleasantly familiar in her hand as she turned to Lindsey and said
'Come over here and stretch your arms back and as far apart as you can on the desk.'
She wasn't altogether surprised at the outraged yell that followed a short amazed silence
'Are you insane?'
Lindsey almost fell in the pool of vomit as he turned towards the door and began to run. Cordy had been expecting an extreme reaction and almost before Lindsey had begun to turn she was moving and caught him in four strides. She gave him no chance to find his balance but yanked him hard and kept hold of him until she could shove him up against the desk.
'Look it's very simple McDonald; we are going to die unless we get moving soon. I can't go out that door with you as a liability and I can't leave you here as monster fodder; the guy's I work for really frown on that sort of thing, I have to take you with me.'
She raised the axe
'The cuffs have to come off. Lean back against the desk, stretch and spread your arms and don't move!'
She fixed him with a hard chocolate glare and gave him another abrupt shove as she moved around the desk; Lindsey swallowed in an effort to bring some moisture back to his barren mouth and then cautiously allowed his arms to go back across the surface of the desk. He was acutely aware of Cordelia behind him and flinched as she shifted into position
'Lindsey stretch your wrists as far apart as you can.'
The gentle tone of voice Cordy used was a direct contrast to the fear churning through her; she took a better grip on the axe handle and consciously focused on his false hand. If she misjudged her swing she at least intended to make sure of severing his falsie rather than the pink and helpless one at the end of the other arm. She took a sudden deep breath and then swung with everything she had and watched as the blade slammed through the sturdy metal chain joining the two metal bracelets. She allowed herself a brief moment to slump with bone-deep relief and then she turned away and crossed to the cabinet again in search of more usable weapons. Lindsey watched her back for a moment and contemplated just how easy it would be walk up behind her and knock her out and then he remembered her screaming in agony and fear on the floor and the helpless and desperate way she had vomited when the visions had passed and he spoke
'You aren't kidding are you? We really are in danger?'
Cordy turned to face him and winced as the movement caused her headache to swell and break against the wall of her skull with the force of a tidal wave
'Yes. I don't know what the things are that are that are out there but I know they want us dead.'
She paused for a moment and then said hesitantly as though she were testing an idea
'At least.. they want you dead. I don't think they care about me one way or the other.'
Her face creased with puzzlement as she stared at him in bemusement
'I can't explain it but I think its you they want.'
With a brisk shrug she turned her back on him again and stuck her head back inside the wooden cupboard her muffled voice floating back to him
'Anyway we can't worry about that now. My ass is on the line with yours and I am much too pretty to die young.'
She turned back to him with a grin and threw a short handled sword to him
'Saddle up Lord of Evil, you're about to have a first hand experience of life on the front line as a soldier of light.'
They both stared at the sword, which lay where it had fallen on the floor as he completely failed to catch it, Cordy sighed
'So being a lawyer and all; you can do wills right?'
'I wasn't expecting it!'
Coredelia's lips twitched in a wry grin
'Lindsey, at the risk of sounding patronising, the legions of the undead do not give you a five second heads up before they try to severe you from the mortal plane, they pretty much just do it.'
She walked to where she had dropped her knife as the vision had struck grabbing her axe and wrinkling her nose at the vomit on the floor as she did so
'Just stay behind me and watch our tails and I'll try to keep us out of as much trouble as I can.'
She bent and picked the knife up and Lindsey had a glimpse of a thin leather sheath as she casually tucked it behind her back and under her sweater and then she turned with the axe held casually over one shoulder
'So, sorry about your carpet and the blood-letting and everything but can we please get the hell out of here?'
Lindsey kept his eyes fixed on hers as he bent to retrieve his own weapon
'This isn't over Coredelia. I won't forget what happened here tonight and when we get out of here you better watch your back.'
Cordy grinned in genuine amusement
'So do you practise being evil arch-villain guy in front of the mirror? It must be hell trying to get the right menacing look and tone with those freckles and that nose.' She turned and walked towards the door with an infuriating lack of concern at his threats and pressed her ear to it before easing it open and waving for him to follow her out. Lindsey gritted his teeth and stomped after her promising himself before long he would have Cordelier Chase helpless and in his power and begging for mercy.
And then she could damn well explain that comment about his nose. What the hell was wrong with it anyway? He lifted hand to check it just at the moment Cordy turned to make sure he had followed her out and the damn girl snorted as she saw the gentle and confused probing of his face.
Yep, helpless, begging for mercy and, if there was any justice in this world, buck naked and then he'd see just how many body parts Ms. Chase had that he could poke fun at. Or hot pokers. Whatever was handy.
Written in response to a challenge on the fan page to have Lindsey and one of the white hats trapped in Wolfram and Hart for the night.
Part 1.
Cordelia froze as the overhead lights flicked on and spun round in a quick movement to face the doorway.
'Oh crap.'
She closed her eyes, counted to three and opened them again. Nope, no good. Lindsey McDonald was still standing blocking her way with a big ole shit-eating grin on his face and a pair of handcuffs dangling from his raised hand. She backed up a few graceful steps and flicked her eyes around the room searching for inspiration. Nothing. She sighed deeply. Could she say screwed?
Lindsey's grin stretched and he followed her into the room and deftly kicked and locked the door behind him, Cordy's eyes widened and she moved to put the large wooden desk between the lawyer and herself. Breaking into Wolfram and Hart's offices had seemed like such a good idea earlier that evening.
Gunn and Wes had left her at their new offices with strict instructions not to move until they got back from killing whatever the thing was that her latest mind numbing vision had shown her. The demon or whatever had been big, ugly and had smelled really bad so she hadn't made too much protest when they had strode heroically out into the night although she had to admit the pair of them bickering over who got to use the big axe this time probably didn't help their bad ass personas any. Two hours went by and the boys hadn't bothered to return and slowly Cordy had begun to sink into a funk. Oh hell, who was she kidding? She started to brood a la Angel and the more she thought about the situation the more she became convinced that the solution lay in Evil Lawyer Mecca.
She didn't dwell on the personal issues they all had with Angel. She was after all a professional and Angel could go ram his perfect, gel covered head up his tortured ass for all she cared. The prospect of evil Angel, syphilis crazed Darla, plain old crazed Druscilla and the legions of hell that the evil lawyers had at their command were her problem, being a warrior of the light and all. She was willing to stake her life on their being some kind of information lying around at the offices that the white hats might be able to use. The more she thought about it the more she became convinced that she was right and the more she convinced herself the stronger the feeling became that she had to go right now. Kinda like when the mall had a blue cross 75% off everything day and she still had a good six hours of the workday ahead of her.
Breaking in was easy she'd stood enough times as Angel's lookout that she made it through the sewers and up through the traps in the basement and on to the main stairwell in under twenty minutes and then it was just a matter of going up. She checked every floor she came too methodically keeping an eye out for the more obvious security measures, cameras, telepaths, vampires, and magical symbols lying around for no apparent reason and then on the twenty-first floor she found it. A huge double door with the words 'Lindsey McDonald' on a bright shiny plaque right next to it.
Cordy had nearly whooped out loud before she remembered she was meant to be stealthy cat-burglar girl and instead contented herself with skipping through the door and sticking her tongue out at the nameplate as she went past. In thirty minutes she had gone through every draw and cupboard in the place and had kept half an ear open for the sound of approaching footsteps but she had gradually become so engrossed in what she had found that all thoughts of covering her ass had fled. And now she was trapped in a locked office with one of the people she hated most in the world and he was smiling. And tutting. Don't forget the incredibly annoying and patronising tutting. She scowled as he raised his good hand and wagged a finger at her. Oh yeah, she was so gonna stuff that down his throat before this was over.
'Ms Chase, this is unexpected.'
Cordelia snorted, the man had definitely watched one too many Bond films she half expected a fluffy white cat to be jumping into his arms. Or he'd grow one of those long mustaches that all the villains on Bravo seemed to have just so they could twirl them, she smirked as he raised one eyebrow in a move so Acme School of Villainy it was truly ridiculous; any minute now he'd be telling her he liked a girl with spirit and leering down her top. She kept the desk between them and drew herself up to her full height
'Bite me'.
He looked disappointed for a moment and then his face settled into the carefully neutral expression she knew and would love rip off his skull. With her teeth.
'I don't have to tell you how much trouble you're in. Breaking and entering, unlawful damage..'
Cordelia interrupted with her patented Queen C sneer
'Assault and Battery.'
She folded her arms and looked down her nose adding icily
'Pending.'
He grinned back at her and for a brief second she caught a glimpse of the wholesome farm boy he might have been once and then the evil lawyer face came down again.
'Actually I was going for murder one, why restrict yourself?'
Cordelia placed her hands on her slim hips, tapped her foot and continued to look supremely unimpressed
'Sweetie I have been threatened and tortured by the very best and trust me when I say you aren't even in the top twenty when it comes to idle threats.'
She flicked her newly cut and streaked hair from her face and continued with contempt 'Hell, I scare me more than you do.'
Her gaze raked over him from head to foot and she sniffed with disdain
'And if you don't mind me saying so for the money you sold out for you'd think that you might make a little bit more effort with your wardrobe, that suit is so last year it's not funny. I know dead guys with more taste than you.'
She casually rested one hip one the corner of the desk and began to swing her foot
'Considering Angel has spent over half his time on this planet a completely guilt ridden manic depressive you really might want to take that advice on board.'
She grinned as she watched his face cloud in confusion at her surprisingly upbeat attitude to getting caught deep behind enemy lines and leaned forward just enough to allow a small amount of cleavage to show as her typically low cut top gaped open. His eyes widened fractionally and his breathing sped up just a tad. Oh yeah, she still had it.
'Now we both know that you aren't going to do anything to me or set me up to take the fall for whatever unfortunate mistake you guys have made this time cos' Angel will come down on you so fast you won't even see him coming.'
She leaned forward a little bit more and wondered briefly if she should write this conversation down for him to go over later the way his eyes were focused on her chest she doubted he was even aware she was speaking. This was even easier than persuading Wes and Gunn they really did want to watch 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' again for the fourth night in a row and she didn't even have her uplift bra on! She watched as he dragged his tongue over suddenly dry lips and then tried to focus on her face again. Cordy sighed and took pity on the guy and leaned back so the tantalising cleft between her breasts was removed from his line of sight and after that he seemed to find it much easier to collect his thoughts.
Lindsey drew in another ragged breath and managed to drag his mind forcibly out of the gutter and focus on the matter in hand. Cordelia Chase dropped into his lap like a gift from the gods.well considering whom he worked for that wasn't very likely but it was definitely a lucky break. He focused determinedly on her face and worked up a fairly convincing sneer
'I have it on good authority that you're on your own. Angel cut you loose without a second thought and walked away, what makes you think that he'll give a damn now?'
He felt a glow of satisfaction at the shocked look on her face and then realised it wasn't pain at his cruel words but genuine surprise and then she did the unexpected and laughed. Long, loud completely genuine laughter and she showed no signs of stopping, he scowled and waited for her to finish and eventually the very unladylike snorts and guffaws slowed to hiccups and then faint intermittent giggles.
Cordelia wiped her eyes and shook her head and then Lindsey stared as she eyed him with something almost like pity
'Lindsey in all the time you've worked for this company are you telling me you never took Vampire 101? It doesn't matter whether Angel can't stand the sight of me and never wants to see me again for the rest of his un- life, which, by the way, is going to be incredibly short unless he stops with this Darla crap pretty soon because I'll stake his ass myself. In his head and in all the other undead people's heads I belong to him.'
She stood and swayed across the room to stand in front of the lawyer and briefly enjoyed being able to look into someone's eyes rather than up their nose thanks to the incredibly tall men she did hang around with
'He claimed me as his when I first hooked up with him after that Russell Winters guy. It's not about friends or family any more, if you lay one finger on me you've messed with his possession and vampires do not deal well with that.'
She grinned and flicked his nose with one perfectly manicured nail
'Think of me as a mint condition, first edition White Album and you'll get some idea of how pissed he'll be if you break me.'
She stepped back and tipped her head to one side to look at him considering
'Of course you've actually made things a whole lot worse by driving him completely round the twist. Last time you saw him he fed you and all your little evil lawyer friends to his insane ex-honeys, imagine what he'll do if you break his album and don't give it back.'
She sighed dramatically
' I've met Angelus and believe me; he is not a laugh a minute guy. The things that guy can do with a puppy and some fish.do you have any pets Lindsey?'
Cordelia cocked her head innocently to one side and ended her sentence on a perky note even Willow would be proud of. She smiled as Lindsey blinked down at her and she realised he was in fact two or three inches above her in height which was kinda nice, just right in fact. She shook her self mentally, focus Cordy we don't care how cute the evil lawyer is the key word here is evil. Although he does have the prettiest blue eyes. She blinked and took another step back and watched him suck in some deep breaths and felt the need for some serious respiratory aid herself. Lindsey McDonald was not cute he tried to kill her and her friends on a semi-regular, almost recreational, basis this was so not a man she could get jiggy with.
Lindsey for his part was wondering if the seer had some other gifts from The Powers that his sources had failed to inform him of. What were those things called that ensnared men? Suckas.something. Demons he knew they were demons, whatever you do, do not focus on Cordelia Chase sucking anything. That was not a good place to go if you needed to concentrate on being arch-villain guy. Which he did. Gifts like having a direct link to The Powers in his grip did not come along every day and he needed to focus on that rather than the vessel it came in. Succubus that was it! She was obviously a Succubus.
Cordy watched in fascination as the young man stumbled back a few paces and began eyeing her warily she suppressed a triumphant grin and sent a brief prayer of thanks to Angel for the whole claiming thing. The big, anguished, self-centred, hair shirt wearing weenie.
At the time she had been less than impressed when he'd told her what he had done. Just arrived in L.A. and about to embark on a glittering career as star of the stage and screen and glamorous consort to whatever young actor was this week's next big thing the absolute last thing she needed was to be tied down to a two hundred and change year old vamp with personality issues and a face like a permanent rainstorm. Then Doyle had died and she'd become pregnant and then Wolfram and Hart had tried to kill her and then it was. nice. Belonging to someone like that. Someone who would come after her no matter what it took and whoever he had to go through, she'd never had that before and it was nice to finally feel like someone's family and to be loved just because she was herself and couldn't be used for anything. She blinked back tears as she thought of Angel when he had fired them all and the Angel that had taken a frightened displaced ex-May queen under his wing and given her a family. The big doofus.
Lindsey felt something clutch at his heart as he watched the sudden tears fill her eyes and made a move towards her before it clicked he was meant to be torturing the girl for information not comforting as she struggled for composure. Her eyes flicked up at his movement and in a move so fast he could have sworn he imagined it she wiped her eyes, ran practised fingers through her hair and pasted the 'come bite me' smile on her face again. She moved back against the desk and cocked her head to one side waiting for him to make the next move. Right then he would. Right. As soon as he figured out what it would be. Damned if the little bitch's grin hadn't widened knowingly as he stood undecided before her. She shrugged and said sympathetically
'I get that a lot.'
Lindsey shook off his body's spontaneous reaction to the flash of perfect white teeth and said
'Excuse me?'
Cordelia smiled again and hitched up so she sat on the desk with both legs swinging looking for the entire world like a six-year old at her father's office.
'Gunn calls it the 'kill me or kiss me dilemma''
She frowned in sudden thought and then fixed her brown eyes on him again
'Actually he calls it the 'screw me or beat me bloody dilemma' but I like my phrasing better.' Lindsey shook his head slightly to clear it and stared back in confusion as Cordelia sighed
'Look I'll make it real simple for you. I look good. I dress to look good. What you see is something that I spent a lot of years getting just right so I have the advantage over men.'
She inclined her head
'Men like you. Now you see a girl in front of you that you find attractive.'
She held up a hand to stall his instinctive denial and added hurriedly
'Nothing wrong with that it's the way it is, the way its meant to be. The thing is you can't see past that to who, or what, I am. To you I'm Angel's sidekick, the mouthy secretary with the chest.'
She slid off the desk slowly and helplessly Lindsey followed the line of her body as it slid bonelessly forward and glided across the room towards him. Cordelia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had just laid it out for him that her moves were as calculated as they come and still the big idiot fell for it. She kicked out suddenly and took his legs out from under him. In one swift controlled move she followed him down flipped him over and used his own handcuffs to secure his hands behind his back, another quick tug and he lay on the floor staring up at her as she rose above him and placed her hands on her hips to say flatly
'It never occurred to you to think that's a girl who grew up on a hell mouth, has been fighting assorted creatures of the night for the last four and a half years and has had an active role in saving the world at least three times that she knows of.'
She sniffed and walked away to listen at the door feeling his incredulous gaze on her, satisfied that they were in no danger of being discovered she paced around the office again continuing her search and saying in an even tone
'Or that Angel, Gunn and Wes can't be there every second of the day to protect me so maybe, just maybe, there's a reason that girl is still alive other than her men folk are really good at riding to her rescue.'
She sank to her haunches in front of him and half-smiled
'Did you really think the visions were the only reason they kept me around?'
Lindsey stared up wordlessly as she patted him on the head and with great relish mimicked his own sorrowful tutting from just a few short minutes before
'Lindsey, Lindsey, Lindsey how little you know.'
She came to her feet again and moved back to his desk and continued to speak as she glanced through the files that she had abandoned when he had entered. 'Now the way I see it you are totally at my mercy so we can go through the whole pointless, and might I say boring, ritual of me threatening you and you being all heroic and martyr like or we can cut to the chase and you can give me any helpful information you might have on Darla and any other evil schemes you got abrewin'. What do you say?'
The bright friendly smile she tossed him was so completely at odds with her hard tone that Lindsey was unsure for a moment that he had heard her correctly and then he watched as she drew a very long, sharp knife from behind her back and slammed it point first into his antique, incredibly expensive, desk. He pushed himself into a sitting position and opened his mouth
'You don't have the guts.'
Cordelia grabbed the knife handle and pulled and then was around the desk and in front of him so fast that he didn't have time to draw a breath.
He did however find time to give a startled yelp as her hand slashed out and very deliberately cut his earlobe, Cordy leant in so her nose was an inch from his own and hissed
'You tried to kill me; you tried to kill my friends. When that didn't work you raised one of the most evil creatures that ever lived from the dead and used her to torment a person I care a lot about. Every day that thing is alive more innocent's die. Every day Angel isn't with us feeling the connection to his humanity more people die. You, just by sitting here having this stupid pissing contest with me, are condemning more people to a terrifying and needless death and you think I don't have the guts to do what needs to be done?'
The knife slammed down between Lindsey's legs just grazing the cloth covering his groin and quivered as it stood point first in the carpet she ignored his panicked scream and grabbed a fistful of his hair yanking so he met her eyes
'Think again Perry Mason. Tell me what I need to know, now, and I'll let you go. Don't and I forget I'm a lady and start remembering all the things I read about Angelus and Darla and spent a lot of money in therapy trying to forget.'
She shoved his head away and flashed another blinding grin
' 'K?'
Lindsey could not believe how swiftly the tables had turned on him and just how dangerous this girl, woman, was. All the information he had on her indicated she was nothing more than a wannabe actress with delusions of grandeur. He knew about her father's fall from grace and how she had taken herself out of her hometown before the fire at her graduation had time to cool down and headed for L.A. without looking back. He knew about the few abortive relationships she had had in the time she had been in town, he even knew that she shared an apartment with a restless spirit but he had never known just how strong she had made herself with her experiences. The girl before him was just twenty but had the poise and confidence of a woman twice her age and the steady stare from those deep brown eyes had him hastily re-evaluating his opinion on just who was the most dangerous of Angel's supporters. Those eyes promised pain and retribution in unheard of quantities and she would do it all without flinching he had no doubt. The chance to save innocents and bury Darla would not be passed up by Cordelia Chase because he had a pesky case of humanititis. He flinched as she gripped the knife by its handle and pulled it free once again then stood, she reached down and pulled him to his feet with a grunt of effort and pushed him into the deep, blood coloured sofa that ran along one wall.
'Spill stumpy or I start by cutting off something a lot more important than your hand.'
Her gaze rested pointedly for a moment at groin level and then fixed with deadly intent on terrified blue eyes, Cordy raised one eyebrow and waited.
She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. The minute the knife flashed to his ear she knew she had made a big mistake and when the bottom of his earlobe flew across the room she very nearly tossed her cookies in his lap. The blood streaming from his ear was threatening the well being of her stomach again and the white terrified look on his face when she slammed the knife between his legs cut deep into her soul. She had to stop herself glancing over her shoulder almost expecting The Powers or their representatives standing behind her shaking their heads in disapproval. She was counting on a few especially vicious visions, at least, as punishment for the whole crazed Druscilla impersonation. She tightened her grip on the knife as she felt her knees begin to weaken and made herself focus on the piece of skin between his eyes and not on the bright red fountain that sprayed from his ear. Jesus it wasn't possible to bleed to death from a nick to the ear was it? Oh she was so going to hell.
Lindsey watched as her grip on the knife tightened until her knuckles turned white, her eyes fixed with malevolent intent between his eyes and he could almost see her review the torture procedures she had at her disposal. He watched as she licked her lip in an unconscious gesture of hunger and she swayed as she fought against the urge to kill him. Oh god after all the things he had seen and done he was going to die in his own office at the hand of a mere human girl.
Cordy spoke calmly to herself in the privacy of her own head
'For god's sake its not like he doesn't have another earlobe I didn't lop off his other hand did I? And you have seen blood before, lots of it. Just because this wasn't done in the heat of battle and he's helpless and you know him doesn't mean this wasn't in the name of Light. Don't look at his ear! Don't look at his ear!'
Buzzing sounded loudly in her own ears and she felt herself sway as she focused unwillingly on his still bleeding ear
'Stay away from the ear Cordy. Just don't look.'
A thought rose unbidden in her head
'God he's gonna think every time he runs into one of us and we want information its company policy to amputate first and ask questions later. Must send in-house memo: When encountering Lindsey McDonald it is imperative that Angel Investigations operatives only remove body parts that come as a pair, on no account remove anything vital or in the singular. Let's leave the man a spare people.'
She giggled slightly hysterically as the image of a severely imbalanced Lindsey entered her head stomping round in a circle on one leg and a crutch waving a stumpy arm in the air directing legions of hell every which way and cursing Angel as he went.
Lindsey winced at the unhinged giggle that escaped Cordelia's lips as she stared at him. He was reminded unpleasantly of Druscilla and the psycho slayer Faith at the sound and he found himself shivering as he mentally reviewed their case histories. The girl seemed to be going into a trance as she stared at him and her eyes were glazed with what appeared to be bloodlust, she couldn't take her eyes off his ear for more than a second!
'Any minute now I'm gonna start yakking and I'm not going to be able to stop'
thought Cordelia
'Demon blood I can handle. Any of the guys bleeding I can deal and patch 'em up. Lindsey goddamn McDonald has a little accident and its like I'm seeing my first vamp victim all over again. Jeez, pathetic much?'
She ignored the voice in her head that whispered that she was finding it hard to deal because she had intentionally hurt a helpless human and paid some attention to the voice that yelled slightly hysterically that she didn't even know how to go about torturing someone. Pretty soon the lawyer was going to realise he had been sitting unmolested for a good five minutes and then realise she was holding it together by the barest thread and then she had a problem. A major problem. Even ignoring the smell of blood that was getting more cloying as the tense seconds went by.
I'm going to hurl!
Oh no, her mistake. What she was actually going to do was fall bone- jarringly to the floor and clutch her head in her hands as it threatened to explode under the force of her second freight train vision of the night. Cordy writhed on the floor as she sank under the immense pressure of the images flooding her mind. Flashing images of Lindsey and herself rampaged through her mind with searing intensity. In a dark tunnel, the smell of blood and decay, the sound of pursuers, Lindsey's terrified face as he went down beneath a dark, unidentifiable form, her own body flying to smash into a roughly carved stone wall and finally a starkly vivid picture of them surrounded by vampires closing in from every direction and Lindsey clutching to his chest a battered brown briefcase. Abruptly the vision left and the pain left behind coupled with the scent of Lindsey's blood had her abruptly rolling to vomit helplessly onto the hundred dollar a square foot carpet. She brought up everything she had and then dry heaved for a few seconds before coming to her knees and dragging a shaking hand across her mouth. Her head felt ten times too heavy for her body and the aftermath of the pain ran insidiously from the top of her skull in crashing rivers down to the base of her neck and it was hard to form a coherent thought. She took several deep breaths and then staggered to her feet, swayed for a moment and then turned to face Lindsey.
He stared at Cordelia and then the mess on his carpet and then back to Cordelia she waited until her lungs felt capable of supplying oxygen and then spoke in a low rasp
'We need to get out of here. Where are the keys for the cuffs?'
He opened his mouth but seemed incapable of speech, Cordelia shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear away the fog that always seemed to cloud her mind after a visit from The Powers and tried again
'Lindsey we're in danger and we need to move now. Where the hell are the keys?'
She took a few unsteady steps towards him and that was enough to upset her precarious motor system and she fell in an ungainly heap at his feet. The small, almost inaudible
' Crap.'
seemed to jolt Lindsey from his stricken silence and he leaned forward to stare at the top of her head
What the hell was that about?'
Cordelia lifted her head grimacing in pain as she did so
'That was the Powers telling me in their usual subtle, and incredibly helpful, way that we are in mortal danger. Again.'
She braced her hands on his knees and dragged herself to her feet again and then hooked a hand under his arm and dragged him up to face her
'Where are the keys?'
Lindsey gave a small grin
'Three floors down in the corner conference room.'
Cordy cursed fluently and impressively for a few brief moments and then spun him to stare at the cuffs binding him. She thought for a few seconds and then spun him back again
'If I take off your hand is there any way you can squeeze your wrist out?'
His eyebrows went up for a second at the casual way she spoke of his disfigurement and then he remembered that this was the girl that not ten minutes before had drawn his blood and had coldly informed him that his manhood was going to be the next thing to go. To her taking off artificial limbs would be as unimportant in the scheme of things as sneezing. Although, come to think of it, she hadn't actually specified that it was his false hand she wanted to remove. Lindsey stepped away from her hurriedly and eyed her with a sudden terrifying suspicion and then thought of her face as she had lashed out with her knife and backed away a few steps more.
Cordy stared at the lawyer as he stumbled away from her with a look of revulsion on his face and, despite herself, felt a faint pang of rejection deep inside. Her forthright way with words had gotten her into trouble all her life and the last few years had honed her skills for cutting right to the heart of the matter in communicating with other people. It was hard trying for small talk when you spent most of your waking hours fighting for your life and covered in the insides of otherworldly species and so she learned to budget her words with ruthless precision that she never quite managed to apply to her cash flow. She reached out a hand and saw the young lawyer wince in response
'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so callous but we need to get you out of those cuffs.'
She took a breath
'We're going to have to fight our way out of here and I can take care of myself but I won't be able to protect you as well.'
She watched as he frowned at her and then abruptly tensed his arms and tested the give of the cuffs, he shook his head
'No good. The skin is caught up I can't turn my wrists.'
He watched as conflicting emotions streaked across the young girl's face and a small part of him was stunned that the savage of a few moments ago would offer him more compassion in a couple of seconds than he had ever received from his supposed friends and co-workers over his lost appendage. He cocked his head to the side and realised with amazement that he also felt the tiniest bit guilty for his reaction to her offer to help him out of the handcuffs then he felt the drying blood crack on the side of his neck with his head's movement and the guilt was abruptly swallowed in white hot fury. What the hell was he thinking? The bitch cut him and had threatened to Bobitt him in his own offices; she deserved every bit of pain that came her way!
Cordelia's eyes fell on her knife that still lay on the floor and she gave a small triumphant exclamation, that thing wouldn't do the job but the sturdy little throwing axe in the antique display case by the window would. She crossed quickly to the cabinet and flung it open. Perfect! She grabbed the two-foot long axe and it felt pleasantly familiar in her hand as she turned to Lindsey and said
'Come over here and stretch your arms back and as far apart as you can on the desk.'
She wasn't altogether surprised at the outraged yell that followed a short amazed silence
'Are you insane?'
Lindsey almost fell in the pool of vomit as he turned towards the door and began to run. Cordy had been expecting an extreme reaction and almost before Lindsey had begun to turn she was moving and caught him in four strides. She gave him no chance to find his balance but yanked him hard and kept hold of him until she could shove him up against the desk.
'Look it's very simple McDonald; we are going to die unless we get moving soon. I can't go out that door with you as a liability and I can't leave you here as monster fodder; the guy's I work for really frown on that sort of thing, I have to take you with me.'
She raised the axe
'The cuffs have to come off. Lean back against the desk, stretch and spread your arms and don't move!'
She fixed him with a hard chocolate glare and gave him another abrupt shove as she moved around the desk; Lindsey swallowed in an effort to bring some moisture back to his barren mouth and then cautiously allowed his arms to go back across the surface of the desk. He was acutely aware of Cordelia behind him and flinched as she shifted into position
'Lindsey stretch your wrists as far apart as you can.'
The gentle tone of voice Cordy used was a direct contrast to the fear churning through her; she took a better grip on the axe handle and consciously focused on his false hand. If she misjudged her swing she at least intended to make sure of severing his falsie rather than the pink and helpless one at the end of the other arm. She took a sudden deep breath and then swung with everything she had and watched as the blade slammed through the sturdy metal chain joining the two metal bracelets. She allowed herself a brief moment to slump with bone-deep relief and then she turned away and crossed to the cabinet again in search of more usable weapons. Lindsey watched her back for a moment and contemplated just how easy it would be walk up behind her and knock her out and then he remembered her screaming in agony and fear on the floor and the helpless and desperate way she had vomited when the visions had passed and he spoke
'You aren't kidding are you? We really are in danger?'
Cordy turned to face him and winced as the movement caused her headache to swell and break against the wall of her skull with the force of a tidal wave
'Yes. I don't know what the things are that are that are out there but I know they want us dead.'
She paused for a moment and then said hesitantly as though she were testing an idea
'At least.. they want you dead. I don't think they care about me one way or the other.'
Her face creased with puzzlement as she stared at him in bemusement
'I can't explain it but I think its you they want.'
With a brisk shrug she turned her back on him again and stuck her head back inside the wooden cupboard her muffled voice floating back to him
'Anyway we can't worry about that now. My ass is on the line with yours and I am much too pretty to die young.'
She turned back to him with a grin and threw a short handled sword to him
'Saddle up Lord of Evil, you're about to have a first hand experience of life on the front line as a soldier of light.'
They both stared at the sword, which lay where it had fallen on the floor as he completely failed to catch it, Cordy sighed
'So being a lawyer and all; you can do wills right?'
'I wasn't expecting it!'
Coredelia's lips twitched in a wry grin
'Lindsey, at the risk of sounding patronising, the legions of the undead do not give you a five second heads up before they try to severe you from the mortal plane, they pretty much just do it.'
She walked to where she had dropped her knife as the vision had struck grabbing her axe and wrinkling her nose at the vomit on the floor as she did so
'Just stay behind me and watch our tails and I'll try to keep us out of as much trouble as I can.'
She bent and picked the knife up and Lindsey had a glimpse of a thin leather sheath as she casually tucked it behind her back and under her sweater and then she turned with the axe held casually over one shoulder
'So, sorry about your carpet and the blood-letting and everything but can we please get the hell out of here?'
Lindsey kept his eyes fixed on hers as he bent to retrieve his own weapon
'This isn't over Coredelia. I won't forget what happened here tonight and when we get out of here you better watch your back.'
Cordy grinned in genuine amusement
'So do you practise being evil arch-villain guy in front of the mirror? It must be hell trying to get the right menacing look and tone with those freckles and that nose.' She turned and walked towards the door with an infuriating lack of concern at his threats and pressed her ear to it before easing it open and waving for him to follow her out. Lindsey gritted his teeth and stomped after her promising himself before long he would have Cordelier Chase helpless and in his power and begging for mercy.
And then she could damn well explain that comment about his nose. What the hell was wrong with it anyway? He lifted hand to check it just at the moment Cordy turned to make sure he had followed her out and the damn girl snorted as she saw the gentle and confused probing of his face.
Yep, helpless, begging for mercy and, if there was any justice in this world, buck naked and then he'd see just how many body parts Ms. Chase had that he could poke fun at. Or hot pokers. Whatever was handy.