Yeah, new chapter! I hope you're all happy too. I own none of these characters, maybe just the storyline. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for your fab reviews so far. My Wolfram and Hart knowledge is slightly limited, because I tend to ignore that part of the show since there's hardly any action during the lawyer scenes so if I make some mistakes tell me and I'll fix 'em.
To Catch a Thief
By Robinyj
The soft, rhythmic click of the keys was all that could be heard from Lilah Morgan's office as she worked long into the night as usual, until her secretary paged in. Finishing off her sentence, Lilah turned from the computer and pressed the call button.
"There's a call for you on line one. It's Casper," the voice informed her.
"Thank you," She replied dutifully, then cut off. Putting on a fake smile to go with her charm she picked up the phone and hit line one, "Casper, it's been a few days, I was starting to worry."
"You shouldn't worry about me Lilah, I can always take care of myself. Always, always," Casper informed her. His voice was high, jittery as always. Always paranoid was Casper, but very, very good at what he did. As sources went he was the best, not to mention the most discreet. Lilah had no idea who he was, what he looked like or even what type of demon he was. If he was a demon at all. But knowing the things he did, he had to be. She had her theories that he was a Hitbeck demon; able to shapeshift; become anything and learn a lot along the way. But judging from his nickname (cause she prayed it wasn't his real one) Casper was probably a Cartink demon, commonly mistaken for ghosts. Being relatively invisible and able to walk through walls gets you that reputation; it also makes it easy to learn everyone's secrets, and that's all Lilah needed to know.
"Good to hear," Lilah feigned, "So, what do you have for me. It better be good after so long a wait."
"It's juicy, if not a bit interesting. I'm sure you heard of this Angel guy by now, vampire with a soul," Casper began.
Lilah nodded and replied, "Yeah, the name's come across my desk a few times."
"Well he's got something. Something big. The gem of Amara. The Slayer sent it to him from Sunnydale and now he's walking in sunshine," Casper informed her, "Saw it with my own eyes."
"Is that so?" she asked, also intrigued. This could be a big deal.
"Sure is. But of course, he's not the only one that wanted it. Another vamp, Spike, wants it too, he was sired by a chick that was sired by Angel. Anyway, he tortured Angel earlier today, but he never got anything out of him. Now he's gone and kidnapped one of Soulful's little helpers, half-Brachen demon named Doyle, to get Angel to give him the ring. Seems a little desperate if you ask me."
"Where is this exchange taking place?" Lilah asked.
"Factory on the corner of Sixth and Douglas, vamp and the demon are there now. Angel won't be showing up for a few hours. This ring, it's the real thing doll, saw Angel walking in the sunshine myself. Even saw another vamp take a stake to the heart and survive while he was wearing it, might be able to do other stuff too, more powerful stuff," Casper surmised. Lilah didn't care though, she didn't pay him for his opinion.
"Alright then. Thanks Casper. This info pans out you should find a nice increase in your bank account next month," Lilah assured him.
"No problem. You need me to keep tabs on the situation?"
Lilah smiled, "No, I think Wolfram and Hart can handle it from here." Then she hung up. Sitting back in her chair she thought over this information for a moment. Angel was just starting to become a blip on their radar, but if he started going out in the day, interfering more often then he already was, then that could be very bad. And who knew what else the ring could do, as Casper mentioned. It may have other powers no one had yet imagined. Best to get it now, before Angel had a chance to discover just what they may be.
Picking up the phone again, she dialled herself, not needing her secretary to look up this number. The phone was answered after just one ring.
"Hello sir, I've just been informed of a certain situation involving our soulled vampire," Lilah began, ready to report all she knew to her boss, but he cut her off.
"Yes, we're aware of the situation," the voice began, "And we've decided it's best not to let it escalate. We'd like to bring this ring into Wolfram and Hart's possession as soon as possible. It could make a valuable bargaining chip some time later on. Do you think you're up for the job?"
"I can handle it sir," Lilah responded without hesitation, "I won't let you down."
"See that you don't," The voice sounded bored, as if the entire situation was over with that single phone call. Lilah started to say good-bye when he added, "And, we want it by any means necessary. Any means at all."
This didn't surprise Lilah, which was obvious by her tone, "I'll have it for you by noon sir. Goodnight."
The voice couldn't be bothered to reply.
Hanging up again, Lilah picked up the phone to make her final call of the night, "Connect me to Special Services. Arms Division."
~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|
Well Angel and Oz are being their usual talkative selves, thought Cordelia sarcastically. The silence was unnerving. There was so much that she wanted to say, wanted everyone else to say, needed to be said. But no one was saying anything, and that was unnerving.
"So, what's the plan?" Cordelia finally asked, unable to stand the silence that the two men around her seemed to live in. They had all circled around Cordelia's desk upon arrival and while Oz single-handedly bandaged up his arm, still allowing no one near him, silence reigned. Both men turned to her quickly, surprised by the sudden outburst.
"We wait," Angel said with a note of finality as he sank into the leather chair and entered deep "brood-mode".
"Oh no you don't, get back here!" Cordy snapped her fingers in front of his face, "Don't you brood out on me, you're staying right here in reality and you're helping us come up with a real plan mister."
"We could improvise," Oz suggested, not really meaning it but knowing Cordy wanted suggestions.
"No way, I hate improvising. Every audition I go to, there's no script, so they're just like, 'Improvise what you would do if your husband had cheated on you and left you for a younger woman, and pretend you're a bird'. Like that would ever really happen, now come on. Someone leave me?" Cordelia ranted, knowing she was ranting but unable to stop.
"Okay Cordy, calm down, here's what you're gonna do," Angel said, finally taking charge. "You're going to take my car and drive around until you find an all-night jewellery store, or pawn shop, or something, and you're going to buy a ring that looks just like the ring of Amara did, okay?"
"Yes, yes okay. I can do that," Cordy assured him and caught the keys when he threw them to her, "If there's one thing I can do, it's pick out jewellery."
She started for the door and right before she went out turned around and asked, "What are you two going to do?"
Angel smiled, "Improvise."
When she was gone Oz turned to Angel and asked, "What are we really going to do?"
"I don't know, I just needed to get rid of her so I could think."
Oz nodded, understanding completely.
Needing to move Angel got up and started pacing, back and forth, "Did Doyle tell you anything about his vision? I didn't get a whole lot out of him before we got cut off." Angel asked, not slowing his gait.
"No," Oz admitted, "Just that it was a bad one. It seemed pretty bad to me too, but I have no frame of reference."
Angel stopped pacing and sat down at Cordelia's computer as a new thought struck him, "Maybe we can get the blueprints of this warehouse Spike's staying in, maybe find something to help us, a trap door in the floor." Then he sat there, not moving, just staring straight ahead. Doyle did this kind of stuff. He turned to Oz almost desperately, "Uh, do you know how to work this thing."
Oz offered him a half-smile and shooed him out of the way, then lowered himself slowly into the seat, being careful not to jar his aching ribcage.
"What was the address?" Oz asked as he typed, his mind was a bit foggy, and his head was major headachy. He couldn't believe he'd remembered what Spike had told him the first time Angel had asked him.
"Corner of Sixth and Douglas," Angel repeated for him slowly. He could tell from the bruises the musician's head must be spinning.
"And you want architectural plans?" Angel nodded, "Well you got architectural plans." And so he did. There on the screen was a complete layout of the "Rebuilding America Paper Mill" on the corner of Sixth and Douglas. They both looked it over for a moment, trying to picture the situation as it would be played out.
"Well, Spike's probably got him here, in this open front room, the rest of the building is too small and cramped to really hold a lot of people, or move around a lot. He'll want to be real close to the action too." Angel surmised.
"Okay, assuming you're right. We got three entrances into that room ….
"….. a door on the north wall, a door on the south wall, and a ventilation duct running out of the ceiling. We can get approximately three men into the duct, and have up to forty standing by behind each door." The crisp uniformed soldier pointed out each location on the map as he explained their plan.
Lilah nodded, not seeing any faults, "What will you be using to handle the situation?"
The officer turned and produced a sleek projectile hand-held weapon, "Easy shot stun bolts. It should be all vamps we're told, and staking takes time, it's hard to hit the heart each time. But we shoot them with one of these, anywhere on the body and they'll be out for a couple of hours."
"Very good. Be ready to move out in the hour," Lilah ordered and then left the room, her usual confident swagger still implanted in her hips.
The soldier turned to his men, "Let's go! We're ….
"… moving out. Come on," Angel bid his companions as he headed to the door.
"You know I'm not too sure I like this plan. It sounds an awful lot like improvising to me," Cordelia pointed out once more. She had returned to the office only minutes ago after finding a decent facsimile for the destroyed ring and been presented with their rather crude plan.
"It's not," Angel assured her, "All you have to do is cut the power when you hear the signal. Leave the improvisation to us."
Cordy just nodded, not agreeing completely but accepting Angel's plan. They didn't know what to expect when they reached the warehouse so this was the best they could do. Cordelia being the back-up, waiting in the wings to take everyone by surprise when the power was cut, Oz as Angel's cavalry once more, several crossbows, stakes and holy water at the ready, and Angel, all set to act as though he was the king of the world and immortal with the ring of Amara on his finger. They had to play it by ear, that's all they could do. Cordy had just one more question.
"How am I going to know what the signal is?"
Oz almost chuckled as he filled a mini water gun with holy water, "You'll know."
~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|
It was cold in the room. Vampires didn't get cold so there was no heat in the building, and the hard concrete and sea breeze made the air uncommonly chilly for L.A. It also didn't help that Doyle was soaking wet.
Sputtering and shaking, Doyle had to strain his eyes to focus on the figure in front of him, fanged mouth smirking as it dropped the now empty bucket it had been holding.
"He's awake," the vampire announced to someone behind the Irishman. Doyle wanted to turn around and see who it was, but was now coughing and trying to stand.
An unwelcome blond head soon entered his vision, "Morning ducks, hope you slept well here in Chez Spike."
"Morning already?" Doyle asked, voice raspy, "Night just flew by. And the service at Chez Spike is tres bad. I'd like to file a complaint with the manager."
"Well, the manager's dead so good luck. Unfortunately the fun is drawing is to a close I'm afraid," Spike announced, sounding truly sorry, as if he were saying good-bye to a friend at the airport. "Angel should be here soon with my ring, then we can have some real fun."
"You don't honestly think Angel's going to give it to you do you?" Doyle asked. He knew the Gem was destroyed, but also knew Spike wouldn't believe him so thought he should play along for now.
"Course I do. He's a smart lad. Well, not really, but he wants to save you and he's got a big heart. Should be fun ripping it out," Spike mused as he moved away, his destination clear. Doyle felt a chill go through him as he saw the vampire head towards the medical tray once more. The little tray of horror, as he thought of it.
"Just for the sake of argument," Doyle gulped, "What happens if Angel does, you know, give in, give up the ring and all?"
Spike finally decided what tool he wanted and tucked it away quickly, easily keeping it from Doyle's view, "Well that's an easy one. He dies, you die, and then lots and lots of more people die."
As desperately as he tried Doyle couldn't keep Spike in sight as he paced behind him, "And what if he doesn't?"
"That's an easy one too."
Doyle's body stiffened as he screamed in pain. It lasted forever, much like the ocean's waves, hitting the shore time and time again, never stopping or even slowing. It just kept crashing down, wave after wave. Except these waves weren't water, they were electricity.
"He dies slowly, you die slowly, and then lots and lots of more people die slowly." It wasn't until Doyle's lungs had run out of air to expel that Spike removed the high-power taser from the half-demon's back.
Doyle fell slack and hung from his wrists, unable to support himself. For long seconds his lungs refused to work, would not allow him to draw in the breath he needed so badly, and then they graciously reactivated and blessed him with the oxygen he so dearly needed. Though the voltage was high, the damage it had inflicted was even greater than normal due to the water soaking Doyle's from head to shoeless foot. His body was shaking from pain and shock and he couldn't feel most of his arms and legs.
Spike smiled, enjoying this moment as he did all like this. Doyle's entire body shook from the pain and the cold. His teeth chattered and it seemed like the loudest noise in the world and he hated his body for doing it against his will. For disobeying him and showing this creature that he was hurt, he was battered and yes, he was weak. He couldn't even fight off the cold.
"You know what your problem is?" Doyle asked, trying to will his teeth to stop clacking so he could formulate a sentence.
"Oh do tell, from a man with as many problems as yourself, I certainly would love to hear your take on what mine are," Spike taunted and even pulled up a chair which he straddled backwards and set up in front of Doyle. Head tilted he waited, listening quite attentively.
"You've got no imagination," Doyle began, feeling stronger as he went, "I don't know if you've noticed but both your plans, despite the slight time differential, end the same way. We're all dead. Now a smart evil vampire guy would leave a couple alive to tell the tale, send 'em out in the world to spread the word of Spike, the vamp who can't be killed. You see you fit the cliché too perfectly, 'It's all been done'. You smoke your cigarettes, torture Angel, you nab me, you get the stereotypical little minions that you just know are gonna get their arses kicked, you hole up in a dark, abandoned factory and set up this great trade off for dawn. If you were anymore predictable this would be a James Bond movie. Any idiot could see each move you're going to make, five steps before you make it. And it's because of this, that you always lose. Making you a loser."
Spike's eyes took on a fiery anger, but his lip curled up and he casually reached out to grab an edge of the medical tray Doyle hated so much. He pulled it closer to him as he said, "You know what I think, I think you've watched a bit too many of those Hollywood action flicks they love over here so much. In the real world, this is how things work. But," he picked up several of the acupuncture needles, "if you really want to see some creativity, I can be very, very creative. Quite specifically with your internal organs."
Doyle backtracked and pushed away as far as he could against the chains, "Ah, you're uh, not quite on the same track as me. Your uh methods of persuasion are not being questioned, not by a long shot, it's your planning I have little faith in. You see, due to your lack of imagination in this field, though you are able to set up these grand little situations, you never take the time to look at it from your opposition's point of view. You're just sitting here, assuming Angel's going to show up, give you the ring and let you stake him. It's never crosses your mind that he might make a few plans of his own, show up a little early, bring a few friends maybe, pull out some crazy magicks on you and then poof! Your plan goes up in smoke and you got no contingencies. Hell, if Angel were to break through that door right now you would have no …"
Doyle was interrupted by the huge bang that resonated through the building as the doors at both ends of the room burst open. Men in black uniforms swarmed in, each armed with a sleek handgun and nightvision goggles. Above them glass reigned down as men broke through the windows, several even dropped from the ceiling, scaling down ropes and landing among the masses.
"What the bloody hell? Who invited you?!"
The vampires, all two dozen of them, had no time to attack they were so well ambushed. As soon as each man entered the room he was firing off a dozen shots a minute, with extreme accuracy and always being careful not to hit a comrade. Vampire after vampire went down, every time in a flurry of electric light.
Spike growled, his unimaginative mind not understanding what was happening. He turned to Doyle for some explanation, but the half-demon had such a look of pure confusion on his face it was clear that he knew nothing. A soldier scaling down from the ceiling landed next to Spike, who immediately back-handed the man before he could fire a shot. But before Spike could move on to his next victim he was halted as a shot of pure energy seemed to strike him down. The electricity was lessened by the leather of Spike's duster, but not enough and after his body tensed from the sudden impact he found himself going limp and falling face first on the floor.
Doyle was confused, hurt, cold and scared and when he saw Spike fall bonelessly to the floor after a nice dose of high voltage pain, he fell over the edge. What started as a giggle soon mounted to a full scale laugh, it was deep and unnerving, as if bordering on insanity. The chuckles shook his body, overpowering the chills still coursing through him. Eventually the silent invaders had downed all the vampires and as they stood at attention, awaiting further orders the only sound in the great warehouse was Doyle's hysterical laughter.
When he finally regained control of himself he looked at Spike's prone form and felt very satisfied somehow.
"You know what that is 'ducks'?" Doyle mocked, despite the vampire's unconsciousness, "That's your own medicine. How's that taste? Oh, how goddam fantastic." Another giggle began at this comment but Doyle reigned himself in before he lost all control again.
He got his breathing under control and sobered as he finally realized the sharp pain each laugh had been causing his abused body. And as the laughter ended he noticed that he was suddenly very, very tired. Looking closely at the situation now he realized he was as bad off as he was before; chained up and cold. Only difference was now he had no idea who his captors were. But despite what many thought he was an optimistic fellow, and took this as a good sign.
Maybe these were friends of Angel's that owed him a favor, Doyle thought positively.
The soldiers finished checking out the vampires, making sure they were really out of it, and then the leader announced, "All clear!"
At this remark the click of high heels could be heard approaching and in the doorway appeared a woman, beautiful, with long brown hair and a formal business suit, clearly tailored just for her. She headed straight for Doyle, unflinching at the carnage around her. Her smile was extremely fake but Doyle returned it on instinct, though he was barely able to lift his head.
"Mr. Doyle, it's nice to meet you, I'm Ms. Morgan" the woman greeted him cheerfully. Two of the soldiers came up alongside her and began unchaining Doyle's hands. His smile remained, but faltered.
"Uh, good to meet you too and your very silent, deadly … scary friends," When his hands were free he fell, completely unable to support himself despite his best attempts. The two soldiers automatically pulled him up, supporting his entire weight, "Thanks, you saved my life probably. I got a friend you should meet, I don't know if you know what these guys were but …"
Lilah stopped him right there, "Mr. Doyle I think you misunderstand. My name is Lilah, I'm a lawyer with Wolfram and Hart." Doyle's face fell. "I see you've heard of us."
Doyle gulped, "Only good things. Mostly that you represent the scum of the Earth. Stop me if I'm getting warm."
Lilah shook her head as if disappointed, "I see you really have no idea whatsoever." She looked at her watch, "And I really don't have time to explain so …"
Even though he was in no shape to fight back, the two soldiers holding onto Doyle tightened their grip as a third man approached him, syringe in hand.
"Wait!" Doyle cried out and the men actually stopped, and even Lilah shot him a curious glance. "Before you do that, would one of you happen to have a cigarette, I'm dying here and I'd like to slowly kill a few of you too."
Lilah rolled her eyes and motioned for the men to ignore him. Doyle cringed and tried to pull away, but in the end the needle found its mark in his neck and the world around him faded to a dull black.
"Let's move out," the captain called and his men immediately formed single file lines and marched out of the building, silent as always. The two men carrying Doyle went last, being neither careful nor rough as they dragged the half-brachen demon through the warehouse and into the waiting van. Once in the back the soldiers took their seats, as if designated, and Doyle was seated on the floor, propped against the wall and cuffed in place.
Smiling and mentally telling herself it was a job well done, Lilah stepped over Spike's still motionless form and left a single calling card on the floor directly beneath the dangling manacles.
Wolfram & Hart Law Firm
TBC
Thanks for coming out everyone. This is getting exciting and poor Doyle seems to be having a horrible time. Isn't it wonderful? Please, I'd love to hear what you think and any suggestions you may have. The storyline isn't written in stone yet so if you have an idea let me know, I may use it.
To my wonderful reviewers thus far:
Greywolf Lupous – Hey, I haven't heard from you in awhile! (You reviewed my YJ fics way back when, I believe) Thanks for the review, glad you're enjoying the read. Thanks for putting me on the list. I was reading some other people you have on there, I like Goody too. Doyle and Oz are the best. I couldn't find any fics with them together so I had to make one myself. Isn't that always the way?
Random Insane Person – Great username first off. Aw, we like all the same characters. That's cool.
Arsenal13 – I'm with you on the Doyle love. He was a greatly underused character.
Templa Otmena – I understand the coursework. Yeah for the long weekend!!!! Poor Doyle indeed, I have not yet begun!
Reyvin – Another Doyle misser. Man, they made a big mistake killing him off. He never even got a guest appearance or anything afterwards, that really irks me.
Ivy – I love finding these people that love all three of these characters. Two years! Bummer, I couldn't take it. They're good seasons though, worth the wait. (season 5 was my fave)
Storm079 – hehehe, my little BamBam, I'd almost forgotten about that. I'll work it in somewhere. Promise.
Brat64 – You like Will on Alias? I'm all about the Vaughn love. Michael Vartan, take my breathe away! I liked that line too, didn't think it was that funny, but whatever floats your boat. Spike evil, yes. But we may see a touch of that goodness in a few chappies. The scotch line came naturally really, you can't write about Doyle without mentioning scotch. Your reviews are so awesome. Thanks so much for all the kind comments. It's great to know you appreciate all those small details.
Caytlyn88 – Mmmm, chicken soup. Oh, you're writing a Doyle fic too? I'll be sure to check that out.
IMzadi – I did use the Wolfram and Hart suggestion, but I took things a little differently. I did really think over your ideas though and thanks for them.
Tap Dancing Widow – I'm not sure if Oz's blood would affect Angel but I read a great fanfic once where Oz got bitten by a vamp and that vamp became like a werewolf vamp, I thought it was very well written so I go by that even though I doubt many have read it.
Sethoz – the Oz H/C is coming in a bit, working on Doyle right now. Sorry, no Linsey, I don't feel I know his character well enough to write.
Thanks for these great reviews. Please, keep them coming.