RATING: STRONG R (Child abuse/torture/molestation mentioned vaguely, but not described in detail.) If it's not your cup of tea, please don't read this.

Summary: Lindsey regains memories his wishes stayed hidden.

Author's Note: Yes, everyone. The time has come. This is the last chapter of "This Year." Thank you for all of your encouragement. I truly appreciate it. It's helped me to become a better writer and I thank you with all my heart for that. But don't be too sad, I'm working on another story as we speak. It's Untitled for now, but I know it's going to be a good one, hopefully. Look for that one in upcoming weeks.

I switched POVs—Instead of first person POV, its third person POV. –Any hoo, Lindsey McDonald, on the show, looks young…about twenty five or something. So, if I continue on the basis that it's about nine years later, Lindsey is, during this time, thirty four years old. So I was thinking…What if?—you'll see what I mean. (See if you can guess who the crazy homeless guy is.)

"This Year" Chapter 12: September (Lindsey's POV)

Prologue

The twelve year old boy's bare feet pounded on the pavement. His breath came out in large puffing gasps in front of him, the cold and dampness soaking into his body. Turning into a dark alley, desperately searching for a place to hide. A place where they couldn't find him.

Looking behind himself, he didn't notice the empty wooden box in his path. The edge of the wood banged hard against his knee, knocking him down. His heart pounded in his chest, they were coming.

He crawled behind a couple of the metal garbage cans that littered the alley. They ran into the alley, the light coming from the restaurant sign was hidden by the man standing in front of the cans.

The boy stopped breathing. Please, please don't find me. He begged in his mind. Please, don't let them hurt me anymore. Touching his neck, wet blood still dripping from his fingers. He couldn't tell if it was from his neck or from his torn hands. He assumed it was from his neck. Clamping both hands against the wound, pressing against the cloth ripped from his white undershirt, he tried to stop it from bleeding. Not knowing why he bothered, it would only start up again once they bit him again.

He heard them talking, the men—no, the vampires—they were trying to sniff him out. He laughed in silence; it wouldn't take long for them to find him. If the scent of blood didn't lead them right to him, then the stink of fear would do it.

Crash

Bang

The thud of bodies hitting the brick walls disrupted the nightly silence. The boy took his life into his hands, as he poked his head out behind the cans. A man, a dirty, homeless man, who wore brown rags, with one hand, staked two vampires in rapid succession. His voice, harsh, spoke with such hatred, "This is my alley! They're my rats! Mine! Not yours, you can't have them!"

The boy was shaking with fear, the homeless man was crazy! Most likely worse than the vampires who had been feeding off of him and using him as a slave for two years. He crawled away before the crazy guy found him. Quiet as a mouse, the boy left the alley, repressing the horrors he had witnessed. Repressing all that he'd gone through.

His bare feet started to bleed against the concrete as he walked, but he never felt it. It hurt, but he never let the pain stop him. As he ran, his life flashed before his eyes: his parents, his drunk father, his mother prostituting herself to pay for drugs, his brothers and sisters, crying for food, for warmth, for love. He'd survived it all for ten years, until his father sold him to the vampires. Tears slipped down his face unnoticed by the mass of people who walked past him, not caring about a homeless boy, not wanting to interrupt their pleasant evening.

Once upon a time, he wished that one day, someone would rescue him from his parents, Superman or Spiderman would leap down from above, grab him and carry him away. To a happy family…to a perfect family. His dream was perverted as the vampires who owned him hurt him even more than his father had. The male vampires just fed off of him and used him as a pack horse, buying them things during the daylight that they couldn't. But it was the female vampire, Lexa, that hurt him in other ways. Vampires were feral creatures who loved to be pleasured like animals. The male vampires used Lexa, but Lexa, she never had enough. Once they were through with their orgy, the boy proved to be her desert.

Shame flushed through the boys cheeks; he angrily brushed the tears away. He wasn't going to let them hurt him anymore. Clenching his fists, he swore that he'd kill the vampires.

Crash, Bang.

"Ooof…" the boy fell hard against the pavement. The woman he ran into also fell on the ground besides him. She ran a hand through her hair and her dark suit as she pulled herself off the ground. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" She asked, holding out a hand to pull the boy up.

There was no answer, so she looked closer at the bleeding and almost naked child. She became gentle, "My name is Marie Manners. What's yours?"

He just stood there, the tremors shaking his small body. She held out a manicured hand, bending to take the boy's hand. His hand shook, but he grasped the warm hand. Before standing, the woman picked up her dropped briefcase. She walked, hand in hand with the boy towards her office building to make a couple of calls.

As they walked, the lights coming from the streetlight made the gold name plate on the briefcase practically glow.

Wolfram and Hart, it read.

Present Day

Lindsey McDonald, once Wolfram and Hart's rising star, now an outcast, ran into the dark alley he hadn't seen in twenty two years. Touching the bricks that once held him captive, he bent down to find the bricks that as a child, he had once pulled loose with his own hands. Willpower was the only thing that had given him the strength to do so, so weak from blood loss.

He was weak now too, the concussion making him see and remember things he didn't want to. He pulled more of the bricks out forcefully, trying to stop from remembering the horrors Lilah's words brought back. "Lexa sends her love…", she whispered in his ear the night she sent the goons at Wolfram and Hart to the Hyperion hotel. No one would ever forget that night—especially Wesley and Fred. Fred almost lost her life that night and the ability to carry her unborn baby, it was a miracle she didn't loose the baby she carried that night; Cordelia choosing to surrogate for them.

Lexa, just her name, sent fear straight to his heart. She—she was the one who had first stole his innocence, and then invited the males to join in on "the fun." He still had scars, on the inside that no one could ever see. He had assumed that she had died. He never, ever considered her to be still alive…going back in his memory, she never chased him that night, sending the lackeys to do it for her. She didn't die. She wasn't staked. Lindsey couldn't believe that he'd blocked it all from his mind.

Lilah, that bitch, how'd she find out? The only one who knew anything was Holland Manners, and he was dead. It was common knowledge that he was poor and lived in lots of foster homes, but no one knew that Holland Manners wife found him almost dead on the streets They were both very kind to him as a child, promising to find a more suitable home for him. Funny how the people who took him in were two faced. On the outside, they were perfect, on the inside, they were sick bastards who loved to hurt him. Every home was worse than the other. The worst was when he was fifteen; his foster father almost killed him one night, putting a knife inside of him after he had pulled out, spent. Blood poured out so fast, he thought he would die. The hospital didn't care, yeah, the doctors could see how someone could fall on a knife that way in the kitchen.

Finally, he ran away from the entire system once he had healed enough to walk. The only thing that had kept Lindsey McDonald alive for those years was his determination, his drive to become the best lawyer in the world. Once he had the power, he'd be able to fit the system that let him down numerous times.

Once he'd graduated law school, Wolfram and Hart practically threw down a red carpet for him. It was like they had been waiting for him to join the company. Holland Manners, was head of the Special Project Division. That was the position he aimed for. He wanted to be able to make a difference.

Wolfram and Hart had seemed like a necessary evil to him. It wasn't like they killed people all the time, just those who stopped them from achieving their goals.

Amazingly, it didn't take long to be transferred to Holland's division, where he met Lilah Morgan. The woman was almost pure evil. He'd heard stories about her mentally ill mother, that she suffered from memory loss…but couldn't believe that Lilah wasn't hatched.

He had become disillusioned; when was he going to rid the world of vampires? He often spoke with Holland about it, until one day, Holland let him in on one of his personal special projects. Angel, the vampire with a soul, the prophecy that he would be the main figure in the upcoming apocalypse, no one knowing if it was on the side of good or evil. He was a vampire; so he was going to guess Evil. He had been living on the hellmouth, but was constantly watched.

Three years later, while Lindsey was batting heads with Lilah to make Junior Partner, and meeting with Russel Winters, a prominent client, Angel came bursting in and truly made his client "see the light." From that moment, he had battled to ruin Angel's life.

Never once believing that he would be back where he started…with nothing. No name, no home, no money, no law degree, and living only on the mercy shown by Angel, his family, and his friends. And cursed by a prophecy that he had never known about. He shook his head at it, how was the prophecy supposed to come true when Connor Angel, Angel's son, no longer trusted him. Sure, they still fought together, but Connor no longer held him in confidence as he used to.

He'd lost so much, funny how it no longer mattered to him. Anne, the beautiful, caring woman who ran a teen shelter changed it all for him. In her, he found love. Her adopted son, Ryan, was an added bonus. The little boy was a ball of sunshine, no matter how you felt, he'd warm your heart and soul the moment you saw him.

Lindsey was so taken with the woman, that he'd volunteered himself to fix her roof. She never complained that he was taking too long…she knew that he was moving slowly on purpose, so that they could spend more time together. He was falling in love with both of them. Anne had just asked him to move in with her and Ryan, when Ryan and four other children had been kidnapped.

The moment he saw her—Lexa—He froze, unable to move, to speak, anything. Dressed in a suit, along with more dressed up goons, she had convinced one of the children to invite her in to the shelter. Once in, she grabbed the small girl who had let her in. Their true faces revealed as the four goons each grabbed a child, one of them Ryan. Screams, panic, terror filled the small shelter.

He finally reacted. Pulling out a stake, he rushed towards the vampire who grabbed Ryan. The vampire threw Ryan aside, the boy's head hitting the edge of the end table, knocking him unconscious, as he growled at Lindsey. Giving him a toothy smile, the vampire jumped, quickly sweeping him off the ground. Lindsey hit the ground hard, but pulled himself up before the vampire could kick him. Grabbing the end of the table, he threw the entire table against the vampires face.

Not noticing the activity behind him, Lindsey was caught unaware as Lexa butted his head through the glass window.

Everything faded to black.

Hours later, the doctors released him from the hospital against medical advice. Cordelia Chase-Angel, Angel's wife, had pulled her weight in getting him released, as he begged for her to.

The concussion made everything very confusing. He remembered entering the Hyperion, he remembered seeing soldiers in the hotel…remembered his trek from the hotel to the alley he'd hid in as a child, but time seemed to go slow for him.

Finally, the last piece of brick fell to the ground. Lindsey had space to crawl through to the inside of the warehouse. Looking around, everything seemed small than what he remembered. He saw the wall he'd been leashed to. The metal cans he had rested his head against and the pile of oily cloths that had served as a bed.

He walked around; the past memories collided with the present, until he no longer knew where or WHEN he was.

"Yo, Lindsey. What the hell are you doing here?" Gunn's voice rang out, echoing through the warehouse. Gunn stood in front of him, arms crossed over his chest. One of the soldiers held a gun on him, yelling at him to freeze. Gunn glared at the man, then shouted at Lindsey to duck.

Instinctively, he reacted, pulling his head down before the female soldier bashed his skull in with the end of her weapon. "Riley! Sam! Stop!" Gunn yelled, "He's on our side!"

Gunn rushed over to Lindsey's side, keeping him from collapsing. He pushed the hair out of Lindsey's face, to look into his eyes. "What are you doing here, man? You should be in the hospital."

Blinking back, Lindsey whispered, "I know where the kids are. They're here! I know they are."

Agent Sam Finn, first apologized, then whispered back, "No…There's no one in the building. We already checked it."

"No, the vampire's nest is below the building. There's a sewer access behind the stairwell. It's hidden, to keep people from falling. They live in the sewer. They have a kennel area where they keep the kids during the day while they sleep." They all looked incredulous, but for the sake of five children, were willing to put aside their disbelief.

Riley Finn took point as he led them towards the stairwell. Gunn came up from behind him to pull at the hidden lever that opened the sewer access. It opened with a whoosh.

They went down the stairs quietly, completely on alert and ready for battle. It was dark, smelly, damp, and dirty. No human could live like that. The cavernous sewers seemed to go on forever. Lindsey, who seemed subdued and almost upset to the others, stepped forward, ahead of Riley. Riley tried to pull him back, but Lindsey pulled out of his grip, not willing to be held back.

Suddenly, Lindsey stopped, looked around, then without waiting for the others, ran towards tunnel that the vampires nest was located. The others ran after him. No longer was it quiet. Thundering footsteps alerting the vampires that their hideout was discovered and about to be invaded.

The vampires attacked at first sight without hesitation. Gunfire raged like a thundering volcano. Gunn, Riley, and Sam fought the vampires, staking them quickly. Gunn's ax slashed through the air, taking off heads, and leaving behind dust particles. At first, the vampires laughed at the guns pointed at them, didn't the stupid humans know only wood killed a vampire? The laughing soon turned to cutoff screams as they burst into dust as wooden bullets ripped them apart.

Meanwhile, Lindsey, in a trance-like state, walked over towards the back of the tunnel where he knew the kennels were kept. The sounds of the children crying jarred him from the trance as he sprang into a run.

It was a sight that would be permanently burned into Lindsey McDonald's mind. Two children, already dead, were just thrown in the corner of the kennel with the remaining three children. Ryan held the small little girl, her name was Sara, he remembered, in his bruised arms. The little girl stared blankly, the shock evident in her small face. The other little boy, Christopher, sat in his own urine, rocking back and forth crying.

Lindsey stood for a moment in staring in horror. Then he shook his head free of the memories, moving towards the lock on the kennel. The children didn't even know that he was there, just stared in shock.

The lock was quickly picked open. Lindsey pulled Christopher up in his arms. It was only then did Ryan notice him. Giving them all a gentle smile that he didn't feel, he took Ryan's hand and pulled him up off of the ground. Sara was pulled up as well, still in Ryan's arms. "It's alright. I'm here to save you," he whispered gently.

Lindsey took the children through the same tunnels he himself had escaped through, took them past the battle the others were waging on the vampires, and towards the hole he had created from pulling the bricks. He lifted Sara through first, then Ryan. Christopher was lifted next as the other children quickly crawled through.

It was still dark outside, but the scent of freedom, of fresh air had left them feeling a little better. Lindsey crawled in through after them. The children stood in the alley, waiting for their savior to come out after them.

"Ahh." Lindsey screamed. Someone had grabbed him. Hearing the children scream in response, he yelled at them to run.

Kicking at the arm that had grabbed his leg, he pulled himself through the hold faster than he thought possible. The arm still tried to grab him. He'd heard it come after him. "Bring back those kids!" The female voice rang out in the night air harshly.

Lindsey froze, it was that voice, the same voice that commanded him to move harder, faster, and slower. That hit him and sucked off of him, mostly blood. "Lexa," he whispered, fear evident in his voice.

In the dark alley, her vampire visage seemed to glow. Her teeth even larger than he remembered. She turned her head, looking more closely at Lindsey. "I know you, boy. Ahh. You were one of my best. Definitely the one I kept the longest. I always wondered about you." With an evil smile, she spoke, "You know, I never thanked Holland Manners for introducing me to your parents. The Wolf, Ram, and Hart were always so good to me, but, honestly, you were the best slave they ever sold me. Too bad he died. A shame. The ones sold to us now are worthless. Two of them didn't even survive the first bite. Well, at least, I have you to make up for letting the others escape. Do you still remember us all together? You could've gone on forever, we would've, except all the screaming got old."

Crawling away from her, there seemed to be no escape. The memories flooded uncontrollably. Screaming for help, he fought as she grabbed him, straddling her hips against his. Vampire strength kept him in place as she took his mouth in hers. Lexa forced her tongue into his mouth as she rubbed against him.

She wasn't letting him draw breath, clouds filling up his vision, as he fought her, desperate to breathe.

The weight was removed as Lexa roared at Angel. Taking in gasping breaths, he watched as Angel moved fluidly, blocking her attacks and launching into his own offensive. They seemed to fight for ages as the garbage cans were picked up and thrown at the other. Lexa had kicked Angel against the brick wall. She tried to flee the alley, but was no match for Angel's flying stake—remembering when Connor had excited shown him the weapon he had learned to make in Quar'toth. Lexa burst, the only thing remaining was her dust.

Lindsey sagged against the wall. Angel had run over to check on him, concerned for the safety of the newest member of his team. Angel shouted for Cordy, who had gathered the kidnapped children against her chest as she came over. Kneeling besides him, Cordy checked his pulse and looked into his, now, unconscious eyes.

Angel picked him up gently, placing him over his shoulder as he walked with Cordy and the children back to his car. Gunn, Sam, and Riley waiting in the truck besides the car.

Angel looked back at the alley, he shook his head at the bad memories. Cordy, noticing his expression, asked, "Angel, what's wrong?"

Lovingly, he smiled at his wife, "Nothing. Just a memory."

"Of what?" She asked.

Angel rolled his eyes, his wife was stubborn, she wouldn't let it go until she knew. "Before I met Whistler…I used to live in this alley. I used to sit in that corner," he pointed, "and wait for the rats to come for the food in the garbage cans. I used to fight for this alley. Vampires kept trying to eat my rats. It was annoying, so I kicked their asses.—That's all."

Cordy shook her head at him, "Yeah, right, Angel. That's all." She kept her voice light and airy. Like she didn't have a concern in the world. The children liked that as they hid their heads on her chest.

They rode in the car in silence, Angel driving towards the local hospital and occasionally checking the unconscious passenger. The rear view mirror had its use as Angel watched his wife whisper sweet nothings at the traumatized children who held her like a lifeline.

Epilogue (Two Months Later)

Harrison and Connor grunted as the lifted up the heavy boxes into Anne and, now, Lindsey's bedroom. The boys complained endlessly that it wasn't fair…they had just moved Lindsey and Anne into the Hyperion and now the McDonald's had to move them back to the teen shelter…during the day no less.

"Wish they would just make up their minds." Connor grumbled as he lifted up a desk chair. Harrison nodded in agreement.

"Oh…and don't ya just love how they just up and got married, without us. 'Yeah…we're just going on a mini-vacation, you know, spend some time together in Las Vegas.' Yeah, right. And then come back married. Well, at least, Ryan's on top of the world right now. The kid's been so depressed, after what happened and now, he's got his dream come true: a real mom and dad." Harrison explained. "He's bouncing up and down. Look at him."

He was indeed jumping up and down, hugging Lindsey's legs as they laughed together.

Connor plopped on the couch they had just moved to the center of the room. "I'm so glad that Lindsey is doing better. God, I can't believe that he lived through that. Wolfram and Hart bartered the deal that sold him to that vampire. They bartered all of the deals. He never knew, even when he worked for them…at least, he wasn't a part of that. We can be glad about that, 'cause I think that my dad would've killed him for sure."

Harrison sat on the arm of the couch next to Connor, "Your dad would've put him out of his misery for sure. Never mind what Cordy would've done. Your mom can kick some serious ass when she's pissed off. Funny, because you'd never guess that of her when she's being…I don't know 'mom-like.' I was seriously thinking she was going to adopt Christopher and Sara. She didn't want to let them go. Luckily, Anne found that great family to take them both. Even Cordy didn't complain after she saw that they'd be happy with that family."

"I don't know…maybe its hormones. That's what mom keeps saying, especially after she does something weird. Boy, Harrison, let me tell you, I can't wait for Fred's babies to be born. Then we'll have THREE screaming infants waking us up in the middle of the day." Connor rubbed a hand against his face, his sarcasm was dry and sounded bored.

Lindsey had picked Ryan up off of the ground and was spinning him around like an airplane making the whooshy noises.

"Yeah…Baby Kara (Faith's baby girl) sure isn't like Nicky. Nicky's so quiet. Kara, definitely isn't. How do Faith and Robin ever get any sleep?"

"Oh, yeah, Harrison. Like they ever slept to begin with. My mom says they have a 'healthy marriage.' I just hope they don't have another baby so soon, the way they're going at it." Connor picked at the brown couch, throwing his head back against the cushions.

"Harrison! Connor! Who told you that you could take a break? Move it. We've got boxes to unpack." Cordy's voice resounded through the new upstairs apartment that was reconstructed on to the teen shelter. The boys groaned as they stood up, picking up the couch to move it where Anne directed them.

Angel, Wesley, Spike, Gunn, and Robin were in the bedrooms painting and hammering in shelves. Cordy and Anne were the "supervisors" as Lindsey titled them. "Pregnant women are NOT allowed to move a finger." He said this as he kissed his new bride on the lips. She smiled at him as he leaned over to kiss her belly.

Harrison huffed at him, mockingly, "Pregnant women aren't allowed to move a finger...Yeah, I don't see you moving a finger, Lindsey." That earned him a smack in the head by Cordy, who had ears like a hawk. Fred giggled at that, but put a hand against her waist, the other hand pointed towards the back wall.

"Fred," Cordy turned towards her, "Are you hungry? 'Cause I'm craving a pineapple pizza, right now."

"Oh…my god. That sounds wonderful. You know what else; we could put tuna on top. Oh…and tacos, I need tacos." Fred babbled. "Wesley," she yelled, "Could you please get us food? The babies are hungry."

Wesley came over, half of him was covered in paint. "Um, Fred. Do you need it right now? Because you just ate a half hour ago and I'm covered in paint."

Fred was outraged, "Wesley, Cordy and I are pregnant. That means, when we want food now, we want food now. I mean, look at Angel. He's always in the kitchen making us yummy food. What are you doing? Oh…yeah, researching."

The argument raged on until Wesley, covered in purple paint, left to buy her the fourth lunch of the day, complaining that she ate too much, but secretly loving the fact that his wife was pregnant with their miracle child. And the doctor's were so sure that she'd never have a baby again. What those doctors didn't know was that when you have a witch in the family, the word "never" becomes non-existent.

Connor laughed under his breath at Wesley. Poor guy thought that his mom was moody, but Fred was blowing mom out of the water. He never thought that he'd have one child, never-the-less two of them within three months. (Cordy's is the surrogate of Fred and Wesley's baby…and now Fred's pregnant too, three months later.)

Of course, Angel and Spike had to have one of their legendary arguments that ended up with a broken window.

All in all, things were back to normal at Angel Investigations. It just got a lot bigger.

THE END

How'd you like it???

Okay, I lied. It's not the end. I've already written a new story, I call it: "Extreme Makeover: Angel Edition." (Chapter One: Now Posted.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Angel: the series, Tru Calling, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. SO WISH I DID!!!! Then I wouldn't have to go crazy writing, I could just tell people what I wanted and they'd do it for me.