Unexpected Savior

Part Two

By Marie Nomad

Wesley sighed as he watched Lilah walked out of the apartment after their usual runs. He couldn't believe that Lindsey and Kate are back and looking for Angel. He couldn't trust either one, especially Lindsey. He was with Wolfram and Hart. 'Oh, but you trusted Lilah.' The skeptical voice in his head commented.

He was about to close the door when Kate's foot stopped it. "Yes?" Wesley asked Kate who was glaring at him. "Have you found anything yet?"

"Yeah." Kate pushed the door back and she and Lindsey stepped in. "I know what you did."

"What I did?" Wesley asked as he reached for his gun.

"I wouldn't do it if I were you." Kate's eyes became cat like. "I've picked up a few tricks while on my journey." She grabbed Wesley by the throat and held him against the wall. "You know, holding a woman prisoner in your apartment is a felony. You would be going to jail for a very long time."

Wesley twitched and a sword came out from his sleeve. "I won't." He slashed at Kate and she dropped him.

"So, how did you know?" He asked, "And how did you do that, I thought you're human."

"I thought so too." Kate crossed her arms. "I was wrong. That's not important. You know what happened to Angel so spill or-"

"Or what, you will tell Fred and Gunn? They trust you far less than me."

"True, but not the police." Lindsey said as he got out a cell phone. "Just a quick 911 call to the police about a woman being held captive. They will toss you into a cell before you could blink. Not even you could get rid of her before they come and what can you tell them? That she was holding a vampire prisoner and you are getting information about that?"

Wesley dropped the sword. "She has information on Angel's whereabouts. I'm keeping her until she tells me."

"Does Lilah know?" Lindsey asked as he put away his cell phone.

"If she has, she's not telling. Justine, my… guest, is healthy and I feed her every day when she behaves." Wesley explained. "You cannot tell Fred or anyone else."

"Because, if we do, Conner will know and he will be pissed." Kate answered.

Wesley's jaw dropped. "So, you know Conner's role in this?"

"Not hard to figure out. Angry teenage guy with issues about his father after spending a lifetime of Hell with his father's archfoe, he has to have issues." Kate shrugged, "But, why didn't you tell Fred or Gunn about Conner?"

"Because as long as they don't know about Conner imprisoning Angel, Conner won't feel threatened and try to kill all of us. He is quite unstable and super strong."

"Oh sure, and so you are going to let your best friends be in the same house with a super strong, unstable teenage boy with issues." Kate muttered, "That is smart of you."

"It is the only way."

"There's more than one way to get information from a pair of accomplices." Kate said as she looked at Lindsey who nodded.

XXX

Gunn, Fred, and Conner came home from another mission. The dark man's arms ached as he put down his ax. "Remind me to eat before fighting one of those Fah You demons."

"That's Fwah Hoya." Conner corrected.

"That too." He paused when he saw Kate and Lindsey standing there. He tensed up. He couldn't trust those two, not even Kate. Lindsey was an evil lawyer who had a thing for Conner's mom while Kate was an obsessed cop. They both hate Angel with a passion and would do anything to hurt him. However, if Angel was with them, he would want to give Lindsey and Kate a second chance. "So, any luck?"

"We've been asking around. Nada." Kate replied as she waltzed up to Conner. "What about you?"

"We fought this demon who was supposed to have this powerful eye that could find anyone with a soul. We killed him and he didn't have one."

Lindsey looked down. "That's strange. Every Fwah Hoya has an all seeing eye. It's like every human being born with the ability to see. Are you sure you found it?"

"Hell yeah, Conner cracked open the skull himself and nothing."

Lindsey just nodded. "Oh. Well… there were cases when a Fwah Hoya would've been attacked before and someone would get it out surgically without killing the demon." He didn't tell them that a Fwah Hoya demon's all seeing eye was in the butt and not the skull.

"Yeah. Exactly." Conner fully agreed, "We probably just hit a Fwah Hoya demon who had his all seeing eye removed."

"I need a bath." Gunn announced and then looked at Fred with a wicked look in his eyes. "What about you?"

"Not in front of him." Fred whispered as she looked at the other three. "After we get cleaned up, maybe we can compare notes on Angel's whereabouts."

"Maybe later. We're tired ourselves." Lindsey said as he stretched. "I'm beat."

"Okay." Gunn and Fred ran off and left the three alone.

Kate's watch beeped and she looked. "Damn, I have to do my meditations. I'll see you later, Lindsey."

"Bye." Lindsey waved with his right hand and watched the blond walked off. The ex-lawyer and the teenager looked at each other. They studied each other carefully. Finally, Lindsey reached underneath the table and got out his trusty guitar case. "I'm going off to do some karaoke, wanna join me?"

"Karaoke?" Conner repeated dumbfounded. "You mean singing in front of everyone while looking like an idiot? No way."

"It will be fun. I know this great karaoke place on Westside Avenue. They serve the best cherry pie in California."

"That doesn't sound like fun to me."

Lindsey shrugged. "Okay, what is your idea for fun?"

Conner paused as he thought. "Well… I love bashing evil demons heads in, collecting their bones, and turn them into nice artwork."

"Oh." Lindsey used his lawyer training to not show disgust. "That's creative. How about we just go and get some of that cherry pie then? We can talk about demon slaying. I have a lot of experience in the paranormal."

"You mean when you were a lawyer? I know that Kate can kick ass but… what can you do?"

"Come with me and see." Lindsey dared, "I had handled demons twice my size before you were even born."

Conner paused and then glared at him. "That was last year."

"I know."

The teenager studied him again. Lindsey was odd, he was human and normal. There was something that made him trust him. At least, he trusts him more than the others. "All right. I never had cherry pie anyway."

"Let's go, kid."

XXX

Conner stared at the dark atmosphere. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. There were cow hides all over the place, violins playing, huge obnoxious looking men with cute girls.

"Lindsey!" Jody gushed as she came in dressed in her cute cowgirl outfit. She was a thirty year old who looked twenty-five. Her long curly hair flowed over her shoulders. She ran up and hugged Lindsey. "It has been too long. We've missed ya singing."

"Well, a lot happened to me but I'm back." Lindsey pushed the stunned Conner forward. "Jody, this is Conner, he's a friend of mine. Conner, this is Jody. Jody, this poor boy has never done karaoke before or eaten cherry pie before."

"What! Oh, that is not right. Come on, we'll get you in front of the line behind Lindsey. Don't you worry, sonny. Mama will take good care of you guys." Jody pulled the two forward.

"Huh?" Conner was too stunned to resist the young woman.

XXX

"Over at the capo, copaca-ca bana. The hottest place in Ha-vana." Conner sang very off key. Lindsey watched sympathetically. The poor kid probably never heard real music in his life except on TV. Conner was doing his best and Lindsey saw some of the rougher people start booing him. The ex-lawyer waved his hand and chanted a quick spell.

The karaoke equipment went dead and Conner sighed in relief. At once, the crowd cheered and Lindsey helped Conner off of the stage.

"That… was the scariest thing in my life and yet… I enjoyed it." Conner said astounded as he sat down at the table.

"That's the way it is." Lindsey replied, "You just need to get familiar with the song and you'll do better. By the way, why did you choose that song?"

"It don't know. It just sounded right."

"Barry Manilow, of course." Lindsey chuckled. Conner looked at him and the ex-lawyer just waved his hand. "Never mind. Feel free to order anything you want, it's on me." He handed the teenager a menu.

Conner stared at the menu blankly. "Uhhh… I don't know."

"Let me." Lindsey held up his hand and Jody came up. "Jody, I would like those chicken wings, two orders with the sauces, two cherry pies, and a couple of root beers."

"Okay." Jody ran off as she went to the next table.

"You will love the cherry pie."

"So you told me." Conner said as he tapped on the table and looked around. "So, is everyone here human?"

"Pretty much. But, we can talk about anything here. No one listens."

Conner just stared at the table.

"Right. Well, I knew your parents well, especially your mother, Darla."

Slowly, Conner gazed at Lindsey. "You knew my mother? She's a monster!"

"I know. But, for a while, Darla was just as human as you and me. Wolfram and Hart brought her back to life completely as a human after she died in Sunnydale by a vampire slayer."

"Wait, you can turn a vampire into a human?"

"No, it revives vampires into being humans. It's a long and complicated ritual that took up a good part of Wolfram and Hart's sources." Lindsey explained, "Anyway, I… I was in love with your mother until she left me. Before that, she let herself be turned back into a vampire since she was dying from syphilis. Even after she became a soulless monster, I thought we could have something. I was wrong. After she slept with Angel, she ran off leaving me and my broken heart behind."

"You were in love with a soulless vampire? That's sick."

"That's love." Lindsey sighed. "I admit it was not something you want a stranger to talk about but I really did love your mother. From now on, I am sticking to people who I can have a healthy connection with."

"Humans?"

"Yes."

"Here's your order." Jody interrupted as she put down the trays of food.

"Thanks." Lindsey got out a credit card and gave it to her. Conner stared at his food and then took a bite of cherry pie. His eyes widened as he started to dig into the desert. "I take it you like it?"

The teenager nodded. "This… pie is the best I ever had."

"Thought so." Lindsey nodded. "Everyone loves the cherry pie."

XXX

"And so, there we were surrounded Bruchi demons and I said, 'What, no hats?' then I mowed them down with my sword." Conner recalled, "Dad was so proud of me."

"Bruchi demons? I thought they're allergic to the Earth atmosphere."

"I was talking about- never mind." Conner looked away.

"You were talking about Holtz. That's okay. He raised you since you were an infant. It's natural for you to think like that." Lindsey patted him on the shoulder.

Conner stared at Lindsey. Did Lindsey actually approve of Holtz? The others hated him and thought Holtz had abused him but he knew better. "Really?"

"Yeah. At least, Holtz is more human than Angel; he has a pulse and all. Angel chopped off my hand once."

"Angel did?" Conner asked and then looked at Lindsey's hands. "But, you have two hands."

"Wolfram and Hart gave me another man's hand." Lindsey explained as he removed his watch and showed the faint circular scar. "For several months before that, I had to use a plastic hand. I couldn't play my guitar. It was horrible. Angel just did it without a second thought. I hated him for it."

"Looks like you and Angel had some history." Conner giggled. He never met anyone who admitted to hating his demon of a father. Gunn and Fred seemed to worship Angel as well as past clients. It took all he could to keep the rage burning in his heart. To meet someone who's human and hates Angel was refreshing.

"Oh yeah. He and I are arch nemesis."

XXX

"Done a whole lot of living for a little of nothing. Hell I've sinned enough to be the Devil's first cousin." The two sang as Lindsey played the guitar and Conner held the microphone. Lindsey carefully sang the right notes with Conner trying to match him.

XXX

The two sighed as they sat at the empty table. The dishes were cleared away even though Conner was still looking at the menu. He was always looking to eat more. "Say, Lindsey, did Wolfram and Hart ever torture Angel?"

"There was that time when Darla got into his dreams and seduced him slowly over a period of months making him… crazy. There were plans for him to be broken, to lose hope. But, we never got to capture him because the Senior Partners didn't want him captured but coerced into joining us. Personally, I have a few torture ideas."

"Oh… let's just say that… hypothetically, we got Angel helpless right now, what would you do?"

Lindsey recognized the word. It was the word he often used to let loose information but off the record so his clients wouldn't get hurt. "Hypothetically, I was thinking crucifixion on a holy cross doused with holy water. Or I could have flogged him repeatedly but that wouldn't work. Or cut his hand off, you know, eye for an eye. Makes me wonder if vampires could regain limbs. Maybe, just keep him in a nice dark cave and have him as my personal pet."

"That… is so cool." Conner grinned. "But do you know what the ultimate punishment for him is? Keeping him in a coffin in the bottom of the ocean, no blood, no contact with living people, an eternity of hell and no one knows."

Lindsey's jaw dropped. "A coffin, that is brilliant. Vampires really don't sleep in coffins but they hate the stereotype. Of course, getting him in there would have been a challenge."

"Unless, he couldn't fight you or you take him by surprise with a tazer. He would be knocked out cold and I will tie him up and wait until he wakes up so he knows that I did it. Then, I would slowly wield him in as he cry out lies about how he loved me and yet seem so scared. After making sure the box is airtight, me and Justine would drive the boat off the coast where no one dives and push it off the boat and watch it sink. We left a little window for him." He paused and added, "Of course, that's all hypothetical."

"Hypothetical." Lindsey repeated as he raised his glass. Conner clinked his glass against his. "You have a very creative mind. I would kill to see Angel all helpless like that."

"Who knows. Maybe, someday, I can show you." Conner grinned wickedly.

To Be Continued…