Chapter 4

Angel paced restlessly in the holding area, waiting anxiously for Buffy to enter. The demons watched him warily, worried about what he would do. His hands were clasped behind his back and he stalked the length of the room over and over again, pausing intermittently to listen for signs of her reappearance.

His mind went over the battle as he paced. She'd looked so angry, yet so defeated when she'd walked towards the gate. Her head was down but he could tell she was ashamed of herself and she was trying no to cry. It was a hard thing to kill an innocent, even if that innocent was not human. She knew the difference between a good demon and a bad demon, after all she accepted the difference between Angelus and Angel didn't she? So to kill a demon that was essentially an innocent, it must be killing her inside.

He heard a noise out in the corridor and his head jerked up. Was that Lilah's voice? Damned Wolfram and Hart bastards. If they do anything to her… he let the threat hang and listened to what he could from where he stood. He could hear someone yelling and he itched to jump the thick red line and get to Buffy but he knew it was impossible. What good would be to her if her were dust?

Buffy stared at the woman in front of her. The woman, Lilah, was smirking like she knew something Buffy didn't. The guards kept their weapons trained on Buffy so she figured this Lilah woman was known and not feared around here.

'I'm sorry,' Buffy said wryly, looking the woman over. 'I'm actually not giving autographs out right now… however if you talk to Jack, I'm sure he can work something out.'

The smirk slipped from Lilah's face and she stood a little taller. 'As I said, Miss Summers…' sugary sweetness dripped from the words and Buffy just stood there, unimpressed by this woman. She reminded Buffy of Cordelia. 'My name is Lilah Morgan and I work for Wolfram and Hart. You and I need to talk.'

Recognition hit Buffy and she sneered at Lilah. Angel mentioned his visit from Wolfram and Hart. 'Let's get this straight right now, Lilah. I'm not going any where with you or doing anything for you… ever. Go back to whatever hellhole you crawled out from and leave me and everyone I know alone.'

Buffy could see how angry Lilah was becoming. Obviously she didn't get told off like this a lot. Pity. A deep red flush spread up Lilah's neck and onto her cheeks.

'You don't seem to understand, Miss Summers,' she said quietly. 'You are coming with me and believe me, you'll want to hear what I have to say.' She looked over the guards. "Miss Summers is coming with me.'

To Buffy's amazement the men backed off and lowered their guns. She looked at the guard to her left and he growled at her. She stared at him in amusement. Did he actually think he frightened her? Angel's growls were scarier than that. Although Angel was more likely to purr when he was around her. 'Ooh, she strikes fear into men too. Wow Lilah. You seem to have it all. You're… somewhat okay looking, you've got a high powered job working for an evil law firm, one which would crush you like a bug if necessary and you're a bitch. I so don't envy you.'

Buffy couldn't help but invoke some of her old attitude left over from her days at Hemery High. If Lilah thought she intimidated her, she had another thing coming. Buffy had seen things a lot worse than an evil lawyer. Do I even need to say evil? Don't people just assume that, when you say "Lawyer"?

Lilah came forward and took Buffy by the arm. Next thing Buffy knew, they were standing in a nicely furnished office in what she assumed to be the building of Wolfram and Hart. The lawyer let go of her arm then walked around the huge desk in front of her and sat in the very real leather chair. 'Now, Miss Summers… can I call you Buffy? Right,' she said without waiting for an answer, not the Buffy was going to bestow her with one. 'Buffy it is then. Buffy, we at Wolfram and Hart are trying to-'

'I don't care,' Buffy cut in loudly. 'I don't care what you want, I don't care who you are. I don't even care what you do because I don't have to. This is Angel's town now. I take care of Sunnydale. So guess what… I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear anything come out of your mouth because your just wasting air and my time.'

Lilah sat extremely still for a few moments after Buffy's outburst, too shocked to move and Buffy stared straight at her. She just wanted to get back to Angel. She wanted him to tell her everything was going to be fine. Lilah stood up quickly, her face a mask of anger.

'Listen to me, you little-'

'Oh, shut up,' Buffy cut her off again. This was beyond annoying. 'I'm telling you now. I will not listen to anything you have to say. No deals, no bargains, no threats. Just take me back to Angel. NOW. Obviously you know who I am, Lilah.'

Lilah glared at her then all of a sudden her face changed and she look calm, as though they were simply people talking in a hallway and it confused the hell out of Buffy. She realised why when the door opened a moment later and a good looking man with shoulder length hair entered the room. He glanced appreciatively at Buffy then looked to Lilah.

'Lilah,' his voice had a pleasant Texan twang to it but Buffy wasn't the slightest bit interested in him, though from the looks he gave her he liked what he saw...

'Lindsay. Look, I'm a little busy right now. Maybe you could come back later. Maybe never,' the last bit was muttered under her breath but Buffy heard it clearly. She smiled slightly. Maybe she could use this Lindsay to her advantage.

'Lindsay, huh? I'm Buffy,' Buffy reached forward and shook hands with him. Lindsay's eyes widened and Lilah winced. Ooh, no one knew about this.

'Lilah, Lilah, Lilah. Just what are you up to?' Lindsay's eyes were full of amusement. Buffy smiled. Lilah was trying to cover the deer-caught-in-headlights look and it was pretty funny. Maybe Lindsay would send her back to where Angel was. Wait… isn't Lindsay a girls name?

'Go suck up to the Senior Partners, Lindsay. I don't need your bullshit right now. I have things to do that don't concern you.'

'Excuse me.' They both turned to look at Buffy, obviously they'd both forgotten she was even there. 'Can I go now?'

Lilah looked as though she wanted to say more but Lindsay's presence kept it from coming out. She gave her a look that said- This isn't over and Buffy sent her own- Wanna Bet? glare back at her. The last thing she saw as she was leaving the room was Lilah turning on Lindsay with a very angry face and Lindsay's smirk.

Lindsay knew very well what he'd interrupted.

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