19: Regaining trust
The comforting buzzing was gone. She was gone.
Lindsey jerked awake. His head snapped up as he searched the room. She wasn't there. She must have left quietly. She'd left the blanket on the ground, and the lighter lay on top of it, but she had gone. If someone had come and taken her she'd have made a noise, so she must have left of her own free will. The lighter was probably her way of saying she didn't want anything from him.
He pushed himself up to his feet. He found his shoes and put them back on. He grabbed his jacket and buttoned up his shirt. He was going to find her. Maybe she considered herself a big girl, but bad things tended to happen to lone girls in this town. Opportunistic men like him happened to lone girls in this town.
He had no choice but to find her. Her not trusting him didn't change what he was supposed to do.
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She wasn't liking the car ride. Someone had had handcuffs with them, and lying on your back with your hands around your back isn't fun.
It had just been getting light when she was caught. They had some kind of sniffer creature with them. Ugliest damn dog she'd ever seen, but it managed to lead them to her. One of the people they'd sent after her wasn't really human, though he'd looked it. Every time she'd turned around to try and evade them, it had seemed to be just around the next corner.
It had been a mistake to try and fight her way out. One hit from the human-creature had been enough to tell her that. Even though she'd been outnumbered she couldn't help lashing out. The thing had lashed back. She'd been knocked into a brick wall with the force of the blow, dazing her and effectively taking most of the fight out of her.
Her cheek ached, but not as much as it had at first. She seemed to be healing a little faster nowadays, though nowhere near vampire-fast, and it was probably thanks to waking up the Life energy. Though good to know, she was more preoccupied with worrying about what was going to happen to her.
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Lindsey hadn't openly turned against the firm. He had witnesses that said he'd left the building to go home the night before. The power had been out at the time of the rescue, so no cameras, and the guard from Erica's room had unwittingly revealed that the girl had gotten out of her room by herself. The other guard had only had enough time to see Erica's feet flying toward his face before he was knocked out. Lindsey was in the clear.
As far as Holland Manners was concerned, Lindsey had been uninvolved and was still one of them. True, it had been his project that had escaped, so if the girl wasn't recovered then Lindsey would be in trouble with the senior partners. However, if the girl was recovered then Lindsey was still the best person to learn from her. And it was partially Lindsey's responsibility to try and get her back, so a few messages were left on his home answering machine.
That was how Lindsey learned where she'd been taken. He'd made a quick stop to destroy the research so that it couldn't be used against him or Erica, and in doing so the task of tracking her down was made easier. The second message was notification of her capture. He made a quick phone call of his own, then grabbed a clean shirt and raced off.
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"Oof," Erica gasped as the wind was knocked out of her.
They'd taken the cuffs off her and were trying to force her into another room, but Erica wasn't being cooperative. There were only humans left with her now. The human-like creature had taken his pay and his dog thing with him once Erica had been caught. Unfortunately for Erica they'd left the guard that didn't like her much with her. It was the same one that had pushed her around on the first night, and the same one that she'd knocked out the night before. He had a bandage on his head, and he looked annoyed with her.
The three others with him appeared to be on his side. Maybe they were union or something, and against being hit by the prisoners or whatever. Erica really didn't care. They were deliberately being rough with her, and despite not liking the firm, Erica hoped that the guards were doing it against orders. She didn't like to think that the firm had dropped the façade of just wanting information from her, because it meant that she could get used to rough treatment until they got what they wanted from her.
She rolled over and picked herself up off the floor where she'd been pushed. They were in a different building; it was like a big warehouse. There were locks on the outer doors, and she could just vaguely smell old blood. Perhaps the firm used the building for some of its more nefarious activities. She'd seen a huge bolt on the door in front of her and had baulked at being forced inside. They took her cuffs off and tried to push her in, but she'd twisted out of the way, and that was when the big, bandaged, bald one had pushed her roughly. She'd tripped and fallen to the floor.
They were out of uniform, and in civilian clothes. The other three all had short hair, and were standing around in a semicircle to try and hem her in toward the door. Unsurprisingly, they were all bigger than her. Unfair fight. There was a blonde, a redhead and a brunette. Her 'friend' the bald man grabbed her by the hair near the scalp and she grabbed his hand with both of hers. She remembered this move from her old self-defence classes.
She quickly found the thumb which told her which hand had grabbed her - the right. She twisted away from the thumb with her hands still holding his to smack her bent arm into his elbow. It hurt the guy, but she wasn't quick enough or using enough strength to break it.
The rest of the move would have involved her spinning the other way around, while still holding the hand or the wrist, to end up on the inside of his injured arm. In that position he couldn't do much with his other arm except grab her, but she was in a position to hit him or use anything from a wrist-lock to a leg-sweep move on him. It would have all depended on what she could remember and what instinct took over, but it didn't matter because two of the other guys grabbed her arms and pulled her back away from the guy.
She did a lot of kicking, but it wasn't enough to stop them pulling her up and throwing her in the room and bolting it behind her. Unfair fight.
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"Holland, what are we doing here?" Lindsey asked. He'd arrived outside of the warehouse just as a limo pulled up, carrying Lilah Morgan and Holland Manners. It was getting close to darkness, but Holland hadn't said that Erica would be there until then. Lindsey didn't want to seem too eager to see the girl if there was a chance that she wouldn't be there if he went early.
"I hired a shaman for an extraction spell." Holland answered. "Lilah did a little research of her own, and it turns out that the girl, this 'vessel' has quite a lot of power tucked away. You were right; we will be able to use her. Anyway, the shaman wouldn't do the spell in the building; too many conflicting energies and spells or something. He needed the darkness to do his spell."
"Where is he?" Lindsey asked.
"Inside," Holland answered.
"What about the girl?" Lindsey asked.
"She's inside too," Holland replied, his eyes flicking to the door, "locked up in a temporary holding room."
"She's been given a couple of hours to cool off." Lilah added.
"She put up a fight again?" Lindsey asked, trying to keep the concerned interest out of his voice.
"Just a little superficial damage; both to her and to one of the men who caught her." Holland answered. "Nothing that would interfere with the spell, or so I've been assured. Shall we?" He gestured toward the doors, so Lilah and Lindsey entered the warehouse.
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Some stupid girl. They were here because of some stupid, crazy-ass girl. A girl that apparently knew their names. A girl who had delusions and thought that people were dead when they really weren't. A girl who had thought that for some reason Angel would know who she was.
Lindsey would probably have been a dead man if he'd come to them on his own. Well, maybe Angel was too principled to kill a human, but Gunn, personally, would have kicked his ass if it had been one of his friends that had almost died because of him.
There was the fact that the girl had seemed to be an innocent, and Lindsey had been raving about saving her life, and saving her from Wolfram and Hart, but the main thing that had saved him from bodily harm was Cordelia's fortunate vision, moments before Lindsey had tracked them down.
Gunn had only met Cordelia the day before, and he didn't much trust that freaky second sight stuff, but she said that he was guaranteed to be involved in a fight if he tagged along, so he went with it. Plus he liked messing with those white stuck-up lawyers. Lindsey had told them exactly what he'd been told, that the girl would be at a certain place at a certain time. Sounded a bit shaky to Gunn, but Cordelia's vision had managed to lead them to the shaman, so the rest could still be true. Gunn got the impression that Wolfram and Hart didn't completely trust its own lawyers.
'Hadn't known they were going to make him dress up. Damn, if any of the boys found out he was wearing a ceremonial robe… it was Wesley's idea. Next time he could do his own acting, as long as the guy didn't get almost blown up again.
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There was a robed man standing at a wooden makeshift altar, a collection of powders and artefacts spread before him. He was waiting for the girl to be brought into sight so he could start his work.
The guards were inside the warehouse, sitting or leaning against the walls. They all stood up when Holland and the two lawyers came in. Holland waved the bald guy over toward them.
"Michaels," Holland said warningly. "No matter how many chances I give you to redeem yourself, this girl still manages to get the better of you. Are you incapable of doing your job?"
"No sir," Michaels replied.
Holland gave him a last lingering look before addressing the man in the dark blue, hooded robe. "Are you ready to begin?" The figure was still for a moment before he nodded. His face was shadowed by the hood, but Lindsey knew that he'd been looking toward the window to see if it was dark yet.
"Michaels," Holland said, "go get the girl. If she proves to be too much trouble for you, you might want to think about looking for another job."
Michaels didn't look happy as he turned to do his job. Lindsey watched him so that he'd know where Erica had been put. Michaels closed the door behind him and Lindsey pushed a button on his phone that was hidden in his pocket. Holland started walking off to the side of the room where they could see the shaman do his work without distracting him.
Several things happened at once. A yell was heard from the holding room. A van crashed through the wall, driven by Wesley. The man couldn't move too freely yet, but apparently he was able to drive. The door slid open as the guards rushed to stop the intruders. Lindsey ran toward the holding room.
As he touched the handle he could feel it again. She was there, and the fluttering on his skin told him so. He wrenched open the door and stepped inside. There was a man groaning on the floor, and a hunk of wood was lying next to him. Lindsey had a split second to realise that she was off to his left before she jumped at him from her raised position on the bed, hoping to bring him down quickly. He caught her and nearly fell over because of her momentum, like she'd planned.
"It's me," he said quickly, and couldn't resist giving her a quick kiss on the mouth.
"I know," she said, and slapped him.
Lindsey let go of her with only a little surprise. "Look, I deserve that, but it's not helping us right now. I came to get you out of here."
"Like last time?" She pushed him back.
"Erica, I'm sorry, but we don't have time for this. Yell at me later."
Michaels was pushing himself up from the floor. Erica had managed to surprise him, but he was still conscious.
Erica vented her frustration on him. She grabbed the back of his collar and brought her knee up to smack him in the face. He gave a heavy grunt of pain, and she kicked up into his face. His head snapped back and he rolled over, holding his face. Lindsey had to grab her arm and pull her away before she started kicking him more.
She didn't look happy with him, but she let him pull her away without yelling or slapping him. Progress.
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Angel was talking to Holland and Lilah. Well, threatening them actually. It was the first time he'd met one of the puppet masters of Wolfram and Hart, but he must have known him by the snappy suit and the fact that Lilah was standing off behind him and looking to him for direction.
Erica took in the room with a glance. Gunn, the man from the hospital, had a baseball bat slung over his shoulder. The robe was on the floor. Holland had only had humans guarding the area for some reason. He must have thought that a powerful shaman would have been enough backup.
Cordelia was standing by the van, and she started walking up when she saw Erica. Erica shrugged her arm away from Lindsey and let the other woman approach.
"Hi," Cordelia said, "I'm Cordelia."
"I know," Erica said quietly. "That's Angel, that's Gunn, and that's… that's Wesley. Thanks for the rescue."
"Well, you're welcome." Cordelia said, a little thrown.
Erica turned to Lindsey. "Did you lie about him being a monster too?" she gestured toward Angel.
"Well, he is a vampire," Lindsey said.
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Erica snapped.
"I don't like him very much," Lindsey said, "actually I really hate him, but he's… he's not a bad guy. He's still on your side."
"It killed you to say that, didn't it?" Cordelia asked.
Lindsey didn't answer, but his look said that it did. He looked at Erica. "We have to go. I know you don't like me very much at the moment, but do you at least trust that I'm not going to get you hurt?"
Erica still wasn't happy with him, and she made sure it showed, but she did nod at him.
"The higher powers want to see you." He explained. "And I mean the ones that Angel works for, not the ones that I used to answer to. You really don't want to keep any higher powers waiting, regardless of whose side they're on."
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They had left quickly. Erica really hadn't wanted to meet a dead man, or one that was supposed to be dead, and she'd kept her thank-you to the others pretty short. She didn't belong in their world, and felt like she shouldn't form any attachments. She got the impression that the higher powers could help her get home, and she didn't want to add more confusion to her life by growing close to different versions of her friends.
Lindsey drove her, and she was quiet.
Lindsey broke the silence abruptly. "I feel like I'm always having to apologise to you. Part of me just wanted to be powerful, and thought I could get away with not telling you. The other part really did want to keep you safe. It wasn't until you were in danger that I realised the second part was the most important part. I should have told you."
He sighed and continued, "Having power isn't worth losing you. I meant what I said last night, even if there was another motive for saying it. You were an angel to me, and you do make me feel like everything's all right. I couldn't stand the thought of you hurt, and I thought I could get away with it. I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I was stupid, I was selfish, and I want to have your forgiveness, if you'll give it."
"You're a jerk." Erica said.
"I am," Lindsey agreed with her right away, earning him a closer look from Erica. "I was. You're already changing me." he said it with complete sincerity.
"Yeah, well," Erica said slowly, "working for that place; you've got a lot to make up for. I suppose that rescuing me was a good start."
"Was that a 'maybe' to forgiving me?"
"Give me time," Erica said quietly. "But yes. Keep doing 'good deeds' and I'll forgive you. Use what you've taken to good purpose, and I'll consider it something shared rather than something stolen. At least you meant well."
Lindsey was silent. She was leaving soon, and wouldn't get to see him be the man she wanted. He knew that she probably wouldn't return.
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AN: You'd have probably guessed by now that I have a teensy bit of a self-defence background, which helps me write fight scenes. I did Taekwon-do (same as Sarah Michelle Gellar) for a couple of years and I've also done at least a couple of months of broad self-defence classes and a little kickboxing. Hehe, got to play with the big guys and I was only a young teen girl. Yeah, they were gentle with me. (Cheeky grin) ; )