Chapter 2
"That's my boy, my Angelus." Darla said.
Angel was in deep dreaming, lying in the same spot he had every night for over 30 years.
He often dreamt of Darla and where she could be now. He never loved her, he couldn't have, for the lack of a soul. Now that he had a soul he had time to wonder if he did love her, or if she had given him another chance once he got the soul, if he would have loved her.
He woke up in a sweat from another night of eventful Darla nightmares.
He sat up and looked around. Sometimes he was shocked to find a plain hotel room surrounding him as opposed to a wrecked village in the midst of the Boxer Rebellion.
He spent so long, sitting, brooding, not entertained by his own company. He needed to get out.
The sun was setting, so he indulged himself in a bit of a walk.
Halfway down the street he realized he was being followed. He acted like he didn't sense anything and then trapped his follower in an alley.
"Who are you and why are you following me?" He said in a hoarse, unused voice.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lindsey McDonald, Head of Special Projects, Wolfram & Hart. And you sir, are our 'Special Project."
Angel didn't know how to answer that, but he readied his fist in his sleeve.
"I hope we meet again sometime real soon." Lindsey said and walked away calmly and unscathed from the alley.
Angel decided to find a library and do a little research on his new 'friends" at Wolfram & Hart.
Lindsey hailed his driver, and a company car pulled up beside him and brought him back to Wolfram & Hart.
Once in the building he had to draw out a report on that evenings meeting with Angel and send it over to the CEO of the L.A branch of the company, Holland Manners.
Lilah, his Co-Head of special projects, caught up with him on his way to his office.
"So, Lindsey, how was your run in with Dr. Brood N' Bite?"
"None of your business Lilah, this is my side of the case."
"I understand that, but I need to know what I'm working with here. You are the first person to actually speak with him and see him up close in Devil knows how long!" Lilah said in a plain, yet business like tone. She looked at Lindsey, expecting some kind of an answer.
"Go away Lilah." He said with an expressionless face as they came to his office and he slammed the door in her face.
She sighed and put on her happy face for passerby's in Wolfram & Harts' dimly lit corporate hallways from Hell.
Angel wasn't exactly 'phased' that he was being followed by an evil law firm. It gave him something to do. He stayed in the library until it closed at 10 pm, and he retreated back to his hotel room.
He opened the door to find that it had been ransacked.
Not that he had many belongings, but what he did have was scattered along the floor and tabletops.
"What could they POSSIBLY be looking for?" He said to himself.
"Not so much looking for, as researching for." A woman's voice said.
"Two new friends in one day, aren't I lucky." He said. "Let me guess, Wolfram & Hart?"
"That would be right. We got plans for you Angelus." She said.
"Who are you supposed to be? And I'm not Angelus."
"The name's Lilah." She said as she glided towards the door, and added under her breath, "And, you will be."
The next few days went undisturbed, if you call numerous dreams about Darla, not disturbing. He had never dreamt about her so much. It was almost like she was there with him, night after night.
Over at Wolfram & Hart, the core of their plans came to a boil. Lindsey and Lilah, as well as about 12 other random members of the firm stood around a small cage with a blonde girl inside.
She was screaming at them.
"How dare you cage me! Don't you know who I am!?" She sputtered.
"Be quiet Darla." Lilah said and handed Lindsey the key to her cage.
"As much as I know I'm going to regret saying this...here it goes, she's under your watch now. What you do with her is none of the firms concern, as long as it works towards our big picture." She said.
Lindsey nodded solemnly and waited for everyone to leave the room before unlocking the cage.
Darla didn't exit right away, unsure what their strategy was.
Spotting her uncertainty, Lindsey smiled warmly, something he rarely did.
"It's okay, take your time." He said.
"What makes you think I won't kill you when I come out?" She asked.
"Go ahead."
Confused by his words she stepped out anyways. He then led her to his office where he offered her living arrangements.
"I don't want to stay here. These people want to watch me."
He eyed her suspiciously, and somehow trustingly and invited her to stay in his apartment.
Without answering she left the room, assuming he knew to follow and lead the way to his place.
Upon entering Lindsey's apartment, Darla felt common.
"This room is so...small. It feels like lonliness..." She said while trailing the shelves with her fingers.
"I will not stay here. I don't belong here. I will return only at night, and only if I chose."
Lindsey nodded.
That night, Angel was sitting in front of a food store when he saw a parked limo across the street from him.
"Not them again." He said to himself, assuming that he was being followed by Wolfram & Hart once more.
He got up and started to go towards the car, but then the door opened and a blonde woman ran away, not looking back once.
"Darla?" He mouthed.
Darla panicked when she saw Angel across the street. She wasn't looking for a confrontation. He wouldn't hurt her...but in any case, he was stronger than her.
She didn't understand why, but without thinking her feet led her straight to Lindsey's apartment. She had been given the freedom to roam wherever she wished...and yet she went back to Lindsey.
Before opening the door she thought, "What am I doing? I'm drinking pig's blood and living with a human whom I have no intention of eating. What have they done to me?"
She opened the door to find the room empty.
"Lindsey?" She said softer than she had intended to.
No one was there.
Feeling oddly alone, she laid down on a bed and put her thoughts to rest.
Both Angel and Darla had the same dreams that night.
Darla awoke by falling off the bed. Lindsey rushed over to her , and she just barely stopped herself from reaching out to him to lift her up.
She got up on her own and acted like nothing happened.
She noticed that there were blankets on the couch.
Lindsey had to sleep on the couch because Darla had claimed the bed while he was still at work.
"You don't have to sleep on the couch. I don't mind you taking the bed. I don't expect I'll be here much longer anyway." She said.
Lindsey nodded.
That evening Darla found herself out on the town again, and felt out of place. She felt weak, so to help her mentality, she attacked a shopkeeper that was closing up for the night and ate him. Now she felt better.
She then went back to Lindsey's house.
"I don't want to be here." She thought. "But, he likes me, I can tell, I'll just stay tonight so he can get over his dreams of being with me."
She claimed the bed once again, and thought nothing of it. Lindsey came in a couldn't decide what to do. He finally resolved to the bed. He didn't realize that she had been watching him making his decision.
"How gentlemanly of you to suss it out in your head first before jumping into bed with a defenseless lady guest." She said with her eyes still closed.
He glanced over at her, and then let himself fall asleep.
Angel was thrashed with visions of Darla, worse than before. Then when he thought it had all stopped, he saw Darla in bed with Lindsey. He woke up suddenly and fire shown in his eyes.
That afternoon, he used the sewers to get into Wolfram & Hart. He easily found his way to Lindsey's office, while people panicked around him at seeing him in the middle of the day.
He swung open Lindsey's door to find him alone.
"Nice entrance." Lindsey said, barely glancing up from his unnecessary paperwork.
Angel ran up to Lindsay and forcefully ripped Lindsay out of his chair and against the wall.
"Easy there Cowboy." Lindsey said calmly.
"I was just going to say the same to you." Angel said menacingly.
Lindsey looked at him, puzzled.
"What are you doing with Darla?" Angel said with an extra slam into the wall.
"I'm not DOING anything with Darla. She's staying with me temporarily." Lindsey said.
Angel obviously didn't accept that answer and punched the lawyer in the face.
Lindsey sat on the floor, bleeding, but not phased.
Angel was fuming. How could Darla chose Lindsey over him? He had a soul too didn't he? Why was he better?
Angel almost hoped he would get the dreams again just so he could have another excuse to go beat up Lindsey.
But Lilah was already creating one. For her it was a win/win situation.
Getting rid of Angel and Lindsey at the same time.