Disclaimer: I do not own Angel the Series.

Secondary Disclaimer: Krenshars are a creature/monster from the tabletop roleplaying game, Dungeons and Dragons (I don't own that either). I have lifted the name and one aspect of their nature for the 'Krenshar Demons' I use in this chapter. I do not own the concept of the Krenshar or anything I take from it.

Thanks to Starway Man, my beta-reader, for his help

Author's Note: For those interested, I've started a tumblr at: alkenifanfiction . Tumblr . Com (take away the extraneous spaces, obviously), for the purposes of talking on a somewhat meta-level about my fanfics – my reasons for doing X instead of Y, how I feel about this or that character or thing from the fandom, and so on. One of the things it will include is some discussion of concepts, themes or information about the fics themselves that are too long for an author's note, and that I really can't fit into the story itself, due to a lack of space or a lack of an appropriate moment story-wise to explore it. Should be pretty interesting, if you like to get as meta about fics and the fandom as I sometimes do.

Don't need to have a tumblr to look at it, so feel free to check it out periodically, as I'll make posts about all my fics there, and potentially thoughts about past fics of mine, or even upcoming projects in the world of fanfiction. If you're interested, check it out. If you're not, well, on with the fic!

Exit Strategy

By Alkeni

Chapter 3: Derailment

Outside Wolfram and Hart Warehouse, Los Angeles

8:57 pm, April 27th, 2001

Angel dropped down from the roof above, landing next to Wesley. The watcher tuned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Well?"

Angel's answer was prefaced with a regretful sigh. "Lilah was right." It seemed like it actually hurt him to say that. "Three Krenshars and two human handlers on the front door. No other ways in. It doesn't look locked."

"Well, of course not. Who needs a key when you have a mystical code-spell?" Wesley replied. "But so far, everything Lilah has said about this location has checked out, which suggests that the rest is correct. So we will be moving ahead. What kind of weapons do the handlers have?"

"Some kind of machine gun?" Angel shrugged. "I didn't get that good a look to give you make and model, if that was what you wanted."

"Machine gun is specific enough." Wesley replied. "Can you get behind them?" Angel nodded.

"And do what?" Cordelia demanded, interrupting with a hiss. "Kill them? They're human!" Angel recoiled just a little as she brandished her crossbow wildly, even if it wasn't loaded yet.

"If I recall correctly, earlier you were perfectly willing to hand Lilah back to the Senior Partners and let her be killed. You also, as I recall, said you would rather just hand Lindsey, if he had been the one to come to us, back to the Senior Partners to be killed. So it's rather hard for me to understand why you're suddenly squeamish about-" Wesley pointed out, before Cordelia interrupted him.

"This is completely different!" She insisted. "It's one thing to let Wolfram and Hart kill Lindsey or Lilah, who've done who knows what defending who knows what, knowing the whole time that they're working for a bunch of evil demons!" She gesticulated with her free hand as she kept ranting, though quietly. "Lindsey and Lilah knew what they were getting into – and they're lawyers! It's completely different to actually do the killing yourself, and they're just the goon squad anyway."

"They're guarding a warehouse and factory that centers around the kidnapping of infants and either selling them to be eaten by demons – often alive – or having their souls extracted, turned into a drug and the leftover shells then sold off to demons to be eaten. I don't think their hands are any less dirty than either Lindsey or Lilah's. In fact, strictly speaking, their hands might be even dirtier." Wesley countered. "Besides," He added, "I wasn't going to tell Angel to kill them."

"Oh." Cordelia said, pausing before sending him a quick glare. "Okay. Continue."

Wesley resisted the urge to roll his eyes – he was in charge of the group now, so he couldn't act so visibly juvenile – and turned back to Angel. "Knock them out, quick as you can." Angel nodded. He stepped back a pace, crouched down, then threw himself up, catching onto the roof's edge and vaulting himself up onto it.

"So, now what do we do?" Gunn asked as he walked up behind them. He handed one gas can to Wesley, keeping the other in his hand. Wesley handed him a crossbow and picked up another for his free hand.

"Well, now that you've brought the gasoline, we can proceed with the next step – namely, getting inside. While Angel takes out the handlers, we need to get rid of the Krenshar demons quickly and quietly." He gestured and the slowly followed him as they winded their way to their destination through the warehouse yard.

"Alright. Well, what's the low-down on these 'Krenshar' demons, Wes? How do we kill them?"

"Krenshars are a canine species of demon, Charles, they're most notable for their ability to peel back their face and stun their prey with the visage beneath. If you see one reach for its head, avert your eyes, or close them if you must. They're large and powerful, but they have one very significant weak spot. Granted, you can simply slice and dice them, but a single sharp point – such as a crossbow bolt – hitting directly into the nerve cluster midway down their spine will stop their heart inside two point seven seconds." Wesley held up one arm and they drew up short. They could see the Wolfram and Hart warehouse just ahead, two humanoid shapes visible in the light, and three that looked vaguely like dogs.

The former Watcher set his gas can down and crouched just a little, leveling his crossbow, setting a steel-tipped, barbed crossbow bolt into the weapon. He pulled the trigger and the bold whistled from the crossbow, embedding itself into one of the backs of one of the demon dogs. With a pitched half-whimper/cry, the Krenshar collapsed.

"Like that." Wesley smiled. Cordelia and Gunn, who had started loading only moments after Wesley, fired their crossbows, Angel dropping down behind the confused guards, putting a hand on the side of each of their heads and bringing them together with a thump and letting them collapse to the ground.

Their first shots didn't kill their targets, but Cordelia and Gunn loaded again and fired, though Wesley did again too – but the Krenshars were moving too quickly for even him to get one of those kill shots again. Angel pulled knives from his coat and went after the Krenshars as well. They managed to defeat the demons quickly enough, though with more noise than Wesley would have liked.

"Lovely. They'll be expecting us now." Wesley grabbed the wrist of one of the unconscious guards and pressed the man's hand to the door, murmuring a word in Ancient Greek. The warehouse door slowly lifted upwards. "Angel, Cordelia, find where they're keeping the infants and get them out of here. Gunn and I will join you shortly." Angel nodded and he went down the left corridor. Assuming Lilah's intel was right on this too, then they'd find it down there.

"So where are we going, man?" Gunn asked simply.

"We're going to burn down the soul drop factory, of course." Wesley said, raising an eyebrow. "Why else do you think I had you bring all this gasoline?"

Private Room, Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles

9:13 pm, April 27th, 2001

Wesley had spent over an hour demanding that she tell him everything she knew about the warehouse, even after going over the information she'd given him in the stolen files. And it hadn't even been a particularly fun interrogation, in Lilah's view. No threats, just the same questions over and over and over again before he was satisfied.

She'd half expected them to demand she come with them when they made the attack on the warehouse, but at least they weren't that annoying. Not going to put myself right into the demon's maw, whatever they want. Instead, they had decided that they were going to lock her inside of this room and leave her there. Because I'm totally going to run away, or rummage through their things.

They'd even taken her phone.

What they hadn't taken was the set of lock-picks she'd had down her shirt. She'd wondered if Angel would find them, when he patted her down, but, depressingly, he wasn't thorough enough for that, though at least it gave her a chance to get out of the room. All it had was a boring chair and a bed uglier than the back end of Fyarl demon.

The bed was better than the wallpaper, though. No wonder people had had a habit of going postal in this place...

What the hell. A few twists, a pop and a jiggle later, and she was free of her 'prison'.

Free, yes, but that still didn't give her that much to do.

"Hmm. Didn't count on this part, I suppose." Lilah drummed her fingers against her leg, standing there in the hallway and wondering what to do next. By now, Angel and his merry little band would be well on their way to getting rid of the Soul Drop warehouse, and saving all the poor little babies. Then they'd know her information was legitimate, and they could finally start talking about getting her the hell out of Los Angeles.

The only tie Lilah would have left, then, would be her mother. That had pretty much been all she'd had anyway, of course...the job wasn't a tie, it was a job. Good job, damn good job, certainly. All the pay and benefits a woman could want. Power, connections.

But playing for high stakes means placing high stakes.

Lilah wasn't sure what she was going to be doing with her life once she'd left the City of Angels behind. She was still working on that. Well, the specifics anyway; she already knew that she'd need a new name, new identity, and eventually, some kind of new job. But that was just the generalities; something her planned exit strategy from the firm hadn't been able to cover before now. Too many unknowns, depending on the circumstances surrounding her departure from the firm.

This. Sucks. Lilah found herself wandering down to the lobby, standing near the desk and the phone there. She looked at it, mind still wandering in an uncharacteristic way. After a few moments of such unfocused wandering, Lilah picked up the phone, dialing a familiar number. Her mother, in her state, kept a great many strange hours. She'd probably be awake.

Sentiment was not something Lilah handled very well...but...her life had just changed drastically, in less than 24 hours. Her life's trajectory had completely reversed, she'd had to utilize a theoretical plan she'd had in place for years...a plan never really meant to be used, but now, had been used anyway. She felt like...like she should call her mother. Talk to her. Somehow explain to her how things had changed...

The voice that answered the phone, however, immediately sent her spasming into fear. "Hello, Lilah Morgan's Mother's Phone, this is Lindsey McDonald. How may I help you?" For a few moments, Lilah couldn't do more than than just...

"Lilah? Lilah? Are you there? Say, would you mind taking a picture of your face? I have to know whether my imagination matches up to the real thing-"

"What the hell are you doing answering my mother's phone!?" Lilah snarled. "Where is she!? What did you do to her!? If you've hurt her, Lindsey, I swear I'll-"

"Oh, come on, Lilah, give me a little more credit than that!I do anything to your mother, and everything you stole goes public immediately. I do anything to you and anything you stole goes public immediately. We both know that. Only difference is now, you know that if you show what you stole to someone else, something happens to your mother. It's Mutually Assured Destruction."

"I can give you destruction, Lindsey-"

"Lilah, Lilah, Lilah. Get a grip, okay? Your composure is obviously shot. And frankly, after everything we've been through, it's actually painful to hear. Look, let me say a few things - then I'll call you back later, when you're back at your best. I'm sure you had to show the Angel Investigations people something, maybe give them half of what you stole up front? Well, that'll be allowed to slide with my recommendation, I'm pretty sure. But if the rest of that stuff ever slips out of your hands..." Lilah could almost hear him shaking his head, "Well, I can't be held responsible for my actions, I'm sure you understand. I've got a new job and a fancy corner office to keep."

"You think that's going to stop me?" Lilah demanded, her mind racing on how to deal with this latest curve ball; but not coming up with any solutions. God help her, she honestly hadn't expected this. "I still know Wolfram and Hart inside and out, Lindsey. Don't underestimate me."

"I won't. And if you're so confident that you know the firm so well, why don't you go and join Angel and his merry little band of do-gooders?" Lindsey shot back, laughing. "It's not like you guys will ever be more than a nuisance anyway, but at least you'll get the satisfaction of feeling like you're making a difference. Why not join in their fun?" The dull click as he finished talking brought along an empty dial tone, the phone dropping nervelessly from Lilah's hand, the tone droning on, unnoticed.