Disclaimer: I don't own Angel the Series. End of story. Exit Strategy is written by a fan solely for the enjoyment of other fans, and produces no money for the writer. If you want a small portion of nothing, then suing me might be productive. Otherwise, it serves no one any purpose.
Thanks to Starway Man, my beta. An excellent sounding board and readability consultant, he makes the fic a better one.
This chapter did not come easy, which is why there was the delay there was in releasing it. But it's here now.
Exit Strategy
By Alkeni
Chapter 13: Incomplete Victory
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
June 7th, 2001
To say that Sarah Trent – or, as her driver's license called her, Elizabeth Sylar – was a nervous wreck by the time they got back to the Hyperion, was perhaps something of an understatement. She'd gone from the jumpy, paranoid fear she'd displayed in the parking garage initially to an even jumpier, panicking fear, working herself up as she realized what Wesley had said – and what it had meant.
The woman had been constantly muttering to herself, mostly notes of concern, with the occasional 'what am I going to do's and 'how did he find me's. The entire drive she'd worked herself into a frenzy of nerves, to the point where Gunn had had to help her from the car into the Hyperion. It was, however, that same nervousness that made her so willing to come with them, Lilah imagined.
Any semblance of ability to think she might have had had been completely shot by the spike of terror at the very thought her ex-husband knew where she was, knew what name she was living under. Knew how to get at her son.
Jason Trent – or David Sylar, as he was known now – wasn't sure what was going on, but he had been quiet the entire trip back to the Hyperion. Something for which Lilah was supremely grateful. She did not like children, though she still wondered if having a kid to surrender as a sacrifice to the Senior Partners might have made a difference, in terms of her career at the firm.
Probably not. They want the sacrifice to matter, after all. And any offspring she'd have had for the purpose of sacrificial slaughter would have been like playing Pascal's Wager.
"Here, just sit down." Gunn said, helping Sarah onto the circular couch. Jason remained next to his mother, holding onto her hand, looking around the hotel's lobby with something like wide-eyed curiosity. Lilah stayed back, away from the helpless pair, and looked over at Wesley, who was approaching her.
"What do you know about Mark Sandrow?" He asked her quietly, careful not to bring up the man's name in Sarah's hearing.
"He's rich, he's ruthless and he really wants his kid back." Lilah told Wesley. "He was never my client. Representing raging misogynists isn't usually worth the head-ache. I'm sure the firm still represents him – the police are always trying to get him on something, but," she smirked, "It just doesn't work out that well for them."
"Given that you don't work for Wolfram and Hart anymore, you really shouldn't be amused by its successes over this city's police force." Wesley pointed out, his tone far more conversational than the words would imply.
"If you're expecting me to give a crap about the inability of the LAPD and the District Attorney's office to catch criminals, then you may as well expect me to attach that much value to the soul I still have." Lilah replied. "I'm not 'on' your side, Wesley."
"Believe, I'd be aware of that even if you didn't remind me every other day." Wesley muttered dryly. "But in the meantime, Lilah, do you know anything useful about Sandrow?"
Lilah considered for a moment, wracking her brain, but there really wasn't much she knew about him off the top of her head. "Nothing comes to mind. There might be something in his client file, which is probably on one of the disks I gave you, but I don't know which one it might be on."
"You're so helpful." Wesley muttered. "Why do we keep you around again?"
"Because I pay you rent, and I don't get paid for helping you with your stupid cases." Lilah replied grimly.
"Yes, well. It's certainly not for your personality and charm." Wesley agreed. He looked over to Cordelia, who was talking to Sarah and Jason, apparently trying to calm the woman down. "Just don't bring up your past associations around Ms. Trent. The last thing she needs right now is to learn that Lee Mercer was a former colleague of yours."
"The less time I have to spend around the two of them, the better." Lilah agreed. "So I'll just go back upstairs to-"
"No. You'll go over to the computer and find out information on Sandrow. Our priority is keeping Ms. Trent and her son safe, and preferably getting them out of L.A. under new names. But I'm quite confident that task will be made significantly easier by knowing more about Mark Sandrow and his operations." Wesley turned and walked over to Cordelia, Gunn and the client.
He's lucky I can't just have him killed anymore...
Of course, even if she could just shoot the British asshole and get away with it, she needed Wesley alive right now. Needed all of them alive. And going up against a guy like Mark Sandrow...well, that was a lot of vampires and other muscle he could throw at the problem.
Except...
Lilah smirked, as an idea came to mind. Only a last resort type idea, she supposed. But an idea nonetheless...
I've never been more thankful for the Senior Partners' idiocy in my entire life.
There was no guarantee this idea could ever happen, but if it did...well, it would sort things out rather nicely, true enough.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
June 7th, 2001
Cordelia wasn't sure how she'd gotten saddled with the duty of babysitting Sarah Trent and her son, but she could guess. Lilah was, of course, out. The former lawyer was still in the hotel, but she was busy on the computer, searching through those Wolfram and Hart files for something they could use against the bad guy.
Somehow, though, I kinda doubt she's working all that hard on what Wesley assigned her to do.
Wesley wasn't really an option either, Cordelia knew. The Englishman was simply no good at calming down their jittery and/or hysterical clients, and never had been. Probably something to do with that stiff upper lip of his. And Cordelia doubted he'd be all that good with Jason, either.
Gunn probably could have been good with Jason and on keeping Sarah calm and focused, but by the same token...
Well, if Mark Sandrow really had vamps working for him, and had also learned what fake name Sarah was living under now...the undead could be staking out her apartment. Wesley was probably right about that.
If it hadn't been for Jason's medication, Cordelia would have just told Sarah to write the entire place off and never go back there again, but...not an option. The kid had juvenile diabetes, and needed his insulin shots.
So Wesley and Gunn, with Sarah's keys, had headed off to the woman's apartment, and Cordelia was once again stuck at the Hyperion, on babysitter duty.
At least Lilah is staying quiet.
Cordelia wasn't entirely sure what to think about the former lawyer, nowadays. She didn't think Lilah was likely to betray them, though if the opportunity came up and the risk/reward ratio was worth it, Cordelia totally wouldn't put it past the bitch to do so. And Lilah was an evil bitch. Not that she doesn't have a very fashionable dress sense.
On the other hand, Lilah had never pretended she wasn't a bitch – and that she wasn't staying here because Wolfram & Hart had the same sort of gun against her head that she had at theirs – which gave the other woman at least a few points in Cordelia's book. Not many, though, and not enough to balance things out. Not even close.
Cordelia looked over at Jason and Sarah. The woman was still jittery and nervous, but at least she'd managed to calm down a little. Getting up, the seer went over to the woman and her son.
"Can I get you something to drink? Tea, water, coffee?" Cordelia asked the woman. "We don't really have much to eat at the moment, though I could call for some kind of takeout?" It was already early afternoon, and Sarah had the look of a woman who'd skipped breakfast.
"Some tea would be nice." Sarah replied after a moment, taking a breath before speaking. "Some water for Jason, too."
Cordelia nodded and moved over to the coffee maker and mini-fridge, getting some bottled water for Sarah's son and starting up the coffee maker to heat the water for tea. Wesley utterly refused to drink tea that hadn't been made from water boiled in a kettle, so he drank coffee here in the office instead. Still, sometimes Cordelia found a cup of Chamomile was quite soothing after a particularly bad headache-inducing vision.
She had to admit that she'd picked up the idea on a suggestion from Wesley, granted, but it was a good idea. And Cordelia was willing to bet that Chamomile was going to help Sarah too. If there was one thing this woman needed, it was some rest.
She brought the bottle of water back to Jason and handed it over to him, untwisting the lid for him.
"Thank you." Jason murmured in a small voice, drinking from the bottle, but spilling a bit of the water onto himself. Cordelia went back to the fridge and picked up a few napkins, handing them to Sarah, who fussed over her son.
Jason was far less nervous than his mother, but he didn't look the least bit like the happy, bouncing around, active three year old he was supposed to be.
Okay, so granted, the only experience I have with three-year-olds is with my cousins back when I was nine and twelve, but they were certainly the most exhausting little nuisances I've ever seen.
Thinking of her cousins – who were of course much older now – gave Cordelia a sudden idea. A game she'd played with them, when forced to babysit while her parents and aunt and uncle had gone out to dinner or whatever, when they'd visited. She could have just left them to the maid to handle, but Cordelia had actually liked Timmy and Wendy, as annoying as they had been.
Still – were there any balloons on hand? Granted, Wesley was sometimes insane about having all kinds of weird things around just in case they needed them, but under what circumstances would he have thought they might need balloons?
I certainly can't think of any situation...
Still, it would be worthwhile to check. Maybe she'd find something else to do with the kid, keep his mind off of things. This would all be much easier with Sarah calm and Jason under control as well.
I just hope Wesley and Gunn don't run into any problems while picking up the kid's insulin.
Even though she hadn't actually said it out loud, Cordelia rapped on the desk lightly, twice. Just in case that sort of superstitious nonsense actually worked for once.
Sarah Trent's Apartment, Los Angeles
June 7th, 2001
"Gunn, do you have the insulin?" Wesley asked Gunn, checking to make sure his crossbow was loaded.
"Hang on a sec, English. Not yet." Gunn replied, heading for the kitchen.
Wesley frowned. Unless he was very much mistaken, the two 'people' he'd seen loitering on the ground floor were vampires, probably waiting for Sarah and Jason to come home. It was possible that he and Gunn could simply waltz right past them and get away clean, since they weren't the vampires' targets, but Wesley wasn't prepared to take that risk.
Besides, I'm not leaving two vampires here waiting to attack someone else if Gunn and I can take them out.
Wesley went into Jason's room, a small space, the bed's sheets decorated with what the foreigner was fairly sure was...some kind of strange dinosaur. Unless he was greatly mistaken, it was themed after that horrid Barney show he'd heard about. The Council was still debating whether or not an evil warlock was behind it. At least, the last time he'd heard – even if that was two years ago, now.
Why on earth did I agree to fetch the child's stuffed bear? Once they'd agreed to go pick up Jason's insulin, Sarah had begged him to get the boy's teddy bear, since they'd be there anyway. Wesley hadn't much liked the idea, but somehow he'd ended up agreeing. He certainly didn't want to rob the child of a beloved toy, but it just seemed like an extra needless risk if someone should spot them leaving the apartment building with the bloody thing.
Wesley heard the sound of the refrigerator closing in the kitchen, "Got it." Gunn called out from the other room. "Found the kid's bear?"
Wesley looked around the room again, then saw it sitting in the side-table – it was in decent shape, but clearly well loved and been through quite a few wash and dry cycles.
"I have." Wesley grabbed the stuffed animal and left Jason's room. Even as he was walking out of the bedroom though, he was dropping the bear into the bag which he'd carried the crossbow in and taking out a vial of holy water.
Gunn was immediately on alert. "You hear something?" His stake was at the ready, the insulin already tucked into a pocket.
Wesley shook his head, "No. But once we get downstairs, I want to see if the two people loitering there really are vampires. If they are, I see no reason for us to just leave them there, even if Sarah is out of their reach."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Gunn lowered his stake for the moment, and followed Wesley out of the apartment.
"Or..." Wesley said as he saw the two loiterers standing outside the apartment, "We could just face them here." Wesley raised the crossbow, dropping the bag.
The vampires, however, didn't go for them immediately.
"Where's Sarah Trent?" One of them snarled, his game face emerging – clearly, he'd figured that there was no reason to try and make someone brandishing a crossbow think he was human.
"I'm afraid you have the wrong apartment," Wesley replied coolly, putting on airs and his most formal tone, one he'd largely abandoned after Sunnydale. "This apartment belongs to Elizabeth Sylar, not anyone named 'Sarah Trent'."
"Tell us where she is, blood bag, or-"
Wesley stepped back inside the threshold, "Or what? You can't enter this apartment." He pointed the crossbow at one of them, who immediately started to move aside so Wesley wouldn't have a good angle on him.
"You've gotta leave sometime." The other vampire pointed out, both of them now at an angle from the door that made shooting them a difficult proposition at best. Not stupid vampires then. Pity, that. "And we can wait here until you do."
"We appear to be at something of an impasse, then." Wesley agreed. "Pray give me a moment to consider your terms." Wesley closed the door and turned back to Gunn, dropping the faux-formality from his voice.
"Well, that changes things. Not by much, though. Here." Wesley handed Gunn the vial of holy water. "I'll take the one on the right, you take the one on the left."
Gunn shrugged, "Sure." He unscrewed the cap on the vial of holy water. He could take a vamp in a fight with a stake – most vamps, anyway – but he was all for stacking the odds in his favor by splashing them in the face with holy water first.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
June 7th, 2001
"Your ex-husband had his vampires staking out your apartment, I'm afraid." Wesley said to Sarah as he walked into the lobby, taking the teddy bear out of the bang and handing it over to the woman.
Really, Wes, stuffed animal delivery service too? Lilah rolled her eyes and watched from the balcony as the kid squealed in happiness over the arrival of 'Mr. Fluffles'.
Sarah only really registered Wesley's words after Gunn gave her her son's insulin. "He- oh dear God..." Lilah watched as the woman started to hyperventilate, only to be stopped by Cordelia placing a hand on her shoulder.
Sarah took a deep breath. "If he- that means I have to...but...if he's found me...he must have found...he must have learned who gave me...our new identities...oh god...how am I-"
"We'll figure something out." Wesley told her. "Right now, the immediate objective is to keep your ex-husband from harming you or your son."
You tell her that, Wesley. Tell her it's all going to be alright somehow. Lilah turned away from the balcony in disgust and headed back into her room. She'd spent enough time breathing the same air as that kid and his mother.
It was some time later when Lilah heard a knock on her door, after the doorknob rattled. "Come in, Wesley." Lilah told him. "You have a key, after all." She smirked when her suspicions were confirmed, the ex-lawyer heard the door unlock and saw Wesley walk into the room.
"How did you know I had a key?" Wesley asked her, curiously. It was a question with a rather obvious answer, even if Wesley had given her 'the key' once she was no longer a prisoner in the room.
"I didn't know for certain." Lilah answered with a smirk. "But it wasn't that hard to guess. No one here trusts me, but you're the only one who's really professionally paranoid."
Wesley sighed, "Occupational hazard for a Watcher. Even a former Watcher." He looked over at her, and Lilah got off the bed, which she'd been laying on. "So, did you look up Sandrow on the files you provided?"
"I did. There wasn't anything useful. Still, that's not surprising, seeing I didn't get that much on him." Lilah shrugged, "He wasn't important enough to the firm for his info to be that important enough for me to steal, as it turns out."
"Nothing useful?" Wesley looked at her skeptically, and Lilah nodded.
"Not as far as you're concerned. I mean sure, I've got his address, and the addresses of his child slavery and hooker businesses, but unless you're planning to go through all his human and vampire minions and shoot him in the face..." She smirked, "That pretty much counts for nothing."
Wesley shook his head, "Killing him isn't the point. The vision from the Powers was about Sarah and her son, and they're our focus here. I was rather hoping you had some kind of evidence which we could turn over to the police, to distract him at worst and put him behind bars at best. Even a man with such able defense attorneys as the ones Wolfram and Hart offers would have to tone down his criminal activity, in the face of heightened police scrutiny."
Lilah nodded. "Not a bad idea. But no, there wasn't anything like that."
Of course, Lilah was lying through her teeth. The only question was if Wesley would believe her.
From the look on his face, Lilah could guess that Wesley was debating with himself if he believed her. Good thing none of them are that great with computers, either. No one is going to be able to figure out what I deleted from that disk, I'm sure.
Eventually, Wesley decided that she was in fact telling the truth. "A pity. That does make the situation more difficult. I don't suppose you know someone free of Wolfram and Hart's influence that could provide Sarah and her son with a new identity? I do plan on making my own inquiries, but I'm sure you're familiar with the kinds of people that could provide those services, and time is an issue here."
"I am. Most of them are regular go-to people for Wolfram and Hart, however." Lilah smiled, "So, not exactly the type of person you'll want to be hiring for this situation." She cocked her head to the side as an idea came to her. "That said, there is someone I can think of. But there's a price for me telling you."
"Of course." Wesley drawled, "What is it you want, then?"
"Well, if I cared and it wasn't asking far too much from the lot of you, I'd ask for a little less hostility from you three." Lilah mused aloud, enjoying the moment more than was entirely reasonable. Screw it. I'm going to milk this for all it's worth...
"Especially given that you'd be asking it in exchange for helping an innocent woman and her child escape the clutches of a man like Mark Sandrow." Wesley agreed. "It is rather hard not to be hostile towards you, given all that."
"I could ask for some more time rent-free, but that's not really important to me right now." Lilah already knew where she was going with this, but she wanted to stretch it out. Wesley just gave her an almost bored look, not reacting at all.
Damn. He caught on too quickly. Not that she'd had much hope he wouldn't catch on to her little game. Still, she could have had a bit more fun if he'd been a little more thick-headed. Was that asking too much?
"Fine. I want a favor. From you. To be claimed at a later date." Lilah's tone dropped all its amused, 'musing' notes, returning to complete business.
"You want me to agree to owe you an unspecified and open-ended favor in exchange for a name of someone who may or may not be able to help us with this particular client? Lilah, please. I want to help Ms. Trent, but I'm not even remotely inclined to pay that kind of price." Wesley's tone was now as flat and serious as her own.
"Don't worry your great big moralistic brain about it, Wes. I already know what the favor is I want from you. It's just not going to crop up just yet, and I don't want to get into it right now. Kind of involved, detailed." Lilah smiled, "We are operating under time pressures, after all. Gotta get the client to safety as fast as possible."
"I'm sure we have time for you to give me the summary version." Wesley replied. "Allow me to guess: It involves your little side-project?"
"What else would it have anything to do with?" Lilah agreed with a soft laugh, "Not like I have much of anything else to do in this place, at this time."
"Perhaps not. But I'm not going to agree to anything with you, without knowing the terms of just what I'm agreeing to." Wesley stepped closer to her. "So, either quit wasting my time, or tell me just what it is you want me to do."
Lilah looked at him carefully a moment, then nodded. "Fine. I want you to get me two standard doses of Orpheus." She smirked when she saw Wesley actually blink and do a double-take at her request.
"You don't have any of the tell-tale signs of an Orpheus user, and two doses is hardly enough to start dealing. So why would you want such a thing?"
Notice how he
doesn't tell me he doesn't know how to get his hands on any, Lilah thought to herself with a mental smirk. "Well, you're right in that I have no intention of using it personally, or selling it to some two-bit junkie. But I do want that Orpheus within a week. And as for the reasons why I want it...sorry, Wesley. But my lips are sealed about that." Lilah raised an eyebrow, "So. Are we agreed?"
The former lawyer could easily guess at Wesley's thoughts – curiosity over what the hell she wanted the drug for, wondering just how it would come back to bite him and the rest of his people on their asses, morally and practically...and of course, was it worth the help she could give him?
After about half a minute, Wesley nodded, "Alright. Agreed." Lilah didn't think he was lying, but she wanted to have a little more fun at his expense.
"I want your promise, Wesley. Your word of honor, even, for whatever that may be worth. After all, I'm carrying out my end of the deal now, and you could end up deciding not to fulfill your end later on. After all, what can I do about it?" Lilah shrugged. "Killing you over this would be going a little too far, and my other options are limited."
"You're a resourceful woman. I'm sure you'd think of something." Wesley told her coolly, "But very well. Given that I have no intention of backing out on my end of the deal, you have my word that I will get you two doses of Orpheus within a week, provided your information works out." He extended a hand, and after a moment, Lilah took it and shook it.
"Here it is, then. There's a half-demon, named Niles Varngrave. He specializes in providing apparently legitimate identities for demons that can pass for human, so they can move around freely within human society. Non-violent demons only, and he's got too much of a 'conscience'," Lilah provided air quotes for that word, "to work for Wolfram & Hart or any of its clients. I don't know how to contact him personally, but I do know he's a regular at Lorne's bar, so I imagine the Host would know how to contact him." Lilah smirked as she told him that last bit.
Wesley glared at her, realizing just how easily he could have gotten the information without making any sort of agreement with her...contacting Lorne had been the next thing he'd planned to do, as he'd presumed Lilah would either prove completely unhelpful or demand too high a price in exchange for her help. And from the look on Lilah's face, she obviously knew it, too.
"I suppose you think you're clever."
"Think? Wesley, I know I'm clever. More clever than you, anyway."
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
June 9th, 2001
Getting a new identity for Sarah Trent and her son that was able to stand up to scrutiny was apparently going to take time. Something Lilah wasn't all that surprised by, all things considered. It wasn't something that most people could do just by snapping their fingers. But they only needed a few more days to keep the jittery woman and her kid under watch.
As much as was practicable, Lilah had taken to staying in her room to avoid the pair – there was only so much prepubescent brat or nervous wreck she could handle. She did have to give Cordelia – and Gunn – some credit. Between them, they'd managed to keep the kid under control and at least half-calmed Sarah down, reassuring her and helping her cope with her nerves. Wesley had played his part in that too, Lilah supposed, but less directly – he really didn't do reassuring very well.
It was more his quiet confidence that she'd get away from L.A. – and the help he'd effected so far – that seemed to be helping Sarah Trent keep it together, to a much lesser degree than what Cordelia and Gunn were up to.
Yecch. I need to spend more time around evil people. Or at least people who don't have a conscience.
Lilah looked down from her vantage point on the balcony overlooking the lobby – the spot that had become all but her standard perch – onto the lobby. She wasn't really noticing what was happening until the doors on both ends of the lobby opened almost at once. Then five vampires, game faces and all, stalked into the hotel, two from one end, three from the other.
It was easy to identify them as Sandrow's vamps – for whatever reason, he liked all his undead muscle in suits and ties. Probably made him feel even more self-important, like he was hiring real professional security types. The moron.
Sarah was the first to notice them, apart from Lilah. With a frightened shriek, she grabbed her son and all but folded her body around him, trying to shield him from view – to no obvious effect.
"Hand over the kid." One of them told her simply, stepping forward from the set of three. "And I promise it'll at least be quick for you, bitch."
"So what are we, chopped liver?" Gunn asked Cordelia, pulling a stake out of his pocket.
"Apparently." Cordelia was standing up from the desk, a stake in her hand as well. Lilah saw the seer look into the open doorway of Wesley's office, but what Lilah didn't see was Wesley walking out of said office...
Because he wasn't.
"What you two blood bags are is outnumbered." The vampire – apparently the leader – said to them. "You get in our way, and we kill you too." He smirked, "Probably kill you anyway, just for the fun of it."
Not very good at negotiations, are they? Lilah asked herself. She still couldn't see Wesley anywhere –
"So," The vampire said as his minions moved towards the humans, slowly. Cordelia was coming around from behind the desk, and Gunn was moving to stand between one pair of vamps and the clients. "Are you going to hand over the-"
The vampire was cut off by the twang-thud of a wooden crossbow bolt embedding itself into his chest. The vampire had just enough time to stupidly look down at his chest before exploding into dust. Wesley was already reloading the crossbow and walking into view.
"Get 'em!" One of the other vampires snarled, and they charged. Wesley calmly shot at one of the vampires again, ignoring the explosion of dust, before dropping the weapon and grabbing a stake from the desk, moving to help Cordelia against the two moving on her.
Lilah figured Gunn had everything well in hand, given that it was just one on one, and at the moment was content to just stay where she was-
But another two vampires were coming in from the door, one each door – stragglers, or deliberate reinforcements?
No time to worry about that. For fuck's sake, why do these stupid hero wannabe types constantly land me into these situations?
Or, really, why do I let myself get dragged into these situations?
Lilah didn't have a weapon on her, so she moved to the stairs, the side where the weapons cabinet was. Unfortunately, she knew she wasn't that good with any weapon apart from a gun, which was next to useless on the undead. Crossbow was something she was working on, but Lilah maintained no illusions about how good she might be with a stake...
I really hate my life nowadays.
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
June 9th, 2001
As it turned out, Sandrow had sent even more than just seven vampires. By Lilah's count, thirteen of the damned bloodsuckers had come in, though they also come in staggered, from both entrances and two from the sewers. There had probably been a logical tactical plan in there somewhere, but it hadn't exactly worked out.
Because all of the vamps were dust now, even if during the fighting, all four of them had been knocked around more than once. There'd been a slight breather after the first seven were taken out, which Gunn had used to get his axe and Cordelia to get a crossbow of her own. Lilah had grabbed the gun from Wesley's desk, a plan already in her mind.
Wesley had barely spared her a glance during the next round of fighting, when Lilah used the British man's gun to slow down some of the vampires, leaving them more vulnerable to the other three.
Still, Lilah hadn't been able to avoid a nasty blow to the head from a vampire that had gotten too close. She didn't think she had a concussion, but she wasn't sure.
Well, if I fall asleep and don't wake up afterwards, then we'll know.
"Okay, let's hope he doesn't have any more coming." Gunn said, helping Sarah, who had been cowering in the center of the room, to her feet. Jason was huddled close to his mother, unsurprisingly.
"Maybe not now, but soon. Plus, next time, he'll probably show up in person." Lilah said acerbically, gingerly touching the side of her head, checking for blood. None. Fortunate, that.
"Well, you were right about that second part, anyway." A calm voice said from a doorway.
Lilah turned to the sound and saw Mark Sandrow standing there, flanked by two men carrying what looked like highly illegal assault weaponry and full tactical outfits. Sandrow himself was wearing a suit and tie, obviously trying to pass for a respectable businessman.
"What is this place tonight, Union Station?" Lilah smirked as she heard Cordelia mutter that.
Sandrow paid no attention to the seer. "Sarah, give me my son. I won't ask nicely twice."
Rather than curling into a ball again, Sarah actually stood up straighter, facing Mark head on.
"No." She all but spat the word at her ex, and Lilah saw a strange look on Cordelia's face – like the former cheerleader had been expecting that. Gunn too. Wesley seemed a little surprised, however. "You're not getting your hands on Jason." She didn't curl around him into a ball, but Sarah did move between him and the child, who was clutching at her leg.
"Don't think that I won't kill you if I have to, Sarah. Just hand him over – and since I'm feeling generous at the moment, I'll even let you live."
"If I hand him over to a monster like you, I may as well be dead." Sarah spat.
"You'd think I'd hurt my own son? Unlike you, you worthless bitch, Jason's my heir; my own flesh and blood. He's worth far more to me than you ever were."
"Hurt him? By the time you were done with him, by the time you'd raised him, as an adult – he'd be just as evil as you. Tell me something, Mark; if we'd had a daughter, would you have sold her off as a child sex slave, when she was old enough?"
"Maybe. Probably. In my experience, Sarah, it's about all that most women are good for. Well, that and being monumental wastes of time and money."
Finally standing up to your asshole ex may be good for the soul, but it's not working as any sort of tactical strategy. Lilah thought cynically. She figured she had to do something; and quickly came up with a plan. A half-baked one, maybe, but still a plan...
"Actually, we're also good at being incredibly vindictive." Lilah said, drawing Sandrow's attention. Moving quickly, she grabbed Jason from behind Sarah, ignoring the sudden sound of shock from the mother as she pressed her gun to the scared, struggling child's head.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Mark demanded, his calm tone slipping into anger and even a hint of fear for his son's life.
"Playing hardball, Mark." Lilah told him, her finger tightening on the trigger, apparently ignoring the attempts by Jason to escape, holding onto him as tight as she could. "Now, have your pet gorillas put down the guns, or else I shoot your precious son." Lilah's words were met by a chorus of angry disbelief from White Hats, a hateful, frightened sound from Sarah and an angry, almost bestial snarl from Mark. Gunn even started to move towards her, but Lilah stopped him.
"Gunn, seriously. If you jostle my arm, my finger might just slip on this trigger here." The black man drew up short and Lilah looked back over to Mark. "Well?"
"You wouldn't. He's just a child! And you're-"
"I'm what? One of them? Sorry to disappoint. Oh, I'll grant you they wouldn't kill your little brat." Lilah interrupted, as she gestured with her head in the direction of Wesley and the others. "But me? I used to work for Wolfram and Hart, and believe me...it wasn't moral qualms or a conscience that led to me and the firm parting ways. I have no problem shooting your kid dead right here, right now. Hell, I'd willingly stab a baby to death if I needed to." She looked at Mark pointedly, "So. Have your men put down the guns and step away from them."
Mark didn't say or do anything for a few moments, then he barked out, "Do it." He turned to his men when they didn't immediately comply, "I said do it, dammit!" The men put down their weapons and stepped away, loyal enough to the boss – or his money, more likely – to comply.
"Wesley, Gunn? Maybe you two should get those toys for yourselves." Lilah suggested, keeping her gun on Jason's temple, wincing a moment as Jason kicked her shin with his heel. "Don't do that again, you stupid little whelp!" She muttered. It didn't work.
"I don't know what you think you're doing, Lilah-" Cordelia started, but Lilah interrupted her.
"Unlike you and your friends, Vision Girl, I like my life a little more than I like my non-existent conscience." She then turned back to Sandrow. "Here's the deal. You and your goons leave. And you don't come back. You stay far, far away from this hotel and thus your ex-wife. For all I care, you can get back to your obsessive hunt for her and your son after she's out of L.A. Otherwise, I will kill your kid within the next five seconds, and then do my best to shoot you too. And it'll be your fault for forcing me to do it."
"How do I know you won't kill Jason, anyway?" Sandrow demanded.
"You don't. I suppose you'll just have to trust me. Rather hard for a pathetic misogynist like you, I know, but still. Maybe it'll teach you that women are actually good for something other than just performing on their backs, who knows?" Lilah asked flippantly.
Mark looked at her, then at Sarah, his face purple and splotchy with anger. "This isn't over, bitch." He looked at Lilah and seemed about to snarl something at her, but the Morgan woman interrupted before he could actually say anything.
"And before you try the so-called threats and torture routine, whore-monger...you might want to talk to Wolfram and Hart about certain files I have in my possession. Talk to Lindsey McDonald personally." Lilah smirked, "I don't think he'd be very happy with you killing or threatening me. In fact, Lindsey would gleefully murder you before he'd let all the compromising information I have become public knowledge, in the event of my premature demise. Keep that in mind before you do anything...hasty."
Mark seemed to barely restrain himself from hurling himself at her, but somehow, he managed to do so. In moments, all three of the bad guys were gone. Lilah kept her gun on Jason for another ten seconds or so, then pushed the boy towards Sarah.
"Here, take the brat. I'm done keeping him out of your ex-husband's clutches for you!" Lilah dropped the gun to the floor and turned back to Wesley, "Well, I think that pretty much solves the problem for the moment. And if Sandrow's actually dumb enough to contact Lindsey, then one of the firm's SWAT teams will most likely to take care of the problem permanently. No need to thank me."
Her calm, almost flippant demeanor must have been enough to throw Gunn, Cordelia and Wesley into complete speechlessness. Good thing, too. I'd rather not deal with more of their 'good guy' shit right now.
She turned and headed for the stairwell. But Lilah only made it about six steps towards the stairs when she was tackled to the ground, and felt a fist connecting with the side of her head.
Sarah wasn't a very strong woman, when all was said and done, but when it came to their child's life...well, mothers could often accomplish feats they couldn't otherwise. Something Lilah experienced first-hand, with several more punches to the head.
Still, Lilah managed to kick the angry Trent woman off of her, wincing in pain as she got back up. Sarah started to lunge at her again, but this time Cordelia grabbed the mother's arm and pulled her back.
"Don't even. Lilah's an evil bitch, but she's not worth killing for what she just did." Cordelia sent a really nasty death glare at the lawyer.
"So you know me." Lilah bit out, repressing her need to wince and turning back towards the stairs.