Words were becoming difficult to find to describe Lindsay's position. He stood watching the newly arrived Drusilla drain blood from Darla. Darla. He wasn't sure if was actually romantic or merely brotherly love that had drawn him to the flawed woman but he couldn't imagine ever being able to stand idly by as this happened. And yet there he was. Standing. Watching. Even harder to comprehend for himself was that it was in fact him who had implemented this plan. To get her to her vampire self. He consoled himself in believing that without this she was dying, but was finding it more and more difficult to believe as time passed.
He stalled, waiting for the men carrying Darla's body to leave. Being careful to avoid Drusilla at any cost. He looked back into the hotel room they had found Darla and Angel. Defeated Angel lay on the floor. It would be so easy to get rid of him right then and there. Pierce his chest with a stake and be done with this whole ordeal. Even this Lindsay was finding hard to think about. He knew as well as anyone else Angel was doing good with his undead life. Helping those around him. Lindsey could only try to convince himself that was his lot in life as well, but knowing the truth far too well.
He sighed before exiting the room, leaving Angel behind. As much as doing away with him might seem solve all his problems he knew it would just bring about bigger problems with the senior partners. And there was his prison. All along he thought that he wouldn't end up in the financial prison his dad had built himself. He vowed to make a life for himself and succeed. He didn't think of his own freedom. He didn't consider ever wanting to leave Wolfram and Hart until now. When there was no way he could.
There was more to do. More to plan and execute before the plan to destroy Angel really took hold. First he would have to wait with Darla to make sure she changes. Knowing Angel tonight was a minor setback. He would probably stop at nothing to find Darla before sunset to make sure she doesn't rise. He had to make sure that didn't happen. If he did end up showing up that night he had a back up plan. The unexpected arrival of Kate Lockley into the fold certainly helped him, she would be waiting to arrest Angel on assault charges if he interfered. He just had to make sure that she doesn't find out exactly what is going on inside the skyscraper garden.
With her handling Angel it would give time to allow Darla to adapt to her born again vamp-ism. With that they would move to stage two. The plan was, of course, flawless on paper. He may not enjoy his job as much as he did anymore, but that was no reason to allow his work to suffer. There was no hitch on paper, but there rarely weren't on execution.
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Failure was no longer an option. Angel had already done so twice in little more than forty-eight hours. Darla and Drusilla were loose in L.A thanks to Lindsay and Wolfram and Hart. They were evil, of course, but judging by the emotions Angel had encountered in Lindsay at the greenhouse Angel doubted even he knew the implications of what he had just done.
He was far beyond helping the man at this point either. It was his fault that Darla and Drusilla were putting others at risk and if he was finally feeling guilty than maybe it was good for him. Lindsay would have to figure that out on his own. If Angel didn't "accidentally" kill him first. He looked to his side and saw that Wes and Cordelia were probably both worrying about his thoughts. That last one probably gave them something to worry about but this too he also stopped caring about. Their concern was no longer his concern.
Though his thoughts were driving him at reckless speed he could hear somewhere Wesley's pleads to stop. Looking to the backseat where Cordelia was on the phone he assumed she was speaking with Doyle as she was frantically writing notes down. A vision he assumed. For just a fleeting moment he considered continuing to drive, finish the mission he really had his heart set on rather than listen to the Powers That Be. The moment just lasted a second, however. He knew that the Powers had something planned for him, the visions were not something to be ignored. Reluctantly he turned the car around and drove.
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Meanwhile Lindsay exited his own office leaving Holland Manners inside and taking more self doubt with him. The man actually had the gall to suggest that Lindsay develop a personal life. He even told Lindsay to bring a date to his wine tasting that evening. It took all of Lindsay's effort not to laugh in his superior's face. His life was Wolfram and Hart. There was nothing else for him. No matter how much he wanted it. Still insinuating involvement Holland even hinted that Kate Lockley, his new cohort, would not be a bad choice. Lindsay couldn't disagree.
The conversation had been cut short by Drusilla's appearance in his office. He couldn't help but feel cautious fear around the woman. Insane didn't seem to fit the broad spectrum of what she was. She had mentioned something about Angel coming for them. He tried to act shocked but knew this had to be coming. He had seen the man in action enough to know he would be coming. Manners and Lilah may believe that Angel would be too concerned with Darla and Drusilla to be concerned with them, but Lindsay doubted this very much.
In the meantime he tried to distract himself with the other "concern" in his life. He looked at the phone number in his phone for a moment longer, almost deciding against it before finally hitting the call button. He was going to bring a date to the wine tasting that evening. So what if he mixed business with pleasure?
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Angel's seething hatred and frustration for the entire evening he was having rose a whole new level when he found himself in the backseat of a squad car with Kate Lockley. While the two of them still weren't about to have coffee and gossip they had managed to start trusting each other again after Angel had saved her life a few weeks back. While he was imitating a different vampire she was nearly killed by a demon before Angel stepped in a bit her in order to save her.
Instead of her usual cold demeanor however she merely unlatched the cuffs holding him in custody and told the driver of the car to pull over a few blocks away from the firm. Angel couldn't help but feel a bit of shock, but also hope at her actions. The look on her face however made him very aware this was purely business. A business he didn't approve of her being in.
"What's going on?" He asked, hoping for a positive answer.
"I know what they're doing. With Darla and the other vampire." She said with an exasperated sigh, " And I know I'd be in way over my head trying to deal with them. You on the other hand-"
"I'm a little bit busy with Wolfram and Hart." He lied. He didn't want to make deals with her, she had made it a personal mission to stop him from doing his job for months, uncuffing him wouldn't eradicate that.
"So am I. I know you want to stop them. It's either you do it or you spend the night in jail...neither of us want to waste that time."
She had a point. He knew it. He gave her a curt nodd before exiting the car. She motioned for the other police officer to return to the car as she followed Angel outside of the car. He leaned against a wall and looked to her. He wanted a few moments to gather his thoughts and possibly formulate a plan. His mind had other plans. All he could think of was how to stop Darla and Drusilla, there was no room for any master plans.
"So what, you just let me go and we go our separate ways?" He asked.
"You take care of the two I'll take care of Wolfram and Hart." was a foolish statement and he knew it. If she didn't think she could handle Darla how in the hell was she going to handle Wolfram and Hart.
"How?" He asked, annoyed. She smirked and held up a phone to reveal Lindsay McDonald's phone number.
"I just got an invitation to a party."
OK well this was originally two long chapters of just Lindsay first, then just Angel but thought it might work better if I combined the two and make a mildly cliffhanger-y ending on this one. Did it work? I might even get the next chapter up tomorrow, I don't know. What do you think? Review and let me know.