Lindsay gave a smug look to match Holland and Lilah's looks of shock as he arrived with a date on his arm. It wasn't just any date. He knew he couldn't just arrive with anyone, it had to be someone that would get there attention. His growing resentment for the firm could never be confronted fully, he knew that, so instead he arrived with her. One of the many people who resented them as much as he did. If he thought he'd say yes, he would have brought Angel. As it stood Kate Lockley would do just fine.
To be honest he was a bit surprised when she agreed to go to the wine tasting at Holland Manner's place that night. So far their association had been purely business and she was the one to make sure this was the case. He wasn't exactly hit on her or asked her to dinner but any attempt to make the relationship more friendly was flatly denied. He had to admit he liked her resistance to the firm. She was smart.
Unfortunately Wolfram and Hart is smart too. They had tried to keep it from him, just like they had any developments with Darla, but he knew that Wolfram and Hart was keeping very close tabs on Kate Lockley. They knew just as well as he did that she wasn't committed to a partnership with them as she may have led them to believe. Where he had a problem about caring they had a problem of caring too much. No matter he sent a car for her earlier that night and met her in front of the Manner's home.
"I want to apologize in advance about this. It's kind of a hazard of my business, sucking up to the boss." Lindsay had said with an apologetic look to Kate.
"No. It's fine. It'll give me a chance to get to know your...firm better." She had said a little more pleasantly than she had ever been, even trying to hide the distaste at the mere mention of the firm. Lindsay smiled to himself. This was obviously a game to her and they both knew that they were on to each other.
Mere moments later he enjoyed the looks of shock and admiration at his bold choice. She acted pleasant enough to the other associates as well, making Lindsay suspect maybe she didn't know her actions were not going unnoticed by the senior partners. He felt a pang of guilt. His emotions were getting the better of him more and more lately. It was driving him insane but it made him concerned mostly for Kate. She had no idea what she was getting herself into. He made a promise to himself to make sure she's safe and get her out of the mess she unwittingly stepped into.
He kept an eye on her throughout the festivities but couldn't stop her when she offered assistance to Catherine Manners up in the mansion and out of the cellar. He was torn. He couldn't let it appear as if he was more concerned with Kate than his job but he didn't think her being out of his sight was a good idea. He let her continue, though. If he was with Holland's wife no harm could befall her without danger to Catherine. The two had been gone for only a few moments when he heard the doorbell ring.
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Angel slammed the car door and sped off before Doyle could even finish his first sentence, leaving the man sitting in the dust frustrated. Angel wasn't even sure where he was going but he was definitely getting tired of hearing everyone around him tell him he was spiraling out of control. Things were not good, he already knew that, he didn't need anyone reminding him that things were rough. The only way they were going to get any better was if he acted the way they all couldn't.
He continued to drive semi-aimlessly. He wasn't taking a direct route but deep down he knew exactly where he was going. There was no doubt he would be making an appearance at a party tonight. If she wasn't being so annoying right now Cordelia might have actually been proud of him. He could not believe that Doyle actually believe this was a bad idea. He of all people should have understood the need of the greater good. Stopping Darla and Drusilla was a number one priority. More than his own well being. More than anyone else's.
Angel screeched to a halt at the address he had forced Kate to give to him after she insisted she would attend the party that night. He had objected but she insisted she could handle it, his indifference finally got the better of him though, and he finally shrugged her idea off his list of problems to deal with. She would have to be responsible for her own actions.
Something was wrong. Wolfram and Hart was a company filled with paranoid men. They had enemies everywhere and their allies would hardly hesitate to turn on the lawyers if it suited them. These were men who probably slept with bodyguards in the next room and a gun underneath the pillow. They would have people taste their food first. They were not the type of men to just leave the front door of their million dollar houses wide open. The pace of Angel's walk quickened to meet the horror inside.
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It didn't take Lindsay very long to look around the room and realize no person should have been knocking on the door. Everyone from the firm who was worth mentioning was inside the wine cellar at that very moment. He barely registered the noise of Holland's speech as this occurred to him.
Two thoughts came into his head at that moment. He looked forlornly at the door of the cellar knowing absolutely nothing good would be coming through it in and the sooner he left everything and everyone behind the more likely it was he might escape. But then came the nagging thought of responsibility. Not two minutes earlier had he been completely overwhelmed with the well being of Kate Lockley. Things were too foggy for him. He knew this hesitation would be no good for anyone. Following his speech Lindsay quickly sidled his way to Holland's side. Unfortunately, so had Lilah Morgan. At every attempt he made to get Holland's attention Lilah interjected with useless sucking up to the man.
He grabbed the man's arm in an attempt to fully get his attention. Holland looked mildly surprised at the bluntness of his action but at this point Lindsey hardly cared. Before he could get his warning out the the man another knock came. This time it didn't come from upstairs. This time it came from much closer. This time the door to the cellar came off the hinges before anyone could answer.
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Angel could smell the scent much too familiar to him before he even reached the door. A mixture of many things the most powering smell was that of warm, welcoming blood. Inhaling, the scent was multi-faceted. The scent of Darla also became apparent. This was her work. She was close. Just as obvious was Drusilla, she had a hand in this as well, much to his chagrin. The two together was as bad as himself joining the fold.
Upon the second wave of the scene's aroma he sensed something else. He was almost to the door when it hit him. There was more than one person's blood in the mix. Someone else was attacked as well. Someone familiar. A surprisingly dull amount of concern came to him as he thought of Cordelia, Doyle, Wesley, or Gunn possibly being harmed. There should have been more concern, but he was finding it hard to feel. It couldn't have been them, however. Something sickening came to him about recognizing the blood. He had drunk it before. It was Kate.
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Before him stood Darla and Drusilla blood on their lips and a sickening feeling crept into Lindsey's stomach as he tried not to wonder who's blood graced their fangs. His intimate feelings for Darla drained out of him just as suddenly as they had walked into the room. Drusilla walked dreamily about the room, stopping every now and then to stare hungrily at someone's neck. Darla on the other hand made her way quite determinedly to one man. She made her way to Holland Manners all the while staring at his neck.
Lindsey didn't dare move as he watched the dangerous woman. They made small talk babbling about the massacre Holland wanted and a bomb shelter. He managed to breathe a sigh of relief as Drusilla skipped past him and the door mercifully made the sound of someone else entering. Hope and disappointment surged through him as Angel and not Kate walked through the door. Everyone else around him seemed to share his hope. Upon further thought however Angel's demeanor hardly seemed like the savior he normally was.
"Angel-" Several murmured, Darla's voice clearer than all others.
"I came for you Darla." He said simply, like a trance, "But you're not the Darla I- you've killed a lot of innocent people. You're not the one I wanted to save. You can't be saved." He said.
"I can live with that." She replied simply. He smirked.
"There's no point for me to be here, then." He said. A moment passed before Lindsey and the others realized exactly what that implied. He wasn't there to save him. He heard the objections of his fellow co-workers.
"Angel please. People are going to die." He heard from Holland, the only time the man showed any vulnerability.
"And yet I just don't seem to care. Those two upstairs probably can't anymore either." He retorted.
Angel stared directly at Lindsey as he said this. Almost to make sure he knew it was his fault that Kate Lockley was dead. Lindsey didn't need Angel to tell him this. The pain of guilt hit him like a ton of bricks and he simply allowed himself to lower cowering to the ground as the sound of Angel locking the doors of the former bomb shelter, trapping the lawyers to the death. Lindsey could bet anything in the world that he was the only one in the room who was welcoming the escape of death. He also knew he would probably be kept alive for exactly that reason. His need and want for death at that moment would be what kept him alive.
So, yeah. I killed Kate. Let me know what you guys think of this and many other fine things and review.