A/N: Hey everybody, here comes a new chapter and I'm awfully sorry that it took me so long *smiles apologetically* And I'm really happy that so many of you liked the first chapter. I really hope you will like the second chapter too and reviews would of course be most appreciated *puppy dog eyes*

.

Thank you so much to whovian42 (yeah, I know my commas are funky sometimes... I just hope it doesn't get too bad *sigh*), SlytherinQueen020, Jesco123, msdarque, CanAnyoneHearMe (wow, thank you for that long review and I really hope I'll continue this story to your satisfaction *smiles*), McCoy's Secret Lover, fro-chan, Harm Marie, Elura The Strange, TerrorInYerBathtub and darkshadowarchfiend for all your kind reviews *hugs you all* They really mean so much to me *happy smile*

.

Please keep in mind that English is not my native language...

.

Warnings: AU, SLASH (Lindsey/?, Lindsey/Angel somewhere along the way)

.

Disclaimer: The characters from Angel belong to Joss Whedon and I'm just borrowing them for my little story. This is not for money, but just for fun...

.

Chapter 2

.

"This little boy over there is so valuable for Wolfram & Hart, because he is Lindsey McDonald's son."

Angel stared at the demon and shook his head in denial. No, he really didn't want to believe that that boy was Lindsey McDonald's son. But one look at the impossibly pale blue eyes, which were now wide with fear, also made it impossible to deny the truth. To be honest, Angel had known from the first moment he had got his first good look at the boy.

Angel shook his head once again. He could worry about that latter. No matter if the boy was Lindsey's son or not, he was an innocent child and needed to be rescued. And the souled vampire needed to focus on how to get the children, Gunn and himself out of the house before Wolfram & Hart sent reinforcements.

He took one long look at Gunn, who just nodded, clearly understanding that Angel was going to attack the demon and distract him and Gunn was to finish him off.

The demon stood in the doorway again, blocking their only exit.

"So, are you still not interested in our little bargain, Angel?" he asked, a smug look on his face and a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Dream on, freak. I may hate his father but the boy has done nothing wrong and doesn't deserve to be held prisoner here," he snarled and charged at the demon, deliberately moving so that the demon now had his back to the children and to Gunn.

.

The demon only blocked Angel's attack with ease and chuckled.

"I thought you could do better, master vampire." The demon sounded almost disappointed, but suddenly his facial expression changed and his eyes widened in shock, before he screamed in pain.

Then he toppled forward and Angel had barely time to get out of the way or he'd be buried under the corpse of the demon, who had the silver dagger buried deep in his back. Gunn was standing behind him, his hands still wrapped around the hilt, a victory grin on his face.

Angel gave him an approving smile, when suddenly the ground shook and it sounded like a roar coming from deep within the walls of the house. The three children were huddled close together and whimpered in fear.

"What the hell was that?" Gunn questioned, trying to hide his unease from the children. Angel turned his head and his superior vampire hearing picked up a faint rumble, which got louder with every passing second.

"I fear that this is the backup the demon has talked about," he muttered and then walked over to the children, crouching down to be on eye-level with them.

"Don't worry, we will get you out of here and back to your families," he soothed and picked up the boy, who struggled a little at first and one of the girls and Gunn picked up the second girl. They were just out of the room when the ground shook again, nearly causing Angel to fall with the two children keeping him slightly off balance. Only his good reflexes saved him. That gave Gunn the chance to catch up with the vampire.

"I guess we better hurry, because whatever it is, I really don't want to be here when it's fully awake," he stated and Angel just nodded.

Wit the three children clinging to them the two ran like hell..

.

They had just made it out of the house when there was another roar and then the house suddenly exploded into flames. Angel and Gunn had barely managed to duck behind the car where Wesley was sitting behind the wheel and waiting for them.

"What the hell was that?"

Gunn stared at Angel, but the master vampire just shrugged.

"I've no idea and I don't what to stay around to find out if there are any more surprises," he said, before looking at the three children.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly. The three kids only nodded, still too frightened to speak. Angel gave them a reassuring smile.

"Good. Then let's go and reunite you with your parents," he said, mostly looking at the boy, whose name he still didn't know.

The boy avoided looking at Angel now and the vampire wondered why. Earlier he had been so brave, open and trusting and had looked Angel straight in the eyes, probably to find out if the vampire was really there to help them. And now... now he barely raised his head. He just followed Angel's instructions and climbed into the back of the car, careful to keep his distance from the vampire, who squeezed in the back with the three children while Gunn took the passenger seat. It was a tight fit, but with Sara and Lynn cuddling as close as possible to the blue-eyed boy, both girls falling asleep within seconds, there was enough space for the drive back to the Hyperion.

.

"What happened?" Wesley questioned while he started the car, driving away as fast as possible.

"Apparently Wolfram & Hart's security was a little better than we thought," Gunn explained, keeping his voice low so that he wouldn't wake the children. Wesley just nodded and Angel leaned a little forward.
"Let's just go back to the hotel and hope that Lorne and Cordelia have found the families of the kids, so that they can reunite and then we can get them out of the city," he explained, rubbing his neck for a second. Wesley nodded and sped the car up even more.

None of them noticed the dark, winged figure following them, using the shadows of the night as disguise. It had been on their trail ever since they had started driving away from the burning house. It had an evil glint in his eyes and kept the car's pace with ease, but following at a safe distance. It didn't have to worry about losing sight of the car, because it could always scent the boy, no matter where he went...

So it was more than obvious that the now dead demon hadn't lied. There had been something dangerous slumbering deep within the house... something much more dangerous and it had only one purpose, Wolfram & Hart had gone to great length to ensure that it fulfilled exactly that purpose.

And Angel was leading it straight towards their headquarters without even knowing...

.

.

About half an hour later Angel watched the children sitting on the couch, still clinging to each other. And the vampire didn't really blame them. They had been imprisoned together for who knew how long and so it was only natural for them to gravitate towards each other in foreign surroundings.

Lorne was standing beside him, also watching the three kids.

"The parents of the girls are with Cordelia and Wesley right now. They instruct them how to get out of the city and where to go," the demon explained, scratching his chin with one hand, the other in the pocket of his, as usual, colorful suit.

"We unfortunately weren't able to locate the boy's father," Lorne then added and there was an undertone in his voice that Angel couldn't quite place, but he strongly thought that he had also seen the resemblance between Lindsey and the boy. Angel sighed a little and ran a hand through his hair. The boy still hadn't said a word ever since they had left the house and whenever Angel came too close to him, he flinched away. The vampire had to admit that he was a bit confused and somehow even hurt by the boy's behavior.

"I know who the boy's father is and you do too, Lorne, don't you?" Angel questioned, his eyes never leaving the boy. Lorne nodded.

"Yeah I know," he admitted and turned towards Angel.
"The question is, what are we going to do about it? Or better yet, what are you going to do with that knowledge?" the demon asked and again there was an undertone in his voice that made Angel a little uneasy.

.
"What do you mean?" he questioned, trying to play dumb. Lorne gave Angel one of his "I know you better than you know yourself" looks that made even Angel feel small and insecure, not that the vampire would ever admit that out loud.

"Come on, Angel. I know you well enough to know that you're dying to ask a certain lawyer a lot of questions," Lorne explained. Angel snorted.

"Damn right I want to ask him a few questions," the vampire said and he wanted to say more when suddenly the boy's whole face light up into a bright smile and he jumped from the couch and yelled "daddy", running past Angel and Lorne towards the lobby.

The demon and the vampire turned in surprise, just in time to see the boy leap into the arms of none other than Wolfram & Hart's golden boy Lindsey McDonald.

And Angel couldn't help the small smile on his face when he saw the happy reunion between father and son. Now there was no mistaking anymore, the boy looked like a mini-Lindsey, just his hair was a bit darker than his father's.

.

Angel quickly turned his face expressionless again, before he walked over to where Lindsey stood, his son held close against his chest, his face buried in the boy's hair.

"So you've heard about it?" he questioned, trying to keep his voice neutral. Lindsey looked up and Angel was a little shocked to see tears in the younger man's eyes, well compared to Angel, he was not more than a boy. But Lindsey ignored the tears and just nodded.

His voice was so soft that Angel barely heard him, when he whispered a "thank you". And Angel was taken aback a little, because Lindsey McDonald had never thanked him, at least not voluntarily.

He tried to shrug off the strange feeling that was growing in his stomach when he watched father and son.

"Don't think I've done this for you," he said, his voice harsher than he had intended. But Lindsey didn't seem surprised by his harsh tone.

"I don't think so, that's why I took care that Cordelia would get that particular vision," the lawyer stated, keeping his tone neutral too.

Angel stared at the younger man.

"Wait what? You sent Cordy the vision?" he questioned, disbelief coloring his voice and Lindsey nodded.
"Yeah I did, I knew you'd never believe me, let alone help me if I'd come to you asking for it." There was a sadness in his eyes that Angel had never seen before from the other man.

"I mean, you were so stubborn and only wanted to believe that I'm evil. You didn't even listen last time I tried to talk to you about my reasons working for Wolfram & Hart. I wanted to change but you didn't give me the chance. And then I couldn't, because they took Eliot," Lindsey explained and Angel couldn't help to feel guilty. Yeah, Lindsey had tried to change, but Angel had been too stubborn and too set on pushing the young man and the ambiguous feelings for him away so that he wouldn't have to deal with them.

"Lindsey, I..." he started, but Lindsey just held his hand up.

"Don't bother Angel. I'll leave town now, because I can't go back to Wolfram & Hart and I can't stay here. Thank you for rescuing my son and now we'll be out of your way," he explained.

.

Lorne, who hadn't said a word before now walked up to them and said: "Nonsense, you can't leave tonight. You can stay with me for a few days and then Angel will help you find a way out of the city, won't you Angel."

Lindsey was truly touched by Lorne's offer and the surprised, almost stupid look on Angel's face made him laugh a little, but again he shook his head.

"I can take care of myself and of Eliot. I have done so for years," he explained and then looked at Angel when he said the next part: "And I really don't want to stay somewhere where I'm not wanted."

With that he turned around and was about to walk out of the building when suddenly the boy, Eliot as Angel now knew, squirmed and freed himself from his father's hold, jumped to his feet and ran over to Angel.

The vampire looked at the boy in surprise, especially when Eliot asked, his voice innocent, sad and angry at the same time: "Why do you hate my dad? When all he ever did was love you?"

The answer had shocked Angel into a stunned silence and before he could recover, a shattering roar broke it, windows smashed and Lindsey screamed... a scream so full of pain that Angel's heart clenched painfully and with a roar he charged at the winged demon that had sunk its claws deep into Lindsey's back... hoping that he wasn't too late to safe Lindsey...

.

to be continued...

Well yeah, here it is, the second chapter... I really hope it wasn't too bad...

Comments would be most appreciated *smiles hopefully*

And as for the name for Lindsey's son... I just couldn't resist *sheepish grin*