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Chapter 13: The Storm The team was sitting in Angel's office, Buffy looking depressed and everyone’s eyes fixed on her. “Let me get this straight, this Christian guy you befriended, he's our very own evil lawyer in Wolfram & Hart”, Cordelia summed up what Buffy had told them. “Yeah”, Buffy sighed and brooded some more, doing her best Angel-impression. “Then it's good thing I didn't talk you over to fix me up with him. Or would it have been a good thing since I would have known who he is and...” Cordelia drifted off. “Does he know about... your condition?” Wesley questioned, uncomfortably signing to Buffy's stomach. “I don't know, it's not like I bothered to hide it when I met him but I never told him. But...” “Evil lawyer and everything”, Cordelia finished for Buffy who nodded in confirmation. “I believe it would be safe to say that they know of Buffy's pregnancy. But why haven't they done anything about it, you'd think that such a extraordinary occurrence would rouse their attention”, Wesley said thoughtfully, removing his glasses and just fiddling with them. “I'm thinking they wanted to sneak in under the radar”, Gunn said, turning everyone’s attention to him. “I was thinking that too”, Angel confirmed glumly. “I think I want to stake him”, Buffy grumbled under her breath. “Buffy, despite the fact that he works for a evil law firm, he is still human, corrupted but human”, Wesley chided and everyone shot him a weird look. “Oh, you weren't serious”, he said embarrassed and removed his glasses, starting to clean them. “About wanting to stake him or actually staking him?” Buffy questioned and started pouting as Angel gave her a chiding look. He felt like a hypocrite as it took all his willpower not to jump to his feet and hunt down Lindsey McDonald and skin him alive for putting that hurt look on his mates face. “Angel, you're doing the growly thing again”, Buffy whispered to him and then he noticed the slightly frightened looks everyone were sending his way, he hadn't even noticed that he was growling deep in his chest just from thinking about Lindsey. “Are you evil?” Cordelia demanded giving him a hard look. “I'm not evil”, Angel answered but Cordelia didn't look convinced. “I'm not evil!” he repeated. “It's a vampire thing. He's just jealous”, Buffy explained. “I'm not jealous”, he grumbled. “Sure you're not”, Cordelia said like talking to a child. “I'm not!” “We believe you”, Cordelia conceded and all but gave him a pat to the top of his head. “How about we concentrate on the matter at hand”, Wesley interrupted. “Now that we know, what are we going to do about it?” “I say we go and kick his ass. Gunn and Angel can hold him while I kick him with my new high heels”, Cordelia said passionately and Buffy couldn't help but laugh. “As good as that sounds, I think we need something little less...” she left the sentence hanging in the air. “Anyway, I just want to look him in the eye when it all goes down.”
“Hey there”, Lindsey said as he walked to the table Buffy was sitting in. “Hey”, she answered lifting her gaze to his and offering him a smile that was hard to form on her lips. “I was surprised to hear from you”, he said as he sat down to the table. “Why?” Buffy asked innocently raising her eyebrow. “Well, you said you'd be busy yesterday when I called and you were in a hurry to get off the phone.” “Oh, it got canceled”, Buffy said dismissively. “I just thought I'd talk to my friend, Cordy's so busy today, so I figured why not catch up with you. So how's the album recording going?” “It's going well, almost finished.” “Maybe you could get me a cd before it's out, I haven't heard you singing”, she suggested and watched as he shifted uncomfortably but changed the movement into just trying to get more comfortable on his seat. “Yeah, maybe I could.” “Want some coffee? I was thinking you and Angel could meet today since we've been trying to arrange it for some time”, she suggested innocently, she watched him under her lashes, noticing his pose stiffening. “Sorry, I can't tonight”, Lindsey apologized. “Oh, it's okay, he's trying to make it here now”, Buffy waved it off smirking inside, struggling not to let it show outside. “I can't stay long, I have a meeting with my manager”, Lindsey stated apologetically and stood up with Buffy following him. “Oh? You're always going to a meeting or something when I suggest you'd meet Angel. It almost looks like you don't want to meet him, Lindsey”, Buffy said pronouncing his name pointedly. Lindsey froze and turned to look at her, trying to remain as calm as he could. She was staring straight into his eyes, her eyes betraying nothing, this wasn't the girl he had got to know, this was the slayer. “So you know”, he stated calmly, something he wasn't feeling on the inside. “Yeah, I know”, Buffy answered grimly, folding her arms in front of her like a shield. “This isn't how I wanted it to end”, he said and tried to step closer to her but the look she send him made him stop. “I bet it wasn't. But how did you think it was going to end? That I wouldn't find out? You lied to me, you used me!” she hissed under her breath, not willing to cause a scene. “Buffy”, he whispered painfully and reached out for her. “Touch me and I'll rip your arm off”, Buffy ground out and quickly Lindsey pulled his hand away. “You stay away from me and my family, or you and anyone else from Wolfram & Hart will be the exception on the rule that slayers don't kill people”, she hissed gritting her teeth and walked past Lindsey. As soon as Buffy was out of the door, Lindsey pulled out his phone and dialed the number. “We have a problem.” Buffy crossed the road and met with Gunn. “Did everything go alright? It looked pretty heated there at one time”, Gunn asked concerned. Buffy took couple of calming breaths and nodded. “I'm okay. Just threatened to tear his arm off and he backed off. Just hormones, no big.” “Okay, remind me not to piss you off till you've popped.” “Hey! I'm not that bad!” Buffy protested and Gunn jumped back with his hands held up. “Of course not”, he said and she shot him a halfhearted glare before they started walking towards the hotel.
Buffy and Gunn walked into the lobby and immediately Angel ran to her. He stopped in front of her, inspecting her with his eyes and to others it almost looked like they were talking without saying anything. “You okay?” he asked and she nodded with a small smile. “Yeah. It's not like he could take me if he tried anything.” Angel heard a rifle being loaded and before the stop fired through the silencer, he spun him and Buffy around, the dart hitting him into back. “Angel!” Buffy screamed as Angel started crumbling down to the ground. The others ran to the weapon cabinet and armed themselves. Buffy gently laid Angel down to the floor and attacked one of the masked intruders. The man didn't even have time to reload as he was down on the ground unconscious and Buffy was going after another. She fought the man with fierce focus when suddenly she was grabbed from behind and she felt a needle prick on the back of her neck. She kicked the commando in front of her and thrust he elbow back, hitting the man behind her. She fought to stay on her feet but the world was quickly loosing focus and she started staggering. “Stay where you are!” Lindsey commanded as he grabbed a hold of Buffy before she crumbled to the ground. Two gun men pointed their guns at the team as third dragged the unconscious man out. “Those aren't loaded with tranquilizers”, Lindsey stated and handed Buffy to two men that had just entered the lobby. Without another word, the group left. “Angel”, Cordelia breathed out and ran to the unconscious vampire as Gunn and Wesley hurried to the door just in time to see a black van speed off. They returned to Cordelia who lifted her gaze to the two men. “Angel isn't going to be happy when he wakes up.”
Buffy slowly woke up and the first sight she saw was a row of bars. She sat up and placed her hand to her stomach, after a while stating that the baby seemed to be doing fine. “You know, you really didn't have to go through all this trouble just for little ole me. Cages and the whole medieval stuff really isn't my thing”, she stated and Lindsey stepped into the view. “Well, I would have just sent flowers but Wolfram & Hart thinks little bigger than me”, he said with a sad attempt of a smile. “Was it all a lie? Can you even sing?” “It wasn't a lie and I can sing a hell of a lot better than your boyfriend.” “Well, that may be true. But you lied to me! You used me! I would love to stake you right now.” “I told you once before, I'm not a vampire”, Lindsey stated and Buffy scoffed. “You're worse.” Lindsey looked at her painfully and walked closer to the cage, still keeping a good distance so she couldn't reach him. “Buffy...” he started but she interrupted him, shooting daggers at him while saying every word like they were poison. “Was it all a lie? The whole bad childhood was just a trick to make me feel for you, to trust you?” “No, that was true. You see, that's why I have no choice, I stayed with Wolfram & Hart...” “You do have a choice! You had your chance to get out but you didn't take it!” Buffy interrupted him vehemently. He shook his head and stepped closer to the bars. “No, I don't. I'm not going to be a victim anymore.” “You're still a victim”, she stated and jumped to her feet. Before he could react, she had grabbed him by the throat and pulled against the bars. “Open the door”, she demanded. “Don't have a key”, he answered calmly, he was fairly certain she wouldn't kill him. “Guess we'll be standing here till you find one”, she stated. “You're a smart girl, Buffy, there is no way you can protect that baby forever”, Lindsey said and Buffy let out a sound that was very close to a growl. “You're a smart boy, Lindsey, don't ever piss off a hormonally imbalanced slayer”, she ground out and smashed his head against the bars. She leaned down and searched his pockets, finally sighing in irritation. “Is it too much to ask to keep a key with you”, she griped as the search turned out to be fruitless.
Lilah walked towards her car digging the keys from her purse but she stopped and looked around as she thought she heard a noise. The garage seemed empty till her eyes fixed on the other employee walking to his car. Sighing in relief, she kept on going, pulling out her car keys and starting to unlock the door. Suddenly Angel was standing next to her, she hadn't seen or heard him coming and it took everything in her not to jump as she noticed him. “Where is she?” Angel demanded. He could smell her fear in the air but despite that, Lilah gave him her best defiant look. “I don't know what you're talking about”, she said innocently. Suddenly Angel leaped forward and before Lilah could even register what had happened, she was pinned against the car by her throat. “Don't play with me Lilah, I'm not in the mood. I repeat, where is she?” he growled out, his face morphing into vampire feature without him even acknowledging it. “I don't know”, Lilah whispered, this time her eyes showed her fear as well. The low, angry growl he was making was sending cold chills running up and down her spine, this wasn't the brooding vampire that shied away from anything that reminded of the demon inside him. “I have no patience to play your games. I repeat, where is she?” Angel ground out through gritted teeth and tightened his hold on her throat. She gasped for breath and tried to wring his fingers off her throat but it was in vain. “In a safe house”, she wheezed out and Angel let go of her neck. She nearly fell down to the ground and she had to lean on the car to stay standing, a show of weakness she didn't want Angel to see. She tried steadying her breathing but she could see that Angel wasn't a patient man at the moment. “A safe house in the suburbs, I don't know which one”, she explained. “You better pray that nothing happens to her because if there is even a hair missing from her head, I will hunt you down and you will wish you had never seen me”, Angel threatened and spun around, stalking away. As she watched him go, she pulled in a ragged breath and closed her eyes in relief. “I already regret it”, she muttered to herself and with shaking hands unlocked the car door.
The whole team jumped as Angel growled and threw a book to the wall. “This is useless!” he ground out and made a step closer to the computer but Cordelia stepped in front of him with a defiant look on her face. “Stop the growling! Throwing around the computer and crashing the place is no help. We are going to find her so keep your forehead in place”, she ordered and pointed at the chair for him to sit. Grudgingly he did, still glaring at her but she didn't let him intimidate her. “I think we found it”, Wesley informed from the computer and quickly scripted the address on a slip of paper. Angel had already jumped back to his feet and nearly ripped the paper from Wesley's hands before he finished the last letter. “Let's go”, he announced and headed to the weapons cabinet, grabbing a battle ax and continuing to the door. “It's a good thing the sun isn't up!” Cordelia stated loudly making sure Angel would hear her but he seemed to ignore her. “Is anyone else getting a Angelus vibe from him?” she asked as soon as he had walked out the door. “You don't think...” Wesley started shocked by the suggestion and Cordelia shot him a strange look. “Did you leave those big brains of yours back in the office? If that was Angelus, we'd be running screaming for our lives and there would have been a massacre at Wolfram & Hart. Please. I was just saying he's all growly and running through the door not caring if it's day or night.” “He's just concerned. And I have read that vampires can sense when the sun rises and sets”, Wesley stated, picking up a crossbow and heading out with Cordelia and Gunn. “What ever. But I still think he shouldn't be running around like a headless chicken.” Angel was waiting impatiently in the car for them and didn't look happy when they stepped in but he didn't say anything, just sped off. He slowed down as they arrived to the street parked the car out of sight. The group sneaked closer to the house and Angel glanced through a window, quickly estimating there were at least two men in soldier outfits and three vampires. “There's at least five of them on guard”, Angel said to the others. “So how you wanna handle this?” Gunn asked. “We go in and get Buffy out”, he stated and at that sprinted into run and practically crashed through the door. “So guns blazing it is”, Gunn stated and the others followed the vampire that was already fighting the guards. Wesley shot one of the vampires but it managed to dodge enough that the arrow missed the heart and it abandoned Angel to attack Wesley. Wesley tried to shoot another arrow at it but it batted the crossbow off his hands and punched him against the wall. “Hey!” Cordelia yelled and as the vampire turned, she sprayed holy water on him. The vampire was blinded, giving Wesley the perfect opportunity to stake him. Angel and Gunn were sharing the others, with a easy move, Angel staked the other vampire and threw the other man across the room as Gunn was in a fistfight with the other. The remaining vampire tried to sneak behind Gunn but Angel swung his ax and decapitated him. The other commando climbed up to his feet and attacked the group. Cordelia shrieked as the man tried to grab her but Angel tackled him to the ground and quickly she pulled out a bottle of maze and directed the spray at the commando. Angel punched the man unconscious and turned to Cordelia, wiping his face to his sleeve. “That's vile stuff”, he stated and Cordelia raised her eyebrow at him. “What? I wasn't aiming at you.” Angel shook his head and then directed his gaze to Gunn who was still fighting the remaining commando, it looked like he was just having fun and with that notion, Angel headed to the basement door, following his instincts. As he pulled the door open, he came face to face a large demon and with a growl, he hit it, sending it flying down to the basement. Quickly he jumped down the stairs and felt the relief flooding into his body as he saw Buffy, alive but still in the cage. “Hey”, she whispered with a small smile. “Hey”, was his automatic answer. His eyes turned to Lindsey who was sporting nasty bruises on his face and a threatening growl escaped him. Lindsey sprinted towards a table by the wall and Angel went right after him, stopping him from reaching the tranquilizer gun. Angel grabbed his arm and twisted forcefully till there was a sickening scrunch and he screamed in agony. As Lindsey was on the ground, Angel looked quickly around himself and found the keys tangling on a hook behind the table. He grabbed them and opened the cage door. Buffy sent a sad, disappointed look at Lindsey before the couple hurried up the stairs.
Buffy tried untangling herself from Angel's limbs but with every freeing movement he seemed to just tighten his hold on her. “Angel, I need to get something to drink”, she said knowing that he was usually a light sleeper and especially now he would notice the smallest sound. “Wait here, I'll get it”, he said and started loosening his hold on her. “Angel, I can get a glass of water myself”, she protested but he turned to look at her and shook his head. “You're never going to let me go outside ever again, are you?” she questioned accusingly. “That was the second time you got kidnapped in a short timespan, I'm not letting you out of my bed again”, he stated and then a smirk rose to his lips. “Now that I think about it, I like that idea.” Buffy laughed and slapped his arm. He smiled at her but soon the smile faded and his gaze traveled down to her stomach, his hand covering the growing bump. “Are you sure you two are okay?” he asked almost in a whisper. Buffy cupped his cheek with her hand and turned his eyes back to hers. “We're okay”, she assured him. “But?” “It's just... it's just that I'm feeling betrayed and disappointed with Lindsey. I though he was a friend and it turned out that he's a evil lawyer out to get you.” Angel covered her hand with his and brought it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her fingers. “I know. You trusted him and he betrayed that trust.” She nodded, sniffing back the tears that tried to form on her eyes. He wiped them away with his finger and she looked at the ceiling with a sigh. “Damn hormones”, she grumbled. “I just want to forget him tonight. Could you just... hold me right now?” Angel wrapped his arms around her and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. “What about that drink?” “It can wait, I just want to feel you. You're the only one I feel safe with”, she said in a whispered and closed her eyes taking comfort in his presence.
Lindsey walked into his office with his arm on a sling and a cast wrapped around his forearm. His scowl deepened as he found Lilah sitting in his chair. “Lilah”, he stated coolly. “How's the arm?” she asked with a smirk making no move to leave his chair. “Good. But I doubt you came here to ask how my arm is doing”, he said and walked closer to her. “Just wanted to check you're still alive. He wasn't a happy camper when you took his blond. You're lucky he just broke your arm and didn't rip it off.” “As nice as these visits are, what are you really doing here, Lilah?” He was loosing his patience at the same rate as the painkiller was wearing off. She looked at him up and down till she got up to her feet and sauntered around the desk. “The senior partners are pleased, we've found his weakness and she's the key in dipping him over to our side.” Lindsey let out a humorless laugh. “If you're thinking about killing her, your plan has one big hole in it. If you kill Buffy, Angel doesn't only loose his sanity but he will have more the reason to tear down Wolfram & Hart, more so now that she's pregnant weather or not she has given birth at the time.” Lilah glared at him and started to walk past him. “Just because you had a punch of coffee dates with the girl, don't think you have any say or insight into the thing. Wolfram & Hart will get that kid and the slayer is expendable, our main goal is to get Angel to our team, don't you forget that”, she reminded him with a cold voice and intentionally brushed against his broken arm as she walked past him.
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