Ceremony Of InnocenceBy DM Evans
Chapter: 12
Buffy nearly snagged Connor. He did a one-handed cartwheel, tearing free of her grip, landing in the street. He whirled and caught hold of a passing delivery truck. Connor flipped onto the top of the truck and was heading down the road.
"Damn, he's good," Buffy said, turning around. "It would have helped if you didn't trip over some kids' skateboard, Mr. I'm-a-graceful-creature-of-the-night." Buffy felt a big wound in her pride that Connor had slipped past her. She knew Angel had to feel worse and that she shouldn't snap at him but her frustration levels were dangerously high.
"I live in L.A. Where I'm usually at there isn't backyard for kids to leave their junk in," Angel said, changing directions, heading back for his car. Buffy heard the tension in his voice.
Buffy raced after him and Angel tore off in the Belvedere even before Buffy was completely seated.
"What did she do to him, Buffy?" His hands closed over the steering wheel so hard it creaked ominously. "What did that bitch do to my son?"
"I don't know, Angel," Buffy whispered, not sure if she should say anything or just let him vent.
"I want her..." Angel's jaw clenched.
"Dead," Buffy finished for him, putting a hand on his arm. "Angel, you can't."
He shrugged free. "I know."
Neither of them seemed to believe he meant that and Buffy didn't want to address it. Buffy just kept quiet and scanned for signs of the delivery truck or Connor.
"Why did she have to come back?" Angel said finally. "I told Cordy she needed to look out for herself, concentrate on that movie of hers."
"She cares about Connor, Angel," Buffy said, wondering how true that was. There was so much of that history she still didn't know despite her and Angel's big talk. "I'm sure she just wanted to reassure herself he's all right."
"And see how well that worked," he said bitterly.
"She couldn't have known he'd freak," Buffy said, not believing she was defending Queen C. "Even you weren't expecting it."
"Cordy hurt him. She knew that." Buffy could see Angel had chosen this topic to be stubborn about.
"You've hurt me. I've hurt you. It happens, Angel. Either we learn to forgive or we break completely. Maybe that's what you want with Cordy, a complete break, but does she know that? More importantly, is it what Connor wants? It's his choice, not yours." She twisted in the seat to look at him. She knew too well how Angel took it on himself to make choices for everyone.
Angel stared straight ahead, not looking at her, not looking anywhere but where he was driving. "I just want to protect him, Buffy, at all costs."
"I know. I feel that way about Dawn. And I know that's not quite the same thing but we can't always protect them. They'll start hating us if we try. Sometimes they have to make their own mistakes. You told me that. Giles has, too, and Mom." Buffy pursed her lips. She was sounding so Mom-like it was scary
Angel sighed, glancing over at her. "I know. I resented my father when he tried to run my life. But Connor's different. There's so much he doesn't know. We threw him into this world without guidance with no understanding how this world works. That's my fault."
"And it can't be undone."
Angel didn't answer. His glower only deepened. Buffy sighed then did a double take, thinking she saw something.
"Stop, Angel He's down that alley."
Buffy was out of the car as Angel drove it half up on the curb. Connor wasn't going to get away this time, she decided. Her pride wasn't up to two embarrassments in one night. She grabbed his arm but he windmilled it out of her grip. He leaped up, landing on the roof of a bookstore. He started running from roof top to roof top. Buffy paced him on the ground, seeing Angel scaling the building. They might be able to catch him in a pincer move.
Angel blind sided the boy. Connor wormed free but his frantic movement sent him off the roof. Angel grabbed for him but his son was too far over the edge. Connor plummeted. He twisted cat-like and landed on his feet. Shocked, Buffy wasn't prepared for Connor to bolt but this time she managed a flying tackle. He squirmed under her, managing to twist so they were face to face. She thought he was going to try and push her off. Instead his eyes widened, panic roiling in them. He gibbered at her in a language she didn't know and before she could react, his fist caught her chin. Buffy rocked back, stunned by his sheer strength. His fist smashed her face several more times even as she landed a few good shots of her own. Buffy felt someone separating them. She saw Angel capture Connor from behind, pinning his arms. The boy shrieked, switching to English. "She was on me She was on me "
"Connor, stop it." Angel lifted him off his feet. "Buffy, are you okay?"
She ran her tongue over her teeth, probing to see if any of them had been loosened. Her nose poured blood down over her face. "I'll be okay," she replied, knowing it was true. She hurt now but her Slayer healing would quickly take care of that. At worst she had a broken nose, nothing she couldn't handle.
Angel spun Connor so he was staring at Buffy. She saw the fear in his eyes for her, for his son. She trembled, feeling those emotions. He shook his son. "Look at her, Connor. Look at what you did. Look at her face." Angel shook Connor harder, the boy's head snapping back and forth like a doll's. "If she weren't a Slayer, you might have killed her. You can't hit people like that."
"She was on me," Connor moaned, his body limp. "I had to...don't touch me.” Angel released his grip with his left hand only so he could stroke his son's hair. He tried to calm himself along with his boy. "I know she frightened you but you can't hit people like that. Promise me you won't. What if you had done that to Cordy when she touched you?"
Connor didn't promise anything. He mewled softly, his head falling back against his father's chest. Buffy reached out, touching his cheek. Connor flinched away but she wouldn't let him slip out of her grasp. "We want to help you, Connor. We know you were really hurt bad but we can't help unless you start talking to us. That's the only way we'll know what to do."
"I can't," he whimpered.
Angel squeezed him a little. "It's okay. You will be able too soon. Come on, Connor. Let's go home."
"Is Cordy going to be there?" Though he was still trembling, Connor sounded remarkably calmed compared to his state of mind just moments before.
"Not if you don't want her to be," Angel said.
"Not tonight."
"Okay, then. Come on, let's get in the car."
"I'm sorry I hurt you, Buffy," Connor mumbled, not looking at her.
She smoothed his hair with a bloody hand, feeling him flinch again. She wondered if she should force him to withstand being touched like this or not. People needed touched, therapeutic, Mom used to say. "I forgive you. Do you want me to just head out and patrol or do you want me to come with you?"
"Not tonight," Connor repeated.
"All right, I'll call home and let them know we found Connor and he's okay," Buffy said.
"Thanks." Angel touched her cheek. "But I've got a better idea. I'll drop you back home. You took a few good shots to the head. Why not take a night off? Faith's out there on patrol and provided she and Spike haven't killed each other or are doing...other things, that should be enough."
"Normally I'd protest but tonight, I'll take it easy." Buffy got in the back seat so Angel could have Connor controlled in the front with him.
Angel took her home, feeling guilty. He wanted to spend more time with her, make sure Connor hadn't damaged her too badly even though he knew she had taken far worse in her time. He felt responsible for her injuries. Instead, he let her go in alone and he went back to the mansion. It was empty, so he assumed everyone was still hard at work at the Summers' home.
Connor didn't fight with him as he escorted the boy in. Connor didn't bother finding a bathroom, but stripped in the garden and started scrubbing himself clean under the artistic waterfall. A cold shiver danced inside Angel's still chest as he remembered doing exactly the same thing after kissing Buffy once he had become Angelus again. When Connor headed off, sans clothing, Angel picked up the torn, bloody garments and followed his son.
Connor shoved the bed so that one edge of it was to the wall then climbed in, naked and glistening with water. He pulled the covers up all the way to this chin, trembling. He put his back to the wall hard. Angel sat on the edge and reached out, touching the boy's damp hair.
"Want to tell me about it now, Connor?" A little voice in Angel's head said he knew what was wrong, that he had done things like this to people before. Just ask Dru. She'd know but he ignored that voice. He couldn't bear to hear it.
Connor's eyes screwed shut. "Not tonight. I didn't mean...I'm sorry for what I did. I know it was wrong."
"It's more than wrong, Connor. You're stronger than most humans. They can't take a hit like that. I know you don't want to kill anyone, especially not by accident but you could." Angel smoothed the covers, easing them from Connor's death grip. "And if I yelled earlier, I'm sorry. I was upset and worried about you and Buffy."
"It's okay," Connor mumbled, not flinching from the soothing hand Angel was running over his shoulders. "Dad...I want to be better."
"I know you do, Connor and you will be. It takes time. I know that doesn't help and it sounds stupid and hollow but it's true," Angel said, getting up.
Connor grabbed his hand. "Stay."
Angel stared down at him in shock. "Are you sure?"
"I don't want to be alone." Connor worried the covers up so he was only visible from his eyes up.
"I'll be right back."
Angel brought in the bean bag chair and one of the books Wesley thought might be helpful. He set it up just far enough from the bed not to crowd his son but where he'd be in sight. Connor sighed, his eyes fluttering shut. Angel knew he was going to kill Lilah for this, to hell with what his friends might think. She deserved it. He sat in the bean bag chair wondering why anyone ever thought they were comfortable. He had a quick little flash back to the 1970's, his bad hair and the heat of Texas. No wonder Fred wasn't in a hurry to get home. He pushed that aside and waited patiently for Connor to talk to him some more. The boy fell asleep instead and Angel busied himself with research.
---
Cordelia walked down the streets of Sunnydale. How little it had changed. She had expected no less. She saw Buffy's swollen face when she had gotten back last night and felt so guilty she made apologies and drove for her hotel room. She spent the night fighting sleep, wondering if this was all her fault. In the end she decided it wasn't. Relationships seldom worked out but she knew that was a poor excuse. She knew there was too much Connor couldn't possibly understand. It wasn't a normal break up. It hadn't even been a real relationship.
But she had been through hell herself in the last two years. She knew she shouldn't feel so guilty about wanting to find a new life now that she was just plain old Cordy again. She wanted to believe that Angel really wanted her to have her chance at a new life. She knew part of him did but she also knew he hadn't forgiven her and wanted her gone. She didn't blame him. Still, her motives for her crime hadn't been that terrible. She hadn't wanted Connor to die without there having been something pleasurable in his life. She wanted him to die a man.
Of course she wasn't even sure it was her choice to make love to Connor. It could have been part of the outside forces manipulating everything. Connor was born in part so he could father that horrible child with her. And it no longer mattered. Whatever was done was done. Normally she'd say no changing it but with this group that wasn't impossible.
She couldn't hide forever on the streets of Sunnydale so Cordy headed back for Buffy's house. She ought to help them research the problem. She was surprised to find Angel there sitting carefully in the shadows, pouring through a rather large tome. Angel glanced up at her but his face was inscrutable.
Cordy went over to him and quietly said, "Is Connor here, Angel?"
Angel set the book aside, staring up at her, his eyes like flint. "He's outside with Xander and Kevin."
"Kevin needed to decompress a little," Lindsey said, unable to miss hearing the conversation. "Harris seems to be good at lightening the mood."
Cordy smiled. "It's Xander's main strength." She looked at Angel. "Do you think I could talk to Connor? I don't want to make things worse but I'd like to be able to talk to him."
"If he's okay with it, fine. I can't tell you what he'll do though. He's acting so oddly." Angel ran a hand through his thick hair. Cordy saw the fine tremors of his hand as it moved. "We still have no idea what happened to him."
"I won't push it, Angel. If he doesn't want to talk to me, I won't try to force him to. But he used to tell me everything. If he does talk about it, I'll tell you."
Angel managed a faint smile. "Thanks. And Cordy, for your own safety don't touch him. Women touching him seemed to make Connor go berserk."
Cordy went out to the back porch. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn they were three old buddies talking about a pickup game or plotting their next weekend warrior misadventure. Xander looked totally at ease but she had come to think of that as his natural state. He was the joker. Every group needed one. Maybe that was what had always felt a little off about Angel Investigations. It had been too grim.
Xander was laughing at something Kevin was saying. Cordy didn't see much of Lindsey in his older brother but she couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. Kevin had a more open face, more inviting to trust.
Even Connor had summoned up a smile for whatever it was Kevin was telling them. Cordy's breath caught seeing him. In the unforgiving light of the sun Connor looked horrid, old despite the pale, ethereal youth of his face. His eyes, always a little puffy, looked blackened and almost swollen. Then again, some of that could be from Buffy beating on him, Cordy realized. His usually bright red lips seemed dulled and cracked, but at least those generous lips were parted in something like a smile.
"There was Lindsey running down the street desperate to be Superman, only we couldn't afford a Halloween costume," Kevin was saying, "So he had stolen a red towel from Mrs Culpepper's line and was wearing it as a cape. All he had on otherwise were his briefs which he had tried to stain red with Kool-Aid."
"Oh God " Xander shook his head. "I should have been so creative."
"He does get points for that. I was out feeding the cattle when he runs by with our older sister, Victoria, chasing him." Kevin held out his arms and raced around the back yard. He pulled up short seeing Cordelia, flashing her a goofy, embarrassed smile. "Um, hi."
"Hi." Cordelia grinned back.
He dropped his outstretched arms. "Sorry for being so silly."
"Don't worry. We all get silly from time to time, especially when everything goes nuts," Cordelia said. "And Xander is a master of silly. If it weren't for him, I'm not sure any of us would have made it out of high school with our sanity intact. This has nothing on some of the tense crap we had back then."
"Thanks Cordy," Xander said. Amazement competed with a faint blush on his broad face. "Do they need us back inside?"
"Not that they said. They look like they have things well in hand. Has Anya gotten the wedding photos yet? She wanted me to look at them."
Xander shifted his weight, staring at his feet. "Cordy, you don't have to if you don't want to.""I want to," she insisted, hugging him impulsively. "Xander, I'm very happy for you. You and I ended a lifetime ago. It was what it was, a high school fling, good in its way. I long ago forgave you for how it ended just in case I never made that clear." Xander seemed surprised but embraced her back. "Thanks."
"I wish I had known you were getting married. I probably couldn't have been there but I could have gotten you something."
"Believe me, with Anya it's never too late for gifts." Xander mustered up an uncomfortable smile.
Cordy laughed. "Smart woman." She took a step back and looked over at Connor. "Can you and I talk, Connor?” His big blue eyes fastened on her then he nodded. "Okay."
"Come on, Kevin." Xander clapped a hand on the older man's shoulder. "Let's give them a hand with the research.""I'm still sorry you had to see that," Kevin reiterated, following Xander.
Cordy grinned. "Believe me, there were plenty of times I could have used that Superman story to put Lindsey in his place."
Kevin smile back. "Remind me sometime to tell you how he tried to impress little Becki Ann Miller with that Superman cape and learned he couldn't fly."
"What did he break?" she asked gleefully.
"His arm," Kevin replied and disappeared back into the house.
Cordy sat next to Connor on the back porch, carefully leaving a good sized space between them. They regarded each other silently for several long moments.
"I'm sorry I frightened you so badly last night. I didn't mean to."
He nodded. "I know. It wasn't your fault. It was me. I ...do I have to talk about it?" His blue eyes gleamed with sorrow.
Cordelia had to stop herself from reaching for him. "They tell you you should but if you aren't ready, we don't have to talk about what Wolfram and Hart did to you. We can talk about anything you'd like."
"It hurts so much," he moaned.
"I know, baby. I can't imagine how frightened you were, what that bitch Lilah did to you."
Connor hugged his knees to his chest, resting his chin on the V. "I don't want to talk about that." He sighed. "And I meant your leaving."
Cordelia felt tears building in her eyes, spilling over. "Connor, I don't know what to say. There's nothing I can do or say to make it better. I know I hurt you, sweetie, probably the worst you've ever been hurt by a friend. I didn't mean to. I know that doesn't help. Nothing can. I should have known you wouldn't know anything about relationships and break ups and how much it hurts. And it does. I know there's not a person inside that house that hasn't been through a break up and they all know what that pain is like."
He looked up at her. "You have felt like this...before me? With Xander?"
Cordy's lips fell into a full frown as she wiped the tears off her cheeks. "Yes, Xander."
"Really?" Suspicion fired in his eyes.
"Took me by surprise. It was in high school. We were only a year or so younger than you were when....anyhow, I was the most popular girl in school and Xander was...well, a total geek and reject."
"So why did you fall in love with him?" Connor's voice still carried disbelief.
"I didn't plan on it or even want to. We were locked in the basement of this very house hiding from an assassin made of disgusting bugs." Cordy shivered and made a mental note that any time she was in danger of losing her life in the future not to kiss, sleep with or even touch any man near her. It always seemed to go wrong. "It just sort of happened. We fell hard in spite of ourselves."
"What happened?"
"Things that usually happen, especially when you're young. I caught him with Willow. Granted they thought Spike was planning on killing them but at the time all I could see was my boyfriend kissing another girl. I ran off, fell through the steps and got impaled on some rebar."
Connor made a face. "That's horrible."
Cordelia brushed her long hair back as she bobbed her head. "And being Miss Popular and getting cheated on by the Class Clown made me the outcast. That seems so silly and childish now but at the time it was damned important. But that's the thing, Connor. Too often, it never works out. All those people inside and only four of them have ever made it work and Xander left Anya at the altar the first time they tried to get married. We can only hope, for the baby's sake, that Gunn and Fred make it."
Connor stared at her, searching for answers. "Then why does anyone even try?"
"Because it's scary being lonely," she replied after a moment's thought. "And when you find something that's good, that works, it's the best thing in your life. And even when it does go bad, there are still good times to remember. As time goes on, that's the stuff you really remember."
Connor shoved his long bangs back. "What hurts the most is that I don't understand why...why did you do what you did? Not leaving, I think I can understand that. You're happy now, at least I think you are. I want that for you."
Cordelia tried to swallow a sob, clamping a well-manicured hand over her mouth. "Oh, Connor."
"But why did you make love to me? Was it just because the world was ending? Did you want to get back at Angel for something?" His eyes went watery but he didn't seem to notice.
Cordelia reached out to him and he let her take his hand. "It wasn't just out of pity. I don't want you to think that, Connor. Not ever. I don't know why. I don't even know if it was my demon aspect making me do it. But I never wanted to hurt you or Angel. I wanted you to have something good, just like I said then.""Did you ever love me?" His voice cracked as his fingers tightened over hers.
"I've loved you from the moment you were born. I took you over as if you were mine from the minute you were put in my arms which makes what I did to you later that much worse. I've never had anything but love for you." She scooted closer, surprised that he let her. "And when my memory was gone, you were there looking out for me. You were the only one I trusted. Even after I got my memories back, you were the one to make me feel like I was at home. After the Beast started taking over, most of my memories are fuzzy. I know I did terrible things to you after we were together, things that I'll never be able to take back even though I didn't mean them. When it was over, I stayed trying to make things better but I knew it never could be like it was."
"Because you don't love me," he insisted.
"Because I love you too much, Connor, but not in the romantic sense. For a time you were my child, then my best friend and now I've lost you. And it hurts." Cordelia sniffled, the tears flooding down her face. "I'm all alone in New York. Yes, I have my wonderful new career. I knew I would have it because the Powers That Be offered it to me once and I turned it down. Somehow I knew it would come even without them. But I don't really have friends there. I don't even have time to make new ones. I stay in my tiny apartment there, thinking of all of you, wishing I were back here with you but I know I'm not entirely welcome, no matter what anyone says."
"Because of me."
She shook her head. "Because of what I did to you. It should have been one of the most important times of your life and I ruined it.”
He looked away. "It was important...and good. But I didn't understand why you didn't want me afterwards."
Cordelia gulped air, touching his cheek. "I think it was because I was warring with my demon. I knew what we did was a mistake, Connor. I know it hurts you to hear that but you deserve the truth. I knew it had to end immediately but then came the baby and all the insanity that came with it."
"I don't want to be a mistake." Connor slammed his fist into the wooden porch boards. "That's all I've ever been. Dad slept with Mom to lose his soul. That was his mistake. Vampires having children is some big cosmic mistake or at least so says Wes and Fred. Wes took me away because he was mistaken about a prophecy. Father mistakenly ended up in Quor-Toth. My coming here to please him was a mistake, not killing Angel was the next one. Then you. Then letting Wolfram and Hart get hold of me. What have I ever been but a horrible mistake?"
"You are so much more than that, Connor," she snapped, forcing him to look at her. She felt him tense, half expecting him to hit her but he didn't move. "Yes, every last bit of that is true but you are more than that. You have two fathers who love you. You have friends that were willing to move hell and earth both times you were taken. And you were willing to do whatever you could to protect your friends, me, that poor girl you told me about, what was her name? Sunny? We all make mistakes. It's human. I've made more than my share. Hurting you ranks right up there as one of the worst. Hurting Angel ties with it."
"You love him," Connor's voice went hot like a brand.
"No. Maybe I never did, not in that way at any rate. I loved him as a friend but when I look back on that year and think to myself 'was it any other kind of love?' no, it wasn't. He had to bribe me back with clothing. I never even thought about romance until Fred mentioned it and I knew that with Angel it would never be possible. The closest we got to a real date was us being manipulated by spirits. And later, when the world didn't end, I was wondering the same things you did. Why did you do it? There was this fear in my mind that you did it only to get back at Angel because you thought I was his and that was a very terrible thing to be thinking."
Connor rubbed his nose, wishing he had tissues. "That wasn't why. I loved you. At first, I did want him to think that was why I took you to live with me, taunted him but afterwards, when it was real, I never said anything to him about it. I knew that was wrong."
"I'm glad that I was wrong about your motives.”
Connor let go of her hand. "When does it stop hurting?"
"I don't know, baby. Slowly it does. Someday you'll find someone that you want to be with and she'll want to be with you. Sometimes it takes a while and it takes work."
"And if it's a mistake again?" He buried his head in his hands, crying.
"One day it won't be," she said and he sobbed louder. Cordelia impulsively reached out and pulled him to her. He went into her embrace willingly, wrapping around her tightly.
His tears ran hot down her neck and her own dropped into his soft hair. Cordy remembered a time when she would have been grossed out to have someone bawling all over her, snot running on her collar and even more horrified by the fact it dripped from her nose, too. She held onto him for a long time, rocking him. She thought she could hear someone coming to the door at least once to check on them. She remembered holding his body this close, closer even, thinking there just wasn't enough of him. He was too thin, almost frail. His strength kept him from being fragile but that night, she
remembered being almost afraid for him. She had never seen anyone who was just skin over lean muscle and bone. Connor still felt that way, only worse, somehow even smaller. Finally his tears stopped and he just rested against her limply. Cordelia brushed his hair back, kissing his forehead.
"I do love you, Connor, like a brother," she whispered.
"I never had a sister," he said, pulling away a bit, wiping his face. "That might be nice."
"And you can tell me anything, you understand that, right?"
He nodded. "I got you all messy.""Don't worry about it. Want to go in?" She got up and offered him her hand.
He let her take him inside. He stepped closer to her when everyone stopped and stared, however briefly. He headed for the fridge, whether to finally eat something or just to hide, Cordy didn't know. Angel came over to her, taking her aside.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
She scrubbed a hand over her face, smearing her make up. "I think so. We talked...not about what Lilah did to him but about what I did. I think we're okay now. I think he'll be okay."
Angel grunted. "Good."
She licked her lips. "I never meant..."
"I know, Cordy. You keep telling me," he snapped then his face softened. He brushed her long hair back. "I know. And I know you're trying to help and I'm grateful for it. He looks rough but at least he's not running over to cling to me. That was getting...odd. He's never liked me much."
"You make him feel safe, Angel, whether or not he wants to admit that." She gave his hand a caress. "Just keep working with him. He's starting to come around."
Angel stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking awkward and embarrassed. "I hope. I...I should get back in there and help.""I'll go with you.” They got back in time to hear Buffy telling Faith to take the night off patrol since she had patrolled all the night before.
"No argument. Lindsey, you and me, we're going to the Bronze," Faith said.
Lindsey looked over at her, confused. "I'm what?"
"Don't argue, you idiot," Kevin said, biffing him on the back of the head.
"Listen to your brother," Faith told him.
"But shouldn't I..." Lindsey started.
"I'll take your research spot," Cordy said. "Superman. You go play with Becki Ann."
Lindsey whirled, shoving Kevin. "You told "
"That's what families are for," Kevin said wickedly, as Connor came in with a sandwich.
"What are families for?" he asked curiously.
"For torturing you," Dawn replied, then pointed to the sandwich. "That looks like a good idea. Want me to get you some chips to go with? I could use a break."
"Thanks."
Cordelia smiled, seeing Connor acting almost normally. She glanced over at Angel and saw the happy look in his face. She picked up a dusty old tome and it felt like home.
---
Lindsey had no idea why Faith had chosen him to come out dancing. He appreciated it but he couldn't get Prince's, "Little Red Corvette' out of his mind. He felt guilty about not doing more to help the others then again what more could he do? He had already told them what little he knew and had risked his life to help. He deserved a little off time. The guilt, he decided, came from being a workaholic by nature and because not everyone could come along.
But letting his eyes rest on Faith's wriggling body did wonders to alleviate his guilty conscience. She was beyond hot in her leather pants, a brilliant sapphire so tight they might have been painted on. Knowing Faith, they might be. Her black barely-there halter could very well be Liquid Latex. He could certainly see the distinct outlines of her nipples and it was a view he appreciated as he sucked greedily on the mouth of his long neck bottle.
When he had been dancing with her, he had tried to ignore the various bits of jail bait that had been accosting him. Unlike Faith and her boundless energy, he needed a breather and something to drink. If the night continued the way he thought it would, he needed to think of a place to take Faith. She was staying with Buffy which was far too crowded for nocturnal acrobatics. Ditto for the mansion. He could swear Angel and Connor could hear a mouse fart. Somehow, he just knew Faith was a screamer. He could rent a hotel room but he hated that. Somehow, it felt cheap. Of course all he knew about Faith was that she was cheap but that didn't mean he had to treat her that way. She danced close to his table, beckoning for him.
"Take a break," he called over the music. "I'll buy you something to drink."
Faith smiled. "Always the gentleman. How about a gin and tonic?"
Lindsey waved over a waitress. "One Tanqueray and tonic and another of these." He wiggled the beer bottle at her.
Faith's brow wrinkled "Tanqueray?"
"Top shelf gin. Why drink cheap stuff if you don't have to?" He smiled at her.
Her grin went Cheshire. "I like the way you think."
"I'm glad to hear it."
They drank a little of their alcohol before Faith dragged Lindsey back out onto the dance floor. He felt like growling at the guys who moved closer, trying to get her attention but Faith kept her eyes on him. She excited him with less than subtle rubbings of her hips and areas adjacent to his but he could tell she wasn't quite ready to leave and go somewhere more private. And that was all right with him as well.
---
Lilah hadn't been surprised when the cleaner team sent by Wolfram and Hart had called her and told her that Faith was at the Bronze. The little slut never could stay away from the night life, after all. Lilah was more surprised to see Lindsey there with Faith. She hadn't known Lindsey could dance. How had she missed what a tight little ass he had when they were working together?
"Damn," she muttered to no one in particular. "Being pregnant really does make you hornier."
She waited in the shadows behind a post, letting the raucous music wash over her until she was sure that Faith had Lindsey totally preoccupied and vice versa. The cleaners were waiting out in the alley for her signal. They already knew the scenario to play out. Finally Faith had danced Lindsey far enough from their table that Lilah felt safe going over to it. She dumped a huge amount of GHB into Faith's drink. She had no idea how much of the date rape drug it would take to knock out a Slayer so she made sure there was plenty in it. She hadn't had time to get more reliable drugs from the firm. Just for good measure, she put some in Lindsey's beer. He had held his own against Angel at least for a little bit so Lilah knew better than to underestimate her former colleague.
She faded back into the shadows and watched to make sure no one removed the drinks. She was getting bored by the time the lovebirds fluttered back over, sweating in a decidedly unsexy manner. They gulped their alcohol fast. She didn't think it would take long for that much Liquid X mixed with alcohol to take hold. Lilah took out her phone and hit memory 3.
"It's a go," she said and hung up.
Lilah watched as the female cleaner ran in screaming about some guys in the alley with weird faces who were hurting her girlfriends. Faith reacted immediately, running for the back door. Lilah saw her wobble just a bit grabbing for the door frame. Faith only hesitated a moment, trying to shake off what had to be a strange feeling for her, and went out. Lilah turned to sneak away, confident the cleaners could handle Faith even if it cost one or two of them. Just then a drunk teen slammed into her, spilling his drink all over her dress.
"You idiot. This is a Prada suit," Lilah snapped out of reflex then swivelled, hoping her yell hadn't been too loud.
But it was. Lindsey had heard and was staring at her. He took off out the back door. Was he escaping her or trying to warn Faith? She couldn't risk the latter. Lilah scooped up a beer bottle off the table and ran after him. She found him trying to pull one of the cleaners off of Faith who was down with at least three different taser wires stuck in her. Lindsey was starting to buckle from the drugs. Lilah cracked the bottle over his head, glass shattering and Lindsey went down.
"Is she down?" Lilah asked, dropping the neck of the bottle the only portion to have her prints, into her purse.
"And out. We're chaining her now," one of the cleaners replied.
"Don't skimp on that. Don't give her any wiggle room and take her to the cell immediately. If she starts waking up, zap her again. Inform the doctor the moment you get her there," Lilah said.
The cleaners didn't answer her and she didn't expect them to. They would do as they were told. Lilah strolled back to
her Jaguar, pleased with how the night turned out, ruined Prada suit aside.
---
Lindsey groaned, barely able to hold onto consciousness. His head hurt beyond reason, maybe even more so than when he lost his hand. There were no shocked nerves this time, too overwhelmed to carry sensation. He couldn't get up. His limbs felt leaden and had begun feeling that way even before he had been hit. He managed to hit a memory button recently reprogrammed with the Summers' house phone. He didn't know who picked up. It didn't matter.
"Hurt..." he managed to say, his tongue fat and unwieldy. "Drugged. Bronze...got Faith."
He disconnected and tried dialing 911 but was unconscious in the filth before he heard an operator.