Lindsey & Nathan
Lindsey reread over the casenotes, the demands by the Coreians and sighed.
Why was he being brought into this again? Why? He'd moved to Houston to get away from this, away from Angel. But it seemed no matter how he ran, he was always being brought back to this. Wolfram & Hart. Angel Investigations. Los Angeles.
Damn this to hell.
He stretched his legs slightly in the limited amount of room in the plane and read on while he finished his last leg of the flight to Los Angeles.
~*~*~*~
Nathan hummed slightly as he walked through the streets of Los Angeles, keeping his eyes closed. The city burned his eyes. It was a lie, a lie. Something had been done to make the city a lie.
Someone, somewhere in the city, had performed a lot of magic to make a new semblance of reality.
RK ghosted along at his heels, the cat grumbling into his mind and touching along the snapflare of visions.
Think this will work?
"I have no idea. Yet the lawyers must spin their words to catch the nets of blood. Like butterflies in a snowstorm."
Someone worked a great magic here. No matter. As long as it does not affect my family nor my sometimes friend.
"Who, exactly, are you going to see, cat?"
You will find out when the time comes.
"Ah. So. To the lair of the three beasts, go we. Insanity matched with age and a wordsmith flying in. Because this must happen, for other the blood will come."
Indeed, my friend, indeed.
~*~*~*~
Lindsey walked into the Wolfram & Hart building, and looked around. Damn, it hadn't changed at all. Well, there were a few people missing. New faces. But over all...it hadn't changed at all.
The Coreian priest with him as a representative hissed slightly.
"Alied guale gwe dendrei ristoallan." (The human dog is here.)
"Sei dide," Lindsey said quietly as they moved to the reciptionist's desks. (Be calm.)
"Usisage trai isuele! Ai salu!" (It is an abomination! An outrage!)
"Nevertheless, you will remain calm while we try and sort this out," Lindsey said coldly.
"Good morning. My name is Lindsey Macdonald and I am from Boni & Gwen Gwir to represent our clients, the Coreian race. We are here to serve Angelus, or Angel as he seems to prefer, the head of the Aurelius clan with an intention of filing a declaration of war."
Harmony
"I think he's in a meeting, but I'll just check."
Harmony looked down at her book, and then back at Lindsey, smiling.
"No, he's in, just go right on through to his office."
Lindsey & Nathan
Lindsey nodded and walked through to where she indicated.
"Good morning, I am the representative from Boni & Gwen Gwir, represting the Coreian race. This is Cullach Ni Cullach, a priest of the Coreians and standing as a representative of his race today."
He smiled pleasantly, keeping the hand ANgel had detached firmly on the handle of his briefcase.
~*~*~*~
Nathan walked into the foyer of Wolfram & Hart and immediately blanched.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrongwrongwrongwrong...
It beat at him, screaming its wrongness. Not its evil. He could sense that as well, but its pure wrongness in existing.
My friend, are you alright? RK projected at him in concern.
"Fine...fine, cat. Just...walked into something I wasn't expecting."
Angel and Gunn
Angel stood and buzzed Gunn and Wesley into his office.
"Please, have a seat," he said, indicating to the couches.
"Good to see you again, Lindsey."
Lindsey, Wesley, Nathan & Serafina
Lindsey nodded slightly as he sat down with his client. He opened his briefcase and slid a sheaf of legal documents across to Angel.
"What my clients are demanding is that the human with their sacred markings inscribed on his skin be put to death. And also that you pay a sum in excess of fifty thousand dollars, and the vampire, William the Bloody, be staked out for the sun."
The Coreain next to Lindsey hissed angrily, the silvery tattoo on his cheek shining.
"Dew scatchich halluiam." (It must be killed.)
"Retu gwellian gwe," Wesley said as he entered. (That remains to be seen.)
"Hello, Lindsey. How are things in Houston?"
"Fine..."
Lindsey looked at Angel.
"Most of the trip was better after I took a sign Angel placed there very thoughtfully, out."
~*~*~*~
Nathan choked slightly on a wave of bile.
"God, so twisted..."
He shook his head and then followed RK. The cat padded along happily, nose close to the ground.
She's here. Ah!
RK leapt on Serafina, knocking her to the ground gently. The little girl gasped, then giggled as the cat started to bathe her face with a rough tongue. "Kitty!"
HUsh, kitten. Let me look at you.
Angel and Gunn
Gunn strode into the office after Wesley, and sat down next to Angel.
Angel chuckled slightly.
"Sorry about that. Now could we negotiate here?"
"We can pay thirty thousand, no more, no less. And while it wouldn't be so bad to be living a Spike free life, I'm afraid that can't be done."
Gunn slid another document across to Lindsey.
"I think you'll find that both Mr Lwellyn and William the Bloody, are under protection of a higher power. Killing them is both unacceptable and near impossible. However, we will punish them for their actions."
Lindsey
"Unacceptable!" The priest growled, rising from his seat.
Bulges rippled along his forearms, skin tinging towards grey.
"The human dog must die! What wrath we occur, we will weather. But the death of the human f*cktoy is not something we will be moved on."
Lindsey got up and attempted to calm his client. The demon snarled.
"Humans are to be used! Just as you are, wordsmith. But this is something that cannot be forgiven. It cannot be erased. We will have the human's blood to wipe out this stain, his hide tanned to present in the Temple of Colours or there will be war, vampire. And we can make it a very long, bloody war indeed."
Angel
"It can't be done," Angel said, his voice low and menacing.
"We can have the symbols removed. But not the human."
Lindsey
The Coreian leaned over the table, the skin over his eyes splitting to reveal sharp, silvery blades that swept outwards then up in wicked crescent points.
"The human will die, Angelus. The Childe, we can imagine your concern, even a brief attachment to it. Have we not our own children? But the human must die. What is one death, compared to the death of everything you hold dear?"
"Lew djah," Lindsey snapped. (Sit down.)
The demon turned his head slowly to look at Lindsey.
"Everything else...is unimportant. The death of the human concubine who dares wear our most sacred symbols is nessecary."
"Damn it, sit down!" Linsey hissed.
"Or I will ask that this be attended by another Coreian."
"It will not matter. Our stance is clear. The human's death is called for, by our most ancient laws."
Angel and Gunn
"You won't get near enough to the human to kill, nor will we let you," Angel said.
"Angel, perhaps this isn't the best way to negotiate, let me," Gunn muttered.
"Mr Macdonald, you have stated your terms clearly, and we have stated ours, howeverm it is clear that either of our clients are going to change their mind on this situation."
Gunn flipped through some papers.
"I suggest you and I reconvene at a later date, and see if we can re-negotiate."
Lindsey, Vortigern & Spike
Lindsey nodded and started to steer his client from the room.
"Perhaps the best idea. This has impacted on several of the Coreian's most sacred religous beliefs. You can see why it would upset them to the point of wanting recompense in blood."
"And we will have it," the priest insisted.
Vortigern poked Spike in the side.
"We're lost."
"Are not."
"Are too, mister I know this place like the back of me hand."
"We are not."
Still arguing, they rounded the corner. Lindsey's eyes widened, then closed fatalistically as he saw the teen and the vampire, recoginising them both from photographs. The priest went ballistic, morphing in a blink of an eye and springing on the pair. Spike shoved Vortigern into a room and sprang into battle.
"UNCLEAN! ABOMINATION! UNWORTHY IN THE SIGHT OF THE GODS! FOR YOU, WHO HAVE DONE SUCH A THING TO WALK AMONG US! ABOMINATION! SACRILEGE! For what is holy, is not for animals such as he!"
The priest was foaming at the mouth, hacking at Spike with keen edged blades as the vampire ducked, dodged and landed punches.
"For you, to take our most sacred signs, and place them on AN ANIMAL YOU F*CK!"
Angel
Angel pressed a button and security was called down in seconds.
He headed out of his office, and careful to avoid any spikes or punches, he grabbed the priest, pulling him away from Spike.
"Maybe it's best if you made yourself scarce," he said through gritted teeth.
Lindsey, Spike, Nathan & Serafina
"I apologise most sincerely, Angel," Lindsey said through gritted teeth.
"I had no idea my client was this unstable."
The Coreain snarled as Spike dabbed the blood on his face.
"We will have its hide, vampires. Its blood to erase the stain it has placed on us."
"Yeah, yer may be trying for a very long time," Spike snapped back.
"I catch you around my Mate-"
"Your f*cktoy-"
"My MATE," Spike corrected in a seething voice.
"Call it what you like, a whore is still a whore."
Spike leapt again, death in his eyes as his fangs extended. Nathan walked around the corner and grabbed his duster, pulling him back to the ground. Serafina followed, RK twining around her legs and purring happily.
"Sit still, Shaded One. Hello, Champion."
He looked at Angel.
"Other Champion."
Lindsey rolled his eyes as he escorted his client to the door and away.
"Nathan..."
"Oh, are we intruding? We're intruding, RK."
Pish tosh, nonsense. Cats are never in the way. The world must correct itself around us.
"Yes. Well. Ah, I see now. You're the one who made the world a lie."
Nathan looked at Angel steadily again.
Angel and Faith
Angel ignored Nathan for the moment, concentrating on the priest and Lindsey.
"Gunn will be in touch," he said.
Faith rounded the corner and caught sight of everything.
"Well, I missed a party, didn't I? Angel, Fred's babbling shit at me again."
Nathan, Lindsey & Serafina
Nathan's eyes switched to Faith and he zoned in, walking to her.
"Ah, the pieces fall into place. For what is a Beast without a Beauty? What is Sun withough Night? Solar Nox. Darkened Slayer, running a road so fleeting, little lost girl, trying to find her way home and no Angel to come winging. Ah, my. So much to see in you, when the sunlight hits your soul."
Lindsey watched the priest leave, then tried to take control of his insane Seer.
"Nathan, don't scare the nice lady."
"Because madness is like the moon, and inspired lunacy drives us. So, cat, how's the family reunion?"
Perfectly fine, RK said with dignity.
Serafina squealed, and hugged the cat.
"See, that's my Dad. And Uncle Wes, and Uncle Gunn, and Sorta- Auntie Faith."
Hmmph.
RK fixed Angel with a baleful stare.
Angel and Faith
"Hey Lindsey, long time no see," Faith said, grinning.
"How's... who was it? Lee? How's he doing these days?"
"Dead," Angel told her.
"Oh, well not very well then."
Nathan, Lindsey & Serafina
Nathan tilted his head to the side, scars showing prominently.
"Strange, Slayer. Care thou much?"
Lindsey sort of smiled at Faith.
"It happens. How have you been? Out of jail, I'm glad to see."
"Da-ad!" Serafina said, reaching up to tug on Angel's arm.
"You haven't even said hello to Grandfather yet. And cats get awfully cross about things like that."
Angel and Faith
"Hello, there," Angel said to RK.
Angel bent and picked Serafina up, cradling her in his arms.
Faith nodded at Lindsey.
"Jail didn't suit me much, I'm afraid. Well, no, I was ok in there, but I broke out to help Angel."
Lindsey & Serafina
Lindsey shrugged slightly.
"I don't work for Wolfram & Hart anymore, so if their noses are out of joint over it, I'm not involved."
RK stared at Angel with golden eyes.
Child, I do not think my daughter chose wisely.
"Course Mama chose good! My Dad is *perfect*," Serafina insisted.
He *is* a demon, youngling.
"Even then, he's still my Dad and he's still nice to me."
Angel and Faith
Angel looked at RK, then tickled Serafina slightly.
"Shall we find you a place to stay?" he asked.
Faith shrugged.
"Oh well. Yeah, I broke my contract with Wolfram and Hart, but ya get that."
Nathan, Lindsey & Serafina
Nathan tilted his head as RK sniffed slightly, then padded purposefully to the lift.
"Ah, family business over then? Kitten ticked off your list and father approved of?"
Tentaviley.
Lindsey shook his head slightly.
"Angel gets a nice, mostly sane Seer, and a nice team of mostly normal people. He also gets a lawfirm. I get a cat and a lunatic."
"Shh, shh, shh..." Nathan said, pressing the lift button.
"The Powers have their own destiny to think of as well. They may Be, but they may not Do. You are here to be hands, speech and sword. Thus, serve thy will. For to Be is to think."
Serafina skipped after RK, before she shifted and walked after him on four paws. HE glanced at her with approval, then pinned her down with a heavy paw and washed her face thouroughly, before continuing on into the lift.
"Which floor?" Nathan asked, hand over the button bank.
All.
"You the cat."
Nathan pressed all of the buttons.
Angel and Faith
"You get that," Faith said, grinning.
Angel watched in quiet broodiness as his daughter had her face licked.
Serafina & Nathan
Serafina zipped inside the lift just as the doors closed. RK cleaned her again as way of distraction as the lift rose.
When the doors opened, he padded out and the kitten scampered after him, alive with curiousity. She hadn't been here before. Nathan stepped into the white room after the two cats and looked around.
"Nice decorating. Very white. Very modern."
RK sneezed at him, then licked a paw daintily.
Come in to pay a visit. And present my grandkit, since I doubt the vampire would have thought of it. But these little pleasantries make life easier.
Angel
"Well, if you need anything," Angel said.
"Just get in contact."
He turned and headed back to deal with the mess of Fred's department.
Lindsey, Nathan & Serafina
Lindsey nodded, then hurried after his client. Damn tempremental religous fanatics. They were some of the worst types to represent.
Nathan, Serafina and RK spent the afternoon with the big black cat...thing in the top of the Wolfram & Hart building.