A Defining Moment

[menomegirl]

A Defining Moment


Author: Menomegirl

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Etc, Etc.....as you can tell. I’m just borrowing them. Because if I owned them the subtext would have become reality.

Rating: Light R

Warning: Language, pre-slash

Spoilers: Massive for “You’re Welcome”, up to “A Hole In The World” and I did use some dialogue from "You're Welcome".

Summary: Cordelia’s thoughts during the fight, what becomes of those thoughts, and Lindsey’s choice.

Feedback: ilikebuffy101@yahoo.com


~Mucho thanks to Vicki. She knew I was upset about the way ATS was going to end. To make a long story short, she cheered me up by bringing a copy of A Defining Moment to the Chicago con with her. I'd told her not to, but she did it anyway. She asked Christian Kane to sign it for me. I'd told her he wouldn't sign it.

Well, much to my shock, Chris did sign it. Vicki sent me pictures of him signing it, and I framed the fic. I knew some of my readers were dedicated to me, but I had no idea one of them would go above and beyond like that because I got so upset.

It was also very nice of Chris Kane to sign it for me.

I'm moved beyond words.

Thank you with all my heart, Vicki.

Below~Christian Kane signing A Defining Moment at the Chicago convention.










~A Defining Moment~

Part 1


The First Messenger:

“When the chips are down, and you’re at the end of your rope, you need someone that you can count on, and that’s what you’ll find here. Someone who’ll go all the way, who’ll protect you no matter what. So, don’t lose hope.”




*****************

Cordy and Angel walk down the steps, and pause just as Lindsey walks down the steps and says, “Bye bye, Angel.”

Angel says from behind him, “Hello, Lindsey.”

Lindsey turns to see Angel and Cordelia standing behind him. He grins. “And the hero arrives, right on schedule.” He glances at Cordy. “And with a date.”

Cordy says, “Yeah. Dinner and a show... and you're both,” *and inside she’s smiling*. She’d thought she was going to have to choose Spike, but here was another possibility. One she’d immediately considered the second she’d realized Spike’s “Doyle” was in fact Lindsey McDonald.

Lindsey turns his attention back to Angel, who moves toward him slowly, with his arms crossed. Lindsey says, “Is this the part where I get all weak in the knees? Promise I'll never do it again?”

Angel says, “It's a little late for that, Doyle.”

Lindsey snidely says, “There's always time for redemption. Isn't that your whole thing?”

Angel says, “You had your chance. I guess some people, they just never change.”

*Angel starts to backhand Lindsey, but Lindsey catches his hand mid-thrust and punches Angel in the ribs before throwing him hard across the room. Angel rolls across the floor into the opposite wall.*

Lindsey says, “I did.”

While this interaction was going on, Cordelia studied Lindsey. This was not the soft-faced boy who had come to Angel looking for help, nor was it the sullen, angry young man she’d seen at Lorne’s club. This was a self-confident man, who was going against the senior partners for his own purposes. The small exposure she’d had to Lindsey in the past didn’t add up to what she was seeing before her now.....unless there was a lot Angel hadn’t told everyone.

Then Angel was flying in the air, and Cordelia was stunned.

****************

Cordy’s trying to work on shutting the machine down, but she keeps getting distracted by the fight going on. The two men are flinging insults at each other, but it seems to her almost as if they’re sexual come-ons. And Lindsey keeps grinning at Angel.

Lindsey laughing, says, “You know, all my carefully laid out plans, my designs, when you get right down to it, this is pretty sweet, too, huh?” He grins at Angel. “Reason enough for me to come back. You, me...” glances at Cordy as if he’d like to say something else, but since she’s there, he doesn’t. “Fight to the death...” He points his sword at Angel. “Yours.”

Angel says, “I've seen your tough act before, squirt. First time we ever met, you put on a show.”
And his voice has a tone to it *she’s* never heard before.....rough, gravely and almost excited. Then *Angel* glances at her, and then back at his opponent, and *He’s panting* Cordy thinks. *Okayyy. Are they fighting....or having sex?* “Huffing and puffing, telling me I couldn't lay a hand on your scumbag client.”

Lindsey’s still smiling as he says, “So you kicked him out a window.”

Angel cocks his head to the side and says, “Good times.”

Lindsey says, “It was a defining moment.” The vents around the holding tank let out steam as the tank starts rumbling under their feet. Lindsey looks back at Angel, and says, “Kind of like this one.”

Cordy, whose mind is damn near made up, squints her eyes at Lindsey briefly as she thinks *Defining moment? I’ll give you a defining moment, you little asshole.*

*********************


“Angel!” Cordy yells when Lindsey runs his sword into Angel’s chest. For some reason, she’d believed Lindsey wouldn’t actually hurt Angel, and from the shocked expression on the vampire’s face, Cordy has no doubts Angel hadn’t thought so, either. Lindsey kicks Angel off the balcony, then leaps down to stand over him. Her mind is made up. In a funny way, she’d call what she was doing poetic justice. *Maybe.....just maybe this was meant to be* Cordelia thinks.

Lindsey dances around Angel, mocking him. “Who is this? Who is this?” He takes off his shirt, flings it at Angel, and one of the last questions Cordelia has is answered for her. She smiles evilly. “I came to fight the vampire with a soul. Guess you shouldn't have sold it, huh? Look at you, from champion to pathetic corporate puppet in just a few months. You used to have fire in your heart.”

That sounded to Cordy like.....something Angel deserved to be told, for some odd reason. She didn’t know why. It just did. Lindsey squats down to Angel's level, looks down at him, and says, “Now all you got in there is that big honkin' sword. How's that feel, champ?”


Angel replies, “Could be worse..” He pulls the sword out of his chest, saying sarcastically, “if it had been made out of wood, you dumbass.” He throws the sword away, and stands. The two men begin engaging in hand-to-hand combat, punching, hitting each other. Lindsey seems off-balanced somehow, then Angel head butts him, sending him staggering backwards.


Cordy knows time is very short now. She tells the control panel, “Now you are gonna give it up.” She begins frantically pressing buttons, until a small tube comes up, opening to reveal a crystal inside. Cordelia removes it, and the machine begins to power down. Cordy smiles at her handiwork, and says, “Like that was so hard.”

Lindsey sees Cordelia with the crystal, and yells, “No!” She smiles at Lindsey. The tank begins descending back underground. A look comes over Lindsey’s face....she isn’t sure if it’s fear, or what, but he does the funniest thing. He starts throwing punches at Angel, but they don’t connect. Cordelia looks at the crystal in her hand, and she wonders what’s going on.

Angel says, “All those tattoos, all those new tricks you've learned...” He punches Lindsey in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. “Just don't matter.” Lindsey tries to stand, but Angel hovers over him, punching him in the face. “Doesn't matter what you try.” And Lindsey isn’t really *trying* to fight back now. “Doesn't matter where I am or how badass you think you've become.”

Lindsey gets to his knees, manages to grab hold of Angel’s legs, but Angel punches him in the face again. “Cause you know what?” Angel grabs Lindsey by the neck, holding him face-to-face. And in that split second, Lindsey gets a funny *oh, what a surprise* look on his face and Cordy just has enough time to wonder *How many fucking times has Angel done that to him?* before Angel says, “I'm Angel,” and he throws Lindsey across the room. “I beat the bad guys.”

Lindsey chuckles as he gets to his feet.

Cordy moves to stand beside Angel. “You okay?”

Angel answers, “I've been worse.”

Lindsey’s standing, out of breath, and he looks up at them. He says, “So what now, huh? Think you got it in you to kill me?”


Angel pauses just a second before he replies, “I really don't think I have to.”

Cordy feels the magic in the air. She looks down at Lindsey, and her choice is irrevocable now. The messenger must always have something to learn, and Lindsey had a lot to learn. No one else can do this job, and she’s seen Lindsey laugh at pain, fight with Angel and not back down. He was strong enough to handle the visions. He was strong enough for Angel. She tells him, “Sweetie, your epidermis is showing.”

*Lindsey looks at his tattoos. They float up off of his skin and vanish into thin air, leaving him unmarked and thus unprotected.* “Damn!” He says.

A flashing light and a whirlwind appear above them. Angel tells Lindsey, “I think the senior partners would like a word.”

Cordelia smiles.

Lindsey looks up to see that a portal has formed in the air above him. He looks at Angel, and nervously says, “You don't think they're angry, do you?” He gives Angel one last grin before he’s sucked into the portal.

Cordelia Chase is still smiling. She thinks, *Welcome to my world, Lindsey. I’m so glad you came home.*

**************************




~A Defining Moment~

Part 2


The Second Messenger:


“Doyle pissed me off so righteously going out like that. But he knew. He knew what he had to do, and he didn’t compromise. He used his last breath to be sure you’d keep fighting. I get that now.”



***************************

Lindsey felt himself drop onto a cold, hard floor. He opened his eyes, looked around him, and wondered where the hell he was. He slowly sat up, grimacing at the taste of blood in his mouth from Angel pounding his face. He swallowed, continuing to glance around what he realized was a room. A room barren of anything save the very white walls.

He could feel the presence of others, yet they were unseen-all around him. It felt as if a silent war were being waged-one he had no part in, except as a minor player. He wondered why he wasn’t in some Hell dimension-or being tortured already. He knew the senior partners were pissed at him. He should be dead by now. After all, he’d gone directly against their plans. Again. They didn’t want Angel dead. They never had.

In the strange hum of the utter stillness in the room, Lindsey could *almost* make out the argument taking place. It felt like knowing you knew something-but being unable to recall what it was that you knew. And in that silence, he came to slowly understand his fate was what was being decided. He shook his head, grinning slightly in spite of the knowledge that the senior partners undoubtedly wanted him dead.

Why wouldn’t they? They finally had that pain in the ass fucker Angel right where they’d always wanted him-cut off from the Powers That Be, obligated to them for every taste of happiness his son had ever known. He belonged to the senior partners now, the stupid fuck. They must have been furious when all that ink had disappeared, and they’d realized Lindsey had come within a hair’s breath of killing the creature they’d worked so relentlessly to own.

Now he was stuck in this nowhere place while the senior partners decided which hell he was going to roast in. He wondered what the holdup was. And who the senior partners were waging a minor war over him with. It couldn’t be the Powers That Be, although that was all Lindsey could think of. Why would they give a fuck about him?


Knowing he was pretty much fucked, Lindsey took the time to reflect on how he’d come to be here now. It had all started with the article in the paper, about the new CEO of Wolfram and Hart. He’d only been driving through Los Angeles, had only stopped to grab a quick meal, load up on coffee, but then his eye had fallen on the newspaper and his mind had blown a fuse. He’d been so angry, he’d seen red-literally. All he’d heard had been voices from the past. Angel’s, his own, cruel, furious, angry voices. But the one thing......the one thing he remembered above all in that flash of bright hate had been the mocking tone in the vampire’s voice as he’d said, “You sold your soul for a company car and a fifth-floor office.”

That one remark had swirled around in his mind until it was all Lindsey could think. Finally, he had snapped. Knowing the tattoos would prevent Wolfram and Hart, the senior partners, and the Powers from becoming aware of his presence, Lindsey had made plans. Seducing Eve had been child’s play. The trip to Sunnydale to retrieve the amulet slightly risky. Spike had believed in his so-called visions. Everything had gone according to plan.

Then Cordelia Chase had awakened from the coma. Made him speed up his plans.

Lindsey smiled, recalling the sword fight. That had been the most fun he’d had in....well, EVER. Seeing the utter shock on Angel’s face after he’d thrown him across the room had been almost worth gold to Lindsey, after all the humiliation he’d suffered at the vampire’s hands. Plunging the sword into Angel had been a close second.

But then something had happened. Seconds before Cordelia had disabled the fail-safe, all the hate had left Lindsey in a blinding flash of self-understanding. All the fight had disappeared in that brief second of time. He’d heard Eve’s softly asked, “It all comes back to Angel, doesn't it? He's still the center of your universe.” in his head, and before he knew it, Angel was slamming his fist into Lindsey’s face repeatedly.

Lindsey felt a gentle touch on his face, and he looked up to see Cordelia Chase, who was smiling at him. “Why did you stop fighting Angel, Lindsey?” She said softly.

“I don’t know,” Lindsey replied.

“Yes, you do, Lindsey. I don’t have much time. C’mon, born-again boy. Tell me,” Cordelia said.

Lindsey glowered at her, tightening his lips in mutiny, like a kid would. He shook his head no, just for good measure.

Cordelia growled a little in frustration at his stubbornness. Men were so stupid sometimes. She promptly decided both Lindsey and Angel had been absent the day common sense was given out. “Lindsey,” she said patiently, “It’s not as if I wasn’t there. It’s not like I didn’t see.”

That remark made him frown. “Just what the hell do you think you saw?”

“That’s a damn good question, isn’t it? I mean, it looked like a fight on the outside, but on the inside, it wasn’t about a fight at all, was it?” Cordelia said, eyes glittering, a wicked smile on her face. “Was it?”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’ about, Cordelia,” Lindsey snapped. “What the hell are you doin’ here, anyhow?”

“Doing what I have to,” she answered. “Not compromising. As for what I’m talking about, well.....maybe you shouldn’t have thrown your shirt at Angel, sweetie. Cause I gotta tell you, those jeans you got on.......they don’t hide a damn thing.”

Lindsey’s face turned a becoming shade of red as her meaning became crystal clear. “I was not!”

“You were so,” Cordelia teased him.

“Even if I was, why should that matter to you?” Lindsey said.

“Oh, it matters. You wouldn’t believe how much. Now, once more with feeling, tell me why you stopped fighting. We both know you did that *before* I powered the fail-safe down. I wanna know why,” Cordelia said.

“This is it. I’m in hell. The senior partners stuck me here with you for eternity, so you can yak at me until I’m as insane as Drusilla,” Lindsey muttered.

Despite herself, Cordelia couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. Lindsey looked up, a small grin on his handsome face. She smoothly pushed back a lock of hair from his forehead, and grinned back. “Wrong. I’m here on behalf of the Powers That Be. Now, please. Be a man and tell me why, Lindsey.”

Lindsey sighed. Well, shit. Something told him this was his last chance. “It was when Angel put his hands on my bare skin, okay, Cordelia? I....froze up. Something Eve said went through my mind, then you removed the crystal, and I couldn’t think. I just.....stopped thinking, and before I knew it, here I was.”

“Really? What did Lilah junior say?”

“She said Angel was still the center of my universe,” Lindsey softly said.

“Good call. Maybe Eve’s not as witless as I thought,” Cordelia said.

Lindsey shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Angel hates me.”

“I’m not all that sure about that, Lindsey. I’ve known Angel a long time, and I think I can honestly say, before today....I’ve only heard him actually panting once. And he was possessed at the time. He’s never done it during a fight before. And he was today. He even felt bad for you afterwards. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Not possible. Angel hates me,” Lindsey whispered.

“Maybe. But maybe not,” Cordelia said. “Either way, it’s not Angel’s choice here, Lindsey. It’s yours. You know that defining moment you were talking about? Well, this is it, lawyer boy. The Powers owe me big time, and I’m giving you one last shot. Either take a chance and help Angel.....or go to whatever hell the senior partners dreamed up. And, I gotta warn you, they aren’t happy with this at all.”

“But....”

Cordelia interrupted him.“If all you manage to do is earn his respect, could you live with that?”

“Yes, I could,” Lindsey said, mesmerized by the hope she was giving him.

“Thank you,” she said, then she leaned down and kissed Lindsey, sweetly, softly, and it was unlike any kiss he’d ever had. Cordelia raised back up, looked into his eyes, and whispered, “Remember, Lindsey. The righteous shall walk a thorny path.”

Lindsey was enveloped in a flash of white-hot heat, and he felt a falling sensation once more. He heard voices raised in anger, and then he landed. The air exited his lungs, he groaned, and he was flipped over very quickly. He opened his eyes to see Angel, glowering at him. Right beside Angel was Spike, who looked displeased as well.

A thorny path, indeed.

*************************************



~A Defining Moment~

Part 3


The Fake Messenger:

“Look, I'm just a guy. I'm nobody. A drifter. I was minding my own business, and then one day-Wham! I start having these visions. Yeah, like brain pictures, but they hurt. Like when you eat ice cream too fast. You start seeing people in trouble......who need a champion.”


*************************************

Angel crossed his arms, smirked at Lindsey, and said, “Thought the senior partners would have you roasting in hell by now, Lindsey.”

Lindsey shook his head, sitting up, swinging his legs over until he was at the edge of the conference table. He was absently rubbing his chest, trying to regain his breath. “Depends on what your idea of hell is,” he raggedly said.

“Fire, torture, brimstone, the usual. I’ve been there before, you know,” Angel replied.

“Oh,” Lindsey said. “Well, none of that. Um....how long was I gone?”

“Two weeks, give or take,” Spike said. “Hello, *Doyle*”

Lindsey looked at Spike. Nodded his head. “Spike.”

Spike cocked his head to the side. “No apologies, mate?”

Lindsey snorted. “What for? I brought you back, and corporalized you again. I may have messed with your head, but it doesn’t look like it hurt you any. Did you say two weeks?” Noting Spike’s nod, Lindsey rubbed his face with his hands, then ran his hands through his hair, pushing it back from his face. “I was in hell,” he muttered.

“Couldn’t have been much of a hell dimension if you had to think about it, Lindsey,” Angel said.

“You try being stuck in a room with Cordelia for two weeks, and see how you like it,” Lindsey retorted.

He was immediately rewarded for his comment by Angel rushing forward, his intent evident to the lawyer. Lindsey reached out and stopped him by placing one hand on the vampire’s chest, holding him at bay, while grabbing hold of Angel’s outstretched hand with the other. Angel’s eyebrows rose at the feel of the strength in Lindsey’s arms.

“Don’t do that, man,” Lindsey said. “I’m not your personal fucking choke toy.”

Spike made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a cut-off laugh, which he turned into a fake cough.

Angel looked Lindsey up and down, noticing that the tattoos on his chest and shoulder blades had been replaced, but the ones on his arms were still gone. Hmm. A tiny glimmer of an idea formed in his head. And how was it Lindsey hadn’t lost his strength? Angel began to wonder how the hell he’d managed to gain the upper hand during the fight. He glared at Lindsey, stepping back slightly. “Well, aren’t you just full of surprises?”

“I try,” Lindsey replied.

“What the bloody hell would Cordy want with you?” Spike said.

“To pick apart my brains and get me to tell her things I wouldn’t tell my own momma,” Lindsey answered. Spike snickered. Angel glowered. “Damn, Angel, are you that dense? She wanted me to come back and help you, okay?”

“Like I’d accept help from you,” Angel said. “All you’ve done since I got here is try and make my life as miserable as possible.”

“I didn’t ask you to blindly trust me,” Lindsey said, standing up. “But you’re not being exactly fair, Angel. I came to you for help, and you turned your back on me.”

“I did not! You turned your back on me, accepting a promotion after all I did for you!” Angel yelled.

“All you did for me?” Lindsey snarled. “You sent me back here, I had to face the mind readers, I almost fucking died, but did you care? NO! You had what you wanted.”

“Had what I wanted? You sent Voca after my friends! You raised Darla from the dead, and then you wouldn’t give me the scroll!” Angel raged.

Lindsey yelled, “I did NOT send Voca after your friends. He did that on his own! I’m sorry I didn’t give you the scroll when you asked for it, BUT YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO CUT MY HAND OFF, YOU ASSHOLE!”

“You DESERVED it, you little bastard!” Angel growled.

The door to the office opened, Wesley walked in. He had a file in his hands, but he was stunned at the sight of Lindsey McDonald, who was in fact, the person he’d been coming to discuss with Angel. Neither man spared him a glance, so intent were they on their argument.

“I did not deserve to have my hand cut off! God, how can you even say that?” Lindsey yelled back.

Spike moved back until he was standing by Wesley. “They always like this?”

“I don’t know,” Wesley answered, dismay evident in his voice. “I only saw them together one time. I believe Angel made fun of Lindsey’s vocal talents, and Lindsey threatened to kill Angel.”

“I’ll take that as a “yes”,” Spike said.

“You let Drusilla kill Darla!” Angel said.

“You fucked Darla and treated her like a whore!” Lindsey yelled.

“Maybe, but at least I got to fuck her, which is more than YOU got to do,” Angel replied.

“Ooooh! I wish I’d killed you when I ran you over with my truck!” Lindsey screamed.

“Why don’t you boys go ahead and whip ‘em out? Find out who has the biggest dick, while you’re at it?” Spike interrupted.

Wesley held a straight face until Lindsey and Angel glared at Spike, identical looks of indignation on their faces. It was more than the former watcher could take. He burst out laughing. Spike grinned maniacally.

Lindsey opened his mouth to reply, but before he could utter a word, his mind was assaulted with the most horrendous pain he’d ever felt, his hands went up to clutch his head as if to keep it there, and he emitted a blood-curdling scream. He went down to his knees to the shock of everyone in the room.

Angel and Wesley realized at the same time what they were seeing, and both men rushed to his side as Lindsey started shaking. He opened his tear-filled eyes to look at them. His voice hoarse, pain still radiating from inside his mind, Lindsey said, “Ms. Burkle. Lab. Sarcophagus. Don’t let her touch it or she’ll die. NOW, WESLEY.”

Wesley didn’t need to be told twice. He stood up and ran. Angel took the time to look deeply into Lindsey’s pain-filled blue eyes. The younger man understood the look, and whispered, “Yes, I’ll be here.” Angel swiftly followed Wesley.

Spike walked over and leaned down. “Feels like you ate ice cream too fast, does it, mate?” He grinned evilly, then he left, too.

Lindsey closed his eyes. Didn’t help. He felt like throwing up. He finally laid down on the floor, curling into a fetal position.

He hated it when something he said came back to bite him in the ass.



*********************************




~A Defining Moment~

Part 4


The Unwilling Messenger:

“The concept of good vs. evil is so clear to him, because inside he’s both. When he looks at me, I think he sees the same thing. That’s why we disliked each other from the beginning. Just too much alike. Now I’m stuck helping him. I agreed to do it, but I didn’t know what I was agreeing with. Note to self: Never walk into anything blind again, and read the fine print before you say yes.”



************************************


Angel walked into the living area of his penthouse apartment, expecting to see Lindsey asleep on the sofa. After he’d rushed to the lab, and seen for himself that Fred was okay, he’d called Harmony on her cell phone to get her to check on the former lawyer. It had turned into a series of annoying calls, until finally he’d spoken to Lindsey himself, who assured Angel he only wanted to take a shower, and try and sleep off the headache.

Angel had said, “Fine. As long as you’re still here when I’m through sorting out the newest mess.”

Lindsey had replied, “Where would I go? You know, it’s not as if I asked for this, Angel.”

Angel had ignored the need to reply to that, because frankly, Lindsey had sounded exhausted, not up to their usual verbal sparring. It would have felt too much like kicking a puppy. So, he’d let it go. Told Harmony to show Lindsey to his apartment, then go get him some clothes. The last time he’d talked to her, Harmony had reported that Lindsey had showered so long, there probably wasn’t any hot water left in the building, and he was asleep on Angel’s sofa, in one of his robes, so why the hell had she bought him clothes, and he was talking in his sleep about fine print, did that mean he was coming back to work for the firm, and he had refused food, said he still felt like being sick, and if Angel didn’t need her for anything else, could she leave? Angel had muttered yes, vaguely wondering if Harmony had breathed between sentences when she was alive.

Now he looked at the rumpled sofa, and the afghan that was half on the sofa, and half on the floor. He smiled, knowing Lindsey must have rolled off the couch in his sleep. He noticed the register receipt stapled onto one of the bags Harmony had set next to the table, reached down and pulled it off, turned to walk into his bedroom, shrugging his jacket off. He was wondering how the hell Harmony had managed to spend over a thousand dollars, when all he’d told her to do was buy Lindsey some clothes. He glanced at his bed. And Angel froze.

The sight of Lindsey McDonald in his bed was shocking to his senses in a way nothing else had come close to in years. Of course, he’d known that’s where Lindsey had went after he’d rolled off the sofa. And it wasn’t as if Angel had never had random thoughts of the lawyer in his bed in the past- he had. Angel appreciated beauty- and no matter what else Lindsey was- he was beautiful. The vampire hadn’t let them become any more than random thoughts, because there had never come a time when he could have let it become anything more.

Lindsey was on his side, facing toward the vampire. Angel admired all that tanned skin, those toned muscles, and that pretty face Lindsey possessed- God, he looked so damn innocent when he was asleep. He knew he was staring, but he wanted to remember what Lindsey looked like against those dark blue sheets that had ridden low over his body as he’d changed positions in his sleep-and Angel’s mind went blank for a few seconds. A wave of desire hit him that was so strong, it was nearly blinding.

All he could think was: Naked Lindsey. In my bed. Naked Lindsey. In. My. Bed.

And following that was the memory of something Wesley had recently told him: “99.999-ad infinitum percent of the best relationships in the recorded history of the world have had to make do with acceptable happiness. Angel... if there's a woman out there... who you find truly attractive, who you think about, let's say, most of the time, who represents even part of what you think makes the world worth fighting for and who doesn't view you as an entirely sexless shoulder to lean on...you have to do something about it.”

Well, Lindsey wasn’t a woman, but Angel definitely found him attractive. He didn’t think about the young man most of the time, but he had some of the time. The only question in Angel’s mind was: Did he think having Lindsey stand by his side make the world worth fighting for?

As he was considering that, Lindsey opened his eyes. His gaze was hazy, unfocused, still sleepy. “Angel?” he softly said.

“Yeah,” Angel answered. Damn, those blue eyes were devastating.

“Everything alright?” Lindsey said.

“Yeah,” Angel answered. Damn, that whiskey-on-the-rocks voice of Lindsey’s just killed him. He could listen to him talk all night.

“Okay,” Lindsey muttered. He fell silent, just looking at the vampire now, waiting for the questioning to begin. When none were forthcoming, he forced himself to awaken more, and he was amused by the open desire he saw. “Angel?”

“Huh?” Angel said.

“Are you gonna stand there staring at me all night long?” Lindsey said.

“I wasn’t staring-” Lindsey smiled the sweetest smile Angel had ever seen. “Well, okay, I was. I just didn’t expect to find you naked in my bed, that’s all,” Angel finished.

“Gotta say, neither did I...but since I’m here,” Lindsey paused, looking over Angel with admiration in his own gaze, “why don’t you get in the bed with me?”

Angel’s eyebrows rose at that one. “If I do, what do you imagine is going to happen, Lindsey?”

“Hmm, a little of this, a little of that,” Lindsey damn near purred. “Why don’t you join me and we’ll see what comes up?”

Angel smiled at the double entendres in that question. Nice. He slipped the receipt in his pocket, slid his shoes off, and ventured closer to the bed. He let his eyes focus on Lindsey’s mouth, then looked him in the eye again. “Nice verbal skills you got there, Lindsey. How are you at oral?”

“Not as refined as you, I’m sure,” Lindsey replied. “C’mon, Angel. Stop being a tease. I wanna dance.”

Closing the last few inches between them, Angel leaned over Lindsey, putting an arm on either side, effectively trapping him. He leaned down until their lips were barely separated. He deeply inhaled the scent coming from the body under him. Lindsey’s natural muskiness combined with the smell of his arousal was a tantalizing mix, and the aroma of his own soap and shampoo wafting from that sleep-warmed body elicited a growl of possessiveness out of Angel. Lindsey’s heart rate increased, he licked his lips in response, the blue in his eyes deepened, and he was slightly panting in anticipation now. Angel took it all in, and his question was answered for him.

Yes, having Lindsey did make the world worth fighting for.

Lindsey pressed his lips into Angel’s, and the sweetest battle between them began.


*************************************


The Last Messenger:

“It’s more than lust.....but it’s not love. Not yet. I only know it’s the most compelling thing I’ve ever done. I don’t know what the future holds, what paths our lives are going to take. As dangerous as it may become, I’m looking forward for the first time in.....forever, it seems. It’s kind of funny, if you think about it. The man I dreamed about and hated for years is now the man I’d die for.”


The end.

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[theandroid.livejournal.com]

I love this story! Love, love, love...you get the picture? I must admit, I've never read anything you've written before, and I decided to read a couple of paragraphs and ended up putting my life on hold for a while. I was getting the "KATHLEEN! Pasta's ready!" chant for about five minutes worth of "Uh-huh...be right down..."

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Kathleen! I haven't really said much about my fics at Bronze-Beta, cause, well.....slash. But I'm glad you liked it! I'll post more of them in a few days.

Again, thank you!