TITLE: Deals with the Dark AUTHOR: Jazz EMAIL: jazz_s_shadow@hotmail.com DISCLAIMER: Willow & Co. don't belong to me, and unfortunately never will. They belong to Joss and his cronies. DISTRIBUTION: List Archives. Bite me... Please? and anyplace that already has any of my fics. Otherwise, ask and ye shall receive. I just want to know where it's going. RATING: R overall SUMMARY: Some Willow/Lindsey time Dedication: To Ped, for being ideas girl and making it so I can keep writing. Can't thank you enough! Feedback: Pretty please? And tell me if I start making no sense, 'k? This is getting very AU, so... :) Author's note: I wrote a companion piece to Deals with the Dark that I didn't send to the Lindsey lists. It's a backstory piece on Graham and Amy. If you want to read it, go here. http://www.escribe.com/tv/inellwillofic/m2162.html Oh, and tell me if I should bother with stories like this is you do, 'k? :)                 Lindsey stood on the tarmac, watching the planes take off and land while he waited for one particular plane to arrive. It was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago, but there was nothing to be done, except wait. The senior partners had been very clear that he pick up a potential ally, and to treat her with the utmost respect. So, he waited. Finally, the plane arrived, almost forty minutes late. It stopped not very far from him, and within a few minutes the passengers alighted from the plane. Lindsey watched them carefully, as all he knew about the lady was that she was a small-statured redhead, and that her name was Willow Rosenberg.                 A young woman, one could almost call her a girl, exited the plane with the last few passengers. A backpack was slung over one shoulder, making her look like a high-school student heading for class. However, Lindsey was quite certain that this was the Willow Rosenberg that he was waiting for. He knew better than to believe the allusion that she was harmless. If she was harmless, W&H wouldn't want her skills, whatever they were, so badly.                 "Ms. Rosenberg?" he asked politely once she had stopped before him. She gave a small nod that was accompanied by a shy smile. "Lindsey McDonald," he introduced himself as he offered her his hand. She shook it, and Lindsey couldn't help but notice the strength of her grip in comparison to the seeming frailness of her body. "I have a limo waiting." Ms. Rosenberg nodded again, and allowed herself to be led to the limousine. The driver that had been leaning against the limo while they were waiting opened the door for her, and she gracefully entered the vehicle. Lindsey followed suit, and the driver hurried back to the driver's seat. They were very late due to her plane's delay, and the partners of W&H didn't like failures of any kind, even ones as small as being late.                 "May I offer you a refreshment?" Lindsey offered. She just smiled that shy unassuming smile again and shook her head. Lindsey took the hint, and remained silent for the remainder of the journey to W&H's headquarters. The limo drove into the underground parking garage, and stopped by the Sub-Level One main entrance. A doorman immediately opened the door, and Lindsey exited the limo, followed by Ms. Rosenberg. Once they were inside the building, Lindsey led the way to Holland's office, while he discreetly watched her. She was examining her surroundings carefully, but without the awe that was sometimes present due to the sheer luxury that surrounded them. She was a mystery, Lindsey decided. And she intrigued him.                 They reached Holland's office a few minutes later, and Lindsey turned to leave and return to one of his cases.                 "He stays." Lindsey blinked, as did Holland. It was the first time he heard her voice, and it was very pleasant on the ears. He was surprised that she wanted him to stay, however. From the trip over, he'd gotten the impression that she wanted nothing to do with him.                 "Lindsey has a lot of work to do," Holland told the girl pleasantly, but with a bit of a 'I know better than you so you'd better listen to me' tone to it. Ms. Rosenberg was obviously not impressed.                 "He stays or I leave." Lindsey's eyes widened just a fraction, and turned to look at Holland with an upraised eyebrow. Holland's smile never wavered. The request was unusual, but if there was one thing that was a sure thing at W&H, it was that they cater to the unusual.                 "Very well then. He stays. If you'd like to have a seat, Ms. Rosenberg." She took one with that graceful style she had, as Lindsey tried to figure out exactly what he was supposed to do. He was going to lean against a wall, before her soft voice issued another statement.                 "Sit." Lindsey sat. He didn't know why she wanted him here, but if Holland agreed with her, than stay he would. He listened as Holland extolled on the benefits that would be hers if she worked for them. She simply raised a disinterested eyebrow, and told him to get on with it and tell her about the job. Holland blinked slightly, as few people sounded so disinterested when such large amounts of money were mentioned, but went along with her suggestion, and explained various assignments that she might have if she were to work with them. Holland finally winded down, and waited for Ms. Rosenberg's response.                 "I'll work for you on two conditions," she said softly. "I have full choice over my assignments. If I say no to one, then it's no and I don't want to hear another word about it." Holland nodded, agreeing to the term. After all, everyone had limits.                 "And the second?"                 "You've acquired a certain ancient text here. I want it." Holland asked which text, and swallowed when he got the name.                 "I'll have to speak with the senior partners about that term."                 "Will it take long?" she asked, as she examined her fingernails in a bored manner.                 "No, not long," he said, as he rose and left the room, but not before he shot Lindsey a heated glance. It clearly said 'keep her happy'.                 "Do you practice magic, Lindsey?" she asked a few moments later.                 "Magic?" he answered, surprised. "No, I…" he stopped when she looked at him with a strange light in her eyes.                 "Don't lie to me, Lindsey. I don't like it."                 "A little. Not much." She nodded.                 "Will W&H provide me with lodgings when I'm in the city?"                 "Yes," he answered. "In a hotel, or an apartment if you'd prefer." She nodded again.                 "Good," she said softly, as Holland re-entered the room.                 "You can have the text after you've completed your first assignment."                 "Excellent." She rose, and moved to leave the room, but before she did, she paused and then looked over her shoulder. "What does your schedule look like today, Lindsey?"                 "I have a court date in an hour," he glanced down at his watch, "or closer to forty minutes now," he replied, not quite keeping the puzzlement out of his voice. The non-sequiters that she came up with were quite interesting. And dangerous, if they involved him in any way, shape, or form.                 "Meet me after you're finished at my hotel," she said casually, and the walked out of the room. Lindsey swallowed heavily. He didn't like where things were going. The talk of the magic he'd once wielded made him very uncomfortable, and the fact that Ms. Rosenberg's primary talents were of a magical nature… Well, at this point, it was better not to think about it. He nodded to Holland on the way to his office to get his briefcase and the notes for his court case. He had a trial to win. He'd worry about the rest later.

Willow looked around her hotel room with a careful eye. It was a nice suite in a fairly expensive hotel. W&H obviously treated their allies with respect, which was a good thing. The fact that they spied on them was less good, but not surprising. Willow easily destroyed the surveillance equipment in the room. She sprawled down onto the bed with a sigh of relief. She'd pulled it off. From the time that Lindsey had met her after she'd alighted from the plane until after she'd reached her hotel room, she'd been playing the act of a jaded mage. Frankly, she was surprised she'd managed to pull it off, but she had. They didn't know that inside she felt like a giddy teenager. She'd managed to keep the upper hand and showed no emotion. That was important in meetings such as she'd had with W&H. Angelus had demonstrated this to her, and he no doubt would have been proud of the way she'd handled herself today.                 Angelus. A sad smile graced her face. It was almost two years now since her mate had regained his soul and become the stranger he was now. The goody-good souled version of Angelus that helped the Slayer like a lap dog and had moved away from Sunnydale to this city. How she longed for her mate… She wanted his cold arms around her, asking how her day had been. She wanted to see the light in his eyes as he watched Dru dance around a room talking about how the stars were singing to her. She wanted to feel him inside her again. She wanted to be whole.                 Whole… She remembered a discussion she'd had with Angelus not long after they'd gotten together. About how she'd felt more whole than she'd ever felt before, but how there was still an empty hole inside of herself. Angelus had explained that they had somehow become one of the few people who were to love two people. Have two 'soul' mates, so to speak, regardless of the fact that Angelus didn't have a soul.                 The second part of herself belonged to Lindsey. She knew this the moment she'd seen him. She doubted that he'd recognized her, however. Angelus hadn't recognized the connection at first, either, and he'd had more than two centuries behind him. No, Lindsey would need some coaxing. But Willow was more than willing to do that. She longed to have the arms of someone who loved her around her again. Tonight Lindsey would come to her. She knew that he was too scared of both her and of the senior partners of W&H to do otherwise. She'd seduce him, and then he would know. After all, that's what it had taken with Angelus. She had no doubt that the same would work with Lindsey.                 Her thoughts moved away from Lindsey to the text that she'd soon acquire. Within it were several powerful spells. And the two that she wanted the book for was for one that removed a soul from a person, and another that created invulnerability amulets, like the Gem of Amara had been. With those two spells, she'd have her mate back, and a guarantee that she would never lose him again. She wondered what Angelus would think of Lindsey. Who knew, perhaps they'd already met…                 Drowsy, Willow allowed her eyes to close. She'd be in for a busy night. Best get some sleep. ***                 Lindsey took a deep breath as he looked at Ms. Rosenberg hotel room door. The trial had taken longer than he had hoped, but since he'd won, he supposed it mattered little. The case hadn't really concerned him. He'd won dozens of similar ones before. This meeting, however… It was making butterflies do kamikaze runs in his stomach. He didn't know why she unnerved him so much. She was one of the more normal people of the various personnel that W&H had.                  he sharply reprimanded himself, before knock on the door in a confident manner that he in no way felt.                 Several anxious minutes later, the door finally opened to reveal Ms. Rosenberg. Her hair was tousled and looked like it had been finger combed, and her clothes were rumbled. Perhaps she had taken a nap?                 "Sorry it took me so long to answer, Lindsey. Please," she motioned him to enter, so he did, brushing against her slightly. The skin that had touched her felt like it had been electrified.                 "Ms. Rosenberg," he started, but she interrupted him.                 "Please call me Willow."                 "Willow…" he trailed off, no longer certain what to say.                 "There's no need to be nervous, Lindsey," she said as she crouched slightly in front of him. Her hand reached out and cupped his cheek. Lindsey shuddered with the sensations that coursed through him, and closed his eyes. He felt her pick up his right hand, and he stiffened. The hand that Angel had cut off. The hand that W&H had reattached through magic, but that he still didn't had full feeling in. His eyes opened to see Willow looking at him. She released his right hand, and picked up his left. She placed in on her cheek, like hers on was his, and then switched hands from her right to her left, so that things were less awkward. If he'd thought her touching him was mind-blowing, the companion of both their hands on each other's faces was explosive.                 "What's…" Lindsey tried to get out.                 "Everything will be clear soon, Lindsey. I promise." She then kissed him. Lindsey pressed into the kiss, drawing her to him so that she sat on his lap. He didn't know what was going on, but he did know that he needed her as he had never needed anything before. And he had to have her. And he did. The two made love on the couch, and then later on the bed. And love it was. Lindsey couldn't understand how he could love her, especially considering the fact that she'd intimidated the hell out of him earlier today, but he somehow did love her. Sleep was tugging at him, and although he had so much to ask Willow, he couldn't stay awake to ask her. He was dimly aware of a loving kiss placed on his forehead as he drifted into sleep. They'd talk tomorrow.

Lindsey slowly woke up, and glanced around himself in confusion for a few moments. Where the hell was he? He blinked a few times as he brought his thoughts back into order. Willow. Of course! Last night came back to him in a rush. He'd made love to Willow. Had fallen in love with Willow. She'd promised they would talk. A quick survey of the room showed no trace of her, but a few moments later, the shower turned on, so he figured it was safe to say that she was in the bathroom. He toyed with the idea of joining her, but decided it was probably be better to use this time to think. So much had happened last night that he just didn't understand. He wasn't one to believe in love at first sight. Or love at first touch, which was closer to what had actually happened. So, how had it happened? Somehow, he knew that Willow would have answers to all his questions. His mate wouldn't let him down. Lindsey blinked. Mate? Where had that come from? It wasn't a term normally used for humans or magic practitioners. So where had it come from?                 Willow came out of the bathroom several minutes later, wearing a silk robe and absently toweling her hair dry. She sat on the side of the bed.                 "Sleep well?" she asked, with a small smile on her face.                 Lindsey nodded. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but nothing came out as he couldn't figure out what to ask first. It was very frustrating for him considering he was known for being able to think on his feet. Willow gave him another smile.                 "You're wondering about what happened last night, I assume?" Lindsey nodded again, trying not to feel like a fool. "Last night we acknowledged our bond as mates."                 "Mates?" he said the word with great puzzlement. "I thought that term was only used in relation to vampires."                 "It is. We are part of a tri-bond, or a bond of three. Our third is a vampire." Willow's face closed down slightly in sorrow. "I went through this with him. But then, he was taken away from me," he pain she was feeling was quite obvious, as Lindsey wrapped his arms around her. And strangely, he felt no jealousy when Willow talked of loving another man, only compassion that she wasn't still with him.                 "He's dead?" he asked, pain in his own voice. Sub-consciously, he already loved his other mate, despite the fact he knew nothing about him.                 "No, he is simply… not truly himself anymore. But the text that W&H will give me, that will enable me to get him back. I'll take what took him from me and banish it into hell." Willow smiled through her tears.                 Lindsey frowned in confusion. "How…" he started, before a look of comprehension flowered on his face. "Angel?" he ask hesitantly. Willow gave a small nod. "Angel regained his soul, and you lost you mate. Angelus?" he asked thickly. Willow nodded. "Damn…" was all Lindsey could respond.                 "You've met Angel," he said, and it was clearly not a question. Lindsey nodded nonetheless. "A real goody-good, isn't he. Nothing at all like my Angelus." Willow sighed with disgust at her Angelus had become.                 "The firm… They consider Angel an enemy…"                 Willow lifted an eyebrow. "So? Either Angelus will prove that he isn't, or he'll just ignore them."                 Lindsey nodded, something he noticed that both of them were doing a lot of. He then noticed the clock, and almost freaked. If he didn't get moving this instant, he would be late for a meeting with the senior partners.                 "I have to go," he said frantically, as he grabbed his clothing, hoping that no one would notice that they were the exact same things he'd worn yesterday.                 "Good luck," she said, as she watched him with a little amusement in her eyes. "I'll be apartment hunting today, won't be back until late." Lindsey nodded, as he quickly laced his shoes, and grabbed his briefcase.                 "See you tonight?" he asked, suddenly unsure of himself.                 "Of course. I'll finish explaining everything then," she promised, as she gave him a goodbye kiss. He nodded, and then rushed out of the suite towards the elevators. Being late was never a good thing.

Lindsey sighed as he closed the doors to his office. Two long grueling meetings had left him tired. He longed to hold his mate in his arms again. Lindsey grinned to himself. So quickly he'd adapted to having Willow in his life. Less than 48 hours ago, he hadn't known she existed. It was all so amazing. Then his thoughts turned to Angel. The souled vampire had ruined yet another case for W&H, resulting in their client ending up in jail. The senior partners were quite displeased. Lindsey knew that when Angel lost his souls and became his mate, and returned to being Willow's mate, this problem would end. In fact, Angelus would no doubt become one of W&H assassins, so that it would be all in the family, so to speak. The question was, could Willow make Angel lose his soul? And if she could, why hadn't she done it already?                 The text. Lindsey remembered all of a sudden how the text contained a variety of spells concerning vampires. The spell that Willow needed was no doubt in there. Willow wouldn't have an assignment for several weeks, however, and he wasn't sure he would be able to wait that long. He doubted that Willow could, either. But, if he approached the senior partners with the idea that the text could make it so that Angel would be removed as a threat permanently... He had to try.                 Several hours later, after a exhaustive meeting with several of the senior partners, he'd finally convinced them that there was a very good chance for Angel to lose his soul, which would keep them out of W&H hair, and gotten a copy of the text for Willow. He quickly gathered up his things, and ignoring Lilah as she tried to talk to him about something, he left the building from the underground car park, with Willow's hotel suite in mind. He frowned when he realized that she was looking for an apartment, which meant she wouldn't be living with him. Well, he could always ask her about that, and perhaps change her mind.                 He knocked on Willow's hotel room door, and unfortunately got no reply. He was about to leave when he remembered Willow slipping something into his pocket this morning before he'd left. He quickly fished into his pocket, and found both the key to the room, which he used to get inside, and a slip of folded paper. He opened this after the door closed behind him, to find what was most likely Willow's handwriting stating that the number was for her cell phone, and to call anytime.                 He punched the number into his cell phone, and waited while it rang. After about eleven rings, and he was certain that she wasn't going to answer, Willow's voice greeted him.                 "Hey, Willow. Where are you?" He tried his best to stay calm, but a slightly possessive tone entered his voice nonetheless.                 "Oh great. Here I had hoped the possessive thing was a vampire trait," Willow said with a sigh. "I'm looking for a place, remember? Something large and vampire friendly... Somehow I figured that you're place wouldn't do. Am I right?"                 "You'd be right," Lindsey said somewhat sheepishly.                 "Well, I found a darling of a place. A little more expensive than I had planned, but doable. Lots of windows, but also very efficient drapes and stuff. Angelus would love it. Well, except for maybe the fact it's on the fiftieth floor... But I'll talk him into it. You don't have a fear of heights, do you Lindsey?"                 "No, I don't. And Angelus is the reason I called. I managed to get you the text early." He heard Willow give a squeak of joy, which made him blink. The sheer range of being this woman had...                 "I'll be back at the hotel room in a flash!" she told him, and then disconnected the call. Lindsey blinked again. He'd underestimated how much she'd wanted that text...                 And flash was obviously meant to be literal, as Willow flashed into existence right in front of him, leaving Lindsey stupefied.                 "Where is it?" she demanded. Lindsey blinked several times as he tried to get his thoughts together. He managed to waive towards his briefcase, which was quickly attacked by Willow. She pulled out the text, and he got to hear that squeak of joy yet again. What an amazing woman...                 She was now completely ignoring him as she flipped through the text. Or more accurately, the text flipped itself. She must have cast that researching spell that he'd used himself way back. The name evaded him, although he could remember the words. Surprising, considering the amount of time since he'd last used it...                 "I found it! It... Oh man..." The joy in the first sentence was eclipsed by the sheer dejection in the second. Lindsey automatically went to her and hugged her, trying to cheer her up.                 "What's wrong?"                 Willow sighed. "If I'm translating this right, the ingredients for the soul removing spell are from extremely rare to unique." Her friend ran down one of the pages, as she read the text. "The blood of all living Childer, willing given. The blood of a Shaper, willing given. The blood of the vampire's mates, willing given. The blood of a Huntress, willing given. The blood of a Slayer, willing given." Willow frowned unhappily.                 "A very bloody spell," he said lightly. Willow gave him a small smile. Magic humour.                 "The blood of the vampire's mates..." she said softly, as if to herself. A look of understanding crossed her face, as she flipped to the beginning of the book.                 "Willow?"                 "Please... please..." she muttered to herself as he read down the page, automatically translating the text into English. "'The spells contained within this book are as the Goddess has given them to me. Each can only be performed once, as the spell will be erased from the book and the caster's memory after the successful casting.'" Willow quoted. She looked at Lindsey, hope again in her eyes. "This spell. It was designed for Angelus. Mates. That's what clued me in. Very few vampires have more than one mate, it's like two in a million. And the chance that said vampire would have a soul?" Willow smiled dazzlingly. "And A Slayer. Not THE Slayer, but A slayer. In a time where there are two."                 "It's not going to be easy, will it?" Lindsey asked quietly.                 "No," she said somberly. "But it's not impossible. And that's the important part." Willow smiled, as she put the text aside. "It'll take some time to get everything and everybody together. It requires a bunch of rather rare herbs, but I can probably get them through the magic shop. The hard part will be to get all of Angelus' Childer here, as the only one I know the location of is Spike, who's in Sunnydale. The rest are scattered over the world." Willow sighed again. "And as Buffy would never want Angelus' return, the Slayer will have to be Faith. I wonder if we can talk her into it." Willow shook her head. "Everything will fall into place at the proper time, I'm sure. So, Lindsey. Can you fight?"                 "Fight?" he asked, unsure of where she was going. "Not really."                 "Then you'll have to learn," her voice brooked for no arguments. Lindsey sighed and closed his eyes. Why did he have a bad feeling about this? *****                 Well, two hours later, he knew why he'd had a bad feeling about it. That was because Willow had thrown him around in pretense of teaching him basic defense. Frankly, he hadn't learned anything, but it did look like Willow had released a lot of tension. He wasn't sure if that was worth the sheer number of bruises that covered his body, however. Somehow, he thought there was something to this that he was missing. The only time he'd gotten in even one shot was when he'd sent the first repulsion wave against her. It had surprised her, and briefly enabled him to gain a bit of an upper hand. But she'd quickly regained it, and countered the other waves he'd generated.                 "Wasn't that fun?" she asked with a huge mischievous grin on her face. Lindsey just glared at her. "You're going to have to learn how to fight, Lindsey. I enjoy a good fight, and a good fuck afterwards. It was a vampire thing, but now it's my thing too." Lindsey nodded in understanding. He understood now. He'd have to take some karate classes or something. He didn't fancy getting bruised and bloodied on a regular basis.                 "Tonight was mostly about beating you up," she said with a grin. Lindsey groaned. "But I just needed to get out some tension. It's a lot more fun with a good opponent, so I'll actually teach you stuff next time. For now," she paused to give him a deep kiss. "Why don't we go on to the second part of that equation?" She kissed him again, and the two tumbled onto the mats. A brief thought for being glad they were in a private and locked workout room was thought before thoughts became impossible due to sheer physical feeling.

Lindsey looked at his sleeping mate with a smile. The last week had been fraught with activity. Willow had contacted Spike, and he was busy trying to find his siblings. Willow's first assignment had been completed tonight, which was the reason she was so zonked out. The magic it had taken to get rid of that particular pest had been of the major mojo kind, as Willow termed it. He'd been brushing up on his own magic over the last week, and had been surprised at how quickly he was re-learning it, or in some cases, already learning new things. Willow was quite proud of him.                 Lindsey let his hand pause as it went to brush a strand of hair away from her face. Something felt very... strange. Like there was a feeling of waiting for something to happen... Or someone to happen.                 "The stars told me that Mummy had found her and Daddy's third. The stars never lie..." said a hauntingly beautiful female voice. Lindsey whirled around to see a dark-haired woman in an empire-waisted dress move around the room, oftentimes twirling around in circles.                 "Who are you?" he asked, somewhat harshly. All his instincts were saying vampire, but a vampire needed an invitation to get in, which had not been issued.                 "Didn't Mummy tell you about me?" The woman pouted like a child.                 "Drusilla?" He asked hesitantly.                 She bounced up and down on her toes. "She did tell you about me." Drusilla twirled around again, a huge smile on her face. She then stopped moving and put her finger over her lips. "Shhh... We mustn't disturb Mummy's sleep. She tired herself out."                 "Why don't we move to the living room?" Drusilla nodded, and moved towards the door. When it was obvious that Lindsey wasn't following, she turned around and pouted.                 "Aren't you coming?" Lindsey's throat worked as he tried to figure out what to say. Drusilla giggled like a little girl who knew something she shouldn't. "You and Mummy were being naughty, weren't you. I'll wait in the other room," she said, a big smile on her face as she left the room, humming a tune under her 'breath'. Lindsey shook his head, and carefully got out of bed. Wouldn't want to wake Willow after all that. She mumbled slightly as she moved towards where Lindsey had been laying, but remained asleep. Lindsey let out the breath he'd been holding. He quickly and as quietly as he could got dressed in slacks and a shirt, and went to see Drusilla. How had she gotten in?                   Drusilla was sitting on the carpet of the living room floor, her dress a circle around herself. A doll was now in her arms. She looked up at Lindsey with eyes that looked far further than the space between the two of them encompassed. He wondered what she saw.                 "Drusilla. Why are you here? How did you get in?"                 "Daddy needs me. I had to come. And wherever Mummy is, I can come." Lindsey blinked with incomprehension. Drusilla continued to play with her doll, and Lindsey realized that if he wanted anything out of her, he'd have to be blunt.                 "How is that, Drusilla."                 She blinked, and then said in a strange voice, almost as if she were quoting, "Drusilla, anywhere I am, you can be, as your presence where am I is always welcome." She then gave him a dreamy smile.                 "Right..."                 "Miss Edith told me how Mummy was going to bring Daddy back, so I went back to Sunnydale and listened to that nasty Slayer," those last two words were spoken with absolute venom, "and found out about where Mummy went. And then Miss Edith led me here." She stood up, slowly and gracefully, then skipped over to the window. "Oh, how you can see from here," she said with wonder. Lindsey wondered if it was always this hard to understand her, or if he was just lucky.                 "Where's my room?" Drusilla asked all of a sudden. Lindsey blinked, but led her down a hallway to a room that Willow had vamp-proofed a few days ago for when Angelus' Childer showed up. This was the only one that was complete, and it had a decidedly girlish tone to it. He wondered if Willow had known that Dru would be the first to get here. Deciding that he'd had enough for tonight, and trying to understand Dru was giving him a headache, he said his goodnights, and crawled back into bed with Willow after he'd shucked his clothing.                 "Quite the family we have, Willow," he said softly as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, and drifted off into slumberland. ****                 The next morning he had a playful mate scattering kisses all over his body as she woke him up. The kiss that actually woke him up was more of a swallow than a kiss, and man was that a way to start a day. Several minutes later, he'd collapsed back onto the sheets, and Willow was giggling.                 "So, what did you think of our little girl?"                 "She's..." he tried to find the most polite way to say she was loony.                 "Difficult? Mystical? Crazy? Child-like?" she smirked. "All of the above? Ah, it's good to see family again."                 "You've seen her already?" Lindsey couldn't figure out how that could have happened, as he always woke up when Willow left the bed. She'd called it a mate thing.                 "No. But I can feel that she's here. The family's going to get all together." A huge smile graced Willow's face. Drusilla drifted into the room. Willow looked at her daughter with a smile.                 "The hunt is on, but the cat isn't the prey... Mummy, I can't see the prey."                 "The prey is no one important." Drusilla smiled at her Mummy's words. "When's the cat going to come. I want to play with him."                 "He'll be here soon, and I'm sure he'll love to play." Drusilla smiled, then turned her attention to Lindsey.                 "Mummy... I have my Daddy, but..." She frowned at Willow, the indecision in her eyes obvious.                 "And now you have a Papa." Drusilla's eyes shined.                 "Papa. Miss Edith, I have a Papa!" She twirled around in joy. "Spikey's going to meet Papa."                 "Spike's coming?" Drusilla nodded. "Soon?" She nodded again in joy. "I'm glad the last of the work on those rooms will be finished today.                 "And Big Brother is going to take me dancing... Are Spikey and Penn going to fight again?"                 "Probably," Willow said gently. "Penn's nearby?"                 "I can hear the stars whispering of the death he brings." Drusilla drifted out of the room. Willow glances at her mate, and noticed that he was looking a little shell-shocked.                 "The family is a little hard to adjust to, but you'll get used to it."                 Lindsey mumbled something about difficult family members and a large bonfire under his breath. Willow glared at him.                 "I'd be careful if I were you. Miss Edith tells Drusilla such interesting things..." Lindsey decided to shut up and bear it. Best not get his mate riled up.                 "I have a few phone calls to make. You should get ready for work. Dru probably went back to bed." She slipped on a robe, and headed for her office/mystical space to make said calls. Frankly, Lindsey just didn't want to know. He found that for the first time in his life, his work was the less interesting part of his day.

Lindsey flopped back onto couch with a heavy sigh. The day had been rough, and he just wanted to sit and veg for a couple of hours. He only managed to get about fifteen, however, and the door was suddenly kicked in. Lindsey whirled around, to see two men standing in the doorway. One of the two blondes was leaning on the barrier that kept them from entering the apartment. The other one, with hair so white it couldn't be natural, was leaning against the doorjamb, smirking at him. All his senses were screaming 'Vampire!' at him, so he assumed that these two were more of Willow's, no 'their' family. Lovely.                 Drusilla ran to the two men, embracing the bleach blond first "Spikey!" She turned and gave a hug to the more natural looking blond. "Penn... I've missed you. Miss Edith has been whispering in my ear, telling me all about all the wonderfully naughty things you've been getting into. Can you take me dancing?"                 "Pet..." Spike whined. Everyone ignored him, including Willow who walked into the room from her office. However, Dru soon unentangled herself from Penn and grabbed Spike's hands. They twirled around the room, dancing to the music that Dru was humming. Willow and Lindsey watched them with smiles on their faces, completely forgetting about Penn until he cleared his throat. Willow turned to look at him.                 "Having fun, Penn?" Willow asked her oldest childe with a smirk. He glared at her and gave a small snarl. He was leaning completely on the barrier that kept him out of her home. "Penn..." she said softly. "Come in." The barrier suddenly gone, Penn fell forward, and very narrowly managed to not end up sprawled face down on the carpet. Willow started laughing lightly. Penn just groaned.                 "I knew better than to do that," he snarled quietly to himself.                 "You did," Willow agreed. She moved forward and took Penn into her embrace. "It's so good to meet you, finally."                 "Same here. I've heard a lot about you from William."                 "Spike!" Spike snarled from across the room. "The name is Spike!" Dru frowned slightly.                 "Penn, be nice. I don't want you two fighting in my home. At least," she smirked, "not yet. Anyhow, let me introduce you to Lindsey, our third." She led Penn other to where Lindsey was sitting. He got up so that the two of them were face to face.                 "Lindsey, this is Penn, our oldest Childe. Penn, this is Lindsey McDonald." The two shook hands, and although it started like a normal handshake, Penn started to squeeze until it would be next to impossible for Lindsey not to have bruises. He gasped slightly in pain, and then Penn was suddenly thrown across the room by some invisible force. "Don't try to mess with him, Penn. That's not a way to get into my good graces," Willow snarled. She picked up Lindsey injured paw, and cast a quick healing spell, eliminating both the pain and the bruises, like she did after they sparred together.                 "Deepest apologies, Sire's mate." Penn said formally. Willow grunted, but accepted the apology.                 "Do that again, and I'll see what kind of bruises I can make on your skin." Penn's head did a little upward motion of respect. His Sire's female mate was strong. She had grown well into the position. The male… needed time to learn his place. He had no doubt that with time, he would become strong, as Willow was strong.                 Spike and Dru stopped dancing and sat down on one of the couches. Soon, everyone was sitting or sprawling on the living room furniture, but no one said a word for several long but comfortable minutes.                 "I have a question," Penn said. Willow raised an eyebrow, prodding him to continue. "Spike told me how Angel lost his soul two years ago, but he never told me how he got it back." Willow grimaced.                 "Ms. Calendar. She was sent to Sunnydale to make sure Angel stayed all tortured and souled. When he didn't and lost his soul, she found a way to restore it to him several months later," Willow's voice broke a little as she remembered how she had lost her mate.                 "So, is she dead?"                 "No," Willow told Penn, to the astonishment of both him and Lindsey.                 "Why not?"                 "It's Angelus she wronged, therefore Angelus should be the one to kill her." Willow suddenly grinned. "But that doesn't make it so that I can't hurt her. A month after she restored Angel's soul, she was beaten half to death and has been in a coma ever since."                 The tension that had evolved in the room broke with that naughty statement, and several of them let out breaths they hadn't known they were holding. "Do you think that you'll be able to find Nikolas?" Penn asked skeptically, trying to move away from talk of his Sire. Willow grimaced. Nikolas was the baby of the family, and the only Spike and Dru knew him, simply because they had been with Angelus the month he had been sired. Within two months of his new life, he'd vanished. The only thing they knew was that he wasn't dead when Angelus had re-emerged two years ago.                 "I don't know. He could be dead, for all we know."                 "Little Brother isn't dead," Dru protested. "The stars would have told me, like they told me when Zacky got killed by that nasty Slayer. He's with his animals, which taste so sweet…" The others blinked.                 "He feeds off animals?" Penn asked, slightly disgusted.                 "No one else, no one else…" Dru chanted softly.                 "No humans where he lives, pet?"                 "No one else," Dru said again, only this time it definitely sounded like she was agreeing with him.                 "Nikolas was always a little different. Not interested in the hunt, or the kill. He loved animals, and music and art. He hadn't really changed much from the human he had been. It was very strange. Angelus was getting tired of Nikolas being squeamish, as he called it, and was going to implement some rather heavy handed ideas for dealing with that when Nikolas just disappeared one night. No one has heard from him since. That was about a 110 years ago now." Spike looked pensive.                 "None of Angelus' Childer are like normal vampires, are they?" Lindsey asked softly. He got pinned by two rather angry stares from the male vampires. He automatically raised his hands in the 'I'm harmless' position. "I'm just calling it as I see it. Spike and Dru, you two have loved each other for over a century. Have you ever heard of another vampire that can claim that? Penn, you often take human lovers for a few years, and then simply leave before the fact that you're not aging becomes apparent. Marinda does something very similar to that. Zackarias was well known for his habit of not killing the people he fed from. And Nikolas… He doesn't feed from humans at all…" Penn stared angrily at the ground. He didn't know what to say. After all, everything Lindsey had said was true.                 "How do you know so much about us?" Spike asked angrily.                 "Partly from Willow," he said carefully. "She's spoken a lot about her family. And I've learned some from the research I did on Angel, after he started to be a problem for W&H."                 "Regardless of how he knows that information, we need to find Marinda and Nikolas. I'm counting on you two boys to find them for me." Willow gives them her best 'I'm trusting you to do this for me' look. Both male vampires squirmed a bit.                 "Consider it done, Red," Spike said. He rose after he'd given Dru a kiss. Penn rose right after him.                 "We won't let you down, Sire's mate," he said formally, and turned to glare at Spike. The glaring contest continued until Willow cleared her throat, and the two looked away from each other.                 "Play nice, boys," she reminded them, as they left to find the last of their sibling.                 "We will, Red," Spike said somewhat sullenly, while Penn just nodded his head, and they left the apartment.                 Willow looked at Lindsey with a smile on her face.                 "Never a dull moment?" Lindsey asked softly.                 "Nope," Willow said as her grin widened. "And just wait until the family is completely assembled, with the Huntress, the Slayer, and the Shaper. Then things will get really interesting. Especially considering the bonding…"                 "Bonding?" Lindsey asked, confused yet again.                 "The spell. I figured out why it called for all of that blood. It's also a bonding spell, to make the entire family strong. Once that's been cast, watch out." Willow smirked.                 "We're going to need a larger apartment," Lindsey commented.                 "I've already bought all the apartments on this floor, along with the ones on the next, and gotten permission from the apartment board for the construction of stairs and tearing out some walls and adding new doors. We'll have plenty of room." Lindsey just shook his head in amazement.                 "You think of everything," he said, and gave Willow a kiss.                 "I do try," she said with a giggle.

The next day, after another long day at the office, he was once again sprawled on the living room couch, when he heard the front door open. Considering that Willow and Dru were in her office working on a spell, he figured that they were about to have another unscheduled visit. Lovely. He turned around to see a young woman of about Willow's age examining his living room.                 "Red is really moving up in the world, ain't she?" she said, as she moved to stare at Lindsey. "And you must be the new toy she was talking about. Not bad," she said as she examined him from head to toe, making him feel like a thing that was used, and not a person.                 "Faith!" Willow shouted in delight, as she threw herself into Faith waiting arms.                 "It's good to see you, Red," Faith said enthusiastically. "And I like the new boy toy…"                 "Hey, that's my mate you're talking about," she told Faith sternly. The unworded request of an apology passed between them. Faith shuffled her feet a little bit.                 "Sorry, Studly. No hard feelings, right?" Lindsey blinked, then sighed.                 "No hard feelings, Faith."                 "Then we're five by five." She turned to Willow. "So, when the mojo happening? I came as soon as I could."                 "It could be a while. We're having some troubles find Marinda and Nikolas," Willow said softly.                 "And they would be…?"                 "Marinda is Angelus' third Childe, while Nikolas is the youngest. Marinda *might* be somewhere in China, but that's the most we know right now," Willow said sounding disappointed.                 "Then we get more time to play!" Faith told Willow enthusiastically.                 "Why do I get a bad feeling about that?" Lindsey asked.                 "Because you'd be right, Studly," Faith said impishly. "You and I are going clubbing. Tonight."                 Willow blinked, but smiled nonetheless. "Faith, the steamroller," she said teasingly. "Do I at least get a chance to change?" Faith nodded, as she turned to stare at Lindsey again. As soon as Willow had left the room, she sauntered over to where Lindsey was still sprawled on the couch, and pulled him to his feet by his collar.                 "If you ever, and I do mean *ever* hurt her, I will personally flay you alive, then break every bone in your body until you're screaming for mercy. Got it?" Lindsey nodded enthusiastically. Faith dropped him onto the floor, and then moved over to the door, where she leaned against the frame, looking at her nails with disinterest. Willow came out of their bedroom a few minutes later, wearing a pair of leather pants and a nice blue top that contrasted well with her hair. She looked at Lindsey where he was still sprawled on the floor, not having the energy to move. She helped him up onto the couch, and then turned to look at Faith, who was purposely avoiding her gaze.                 "Faith, there's no need to be so protective of me. I can take care of myself, remember?" she said lightly, knowing why Faith had done was she had done.                 "You may be strong magically and physically, but that don't protect your heart," she said simply and emotionlessly. "Now come on, we got some clubbing to do." Willow let Faith lead her out of the apartment, as she tossed a farewell to her now sleeping mate.                  Willow thought with amusement, before she let herself loose to the music of a club Faith had picked, and let all of her worries melt away. *****                 Lindsey came into the apartment and flopped onto the couch. He blinked a few times, and considered moving, since the last two times he'd done this, his vegging had been rudely interrupted. However, the chance of that happening three times in a row had to be fairly small, so he allowed himself to sink into the couch. Fifteen minutes later, however, there was a knock on the door, and Lindsey groaned. No, he decided. It was just his imagination. But two minutes later, the door opened, and a blonde-haired woman and a large brown-haired man stepped into the apartment. Lindsey dropped his head into his hands. This just couldn't be happening to him. He curled into a ball and proceeded to ignore them.                 "Did we break him?" asked a somewhat confused female voice.                 "How could we have broken him, we just got here. Maybe he came broken," suggested a male voice.                 "Now, that wasn't very nice," Willow said. "Unfortunately for Lindsey, yesterday Faith dropped in at just this time, and then the day before that, Spike and Penn did the exact same thing."                 "Poor guy," said the female. "Well, let me assure you, Lindsey that he and I are far nicer than those vampires or that particular Slayer would be." Lindsey stood up, feeling a little sheepish for his childish actions. "I'm Amy, the Huntress that Willow probably mentioned to you." Lindsey shook her hand politely, already liking this woman. "I'm also a witch," she said conspiratorially. Well, that explained the power he felt from her, now that he was paying attention. He turned to be introduced to the male, to find he and Willow were in a very enthusiastic embrace. Lindsey growled under his breath. Willow turned, but remained in the man's arms.                 "Lindsey! That's not very nice. Now come here, I want to introduce you to a very good friend of mine." Lindsey went over to her all right, but yanked her out of the man's embrace and into his own, glaring at him all the while. Willow sighed. "Men," she muttered under her breath. "Lindsey, this is an old friend of mine, and the Shaper I mentioned to you. Claw, this is Lindsey, mine and Angelus' third."                 "Am I going to get a real name for this bloke?"                 Willow turned around and smiled mischievously at him. "You've been spending too much time thinking like Spike."                 "Graham Miller," the man offered, as he held out his hand. Lindsey took it, and they shook hands. Suddenly, he stopped disliking him so much. There was something about him… He examined him closely, noticing the strange weave of the neck to toe black clothing and the unusual black leather boots.                 "Shapeshifting blacks," Graham said suddenly. Lindsey blinked in confusion. "The clothes, they're called shapeshifting blacks. Made of the pelts and hides of dead shapers. So, when I change, they shape with me, instead of me destroying my clothes when I shift and ending up naked when I shift back." Lindsey blinked again.                 "That must come in handy."                 "It does," Graham replied, as he moved over to put his arms around Amy.                 "You two," he started to guess, but was cut off.                 "Are involved?" Amy finished lightly. "So we are." She turned to Willow. "So, when does this spell go down?"                 "We still need Marinda and Nikolas, who we have no clue of their whereabouts."                 "We could try a locator spell…" Amy suggested, and Willow's face lit up.                 "Perfect!" She grabbed Amy's arm, and hauled her off into her office. "Let's get started."                 Graham laughed. "It's so nice to see her happy again. I didn't think anything could cheer her up after she lost Angelus."                 "You don't seem the type to be willing to let a homicidal vampire back on the loose…" Lindsey started somewhat awkwardly.                 "Normally, I wouldn't. But I'd do anything for Willow, just like Amy would, or Faith. And if a few deaths results because of the fact that Willow's happiness needs a vampire who kills people, then so be it." The two looked at each other, complete understanding each other. Lindsey knew that Graham would become a very close friend, and he was glad for it. Now, if only Marinda and Nikolas would be so nice.

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