The hidden hearts, hidden souls series:

Part I: A jewel so rare

Archiving- fanfiction.net, Ace of Harts anyone else just ask away :-)

Disclaimer- they belong to his godliness, Joss

Genre- short story, fluff, angst

Rating- PG

Spoilers- Very minor Lindsey related spoiler for 'To shanshu in LA.' If you've seen it you'll know what it is.

Primary characters- Lindsey, Lilah

Primary pairings- L/Li

Summary- Lindsey and Lilah guard a sacred jewel…

Note- this keeps alternating POV's but it shouldn't be too hard to work out…

Lilah:

OK, I have made *some* sacrifices for this job, but it can't get any lower than this. Because I am only a junior partner, and because I suspect because I am human I'm stuck guarding some sacred jewel for some shaman that's coming to W & H tomorrow. OK wait this gets better. For twelve hours. In a crypt. But wait for the best part guess who's in this crypt with me? Yep, that's right. Lindsey. Could my life get any worse? Well it probably could I could be homeless or demented or something. But this has gotta be top of my situations I don't wanna be in list. OK, number one it's cold. Number two it's dark. OK, not telling Lindsey I guess I *am* the tiniest bit phobic of the dark. Vampires live in the dark. And demons. And god knows what might burst in. OK, I can hold my own. I know very basic self-defence but I wouldn't mind someone strong, and gorgeous and tanned and dark to protect me. But I'm stuck with Lindsey. He has a plastic hand for god's sake! And to make it worse he's not saying a word. OK, acid insults, which I'm gonna admit are sometimes hurtful from Lindsey are better than this. And I can't sit down on the floor properly cos I'm wearing a skirt so I'm gonna stand up, OK, so I'm gonna pace up and down. And Lindsey's just gonna sit in the corner and sulk. Typical him. OK, so I'm just gonna come out and admit that I'm cold and I'm scared and I'm lonely. I need someone to hold me… But still the pacing continues…

Lindsey:

This night could not get worse. Stuck in a crypt with Lilah. OK, it could I guess. In fact I can definitely think of worse people to be stuck in a crypt with. And Lilah's driving me crazy. She's just pacing up and down except it's too dark to see her, I can just hear her heels clicking across the floor, and when she gets close I can smell her. She smells nice actually. No, better than nice. Gorgeous. Like… flowers on a summer's day all mixed in with berries and fire, for some peculiar reason. And OK, I *am* glad that Lilah's here. I'd hate to be here by myself or anything. Cos it's creepy and I'm taking comfort that she's here. Is she thinking the same? No, no way, not Lilah. She's so strong. It's like she's not frightened of anything. OK, it's driving me insane now, the constant pacing.

"Lilah, why don't you just sit down?"

"Because I'm wearing a skirt, moron."

"I can't even see you, how am I gonna look up your skirt." She doesn't say anything and I still can't see her but she comes and sits down kinda close. Cos that Lilah aroma intensifies and she *does* smell good. And I can sense her presence, and that's all good because it makes me feel less nervous…

Lilah:

OK, so I'm sat on the floor next to Lindsey. I think it's actually colder down here, at least with the pacing you can actually generate a bit of body heat. So I sit close to Lindsey. Not too close though, I have no idea why I'm not sat too near. But as soon as I sit down he inches slightly closer. Creepy, but maybe he's cold too. OK, I should just ask him but whenever I'm around Lindsey I get all uncomfortable. Stupid I know. This is *Lindsey* No dress sense, completely incapable of doing anything, floppy haired, icy eyed Lindsey. OK, I'm gonna ask him,

"Lindsey?" I whisper.

"What?" he says back, "And why are you even whispering no- one else is here," Great. Now Lindsey's gonna think I'm stupid. Why do I even *care?* Scratch that. Who cares if Lindsey cares? Then I realise I do.

"Are you cold?" I ask him, normal voice. Slight pause.

"Yeah," he says,

"Good as long as it's not just me," I tell him. More pauses.

"Come here then," he says. *What?!* OK, Lindsey is asking me to *hug* him. I've never even *touched* Lindsey before. Half of me is freaking out, and half of me is trembling with anticipation. I scoot closer and Lindsey, really, really gently wraps his arms around my shoulders. OK, this is… what's the word I'm looking for. Not nice, no nice would be too gross, but it *is* nice cos he's kinda warm. But this is also of the weird. I can actually feel his heart beat and it's racing really fast, like he's scared of me or something. I can't really see him so I can't judge his face or anything. I wish I could, I want to know what he's thinking. OK, this could not get more disturbing because I think he actually just sniffed my hair. *aaahhhhh!* I want to ask him what he's doing.

"You smell nice," he tells me. What am I supposed to say? Thankyou. OK, so now I'm actually *sniffing* him and he doesn't smell so bad himself. Kinda like that fragrance you get after heavy rain mixed in with foresty perfumes and I want to say the scent of ice, but that's stupid because ice doesn't have a smell.

"Well, it's Gucci, it should smell good the amount I paid for this," I tell him. OK, it might be my imagination but did he just actually pull me closer? But he *is* warm and it is nice. So I've got nothing to lose right? So really, really cautiously I put my arms around his waist…

Lindsey:

This night could not get stranger. Here I am sat on the floor of a crypt, actually hugging Lilah. Actually she's a lot easier to hold than I thought she would be. I thought she'd be all rigid and just not cuddlesome but she is strangely. She's relaxed against me and she smells so damn *good.* OK, I feel less afraid now that Lilah's here. OK, what if Lilah's scared. I'm supposed to be protective I guess. OK, I should just ask her. Why does Lilah always make me feel so uneasy? I mean this is *Lilah.* Not nice, freaky, gullible, beautiful Lilah. *Whoa!* I did *not* just think that. Then I realise I did. And I'm right. Lilah *is* beautiful. I guess it takes being stuck in a crypt with someone to realise that. OK, I'm gonna ask her,

"Lilah?"

"Yeah?" she sounds so gentle. Very non-Lilah like. And also drowsy maybe I should let her sleep…

"You're not scared or anything are you?"

"Well, I'm less scared than I was,"

"Me too. Is it like, being… close that's making you less afraid?"

"I guess so. I dunno. Well, then yes."

"Well I was scared too…"

"Come on, Lindsey you're not scared of anything!"

"Me not scared of anything? I thought you weren't scared of anything!"

"So what are you frightened of?"

"The dark, mainly," I tell her.

"No kidding? The dark freaks me out too. Wait," I can hear her rummaging about in her handbag. This is bizarre. I've still got hold of her and her hair's brushing against my hand and it tickles. I laugh. She turns back for a second.

"What?" she asks, but in a joking way.

"It's your hair it's brushing against my hand,"

"Sorry," she says pulling her hair back behind her shoulders,

"No, it's good," I tell her. So she lets her hair go again and resumes searching to find whatever it is she's looking for.

"I've got it," she tells me, but I can't see what it is that she's holding up because it's dark, but I can hear metal. Weird. Metallic clinking. Then light beams out from the pewter and I can see Lilah for the first time in about two hours. She's got a mini torch attached to her keys. Smart. And she looks gorgeous in the torchlight. It lights up her eyes and they're burning with amber fire. Wow. OK, I don't even feel weird about thinking Lilah looks gorgeous. But she *does.* She holds the light up to my face so I see clearly. So I can look around. But I find my eyes drawn back to hers. There's this connection.

"So you're ticklish then?" she asks me teasingly.

"Why are you?" I ask her back equally tantalising.

"I'm not telling you," she tells me, but puts a friendly hand out to tickle my stomach. I laugh just slightly and I'm as ticklish as *hell.* But somehow I manage to fight back tickling her arms and she's gotta be equally as ticklish cos she's practically screaming with laughter and somehow, cos Lilah's pretty strong I've wrestled her to the ground and the torch, has somehow fallen to the floor and it's lighting up our faces. So she's led on her back and I'm practically on top of her and OK, she's not tickling me now in fact her eyes are all sober and they're searching mine. Oh, god, oh god. Does she want me to kiss her? Should I anyway? Ever so slowly, I bring my face down to hers and brush my lips really gently against hers. And I look into her eyes again and she's just looking at me, longingly. She brushes her lips with mine and I put my hands under her shoulders and now oh god, we're kissing properly. This is strange. She tastes of mint, like toothpaste and she's velvety and smooth. I wonder what she thinks of me. And suddenly she's pushing me off her and she's up and sitting far away again. What did I do wrong?

"No Lindsey this is wrong," she tells me. Is she right? Is this dishonest? "Just leave it," she says, picking up the torch and looking away from me. I look to her shamelessly. Are we wrong?