Damascus (1/1)

Author- Midnight Faith

Spoilers- 'Habeas Corpses'

Distribution- FF.net, AOH, Watcher's Council and Neurotica… anyone else just ask :)

Pairing- Lilah/Lindsey

Rating- R

Summary- Lilah finds herself in a hotel room, rescued by someone very familiar

Notes- Many hugs and kisses to Roseveare for the fabulous beta :)

"You gonna stay with me this time?"

Pain- there was still pain searing through her side and abdomen, throbbing in time with her frantic heartbeat. She was warm, lying down, a blanket over her, feeling sick with the combined trauma of shock, blood loss and pain.

Lilah knew there may have been some degree of hallucinating in the past couple of days- hell, she might even be hallucinating now but appearing weak in front of her former nemesis was featuring in no potential hallucination of hers. The man at her side put a steadying hand to her shoulder as she tried to sit up.

The instant she actually moved the muscles in her stomach she was plagued with regret. Something that felt like a knife of fire was stabbing her in the side so she resided herself to lying back, throat burning with thirst and tears spilling over her eyes, nothing left to lose.

"Do you want codeine?" Lindsey asked kindly.

"Got a bucket of morphine there instead? Maybe something you can hook straight to my veins?" she quipped, still quick with the sarcasm despite her weakened state, narrowing her eyes at Lindsey in contempt.

He smiled, oddly comforted by the familiarity of her attitude, slipping her the pills and holding a glass of water to her lips. She grimaced at the taste, fighting the urge to choke, until she'd finished the water and Lindsey helped her back down again, to rest comfortably against the pillows.

"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be helping the disadvantaged wildebeests of Wyoming or something." she snapped.

Lindsey only smiled in response. "You'll never change, Lilah. I'm here because I heard the Beast was here. Figured he'd find his way to Oklahoma City. I might have left the firm but it's killing everyone who was even remotely associated. Realised I fell into that category. Turns out I'm too late to help."

"Maybe you weren't. How long have I been out for?"

"Thirty six hours. You're only alive because I've been giving you water. I found you passed out in a sewer. You were conscious but not making a lot of sense. Gave me a few scares, but a book I bought on the black market, thanks to a few incantations, seems to say you're healing. You need to drink, though. And I got you a tetanus shot. God knows what you picked up. What the hell were you doing in the sewer anyway?"

"Escaping." She tried to curl up in a ball, shivering slightly from cold but her stomach prevented her so she settled for tucking her chin down towards her chest.

"Secret exit and a little help?" he second-guessed.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Didn't mean to hit a nerve." He shifted slightly, moving away from her, sensing hurt and not wanting to be the one she lashed out at.

"Where the hell are we?" she asked eventually, cutting the silence.

"Motel six on the outskirts. Low profile, safe as I could make it. Do you remember anything about the last few hours?"

"Not much. I remember- pieces, I guess. Mostly you. Your touch, your smell."

"You remember Angel came to visit?" he asked her, with a small smile.

Lilah smirked, amused, hitching herself up slightly in the bed, causing her to wince in momentary, yet dulling, pain. "Mr Champion of all good things good and fluffy came to visit *me?* Wow- was it just to check if I died yet?"

"He didn't stay long. I managed to stop the bleeding. Of course now you're conscious it'll probably all open up again. You really should be in a hospital but…"

"I'm a walking target?" she finished for him.

"Plus ER's all over the city are crowded out. There's anarchy, people desperate for treatment, no medical supplies are getting through."

"So- Doctor McDonald- what do you recommend I do?"

He shrugged. "I'm not a Doctor. At a guess lots of bed rest. Eat protein. Drink lots of water. Take painkillers and clean and dress the wound four times a day."

"Lindsey?"

"Yes?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"OK." He moved closer again and helped her sit on the edge of the bed, as a wave of dizziness crashed over her, causing her to cling to his arm. "It's alright." he soothed. "Just take it slow."

He helped her to her feet and she almost doubled over in pain on stretching the wound. He steadied her, gently leading her to the bathroom door. "Call me if you need me."

She smiled. "I still remember how to pee."

Minutes later, she opened the door looking much paler than when Lindsey had last seen her, and slightly green.

"It's bleeding again," she told him, "All soaking through the bandage."

"Alright." he picked her up and carried her back to the bed. "It's alright. You've probably popped a few stitches." He poured her another glass of water from the bottle at the side of the bed. "Drink this."

"I'm fine," she told him, taking a sip, "Just do something about the Grand Canyon sized hole in my stomach."

"You looked," he realised, "You weren't supposed to."

"Who sutured it? You?"

"Yeah, because I go around suturing all the time. The motel owner used to be a nurse. She stitched you up originally. I'll see if she's around."

She smiled, gratefully, "Thank you."

"I wouldn't want to hurt you. Plus- this way I get to hold your hand."

"I remember you holding my hand- when I was asleep."

"The word you're looking for is comatose. Will you be OK for a second? If I go and find a person qualified in suturing?"

"I'll be fine."

He returned just minutes later with the motel owner.

"This is Sarah." Lindsey told Lilah, kneeling by the side of the bed, "You alright?"

"I'm fine. I'll be better when I don't have a gaping tear in my abdomen."

"OK- Lilah. Looks like you popped two of the stitches," Sarah told her with a sympathetic smile. "It'll sting a bit."

Lilah nodded fearfully, Lindsey taking her right hand as Sarah gently removed the bandage.

"Squeeze as tight as you want," he told her, giving Lilah's hand a reassuring squeeze for emphasis.

Sarah poured some swabbing alcohol onto a pad of cotton wool and gently cleaned off the wound. Lilah hissed in pain, almost crushing Lindsey's hand. He grimaced and resisted the urge to tear his hand away or say 'Ouch.' Lindsey found himself physically flinching as each suture was drawn and the wound was re-bandaged. Tears collected in Lilah's eyes and the one she did let fall over her eyelid he quickly wiped away, cupping her face for a moment. She smiled at his touch.

"All done," Sarah said eventually, pulling down her top. "Take it easy, otherwise you'll pop them. Leave any running around to the boyfriend."

"He's…" Lilah opened her mouth to object but found an inner voice silencing her as Lindsey showed Sarah to the door with a "Thank you." He turned back, grinning. "Boyfriend?"

*****

"Hey- look at that. Walking around and no stitches popping. Hard to believe it took me half an hour to get from the bed to the sofa, yesterday." Lilah grinned at Lindsey who was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her, two days later.

He smiled back. "Guess you won't be needing me at all soon."

She dropped her smile and sat on the bed beside him, wincing still when the muscles in her stomach moved.

"I don't think, as it stands, I can walk more than about seven paces. I get really dizzy."

"It's because you're not eating properly," he chided, reaching out to pinch her side gently, "I feel ribs. Eat something- please? For me?"

"My stomach's still healing. Food makes me feel sick."

"I have bagels," he said, getting up to rummage in the small fridge. "They're only plain."

"I'm not hungry."

"In that case we'll share. Half each."

She sighed, before nodding and allowed him to break pieces off the bagel and feed them to her in silence. She brushed crumbs from her lips before smiling at him.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm gonna be hungry now though."

"There's yoghurt in the fridge. Strawberry."

"That's my favourite."

"I know. Every Thursday staff breakfast meeting you'd have strawberry yoghurt."

She smiled again, lost in memories before asking, "Why'd you come back? Really?"

"To try and help. To save my own ass."

"Thank you. I don't say it often enough- I haven't needed to- but thank you."

"You’re welcome."

*****

"The world is ending, isn't it?" she whispered to him, three days later.

The news was saying it was an atmospheric convergence but they were smart people and they knew better. It was the Beast blacking out the sun. The airports and roads were closed; they had no way of knowing if they were still being hunted.

"Maybe. I think that's what it wants- yes." Lindsey said, holding her tighter.

When Lilah's stomach had healed they'd alternated sharing the bed for a few hours each every night. But then perpetual darkness had come and they'd shared for comfort, clung to each other, way past other formalities.

"Shouldn't we be trying to escape?" she asked him. "Isn't that who we are? What we do?"

"How? There are no planes, no buses. The freeways are closed."

"Walk? I don't know." She buried her face in his T-shirt, frightened.

"Don't panic. We'll be alright." he reassured her.

"If you die, it's my fault. You came back for me."

"Don't flatter yourself. I came back to help people. You happen to fall into that category."

"If we survive this can we go away together?" she looked up at him, her face tear-streaked.

"Where would we go?" he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Orlando."

"Disneyworld."

"To begin with. Universal studios. Seaworld. Drive to Cape Canaveral one weekend. And Busch gardens. But settle in a gorgeous one-bedroom apartment in the city centre. With a hot tub on the balcony."

"One bedroom?"

"Uh huh. And I'll work for Ralph Lauren with a 45% discount. What will you be?"

"An accountant. Freelance. Working from home."

"How very domestic."

"How very nice it sounds." He looked down at her, looking up at him with hope in her eyes and couldn't help but kiss her. A whisper of a touch across her lips before pulling back to judge her reaction. She drew him back down to her, lips moving against his own tentatively.

"We'll have our Orlando," she whispered, her lips still close to his, "I promise."

"Yeah- one bedroom's not sounding too bad right about now."

She cuddled into his chest, touch changing from its predecessor. There was a need now. Not only to give and take comfort but a promise of much more. A future, a home, each other- both physically and emotionally.

"Do you want to?" she asked ambiguously, looking up at him.

"Do I want to, what?"

"The world is ending- maybe. And if it does I wouldn't mind you being the last guy I slept with."

"No."

"No?" she tensed in his arms in disbelief.

"I'm not brushing you off."

"Could've fooled me." She turned over, hurt on her face.

"Lilah." he put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm a man. I have eyes. Of course I want to sleep with you."

"Then why not?"

"Because we'll wake up in the morning and the sun will be back and you'll think I only slept with you because the world was ending."

She laughed. "It's just sex."

"And that's why. I don’t want it to be 'just sex.' I want it to be in our bed, in our apartment in Orlando. Something safe. Warm. Comfortable. Something we can take our time over, that means a little more than one last fuck before the world ends."

She looked up at him. "Well put like that… waiting seems okay."

"I only kissed you ten minutes ago. Anything else is gonna seem rushed."

"True."

He couldn't help but kiss her again. "But I'm perfectly happy to lie here all night kissing you."

"You make it sound as if the sun will rise in the morning. We won't even know it's morning, there won't be a dawn."

"You think too much," he told her affectionately, stroking her hair. "The sun will come back eventually. Or… we'll know because of the clocks."

"Right. Yeah. I'm tired." She yawned for emphasis.

"You’re so cute when you yawn."

"Cute?" she asked incredulously, "Really? Cute?"

"Yeah."

"See, that was funny. I almost forgot how terrified I was for a second."

"That was the idea."

And with that she was asleep in his arms until the sun rose.