Flesh and Blood (5/25)

Author- Midnight Faith

Pairing- Lindsey/Lilah with Cordy/Angel on the side…

Spoilers- 'Somnabulist.' 'Epiphany.'

Distribution- ff.net, Ace of Harts, Neurotica… anyone else just ask :)

Rating- R

Summary- Lilah and Wesley find common ground, Angel gets a surprise visitor and Lindsey's true motives are uncovered…

Notes-' Part 3/3 of a trilogy. Which also contains 'Southern Comfort' and 'Silver Cloud, Bitter Lining.'

The knock on the door came at seven a.m. sharp.

Lilah got up a little apprehensively from the sofa and slowly slid the three bolts on the front door across and opened it gradually to reveal Wesley standing there holding Connor.

"Wesley," she said, taking Connor from him. The baby looked up at her before gently resting his head on her shoulder, obviously exhausted.

Wesley followed her into the apartment and once inside he pulled her into a brief hug.

"Are you OK?" he asked her, before quietly releasing her, "You look tired."

"I had a rough night," she told him, "I didn't get much sleep… actually any sleep."

"Me either… I stupidly told Angel I'd take Connor for the night… of course he decided screaming from two a.m. onwards would be fun."

"He's OK… he just needed a hug… I think we're all feeling a little like that this morning."

He smiled at her.

"Look at you…" he said, "You're so natural with Connor… it's wonderful. Actually I didn't just come round to see if you and Cordelia could work your magic on Connor… I came by to cook you both breakfast."

"Cordy's just jumped in the shower, and you know how to cook?"

"Not exactly… it was a better idea in my head."

"Come on… I'm still learning… we can work it out together."

*****

"Are pancakes supposed to be black?" Wesley asked Lilah ten minutes later staring into the frying pan.

"I don't think so…" she said, looking over his shoulder, "No-one's ever cooked me pancakes before."

"Maybe I should've just bought crepes," he mused aloud, "I don't think these are edible… let alone to give to Connor."

"He's asleep anyway…" Lilah said, holding Connor tighter to her, his head still gently resting on her shoulder.

"Did something die in here?" Cordy asked, coming into the kitchen and smoothly ruffling Connor's sandy coloured hair.

"It's supposed to be our breakfast," Lilah told her.

"Bacon?" Cordy guessed, looking at the charred remains of the food in the pan.

"Pancakes…" Wesley informed her, "They're not supposed to be black?"

"A world of no…" Cordy said, "We'll start over… Lilah why don't you put Connor down in my room… you could catch forty too… we'll call you when breakfast's done."

"You sure?" Lilah asked.

"Absolutely… go relax." Cordy told her, with a smile.

As son as Lilah had closed the kitchen door behind her both Cordelia and Wesley dropped their pained optimistic expressions.

"Thankyou… she needed that," Cordy told Wesley, scraping the overcooked remains of the pancakes into the trash can under the sink.

"What?"

"A little normalcy…"

"Did you talk to her?" Wesley asked.

"A little… she didn't want to talk about Lindsey though…"

"It's not surprising… Fred's been trying to hack into the files at Wolfram and Hart but they're encrypted in a coding she's never seen before… so we…"

"Sent for back up?" Cordy finished for him.

"Willow's driving up from Sunnydale for the day tomorrow."

"So what do we tell Lilah?"

"I don't normally advocate it but… not the truth."

*****

"So she just walks straight back in and Angel's like 'oh hi Kate… thanks for not bothering to call in the past year and a half… we thought you might be dead… wanna come live in the room next to me in my hotel?" Cordy explained the day's situation to Lilah as they descended the staircase to Caritas.

"I'm sure it's not like that…" Lilah reassured her, "Angel loves you."

"Yeah because there's that whole thing where I've never tried to kill him." Cordy seethed jealously.

"She really tried to kill Angel?" Lilah asked, wide-eyed.

"She ran him through with a two by four one time…" Cordy told Lilah nonchalantly.

"What's she like?"

"Perfect. She's tall… natural blonde… really pretty. And she's good with Connor. You should've seen her with him. Talk about affinity."

"How are my girls?" Lorne asked from somewhere behind them.

He put one arm around each of them earning him a right-handed hug from Lilah and a left-handed hug from Cordy.

"We're…" Cordy began, searching for the right words.

"I know…" Lorne told them sympathetically, "Let me get you some drinks."

"Thankyou," Lilah told Cordy as they slid into a booth.

"For what?"

"For dragging me out of the apartment."

"No problem… it was Wesley's idea actually."

Minutes later, Lorne returned with a tray of drinks and set an orange concoction loaded with ice cubes in front of Lilah, and handed Cordy a cosmopolitan.

He watched whilst Lilah eyed her drink suspiciously.

"Relax," he told her, "It's just orange juice with a shot of cranberry. So… long time no see… You been helping to look after Lilah Jnr too?" he asked Cordy.

"Not really," she shrugged.

"I don't know what I'd do without her," Lilah told Lorne, "She buys the ice cream."

"When we get a bigger place I've planned a deep freeze running down the whole length of the kitchen," Cordy told Lorne jokingly.

Lilah's face suddenly turned serious.

"You still want to do that?" she asked Cordy falteringly.

"Just because he's back in town, things don't have to change." Cordy reassured, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I take it 'he' means the prodigal father, Lindsey," Lorne said, "I heard he was back…"

"Apparently so…" Cordy said coldly.

"You're better off without him," Lorne reassured Lilah, "I had no idea he was so weak… going back to them despite everything."

"I guess he's just not the person I thought he was…"

*****

"Lindsey?" Linwood Murrow said, later that night.

Lindsey straightened his tie in the reflection of the conference room window, letting the confidence seep back into his face and posture.

"Yes sir?"

Linwood joined him at the window and they both stared out at the dark city below them.

"I just wanted to make it clear how much your… contribution is appreciated by the firm."

"Sir?"

"The Wolfram and Hart family welcome you back with open arms but even more so when you have something… extra special to offer us. You want custody of you child… should it turn out to be your child… am I right?"

"Yeah… maybe joint custody or something…"

"And have you ever seen Wolfram and Hart do things by halves?"

"No… I guess not…"

"Taking half a step did not make us California's most prestigious law firm. We took a giant leap to make that grade. I want to see you getting full custody of that child. No visits granted to the mother… maybe a restraining order or two…"

"But…"

"Its OK… full time child care… you won't even have to see the kid. Use anything and everything you've got on her… you know the drill… manic depression… broken home… drug and alcohol abuse… the string of men she picks up in clubs. I'm sure you know her better than I do…"

"I'm sure I do…"