Punch bag (1/1)

Author- Midnight Faith

Spoilers- Up to and including 'Reprise'

Distribution- FF.net, AOH, watcherscouncil.com and Neurotica… anyone else just ask :)

Pairing- Lilah/Lindsey

Rating- PG-13

Summary- Lindsey explains a few things

Disclaimer- insert fuck you disclaimer here… they're not mine.

Notes- to Jess who inspired this and all the other LILAC-ers for providing the 'brain food.'

When you worked for Wolfram and Hart you picked up a lot of things, a lot of skills. Making murders look like 'accidents' was one thing, breaking in using a credit card was another.

It wasn't as if he hadn't tried to do this by rational means. Lindsey had been pounding on Lilah's door for the last half an hour, yelling at her to let him in, until the guy in the flat above her had threatened to call the cops unless he shut the fuck up. So he had and decided he needed to force the door open if he was going to talk to her tonight.

Sliding his gold card out of his wallet, he slipped it between doorframe and latch until he heard the telltale click. Scrambling from his knees he pushed the door open. Complete darkness greeted him, causing his stomach to turn with dread.

Of course Lilah was there. She just liked to play games, mess with his head a little. Besides, light was making her eyes hurt. This wasn't the worst she'd ever been beaten, not by a long shot. This was hardly anything. It's not like this was the first time she'd discovered him snooping around her apartment in the middle of the night. And it had to be him; nobody else would care…

She looked up as he appeared in the doorway, downing her scotch in one motion. Silently she stood and made her way over to the liquor cabinet, poured a single glass and handed it to him.

"I assume you're here for alcohol."

He gulped the scotch and set the empty glass down on a nearby cabinet. "It's a start."

"OK, so you've got some of what you came for. Now you can get out of my apartment before I call the cops."

"What if I'm here for something different?"

"Like what? Declaring your undying love for me? You made your feelings perfectly clear when he hit me, split my bottom lip so much I'm thinking of driving to the ER to get stitches, and gave me a black eye to boot in the fall." She exhaled shakily and made her way back to her most comfortable chair, curling up in a ball.

"Let me help."

"Why? This isn't a time for great apologies."

"Who said I was apologising?" He left the room momentarily. She thought for a minute he'd left the apartment entirely but was proved wrong when he returned with a bag of crushed ice wrapped in a washcloth, a damp towel and antiseptic cream. He flicked the light on, flinching when he saw the full extent of her injuries. "Shit, Lilah."

Her bottom lip was split, blood congealing, not quite healed over. Lindsey knew if he touched the wound it would crack and bleed again. Her eye was swollen and blackening where she'd caught it on the way down.

"I'm so sorry."

"Hey, I thought we said no apologies."

"Yeah, well, sometimes you have to." He reached out to dab her lip but she flinched, standing and moving away. "Relax," he tried to soothe, "I won't hurt you."

She laughed though it sounded dangerously close to a sob and turned back to him. He stood cautiously and walked over to her, silently cleaning away the clotting blood on her lip. It brought fresh blood forth but at least it looked better. "Come on. Sit down while I use some antiseptic to clean it."

She let him guide her into a chair and he was about to wipe at the wound with the lotion when she said, "Why? Why'd you hit me?"

"You didn't really give me much choice." He steadied her face with his hand. She flinched when the stinging ointment came into contact with the open laceration. "Sorry."

"You had a choice. You just needed to take your anger out on someone. I guess you decided to use me as your punch bag. Not for the first time."

"You wanna re-think that statement. I've never hit you before."

She snatched the ice from his hand and stood up, walking a few steps away from him. "*You've* never hit me before."

"Then who has?" he asked, turning to her.

"Who hasn't? Holland… I lost a case and… he smacked me around a bit."

Lindsey came up behind her, his heart hurting with both remorse and sympathy. He realised he barely knew her, what she'd had to give up, to sacrifice for the firm. He wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling into her neck. "I really am sorry." he whispered.

"I know." she turned her face to his, smiling, forgiving him.

Softly, as if by some magnetic force, their lips found each other and he kissed her softly so not to split her lip again. Breaking the kiss, he pulled back. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't need to apologise for that." she murmured, pulling him closer for another kiss.