Silver Cloud, Bitter Lining (9/?)

Author- Midnight Faith

Spoilers- 'Dad' BtVS 'Tabula Rasa'

Distribution- FF.net, AOH anyone else just ask :)

Pairing- Lilah/Lindsey, Lilah/Gunn undertones

Rating- R

Summary- Lindsey arrives in Sunnydale

Disclaimer- not mine… yadda, yadda

Notes- sequel to 'Southern Comfort.' You'll probably want to read that first…

"And I thought my life was screwed up…" Buffy told Cordy when Cordy had explained the whole situation to her.

Cordy gripped the stake in her left hand tighter and shivered against the night breeze, checking her watch again.

"I can't believe it's only two a.m. I feel like I've been up for… a lifetime… at least. I mean I figured staying up all night for a sleepover… but not like this. It'd be too much to ask to just have one normal night…"

"Finally… someone that understands…" Buffy said, smiling at her.

"Are you OK anyway?" Cordy asked Buffy, "I know it must be a shock… the whole Angel has a son thing… I was kind of upset at first too…"

"I'm not actually thinking about it right now…" Buffy confessed, "I'm more worried that there's an evil hell bent on apocalypse law firm in town… this is new and a little scary…"

"I wish Giles was here," Cordy admitted, "He'd know what to do…"

"I miss him too…" Buffy told Cordy, "Can’t you call Wesley or something?"

"I think he has his hands full in LA… with Fred and stuff…" Cordy told her.

"Fred is the ex girlfriend of Gunn who is now a vampire right?"

"Right…"

"Just making sure I've got my story straight…"

Cordy looked up at the sky dyed an alien shade of purple.

"Do you think morning will ever come?" Cordy shivered again.

"It has to…" Buffy told her, "Because everything will look better then… sorry… I thought it might be cliché time… anyway how did that other guy take it when you called him?"

"Lindsey? Like I knew he would… a man possessed. He told me he was grabbing his ATM card, Wesley's car and driving straight down here… this was *before* I told him exactly what had happened…"

"So he's… impulsive?"

"Impulsive isn’t the word with him when it comes to Lilah. Psycho is more like it."

"The shower scene or the spy hole in the wall scene?"

"Oh no he's not violent or anything… well not normally. He adores her… so much it makes him all possessive which leaves Lilah feeling trapped and drives her…"

"Straight into the arms of someone else?" Buffy asked.

"Exactly… i.e. the whole Gunn fiasco… But somehow I know Lindsey will hold her and she'll be a little bit healed…"

"I hope so… I mean she's not exactly making a lot of sense right now…"

"I have amazing faith in Lindsey's healing abilities…"

"What kind of 'healing?'" Buffy asked sceptically.

"They're supposed to be just friends right now… but I don’t know how long it'll last… I mean… two days is the record I think…"

"Record for what?"

"Days they go without screwing…"

"Great… just what this house needs right now…" Buffy said sarcastically, "More debauchery." Then after a moment, "Cordy. Lilah's not… dangerous is she? I mean she seems… nice but she's with Dawn… and what about this Lindsey guy?"

"Not dangerous in the strictest sense of the word… they're not by themselves…"

"I mean what do we really know about them? All this? This law firm? And how much do they know about us?"

"You don't understand who this law firm is, Buffy. They have psychics and shamen and they kill without a second thought… they know everything about everyone…"

"And now here… in Sunnydale… with it's very own hellmouth… I'm sure they'll fit right in…"

"They're not here for the hellmouth… they're here for revenge… on Lilah and on Lindsey. Talking of, maybe I should go check on her. I feel completely useless… sat out here holding a stake like a complete moron…"

"You can hold the crossbow if you like…" Buffy joked, before her face turned serious. "The last thing Lilah needs is a whole bunch of people crowding her right now. Just give her a little breathing space…"

*****

"Do you want more tea?" Dawn asked Lilah.

She shook her head from underneath the mountain of blankets she was huddled under on the bed.

"Another blanket? Pillow?"

"I'll die of an oxygen shortage if I have another blanket…" Lilah quipped.

"To talk then?"

"Definitely not…" came her muffled voice from underneath the covers.

"You could come out from under the blankets… you'd get more air that way…" Dawn pointed out, "Besides Willow and Tara fell asleep hours ago…"

She glanced over at the white, wicker chair where they were curled up soundly in the corner of the room.

"Come on… I got the X-files season four on DVD yesterday. No Doggert but I wanted to convince you Mulder was way cuter anyway…" when Dawn got no response from Lilah she coaxed further, "Or we could watch some TV… there's bound to be a mod squad marathon on… or a bunch of twenty minute infomercials for washing soda."

"Dawn… I just want to sleep… you should probably get some too… you've got school tomorrow…"

Dawn laughed slightly.

"Like I'd go. I might get kidnapped or something… besides I have double government tomorrow and I hate that class…"

Lilah was silent and breathing softly so Dawn concluded she'd fallen into a deep sleep.

She walked over to the window quietly and opened it. Outside the first drops of summer rain were beginning to fall on the normally parched Californian landscape…

*****

The clock above the stairs read three a.m. when Dawn left the room silently. She shut the door gently behind her so not to wake the three sleeping inside.

She looked to Buffy's room and the camp bed set up there on which she was currently sleeping. Though it was tempting to bury herself in the bed, pull the duvet over her head and sleep until mid afternoon she reassured herself she was no longer a child. She had people that needed her now…

She padded down the stairs and out of the screen door to the porch where she saw Cordy and Buffy leaning against the two pillars holding up the roof on either side. They both looked up at the violet coloured sky, promising a thunderstorm, torrential rainfall and silver lightning. From not far away they heard the low yet unmistakable sound of thunder.

"He's not here yet?" she whined slightly, sitting next to Buffy on the right side of the porch.

"It's probably the weather," Buffy told her, playing with a few strands of Dawn's long hair, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine…" she told Buffy confidently.

"How's Lilah?" Cordy asked.

"Asleep." Dawn told Cordy, "Are you OK?"

"I'm… comfortably numb…" Cordy told her, "Dealing with everyone else is easier than dealing with myself right now…"

"It's good Lilah's sleeping…" Buffy reassured Dawn, "It means she's resting. And that's what she needs right now…"

As if on cue two bright white headlights snaked down Revello drive pausing briefly before pulling into the Summer's driveway.

Dawn breathed a visible sigh of relief as Lindsey cut the engine and climbed out of Wesley's car.

"Let me handle him," Cordy said, "He might not be very stable right now…"

"Need some back up?" Buffy asked.

"Thanks, but I just need a few minutes with him…" Cordy told her…

"Can’t I just say 'hi?'" Dawn asked.

"It won’t really help…" Buffy told her, "Let's go inside and make everyone some cocoa…"

Dawn let Buffy lead her inside.

Lindsey walked over to Cordy giving her a brief hug in the process.

"Is everyone OK?" he asked concerned, "No one's bitten? Or scratched or shot?"

"Everyone's fine…" Cordy reassured him, "Buffy got a bruised shoulder but it's not broken or anything… advantages of being a slayer…"

"Buffy's the blonde right?"

"Yeah. And don’t worry… Lilah's fine… or at least OK… everything's OK…"

"And the baby?"

"You two really need to talk…" but then she saw the look on his face, "She's keeping it…"

He was visibly relieved.

"Can I see her?" he asked a little desperately.

Cordy moved between him and the door.

"Stop and think for a second," she advised, "If you go in there twenty questions guy you will freak her out and she will run away and you'll never see your kid… ever. Secondly… you look as good as I feel… which is like death. And three… she's only just got to sleep. Go be with her… sit with her, hold her hand… but don’t wake her up. Not just yet… you at least owe her that…"