Silver Cloud, Bitter Lining (11/?)

Author- Midnight Faith

Spoilers- 'Darla,' 'Lullaby.'

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

Pairing- Lilah/Lindsey, Lilah/Gunn undertones

Rating- R

Summary- Lilah discovers some things about Gunn

Disclaimer- not mine… yadda, yadda

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

Lilah walked into the kitchen, her head held high, but it didn't stop Cordy noticing tears collecting at the edges of her eyes.

Buffy and Cordelia looked up at her from their seat on the kitchen worktop; their eyes tired yet filled with sympathy.

"Where is everyone?" Lilah asked them with false brightness.

"They're… they've gone…" Buffy explained awkwardly.

"Lilah…" Cordy began.

"What?" Lilah bit back, not really meaning to be angry with Cordelia.

"The walls are kind of thin…" Buffy clarified.

"So you heard everything?" Lilah asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Sounded like a pretty intense fight…" Buffy said.

"Do you need to talk?" Cordy asked Lilah.

"No… I've done enough damage talking for one day… I think I just need to go for a walk… get some fresh air…"

"Maybe it's not such a good idea to go by yourself…" Buffy offered.

"It might not be safe…" Cordy added.

"Unless vampires have suddenly become immune to sunlight I'll be fine…" Lilah said, agitated.

"What about Gavin? And other assorted flunkies?" Cordy asked.

"I don't need a bodyguard… or a babysitter…" Lilah told them, "I just need some time alone. I know what you're thinking. I'm not taking off… I don't have a suitcase with me and besides… I'd tell you."

"At least take mace," Buffy advised.

"It's on my key chain," Lilah reassured her.

"Be careful…" Cordy told her.

Half a cynical feature crept across Lilah's face.

"If only you'd told me that four plus months ago…"

*****

"You're a complete moron… you know that right?" Cordelia said angrily to Lindsey as she followed him into the den slamming the door angrily behind them, "We heard everything…"

"We?"

"Me, Dawn and Buffy."

"Dawn…"

"Dawn isn't the issue here but OK… have it your way let's turn her into one. You have *really* let her down. Dawn is fifteen years old and you are supposed to be a knight in shining armour. She totally idolises you and Lilah. She expected you to roll into town, beat the bad guy and for you and Lilah to sail off into the sunset together…"

"This isn't some fairytale…"

"I know that…"

"Then what was I supposed to do? I can't dust Gunn. He's stronger than I am… and Lilah still has feelings for him. And what if this baby turns out to be his? I don't want to be responsible for that kid not having a father…"

"That's not Gunn. It's a demon who has stolen Gunn's face and memories. Gunn is gone and the vampire that replaced him will kill this baby and Lilah too without a second thought… and on another note I thought I made it pretty clear the last thing you needed to do was put Lilah under more pressure…"

"I wasn't… I told her I missed her and she freaked out on me… sometimes I swear she has multiple personalities…"

"God, Lindsey she isn't crazy. Why can't you just be like Wesley and talk about the weather like other English people? It maybe didn't occur to you that she didn't miss you… which she definitely has but that's beside the point. It was her choice to tell you that or not… and she doesn't have to love you…"

"Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"

"About half as much as when you told her you were thinking about Darla when you were sleeping with her… how can you even compare the two? Darla was a whore… professionally. Lilah has made some bad choices and we were just convincing her the entire human race wasn't evil… then surprise you show up and screw it all up again. It is true? You thought about Darla when you were with her?"

"The first time… maybe… nearly… but after that… Lilah was the only one I wanted…"

"So what was the point of telling her she wasn't? Did you want to hurt her?"

"Yeah…"

"You really need to think about what and who you really want here. Darla's a pile of ashes… not even that. You can't have her because she's gone. Lilah hasn't. Not yet. But carry on down this road and you know she'll run. She picked that up from you. You two could really be happy. You know that as well as I do…"

"Where is she now?"

"She went out for a walk about half an hour ago…"

"I should go look for her…"

"You're doing it again… give her some space. Sunnydale's a small town. She can't get lost… let her come home when she's ready…"

*****

Lilah took a deep breath before dragging open the door to the decayed, deserted warehouse situated on the outskirts of Sunnydale.

The storehouse was located exactly where Gavin had told her it was and Lilah took a moment to be grateful that at least for once Gavin had been honest with her.

The sudden invasion of sunlight sent the vampire in the corner of the warehouse hissing and scrabbling for the shadows, his chains that connected him to the firm stone wall rattling as he did so.

Lilah pulled the door back across after her as two bouncers made their way across the warehouse floor to her.

"It's just Lilah…" came Gavin's voice as he stepped into her line of sight.

"Just Lilah?" she asked him cynically, walking towards him.

"You're on the payroll as being supervised by me now…"

She shrugged.

"How nice for America…"

"My sources say Lindsey's in town…"

"Your sources say right."

"Heartfelt reunion was it?"

"Not exactly…"

"Well don’t worry… he's nobody… you've always got me…"

"How comforting…"

"Don't tell me you still have feelings for him… you still… love him."

"You're talking like I have a conscience… I never loved him…"

"Why don’t you tell me all about it over a scotch," he sidled closer to her, "And it can end in the kind of comfort you and I were built for…"

"You're really scraping the barrel now Gavin… with me…"

"Well in *my* division the more you… give… the more you… receive…"

"So let me get this straight… you're going to pay me to have sex with you in an abandoned warehouse…"

"There's a motel right down the block that charges by the hour… come on… it wouldn’t mean a thing and it would be a way of getting… revenge. You can say whoever's name you want… it won’t matter to me…"

She stepped closer to him, hatred shining in her eyes.

"I'd rather lick a dead seal than sleep with you…"

She stepped around Gavin gracefully, looking over at Gunn for the first time.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked, taking in the sight of Gunn curled up in a ball on the floor shaking, "I thought he'd be all game face and clinking of chains…"

"Guys in the lab developed something miraculous… back at the office they're calling it a gift from God himself… a new sedative…"

"How does it work? He doesn't look that spaced…"

"It doesn't suppress… it… elevates…"

"Elevates what? The ability to lie on the floor and shake?"

"No… the soul actually…"

"The soul?"

"The right mix of chemical compounds, potions, Sumerian incantation, and just a dash of pentane over a vanadium catalyst… it traps the demon inside and brings back the soulled Gunn… just trying to work out the last kinks. He needs injections hourly to keep him calm…"

"I don’t get it… why vamp him in the first place?"

"We needed someone unstoppable… Gunn's natural strength with the added vampiric made him perfect… yet he needs to be controllable… and sedatives just weren't working…"

"But when he's drugged he's Gunn right?"

"In principle… it'll take a couple of days for his body to get used to the extra carbon in the compound… he's a little dazed right now."

Lilah walked over to him, kneeling down by his side. He jumped visibly but made no attempt to turn around and face her.

"Gunn… it's me… I don't even know if you can hear me… I don't even know if you remember…"

She suddenly felt tearful.

Almost silently and with little strength left in his voice Gunn whispered

"Help me…"