Chances: Walking Tall
by Fool_For_Love
Chapter One: Walking Tall

Lorne slipped out the back door. He slumped against the side of the building, taking deep breaths, trying to recover from what he had just done. His life was over. His existence was pointless; this one horrible act of violence was the one right thing he had ever done for Angel Investigations. But now, even Angel Investigations was over. He was probably the only one left. If not already, he soon would be.
Lorne was so caught up in his thoughts of misery and woe, that he didn’t notice the large leather boots clomping down the back alley way. The rain had begun to pour, muffling the sounds cluing someone approaching.
It was quick. One hard punch to his jaw as he raised his head to peer at the being before him snapped his neck. But the knowledge that his demon race could have their head clear decapitated and still survive was common. Taking no chance, the creature plunged a long blade straight through Lorne’s heart. He fell to the ground, like so many of his friends had done that night.
Inside, Lindsey had gasped his last breath. He was dying. He could literally feel the life slipping from his body. This reminded him of something Darla once said when he brought her back human, and as he closed his eyes for the last time, that was all he could think about. Sweet human Darla dying of syphilis. She didn’t want him, she had wanted Angel. Always Angel.
The pain had faded. Yet, there was a new stinging in his chest. He was too far into oblivion to notice what it was though.
There was a soft murmur in his ear. “Lindsey. Wake up, Lind-sey.” There was a short pause, and then a sharp “Lindsey!” hissed at him.
It was hard for him to open his eyes. He just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. It was all over. Angel and the rest were probably all dead by now, taking Wolfram & Hart with them. Everything he wanted to defeat, his motivation in life, was going to be destroyed if he woke up. However she gave him no choice.
“Lindsey,” she said again tilting his head up in her fingers. “Look at me.”
So he did, to appease whoever it was. Had he died? He looked over the figure in front of him. Her hair was as black as night and glistened like the girls in those shampoo commercials; he never imagined a woman could really have hair like that. It swung slightly past her shoulders, bare because she wore only a thin strip of leather passing as a tube top. Her pants were also glossy leather, completing a bad girl image of extreme proportions. Her heavy boots traveled all the way to the bottom of her knee. She moved so that her eyes were level with his. Her eyes were a dark green that shone like no other he had ever seen, they seemed to almost be sprinkled with glitter. Was that heaven? More likely hell, given the facts.
“Who are you?” he asked, still tasting the blood in his mouth.
She ran her hand through her hair, as though considering this. “Given the situation, I think you should just call me your guardian angel.”
“Well, resulting from past events, I no longer like Angels,” he choked as she helped him to his feet.
“Oh, I know your history,” she said with a sly grin. “And trust me when I say you won’t have to fear any more of Angel.”
Lindsey peered down at his torn shirt. Running his hand over the previously broken skin, which he saw now, was completely flawless. “How did you do this?”
She raised a perfectly manicured fingertip to her cherry red lips. “Shh. A good magician never reveals his magic tricks.”
“Why could you possibly want to bring me back?” Lindsey asked of the stranger as she began to exit through the door he had kicked down moments before.
“Aren’t you grateful?” She said, sending a chill down his spine with the look she shot him.
He gulped. “Extremely. I’m overjoyed, in fact. Eternally in your debt,” he muttered the last line to himself. “I just wondered if you happened to have a specific reason for saving my life. Need some representation from an evil lawyer? Or, the more likely reason, did you just want to kill me yourself?”
She stopped abruptly in front of him and turned around. “I’m not going to hurt you, Lindsey. I need you. In a way in which, personally, I think you will be very satisfied with.”
He stared straight into her eyes and beyond. It was almost as if he could see her soul. He saw humanity inside her, which was ridiculous. She had already proved to him that she couldn’t possibly be human. Could she? A powerful witch, maybe. That must be it. A witch.
“So where we heading out, boss.” He had to raise his voice once they were outside so that he could be heard over the pouring rain.
“Well, you’re headed back to what remains of Wolfram & Hart. And I’m off to save a few more lives before the end of the night. But don’t worry. I’ll catch up with you later.” And with that last phrase, she scaled up the side of the nearest building, hands and feet barely touching the surface.




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