"Hello, Angel. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything."
"Nothing I can’t pick up later. Now what do you want?"
"I want you to do a little job for me."
"I’m not in the mood for jokes, Lindsey. Call me back when you’re ready to be serious."
"Wait just a second! I think you’ll actually like this one."
Angel snorted. "This, I have to hear."
"I want you to kill Angelus."
Stunned, both by the words themselves and the fact that Lindsey really meant it, Angel sat down heavily.
"Angel? Still there, Big Man?"
That startled Angel even further. Riley and Lindsey independently coming up with the same nickname for him? Did it mean anything? He shook that off as a topic for later. "Yeah, I’m here. I just would’ve thought that you’d be working *with* him."
"I am."
"I see. And you’re throwing him to me because…?"
"I have my reasons."
"Why don’t you tell me some of them? Just to lay my mind at ease."
"That’s really none of your business."
"Convince me it’s not a trap, Lindsey," Angel said sharply. "And be persuasive. Angelus *will* find out about this, and if he does so before we come after him…well, I don’t even *know* what Angelus would do to someone who actually *betrayed* him. He’s tortured more than one man to death just because he didn’t like his face."
"Two days ago, Angelus came into my office and killed Lilah and Bryce. He’s taken Wolfram & Hart hostage and forced us to do his bidding. We’re the ones who contacted the Scourge for him. Not many of our demon clients are happy with us for that."
"My heart weeps for you."
"Look, he’s not even a paying client. Even if he was, his goals run counter to the company’s overall plan: he wants to destroy the world. We just want to change it to our advantage."
"I see. He wants to make the world a physical wasteland, not just a moral one, so you feel the need to stand up to him. Be more persuasive."
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. When Lindsey finally spoke again, his voice was toneless and tightly controlled. "Yesterday, I get into my office and find him sitting there, waiting for me. It seems that, after eating two police officers to help him recover from fighting you, he came straight to Wolfram & Hart. After walking straight through our front door, looking very much like a supernatural being, he set up camp in my office and ate six interns."
"Getting annoyed that he’s leaving such a mess for you to clean up?"
Lindsey ignored him. "I actually liked the last one, but he got to her when he wasn’t really that hungry anymore. I assume you know what that means."
Angel winced. He did.
"I really don’t care to go into detail, but if you’ve ever seen a horror anime, remember that Angelus has tentacles now. If you don’t get it, ask your friends. I’m sure at least one of them will."
"I’ll do that," Angel said. "Just a moment." He looked up and waved Xander over.
Xander pointed to himself in confusion. *Me?*
Angel nodded and waved him over again. When the younger man arrived, he covered the phone’s mouthpiece. "Horror anime, female intern, Angelus’s tentacles. Ring a bell?"
Apparently, it did. Xander’s face went white, and he swallowed hard. Then he took a deep breath and swallowed hard again. Angel realized with a sudden start that Xander was trying very hard not to puke. "Bad," Xander said queasily. "Very bad. Now, please excuse me. I need to go get some ginger ale or something."
Angel removed his hand from the mouthpiece. "Okay, I’m convinced." He said.
"Good."
He filled Angel in on the rest of the situation: the misfortunes that had befallen half of the Scourge, the address of the dockside warehouses where Angelus and the remaining Scourge were holed up gathering their strength, and the fact that several hundred remained.
When he’d finished with that, Lindsey offered to provide them with whatever tools and weapons they needed.
"Well, we have what we need to fight Angelus," Angel replied. "It either will work or it won’t. But there is something you can do…"
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