Work Text:
Nothing Better to Do
by chixdiglinux
Lindsey opened his eyes, and frowned. He was still in the same place Angel sent him to play his part in the extermination of the circle of the Black Thorn; the same place that Lorne had...
He looked down at the two gaping holes in his chest, lifted a shaky hand and placed it over them. No heartbeat. So he was dead. Then why was he awake?
"Perpetuity clause," Lindsey muttered to himself as realization dawned. "So why'm I here?"
"Hell's busy," said a cheerful female voice from across the room. "Or rather, the people who run the particular hell you're going to are busy."
Lindsey looked up at the brunette making her way towards him, stepping over the demon bodies that littered the floor. "You," he sneered.
Cordelia Chase crouched down beside Lindsey and grinned. "Yup, me."
"You're alive?" Lindsey asked.
"You catch on quick."
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"So let me get this straight," said Lindsey. "The so-called powers-that-be want to give me another chance?"
"Looks like," Cordelia replied.
"They're going to give me my life back? And in return I have to..."
"Take on the visions. AND work with Angel. Lindsey we've been over this." Cordelia rolled her eyes. For someone who was supposed to be smart, it was sure taking this guy a long time to get it. Maybe dying made some people dumber.
Lindsey shook his head, trying to dislodge some of the cobwebs that took up residence in his brain.
"But the visions'll kill me. Within about a year, is that right? Why on Earth would I want to agree to that?"
"Look around sweetie," Cordelia countered. "You're dead right now. And pretty soon you're going to be enjoying perpetual torture courtesy of your ex-employers. This way you have another year to try and find a way out of that contract. Granted, it'll be a year spent vainly trying to fight off a non-stop, literally killer migraine, but it's gotta be better than what you have now."
She stared hard at Lindsey, who was still giving her a quizzical look. Cordelia sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Angel will hate it."
She looked back down at Lindsey just as a devilish grin started to creep across his face. Cordelia smiled inwardly. She knew that would do it. "Well, what do you say, lawyer-boy?"
Lindsey looked at her and frowned. "Just one more thing," he replied slowly. "Why do the powers want to do this? I mean, why me?"
Cordelia shrugged. That was a question she had been pondering herself. "They don't give me the why's," she said. "Usually all I get are the who, what, where, and when's, and sometimes the how's."
Lindsey nodded. "Ok, vision-me already," he cracked. "Not like I have anything better to do," he added, mostly to himself.
Cordelia sighed. The actual act of passing-on visions was the part of this deal she was dreading the most. She rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling. "As if there was no other way to do this," she growled at no-one in particular.
She looked back down at Lindsey and shook her head at his questioning look. Before he had a chance to react, and before she had a chance to change her mind, Cordelia swooped down on Lindsey and pulled him into a kiss. She felt him freeze up in surprise, then start to reciprocate just before the tingly, almost electric-like sensation that signified the transfer of her 'gift'. Cordelia pulled away.
Lindsey gasped as he felt his heart hiccup a couple of times , and then start to beat like it meant it. He glanced down at his chest and saw that the bullet holes had already healed over, leaving scars that looked as if they'd been healed for decades. The only real remaining evidence of what Lorne had done were the holes in Lindsey's shirt. 'Bastard still owes me a new one,' Lindsey thought, lightly.
Cordelia's voice derailed his train of thought. "Congrats. You're a real boy again. Now c'mon; we have a broody, souled vampire to find."
Lindsey smiled despite himself. "Ok," he said. "But one more question. What's your role in all of this, now that you gave the visions to me?"
"It's hard to say; the powers didn't exactly communicate with me in words. But from the pictures they showed me I'd say the common theme was," Cordelia paused. "Referee."
Lindsey laughed outright this time and stood up to follow Cordelia out the door and onto the moon-lit LA street. There were definitely interesting times ahead.
TBC