Angst Bingo - Apocalypse
May. 21st, 2012 10:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theroadhouseTitle: Masters of the Universe
Author:telaryn
Word Count: 1110
Fandom: Leverage/BTVS/Angel
Characters: Giles, Lindsey McDonald
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: No ownership implied, no profit obtained.
Summary: Unlikely allies Giles and Lindsey meet to discuss a way of changing the course of an apocalypse.
Author's Note: Written forangst_bingo's Round 3, for the prompt "apocalypse".
Even when he was at the top of his game, the restaurant was more upscale than Giles would have been comfortable patronizing. You didn’t set the terms though, did you? he thought, catching sight of the person he’d agreed to meet and assuring the hostess he didn’t need an escort to show him to his table.
Lindsey McDonald. He’d never met the man face to face, but the former corpse had been a thorn in enough sides that Giles felt as though he was getting ready to break bread with an old foe. The fact that he was Eliot Spencer’s twin brother, given Eliot’s involvement with Faith, added yet another layer to his feeling that this man was no stranger.
“Please don’t go all noble on me and say you’re not going to eat,” Lindsey said when he reached the table. “I’m buying, and I waited for you.”
The blunt, matter-of-factness of it brought Giles up short for a moment. “What do you recommend?” he asked the man who’d appeared instantly at Lindsey’s elbow.
The waiter listed several things off the menu while Giles got himself into a chair and got his briefcase secured under the table. He stopped the man at a Norwegian salmon dish that sounded interesting, and had his sides chosen by the time he was settled.
“Thank you for coming,” Lindsey said, shaking out his napkin and spreading it in his lap. “I know you’ve got no reason to trust me.” He paused, smiling slyly. “It was worse when I had my hair longer.”
Giles blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” He realized belatedly that he’d been staring at the other man and felt his cheeks grow warm. “The resemblance is startling.”
Lindsey nodded. “Once upon a time, our mother was the only one who could tell us apart. Now…” He sighed.
“Now you’re traveling very different roads,” Giles said. Even though he was only peripherally in the supernatural game, Eliot Spencer was definitely walking the path of a champion. Largely through his association with Nathan Ford, Eliot was a hero, making a difference in the world. Lindsey? Not so much.
“And that’s why I contacted you,” Lindsey said. “I need your help convincing Eliot to play his part in what’s coming.” His blue eyes shifted, looking pointedly at the place under the table where Giles had stashed his briefcase.
Giles couldn’t help laughing. “And what makes you think he would listen to me?”
“You’re still on speaking terms with that Slayer of yours, aren’t you?” Giles didn’t miss the subtle sneer in Lindsey’s voice when he referenced Faith. “If anyone can make him understand…”
Giles’ response was interrupted by the arrival of their salads. “You’re going to need to share what you know,” he said, once they were alone again. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t trust someone with your past and your associations – and I’m not certain I like the idea of you directing someone like Eliot in whatever’s about to happen.”
Lindsey was quiet for a long moment; he speared a forkful of greens, chewed, and swallowed. “Eliot’s a normal human,” he said finally. “He went up against the King of Hell – everything superhuman about him was stripped away. Seems his majesty was…offended.”
“How is he of any use to what’s happening then?” Giles knew at least the bare bones of what had happened to Faith and her new family recently – enough to understand that while none of them had come out of their confrontation with the King of Hell unscathed, they had all come out alive. “Eliot was a force to be reckoned with when he had the enhancements you pushed on him. Even when he was infected with the Conduit energy…” Giles shrugged. “Now?”
“You’re missing the point,” Lindsey said. “Eliot is critical to what’s happening not because of what he was, but who he is.” He reached under the table and drew out a folder stuffed with papers. “My sources tell me you’re not big on computers.”
Ignoring the barb, Giles took his time scanning the papers Lindsey had turned over. “Ford?” he asked, eyes widening as he looked up at the attorney. “He’s the key?”
“I wasn’t sure until very recently,” Lindsey admitted. “Eliot should have died. Crowley had no reason to show him mercy, unless…”
Giles didn’t need any prompting to make the same leap of logic. “Ford is a tempting target. Moral soul losing his battle to stay on the straight and narrow – doing the wrong thing for the right reasons…you’re suggesting Crowley took his soul in trade for Eliot’s life?”
“Nothing else makes sense,” Lindsey said. “He’s playing it close to the vest though. A move like that should have made a fairly sizeable ripple through the underworld.” He took a sip of the red wine their waiter had poured. “My theory is that Crowley hasn’t actually laid claim to Ford’s soul yet.”
The pieces finally fell into place. “And you want Eliot to take him out in such a way that his soul will be beyond Crowley’s reach.”
“They do say you’re quick on the uptake,” Lindsey said.
His first instinct was to refuse, to tell Lindsey that he was out of line. “He’s Faith’s father,” Giles said instead, studying the piece of paper in his hand without really seeing the words on the page. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d been part of a less-than-ethical operation in the name of the greater good. And Ford’s death – done right – would solve a lot of potential problems. He tried to convince himself that if anyone could understand a move like this, Faith would…
“Simple accident of biology,” Lindsey said dismissively. “They’ve only even been aware of their familial relationship for what, two years now?”
“Not even,” Giles admitted.
“Even without his supernatural abilities, Eliot is the only one who can get close enough to Ford to take him out of play,” Lindsey continued. “If the two of us work together and present the facts of the situation to him, he would probably agree.”
So tempting… He’d never liked Ford’s influence over Faith, and he knew Lindsey felt the same way about Eliot. “There’s got to be another way,” he forced himself to say finally. “I’ll consult my books – there has to be another way to cripple Crowley.”
Lindsey favored him with a pitying smile. “This is why your side has to rely on things like slayers to gain any ground,” he said. “Meetings like this are where the course of an apocalypse is decided. We can change things right here and now if you have the guts to help me do what needs to be done.”
Author:
telarynWord Count: 1110
Fandom: Leverage/BTVS/Angel
Characters: Giles, Lindsey McDonald
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: No ownership implied, no profit obtained.
Summary: Unlikely allies Giles and Lindsey meet to discuss a way of changing the course of an apocalypse.
Author's Note: Written for
angst_bingo's Round 3, for the prompt "apocalypse".Even when he was at the top of his game, the restaurant was more upscale than Giles would have been comfortable patronizing. You didn’t set the terms though, did you? he thought, catching sight of the person he’d agreed to meet and assuring the hostess he didn’t need an escort to show him to his table.
Lindsey McDonald. He’d never met the man face to face, but the former corpse had been a thorn in enough sides that Giles felt as though he was getting ready to break bread with an old foe. The fact that he was Eliot Spencer’s twin brother, given Eliot’s involvement with Faith, added yet another layer to his feeling that this man was no stranger.
“Please don’t go all noble on me and say you’re not going to eat,” Lindsey said when he reached the table. “I’m buying, and I waited for you.”
The blunt, matter-of-factness of it brought Giles up short for a moment. “What do you recommend?” he asked the man who’d appeared instantly at Lindsey’s elbow.
The waiter listed several things off the menu while Giles got himself into a chair and got his briefcase secured under the table. He stopped the man at a Norwegian salmon dish that sounded interesting, and had his sides chosen by the time he was settled.
“Thank you for coming,” Lindsey said, shaking out his napkin and spreading it in his lap. “I know you’ve got no reason to trust me.” He paused, smiling slyly. “It was worse when I had my hair longer.”
Giles blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” He realized belatedly that he’d been staring at the other man and felt his cheeks grow warm. “The resemblance is startling.”
Lindsey nodded. “Once upon a time, our mother was the only one who could tell us apart. Now…” He sighed.
“Now you’re traveling very different roads,” Giles said. Even though he was only peripherally in the supernatural game, Eliot Spencer was definitely walking the path of a champion. Largely through his association with Nathan Ford, Eliot was a hero, making a difference in the world. Lindsey? Not so much.
“And that’s why I contacted you,” Lindsey said. “I need your help convincing Eliot to play his part in what’s coming.” His blue eyes shifted, looking pointedly at the place under the table where Giles had stashed his briefcase.
Giles couldn’t help laughing. “And what makes you think he would listen to me?”
“You’re still on speaking terms with that Slayer of yours, aren’t you?” Giles didn’t miss the subtle sneer in Lindsey’s voice when he referenced Faith. “If anyone can make him understand…”
Giles’ response was interrupted by the arrival of their salads. “You’re going to need to share what you know,” he said, once they were alone again. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t trust someone with your past and your associations – and I’m not certain I like the idea of you directing someone like Eliot in whatever’s about to happen.”
Lindsey was quiet for a long moment; he speared a forkful of greens, chewed, and swallowed. “Eliot’s a normal human,” he said finally. “He went up against the King of Hell – everything superhuman about him was stripped away. Seems his majesty was…offended.”
“How is he of any use to what’s happening then?” Giles knew at least the bare bones of what had happened to Faith and her new family recently – enough to understand that while none of them had come out of their confrontation with the King of Hell unscathed, they had all come out alive. “Eliot was a force to be reckoned with when he had the enhancements you pushed on him. Even when he was infected with the Conduit energy…” Giles shrugged. “Now?”
“You’re missing the point,” Lindsey said. “Eliot is critical to what’s happening not because of what he was, but who he is.” He reached under the table and drew out a folder stuffed with papers. “My sources tell me you’re not big on computers.”
Ignoring the barb, Giles took his time scanning the papers Lindsey had turned over. “Ford?” he asked, eyes widening as he looked up at the attorney. “He’s the key?”
“I wasn’t sure until very recently,” Lindsey admitted. “Eliot should have died. Crowley had no reason to show him mercy, unless…”
Giles didn’t need any prompting to make the same leap of logic. “Ford is a tempting target. Moral soul losing his battle to stay on the straight and narrow – doing the wrong thing for the right reasons…you’re suggesting Crowley took his soul in trade for Eliot’s life?”
“Nothing else makes sense,” Lindsey said. “He’s playing it close to the vest though. A move like that should have made a fairly sizeable ripple through the underworld.” He took a sip of the red wine their waiter had poured. “My theory is that Crowley hasn’t actually laid claim to Ford’s soul yet.”
The pieces finally fell into place. “And you want Eliot to take him out in such a way that his soul will be beyond Crowley’s reach.”
“They do say you’re quick on the uptake,” Lindsey said.
His first instinct was to refuse, to tell Lindsey that he was out of line. “He’s Faith’s father,” Giles said instead, studying the piece of paper in his hand without really seeing the words on the page. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d been part of a less-than-ethical operation in the name of the greater good. And Ford’s death – done right – would solve a lot of potential problems. He tried to convince himself that if anyone could understand a move like this, Faith would…
“Simple accident of biology,” Lindsey said dismissively. “They’ve only even been aware of their familial relationship for what, two years now?”
“Not even,” Giles admitted.
“Even without his supernatural abilities, Eliot is the only one who can get close enough to Ford to take him out of play,” Lindsey continued. “If the two of us work together and present the facts of the situation to him, he would probably agree.”
So tempting… He’d never liked Ford’s influence over Faith, and he knew Lindsey felt the same way about Eliot. “There’s got to be another way,” he forced himself to say finally. “I’ll consult my books – there has to be another way to cripple Crowley.”
Lindsey favored him with a pitying smile. “This is why your side has to rely on things like slayers to gain any ground,” he said. “Meetings like this are where the course of an apocalypse is decided. We can change things right here and now if you have the guts to help me do what needs to be done.”
no subject
Date: 2012-08-14 02:18 pm (UTC)