I don't even get a flicker for my efforts this time. I'm just wearing myself out, for lack of anything better to do. Carefully wiping the blood off my fingertips and out from under my nails with the hem of my shirt, I study the lines of my blood already drying to brown on the floor. Done all sorts of interesting things on my knees on this floor, haven't I? Something a hell of a lot like humiliation or hurt makes my stomach twist...
"Baby?"
I haven't got a single good excuse for flinching, but that's why they call it an involuntary reaction, isn't it?
"Come here."
My mouth tightens with annoyance. Doesn't she get it? We can stop playing house now. It's over and we lost.
"Lindsey, come sit."
Obligation drives me to my feet and helps me muster a half-hearted smile when I turn to face her. She scoots over to make room for me on the little cot, her hair mussed and her eyes even more haunted than before. How long before she starts talking like Drusilla? How long before I do?
"How you holding up, babe?" I murmur, taking a seat beside her and studying her face. "We won't be down here much longer. Hamilton should have told Angel about you by now, and he'll..." I trail off, glancing down at my hands. I used to be so good at lying. "I've almost got the spell working. I just need more power."
He doesn't touch me, it took an effort to even come near me. Why won't he touch me? Am I invisable? Or maybe he sees that I'm really just rotted flesh and bones already...Yeah, that could be it. He doesn't like the Eve he see's, he loved the Eve with power.
She doesn't live here anymore.
"How you holding up, babe?"
I'm not holding anything up, the walls hold the roof up, the roof holds the rest of the building up from crushing us...Like everything else, that won't last either. Nothing lasts.
"We won't be down here much longer. Hamilton should have told Angel about you by now, and he'll...I've almost got the spell working. I just need more power."
"Hamilton doesn't care, they laugh at our expense. We're jusst puppets Lindsey, they cut my strings and left me broken on the floor...Angel still has yours because you're fun to play with," I whisper into my knees, looking over them at him, my eyes darting around until they rest on him, my mind straining to form a thought and idea from his words.
"You need me." The words were simple. I shift on the bed and look over at him, resting my hand on his shoulder as my eyes widen. "Use me, Lindsey. I have power, my blood." He looks at me as if I've gone mad - I haven't...have I? - I brush my hair from my eyes and I try to be clear, telling him what I truly mean. "I am made of Wolfram and Hart, they are powerful, their blood is in me. Use it and I know we can get out..." I think. I hope.
She's talking nonsense, but it's hitting a little too close to home for my own rapidly dwindling peace of mind right now. Especially with the talk about strings… and who happens to be controlling them. It’s eerily similar to Wesley’s babble about chains earlier. I pass my hand over my eyes and try not to think about the implications of that metaphor. Chained to Angel, tied to Eve… Lilah always said this place was a spider-web.
“Nobody really seems to be in a laughing mood these days,” I assure her with the ghost of a smile.
Simple eye contact seems to bring her back to herself like a discount version of Sleeping Beauty; her gaze focuses in suddenly and her hands slide onto my shoulders. "You need me. Use me, Lindsey. I have power, my blood."
Oookay. Maybe I got my hopes up on the sanity front too soon. I shake my head with an apologetic shrug. “Sorry, I don’t understand how…”
"I am made of Wolfram and Hart, they are powerful, their blood is in me. Use it and I know we can get out..."
Now I get it. Boy, do I get it. One more chance to use her as a means to an end. Whatever decent human conscience that I’ve got left in me twists in protest at that plan, but the part of me that would like out of this cage overrides it easily. “You’re serious?” I make sure. I’m already halfway to my feet, looking over the failed runes with my heart starting to beat faster. It wouldn’t take much blood spilled to do it, if she’s right. Hell, it’s the Partners magic keeping us in here in the first place. “You know something? I think that just might work, Eve. It just might…”
I extend my hand to her, helping her to her to feet. God, it feels good to have a plan! “So what do you say we get out of here before it’s too late?” I murmur, grinning fiercely before kissing her.
"Baby?"
I haven't got a single good excuse for flinching, but that's why they call it an involuntary reaction, isn't it?
"Come here."
My mouth tightens with annoyance. Doesn't she get it? We can stop playing house now. It's over and we lost.
"Lindsey, come sit."
Obligation drives me to my feet and helps me muster a half-hearted smile when I turn to face her. She scoots over to make room for me on the little cot, her hair mussed and her eyes even more haunted than before. How long before she starts talking like Drusilla? How long before I do?
"How you holding up, babe?" I murmur, taking a seat beside her and studying her face. "We won't be down here much longer. Hamilton should have told Angel about you by now, and he'll..." I trail off, glancing down at my hands. I used to be so good at lying. "I've almost got the spell working. I just need more power."
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She doesn't live here anymore.
"How you holding up, babe?"
I'm not holding anything up, the walls hold the roof up, the roof holds the rest of the building up from crushing us...Like everything else, that won't last either. Nothing lasts.
"We won't be down here much longer. Hamilton should have told Angel about you by now, and he'll...I've almost got the spell working. I just need more power."
"Hamilton doesn't care, they laugh at our expense. We're jusst puppets Lindsey, they cut my strings and left me broken on the floor...Angel still has yours because you're fun to play with," I whisper into my knees, looking over them at him, my eyes darting around until they rest on him, my mind straining to form a thought and idea from his words.
"You need me." The words were simple. I shift on the bed and look over at him, resting my hand on his shoulder as my eyes widen. "Use me, Lindsey. I have power, my blood." He looks at me as if I've gone mad - I haven't...have I? - I brush my hair from my eyes and I try to be clear, telling him what I truly mean. "I am made of Wolfram and Hart, they are powerful, their blood is in me. Use it and I know we can get out..." I think. I hope.
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“Nobody really seems to be in a laughing mood these days,” I assure her with the ghost of a smile.
Simple eye contact seems to bring her back to herself like a discount version of Sleeping Beauty; her gaze focuses in suddenly and her hands slide onto my shoulders. "You need me. Use me, Lindsey. I have power, my blood."
Oookay. Maybe I got my hopes up on the sanity front too soon. I shake my head with an apologetic shrug. “Sorry, I don’t understand how…”
"I am made of Wolfram and Hart, they are powerful, their blood is in me. Use it and I know we can get out..."
Now I get it. Boy, do I get it. One more chance to use her as a means to an end. Whatever decent human conscience that I’ve got left in me twists in protest at that plan, but the part of me that would like out of this cage overrides it easily. “You’re serious?” I make sure. I’m already halfway to my feet, looking over the failed runes with my heart starting to beat faster. It wouldn’t take much blood spilled to do it, if she’s right. Hell, it’s the Partners magic keeping us in here in the first place. “You know something? I think that just might work, Eve. It just might…”
I extend my hand to her, helping her to her to feet. God, it feels good to have a plan! “So what do you say we get out of here before it’s too late?” I murmur, grinning fiercely before kissing her.
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