TITLE: Legal Hot Water
AUTHOR: Ragna (writinggoddess@aol.com)
RATING: FRT
CLASSIFICATION: Xander/Cordelia, past Willow/Oz, Buffy/Angel interaction.
SUMMARY: Lindsey switched sides; now, can he help Oz out with Angel Investigation's help?
SPOILERS: Set in season five of Buffy, season 2 of Angel with specific spoilers for Dead End (I've rewritten the ending of that episode) and I Will Remember You.
DISTRIBUTION: Any sites with my fic up; you all have unspoken permission. I write it, you can post it. Everyone else just keep my name on it and let me know.
DISCLAIMER: If you don't recognize it, chances are it's my own creation. If you do, I don't own it. Joss Whedon, Kazui Sandollar, The WB, UPN, et. al. most likely do.
FEEDBACK: Please send it offlist and let me know it's feedback; I do rapid delete on my account due to a lot of spam.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Answer to challenge #276 at the now archive only You Got The Stones (http://www.four-am.com/stones - but it's still awesome so check it out).

***

Oz looked out into the ocean. The last time he'd been in Los Angeles was to deliver a ring to Angel. Now he was back, needing help.

And as Cordelia had once said, Angel Investigations helped the hopeless. And Oz felt he had no hope left...

***

Lindsey looked around him. Wolfram & Hart had bought his apartment, so when he left the job, he left the apartment. And when Angel made the offer to leave LA permanently or help him, a promise of a place to stay was greatly appreciated.

Besides, it was bugged. Since he was a good guy now, he decided, it wasn't smart to let the bad guys in on your moves.

But waking up in this hotel room was strange. He wasn't used to it yet. At least he had both hands again, and that was a comfort. He still had the fake hand, somewhere up in his closet.

A knock at the door startled him. "Yeah?"

Gunn poked his head through. "Yo, man, we got a situation of the legal variety. Care to help us out?"

"That's why I'm here, isn't it?"

"Says you." Gunn shrugged. "Me, I kind of trust you, since Lorne did that brain scan thing and says you're cool, but we'll see."

Lindsey shrugged as well, throwing back the covers. He was a boxers man, who had no problem walking around in the boxers and tank top he wore to sleep in. He didn't do it to look good, he did it to feel comfortable.

There was only one female in the general vicinity, and Cordelia looked at him with as much disdain as she could muster, which was a lot. She thought he was the scum of the earth. Maybe she was right.

There was only one way to find out: if he couldn't help the hopeless, then he was just as hopeless as they were. Maybe even more so.

***

"So they arrested you? Without giving you your Miranda rights?" Lindsey asked the red haired kid in front of him.

Oz nodded. "Just threw me to the ground and slapped the cuffs on. They've got my clothes...they were covered in blood..." He trailed off, looking towards the man who'd driven from Sunnydale to help bail him out.

Xander shrugged. "They didn't tell me anything. But, Oz, I don't think they think you killed the girl, or else you wouldn't be out here now."

Lindsey shook his head. "If the DA knew he wasn't read his Miranda rights, she'd have to let him go, whether they think he's guilty or not." He stood up and started to pace. "What was the charge?"

"Manslaughter, I think."

"Well, let's find out what really happened out there. This DA, she's reasonable. If it was demon related, and you just got caught up in the middle, she'll drop the charges."

Angel looked at Lindsey. "Where do we start?"

"I'll stay here in case the police come looking for him. He's going to need a good lawyer." He thought for a moment. "Check out the crime scene, as much of it as you can. Find witnesses, stuff like that. I'll try to get a hold of the coroner."

"What makes you think you can do all that?" Cordelia asked.

"He's a former client of mine," he replied simply. "Look, I need you to do something for me, Cordelia. I need you to make calls and ask questions. If these people knew I was the one asking, they wouldn't answer."

"Why not?"

"Because at some point I pissed them off." Lindsey sat back down again. "I wouldn't be surprised if the police start looking for you in the next twenty-four hours, Daniel, so you need to lay low. You too, Xander."

"Where should we go?" Oz asked.

"Stay here," Angel said. "Don't go anywhere. Lorne, stay with them. Wesley, Gunn...when the sun sets, we're going to the scene."