A/N: This is Part Four of Chapter Two of Thieves in Time.

I don't own these characters, but I do enjoy messing with their lives.

B7B7B7B7B7

EARLIER THAT EVENING:

Servalan had seen the air car bearing only Avon pull away from the Restal dwelling just as her hired car pulled up nearby. The short walk and the drive to the Restal's home have given her time to form a plan in her devious little mind. The plan might take years, she'd acknowledged to herself, but in the end it would be worth every bit of trouble she had to go to for success. She would set it in motion here, tonight.

She stepped up to the door and knocked politely.

"What's wrong, Avon, forget your…Oh…" The woman at the door looked at her blankly. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Of course you did." She smiled brightly at the Delta woman. "You are the mother of Vila Restal, I take it?"

"Uh…yes." She frowned, suddenly afraid of this bit of Alpha young womanhood. The predatory gleam in the girl's eye was one she didn't like, not at all. And what could she possibly have to do with her Vila? "Is…is he in some kind of trouble?"

"Oh, no." Servalan never let her smile waver. "But I would like to talk about him…and Avon, if I may. Do you have a few minutes?" She walked into the room without further invitation.

Mrs. Restal stood aside, letting Servalan pass, though she really didn't have much say in the matter. After a moment of staring blankly after the girl, Vila's mother shook her head to clear away the cobwebs that had gathered in her head, asking in a worried voice, "What about Vila and Avon?"

"Then, you know Avon well?" Servalan said, surveying the drab, worn living room, trying to keep the deep distain she felt from showing.

"Of course I do. He's like a son to me. I've known him since he was six years old. He and Vila have been practically inseparable since that time."

"That was more than obvious earlier tonight," she said, raising an elegant, perfectly manicured hand to brush back her long hair.

Wait, the woman thought. What Alpha girl does Vila know? This could only be... "You're Servalan. You and Avon are…"

"Not anymore," she informed the woman succinctly. Perhaps there was not enough acid in her voice to burn a hole in the thin carpet, but it was close. "Not anymore. But what I have to tell you concerns both Avon and Vila."

"Please sit down," Mrs. Restal offered. It didn't matter who this was or what she had to say, manners were manners, as she'd drummed into all her children, Avon too.

"Thank you." Servalan gracefully folding herself onto the edge of the sofa, looking around in distaste at the clutter of the service grade home. "Did you know that Vila and Avon are lovers?"

"Wha…" Mrs. Restal began, eyes wide and shocked.

Servalan finally faced the older woman. She tilted her head to one side, repeating, "I said that Vila and Avon are sleeping together. Or hadn't you figured it out yet?"

Mrs. Restal inhaled deeply, half rising from her chair. Her hands were clenched into fists, her face red. Lowering her head, she scowled at the young woman, a look that had quelled many fractious children and not a few adults. "Why, you little…"

She put up one hand, palm out. Still smiling, she said, "Let's not be hasty, Mrs. Restal. If you'll hear me out, I think you'll understand and believe what I have to say."

"It's a dirty, filthy lie, that's what it is," she sputtered.

"Oh, no. Quite the contrary. And without giving away any of the details, I'll just tell you that tonight, earlier, while Avon and I were having a little…'chat', during the heat of passion, Avon actually called me 'Vila'." Her smile became a grimace as she remembered, a foul taste pervading her mouth. Her eyes darkened and her shoulders tensed, lending a jerkiness to her usually graceful movements.

"That's no reason to accuse them of this…this perversion!"

"You mean you haven't noticed?" Servalan laughed now. This was proving even easier than she'd hoped. "I've seen them together, the same as you." She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "Haven't you ever wondered why they always sit side by side? Or noticed how they touch each other when they're talking, especially when they're sharing a private joke, something I'm sure they do quite a bit. I know Avon spends a lot of nights here. Don't they sleep in the same room? Haven't you ever wondered about it?"

The woman rose from the chair like she was pulled by strings. "You have an evil mind, girl. I'll hear no more of it. I think you had better leave. I won't have you in my house one moment longer!"

Servalan rose elegantly and walked sensuously toward the door, where she turned once more to the shocked and angry woman. "Just remember what I said. Watch them. You'll see that what I told you is true."

With that she left the once peaceful home, on her face a smile of extreme satisfaction.

B7B7B7B7B7

The two young men entered the Restal house together. "I'm home, Mum," Vila said, reaching to kiss his mother on the cheek, then saw the stricken look on her face as she pulled away from his kiss.

"I had an unexpected visitor earlier tonight."

"You did? Who?"

"Servalan."

Avon and Vila looked at each other without a word, both sure this boded ill.

"What could she possibly want here? Was she looking for me?" Avon asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"No, she simply wanted to tell me something," she said, her voice hardly above a whisper.

"And what was it?" Vila asked her, knowing the answer before she spoke.

"She said…no…she accused the two of you…of being lovers." There, she'd actually said the words. She looked at her son and his friend for some reaction and got nothing from either of them but a blank stare.

Avon came to his senses first. "Why, that little bitch!" he seethed. "I can't believe she'd…"

"Did you believe her?" Vila asked his mother quietly.

"Not at first." His mother's answer betrayed the hurt deep inside. She looked at the two young men, seeing them with different eyes than ever before. "But now…"

"Vila," Avon put a hand on his friend's shoulder, then saw Vila's mother clench her fist and try to cram it into her mouth. "Mom Restal, don't…"

She flinched back from Avon's imploring hand, then raised one finger, shaking it under Avon's nose. "Keep you hands off me…and off my son! Filthy perverted Alpha!" she spat out

"Mother," Vila intervened, trying to salvage the situation, "I love you more than life, but I won't allow you to talk to Avon like that. It isn't necessary."

"So," she said, seemingly turned to stone in the face of her son's words, "she was telling the truth then?" Her eyes were hot and bleak, darting between her son and one she had considered a son.

"No, she was not telling the truth," Avon said, answering for both of them. "But…" Vila stopped him with a hand on his friend's arm.

"Avon, no…"

Avon turned his head to Vila. Why shouldn't he admit how he felt? It was natural, wasn't it? "There's no point in hiding it, Vila. I'm not ashamed of the way I feel about you."

"Well, neither am I," Vila admitted, "but down here it's not something we let happen."

"Oh, my gods!" His mother collapsed onto the sofa in tears, her hands covering her face. Her voice came muffled. "My son, and you have taken an Alpha lover, a male Alpha lover." She dropped her hands from her tear-stained face, looking up at Vila accusingly. "How could you do this to me, to your family?"

He moved toward her, his arms outstretched, pleading. "Mother, I never meant for anything like this to happen," he said, desperate to make his mother understand. "It wasn't a conscious decision. Besides, we aren't lovers…yet." When his mother just stared at him, all softness swept away, Vila faltered to a stop, his arms falling limply to his sides.

Avon stepped back, wondering if he should leave, but torn. wanting to show his support for Vila.

After a tense moment, the woman spoke again. "Vila," she said, a resolve in her voice he'd never heard before, "get your belongings and leave. Leave now, before your sister wakes up and hears any of this. I won't have you and your 'friend' corrupting her too."

"Mother, please…" Vila pleaded, tears stinging his eyes.

"I said, get out!" she repeated, turning her body away from the two young men. Her eyes were fixed on the faded wallpaper, but she was beyond seeing it.

Avon pulled him toward the back bedroom. "Come on, Vila, I'll help you pack. You can stay in the spare room at my house until we find you some place of your own."

That stung the woman afresh. She spun about on the sofa cushion, bracing herself on her arms. Her voice was harsh and heartbroken. "Oh, by all means, Avon, let him move in with you. We aren't good enough for him anymore, obviously." She bolted up and ran from the room. They heard her bedroom door slam and lock.

Vila didn't possess much in the way of personal things, just some clothes, a few pictures, his precious lockpick kit, a small box of books and tapes. It took them less than half an hour to pack his whole life up into a small enough package that the two of them could carry it out in a single trip. Vila turned for one last look back at the room he'd known as his for the past six years and silently swore that if he lived only long enough to exact vengeance on Servalan, he would die happy.

The pair had worked in silence until now, but Vila wanted desperately to at least say good-bye to his mother. He waved Avon toward the door, while he stood uncertainly in the hallway.

Avon nodded, understanding. "I'll wait in the car,"

He closed the front door quietly behind himself. After a moment, Vila knocked softly on his mother's door. "Mom, I'm leaving with Avon. Please let me at least see you before I go," he pleaded.

He heard no answer or movement, but was relieved when he heard the lock click. The door opened and a tear-stained face appeared.

"I won't try to explain any of this, Mother," he said softly. "I never meant to fall in love with Avon."

"But you did, didn't you?"

He nodded glumly, hanging his head.

"Son," she said, putting a hand gently on his shoulder, "if it were up to me alone, I might not have done this. But your sister…"

"I know and I suppose I understand." He looked down at his feet, then up into his mother's face. "What will you tell her?"

"I'll just tell Gabrielle that you've decided to live on you own. When she's old enough, perhaps it won't be quite the scandal it is now. Vila, you know she idolized Avon. It won't be easy on her, for you two to drop out of her life like this. When your father finds out what happened, he'll quite probably forbid her to have any contact with either of you." She was frowning, but her eyes showed a trace of sympathy. She loved this young man, but right was right. It had to be this way.

"Don't let her forget me, Mother, please."

"I won't, Vila." She touched his cheek, then kissed it. "Be happy with him. At least do that for me, please."

"I intend to be, Mother, I intend to be."

He turned and left for the last time his family and the place he'd called home.