CHAPTER NINE

Fred knocked on Lorne's door. It's been two days since Abigail broke up with him and she hasn't seen him at all. She had been surprised to learn about Lorne and Abigail, she thought they were solid. Then again, she had been kind of busy with her own relationship with Gun…or lack thereof. So busy she hadn't really been noticing everyone else. She had scolded herself and decided it was time someone should pay poor Lorne a visit. According to Angel, the demon had been devastated.

The door opened and Lorne peered out, wearing his terry cloth robe. He looked exhausted, and there was the smell of whiskey on his breath.

" Hi Fred," Lorne greeted her.

" Hi…how are you?"

" Fred…if you don't mind, I'm not in the mood for any company." Lorne told her softly.

" We're worried about you, at least, I am." Fred replied.

" That's sweet pumpkin, but I just need to be by myself for awhile."

Fred nodded, " If you need anything-"

" Thanks, but I'll be okay." Lorne insisted and Fred left then. She felt sad for poor Lorne. Why did Abigail leave him? Lorne loved Abigail, didn't that matter?

After Fred had gone, Lorne sat back in his recliner and poured himself another scotch. He felt guilty for being rude to Fred and he will apologise later. He picked up some photos and found his favourite one. Abigail was all dressed up, ready to go out to dinner to celebrate their 1st anniversary. She wore a little black dress and it wasn't often she wore dresses. He admired her slim legs for a moment. It had been a good night. They went to a buffet, drank a lot and made love most of that night. They did it all again on their 2nd anniversary. Their 3rd would be coming up soon-in two months.

On the fourth day since Lorne's break up, the gang had been battling a demon they've dubbed " The Beast". It had a link to Connor, whenever Connor was around, the Beast was sure to be nearby. It even showed up in the alleyway Connor was born. Angel and team sat around some papers Angel had gotten from Lilah Morgan, it all the information Wolfram and Hart had sucked out of Lorne's head. They've been studying it all day but couldn't make any sense out of it.

Fred had gone after a heated argument with Gunn. Wesley and Angel were discussing their next move when Lorne walked down the stairs.

" Lorne," Angel looked up at the demon, " You ok?"

" Been better. I thought I'd better come down and see what's going on," Lorne nodded at Wesley. " What's all this?"

" This is the stuff Lilah sucked out of your head." Angel replied, " we think this, Connor and the Beast are connected and we don't know why."

" And the phone's been ringing off the hook. Paranormal activity has increased the past two days."

" Is this what you saw when you read Cordy?" Angel asked.

" I'm afraid so cupcake." Lorne said grimly.

" Lorne, can you man the phones while we study these charts?" Angel said. Lorne nodded and went behind the desk.

" Where's Abigail? The more help we can get, the better." Wesley asked Lorne.

" Didn't Angel tell you?" Lorne answered.

" Tell me what?"

" Abigail left me. Four days ago."

" Oh," Wesley glanced at Angel who nodded. " I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

" That's all right. You didn't know. And now you do." Lorne answered the phone to avoid further questions. Wesley shook his head. No wonder Lorne looked down in the dumps. He was curious as to why Abigail left him. They've been a couple for nearly three years and had loved each other. Or so he had thought. He made a mental note to ask Angel if he knew where Abigail was staying so he could make a visit. He and Abigail have been friends awhile and knew she could do with a friend to talk to.

Later that afternoon Gunn is answering the phones at the front desk. Lorne is also on the phone at the front desk on another line.

" I'm sorry. I know, but we're pretty swamped right now. Well, if Snowball hasn't tried to eat your spine yet, hit her with the catnip until we get there." He hung up the phone.

" No, I-I don't think that much mucus is ever a good sign. Uh-huh. Oh, please, please, again, describe it in detail." He held the phone to his chest and asked, " Hey, uh, this isn't letting up. How 'bout, uh, rustling up some adorable reinforcements?"

" I don't know where she is." Gunn said shortly.

" Well, uh, that's where the rustling comes in."

" Uh, yeah, that sounds horrible. Hold please." He hung up and turned to him, " You two OK?"

" Ask her that. Maybe she'll talk to you."

The phone rang again. " Angel Investigations. Hold please. "Hey, I don't know what's going on between cupcake and her icing. I've been out of the loop the last few days, but you know how she feels about you. It doesn't take horns and a beautiful singing voice to be able to read that."

" It's just—it's been hard since that thing with her Professor."

" Well, being stuck in Pylea is pretty crappy, but being sent there on purpose by someone you trust— Hey, at least Dr. Ego got a taste of his own portal."

" Yeah. He got what he deserved, didn't he?" Gunn nodded.

" Well, looks like you and me both have relationship problems."

" Abigail will come back. She loves you." It was Gunn's turn to cheer up Lorne.

" Does she? You know how she's been acting lately. Stand-offish, avoidy. Maybe having some space from each other is a good thing but she picked a hell a time."

Something thudded against the windowpane in the front doors. Gunn went to investigate; he opened the door open to see what it was.

" It's a sparrow. Slammed right into the glass."

" Close the door," Lorne said, as alarm bells went off in his mind.

" It might not be dead,"

" Close it!" Lorne shouted and Gunn did so.

Hundreds more sparrows slammed into the glass so hard that they explode, leaving blood splattered all over the doors and windows. Finally it stopped.

" I'm guessing this isn't a good sign."

" Yeah, as harbingers go—not so much." Lorne agreed sombrely. He hoped Abigail was ok and was safe.