Demona stood with her back rigid and her arms crossed in front of her on the Nightstone roof. Her eyes trailed over the city and the numerous buildings filled with humans. The sound of wings pulled her glare away from the large building that shadowed Nightstone for part of the day. Angela landed beside her with a binder held tight to her chest. "I offered to deliver it."

"Alone?" Demona didn't see any evidence of any of the males. "Are you crazy? Is HE crazy?"

"I had Broadway leave us alone. He went to meet up with the others." Angela pulled the binder away and the Xanatos logo on the front was overly large for their joint venture.

"Well, I found a sample of the amniotic fluid Dr. Sevarius used." Demona nodded to the box she'd rested on the roof vent. "Give it to Xanatos and see what his people can make of it."

"Mother," Angela's voice was nearly lost in the hum of the roof machinery. "You haven't asked about Christy."

"I'm sure she's doing well." Demona heart sank when she added, "Isn't she?"

"We don't know. It's been a week since she told us she was getting a mission from him and we haven't heard from her since. Elisa said it might be normal, a spy thing." Angela reached out and took one of Demona's hands. "Before Christy left she said she lost you. She was sure that this time away would destroy any chance she had to fix this." Angela's wings rustled before they caped behind her. "We all went along with her plan, because she said she wanted to protect you. Mother, she did want to protect you."

"By keeping me in the dark?" Demona's voice dropped deeper, the wound still aching.

"By giving you hope before you felt the pain we've all been feeling. She said that our entire clan would die if I did." Angela shuddered and Demona's fists clenched, unsure if a hug was even welcome. "But you didn't see her face, you didn't get to see her tell anyone about the problem with our population. I thought she looked like she was ripping out her own heart to tell us. She's harder to read than the humans, but that kind of pain can't be covered up. I think that's why father told you, not to create this wedge but to spare her from having to do it."

Demona remembered the tears in Christy's eyes when she spoke about her dead world, about knowing the end was coming and her heart ached. Christy hated the reporter that told them all about the end of the world, hated that woman just as much as Demona hated the Canmores for all the killing they did. Christy would have had a hard time giving this news to any of them.

"Mother?"

"Let's get inside before a Quarryman finds us here. I've noticed a few more helicopters out recently." Demona only paused long enough to grab the box she was giving to Xanatos before leading Angela inside.

"That pain in her eyes, it was back the last time I saw her, when she told me she was losing you. Mother, I think she loves you."

Demona's hand gripped the stair railing hard enough for it to creak and she focused on the doorway below.

"She's on this mission thinking that the time away from you will destroy whatever is left of your relationship, but she's still doing this for you." Angela's words felt like they were slashing at Demona, creating painful cuts. "She was so focused on this mission, I've never seen anything like it."

"Angela," Demona pleaded. Silence was welcomed after that and they made their way to her office without another word.

"You need to check to see if you have Quarrymen spies here." Angela said once Demona turned to face her again. "Christy found that they've infiltrated a few places. Elisa found that one is at her precinct and Xanatos has two potential spies identified in his building. They told me you need to investigate your employees' backgrounds and if you need help I'm sure Lexington will help you."

"I should be able to handle that." Demona said, stunned that the hunters might have done it again. They could have someone here ready to ruin her. Suddenly the brief walks through the halls at night worried her, because it only took a good photo to reveal what she was to the world.

"You don't have to do this alone." Angela set the binder she'd been holding down on the desk. "We are working together now, and you don't have to do this alone. Even Christy asks for help when she needs it."

"Help?" That didn't sound like Christy at all.

"The mission, she thought it was too big for just her. That's why Elisa, Fox and Xanatos are finding the spies rather than wait for her to find them. She said she couldn't do it all alone. Lex is working to check out a few other high profile P.I.T. members businesses to see if we can find more. He could help you here. I could help you. I feel like, well, she's fighting for us and I want to help."

"I'll contact you if I need help." Demona said, but she didn't think she would. Her surveillance system at Nightstone was advanced because she didn't trust the humans to not become a problem. She'd use that to help her once she found her spies and she didn't want Angela knowing how many spies she found because depending on what the Quarrymen knew, they might need to die. She didn't need the truce with the clan to dissolve right now, or debate with them about this. Her company was too important, her human identity granted her safety she'd never known, so she wasn't losing it.

* * * * * . . . . .

"Jon, I'm not a computer programmer. This job is way above me." Christy said as she looked over the position they'd managed to get her hired for. She didn't have to go in for an interview, which means there was at least one more spy in place already.

"The programming is a small part of that job and you can email it to us. I have someone who can put those things together for you and free you up to look around. He takes care of all our programming needs," Castaway told her with a smile. They'd spent a week together and he appeared friendlier, but then again so did she. Her weapons training brought her to half her real skill in front of him, aside from the bonus her powers gave her. Christy did her very best to try and be a sharp shooter, though and took his training to heart. Normally when she had a gun she was spraying bullets over a lot of people so that kind of aim was difficult.

"And Destine? I thought I'd get Xanatos or that Renard guy. Those traitors give big money."

"Trust me, Destine isn't a friend of humanity. She's just more discrete about it. Exposing her activities will help our cause." His smile would seem mysterious if Christy didn't know exactly why he was after Demona. He was sending her in without warning her of the danger.

Christy didn't want this mission, but she nodded and continued to study her new job description. It had to be Demona's place, didn't it? She was giving Demona space and now she'd be in the building while she did it. She couldn't refuse this one though, because she needed to find out who else Castaway placed there.

Bright and early Monday morning Christy walked into Nightstone for the first time in her cover identity's form. She made sure to look around like she'd never seen it before as she was pointed to Human Resources. Her meeting with Jon's contact made it clear how they'd gotten her this job. Christy smiled at the human resources guy helping her fill out employment papers.

* * * * * . . . . .

Detective Elisa Maza stood to the side of the path while forensics put their flags on any piece of garbage, or any spot of blood. In a different bag in her hand she stared down at the employee card they'd pulled off of the body. It looked like a bad mugging, but this Nightstone card proved it might be something else.

"Nightstone, huh? Feel up for a trip to see what Destine is up to?" Her partner, Matt, asked.

"It might be a coincidence. She's been rather quiet lately." Elisa regretted letting Matt know who Demona was during the day at this moment. Without that piece of information they'd be looking for a central park thug, but with it they were now getting uncomfortably close to things she didn't want Matt involved in.

"Well, then she'll be able to tell us where she was when this happened." Matt said.

He got called away and Elisa watched him go to talk to the lead forensic scientist while pulling her phone out. Her stomach felt like the acid was turning to lava and burning her. Once it was answered she had to keep it brief. Matt was starting to walk back. "Tell Angela that she has to say she visited Demona last night if Matt or I ask, most of the night. Call Demona and tell her that too, right now."

"What, why?" Fox asked as Matt gave a frown at seeing her on the phone.

"Demona needs an alibi and I don't know the timeframe. I have to go." She hung up and gave Matt a smile as he crossed the path and got close enough to hear her. "So, everything okay?"

"Yeah, they'll push the autopsy to the front of the line for me. You okay, you look a little green."

"My lunch is trying to eat me back." Elisa muttered and pulled out some antacids. She started keeping them on her now. Her stomach was never this much trouble before she met Christy.

"Who were you on the phone with?" He asked and she resisted the urge to grab another tablet.

"Fox, I needed her to tell the clan I might be late tonight."

"Ah yes," Matt smiled, "How are things going with the clan."

"Fine." Elisa pulled out into traffic and narrowly missed hitting a blue sedan. She ignored the honking. "I'm a bit worried about them. Angela is trying to mend fences with Demona again."

When they fell into silence as they made their way the few miles to Nightstone Elisa found herself moving into her own cover mode, hiding her real emotions, because she wanted to cry. She was obstructing justice now, covering up a crime. She wasn't sure how much dirtier she could be. She could imagine the look on her father's face if he knew.

* * * * * . . . . .

Christy scooted forward just a little with her back pressing into the office carpet. Her legs dangled out beyond the desk and she could almost feel the security guards eyes trail over them. The wire to the printer had been pulled and she pressed it back in and worked on the tangled wire mess under the desk to try and keep the man from tugging something lose again. Wire ties sat in a pile next to her as she worked.

A familiar voice interrupted her work. "Detective Maza, here to see Dominique Destine."

"I'll call her office." The security guard answered and Christy almost got kicked by him as he stepped over her to get the phone.

She wasn't sure Elisa would recognize her, but she kept working under the desk anyhow, slowing her work down until the cop left, a second detective trailing behind Elisa.

"Alright, that should work now." Christy smiled at the security guard and picked up her supplies before leaving. She took a detour into the bathroom to miss the detectives waiting for the elevator.

Once she got back to her office she was sent right back out to pick up a virus riddled computer in human resources. If they expected her to be able to fix that thing they were going to be sorely disappointed. This was actually a challenging undercover position, because her computer skills weren't strong enough for this placement. Castaway had his computer man, the one that was supposed to do her programming for her, create that virus and she'd just had to hit a few buttons to install it. Castaway didn't have the experience to know a bad placement or the patience to wait for a better one for her.

She brought the replacement computer, one left with Castaway's man overnight, in and the dark-haired man's eyes at the front desk widened in relief to see it coming in the door. "Okay, based on that happy smile I'm guessing this is YOUR new computer?" She teased him as she set it down on the corner of his desk.

She looked over the set up and the connections she needed to make. "So, this is going to take a while. You could take lunch or a break?"

"Oh, oh, yeah. I could leave for lunch a little early." He gave her a flirtatious smile as he stepped out of the way.

The office had a few empty desks, but she could hear the clicking of keyboards in a few cubicles back, so Christy quietly got to work without looking around. She could see Castaway's HR spy's desk from where she was disconnecting wires from a dead machine. He was the man that told Castaway this was the machine to replace, but he wasn't there today to see her do it.

She'd just gotten the new computer in place and wired up when she heard Demona's voice come through the door. "His desk should be this way."

Christy clenched her jaw and focused on the old style prompt that proved the computer was booting up for the first time. She had to test it, connect a few external hard drives. She was stuck at this desk as Demona, followed by Elisa and the man with Elisa came in.

"Can you tell me which desk is Mr. French's" Demona started to ask her but her words trailed off and she stared.

"Um, I think it's that one." Christy pointed at it. Demona stared at her and not the desk she was pointed at.

"Okay, thank you." The man nodded to her. "Did he seem okay yesterday?"
"I don't work in this department. Computer Tech." Christy willed Demona to look away from her. Elisa was frowning at Demona's stare, but then the gargoyle finally turned to the desk she'd pointed at.

"Feel free to look around Detectives, but this is Human Resources and you need to respect that not everything is open to you."

Demona stood next to Christy's current desk as the other two started to go through the papers on that man's desk. "What are you doing here?" she said under her breath.

"Spying on you. Don't pay me any attention or I'm going to have trouble with Castaway." Christy whispered while focusing on the computer.

"Fine. That man, your work?"

"Yes."

"There is another one."

"Leave him for now or I'll be a suspect."

Demona's voice rose as she addressed the detectives. "I have a meeting, so I expect I'm free to go? You can work with the manager here. I'll send him down from our meeting."

"Yes, thank you. You've been a lot of help." Elisa looked a bit sick today, but one good thing is she didn't recognize Christy. Elisa's eyes barely glanced over her.

Demona looked back at her with a frown from the door before leaving.

It had been weeks, but Demona still looked beautiful. Christy let out a gust of air as she tried to refocus on this job.

"That fun?" The male detective asked.

"Hurry up and wait, that's IT for you." Christy muttered as she wished him away. He finally left her be when she started typing.