"Ready to patrol?" Dexter asked Tyler. "I know you got a bad knock on the head yesterday so I can go on my own if you want..."

"No, no," Tyler said, eager to have yet another opportunity to show the demons what was what. He didn't care how many times they knocked him down. "I want to come. I think it'll be good for me. So let's go. I'm ready if you are."

"All right," Dexter nodded. "If you're sure." He sighed.

"What?" Tyler asked. "You don't think I can do it?"

"Of course I think you can do it," Dexter told him. "I just...you've been getting hurt a lot and I-"

"I'll heal," Tyler pointed out. "It's not like it'll kill me."

"Good point," Dexter agreed. "Let's go."

"All right." Tyler agreed. But before they left, he stopped by his and Isabella's room where she had a whole pizza on her lap and had already consumed half of it. "I'm going to patrol with Dexter now," he said. "Will you be okay?"

"Yes," Isabella said. "You go and show those demons what's what." She grinned. "And if you kick a lot of butt, there might be a reward waiting for you when you come back."

Tyler didn't respond to this because he didn't want to encourage her. He just told her a quick 'goodbye' and shut the door. It was a bit off-putting not to see he mired in grief, but at the same time, he was relieved she wasn't sobbing her eyes out anymore.

"So everything is okay, I take it?" Dexter said. "If she's feeling bad, you don't have to come with."

"No, no," Tyler shook his head. "She's got a full pizza and a mind in the gutter. She'll be all right on her own for a few hours. Trust me. Now let's go check on those demons and kick some ass if necessary."

"Are you okay?" Dexter asked as he helped a bloody and slightly limping Tyler out of a den of demons they'd looked in on to make sure everything was going well. Things had been until now. "You look like you got in quite a fight."

"Well, apparently they don't like being checked on," Tyler replied and wiped off some blood that was dripping from his nose.

"Do you need to sit down?" Dexter asked. "Maybe I should take over the rest of the patrol tonight."

"No!" Tyler cried and pulled away. "They're never gonna do what I say if they don't understand I'm the boss."

"You tried to be the boss?" Dexter asked, grinning widely. "No wonder they hit you."

"Don't you laugh!" Tyler cried. "I'm new at this and for your information, I have a very hard punch!"

"I'm not laughing," Dexter told him. "You're doing very good."

"It's okay," Tyler told him. "You don't have to lie, Dexter."

"I'm not lying and I'm not laughing!" Dexter tried to reassure him. "Especially not about your efforts. What's making me smile is the look that Lucifer would have on his face if he saw how well you're doing."

"Compared to him, I'm not doing well," Tyler sighed and shook his head. "I'm never gonna get anywhere. Maybe we should have Isabella patrol instead. It would be good for her."

Dexter raised an eyebrow. "I agree she'd be very effective, but do you honestly see her roaming around places like this? She gets freaked out when she's in a place that doesn't have any five star restaurants in a five mile radius!"

"True," Tyler chuckled. "That's very true. In some ways, I'm much better suited for this, but...I'm never gonna be as good as Lucifer is."

"And you think he's been good all the time?" Dexter chuckled. "That's not right."

"It's not?" Tyler asked. "Really?"

"Nope," Dexter sighed. "If there's one thing you need to know about demons, it's that, regardless of demon type, we were always intended to be a servile species. The first batch, the red type, were meant to serve Lucifer and help him torture humans, but it didn't take long for them to catch on to his whole 'free will' thing and...not fulfill their purpose."

"What?" Tyler asked. "Really? I mean, I knew that other species of demons, the ones created by Hazel to help out the witches if there was a big thing between werewolves and vampires, were meant to be completely servile, but I didn't know the first ones were too!"

"Oh, yeah," Dexter nodded. "And in the early days, because there wasn't really a good way to close the gates, they would keep getting out and causing trouble, which is a big part of why Lucifer has such a bad reputation among humans."

"Do you...do you think Steve did that on purpose?" Dexter wanted to know. "To show Lucifer the follies of free will?"

"No," Dexter shook his head. "Not intentionally. I think that's just how people, and demons, are. But at least we learned and when they got out this last time, Steve decided to let Lucifer come to them instead of trying to drag them back, which wouldn't have worked at all. And things went really well until now."

"Do you think we'll get this taken care of?" Tyler asked. "Do you think we'll be able to get things back to normal?"

"Of course we will," Dexter assured him. "I have no doubt. Now, how are you feeling? Do you think you can continue? We don't have much left to do."

"No, we don't," Tyler shook his head. "And I seem to have healed up, so let's get it done."

He breathed a sigh of relief as he got inside, thanked Dexter, and hung up his coat. "I'm gonna go check on Bella now," he told him.

"How's she doing? Any better?" Dexter asked. He knew that she'd put up a pretty good front for the demons, but away from them, her daughter's loss had made her a mess.

"A little," Tyler nodded. "At least she's eating more now and not watching sad movies."

"It'll get better," Dexter said. "I promise."

"I know," Tyler replied. "Thank you." He bounded upstairs and threw the door open. Isabella looked up, her face and nose bright red as she blew it again. The pizza box was empty now and tossed carelessly on the floor by the bed. "Bella, are you okay?"

"Sorry," she said, holding up one of Leila's baby pictures. "I was just looking at this. She's so cute! And she's gone because we're terrible parents! This is all my fault!"

"Hey, stop that," He said, sitting down beside her, grabbing Leila's picture, and kissing Isabella's hair. "We'll get her back, Bella. We will. SInce I started this, I at least owe her that." He showed his teeth. "When I get my hands on that Malcolm, I'm gonna rip off his head...again!"

Isabella chuckled. "You know, you have blood on your face. Do you mind?"

"Oh, no, sorry," he said. Then he paused as a smile broke out on her face. "I hope it doesn't bother you more."

"No no, it's fine," she said and wiped the blood off with her thumb. "How did it happen?"

"You would have loved it," he said with a smile. "One of the demons was giving me crap and I had to show him who was boss."

She laughed and wiped away a tear. "I wish I could have seen that."

"I know, I know," Tyler sighed. "I'm not your father...but I know you need a good laugh these days, so..."

"No, no, that's not why I laughed," she was quick to reassure him. "It's just that... you remind me of my father now, all bossy and wanting to punch people for not listening to you..." She began to play with the buttons on his shirt. "It's hot!"

Tyler blushed and smiled, gently moving her hand. "You know, Dexter said that too." He paused. "Well, not the 'it's hot' part, but that I'm like your father."

Isabella nodded. "I bet you'd be surprised at how much you have in common. And so would he."

"Oh, but I bet he'd bite off his tongue before telling me anything like that," Tyler winked.

Isabella smiled back and leaned forward, taking Tyler's face in her hands as she began to kiss him. Surprised, he let this go on for a little while before he came back to himself, pulled out of the kisses, and shook his head.

"No," he said firmly as he grabbed her wrists and moved her hands. "I know you miss Leila, but this isn't going to be the way to fix it. You won't be able to compensate for Leila being gone by trying to get pregnant with another Leila!"

"That's not what I'm trying to do!" Isabella shook her head. "It's just...I'm trying to relax and you should too! It would be good for both of us!"

"No, baby," Tyler shook his head. "We need to do something that will actually help...like, I don't know, look up spells or something."

"But I don't know how to do that!" Isabella cried, tears filling her eyes as she flopped back on the bed. "I feel so useless and stupid!"

Tyler opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get any words out, the bedroom door burst open and Lily-Eleanor ran in, her voice full of triumph.

"It's taken a lot of work and a lot of time, and I'm sorry for that, but...I think I finally found a way for you to see Leila!"

"What?" Both Isabella and Tyler asked her at the same time, feeling absolutely stunned.

"Will you tell us what's going on, Lily-Eleanor?" Isabella begged her niece. "What's going on? What's the plan?"

Lily-Eleanor just shook her head. "Hold on a minute; you'll see."

They were stunned when she led them into the large ballroom, which was full of Isabella's family, plus Amy, Alistair, and Malachai.

Tyler looked at his mother. "Thanks for coming, Mom, but if magic is involved, do you really think you should do it since you're pregnant? You could get hurt or we could get zapped to Mars or something!"

"Don't worry," Amy assured him. "I'm not actually doing any magic. I'm just supervising."

"Okay," Lily-Eleanor said, pointing to a circle on the floor that was surrounded by candles. "You two get in there and we'll do the spell." She turned to Amy. "Sorry. I know you were supposed to do that part. That's what they're supposed to do, right?"

"Yep," Amy nodded. "Just lie down in the circle and we'll go from there."

"Are you sure we should do this?" Malachai questioned. "I've never done such a powerful spell before. What if it doesn't work or something goes wrong? Are you sure there's no other way?"

"Yes," Valerie groaned. "We've been through this a gazillion times. Since Malcolm closed the gates, there's no other way to get in Hell but by magic. I know it's dicey but this is all we got. It's better than nothing."

"Well, all right," Malachai huffed. "I just wanted to check."

So Tyler and Isabella got in the circle, and Isabella asked, "What happens now?"

"Now that you're in the circle, we'll all hold hands and Alistair will say the spell, then your spirits will separate from your bodies and you should be able to get to Hell and see Leila," Amy replied. "That's how it's supposed to work anyway."

"Is it gonna hurt?" Isabella asked.

Amy shrugged. "I don't know, sweetie. I've never done this one before."

"We'll be okay," Tyler promised and took Isabella's hand. "I swear."

"Okay, are you ready?" Amy asked. "We won't say the spell until you're absolutely ready."

Isabella squeezed Tyler's hand and shut her eyes tight. "All right," she said. "Go ahead. I'm ready!"

Everyone began chanting the spell, getting louder and more passionate with every line as a bright light appeared over Tyler and Isabella, getting bigger and bigger until it nearly enveloped their bodies. But then, it went out, the chanting stopped, and Isabella opened one eye.

"Did it work?" She asked when the light had disappeared.

"What kind of question is that?" Tyler asked. "We're still here, aren't we?"

"Damn," Isabella swore and pouted. "I...I was really hoping it would work." She looked around the room and locked eyes with Lily-Eleanor. "It was a nice thought. Thank you for trying to help us." She looked around. "Thank you everyone."

"So you're just gonna give up?" Tyler asked.

"Well, this is pretty strong stuff!" Isabella pointed out. "And if that doesn't work, what else can we do?"

"I have an idea," Lily-Eleanor cried. "We need...we need more power!"

"I could call some people," Alistair offered.

"Not more witches or warlocks!" Lily-Eleanor shook her head and ran off, the came back a few minutes later, pulling a somewhat resistant Alec/He behind her.

"Lily-Eleanor, what are you doing? Would you kindly explain..."

"Do you want to help your friend in a big way?" She asked and half shoved/ half guided him into the circle Isabella and Tyler had vacated. "Here's your chance!"

"What?" He asked, still very confused. He looked around at the family, who were muttering and whispering.

"This could work!" Lily-Eleanor cried confidently. "Let me give it a shot!"

Since no one in the room had any clue what was going on in her head and it wasn't like they had anything to lose, they just shrugged and let her get on with it.

"It's not crazy, you'll see!" Lily-Eleanor said. "He's got lots of power we can borrow, since he's a robot and everything!"

"I'm not anymore!" He cried warily. "You know this, Lily-Eleanor!"

"Sure you might not be, but your power is the same," Lily-Eleanor pointed out. "Now hush and be still so we can do the spell, and thank you for your help!"

He just rolled his eyes and stood still. The things he did for her.

"Oh, my gosh!" Isabella whispered when they appeared in a large and dimly lit room. "I demand to know why Malcolm gets a place with such big bedrooms! This is outrageous!" Then she stopped and shook her head, focusing on the sobs meeting her ears.

"That monster!" she whispered, grabbing Tyler's hand, pleased when they could actually move without disappearing. They got close to the sobbing and saw it was their daughter, shivering, sobbing, and unkempt, a blanket clutched against her chest. She was now very grateful the spell had worked.

"Leila," Tyler whispered and got down on his knees. "Leila, it's daddy."

But he was surprised when Leila put the blanket down and tried to take a swing at him. "You're not real!" She yelled. "You're a trick to make me sadder! Go away!" She tried to take another swing, but Tyler pulled her close against him.

"No, it's me, baby. And your mommy, too. We're not a trick."

Isabella came and sat on her other side so that she was sandwiched between them. "We're not. We came to see you. We wanted to try and make you feel better."

"Are you taking me home?" Leila asked her. "I'm sorry I was bad and ran away with the scary man!"

"We know you are, baby, and it's not your fault. He's very sneaky," Isabella told her."We can't take us home with you right now because we can only be here a few minutes, but we love you very, very much!"

"Yes, we do," Tyler nodded and kissed her hair. "So much! Don't forget that!"

"And when the scary man comes back, you kick him and bite him and hit him all you can," Isabella told her. "It's okay."

"Really?" Leila asked, brightening. "I can beat him up real good?"

"Yeah, have at it," Isabella nodded. "Cause nobody has the right to hurt you, you know."

"Especially not bad scary men," Leila nodded. "Thank you, Mommy." She looked between her parents. "I love you," she said. "Please come back for me soon."

"We will," Tyler promised. "As soon as we figure out how."

"Until then, you're tough and strong and you don't have to be scared of anything," Isabella told her. "I mean, it's okay if you are, but I hope knowing that Mommy and Daddy love you and are thinking about you makes it better."

"Yes," Leila smiled. "It does." She paused. "You gotta go now?"

"Probably," Tyler nodded, unsure of how long they had. "Goodbye sweetie. We'll see you soon. Love you!"

"Yeah," Isabella added. "Love you!"

"Love you a gazillion!" Leila cried and blew them a kiss as they disappeared, before sitting down and waiting for Malcolm to come back. She was ready for him this time. And she wasn't scared a bit.

When Tyler and Isabella opened their eyes again, they found everyone watching them with bated breath, which was quickly let out as they got to their feet.

"Did it...did it work?" Alistair asked. "We didn't send you off the end of the Earth?"

"No, no, you did it right," Isabella reassured him. "We saw Leila. She's gonna be okay."

Everyone cheered and hugged them and Lily-Eleanor jumped in He's arms. "Thank you!" She cried. "Thank you, He! You did it! Thank you!"

He blushed. "Lily-Eleanor, people are watching. Please control yourself."

"It's all right," Tyler told him. "I'd kiss you too. Thank you so much for helping me see my daughter...for letting me know she's all right. I can never repay that."

"You don't have to, my friend," He said and squeezed Tyler's hand. "It was my pleasure and I'm glad Leila's all right."

"Yes," Tyler nodded as he and Isabella hugged the former robot. "Us too, He. Us too."

As soon as her parents left, Leila, feeling much braver, threw her blanket aside and sat on the bed, and when Malcolm came back, she ran at him, trying to bite him as she kicked him in the shins with her small feet. But because he was much bigger, he was merely annoyed by what she was doing and, after a little while, he rolled his eyes, heaved a deep sigh, and pushed her so that she landed on her butt on the floor.

"And just what is wrong with you?" He asked. "Why are you doing that? You know it's a bad idea, don't you? You're tiny enough that if you make me mad, I could squish you like a bug."

Unafraid, Leila got to her feet, crossed her arms, and lifted her chin. "I'm not scared of you! I saw Mommy and Daddy and Mommy said I could hurt you because you're a bad man! I'm going to fight!"

Malcolm chuckled and put a hand on her face. "That was a dream, darling. How could your parents possibly have gotten here?" He then swore as she bit him hard before he pulled his hand away.

Then she made a face. Her body gave a little shake. And she ran to the corner of the room where she'd been huddled, letting out a cry as her clothes ripped and her body began to change. Malcolm was a little surprised at first, then, realizing that it was about time for this to happen, sat on the bed, waited, and watched.

He thought he would be ready, but when she turned to face him, he had to suck in a breath. Her hair...her hair was beautiful...bright wonderful red with streaks of yellow, just like the fires of Hell.

He tried to keep calm as she strode toward him so she wouldn't catch on to how attractive he found her new grown up self. When she reached him, he stood up with both hands on his waist, staring at her without blinking. And she didn't blink at him either. Finally, he looked her over and chuckled. "Are you cold, sweetheart? I'd be more than happy to help warm you up!"

Leila spat in his face. "Oh, I'm sure you would, and it's not like there aren't enough fires around here to help you do that! I bet you wouldn't hesitate to throw me into one! But I don't need anything from a lowlife rat like you. Not clothes, not a source of warmth, nothing! I can find it all by myself somehow. You have no soul and no heart and I hope my father has a chance to kill you again someday if I haven't finished you off first!"

"Wasn't surprised I'd find you here like this," Tyler told Isabella when he found her in bed again and staring up at the ceiling. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not!" She sat up. "We just...we just left her there! How could we do that?"

"Well, we weren't really in a position to take her with us," Tyler reminded her. "We didn't even have our bodies. Not really."

"Okay, true, but that doesn't make me feel better," Isabella told him.

Tyler came and put his arms around her as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad that it upsets you though. That really pleases me. It's nice to see you're growing up."

"Well," Isabella grinned and reached over to undo a few buttons on his shirt before sneaking her hand under to run it over his chest. "Now that I'm so grown up, you know what would make me feel a whole lot better?"

"I think I can guess," Tyler replied, moving her hand out of his shirt. "Which is why we're not doing it now."

"But you said I was grown up!" Isabella pouted.

"It's a start," Tyler said. "But now it's like all that good work has been erased. Did you...do you really care about our daughter or did you just comfort her because you thought that's what would make me have sex with you?"

"I meant it!" Isabella cried indignantly. "What would possibly make you think-"

"Cause it's how you deal with everything," Tyler told her. "Sex. And don't you try and tell me I'm wrong."

Isabella sighed. "Fine, I do that. But I don't see what's so wrong about having sex. And don't you sit there and tell me you don't like sex because that's a lie."

"I do," Tyler nodded, taking Isabella's hand. "I even really like it with you. But I also like you too, and it would make things even better if I knew you really liked me back."

"I...I do like you back," Isabella replied. "Is this a trick question?"

"No," Tyler replied. "But...what's my favorite color? My favorite song? When's my birthday?"

"Um..." Isabella thought and thought. "No idea. But I know you love plaid boxer shorts and that you have sexy dreams of me dressed in lots of leather. That's a start, right?"

Tyler sighed. "I suppose that it's a start. But I just...I don't get it. Don't you want more?"

"What do you mean?" Isabella asked.

"I mean, right now it feels like you just want me for the sex," Tyler elaborated. "You don't want to talk about our feelings or goals or whatever. It feels like you don't want to know me as a whole person. You just want to take what you want and then go."

Isabella scoffed and shook her head. "No, I think you're mistaken. That's what guys do and I just want to stay in this relationship as long as I can! There's no way you're gonna be interested in me if I spend a lot of time blabbering about my feelings!" She paused and took a deep breath. "And...and if you stopped liking me, it would just break my heart because...because I love you so much! As much as Leila and maybe even more than that." She then looked up, her eyes wide with horror as he stared at in surprise.. "I...I didn't mean to say that. I'm not clingy and creepy, I swear. I promise I'll let you have a life...I-"

But she didn't get to finish her sentence as he pulled her to him and hugged her hard. "I've been waiting for you to say that for ages," he said.

"Really?" Isabella said. "So you believe me this time? I don't blame you if you don't. I know I've been horrible and I probably don't deserve to be trusted." She tried to hop off the bed. "I'm complete dirt! I'm gonna leave now."

"You're not," Tyler shook his head and pulled her to him gently, her chest against his as he stroked her hair. "You're going to stay right here."

"Why?" Isabella asked nervously, even as she felt her body beginning to relax. "Is this some sort of weird revenge? Are you gonna hurt me?"

"Of course not," Tyler told her, kissing the top of her head. "Quite the opposite, in fact. We're going to have sex."

"Hey!" Isabella said. "When I suggested it, you said 'No'. Why is it okay now that it's your idea?"

"Cause we're doing it my way, which is better," Tyler replied. "Nicer. Gentler. I'm sure you'll notice a difference."

"Are you sure?" Isabella asked. "Maybe I should have a few drinks first. I mean, we've been drunk-ish before and that seemed to work well enough."

"No," Tyler took her face in his hands and kissed her soundly. "I love you and I know there's a delightful, funny, sweet, charming person in you, but I need one thing from you right now. Can you guess what that is?"

"Sex?" Isabella guessed.

"No!" Tyler shook his head."Please stop making excuses and trust me, okay? I'm not gonna dump you when this is all over, I swear!"

Isabella took a deep breath and tried to relax, but Tyler could still feel her shaking as he held her, so he gently lowered her on the mattress and kissed her gently. "I love you," he repeated. "I do." He paused, gently running his hands over her body. "Do you trust me?"

Isabella nodded. "Yes. But I also want you to know that I'm kind of still scared right now. Not because I think you're gonna hurt me or anything, but-" She shook her head and growled. "I'm sorry. Will you kiss me please? Otherwise I don't think I'll be able to shut up."

"With pleasure," Tyler replied, kissing her lips first, several wild, long kisses, one right after the other. Then, he moved down her body, slowly and gently, before parting her legs and tasting her.

"Good," she muttered, slowly closing her eyes. "That feels very good. Please do that more."

"You want me to?" Tyler whispered after pausing. "All right." He continued to taste her, then moved on to massaging and touching other parts of her until her whole body felt tingly and weightless.

"Are you scared anymore?" He asked. "Are you ready for me to come inside you?"

"Yeah," Isabella reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. "Please."

He smiled and took her in his arms, pulling her close, nuzzling her neck, and gently biting her earlobe before slowly and deftly burying himself inside her. "I know this is all kind of slow," he told her. "And maybe I'm trying too hard. But I just...I don't want you to be scared, okay? I will say it until you know it. And if we have to take things slow and gentle for a bit, that's okay."

"Well, you don't have to be so gentle," Isabella told him. "I mean, thank you, but...I'm better now, so...yeah."

"All right," he said and kissed her hair before pushing into her a few times in succession. "Is that better?"

"Yes," Isabella nodded. "Much better!" Then she put a hand on either side of his face. "After this, is it your turn?"

He smiled. "I'll have time to have my turn, eventually. But tonight, we're just going to take our time with you."

"Are you sure?" Isabella wanted to know. Normally, she had no problem having things be all about her, but now it felt like a trap.

"Yes," Tyler nodded, pulling her close against himself. "I'm very sure."

"And you're doing this because you...love me?" Isabella got out.

"Yes," Tyler nodded. "Cause face it, Bella: you're kind of a mess, aren't you? A beautiful mess, but a mess nonetheless. And if you and I are going to have a good relationship, we need to make it so you feel better."

"I do," Isabella promised. "Or at least I'm starting to, because of you. I love you. And by the way: your favorite color is green, your birthday is July 3rd, and your favorite song is 'Surrender' by Cheap Trick." She gave him a smug look.

"Oh, my gosh," Tyler looked at her in surprise. "That's right. You remembered all that?"

Isabella shrugged and began running her fingers through Tyler's hair again. "Apparently. Are you impressed?"

"It's a start," Tyler nodded. "But we still have a way to go."