KNOCK, KNOCK

Cordelia woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. She was still on the table buried beneath tissues.

KNOCK, KNOCK

"I'm coming," she ran her hand threw her hair as she walked to the door. A yawn escaped her lips as she opened the door. Standing there were her friends/coworkers, Gunn and Wesley along with Angel covered with a blanket. "Come in." she said with a scratchy voice. She didn't really care if Angel burst into flames. Angel came in with a little bit of smoke coming from his back. Once in he discarded the blanket to the couch.

"Where is she?" Angel asked.

"Still sleeping. She took my room. Did you tell them?"

"Tell us what?" Wesley asked.

"Who's still asleep?" Gunn also asked.

"Doyle's sister," Cordelia said quietly as she sat back down.

"What?"

"Who's Doyle?" Gunn was clueless.

"A friend who died a year ago,"

"What is she doing here?" Wesley asked.

"Originally she came to find Doyle but found out he was dead and she just found out she is a demon,"

"Wait, Doyle is a demon?" Gunn inquired.

"Half. Both of them are on their father's side," Angel explained. "Did you call Willow yet?"

"No, I'll do that now," she walked to the phone.

"Why is she calling Willow?" Wesley sat in a chair.

"To get Willow to try to bring Doyle back,"

"Willow? Hi it's Cordelia. Yeah fine but I was wondering if you could help me with something. A spell. To bring back the dead. Look Willow its not for me," that was only partly true. "Its for a friend. Her brother died and…I'll tell you when you get here, thanks." She hung up the phone. "I'll go check on Ashling."

Cordelia walked back the hallway and peeked into the bedroom. Ashling was rolled to the side. Cordelia could see that the leather jacket that had been buried in her closet was now being worn. She stepped in the room and walked to the side of the bed.

"Ashling…" Cordelia gently shook her shoulder. "Ashling."

"Hmmm?" she rolled to Cordelia, opening her eyes. She just noticed how Ashling's eyes resembled Doyle's.

"Uhh... you can wake up now. Two of mine and Angel's friends are here and my witch friend will be here soon."

"Okay. Oh…the jacket," Ashling just realized she was still wearing it. "Here."

"No, you can keep it,"

"Thank you," Ashling got out of the bed and followed Cordelia out.

"Guys, this is Ashling and-"

"I'm Gunn," he introduced.

"And I'm Wesley Wyndham-Pryce," Wesley offered his hand out. Ashling took it.

"Nice to meet you," she went to the fridge. "Do you have any scotch or vodka?"

"Aren't you a bit young to be drinking?" Gunn asked.

"I'm twenty, its legal in Ireland,"

"Well I don't have any alcohol," Cordelia said. "I use to when Doyle was around but…"

"So both of them are recovering alcoholics?" Gunn asked.

"No stupid," Cordelia retorted to him.

"You Americans drink soda, Europeans drink alcohol," Ashling explained. She took an apple out of the fridge. "Okay if I eat this?"

"Sure," Cordelia walked out to the living room. Angel followed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Do you know how much she's like Doyle? How much she looks like him? I don't know if I can take it."

"You can, look she's just his sister. She isn't that much like him,"

"Stop trying to make me feel better,"

"You can do it Cordy. You have to. You can't fall apart in front of her. She needs us. Okay?"

"Okay," they walked back to the kitchen.

"Angel? Can I see Allen's things?"

"What?"

"The lady that lives in his apartment said you have his stuff. Can I see it?"

"Actually I have it," Cordelia piped up.

"Can I see it?"

"Of course, follow me," Cordelia guided Ashling to a small storage closet. She pulled the chain to turn the light on. "These are all of his boxes, all that was in the apartment."

"Thank you,"

"We'll be in the living room,"

"Okay,"

Cordelia left. Ashling looked at the closet. There was just enough room for her to sit in the middle of the heap of six boxes. She leaned against one and pulled the nearest one closer to her. She ripped the tape off and opened the box. The first thing in the box was Allen's black leather jacket. She lifted it to see this was a box of clothes. She pushed it aside and saw a pile of three shoeboxes. She pulled one of them to her lap. She took the lid off and saw papers in it. She picked one up. This box had all the letters she and Angela had written to him. She read the letter to herself.

Allen,

I know its hard honey, but you'll be fine. You can control it. It won't hurt you. I'm sorry about Harriet. Don't mention your demon side to Ashling; she doesn't have the gene in her. At least she shouldn't. I love you son, it will be fine. Write back.

Lots of love,

Ma

Ashling folded the paper and placed it back in. she covered the box and pulled the other one close to her. Inside was a necklace with a Saint Christopher pendant on it. There was some money, a watch, batteries, a pen, matches, a pack of cigarettes and a picture of Allen and Harry. She put that box away and pulled the last shoebox. This one was full of pictures. The top one was of Cordelia. Ashling looked threw them. There were some of him and Harry and some of Harry. One was of him and his third grade class. There was one of their wedding. Ashling smiled. The bottom pictures were of the family. The last one was when Allen was six and holding Ashling, a newborn. She closed this box and pulled out a medium sized box. The first thing she saw was his teaching degree. "Allen Francis Doyle." She read aloud. She put the degree back in the box.

"And that's why you get visions?" Gunn questioned Cordelia after she explained the whole 'Doyle' story. Cordelia nodded. "And Ashling is here to-"

"She just found out she was a demon. And she came here for answers that only Doyle can give her,"

KNOCK, KNOCK

"I'll get it," Cordelia got up to the door. "Willow hey!" Willow Rosenberg was standing at the door. "And hi, person I don't know."

"Cordelia, this is Tara Maclay my…uh…my girlfriend. Tara this is Cordelia,"

"Nice to meet you," Cordelia said.

"You too," Tara replied.

"Come on it," they followed. "Tara this is Angel, Gunn and Wesley. Willow this is Gunn. Ashling!"

"Yeah?" Ashling came into the living room.

"This is Willow and Tara, this is Ashling,"

"Hi,"

"So,"

"Can you bring back the dead?" Ashling asked.

"I don't know…we've never done it before," Tara said.

"You really can't do it…the person can come back bad,"

"I don't care," Ashling felt a sneeze coming on. "I-" SNEEZE. With the sneeze Ashling's demon face sprouted. Willow and Tara's eyes both grew wide. "Look I just found out about this a week ago. I came here to find Allen so he could help me. He's dead…I can't go home to my mother and tell her the reason why he hasn't written is because he's dead. He's half demon like me."

"Actually, there maybe something we can do," Tara spoke up.

"What?" Ashling shook off her demon face.

"Demons aren't technically human and since he's half…there's still a chance,"

Ashling smiled. "Thank you…thank you so much!"

"We have to look at some books, can we get back to you tomorrow?"

"Yes,"

"Okay, we'll see you," Tara and Willow left. Cordelia felt a wave of happiness. Thank you. She thought.