Gift
Chapter Six
Reconnaissance
Liberty settled herself into her black leather couch in her office. The sun had set, so she'd had to turn on a lamp to illuminate the room enough for her to read. She was exhausted, mentally and emotionally. She'd been working on the case for so long. Okay, actually two days, but on top of high school and her other responsibilities it was hard. She was feeling completely drained. She still had so much to do, too. She needed to read what Connor had written about his nightmare. She opened the folder again, scanning the page. Connor's writing was slanted and precise, she could almost see his confidence and desperation in what he was writing.
I'm in a dark room; it almost looks like a lobby to a hotel or something. I'm standing there with this kind of weapon thing. If bow and arrows were still used, I would say that's what it is. Behind me there's a huge swirl of lightning and clouds. It almost looks like a circle of storms. The wind's blowing, except I'm inside, so I don't know how it's blowing. And I hold up my weapon.
Then I'm outside in some kind of alleyway. There's a woman with me. She has chin length brown hair and she's dressed comfortably. She has a wood spike in her hand and she's fighting a monster, a vampire. She shoves the wood into his chest and he turns to dust. She turns, smiling and says, "I did it!" She hugs me…
Then I'm back in that lobby. I'm holding a knife over the woman I described above. She's holding the knife away from her and suddenly we're both glowing. After that, I wake up.
Liberty sighed. The woman reinforced her thoughts that these were memories. She was reoccurring. She seemed to fit into the puzzle, instead of being in each scene completely randomly. The swirl seemed to be some sort of vortex or a portal. Perhaps Connor was from another dimension. No, he had two parents that remember him being born. If they were from another world, they wouldn't have bothered bringing Connor in about his powers. They would have known where they came from. In fact, his parents seemed a little freaked out by Connor's abilities. They're normal son was no longer normal. Liberty grunted, as unbecoming as it was. She wanted to stop thinking of the prejudices people faced for having any kind of mystical powers. Actually, even more than solving the world's problems of prejudice, she wanted to go home.
Spike stood outside the door, listening to Liberty rummaging around in her office. She sounded like she was getting ready to leave. Spike debated whether or not to enter the office. If he went in there, he would have to lie to Liberty. He didn't want to lie to Liberty. She was so sweet and earnest, he felt absolutely miserable for betraying the little pint. He'd grown sort of attached to her in the short amount of time she'd been working there. She didn't treat him badly or like he was completely useless. They were sort of friends, actually. Spike didn't have many friends, not that he needed them. Spike took in an unnecessary breath and decided that he wouldn't bother Liberty. Unfortunately, Liberty came barreling out the door, crashing into Spike, sending her armful of books tumbling down as she sprawled out on the floor.
"Ah!"
"Sorry, pet. Didn't mean to send you flying."
"It's okay, Spike. You didn't mean to." She looked around at the desolate hall she'd fallen in as she took Spike's offered hand. "Were you on your way to see me or something?"
Spike glanced away from her while she straightened her outfit. He could remember the days when he lied without a twinge of conscience. No longer.
"No, I actually was on my way to-"
Apparently, he was a bad liar now too.
"Spike, you do realize that you're an awful liar, don't you?"
"Side effect of my soul, pet."
Liberty sent him a sparkling smile that proved she didn't mind his attempt at lying. Of course, she wanted to know why he felt the need to lie, but she didn't ask.
"I like your soul."
Spike looked away, uncomfortable with her compliment. He was used to hearing, 'Spike, get out, you can't help with this.' Spike bent down and picked up the fallen books.
"Portals, Vortexes, and Mystical Convergences. Some light reading before you go to bed?"
"It's for the Johnson case. I'm getting really frustrated. I've been working so hard and I'm finding nothing."
"So you decided to read on portals because…"
"Connor told me about his memories he's reliving in his dreams. He mentions a portal behind him, so I thought I would read about it to see if I could find the specific portal he mentioned."
Spike wanted to ask her more about the memories, but he didn't want to raise her suspicions. He didn't pry. They weren't at the point of needing to push Liberty into telling them what she'd found out. He'd just wait.
"You want me to walk you out, pet?"
"No. I'll be fine. See you tomorrow, Spike." She took the retrieved books under her arms and walked away.
"Tomorrow."
Spike watched her leave, dejectedly, her shoulders slumped and her steps slow. Spike pushed his conscience away as he walked in the opposite direction.
Wesley had decided to take Illyria into the office with him. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to do so. She had felt suffocated inside and Wolfram and Hart was more spacious than his flat. He couldn't exactly take Illyria to the local park, even at night. She was a little too blue for human taste. She didn't seem too excited at the prospect of leaving the apartment, but Illyria rarely showed emotion anyway. Wesley tried to slip her in without talking to anyone, but Angel was on his way out. Wesley shoved Illyria into an empty room without a word. She began to sputter, but Angel's voice stopped her.
"Wes. Glad to see you at work, but it is kinda late. I thought you'd left for the night."
"I don't sleep much anymore. Not since…"
He almost said since Illyria came, but Angel decided he must mean since Fred had died. There wasn't much of a difference between the two answers.
"I've gotta get out of here. There's a vampire clan, a whole family that has been terrorizing families out at night. I'll see you in the morning."
Angel hurried on out to the garage, leaving Wesley behind with a sigh of relief. He pulled Illyria from the room, who seemed completely outraged at her current treatment.
"How dare you hide me away as if I am something to be ashamed of. I am a goddess. You will treat me as such."
"You aren't a goddess anymore, Illyria. Stop complaining so much or I'll leave you to fend for yourself in this world."
"You wouldn't do that to me. I look to much like Winifred."
"Even I have my limits."
His tone was severe, but he knew Illyria did not believe his words. Honestly, he didn't even believe his words. Illyria could play him very easily. She had mannerisms that were Fred, tones that were her's. And in a way, he liked the demon goddess as well. She had her own odd way of stating things and he enjoyed it. Plus, the blunt truth that Illyria provided him with made him feel refreshed. Illyria didn't tiptoe around the truth like humans did, and he appreciated that. He'd become as attached to Illyria the demon goddess as he had with Fred, human and shell.
"We'll go to my office. You'll have to stay out of sight. The reason I hid you in the first place is that Angel would kill you in a second if he knew you were here."
"You were doing that saving thing."
"Saving thing?"
"The human's need to keep things that are out of their control safe. Things and people that are not themselves."
"I suppose."
"Or do you save me because I am Winifred?"
"I save you, Illyria, because you don't deserve to die, not yet. You've lost much, as have I."
"So we commiserate together?"
"Something of that sort."
Wesley opened his office door and led Illyria in. He locked the door behind him. Illyria heard the latch, but did not comment. She examined his office closely. She had grown bored at the apartment. It was terribly boring there. Why humans wished to confine themselves in small spaces was beyond her. Why humans were around at all was beyond her.