DISCLAIMER: The normal ones... Angel show and all characters not mine... Cordy's "true" character is from Laurell K. Hamilton's book... only own my new character, Cordy's cousin.

Author's Notes: Thanks to Imzadi for reviewing. To answer your question, Alex is my character and the hand of fire was from the top of my head. I'm hoping to incorporate Lindsay and the Merry boys into it but I doubt it. We'll just have to wait and see.

A Taste of Moonlight

Part Two- Inner Struggles

While the others questions Angel, Lorne was first to take watch over Alex. He stood in the doorway, watching Alex's quiet form.

Angel looked over at him from the other side of the doorway. "You sure you want to take first watch?"

Lorne just stared at him and smiled, "I already know all about this kid. She sings like an angel from heaven. . . don't worry about it, Angel cakes. You got a bunch of ravishing humans out there that want some answers. They need to know."

Angel just nodded and walked out of the room. Shutting the door behind him, he leaned on the wall beside it. He looked up to notice everyone hovering around him with expectant looks on their faces.

With a long moment of silence, Angel stared back at them with a blank expression. "What?"

Connor had moved to sit on the floor with his back resting against the opposite wall, "What is she."

His voice was bitter and more of a demand than an actual question.

Gunn looked from Connor to Angel, "Yeah. Ho could she do all that shit?"

"Gunn is right. That girl can't be human. . . it's an impossibility." Everyone stayed silent as Wes's word sunk in.

"Cordy. . . uh, that person, called her 'Princess'," Fred threw in.

All but Connor were looking at him again. He gave a deep sigh before answering, "Her name is Alex and she's Cordy's cousin. Alex is. . . well, all I can think of is Unseelie but she's half human. Actually, she's the Princess of the Unseelie court, from what I was told. Cordy kept most of that stuff really quiet. Wes?"

Wes had his famous contemplating look as he gave himself a few seconds to think, "Well, if I am correct, the Unseelie is one of two courts among the Faye. Their race are called the Sidhe and they are beings of magic as well as extraordinarily powerful. . . both physically and magically."

He paused to let this sink in before continuing, "According to my learning as a watcher, the sidhe have the ability to cloak themselves with what is known as glamour. This is needed because their skin glows and their appearance sets them apart no matter what blood they have been mixed with. The sidhe blood always takes over no matter what the mixed heritage. I don't know much more but I believe that I have some books that will help us."

Gunn gave him a curious look, "So your saying that this Alex kid is a sidhe and that the chick who looked like Cordy was one, too?"

"Exactly. I recall that some can kill by the mere touch of their hands. It's the mark on her neck that reminds me of a passage I read. There have been few survivors but, those that have, are left with a perfect imprint of the sidhe's hand. I believe that Alex is very lucky to be alive."

"We're lucky to be alive. She saved us from that fire thing," Gunn added.

From te floor, Connor spoke, "I don't trust her. She's just like that thing that pretended to be Cordy. She's evil. . . we need to destroy her."

Angel stood up straight, the anger flashing over his eyes, "Alex saved us, Connor. She was the one who stopped the fire from killing the rest of us while it left you alone. She was the one to reveal that it wasn't Cordy and even though she easily could, she didn't kill us."

"That's it, isn't it. You hate Alex because she revealed that fraud for who she was. That she wasn't Cordy but another sidhe," Gunn held an accusing tone.

"You should think on that one. . . son. Alex brought the real Cordy back." With that, Angel walked off without looking at any of them.

Gunn turned his gaze to Wes, "Well, I guess we should hit the road."

The two stared to head off, but they were stopped by Fred stepping in front of them, "Go where." It was definitely a demand.

Wes exchanged a look with Gunn, "Well, let's see. While the rest of you were up here, Angel Investigations received a call from a Ms. Hastings. She has a bit of a demon infestation. Don't worry, though. It shouldn't take more then the two of us. Try researching the sidhe while we are gone."

They walked around her and headed down the stairs. At that moment, Lorne came out of the room and stood between Fred and Connor. "Hey, sweety. While you check the books for something on Alex, I'll talk with some of my contacts about this imposter. Connor. . . you better make sure Alex is alright until I come back or your future will be royally screwed."

Fred and Lorne left the same way as the others before Connor could say a word.

Connor sat on the floor, quietly fuming for a moment. Reluctantly, he stood up with a heavy sigh. Slowly, he entered the room and looked around.

In the middle of the room on the far wall, there was a queen sized bed. There was a table with a lamp on it on either side of the bed. Alex lay in the middle of the bed, wearing one of Connor's longer, button up shirts.

Connor couldn't tell what else she was wearing due to the covers being wrapped around her. He couldn't help but notice how good the green looked on her.

A black, leather couch was in one corner of the room, while a chair sat beside the bed.

Just to prove that he didn't blame this girl for 'Cordy's' disappearance, Connor stubbornly walked over and st in the chair.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he put his feet up onto the side table. Connor was not happy about the entire situation and it showed.

After a while, Connor started to mutter to himself, "I can't believe Dad's mad at me over her. I don't hate this. . . this thing, for taking Cordy away. I don't."

Connor was almost pouting.

He jumped when he heard Alex suddenly moan painfully.

Ever so slowly, he leaned over until he was at the very edge of the bed. Alex's face clearly showed the pain she was in and Connor suddenly became concerned.

He started to reach for her, as if drawn by some unseen force, but he stopped himself. "No. I won't do anything for this girl."

With this, Connor stood up and walked to the opposite corner of the room. He was waging a war within himself, between his anger and his natural instinct to help people.

He crossed his arms over his chest and started pacing. The inner turmoil was plain on his face.

His pacing went on as Alex's pain continued. With a final groan of frustration, Connor rushed back to the side of the bed.

He had no idea what to do which, in turn, made him angry, "Wake up."

Alex's skin began to glow as if the moon was trapped with in her body.

Confusion swam across Connor's face as her body began to thrash violently. He reached his had out and clutched hers as it flung into the air.

In the blink of an eye, both were engulfed in the glow of Alex's skin. The next moment, the glow was gone and Connor collapsed onto the chair as well as the edge of the bed.

Even though they were both unconscious, they clutched each other's hand as if their very lives depended on it. However, the glow that once engulfed their bodies was now entwined with there hands.

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