Deirbhile Orpheus
"Connor!" Gunn yelled, dumping a comatose Angelus on the lobby floor.
"What happened?" Fred asked.
"What's going on?" Connor came to the landing above.
"Get down here!" Gunn told him, ignoring Fred and helping Wesley in with Faith. The Slayer was equally unconscious and had apparently been in a fight.
"What happened?" Fred repeated.
"Wesley called, I answered. Connor, get the chains. All's we had in the car was rope."
Lorne came forward to help Wesley upstairs; Connor watched them for a long minute before turning his attention back to Angelus.
Deirbhile wandered into Faith's room a few minutes later, just in time to catch Lorne's furious, "Tell me you didn't shoot that girl up and feed her to Angelus!"
"It was her choice." Deirbhile shuddered; Wes sounded almost dead. "You're back." he added, catching sight of her. She nodded absently, kneeling beside Faith's bed and studying her for a long minute.
"Faith knew the risks." Wes told Lorne.
"Oh no she didn't." Lorne contradicted him. "Wesley, I know what that drug does to people. Especially when they super-size the dosage to make sure they get the job done. And you damn well know it too."
Deirbhile was still there later on when Connor came in; she hadn't moved during that time, except to touch Faith's face every so often. Under her fingers the bruises were fading, a little at a time.
"What's going to happen to her?" Connor asked.
Deirbhile glanced up at him; for a moment the house in Turtle Cove flashed before his eyes, but he shook it away irritably.
"Actually," Fred said, standing and moving away from the bed, "I'd like to start with what exactly was it, Wesley."
Wesley lifted his head to look at her, but he didn't speak. Deirbhile rose quietly and came to look at his forehead, bruising nicely now from where Angelus had hit him.
"Orpheus." Lorne pronounced the name like a death sentence.
"Orpheus?" Connor repeated.
"Some sort of opiate?" Fred asked.
"Mystical variety. Humans inject it, vampires feed off the humans. Folks tried to deal it at Caritas. Only folks I ever banned from my club."
"Divention." Faith muttered. Deirbhile moved away from Wesley, leaving him less bruised than before, and knelt back down beside Faith.
"But…so if ordinary humans do this junk. Slayers are all super, right?" Fred asked.
Lorne was shaking his head. "That's what makes it so dangerous. Orpheus isn't entirely physical; it's an enchanted drug."
"Magic." Connor said dismissively. "This is what it gets you."
"As a magical being, I resent that." Deirbhile muttered.
Lorne ignored her and went on, "Well, that plus the biting makes for some serious psychic psychedelia. The more you take, the deeper you sink."
"It leads you down to Hell." Wesley said quietly. "And leaves you there."
After a minute Wesley rose and left the room; Deirbhile touched Lorne's arm lightly and then rose and followed him, pulling Connor with her. Fred glanced uncertainly at Lorne and then followed the others; they went down to the lobby, where Deirbhile curled into one of the seats and watched the others fight.
"There's only one thing we can do for Faith now." Wesley insisted quietly. "Finish what she started.
"You mean re-ensoul Angel." Fred clarified.
"Impossible." Connor declared. "We've been over this. No jar, no soul. No soul, no Angel."
"It's not that simple, Connor. I've been doing some research…"
"It is simple!" Connor cut Fred off without even noticing. "Angelus is all that's left. First he slaughtered Lilah, now he's killed Faith…"
"She's not dead yet." Wesley said, sitting down tiredly.
"You're lying to yourselves. You all think that I'm taking this personally so you don't have to. But inside you know I'm right. We need to put Angelus down."
"I don't think so." A new voice entered the conversation. "I think you need a witch."
Deirbhile rose to her feet, keening. It started off softly, and only Connor noticed; but before anyone moved, it had risen too high to be ignored.
"What? Deirbhile, what is it?" Fred asked, putting down her book and crossing to stand beside her. Deirbhile ignored her, focusing totally on Willow. The red-head wasn't quite sure what to do; she was looking first at Deirbhile, then at Wesley, hoping for a hint.
"Tara." Connor's voice cut across the wail and it collapsed; Deirbhile sank back down onto the seat, still staring at Willow. "Tara. What?"
"She tried to kill me last year." Deirbhile looked up at Fred, suddenly seeming very young. "She's not nice. Make her go away."
"I don't think I've ever seen you before." Willow protested.
"That's not what she means." Wesley said. "Willow, when you were evil last year…"
"Hey!" Willow protested. "Was there like a memo or something?"
"Giles called me from England, see if I could help. But he gave no details, and I told no one." Wes reassured her.
"Oh. Well…OK then. What about it?"
"Send her away." Deirbhile repeated. Connor came around and sat next to her.
"We can't right now. Let Wesley sort it out." he told her firmly.
"She's not nice, Stephen." Deirbhile muttered.
"I know." Connor said agreeably.
"Willow, did you do anything to harm the earth?" Wesley asked.
"I tried to bleed all the energy out of it." Willow suggested.
"That's probably it then. Willow, meet Thariin, personification of the Earth."
"I am not!" Deirbhile stamped her foot. "I'm not a personification! Get it right, Wesley."
"Beg pardon. Thariin, last Elf Princess, who happens to have total control over the earth. Better?"
"Much. We'll work on it." She looked back at Willow. "You tried to kill me."
"I really did." Willow agreed. "But I was sort of crazy then."
"I'm sort of crazy a lot of the time and I never kill anyone. I don't even kill bad people."
"But I didn't kill you."
"Only 'cos Xander stopped you. Otherwise you'd've just kept going."
"Well, maybe I would. But what have you ever done that's so good, huh?" Connor came to his feet, eyes blazing, and Deirbhile shrank slightly.
"I don't fight." Her voice was slightly muffled. "It's not what I do."
"Why not?"
"Because it'd make me a dictator. I don't want to be like that. People get to do what they want, unless they hurt me. Or someone I love." She glanced sideways at Connor as she said that.
"Wow. That's so…" Willow blinked. "Kind of cool, actually. Look…" She came down the steps into the lobby proper. "I'm sorry about last year. I was not myself. Can we start over?"
Connor turned to look at Deirbhile, who was glaring icily at Willow; leaning closer, he whispered, "Merrick tried to kill the others."
"You think I should stick her in a tomb for three thousand years?"
"No!" Connor took a second to be thankful she was keeping her voice down. "They forgave him for that."
"It's not the same. He wasn't himself."
"Nor was she."
"Fine." Deirbhile rose to her feet. "Whatever. But I'm not staying here." She passed Willow on her way to the stairs, and then stopped, staring past her. "Someone's going to try to kill you today."
"Excuse me?" Willow spun to face her. "Is that…"
"It's not a threat." Wes broke in. "She sees things. Deirbhile?"
"I don't know. It's very dark. Where the sun went…" She trailed off, shook her head faintly, and continued up the stairs.
Connor stood below, watching her, but he made no effort to follow her. "What did you say to her?" Fred asked, shaken.
"And why Tara?" Wes agreed.
"Tara is what her friends call her. It catches her attention when other names don't."
"Her friends." Wes echoed.
"The ones we went to see just after the Beast rose. Look, it doesn't matter, does it? At least she didn't kill Willow."
"Kill me?" Willow's voice came out quite high.
"Yeah." Connor stared challengingly at her. "She could, if she wanted. Lucky for you she has morals."
"She has…" Willow shook her head. "Whatever. Look, I'm sorry I upset her, OK?" Connor snorted, moving away to sit down. "Let's start again. Uh, you're Angel's son, right?"
"It's Connor."
"And the sneer's genetic. Who knew?"
"Hi Willow." Fred looked way too excited, Connor thought sourly.
"Hi Fred." Willow came across to the counter. "It's good to see you. Oh! And it's the Marlboro man. Or at least his extra-stubbly mentally-unstable insomniac first cousin for the love of Hecate someone stop me…" She trailed off, looking embarrassedly away from Wesley, who was smiling.
"It's OK." Fred reassured her. "I'm a yammerer from way back."
"Are there forces gathering?" Wes asked. "Did the call of magic draw you here?"
"Oh no. More like the call of Fred."
Wesley stared at her for a minute until comprehension dawned. "Of course. Bring in the only living person to ever re-ensoul Angel."
"She has a fresh brain. I thought she might see some things we missed." Fred explained.
"Oh, hearing the thoroughness of your research methodology, I don't think that's possible." Willow said quickly.
"Aww…go on!" The two girls giggled; Connor and Wes exchanged looks, each rolling their eyes.
"We should probably start the debriefing." Willow said. "Where's Cordy?"
"Unfortunately," Connor stood up, folding his arms and generally looming, "the guy who you're all trying to magically re-ensoul shot her with a crossbow. She's not up for visitors." The house flashed in front of his eyes again, and again he pushed it away.
"I think she'll want to see Willow." Wes overruled him. "After all, she's traveled a long way, and they have a history together."
Connor glowered; when that failed to have any effect, he turned and started up the stairs. Willow scrambled to keep up with him.
"So…Tara, huh?" she asked, halfway along the corridor.
"We don't call her that here." Connor didn't slow down.
"My girlfriend was called Tara."
"Was?"
"She died, last year. That's what…I mean, I was so crazy with the grieving…"
"You tried to destroy the world?"
"To stop the hurting." Willow corrected him. Connor grunted, stopping outside Cordelia's door.
"Here." He hesitated for a second before blurting, "I'm sorry your girlfriend died." Before she could say anything else he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Connor demanded, closing Deirbhile's door behind him five minutes later.
"Doing what?"
"Putting Turtle Cove in my head."
"I'm not…well, OK, I am." She looked up at him. "Does it bother you?"
"Yes! You can't do that when I'm awake. It's not fair."
"Sorry. I didn't think…I won't any more. Promise."
"Why were you doing it?"
"Um…the first time? I wanted to make sure you were OK. You seemed sort of upset, and I…"
"Faith's a good person. She doesn't deserve…"
"Do you know Faith's history?" Deirbhile cut him off in turn. "You don't, do you. Faith's the second Slayer; not something that's supposed to be possible. She's always felt second. First she tried to be like Buffy; then she tried to be Buffy's opposite. She ended up in a coma, Stephen. When she woke up out of that she came to LA. She accepted a contract on Angel's life and to get to him she kidnapped Wes. And tortured him. For hours."
"Why?" Connor asked.
"Because she wanted Angel angry enough to kill her. But he wasn't. He wanted to save her. That's how she ended up in prison; she turned herself in to try and gain redemption."
"So…" Connor frowned. "Are you saying she's not a good person?"
"No! Not at all. She is a good person. She just doesn't always believe it."
"What are you saying then?" Deirbhile shrugged.
"I'm fairly sure I told you before that bad things happen to good people. Do you know what I've noticed, though?"
"Pretty sure you're going to tell me."
She made a face at him. "People don't get worse than they can handle. Sometimes they don't try. But if they hold on, they can manage it fine. I've seen it over and over."
"This isn't something she can fight. The drug…"
"Is only as strong as the body it's in. Faith's body is strong, Stephen, but her will is stronger, and she never, ever, gives up. You think that prison could have held her otherwise?"
"No, but…" he trailed off. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Turn everything back on me. Now you're making it sound like I thought she was weak."
"Am I? Whoops. That's not what I meant."
Connor straightened up. "You're not quite with me, are you."
"Nope. Not quite."
"Go downstairs with the others. All right?"
"Where're you going?"
"Just go downstairs, Tara, all right?"
"That's not fair." She pouted, letting him help her to her feet. "When you call me Tara I don't say no."
"I know that." He pushed her gently towards the door. "That's why I don't do it much."
She dug her heels in, staring at him. "I thought you didn't do it 'cos I asked you not to."
"I don't."
"You just said…"
"It doesn't matter now, all right? Just let's go…" he trailed off, thinking.
"Is that annoying like that when I do it?"
"Yes. Even more so."
"Really?"
"I don't know. What are you talking about?"
"When I say something and then refuse to explain it."
"Yes. Very annoying."
"Oh. Sorry. I'll work on that." She glanced around. "Where are we going?"
"See Faith."
"'Kay."
"Listen to me." He halted her just outside Faith's door. "Faith's really not well."
"I can't help. Not with the inside stuff."
"That's not what I meant. Try and…"
"Not be crazy?" she filled in.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"I will. I'll be very quiet."
"All right." He started forward and then halted her again. "This is important to me."
"I said it." She nodded firmly. "I'll do it."
"She's in the barrens now." Lorne said quietly. Deirbhile watched as he wiped Faith's face gently. "They cry for a while. Quiet, mostly. Like they're letting go of everything that meant something." Faith groaned as though to underscore his words.
Connor shifted uncomfortably; he was sitting in a chair at the end of the bed. "How long? Till…" he trailed off, aware of Deirbhile's gaze.
"Not long." Lorne said. "You can hold her hand." Deirbhile obligingly scooted away from the bed, leaving room for Connor, who rose slowly to his feet. Before he could move towards the bed, however, Wesley came in and stood staring at Faith, barely registering the rest of them.
"Wesley." Connor said.
"They're doing what we do, Stephen." Deirbhile said suddenly. Connor blinked.
"They're…what?"
"What we do." Deirbhile leaned forward and touched Faith's forehead gently, careful to avoid the bruises. "Not here. Not in his head. Somewhere…I can't see. I don't know where." She looked up at Wes. "I don't think I can bring them back."
"You can't." Wes said carefully.
"Nope. They were in her head, or his head, I could…but they're not. Away with the fairies…" She laughed for no apparent reason.
Connor hunkered beside her. "Are they where we go?" he asked softly, staying quiet enough that the others couldn't hear.
"Of course not." Deirbhile said in surprise. "That's our place. No one goes there unless I let them. Or you let them. One or the other, I'm not…"
"OK." he interrupted her. "Don't worry about it then."
"I can't…"
"It's OK. We'll find another way. It's not up to you."
Deirbhile shuddered, looking away. "Merrick said that."
"Merrick talks too much." Connor said irritably. Deirbhile smiled.
"I don't think anyone's ever said that before."
"Connor?" Wes asked.
"Nothing." Connor rose to his feet again. "You did the right thing. She was brave, and she died in battle."
"She's not dead." Deirbhile said quietly. Connor ignored her.
"It's time." Wesley turned away from the bed. Connor glanced uncomfortably at Faith and followed.
"Deirbhile?" Lorne asked quietly. "What are you doing?"
"I don't want to go down." She looked at the door. "But I ought to. Something's going to happen."
"What's going to happen?" Lorne asked. Deirbhile shook her head.
"Magic's gathering. Like lightning, and we're all standing under the trees…"
"You don't think the spell will work?" Lorne asked carefully.
"Willow's strong, but I think she…she sees it funny. Not the way others do."
"Sees what funny?"
"The magic. When she says the words she's just giving form to what's already there…and if she's not looking right it won't work. Or, it'll work but not the right way…" She trailed off, still looking at the door.
"Can you help?"
"Maybe. I…" She shuddered, burying her face in her hands.
"Deirbhile? What's wrong, kiddo?"
"I hate this! I hate…being crazy…" She looked up again. "I don't use my magic, Lorne. Not much, not as much as my…the other I do."
"You have magic?" Lorne asked carefully.
"Um-hum. Elves are intrinsically magical; we never did anything much with it, but every Elf has…had…the potential to be very powerful. I don't think…if Willow goes wrong I don't think I can help. If I go down there, I'll try. And if I try, and fail…" she trailed off again.
"You're scared." Lorne said quietly. "Honey, that's just smart. World we're living in, you should be scared. But you have all the strength of the earth as well as your own."
"Not here I don't." Deirbhile said bitterly. "Here there's no earth. I can't sense it."
"So why do you stay here?"
"Once I wouldn't have. Even for Stephen, I wouldn't have. I'd have walked away, and whatever happened…happened."
"So what changed?"
"I met people. They changed me." She looked up, smiling faintly. "I tried to leave, and they wouldn't let me; they pulled me back in. They turned into family when I wasn't looking, and now…" she shrugged. "It feels wrong to leave when I know they wouldn't." Lorne frowned, and she laughed gently. "I'm sorry, were you expecting a sermon?"
"Not at all, kiddo, I'm just…not sure you can live according to what they want."
"I'm not. They'd tell me to leave, they were here…but they'd stay. That's why I'm staying."
"It's not the only reason, is it?"
"No." Deirbhile shook her head. "It's not."
"Connor?"
"Yeah. Connor." She sighed, leaning back until she hit the wall. "And you, as well."
"Me?"
"You, plural. Angel Inc. I'd like to think I'm on the side of the angels…no pun intended." She looked up again. "Good guys don't run out on the fight."
"It's not your fight."
"It doesn't matter. Merrick said that, and he was wrong too. It's still a fight, and there's a right…there's a good…there's sides."
"You're here for Connor." Lorne said again. "If he was on the other side you'd be helping them."
"No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't be hurting them, but I wouldn't be helping. And I wouldn't be hurting you. I know what you meant though…I follow Stephen. I don't have a choice. I need him too much to let him go."
"Would you? If he wanted?"
Deirbhile struggled. "I don't…I love him. I think that's, sort of, built in. But I…sometimes I don't like him. And I'm not in love with him. I know that."
"No, you're not, are you?" Lorne murmured.
"Sometimes I think he hates me…and sometimes I think he just sort of dislikes me. And then, every so often…"
"He's a whole 'nother person." Lorne filled in. "We've noticed."
"He could be so…he shines, Lorne. He could be such a good person, if he'd just…" she gestured frustratedly. "He drags himself down all the time. I don't…I can't make him not."
"Can't always help people." Lorne told her gently. "Sometimes they have to help themselves. Like this." He gestured to Faith. "I'll sit here as long as it takes but I'm not helping. She's coming out on her own or she's not coming."
"It's not just her." Deirbhile said absently. "She's with Angelus, and Angel, and they're all…history and dead things…"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing." Deirbhile rose to her feet. "It's…I have to go, it's nothing…"
"Deirbhile…"
"No. It's nothing. I have to…I need to not be…I mean, I have to be where the magic is."
"Tara."
Deirbhile stopped dead just inside the door. "You're not supposed to say that." She turned to look back at him. "No one is supposed to call me that."
"Connor calls you Tara."
"He's allowed. He doesn't count. Tara's not who I am here." She glared at him.
"I won't call you that then. Deirbhile, listen. What did you mean? Angel and Angelus, history and dead things?"
"The drug. The Orpheous. They're going through Angel's story. To see if he's stronger than Angelus."
"And Faith?" Lorne asked carefully.
Deirbhile laughed. "She's not Obi-Wan…Faith sees. Because no one has. But she's not part of it. Angel's past is written."
"Can you…you can see them?" Deirbhile nodded, and he went on, "But you can't bring them back. You can't bring her home?"
"She doesn't see me. My way is not her way. Not his way, either." She turned away again. "I can't help them. I'm sorry." Without waiting for him to say anything else, she turned and left the room, pulling the door neatly closed behind her.
Fred was ringing a bell carefully, ritually pacing, when Deirbhile slipped down the stairs and curled into the couch by the office door. She jumped when Willow started talking; but the Wicca was talking to Gunn, not to her, and she relaxed after a minute.
"OK. Now all I gotta do is contact the spirit world, harness the delothrian ebb, focus it through my little Marble O' doom here, and we'll restore the Mu Ping's entropic equilibrium."
"Jar go smash?" Gunn translated.
"Smash o crash." Willow agreed.
"All I need to know." He glanced at the monitor, adding, "I'll be downstairs 'case the Prince of Darkness wakes up."
He headed for the basement; Willow focused on her preparations for a moment, barely registering Wesley coming up behind her.
"You ready?" he asked.
"Should be a snap." she agreed.
Red energy crackled, sending her flying across the room; Deirbhile catapulted herself off the couch and was halfway up the stairs before she stopped.
"Stay your hand, witch!" The magickally-enhanced voice rang through Willow's head. "You will not interfere with what must come to pass."
Wesley lifted Willow, supporting her as she gasped, "Envidoria disparum…"
"You think to banish me?"
"There's somebody in my head…" Willow managed.
"As long as the soul is under my protection, it will never be freed." the voice told her.
Deirbhile came back down into the lobby, but she stayed near the stairs; Wesley glanced across at her, but she shook her head helplessly.
Willow straightened and said commandingly, "Vetchay envidoria disparum!"
"He's enormously powerful." Wesley muttered, as Willow picked up her talisman. "It's the dead Beast's Master. He contacted Angelus the same way."
"He wants to stop us from getting the soul." Fred realized.
Willow raised her hand. "Open the window. Fill this stone. Inside, outside, two made one."
Fire sheathed the stone, and it hovered above Willow's hand. Deirbhile flinched, sinking into a crouch on the step.
"You all right?" Connor whispered.
"It…ow." She grinned. "Strong spell. I didn't…I haven't felt anyone else's magic this way for a long time…I'm fine. Pay attention."
The energy flashed again, doubling Willow over.
"Are we sure that she can handle it?" Connor asked, looking at Wesley. Before he could answer Willow straightened back up; her eyes were very dark.
"Aleah astraeth!" The hotel began shaking around them; all the lights flickered on, off, on, off, and stayed off.
"I think she can hold her own." Wesley said dryly.
"Ow. Hello, still here? Ow!" Deirbhile complained.
"Senser roll, anash arem!" Willow yelled.
"She's not doing it on purpose." Connor said quietly to Deirbhile.
"I know she's not, but still, ow." Deirbhile winced again.
"It won't be long."
"You don't know that."
"It can't be long. She's shaking, trying to keep it together. It can't be long or she can't do it."
"Do you feel that?" Wesley said suddenly.
"There's something evil…" Connor muttered, looking around. "Rising in the hotel."
The shaking stopped and the lights came back on.
"All the better to see with." Deirbhile muttered, watching the huge face shimmer into being behind Willow.
"What the hell is that?" Connor demanded.
"Ignore it!" Willow ordered. "Find your target, leave my side!" The tiny fireball fled. Willow chanted for a minute or two, in various languages but mostly saying the same thing, "Break the glass."
Nothing happened for a long minute; then she crowed, "Got it!"
"Where's Connor?" Fred suddenly asked, realizing he'd vanished. Deirbhile glanced over her shoulder, towards the staircase.
"Never mind. Wesley, the Orb?" Willow asked.
"Ahh…yes."
"So now Angel's soul is just floating around up there?" Fred asked. Willow nodded absently, laying out the next spell.
"Until I can channel it into the Orb of Thessulah."
"Connor shouldn't have run off like that." Fred said.
"I'm sure he's just worried about Cordelia." Wesley said.
"Did anyone ever think that their relationship might be a little bit…icky?"
"It's not a relationship." Deirbhile muttered from behind them.
"Why not?" Wesley looked over his shoulder at her.
"Because he doesn't belong to her."
"Who does he belong to?" Fred asked.
"Not her." Deirbhile slouched lower in her seat. "Lucky for Cordelia, too."
"Why's that?"
"Just is. Do the spell already. Angel's soul can't get home on its' own, and Faith can't come back until he's back."
Fred lifted the book with her portion of the spell, sounding out the words. Willow followed suit, reading her section. Deirbhile glanced up, seeing Connor slip down the stairs and into the basement; she followed, waiting at the top of the steps and half-listening to the spell behind her.
"Gunn. I thought you should know." Connor clattered down the stairs. "They haven't finished the spell yet…" Without finishing the sentence he hit Gunn, knocking him into the cage and out cold.
"I need you to fight." Angel murmured.
"I'm pretty clear about what you need." Connor said coldly, lifting his stake.
A hand wrapped around his from behind, stopping him. "Pick me up a switch, son." Faith drawled. "There's about to be a whuppin'."
They fought, up and down the room, ignoring the rest of Angel Inc who poured in from upstairs; Deirbhile scooted several steps further down to avoid them.
"She's alive, it's a miracle!" Lorne told them.
"Not for much longer." Deirbhile muttered, standing and continuing down to the basement. She circled the fighters, slipping into the cage and kneeling beside Angel.
Faith was winning; they could see it clearly, but Connor didn't stop, getting up every time she knocked him down. After a minute she threw him against the cage, and before he could pull away, Angel caught him from behind, through the bars.
"Connor! It's over. It's me. Really." Connor sagged in his grip. Faith relaxed out of her stance, eyeing the pair cautiously; neither moved, until Deirbhile came out of the cage and took Connor's hand. She didn't speak, reaching out to touch his face lightly and then transferring her touch to Angel's hand. He let go of his son, slumping against the bars himself; Faith went to help him, and Deirbhile tugged lightly on Connor's hand, leading him up and out of the basement. The others, still on the stairs, made way for them in silence.
"Where are we going?" Connor asked when they reached the lobby.
"Your room."
"Why?" She stopped, looking back at him.
"You're tired. You're not seeing clearly. You need some sleep."
"I don't need sleep."
"We've had this conversation."
"I don't care!" He pulled away from her.
"Then don't care upstairs. They'll be coming up; do you want to be here?"
He glanced at the basement door. "I don't care what they think."
"Then don't care upstairs. Please, Stephen. If you don't care, I do. Come upstairs."
"Fine." He followed her towards the stairs.
"I thought this might be it."
Connor looked around slowly. As ever, the sun was shining brightly overhead; today, however, the house was empty, and no one was sitting in the garden. "Tara?"
"Here." He turned to see her sitting in a tree at the edge of the lawn.
"What are we doing here?"
"You tell me. You called me here this time. I was just going to let you sleep."
"Really?"
She nodded, sliding out of the tree and coming to stand beside him. "You never look rested after we come here. I don't know why, since you're asleep. Maybe your brain thinks you're awake."
"How could I…I don't even know how."
"I don't know how I do half the things I do. Somewhere inside is the knowledge." She studied him thoughtfully. "Someday you'll be able to be here and there all at once. Like I do."
"What's happening back there?"
Deirbhile shrugged. "Everyone's sort of sitting around, dazed. So much time and effort to bring Angel back…and now he's here, and no one's quite sure what's going to happen now."
Connor snorted. "Doesn't surprise me."
"No." Deirbhile smiled faintly.
"Where is everyone?" Connor asked, gesturing towards the house.
"I guess you didn't bring them. I'll have to introduce you. I think you'd like them."
"Really?"
"Um, actually, no. Sometimes I don't think you like me."
Connor looked up in surprise. "Why?"
"Just…sometimes I'm not sure."
"Now?"
"No, now I'm fairly sure you do. You wouldn't have called me here otherwise."
"I didn't call you."
"Sure you did." She studied him for a minute. "Why did you do it?"
"Do what?" He turned away, pretending interest in a flowerbed near them.
"Try to kill Angelus."
"He's evil." Connor muttered.
"Oh please! You expect me to believe you left him alone for hours while he was helpless, then tried to kill him when Willow was on the verge of re-ensouling him?"
"I couldn't get to him then." Connor's excuses were getting weaker.
Deirbhile stared at him. "What is it, Stephen? Why won't you tell me?"
"Because I don't want to." he gritted, fading out of sight as he did so.
Connor's waking pulled Deirbhile out of sleep as well; she blinked, forcing herself awake, and scrambled to her feet. The room was empty; Connor had already left.
"Damn it." she muttered, pushing her hair back and heading back to the lobby.
Connor was sitting sullenly under Gunn's watchful eye, being lectured to; Deirbhile crossed to sit beside him, glaring at Gunn. Gunn, mindful of what she'd done to him before, backed off a little.
"I get it." Connor sounded bored more than anything else. "I messed up."
"Cheer up, punk." Faith came in with Angel in time to hear him. "That just makes you one of us."
"You headed out?" Gunn asked her. Faith patted Connor's shoulder absently.
"Yeah, no tears, big guy."
"Nah, I'm good. I just wish I coulda seen you kicking the crap out of Junior here."
"It was pretty funny." Faith agreed.
"Big words." Deirbhile said tightly.
"Got a problem?" Faith asked innocently.
"Yeah. Stop picking on Connor."
"Deirbhile, stop." Connor said quietly. "You think I care what they think?"
"They have no right to pass judgment on you."
"I'm Connor's father." Angel pointed out.
"You have no idea what Connor is." Deirbhile told him.
"Deirbhile! Leave it." Connor said again. She held eye contact with Faith until the other girl looked away as though bored, and then sat next to Connor with her arms folded.
"Wes." Faith said, ignoring Connor and Deirbhile totally.
"Faith." Wes returned.
"See? Brits know how to say goodbye." Faith told Angel. To Wes, she added, "Angel here wanted to hug."
"No I didn't." Angel said quickly.
Faith smiled. "You run a good show."
"Yeah, sit back and let the girl do all the heavy lifting." Gunn put in.
"That's pretty much it." Wes agreed.
"I think that volume's outdated." Fred and Willow came from the office. "You'd know better than me. But there's some interesting stuff about Hellmouths. Might help."
"This is great." Willow assured her.
"I have to say. Someday I'd love to bend your ear about the Perngeruim Codex. I think some of the really obscure passages are actually Latin translated from a demon tongue, and they're kind of a hoot. All this stuff about Bachnals, and spells, and…actually, I think it's probably funnier in Latin. You know how that is sometimes."
"I'm seeing someone." Willow said apologetically.
Fred blinked but…wisely…didn't answer.
"Time goes by, Will." Faith said.
"OK. Good. Wagons west. See you, guys."
"Willow?" Angel took a step forward.
"He's gonna tell you how much he owes you." Faith warned Willow.
"Aww, don't mention it! I got a Slayer out of the deal, so we're Even Steven." She stepped forward and hugged him. "I'll tell Buffy you said hi."
"Thanks."
"Ohh…" she turned to look at the whole group. "Next time you guys resurrect Angelus, call me first, OK?"
Faith waved from behind her, and then both girls were gone. Angel took a minute to simply stand, then he turned to face the others.
My team. My friends.
"So we're back." His tone was vaguely questioning.
"It would seem." Wes agreed.
"Look. I know things have been…"
"Sorry, Angel." Cordelia interrupted him. She continued slowly down the stairs into the lobby. "But if this is the speech about how the worst is behind us, you might want to save it for later."
As she spoke, she stroked her belly…huge now with the life within it.