Author's note: (Listens to crickets chirping)
Hey AngelWings! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Feel free to email me or ask any questions you'd like in your review. (Hint) I hope you've recovered from the shock ;p
Those who do not Remember
5
Thariin stepped back, shaking her head very slowly. The man who'd just appeared—a tall blond, dressed in shades of green—stared around the room blankly before looking back at her. "Thariin…"
"Don't." She shook her head, tears starting to fall.
"Tara, it's not him." Connor said sharply.
"I know." she answered softly. "Why do you think I'm crying?" She stared at him for another long minute before saying softly, "I love you, brother. I always will."
"Thariin…" he started again.
"I renounce you." Shaking, she turned her back to the illusion, wrapping one arm around herself and pressing the other against her mouth.
Her brother started forward, but Connor stood in his path, refusing to let him past. Lorne, who'd been watching from the sidelines, stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Thariin's shoulders…slightly hesitant, because Thariin was taller than Deirbhile and was carrying visible weapons.
"How long has it been?" he asked softly.
"Thousands. More than I think about." Deirbhile answered.
"He's not disappearing." Gunn pointed out. "Why is he not disappearing? Aren't they supposed to go blooey when we don't believe in them?"
"Because she doesn't want him to." Connor said. He hadn't turned away.
Thariin shook under Lorne's arm, and he looked down at her in alarm. "Deirbhile…?"
Thariin twisted gently out of his grip and moved to see her brother again. He hadn't moved, well aware of the others watching him, but when she turned he took an involuntary step forward. "Thariin…"
"My brother left." she informed him. Her voice was a little higher than normal. "He sailed over the sea. I asked him to go, and he loved me enough to do it."
He stared at her for a long minute. "I would." he agreed softly. "If you asked it, I would."
Thariin closed her eyes, tears falling freely now. "You don't…you're not…"
"Him?" The shade of her brother smiled faintly. "Enough. Memories, you said…"
"Memories." she agreed softly, opening her eyes.
He reached out slowly, wiping a tear away from her eye and then letting his fingers rest on the pendant at her neck. "Still?"
"Always." She stepped back, and he let his hand drop slowly back to his side. "Go back to sleep, brother, in the peace we all earned so long ago."
"Ya?" he asked.
"Thariin. Always and forever Thariin."
She held out her hand without looking, and Connor handed her the dagger. Her bother watched calmly, but she just stood, staring at him, and after a minute Connor took the dagger back and pushed her back towards Lorne. Lorne, grasping what was going on, turned her bodily away so that she couldn't see what was happening.
She shuddered, though, as her brother vanished, and all the strength went from her body; she just fell. Connor jumped and managed to catch her before she hit the floor, gesturing Lorne away.
"Tara, snap out of it. You don't have time to mourn him." he said sharply.
"Connor!" Fred cried. "Deirbhile's just…"
"Would you please trust me? I've spent a lot more time with her than you have." Connor reminded her without looking up. "Tara. Come on, I know you can hear me."
"Sure. Elf hearing." she murmured. Connor leaned back, taking away her support so she had to prop herself up.
"With us?"
"With you." She rose to her feet, not bothering to wipe the tears away from her cheeks. She did resume her glamour, becoming once again Deirbhile. "Wow. You know, you see it, but until it happens you never realize just how much it…wow. That hurt."
"Your brother?" Angel said quietly.
"My brother. My companion. My dearest friend, for a long time." She gazed past them for a moment. "A long time. Until I made him leave."
"To go where?" Gunn asked.
"Heaven." At his look, she added, "That's not our word for it. But…once there you never aged, were never sick or hurt, and the trip was one way. Heaven's close enough."
"Are you sorry?" Fred asked. "I mean…"
"I know what you mean." Deirbhile told her quietly. "I…he'd stayed with me two thousand years waiting for it. And he left me, and it was all I could do not to force him back to me. Not to cry and call to him, because he would have come back. He deserved better from me than to stay here." She shuddered, glancing at Gunn. "I didn't realize how much that would…"
"So that's you, and Spike." he cut her off, turning towards Angel. "How close are we to figuring this thing out?"
"We know why they're doing it, we just don't know how to stop them. Yet." Angel glanced at Deirbhile. "Any ideas?"
"No. I never really interacted with Eden."
"Do you know where he is?" Angel continued.
"That's a good point…I should know." She glanced at Connor. "Can I…?"
He handed her the dagger and she studied it for a minute.
"Perhaps I should research this Eden." Wes suggested.
"Won't help. He's not in any of your books." Connor managed to make 'books' sound ugly somehow, though he was still watching Deirbhile.
"How do you know?" Knox asked curiously.
"You still here? Go away."
"Connor." Deirbhile said softly, and he shrugged.
"I know because I know. Eden's not in your books."
"What are you doing?" Gunn asked Deirbhile.
"Scrying."
"Don't you need a map and a crystal for that?" Fred asked. "Or a bowl of water?"
"Sometimes."
"But not this time." Gunn said carefully.
"No."
"Are you sure you…" Wes started.
"Can everyone please stop talking to me! Please! If I get this wrong I could kill the bugger, or all of you. Thank you."
"Isn't that good?" Fred asked. "Killing him, I mean. Not killing us, because that would be bad..." she trailed off.
"Not if we don't know what he's doing or how he's doing it." Angel said patiently.
"You shouldn't curse." Connor told Deirbhile.
"You do."
"Cole would be shocked."
"Bother Cole. Shut up. Bugger's not a curse."
"Yes it is." Angel said absently.
"Bugger. Shut up. Got him."
Since this was delivered in one breath without breaks, it was a moment before anyone deciphered it. "You found him? Where?"
"Docks." She glanced at Connor. "We were just a bit too far north."
"What's he doing down there?" Connor demanded, baffled.
"Why not?" Fred asked.
"There's no power down there! Whatever he's doing he's fueling it himself!"
"Connor, sweetie, you're speaking in tongues." Deirbhile said quietly. Glancing up, she continued, "Eden's not drawing any power. Whatever he's doing, he's powering it himself."
"And we care because…" Gunn trailed off expectantly.
"Because he can't do that forever. Sooner or later he's gonna have to find another power source."
"And we care because…" Gunn repeated.
"Because," Deirbhile said, speaking very slowly and carefully, "he'll be vulnerable then, because his own power'll be running low. So we might be able to stop him."
"Why wait?" Gunn asked. "Why not just go after him now?"
"You want to kill Alonna again?" Deirbhile asked bluntly. "Want to see how many times you can do it? You go down there now, that's what you'll be doing." She shifted her gaze to Angel. "You'll probably have to kill Buffy," to Wes, "I dunno, Fred maybe?" to Connor, "and you…"
"We get it." Angel interrupted her.
"Stop." Connor added. "You're going loopy again."
"Bite me." she muttered, but she lowered herself back to her seat. "Angel, you'll have to time it right. What date is it?"
"Eighteenth." Wes said.
"You've got three days, then."
"What's the twenty first?" Connor asked.
"Summer Solstice. Eden can draw all the power he needs then, if he tries." She looked back at Angel. "Makes me stronger, but it's better for him too. Your time frame. A ticking clock on top of everything else."
"Deirbhile." Connor said quietly, warningly, and she fell silent.
"Your hand's still bleeding." Fred said after a minute.
"Yeah." Deirbhile glanced disinterestedly at it.
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"No."
Knox took a hesitant step forward. "I know first aid…"
"Medical have looked at it." Deirbhile said coldly.
"And even if they hadn't you're not coming near her." Connor added.
"Stop." Deirhile said quietly.
"How will we know when he moves?" Fred asked, gesturing Knox back a little.
"Don't know." Deirbhile rose from the table.
"Where you going?" Gunn demanded.
"To see if I can do something about this." She held up her still bleeding hand. "And I can't do that from in here."
"You want…"
Connor trailed off, and she shook her head. "No, you stay here. I won't be long."
She skirted Spike on her way out, smiling briefly at him.
"Let's get a surveillance team down there." Angel said, glaring at Spike until he backed off. "Connor, can you show us where you were?"
"This is where we were. He must be up there."
Angel looked up at the warehouse in front of them. "How'd you get in there?"
"Window." He pointed to it.
"From here?"
"No, from the next roof. That one." He glanced at Angel. "You want to go in?"
"No. That's a pretty big jump. You have any trouble?"
"No." Connor eyed him. "What?"
"Nothing! Just—that's a long way. Well done."
"Yeah, you're proud of me, whatever. Let's go."
