OUT OF THE BIZ

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of BTVS or W.I.T.C.H. and I earn no profit in writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place in the same continuity as 'I'm Done' but is not a sequel and stands alone quite well. If you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

"Do we have time for this?" Susan asked as they made their way through the village near the castle. They had backtracked quite a ways in order to get there.

"Do we have time to wander aimlessly?" Willow countered.

"I think this guy can help us," Hay Lin told them. "He's got ways of knowing things. I-I don't really understand them, but he's got ways."

"I remember," Mina nodded. Mina. That still sounded strange. Still, it made things less confusing. Her full name was Wilhelmina Vandom, but she never used the last part. If it helped to distinguish her from the original Will, though, and gave her mother one less thing to worry about, then she'd use it. That didn't mean she liked it. It was the way Susan flinched every time someone called her Will that had led the altamere to suggest it in the first place and to put it forward as a way of avoiding confusion. The newly christened Mina did her best to hide it, but Susan's relieved, almost grateful, expression had been like a punch in the stomach.

Her mother was enough to deal with. She was glad, but equally hurt, that Matt had taken the first opportunity to leave. He and Maria, one of the Slayers, and what's a Slayer? had headed for the palace to bring Caleb up to date and get some back up. He couldn't wait to get away from me, she thought morosely. It wasn't just an excuse, she knew, but she couldn't help but notice that he had jumped at the opportunity to leave.

"So tell us about this guy," Danielle pressed, and Mina focused on the business at hand. Eventually, she and Will would have to sort out their lives and deal with the issues their 'separation' had created, but for the moment, she could get away with not thinking about it.

"He's not from Meridian," Mina answered. "He moved here from Earth a few months before Phobos was defeated, looking for a fresh start. He runs a tavern called the Respite. I think his name is Lorne."

"Lorne?" Willow frowned, thoughtfully. "That wouldn't be Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan?"

Mina shrugged. "I dunno. Green skin, red horns, loud clothes, you know him?"

"That's him," the witch nodded. "I only met him once. He…he used to fight alongside an old friend of mine. We wondered what had happened to him."

Mina and Hay Lin were quiet for a time, remembering what Lorne had told them. "I think that's his story to tell," Mina answered evasively, "but he might be able to help us."

"I just hope we don't have to get him drunk first," Hay Lin put in. "We really don't have time." Mina winced. Hay Lin was sweet, and wouldn't intentionally hurt or embarrass someone, but she had a way of speaking without thinking. As expected, the comment drew startled looks from everyone, and since no one knew quite where the Air Guardian was, they looked at her instead.

"Drunk?" Yan Lin queried.

"Well, um…" she sighed and plunged ahead. She had been hoping to avoid this. The story would only worry her mother. It wasn't the best time for a reminder of how dangerous their work was. "Lorne and the people he used to work with, Angel, Wes, um, Fred, and a few others got into something they couldn't handle. They…" She glanced at Susan, who nodded expectantly. "The others didn't make it. After his friends were… gone, he retired from the hero business. He warned us about Phobos' plans for Elyon, but that was all he would do, and he had to get really drunk before he'd do that much."

Taking a moment to digest this, Susan asked, "and this guy is our best shot?"

"If we had Blunk, we could do better," Hay Lin ventured. "He puts bloodhounds to shame."

Hay Lin pushed open the door to the Respite and began calling for the host. Yan Lin took the opportunity to sit down, not being as young as she once was. They had managed to procure a ride with a group of farmers headed to market. The men had been convinced to push their horses hard, but they still moved much too slowly for anyone's tastes. Yan Lin and the two Guardians had tried teletransporting, but were unsurprised to find that nothing happened.

Susan barely noticed her surroundings; too distracted by worry and frustrated by the time the search was taking. She was caught by surprise when Hay Lin's shouts got a response.

"I'm here. I'm here." A disgruntled looking creature in a bright red bathrobe thrown on over maroon and green striped pajamas, shuffled into the room. "What's the ruckus?"

"We need your help," Hay Lin answered. The host blinked sleepily and looked around.

"Is there a ventriloquist in the house?"

"She's invisible," Mina answered, "but that's not the problem. We were hoping you could help us find someone."

"If it's the queen, I've tried." Lorne shook his head. "No one has come in who had anything to do with it."

"It's my daughter," Susan broke in, stepping forward, a little hesitantly. She had seen several varieties of non-human since arriving on Meridian, but she hadn't had to speak to them. Had never been forced to deal directly with the notion that she was surrounded by aliens and on an alien world. She knew she wasn't prejudiced. Skin color had never bothered her, nor had religion, but the individual before her now wasn't just a different race, he was a different species. The others seemed to take it all in stride. As she had with so many other aspects of the bizarre situation, she pushed aside her uneasiness and addressed the creature. "I need to find her."

Lorne cocked his head to one side, examining the woman for a moment and then pointed at Mina. "Found her."

Susan closed her eyes for a second, a pained expression crossing her face. "That's not…the daughter I meant," she hastily corrected herself. She still wasn't ready to deal with that situation, but there was no need to hurt the girl's feelings. "Will is missing, and we think the woman who took Elyon is behind it. Hay Lin thought you might be able to help."

Lorne considered the question for a time. Why couldn't people just leave him alone? All he wanted was to live a quiet life away from the biz. He was no champion. Didn't I prove that when I abandoned my friends in L.A.? All too often since that awful day, he had wished he'd died with them.

He wasn't dead, though, and try as he might; he couldn't turn these people away. Reaching the only decision his battered conscience would allow; he took a deep breath. "All right. Who wants to sing for me?"

--

Explaining that request had taken time, but eventually, Mina had stepped up and sung an old children's song in a passable voice. Lorne had watched her aura and listened as she figuratively, metaphorically, and metaphysically bared her soul.

And an interesting soul it is, Lorne reflected as he took in the images and impressions. The child was far more than she knew. The conflicting magics involved in her creation, destruction, and recreation had produced something quite remarkable. Even he couldn't see where this might lead, but the kid was in for an interesting ride.

That lay in the future, however. At the moment, there was a crisis that needed a resolution. "Yep. That's your gal. Sorceress goes by Nerissa. She's got the queen, and she'll have your daughter soon. You don't have much time."

"Where is she?" Yan Lin demanded, looking unaccountably shaken. "Where is Nerissa?"

Lorne regarded her sympathetically for a moment before rising. "I'll get a map."