After a while, Luach rose clumsily from the uncooperative armchair, going to the daybed and kneeling at Demona's side. He gently pulled the quilt from over her tear-stained face and tucked it over her shoulder so she could breathe easily.

"T'was not to hurt you that I said it," he whispered, though he knew she could not hear his words. He paused for a moment, watching her lovely face as she slept and wondering if he should have kept his admonishment to himself after all.

Suddenly, a soft creak of the floorboards called his attention to the door, which was only open a crack. He could make out the shadow of two feet underneath the door.

"Father?" Luach called, and the two shadows backed away a bit. Luach rose quickly and went to the door, opening it to discover the police woman, standing awkwardly in the hall.

"Oh! Hi!," she greeted, as if she hoped he'd just overlook the strangeness of her peeking into strangers' rooms, "I was just looking for the powder room."

"Pardon me, my lady. But that word is strange to me. What is it?"

"The bathroom," she explained, looking a little frazzled, and Luach pointed to a door a bit further down the hall.

"I believe that is the door you seek," he told her.

"Great. Thanks," she replied and as he began to duck back into the room and close the door she asked hastily, "Do you work for Mr. MacDuff?"

"MacDuff?"

"You know, the guy who owns this house?"

"I'm only visiting."

"From Scotland?"

"Aye, from Scotland."

"Well, welcome to the US! How long have you known each other?"

"A fair, good while. Do you always ask so many questions?"

"Yep," she admitted, "I'm a cop. It's what I do."

"I understand," Luach replied, "You are the one who is charged with protecting the people from the criminals within your kingdom."

"Yeah, that's a good way of putting it."

"And do you suspect me of being such a criminal?" Luach asked impatiently.

"Actually, no," Elisa replied, "I'm more concerned that you are about to be a victim. I notice one of the worst of my chronic criminals laying on that couch in there."

Luach glanced over his shoulder at where Demona slept.

"I do not fear her," he told her confidently, "We're old friends, she and I."

"Who are you?" Elisa asked suspiciously, not liking the sound of that statement.

"I am Luach, son of Macbeth."

"His son?" Elisa asked incredulously, "I had no idea he had one."

"Aye, he does and I am he."

"And you know Demona?" she asked, even more astounded.

"I do. Have no fear. She sleeps now and can do you no harm. She warned me a bit about you."

The detective rolled her eyes.

"Oh, great! I'm afraid to ask what she told you."

"As I recall, she told me you were protective, trustworthy, and well-loved by her clan."

Elisa raised an eyebrow at this blatant deception.

"...and she may have mentioned a few other opinions besides," he added with a chuckle.

"Mm-hm," she replied, "I can just imagine. So, did Macbeth put you in here to make sure she stays away from the guns and knives?"

"More or less," he agreed, "But there's nothing to fear from her. She's under Xanatos' magic right now and can't awaken from it until her time is up. But I've watched over her as she slept, nearly my entire life, and now, she's no less vulnerable than when she slept in stone. I don't mind staying and protecting her from those who would harm her."

"I don't like her, but I'm not here to harm her," Elisa assured him.

"She said the same of you," Luach remarked and Elisa shook her head.

"That's a chance I won't take! You may be crazy enough to believe she's reformed, but I'm not turning my back on her any time soon!" Elisa said emphatically, but her snide expression fell away at his reaction.

"Crazy," he repeated, almost as if he were unsure of the meaning, "Is that what I am? My father loves me, but he thinks the same as you." Luach turned and walked back to the sunlit space where Demona slept and knelt beside her. Unsure, Elisa followed him, and leaning against the armchair, she listened as he spoke.

"I am not mad," he insisted, "Nor am I a fool. Do I not remember her treasons? Her failures? Her capacity for destruction and death? I do. But what have I left to lose at this point? Not very much. Only my life. And she is so dear to me, I can risk that much for her."

Luach glanced at Elisa, who stood enrapt as she heard him express his odd devotion.

"I suppose I must seem even madder to you than I did before! You must understand, I knew her from when I was a young lad. I came to trust her in far more than just my physical safety. I confided in her and she in me. I regarded her spirit as no different than that of a woman, but because she was not a woman, I could share a friendship with her that would have been inappropriate to share with a true woman, except perhaps my wife.

And, in truth, there was many a time that I did yearn for some witchcraft to come and turn her into a woman so I could love her that way as well. It seemed like such an injustice that I could befriend her so intimately and care for her so dearly, but never could I have her for my own."

At this point he sighed sorrowfully, and the pained look in his tearful eyes told Elisa that he was genuine in his tragic story. More than that, she knew exactly how he felt. The intense friendship he described and the impossible wish for more was eerily similar to what she felt for Goliath, and how she believed he felt for her as well.

If there was such a thing as a "soulmate" Elisa believed Goliath was hers. Their relationship was not a perfect tandem, the way her younger self had always assumed true love would be. They didn't agree on every point and live in a realm of magical, blissful accordance. Rather, their spirits seemed to be built to complement one another. When he was impassioned, she was sensible. When she was outraged by injustice, he offered compassion. They were bonded by trust and a love for their mission to protect their people. It was a seemingly perfect friendship, but even so, she wanted more. No, she needed more, and there was so much she wished she could give to him that she could not. Luach's fantasies about Demona becoming a woman so he could take her as a lover should have offended her every sensibility, particularly in light of the ongoing animosity raging between them, but she could feel nothing but compassion for Luach. She had long since lost count of the times her dreams had taken her back to the night Puck had transformed her into a gargoyle. She often basked in delicious dreams of waking one day to find Goliath had somehow become a man and they were free to be lovers. Such fantasies infiltrated her waking hours as well and she indulged in the impossible dream of marriage and a family.

"When I saw her in this human form," Luach continued, "I succumbed to the hope that my prayer had somehow been answered and that I might have her at last." He reached to gently touch her hair and his face grew a bit bitter.

"T'was a cruel farce and a harsh lesson, for this form is only an illusion. My Demona is a gargoyle and not a woman. I befriended her as a gargoyle and I love her this way. To change her into another being, merely for my pleasure, would be to corrupt what is so dear to my heart and a terrible injustice. I know this now, and no longer will I wish for such foolish things."

Elisa listened in amazed silence and Luach turned to her, rising from the floor and clearing his throat.

"Well, my lady, now you know the true extent of my lunacy," he said with half a smile.

Elisa looked down, a bit embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," she told him, "I don't think you're crazy. I think you are a very good friend. Certainly more of a friend than she deserves, but I suppose she needs any friend she can get."

"She isn't particularly pleased with me at the moment, though," he said grimly, "T'is her own mate, not me, that she truly needs. Without him, she is not whole. And she's too lost in shame and despair to see for herself how he still cares for her."

Elisa grimaced at this confession, but Luach seemed not to notice.

"You are Goliath's friend," he asked eagerly, "Can you not speak to him?"

"Luach, I…" Elisa began hesitantly, "I have to go back downstairs, now."

"Of course," he said in a disappointed tone, "I'm sorry for keeping you."