Paris, Day 2 (Deirdre/Pierre/Melissa/Slink/Lydia/Katherine) Rating: R

[deirdre-ionuin.livejournal.com]

It was their second day in Paris, and after a successful talk with Renee's grandfather yesterday and bunches of touristy fun, not to mention dinner with Pierre's parents, they'd decided to wander around the louvre for awhile. Deirdre had wanted something to eat, so she and Pierre had broken away from Melissa and Slink for a minute. Now Deirdre was happily swinging a bag of cakes around. Then she stopped short, looking across the street, at a bench. "Pierre...that's...that's Father Peter's niece!" There, sitting on the bench looking quite miserable, was the girl from the photograph in Peter's living room.

"Deirdre, are you sure?" he said, looking quite confused. "Why would she be here?"

"I am sure it's her, even though her hair is a different colour. I don't know why she's here, maybe her parents decided to take a quick trip too?" She shrugged and looked back at the girl. "Oh, Pierre, she looks terrible, what if she's lost? I'll be right back, okay?" Deirdre jogged over to the girl. What was her name? Lindsey? Lydia? Yes, Lydia!

"Lydia?" Deirdre asked. The girl looked up at her, looking both confused and terrified. "My name is Deirdre. I'm from London. I know your uncle." Lydia just looked at her like she'd gone daft. Her uncle? Her uncle was dead. Had been for years. Deirdre sighed. "Peter Kemp?"

Lydia jumped up. "Peter Kemp! You know Peter Kemp?"

Deirdre smiled. "Yes! Yes, I know Peter. Look, are you okay, you look lost?"

"You have to take me back to London! Please!?" Lydia yelled, grabbing Deirdre's shirt.

Deirdre backed up. "What?"

"Peter is my daddy! My mother stole me from him. PLEASE! You HAVE to take me back!" She started crying. "I miss him and she's mean to me. Please!?"

Peter was her DADDY? Deirdre had no idea what to do. Sobbing children were not her expertise. "Calm down, honey. What's going on?" She was hardly just going to take some girl with her. She could get arrested for kidnap!

"We have to hurry!" Lydia glanced around Deirdre. "That's my mother there. See? She's going to see in a second. Please!! Come on!" Deirdre had to admit that the girl didn't look well cared for. And if she WAS Peter's daughter then it would explain why he'd been acting so miserable lately. Poor Peter! She glanced over at Pierre and waved him over to them. She explained the situation quickly.

"What should we do, Pierre?" Just then, Katherine looked over and saw her daughter talking with two strangers. She headed towards them.

"I think we should get ready for trouble," Pierre murmured, instinctively placing himself between the approaching woman and Deirdre, not to mention the little girl. His muscles were tense, ready for action, but really what was he going to do? Hit a woman who was coming for her child? This could get ugly...

Deirdre looked up and groaned. Some crazed woman was coming towards them, and she did NOT look happy. Deirdre grabbed her mobile, as Lydia grabbed Deirdre's other hand and yelled, "she's coming, PLEASE!!!"

But Katherine reached them first. "What are you DOING with my daughter!?" She screamed, walking around Pierre, trying to reach for Lydia, but Deirdre pulled Lydia out of the way.

"She says you took her from her father. Her father is a friend of mine. Peter Kemp!"

Katherine went red in the face. "Lydia!" She yelled. "Come here right now!"

"NO!" Lydia yelled back.

Deirdre raised her hand in the air. "LOOK, I can solve this. I'll call Peter and if he says it's not hsi daughter then-" In a flash, Katherine had rushed at Deirdre and pulled the phone from her hand. She threw it on the ground, where it smashed into tiny pieces. "My PHONE!" That cemented it. This crazy woman had to have taken Lydia away from Peter. Bitch. "Come on, Lydia. Let's take you home!" Deirdre said definatly.

"Like FUCK you will!" Katherine screamed, reaching for Lydia again.

Katherine's destruction of the phone pretty much said to Pierre that she was not the most nobly intentioned. Aside from that, there were bruises on the girl, and this woman wasn't acting like a comforting mother. More like a lunatic.

Pierre didn't want this to be violent. He had always been a pacifist. But nobody was going to hurt Deirdre while he could do anything about it... demon or not. It was instinct in operation now as he stepped between the two women once more, and shoved Katherine hard in the chest with a flat palm. Not a punch, but enough to send her staggering back.

"Back off," he growled, leaving no room for argument in his tone. "If you want them, you will come through me."

Katherine scowled. They'd interrupted her transaction with her dealer. He'd been spooked away and now she had no drugs. AND they were threatening to take away the one thing that gave her pleasure. Causing Peter pain. "Give her BACK to me!! She's MINE!" She didn't want to try to fight with this boy. He looked plenty strong.

Deirdre looked from around Pierre. She'd have to give him the hugest kiss later. She held on to Lydia tightly. "You TOOK her from her father! She says you're mean to her and she clearly wants to go back to him. Why would you keep her somewhere she doesn't want to be?!"

Lydia cowered behind Deirdre. "I want to go HOME, Mother!" He yelled, her voice wavering, but her will resolute. "I HATE it here!"

Katherine glared at the three of them. "I'll call for the police! I'll have you thrown in jail!"

Pierre raised an eyebrow, his arms folded across his chest. "Are you even here legally? For that matter, is it legal for you to have that girl?" The questions were a gamble, but Pierre was willing to bet on the answers.

Katherine stiffened. She was here legally. Her family was French and she was a dual citizen. Something she'd gone for after Peter's time so he knew nothing about it. It made it the perfect place to disappear to. But no, it wasn't legal for her to have Lydia. She'd signed over her rights. She snarled. "It's not legal for you to take her from me!!"

"We're just taking her back to where she belongs." The redhaired one said. Katherine launched herself at the girl, pulling her around and preparing to throw her onto the ground. She was small enough. The little bitch would pay.

Deirdre let go of Lydia's hand as the woman rushed at her suddenly. She felt herself get whirled around, and without even thinking about it, she felt herself reach out and suck her the fuck dry. The woman collapsed on the ground in a heap. Deirdre backed up, her hand over her mouth. "I...I didn't mean to!!" It had been like a built in reflex. Instinct. "We...we have to go. Now! RUN!"

Lydia screamed as her mother hit the ground. Was she okay? She wasn't fond of the woman, but she didn't want her to die. "Is mother okay!!" She screamed, as Deirdre grabbed her hand.

Pierre's eyes flicked from Deirdre to Katherine. She'd launched herself at Deirdre too fast for him to stop her, but she'd been dropped to the ground right quick. He hadn't seen Deirdre do anything... was the woman sick? Compassion overtook sense, and he quickly bent down to check the woman's pulse. Weak, a little erratic, but it was there. "She'll be fine!" he said, turning to Deirdre and Lydia. "Just run!"

Deirdre grabbed Lydia's hand and they ran together, Pierre behind them, until Katherine was not likely to find them. If she even woke up soon. Deirdre bent over to catch her breath. "We have to find Slink and Liss, Pierre." Not to mention that they now had a little girl to watch until they returned her to her father's house. "Are you okay, honey?"

Lydia nodded, though she wasn't really sure. Her mother had tried to hurt these nice people and then she'd fallen over. And she didn't REALLY know these people. They could do anything to her. Though she was more willing to trust them than her own mother. "I'm scared. I just want to go home."

"We'll get you home soon, sweetheart," Pierre said soothingly, kneeling down in front of her. "But first we need to find our nice friends. Their names are Slink and Melissa. They're going to help us take care of you until we get you home. Okay, Lydia?"

Lydia nodded. "Thank you" she said, staring intently at the ground.

Deirdre felt slightly ill. She'd sucked the soul of an incredibly unpleasent person, and it was making her feel most unpleasent as well. Eugh. She took a deep breath and let it out. "I'd message them, but now I don't have a PHONE! Should we just...wait here? What if that woman finds us? But I don't want Slink and Melissa to get lost!"

"It's okay, Deirdre," Pierre said, rising once more. "I have my phone with me for once. I'll call them now and let them know what's happening." As he put the phone to his ear, he couldn't help having his own worries. He had no doubt that what they'd done was right, but it was also distinctly insane. He just wanted to get out of this country, back to Peter, and out of trouble.

"Slink, it's Pierre. No, not really. We've rescued Peter's kidnapped daughter. Yes, Peter the ex-priest. No, we're not being chased yet, but we want to avoid it. Meet us at the corner of Rue St. Croix and Rue Michel. Yes, hurrying would be best." He hung up and turned back to Deirdre and Lydia. "Our friends are on their way. Everything is going to be alright." It was a good thing he could sound more calm than he felt.

Deirdre nodded, knowing that Pierre was probably freaking out internally. About more than one thing most likely. She took Lydia's hand and nodded. "We'll follow you." They made their way to the appropriate corner quickly, but Slink and Melissa weren't there yet. Deirdre sat on the ground. Her head was starting to swim. "Ugh. I'm just gonna sit here a minute."

Pierre just nodded, keeping an eye out for Slink and Melissa. Don't get sick now, Deirdre. We can't afford it. He couldn't help splitting his attention between keeping watch for the girls, making sure Deirdre didn't collapse, and keeping an eye on Lydia. At least Lydia was being a good girl, though. It wasn't like she was about to run off. Of course, as soon as Slink and Melissa got here, they would all have to run off. This trip was becoming quite the adventure.

Lydia sat next to Deirdre, feeling completely out of place. She didn't know these people and now they seemed rather upset. "I won't be able to get my doll, will I?" She hated the fact that she said it, the instant it left her mouth. She was 11 now. She shouldn't say baby things like that. She bit her lip, looking back and forth between them. She swallowed. She was quite hungry, but maybe she should wait until their friends got here to bring it up. It was all so overwhelming. Tears started in the corners of her eyes and she covered her face so they wouldn't see.

"We won't be able to get your doll, honey..." Deirdre sighed and shook her head to keep it from spinning. Then Lydia started to cry. Oh god...not again. What should she do? CAKES! Kids liked cakes! It was only then that Deirdre realised she'd dropped her bag of cakes when this had started. "Fizzlesticks!" She shouted and then turned red when they both looked at her. "I uh...I dropped my cakes."

Lydia stopped crying and wiped her eyes. She smiled a bit. "You dropped your cakes?"

Deirdre just chuckled. "Yes. I dropped my cakes."

"And you said a funny word too." Lydia said. How could you keep crying when people said funny words. Besides, the doll didn't mean that much. It wasn't the doll her daddy had given her, it was the doll that her mother had given her to make her be quiet. "I wish I had a cake."

Pierre didn't want the little girl to be hungry. She had more than enough to deal with as it was. The streets here were pretty busy, filled with shops. And it was Paris. There had to be a bakery somewhere...

Sure enough, there was one across the road. Only a few doors down. He'd be three minutes at the most. It only took a second to make the decision. "I'll be right back," he said, and quickly darted across the street. There wasn't much time to be picky. He simply dashed in and pointed to a bunch of things, saying "One of those, one of those, two of those, six of those, one of those..." He had an enormous amount of sugary treats in a big bag by the end of it. The girl behind the counter gave him an odd look, but he just poked his tongue out at her as he left. Mature, Pierre.

He made his way across the street once more and handed the bag to Deirdre and Lydia. "French cakes are the best cakes," he smiled, trying to be jovial for Lydia's sake. At least she wouldn't be hungry now, and she could probably do with a sugar hit.

Lydia's eyes grew wide. "These are for ME?!" she asked. Deirdre looked up at Pierre in pure adoration. What a wonderful person. She opened the bag for Lydia.

"Which one do you want first?" Lydia smiled, pulling a small donut looking thing out of the bag. She ate it, getting powdery sugar all over her face. It was delicious.

"Thank you!" She squealed.

Deirdre look a cake herself, hoping the sugar would make the world stop SPINNING. It did help, and when she was finished with it she stood up. She glanced around for Slink and Melissa and handed Lydia another baked good. This time less sugary. Too much sugar and she could crash. That was all they needed.

"You're welcome," Pierre smiled, and turned back to watch the streets for the other girls.

Kidnapped? Rescued? He had a daughter? Well damn. "Liss!" Stephie called through the changing room wall. "Put your clothes back on we have to go solve a kidnapping." She herself pulled off the top she'd been trying on and slipped back into her own. They left the clothes in the dressing room and (thankfully) didn't get stopped on their way out. Stephie was used to being stopped for bag checks, it's like they knew shoplifting used to be number two on her Things I'm Good At list. "What the hell happened?" Stephie exclaimed, running up to the others with Melissa in tow.

Deirdre looked up as Slink and Liss approached them. "We'll explain on the way to the train station. The train doesn't leave for a few hours, but maybe we should go there now, yeah?" Pierre nodded his agreement. Lydida was too engrossed in shoving baked treats into her mouth to care.

The group of them hailed a taxi and they rode to the hotel to pick up their luggage from the concierge. After that, they took another taxi to the train station, and they found a bench for them all to sit on. Finally, Deirdre started to tell the story. Lydia was sitting in her lap, clinging to Deirdre's shirt, clearly traumatised. "This is Peter's daughter apparently. She said her mother took her away from Peter because she wanted to make him angry. Lydia asked me to take her home, but her mother saw. The woman attacked us. She broke my phone. That's...kind of all I know."

Stephie watched Deirdre, still in a state of shock. God she hoped Deirdre knew what she was doing. Were they going to be able to get her back to London without getting caught? What if she turned out not to be Peter's daughter? Were they going to be stuck with a kid at their house and the police on their arses? Stephie really didn't need kidnapping charges added to her records, for godssake. But the little girl -Lydia- looked so terrified and clingy that Stephie was finding that maybe she didn't need to ask questions. Not of Deirdre. Besides, they'd already come this far. "Okay." Stephie said slowly. "We can do this." Somehow.

Deirdre gave Stephie a look that clearly indicated that she knew how crazy this was. She rubbed Lydia's back softly and sighed.

Stephie gave Deirdre a shrug and a smile, then stuck out her hand at Lydia. "Hey kiddo, wanna thumb wrestle?"

Pierre kept his eyes on the goings-on around the station, doing his best to make sure they hadn't been followed by Katherine or, worse yet, the police. Things seemed pretty quiet, though... nobody was taking any notice of them all, except to check out one of the girls every now and again. His eyes kept drifting back to a little gift stall. There were a lot of toys there... probably something that would help to cheer Lydia up. What the hell, he could afford it. He made his way over and purchased the biggest teddy bear he could find. Hopefully it would make an acceptable replacement for Lydia's lost doll.

It wasn't until he returned to the group that he actually realised that the pink bear was even bigger than Lydia. "Would you like a new friend, Lydia?" he asked.

Lydia had been thumb wrestling rather half heartedly with one of the girls when the boy walked up carrying the biggest teddy bear she'd ever seen. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. "THAT is for ME?!" She grinned. "Thank you!!" She jumped up and ran to hug it and Pierre.

Deirdre stared at the monster of a thing. "I'm glad we got a sleeper car for the train ride back, otherwise we would have had to buy a seperate ticket for that thing." And she winked at Slink and Melissa.

Finally, a few hours later, their train was called. Deirdre had moved forward, ushering Lydia into their little compartment. It was a tad squished with the added person and the gigantic stuffed animal, but they could make it work. Now they just had to last the train ride and they'd be home...