darker_london | Morning (Peter, Thomas, Lydia, Anna, Deirdre) Rating: PG-13

Peter woke in the morning, Thomas was curled up into a little Thomasball beside him. Peter chuckled and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He slid out of bed and he tucked the blankets around Thomas again. He wanted a shower badly, he was hungry, and his head was throbbing something fierce, but there was something he had to do. He needed to talk to his family. It seemed like the thing to do after a demon attack.

Peter went upstairs quietly, grabbing the phone on his way. He closed himself in the library and he dialled his sister's mobile. She answered after a few moments and Peter smiled. "Liz, it's Peter."

"You sound like you just woke up, Peter. How is everything."

"Oh...everything's fine. I did just wake up." And last night I got attacked by a demon...

"Can we come home now?" Liz asked with an edge in her voice.

"It's not safe, Liz. How is everything there?"

"It's great, Peter, but the girls need to go back to school. I want to go home. We've been seeing a lot of Caitlin. She's a lovely woman, but I think she thinks you and herself were made for each other."

"Yeah...that's-terrifying. Can I speak to my daughters?"

"I'm going to hold them for ransom if you don't let us come home."

Peter knew Elizabeth was joking, but considering Katherine had actually done something similar to him, he had to try very hard to not have a panic attack. "Liizzzzz, I wanna talk to themmmmm!" He said, opting for whining instead.

Elizabeth snorted. "Alright, Peter."

Peter heard her call out for them, and a minute later a gorgeous little voice came on the line and said, "Hi, Daddy! Where are you? Are you at Deirdre's house?"

"Hello, Little Girl. Yes, I'm at Deirdre's. Uncle Thomas is here too. You can see him when you come home."

"Tell Uncle Thomas hi!" Lydia said happily. "When can we come home, Daddy?"

"Soon, Honey. Very soon."

"Good, because I miss you and I don't want it to be like it was when you lived in the moneystarry." Lydia said, sounding slightly hurt.

Peter frowned. "Lydia, it will never be like that again. No one will keep you from talking to me or seeing me."

"And we can play tea party?"

Peter chuckled. "Yes, we can play tea party. But I'm not wearing a dress!"

Lydia giggled. "I'll put an apron on you, Daddy. You'll look very pretty! And a hat, but just for high tea because it's special."

"Alright. An apron and a hat. And sparkles."

"Yay!" Lydia cheered. "Daddy, Anna wants the phone now, but I miss you and I love you and I'll see you soon and uhm...you're my favourite!"

"I love you too. And you are by far my favourite Lydia. No other Lydias even compare."

Lydia cheered again and then handed her little sister the phone. "Daddy?" Anna said, and she sounded less than happy.

"Annachen, what's wrong?" Peter asked, his hand tightening on the phone. If something really was wrong...if she needed him he was ready to drive to Dublin right that second.

"I had a dream about you, Daddy. You were hurt, but the nice lady from school, Ana...she was there and she told me you were alles ok. Did you get hurt?"

Peter licked his lips. Apparently he still had a lot to learn about angels and how they dreamt. "I...I hurt my head a little, Anna, but I'm okay. I promise." She shouldn't have to dream those things. Not at eight years old. His dreams didn't start until much later. Anna was silent. "Annachen?"

"Yes, Daddy?"

"Are you all right, Honey?"

"I don't want you to be hurt anymore. It makes me feel bad."

Peter closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Liebchen." Anna went silent again. "Anna?"

"Er hat mich 'leibchen' genannt."

Peter's blood ran cold. Fuck. "Who called you that, Baby?" Though he had a pretty good idea.

"The man in red. He called me that."

The abbot. The abbot called her that while he- Peter felt sick when he thought about it. He swallowed. "I didn't know, Anna."

"I dream about him too sometimes, Daddy and I don't like it. Er erschrickt mich."

Of course he scared her. He'd done terrible things to her. "Are you dreaming about him now, Honey?"

"It's worse when you're far away."

That was it. "You're coming home today, Annachen. You'll be safe, alright? He can't hurt you now."

"Okay, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you too, Sweetheart. Can you put your Aunt Elizabeth on the phone again, please?"

Seconds later, Elizabeth's pleasent voice was back. "Peter?"

"Did you know Anna was dreaming about what happened to her at the Abbey?" Peter asked, remaining as calm as possible.

"What? No! She didn't say anything about-Oh, Peter. That's terrible."

"Come home? She needs me." It felt wrong that he was asking them back after finding out there were three demons, especially when he'd sent them away thinking there were two. But personal demons were potentially more damaging at this point. They could be safe if everyone was extremely careful.

"Of course, Peter. I'll go book something right now. And I'll talk to Anna. She'll be okay, Peter. They're just dreams."

"No, they're memories." Peter corrected. Yes, they were in the past, but as someone who had been subjected to dreaming of his worst day over and over again for years, he knew the horror of it. He knew how it felt to dread sleep. To fear it. She was 8 years old. It wasn't right.

"Yes. Memories. I'll call you when I know the details, alright. Try not to have a coronary."

"I'll try my best." Peter said, running a hand through his hair. "Just....buy her toys, and...clothes... and give her cuddles and things."

"Spoil her rotten to make up for her terrible past. Check. We'll see you soon, Peter. Love you."

"Love you too."

After hanging up, Peter sat there for a moment, feeling incredibly torn. With his family back, he couldn't stay here. Anna needed him. But Deirdre and Pierre and Kait...and Renee, they needed him too. He sighed, wishing there was a way to make everyone happy.

He stood and replaced the phone, and he headed for the shower. The warm water felt good, though it hurt the back of his head, and shampoo had definitely been a mistake. It stung terribly, but at least Peter felt clean and not all...icky. He didn't replace the bandages around his head, because they made him feel silly. Hopefully he wouldn't bleed all over Deirdre's house, she'd probably kick him.

Or kick him out. Again.

"Bugger!" Peter said, when he realised he'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes. He wrapped a towel around his waist and sighed. He could just dart through the hallway and the kitchen down the stairs to the basement where his clean clothes were. No one was likely to see him...right?

Wrong.

Current Mood: worried

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Deirdre had woken up at 5 am like she always did, but Kait was still sleeping soundly beside her. Instead of slipping out of bed, she'd stayed there with Kait for several hours until a rumbling tummy convinced her that she should probably go get some breakfast. Then she could make something nice to surprise Kait with when she woke up herself. Show her that this could be homey too.

Deirdre made her way downstairs in her tanktop and knickers, not realising that anyone else would be awake. She pasued at the end of the stairs and she cocked her head towards the downstairs bathroom. A light was on. She walked towards it and 30 seconds later, Peter burst from the door, holding a towel around his waist, his hair dripping wet. Peter skidded to a stop in front of Deirdre and he stared at her.

And she stared at him. She hadn't spoken to him since she'd thrown him out and now here he was in front of her.

In a towel.

And god he had a nice chest...a little thin perhaps, but...wow. Nice.

"Deirdre!" Peter's hand tightened on the towel. Don't fall off, don't fall off.

"Hello...er...I forgot...clothes." He cleared his throat and looked away from her. "You...did you forget clothes too?"

Deirdre just stared at him a moment longer and then she uttered, "huh?" She looked down at hersef.

"Oh! Oh look at me! NO DON'T! I mean...you..you can look but you don't have to I wasn't telling you to look at me because these are...they're my knickers."

Deirdre turned red.

"Yes..that's...that is indeed what they are. Those are knickers." He paused. "NotthatIwaslooking."

"Right! Heh! And I wasn't looking at your abs...TOWEL...er...your..you're dripping on the floor."

"Yes, my hair. It's wet because the towel is...where it is." Peter swallowed and gave her a nervous smile.

"You just leave it there." Deirdre said, backing up. "I'm going to go put on some clothes and then I'll come back down to the kitchen. And you...you can put on some abs..CLOTHES and meet me in there. Right. Now I will go do that...putting on the clothes thing. Here I go. I'm going..." Deirdre backed up until she reached the stairs and then she turned and darted up them to the safety of her bedroom.

Peter sighed and he headed for the basement muttering. "No, THAT wasn't awkward at all! I should walk around in a towel all the time, I could scare all the females away. It'll be grand. And how can they possibly make knickers with that little material? They look like they'd just fall apart! Oh god...that I didn't need to think about." Peter said, as he went back into the room where he was staying and pulled on some clean clothes.

By the time he arrived back in the kitchen, Deirdre was already there, and a steaming cup of tea was waiting for him on the table.

Deirdre turned around, and she waved lamely. She wasn't sure now if the nervousness she felt was because of the knickers incident, or the fact that she'd wronged him terribly.

Probably both.

Easy questions first. "Are you hungry, Peter? I'm going to make breakfast."

Peter was torn between being snarky and being forgiving. Of course he was hungry, he'd eaten two slices of pizza the day before and that was it. He bit his lip, but as usual, forgiveness won out. "Breakfast would be nice, Deirdre. Thank you."

Deirdre turned back to the bowl in front of her and she added another 2 eggs and some more milk. "I'm making pancakes." She said sofly.

Peter's heart went out to her. He stepped forward and he took the eggshells from her hands and he put them aside. "Come on, Deirdre." He said softly, pulling her in to a hug.

Deirdre looked at him for a second and then she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I'm sorry!" She wailed into his chest. "I'm so sorry, Peter! I was anrgy and confused and I knew you wouldn't hate me if I took it out on you and...I'm so terrible! I was testing you! I'm sorry!"

Peter held her tighter. "I know, Deirdre. It's okay." He kissed the top of her head and he rubbed her back. It's alright, I'm fine. And you were right, I don't hate you. I could never hate you. You're not a terrible person, Deirdre. If you were I would have driven home instead of staying out there in my car."

Deirdre nodded. "I'm sorry you were in your car. I saw you all asleep against the window."

Peter's lips formed a straight line. "Yes. That was comfy." He said flatly. "I'm sorry to hear about Kait." He added, not so flatly.

Deirdre frowned and pulled away. "Well, she has a home here if she needs it." She licked her lips. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about her, there wasn't..time." Deirdre went back to the pancake making. "I love her though, Peter. Yesterday, she-she brought me back."

Peter leaned against the counter so he could see her face. "I'm glad you have her, Deirdre, she's a lovely girl. And it's okay that you didn't tell me. You didn't know I had a daughter for...oh....months..." Deirdre looked at him and smiled. "So..when you were testing me...what did you learn?"

Deirdre stopped stirring to contemplate. She stared into the bubbly batter and she said, "That no matter what I do to you, you're there for me. I guess I should have known that, but maybe down deep, I needed to be reminded."

Oh that made it easier to tell her he was leaving! "I...I'm glad you know that, Deirdre."

Yawning and wiping her face were the first things that Kait did in any given morning after waking up. The first thing she noticed this time was that the bed was vacant where Deirdre had lain beside her. God... she loved that girl. And the bed was still warm which meant that she hadn't been gone for all that long. Perhaps she could catch her and surprise her in the shower.

As soon as she went out into the hall with day old slept in clothes - she never thought she'd see the day when that happened - she realised that Deirdre wasn't in the shower at all, but downstairs, probably in the kitchen. She could hear her voice. And Peter's.

Peter walked to the table and he took hold of his cup of tea. He took a sip and watched as Deirdre made the pancakes. He heard a noise in the hall and he looked up. "Hello?" he called out.

No more people sneaking up. His nerves were shot.

"Hey, it's just me," Kait said, lounging around the door. "I smelt food in here. Is there enough for one more?" Stupid question really, if it was Deirdre cooking.

Deirdre turned and she smiled and pulled Kait close. "I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed, but breakfast in the kitchen with Peter is okay too! Do you want coffee or tea or water or milke or I could make a smoothie or anything, I would do anything for you. Er...heh."

Deirdre felt like a complete lunatic.

"A smoothie?" Kait asked kindly, winking at her girlfriend before calmly moving over to sit next to Peter. She smiled at him too.

"I can do a smoothie, I rock smoothies!"

What am I ON, seriously?!

Kait made her feel all silly and giddy even with everything else going on, and she couldn't help but act like a tool.

Peter smiled at Kait and he smiled even wider as Deirdre acted like a schoolgirl in love. It was good to see. "Good morning, Kait." Peter said softly. "It's good to see you."

"Thank you, it's good to see you too. And not in your car," she said quietly, so that Deirdre would not hear.

Peter winked at Kait. "It's good not to be out there." He said, just as softly.

"Oi! Are you whispering sweet nothings to my girlfriend!? I can put you in this blender you know!" Deirdre said and she pushed the button. The loud whirring sound made her grin devilishly. "Hee hee, it whirs."

Kait couldn't help laughing, and it felt good to laugh. "Oh no, Peter. I'll protect you!" she said mockingly, holding one arm out in front of him. She was still too tired from just waking up to be bothered making any bigger gesture than that.

Peter grinned. "I feel very safe." He said with a wink as Deirdre set a plate of pancakes in front of him. "Thank you, Deirdre."

"You're welcome." Deirdre patted Peter on the shoulder and she spied his head. "Good GOD, Peter, what did you do to yourself?! I didn't do it!" She said quickly to Kait, as she handed Kait the smoothie.

"I didn't think you had," Kait said just as quickly, before turning to see the wound on the back of Peter's skull. "Oh Peter, that looks bad. Why haven't you seen a doctor about it? How did this happen?"

Peter looked back and forth between them. He didn't want to bring the mood down, but he couldn't lie. "I got out of the car to stretch my legs and I was attacked. This is courtesy of being slammed against a tree." Peter said, pointing to his head. "He was a-a demon." Peter whispered. "So there's another one."

Deirdre sat down hard on a chair. "There's another one. And he attacked you. And gave you a head wound. And you're sitting here how?" She asked, grabbing Kait's hand.

Kait felt her heart thud in her chest, all hope for a laid back morning disapated with Peter's words. She didn't even have words of her own to echo Deirdre's now. God.

Peter sighed. He really wished Deirdre hadn't noticed. He had enough hair, shouldn't it cover the wound! His hair had failed him!

"Uhm...Pierre rang me when he didn't find me in the car to tell me I could come back inside and I didn't answer the phone, obviously. He followed the sound of the ringing. And he did a very silly thing, but it caught the demon off guard long enough for us to get away."

"Fuck." Deirdre whispered. "Did...did anything else happen, did the demon do anything else?"

Peter bit his lip. "There may have been a knife involved, but...the wound is gone now."

Deirdre frowned. If the wound had disappeared, that meant that it was life threatening. That meant that if Peter wasn't immortal, she would have sent him to his death by kicking him out.

"Deirdre, this isn't your fault." Peter said, practically reading her mind. "Not in the least. Let's just eat?"

Kait missed the silent conversation that obviously went between Deirdre and Peter, but there wasn't a great deal of intelligence needed to know that it was a serious one. She got up to where the smoothie Deirdre had made was. "Anybody want some of my smoothie?" she asked, hoping for a break in the tension.

"Me!" Deirdre said, smiled gratefully at Kait. Peter may have said it wasn't her fault, but she still felt guilty. Kait made it better. She made everything better. Deirdre sipped the smoothie and then she stood back up. "I'm really glad you're okay, Peter. I'll have to thank Pierre after I hit him for being silly." Deirdre said, as she grabbed a plate of pancakes for herself as well.