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

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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.

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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."