darker_london | You what? (Peter, Thomas, Liz) Rating: PG-13 (Reply)

Peter entered his home well after midnight, exhausted and beaten but happy. They'd done it and Renee was back where she belonged. Or should would be once she was out of the hospital. Thomas followed right behind Peter, not a scratch on him of course. Lucky dead bastard! Peter's head was still fuzzy from saving his soul sucked and everything else, so Thomas kept a firm hand on Peter's back. Peter headed for the stairs when he heard Liz clear her throat in the kitchen. Oh god, she'd waited up for him. Peter turned his head towards the room and Liz appeared in the doorframe. Peter froze. She was going to see Thomas and she was going to have a heart attack. She'd only met him once or twice, but she was bound to recognise him.

But she didn't. She gasped at Peter's appearance, pushed Thomas aside and rushed to Peter's aid. "Oh god, Peter! What happened?!"

"Nothing! OW! Stop...poking me!" He said, holding up his hands to keep her from touching his very sore...everything. Liz gave him a worried look and then her eyes grew large and round. Peter bit his lip. Liz turned around slowly and when she saw Thomas again, her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes frozen in a silent scream.

"'Lo, Elizabeth." Thomas said, trying to look as unzombielike as possible considering he was dead and standing in her entryway.

Peter reached for Elizabeth's arm. "It's alright, Liz." He said as soothingly as possible.

Liz whirled around on him. "Peter, I'm seeing ghosts!"

Peter would have laughed under any other circumstances, though it's probably better he didn't. She wouldn't have liked that. "No, no Liz, he's not a ghost, he's-"

"Thomas is behind me!" She shrieked.

"Liz, shh! I know. Come into the kitchen and I'll explain it." Peter said, ignoring the fact that he wanted desperately to sleep. He took her arm, partially to calm her, and partially to steady himself. Elizabeth allowed Peter to set her down, though the second Thomas joined them, she backed up, squishing herself against the backrest of the breakfast nook bench.

Thomas turned to Peter and he gave him a helpless look. "Thomas, my room is at the top of the stairs, fist door on the left. Unless you'd rather stay here?"

"No. No, I think I'll give you sibling bonding time." Thomas said. "As long as you're sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine." Peter said, and he gave Thomas's shoulder a pat. "See you soon."

"Yes. Nice to see you again, Elizabeth."

Liz made a noise that sounded very much like 'vugughhh'. Peter watched Thomas leave and then he sat down beside Liz very very carefully. He opened his mouth to speak, but Liz said something first. "That was Thomas right? Thomas Thomas that I met at the monastery Thomas your friend that erm..died Thomas?"

Peter nodded. "Yes, that's him. And no matter how many times you say his name, it doesn't make it less true."

"Dead people are my houseguests." Liz mumbled.

Peter put his head in his hands. "Well you know how you're always saying that if you really wanted to know what I did I would have told you by now? Maybe it's a good time to tell you?"

Liz looked up at him. "It has to do with dead people?"

Peter grimaced. "I rather prefer it when it doesn't. With the exception of Thomas there." Peter took a deep breath. "Remember when I told you how Thomas was killed? I said we thought it was true case of spirit possession so we were doing an excorsim and she snapped his neck like it was nothing? Well it wasn't spirit possession. The girl was...she was a demon." Peter paused, but Liz didn't even react, she just stared at him blankly. "The very same demon that took Lydia and Anna away a few months ago?"

"A demon stole your babies."

Peter took hold of Liz's hand. He was now incredibly afraid he was going to send her to the psychiatric ward by telling her this. "Yes, if you want to put it that way. But...not all demons are bad. They can be helped. That's what I do, Liz. I help them. Deirdre, she's a demon. Remember when she and I were in the guesthouse? I was helping her. She had a choice to make and she chose right."

"You are some sort of demon outreach program!? You locked yourself in with her! I just sort of thought she was on drugs or something and then you fell over...DEIRDRE did that to you?! When you were in the...oh god...and is this why you look like a human bruise right now? More demons?"

Peter nodded slowly. "Liz, I-"

Liz held up her hand. "You realise you sound completely off your rocker, right?"

"Yeah." Peter said flatly. "I know."

"So this is why you went back to be a priest in the first place? To do...whatever it is. Amnesty for Demons United Kingdom. You're going to get yourself killed to save things that...are demony!?"

"Liz, the point of helping them is to make everyone else safer. You see what's happening to London right now? Demons. Three to be exact, though now I don't know where any of them are." Peter sighed. "This you thinking I'm insane thing? That's why I never told you before." He decided to keep the 'I'm going to live forever' speech for later.

"It's just a little....fucked up." Liz said flatly. "And if I hadn't just seen a very dead person walk into my kitchen, I'd have you committed."

"I know. And I wouldn't blame you. Who wants to believe this kind of thing? I don't! To be truthful I didn't know what they were until this year. Really. I just knew they were different. Deirdre was the one that told me what they were when she found out from..." Peter looked at the table. "When Deirdre found out from Her when she visited South Africa."

Liz looked up. "Wait...how did She know?"

"At the risk of sounding crazy, once again...it's because She's an angel. Her whole family...our Anna...they're angels. My friend Rolf is an angel and he brought Thomas back, just for a little while."

"Right. If there's demons, there has to be angels, doesn't there? Goddammit, Peter, I-" Liz squared her jaw.

"Liz...please calm down. Sit with me. Talk to me."

"No! I can't...I can't think about this right now! Go upstairs to be with your dead friend!" Liz shouted and she stood and stormed out of the kitchen and the house entirely.

"Fucking hell." Peter said, staring up at the ceiling. He put his head in his hand and moaned. His sister hated him and now he didn't even have the energy to go upstairs. Instead, he curled up on the booth and fell asleep, knowing that Thomas would find him eventually.