Turning the Tide of the Soul (Caoilfhionn, Deirdre, Peter, Thomas, Dragonetti, Emma)

[cherubic-devil.livejournal.com]

One thing that could be said about Peter Kemp...he kept his word. And it didn't matter who you were, that never changed. Caoilfhionn was given a room in his hospital and the door was not locked on her. She knew all she had to do to keep that very thing true was not to hurt anyone. Caoilfhionn liked hurting people, but she also liked Peter. And he was the only one who had ever been nice to her simply because he could be. Bishop Holden had been plenty nice. But Caoilfhionn had been plenty useful. Right up until she'd snapped his neck. Caoilfhionn wasn't going to snap Peter's neck. No. She did buy him flowers from the hospital gift shop with some money she stole...from the hospital gift shop. Luckily, he didn't know where the money had come from, and he didn't ask. He simply gave her a hug and that was when the call came. Ryn had found the Templar and he knew where they were keeping Emma.

Peter was not a fan of death, it had to be said. He often rescued people...and often from the clutches of the Templar as they did seem to like making a pest of themselves. But whenever he participated in said rescue, he tended to do it in a way that had very little to do with death and mayhem. He thought himself out of situations when he could, instead of shooting himself out of them. So that was why, with a veritable army of people waiting to move in if need be, Caoilfhionn and Deirdre went in alone. Caoilfhionn had once been a part of the Templar's great plan. They knew her well. Peter's own plan was risky and people probably thought it was quite insane, as part of it involved giving the Templar exactly what they had wanted for over a year. Deirdre. But Peter wasn't about to let them keep her, and so it went.

The pair of red-headed Irish demons walked towards the complex, Deirdre occasionally shooting Caoilfhionn odd looks. Eventually her mouth took over, as it often did, and she spoke. "If you turn on me, I'll tear you new holes all over your body." Deirdre informed her, sounding almost sweet.

Caoilfhionn raised her eyebrows as they continued their progress. "Priesty would be mad at me. He'd lock me in. And you know you never get away from Peter Kemp. No matter how far or long you run. He gets you in the end anyway. So it's better to be on his side, than to be behind locked doors and against him. And he gives me crayons."

"Why the hell are you so obsessed with goddamn colouring anyway?!" Deirdre asked, because Caoilfhionn's childishness had always confused her. She was older than Deirdre! And she spent her time playing tea party! Sure she was usually making tea with blood and terrifying people while she did it, but still...

Caoilfhionn simply shrugged. "Bad childhood."

"Ah."

The pair lapsed into silence and then Caoilfhionn grabbed Deirdre's arms, and she dragged her into the seemingly empty stone church, located about 2 hours North of London. She knew the Templar were under ground, waiting for her, carrying out what they considered to be their Holy Business. Cleansing people from their sin so they were worthy to meet God. Inquisitions and torture were mere yards away and the demons struggled together as they closed the distance between it and them. Though it was all part of the plan, somewhere along the way, Caoilfhionn ripped Deirdre's hair and Deirdre pulled Caoilfhionn's back in anger, and the struggling became much more earnest.

The two demons slammed into an outer guard who didn't have a chance to sound the alarm. They they burst, tangled together like one entity, through the heavy door, spilling onto the floor in front of a very shocked inner guard who simply stood there staring at them. Caoilfhionn rose to her feet first, dragging Deirdre up with her. "I want to see Dragonetti!" She demanded. "I have something he'll want!"

The Templar had no idea who Caoilfhionn was, as he hadn't been involved in Holden's group of crusaders who were convinced that Peter was the Antichrist because when you tried to cut his head off, he didn't die. He was new to all of this and having two pretty girls who were wrestling burst in on him like that was a little much. But then Caoilfhionn's eyes flashed black and the Templar darted away into the winding passages, searching for Alessandro Dragonetti or at the very least, anyone who would deal with the black-eyed-girl better than he would.

"You pulled my hair, bitch!" Deirdre hissed as soon as the Templar darted away.

"You slammed my face into the ground!" Caoilfhionn hissed back.

"I'll slam more than that you cheap, whorish, carbon copy of-"

As it so happened, Dragonetti wasn't far away at all. And when he heard the arguing...and a voice he shuddered to recognise, he rushed to the scene. "Caoilfhionn!" The Heavenly Creature who had killed Bishop Terrence Holden! What was she doing here!? "How dare you come in here-"

"I brought you something, Draggy." Caoilfhionn interrupted, and she indicated Deirdre proudly.

Dragonetti looked at Deirdre for a moment before glancing back at Caoilfhionn. "You killed one of our greatest leaders!"

Caoilfhionn shook her head. "Holden would only have lead you to ruin." She said, though she absolutely knew that wasn't true. Peter had told her about his dreams and she knew they would have come true had she not killed Holden when she did. With Peter out of the way, the church would have regained power and glory by revealing the existence of demons and angels and instilling the fear of God into every person. It would have sent the populace flocking to the church and practically begging them to take over to keep God happy, and the entire bloody world would have been living like it was 1984 with Holden and his cronies as Big Brother. But Dragonetti didn't know that. "His ideas were too big. Too fast. You...you're different." Caoilfhionn gave Dragonetti a big blank smile as she was very aware he thought she was simple. "This is Deirdre Rose."

"Fuck off, my name's Deirdre Gallagher!" Deirdre shouted, trying to pull away from Caoilfhionn again, though really, she didn't try too hard. She just had to make it look good.

"Deirdre Rose is her stage name. You know. The rock star? In the band of a certain Spectre Mors?" Caoilfhionn grinned widely. "Friend of one...Peter Kemp."

Any other Templar would have instructed Caoilfhionn to take Deirdre out of there right now and then he would have moved the complex immediately. Peter Kemp only brought trouble, as he constantly seemed to overthrow them. But Dragonetti thought differently. He was the only one left who still believed that Peter was the Antichrist. He had seen the guillotine pass straight through the man's neck! He had seen the bullet's he aimed at the man simply pass through his chest. Hell, he had seen Bishop Holden bury Peter under the ground with seven silver stakes rammed through him and still Peter was alive and kicking. And the idea of having his friend here...the idea of luring Peter here so he could once again try to prove that he wasn't making up stories...it was far to great a temptation. He recognised the name Deirdre Gallagher from the notes Father Robert Macgavillary had provided anyway. She was one of Peter's closest confidants. And she was involved in a relationship with not one...but two women. Oh they would cleanse her...

Dragonetti called for backup and Deirdre twisted and turned, trying to get away. Caoilfhionn held her fast and when help came, she aided them in leading Deirdre towards the work room. The group entered the room to a gruesome scene. Emma was there alright. She was in a heap on the floor, and her limp arms were being attached to the strappado. She was sobbing weakly and she turned to one of the men. "Please..." She whimpered. "Please, I'll tell you her name. I promise I will. Don't. Don't do that." She couldn't take any more pain. She simply couldn't. She had held on for far longer than most people and she was broken, and she was going to give them Liz's name. Just to keep herself from harm. And then her head fell sideways as her pleading fell on uncaring ears, and she caught sight of Deirdre. Hope flashed through her eyes and in the instant before she called out to her friend, Deirdre reached out and yanked Emma's soul away, causing the woman to fall unconscious as if she'd fainted in fear of the strappado...and who wouldn't. Emma couldn't give away their purpose here!

Deirdre's head swam with the effect that Emma's soul had on her body. She could feel Emma's fear and pain, but more than anything, she felt the woman's regret. Emma hated what she'd done to Liz and her girls. She hated that she had let fear take her away from them and Deirdre felt the loss of them so greatly she almost felt as if she was the one who had left them behind, and her heart felt fit to break. But Caoilfhionn, who hadn't missed what Deirdre had done, elbowed her redheaded companion in the back to bring her back down to Earth. Taking a soul was like taking a hit and wasn't going to be especially easy for Deirdre to concentrate on the task at hand if she was tripping.

Dragonetti sneered at the unconscious form of Emma and he shook his head sadly. "Leave the strappado." He said, his voice cold. "I want it available." The Templar moved to bundle Emma away again, and Dragonetti circled around to Deirdre's front. "Strip her and we'll get to work." Dragonetti said to his men. He didn't notice when Deirdre stiffened in fear, as anyone would. Especially after they had experienced rape like she had in Paris. No one was touching her... Dragonetti simply smiled, acknowledging that she was nervous about the purification she was about to experience. "Well. Deirdre Gallagher, the harlot with two girlfriends. You spread your blasphemous music all around the world and we can't have that. We'll purify you and you can lead us to your fellow corrupt Heavenly Being, Spectre Mors. The Pilgrim's Prog will be removed from circulation." Dragonetti smiled in a self-satisfied way. This good work would surely make up for abandoning the cause upon seeing Holden killed. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."

Deirdre shook her head once to try to clear the cobwebs away, though she still felt slightly euphoric and she had to fight not to giggle because Dragonetti had stupid hair. She had to remember that she was supposed to be acting like this was a perilous position to be in. "You haven't met me yet." She growled and then she let the fear and anger rise to the surface, her eyes swirled to a deep, fearsome ebony. Great, black wings sprouted from her back, knocking the Templar carrying Emma out of the way as they expanded to their full span which was a great deal larger than she was tall, and Deirdre was a good six feet tall. The priests who held Deirdre were no longer an issue, as her wings folded and then struck out at them, sending them flying into the wall with force great enough to knock them out cold. Dragonetti let out a squeak and then he backed away in fear as Deirdre rounded on him, a sadistic grin on her face. "Was this who you were waiting for?"

"You have brought the minions of Hell with you!" Dragonetti cried out to Caoilfhionn as he continued to back away from the advancing Deirdre. She seemed about ten feet tall with her wings out and that terrifying expression on her face. Dragonetti tripped and fell, inching his body backwards along the floor in a desperate bid to keep any sort of distance between himself and the angry Heavenly Being. He had thought them all like the Nancy girl. White-winged and beautiful. He didn't know some Heavenly Beings had black wings! He had never seen a demon in it's true form before. He didn't know the difference. It made sense, however. This was a creature, tainted by sin. Of course her wings and eyes were black. They had to save her! "Please! We can help you!"

"And why would I want your help?!" Deirdre thundered, advancing still. "You're ignorant and hateful men!" Deirdre reached out and she slammed her fists into another Templar who was trying to jump her from behind. The man crumpled at her feet, though she was careful not to do anything that would cause permanent damage. Then she continued towards Dragonetti, the dark aura that she could call forth, gradually wrapping around her so that she appeared more like an evil, winged, black nightmare than a human form.

"Do something!" Dragonetti squeaked to Caoilfhionn, who was just standing there, watching Deirdre in awe.

Caoilfhionn arched one pale eyebrow at Dragonetti. She knew he hated her. And the feeling was quite mutual. "Why don't you pray to your God?" She suggested with a sweet little smile. "If she's been sent by Him to help you usher in the new age of the Church as you believe, surely she'll have to listen, right?" Caoilfhionn couldn't keep the cheeky tone out of her voice. This was fun! Quickly, she caught another man who was headed Deirdre's way, and she pulled him backwards, holding him so tightly he didn't even dare struggle.

"Useless girl!" Dragonetti shouted. "This is your purpose! Help me!" Dragonetti's shoulder blades contacted the stone wall behind him and he couldn't inch any farther backwards. He didn't have his tazer because he had felt he didn't need it while Deirdre was in Caoilfhionn's hands.

"My purpose isn't for you to decide!" Caoilfhionn shouted back, cheekiness slipping away to be replaced by actual anger. Dammit. No one told her what to do. Except Priesty because he didn't tell, he asked.

"Please! God!" Dragonetti shrieked as Deirdre loomed over him, a terrifying vision of wings and darkness.

"He's not listening." Deirdre whispered, making her voice as creepy as possible because how often did she get a chance to act like a demon, complete with a soul powering her forward!? She was going to go all out.

Dragonetti wasn't going without a fight though. He rolled sideways, and he grabbed a hot iron out of the fireplace. Frantically he stuck out with it, catching Deirdre in the side. Deirdre let out an unholy shriek, as the pain tore through her, but that only drove her onwards. She bent down and she grabbed Dragonetti's arms despite his flailing and the fact that he caught her again with the iron on her arm. She ignored the pain and then she bent his wrist backwards, sending the iron clattering to the floor. His scream of pain as his wrist shattered echoed through the room.

"Want to see a trick?" Deirdre asked him, her wings looming behind them both to make him feel impossibly small. And then Deirdre reached out again, and she yanked his soul from his body as well as her own injuries from the burning metal healed instantly with his soul's aid. Then Deirdre dropped Dragonetti to the floor. As he was unconscious, he didn't react. "Tough...audience...." Deirdre said, leaning against the wall then as her essence threatened to float right out of her body now that she had taken two souls. Dragonetti's was different. He wasn't evil, so much as he believed he was right so staunchly that he couldn't see any other points of view. And Deirdre was filled with the utter disregard for anything else that didn't come from God and it sickened her.

"I thought it was bloody fantastic!" Caoilfhionn said with a grin. The Templar she held in her own arms fainted dead away without any interference from her and she frowned again as she dropped him to the floor. "Well that's no fun. Deirdre, shouldn't we be getting your friend out of here?" Caoilfhionn pointed at Emma who was lying in a heap where she had been left by the Templar. In the work room, all around, there were Templar groaning or unconscious.

Deirdre's eyes narrowed. "I'm not done yet." She growled. "Pick her up and follow me. And for fuck's sake be careful with her!" Deirdre watched as Caoilfhionn hefted Emma into her arms and then they continued out of the work room and down the corridor towards the cells she knew would be populated with other captives. People, like Emma, whom the Templar had been trying to 'save' from their sin. And she wasn't wrong. This complex was hardly the headquarters in Rome, underneath the Vatican, and as such, there were not as many sinners held here. Nor were there as many Templar seeing to them. As they rushed at her, Deirdre took care of all of them. She grabbed two, shoving them into one of their own cells before pulling the door closed, the lock clicking into place. Another one she shoved against the wall to knock him out. One nearly got the jump on her, as they rushed from out of nowhere, carrying one of their tazers, but though they managed to administer quite a shock to Deirdre, her wing shot out, knocking the man sideways and breaking his leg. The tazer went spinning away from him, and lay useless in front of the prisoners' doors.

Deirdre made short work of the thick wood that separated the prisoners from freedom, shattering the doors to splinters with her demon strength, which was certainly aided by the souls she had taken, which were acting like a supernatural form of steroids. There were three people being kept within, and Deirdre and Caoilfhionn helped them out of the concrete space and back to the waiting army who were a ways away, ready with medical treatment. They received no more interference.

When it was over, and Abby was helping get the patients arranged in the ambulance that had been provided from Peter's hospital, Caoilfhionn stood to one side. Thomas rushed up to her and he grinned. "Caoilfhionn, thank you! You were wonderful!" He gave her a big hug, and Caoilfhionn hesitated for a split second before hugging him back. She wasn't used to this. Affection. Gratefulness. It was strange. But she liked it. It didn't hurt that Thomas was extremely attractive! She could get used to this. Doing approved violence in order to save people and receive hugs from attractive men. Even if, on this occasion, she'd mostly watched. She hadn't trusted herself to participate. She would have gone too far. Deirdre was able to make sure she didn't lose control because she'd been doing it longer. All those things that Deirdre had told her when Caoilfhionn had been in the hospital as a patient, finally started to make sense. Living like this...with people who liked her...it made sense. Caoilfhionn understood the upside to controlling herself. It was this. Hugs and happiness.

Peter, who saw that Thomas was taking care of thanking Caoifhionn, stepped over to Deirdre. Deirdre had since let her wings dissipate, and the black aura that had surrounded her body had faded. Her eyes were still black, however, and Peter knew what that meant. "Rough time?" He asked softly, moving to lean against one of the ambulances, right beside her. He bumped against her with his hip then, to make it all seem a little less serious.

Deirdre let out a shaky laugh and then she turned to him. "Had to suck Emma dry. She nearly gave everything away. And then...well...apparently I went all Tasmanian Devil and soul-sucked Dragonetti too."

Peter couldn't help himself. "Ew!" He squeaked, because he couldn't imagine that Dragonetti's soul had tasted very nice. And he sort of hoped Deirdre wasn't planning on making him a chaser. She'd done that before...and he liked his soul where it was, dammit. Sure, it always returned to where it belonged, but a few hours unconscious was not very time-effective.

"Ew is right." Deirdre sighed and she leaned her head against his shoulder then. "But I didn't kill anyone. And we saved Emma. She almost..." Deirdre bit her lip then, and instead of telling Peter that Emma had nearly given up Liz's name in the end, she didn't. "Nevermind." Deirdre knew Peter would leave it at that. Peter never pushed.

Peter leaned to the side and he kissed Deirdre's hair. "You did good. You're so brave for going down there. I'm so proud of you, Deirdre. I'm always proud of you."

"Can you make me a medal?" Deirdre asked, her voice small. Her eyes were already started to lighten, returning to their proper shade of light blue. Peter had that effect on her.

Peter chuckled and he looked up into the sky, which seemed to be clearing. "I'll make you anything you want, my Deirdre-Rose. Anything you want."