On the Path of Vengeance - By Princess Alexandria

Day 5 part 1- Sunday - July 19th

          Trini managed to slip back into her own apartment around one.  Fox had stayed to talk with David, and Trini could guess it was about her.  She sighed heavily as she set her purse down on the desk.  She called Demona, but she didn't answer, so Trini left a message saying that she was home okay and that they needed to talk about this.

         Trini changed into her pajama top and left off the bottoms.  The silky top came down to mid thigh.  Her tail just felt better out, even though it didn't hurt anymore to keep it in her pants.  It was freeing, in a way.  She might never wear those stupid pajama bottoms again.  She turned on the stereo in the living room and put on a soothing CD while she started to read her history book.  She could only take that book in small chunks, because it was pretty boring. 

         The knock on her window startled her.  She looked out to see Delilah smiling at her.  She let her friend in quickly.  "I have a door... you are allowed to use it once in a while."

         Delilah smiled at her shyly.  "I wanted to talk to you without the others knowing."  Trini's eyes widened when Delilah started to caress her hair gently.  "You are such a pretty female."  Delilah whispered and then leaned forward to kiss her.  Trini took a step back.

         "I love you... but I just don't feel that way about you Delilah." Trini said as gently as she could, but when Delilah got an angry expression on her face and her eyes started to burn she took another step back, bumping into someone.  She spun around to find herself being held tightly by Angela.

         Angela stared down at her in contempt.  "You raped my mother.  You are a disgusting freak that should have been drowned at birth."  Angela trailed her talon along the base of Trini's tail, and Trini couldn't help but respond.  When Angela spun her around to face the white haired gargoyle.  Delilah kissed her and this time she didn't protest.  She moaned into the kiss, while Angela seemed to just fade away from her awareness.

         Trini screamed as Angela and Delilah dragged her through her bedroom door, and she suddenly found herself in the barn.  The females chained her to the bed.

         "It's your duty to breed."  She heard Goliath's deep voice coming from the shadows.  "Since you weren't planning on doing it... I arranged this party."  Goliath leaned over her, "Smells so good."  He smiled evilly and his eyes burned white.

         Trini pulled frantically at the chains holding her to the bed as she saw all the males of the clan approaching the bed naked.  She glanced around for anything that might help... and she saw Demona chained to the wall, next to Fox and Elisa.  They all dangled like they were unconscious.  She felt her loincloth being ripped away and she stared down her body to see Goliath getting ready to rape her.

         "Trini, wake up!" Fox screamed at Trini.  "Wake up!"

         Trini jolted up off the couch with her heart pounding heavily.  She gripped Fox to her desperately as tears fell from her eyes.

         "Is she alright?" A deep male voice spoke, and Trini screamed while leaping to the corner of the couch furthest away from Goliath.  Her eyes were burning red as her heart pounded in fear.  Goliath seemed to completely block the hallway.  There was no way out!

         "Maybe you should wait outside." Trini heard Fox's voice, but it didn't register.

         Trini started to mumble to herself.  "I don't want to party... leave me alone."  She had her arms around her legs and was rocking slightly.  She still wasn't completely awake.  "I didn't want to do it!"  Goliath took another step into the room while staring at Trini. 

         "Goliath get out of here!" Fox hissed at him while she moved to pull Trini into her arms.  "Now!"  Goliath glanced at Trini and hesitantly turned and left.  Once the door closed Fox pulled Trini's body tightly to her.  "I won't let anyone do that to you again."

         "Fox?" Trini's eyes began to focus.  "Why are you crying?"  Trini reached out to brush the tears from Fox's cheeks, which started a fresh batch.  "Oh, Fox."  Trini sighed as she moved to be able to hug her lover to her.

         Trini was horrified when she found out she'd been screaming so loud that Fox heard her from her room and came running, and that Goliath had also responded.  He saw her like that, weak, pathetic, broken.  When she told Fox about her dream Fox's eyes became like steel.  "That explains your reaction to Goliath."  Fox handed Trini a drink and then sat beside her on the couch.  They both sat in silence, not really moving, until the knock on the door interrupted them.

         Fox got up to see who it was for Trini.  She barely managed to not flinch when she saw Delilah following Fox into the living room.  Delilah would never do that to her, it was just a dream. 

She was trying to avoid contact with Gargoyles tonight, so of course they all drop by her room.  "Trini?"  Delilah said hesitantly.  "I wanted to thank you for helping Lex and I out with the date.  You didn't need to do that."

"I wanted to."  Trini smiled at her softly, "If you ever need or want help with anything I hope you know you can come to me."  Of course this month is really bad for me, Trini thought sarcastically.

Delilah smiled at her, and then turned to address the seated redhead.  "You have a really good mate here Fox... don't mess it up." 

Fox turned to look at Trini fondly, "I know... I plan to hold onto her."

"I need to get back to the clan..." Delilah looked pretty reluctant to leave.  "I'd like to visit you again."  She looked a little hopeful.  She meant alone.  Trini knew she was more comfortable when it was just the two of them.

"I'm going to be pretty busy, and I don't know what my schedule will be."  Trini saw Delilah's face falling, "So it'll be hard to give you any notice.  I'll just have to bully Goliath into giving you a day off when I have the time.  Will that work?"

Delilah smiled at her, and Trini could see that she'd managed to avoid hurting her feelings.  "That's fine."

         Trini stood up to hug her friend.  "Mmmm... .you smell really nice." Delilah said in a slightly deeper voice.  Trini tensed when Delilah's hug got a little stronger and her hand caressed Trini's back a little too intimately.  Delilah normally just hugged, no caressing at all.

         Fox stood up quickly, "Delilah, Trini needs some rest."  She said a little loudly, and Trini could hear the underlying jealousy.  She was relieved when Delilah let her go and smiled at her softly on her way out the door.  Delilah didn't seem aware of what just happened, but Trini just stood still, feeling stunned.  Her friend... her damned pheromones were affecting her friend.  God Dammit, the female was straight, why the hell were her pheromones affecting her?!

         "Well that was tense." Fox said softly as she wrapped her arms around Trini. 

         Trini hissed out angrily, "You saw that didn't you?!  She was affected!"  Trini rubbed her forehead, because she was getting a headache.  

         Trini wasn't tired anymore after the nightmare and Delilah, so she took a shower, to see if that would help reduce the effect her pheromones had on others.  She cleaned off her tail a few times in hopes that it would make a difference.  She was finishing her shampoo when she heard the knock on the door.  Fox answered it, and Brooklyn's voice was unmistakable.  "Goliath wants to see Trini as soon as possible."

         Fox's voice didn't sound the least bit friendly, "So he sent you?"

         Brooklyn sounded like he was trying to be humorous.  "Yeah... and I didn't even have to beg."

         "Where is he?"  Fox's voice was completely chilly now.  Trini continued rinsing out her hair while she eavesdropped.

         "Library." Brooklyn said, and Trini could hear he was baffled about the attitude he was getting from Fox.

         "I'll tell her that, but it is getting late.  She might want to wait until tomorrow."  Trini could hear the door closing.  She shut off the water and proceeded to get ready.  If she was going to have to talk with Goliath, right before sunrise was the best time.  He couldn't talk for any longer than that.

         "Trini?"  Fox opened the bathroom door.

         "I heard."  Trini sighed, "I guess I've been summoned."  She finished tying her shoes.  Her hair was dripping wet, but she was dressed.  "I'd rather talk with him when he has a time limit.  Sun is coming up in two hours."  Trini suspected he wanted to talk about her nightmares.  She was working on a lie to tell him.

         "Trini." Fox sounded like she was worried.  "If you want to go up into the Library, I think I should get David and Owen as back-up.  Delilah's reaction to you... If anyone else is like that..."

         Trini sighed, "Dammit... Domi told me to avoid gargoyles until she had the results back."

         "Results?" Fox moved to sit on the edge of the tub.

         "She took samples of my pheromones to study.  They weren't normal looking, she tried to cover that up, but I heard her mumbling about that." Trini slumped down. 

         "Well then maybe you should put Goliath off for tonight and we can see if Demona has any results tomorrow."  Fox said softly.

         "I guess that would be a better idea."  Trini started to take her shoes back off. 

         She was getting ready for bed.  Fox was already sleeping in her bed.  David agreed that it would be best if Fox stayed with Trini when she slept, he was able to hear her screaming during the nightmare as well.  Trini felt bad for becoming such a problem.  She was having nightmares like Domi now, and Fox was there to help her out... but she couldn't help but worry about the fact that Domi was trying to sleep alone now.

         Would she be able to be around Demona, or would her pheromones completely drive her away.  Demona had been so worried about hurting her.  Trini didn't want the gargoyle distancing herself... not now, not ever. 

The knock on the door startled her, and she hurried over to it to see who it was before they woke Fox.  Her lover needed some real rest... she'd messed up her sleep quite a bit last night.  She sighed when she got to the door and realized that she didn't have a peephole, like her old place did.  "Who is it?"  She said as quietly as she could.

"It's me."  Goliath responded, making Trini roll her eyes.  Why couldn't he take the hint that she wasn't up to talking tonight.  "You didn't come to see me."

"I'm too tired to talk now.  Tomorrow, maybe tomorrow."  Trini told him wearily.

         "Do you have any intention of being a part of the clan?  You aren't even making an effort at all."  Goliath started to talk, ignoring Trini's request to wait. 

         "Goliath... please, I'm too tired for this talk.  I don't turn to stone, I actually need to sleep.  I'll talk with you tomorrow."  Trini sighed, "Goodnight."  She walked away from the door.  She wasn't thinking of joining the clan right now, and if they really knew her... they wouldn't want her.  She wasn't as bothered about that as she would have been before finding them.  She had people that cared about her, she belonged somewhere.  She didn't need Goliath's clan anymore.

         Trini's sleep was racked with nightmares, and Fox had to wake her up a few times.  When Trini woke up six hours after she'd gone to bed she stared at Fox.  The woman was trying to be her rock... but she could see that the redhead was troubled, even in her sleep.  Did she look like that when she was sleeping with Domi to stop her nightmares?  When she fell asleep at Domi's yesterday... she'd gone over two hours without a nightmare.  She wasn't doing that at home.  Domi's mere presence helped her, how could she tell Fox that?  How could she tell Fox that she slept better with another woman in her arms?  Trini sighed and rolled out of bed.  Fox would be able to get some rest if she wasn't waking her up every hour with her nightmares.  Now Trini understood why Domi tried to get them separate rooms when they were in Seattle, she felt guilty about Trini's lack of sleep.     

         She laid on the couch and made her phone call.  She was relieved when Domi answered.  "Are you okay?"  Trini asked softly.  She'd been worried about her all night.

         "Trini, you're up early." Domi sounded concerned.

         "Can't sleep.  What happened last night?"  Trini's voice got tense, "Am I going to be able to see you?  I don't think I can go a month or however long this lasts without seeing you." 

         "Trini... I..." Domi sounded a little flustered, "I never... your pheromones were so powerful.  I'm sorry if I scared you." Trini could hear the guilt in Domi's voice.

         "You didn't scare me, you worried me." Trini told her firmly, "I know you like your scary badass image, but it just doesn't work with me."  She said jokingly.

         Trini could hear some humor in Domi's voice, "Were you ever afraid of me?"

         Trini thought about that seriously, "Truly afraid, never.  You've made me nervous at times, but I was never afraid of you."

         "I'm glad.  I don't want you to be." Domi said quietly, and Trini could tell she was thinking about something painful.

         "Am I able to see you?"  Trini shoved her hair out of her eyes, "This damned breeding season of mine really couldn't have picked a worse time."  She hissed angrily. 

         "I checked with your samples.  My day form isn't affected very strongly.  I'm working on a way to neutralize the effect on my true form."  Trini felt a little hurt that Domi was trying to get rid of that.  It felt so nice to know that the gargoyle desired her, but maybe she wouldn't be able to handle being intimate with Trini... after what had happened.

         "If you get that, I need some over here.  Delilah's a little affected." Trini admitted with a little embarrassment. 

         "I told you to avoid gargoyles!  Trini, it could have gone badly... I was barely able to stop myself!" Domi's voice was rising in concern.

         "She dropped by.  I... didn't expect her to..."  Trini was disturbed, "She's like a sister... I never considered that she'd be affected.  She wasn't very affected, she just hugged a little too long.  She didn't even seem to notice herself doing it."

         "Did anyone else seem to be affected?" Domi was trying to be calm about this, but Trini could hear jealousy in her voice.

         "Fox is slightly affected.  I didn't see any of the other gargoyles, but Goliath told me to talk with him tomorrow.  He's upset that I'm not spending more time with the clan so he can whore me out to Brooklyn." Trini growled. 

         Domi sounded really concerned, "I didn't know you were having problems like that with the clan.  Trini... do you want to be a part of that clan?"

         "I don't know.  I've lost a lot of respect for them lately, well, actually it's my respect for Goliath that's plummeted, but I live here.  I need to be able to get along with them."  Trini said softly.

         "Tell them you're mated already.  Tell them about Fox, or make someone up.  They'd get over that after a while."  Domi spoke more quietly, "I wish I could be with you... support you, but my presence wouldn't help you at all.  Take Fox with you."

         "Your presence helps me a lot.  It just wouldn't go over well with the clan." Trini clarified her need for Domi.

         "Same goes for me." Domi's voice was full of affection.  It changed to become very serious.  "If you need to be around the clan, pay attention to how they react to you, have Fox help you with that.  If you get me a list of those that are affected I can come up with a neutralizer for them.  Those need to be made with the gargoyle in mind, because they are all unique."  Domi sighed, "You or Fox should be armed with a tranquilizer gun, in case someone gets out of control."

         Trini's eyes widened, "You said they wouldn't."

         "That was before I almost did." Domi's voice was pained, "Trini, if you hadn't left so fast... I would have... "

         "You didn't... it looked so hard for you, and you didn't.  Don't let this hurt you."  Trini wished she were right there with Domi for this.  She knew the woman needed a hug. 

         Domi took a deep breath, "They will know you are in season.  Even if a gargoyle isn't attracted, they know if they've ever been to a breeding before.  That means that Goliath and Hudson will figure it out quickly.  Come out as gay, pretend you have a boyfriend, whatever... just do something to take yourself out of the list of potential mates.  If you don't Goliath will continue to try and find you one."

         "Okay, I will." Trini stared out the window at the clouds.  It was an ugly overcast day and it would probably rain.

         Domi hesitated for a moment, "I have things almost ready to go after those humans."

         "Don't do it alone."  Trini thought for a moment, "Shouldn't we get them all at once so they don't see it coming?"

         "Why Trini, you're a natural." Domi sounded a little impressed, "I figured since Fox wanted in on this it would be easier for us to do that."

         Trini's heart thumped loudly, "I don't know if I want her near one of those monsters.  I don't want you near them either.  If we split up I can't protect anyone."  Someone suddenly took Trini's hand and Trini turned her head sharply to see Fox watching her.  Her lover took the phone out of her hand.

         "Demona?  I'm in.  I have some toys that might make Trini feel better about this."  Fox looked so serious and dangerous as she talked with Domi about the plans.  Trini could really see how Fox could have been a mercenary.  Fox started to pace as she talked with Domi.  Trini felt a little left out, but she knew that those two women were the brains and the brawn of this operation.  She wasn't experienced enough to plan something like this.  A small grin started to form on her face.  She'd wanted those two to get along; this was a unique way to do that.  Fox talked with Domi for a half an hour and they didn't argue or insult each other once.

         Fox handed her the phone, "She wants to talk to you."

         "Hey." Trini said softly.

         "I love you." Domi told her firmly.  "I don't want you to feel like you have to hunt these men with us.  If you don't want to for any reason, I wouldn't hold it against you."

         "I'm good to go." Trini sighed, "I'm not going to freak out, I can do this."  She spoke more softly, but she knew Fox would hear it clearly, "I love you too."  

         After she hung up she look up to see Fox studying her.  "You love her a lot, don't you?"  Fox sighed heavily.

         Trini felt guilty when faced with talking to Fox about this.  "I do.  I love you a lot too.  You know that."

         Fox turned to stare out the large living room window quietly.  After a tense moment she spoke.  "Your heart is just too big Trini... just too big."

         They had lunch with Alexander and David.  Trini managed to pretend to be in a better mood than she was, so that she didn't alarm Alexander.  After lunch the child dragged Trini into his bedroom to show her all his toys and see if she'd be willing to read for him.  After reading two books, Fox came in to see how they were doing.  She took over for Trini, so that Trini could escape.  She was getting a little tired of pretending to be full of energy.  She felt completely worn out.

         Trini went back to her room and grabbed that history book.  The weather had cleared up to the point that she wasn't worried it would rain.  She went out to the castle courtyard to read.  Trini sat were she could see Delilah.  The gargoyle stood closer to the castle walls than the others.  Trini figured it was probably safer to do that.  Trini tried to read, but she kept glancing up at Delilah.  That dream was still haunting her.  That dream kiss... haunted her as well.  Delilah was affected by her pheromones.  What should she do if her white haired friend did try something like that?

         "You've been staring at her for a while." David's voice startled her, "Should Fox be worried?"  Trini turned to see David leaning against the castle wall studying her.  She'd been so lost in thought she didn't hear him approach.

         "No..." Trini sighed, "She's affected by my pheromones.  I... just don't want to hurt her."

         David smiled as he walked over to sit beside Trini on the bench.  Trini was glad she managed to not flinch when he sat down.  "How do these pheromones work?"

         "I'm not entirely sure.  I know that it's supposed to attract a mate.  Mine... aren't working quite right.  I'm attracting Fox, which isn't supposed to be possible because she's not a gargoyle."  Trini didn't add that Demona was also affected.  "I'm also attracting Delilah, which I'm really concerned about.  She isn't gay... at all."  Trini turned to look at David.  "I'll find out who else I affect later... and I'm nervous about it.  I have to tell the clan some story, they need to know I'm mated already.  It's like you said, if they know I'm not available maybe they won't bother me."  Trini sighed and asked more softly,  "How would you feel about me telling them about Fox and I.  I don't want to upset or embarrass you."

         David appeared to think about that for a moment.  "I don't mind.  You have the right to have your relationship acknowledged, and not telling the clan about her will cause you too much trouble."  He paused, "You do understand that in public... the reporters would eat us all up and spit us out if they found out."  He reached out to brush Trini's hair behind her ear.  When she flinched a little he stopped suddenly and pulled away like she was fire.

         "No... I'm sorry." Trini felt bad for making him nervous around her.  "I... need to get used to being around men.  I know you won't hurt me."  She reached out and took his hand.  "Please..."  She said softly.  He smiled weakly and reached up to caress her hair.

         "You're hair is so soft."  David said quietly, as if afraid to startle Trini.  "It's softer than Alexander's."  He tucked some behind her ear gently.  Trini found that when she expected his touch, it didn't make her heart pound in fear.  It was a step.  "Your ears look a bit more Vulcan than Fey."  He smiled softly.

         Trini grinned at him, "I know... those ears of Puck's are huge, I am so glad I don't have that.  I wouldn't be able to hide it."

David chuckled and reached out to take her hand.  "That would have been a problem alright." 

He glanced at her book, "I didn't know you were interested in history."

         Trini managed to not blush.  She wasn't as interested in history as she was in Demona's history.  "I thought it might be interesting.  Now that I've got this book... it isn't really, but I spent the money, so I'm reading it."

         "How are you doing with money?  If you need some..." David offered nicely, but Trini felt strange about it.  David and Fox were already giving her so much.

         "I'm fine for now, and I will be getting a job soon." Trini informed him.  Her voice got softer as she added, "I appreciate it... but I just need to do this on my own." 

He looked at her a little more seriously.  "I came out here to find out if you wanted dancing lessons.  I could teach you the formal dances you don't know."  She raised her eyebrow at that.  It seemed like an odd thing to do with her lover's husband.  "I just thought... you could use some non-threatening male company, and Fox is busy with Alexander and their magic lessons..."  He gave Trini a guilty smirk, "I'm bored.  I don't have any work to do... and you don't like that book anyhow."

         Trini stared at the book for a moment.  He was trying to include her in things, and Fox would probably like it if they became friends.  “Okay.”  She looked up in time to see his happy surprise, before he covered it up. 

         “Well, great.  I was thinking we could dance in the gym.  It’s set up for music.” David stood up and held out a hand to help Trini.  She took it, knowing it was one of those gentleman moves he sometimes does.

         “I didn’t know you had a gym.”  Trini walked with him into the castle.  A gym would be useful, she needed to continue to practice fighting and keep her agility up. 

         David smiled mischievously, “I’m surprised Fox hasn’t shown you yet.  She spends a good deal of time down there training.”

         The gym was in the basement of this huge skyscraper.  There were no windows, but the room was so large and the ceiling was so high, that Trini couldn’t imagine anyone feeling claustrophobic.  It looked like the gym had every conceivable type of equipment for a workout, more than enough punching bags, and lots of room for sparring.  Trini could imagine an army training in this room.

         “You can come down here anytime you want to work out.  Let me show you were the stereo system is, this place is too quiet without music going.”  David led Trini to a door on the wall.  Inside the small closet there was the components of what must be an extremely expensive sound system.  “These are the CD’s I leave here, you’re welcome to use them or bring down your own.”  He selected a few CD’s and showed Trini how to use the complicated system.

          The dancing lessons started out pretty awkwardly.  Trini felt odd about having David so close to her as they danced.  The dancing she used to do at clubs was never that close… well, except for with Robyn, but she was dating Robyn.  After some stumbling and many apologies she started to get the hang of the waltz David was trying to teach her.  Once she knew what she was doing, it was kind of fun.

         Her and David were dancing when Fox came into the room to work out.  Fox stopped and a small smile crossed her face as she watched her lovers dance.  Trini was moving with confidence now as David led her across the dance floor.  She noticed Fox leaning against the wall watching them dance and could see Fox’s face was filled with love.  Trini smiled shyly at her and drew David’s attention to the audience.

         “Trini would you mind if I switched partners.” David whispered into her ear.

         “Not at all.”  Trini smiled at him.  “Can I watch?”  She regretted her wording as soon as a wicked smile crossed David’s face.  She meant that she’d like to see Fox dance.

         “You can watch anything you want.”  David whispered into her ear a little seductively as they danced closer to Fox.  That should have repelled her, but… Fox and David… Trini shook that thought out of her head. 

         Trini sat on a bench and watched David and Fox dance.  They were so graceful and beautiful together.  Trini had a small smile on her face as she watched them seem to float around the room.  Fox was a goddess.  When Fox pulled David’s head down to kiss him passionately Trini couldn’t pull her eyes away.  Trini noticed Fox glancing her way, and could see that her lover was trying to gauge Trini’s response to what she was doing with David.  The redhead apparently found what she wanted in Trini’s expression, because she continued to kiss David even more passionately and David’s arms wrapped around Fox more tightly.

         Trini blushed a bright red when Owen came into the room.  She felt like she’d been caught doing something very naughty, because she’d enjoyed watching Fox with David.  David and Fox slowly pulled apart so that Owen could talk with David.  Fox walked over to Trini, with a sexy sway in her hips.  “You liked that, didn’t you?”  Fox whispered seductively, and Trini felt a wave of desire.

         “Yes.” Trini said quietly, feeling a little ashamed of herself.  Fox smiled at her and caressed Trini’s cheek, before leaning down to kiss Trini tenderly.

         “I love you.” Fox told her softly.  She then gently pulled Trini to her feet.  “Show me what you learned… Dance with me.”

         Fox took Trini’s hand and led her out to the dance floor gracefully.  With Fox’s arms wrapped around her Trini danced, feeling a wave of love for the woman leading her across the dance floor.  David watched as they danced for a few songs before pulling apart.  Trini could see the passion in Fox’s eyes, but the redhead didn’t press for anything more than some gentle kisses.  Trini gave Fox a shy smile as they pulled apart.

          Trini was watching a movie with Fox and her family when her cell phone rang.  She took one look at the number and got up to leave the room as she answered it.  Fox’s eyes trailed after her.  “Hello?”

         “Trini, I’ve been working on trying to figure out what your pheromones are doing all day.”  Domi got right to the point, and she was speaking a little more quickly than Trini had ever heard her speak.  “I’ve never seen anything like this.  There are so many elements in here that I just can’t identify.  These aren’t just general pheromones… this has all of those elements and more.”  Trini closed her eyes and leaned against the wall in the hall wearily… she didn’t want general pheromones… that meant all the males might notice her. 

         “Could some of those elements be the reason that Fox is noticing it?”  Trini asked as she resumed her walk to her rooms.  She was grateful to be in the relative privacy of home.

         “Some of them… Yes, but not all of them.”  Domi paused, “Have any full humans or any males of any species seemed affected?”

         “Maybe, I don’t know.”  Trini started to think about David.  He was just a little too interested in spending time with her today.  Owen… she hadn’t spent any time with him really, and she hadn’t seen any other males, except for Goliath briefly.  The grocery store and the cab ride had gone fine… that was good, she thought.  “Dammit, Domi… what am I going to do?”  Trini sounded desperate. 

         “I’m starting to get all the ingredients for the Neutralizing spell assembled.  Some of them are pretty rare.  I need something, hair, blood, skin… from each person affected and you need to keep track of who’s they came from because when you get the Neutralizers you need to make sure to use them on the right person, or it won’t work.” Domi was still speaking rather quickly.  “This spell was created with gargoyles in mind… so any human or Fey admirers… you have to deal with on your own.  I can get you a stun gun and show you how to use it if you want.  We have to see how strongly you affect people of those other races... if it's too bad, you might want to avoid going out too much.  You’ll also need to reapply the spell every few days, because it wears off.”

         “Wait.”  Trini’s eyes widened, “You want me to do magic?  I can’t… I have no idea how, and Fox made it sound like if Oberon caught me doing magic before we had permission… it wouldn’t be good.”

         Domi sighed, “Is Fox there?  We need to figure out how we’ll deal with the spells.  Maybe she can cast them.”

         As Trini walked back to the living room she came from with the phone she continued to talk, “You said your magic was different from the Fey.  Is she going to be able to do this?”

         “That’s what I want to find out.” Domi said seriously.

          “Fox?  She wants to talk with you.”  Trini held her phone out. 

Fox gave her a quizzical look, and quietly asked so that David wouldn’t be able to hear from his spot in front of the TV, “She has the results back?”

Trini sighed, “Yeah, and it doesn’t look good.”  Fox took the phone and left the room.  Trini followed her out, because they were talking about her, so she felt she deserved to know what was going on.  She was tenser about tonight than she had been before.

"What were the results?" Fox said as they quickly walked back to Trini's room for privacy.  Trini opened the door for Fox and they went to the living room as Fox quietly listened to Domi talk.

Trini could see Fox's eyes harden as they spoke.  She was starting to look extremely protective.  Fox turned to look at Trini, as if studying her.  "Yes... I can feel it."  She paused to listen to Domi, "No, it isn't that extreme."  She sounded a little surprised at the question.  Trini went to get herself a drink out of the fridge, and held one up to see if Fox wanted it.  She didn't.  They were talking about how her pheromones affected Fox, and Trini was surprised at how much Fox had been able to cover.  It was affecting her more than she had been letting Trini know.  She also verified that David was affected as well.  Trini's shoulder's slumped, because she had hoped that they weren't affecting humans.  She had thought it was odd he wanted to start dance lessons the day after her pheromones started... but he still didn't do anything that made Trini uncomfortable.  She also found out that Delilah's eyes had started to glow when she held Trini in that hug.  She could hear Domi's voice rising when Fox told a slightly less innocent version of the hug Trini got from Delilah.  Trini had left the caress out of her version, even though it had come pretty close to her scars.  Fox didn't.

Fox looked so intense as she talked with Domi.  They both were trying to find ways to protect Trini from this breeding season, and the clan.  Trini saw Fox tense up the second that Domi mentioned the spell, but she'd expected that reaction.  Fox was willing to talk with Domi, but she didn't trust her.

"I can't do a spell like that.  My type of magic is too different.  Puck told me that trying to do your type of magic would be disastrous.  It was something about the Fey magic trying to come out even if I didn't call it out." Fox sighed heavily.  Her expression became angry, and Trini winced as Fox hissed into the phone.  "If this spell is a trick... I will make you regret ever being hatched!  Trini trusts you far more than she should... I don't want you breaking her heart."  Trini's eyes widened at the hostility.  She felt her heart stop for a moment, she hated it when those two argued.  Before Domi could respond to that Fox's shoulders slumped a little, "You're going to have to cast them.  I want Owen to look over your spell before you do it."  She paused for a moment.  “Can you do that?”

After the phone call ended Trini spoke, "So, Domi's going to be dropping by during the day.  How are we going to hide that?"

"Owen and David are going to have to know about her." Fox sighed, "We can alter the camera records... on the off chance that Lex decides to look at them again.  He's done that in the past, probably just to make sure that they really are safe here.  He doesn't trust me too much."

Trini felt uncomfortable with Owen and David knowing about Domi and her.  She didn't want anyone pressing for information about her relationship with Domi.  "What am I going to tell them about why she's willing to do this for me?"

"Why don't you try some of the truth?  You don't need to lie to everyone all the time."  Fox told her, clearly a little annoyed.

"You're still mad at me for not telling you about her sooner, aren't you?" Trini asked a little hesitantly.

Fox almost glared at her, "Yes... I am.  I don't like that you feel the need to keep things like that from me.  I will be so pissed if I find you keeping secrets like that again."

Trini stared at her feet and thought about that for a moment.  She sighed, "If I believed that you wouldn't try to control me, I would have told you."  She looked up into Fox's eyes, "I know that you... hell, everyone... will have problems with some of the choices I make.  I still want the right to make them."

Fox's eyes softened a little, "Just tell me what's going on in your life... that's what lovers do."

"I have a new job."  Trini tried for a more upbeat voice, like this was just idle chit-chat.  She could see Fox's eyes widen a little in concern, "I'm the new Personal Assistant for the CEO of a large multi-billion dollar company."

"Oh, God... It's too much to hope that you just took Owen's job, isn't it?"  Fox stared at her slightly stunned.

Trini continued to talk about her job as if Fox hadn't spoken.  "I managed to talk my new boss into letting me work part time in the afternoons so that I could sometimes patrol the city at night with the clan.  I'll be assisting her in meetings, with research... other things like that."

"NightStone?  You hired on at NightStone?" Fox's voice got a little louder in dismay.

"Yes… Ms. Destine didn't give me a starting date, she just told me that I could start whenever I was ready." Trini spoke more softly as she got rid of her office persona, "I told her what I wasn't willing to do or put up with and she still hired me.  If I find any plan for the destruction of humanity... she knows I'll betray her." 

"I would have given you a job." Fox said softly, and Trini could see she was a little hurt.

"If I work with Domi... I can keep an eye on her.  I might be able to actually save the world if I work there, she might listen to me."  Trini left out that the selling point of the job had really been so she could see Domi every day.

"You'll be spying on her?" Fox looked surprised.

"A little, but mostly I'm hoping to make her see reason.  It won't happen over night, and it might not happen at all, but I have to try." Trini stared into Fox's eyes to see what she had to say about that.  She was hoping that she didn't just start another huge argument.

A small smile started to crawl across Fox's face, "I thought you weren't really seeing what she was capable of and you were planning to infiltrate her organization and spy on her."  The way Fox said it sounded much more underhanded and sneaky than she had intended, but it looked like she had approval, so she'd go with it.

She didn't want Fox to underestimate her feelings for Domi because of this, "Love isn't completely blind Fox.  I know she's dangerous and irrational at times."

"So... do you need more business clothes for the new job?"  Fox asked her softly, and Trini smiled.  There was no argument.

Trini thought for a moment about what was in her closet.  "Actually... she likes me to be a bit intimidating.  I need clothes that can do that and that I could fight in if I had to."

Fox's face became more serious, "Fighting?"

Trini grinned a little, "I've seen her fire people... I was there when she fired my step-uncle, and he decided to fight, I had to subdue him.  They other guy we fired didn't do that but if that happens again, it just looks better for me to deal with it."

"So, you've already started working for her?" Fox looked a little puzzled.

"I helped her fire my step-uncle, and we did a few company visits while we were in Oregon.  I know she was just bringing me along to try and convince me to take the job.  I didn't think I'd really like working for a business... but now I think I might."  She smiled a little, "I had no idea how much acting was involved in business."

"Acting?" Fox looked puzzled at that.  Did Trini just give something away?

"Yeah.  Domi told me what my character was supposed to be like.  She does it too."  Trini noticed a small smirk on Fox's face.  That's when she remembered the Fox used to do some acting... for that horrible TV show.  Trini had hunted down a tape of it when she was lonely in Seattle, before Domi came.  She used it to take a break from packing.  It was embarrassing to watch Fox in a show that poorly written and with such a stupid premise.  No actor would look good in a show like that.  She never wanted to see another episode of The Pack as long as she lived.  She never admitted that she saw it either, because she was afraid that Fox would ask her what she thought about it.

"Well, David will probably want to know about this job too.  He actually has to see Demona once in a while as part of his work.  They go to some of the same meetings.  He should know before he just sees you with her." Fox told her while standing up.

"So, you're okay with this?" Trini felt the need to ask.

Fox looked thoughtful for a moment.  "I think this was a very smart move on your part.  No one else would be able to get that close to her.  She's never had a personal assistant that shadowed her like you will, because she doesn't trust anyone that much."  She sighed, "Personally though, I'm a bit uncomfortable with it."  Fox's eyes became a little more intense.  "This is just a job... I can handle that."  That looked like a silent warning to Trini.  No office romances allowed.  "We can go shopping this week for more clothes."

Trini looked a little deflated, "Only if my pheromones aren't too bad for humans.  We haven't really tested that.  Domi thinks I should have a stun gun or something, just in case."  She sighed, "I really wanted to be able to start work this week.  She was afraid that I wouldn't be able to work with her after I remembered everything.  I wanted to show her she's wrong, but of course I’d go into season now.  I don’t know if I should be around a bunch of people like that."  She paused, "So... David too?"

Fox sighed, "He can control himself... but, he can feel it."  Fox studied Trini's face for any sign of fear, Trini could tell she was being treated like she was very fragile.

"Domi said that the spell would only work on Gargoyles.  I... I'll try washing it off more often... maybe it won't be as strong then."  Trini blushed.

Fox looked at her curiously, "Where is it coming from?"

The blush grew.  "The pheromone ducts are on the underside of the base of my tail."

“Can I see?”  Fox’s eyes sparkled just a little too much.  Trini felt a little hesitant, but this was her lover.

“I… the pheromones are too strong now.  Maybe after I take a shower or something.”  Trini said quietly.  She didn’t like that she was afraid of her own lover wanting sex.  “Maybe in a few days, after things calm down.”  After I calm down, is what Trini thought to herself.  She could see a brief moment of disappointment on Fox’s face, but she hid it away quickly.

“Okay, that makes sense.”  She pulled back a little.

Trini looked down, with a forlorn look on her face, “Fox, I’m sorry.  I just…”  I’m scared, Trini thought to herself in despair.

“Oh, Honey… I told you I’d give you time.”  Fox reached over and placed a comforting hand on her leg.  “I meant that.  I really just want to see… I won’t push you for anything.”

“Okay.”  Trini said quietly.

Trini was impressed with Fox’s control.  She saw the redheads eye twitch a little with the effort to not show how much the pheromones affected her when she was that close, but she never pushed for more than satisfying her curiosity about the part of Trini’s body causing all these problems.  “I don’t remember feeling these holes when we made love.”

“Well…” Trini blushed, “Domi had to break the seal for me so I could relieve the pressure.  It hurt yesterday because it was too full.”

“You had Demona do that for you?!” Fox sounded a bit upset… okay, downright jealous.

“I didn’t know what to do, and when she told me… I couldn’t do it.” Trini moved to sit down and face Fox.  “It had to be done.”

“Trini, it’s your tail.  That’s sexual for you.” Fox complained as she scooted closer to her.

“Not then.  She was careful to not touch more than was necessary, besides it hurt too much to be sexual.” Trini watched as Fox seemed to relax.  “She’s just trying to help me and teach me what I should have learned a long time ago.”  Trini could see Fox didn’t like that, “There really isn’t anyone else that can teach me.  This is female gargoyle stuff, Delilah wouldn’t know it either, and even if Angela did… she hates me.”

“I guess your right.” Fox sighed, “Well, it’s almost dinner time.”  Fox got off the bed and Trini got dressed to go eat.

Trini sat next to Owen throughout the entire meal, and kept nervously glancing over at him to see if he was affected.  He seemed a little irritated by the attention, but… he didn’t seem to want her.  She was so grateful for that.  A human she would be able to stop, but a Fey?  Probably not.  “I have that box ready.”  Owen said at the dinner table, and Trini’s eyes widened as she glanced nervously at David.  She hadn’t gotten to talking about Demona’s visit or her new job yet.  She’d been waiting until Alexander left, because she figured children couldn’t keep a secret.  Fox got up and took Alexander away, because everyone was done eating, and she probably came to the same conclusion about his ability to keep quiet about what he’d hear.

David raised an eyebrow at her, but Trini got the impression he already knew about this.  Owen probably told him.  “Good.  I’ll get it to her tomorrow.”  She sighed, “I should tell you I work for her now.”  She noticed that she’d managed to startle even Owen with that one. 

David and Owen were very surprised by her new job, but she was able to explain it to them in a way that they’d accept.  She was claiming to be a spy.  She’d tell Domi that everyone thought that, so if she overheard something she wouldn’t get angry.  She also informed them that Demona was going to be helping them with the clan that appeared affected by her pheromones, and what they needed from each gargoyle that was.  They only had a couple hours before sunset, and both men and Fox were going with her into the library to meet with Goliath and the clan.  Owen was going to be in charge of getting the samples as they did this.

Trini called Domi after dinner, “I told Fox and David about working with you.”

“How did that go?” Domi said slowly.

“Well, they are under the impression I’m just doing it so I can spy on you.  I thought I should tell you about that.”  Trini’s voice got softer, “I don’t want you thinking that if you heard about it.”
         There was silence for a moment.  “Thank you for telling me this.” Domi said softly.  “It would have… hurt if I thought it was true.”  Trini was impressed with the openness with which Domi was sharing her emotions now.

“I… need to get ready for tonight.”  Trini sighed.  “Does showering help keep the pheromones down?”

“It helps a little, but… tonight maybe you shouldn’t.  We need to make sure to figure out everyone that is affected.” Domi said hesitantly, “I wish I could be there… I don’t like this.”

“I have enough back-up… I’ll be fine.” Trini reassured her, but she was still a little nervous herself.

“My spell should be ready by tomorrow night.  We need to get to work hunting those bastards down.  You and… Fox should come over.”  Trini could hear that Domi regretted having to invite Fox.

         “We will be there.”  Trini paused.

         “Call me after you talk with the clan.  I want to know you’re okay.” Domi said softly.  "You can also tell me how many batches of the spell I need to get started." 

         Fox, David, and Owen were with Trini in the Library waiting for sunset.  They only had minutes.  Trini felt her heart beating a little too quickly and she knew she was looking pale.  She closed her eyes and tried to calm down.  Fox walked up behind her and put her hand on Trini’s shoulder.  “It’ll be okay baby.”

         Trini sighed, and put her hand over Fox’s, “I love you.”  The roar from outside stopped them from being able to talk longer.  Fox moved into her position towards the corner of the room.  Fox, Owen, and David all had assigned gargoyles that they were supposed to watch for their reactions. 

         The clan filed in and Trini could see that a few of them were surprised that they had so many people hanging around.  Hudson smiled at her and walked over to greet her.  “Well, Lassie, I see you are finally visiting.”  He faltered when he got closer and Trini could see the surprise on his face.  He spoke more quietly, “Trini…”  She could see he was trying to find a way to say this.

         “I know.”  Trini said softly, so only he could hear. 

         Hudson moved closer to talk, and Trini saw Fox tensing.  He was one of her gargoyles.  She had three, because they didn’t expect trouble from him.  “Do you know why you started so early?”

         “I only want to have to cover it once.” Trini said softly.  “Are you affected by the pheromones?”  She really hoped not, because he was more of a father figure.

         He smiled softly, “No dear… I’m too old for that sort of thing.”  Trini made a subtle motion with her hand to let Fox know she could stand down.

"Well, Trini… I’m glad you came.”  Goliath moved to greet her.  Trini felt her heart start to pound as her dream came back to her.  She had to remind herself that it was only a dream.  She smiled weakly and barely stopped herself from taking a step back when she felt he was too close.  “I was hoping we could talk in private.”

“No.” Trini said too quickly.  “I mean… we should all talk.  I don't want to have to repeat myself too much.  Can we have a clan meeting?"  She didn't really want to do it this way, but they needed to expose all the gargoyles to her pheromones, and if they were all in a closed room with her... they would be able to figure out who was affected more easily.

Goliath leaned a little closer, "Some of what I have to say is personal in nature."  Trini's heart was pounding as the huge gargoyle towered over her.

"I already know I'm in season Goliath."  Trini said softly and started to just walk away, towards the meeting room.  The hand that reached out to stop her almost made her scream.  She turned frightened eyes towards Goliath and he immediately let go.

"I... I'm sorry."  He looked puzzled at her reaction to him.  "I thought you should know that you need to expect some slightly aggressive behavior from the males.  Your pheromones will be affecting them."

Trini sighed, "Let's just go have this meeting Goliath."  She glanced over at Delilah, who was watching this whole exchange with a light red glow in her eyes... Not just the males.  Of course, maybe Delilah was just upset with the fact that Trini had looked scared for a moment.

The meeting room had enough room for everyone to sit, so Goliath gave Fox an odd look when she preferred to stand in the corner.  Owen and David had managed to snag seats that had good angles to the gargoyles they were covering if they needed to tranquilize them, but Fox's targets were more spread out.  Her place in the corner gave her a better angle.  Trini was surprised that Fox managed to look completely relaxed.  She knew that Fox was tense, because she wanted desperately to protect Trini.

Goliath started to talk at ten.  Trini was paying attention to the time, because she was curious as to how long she had until the beautiful and merciful sun put an end to this night.  "Well, since we are all here, I thought I might deal with some clan business."  He glanced at Trini and she just nodded that it was fine.  It put off her talking longer, he could discuss business as long as he wanted.  She glanced over at Fox, who seemed to be comfortable, even though she was just leaning against the wall.  She wished she could be holding her hand.

Goliath talked about patrol schedules and routes for a while, and Trini pretty much spent that time fretting about her being trapped in this room with all these males.  When he started on a new topic he instantly had her attention.

"We haven't seen anything from Demona since she got back from stealing that box.  I want everyone to be on the lookout.  This quiet is not going to last."  He sighed, "I told the Oregon Clan leader that we would get that box back... and I meant it!  We will have to plan our attack carefully."  He went on to detail where he thought the box was and how they might be able to get to it.  Trini tried not to seem as interested in this planning session as she was.  Finally after hearing a few too many barbs against her blue gargoyle she snapped.

"Why the hell don't you just have Angela ask her what's going on?  She is her DAUGHTER after all."  She'd been watching Angela trying to cover up her hurt after every insensitive comment.  Angela may not like her, but... she didn't hate the gargoyle.  She was family, even if she didn't know it.  "Or did you all forget that as you insulted her mother right in front of her."  She hissed.  "My mother was a complete bitch... but if you talked about her like this around me, I would have..."  She growled.

"It's not the same thing!"  Brooklyn protested.  "Demona's tried to hurt or kill us a hundred times!  Angela understands that."

Trini's eyes burned red.  "Bullshit!  It doesn't matter what she's done... she's still family!  A daughter can't just dismiss that connection as easily as you all do."  She glanced around and realized she'd made a mistake appearing to defend Demona.  A few suspicious eyes were looking at her, and Angela looked surprised at her insight.  She was going to have to give them a different motive.  "My mother treated me horribly..."  Trini glanced down at the table.  "She was abusive..."  She said more softly.  She wasn't used to talking about this in front of so many people.  Like Domi said, her mother's reasons for doing it didn't excuse the fact that it was done.  She had no right to treat her like that.  "She was still my mother in spite of that."  Her voice cracked.  She was surprised when Angela reached out to take her hand in an effort to comfort her.  She looked up sharply, afraid to see glowing eyes that indicated attraction.  All she saw sympathy and understanding.

"It is a little hard to listen to all the time." Angela admitted quietly to the clan.  "I know she's done all of these things... but, even though I never see her."  She glanced at Goliath.  "She is my mother.  I don't like hearing about her like this so much."

Trini finally got Angela to stand up for herself.  She took a deep breath to shove away her own pain and smiled softly at Demona's daughter.  Angela sat back in her seat next to Trini and let go of her hand.

"I..."  Trini watched Goliath as he appeared to be deep in thought.  "Alright, we will try to be a little quieter with our complaints about Demona."  The large gargoyle glanced around the table with a warning that they should comply.  Brooklyn looked pretty put out, but Hudson just nodded, like he needed to, he never participated in the Demona bashing.  Broadway looked pretty sheepish and ashamed of himself and Lex glanced at Trini and then at Delilah meaningfully before looking at Trini again.  Trini nodded, those comments hurt Delilah too.  Trini could see from his expression that he would never make that mistake again.  He was a good male, probably the best one of the bunch.  She noticed David studying her again in quiet sympathy.  She realized that he might not have known about her mother.

Goliath decided to call a bathroom break at eleven.  Trini suspected he was stretching out the meeting to see how her pheromones worked, who they called.  It worked, since that was what she wanted to know, so she didn't complain.  She was grateful to see that no gargoyles in the room seemed as affected as Demona had been.  Of course she'd been filling Demona's bedroom with her pheromones for hours, but... it was possible that her reaction could be the strongest one.  Trini liked that idea. 

Fox followed Trini back to her room to use the bathroom.  Once the door was closed she spoke, "I see some gargoyles that might be affected, but it isn't strong enough to tell for sure."  Fox looked reluctant as she added, "Maybe you need to use your pheromones like a perfume.  I feel you, but nothing like when I looked at your tail.  It's too muted in those pants."  Trini looked down at her pants.  They were thicker, because she'd been a little cold.  She never thought that it would affect her pheromones.  She'd have to remember that.

Blushing a little Trini opened the door to the bathroom and came back out into the living room to see what Fox thought.  "Well?"

Fox stood up and stepped a little closer to her, "Yesss... that works."  Trini saw a flash of desire in Fox's eyes.  "Well, let's get back to it."

Once everyone was situated Trini stood up to walk around the table as she talked.  She felt like she was bait, and had to force herself to remain calm as she prayed that no gargoyles attacked her.  Aside from her pheromones... she was telling them something that they didn't want to hear.  "First off I wanted to thank you all for being so kind to me when I came to you."  Trini was trying for a little diplomacy before she hit them with the bomb.  She noticed that Angela looked a little guilty at that.  Trini could see Angela knew she hadn't really been kind at all.  She hoped that tonight didn't ruin the tentative understanding that she'd developed with the lavender female.  "I didn't want to have to repeat myself.  That's why I wanted this to be a meeting."  Trini said wearily.  She was depending on Fox, David, and Owen to be watching out for the gargoyles, because she was focused on talking and walking around to spread the pheromones.  "I have no intention of breeding this year.  I want you to respect that."  Trini focused her eyes on Goliath when she said that.  He looked shocked, like he hadn't heard this from Elisa already.

"But... there aren't enough females!"  Brooklyn protested loudly.  Trini sighed heavily.  This was pretty much what she expected.  She glanced around the table and could see that all the males were stunned that she would even say such a thing.  Delilah looked at her with sympathy... and Angela looked completely puzzled.

"Lass, you might not understand how the breeding season works." Hudson started to talk calmly, and Trini could see he was trying to talk her out of this decision.

"Why are we talking about this now?" Broadway interjected, "The moon isn't for months.  You could take the time to get to know him, give him a chance."  Trini felt a little bad for Brooklyn at that moment.  He was seeing his last hope for a female fading away.

Goliath spoke and everyone's attention went to him immediately.  Must be nice when people listen to what you're saying, Trini thought sarcastically.  "Trini is in season early."  He said flatly, while staring at her.  All the other eyes turned to look at her as well, and Trini could see Brooklyn's eyes were glowing white.  She'd expected her pheromones would catch him. 

"My Fey nature may have changed my timeline."  Trini continued to walk around the table, "So I wanted to make it clear that yes... I do know what the Breeder's moon is, and I know that gargoyles only breed once every twenty years.  I'm won't be doing that."  She noticed Delilah reacting to her again.  Lex was also doing that. She continued to walk around the table, Broadway leaned towards her... and Trini's eyes widened when Angela seemed a little affected as well.  It wasn't going to be fun to tell Demona that her daughter was involved in this.  Hudson didn't bat an eye.  Goliath also seemed to be a model of control.  His eyes were focused on Trini, so he didn't see that almost all of his clan was affected by Trini's pheromones as she walked by.  At least no one was reaching out for her or seemed out of control.

"Why aren't you even giving me a chance?  I know I didn't make a good impression before, Lex explained that to me.  I can do better." Brooklyn's pleading broke Trini's heart. 

Trini's expression became sympathetic as she looked into Brooklyn's hurt face.  "Oh, I am sure that you are a great male... but I'm not interested in males."  Even though she knew that they wouldn't just accept her just saying no to breeding, she'd hoped that it wouldn't come to this.  "I'm gay."

Day 6- Sunday - July 20th

I’m gay, echoed through Trini’s mind as she watched to assembled gargoyles.  She had finally told them.  Brooklyn looked shock, like he’d never heard of such a thing.  Lex’s eyes grew incredibly round as he stared at her.  Trini noticed that Delilah was looking around at the males as well.  Angela’s head was tilted and she studied Trini like she’d never seen her before.  There was open curiosity in her eyes.  When she noticed Trini looking at her she turned away nervously, embarrassed at having been caught.  Broadway was scooting a little closer to his mate, and Trini finally saw that the jealousy went both ways in that relationship.  Goliath’s eyes held a light glow, and it worried Trini.

         Hudson looked at her puzzled, “Gay?  Are you sure?”

         Trini gave him a very small grin, “Yeah… I’m sure.  I’ve always been gay.”  Trini sighed.  “I don’t want to have to defend myself, I just wanted to tell you so that you didn’t bother me about not breeding.”  The frown on Goliath’s face let Trini know that he was upset with her.  Brooklyn mouth hung opend dejectedly while he stared at Trini with denial in his eyes.

         Goliath finally spoke.  “I need to think about this.”  He stood up suddenly and left.  Trini stared at the open door with wide and hurt eyes.  She’d known he would do it, but it still hurt.  Poor Elisa will probably have to hear him complain about her.  She sighed and turned her eyes back to the table.  Angela was looking out the door as well, and when Trini caught her eyes she saw sympathy.  When she saw how uncomfortable it made Broadway she spoke.

         “Don’t look so worried.”  Trini snapped at him.  “It’s not contagious!”  She just shook her head and started out the door.  Fox followed her quickly. 

They were halfway through the library when Delilah caught up to them.  Lex was following closely behind.  “Goliath will come around.”  She said tenderly and took Trini into a hug.  Trini returned it, hoping that Lex wasn’t as paranoid as Broadway seemed to be.  “No matter what, you are my clan.”  Delilah pulled back to look Trini in the eyes.  “I love you.”  Delilah said and Trini could hear shades of romantic love in it.  It made her very uncomfortable that her pheromones could do that.

“Thanks.”  Trini said quietly.  “I’m just going to go to my room and try and avoid the arguments that I’m sure Goliath and Brooklyn are trying to think up.”

“Are you sure running and hiding is the best way to deal with this?” Lex said suddenly.  Trini had almost forgotten he was there.  She took a step back from Delilah.  She could see he noticed that.  “You are her clan.  I have no problem with your being gay.”  He gave Trini a weak smile.  He was sweet, but he was lying, Trini could see he was nervous.

“Well, if anyone wants to talk to me, they know where I am.”  Trini sighed and turned to leave. 

Fox caught up with Trini in the hall and took her hand gently and caressed it with her thumb.  The stopped moving for a moment and Trini looked into Fox’s face.  She’d avoided doing that since she told the gargoyles, not wanting to clue them in to the nature of her and Fox’s relationship.  “Now the hard part is over.”  She said softly.

Trini released Fox’s hand.  “Is it?”  Trini very sensitive hearing picked up the conversation going on in the other room.  Brooklyn was determined that Trini was confused.  He had no intention of giving up.  He was planning to try even harder.  She could also hear Broadway supporting him, but Trini missed the rest of the conversation when Angela suddenly came out of that room and walked passed her and Fox.  Trini noticed the lavender female trying not to make it too obvious that she was staring as she went by.  “I think it may have just started.”

Fox walked Trini to her bedroom and then went back to see that Owen got all the samples they needed for Demona.  It was going to be more of a job than any of them had anticipated.  They determined that only Goliath and Hudson seemed unaffected.  Owen’s work was really cut out for him.  Trini knew he was going to get hair whenever possible, it was just easier to do.  He could probably manage to get some from the female’s hairbrushes, and Trini was guessing that Brooklyn probably messed with his hair once in a while too.  She had no idea how he would deal with Lex and Broadway.  They were both bald, so it would have to be skin or blood.

         Trini tensed up when there was a knock on the door while Fox was away.  She opened it slowly to find Goliath standing there, looking considerably calmer.  “May I come in?”

         Trini opened the door further and he came in and headed for the living room.  “Nice, what you’ve done with the place.”  He said somewhat awkwardly.

         “Thanks, but it was Fox.  Almost none of this stuff is really mine.”  She sat as far away from him as she could, wishing that Fox would hurry back.

         “I don’t know if the others have ever met a gay gargoyle.  Our clan had a couple of females when I was young.” Goliath scooted forward in his seat.  “Those females loved each other very much… but they participated in the breeder’s moon and found themselves male mates.  They stayed close friends, but… we needed eggs for the rookery, even back then we were a dying race.”  Trini’s heart plummeted.

         “You want me to just pretend… just pretend to want Brooklyn.” Trini felt sick.  Goliath’s eyes widened.  “Get out…”  Trini had tears in her eyes.  “Just get out… Dammit.”  She couldn’t talk anymore, so she marched across the apartment and held the door opened for him.

         “Trini,  I just thought that you’d want to make sure that there will be gargoyles in the future.” He said gently as he stood up.

         “I don’t care if I end up being the last one at this particular moment.”  Trini hissed.  “If Angela didn’t like any of the males here, would you force her to breed with someone she didn’t want touching her?”  Goliath’s eyes glowed lightly.  “I don’t want it.  I’ve said no… If any male tries to force me I will kill him.  I will not be coerced, or shamed into this.”  Trini’s eyes were glowing brilliantly as her voice rose.

         Trini’s voice became very weary, “Just get out.”  She wasn’t going to tell any of them about Fox now.  Her lover didn’t need this attitude.

         She was surprised to hear Elisa’s stern, cold voice in the hall.  “Come on Goliath.  Leave her alone.”  Goliath moved past Trini, making her hold her breath in fear.  “Trini, I’ll drop by later.”  Elisa said more gently.

         Fox returned shortly after Elisa and Goliath left.  “I saw Maza in the hall with Goliath.  She looked pretty mad.”  She paused.  Trini sighed.  She hated that she’d put Elisa in that position.  She’d called her before they went to the meeting, but she wasn’t home, so she left a message about the plan for the night.  She had just wanted to warn her to expect more ranting from Goliath.

         “Goliath was in here trying to convince me that I should just forget about being gay and accept Brooklyn anyhow.  I was kicking him out when Elisa dropped by.” Trini sat down heavily on the couch. 

         “Before all of this, I would have thought he’d be more open minded about this.” Fox moved to sit beside her and took her hand.  “I had to get more vials… Trini you had almost the entire clan enthralled.”  Fox sounded pretty amazed.  “They were all milling about.  Owen managed to get samples from the females and Brooklyn.  He and Owen are trying to get Lex and Broadway now.”

         “How is he going to do that?” Trini was worried that they would be caught.  She couldn’t really explain about the spell, and she knew that the gargoyles would not trust her and definitely wouldn’t trust Demona to do magic on them.

         “Demona didn’t think it had to be a lot to do that spell.  We have plenty of hair from the other three, probably more than enough.”  Fox paused.  “I think they were talking about Broadway being tripped to skin his knee.  He isn’t all that graceful, so it wouldn’t attract too much attention.  Lex… they were still trying to figure that one out.”

         Trini sighed.  Hopefully this would work and Owen and David would get what they needed.  “They were talking about me?  How does it look?” Trini moved to pull Fox into her arms so that Fox could rest her back on Trini.  Fox’s wiggling closer to her helped to comfort Trini.

         “Angela went back, but she’s staying silent.  I don’t think that any of the clan that weren’t in the room when Demona was outed know about Demona’s new sexual orientation.”  Fox sounded a little put out, Trini was guessing it was because of Trini’s involvement in that.  “Brooklyn plans to really become a pest until you accept him.”  Fox’s body tensed, “I almost hit him when I walked by and heard that.”  Trini started to pet Fox’s hair, soothing her.  “Delilah is busy explaining to Lex that you two really are just friends.”

         “I’ve created chaos.”  Trini sighed.  After a moment of silence she spoke, “I love you.  I… wish I could have told them that, but I don’t want them saying mean things about you.  I wouldn’t handle that very well.”

         Elisa dropped by an hour later.  Trini had already changed into her pajama’s to lounge around, but since she’d expected Elisa, she was wearing the bottoms as well.  Fox closed the email she was looking at.  Demona had sent her more records, and Fox preferred to work on that project in Trini’s room.

         “Hello Fox.” Elisa said politely as she passed by the computer area.  Fox got up and followed them into the living room.  “I wish I’d known sooner that you were coming out tonight.  I would have called my mom and rescheduled our movie night to come help you.”  Elisa stared into Trini’s eyes, “Goliath told me that you’ve started your breeding cycle?”

         Trini sighed, “Yes.  That’s why I had to come out today, he found out.”  She noticed that Elisa seemed a little tense with Fox in the room.  She exchanged a look with her lover.

         “I’m going to check on David, and see how things are going.”  Fox stood up gracefully as she spoke.  The parting glance that Fox gave Elisa looked seductive to Trini’s eyes.  Fox had been cooped up with Trini and her pheromones too long.  She was probably going to have sex with David.

         “Let me guess, you’ll be gone a while.” Trini grinned at Fox.  The smirk she got back pretty much answered her question.  “You sleeping here?”  Trini managed to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

         “Of course.  I’ll be back before you go to bed.”  Fox’s eyes held her love.

         Once they were alone Elisa turned to study Trini carefully, “She’s going to have sex with Xanatos isn’t she?”

         “Yes.  I believe that’s her plan.” Trini noticed Elisa’s fingers clench.

         “Trini, how can you put up with that?” Elisa sounded frustrated. 

         “I knew they were together before I got involved with her.  It doesn’t really bother me at all.” Trini sighed.  It didn’t bother her.  She was glad that Fox had David now, because she knew Fox needed his support to deal with what had happened to Trini, and to burn off the sexual energy that Trini’s pheromones were causing. 

         “I don’t know how that couldn’t bother you.” Elisa sighed.

         “Do you want a drink?”  Trini decided she’d like to have Elisa stay a while.  She didn’t want to be alone.  Elisa nodded so Trini happily supplied one.  When she came back she sat on the opposite end of the same couch and turned to face Elisa as they talked.  “I missed you.”  Trini said softly, “I’m sorry that my coming out is putting you in such an awkward position.”

         Elisa made a bit of an irritated face, “It isn’t your fault.  I had no idea that he felt like this.”  She scooted a little closer to Trini on the couch, and leaned closer in a gossiper’s pose.  “I heard that Demona found herself a female.”

         Trini had to fight a smirk.  She was that female.  “I heard about that.”

         “Goliath just found out about that, so… I think some of the attitude you got is really directed at her.”  Elisa leaned back again. 

         Trini moved closer to Elisa and placed her hand on Elisa’s knee, while looking at her in concern.  “Are you okay?  You have to listen to his ranting.”  Trini could hear her own voice wavering, “I… wish I could protect you from that.”  She looked down at her hand on Elisa and just stared at it, “I… don’t want him making you feel like what we had was dirty or wrong.”  She looked into Elisa’s slightly glassy eyes, “What we had was beautiful.  Unbelievably beautiful.”

         Elisa leaned forward and pulled Trini into a hug.  “I know it was beautiful Trini.  I… won’t let anyone warp those memories.”  She pulled away and then reached out to brush Trini’s bangs out of her eyes.  “You never do cut this do you?”

         “I’ve never done it myself before.  My hair hasn’t been cut since my ears grew.” Trini sighed.  Her bangs sometimes hang all the way down to the middle of her eyes.

         Elisa’s eyes light up a little, “If you have scissors, I could do it for you.  I cut my own bangs all the time.”

         Trini had Elisa follow her into the bathroom to do it.  She might as well let her cut her hair, she would never get it done otherwise.  “You like to play at other jobs don’t you?  You play nurse, and now hair stylist.”  Trini grinned at Elisa.  “Any other professions you wished you had?”

         Elisa started to run her fingers through Trini’s bangs.  “Don’t start teasing me or you might end up with bangs just an inch long.”  She smirked at Trini, and it suddenly felt like they’d never broken up.  It didn’t take Elisa long to cut Trini’s bangs, and it looked pretty decent too.  Trini could see Elisa’s mood darken a little after the haircut was over.  “This is a nice bathroom.”  Trini could hear some awkwardness.  This apartment was something that Fox had given her.

         “I like it.”  Trini studied Elisa.  She didn’t know what to say.  An awkward silence took over for a moment.  “Did you want a tour?”

         Elisa seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts, “No, it isn’t necessary.  I should probably be going.”  Trini felt her heart speed up.  She didn’t want Elisa to go.  They were getting along so well.

         “I… have pictures of before the operation.”  She stared into Elisa’s eyes.  “Do you want to see.”  She hadn’t even shown Fox the pictures of her as a little girl.  She was just desperately grasping at a way to make Elisa want to stay. 

         “I… uhh… sure.”  Elisa moved to take her jacket off.  “If I’m going to be staying a while, this is just too warm.”

         Trini had left her picture album in the closet, in one of the drawers.  Elisa followed her in and stared around, obviously shocked at the amount of space Trini had.  “I have to teach her to stop buying me clothes, or she’ll have this closet full by Christmas.”  Right now it looked pretty empty, with only a third of one wall holding clothes.  “I can’t imagine filling this room up.”

         “No, it is pretty large.” Elisa still sounded uncomfortable.  Trini found the album and walked it out to the bedroom to sit on the bed without really thinking about it.  Elisa hesitantly sat next to her.  Trini suddenly realized that her bed was beyond huge, and it might make Elisa uncomfortable sitting in the room that her and Fox made love in.

         “We could go out into the living room if you want.” Trini said slowly.

         Elisa glanced around Trini’s bedroom again, “Could we?”

         Once situated in the living room, Trini showed Elisa the photos.  She could see that Elisa was both amused to see Trini as a child playing in the yard, and saddened by the loss of those wings.  After that Elisa followed Trini back to the closet to hide the pictures back where they came from.  She could see Elisa eyeing that hot tub.  “Delilah decided she wanted to sit in the hot tub while we talked about dating and all.”  Trini blushed, “I had to have been the worst possible choice to help her with dating and men.  I should have made you do it.”  Trini noticed the horrified look Elisa gave her and smirked.

         After a period of almost comfortable silence they sat on the couch.  Elisa spoke quietly, “Goliath and I aren’t… having sex.”  Trini’s eyes widened.  How had they started this conversation?  Oh, dating and men.

         “Why not?”  Trini asked quietly.  It looks like she’d be relegated to the roll of best girlfriend, rather than ex-lover.  She felt really uncomfortable talking with Elisa about this.  Elisa glanced at Trini quietly, and rather intensely.  Trini suddenly realized how closely they were sitting to each other, and the look in Elisa’s eyes made her heart start to beat faster.  She wanted to just lean over and kiss her. 

         “He’s concerned about hurting me.  He seems to think I’m made of glass.” Elisa said slightly bitterly while she rested a hand on Trini’s knee.

         The light caressing that Elisa was doing of Trini’s knee clouded Trini’s thinking.  Elisa’s hand was not even an inch away from her tail… and Trini was silently willing her to move her caress to that.  “Well… he is incredibly huge.  Is he…” Trini blushed, “huge all over?”

         Elisa sighed and sat back in the couch, stopping her caress.  “This isn’t really appropriate for me to talk with you about is it?”  She didn’t even give Trini time to answer, “No… I don’t think it is.  I don’t know why I brought it up.”  Elisa stood up.  “I really should be going.”

         Trini escorted Elisa to the door.  “I love that new perfume you’re wearing.” Elisa told her softly, seductively, as she left.  Trini closed the door and leaned against it.  She sighed heavily.  Those caresses were just a result of the pheromones… Trini now felt worse than before.  She’d enjoyed the time with Elisa.  She now felt like her pheromones manipulated the detective into staying to spend time with her.  Damn.

         After a long shower Trini came out of the bathroom wearing just her pajama top.  Her damp hair was brushed back, so none of her bangs showed.  Fox was already there, getting changed for bed.  Trini could tell that she’d had a shower already.  They got into bed quietly.  “So, What did Elisa want?” Fox asked, and Trini could hear some tension in her voice. 

         “She’s just uncomfortable with the whole married thing.” Trini said gently. 

         Fox was quiet for a moment, “How are you about that?”  She asked quietly.  Trini could see she was a little worried.  She had never left Trini to go have sex with David like she did tonight.

         Trini smiled gently at her, “I’m fine with it.  I’m glad you have David.  I…” Trini looked down at the bedspread, “I’m not able to be a good lover right now… and the pheromones… It can’t be easy.”  She looked up and saw such love in Fox’s eyes.

         Fox moved closer to her and drew Trini into a hug.  “I love you so much.  I’ll wait… it doesn’t bother me.  I’m just glad that you don’t resent David.”  She wasn’t denying it was hard.

         Trini hugged Fox back and then pulled away to sheepishly admit, “Ummm.  I think she’s affected too.”  She watched Fox’s eyes widened at that. 

         “Did she do anything?” Trini heard some underlying jealousy that just didn’t used to be in Fox.

         “We just talked, but she kept sitting close, rested her hand on my knee, and she mentioned my perfume.  I don’t wear any.”  Trini sighed.  Elisa hadn’t done anything overt.

         “Oh… well I guess we should have expected it to affect her.” Fox said calmly.  She wasn’t jealous anymore.  Where had that jealousy coming from?  Was it the pheromones, or the fact that Trini wasn’t having sex with her anymore?

         After Trini woke up, for the last time she just lay in bed and stared at Fox.  It was ten am, and that was all the sleep she was going to get.  Her nightmares were still bad.  She wondered how long she’d suffer from those.  Fox had held her so tightly after one particularly bad one.  Trini could see tears in Fox’s eyes, and she felt bad for putting her lover through the heart ache. 

         Trini moved to lie on her side and stared at Fox intensely.  She was so beautiful.  When Fox’s eyes opened to stare back Trini leaned down to whisper in her ear.  “I want to try.  If we just go slow…”  She ached for Fox’s touch.  “I don’t know if I can… but I want to.”  She leaned in to kiss Fox tenderly on the lips.  Fox slowly, gently reached up a hand to caress Trini’s hair while pulling her into a more passionate kiss.

         Fox allowed Trini to pull back, “I’ll be so gentle.”  She whispered to Trini.  Trini remembered telling Domi that once, when she’d offered to make love to her.  It made her a little sad to remember that, but she brushed that emotion aside.

         Fox cuddled Trini to her after they made love.  It wasn’t as mind blowing as their couplings usually were.  Trini had a few moments that she experienced flashbacks.  When Fox noticed she would stop what she was doing and hold Trini for a while before starting something else.  Trini was truly relieved when she found she was able to make love to Fox in return.  She had moments that were a little tough but she was able to please her lover.  Tears started to fall down Trini’s cheeks quietly; eventually she was going to be okay.  This went better than she’d hoped. 

         Trini  spent some time writing that afternoon, while Fox prepared a few things to take over to Demona’s with them that night.  She started to outline a dark story about pain and vengeance.  It was surprising how easily the words were flowing now.  She had tears in her eyes as she planned the plot of her second novel.  She was borrowing a lot of her own pain to insert into it.  Her first novel had been much lighter and happier.  It didn’t even seem possible that her writing had changed this much. 

Well, Domi would be pleased that she was writing again.  It had really bothered her that Trini couldn’t; she’d blamed herself for that.  Still, if she ever got this published, she was never using her real name.

         When Fox came in to get Trini, her eyes widened to find Trini working.  “You’re writing?” Fox asked softly as she walked up behind Trini’s chair.

         “Yes.  I have about half the plot figured out.”  Trini hit save and shut the program down.  She turned to see a slightly pleased smile of Fox’s lips.  She’d told Fox how worried she was about not being able to write.  “I still need to flesh it out.”  Trini shut the machine down.

         “Trini… that’s great.”  Fox pulled her into a hug.  She pulled Fox closer to her, and Fox wrapped her arms around Trini tighter, but they needed to go.  Fox’s family was waiting for them.  It was dinnertime.

         It was just minutes after nightfall when Fox drove up to Demona’s home.  The trunk of the car had a few items that Fox thought might be helpful, but Trini thought that they were only doing research tonight.  Trini had all the samples in her bag.  This was going to be interesting.  She’d called and told Demona that she was fine last night, but she didn’t go into any details.  She was a little nervous about telling the blue female exactly how popular her pheromones made her. 

         She helped Fox carry a few bags to the door, and Demona opened it right as they got to the top of the steps.  She was hiding behind the door again.  Once Trini and Fox were inside Demona closed the door and moved closer to Trini hesitantly, probably testing that spell.  Trini set her bag down and pulled the gargoyle into a hug after a moment, when it looked like it was okay.  She was so grateful that they didn’t need to avoid each other that she didn’t notice Fox watching them intently.  “God… I am so glad you do magic.”  Trini said while holding Demona.  “I would have missed you so much.”  She pulled away from the hug, but Demona still held onto her waist, so she didn’t go far.  She could see a small smile on the blue female’s lips.

         “I haven’t heard that in a long time.”  Demona smirked.  “Most people aren’t too pleased with my skill in magic.”

         Trini stared into Demona’s sparkling eyes, “Well, you have to admit… they usually are getting the bad end of it.”  She smiled back.  She noticed that Demona had a bit of lust in her eyes.  Her spell wasn’t perfect.

         “I know I didn’t appreciate being stone.” Fox said a little coolly as she set her bags down in the hall.  Demona and Trini pulled apart at that. 

         “So, how many batches do I need to do?  Who was affected?”  Demona asked Trini as she was pouring some juice for the three of them.

         Trini exchanged a look with Fox, “We need five.  All but two seemed affected.”  Trini sighed.  “Hudson and Goliath don’t need spells.”

         Demona sat the pitcher of juice down and turned to face Trini, with an incredulous look on her face.  “Angela?  It affected her too?”

         Trini winced a little, “It didn’t seem to affect her very much.”

         “Right, that’s why she couldn’t take her eyes off of you.” Fox said cuttingly.  Trini turned to glare at Fox.

         She turned back to Demona, “That was after I came out.  She was probably just curious.”  She tried to explain Angela’s behavior.  She did believe that.

         Demona took a deep breath, “Okay, so you have the samples?”  Trini pulled them out and Demona set them aside.  “I’ll have the spells ready to go by Monday night.  Since I need to cast these, I’ll be by Tuesday during the day to get it done.”  Demona glanced at Fox who nodded her approval.  She appeared to regain her energy, “Any more humans?”  Demona was trying to figure out

         Trini’s eyes glanced down at the floor, “One, but it didn’t seem overly so.”

         “Have you been out among them?” Demona studied the samples idly while she asked.

         “No, not yet.” Trini said softly.  She was a little nervous about doing that.

         Fox reached out and petted Trini’s arm.  Trini could see Fox understood her reluctance to do that.  Demona glanced at Fox’s hand on Trini for a moment too long and then took a deep breath, “Well, if you do, pay attention to the reactions and if it isn’t good, get out of there.  Don’t even try crowded places until we know how it tends to work.”  Fox nodded in agreement.

         They changed Demona’s living room into an information central while Fox and Demona looked over records trying to fine tune the attack plan.  It looked like Mark and the other two men were back in town.  Trini watched them. “I think that they would expect you to attack at night.  They have to know you’ll go after them.”  Fox said while studying a printout Demona gave her.

         “They don’t know I have their records, that I know where they live.  I burned their headquarters to cover that up.”  Demona took a sip of her drink.

          Fox nodded sharply and started to look over the plans.  Trini was surprised when her phone rang.  She checked the number and it was her room.  “Hello?”  She was wondering who had broken into her apartment to call her.

         “Trini?” Delilah’s voice sounded a pretty upset.

         “Delilah?  What’s wrong?”  Trini’s entire body tensed.  She hated being far away when it was obvious she was needed.  Fox and Demona’s eyes turned to Trini, but she didn’t notice.

         Trini  could hear the shaky voice that indicated Delilah was close to tears.  “He’s a bastard!”  Trini’s eyes widened at the pain in Delilah’s voice.

         “Who?  What did he do?”  Trini was speaking quickly and starting to pace across the kitchen floor.  She was feeling helpless and she hated that feeling.

         “Brooklyn was yelling at me.  He figured out I knew you were gay and he’s claiming that I corrupted you somehow, that…”  Delilah’s voice got quieter, “that I’m an unnatural whore and that I probably did this to you.”  Trini’s eyes burned brilliantly as she spun around. 

         “I’ll smash that son of the bitch!”  She hissed as her entire body went tense.  She didn’t see Fox and Demona standing up and walking into the kitchen.  Trini took a few deep breaths.  “Where is Lex?!”

         “He’s on patrol.  It’s my night off.”  Delilah sounded so lost and hurt.  No one gets away with calling Delilah a whore!

          Trini took another deep breath, and tried to think.  She didn’t know what to say.  “I’ll take care of Brooklyn.”  She said flatly, “You can hang out in my apartment as long as you want.”

         “How did you know?” Delilah sounded a little better than when she called.

         “The phone number shows up on my cell phone.”  Trini said a little more softly.  “I am so sorry you’re being treated like this honey…”  Trini felt a wave of guilt.  It was Delilah’s friendship with her that put the gargoyle in this position.

         “You warned me, I just didn’t really believe you.” Delilah said softly.  “I’ll let you get back to Fox.”  Once Delilah hung up Trini felt deflated.  Her shoulders slumped.  She turned to see Fox and Demona leaning against the kitchen island watching her.

         “Brooklyn’s accusing Delilah of making me gay… and he’s being pretty mean about it.”  Trini rubbed her face wearily.  Her voice got quieter as she looked at Demona, “He called her a whore.”  Trini could feel her eyes watering.  “That hurt her so much… He went right for the throat with that one.”

         “Trini, where was Lex during all of this?” Fox asked her, bringing Trini’s attention to her lover.

         “He’s on patrol.  I told Delilah she could stay in my room tonight.”  Trini sat down heavily on the chair. 

         “I’ll call David and have him check up on her.  Maybe he can contact Lex.”  Fox said softly as she went back into the dining room for her cell phone.           “Why would they think Delilah had anything to do with it?” Demona sat beside her and rested her hand on Trini’s knee.

         “Because she already knew.  Because she already has a very undeserved reputation thanks to Thailog.” Trini sighed.  Demona started to lightly caress Trini’s tail through her pants.  Trini squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as the wave of pleasure hit her.  When she opened them and looked into Demona’s eyes she could see the barely controlled passion.

         “That spell isn’t perfect.” Trini whispered.  She could hear Fox talking to David.

         “It is, but I didn’t take it.  I couldn’t get enough of the ingredients right away.  More is on the way.”  Demona admitted as she continued that caress, causing Trini’s breathing to become a bit labored.  “I didn’t want to not have enough for the clan.  As is, I can only do four batches right away.  I need a few days to get some more together.”  Trini watched Demona lick her lips.  “You need to figure out which of the females can handle a few more days without the spell.  You saw them, I didn’t.”  Trini was going to have to think about that, Demona must have been able to read that in her face.  “Just let me know by Monday night.  The spell needs to be finalize by midnight so it’ll be ready to go Tuesday morning.”

         “You told me you’d have your spell done.” Trini found herself leaning closer to the blue female.  She felt such a strong need to be close to her.

         “I planned to do that, but after finding out about the effect on Fox and David… I realized you would probably call at least all the young males.  I… didn’t want to risk using some and not being able to protect you from them.”  Demona sounded a little upset with that.  Trini started to caress her cheek.

         “Are you okay?  Do you need me to leave?” Trini asked softly.

         “No, I’ll be okay.  I can handle it.” Demona told her, but Trini could see the tension in the gargoyle’s body from the effort to do that.  When Fox came back into the kitchen Fox froze while staring at them.  Trini realized that Fox had found Trini and Demona sitting very close together and Demona was still caressing her tail, while her hand was on the gargoyle’s cheek.  Her lips were just moments away from kissing the gargoyle.  She didn’t leap away from Demona, because the damage had already been done.  She lowered her hand and moved to sit further back in the chair.

         Fox spoke slowly, clearly upset but not saying anything about it, “David’s going to check on her, and he’s having Owen contact Lex.”

         “Thank you.”  Trini said quietly.

         Fox and Demona went back to work.  Things were a little tense in the dining room for a while, but no one spoke about it.  They set up plans for getting some people to spy on all three men, so that they would know when would be a good time to go after them. 

Day 7- Monday - July 21st

          When Demona left to go to the bathroom and to grab some file that she’d left by her bed, Trini was left alone with Fox.  Fox was studying the files they already had intently, giving Trini the impression that she was trying to ignore her.  “Fox?”  Trini said tentatively, because she thought she should say something about the scene Fox had caught in the kitchen.  She could see her lover’s shoulders tense.

         “Trini…”  Fox’s voice was just as tense as her body, “I need to focus on our plans right now.”  She glanced up at Trini and stared into her eyes.  Fox shook her head slightly from side to side.  “I… we’ll talk about it later.”  That sent Trini’s heart racing in fear.  Was Fox planning to break up with her?

         “I love you.”  Trini whispered.  “I do.”  Fox sighed and put the file she was looking at down.  She got up and approached Trini’s spot, which was leaning against the doorway.

         “I love you too.”  Fox told her while staring into her eyes.  Trini leaned into the caress when Fox stroked her hair.  “I… it’s just… Demona?”  Fox sounded so disturbed.  “You were going to kiss her, weren’t you?” Fox’s eyes stared at Trini intensely.

         “Yes.” Trini’s head started to look down, but Fox quickly reached out to keep her from looking away.  Demona was barely holding onto her control and Trini was just pushing the gargoyle to her limits.  It was pretty stupid, but… she needed Demona.  It was a physical ache when she was in the room.

         “You want her that badly, that you’d do that with me right in the other room?” Fox’s eyes were like steel, reminding Trini of the harsh way Fox had taken her after she’d found out about Trini’s desire for the gargoyle.

         Trini looked into Fox’s eyes pleadingly.  She hadn’t been thinking at the time, she had let her feelings and desires think for her.  “I didn’t mean to.”  She whispered, knowing that was no excuse at all.  She sounded like a child caught doing something wrong.  She took a deep breath and decided to plow ahead.  “She’s… addictive.  I love you more than I can even begin to say, but I love her just as much.”

         Fox moved closer to Trini, so close that Trini couldn’t move from her spot against the wall.  She leaned in closely to whisper into Trini’s ear, “Am I… addictive?” in such a seductive voice Trini moaned.

         “Yes.”  Trini found her breathing coming more quickly as Fox leaned in to kiss her passionately.  Fox wrapped her arms around Trini to pull her tight to her body.  Trini moaned into the kiss wantonly.

         “We still have a lot of work to do.  Maybe you could avoid ravishing her in my home and wait until you get back to your own.”  Demona said flatly from the other doorway.  Trini pulled out of Fox’s embrace instantly, feeling bad for having been caught by Demona.  Fox however slowly moved away and smirked at Demona.  Trini realized that Fox had wanted the gargoyle to catch them like this.  She was asserting her claim in some way, and it made Trini a bit uncomfortable that Fox had tricked her like that.  Fox moved to sit back where she’d been.

         “I’m sorry.”  Trini said softly to Demona as the gargoyle past by to take her seat at the other side of the table.  Demona gave her a weak smile in return and sat back down.  Trini sighed and went back to the kitchen to get more juice. 

She just stood there staring out the kitchen window for a while, thinking.  There was so much going on right now she felt like she just couldn’t handle one more problem.  Her relationships with Fox and Demona were causing all sorts of tension.  The box… she had given it to Demona so that the clan could take it from her, and she was so worried that Demona would get hurt in the process.  Goliath thought she had it at her home.  The clan was planning to come for it here.  Fox, Demona and her needed to hunt down the rapists and get the tape.  The clan was trying to talk her into breeding.  Elisa was affected by the pheromones and there was no cure for her, and in fact, she may be trapped in the Eyrie building if all humans are affected.  The full humans that she’d been in any prolonged contact with since this started were affected.  Her step-father had started calling to leave nasty phone messages on her voice mail because of her efforts to try and get her mother’s money.  Brooklyn was harassing Delilah, and was still planning to try and get Trini as a mate.  She couldn’t sleep an hour without a horrible nightmare, so she was always a bit tired.  Goliath was bitching about her to Elisa.  It was all just too much.

         She was next to useless in the work that Fox and Demona were doing.  Trini sighed heavily and put the juice away.  She walked over to the front door and called back to the women that she loved, “I need some air, I’ll be back in a half hour.”  She opened the door and left quickly before she had to explain herself.  She heard Demona calling out to her as she shut the door.  She just needed to get away from all the tension, possessiveness, problems… just for a little while. 

         Trini moved quickly down the stairs and towards the driveway.  She was almost to the driveway when she heard a strange sound, she turned to see a laser beam heading straight for her.  She dodged to the side quickly and managed to avoid getting hurt.  Her eyes were wide and her heart was pounding as three more laser beams from three different directions were heading for her.  She was so intent on dodging those that she didn’t hear Fox’s voice calling out from the open front door.  “Dammit Demona get that thing shut off!”

         “I’m working on it!” Demona yelled back as Trini leapt six feet into the air spinning to avoid another round of fire.  Trini started to run away from the house, because the laser fire seemed to be more intense the closer she got.  She made it halfway down the driveway before one hit her, knocking her to the ground.  Suddenly the loud noise of laser fire stopped, and Trini just laid on the ground glaring at the sky.  Her shoulder hurt pretty badly, but it would heal.  All she had wanted was to take a break, to stretch her legs, this was ridiculous, she couldn’t do the simplest thing without running into trouble!

         She continued to glare up at the sky while she heard Fox and Demona running out to her.  “I’m jinxed… I’m just fucking jinxed.”  Trini complained to the sky.  “I don’t know why I even bother.”  Fox was kneeling by her side checking her wound in what appeared to be next to no time after the laser fire stopped.  “I’ll heal, I always do.”  Trini said bitterly as she moved to sit up.  She didn’t even bother trying to look at her shoulder.  It was burnt, she could tell that by how it felt.

         “Trini, how does it feel?”  Fox asked while staring at the damage.  Trini looked over at Demona and rolled her eyes.

         “Lovely, maybe we could turn them back on so I can get the other shoulder.”  Trini said flatly as she went to sit up.  She sighed, “I’ll be fine.”  She muttered more quietly, “In a normal house, I would have only had to worry about sprinklers.”  She started to stand up and Demona helped her since she was on the side with Trini’s good arm. 

         Fox was bandaging Trini’s shoulder in Demona’s bathroom and Demona came in with a shirt Trini could borrow.  Trini’s shirt had to be ripped off of her so that Fox could work, and it had been beyond ruined anyhow.  Several of the laser beams had come incredibly close to Trini, slicing up her shirt.  Demona sat on the edge of her bathtub to watch.  Fox was lightly dabbing some sort of hideously painful liquid onto the burn on Trini’s shoulder. 

         Fox sighed, “Dammit Trini…”

         “You’d be surprised what I can survive.” Trini said softly to her.  “This is nothing, absolutely nothing.”  Fox pulled out the bandage.

         “Well, you certainly can dodge those beams.”  Demona said with a little respect while Fox taped the bandage to Trini.

         “Yeah, I’ve never seen you move like that.”  Fox finished the taping and leaned back.  It dawned on Trini that Fox had never really seen what she was capable of.  She may have heard stories from Delilah or Elisa, but she hadn’t seen it herself. 

         “You should see her jumping around in the trees, it’s… truly beautiful.”  Demona said softly to Fox while staring at Trini.  “She’s very graceful, when she isn’t rushing off to save some human.”  Trini knew Demona meant that she’d almost fallen out of a tree in her rush to get to the children.

         Trini grinned at Demona, “As I recall it was you that ended up saving those humans.” 

Demona scowled at her.  “You would have gotten hurt, and I knew you weren’t going to just leave it alone.”  Fox was watching this conversation very quietly, with a surprised look on her face.  Trini noticed that Demona was a bit upset with her for bringing that up in front of someone else.

“Sorry.”  Trini said quietly.  “I do tend to rush into things like that, I always have.”  She said more quietly to the gargoyle.  “I always will.”  She was letting Demona know that she wasn’t going to stop protecting humans, just because the gargoyle didn’t approve.

Demona sighed, “Then you need to learn how to fight, because those humans are going to turn on you.”  The gargoyle then stood up quickly.  “Here is a shirt.”  Trini reached out and took it.  “I’ll meet you downstairs.”  Demona left quickly and Trini noticed that Fox was staring after the gargoyle.

“You had her saving humans?”  Fox asked quietly, but Trini winced, because she knew Demona’s hearing would still pick that up.

“Some children were stuck in the river and would have drowned.  She got them out of there.”  Trini admitted once she could hear that Demona was far enough away.  “She also helped me catch some creeps trying to steal a little boy in the park during the day.”

Fox helped Trini get the shirt on, because she didn’t have full range of motion in her arm yet.  “I can’t believe that you have her protecting humans.”  Fox said in quiet surprise.

Trini sighed, and started to button up the shirt.  “I told you she’s not a lost cause.  Of course, she was probably doing it both times just to protect me.”

         “Yeah.”  Fox said quietly, but Trini could see that Fox didn’t appear to be hearing her anymore because the redhead was so lost in thought.

         After all the arrangements had been made Fox and Trini got ready to leave.  Fox decided to leave most of her belongings with Demona, because this mansion was going to be their base of operations.  Trini still hadn’t seen what they had, but when she’d carried a few bags in she could tell it had weapons.  Fox took one of the bags back though, and she carried that one out herself.  Trini turned to Demona and pulled the gargoyle into a hug.  “I love you.”  She whispered into the gargoyle’s ear, and enjoyed the tightening of Demona’s returned embrace at that. 

         “I love you too.”  Demona smiled softly as she pulled out of the embrace.  “I’ll see you Tuesday.  Sorry that you’ll need to wake up early, but I have meetings that day.  Early was all I had available.”

         Trini released the hug and stepped back.  “I don’t mind.”  Trini was not having as much trouble waking up early, now that she had nightmares.  She was eager to stop sleeping now.

         “Call me before it gets too late tomorrow night.  Try to spend some time with Angela and Delilah if you don’t know which one has a better chance of not being too affected.” Demona told Trini gently. 

         “I can’t really see myself being able to spend time with Angela.  Goliath is being a complete ass.”  Trini sighed heavily.  She hadn’t told Demona about this yet.  “After I told them all I was gay, he came to my room to try and talk me into breeding anyhow.  He said something about your clan having had a lesbian couple that split up so that they could breed.  That’s just sad, and sick.”

         Demona’s eyes began to glow.  “I had… forgotten about that.  It was sad.  They were both miserable without each other.  Amazing how Goliath forgot to mention that part.” The gargoyles voice became softer as she spoke.  “They had been so happy and full of life… and they became nothing but shells of themselves.  I was still very young when this happened, but I remember the look on our sister’s face when the leader brought back her female ex-lover’s body after a battle.”  Demona added bitterly.  “I can’t believe that he would suggest that you put yourself through that.  That he would suggest that you give up love to breed.  He really isn’t seeing what is in front of his face anymore.  The Breeder’s moon isn’t just about breeding, it never has been.  It’s about finding and committing yourself to a life mate.”  Fox came back into the mansion to get Trini, since Trini hadn’t followed her.  Trini could see Fox was listening to this conversation carefully, “Don’t let the clan tell you any different.  The Breeder’s moon is supposed to be about love.”

         Fox spoke softly from the open front door.  “Maybe Trini would be better off here for that night, whenever it is.  I don’t want to trust your spell too much and be wrong.  Besides, the way Brooklyn is acting, I don’t know that stopping the pheromones will be enough.” 

Demona stared at Fox in disbelief.  Trini hadn’t mentioned to Fox that she would have to mate on that night.  She knew it sounded like Fox was giving Demona permission to have her.  “She doesn’t know.  I haven’t talked about it.”  Trini told Demona quietly.

         Fox’s eyes narrowed, “What don’t I know?”  Trini could hear that Fox was getting ready to get angry.  She hadn’t been keeping this a secret.  It just hadn’t come up.

         Demona answered for Trini, “A gargoyle has to mate on that night, or… it’s painful.”  Demona wasn’t elaborating.  “Trini will need a lover with her…” Demona’s voice became softer and more compassionate, “Normally the mating lasts all night, I… don’t know if a human is capable of that, or how that will be done with females.”  The gargoyle’s voice became more introspective, “There has to be a way.”

         Trini watched as the anger melted out of Fox’s eyes while her lover stared at Demona.  The gargoyle had been very careful to not step on any of Fox’s toes while she explained that.  Trini suspected that Demona was being nice because she was afraid that Fox had enough influence over Trini to stop her from being near the gargoyle.

         Fox stepped back into the house and shut the door behind her, “How is this accomplished with a heterosexual couple?  All night seems a little hard for anyone.”

         Demona got a little of that superior attitude back, “Well, maybe for a human male, but gargoyle males have no problem with that.  Once the couple is joined and after the male has released his seed, the penis expands, making it impossible for any seed to get lost.  The couple is then joined for a while in that manner.”  Trapped, Trini thought as she winced.  Elisa really needed to find out more about Gargoyle biology before she tried to have sex with Goliath.  How could she warn Elisa or Delilah without letting them know where she got this information… she couldn’t.  “This occurs several times during that night.  They stay airborne the entire time.”

         Fox and Trini were silent for a while after Demona stopped talking.  “That’s…”  scary as hell, Trini finished that thought to herself.   

         Fox drove in silence for a while, before she spoke.  “Why did you decide to take a walk?”

         Trini sighed and looked out the side window.  Her shoulder still hurt.  “I… it was getting to be too tense in the house.  I just needed a break.”  She moved to stare at the dashboard, and spoke more quietly, “It feels like everything in my life is falling apart… what with the breeding season, coming out… and everything else,  I just can’t handle you and Demona arguing over me.  It’s just too much.”  Trini’s voice got quieter.  “I don’t know how much more of this crap I can take.  I couldn’t even take a walk without some sort of disaster following me.” 

         Fox reached out a hand and caressed Trini’s knee.  “I love you.  I’m going to help you deal with all of this.”  Fox took her hand back and Trini could see the redhead’s grip on the steering wheel was tight.  “No matter what I need to do, I’ll help you.”  Fox whispered very quietly, almost to herself.  “This is too much for you to deal with.”

         They arrived home with an hour of night left.  Trini suspected that Delilah would still be in her room, so she asked Fox if she could get ready for bed in her own bedroom and come by later.  She needed to talk with Delilah, to try and comfort her.

         She opened her door and set her purse on the desk.  She glanced in the living room and saw no evidence of the gargoyle.  She was about ready to believe that Delilah had left, when she heard some noise coming from her bedroom.  She glanced into her bedroom, since the door was wide open, and her eyes widened in shock. 

         Delilah was lying on Trini’s bed, not noticing that Trini had come home.  She was fully dressed, but Trini could see that the white haired gargoyle was using her tail to caress her sex through her clothes.  Delilah was giving off small whimpers and moans while she did that.  Trini could tell by the pace of the caresses that Delilah was using, as well as the increase in the volume of her moans that she was almost there.  She knew that Delilah had never masturbated before, she’d told Trini that.  Trini forced herself to turn around and quietly walk out her front door, shutting it so softly that Delilah wouldn’t be able to hear it.  Delilah should know what an orgasm felt like, so she wasn’t going to interrupt her.  In fact, she didn’t want her friend to ever know that she’d been caught.

         Trini went to get a very tall glass of juice and sat in the kitchen.  She was just killing time.  Fox came in and looked surprised to see her there.  “I thought you needed to talk with Delilah.”

         Trini blushed, “Well… Uh… she’s sort of busy.  I didn’t want to interrupt her.”  She took a deep drink of her juice. 

         Fox tilted her head while staring at Trini’s red face.  “What is she doing that you felt the need to hide in here?”

         Trini listened carefully, to make sure that no one else was around.  She didn’t want to embarrass Delilah by having someone tease her about this.  “She’s learning how to masturbate… on my bed.”  Trini grimaced as she said that.  She really hadn’t wanted to see her friend like that.

         She’d expected Fox to seem amused at that, like she’d been amused when Trini had to give Delilah the talk about sex.  She wasn’t, she looked concerned.  “Trini… Your pheromones… are a little strong in your bedroom.  I think it’s because you spend so much time in there.”  She added more quietly, “I was going to suggest we open the windows during the day to try and air it out.”  Trini was surprised, because she didn’t smell anything, she never did, but everyone else seemed to.

         Trini’s shoulders slumped, “You think she’s in there because of that?”

         “Yeah, I do.”  Fox sat down beside her. 

         They went back to the apartment after Trini finished her juice and Delilah wasn’t there.  Her bed had also been straightened out so that if she hadn’t seen it, she couldn’t have been able to tell that someone had been lying on it.  “Do you have a lot of rooms here?”  Trini asked quietly as she started to change into her pajamas.

         “More than enough to get her one of her own.”  Fox opened the window, and Trini could see that her lover was having a little trouble with her pheromones in here too.

         “Good, maybe we should.  I don’t know where those gargoyles go for privacy, but… I want her to have a place.”  Trini said more quietly.  “I am just so glad I didn’t catch her with Lex.  I… might have hurt him.  She’s not ready, I can tell that much.”      

         Fox smirked at her, “Your little girl’s growing up Trini.  You need to let go.”

         Trini stared up at Fox, “She isn’t that grown up yet Fox.  She doesn’t know what to expect with Lex… I didn’t know that gargoyle sex was that different.  That would be so frightening if you didn’t expect it, to be stuck together like that.  How can I tell her?  There is no other way for me to know that except for from Demona.  I have to warn her, but I can’t.”

         Fox’s face became more serious, “What about Elisa?  She and Goliath…”

         “haven’t gotten that far.  Now I can guess why.”  Trini interrupted Fox.  “Do you have any idea how large he is?  I’m betting pretty big… and it grows?  He will hurt her!  I have no idea how Demona would have been able to take him.”  Trini made a face at that.  She didn’t like the fact that Demona had been with Goliath, or the fact that Elisa was planning on it.

         Fox got quieter, “I’m guessing a gargoyle female must be made a little differently to be able to withstand that.”

         They went to bed shortly after dawn.  Trini’s nightmares were becoming more and more warped.  At first she just had nightmares about what really happened, but the clan was slowly finding it’s way into them.  She woke up panting from a nightmare about Elisa being chained to the bed with Goliath growing impossibly huge in side of her.  She could still see the pain on the detectives face in her minds eye as she started to bleed from being stretch more than a human could be.  She rolled over to Fox and pulled her lover tightly to her body to hold her like she would a teddy bear after a childhood nightmare.  The shift in her nightmares was disturbing.  She didn’t want to see other people she loved being hurt.  It was bad enough that Demona’s torture was etched into her mind.  Fox woke up and reached out to pull her closer.  “Oh, Baby… I love you.”  Fox said as she brushed Trini’s hair behind her ear. 

         Trini woke up around ten thirty to quiet moaning.  She cracked her eyes open to find that Fox was awake and busy trying to quietly take care of her own needs.  She probably didn’t want to risk leaving Trini in case she had another nightmare.  Fox looked startled when Trini moved her hand over Fox’s to help her.  This time when they made love, there were fewer moments when Trini had to just stop and ride out the horror of her memories.  Fox was so good about allowing her that time.

         Trini showered and washed off her tail a few times.  After lunch Fox wanted to try to take her shopping.  Trini also dressed in thick pants to try and keep her pheromones under some control.  They would just have to eyeball the clothes, she wasn’t taking these pants off, it was the only protection she had against a scene.

         “So… I trust you’ve given Demona the box.”  Owen said stiffly after Alexander and Fox took off to read a few books before their magic lessons.  It was just Owen, David and her at the table now.

         “Yes.  I also told her they thought it was at her house.  She wasn’t too pleased.”  She didn’t mention that she knew her house was beautiful and she hoped it wouldn’t get damaged.

         “No, I don’t suppose she would be.” David added.  “Fox said she’s dropping by tomorrow morning for the spell.  Do you really trust her to do this right?”

         Trini looked up into David’s eyes, “Yes.  I trust her.”  She could see the surprise on David’s face at her expression.  She was just too tired to pretend with them now.  She trusted Domi completely when it came to her safety, and it probably showed on her face… knowing how perceptive David was.  She tensed up, because she didn’t want to talk about her relationship with Domi.

         “Oh… well, good.”  He said softly.  “What are your plans for today?”

         “Fox is taking me shopping after she gets out of school.”  Trini smirked, glad that he didn’t pursue more information about her trust of the gargoyle.

         “Don’t get too comfortable with skipping our lessons.  I anticipate that Oberon will give us the okay to have you start soon.”  Owen told her, sounding like a stern school teacher.

         “I hope so.”  Trini said softly.  She wanted to understand what she was capable of.  “Have you figured out what that box is and who made it?”

         Owen looked a little flustered, “There have been some other matters that have taken priority.  Also, it looks like that information is magically guarded and keyed to you.  We may have to wait until we have permission to start your lessons before we can look into that matter.  You will need to be taught how to open it yourself.  It should open for you.”

         Trini walked around a little nervously in the small shops that Fox deemed safe enough to try until she realized that she wasn’t getting any more attention than Fox was.  No one seemed overly drawn to her, so Trini started to relax and focus on shopping.  After a few shops she had a few outfits that fit the requirements, stylish and intimidating.  They also shopped for a few pair of sunglasses, once Trini explained about her trouble with her eyes.

         They at dinner at a small restaurant, and while Trini did receive more that good service from the waiter, as well as a phone number, nothing seemed out of control.  Maybe it would be okay to start work soon, especially if she had a window in the office that opened. 

Trini went to hang up her new clothes while Fox went to spend some time with David after they got back.  She already knew which female couldn’t handle her pheromones; it really was no contest, not after finding Delilah in her room last night.  She called Domi while she waited for her computer to boot up.

“Hey Domi.” Trini said fondly when she answered the phone.

“Trini.” She could hear the smile in Domi’s voice.  “Well, I guess you made a decision.”

“Yeah, Delilah needs that spell a lot more than Angela.”  Trini still felt uncomfortable with this.  It would mean that Demona’s daughter was going to find her attractive for a few days.  Maybe she could find a way to just avoid her.  She wasn’t expecting to be invited on any patrols, and if she were, this month… she just shouldn’t go. 

“Okay.” Domi added a little more hesitantly, “How affected do you think Angela is?  I don’t like her… wanting you.”

“I don’t see her very much.  We tend to avoid each other, so it should be okay.”  Trini rushed to reassure Domi.  “At the meeting she didn’t seem too affected.  Those looks that Fox was telling you about… I’m sure she just never knew a lesbian before.  It’s just a novelty to her, nothing to worry about.”  She added, “I would never do anything to encourage your daughter Domi.  You’re the only gargoyle I want.”  Trini’s eyes widened.  She didn’t have the right to hit on Domi, not after everything, and Fox.

“So… you still want me?” Domi’s voice sounded slightly fragile. 

“Of course.”  Trini didn’t hesitate.  Domi obviously needed to hear the truth.  “I am so very attracted to you.  I… just… Fox doesn’t really understand.”  She asked more quietly, “Could you ever… after what I’ve done?”

“Yes.” Domi answered hastily,  she added more softly, “I… ache for you.  I have since before your pheromones started.”  Trini wanted to just hang up the phone and go to her right then.  “I want to be the one that flies you when you go into your breeding… I want to take you while soaring through the skies.”  Domi told Trini what she so wanted to hear.  Trini loved Fox dearly, couldn’t imagine her life without her, but… she wanted Demona to be the one to take her that night.  Wanted to become Demona’s mate for real.

She had no idea how to tell Fox that.  “I want that too.”  She whispered to her gargoyle, but she could hear the frustration in her own voice, so Domi heard it.

“Fox.” Domi said flatly.  “Fox wouldn’t agree to that, in spite of the fact that you’re basically her mistress and she already has a mate.  You share and she wouldn’t, is that it?”  Domi’s voice was rising as she spoke, she was getting angry.

Trini tried to speak calmly, even though Domi pretty much nailed what the problem was.  “She’s… worried that you’ll do something that hurts me.  She knows you wouldn’t hurt me directly, but… she thinks you’ll try to use me against the others.”  Trini added more quietly, “If it weren’t for the fact that you’re Demona… she’d probably share.  She mentioned sharing me with my ex-girlfriend before… it’s just you she doesn’t trust.”

“I thought Fox was your first.” Domi sounded surprised.  Trini sighed, compared to Domi, who only had two mates in over a thousand years… she was a slut.

“I’ve also been with two other women.” Trini admitted, “Those relationships didn’t last long at all.”  She felt a pang of guilt about how her relationship with Elisa ended.

“Maybe… I need to talk with her.” Domi said, seemingly deciding to ignore Trini’s sleeping with members of the race she hated but Trini could hear the tension clearly.  “We don’t have all the time in the world to make her understand.  Shit!… I never thought I’d be sharing a mate with a human!  Fighting for the right to share a mate!”  Domi’s voice was rising with her frustration again, and Trini felt so bad for her.  The gargoyle did deserve a mate of her own… but Trini didn’t want to step away and encourage her to do that.  It also wasn’t like any other gargoyle would be able to look past Demona’s immortality, hatred, and violent tendencies. 

“I love you.”  Trini told Domi.  She didn’t know what else to say.  “I don’t know that she’ll listen to you.”  She added more quietly, “I don’t want to hurt her Domi.”

Domi sighed heavily.  “We need to get this straightened out.  I love you far too much to lose you to her and her fears.  I really wish you didn’t need her… but I can’t deny her claim is strong.  If those damned Feys weren’t interfering in your life as much as they interfere in mine… I might have been able to have you to myself.”  Trini didn’t bother correcting Domi, reminding her that she was Fey and that she couldn’t leave Fox even if there was no bond between them, because she loved Fox.  “I’m going to get started on the spells.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”  Domi sounded deflated.

“I’ll see you then.”  Trini replied softly as she hung up.  This phone call just opened up some new problems.  She needed Fox to understand her relationship with Demona, and she needed her to do that soon. 

Trini stood near Brooklyn waiting for the sunset.  She wasn’t letting him get away with treating Delilah like that.  As soon as he was free from the stone she started to speak.  “Let me make this perfectly clear.  I was wrong yesterday; you are obviously a disgrace as a male and more of a hatchling than anything else.  You are so childish, you really aren’t ready for a mating flight… and if on the odd chance a bastard like you attracts a female, I will be sure to let her know that she’d be better off screwing anyone or anything else but you!”  Trini’s voice rose as she spoke.  “For your information… not that it is any of your God Damned business… I’ve known I was gay since I was fourteen.  I believe Delilah wasn’t even alive then, let alone in Seattle, where I lived.”  She then spun around and marched past Elisa without even acknowledging her.  She was beyond pissed.  She yelled back, “If you ever calls Delilah a whore again, or give her any sort of shit… I won’t be so nice.  I’m part Fey honey… and I won’t be afraid to use it.”  It wasn’t an empty threat… she’d learn some sort of spell to show him she meant business… even if she had to spy on Alex’s lessons to do it.

She could hear the voices of the gargoyles rising as she marched out of the library.  Brooklyn was getting another talking to from Lex and Hudson.  Trini was halfway to her apartment when she heard someone rushing to catch up with her.  She stopped and turned around to see Delilah.  Trini started to talk, “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you honey.  I… I’ve been mad at him all day.”

Angela came down the hall after Delilah, “I had no idea he’d said something like that.”  Angela was addressing both Delilah and Trini.  “I am so sorry.  No one else thinks that, and I don’t think he believed it.  He was just lashing out.”

Trini’s eyes narrowed, “Well, he better not do that again.”

Angela paused.  “Father wants to see you Trini.”

“Too bad.”  Trini turned to go back to her apartment.  “I have nothing to say to him.”  Angela’s arm on her shoulder stopped her.  Luckily that shoulder was already healed.

“Why… did father say something to upset you?” Angela asked softly, not removing her hand.  Trini turned to look at her and noticed that Delilah was waiting to hear about the conversation she’d had with Goliath also.

“Yes.  He thinks I should just forget about love and fuck Brooklyn.”  Trini’s eyes started to burn red.  “I deserve love… I’m not letting some old fashioned dictator try and take that away from me!”

Angela looked shocked, and Delilah’s eyes began to burn red.  “That bastard!”  Delilah hissed and it looked like she was going to march away to find him.

“Don’t worry about it Delilah.  I can handle Goliath.” Trini said flatly.

“You love females?  It’s not just sex?” Angela asked, shocking Trini.  Of course it was love, what other reason was there for being with someone.

“Yes.  It’s love.”  Trini stared at Angela, stunned at how little she understood.  “I fall in love just like everyone else, I just fall in love with females.”

Angela tilted her head while studying Trini openly now.  “You couldn’t fall in love with a male?  You need a mate right now.”

Trini sighed and glanced around the hallway.  “I have a mate.  I’m just not willing to drag her to the clan to get interrogated and persecuted by the gargoyles that think I need to lay an egg.  I probably don’t even lay eggs, because I’m half human.  I was born, not hatched.”  Maybe admitting to having a mate would get them off her back, because it didn’t look like coming out of the closet did the trick.  “I love my mate very much.”  Both of them, Trini added in her mind. 

Angela’s eyes widened, and Trini could see a million questions threatening to come forth.  “Angela, it’s time for patrol.”  Broadway’s voice interrupted them.

“I… I need to go.” Angela told Trini unnecessarily, and Trini could see that the lavender female really didn’t want to.  Angela then turned to Delilah, “You’re on first patrol too, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Delilah moved in quickly and kissed Trini on the cheek.  “Thank you.”  She then left quickly to get to work.  Trini wished she could believe that was an innocent kiss, but knowing how strongly her pheromones were affecting Delilah, she couldn’t.  She sighed and went back into her apartment to try and plot out more of her novel.  Fox was spending some quality time with David.  Trini was really monopolizing her time.

Trini managed to work for a few hours before someone knocked on her door.  She quickly saved her work and closed it.  She didn’t want anyone seeing her work.  She glared at the door, again upset with not having a peephole.  She sighed as she was forced to open it to find out who was on the other side.  Goliath was standing there, looking a bit irritated with her.  “What do you want?”  Trini said with no hint of friendliness.

“I need to talk to you.” Goliath was looking very intimidating. 

Trini wasn’t going to invite him into her home, and she didn’t want to be alone with him.  “So talk.”